Chapter V

A sharp whistle resounded through the large factory, indicating the end of the day’s shift. Cheerilee raised her hoof and rubbed her eyes with a groan. She was tired and sore, having spent another long day at the conveyor belt folding cardboard boxes. It was monotonous work, starting at nine and ending at five each day. For the past two years Cheerilee had dragged her hooves to this place to make sure there would be be food on the table.

Though she had looked for other employment wherever she could, she was always turned down for one reason or another. Ponies in suits would tell her a different lie each time she was refused a job, from being too old to missing certain qualifications that they were looking for. Cheerilee knew the truth, though. The world doesn’t forget a criminal record after just two years.

She followed the stream of her co-workers to get her saddlebags from her locker, clock out for the day and move home. Looking around, Cheerilee noticed she couldn’t connect names to even a tenth of the crowd. A blue mare who worked right next to her on the conveyor belt was walking beside her. She had a soft yellow mane with green highlights, and a cutiemark of a folded scroll. Cheerilee couldn’t remember her name if her life depended on it.

“Rough day, huh?,” the purple mare said. The other pony gave her a glance.

“Yeah,” came the reply.

“Well, at least it’s over. Can’t wait to put my hooves up,” Cheerilee tried again, cracking her best smile. She frowned as she received no response. “So, do you-,” she began, but was interrupted.

“Look, I don’t really feel like talking. I just want to get my stuff and go home, okay?,” came the reply. The blue mare increased her speed, seeming eager to get away from the unwanted company. Cheerilee let out a groan and hung her head as another attempt at communication had failed.

She had not exactly been trying to communicate with ponies when she just started out. Most had just given her weird looks, or outright ignored her. Nopony was ever mean or unkind to her, but there was a coldness to all of them. The only conversation she ever had at work was work-related, when absolutely necessary. She contemplated her bleak existence for a moment. Is this really my future?

There was a loud crash of a door that snapped the purple mare from her thoughts. As everypony in the locker room was staring at her, she figured she must have been a little too rough with her locker. She muttered an apology, before quickly making her way through the crowd. She decided that couldn’t be home soon enough.

Her apartment wasn’t far from the factory. Twenty minutes tops, if she wanted to take things slow. She sauntered through the dodgy streets of Manehatten’s outer neighborhoods. There were a few open shops here and there, mostly ones that were part of a larger chain. It was difficult for small retailers to get a stable business going in this part of the city. Many of the shops and buildings had fallen into decay, sporting broken or boarded windows. Obscene graffiti decorated many walls, and taking a peek inside certain alleys revealed reeking, overflowing trash containers. There were bars here and there, and the occasional shady nightclub that was located in the basement of some dilapidated building.

Cheerilee wasn’t far from home now, and she sighed inwardly at the thought of what she would find. She expected an abundance of fake apologetic letters from possible employers that had turned her down, as usual. She had given up trying to find a job in education long ago. A few of the places she had applied at had plainly told her that they feared her particular criminal record would cause a riot of concerned parents. It was painful to hear, but hardly as painful as the excuses she had to put up with so much more often. In a way, she admired and appreciated the honesty. Most of all, she felt foolish for trying.

Her nose picked up a smell. There was a small baker shop in this particular street. It was quaint, and it’s cheery exterior stood out from the rest of the neighborhood like a sore thumb. Cheerilee had often passed it, longingly. She almost fell to the temptation to buy herself a delicious, scrumptious cupcake. However, the rational part of her mind won. She had to save every bit that she had if she ever wanted to try and live in a better neighborhood, perhaps somewhere in the brighter center of Manehatten. It would be dry oats and milk just past its expiration date for her. Her stomach clenched involuntarily.

Cheerilee’s ears perked up. She heard groans and dull thuds originating from an alley just in front of her. She frowned as she listened carefully. She heard muffled voices, one of which was sobbing. She couldn’t make out the words. Careful to keep her hoofsteps as quiet as possible, she tried to move closer. She winced each time her hoof touched down with a particularly loud thud, stopping in her tracks and listening carefully if she was heard. She wasn’t. Cheerilee reached the edge of the alley and carefully peeked around the corner.

She was now able to clearly make out what was said. A big, burly Pegasus was snapping at a sobbing wreck of an earth pony mare that lay on the ground. He was accompanied by an earth pony stallion and a unicorn mare with several piercings through her ears, nose and lower lip. They laughed at something the Pegasus was saying.

“Look at that. Are you having regrets yet?,” the Pegasus sneered. The mare on the ground didn’t respond, but simply continued to sob. Cheerilee saw that she was badly bruised, and her snout was bleeding profusely.

“P-please, no more,” she tried to beg, which earned her a kick from the Pegasus. The other two roared with laughter.

“This is too rich,” the unicorn said. “Look at her, she’s breaking like porcelain.”

“I don’t think she understands quite yet,” the Pegasus spoke. “I think we need to make sure the lesson sinks in good and proper.”

Cheerilee’s eyes snapped open. She felt a sudden need to intervene. This scum was allowed to freely walk around Equestria, while she had been in prison for a crime she didn’t commit. Her life had been destroyed, and these figures were about to destroy another. She remembered Case Study’s words. There are other ways to teach, ran through Cheerilee’s head. Her eyes narrowed, and she turned the corner. These people were in dire need of a lesson themselves, and she would give it to them.

“Leave her alone!,” she shouted forcefully. The thugs were startled, but began to chuckle shortly afterwards.

The unicorn mare spoke. “Look here, boys. The meat has a guardian angel, it seems.”

“You should probably mind your own business and forget you ever saw us, lady,” the Pegasus threatened. Cheerilee was sweating. She swallowed, but didn’t budge. In a voice that was shakier than she would have liked she replied.

“I said, leave her alone.”

The earth pony rolled his eyes. “I’ll handle this,” he said as he began to trot towards Cheerilee. She crouched, baring her teeth threateningly.

“You should have stayed out of this,” the stallion said as he lifted his hoof to bear down on the purple mare. Cheerilee was faster, though. With surprising speed she turned on her hooves and stretched her rear legs, giving the other earth pony a solid buck in the chest. The kick sent the stallion flying several feet back into the alley. He fell on his back, gasping for air as the wind was knocked out of him. Despite having spent nearly each day of her life in prison in the gym, she was surprised at how strong she had become. She was big. Her legs were solid muscle, and their full force had been directed at the thug’s chest.

Cheerilee cried out as she suddenly felt a searing pain in her right foreleg as a flash of light grazed it. She looked up to see the unicorn, horn aglow to charge up another spell. Cheerilee ran forward, narrowly dodging the next magical assault, and raised her forehoof to strike. It connected with the other mare’s jaw, causing the unicorn to mewl in pain. The purple mare flared her nostrils and turned to assault the Pegasus that remained.

She didn’t get the chance, however, as a powerful hoof connected with the side of her head and sent her world spinning. The Pegasus had been faster. She tried to get up, but was unable to as she received a solid kick to the ribs, blowing the wind from her. Another hoof connected with her snout, making her cry out in agony. She felt something wet run past her mouth, and as she stuck out her tongue she encountered a coppery taste.

The earth pony had gotten back to his feet by now, and moved over to roughly pick up the purple mare. He stood upright, holding Cheerilee in his forelegs, exposing her belly. She felt like vomiting as one of the Pegasus’ fore hooves connected with the weak spot. She lifted her hind hooves to kick the winged stallion in the face. The earth pony holding her fell backwards with Cheerilee on top of him. With effort she managed to get to her hooves again and kicked at the earth pony stallion with her hind leg, causing him to grunt in pain.

Suddenly, Cheerilee was surrounded by a flash of light, after which she dropped to the floor like a ragdoll. The unicorn mare had gotten up by now, and Cheerilee figured she had been the target of a paralyzing spell. That’s advanced magic, where did she learn something like that? She was barely able to ask herself the question, before the thugs thoroughly began to assault her. She was unable to cry out due to the spell, but she felt every stab of pain as hoof after hoof connected with her body. Cheerilee could barely open her eyes as they pummeled her face.

Suddenly, the assault stopped. She heard a siren that sounded like it was coming closer.

“Cops!,” the unicorn mare exclaimed.

“Put miss Luckwink in the carriage, we’ll finish with her later,” the Pegasus snapped.

“What about her?,” the other stallion asked. Cheerilee assumed they were talking about her.

“Leave her! Shove her behind the trash container or something, but get moving!”

Cheerilee felt herself being dragged across the filthy alley floor and dumped between a pile of trash bags. The earth pony gave her a last stomp in the ribs before galloping out of the alley with his associates. As she regained control of her limbs, the torment that Cheerilee felt intensified. She tried to get up, which only caused an intense stab of pain to surge through her body. She couldn’t move without hurting herself. She felt lightheaded, and the world began to spin before she blacked out.

Cheerilee woke to the sound of heavy breathing and a tickling sensation at her left hind hoof. She panicked slightly when she found she couldn’t open her eyes, before remembering what had happened. The thugs hadn’t spared her face from their pummeling, and it took all of her willpower to force her lids to part. As her senses started to come back to her she noticed that she still had her saddlebag, which was good. What was bad that she was in a very uncomfortable position, on top of the bag that contained her lunchbox. She looked downwards to find the source of the tickling.

She was startled to find that a ragged green stallion with a light brown mane was licking and sniffing at her hooves and calves. He wore a tattered bowler. His neck was adorned with a filthy, ripped scarf. There were spots and stains on his coat, and each time he opened his mouth to stick out his tongue Cheerilee could just make out a row of yellow and brown teeth.

“What the buck do you think you’re doing?!,” Cheerilee tried to scream. Instead she was merely able to utter a nasal squeal. She jerked her hooves and tried to get up, but groaned and cringed at the attempt. Stabs of pain shot through her body, and she started to feel faint. Sheer willpower alone got Cheerilee too her hooves.

“Mrhh, you smell good. Taste good too.” The stallion had a breathy, rather high pitched voice that immediately got on Cheerilee’s nerves.

“What the buck makes you think you can just harass me like that?!”

“Would have been a shame to let it go to waste. You were just lying there with your beautiful hooves just splayed out like that. How can a stallion resist?”

Cheerilee grunted in disgust. She would have made a face if it wouldn’t have pained her to do so. She willed herself to move, limping out of the alley.

“Won’t you tell me your name?,” she heard the tramp call out.

“Buck off,” she replied curtly. She increased her speed, exiting the alley. As she left the street she turned her head to make sure that the creepy stallion wasn’t following her. Finding out he wasn’t, she let out a sigh of relief and began to make her way home.

Cheerilee was glad that she didn’t live that far away. She opened the door to her apartment, dropped her saddlebag in the hallway, and made her way to the bathroom. As the light flickered on and she was able to take a good look at herself in the mirror, she sighed. There were bruises all across her body, blood had caked to most of her face. Her eyes were both dark blue, and she could barely keep her lids apart to see. Her snout was ragged. She looked, in one word, horrible.

Opening the water tap of the shower she carefully proceeded to wash the filth from her body. The stream of water that disappeared down the drain was coloured a rusty red as she carefully washed her snout, wincing each time she put just a little too much pressure on it. She felt that she had trouble breathing, and figured that some of her ribs must have been bruised, perhaps even broken. Somewhere in the back of her head she knew that she should probably see a doctor. Instead, she decided to ignore what she might need and go for what she might want. She swallowed several painkillers, exited her apartment and hailed a cab downtown.

Cheerilee had gotten plenty of strange looks on her voyage, which she blatantly ignored. From the corner of her eye she could see groups of ponies point and stare at her. At the moment she couldn’t care less, though. The bright illumination from the magically powered neon lights of downtown Manehatten hurt her bruised eyes, and she could feel a headache coming up despite her painkillers. She trudged on until she stood in front of her destination.

Cheerilee cringed slightly at the obnoxious sign that decorated the ‘Fillay Foolerz’ club. She found it cheesy and stupid, but entered anyway. Inside, she could barely see. The only sources of illumination were the stage and strobe lights, and her ears were assaulted with dubstep that was playing at a deafening volume. She looked over the crowd of mares inside the club, locating her target at the other side of the hall. A white unicorn with an electric blue mane and big purple shades was standing behind the DJ table.

As she tried to make her way through the crowd, Cheerilee felt herself being touched on the flank multiple times. Mares were trying to scrape against her while uttering promises of a ‘good time’. They all startled and backed off when Cheerilee turned and her battered exterior was revealed to them, however. After what felt like an age, she managed to reach the DJ platform.

The purple mare managed to get behind the stage and climb up to the turn tables where Vinyl Scratch was working her music. She crouched low, as to remain hidden from the view of the dancing crowd, reaching out a hoof to tap Vinyl on the flank. If not for the situation, Vinyl’s reaction would have been nothing short of comical. She jumped slightly at the touch, giving Cheerilee a glare, then a grin of recognition before finally gaping in shock when she saw the state of her friend.

Vinyl shouted something in Cheerilee’s ear, but she couldn’t understand over the music. She made an indication of this, after which Vinyl turned to her mixing table and tapped several buttons to create a playlist, ensuring the music would continue for a while. She motioned for Cheerilee to follow her. They passed through a door backstage, which muffled the sound from the club once it fell closed. They entered a small room with a sideboard, a table and a drinks dispenser.

“What the buck, Cheers, what did you do to yourself?!,” Vinyl exclaimed once she was able to make herself understood.

“Got mugged,” Cheerilee muttered nasally. She felt bad for lying to her friend, but knew that if she told Vinyl she had tried to stop a group of thugs there would be lecture about staying out of trouble that she really didn’t feel like listening to.

“Buck me, Cheers, they beat you to a pulp for a bunch of bits?,” Vinyl replied. “And why are you bothering me at work instead of finding a doctor?” Vinyl sounded worried rather than angry, which caused a surge of guilt to erupt in Cheerilee’s mind.

“I just needed to talk to you,” she replied weakly.

“About what?”

“I don’t know, I just really want to talk.”

Vinyl sighed through her nose and regarded Cheerilee in silence. After a moment she groaned and rolled her eyes. She grabbed a cloth from the sideboard and moved over towards the drinks dispenser. She pushed a button, which caused ice to fall from the machine which she caught with the cloth. The musical mare walked over to her friend, pressing the ice against Cheerilee’s head.

“Hold that. I’ll let my boss know where I’m going, we’ll talk in the cab.”

“Where are we going,” Cheerilee asked?

“To the doctor.”

About fifteen minutes later the two of them were riding a taxi through Manehatten. Silence reigned, at first. Cheerilee stared out of the window of the carriage, watching the city pass before her eyes.

“You said you wanted to talk, so talk.” Vinyl broke the silence rather abruptly, slightly startling Cheerilee. The DJ’s glasses were resting just above her horn, and her magenta eyes were looking expectantly into Cheerilee’s green orbs.

“I-I’m not sure,” Cheerilee said.

Vinyl frowned. “So why come to me, then?”

“I just needed a friendly face. I felt so frustrated, being overpowered like that. I’ve felt powerless for the past two years, unable to make any progress with my life. I’m still stuck in the box factory, living in some crappy shithole of an apartment.” Cheerilee huffed slightly, her eyes stinging as she spoke. She felt a pair of hooves wrap around her form.

“Hey,” Vinyl said in a soft voice, “we talked about this, remember? You’ll get there sometime. You will.”

“It just hurts so much,” the purple mare mewled.

“I can imagine. You look horrible, Cheers. They really did a number on that pretty snout of yours.”

“I don’t mean that!,” Cheerilee snapped. Vinyl frowned, and a guilty feeling sunk into the purple mare’s stomach. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap like that. And, well, my face does hurt a lot too.”

“I imagine you’ve had a knock or two too many to the head this evening, so I’ll let it slip,” Vinyl jabbed playfully. Cheerilee couldn’t help but smile. She rested a part of her head that didn’t hurt on her friend’s shoulder.

“You know, you should probably take some self-defense classes or something. Some kind of awesome kung-fu moves in your pocket would probably boost your self-confidence immensely,” the DJ continued.

Cheerilee thought about this for a moment. Learning martial arts would allow her to fight much more effectively. She knew she had raw strength, she had found that out the moment she landed the first kick, but she needed an edge to put that strength to its optimal use. In some part of her brain she had felt satisfied. She had tried to teach those thugs a lesson, and the frustration didn’t so much come from the fact that she lost but the fact that the lesson wasn’t learned. The more Cheerilee thought about it, the more she liked the idea of training. She knew exactly who she was going to ask, too.

“Yeah. I think I’ll do that, that sounds like a good idea,” Cheerilee replied after a while.

“I know, I’m a genius,” Vinyl grinned.

“From time to time.” They both laughed.

“You know, once the doctor is done with you, why don’t we go to my place for a while? I have a few sick new beats I just know you’ll love.”

Cheerilee, in fact, did not enjoy the music her DJ friend typically worked with. She thought about declining, but decided that she could really use the company. Though she had her quirks, Vinyl Scratch was truly a good pony at heart, and one of Cheerilee’s closest friends despite their differences.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Cheerilee answered with a smile.

“Sweet,” the DJ said. “Oh, and by the way.”

Cheerilee looked up at her friend, raising an eyebrow as best as she could with the condition of her face.

“I’m going through a lot of trouble for you with this. You owe me quite a few drinks.” Vinyl Scratch’s grin threated to split her face in two.

Cheerilee rolled her eyes. “You’re horrible.”

“I know.”

Author's Note

I think I may have slipped up in editing this chapter here and there. If you find any mistakes, please don't hesitate to point them out.