Hmm.

Hmm... Hm Hm.

A quiet yet sincere clap was all the praise Luna needed, as little over two dozen hands and a pair of hooves made their pleasure known from the depths of the dimly lit hole in the expanse of the station. She always played the old piano once at Riga's quaint little bar. Well, always before she got utterly shitfaced drunk on the only alcohol available.

The slight discount if she did play wasn't unwelcome.

Ugh...

A musical prodigy from birth or not, she really should start drinking after playing. Her poor head... and she wasn't even done. Mm mm mm, mushroom grown on excrement then turned into dubious distillate. Delicious.

”Vlad!...” She said a bit too loud, catching herself within a moment and griping the wooden bar with all the strength afforded to her before she tumbled to the floor. ”Another!... p-lease....” The bar proprietor she ousted as Vladimir made a face full of doubt. He knew the blue menace all too well... not that she wouldn't pay, no... he knew her as much, she would pay within a day, just- ”So help me all above God or Faust, give me that liquid numb-shroom or... or I won't play!... Anymore!”

She was the one who offered, but... that would be a hit to his business.

”Alright, alright. Don't get your horn in a twist more than it needs to be. Here you go ponyo.” The proprietor of the establishment slid a cup full of the vile stuff her way, hoping she wouldn't get too rowdy... again. Have you ever tried to restrain a magical horse convinced that shadows were out to get her? No? Thought so.

*Scoff* Please. What did he know?

What did anyone know.

All of them knew nothing... How could they? Try to live to a few thousand or so and survive through three apocalypses or so, two small ones and one major, and then... then... Ugh... well. Now all she had was some rumors of some new mutants a few stations from here. Marvelous. The culmination of her vast career, both princess and mercenary.

Damn... I really should cut back...

If not for the soothing sounds of the piano her mood would be even worse. She already had to discretely refuse a courtesan, as she did NOT need their services and- and that guy at the bar scant two meters from her, the one in the beanie, the shifty-looking guy.

She didn't like his face. You know what, in fact, she ought to-

”..without him we wouldn't be here. To Artyom!”

”To Artyom!” Luna shouted in earnest and downed her cup till she saw the bottom. Wait- the liquid was clear, she always saw the bottom. Also, to who? To... wait- who's Artyom? She turned her head to- oh God.. Do not turn head, like at all. All that would do is- ah there it was. Floor... her old nemesis. Hello floor. Fuck you, daft bastard.

Ugh. She was hoisted up. Who did that? Did she want to beat them up? Put them up... maybe... Wait, the knife was somewhere in here. Umm... how did she grab that without fingers again?

”We appreciate the... patronage, Princess.” The last word a practiced sneer more than anything. ”Yet the Chief would like to keep the station out of the Hanza's sight. So you need to go. Or at least keep yourself quiet.” The body holding her up said as if he didn't want to be here. He didn't.

No. She did not want to beat them up. Well... she did but she shouldn't.

”Mmm... I'll pay you back once I'm here yet again. Expect me Vlad,” Luna threw into the general direction of her friend while being dragged out of the bar by a pair of guards. Strong lads. She weighed, what, four times as much as them combined... or fourteen.. ffffff-ive? Well, at least two.

”Mhm. Just have the bullets,” was all the proprietor of the business had to say. He wasn't about to interfere in anything... whatever she got herself into this time. Doubly so if it involved station authorities.

”Please... Vlad... Влади́мир...” A circle in the air for flair. ”Magazines for days.”

”Magazines for days?” Disbelief ensue.

”Magazines for days!”

”Alright Lady,” One of the guards dragging Luna through the dingy station started, many cubby-sized wooden dwellings passing by her heavily blurred vision. ”The only reason you're not in a ditch as far as I'm concerned, is because Chief said not to.” Huh. So considerate. ”So you land with the whores. Pray they don't throw you out.”

”Mmm... Murgle.”

”W-what?”

”'Dunno. He's red.”

”Alright, we're done here.”

...

Ow. It would seem she was thrown. Like a... like a sack of... what were those small funny tubers humans were so fond of? ... Ah, potatoes, yes. No dirt, would sprout anyway. Marvelous creature of God. Praise be. Bless.

”Upsy-daisy, darling.” A completely new voice said, picking Luna up from the not-quite-ditch she was left in.

”I'm up. Imup.”

”I know sweetheart. I'm still holding onto you.”

Wait... Luna knew those soft hands smelling of twenty years old expired moisturizer. ”Nikki? Nikki, my flower?” She looked up, yet for the love of her, the most she could make out was some blurred grays and reds... she's half sure the red was lipstick. The other half said the red was shotgun shells.

Why would prostitutes have shotgun shells?

Ah yes. Pigs. Logical.

”Yes, it's me you big lug,” The big blur said to Luna. ”Bed?”

Mmm, a tempting proposition. But no. No bed for the wicked. Especially if she took that bed from someone else. ”Nah. Nah. Put me in a chair, I will be good in hald- half an hour. Alicorn.” She tried to explain as if her biology made sense to anyone beside her.

”Right. Kitchen?”

”Yah. I lost smell half an hour ago anyway.”

She was carried and she could swear there was more than a pair of hands on her. Ah yes, she did weigh more than an average human could carry. Mmm, okay, more hands now. At least... three. ”...You're not scamming people anymore Flower, are you?”

The murky female looked quite guilty despite having a line for a mouth and eyes where... well, somewhere.

”We- 've- we talked about this Nikki...” A quick thought. ”Don't.”

”Oh, like you know how that feels. When even selling your body is not enough anymore.” The resigned resentment flowing from the sparingly dressed female was almost palatable, yet it came to a stop very quickly.

Luna was scary when she glared.

”Do not tell me how it feels. Though I am not proud of it, I too have sold both my body and soul in order to survive. Thousands of years before you were even born.” The expression darkened significantly making the former Princess look even more menacing as she spoke her next, most horrible sentence. ”The difference is, I did it for a loaf of bread. One to be shared.”

”I'm... sorry. I didn't know.”

The scary expression was gone just as quick as it came and now a quiet whisper was all it took. ”There's no one alive who does... don't worry about it. Old times.”

The rest of the short journey was spent in silence, Nikki not in the mood to vex the night princess anymore. She might be a simple girl, but she knew when to let go. Especially when someone said something so personal.

”Here,” Luna felt she was suddenly sitting, on a... ugh, a chair. Those were not designed for a pony body. A bar stool, that's easy. A full-blown chair with a backrest? Get out. ”Do not wander out, stay here till sober. Get it?”

”Do I look like-”

If looks could kill... Well, they can, just not in the human world... probably.

”'aight, I'm not gonna head out.”

”Glad we're in agreement.” Nikki gave a nod to the woman cooking, the two in cahoots to keep Luna here till she was ready. ”See you in the morning.” She already saw Luna's mouth opening and she would have none of that. ”In the morning.”

”Alright, alright...” Luna could take a hint. ”We get it. Shall comply.”

”Glad to hear that. See 'ya.”

Yeah. See... God, Luna wished she could see. As of now everything was just two blobs and a dash of color.

...

She's not sleeping! She's not. She wasn't. Resting one's eyes is not considered sleeping... in certain cultures. Why, Gryphons considered siesta a mandatory activity while-

”...and you can get me to Dry?”

”Kid, I need to get to Dry. Tell you what, once we're there I'll give you my Kalash. I won't need it once there anyway. So, how about it?”

Hmm.

Hmm. Hmm.

It was the kid from the bar. Artyom, was it? The one anomalies don't touch? Maybe, maybe not. Not entirely impossible, not likely either. The other was the sleazer. The beanie guy. And the kid wasn't the smartest too, he seemed to buy the story.

...

It seemed the rumor about humanoid mutants would have to wait, as she had a new mission. Luna was really fortunate. Her chair was in the back, so no one would see the stupidity that was about to ensue.

”Cook, your finest gutter swill please.”

The cook wasn't supposed to do that, but... bullets are bullets. Also, judge Luna all you want but doing stupid without any kind of drink would be just... uh.. stupid. The regular kind.

”Flower, I'm about to do something incredibly stupid.”

Oh. It would seem she teleported... Kind of a dumb and risky move while inebriated. Good thing she didn't teleport only her front half.

Once was enough for an eternity. Bless Alicorn constitution and Starswirl's ability.

Throwing Luna out of her musings, Nikki spoke, but only after calming herself down from a near teleportation induced heart attack. ”How stupid?”

”Royal stupid....”

Sigh. Here they went again. ”Here are the bullets,” Nikki said while bringing out a small case full of jingling small instant deaths from the near wooden cubby.

”240?” Luna asked, needing to be completely sure. Also, it seemed teleporting while drunk cured blurriness somewhat... huh... cool.

”All 240,” The woman confirmed, handing over all the bullets with dubious certainty.

”Right.” Time to pay up. ”Here be two magazines.” Luna declared as two full AK-47 magazines floated out of her backpack, darker than normal in the dim candlelight of the dingy alley.

Nikki saw it a mile away. They were genuine.

”Luna, I can't...”

”Take it, take it,” None of that now. She will take the military bullets whether she likes it or not. ” ...what is it, seventy? At most?” Wait, how much did a magazine hold- nevermind. ”I know better, I helped develop this economy decades ago, shut up. Take it. Earned, not stolen, no?”

”...Alright.” In this profession one had to know when to admit defeat. ”...Just don't die. Whatever you end up doing. Please.”

A big heart buried all the way down under all those scars.

”I'll try not to.”

Now. Time to follow the two curious fools before they-

Wait.

A cap was unscrewed most shrewdly in the darkness of the station and not a drop of precious dumb juice spilled while she quenched her thirst by the dimly lit dwellings... screwing it back on was a tad harder. Dammit.

”Hold on, where did you get tha-”

Ah, that's better. As she was saying, better get going before the pair gets too distant to follow. Where were they going anyway? Besides Dry. Ah. She shall see. All shall be revealed.... though a sip would reveal a little bit more. She was rather sure of that... like... twenty nine percent sure.

...

Well, alright. She wasn't sure at all.... but another sip couldn't hurt her chances.

Right?

Author's Note

Terribly sorry for the delay darlings, but unfortunately I have fallen ill and was sick for the last three weeks, 105.8 degrees fever, coughing up blood and all...

Flu season in eastern Europe is no joke.

...well, not actualy flu, 'cause I tested myself and it wasn't that. But whatever it was, the little bitch lost and it shan't laugh microscopically at me anymore.

On a related note, morphine for pain and cough mixed with Ketoprofenum for fever? I do NOT recommend... or maybe I do, I don't know what you like. Suffice to say, flew high as a kite despite having more holes than Swiss cheese.

You get the picture.

Regardless, chapter few weeks late but still here in the end. Eat up.

A little sneak peek into my writing process. When I wrote that "little over two dozen hands" clapped, I asked myself. How many people were in that bar in the game?

So I went and counted. Even the courtesan that was on screen for like two seconds.

Yes, I am THAT kind of retarded.