Last Night:
Prologue
-=-=-=-
The world is feasting upon us
-=-=-=-
Gentle mist crept throughout the musky and forlorn alleyways. The soft pitter-patter of rain flopped down from overhead and skipped down the crinkled corrugated sheets, slimy trails of chemical residue slid alongside the rain slowly. Suddenly, the sound of hoofsteps fluttered around the area. Like a thunderstorm they rung out across the side passages and dingy doorways. Tiny rodents cast their heads up and scattered moments later as a tall figure galloped through their domain; his breathing laboured and determined.
The water around his hooves flared up in tiny circles as he splashed down the alleyway, settling only when he turned left on the open street. Seemingly harmless mist stung around his fetlocks whilst he hurried on his way. Whether forecasts had predicted that this morning was going to be an acid storm; not many ponies had come out yet. Stopping suddenly with a curse that could rival a sailor of old, he gazed out across the deep street before him.
Hazardous chemical dew dripped from the derelict taps and industrial pipes that intertwined alongside the doors. Small lines of lightning danced amongst misty clouds. The wild stallion's breathing quickened as he scanned the scene properly. Draping white wisps of light clung to the corners and skipped across the mid-air like leaves carried in a breeze. "I can't go this way..." he mumbled to himself while digging at the ground. "The mist would strip my skin in seconds."
"Nice deduction, kiddo," said a pegasus appearing from the shadows. He cast an intimidating shadow against the surroundings. "You wanted to earn some cred, right? Sorry but this job is mine." With a tip of his hat the stallion took off toward the target. Awry, the unicorn standing in the deserted street, couldn't help but bite his lip. That goddamn kiter knew this was his payday.
Looking this way and that in a hurry the young stallion noticed a break in the forlorn brick and dashed. He could feel the acidic puddles bit into him whilst he scampered off down the lane. Crumpled soggy newspaper and rubbish littered this ally. Age old posters and paints were scraped across the wall from a time when it was affordable. Pulling his hood down with a magical tug the risk-taking unicorn galloped up a set of barrels and over the rusty chain link fence. It couldn't even support him; collapsing as he did and shattering.
Grumbling and sliding across the paving as blood seeped from tiny wounds, Awry picked himself up slowly and staggered to standing. Rusty fence was caught in his jacket but he shook it off. Somewhere far off a siren sounded which only caused him to grit his teeth. He'd have his pull taken at this rate and that meant drop. Trotting out the back-end of the ally way and looking about the are he sized up how far the ticket was.
From his reckoning it was still about two sectors over, down in sector nineteen. He couldn't be sure though thanks to the fact that he'd lost his bearings. Stumbling slightly on the uneven paving, a pair of deep green eyes looked on down the road. Awry could see one or two ponies going about their business, not exactly a shady pair either. Sector seventeen wasn't well behaved by any means, but it was better than most others.
Pulling up a map in his visual receptor