Breathtaking

If you lose your one and only
There's always room here for the lonely
To watch your broken dreams dance
In and out of the beams of a neon moon

We made it back to camp and settled down to eat some breakfast. One of the other mares decided to take over Cookie's duties and somehow, she fucked it up royally. I looked at the grimacing faces around the camp as ponies tried to choke down the concoction that posed as beans before I turned to Dash.

"What do you think?" I asked her.

"I think it needs to be put out of its misery."

"I was hopin' you'd say that." I took my plate and dumped it out on the ground.

"Where are you going?" she asked loudly.

"I'm gonna find something edible."

In truth, there was plenty out here that you could eat; the problem was just knowing what it was. I got about 60 yards from the camp before I found a stand of prickly pear cactus that didn't look too intimidating. I cut off about six of the cactus pads before I heard the snake rattle its tail.

Now where in the fuck is that little critter?

About six feet to my right, I saw it move. Not very quickly at first; I guess it was still too early for him to be warmed up quite yet. I looked from the small pile of cactus at my feet to the four-foot reptile.

"Fuck this."

It was still trying to escape when I put my boot down on its head and lowered my knife to a few inches behind its head where its body started to narrow down.

"Sorry, Fluttershy," I said aloud before picking up the snake's body and cleanly cutting its head away. It was still writhing in my hands when I walked back into camp. Ponies looked at me with wide eyes as I sidled up to a random campfire. Calmly slicing and pulling out the innards of my prey, I tossed a tin plate on the fire and laid the prepared snake on top of it to cook while I prepared the cactus, methodically trimming off the needles.

"Where did you go?" Dash asked as she trotted up.

"Nowhere. You want some?" I gestured towards the already prepared cactus pads as I worked on the others.

"What is it?"

"Nopales. They're okay grilled, but you can eat 'em raw, too."

"What does it taste like?" She asked, eying it suspiciously. Then, she finally saw the snake on the fire. "What is THAT?"

"Do you wanna know? It tastes like chicken."

"No thanks." She said quietly.

"The cactus tastes like... almost like green beans or okra. Try it." She selected one of the cleaned pads and took a bite while I turned the snake over with my knife. A few ponies visibly recoiled when the meat started to sizzle. I laughed at them. "Don't worry, it's not gonna bite you." Dash looked at me again, munching contentedly on her new meal.

"How do you know all this stuff?" I shrugged in reply.

"Anyone that spends any time out in the wilderness should know what's good to eat out there. I'll bet more than half of the ponies out here know about drinkin' water in the desert." Dusk was holding her nose as she walked past.

"What about it? You mean the sickness and poisons it could have?"

"Yep." I said nodding to her. "Eatin' cactus gets pretty iffy, too." I saw Dash stop in mid-chew and smiled to her. "You're alright, but don't ever eat one of those," I said pointing at a big saguaro. They aren't good. Some of these plants do some crazy shit to your brain."

I pushed the snake around a little more, making sure that it was cooked all the way through. It was already starting to water my mouth just thinking about the searing meat.

It was still a somber morning for everyone, but eventually we broke camp and hauled out. The huge skyline of Las Pegasus was in sight and we were eager to get going if only to get the rest of it over with.

The closer we got to the city, the more the other ponies looked determined to finish. Dusk assured us that even though we might be late, but we would still get there before the close of business. I was ready to be done. My arms showed the telltale signs of sun exposure more than any of the others and my legs were getting sore as hell from the load I carried.

"First thing I'm gonna do when I get there is buy a huge plate of hay fries," a pony said.

"I'm getting a cold pint of beer. Forget your hay fries," someone else piped up. I laughed and lit a cigarette.

"I'm findin' a hole to crawl into for a couple of days. Y'all don't even know how much my feet are killin' me." A frustrated Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and scowled.

"I just wanna fly around the city and stretch these out. Walking like this all day sucks. I don't know how any of you do it."

The banter continued for hours. Slowly, the conversation devolved into more... entertaining subjects to ease the tensions of the day. I looked over at a stallion and posed the question:

"Okay, okay... I have a little game. Sapphire Shores, Princess Celestia and your first grade teacher. You gotta fu-" Dusk raised her voice over the group and cut me off.

"We're almost there, fellas. Just a couple more miles!" I looked up at the sun and realized just how long we'd been walking. It was probably about 4 PM and Las Pegasus was right there in front of us. Probably another hour or so and we'd be there. I turned back to the stallion to figure out just what he would do, but Dash walked up next to me.

"So, we dump off this stuff and head home, right?" I looked at her and slowly blinked.

"I feel like we've had this conversation before. No. Let's hit the casinos. I feel like findin' my fortune out here in the desert."

"And if you lose it all?"

"Well, then tough titty, I guess." That got a laugh from a couple of the guys while Dash burned me a look.

"And how long are we staying?"

"Until I don't want to anymore." I said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"You're gonna have to face her eventually," she said quietly.

"Yeah... Yeah, but not today."

The minutes ticked by slowly. Anticipation of the days ahead were enough to push the night before from my mind. Just outside of the city proper, we hit actual roads for the first time and took a slight turn towards a large warehouse.

Dusk hopped off her wagon and lead us into one of the main bays where we were supposed to park. We unloaded the wagon and packs full of various goods and left them on the designated concrete pad in a nice grouping. A pony that we didn't know walked up, presumably the foreman and approached Dusk.

"About time you showed up. We were about to close down shop for the night." Dusk nodded.

"We were delayed. Lost a good mare last night and had to spend a little extra time at the last stop." The workpony shrugged.

"Well, let's get this wrapped up. My boys need to go home."

The packs were inventoried and invoiced over the span of an hour. There wasn't much variety as far as what was in the different bags; most of it was agricultural goods like apples, wheat and corn. The 'hoofmade' textiles and homemade sweets went to specialty shops around Las Pegasus and all of the food went into cold storage in the warehouse somewhere in the back. While everything was totaled up, the wagons were loaded again and Dusk got an official invoice from the company along with a huge check from the goods. Dusk waved at the crew and started the wagons out into the evening. Again, we pulled down another road and headed for a sit up building. The words "24 Hour Bank" showed brightly on the sign as it lit up. Dusk pulled Dash and I to the side and stopped.

"You ever seen Las Pegasus before?" I shook my head and lit my very last smoke. "Watch." She said simply.

A few moments after we turned our attention to the city, the tall buildings all flipped their lights on in stages. One by one, the city became a dazzling light show that lit up the night to the point that we almost couldn't tell that the sun was going down. Even above the city in the cloud level, lights were shined up from the bottom to strategically turn it all into an amazing show of lights. Dusk walked off to talk to the bank teller while Dash stepped over.

"Whatdya think, Dash?" I asked her.

"It looks amazing."

"That's how they get ya," I said laughing.

"How are we supposed to sleep in a place like this?" She asked incredulously.

"Eh... I'll get a room or somethin' at the best place we can find."

"How much is THAT gonna cost?"

"Probably a couple hundred bits a night."

"Are you SERIOUS?!" I nodded at her.

"Don't worry, that's just the first night. We'll find somewhere else tomorrow. I just wanna live the high life for a bit." I then hefted my duffel bag and smiled at her. "No worries. I've got us covered for a while." Dusk walked up after a few minutes while we admired the view of the skyline.

"John, four days' pay got you 350 bits. Miss Dash, you got 175 for two days." I took the sack that was offered to me and put it with the rest.

"Well then, I guess this is it. It was a pleasure, Miss Fire." She smiled and shrugged.

"It's work. Hope you find something worth spending all that money on." I laughed and pulled her into a brief hug.

"I'll see ya again. One of these days maybe." She smiled and nodded.

"Maybe. You're always welcome to work with us again anytime. Just go easy on the bars here in town. They might throw you in jail if you get too rowdy."

"You got it." Dash waved goodbye to the rest of the crew and we walked off towards the Strip, parting ways with our traveling companions as we moved towards the bright lights and sounds of the city.

The Las Pegasus Strip was a sight to behold. Ponies laughed and partied in the streets as the night life really geared up for the tourists looking for excitement. The neon flashed brightly and lit up caricatures of happy stallions beckoned travelers into the various casinos in town. I looked over at Rainbow, the look of amazement on her face was priceless.

"What's the matter? Never been here before?"

"No... This is awesome!" I laughed.

"I figured you'd like it."

"And how did you know that?" She asked.

"Call it a good guess, maybe. Where to first?" I should have known what her answer would be. If I could feel my stomach growling, then she definitely did.

"Let's find some place for food. I'm starving!" I gestured to the street.

"Pick one."

"They have food in the casinos?" She asked curiously.

"Well, they don't want you to leave," I explained to her. "Food, hotels, gift shops, just about whatever you could need." She searched the street thoughtfully.

"There. That one. The one with the winged cloud." A spectacular white and gold flashing sign just down the street read "The Silver Cloud."

"Looks good. Let's head on in then."

The short walk was considerably lengthened by the amount of ponies we had to wade through. Frustrated, Dash flapped her wings and hovered over my head as I navigated the crowd.

"There are so many ponies... How could anyone like this place? Its too busy."

"Some folks are just like that, I guess. You're used to open skies. They're used to bright lights, lots of sounds and lots of ponies. For me, I guess it's just excitin'. I don't mind quiet small towns, but being in a crowd... it's electrifyin'. Just don't get anything stolen from you and your none the worse for wear."

After a few minutes, we made it into the front doors and looked around. It wasn't nearly as crowded as the street, but ponies were still everywhere, all walking, talking, laughing and gaming. A pretty mare with a tray walked past and I waved her down. At first, she looked at me in surprise, but composed herself quickly and smiled.

"Is there any way I can help you two?" I smiled and nodded.

"If you could point us in the direction of the restaurant that would be great." She walked over to me and pointed with a hoof towards a far wall.

"They'll be able to take care of you back there. Enjoy your stay at the Silver Cloud!" I thanked the mare and started off, Dash in tow.

"What kinda food would they have?"

"Just about anything you would eat. Probably more. These places are usually four or five star restaurants." I said.

I looked around at the place as we walked. Instead of cameras in the ceiling, there was a series of catwalks and ponies with binoculars stationed at regular intervals, all watching the ponies on the floor of the casino, carefully making sure nobody was cheating or causing a stir. It wasn't long before something else caught my eye. A crowd of ponies gathered around a roulette table, watching the spinning wheel and hopefully not losing their bits on a bad bet. Groans of the ponies that lost drowned out the cries of excitement of the few winners. I tapped Dash lightly on the shoulder and waved for her to follow me.

"C'mon. I'm gonna figure something out really quick."

"What? No! John, FOOD!"

"Hang on."

I approached the crowded roulette table and edged my way in. A few ponies regarded me with a curious stare, but quickly turned their attention to their gambling. Dash pushed her way towards me.

"What are you doing?" Ignoring her question and posing another towards the croupier.

"Excuse me. What's the table limit?"

"Two hundred bits," he said shortly before shuffling the chips around the table. I looked around at the other ponies at the table and asked them another question.

"Do any of y'all know where I can find a chip exchange at?" Most of them ignored me, but one stallion was all smiles. Apparently, he was one of the recent winners. He waved to me and pointed across the casino floor towards the other wall where a large booth could be seen in the wall. I waved, smiled and turned to push my way back towards the restaurant with Dash hot on my heels.

"Well?"

"Well what? Let's eat!" We stepped into the restaurant and the host smiled and approached us.

"Good evening. Is it just you two needing a table?" Dash and I answered simultaneously.

"Yes." The pony smiled and grabbed two menus.

"Right this way, please."

I left Dash with enough money to cover the bill and the tip while I went to the chip exchange. She was in the process of ordering more food when I was already done and waiting. I figured she would be okay by herself for a while. I approached the counter and a stallion with a bow tie greeted me.

"Welcome sir, how can I help you?"

"Yeah, can I get about five hundred bits in chips, please?" I handed him a bulging sack and he trotted to the back to run it through a counting machine. A few moments later, he returned with a tray of chips and a smile.

"Here you go, sir, enjoy your evening!" I nodded in appreciation and started back towards the restaurant. Dash met me outside and together, we moved back towards the roulette table.

"Hey, good news. Little bit of luck and we're set. We've already got enough to cover us for the next week or two." Dash looked at me hopefully.

"So we don't need to do anything, right?"

"I didn't say that, but yeah. If I don't want any money when I leave, we can just sit around, but where's the fun in that?" She sighed in resignation.

"Okay... Where are we going first?"

"Where was the table I was at when we first got here?" She pointed with a hoof towards the middle of the casino.

"Over there." I walked towards the roulette table again, ending up in the spot next to the croupier.

"Welcome, sir." I looked over at Dash and smiled.

"Evens or odds?" I asked.

"What?"

"Evens or odds?"

"What are you asking?" She said, confused.

"Simple question: Evens or odds?" She threw her hooves up in exasperation.

"I don't know! ... Evens!" I waited for the next round of betting to be over. When the officiator called for the bets to be placed, I put a hundred on even.

Having Dash with me made it better. After we played a little roulette, we went past another familiar game.

"That's Blackjack," I said to Dash as we walked past. "Careful when you play that one. You can do well for a while and then take a serious nose dive. From then on, you'll just be chasing that 'one good hand' that's supposed to win big. It almost never happens. People lose their life savings spending money on chasing the win. That's pretty much any game in here." Dash frowned.

"You'd think something like that wouldn't be allowed." I shrugged in reply.

"It makes the country a lot of money in taxes. It's pretty good if the government doesn't have a steady income. On top of that, casinos in a lot of places donate money to charities and businesses that eventually bring in more customers. Kind of like how the lottery sometimes goes to the education system and building roads."

"What's the lottery?"

"Nevermind."

I kept walking until we had gone around the entire casino floor. A room tucked off to the side piqued my interest and I waved for Dash to follow me. The small specialty shop had a lot to offer, from souvenirs and curios to different smokes and sweets. I walked up to the counter and asked the salespony a few questions.

"Howdy. Do y'all get a lot of business?" He nodded and smiled.

"Sure, lots of ponies like to get something nice for family back home or a special somepony if they have the coin to spend." A pang of guilt shot through my gut at the special somepony part. I instantly thought of the one I left in Ponyville.

"Right... Uh... Is there anywhere I can buy tobacco?" The stallion nodded and bent below the counter. What he brought out next surprised the absolute shit out of me. I expected another big tin of pipe tobacco or something. No, he brought up a tray of factory made packs of legitimate cigarettes, all with familiar brand names. Mareboro, J&K, Lucky Swings and others. My eyes got big.

"How many of those do you have?" He shrugged and looked at me funny.

"I don't know. Got a pretty good stock in last week."

"Is tobacco really that big of a business around here?" He shook his head.

"No, they're really just a small factory to supply shops like mine. Not a huge demand, but they make up for it in price."

"How much?" I asked tentatively.

"About ten bits a pack." I let out a low whistle and dug for my coins.

"I'll take eight packs of the Mareboros." The pony looked at me in shock.

"R-really? Ummm... Okay." He walked to the back room for a minute, leaving me to twiddle my thumbs and wait patiently. He returned later with a small box on his back. "Do you need anything else?"

"Yeah, a box of matches." He set the matches on the box and totaled it all up.

"Okay... That'll be 95 bits altogether." I counted up the money and slid it across the counter towards him. He smiled and nodded. "You have a good day, sir."

"Thanks." Dash walked up as I dumped my purchase in the bag.

"What did you get?"

"Supplies. C'mon, I saw a poker table back there that caught my eye."

I stared down the stallion across the table from me. Throughout the game, if I had a hand worth playing and bid on it, the rest of the table folded. Undaunted, I stayed in the game and waited patiently for a taker. Now, I had an ace and a queen off-suit and the stallion was guarding his hand closely. A couple of the other players were in for a couple rounds of bidding before they were out; seeing the cards on the table and the bids we were placing discouraged anyone from attempting a bluff, leaving us to duke it out over the considerable pot.

He was stone-faced and staring at the ace on the table. I thought about that for a second. Yeah, I got one of those too, buddy. I was up a few hundred bits at this point in the night after Dash and I played some of the other games, but I was looking for another good win to pad it. Hell, there was a cool 200 bits already in the pot, meaning I could have the week paid off pretty quick. The cards on the table told me everything I needed to know. An ace, two and seven. Nothing for me to worry about as far as straights or flushes yet, but also nothing to get me worked up about.

A waitress walked up with the drink I ordered: a tall whisky & coke that was mixed pretty strong. I turned to her and smiled.

"Thanks, doll. Keep the rest, it's yours," I said handing her some bits for her trouble. She smiled and walked away, leaving us to the battle of wills currently playing out.

I had a pair of aces and a queen and already had my bid in.

He was stalling for time.

I watched his eyes dart back and forth from his cards to the table to me and back. Dash whispered in my ear from behind my seat.

"What's going on?"

"I'm just waiting for this guy to fold." I said with a smile, just loud enough for the table to hear. He squinted at me in defiance and called.

The dealer burned a card and laid the Turn on the table. A jack. The stallion didn't say a word and his face didn't change, but when I raised, he immediately called. There it is. Aces and Jacks. nothing out there to give him a flush or a straight, that had to be it.

"What are you gonna do?" Dash asked me.

"Shhh."

The dealer burned another card and set down the last of the community cards, called the River. A queen.

Fuck yes. My best bet was he had a two pair, but mine was better. I put another twenty bits on the table and the stallion smiled slyly. Had to be it. He called again.

"Okay, players. Show your cards." At that, he triumphantly sat down an ace and a jack, just like I thought. The dealer moved the community cards to show what he had.

"Aces and Jacks. And you, sir?" I closed my eyes and shook my head for a moment. The stallion across from me laughed aloud and started to move for the pot, but I set my cards down face-up on the table.

"Aces and Queens. Mr. Marshall wins." I heard Dash say a quiet 'yes!' behind me.

"John, that was nice!" I leaned back in my chair and shook my head.

"No, it was stupid. I got lucky. I usually make it a rule to never depend on the River to make the hand."

The next cards were dealt and I looked at mine. Pocket Threes. Shit. The blinds put in their chips and the rest of us limped in to see what the flop would bring. It produced almost nothing and the ponies checked around the table to me. Naturally, I raised. Almost immediately, three of the other players folded. All except the two across from me. The stallion I played on the last hand was trying hard to read me.

Once the Turn came out, I had to bite my tongue to contain myself. Another three. I looked at the cards and evaluated where I was again. No straight or flush draws, so I was still good to go. The ponies checked around again to me and I raised another twenty. They followed suit and the dealer placed the last card on the table, a six and I looked around at the other players.

One looked irritated. Probably had nothing.

My nemesis on the other hand remained stone-faced. Just maybe. I bid another twenty and the first pony folded, but Chuckles over there re-raised. Interesting. I had to think for a minute. Hasn't he been bidding on shit all night? Bluffing? I couldn't remember every detail and he was always stone-faced until he got something he liked. I didn't see that yet, but I was still thinking about how to approach this. I lit and took a drag from my cigarette. A nice, filtered real cigarette. It had been so long since I had something like this.

"Fuck it." I muttered to myself and matched his forty bit re-raise. It's my best hand tonight anyways, right? The stallion looked angry almost. No fucking way. When the dealer called for hands to be shown, I put my threes on the table.

"Trip 3's. And you sir?" Chuckles shook his head and tossed his cards onto the table before standing up and walking off. Got it. I scooped up my winnings, tipped the dealer and started to walk away, just a little bit richer.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." I looked up and saw my nemesis (I really like that word) standing there, looking a little perturbed. "Where do you think you're going?" I shrugged and took a drink.

"Thinkin' I'm just gonna spend all night relaxing now." The stallion shook his head.

"Not until you gimme a chance to get my money back." Uh oh. I could already tell where this was going.

"Hey, guy. Nobody likes a sore loser. Just let it go. You had a bad beat." He stomped his hoof in anger.

"No! You walked in here, took my chips and now you think you can leave?" I smiled.

"Actually, you left. I just won." I looked up and saw a pony with his binoculars staring directly at us, but the stallion failed to notice.

"I don't care WHAT you did, you and me are gonna have a problem if you don't cough it up, now." I nodded towards the pit boss coming over with a pair of guards flanking him.

"No problem he can't handle for ya, I'm sure." Quickly, the sore pony started to walk off.

"This ain't over." Uh huh. Like I ain't never heard that before. Dash stepped over and touched my side.

"What's his deal?"

"Just not used to losin' I guess." I said casually.

"Now what?"

"Let's get another drink and head to the room."

After cashing out, we went to the hotel area and I got a room. I even paid up front for the first week; something that gave us pretty good treatment as far as service goes. The mare at the desk set us up with a nice room on the twelfth floor. Dash enjoyed herself immensely ordering random cakes and snacks from room service. I just had to look around for the mini-fridge. It was stocked with enough liquor to put me in a coma and I was fucking thankful for it. Ever since the gift shop, I had a nagging feeling in the back of my head that I needed to go back to Ponyville. And so you're just gonna drink yourself into a stupor, huh? Really classy. Fuck off.

I opened a small bottle of rum and took a gulp. Grimacing at the burn, I stepped out onto the balcony to smoke. The city was still magnificent, even more so from a vantage point. I looked back through the sliding glass door to see Dash passed out on the bed with a few empty plates around her and snoring loudly. I turned my attention back to the city and thought about Rarity. Dammit, John. why did you ever leave? I don't know. She's back there. You done fucked up. I know. So, you gonna go back yet? Maybe try to make things right? What's the point? The point is YOU need to quit feeling sorry for yourself and man the fuck up. ... Yeah.

I stepped back in for a second to move some things around. Make sure the money is all stashed in a good spot, make sure everything's cleaned up. Tuck Dash into bed. Grab another bottle.

This time, I pulled a comfortable looking armchair outside with me to settle into with the thoughts of home still hanging in my head. It's never gonna be the same, John. You'll never have what you could have and it's nobody's fault but yours. I got up and paced around the balcony drinking and smoking furiously in an attempt to kill the thoughts invading my mind.

Running away from your problems isn't new to you... You're gonna have to face it eventually. When the world started to shift lazily from side to side, I slumped into the chair and put my feet up on the railing. With my mind still whispering nagging thoughts into my ear, I slowly drifted off to sleep.

Dawn rolled around and the rising sun pierced the morning sky, driving away the darkness. I woke up with little effort right where I left myself. I stepped inside and stretched out a kink in my back. I still wasn't fully recovered from that little adventure in the desert.

Something didn't feel right about today, though. I walked around for a second and noticed that Dash was missing. Calmly, I checked the bathroom. Nothing.

"Dash!" I called. "Dash, where'd you go?"

The bed was made, so she had to be awake somewhere. Probably out flying around the city for her morning workout, but still. I stepped out the door to check the restaurant, but as soon as I opened the door, a note fell from the crack jammed into the frame. I stepped on it and heard the crackle before I noticed it and bent to pick it up. The message was an untidy scrawl that I recognized as Rainbow's hoofwriting and reading it told me more than I needed to know.

John,

I'm heading back to Ponyville. I tried to convince you over and over to come home, but you wouldn't. I have to get back to the others. This last week was fun and all, but this isn't the place for me and it isn't the place for you either. I need to be with my friends in Ponyville, just like you. Please come back. Rarity might not seem like it when you get here, but she misses you a lot. I'll make sure to send her your love.

-RD

Fuck.

So now Dash was gone. Alone in Las Pegasus. It was gonna happen sooner or later, John. The guilt piled up even further. Oh man... Go home, John. Just swallow your pride and go home. For the most part, they'll forgive you. I shook my head and walked downstairs. No. No, I'm not going back.

The next week was a haze of neon lights, bars, and other assorted bullshit. If there was alcohol to drink, I drank it. I stumbled into my room every night to sleep, woke up and did the same thing the next day.

In each one, the ponies would stare at me and in each one they would eventually stop. Apparently, drunk, heartbroken and depressed wasn't quite as entertaining as they would like. Tonight, I was going to this place called 'Light City'. Fitting, considering the inside wasn't quite as dingy as the other places I'd visited. Neon signs adorned the walls from the ceiling to the floor and lit the place up like it was Christmas. Of course, I wasn't worried about that. The jukebox played good music and the bartender still worked hard for her wages. That's about all you really need in a good place to drink anyways. Regardless, there were fewer ponies in this spot than the others... a definite plus.

A couple of ponies sat at a table close to the far wall, another sat at the bar and that was it. A slow night, apparently. I bellied up to the bar and waved down the mare behind the counter.

" 'Scuse me, ma'am? A bottle of Holling's and a shot of Wild Pony." She eyed me for a second and brought over the drinks.

"Fifteen bits."

"I'll just start a tab, thanks." She nodded and wrote something down before stepping to the side and washing a few glasses. There was a long pause between songs playing over the speakers and she looked up at me.

"I've heard of you." I took a swig of beer and lit a cigarette.

"You and everypony else."

"No, I've heard of you in here. Recently. Made a stir out at the Silver Cloud about a week ago." I thought for a moment about what she said. Had it really been that long?

"And what did I do to get such notoriety?" I asked, slightly bemused.

"Well, you pissed somepony off, for starters."

"If you're hearing about it, it must have been someone worth pissing off." I said with a chuckle. Wait... Chuckles.

"You could say that," she said ambiguously. I waited for further explanation and got nothing but silence.

"... Well? Spill it. Who is this asshole and what does he do?" She looked around furtively before stepping closer.

"They call him 'Sharky'." When she paused to look around again, I started to laugh. I couldn't control myself. "Stop laughing!" She hissed at me. When I finally calmed down and sighed, I looked up at her.

"Darlin' I'm gonna need another beer before I hear this." She brought another over and leaned back in to talk to me.

"He's called Sharky. Part of an organized crime syndicate active here in the city." I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah yeah. You know there may be folks around here that are intimidated by that bullshit, but I ain't one of them." She shook her head at me.

"You don't have to be scared. Just be careful. I'm surprised you haven't heard anything from them yet." I shrugged.

"Well, I woke up with a horse head in my bed this morning, but that's normal." She looked at me with a mixture of shock and disbelief and I put my hands up. "Joking. Seriously speaking though, what's this gang gonna do? Beat me up?" She shrugged.

"Or worse. Probably not. The law is looking for him right now, so he could be lying low. That said, he never was one for subtlety."

"No kiddin'. Well, hey darlin' as much as I'd like to keep chattin' it up with ya, I need to get to drinkin' or the night's gonna be over before I have the chance to, so maybe you could just bring me another shot... or five?" She walked off and came back with a drink and went back to cleaning the bar.

"Why are you drinking tonight?" I could tell it wouldn't be nearly as quiet as I'd like it to be.

"Stuff and things," I said dismissively.

"Mare trouble?"

"And then some."

She was quiet for a long while after that, content with letting me rack up a little more of a tab every half hour or so. When the room finally started to tilt a little, she posed another question.

"Are you even worried about him?" I stared at the bottle in front of my face and shrugged.

"Why should I be?"

"Because... He's dangerous?" I continued to look at the bottle. I couldn't think of Fishy or whatever the fucker's name was. My mind kept drifting back to Ponyville. To her. John, you wanna go back. Go. Swallow your fucking pride and go, you stubborn bastard.

"Well?" The bartender asked loudly and I snapped out of my stupor.

"Huh?"

"I said he's dangerous. Doesn't that matter?" I shrugged again.

"It is what it is." She shook her head and walked away. I looked at my bottle again and for some reason... Couldn't quite put my finger on it, but for some reason I just didn't feel like drinking anymore. I pulled out a large sack of bits and looked at the mare behind the bar.

"What's the damage?"

"Huh?"

"How much do I owe you?" She tallied up the copious amounts of liquor I already drank and came back to me.

"90 bits." I fished out a hundred fifty and left it all on the bar.

"Keep it. Take care. Thanks for the heads up." She looked at me like I was a fool.

"YOU take care. You need luck more than I do, now." I waved at her and stepped out into the breezy night. I looked around long enough to get my bearings before starting off in the direction of the hotel.

You know what to do, John.

Yeah. Took me this long to figure it out, but yeah. I do.

I made my way slowly out of the elevator onto my floor. The hallway looked an awful lot longer than it should, but no matter. My bed was only a few minutes away at this point. In my slightly intoxicated state of mind, I didn't notice the pry marks on my door.

I didn't notice that it was barely shut.

I didn't notice anything wrong with the scene until I stepped into the room.

The entire place had been torn apart. Bedsheets were thrown around and the mattresses were slashed. The drawers of the dresser were pulled out and dumped around the floor and the chairs were tossed haphazardly around the room with the tables lying over on their sides.

I stood frozen in the doorway for a few moments, taking much too long to assess the situation than I should have. When I finally realized what had happened, I jumped forward and searched the room desperately. No. No it can't have happened.

I found the black duffel bag, upended and empty, all the clothes strewn around the floor and the pack of cigarettes trampled. The bits were nowhere to be seen.

"Motherfuckers," I growled and bent over the mess that was a good bag when I heard a soft clop on the carpet. My carpet. In my room. I spun around quickly and was met immediately by a hard hoof to the jaw, knocking me on my ass. I struggled to stand up, but was quickly pinned on either side by the intruders. Still dazed, I couldn't make out who opened my balcony door and stepped inside. Slowly, my vision came into focus and I saw the stallion step closer with a wicked grin.

"Mr. Marshall. The human. How nice to see you again." I looked at him before recognition dawned on me.

"You?! You're that asshole from the casino!"

"Yes. Me. What, you think you can just get away with messing with me? YOU think you can just come into MY town and make a fool out of ME? In the middle of the Silver Cloud?!" I laughed at his face.

"You don't need MY help in that department. You're doin' a pretty good job on your own there, chico." He nodded at one of the goons and I got another hoof to the face. I groaned and looked at him again, that fucked up grin still plastered to his face.

"Jesus, all this over a thousand chips? Gimme a fuckin' break here." Sharky nodded again and my captors wordlessly began mercilessly kicking the shit out of my ribs.

"The chips aren't the point here. It's the principle. You disrespected me." I scowled at the stallion on my right before looking back at Sharky.

"You've gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me. Whatdya think you are? Some kind of boss? Yer a two-bit thug wannabe." The stallion smiled and nodded again to his cronies. They started hitting me again. Repeatedly. Harder and harder, not letting up for a second. A minute went by and the 'boss' raised a hoof and had them stop.

"Mr. Marshall, I think you'll realize I'm just a little more than that. Besides. Better to be a cheap criminal than a bastard monkey with no teeth." I got another vicious kick to the face and tasted blood. I could already feel my face swelling. "But, Mr. Marshall, you'll live through this. If only to stand as a warning. Nobody messes with me."

I spit some blood in his general direction and scowled.

"You might scare everybody else, but yer gonna have to try just a little harder with me." Sharky smiled a big, toothy grin before slowly walking around to my head.

"Night night, Mr. Marshall."

His hoof came down and the lights went out.