A Party Went Off In Liberty City

by KingDaddyDiscord


Ch. 2: The Girl With The Balloon Tattoo

        Niko gasped as he jerked upwards. Looking around in confusion, he realized that he was in his bed in the Middle Park East penthouse. Groaning, he pushed the covers away and stumbled into the kitchen. He then proceeded to make himself a cup of coffee. When it was done, he sighed and leaned against the counter as he sipped from the steaming mug.
        “Whatcha’ doin’?” A voice asked out of the silence, nearly causing Niko to have a heart attack, and causing him to spill his coffee. Spinning around in anger, Niko was taken aback by what he saw.
        Before him was a girl, no older than eighteen, probably. Her eyes were nearly an ice blue, and her skin a creamy pale. Her hair was unnaturally curly and pink, and it seemed to bounce with every step she took. Her smile was pearly white, and wider than any other smile the Russian had seen.
        She was wearing a hot pink sleeveless shirt, and a pair of jeans. A scarf was artfully slung around her neck, giving her a unique look that reminded Niko of some college kids he had seen once on a job near a college. One her right shoulder was a tattoo of three balloons, one being yellow and two being baby blue.
        “Who----”
        “Am I?” The girl finished with a giggle. “You must have a really bad memory. Then again, your head is kinda’ small, so I suppose you wouldn’t be able to fit as much in there. Remember yesterday? My name is Pinkie!”
        “Wait…. no! No, no, no, no! That HAD to have been a dream!” The criminal banged his head on the counter. “How am I going to explain a girl with naturally pink hair to my friends? I can already imagine what Roman will say…”
        “Oh, who’s Roman? Is he a friend? I’d love to meet him, because I make everyone my friend if possible!”
        “Roman is a friend of sorts, I suppose… but that’s not important! What’s going on? What are you here for?”
        “Oh!” The girl - Pinkie, fittingly enough - said, settling down to tell her story. “You see, in MY world, called Equestria (Niko rolled his eyes at that), I’m one of six ponies who have extremely powerful necklaces called the Elements of Harmony. I’m the Element of Laughter!” She said that last part with pride. Suddenly, she dug around in her pocket and brought out a necklace on a golden chain. The gem was a sapphire in the shape of a balloon.
        “It changed when I came here! Anyway, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, who are our rulers, saw that you were a big meanie-greenie, which was bad, but I mean, how nice can you be when you went on a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG boat ride, and then had to save your cousin, and make sure that no one ever hurt him, and then you do a LOT of work for bad men, and then your girlfriend died---”
        The Eastern-European slammed his hand onto the marble countertop, causing Pinkie to squeak. She realized her mistake, and apologized over and over until Niko told her to continue.
        “Right. Anyway, so Princess Luna and Princess Celestia saw you were being a big meanie, so when you went into the ocean, they called you to Equestria before you drowned, and then they called me to Canterlot, and now I’m going to reform you!”
        Niko stared blankly at the girl as his brain comprehended everything that had just been told.
        
“So you’re telling me… that you’re going to stay with me… in Liberty City… until I’m ‘reformed?’”
        “Well, of course! I’ll probably sleep on your couch, if that’s alright. Unless you had something else in mind?”
        “What?!” Niko blushed. “No! I mean, it’s okay, but… the guest room would be nicer.”
        “Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie said with a grin, leaving Niko to his blushing self as she checked out her accommodations. The Eastern-European was silent for a few moments, until he finally spoke to the air.

        “I need to figure out what to tell Roman.”

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

        Niko made Pinkie a cup of coffee as well, and they sat across from the counter. The girl had told Niko her story, and he had told her his. Now it came down to a cover-up story.
        “So you’re telling me your real name is Pinkamena Diane Pie?”
        “Yes indeedy!” She said with a grin. Niko sighed. He had been hoping that “Pinkie” had only been a nickname. Turns out it was, but there wasn’t anything to go on for a “real world” name.
        “Well, I have to run some errands. A few days back, my sunglasses broke, and the sun on the cars here is unforgiving. It seems America thinks everything must be chrome-plated.” He got up and slid into his leather jacket. He looked back at Pinkie as he opened the door.
        “Well, I don’t have all day. Come on.” It didn’t take another word. It seemed like she instantly was by his side.
        “Ready and raring to go, Nicky!”
        “Swear you will never call me ‘Nicky’ again.” He said through gritted teeth. The pair walked down the stairs towards the elevator that would take them to the lobby of the apartment complex.
        “Now Pinkie,” Niko said with increasing ease. “There may be some bad people around the city, so be careful.”
        “How bad?” She asked innocently. Images of Kate being gunned down in front of him flashed through the man’s head.
        “You don’t want to know.” He replied darkly. The elevator ‘dinged’ as they reached the first floor, and the pair walked out of the elevator and through the lobby. Actually, it was more of Niko walking and Pinkie bouncing, an ability she retained despite having lost two legs.
        “So what are we walking to?” She asked in her energy-filled voice.
        “My car is parked just outside.” Niko replied. As they exited the building, a car came into view.
        “This is my car.” The man said with pride. “I spent several hundred dollars on it.” This was a lie, as he had stolen recently. He opened the driver’s door, and then motioned for the young girl to climb into the passenger seat, which she excitedly did.
        
“So where are we going first, Niko? Is it a store, or a house, or something else entirely?” Her words came spilling out like a stream of barely comprehensible talk.
“I think I’ll simply pick up some new clothes at a nearby store, then we’ll head to the Burger Shot for lunch. Sound good?” He couldn’t believe he was asking for the opinion of a girl who was actually a pony from another world who had been sent to reform him.
“Sounds good to me!” She agreed. Shrugging, Niko revved the engine of his Bravado Banshee and drove away.
Usually, he wouldn’t watch his speed like he was doing now, but with this girl sitting beside him, and his past of car crashes…
“Niko, what is this thing?” Pinkie finally asked.
“I suppose in a world of horses---”
“Ponies.” The girl corrected.
        “Right…” Niko rolled his eyes. “Anyway, I suppose you wouldn’t have cars. They’re made of metal, run on gasoline, and are used by people to get around.”
        “And do they usually have red stains on the fronts of them?” She asked just as innocently as she had earlier. The man froze, realizing he had forgotten to go to the Pay N’ Spray to get a fresh coat and a good wash.
        “Um… no. I had an… accident! Accident, yes. Someone got in the way, and I accidently hit him.”
        “Gosh! She’s okay, right?” She asked in worry. The criminal thought back to the event. The paramedics had shown up, but come to think of it, she didn’t look like she was breathing.
        “Um… yes. Yes, she is fine.” Niko lied again.
        “Mhmm…” She squinted at the man with a frown before bursting into another grin. He found himself sweating the rest of the drive to the clothing store a few blocks from his comfortable penthouse.
        “I’ll only be a second.” He said to the girl. Even with this being mentioned, she insisted on coming inside. To experience the human world, she said. Shrugging and nodding, the two went into the store.
        “Welcome to Theresa’s Threads!” The clerk said with a fake grin. Ignoring her, Niko looked around, and Pinkie followed suit. While he picked out a few shirts and pairs of jeans, she payed unusually close attention to the stitchwork on the dresses and shirts around the store.
        “My friend Rarity could do better, or even Fluttershy…” She muttered. Hoping the clerk hadn’t heard that, Niko brought his merchandise to the cashier.
        “That’ll be thirty dollars.” She said, her grin gone now that they were paying for the clothes.
        “I only have twenty-five… let me put these pants back.” He asked apologetically, walking away to put the pants back on the shelf. As he was lifting them upwards, he heard the lady mutter something.
        “Stupid Russians, never able to understand our concepts…”
        “Hey!” He spun around. “For the record, I’m not a Russian! I’m Yugoslavian, I was even in the God-forsaken war!” He walked up to the counter and stabbed a knife into the wood.
        “And for another thing, I think for compensation of your rudeness, I shall be taking these clothes for a heavy discount, of about… 100% off.” He picked up the outfits and opened the door.
        “Hey, you can’t do that! My superiors will kill me!” She pleaded.
        “You should have thought about that BEFORE you insulted my country or origin.” He said darkly, pushing out into the Liberty City air.
        “That wasn’t very nice.” Pinkie said sternly to Niko as they got in the car.
        “Well neither was she.” He replied. “Besides, there’s apparently a policy at these American stores where you have to be ‘nice’ to the customers. Unfortunately, nobody in this mudhole of a city seems to know manners.”
        “I noticed that, actually.” Pinkie looked over at Niko as he began the drive to Burger Shot. “Everyone on the roads seemed to use bad words against everyone else, but I haven’t heard you swear once. Why’s that?”
        Niko exhaled softly and looked at Pinkie. The girl noticed an instant change in his eyes. It almost seemed as if the anger had been entirely swept away and been replaced with… sadness? Pain? Loss?
        “A few months ago, around six, I’d say, I was dating a girl… You know about her. Kate was her name, Kate McReary. How she hated when I’d swear. If I’d get in a fight or swear at someone, she would refuse to talk with me or go out with me for weeks…” He regained a bit of his composure.
        “Anyway, when she… died, I decided to keep my promise, and I swear as little as possible. For her.” Looking over, he found Pinkie crying, but with a grin on her face. Not a goofy grin, but a smile that showed approval in it.
        “You’re probably the nicest person I’ve ever met.” She sniffed. “Actually, you’re the first person I’ve ever met, but still. I know lots of stallions in my world who wouldn’t dream of doing that for anypony.”
        “Thanks, I think.” He smiled softly, then put on a grin. “Now, off to Burger Shot. Sometime, I’ll make you a TRUE meal, but this place is decent enough… for American food.”
        The ride continued for a while, as Niko wanted to drive through Broker, but they finally pulled up to the Burger Shot.
        “I’ll treat you to a Bleeder.” He offered. As they got into the store, however, Niko instantly regretted ever going out with Pinkie in the first place.

        “Cousin! I was not expecting you to be here of all days!”