> It Ain't Gold that Dazzles
>  by Gyro Steambass
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Broken Up, Broken Down and Broke
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was raining. She felt like it had been raining a lot more often after the disaster that had been the Battle of the Bands. It had been only a little over a month since she and the other sirens had lost their powers and they were starving.

They had no jobs, because they’d just convince people to give them money. They had no home, because they used to use the money they took from others to pay for rent. But they couldn’t sing anymore. Not even for entertainment. Sure, she could sing very quietly or hum, but if they went any louder than whispering and the only noise that would come out were horrible coughs. It physically hurt to sing. So they couldn’t pay for rent anymore.

And now? Now they’re living on the streets, wearing the same old hoodies and loose pants they used to wear -but those had become incredibly ragged and dirty from living on said streets and digging through trash in the hope that there’d be something good in there. They looked for jobs, but since they had never had any jobs before, had no identification papers and looked like they were dirt-poor -which they were, but that’s besides the point- no company or establishment even considered taking them.

And she hated it. She hated living like this. She hated eating slightly expired or thrown away food. She hated sleeping on the streets. She hated THEM. Those Rainbooms. But most of all, she hated HER. If that Sunset Shimmer hadn’t come along and joined the group the sirens would have won. But she did. And the sirens were utterly and completely defeated. They had lost the only thing they were good at. Their singing. Sure, they had their looks, but there was no way they would even consider selling their bodies.

They would take turns: two of them would beg for food and money while one of them would look for food in any place they could think of. They usually could only think of trash cans and trash containers, because they weren’t going to steal from a restaurant kitchen again. They had gotten caught and it had been a miracle that they managed to get away. At least the cook didn’t call the police.

Tonight? Tonight it was her turn to look for food. Sonata and Aria were begging for food and money. Those two, especially Sonata, always managed to get more from people than she could. It hurt, but she knew why. It was their looks, their voices and their personalities. Sonata was cuter and sounded more child-like and innocent, which meant people pitied her more. She was also the nicest out of them. Aria was the skinniest -always had been- which also meant people pitied her more. She wasn’t the nicest, but at the moment she was the weakest-looking and most tired of them.

Adagio was just too mature. Her looks were too mature, her voice was too sensual and she always sounded like she was planning to do something to you. She also came on too strong too often. All this combined meant that people just didn’t feel as bad for her as others. Part of her was proud that she could still intimidate others despite her current state, but another, stronger part of her felt like she was just dragging them down along with her. They always had less food and money when it was her turn to beg. She also was the weakest of them. Sure, she had the brains, but not the muscles. She couldn’t lift as much, she had less endurance and she got sick more often.

While the person she hated the most was Sunset Shimmer, the thing she hated the most was how weak she was. But it wouldn’t be so bad if the others didn’t share her opinion. They also hated that she was mostly a liability and she wanted to disagree with them. But she couldn’t. Because the truth is the truth, no matter how much you wished it wasn’t. And tonight was even worse. Sonata and Aria didn’t get a lot today.

And Adagio tried, she tried her hardest, but she had barely found anything worthwhile. Nothing else was edible and she wasn’t going to risk eating raw chicken or drinking spoiled milk again. They still hadn’t forgotten about that mistake of hers. They hadn’t forgotten about ANY of her mistakes. So when she arrived at their, “home”, that evening, Aria was anything but happy.

“So,” Adagio’s face sunk at Aria’s tone, but she didn’t interrupt. “We’ve got half a bottle of expired coke, a can with five overcooked sardines,”

“Why’d they cook them anyways?” Sonata interrupted. “Isn’t anything that’s canned already cooked? Why would they do that?”

“Beats me. Anyways, the only other thing you found was...” Aria trailed of, almost glaring at Adagio. “Sorry, I forgot. Could you tell me what you found?” She spoke through clenched teeth.

“Four...” Adagio sighed. “Four half-eaten burgers. One of them without anything on it.” A lump was forming in her throat.

“So that means we don’t have enough food. Again. Lovely.” Aria’s teeth were still clenched and her glare had intensified slightly. “Almost feels like we’re with too many, doesn’t it, Adagio?” As she said this she had leaned forward her face coming very close to Adagio’s, her glare had only gotten worse and her tone had become very, VERY, accusing. The lump in her throat was getting worse and the hunger in her stomach was slowly being replaced by a weird heavy feeling.

“I tried! But just there wasn’t much to find!” She tried to defend herself. “There was just too much food that had started rotting and too much inedible of the food wasn’t rotting was inedible!” But Aria didn’t care.

“Inedible?” Aria got even more into her face. “Like the raw chicken and spoiled milk you brought along?”

“I...” Adagio’s throat hurt. “I’m sorry...” Her shoulders sagged. Why’d Aria have to keep bringing that up?

“Whatever.” Aria got out of her face. “Let’s just eat already.” And so they did.

It was awfully quiet, the only noise being the cars passing by and the buzzing of a broken street lamp. Adagio looked at the others while they were eating, but couldn’t think of anything to say. She didn’t like the looks on their faces. Aria looked even more angry then usual, but Sonata’s face actually scared her. Sonata didn’t look angry. In fact, she couldn’t tell what she was feeling. Sonata always wore her heart on her sleeve, so why not now? Something was wrong. Something they weren’t telling her. And she had a feeling she wasn’t going to like it.

“Adagio.” She flinched at Aria’s sudden exclamation. She looked at Aria and immediately noticed that she didn’t look angry anymore. Instead, she looked... sad?

“We, Sonata and I, have been... thinking.” She didn’t like the sound of that. The weight in her stomach doubled. Her hold on her half-eaten burger became tighter.

“A few days ago, a bar offered us a job as waitresses. They couldn’t get anyone to apply for the job and the owner thought that once we cleaned up a bit we’d look pretty good.” Aria forced out a laugh. “Heck, he even offered us a place to stay.”

“W-well...” Adagio stammered. Her throat really hurt. She knew where this was going, and she didn’t like it at all. “That’s great! Right? W-we’ll finally have a place to...” But her voice trailed of once she saw Sonata’s face. Sonata was crying.

“You see, that’s the thing. He...” Aria swallowed. “He only wants... Us.” The weight in Adagio’s stomach had increased tenfold. Her vision was getting blurry.

“And w-with, “Us”, you m-m-mean...” She was crying. The oldest, proudest, most arrogant of the three of them, was crying. Her burger had been crushed between her hands, dressing dripping down her hands and arms.

“M-me and Sonata.” Sonata was sobbing. Even Aria was crying a little. “Sorry, Adagio, but we can’t live like this anymore.” Aria was talking faster. “We’re always hungry, always thirsty and always tired and and,” Aria was rambling. “And wanna take this chance with both hands and I’m sorry but he just thinks that you-” Adagio cut her off with her hand.

“S-stop.” It hurt. “I-I-I understand. I would j-just scare the customers away, w-wouldn’t I.” It hurt so much.

“A-aren’t you, you know a-angry?” Sonata asked, her voice trembling, her eyes disbelieving.

“No. Not really.” She lied. “Go. Take this chance. I understand. I-I’ve just been dragging you down with me.” She tried to stop herself from crying even more. “You deserve better. Better than what I can offer.”

Everything got quiet after that. She heard them get up, ready to leave her behind, ready to live a better life.

And then they hugged her.

“I’m so s-s-sorry Adagio!” Sonata cried out, tears streaming down her face and down Adagio’s neck, staining her already stained hoodie.

“I’m sorry...” Mumbled Aria, her tears also staining Adagio’s hoodie.

She hugged them back, crying loudly. “I’m sorry I messed everything up!”





After a few minutes of hugging and crying they parted ways. Sonata and Aria were going to live a better live and Adagio left for the train station not long after they had left. Aria and Sonata left her with all the money they had been saving up. It wasn’t much, but more than enough. She walked up to the ticket stand.

“How far can I get with this?” She asked, dropping the bits on the counter, her voice still trembling. The man behind the counter quickly counted the money and then looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

“This late? You sure you don’t want to wait till tomorrow?”

“No. Now please.”

“Okay then.” He shrugged. He turned to the computer screen next to him. “Let’s see... The furthest you’ll be able to go with this is Manehattan. And not even central Manehattan. The suburbs is the farthest you’ll be able to go. And it’s not exactly nice the-”

“I don’t remember asking for your opinion,” she says, interrupting him. “I’ll take a ticket to the Manehattan suburbs.”.

“Fine.” He takes the money and quickly types something and the machine prints out a ticket. He hands it to her. “Here’s your change.” He gives her a few coins. “Have a good night.”

“Thanks.” She takes the change and the ticket and walks to the proper platform. She sits down and waits for her train. She looks down at her ticket and sighs.

“I know you two will hate me for doing this. But if I stay you’ll keep helping me. I’ll still be dragging you down.” Tears were slowly rolling down her dirty cheeks again. She clenched her fist, crumpling the ticket. “And I don’t want that. You deserve better. I don’t. I ruined everything. But no more.”

She heard the sound of her train arriving. After it had stopped she got up and stepped into the train, taking a seat.

As the train left the station she stared out the window, at the city she was leaving behind. She narrowed her eyes, determined.

“When I come back, I’ll show them someone better. Someone they can be proud of. Someone who deserves their love.” And she knew, that from now on, everything was going to be better.
















She was wrong.
> Mistakes Were Made. This Was Just Another One
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She was wrong. So incredibly wrong. After just a few days she had realised how wrong she had been. The Canterlot suburbs were a million times better than those in Manehattan. In Canterlot they were much more generous and caring. In Manehattan they wouldn’t even blinked if you died in front of them. She thought she was starving back there in Canterlot, but here? She was downright dying.

No one would share food with her, no one even gave her even a single bit and more than once she got told to leave if she valued the way she looked. She didn’t have to think hard to figure out what that meant. And the one time someone did give her food, she ended up being mugged and mildly beaten. It was just a punch in the face, but she was in such a poor state that it hurt more than it should have.

She hated this so much. But she had nothing. She couldn’t go back. Her only option was to look for a different place to beg for food and money. Again. She had been here for almost two weeks, surprised that she even lasted that long, and had tried three different districts already. She was about to keel over from hunger but she wasn’t going to give up.

She got up from her temporary “home” and wiped her limp and filthy hair out of her face. She was going to try one more place. The harbor. She could probably at least steal some fish there. And if not? Well... She didn’t want to think about what she’d do if this also didn’t work. She still wasn’t going to sell her body, even IF they still wanted her frail and starved body. She liked to think she still had some dignity left.

She stumbled out of her alley and looked up. It was already night. She’d spend almost the entire day sleeping. Again. She sighed.

“Better get going before it’s dawn again,” she mumbled to herself. She pulled her hoodie over head and stuffed her hands into her pockets. While she walked she barely payed attention to her surroundings. She had already gotten the directions the harbor. At least, she hoped they were correct. She’d been given wrong directions before and it wasn’t fun to walk into a district filled with gangs at each others’ throats. She could only hope.

As she walked she suddenly noticed something green out of the corner of her eye. Someone pointed at her. She couldn’t see their faces beneath their green hoodies. She then heard them chuckle quietly. She shrugged it of as just some jerks making fun of how poor or how dirty she was. She kept on walking.

As she turned a corner she noticed something green again. She looked back, but there was no one there.

“I don’t like this...” She mumbled nervously. She started walking faster. Another corner. Green again. She looked. No one there.

“No no no no...” She was getting scared. She started walking even faster. Another corner. More green. She looked. And there they were, getting closer and closer.

“Crap!” She started running, hoping she was going the right way. She heard them shout and then heard two sets of footsteps quickly closing in on her. They were faster than her. Much faster. She ran into an alley and knocked over some trash cans, hoping it would slow them down.

As she ran towards the other end of the alley she heard someone yelp in pain. It had worked. But she was still scared out of her mind.

“I shouldn’t have come here. I shouldn’t have been so stupid. Why why why Why WHY?!” She was crying, her legs burning up. She couldn’t keep this up. She couldn’t keep running anymore. Her breathing had become ragged and shallow and she started to feel light headed.

She suddenly felt someone grab her hair and pull on it. She slipped and fell flat on her back, the air knocked out of her from the impact. She saw someone look at her. He had scary, green eyes and black skin underneath that green hoodie. He was grinning at her. He was missing two of his upper front teeth.

“Thought you could get away, didn’t you?” He grabbed her by her hair and pulled her up, pushing her against a wall. His voice was gravelly and a little high pitched. “You made my buddy trip, you little bitch.” He was tall and lanky.

She tried to catch her breath. “I don’t...” She gasped. “I have nothing! I’m broke! I have nothing! Please!”

He laughed. “You hear that, Plank? She thinks we chased her for money!” She noticed the other guy, who was slightly shorter but still lanky. He also had black skin and green eyes. He had a gash on his right cheek, probably from tripping. He was also grinning. She noticed they had the same emblem on their chests. Change-something. She was too scared to focus on that.

“Please,” said Plank. “One look at you and we knew you were broke as hell.” His voice was lower and smoother. His grin became wider and more menacing. “We also noticed that you ain’t from around here. And you know what that means?”

She knew exactly what he meant. She just hoped she was wrong. “N-no?” She managed to squeak out. Plank then got awfully close to her face, an evil grin on his face. He then whispered.

“It means no one’s gonna miss ya when we’re done with you.”

She then kicked the one holding her in the groin. “Gahk!” The pain caused him to let go, and she tried to make a break for it. She ran out of the alley and started screaming.

“HELP! PLEASE! ANYONE HELP!” But Plank had already caught up with her and grabbed her by her shoulder, throwing her back into the alley, her head hitting the ground. Her head pounded and the world spun around her from the hit. She raised her hand to her head. It felt wet. It wasn’t raining.

“You little BITCH!” The nameless one yelled as he kicked her in the stomach. Her vision was getting blurry. “You’re gonna pay for that, ya hear?!” He kicked her again.

”Hey, Sh..k, don’t kill her yet!” She had trouble hearing. Everything was becoming hazy. ”We haven’t had our fun yet.” She only saw two blobs of green and black.

”You’re r.ght. So, wh..s go..a go f.rst?” She had trouble understanding them. She thought she heard heavy footsteps. Everything hurt. The footsteps were getting closer. Everything was spinning. She thought she saw a bigger blob appear behind the two blobs.

”I was w.ndering the s.me thing. Who am I g.nna hit f.rst?” She heard someone say. A rough and low voice. She heard two other voices yell in surprise. And then they yelled in pain.

And then, everything went black.
> Brawn Meets What's Left of Brain
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

”...s.re she’ll be f.ne?” She heard a familiar voice. Low and rough.

When she came to, everything still hurt. But her head hurt a little less. People were talking. She couldn’t really remember what had happened. Something about green and running. It hurt when she tried to focus.

”She’ll live. She j.st has to t.ke it easy for a l.ttle while,” a calm but bored and monotone voice said. A man. Her hearing was getting better. “Could you keep an eye on her while I make sure everything checks out with the police.” She heard the bored voice become distant. He had left.

She heard a deep sigh. “Sure thing doc. Wasn’t planning on sleeping anyway.” It was the low and rough voice. He was next to her. Things were coming back. She had been chased, thrown on the ground. She had hit her head, hard. A big blob appeared and saved her. Was this him?

She tried to open her eyes. The light hurt. She moaned in pain. She lifted her hand to her head. Bandages.

“Hey, you awake?” He was talking to her now. She tried to open her eyes again, but it was still too bright. She moaned again. She squinted, barely making out a huge blob. There was some black, some beige and a lot of white.

“Y-yeah.” Her voice was raspy and it hurt to talk. “What happened after-” She was cut of by her own coughs. Her throat couldn’t be drier. She sat up on her bed, her head spinning.

“You hit your head hard, apparently.” He handed her something. She took it. It was a glass of water. She drank greedily. “You’re lucky I heard ya scream. Those two good for nothings almost got ya.”

She opened her eyes and blinked a few times, her vision finally clearing up. She took a good look at her savior who was sitting next to her bed. She kinda wished she hadn’t.

He was huge, absolutely huge. He was taller than the brother of that cowgirl and his shoulders almost twice as wide as his. His hands were almost as big as his head. He had pale gray skin and messy long black hair that was cut short in the front so it didn’t cover his eyes, but was kept long in the back, almost reaching his shoulders. His eyes were narrow and brown. He wore a beige t-shirt, loose grey pants and an apron that was once white but was now covered in weird brownish stains. His head was narrow. His face barely showed any emotion as he stared at her.

A long story short, he looked like a serial killer.

She didn’t know what to say. This man saved her? He looked scarier than those thugs combined, and capable of tearing her in half with his bare hands.

“I-I... T-thanks for saving me?” She managed to say, stuttering nervously. At first he didn’t reply. He kept staring at her, like he was trying to figure something out. His stare suddenly lost it’s intensity, his face relaxing a bit.

“What’s your name?” He suddenly asked.

“A-adagio. Adagio Dazzle.” He was still scary, even if his face looked friendlier. He blinked once, still looking at her.

“The name’s Blackjack. Now tell me,” he narrowed his eyes, his gaze becoming intense again. “What the heck is someone like you, doing in a place like this. Because ya sure as hell ain’t from around here, that’s for sure.”

“To...” She took a deep breath. “I came here to improve my life. To show that I’m capable of doing something good. Looks like I only managed to almost die.” She looked down at the floor, tearing up a little bit.

Neither of them said anything for a while. After a little bit of waiting the doctor came back. He was a really short man with sky blue skin and long yellow hair that covered his eyes but was done up in a ponytail in the back. He looked incredibly bored.

“Looks like everything checks out. You’re free to go and so is she.” He even sounded bored with how monotone his voice was. “You’re lucky they’re gang members, otherwise you probably would’ve been in trouble as well.” He then tilted his head, as if he was thinking about something. “Although, judging by the gang they’re from, you might still get in trouble.”

Blackjack tsked as he got up. He was even bigger standing upright, at least two meters. “Have a good night, doc.” He picked up some kind of sack, large enough to hold two of her and it looked completely filled up, and lifted it onto his shoulder like it was nothing. He left the room.

“Sure.” The doctor just shrugged, the huge man’s size clearly not even fazing him in the slightest. The doctor then looked at her and said with an annoyed tone: “When I said you were free to go, I meant that ya had to go. This ain’t no hotel.”

“R-right. I’ll leave.” She got up to leave, almost falling over from how quickly she got up, and left the room.





When she left the building she quickly stopped in her tracks when she noticed that Blackjack was waiting for her, that same intense look in his eyes.

“Where are ya gonna go now?” She was surprised by his question. After all, he didn’t seem all that interested in her, nor did he look like the type that cared about people like her. He also didn’t look like someone that would help others, but he did. Maybe he was going to help her again.

“I-I... I don’t know.” She sighed. She felt like she had been sighing way too much lately. “I’ll probably go to another district and hope that someone will give me food, I guess.”

He scoffed. “You wouldn’t last a day.” She winced at his bluntness. “This city doesn’t care about the poor or the homeless. Sure ya got some exceptions, but that’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.” He was looking at her again. No, studying her, looking for something. She looked at her feet, hugging herself, knowing that he was right. She was doomed. She would-

“Lucky for you, ya found one.” Her head snapped up at those words. His tone had shifted slightly and he looked friendlier again. Not by much, but there was a difference. He walked up to her. “But I ain’t helpin’ ya for free. You’re gonna have to work for it, got it?” He raised his eyebrow, waiting for a response. Her response.

“R-really?” She whispered, not believing what she was hearing. Was he really willing to help her?

“Take it or leave.” He held out his huge hand, waiting for her to shake it. She thought about it for a little bit. What did she have to lose? If she went back to begging she’d definitely die. If she accepted his offer, he MIGHT be lying. He could be telling the truth. She’d have a better chance at staying alive.

“I’ll do it.” She took his hand. He closed it around hers, completely engulfing it with his. He smiled, but only a little. They shook hands.

“Good to hear.” He let go of her hand and turned to leave.  As he walked away, he gestured for her to follow. “Come.”

She jogged until she was caught up with him. He took huge steps. “S-so, why are you helping me?”

“I ain’t planning on letting someone die if I can help it. ‘Sides, it’s fall. It won’t be long ‘till it’s winter. You don’t want ta be living on the street when that happens.”

“Okay.” They walked in silence for a while. A million thoughts bouncing inside her head. But one stuck out the most: what was he expecting her to do. She turned to him. “What exactly am I going to have to do?”

He grinned. “I’ll answer your question with a question. Can you handle blood?”

“Blood? W-why?” She didn’t like the sound of that. “What do you mean?”

“You’ll see.” He didn’t say anything else, but he kept his grin. She was scared. What was he going to make her do? Was she going to have to kill? Fight? Multiple horrible scenarios flashed before her eyes. They kept walking in silence, until they arrived at a building. It seemed to be some kind of store. There was a sign above the building’s storefront windows.

Blackjack spoke up. “We’re here.” He fished a set of keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door. She looked up at the sign. She was both relieved and weirdly disappointed by what it said:


Jack’s Butchery


All Kinds of Meat Available, From Poultry to Beef, From Fish to Goat.


“Oh.”
> Blood, Sweat and More Blood
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The inside of the butchery was just like every other butchery. White and clean, a place to display meat during the day, a counter and in the back were multiple tools. After Blackjack had given her a tour of the butchery, which included where he stored all the meat, where he cut up the carcasses and where he prepared the meat for sale, he led her to the living area, which was behind the butchery.

He told her that she was going to be sleeping on the couch, “cuz I only got one bed.” Which was fine by her. He then led her to the bathroom upstairs, so she could “wash away the street stink.” He had never seen someone so happy to finally take a shower. When she was done her hair finally had some of it’s original volume again. She also noticed her clothes had been cleaned up. They hadn’t been washed, but they were definitely cleaner than before.

She then proceeded downstairs to the living room. It wasn’t as spartan as she expected, but it could certainly use a bit more decoration besides the multiple plants spread around the room. There was a grandfather clock that didn’t work, a dark blue felt couch, a dark blue felt chair, a wooden coffee table and a television that wasn’t old, but certainly not new.  On the coffee table there was a plate with two sandwiches.

She just stood there, staring at the sandwiches, as if they would suddenly sprout wings and fly away. She touched them, afraid they weren’t real. But they were. She never had liked the taste of ham, but at that moment? They were the best sandwiches she had ever had. After she finished her meal, she noticed a note next to the plate. She picked it up. It said:



Better eat up and go to sleep. You’ll be getting up early in the morning so I can teach you how things work around here.

You didn’t faint when I showed you the split pigs, so I’m assuming you’re not too squeamish.

We’re getting up at four in the morning.



“Oh. Right.” She had almost forgotten about that. “Oh well.” She shrugged and put the note back on the coffee table. “I’ll deal with that tomorrow.” She lay down on the couch. She was out before her head hit the couch.





In front of her was a dead cow. A skinned, dead cow. In two halves. And she was supposed to... what?

“I’m supposed to do what?” She asked, still blinking the sleep out of her eyes, while putting on her hairnet. She couldn’t suppress a yawn.

“I told ya, this is a butchery. We don’t just sell meat, we cut and prepare it too.” He was holding a pretty big knife, with a hole in the blade. “When it’s brought to us, it’s already been skinned, splitted and eviscerated.”

She blinked once, staring blankly at Blackjack. He sighed. He got the message and rolled his eyes. “Skinning is obvious, removing the skin or pelt. Splitting means dividing a carcass into a right and a left half. Evisceration means removing the viscera, also known as organs.”

“While those things certainly sound gross, they don’t sound like things butchers usually do,” she said, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms.

“You’re both right and wrong. Those things are done by butchers who are specialized in those things. Now what I’m gonna teach ya, ain’t something the common butcher does either.” He walked over to the carcass. “The reason we do the next part ourselves is because it’s cheaper. Think of it like cake; when you buy cake it’s much more expensive than when you buy ingredients and bake one yourself. And honestly, I like money.”

“What was it you were gonna teach me?” She looked up, thinking back. She had been a bit stunned at seeing a carcass that up close. Sure, she saw them the night before, but she had been delirious from hunger and a lack of sleep. Now that she finally had a good nights sleep and a few proper meals, seeing a dead cow felt a bit different. “Something about a primary cut?”

“Making primary cuts, and then making secondary cuts.” He lifted up the knife. “This, is a butcher’s knife, also known as a cleaver. It’s used for removing larger chunks of meat from the bones and cutting large pieces of meat in smaller pieces. It’s also used to cut through bone. It’s not that precise, but it doesn’t have to be.”

“Okay, but what’s the difference between primary and secondary cuts?” She got a bit closer, but not too close. The room was filled with the smell of blood and meat.

“Primary cuts are the larger pieces meat,” he said, while he started cutting the meat from the bones. “when you’ve removed them from the carcass.” He takes a large piece from the carcass and places it on the cutting table, right in front of her. “Secondary cuts are when ya divide the primary cuts into smaller pieces that are suitable for sale.” He proceeds to cut more large chunks of meat of the carcass.

“The cleaver is only used for this part.” He walked over to the wall with tools. “For the more delicate meat and the meat that needs precision, we use these.” He walked back with a long knife paired with a two-pronged fork and a very long knife that has a strange rounded tip and a serrated edge. “This,” He holds up the long knife and fork. “is a carving knife. The fork goes with it. It’s used for cutting very precise slices of meat. The other knife,” He holds up the long serrated knife. “Is a slicing knife. It’s used for separating meat properly.”

“And I have to do... all that?” She asked disbelievingly, her face still slightly green.

“No. I’ll be doing the secondary cuts, cuz I have more experience. You’ll be doing the primary cuts, since it needs less precision.” He held the cleaver towards her.

“That, makes sense, I guess.” She really didn’t want to do this. She hated blood. Always had.

“I can see ya don’t wanna do this.” He pulled the cleaver back as he crossed his huge arms in front of his even bigger chest. “But I don’t think I need to remind ya of the alternative.” He pointed one finger towards a window. No, towards the streets. “And ya don’t want that, do ya?”

She knew it was a rhetorical question. She sighed, closed her eyes and held out her hand. She heard him chuckle, and felt the handle of the cleaver get pushed into her hand. She took the cleaver, opened her eyes and walked towards the carcass. “Good to know ya got you’re priorities straight, Dazzle.” 

“Don’t get me wrong, Blackjack. I hate blood. Can’t stand the smell or the sight of it.” She took a good look at the knife and then at the carcass. She narrowed her eyes, feeling more determined then she had in quite some time. She furrowed her brow. “But I hate living on the streets even more.” She started cutting the meat from the bones, a bit of leftover blood coming out, making her face go green again.

“Also, don’t call me Dazzle.”

“Sure thing, Dazz.” She could practically feel him grin. “Don’t lose your fingers though.”

She couldn’t tell if that last one was a joke or not.





After three hours of cutting meat, Adagio was exhausted.

“Ya know, Dazz. Ya actually managed to impress me.” She knew he meant it, but there was a slightly mocking tone to how he said it. “Ya only threw up once, and not even on the meat!” There it was.

“But what impressed me the most?” He chuckled. “How you managed to cut yourself, not with the cleaver, but on a cracked rib!” He chuckled some more, but louder.

“Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up with the newbie.” She waved a bandaged hand at him, while he was putting away the meat.

“Meathead. A butcher newbie is called a meathead.” He chuckled some more.

“Sure, whatever.” She walked over to him, most of her initial fear of him gone. “But why exactly are you letting me do this job? Aren’t you supposed to have studied for this kind of work?” She raised an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms.

“Well, yeah, but I’d be a hypocrite if I send ya away for that.” Her eyes went wide at that statement.

“Wait, you’re not a certified butcher?” He frowned at how she said that.

“Hey, I’m certified. I just didn’t get my license from some fancy schmancy school. I got it from the guy who taught me how to do this.”

“And who was he?”

“The owner of one of those schools.” That shut her up.

“What.” For a moment. “How did that happen?!” His face went back to it’s usual blank state. He stared out the window.

“He took pity on me.” He looked back at her. “He plucked me from the streets. Said that someone like me shouldn’t be sitting around homeless and jobless. And then he taught me.” He walked towards the front room, where he would receive his customers.

“He taught me the basics of preparing pork, beef, poultry and fish. But only the basics. Apparently a butcher is supposed to know forty different ways to cut beef. He told me that ya don’t need that to be successful.”

“Then, what DO you need?” She asked, a little bewildered.

“Ya need taste.” He took out the sack from last night from under the counter. “The most important thing he taught me, was how to make it taste good.” He opened the bag.

“It’s filled with... spices?” She started to understand.

“Yep. The meat I sell might not be the best cut of the land, but I sure as heck know how to make em taste good.” He grinned. She was surprised. Looks like he had some brains underneath all those muscles after all.

“You’re not a butcher, are you?” She asked, a grin appearing on her face as well.

“Nope.” He started putting the spices away. “I’m just a good cook that knows how to cut and prepare meat. And how to give it a unique taste.”

“And the customers keep coming back because of the unique taste, right?”

“Got in one, Dazz.” Her grin disappeared. His widened.

“Stop calling me that.” But his grin told her that she wasn’t going to be rid of that nickname for a long, long time.
> Tit for Tat
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Considering it was Sunday, usually Blackjack’s day off, the rest of the day was spent teaching Adagio how to work with not only beef, but also pork, fish and poultry. Naturally, she kept messing up at first. Which is why they were using meat that was unfit for sale, until she was good enough to cut proper meat. She had to cut meat that was too old, had become too damaged or had become covered in too much mucus and bacteria from hanging around too much in the freezer. She almost threw up at that last one.

While he taught her the basics, they started playing a game that he liked. He called it: Tit for Tat. They’d take turns asking questions and if they didn’t mind answering, they’d answer. He figured that if she was going to work for him, they might as well know a bit about each other. Nothing too personal, just a bit so they weren’t complete strangers to each other.





“So, how old are you anyway?” Adagio asked, starting the game, as she was trying to cut the ham. It had become a bit too old and had become way too tough. “You sound and look like you’re at least thirty-five, but you don’t act like it.” It just wouldn’t budge.

“I look and sound that old?” He snorted as he looked up from the meat he was working on, raising an eyebrow. As soon as Adagio had gotten a hold of the basics of the particular type of meat, he’d start working on the meat that was fit for sale. “Pretty sure I only just turned twenty-four last month.” He put away some of the meat he had cut off. “How about you?”

“Twenty-two,” she lied. She was actually seventy-two, but there was no way he’d believe that. She was twenty when Starswirl banished her and the others to the human world, although he also sent them forwards in time by more than nine centuries.

“How long have you-” Chk “finally got through that,” she whispered to herself. She put the ham away. It had torn a bit from the fact that she had pushed down way too hard on the ham, but considering it was old and tough, she could have done much worse.

He nodded approvingly. “Not bad, for a meathead.”

She scoffed. “Thanks.” She moved on to the ribs. “So, for how long have you been running this shop?”

“I’ve been working here for about six years, since I turned eighteen. Got it from the same guy who taught me.” He stopped his work and furrowed his brow as he thought for a moment. “No, that’s not it. He actually still owns the place. He just let’s me take care of everything, while I pay him five percent of the profits.” He chuckled and continued his work, adding spices to a steak. “He told me the same thing I told you. He’d help me, but not for free.”

“Makes sense,” she said as she cut through some old and hardened ribs. “Although getting to keep ninety five percent of the profits sounds rather generous.”

“Well, most of the money I make is spend on this shop. I really don’t get to keep a lot.” That also made sense.

“Now, where are ya from?” He put the steak away.

“Canterlot.” That wasn’t a complete lie. She was originally from the Equestrian oceans, but she had spend a considerable amount of time in and around Canterlot, even before the disaster that was the Battle of the Bands. “And you?”

“Manehattan, born and partially raised.” He raised his hand, interrupting the question that had already formed in her mind. “Don’t ask what I mean with partially, I ain’t telling my more personal stories to ya yet.”

She shrugged, understanding his point. “Fair enough.”

“Why’d ya come here? Canterlot seems like a much nicer place.” She tensed up, messing up the rib she was cutting completely and almost cutting of her fingers.

“It is.” She sighed, throwing away the failed rib into the garbage bag. “It’s just... I really messed things up there. Not just for me, but for... others as well.” She noticed he wasn’t cutting anymore. She could already feel the tears forming in her eyes, now that she wasn’t distracted by work anymore, as she again thought of how she failed those who were basically her sisters. “They recently found a chance at a better life. If I had stayed, I... I would’ve just kept on d-dragging them down.” She felt a tear roll down her cheek. “I don’t want that. I’ve got to show that I’m someone to be proud of. That I’m not a complete f-fuck-up.” She wiped away her tears.

It was quiet for a moment. Blackjack sighed deeply. She turned to him.

“My parents died in the middle of a gang war when I was twelve. So did my sister.” She gasped, her eyes going wide. “The guy who taught me, he saved me when I was sixteen.”

“H-how?” She whispered. He shrugged and got up.

“The gangs in Manehattan were going crazy back then.” He walked over to a picture on the wall. It was slightly charred. “A fight broke out in front of our house and one stray Molotov cocktail later and our house was burning down.” He chuckled. “They managed to save me and some stuff. After I was fit enough to, “fend for my self”, they threw me and my things out on the street with nothing but a good luck wish.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Tit for Tat.” He chuckled. “It means blow for blow, an eye for an eye.” He walked back to his work. “Ya didn’t have to tell me that, ya clearly didn’t want to, but ya did it anyway. Only seemed fair that I did the same.”

She blinked, a little confused. “Don’t you miss them?”

“Course I do. But I rather not think about how it sucks that they’re gone. It’s better to think about the fact that even though my life went to shit, I still managed to crawl back up to a normal live.” He furrowed his brow again. “Well, mostly normal.”

“So you just, don’t think about it?”

“Yep. It’s kept me from becoming depressed and kept me sane.” Although he just shared some rather personal things with her, she couldn’t keep herself from snorting. He gave her a glare.

“I think you mean, relatively sane,” she said teasingly.

“What do ya mean?” He seemed slightly confused.

“It’s pretty crazy, just picking some random homeless girl like me and giving her a job.” She continued her work, feeling a little more relaxed.

“But... I, you...” He sighed in exasperation. “Yeah, I guess it’s pretty crazy.” He also continued his work. “But not as crazy as comin’ to Manehattan for a second chance.” He grinned.

“Fair enough.”





“Wait,” she stopped cleaning the fish. “You never finished school?”

“Nope.” He shrugged dismissively. “But I get by.”

“But-” He cut her of.

“Next question.” His tone told her that there was no room for debate. Apparently that was a sore spot for him.

She huffed. “Fine.” She finished of the salmon and put it away, and continued with the next fish. It seemed a little bloated. “Your turn.” He stopped and seemed to think for a moment, looking up at the ceiling, his head tilted.

“What did ya do before, ya know?” He clearly tried to change the subject entirely. She stopped to gather her thoughts. What she should tell him, and what she shouldn’t.

“I... was a singer.”

“Was?” He seemed genuinely curious now.

“I...” An accident. That could work. “I caused an accident. It damaged our vocal chords and now we can’t sing any louder than a whisper.”

He whistled. “Yeesh. Most have been quite the accident.”

“Yeah.” She proceeded to cut the fish. It seemed more bloated than before. Jack seemed to notice as well, his eyes widening. He got up to stop her, holding up his hand.

“Wait, don’t-” But it was too late.

BANG

“-cut...” Adagio Dazzle, former siren, was covered in fish guts.

He sighed, took off his gloves and scratched the back of his head. “Oh boy.”
> Time for a Less Gutsy Approach
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Adagio Dazzle wasn’t happy.

“Jack, why am I covered in fish guts?” Her voice was deceptively calm, her body trembling with rage. Blackjack sighed.

“Cuz I forgot one of the deep sea fishes. The pressure up here is a lot lower than what their bodies are-” She cut him of, for a change. It wasn’t often that someone had the, well, guts to cut him of.

“Lovely. Now, could you be a dear, and tell me how to get fish guts out of your clothes?”

He started scratching the back of his head again and looked to the side. “Ya see, there’s a problem with that. There’s a good reason why I wear these dirty clothes and apron.”

“Oh, is there?” Her voice was still calm. He would be intimidated, if he wasn’t so much bigger than her.

“Fish guts, heck, guts in general tend to stain terribly. So does bloo-” She suddenly stomped towards him, getting in his face and cutting him of again. She was standing on her toes, getting her face as close to his as she could.

“Why didn’t you warn me about that?!” She yelled in his face. He raised his hands defensively, eyes going wide in surprise.

“I forgot, okay?” He was leaning backwards, more than a little surprised. “I’ve been doing this alone for a long time, so it kinda became routine for me, ‘kay? Now calm down, I’ll get you a new set of clothes.” He took a step back, actually a little intimidated by the skinny girl.

She snorted. “Oh sure. And I bet you just have a closet full of clothes for girls and women, hmm?!” She backed of a little, her glare looking like it could kill him on the spot.

“I...” He sighed. “I do, actually.” This surprised her.

His shoulders slumped a bit. She blinked twice while he scratched his head again.

“Really?”

“Yeah.” He gestured for her to follow him. He led her upstairs to the room between his bedroom and the bathroom. He entered the room and stopped in front of a closet.

“Why do you have clothes for women?” It just didn’t really make sense to her.

“They’re not really mine. A few of them were my mother’s and some of them were my sister’s.” And now it did. “Most of the things that were saved or salvaged from my house were their old clothes. I decided to keep them, as a reminder.” He opened the closet.

“You’re seriously going to give me some of their clothes,” she said with a deadpan voice, not really believing it, her gaze switching between him and the closet.

“They’d just be gathering more dust. ‘Sides, do you really want to constantly smell like fish guts and blood? Cuz, that smell ain’t gonna get out of your clothes, trust me. " He started to walk out the room. “Pick an outfit that ya won’t mind getting dirty. It’ll be your work outfit. Ya can also pick out a more casual outfit.”

“Why?”

“Hm?” He stopped in the doorway and turned his head, looking back at her.

“Why are you doing so much for me?” She really couldn’t believe this guy.

He shrugged and walked out of the room. “Cuz someone once did the same for me, remember? Besides, being poor and living on the streets sucks. I had to wear the same clothes for more than a year. I’d rather ya didn’t have to do that.” He closed the door.

“Well...” She shook her head. “Thanks!” She called after him.

“You’re welcome.”





After she had picked her work clothes, which consisted of a plain brown t-shirt and some loose blue jeans, she went to meet Blackjack downstairs in what he called the cutting room. When she walked in, she noticed he had cleaned up the fish guts and had replaced the fish with what looked like chickens.

“They seem a bit loose, but you’ll grow into them,” he said as he quickly looked her over.

“Grow into them?” She raised an eyebrow. She seemed to do that a lot lately. “What do you mean?” 

He started to grin again. “Ya might not have noticed yet, but you’ll be aching all over tomorrow.” He flexed one of his arms, showing of the muscles. “Being a butcher is more than just a good workout.” Her pupils shrunk at the idea of her being as big as him. He noticed her look. “Don’t worry. Ya ain’t gonna get as big as me. I tend to work out every morning and evening. Makes the job easier.”

“Thank goodness.” She noticed the way she said that. “I mean, no offense, but there’s no way I would want to be as big as you.”

He laughed at that. “Even if ya worked out as much as I do, which ain’t all that much to be honest, ya still wouldn’t get as big. It’s a growth disorder from my mom’s side.”

“Oh, well... that definitely explains your size. I didn’t want to offend, but you do look a bit... unnatural?” She shrugged, smiling sheepishly.

“I know, I know.” He motioned for her to come over to the chickens while holding one of them in his hand. “Now, how about I teach you the basics of preparing poultry?” When she got closer she noticed that he wasn’t holding a chicken, but a goose.

“That sounds absolutely amazing, dear Jack.”

“Oi, watch your sarcasm, Dazz.”

“I don’t think I will.”
> The Real Start of Her New Life/The Trouble With Customers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The rest of the day went by relatively quick. The next day was going to be her first real day at work. She didn’t know how to feel about that. Sure, she was still going to be practicing, but it just felt... weird.

After they were finished they had dinner, they went to bed, Adagio putting on her “new” nightgown, which was a plain white. But they didn’t know of the “assassin” that had entered their home.





She couldn’t breathe. Something was smothering her, slowly trying to drain the life out of her body. She then fell of the couch and onto the floor. She sprung up, trying to find the attacker. She looked around frantically, ignoring her aching muscles, but she didn’t see anyone.

“Mew.” She blinked and looked down. In front of her was a huge, gray cat, missing it’s right ear and an ugly scar going down it’s neck, which started at the missing ear. It just stared at her, as if it was challenging her to do something.

“Were you... sleeping on my face?” The cat proceeded to lie down on her pillow. She took that as a yes and frowned. “That’s where I sleep, you know.” She walked up to the cat, determined to reclaim her “bed.”

Needless to day, Blackjack wasn’t expecting to be woken up at five in the morning by Adagio’s pained screams and hate-filled yells.





“Looks like ya met Spades,” he said, an amused look on his face, while he prepared breakfast.

“Gee, you think so?” She responded sarcastically, wincing as she touched the band-aids covering the scratches on her arms. That cat got her good. It didn’t help that her muscles ached from all the work she did the day before.

“I think she likes ya.”

“What on earth gave you that idea?” She blinked once. “She? That’s a she? She’s huge!” She exclaimed, waving her arms in exasperation.

“She didn’t attack ya for lying on her sleeping spot.” He walked over and handed her a cup of coffee and a plate with a chicken and vegetable omelet on it.

She scoffed. “No, instead she tried to smother me.” He laughed at that.

“It’s how she shows affection.”

“Sure she does.” She took a bite from her omelet, surprised by it’s rich taste. He really was a good cook. “Talking about cats, why didn’t you tell me she slept there? And why’d you call her Spades?” She took a sip from her coffee.

“I forgot about it. She tends to disappear for a day or two.” He paused as he took a sip from his coffee. “I called her Spades, cuz she likes to dish out pain in Spades.” He chuckled at his own joke.

“Where did you find her?”

“One night, a year ago, I heard a lot of noise coming from the cutting room. She had broken in and had one of the cleavers fall on her.” Said cat mewed in response as she walked into the room. “I tried to help her. Guess what happened.”

“She tried to kill you?” That made him laugh.

“That’s basically what happened. I still tried to treat her, but it didn’t work out so well.” He shrugged. “And she’s been living here ever since.”

“You’ve got a weird way of making friends, you know that?”

“Ya have no idea how right ya actually are.” He got up, taken their plates and cups. “Now clean up. I’m opening in half an hour.”





Their work started relatively the same as the day before, although he quickly taught her a few new things. Such as the fact that in the cooler, where the carcasses were hanging and being chilled, the carcasses had to be kept clean of bacteria and mucus.

“They’re still rotting corpses. Which means we need to make sure they don’t actually rot away.” 

At first, after he had switched the closed sign for one that said ‘open’, there weren’t any customers. So they continued what they were doing yesterday. She would practice cutting meat while he cut meat and prepared it for sale. After about half an hour, they heard the doorbell, signaling that a customer had come in. Jack walked to the counter, quickly wiping his hands clean. The customer wanted nothing special, just a few steaks and some ham.

It became a steady stream of customers after that, Jack staying at the counter almost the entire time. Apparently that was the first rush of the day. After a while the stream slowed down quite a bit. And then the first “special” customer entered.

“Hello?” Adagio heard a woman say, sounding bored and impatient. “Wait here, Coco.” Just the she talked was already annoying Adagio.

“Ah, there she is.” Jack sighed and got up. He then took of his gloves, washed his hands and left for the counter, leaving Adagio to raise an eyebrow.

“Ah, there you are.” She heard the woman walk up to the counter. “The usual.” 

“Sure thing, Suri,” Jack said dismissively, the sounds of him slowly getting the desired product following soon after. She heard the woman, apparently called Suri, scoff.

“For the umpteenth time,” She heard a hand slam down on the table. “it’s miss Polomare to you, got it?” Jack chuckled at that, clearly not giving a damn.

“I sure do, Suri.” Suri just growled in response. “That’ll be thirty-five ninety-nine, Suri.” Suri growled some more and threw the money onto the counter. “Have a nice day, Suri.” She growled even louder.

“Shut up! You’re lucky you’re the only one who wants to sell this, otherwise you’d be in trouble!” She heard the uptight woman yell.

“I’m sure I would be, Suri.” Adagio could almost feel Jack’s grin.

“RAAAGH!” She heard Suri yell as she stomped out the door, slamming the door behind her. She then heard someone quickly walk to the counter.

“The usual?” She heard Jack quietly ask, followed by him quickly getting the desired product, instead of slowly.

“Thank you,” she heard a meek and shy woman say, followed by some money being placed on the counter. “Have a nice day, mister Jack.”

“Have a nice day as well, miss Pommel.” She heard the door close quietly.

”Hurry up, Coco! I don’t have all day!” Suri yelled.

”S-sorry, miss Polomare!” Coco meekly replied. Jack then walked back to the cutting room. He noticed Adagio’s confused stare.

“Those were Suri Polomare and Coco Pommel. Suri is a stuck up attention whore who apparently makes nice clothes and Coco is her assistant/victim.” He continued preparing the meat. “Sometimes ya get weird or difficult customers.” He shrugged. “I just mess with Suri as much as possible, while I give Coco a slight discount for putting up with that bitch.”

“Why would she even work for her in the first place?”

“I asked Coco once. Apparently they used to be close friends.” He shrugged. “She doesn’t want to tell me anything else though.”

“And what’s this special product that only you sell?” She asked, a little curious.

“Kangaroo steak.” He chuckled. “Suri has good taste, I’ll give her that.”

“Isn’t that expensive? Do you even know how to prepare it?”

“Yup.” He chuckled. “I also charge her more than I should.” She raised an eyebrow at that. “And there’s nothing she can do about it.”

“You’re much sneakier than I expected, you know that?”

He looked up, grinning at her. “You got a problem with that?” He asked. She grinned back.

“Not at all.” She continued her work. “Not at all.”





That night she was again awoken by Spades. Although this time the cat was laying on Adagio’s stomach. The girl glanced at the cat. The cat glanced back. Adagio sighed.

“Truce?”

“Mew.”

“Fine.” She started petting Spades.
> Thursday Is The Worst Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apparently Suri comes by every Monday. She kinda looked forward to hearing how Jack would piss her of. The rest of the day went by without anything particularly exciting customers, aside from an orange girl with red hair that had looked a little familiar, though she didn’t know why.

Tuesday went similar to Monday, except for a clear lack of a certain uptight woman. Same for Wednesday.

And then it was Thursday.





The mood that morning felt wrong. Blackjack barely said anything, his face blank. She tried asking what was going on, but one quick look from him shut her up. It felt weird. Sure, he looked intimidating, but he was nice once you got to know him better. Very rough around the edges and sometimes more than a little rude, but nice. But now he was completely emotionless.

Instead of going to the cutting room, he went straight to the counter after turning the sign to open, and stayed there.

Adagio was watching around the corner, very curious as to what on earth was messing with Jack’s head. This kept going for about fifteen minutes. The door opened, and she saw him tense up, his hands seeming to grab the counter so tight, they might just break it into pieces. She heard the sound of high heels slowly approaching, but Jack was in the way, so she couldn’t see who they belonged to.

“Hello, Blackjack.” The voice belonged to a woman, low, sensual, sultry, intimidating, arrogant and confident. It send chills down her spine. But it didn’t scare her because of those things. No. It was because it reminded her of how she used to talk. It sounded... Evil. She took a look at Jack and noticed the veins that were bulging on his neck and arms. She had never seen someone as intimidating as Jack get this scared. It was terrifying.

“Hello, Chrysalis.” Adagio furrowed her brow. Where had she heard that name before? She leaned forward, trying to look around Jack so she could catch a glimpse of the woman in question. What she saw didn’t help matters.

She was gorgeous. She wore a dark green dress that went past her knees and had a slit down the side. She was almost as tall as Jack, her skin was smooth and black as could be, her dark green hair was flowing and went past her shoulders. She wore dark green elbow gloves and emerald earrings.

But she was as terrifying and intimidating as she was beautiful. Her eyes were dark green and filled with a maliciousness that Adagio had never seen before. The expression on her face was one of boredom and annoyance, her dark green lips forming a thin line, and Adagio finally recalled where she had heard the name Chrysalis before.

It belonged to one of the most influential woman Manehattan. Chrysalis Carapace, the leader of Changelings, a gang that was almost the Manehattan equivalent of the mafia. Why was this woman here? What did she want? She then noticed the emblem on Chrysalis’ dress. It said Changeling. And it looked eerily similar to the one the two guys who had attacked her wore on their chests.

“Oh no,” she whispered. She knew exactly why Chrysalis was here.

“So, Blackjack.” Chrysalis walked closer to him, her voice sickeningly sweet. “Can you tell me what has happened to two of my newest drones?” He swallowed, tensing up even more. “Come on, you know who I’m talking about. Plank and Shank?”

“I...” He swallowed again. “I beat them up and brought them to the cops.”

Chrysalis nodded in confirmation and got even closer to him. She brought up a hand to her chin, pretending to think. “Now, I seem to have trouble imagining why you would do something like that, Blackjack.”

“I beat them up because-” Chrysalis grabbed him by the collar and pulled his face towards hers.

“Because they were mugging a homeless girl. I know.” Chrysalis sneered as she basically spat the words into Jack’s face, her tone no longer sweet, but sour. “Now give me one good reason why I shouldn’t have you killed where you stand.” 

Adagio’s eyes widened at not just the fact that Chrysalis wasn’t even a little scared of Jack, but also what Chrysalis said. She felt her rage building up. Those punks not only had the indecency to try to... to... have their way with her, but they also had the gal to lie about it?!

“Mugging?” She couldn’t help it. She was too mad.

“Hm?” Chrysalis tried to look past Jack, finally noticing the much shorter Adagio. “And you are?”

“The girl those bastards of you tried to... to...” Adagio stormed forward, getting in Chrysalis’ face for a change. She looked almost surprised at the outburst, only raising an eyebrow.

“Adagio,” Jack whispered. “Don’t do this.”

“Don’t do what?!” She turned to Jack as she yelled at him. “Ignore the fact that those bastards lied?!”

“Lied?” She let go of Jack, giving Adagio her full attention. “They would never lie to me.”

“Hah! Of course they would! They tried to... to...” Adagio stumbled over her words, tears forming in her eyes. She had tried not to think of what could’ve happened, but she couldn’t help it.

Chrysalis just looked at her, studying her. A short look of realization flashed across the tall woman’s face. “Ah. I see.” She turned and walked towards the door, leaving a stunned Blackjack and a confused Adagio behind. “Looks like I have to teach my drones some manners.”

Jack managed to find his voice again. “What do you mean?” Chrysalis stopped.

“I might be a criminal,” she glanced back. “But I will not allow rape. Murder without my consent is also met with heavy punishment.” She continued walking out the shop. “I still have standards you know.” She stopped again.

“Also, have the usual ready next week. But make it double since I’m not in the mood right now.” Jack just nodded. Chrysalis left the shop and snapped her fingers. “Follow me boys.” Two tall black skinned men with short dark green hair and dark green suits suddenly seemed to appear out of thin air. She was gone.





Blackjack was glaring heavily at her, his eyes narrowed and his arms crossed. She looked at the floor, knowing exactly why he was mad. She sighed.

“I almost got us killed, didn’t I.” She didn’t ask. She knew she was right.

“Ya sure did.”

“Yeah. That was pretty stupid, wasn’t it.” She still wasn’t asking.

“Yep.”

They just stood there for a few moments, until she couldn’t take it anymore. Her head snapped up, her eyes staring defiantly at his.

“I had to say something!” He didn’t blink as she yelled at him. “She was threatening to kill you because you protected me, and you expect me to do nothing?!” She didn’t notice the tears in her eyes. He did. His expression softened and he calmed down.

“No, you’re right. Ya did the right thing. It’s just...” He sighed. “Ya wanna know why I’m so scared of her?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“She can have anyone be killed at any time, without leaving any evidence of her OR her gang.” He scoffed, a grimace on his face. “Heck, she could have let someone shoot us right now and still make it look like we had an accident or had killed ourselves.”

“Oh.” She couldn’t tell how much of what Jack said was exaggerated, finally realizing the danger they were constantly in.

“I might look like a killer, but she? She’s a legitimate Killer Queen.”

“We’re lucky she has standards, don’t we.” Still not a question.

“We sure do.”
> Intermission 1: The Other Two
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

While the mood that Thursday remained tense, the rest of the week went by relatively quietly. Apparently Chrysalis came by once every month, usually on a Thursday. Adagio really wasn’t looking forward to that.

While she tried focusing on her work, she still often thought about her fellow sirens. No, she considered them close enough to call them her sisters.

Meanwhile, said sirens were working at their new job. At a bar, called Joe’s.





What had originally started as a surprisingly successful donut and coffee shop -not THAT kind of coffee shop- eventually got upgraded to a cafe. Although it was also a bar. It’s complicated. It still sold coffee and donuts, but the range of drinks and food had increased considerably, the wider selection attracting even more customers.

“Come on girl,” And Aria was about to hit one of their customers for harassing her. Again. Because as nice as Joe was, some of his patrons were... less than pleasant.

“For the sixteenth time, Hoops,” she growled through her teeth while preparing a drink for a different patron, wearing a bartender’s outfit. It was her job, along with two other bartenders, to prepare drinks. “I’m NOT going out with you.” Ever since Sonata and Aria had started looking healthy again, Hoops had come by every day to bother her, his buddies Dumb-Bell and Score backing him up. And she was about to hit him for the fourth time. “I tried to take over your school, remember?” She tried starting with the same argument she tried last time.

“And I remember saying that it’s water under the bridge.” The yellow-skinned jerk said, trying to look suave, failing miserably. It didn’t help that his eyes were covered by his brown hair.

“And I remember telling you to piss of and leave me alone.” She slammed her hand down on the bar and got uncomfortably close to his face, causing Hoops to back up a bit. “So why don’t you take your drink, take your buddies, and do just that? Because I’m THIS close to knocking that grin of your face.” She then felt a large hand on her shoulder. She snapped her head back, ready to give the one who touched a piece of her mind, when she noticed that it was Bulk, the bouncer.

He was huge, but it wasn’t all natural. He actually used to be called Snowflake, but no one calls him that anymore, for obvious reasons. He apparently used to be skinny as one could be and was bullied because of it. Then one day he had had enough of it. He turned to steroids. He doesn’t use them as much as he used to, but he was still obsessed with working out. He pushed her back gently and walked around the bar, cracking his knuckles, causing Hoops and his buddies to gulp audibly.

“Get out,” Bulk growled.

“Y-yes sir!” They squeaked as they ran for the door.

Aria sighed with relief and continued preparing drinks. “Thanks Bulk. I really can’t afford having my paycheck get cut again.” Joe told her that the only time she was allowed to attack someone at work, was when she was attacked first. Her temper just made this a lot harder than it should be.

“Don’t mention it.” Bulk walked back to his usual spot, where he could oversee the entire bar.

“Awww, cheer up Ari!” Sonata said as she popped out of the kitchen. It was her job, along with Joe himself and a few other cooks, to prepare food for the patrons and give it to the bartenders so they could give it to the waiters and waitresses. Sonata handed her two plates with food, the numbers of the orders written on tiny notes.

“Orders 42 and 34!” Aria called out, placing the drinks that had been ordered next to the plates, ready for the waiters and waitresses to come get them. “I’ll cheer up when I feel like it. And stop calling me Ari. It’s-”

“Annoying and it makes you mad and blah blah blah.” Sonata said, blowing a raspberry afterwards. Aria flicked her sister’s nose. “Ow.” The blue siren mumbled as she rubbed her nose and walked back to the kitchen.

“What’s wrong with Ari?” A girl with a high-pitched voice asked. “I think it sounds cute!” Aria growled.

“Yeah!” Sonata exclaimed, agreeing with the mystery girl.

Aria turned towards the girl. “I don’t do...” She trailed of as she recognized who the girl was, frowning. “Oh. It’s you.” It was the pink girl. And she had her trademark disturbingly wide grin. “What was your name again?”

“Hiya! I’m Pinkie Pie!” She took Aria’s hand and shook it hard. “I was wondering what had happened to you guys! Didn’t expect to find you here though!” Aria was already annoyed by her.

“Hi Pinkie!” Sonata yelled, waving from the kitchen.

“Hi Nata!” Aria blinked slowly at the nickname. “Wow! You’re here too?”

“Yup!” The blue siren walked out the kitchen handing some plates with food to a different bartender. “It’s pretty fun working here!”

“Great!” Pinkie looked around, as if she was trying to find someone. She then turned back to Aria, ready to ask a question.

“Oh no.” Aria knew exactly where this was going. She made cutting motions underneath her chin, signaling to stop, but Pinkie didn’t seem to notice.

“Where’s Dagi?” Pinkie asked, still grinning. Aria and Sonata winced at the question. So did Bulk, a few other employees and one or two patrons. “I’m pretty sure there where three of you. Oh! Oh! Is she also working in the kitchen? Or is she a waitress? I doubt that though, I’d have noticed her hair! Speaking of hair, did you shorten your twintails? It looks great!” Pinkie finished her rambling, only now noticing that it had gotten quieter. She looked around her, her grin disappearing. “What?” She looked confused. “Did I say something wrong?”

Aria sighed. “Gilda, take over for me for a moment, okay?” She walked away from the bar, Sonata following her. They walked to a door that said ‘Employees only.’ Aria, looked back and saw that Pinkie was still sitting at the bar, giving them a confused look. Aria face-palmed and motioned for Pinkie to follow her.

“Oh! Right!” Pinkie hopped of her chair and ran after them, just in time for Joe to notice them leave.

“She asked about their sister, didn’t she?” Joe asked, wearing his trademark clothes and a sympathetic look on his face. Bulk sighed.

“Yup.”





When Aria closed the door behind them, Pinkie had already gone ahead and was sitting on the couch. This was the break room, pretty self-explanatory what it was for. It held a couch, a cooler with food and drinks -all of them non-alcoholic-, a table and some chairs.

“Sooooo... What’s going on?” Pinkie asked, more than a little confused.

“Where do I start...” Aria took a deep breath. “Okay, you know how when you defeated us at the Battle of the Bands our necklaces broke?”

“Yeah?”

“When those broke we lost our powers. Heck, we can’t even sign louder than a whisper. This also meant that we lost our income, our home-”

“Wait! You guys were homeless?” Pinkie looked shocked.

“Yeah. We were homeless for more than a month. Then Joe found us and offered us a job.”

“That’s great!” She was smiling again. “So why the long faces?”

“Because he only had jobs for me and Sonata,” Aria said, grimacing.

“And when we came by to bring Adagio some food...” Sonata trailed of, looking at the floor.

“She was gone.” Aria finished for Sonata, rubbing the back of her head. “She left Canterlot behind.”

“Oh.”

“We don’t know where she went, we only know that she isn’t in Canterlot anymore.” Aria sighed. “We just hope sheACK!” Pinkie had tackled both Aria and Sonata., hugging them as they almost fell over. She was crying. And they were being choked.

“I’msorryforruiningeverythingandmakingyouguyshomelessandifIknewthiswouldhavehappenedIwouldn’thavestoppedyouguysfromtakingovertheschoolandandand...” Pinkie mumbled out, barely comprehensible.

“Whoa! Pinkie! You’re... choking... us...” Pinkie gasped, noticing that the were now two blue sirens and let them go.

“Oh no! Sorry sorry sorry!”

“It... it’s fine.”Aria replied once she had caught her breath.

“No it’s not!” Pinkie still had tears in her eyes. “It’s me and my friends fault that Adagio is gone and that you guys were homeless! I mean, we only wanted to protect our friends and school, not ruin your lives!”

“I know. It’s just how it ended up happening.”

“But...”

“Don’t worry. Adagio will be fine.” Aria said, giving Pinkie a sad smile, trying to calm her down.

“Yeah!” Sonata chimed in. “She’s strong and stuff! There’s no way she won’t be fine!”

“Until she comes back,” Aria said, a grim smile on her face. “Because when she get’s back?” She raised a fist in front of her face. “I’m gonna punch her. HARD.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

An awkward silence formed in the break room, until Aria remembered something,

“Wait, did you want to order anything?”
> She Made The Cut, But Not The One She Would've Liked
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was sunday again, which usually was Blackjack’s day off, but he instead decided to help Adagio practice some more. After all, she was eventually going to have to help him prepare his products. And she was definitely getting better at it, but she also needed to get faster. If she could make the primary cuts almost as fast as he could, it would save him a lot of time. Because usually he had to do both the primary and secondary cuts. But if she’s doing the primary cuts, that would mean he could make the secondary cuts in the meantime.

But there was a slight problem. Adagio was getting bored. She was improving and was improving faster than both of them expected, but it was just the same over and over again.

Her thoughts started to stray back to her sisters, but she tried to shake those thoughts away. It was a lot harder than she would’ve liked. It frustrated her.

‘Why did they get a job in Canterlot?’ She thought to herself. ‘Why not me?’

Thunk it went, as she started cutting harder.

‘Why did they leave me?’ She started cutting faster, paying less and less attention. ‘Weren’t we like sisters?’

Tears were slowly rolling down her cheeks, her swings becoming less and less precise.

‘Why did I have to get to this stupid sh-’

Schk

She froze. It got awfully quiet after that sound, as both of them stopped what they were doing. For a few moments, time seemed to stand still. She looked down at where the sound came from, blinking slowly. It was yellow and red. But something was missing.

Plip Plop

Something was dripping, but she kept looking at it.

“Adagio?” Jack asked quietly, sounding concerned.

“Yes?” Her voice was shaky, her brain having only partially realized what had happened.

“What did you do?”

“I-I...” she swallowed. Her hands started shaking. Her vision was blurring. It started to hurt. She dropped the cleaver, letting it hit the floor with a resounding clang. She grabbed the wrist of her right hand. It hurt a lot. “I c-cut m-m-myself...” Blood started flowing faster.

Jack got up quickly and suddenly, knocking over his chair as he seemed to teleport over to her. She didn’t look at him. She was too focused on the fact that one of her fingers was lying on the meat she was supposed to cut.

“Fuck.” She heard him mumble. “Keep pressure on your hand. It’ll make it bleed less.” He then quickly walked to a small closet on the wall above the sink, taking out a first aid kit.

Tears were flowing down her face when he got back. He made her sit down and grabbed her hand.

“Okay, this is going to sting a lot, but we need to clean it before we can get some help.” Before she could even open her mouth, he had already started putting the alcohol on the finger. And it hurt. She barely managed to bite back a scream. The pain she felt from cutting herself wasn’t actually that bad compared to this.

“Seems like the bleeding is slowing down.” Jack mumbled, already applying some gauze, wrapping it tightly around her finger. He then got up again, taking the cut of finger and walking towards the small closet again. He started cleaning of the grime from the finger.

“W-what are you doing?” She asked, wondering what he was gonna do with her finger. After grabbing some plastic bags he opened the door to the kitchen and took some cooler pads out of the fridge.

“I’m trying to keep it cold and clean.” He put the finger in the plastic bag, along with the pads. He walked back to her, motioning for her to follow. “Maybe they can reattach it, but don’t get your hopes up.”





“This is going to sound cliche, but I’ve got bad news and good news.” It was the same doctor as before. Apparently he worked at both the police office and at the hospital. He seemed to skim through the papers quickly, one bored green eye quickly peeking through the yellow hair for a short moment. “The good news? No infections and it should heal pretty quickly.”

“And the bad news?” Jack asked. Adagio wished the doctor had started with the bad news. Ending with the bad news is never fun.

“We can’t reattach your index finger.” There it is.

“Why?” Her voice was calmer than she actually felt. The doctor walked over to the table next to her and lifted up the bag holding the finger.

“It’s cuz you managed to cut at the joint and at a slight angle.” He said, pointing at the end with the cut. “We could’ve reattached it if you had cut at any other point and it would’ve been fine. But the thing with joints is that they’re a lot more delicate, which in this case means that the joint got shattered.” He put the finger back down and sighed. “If we reattached it, it wouldn’t heal right and it probably would just end up more worse than if we left it like this. ‘Sides,”  he said, shrugging. “You only cut of the top part. Most probably won’t even notice you’re missing a part of your finger.”

“But I will...” she whispered, staring at said finger, it being covered in bandages. It still hurt a little, even with painkillers. At least the operation was quick and not that painful.

“Yep. But you’ll get over it.” She gave him a harsh glare for that. “What? It’s true. Unless ya let it bother you for the rest of your life, you’ll get over it.”

She huffed. “Doesn’t mean you have to be so blunt about it.” She crossed her arms, wincing at the slight pain of brushing her finger across her shirt.

“I kinda stopped caring about not being blunt.” He picked up his notepad, and walked away. “Didn’t really see the point in it. Have a nice day.”

“Sure, you to.” She said halfheartedly. She got of the bed and walked out the room, Jack following her.





During their walk back home, Jack’s silence was beginning to bother her. When they got to the front door of the butchery, she stopped and suddenly turned, giving him a light glare and putting her hands on her hips.

“Spill it.” The tone in her voice left no room for discussion, which made him and his thoughts stop in their tracks. He would never get used to how she managed to talk like that to him. He could probably snap her in half if he tried, yet she talked to him like she could snap him in half.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t give me that. You’ve been quiet ever since the doctor gave us the bad news.” She crossed her arms, her glare letting up. “Are you seriously blaming yourself?”

“...” He didn’t look at her, but his silence said enough.

“Oh my god. You are.” She sighed, using her left to pinch the bridge of her nose, as to not aggravate her injury. “Can you tell me why on earth you are blaming yourself for something I did?”

“I-” He sighed. “I should have taught you more about safety.” He scratched the back of his head, looking to the side.

‘A nervous tic, hm?’ She sighed. “You want to know why I ended up cutting myself?” She didn’t wait for a response. “I was thinking about my sisters. About how I messed up. It...” She bit her lip and looked away as well, willing her tears away. “It made me mad and I lost focus. That’s why.” She looked back, Jack’s shoulders in a more relaxed position. He still looked concerned.

“Still feels like I messed up though...” He mumbled.

“Come on Jack.” She walked up to him, giving him a slight smirk. “I’m not stupid. I know how to handle myself around knifes, I just got distracted and it cost me. Now stop being an idiot and unlock the door.”

He stared down at her for a few seconds, studying her face. He then chuckled. He decided that he didn’t mind someone besides Chrysalis having the guts to stand up to him. It was refreshing. “You sure are a weird little lady, ya know.”

Her smirk got wider. “Says the giant.”

“Fair enough.”
> Raising The Bar
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apparently, it was only going to take about two weeks before her wound would be fully healed. And it would take at least a few days before she was allowed to do anything even slightly strenuous with her bad hand. Something about it being a surprisingly clean wound made it apparently easier to heal. But she would still have to wear a glove over said hand, to avoid infection, even after it healed. Working without a glove would have to wait until at least another two weeks after the wound had healed.

Which led to Jack coming up with a way to spend the rest of their sunday. More specifically, their sunday afternoon and perhaps evening as well.

“I’m gonna show ya around town.” He said, putting on his coat. He had changed his clothes to something cleaner and more casual, which made him a lot less intimidating. Something about a butchers outfit just made him incredibly intimidating.

Now that she thought about it, it was probably the stains. Yes, it was most definitely the stains. Which his plain white shirt and black pants definitely didn’t have.

‘He really needs to get more colorful clothes.’

“I’ve been around town.” She said, not exactly excited about the prospect of walking through the streets she had to sleep in for about a week. “And it wasn’t exactly pleasant.” She herself had also put on some more casual clothes. A purple blouse with three buttons just below the neck, light blue jeans and her grayish purple hoodie (it had luckily been spared from the fish guts). She had also put on some nice leather boots.

“’Course it wasn’t.” He buttoned up his coat. It was a long leather coat that made it halfway past his upper legs. It was surprisingly looses on someone his size, which meant it was probably custom made. She then noticed the pockets on the coat and decided that to have such big pockets, it was most likely custom made. “You were walking through one of the nastier neighborhoods of Manehattan. I’m not saying this one is that much better, but at least people around here are a little nicer.”

He opened the door and walked out, Adagio following her. “’Sides, I ain’t gonna show you around here either.” He locked the door, while she lifted an eyebrow at him. They started walking down a street. It was a slightly comical sight: the giant in the leather coat and the little lady in the purple hoodie, both of them with their hands in their pockets.

“What, you’re gonna show me around the entirety of Manehattan?” She may not have known how big Manehattan was, but it was BIG. That was part of the reason why she didn’t know. It was in fact one of the biggest cities in the state of Equestria.

“Heh, ‘course not.” They made a turn. “I’m just gonna show ya around one of the friendlier and nicer neighborhoods.” She took a look at the signs as they made another turn. Apparently they were going to the Central Marelem Metro Station.

“Huh,” she said, making Jack look at her.

“What?”

“Nothing really. Only just found out that we apparently live in Central Marelem.” She shrugged. “I didn’t really know where I was before, so that’s nice to know, I suppose.”

“Eh.” He shrugged. “It’s not the safest neighborhood, but it’s far from the most dangerous. As long as ya stick with me, the only one who might bother ya is Chrysalis. And usually only when ya give her a reason to.”

“That’s true, I suppose.” She couldn’t keep her trademark smirk from crawling onto her face. “A giant like you will keep even the nicest people away.”

“Yea-” She looked at him, seeing him frown for a short moment, before it quickly devolved into a grin. “Looks like you’re getting better.”

She raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“When I first took ya in, the only times ya talked like that was when ya got mad, but now you’re already taking jabs at me when you’re just relaxed. I’m no shrink, but to me it seems like you’re getting healthier, in more ways than one.”

“So you think I’m some kind of queen bee? Or a diva?” She said, feigning offense.

“I don’t think shy people wear spiky hairbands.”

“That’s what gave me away?”

“Being sassy against someone ya know can snap ya in half also made it easier to guess.”

“Really? You mean no one talks back to you?” That question caused his grin to falter again. ‘A sore spot, perhaps?’

“Unless they know me pretty well? Not really.” His shoulders went up and his neck tensed up.

‘Definitely a sore spot.’ She wondered if she should continue this line of questioning. She decided to take a chance.

“Why do you think that is?” This time he didn’t just stop talking, he also stopped walking. He took his hands out of his pockets, crossed his arms and straightened his back, furrowed his brow and giving her a harsh glare. This had the desired effect of intimidating her, but not as much as he thought she would have been.

“I think we both know why.” She had her suspicions.

“So they’re scared of you?” She raised her eyebrow again, also crossing her ams. “Is that what you’re saying?”

“’Course they are!” He gestured at himself. “Look at me! I’m 7 feet tall! 2.10 meters! And don’t even get me started on what people think of my mu-”

She quickly interjected. “And this bothers you.”

“I-” He stopped. He blinked at her. He crossed his arms again. “What, you my shrink now?”

“You don’t need a major in psychology to notice it bothers you.”

“...Hmph.” He scoffed and continued walking, stuffing his hands in his pockets again. “Let’s keep going.”

“...Fine.” She followed suit, deciding that she could talk with him about this later.





The ride was short, but not without it’s annoyances. The fact that no one even dared sit next to them and that most people kept sneaking scared glances at Jack, just made it an uncomfortable ride for everyone involved. Especially for Jack. She could tell by the way he was holding the edge of his seat, almost bending the metal with how tightly he was gripping the edge.

‘It really seems to bother him.’ She thought, feeling a little sorry for the mini interrogation. Back when she was still a siren, she would’ve relished the scared glances and the nervous stares. But for Jack it seemed to be more of a nightmare.

She decided to sit a little closer to him and to try to start some friendly small talk. Someone had to lift the mood, and the other passengers weren’t going to do it. Although, neither was Jack. He kept glaring at anyone who looked at him in a way he didn’t like.

“So, Blackjack, where exactly are we going?” This seemed to shake him out of his continuous state of annoyance. He blinked at her, apparently not having realized she had gotten closer to him. She bent forward, resting her head on her hand. “I’m not exactly familiar, remember?”

“Beekmare.” He seemed to relax a little. “We’re going to Beekmare.”

“And what makes Beekmare a nice place?”

“It’s one of the lesser known shopping districts of Manehattan. It’s got a lot of nice shops and restaurants. And it’s where I sometimes go drinking.”

“And to which restaurant are we going?”





It wasn’t really a restaurant. As it was, even the cheaper restaurants in Manehattan were quite expensive. So they went to a cozy looking bar. According to Jack, it had, as he said it, “the smallest chance of meeting drunks in whole Manehattan.” Apparently the bar had pretty strict rules when it came to how much you were allowed to drink. Which actually sounded rather nice. There was just one thing that left her shaking her head.

“Really?” She sounded rather bemused. She also looked the part.

“What? You don’t wanna go to the bar?”

“Oh no, I could definitely go for a drink after today’s events.” She subconsciously touched her bandaged hand.

“Then what’s the problem?”

“It’s just... ‘The Drunken Kelpie?’” She let out a chuckle. “That’s one of the most stereotypical bar names I’ve heard in a long time.” It also didn’t help that she used to be a kelpie, but she wasn’t going to mention that.

“Well, at least the inside and the drinks are better than the name.” He opened the door, motioning for her to go first.

As she walked in she quickly whispered “I’ll be the judge of that,” to him.

As she walked through the bar, she had to give it to Jack: it definitely looked better than the name implied. The owner was apparently a fan of Art Deco, judging by the design of everything. And unlike most bars she’s been to, the smell of cigarettes wasn’t that strong.

Sadly, the mood got dampened a little when Jack walked in, a lot of people immediately looking at him. But at least not everyone looked nervous or scared. In fact, the bartender looked kinda happy to see him, judging by the small smile she was giving him. Plus, most people quickly averted their gazes, hoping Jack hadn’t noticed them.

Adagio felt Jack stop behind her, sensing a smug air about him. She turned and looked up at him as he gave her a smirk of his own. “So, what do ya think?”

“I have to admit, your taste in bars is definitely better than your taste in clothes.” His smirk fell a little, as he looked down at his coat.

“What’s wrong with basic colors?”

“Blackjack, honey, please.” She walked over to him, gesturing towards his clothes. “Black and white are definitely not colors. And yes, brown is indeed a color, but it’s rather drab.” She shrugged as she turned to walk towards the bar. “You’re kind of enforcing the stereotype here.”

“So ya ain’t just a queen bee, but also a fashionista.” He followed her.

“What can I say? I’m a lady of many talents.”

“My god! Modest as well?”

“You don’t find them as modest as me, trust me.” She sat down at the bar, opening her hoodie a little, while Jack unbuttoned his coat as he sat down next to her. The bartender then walked over, chuckling.

“Well well well.” The voice, deep and a little raspy, betraying a history of smoking, belonged to the bartender, a tall, lanky woman with few curves, who, judging by her wrinkles, seemed to be in her late thirties to mid forties. She had purple skin and short, spiky lavender hair with a blue streak in it. She had a short pointy nose, her eyes were blue and she wore a golden earring in her left ear. She wore a black zip up hoodie with the zipper open, showing a light blue shirt underneath. She also wore tight white pants and for some reason wore black sandals.

“Finally managed ta catch yerself a nice fishie, huh Jackie?” Her accent was much thicker than Jack’s. Or should she say Jackie? Adagio decided to play along.

Jack waved a hand, denying it. “It’s not lik-”

“Oh yes.” Adagio cut him of, a smirk slowly forming on her face, while a slightly annoyed frown formed on Jack’s. “And he’s been an absolute gentleman, too.”

“Really now.” The bartender lifted an eyebrow, grinning widely. “That big brute? Looks like I haven’t been giving ya enough credit Jackie, now have ah?”

She almost giggled. “Oh you should definitely give, ‘Jackie’, some more credit.”

“Ah suppose ah should.” The purple lady started leaning on the bar and whispered as she held a hand next to her mouth. “And when’s the wedding, hm?” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Jack sighed deeply. “Great. Ya started multiplying.” Although he sounded annoyed, his small smirk revealed that he was more amused than anything else.

The bartender straightened back up, chuckling. “Oh ahm just foolin’ with ya. Ah can see you ain’t a couple.” She winked quickly. “Yet!” She cleared her throat. “Now where are mah manners. Ahm Fizzy Pops, and lemme welcome ya to mah bar, ‘The Drunken Kelpie’.” She stuck out her hand. “But ya can call me Fizzy.”

“Nice to meet you Fizzy. I’m Adagio Dazzle.” She took the hand and shook it, Fizzy having a surprisingly strong grip for such a lanky woman. Fizzy whistled softly, while one of her patrons returned a couple of glasses.

“Gotta hand it to ya, Jackie, ya sure know how ta pick em!” She grabbed one of the glasses and started cleaning it. “All sophisticated and purty. Heck, she’s even still got the soft lady hands!”

“She won’t be having those for that much longer though.”

“Really? Making her work hard, are ya?”

“I have to repay him somehow.” She took of her hoodie and draped it over the back of her chair. “After all, he did save me from those muggers and he give me a place to live.”

“Mah goodness! Yer turning into a right hero, Jackie!” Fizzy shot a good-natured wink at him. She then finished cleaning the last of the glasses and slung the towel over her shoulder. “Now before ah forget, what would ya like ta drink?” Fizzy took out a menu and handed it to Adagio. Jack seemed to already know what he wanted.

“I’ll have the usual. An Irish coffee.”

“I’ll have...” She hummed to herself as she skimmed through the menu, her eyes landing on one of her favorites. “Ah! Port! I haven’t had a good glass of Port in a while.”

“Would ya like it sweet red, dry, semi-dry or white?”

“I’ll stick with the classic sweet red.”

“Alrighty then, now you just wait while ah prepare ya drinks.” She walked off towards one of her employees.

“Picking the expensive stuff, huh?”

“Hey, I think I deserve a little treat after today. Besides, after all, it’s your treat.”

“Fair enough, I suppose. But I’ll be keeping that in mind for when you’re paying.” He said, pointing at her.

“Ooooh. I’m sooo scared.” She placed the back of her hand against her forehead, closing her eyes and striking a dramatic pose. “I’m just shaking in my boots.” She snuck a quick peek, opening an eye, seeing him give her an unimpressed smirk. He shook his head as she giggled, getting up from his seat and leaving his coat on the back of the chair.

“Now watch my seat. I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going?”

“To the toilet.”

“Don’t get stuck in the stalls!” She called after him, just loud enough for him to hear and to leave some of the other patrons giving them confused stares.

“Yeah, yeah.” He waved back, not turning around as he walked through the door. Adagio turned back, waiting for Fizzy to deliver their drinks, which seemed to take a little longer than it was supposed to, judging by the discussion Fizzy was having with one of her employees. Something about misplaced bottles.

‘Probably a new employee or some-hm?’ She thought, as a man suddenly sat down next to her.

He was lanky, more than a head taller than she was, had light green skin and blond hair done up in a messy bun. His head was long and slim, he had a stubble beard, his eyes were a purple-ish pink and let’s not forget the grin he had on his face. She already wanted nothing to do with him.

His clothes didn’t help matters either. ‘At least Jack wears clothes that suit him.’ Because this guy looked like he just picked whatever colors would clash the most. A sky-blue vest, a faded orange shirt and dark green trousers. ‘Ugh.’ She thought in disgust, while barely managing to keep her expression neutral.

“’Scuse me, is this seat taken?” He asked, his voice a bit goofy and high pitched, clearly trying to sound suave. Needless, to say, he failed miserably.

“Yes it is.” She bluntly replied. “And my friend will be coming back soon, so I’d appreciate it if you would, oh, I don’t know, get up and leave?”

“Ah, come on, don’t be that way.” He started leaning on the bar.

“I will be that way, and I’ll get worse if you don’t get up and leave.”

“Now now, calm down.” He said, holding his hands up defensively. “Lemme introduce myself. I’m Zephyr. Zephyr Breeze. And you are?”

“Nunya.”

“Wha-”

“Nunya Business.” She then saw the door to the men’s room open, a familiar shape walking through the doorway. She felt an evil smirk crawl up her face. “And if you don’t get up quickly, you’ll have to talk it out with my friend.”

“I’m sure I can talk things out with your... friend?” Zephyr noticed her smirk. He also noticed the large presence behind. He turned around, noticing the giant of a man. Who was also smirking evilly. Zephyr let out a little whimper.

“So,” the giant said, bringing his face closer to the green beanstalk. “What do ya wanna talk about?”

“I-uh, uhm, uh, I g-gotta go.” Zephyr made to get up, but a giant hand on his shoulder held him down, forcing him to stay with what suddenly seemed like demons to him.

“Already leaving? But I just got back!” The tone of Jack’s voice didn’t quite match the look on his face. “Why don’t we have a, heh, little drink together?” Jack said, grinning evilly at him, his eyes full of malicious intent.

“That sounds, lovely.” Adagio said breathily, sharing a look similar to Jack’s. Fizzy then decided to walk up and place their drinks, shaking her head at the display.

“Well, I’ll leave the two o’ ya to it. But try ta make it a clean kill, ‘kay Jackie?” Fizzy smirked as well. “We both know blood leaves the worst stains.”

“Dontcha worry none, Fizzy.” Jack placed his other hand on Zephyr’s remaining shoulder.

“Yes. We’ll take good care of our new, friend.”