By Grace

by TheAmazingMe

Chapter 3: Disgrace

"Ugh. My...head." Grace tried to open my eyes, but the meanest sliver of light sent daggers of pain ricocheting off the walls of his brain.

Even though his voice was merely a whisper, Juri's words battered into Grace's sensitized skull. "I hope whatever you did last night was worth it." His disapproval was evident in both tone and the fact that he stood across the room as he spoke. "There's water and a banana on the table next to you. I couldn't drag you into your room, so you're on the couch."

"I don't suppose 'sorry' is going to be enough for this?" Grace asked hopefully.

Juri sighed. "Just don't make this a habit, okay? You're an adult and can make your own decisions, but I don't like seeing you this bad off."

With Hercoltean effort, Grace hefted himself up on one foreleg and managed to get his eyes open. "I'll make it up to you. How about cookies?"

Grace's efforts were rewarded with a laugh, although Grace winced at the sound of it. Juri quieted down when he saw Grace's ears pin down. "How about you take a shower first and then see what you're capable of doing, eh?"

It took a further twenty minutes of coaxing to get Grace into said shower, but Juri had some painkillers and a proper hangover remedy meal ready for him afterwards.

While Grace pushed around his rice and potatoes, Juri pulled out a map and stretched it across the coffee table. Conferring with a nearby pile of paperwork, he set out a few red rounded rocks on the map. With a sigh, Grace took a heavy swig from the water glass nearby and carried his bowl over to the couch.

"You don't have to..." Juristic protested, but Grace waved a hoof as he swallowed another bite.

"What are you working on?" Grace asked after he finished.

Juri brushed a hoof through his mane and looked down at the map. While he spoke, he pointed to each rock. "There have been a series of bank robberies in the city."

Grace perked an ear. "No kidding?"

Simply shaking his head, Juri threw a newspaper over in Grace's direction. The white-coated unicorn caught it magically before it fell in his bowl, but winced at the effort it took to do so around a headache. "No kidding. There's been a rash. Broad daylight, duo, nonviolent. Weirdly polite. Well, you know, considering they're robbing a bank."

Reading off a headline, Grace grimaced. "'Polite Robbers Said to Use Magic Words.' A pair of unicorns, huh? They might actually be using magic..."

Juri nodded and waved a hoof. "Yeah, it's in the article. They're using persuasion spells to get ponies to give them the money. Everypony's happy until they leave. Then, well, I've had seasoned bank tellers handing out money like it's going out of style. Nopony is happy about it."

"I'd imagine so." Grace agreed, scanning down the article. Glancing out at the map, Grace was stunned at the number of red stones. "All of these cases are similar?" He asked, casting a hoof over the map in a circular motion.

"Yeah, and they've all taken place over the last year."

"Ten robberies over the course of a year? These guys don't know when to quit."

"There first few were small scores. Number five was big enough that the precinct thought they would stop. Then, surprise! Six and seven were practically on top of each other." Juri said, pointing at certain locations as he spoke. His hoof settled at the single stone in the Prominence District. "They got bold with their last one. Security here included unicorns with counter-charming proficiency, but they had extensive knowledge of the ponies on duty."

"Most frustrating of all," Juristic Note continued, pausing only to take a sip of water. "We can't even get a real physical description of the ponies involved."

"And here I thought that you weren't involved in current police affairs." Grace remarked drily.

Juri drew himself up. Grace could tell he was about to get a lecture from Professor Note. "The study of criminal trends can help us predict future criminal activity. A sociological survey of the city can give us clues into where and what type of crimes occur, leading to a better prepared police force. What we can't control is the when, who and how."

Grace held both hooves up in surrender. "Okay, I stand--well, sit--mildly corrected."

“I think I need to take a break. I’ve been thinking that concentrating too much on work is taking its toll on my abilities.” Juri said as he stood.

Grace grimaced and rose. “Your timing is impeccable. My headache has just eased off. Which is good, because I need to go back to that club and audition tonight."

"Audition?" Juri asked, ears flicking up in interest.

Grace nodded, arching a brow as he spoke. "I managed to impress the bartender. And the special musical guest."

"How did you manage that?" Juri asked, folding his hooves over each other in preparation.

Wiggling both eyebrows, Grace said simply. "I drank her under the table."

With a roll of his eyes, Juri noted drily. "That explains the hangover. Have you got a bit before you go?"

"Yeah, it's still pretty early. Well, early for those of us who don't practically live at a school."

Ignoring the jab, Juri went on. "Well, if you're feeling up to it, there's this boardwalk down the other end of the pier from the market that is supposed to be lovely. We could check it out." Juri suggested, lifting one eyebrow playfully. "I think they may even have one of those newfangled arcades."

Grace squinted at Juri before letting out a chuckle. "Aren't we a bit young to call something 'newfangled?' You're starting to sound like a stodgy old professor."

Snorting, Juri got behind Grace and pushed on his flanks. "Whatever, you whippersnapper. Let's go."

The pair made their way across the dockyard towards the boardwalk. As they crossed over the wide, busy entrance, Juri spotted a map. "Hey, there's a--"

"See it. Let's check it out." Scanning over the directory, Grace clicked his tongue. "Why would you need three Hoof Lockers?"

"One for sports, one for mares and one for foals." Juri pointed out, indicating the points with a hoof.

"Way to kill the joke, spoilsport." Grace grumbled.

"Tell a funny one, grumble-guts." Juri shot back, flicking his tail at Grace's hind end.

Grace felt the slight sting and narrowed his eyes at his assailant. "Arcade is right there." Grace indicated with a hoof as he spoke, though both stallions remained staring down each other. "You. Me. Loser buys dinner."

Juri tightened his mouth into a thin line and flared his nostrils. "It. Is. On!"

They stormed off towards the arcade, trading taunts and flicking their tails about hazardously. Only when Juri managed to snap his tail hard enough to put out a candle on the table Grace was passing by did they decide to take it easy and save the competition for their chosen battleground.

A few ponies had set up game stands of the usual fair variety, but the arcade was an entirely different beast. It took up a fair amount of space, containing a wide selection of electric-lit games. Running the arcade for an hour could probably power their houseboat for a day. The flashing lights and noises of the arcade caught their attention from across the boardwalk. Crossing the threshold, Grace and Juri's eyes met, both sparkling in determination.

"No magic." Juri noted seriously, raising a hoof to tap Grace's horn.

Grace shrugged, lifting his own hoof to polish against his coat. "No worries," Grace replied, blowing on his hoof as if to improve the shine. Their first destination was head-to-head competition.

They glared at each other across their field of battle, a plastic hoofguard upon their dominant hooves. Juri noticed Grace's chosen hoof and cocked his head, momentarily distracted. "Were you always left-hoofed?"

Glancing down, Grace picked up the puck in his other hand and set it on the table in front of his plastic-guarded left-hoof. "I don't write with my hooves a lot. This rarely comes up. Of course, if you'd noticed during any time I'd pulled out a musical instrument, I do use my left hoof as the dominant. And this southpaw is going to take you down, Mr. Observant."

Without further ado, Grace struck the puck and sent it ricocheting off the side wall of the table, directly to the open side of Juri's goal. Deftly, Juri countered, sending the puck back towards Grace's side in a full frontal assault. Grace yawned playfully as he sent it back, bouncing off both sides and getting dangerously close to the goal before Juri could react and return it. The return was clumsy, the puck lost momentum as it floated to the middle of the table. Both stallions caught glances and they tensed. Grace feinted towards the puck as Juri jumped for it, striking the puck hard towards Grace's goal. Grace's feint left him ready for the attack and he sent it back too quickly for Juri to recover from the hop to the middle. The puck sailed in unobstructed.

Grace whooped with glee, taking his hoof off the table for a crucial moment. Juri didn't bend to pick up the puck, but instead used his tail to flick it up onto the table. As Grace scrambled to get back into position, Juri sent the disk straight in, with a gleeful whoop of his own.

With that mocking whoop, the game became more intense, with a full minute going by before Grace managed to get past Juri's defense and score. Juri returned the favor after another near-full minute of trading blows. They traded points for a few rounds as they started to show signs of tiring before Juri pulled ahead by two. Grace wiped the sweat from his brow as he picked up the puck from his retrieval slot, not even bothering to glance at the scoreboard above the middle of the table.

Grace's strategy became erratic, leaving Juri to wonder if the other stallion had taken leave of his senses for a moment. Grace's moves kept sending the puck crashing into the corners on Juri's side. From what the criminologist could tell, these strikes were intentional. After not making contact with the puck for several strikes, Juri got fed up and made to interrupt the puck, leaving his goal open. Without missing a beat, Grace returned Juri's inquisitive strike with a definitive one, scoring while Juri's guard was away.

Juri shook his head as Grace merely grinned in steely, determined resolution. He struck the puck back at Grace as the air in the table went quiet. Grace returned the puck and scored as Juri looked back up in confusion. Simply shrugging, Grace explained. "This must have a timer to it. At any rate, looks like I evened it up. Next point wins."

Nodding, Juri retrieved the puck again and set it down. Taking a deep breath, he sent it across the table. Without the air the puck was sluggish, the friction making them work harder for less movement. Juri struck the puck harder than he intended, actually sending the puck up into the air after striking Grace's side of the table. As Juri's eyes widened at the suddenness of the puck's departure, Grace snatched it out of the air and slapped it back down before sending it across the table. All before Juri could even say...

"Holy Celestia!" Juri said as the puck clattered into his goal.

Head and tail high in victory, Grace pranced around to Juri and booped his nose playfully. "I like the restaurant we passed on the way in. You can settle your debt there."

***

Once again in Juri's borrowed suit, Grace entered the Lemonlight. His jangling nerves heightened before he took a moment to center himself. That he'd done so near the bar was an indicator of just how nervous he was. Sunset spotted the stallion and piped up. "Hey, iron-guts! Anypony who drinks like you do has to have drowned any butterflies in his stomach by now."

Opening his eyes serenely, Grace focused on the bartender. "And anypony who serves the harsh stuff that'd rot the gut out of a buzzard like you do should probably have been arrested on attempted murder charges."

Blowing a rather rude raspberry, Sunset shook his mane and turned away. "You say that like I haven't. But they couldn't make the charges stick. Trick is, kill the witnesses."

"Sunny, try not to kill any customers, or performers, please." A voice called from the other side of the bar area. It belonged to a peach-colored pony in a black v-neck shirt. His accent was slight, but definitely Bittish.

Sunset chuckled and turned to introduce Grace and the new pony. "Grace, this is our talent coordinator, Sighing Scowl. He's known for his...direct manner of speaking. Scowl, this is Graceful Bass."

Raising both eyebrows, Sighing Scowl did a head-to-horseshoes-and-back look over Grace. "Well, it's clear you didn't get that name for being good at baseball. Or for a graceful sense of fashion. You do smell slightly of fish but I figure that's not likely due to a career in fishing. At any rate I'm not one to judge a book by its cover. Let's hear what you've got, okay?" From his tone, it was clear Sighing Scowl didn't have high hopes for anything Grace could perform.

The nerves started jangling all over again. Grace headed up to the stage. Looking out, he was grateful that there weren't that many ponies around. Just Sunset, Scowl, and a few other bar employees going about their business and ignoring him.

Grace took up his guitar and that was the first point of contention Sighing Scowl had. "An acoustic? Are we on some farmhouse in Idahorse? There's an electric up there, yeah? Why don't you set down the silly antique and step into a new age? Yes? Good."

Fighting to keep his cool, Grace set his guitar back down and thanked the stage pony who held up the electric for him. "It's tuned up. Just did a sound check on it before you came." The stage pony whispered as Grace took it. Nodding his thanks, Grace turned back to his audience.

"Much better, welcome to the new age of music. What song will you be performing?" Sighing Scowl asked, impatiently tapping a hoof on the bar.

"Uh, this is..."

Scowl called out again, interrupting. "Into the microphone, sweetheart. That's the black thing on the skinny stand in front of you. We'll get you up to speed any day now, I'm sure. Now just go ahead. Surprise me."

Clenching his jaw, Grace started up the intro to the song he'd chosen. As he started singing, he was surprised to hear a backing band. Drums, bass, and even a saxophone. He'd picked a blues standard, Sitting on the Dock with Some Hay. Just as Grace really started to get into it, the backing band cut out. Sighing Scowl had a hoof in the air, signalling them to stop. Shocked silent, Grace stopped. Scowl took a look at Grace, looked back to Sunset and stood up to walk away.

Comments

[PonyJosiah13]

The flirting is real, and adorable to watch. I never anticipated that our silly little RP rendezvous would turn into this piece of art!

[Bruno]

Ahh, so Sighing Scowl is the Gordon Ramsey of the pony music world, got it.