April 10, 2027
Baltimare – The Hungry Ursa
Saturday
Immediately after breakfast, Quantum set out to find Cozy Hearth’s room without letting on that she was looking for it. She swaggered around the halls on several floors, grinning and nodding at the mares she encountered while simultaneously trying not to feel like a complete idiot, until she found the forest green pegasus on the third floor. Summoning up her quick-study training, Quantum somehow managed to apologize for Draw’s previous behavior without compromising his persona, while at the same time weaseling out of any request to join Cozy Hearth privately in her….cozy hearth. Satisfied with her performance and feeling proud of herself, Quantum wandered downstairs to check on any new developments.
The only difference between night and day at the Hungry Ursa was the reduced number of four-legged barflies taking up space on the seats. Quantum nearly gacked on the cigar smoke yet again, but managed to repress the urge. Swizzle was minding the bar, cleaning glasses and looking mostly still asleep. The room was mostly devoid of life, save for the same table Quantum found herself at the day before. Hole Card stood up and merrily waved
“Draw! Right on time! I’ll deal you in!”
Quantum wandered over to the table. Slow Play and Short Stack where in the exact same chairs, in the exact same positions they had been the night before. Tilt, on the other hoof, was nowhere to be found. “Don’t you, uh…have to go to work or something?”
“Psh, nah,” Hole Card grinned, encouraging Quantum to sit, “its Saturday. Best thing about municipal labor jobs is you get your weekends off!”
Having nothing better to do and no real way to get out of it, Quantum sat upon the offered cushion-chair and allowed Hole Card to deal her into the game. She was about to get up again and make an excuse as to how she forgot her money, when she noticed a pile of bits was already there at her seat. She stared at the random cash just long enough to draw attention.
“What’sa matter,” Short stack croaked, “Ain’t never seen yer own dough before?”
The unicorns laughed; Quantum was obliged to join them just to save face. Swizzle called out from behind the bar.
“Hey sugahcube! You watch yourself and don’t lose all that bread in one place. Remember,” she indicated herself, grinning, “I’m the bank, and if you blow through all that, I’m takin’ your rent out of what’s left!”
Quantum ‘ohhed’ to herself, putting two and two together. She glanced around the table until a glass of something white was sat heavily down beside her. She looked up to see Swizzle, made up well even at this time of morning, grinning down at her.
“Milk,” she stated flatly, “Drink it all, and don’t you even ask me for any rum this time of day.”
“Thanks,” Quantum smiled, levitating the glass and taking a sip of the cool, refreshing liquid. Swizzle waved her hoof at the table with no small amount of annoyance.
“Same goes for all you fish. If it weren’t for me, you all would have drunk yourselves to death a long time ago.”
Short Stack grinned his broad, piglike grin, reached out, and openly smacked Swizzle on the rump. “These wet behind the ears colts ain’t got no idea what they missed in our day, Swizzy-baby.” He glanced around the table, letting out a boisterous laugh, “They didn’t call her ‘Swizzle Stick’ back then for nothin’!”
Rather than the offense Quantum expected the distinguished earth mare to take, Swizzle only grinned and drew her hoof along Short Stack’s bulbous jaw line. “Fresh as you were when you were just a pissass colt yourself. Keep keepin’ the stallions in line for me, hmm sugah?”
Short Stack grinned like a schoolcolt and nodded until Swizzle clopped away. Quantum cleared her throat and made an effort not to blush.
“C’mon,” Slow Play announced, “Let’s play cards! I got bits to burn here!”
Quantum wiled away the rest of her morning at the card table, and was surprised to find that she was at least able to hold her own – finesse and strategy were lost on her, but her natural mind for figures and probability stood in as at least a passable substitute. Either her companions weren’t all that good at the game, or they were just taking it easy on her. Either way, she played down every hand she lost by claiming she ‘meant to do that’, just to ‘throw a bit’ to one of her ‘sorry friends’. The ruse worked. Quantum even went so far as to keep an eye on the stallion’s restroom, so she could be certain it was empty whenever she had to go. She didn’t care what Hal said about appearances – she was not going in there when it was occupied. By the time Slow Play busted out and Short Stack lost interest, the minty mare was proud to see that she had just about as many bits in front of her as she did when the game started hours before, not to mention a new perspective on the unicorn stallions that were supposed to be her friends for the next few days.
Hole Card eyed his bits from table level. He held a hoof overtop of them; trying to measure the pile from the memory. His hoof was significantly higher off the table than the bits were piled. Shrugging, he sighed and sat back, taking a sip of some bubbly, clear liquid at his side.
“Meh, oh well,” he remarked cheerfully, “Paychecks are paychecks. Guess you better deal me out, before I don’t have enough left for the bills!”
Quantum favored the lighthearted stallion with a smile. “You’re awfully chipper with your money.”
“Nah,” Hole Card grinned, “It’s just…it’s only money, you know? So long as I have enough left over to keep a roof over my head and food in my stomach, why not have fun with the rest?” He levitated the deck with his horn and began shuffling it in midair, “I like cards, you know? So where’s the harm?”
“You’d make a good father,” Quantum commented, impressed by the red stallion’s easygoing demeanor.
Hole Card’s smile faded, “What?”
“O-oh, uh,” Quantum felt her freckled cheeks warming up a bit, and wondered what color they were this time. Hole Card had a nice face and a good spirit – he was a bit rowdy, but in him she saw something a bit deeper than most of the rest of the denizens of this place. “I just meant, you know…if that special mare comes along someday?”
The red unicorn made a bemused face. “What are you talking about? You know I only go for stallions.” He smirked, “If I didn’t like the game here better, I’d be at that club on Lambda Street. You know the one.”
Quantum was, with some effort, able to keep her jaw off of the table. Turning her now flaming face away from her companion, she started when her eyes came face to face with a huge patch of cyan blue. Looking up, she realized she was looking right into the lively, violet eyes of her mother. Dressed just like yesterday, Trixie had a serving plate balanced on the end of her hoof. With a look of disdain, she levitated a glass from the plate to the table and unwittingly served alcohol to her daughter.
“First drink of the day,” Trixie harumphed, “Swizzle can set her watch by your sobriety, you disdainful little creature.”
“Mom-err-ma…” the minty mare coughed, grinning like a centerfold model, “…mama, uh…heya. How ya doin’…sugarcube?”
Hole Card sputtered, nearly laughing up his drink. Quantum mentally smacked herself, praying never again in her life would she be placed in a situation where she felt the need to call her own mother ‘sugarcube’. Trixie, scowling, turned on her high heels and sauntered away to make friendly conversation with some other patrons.
I will not smack mom’s butt, Quantum repeated over and over in her head, I will not smack mom’s butt, Hal I don’t care what’s riding on it, I will not smack mom’s butt—
“Geez,” Hole Card whistled, “Draw, you got balls like solid rocks. Didn’t we talk about this? And you’re still hitting on Twiggy? Do you want Tilt to give you some concrete horseshoes to wear to the pier one of these nights?”
“Why is she with him?” Quantum asked, fixing the red pony with a stare, “Do you know?”
Hole Card shrugged. “Not really. It wasn’t always like that with the two of them. Actually kind of surprising if you ask me – Twiggy always seemed like she was just here to serve drinks, instead of taking the job to the next level. But you know Tilt. He gets what he wants. And I guess he wanted her.”
Quantum envisioned the creamy unicorn thug with his hooves around her mother. Her brow hardened into a quiet fury. “She’s a powerful mag—I mean…I heard ‘Twiggy’ is a powerful magician. She shouldn’t be putting up with crap like that.”
“Money talks, Draw buddy. You know that. Waiting tables and serving drinks all by itself don’t pay much. I would think you’d know that, considering everypony around here knows how often you shack up with Cozy Hearth,” Hole Card smiled, “I’d say ‘nice catch’, but she’s a little too mare for my tastes, if you know what I mean. You gonna drink your drink or what?”
Quantum eyed the little tumbler full of foul-smelling turnip rum. She had no interest in alcohol, but Hal was right about one thing…a part had to be played. Taking in a deep breath and holding it, she levitated the glass to her lips and downed the whole thing in a single gulp. Pure, molten fire slid down her throat. She sputtered and coughed, involuntarily slamming the table three times with her hoof and drawing amused stares from some of the other patrons.
“Wow!” Hole Card laughed, “That’ll put draft pony hair on your pasterns! Who are you trying to impress, buddy? That was a whole drink, not a shot!”
Quantum ordered another drink just to save face, but this time did little more than sip idly at it, taking in as little as possible of the disgusting concoction. She never did know what ponies saw in alcohol, and now she was quite sure she’d never understand. Hole Card leaned in a bit.
“You know,” he grinned, “If you really want to see more of Twiggy, just hang out for a couple hours. She’s up tonight.”
“‘Up’?” Quantum repeated.
Hole Card nodded at the stage on the opposite side of the room. “You know, ‘up’. It’s her show tonight. Just hang out and you’ll see plenty, ya know?”
“She does magic here?” Quantum brightened.
The red pony frowned. “…I guess if you want to call it that. Just try staying out of Cozy’s wings for one night and you’ll find out.” With that, Hole Card rose to his hooves and patted Quantum on the shoulder in passing. “Anyway, nice hanging out with you as always. Performance nights aren’t my thing. Bet you can guess why. I’ll see ya tomorrow.”
The red unicorn with the vibrant yellow mane clopped away. Alone at the table, the mint-coated mare watched her mother acting friendly with sluggish characters Quantum knew Trixie would normally have slapped in the face and then blasted to smithereens just for looking at her.
Quantum thought about what her thirteen-year-old self was doing right now, and reasoned she was probably in the middle of AP Physics. Tonight, she would come home to a lovely dinner, do her homework, have some laughs with that older mare over there in the fishnets, and then go merrily (and obliviously) to bed.
Shame darkened Quantum’s features like a blackened bruise. She gritted her teeth. To hell with Hal, and to hell with numbers. Tonight, Quantum was going to talk to her mother again.
There were two days left. What could it hurt?