“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I asked Bright. We’d left the bar and were in the middle of a semi-crowded street. And yes, I was drawing stares. Apparently none of them had ever seen an anthropomorphic cat that recently escaped from jail before.

That and Bright didn’t get out much. He was well known, just not for being outside.

“Would you quit worrying? We’ll be fine. It’s not that far anyway.”

“Fine? I’m pretty sure I’m wanted for assault!” I blanched when I noticed a pair of guards standing idly on a street corner. “And I kind of stick out in a crowd. They’re going to recognize me!”

“Yeah, but they won’t try anything.” He idly waved to the pair. Each of them nodded, tossed me a glare, and proceeded to…do nothing. We passed by them without incident. “Cedar said she’d take care of it and she meant it. I know for a fact that the Captain owed her a favor. Trust me, you, Ren, and Fault are free to go.”

“Well…that was fast.” It had barely been twenty four hours since I’d woken up behind bars and already I was off the hook.

“It has to be.” We turned a corner and entered a less crowded avenue. The buildings here were a lot cleaner and more modern. The people around us (mostly ponies) also appeared to be in a better position financially. The distinctions between areas were astounding. Almost like a sandbox game where the area was divided into districts. The cuts were just as clean. “The politics inside the city itself are fast paced and ever changing, though they try to make everything appear stable to the nobles in Canterlot. With all these people jockeying for position, the slow get cut from the herd. Ward probably already knows you entered the city, escaped from jail, are working for me, and on your way to see him.”
“But…how the hell can he possibly know all that? It all happened just yesterday! Hell, we only left the Hall twenty minutes ago!”

“Trust me kid, you’ll learn soon enough that nothing happens in this city without him hearing about it.” The look Bright had on his face was positively morbid. “Everyone knows it to. The higher ups play their little games and shift the rules to their liking, but the one thing that never changes is who’s in charge.”

“Damn. Sounds like the setup to a bad crime drama.”

“Believe me, it is.” He chuckled and kept walking. Going over the little bit he told me, I realized one thing: Ward was probably the last person I wanted to mess with. Especially with my track record. After all, I’d been here for two months and I’d nearly died…was it four or five times?

Either way, I was getting bad vibes about this meeting.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your company miss Bark?” The woman before him was green as the plants she took care of and nearly as slow. Still, experience had taught him that it was far better to handle these meetings personally, rather than trust it to subordinates.

“Well sir…”

“Bark, we’ve known each other for years. Just call me Ward.” He gave her a smile honed from years of public speaking.

“Yes, of course Ward.” She coughed nervously. He wasn’t surprised. The little mare had never been the most courageous of ponies. It was why he liked her so much. “I’ve decided that we need to revise the terms of our…business arrangement,” she squeaked. He raised an eyebrow at her, trying to appear confused even though they both knew what was going on.

“It was my understanding that the terms we agreed on suited us both just fine. After all, you agreed quite readily when you were told your fee.” She winced at the mention.

“Certain…things have come up and I’ve decided to…reevaluate my financial position. I’m sorry, but our agreement cannot coexist with my new business model,” she said, trying to sound confident.

“I don’t see why. Hemlock isn’t that hard to grow, doesn’t take up that much space, and the current market price is skyrocketing…”

“I can’t do it anymore!” she blurted out. Ward had to admit, that surprised him. These kinds of people were usually too subtle. And other kinds of people were usually to blunt. “Please…”

He sighed and stood up from his desk (made from the finest mahogany) and walked to the little window they’d given him. He remained silent for a moment, giving her time to squirm.

“Well if you’re sure, I can’t force you to do anything.” He could almost hear her jaw unhinge.

“Really?”

“Of course. What kind of stallion would I be if I forced a lady, such as yourself, into something that made her uncomfortable?” He scanned the crowd passing on the street below until he caught sight of an unassuming unicorn mare. “I suppose I can find a new supplier without much trouble. They probably won’t be as good as you, but I will make due.”

“Oh…yes, I’m sure you will.” The amount of relief in her voice was akin to a man who just had his execution order overturned. A small smile found its way onto his face. He truly loved this part. “I suppose I’ll see myself out. Thank you Ward.” Her thanks sounded sincere.

“The pleasure was all mine, my dear.” He heard the scrape of her chair on the floor as she got up to leave. He timed it so she was just in front of the door. “I’m just disappointed is all.”

Ward swore he could make out her sharp intake in breath. He didn’t turn around. He knew what he would find. Her frozen with her hoof two inches from the door, eyes filled with panic, wondering if her relief was premature.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I just assumed you were smarter than this.” He shook his head in the matter of a parent who has seen a child perform an act of stupidity and is too ashamed to yell. “After all, there are so many things you could do with the money.”

“Really…”

“Of course! Why you could repaint your store, buy some new furnishings for your house, take a trip…” The mare in the street below reached into her bag and put on a large, red hat. “Pay your brother’s hospital bills…”

A lesser trained ear would call what followed silenced. There was no actual sound of course, but if one tried hard enough, and knew what to listen for, they could hear what was perhaps one of the most beautiful and terrible sounds to ever grace the ear.

The breaking of a will.

“On second thought…” Ward turned with his friendliest smile to see Bark as she should be. Head down, shoulders slumped, eyes facing the floor. The look of someone who has submitted to what life has decided their path is. “I believe our arrangement could be fit into the new plan with a little work.”

“Excellent!” At that moment the door opened and Tristan, his personal security, appeared in the doorway. The minotaur looked down at the little mare and snorted.

“Sir, I thought you’d like to know that Bright has been spotted leading the cat…thing that showed up yesterday. They’re on the way here.”

“Is that so?” His smile grew wider. This day was turning out better than he expected. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to end our meeting here Miss Bark. As much as I’d love to discuss your new business plan more, an old friend appears to be dropping by.”

“Of course. Thank you for your time.” She practically sprinted out of the room under the steely gaze of Tristan. His guard snorted again and looked at him.

“How do you want to handle this?”

“Just send them up the second they've arrived. After all, as the mayor it would be rude for me not to welcome our newest resident.” Still smiling, he sat back down at his desk as Tristan left. “This should be interesting.”

Apparently, building styles were pretty uniform across Equestria. At least, that’s what I could assume since the Town Hall looked just like the one from Ponyville except it was larger (and far less colorful). I was still drawing a few looks from the crowd as we approached the building, but for the most part they ignored me and went about doing whatever it is busy ponies do.

Actually, there was weird thing I noticed. Every once in a while, one of the ponies (usually a mare, but sometimes a stallion) would see me and either blush or get this disgusted look on their face. I had no idea why, it just happened. I asked Bright about it, but all he did was laugh and say something about bipedals. It was probably nothing to worry about, so I ignored it.

“How long do you think this is going to take?” I asked Bright as we stepped into a rather lavish lobby. A large desk with a pair of unicorns sitting behind it dominated the middle of the room while large stairs ran up to what I assumed was space for offices behind them.

“Depends on what kind of mood the mayor’s in.” Bright started to make his way to the front desk with me following close behind. There were a few people in here (mostly ponies) and almost all of them were wearing some kind of half suit that marked them as dealing with money or politics.

“It’s kind of weird that we have to go all the way to the mayor to fill out some residency paperwork.”

“We don’t. He just likes it when I stop by.” That piqued my interest more than it should have. After all, what would the most powerful man in the city want with a barkeep? Granted, he was the owner of the biggest and probably best (I’d heard some horror stories about the competition last night; particularly one ‘Buccaneer’s Brew’) establishment in the city. And it was Stalliongrad, second only to Las Pegasus in debauchery. Still, how much weight could that possibly carry?

“Morning Text, Vase. How are things going?” As we approached the front desk, the two mares behind it stopped doing…whatever it is front desk people do and addressed us. Both were wearing simple dress shirts with a nametag. Text was a pale blue while Vase was a deep purple and had glasses.

“Well look what the cat dragged in,” Text said with a smile. I’ll give you one guess as to who she was looking at.

“Very funny.” Something told me that cat puns were going to become annoyingly prevalent while I was in Equestria. “Name’s Jack.”

“Nice to meet you.” With that her horn lit up and a manila folder floated onto the desk, carried by a glow that was the same yellow as her mane. “I take it you’re here to fill out residency paperwork?”

“How’d you guess?” Bright asked her with the barest hint of a smile.

“It’s pretty obvious,” Vase chipped in with a tone that made it very clear she would rather be somewhere else. “This morning the boss came in muttering about how much of a pretentious braggart Cedar is. When we asked Tristan, he said she came into the Green Room gloating about how she picked up a fighter for the tournament. Something no one had seen before and he was staying at the Hall.”

“The Green Room?” At the question, both mares rolled their eyes.

“Essentially, it’s the Hall. Just much more expensive.” Judging by the way she spat out the words, Text was not supportive of the place. “It’s where rich people go to drink when they don’t feel like ‘slumming’.”

“Got invited there once.” Vase was grinding her teeth audibly. “Service was worth less than a broken cart. Just as slow too.”

“Music’s not that bad though.” I just managed to keep my face from showing any surprise. Not only did Bright know the mayor, he apparently used to drink with the higher ups. Definitely not an ordinary barkeep. “Robin and Mica are good and all, but sometimes I do wish we still played classical.”

“I thought you had Reprise sing every month?” Vase asked.

“Reprise sings?” I asked them.

“Yeah. She’s good; I just wish she would do it more often. But, if I put her up too often, people start to complain about it being too boring.” He made a derisive snort, as if he was disgusted by them. “I swear, those idiots wouldn’t know good music if it leaped up and bit them right in the-”

“I wouldn’t finish that sentence,” a deep, thunderous voice exclaimed. “This is a government building. Try to keep the language to a minimum.” I swore I saw Bright’s eye twitch as we turned to regard the speaker. What we got was a minotaur. He was huge, at least two feet taller than me, and had a light tan coat. He was also wearing the top half of a suit with a blue tie. For some reason he’d abstained from pants. Though when I thought about it, the only ones I’d seen so far wearing any type of lower clothing were Ren, Stiff, and myself. Odd…

“Hello Tristan,” Bright said, not even trying to disguise his distaste. “How’s life treating you?”

“The same.” The giant shrugged passively. I suddenly found myself receiving a gaze that was hallway between intimidation and bored interest. “This the cat?”

“Last I checked,” I said in deadpan. The bull’s gaze lingered a few more moments before he released a snort that wouldn’t have been out of place in a Bugs Bunny cartoon.

“You don’t look so tough.” One of my eyebrows chose this moment to ascend above its twin.

“I’m not trying to. Would just cause trouble.” For some reason he found that funny since he started chuckling darkly. It was more than a little creepy.

“Believe me cat; you’re in trouble no matter what you do.” The smile he put on was positively sadistic. It had all the signs of a B-Movie psychopath. Wide enough to go all the way across his face, eyes that bored into your skull, and showing much more teeth than necessary. Granted, they were all flat grinding teeth so it lost some of the effect, but not much. “The mayor requests both of your presences at your earliest convenience.”

“Somehow I feel that our earliest convenience is now.” The minotaur grinned again. Something about the guy just rubbed me the wrong way.

“You learn fast.” He looked at Text and held out his hand. With a timid smile, she floated the folder into his palm. He nodded at the two front desk mares and started walking up the stairs. “Follow me please.”

I shared a glance at Bright who let out another weary sigh and proceeded after the bull. With a quick goodbye to Text and Vase, I followed. I had made it about hallway up the stone steps before I felt a small nudge in my side.

“Watch yourself around him.” My earth pony companion glared at Tristan. If looks could kill…to be honest, they’d have to hire an entire cleaning crew to take care of the stain the bull would make. “Strange ‘accidents’ have been known to happen when two people scheduled to compete are in the same place.”

So he’s in the tournament to. Wonderful.

The security guard (I’m assuming, why else would you hire an eight foot minotaur in a government building) walked at a brisk pace. One even I had trouble keeping up with and I’ve been told on several occasions that I’m fast. I’d make a comparison to a cheetah, but…well…I’m pretty sure I’d die a little on the inside.

He led us past several offices and right up to a rather mundane door. Painted onto the glass in black, block lettering were the words ‘Ward Hoofer, Mayor.’ Tristan came to a stop just to the right of the door and fixed us with a glare full of death. He almost violently handed me the folder.

“Don’t try anything,” he growled.

“Neither of us is that stupid,” Bright shot back.

“I know you aren't, but looking at him? Smart isn't a word that comes to mind.” My fist clenched in anger at the sight of what might be the most spite filled sneer I’d ever laid eyes on.

“Excuse me?” Looking back, challenging him might have been proving his point, as signaled by Bright’s hopeless sigh, but if I was going to be competing against this guy, I’d rather not show weakness.

“Smart people don’t lose their arms.”

I’d describe the smirk that appeared on his face, but it came and went too quickly for me to get a look. Mostly because of the growl I made that I quite frankly wouldn't have been surprised to hear from a tiger. I actually think it scared him a little bit.

Didn't know I could do that. Awesome.

“Come on Jack. I have other things to do today.” There was a nervous tone to Bright’s voice that was a bit troubling. I hadn’t known him long, but he seemed like he was usually collected.

I suddenly got the feeling I didn’t want to pick a fight with this guy.

I backed off and gave him a nod. He walked through the doors into the office without a word. I followed, but not before hearing one more taunt from the bull.

“You better watch your back cat.” I matched glares with him for a moment before turning away. There was no doubt that future relations with him would be…problematic.

Two days in Stalliongrad and you've already pissed off the guard and made an enemy. Great work.

I stepped into an office that seemed more appropriate for a consul or president. The carpet was green and fine spreading out to walls painted in a warm brown. Various pictures lined the walls, all of their occupants looking very official. All those little knick knacks rich people seemed to love to collect were on display over a modest fireplace in the center of the room. Off to the right was a small sitting area. A couple of couches, a chair, and a nice coffee table. To the left was a grand desk (made of mahogany I believe) with a pair of lavish chairs in front of it.

Of course, neither of those chairs matched the one behind it. And in that chair, a dark green earth pony with a mane and tail the same brown as the walls sat. He was wearing a simple, yet expensive looking suit with a green tie. He watched me come in with that smile you only really see on T.V.

“And this must be your new employee. Welcome to Stalliongrad,” he said it cheerily, but not so much that it sounded false.

“Thank you sir. I’m Jack.”

“Ward Hoofer.” He started to extend his hoof towards me, but I caught site of his eyes flicking downward slightly before he stopped the motion. “I understand you came here today to fill out some paperwork.”

“That’s correct.” I placed the folder on the desk. He casually grabbed it and stated flipping through the papers. “If you don’t mind me saying, it seems a little weird for the mayor to help with some residency paperwork.”

“To tell you the truth, it’s more of an excuse to see this old charger.” He gave Bright a playful smile that was returned as a spite filled glower. “It’s been ages since you’ve come out of that restaurant of yours.”

“Bar.”

“Whatever,” he said, waving his hoof to the effect of ‘like it matters’.

“You two are friends?” I asked, already knowing the answer from the sheer amount of dislike Bright was managing to project with just his eyes.

“I’d like to think so,” the mayor answered.

“You’d think wrong,” the bartender quipped.

“Wit’s as sharp as ever Red,” Ward said, laughing all the while. At the word red, Bright’s teeth audibly ground together. I made a mental note to never refer to him as Red. “Now then, about your paperwork…” He reached into one of the drawers and pulled out a quill and an ink pot. “Are you familiar with the Equestrian tax code?”

“No.”

“Do you know the basic rules and laws of the country?”

“Not specifically, but I know what is commonly considered a crime.”

“Have you owned any property or help any job in Equestria prior to this?”

“Nope.”

“Can you read Equestrian?”

“…Can I see Equestrian?” He flipped the folder around and passed it to me so I could look at the pages. What I found was an unfamiliar collage of symbols and shapes that quite frankly made my brain consider fleeing back to the jungle. “That would be a no.”

“Fair enough. Can you at least write with your left hand?”

There was a moment of silence. A very brief moment as it was broken by the sound of my head hitting the very hard mahogany desk. It’s a very fine material you understand.

“I’m going to have to write down orders tomorrow, aren’t I?” I asked Bright without taking my head off the wood.

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll work something out.” That answer scared me a little, I won’t lie.

“Maybe you should have done a little more research on your new friend before you hired him?” Ward said innocently. I don’t know why, but that was the moment I began to feel uneasy around him. There was just something about the way he spoke that sentence that really put me off. Maybe it was condescending tone or the way he smiled when he said it or the sheer amount of dislike coming off Bright , I don’t really know. It just left me feeling uneasy. “Alright, this will take a little longer than I thought, but it still shouldn't be a problem.”

“Thank you for doing this,” I said, trying to cover up my unease.

“Really, it’s no trouble. I had some time to kill anyway.” He pulled the folder back over to himself and dipped the quill into the inkwell. “Honestly, I’m glad you decided to take care of this so early. If you actually started working before this, we would get into issues with the tax codes and the revenue service and all kinds of complicated garbage. Doing it now, there won’t be any problems.”

I managed to relax a little. He was right. All we were doing was filling out a few papers. Nothing dangerous or malign anywhere. Just three men sitting in an office. No problem.

“Now, I believe the first section is…personal history.”

…And now I had a problem.

This chapter...don't ask me why, but this chapter kicked my ass. Sorry about the relatively long wait for so little pay off. Still, it's finally done.

Thanks.