7 Years Ago

Raindrop and I were officially teenagers. It was around then that... things started to happen. I kept getting a weird, warm feeling inside me whenever I was around Raindrop, and my voice started to get deeper. I asked Raindrop if she was experiencing anything similar, and she said that her crotch started bleeding randomly. We both agreed to ask the others about it at dinner. Their reactions weren't what we expected.

Crutch had frozen in place mid-chew, Crimson spit out his drink, Nazira's face turned red, and Haybale nearly choked on his food. The two of us were very confused, to say the least.

It was then that Haybale decided to give us... the talk.

As in the "Birds and the Bees" talk.

It was a very educational Tuesday, I'll tell you that much.

A couple days later, we were in the Cave of Awesomeness, taking turns using the makeshift shooting range. I was using my BB gun while Raindrop shot fireballs from her horn. I watched in awe as the blue flames effortlessly sprouted from her horn and incinerated the cans we used as targets. When she finished, she gave a satisfied smirk.

"Looks like I beat your record, Sir Bunny. You'll need to do better than that if you wish to keep your title as a knight." She taunted, and I feigned a gasp.

"You dare challenge my good name!? You shall regret your words, Princess Raindrop, for you underestimate the pride and determination of a noble and honorable knight such as myself!"

If you're wondering why we're talking like this, it's because of the stories Haybale had read to Raindrop when she was a kid. The stories would always have knights, wizards, warriors, and heroes going on adventures to defeat evil. She fell in love with those stories pretty quickly, and always dreamed of going on an adventure herself. It's why she likes to explore a lot and find new things to do. It kind of rubbed off onto me. Even though we might've been a bit old for it, we still found it fun.

I stepped up and took aim at the cans, knocking them down one by one. I was feeling confident that I could beat the new record she set.

I did not manage to do so.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Raindrop struggling not to laugh, and failing spectacularly.

"... Not. A. Word." Despite me saying that, she ignored me.

"PFFFFTT! All that big talk, and you still lost! HA HA HA HA!!!" The sky blue pony laughed.

"Hey, it's not my fault I've only got one eye! Plus, your magic is way overpowered!" I continued to make excuses.

"Oh c'mon, don't be a sore loser!" She smiled at me. A beat passed, then she got that look on her face when she gets an idea.

"You think my magic is overpowered?" She asked.

"Uh, you can literally set stuff on fire! Of course it's overpowered!"

"Hmm... okay then. How about I teach you how to do it?"

"Uh, pardon?" I looked at her, thinking I'd misheard her.

"I don't think you could do it as well as me, especially not right off the bat, but you could try to at create a small flame."

I didn't see a reason as to why I shouldn't try it. I thought it would be really cool if I could make fire like she could. Giving her a nod, she began to teach me how to create fire.

"You look like your trying to force out a fart!" Raindrop snickered. Since it was taking my full concentration to try and cast the spell to summon the flame, I resisted the urge to say something snarky in response.

I'd been trying for about half an hour now, and I still had yet to ignite a flame on my horn. My face twisted and contorted as I tried to focus everything I had.

"Come on, you can do it! Just a little more!" She cheered me on.

I was beginning to lose hope when suddenly, I felt it. A sudden warmth on my head. I looked up at my horn to see that I had finally managed to summon a flame, though it was pretty tiny. A smile graced both our faces.

"You did it! You did it!" Raindrop exclaimed, practically jumping with joy. The light from the flame, though small, still managed to illuminate her. Her gorgeous green eyes sparkled as she stared into the light, and she had the most beautiful smile on her face. The warm feeling I usually got when I was around her returned.

I may not have understood the feeling yet, but I would eventually.

I was in love with Raindrop.

Present Day

"Cat, stop moving around so much!"

It was the next morning. We had already started making our way towards Alleyville, and had stopped to take a quick break after a couple hours of walking. Once we did, Joy took out a sketch pad and pencil and started drawing a picture of Cat. Unfortunately, the canine wouldn't sit still long enough for her to finish.

I had asked earlier what her cutie mark meant, and apparently she's really good when it comes to sketching. She even showed me a few drawings, and they were pretty damn good. Not the most useful skill in the wasteland, but it's a nice hobby. It also explained the papers and colored pencils on her desk back at the stable.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I did not sleep well last night. I had a nightmare where I saw Raindrop summoning a flame from her horn. The flame ended up growing too big and spreading to her whole body, burning her alive. I knew it wasn't possible for that to happen, but the sight still horrified me and caused me to wake up screaming.

"Come on! Please? Just for a little bit!" Joy pleaded with Cat to stay still. He was having none of it. I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight as I watched from the sidelines, taking a sip from my canteen.

"Forget it. I'll just try again later." She sighed in defeat after a few more failed attempts at convincing.

"Ready to get back to it?" I asked as I put my canteen away.

"Yeah, sure." She slipped the sketch pad and pencil into her saddlebag, and we were quickly on the road again.

"I've never actually been to Alleyville. Have you, sir?" The mint green mare asked, trotting beside me. I'd given up on asking her to not call me sir.

"Once, a long time ago." I answered.

"What's it like?"

"Well, it's not called Alleyville for nothing." I began to explain. "The town was built by settlers entirely from scratch a few decades ago. Unfortunately, they weren't exactly stellar architects, so they ended up building all the buildings too close to one another. Because of that, all the streets are about as narrow as a normal alleyway. As for the actual alleyways, you'd need to be flat as paper to squeeze through 'em."

"That sounds like it could get crowded easily." She commented.

"Yeah, but it's actually not that crowded, at least it wasn't when I went there. There was a crowd, but it was rather sparse. If I remember correctly, it was also a pretty lawless and seedy place. Plenty of thugs, brutes, drug dealers, prostitutes, shady types, and danger around every corner. I doubt it's changed since then, so we'll probably have a better chance of finding our spy when night comes."

"We have to wait until night!? Why'd we leave so early then!?" She whined.

"Um, aren't you in the military? Waking up early is pretty normal for you, so I don't think you should be complaining about it." In response, she made that cute pouty face. I laughed, which made her pout even more.

"Just because I said we'd have a better chance at night doesn't mean we can't still look for information while it's light out. It's just that the shadier stuff happens around that time. Besides, if we do have to wait, I'm sure Alleyville will have enough entertainment to kill time." I reassured her.

"What do mean 'entertainment'? Didn't you say this place was dangerous?"

"Exactly."

Alleyville was surrounded by a tall fence made of metal sheets that were hammered and welded together. Instead of a gate for an entrance, the town had a regular sized door with a sign above it that said "Alleyville". We walked up to the door and I gave it a knock. A small window on the door slid open and a pair of eyes peered through.

"Whaddya want?" A gruff voice came from the other side.

"Oh, y'know, we just thought it'd be fun to knock on the entrance for no reason." I responded sarcastically.

"Tch. Entry fee is 10 caps each."

I reached into my saddlebag for the caps, seeing the couple hundred caps that had been given to me. On my way out of Stable 54, the General had sent a soldier to give me some extra caps that we might need for the mission. Adding that to the caps I already had, I now had 288 caps in total. Well, 268 now that I have to pay the entry fee. A small slot below the window opened up and I passed the caps through.

"The dog, too."

I sighed and forked over another 10 caps, bringing my total down to 258. After a few seconds, the sound of metal latches being removed came from behind the door before it opened.

Just as I had said earlier, the streets were all as narrow as alleyways. The buildings lining the streets were all close together, practically touching each other if they weren't already. Like the fence surrounding the town, the buildings were all made of any metal they could find. Most of the buildings were homes and apartments, with the occasional small bar and a couple of whore houses, neon signs hanging above each. Most of the shops could be found in the center of town, where the streets were a bit more spacious, but not by much.

Ponies walked the streets, as well as a few griffons. Everypony was tense and alert, expecting a stranger to rob them or stick a knife into their chest. Given the close proximity, it wouldn't be hard to do.

"Ok, so, where do we start, sir?" Joy looked to me for guidance.

"I dunno." I simply shrugged.

"You don't know? I thought you said you'd been here before!"

"Yeah, when I was a kid. I wasn't even allowed in most of these places. I'm just as lost as you are." Thinking about it, I probably should have mentioned that earlier. "Welp, let's get exploring, shall we?"

"Ok, this is fine. We're just... wandering around a lawless town filled with thieves, killers, and rapists and have absolutely no direction. We'll be fine! Totally fine..." The mare with the long mane tried to stay positive. She then realized that while she was doing so, Cat and I had already started walking. She quickly sprinted after us.

"HEY, WAIT FOR ME!!!"

Unfortunately, we found no information about the spy. To pass the time, we browsed the shops around town. I sold most of the junk I collected while I travelled, all except for some tin cans and scrap metal. I used those to craft more ammo at a reloading bench that was free to use. I made back the 30 caps I paid to enter and then some, bringing my total up to 306 caps.

I found a weapons shop that I had been interested in checking out, but we had to leave after Cat peed on the owner's leg. I spared a glance back at the weapons for sale as we left, and saw that they were actually in terrible condition, but those with the untrained eye wouldn't be able to notice. I wonder if Cat had intentionally saved us from getting scammed.

We passed by a recruiter for one of the brothels, and he thought Joy looked pretty cute, so he asked if she was looking for work. He kept nagging her despite her protests, so I had to step in. He said he'd leave us alone if we paid him a few caps. I made a counter offer by decking him in the face, knocking him out cold.

Next, we stopped by a clothing store. I wasn't interested in buying any clothes, but there was one thing I wanted. Unfortunately, they didn't have it.

Seriously, how hard is it to find an eyepatch!?

As night finally approached, we stopped outside of a bar called the Ace of Hearts. A red neon sign with the bar's name sat above the saloon style door. A buck wearing a fedora stood next to it, acting as a bouncer. Peering inside, I could see plenty of tough and scruffy looking ponies. Some of them had scars, and some of them wore armor. They were all drinking, chatting, hoof wrestling, and some were playing darts in the back. Their were a couple lewdly-dressed mares serving drinks to the ponies sat at tables. The air was filled with smoke from the many cigars and cigarettes the patrons were smoking. I stepped back as a pair of stallions that had been brawling tumbled out through the door, continuing to pummel each other in the street.

This is exactly the kind of place we were looking for.

I gestured for Cat and Joy to follow me and opened the double swinging doors. As soon as I did the whole bar quieted down as they all turned to look at me. Everypony in the bar seemed to be sizing us up, seeing just how tough we were. Some of them seemed to recognize me, or at least my brand, probably having heard DJ Pon3's broadcast. Being in the spotlight made me a little uncomfortable, but I kept a neutral expression on my face the entire time. After a bit, the patrons all went back to what they were doing as sound returned to the bar.

"Well, you must be the Branded Ranger. Pleasure to meet you." I turned to face the voice and-

Holy balls, she's hot!

In front of me was a sexy, cream colored unicorn with a dark brown mane styled in a sleek and glamorous updo. She looked at us with lilac eyes, her long eyelashes fluttering when she blinked. A playful smile was spread across her face and she chuckled.

"Like what you see, you two?" She spoke in a sultry voice.

I blinked when I realized I had been staring. To my right, Joy had also been staring, a blush present on her face.

"The view's free, but if you want a little extra, you'll have to pay for it." She said, getting a bit closer to us. I was starting to feel very warm all of a sudden. I could her Joy on my right, sputtering and struggling to find the words to speak.

"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Vanilla Heart. I help the owner run this fine establishment. How can I help you?" The mare finally introduced herself. I coughed and regained my composure.

"Some information would be nice. Know where we can get that?"

"You'll want to speak to Pokerface about that. He's the owner. Just ask the bartender about it and he'll fetch him for you." With that, she turned and sashayed away.

Damn, what a mare.

I turned to Joy and saw that her mouth was agape and her face beet red. Her eyes continued to follow Vanilla. In order to re-establish my own confidence, I decided to be a jerk and tease her.

"She's pretty cute, huh?" I whispered in her ear.

"W-WHAT!? I- uh, I wasn't staring!" She stammered.

"Uh huh, sure you weren't. How about you two wait here while I go get the info?"

She nodded, eyeing the thuggish looking patrons. I told Cat to keep an eye on her and made my way to the bar. From what Vanilla had said, it seemed that this bar dealt in information pretty regularly. That meant we had a good chance of finding what we needed.

I found a free stool and sat down. I ordered a whiskey and asked the bartender about the owner. He went into the back to fetch him while I enjoyed my drink. After a bit, he came back with a stallion, who I assumed was Pokerface. He was a pale yellow pony with a long orange mane tied back into a small ponytail, and a small goatee for facial hair.

"Well, would you look at that! The San Palomino's latest good samaritan strolled into my bar requiring my services! How can ol' Pokerface help you today?" He said, resting his hooves on the bar.

"I'm looking for somepony. Rumor has it there's a spy from the Martyrs of Despair around town. Know where I can find them?"

He stroked his beard in thought before answering. "Yeah, I've got some idea where you might find them. Of course, we don't provide that kind of info for free. You want it, it's gonna cost you. I'd say that particular bit of gossip is worth about 1,000 caps."

I choked on my drink.

1,000 caps!? Is he nuts!? I've only got about 300!!!

"Now, I understand if you don't have that kind of money right now..." Pokerface continued, leaning closer to me. "So I might have a few ways for you to earn those caps."

"...I'm listening." I leaned in, having recovered from choking.

Before he could tell me, our attention, as well as the rest of the bar's, was drawn to the sound of two ponies, one of which was Joy.

The other was a stallion getting closer to her than he should be.

"Leave me alone!" She yelled at him.

"Aw, c'mon babe, don't be like that." The deadbeat slurred, clearly drunk. "You know you want me."

"No, I don't. Now back off!"

The drunk ignored her and placed a hoof on her shoulder. Cat growled at him, and I was about to step in, only to see I didn't need to. The second he laid his hoof on her, Joy grabbed it, twisted it, then tossed the stallion (who was much larger than her, by the way), right over her shoulder, then pinned him to the ground.

Holy shit!

"Agh! Y-You little bitch!" He cursed at her.

"Alright, alright, break it up." Vanilla emerged from the crowd to intervene. "Rusty, how many times have we told you to keep your hooves to yourself?" The gorgeous mare asked, leaning down to the stallion's level.

"W-What, I'm not allowed to have a little fun!?" He winced from the pain of having his hoof wrenched behind his back.

"Now Rusty..." Vanilla's horn glowed and a magical aura wrapped around the stallion's junk. The stallion's face grew pale as she squeezed. "You know that's not what I wanted to hear."

"A-Alright! Alright! I get the message!" He cried before Vanilla released her magical grip.

"Now was that so hard?" Vanilla gave Joy a nod and the mint green mare released him. The stallion limped out of the bar and soon the chatter amongst the patrons resumed.

"...Mares can be pretty scary sometimes, huh?" Pokerface spoke up.

"Y-Yeah, they sure can." I responded, still a little surprised by Joy's sudden display of strength. Then again, her dad said she was an expert in hoof to hoof, and she did get the jump on me when we first met. "So, uh, where were we?"

"Ah, right. So, there's a few... 'chores' I need done. A few debt collections, maybe beat up a guy or two, and you'll eventually have earned enough to afford the tip."

I wasn't a fan of doing dirty work, to be honest, but it wasn't like I hadn't done it before. I could handle those 'chores' of his easily.

"Or, if you'd rather not get your hooves dirty, you have a second option. We occasionally hold a poker game in the back after midnight. If you're willing, you could join in. Of course, you might lose the money you already have, but that's the risk that comes with gambling."

Joining in on his poker game sounded much more interesting, but it would be far easier and less risky to just do the job he offered. I sat there and thought about it for longer than I should have. It should've been an easy choice, right?

Come on, me, don't be stupid. Just do the work and earn the pay. Don't risk all your money for a little entertainme-

"Sure, I'll join your poker game."

"Alright! I'll make the necessary arrangements. Just hang out here until it's time. I'll send someone to get you." He said before he turned and left. I took another swig from my drink and made myself comfortable. My brain had only one thing to say to me.

I really hate you, me.

I told Joy about my plan and, understandably, she thought I was crazy. Unfortunately, I was the one holding the money, so there wasn't anything she could do about it. While we waited, we played some darts until it was time for the game. Since it was already late, and the game would probably last a while, I rented a couple rooms for me, Joy, and Cat to stay in. A muscular guy in a fedora lead me into the back along with three other ponies, two mares and a stallion. One of the mares wore a cowpony hat, and the other was a ghoul. The stallion had a cocky grin on his face. I'm guessing these three were my competition.

We were lead into a small room with a single poker table in the center, Pokerface already sitting at it. Vanilla stood off to the side next to a much smaller table with 4 different bottles of wine sitting on it. Another thug in a fedora stood by the door, acting as a bouncer. A single light hanging from the ceiling shone down on the poker table. The rest of the room was pretty dark. Pokerface waved for us to take a seat, and so we did. I sat across from our host, the mare sat on my right, the stallion sat on my left, and the ghoul on his left.

"Alright, let's go over the rules real quick." Pokerface began. "We each get dealt two cards. If somepony bets, you have to either match it or fold. If you don't have enough to match their bet, you can go all in or fold. Small blind is 10 caps, big blind is 20. Standard hand and chip values, Aces high, no wild cards. No whining if you lose, or you'll be kicked out. Need me to repeat something, or does everypony got it?"

We all gave a round of nods.

"Alright, then. I'll deal first, then we go clockwise from where I'm sitting. Without further ado, let's ante up."

The two grunts in fedoras stood by the door while Vanilla stood by with her drinks, ensuring no pony was cheating. The mare was given the small blind and I was given the big blind, leaving 30 caps in the pot. Pokerface dealt the cards out to everypony, and I looked at my hand. A Jack of clubs and a five of hearts. Not a terrible hand to start off with.

Pokerface dealt the Flop, a seven of diamonds, a five of diamonds, and a two of clubs. I had a pair now, so my chances were looking okay so far. Not worth raising just yet, though. I checked, and so did everypony else. Pokerface dealt the Turn, which was a Jack of spades.

"Call." I said once it was my turn. I tossed two blue poker chips into the pot, keeping a stoic expression on my face. Behind me, I could hear Vanilla gulping down her drink. The stallion on my left eyed me before smirking. He called, adding two more blue chips to the pot. The ghoul thought for a second before folding. Pokerface and the mare did the same. Pokerface dealt the River, a nine of hearts. The stallion and I both checked, and we revealed our cards. He had a seven of clubs and a Queen of hearts. I didn't blame him for not folding, but he still lost. I pulled the pot of 70 caps towards me as his smirk faded.

Alright, doing good so far.

"I'll be winning that back, so don't get to comfy." He said. I didn't respond and just focused on the game. We kept playing like normal for about a dozen more rounds. Vanilla finished one of the bottles she'd been drinking, and had one of the bouncers fetch another one. I didn't know why she didn't just finish off the other three bottles before getting a new one, but I was too focused on the game to care. Counting the caps I earned in the first round, I'd profited about 180 caps, and my total was now 483. Slowly but surely, I was making progress.

As we played, it became clear that the stallion was incredibly cocky and not thinking at all. Because I was winning the most out of everypony here, he was starting to not like me. The stallion slammed his hooves on the table after losing another round to me.

"This guy's gotta be cheating! How can he be winning so much!?" He growled.

"Whoa, buddy, relax. It's not like I've been doing nothing but winning. I lost a few rounds, too." I tried to calm him down. He wasn't listening.

"You've gotta have some sort of trick! What is it!? Tell me!" He started yelling.

"Look kid, no one's cheating." The ghoul chimed in. "You just got unlucky, that's all."

"EXCUSE ME!?" He raised his hoof to strike the ghoul. I was ready to leap out of my seat to stop him before he could, but one of the bouncers stopped him first. They ended up having to drag him out of the room and throw him out of the bar.

"Huh... well that was exciting. Anyhoo, Who's dealing next?" Pokerface's focus quickly returned to the game, as if it had never happened.

The ghoul, the mare and I all looked at each other before resuming the game.

One down, three left.

Three hours had passed since we started playing. The minimum bet had eventually raised from 20 caps to 50. The ghoul and the mare had to drop out before they lost too much money, leaving only me and Pokerface at the table. I was now at 902 caps. Pokerface was at 2,137. I'm sure that wasn't his entire life savings, but this was the money he was using for gambling. Vanilla had gone through several bottles of alcohol at this point. I'm surprised she didn't die of alcohol poisoning already.

I had no idea how Pokerface was so damn good at poker. Well, other than his name, of course. He always seemed to know when I was bluffing, and always folded at the right times when I wasn't. Thinking about it, I realized Pokerface hadn't bluffed the entire game. I thought back to every time he folded or raised a bet. It was as if he knew whether I had a good hand or not, like he knew exactly what cards I had. It was almost as if-

...

...Oh, you motherfuckers.

I slowly turned around in my seat to face Vanilla, who was standing behind me, and gave her a deadpan look.

"Something wrong?" She said sweetly, flashing an innocent smile.

"...No. Nothing at all." I said before turning back to the game. I had a hunch, and I had a good feeling that it was right.

I was next to deal, so I dealt two cards to Pokerface, then myself. I quickly looked my cards over, a six of clubs and a four of spades, then listened closely to Vanilla while keeping my eyes on the cards. I heard her take six gulps before there was a pause, which I assumed was her switching bottles, then four more gulps.

I knew it.

They were cheating.

The entire game, Vanilla had a clear view of my cards. She would signal Pokerface by using the bottles of alcohol. She had four bottles at a time, one for each suit. Hearts, Diamonds, Spades, and Clubs. The number of gulps she took from a bottle was the number on the card. I don't know why they targeted me specifically instead of everypony else. Maybe Pokerface invited them because he knew they were bad at poker. Either way, I was in trouble.

I couldn't just call him out on it. Everypony in this room was probably in on it and they would just throw me out. No, I knew tattling was a stupid idea.

So instead, I went with a very stupid idea.

I folded and waited for Pokerface to deal us new hands. He lifted his cards and looked them over.

I, however, did not, and left them face down on the table.

"Uh... you gonna look at your cards, kid?" He asked.

"Nope. Figured I'd let Lady Luck decide this one." I said, leaning back into my seat. If Pokerface didn't realize I was onto him before, he sure as hell did now. He had a look in his eye, but I couldn't tell what it was. Anger? Skepticism? Curiosity? All of the above? Who knows.

"...Call." He spoke hesitantly before placing two green chips into the pot.

Okay, me, this is a huge gamble you're making, but we don't have a choice. Don't make it riskier than it already is. Just raise the bet to 100 caps, that's all you need. Don't do something stupid like-

"All in." I pushed all my chips into the pot, raising the bet to 902.

YOU FUCKING MORON!!!

Pokerface stared at me, questioning my sanity. I could feel the stares from Vanilla and the bouncers doing the same. I was questioning it right alongside them.

"... Alright, kid. I'll play along." He added the chips, matching my bet. Guess he was curious to see if my insanity would pay off. He dealt the community cards, laying them out on the table. A Queen of hearts, an Ace of diamonds, a Queen of spades, a six of hearts, and an Ace of clubs. Pokerface laid his cards on the table, a Queen of clubs and a Queen of diamonds. Four of a kind.

"Moment of truth, kid. Let's see what you got." He gestured for me to show my cards. Slowly and nervously, I flipped the cards over.

I couldn't believe my remaining eye.

An Ace of hearts and an Ace of spades.

I just barely beat his four of a kind with my own.

I had won.

"...Holy shit, that worked." I didn't mean to say that out loud, but it didn't make a difference. Pokerface went bug eyed. We all stared in shock and silence at the winning hand for about 10 seconds.

...

I have no idea why, but being the idiot I am, I decided to rub it in their faces. Without taking my eyes off Pokerface, I grabbed a bit of the money from the pot.

"For the first purchase with my recent winnings," I passed the money to Vanilla while keeping my eyes on Pokerface. "I'd like whatever she's having. Sounds like she's enjoying it."

They all stared at me in shock. I didn't blame them. Pokerface seemed like the kind of pony with connections. Connections that he could have make me disappear if I pissed him off. Yet here I was, not only screwing him over at his own game, but also rubbing it in his face.

"...Heh..."

Pokerface started chuckling. His chuckling soon devolved into immense laughter.

"HA HA HA HA HA!!! Holy shit, kid! You are fuckin' ballsy! I knew I had a good feeling about you!"

Huh?

"You're really growing on me, you know that? You said you wanted a drink? Consider it on the house!"

"...You're not mad?" I asked hesitantly.

"Eh, I'm a little peeved, sure, but I was doing this for excitement, not money, and that was pretty damn exciting!" He grinned. "How about you wait at the bar. I'll have Vanilla get you something."

I did as he said, still not sure if this was just an act, and left the back room. I made my way back to the bar and sat on a stool. There weren't any other patrons around since the bar had closed by now. Vanilla soon came from the back with a glass and a bottle of wine.

"You sure that's not poisoned?" I asked as she poured it into the glass.

"Relax, he already said he likes you." She passed me the glass and I stared at it, wondering just how truthful she was being.

...Ah fuck it, I'm thirsty.

I downed the glass in one and licked my lips. It was pretty good, not gonna lie. I took another look at Vanilla and saw she wasn't even slightly tipsy, which was a miracle, considering she'd been chugging booze for the past 3 hours.

"By the way, how the hell do you not seem the least bit drunk?" I questioned her. She showed me her cutie mark, which was two bottles, one wine and the other whiskey.

"I have a very high tolerance for alcohol." She left me alone after that. I stared into the empty glass. It was late, so I'd talk to Pokerface about the information in the morning. For now though, I seemed to have amassed quite a few caps.

Lucky me.

Author's Note

Here's another chapter for you. Thanks for reading!