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A Two Sided Coin

by arkantos

Chapter 4: And the people that inhabit them

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After making their way through the swarming crowds, Inhio's company finally reached their destination.

A bell on the top of the door ringed as seven people entered it. This place didn't seem as alien to the girls as the other two did, but it still looked rather peculiar.

As the girls stood in the middle of the room, they started looking around. There was a counter in front of them. Behind it was a man polishing a whiskey glass, and behind him was a large shelf full of various bottles full of colored drinks.

To their right and left there were many tables. Most of them had people sitting near them...The longer they stood, the more attention they gathered.

With a swift gesture with his hand, Inhio guided them towards the biggest empty table in the bar. They slowly followed while they kept looking around them and listening to the strange music being produced by a peculiar, little box.

Only after they had all taken a seat did Inhio finally speak a word.

"welcome to my favorite bar...a place I've never visited before," Inhio jested.

"So this is where the common people usually hang out in?"

"Yep."

"And what is it that they do here, exactly?"

"Drink, chat...waste their money."

"This isn't one of those places where people come to ...feed their addictions...is it?" Twilight asked and raised her eyebrow.

"How very perceptive of you, princess Twlight," Inhio complimented her. "Alcohol is actually number one on the list of addictions that cause people to lose everything."

"Alcohol?" Twilight inquired about the strange word.

"A strong beverage that has a very certain effect on people...Wanna give it a try?" Inhio suggested.

The girls didn't seem too eager to comply.

"Don't worry, no one gets addicted on the first time," Inhio calmed them.

"I...guess it can't hurt to try," Rainbow Dash slowly answered. "What kinds of alcohol are there?"

"Well, there are quite a few when it comes to the stronger ones, but I doubt you'd enjoy any of those...I'd recommend some of the basic stuff - Beer, ale, cider, whichever sounds the best to you."

"Did you just say cider?" Rainbow Dash asked in wide excitement.

""Why, yes..." Inhio replied, slightly confused. "I thought your world didn't have alcohol."

"Hah! I didn't know you called cider an alcohol!" Rainbow Dash replied without losing her excitement. "I'd love some!"

"In that case..." Inhio got up from the table. "Be right back."

The girls watched him as he approached the bartender and eagerly awaited for him to return. Rainbow Dash in particular.

Before long, Inhio was already on his way back with a very large glass full of a sparkling, yellow-colored beverage. He placed it right in the middle of the table.

After rubbing her palms together, Rainbow Dash grabbed the glass and started guzzling down its contents, but after a few gulps, her cheeks bloated up and she started coughing.

"Blegh!" She stuck out her tongue. "What is this!? This isn't cider!" She slammed her fist on the table and pushed the glass back to the middle of the table.

"Only cider I've ever known," Inhio refused her statement.

"It has that taste, but there's something wrong with it..." Rainbow Dash paused while trying to think of how to say what she wanted to say. "It's like someone added some kind of acid to it or something...I can still feel my throat burning from the freaking thing!"

"I should have known." Inhio shook his head. "There is such a thing as non-alcoholic cider...that's probably the one you wanted," he explained himself.

"Are you saying that it's the alcohol in it that gives it that terrible, burning aftertaste?"

"Exactly," Inhio confirmed her words.

A brief moment of silence followed, after which Rainbow Dash threw her arms up and shouted, "What is wrong with you people!?"

"Keep it down, Rainbow!" Inhio laughed. "You're attracting too much attention.

The girls looked around and saw a few unfriendly faces staring at them.

"Sorry..." the rainbow-maned girl apologized. "It's just that...I don't get it! How could so many people end up broke from spending so much money just to have their throat burned out!?"

"Let me give it a try," Applejack jumped in on the conversation and grabbed the glass. She took a single gulp and had about the same reaction as Rainbow Dash. "Blegh! My throat!" She grabbed her neck.

"Ooh! Ohh! My turn!" Pinkie shouted and also grabbed the glass to give it a try. She put it down after a few sips and stared at it with a blank expression. "Meh...I've had worse."

"Surely, it can't be that bad." The blue-haired fashionista picked up the glass and took a small sip and then wiped her mouth. "I take that back..." She pushed the glass towards the middle of the table. "It is that bad."

"Well..." Twilight grabbed the glass. She exhaled loudly before taking a slow sip. "I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" She put the glass down and pushed it towards Fluttershy after taking a drink. "Yep...As unlikely as it sounds, It's like a drink that makes you even more thirsty."

"Fluttershy spent a while staring at the glass, but eventually decided to push it back. "I think I'll pass," she quietly announced.

"Like I said," Inhio interjected. "No one gets addicted on the first try."

"No wonder," Rainbow Dash added. "What I want to know is how do people manage to get addicted to it at all?"

"It's not so much the taste as it is the after effect of the drink that makes people so wild about it," Inhio explained.

"What kind of effect is it, anyways?"

Inhio tried to come up with a simple way to explain this, but decided to keep quiet as he saw a belligerent drunk approaching the table.

"You're about to find out," he quietly announced.

"Lovely evening, ain't it?" the drunken man addressed everyone at the table. "Mind sharing some of your women, kind sir? The place seems a bit short on em today. He he he." He approached Rarity first.

"Well, I must say, you're looking very fine this evening, Miss!" The man squatted down enough to match Rarity's eye level.

Rarity nearly fainted as she felt the man's breath on herself. She used her palm as a fan as she gasped for breathable air.

The man placed his nose close to her hair and inhaled loudly as he drove his face upwards. He inhaled strongly enough to pull Rarity's hair towards himself.

"Aagh!" Rarity shouted and slapped the man. "Get away from me!"

"Feisty one, ain't cha?" The man said while rubbing his sore cheek. "What about you, huh?" He stared at Rainbow Dash. "You look wild." He approached her and started fiddling with her hair. "I bet you'd be even wilder in bed...even if you do look a bit young. He he he..." The man laughed in a demented tone.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rainbow Dash directed a glare both furious and confused at him. "Are you asking me how well I walk in my sleep or something?"

"Oh no." The man shook his head. "Oh, don't worry, I won't let you fall asleep...Not before you dance for me, that is, he he." He devoted a perverted look to her before moving on.

This guy just plain ain't right in the head... Rainbow Dash thought to herself as she followed his every move.

"Oooh, and would you look at this lovely, little one!" he shouted out as he jumped over to Fluttershy and placed both hands on her shoulders, startling her and making her gasp in the process. "Well, ain't you just the cutest darn thing in the whole damn place." He moved his head closer to hers. "Don't worry..." he said while his hand started sliding down her shoulder, taking her shirt along with it. "I'll be real gentle with ya the first time..."

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash jumped up from her chair. "Leave her alone!"

"Shut yer blasted blowhole, ya Rainbow-haired b****!" he shouted and pushed the girl away.

"Aagh!" Rainbow Dash yelped as she tripped over her chair. Luckily for hair, Applejack caught her before she hit the ground.

"You had your chance!" He pulled his head back towards Fluttershy, nearly touching her cheeks with his own "I'm more interested in this little one now." He suddenly stood up and pulled her by the arm.

Fluttershy gasped loudly, but still remained in her seat.

"Whaddaya say we ditch this s***hole and go somewhere more....private?" He smiled at her wickedly and kept pulling her arm, and Fluttershy kept trying to resist it. By his expression you could already tell that he was beginning to fantasize about what was he about to do to the poor girl.

Up until this very moment, Inhio had decided to not interfere so that the girls would get a better impression of the horrors of this world for themselves, but his patience finally reached its end.

"You wanna take this outside!?" Inhio furiously shouted and slammed his fist on the table. "Yes, I'm talking to you," he spoke to the man after he got his attention.

Fluttershy took the chance to free herself from the man's grip.

"If you want to have an evening you won't soon forget, I can gladly give you one, along with a mark around your eyes to remind you even after you've recovered from your hangover!" Inhio yelled at the man with such rage that he couldn't help but comply.

"Fine, fine," the man said with his palms raised up. "You win." He turned around and walked back towards the counter. "Enjoy the rest of yer evening...buncha freaks."

"Thank you..." Fluttershy, still traumatized by the sudden event, wiped a single tear away from the corner of her eye.

"I'm just sorry I didn't step in sooner," Inhio admitted in a tone full of regret.

"It's okay," Fluttershy replied. "I know why you did it."

Inhio had nothing to say to that. He just hung his head in shame.

"Making us learn the hard way, huh, Inhio?" Twilight asked and monitored Inhio's reaction. "It's alright...you don't have to feel sorry...After all, you still saved Fluttershy from a pretty nasty situation."

Fluttershy happily nodded. "I don't even want to know what he wanted to do with me."

"Speaking of which..." Rainbow Dash interrupted. "Inhio...what did he mean when he said those things...about me being wild in bed and dancing for him or whatever."

"Oh boy..." Inhio leaned his back against his chair. "You just hit the very pinnacle of tough questions." Inhio took a deep breath before continuing. "Before I go on, I have to ask...Where do babies come from in your world?"

"Umm..." Twilight rubbed the back of her head and blushed. The rest of her friends also blushed and put on modest smiles. "Well-"

"Hold on," Inhio interrupted. "Let me just ask this - does it involve some sort of sacred process between a loving couple?"

Twilight widened her eyes. "Yes! That's it exactly!"

"And is the process considered at least somewhat enjoyable?"

"Well, umm..." Twilight paused for a moment and rubbed the back her head. "I mean, I've never tried it for myself, so I can't say for sure..." She put on a timid smile. "But as far as I know - yes."

Rainbow Dash snickered and Pinkie Pie quietly giggled.

"Well then, that makes things a whole lot easier to explain." Inhio sighed with relief. "I can only assume that it works the same, or at least in a similar way on our world...but the thing about it on this world, is that this process has long since lost its sacred value."

"Huh?" The girls all seemed confused.

"What I mean, is that it's no longer just a process with a sole purpose of creating successors...People have started doing it for fun."

"What!?" the girls shouted in disbelief.

"You heard me right," Inhio confirmed. "In fact, at this point, it's more commonly known as a form of entertainment or just a sport for most people...It's not recorded anywhere, but I'd have to say that the amount of times this process is actually done with a purpose of creating more life makes up less than 10% of all the times it's done at all."

"How can this be true?" Twilight asked, refusing to believe her ears.

"This is wrong!"

"You think that's wrong?" Inhio asked right back. "What would you say if I told you that for some people it's even become a profession?"

"I...I...I don't believe you!" Twilight retorted.

"Believe it or not, it's just the way it is on our world! There are women out there that would spend the night with men they don't even know for just a bit of money!"

"Stop!" Twilight cried out.

"And that's not even the worst part of it! Oh, not by far!" Inhio pressed on.

"Stop! Please!" Twilight begged him. "I can't take this anymore!" she shouted after standing up and covering her ears.

Just as requested, Inhio ceased his dreaded monologue.

At this point, most of the bar had already gotten used to the peculiar company sitting at one of the corner tables. Barely anyone bothered looking at them after hearing Twilight shouting.

Twilight quickly calmed herself and sat back down. She took a few moments to simply stare the sparkling, half-empty cider glass still sitting on their table...staring and pondering about everything she had seen and heard today.

"You were right, Inhio," she quietly admitted with a tone full of sorrow. "Your world really isn't for the likes of us."

Inhio had little doubt that this place would eventually get to them...He was right all along, and yet, he would have preferred to stay wrong...There was, however, one last thing he had to say. One final nail he had to add to the coffin, just to make sure they would never want to return here again.

Inhio sighed. "Do you know what's the most commonly told lie in our world?"

Twilight gazed at Inhio for a short moment and then slowly shook her head. She had a feeling she was going to hear something inconceivably awful again.

"I love you," Inhio quietly whispered and hung his head.

Twilight followed his gesture and also hung her head in sorrow.

The six girls shared a series of sad glances between one another. By their expressions, it seemed like they didn't want to stay here for much longer.

Twilight gazed into Inhio's eyes and asked, "How do you live with all of this, Inhio?"

"By not thinking about it," Inhio replied and grabbed the cider glass from the table. With a few quick gulps, he emptied it out and stood up from his chair. "Ready to head out?" he asked while wiping his mouth.

"Actually..." Twilight spoke up. "I think we're ready to go back home now," Twilight spoke for herself and for all of her friends, who could only nod in approval.

"Not just yet," Inhio informed and started walking towards the door. "There's just one last place I have to show you."

"I'm pretty sure we've seen enough..."

No matter how badly they didn't want to, the girls still followed him.

"Don't worry," Inhio calmed them. "This place won't be like all the others."

Author's Notes:

Next Chapter: The other side of the coin Estimated time remaining: 5 Minutes
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