Once they arrived in Fillydelphia, Twilight and Venom got off the train and surveyed the city. Skyscrapers stretched in every direction and it was bustling with activity. Twilight wasn't too familiar with this city, so she just chose a random direction and started walking. She got a lot of interested looks, ponies nudging each other and pointing her out, and she began to wonder if she should have worn a coat. She always seemed to get attention when she went places she didn't normally visit. Then again, she supposed she was a minor celebrity these days. She cast a smile at a group of giggling ponies that walked by her, waving at them.
Then she said to Venom, Alright, so here's the plan. We’re just going to walk around Fillydelphia until something happens.
Sounds good to me. This place seems great on the surface, but looking at your memories, it’s a hotspot for criminals. I guarantee that if we stay here long enough, we’ll run into some kind of crime we can stop. Ohh I can't wait to sink my teeth into some juicy ponies.
I can't believe I'm basically becoming a cannibal for you.
You have such a weird aversion to this, on my planet cannibalism is perfectly normal. I mean we usually only eat dead symbiotes but still.
Twilight’s stomach rolled. Oh, lovely.
They browsed some shops, and paused to look at a newspaper. There was nothing about the Life Aura Center yet, but she had no doubt Blazing's arrest would make tomorrow's headline. She kept walking.
Hey, you hungry? Venom asked.
Not really, we just had lunch-
Let's get food! A little appetizer before the main course, haha.
Alright, I'll grab you something.
She headed for a convenience store, much to his delight. You are so good to me.
Yeah, yeah. Twilight noticed the moment she walked in this place was dingy, a few of its lights broken and several of its products dented. She considered going to a different place, not liking how the mare at the counter stared her down, but Venom gave her confidence and she moved along to the snack aisle.
As she was picking out some chocolate raisins and a bag of trail mix, she heard the bell over the door ding, and heavy hoofsteps.
There was a small gasp from the clerk, and Twilight froze, ears perking as whoever entered spoke in a low voice.
“You got our money?”
“Please, sir…” There was a sudden thunk of metal on wood and a small squeal.
“No more excuses, where’s our money?”
Twilight slowly peaked over the shelf and saw a large pegasus stallion with a knife buried in the counter, as the clerk hurried to get the register open.
“The boss is getting tired of your excuses,” he said, retrieving the knife and digging the tip against the mare’s cheek as she fumbled with the register. “If I gotta come down here and ask you again, you won’t get another chance, bitch.”
Twilight’s blood boiled as he reached into the register and began sweeping bits into a bag.
Food? Venom inquired.
Twilight took a breath, and set down the bags of food, crossing the room. Maybe, but let me try and talk this out.
Lame.
“Excuse me,” Twilight said firmly.
The stallion whipped around, pointing the knife at her. Then he paused, looking her over. “Y-you’re… Princess Twilight.”
“Yeah, I am,” she said, spreading her wings as she advanced toward him. “Who are you?”
He swallowed, then narrowed his eyes and said, “None of your business. This is between me and Doll here. Go back to your prissy little castle.”
Twilight glared at him. “I have just as much a right to shop here as anypony. Now, you better drop that knife, give her back her bits, and get out.”
“Or what?” he challenged.
Twilight’s horn lit up, and she wrenched the knife away and yanked him toward her, slamming him on his back and shoving a hoof into his chest. “Or I’ll do things to you that will make you wish you had never been born!” Some of Venom’s roughness slipped into her voice, and the stallion flinched, before scrambling to get away.
“Y-yes, Princess, of course!” He tossed the bag of bits down and ran out, not even taking his knife with him.
Twilight sighed, composing herself, and Venom whined, Oh come on!
Well, being a princess has its perks. She picked up the bits and returned them to Doll. “Are you okay?”
“Y-yeah, thank you,” she said, shakily gathering the money and sorting it into the register. “They come here nearly every week, saying I need to pay if I want their protection, but I don’t want it! The only thing it’s protecting me from is them. It’s how they work, they go to new businesses asking if they want to buy insurance, and if you say no, they wreck the place. So then you do pay them just to keep them happy. It’s… it’s extortion is what it is.”
“I’m so sorry.” Twilight levitated her snacks over, setting them on the counter. She also grabbed a bottle of water from a fridge. “Is there anything I can do?”
“Short of taking down the entire gang of Fillydelphia Gutbusters, I’m afraid not, Princess.”
Gutbusters? Great idea, let’s bust their guts!
“Gutbusters? Bleh, what a crude name.”
“Most of the gangs around here have names like that. Oh, no charge, you can have whatever you like.”
Twilight shook her head. “No, I want to pay. If those guys come back, I want you to be able to pay them.”
“Well, alright. That’ll be ten bits, please.”
Twilight paid and leaned in, whispering, “Though if you could tell me where I might find the Gutbusters, I’d really appreciate it.”
Doll looked nervous, checking her surroundings before saying, “Well, I’m not too sure if they have a particular base, so to speak, but a lot of them seem to hang out at the bars near Seventeenth and Willow. You can’t miss them, they all wear some kind of bright purple bandanna or wrist band or something, and usually have knives on them. For, well, cutting guts open.”
“Explains the name. Well, thank you.” Twilight put the snacks away and headed for the door.
“Thank you, Princess.”
Twilight nodded and stepped out, going to find a bench to sit on so she could eat.
Are we going to take down a gang? Venom asked excitedly.
Something like that. Twilight tossed a few of the chocolate-covered raisins into her mouth and felt her symbiote’s delight.
I love chocolate!
Heh, so do I, Twilight replied. She let him share control, finishing off the raisins and then digging into the trail mix between gulps of water.
You should buy me chocolates more often.
Twilight smiled. She had no problem with that. Once they were done eating, they got up and threw away their trash, and got back to walking. They made their way toward the intersection Doll had mentioned, ears perked and alert for danger.
They began to notice fewer pedestrians as they got closer to the area. Those who were around moved quickly and didn’t make eye contact with anyone. Many were dressed in coats and kept their faces hidden.
I don’t trust this place, Twilight thought.
You’d be a fool to. Keep your eyes out. You’ve probably already made yourself an enemy of the Gutbusters.
Twilight nodded. She glanced down every alley she passed. At one point, she thought she saw movement, but then she looked back and saw it was only a bird.
You’re being a little too jumpy. Calm down.
Twilight took a deep breath, held it, and let it out. She didn’t want to look skittish, but this part of the city gave her bad vibes.
I see what you mean. It looks fine at a glance, but it just feels wrong.
Twilight stopped to examine the street signs. She was only a few blocks away from Seventeenth and Willow when something made the fur on her back rise.
What was that?
Easy, Princess. Don’t look now but we’re being followed. Just keep walking, and I’ll keep an eye on things.
So she kept going, but glanced around often, not wanting anyone else to sneak up on her.
A few minutes later and she was checking out the row of bars, many of which were open despite it only being a little past noon. The buildings here were marked with graffiti and neon lights shone from the windows, some of which advertised rather unsavory services.
Hey Twilight, want a massage with a happy ending?
Uh… pass.
She began notice ponies wearing purple like Doll had said, and avoided their eyes as she walked down the sidewalk.
They are definitely following us.
Don’t tell me that.
She kept a lookout for anything that could be a base of operations, determined to find the gang’s leader and… talk to them.
I don’t think you plan on talking. I think you plan on shooting them with magic. Or choking them. Possibly stabbing. Eating, if I’m really lucky.
She gave a sly smile. I’ll see how I feel.
Okay, but better think quick because we’re about to be ambushed.
What?
Something hard suddenly collided with Twilight’s head, and everything swirled wildly as she fell onto her side. She grunted, and quickly pushed herself back up, but a ring was clamped around her horn and suddenly she was unable to use her magic. She growled and flared her wings out, stomping a hoof as she faced the several ponies who had surrounded her.
“You’re outnumbered, Princess,” a stocky mare said, jabbing at her with a knife. Twilight immediately kicked her, knocking her into a light pole. She groaned, and Twilight got ready to fight the others, only for them all to tackle her, slamming her to the ground with their weight. She started to push herself back up, Venom’s strength filling her, but then a bag was put over her head, distracting her long enough for them to flip her over and tie her legs together, before picking her up.
“Hey!” she shouted, struggling. She tried to kick, but the way they tied her legs made it impossible to get a good angle. She thrashed, charging up her magic, but it felt like it just couldn’t get past her horn. “Let me go! Do you know who I am?!”
“We know exactly who you are. A princess who messed with the wrong squad.”
Several of them beat their hooves against her ribs, making her wince. They just laughed in response.
“So we’re taking you to have a little chat with the boss.”
“Who?”
Pain exploded across her muzzle as one of them punched her in the nose. She grunted, sniffing as blood streamed from her nostrils.
“Shut up, you’ll find out soon.”
Venom’s skin covered Twilight’s nose, and she took a slow breath through her mouth as he healed the damage. The pain faded, and she gave some curious sniffs. Thanks.
Don’t mention it. You know, we can easily snap these ropes and kill all of them.
Tempting, but… they’re taking us right to their boss. I say we wait for them to take us right into wherever their base is… and then we kill their boss and everypony else.
Laughter rang through her head. Excellent! I love it! Then let’s put up enough of a fight to make them think they need everyone to restrain us. And once we’re surrounded and they feel all safe and secure… we raise hell.
So Twilight put up a fight, but always stopped short of actually breaking free, and she heard more and more hoof beats as more of the Gutbusters came to keep her subdued. She wasn't worried about being outnumbered. She knew she and Venom could take down all of them. Though she did ask him why he let her get caught in the first place.
I knew they were coming but I thought the same thing you did, we could use them to find their leader. Though I'll admit I didn't think they would manage to hit us that hard, and suddenly there were a ton of them I hadn't heard, and I definitely wasn't expecting the magic blocking... thing.
...Thanks.
Twilight stopped talking to him when she heard a door open, and the temperature changed, growing warmer as she was carried into a building. Even through the bag, it smelled musty, and she wrinkled her nose.
They seemed to go through a few more doors, and then she was dropped roughly to the floor, and several of them stood on her to keep her pinned while another yanked the bag off.
She looked up, blinking and letting her eyes adjust to the dim room. She was surrounded by gang members, and right in front of her, lounging in a recliner behind a table, was a unicorn mare with countless scars all over her body and stormy gray eyes. She was picking one of her hooves with a knife, those dark eyes staring at Twilight.
“What is the meaning of this?” she said quietly, looking away to glare at the others. “Why did you bring a princess here?”
“Thunderclap, ma'am, this is the one who threatened Scourge,” one of the gangsters said.
“Is that so? Well, that changes things, doesn't it?” The mare sat forward, embedding the knife into the table and surveying Twilight. “Hello, Princess Twilight. I'm Thunderclap, leader of the Gutbusters.”