Out The Window
“What? No, that’s her stage name. What’s her real name? It’s…you know what? I don’t know. I don't know any pony who does.”
—Club patron, when asked about the club’s D.J.
Two thoughts went through Vinyl Scratch’s mind as the window shattered around her and she sailed through the air. The first thought was odd, she decided, even by her standards. She was hungry. She hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast, and the food at the inn she had stayed at wasn’t what she considered delicious. She barely considered it eatable, or even food. She would need to find some real grub for lunch, otherwise she was certain that her stomach was going to eat its way out of her belly and devour her.
The second thought going through her head was that being thrown through a window hurt. That became even clearer as she hit the street outside and tumbled across the ground. She felt a shard of glass cut into her back and she winced. She came to a stop when her head slammed into a cart across the street.
Yeah, getting thrown through a window hurt a lot.
“Uh…” Vinyl’s head lulled from side to side as she lay in the gutter. She shook herself and blinked her read eyes. She was worried when her vision refused to clear, but then she realized it wasn’t her eyes that were the problem.
Groaning, both from annoyance and actual pain, the Unicorn used her magic to pull her shades from her face. Her eyes recoiled slightly as the world lit up, but they quickly adjusted as she looked at her shades. One of the lenses had a big crack running right down the middle. Fifty bits down the drain.
“There she is!” a voice shouted.
Vinyl looked away from her broken shades and back toward the shady bar she had literally just been thrown out of. Three very big stallions were climbing out of the window, and all three of them had their eyes locked on her. She swallowed and put her glasses on top of her head and then picked herself up.
“Come on, boys,” she said as she gingerly stood up. She felt a sharp pain race through her back and she looked over her shoulder. Blood was dribbling down her white coat from the wound in her back. She was probably going to have to get that looked at, which was going to cost her even more money. “I’m sure your mothers are lovely ladies. It’s not my fault if they’re the only ones who—whoa!”
Vinyl ducked as one of the stallions threw a glass at her head. It shattered against the cart she had crashed into and she felt the tiny shards rain down on her. These stallions weren’t fooling around. Fine. If they wanted to get serious, then she would too.
“You little boys might want to be careful,” Vinyl said as she casually flipped her blue mane. “Like I said, you can’t handle all of this.”
One of the stallions huffed and charged her. Vinyl took a deep breath and crouched, pawing at the ground as if she meant to meet his advance, but at the last second, she jumped to the side and stuck her hind leg out. The stallion tripped and fell forward, crashing into the cart and causing it to break apart around him. He, and the remains of the cart, tumbled to the ground. He groaned and tried to get up, but Vinyl used her magic to pick up a wooden board and smacked the stallion on the head. He grunted and then remained still.
“One down,” Vinyl said as she turned and looked at the other two stallions, twirling her broken board with her magic. “Next?”
The next stallion ran at her. Vinyl swung the board at him, trying to keep him back, but he simply lowered his shoulder and charged into the blow. The board broke across his back and he didn’t even break his stride. Vinyl frantically tried to back away, but she slipped on some debris. The stallion’s head slammed into her stomach and he lifted her off the ground and into the air. She was briefly thankful that the stallion was an Earth pony and not a Unicorn, but that thanks vanished as soon as she crashed on the ground and the air was knocked from her lungs.
The stallion towered over her and pushed his hoof down on her neck. “What’s the matter, babe? Nothing to say this time?”
Vinyl struggled under the hoof, hitting it with her front hooves as hard as she could, but it was like punching a tree. She began to panic as the stallion pushed down harder, cutting off her air. These guys were really serious, and she began to wonder why nopony was helping her. Didn’t Hollow Shades have some sort of law enforcement or something?
As Vinyl’s vision began to blur, she made a desperate move. She kicked up with one of her hind legs as hard as she could. She heard a groan and the pressure on her throat instantly eased. Glorious air flooded her lungs and she sucked in as much as she could between her coughing. She rolled out from under the stallion’s hoof, fully expecting him to punch her in the face as she stood up, but the blow never came. When she finally managed to stand, she saw that he was struggling to stay on his hooves and had his back legs cringing in pain.
“Yeah, being a guy can suck like that,” Vinyl said with a smirk. “Don’t worry though, you probably can’t even use it that well.” The stallion glared at her, but Vinyl simply punched him in the face and he fell to the ground. Her hoof hurt from the blow, but she smiled anyway. She was doing pretty well. Two of these guys were already down, and they were twice her size. How hard could the—
Vinyl felt something yank on her mane, hard, and she was suddenly being dragged across the street. She struggled to free herself, but then she was swung through the air like a bat and her body slammed into something that was clearly sturdier that she was. She went limp for a moment and her vision went black. She groaned as she sank to the ground for the third time in as many minutes.
“O…Okay, you win,” she said as she lay on the ground. She felt like she had just come back from a rave, and not in a good way. “I’m sorry.”
“Shove it,” the last stallion said. Vinyl looked up and saw that he had a chunk of her mane in his teeth. Great. So these jerks hadn’t only broken her glasses and injured her, they’d ruined her mane too. Why was everything going so wrong?
The stallion looked around until he spied a broken board from the cart that had been smashed during the fight. He bent down and picked it up with his mouth. As he started walking toward Vinyl, she noticed that the board had a rather large nail sticking out of the end.
“Whoa now, easy there fella,” she said as she forced herself to stand. “Let’s not do anything that rash now. This was just a friendly—ah!” Vinyl ducked frantically as the stallion swung the board at her head, the nail aimed at her skull. She scrambled away as the pony swung again, this time trying to bring the board down on her backside. This stallion was really out to kill her. What in Equestria was wrong with this town?
“Okay, fine. You want to play for keeps, we’ll play for keeps.” Vinyl spun around and glared at the stallion. She couldn’t fight like him. Swinging something around with her mouth wasn’t her specialty, but she did have another option.
Vinyl reached out with her magic and grabbed two more broken pieces of wood. She pulled them to her sides and spun them with her magic, then grinned at the stallion. That would give him pause, no doubt. No pony in their right mind would charge a Unicorn when they—
“You’re magic’s not going to save you, little pony,” the stallion growled as he ran straight at her. Vinyl blinked in surprise and then sent her two makeshift weapons forward. She swung the first board at the stallion’s face, and just as she expected, he blocked it with his board. She immediately brought her second board around, trying to sweep the stallion’s feet out from under him. She was confident it was going to work, but at the last second, the stallion jumped and the blow went under him.
The stallion smacked her other board away and resumed his charge. He brought his board down as hard as he could and Vinyl barely managed to call her two back in time to block the blow. He continued to press down as hard as he could.
Vinyl stared at the nail that was just inches from her eye and was slowly moving closer. She heard her boards crack and she knew she was moments away from going blind, or worse. She had to think of something, and fast. She strained against the stallion’s strength, and for the first time in her life, she wished she was an Earth pony. At least then they would be on kind-of sort-of equal terms in relation to strength. But she wasn’t. She was a Unicorn.
That’s right! I’m a Unicorn! Vinyl smiled nervously up at the stallion as an idea came to mind. She closed her eyes and focused on her horn. She was already pushing her limits controlling the two boards and trying to hold back the stallion’s murderous intent, but she knew she could do more. Just a small spark, that was all she needed.
Vinyl fired a blast from her horn. It wasn’t powerful. It wasn’t even meant to cause harm. She wasn’t good at combat magic, but she was good at lighting. She had to be, seeing as she loved to throw parties. So she knew to close her eyes just before the spell went off. The stallion, on the other hoof, did not.
Vinyl heard the stallion scream as a blinding flash went off right in front of his eyes. She immediately felt the pressure ease and she shoved her boards forward to completely push the stallion off. She opened her eyes and smiled to see that he was staggering backward and rubbing his eyes with his hoof.
“Hope you like the taste of wood,” Vinyl said as she swung both of her boards at opposite sides of the stallion’s head. “And splinters!” She clapped the boards on the stallion’s skull. His board dropped from his mouth and he fell to the ground like a rock. He was done.
“Another one bites the dust,” she said as she looked down at the stallion. She quietly sighed with relief when she saw that he was still breathing, but the rest of her quest wasn’t off to a brilliant start. She hadn’t even started it and ponies were already trying to kill her. It was terrifying, but at the same time she had to admit that her confidence was brimming. If she could deal with these three losers, then she could deal with anything. Except a dragon, but there was no way she was going to face one of those. She wasn’t going to rescue some princess after all.
Vinyl took a deep breath, her body shaking from both terror and excitement, and turned to leave. She took one step and collapsed as her entire side screamed in pain. Apparently, getting thrown through a window and then smashed into a wall wasn’t good for her body. She gingerly picked herself up and looked at her side. No bruises or blood, but the pain was real enough. Plus, she still had that gash on her backside from the glass.
“Probably going to have to visit a hospital,” she mumbled. “Do they even have those here?” She began to limp away, each step reminding her of how much pain she was in and her stomach growling at her for food. She decided she could at least do something about the second issue.
The Unicorn looked around and grinned. Apparently the cart she had crashed into was an apple cart, and there was a big red apple right in the middle of the wreckage. She looked around for any sign of the clerk but saw none. Well, if no pony was going to help her, then they wouldn’t mind if she helped herself. She shrugged and picked the fruit up with her magic, then took an extra large bite. It was delicious, and in another four bites nothing remained except the core. She tossed it away and then began to make her way down the street.
Hollow Shades certainly wasn’t Manehattan. In fact, it wasn’t like any other place in Equestria that Vinyl knew of. Everywhere else was always so full of light, with open skies and fresh sunshine streaming down during the day. There was a since of lightness and joy everywhere else, but not this town.
Hollow Shades was smack in the middle of a forest, and the trees blocked Celestia’s sunlight. But the shadow that lay over the town wasn’t just from the trees. There was some sort of magic to it. There had to be, because it was just past midday and yet the lighting in the town barely qualified as dusk in Vinyl’s mind. Shadows stretched long and far over the shacks and buildings. Lanterns burned brightly, suspended in the air by ropes that were strung from building to building. Candles burned in some windows, while other places were completely dark. Even fireflies seemed to be confused because there were swarms of them flittering about. The entire town oozed shady and underhoofed activities with its makeshift shacks, dim light, and hidden secrets.
All of that was what had made Hollow Shades the first place Vinyl had decided to visit. All throughout Equestria, there were always whispers of the reputation the town had, and since Vinyl was hunting a thief, it had sounded like the perfect place to start looking. She hadn’t expected the town to live up to her expectations so completely though. She had barely walked into the seediest bar in the seediest part of town before she had been forced to fight for her life. She decided that she was going to need to be a bit more careful.
“You’re an Outsider,” a voice said from right next to Vinyl, causing her to jump.
“Uh, excuse me?” she asked after her heart stopped racing. She turned and saw that a mare was looking at her with a flat expression. She also noticed that there were suddenly ponies everywhere. Where had they all come from, and more importantly, where were they just minutes before when her life had been in danger?
“I said you’re an Outsider,” the mare said. “You’re not from Hollow Shades.”
“Er, you could tell?” Vinyl said with an awkward smile. She rubbed the back of her head with her hoof and winced as her body reminded her of her pain.
“Go up the street three blocks, take a left, and ask for Potions,” the mare said. She turned and began walking away.
“Um, what?” Vinyl asked.
“You got the traditional Hollow Shades Outsider Welcome by the looks of you,” the mare said over her shoulder. “Go get yourself patched up. And then you might want to think about getting out of here as fast as you can.” The mare didn’t say another word and in a moment she was gone, vanished into the crowd of ponies.
Vinyl looked around in stunned silence. Where in Equestria had all these ponies come from? The wooden sidewalks and muddy streets were now full of ponies, and she couldn’t help but notice that a lot of them were looking at her. Some of them just gave her a quick glance and moved on, while others stopped and stared, whispering to one another and simply grinning at her.
Vinyl noticed that the city became less creepy the further away from the bar she got. It still had that haunted feeling about it, but the buildings became less rundown, the wood didn’t seem to be rotting under her hooves, and brighter lanterns were strung above. She decided that that made sense though, seeing as she had headed straight for the roughest part of town the moment she had arrived.
Vinyl finished limping the three blocks and looked around. She asked a passing Pegasus where she could find the potions shop and the Pegasus pointed with his wing to a white building with strange writing above its door. Vinyl attempted to thank the stranger for his help, but he was gone by the time she looked back.
“What is everypony’s problem in this town?” she mumbled as she walked over to building. She again looked up at the writing above the door, trying to figure out what it said, but after a moment she gave up and limped inside. Her pain took priority over some weird sign.
The first thing the Unicorn noticed when she entered was the smell. Her nostrils were assaulted by so many different fragrances that she nearly gagged. The only thing that stopped her was the fact that none of them smelled disgusting. In fact, after the first initial shock, Vinyl began to find the smells soothing. She stood in the doorway, closed her eyes, and took several deep breaths as she tried her best to pick out individual scents. There was lavender, honey, some sort of mint, and…was that the scent of new electronics? How in the Equestria was she smelling that?
“Welcome, welcome,” an green Earth pony said as she stumbled out from somewhere in the back of the shop. “ What can I—oh. An Outsider, I see.”
“Okay, why does everypony keep calling me that?” Vinyl asked with more than a little annoyance. “I’m starting to feel insulted.”
“It’s not an insult,” the mare said as she walked forward. “Well, I suppose it is, actually. It’s not meant to be cruel though. It’s just the town’s way of branding you.”
“And why do I need to be branded?”
“So we know what to expect,” the mare said matter-of-factly. “I’m sure you’ve noticed, but Hollow Shades isn’t like the rest of Equestria.”
“No kidding,” Vinyl said as she looked back at the wound on her back. “Normally a fight that bad will bring some sort of security, but I’m pretty sure no pony would have batted an eye if those three had killed me and left me in the street.”
The mare laughed. “Oh yes, you’re an Outsider all right.”
Vinyl rolled her red eyes. “Look, somepony told me to find this potions shop. I’m guessing you’ve got something here that can heal me.”
Again the mare laughed. “This isn’t a potion’s shop. You were no doubt told to find Potions. That’s me.”
“Oh,” Vinyl said, blushing a little. “Well, in that case…”
“Have a seat over there on the bed,” Potions said. She disappeared behind a wall of bottles, some empty while others were filled with all sorts of different colored liquids. “I need to find something that will seal that wound up first. Need some disinfectant too, and probably some Cold Fritz…”
Potions continued to mumble about things that Vinyl assumed were different potions or mixtures. She gingerly laid down on what was a surprisingly comfortable bed. Without thinking, she rolled over and immediately let out a sharp hiss as her sore side screamed in protest.
“Sounds like Sour Plumb Root might be needed too,” Potions called over the clanging of glass bottles. “Lucky for you I keep it well in stock.”
“Uh, yeah,” Vinyl said as she carefully repositioned herself on the bed. She looked around the shop, trying to spot the source of the fresh electronic smell, but she didn’t see it. Finally, she asked, “So…what’s that smell?”
“Depends,” Potions called from somewhere in the back of the store. Moments later two bottles parted on the wall and a pair of bright blue eyes peered out. “What smell are you talking about?”
“The electronic one,” Vinyl said as she took another deep breath. “Smells like my turntable did when it first arrived.”
“Interesting,” Potions said. “That’s a special mixture I keep burning in the back. Fills the shop with a special scent that ponies find pleasant.”
Vinyl chuckled. “I find it hard to believe that ponies in this town find the smell of fresh electronics pleasant.”
“No, but you do.” Vinyl heard the sound of something being stirred and then a huff of fire. “What do you smell now?”
“Elect—” Vinyl stopped as the scent in the air changed. She knew it immediately. It was shampoo, but it was mixed in with another scent. It made her ears perk up and her heart beat faster. It made her skin tingle and her legs quiver. It made it hard for her to sit still and she longed for the embrace that always followed.
And it made her heart ache.
“Um…shampoo,” the Unicorn said quietly.
“Shampoo is what you desire most?” Potions asked as she poked her head around the corner, balancing a beaker of something in her white mane. She raised an eybrow. “Why? Have you not had a shower in a few days or something?”
“Could you just change it back, please?” Vinyl asked.
“Oh,” Potions said. “My apologies. Here.”
A moment later the comforting smell of electronics filled the air.
“How did you do that?”
“Magic,” Potions said as she came back around the corner with a plate balanced on her head with four different bottles on it. “Well, not really. It’s a special mixture that smells different to everypony. Right now I have it set to pleasant, but as I showed you, changing a few minor details can make it into something else.”
“I have a friend in Ponyville who would probably love to meet you,” Vinyl said as she remembered some of Bon Bon’s more…questionable candy experiments. Especially the one involving the giant marshmallow pony.
“Ah, a fellow alchemist then?” Potions asked as she set the tray down without spilling a drop from any of the bottles. “Lovely. It wouldn’t happen to be Zecora, would it? I learned a lot of my stuff from her.”
“No. Her name’s Bon Bon.”
“Oh,” Potions said and Vinyl swore that she saw a quick look shoot across the mare’s face. “Well, enough talk. Let’s get you patched up, shall we? Fair warning, this is going to sting.”
“I can ta—OUCH!” Vinyl yelped as her backside felt like it was stabbed with a thousand pins. She hissed in pain and looked over her shoulder to see Potions dumping an entire bottle of white liquid on her open wound. She clenched her teeth and struggled to keep her eyes open as pain shot through her, but just as quickly as it came, it was gone.
“There, disinfected, cleaned, bleeding stopped, and on the mend already,” Potions said as she set the bottle back down.
“What the hay was that stuff?” Vinyl asked, her eyes still a bit watery.
“My own special disinfectant,” Potions said with a smile. “Stops the bleeding almost instantly, but here. You need to drink this before it stops the blood flow in your entire body.”
“Before what?” Vinyl asked, but as she opened her mouth, Potions shoved another bottle in it. Without thinking, the Unicorn gulped down the liquid, choking slightly as the minty fluid spilled down her throat. She felt a cooling sensation on the inside of her skin right where her wound was. It went from cool to cold to freezing in the matter of three seconds, and then the feeling vanished, just like the pins.
“Better?” Potions asked as she set the empty bottle down.
“Um…yeah, actually,” Vinyl said. She stretched her leg and twisted her back, but instantly regretted the movement. The pain from her wound was gone, but the side of her body that the stallion had slammed into a wall was still tender. As she looked herself over, she saw several bruises starting to show up on her white fur. Big bruises.
“Yeah, those are going to take some time I’m afraid,” Potions said. “Drink this. It will reduce the internal swelling.” She held a bottle out in front of Vinyl. The Unicorn lifted it with her magic and gingerly brought it to her mouth. She sniffed it twice, and then drank the entire thing in one gulp. Surprisingly, it had no flavor whatsoever.
“Do I need to drink that last one?” she asked with a smile.
“Not if you want to keep breathing,” Potions said. She pulled out a large towel and draped it over Vinyl’s body and then slowly poured the contents of the final bottle onto the towel. Vinyl noticed that it came out like syrup and it foamed the moment it touched the towel. She instantly felt her muscles loosen and she sighed in relief.
“So, what are you looking for?” Potions asked as she set the last bottle down. “Oh, and don’t move. That needs to sit for a good ten minutes in order for it to take full effect.”
Vinyl put her front hooves under her chin and tried to be casual as she lay on the bed. “What makes you think I’m looking for anything?”
Potions snorted with laughter. “Oh please. What other reason does anypony come to Hollow Shades? Let me guess: you’re after some big treasure, and you figured that coming to the roughest, shadiest, darkest town in all of Equestria was a good place to start? Where else is going to have all those seedy rumors about a treasure only spoken of in whispers and is said to have claimed the soul of every pony that has ever gone to look for it?”
“I’m actually trying to find a thief,” Vinyl replied in a slightly cold voice. That didn’t stop Potions though.
“Even better!” she said as she walked around and sat down in front of Vinyl with a smile on her face. “Because clearly, all thieves live in Hollow Shades, right? I mean, what thief wouldn’t want to live here? It’s dark, spooky, ponies mind their own business, everypony walks around with a hooded cloak, we all hold meetings by firelight, everypony here would sooner stab you in the back than help you, and we’re all looking out for our next big score.”
Vinyl couldn’t help but notice that Potion’s expression soured with every word she spoke, until her smile had completely vanished and she was now glaring at Vinyl in a none-too-friendly manner. The Unicorn suddenly felt very uncomfortable. “Well, um, I didn’t…”
“Save it,” Potions said, her cheerful demeanor gone. “That is what makes you an Outsider here. You come into our town already full of assumptions about everypony that lives here. You don’t even bother getting to know any of us. You just figure we’re all criminals and scoundrels. Well tell me something, Unicorn, do you even know who founded this town?”
Vinyl had the desperate urge to get up and run out the door, but she doubted Potions would let her do so. She swallowed nervously and shook her head. “No.”
“Bat ponies,” Potions said. “And do you know what the vast majority of Bat ponies do?”
Vinyl smiled in relief. “Of course. They make up Luan’s Royal Guard. I actually got to meet their Captain once. She saved my life.”
“So now do you see the problem?”
Vinyl opened her mouth, but stopped before any words managed to come out. She blinked several times and then raised her head to look at the Earth pony. Potions was smiling at her with an annoying look on her face that said she was rather enjoying teasing her client.
“Er…no?” Vinyl said after a moment of silence.
“Do you really think that a town founded by, and populated by, ponies who devote their lives to protecting one of the Princesses is going to be overrun by crime?”
“No,” Vinyl said as she lowered her head in defeat. Potions was right. Luna’s Royal Guard was made up entirely of Bat ponies, and as far as Vinyl knew, Hollow Shades was basically the Bat pony capital of Equestria. Of course there wouldn’t a huge crime rate here. She sighed and buried her face in the bed. She was back to square one before she had even started.
“Now, now, don’t be like that,” Potions said as she removed the towel from Vinyl’s back. “There might be hope for you yet. You said you were looking for a thief, right?”
“Yeah,” Vinyl said. Potions gestured for her to slide off of the bed and she did. She was amazed to find that the soreness in her body was completely gone, although she still had some fairly visible bruises on her side. “A really good one. He stole my marefr…he stole something that is really important to somepony, and I need to get it back.”
“I don’t suppose you have a name?” Potions asked as she folded up the towel.
“My name’s Vinyl.”
“I meant the thief’s name, Vinyl,” Potions said with a smile. “That’s a pretty name, by the way.”
Vinyl blushed. “Uh, thanks. And no, I don’t know his name. He has a short blue mane, a dark brown coat, and he’s a Pegasus. That’s all I know.”
“Hm…” Potions scratched her chin. “Well, I’m afraid I can’t help you, but you shouldn’t give up hope. You see, you’re not the only pony who makes the wrong assumptions about our little town. Criminals do all time.”
“But…I thought you said Hollow Shades doesn’t have a crime problem.”
“It doesn’t. L.R.G. has crime well under control here. In fact, they encourage it.”
Vinyl’s mouth fell open. She was completely lost now. How could ponies in charge of Princess Luna’s safety actively encourage crime? Wouldn’t that make them a danger to the very Princess they were sworn to protect? Or worse, what if it meant that they were all on the take? Did that mean that Princess Luna was also a criminal? Did she have this whole secret crime ring that she kept hidden from Celestia? That was crazy! But, also kind of cool.
“I seem to have given you the wrong idea,” Potions said with a laugh. “What I meant is that all those rumors you hear? The Bat ponies are responsible for them. They want Hollow Shades to have a dark reputation and attract some of the more…unsavory types.”
“But why?” Vinyl asked, still trying to picture Princess Luna sitting in a dark room, glaring maliciously at some poor soul who hadn’t paid his protection money for the month.
“To keep their skills sharp. When criminals arrive here, they think they’re safe. Some even go so far as to try to set up organized crime rings. Sometimes they’re even allowed to, for a time. But they never last. The Bat ponies are always watching. They gather evidence, hone tracking skills, and often have new recruits lead an investigation in order to prove that they are worthy of being in L.R.G.”
“So this is all just some big game to them?” Vinyl asked.
“More like a training ground,” Potions replied with a flick of her hoof. “But they always make sure to keep the crime in check. The moment it spills into our lives, the hammer comes down. If a criminal robs a shop owner, you can bet he’ll be caught before he reaches the end of the block. Unless it was planned, in which case the Bat ponies reimburse the victim and continue their investigation.”
“That sounds complicated,” Vinyl said. Her head was starting to hurt as she tried to make sense of what she was hearing. She thought the social order of Canterlot was a nightmare, but this was on a whole other level. “But why do criminals keep coming here if they know it’s all a trap?”
“They don’t,” Potions said. “What I just told you is a secret outside of Hollow Shades, understand? You can’t tell anypony about this. Not that they’d believe you. The Bat ponies are very good at keeping Hollow Shades’ reputation exactly the way they like it. Plus, even if the truth did get out, I doubt it would stop criminals from coming here. This place is too appealing.”
“Uh-huh,” Vinyl said. “Well, um, thanks for the information I guess. How much do I owe you?”
“Twenty bits,” Potions said. Vinyl pulled out the money and paid, shocked that her treatment was so cheap, and turned to leave. “Oh, and Vinyl? The whole point of me telling you all of that was so you would realize there’s a very good chance your thief is here. And if he’s not, somepony might know where he went.”
Vinyl’s ears perked up. “Thanks,” she said as she walked out the door.
“And be careful,” Potions called after her. “As you saw, this town can be a bit rough, and I wasn’t joking when I said they’re always watching.”
Vinyl swallowed and looked up at the trees. She couldn’t help but feel that there were dozens of eyes on her now, watching her every move. With thoughts like that, she wondered how anypony could stand to live here.
* * *
“Thank you, come again,” Potions said as she scooped the bits off of the counter and gave the Bat pony the elixir. He nodded, blushed, and then disappeared out the door without a word. She didn’t understand why he was so embarrassed. Lots of Bat ponies came in with sprained wings after they tried certain activities.
Potions sighed and looked around her shop. That Unicorn had been the most exciting part of her day, and that had at least an hour ago. Everypony else who had come in had just been regular customers. Not that she was complaining. Regular customers kept her business afloat. It was just that Vinyl had been something new, something different. She had been a true Outsider, instead of just another criminal, thug, or some other unsavory sort who thought it was a good idea to try and shake her place down. She smiled as she remembered the last pony who had tried that. She wondered if he could see out of his left eye yet. Probably not.
Potions was wondering if the Unicorn was okay when she heard another customer walk into her store. “Hello, and welcome to…” she trailed off when she saw the customer.
This pony wasn’t from Hollow Shades, but she wasn’t an Outsider like Vinyl. She carried herself differently. There was a fierceness to her stance and an air of elegance that seemed to radiate from her despite the fact that she was shrouded in a black cloak with a hood. She didn’t have that uncertainty that so many other visitors had. Her amethyst eyes took the room in at a glance and then locked on Potions, betraying nothing. She flipped her hood down as the approached the counter, revealing an onyx black mane that streamed down her neck in a beautiful waterfall.
This pony was a stranger to Hollow Shades, no doubt, but Potions got the feeling that she was familiar with how the town operated. And if that was the case, she was not a pony to be trifled with. Potions carefully shifted her stance so that she was near her special stash of potions.
“May I help you?” she asked.
“There was a fight earlier today,” the pony said. “One of those injured came here. A white Unicorn. She has a blue mane and red eyes, if you managed to get her to take her sunglasses off.”
“I remember her,” Potions said.
The pony took a deep breath and looked visibly relieved. She smiled for a moment, and then continued. “Could you tell me where she went?”
“I’m afraid not,” Potions said flatly.
“Please,” the Earth pony begged. “It is important that I fine her. Quickly.”
“I do not see how my customers’ dealings are any of your business.”
“It is not, but Vinyl is. Especially after this.” The Earth pony pulled out two fliers and put them on the counter. One was an official bounty poster with Vinyl’s picture on it. Potions smiled. The bounty was only for fifteen bits, and all it said was that Vinyl was wanted for questioning in a fight. That probably meant that whichever new recruits were working the case wanted to get Vinyl out of the investigation as soon as possible. She wasn’t in any real danger.
“So what?” Potions said as she looked up from the flier. “You’re a bounty hunter? We get your kind here all the time. Think you’re going to make a name for yourself, do you? Hate to break it to you, but you’re going to need to bag a bigger bounty than that.”
“Then what about this one?” The pony shifted the official wanted poster aside to reveal another and Potions’ ears dropped along with her heart. This one was offering a five hundred bit reward for Vinyl, and it wasn’t being offered by the L.R.G. Whoever Vinyl had rumbled with was apparently somepony important, because only a gang would offer that much for a newly arrived Outsider. And judging by the poor wording, it was Left Eye’s gang.
So that was why the official wanted poster had been put out. The Bat ponies needed to get Vinyl to safety, fast.
“That…might do it,” Potions said as she slid the two fliers back to the pony. “But I still don’t know why I should tell you anything.”
“I do not care about the bits!” the mare replied, raising her voice slightly and causing Potions to flinch. “I need to know where she went before she gets herself in more trouble.”
Potions noticed that there were hints of tears in the purple eyes. She sighed and shook her head. “Look, I can’t tell you where she went. I’m sorry. She didn’t even know where she was going. She said she was looking for a thief.”
“I know…” the pony whispered as she hung her head.
“But, I can tell you where to find these guys,” Potions said as she tapped the five hundred bit poster with her hoof. “If they’re after Vinyl, and they somehow beat the Guard to her, they’ll take her to their hideout. They think it’s secret, but it’s not.”
“Where?”
“South end of town, on the outskirts. You’ll have to brave the criminal end of Hollow Shades, but I get the feeling that that won’t be a problem for you.”
“Thank you.” The pony nodded, flipped her hood back up, and left the store. Potions watched her go, her curiosity truly peeked now. Vinyl’s visit had just been a small dose of Outsider excitement, and despite what the Unicorn had said, she had dismissed it as just a foolish little errand. Now though, with the arrival of this second pony, it appeared that there was more to Vinyl than she had first thought.
Potions sat at her counter and tapped her hoof as she thought. It was probably nothing, but Vinyl’s mention of one of Luna’s agents, her supposed meeting with Captain Silent Wing, and this strange new pony that was after her all suggested that there was something more going on.
“It’s still probably nothing, but…” Potions mumbled as she pulled out a quill and a piece of paper.
Stats
Page generated in 0.024 seconds
Total duration
1,078 users online
2,155,315 hits today, 2,724,632 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
With a short story description of
You missed a golden opportunity to work the word "Defenestration" into the description or the title somewhere.
i see he didn't call Octavia an Outsider, i take it that's the hidden secret
I'm a little confused why Potions was angry about Vinyl having assumptions about the town before talking to anyone, considering she'd never been there, the bat ponies want people to think those things, and she was almost murdered like five minutes ago. Maybe I missed something while reading, but Vinyl's assumptions of that town seemed pretty reasonable at the time. That did not take away from my enjoyment of the chapter however, I am very curious what will happen next and look forward to the next chapter.
4665927
She disagrees with the LRG's policy of selling Hollow Shades as a hive of evil, and when ponies come along who bought that story she gets angry. Or something.
4663879
It is not, but it does relate to the secret. Or rather, the secret that Octavia and her family have been hiding is the reason why she doesn't seem as lost in Hollow Shades as a normal visitor does.
4665927
Potions is upset because she doesn't like new comers thinking everypony in Hollow Shades will 'stab you in the back' without a second thought. Obviously, she is a pony in Hollow Shades and she's busy healing Vinyl, not hurting her. She's not so much mad at Vinyl as she's just taking her frustration out on her.
It's like going to Japan and assuming that everypony there is into manga, anime, martial arts, or some other vast stereotype. Ponies get annoyed with that.
But you're right. Luna's Royal Guard is trying to make the town sound that way, so you can't really blame Vinyl for her views.
4675187 that's what i meant X3
Here we go, get ready for a ride.
4677574
Woot-woot! All aboard the hype train!