Eagle quickly poured the scarlet stallion his desired drink  before sliding it over to him on the hard wooden surface, Kickback caught the glass as it spun on it's axis while making it's way over to him. The hooded colt quickly lifted the glass to his lips and gulped impatiently to drink the alcoholic liquid as fast as possible. With a gasp, he removed it from his muzzle and slammed it down, nearly breaking it and the mahogany in the process. Eagle took that as a sign for a refill, an action he unsurely acted out.

"Damn, Kickback, you look like Tartarus" the bartender said observantly.

"Gimme a minute and I'll be in better shape then you'll ever be" the red pony replied, much to Eagle's confusion.

"What?"

"Nothing" Kickback responded with little interest as he grasped the newly filled glass to his mouth once more.

"So...what happened?"

"Ugh, it's all good, mate, just ad a bit of a scrap is all" Kickback replied calmly with a relaxed grin despite the fact he was gripping his shoulder with a free hoof in slight pain.

"A 'scrap?', Kickback, you look like you were just stabbed!" Eagle noticed, he speech was louder than the hooded colt would've liked.

"Hey, keep your voice down" the crimson stallion said with a stern tone.

"Sorry but...what EXACTLY happened?"

"...Fine, I ran into an old...friend and things got heated"

"Do you need to go to a hospital? I don't think you should be drinking"

"I'm fine, really I am, I'll be good as new in a bit...plus I don't really like hospitals"

"Whatever you say, mate"  Eagle said in defeat as he rubbed a cloth on the bench with a hoof.

Time passed quickly after that, Kickback drank less and less as the evening drug on. He just sat there, tired and enraged, he let him get away...he LET HIM GET AWAY. The hooded colt cursed at himself silently as he gritted his teeth with his head lowered, allowing his grey hood to conceal the look on his face. Kickback had Grimlock in his hooves, the grey stallion barely got a hit in him before he was gone, the worst part was the fact that he simply walked away, letting the scarlet colt live to find him once more. That bastard is probably licking his wounds, getting ready for round two...then three, maybe four if one didn't destroy the other and soon. Regardless, Kickback was also weary from the experience, emotionally and physically, he saw from another perspective what monstrous aspects the BLACKLIGHT virus could have on a pony, it was horrific. At that, Kickback had a new look and a new idea on what his friends reactions were to hearing and seeing what he is...all hopes of forgiveness and continuous inclusion died with that though.

To that, the hooded stallion felt something, liquid, clear liquid formed in his eyes, giving them a glassy emerald look. Despite the hood covering his face, Eagle noticed a single tear descend down the red colt's right cheek.

"Kickback?"

"Hmmm?"

"Yah'll right?"

"Yeah, I-I'm okay" he replied as he brushed his foreleg across his eyes. At that, Eagle decided it was best to change the subject to one that bothered him slightly.

"Damn, this place should be jumping"

"What do you mean?" Kickback asked, raising his head up to meet the older colt's look, Eagle took notice and continued.

"Well look..." Eagle gestured a hoof to the entirity of the bar, little to no ponies occupied it's interior, just like earlier "...It's so quiet, business is slow"

"Eagle, i already said that not everypony wants to go out and get drunk everynight" the hooded stallion consulted, turning his head back towards the bartender.

"Still..."

"I know what you mean..." Kickback responded before a second silence fell upon the two"

After what felt like an hour, the scarlet colt broke the quiet atmosphere with a thought he had been pondering for a while.

"Eagle?" Kickback inquired, catching the bartender's attention "Do you have a piano stashed somewhere?" at that, Eagle felt confused for a moment.

"Yeah, it's in the back, why?"

"Can ya get it?"

"...suuuureee" Eagle said, stretching his word to let his confusion and suspicion obvious. The bartender placed a clean glass he had been scrubbing on the counter before leaving the stallion for a moment. When Eagle returned, Kickback smiled at the image of him carrying a keyboard on his back "What exactly are you planning to do?"

"I'm gonna get this place 'jumping' " Kickback quoted as he trotted over to the bartender. Eagle was amazed at the fact of how the scarlet colt simply removed the instrument that he, himself found heavy and casually walk to the empty space at the end of the bar. Eagle wasn't the manager but it felt like it a lot as he had to take most of charge around the bar, in his days, he had found that sometimes musicians played at the bar, in that exact spot.

A sudden memory, not one of his own rushed through Kickback's mind, a particular musician whose DNA now dwelled within him, had played at this bar before. He visibly grimaced at the the knowledge of having somepony else's memories. He caught a few glances of interest from the very few quiet mares and stallions that populated the bar to a minimum, he smirked at that. Kickback stopped in the centre of the space before unfolding the stands kept underneath the instrument, to his side was an old amplifier, not up to date but still in it's prime. Kickback wired the keyboard to the speaker and smirked as he tested the keys with an experimental hoof, he grinned at the sound. With little intention to sing, he was surprised when Eagle came up to him and set up a microphone, the bartender smiled at the scarlet, still hooded stallion before returning to the bar. In an instant, Kickback came up with an idea, an incredibly sick idea but still one at that. Long ago, there was one pony in saddle Arabia by the name of...Pobuscus, said pony was one of Cross's targets that he had been sent to assassinate, much to the dismay of the scarlet stallion.

"Okay, this is supposed to be a dramatic song but...I'm really bad at writing lyrics, so...here's what I have" Kickback spoke into the microphone, causing a few confused looks to be shown directly towards him. After a moment, the hooded stallion began playing one of the most comedic yet utterly ridiculous songs he knew how to play but this was a bar, right? Moods needed to be high.

Kickback received a few laughs but was not comparable to the applause he was praised with when the final chord was struck. It seemed as if, his original plan worked, much to the glee of the stallion: Eagle. Ponies started pouring in, ordering drinks, sitting at the bar and tables, most with their eyes on Kickback or their friends. The scarlet colt and bartender shared a nod with a smile with one another from across the bar.

"Alright, here's another!" Kickback exclaimed to the crowd, getting a positive response, indication to continue playing.

Outside, a mare walked down the streets of Hoofington, a smile on her face depsite the fact that she was exhausted.

Twas none other than the unicorn DJ herself: Vinyl Scratch. After a gig at a party down the road she had working at, she was visibly tired but she was happy, another great group of ponies, another day doing what she loved: wubbing. The thought of the scarlet was baron from her mind at the moment although it was rare when he wasn't on her mind. That was thrown out the window as soon as she thought about how she wasn't thinking about him, now she was thinking about him, funny how train of thoughts work. Her smile faltered completely as she lowered her head, still trotting down the night-time roads of the town.

"I...I hope he's there when I get back" she muttered to herself as she turned a corner. When she did, her head perked up at the sight in her peripheral vision. Bright lights and many voices radiated from a small building down the street, curiosity getting the better of her, she started to trot towards it. Suddenly, the loudest of all voices caught her attention, it sounded like it was coming from a set of speakers from within, years of being a DJ, she recognized the sound of noise booming through an amplifier. However, she could care less about the volume of the voice when the familiarity of the voice suddenly dawned on her, she thought she was crazy when she put a face to it, the face had green eyes, black and white hair and was shaded by a grey hood as it smirked in her unconscious. She quickened her pace towards the building in surprise, curiosity and...hope.

Kickback glanced around at the bar, now bustling with happy ponies, Eagle looked at him again with a large grin, a look he returned. The scarlet colt chuckled as he looked away and planned the next song he should play. Just as he was about to play another, he glanced at a disturbance happening at the end of the room, ponies were being shoved out of the way as grunting emitted from the source. Kickback's super-pony hearing allowed him to notice the voice, his mind and heart were bombarded with emotions, he knew that voice, raspy yet feminine, a voice that he related to the word: cute.

When the source of the commotion presented itself, the scarlet colt's heart sank at the sight. There, standing, not facing him was...her, of all ponies that could be Hoofington, it was her. The familiar white coat, the two toned electric blue mane, those vibrant red eyes, that musical note cutie mark, the horn protruding from her head, it was Vinyl. When the unicorn looked up, her eyes dilated to the size of pin tips, there he was, standing at the end of the room. The noise of ecstatic ponies idly chatting to one another was slowly drowned out by each equine, their gazes were fixed on one another. Vinyl recalled everything about the stallion she was staring at, she'd never forget...but why exactly wouldn't she forget? Was it trauma?...or was it dare anypony say...love. The form of him, standing over a keyboard, hooves ready to play, forelegs covered by his jacket, he remained still, staring back at her with a blank look under his hood. hAfter what felt like an eternity for the two, Kickback suddenly had an idea. The scarlet stallion put his muzzle to the microphone and spoke as Vinyl trotted closer to him.

"Everypony..." he said, catching the crowd's attention as their talking slowly quieted down "...I'd liked to dedicate this song to...a couple of very special someponies...he said, still with the bar's attention, he looked down at Vinyl who sat at a table, close to him "...And one of them is in this room" at that, she smiled as he smirked back. Kickback took a deep breath before sighing as he remembered the song he wanted to play, it was a song that spoke to him in many ways and he was going to make that message clear to Vinyl Scratch. He slowly put a singular hoof to the first chord before starting to play fluently.

Next Chapter: The Heart Of A Virus Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 33 Minutes