//------------------------------// // Relapsing and Crashing // Story: Addiction // by FlashFoward //------------------------------// You decide to head down by Erotica early. It’s better to be early anyway, perhaps there would be enough time to ask Gold about Ace and find him. Last night was a nightmare and you didn’t want the disappearance of Ace to sit on your conscious anymore. There was an issue though, when Ace took you to Erotica you were pretty much day dreaming through the entire walk. You recall a few buildings being around the area of Erotica but nothing else. It started to seem like going out early was a good idea after all. Considering you’d be spending at least an hour wandering around to find the place. As you walked through the streets of Manehattan, your mind wandered back to Vinyl giving you a kiss earlier today. Shame you couldn’t see her beautiful face with all the steam in the air. Her eyes were pretty much the only thing you could see and you weren’t complaining. You suddenly walk right into something, a wall to be clear. Your muzzle received the full impact and it felt a little sore. Surprisingly, you had just bumped into one of the walls of Erotica. Perhaps day dreaming somehow helped you get here? Or maybe Celestia had been keeping an eye out for you? All you knew was that luck was on your side today. The bouncer from yesterday was standing guard near the front door again. You flashed him your pass and he replied with a grunt before letting you in. Vinyl was around the corner of the room working her craft. You didn’t want to bother her while she worked so you decide to head over to the bar, the same place were Gold introduced himself. As you walk through the dance floor, a group of mares surrounded you. They start grinding against your body and you try to slip by them to no avail. Every time you got past two mares, three more would pop up from nowhere. At first, you thought they just wanted to dance with you and were obviously not taking a hint. That notion was proved false when one of the mares muzzled your neck and started to gently kiss it. This isn’t your kind of thing and prayed that something would save your sorry flank from this mess. A stallion walked by and the group of mares started to get on him as well. Taking advantage of the situation, you slip past them and head over to the bar. The mares greedily eyed there new victim and you felt pity for the poor guy. They were probably pick pocketing him or something. A mare bartender walks over to you once you take a seat. She looked a lot like Red Heart, just a lot less strict. “Want anything to drink?” The bartender asked, staring at you with interest. “Some water would be nice about now.” You mutter, still trying to get over from being nearly mobbed. She gives you a curt nod and fills you cup a glass of water. A sudden thought hits you and perhaps this mare might be able to help out. “Hey, what happened after the fight here last night with Frost?” You ask casually. “Don’t remind me about Frost. That idiot is my new boss.” She fumed angrily. “I guess Frost beat down Gold and took over this place.” You mumble sadly. “Don’t worry though, hopefully I can fix this.” “You, fix this mess? What are you, a one man army?” The bartender started to laugh but soon stopped when she noticed how serious you looked. “Okay, if you can do something I might be able to help out a bit. I want Frost gone more than any pony in this room.” She gives you a rather stunning smile before turning her attention to other customers. You try to take a sip from your cup but a stallion smacked it right out of your grasp. All the water from the cup splashed you all over your face and mane. The stallion roars in laughter at the sight of your drenched face. Your temple pulsed violently and you make a grab for a bottle, cracking it open on the counter top. All the sharp glass protruding from the bottle silenced the large stallion at once. “Now, there is no need to stab him.” Frost drawled, walking up to the bar with a few other stallions following him. The stallion you were about to stab gives you a smug look. Just to scare him a little, you drop the sharp end of the bottle right on the guy’s hind legs. He winced in pain as the bottle cut his just his fur before falling to the ground. “You did say not to stab him.” You reply coldly. “I suppose there was a loop hole in that. Nonetheless, I’m actually somewhat happy to see you here.” Frost pushed the stallion that just suffered a cut off and took his place. “Where is Ace?” “Heck if I know.” You reply. “Let’s see about that.” Frost whistles and one of his thugs dragged over Vinyl. They tapped her mouth shut but you could barely hear her muffled threats. Vinyl looked down at you helplessly and you had a powerful urge to smack that stallions head off. However, even trying to make an attempt to save Vinyl right now was destined to fail. Frost was winning the numbers game. “Where is Ace? If you don’t spill,” Frost gives a nod to the stallion holding onto Vinyl, he pulls a blade out and places the tip of it on her neck. “She’ll spill something.” You stare at Vinyl, who looked at the knife in complete horror. Trying hard to suppress your anger, you turn your focus on Frost. “I got knocked out in last nights fight! For all I know, Ace could be on the other side of Equestria right now!” You yell angrily. “Just let her go, Frost. She has nothing to do with this.” “True, she doesn’t. However, your friend kissed my marefriend. I see you two have grown rather close...” Frost leans over to Vinyl and removes the tape over her mouth. “Don’t move dear, my friend here might let that blade slip.” Frost leans a little closer to Vinyl and kisses her. You try to lunge at Frost but his thugs quickly grab you. Frost suddenly draws back from Vinyl abruptly. He howled in pain and specks of blood were running down his mouth. Vinyl spits some blood out of her mouth as well. “You suck at kissing.” Vinyl informed. “She just bit my tongue!” Frost howled, staring at Vinyl in disbelief. He smacks her across the face and that puts you over the edge. “Will you calm him down?” Frost snaps angrily. One of the thugs bucks you on the ribs. You immediately sink to the ground like a stone. That buck felt like it just broke a few of your ribs. The pain was beyond anything you felt before. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the pain you felt in your heart at times though. “Since he won’t spill you can do as you please with him. As for the DJ…we have some unfinished business to attend to.” Frost gestures the thug holding Vinyl to follow him. “Let go of me you ugly prick!” Vinyl yelled at the stallion, who replied with slapping Vinyl across the face. It didn’t stop her from frantically kicking and punching any part of the stallion she could manage but he looked immune to it. You could hear Vinyl yelling for you but the music drowns out the words to barely anything. “I’m sorry.” You mutter through clenched teeth. The thugs shrugged and one of them stomped you on the chest. All the air in your lungs immediately gets released. It was pretty hard to breath and the stallion started to press down harder on your chest. At this rate, you felt like you would pass out or your lung would just shrivel up with the lack of oxygen. Your vision starts to get blurred and you figure this might be the end of the line. Somepony throws a bottle right the stallion that was crushing your chest. The bottle cracks him over the head and he sinks to the ground. His fellow thugs took notice of the bottle thrower and instantly start climbing over the counter. You hear a faint yell. It looked like the bartender finally decided to help out. She probably should have done this sooner but she at least gave you a chance to escape. You were reduced to a pitiful crawl and your body refused to get up. Choosing to avoid the front door this time, you crawl over to the back door. There were no guards here and you considered yourself lucky. With the last amounts of strength you had, you push open the door and collapse outside in the alley. There was the shrill sound of an alarm. The alarm was probably set to the door and those thugs were about to close in on your location any minute. You try desperately to get up but sink back down to the ground. Your breathing was erratic and your body was just too sore now. You manage to crawl to a trash bin and lean against it for support. Now, you kind of welcomed the beating coming your way. Maybe then, you’ll finally be pain free. “What about Vinyl?” You mutter to yourself. True, she was the best thing that happened to you. You knew you were no super hero, like in the comics. Saving the girl and kicking the bad guys flank…that wasn’t you. Popping pills and hating yourself for doing it…now that’s you. “Why so low buddy?” A cheery voice asks. You glance above the garbage bin and notice Ace had been sitting there. “You’re…alive?” You sputter, blood slowly dripping from your mouth now. “That I am. Don’t talk too much right now though. No reason to push yourself.” Ace mutters quickly. He quickly gets you on his back and starts trotting out the alley. “We need to head over to the local hospital A.S.A.P.” Ace looks at you and suddenly looks panicky. “Hey, don’t you start fading out on me now!” “Ugh, I guess I’m the one who never grows up.” You whisper more to yourself then Ace. “Stop talking dumb! We’re almost there!” Ace tried to reassure you but he sounded scared out of his wits. “But I don’t want to be saved…” You whisper. “Oh yes you do!” Ace cuts you off and starts running as fast as he could. He totally disregards the hospital glass doors and breaks right past them. Some of the shards of glass sink into your skin, just adding onto the pain that had been building up in you. It was an annoyance that kept you barely in focus on what’s going on. Ace runs right into the ER without addressing the intern, who started yelling things at Ace. Red Heart noticed Ace running down the room and quickly notices that he had been carrying you. Ace and Red looked like they got into a heated argument and you started to sink into the familiar darkness again. Their words barely pierced your ears and you honestly couldn’t care. “I swear…opposites attract.” You barely whisper. You closed your eyes and hear Red’s shrill scream. “He’s stabilized. I can’t believe he was in here yesterday to! One of the doctors here recognized him.” Red’s voice sounded so panicky, so much unlike her usual calm strict self. “I had no idea.” Ace muttered. “Of course you wouldn’t! Why would you even take him to a stupid club like that in the first place! You nearly killed him!” Red yelled shrilly. “You’re acting like I’m the one who beat the tar out of him! Even you wanted to start taking him outside! I did him a favor to! He finally got to meet a mare who actually liked him back!” Ace remarked angrily. “Vinyl…” You manage to whisper. “You shouldn’t be talking right now. There’s a tube in your mouth right now.” Red informed, addressing you far more kindly then Ace. “Ace…the bag?” You ask shakily. “Umm.” Ace tried avoiding your gaze but you wouldn’t have any of that. “The bag.” You repeated more firmly. “You should really get some rest…” Red tried to calm you down. Ace pulled a rather tattered bag from under the bed and spilled its contents on the night stand next to you. The musical note on the necklace was completely shattered. Once you really started to digest that the present you planned on giving to Vinyl had been destroyed, you started to breath harshly and shake violently. Red’s expression turned from one of nervous to terror. All the fibers in your body screamed in agony. Tears started to streak down your face and you pull the tube right out of your mouth. It was so long that you bet the thing was supplying your oxygen directly into your lungs. You could feel your very lungs convulsing for air and you let out a scream of agony. Red yelled something to her fellow nurses in the hall but you couldn’t hear it anymore. The pain you were experiencing was just too much to bear now, it started to blind all your other sense besides feel. Ace tried to restrain you and you start to push him away. A whole group of nurses entered the room along with Red and tried to restrain you as well. It took about ten nurses, including Ace, to keep you still. Just as the nurses got a firm hold on you, your heart beat started to slow down dramatically. “He’s crashing!” Red screamed, looking at heart monitor in fear. “Let me through!” A mare nurse yelled, she was holding onto two metallic pads. The familiar darkness started to consume you again. However, the experience was short lived. A powerful jolt of energy ran across your body. Just as you thought it was over, another jolt ran through you. You wouldn’t have minded so much if it didn’t hurt so badly. A ray of white light enters your vision. The light actually starts to get so powerful and bright that you feared of getting blind. Red was just waving a very bright flash light over your eyes though. “You gave us a scare.” Red informed you, giving you a happy smile. You just meekly nod and the tension in the room died off. Some of the nurses, along with Red and Ace, filed out of the room and one of them was pulling out a needle from her pocket. One of her friends calls her over and she leaves the needle on your night stand before addressing her friend in the hallway. There was a label on the needle that read “Methadone”. Your mind processes the name and you fidget slightly after realizing what it is and what it does. It had been over a whole day of not taking pain killers. Just when you thought you finally kicked that habit to the curb. You make a wild grab for the needle and sink it into your hind leg. The nurses finally notice what you had done. They ran into the room and tried to remove the needle from your leg. You had already injected the fluid before they got to you. “We were too late.” One of the nurses muttered. A confident smile graced your face but was soon replaced with a grimace. The pain didn’t die away as expected. For some reason, it felt like it doubled! You shiver violently and you let your head smack against the night stand before hitting the ground.