The Kingpin

by ocalhoun

The Dark Underbelly

Chapter 3 – The Dark Underbelly

“Stay back, Pinkie! You'll give us away!” Twilight's harsh whisper faded away into the nearly empty street.

Pinkie bounced back behind the stack of empty boxes just as the last wisp of rainbow-colored tail disappeared behind the corner.

“Okay, go!” Twilight jumped out and dashed for the corner.

If there was a bad side of Ponyville, this was it. Every store was either boarded up, a bar, or a pawn shop, with the exception of the flashing neon sign of the gentlecolt's club across the street. Scraps of garbage littered the narrow road, and the few ponies around darted past without making eye contact.

Skidding to a stop at the corner, Twilight held a hoof up.

Pinkie crashed into the raised hoof and stopped, just as Twilight knew she would. Successfully dealing with Pinkie took practice.

Around the corner and down the next street, Rainbow slipped into a salt bar. This one had darkened windows along its low walls and a faded sign of a big four-leaf clover above the door.

Twilight winced. What had Rainbow gotten herself mixed in with, to be sneaking into a place like that?

“Come on, Twilight! Let's go inside!” Pinkie hopped around the corner.

“No!” She used her magic to hold Pinkie in the middle of a bounce. “We can't let her know she's being watched. We'll peek in through the windows.”

“Ooh! That sounds like fun!”

Shaking her head, Twilight let Pinkie drop back down.

She hit the ground face-first, bounced back up, and sprinted away. “Last one to the window's a rotten egg!”

In a flash, Twilight teleported up next to the window. She allowed a smirk to grow on her face as Pinkie ran the rest of the way.

Pinkie didn't acknowledge her defeat at all. She ran straight up to the window and peeked inside.

Twilight joined her, sliding in front of the window just barely enough to let one eye see in. Through the dust and the heavy tinting, she could just barely make out a group of ponies milling around a big, lighted board full of numbers.

She furrowed her brows for a moment, unsure of what she was seeing, until the realization finally hit her. It was a sports betting parlor. She grimaced. Those were illegal in most parts of Equestria, including Ponyville.

Inside, a door opened, shedding light into the room. In front of the doorway stood the silhouette of a very familiar pegasus.

As Rainbow disappeared inside the back room, the light vanished.

Twilight turned to Pinkie. “Come on, we've got to go around back and see if there are any windows back there.” She stepped away from the dingy window, ready to rush around the building, but she stopped cold when she saw Pinkie's face turn toward her.

Pinkie stroked the huge, black handlebar mustache covering her nose. “Yes. Indubitably.”

Twilight raised a hoof and took a deep breath, ready to list fourteen very good reasons why Pinkie should take that ridiculous thing off. She sighed. “Whatever. Let's go.”

Slinking her way around the wall of the building, Twilight reached the back corner and peeked around it to make sure she wouldn't be seen. Her jaw dropped.

Princess Luna stood there, in all her royal majesty, her hoof poised to open the back door of the bar.

“Oh my gosh! Is that Princess Luna?” Pinkie's mustache dropped to the ground. “Is she playing, too?”

Luna's head whipped around to face them, and she took a sudden step back. Her horn glowed, and with a flash of dark blue magic, she vanished.

Twilight scowled at Pinkie. “Fro the last time, it's not a game! You need to learn to keep your mouth shut.” She groaned and stepped around the corner herself. “And... I don't know why Princess Luna was here. It doesn't make any sense. What has Rainbow gotten herself into?”

Hopping along down the alley, Pinkie smiled back at her. “Come on, let's find out!”

As Twilight walked along the wall, though, she quickly noticed it wouldn't be that easy. The building had no windows on this side; the only opening was the thick, strong-looking wooden door Luna had been about to open. As quietly as she could, Twilight used her hoof to try the door. She didn't want to use magic – somepony could have put an alarm spell on it.

The steel latch wouldn't budge in the slightest. It was solidly locked.

Twilight pressed her ear against the door, but she couldn't hear anything from inside.

Beside her, a strange look crossed Pinkie's face. Her ears flopped, her eyes fluttered, and her knees twitched.

“Now wait a minute.” Twilight tried to remember. “What did that one mean again? It's not the 'beautiful rainbow' one is it? No, it was something about–”

The door slammed open into Twilight's face, sending her sprawling into the alley.

Rainbow Dash stepped out, still with her black saddlebags, and the door slammed shut just as quickly as it had opened. She looked over at Pinkie and down at Twilight.

Letting out a tiny, squeaking moan, Twilight looked up at Rainbow.

Behind Twilight, Pinkie giggled.

After just a moment of hesitation, Rainbow shot up into the air.

That moment was all Twilight needed. Still sprawled belly-up on the ground, she reached out with her magic and froze Rainbow in place. As she reeled her flying friend in, she glanced over at Pinkie/ “You could have warned me that the door was going to open.” She picked herself up off the ground without pausing her magic.

Pinkie shook her head. “You told me to keep my mouth shut.”

Twilight let out an explosive sigh, and her shoulders slumped. Of course. She should really know better than to argue with Pinkie.

Kicking wildly and flapping her wings uselessly, Rainbow was pulled almost down to ground level again. She turned her head to glare at Twilight. “Hey, What gives? What's goin' on?”

Still keeping her in place with magic, Twilight spun her around to face them. She raised an eyebrow. “I was just going to ask you the same thing.”

Rainbow's mouth clamped up into a tiny, stretched line. Her legs backpedaled, still suspended in midair.

Twilight pulled her in closer. “We know you're up to something, Rainbow. Just come clean about it. Don't make me open those saddlebags myself.”

Rainbow glanced at Pinkie, back to Twilight, then back to Pinkie again. Her eyes shot open wide, and her brows furrowed.

Twilight glanced back at Pinkie for a moment, but Pinkie was just staring at Rainbow.

When Twilight turned back to Rainbow, the defiant glare in her friend's eyes was gone. She let Rainbow float back to the ground.

“You want me to tell everything?” Rainbow paused, then glanced to Pinkie again.

Twilight turned, but again, Pinkie was just staring. Twilight shook her head and turned back to Rainbow. “Yes. Tell us everything. For starters, is Pinkie making faces behind my back again?”

“Um...” Rainbow glanced at Pinkie again. “Yeah. She is.”

Twilight sighed. “Just ignore her.” She materialized a checklist with a puff of sparkling violet magic. “Question one. What's in the bag?”

Wincing, Rainbow lifted the flap of one saddlebag. Inside, hundreds – maybe thousands – of shiny gold bits glittered.

“Wh-where did you get that?” Twilight's jaw dropped.

Rainbow just stared at her.

“Oh right. You got it inside, obviously. I guess the better question is why you got it, and what you're going to do with it.”

Rainbow sighed. “This is money that's been laundered through the betting parlor. I'm taking it off to the drop point. I don't know who takes it after that.”

“And where's that?”

Rainbow glanced over at Pinkie again before replying. “On the train. The three-thirty Canterlot Express, in the fourth car, under seat fifteen on the left,” she recited.

Twilight considered it for a moment. Should she stake out that seat? Better get more answers first. “And where does the money come from?”

Taking a few steps back, Rainbow kept her silence... until she bumped into Twilight's force field.

“Going somewhere?” Twilight smirked.

Rainbow's head dropped. She stared at her hooves. “It's protection money.”

“Protection money?” Organized crime? It couldn't be. Not in Ponyville. “From where?”

“I-I don't know where this batch came from. They don't tell me.” Rainbow glanced back and forth before leaning in close. “I heard Sugarcube Corner pays protection money.”

Twilight turned to Pinkie. “Is that true?”

“I dunno.” Pinkie shrugged. “The Cakes don't tell me much about the business side of things.”

Shaking her head, Twilight trotted off toward the end of the alley. “Come on, we're going to Sugarcube Corner to get this sorted out.” She pulled Rainbow along with her magic. “You too, Rainbow.”

“What? Are you crazy?” Rainbow kicked and struggled, still being pulled along by violet magic. “If I don't make this delivery they'll think I took it for myself! Do you have any idea what they'll do to me? They'll–”

“Okay, Rainbow.” Twilight released her. “But we'll be keeping an eye on you.”

“Four eyes!” Pinkie added.

Twilight resumed her walk to Sugarcube Corner. Maybe she could manage to ditch Pinkie there...

Comments

[prench derpy hooves]

Princess Luna