//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: Rehab, Anyone? // Story: Ponies Meet New York // by Caddy Finz //------------------------------// "Oh no." Pinkie said as she had a searched through the bags we got from the gas station. "I must have dropped the peroxide and bandages back there." "Okay, no big deal, Pinkster." I replied as we neared Maple Street in Brooklyn. "I'm sure we'll find something at Vincent's place. By the way, how's he holding up back there?" "Still no sign of him waking up any time soon." Fluttershy answered. "Well, we're getting close to his place by now...hang on, I think...here it is!" We found the place. It was a fairly large apartment high rise but by the looks of it, it was full of cheap one thousand dollar units. For most of the state of New York, that would get you a three or at least a two bedroom apartment but a grand here doesn't go very far. The only nearby parking spaces we could see were right on the curb and sure enough, the green Honda coupe sat there sporting it's new dent that looked an awful lot like my muzzle. Since it lacked plates and was recently stolen from an impound yard, we thought it would be best to hide my old Chevy in an alley next to the building. After getting everypony and our new friend out, we covered the car up with a bunch of cardboard boxes and entered the complex. The apartment we were looking for was on the third floor and luckily at this hour, nobody else was coming or going so we weren't seen by anyone. It still took a good while with Applejack being hurt and a nearly two hundred pound, six foot three inch drunk guy in tow but finally, we reached the place we were looking for. Once I glanced at the door though, I was about to find out that we had only seen the beginning of this poor kid's problems. The eviction notice stuck to the door was another one to add to the list. On the bright side, at least I could help remedy this one fairly quickly. "Sparks, sweetie can you do me a favor?" I asked my alicorn friend. "Would you go back to the car, get twenty of those hundred dollar bills, fold this paper around them and slip it in the drop box down at the first floor?" "Of course!" Twilight replied as she hugged me tightly. "This is all so sweet of you, Vinnie. Taking him home and paying his rent so he doesn't have to sleep on the street. I'm so proud of you." "Thanks, hon, that really means a lot to me. While you're doing that, we'll attend to Vincent here and see if we can find something to help Jackie too." We learned that we wouldn't have to look very far to find an antiseptic for Applejack's hoof as we entered the single bedroom apartment. Our guy Vincent here sure has quite the collection if booze and sadly, I wasn't all that surprised to see it. It was all over the place. There were bottles of schnapps, rum, scotch, bourbon, wine, whiskey, and vodka. Dear Celestia was there a lot of vodka. My Girlfriend Jenny was Russian so if there's something our boy inherited from her, it was their love of vodka...My God, I can't believe I'm saying this...our boy...I need some time for this to sink in. Now that we had our patient safely in his bed, we had to take care of one more thing before we could finally rest for the night. It was almost one o'clock in the morning but Applejack's wound couldn't wait. We needed to properly clean it before it got infected and the liquor here would be perfect for the job. Though it would be painful, Jackie is the type of girl who enjoys being alive so the choice between some burning pain and dying from an infection would be pretty easy. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie took Applejack into the bathroom with a bottle of the strongest whiskey we could find and sat her down in the tub. As Fluttershy prepared some clean cloths she found to use as bandages, Applejack took advantage of the chance to take a few hearty gulps of the booze before biting down on a towel to brace herself for the cleaning. Rainbow Dash held Applejack down, Pinkie proceeded to tell her a joke to take her mind off the pain while Fluttershy poured the whiskey on the wound and bandaged her up. It wasn't looking very good. Applejack's leg was quite swollen and very red. I was worried that an infection had already set in but now that it was cleaned and properly dressed, she could let it heal well. Fluttershy was always good with this kind of thing. I called her "Doc" a lot when I first met her because she fixed my nose back then after an accident with Rarity's door. I still call her that once in a while but not quite as much anymore. Finally, our work for the night was done. Applejack was a little buzzed from the drink and resting on the sofa. Vincent was tucked in his bed while Twilight and I lay at his feet to look after him and the rest of the girls spread out some blankets on the floor in the living room. It was time to get some sleep that we all so badly needed. Our work was done for the night but a hell of a lot more work was just beginning for me and I'd be getting right back to it tomorrow. "Twi?" I whimpered as I lay on my stomach looking over at Vincent. "Can I be honest with you?" "You can tell me anything, Vinnie." Twilight replied. "I'm scared, sparks. I really am. I'm really not feeling that great at all, really. I mean, look at what's happening here. I just...I just found out that I'm...a father. Me, Vincenzo Harold Scungilli a father. I have so many questions I need answered more than ever." "And like Rarity said earlier, we'll always be here to support you. In the three and a half years you've lived in Equestria, you've become like a father to us. Vinnie, most of the fillies and colts in Ponyville call you 'Uncle Vinnie' when they see you. Everything will be okay. I promise. No, no Vinnie, please don't cry." I knew what it was like to grow up without my Dad around. It really sucked but he wasn't around because he died when an engine block fell on him. It wasn't his fault. Still, not having a Dad wasn't good for me as one could plainly see from the life I started living when I reached my twenties. Vincent's situation was a bit different though. I knew my father until I lost him when I was eight years old. This kid never met me and I'm the one to blame for it. Now look at him. He's become a drunk who lost his job and was about to lose his apartment because of me. There wasn't much anypony could do to make me feel better about myself right now but Twilight, Celestia bless her beautiful soul, wrapped her wing around me and held close as exhaustion finally caught up to me and I cried myself to sleep. "Vincenzo, son please just listen to me." My Ma said as she tried to talk some sense into me. When she was around, I swear I had an absolute saint of a mother. She never did approve of my line of work with an organized crime family but really, what mother would? After my father was killed, a lawsuit followed and the company he worked for was ordered to pay out the ass for their negligence that lead to the accident. My Ma saved up that money so she could spend her time bringing me up. "Mama, I told you, I'll get it figured out." I replied. "I just need to come up with the right approach to it." "Vincenzo, this girl...she's the best thing that's ever happened to you. I've never seen you so happy before you started seeing her. Please, son, I just want you to be happy. It would break my heart if you lose her." "So what do you suggest I do? Leaving the mob is easier said than done." "I know, dear, I know. I wish you had never joined up with those people to begin with but I'm telling you, the sooner you quit, the better. Remember, your Mama always loves you, son." "I love you too, Ma. Don't ever forget that. I'll...see what I can do." "Yes, you do that very soon." I always loved my Mother's thick accent. It was a nice reminder of where my roots where. I remember my Pa having one just like it but I don't think quite as thick. My family came to New York when I was three years old so I adapted to the local accent and always spoke like a New Yorker. "Oh Vincenzo, one more thing." "Yeah, Mama?" "He's waking up!" All of a sudden, my Mother started talking in this high pitched, almost squeaky voice that honestly scared the hell out of me. I cared so deeply for my Mother so of course the thought of her getting sick and losing her voice got me worried. "Ma, what happened to your voice!?" I asked. "Are you okay!?" "Vinnie! Get up! He's coming to!" "Ma, I'm sorry!" I blurted out as I woke up. "Vinnie, are you alright?" Twilight asked me. "Aw shit, sorry, Sparks. I had a wacky dream again. It was about my Ma." "Given the situations that we've all been put in lately, I think there's something to these dreams you've been having. They must be trying to tell you something." "I think you're right, Twi. Wait, did you say Vincent was getting up?" "He was stirring for a moment but I don't think he'll be springing out of bed very quickly. Soon though." Sure enough, signs of life were shown by the sickly young man my friends and I tucked into bed last night. At first a few twitches and some groans of discomfort were all that came from him but he soon started to move a bit more and mutter a few foul things that even I wouldn't say. After a few minutes of this, the rest of the girls came in to see how he was doing when finally, his eyes slowly opened. We all could tell that Vincent wasn't feeling very good and judging by his lack of surprised reaction to seven ponies in his bedroom, he probably hadn't regained his eyesight yet. Gradually, he started to look around the room with his eyes half shut until at last the sudden realization that he was not alone hit him. Oddly enough, his hangover decided to hit at the same time. "Somepony get a bucket!" Twilight said. "Quick!" "Here, I got one!" Pinkie said as she rushed to the bedside and held it up to the young man's face. It was gonna be a bit of a process. Just when we thought his stomach was empty, he paused for a moment to catch his breath but quickly started tossing his cookies until the bucket was filled to the top. It still didn't stop there. While Pinkie bolted to the bathroom to dump the bucket, Twilight, Rarity and I guided him to the bathroom leaving a puke trail along the way. He still seemed too groggy to realize who exactly was in his apartment with him. Fluttershy and Rarity stayed with Vincent in the bathroom to give him a back rub while he continued to hurl into the toilet. Pinkie, Rainbow Dash and I proceeded to clean up the spills around the apartment while Twilight searched the bags from the gas station for a ginger ale. The messy part was finally coming to an end. The piles of vomit were mopped off the floor, Vincent was taking a breather and a fresh can of ginger ale was on its way to our patient. With his head still over the toilet, the young man's breathing finally slowed down to a less concerning pace. I could now proceed to open the can of ginger ale and hoof it over the him. He looked like he really needed it. "H-hey buddy." I said as I presented the soda. "Here, I got a ginger ale for ya." "Whoa, dude..." Vincent said as he reached for it. "Thanks, man." "D-don't mention it." Vincent hastily took some sips of the soothing soda. After some sips, he started to take some bigger gulps. It was then and there that the fact that someone else was in his apartment just occurred to him. As he continued to chug the soda, he looked over at all of our smiling faces in the bathroom with him. Even Applejack limped her way over to see how he was doing. After a moment of processing what he was seeing, the girls and I proceeded to wear what he was drinking. Even Pinkie didn't see that one coming. "Whoa, Jesus crap!" Vincent shrieked after spitting out his drink. "Who the fuck are you!?" "Vincent, just relax." Twilight said. "We're here to help you. We're your friends." "W-what the fuck do you...where the fuck did you all come from!?" "We're from another dimension!" Pinkie chimed. "An-another...dimension?" "Uh-huh." The girls and I said in unison. "So...did I die?" Before we could tell him that he indeed had not died, the look on Vincent's face suddenly changed from shocked and confused to ecstatic. Now we were the ones getting confused when he started laughing like a damn maniac. "Hahahahaha...Gahahahahahahahaaa! I died! I finally died! Yes!" "This is even more depressing than I thought!" Pinkie said as here usually fluffy mane deflated. "Girls, I didn't think I could ever get this sad but I've done it." "Oh shit!" Vincent continued, ignoring Pinkie and the rest of us. "My pain is gone! I'm finally free!" We simply didn't know what to say or to make of such a horrifyingly depressing situation. This kid is sick and It's all my fault! That's why from here on out, it's up to me to fix his life and make up for lost time. We need to start out by stopping him from recklessly running around his apartment before he... Thump! ...Bashes his shin into a chair. "Hisssss...aaauugh..." Vincent winced as he massaged his bruised shin. "Hisssss...aaauugh...hisssss...aaauugh..."