The paved streets of Baltimare were paved with slate gray stone. All the buildings had paint peeling, cracked windows, and boards nailed over the doors. 'Closed' signs were hung everywhere it was possible. The streets were lifeless, but eyes peered from every shadow from the dark homes. It was like every family there was treating the ponies that went outside like prey, never taking their eyes from them, ready to pounce when the time was right. A cold bitter wind howled through the debris litter. No sunshine ever pieced the mat of thick black clouds in the sky. The distance roared with gunshots and booms.
Thunderlane slowed to a stop, his horse-shoes clinking on the flat ground. He folded his wings to his side and dragged his gaze over the ashen state, slowly frowning and letting a cold shiver run up his spine. The night previous had been filled with screams and sirens, the warning horns wailing through the streets for everyone to run for cover. He had grabbed his brother Rumble and pulled him for the basement, and as soon as the trap door shut out the light, the ground had shook violently.
Above ground their smooth walled home in Cloudsdale had been destroyed, pieces of shell discarded everywhere. A few pieces of building material had sank down over the stallion and colt pressed to the ground by the heavy rafter. There was the sound of hooves pounding on the ground above, causing the ceiling of the basement to rattle, then there was a long silence. Thunderlane had dragged his brother out and was about to push their way out when their was rapid gunfire, and the sound of Pegasi whizzing through the sky at speed.
Eyes trailing down to his hooves, Thunderlane took a deep breath, remembering how as soon as he had pushed into the light, officer ponies and nurses had pulled him and Rumble apart. They threw his little brother into a carriage and it pulled out of sight, and Thunderlane was told by a stern police stallion to fly out of sight before the next air raid, and get himself far away to Baltimare. Never had he imagined that the place would be so empty and haunting.
He started to walk again, flicking his ears and flapping the tips of his wings a little. He could feel prying eyes burning into his back with every step that he took. He knew it would be no use trying to knock on one of the doors, for nopony would trust him. In the middle of such a war, ponies found it hard to trust Celestia herself. He had seen the princess on his flight out of the remains of Cloudsdale, fully armored and lighting a hand cannon, her eyes blazing.
The changeling war had waged for as long as Thunderlane could remember, and each time he saw the glint of a ponies eyes, he feared it would be one of the dark insect like creatures come to feed on everything he loved. Their leaders Chrysalis and Discord rained fire and chaos down on the innocent ponies of Equestria. All hope previously held in the hearts of the ponies had turned to stone.
There was a soft noise coming from down the street from a building that looked younger, almost western, taped up with reinforcements brought in for the war. The peeling paint was faded in many places, and it was only visible to see it used to be a deep forest green under the eaves. The closer Thunderlane walked, the louder the noise got, until he could bob his head gently to the tune. Pausing beside the porch that led up to the tavern like building, he listen to the sound, distinguishing the sound of a saxophone and a harmonica from inside. There was soft laughter and gruff voices, and the clink of glass from inside.
The windows of the building had fogged up, and many were boarded over and nailed tightly shut. It was impossible to see inside, the only thing that portrayed life from inside was the noises and a faint glint of light from under the wooden door. Taking a few gingerly strides up the sagging steps onto the porch, Thunderlane felt hope lighting inside of him. Even if he wasn't welcomed inside, he felt much safer here than out on the bare dusty streets.
Hopefully I can find someone with a kind heart in here... He thought to himself, then pressed his hoof roughly to the touch door and heaved it inwards, wincing at the screeching sound of the rusted hinges. He peered inside with nervous gold eyes, but nopony inside seemed to be alerted of his presence. There were many tables that looked as if they belonged in a diner, and there was a bar at the far end, several metallic red seat booths to the side of that.
The stage on the left of where Thunderlane stood had a faint flickering light pointed to it, and dust moats twirled where it hit. A smokey gray colored mare with dark shades on and a small hat on her ears stood there with a shiny sax in her hooves, her lips pressed to the mouth piece as her hooves worked the keys. Beside her was a shorter white unicorn with a messy blue haircut, sliding a harmonica back and forth across her lips as she breathed through the spaces to fill the tavern with noise.
Thunderlane stepped sheepishly past the stage, never taking his eyes from the two mares until he bumped into a barstool and fumbled to stop it from falling. His antics were shadowed by a deep laugh, and he looked up suddenly to see a blue stallion standing behind the counter, rubbing the inside of a mug with a grimy cloth. Thunderlane swallowed hard and turned around, hurrying to slide into one of the booths and keep quiet.
Across the room he could see a pegasus mare with a fair lavender blue coat, her white and blue hair wild and pushed back. A cigarette tipped from the corner of her mouth, a trail of smoke rising up from the tip. She leaned on a jutebox, swaying her hips to the tune being played on stage. The only other pony was a rather tall and slender unicorn mare with white fur and a flowing pink mane.
A door swung open near the back, and a plume of pale smoke wafted out with the heavy smell of tobacco, and a stunning mare stepped out, batting her long black lashes. She looked rather overdressed to Thunderlane, pulled into a tight corset dress with plenty of frills and lace, her blue tail pinned up and her hairstyle rather like a 'rock'n'roll do'. She stepped regally past the stage and winked at the ponies on it, swaying her hips.
"Keep the groove, honeys! This house is getting heated!" She beamed in a thick accent that Thunderlane didn't recognize.
Her gaze instantly flitted to him, and a wry smile came to her pale golden face. She trotted towards him with a sway in her hips, her glittering shoes making a sound very alike his horse-shoes on the ground. She paused, leaning over him, smoothing her hair back with a hoof.
"What can I get 'cha, honey?" She said, leaning on the table and fluttering her eyelashes again.
Thunderlane stared at her, a little taken aback by her glamorous appearance. "Um... what is there?" He winced a little, knowing he sounded like a colt trying to talk to his filly crush.
"Apple cider, the finest beer in Equestria, you name it, honey."
"Cider, please..." He muttered, sinking into his seat.
She turned and strutted away, her eyes twinkling. "Get his boy over here a pint of our coldests, freshest cider."
He watched her go, making as much of scene as when she had arrived, doing a little twirl in front of the stage and posing a little, then strutting back through the door she had come through, closing it behind her. When the dust had settled again, Thunderlane glanced at the stage, watching the two mares pack up, climbing off and setting their instruments to the side. They took a swig of what looked like wine from two glasses on the ground near the stage, then chatted to each other in hushed tones, occasionally glancing at them and murmuring something. Nothing like trying to hide your staring. He thought bitterly, turning away.
The Pegasus mare kicked the jutebox, and it stuttered to life, at first sounding a little drunk and dizzy, then falling in a rhythm as the record turned. She stepped with sass across the room and onto the stage, smirking in his direction, then waving for the pink-haired unicorn to join her. They started to dance, a rather rockabilly style dance to go with the song that was playing. One twirled the other, then they did a series of complicated and coordinated looking steps.
There was a clink, and Thunderlane blinked away from his transfixed gaze on the mares, and he looked up to see the blue stallion putting a large mug of frothing cider on the table, blinking slowly. He nodded his thanks and watched the pony go, noticing his musical note cutie mark. He lifted the mug to his lips and took a long sip of the cold cider, then licked his lips and returned to watching the dancers, his gaze mostly on the pretty Pegasus as she moved.
When the song slowed and the jutebox gave an old jutter alike that of a cough, both ponies stepped off stage, giggling to eachother. The unicorn headed towards the door the fancy mare had gone through, and the Pegasus headed towards Thunderlane, smiling slyly. She let her gaze travel from his head to the tip of his hooves, then she slid onto the other side of the booth table, resting her chin on her fore-hooves.
"Hey there, newcomer. The name's Cloudchaser." She said, fluttering her wings.
He folded his own black wings, feeling hot blood rush to his ears. "H-hello. I'm Thunderlane."
"What brings you here, Thunderlane?" She said, her voice suddenly very cold.
He almost wanted to flinch away, taken aback by her sharp snarling tone, all the flirtatiousness that had once glittered in her gaze replaced with suspicion. She slammed her hooves down on the table, causing a bit of his cider to splash out the edge of the mug. Cloudchaser leaned forward until he could feel her alcoholic breath on his face.
"Ah' said, why are you here?" She glowered, and the whole tavern seemed to turn on their seat to watch.
He trembled, leaning away from her, eyes wide. "I was sent here from Cloudsdale! I was taken away from my little brother and told to go to Baltimare and never look back."
She stared at him closely, as if unbelieving, then leaned away, letting out a sigh, and he could almost hear the rattle in her chest. "I'm sorry... just some ponies that come around here want nothing but trouble in the Haystring Blue."
The door flung open, and the over dressed mare stepped out, her face creased in a frown, the elegant unicorn at her side. She whipped around, blinking once and fixing her gaze on both Cloudchaser and Thunderlane. "Hoity Toity and his bunch of ponsy party ponies don't want this tavern running any longer!" She said dramatically, pushing Thunderlane across the seat and sliding in beside him so she could place her hoof against her forehead daintily.
"That's right," Cloudchaser said, crossing her arms. "Him and the showy little mare that chauffeurs him around, and that dirty stallion, Filthy Rich, their boss."
Showy? How much showy-er does it get than this mare He stared down at the mare, dressed up in all her frills and gems, fixing him with a stone cold glare.
"We can trust you though, right?" The dangerous tone in her voice made it clear that she wasn't a pony to be messing with.
He nodded, shaking a little at the tips of his legs. "Of course you can. All I need is somewhere to stay until I can return and find my brother, Rumble." He hoped that the sincerity rang through, because he knew that a scrap with these tough looking bar ponies would make mince meat out of a Cloudsdale Pegasus like himself.
"Well, honey, welcome to Haystring Blue." The mare said, letting out a gusty sigh, as if thinking of this Hoity Toity character and his gang was all too much for her. "I'm Sapphire Shores, and I own this rickety old place."
"I'm Fleur de Lis," The unicorn said, her voice extremely french.
The blue bartender waved, the cloth on his hoof. "I'm Noteworthy,"
"And I'm Octavia," Said the regal gray mare by the stage, and she pointed to her counterpart. "And this is Vinyl Scratch."
He stared between them all, suddenly feeling a much friendlier aura coming from them all know that he could recognize their faces. "I'm Thunderlane, and I'll stick around and try and help you. I'll do whatever I can to keep this place running with the time from now until I can find Rumble."
Cloudchaser leaned forward again, staring up at him with wide hopeful eyes. "You really mean that? Can you really keep Haystring Blue running, away from those city-slickers?"
He nodded, but on the inside he suddenly felt very nervous, but her also wanted to return the hope in her eyes with something that would seal it there. "I'll help you get this place looking good as new, and they'll never be able to take it away."
She squealed with delight and wrapped her hooves around his neck, planting a moist kiss on his cheek, grinning from ear to ear. He chuckled and waited for her to lean away, greeted with Sapphire's grateful gaze, and he looked around the whole tavern, smiling to them all. What have I gotten myself into?
