Riki and Liz's Grand Adventure!

The Great Casino Rumble!

“No, that’s not it,” I said, balling up a piece of paper. I lean back in my chair, looking up at the ceiling. Liz, focus up, you can do it. Just draw what you want. Wait, what do I want? “I don’t know!” I yelled, pushing away from my desk. I just need a break and some food. Heading to the kitchen, I open the fridge, looking for something. Man, I really wish I had asked Riki to make some food before he left.

Scanning through the fridge, I hear a knock on the door. “At this time of night?” I asked, walking to the front door. I opened it, and I was surprised to see Twilight. “Oh, Twilight, come in.”

“Thanks, I hope I didn’t wake you up,” Twilight said, walking in.

“No, I was already up. I don’t want to be rude, but why are you here?”

Twilight looks embarrassed, “Well, I just came to check up on you. I haven’t seen you all day. What’s that all about?”

“… It’s nothing bad. I needed some alone time,” I responded sluggishly, “I’m just working on a new invention.”

“Whoa, may I take a look!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Well, I haven’t started yet,” I said, scratching my head. “Few very rough drafts, by nothing really special.”

“Oh, I see. Do you mind if I look at your lab?”

“You can look, but it’s a workshop. Not a lab.” I take Twilight to my workshop, and she’s pretty shocked to see the room.

“Cool, right?”

Twilight looks around, “Ummm, it’s nice. But can I ask, is it always this messy?” Using her magic to pick up some trash around the room.

I look around, and I don’t think it’s that messy. Just a few plates, cups, and tools all over the place. “Sometimes, but I have a system to find what I need.”

Twilight picks up one of the balled-up papers. She opens it, “What’s this?”

I sit in my spinning chair, “Oh, that’s just a robot.”

“A robot, you say!” Twilight gasped, “You can actually do that?”

“Yeah, but it’s just a small robot,” I said, calming her down. “Lost interest in making it, so I dropped it. A robot is so generic.”

“So, do you have anything in the works?”

I thought about what Twilight said. There is one thing I can show her, “Yeah, let me get it.” I look through the many balled-up papers. After a few seconds of looking, I finally found it! I unball the piece of paper and hand it to Twilight.

“...Liz, this is outstanding!” Twilight exclaimed, “You should do this one! Do you know how much good you could bring if you made this!”

“No, I wasn’t thinking about that.” I said honestly, “I was thinking about the vespa that blew up in the Taboo fight… I thought it would be easy to make at the time, but in another world. I can’t really get any of the parts I need.

Twilight looks over my blueprint, “Why not use crystals as a substitute? Some crystals can store magic, and you can use that for the power.”

You can what!? I never knew crystals could do that, man. I quickly took the blueprint from Twilight and rolled my chair to the table. I started to draw over the blueprint. It can work. It has to work. I turn around and show Twilight, “Is this possible?”

Twilight looks over it and then nods, “…Yeah, it’s possible.”

“Do you want to help me with it?”

Her eyes widened, “Really, that will be amazing! I have some books about crystals that can help. Should we start now?”

I want to start now, but all this excitement makes me tired. “How about we start tomorrow? I want to get some sleep. I’ll meet you at your place.”

“You got it, Liz,” Twilight said with a smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow, and have a good night.”

I said goodbye to Twilight as she went home. I finally got something to eat and then headed to my room. I changed into my pajamas and then fell face-first onto my bed. I could feel Louie hopping on my back. “Hey, boy.” I yawned. "Tomorrow, I’ll be working on a special project with Twilight. And Riki is coming home. Do you miss him?”

“Meow,”

“Yeah, me too,” I said, rolling over and pulling Louie into a snuggle. “I wonder how Riki is doing? I hope he’s having fun…”

“That no good pony!” Mimi yelled, slamming her paws on the table.

After the whole incident at the Red Daffodils bar, we decided to head back to Mama Ruby’s to think of a plan. And get something to eat. Mimi slams the table again, almost knocking my drink over. “Oi, why are you more pissed off than me?” I said, stuffing my face with fried zucchini.

“You’re not?”

I point my fork at her, “I’m pissed. I have to save a pony who doesn’t care about me.”

“…Then why save him, you can just run away.”

“Look, I’m not running away. I know Blueblood is a bad guy jerk, but he’s not evil. He needs my help, and I will give it to him.”

“You pity him?” Mimi asked.

“...Look, Mimi, we got other stuff to talk about. I need to find a way to get 300,000 bits before midnight.”

“It’s 9 o’clock!” Mimi yelled, sitting across from me. “How are you going to get all those bits, Riki?”

“...Is there like an underground fighting ring?”

“There was one, but it was shut down two months ago,” Mimi replied.

“That’s ass,” I sighed. As the two of us just sit at the table, trying to figure out what to do. Twinkle comes into the dining room, and she looks surprised. “Oi, Twinkle.”

“Hey, Twinkle,” Mimi smiled.

“Hi, wow, you guys look bad. What happened?” Twinkle questioned. I explained what happened, from the hotel fight to Coal’s new demand. “Oh, my Celestia, I can’t believe that. Riki, how about asking Mama for the bits?”

“I’m not doing that, Twinkle!” I yelled, scaring Twinkle and Mimi. “Fuck, sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you. I just don’t like borrowing money.”

“…Sorry for bringing that up.” Twinkle mumbled.

“No, it’s not your fault.” I apologized.

“Oh, that’s right! The reason why I came in here.” Twinkle then hands me something. It’s a quarter. “I found this in the dryer. I’ve never seen this before, so I assume it’s yours.”

“Yeah, it’s my quarter. Thank you,” I said, looking at it... Wait, can that work?

Mimi taps my head, “Riki, you have been looking at your quarter for a bit too long?”

“Is it special?” Twinkle questioned.

“Now it is, Twinkle. I could kiss you right now!” I exclaimed.

“...Huh?” She blushed.

“Lucky dog,” Mimi said with a sly smile.

“Guys, I got a plan to get the bits!” I said, get up from the table.

“What do you want us to do?” asked Mimi.

“Find a unicorn that can duplicate and some gold paint. Meet me at Mama Ruby’s office.” I said, running out of the dining room. God, I hope this plan works.

The Gold Haybale casino is one of the best places in Las Pegasus. A ten-story building full of gamblers trying to win big. Inside a private room, Slugger, Scout, and Blueblood sit there in silence. Slugger is fixing himself a drink from the bar, and Scout is reading a gossip magazine that says, ‘Sapphire Shores newest hit!’. Blueblood looks at a grandfather clock. It’s almost midnight.

“...Can I use the bathroom?” Blue asked quietly.

“Will he show up, Slugger?” Scout asked, ignoring the pony as he flipped through the magazine.

“That little brat better show up for what he did to get us here!” Slugger yelled. After that, the door opens, and Riki, Mimi, and Twinkle walk in. “Speak of the devil.”

“Oi, you got my message.” Riki smiled.

“You threw a brick through our window!” Scout barked with rage.

“You did what!?” Twinkle yelled.

Riki crossed his arms, “I didn’t want to bother you guys, so I tied a note to a brick and tossed it.”

“Good, they deserved it,” said Mimi.

“You two scared me sometimes,” Twinkle sighed.

“Anyways, I saw some of your guys on the casino floor.” Said Riki, “What’s that about, scared?”

This causes Slugger to quickly stand up, “Who’s scared?”

“Look, human, I want to get this over with.” Scout yawns, “I’m tired as Tartarus, so tell me, do you have our bits?” Riki takes off his backpack and pulls out a big bag of bits. He then throws the bag at Scout’s feet. The dog opens the bag, “Nice, I love to see this!”

“Aren’t you curious about how I got the 300,000 bits?” Riki questioned.

Scout chuckles, “As long as we got our bits, I don’t care how you did. You could have killed for it, and I wouldn’t bat an eye.”

Slugger pushes Blueblood to the group. The pony makes his way behind Riki, “Let’s leave this place, now.”

When they leave the room, Scout pulls out one of the bits from the bag and looks at it. “…Hey, does this bit look a little off?”

Riki’s group quickly runs down the hall. “I can’t believe you found 300,000 bits.” Blueblood said, “And why are we running?”

Mimi says, “…Well, what we gave them isn’t really bits.”

“Huh?”

“We gave them a bag full of quarters from my world, painted it gold, and duplicated it. A pretty good plan, right?” Riki smiled, “So, we need to leave before they find out.”

“Well, I do wish you came to get me a bit sooner,” Blueblood complained.

Mimi huffs, “Why are you complaining? You should be thanking Riki, he made the plan.”

Blueblood rolled his eyes, “Why should I? It’s his job to protect me. The human is my bodyguard.”

What Blueblood said really gets under Mimi’s skin. Before she can say anything, the group hears someone.

“Ricochet!”

Twinkle let out a yelp, “Is that… Slugger?”

“Buck, they found out.” Mimi cursed, “I thought we would be able to leave the casino before they found out.”

“Yeah, get ready,” Riki said, heading his backpack to Mimi. They can hear the heavy hooves steps down the hall, coming at an alarming rate. “You guys go on. I’ll deal with Slugger!”

“Are you crazy!” yelled Mimi, “Didn’t you lose to him last time.”

“That was last time,” Riki said, stopping in the hallway. “I want to beat Slugger. I don’t want to leave here with a loss.” Before anyone can say anything, they see Slugger tackle Riki into a room.

“Damn, do all humans act like him?” said Mimi.

The three make their way out of the hallway on the casino’s third floor. They can hear Scout yell, “Get them!” Pipistrello’s goons begin to go after the group, making the casino players panic. Poker chips, cards, and drinks fly in the air.

“What are we going to do!?” yelled Blueblood. A Pipistrello member tries to grab the Prince but is stopped by Mimi scratching them in the face.

“We need to get to the first floor.” Mimi said, “But we can’t leave Riki.”

“I can leave without him. He will understand,” Blueblood said, beginning to run off. But Mimi grabs his tail, pulling him back.

Mimi hisses at the pony, “You’re not going anywhere, we’re not leaving Riki!”

“Do you know who you’re talking to!?”

Mimi rolls her eyes, “Look here, this is all your fault, Prince. And now Riki is doing his best to help you.”

“Mimi, calm down.” Twinkle said.

She ignores Twinkle and continues, “I’m surprised Riki can stand this long with you. I hate ponies like you. I would have left you.”

“How rude, you cat!”

“The only reason Riki is saving you is because it’s his job, no! I say he’s saving you out of pity!”

“Pity, you can’t pity me!”

“Can you two stop!” Twinkle barked, “Riki wouldn’t like this one bit!”

“Sorry, Twinkle.” Said Mimi.

“…”

Damn, that really hurts. Pushing the rubble off my body, I see Slugger walk through the hole in the wall. He takes off his suit jacket and folds it, placing it on a nearby table. “What’s wrong, don’t want me to ruin it.”

He ignores what I said and fixes himself a drink from the bar in here. “...I have seen more guts in you than any other member of the Pipistrello family, except for the boss. You want a drink?” I shook my head, and he continued, “I wonder if you would have joined us if we met before all this?”

“I would have said no, sorry.”

“You would have been a good member of the family,” he said, finishing his drink. “I, Iron Horn Slugger, a great member of the Pipistrello family, will give you a fight.”

I start to do some stretches, “Is that your full name or an epithet?”

“Yes,”

“Fun,” I said, pulling out my tonfas. “Let’s do this!”

Running at full speed, we met in the middle, clashing my tonfas against his horns. We struggle for a bit before Slugger overpowers and lunches me into a slot machine. “…Shit, I can’t beat him in power. I need to think of some-Ahhh!” I quickly jumped out of the way of Slugger’s horn attack. It punctures through the machine like it was nothing. “That was close, I don’t want another hole.”

Slugger’s mighty strength rips the slot machine in half. He then rushes at me full speed, trying to grab me. I dodged all of his attempts and then jumped onto the poker table. “You’re like a damn bug!”

“How nice,” I said, pushing down on the poker table and hitting Slugger in the chin with the other side. Slugger grabs and then throws the table across the room. I use that as a distraction to run past and hit Slugger in the stomach with my tonfas, “Double Hammer!” I then kick him in the thigh, “Tuagh Crash!” He turns around and hits me with the back of his hand, making me fly into a wall. I pick myself up, “Fuck, none of my attacks are doing lasting damage. I need to do some real damage.” I get up and run towards the minotaur, “Have another Tuagh Crash!” I kicked across Slugger’s chest, but he took it like it was nothing.

He grabs my leg and slams me on the ground repeatedly like a towel saying, “Iron Thrash!”. I can feel my insides shake hit after hit. I then threw my tonfa at Slugger’s eye, making him drop me.

I slowly get up and try to catch my breath. His body is tough, and he doesn’t look exhausted. What do I have over him, speed? But I need to break through Slugger’s beastly defense to do anything. Blitzing towards him, I yell, “I’m not losing to you!”

The casino floor is now a battlefield. Mimi pokes her head out from behind the table. “I can’t believe the Limelight family is here,” Mimi said in disbelief.

“Yeah, now it’s just chaos out there.” Twinkle said, looking out from the table.

“Well, we should let these fools fight and get out of here!” Blueblood chimed in.

Mimi pokes Blueblood, “How about you be quiet so they can’t find us.”

“Hey, what’s that sound?” Twinkle asked.

“Woohoo!” Riki exclaimed, entering the floor on top of Slugger like a bull rider. Slugger tries to get Riki off his back. He slams his back against the wall, but Riki quickly jumps off as he knees Slugger in the face. Slugger retaliates by grabbing Riki’s hood and throwing him like a ragdoll. The human rolls across the ground and crashes next to a craps table.

Scout walks to Slugger, “We got a problem!”

“I can see,” Slugger said as he removed his tie. “The Limelight family, how do they know we’re here?”

“I don’t know, but my guess is that the human told them.”

Slugger grabs two passing Limelight members, a pony and a diamond dog, by the face. “Why are you here!” demanded Slugger, slowly squeezing their head.

“I-Iorn Horn Slugger!” the pony shuddered.

“We were told you guys were getting a whole bunch of Bits.” Said the dog.

“Did the human tell you?” asked Scout.

“Human?”

“Buck, then it has to be a rat?” Scout questioned, “One of the new members?”

“It doesn’t matter, where’s Ricochet?” Slugger said casually, slamming the dog’s head into the ground.

Mimi and Twinkle rush to Riki’s side to see if he is alright. Riki is out cold, bleeding from the head. Mimi begins to shake him, “Hey, wake up!” After a few seconds, Riki finally wakes up. “You alright?”

“Yeah, how long was I out?” Riki asked, rubbing his head.

“About a few seconds,” Twinkle answered. Riki looks around to see fighting going on, and Twinkle notices this. “The Limelight and the Pipistrello family are currently in a brawl.”

“Limelight?”

“Another mafia family, pretty new compared to Pipistrello.” Mimi explained, “Five years ago, they appeared in Las Pegasus. Causing even more trouble.”

“Now that you are here, we can leave!” Blueblood frantically said. A body flies past them like a rocket. “W-what was that!?”

The four look at where the body came from. They see Slugger holding a pony by the face and shouting, “Get out of the way, you piss ants! Where are you, Ricochet, don’t tell me you ran away!”

“Oi, I’m right here!” Riki yelled as he got up. “You guys get to the first floor. I’ll meet you there!” Before Riki can run off to face Slugger again, Mimi stops him.

“Wait, Riki, tell me why you’re going to fight Slugger again. And ‘I want to’ is not an answer!” demanded Mimi.

“…If I run away, I won’t get stronger.” Riki declared. “In this world with dangerous creatures, I need to get stronger. I need to be capable of defeating guys like Slugger to protect the ones I care about. Mimi and Twinkle, you’re in that group. Even you, Blueblood.”

His words move Mimi. Only knowing him for a day, Riki already cares about her and Twinkle. Mimi gets a small blush on her face, “Alright, but don’t lose this time, Riki-boy. We’ll be waiting for you on the first floor.”

“You can do it,” Twinkle added, “But be safe.”

Blueblood just kept quiet, not looking at Riki.

Riki runs off as the three head to the stairs with the panicking crowd. Blueblood looks back at Riki as he fights through the mob families.

I hit a Limelight and Pipistrello member as I rushed past them. There is no time for small fights. Only one is on my mind. I can see Slugger manhandling a few Limelight goons. The minotaur sees me and shouts, “There you are, Ricochet! I thought you ran away.”

“Never!” I yelled, picking up a nearby stool. I threw it at him, but Slugger swatted it away. A pony rushes towards me, ready to attack. Quickly jumping on the pony’s head to jump again towards Slugger. As I jump past him, I hook on one of his horns using my tonfa handle. Slamming the minotaur onto his back, “Falling Hammer!” The floor cracked as I could hear Mimi and Twinkle cheer for me from afar.

“Slugger, you good?” Scout asked nonchalantly.

“Of course I am,” Slugger said, getting up as he dusted himself off. He then looks and gives me a creepy smile. He gets in a stance that reminds me of a football player. Slugger launches at me with a big burst of speed, “Iron Charge!”

I began to run towards him, and at the last second, I slid between his legs. “I’m over here!” I yelled, waving my hands in the air. Slugger begins to chase me, smashing through tables, machines, and both mafia families. Using my speed to dodge all of his attacks, I’m able to land a few hits.

“Slugger, what are you doing!?” yelled Scout.

“Shut-Ahggg!”

I cut Slugger off by three consecutive punches to the face, “Trifecta Pummel!”

“You’re getting really annoying!” Slugger yelled, ramming into me. I grab his horns, trying to slow him down. It worked a little before Slugger began to swing his head around, throwing me off. My body flies through the air briefly before hitting and bouncing off a slot machine. My body crashes into some tables. If something wasn’t broken, it’s broken now.

I try to catch my breath, but I can’t. My vision is getting blurry. This isn’t good, I need to get up. I tried to get on my feet, but I just dropped onto my back. Hearing Slugger walk towards me, “It’s over, you lost. I’ll kill you quickly,”

The group finally reached the first floor. As they push through the panicking crowd, Mimi stops and says, “Wait, where’s Blueblood?”

Twinkle then says, “Did we lose him in the crowd?”

Back on the third floor, Riki lies on the ground. As Slugger walks up to finish the human off, Riki closes his eyes. He just needs a few more seconds to catch his breath, that’s all. Slugger looms over Riki and cracks his knuckles. Pulling his fist back, Slugger is ready to smash Riki’s head in…

Thud!

Slugger stops and looks down at a bag of poker chips that have been thrown at him. He turns around to see Blueblood, “You?”

Riki shakily leans up, “Blueblood, what are you doing here?”

“To save you, you idiot!” Blueblood said, dragging him away from Slugger, using his magic to pull Riki’s hood. “You should be thankful and not pity me! Also, you’re heavy.”

“…Shut up,” Riki groaned. “Why aren’t you with Mimi and Twinkle?”

“We got separated through the crowd.” Blueblood answered, “And don’t tell me, Prince Blueblood, to shut up!”

“Are you really doing this?”

Slugger stomps the ground, “Hey, are you ignoring me!?”

“You stupid minotaur, you see that I’m talking to my lazy bodyguard!” Blueblood yelled back.

“Lazy? Oi, who fuck are you calling lazy, you dumb Prince.” Riki responded sluggishly.

Blueblood smiles cheekily, “Really, I’m not the one lying on the ground waiting to get my face punched in.”

“…I was catching my breath…”

“Making excuses, I’m pretty disappointed in you, bodyguard.” Blueblood insulted. “My Auntie’s said all these good things about you, but I’m not seeing shit right now.”

“Now is not the time for you to speak this crap,” Riki muttered.

Blueblood gets into Riki’s face, “You’re the one that’s speaking crap. You said I will beat Slugger, but guess what? You can’t! Just run away from your problems, like me.”

“I can do it, I won’t!” Riki yelled, pushing himself to get on his knees.

“…Then prove it, Riki.”

Riki slams his fist onto the floor, slowly getting up. His body is telling him to stop, but he doesn’t care. Breathing heavily, he stands up and looks at Slugger. The only thing on Riki’s mind is to win. “… I’ll take you down in five moves.”

“You can barely stand and think you can beat me in five hits.” In a brief moment, Slugger sees an orange glow flicking around Riki’s body, and then it stops. “What’s th-Ahhhgggg!” Slugger screams in pain as Riki lands a powerful gut punch. The minotaur rolls across the ground and then crashes into a few Pipistrello members. This was the first significant amount of damage Slugger took. And it won’t be the last.

“Slugger!” yelled Scout. He didn’t know what he saw. It was like Riki had just teleported in front of Slugger. Scout shook that thought out of his head. It wasn’t teleporting, it was speed.

“When did he get so fast?” Slugger asked himself as he slowly got up. He wipes his mouth to see blood, “When did he get so strong?” He looks toward Riki with rage in his eyes. He launches himself at Riki, “Iron Charge!” Slugger’s full body weight slams against Riki, but he is surprised when the human fully stops him. Riki lifts him up and then suplex Slugger into the ground, cracking the floor beneath. Slugger struggles to get back on his hooves. His head is killing him, “Y-you bastard! I’ll br-Gaaahhh!” Slugger was cut off by Riki kicking him in the groin. He fell to his knees in pain, trying to catch his breath.

“You let your guard down,” Riki said coldly. He then follows up by kicking Slugger in the face. Slugger’s body flies and breaks through the railing.

On the first floor, Mimi and Twinkle can see Slugger falling from the third floor. The two of them are utterly surprised. Slugger’s body comes crashing onto a poker table, causing everyone around to freak out. When the dust clears, everyone sees how beat up Slugger is. Blood is coming from his head, mouth, and nose. “….is it over?” He said to himself, but he remembered that was only four hits. He has one more. Slugger’s eyes widen when he looks up.

Twinkle points up, “Mimi, is that?”

“Y-yeah.”

In the air, everyone can see Riki fall with Blueblood in his hands. “Heavy Landing…!!!”

“Damn!”

“Crash!!!” Riki yelled, landing on Slugger’s stomach, knocking him out.

The winner of the casino rumble is the human Riki!