You are Anon. You came to Equestria about three years ago.
Three years of utter horseshit.
This was not the Utopia promised by the cartoons. Hell, you really weren't much of a fan to begin with. But you thought, at least, these technicolor equines would have the decency to show you some kind of friendship. No, you didn't get magically invited to a mystical world of awesome and love, you were instead initially looked at like a circus freak. One that could talk, walk, and interact with the world on a surprisingly better level than they could, since you didn't have to use your mouth for everything.
But, as far as friends go, you didn't really have any. Not that you didn't make an effort, you were just seen as an outsider. A stranger.. a strange thing.
The Mane Six were usually off doing whatever, at the bidding of their Princesses. Most of the other 'secondary' ponies already had their own routine, and you just didn't fit in.
At least you have a job. That's more than you could say for your life on Earth. Actually, multiple jobs - odd jobs. Anything that needs hands, and there you are. For a few bits, here and there, you take care of Pony problems that only hands can solve. And they did thank you, sincerely, for your help.
You stayed in an old 'cabin' that was unoccupied - one quirk of Pony life is that unoccupied structures were seen as public need property. If someone needed it, it was simply given to them. Only when they ran out of space, did they construct more dwellings. The 'cabin' was a massive tree trunk, hollowed out. It needed some work, but you managed to fix it up.
Your routine was pretty much set in stone after a couple of months. You'd get up near dawn, eat breakfast, and go out on the town, where all the Merchants were, and see if anyone needed help. Your rates were by-the-hour, and reasonable - you'd accept trade goods for those that didn't have hard bits to exchange, and you'd even go out of your way to help those that couldn't afford to pay at all. Yes, despite not having any Magic of Friendship for yourself, you still made the effort to be the nice human. It was appreciated, but you still felt as though you weren't really being included.
The bright spots were few, but they were the important ones - Pinkie remembering your birthday every year, a present or two at.. well, you still called it Christmas.. and a cupcake or two on.. again, you called it Valentine's Day. You weren't forgotten.. just.. not part of the Herd.
It was tolerable, and with your job, and all the new books around, you didn't have time to be bored.
Ah, but your one guilty pleasure.. the music. Vinyl Scratch's music, to be precise. You'd go to all of her Sets, just to listen to it. Especially nice was the Techno-Orchestral stuff that she did on occasion with Octavia and her group.
Actually, come to think of it, they were probably the two you were closest to - Vy, more than Octavia. About a year ago, she hit a rough patch. The main club she DJ'ed at closed own, and the owners moved to Manehattan. Then, a week later, she broke her glasses, and she didn't have nearly enough to get them replaced, so you did (a combination of offering your services making frames for free, and whatever Bits you could get - you were in debt for a couple months, but the smile she gave you was worth it). You handmade the frame (as part of your work promise), and even gave her a little inspirational message on the inside of the rim. Your little attempt to make friends.
It worked well enough that the two of them would make voluntary small talk with you, outside of the Clubs.
About six months ago, Vy started meeting with a stallion from Baltimare - MC Posterlot was his stage name. He was a flashy guy - he had a build like Big Mac's, and was at least as strong. His shows were well organized, usually had a couple of backup or secondary DJ's, and he had an entourage that included dancers. He was.. something of a big deal in the Club scene. Vy would talk endlessly about him.
This all starts one day at Rose's Cafe.. you're there on lunch, and have the rare chance to interact with Octavia outside of the sets. So, you decide to offer her a seat at your table.. the cafe was full, after all.
"Hey, Octavia.." You motion her over. "..sit here, eh?"
She gives you a look.. a bit surprised to see you, perhaps, or surprised that you're being gentlemanly.
"Come on.." You get up and pull the chair out for her. "..I saved you a seat." A small grin.
"I.. suppose it couldn't hurt.." She shrugs and sits, setting her meal in front of her. "Thank you, Anon." She lets you push the chair in for her, and makes a very short, bemused giggle. "Such the Gentlecolt.."
"Eh.. thanks." You shrug, it's nothing. "How's things?" You give her a nod.
"Oh.. just a bit down, I suppose.." She shrugs. "..Vy announced that she and MC Posterlot are a Thing, now.." She sipped her drink. "..and that she's moving in with him. He's coming to Canterlot. Apparently.. her scene has caught on there, and he wants in on it." She shrugged. "So.. our house is going to be rather empty.." She gave you a flat, businesslike look. "Which reminds me.. she will need help moving. Would you mind if I placed a reserve on your time, then? She says it'll be the day after tomorrow. Of course I'll pay your usual rate." She said that with a note of sadness.
"Oh, sure.." You shrug. "..no problem." And give a nod about the business end of things. "Say, Octavia.. I know it's not my business.." Your tone changes to comforting.. kindness..
"It really isn't." She says, both with sadness and firmness. In short, drop it.
"Just trying to help." You shrug. "I'm sorry if I offended you."
"You didn't.. I do appreciate it.. just.. I'd rather not discuss it.." Octavia just looks at her food.. and shakes her head. She puts down some extra bits to cover your meal - her way of reserving your time - and gets up. "Suddenly, I'm not very hungry." And leaves.
Ah, women.. can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. Though, really, this could be chalked up more to you not being in her inner circle of close friends that she'd talk about this stuff with.
That's fine. At least she reacted positively to your gesture.
The day arrived for you to help Vy move. Your arrival was unexpected, though - Vy was already done packing, and didn't seem concerned with moving it.
"Oh! Anon! What'cha doin' here?" Vinyl's smile was ten miles wide.
"..I hired him to help you move. I thought you'd appreciate the hands.." Octavia looked sadder than she did at the Cafe.
"Oh, hey, really?" She looked a little surprised. "Cool. But, I really don't need him." Vy shrugged. "Postie's supposed to be helping me. He said he'd send by a cart to carry it all, and he'd be by to do the heavy lifting."
"Another misjudgement on my part, it seems.." Octavia stated with a hint of hurt venom. That was a snipe.
"Look, if it's about Postie, I keep telling you - you're wrong about him." Vy gave a dismissive gesture and threw on a scarf, twirling around a little. "He's completely awesome.." She shut her eyes a moment. When she opened them, she gave us both a grin. She sure seemed happy.
Happy.. yes.. but then you got to see what Octavia had hinted at. It took the better part of the day for the Cart to show up (Octavia promised to pay you for your time, so, no biggie), and when it did, one of his Dance Mares was along with it...
"Where's Postie..?" Vy tilted her head, seeing one of the Dance Mares accompanying the cart.
"Oh, he's, ya'know, doin' bus'nez.. he ain't gonna make it, so's, he sent me." The Dance Mare stated, annoyed, and popped her gum, while she strolled away from the cart. "What'zere t'eat 'round here? Cheez.. place looks like a dump.." She snorted a little. "..be glad t'get ta Canterlot.." And away she wandered.
"As.. I said before, Vy.." Octavia started, deliberaely getting in her way.
"N-No! I-It's not what you think! Really. He's.. probably really busy arranging schedules an' stuff!" *Ha-Ha* "Yeah, Anon, maybe I will need your help.." Vy shrugs a bit.
"Sure thing. I'm gettin' paid for it." You shrug, trying to stay neutral.
So, you help her move - getting all those boxes and things into the big cart that he rented. Then, about two hours later, he shows up. MC Posterlot was a tall stallion - he looked to be about Big Mac's size, as mentioned previously. His coat was grey, his hooves dark, and his mane two tones of green. He wore a white-on-leopard print feathered frock/robe, gold chains (one is actually his name - MC POSTER-LOT - glittered with diamonds), and purple 'shutter' shades. He walks right up, and gives you a disapproving snort.
"Something wrong..?" You say, holding a heavy box in one arm.
"Get me a drink, babe." He says, completely ignoring your presence. That also wasn't a request.
"Yeah, sure.." Vy goes off and fetches him a carrot juice, which she hands to him on a serving platter.
"Babe.." Posterlot stares at it, as though it offends him. "..you know I'm watching my starches." There was a tone there.. one you recognize.
"OH! O-Oh.. s-sorry, honey. Just a sec." And off Vy trots, returning with a tomato juice.
"Hm.. you forgot the celerey. Whatever." Posterlot drank it all down and almost spat the cup back onto the tray. "You done moving this stuff, yet?" That wasn't addressed to you.
"Almost. She wanted her mix table put in last." You say, anyway.
"Geeze, gotta do everything myself.." Posterlot brushes past you - in a typical Alpha Male style of the 'oops bump' - and goes inside.
"..Vy.." Octavia's GLARING at her.
"He's under a lot of stress! Geeze, Octy, try t'be more understanding." Vy shrugged it off.
He comes back out with her mix table, and gets it in the cart.
"WE done here, babe?" Posterlot glares at you.
"Yeah.. yeah. Bye, Octavia!" Vy gives her a quick hug and, the whole group of them departs.
You just stand there, staring lasers at the back of MC's head. This guy is a-
"..Grade 'A' Jerk!" Octavia finally says.
"Exactly what I was thinking." You shrug. "But.. there's more to it, than that." You turn to look at Octavia.
"You.. you see it, too, don't you?" She shrugs a bit.
"Yeah. He's a toxic individual, and he's going to absue her." You frown and lower your head. "My sister back in Humanland was hooked up with a guy like that." And cross your arms. "He ended up beating her to death. One good hit to the side of her head, and she fell and cracked her skull on a table."
"You.. you can't think he's THAT bad, can you?" She was suddenly taken aback - like, she expected him to be bad, but that this was somewhere over the expected line.
"Maybe." You shrug. "I don't know. I.." You sigh. "..I don't want to sound mean, Octavia, but besides you and Scratch, I don't get to talk to many ponies. I think this is the most solid conversation I've had since I got here, that wasn't about a job."
"O-Oh.." She blinked. "I didn't realize."
"Everyone around here treats me like I'm a circus freak when I'm not doing work for them." You gesture. "You and Vy are the only ones that've ever really talked to me, much. Pinkie comes around on my birthday, but, like.. it's more she's doing her duty as the Element of Laughter and parties. Twilight checks up on me, but again, that's more like it's her job - now that she's an Alicorn, she's been having Spike or Raven Inkswell do it."
"Oh, Anon! I.. I really didn't know!" She lowered herself to the ground. "Here we're worried about Vy and you must think me some kind of hypocrite."
"Nah." You shrug and shake your head. "You all have your close friends that you've met or grown up with or whatever. I -am- an outsider." You look off in the distance in the direction they went. "I shouldn't have expected.."
"Expected..?" She rose up and looked at you.
"Nah. Nothing. Never mind." You shrug.
You didn't even bother to collect your pay, you just left. Both of you were heart broken over the same girl. Part of you thought that Octavia was romantically in love with Vinyl, and THAT was her entire motivation.
And, really, if that was the case.. there was no room in there for an Alien like you.
You should never have expected that the limited friendship that Vy ever showed you, was worth anything more than a mutual enjoyment of music.
So, you go home and sleep.
The next day, there's all kinds of talk about MC Posterlot headlining a new talent. You were sure it was Vy, by the way everyone was talking about it. She'd get what she always wanted - a real shot at fame.
Working around town, of course, you end up at Rarity's shop, as she has you cleaning out some things, and doing some light plumbing.
"So, darling.. uhm.." She seemed like she wanted to converse, but at the same time, more that it was her compulsion to do so, not a voluntary desire.
"Yes, ma'am?" You say, from under the sink.
"You seem.. down." She wasn't sure how to put it.
"Octavia's best friend, Vinyl Scratch, got picked up by this music producer named MC Posterlot." You explain, trying to get two pipes to gently fit together. "Her and I hung out sometimes."
"..you like her." Rarity lasered in on your tone.
"I do. I'm going to be honest, I love her music." Success! And you wrench them down. "She's also one of the few ponies around here that used to stop me and talk to me for.. well.. when I wasn't working for her."
"..oh." Rarity blinked a few times, then shook her head. "Have you really not had any social interaction, Anon?"
"You six are.. well, were, mainly.. whatever.. always off saving the world." That done, you slide out, and go to test and see if there's any leaks. "I'm not bitter. I get it. I'm an Alien, and the six of you had a big job to do, keeping the Kingdom safe. I mean, it's not like I should've expected everyone to accept me, when I got here."
"Goodness!" She seemed a bit upset that this was happening. "I really.. wasn't aware."
"It's fine. I keep busy." That done, you pull yourself all the way out and start to put your tools up. "I admit, I'm going to be a bit more lonely without Vy around. And.." You sigh. "..I'm a bit worried about her."
"Really, darling?" Rarity asked, handing you a towel to clean off with.
"I don't want to speak ill of someone without them here to defend themselves. But, both Octavia and I get a bad vibe off of MC Posterlot. Might be nothing, might be he's snappy and curt when he's stressed, and we just caught him at a bad time, I don't know." You do clean yourself off. "Well, that's everything. Anything else you needed?"
"Mm?" She seemed to be pondering your assessment of Posterlot. "..oh, no, no, Darling. That's it for today." She went and fetched her coin purse, and paid you the overage. "Your pants will be ready tomorrow, Darling."
"Thank you." You nod, accept the Bits, and head back to your place.
It's late afternoon, after all, and a Friday. You'd like to just relax a bit, for once, and maybe read that new Daring Do book..
..you did NOT expect Octavia to be in your house when you got there!
"Anon.." She started in, handing over a small bag of Bits. "..you left without getting your pay."
"Keep it." You shrug, and sit down. "Things're going to be a bit tight unless or until you can get another Roomie. And, really, I was doing that for Vy.." You trail off.
"Oh." She lowers her head. "That's very kind of you.."
"Going away present. A bit of free labor." You shrug. "But, that's not why you're here, is it?"
"..I'm very worried, Anon." She sighs. "You didn't get to see much of him. I've seen him several times, and he.. he was a bit rude to me, at first, but.. well, Vy redirected him on that.. just.. he never stopped being clippy and short with me. Like, I was beneath him. I'm not used to being treated that way by another Pony. We just don't DO that!" She shakes her head.
"Have a seat." You nod to the easy chair you got for free from one of your clients.
"I just.. don't know what to do." She sighed, sliding into it. "And I've really no one else to talk to about this."
"Mm. My door is always open, Octavia." You gesture.
"Which I greatly appreciate." She nods slightly. "I.. I don't know.. what it is that I can do."
You take a long breath, and sigh.
"About the only thing you CAN do, is be there for her. I don't know how long it's going to take for him to show his true colors, but once he does, you really only have one chance to make her see what's going on. The longer she's with him, the more she's going to mentally grow dependant on him, and the less likely she is to want to get away from him, no matter what he does to her. The more time passes, the further she's going to spiral down that path, until there's no coming back from it, mentally, and even if something happens to him - arrest or.. something else.." You meant getting ventilated by the cops, which doesn't happen here, exactly. "..she'll carry a torch for him and ponies LIKE him, the rest of her life. A ma-Stallion like that, can ruin a girl forever."
"That's exactly what I was afraid you'd say." She drooped her head.
"I can't.. I don't want to lie to you, Octavia." You shrug. "I mean, no matter what else, I want you to know the truth. I don't want to pretend everything is alright, when it's not. I did that a lot in Humanland."
"I appreciate your honesty." She sighed a bit. "So, really, I can't just.." She looked down and to the side. "..bash him over the head and carry her off?"
"Nooo!" You laugh a bit. "That's not.. I mean, that's what we'd all like to do with people - and ponies - like that. But, we can't. I mean.." You shrug. "..I'm pretty sure I can bury him somewhere no one would find him, and misdirect the cops around here."
"Oh?" She gave you a coy, slightly happier look.
"Your cops, even the ones with special talents for something resembling police work, aren't a match for a human brain that studied criminology. That's a science that requires a lot of cultural experience with the topic - and what do you have? Like, how many murderers have there been over the last hundred years?" You point to her.
"I can't think of one." She shrugged.
"Exactly. Humanland has thousands of murders every day." You nod. "And we have a lot of entertainment focused around police solving such crimes, literally explaining to the public how other humans tried to get away with murder." And gesture an upturned hand. "Your culture has no experience with that, and your methods of detection and investigation are fittingly poorly developed. Given that.. well.. I'm at least halfway convinced I could cover my tracks well enough."
"You almost sound like you planned it!" She giggles a bit.
"Remember when that Discord guy screwed with everything? Yeah. That's when I started thinking. I mean, I know Twilight and her friends would've been very mad if they found out I offed him, so.." You shrugged. "..but, I was more thinking, what if he ever came back and did something a lot worse? I was more concerned that your culture wasn't ready to deal with him in a truly final way, to protect everyone." You look down.
"..that's actually terribly noble of you." She smiled a bit. "Being willing to take that kind of.. mental anguish.. for us, for our own good."
"I'd do anything for you guys." You smile at her.
"You mean, you'd do anything for Vinyl." She retorted.
"I-" You stop and.. blink.
"I may not be entirely in tune with the social nuances of you and her, but I saw how you looked at her." She gave you a tiny, coy smile, which then faded. "Not that it matters."
"..yeah." You shrug. "Anyway, all we can do is just wait and watch."
"Thank you, Anon. You've.. at least confirmed my worst fears, and given me an honest answer." She rose, and made for the door. "I appreciate it."
With that, you two did exactly this. You waited. MC Posterlot's concert in Canterlot went off well, if the papers were anything to judge by. Vy didn't headline. She was, instead, introduced towards the end of the night as a new talent. You noticed this.
He was already starting in on her. This was a social slight. What, didn't she get his tomato juice just right, or something?
Whatever.
The days blended together as days often do, until three months had passed. Word came down that Vy was now headlining at one of MC's smaller clubs in Canterlot, and while the venue was not grand, the crowds were. In fact, you happend to be fixing Rose's sink for the fifth time, when you got a little more concrete information..
"..and they basically started a riot. We had to use water hoses to calm everyone down." Copper Top said, in a rather upset voice.
Copper Top was a police officer in Canterlot. Nice enough Mare, but very much a Cop. You listened in on her gossiping with Rose.
"Really, now?" Rose plied her for the juicy details. "Tell me about it."
"It didn't start out that way. I mean, we get noise and crowding complaints there every weekend. This time, though, the complaints were worse than usual. I went down there to have a look, and sure enough, the club was overflowing. WAY above its occupancy limits!" She shook her head. "So.. I.. went in there to tell them to cool it, and start removing the more drunk ones, and stop letting more in. The club manager got in my face about it, told me we were just trying to shut them down for being too cool." She shook her head. "Then, some of the club goers noticed it, and started to get upset. I called in the Guards, since he was refusing to follow safety protocols, and.." She shook her head. "..we ended up shutting them down. The DJ on stage was very upset. She told me her boss would be furious. He was. He came in to the station about two hours later and told us we had no right to bust up his club."
"Wow! Who was it?" Rose tilted her head.
"MC Posterlot. That hotshot Producer." She sipped her pumpkin spice. "He gave us all an earful, then he left. He said he'd be talking to his lawyer about harassing him."
"He sounds like a handful." Rose sighed.
"Ever since he came to Canterlot, we've had problems. I'm sure he'll fit in well enough, given time, though." Copper Top shrugged.
You knew better, but kept your mouth shut.
After finishing up, there, you went and saw Octavia.
"..and, apparently, it was basically a riot." You snitched to her.
"Oh, Vy.." She sighed. "..what have you gotten yourself into?" She looked up at you. "Can I hire you to carry things for my Orchestra, tonight?"
"Uh, sure, why?" You cocked a brow at her.
"Two reasons. One, I want you to get more acquainted with my friends." She shrugged. "You made me realize, I might've been nice to you, but I've been a horrible friend, not introducing you to more ponies." She lowered her head.
"Friend? Me?" You chuckled a bit.
"Yes. I've come to realize, you really ARE a good friend." She patted your shoulder. "You care."
"I-I mean.." You shrug. "..and the other reason?"
"We're going to go see her." She nods firmly. "I'm not going to let this go, Anon."
"I got your back." You nodded.
Octavia cared. You weren't entirely sure if it was about you, or as an extension of Vinyl, but she cared. It'd be nice to meet more Ponies, ones that thought you were cool. Maybe you'd actually have some social friends.
Setting out to Canterlot that evening, you hauled all kinds of Orchestra stuff. Instruments, stands, the works. They were having a concert in the central city park, sponsored by the Crown, but they had to bring literally everything. According to Octavia, your services were specifically expensed - 200 Bits worth of labor. That's about four good days of hard work.
Even if this was a big fat nothing, four days pay for four hours work? Score. Octavia was probably pulling some strings for that, too, and, hey, if you wound up in a fight? Hazard Pay.
The concert was very nice. And you used the second half of it to make your way to where MC Posterlot's club was. It was not hard to find.. there was already a crowd, and the Royal Guards were at the entrance to the one-way street it sat on one side of, not letting anyone else in.
You saw Copper Top, though, and approached her.
"Copper." You gave her a nod.
"Anon! What're you doing here?" She seemed confused.
"Ehh.." You nod at the street. "..I was hoping to get in and see Vy. Octavia's super worried about her. They're close, you know?"
"Mmm.." She looked at how crowded the street was. "..make it quick, okay?" She gave you a wink.
You indeed walked behind her, while she made a very obvious turn in the other direction, and stared at a building for a bit.
You really should wait for Octavia, but at this rate, the Riot Squad might get called before her performance is over. Being large and obvious, but sneaky, you made a roundabout loop on the far edge of the crowd, and since you'd done some stage repair work on this place, you knew it had an old street-level laundry elevator, from when it used to be a laundromat, in the back alley.
And, of course, that you could get to that alley through a small gap between two of the buildings next to it, that technically counted as the "back yard" to an apartment building. It was fenced in at either end of the 6-foot-wide, 22-foot long gap, so, it kinda looked solid.
You.. scaled the fence. No big deal, really. This got you into the secured back area of the building the club was in. From there, you just manually opened the trap door that the laundry elevator used to use, and jumped down.
You were in.
What you did not expect was..
"Hold very still, Darling."
You did as instructed, and soon had a very white Lady using your shoulders to climb down on.
"Rarity!?" You get your hands around her under-fore-legs and slide her down to the ground. "What on Earth.. or.. Equus.. are you doing here?!"
"Simple, Darling. Backing you up." She smirked.
She was dressed for clubbing, too. Slinky dress with tights under it, leather belt with studs, a choker with her cutie mark on it, and her hair was up in a pile of curls.
Honestly, it was kinda cute looking.. you more thought about Vy wearing something like that, though.
"How..?" You ask, tilting your head.
"Octavia sent me to keep an eye on you, Anon." She shrugged. "As one of the Elements of Harmony, it rather IS my job to keep you out of trouble." She gave a small grin.
"And you used that to get past the guards." You put together.
"Yes, Darling. Now, let's go and see Vinyl, hm?" She stuck earplugs in her ears, handed you a set, and the two of you advanced through the basement.
It wouldn't take you two very long to get to the stairs leading up to the main level. Nearby was a storage room. You look a peek inside. Therein, was most of Vy's stuff. Just stuck in there. Including her old Mix Table. You point to it, showing Rarity.
"Interesting, Darling. Seems her old life was forcibly tossed aside." She frowned a bit.
"Looks that way to me, too." You shrug. "It's been three months.. more than that. He didn't.. do something with all this?"
"As I said, seems that he did, Darling, and her old life is to have no place in her new one." She snorted. "Which way?"
"Backstage area is over here." You nod and climb the stairs to the renovated back stage area.
With Rarity behind you, you get into the hallway where the Talents had their dressing rooms. Vy's room was easy to find. You just went in.
What you saw, was Vy with a bit of blood trickling from her nose and a line of white powder on her dressing table.
"OH, FUCK!" You exclaim.
"Anon, Darling, what is that?" Rarity asks, looking at a zoned-out Vy.
"Cocaine." You scowl. "Highly addictive substance, it gives you an energy rush, but your body gets used to it pretty quickly. I can't believe they even HAVE that, here." You pace over to Vy. "She's out of it. I think she's been going on Coke and no sleep for days." You look at Rarity. "The human city I grew up in, we had this drug. One of my friends from college O.D.'d on it and died." You grab her and shake her. "VY! It's me, Anon! can you hear me?"
"Huh-wha? A.. Anon?!" She sat up, coming out of it somewhat. "What are YOU doing here?! You can't be back here!"
"Saving you, that's what I'm doing." You nod. "Vy, he's got you hooked on Coke. Vy. LOOK at yourself!" You force her to look in the mirror. "LOOK at that and TELL me without LYING to yourself, that you're not a Drug Addict!"
"I.." She pauses, and looks between you and Rarity. "..OH, ANON! WHAT THE HELL DID I DO TO MYSELF?!?" She started sobbing.
"..you became my latest conquest, that's what." MC Posterlot makes his entrance, at this point, with one of his boys. "I see we have uninvited guests." He taps his hoof on the ground like a human might snap his fingers. "Remove them."
"Like hell!" You stand up, and Rarity stands beside you. "I'm leaving alright - WITH Vinyl. And then I'm telling the cops you're pushing Narcotics." Probably NOT the smartest thing to say, in retrospect.
"Mmm.." He shrugs. "Then, kill them." He nods to us both.
"KILL THEM?!" Vy shrieks. "Postie! What's.. what the HELL do you think you're doing?! Rarity is the Element of Generosity! You CAN'T kill her!" She steps forwards.
MC Posterlot back-hoofs her to the ground, shattering her glasses and breaking the frame.
"SHUT UP, WHORE!" He bellows. "You're MY property! AND MY PROPERTY DOES NOT SPEAK UNLESS SPOKEN TO!"
You follow that up by sliding the monkey wrench up your sleeve, out into the palm of your hand, and cracking him across the muzzle.
"And bitches are the only ones that hit girls." You state.
He.. recovers quickly, and glares at you.
"NOW I'M GOING TO SHATTER ALL THREE OF YOU!" He screams, and points at you.
You heft the wrench, seeing his boys approach, and wiggle it at them.
"Come on, which one of you wants a free face renovation, first?!" You nod to Rarity, then Vy. "GET her OUT of here! And get the Guards!"
One of the three Henchstallions moves in towards you, and tries to Mule Kick, but you just lean out of the way, and crack the wrench on his ankle, deflecting it.
"Come along, Vy, darling, things are getting violent! And this is NO place for a LADY!" She scoops her up with Telekinesis, and moves towards the exit.
Posterlot tries to block it, but Rarity buffalo's through him, and gets to the hall. You jump over him and join her. The henchstallions now start to give chase, with Posterlot, and grab some blunt instruments to aide them in your demise.
Another DJ is on stage right now, and you can hear the crowd going insane.
"AYOO! TONIGHT, WE GOT THE BIGGEST PYROS EVER!" You hear him announce.
You try to get to the main level back stage door, but a fourth member of Posterlot's entourage blocks you, so you make for the curtain just behind the stage itself. Helping Rarity, you get Vy up under your arm.
Suddenly, there's screaming. Like, panicked screaming. Everything.. starts feeling very hot. The three of you manage to make it out on to the stage, only to see the Pyrotechnics that had gone off, had started a huge fire in the ceiling.
Ohhh.. this is bad. This is VERY bad. A similar fire in your home town many years ago, killed a number of people, and started for the same reasons. Overboard Pyros.
You manage to get yourself and Rarity over to the catwalk at the right side of the stage.
"GET HER UP THERE AND HEAD FOR THE FRONT OF THE BUILDING! THERE'S A ROOF ACCESS PANEL ALONG THE FRONT WALL! GET THE FIRE DEPARTMENT!" You heft Vy to her, and stand in front of the ladder.
This was going to be bad.
Posterlot's lackeys could see the flames, now, and three of them thought better of their situation, and departed. That left Posterlot, one Hench, and you. You heft the monkey wrench, as they approach.
"Looks like you're about to lose your club, Postie." You point the wrench at him.
"Looks like you're about to lose your life, Creature!" He snarls at you and makes a charge.
YOU... do the smart monkey thing and grab the ladder with your free hand, and PULL yourself up, causing him to charge underneath you. His henchstallion tries to leap up and grab at you with his teeth, but you give him a few sharp kicks, and haul yourself up, dropping the wrench into your pocket as you do so.
However, the ladder is not anchored well, and buckles under your weight. You fall, with the ladder and a chunk of catwalk, but land on the Henchstallion, and he takes most of the impact for you. Posterlot, now recovered, comes over and stands above you, trapped under the ladder.
"Heh.. see ya!" He snorts, and makes for the front door.
"POSTIE! COME ON, DUDE! HELP ME!" His Hench cries out for him, but is ignored.
"Shut up and help ME, dude, or we're BOTH goners!" You yell at him.
"Whatever you say!" He replies, desperately.
"Get your back legs up underneath the bars, and push when I say." You say, getting your arms up next to his hooves. "ONE. TWO. THREE. PUSH!"
The two of you manage to get most of the rubble off. You then get up, help HIM out of the pile, and look around you. Everything is bathed in flame.
"We're COOKED!" He yells.
"Not yet, we're not!" You grab him and lead him over in front of the stage, and grab part of the floor - the interior elevator that brought laundry down from the former behind-the-desk area, to the washing machines in the basement, was right here. You get the hatch open, and push him in first.
"This is the basement! GO THAT WAY!" You yell and point.
Just as you do, a wooden beam falls and blocks the hole.
"HEY!" The Hench yells up at you.
"NO, DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME, GET OUT OF HERE! GO! BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!" You wave him off.
"THANKS, HUMAN! DON'T WORRY, I'LL TELL THE COPS ABOUT THAT SNAKE!" He says, moving to leave, pausing, looking back at you like he thinks you're not going to make it, then retreats into the darkness.
Well, shit. Everything's all pear-shaped now, isn't it?
You pull back, and examine your options. You haven't many - the whole place is burning, now, there's smoke everywhere, you can't get up the catwalk, and you can't get to the basement.
But.. you CAN get to the bathroom! You charge for it, jumping over a pile of fire as you do, and igniting your pants a bit. Getting inside, you slap them to put them out, and make for the back window.
Barred. Figures. Time for some wrench work. You wedge it into the bars, and haul with all your adrenaline-enhanced strength, and manage to break the entire bracket. You then shatter the window with the wrench, and haul yourself out, just as the flames start licking at your butt cheeks.
Flopping down into the alley, you hear a firepony.
"HOSE HIM DOWN! HE'S HOT!"
And you feel cold water all over you. After a moment, two Fireponies help you up and drag you away from the building. You're deposited next to an ambulance with Rarity and Vinyl Scratch inside.
"ANON!" Vy slides over and hugs you. "YOU'RE ALIVE!"
"Yeah.. yeah.. did that other guy make it out?" You ask.
"Everyone escaped the flames, Darling." Rarity reported. "Even MC Posterlot."
"..AND THAT BASTARD LEFT US FOR DEAD!" You hear the Henchstallion yell. "HE'S GOT THE COKE IN HIS POCKET!"
"Oh, REALLY?!" Copper Top yells, and you watch her search him, coming up with a vial of cocaine. "Do you have ANY idea what the penalty is for pushing Narcos in Equestria?!"
"Ahh.. this seems to be a misunderstanding! Tha... I've never seen that before in my life!" He points at Copper Top. "YOU planted it!"
"THE HECK SHE DID!" Vy yells. "YOU told ME that if I didn't TAKE that JUNK, that you'd DUMP me by the SIDE of the ROAD, DEAD!" She pointed at him.
"Oh-HO! Threatening MURDER?! Oh, you're going to be lucky if YOU EVER get out of the Dungeon, NOW, buster!" Copper Top snorts. "ARREST HIM!"
In short order, he's cuffed and stuffed.
"YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" He yells.
"YOU DESERVE WORSE!" Vy yells, before falling over, and you catching her. "Oh, Anon.. Celestia-Damnit.. I should.. I should never have done any of this." She starts crying. "Please.. please help me.. I.." She holds to you with her rapidly draining strength.
"I'll always be here." You say to her. "We're.. friends, Vy. It's the least I can do."
"I think I should have been a better friend in the first place, Darlings. I.. I didn't see what was going on, or that this ghoulish stallion was manipulating you, Vinyl. I'm so sorry.." Rarity looks at you as well. "And you, Anon. I wasn't a good enough friend to realize you didn't exactly HAVE any! And you do deserve them, Darling. You're so very brave.. anyone would be grateful to have a friend like you."
"..I need that, now." Vy says, before breaking down and crying. Hard.
"I'm here, Vy. I'll always be here for you. Count on it." You hug her tightly to your chest, only now becoming aware of just how frail she was...
The fallout from this was impressive, to say the least. Vy was, indeed, addicted to Cocaine thanks to Posterlot. You stayed by her during her recovery.. which led to you two dating.
She gave up DJ'ing almost completely, and took a job at the music store in Ponyville. You? You kept on doing odd jobs, but this now included you being a regular 'roadie' of sorts for Octavia's band.
While this isn't a warm and fluffy ending, it is an ending. It ends with one Pony seeing the error of her ways, another seeing she was a hypocrite all along, a third realizing she might've failed in her job to help friendships along, and you realizing you were a bit of a bad ass.
It leads to respect, friends, and a possible romance. Just like everything in life, it won't be an easy path for any of you.. but it's a path, none the less, one you and Vy both want to walk, together.
~THE END
