//------------------------------// // Bar Brawl // Story: Finding Serenity // by M1ghtypen //------------------------------// The numerous bars and taverns scattered all over the Rim were often seen as wretched hives of scum and villainy, and rightly so. Lyra and her crew more or less fit the bill, so they occasionally found themselves visiting such places. Today was one such occasion, but the little group was too preoccupied with business to enjoy themselves. Octavia , Vinyl, and Lyra sat in a corner booth and quietly discussed their current job. They needed to pick up some illicit cargo for the next leg of their smuggling run, and to stay away from the Empire while doing so. It was going to take some creative bribery and even more creative navigation to get them where they needed to go. Thunderlane stood nearby, playing darts with a very disgruntled unicorn that was about to lose a few bits. He was rarely a part of the actual business side of things, preferring to let his friends make the hard decisions while he focused on keeping his weaponry clean. Recently his job had involved more heavy lifting than heavy weapons, but he wasn’t complaining. Well, he wasn’t complaining loudly. At least, he wasn’t doing it where Lyra could hear. Thunderlane finished his game and drained the cup that was sitting on the table beside him. “I win,” he said proudly. “Pony up.” The unicorn grudgingly handed over his bits, which the pegasus then took to the bar. “Hey!” he called to the bartender. “Ching zie lie ee bay Ng-Ka-Pei?” The bartender uncorked a bottle and poured the grey pegasus a drink. “Thanks,” he said, and hoofed over his winnings. The bar’s jukebox clicked as it changed records. An old song, one that Thunderlane distantly recognized, began to play. He frowned into his drink, trying to remember where he’d heard it before. The barrel of a gun pressed against the back of his skull, and Thunderlane sat bolt upright. Now I remember, he thought. Funny how a gun to the head jogs your memory. “Rice wine?” someone asked in a harsh, grating voice. The strange accent and faint click of a beak marked the speaker as a griffon. “You want a little umbrella to go with that?” “Herb wine,” Thunderlane corrected. “Guess your Manedarin hasn’t gotten any better. They make books and such for that, you know.” There was an exasperated huff from behind him. “You know that thing you were thinking of doing?” the stranger asked as she pointed a second pistol at Octavia. “Think again.” The earth pony’s eyes widened in shock, and she slowly returned her rifle to its sling on her back. “Just go back to the ship,” Thunderlane said. “Don’t worry about me, alright? This is between me and Gilda. I can handle her.” “You could never handle me,” Gilda laughed. She pointed the pistol not aimed at Thunderlane toward the ceiling and fired a shot. “Everypony out!” she shouted over the ensuing pandemonium. “I’m taking the bar. You can have it back when I’m done.” Lyra, Vinyl, and Octavia didn’t follow the panicked crowd of drunken ponies at first. “It’ll be fine,” Thunderlane assured them. “Don’t worry yourselves none, alright? This is just a thing we do.” “If she kills you, I’m giving her your job,” Lyra muttered, but she reluctantly let Octavia pull her away. “Alone at last,” Gilda sighed after the bar had fallen silent again. “Stand up, babe. Pull out that pistol real slow and give it to me.” Thunderlane shook his head and took another sip of his drink. “If you’re gonna shoot me, then shoot me.” He heard her pistol’s hammer being pulled back and nearly choked. “Or we could talk more first. I think I’d like to keep talking.” “Pistol. Now.” Gilda snatched his revolver when he offered it to her and stepped back to examine it. “Is this a LeMat?” she asked. “Didn’t they stop making these in, I don’t know, the Stone Age?” “I like it,” Thunderlane countered. “It suits me.” Gilda slid his pistol to the far end of the bar. “Uh huh,” she agreed. “Slow, simple, and it can only count to nine. That sounds about right.” Thunderlane made a point of ignoring that. He heard her backing away, and she only stopped when she was on the other side of the room. “This a social call?” He asked. “You weren’t paid to kill me, or you would have done it already.” He finished his drink and tossed the cup aside as Gilda set her pistols on a table at the far end of the room, leaving the shoulder rig empty. She wore nothing else, save for a leather collar around her neck with her name stitched into it. Her clawed feet flexed against the wood floor in her excitement. One of them feet was missing part of the outside digit. “Beat me and I’ll tell you. You’d better limber up, big guy.” Thunderlane leaned his head to one side, then quickly to the other. His neck let out a satisfying pop. “Have it your way, dweeb.” They giggled at the old joke and began circling one another, looking for an opening. Gilda rushed forward unexpectedly, and the fight began in earnest. Thunderlane reared back to avoid her slashing talons, but played right into her paws. She ducked under him and came up with a hard uppercut, bruising his jaw and causing him to fall onto his back. She followed him down, but he caught the next punch before it landed. Gilda’s beak met his mouth for a brief instant. “You’re still slow,” she mocked, and they both smiled hungrily. “You’re still small,” Thunderlane grunted. He bucked forward and smashed his forehead into the curvature of her beak. Gilda let out a surprised yowl and rolled off of him, trying to shake the disorientation that came with a blow to the nares. Her eyes began to water, and she tried to clear them while still keeping her guard up. Thunderlane clamored to his hooves and hurled himself into her. Gilda crashed into the bar, unable to protect herself with her legs pinned at her sides. She snapped at him with her sharp beak, but couldn’t reach his face. He spun around, still holding onto her, and threw her over his shoulder. The helpless griffon smashed onto the table behind them and sprawled out on her back. “H-have you been working out?” Gilda wheezed. She blocked Thunderlane’s hoof and held onto it to keep him busy. He mashed their faces together into another clumsy kiss, then tried to punch her with his free hoof. “This the part where I make a comment about liking it rough?” she asked with a laugh. The griffon abruptly twisted to the side, tangled both of Thunderlane’s forelegs around each other, and leaped up to deliver a hard kick to his stomach. He fell back, winded and feeling more than a little sick. He was glad now that he hadn’t had more to drink. When Gilda came for him again he dropped onto his back, caught her on his hind hooves, and threw her into the bar with all the strength he could muster. The entire room shook with the impact. Gilda rolled over the faux mahogany and grabbed Thunderlane’s pistol. The exhausted pegasus took to the air, ducking below the bar’s rafters and scooping up the pair of automatics his opponent had discarded before the fight began. They came to a stalemate as Gilda reared over the bar, gun clutched in her bruised claws. Thunderlane landed in front of her, pointing two smaller pistols to match the larger revolver. They froze, each staring down the barrel of a gun. Gilda began to laugh first, and Thunderlane broke down soon after. “I need a drink.” Thunderlane collapsed right on top of the bar. “Thought you’d never ask. Find some of the good stuff.” Gilda dropped two shot glasses onto the bar next to him and filled them with golden liquid. “The law’s gonna be here soon,” she said. “Yeah.” Thunderlane knocked back his drink and rolled off the bar, careful to keep Gilda’s pistols from dropping onto the ground. They exchanged weapons and took another shot, each trying to work up the strength to speak again. “I’d call that one a draw,” he finally said. “You should meet my friends.” Gilda smiled nervously. “I’m not just here for the booze or the company,” she admitted. “I need help.” Thunderlane surveyed the destruction caused by their contest. “You got a real funny way of asking for it.” “I’m serious,” Gilda insisted. “This is kind of a big deal. I’ve got some really bad ponies after me, and I can’t seem to shake them. They wanted to hire me, and I told them to… well, you know how I can get. There was a lot of profanity involved. Now I need to disappear, and they’re making it damn near impossible.” The bar was quiet while Thunderlane finished another drink. “These Purplecoats I’m runnin’ with,” he began, “they’re pretty good at layin’ low. I could ask Lyra if there’s room for you, if you don’t mind flyin’ with a bunch of misfits and losers.” “Sounds like our usual crowd,” Gilda said. “You think she’ll let me stay for a little while until this blows over?” The pegasus heaved his tired body off of the barstool on which he had been sitting. “You’d be surprised what she’ll put up with. How did you find me, anyway?” Gilda teetered on her paws and leaned against him. He was pretty sure that it was too soon for the alcohol to be hitting her, but he didn’t bring it up. “I called in a favor to Miss Universe,” she said. “You aren’t impossible to find, you know. A gang of smugglers led by two old Purplecoats tends to stand out. Besides, I’m pretty sure she’s keeping tabs on you.” “She’s got the hots for me,” Thunderlane agreed. He and Gilda limped to the back door and out of sight, but not before he grabbed the bottle of booze they had cracked open. It was expensive stuff, and he couldn’t stand the idea of leaving it behind. “Nice to see you, by the way.” Gilda shoved him playfully with her shoulder. “Yeah. You really think this Purplecoat will let me stay?” Thunderlane shrugged, wincing as he noticed that his shoulder was bruised. “It’ll be fine as long as you don’t stark poking around where you don’t belong. I know just how to sweet-talk her.” ***** “I hate you so Gorram much!” Gilda snarled as she squeezed into the storage container. Thunderlane had loaded the most of the crates onto Sereneighty himself, so it was easy enough to find an empty one that nopony was using and split the goods between the two. It left just enough room for an adult griffon, though said griffon was less than pleased with the arrangement. Fortunately, the ship had already lifted off. That meant that he’d be able to sneak her into his room as soon as everypony was asleep. Thunderlane frantically looked around to make sure that they were still alone in the cargo bay. “Can it!” he whispered. Several cans of coffee rattled as Gilda sat up to glare at him. “You did not just say that!” Thunderlane shoved the box’s lid down on top of her, cutting off her protests before they could attract too much attention. He snapped the latch shut and slid the box in with the rest of them. “Wait!” Gilda shouted, barely audible from within her box. “You forgot–” “Shh!” Thunderlane hissed. Gilda’s claws scratched against the wooden lid. “Thunderlane! There aren’t any–” “Keep it down!” the pegasus ordered. “The Captain could wander through here any second now! I’ll be back in a little while, alright?” Thunderlane was so engrossed in making sure that his friend was safely hidden away that he didn’t even notice Lyra approaching. “Thunderlane?” she asked as he tapped the box’s lid. “What are you doing?” “Nothing!” Thunderlane shouted. He spun around, heart pounding, and tried to look innocent. He wasn’t sure how convincing he could be, since he had very little practice at it. “Just, y’know, checking that everything’s in order.” He kicked the box with his rear hoof. Lyra raised an eyebrow at his odd behavior. “You’ve been acting mighty skittish today. Is it because of that griffon we saw earlier? Who was she, anyway? You never said.” “Just an old friend,” Thunderlane explained. “She was sayin’ hello.” “Awful way to greet a friend,” Lyra said disapprovingly. “She the one that messed up your face?” Thunderlane rubbed his bruised jaw. “It’s nothin’,” he assured her. “She’s... out of sight and out of mind.” Something shifted in the crate, and he frantically kicked it before she noticed. “Eeyup, nice and sturdy! We’re all set here.” Lyra’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “You’re awful eager to get out of here. What’s got you so sick of the ground all of a sudden?” The cold sweat breaking out all over his body made Thunderlane shiver. “No real reason,” he said. “Just seen enough of this world is all.” The silence that followed was intensely uncomfortable. Thunderlane put on his best smile, which strained under the weight of Lyra’s penetrating gaze. “Is that a fact?” she asked. “You’re just eager to get going for the sake of going? You ain’t hidin’ something from me, are you?” Does she know? Thunderlane wondered. What if she already found out somehow? What if she’s gonna shoot me right here and now? “Nope!” he said, determined to maintain his smile at all costs. His jaw was beginning to ache from the effort. The shipping crate’s hinges blew open behind him, and the lid slid onto the floor. Gilda sat up with a breathless gasp, one of her pistols clutched in her shaking claws. Lyra gaped in shock while Thunderlane tried to think of a credible excuse. Regrettably, nothing clever came to mind. “Wow!” he shouted. “How did that get in there?” ***** Gilda was locked up in the observation lounge while Lyra tried to decide what to do with her. It took a while to convince the griffon to give up her guns, but she went quietly once she understood what the Captain wanted. Firing a pistol in an enclosed space had left her temporarily deaf and quite dazed, so Lyra had to communicate what she wanted with an elaborate pantomime. Once Gilda was locked up, Lyra interrogated Thunderlane outside. Her hearing was slowly returning, so the griffon was able to listen in. It helped that the Captain had a remarkable shouting voice. “Have you lost what little sense you had?” she demanded. “Don’t you remember what happened the last time we let strangers onboard?” Gilda closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She allowed her mind to open, taking in stimuli and that she was normally all but blind to. The first thing that she noticed was a dark, ugly clout hanging over her restraints. The surge of anger and frustration coming from Lyra threatened to make her nauseous. “You don’t understand!” Thunderlane said. “Gilda needs our help, Lyra. She needs me. I knew her a long time before I met you and the rest, and I’m one of the only ponies she trusts. I owe her a lot more than I’d care to remember.” Lyra’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Tell me about her,” she demanded. At least it isn’t a ‘no’, Gilda thought as Thunderlane rattled off what he knew of her past. Lyra wasn’t impressed to hear that she’d started as a volunteer in the Grand Imperial Army, but the pegasus quickly added that she’d disappeared not long after the war started. “She did a few odd jobs here and there,” he said, glossing over the few years of her life that he wasn’t familiar with. “She worked with the griffon mafia for a while, but they had a falling out. We ran into each other not long after that. She was sort of famous for a while because she stood up to a mob family, so we had plenty of work.” Gilda felt a little swell of pride, but Lyra immediately killed it. “You brought a fugitive onto my ship, which is bad enough. She’s done business with the griffon triads, which is even worse. Please, please tell me that the family she offended wasn’t the Amati family.” Gilda could picture Thunderlane wincing at her tone. “It… could’ve been.” “Could’ve been?” Lyra shouted. “Could’ve been? Did you ever think about what could happen if Octavia finds out?” “I couldn’t just leave her!” Thunderlane argued. “She was in some real trouble, Lyra. You ain’t bein’ fair about this. She’s as much family to me as the others are to you. More, even. Would you tell Octavia to get lost if she needed you? What about Vinyl? Hell, what about me?” Lyra took a deep breath and tried to calm down. Gilda held her breath, and she could tell that Thunderlane was doing the same. “We can’t turn back anyway,” the Captain finally said. There was a hint of regret hanging in the air, but at least she wasn’t suggesting that they leave the ship via airlock. “I want her unarmed and supervised at all times, dong-ma? Keep her in the cargo bay when she isn’t locked up here. You may trust her, but I don’t have to give her the run of my ship.” “I understand,” Thunderlane said happily. “Thanks, Lyra.” “Don’t thank me yet,” the Captain warned. “Octavia’s going to help you watch her, assuming I can convince her that murder isn’t the best solution.” Gilda perked up as the door to the observation lounge creaked open. “It’s about time,” she grumbled as Thunderlane trotted in and quickly began unfastening her restraint harness. “Who was in this thing before me? There are some seriously bad vibes left over.” “Hush!” Thunderlane whispered harshly. Gilda looked over his shoulder and saw the ship’s captain glaring at her. “Keep your mind games to yourself while you’re here.” “I doubt they’d believe me anyway,” Gilda chuckled. She sighed happily and flexed one of her talons as the restraints came free. “What’s the deal, dude? Am I a prisoner or what?” Lyra stepped forward. “Just about,” she said. “You’re restricted to the cargo hold for the most part. Thunderlane and my first mate will be watching you. I hope you’ll understand if I’m not thrilled to have a stowaway onboard.” Gilda scratched an itch that had been bothering her. “Wasn’t my idea,” she growled, and nudged Thunderlane as she passed. “You got anything to eat around here?” “Galley’s through there,” the Captain said. “I’ll go tell the others. You can call me Lyra, if you were wondering.” “Can’t say that I was,” Gilda laughed. “I’m pretty sure the whole ship heard that little exchange. Thunderlane, I don’t have to come back here at night, do I? I’m not gonna get any sleep hanging from the ceiling like a slab of meat.” “We’ll see,” Thunderlane said. “Maybe I can convince the Captain to let us share my bunk.” Lyra stared at them, a look of dawning comprehension transforming her stern gaze into one of horror. “Yeah,” the griffon giggled. “It’s like that.” ***** Lyra and Octavia met on the catwalk above the cargo hold for a private discussion, but they weren’t alone for very long. Vinyl soon joined her wife, while Derpy and Bon Bon showed up after a little while to watch the spectacle unfolding below. Derpy’s eyes were a little red when she first arrived. Lyra decided to ask her about it later, but she was sure it was nothing serious. Rust from the engine had probably blown into one of them. Thunderlane and Gilda claimed to be practicing Wonderbolt flight drills, but it was highly unlikely that the Wonderbolts got drunk during flight practice. “I never knew that Thunderlane was almost a professional athlete!” Derpy said excitedly. “Do you think he knew any of the famous ones, like Surprise or Soarin’?” “I highly doubt it.” Octavia sniffed disdainfully. “Surely his work ethic would be a problem. Captain, why are we here? Thunderlane seems to have the situation well under control, and I have no desire to spend any more time around these two than is absolutely necessary.” Lyra rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know,” she said. “You’ll just have to get used to it. I want as many eyes on her as we can afford, and that includes you.” Octavia quirked an eyebrow. “Thunderlane is not enough?” she asked. “I am certain that he has looked at nothing else for the last hour.” “That’s sort of the problem,” Lyra sighed. “He’s known Gilda longer than us, and I think it’s safe to say that she’s dear to him.” “You’re not doubting his loyalty, are you?” Vinyl asked. “Thunderlane’s cool, right? I mean, he’s a total jackass, but he’s our jackass. We’d be lost without our jackass.” She looked to her wife for confirmation. “Lyra’s just being paranoid, isn’t she?” Octavia’s face had lost all trace of annoyance. It was now an emotionless mask that coldly sized up the griffon hovering in place just a few inches off the ground below them. “The Captain is extremely paranoid,” she said. “That does not mean that she is incorrect. Total paranoia, after all, is simply total awareness. Thunderlane joined our venture because we paid him to betray his previous employers; he has a very powerful love of money, among other things. Captain, I strongly urge you to turn the ship around and leave the griffon behind.” “I can’t do that,” Lyra said regretfully. “Thunderlane felt morally obligated to help her.” She stared hard at Octavia. “I know, right? Thunderlane.” On the floor below, Gilda and Thunderlane touched down and clapped each other on the shoulders. “Ready?” the griffon asked. Thunderlane stepped back and sunk into a fighting stance. “Oh, look!” Vinyl exclaimed. “They’re about to throw down. Ten bits on Jackass. Err, Thunderlane.” She leaned into Octavia, who giggled at her childlike excitement. “I find myself conflicted,” Bon Bon said thoughtfully. “On one hoof, I’ve gotten to know Thunderlane very well over the last few years. He is an extremely skilled fighter. On the other, I’d love to see him get beaten to within an inch of his life. I think you have a bet, Vinyl.” The fight was surprisingly brutal for two people that claimed to be friends. “Why are they hitting each other so hard?” Derpy asked. She watched as Thunderlane hurled Gilda through the air like a ragdoll. “Don’t they worry about hurting each other?” “I couldn’t care less,” Lyra said, but she didn’t take her eyes away from the spectacle. There were no television shows in deep space, and this was very entertaining. Gilda kicked two of Thunderlane’s legs out from underneath him and dropped one of her knees into his stomach. Just before she made contact, the pegasus twisted out of the way. He imposed his legs between them and shoved her aside, then rolled onto his hooves. Thunderlane caught hold of Gilda’s foreleg as she tried to punch him again and pinned it to her side. He grabbed the other, and playfully nipped her ear before tossing her onto the unforgiving floor. “Wait, what was that?” Vinyl asked. “Are they getting… frisky? Is this like foreplay for them?” “Are you surprised?” Octavia asked. She watched as Gilda rolled away from Thunderlane and took to the air before he could catch up. The pegasus spread his wings and gleefully followed. The audience was treated to a short aerial battle that quickly exhausted both fighters, but everypony was disappointed to see that neither of them could outpace the other. Once they were finished, Thunderlane and Gilda seemed to pass out in mid air. They collapsed together on the large, open platform between two intersecting staircases on the opposite side of the cargo hold. Gilda leaned her head against Thunderlane’s shoulder and heaved a tired sigh. She grinned as one of his hooved played with the feathers on top of her head. “Listen!” Derpy whispered. “I think she’s purring. That’s so cute!” Bon Bon rolled her eyes and leaned over to whisper something in her friend’s ear. Derpy’s eyes grew wide, and her smile turned into something that looked more like a grimace. “I changed my mind,” she said quietly. “That isn’t cute at all. I-I think I’m gonna be sick.”