//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: Level Game 
// Story: Winning in Los Pegasus 
// by Rodinga 
//------------------------------//

Following the directions I got from the desk mare, we found the tournament room in the deepest part of the hotel. The walls were made from dark storm clouds and the room was lit by a single gem light. The centre of the room held the game table along with eight cloud seats underneath the light. Surrounding the table was a raised amphitheatre, hidden in shadow and filled with spectators.
 
A royal guard with the grey colouring of the unicorn division met us at the door. I supposed that an event like this would need to be overseen by the government somehow. At least a unicorn could deal out the cards for us and make sure everything ran smoothly.
 
The guard greeted us gruffly and asked, “Time Turner?” I replied with a nod. “Good. I’m Keen Eye, your referee for tonight. Your seat at the table is ready, but I’m going to have to ask your marefriend to take a seat upstairs.”
 
I gave a shrug to Cloud Kicker and she rolled her eyes. I turned back to the guard, “Can she stay down here until the game begins? For moral support,” I added.
 
“Nothing in the rules saying she can’t,” the Keen Eye replied and led the way to the table.
 
The other seven seats were occupied by a griffon and six pegasi. I ignored them, because I had a much more important concern: my seat was a cloud.
 
I turned to the guard, “Do you have any enchanted cushions?”
 
“No,” Keen Eye replied. “The rules do not permit anything that may conceal a card. Can’t you sit on it?”
 
“Earth pony. I’d fall right through it.”
 
“Then how are you—“
 
“Thunder-forged shoes,” I replied briskly.
 
Keen lit his horn, “I can just give you a cloud walking spell.”
 
“I’d really rather not,” I said. “I find spells make me a little… ill. That’s something I’d rather not have to deal with when I’m playing.” Ponyville’s home to a very talented unicorn and considering the mistakes she makes, I’d rather not trust an amateur.
 
“Then I’m afraid you’ll simply have to stand, sir,” Keen Eye replied.
 
I was about to argue against the ruling when Cloud stepped forward. She gave me a wink and brushed past Keen Eye to extend my seat with some very clever cloud manipulation. When she finished, she sat down and covered the rest of the seat with her tail. She looked back at me and tapped the seat.
 
“That works." I shrugged and went to sit down. I suppose I was technically sitting on her tail, but that was being held up by the cloud beneath it and so I skipped the enchantment while Cloud got an excuse to stay down at the table. Credit where it’s due.
 
“Sir,” the guard said as he stood alongside me. “I can’t allow your marefriend to stay down here.”
 
“You mean my personal disability assistant?” I quipped. Cloud chuckled beside me. I shrugged, “If I were blind you’d let somepony sit beside me to tell me what my cards were. Is this any different?” A frown crossed Keen’s face and a smile crossed mine. I love loopholes.
 
“Don’t worry, corporal,” Cloud said. She put an arm around my shoulders and leaned on me. “It’s just like that time my cousin Dust Kicker had to escort the Mayor of Manehattan on her goodwill tour here.” Then she gave me a saucy grin and whispered, “I could also show you where it ended.”
 
“Wait, then you must be Cloud Kicker?” Keen asked. Cloud nodded and Keen started to laugh. He winked at me and said, “Have fun,” before walking away.
 
Right, so Cloud had cousin in the Los Pegasus guard and now everypony thought she had a hold on me. What have I gotten myself into? I asked myself.
 
Cloud leaned over and said, “You’re coming out clubbing with me tonight.”
 
“Joy,” I said flatly.
 
“Alright,” Keen said as he leaned over the edge of the table. “Now that you are all seated, we shall begin. The game is Apple Two Card and the pot is two hundred and fifty bits apiece. Please put your bits on table.”
 
Everypony produced their own coin bags. I lifted my hat and dropped mine on the table. As soon as they all landed, Keen Eye’s horn lit to stack the bits in front of their owners. His horn glowed and a deck of cards floated through the air. Two cards were split off for each player and positioned on a stand in front of them. Another five cards split off and were placed in the centre of the table.
 
The cards on my stand shimmered and the image of a 5 of Apples and an 8 of Wings appeared on them. My stand was the first to glow. I pulled a few bits from my pile and pushed them into the centre, “I’m in.”
 
The first rounds were rather dull. Nopony made any large bets as each tried to size up their competitors. I managed to win twice and kept my share around the two fifty mark. Rounds rarely ended with cards being revealed, and everypony folded early at the first sign of someone acting intimidating.
 
I wasn’t winning, but the griffon was. She sat taller than anypony else, kept her wings up and glared at anyone who dared meet her bets. In second place was a greasy pegasus who kept looking around and watching everyone else closely, but he didn’t seem to focus much on Cloud and me. He was younger than I was, perhaps around twenty two. But what really made him stand out was the gold key around his neck.
 
A yawn from beside me made me notice Cloud again as she started to nod off on my shoulder. Well, there was the long train ride followed by this boring game. Normally if you’re playing poker with friends there’s lots of conversation, pizza, jokes and so on. Everypony here was just so… serious.
 
I gave Cloud a nudge, “You know if you want to go out clubbing later you’ll need to stay awake.”
 
“If this goes for too much longer, I won’t be,” she grumbled.
 
“Well, find a way to entertain yourself,” I said off hoof.
 
Then Cloud looked at me with a wide smile and a look in her eye that said she was going to make me regret bringing her here. She leapt at me and threw her hooves around me in an obvious display of affection. Then she started nuzzling me and occasionally licking me. I’m not kidding, she went right for it.
 
The rest of the table froze mid-game to watch while Keen Eye stood back in the shadows chuckling to himself. Every stallion at the table looked on with envy in their eyes, and so did most of the mares. I wasn’t sure if she was doing this to irritate me or just to play with everypony else’s reactions. Then I noticed something, no pony was paying any attention to the game and the attending guard didn’t care.
 
So I did what any pony of dubious moral character would do. I returned Cloud’s advances and then said, ‘I raise.” I stuck more bits forward and none of the other ponies challenged it, except for the griffon. I gave her one of my best irritating smiles while ruffling Cloud’s feathers. “So birdy, those cards feel nice? Because I know how nice pony feathers feel.”
 
I leaned back to pretended to give Cloud’s ear a nibble and whispered, “You’re the pegasus. Tell me: how do I annoy a griffon?”
 
Cloud eyed Birdy for a moment and one of those dangerous smiles crossed her face. “Easy, just keep insulting her and if her comebacks don’t work, she’ll just get madder. She’s like a volcano, enough pressure and she’ll blow.”
 
“Easy.” I leaned forward against the table and Cloud returned to simply hugging me. I looked down at my cards. I held a seven of wings and the princess of hearts – Mi Amore Cadenza was pictured on it. The centre held a seven of apples in the four cards revealed, so I had a pair and a high second. It was a good enough combo.
 
I raised again and said, “Come on, Birdy. You going to match me, or are you chicken?”
 
The griffon finally opened her beak to speak for the first time tonight, “I don’t care about your lame-o insults, dweeb.”
 
“Aww, what a shame,” I said lamely. I shrugged, “Well at least I got you to speak. I was starting to think you’re one of the birds that can’t talk.” I pushed a few more bits forward, “Oh, I’m raising again by the way.”
 
Birdy’s eyes narrowed and she matched my bet. “What-cha trying to pull, doofus?
 
“Pull? I think I can pull about a ton or so, easily enough.” I pushed another coin into the pot.
 
“No, what’s your angle?” Birdy said as she flipped a coin into the pot.
 
“Angle of what, attack? That’s a flight question, and officially not my problem,” I replied and flicked another coin.
 
“What are you up to?” Another coin from her.
 
“Dunno,” I tapped my chin a few times. “Cloud, how high up are we?”
 
Cloud Kicker extended her wings and flapped them a few times. “28000 hooves, or so,” she replied.
 
“Really?” I asked in a show of interest. “I would never have guessed, what with being an earth pony and all.” I casually flicked another couple of bits forward.
 
“I’m watching you,” Birdy growled, “like a hawk.”
 
I scrunched up my face in confusion, “what?” I asked quietly. “That can’t be right…” I looked back at Birdy, “I thought griffons were half eagle, not half hawk.” Birdy glared at me for a moment. “Also, it’s your bet,” I said innocently.
 
Birdy picked up a small pile of bits and threw them into the pot.
 
“Don’t you know it’s bad form to splash the pot?” I chided then said, “I match by the way,” and pushed forward a similar sized pile of bits.
 
The final unrevealed card in the centre was flipped over to show the Princess of Diamonds. Amusingly, it was Prince Blueblood on the card. It’s a shame we only have three princesses to go onto the four suits. Though if Rarity did manage to marry Blueblood we’d finally have somepony worthwhile to be the Princess of Diamonds.
 
I now had a pair of sevens and a pair of Princesses, I’d basically won. Though it’d be nice to have all of Birdy’s bits, I had to push her harder.
 
Think, think, it has to be something personal, but I don’t know anything about her. Friends, family or… huh, that’s a thought… I wonder if that legend is true.
 
“So, Birdy, there’s something I’d like to know.” I played around with the small pile of bits I had left. “I’ve always heard that griffons mate for life. Never moving on from the one they love even after they die or leave.” I put an arm around Cloud as I ignored the dirty look Birdy was giving me. “If it’s true, then that’d explain the low griffon population in Equestria. They wouldn’t want to leave their special somebird behind.”
 
I tapped the table to ‘check’ and said, “Am I right?”
 
The bet passed to Birdy and she put a couple more coins in the pot. “Yes,” she hissed.
 
“Then one wonders why you’re in Equestria,” I mused. “You can’t have somebird back in the Eyries. So you’re here avoiding something or looking for something, or somepony.” Birdy had her beak pointing down and she was tapping the table cloth with her talons, rather forcefully.
 
Just a little more. “Oh,” I said brightly. “I raise,” and I pushed half of what I had left forward.
Birdy snarled with a sound halfway between a purr and a roar. Then she stood up and pushed the last of her bits into the pot.
 
I tried to keep the glee from my face as I stood up and pushed the rest of my bits in as well. The room went silent. Everypony at the table held their breath as Keen Eye took our cards and laid them out on the table. Birdy’s cards were the seven of diamonds and a four of apples that paired up with a seven and four already on the table. Birdy had two pairs, but my two pairs were better.
 
Keen Eye took the pot, more than a thousand bits, and held it with his magic before announcing, “Time Turner wins.”
 
It’s such a good feeling when you win like this. Getting one over your opponent is so much sweeter when you caused them to make that critical mistake. All the pieces fall into place, your grand scheme is revealed and the world applauds you. But you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs, and that normally annoys the bird.
 
Birdy roared with rage and shot through the air above the table toward me. I had a split second to consider the wisdom of ticking off a predatory animal before I was struck. The blow came from my side and sent me tumbling into the cloudy floor, where I came to a rest hanging from my shoes in the middle of a dark grey cloud. Above me I could hear a scuffle.
 
There was a cry of, “Celestia, what are they doing?” and Keen yelled, “Stop!”
 
What followed was a series of meaty sounding impacts, a squeak, and a grunt of pain. Then birdy said, “Come on, a dweeb like you has no—“there was a loud smack, a painful sounding crunch and then a high pitch screech.
 
There was a final thud as the screech ended, and between heavy pants Cloud Kicker said, “That was for Eepysqueak.”
 
“Hello,” I called out from my damp prison in the cloud, “Kinda stuck down here.” There was a slight sound of hoof on cloud as part of the cloud above me was pulled away. Cloud Kicker reached down, grabbed hold and pulled me up with a few flaps of her wings.
 
I was dizzy for a few moments as up and down reasserted themselves. I looked around to see the unconscious griffon held up by Keen Eye’s magic. The rest of the room was abuzz with what just happened, and I felt like I’d missed out on seeing something remarkable.
 
I walked unsteadily back to my seat and Cloud sat down again. I returned to sitting on her tail and leaning on the table for support.
 
“You okay?” Cloud asked.
 
I looked back at her with a dumbfounded look on my face, “Am I okay? I should be asking you that, because it sounded like you just beat up a griffon without breaking a sweat.” If it weren’t for the slightly out of place mane and ruffled feathers you might think Cloud hadn’t been involved at all.
 
“She was fairly amateur, for a griffon,” Cloud dismissed. She stretched her wing out and began to preen it. “Oh,” she said after a few feathers. “You owe me for that one as well.”



 
The game was put on hold for Keen Eye while he delivered Birdy to the local lock up. When the game resumed, I found myself once again standing still. Just covering my losses with the occasional small win.  Meanwhile the greasy pegasus across the table started to rake bits in as he fleeced each of the other competitors bit by bit.
 
I was watching him like a griffon as he won his way through their money piles. It was strange, he never challenged me directly and only leapt on the others. I needed a second opinion.
 
I gave Cloud Kicker a nudge to try and wake her up. She’d given up on constantly nuzzling me when the novelty had worn off the other players and finally fell asleep out of boredom. I gave her a harder nudge and her head rolled onto my shoulder. A wing stretched around to draw me into a hug.
 
I suppose the enthusiasm for the game had left me as well. Much of the audience had left once the griffon was taken away. I was desperate enough to want to wake Cloud up again, even if that meant potential pain.
 
I gave a couple more nudges and then blew down one of her ears. Cloud shot into the air and pulled her tail out from under me. If I hadn’t grabbed hold of the table I would have fallen through the cloud again.
 
“Oh look,” said the greasy pegasus. “She’s awake again.”
 
I ignored him like I had been for the past hour. “You okay, Cloud?”
 
Cloud walked back over and slapped me across the back of my head with a wing. My hat fell onto the table and knocked my cards over. I sighed, “I suppose I deserved that.”
 
Cloud sat back down and I returned to sitting on her tail. “Turner, I had Lyra and Bon-Bon,” she complained. “Why’d you have to wake me up?”
 
“See that smug snake over there?” I said quietly as I put my hat back on. My cards had fallen face up and my round was effectively over. “He’s been winning against everypony and he’s too confident and cocky.” I grumbled, “He’s cheating somehow.”
 
“You just sound like a sore loser you know.”
 
“I know he is, I just haven’t spotted it yet.” I rubbed my forehead with a fetlock, “I’m not watching him all the time. Could you keep an eye on him?”
 
“I’d rather go back Bon-Bon’s sticky syrup,” Cloud replied.
 
“What was she—“Don’t. I sighed, “Alright, what do you want.”
 
The sultry smile returned the Cloud’s face. “You come out and party with me for the rest of the night. Then after you’ll stop trying to prove something and we’ll have some fun,” she emphasised the last word with her eyebrows.
 
I looked back at the table to see the greasy mug win another round. I suppose I might as well, it could be fun, and everypony else has been crossed off her list by now. I looked back at Cloud, she already had victory written across her face, “Alright. I suppose you would have eventually won me over anyway.”
 
“Oi, Time Turner, you done over there?” yelled the smug twit. “If you don’t wanna play you could just hoof over your bits now.”
 
I swear, I’m going to smack him down. I looked across the table with whatever fake smile I could put on. “I don’t think we’ve been introduced, who are you?” After all, I need to know who you are if I’m going to set up some sort of prank slash trap.
 
“I’m Card Shark, who the buck are you?” Smug dimwit replied.
 
I maintained the fake smile, “Well, I’m Time Turner, if you haven’t been paying attention.”
 
“And Hot Flanks beside you?” Sharky asked, with a smarmy look on his face.
 
“Cloud Kicker,” I replied before she could lay into him.
 
“Well, she can come to my party tomorrow to celebrate my victory here,” Sharky said. “That is of course assuming you’re still playing.”
 
I would have liked nothing more than to walk away with the money I’d gotten so far. I had a thousand bits here. However the tournament rules said there could be only one winner and to leave early was to forfeit your winnings. That was starting to make me a little suspicious.
 
The game resumed with me playing again, while Cloud kept her freaky pegasus supervision on Sharky. Several rounds passed and more of the remaining competitors were eliminated. Sharky’s pile of bits was soon equal to mine.
 
Cloud Kicker nuzzled her way up to me while Sharky was busy fleecing the last competitor. “Watch his eyes,” she whispered. “Look where he’s looking.”
 
I followed his gaze as he stared down the last player and after few moments I caught it. His eyes would flick up just after he blinked. Looking up, I noticed he was glancing towards a pegasus in the audience perched behind the last player. The audience had thinned out more as time ran on, and it became obvious. There was a watcher behind every seat. This was a set up, they were watching to see what cards the players had and signalled Card Shark.
 
I turned my head to nuzzle Cloud and looked out into the audience behind us. “First row behind us, toward our” left. There was another watcher who looked a little frustrated. I smiled when I realised he couldn’t see my cards. Cloud was sitting in the way.
 
“Somehow I don’t think this tournament was going to go as advertised. This is too well staged,” I said darkly. I suppose this was a good time for a little paranoia. The observers were too well placed, the rule against bowing out early too convenient, and even the fact that this game was open to anypony with money.
 
“He can’t see your cards. So this puts you on level clouds, right?” Cloud asked.
 
“Close enough,” I said as I watched the smug git through narrowed eyes while he took the rest of the other player’s money. The shoes were going on, metaphorically, no more Mr Fair Pony.
 
Cloud sighed, “This is going to take all night isn’t it?”
 
“Twenty minutes should do,” I guessed. It depended on the cards and how confident Sharky was. “Then you can show me what passes for music in this darned city.”
 
The next round was dealt out and I received an eight and a nine. I looked up at my opponent and said, “Alright Sharky, ready to play the real game?”
 
I bet heavily before the cards in the centre were revealed, and when they came up I cursed. There was a pair of twos and a three. I didn’t have much to work with this round. I bet conservatively while Card Shark did his best to drag me further in.
 
When the next card was revealed it came up with a nine to give me a pair in addition to the pair of twos already on the table. I had something to work with and rose to the challenge.
 
“I raise,” I pushed a small pile of bits into the pot and Sharky matched me. The final card was revealed to be another two. That left me with a triple and a pair, a full stable. Not an easy to beat setup, but if he had the last two I’d be royally hosed.
 
Of course the smug git had a broad grin on his face as he raised his bet again. He’s was being far too obvious to be bluffing. I matched his bet and pushed more in for good measure. The pot total was over a thousand bits and would easily win either of us the tournament.
 
“Show me your cards, Sharky,” I grumbled as I threw mine down.
 
Sharky’s grin went straight to laughter as he put his cards down. It was the last two and another nine to boot. A quartet backed up by another pair, literally unbeatable. There, I’d lost the game. Without that cash he’d quickly bet me into irrelevance.
 
“Well,” I said with a grin, “reset.”
 
Knowing your opponent’s cards is nice, but nothing compared to taking back your bet. My reset kicked in and drove time backwards to just before I raised the stakes. I couldn’t save everything, nor did I want to, because I had to at least appear to be playing properly.
 
I glared at Sharky just as I was about to push my bits forward. I watched him long enough to make it look like I’d seen him flinch and then flicked my cards off my stand. “I fold.”
 
I promised twenty minutes to Cloud Kicker, and I did my best to move things along quickly. I blitzed through the betting stages and gave up just enough money to see Sharky’s cards. Every round I hit the reset and fell backwards in time to use my foreknowledge to get out early, or to get as much out of him as possible.
 
Normally I’m don’t abuse the reset this heavily, but if he was going to cheat then I could cheat as well. Of course I could cheat better. If anyone cared to look at my flank, they’d might notice sand flowing through my hourglass. I was moving so quickly that the sand barely had time to reach the bottom before I flipped it again.
 
Eventually I’d built a two hundred bit advantage over him and it was starting to annoy him. Sharky had just been too used to winning, and I was enjoying this more than I should.
 
Next round I got a princess of apples, Celestia, and the nine of wings. A good enough set, I made a few middling bets and waited for the centre cards. The cards resolved themselves into a pair of princesses, Cadence and Blueblood, and the nine of apples. So in the first flip I had a triple and a pair, a full stable.
 
I looked across at Sharky. He was trying to hide a smile on his face and suddenly looked a little more interested. Considering he was normally good at hiding his tells; so he had to be holding some hot cards. He probably had the last princess, but that wouldn’t be enough for him to win.
 
I kept things business as usual and waited for him to make the move. He had to be convinced he would win, and then he’d put all his money in the pot to try to get mine. I leaned over to “kiss” Cloud, “Cloud, look worried.”
 
“What?”
 
“I want him to be overconfident. Try to stop me betting or something.”
 
I looked back at my game. Sharky raised the stakes by putting another fifty bits in the pot. I met his bet saying, “Come on, Sharky. You can do better than that.”
 
Sharky gave me a smug grin, “If you think you can match it.” He pushed forward another hundred.
 
“Pegasister, please,” I said with a laugh. “I’ll double it.”
 
I started to push two hundred bits forward when Cloud stuck a hoof out to stop me. “What are you doing?” she asked in a loud ‘whisper’ that Sharky could probably just hear.
 
“I’m trying to win,” I returned in the same ‘whisper’. “I thought you wanted to get out of here.” I gestured toward the door. “Anyway I won this money, I’ll do what I want with it.”
 
“It’s his money,” Sharky interrupted. “If he—“
 
I pointed a hoof at him, “Shut up, you brat!”
 
“See, he’s leading you in,” Cloud pleaded.
 
“He’s going to lose,” I said forcefully. I pushed three hundred bits into the pot instead.
 
“Why did you do that?” Cloud wing slapped me.
 
“Damn it, filly, leave me alone.”
 
Sharky coughed loudly. Both Cloud and I rounded on him with a “What?!”
 
“Your turn,” he pointed at the pot. Where another card had been overturned to reveal a three of apples, and a large pile of bits. I snorted with laughter. Sharky had smelt blood in the water and went all in.
 
“I’ll match that,” I pushed in enough bits to match. It left me with only two hundred left.
 
Keen Eye flipped the last card in the centre to reveal the princess of wings – Luna. “Cards on the table please, gentlecolts.”
 
Card Shark could barely keep his glee in check and slapped his cards down on the table, two nines. “Full stable,” he declared with all the self-assurance of Prince Blueblood. “Three princesses, two nines. I’ll take my money now.”
 
I giggled. “Oh, that’s a nice combo. I’ll see your stable and raise you four princesses.” I put my cards down on the table and reunited Celestia and Luna. The look on Sharky’s face was priceless. It was like somepony had shot him in the face with an anaesthetic spell.
 
Keen Eye took the bits in his magic and declared, “Time Turner wins the tournament,” as he stacked them in front of me.
 
I gave Sharky a grin and said, “Well, I think you might have jumped the shark.”



 
“All in all, a productive night,” I said as we walked into my room. I carried the large bag of bits over to the safe.
 
Cloud followed, “it wasn’t too dull either, though much of it could have been more interesting,” she said with a frown.
 
“At least you got to go one on one with a griffon. I got to experience the visual wonder of clouds to the soundtrack of your epic battle,” I said with a roll of my eyes. “Oh, could you hold this, a moment?” I passed the two thousand bit prize over to Cloud. I flipped my hat off and got the safe key out of the lining. “One thing that still confuses me,” I said past the key in my mouth. “Is that you were able to fight her off without a single injury.” I opened the safe and returned the key to the hat.
 
I took the bit bag back from Cloud. “I’m a black belt in Krav Pega,” she explained.
 
I gave her a blank look. “Let’s assume the earth pony doesn’t know the secret methods of the pegasi.”
 
“Pegasus martial art, all the royal guards learn it.” Cloud shrugged, “It’s used to take down opponents quickly using wings and legs.”
 
I opened my bags in the safe and stuck the bit bag in one of the pouches. “Can’t say I know any ancient earth pony martial arts,” I said from inside the safe. I stepped back and shut the safe. “If there’s an earth pony way to fighting it involves: A: not getting hit and B: apply hoof to face.” I locked the safe with a crank. “And last, but not least, C: when in doubt, buck it.”
 
“Shall we get going then?” Cloud asked. “I know a few good places to find some more company,” she gave her eyebrows another wiggle on the last word.
 
“As long as it’s in Apple Wood. I need to feel the earth move beneath my hooves again.” I walked toward the bathroom. “It feels so weird to have been away from it for so long,” I called back over my shoulder.
 
I went over to the sink to give my face a wash and realized I couldn’t use the rain cloud. I settled for rummaging through the cabinet by the sink for some cologne or something. I found a bottle of a scent called sea breeze, probably a pegasus favourite, and a white carton labelled, ‘Counter Concept for stallions’. Curious, I flipped it over to read the back. It was a zebrican contraceptive with the tagline, ‘prevents what you do from coming back to haunt you.’
 
“Charming…” I supposed it was time to decide. Allow myself to be added to Cloud Kicker’s list of conquests, or turn her down. I doubted that she’d object if I refused, but then again I hadn’t pushed her away yet. Hay, I’d even enjoyed a few of her advances and her company.
 
I sighed as a new thought rose up with a gem of earth pony wisdom, when in doubt, buck it. Probably not the original interpretation, but the large earth pony families had to come from somewhere. I opened the carton and took one of the herbal pills. Just in case, I told myself.
 
I walked out of the bathroom to find Cloud waiting in the kitchen with a couple of cups. I flipped my hat onto the coat rack and joined her.
 
“Coffee? Figured you could use a wake up jolt before we went out,” Cloud said with her own held in her wing.
 
“Yeah, I could.” I picked the cup up with my mouth and slung it back to drink some of the nectar inside. “Thanks for this, I didn’t want to touch that cloud,” I gestured to the angry looking thunder cloud that served as an oven and stovetop. “I’m fairly convinced it wants to kill me. Just being this close is making my hair stand up.”
 
“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. The room wasn’t designed with wingless ponies in mind,” she said with a shrug and drained the rest of her coffee. “Let’s head down to Apple Wood, get some food and hit the town.”
 
I finished my cup and gave her a nod. We walked over to the balcony and I looked down on the city below. “Long way down,” I commented nervously. “I suppose I never stopped to think about it until now.” From up here Apple Wood looked like a circle of lights surrounding a dark hole in the centre. No light in the namesake apple orchard at night. Before I could comment on this to Cloud, she seized me between her legs and flew us out down toward the city below.