THE BASS AND THE TWEETERS MAKE THE SPEAKERS GO TO WAR, HA THE MIGHTY TRUMPET BRINGS THE FREAKS OUT TO THE FLOOR!

Music. Loud fucking music. It felt like my teeth were about to vibrate out of my skull from the power of the bass alone. I don’t mean to ramble and sound like an old man, but holy fuck this is too damn loud. I don’t particularly enjoy the sensation of my heart vibrating inside of my chest, either. I couldn’t even hear anything people were saying around me, I have half the mind to think that they can’t hear each other either and are just reading each others lips.

Jessica had brought the gang here, and as soon as we entered the damn club I got separated somehow. The loud music and heavy vibrations mixed with flashing lights was enough to disorient me, now I find myself at the center of a mosh pit of bouncing scantily dressed patrons, both male and female, grinding and bumping into one another while I scooted through the crowd like a skittish mouse, which is an odd sight in of itself to see considering how I towered above the crowd of mostly average-heighted ponies.

“I swear to fuck, Jessica had this planned!” I growled, not that anybody or I could hear, I was just thinking out loud while I tried to locate my friends. I don’t really like being trapped in a crowd full of half-naked strangers. Plus most of these people are covered in spilt liquor, liquid glitter, and some other questionable fluids that I’d rather not let come in contact with my skin.

All I wanted was to unwind and have a few drinks, but no, Jessica had to take us to a fucking night club. I just hope I can find the others before something happens.

Somebody just touched my ass.

I quickly jerked away, prancing away from the gropy offender, where I suddenly find myself pressed against the bar. Curse this damn suit! I knew it hugged my backside far too tightly! I should’ve went home and changed first, I certainly hope none of the other girls are suffering the same fate as me currently.

“Hey, big guy!” I faintly heard a woman’s voice speak up from behind me. Turning around, I’m met face to face with a light gray thestral mare, who stares up at me with with mild interest while she rests her hands on the bar before her. “Care for a drink?” she shouted over the music, reaching under the bar and lifting up a large bottle of liquor.

“Yes, yes I would!” I shouted back, nodding furiously. If I’m going to unwind a bit, I’m gonna need some help from Mr. Booze, and hopefully I’ll still have my head on straight enough to look for my friends after I relaxed a little.

“I haven’t seen you before, you new around here?” the thestral mare asks, pouring me a glass of what smells like vodka.

“Yeah, I guess I am.” I replied, nodding as I take the glass of vodka and gulp it all down within a few seconds. I let out a pleasant sigh as the alcohol begins to spread through my system, but I was gonna need far more if I were to get to where I planned on going.

“A natural drinker, yes?” The thestral says with a grin, I was just now able to notice her accent, but it was barely distinguishable with all this music blaring.

“Yeah, my sister and I are competitive drinkers!” I replied, earning a smirk from the mare as she poured me another drink. “Say, you don’t sound like you come from these parts either, you new here to Ponyville too?” I asked as I took the newly poured drink into my hand, sipping on it as I offer a friendly smile.

“Yes, sort of, I’ve been living here for a few months now. I’m originally from Tramplevania, you?” she asks as I pull up a stool and take a seat so she wouldn’t have to crane her neck all the time.

“The Griffin Kingdoms, Northern Asgard, small little human settlement about a mile north from the midland mountains.” I replied, earning a perk of a brow from her, a curious one, albeit a bit cautious.

“Ah, a human from the Kingdoms? You seem far friendlier than most of the humans I’ve met who come from there.” she says, her gaze following mine as I sit down, our gazes now almost a bit more level since I’ve taken a seat.

“I’d be lying if I said life was easy for humans in the Kingdoms. Growing up, my dad always taught me that no matter how hard life could be, it always mattered what perspective you took from your hardships that made you a good or bad person. I just decided to cherry-pick a more optimistic perspective, otherwise I’d be bitter like some of the elder folk from my village.” I go on to explain while the thestral listens intently.

“That’s some good advice to have, your father sounds like a wise man.” she says with a smile, “I never got your name, human. Mine is Vick.” the thestral says as she outstretches her hand to me.

“Walter, my name’s Walter. It’s nice to meet ya, Vick.” I say, smiling as we shook hands.

“Care to hear some advice of my own?” Vick says as our hands disembark, and I go back to sipping on my drink. I nod curiously, gesturing for her to speak away as I drank.

“You should find employment as quickly as possible. I heard that most humans get special support from the Equestrian government and all, but even with that it’s still a good idea to find yourself a job. It’ll make your social life a hell of a lot easier.” Vick goes on to explain, earning a curious glance from me.

“I did plan on finding a job later down the road, but why rush it?” I asked, tilting my head.

“Well, I wouldn’t say rush for it, but try to find one quickly. You see, most of the ponies around here seem quite polite, but in reality most of them don’t take to the idea of freeloaders all that kindly. Doesn’t really matter if you’re just moving here because you’re tired of home, or if you moved here because you’re running from something.” Vick goes on to explain while I set my now empty glass down.

“Well, I’m not really surprised. Back home if you don’t find yourself work to do, they usually found work for you to do, and you were legally required to do it whether you liked it or not. But as far as I know, there aren’t any laws like that here in Equestria… So why is finding a job as quick as possible necessary? You make it sound like something bad will happen if not.” I say as Vick stares off into space with a pondering look on her face. She glances around a bit before leaning in, gesturing for me to do the same. Once I lean in, she whispers to me.

“Illuminati.” she says softly. I pause, a blank look crossing my face as I process what she just said. I give her a confused stare, and obviously she has seen the look I was giving her before because she rolled her eyes and pulled me close again. “Look, I know it sounds stupid, and it’s not really official news yet, but there’s some sort of group out there that makes life difficult for anybody who ain’t your run-of-the-mill pony. If you’re a pegasus, a earth pony, or a unicorn, often times you’re gonna be perfectly safe. If you’re anything but those three things, some shit is always bound to happen to you.” she went on to explain, while I just looked at her a bit sideways.

“Well, even if there was this… Illuminati… Don’t you think it’d be a bit far-fetched to come to that conclusion?” I asked, earning a short nod from Vick.

“Exactly, I thought the same way before I started piecing shit together. I don’t even know myself if it’s a hundred percent fact or not, all I know is that bad shit tends to happen to people that the nobles of Equestrian society deem ‘leeches’ or ‘freeloaders’.” she says, pausing for a moment before taking out a glass and pouring herself a drink as well as refilling mine. “I moved away from home for the same old shit, I was tired with how life was going and I wanted change. So, I moved here to Ponyville, moved in with a cousin of mine, and I started enjoying life without any of the strict rules my parents had laid out for me back home.” she pauses, taking a sip from her drink, before returning to her story. “So I spent the first few weeks of my new life enjoying my freedom, going to parties with my cousin, binge-watching shows on Netflix, eating what food I wanted to whenever I wanted to. It was nice, and I figured that so long as I cleaned up after myself and did my fair share of chores around the house that life would be pretty pleasant until I found work… Well, that’s when shit started to go sideways.”

“What do you mean? What happened?” I asked, now taking short sips of my drink, a bit concerned by her ramblings, but also quite interested in what she had to say. It always interested me to hear what people had to say, since most of the time they’re probably ignored or brushed aside. It’s always nice to have somebody that listens to you.

“It started out as small, getting the stink eye from locals. Then it began to escalate to vandalism, rocks being thrown at our windows, tires on our car being slashed; then about a month after the incidents started, some fucker broke into our home. I got roughed up a little bit, but if my cousin wasn’t there then it probably would’ve ended up worse. She works in Luna’s Guard, it was a day time robbery so she was home resting when it happened. Even after that incident occurred, the shitstorm still continued.” Vick says with a sigh, tapping her finger idly on the bar counter.

“That’s terrible! Not even that sort of thing happened back in the Kingdom, the homestead was considered a sacred place and anybody who disrespected that unspoken rule usually got their teeth kicked in. Did it all stop after you got a job?”

“Hah, believe me, that fuckhead didn’t walk away unscathed. My cousin is a bad bitch.” Vick grinned, flashing me the tips of her canines. “But yeah, the drama died down shortly after my cousin found me a job as a bartender here at this club.”

“That sounds more like some sort of cult than any sort of illuminati. The reason behind such heinous acts is highly irrational, not to mention immature. Whoever orchestrated such a benign thing against you is more likely some childish snob with too much money, and too much time on their hands.” I say as I pause to take a swig from my drink.

“Preach it, brother!” Vick laughed, raising her drink high. I raise mine as well, and we clink glasses together. Just around that time, an average looking stallion exited through a backroom behind the bar. Vick seemed to be relieved to see him. “Oh, hey, glad you’re here Rock. Is it my lunch break?” Vick inquired.

“Yep, I’m taking over for ya.” the stallion replied with a mellow tone of voice.

“Sweet, hey big guy, care to join me on the second floor balcony?” Vick says, beckoning me to follow her as she began to step outside from behind the bar.

“Sure.” I nodded, it would probably be best for my senses if I escaped the deafening blast of music. I follow behind Vick closely, making sure to keep my eyes locked on the back of her head, which was quite easy to do considering her hair was dyed a bright pink hue. Once we entered the outdoor balcony on the second story, the blaring music became muffled by the sliding doors behind us.

“So, Walter, what brings you to Equestria? I heard there’s this whole war thing going on up North?” Vick inquires as she leans against the balcony railing, pulling a cigarette from a small smooth metal container she pulled from her pocket.

“My father sent me and my sister here to avoid the war. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want this second chance to start over, but the first time the Empire and I see eye to eye, I’m driven away from combat. I’m kind of disappointed that I won’t be able to rip the Legion a new ass…” I sighed, crossing my arms as I stared out into the night.

“So you actually wanted to go to war?” Vick asked, perking a brow.

“Wasn’t about fighting in a war for the fun of it.” I say, briefly glancing over at her. “It was about fighting to protect my people. Something I’ve never had the honor of doing. But most of all…” I lowered my head, staring down at the streets lit up with neon lights. “I didn’t want my family to suffer just to spare me the misery. I feel like all my life, I’ve been nothing but a burden to them. My mother gave her life to bring me into this world. My sister sacrificed her childhood just to protect and raise me while my father was at work… And now… My father sends my sister and I to another country just to avoid war… I’m tired of being treated like I’m some defenseless coward.” I say, the vodka flowing through my veins loosening my jaw enough to ramble on about my frustration.

“I see.” Vick says as she turns to gaze out at the night along with me. “So it wasn’t really about the glory of war, it was about protecting your family, showing them that you aren’t as fragile as they think you are. I can empathize with that.” Vick sighed, leaning against the railing of the patio.

“So, what about you, Vick? How was life back home before you moved here?” I asked as I glanced over at her. Vick gave a small empty smile, clenching the butt of her cigarette between her lips while she lit the tip.

“Complicated, that’s one way of saying it. Tramplevania is very cloak and dagger, at least among wealthy families and such. Once you manage to become successful, you have to fight and compete viciously in order to sustain your title. My father wanted to use me as a way of expanding his influence with another wealthy family, thus the reason why I’m here now.” she says, pausing to take a deep drag on her cigarette.

“What business did your father run?” I asked out of curiosity, focusing my intention on her now as I shifted my weight to comfortably lean against the railing while also looking at her.

“Hookers and blow.” she replied nonchalantly.

I snorted, my lips curling in a small grin as I stifled a laugh. She glances over at me, perking a brow, grinning a bit herself before returning her gaze forward. After a pause of silence, my face relaxes into a look of realization before I draw up the conclusion that she is in fact, not joking.

“Are you serious?” I asked, seeming a bit unconvinced.

“Yep. My family owns one of the top three biggest brothel chains in Tramplevania. It’s a booming business to have going, especially with all the high tensions and such. He wanted to become cozy with another brothel organization and use me as a peace offering to expand his territory of work.” Vick explained, exhaling a small cloud of smoke while she continued to admire the neon lights littering the streets below.

“Damn. That really blows. Heard that kind of shit happened in the high-classed society back in the Kingdoms, but I never really looked too far into it, thought that people with such wealth would be more… Adapted to modern times.” I say, glancing out at the town.

“Well, my parents may not have been, but I sure as fuck was. Besides, my sister wanted that title more than I did, so I just left it to her and moved out here.” she says, although by the tone of her voice she didn’t sound too happy about her past decisions.

“But… Despite all that, you still miss them, don’t you? Your family?” I asked, earning a quiet nod from Vick. “Yeah… My dad, my big sis… They’re the only family I have. I never really had any other family that I know of, only the three of us… I miss him a lot.” I say, trailing off for a bit, before glancing over at Vick. “Perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to go visit once in a while?”

“Maybe after he’s had more time to cool down. My dad is a bigger diva than my mom, he tends to hold onto his frustration longer than most.” Vick says with a small smile. “But yeah… Maybe it would help to go see them sometime.”

“Sending letters back and forth might be a healthy start.” I say as I step away from the railing, tucking my hands into my pockets.

“Heading off?” Vick asks, glancing over at me.

“Yeah, I should probably go find my group. If I leave my friends alone with my sister for too long she’ll probably traumatize them somehow.” I say, earning a chuckle from Vick.

“I should probably get back to work too here soon. If you’re ever in the neighborhood again, feel free to drop by for a visit.” Vick says with a smile, waving as I made my way back to the patio doors. “See you later!”

“See ya!” I waved back, entering the club. Once again, my senses are bombarded by loud music that makes my entire body vibrate.

I begin to move around the outskirts of the dance floor, searching for booths and tables, trying to find out where my psychotic sister and the others are. It’s best that I don’t leave the girls alone with my sister for too long… Who knows what could happen?