Ponies Meet New York

by Caddy Finz

Chapter 12: A Showdown for the Road

If one would have walked up to me and told me that there was about to be a gunfight in Manhattan, I would have told them they were out of their mind. Knowing me, I probably would have slapped them first but really, that just wasn't the norm. Like all cities, crime was alive and well but this is something that would happen in the bad side of the Bronx or the projects in Brooklyn on a really bad day. In all my years of living in New York, I never heard of an all out war in Manhattan and in my mere three days of being back, one was happening right in front of us.

Vincent and I wisely kept our heads down while we were in the car right at a stoplight and by the sounds of it, chunks of copper coated lead filled the air. I wasn't totally sure but it sounded like shots were coming from every direction including up rather than just a lone gunman firing from one spot. This must be gang war going on.

A couple minutes into the massacre, the shots seemed to become fewer and more far between and just when I thought it was safe to poke my head up and take a look, the side view mirror of Vincent's car got blown off right before my eyes. I've seen my fair share of fire fights between rival mob families and Heaven knows I've even taken part in some of them but I'm not the same guy I was back then. Back in those days, I was a miserable, soulless fuck with nothing to lose. I've gone soft since then and now I do have many things to lose including the young man sitting next to me in the car with his head down.

Not much time went by before police sirens joined the mixture of sounds and no sooner did more gunfire erupt too. This was far from over. The minutes just continued to tick by, one right after the other. Five minutes into it became seven, seven minutes became ten, ten minutes became fifteen and so on. Around that time, the sound of gun shots once again began to die down but who could be sure that it would be the end of the war. In between a few more rounds being fired off, the sounds of feet running across the asphalt and tons of shouting could be heard.

"Get that guyyy!" Shouted a voice.

"Officer down! Officer dowwwwn!" Screamed another.

Though myself and New York's finest were never really very good friends, even as a criminal I understood that taking down myself and other criminal scum like me was their job. If someone has a job, you're an asshole if you blame them for doing it. A retail worker is gonna sell stuff, a janitor is gonna mop floors and a police officer is gonna arrest those who do wrong. Aside from the many terrible things I've done in the past, my organization had a code of honor and I can gladly say that I have never killed a cop. That's why I felt so bad about belting one upside the face the other day.

After what seemed like nearly twenty minutes, at last, the gunfire stopped and everything was silent. Vincent and I briefly glanced at each other before we slowly rose back up and looked out the car window to see how bad it really was out there. For what I used to do for a living, it took a lot to make me feel sick back then but nowadays I was much more sensitive. There wasn't a street corner in sight without a wounded person or dead body on it and I couldn't help but start to sob like a baby at what I was seeing. There were even some badly wounded officers and one of them was lying on the ground completely motionless in a puddle of his own blood. Seeing that made my stomach turn.

The way that cop was lying there...it was just horrible. I was quite sure that he was dead and when another officer attempted to take his pulse and then started sobbing as he held his fallen comrade in his arms, I knew for sure. Needless to say, the whole thing was very disturbing to watch and this mess was about to call for a shit load of paperwork for those who survived.

"Okay, you've seen enough!" Vincent said as he shifted his car back into second gear. "If what Twilight told me is true, then this is the last place you need to be! We're outta here!"

"Why?!" I asked as I continued to sob. "Why would this happen?!"

"Vinnie, buddy, rela-"

"This never happened in Manhattan when I lived here! What happened to this city?!"

"Dude, you gotta calm your ass dow-"

"This city used to be so safe! The only people who had to worry about getting whacked were gangsters and croo-"

Slap!

"Snap out of it!"

Okay, this was a bit odd. I'd gotten my fair share of smacks over the years but none of them literally knocked the tears out of me. As soon as Vincent laid his hand across the back of my head, the tears just stopped. After a brief moment, I looked back up at Vincent in the driver's seat to see him lighting up a cigarette. The hand he held his lighter in was shaking as badly as I was so it was clear to me that not only was he freaked out by what happened, he was also trying his best to keep me from keeling over.

"Vinnie look, I'm sorry." Vincent said. "I didn't know what else to do."

"It's fine." I replied. "I just...never thought something like that would happen in the best part of the city."

"I got ya but you need to take your mind off of that shit. That's the norm now and I don't see that changing anytime soon. You just need to find a distraction."

"Easier said than done. How do you suggest we do that?"

"Well, we can start by switching the radio on or something. We're crossing the bridge into New Jersey so we're gonna need a good distraction for the shit we're about to put up with."

"Why? What shit?"

"You must have forgotten about what happens when you drive a car with New York plates into New Jersey."

Splat!

"Ah, okay it's all coming back to me now."

The second Vincent and I exited the Canal Street Bridge into the Newport side of Jersey City, a half full milkshake cup splattered all over the windshield of the car, bringing back some more...not so great memories. From experience, I learned that if you have New York State license plates on your car while you're driving through New Jersey, everyone else on the road is out to ruin your life. Within minutes, the windshield wipers were set on full speed as more milkshakes, sodas and even a few beer cans were hurled at us. Soon, we were on the highway with a pissed off driver on each side, each of them laying on their horns and shouting various obscenities at us. Out off all this shit they could possibly put us through, the thing I hate about them most of all is how they pronounce the word "jerk". They say it like "joyk". I don't know why but that pisses me off pretty badly.

"Alright, let's just see if we can find some sick tunes to take our minds off this shit." Vincent said as he turned the radio on.

"Police in New York are dealing with the aftermath of yet another gang related shooting." The reporter on the radio said. "This one is once again believed to be unrelated to the las-"

"Oookay, let's try another station then. Ah, 97.1 is usually all sunshine and rainbows."

"This just in, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio provided commentary regarding the gang shootout this morning saying that he and I quote, 'doesn't want to live on this planet anymore'."

"Oh come on! What about Elvis Duran and the morning show?!"

"Greg, I can't even begin to describe how sad all this violence in New York lately is making me. Uncle Johnny, your thoughts?"

"For fucks sake!"

He was really putting in a genuine effort to calm me down and I truly appreciated that he took Twilight's request to heart. Though he was trying his best, he wasn't really all that relaxed himself. But really, how could he be after witnessing a massacre and then deal with the people of Jersey covering his car with whatever a Mcdonald's dumpster is full of.

"That does it!" Vincent huffed as he lit the fuse of a novelty smoke ball and tossed it out the window. "Here! This'll fix 'em!"

Being that this state is home to some of the worst drivers in the country, it didn't take long for the little ball emitting blue smoke to really "fix" the attitudes of those who were hassling us. For a brief moment, the blue smoke covered most of the highway behind us and soon after, the smoke cleared revealing a nasty looking pileup. Though it was a more rough method than I would have used but it got the job done and the crazy drivers off our backs.

"Vinnie, you alright?" Vincent asked.

"Yeah, I think I'll be fine." I replied. "Thanks."

"Okay, good. Look, I think we can both agree on something here. Neither of us need more stress piled up on us."

"I concur. It's not just me, we've both been through a lot."

"Alright then so I think what we need to do is just take a breather and relax. I don't know about you but driving always helps me clear my head. For now, let's just try to enjoy the ride and if you think of anything you wanna talk about, feel free to speak up."

"O-okay, I will."

We then continued our quest on Interstate Eighty heading west towards Pennsylvania where we would later merge onto Eighty-One as we passed through the city of Scranton. It was a breath of fresh air to see something new. Living in Ponyville, I started getting used to a less urban setting so going down a highway with lots of trees and mountains nearby helped calm to my nerves. As the minutes and miles ticked by and after Vincent puffed away at a quarter pack of smokes, I finally decided to break the silence.

"So Vincent..." I began. How long ago did you say you moved to New York?"

"Uh, going on about six months I think." Vincent replied.

"And you said you moved there specifically to find m-er...your dad?"

"Yeah. I figured I was old enough to deal with whatever I found out. My mom already told me about him being a mafia hitman so I wouldn't be too surprised...or so I thought. Heheheh, I didn't expect my so called 'father' to be a tiny horse. Yeah, I know you said you were a human but that's still pretty fuckin' weird."

"Yeah I get what you mean. Just try to see this from my point of view though. All the signs point to you being my kin. The dates all add up. From when Jenny left me to you being born, it all comes right together. Vincent, I promise you that man in the picture you have is me."

"We'll find out. So...you really loved her, eh?"

"Are you kidding? I proposed to her and she accepted! We were gonna get married!"

"Mkay...so why didn't you leave the mob when she left you? If you cared about her as much as you say...I mean, that job pretty much ruined your life!"

"Leaving isn't easy, especially when you're made. When that happens, the only way to get out is to get a blessing from the boss or die. I tried talking to my don for a blessing but he double crossed me and hired some guys to snuff me out."

"And that was before you got pushed into a water fountain and ended up in Equestria, right?"

"That's right. It's a long story but to make it short, I first met Pinkie and then the rest of the girls and they volunteered to help me get back to New York. They said it would take a week and over that time, I made friends with them and tons of other ponies in this little town there. When the two royal sisters tried to open the portal for me to go back, my boss and his hired thugs came in and shot up the place. They threatened to kill my friends and the girls and I banded together and stopped them."

"Kick ass, man. So did you turn into a pony right when you got dropped into that place?"

"Nope. After all that, I realized that the girls and the rest of the ponies were the only friends I ever had so I decided to stay. The princesses then turned me into a pony so I could fit in and be happier there. I didn't think there was anything left for me on Earth...but I know now."

"Wow. That's some pretty crazy shit."

The more Vincent and I talked, the faster time seemed to move by. Before we knew it, we had already merged on Interstate Eighty-one, crossed back into Southern New York and passed through the city of Binghamton. About another half hour later, the car was getting low on gas so we exited the highway in a small city called Cortland to fuel up. I convinced Vincent to let me pay for the gas as he surely didn't have a whole lot to his name. After he filled the tank and got back into the car, I noticed that he had bought something rather lovely and spellbindingly fragrant in the store.

"Hey, who are the flowers for?" I asked as we reentered the highway.

"Oh these?" Vincent replied. "They're for...my mom..."

"Oh man, that's nice of yo-uh...you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Let's just go, alright? We only got about thirty miles to go."

Author's Note:

To those of you whom are from the state of New Jersey: Please just know that the references to the fine folks of New Jersey in this chapter are NOT what I actually think of them and in no way, shape or form represent my opinion of them. I am well aware that they do not behave in the way that was portrayed in this chapter I just thought it would make a good chapter to this story to feature a road trip with a whole lot of trouble along the way. Thank you for understanding.

Comments

[Hiirome]

...Jenny is dead, isn't she ?

[DarkStarz]

*takes out sad violin*

[Mix-up]

good chapter again, it is good that Vinny finally explain to Vicente that you can't just leave the Mod with out putting your self and loved ones at risk, even if you think you got Don's blessing there is no certainty that they will keep their word. By the way wasn't Vinny thrown into the fontine by his disgruntle colleague that learned that he was leaving,? I had aways tough that he did it with the don's blessing.

[Caddy Finz]

7003962 thanks for your feedback. In the end of the previous story, it turned out that the don told Vinnie he had his blessing but was lying the whole time. He then hired two of Vinnie's rivals to whack him.

[Mix-up]

7004083 oups, sorry, I meant that 'they' had the Don's blessing.

[Caddy Finz]

7004110 Ah, Okay I see what you mean now.

[Flutters Is Shy]

One comment says she's dead... Imma go ahead and assume she's in the hospital, in a coma. Or just very very sick.

[Book_Wyrm]

Dude. You still didn't have to play up the stereotypes. Half of New Jersey still drives like a-holes without anybody having a New York plate.
Good story anyway.

[Caddy Finz]

9258879
Honestly, I had very strong...Uh, feelings for a friend from NJ at the time so...yeah, long story. Ended well though.