> Griffons Cathouse
>  by Snakeskin94
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Have A Cigar! (The tweaked version)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	...or a cigarette, maybe beer, or some liquor whatever you want really, we (almost) *wink* have it all! 


Whatcha think? Nice greeting isn't it?  I always said it helps make the customers feel at home, when you make it feel like a home. Sorry dude, where are my manners? Name's Gilda Hof, I'm the owner, proprietor, and occasional customer (gratis of course), of Griffon's Cathouse.

I run a modest brothel, with enough part-time girls to keep regulars, plus the here-and-there types happy, with decent rooms, and adequate party provisions. Got a bar stocked full of all kinds of beer, alcohols, liquors, if your a partyer, juices and sodas, if you wanna keep it clean. I even got water and milk, if your a total wimp.

My main attraction though, (I also got a sick hot tub in the back) are my five permanent girls. They live in the rooms that they conduct their "business" in. I charge extra, obviously, for them, so it works out for everybody. They have a home they can always come too, or just a home in general, and yours truly doesn't have to pay extra money for a cleaner, after shop closes, they can just Febreeze, Oxy, wipe, repeat. It works out especially good for me when it comes to that hyperactive one, she really knows how to make a mess... gross. Kind of hot, and at times extremely profitable... but gross all the same. 

Hm? Oh, I get it, your wondering how I got the place are ya? Well, have a seat, and I'll tell you the tale, be warned, it's quite extensive. Ready?

Ahem...

I built it.

Not good enough? Fine, I'll go into the 'oh-so-crucial' details then, but only because we ain't got a Wikipedia page yet. Where should I start?... well, I got some time to kill before we open today, so why not? I'll give you the documentary version. In the beginning, back in high-school... what, you don't want my whole life story do you? We only have like half an hour here. What I was getting to was that I was a gifted little bitch whenever it came to sports , Basketball, Softball, shit, I could could've kicked a few of the players on the Football teams assess if I wanted too, I was what you would call a "prodigy". Have no idea what that means, but I think it means I kicked a lot of ass. 

Anyway, given my build, what with being slightly above average height for a girl, my short hair, B-cup, and muscles, I appealed to a certain... demographic among boys, well in this case men. My basketball coach, Cranky... I hope to God that isn't his real name and just a cruel joke by the students that stuck with him, doesn't help that his last name is legally, "Doodle". The guy was an old family friend, used to watch me when I was a kid when my parents would go out, overall was a decent guy.

Looking back I can't think of any really noticeable signs that would suggest that he... nevermind, I'm getting ahead of myself.

It was a Tuesday when it first happened, I was just leaving the locker room, practice started after school at three, and ended at six thirty, so I was practically sprinting out the door for some chow. He stopped me outside the door, wanting to talk. Anything cliche he could have said, he said. He started reminiscing, talking about how I "sprouted" (can't believe he said that), into a lovely young lady... yeah me a "lady".

Now, any other girl at this point would have called him a pervert than ran, slapped him then ran, kicked him in the balls than ran, or all of the above... and ran. My thought was "Eh... it's just sex", and at this point in my life, I was by no means an expert on sex, but experienced enough to know three things. 1. I liked it, 2. I knew how I liked it, and 3. men are suckers for the 'innocence' act.

You know the one, it goes like "are you sure?", with a bat of the eyes. "I don't know"; breaking of eye contact, or my personal favorite: where the girl bites her finger and asks in a flabbergasted, but excited tone, "are you nuts?" and finishes off with "Ok, let's do it!". Trust me I know my shit.

What I'm getting to is that we, as he called it, "made love", I called it "fucking", turns out there is a world of difference, and these little rendezvous of ours went on for the better part of my senior year. I'd be lying if I said he wasn't that bad, for being in his fifties, he put in a surprisingly decent performance. One time he said I was better than his wife... ok real quick, if your that age, and have a wife that's probably about the same age, and you tell a seventeen year old that little bit of info during the act of sex...  it's not exactly the biggest esteem booster in the world. 

We had fun times together though. No joke, like, I actually had fun. We went to nice dinners, he gave me the occasional gift, and he was real sweet on me, in private mind you. Hell I was even nice to him too, gave him some compliments here and there, brought him some lunch a few times, even gossiped a bit. I don't care how 'girly' that sounds, know people's skeletons is an awesome feeling.

Trust me.

He confided the secret or two in me as well, told some pretty cool stories even! On how he was in the marines when he was younger, as a battle-medic. He got all choked up one time in particular, remembering how he lost some of his friends right before his eyes, some in his arms. Being able to do very little for their bullet wounds, or fresh amputation. He said the hardest thing he ever had to do was tell all those Janes, that their Johns were dead. I've only felt sorry a few times in my life, but that was honestly one of them.

I uh... I remember one time we were at this Olive Garden, I think, he got himself some wine, I had a Sierra Mist, it was just the two of us; naturally, and we had a booth in the back. At some point he gently laid his hand over mine. Being basically foreign to touches of intimacy, I was shocked at first.

He just looked me in the eyes... a small smile on his stubby mug, and just said in an almost whimsical kind of tone, "If only I was younger..."

I was... touched. Usually the boys and I just had our fun, then that was the end of it. But he... didn't just want a little fling. I think I know what he wanted. I think. I'm not sure though... on what I wanted either. I looked at this... older, kind... yet also sick man. Right in his tired brown eyes... probably could've retired by now. This man, my lover... my... my friend. I turned my hand over, locked our fingers, and just whispered back, "I know... me too". I think I meant it. I kind of want to say I did.

Things were... different after that. Whenever we met, it wasn't just for sex, it was to actually just talk, learn about each other. Kind of like we were, well, in a relationship. He and I used to... well the point is that, this moved way beyond just a sexual student-teacher relationship, things were getting... deep. I remember liking the idea too.

I fucked all that up though, thanks to a relatively ordinary lesson in class, on a more or less ordinary day of school. A selfish idea started to form in my head, and because of it I sacrificed my deep friendship with this older man for my selfish gain.

And I don't regret it one bit...

It was a Thursday the idea first started to come to me. I was in my Criminal Justice class, because honestly who doesn't want to be those dudes on Forensic Files? We were learning about this murder one case at the time, this guys sperm was linked to the crime scene of a lady's house, the man at the time was accused of... you guess it? No- no go ahead take your time, think about it.

Figure out where I'm going with this? Yep.

Cannibalism.

Nah, I'm yanking ya, it was infidelity.

So for the next few days I studied the case, these kind of cases were my favorite, right up there with the one where the killer needs to take meds, so he doesn't eat squirrels or something. Anyway, what caught me was that the wife was getting a small settlement, turns out she was divorcing the man anyway, claiming 'irreconcilable differences'... that's always why with people isn't it? Think that's why Dash's folk split too.

I thought to myself that night, "Gilda you muscular, younger reincarnation of Chyna, could you some how use this old man to your advantage?. I formed an almost seamless plan, it wasn't until a few Saturday's later until I would execute it.

... Actually nevermind it was a Sunday. After church, I normally have the day to whatever with it, I would normally hang with my best bud Dash, or stay inside and kick some ass on Counterstrike. Today though, I would set everything into motion, I figured out the best way to get the most amount of money out of this as possible, first step: go to the police. An investigation would go under way, I would fake some tears, plus I already had... copious amounts of his DNA. Then misses...  "Doodle", would be the last to find out, that way my suit would go through first, and I would have a better chance of getting upfront money, not in payments or some shit. 

I had everything in my corner man! I was still seventeen, I feigned some sadness, and he was caught red handed cheating on his wife. Fuckin' score right!? Not to mention... well... he IS a man, the infidelity alone would be enough to damn him in a juries eyes. I had answers for everything, but I made sure not to be too suspicious, for instance: Why did you go along with this?, He was an old friend of Mom and Dad's... *sniff* I thought I could trust him.

Why didn't you tell an authority figure, or your parents?, I-I thought h-he would hurt me if I said something.

Did you in any way attempt to flirt, or seduce this man, prior to your first sexual encounter?, NO! I-I mean *ahem* no sir.

So on and so forth.

One thing I made sure to do was avoid eye contact the entire time with Cranky, I could't risking looking at him and... regret what I was going through with. I shouldn't have felt bad anyway, he was a pedophile! It should all have been a traumatizing experience for me... but... it was the furthest thing.

After a while, Cranky just gave up, barely spoke and excepted the fate I sealed him in for. Poor bastard had practically no defense, because the bottom line was, he did, make the first move, he did try to seduce me, and I was under-aged. I just under exaggerated my willingness and involvement, and over exaggerated his. Even if he could somehow down play his involvement, or even be up for pardon, he's be at the age where he'd be to old to do anymore real living anyway.

Wow, that thought even gave me an icy feeling in my gut.

I was over the moon when I won that case, the amount of money I received from my "traumatic experience"; while it seems small now, back then I thought it was astro-fucking-nomical, was about six hundred thousand dollars. The best part? My parents (bless you Momma and Daddy Hof), let me have access to the money when I turned eighteen, to better further my future. I thought you had to be twenty-one for that kind of shit!

Well time passes, as it must, and age nineteen rolled around I was bored out of my damn mind, and had only spent a little over one hundred thousand. The occasional tech upgrade, parties, and (unbeknownst to Mom and Dad), reef usage were nice and all but, I couldn't think of a damn thing to do with my life, Mom and Dad were cool enough to let me take my time, but I was getting restless. I remember sitting there, just kind of empty. Not sad, but not at peace either. Than I saw it. The movie channel, HBO, had a rerun of this old mini-series-documentary... thingy, on an old Cathouse that existed in Nevada, not far from where the Griffon would eventually stand. 

I was instantly, I mean fucking instantly inspired man! I know it's a weird thing for a nineteen year old to lose their shit over, but think about it (cause I did!), what woman have you heard of that has owned or ran a place like this before!? I could make a cubic-buttload of cash, and make history! Problem was, I lived in Pennsylvania, that's a lot of travel expenses, but I had just under five-hundred thousand left, all I needed to do was lie to Momma and Daddy. I came up with some lame, half-assed excuse about there being "career opportunities" over there for me. 

Pfft. What opportunities, it's fucking Nevada!

After a truly agonizing nine hour flight, I had arrived. I had looked up the directions to the place the night prior on my phone, had my laptop "Big Blue" with me, and my cash on hand. With my brass-knuckle-switchblade combo, named "Ol' Bobby". So I -no bullshit dude, they make these!- after several hours of lines and buses, and more waiting on some kind of vehicle, I found the place.

It's closed now, but they had it tricked out like some kind of monument or something. Guess this state needs something to call their own. A thought occurred to me: "Shit... I can't just build off this like I intended to... how could I had thought that it'd be that easy, why the fuck did I think that would work in the first place, or any of this?..."

It was then I realized how almost impossible this would be. Forget worrying about baller decorations, kinky toys, or even smoking' honeys, I needed somewhere to build, shit, not even that alone, just somewhere to call home now! What was I gonna do!?... I knew though. I knew what I was not gonna do.

I was NOT going back to that boring little neighborhood, not going back to my parents defeated, not going back to Dash a failure... a LAME failure. I was GOING to make this happened, it wasn't just ambition at this point, it was a fucking quest. All for a brothel. Heh. How pathetic it all sounded right there at that point. 

I ruined an old mans life, left my parents, my best friend, my fucking future career I could of had in sports... just so I could own a sex house. That old dream I had, died that moment, there'd be no easy road to fortune for me. At this  point I said to myself: Fuck the parties I was gonna have, that's out the window. Fuck the booze I could have had, luxuries I could've lounged on, somehow I need to just survive out here. Know what? Fuck the easy road anyway! I'll build this Goddamn thing myself!  This is my future now. I took a good look at the land around me, and I decided, This is home. Destiny... and home.

With a rekindled fire in my heart, I pressed on like fucking Spartan.

I toughed it out, I was patient. I wouldn't just need money and girls, I needed help. Friends, labor, cheap or otherwise, I hopped all across Carson City and back, I went from hotel to hotel, had several jobs at once; waitress, janitor, you name it. The most beneficial one by far was the one at the DJ Scratches bar near the park, I was always trying to make a good impression on whoever I met, after all, you never know who someone is. 

I carried on like this for two years. Two years. No home, or apartment. No lucky breaks, no car, not even a damn bike. I never slept at the same hotel for longer than a few days, and after I left I wouldn't go back for several months. For two years. It was tough. Whenever I couldn't shower, I just put on some cheap-ass perfume, finger combed my hair, and hoped for the best. 

It was a Monday when I scouted the area out. 'Bout a week after my birthday too, after two years of hoofin' it tough, I was going back to that patch of land and decide where I was going to make earth. I waited in the lines, got on the necessary buses, (had to do this shit anyway, cause of the damn hotels), and went to the remnants of my inspiration, that I had first seen two years ago... felt like a Goddamned eternity ago... 

I went north, down the road from the old place; I think it was Bunny City or something, looking for the perfect spot. I had whatever clothes were wearable, what ever water I could carry, and whatever edibles I could put in in any kind of holder, or pocket, and trucked on.

I walked nine miles that day. The fuck was I thinking?

Thankfully all the work I constantly did kept me in pretty good shape, better than when I finished school honestly. Did you know through sheer force of will alone you in fact can walk nine miles in one day, without collapsing? I sure as hell didn't! Then... oh my sweet Lord I found it. I never thought I would see a thing, or a person or an... anything, that I could even consider to be beautiful... but that patch of land man...

It was perfect, there stood an abandoned farm, a small house, with a giant barn, probably was red at some point. It even came with a  fence around what surely was the grazing areas, but that's just it! There was green, life! I hopped the gate to get a closer look at my discovery. I noticed there was a dead tractor, still some of natures bounty lingering on the near by, what I thought to be, apple trees. This place was old, used and forgotten... it was perfect. 

I looked around wherever I could, no one seemed to still be here, (I gave myself a duh at that analogy) I noticed a well, that meant there was plumbing... that meant there was a water source nearby, that meant this place got, like, 30% more awesome! My hunch was right, there was indeed pipes running underground, I decided against following it, I had done enough walking today. I border-line limped over to the well, it was one of those archaic kind where you had to press on that lever, or churn whatever the hell it's called. Still worked. Water tasted fresh. That possibly meant it was river, and not some sewer, or plant, I don't fuckin' know how all that works. I had found it... my new home.

I spent the night there. Best sleep I had in a while, and thank God I was off tomorrow.

The next day, I was able to hitch a ride back into town, by the way, don't ever hitchhike, like EVER. Sketchy as fuck. I still had the rest of the day, so at every place I worked except the bar, I gave my two week notice. ALL OF THAT  I just told you... was just faze one. I now needed to accomplish faze two. Build the Goddamn place. This turned out to be surprisingly easier than I thought it would have been! Remember how I said I was trying to make friends in this town? Well then you should have been paying attention smart-ass.

I made a friend who I still hang with every now and again, her name is Spitfire... Spitfire, who the fuck named her, Keith Moon? Uh, like I was saying, she owned a private contracting... thingy, she named "The Wonder-Bolts", which she co-runs with her husband Soarin. 

They're nice people overall, she mostly takes care of the business end of things, and if I'm honest where's the pants. Soarin though I have to say, is one of the hardest workers I've ever seen, and doesn't talk a lot, but when he does it's normally very helpful, even insightful at times. Doesn't know a lot, but what he knows, he knows. Despite a small argument here and there, a given really, considering they're like, ten years older than me, and have been married for seven, behind it all, you can really feel the love from them, and see qualities that just make their marriage shine. 

Good for them and all, but it's still annoying to look at.

We met almost everyday for half a year, the first day, when I told them I was turning that old barn area into a brothel, they looked at me like I grew a beak and a pair of wings. They didn't not build it, or want to help me out any less, but it took me a while to convince them, that this was/is still a good idea worth even working on. I told them exactly what I wanted, and they with my help/input, and whenever they needed to call on "fellow Wonder-Bolts" for help, they followed it to a 'T', I couldn't have been more proud. 

It took a total of two months just to finish cleaning, refurbishing, and just making it look presentable, and another four months, until it was good enough to open. To this day, every few months I invite them down here for inspections, and repairs, ain't letting this place go to waste dammit!

Next came the last, and final crucial step. Get the girls. I'm not bullshitting when I say this, but dude. Fucking Craigslist... use it! It's a Goddamn lifesaver, and problem solver! I'm not kidding, I literally put "Woman Brothel Owner Looking For Girls", all the description said was, "exactly how it reads, it could be a great way for use to make some cash. email me if interested". I thought I should have gone into more detail, or that I'd have to revise it, but nope that day alone I got four emails. 

Shit, some of the girls that came in the following days were girls I knew or worked with! Some worked in the flower shop, some worked bars, frequented bars, some were looking into this for the potential fun, money, their own personal curiosity, this one chick with blue and white hair wanted to do it because, in her words, "What better job for a nymphomaniac right?" God Bless Nevada!

That... was the first problem though... no matter what those "professionals" say in those interviews, someone can only give their body for so long, and make so much money, until they decide to call it quits. At our peak, I had about twenty-five to thirty girls. At our lowest, which was about a year and a half after we opened... I had ten. I was desperate! Part-time partiers were fine an all, but I needed commitment, girls that could be more permanent, or frequent at least, I did not come this far to lose my destiny now! That's when I met... them.

Flim and Flam. Friends in the loosest sense, a necessary asset in every. Oh, you'll love how we met. They tried to mug me. I had heard about them a while ago, a lot of people with their ear to the street, and head in the grapevine had. The Flim-Flam brothers were notorious. Not gangsters, but not really a mob family. It was strictly the two of them, and their grunts they just called "The Dogs". Someone go missing? Probably them. Drugs smuggled in undetected? Most likely them.

These two operated alone, no two clear motives in a row, tricky bastards them...

I can still remember them taunting me in the alley that night: 

"What have we here, O brother of mine?"

"Another birdie who's feathers we can pluck dear brother, I think her blood will make a nice shine."

Weird assholes, talked almost in completely in limerick, or something like that, and dressed straight out of the forties... I fought them as well as I could, but there was two after all. Flam, I think, had me pinned to the wall, knife to my throat.

"Don't make a sound, you brute little thing."

"Or you'll lose your pretty tongue, little wing."

They were going to cut out my tongue!? I had to do something, anything, I couldn't die now! Not when I was finally living my destiny!

"Wait!" I've never begged in my adolescent, or adult life... but dammit, I didn't want to die then. 

"Have you heard of Griffon's Cathouse?" I didn't want to let these pricks take one step into my home, but I had to think fast, and options were scarce at the moment. I think it was Flam who spoke first.

"The harem of ladies just outside of town... what are you offering birdie?" Then Flim piped in.

"Make your plea quick, your struggle has made our suits dirty." Oh, cry me a Goddamn river...

"I-I own it." The knife was pressed, with just ever so little pressure against my throat. "I'm serious! I-I really do o-own it... I don't have much cash on me, so I can't give you a-anything much of value... b-but I still have working girls on duty right now... can, c-can we work out a d-deal?" I was begging... I felt pathetic. I thought they'd just laugh it off, but no matter how weird, or psychotic the man. They are still a man after all. They have wants. Needs.

"Flim my brother, did you hear the same as me?"

"Why indeed Flam, I do believe I heard the offer of, 'sex for free'".

Flam removed the knife from my neck, but still pinned me to the wall with his arm, "We are interested in your proposal miss, give us directions, to your abode, and we will provide transportation."

Then it was Flim's turn, and I realized at this point that, one of them couldn't speak without the other piping in for some stupid reason... "Your words best be true little wing, or I promise you this, if you've lied now to Flim and Flam, the law may find you unrecognizable in the morrow near the bus station."

That was some Black Dahlia type shit... "I-I promise, I'm not lying... the Flim-Flam brothers are threatening to kill me... w-why would I even think about lying to you? About something like this nonetheless??" Some seconds later, I was released from the wall.

"Flim, to the car, I will keep watch over... with is your name madam?" 

Madam? Try to kill me, and after I offer you free sex, you treat me like a damn belle? Douchebag... "It's Gilda." I answered through gritted teeth.

"Gilda will be under my eyes then, hurry along brother."

"Right away Flam." What no rhyming?

After an incredibly awkward drive in their Camero, yeah check this shit out, two psycho's who dress like parlor men, drive an '74 Camero... seems legit. Cool car though. All they played in their car was old Blues stuff, like New Orleans to Brooklyn, feel-the-pain type blues. Seemed fitting really honestly. 

We arrived at the Griffon after the longest thirty minutes of my life, and I lead them in. I called out the girls, poor things, once they found out who they were, they were plain terrified. Those two assholes loved it too. Because it was free, out of my ten girls, each got two. As I was waiting for the two to finish up... I had a thought... a risky thought. Incredibly risky; like, I could fucking die risky... but maybe... just maybe, these brothers could be of use to me. 

Just possibly there might just be a way we could all help each other out, and no one has to die, preferably me. So as they were in the middle of their activities in their respective rooms, I snapped some pictures real quiet like on my phone. Not that impressive, the two of them to be honest... After I took what I figured was more than enough photos, I paid a little visit outside to their little wagon. I figured, as a little extra insurance, in case everything does go to hell, they'll have a hell of a time to get away. I go down they (hopefully) go down.

They finally came out after a fucking hour, and, surprisingly enough, they thanked me.

"Miss Gilda! You run a fine establishment here, would you not agree Flim?"

"Oh, I concur most sincerly Flam, our sincerest apologies, for earlier."

Our sincerest!-... stay calm, "Yeah, I'm uh- glad you, enjoyed yourselves... so... I have a proposition for you." I figured why beat around the bush? I'll be right out with it.

"Proposition? Miss our business is concluded, it's time we made our leave."

"Well you see, about that Flim-"

"Flam."

"Whatever. My few years of living here, has netted me a few friends, such as, oh I don't know..." At this point I took out the phone, and was preparing the pictures. "Commissioner Armor?" That shut them up good, now I just had to deliver the final blow. "And I think he would find it quite interesting to see these." Turning my Atrix around, I showed them the damming photos.

I'd tell you what they were doing specifically, but, well... ever seen Body of Evidence?... Weird shit like that. Their pale little faces, got even whiter, luckily I was behind the bar, so I had a better chance of escape if they tried anything.

"Little birdie... what do those pictures hope to do? They'll be of no use, if we kill you." He threatened, metaphorical daggers shooting at me through his eyes.

"Ah, but that's just it Flam-"

"Flim." With a roll of his eyes.

"I don't fucking care! My point is, is that unless you give me a good reason to not, send these straight to the chief of police, you'll have a problem. Your guys' DNA is all over those rooms, the girls had more than a good look at you, and to top it off, while you were busy-" I revealed from my jacket pocket, some mechanical... thingy's I don't know, I was never good with cars. Point is I sabotaged their asses.

"I helped your car out there lose a few pounds, so even if you killed me and my girls, by the time your done, the law will be hot on your heels." To be honest, I didn't actually know Commissioner Armor, I did however know his wife. She came into Scratches bar a few times, while her hubby was on a case and couldn't make it home. I'm surprised she remained faithful, drunken atmosphere, and I didn't once see her spare anyone a flirty glance. Goody-two-shoes. 

We became decent enough friends to exchange numbers, the message I had prepared had the address of The Griffon, the text read: "Cadence! Those killers Armor's been looking for; Flim and Flam r at my brothel -BTW I own a brothel-" I never did tell her did I? "get your husband to this address ASAP B4 they kill me!" . So needless to say, if I hit send, Flim and Flam's asses would be grass. It was a long shot, but it was all I had.

"You must be bluffing, you wouldn't dare. Your life is utter forfeit if you send him those!"

"You willing to take that chance, Flim?" I teased.

"Damn you woman, I'm not Fl-" I interrupted him be feigning the pressing of the button. The two jumped as I did, Flam tried to reach over and swipe it. Having anticipated as such, I brought my arm back and raised it, a smirk on my face. I had them by the balls now.

"Willing to hear out my offer then boys?" They didn't like it, but they weren't getting away now, heh heh. "I worked hard to get this place you know." Yeah, I was gonna monologue.  I had the attention of two notorious outlaws, I figured I might as well milk it. "For two years, even though I had more then sufficient funds to live comfortably for a while, I lived like a drifter. All for this." I swung my arms around for emphasis.

"I will do anything I possibly can to keep this place alive, as long as it is structurally sound, and I am alive. Understand me?" They did, I could see that much. I could also tell that they were getting impatient. Flim voiced his disconcern first.

"Very inspiring story miss, one for readers digest, truly. But if you would be so kind as to hurry this along."

Hmph. "Notice something about this place when you came in? Something lacking? The girls. I only have ten girls. I built this place to hold a minimum of twenty. I'm not asking for money, I'll earn that in time. I'm asking you... to help me get workers for my cathouse." There it was, my offer was on the table, all I needed was for these devils to sign the dotted line.

"You... want Flam and myself... to be scouts for you whorehouse?" I snapped from that comment.

"This is not some stupid little 'whorehouse' this is my home! I don't expect either of you to understand how I feel about this place, or what I went through to get it. All I'm asking, is that you help me keep this place alive, and prospering, like no other brothel before!" I revealed a little more about myself than I intended, but I guess it worked, I could see they were considering the idea.

"... And what pray tell, little birdie, in this... arrangement benefits us?" 

"Flim raises a wise point. How do you intend to earn, let alone keep our trust?"

Well they were -albeit weakly- rhyming again... I guess that's a good sign?...  "I own a brothel numb-nuts, you'll have access to any girls that work for me, any booze I own; with set limits and supervision by me, all for free. Imagine tonight, but more, and for the foreseeable future. In return, I won't point the cops your way."

They whispered amongst themselves for several minutes, I couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but I gave them their privacy. First sign of trust right? They looked me in the eye, Flam (I guess he's a kind of leader of the two) spoke, in business type talk. No rhyme.

"Miss Gilda. You are commendable I must say, not everyone can out wit the Flim-Flam brothers. Luring us here, the pictures, sabotaging our vehicle, hell, you even have a contingency plan if things didn't turn out well for you." Well shit, he gave me a little more credit than I actually deserved, but I wasn't gonna tell him otherwise.

"We do not care about you, your businesses, and we especially do not like you. But damn it all, we respect you. Your promise of pleasures is great, only a foolish man would turn a valuable deal like this down. We will accept your terms." Holy shit! I beat the legendary Flim-Flam Bro-

"BUT. Be forewarned. You have no way of trusting us, as we you. Believe me, however, when I say that when my brother and I make a commitment. It's for life. We have never betrayed one of our own, if we left, or they did, we reached an understanding without bloodshed. Tis the gentelman's way. Very rarely, did things turn out ...unpleasant, we will not betray you. As you better not betray us."

Oh. Fuck.

Couldn't let them see my nervousness though, so I shrugged it off. "Tch, of course not. I don't exactly believe you, but to prove my commitment." I selected the respective pictures, and -which looking back could have been the death of me- I deleted them. "There. All gone."

It was Flim's turn now.

"Hm. You think that means anything? It it obvious we will be frequenting this abode quite often, at any point if you wanted, you could sell us out." Perceptive bastard... "I'll say this once and only once little birdie. Do NOT fuck us." 

There was something so... chilling about those words. They held a deadly promise, one I couldn't dare to break. I was in it for the long haul now. For better or worse, I pretty much just signed my life away.

And I didn't regret it one bit.

"Wouldn't dream of it... partners."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And that's the story of how I came to own my lovely little slice of heaven. But I can see, your still curious ain't ya? It's about how I acquired me girls isn't it? Specifically, those five. Well we open in a few, and I have to make a call to some friends of mine, so you'll have to come back later.

You can see yourself out.
 
> Deal With The Devil
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

You actually came back? Guess curiosity got the better of you huh? I suppose you're here because you wanna know about my hiring process, and those permanent girls I mentioned before right? Alright dude, pop a squat again, and I'll tell you how I came to possess- I mean "hire", my main five.

Last time, in my epic life story if you don't remember, I had just sold my soul to the devil. Devils whatever. Flim and Flam, two psychotic brothers who I agreed to let them work for me in exchange for not selling their location out to the cops. Yeah, it was pretty badass. Initially I was, rightfully, concerned working with them, they did attempt to murder me after all, and what Flim said that night stuck with me for a while:... "Do NOT fuck us".

I made sure never to do anything that could be misconstrued, as betrayal, I wasn't exactly friendly, but I made sure not to piss them off. Had my girls in tip-top shape for their bi-daily visits, whenever they needed something, substances, money or otherwise, I forked it over, it was one of the few times in my life I actually played something safe on a consistent basis.

I didn't like it either.

They did, surprisingly well I might add, turned up some pretty good candidates for the Griffon, all were eighteen or older, no known criminal records, some of them were either down on their luck types, looking for a way to earn some money so they don't starve, at least two were runaways. There was one that they brought in one day, total daddies girls, weird name too, had the word "Cloud" in it. She had come to Nevada from Montana for excitement, and a chance to get out see life and seize it (she is from Montana though, can you blame her?).

The tricky part, was actually hiring them. 

Obviously not every ordinary average girl is going to jump on the offer to work in a sex house, anticipating my concerns with their whatever their recruiting methods could have been, Flim and Flam never really clarified how they got girls, said "Magician don't reveal secrets and neither do we." Dicks.

Flim and Flam never told the girls what job they were applying for, they just said that I could "potentially" help them find work, if they were looking. They fixed me up an office at an old hideout, to keep up appereances, they said the location was, "nostalgic" for them. Not every girl joined up, obviously, I could respect that, but a good number did, girls left and girls stayed after a while, like normal, but the amount of girls they were able to round up, well over shadowed those I lost. By the end of three months working with the Flim-Flam Brothers I had raised my playmate count from that lame ten, to a pretty rad twenty-two, and my monthly income with it.

Business carried on like this for about year. Griffon's Cathouse had now been open for two and a half at this point.

Business was steady. At this point, I had acquired more than several dozen weekly, or bi-monthly at the longest regular customers. Not all just men. My stock of booze increased, I was able to get better toys for the adventurous types, even outfits for the playmates. Every Christmas, they girls had their choice of dressing up as sexy elves, or Santa's little helpers, Halloween they had the basics, seductive vampires, hot zombies, hell I even got them Leprechaun lingerie for St. Patties day. 

And yet still something was missing. 

Granted I was a still relatively fresh business, and the brothers still were able to get some decent girls, but there would still be days; albeit very rare, where we'd have no business, and our only customers, were our established regulars. It bugged me, I wanted customers in here all the time, new, old, tourist, cheating spouse, politician, hell I would have taken experimenting couples at this point!

I voiced my concerns to Flim and Flam one day, during one of our bi-daily meetings; a  Wednesday I think. We were at a booth in the back, I made sure to close up shop whenever we talked, could never be too safe. They sat and listened to what I had to say, and when I was finished they gave each other a glance. I don't have siblings, so I guess being able to read each other like that is a family thing. Flim spoke up first, and I knew it was him, because around the time of our second meeting, I made one wear a solid red, and the other a solid blue shirt so I could identify them easier; Flim was blue, Flam was red.

"You are... absolutely certain, your current standings aren't satisfactory enough?" This simple question both uneased and irritated me. Uneased because, very rarely did either of them seem... doubtful, or even conflicted when it came to our business. The irritation was more a prominent force because, I thought I made this exceptionally fucking clear, that I was going to succeed, any damn way that I could! So I replied as such.

"No shit Flim. Things are only 'fine' right now, I need them to be off-the-charts, balls-to-the-wall epic! We're making enough money to where I can pay my girls respectable wages, the two of you can fart around as you please, and I can go to sleep with I nice chunk of change as my pillow. What I want to be able to pay my girls enough money so that they feel more inclined to stay, you guys can still do as you wish, and I, can sleep soundly, knowing I turned a bitchin' profit." I really don't like having to talk to these guys in whining tangents, but I swear that it's the only way it gets through their heads.

Flim spoke again, "Please try to see this from our perspective too, as you know, Flam and myself run a very risky business. He and I are not the ones that find these women for you, if we just walked around all nilly-willy with a feather in our caps, the authority would surely find us quick. That is why our lackeys are roaming the streets, even then this is a difficult practice, can you assume correctly how many men we have employed?"

Damn, good question. Come to think of it, the only time I ever saw someone they referred to as "One of The Dogs", there was three of them. They... honestly they looked like ordinary dudes you'd see on the street. Was this part of their strategy? More importantly, why do I give a shit? I had no damn clue, so I just guessed. "Ah hell I don't know... given how big Carson is... hundred?"

They fucking laughed at me. To add boredom to injury, Flam went into detail.

"You have far to many digits madam, I'll save you the trouble of guessing however and tell you. Under our command, we have but a single group of twelve men."

Wait- what!?

"TWELVE!?" I jumped up from the table, slamming my hands down from the shock. "You mean to tell me all the money you've stolen across the state and probably others, the people you've hurt, kidnapped, and have killed, was done by just the two of you, and twelve men?" They sat there for a few seconds looking up at me, my voice most likely still ringing in their ears Flim responded to my outburst.

"Dogs travel in pacts 'tis a fact, only alphas my join our pact. Average Joe's like you or I turned into savage beasts, anything less, and they will die. Wild dogs, our pack at our beck and call, our Calvary, with us at the head..." 

"And if you cross Flim and Flam, on you, the pack will descend". Flam finished with a teasing, yet still sinister smirk.

I wasn't about to let these assholes get to me.

"Nice slogan, was there a point to-" Flam cut me off before I could ask the same question you'd probably have at this point.

"But of course little birdie. We are not the true alphas Flim and I, everyone serves somebody, it is a simple fact of life, we serve a higher power." Clearly they weren't talking about God. At least I hoped not. "His empire is vast, and ever growing, Flim and I I are just like our Dogs, just pieces of his puzzle, moving and acting as he see's fit." Oh fuck, were they talking about their twisted version of God!?

"Flam is not wrong madam. His reach stretches from the core of Manhattan, the Ozarks of the South, the sunny beaches of California, all the way down to the slums of Mexico." No... they could't have be referring to- "In short, we understand you want "stay-at-home-whores" as it were, we can help.  A few calls can be made, information can be acquired, strings pulled. Lives may get ruined, but as we all know, you are by no means a stranger to those extremes to get what you desire."

At this point he rose at an eerily slow pace from his seat as he spoke. Not gonna lie, I got a mild case of the shakes then.

"Your business will flourish, by your will any woman you want; we will acquire. Sensitive knowledge will be your leverage, this whore house of yours, shall will transform into your own personal Shangri-La." At this point he was eye level with me, smirk still on his face. "For anything is possible... when you work for Sombra."

Sombra... anything bad you can think of, that man has done it. Extortion, smuggling, drugs, kidnapping, murder, all the above. I had thought he strictly operated out of Florida. Further explanation from Flim and Flam at later points in time would shed some light on the infamous almost-terrorist, but that's not important. What was important was that I didn't sign my soul to the devil like I thought I had. No, more like a partnership with Azrael and Judas. Sombra, was the true devil in this equation.

I could have backed out, said no, tried something anything else. I didn't. I could've tried to get by on my own. I didn't. These weren't just two psychopaths with weird personal tastes, they were direct lackeys to Sombra himself, probably knew him personally. I was digging my hole deeper down, and all for what? A brothel in the middle of Nevada!? This was nuts, I was nuts. Yet as I looked around my home that day, I saw the blood, sweat and tears I put into this place.

The two years of waiting. The nine mile walk. That night under the stars. Was I really going to trade it all away? 

No. I couldn't. Not now, after two and a half years of successful business. So now I've gone from working with just two Legion of Doom rejects, to working with the human equivalent of AM. All for my brothel that I cheated, fought for, and built.

For better or worse, I didn't regret a thing.


> Twilight's Admission
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I met the egg-head first.

It was an average Sunday, in November, where it should be raining, but for some stupid reason is sunny type of day. At my faux office, about four days after Turkey day for me, and Thanksgiving for the nerds. It was pretty boring around here, Griffon's Cathouse had been closed for four days, and would be closed until tomorrow, so the girls had time to visit their families. Ain't I sweet? Since I was alone, and Candy Crush could go fuck itself right now, I had some time think about these recent developments in my life, so I propped my feet up on the desk like a boss, and did just that...

Been 'bout two months since Flim and Flam said they could get me "additional resources", to help them, help me "convince" the girls they brought in, to stay here on a more permanent basis. Said resources, came in the form of contacts, and information. Sombra has people all over, and now with just a phone call, I can ask them to send some ladies my way. Also, with a new string of contacts, as long as I keep up on my monthly fees, no one will bat an eye to our border-line sex trafficking. It's not really that though. Not really.

The Dogs, or anybody Sombra has over here, will approach incoming ladies at the airport, or on the street (hey, Japan does it!),any girl that may be trying to find work, they send them my way under the pretense that I'm some kind of job finder... person. I interview the girls, gather useful information about them with my "getting to know you personally", spiel, and if I see one I like, or would be good for a permanent basis, I have Flim and Flam follow them. To scope out their living space, or see if anyone they no could be useful to my recruiting methods.

I, and only I, have the final say in whether or not Flim, Flam, and myself put the squeeze on them with our acquired blackmail, and force them to cooperate. The actual "Squeezing" is handled be Sombra's men, covertly, and quietly. So far, it hasn't happened. Much. Even that, I have the final say in how far they go, and who I say remains permanent. Hey as long as I don't get my hands dirty.

So far, even though I met quite a few babes that had interesting personalities, and varied between sexy, cute, beautiful, with even more diversity when it came to the size of their breasts, I never found any woman that fit the bill of "Griffon's Cathouse: Long-Time Main Attraction:... Such-and-Such!". 

That's where they came in. And funnily enough, as I was pondering the way my life turned out, that's when she came in.

*Knock Knock*

"It ain't locked!" Slowly the doorknob turned, and the door opened a crack.  No one came in for a few seconds, and I swear I heard someone taking a breath, probably trying to get a hold on their nerves. Understandable. Could be her first interview, or maybe she's trying not to think about messing up, been their before. Understanding that, however, doesn't mean I'm a patient person.

"I don't have all day man, you coming in or what?" From the crack in the door, peaked out a dark head. Took me a few seconds to realize it was her hair.

"Excuse me, uh, miss. Are you by chance Gilda Hof?"

"That's what the sign says on the door." I pointed out. The woman turned her head for a quick look at the door in question.

"... There's no sign though..." Shit they haven't put that on yet. Dammit, now its awkward.

"Did you come here for something, lady?" Said lady got a small cross look on her face, but quickly removed it.

"Yes, I was told if someone was looking for work, that your the prime place to go for help." Oh am I.

"Well they didn't lie. Come on in so I'm not talking to a head for the next few minutes." She got a look of awareness for a second.

"Oh! Right, of course, that probably would help wouldn't it?" Did it ever. After a nervous chuckle, she finally stepped into the office, I was finally able to get a good look at this chick, and if you want my honest opinion. Not bad.

You're curious to know what she was wearing? Seems like a trivial detail, but alright... weirdo.

Well, honestly, the way she was dressed, you'd think she was a CEO or something. She came in with a light brown backpack over her left shoulder, and she was wearing one of those jackets meant for women; the ones that are meant to be left unbuttoned, so they can wear an undershirt underneath. The jacket was, what'd Wikipedia call this... nobility purple? Under it she paired it with a white, suit-type undershirt and, get this, a fucking TIE.Who the hell was her mom, Stephanie McMahon? I ask that, cause she finished it off with those business-y slacks, and black heels; and as a cherry on top, she had a nice, light natural tan to her skin.

Me likey.

The other thing  I took notice of was how she carried herself. She walked over to my desk tall, not in height, I'm like, a foot taller than her, I mean, back straight, shoulders cocked, head held high, eyes nervous for sure, but not a single quiver of uncertainty, she meant business. Last thing that really stood out was this funky little necklace she was wearing, the design was this weird star shape, I couldn't place the symbol to anything I had seen.

Maybe she was a Wyken or something. Would explain the hair. Oh yeah the hair, ok really quick, out of my permanent five, I like her hair the most. It's long, naturally straight, almost reaches her damn waist! It had these two highlights in it, a dark purple one that faded into her light purple hair, and right next to it was a pink one, speaking of purple again, her eyes were an odd looking, but attractively looking... violet eyes, I think? Maybe she's related to Elizabeth Taylor. 

She walked over to the chair I had in front of the desk, sat down, crossed her right leg over her left, swung the bag over her shoulder, and set in on her lap unzipping it the process, all in almost one fluid motion. I didn't care if I did end up not liking her as a person, I liked her look, and I only said like, ten words to her. She pulled some folder out of her backpack and handed it to me.

"Here you are." I looked at the folder, than back at her, not knowing what to do.

"What's this for?" Her eyes darted to the right then back at me, and answered in an explanational, and mildly inquisitive tone.

"My resume?... Your going to need that for the interview right? O-or is one not required?" She set in motion to put it back. "I'm so sorry! I should have asked first, and not made assumptions." 

What was her problem? Technically it was my bad. Then she starts grumbling to herself.

"Great, made a fool of yourself, in the first five seconds...

"Uh, dude? It's ok calm down, I just wasn't expecting one, most people that come through here don't have one, at least not the first meeting." She turned her head back up at me.

"Really? That's so unprofessional though! How have they gotten hired if they come so ill-equipped?" 

"Because I hire them." I deadpanned. "Or someone else does, what's your deal? You're going to get a hernia acting so uptight!"

"I think you mean aneurysm" Ok... getting a little annoying, figured I better lay some pressure on her.

"Are you here for my help? Or are you going to keep being all, critical like?" She let out a sigh, and her eyes went downcast.

"I'm sorry Miss Hof, it's just... well no doubt you've heard this line before but, I just am really in dire need of a job right now. I was acting unprofessional just now, I apologize." Well at least she's a polite little thing.

"Forget about it, doesn't matter now. Fork that resume over, let me take a look at who I'm dealing with" She perked back up a little bit.

"Oh, certainly!" Re-taking the folder out of her bag, she handed it to me, I swiped it and opened it up.

"Mind if I as you some questions? Just so I can try understand you better as a person," I gestured with the folder, "and not as just a worker."

"Oh. Very well then, ask what you feel you need to Miss Hof."

"Just Gilda, if you please. I know I'm 'miss business worker person', but this is a non-formal environment."

"Are you certain? I really have no issue with-"

"Well I do, so please." Her lips tightened at that.

"As you wish then." That's better.

"Thanks." I flipped through the resume, seemed decent enough of a person, said she's had many types of jobs before, explained she works good solo, but in a group can be a natural leader. Confident. Underneath the resume, I noticed there was what looked like a, it was a degree from... Cal Poly!? Even back in Pennsylvania, Cal Poly is known as like, the place to go for an engineering education. The fuck is she doing here? In Nevada? I figured by this point, I should really get her name. "So what do you go by?" She was silent for a few seconds.

"Um... I'm sorry, 'go by'?" Oh you gotta be-

"Your name?..." This woman...

"Oh! Yes, how silly of me, *ahem* my name is, Twilight Sparkle." 

Twilight... SPARKLE??? I thought that couldn't have been her real name, I mean its... well come on, her last name is fucking Sparkle?? Twilight I could accept, I was still holding out on the Wyken background, but Sparkle???

She said it so proudly too, smiling and closing her eyes while doing it, successfully looking cute. Pretty face, compliant with authority, there was one small detail I was curious about, given her smart, but also professional (well trying to be) attitude, I decided to test a theory, and see if this chick is perfect for the job.

"Uh, excuse me... Twilight, I unfortunately don't know what this word means on your resume, your vocabulary kicks mines ass." I gestured to some random part of the piece of paper, and showed her.

She leaned forward to get a closer look. Come on...
She gently took the paper from my hand, and moved it a little closer to her face. Yessss...
She squinted. Please be right intuition!
She reached back into her backpack, keeping one finger placed on the spot she was on. ...
And pulled out a magenta colored case. !
Opening it to reveal a pair of light purple glasses, to which she put on, resting on the bridge of her nose. Fuck yeah, called it! I actually found her... the first installment to my 'main attraction'!

All too perfect...

"... You don't know what 'responsible' means?" Oh, woops.

"Oooh, 'responsible', I thought it read... responstable."

"... Miss Gilda, 'responstable' isn't a word." Shit, um...

"So anyway," I swiped it back. "what brings you here? I noticed your degree, nice school, how'd you wind up in Nevada?" Get her talking, build "trust", find a weakness.

"I have family here actually! My brother works... well, he used to work in the police force."

"Really? What was his position? Private? Phone operator? Doughnut buyer?" No laugh. Damn, I thought that was a little funny.

"He uh... was ranked a Commissioner ..." 

"Oh. Well um, that's pretty cool! How long he been working it?"

"Uh.. he work...ed. F-for about... eight years."

I noticed she progressively got more and more bummed, it was bugging me.

"Something happen to him, Sparkle?"

*Sniff* The hell?

*Sniff* This time, what sounded like choking accompanied it.

"I-I'm sorry, it's just... nevermind, this isn't important." Oh I think this is very important miss Twilight.

"Whatever it is, it's almost got ya cryin', so it must be important to you. I realize we did just meet and all but, well, you can tell me. If you want to that is." Damn, I'm bad at this, luckily in her state, she didn't notice my shit comforting.

"Y-you um... i-it wouldn't bother you, if I talked about it? D-during the interview?" It might, if you keep stalling.

"Not at all, Sparkle. Let it out. it's good for you."

"..."

"..."

"He..." She looked at me, eyes watered, still trying to be strong. "H-he..."

"Hmm?"

"H-h-he, well,... um... he..."

Jeez what was it? Did he di-

"He was k-killed." 

...

Well, I'm going to hell.

"H-he was following the t-trail of these, c-crime... people, I don't know who, always said it was 'confidential'" she let out an almost forced chuckle, which caused some tears to escape. "and for our protection. I guess he was right... doesn't matter now though, I'm already here." She wiped some tears from her eyes with her sleeved fingers, gripping said sleeve.

"I'm sorry... I can't even imagine what that must have been like for you." I literally can't.

"It's fine, I guess... his widow, oh, my poor sis-in-law... I couldn't just leave her down here all by herself, after we heard, we packed and left that day." Her resolve in her refusal to break down, was something commendable. She had ruined what was a routine interview, mostly, but just gave me something very valuable. 

"You down here with your parents I'm assuming then yeah?" Had to get her spirits up somehow.

But nope! Only made it worse. Then she really did start to sob, head in her hands and everything.

"T-that's just it Gilda! O-our pa-parents passed away almost t-ten years ago!" Seriously!?

"Oh... um,... how, if I may ask?" I almost felt bad, did feel stupid, for asking that one.

"C-car collision..." Not accident, "collision". This girls had it rough. There's one thing though...

"You said we? As in you and..." At this prompt she allowed herself a tiny smile. At least now too, the sobbing had stopped for now.

"My brother... my... my little brother. Poor Spike... he's too young to see as much death as he has." Spike, huh? Let's hear about him.

"Good kid?" She made eye contact again, strength returning.

"Oh yes, bright little boy. No... no, he's a young man now. Our brother was quite older than me, I was my parents last child." Huh? As if anticipating my next question, she explained.

"I was about ten when he came into the family, big brother was quite older than me like I said, we were sixteen years apart. In two years, he would leave California, and some how, he found his way here, then another two until he joined the force. Spike was an orphan at the time when we found him. Poor kid didn't have a home, he was six  Gilda... and just, wandering the streets, scrapping for food."

"How's that possible? The kid just had shitty parents right?" I hoped anyway.

"We don't even know that... when we asked him to stay with us for a while, he practically tackled me to the ground in a hug. We looked for two months straight, police, neighborhood, everyone else just thought he was an unsupervised kid. I remember to this day, until I die, those nights he's ask me if they found his parents, a sibling, or anything... I always had told him no. We weren't his real family, he knew that. Never called Mom and Dad as such... but we tried our best to just... give him something. And I know he loved us for that."

Shit man... that's a lot to take in. I started to put the pieces together, she wasn't trying to get this job for herself, she has to support her little brother, and now her sister-in-law on top of that... thought I had it rough during my two years.

"When Mom and Dad died, I was all Spike had, my BBBFF left-"

"Your what?"

"Oh, sorry, it was a silly little nickname I gave him, it stands for: Big Brother Best Friend For Ever."

"Oh." All I really could say to that...

"Anyway, he had already left a few years prior, it was hard trying to raise Spike. I was thirteen when they died, Spike was nine, with my big brother gone, we just stayed with one of our aunts. Spike recently... I feel we've drifted apart. A few years ago, we finally moved out of our aunts house to our own apartment, I thought it'd go over good but, he talked to me less and less, got irritable easier... we got into a fight a few days ago and... well, anyway, that's what was bugging me so..." Very informative Sparkle. Thanks.

"What was your older brothers name?" A sigh from Twilight later:

"Armor. Shinning Armor Sparkle. It suited him well."

Holy shit! Cadences husband? Cadence, and Sparkle... Armor, what! My head just about exploded! I had no idea Armor bit it. Maybe F&F had something to do with this...

"Well Sparkle, this was... something. I'll hold onto your resume, look around the available jobs there may be, and give you a call tomorrow."

"B-but Gilda!" She stood up to protest. "I don't really think this was a very convince-"

"Hey." My calm firmness shut her up. "I understand your situation, well as much as I physically can, and I want to help you. Not just because it's my job. I promise. I will have an opening for you tomorrow." Damn, I almost convinced myself.

"A-are you sure miss- Gilda!" Heh, what a dork.

"Of course. Now get outta here, sounds like you have somewhere you need to be." I even gave her a reassuring smile.

"O-oh. Thank you! Thank you so much!!" She all but sprinted out of the room. Good thing her number was on the resume, I forgot to ask. After she left  I grabbed my phone to- ah sweet full lives on Candy Crush- make a call. But not before Sparkle burst open my door.

"Thank you again!!"

"Goodbye Sparkle."

"K!"

Finally. I went to my contacts, went to "F" and clicked on "FF".
...

...

...

...

"Flim speaking."

"You see that girl that just walked out of here?"

"How could we? Do you think we just sit idly outside, waiting for you to summon us?"

"Honestly, yeah."

"... Damn."

"Follow her. I got all the info I need from our talk, so find where she lives, and snap me a picture of the location."

"Why would-"

"I wanna test a theory I got. Now get going." *CLICK*

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning at 8:30 sharp, I gave Miss Sparkle a call, letting her know that I found her a position somewhere, and to meet me at my office at 10:30 a.m. I also gave Flim and Flam a call, to be waiting outside my office door by at least, 10:35 a.m. To say I was nervous would be an understatement, I finally found a "Main Attraction", for The Griffon! This girl has it all, good body, probably is pleasant with people most of the time, and as a plus she's got the sexy-business thing going on.

I could put her in one of those way-too-short; form fitting teacher outfits, give her a giant ruler to hold, as long as she keeps a pleasant attitude, all should go over well. "Pleasant attitude", I'm going to make her work in a brothel, she's going to be moody for quite sometime.

At 10:29, I was just waiting for any second at this point for her to show up, given what I learned about her yesterday, I wondered how punctual she'd actually-

*Knock Knock" 10:30 on the dot... Good lord.

"It's about as locked as it was yesterday." No peeking of the head out of the crack of the door this time, now she practically jumped in the freakin' room. Different clothes today too, not nearly as formal, some generic purple t-shirt, nice blue jeans, and what I think, were black and purple Pumas. All topped off with an un-zipped sweatshirt, I think it was for a singer or something, I'm only assuming, cause I have no idea who Devin Townsend is...

"Well well well! You're in a better mood than yesterday Sparky." She plopped down in the chair, like the other day.

"Oh I am Gilda! I can't tell you how much I appreciate this- Sparky?"

"Yeah, nickname I decided to give you. Don't like it?" Didn't care if she did or not honestly.

"No, no it's fine. I don't mean to sound rude, but, about the job?"

"Oh yeah, you wanted one of those right?" I teased. She took it in stride and rolled her eyes jokingly.

"Yes Gilda."

"Heh, alright, no more screwing around. I just need to know a few things, before I take you to meet your -possible- future employer."

"Ask away." From my pocket I pulled a folded up, now unfolded, piece of paper with my pre-planned questions

"All righty then. First question. Are you prepared to do whatever your employer asks of you?"

"Yes." Determined look, not a second to pause, and no questioning my intentionally poorly worded question. Good.

"The business you are applying for, will require you to spend time away from home for an extended period of time. Will your brother, who is eighteen if I remember right, be safe by himself, wherever your current residence is?" Eyes went downcast, she had to think for a second.

"I want to say no... but he is eighteen now, yes. He'll be able to take care of himself, depending how long I have to be away, I'll leave him what little money I can, he's had very little luck finding work. Will my boss let me, at least, call Spike once in a while? Even if all we did was bicker on the phone the whole time, as long as I know he's ok, that's enough." Hm... I'll have to work some way around that, but should be ok.

"I'll have to check, but should be no problem." She brightened up a little, and put on a small smile.

"Thanks."

"Next question. What is your opinion on gayness." She quirked an eybrow.

"Gay-ness?... Like, what do I think of gay people?"

"Precisely. Just so they know, in case there is a gay worker or two there, they want to make sure it'll be a productive environment, despite personal beliefs." Also, cause I may need you to "expand you horizons", in the future. She put a finger to her chin in thought, then replied accordingly.

"I support them. Not like, go to a rally, or protest for them, but if I was asked if I want to let them get married, or raise kids, I'd say yeah, even  if I didn't however, I would still act professional ."

"That's cool. Just cause I'm curious, don't feel you have to answer, but what's you orientation?" She looked a little weirded out.

"An awfully personal question isn't it?"

"Hey, like I said, you don't have to answer." She thought for a bit again.

"Honestly, I don't really know. I've never... experimented or anything like that, but my first boyfriend was- well a boyfriend. I've always been so focused on my future and Spike, I never had time to think about anything like that." No wonder why she was so tense...

"Well hey, you know, you're still young. There's time for that."

"I suppose..."

Ok, now... the big one, and please God, let this work. "Ok, next question... are you a virgin?"

"I- WHAT!?" Shit!

"Hey, I didn't write these questions! He or she wants to know if you've ever-" 

"Why would they need to know that!?"... That's a legitimate question. Note to self, must revise. Or have better excuses planned.

"They just want to know if you are one is all." Oh that sucked, and she was getting more and more pissed. Crossing her arms, she probed again.

"I fail to see how whether or not I've made love, has to do with applying for a damn job!"

'Made love??' Great, either she is a virgin, or she looks at sex as something special. Either way, no good.

"I understand the question on homosexuality, but this is just way too personal!"

"Look, if you are, or aren't, it doesn't affect whether or not you get the job. See-" I was grasping at microscopic straws with this, "they asked this because, they view it as a sign of trust." She cocked a brow at that, still looking cross.

"It is and intimate question, true enough, but so was your opinion on homosexuality, they ask these because they believe that if you can trust them with such private details, they in turn will trust you, with their most, uh... important... stuff." Lost it a bit near the end, but I think I sold it.

"... Trust?" Oooh!

"Yep. To some, its almost, if not just, as valuable as any material possession, or it's as sought after as money. To be able to really, truly, trust someone. It's not something given out easy. This question, though admittedly could sound dubious," was that the right word? "is their way of saying... 'trust us'" Please, please, plea-

"Wow... I have never thought of it like... that. I don't really feel comfortable with answering but, if they want proof that I'll commit. Then no. No, I am not a virgin." Hell yeah! This chick is mine!

"Thank you Twilight, I'm sure that was a little hard for you to answer." 

"Is that the last one?"

"Yes it is actually. All that's left-" Reaching into one of my drawers, I took out a contract I had written up in advance, in case I found a perfect candidate, "is to sign on the dotted line." Pulling out her glasses again, still looked cute, she took the contract and read it over. I took this moment to speak. "All this contract says is that, the employer will give you your check at the end of every pay period, like normal work, and while they aren't responsible for any accidents that may or can befall you, they will compensate for your injuries. Also that whatever they want you to do, is one-hundred percent legal."

Which it is.

"What do you think Sparky? Will you take the job?"

"... ... This thing has a lot of grammar errors, who wrote this?" Oh you little-

"Oh, uh, a um, friend of mine. Is it that bad?"

"Honestly I'd have rather you just told me then handed me the contract. Would have explained a lot more."

Well, we wouldn't have been good pals anyway.

"I'll have to give them shit for it..." Grammar nazi...

Before I could sulk anymore she handed me back the contract. All signed and ready to go.

"Perfect Sparkle, perfect. Let's go meet your employer, yeah?" She stood up then exclaimed: 

"Alright! Let's go!" She headed for the door, grabbed the knob and was about to open it, when she noticed I wasn't following her, she turned around in confusion.

"Uh Gilda? You coming? I want to go meet my new boss!" Now the fun part, I was waiting for this all day.

"You already have." Now bewilderment.

"Huh?"

"It's me. Imma hire you Sparky." Now shock.

"O-oh my- you're my boss now!?" I was gonna say duh, but now she was at my desk, hands slammed on the top. "Why didn't you tell me!?"

"Cause."

"My goodness, this is great!" Wait what? "Given how you handled yourself, y-you must be real veteran when it comes to running a business. I could learn so much from you!" Wait what? I was not about to take her on as a protege.

"Uh, Twilight?"

"This is too perfect, I'll be able to put Spike through college in a few years, and be able to learn from my new fross!"

"Look, Sparkle, this ain't- 'fross'?"

"It's friend plus boss!" FRIEND? Ha ha ha... I don't think so Sparkle.

"You want your job or not!?" That quieted her down a little. She readjusted her sweatshirt, and sat back down, clearing her throat.

"Yes, of course." The fuck, is she bi-polar??

"Now. The place I'm going to have you work, is everything I asked, you'll have to be away from home, I will let you make calls to Spike however, so don't worry about that."

"Ok. So where, and when, do I start?"

"The name of my business..." I smirked. "Is called 'Griffon's Cathouse'." Her pupils got sooo incredibly small.

"C-cathouse?" Ooo the quiver that was in the voice... "Like. Cleaning bathrooms or something right?"

"Oh-ho-ho no Sparky, I mean, I want you to be a playmate." She was visibly shaking now, I think she was starting to figure me out. To late now though, smarty pants.

"You want me to be a prostitute!?" She stood as she accused.

"It is not 'prostitution'! That shit's illegal. Owning a brothel... is not."

"Why me though!?" She was backing down, towards the door. Hopefully Flim and Flam were in position. I decided to be creepy for once, so I stood up, a little to slow for comfort as I talked.

"Cause you're perfect for it Sparky. Your looks? Pretty as all hell. You've got a certain sex appeal that is very rare. You look good without even trying. I don't know of a single woman who could pull off professional-hot as good as you do. Plus, you're smart; book smart. Men love women like you." I was now stalking, yeah, stalking towards her.

"At The Griffon, your character will be that one fantasy, I know for a fact, everyone has. The smart, but hot, snarky but willing, a simultaneously uptight, and loose, person. You'll be every school boy's, or business man's dream come true." I cornered her at the wall, and put my left arm right next to her head to block her exit. She was looking down at the floor now; terrified at this point.

"You'll get paid enough for yourself, and Spike, make no mistake. More importantly though, you'll help make me rich." I took my right arm, and used my index finger to lift her chin up to look me in the eyes. "And maybe... depending how you behave... I'll give your skills a 'personal' evaluation."

Her eyes widened in fear, and in one quick motion, she elbowed me in the gut, fuck that hurt!, hard enough to where I instinctively grasped at my stomach as I lost my breath, and opened the door. Last time she'll catch me off  guard. Luckily for me, Flim and Flam came through, and just as she opened the door, they came into view. Not wasting a second, they shoved her back in the room, hitting the floor.

"Well what have we here, O, brother of mine?" Goddammit Flam...

"Looks to me, a brothel draft dodger. Nice choice Gilda, she'll do just fine." 

"Wh-what the hell is going on!? Who are you two!?" She, in a panic, backed herself into my desk.

"I am known as Flam."

"I am his brother Flim. Pleasure to meet you madam." Her eyes widened at their intro. Honestly, it wasn't my favorite of theirs either.

"F-Flim and Flam! The gangsters!"

"Now dear, the term is rather barbaric I think. Flam and I, just prefer to be called good old outlaws. Has a more of an, honorable feel to it does it not?"

"Hardly! Your murderers, the worst scum their is!" She was tough, no doubt. Wrong time to grow a set though, as Flim so menacingly put it.

"Now now, you'd do best to refrain from getting bothered and hot. Your life is already dangerously close to ending."

"Years from now, how will young Spike feel, if you can't attend his wedding?" She let out a gasp.

"Or rather Flam, maybe she can make it to that metaphorical wedding. He however, cannot."

"No! How could you had..." She looked at me. "YOU!" Well, she officially hated me.

"Now Sparky... I told you to call me Gilda." I let out one last laugh and smirk.

"Go to hell!!! I trusted you!"

"Well rule one in life kid, never trust strangers. Thought you'd known that, ha ha. Flim, Flam, we've wasted enough time, give her some chloroform, and bring her to the Griffon." I turned around, and walked out the door, the last sounds I heard were her loud, then quiet screams. I let out a low chuckle, all the way down the hall.

The car ride proved uneventful, only thing that really happened was me asking Flam a question. Seriously, that's it.

"So. Where is she currently residing at?"

"Currently little Spark here, is living in the house of the widowed Cadenza-Sparkle. After the tragic end of Armor Sparkle, she has left the house very little. We have reason to believe, due to a combination of depression, and of course the shock of finding her beloved's body, she is now bedridden."

"Heavy. So be honest, did you two kill him?" They had to have.

"Sadly to say, we did not." WHAT!? "The circumstances to his demise, unlink us to the scene. We, would have never let anyone find the body. His body was found one night in his room, whiskey by his bed, gun on hand, blood everywhere, and a bullet through the head." So... suicide?

"You guys gave him that much trouble?"

"Of course not. He was a formidable foe, and we respected him. Caught plenty of our men, but always just missed us. He was tenacious, and determined. He was not, however a substantial enough threat to warrant systematically driving him insane."

Interesting...

Speaking of interesting, so was her call to Spike. I let her use the phone on my bitchin' podium up front, to call him. 

"Spike? H-hey little brother, it's Twilight- well I guess you assumed that, u-um, good news! I uh... I got a job... ... it's uh, in town. N-no I won't be home for dinner... for a while. This job I got... it..." She started to choke up again.

"I-I-I'll have to be away for a while, it's... it's a long distance, type of job... ... I um... I can't tell you... because, it- I... um... look, what it is doesn't matter, what does, is that I'll be away for a while, so it's up to you, to take care of Amore. Don't worry, I'll drop by in a day o-or two to drop off some money... ... I know... I'll be fine brother, don't worry about me, worry about yourself, and Amore... Lord knows I will..." She stopped talking for almost a solid minute, I'd started to wonder if he hung up or something. I noticed a small smile form on her face, as she finished the call up. I didn't rush her. Figured I owed her that much.

"I'm sorry too Spike, I should have... well, we'll talk all about it when I get back, some day... not soon, but not that far off either,I hope...  and then... maybe we can, I don't know... try and get to know each other, as siblings this time... I would too. Take care of her Spike, be safe... hm. Yeah, I know you will... I love you... ..." A single tear went down her cheek. "I know... I'm glad you do too. I... I-I have to go now Spike, take care... ok... bye." Finally.

"So, what'd lil bro have to say?." If looks could kill right then... "K. Nevermind. Well since, for all intensive purposes, this is your home now-"

"This place will never be my home."

"Just follow me, might as well get acquainted with the place anyway." 

I gave Sparkle a short tour, and I showed her to her room. Since she would be living here, I told her that at some point, under my supervision, I would take her browsing to customize it. When we did that weeks later, she was obviously still quite pissed with me, but once she found out she was spending MY money, she started buying a few room items, but mostly a shit load of books. She bought herself this really comfy looking purple, because of course purple, queen size bed... took a little out of her paycheck for that little item.

Her first few days, fucking sucked. She was irritable, nervous, and downright not pleasant company. I hadn't advertised her as a main attraction yet, I was going to let her get her bearings for a while. Good thing too, most of her customers said she was a good screw, but not much fun. I called her out on it, off-hours, gave her some reviews customers left, a few were ok, but a lot of them were... almost scolding. A random person, criticizing a playmate, just sounded too funny to me. She gave me another glare of death, and stormed off to her room. 

I tried talking with her about it, but that went about as well as you'd expect.

"What's the deal Sparkle? I realize these aren't exactly 'ideal' sex having conditions you're in, but remember what's at stake here."

"Look, Gilda, I don't know how many times you've made love in the past-" Sorry, but I couldn't take that anymore.

"SEX! It's called 'sex'! 'making love', is when actual 'love' is involved."

"It's the politically correct term!"

"It's fucking wimpy!" She rolled her eyes, beyond annoyed at this point, and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Regardless, nevermind the fact that I'm almost quite literally at gunpoint, being forced to sell my body for you, but I also have not made- I mean," she used air quotes for this one, " 'had sex' in quite a long time. I was seventeen when my virginity was taken.

Nice. "And?..."

"Not counting the last few days, I hadn't had sex since then!" 

"Oh... well how old are you now?" Gotta remember to ask that in the interview next time.

"I'm twenty-three." She deadpanned, like I was supposed to know!

"And you only had sex once!? How do you live!? That's like... uh... six- no, five years ago!" She smirked at that.

"Imagine how I feel! To experience such a, such a foreign feeling, especially one I haven't in half a decade, is just... it's unsettling, alien even!"

"... Ok... I see where you're coming from... and I'm not exactly happy about this... but I really only see one option to this."

"And what exactly, have you thought up now?"

I didn't just think it, I did what anyone would had done in my position. For her first few weeks, I forced her to smoke weed.

No, seriously. She didn't like it at all, but after a few hours of blazing; getting through the "first-timers cough", her initial doubts, all that annoying crap, she started to relax. I think I gave her a little to big a dose, cause after a while later in the day, she started to call me Roxanne... It was some grade A shit too, I got it from Flam, it really helped calm her down too, I took this opportunity to try and help her "loosen up". Not sex you idiot, I gave her a pep talk.

I walked her through the tricks of the trade; little things like, conversation, what kind of eye-contact to make, how to talk, walk, act. I made it a point to repeat this process with every new "Main Attraction", especially if they were going to be this much trouble.

Day thirteen, and I was able to keep track because at the end of every shift, she calls that fake brother of hers. I decided that she was good to go off the weed, and told her the next day, she was on her own. Ironically it was Christmas Eve, it was the first night that I can say she did everything perfect.

She walked it right, flirted just enough, given the fact that she was smart, I figured she'd learn fast, but damn! She pretty much mastered the looks, how to give subtle signals, everything! Tomorrow, as Christmas as a gift to myself, I debuted her as The Griffon's first "Main Attraction" package, with more coming soon.

There was just one problem, but I let her slide on it.

I think my lying to her, fucked her up, cause see, whenever we have no customers, or its off-hours, the girls are allowed to hangout in their rooms, or the lounge area. When customers are here, they're either going to the bar, or lounge area as well, I normally have girls serve them, and shoot the shit.

Twilight, doesn't do that. Actually when she's on the clock, unless it's a customer or me, she doesn't talk to anyone, just sits in a corner and reads, with some tea I let her buy, with her. Whenever another girl comes up to her, she either ignores them, moves to another spot, or just minimally responds. 

Well considering the money she would end up making me,like I said, I let it slide. Sure worked good in getting my customers interested in her, that's for sure. The way Twilight's, "special upgrade"  works is that, she's a different experience than the other girls; a packaged deal. If you purchase it, she comes with free room service, any type of custom party the consumer desires, and a free night to spend. Let's say I charged two-hundred dollars for a regular girl right? I don't, it's a lot more than that, but just bare with me, Twilight's package, costs about five hundred dollars. Metaphorically anyway.

She joined in November. It wouldn't be until January, that I decided to increase my main attraction stock, and find another girl. It wouldn't be until February, that I met the next candidate.

That's where the prissy, but unfairly hot one, comes in.
> Rarity's Admission
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


February. A time of love, affection, giving, and Bruno Mars songs. More like "giving" people diabetes in a heart shaped box, Subway's stupid ass pun that they made up, and... well yeah, Bruno Mars songs.


Twilight had been doing well at this point, customers were happy, we barely talked, and she was still slightly worried that I was serious about making her body mine. As if. Sure she's pretty, but if I did, I see her acting all like: "No, don't grab me like that!", or "You're not licking right!". Would be a Goddamn nightmare.

Before I could finish contemplating the torture that would be screwing Sparkle, I heard a gentle knock on the door of my office. I thought, "Sweet", normally I didn't get many applicants on Monday mornings cause... well, its Monday morning.

"It's open!" The door opened, and I was greeted with a very attractive woman who- ah who am I kidding, the woman was jaw-droppingly gorgeous! 

"Excuse me miss." She stepped into the room a little more so I could get a better look at her. Goddamn man, her hair was, was ... purple too. It had dimensions to it though! I know that sounds weird, but it has this way of looking thin and trimmed, but also full, and it looked professionally groomed. She was wearing this safe-for-work black skirt, that just worked, with some weird uh... string up shirt? Either way it looked good, especially with her skin. White doesn't do it justice, it ain't pale, not really porcelain, just... white. As snow. All complimented well with a black belt, black heels, a little white purse, with dark orange trim... lines, whatever they're called, and these diamond shaped blue, I think, earrings. 

"Are you the one they call Gilda? Gilda Hof?" Even her voice was a turn on, albeit prissy. British maybe? Or from Beverly Hills? Either way, hot.

"Uh, y-yes, I mean, *ahem* yeah I'm Gilda." Smooth... she looked relieved though.

"Oh, thank heavens! I was dreading that I had found the wrong place! Some of the people here are incredibly rude, when it comes to being asked for help."

"Yeah, a lot of them are assholes, but hey, what can ya do right?" I think my language surprised her, but she didn't comment negatively on it.

"Quite. Well nonetheless miss Hof, it is a pleasure." She held out her hand to shake... when the hell did she get to my desk? Collecting myself, I accepted it and shook. 

"Well, take a seat, and tell me why you've come."

"Thank you." She sat down like a "proper" lady, legs together as she lowered, and instead of crossing them, she folded her well manicured hands in her lap.

Me for defs likey.

"Well first things first, what's your name dude?" She raised her eyebrow at "dude", but shook it off.

"My name is, Rarity."

...

Rarity?... That's it just... Rarity? I don't mind the name, it actually suits her pretty well, but at least Twilight had a last name.

"Rarity?..." I egged her on. 

"Just Rarity, miss Hof, I have no last name to speak of." Hot, and has a mystery to her. I love my life. 

"Will that... be a problem in finding work? I certainly hope it won't." Figured I'll pry about it later.

"Naw, s'all good. So, do you have a resume for me?" Her eyes bugged, her left hand went to her forehead, with a slap.

"My resume! I knew I was forgetting something today! I'm terribly sorry Miss Hof, but seem to have forgotten it."

"It's cool, don't worry about it." Well at least she didn't try to storm out. "I don't require one anyway on the first meeting anyway". She looked at me uncertainly.

"Truly?" Who the fuck asks "truly"?

"Uh, yeah."

"Thank goodness, to be honest, I had no where else to turn to at this point."

"No prob Rarity. So, seeing as how you ain't gotta resume, might as well try to get to know you a bit. If someone has a resume, I look it over, yeah, but I like to get to know my clients as people, so I know who I'm dealing with, as a person, not a worker." She smiled a little.

"That is rather clever! I quite like it, inquire away, Miss Hof." Well at least she's into it.

"Just Gilda please, Miss Hof is my Mother."

"As you would have it then." Uh.

"Uh..."

"Gilda it is then; I mean." Oh.

"Oh. Alright, so, Rarity, why you looking for work here? Given your appearance, if I may, you look like you were from Beverly Hills or something." She look flattered.

"Oh Heavens no! Nothing against Beverly Hills mind you, seems a truly wonderful city, but I am from Michigan; Clinton county, to be exact."

Bull. Shit.

"Michigan? You?" She looked slightly perplexed at the question(s).

"Why yes, born and raised. Is is really so strange?" YES!

"A little... I don't want to seem presumptuous, but, if it wasn't LA I would have straight up thought you were British or something." She gave a sly little smile.

"I admit I do look rather fabulous, do I not?"

"Oh! Uh... you, um..." How do I subtly imply that she's smoking? She put her fingers against her lips, suppressing a small laugh.

"I only jest Gilda, I do put quite a bit of time into the day to improve my appearance, in fact I-" She suddenly stopped herself, and lowered her hand back to her lap. "Nevermind all that silliness, you were curious about my home, yes?" Well now I'm curious about your refusal to share details with me, but we'll see what goes down.

"Well, yeah honestly, it's not so much where you're from, its more of why you're here? In Nevada. Looking for work. In Nevada." I could tell I was making her a little uncomfortable.

"Well, if you really must know Miss Gilda, I originally came to this terribly dry state, because I was offered a job at a theater here in Carson City, as a costume designer." Damn. So she's been close by for a while. How'd I not notice... this?

"So I take it you went to school for that? They have fashion schools in Michigan?"

"Oh, yes, several actually." She got a weird look on her face, probably reminiscing. "I graduated from The Art Institute of Michigan, on full scholarship, just several months ago. My work was highly acclaimed at the time of my graduation. Someone must have showed someone my work, because just a few days ago, I got a call from, who I believed to be, an agent, and was offered a job." She seemed proud of herself. Family was probably through the roof.

"Well Mom and Pops must have been proud yeah?" Her good mood left, and her eyes went downcast. Goddamn it...

"They were... excited, no doubts about that." Honestly, I didn't care to here her sob story, I just needed to get her in my Cathouse. I kept my cool though, and toughed it out.

"Let me guess, they didn't like your career choice right?" Eyes met mine again.

"Very perceptive Gilda. They weren't too happy about my decision to become a fashion designer, said it was a rather frivolous career choice. I had to start working right out of high school to try and put myself through college. It took about three years, but after working several jobs, even a few at a time, I was able to finally start my dream." So she can work then. I figured at this point I'll try to give a shit. Try.

"That's rough. They old fashioned or something?"

"In some ways I suppose. You see, Mother and Father own several restaurants in town, they are very well known, and respected in the community in which we live, organizing events, friends with the mayor; the like. They had always intended for my sister and I to assume rolls of a similar nature, in the future, but without a doubt they wanted us to take over the business after they retired. It was; to them, bad enough that my sister was a bit of a, not wild, but... unpredictable child." So her parents were dicks huh?

"Unpredictable? How so?"

"To give you an example, we came home one Sunday after church; Sweetie Belle had stayed over at a friends house prior, and she decided to surprised us with lunch. Sandwiches made herself, and nicely picked apples from one of our trees outside, with some pulp free orange juice." She smiled a little, I thought her sis didn't sound half bad honestly.

"Well that was cool of her."

"Quite generous, I agree, however...  the meat she used was expired, one of Mothers apples had a worm inside, and most damming of all... she burnt the Orange juice..." She wha- the what!?

"H-how in the-"

"Bless her little heart, but Sweetie Belle cannot work with food. No matter how many hours Mother made the poor dear spend in the kitchen, she could just never get the hang of it. Never truly knew what she wanted to do in life, my sister, but was always eager to try and find out what, much to our parents annoyance." Sweetie Belle huh? Maybe I'll get lucky, like I did with Sparkle and Spike.

"She here with you then? I could imagine so, sounds like your parents were a little overbearing." Rarity shook her head.

"Sadly, no. I would have loved for her to be here with me but... well... do you have siblings Gilda?"

Thank GOD no. "Nope."

"Well, our relationship was... strained to say the least. In her younger years, I was not the ideal sister I should have been, whenever Father had us do work on his land, I was always the one who got off easy, being the oldest. If I got tired, I got to rest, Sweetie Belle however, would have to pick up my slack. If she was tired, Father would reprimand her, saying that being she was the youngest, she should have more energy." She reached into her purse and pulled out a carton of cigarettes. "Would it be ok if I smoke?" Of course she smokes. Given her appearance and personality, I wouldn't be surprised if she knows what wine to drink with what meal.

I didn't like cigarettes, but if it made her reveal more about herself, I'd deal with it.

"Go ahead."

"My thanks." She then pulled out a black lighter from her purse, and lit up the stick. Inhaling a puff, she looked visibly more relaxed. Resting the stick between her middle and index finger, she started to speak again. "I was not, suffice to say, my Fathers "favorite", Father had no favorites, of the two of us. Though it pains me to say, he loved Sweetie less than I." Inhale. Exhale.

"Sweetie Belle... poor girl, she tried so incredibly hard to work for his love, or appreciation, even a smile. It was never enough for Father." Inhale. Exhale. "It wasn't until after high school I noticed things about my sister. Things, any normal, or should I say good sibling, would have. She wasn't happy I came to find out... remotely. She was in her middle school years at the time, by then, in her eyes it was too late for me to try..."  She started to slowly smile again, at the next part of her story.

"In recent times, we've talked primarily through text messaging, although she simply answers in responsive ways, never instigating conversations, but never telling me not to text her. A phone call, perhaps, if she picks up for me, never having much to say, they're primarily for me to check up on her, see if she's doing ok." In. Out. She had finished the cigarette, and disposed of it in an oval holder she brought with her, looking down, she was starring at the floor again. 

There was something this broad wasn't telling me, she must have had her own demons to deal with. *sigh* Just as well, they're not my problem anyway. There was one thing I was curious about however.

"Rarity?" She looked up, with a tired look to her.

"Hm?"

"Well, I was curious, why aren't, you at this theater right now making a bundle? Sounds to me like that's why you would even want to stick around." Now she got a look of pure disappointment.

"Yes... that. I arrived here, near two weeks ago, I was heading to this theater that is quite popular over here, called 'Bob Boldrick Theater', smaller than I had hoped, but it was a job nonetheless. I arrived, head held high, mind ready to work, designs in hand, and a spring in my heels. Only to be told that the position had been given away, to a young upstart named Suri... that woman has tried to ruin me since college..." That's... honestly a little funny.

"But why stay? Nevada probably can't have much to offer you." She perked up a little bit from that comment.

"Oh but it can, it can! You see, I intend; considering my career is on an unfortunate hiatus, to use this time to build up my funds, so that I may be able to bring Sweetie Belle here to stay here with me, and for anything she may need." Why would she wanna do that?

"No disrespect, but considering how long you said you worked to even get here, why is that  specifically your new priority? Shouldn't you worry more about yourself right now?" She got bummed again, at my question, but she put on a sad smile when she answered.

"That's just it Gilda, I spent the earlier quarter of my life thinking of my self, I viewed my not getting that job as a wake-up call. I sign of fate perhaps, that I possibly, wasn't the one I had to care the most about. I know she isn't happy at home, and that she still may resent me, but I know I can treat her better than Mother and Father. I can't promise her a glamours life, or even an easy one. It will take quite a bit of time, to obtain enough money to properly aquatint her. But if I can, and if she is willing to give me a chance, I will do my damn best, to make her happy."

Damn... She's determined as hell about making her sister happy. Almost an obsession it seems. Not unlike Sparkle's dilemma really. Main difference I see, is that, while Twilight seems to, at best, have a "decent" relationship with her faux-bro, Rarity's trying to, BUILD one with this Sweetie Belle. Going to pretty extensive lengths too. Can't lie, I respect that.

Unfortunately, Rarity, your plans will have to be put indefinitely on hold possibly longer than you "career".

"I think I've heard all I need to hear. I'll look around, make some calls, but I guarantee you Rarity," I leaned over and looked her dead in the eyes, "I will have a job for you tomorrow." She seemed relieved, but also had that funny looking; "Oh my god I can't believe it!", look on her face.

"Y-you mean it? You can really get me work somewhere? I've extensively applied at many establishments here, but I could never secure a position. You can truly help me out?" She looked like she was about to cry. I smiled at her.

"You bet dude. Show up here tomorrow at about 10:30, I'll ask some final qualifying questions, and I'll take you to meet your, possible, future boss." She clapped her hands together, and jumped up out of the seat, giddier than a One Direction fangirl.

"Thank you thank you THANK YOU!! You have no idea how much I appreciate this!"

"Oh, I think I have a good assumption. Go home and rest up. Big day tomorrow!" She thanked me one last time, and ran out of the room, well kind of, you can run only so well in heels. After I was certain she had left for good, I took out my phone and, gave Flim a call.

...

...

...

"This is Flim." 

"Flim, get Flam, I need the two of you to-"

"There is no need for that little birdie. Acquiring miss Rarity was a personal joint decision between Flam and I." I almost dropped the phone.

"WHAT!? How could you had known about her? And why didn't you tell me??"

"Sombra works in mysterious ways miss Hof, we are not obligated to tell you anything of our business."

"When it involves my business, it damn well does, Flim."

"That would ruin the magic of our work though, and we take great pride in our-" Yeah, I wasn't about to listen to this crap again.

"Fuck it, don't tell me, I could care less honestly, just be outside the door again. Same plan as Sparkle."

"Very well little birdie. Have a pleasant evening." *BEEP*

Dick.

...

*Sniff sniff*

"Goddammit, now I gotta get the Febreeze..."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next morning, I waited patiently for Rarity, didn't have to wake up early to make a call, so I got to sleep in. That's always nice. I was stoked on life about adding Rarity. Not only would this mean twice the Main Attractions, and twice the money, I'll get to see more of that snow white skin of hers. I figured for Rarity, I'll put her in either nice, beautiful dresses, ones that hug the figure, but also accent, and show it off; the kind that leave room for the imagination, and play up her maturity and age, but respects it.

That... or I'll put her in the most revealing, skin showing skirts I got, give her some knee high socks, and sandals or something. I figured that it could work, just because of the fact that it contrast so harshly with her personality, it actually might make her look more attractive. I ended up going with the dresses option, but the latter is some fine late-night thoughts isn't it?

I was a little shocked honestly. I barely had to think about admitting her into The Griffon, I mean obviously she's extremely attractive, but I just saw everything I needed in her, once I laid eyes on her. Her eyes, those calming blue eyes, are piercing, not like in a judgmental way, or like she's staring into your soul, more like... she's gazing at it. Also her rack is just lovely. I think what convinced me to add her was in fact, how far she was willing to go to make her sister happy.

That showed a certain level of generosity. Generosity means hospitality. Hospitality means entertained customers. Entertained customers means customers interested in the product. That means sex, and sex means profit for me. Circle of life type shit.

Shaking me out of my thoughts was a knocking on the door. Unlike Twilight, at 10:33 Rarity showed up. Well at least she isn't as uptight as Sparkle was, just a bit of an enigma.

"Still unlocked." She came in wearing clothes much more suitable to work in. Some cheap, generic white t-shirt, and a faded pair of jeans, with a pair of Irish Setters... how do I know what those are? I really need to stop watching Style Network when I'm bored or tired... but "Clean House" though...

"Right on time Rarity, you ready for the last step?" She sat down, and without any doubt in her voice, she looked me in the eye and said:

"Yes. More than ready."

"Ok then, first things first, I just need to ask, like, four last little questions, at your future employers request." She still didn't falter.

"Of course, Miss Gilda. Go right ahead."

"Ok... question one, are you prepared to do whatever your boss asks of you?" She looked, almost shocked, at the question.

"Well, yes I should say so Gilda. Within reason of course. No matter how in dire need I am in, I do wish not to do anything illegal now."

"Aw don't worry... you won't." Must. Not. Smirk. "Question two, I probably don't need to ask this, but just in case *ahem*, this job will require you to be away from home for an extended period of time. Is this ok with you?" No second guessing this time.

"Yes. I know no one down here, and my family is all back in Michigan. Being away from 'home' will not be a problem." She know's no one here? This make things even easier! I always have a nagging feeling about Spike finding out. I was relieved I didn't have to worry about that with Rarity.

"All righty then, question number four. What is your opinion on ga- uh, homosexuality?" I remembered to say it right this time! She put her hand to her chest in surprise. 

"M-my opinion on... that's... a rather odd question isn't it? Why would they wish to know that?" I actually had excuses planned now, I paraphrased what I told Twilight, to Rarity.

"It's so that they get an idea of what kind of workplace you'll be comfortable in. It has no bearing on whether or not you get the job, it's just with the way the world is now, this is stuff employers almost have to know." She put her hand to her chin in thought.

"Hmm... I do see that could become a problem. Well... if they really must know my honest opinion on the matter, you can tell them this to the letter. I believe that love is love, and it knows no bounds." Oh fuck she's one of those... "If a man loves a man, or a woman a woman, it's their love, and it's beautiful. Love, is beautiful, all kinds." 

God I resisted so hard to just mumble the name NAMBLA.

"I have no problem whatsoever about working with a gay man or a lesbian. Or anyone in between. People are who they are, who am I to judge?"

Wow that was... well a little preachy, but noble all the same. I oddly found myself believing her, I didn't see a single trace of deception in those tiny lakes she has for eyes.

"That's very admirable of you. I-if you don't mind me asking... what is your... preference?..." Now she looked straight up perplexed.

"Now... is this a question of theirs? Or yours?" She asked slowly.

"H-hey you don't have to tell me, I just figured , ya know... I'm helping you out and stuff. Besides, I don't care if you are or not. As long as you keep this job I snagged ya, that's all that matters." Then she got a look of guilt on her face. Unintentional sounding guilt trip always works!

"Well you do raise a point, I am using your services for gratis after all... I suppose you deserve to know that." Really!? "I personally feel that I identify more as a bi-sexual. Not through 'extensive' experience mind you, but I have met may men and women, a fair number whom I felt attracted to. I have met men who could have swept me off my feet, who were handsome and kind. I also have met a fair number of women who I found to be beautiful." Wait... so, she has an explanation for it? Honestly, most women I've met just leave it at, "Yeah, I'm bi."

"Oh... wow, uh... thanks for sharing that with me Rarity, that couldn't have been easy detail about your life to disclose." She sent a warm smile my way. 

"You are doing me a rather generous favor. Using your free time for free to help help a total stranger find work, so she can get her life in order? I figured the very least I could do is answer a simple question." A simple question?? People right fucking books on people just coming out of the closet! 

She's... trusting me. Like Twilight did, before I fucked her over with my greed. 

It didn't really hit me until then that I really took in what I had done up til now. Twilight Sparkle. Parent-less college graduate, trying to take care her brother who has no real family, and her widowed sister-in-law, who's grieving from her husbands possible suicide. And now Rarity... this woman who is desperately trying to forge some kind of relationship with her sister, Sweetie Belle, who seems like she's the only one she is "close" with. Trying to get her away from their hard-ass parents, and just make Sweetie Belle happy, not so much herself.

And here I was... with her future in the palm of my hands, and the power to do what I want with it. It was also then that I realized that...

I really started to like that feeling... knowing that I could single-handedly improve, or ruin someone's life, if I choose to. I can just say the word, and they're lives... are mine.

And I fucking loved it.

Recollecting my thoughts, I decided I probably should move one. "Well, your gratitude is not unappreciated, believe me. Ok then, last question, then we meet your boss, ready?" She looked only too excited to get this over with.

"Very much so, miss Gilda."

"Alright... are you a virgin?" Aaaaand cue look of shock.

"Am I... what???" Now bewilderment.

"Are you a virgin?" I repeated. Then she looked straight up offended. How is this subject always more sensitive then sexual orientation? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

"Excuse me!?"

"I'm just asking on their behalf Rarity. You don't need to get all-" Really poor choice of words right there...

"Now wait just a minute! Miss Gilda. I am extremely grateful for all you are doing to help me, and I truly mean that. However, I simply cannot see the significance of that particular information, helping hindering or otherwise, with getting a job. How I feel on homosexuality and it's respective community, that I can grasp, giving for having as productive a work place as possible. You're curiosity about what sex I prefer, while a little uncomfortable to talk about at first, I cannot exactly fault you for being curious, you are human after all. However-"

I really hoped that the next time I met a girl I found perfect for this position, that they weren't smart enough to poke this many holes in my ruse. Speaking of that... nevermind, I'm getting ahead of myself.

"- I would like to know how the fact of the matter, of whether or not I have made love-" Dammit her too? "is a necessary variable, in the job application process!"

She had me. I mean, what more could I say? She pointed out everything that could unravel my whole ruse. Sparkle didn't even make it this far, she just got pissed, Rarity tore my shit apart. I couldn't just call in Flim and Flam though, I needed her name on that contract. Even though I know that her family lives in Michigan, I had no idea where Sweetie Belle lives, where the fuck Clinton county was, or even if Flim and Flam had contacts that are even in that state.

Not that Rarity needed to know that, but without having to resorting to the life-threatening of her sister, I could at least bind her to a legal contract. Plus, you know, a gun to her head helps too. She had me cornered now though, I had to think up a lie, and I thought it up quick. 

"But that's just it! It actually does play a role in whether or not you get a job with them!" She raised a brow, leaned back, crossed her arms, and now crossed her legs, -oh that looked nice- left over right, and looked at me expectingly. "Go on."

I figured I'd try actually exploiting her giving nature, now that I have a vague idea of its extent. So I went out on a limb.

"They see it as an act of generosity on your part."

"Generosity? They find asking about... that, is suitable for finding out if I'm... nice??" Time to philosophize.

"Not 'nice', generous." She rolled her eyes.

"I hardly see a difference between the two, Miss Gilda." I was about to take a risk, but I had to set it up just right.

"I think there is. See, anyone can be 'nice. As in do something, well, nice for someone, buy them something, help them out in a tough situation, give them some money to help out, things like that."

"Right, as would a 'generous' person.

"But that's the thing. I think generosity, that is, someone being generous, is when someone does something nice... but unconditionally." She stared, then blinked, I could tell she didn't totally get me. Now was when I would take my risk. "Let me give you an example... you remember how you were telling me about your sister; Sweetie Belle?" 

"Well... yes." 

"Remember how you were telling me how her home life sucks, and you want to bring her here? To stay with you, and try to make her happy?"

"I do, yes, and I very much intend to, but I'm not exactly certain how-"

"Well then, are you doing that because you truly want her to be happy, or are you doing it more for yourself." That pissed her off just a tad.

"For myself!? How dare you insinuate-" I held up my hand, cutting her off before she could rant.

"Let me finish. You said it yourself, and no offence intended cause this is what you told me, you sucked as a big sister."

"Gilda, I fail to see-"

"Hold. Up. That being said, you want to make amends with her. Build some kind of relationship right? Well, to me, it's obvious that you regret being  neglectful towards her in years previous, and while you had it difficult at home I'm sure, she, again like you said, undoubtedly has it harder. I'm only guessing at this point, but you feel some blame for that I assume." She silently nodded.

"I'm pretty positive that a good deal of her negative disposition these days, is in fact, directly because of you." She looked down in (what I guessed) shame. I had her. 

"I don't know anything about having any siblings, but from what I've heard from people with siblings, is that if you, literally and figuratively, have no one in the world, there's nothing like knowing your brother or sister has your back." She turned her head down. Guilt trip successful, time to move in for the kill. All this drama because I asked about whether or not she's had sex. Unbelievable... 

"So tell me. Are you doing this for her? Or so you can feel better and try to fix past mistakes? For your sisters happiness and well-being, or your own?" She was silent for a bit, then finally looked back up at me, eye's shaky.

"I... I believe I understand what you are saying, Miss Gilda. I do see how my current course of actions could become misconstrued. But... believe me when I say that, I truly want my sister to be happy. If... if she decided to remain home, I would respect her wishes, of course. I would be lying if I said I wasn't doing this partially out of my guilt, and not just because of Sweetie Belles situation." Silent tears started to fall down her cheeks.

"I want her here with me Gilda... I love that free-spirited sister of mine. I just want to prove it to her, give her a home where she can just live. No expectations of her, no pressure on her for what she 'should' do, rather, encourage her to focus more on what she wants to do in life. I know you can't being to truly understand how I feel about all of this, or my situation... but..."

Yeah, I'd heard enough.

"Hey." She calmed down a bit at the soft tone of my voice. Hate it when I have to do this shit. 

"I get it, alright. Not fully, I probably never could. But, the reason why they see it as an act of generosity, is because the job they want to give you, is a... form of charity I guess you could call it. It pays just fine, don't worry about that. The purpose of the questions, is to see whether or not you're 'generous' enough, to pledge yourself to an honorable cause, do anything necessary to make the people you're helping happy, and if you're willing to extend your hand in an act of trust." 

There I went with the trust angle again. I was playing on her seemingly natural generous nature more, but next time,  I needed a new angle to exploit.

"Trust, sometime, is the most generous thing someone could give another person, hence, personal questions. So I repeat. Are you, Rarity, a virgin?" She wiped away her tears with her left index finger, her eyes red but looking stronger now, and spoke with pure determination.

"No, Gilda, I am not." Hot damn, I got her! Like I needed her confirmation anyway. I mean her a virgin at this point in her life? I didn't think so.

"Thank you rarity. The worst is over now though! Just one last procedure-" I reached into my desk and pulled out a copy of my edited contract. "-and that's to sign on the dotted line." I handed it over to Rarity, who then proceeded to read my totally-written-better contract.

"What this contract explains is how you'll be given your check at the end of each bi-weekly pay period, or upon a task completion. Also, to address your previous concerns, all activities that will be asked of you, are within full rights of the law. Any questions, Rarity?" She looked back up at me.

"Just one actually. Who wrote this contract up?" Aw shit.

"A uh... friend of mine. Why?..."

"Well, not to offend your friend but, there are quite a few mistakes in punctuation. To many commas, and not enough periods. Have they ever heard of a semi-colon?"

Must. Not. Rage.

"Ha ha, well... I'll, be sure to let them, know that they... suck at writing."

"Nothing so hurtful Miss Gilda, just to be more careful of run-on-sentences is all." She finished with a smile...

Ugh.

Before I could feel like shit about it (I put effort into that thing!), she handed me the contract back. Now came the tricky-er part. I had no leverage on her, like I did Sparkle.

"All squared away then! Ready to meet your boss?" Eagerness shot through Rarity at my question. I could feel it.

"Am I ever! Let's be on our way, yes?"

"Of course!" I stayed in my chair. Rarity looked at me expectingly. Blink. Blink.

"Um... Miss Gilda?"

"Yes, Rarity?"

"Are um... are you going to take me to meet my future employer?"

"Of course." I leaned forward, resting my arms on the desk. "I already have."

"I'm afraid I don't quite... wait a minute... YOU!? You're hiring me???" So far, still my favorite part of the job. The after-interview reactions.

"But of course Rarity! I thought you would've figured me out by now." She was taken aback, like, A LOT. She uncrossed her legs, and brought her chair closer to the desk, to interrogate me.

"Why did you not tell me? That information would have been, highly appreciated!"

"If I told you I was gonna be your boss, how do I know you wouldn't have put on airs, to try and impress me." She relaxed a tad, but was still a little upset.

"I suppose I can understand that. I just wish I knew earlier. I wouldn't have been nearly as nervous." I raised an eyebrow.

"Why's that?"

"Because even though I have known you only for a day, I truly appreciate everything you've done to help me, and I feel I can trust you. You won't regret hiring me Gilda, I swear I'll do whatever it takes to pay you back for this!" 

It's weird... I didn't feel half as bad as when I did this to Twilight. Was... was I becoming... numb to the fact that I was ruining someone's whole life for the perseverance of mine? Non caring, about these fucked up things I'd been doing?

The very idea scared me at first... I didn't dwell on it too much though. Figured I was just over thinking it.

"I... I'm sure you will... Rarity. *ahem* So, uh,  you probably want to know where you're gonna be working now huh?"

"Oh most certainly! I'm quite curious to know what kind of business you own."

"Well the name of my, humble establishment... is called." I put on my best sly smile. " 'Griffon's... Cathouse' " I gave her a moment to take the name in. Ever so slowly her eyes started to get oh so wider.

"No... y-you can't be serious..." Her scared whisper, sent tiny shiver of excitement up my spine.

"Pardon?"

"You're... not serious are you? You want me to-"

"Need Rarity. I need you to work for me." Figured I'd be honest.

"Why me?" Was she serious?

"You serious?? Look at you! You're fucking beautiful! Everything about you is perfect for the job! You're hair, y-you're body, your fucking voice, just radiates pure... pure sex. I need you as my one of the girls in my, Main Attraction." You'd think after I just basically said that, she's the hottest thing I've ever seen in my life, she'd be a little flattered. But no! She looked disgusted!

"It's unique from my regular girls; this unit I put together, it's prestigious. Each girl is a completely different party, different experience. You're a beauty. It'd be good for you too! You'll wear absolutely stunning dresses, the best make-up I can buy, and the best part is that, men will want to pay to pleasure you! Well mostly them, but still everyone wins!" I was starting to creep myself out, I sounded like a fanatic.

"Good for me?... Good for me!? You want me to be one of your prostitutes!" She stood you, wanted a shouting match huh?

"It is not-" I stood to stand, but her voice overpowered mine.

"Being payed for sex is a good idea to you!? You truly believe that to be a selling point!? No! How could you even fathom the thought of me agreeing to do something like this!"

"Sex is good right? Sex feels good, so why not flaunt that?"

"It's disgusting! This whole 'interview' process was a lie all along wasn't it?"

"No fucking shit! Think about the questions I asked you!"

"I merely thought you might have been attracted to me, or something of that nature at worst! I had no way of knowing you intended this fate for me!"

"That's your fault. Besides. I didn't totally lie." I managed to gain some control over my emotions again. She was still looking ready to kill me.

"You told me this was a... type of charity!"

"And it is! Stuff like this, brothels and whatnot, is he oldest profession in the world girl! It helps make the world go round. You'll be 'helping' people, be happy. By sex."

"You're mad... no not mad, you're sick. Sick, a-and demented. I needed your help! I trusted you, and you think 'helping' me, is asking me to work in a brothel as some sex object!?"

"Not asking, Rarity." I held up the contract. "Making you. By the way, the official name is 'playmate', FYI." She gasped in realization, but quickly hardened her tone again.

"You, Gilda Hof, do not own me. That piece of paper means nothing. Like this office, and your interview, it's just like you. An empty, hollow sham." That... actually stun. "The authorities will know of this, Gilda. You've made yourself a huge mistake." Shit, she had put up more resistance than I thought she would. She turned to the door.

"Wait!" She didn't falter, she grabbed the knob. "What about Sweetie Belle? Don't you need money to bring her here? Make her happy? That's your goal ain't it? Make up for the past and shit!?" She turned to me, and -fuck I could just feel the ice in her eyes.

"Nothing is worth degrading myself to the likes of you, and your sad profession. My sister will understand. She may not love me as much as I wish, but I know she would not wish for me to stoop so low, as to sell my body for some selfish witch like you. Good day Gilda Hof." Before I could move a step, Rarity opened the door.

And promptly ran into Flim and Flam, who then pushed her back into the room. 

"Ah! Who are you???" Flam answered first, of course in rhyme...

"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Rarity, Flam is my name. And watching you for several moons, has been our game."

"Right my brother is, m'lady. I am the younger brother, Flim. No doubt you're curious how we know your name."

"I should say so! Gilda!" She turned to me. "Are they 'friends' of yours?"

"Friends, no chance in hell. Ally's, yes we help each other out quite often. Ha ha. I'll see you at the Cathouse, Rarity."

"You'll never make me-" Before she could finish, Flam had put some good ol' chloroform to her face from behind. She only lasted a few seconds before she passed put. She went limp, and fell into his arms.

"You gonna tell me how the fuck you know about her now?"

"In the car little birdie. In the car."

"Goddammit..."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Her parents sent us."

"They WHAT!?" Flim laughed then "corrected" me I guess.

"Not explicitly, Gilda. I'm sure Miss Rarity didn't tell you, but there have been a string of kidnappings in her hometown in recent weeks. Young women from the age of eighteen to twenty-five." I think I knew where he was going.

"Sombra?" He smirked.

"Perhaps. His reach knows no bounds after all. Sombra has had eyes on this particular woman for... an almost unhealthy amount of time. When we informed him of our new allegiance with you, he all but jumped on the opportunity to include her in your humble abode. Sombra will be truly pleased to know his favorite fish in the sea, is available for... gutting."

Ew. Ew. EW!

"That's... an unsettling choice of words, Flim... wait, what does this have to do with Rarity's parents?"

"The chief of police, who has been 'leading' the investigation, has ties to Sombra. Knowing of his lust for Rarity, he contacted us post-haste."

Well, it's still a better love story than- wait.

"So Sombra took interest in Rarity... does that mean he's from Michigan? That he's coming here!?"

"Not unnecessarily."

"The fuck does that mean!?"

"It means, if the man himself did decide to show up, he would not make it obvious. He will not introduce him as his name to you, make a scene, even his attire will be non-leading. Total anonymity. Or perhaps... she will?" He was teasing me now.

"Just who the hell is Sombra?..." I was asking myself more than him.

"All in due time Gilda."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Welcome to Griffon's Cathouse Rarity! This is where you'll be staying from now on." She was still a little drowsy from being ko'd, but she was coherent enough to hold a conversation.

"Staying? As in... living here?" 

"For an indefinite amount of time, yes."

"I... I-I can't stay here for, however long 'indefinite' is!"

"Look Rarity, we've already done this song and dance. Yes I'm forcing you have sex for money, for me. Honestly, you're just going to have to suck it up. Heh. In more ways than one, trust me." 

"You foul-" Before she could continue, I grabbed her by her shirt, and brought her close to my face.

"Shut up. Wait here. I'm going to go see if your room is ready. Roam around if you want, just don't break anything, 'Miss Rarity'." I shoved her back, watching her stumble, I was a little shocked at myself, but didn't let it show. Giving her one last glare, I walked to the back, down the hall to her room, hoping she would stay out of trouble.
-------------------------------------------------Rarity----------------------------------------------------------------

That terrible, awful woman, no, she doesn't deserved to be called a woman, she's nothing less than a criminal. 

I couldn't believe this to be real... it just couldn't be. This woman intends to make me one of her prostitutes! Those men, the ones who drugged me, I pray to the Lord that's all that happened to me... I believe them to be lethal; Flim and Flam, I believe they introduced themselves as. I don't want to risk... risk being killed, they seem the type to do it.

Sweetie Belle... my sister... I'm so sorry I never got the chance to... to show you how much you mean to me. I don't know how long I'm meant to stay here, months, years. I'm frightened. Will I ever be able to leave? What if I out live my use to her, will she have me... have me murdered?? My God... I might never be able to walk out of here. All because of this woman's greed... her black, icky greed, I thought she was doing a generous act out of the goodness of her heart, I was foolish enough to do the same. My relinquishing of such private information... must have been thrilling for her.

I swore it would be the last time I make that mistake.

"Man. Gilda must have really done a number on you." I voice from behind me? I turned around, and much to my surprise, there is a rather impressive looking gathering area. What looked to be a fairly antiquating bar, several couches and tables, I notice a faint smell in the air, she must also have a kitchen. 

What really grabbed my attention, was woman reading in the back corner of the room, at a booth. Attractive young lady, tan skin, unique purple hair (small world I suppose), and wearing a rather risque... teachers attire? I suppose she works here.

"So how'd she do it? Threats of violence? Blackmail?" She didn't even so much as glance away from her text. I wan't exactly sure of her intentions.

"I beg your pardon?" She let out an annoyed sigh, only then looking up from her book.

"Just, come here." Cautiously taking her up on her offer, I walked slowly to her booth. She had a mountain of books by her side! I wonder how much money she's put in Gilda's pocket...

"That's close enough." I was barely half-way there; standing in the middle of the room like a fool. Thankfully, but also oddly enough, she was the only person in sight. I figured I might as well be polite to my... new colleague, and introduce myself.

"It's a... pleasure to meet you." She, for some reason, glared at me.

"Sure it is." What on Earth had I done to offend her? I didn't exactly feel like arguing with her, so I introduced myself first.

"I am Rarity."

"... Name's Twilight Sparkle." She looked me over after her rather rude introduction. "Yeah... I can see why she'd want you here." I blushed quickly at the... compliment?

"Ah! W-what are you insi-"

"I'm not insinuating anything. I've just, 'worked', here a while. I know how she operates. Let me guess, she got dome dirt on you, and blackmailed you into this right?" Did something similar happen to her as well?

"N-no actually. Um... I-I was threatened with my life to come here... these two, brutes stormed into the office just as I was about to leave."

"Ah yes, Film and Flam. Real bastards aren't they? They're like the living embodiment of those 'strange-danger' signs they have in suburban neighborhoods." I think that was an attempt at humor.

"Yes... quite. So, i-if you don't mind me asking of course, but how did she make you-"

"That's classified." "Classified"? She sounded like some sort of automated response.

"Oh... Well I would very much care to listen." At this, she actually closed her book, and looked dead at me.

"I'm sure you would Rarity, but I was only curious on how Gilda hooked your ass into this. I wasn't exactly planning on making small talk with you."

"You are being quite rude Twilight Sparkle! The very least you could do is show some compassion, given my circumstance! We do not have to be enemies here you know." Now it was my turn to glare.

"Very true. I don't want to be friends either. I got the answer I wanted to my question, you can go now." Uncourteous little-! Very well. I shan't waste my time trying to be civil with the likes of her.

"Hmph! Good day to you, Miss Sparkle!" I turned on my heel, and walked back to the front. I could hear here shout at me as I walked.

"Just Twilight will do just fine, thank you!" There aren't enough synonyms in the world to describe how much I didn't like her right now. Just then my new "boss"... ugh, it feels disgusting just thinking about the fact, came up to me.

"Ah, Rarity! My bad on taking so long, I had to help clean up the place. The part-timer that worked her before used to make huge-ass messes. Damn that Trixie... anyway, let me show you to your new... office." There even even less synonyms, adjectives, adverbs, or conjugations, to describe the pure loathing I felt right then for Gilda Hof. Perhaps after this "tour" is over, I can see if I can become this establishments "bartender"...
-------------------------------------------------------Gilda-----------------------------------------------------------------------

So I showed her around, gave her the same shit about rules, regulations, my mostly flawless security system, and trust system I have with my workers. In the fact that there is none. Like I did with Twilight, in a few weeks, I would take her out to peruse the stores, so she could customize her new work space. Rarity's first few weeks were slightly more productive then Twilight's. Only slightly.

Instead of throwing her out to the masses immediately, a mistake I made with Twilight, I took a few days to actually teach her the job, so she would be more comfortable with the idea. I went over the different subtleties of eye, and body communication, how to speak, even (and this was surreal) different cosmetic advise. I figured that she was good no doubt at this stuff already, to a degree, but not in the way I need her to be. Subtle's all well and good, to a point, I told her she would have to trust her gut when it comes to balancing the two.

As for her first days actually on the job... I'll give her this, she definitely has seen more action than Twilight. Her tactics were slightly different too. Where as Twilight; out of the two, was more seductive looking with the style I gave her, and a bit more forward, Rarity was more reserved, didn't try to hard to get attention (not that she had to), I also kept to my promise and gave her the kind of dresses that Angelina Jolie can only try to rock. Didn't pose, give any coy looks or sexy smiles, instead she stood straight up, keeping her hands folded in front of her.

I. Am. A. Genius.

She wasn't that loud either, normally anyway, on average I can here my girls from at least my podium up front, Rarity, barely made a sound. I thought about bringing it up to her, until one of my customers came up to me and complimented her performance, said it was... "perfect".

Perfect. Things were going great! I was cut a break and spared a giant argument with her about the morality of her situation. I think by week three, she just gave up trying to argue, and started to go with the flow. Good. I had successfully integrated my prize beauty into the business. As a little reward from me, I let her use my phone to call her sibling in Michigan (at least her sibling is real), and took her out to buy shit for her room. She bought pretty much what I thought she would, a full size mirror, various outfits, make-up she wanted to wear, a big-ass white bed, and for some reason a bunch of albums by Prince.

Ever since then, she's taken to manning the bar for me, good thing too, I think she's more of a people person than me anyway. She smokes occasionally while on duty, sucks, cause it smells up the joint, but she makes me oodles of cash, so I guess it's fine...

The situation with Rarity was... interesting to say the least. With Twilight, I actually felt a fair deal of guilt for what I did to her. Maybe it was because her situation was slightly more "do-or-die", but with Rarity, I almost felt no guilt. Remorse, sure, but not guilt, or maybe the other way around, I don't know. 

When I grabbed Rarity like that... could I really had gone far enough to hurt her? Could I bring myself to physically harm any of my girls?

I'm blackmailing/threatening them to sell their bodies for money, for me, yet I feel bad about doing it? I regretted nothing since I sent Cranky to jail... haven't I? Strangely enough, when I actually got the money from he court settlement, I remember feeling... funny. Kind of like how I felt when I revealed myself to Rarity, that feeling of... of power. Power's a funny thing really; a simple word, that's driven empires into the ground, and has made people lose faith in religion.

I convinced myself in the office that it felt good, but looking back... I can't really remember what went down, like those times when cognitive thinking stops, and emotions or instinct take over. Well ok, I can remember, not like I blacked out, but it seems like it all went by in a rush. A rush... I calmed myself down. I wasn't possessed by anything, doctors never diagnosed me with something, I'm good. Just a little adrenaline rush, caused by a power trip, everyone gets that. Athletes, gamers, people in politics or any kind of armed forces. I was no different.

Besides Cranky's the only one that deserves even a little sympathy, if any at all...

February passed by, without further incident. I never did see Sombra, or anyone I would perceive to be him anyway. I was raking in more cash then ever, I almost thought I'd be set for a while. Midway through March, I thought it a good idea to expand differently this time. I had Twilight, sexy teacher fantasy, Rarity, belle of the ball status, I needed a woman with more spice, a girl with a kick; attitude to her, almost a polar opposite to Twilight and Rarity.

That's where the southerner comes in. 
> Applejack's Admission part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


April, a decent month I guess, Spring at its fullest, before May's all like "Summers coming bitches! Start opening your windows!" 


Rarity was doing better than I thought she would, a little behind on profits, but that's to be expected considering she started just under two months ago. Recently, I've been searching for the next perfect addition to my fleet of women, someone who contrast Rarity and Twilight, who already contrast each other. Guess Twilight didn't make a good first impression, cause the two of them never speak to the other. Good thing too, don't need anyone conspiring against me.

That was a concern that was slowly growing on me, Twilight can't keep her brother in the dark forever, and it's only a matter of time until Rarity most likely cracks, and spills the beans to her sister, or just anyone. I figured I was over-reacting, but given the positions I put them in, they could potentially give me one hell of a problem... I already had a system, one that worked. When I'm not there everything gets locked, and all cameras are on. I never put any in the rooms, I figured the very least I owed them was privacy... in their rooms anyway.

Well, what mattered most is that Griffon is still kicking ass and taking names! I think I decided on exactly how many "Main Attraction" girls, the Griffon would have a max of; I had settled on four at most. I tossed around five, maybe, but I never really bought into the whole "five's a round number" business crap, it'd work great, I'd have my own, "Fab Four" of sorts.

But before I could... keep talking to myself in my head, I got a hard knock at the door to the office, made me jump a bit.

"Easy on the door buddy!" Well I made an awesome first impression.

"Sorry bout that! Are you Gilda Hof in there?" That accent... southern? Wonder which state it is. Yeah check this out, each state in the south has its own personal accent, tone, inflection, and/or dialect. It's weird...

"That I am. You looking for work?"

"Yes ma'am... but could I trouble you to invite me in?" Oh yeah... I probably need to see what she looks like.

"Oh, uh, yeah, come on in." The door finally opened and as she walked in, I came face to face with the textbook definition of a cowgirl.

I'm not kidding man, she had everything, a generic plaid button up shirt, some, almost ratty looking jeans, cowboy boots, and a hat that would do Lynyrd Skynyrd proud. Also of course she she had a pretty good looking body, she had that kind of tan you could only get from the sun, a few freckles, meadow green eyes, and tone. Muscle tone; she's done labor before.

Me super likey. She also had some seriously long blonde, ponytail style, hair underneath that hat. Actually speaking of the hat, it was just about the nicest thing she was wearing, her clothes were worn out, had holes, and tears in them. Just by that alone, I was already more curious about her story then Rarity's.

"Thank ya kindly miss." She even tipped her hat. Oh, this was too good, it was like everything I'd seen on TV, be in my office at once.

"No problem. Nice to meet you, misses?..." I stood up, offering my hand to shake.

"Name's Applejack." She shook my hand, with a firm shake. "Applejack Apple."

She had quite the grip, and her hands felt rough to the touch. Normally that's be unappealing for a woman's hands, but it suited her just fine.

Wait... Applejack... Apple?? Is... is that an oxymoron? In her own name?

"Um... I'm sorry, 'Apple'?" She let go of my hand, and turned tilted her head with a confused look on her face.

"Well, yeah. You ain't ever heard the name before?" I sat down, gesturing with my hand for her to do the same.

"Can't say that I have. You famous or something?" She gave a short laugh as she sat down, crossing her arms.

"Shoot, no! The name 'Apple' is the name of my family's company, 'Apple Family Farms'".

"That like Pepperidge Farms?" She raised en eyebrow.

"Who?" 

"Uh... nevermind. So your families famous huh? Well honestly I never heard the name before, so you'll have to excuse my ignorance." She dismissed my sorta-apology with a wave of her hand.

"Aw, don't fret it none. I just assumed we shipped retail out this far." Retail... I assumed that meant that her family was a small-chain food processing company or something.

"'This far'? Where you guys based out of?" She got a prideful smile, as she answered me.

"Straight outta good ol' San Antone!" Antone... as in Antonio? Texas? "Sure as sugar ma'am!"

Oh shit, I said that out loud...

"Oh, uh, that's pretty cool for you. Oh! I should probably introduce myself about now huh? Formally, I mean." She gave a half shrug.

"Not unless ya like being called 'miss', or 'ma'am' all the time. You don't look the type, honestly." Ooo perceptive! Wait, am I that obvious to read?...

"Well you'd be right to assume that. Name's Gilda Hof. Call me Gilda."

"Can do, Gilda. Nice little office ya got here. Gotta be honest though, I thought this looked like an old warehouse or somethin' when I got here." Damn, good eye.

"It was actually. I purchased it, and turned it into the business I run now. Not that cheap of a venture, but well worth it, I feel."  She leaned back in the chair, relaxed a bit, as she spoke again. 

"I was gonna ask you about that. I was told you do this sorta thing for free a charge. Well, if ya don't mind me askin', how exactly do ya turn a profit here?" That's... a good question. I hadn't thought of any girl would asking me this. Her family owns a business though, so she probably knows a thing or two about companies and such.

"Turn a profit?"

"Well, yeah. Being from a 'business' family, one thing I learned real fast is that, there are very few things in this world that are non-profit if any at all. You don't hafta answer, if ya don't wanna, I was wonderin' was all." I didn't wanna look suspicious, so I made something up; pretty fast too, I was... getting just a little bit to good at this...

"I get paid through the people I set you up with. A portion of the profits you make for your first several pay-periods are sent to me." She leaned forward, arms uncrossed, a frown on her face.

"So if I heard that right, ya take a portion of my paycheck?" Shit, came out wrong!

"N-no, no! I mean the company's profit, for a short period." That, just make her more persistent.

"So you take money from the business itself then. Around how much we talkin' here? I don't wanna be shiftin' nobody here." I think she has this whole "interview" thing backwards. I guess it's only right she'd want to know her future conditions, probably just being cautious is all.

"Well you'll understand that I can't tell you an exact sum, but it's enough to where I stay in business, and your business, turns a respectable profit. So no one get's uh, 'shifted', out of any money. Well, none that would majorly affect either party, that's you, me, and the other business." God, how many times am I going to have to say the word "business"? Now it sounds all weird...

"I see... sounds fair I s'pose." She leaned back again crossing her arms back together, crossing her right leg over her left horizontally. Well at least she's out of que- "So, what kind of work could ya'll set me up with here?" Dammit! Why did a professional have to walk in today!?

"Well, I've lived here for about four, five years now-" Damn, that long already? Griffons third birthday was coming up too. "-so naturally I made a few friends here, during my stay. Before I opened this establishment of mine, I offered them, well, what I just told you, and most of them accepted. Since we've know each other for years, they trust my judge of character, and business, well, this office has been open for almost a year, so yeah, do the math." She raised her eyebrows, I think I impressed her.

"No kiddin'? Well that's a mighty impressive set up you got goin' for yourself, interesting story too." I figured now I could try to actually get this interview started.

"Well thanks Applejack, I'm pretty proud of it myself. Not to sound rude, it's been cool talking to you-" More like frustrating. "but I think we should get this interview underway." She sat up straighter, and lost her relaxed attitude.

"I agree Gilda, enough beating 'round the bush." She even lost a bit of her accent. She was ready to do business... this one was going to be tough.

"Alrighty then, I guess I should get the obvious question out of the way, do you have a resume for me." Instead of freaking out like the last two, she answered with a level head.

"I'm afraid I don't, but I can answer anything you need to ask, in regards to my qualifications, and prior work experience." I was actually a little excited. I never got a chance to conduct an actual interview before.

"That works too. So tell me then Applejack, where have you worked at before, and what were your positions?" 

"Ever since I was just a young buck, I was put to work on my family's farm; Sweet Apple Acres, on the outskirts of San Antonio, like I said. I started working in the fields; picking the raisins, corn, or whatever was in season at the time, I learned how to toss hay before I was even eleven, and could break in a horse before I was sixteen.  When I did turn sixteen, I was taught how to handle accounts, taxes and stocks, even learned a few things about distribution."

That's impressive, judging her appearance, I just assumed she was just some hick, but holy crap, she had brains! Working since a kid huh? Sounds rough to be sure, parents were probably tough on her throughout childhood.

"Damn... that's one hell of an upbringing! Couldn't have been easy." She shook her head, but for some reason smiled.

"Oh believe you me Gilda, it wasn't, had plenty of good, and bad times I did, but through it all, my family and I were happy. We kept each other 'safe and sane' as my Daddy called it, 'while driving each other up a Goddamn tree!' ha!." She laughed to herself a little, then continued.

"Sorry, I-I didn't mean to reminisce. Caught up in times past for a second there, you got any other questions for me Gilda?"

Oh believe me, I have all the questions, Applejack.

"Actually, I'm rather quite curious on your family business. While I have never heard of it, I'm quite interested on how it was founded, i-if you don't mind me asking of course." She did that thing where you flicks your nose with your thumb... for some reason.

"Aw it ain't a bother ta me, it's only natural for ya to be curious. Around..." She rolled her eyes up in thought. "Nineteen twenty-eight I'd say-" She looked back at me. "- one of my great-great grandparents migrated all the way from Missouri to where my family makes Earth to day, San Antonio."

"Wait, nineteen twenty-eight... that means-"

"Yup, he was right smack in time for the depression to hit. I can't say for sure what hardships the poor man faced, but from what I was told, any normal person would've been crushed. After the war, ole Mother nature got off her rag, and finally crops were a growin' again, making living possible for him again." 

'Mother Nature got off her rag'... that woman was a poet, I-I seriously think I genuinely liked her.

"Eventually he moved out of the workers camp he was contracted to, and moved to the future location of our family's home for the next several generations. Built everything himself; barn, house, stables you name it, that man had his hand in creating it." Gotta give respect when it's due, that's pretty cool.

"According to the legends, great-great Grandpa Golden, was said to have had the freshest, juiciest apples this side of Washington."

Did... Washington have really bomb apples or something?

"Little bit of an ol' wives tail bout Sweet Apple Acres, but rumors fly about saying somethin' like the lands 'magic', or 'enchanted' somehow, considering anything we've grown always was fresh, never bruised, or rotten; when we sold it anyway. Our cattle and other animals we sold were always healthy, it rained precisely when it needed to, never to scorching of heat when we worked. I tell ya what, while it sure ain't enchanted by witchcraft or nothin', it sure is a nice patch of land." She sure seemed proud showing off her family's history, she must have a lot of love and respect for it's legacy, hey I'd be too!

"So how did your grandfather rise to fame? Actually real quick, what's his name? I'm gonna want to Google him after were done talking."

"His name was Golden Apple, an inspiration to a whole generation, and many others since then."

'Golden'... 'Apple'... who the fuck names these people! Kids used to make fun of my and Dash's names in school, our names got nothing on the dames I've met and their weird families!

"Interesting... but, how did business take off for him? Obviously nothing just happened and *poof* he's popular. How'd 'Apple Family Farms' get as big as it is?" While I was minimally interested at best, I figured this would be a good way to get her to open up, I could tell though, she'd be one tough nut to crack. I'd have to be patient.

"Well, I don't know everything, just that at some point somebody asked him to sell his stock to them, and Granddaddy make a killing off it. Over time his food, and livestock was being requested by folks and establishments in town, then eventually out of town, and near the end of his life, out of state. At some point in-between all that, he met my future great-great Grandma, and the family line started from there. That's all there is to it really." 

Ok that didn't work...

"Well either way, I think it's kinda cool. So, yeah, you pretty much won me over when it comes to working, and hard labor, that alone could be enough to land you a job somewhere in town."

"Anything else ya need to ask me?" Ok then... guess I'll get straight to the point then.

"Uh, *cough* tell me a bit about yourself." She raised an eyebrow, suspicion in her eyes.

"Myself?"

"Yeah, so I know a little bit more about who I'm dealing with, believe me, it makes finding work easier, if I can fill them in a bit about who I'm helping." She let the brow drop, but still was in a questioning mood.

"Where'd ya'll say I'd be potentially workin' at again?" Shit, I didn't really did I?... I kinda just answered it without answering it.

"Well if you want specifics, there's plenty of different stores, restaurants, theaters, et cetera. I can try to get you a job in like, one of the bars, red light district, car shops, anywhere I can find wherever would be most profitable for both of us, but something that suits your skills, and personality." I was hoping she wouldn't question when I said 'red-light district', her glare softened a bit, but I could see her guard was still up.

"I get it, I think, your inquiring about me to find the best suitable work place for me, but also would leave you broke in the process, is that it?" Kind of what I just said, but sure.

"Yep. I like to think it works out for everybody, besides, I don't want to just know my clients as workers, I want to know them as people too. I have to like who I'm giving a hand to after all, cause if I don't they probably won't either." Was I being to forward with my subtle goading?

"Hmm... well, I'm not exactly one to give out all my life's tales, even with some of the friends I made in my time. It's normally family, maybe a close friend... I can't promise full answers, or any at all... but I'll try to answer what I deem I should. That sound fair?"

Frustrating is more like it...

"Yeah, of course."

"... Ok then. Ask what ya need to."

"Well, for starters, I'm wondering how was working on the farm? Was it just you and your parents, or did you guys employ workers, or have friends help you?" 

"Nope, no friends or workers to help us, after a while anyway, mah Daddy was very picky on who worked for him, after a point he only trusted himself, Momma, myself, and my siblin's." I don't think she meant to say that last part, cause her eyes came close to bugging, but she restrained herself.

"Oh, siblings huh? I'm going to assume... two brothers?" She let a single 'ha'.

"Naw, one big 'un, and little sister, little only referring to her height and age, that little beast could supplex Big Daddy Ritch!" Um... cool?

"What're their names?" 

"Macintosh, and Applebloom Apple respectively."

That can't be coincidence, I-I just had to ask.

"That's kinda funny."

"What is?"

"Well... I'm sure you know, but all your names are some how apple related. 'Applejack', is, well you know a drink, 'Applebloom' is-" Applejack looked almost pissed at my unfinished analogy.

"I'm fully aware of the double-meanings of our names, and I don't take kindly to someone laughing at mah family." Christ, I thought she was going to pull a twelve-gauge out of... somewhere!

"Sorry, sorry! I-I meant no offence Applejack, I was just pointing out an observation, was all..." She almost looked sorry for what she said, but she sure didn't voice it.

"I understand that, it's just a touchy subject for me is all."

This was going nowhere, her brother and sister for sure weren't here in Carson anyway, I was tempted to just send her away right there, why employ someone who's so difficult?

I think that's why I liked her in the first place actually, the fact that she wasn't just some pushover, dimwit cowgirl; a blonde no less! She had this natural fire about her, a "just try me" attitude, could maybe kick Flim and Flam's assess; shit I wouldn't fight her! Plus that natural protection of her family, was both respectable, and possibly usable. While she wasn't that certain sexy or beautiful like Rarity or Sparkle, she was... rugged. Tough, almost bad-ass, she was so different from the other two, almost polar opposite.

I loved it. 

"Well, I apologize if I seemed insensitive." She crossed her arms and shrugged.

"Ya'll weren't intentionally, just didn't know was all." So... she accepts?...

"Well, to move one." Shit, what else did I have? If she was this much trouble now, think of what she'd be like on part two of this... oh God help me. Oh yeah, I know! Why is she here in Nevada, Texas isn't nearly as far away as Michigan, but it's still a length distance.

"If you don't mind me asking... why exactly are you here in Nevada? N-not to say its really weird or anything, I've helped girls from just about all four corners of the country-" Just about, is not too far off from the truth honestly. "-and each person always has an interesting tale to tell. And comparing you to the last person I had in here, I'm pretty interested in what your story is, Applejack."

What I said as a compliment, she took as something personal I think? Eyes lowered, then shifted, posture slouched, she must be a doozy of a basket case!

"I'd... rather not speak of it, i-if its all the same to you." I didn't care how scary this chick was, I was going to learn her story, no matter how many baby steps I had to take!

"What killed someone?" Black humor always works for situations like this right? Well it did this time, she let out a bemused laugh. A laugh nonetheless.

"Hell no! I've met some real snakes in my time, but I've never met one who I disliked enough to cut it's head off with a shovel, 'nd bury it."

"..."

"You can cut a snakes head with shovel, but it can still live for a while, some can even grow'em back! The same thing can be done with people, course we can't grow our heads back, but the decapitated heads can live for up to fifteen minutes." Why was she- "Course you wanna spare the head what little discomfort, and not to mention the obvious confusion it must be seeing, so you bury it. Like a snakes head, it's a literal metaphor." That... makes...sense?

"Oh, I-I get it... I think. Well wait then, if its literal, than it's not actually a meta-"

"My point is, no, I have not killed a man, woman, or child. Or snake... today." Honest to God, I have almost no idea what was just said.

"Good uh... good to know, Applejack. I still would like to know what happened to you. I mean San Antonio is a long ass ways from here." She lifted up her left arm to scratch the back of her back, just a little more badgering, and I think I got her.

"L-listen Gilda, y-ya'll seem... nice enough, but I would just rather we move on with. It's got nothing to do with what we're talking 'bout anyway."

Oh but Applejack... it means everything.

"Remember how I said, 'get to know you as a person'? Well this is part of it. Cause look if you're in trouble, I need to know, that way I can get you whatever help you need." Now to feign some concern to lay the guilt on. "Have you injured recently? Is someone after you? Are you a returning military-woman?" Now she was getting pissy again...

"None of the above! I just don' wanna talk about it!."

"I'm not asking for every single, microscopic detail Jack-" And the glare I got for that killed that particular nickname            "APPLE jack. I just want to help you... Look, I understand where your coming from, I wouldn't want to tell the person who's trying to get me hired somewhere my entire life story, and I don't want that! I just want to know why- no scrath that- how you got here, and besides a job, what I can do to help you." For good measure, I added in one last crucial phrase.

"Honesty is the best policy after all."

Her eyes bugged out at me, I'd thought I pissed her off again, but once I think my words set in, she looked down, considering my 'confessional' offer. I didn't bother her, considering I at least owed her the privilege to take as long she wants to decide. It was here that a thought occurred to me:

When did it become so easy to lie?... I still remember my first encounter with Sparkle. The nervousness, the fear of messing up, and having the cops, or Sombra, on my ass. The lies... the fake care, and concern... the artificial sympathy. Of course a degree of me still felt sympathy for Twilight, I mean come one, her parents died, brother died, fake-brother acted like a dick, and I forced her to sell her body for me.

And yet... I find myself not caring.

Rarity; while not nearly as traumatic experience as Twilight, still had her own serious shit. I faked most interest I had in her life, but she hooked me with her obvious dedication to Sweetie Belle. To be all alone like Rarity is, for her, must be truly maddening, I guess part of the reason I numbed myself to that is cause I hoofed it in this state alone for two years. Everyone's wired different of course, but to top of her regret, and the losing of her big career opportunity, I made her sell her body for me, while threatening both with violence, but with Rarity, harm I'd inflict myself.

But... I don't care... in these few minutes I had to think, the past four, five months made me think how I just didn't care... i-its so difficult to explain, so many things rush in and out of my head. Every lie I told, as time went on, affected my conscious less and less, while each success those lies brought me felt... good. I figured it out that there was no going back. I had become a pathological liar. It's Second nature now.

I'd have time to think about this later though, Applejack interrupted my thoughts, all I knew at this point were two things. I wasn't afraid of liking what I do anymore. Second, unlike Twilight and Rarity where I had a shred of guilt when I learned about them, then eventually betrayed them, this time...

I was just excited.

"Gilda?..." She inquired hesitantly.

"Hmm? Have you made up your mind yet?" It was amazing how much of her strong womanly 'umph' left her. Was it solely because she didn't want to talk about it, or my subtly jab at her honesty got to her? Interesting person, this Applejack.

"I have yes... I-I'll come clean with you, but-" turning her head up, she looked me dead in the eyes. "do I have your word, not just as a business runner, but as a woman, that whatever I disclose, will remain completely confidential?" 

"Well yeah, of course. How could I consider myself a professional if I did otherwise?" Visibly tensing up, Applejack leaned forward in her chair.

"A-alright then. Just keep in mind, I didn't necessarily say I'd tell you everything. I-I'm only tellin' ya what I think you should."

"I do remember saying I didn't want any tiny tiny details Applejack. Just take however long you need, I got all day." She was silent again for a time, she then slouched over, resting her arms on her knees.

"Ok... well to help paint ya a picture, Imma tell ya a bit about my Father to give you an idea of the situation I was in alright? Don't go tellin' anybody none a this ya hear?" I nod, how could not? She'd probably break my arm or something.

"My daddy was a hard workin' man, woke up everyday at six-a-clock, tended to the fields and animals, let momma and us sleep in. He never missed a bill, and never let us go hungry, however I can remember a few times he did, so we wouldn't have to... remember how I said we never had hired help?" I nod again.

"He always wanted everything done just right, so he never trusted anybody except us to work his farm, Daddy wasn't invincible though... he was gettin' older, tired, slower, and one day out in the corn stalks... everything just... caught up with him." Was she implying?... Oh man... "Momma... never recovered, none of us did really, but she loved him more than anything, second only to her kids. A broken heart claimed her one night."

Not... unlike Twilight...

"So now it was only my brother, Macintosh, and my little sister, Applebloom, Mac decided to keep Daddy's tradition alive, which as you can imagine left very little room for any kind of, well, life. We all made a simple, but highly important pact between us: The family comes first, we tell each other everything, and in no way betray the trust and love of the Apple household... I'm here  in Nevada because, I failed all three tenets."

She did? Either her brothers a dick, or she really fucked up.

"W... what did you do" She frowned at me.

"What'd I do? I tried to actually have a life! Mac never let Applebloom and I do anything, always 'farm farm farm'! He was so-..." She stopped herself, and regained control of her emotions... dammit.

"Sorry, I don't meant to bad mouth someone when they ain't here to defend themselves... to make this story a hell of a lot shorter, I'll summarize. The only thing we were aloud to do outside the farm was our schoolin', Mac being several years my senior, finished High School a long time ago, I dropped out so Applebloom could have a fair chance at a future. At the time I figured better her than me, don't regret it either, and I don't blame her for my being cooped up all the time."

She sacrificed her foreseeable future... for her little sister? That's what Rarity was going to do... this was getting weird.

"Close with your sister?" I thought she'd dodge the question, but this time she actually answered me.

"I'd like to think we were, yeah. Not attached to tha hip or anythin' but I can tell you we confided a lot more in each other than Mac. I always tried to make life less of a struggle for her, but there was only so much I could do, I wasn't her Mother, and I never tried to be. Poor kid was to young to really know them, like I and Mac did."

So Applebloom didn't know her parents... just like... Spike. I was honestly starting to get freaked out by how similar these completely different people are... not to mention, Rarity's parents owned land as well, maybe not an actual farm farm, but still... just who are these people?

"Something wrong Gilda? You're looking paler than a marshmallow in the snow." Not sure what that means, but yeah the color was leaving my face, cause all these similarities were freaking me out!

"S-sorry Applejack, your stories just really hitting the feels ya know?" She quirked a brow.

"Uh... 'feels'?"

"It's- nevermind, continue." 

"Alright then... where was I?... Oh ok, so you got a understanding of the kind of environment I was in right?"

"Tense and melancholy?" She shrugged.

"Basically. Well one night, I had just come home from a little get together with some of mah friends from town, I came home at about eleven-ish I think, but I had made one critical mistake. There was a... certain someone I'd had mah eye on for a while, and thanks to a bit of alcohol in my head, I thought it's be a good idea to take said person home." Oh boy... I sense an overreaction coming on.

"See... how do I put this... when it comes to... certain beliefs, mah family is what ya'll might consider 'old fashioned'. Well Mac, either heard us or heard me come in, and wanted to scold me for being out so late, either way, he walked in. That's when, as the saying goes, all hell broke loose, threw my friend out tha door, I'm not kiddin' bout that neither, and we had our selves a shouting match that lasted for what seemed like eons. Any complaint, or ounce of frustration we had, we just threw at each other, the worst part to me is the fact that Applebloom heard all of that..."

"Man... that, that really sucks Applejack... but, how did that get you here in Carson?" She let out a very sorrow-coated sigh.

"I'm gettin' to that. When all was said and done, Mac told me that if I wanted to live life so bad, I could just walk out the door and not comeback, because apparently, I didn't give enough the farm, and its legacy. So being as pissed of as I was, I did just that."

"Just like that!?"

"Exactly like that, I wasn't about to take my kin yellin' lies at me anymore! Course... I didn't exactly think that through, I left right after the fight, without grabbing any cash or clothes. I waited until it was night the next day, and snuck back in to take at least a few things with me..." She got all quite for a bit again.

"What's up?"

"Nothing I... I was just remembering somethin' rather unpleasant is all. The hardest thing I've ever had to do...

"... Which was?..."

"I had to say goodbye to my lil sis... a-anyway, to finally answer your question finally, I hitchhiked my way here." I had to bug my eyes out at that.

"Hitchhiked? All the way here? Why to Carson City of all places?" She shrugged.

"Aw hell, I was just going wherever I could, and I happened to wind up here on my latest journey, just scrapping to survive. I've been just about all over these western states, reason I ain't dead yet is cause, I know how to take care of myself, and if necessary, defend myself, never know who you'll meet. Naturally I couldn't just live off the few things I shoved in my backpack, so whenever I stay in a city a spell, usually sleeping on a bench somewhere, or if I can sneak in without a hitch, in someone's yard, then look for some work."

"Damn... that's a tough life you lead Applejack... can't imagine how rough it's been for you." 

"Aw don't fret it none, I ain't complaining much, the life's rough, but it's mine ya know? Can't lie though, the road get's might lonesome, and if you ain't careful you'll go mad, I always gotta be on my guard, never know who someone'll turn out to be, and it's been... about two, almost two and a half years since I seen home. Worked just about any kinda job you can think too, restaurants, janitorial, chauffeurin', mixed in with my personal background, believe me, I ain't no pantywaist." Any job huh? This was just to good of an opportunity to miss.

"...Have you ever worked a more... physical type of job?..." Clearly not getting my question, she raised an eyebrow at me.

"Like what, physical labor? Well yeah, I told ya I've work in a variety of fields..."

"Well... it's physical sure...  a-and a type of 'labor', yeah." Damn I suck at subtly.

" I'm afraid I don't fo...llow." Now she got it. "Oh... oh! N-no! W-well I-I mean nothing against women who do, but... that particular career choice... it ain't for me." That makes you just perfect for the job AJ, heh heh.

"Sorry, I-I meant no offence. Well to be honest with you, I think I got all the info I need, we're pretty much done here. You got a cell phone?" 

"Afraid not."

"Hmm... alright how 'bout this, you come by at like... ten tomorrow, and I guarantee, I'll have something for you."  She bugged her eyes out at my promise.

"What!? No place I ever been to could promise me that."

"Well... I can. I told you I got friends in town, you're almost one-hundred percent gonna get one, the point of the interview is so I can get a vague idea on what kind of person you are, I relay this to various businesses, then I get you the best job opportunity. What? You think I just throw a dart at a wall or something?" She shook her head almost frantically, guess I brightened her day.

"No, course not! I just figured you were... well come on, a lone woman, in a single office in a moderate sized town, able to get someone work, free of charge, guaranteed? Mighty sorry, but I thought you were some kinda scam artist, wantin' to sell me somethin'."  I let out a small laugh, although was mildly worried how she wasn't to far off.

"Good to know I proved the rumors true, and laid your doubts to rest. You got anywhere safe to stay tonight?" Almost offered her a place to stay on the couch I got in here, but I didn't want to risk her finding anything out.

"Eeyup, I met a mighty kind gas station owner who said I could bunk in the back of his store for a night or two." 

"Oh really? What's his name, I probably know him?" She lifted her eyes in thought.

"I think he called himself Brad..."

"Either way, at least I know you'll be safe. So yeah... that concludes our introduction to each other, I'll see you tommorow yeah?" She got up, and offered her hand again for one last shake.

"Thank you mighty kind Gilda, I'll do my darndest to pay you back one day." I rose as well, and shook her hand.

"Aw don't worry about it, it's my pleasure." She said some more pleasant goodbyes and thanks you's and I saw her out. 

I didn't need to call the kind-of-twin(s) assholes, so it was just me and my thoughts for the rest of the day.

'Applejack... she didn't tell me that much about herself, way less than Rarity was willing to. She's a strong woman no doubt, anyone with visual receptors could see that, I wonder how much of a fight she'll put up? How much of a fight will I have to dish out? I'm... I'm excited to find out. Pumped even! The thought of actually- wait!'

"God... what happened to me? I... I-I could bitchy in the past but... now I'm reaching the level of, o-of borderline psychopath! When did I find it ok to ruin people's lives like this? Why do I even feel bad for any of this anyway? I-I knew what I was getting into when I started this, what I was going to do, so why do I still give a shit!?" I slammed my hands on the desk in pissed off frustration... makes sense.

"No! I don't regret what I'm doing, o-or anything I've done to get where I am today. I don't I don't I don't!!!" I slammed by fist on the table with each exclamation. "Tomorrow, everything will go down, just like it did before, Applejack won't have any special treatment, and if it comes to blows, I'll knock her ass down. Yeah... just like the other two..."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I barley slept that night, my nagging thoughts wouldn't stop bugging me the whole time. I was still able to be somewhat presentable for Applejack by the time she got here, I was never much of a trendsetter with my wardrobe anyway, so my appearance wasn't that big a deal. She arrived more or less on time, but I didn't care, I was dreading asking her the last three/four if you think about it, questions, just had to play it cool, and hope she loosens up around me. She knocked, saw herself in, then sat down in front of me, like yesterday. I noticed she was wearing the same outfit from yesterday, I wondered ho long she'd had to wear that, but I didn't pester her on it.

"Howdy Gilda, I'm not to late am I? Mighty sorry, but I overslept quite a length."

"Aw don't worry about it, it doesn't really matter, what's important is that you're here. You sleep ok?" Figured small talk was a good way to break the ice.

"About as comfy as a closet can be, but yea I slept ok."

"Oh good I was worried about you being out there." A frown crossed her face.

"Then why didn't ya offer me a place ta spend the night?" Wait, what!?

"What!? W-well, I, uh..." Than she laughed at me!

"I'm just pullin' you're leg Gilda, I wouldn't impose on someone like that, that Brad guy I mentioned practically made me stay in the back." Oh you cheeky...

"Oh, you're, you're funny Applejack..."

"Heh heh, sorry bout that, I didn't mean no offence." I wave her off.

"I'm not, I'm not... course, that attitude could've been a decisive factor in whether or not you got work or not." I saw a look, clearly of fear in her eyes.

"W-what? Gilda, I really didn't mean-"

"Gotcha."

"I... oh you-!" We shared a mutual laugh.

"Had ya going for a second there Applejack! I was worried you'd just up and leave." 

"Aw, I knew you was fibbin', I just let you think you'd fooled me." 

"Suuuuure."

"I did though!" Another small section of laughs followed; ice successfully broken.

"Not to cut this short, but, are you ready for the last qualifying... qualifications, to see whether or not you qualify for a job in town?"

"Long as ya don't say 'qualify' again, I'm more than ready." I roll my eyes in mock annoyance.

"I won't, as long as you don't speak one of those secret languages that the south has like, eighteen of." She cocked a brow and smirked at me.

"Why ah plum don' know you be talkin' bout young'n."

"Ha! You' know, you're a riot Applejack. Bummer we couldn'tve met outside of the working world, I bet you're pretty cool to chill with." She crossed her arms, as a faint blush and a small smile crept onto her face.

"Aw shucks Gilda, that's mighty nice of you." Sad part is, I meant it too.

"Well without further ado, let's finish this business of ours yeah?" Smile left, replaced with a serious face, arms un-crossed, as she gave a firm nod.

"Yessir Gilda."

"Alright, what's gonna happen now is I'm going to ask you several questions on behalf of your future employers behalf, that ok?"

"I don't see a reason why it wouldn't be, go ahead. I still however, keep to what I said yesterday, I will not divulge everything. That still clear?"

"Crystal."

"Inquire away then."

"Ok then." I pulled out the pre-planned questions from my pocket. "Question one: are you prepared to fulfill whatever tasks your boss may present you with?" I re-worded it a bit, seeing how she is a professional and all.

"As long as it remains within the confines of the law, I ain't exactly keen on going to jail for anybody." She is really scary when she losses her accent in case you were curious.

"Of course, and don't worry, I can promise you that everything they may or may not have you do is completely legal. Next question-" I decided to drop the question about extended leave from home, seeing as how she was homeless, and I thought she'd find it too suspicious. "- what's your opinion on homosexuality?" Like that's any less suspicious right? She raised her eyebrow, probably the tadest bit baffled.

"And why would they wanna know that, Gilda?"

"Just so on the off chance they hire a gay person, or someone is working there who is gay, they know where you stand, so they know where to put you, or schedule you. Productive work environment and such." Her eye's deadlocked onto mine.

"Well speaking honestly then, I think it's wrong against nature, and a sin in the name of our lord to engage in such activities with the same sex."

"... Uh... wow, ok, well if that's how you feel then-" Than she fucking laughed at me again!

"Ha ha ha ha! I'm only kidding ya, I made it sound mighty convincin' though didn't I?"

"Don't do that!"

"I'm sorry, really, but being from where I come from, it's extremely easy to fool people into believing that, 'specially you yanks up here, ha ha." Her and Dash definitely would've hit it off...

"Oh you... you did alright... can you tell me your real opinion on the subject though? This is kind of important after all." She smirked at me.

"Alright, I'm done messin' with ya. To be honest if that's what's someone's into then hell, go do what ya want I say, it ain't my place to judge someone." Is she just overall a decent person or something?...

"Alright, that's cool." Gonna go out on a limb here. "By chance, what are you into?" 

"Pardon?"

"In to... like 'people' wise?"

"Are you... are askin' me if I'm... I'm sorry, what?" Aw shit...

"I was just wondering was all, you don't gotta answer if you don't want to."

"That's a mighty personal question considerin' we just met yesterday, Gilda." She was getting suspicious, I wasn't going to get an answer out of her, I figured, screw it.

"I really didn't mean to offend you, I over stepped my boundaries, and I apologize. Wanna just move on?" 

"I'd appreciate it." I was at an impasse now. If she had that bad a reaction to me askin' that, then how would she react when I asked her if she'd had sex before? I could just assume she has, and make sure she only gets men, but what if she's not? Then I'm a rapist, that's what. That's the last thing I need to be labeled as right now. I could just make up some half-assed excuse, but again then I already dropped the 'are you gay' question... Shit... this sucked.

"Alrighty then, last question..." Please God, don't let her punch me in the face. "Are um... a-are you?... have?... *ahem* You ever have sex?" Fuck.

"The hell you just say?" Man I swear green eyes are the scariest when pissed off.

"T-that came out... wrong?"

"No, no, I think it came out loud and clear, you just asked me if I ever had sex!? What logical reason would you have, they have whatever, to ask me that!?"

"They, um... well, you see-"

"You better give me a damn good reason, or else, no matter how bad I need a job, I'm walking out that door. This is gettin' way to awkward, and way too weird." Shit... Flim and Flam are probably outside, I could get them in here to deal with her... no, I need to do this how I have been, if not for adequate dirt on her, then just so I know I could.

"They do have a good reason, well at least they see it as such-"

"What job asks that though? I like you Gilda, don't be making your word sour now." She tacked on almost threateningly.

"They feel the need to ask to test the applicant's..." Fuck, I don't know. "honesty. Yeah, honesty, that's what you want in a worker right? Up front, blunt honesty? That normally means a productive, trustworthy employee." Ok, ball is in motion, time to use my kinetic energy to lie my ass off.

"That is one of the thing's I personally would look for, that ain't the problem. The issue is, is the extreme nature of questions they are, I see no reason why- ok, the homosexuality thing, that threw me off, but in hindsight, I could see why they'd ask that. Last thing they need is a confrontation on beliefs and such after all, that's fine, I get that. But why on God's Earth, would they wanna know if I've been intimate or not?" 

"So they know they can trust you in any 'extreme' circumstances. The people I tried to convince hiring you, I've known for years, like I've said before, and this arrangement of ours wouldn't work without two things: Profit obviously, but most importantly, is trust; I trust them, as they trust me. And I don't mean we're best friends or anything, just that they trust my judge of character, thereby sending them good workers, and one way I gauge someone, is how honest I can tell they're being. You don't wish to talk much about yourself, that's fine, but what you have answered, I can tell you're being truthful with me." I let the words sink in for a bit, and waited for her to respond... this seems to happen a lot, it's kind of annoying honestly.

"... 'Trust' and 'honesty', huh?... What you say makes sense, but I still see no reason why they should know that. I mean, I haven't even met them, I understand them wanting trustworthy employees, who trust them, but why such oddly personal questions?" I might as well answer mostly honestly.

"... I don't know. I ask the questions for them, I don't write them out. I truly don't mean to pressure you Applejack, but they do need an answer. If you have/haven't it doesn't matter, it does not affect whether or not your hired, they just wish to establish a system of trust, that way when they meet you, they know what, or rather who to expect." She ran her hand over her face, then, rather begrudgingly I might add, answered me.

"*Sigh*... yes." What?

"What?"

"Yes I have... rolled around in the hay a few times, is that satisfactory?" Hells yeah it is! I knew I could get her, no one can beat me! Well, she didn't know about any of this, but whatever, I won!

"You bet it is! Now that you've answered all their final qualifying questions, it's time to sign on the dotted line now, so to speak." I opened the drawer, and handed it to Applejack, like I did the others.

"What's this, a contract? Why'd they give it to you?" I shrugged and answered cockily.

"They trusted me to convince you." 

"Hmph... Well good job, ya'll sold me. So what's on this here piece of paper anyway?" she asked as she began to read it to herself.

"Well all it says really is, it's reaffirming what I asked you, addressing how anything they have you do is within the confines of the law, how you'll get paid at either the end of every pay period, or task completion. All that's left, like I said, is to sign that dotted line." After I finished, she was still reading it for quite sometime, it was starting to get awkward.

"Uh, Applejack? You alright?" She removed her eyes from my even better written contract, to answer me.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, this thing, sorry, I was just having a time readin' it." Oh God, what now?

"Why? Too short? Spelling errors?..." She shook her head.

"Naw nothin' like that, actually it has honestly too much detail! I think it could have been shortened quite a lengths, I mean it's almost comin' off the page. I don't know who wrote this up, but they need a re-teachin' in basic arithmetic." SIGH, guess back to the damn drawing board again with this stupid thing...

"I'll be sure to let them know..." I mutter as I hand her a pen. She signs her name, and hands it back to me, and now my favorite part of the job.

"Well alright, we're all set Applejack! I think it's about time you met your knew boss, who's that sound?"

"It sounds like this took a little long, but I'm excited all the same, where're we headed Gilda?"

"Close by."

"..."

"..."

"... Um... heh heh, we uh... gonna go now?..." Shake of the head...

"No. There's no need to." 

"But why wouldn't... NO." She caught up a lot faster than the other two did, gotta give her credit for that.

"That's right Applejack, you're looking at her. I'm you're new boss!" A look of relief, I think, came across her face.

"Well I'll be! That don't sound to bad at all! Why the false pretense of a third party though?"

"It was mainly to see how honest I could get you to answer the questions. I do this with every person that comes through here, helping out my friends business's that was no lie, but if I find a candidate suitable enough, I have them come work for me."

"Kinda clever, gotta admit. Risky, but I assume it's effective, how many other people have gotten this 'pristine' position you set them up for?"

"Currently... you're number three." She let out a whistle.

"Dang, must be some top notch business you own... wait so you pulled the wool over my eyes about this being your only kinda income?" I nonchalantly shrug.

"Afraid so. It's a necessary white lie, I can't just hire any random dude that comes through here after all. My business brings in quite the substantial income monthly, it wouldn't be in my best interest if I hired someone I didn't think I could trust, or is too wet behind the ears. Get what I mean?" She nods in understanding.

"I getcha. It's a little, I think the word I'm lookin' for is, 'cold', but that's business, so I can understand what you're saying. Well seeing as how we'll be working together now I might as well ask, what kinda business you run?"Oh here it comes!

"Ever heard of that Cathouse that's in this town?" Her finger goes up to her chin in thought.

"I... think so... yeah actually! When I was coming into town not to long ago, I saw the lights to the place glowing in the moonlight... it was 'Greg's' I think?..."

"Nope, 'Griffon's'; it's mine. I want you to work there." Here comes the freakout!

"Well alright, that don't sound too bad." What!?

"Huh?" 

"Yeah, I can do that. What do you need me to do? Clean the place up? Work in the kitchen?" 

"Uh, no... I want you to be one of my girls. Work for me. As in have sex for money. For me." Eyes went wide, mouth went agape, it was time for the fun to begin.

"You want me to what!?" I shrugged at her.

"Honestly, I thought it would've been pretty obvious after I asked if you'd heard of the joint-"

"You askin' me about my orientation, thought's on gays, the subject of my virginity-"

"Honestly, I thought I was terribly un-subtle. Cool to know I successfully pulled the wool over your eyes, Applejack." I think the situation fully hit her, cause after I finished she shot up from the chair, looking pissed as ever.

"Well you can forget 'bout alla that, I'm getting outta here!" She turned around and stalked for the door in one motion.

"Ay! We have a contract- a signed contract no less, you aren't-" She stopped just at the door and snapped her head back at me so fast, I'm surprised she didn't strain something.

"Oh-ho no you don't missy. You ain't no 'official' business, and I can only assume you made up that bull about your 'friends'." I stand up to try and win this stare down.

"Well duh! Who the fuck would agree to idea as stupid as the one I told you we did? It's both improbable, and very very stupid." 

"Tch. Yeah, 'specially cause of the fact someone like you ain't got any friends. This conversation's over, you can't and won't make me work for your deceiving self." 

"That is where you are wrong young seed." I didn't even notice those two slip in, but hey, at least I got backup now. Their sudden appearance made Applejack jump, and turn around.

"What in the-!?" The two took a bow, and proceeded to introduce themselves.

"I young madam, am named Flim."

"I am his brother, you may call me Flam."

"I don't give a damn who you are, what the hell are you doing here?" Flim stepped forward as he answered her.

"Well you see miss Apple, we are mere associates of Gilda here, assisting her in anyway we can."

"Such as dealing with coercing troublesome women like yourself, into working for miss Hof here." Applejack snapped her head back at me.

"Is this what you implied, by how I'm the 'third'?" I use my nod and smirk combo.

"Now you got it." Then Flam, in what I have to say was a ballsy move, walked behind Applejack, and set his hands on her shoulders.

"The rest of them failed to resist, and now, they comply to Gilda's whims, as if it were second nature. With mild attitude of course... but they come through none the less." Applejack gritted her teeth at the contact.

"... How did you and your brother get these women for 'miss Hof' exactly?" .

"A simple use of rubbing alcohol, just takes a woman's breath away, every time." Her fists clenched.

"These women who came to you for help... after being drugged... have their bodies sold...."

"Well yeah, I thought that was glaringly obvious by now." Pupils shrank... I don't like where this is going.

"It is a very profitable business Applejack... my brother and I have benefited greatly from working with Gilda, the women get payed handsomely... and get to live. Hm hm hm..." I could feel her clenching from where I was standing.

"Besides-" I spoke up. "-it's not like the other two put up much of a fight anyway, one managed to elbow me in the gut, but that's about it. You'll be no different Applejack, complying with us, is your only real option." I heard her breath in and out, eyes glancing back and forth between me, and Flam in her peripherals.

She looked me straight in the eyes again. "That's what you think, Hof."

Before I could get one syllable out, she swiftly brought her head forward and bashed it into the brim of Flam's nose. On instinct, he covered his face, releasing his grip on her shoulders, executing a quick one-eighty, she slammed her knee into his stomach, bringing Flam to his knees from the pain. Before Flim or I could react, Applejack slammed a right hook on Flam's jaw, knocking his light's right out.

Flim rushed Applejack, who locked eyes on Flim immediately after KO'ing Flam, before he reached her she lifted her left leg and planted it right in his balls. She hit him with such a force, he keeled over in pain, to the floor, Applejack wasn't done with him yet though, she grabbed him by the shoulders, forced him to his feet, and shoved him back, hitting the door to the office. She then proceeded to charge forward, and with incredible force, took her size nine-looking boot, just trucked Flim through the door, into the hallway.


Applejack turned back to me, stared me down with those venomous green eyes of hers, a scowl present on her mug. then out of nowhere, she cruelly smirked at me, then tipped her hat. "Pleasure doin' business with you Miss Hof." Then proceeded to sprint out of the room.

Just so you know, this all happened in a span of almost twenty seconds, I couldn't do much, except stare with my mouth wide open.

I couldn't process what I just saw, she single-handedly handed Flim and Flam their asses, breaks my door, and taunts me!? In that moment, any fear I had of that woman was instantly quashed, but a new sensation coming over me. A potent mixture of anxiety, fear, anger... the kind of feelings that can make a person do... rash, and desperate things. She kicked Flim and Flam's collective ass, that scared me, she could blow open my whole operation if she escaped, that terrified me, she laughed at me, looked at me like I was a joke, not even worth her time...

That enraged me.

I was not going to take being looked down on like that, and even if she beat me into submission, I would not let her walk away without a few scars. So I ran after her.

I caught up to her into the parking lot, luckily I wasn't too out of shape, although admittedly rusty. "Hey!" I called out successfully getting her attention. She stopped running, and turned around looking at me with that stupid look on her face again.

"Where *huff huff* do you think you're going!?"

"*pant* Ha, seems like that little run done tuckered you out Gilda, aha ha. I didn't run that far."

"*Huff* Fuck you! We aren't done yet!" As if to further piss me off, she put her hands on her hips.

"Now Gilda, I think I made it abundantly clear that our business has officially concluded." The way she spoke to me, plus her current stance, I felt more like a kid getting scolded than a threat!

"Not until I say we have, hick!" I stalked towards her, and she still kept smirking at me!

"Well now that's just plain rude there, ma'am. What's got your hog a-squealin'?" I stop right in front of her, so I can look her in the eyes. It's here I see I'm at a height disadvantage, by about four inches.

"What's got me pissed is the fact that I don't think you realize the danger you're in! Y-You act like you don't even care!"

"Well why should I? If the 'infamous' Flam and Flam can get trampled on so easy, why should I worry 'bout little ol you?" 

"Why!? I convincingly lied to you, and alluded to your life being at risk of ending. I'm trying to force you to work as a playmate at my bitching brothel, and you mock me!? I'm honestly offended!" I guess that was a poor choice of words, considering most of her cocky demeanor left.

"You're offended!? Did ya'll miss the part where ya tried to kidnap me!? Why the hell do you want me in your damn little clubhouse, or whatever, anyway?"

"Why? Why?? Dude. You kicked the asses of two of this generations most lethal mobsters, kicking one of them through my door! I already thought you were an attractive specimen, but honestly seeing that just made me want you in my business more! You got this wear-and-tear look to you, you have muscles that look good, and to top it off, you're a blond Texan! Are you aware of how fucking hot that is!? I would make so much money off of you, i-it'd be unreal!"

"If that was meant to be flattering you failed miserably, I fell more disgusted now, than anything." I wave dismiss her with a wave of the hand.

"Irrelevant! My point is, is that, I don't care what I have to do Applejack-" I poke her in the shirt with my index finger. "-you are coming with me." Her mocking nature was gone now.

"Unless you plan on takein' a lickin', I ain't-" She poked me back. "-goin' nowhere with you." I had no choice; ultimatum time.

"Alright then, let's make a 'friendly' wager then shall we?" I back up, giving her and I some space. "You much of a betting gal, Jack?" As I ask the question, I begin to circle Applejack.

"I only make bet's I know I can win, that being said, what are you offering, Hof?" She extended, starting to circle as well.

"Something simple... simple and quick. You fancy yourself an ass-kicker yeah?" Applejack shrugged.

"I can hold my own decently with the average of them."

"Then how bout this... we throw down. Right here, right now." An eyebrow quirked up.

"Ha! You wanna fight me? Pardon my observation here Hof, but ya'll look about as strong as wooden shed in a typhoon."

"You have no way of knowing that for sure... unless you agree to fight me.'

"... If you win?..."

"Well you'll be super knocked out, but you'll come work for me at The Griffon."

"And when I win?" Oh you  cheeky little bitch...

"IF you win... I'll let you turn me in. You can squeal to the cops about my entire operation. That's only if you win of course... what do you say Jack? Think you like those terms?" Stopping, she turned her head down slightly, I could see she was weighing her options, I stopped walking as well.

"All I gotta do to bring your sorry ass down, is kick it. If you want me to whore myself out for you, all you have to do is beat me..."

"Exactly. Look around. No one will get in our way here, and those two'll be out cold for while, 'specially Flim, so whoever wins will be put over clean. Deal?" Applejack looked up, pure determination in her eyes.

"Ya'll sure you really wanna do this? Think about this Hof, you're really willing to fight me, just to fulfill you're 'whore all-star' fantasy? Is this all honestly worth it to you!?" I didn't even have to think.

"You bet your ass it is."

"I haven't known you long Gilda Hof, but believe me when I tell ya this... you're batshit insane."

"Do we... or do we not, have a deal!?" She was making me think about it to much, I needed her to stop before I seriously considered stopping all of this. Applejack just shook her head at my desperation.

"...Deal then." Yes!

Oh fuck... I actually have to fight Applejack now.

She put her fists up, and spread her legs out slightly, I noticed her hands were opened instead of clenched. I loosened myself up, putting up my dukes, ready to bruise this belle.

"Brace yerself Gilda." She rushed me.

Cocking her right arm back, she brought it forward, coming straight at my face. I quickly side-stepped to the left, now delivering a right hook of my own, her reaction time was sharp though, as she quickly brought her left arm to block the punch, while using her right fist to collide with my jaw. The force was a shock at first, and obviously painful, forcing me to stumble back a few inches, instinctively, I brought my hand to my chin, upon removal I noticed a small amount of blood on my hand. I thought, 'I'm bleeding already!? This isn't good, I need to step it up!'.

Now it was my turn.

I came at her, charging with a left ready to break something. As I launched my fist at her, she deflected it away with an open palm. I sent a short volley of right's and left's her way, none breaking through. Well at least the open palm thing made sense now. Gritting my teeth, I sent another left her way, but instead of deflecting it, she caught it, and gripped it. Hard. A yelp of instant pain escaped my throat, I tried to pry her hand of, but her grip was locked in tight, no way I'd be breaking it.

"Heh. That the best you got Hof?" Eyes open wide now at the insult, instinct took control as I attempted to strike her with my right fist again. Didn't work; caught that one too.

"You ain't gonna last long if ya'll keep this up." Glaring at her, my injured pride was fueling my drive to knock her down.

Seeing an opening, I raised my foot, and planted my size seven converse into her gut. I could tell she didn't expect that, as the wind taken out of her with an exclaiming, "Oof!", was enough to loosen her grip on my hands so I could finish my strike, and nail her right in her cheek, the force pushing her back. I was so stocked, I hit her! I actually got her! My optimism was quickly crushed when she rubbed her, soon to be sore cheek, she did not look happy at me.

"Lucky shot. Last time that'll happen Hof."

"Don't be pissed just because you didn't know I could actually be a challenge Jack!"

"Oh you wanna actually tussle for real? Alright then, I'm done going easy on your ass."

Before I could make a comeback that could stall my inevitable beating, she had tackled me to the ground.

The surprise alone would have been enough to take my breath away. I didn't have time to, you know, breath, cause as soon as my back hit the concrete, Applejack started wailing on me with fast, but painfully precise strikes to the face. I put my hands up to block them the best I could, but as I informed you earlier, this woman was a Goddamn tank.  The more she was punching me, the more she was leaning up on me, I was able to lean back, and kick her off me. She stumbled to the ground, having lost her footing allowing me to quickly get to my feet. 

Big mistake.

The massive ache that rushed to my head was so sudden, and strong, it nearly floored me. My face was sore, would probably bruise in places, and I was already tired. I didn't have a lot of time to wallow, I had to keep on the offensive.

She started to get to her feet, I ran up and kicked her right in the chest, flooring her. This was my chance to capitalize! Not wasting anytime, I started curb-stomping the southerner, chest, arms, legs, just about everywhere. At this point it was just about having her in my brothel, I just wanted to beat her. For my brothel, and my pride. I wasn't as aware as I should've been, as I was about to deliver one to her head, she sweeped me by the ankle, taking me to the ground.

She was on top of me again, but instead of frantically swinging at me, she straddled me, delivering more precise, less frequent, but more painful, blows my way. I tried to block the best I could, I did a few of them, but each one hurt after the other. She wouldn't let up either, she kept smashing at my arms until I couldn't support them anymore. She launched a particularly crushing one right down the middle to my nose, that's a potential kill shot by the way, I quickly put my arms up, but she was to strong, as soon as she made contact, my arms flopped to the side in pure exhaustion. 

Once my defenses were down she followed through with the punch, connecting it... to the ground just next to my head. My eyes widened at the sound of her fist against the ground. She locked eyes with mine, hazel shakily staring at cold, determined green eyes. A particular thought reared it's ugly head into my thoughts: I was screwed... this woman could break me in half, and I'll I've been through and done, would be for nothing. 

That thought terrified me, and she saw it too, if she couldn't tell by my borderline hyperventilating, then she could see it in my eyes. I was scared. Scared of her. She lifted her hand up from the ground, I shifted my eyes, watching her fist rise. I could see rocks indented in her knuckles from the impact, blood dripping from the wound. Shaking her hand, the small rock fragments, with some of the blood, flew off. She eased off me a bit, now more sitting on me, I guess beating me down wore her out.

"*Huff... huff*... We... done, yet? *Huff*" I tiredly shake my head at her. "*Huff* Why? Why do ya... want me in that club-a yours so... *huff* so bad?"

"*Huff... weeze* I... gave up...every- *cough* everything to run my business... I'm willing to do whatever is necessary, to keep my dest-... dream alive."

"At the *pant* expense of, o-of conspirin' with known killers? Ruining unknowing women's lives?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you... Jack." My tiny little act of defiance caused her to frown, I could feel her remove herself from me.

"Well then ya'll can 'explain' yourself to the law. Cause we're finished here." She was up and starting to walk when her sentence ended. She had walked in front of me, in a frantic act of desperation, I quickly flipped on my stomach, and grabbed her foot.

"We aren't done yet dammit!" She kicked herself out of my grip and kept walking.

"Give it a rest! You're only embarrassing at this point." In a wobbily fashion, I was making my way to my feet.

"I need you in the Griffon! Get back over here, and let's finish this!" 

"Go to hell, Yankee!" I couldn't let her escape, she'd ruin everything I worked for! At this point, I didn't just need her in the Griffon for the killer money I'd make of her, I needed  to get Applejack locked up at the Griffon, to keep her quite. Ignoring the pain, I made a mad dash for Applejack. Of course she wasn't going to not hear my charge, so just as I got close, she had spun around with a fist ready to collide with my face. Believe this or not, I'd anticipated this, so just as the fist was making its way, I ducked under it, charging right into Applejack's gut, shoulder first, knocking her back to the asphalt.

It felt really good to be able to do that. Any restraint I had, left me, all I wanted now was two things: this victory, and maybe... a little bit of her blood. Making my way towards her, I could see Applejack was beginning to get to her feet, I quickly ran over, and popped her in the cheek, flooring her. I mounted on top of Applejack, like she did me a few minutes ago, trying to land as many punches as I could on her. I was able to land several before she threw up her block, at lot more durable than mine if I may add, it sucked too, my hands were getting sore.

Thinking fast, I quickly moved my hands to her shoulder and applied pressure, then proceeded to lift my right knee, and land it right in her kidney. A yell of pain broke out of her mouth, successfully, but briefly, breaking her guard. It was here I decided to play dirty. I   balled up my right fist, and slam it down on her left tit. Oooh the sound of pure pain that erupted outta her throat was a thing of beauty!

"Aah!!!" Instinctively, she brought a hand up to cover it up, that's when I slammed my fist on the other one. I didn't care to much, as long as her clients have somewhere to put something, that's all I give a fuck about. Giving her one last knee to her stomach, I quickly hopped off her. I, very slowly, made my way to Applejack's top half, she was on the ground still very much in pain, clutching her rack. Those things are sensitive after all, it's not unlike hitting a dude in the balls honestly.

I stopped my stalking when I reached the front of her head, to add one last insult, I squatted down, poking her shoulders so she'd look over at me, eye's being closed due to pain and whatnot. This was the first time she glared at me and I wasn't terrified. Checkmate, hick.

"Any last words? Jack" In one last act of 'fuck you' she spat on my chest, then mumbled out:

"Go to hell, Hof..." I wiped the spit off, rising to my feet.

I gave her one more cocky smirk for the road. Raised my leg. And slammed it down, right center on her face, finally KO'ing this southern-warrior.

"No one likes a sore loser, Applejack. Ha ha." 

Now all I have to do is haul her carcass to the Griffon... and my ride is currently sleeping.


Goddamn it.

> Applejack's Admission part 2/A Time of Reflection
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


It took a while for Flim and Flam to come to, the ass kicking they got from Applejack would no doubt leave them with some bruises, a few headaches, and internal bleeding. Their ego's will definitely be sore.


I took the time I had alone to assess the damage done to Applejack. Face was swollen, a number of cuts and scratches covered her face, a deep cut over her right brow, topped off with dirt, grime, and whatever else was on my shoe. Thankfully (for me) I hadn't broken her nose. I didn't do a hands-on examination, but no doubt there'll be soreness in her stomach, and especially her chest. 

Diagnosis says: other than the few weeks I was gonna give her to adjust to her environment, like I did the other two, there was no reason, externally anyway, why she wouldn't be able to do her job. The swelling will go down, bruises will go away, any cuts, or scars she may have gotten will fade, and if I'm lucky, no one will notice the slightly purple spots on her "goods". She can probably clean herself up at The Griffon, I made sure to have first aid's stashed about. Actually come to think of it, Flim and Flam might need that too.

Man, they got their asses kicked! I still wouldn't want to fight the two of 'em don't get me wrong, but Applejack just whooped them! If it wasn't for the fact that we work together, I honestly would've wanted to give her a high-five.

Speaking of those two, thankfully they were able to wake up before Applejack did. I hit her hard and all, but I had a pretty good feeling that wouldn't put her down for too long a time. I could see it in their eyes too, they each had this look of defeat as they stumbled out into the parking lot. Flam's nose was puffy and red, with clear signs of bruising, and I noticed some dried blood around the nose and on his hands. Flim didn't have any external wounds, but he was limping like a war vet from that nut shot, and his nice suit was torn up on the back from getting kicked through my door.

Credit where credit is due, Applejack is pretty bad-ass. Come to think of it, I actually think her and Dash would've been good pal's. Actually in hindsight, Sparkle and Rarity might have made decent acquaintances I think... Oh well.

We hauled Applejack into the back of Flim and Flam's car, and on the whole way back to the Griffon, I could see, and feel their pain. Not the 'hurt' kind of pain, the 'Ow, my pride' kind of pain. Their ego's were bruised hard, I couldn't resist taking at least one little jab at them.

"Aw don't let this one incident you down boys! You're still the baddest wittle henchmen in the whole wide world!" All I heard was Flim growl out:

"Shut. Up." After a small chuckle I did.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So yeah, this is home now! Cause as I'm sure you remember, per our agreement, if I beat you in a fight; which I did, you come work for me. Which I did. Beat you, I mean." My back was turned to her, but I could feel her eyes glaring through my skin. 

"It's a humble little establishment, but in time I hope to expand it, using the money I- you, earn here working. I'll still pay you back a... 'fair' sum of the profits, it's only right. You are my employee after all, because, well you did lose the fight. Did I mention I won?" I turned around as I asked that, just so I could see her reaction.

"Why yes, Gilda, you've reminded me near on seven damn times now." And I loved doing it each time.

We were standing inside, I on the other side of my bomb-ass podium, and she by the door. Flim and Flam standing guard by the door, both understandably still looking pissed. Jack was trying to look all hard, and stand up straight, but she had just the faintest hunch, and her left hand was slowly rubbing her stomach. Cute.

"Down that way-" I gestured to the hallway behind me with my thumb. "-is where you'll be staying. Each girl has their own room, so you don't have to worry about privacy. Over yonder to your right is little little check in/out station, which leads to my bitching office."

A recent addition to the Griffon, said area comprised of a door leading to behind a counter, with bars and glass covering the top, with only one lone slot for my arms to reach through from the comfort of my chair. I take care of all transactions in the Griffon (like I'm going to trust an accountant...) behind that; cash, credit, and check. To the left of the chair was one more door, labeled "Gilda's Nest". I named it myself. 

"I don't have to tell you that's off limits. To your left you'll see our lounging area, that's where clients chill for a while before selecting a girl, have a dinner in the evening or breakfast in the morning if they spent the night."

It always feels cool to show off  The Griffon like this, gives me a sense of pride ya know?

Applejack turned her head to view the area in discussion, I noticed her eyes begin to scan the room. "There's a plenty of booths, tables high, low and the like. It's a designated smoking area, so hope you don't have asthma or something." I saw her roll her eyes as she continued to observe her new home. 

"In the back there I got a fully stocked, fully equipped kitchen, not like Gordon Ramsay status obviously, but it's legit, no bagged, processed crap. Probably my favorite part though is our bar in the back right corner." At that I actually saw her eyelids raise slightly at the mention of said bar. She actually took a step in it's direction to get a look at it. Figures.

Then out of nowhere the weirdest thing happened, like seriously, it was weird. When, from my view it looked like anyway, her eyes came to the bar, she like, stopped; froze almost. I don't know why, but she was just standing there almost perfectly still, I was about to go shove her, when I saw... it. This odd looking, what would you call it? Gleam? Shine? Yeah let's go with that, this 'shine', I swear to God, I saw this- this weird colored 'shine' flashed across her eyes for like, a split second.

I swear man I thought I was hallucinating, I rubbed my eyes with my fists, and when I was done, there Applejack was, still just standing there. Flim and Flam were looking at each other with 'what the hell?...' faces, but I didn't so much as look at them. It was weird... but for some reason it looked kind of... familiar. I came out from behind the podium, and walked next to Applejack, nudging her lightly with the side of my arm.

"Nice lookin' place right?" Figured it best to play it off like I didn't see anything, she probably didn't notice it happen anyway. Then just like that she was back to normal, looking pissed, and giving me gruff responses.

"Tch, nothin too great." Cue eye roll from me... "Who are those two?" I turned my gaze over to Applejack.

"Hmm?"

"The two ladies in there." 

I looked into the lounge. Sparkle and Rarity were the only ones in there today. Like always. Other girls came and went from time to time usually, but normally they just stay in their rooms, these two however almost always just stayed in here. I mean I get it, there's TV's and a bar, but they never talked to each other, so I don't get it. Granted it's a Sunday, and I'm not open on that day, but they've been in here since morning, it's a little weird. Applejack want's to meet her coworkers huh? Might as well informally introduce them.

"Well, the one with her nose in the book, sitting next to the giant stacks of books is Twilight Sparkle. Odd name, and a really bitter attitude, so she's not the most approachable person in the world, but she makes me a nice chunk of change. Fun fact:.. she's number one." I heard her growl lowly at that little reminder I threw at her. 

"Number one huh?... You rope her into this like ya did me?"

"Tch, no. Getting her in her wasn't  nearly as stressful. It was just a simple matter of the right kind of threats, and the perfect blackmail." I purposely didn't go into details, I'd let her draw her own conclusions, it's more intimidating that way. I saw her gaze linger to the bar once again.

"Who's the barkeep?"

"That little porcelain beauty, is named Rarity."

"Just Rarity?" She questioned.

"Yeah, she never gave me a last name. I can only assume that 'Rarity' is a fake name, or that is in fact her name, and she just decided not to give me a last name for some most likely dumb reason."

"Rarity..."

"Yup. That, by the way is number two... Well introductions are more or less done, so I'm gonna head to the back and check on your room, and set up some final touches. Go inside and make yourself at home." I turned my attention to my lackeys. "Flim, Flam, watch the door." They nodded, and without another word, I headed off to Applejack's room, down the hall.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------Applejack-------------------------------------------------------------

'Make myself at home'... what a bitch.

This sure is a pickle I'm in in'nt? A woman, who's clearly bat-shit nuts, has me trapped in this whore-house, and I also got these two clowns to my immediate left, eye ballin' me like Goddamn vultures. If I wasn't so banged up, I could easily get passed these two. Damn that Gilda,  I should never've turned my back on her... that may be another mistake I won't get the chance to rectify.

I could still try rushing the two of them like in Gilda's office. Give myself  just enough time to stun them, then make a break for the door. I glance on over to the two watchdogs Gilda has eyein' me, and instantly I already know that wouldn't work. They're on edge, visibly tense, I can see it in their eyes too, layin' and waitin', begging me to try somethin', just so they have an excuse to brain me. Doesn't help much that I'm in slightly more damaged condition then they are, I'd just get beaten down.

Damn that Gilda... When I get my hands on that scrawny bitch, I'm makin' her pay dearly for this.

*sigh* Well I don't care much for these two breathin' down my neck as they are, figure I might as well attempt to: 'make myself at home'. I head into this 'lounge' area she seemed so proud of; I'd be lying if I said it wasn't inviting. Tables and chairs placed about, comfortable lookin' booths, dim lighting, a big ol' HD television at the front of the bar.

The bar itself though; that's true beauty in here. Corner to corner, wall to wall, filled to the brim with refreshing lookin' poisons. At the end of the bar, to it's left, there's a little walkway for people to get in and out, that same walkway leads to the kitchen; that's where the bar starts. It ends just barely touching the other wall.

Well at least I won't be totally miserable.

I saunter on over to the nearest table and lean on it, resting my forearms on the surface. Dammit I'm hurtin' right now... My head feels like it ways a few extra pounds, face is sore, and I'm wobbilin' around like a damn penguin, hope I ain't scarred up too bad. 

Looking up 'n around, I became aware of something that could become a prominent problem in the future. 

There are surveillance cameras everywhere. When I was being dragged in here from the car, I remember lookin' around seeing one at the front of the door, one each at least attached to a corner of the building, probably has more in the back. When we actually entered the place there was one on the on the entrance to the hallway, and one over the door. When you enter the building, one of the first thing you can see is a long hallway with doors left and right, apparently where I'll be staying now... there was one at the very end of the hallway. 

The 'lounge' was no different, there was one in each corner of the room, probably a few in the kitchen. It also doesn't help none that I noticed outside, it looked liked they put up a freshly built fence. I wondered why at first, then I recollected how I noticed what looked like, a security booth. I wouldn't put it past this psycho to have motion sensors, guard dogs, and landmines at this point. So on top of being completely crazy, Gilda Hof is also insanely paranoid.

Terrific. I guess I can forget about breaking outta this dump for now.

I slumped my head over my arms, taking in the lovely sights of the table I'm perched against, in a mixture of frustration, and defeat. A chill slowly slithered in my gut at the realization that I was stuck here for a while. I was zoning in 'n out of consciousness during the ride over here, but I kinda got a clear picture of the land; it's all desert. The only civilization, that I know of, is back the way we came, but that's a hell of a walk. 

I've hoofed it on the road for a while now, but I don't doubt she has this highway memorized. I also have little doubt that she's above tryin' to after me, and those other two, that Flim and Flam, God only knows what they'd wanna do to me if they had a chance.

I'll just have to be patient, bide my time and form some kinda plan, if all goes good I'll be wringing Hof's neck in no time. It ain't gonna be easy, not exactly comfortable either, but I can't risk screwin' up my shot at bustin' outta here and kickin'  Hof right in 'er-

"Damn, she sure did a number on you Tex."

I snapped my head up at the sudden voice, coming face-to-face with, I believe to be, Twilight Sparkle. She was sportin' a dark-purple tank top, that I believe was for some kinda band or somethin', what the hell's a 'Zltoid'?..., finished off with with a pair of black jeans, and... what are those, converse? Hell I don't know- shoes, she was wearing shoes.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I said, 'she sure did a number on you'. Kinda surprised honestly, I didn't peg Gilda to be a fighter." I rolled my eyes at bein' reminded of my recent loss.

"'Fighter'? That Gilda's a coward, I had her beaten down to the ground, and was 'bout to head on out, but then next thing I know, she's tryin' to spear me from behind... anyway, she won't be so lucky next time I get my hands on her." 'Twilight' shrugged at the promise.

"Good luck with that, she's got this place wired like a government office."

"I noticed... think she's gonna be gettin' some kinda security checkpoint or sumthin' soon too." 

"That would explain the booth they're building out there. Surprised she hasn't invested in dogs yet." I didn't have much else to add to the conversation, so I took my eyes off 'er. 

Thinking about it for a sec, I figured I should introduce myself, and at least try 'n be nice. Not exactly lookin' to make any friends, living off the land doesn't give ya much social time, not to mention small talkin' ain't exactly my strong suit. Although havin' someone help me, or at least havin' no one hatin' me, would make my stay here considerably easier. With this small hope in mind, I returned my look to 'Twilight'.

"Well this ain't exactly the best situation to do this, but seein' as how we'll be bein'... co-workers, might as well. Name's Applejack." I offered her my hand to shake.

She  just eyed at my hand, crossed her arms, then stared at me.

"Name's Twilight." I took my hand back, seeing how she obviously wasn't gonna return my attempt at chivalry.

"So Twilight, what's your story; how'd you end up here? I got mah ass beat, cause I turned my back for a second." She let out a single nod.

"Yeah, that sucks." 

"..."

"..."

"So... how'd you get you get here?" 

"That's none of your business." I was a little put off by the sudden coldness of her tone, but considerin' 'blackmail', and 'threats' were involved, I can kinda get why she might not want to talk about it.

"Oh... well alright then, 's your privacy after all." Quickly looking for a subject changer, I remembered the bar, and it's watcher, realizing I forgot all about her.

"So the bartender, that's 'Rarity right?" Another nod.

"Correct. She's the second member of Gilda's 'elite team' , after me."

"How long both ya'll been here?" Hoped she'd at least answer this one. She raised her head up in thought.

"Let me see... it's April right?" That wasn't a good sign...

"Yeah, I believe so."

"Then, five months more or less. Rarity's been here for two." Damn... that's got to've been rough on both of them.

"Damn, I'm sorry 'bout that." I swear I thought I heard her scoff. "That can't have been easy..." She shrugged again.

"It hasn't been... it sucks honestly... but for your first few weeks, Gilda takes the time to walk you through the basic in and outs of the job so you don't suck. Kind of important to make sure that doesn't happen, God knows what'd happen if one of these days Rarity or I slipped up..." She was silent for a moment, if I had to guess, she was probably letting her implication, and its possibility's sink in. 

There's somethin' she ain't telling me... about herself, Gilda- something, she's hiding something.... What the hell did Gilda do to her?...

"A-anyway, then she'll take you out, supervised obviously, to go and purchase stuff for your room, or personal pleasure. Gotta keep your workers happy right?" There's a sarcastic infection so strong, I almost rolled my eyes.

"I s'pose so. She owe's the two of you that much at least. How do ya deal with all these cameras scattered about? Gotta be mighty uncomfortable, bein' watched all the time."

"Oh it is trust me. Knowing Big Brother is watching you ninety percent of the day never really get's any easier to deal with. Thankfully there aren't any cameras in our rooms."

"There ain't?" She shakes her head.

"Believe it or not. I guess she thought 'customization' and 'privacy' would some how counter-balance being forced into this life..." She ended off bitterly. 

"A manipulative psycho with a conscience?" 

"Hmph, yeah, a real Norma Bates..." Norma who? I was suddenly curious 'bout how old this woman was. She couldn't have been more than my age, she looked younger than me actually. She inhaled a quick breath and exhaled a harsh sigh, and seemingly went back to her attitude from before. "Well, all the sex  helps take some of the tension off, so there's that at least."

That little tag-on of hers at the end made me blush. I ain't a stranger to the act of love makin', but, call me old-fashioned, I always felt that sex should mean somethin'. Course everyone has their on take on the subject too, so I ain't ever been one to give someone shit for their thoughts on it. Still though, the idea of some varmint I don't even know usin' me like that, don't sit well in my gut. What really stinks is that, goin' by my recent findings, escape is lookin' more 'n more like a potential death wish.

"How'd that 'Rarity' character end up here? Hof made it out like you two were in a similar situation." Twilight rolled her eyes.

"Go ask her yourself." She about-faced, and bee-lined back for her both. Just as she was about to sit down, she turned back, now pointing at me. "You may want to clean your face up a bit. It's a little thrashed." Turning around again, she plopped back down, and resumed reading one of her books.

'Thrashed'... I hadn't gotten a look at my face since I woke up. It sure hurt yeah, but hell I've had worse.

Guess this conversations was over. A little glad honestly, talkin' with her was really tense, and the tiniest bit awkward; I never was good at first meetin's. Maybe this 'Rarity' person will be a little for informative, or at least more pleasant company. I push myself off the table, and limp my way to the bar to meet co-worker number two, who this whole time had her attention focused on the TV, or was busy doin' something behind the bar.

As I neared the bar, I noticed she was stackin' the shelves. Very important job, gotta say. Back turned to me, I sat myself down on one of the stools in front of her. I assume she heard me, cause a few seconds later she started talkin'.

"Don't let Twilight get to you too much, she's always like that." 

"Uptight, 'n very closed off?"

"Yes, I'm afraid she's got quite the hardened exterior, I still recall when I first met her, she was very... how shall I say?..."

"Off-putting?" I offered. She nodded her head.

"Quite." Well we're already kinda off to a better start then Twilight and I were. I wonder where this 'Rarity' is from. Her accent sounds like it's some kinda European. It probably ain't but you never know. It was quiet for some moments, so my eyes wandered up 'n down my new co-worker.

This 'Rarity' looks like quite the woman. She was wearin' what looked to be a white button-up shirt, didn't look like it was tailored cheap neither. Like Twilight she was wearing a pair of black jeans, but her shirt was tucked in. I couldn't see her shoes, but she looks like the heels wearin' type. Her hair was somethin' else though, it looked like... I dunno what, it's like flat, but full; point is it looked nice. Not normally the type of person I'd associate myself it, well more like them not associate themselves with me, but anyone to talk to on friendly terms was better than nobody.

"So you the bartender for this place?" 

"Not 'officially' I suppose, but I felt that I needed something to occupy my time with during my stay here. Of course swift access to a nice drink every now and again was also a persuasive notion as well." 

"Ha, I hear that. I'm figurin' Im'ma need a few during my residin' of this 'lovely' establishment." She let out a low laugh.

"I know that particular feeling all too well... Oh! Where are my manners." Suddenly she turned around to face me. "My name is Rarity. Pleasure to make your aquai- OH MY STARS!" 

Oh my stars, that scared the crap out of me! Actually made me jump! Think I'm halucinatin' too, thought I saw some weird gleam cross her eyes right now...

"Darling, your face, i-it looks positively thrashed! You look like you were in some sort of fight, what happened!?" Well shit, didn't think I was that badly tore up. I suddenly felt mighty embarrassed, I started scratchin' the back of my head; an old nervous habit.

"Well ya ain't to far off... see, I kinda got in tussle with the owner herself, and lost." To my everlastin' shame...

"I told you to go wash up!" I heard Twilight chime in from behind.

"Oh, hush you!" Twilight let out a loud single 'HA' at that. "We simply must get you cleaned up."

"Look, it's not that bad, I-I've had worst honestly."

"Rubbish! We have first-aid in the kitchen, come with me, we cannot allow your wounds to become infected." She turned left (my left that is) and fast-walked to the kitchen.

"Look miss, I appreciate the concern, really, but ya don't gotta-" Before I could finish, she stopped dead in her tracks, and snapped her gaze to me. 

"This issue shall not be debated, now would you kindly make your way to the kitchen?" Then she fast-walked her way into said kitchen.

"You'd better do what she says, she isn't exactly the kind of woman you wanna argue with." Twilight advised me from the safety of her booth.

Might as well do as she says, I don't feel like debatin' and I guess I should tend to these wounds, so's they don't get infected.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------Gilda------------------------------------------------------------------

I decided on sticking Applejack at the end of the hallway, solely for the purpose of her having to walk those few extra steps everyday. 

Me: 2  
Applejack: 0

Just cause she fit the bill for The Griffon, doesn't mean I like her. Respect yeah, there's definitely a certain respect for a woman  like her. Doesn't mean we gotta take selfies together and shit.

Last door on the left, and Goddamn, the last woman who worked in here made a mess before she left. Can't remember her name, just remembered she wanted to open up a bar or something. The mattress is off the bed, one of the shelves has no drawers, there's litter everywhere, and I'm pretty sure I smell a dog in here. And other stuff.

Perfect!

I guess I'll be fair and call in someone to clean it up for her, least I could do I guess, but unfourtanently (for Jack) she's just gonna have to deal for a few days. I decided on going through the room, to see if what's-her-face left anything cool or that should be thrown away. A few granola bar wrappers, some old Misfits bootlegs, and cans of Faygo... the fuck is Faygo? 

Eh, might as well set the mattress in the center for her, probably gonna need some new blankets too. Definitely some new pillows, these... these look crusty. Mattress was a little heavier than I thought it would be, but I was happily surprised that no bugs or anything were on, or in, it. I gathered up the old blankets- Ew ew ew- and toss them out in the hall, same treatment with the pillows and their respective cases. 

Exiting the room, I walked to the very back of the hall, where a closet was located. I put that there originally so the girls would have easy access to spare bedroom items. Cheap spares sure, but not uncomfortable: 'nothing fancy but nothing shitty', that's my motto. I grabbed two pillows, and a bright pink afghan. Normally that would go on a couch, but given it's design, it won't give her too much warmth, but she also won't be able to say she's freezing.

Me: 3
Applejack: 0

I tossed them on the bed, figuring she'd be able to take care of it from there, she's a big girl. Plus how uncomfortable could she get? She has been living on the road for about two years now.

Two years...

I've been living here for five now, where'd the time go?...

The feeling of realizing of how quickly my life has passed me by gave me an unpleasant feeling in my stomach, it felt like a ball made of ice was sitting right in the center, slowly creeping its way up to my heart. I suddenly felt a need to retire for the day to my office, give myself some time and privacy to think, collect my thoughts, hell maybe even take a day or two off. With Applejack being here, I don't have to be in my other 'office' for a few weeks, so why not get an early start on my vacation?

Leaving the room once more, I walked down the hall, straight to Flim and Flam. Obviously I couldn't let them my incoming depressive state, nor did I want to, so I decided to relieve them of duty for the day. Hardening my demeanor I approached my henchmen.

"Alright boys, your works done for today, I got the rest of this covered." The almost-twins sparred each other a look.

"Are you certain? That Applejack is a rowdy lot, what if she attempts an escape?"

"Course I'm sure Flam! Besides where's she gonna go? Town is however many miles away, and I don't think she'd risk the dessert."

"Hmm... but what's to say she won't? If what you told us is true, she is quite used to living it rough."

"She has, granted, but given her physical state, I don't think she's in the right condition to try anything."

"...If you are certain. Come Flim, let us away then, call upon us whenever you require our services again."

"No problem." I then made a 'shoo' motion with my hand. "Now get outta here you two. Me thinks you could use a warm bath to sooth the pain of your defeat today." They both rolled their eyes to my little jab at their pride.

"One victory, a warrior does not make little birdie. You would be wise not to let this small victory go to your head." With that they turned about face, and walked out the door, just as they exited Flim decided to leave me with his two cents.

"Vanity kills, Miss Hof." Then they were gone.

I stood there for several seconds, absorbing their advice. They did actually make a good point, I shouldn't let this give me too big a head, last thing I need is my ego to compromise my judgement. That could lead to mistakes, and a mistake in our line of business could lead to imprisonment, or death. I brushed away these thoughts away from my mind, I already had enough negativity I needed to deal with.

I walked into my bitching lounge, greeted by the sight of it being completely barren, save for Twilight at her usual booth. I almost panicked, but quickly calmed myself, remembering my own words to Film and Flam, on how she had nowhere to go. The curiosity was bugging me, so I decided to ask Sparkle if she noticed where Jack and Rarity were.

I was already feeling ill. Not cause of my previous thoughts, but because of the fact that I gotta talk to Twilight... she's so off-putting! I mean I guess I shouldn't expect smiles and hugs, but still, her socializing sucks. I heard Rarity saying to one of the girls how Twilight's actually "gotten better" at that, but I find that extremely doubtful.

Walking up to her table, but not close enough to where she'll bitch at me, I asked my question. "Hey Sparkle, you see where Rarity and the new chick go to?" As per usual, she didn't look up as she answered me.

"Applejack's the 'new chick' right?"

"That's her."

"I saw her when you guys walked in, you banged her up pretty good." Not expecting the compliment, I let a smirk show as I puffed my chest out.

"Heh! Yeah, I really cleaned her clock alright. Not gonna lie Twilight, I looked pretty badass."

"Really?" She put her book down, eye-brow raised at me. "Cause the way I heard it from her was that, you tackled her from behind in a moment of, what was probably, desperation." Well there went my good mood.

"Not 'desperation' Sparkle, it was an act of strategy. Besides what's it to you? I seriously doubt you give that much of a shit about her, and I doubt you could fight anyway!" Keeping her cool at my lash out, she responded calm and collected, like the smart-ass she is.

"I don't, and I didn't say I could. All I am saying is that, how you won barely qualifies as 'badass'. Seems more... pathetic; pathetic how you had to resort to those tactics rather." You mouthy bitch!

I slammed by hands on her table in a fit of rage. How dare she belittle my victory! She's lucky I don't have Flim and Flam rip her tongue out! She didn't even seem to care about how pissed she made me, shit, she looked like she was enjoying it!

"Hey! You weren't there Twilight! I did what I had to do to win!" 

"By being a wimp and taking the easy way out. Read you crystal clear Lance Armstrong."

Lance Armstrong!? I was losing it, I needed to get out of there before I broke something.

"LOOK! Just..." I took in a few breaths to calm my rustled jimmies. "If you see her, tell her that her rooms all ready for her, and that it's down the hall, last door on the left, alright?..."

"I could... but why should I? What's my motivation?" She asked all cockily.

Has she forgoten who she's talking to? Time to remind this know-it-all of her place. Leaning in closer, uncomfortably closer to her face, I answered in a low tone, with an icy threat.

"If you want to talk... or even see that fake brother of yours ever again, you'll do as I ask. That enough 'motivation' for you?"

I really don't think she expected me to go there. The look on her face, it looked like a mixture of shock, like when you find out someone close to you passed away. Fear, like when something important is at stake, or your life's on the line.

"I, w-what?..." I swiftly grabbed her by the collar of her shirt, lifting her out of her seat.

"Did you forget who you're trying to clown with?... I don't know if you've realized this Twilight? But I'm dangerous. I was able to keep you here against your will for half a year out of pure fear. My lackeys are the lethal Flim and Flam." I showed my teeth. "Do you think I don't know where Spike lives, Twilight?..." I let the question hang in the air. The fear in her eyes was all too real...

I roughly shoved her back into the cushion 

"Now... Can ya do this little favor for me pal?" Slowly her head lowered, some of her hair falling over her face with it.

"Y-yes..." I turned my head so my right ear was facing her.

"Yes what?"

"Y-yes Gilda... I-I'll let her know, i-if I see her..." She was trying to hold tears back... 

"Thanks a lot pal!" I started in a chippy tone. "I knew I could count on you!" With that I turned from her table and walked out of the lounge.

As soon as I walked out through the doorway, I heard it. I very faint... almost non-existent sob.

I turned around to see her, but I was greeted with the sight I saw when I first walked in. Twilight's nose intently in a book. Only this time the book wasn't held up, it was sitting atop the table, as she lazily held it with one hand, while the other wiped at her eyes. I actually made her cry.

Good. She should've known better than to try talking to me like that. I got outta there, and briskly walked through my financial office, into my office/living space. My thoughts briefly fell to Twilight as I sat on the couch I had against the wall, opposite the door. 

Maybe... I took that too far.

I shook my head almost frantically after that thought popped up. I settled on thinking that she'd be fine after a few tears and a sob or two came out. Besides... I don't want to risk feeling bad. Running a hand across my forehead, I let out a long loud breath I'd been wanting to get out since Applejack's room, scanning my head over my humble abode.

Basic shit honestly. To my right, a desk, a chair, and a window behind them. Not much of a view, just the back yard area, which housed my sick barbecue that we cooked all our meats on. Then all the way to the left of the room was my 40+ inch HDTV, which had a lovely Playstation 4 hooked up to it. I like to call this room my, Super Yummy Living-space. 

On the end of the right side of the couch; on the floor, I have this boss mini-fridge, which speaking of, housed my alcohol. Some of which I defiantly want right about now.

----------------------------------------------------------Applejack--------------------------------------------------------

I very un-enthusiastically, followed Rarity into the kitchen where she said first aid was. Not sure why it'd be in here, but hell, ain't my kitchen. When I walked in, I saw the soon-to-be nurse in question reaching up into a steel cupboard, which damn, if I could give Hof anything, it's that she knows how to accommodate her workers, well, the ones she doesn't kick in the face...

"Ah-ha! There it is!" She pulled back, white box in hand. "Now, if you would Applejack, sit yourself upon the counter here, so I can start cleaning your wounds."  

Looking to my right, I saw the counter she was referring to. Didn't particularly want to, I mean come on, people serve food on that...

"I'd rather not, miss Rarity, don't mean to be rude, but I don't feel right about sitting where the food is made..." She didn't give me to nice a look for statin' that opinion.

"Really?... Come now Applejack, stop being silly, and let me help you." Letting out a huff, I complied, hoistin' myself on the edge. Rarity set the box down to my right, and started pulling the supplies out: band-aids, cotton balls, and disinfectant. Thought there'd be more to it, but then again last thing I need is Rarity trying to stitch me up.

"I'm sure this goes without saying, however I feel it necessary to warn you-"

"It's gonna sting, I know." She let out a small 'hmph!' at my interruption, and I would've apologized, but something told me that she wasn't all that serious about it.

"I am simply giving you fair warning." She said as she poured a small dab of disinfectant on one of the cotton balls, and moved to apply it to my face. "I would recommend closing your eyes, and trying your best not to smell a lot of this stuff. Burns the lungs you know." 

I was about to roll my eyes but when the ball came into contact with a cut I had somewhere on my cheek- "Ah! Son of a bitch that stings!" Rarity didn't falter and continued to press it against my skin. "Ow, dammit!" Rarity let loose a small laugh and smile at my expense.

"Language miss Applejack~... did I not tell you it would sting?" Now I rolled my eyes.

"Aw whatever... didn't tell me it'd be that bad..."

A few moments of her disinfecting my wounds in silence filled the room, that and my wince's every now and again. The silence was broken only when Rarity put the damnable disinfect away, as she pulled out some tissues.

"What're those for?" She answered me as she started to pat at my face.

"To try and dry away some of the remaining blood. Would you be a dear, and apply pressure to them? It will aid in drying the blood up much quicker." I did what I was told, and held the pieces of cloth to my face; above my eye-brow, and on my left cheek. Right side still ached like hell, but I guess there wasn't much fussin' to be caused over it.

"So do tell Applejack, from where do you hail?" 

"Uh... do I 'hail' what?" Rarity only answered in a quick giggle, as she took out several band-aids.

"Where are you from?" 

"Oh! Well why din' you just say that? I'm from San Antonio."  Her big blue eyes widened at my declaration.

"Oh my, all the way from Texas?" Curiosity lacing her tone.

"Yep, sure as the sun." She started to the apply bandages.

"What is it like over there? I've always wished to travel to that state." Really?

"What's it like?... Well it's big, hot, and it has a whole lotta American history, as well as land good for farmin'."

"I imagine so. Did you yourself work on one? A farm, or a ranch rather?" I guess that's all the treatment she could give me, cause she started putting the box away.

"Funnily enough I did. My daddy was the owner of Sweet Apple Acres, we worked in-" I cupboard door was quickly shut, then she spun around to face me faster than the Tasmanian Devil.

"Sweet Apple Acres!?" That's twice she's made me jump now...

"Y-yeah. Why? Heard of us?"

"Why, yes indeed! My Father used to deal business directly with that company all the time!" Okay, now I'm confused...

"Ya'll did? What's your family do?"

"Father and Mother own a small patch of land which we would work on, but with that, they also owned several of the best restaurants in my hometown. Father always wanted the best of the best when it came to stock, and obviously we unfourtanently we couldn't supple everything, so he would frequently outsource help from your family's business." I raised my eye at the sudden information. 'Patch of land'? 'Restaurant'? 'Work? I doubt a woman looking like she does could've done that kind of work...

"Where exactly you from, miss Rarity?"

"I hail from the lovely state of Michigan! My family lives in Clinton county." What? What? Her, Michigan, what???

"You?" I shouldn'ta said that, Rarity's mood dropped instantly, 'n she became all sullen like.

"Why must everyone ask that..." Now I felt bad for judgin' the book 'fore I opened it...

"I-I didn't mean to offend, just surprised me was all. That is a mighty interestin' coincidence how our Fathers crossed paths 'n all, but how in the wide world ya end up here?" Rasin' her head up, she gave me a look that showed she didn't really wanna talk about it.

"To make a long story significantly shorter, I was offered a job down here, which was given away, then I sought out Gilda, who turned out to be nothing more than a common criminal." I crossed my arms, leaning against my knees.

"I don't think anything 'bout Gilda's exactly 'common'." Rarity leaned against the wall behind her, crossing her arms and her left leg over her right.

"Hm. I suppose you're right." I lowered my head and stared at the floor, all was quiet for some time.

"... How did you find yourself down here miss Applejack? Have you got family here in Nevada?" I shook my head.

"No... no all my family, the important ones I mean, all live back in San Antone." 

"Whatever brought you here in the first place?" Damn it all, I don't wanna tell this story again, I thought I could trust Gilda with it and... *sigh* now that ain't fair comparin' the two, I don't peg Rarity as the type of person to betray someone... Course I thought the same 'bout Gilda, and look where that landed me...

"I... I uh..." I still wasn't lookin' at her, even though I could feel her stare on me. "It's... a long story..." She seemed disappointed, but didn't look all that surprised.

"I see... if you don't wish to talk about it, I won't force you to Applejack. I can see it is a very personal subject for you... you confided in Gilda, didn't you?" I gave a weak nod. "I see... so we have suffered the same treatment." I turned my head up, eyes on Rarity.

"I shall not peruse the matter then." That made me feel a little nice inside, I couldn't fight the smile that made it's way to my bruised face.

"That's mighty kind of you miss Rarity. And thank you for the whole cleanin' up thing."

"You are most welcome miss Applejack." She smiled back..

"... I'm sorry you and that Twilight gotta endure all of this... I'm rackin' my brain tryin' to find a solution to all this but..."

"Frankly, I do not believe there is one..." For a split second, her voice sounded like she had given up... Removing herself from the wall, she started to head out of the kitchen, when she was at the doorway, she turned to look at me again.

"It was a pleasure meeting you miss Applejack. During the on and off-hours I am working the bar unless I am called to work. If you wish, perhaps we might keep each other company, and learn a little more about each other?" The question sounded hopeful.

"I wouldn't mind that at all." I answer with a smile, she returned it.

"I am looking forward to it." Then she was gone.

That reminds me, I wonder if Gilda ever got finished with my room?

I walked out of the kitchen, and looked around the lounge, no sign of Gilda in sight. Twilight, I noticed, was still at her booth, figured I'd ask her if Gilda came through.

"Howdy Twilight, ya'll seen if-"

"Room's done, last door on the left." It came out so fast, I barely heard it. She sounded anxious, nervous, wonder if she's alright.

"You all right there?" 

"Yep. Fine. Room's done, you should probably go right?" She didn't once look at me from her book, and I didn't like her tone, something happened that shook her up... Aw hell, she ain't gonna tell me if I ask anyway. Against my better judgement, I left her alone, and went to my room intent on retiring for the day, it's been... stressful.




Least I would've had my room not been completely trashed... I hate this woman...

-------------------------------------------------Gilda-----------------------------------------------------

Laying on the couch. Another can a beer. A bigger buzz. Not sure how many Coors I slammed, but it was enough to where I was seeing wobbly, and started thinking about today...

Man... heh heh I fucked that Jack up, didn't... din't even see me comin'... "Fffuck that Twilight, smartass little bitch..." Swig. "Feels like, Goddamn yesterday I even brought that bitch in here... Five years... the fuck did my life go? Why'd I even do this in the first place?

"Psh, dumb question, I wanted money, what's the big deal?..." Swig.

The 'big deal', drunky, is the fact of how you got here in the first place, the things you've done, and the people you've hurt.

"... I did what I needed to do! And who the hell are you to tell me what I should or shouldn'tve done?"

This is your conscience you dweeb! I'm the thing in you try to pretend you don't have. You know, like when you frantically shake your head, trying to stop yourself from feeling bad?... 

"I..I-I must be goin' crazy..."

No, not 'crazy' per-se, just a little... mad. Why can't you just admit your wrongdoings? That coming here five years ago was a mistake? That you feel bad about what you put those three women through, just so you could make a buck.

"I-I knew what I was getting into when I signed up with Flim and Flam, and I don't feel bad 'bout what I done. It's their fault for being dumb enough to trust someone who says that they can get them free work! Look, I don't have to explain nothin' to... myself, so let me drink in peace..."

"You wanna know the truth; where all of this doubt in your head really stems from?" 

"Where? My turmoiled aching heart or some shit?"

Close... You regret hurting... him.

"The hell are you on about now?"

You know exactly  who I'm talking about. Older guy? The one you let commit statutory rape? The one you sold out for your own selfish gain.

...

The man who, at one point, you felt was the only one, that wasn't your parents, to ever really love you.

Cranky...

I bolted off the couch after his name popped in my head, a little too fast though, as right after I did I hit the floor.

"No... no I... I can't..." 

I was able to shakily stabilize myself on my knees, I could feel my eyes start to tremble. I try so hard to keep all of this shit bottled up, but today, it just uncorked itself on me. I always felt bad, I guess, but I chalked that up to what little empathy I naturally had, I thought... I-I thought it'd just go away! I very clearly remember enjoying the power I had over Twilight,  feeling numb about it all when I brought in Rarity, yet I felt over the moon when I beat Applejack! 

What the fuck is wrong with me?...

Drinking myself into a daze like this, has done nothing but resurface all these conflicting, damning feelings, and I hate how I'm so confused on where I stand on it all! I made the choice to leave home and come here, I made the choice to employ Film and Flam, and I made the choice to ruin some lives along the way, in the process of five years, so why now, do I feel like shit!?

Because all of that youthful, proud, driven ambition you once had when you were just barely an adult, has died away, and replaced by more rational thinking. The short of it is Gilda, you simply grew up, and realized what an utter bitch you've been.

...

Maybe...

Trying very hard not to fall over, I stood up and made my way over to my desk, certain moments replaying in my head.

"Go to hell!!! I trusted you!"

Twilight wanted, no needed to find a way to support her widowed sister-in-law, and adoptive brother. She's lost her big brother to murder, or possibly suicide, she's lost her freedom and not too long ago today, I alluded to her, or her brother Spike's life being in danger if she didn't relay a message for me...

I pulled out my chair as I sat down,laying my head on my arms upon the surface.

"You're mad... no not mad, you're sick. Sick, a-and demented. I needed your help! I trusted you, and you think 'helping' me, is asking me to work in a brothel as some sex object!?"

Rarity wanted get enough money to bring her little sister down here, to get away from her melencho-mel-m-melen... depressing home life, after the career opportunity of her dreams was taken away from her. Ever since she got here, she's been behind that bar, most likely trying to drink away her problems as well.

"*Huff... huff*... We... done, yet? *Huff*"... "*Huff* Why? Why do ya... want me in that club-a yours so... *huff* so bad?"

"*Huff... weeze* I... gave up...every- *cough* everything to run my business... I'm willing to do whatever is necessary, to keep my dest-... dream alive."

"At the *pant* expense of, o-of conspirin' with known killers? Ruining unknowing women's lives?"

Then there's Applejack... a runaway who's been living on the road for two years, estranged from her family, no where to go, but she still finds a reason to even get up in the morning and continue on.

I lifted my head up from my arms, feeling extremely drained. I turned my attention to the top drawer of my desk, right under my sagging corpse. Almost in a trance, I rolled back slightly, and opened it up revealing one of the last remnants of my past.

Don't know why I keep this Goddamn thing... all it does is bring back held in strife.

The item in question was a photograph. An average 3x5 picture in a small frame, should be nothing special, but what was in it, always made me pause.

It was of Cranky and I. Specifically, in the spring time at the local fair that came through that year. Admittedly at first glance there wasn't nothing too special about it. It was taken selfie style, at about arms length away, I had a big ol' smile on my face, and cranky had a smaller content one, with his arm wrapped around my shoulders. I always really liked it for some reason though, he and I just looked so...

Happy...

I hate how I can still get sentimental over him, I-I mean come on let's get real here, he was a pedophile! He took advantage of a young woman!

Even though you completely went along with it.

He cheated on his wife!

Which never bothered you before.

...

I ran my thumb over the glass frame, mulling over my current thought patterns. I take note of how at peace the old man was... how happy I looked. 

Why did I hurt you?... What did I really gain from it?

As I recall, you did it for money.

At the expense of my peace of mind almost seven years later... why now? Why does it hurt me now!?

You know why, oh you know exactly why.

... N... no...

That's right, you Gilda Hof still-

"I... I-I still love him."

...

...

The picture dropped from my hand to the desk.

...

My eyes widened and began to quiver.

...

The hand that held it slowly covered my mouth.

...

My free hand rested itself over my heart.

...

And then I began to cry.

"Oh God... o-oh God, what- w-what have I done!?" After all he did for me, after all I did with him; he cared about me, he loved me! That day in the court... h-he looked so numb, so dead, and I caused that... because I betrayed him, I sold him out... I... I

"I-I'm s-s-sorry Cranky... I'm so sorry..."

Flashes of memories from years ago went by in my head like a windy breeze, swift, and chilling me to my core. Dates we went on, places he took me, stuff he bought me... our first time together... moments I wasn't even aware I held close to my heart drowning my senses in sorrow I didn't even know I felt.

I've... I-I've made a horrible mistake, I threw away my life for this place, and what do I have to show for it!? Two murdering asshole brothers, so far at least three ruined lives, and a guilty conscience that's eating me alive! But... there's no going back for me now, I'm in too deep with these guys; with Sombra. There's nothing I can do...

I sat there for what felt like hours, letting out everything I've held in for seven years until my eyes ran dry, and the pounding of my heart slowed down from panic to mild anxiety. After calming down the best I could, I tried to get my head back in a stable form of mind.

Ok... *sigh* ok. I've fucked up. Big time. I going to have to except that eventually, but now... now I need to move on, keep pressing forward. The Griffon... the Griffon will move forward and evolve as planned. I feel like utter shit, but I can't let that interfere with my work, after all I've given up for this establishment, I can't just let it die.

I removed myself from the chair and headed over to the couch, and threw myself down on it, back first.

I guess I feel a little better now, now that I've let all those pent up emotions out, and I realize the problem isn't, or rather wasn't the girls, it was my nagging guilt over Cranky... the man I betrayed; the man I still love. That fact is a hard pill to swallow, one I need to, and fast, if I hope to move on.

Then I remembered that starting tomorrow, I had to start walk Applejack through the basics for the next couple weeks. That's gonna suck. Plus I still had one more position to fill.

Ugh, still so much work to do!

At that point I figured that I had done enough thinking for one day, and decided to turn in. What time was it anyway?... Eh, I didn't care I just wanted to sleep, closing my eyes, I attempted to do just that.

...

...

...

...


"THAT'S IT!"

An idea came to me... an awesome idea.  An idea that maybe, just maybe, could sooth my guilty conscious, and I could redeem myself. An idea that's risky, may not work, and will cost a lot of money, and require me to keep doing what I'm doing, but the pay off is totally worth it. An idea, that may take a few more years to raise the funds for, but would be completely worth the risk of associating myself with Flim, Flam and their entire organization. An idea that's worth doing whatever it takes to make it succeed, no matter who I step on, and who I have to go through that's in my way.

An idea that, if it works... could lead to my salvation.

Yeah... yeah, this could work! I-I won't have to live with this emotional hurricane anymore, if I go through with this and it works!

I leaped up from the couch, stumbling to the ground again, but picking myself up with greater ease, I grabbed a shit load of paper and pencils from my desk, a calculator, and a whole lotta Gatorade from the fridge. I had a lot to start planning.

Oh yeah... this is gonna be rad.
> Cracking The Whip
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Everything's falling into place, projectively speaking, I should have all the cash I'll need in about another year. Course that's being incredibly optimistic, considering Applejack has been making the process of breaking her in more agonizingly stressful than it needs to be... but she isn't my biggest concern right now.


After my binge drinking, and mental breakdown, I only came outside just to open the doors, other than that I stayed behind my transaction booth. I felt like shit yeah, but I wasn't about to lose money for it. When business hours were over, or I had any kind of free time, I was usually doing a combination of either drinking, planning, some minor moping, but also coming into a mental state of acceptance. Usually all of the above though.

That night, my whole world threw itself back at my face, and I hated what felt from it, but I am trying my damnedest to come to terms with it. Come to terms with the feelings of guilt that almost ate me alive, come to terms with knowing that there's no getting out of this lifestyle for me... coming to terms with the love I still held for Cranky...

Bitter medicine to swallow. It's hard enough for anyone to admit when they're wrong, but trying to accept that what you've been doing wrong, you've been doing wrong for the past five years? Most people would rather die. Not me though, no no, I can't let it consume me, not after I just worked out a plan that can make this all go away. If I do it right, Flim and Flam will get off clean with some money so they leave me alone for good, Sombra won't try to come after my ass, and I'll have a clear conscience for the rest of my life!

First step: play teacher to Applejack. I knew from the start that, that was going to be a particularly... stressful objective, didn't expect it to be, "pull my hair out by the fistful", type of stressful though. It was a Wednesday when I came out of my room, finally ready to be among the living again, I made my way to the lounge, correctly assuming that she'd be there, as soon as I stepped foot in there, I noticed two things.

One: Clearly Applejack and Rarity hit it off better than Twilight did with anybody ever. Rarity hadn't been called up yet (cause remember, her and Twilight ain't cheap), so the two of them were just shootin' the shit, and drinking annoying amounts my booze for free over the past few days... Well mostly Applejack, Rarity held a strict "no drunken escapades during work hours" rule for herself, but I always pegged Rarity to be a healthy consumer of alcohol.

Oh, and two: Twilight is now apparently, terrified of me. I walked in, she laid eyes on my for a split second, then as quickly as she peeked up she all but slammed her head back down into the book. I felt pretty badass, no lie.

I called Applejack over; said it was time to give her the inaugural training. Not sure what 'inaugural' means, but it sounded cool. Her scars and whatnot covered up nicely, I figured 'hell, I'll put her on the floor today!' I would then learn that day to never again let optimism get the best of me.

This woman seriously tried to fuck me. Not literally dumb-ass, I mean financially screw me over. First thing, first thing I told her was: 'The customer is always never wrong, so be prepared to put up with some bullshit'. So check it, I give her this really cool, spontaneous pep talk (to which she kept giving me 'I wanna punch your face out' glares), telling her what to expect, and to play it cool. To just relax, be yourself, but also put on a show, seein' as how I am charging extra for her. I should've known something was up when she all but stormed out of the room when I was done, mumbling 'Oh, I'll put on a show all right'. But again, optimism.

Applejack didn't have any new clothes, so she had to wear the ones that had the shit kicked out of them, I actually thought it worked, added some character you know?

...

FIRST. GUY!

Applejack was able to look hot enough to entice some nerd whose name I don't remember, and took him back to her still messed up room. Next thing I hear is the sounds of screaming and man tears, as said nerd bolts out of my building. The conversation with Applejack that followed, featured a very pissed off me.

"What the fuck dude!? First fucking customer, and you kick his ass!? That shit costs me money man!!"

"Hey, ya'll told me to 'put on a show' didn't ya?"

Applejack would then have a hole in her wall after that.

Yeah, those weeks sucked. If she wasn't grasping what was expected of her (on purpose,I swear to God she had to have been), she was scaring off customers. LOSING ME MONEY. I got her new wardrobe, personally oversaw the clean-up of her room, but I couldn't get this bitch to behave!

I had to play dirty.

It was a month into Applejack's initiation/sabotage, a Sunday as well, when I confronted her with some... information that I thought she would find most interesting. I made sure that both Rarity and Twilight were there, so they could witness what I was about to do. A statement needed to be made.

Rarity and Jack were poppin' squats at the bar having some of my booze, laughing (most likely at my expense), and watching what looked like Monday Night RAW re-run.

Wait, Applejack likes wrestling? That makes sense... wait a minute, that's my WWE Network subscription, I didn't say she could use it!

It was on for real now.

I stood near the center of the room, leaning on one of the tables, making myself look as nonchalant as I could. Looking at the clock on a near by wall, I took note of the time; 12:45. It was then my cell phone rang. Right on time.I casually pulled out my phone, and answered my call.

"Y-ellow?"

"Hof. It's me."

"Oh hey what's up?"

"I've made it to the objective, beginning mission preparations." 

"Rad. Right on time like I was told you'd be, Aiden."

"Well, you're not paying me to waste time, and I'd prefer not to myself." I could hear clicking in the background, the kind you'd hear on a firearm. He was packing heat. "So how's your day gone so far 'boss'? Anything particularly special happen?" 

"Nah, not much man, just uh, just chillin' at the office. Watching RAW."

"Network right? You watched Payback, Punk come back yet?"

"No, no CM Punk return yet. Surprised you weren't there, thought you'd be rioting when Cena beat Wyatt."

"Hmph. I have nothing against him, just the fact that they wanted to build him up as some Hogan/Rock Hybrid. Doesn't matter now-a-days I guess, that Adrian Neville's gonna be the next  'Best in The World' one day anyway." 

"Yeah, Nevelle's pretty awesome dude."

Aiden's a new buddy Flim and Flam put me in contact with. When planning this, I informed them that, I needed someone who will follow their client's orders, no (unreasonable) questions asked, as long as they got payed. Enter Aiden. Dude's based outta Chicago, but for the right price, he'll go wherever you need him to be, to carry out whatever job you need him to do. Point in case...

"You about ready to get this show on the road?" I asked in a quieter voice.

"Just about. Start setting it into motion, I'll be ready by the time your done."

"Got it. Make sure you got your 'face-time' function at the ready, and remember, until I give the verbal signal we discussed, what's next is a one sided conversation only, got it?"

"Got it."

With excitement practically emanating out of my pores, I kicked the ball rolling.

"So what'd I say, nice looking place right?" Silence on all ends. Good. "All scenic and shit, I told you you'd like it... ... yeah man, just another day ya know? Working' hard, gettin' payed." Using my peripherals, I scanned towards Applejack. I saw an eye roll, but so far, no one was intervening.

"Where could I recommend?... Well considering you are a tourist, you could always check out the Alamo... that place is badass, then treat yourself to a shit load of barbecue." At this Applejack turned to my direction, most likely getting suspicious. I pretended to pay her no mind. "No lie though dude, there's plenty to do in that big-ass state, you shan't be bored... yeah, that's a word."

I was silent for several seconds, letting the tension fill the air. Twilight peered up at me with, most likely, morbid curiosity, Rarity was leaning over the bar, arms folded with a look of confusion on her white mug, and Applejack looked just plain bothered. Almost...

"It's awesome, but no where near as pretty as Michigan, I'd highly recommend that place as your next stop." I knew I had grabbed Rarity's attention, now for the last little niche to be filled. "Hell, if ya got the time and money, swing on by to Cali. Always a party somewhere over there."

All eyes were on me at this point, I was making it completely obvious that some sinister happenings were... happening, and I needed just one of them to take the bait. Thankfully it was Applejack.

"Gilda, what the hell are ya-" I held up a finger to silence her.

"Shut it Jack, I'm on the phone with a friend. What's got your anchors hoisted?" That sounded cooler in my head...

"I'm a little curious as to what ya'll are talkin' bout." I rolled my eyes at her.

"My buddy is on a cross-country road trip, and he's askin' for my opinion on some hot spots to visit. What's it to you?"

"And it's just coincidence that the places your reccomendin' happen to be those particular states?" So she caught on... I feigned offence at her inquisition.

"Yeah, they're popular tourist states-" Pfft. Who the fuck goes to Michigan? "- why wouldn't I recommend them. So fucking paranoid- can I not even hold a simple conversation, without you spitting out conspiracies?"

"Ain't nothin' ever 'simple' with you Hof, so forgive me if I don't exactly believe the idea of you havein' a 'simple conversation'."

"Heh. She's a smart one isn't she? Maybe she should try running your operation." Oh, fuck off Aiden...

"It's the truth! Hold that thought Jack- what's up? Oh, yeah sure I got the address. See Applejack? He just wants to know the address for a very rad tourist site. Actually know what? I'll put 'im on speaker, just so you can feel like shit for how wrong you are." That's the signal.

I pressed the speaker button, so now my hired helps voice could be heard through out the mostly barren room. "Aiden you still there dude?"

"Yep, still reading you loud and clear. Hello Griffon's Cathouse." Applejack lost some of her visible hostility, but looked no less tense. "You got the directions to that place I'm trying to find Gilda? I just keep getting turned 'round and around out here." 

"Got you right here dude. Ok, the address you're looking for is..." I couldn't fight the smile slithering its way onto my face. "1-4-9-8 Appleway." I turned to Applejack, dying to see her reaction.

"149... That's-!" Eyes widen, breathing hitches, fists clench teeth clash together. I got her. Sensing something amiss, Rarity addressed Applejack's growing tension, resting a hand upon her shoulder as she asked her question.

"Applejack are you alright? What is the significance of this place Gilda mentioned?"

"It's..." She looked back at Rarity. "...that place is Sweet Apple Acres. My home..." I could easily hear Twilight and Rarity gasp in, what was definitely shock.

"1498 'Appleway' you said?... huh. Well what do you know?..." As he left his sentence on a cliffhanger, very audibly, the unmistakable clicking and cocking of a gun was heard throughout the mostly barren room. "I ended up right in front of it."

All was silent in the lounge. I took this delicious opportunity to see the after affects of our actions.

From left to right Twilight looked five shades paler, Applejack looked ready to kill me, and Rarity looked plain frightened. Radical, I got them in the palm of my hand.

"What were some of the other places you advised on paying a visit to? They seemed to have slipped my mind." Oo, nice play dude!

"Well lets see, there was 7-4-7 Alemeda St. in LA, and 1-3-5 Margret St. in Clinton county Michigan very... family oriented type of locations." The silence that came from my reciting of such precious information was so thick, someone could suffocate from it. This power I have over them... it feels awesome! The feeling of utter superiority is practically orgasmic...

"You... y-you monster..." I heard Twilight breath out from her booth. Letting out a cruel laugh, I glanced her way, as I reinforced her current fears.

"I warned you dweebs about fucking with me."

No sooner did I spit my taunt out, Applejack was in front of me, my shirt in her grip, back pressed to the table, her eyes ripping right through mine.

"Who is this guy, and why is he at my front door?" Dammit she spit on me...

"Well clearly his name is Aiden-"

"Hey-o."

"-and clearly he wants to take in the sights of San Antonio. What better place to take a tour of, then one of America's best distributors of Apples, and other crap?" Let's see how she likes it when she's dead serious and I don't give a shit.

"Bullshit! I heard a gun click Gilda, we all did, now answer me, what the hell is he doing at Sweet Apple Acres!?"

"Heh heh heh... just giving you a little insensitive to do your job Jackie-" Fuck, she hit me!

It was a right hook, straight across the jaw, the force of the strike sent me to the ground. Any normal person would be cradling the wound, looking up at their attacker in shock. I however, was too jacked up on adrenaline, and while it did hurt... I couldn't help but laugh at the once strong woman breaking right before me. 

"Ha ha ha ha- ow dude! That- *snort* that fucking hurt- aha ha ha!" My gleeful laughs completely dumbfounded the room for some time- the situation was just too funny to me! I warned them about messing with me, and now they're paying the price.

"You Goddamn psycho-path... I bet ya'll are pulling our legs anyway ain't ya? J-just wantin' to rile us up, in an attempt to get us to serve you right!? You... y-you wouldn't really go that far would ya?..." That fear I sense coming from you Applejack?...

"We- heh heh- well I think the correct term at this point would be 'sociopath', Jack. Second, oh I am very much serious about threatening your family, what were their names... Mac and Applebloom?..." Applejack's eyes shot open, and with that, any sense of calming down left her, as she grabbed me by the collar again -I'm gonna have to shrink this thing now...- and lifted me up off the ground.

"Prove it. Prove that he's really there, for all I know he could just be right outside." Oooh, I was SO hoping you'd say that!

"With pleasure Jack..."

"Applejack, can you hear me? Stupid question, I know you can. Access Gilda's phone, and select 'Face Time'. I'd recommend being hasty about it too."

Very hesitantly, Applejack followed Aiden's instructions, probably thought I rigged it to explode or something... not a bad idea of offing someone actually. After pressing the appropriate button, Applejack and I were greeted with the sight of said buddy, Aiden. He must have set his phone on a tri-pod or something, -Nice touch!- cause he was standing several feet away from the phone, gun in hand, trench coat on, and a face mask concealing his identity.

Behind him was, what looked like to be, a small white picket fence, and behind it, a (honestly quite beautiful) red, I think two-story, house. Ex-home for Jack looked nice.

"Now then, Applejack, as you can quite clearly see, I am indeed right outside your front door, well, ex-front door if my profile on you is to be believed." Applejack cringed her teeth at his nonchalant reminder. "Now what I hold in my hand here is a 45. SOCOM pistol, equipped with a suppressor for those 'Tactical Espionage' kind of jobs. I've been contracted to find one: Macintosh Apple, and a Applebloom Apple. Who, according to my sources, live right here at this very, cozy little home. Why you're probably asking?... Well, you shouldn't have wasted so much of Gilda's time and money. This is the price you now have to pay." I like this guy!

Applejack quickly let go of me, all but threw me, and frantically hovered over my phone.

"NO! Y-ya can't do this! They, th-they have no part in this! Applebloom, she... she ain't even half-way done with High School yet..." She choked out that last bit of info. I've done it! I've broken her! Now, to make her irreparable...

"I warned you Jack. I've given you, the egghead, and you princess, warning after warning, after threat, to follow my orders, and get me profits. Now..." I mustered up the best 'evil smile' I physically could, as I explained myself. "This is what happens when you cross the boss. I've beaten you down." I boasted as I glared through Applejack. "Lied, and cheated you." A knowing smirk to Rarity. "And taken away most sense of freewill, here at the Griffon." Smile and wave to Twilight. "But I always had a subtle line I never crossed. Something I promised myself not to do... well, unfourtanently..."

"That lines been crossed."

"Yes. You all brought it on yourselves, and forced my hand, and in doing so, I've now officially taken away the last sense of security you all had. This idea that, no matter what happens to you: 'at least your families are safe'."

"Sorry to say, but the world doesn't work like that. With the enough money, and the right connections, anyone can get to anybody."

"Exactly. As of this moment, my esteemed employees, none of you are safe." I took the time to examine the damage I've just caused. I looked to Twilight, kid was full on crying now. Not full on sobbing, but the silent tears thing, slowly shaking her head 'no' as if all of this will go away if she wakes up.

Rarity's back was against the shelves, shaky hand over her heart, eyes wide and glossy, the idea of Sweetie Belle's safety must have just set it. And Applejack just stood there, head downcast, hopefully, feeling like a helpless welp right about now. Victory is mine! I let out a loud triumphant laugh in celebration.

"And I do mean no one, dweebs! Not your family, not your friends, not Spike, not Sweetie Belle-"

"And especially not Macintosh, or Applebloom."

"You're Goddamn right Aiden! Whatcha gonna do Jack?" She snapped her head up, eyes trying desperately hard not to let tears fall. "Gonna still be a defiant bitch, and risk not just your family's safety-" I pulled her close so I could whisper: "-the ones who abandoned you might I add?" Then shoved her away as I carried on. "But both of your new friends' families? Or... are you, as I expect allof you to do, gonna be a good whore, and put out?"

Silence, silence, and more silence. Id've given anything right then to see what was going on in her head.

"I... I..."

"Hmm?.. Speak up there pardner, I can't quite hear you."

"... ... I... hate you..." Applejack turned back to Rarity, who stared back her, hand now resting over her mouth as she held in gasps. Holding contact for several seconds, Rarity turned downcast her eyes. I guess that's her answer for Applejack.

Then Jack turned her attention to Twilight, who may just point out, was a wreck. Eyes were puffy and red, tears stained her face, she looked positively mangled. She raised her head to Applejack, smoky lavender eyes connecting with glossy green ones. This is seriously a sight to behold, if this was  Scorsese film, guarantee it'd be up for an award!  Then I saw it, the true moment of defeat for Twilight, with sorrow and fear gripping her heart, she mouthed 'please' to Applejack.

Game. Set. Match.

"... but I will... work for you."

"Sorry, repeat that? Something was in my ear."

"*Rrr...* I said... I'll work for you."

"Scuzie, one more time, I-"

"Goddammit, I'll be one of your whores! I'll make you your money back, whatever you want! Just... please don't... don't hurt my family- our families..." The dam finally broke, she slammed her head on a nearby table and let all of her pain out on the wooden top.

"Twilight, Rarity? Can I still count on your loyalty?"

"*sniff* y-*hiccup*- y-es..."

"... Yes, Gilda..."

As tears from Applejack stained my table, and Rarity along with Twilight were now terrified of me, I put some of their fears to rest, for now.

"...Ladies... you just saved your families lives. Aiden. Hit's off, head on home."

"Hmm. Complete and utter compliance, just like you said they would. Gotta admit Gilda, you sure know how to make a plan. I'll expect my pay by Friday."

"Of course."

"And as one last little piece of insurance, as per you and I discussed Gilda, the two of us will have daily check ins with each other. The reason for this, ladies, is in case any of you get any ideas, which involve either escape, harm, or death involving my client... well, I know where you live. And I will come for them, with the connections and money I net from Sombra, there's no way any of you will make it home in time to save anyone. Actually, do that anyway, it'd save me the trouble of sniffing you out anyway."

I crossed my arms, shamelessly looking smug at my employees. "Yeah, don't try anything funny girls."

"Then there's the problem of course, of you reporting Gilda or myself to the police... hm hm... who do you think some of Gilda's best customers are? Dirty cops, clean cops, 'cops', who are actually insiders for people like us. Cops... that eliminate certain cops if they start to learn too much, cops that tip our organization off to young women, that get fashion designing opportunities."

Heh heh, these not-so-subtle implications are too good man. Rarity's hand flew to her mouth in realization, as she put the pieces together.

"You... bastards."

"That, Rarity, is one hell of an understatement." Twilight sat at her table, a far-off look in her eyes, as answers about her brother (may have) presented themselves. For all I know, he could be lying about that one.

"... big brother..." So numb...

"Well, it's been fun ladies, but I have a paycheck to collect, and a smoggy city to return to. Take care. Heh heh."


**CALL ENDED**










Allowing myself one last glance around, I took in the aftermath of my victory.

Twilight: Motionless and zoned out, looking exhausted from the bullshit she just had to endure.

Rarity: Shocked to say the least; a look of utter horror was splayed across her flawless face, as she visibly willed herself not to cry.

Applejack: Afraid, sad obviously, pissed off and mad about it. Favorite one personally.

"... Have a good evening ladies. HA!"

And with that, I retired to my room feeling accomplished, and relaxed; dealing with this lifted a weight off my shoulders. I turned on the TV, put on some metal, and spent the next few hours gaming on the PS4. 

Applejack never gave me any trouble after that.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several weeks later, I found myself back in the faux-office, incredibly ecstatic over the profits those three whipped femme's have been getting me. I was in a great mood honestly, I was ready to get the last piece of the puzzle; the fourth and final member of my elite playmate team. I was all set, excited even, to finish this little quest I started for myself.

At least I was until I met her.

Oh God her...
> Pinkie's Arrival
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

*****************************************************************************

It is night as she enters the city, out of view from anyone that could suspect anything. She has walked for days now; clothes torn, filthy, jacket riddled with holes, and patches covering up old ones, curly hair a tangled mess. The bottoms of her feet burn something terrible, her back aches with every step, shoulders sore from the weighty backpack strewn on them.

Yet her smile never wavered for a second.

For though she was by herself, she was not truly alone. She has a friend; a special friend. to accompany her through every moment of her journey. Through thick and thin, through pain and what mild pleasure there is, she is there. For years they have been together, attached at the hip, relatively speaking. 

Excitement fills the optimistic drifter, as she nears the city's entrance. 'A new place to make home for a while!', she thought. 'Hope we can actually make this one last for a while...' she wishes.

'We will,' her friend assures, 'it's all a matter of meeting the right people, and convincing them to help us.'

The prospect of meeting new people, potentially making a friend or two, gives the young woman a new found spring in her step , that carries her the rest of the way, until she is finally in the town, of Carson City. 'Not too big, but not all that small I guess.' she reasons. 'My tummy's rather rumbly... can we stop for some food?', she all but begs.

'I suppose so. Provided 'food', isn't just an excuse to gorge out on pan dulce again...', she chastises.

"You know you loved it! I wasn't going to anyway.", she "promises".

Minutes roll by as she treads across the street, kicking random rocks, and trash as she comes across it, trying to pass the time until she found a suitable establishment for dining. And she did. At the end of a plain old street, at a corner that looks like any other, there sat a quaint little restaurant that peaked the pairs interest. Well... one in particular, anyway.

'Hmm... Sugar-Cube Corner huh? That place looks nice, can we go in!?', the young woman pleaded.

'I guess... wait, that place looks like it specializes in deserts, not food food!'

'You didn't say anything about donuts and cupcakes!', she loop-holed.

Her companion sighs, not in exasperation, but in a fond nature. She should have know that her friend would find some loop-hole around the 'no-sweets' policy. 

'I suppose I didn't, did I? Very well then, Pinkie. Lead the way.'

'Hee hee, thanks!'

And so they entered the restaurant. Those she met while inside, and two peculiar looking twins she would encounter a few weeks from then would, like several before her, warp her young life forever...

***********************************Present Time***************************************

A familiar sound rang from the oak door, (or whatever the hell they make doors out of), the unmistakable jingle of 'shave-and-a-haircut'. I answered with an in time 'come in', and was greeted by... her.

"Hey, welcome to the office, name's-"

Before I could finish my introduction, the door had opened, shut, and a flash of pure pink filled my vision. In what felt like a mere second, I was face-to-face with the biggest smile I'd ever seen on a woman, and PINK hair... the scary part is, it didn't look dyed.

"Uh... hi, n-name's Gil-" I reached out my hand to shake, I barely got an inch out, and she had grasped my hand in both of hers, shaking it almost violently!

"Hidey-ho, I'm Pinkie Pie! I'm new in town, can you help me out? I heard you can help me out! I've had just the hardest time getting work since I got here a week, four days and twelve hours ago! I've been looking aaalllll day and night for someplace to hire me, cause if I can't work I can't get money, and if I can't get money I can't eat, and if I can't eat, I'll die!"

"... Uh-"

"And if I die, I can't eat Häagen-Dazs!!"

"That would su-"

"So I walked and walked and walked and walked and walked and walked and walked and walked and walked and walked-" *INHALE* "- and walked around a lot, until I met two really cool Vaudeville looking guys in Bowler hats, and they recommended someone named 'Gilda Hof', one of them even had a cool mustache!-"

Holy shit, this train has no brakes! At least she let go of my hand now... which I noticed something odd about, her hands were strangely... rough; they felt calloused, and she had a pretty strong grip to her. She's worked hard before-

"-so I looked around, and around, but I couldn't find the place! I tried checking for your name on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Yellowpages, Yelp, Snapchat, Youtube, Dailymotion, Reddit, Vine, even Google plus! Course that last one's a little silly though."

"Why's that?"

"NO ONE uses Google plus!"

Well at least now I know she's not stupid. She's talks so fast, but articulates so well! I haven't even had a chance to examine her wardrobe!-

"So after looking around for about an hour, twenty-three minutes, and forty-two seconds, I hit up the most adorable little bakery  a few block away from here; "Sugar Cube Corner", ever been there?"

I have actually, it's run by this older couple the Cakes; Carrot, and Cup respectively. Again, what the fuck with the names? Doesn't matter though, their pastries are BOMB... What? Any woman -no- female, in any shape or form, tells you they don't like sweets, is a Goddamn liar.

This 'Pinkie Pie' sure looks like the type with a sweet-tooth. She's a friendly little tyke too, making small talk, wanting to learn about the one she's talking too without sounding too pushy or personal, she sounds one-hundred percent genuine about it too. Hmm... 'friendly'...

"Yeah, I have. That's the place run by Car-"

"-rot and Cup, yep! I met them about a day after I came here, and I started making the restaurant my regular hang-out spot.  I stopped by today, asking if they'd heard of you, they had, and point me in the right direction, so here I am! Have you met them before? Ohmigosh, they are the nicest people! *sigh* If only they could afford employee's..."

The end of that sentence sounded strangely... melancholic, partnered perfectly with a tiny frown on her lips, and the first breaking of eye contact. I guess they must have hit it off pretty well. They're aight; the Cakes. I wouldn't hangout with them for a first choice, but they're cool all the same I guess. 'Afford employee's'? I knew it was a momma n' poppa's kinda joint, but damn, they take the cake. 

HA!

"Oh well, c'est la vie right? They did point me in your direction though, so here I am!" Well, she perked back the fuck up fast, holy shit...

"Interesting story you got there kid... how's bout we get this interview process underway, yeah? You have indeed found who you're looking for."

"Okie-doki-loki!" And plop into the chair she went, legs hooking over and under each other, Indian-style. I gotta wonder if she goes through all of her interviews like this? That would explain her bad luck... actually, know what? Fuck it, Im'ma ask her about that.

"Well, right off the bat, I gotta ask you... uh..."

"Pinkie Pie!"

"Yeah... well, to put it in a word, you're very..." My god, her eyes... her crystal blue eyes, they're staring at me all huge, and expectantly, big smile still on her face... she's piercing my soul man! "Upbeat. I was curious, if... you always approach interviews like this?" Hope that didn't sound to rude. Guess not, cause next thing I know she's giggling like I just told a funny.

"Of course not silly, I'd never hold down a job if I did that! Mama Pie always told me; she said: 'Pinkie, there's a time and a place for everything, and the workplace ain't one of them. The key of  life is moderation, especially for someone like you.' Not too sure what that last part means, but it sure helped me take things like this seriously." Ouch... "And those nice bowler-boys said you're pretty laid back about this stuff, so I decided, be laid back!"

"This is... is laid back?"

"You know something, my relatives used to ask the same thing!"

"Uh huh... so... how did they describe me to you exactly...?"

"Well, the one with the mustache said that you're a brutish, headstrong, stubborn, proud, self-loathing slob, and the baby-face one described you as a vain, unappreciative, slave-driver... but I don't get that vibe from you at all!"

Fuck you guys... seriously.

"Eh ha ha... yeah, well, uh... w-we're pals so, you know how that goes; bust each other's balls once in a while..." I know someone who's getting stiffed on payment this month... After that shaky, blow-off response, Pinkie gave me one of her own.

"Kinda sorta maybe I do I guess." The hell, was that even a proper sentence? I didn't even hear a comma in that. " My friends we're always super duper sweet! Always saying hi and... ... ... well, ya' know!" No. No I don't... this lady and I are in two completely different worlds... can't let her know that though.

"Well either way, we go back a long ways, so we're comfortable around each other enough to give each other shit like that. Having friends for a long time does that to you." It does doesn't it... Kinda have grown fond of those two... eh. Probably some weird form of Stockholm Syndrome...

"That's awesome! You three must be good friends!"

"Hm... Yeah, guess we are..." This was starting to get a little uncomfortable, I needed to get back on track. "A-anyway, ready to get this started, miss... Pie?" 

"Yup-yup!" Down the legs went, hands following them into her lap.

Now that I finally had a moment or two to relax a bit, I could take in her attire... don't know why you care so much about it...

That pink hair of hers was CURLY, like, do you know who Buzz Osbourne is?... Ok, Google him, see his hair? Yeah, fuck that, that's got nothing on her; it's BRIGHT PINK! She's dressed professionally at least: she's sporting one of those sweater top things. You know, the ones that are called "sweaters" but their not all big and puffy? Plus a (freshly pressed if I'm not mistaken) pair of black slacks. That hair of hers was fashioned in a way that looked free, yet tame; the curls flowed however they wanted, yet stayed contained at the same time.

... You know the more women I meet, the more poetic I get about this kinda shit...

She had on a slightly worn out pair of loafers, I swear I saw a hole on the front-

"Yeah, the shoes are a little old, but they were all I had on hand at the moment." The fuck, how did she!-

"U-uh, wha?..."

"You we're staring at me for a little while, then spaced out looking at my loafy-loafs!" She kicked her legs up slightly to emphasize said shoes.

"S-sorry, that happens to me someti-... 'Loafy... loafs'?..." I instantly regretted asking that...

"Yep! That's what Granny Pie called them when she handed them down to me." She giggled to herself. "My Gran said the funniest things sometimes! 'Loafy-loafs', 'Spuny-sponge', 'bat-the-bath', oh oh! She had the cutest little nickname for me when I was a teeny tiny pie!"

Oh joy, I really want to know-

"She used to call me her little 'himar aboosh'. *sigh*... ... I have absolutely no idea what it means, but isn't it adorable?" She had the biggest smile on her face, it was enough to make me not want to completely laugh at her little memory. Oh... how do I resist that! The big blue eyes, pearly whites she's, she's just so fuckin'... fuckin'...

"Yeah... it's very... cute"

That's it! Cute!... oh, fuck me...

"I always thought so too! Did your grannies and grampies have cutesy names for you too?" 

Shit, shit, this is getting personal way to fast... ok... just give her a short answer, and get focus back on the subject here...

"No... no not, not really... not at all actually, I was always just Gilda. To my parents, relatives, cousins, whatever, just... Gilda... nothing more, nothing less..." That... sounded sadder than I thought it would.

"Aww..." She gave me a look of... pity? 

"Whatchu 'aww-ing' about?..."

"You sounded so sad as you said that..."

... did I?... 

"W-well, whatever, that's not important right now." I waved my hand, as a way to clear the air and my own head. "We got an interview to do. You still want to do that, right?" I added some ice to the end of that question, hoping to deter her from pursuing the subject.

"Yup-yup! Ask away Gil-Gil!" 'Gil-Gil'.... yeah, that is not happening. Cuteness has officially worn off.

"Gilda, will do fine, miss Pie. Now then, first and foremost-" Well look at me, actin' all uptight and bossy... "-where are you from? Gonna go out on a leap and guess that you aren't from around here." 

"Yyyyep! How'd ya guess?" I couldn't help but look at her like if just asked me if Half-Life 3 is confirmed.

"..Very. Lucky. Assumption..." Her hand went up to her mouth.

"Oh, wow!... You're goooood." Is she playing me?... She has to be, no one is this... innocent. Every time she's opened her mouth, something positive has come out of it-heh-, and when she's not talking, her fingers are interlocked in her lap, smile on her plump little lips, and I swear she bounces ever so slightly, as she awaits my next response...

"... Where you from Pinkie?"

"I come from the far far away land of Fresno, California!!" a-ptcha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Bull-fucking-shit!

"*snort* Pardon me... but did you say... Fresno?..." She apparently didn't catch on to the fact that my sides were separating right in front of her, and just nodded eagerly.

"That's right! Grew up on a tiny farm in the middle of nowhere, off Shaw street! Oh, it was sooooo pretty! Especially at sunset when-"

Yeah, I kinda tuned her out after that. Kept goin' on and on about how pretty it looked, how friendly the animals were, how cool their bosses were, how strict but 'cool' her parents were, her sisters, everything in general with her seemed... nice. ... Kinda... too nice sounding I thought. I ain't ever stepped foot on a farm, ranch, whatever (apparently there IS a difference...), but from what Applejack told me, it's some hard-knox shit. Plus I mean, come on... it's FRESNO, who the fuck loves that town!? To be fair though, she did use other adjectives to describe her little home. She occasionally said something was, 'pretty', 'cute', and occasionally mentioned how the work was 'super-duper-hard'. 

Ok, so I didn't exactly tune her out as I thought about all of this, shut up. As I listened to her little tangent, it got me thinking; about her, and her story so far. I proposed myself a hypothesis: there's loving your work, your family, and anything else pertaining to that Behind The Music type of shit. Everyone/anyone (can) feel(s) that; from the retired seniors to the growing adolescents, from the heir to the field worker, from the animator to the graffiti artist, from the stadium band that's paid their dues to the DIY garage band just getting started, from Columbia to Rapture, I understand, and even respect, that much.

Then there's the woman in front of me; Pinkie Pie, who, at this point, is going on and on about her 'life on the farm' and is glorifying it, to the point of a grandeur type of quality, or straight up denial. In conclusion, she's either being completely honest; maybe she does have pretty fond memories, or if they're not all bad, she just remembers the good, as a way to maintain a positive existence, which would also explain her rough hands. In which case, fine, I can respect that. OR the alternative... she's completely full of shit.

I aims to find out.

Holy shit, I just sounded really really smart right there!

"-then Maud says: 'Pinkie, I don't think chickens are supposed to bend like that.', and I was all like-"

"I got it." I authoritized as I held my hand up... what? 'Authoritized' is toats a word. "Really, it sounds... absolutely..." There are those eyes again of hers! "uh... captivating..."

"Yup-yup! Anything else ya wanna know?" Shaking my head slightly to get my thoughts in order, I gave her a nod.

"Yeah, yeah. This may seem a tad pointless-" but could provide valuable info "-but what kind of work experience do you have under your belt?" I half expected her to actually check under her belt.

"Oh I've done just about everything!" Fuck! "I've done manual labor, woman-ual labor, animal labor, labor in the kitchen, labor outside the kitchen-" And so on and so on... ugh... she did mention 'kitchen work', and considering how she -must've- wanted that job at Sugarcube, I guess she's got some kinda culinary expertise. Huh. I could use a head chef at the Griffon. Everyone there just kinda does whatever. Heh... a woman who can possibly cook, and fuck. I think I might have hit the jackpot this time... Ugh...

Oh God, I just thought about Pinkie at the Griffon... I feel so... why do I feel kinda... sick in the stomach? Flim and Flam did send her to me afterall, so I shouldn't really have any qualms over recruiting her. Maybe it's because-

"-but easily my favorite part of volunteering at the school fair was the face painting! It was such a blast painting different designs and cute little creatures all day. Painting the kids was fun too!"

-there's no Goddamn way she's legal. By legal I mean of course eighteen.

Eighteen... that magic little number. Songs have been written about it; how it's either the best time of their life, or how it sucks ass. Studies and stories on the mental condition of people's lives at said age have been documented, written, and explored. 'Lovers' or employers, have become rapists if a certain someone isn't that infamous age; be it statutory or otherwise. People (terrible people most of the time mind you) have been put away, killed, or raped themselves, if one person lies about their age, or if the two (or more if they're... weird) go about passionate activities in secret.

Then there's me... I'd be fucked. I couldn't risk it, I had to know if she was the age. Giving her a quick once over -she's still going by the way- I evaluated her assets. Cute, adorable, kawaii, all that shit, is about the only way I can describe this... 'woman?' I couldn't really tell if she was wearing any makeup, or if that creamy skin tone of hers was natural. Her eyes are big and inviting, her smile is flawless and pearly, and to top it off... she's got the most poke-able button-nose I've ever seen. Dammit... I can't tell!

"- so I asked, 'D-I-D? What is that, a dance move?', and Dr. Crane said-"

Fuck, I'm totally checking out this possibly underage woman-girl, whatever! I... I-I don't want to be a rapist, it's such an ugly label... despicable label- for terrible people!!... Ha, and like I'm not? I'm all but a murderer and a... rapist ugh... I could never live with my self if she... if I sold the body of an underage girl to some man or woman- NO... no, just- just calm down, get your thoughts coherent, and send her away. It's that easy! Just say 'sorry, but I can't help you' and *poof* she's gone! ... but...

I could feel myself want to throw up from thinking up all this shit, bleach my brain, ANYTHING! Anything to get these weird little thoughts about Pinkie Pie that were slowly... seeming more and more... beneficial.

Damn it all... she'd... she'd be... perfect... Certain customers have a particularly... 'special' interest, in girls like her... they like them young: looking young, acting young... sounding young... Every once in a while, I get those few customers who are looking for someone who asks for a more 'cute', 'adorable', and 'fun', not so much the womanly, or even busty, smoky eye-shadow type I mostly have. Pinkie would be a true one of a kind at the Griffon, a league of her own!  I'd make some real cash off of miss Pie.

"- really reminds me of my auntie Marshmallow's special tea she always made me, put me right to sleep! For some reason though, whenever I woke up, I always felt really-"

"How old are you, Pinkie." I didn't ask it as a question. For the second time since stepping foot in my office, her smile left her face, and her eyes widened for a split second, clearly she wasn't expecting that.

"E-ex-cuze me?"

"How old are you? Very important piece of information to know ya see, can't exactly be sending minors out into the working world, all impromptu like this, on a legal level, things could potentially go messy. So with that in mind; your age, I want it. Don't even think of attempting to lie to me, cause I'll know."

I think my underage worries may just be right; look at how she's fidgeting.

She was too. Not like on a tweaking level, but she was shifting around very uncomfortably. She could ring me in a lot of dough... but I will not take the risk of taking the title of statutory rapist to my grave. 

The little silence between us lasted about three seconds, but in situations like this, that can feel like an eternity.

Hence most of my monologues.

"I'm twenty-two!" I knew she'd crumble- wait, WHAT! "Yep, twenty-two, that's me! Born in, uh... ninety-two. Eeyup-yup!"

No way... no fucking way she's twe- no way she's eighteen let alone twenty! She's gotta be screwin' with me... Fuck it, I'm not risking it, she's outta here.

"*sigh* Ok kid, I'm done playing this game with you." Her eyes went as wide as I'd seen them yet, as soon as I declared that.

"Game? What game? We're having a strangely intense interview, not playing a game silly!" Oh no, no cutely weaseling your way out of this one.

"STOP, just-... just stop, ok? You're not fooling anyone Pie, I can see straight through you." My sudden hostility shook her up I think, she started to look scared.

"S-see straight through what? I-I haven't been lying to you if that's what-" At this point, I stood up harshly, hands slammed to the mahogany.

"Yes. Yes you have, Pie, there's no way in hell you're eighteen, no one who... acts like you do, could be an adult."

-----------------------------------------------------------------Pinkie...------------------------------------------------------

'No one who...acts like you do could be an adult'...Why?... Why?? Every single time, I always get interrogated about this. Why??? I'm just being myself! I-I- 

It's most likely attributed to the fact that you're a horrible liar. I mean, Fresno? Really?

Oh, go away conscience! I've dug my self in super big hole here, and I need to climb out of it lickety-split!

Another glaring flaw was your saint-worthy portrayal of home. Do you actually remember it everbeing sunny? Ugh, and then you told that story about Maud and the chickens...

Hey, it shined! Like... twice... I-I think. And she wasn't even listening when I got to that, so there! Now are you gonna help, or keep being a meanie!?

I'm going to be mean. I warned you as far back as Greenbay, you're skills were slipping up, and your little fibs were catching up with you faster. I always said, plan ahead, never use the same story more than twice, and never, nevergive yourself an age over twenty. But nooo, what'd you say?-

Stop it! You're going to give me a headache, I NEED this place to last a while, I'm tired of running around so much! Now please, preeeeety please with a strawberry shortcake on top, help me out!

...*sigh*... you're only mad because I'm right and you know it... Pinkie, I'm only saying this so you don't get yourself hurt...

...

... The ID. It's still in your wallet right?...

'ID'?... Oh, ooohhhhh you're right! Thanks a ton conscience!

*sigh* I guess it's a good thing you ... 'made that friend' at the DMV, but next time, you're using a different age. And 'conscience' is not my name, and you know it. I told you, you can call me-

No time; POV shift!!

Wha-

----------------------------------------------------------Uh...Gilda-----------------------------------------

She sat there, staring through me, for like, ten seconds. Was she in thought? Dying on the inside? Trying to come with, what for sure will be, another lie? To this day, I'm not one-hundred percent sure what goes on in this woman's head... not sure I want to honestly-

"Oh! Duh how could I forget!?"  

"Forget... what?" My eyes darted side to side as I asked that.

"I got proof- MY ID! Right-" She reached for her back pocket. "in-" Pulled out an Invader Zim wallet... because of course. "here!" and slapped a photo ID of her right in my face.

Not literally, moron. She did whip it out pretty fast though.

...

Oh, Goddammit!

"What the hell is this, Pie?"

"My photo ID! Got my age on it and everything, it even has my eye color!" I took the card from her, plopping back down on the chair in a huff, fully ready to debunk the shit out of it, but...

Huh... well I'll be damned... 'date of birth: 1992' so she didn't lie? Well, damn, I look like a total asshole right now... oh, fuck now I gotta... apologize... 

"Well uh... yeah, so um... everything uh... everything checks out a-ok! Eh-haha..." Pinkie sat up proud in her seat, oddly enough, not gloating at me or, you know, calling me  bitch and walking out.

Why is it that every girl I've met in this little quest of mine has been a naturally chill person?...

"Yup-yup! I told you so!... ... Why would I lie about something so serious? That wouldn't make any sense Gilda." The hell? That last half of her sentence was such a total tone shift from how she's been talking, it sounded a little... accusatory, and slightly angry... like I offended her.

Yeah, no shit you offended her dumbass.

Shut up, conscience!

"I-I'm sorry if I offended you... 'Pinkie', but this is nothing more than a neccasary precaution. The last thing I would need/want, is for a minor to slip under my radar. If something happened to you, or anyone I let get through, there would be some drastic repercussions." The, now more scarily serious, Pinkie, raised one of her pink eyebrows at me quizzically.

"'Repercussions'? Repercussion implies an unintentional consequence to an action, or series of events; unwanted consequences at that. That could imply that you may possibly be trying to get me involved in some shady business... you aren't attempting to do that, are you? Miss Hof?"

W-w-what the fuck??? I'm getting a little scared now... Blindsided, shocked, surprised- NONE OF THAT comes close to how she straight up floored my ass with that! Have I been underestimating her all along? Trying desperately to keep myself emotionally in check, I straightened up in my seat, as quickly, but not too suddenly, as I could. I figured I was wrong, yeah, but now she's asking all the wrong (though technically right) questions. I looked her dead in the eye as I gave her my answer.

"Absolutely not. You gotta understand kid, if you got harassed, or injured in any way while in the work place, I, the business, not to mention you, would be in a lot of trouble. Me for all but getting you the job with, or without prior knowledge to your age, the business for taking you in, and letting you work illegally, and you for lying about your age. Plus any harasser would be boned, more than they normally would have. I get that I offended you, and I apologize, really I do, but my hostility was in the best interest of everyone." At this point Pinkie put a hand to her chin in thought, as one of her legs crossed the other.

"... Well, if we're being 'realistic' about it, in all honesty, I'd probably only get a slap on the wrist. You would probably get reprimanded by the city, but- hypothetically of course, if you had no knowledge of such a thing, I'm sure you wouldn't get it too to bad. And... well I'd hope whoever was doing any form of 'harassment' get charged to the fullest extent that they could." Wait... really? That's all?... Well... considering Flim and Flam have their ties, I may not even have to face that... shit, she's got me on the ropes now... rrr... only one last ultimatum I can think of. I made sure to soften my eyes a bit, in an attempt to ease the tension, albeit very minimally.

"Hmm... actually... you may just be right. Regardless, when you actually run a business like this, bigger, or even smaller, you develop a veeerrry acute sense of paranoia. And even if what you said could happen, I would rather not take the risk of getting booked by the local po-po. That slap on the wrist parts' probably not to far off either-" Ok... gotta deliver this next part non-nonchalant...  I casually cast my gaze downwards to my desk, shifting some random papers around, assorting them in my clipboard as I spoke. "- hell I think the worst that would happen is we'd probably just have to call your parents or something."

I heard her breath, ever~ so slightly hitch. Using my peripherals, and whenever I could steal a quick glance or two, I could see that she visibly tensed up. We hadn't explicitly talked about mommy and daddy Pie, so I believed I's successfully avoided suspicion for my comment. After several seconds of silence, I threw in one last innocent question for good measure:

"What's up? You got real tense for a second." Noticing her flub-up, she recomposed herself straightaway.

"O-oh, it's nothing, just thinking of home is all... mama and poppa aren't exactly, how do I put it... 'modern'?"

"Tch... what are they, Amish?"

"Pretty much..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing!... I'll tell you this much, they didn't know what a cellphone was until two-thousand twelve... after Steve Jobs passed away." ... Backwater~.

"Well at this point it doesn't matter does it? You effectively proved me wrong, I was wrong to suspect you as an underage woman, and with that, we can get to wrapping up this interview. No need to get parents involved, yeah?" She visibly relaxed, very obviously; my suspicion was correct: she's avoiding her parents... possibly. The evidence is vague, but there.

"L-looks that way."

"Yep. So hows about this, I got pretty much all the info I need out of you-" What little I cared to remember anyway. "-so how 'bout we call it a day, you come back at, oh say... noon tomorrow, and I'll have a job ready and waiting for you."

"What?... Just like that?" I nod once.

"Just like that. Given your past work experience, and assuming you're quite the people person, there's very little reason for someone not to hire you. Plus hey, I've been here for a long time kid, I knows peeps. If I don't have a job for you at the dawn of noon, I'll give you a full refund." Ha ha, that was funny. Her hands clasped together loudly as she jumped up and down in her seat.

"O-oh... gosh, thank you thank you thank you!! I was told you get fast results, but... wow... you have no idea how much this means to me!" Now the positive energy is back... interesting.

"Heh, bet I can guess. I've been doin' this kinda thing for almost two years now! I'm not about to disappoint a client now, 'specially not someone as nice as yourself." 'Nice'... yeah, she seems it anyway. "Besides, I kinda feel like shit for houndin' you earlier about your age. I backed you into a corner with that, so consider this my way of apolo-" Pinkie all but fuckin' catapulted out of the chair. She actually ended up on my desk, knees on the desk with her- arms around my neck!?

"Uh!-" 

"Thanks soooo much Gilda, you have no idea how much it means to me that you're actually giving me a chance! No one else has the whole time I've been here, thank you!!"

"A-ah... hahh..." S-she's nuzzling her nose into m-my neck...

I-I didn't know what to do! I haven't encountered anything like the situation I'm in now, since I started living here! Once again Pinkie Pie had completely stunned me, as soon as her arms came in contact with my neck my own arms spazzed out to their sides. Every fiber off my physical being was begging me to shove her off, but the morally correct side of me said not to get forceful or physical with her. Can't have her being scared, and I did feel a little bad for busting her balls her about her age...

Grips getting t-tighter... I felt Pinkie shift her head, from my collar-bone, to rest on my shoulder...

"I really mean it Gilda, thank you... I... didn't think I actually had a shot..."

"E-eh ha ha... W-hat makes you say that? Y-you had just a good a chance as anyone else." Her lock of affection around my neck tightened slightly more.

"I know that... it's just, well... *sigh*... to be honest with you, no one's given me a chance to prove myself in a long time." Really?... Can't say I can empathize, everyone back home expected me to prove myself... it was the norm for me to feel like breaking something if I performed less then great...

"Really? U-uh... that's... hard to believe... y-you're qualifications pass with flying colors, and your personality, though a little loud, would greatly-" The harsh shaking of her head was enough to cut me off.

"That's what normally kills it... almost anyone else would've sent me home by now... ... 'don't call us, we'll call you'..." At this point, the pinkette's grip on my neck didn't really so much bother me... kinda... felt comfortable actually. What the hell am I doing??...

"Well... their a bunch of dweebs. W-whoever didn't hire you would be missing out on a good employee... i-if you don't mind me intruding... it sounds like this type of thing is a recurring thing for you." Nod of the head... my arms are limp at my side now.

"Mm hm... it never bothered me to much when I was younger, but, you know... you get older, and you start thinking about things, and realizing what people actually meant when they told you something..." She brought her head down back to the crook of my neck again, continuing her string of vague answers. This is actually kinda n... no NO, t-this is- no! Bad touch, bad touch! What the hell was she thinking trying this!? I-Is this real o-or am I dreaming? No one in real life would try this shit! I-I feel a little bad for her, yeah, but... I still had yet to move a muscle.

"Not uh... not that I'm complaining or anything but... what brought this on? You were pretty, well, hyper during the our previous talk, until I brought up your age; again, massively sorry about that,-" The more I thought about it, the more I was, is the thing... "- so... well, just that, what's up? I know everyone's got shit to deal with, and for all I know, you've probably seen some gnarly stiff, but, well... i-it's not even the whole, 'we've known each other for like twenty minutes' thing, it's just super unexpected is all..." She was still for some time, eventually I felt her, I think, shrug against me.

"I dunno... just... felt I should maybe? It felt so nice to know that I was being given a chance to prove myself."

"'Prove yourself'?... How? Why?" Silence.This woman is such a Goddamn enigma... I wasn't expecting this when she strolled in here today.

After, what I assumed was, several minutes, she removed her head from the crook of my neck, raising it so she could look at me. Those big, bright blue eyes from earlier weren't there. They were blue, yes. Big, yes very much still. What they weren't, was bright, and full of that boundless energy that, I'd thought, she'd never run out of. They looked... just a shade darker.

She decided to answer my question(s) with her own, eyes wavering subtly as she spoke.

"Have you... ever felt like no one believed in you? Even by those you loved? The ones who were always supposed to stand by you?"

Those three little questions shook me through to the core. Her quiet tone, matched with the vulnerability in her eyes screamed volumes at me. I wasn't sure what to feel then... even today, I don't know why I was affected the way I was. I don't even think she realized just how powerful those questions could be for someone...

Do I? I haven't thought about home or my non-Cranky related past in a long time... shit, can't even remember the last time I called Mom and Dad. I think I called Dash, like, twice since I've been in this state, neither of them remotely recently. But the question at hand: have I felt that way before? I mean... Mom and Dad were cool overall I guess, though a little over bearing in the early years. Never could fully please them, I always fucked up assignments, or tests somehow, even if I scored high, they had to find something to bitch about... Having assholes for cousins, nephews, nieces... actually pretty much everyone in my family was a dick; didn't exactly help matters. I can remember when I was a kid, being my chubby little self at the time- yeah yeah, I used to have a stomach... shut up- everyone used to always crack jokes at my weight, and looks... 'Gigantic Gilda', 'Humongous Hof'... they're stupid names, I know, but when your a kid, that shit pisses you off!  Mom would get mad at me for getting my feelings hurt, blaming me for how I look, because of my 'poor lifestyle choices'. At like, age six. I finally got fed the fuck up, and started playing Basketball by fourth grade. Yeah... yeah, that's right... Mom's the one who got me in sports. No surprise that she and Dad were super for it now that I think about it, her and Dad were Quarterback and Head Cheerleader after all... Heroes of their Goddamn school...

I thought I'd forgotten about all of that...

All of that was eons before I met Dash... I guess... I was lonelier back then, then I thought. Never really saw the grandparents, or uncles and aunts a whole lot. I usually just saw them at my games, and even then, I felt like they'd rather be somewhere else... kinda like... I was wasting everyone's time. Every single time, after every game, track meet, whatever, win or (especially) lose, I would always hear about where I went wrong, any little bad calls I made, sitting on the bench while my back wasn't straight...

Tch... I think faking my rape was the best thing that ever happened to our relationship... 

Maybe... maybe that was all the universe' way of leading me to...

I had pondered her question way longer, and in more detail than I should have, I know shouldn't have! But her question... so vulnerable and curious, it just... got those memories and shit flowing outta of me like a Goddamn waterfall.

The whole time I was stuck in my head, trying my damnedest to answer her question, she was staring at me. My head had tilted downwards, staring at a particularly pretty stack of post-its around the time I made it to my old weight. She didn't say anything. Just... kept sitting there, on my desk, staring at me. After some time, I took a chance, and flicked my eyes up at her, curious as to how she was taking my lengthy silence. What her eyes conveyed surprised me, simply because it didn't surprise me.

She was looking at me just as she had been earlier, eyes a calm blue, staring at me non-judgmental, and patient as she waited for me to answer. A shaky sigh escaped me as I attempted to put what I was feeling into a minimal amount of words.

"Um-" Good start... "i-in a sense, yeah, I think, well, maybe... *huff* I don't know. I-it's really confusing to say, I never really... never really thought about all that to much; was to focused on being as awesome as possible, you know? I mean yeah, there was some criticism, plenty of pissed off days, but everyone goes through that right? I mean of course-" I was rambling on. I didn't mean to, didn't want to, but I didn't really know what to think! The more I was talking, and the more and more I was thinking about it... the more I was starting to hate my family a little... I think I went on my trying-to-rant rant for a good five minutes before she decided to intervene.

"Gilda." 

"- it's not unnatural to wanna punch your family members in the face once in a while is it?" Never was fucking good enough for them, until I completely changed who I was...

"Gilda."

Every single thing wrong with everything was somehow my fuckin fault!"Fuckin' dicks.. I worked my ass to the bone for them, not even once could-"

"Gilda."

"What!?" I was nose and nose with her now... for some reason... no need to be really, just pissed off, and in the moment I guess.

"I think... I got my answer." She flashed this coy little smile at me, it was in a real sly kinda way, like she knew something a didn't. It was then my brain finally decided to think realistically and realize 'wait a minute, what the fuck is she doing on my desk!?' Shoving her off of me, not hard enough to fall off the desk, I inched away in my chair, feeling my body get a little colder from the loss of her arms.

"O-ok... l-like I said, I heard all I needed to hear, show up at about twelve, alright?" She cocked her head to the side inquisitively, her eyes looking lighter again.

"Is everything alright? Gilda?" I didn't like how she said that... not one little bit. It sounded like an innocent enough question... but coppled with the tiny smile she wore with it, it sounded like she was teasing me, egging me on almost! Maybe I was just being paranoid, but I suddenly wanted her the fuck away from me as soon as possible... at the time it felt like my eyes opened up to the game she may or may not have played with me.

"Yeah, good, great, see you tomorrow Pinkie." Go away go away go away!-

"Are you sure?" She started reaching her hand out. "If there's something wron-" I smacked it away with quicker reflexes than I knew I had.

"Yes, now go. Before I change my mind." I tried to sound threatening, but there was a certain lack of punch in my voice from yet another mental crisis.

More stares from her, as I stare back, unreadable calmness matching very obvious nervousness. 

Out of nowhere, she hops off the desk, eyes big n' bright again, giant smile on her face. "Oki-doki! See ya en mañana!" About face, and out the door she went.




...




...







What the fuck!?

I screamed internally as I flipped my desk across the room, and chucked my chair at the wall.

Why does this shit always happen!? Every fucking time I go to recruit someone new, I get unknowingly roped into this psychological bullshit! Either I feel bad, or shit from the past I wanna forget resurfaces- the fuck are you trying to say me God!?

"What!? Huh!? I don't give a shit anymore! About home, about my family, I'm going to do whatever it takes dammit!"

And that-! T-t-that pink little... thing was toying with me, she had to be, no way someone could come off as pure as that in the beginning, and not be trying to manipulate them. I all but threw my back to the wall, hands fisted in my hair, roughly sliding down my face.

"She had me going too- I get it now! All the, t-the laughing, smiling, rambling; a ploy! I-it had to have been, she was just trying to get my defenses down, so she could have an opportunity to strike against me! But why and for what?..."

I was completely wrong about that kid, she... she may just be one of the smartest bitches I've ever met! Every attractive and endearing feature about her is a clever ruse, in order for her to catch her opponents off guard! My eyes shot open in realization.

"If I'm not careful, she could beat on me with an aluminum baseball bat, dump my body in the ground, and make me call her Mud!"

...

...

...

...

You're screaming in and out of your head, shitting your pants from a scenario straight out of a Primus song... you're officially insane.

"Shut the fuck up conscience!"
Shut the fuck up conscience!


SSSSSSSSIIIIIIIiiiiiiiggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh

"OK... ok, I'm calm now, I'm cool; a-ok."

I just wish I knew what goes on up in that kids head... 


----------------------------------------------------Pinkie----------------------------------------------------

"... see ya en mañana!" Then I sprinted out the door!

Woohooooo! that went over awesome! The huggy-desk maneuver gets 'em every time! 

Hmm... I'm not too sure... she didn't seem to really buy into it. I think we just creeped her out.

Sigh... and there's the balloon popper. Oh well! I'm not gonna let her being a party pooper keep me down from my success today!

After exiting the office, onto the parking lot, I swear I heard a faint bashin' n' crashin' goin' on up in Gilda's office. Probably just my imagination. Where is it, where is it, where is it- ooh!Right on the side of the building, I saw my second companion on my adventure, my Big Blue Backpack of Containment! I didn't take it in, it just would've made Gilda ask questions.

Grabbing it, and hoisting it on my back, I peered up at the bigger blue-er sky, I noticed the suns position, now I'm a little rusty at this, but by my minds math, it should be about 3 o'clock... *GAASSP* that means!-

I still got time to get some food from Sugar Cube Corner!

*sigh*... did you even hear me? Oh yeah... she can hear me...

Of course silly willy! But mah tummy's rather rumbly, and I wantz me some nourishment.

'Nourishment' is the last thing you need to worry about, where are we going to sleep tonight?

I was working that one out still...

Walking through the streets of this ok looking city, I took in the sights of my new temporary home. A few stores here, restaurants there, kids park, ooo coffee shop! Hm... Bella-Rose's Coffee 'n Flower Shop... that's almost a clever reference! 

Hey conscience, want some coffee?

Thanks for not answering my question... and no. You know I prefer tea.

Ugh... you're no fun.

Well, wasn't thirsty anyway. Oh oh, there it is! Just a block away! 

I made a mad dash towards Sugar Cube Corner, eager to say hi to the Cakes again. I really really like those two; they're two of the friendliest people I've ever met! Their food was awesome, the store was spotless; I wish I got to know them sooner. Lord knows I talked their ears off when we met. And subsequently every day after that, for hours on end.

I think that's what makes them... different to me; special even:

They seemed like they were actually interested. Didn't rush me, didn't shut me up for any reason, it seemed like they actually-

'Cared'?

I know, I know I've only talked to them a handful of times, over the course of like, two weeks, but I feel it, ya know? You felt it too right?... Like... it didn't seem like we- I was burdening them?

I'm not saying you were, and I'm not saying they don't or didn't. I'm just saying it may be good to keep them at arms length. Let them close, sure, just not to close. Why are we going back there anyway?

I'd finally made it to the door, pushing it open I heard the little bells jingle as I walked in. So adorable! I walked up to the front counter and gave the little bell on it a tiny smack. Oh sweet convenience, no customers!

Well... if nothing else, it gives us a place to chillax at until evening at least, right?

"Hi again! Mister and Misses Cake?" Now remember don't creep them out. Or piss them off. Quiet you!

"Ah, Pinkie! Welcome back!" I heard Mister Cake greet, as he walked out from the back. Kitchen? Bathroom? IDK, but he's here now! Guy looks like he's been working hard, his brow's sweaty and his apron has layers and layers of pastryness on it. That didn't stop his good mood though. "How'd that interview of yours go? You wow them with your natural charm?"

"Hehe oh, you! I think I did ok; well I mean I must have anyway, she said come back tomorrow and she'll have something!" Mr. C clapped his hands together.

"Wonderful! Cup, come in here!" He called, a few seconds later misses Cake came walking out of the back... place. She looked no different then her husband; dirty work clothes, fatigue setting in as the day was winding down, but she still looked happy to see me. 

"Pinkie! Lovely to see you again!" She walked out behind from the counter to give me a quick hug and, well, I wasn't not gonna return it!

"Hi Mrs. Cake! I was just telling Mr. C about my interview." Cup let go of me, looking at me with slightly widened eyes.

"That's right, you did have that today didn't you? Well, don't keep me waiting, how did it go?" 

Wow, I'm so not use to all of this positive attention; it feels so awesome!

Feeling bashful, I started to awkwardly scratch the back of my head with my right hand. "Heh heh, I uh, think I did ok." I heard Mr. C give a scoff at my answer.

"'Ok', she did great Cup. Pinkie told me that Gilda could get her a job as early as tomorrow!" Ok, so it was a good-natured scoff. I didn't even know people could do that. 

"That's wonderful!" Ooo deja vu! "Oh! Where are our manners? Sit down, sit down! We'll get you something to eat! You've got to be starved." I legit jumped at the idea.

"Awesome, thanks!" There was a vacant table for two right by the window, at the entrance of the store, that I grabbed right away, I always loved those. The whole place as a whole is just adorable! Pinks here, whites there, a lovely display case for the various treats, not a speck of dirt on the floor. Just plain lovely.

 Are we suppose to establish what the place looks like?

It's polite.

"What would you like, dear?" Mrs. Cake asked as she took the seat opposite of me. Hey, do you remember how much cash we got?

Like... seven bucks.

Oh, poopie...

"Um, actually Mrs. Cake, I just remembered, I'm kind of outta cash... heh heh, sorry. I should probably just le-" Mrs. Cake wasn't takin' any a dat. She dismissed my attempted excusal with a wave of the hand. 

"Don't be silly, it's on the house." Wait, really!?

"O-oh Mrs. Cake, I-I couldn't-" My attempted protest was cut off. Again

"I won't hear it Pinkie! In the considerably short time we've known each other, you've become a dear friend to Carrot and I, the least we could do is buy you something to eat, in celebration of your recent employment."

'D-... dear f-f-friend?...

"O-oh... thank you Mrs. Cake! I-I really appreciate that." She gave me a small pat on one of my hands.

"Not a problem at all dear." 

I finally decided on ordering a batch of their famous (or should be anyway) cupcakes!... why are you looking at me like that? They call them, "One-Bowl Cupcakes". They're chocolate cupcakes, topped with vanilla, sprinkles, a cherry, and a diagonally cut waffle cone. It's so good!!

Do we have to go into explicit detail about what's in the things? 

Describing things in detail automatically makes stories better, and authors great! Unless your Tara Gilesbie...

Time flew by waiting for the food, and the time was well spent. Talking to Mrs. Cake is so comfortable, she's really laid back, and always has something interesting it say. For instance! Her Mom was actually friends with Mr. C's father in the Korean War!

That'd be really awkward if they were more than 'friends' back in the day...

Ew ew ew!!!

After, oh I'd say, twenty or so minutes, Carrot came back out with a hot fresh batch of cupcakes, putting them smack-dab between Cup, and my mouth-waterin' self.

"Ooh those look bomb Mr. C! Thanks again you guys!" Carrot went to stand proudly by his wife, hand on her shoulder, smile on his face.

"Not a problem at all Pinkie. Well? go on, eat up!" Well, ya don't have to as me twice!

For the next few hours, it was a back-and-forth between eating cupcakes, to talking with my hosts, to munching on some brownies, to conversing with the Cakes, to devouring several cookies, to exchanging words with the Cakes, and-

You ate, talked, then repeated... fascinating...

Hmph! Well then, skipping ahead a little bit, I was finishing up a fond memory I had of big sister Maud and I.

'A little bit'? It took you an hour to tell the whole thing. 

Hush!

"...so I said, 'Oatmeal? Are you crazy!?', and my sister Maud says, 'No Pinkie, I'm being... cereal-slly.'"

The Cakes were (figuratively) on the floor! I told you, I told you someone would find that one funny!

Yeah, yeah... hm. You know, I'm starting to like them. It's very rare that we don't meet complete as-

Conscience!! There's no need for that kind of profanity!

What- not even in your own head?

A clean mind means a clean soul~.

I... cannot refute that, well done.

When the Cakes were able to (again, figuratively) pick themselves up off the floor, I concluded my little tale.

"So yeah, needless to say, I never went back to that county again, and Maud never even looked at those pants after that!"

"Oh-ha-ha Pinkie~ That was hilarious! A-haha... did that really happen?" I gave a nod as confirmation.

"Pinkie promise on it Mrs. Cake!" Suddenly their laughs ceased and eyes became wide with... concern?

"Oh my, even the part about the sheriff, and the tazers?"

"Uh-huh!"

"And where you said how Maud hot-wired the tractor?"

"Yup-yup! Later on in the year, she taught me how to do it too! It's about as hard as you'd expect, and easier than you'd think." The older couple shared a look, then turned back to me.

"E-even the part with Bo Burnahm, at, Walking With Dinosaurs?..."

"Es-pecially that part! How else were we going to get the tartar sauce and Steve Austin action figures!?" They looked at each other again, almost like they were... nervous... 

Oh no... I-I didn't freak, or weird them out with that story did I? This one really happened! It was like, the best summer of my life- ever!

"Uh... Pinkie Pie?..." Here it comes again...

"Y-yes Mister C?" Said Cake looked to his wife again, as if searching for the words for whatever he wanted to say.

"It's just, well... that story of yours, it sounded very-" Fake? False? Fabricated? Phony? "-uh... w-well how would you put it, Cup?" Cup perked back up into the conversation at her sudden inclusion.

"Oh, me!? W-well, um... it was-" Hard to believe? Crazy? Insane? Childish? "-that is, it all sounded very... dangerous."

'Dangerous'?
'Dangerous'?

"Dangerous, Mrs. Cake?"

"Well yes! You and your sister weren't hurt at all were you?" 'Hurt'?...

"O-oh, um- *ahem* -not at all! Well admittedly there were a few boo-boo's and bruises, but nothing different from what we dealt with back home."

Pinkie! 

I messed up big by letting that slip...

"'At home?' What do you mean? You were safe at home right?" Think of something, think of something!

"O-oh o-of course, of course, Mr. C! Just, ya know... a-all everyday risks of working on a farm. Stuff-a-fallin', animals-a-kicking, those kind of things." Please let it drop... I... I don't want to think about home... n-not like this- I can't! 

The Cakes were still looking at me... questions swirling around in their eyes, just begging to be asked. Do they... do they actually care?...

"Pinkie... like I said earlier, we did borderline just meet, but... if anythings bothering you, you can talk to us you know. We'll listen dearie, no judgement will be cast here." Mrs. Cake implored, with the most genuine, comforting voice I've heard in a long time. 

... Wow... Pinkie I... I-I think they do!

Please... please. I didn't care for my mental begging but... it'd be sooo nice to make some new, real, friends.

"Cup's right Pinkie. Of course, if you'd rather not talk about it, we'll respect your wish. We care about you- ! -so whatever you need from us just-"

"Pinkie! Are you... crying?..."

Finally hearing someone say those four little words to me made me break... yes, I was crying. I felt bad later, I imagined what had gone through Mr. C's head, since he unintentionally caused the dam to break. A dam that needed breaking. 

"Mm hm..." Mr.s Cake almost jumped out of her chair to try to console me. She kneeled down in front of me. I felt her arms embrace me, my head being softly pulled to her chest.

I felt her arm sooth itself up and down my back, her other hand giving my scalp a tender rub. Soft words of comfort caressing my eardrums.I haven't felt so at peace in a long time... I was sobbing now. I couldn't help it, I just felt so... so...

"Shh shh... oh Pinkie..." Mr. Cake squatted next to me, and joined in on the back rub. I don't quite remember how long we stayed like this.

After what felt like forever, most of my tears had dried, or stained themselves into Mrs. Cakes' shirt. My strength was slowly returning to me, not wanting to weigh heavily on her anymore, I slowly inched my way out of her embrace, with her arms staying on my shoulders, my head renaming downcast.

"You poor thing... why were you crying just now?"

"Was... was it something I said?" What'd I tell you? 

Allowing myself a small laugh, I shook my head, to calm his fears. "No Mr. C, it wasn't... well... it, kinda was, but not in a bad way." And I didn't exactly help matters. Understandably curious, he tiled his head to the side in question.

"What do you mean?" More silence.

I thought about how I should best answer this question; rather, how I could convey how I was feeling right now. Choosing to ignore his question temporarily, I addressed Mrs. Cake first with a question of my own.

"Umm... Mrs. Cake?" Immediately her attention was all mine.

"Yes, what is Pinkie?" *Sniff* Darn it all...

Pinkie...

I can do this. I have to.

"Eariler... like, an hour or so ago, y-you said..." *Inhale* *exhale* "you said I had... become a dear friend of you and Mr. C. I want to know if, uh... I want to know that, um, well..." In an act of nervousness, I glanced to Mr. C, hoping for some reason that he'd somehow help me ask this. I quickly looked back to Mrs. Cake. "I need to know... i-is that true? Am I... am I really a dear f-f-friend to you!?" I was almost in hysterics again; finally, I was able to get my nagging insecurity out in the open.

Mrs. Cake looked to Mr. C, and I dared chance a look at him as she did. No doubt he was shocked my by sudden breakdown, let alone my oddly worded personal question. Like as if his life depended on it, he frantically nodded his head up-n-down. Mrs. Cake looked back to me.

"Of course Pinkie. I wouldn't have said it if Carrot or I didn't mean it, silly! Pinkie, we've met a lot of people in our combined time. Some of them good, some of them bad, but you... in the short time we've known you, we believe that you have to be one of the nicest, funnest, free-willed people we've ever met! Always a smile, always a laugh to be shared, spring in the step; qualities in a person that are scarce in the world these days. Those are just a few of the things we admire about you. That make you special." M-m-mrs. Cake... Cup... I-I... n-no one, except Maud ever-

"And you wanna know what else Pinkie?"

"W-what's that Mr. C?..."

"If anyone ever try's to tell you that any part about you is wrong, I want you to know that they're the ones in the wrong. Neither Cup or myself would say these things to just anyone, so I beg of you, even though it hasn't even been two weeks, listen to me. Don't ever let anyone say that your too much of anything. What I mean by that is, if someone says such about your personality, or just the way you do things; if anything, more people should try to treat life like you, fun, with a smile, making each day and encounter count. Of course, maybe not exactly like you." He smiled a small smile. "I don't think the world could handle more than one of you." 

"Hm hm..."

My heart felt like it was breaking... not because of pain, but because... agh, it's so unexplainable! It's like with them, I almost feel... feel...

Loved.















Love... hard to believe that such a powerful feeling, could feel so foreign.


The tears came again. Not waiting for her to do so, I clung back to Mrs Cake again.

"You guys... Carrot, Cup... th-thank you... thank you..."

"Y-your welcome Pinkie... but why are you crying again?" I shook my head, my head that was buried in Mrs. Cakes neck.

"I'm not... that's just it... I-I'm happy."

"Happy?..."

"Th-the truth is... I haven't had any real friends, in a long time... i-it makes me sooo happy, to know that I... well, that I finally have some. A-and they're two of the coolest people in the whole wide world! S-so thank you."

"*Sniff* You are most welcome, P-Pinkie." I stayed in Mrs. Cakes' embrace for a little while longer. After my emotions subsided somewhat, I released myself from her, awkwardly apologizing for the utter damper I put on the whole day. They reassured me that it didn't matter, so long as I was feeling better. After a few chocolaty chip cookies, and some coffee (one cream five sugars), everything was almost completely back to normal, our conversation from earlier resumed; with me telling tales of my youth, and the Cakes nostalgalizing about their respective lives.

'Nostalgalizing' isn't a real word, you dunce...

Quite, you tsundere!

As evening slowly shooed the sun away, I realized that I'd spent all day here, that wasn't so much an issue, but I realized that I still had nowhere to sleep. Making a quick decision, I decided on just looking for either a bench with as less sticky substances on it that I can find, or taking a chance in someone's backyard... do they even have backyards here? I've just been at the park this whole time.  I started removing myself from my chair, attempting to make a nonchalant exit.

"Well Mr and Mrs. Cake, I should probably be going. It's getting a little late, I should be getting back to get some sleep for tomorrow." Plus I really don't want to be in the dark any longer than I have to...

"Oh, do you have to leave?" I sadly nodded.

"'Fraid so Mrs. Cake.  I'll stop by tomorrow after I'm out of the interview! Whenever that'll end..." I started walking to the door, and just as I was about to open the door, and see myself out, Mr. C grabbed my arm.

"Hey Pinkie... would it be alright with Libman, if you spent the night here?"  'Libman'? Oh yeah, my 'cousin' I told them about last week...

"Oh! Uhm. t-that's alright! I wouldn't want to burden you more than-"

"Pinkie. I won't be hearing any more of that from you, now answer Carrot, will your cousin mind if you slept here tonight?" Man, there's just no being self-detrimental around her is there?...

"Um... I don't..." Dang it... aw, nuts to this, I can't lie to them anymore... "*sigh* The truth is, there is no cousin. I'm... I'm not sleeping anywhere, haven't since I've been here... more often than not I just find a lonely little bench, or try not to get caught in anyone's yard..." I hated admitting my current homeless situation, but being that they're my... friends -*squees internally*- I knew the least they deserved was some honesty.

"Y-you haven't..." I looked at Mrs. Cake, she looked mortified at what I just shared.

"Nope. It's been that way for a long time. Look... you two are great, but... the last thing I'd want to do is risk what we have by imposing on you... good night." Riiight as I stepped out of the store, I got yanked back in! I was soon face to face with a very angry Carrot.

"If I hear one more word about you being a 'burden' or anything of the sort, I'm going to have Cup smack you upside the head young lady!" I'm scared....

I-I t-told you n-not to piss-s them off!

"Now listen here. YOU. Are going to march upstairs, and take a shower. I'll wash your clothes so they can look nice for tomorrow. Leave your backpack here, and I'll do the same with any other clothes you have." Carrot... this feels so weird... no one has had to help me like this in forever... no, not 'help' more like, 'take care of'...

"Upstairs?..." Cup decided to interject, then.

"We weren't kidding when we told you this place was our lives work. Right in the back, through the kitchen, there's a small flight of stairs. Go up it, you'll see a hallway, two doors on the right, one on the left. The left door is the bathroom, the the two on the right is  our bedroom, and the guests room, respectively."

You neglected to mention that the shop was two stories.

Now the story will get down-voted!

"B-but, but, you two are doing so much for me, I can't possibly-"

"No more buts! Now get up there, and don't come down until you're as clean as a show on the Disney Channel!"

"Um-"

"The one with the live action shows!" Oh... God...

"*sigh*... Yes, sir."


------------------------------------------------------------Gilda------------------------------------------------------

I am a woman of many things. A few of them ok, most of them pretty horrible. I am also a woman with many things. Be they material, physical, or recently, of the mentally clinical variety. One thing I'm never without, is a plan. Most of the time I can come up with them relatively quick, some I plan months or days ahead, and in this particular case, I'm laying down the plans on how to deal with Pinkie Pie tomorrow. 

As someone in my line of work, there are two words that everyone should accompany themselves with. One is the word: 'weakness'. By knowing someones weakness, and sometimes better, knowing how to find it, is key to success. Business thrives off the strong devouring, or absorbing the weak, any 'merger' is just a fancy word people use, instead of saying: 'yeah, one company got super boned by the other company's bigger, and much more successful dick'.

The other word is... well it depends on the person. I believe it should be fear, while others may say respect, tactical, I'd even argue exploitation, but no, to be a good boss, a powerful owner, you always need that ever so slight shred of fear. Most people don't even realize that they fear their bosses, it's that little sensation that tells you to take more responsibility, that little creeping thought when you realize that could let you go in a flash, where no matter how much you hate them, you say nothing.

Fear. 	    x	     Strength.    +    a  Weakness.        =     Success.
(Scare them)  x     (Beating them)   +      (Exploiting them)        =      (Profit)

Greed is good after all.

I don't care what that little ID said, she's a kid on the inside, no matter what her age is. She was also able to get eerily serious when her back was against the wall, so clearly she won't frighten easy. So tomorrow, I'll pull the 'friend' act, ask how she is, pretend to be interested, all that bullshit. If I'm careful enough, she'll fall right into my hands.

I find that my best formed plans, come from when I'm on my couch watching Youtube on the PS4. Wait was the PS4 out then?... Eh, fuck it.

After putting my office back together, I came straight back home, closed the store early today. For the rest of the day, evening, and now night, I was wracking my brain around Pinkie Pie, everything she did was so... unreal. I couldn't tell if she was endearingly eccentric, or if she was a calculating shyster. Fuck what if she's both!?

After several-plus hours of thinking, my brain was tired. I pulled out my phone to see that it was only eight o' clock... well, might was turn in early, I figured.

I had a (rough) plan, once I find an opening, I'll pounce on it, scratch at it, claw at it 'til it fucking bleeds. I'll teach that little girl not to try and out smart me. Tomorrow it'd be a battle of the wits, and I wasn't going to lose.

You try to play me, get in my head, you resurface shitty memories I wanted to forget; this will not go un-payed for, Pinkie. 

----------------------------------------------------------Pinkie-----------------------------------------------

Man... how long has it been since we showered, Conscience?

Mmm, far... far too long

Real soaps, real water, real towels, I was in heaven! I finally got to wash my hair out, I was happy about that, these tangles were getting annoying. The hair's naturally curly, but it can be a real pain to maintain, I'm seriously lucky I don't have dreadlocks. I scrubbed my body thorough, and precise, who knows when I'll get this opportunity for cleanliness again? It kind of hurt after awhile, but I had some dirt, stains, and other grime on me for way to long. On the other hand, it gives my body a certain almost pink hue to it, haha~!

*KNOCK KNOCK*

"How you doing in there, Pinkie?"

"Is there a word better than awesome? Cause I'm feeling pretty up there, Mrs. Cake!"

"Hm hm, well good. Carrot's washing your clothes still, but I was able to find you some old PJ's that may fit you. It's either that or you sleep in the towel tonight."

Ugh, that's unappealing...

It sounds a heck of a lot better than that one time in the back of that Chipotle.

You swore you wouldn't bring that back up!

"Pinkie?" Darn conscience. Making me zone out and stuff...

"Sorry, sorry, just thinking is all."

"Hm. Pinkie... I hope you understand that Carrot isn't mad at you. What you told us... while I understand that took strength to do, it really worried us. I won't ask how long you've been doing this, or why. I can only imagine what led you to this, and how personal you keep it; to which I'm fine with. Just know that... you've always got a place to lay your head here if you need it." I assumed she finished her piece, nothing more came from her side of the door. ... Conscience?...

...yes?...

Did... she offer us a, a-a home here?

You know something?... I truly think she just might have.

Can... can we stay here?

... I see no reason not to. I think... this restaurant will be a fine home.

Yes! Yes! Yes!

After the party in my head settled down, I turned off the water, hoping I didn't get too pruny. I grabbed the purple cotton towel off of its rack, and dried myself off.

Remember, dry off in the shower first, then exit one leg at a time, while drying that respective leg. We are guests after all, and it'd be very rude to soak the carpet.

Ugh... I KNOW.

Following MOM'S procedures, I made my way out of the tub, wrapping the towel around me. Higher up, Pinkie.

Why?

Do you want someone to see your breasts?

Uh-ha ha, good point... course to be fair, someone, somewhere probably wants me to want to.

Pinkie...

Fine, fine!

After restoring my decency, I was about to walk out of the spa I made of the bathroom, and make my way to the guest room, when I caught sight of the mirror. It was a little fogged up, but I remedied that with some cold water splashed on it. What I saw in it was a sight refreshing, and a little surprising at first. It was me in the mirror, well to be specific, her.

My hair had been matted down by the hot water, and with my thorough finger-combing, lay almost fully flat against my back. The ol' blue eyes seemed just a little darker than usual.

"You look beautiful tonight."

No I don't, that's not me you're looking at Pinkie, that is ALL you in that mirror.

"Hm... Well, I think the straight hair suits you better. I don't think I can pull off, 'serious', or 'refined', and all that stuffiness."

Oh, so I'm stuffy now... thanks.

"Hmm, I'm kidding, and you know it."

Not that I'm apposed, but, why are you actually talking?

I shrug. "I dunno. I just never talk to you like this normally... thought it'd be a pleasant change of pace. Besides, it makes the head quieter."

I see...

"...Hey Conscience?... Thanks for always being there for me. I don't know how I would've lasted without you beside me... inside me, whatever."

I told you didn't I? I'm not leaving you anytime soon, even if the whole world fell apart I'll always have your back, and you'll always have my support. And, even though I usually don't make assumptions, it seems the Cakes care a lot about us, and it makes me happy to know that we have someone supporting us.

"Yeah... I hope I get a fun job tomorrow. I'll work real hard at it! That way, I can support myself, and stay here with the Cakes forever and ever! Would... that be okay?"

I would have no qualms over that.

"Awesome. Well, I think I'm dry enough, I think I'll head to that guest room of theirs."

Good idea.

Opening the door, I looked left to right, relieved to see that the coast was clear. The Cakes have been cool and understanding about everything, but I don't think they're quite ready to meet Conscience yet. Like the others, they'd just think I'm cook-coo. I made my way down the hall, into the, what I assumed was, the guest room. Basic setup, a bed, a desk, a window, a TV, a bookshelf, a ceiling light, a lamp, a ceiling, four walls surround me, and a... Dwayne Johnson bobble-head?...

Yeah, you know 'basic'.

On the bed was an old lookin' The Residents T-shirt that looked too big for me, and a pair of AC/DC pants that I think I'd need a belt for.

But you can't use a belt for-

I KNOW.

I dropped the towel to the floor and out on my loaner pajamas. They fit me sooo loose! I actually had to do that thing where you tie your shirt in a knot. The pants I just had to deal with; it's not like they were falling off, but I had to hold them up.

That shower really relaxed me. I hope the Cakes don't mind if I doze off a little early.

Don't see why they should. I'm certain they have to wake up early as well.

That bed in the corner was lookin' mighty cozy right about then, I threw back the covers, and jumped right on top of-

Oh my GOD a bed! A real real bed! It feels so niiiiiice!! I immediately got on my comfy sleeping position; on my right side.

Mmm I must agree, beats the heck out of benches and yards doesn't it?

... ... ... zzz zzz zzz

Ha ha ha... ... night Pinkie.

















*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

Ah!  Ah! Ah!


"Oh my! Pinkie??" Mrs. Cakes sudden knocking almost scared me to death! I was facing away from her, but I heard her open the door and walk in.

"Ugh..." 

"Sorry to bother you dearie, I didn't wake you up did I?"

YES.

"Kind of... it's o... *yaaaaaawn* kay though. What's up?" She sat down next to me on the bed. Instinctively I moved over, giving her more room.

"I just wanted to come in, and check up on you. See how you liked the room and whatnot."

"Mmm, I love it..."

"Good, very good. Also, I wanted to see if the clothes fit you, or if you even like them. They are a little old and big after all."

"They're fine. Thank you, again, Mrs. Cake."

"Don't mention it dearie." Mrs. Cake then rested her hand on my hand, giving it gentle rubs, as if I was a small child. It was... the most soothing thing I've felt all day. I almost fell back asleep, but Cup brought me back after a few minutes. "Carrot's washing up your clothes now by the way. There were quite a lot in that little backpack of yours..." Oh no... please Mrs. Cake, don't make me talk about it...

"Y-yeah, well... I um... need... them..." Dammit, she's getting too close...

"And, some pieces of clothing looked like they'd been in a gutter for years. I-I know I said I wouldn't ask you about it, and if you wish to noy talk about it, I'll respect your choice, but... Pinkie? H-how long have-"

"A long time, Mrs. Cake. Long enough to where I really don't want to talk about it" Conscience?...

"Oh... I-I see."

"And as to why they look like that... well, let's just say benches, yards, not to mention roofs aren't as uncomfortable as you'd immediately think, either."

"... I... see." What are you doing!?

Getting her to drop the subject, that's what. Friend or not, I highly advise against giving out such painful information out.

That's really not up for you to decide! I trust them, shouldn't that be enough for you!? You... you still trust me right??? Mrs. Cake removed her hand, and started to make her way to the door. No... no don't go...

"Well... I just wanted to run that by you. It's getting close to Carrot, and mines' bedtime, but if you need anything, anything at all, don't be afraid to let us know, ok?"

"O-oki-doki, Mrs. Cake."

"Good night Pinkie."

"Night..." The last thing I heard of Mrs. Cake, was the careful closing of the door.

...

...

...

She's gone-

Did you hear how bad you made her feel!? You had no right to do that!

You're welcome by the way! You didn't want to talk about it, so I dismissed the conversation. I know they're nice and everything, but don't you think it's a little early to be relenquishing such painful information? Not just because we met them last week but also for your sake too. The mere thought of the past few years is enough to send you into hysterics in the first place!

I flipped over on my back, glaring at the ceiling, somehow imagining her doing the same thing.

Well, you know what!? I'd rather cry, and feel my heart break, then keep it inside! That's all I've ever done! Every time I've ever been sad, o-or angry at something, I always bottled it up, because I couldn't bring myself to trust anyone, and the one time I did, that person didn't have my back when I needed them. But this is different! I-I know I can trust them! And even if it kills me, I'll deal with it, because at least then, I'd be able to have a clear mind, for once in my life!

What makes them different!? A few hugs, and some declarations of affection? That's not 'love' or signs of trust, it's a scene from a sopa opera!

Why are you acting like this!? Y-you said so earlier that we could trust them, that they did care!

I did, and I still think they probably do, BUT, I would rather push them away, then risk your mental health. I truly have your best interest at-

If you did, you wouldn't push away every chance I get at having friends! I'm starting to think you're just paranoid...

I do know what's best for you, because I AM-

No. You're. NOT!













P... Pinkie?...

You, are just my very vocal conscience, whom over the years, I've regarded as my friend and companion, even now, I still do... But let's you and I get one thing clear, we may share one body, and one mind, but we are not the same person. I've let you influence me, and give me advice; which most of the time has been right. You seem to forget though that this is my life to live, and while I will gladly take in your opinion and advice, it is still MINE. Do you understand me?

P-P-Pi-inkie... d-don't say that. L-look, we've said a lot of stuff, I-I didn't mean a lot of it- you know that. And I- I know you don't mean that about you and me...

*Huff* Look, just... be quite so I can go to sleep. I have an interview tomorrow.

Pinkie, please don't end the night on a sour note! I'm sor-

I said goodnight... Pinkamena.





 ... good night...





------------------------------------------------Gilda-----------------------------------

Ah, I love the smell of anticipation for a gonna-be successful plan in the morning! Smells like... the imminent defeat of my opponent. 

I worked out the last little details of my plan over breakfast, and the ride over to the 'office'; scopeage on this shit. Ok, I'm going to... to... actually, I'm pretty much going to do what I've been doing, but with a little more effort put into it. This girl is an enigma, and cause of that, I'm not sure how much she told me about herself was legit. I also made sure to make a call to F&F this morn so they could keep tabs on her. 

I got two things going for me though: the hope that she'll slip so, so I can catch her lying, then pounce like a puma. Or number two... and applies to having Flim and Flam locate her: 

There's always the Cakes. Little cue-ball spent the night there apparently, Flim and Flam discovered that little fact cause, as it turns out, the Cakes pay protection money to them.

Gotta love all these little coincidence's that just pop in my life, huh?

I feel a little bad about getting the two of them involved, only because I actually know them, but that being said, they might just be the best leverage I got. Pinkie Pie seems like the type of person to take friendships seriously. Knowing that... well, I'd certainly hope she'd do anything to keep them safe. Heh heh. Now do to her unpredictable nature, I told Flim and Flam to be at the ready at all times, as soon as it's noon. Pinkie may not whoop anyone's ass, like Applejack did, but I'm not taking any chances.

It's eleven-o-clock now. More than enough time to psych myself up, and prepare for the showdown of th e minds that's about to go down.

You're ass is mine Pie...


----------------------------------------------Pinkie----------------------------

...

...

... Are you still not talking to me?...

Hmph!

Come on Pinkie, I said sorry! I mean it to, I really didn't mean to upset you!

There she goes again... It's not uncommon for the two of us to disagree from time to time, happens to everyone, but this time was different. I feel very strong about my stance on Cup and Carrot, and I don't feel like she really understands, or even respects my feelings on the subject. All through waking up, to the shower, through breakfast, and now, when were at the  parking lot, she still wouldn't leave me alone...

It's not about being sorry, its about not understanding why I feel the way I do about this.

I do though! How could I not!?

Just a little closer to the door, once I'm inside, that should keep her quiet for a little while... I could always... no, no it's already eleven-fifty, I should really-

Look, I admit I could've been considerably less rude to Cup, but I was just- Nevermind.

Ok, ya know what!-

I slung the backpack over my shoulder, throwing it against the wall.

We need to talk.

But... we are talking...

I mean face-to-face.

'Face-to...' Pinkie, we haven't done that in a long time, a-are you sure you have the energy?

I backed myself against the wall from three seconds ago, sliding down until I was on the ground. I crossed my legs... closed my eyes.......... calmed my breathing........... and let go.






---<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<[-]>-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<[-]>-<->-<->-<->-<->----

When next I opened my eyes, I was greeted by the familiar plane I hadn't seen in quite a time.

I was sitting in a serene abyss, colored like the bluest sky, fog and mist surround me. No floor lies beneath me, but I don't fall through the clouds; the opposite rather. I slowly rise, standing without worry or doubt, kept my breathing still, and walked forward. Wonder what time it is... this is usually a fairly lengthy process to accomplish.

The mist was thicker this time, made sense considering how discombobulated my thinking is right now. Out into the distance, I saw her, further into the endless, peaceful realm. 

Her back was to me, but I knew it was her; I mean, who else would be in here? As I knew she would, she was the spitting image of me; me deep pink button-up, the darkened ironed jeans (courtesy of Cup), and the loafy's. The only stark difference was her hair. It was straight, flat, and un-moving, coming down to the end of her shoulder blades. I kept walking until I was just behind her, either she didn't hear/notice me, or she was trying to ignore me. Either way, I needed to hurry this along.

"Pinkamena."

The call of her name; her real name I suppose it is, caused her to jump, and quickly face me. I forgot how long it'd been since I'd seen her eyes. They were her own if you ask me, where as mine were a light cerulean, hers were the purest of blue. Normally they're calm, steady, firm even. Now... well now, she looked like she wanted to jump out of her... 'skin'?...

"P-Pinkie! Y-you did it! Well, I mean, I-I knew you could, but, I just wasn't sure if-" I held up a hand to stop her. I wanted to talk to her, and make it relatively quick, so for a change, I had to be the grownup of the two of us.

"Stop. I brought us here, so we could work this out, hopefully in a timely manner, and we can both have some peace in our minds."

"B-but, um... aren't you worried someone will see you? What if they disrupt the connection?" I rolled me eyes, was she seriously doing this now?

"The only way I'll lose connection, is if someone comes over and gives me an F5."

"But what if-"

"Enough!"

She was silent after my outburst. I didn't mean to be so, well, mean to her, but I wanted to speed this along.

"Just hear me out, and I'll listen to whatever you have to say, ok?" She nodded in a timid fashion. "Good... now look, we've been on the road for a long time now, and it's been just you and me-" I gestured to her and myself. "-for even longer. Right?" 

"Yeah... yeah it has."

"Mama and Papa... were never exactly... supportive, when it came to us, were they? You remember that right?"

"Tch, how could I forget? I don't know how you kept a smile on all those years."

"And you... you know how lonely we've been... right? Ever since Maud..."

"Again, how could I not? Pinkie what does this all have to do with-"

"It has to do with the fact that I don't want to be alone anymore!"

The air was thick, and tense. I've been feeling that way for a while now, we both knew it. This was just the first time I or she have ever openly addressed the issue. The silence lasted a long time...

"Pinkie..." She finally spoke up. "... I'm sorry..." She'd been saying it all morning, but this time her voice sounded so fragile, broken... 

"... I know. I just... felt something with them you know? Like our meeting was meant to be. I don't wanna say it was destiny, nothing that dramatic, but in the few days we knew them, I felt... I felt like... I-I felt like I mattered... I've been alone for so long, Pinkamena... I didn't want to ruin any chance I had at really real happiness... I shouldn't have snapped at you like I did... but I don't want to lose them." It's been a long time, since I've been this honest with... anyone, let alone myself. It wasn't suppose to be this way.

But nothing ever is, is it?

---------------------------------------Gilda-------------------------------------

Twelve o' five... I was probably over reacting, but her being so late was irking me. It's never a good idea to be late to an interview anyway, let alone one of mine, but five minutes late? You're supposed to be five minutes early, at least. I could call her- crap, she's got no phone. Oh! I'll run by Sugarcube- dammit, that's right, she never told me she was staying there... um... smoke signals?-

'Can you feel the sunshine?~...

The hell!? Oh yeah... Flim and Flam.

"Why the hell did I give them that ringtone..." Taking the phone out of my pocket, I answered my fellow esteemed offendees.

"Yo whut up guys? Everything all good 'n the hood?"

"What does a coat have to do with this call, little wing?" Oooh my God...

"Nothing, nevermind Flim."

"Flam."

"Don't fucking start!" I heard their little chuckles on the other side of the line, surprisingly, I didn't feel like punching them in the throats, like (I thought anyway) I normally would've. Hmph... maybe... we just might be friends; kind of, after all. 

"Ha ha ha... anyway, to business. We have some... interesting news, little wing-"

"Ok, hold on, question."

"What now?"

"... Is it 'little wing', 'little birdie', or just 'birdie'? You guys go back and forth all the damn time!"

"Aw, but variety tis the spice of life; keeps one on the toes! The punchline for Flim and I is that, our actions in the grand scheme of things, on one truly knows."

"... ... You guys haven't rhymed shit in a long time, I thought that was suppose to be your guys' scary shtick."

"In our defense, at the time, we thought we were going to kill you. We never could have predicted our current business arrangement, rhyming constantly, and consistently good , is not exactly a simple feat... oh well... what's a killer or two to do?..."

"Oh, you're funny... one last quick question..." Don't know why I'm asking this, but the mention of our partnership brought up an inquiry I've had for a while. "About our partnership, is it-" Choose your words correctly, don't sound desperate or weak. "-um... satisfactory?"

"... Hm... interesting question... Flim?"

"Well, without a doubt, we've had worst. I would wager none of our other business ventures were quite so... casual." That got my attention.

"'Casual'?"

"Indeed. The Dogs for instance; the twelve men. We dictate them out of trust, respect, brotherhood and fear. In past ventures, if we weren't leading it, we were typically given our instructions through a cutout, or message of some sort, rarely; if ever meeting with them. Our relationship with you is... well, give or take our purposeful cryptic ways, and your occasional enotional tangents, bouts of narcissism, and disturbingly recurring mental breakdowns-" Oh, well gee fuck you t- "- I would say our relationship with you is... nice." W-what?

"Nice?..."

"I must concur with Flim. Minor personal differences aside, and overlooking that silly little attempt on your life, and your attempted blackmail, you have been good to us. We only hope that we have served you adequately. Of course free alcohol and female liaisons is positive in your favor as well, but in all seriousness, you are potentially the best person we've worked with, or rather; depending on how much this meas to you, you are the one we... care about the most." Oh... wow, that was... unexpected to say the least. I didn't think they thought so highly of me... I feel like such a dick now...

"U-uh... thanks guys, that actually... actually does mean a lot. Oh yeah, that's right you had something to tell me, huh? Sorry for the sudden interruption, and personal question... *ahem* so what's up?" And back to business as usual.

"Oh yes, that. Pinkie Pie is right under your window."

"Oh sweet than- WHAT!?" I slammed myself into the window, and immediately looked as downwards as I physically could.

"That is a lovely image to behold, birdie."

"Son of a bitch, she's right there! The hell is she doin' just sitting there? Is... is she dead!?" 

"*Sigh* No, Gilda. From what we can deduce, at least just by looking, it almost looks as if... she's in a meditative state, of sorts."

"'Meditative... state'... Ok, I'll bite- WHAT!?"

"Just as Flim said, a state of meditation. Why, or how she is performing this fete, we cannot say, but given her facial expressions, it would appear she is having an inner struggle of some sorts."

"'Facial expressions'?... Where are you two!? I don't even see your car!"

"Does it matter? As long as we can survey our surroundings efficiently, our location is not important."

"Ugh, fine, I really don't care right now... so what now Should I just go kick her awake, or somethin'?"

"We would advise against it. To achieve such mental clarity, so as to go into said state of mind, takes an extreme amount of focus, and concentration. If this 'Pinkie Pie' is anything as we suspected her to be, going along with what you told us about her, we can only speculate that this is not an easy feat for her."

"Your point is?..."

"Sudden, or violent awakening from her current state may potentially be... hurtful. Mentally especially."

Dammit... "Alright then, I guess... so what, when she gets in here, pretend I didn't see anything?..."

"That would be best."  I finally decided to remove myself from the window.

"Fine then. I'll tough it out."

---<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<[-]>-<->-<->-<->-Pinkie<->-<->-<->-<->-<[-]>-<->-<->-<->-<->----

We talked about a lot of things. Somethings we already knew, somethings we never really talked about; a little of everything and nothing at once. Most of it was about the past, really. Mainly stuff we regretted, missed opportunities, situations we were in, and how we felt about them; airing out the laundry basically. Some of the things she said surprised me. I... I just didn't- how could I not have know...

"... I hated them, you know. When they threw us out, into the wet, hard rain that night. A backpack, scraps for nourishment, barely any dollars to our name, and each other. I hated Maud for leaving. Unjustly I suppose; she was bettering her life. I hated the schools for always thinking something was wrong, the other children for never taking the time to know us; not just them- everyone! Just thinking about it makes so!-" She clenched her fists, and flung them up to her head, clenching at her hair, looking like she was in pain at the whatever thoughts she was having.

I was scared she was going to hurt herself! Lunging forward, I grasped her shaking hands by the wrists, pulling them down with a tug.

"Pinkamena, stop please! You can't keep going on like this, it's not good for you!" She snapped her head up at me to trap my eyes in her glare.

"I wanted to hurt them. I'd be lying if I said I still didn't wish I could. 'Not good for me'- there is a lot of things I feel that aren't good for me! I'd rather be alone then feel that ice-cold pierce of betrayal again. How could I not? Knowing that everyone could hurt us at anytime!?"\

"You don't know that! True, yes, we have meant some meanies in the past, some very very BIG meanies, but that's just a had full of people! You can't seriously look me in the eye, and tell me that every single person out there, ever, is terrible! You just... haven't met the right people, or the right person, to care about; and you will! You just have to take a chance." Pinkamena held my gaze for some time after that, just staring at me, her glare growing softer by the second. After, I''m not sure how long, her head went downcast, hair obscuring her face.

"That... is the difference between you and me. You can... forgive, move on, even l... even love. I can't, Pinkie.  I can't just look for the silver lining and hope for the best! You're the one who goes out there and tries things! You're the one that trust people! If I was in your worn out shoes, I'd just crawl into a hole somewhere where it's safe!" She raised her head back up to me, eyes glimmering with tears. "I've tried my best to protect you from these feelings; the way I am is no way to live... that's why it has to be you... not me. I'm sorry I I snapped at Cup, but I was really thinking of what's best for you... but maybe... maybe you don't... need me anymore." 

W-what? No, N-NO!

"No! T-that's not true! I'll always need-" I felt her index finger on my lips, with the saddest smile I've ever seen. 

"No... you don't. You've shown that you're more than capable of making your own decisions; good ones at that. I see now that, I'm holding you back, and for that I apologize." Don't leave, please! 

I roughly shoved her hand off of my mouth. "Stop it! You've never once held me back, ever! I need you! I can't... when I said we aren't the same person... I meant that you deserve to be your own person. I didn't mean I wanted you to leave!..." 

"I know, Pinkie. But... there can only be one of us, you know that. I would rather it be you, someone like you, who is... you're just a good person! Without you, I think I would have self-destructed a long time ago-"

"And without you, I could be dead, or worse! See!? W-we need each other... don't go, please!... *sniff* You're- *hiccup* y-you're all I have left, too..." 

I can't stop it... I'm crying now, where it's suppose to be my happy place, I'm here weeping like a baby! Life without you... w-what if I get hurt!? O-or taken advantage of!? Who's gonna help me??

Before I could continue my horrifying train of thought, Pinkamena embraced me. 

"I'l always be around, I promise you that. B-but I think it's time for that little voice to go away; for you to be on your own... I'm quite tired, honestly. I... haven't slept in years."

"H-ha-haven't slept?"

"I've been awake, watching over you for almost seven full years now. It was the only way you could sleep soundly at night. Dreamless, yes, but better than how you were."

"Pinkamena..."

"Go, Pinkie. You're already pretty late to Gilda's interview, aren't you? I think you can handle this without me. I'm going to... rest..... now."

She let go of me, and fell down to the transparent floor. Fearing for her safety, I tried to catch her before she hit the ground. I couldn't.

She smacked against the ground, and I along side her after my failed catch. I tried shaking her with my hand, but to no avail; she was already fast asleep.

"P-Pinkamean?..." I could hear her snores...

Oh no... oh no, oh no, oh God, nononono....

I was panicking, arms flailing around, shrunken pupils, the whole deal. The ever looming feeling of loneliness crept back into my veins; a feeling I haven't truly felt in years.

It feels like a ball of ice is in my tummy... m-my hearts in my throat, a-am I sweating!? What do I do, what do I do!?

The negativity was to much for the plane to handle, before I could stop it, I was flung from the only peace of mind I really have.

----<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<[-]>-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<[-]>-<->-<->-<->-<->---

I awoke with a jolt to the senses. If I didn't know what just happened, I was sure I'd have had a heart attack. Everything was as I left it though. Backpack smacked against the wall, empty parking lot, and myself on the dirty, warm pavement. I jumped back up, and dusted myself off, trying to re-present myself.

Pinkamena?...

No reply...

Pinkamena... I won't let you down. I don't have as much faith in myself without you here, but if you believed in me so strongly, then, that's all the motivation I need! Whenever you decide to awake from your slumber, I'll have-!... well I don't know yet, but I'll make you proud darn it!

Strengthening my resolve, I marched inside Gilda's office, and knocked on the door, ready to face with whatever life would through at me from now on, by myself, but not alone.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Heh heh heh... there you are, Pie...

"Come on in!"
> Pinkamena's Submission/The Consequence of Choice(Circumstance)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------Gilda-----------------------------------

...

...

Jesus, where the hell'd you go; haven't seen you around in forever! Where'd I leave off again?... Oh yeah! So, that Pink McSpazz-a-tron knocks on my door finally, right? 

The door pushed open, and I came face to face once again with the pink menace; Pinkie Pie. I had a game plan- play it cool, don't be a dick, and sloooowly break her down. Someone like Pinkie Pie requires a certain knack, and rhythm. Of course, how does one get in rhythm with an ever changing scherzo? You whittle it down with a cold, calculating, deceiving adagio, that's how.

I knew it'd just be for the best if I didn't inform her about my witnessing her little... 'session', under my window. I figured it'd probably just make her lock up, and then I'd never get anything worthwhile out of her; Pinkie seems like the kind of person who, even though she can talk a lotta talk, she knows when to shut up about certain shit. It's always the peppy, happy ones... least that's what anime's' have taught me... 

"Hi Gilda~! Sorry about being late today, I got, unexpectedly, non-negotiable-ly, held up. Am I still able to apply for... whatever stuffs I was applying for?"

"Hmm... well, I don't see why not. Come on in and pop a squat, let's get this started."

Already I suspected something was up with her; compared to yesterday; everything about her just seemed so... subdued. Yesterday she zoomed over to the chair, and along with crushing my hand, wouldn't shut the hell up. Today: no catchy door-knock jingle, and no instead of transporting to my desk, she slowly sauntered over to the chair and calmly took a seat. She was wearing more or less the same thing from yesterday, hair done up the same, but she was just... missing something.

"So how was your night? Sleep alright?" Figured I'd ease her into a comfort zone with some basic small talk. I shifted my gaze towards my desk, organizing some things; in an attempt to create a nonchalant atmosphere. She smiled a small smile while shrugging her shoulders.

"Oh I can't complain I guess. I ended up crashing with the Cakes last night, that was pretty cool." Really? Didn't think they were such good terms so soon. Actually come to think of it...

"The Cakes huh? That is cool actually; they're a couple of sweethearts. That reminds me actually, I never got around to asking you this yesterday, but out of curiosity, where are you staying at, during your time here?"

"Cousins place, just on the outskirts of town."

That answer seemed too prepared... too rehearsed. What the hell is with her? Whatever poker face she had yesterday is long gone... where the hell did she go; mentally?

She was even sitting differently (I felt a little weird on how I took notice to that, but I think I'm at a point in my mental decay, that I can just do shit like that now), she was tense, nervous, couldn't seem to relax. That smile... so... fake...

"Nice, nice. Why the sudden location change? Fresno is quite a trek from here. Kind of a different climate too." I looked up just in time to see her eyes quickly flicker up, then back to me. If I wasn't looking for 'liar's tells', I wouldn't have noticed that. I saw her left hand go up to her hair, and her index finger started to fiddle around with a random curl.

"Well... as I alluded to yesterday, home life was pretty..." She stumbled to her self for a few seconds, really trying to find a way to explain it to me. "... in all honesty, it was pretty... just...  blue." 'Blue'?

...

"And?..."

"I don't like blue."

Oh.
"Oh."...

Well guess that's the fuckin' end of that!

"Well.... i-it couldn't have been all bad. I think you mentioned something about, uh.. uh..." Fuck! Think think thi- oh! "-uhhh Maud! Sounds like you two were pretty tight. From what people with siblings tell me, having a big or little brother or sister, is pretty cool. Sounds cool honestly." 'Specially if they can be used as blackmail, heh heh...

She changed smiles on me after I said that. It went from 'forced-and-plastically-polite', to one more akin to reminiscence; nostalgia.

Finally, a little pay dirt. How odd, just yesterday she was probing me...

"Hm hm, yeah... Maud. We got along really well. When everyone else ignored me, or interrupted me, Maud was always there to lend a shoulder, or an ear. I have two other sisters, but, sometimes it felt like she was my only one... I miss her sometimes, ya know?"

Alright good, got her sidetracked. Let's keep it this way, see what we can learn.

"She was pretty cool I take it then, yeah?"

"Oh yeah." She affirmed with a nod. "Out of the everyone in the whole wide world, I liked her the most. She was so cool, so calm, so... the complete opposite of me I guess..." Oooh, do I detect a little hint of a comparison complex? Hmm... she keeps referring to her in a past sense, is she... dead? I should dig deeper on that...  fuck, I feel like a detective right now! Eat my shorts Batman!

"I see... whatever happened to Maud, Pinkie?"

" I- I'm sorry?" I really don't like it when people act like I said something stupid like that... reminds me of my Mom.

"Maud, you always speak about her in a past tense, I just assumed that maybe she... uh, well..."

"You thought?..."

"Well that maybe she wasn't... around anymore?-" She gasped, and her eyes bugged out. Ok, she got it

"Oh my NO! Noo no no! No, her physical for is very much sill with us!"

'Physical form'?... 

"Uh... you mean she's 'alive' right?" She actually shrugged at me!

"I guess if you want to call it that." Ok... time to get a little rude.

"Well breathing, blinking, and being NOT in a coffin sounds 'alive' to me."

"If that's what you think that's what all this stage of existence simply is, then I can't wholeheartedly disagree with you." How many personalities IS this kid!?

"'What I thi-' all right hold up... what's this about stages and existence and shit?" Shutting her eyes and breathing in slowly, she let out a soft breath, smile returning (I real one, I think) as she began to explain it to me.

"I'm of the belief that our bodies: soft, and squishy with bonzies' and gutzies, while tangible in physical appearance, they are really only a holding places for our true selves: our souls."

Oh great, now I'm talking to George Harrison...

"Oh... I didn't know you were into Hinduism." Smile still on her lips she shook her head.

"I'm not."

"Oh... Kay..." My eyes darted from side to side' awkwardness abound. I coulda sworn that's like straight from their beliefs... "Is that uh... Buddhism?" Another shake.

"Well... bits and pieces of each, I can't deny that."

"... If you don't mind me asking, what do you believe?" I crossed my legs and arms, making myself comfortable... this was getting interesting.

"It's uh... a little tricky to put into words."

"I got time."

She didn't say anything for a while. Already I could tell she out some serious though into whatever she called her faith. Faith... didn't really think about that kind of stuff to often... Faith these days in life is synonymous with stuff like war, corruption, pedophilia, terror, Evangelion, Skillet; a bunch of deplorable shit.

I was raised Christian; Catholic I guess is what we were, technically, but my parents refused to be associated with them, probably something to do with the thousands of years worth of, well; pedophilia and war. Can tell you this though, while they hated Catholicism, they thought the Protestants were total pussies though. My dad use to say, 'The most exciting thing they do on Sunday is a bakesale!', ha ha... but yeah, Christian. Church was a freakin' bore, and whenever I thought about Heaven and shit, all I could think was, 'Well shit, Im'ma die one day.' Course then I'd just put on Twisted Metal and lose myself in my unintended, thinly veiled irony...

I can't really call myself a follower of God anymore. Not causes I'm an atheist but partially because: A. I know i'm going to hell, and B. by about high school I didn't really care about that stuff. I just wanted to live life! And fall in love with my teacher apparently... then break into the crime world successfully with the help of two deadly brothers, and ruin quite a number of lives... ... 

I'm so fucked up...

She's still not talking... why is she not talking?...

With all these weird ass thoughts on faith, 'n life and shit I was starting to tense up. With every passing month, my anxiety get's more and more... well fuck, I didn't even have anxiety until the day I knocked out Applejack... or did I prior and didn't realize? What does that say of my state of mind? Conspiring with a country wide underworld God, and his cronies I got over apparently, but trying to crack people's minds, while trying to keep mine glued together, that's what makes me sweat at night???

 Trust issues are my worst enemy???

This existential type of bullshit always made me uneasy anyway, but throw in a pink haired enigma whose personality I can't decipher, attitude is inconsistent, and probably knows a thing or two about mind games as well, I was slowly starting to... fidget. 

Still not talking... still not fucking talking........

I was more perplexed than anything; never mind the quicker pace in my breathing -the fucks going through her head?- the hastily crossed arms -what's with her staring at the floor this whole time- and not to mention my eyes couldn't seem to find a spot to stay at. This was bad... we've barely talked and I'm overthinking shit she didn't even try to use yet! I was almost seriously contemplating if she wasn't sent by someone to play me?

Say something! Anything! Answer me you ditzy bi-

"Okay~! I think I know how to explain it!"

"O-ok, cool, yeah, go- go ahead." I never thought I'd ever feel relived to have to listen to her talk... Taking some quick, quiet breaths, I steadied my self, already wanting to laugh (and pathetically weep to be honest) at myself for getting paranoid over literally nothing.

She got up from the chair and started pacing around her chair, fingertips touching in thought.

"Ok... so like, you know how we when were kids, we were told how Big G in the sky created aaaaaaallll that we see around us?" She waved her arms about for emphasis.

"Uh, yeah. It's kinda American Upbringing 101." The kid nodded in agreement.

"Righty-roo. Well, I believed in that really strongly when I was a teeny-tiny-Pie. Then as I got older, and started to see the world without the pressure of my parents all the time, I started hearing, and learning about all the different ways this big wide world thinks, and believes in. Believe it or not when I still lived at home, whenever I got a little bit of spending money, I'd end up spending a bulk of it on a buncha different books."

What?? This girl's more well versed in shit than I'd thought...

----------------------Pinkie---------------------

Well, it was Pinkamena's idea mostly... she always said how it can never hurt to know too much... I wonder if she'd still feel that way...

No... can't think about that, she's counting on me to live my life all by my lonesome; like a big girl. At least Gilda seems pretty cool. It feels really nice to just get whatever's on my mind off my chest... or off my mind, whatever.

"Really? Huh, I had no idea you were such a connoisseur of literature." 

"Yeah, I like to read a lot too." What in the world is a 'con-is-uey?' 

"Uh... y-yeah, so, anyway- you were saying, Pinkie?" 

"Oh yeah! So, around the age of thirteen, I started asking my Father about a lot of these things; he was a Pastor at our church, and at first, we had a blasty talkin' about this stuff! But I started to get more... how do I put it... 'suggestive', I guess, with my questions?" Gilda's eyes perked at my using of the word.

"'Suggestive'? How so?"

"See... I kinda started... well, I asked him about other types of beliefs one day; other was of thinking, all that serious stuff. Like, 'What about how these people think', 'What do you think about this way of life', 'Others interpretations of similar stories', things like that."

"And I'm assuming given his position, 'Daddy-Pie' didn't take to well to that?" Woow, she's really good at this talking thing!

"Yep-Yep! Gave me quuiiiite the talking to, I've never seen him use the ladle before." Gilda's head turned to the side- man, she really makes a lot of head movements. Actually a lot of people seem to when I talk to them... actually I do that too!... Is that just something all humans do or-

Right, origin story, sorry...

"What do you mean 'use the ladle'? He made soup or something?" LOL!

"Hahaha! *snort* You're funny Gilda! I meant he used the ladle on me for the first time!" 'Made me soup'- I gotta tell that one to Maud!"

For some reason Gilda got a really perplexed look on her face, I'd wondered if I'd said something wrong, or offensive? 

"Gilda? What's wrong, the color's off your face, you look paler than a lamb!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She... no, she, she's fucking with me right? The air grew colder as Gilda was thrown back by Pinkie Pies innocent tones, but horrific implications.

"Uh... P-Pinkie by 'use the ladle' you mean... um... d... do you mean like... he hit you?" 

"Well yeah! Hurt like the dickens! Builds tough callous' though-" 'callous'... "-tell you what, I got some real traction on these babies!" The youth stepped to the front of the elders' -Not that old, asshole!- desk, showing her the same rough hands Gilda had noticed when first they met; taking on a while new meaning to her now. What really had perturbed Gilda was the blase nature Pinkie had described it.

While far from what many would consider 'normal' Gilda was at the very least  aware of the difference between discipline and physical abuse. Her behind still echoed the hand of Father Hof from when she was little, the feeling resurfacing from the back of her mind from time to time. 

Does... does she think that that's ok?? To Gilda, it seemed, someone must have tampered with her head, if she said anything but no.

"I uh... h-heh, Pinkie I know this is like, super not my business, but... but you- are you ok with that?" Pinkie's head cocks to the side... processing... processing... thinking of the best possible answer.

"Well whaddya mean? Every parent needs to discipline their children, even if they don't want to. He always made it clear that his hand was simply forced in the matter. In hindsight there was a pretty clever pun in that statement, but Father... never really had a sense of humor." The way the name 'Father' was spoken rubbed Gilda the wrong way. 

Calling someones' Father 'Father' is fine, nothing weird in that... but I don't think it's supposed to make one look like their holding back a wince. Best I leave this subject alone for now... although I will make sure to return to this later... better veer the subject back where it was.

"... A-anyway, how does this pertain to your 'faith' alignment?" Like a switch, the pink haired young woman was back on track.

"Oh yeah! So yeah, Father was stoutly Christian, to the point that you could almost call him a pious teacup!" ... Wait, what? "It took a long time; a lot reading time, reflection time, internet chat room time, and I made a conscious decision."

"'Conscious' decision'? How'd ya reach that?"

"Veerrry consciously..." ... u-um...

"*barely  contained sigh* Ok... look kid I like you, but if you could give me a straight answer, that'd be lovely right now..."

"To sum it up, I believe anything is possible! anything could've come from anywhere, and while I do have Faith in the Lord, like I was raised, I attribute more of my blessings in life to simply life itself; by-products of his work." Intrigued again, Gilda crossed here arms, leaning forward, to get a better listen.

"Where does the 'soul' bit come from?" Her guest made move to respond, but quickly stopped herself, obtaining a look of ponderment. Nerved once again, Gilda remained silent, giving both parties time to think.

It was staggering to really grasp just how far their two worlds were apart. Gilda had always considered herself practical, and while trying her best to not have a stick up her ass about everything -hey!-  she made it a point to remember the good times in life. Taking note of what the Flim-Flam Brothers were able to reveal to her, Pinkie seemed... 'homeless', was the word Gilda had settled on.

She obviously lied about where she was staying... come to think, did she even tell me why she was here? Shit, I need to start getting more than three hours of sleep at night. Either way, she spent the night with the Cakes, leverage or not, it's at the very least a small conclusion that I was right; she has been lying to me. Let's hope that's the only thing, The familiar paranoia of Pinkie's age crept back into her mind at the notion.


"You ever feel like... someone or something is- well, I don't want to say 'watching' you; that'd be to creepy- just, there with you? Not so much a Jiminy Cricket, but not a Fairy Godmother either." Gilda arched her brow for what felt like the thousandth time this year for her.

"... Yeah, you've lost me." Pinkie put her hands to her hips, and leaned to her side, trying to figure out the best way to describe her beliefs to Gilda.

"Ok, lemme try this... do you feel like... all you are, is all you can be?" Gilda's eye's squinted; challenging the question.

"What?..."

"Do you feel like you could be more than what your parents, teachers, motivational speaker- whatever- ever said you could be?" Gilda's eyes go downcast, nervous now by this line of questioning.

"I-I mean I guess..."

"Did you ever feel misrepresented; misunderstood, or just missed in general? Like a bad free-point throw?"

"Well sure... yeah... yeah, but everyone does now and agai-"

"Did you live life knowing you were so much more, but it seemed everything in your life was constructed solely to be an obstical between you and your dreams?"

"I-It felt that way; yeah- sometimes-"

"Like everything you hoped for and believed in meant nothing?" Eyes hardening with each passing question, Gilda willed herself to look Pinkie in the eye. Not bothered by the complacent smile that hadn't left her face.  'Stop it... why are you happy??'

"Yeah..."

"Meant nothing to your parents?" 'What is she-'

"Yeah."

"Other adult figures you know?" 'I-I don't have to answer th-'

"Yeah."

"Friends you made?" 'Dash...'

"Yes..."

"And after so many years of feeling like nothing, did it sometimes feel like your own future didn't even matter to you?" 'Stop it... stop pushing, kid-!

"Yes!" stop it... stop...

"You feel that fire in your tummy that fuels your emotions, your creativity, and just make ya wanna do something about it!?" stopitstopitstopitstopitstopitstopit!! In her rage Gilda sprung out of her chair, the force sending it to the floor.

"YES! The fuck do you want from me, kid!?" Slowly, but not un-noticeably, the smile that normally was sported on Pinkie's young face, snaked it's way onto the girl's lips.

"That's a soul Gilda. Right there." Flabbergasted, her previous passion soon became forgotten, and replaced with four different synonyms for 'confused'.

"What!? What are you talking about???"

"That passion! The one that drives people to learn and create. The same kind that helped the founding Fathers put together this country. The same passion that build the buildings in this town and aaallll across the world! The kind that makes millions of humans rally together for peace; for love." Reaching across from her, Pinkie reached for and clasped Gilda's left hand in her two smaller ones.

"It's what makes us human. It's what binds us; the one thing that exceeds religion, transcends science, makes silly issues like race, gender, social class, orientation and genetic make-up irrelevant; it unites us. Not everyone gets a chance to let themselves be free; cursing the earth to never know that persons ideas, and gifts this world could have had from them. That's what I believe in, Gilda. Anything is possible, and anyone has the potential to do or be anything. You me, and anyone that tried to hold us down, are missing out on the true beauty of this world."



The innocence in this kid... is too pure...





---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Everything proceeded as (mostly) normal after that. Gilda gave an embarrassed nod of her head, accompanied by a shaky laugh and a non-committing 'oh, ok, I get it now'.  Pinkie was asked the same questions Gilda had asked several others, several times before. There were prolonged periods of time where Gilda intentionally asked open-ended questions; prompting Pinkie to go off into long tangents about the subject at hand. Gilda did this for a couple reason.

First and foremost, she needed time to calm her mind and regroup her thoughts. What was meant from the opposite party to be inspirational and well meaning put several flavors of sour in Gildas' mouth. Second being was so she'd have time to mull over what she'd learned of the pink haired person in question.

Interesting thing about what Pinkie said to Gilda; most people would find comfort, or solace in those words: drawing from them strength or inspiration. She isn't wrong; Pinkie Pie. The ties to our hearts; or our beings, the meaning is the same- is a powerful thing. It's the kind of thing that could very well speak volumes to anyone, the message is one of faith- not in a God- but to ourselves; the human race. As Gilda has gathered, Pinkie has faced many hardships in her time, and almost anybody would be able to respect her strength for holding on to her views for so long, and so passionately. If you asked her, she'd tell you that her experiences only prove her beliefs even more so... but to a heart as frigged and hardened as Gilda Hof's, a cold bitterness is all that comes forth...

'That's a soul'... what do I take from that? What am I supposed to? 'Unify's races? Genders? Transcends science??? The fuck world is this kid living in? She think that cookie-cutter; Tumblr heart bait bullshit is enough to make it in this world? This pathological liar hasn't suffered; this social justice peon hasn't felt real pain! Looks like one of those fuckers too with that pink hair... everything about her is so bubbly- so loud it makes me SICK!

Pinkie was off in her own world, describing her opinions on this, and that; poor thing failing to realize the venom all but seeping out of the woman she was talking to.

What'd she sleep on a few benches? Walk a few miles? Did she leave home cause Daddy was a bit of a dick? That's not suffering... that's not struggle- I've been out there, I've seen; I've become the worse this species has to offer! I've suffered more in my Goddamned head the last few months- then I have my entire life; I'm the one that should be that strong- THINK I'm that strong!

As each poisonous thought crept in an out of Gilda's mind, Pinkie was talking all the same. Unaware of the daggers being glared, the hate being felt. Gilda knew why she was reacting so volatile to all of this, knew where this anger was coming from, but she wouldn't dare acknowledge it. Not yet, lest she lose her nerve for what was about to happen.

Oh she's pure; she's innocent alright. It's disgusting. Blind optimism like that shouldn't be allowed... shouldn't be rewarded... it needs to be crushed by the cruel wait of reality. It's needs to be purged by the cold, emptiness of life itself. Pinkie Pie I hope one day you realize I'm not doing this for Griffon's Cathouse; I'm doing this because you deserve it. 'Anything is possible, anyone can be anything', well you know what? I'm about to show you how dead right you are. 'True beauty of the world' fuck this world, and fuck you- you're body is mine. 

-------------------------------Gilda------------------------------------

The decision was made. It was time. Fuck the facade, fuck the orientation questions, fuck why she's even here- this thing that tried to fuck with my head. and fill it up with her optimistic lies needs to be put in her place.

She was still rambling on about some worthless bullshit, didn't even notice me whip out the phone so as to text the Brothers to make their way up here.

"- It was a really interesting time for me, cause that's when I really started to question really who I-" I slammed my phone-holding hand on the table to shut her up.

"You know something?..." That unnerved her enough to sound slight scared.

"W-what's that?" She asked.

"I have really... really heard enough from you, Pie." The sudden harshness made her to start fidgeting in her seat like a scared little child. Good

"I-I'm sorry wha? Did I-I d-did I say or do something wrong?"

"Yes. Yes you did."

*SLAM*

In a moment of shock, the pink thing turned to the source of the noise. These two have the best timing I swear.

"Well what have we here, oh Brother of mine?"

"Why Dear Flim, t'would seem a delusional child with wide eyes! Oh look at the petrified naivete witch they doth shine." Pinkie entered full freak out mode and bolted from her seat, back crashing against my desk- couldn't take her eyes off them it would seem.

"Y-you two!? B-but you're-!"

"The two dudes with the bowler-looking hats? Yeah, I didn't tell you I knew them?"

"Huh!? What? WHY???" Taking the opportunity to instill even more fear, I put on the theatrics by slowly getting out of my chair and walking over to her.

"From the second you set foot in this town my eyes were on you. Not for any special reason, no, despite what you may have convinced yourself of, you are not the kind of special you think you are." I was beside her now. Hand placed eerily on her shoulder. "But it would seemed fate deemed you useful to me."

She spun around to face me, the motion was so quick she almost lost her footing, luckily (for me) she landed right in the arms of the Brothers; one at each side.

"L-let go of me! This isn't funny Gilda! I don't know if you've noticed but these kind of social experiments are very frowned upon on the internet these days!"

"Really?" I snidely asked, arms clasping behind my back. "Cause I'm having quite the laugh... but make no mistake, this is no prank... you're mine now." She must be smarter than I thought, because she seemed to understand the implications of what I said. She of course tried struggling a bit more, but despite how Applejack punked them out months prior (although she did catch them off guard), these two are professional killers; no pushovers by any means. To make sure she didn't try any nut shots, they took to one standing on each of her feet.

We hadn't done this before; the holding up thing. Usually we knocked them out, or something. Applejack was really the only one that got away. I could tell F&F were waiting for me do do something; but the telepathy is strong with us, so they let me do what I felt neccesary, besides... she wasn't going anywhere.

The situation was really setting in for her now; eyes were welling up, body was shaking, she made dead eye contact with me pleading for answers, or for us to let her go. I let her go on for a time before I stopped her.

"P-please j-just tell my why?? What did I do wrong- what do you want from me!? I didn't do anything to you! Please, please, I'm begging you let me go! I-I'll do whatev-"

"Oh the reason for this is very simple kid."  I made sure to get up riiiight in her stupid mug, so there'd be no miscommunication. "I hate you." For some reason me saying that seemed to hurt her more than anything else at the moment.

"W-what!? T-that's horrible, why would you say that!? I never met you until yesterday, and I thought-"

"What? We were becoming friends?" She looked down.

"N-no nothing like that..." Eyes shot back up. "But we were getting along! We made conversation, we told each other our backstories, we hugged what was all of that!?"

"Oh gee, I wonder; it's not like 'acting' exists- oh wait YES IT FUCKING DOES! Don't be mad at me; I'm not the naive little shit that let herself get played."

"But you're not telling me why! I didn't do anything to deserve this! Let go of me-"

The contact was sudden, and the sound was satisfying. Her cheek was red and stinging from where I hit her, fist still clenching from the anger. That stupid, annoying voice was grating my fucking brain, with her fucking questions... 'why me, why me, we hugged!', fucking pathetic. She'd get her answer, she'd learn why, and she'd never make the mistake again.

I feel like it shocked her more than it hurt; she was just staring at the floor, makes sense, I made her head snap that way. The room fell quiet, I don't think the brothers expected that from me... hell, I didn't expect that from me. I could hear the tears from her reddening eyes pattering ever so slightly against the floor...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pinkie wasn't sure what hurt more, her head from the recent impact, or her heart. Here she thought she made a friend, she had shared more with Gilda than she'd ever had with anyone else she's come across on her adventure. If anything else, she would try her best not to let it show how much she felt hurt by this betrayal. Hopelessness set into her mind; ceasing any mental prayers that she'd been thinking. If nothing else, she mused, she hoped if they killed her, it was quick.

"I hate people like you, the kind that drown weak-minded idiots with their optimistic lies... see, you're the kind of person where- say someone is having a bad day; they're sad and crying, you walk up to them, and say some bullshit like: 'oh gee wiz, whatever is the matter with you?' they say, 'oh, you know, I'm just having a bad day', so you say: 'Well gosh, that's unfortunate, BUT just remember there are beautiful and pretty things AAALL around us!', RIGHT!?" 

Pinkie couldn't find the strength to look Gilda in the eyes anymore. Everything said to her was nothing new than what hundreds of others tried to tell her before. Was everything I believed in... does it all really mean nothing? Why is having faith in humanity so looked down upon by so many people? Was I wrong!?... But there... there are good people in this world, I've met them, I've seen them- talked to them!... Lied to them all...

Pinkie cast glances upon the bowler hat men she'd met just a day prior. Eyes steeled and unwavering staring straight ahead. I can't... I-I don't know how to deal with this- cope witht his/ I can't! I can't; she could- I don't know how to what to do- what do I do!?

"Optimism like that is a disease- the kind that encourage everyone to be anything they want, without any repercussions. Do you know who I was? I was a regular kid, from a state you've never been to, from a town you've never heard of- and like almost nothing, I was able to enter a world that someone like you can't even comprehend is real." With all she could, Pinkie forced herself to make eye contact with Gilda.

Stop it please... she doesn't know what she's doing to me


"S-so... so what... some bad people hurt you, and you thought you would get all... all even Stevens with them? Or are you jus... are you just a greedy person, that would sell out their friends for a quarter, and a jawbreaker? I've met lot's of people Gilda..... maybe close to all of them, but despite what you might think about me; I know how hard life can be. You keep bringing up how I'm so naive this, unaware that- Gilda I never lied about being from Fresno- you said I can't comprehend how it can really be out here??? Gilda do you really think I only came here, let alone got here just by walking!?" What would she know about anything I've seen and done!? She's the one that could never understand- not me, not anything!- Pinkies train of thought was cut off by a punch to her stomach.

The implications of that question did not go over Gilda's head. 'For better or worse' she thought: she wouldn't dwell on it too much.

"You assume I presume to little; I can tell you've been around- that's what makes it more incredulous how you don't know the first thing about real life, or it's bullshit. The real world; the one I'm from eats little wide-eyed things like you," Another punch. " the world I'm from makes you disappear; the world you're going to will make sure you never see light again unless it's the pearly fuckin' gates!" Punctuated by another shot. 

She's insane! This is all my fault, how could I be so stupid!? Why did I ever think I could pull a fast one on her? On anyone!? She was right, my luck did run out... I-I I'm locking up... no one's here to help me..... I can't

"*cough* B-but w-*wince* why!? Why would you involve yourself in the *coughcough* worst that human kind has to offer!? Hundreds of lives aren't given daily so you can profit on the dark parts of our species." Pinkie is no stranger to physical punishment, but this coppled with the lack of the other side of her mind was starting to prove too much. "Y-you bring shame to the very concept of what someone with a soul is! You don't really know do you? Why you do the things you do. You just look for any excuse to tear someone down and make money off of it!"

"What, don't like the cold hard truth? Literally any business ever, everywhere works with a third party that the public can never handle knowing about. This is the way shit works, and it always has! No change of heart, or protests from some bleeding heart kids changes anything. Just ask those salty-ass war vets, or hippies that walk around everywhere giving everyone a bad attitude. They fought a war they didn't believe in, or fought with all their hearts to bring the boys home. Truth is, the government was never going to listen to us. Never gonna listen to you! Same with us. We are deep within a small part of the social structure.; within something that's been in place for centuries now."

Pinkie shook her head; refusing to believe what was coming from Gilda's mouth. Who would't?

"But it's not right!" Using her right hand, Gilda stepped over to Pinkie, gripping her cheeks.

"Did you know there were Presidents before Washington? The amount of sacrifices that went into building America? The amount of money and blood it takes to keep this country alive and afloat? Do you know how much money it takes to shut up those politicians so they don't rat us out? How much of a cut of the things we do go to the government so they can keep both the country out of debt, and in war!?... So let me re-ask a question..... what the fuck do you believe in?" If nothing else- Gilda thought, I'm at least terrifying the crap out of her with this bullshit. 

Seconds long pauses felt like hours. Minimal breathing could be heard as loud as a plane right now. Pinkie knew she had no grounds to believe Gilda; she shouldn't! She reluctantly acknowledged the fact that at the very least, Gilda would have know what she was talking about... no way some of that could be real... but there were truths in what she said; truths Pinkie couldn't really deny or counter-argue. She was about to give up hope completely... when she remembered something someone very important said to her once.

This world is cold, and as hard as a rock, but there are diamonds underneath it's surface. Though darkness submerges, it can never drown. Though light may fade, it will never go out. At times it may seem like the only thing that exists in this world is hate, but never forget, Pinkie, as long as someone believes in humanity, there is hope for it. Promise me ok? That you'll never stop believing. There are good people in this world, and they'll need you.  Maud... my sister...

"I... I believe you... but I also believe in the good in people. Maybe not you... maybe not these two... but there are good people in this world. There are good people in business, on police forces, in office, in the streets, but it's the mean ones like you that try and kill any hope anyone could ever have of being better, just because they don't measure up to some kind of pecking order. Who up and decided one day for the whole worlds that trying to have some kind f hope or faith was a bad thing? Who said that believing that people can better themselves, and putting trust in others was a punchline? That if you have those kind of feelings your weak, lying, or 'don't know how the world works'? Let me ask you something, Gilda; who's really the weak one? The one who gives into the hardships of the world, and reaps it's sinful benefits, plunging their heart so deep into darkness they can never hope to recover- or, the one who goes through the toughest trials of life and can still walk out with their head held high, and continue to think of others? The ones who only care about themselves or the person that once in a while thinks of someone else? Me... or you?" 

To which Gilda responded with the only answer she could. Connecting her fist in Pinkie's jaw and sending her crashing to the floor; unconscious.

'"Weak, strong'. You're the one knocked out." Observing the scenario play out; Flim and Flam had several thoughts swimming in their heads. One of course being how Gilda was able to hit Pinkie so hard it KO'd her hen it took a good fifteen minuets to subdue Applejack- truth be told they allowed Pinkie to fall to the floor so they wouldn't need to hold up the dead weight. Additionally it probably made Gilda to feel her image was far 'cooler'. Secondly they were losing patience and the will to contain their frustration. These breakdowns from the victims are nothing new, but the increasingly sociopathic displays from Gilda are , and it was starting to unnerve them even if slightly. 

First and foremost however, they were getting very annoyed.

"Little Bird, we must make haste. Flim and myself do have other errands to run. Bodies to waste, an empire to run." 

"Getting weak on the rhymes there, cronie." Gilda responded in turn without her eyes straying from Pinkie.

"As is our patience. Move your sadistic power play along."

"Look if both of ya are so pressed for time here's two options: either go grab the car and meet me outside, or fuck off and I'll do it myself- which is it going to be; cause I wanna enjoy hurting this twerp!" The brothers cast themselves a look at the other. Being brothers; twins at that, they held a quick, silent conversation- Flim a look of uncertainty, Flam's was a gaze of wanting for confirmation. In resolve, they were nigh identical, in planning they were of one mind, nothing they've ever done was without complete trust , confirmation, and faith in the other. It hadn't been lost on them that Gilda had been getting seemingly more and more deranged when it came to breaking in her new 'employees'.

Flam was usually of a more gut-feeling type of planner, Flim usually more analytical; Flam could plan more around how what the things they would do and the psychological aftermath it would have on themselves, their victims, and the public's reputation of them, Flim was the numbers and results. A perfect combo. Flam would in times like these, look to Flim for strength, or resolve. They were reminded of how held a feeling akin to fondness for Gilda, perhaps not the friends she thought she had made, but they cared about her to the point of being concerned. For herself, but more importantly how her recklessness had been affecting their business. Nothing negative; surprisingly, but these emotional lapses of her -Flim theorized anyway- would (could, Flam had rationalized, attempting to give Gilda some kind of benefit of the doubt) get her killed. Which is bad for business.. which is bad for Sombra... which is bad for them.

Flim's uncertainty was in the sake of whether or not they wold risk indulging this developing sociopath. Gilda was never good, but she was good to them, 



it was an unspoken agreement to never get involved with personal matters, especially ones of the mind. Flam's gaze was in the hope that Flim would have calculated an answer for both of them. He was concerned if thy should cross that lone. If maybe they could get Gilda's mind set back on track, and get to the bottom of her continuous mental lapses. If they did cross that line however, they both knew: that even the smallest acts of kindness in this business; despite what Pinkie thought- can and will jeopardize your allies, the position and get you killed. Whether or not they would regret not showing more concern for Gilda on this day they would decide later, exhaling a conflicted sigh, Flim decided to answer for the both of them.

"Take... however long you need."

Knuckles crack. "Good. Get the fucking car." And out the door they went.


-----------------------------------------------Gilda--------------------------------------------------------

"You know something kid? I should really be thanking you. There were a few times I was starting to question myself... plenty of times I considered whether or not this life was for me. Whether I was going to far off the deep end, if I really agreed with the things I was doing, the lives I ruining, sometimes I even felt like quitting... but talking to you really inspired me, ya know? It reminded me that everything I'm doing has it's purpose, my life has it's destiny... thanks to Sombra I'm powerful enough a player to make it so that you, and the others at my place  are necessary pieces to obtaining what I want." 

Don't know why I was talking to this unconscience thing... pretty sure she can't hear me. Plus the angle of the punch sent her on her side, so now I was kinda talking to her back. How rude! It's true though, too many times I've been war with myself wondering, and 'hmm-ing' and 'hah-ing', going back and forth on the same bullshit over and over again. Now though I feel ready, for the first real time since all this started. The moral event horizon has been crossed; unless it's Flim and Flam everyone else is dead weight until proven otherwise... and I couldn't feel better about it if I wanted to.

"That shit about hope is nice if you're making a Disney movie- but it didn't help you anywhere else did it? Your abandonment issues with your Dad and sister might seem sad and inspiring to others, but if you ask me, it just seems like existence got lazy with you, and threw every 'happy-girl-with-a-dark-past' cliche it could. You're nothing... you hear me in there kid? Nothing!" In a mind set I can't really comprehend, I moved from my standing position, to take to  flipping Pinkie on her back, then lowering myself so I could straddle her. The pressure must have stirred her from her slumber; she slowly opened her eyes, she didn't really seem to acknowledge where she was, most likely too disoriented.

"Ah... w--whaaaa......... Gila.... wh-wy are......" I grabbed her by the hair to silence her, and bring her closer.

"Let me tell you a story about 'hope' and what it gets you. MY family was an entire pack of douche-bags, and assholes, but there was one person I liked- hell could even say 'loved'; Grandma Hof- on my Dad's side. She was the epitome of badass. Three kids, raised them the best she could with a prick for a husband, a bitch of a daughter, two boys; the douchy one became my Dad, the other; really nice guy, she had to bury before she died. She endured hardships, oppression, and hell's that today's women can only imagine going through. She worked harder than any man I ever met, and survived a cancer that's usually terminal....... ever heard of Ovarian cancer? Well back in the early sixties she had it, and survived when every doctor told her she'd never see her kids grow up. She gave them all the middle finger and lived to see me." 

My voice cracked a little on the last word... I hadn't thought of Grandma Hof in a long time; don't even think I mentioned her to you. Only one out of anyone in my family to actually inspire me, she made me feel special, loved, like I wasn't just a trophy on the wall. So many awesome memories; making food, watching movies, going places, laughs, the time we confided in each other...I never deserved her, not then, and never now. She died well before what happened with Cranky happened... in a twisted sense that's almost a good thing. I could never speak to her about my life if she knew what it had become... actually... I'm nothing like she wanted, in fact I'm the literal opposite. I think she would hate me.

"Her husband was an unappreciative son of a bitch that never took notice of anything wrong with her. Dad moved away from home to 'get away' but really it was so he could avoid responsibility for anything that happened with his parents. So she, she got sick later in life; idiot doctors, and an uncaring family equated to one day her being rushed to emergency... there was nothing they could do, there was... there was too much wrong with her. so after some months... s-she quietly passed away." Damn it don't cry... not now, not now you fucking bitch- you can't beat the shit out of this kid, then cry when you're explaining your Freudian excuse! I couldn't hold it back like I wanted to, several tears did escape my eyes, and landed on Pinkie's groggy face. You're pathetic, just like you've always been. Just a lonely little kid that should've been hugged more. Shut up...

"And all she... all she ever preached to me was how to never stop helping others, always do good  things; this woman, who put literally EVERYTHING before herself... and what was her thanks. A Husband that didn't care, kids that abandoned responsibility, and nieces, and nephews that fought over her heirlooms like a pack of wild dogs the HOUR after the funeral. Caring about others gets you nowhere, and it gets you nothing, everyone always told me that was the point of 'doing good things' but tell that to her! To the others that suffer in the name 'being a good person'!... I learned that through her, so yeah I did turn to the darkest parts of this world. I don't regret it for a second either. You won't make me feel regret; no one will.

Surprised you never shot up a school like the rest of the sad youths in this country, you're just as starved for affection, and acknowledgement as the rest of them. I'm better than you want me think! I'm better than those rejects! I am you, you idiot. You'll never be okay with this. You'll go through the rest of your life questioning everything you ever do. Then you'll suspect Flim and Flam, then one day you'll wake up with blood on your hands that isn't yours, bodies you don't remember killing, and you'll still be crying to yourself, like you do every night, about how fucked up you are for falling in love with your teacher. No worse, and no better than anyone that's ever been on Dateline. Congratulations. 

Everything I've ever done has been for nothing... Everything I'll ever do means nothing. One day I'll die or disappear, and everything I did will be forgotten by history. If these girls escaped me, they'll do everything they can to make sure my name is forgotten, Flim and Flam will erase any and all connection to me.

Exactly. You know, there is that gun you keep under your futon, you could always-

That's where your wrong. I'm not doing this for anything else anymore. Not for fame, recognition, not even money. Not the brothers- nobody... I'm only doing this for one person and one person only. Myself.

You will bring suffering to yourself, and everyone around you! You'l get yourself killed-

Then I'll die knowing that anything I did, I did it my way. Now get out of my head. 

After finally winning that ongoing mental battle with myself, I could feel a weak hand resting on my cheek. I look downward to see Pinkie staring at me. Eyes half open, smile barely there. Why? Why waste a smile on me? After everything?...

"I'm... so sorry about her... I've lost family too. Friends; I know what it means to be... be sad... to feel like nothing... even be made to by your family, the ones that are supposed to care about you the most. But that's not everyone... and I think you know that still... somewhere in that cold heart of yours... you heart isn't one that is naturally hardened... it was made that way. There must be someone you still care about. One, or two... everyone cares about someone, even at their lowest... w-what happened... what happened to you, and me, isn't everyone's situation... there are good things in this world... but the ones who are hurt, like us, it's up to us to protect those things. That's all I meant."

The hand made small stroking motions... maybe... maybe she did understand more than I gave her credit for.

"I understand you... I can never forgive you... but I understand you."

I decided that I would allow this. I was ok with the knowledge that she did. It felt kind of...nice. I would let her be the only one to see this weaker side of me; because annoyance or not, understanding is understanding. I would allow this small moment of, I guess you could call it- tenderness. I would not however let it affect me. Not again. Not anymore.

I laid my hand upon hers, feeling the knuckles underneath the fingertips. With a smile sincere enough to almost make me worry, I smiled gently to her.

"Thank you." After which I brought my fist down, knocking her out again.


---<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<[-]>-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<[-]>-<->-<->-<->-<->---

I awoke to find myself in the mental plane we had made for ourselves. A meditative state? Or have I awoken already?... My clothes haven't changed... where is Pinkie?

I turn around, looking everywhere there's space. Feeling a presence above, I turned my head up to see her descending from the non-existent ceiling. Too stunned to move I watched her slowly drop to the floor, until she lay next to me, her eyes were closed, she looked hurt! Who had done this??? As soon as she hit the floor, the area around us changed. Where once there was calming mist, and relaxing clouds and sky, had darkened, with ominous dark clouds, and swirling feelings of negativity filling my senses and the world around me.

I moved to my other's side and began to try and shake her awake. 

"Pinkie! Pinkie! Wake up- a-are you ok!?" As soon as got my question out, she let out a yell of pain... someone had hurt her... and I wasn't there to help. "My God... what did they do to you? WHO HURT YOU!?" She stirred awake at my questions, rasing her eyes to me. It looked like it hurt...

"G-Gilda... turns out she was a meanin-kins after all."

"What!? Gilda!? B-but she- why..."

"I really got us into it this time, huh, Pinkamena?... I can't get us out of this..." She can't- it's not her fault, it can't be, I won't let her think that.

"Pinkie listen to me, this isn't your-"

"It is... don't worry... I'm not going to run away from this... last I remember she knocked us out, adn I think  I could hear an engine turning........... she's not going to kill us... she has something else in mind I think." This was all too much... I couldn't take it, I all but collapsed onto her chest, crying out, for forgiveness, out of fear. I could feel her hand running through my hair.

"No worries... you can, can go back to sleep if you want. I'm just going to nap for a bit... when I wake up, I'll deal with the consequences of my actions." With that she slipped into unconsciousness. 

With all the will power I could muster, I tried prying open Pinkie's eyes from here; her outside eyes. It took a lot, but I was able to get a visual of where we were at, even got the ears to respond, if a little low, and too much reverb.

"... -oing to put her across from Applejack. Make the two biggest trouble makers across from each other. Seems fitting, no?" Gilda... Somehow I swear you'll pay for this.

"This one proved much less trouble than the former. Our only concern is breaking this particular one into the business." Moustached bowler-hat guy... "You did confirm her age, yes? I remember that being a point of contention for you."

Age?... For what?

"O-of course I did! First thing! Why weren't you able to find out about that again?"

"Well given the fact that we had to trace her back to California it wasn't until shortly after our call in the car earlier, that we got anything from our contacts near the area. Family immigrated from somewhere; our guess is either overseas or the border; there does seem to be a decent chance she has some kind of Hispanic heritage in her. How many siblings did miss Pinkie Pie mention?"

"She only ever brought up a sister. There's not more is there?"

"Indeed. T'would appear she has two other sisters." What!? Oh God no, she can't know about them! Lord please, please don't let her hurt them...

"Two more?? Damn dude, they ain't kidding about latino's getting super busy!" Lowlife... 

"Would you like there names?"

"Won't need them. Little Pie here's all alone anyway. On the off chance that one of, or hell, even all of her family came looking for her, if we needed to, no one will miss them. Just like no one will miss her. She's on her own for a reason, right? I highly doubt we have to worry about anyone coming for her. Just like no one's gonna come looking for the others- and even IF they did, we got eyes on them; we'll know their move before they do. It's aaaallll good in the hood."

No... well... at the very very VERY least, I don't have to worry about the family.

"But how will you coax her into doing this? There's no way she'll uphold the facade, she will break. Because appropriate age or not, a brothel is a brothel. Unless you're planning to get her to cooperate via injections, she could bring everything do-"

"She won't you can sure of that, Flim."

"Flam."

"MotherFU-!"

I closed off the connection; I'd heard all I needed to, and I was instantly regretting knowing even that... a brothel... they were going to use Pinkie for s... for... for.... No... they can't,, I won't let them. Pinkie Pie... forgive me.

"Pinkie. Are you awake?" She awoke again to the sound of my voice. I hardened myself for what I was about to do. She wouldn't be happy... but we have no choice.

"Mmm... P-Pinka-"

"We're out of time... I figured out what they want from us... Gilda is going to force us to work in a brothel..."

"A... a-a-a w-wh-what!? B-but that means... no...nononono NOT AG-" 

"Calm down, please, please calm down, it's ok... it's going to be ok." She's crying... I hate seeing her cry. In an attempt to calm her down, I pulled her into my arms, trying to soothe her somehow.

'H-how? I can't- I could never, not after- Pinkamena, I don't know what to do!" The sobbing was growing more and more fiervce by the second. I assumed we'd be running out of time soon. I needed to do this fast.

"You won't... need to do anything." I was looking straight ahead, but out of my peripheral vision, I could make out her looking up at me.

"H-huh? What d'you mean?"

"I'll... take it from here." The silence that follows is deathly. I can feel a chill run up my spine.

"'You'll take it from'... no... n-no Pinkamena you can't-" 

"I have to. You've suffered enough all of these year while I've stayed safe away in here. It's your turn to rest."

"Please... don't-"

"It's ok. I'll be ok. I know this is too much for you... speaking honestly, we both know you won't be able to make it through. Alone or ith both of us..."

"... But it... it'll be bad for you..." I lay her back down as softly as I could. Using my hand to close her eyes, and usher her to sleep.

"I know. Don't worry. I'll wake you up when it's over. Goodbye."  After some minutes of rubbing her hair, and uttering hollow promise after promise, eventually she fell asleep. Once she was in a deep slumber, I stood up, as I watched her phase through the transparent floor.. As she got more and more out of sight, my background was changing. 

As if it was cut with a cosmic knife, one giant half of our mental landscape was it's usual peaceful self, the other, remained the cloudy dark mess it became just moments ago.

I'm terrified... and I'm going to be alone, and uncomfortable, and in pain... but it's up to me... I can't... I can't run, and hide behind you anymore. For better or worse...












It's time to take my life back.


---<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<[-]>-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<[-]>-<->-<->-<->-<->---


----------Gilda----------



Felt like it took forever to get back to the place, but we did eventually. Getting out of the car, I ordered the brothers to 'help' miss Knocked-out-Pie out of the car. She was still waking up, and considering we didn't need damaged goods, the two of them hauled her dead weight into The Griffon. Busting open the door, the first thing I made sure to do was check the main room; the place with the bar- the important place- to make sure my darling little workers were present and accounted for. With all the security, and threat of hurting the family, I already nw they wouldn't leave, but even so, only seeing Sparkle in there made me slightly nervous.

As was her personal status quo it seemed, she was reading, and had a mountain of books on either side of her, at her usual booth.

Damn Sparkle, you really know how to keep your life interesting...

The brothers were soon at the front of the lobby, setting Pinkie down in a chair by the front door. I didn't want anyone else listening in, so I ushered them outside so we could talk in private.

"Alright boys, you've done enough for today, I'll take it from here. Thanks again." They shared a glance at each other.

"You are certain? It certainly seems to have been a taxing day for you." 

"No worries Flim, it's all good. Just gonna show her around, then retire to my quarters for the eve. Think I might keep the place closed tomorrow too, just to give me an extra breather. So yeah, you're free, go dig some grave or whatever it is you do." I was about to turn myself away to torment Twilight some before waking up Pinkie, when I was stopped by Flam, via hand to the shoulder.

"Little bird, we are not foreign to the stresses this life can bring. If at any moment you feel it over whelming, you can speak to either of us." That came out of nowhere, I didn't really know how to process it. How do I answer that? We aren't friends, just co-workers that get along well. A joke, yeah, that always goes over well.

"I mean, I'm not being fitted for a straight jacket yet, so-"

"You know what my brother means, Gilda. Unless you think us too daft not to notice, we've seen the change in you. We'd like to say since Applejack came into your life, but it's been developing since long before then. Look... if we are honest... we know this life was a mistake for both of us." My eyes widened at that sudden admission. I'm tripping or somethin' right? "Even for us, not a day goes by where one of us doesn't feel an inkling of regret for something we've done."

"Flim is right, Gilda. To be honest anything that has been poisoning your mind in recent times no matter how minimally it may be, is our fault."

"What the hell are you talking about? You do this for a living! Actually, I have a serious question for the two of you- what kind of right do you have to feel bad for the shit you've done? That's not how this wor-" 

"Do you think we never once thought the same thing? It may not seem like it, but we came from hell to get to where we are. The rhyming, the colorful suits; it's a gimmick, a scare tactic. Flim and myself are very well read, but that came later. When your growing up in the projects of this disgusting state, you don't have much time to become very literate."

"Tch, 'the projects', you two? There's no way-" Now it was Flim's turn to step in, he advanced slowly on me, I almost backed up out of instinct.

"Color of the skin Gilda, is that why? Our parents were drunks... druggies; downright fiends. There's a photo Flam and I keep in our wallets... would you like to see it?"

Before I got a chance to answer, Flam busted out the wallet, and flashed me said picture. The sight gave me goosebumps like nothing else.

"Quite a sight isn't it? I couldn't tell you if mother was simply passed out or not, but I can tell you how heavy an AK with the safety on feels before you're seven." Good God... "That's Flim holding it. I'm the one holding the teddy bears. On our fifth birthday's, we were given one bear each by our beloved Grandmother. Father's mother to be exact... two days later Father hollowed them out so he could hide his drugs if a raid, or break in happened. I can't recall what they were, but I can tell you he made them himself."

"Flam and I did whatever we could to get out of there, just like anyone else would have tried to do. We met the right type of wrong people, moved up the ranks like lighting... I believe... what was it brother of mine? Fifteen."

"Correct brother. We were fifteen when we met Sombra; a record, we were told. For a certain area of Nevada anyway."

"Jesus..." I mean I assumed they must've gone through some shit but, actually hearing it from them is something else entirely.

"We've taken life. Of those that deserved it, and those that didn't- you ever kill someone? Held a gun, felt a trigger? Every night I see blood flash through my mind, I hear screams when I'm alone, I look at the materiel possessions I've obtained thanks to it, and I see nothing. I feel nothing. Hollywood, books, media, those writing sites on the internet; they paint us and others like us out like we are all sadistic monsters, or tough bad asses that enjoy smashing brain matter onto walls, that we love killing to rat-pack music; they glamorize our lifestyle with nice cars, beautiful women, unlimited power flashy suits, tragic love stories- lies! You are a fan of multiple television shows, right? Animes, video games, and searching your internet history tells us you look up fanfiction now and again."

"Wait you guys, fucking WHAT!?" 

"There's a story you like for that Steven Universe fandom, and several others across the web with similar story lines... the one where they're all a drug ruining family, where 'oh sure it's dangerous, but look how sexy and badass they are?' Where everybody cares and loves each other and is one-hundred percent loyal to each other? Where nothing goes wrong, but when it does, there's always a way out because they other fight their way out with the power of family, maybe someone only gets shot, then they live happily ever after? Like in the movies? Like the video games?"

"Look man I get it, no one can ever, and probably shouldn't capture this way of life accurately but it's all just interpretation of-" 

"It makes us sick! You can never trust everyone, sometimes no one! Betrayals are daily, beatings, and live burials aren't just a stunt, it's to send messages, scare people! We are not good people!"

"Calm down, dude- who are you talking about!?" I've never see either of them react this way, I was starting to get scared. It doesn't help that Flim was just standing there, confirming to me that this isn't all one-sided. 

"US! Gangsters, mobsters; we are killers, we take and murder without discrimination there is no, and has NEVER been ANY 'honor', or 'glamour' in what we do! The family, the dinners, the cliche traditions of it all-  that's such a small almost non-existent part of it! Of something bigger! Something sinister and horrible, that makes you question the very fabric of human nature! You are initiated by killing someone that a boss you haven't met yet specified, you have to smuggle drugs in objects, in BODIES. Oh sure, some never do those things because it would break their precious 'codes of honor', well miss, not us. We've done every horrible thing you could think of for Sombra. Some funny dialogue, the flashy shirts, should never make up for the fact that a killer is a killer. If we go down, they won't care about our stories, where we came from or what ever poster worthy inner-monologues we had- they'll see us for what we are. Killers. And they'll kill us as such... I-it's insane to think how differently you see this world, living in our metaphorical one. Cause nothings changed, not really, but you see things. The looks, the strings on the puppets, sooner or later you ask yourself how you never saw it? Then it goes deeper, you start to ponder on how the higher ups of this world let it exist? How they can silently encourage it, knowing that hundreds of people disappear by the day?"

Suddenly I feel my shirt grabbed, and I'm pulled forward, almost nose to nose with him.

"You start to wonder: 'who could come up with something so evil! Who could live this life style and kill without a second glance!?' And there are times I enjoy it, Gilda! A-and I feel sick- so so sick!"

"O-ok, man, I understand, just chill, take a sec, and-"

"You can never understand! Look at what we do! Look at what we've done; look at what for you-  we were going to do to you! We would have killed you, don't ever forget that! We aren't your friends. Not out of not wanting to, but we can't be, we-"

"FLAM. Enough." The more stoic of the two set a firm hand on Flam's shoulder, and set him with a commanding stare. Almost instantly Flam's look changed when he turned to his brother. He snapped his head back to my freaked out expression, and looked down to where his hands were, and roughly shoved me to the side- fucker, I fell on the ground cause of that!

"Little Bird, everything my dear brother has said is one-hundred percent factual. Though I may appear to be the more level headed one in this current scenario, do not think for a second that the memories of our shared past effects me any less." This was a lot to take in. No words seemed appropriate of an response, so I just nodded at the two of them. Flim and his brother then turned to make their way back to the car, but not before Flam turned back around again to address me a final time.

"Don't lose your humanity, Gilda. We've seen the ones that have. Their dark, soulless eyes. Unflinching resolve to pull the trigger, the sadistic satisfaction they gain from their deeds. We can't get either you or ourselves out of this life, but we can help each other through it. Farewell for now." 

Then away they went off into the early afternoon light. It's weird to feel bad for such two horrible dudes, but as weird as the thought seemed to me, they were people once too. I picked myself up, and dusted the clothes off. Everything they said was true, there was practically nothing I could deny. There was also however nothing that was forcing me to dwell on it too much. Like I feel for them I really do, and yeah it's probs Stockholm Syndrome or some shit, but I like those two. Like them, but not enough to let them discourage me. I have a plan, and I'll follow through with it no matter what happens. I made that decision today, and I'm not going back on it. I felt a little bad about triggering Flam, and in a way, I'm grateful from what I've learned from them, and honestly to this day I see some things very different now, and am grateful to them... but not that much.

I walked back inside The Griffon, pretending like nothing happened, I was getting pretty good at that. I made my way to Pinkie's chair, checking her current awake-ness. Luckily for me she seemed at least responsive now.

"Well good morning, Starshine! Earth says hello!" A groan escaped her lips, she seemed to be struggling to keep her eyes open. Dammit, she's probably got a minor case of being concussed. "Welcome to your new home, The Griffon!"

She raised her head up and looked around, stretching her arms and legs out, most likely trying to relieve the stiffness that undoubtedly set into her joints. 

"Griffon's Cathouse to be exact; so I as you can see, I got you that job after all! Probably not what you expected, but I think you'll find it to be very profitable!" She should be awake enough some to give some kind of response. Preferably one of the panicky kind.

"... Oh..."

'Oh'?... That's fucking it??? Just disorientation, play it cool, play it creepy.

"A-as I'm sure your aware, Pinkie, you'll have a very physically demanding job. Don't really get any 'day off' if you know what-"

"I know what Griffon's Cathouse is, Gilda. I know what a Cathouse is, and I can guess why you brought me here."

"... Fuck, then, alright, get up kid. I'll show you around." Not sure if she was being sarcastic or lethargic, but she took her time getting up before following me into the main room. "Ok, this is the 'hang-out' room I calls it, people can get something to drink, get some food, I got the WWE Network, it's super chill."

I turned to Pinkie to gauge her reaction, and it was now for the first time since bringing her here, I saw her eyes again. They were dark again... not sure if it holds any significance, but if it keeps her from being a pain in the ass, I didn't really care. 

"Further down the hall from the lobby we were just in, is where the girls stay. I fixed up a cozy little cot in the back. I'm a fair boss, so I'll -supervised of course- take you out one day to get some personal decorations for the room. It is your living space after all, it should look however you deem comfortable." 

"..." Weird... usually I'm being chewed out on the hypocrisy or whatever of that privilege I give them. She just looks dead. Hmm... I'll dig more into that tomorrow, I'm fuckin' tired.

"Place is closed today. 'Tis the 'Lord's Day' after all. Gonna keep it closed tomorrow too, so that'll give you plenty of time to get settled in. Might even meet some of your coworkers. They usually hang out in here. See? It's a nice little crew up here; you get a nice place to crash, quality benefits, I mean sure your selling your body for me, but it's a pretty fair trade, no?"

"..."

"Kid you better stop giving me that silent bullshit before I smack your head around again."

"..." I raised my hand in the backhand position, trying to get her to flinch. She looked me dead in the eyes, and I saw nothing. A cold, steel nothing in her eyes. She wasn't afraid of the violence. 

"..."

Fine. I'll think of something else.

"Your room's down the hall, on your right whenever you want. Need anything ask one of them. Bug me, and I beat you, Pinkie." From there I stormed back to my office. Ok kid, you may not have much in this world, probably don't care about half your family, but once you realize I know who the Cakes are, then you'll-

"Gilda." Now she Goddamn speaks...

"What?" I addressed without turning around.

"My name... is Pinkamena...." So she's being honest with me now. Victory was mine with her at last. She couldn't see, but I didn't care, I let myself have a smirk at that.

"Well then 'Pinkamena'... welcome home." 

I then proceeded to my couch in my office and passed the fuck out.
> Broken Thoughts: You Must (Not) Breathe
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well then 'Pinkamena'... Welcome home. Letting out a sickeningly proud laugh, Gilda locked herself into her room for the rest of the night.

She probably thought she sounded so cool right there, that black hearted b-

No... no calm down Pinkamena... s-she wouldn't want you talking that way. Got it's only been  few hours but, it feels like days since all this happened, it's only been minutes since Pinkie left... how am supposed to get through this?... I can't-... I don't- s-she was supposed to do all the living! I was the voice of reason, we get into shenanigans, I think of a quick way out, we laugh, and then get the next bus to the next town as soon as possible. It was supposed to be her crosses to carry, her burdens to bare! Nononono t-that's- that's incredibly selfish... she didn't want all of that- didn't deserve it. That's why I resigned to take the pain for her in the first place... That's why were here- that's why we left home. That's why they hate us, that's why I hate them- dammit, no, breathe, come on breathe, shut your eyes and breathe... ... ...... in and out... ok.

I open my eyes to allow my senses to regain their composure. Piece by piece memories of what I already knew ere from Pinkie' interactions with Gilda. Her anger. Her tears. Her hatred. Of me. 

How could she say that to her...  how could she hurt her, and throw her in here? Pinkie understood her pain, but Gilda... she's a monster, a heartless monster- a cruel manipulative witch Calm down calm down- NO! DON'T 'calm down' find her. Find her, destroy her!- Pinkie... where are you?  This was stupid, I'm no where near ready to do this by myself. I understood that standing around doing nothing would, well, do nothing. I summoned what will power I could and swallowed down the hesitation presently driving my mind. Looking around my current surroundings, it was just as Gilda described it to me. Don't know what else I expected to be honest... Televisions at key locations, room well lit, a well stocked bar (or what I assumed was one, never frequented one myself) and the woman in the corner.

Couldn't see more than the top of her head, as Gilda previously stated, she was deeply enamored with whatever she was reading. 

Hmm... No way she didn't hear Gilda talking to me... Must have tuned her out; potentially out of fear; rather than a lack of compassion. Books on either side, and even from here I can sight the tight grip she has on the book... I see... She must be here against her will too... Can't see what the book is however- could give some insight into her personality.... *sigh* or I could do what any normal person should do- what Pinkie would do- and just go talk to her, instead of trying to psychoanalyze her from a far like Batman or something... even though she probably would be most likely anti-social and hostile, at best... Risks aside it would better benefit me to attempt to make nice... preferably before this train of thought starts to become redundant.

In no hurry to get there I made my way in her direction, very slowly. I wonder if she hears me coming and is hoping I won't;  then she'll do that thing where someone stops them before they reach them or can talk, and it'll be really awkward for everybody... Aw who am I kidding how could this NOT be awkward- We're in a brothel- chained here by a total sociopath- and I'm expecting to make nice, let alone friends!?

The word 'brothel' passing through my thoughts set off several alarm bells in my head... 

Why isn't she here to help me? Why am I by myself- why am I here!? Why did I do this... Lord, I believe in you- I really truly do, but why??? Why here!? Why Gilda!? Was this what its all for? Every cut, and bruise, the SEVERAL dislocations, the times we ran from the law, every dishonest, dishonorable, sinful thing we did to survive for the last some years; was it meant for this!? All that pain!? All that suffering!?  Dammit- I-I I'm locking up- a-am I till moving- I can't breathe- I can't do this- not by myself- always been by myself- in real life; my own head- the world is droning past me- why am I here? Am I meant to die here? I can't do this... I can't do this.... I can't.... I can't.. I can't. I can't I CAN'T I CAN'T CAN'T I CAN'T I CAN'T I CAN'T I- "OW!"

Almost grateful for the (painful) interruption of my inner meltdown, I failed to notice I was on a collision course with the woman's table. Smacking into it knee first, the stacks of books toppled all around the table, and floor.

My knee, my leg, my knee ow ow ooowwww

"Hey! Watch where you're going kid!" Crap crap dammit ow crap dammit OOWWW 

"I-I'm sorry! I-I wasn't thinking and lost focus on where I was going- and- oh man, I'm so sorry miss!" 

"Clearly you weren't, it's fine, don't bother helping me pick up my stuff you knocked over."

"I'm really, reaaallly sorry" Not sure if she didn't hear me or ignored me; most likely the latter, but either way before I could get half way through my apology, she was already halfway through regathering the books. "Um, c-can I help t all?"

"No."

".... May I help?"

"Better English, but no, forget about it."

"W-Well I did knock them over; and granted I don't know how you sort them but I can at least help get them of the flo-"

"I'm done."

And she was. In the time I spent rambling an apology- she not only picked them all back up but rearranged them exactly as she had them before. Twenty seconds and she already thinks you're a crazy spazz... great start Pinkamena, great start...

Before I could finish deprecating myself she was already nose back in whatever she was reading- no doubt trying everything she can to forget this encounter. It's ok, it's ok... you've botched up first meetings before- just try again! That's what she would do- you can do it too.

"U-uh... I'm, um- *cough* I-I'm Pinkamena... I'm new... here?"  Hearing that provoked the purple hired stranger to look up from the book for at least a second- well, kind of- more specifically she just lowered the book so she could see me. One of her eyebrows was raised- not sure if she was contemplating something, or she was just that flabbergasted by my poor socializing skill.... probably both if I'm honest. I could see her giving me a once over, making me feel twitchy and itchy in the process. I hate getting observed like that but she doesn't know so I don't say anything.

And without a word the book was back up. I'd feel more disappointed if I didn't feel it coming. Letting out a dejected sigh, I stood there thinking what else I could do to try and avoid sleeping. I was hoping I wouldn't have to be alone but as per status quo- being on my own has kind of become my gimmick.

Can't sat I didn't try at least... There's TV's in here so that alright I guess. Might as well try and find the remote...

I turned around and left the woman's bubble, maybe some space would soften her up for later and I could try again. Or perhaps it was wishful thinking, I tend to let myself do that sometimes. 

I was starting to walk and I swear I heard an intake of breath- was it of a reluctant nature? I was usually the better of the two of us to pick up those kind of cues- but not by much. Still I continued walking; the bar was unoccupied.  I don't like to drink but a seat and some escapism sounded pretty nice at the moment. That's when I heard:

"I'm Twilight."

Now... maybe I had something you could call an 'overreaction'; maybe the ultimately small but subtly significant (at least I think so) action of her acknowledging me meant far more than it should have in my duress... And I probably shouldn't have almost blinked back to the table, slamming my hands down with such a force that it knocked several books down again but-

"Nice to meet you Twilight! Thank you so much for giving me this chance!"

"C-chance??? The hell- I just reciprocated the introduction!"

"Yes, but I can see the effort it took for you to even do that- and I appreciate you even giving me a second thought. You won't regret taking the time to reach out to me."

- maybe laid it on too strong... just a bit tho. Twilight stared up at me, eyes wide and unsure... really pretty if I could add, but creeped out I think.

"... K um... While I appreciate your enthusiasm for social interaction... 'Pinkamena'- I really was just introducing myself out of politeness... So bye." Book up, head down. "You have other 'neighbors' you know, our inventory came in today and they're putting it away. Go hang out with them. Much better conversationalists and have more patience-" she lowered the book to shoot me a glare. "- as well. See you around."

She's shooing me away like an annoying child... No darn it I'm more than that! Just have to show it to her somehow.

"Don't send me away, please? I know I just got here and I probably wouldn't have been your first choice for someone to talk to today but I'm scared... I-I'm all alone and if just for a little while I want to forget about my surroundings. I'm not asking to be friends, I just want to be civil... P-please?..."

Dammit I sounded so pathetic right there. I didnt intended to dump all that on her- cause now I feel like I guilt tripped her- but I can't hold this all in like Pinkie could. I'm sure I'll meet the others soon but I want to make sure that no one here.... That no one else here hates me... 

"And is that my fault?" She asked without lowering the book. "You would do yourself some good to remove any thoughts bout looking for allies or pity." 

"P-'pity'? That's not- no, I- I'm  just trying to- I want to be on not bad terms with anyone here that's all."

"Well whining about being stuck here without any friends sure does sound like it to me."

"I'm not whining!-" Twilight lowered the book quickly.

"Keep it down, kid! You wanna give her a reason to comeback in here?" Her voice was a harsh whisper, and her face was tense, her eyes though, I could see that small tint of fear. Fear of Gilda. Should I utilize that now? No, perhaps later if I'm in a corner. I resigned to play along and keep my voice level.

"I am not whining Twilight I was being honest with you. I thought that honesty would appeal to your judgment of character. I understand distrusting  someone upon first meeting, but your out right hostility is unwarranted." That only made her more mad as she crossed her arms, rather defensively.

"What? Reality hurt your feelings? And that whole 'judgment of character thing'? Well one slip up got me here. And that slip up was Gilda."

"B-but to vilify someone's integrity to such extremes on a first meeting? that's irrational!"

"Well that's your opinion now isn't it? Irrational feels to big a word for you; I really feel like you want to say 'its not fair', but either way: what you judge is 'irrational' I call irrefutable." I crossed my arms after that comment; starting to get mad.. I don't usually feel like this, Pinkie less than rarely ever got mad. That spat last night was the first time I could remember in a long time she did. Even though I was out of practice I still wanted to try my best to reign it in.

"You're smart aren't you? Must be given all these books- so a question then: isn't that just your opinion Twilight?" Mileage may very on how I did or not though. My question caused her to angrily raise a brow.

"Excuse me?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong but, I think its safe to assume that you base that assumption off of a place of pain, which compromises your judgment already. Add on to that your most likely mal-adjusted endorphine levels, nutrition, and considering the isolation and piles of books, you've probably a feeling of intellectual superiority- your opinion is compromised. So new question: can you not see the irresponsibility in demeaning someone elses opinion, and propping up your own?"

Twilight stared wide eyed at me for several long moments. I was about to mentally celebrate my victory when she tore that notion down by letting out a few dissmisive laughs.

"Pffft ha ha ha! Ok ok Little Miss White Knight- lemme ask you something you don't talk to many people do you? Your logic is fine but dressing it up with all that pretense and hyperbole? You do see the irony don't you? Cause I do." And like a fool I took the bait.

"What irony? I just-"

"Ok, so- let me give you my read of you- you strike me as someone that comes from a place of objectivity. That's a good thing. You see the grey amongst the black and white. Fine and dandy. However you seem to forget that pointing out flaws in someone else's argument does not necessarily make yours better by default. You have to back up your claim with concrete evidence."

"I did! I said-!"

"Ah ah ah, no no no- you are saying my opinion is unjust and unfair based solely on your personal take and the emotions my opinions elicited out of you solely; in this case. Just as many people can agree and just as many can disagree with my statement- fact remains that while I describe it as an applicable fact to you, I'm perfectly aware that there are still good people in this world."

"'In this world'- I didn't say anything about-"

"Well going by assumptions; not unlike the ones you made of me- you were probably going to bring it there anyway. You're definitely a smart person- but considering how much your emotions cloud your judgement; perfectly exemplified by that 'objective bleeding heart' persona you've got going on there, you are very clearly self taught, and most likely had a small or nonexistent circle of humans you were in constant contact with during your developmental years and the few that were either agreed with you, or ignored you. I'd say 'correct me if I'm wrong' but I think we both know for the most part I'm not."

What the hell? How did she do that? She got me down to a T! Pinkie was always better at these things than me, but, minus some offset generalizations, she had me almost totally  pegged... almost. In a very non Pinkie train of thought; whom I have little doubt would have attempted damage control by now, I decided to keep these little exchanges going.

"Wow, you're good at this. Taking someone's basic character traits that are apparent in a first meeting and throwing them back at their face? Man, nineties literacy would have loved you." Twilights eyes narrowed as she allowed herself a smirk.

"Oh I know right? But you though- bravo!" *clapclap* "Such unique insight on how peoples minds work. You probably watched through Evangelion once and fancied yourself a psychologist, huh?"

"Twice, actually." I held up two fingers trying very hard not to let my index finger drop. Didn't expect that from her, I would have assumed her somewhat nerdy, but otaku? She grows more interesting by the minute. "All the movies too. Hey you mentioned anime- so I assume you to be the type of person who writes college level thesis' on their anime blog, about how Haiyo Miazaki is the second coming of Walt Disney? Or Jesus?"

"Damn you're really good at this! How did you know? I'm surprised you noticed I figured you were busy posting on Tumblr about how Steven Universe is so progressive and heartwarming while ignoring the show and fandoms basic flaws." This is what I needed. I'm distracted, but focused too. My mind is actually quiet. I can breath. And this is surprisingly really fun, why did I ever let Pinkie have all the fun? I squatted down and leaned forward to put my elbows on the table.

"Oh I'm sorry- is that your comeback? I couldn't hear you over the Something Awful account I can't help but think you have." 

Though this 'argument' persisted I felt the tension dissipate somehow. Like it was more of a spar now than actual intellectual combat. Might have been just me, but we got into a flow... I liked it. If this interaction went this well, though rough at the start, I couldn't wait to meet the others.

"Sorry, I couldn't tell but, which of the like seventeen 'chan's do you belong to again?" Risking a joke I feigned offense and raised a hand to my heart.

"*Gaaaasp* how could you think so little of me???"

"You're right. Too good. You're 9gag."

"Wow... I knew you were a cold woman by your lack of social tact, but I had no idea you were so soulless."

"Get used to it kid. Its the running gimmick of this damn place."

"I know. You and Gilda are practically the same person now."

Bad joke. Like reaally bad joke. I had a feeling cause after I said that she went quiet. Dead quiet. Face went blank. 

Dammit this is why I needed her around... I could've been her filter there... Or would she have been mine?...

"T-Twi-Twilight? O-ok, that wasn't cool, I-I'm-"

"Don't. You. Ever!" Her fist slammed the table as she shot up from her seat. "Compare me to her again! You go that!?" In a flash I was cowering. I could feel my eyes shake, my skin was crawling.

"I- I-I I-I'm s-sorry I didn't- I wasn't, I didn't mean to- I wasn't thinking I'm sorry!" I was losing coherence in my speech. My hands were wobbly and shaky.

"Well yeah! You better be! Do you have any idea what she's done to us!?? She's a dictator! A criminal! She profits off our bodies Pinkamena- our bodies!" My guilt was eating away. Ripping through my being, as I tried to struggle out an apology.

"P-please, don't-"

"'Don't be mad'!? Screw that and you, Pinkamena! You know, I was kinda starting to like you too- know what, just get out of here!" Knees were weak. I was forgetting to breath.

"What??? N-no don't- I didn't mean to hurt your feelings-"

"This is beyond that- beyooond that Pinkamena- look I get it ok- I've been where you are too, but that doesn't give you the right to say that kind of shit. You've only had a taste of what she can and will do. Now leave me alone. I won't ask again."

"But..." I didn't know what to do. There was nothing I could do. Not after this... My mouth was open; too shocked to say anything, although it would probably just be a sad attempt at apologizing. I can feel my lower lip, pathetic and whimpering. I couldn't look her in the eye anymore, and i guess she couldn't look at me either; she was sitting down, readjusting her books, and trying to compose herself.

"B...but I... I'm sorry... Twilight." I try so hard to compose myself to some degree but, I feel myself cracking. Breaking down. I felt so bad, and I didn't know how to, or if I even could, make this better, or fix it or not. I tried so hard to keep it together. Was I so weak, so pathetic, that I was going to cry in front of someone I just met? Because of something I did wrong? I know I was wrong but I'm still wanting to cry? Is it for me? For her?

I feel them prickling at my my eyes... I can't blink them back...Dammit... Why am I crying?... Why here? Why now? We swore we wouldn't cry anymore. I swore I wouldn't cry anymore... Don't make a sound, please, save yourself that little bit of dignity. Swaping in and out of these emotions looks scary enough already I imagine I shoulYou should  just go... just go and find a corner- to hole yourself up, to cry in, like the worthless child you are.

You are? I? Isn't it I?... I am?... Who was that?... Are I breathing. Have I forget? Wait... No that's not right- I didn't forget to breathe you did. She did? Her did? No I do. Nono no I didn't do it- I did I intake carbon moxide- is that right? Did i say that right? Are there spelling errors in my own head? Is this you're head? Or they're head? Wait did eye t h i n k the right pretense? Where am I? Am I breathing?  

This is why I needed Pinkie... She shut that up. Life was easier when I was the voice in her head. No... I can keep telling myself that all I want but the truth is... I was never-

"Look... kid I... I'm sorry. Seriously I... what you said wasn't cool, but I shouldn't have reacted so harshly... I didn't factor in what you've been through, and I know I scared you so..."

"You- *sniff*- y-you don't have to pity me... I-I was out of line, I-I deserved to-"

"I'm not-.... Its not pity. Really I reacted harshly and impulsively, with no regards to how I could have hurt your feelings. You... um... you uh- y-you don't have to leave if you don't want to. D-Don't make me drag this out alright? The others can tell you, my bitchiness doesn't usually make me feel regretful..." 

Guess I shouldn't press my luck... I considered myself lucky and accepted her apology.

"Oh... I-It's ok. I was, I said something stupid. You had every right to lash out."

"This doesn't make us friends or anything." I couldn't hide my disapointment at that statement in my face. "L-look kid, its nothing personal. I'm serious, it really truly isn't, but. I have my own problems to worry about. On top of potentionally adding more weight to my burdens its not advisable to be friends in here with anyone."

I stood from my squat position; knees were getting tired. I started picking at my right forearm with my opposite hand. An old nervous habit I never grew out of.

Not exactly how I intended for us to bond, but its a start I guess. Mood is somber, and she's vulnerable. Maybe that's too strong a word; approachable? Either way, this a good chance to redeem myself. I might learn something about this place too. 

"C-could, could I ask why? I feel like I'm right in guessing whoever else is here is against their will, right? Why wouldn't you stand by each other? Against Gilda?" 

"Not all of them... just us."

"'Us'? You mean just the two of us?"

"No..." Twilight crossed her arms as she broke eye contact, now staring blankly at the table. "The two I mentioned before... Gilda was very careful in her... her... selection"

The way she said that word made my stomach quake in disgust. Not only was Gilda insane, she was good at this... thing she does; what is it she's doing? I have even less of a clue now...

I can see how this topic is affecting her... I don't want to repeat my last mistake; I should be extra cautious of her mental state right now. Should I stop? This doesn't appear to be a harsh trigger yet, but perhaps now that she's recomposed, she could have a better handle on her emotions. I don't want to make her mad again but, she's the only one here right now.... If this gets to hard for her I'll play it safe and back off.

"What do you mean by that?" I made a risky move and attempted to move into the booth; on her left. I move slowly, testing her reaction, being careful not to disturb her books again, or startle her. I've... done these types of things before.  Plus my feet hurt, like, a lot.

She doesn't halt my movement as I move closer. I risk sitting down; scooting myself near her, a little more than a body away. 

"Sorry if that's too personal- I-I understand if you don't want to talk about this. I-is uh... I-is this ok?" I ask gesturing to my sitting at her table.

I see her eyes flick over to me for a tick, and back to the table. The gesture did not sit well with me, so I tried to damage control and make my way out.

"S-sorry, it's just, I've been standing for a while and I wanted to sit down- I-I'll move if you want."

"Its fine; whatever. Point is you, me, and the other two she personally decided to make her, basically, slaves; her, 'Main Attraction' as I heard her spew out more than several times in the past. Based on some twisted, and pardon the language, fucked up logic that somehow must make sense to her... I can still remember her the pride in her voice as she 'inducted' me into this place..."

And to think I wasted Empathy on her...  Two sides to a story or not, there's no forgiving, or excusing this; impossible- even she would have to agree, right? After everything she did- she has to! Wouldn't she!??? Ok breathe... breathe in the air... I'll just pretend I don't know. I can't... I can't talk about it now.

"I... Can't remember... It all happened in a blur- she is crazy thoigh as we've established a-and she seems the 'ranty' type so it- she might have told me something... All I remember is it hurting."

"I can see that. I didn't notice it til you said that, but- does that hurt?"

"Does... what, hurt?"

"That mark, under your jaw there." She pointed to my face. "Its coming in nicely. To put it, uh, nicely."

"M-mark?" I raised a hand to rub my jaw searching for what she was talking about. I almost exclaimed in pain after finding it. All cover the left side of my jaw, I could feel tender, bruised flesh... I didn't even feel it until now.

"O-oh, I um, I-I didn't realize that was there..."

"You must be made of pretty tough stuff kid; not being able to feel that thing."

You could say that...

We were quite for a time after that. Seeing me offer no response or rebuttal, Twilight opted for what was about the, maybe, fourth time now, once again, picked up her book and attempted to resume reading.

I took this opportunity to (mostly out of my peripherals) get a good look at Twilight, now that we weren't battling the wits, I could see something I missed. Her hair was the first thing I really noticed; the side by side purple and pink streaks she had running through it were very eye catching. Easy on the eyes too. Very nice lilac. Maybe personality wise she's a little too uptight for my tastes in friends but she could lighten up in time. Nothing really note worthy in her attire. Simple shirt and jean combo, look cheap; efficient- can't see the shoes and I don't want to make the effort to look. That'd look weird...er. Don't know brands at so I can't place who made them.

The shirt was interesting to look at though; Black T-shirt, had a creepy looking alien on the front. Almost looks like a sock... puppet- hey! I recognize that thing! That's- 

"Ziltoid."

Saying his name shocked her enough to almost drop her book again.

"Huh? What did you say?"

"That's Ziltoid. Ziltoid the Omniscient; on your shirt. That's really cool, I like it."

"You... You know about Ziltoid?..." Yes! This is what I needed- common ground.

"Yes, of course. I've followed that guy since I was fourteen, Devin uh... Uh-"

"Townsend..." Bewilderment? Perhaps I impressed her.

"Yeah! I Love his music. All his stuff; solo, DTP, SYL. Even that funny 'Punky Brüster' thingy he did." Twilight eyes were fairly widened as I listed off what I liked from him.

"Hm. Wow, gotta say kid, didn't expect that from you. Not from anybody really, but definitely not you." Wasn't exactly I compliment but I was taking what I could get at this point.

"Heh yeah. His music gels well with my personality; the eclatic nature. He's a kindred spirit. That I've never met ha ha..."  That's it. Keep it up... Keep the subject off of you... Me!

"Hm. I know what you mean. I had this joke in high school that he was my 'spirit animal'. There was a double meaning in there cause he has that song-"

"Animals!"

"Mm-hm. No else that it was funny but I did." You've- I've always been good at distracting anyway.

"Ha. Well you're right, that is funny." Progress, ok progress. So far so good, don't screw it up.

"Do you like his Strapping Young Lad Material, Twilight?" 

"I must admit I don't usually partake in heavy genders that extreme but pretty much everything he makes tends to be very well written and produced. If a little stressful on the ears."

"Seriously... Remember 'City'? I swear that by Detox I neex a nap ha ha..."

"Agreed. Not the best to try and read to."

"Really good sprinting or running music though." That statement made her raise a brow.

"Do a lot of 'sprinting', Pinkamena?" Ugh... It's so odd not hearing her name. That's gonna throw me off.

"W-well no. I-I walk a lot though. That's how I got here; to Nevada."

"Pretty specific part of Nevada. Where you coming from?" Ok here we go... Remember the story.

"Fresno." Don't ask too many questions please don't ask too many-

"Oh California huh? That's funny. I'm from good old Los Angeles. Its like Fresno but Sorteños instead of those guys from Merced. And a little bigger."

Oh. O-ok good.

"Y-yeah, I know. Scary sometimes but if you grow up there you know how to work through it."

"Not as scary as here... This is the real thing... What the report on the news, write in books or in online fetish stories." I swiped some hair that drifted in front of my eyes away from me. I had almost deluded myself succesfuly into forgetting for a little bit there...

"It hasn't set it I guess for me yet.. I don't know... Twilight? How do you deal with this? How you... I-it must be- I can't imagine having to wake up to this everyday... I know I'm going to have to but... You've been here a long time yeah? How do you manage?"

"Well its just sex right?" Ew... "Biology. Simple in out in out. Most customers are too wasted to last long so just fake some pleasantries and its over before you know it. Won't spare you from the shame but its over quicker. Plus... and I'm not um, not proud of this, but Gilda forces me to... take cannabis into my system bef-... b-bef-for I go on the f-floor..." Poor thing... Its not bad; the effect of the stuff, I guess but, I don't like the taste...

"I'm sorry... I couldn't begin to imagine what- how that makes you feel." I see her try her best to shake it off. Most likely doesn't want me to worry, or doesn't trust me enough to open up. I don't blame her nor am I surprised at all; we did literally just meet.

"I-I mean it helps relax me. Makes it easier... I've found a lot of things are easier when..." She trailed off. I tilted my head to the side; wanting a finished answer.

"When what, Twilight?" I see her eyes state down, moving several directions quickly. Her mind must work a mile a minute, possibly deciding whether or not to tell me.

"It is... easier when... when you... don't feel... anything. When you're..." 

"Numb?..." I finished much to smoothly.

Twilight looked at me with a certain feel in her eyes that didn't have one word. It was... relief? Because someone understood? Perhaps fear? Because someone understood?...  She looked at me in the eyes again, and it could have been my mind messing with me, but, I swear I saw a clean pass through thise lilac iris'.

"Yes." Breaking eye contact again, she looked down at her lap. I can sympathize; this conversation probably was definitely not how she saw her day going when she woke up this morning, I'm sure. I reached a hand out, offering what little consolation I could. 

I thought maybe laying my hand over hers; it would be the most comforting, but it could come across as intamte in some way- which is the opposite of my intention, plus we did just meet, so it wouldn't be appropriate.

I thought about giving the arm a gentle grasp, but I feel like that would be too little, not properly reflecting the gravity of the atmosphere, and could come across as awkward when I want to be genuine.

I resolved for her shoulder, but in a motion that's cupping the shoulder forward, not too close to the neck; no skin contact. I made doubly sure of that. If I touch a centimeter off of the shirt, her mind could register that as an advance or get too close to her a neck an attack of some sort. Pinkie and I have had a lot of time to learn these subtle nuisances; came in handy for many things. Free food, free bus fare, letting us sleep at places for free. We had to make friends with bad people. Do things. Very bad things. That's why it worked, why we worked. She had the disposition, I had the analysis, she had the mouth, I had the words, I had the cunning, she had the execution. The best benifit of all we ever had though, something most of them didn't realize until we were long gone; to echo Twilight, was a single misjudgment of character.

I squeeze softly. When she turns to me like anticipated, she looks unsure. I smile as gentle as I could and reassure her that 'Its alright' that 'I understand'.

No one ever expects the bubbly happy one to be a con artist.

So many times we stole from people right under their noses. Never any the wiser. How many families did we turn on each other? Relationships we damaged, ended and strained? How many lies did we tell without a trip in our voice, or an audible tell. She felt bad in the beginning, but, even without my reasurrance; she realized, we had to survive. I mean come on, think about it! Little innocent, pink haired, happy go lucky girl all alone? No parents? Care givier or guardian? How easy would ot be to help a person like that? To hurt them? Use them? Like them? Love them? Do angthing for them? To them. That's why it was perfect. She was the perfect cover. We were the perfect runaway. Pinkie and me.

Understandably she's nervous, and awkward from the affectionate action, but thanks me appreciates me 'having patience with her on an off day', as an attempt at humor. That elicits a laugh out of me, and let go.

Then those damn Cakes; Mr. and Mrs... They wormed their ways into our heart with their kindness... In a way it was sick. We did very bad, grown up things, and in a flash they were adult figures we wanted to make smile. Like how it use to be for us. They didn't know about me; they never would have, but we would have had a home... then Gilda...

This was different though. Very different. This was genuine. This was me. I empathize with this woman, not just pity, or looking at any benefit for myself. Granted, we are both stuck here, so interaction was inevitable- but imprisioned or not, this was real. It sounds horrible, I suppose it is, but it made me excited to meet the others in our situation. People to relate to, connect to, real people, maybe... maybe even friends. But it starts with her, and on if I can levitate some of the heaviness from her heart, like Pinkie would do. Like she'd want me to do. Despite it all she was still good at heart. Not me. Never me.

I was pleasantly surprised when we engaged in what could be called 'friendly' conversation after that.  Talking about nothing really, I commented on her books, we exchanged a few playful jabs like earlier, before I messed it up. I liked that, it was a unique dynamic for me. Conversation didn't go nonwhere but that was ok, I was in no hurry to go anywhere. I zoned in and out of a story she was telling me about kne of the other women, not out of boredom, but this has been an exhausting day... I needes to sleep soon, but... I'd do anything to put that off as long as I could.

".. so I asked Applejack 'are those real?' And she looks down at her chest and retorts with a ' you serious?' And I said 'yeah those boots look hella fake'."

"Pfft, oh my Goodness.... You really like putting people on the spot and making them awkward don't you?" She shrugs.

"Its fun. And I don't do it to hurt them... Well not any more... Her and Rarity; they're good people. Just stuck in a hell hole."

"Not the uh, 'best# way to make friends is it?"

"Jesus no... Hm. 'Friends'... I mean, they're friendly and all, don't get me wrong, but like I said, despite how good I feel they are, its not a good idea to have friends here..."

"But why? It feels like you're all you guys have?"

"Applejack... *huff* I mean, I guess I started it when I pissed her off, but... w-well ok, us being friendly had nothing to do with it -fully- I guess but I... L-look long story short: some months ago, a few wrong words made Gilda threaten our families. Very convincingly... They know where they live, she showed us that... I'm not particularly religious, but I think the metaphor goes 'fear of God', right? Well... she put that in us alright. Immediately afterwords she... *sigh*... Applejack..."

So what I saw was true... They really can find anybody Dear God... who do they work for?... It couldn't be... I couldn't finish the thought. I would die right there if I even had an inkling it was true. 

"She humiliated her. Gilda, I mean. Applejack was the only one brave enough to stand against her... but Gilda got the upper hand... Long as I live I'll never forget that day Pinkamena."

I felt my fists clench. Anger... hatred... things I haven't felt in a long time; thoughts I hadn't conjured up in a long time, resurfacing... Ready to boil over.

Breathe.... breathe.... For now there's nothing you can do.... TheRe NEver WAs what?... W-who- 

yyyyOOOOOuuu were worthless sinccccssseee birth

 no... nonono please go away... Haven't you been here before? WHAT!?























































It is night as she enters the city, out of view from anyone that could suspect anything. She has walked for days now; clothes torn, filthy, jacket riddled with holes, and patches covering up old ones, curly hair a tangled mess. The bottoms of her feet burn something terrible, her back aches with every step, shoulders sore from the weighty backpack strewn on them.

Yet her smile never wavered for a second.

For though she was by herself, she was not truly alone. She has a friend; a special friend. to accompany her through every moment of her journey. Through thick and thin, through pain and what mild pleasure there is, she is there. For years they have been together, attached at the hip, relatively speaking.

Excitement fills the optimistic drifter, as she nears the city's entrance. 'A new place to make home for a while!', she thought. 'Hope we can actually make this one last for a while...' she wishes.

'We will,' her friend assures, 'it's all a matter of meeting the right people, and convincing them to help us.'

The prospect of meeting new people, potentially making a friend or two, gives the young woman a new found spring in her step , that carries her the rest of the way, until she is finally in the town, of Carson City. 'Not too big, but not all that small I guess.' she reasons. 'My tummy's rather rumbly... can we stop for some food?', she all but begs.

'I suppose so. Provided 'food', isn't just an excuse to gorge out on pan dulce again...', she chastises.

"You know you loved it! I wasn't going to anyway.", she "promises".

Minutes roll by as she treads across the street, kicking random rocks, and trash as she comes across it, trying to pass the time until she found a suitable establishment for dining. And she did. At the end of a plain old street, at a corner that looks like any other, there sat a quaint little restaurant that peaked the pairs interest. Well... one in particular, anyway.

'Hmm... Sugar-Cube Corner huh? That place looks nice, can we go in!?', the young woman pleaded.

'I guess... wait, that place looks like it specializes in deserts, not food food!'

'You didn't say anything about donuts and cupcakes!', she loop-holed.

Her companion sighs, not in exasperation, but in a fond nature. She should have know that her friend would find some loop-hole around the 'no-sweets' policy.

'I suppose I didn't, did I? Very well then, Pinkie. Lead the way.'

'Hee hee, thanks!'

And so they entered the restaurant. Those she met while inside, and two peculiar looking twins she would encounter a few weeks from then would, like several before her, warp her young life forevSTOP!

What is.... Where am- who- didn't I already-

"Pinkie? You ok? You look spaced out."

"What??? Oh... U-um I- I I'm sorry... Today has been exhausting for me a-as you can imagine." I'm losing... I'm losing myself... I can't... Oh God... I can't I can't....  Why are you here?

"Yeah I can imagine. I remember my first day... Need help to your room? Might help you to get some sleep."

You don't care about me... you're just like the rest... you don't care if I'm happy... you just want to hurt me! 

"U-um m-ma-maybe I-I usually don't sleep..."

no...... no you're different.... you don't actually want to inflict harm on me; you can't, not really, rather...you want to see me hurt. U wnt 2 c 

"Like.... much? A lot? You can't just not sleep ever."

you want to see me suffer. because you won't do it yourself. Because you physically can not. Isn't that y WHY you are here? Wish fulfilment?

"W-w...w...w-well if I could I wouldn't sleep. I-I don't like it."

you get to watch as my life is destroyed.... and laugh....
just like her.... She always used to say JUST LAUGH AND SMILE but that's not why you're here- it never was... u just wnt 2 c payne dished out, paine u cld nvr take THAT'S WHY YOU'RE HERE.

RIGHT!?  I'm losing my mind... I didn't mean too... I can't stop myself.

"Why not? Sleep is the one release I have anyway of this place."

Just laugh and smile

"I can't."

J u st laugh and smile

"I... I don't understand, why though. I couldn't stop myself. She eas getting scared. I couldn't stop myself.

Jus t Laugh and smlie

"I don't want to."

Jus t La ugh And Smile

"I'm sorry if I am prying, but why?" She's nervous. I couldn't stop myself.

J U S T laugh and S M I L E

"Twilight!-..." 

[iJ][UcSolorT=#Laf2A6U7G3H][A/cNolDoSrM]I[L/iE]

I grasp her hands. Desperation. She's terrified. I can't stop herself-myself

"What the- what's gotten into you!?"

"That's when they get me-" I stare do into her eyes. Begging for understanding. She's terrified. I can't stop myself.

IS THAT NOT WHY YOU'RE HERE!?

"W-what!?!? I don't understand- WHAT gets you!?"

"The Ghosties."

yes


Its quiet. They've broken through. I've lost. Myself. I've lost to them. They win... Its quiet. She's confused and terrified. I lock up, my arms are limp. I drop her hands. My mind seeks to destroy me. Its quiet. I'm too weak to defend myself anymore. So tired. So quiet. She's terrified. In the silence my mind took me. I can't stop myself.

where am I? Why was I chosen? I don't want to think about what I have to do... Or the people I'll meet, the things I'll feel.... I feel my life being taken away from me. 

How long will I be here? 

Months? 


Years? 


Decades?

Am I going to die here?

Die?... Do I die?

Would Gilda kill me? Will I ever escape? Will I ever see the Cakes again? Is this punishment?

I'm I dead?

Do I deserve this? Do I belong here? Did God abandon me? IS there a God? What's the point of living this life if it will all only be suffering?

Is this death?

Is it all my fault? It IS all my fault. No its Pinkies fault- my fault? Our fault? Is there in 'our'? In 'us'? Is it just me? Has it always just been me? Is she real? 

Do I deserve to die?

No I'm the one who isn't real- no that's not right I feel everything around me- I am conscience of my senses- w-wait who is this?? No no, that's Twilight you just met her- wait who is 'you'? Who are you!? Is that me!? Am I me!!??

Is this nothing? Is this death?
Am I a woman?

I don't know what to do- I'm trapped! Pinkie! Where are you- NO stop she isn't.... I'm not.... We aren't... No no there never was a WE STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP- IS THIS VOICE IN MY HEAD MINE!? ARE THESE THOUGHTS MINE!? 

Is a woman supposed to be this dirty? Impure? 

WHAT IS MINE!?!! THIS BODY!? THAT BELONGS TO GILDA NOW!? THIS ANGER??? THIS ISNT ME- I'M NOT ANGRY YOU'RE JUST SAD-;

'YOU'RE'?! WHO SAID THAT!?


WAS IT YOU!?

NO STOP IT.... STOP IT! THERE IS NO YOU- THERE'S ONLY ME- WHY DID I LEAVE HOME!?? WHY ARE WE- NO WE, NO WE!!- WHY AM I HERE! WHY AM I ALL ALONE!?!? I WANT TO CRY- WANT TO SCREAM; WHAT IS THIS??? IT HURTS..... OH GOD IT HURTS SO MUCH- WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO??? MAMA! PAPA! WHY DID YIU HURT US- WHY DID YOU LET THEM HURT ME!?!?! THERE'S NO QUIET NO PEACE I CAN'T THINK- I CAN'T.... I.... OH GOD I CAN'T BREATH I CAN'T... I.... i... i... cant b...br...breath...ca....

My hands clasp at my heart, I have trouble breathing- my hear feels like its going to explode, my inhaling quickens but I'm not taking in any air. My mind is racing. My vision is wobbly. Twilights lips are moving but I can't hear what she's saying... I feel my self going down... I think a hit the table... I'm not sure.

Pinkie's life flashed before me, I remember everything we did to get here so clearly it hurt. The people we met, talked to, laughed with, lied to, used, betrayed. The times we avoided death. 

I remember Ma and Pa. I remember hating them. Hating school, family, students, priests, the world... I remember my first sin. My first drink, first dance, first kiss, first love, the first time I made love with someone. Memories of a life that's only been half mine for a long time. I remember my sister. I remember hating her as she left... I remember how proud I was. 

I can't keep my eyes open. I think Twilight is trying to carry me... maybe someone else? 

I remember the day I ran away. So afraid, so determined, so foolish, so haply. I remember the first time we were mugged. The first time we were used. The first time we fought back. Years alone with memories only meant for the two of us. So much regret...so much anger and hate... I never deserved to be Pinkie Pie... I was always meant to be Pinkamena... but Pinkie is gone now. There's only me.

I'm going... I think I'll pass out any second now... maybe the Ghosties will give my dreams a break tonight. Getting darker.......

There is only me because... because I can say otherwise all I want... but I... As much as I wanted her to live life the truth is... I was never the voice in her head...

...... she was the voice in mine.















nighty night.........zzzzzz........zzzzzz zzz....
> Broken Thoughts: You Can (Not) Repair
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oh shit.

If someone told me that when I woke up today I'd meet some crazy, nice, but crazy kid, she'd collapse, and I would have to deal with it, honestly, I probably would have wanted to just stay in bed. 

'The Ghosties', 'they get me', doesn't like to sleep- what the hell is she talking about?? 

"Pinkamena! Kid! Get a hold of yourself!" I try reasoning with her verbally, I even try shaking her shoulders but I see that glazed over look in her eyes; wherever she is right now mentally, its the farthest place from here.

I could have dealt with that, but then she fell over, hit the table and if mumbling incoherently wasn't creeping me out enough, my Goddamn books were knocked over again.

Ok come on Twilight, priorities. Forget about the books, focus on the person that collapsed in front of you. Oh eww she's drooling! Napkins napkins napkins- ok! 

I almost forgot these tables had napkins. If someone also told me that when I meet said crazy person I would have to play care taker, or nurse for them, I would have asked 'why would you wish such an awkward fate on me???' I'm no nurse! I don't think bandaging my little brothers 'boo-boos' when he was a kid count.

Why should I care anyway? Ok hold up, that sounded selfish even to me- but like, shouldn't I get help first? I just met her, but even so, helping someone doesn't have to be awkward unless I make it. But still, she's clearly crazy! Well ok, that's a childish statement; I'm a woman of science, so lets deduse what we know. Wait, no, do that after I try and help her.

I scooted out of the booth as fast I could, tripping several times along the way, napkins in hand. Mom always said I wasn't particularly graceful for a girl.

Pinkamena fell face first onto the table, already I knew that would make the swelling on the bruise on her face worse. I got to her side of the table, knelt next to her, and as gentle as I could; one arm around the waist, the other on her opposite arm,  I pulled her out of her seat. Anticipating the dead weight, I would describe my action as a gentle yank more than a hard pull, but with her unconscience, it will lessen any soft tissue damage; no need to worry about further injuries. Not from me. I use to lose arm wrestling to Spike when he was as young as eight.

I laid her on her back. I hoped I was doing this right- since she was drooling, I stressed that she wasnt swallowing her saliva, she must have if she was still breathing though right? Right. Probably.

Taking the napkins, I wiped the the spot from her mouth, and chin. Trying my best to clean her up, but without the napkins tearing, or the liquid bleeding through; if I get spit on me I'll freak.

Her hair was unrealistically straight; not a strand out of place despite the fall. Though she was sleeping she didn't look at peace at all. Not discontent, I guess, but it didn't look like a peaceful slumber. I get on both knees and shifted her head into my lap as I weighed my current situation in my head.

This is creepy, this is weird, this is creepy, this is awkward, this is creepy! Ok- stop, chill, just chill... *huff* just breathe. No big deal right? A possible schizo in my lap, who I swear must have cast some magic or some shit on me- I have no idea why I was as open as I was- freaking out talking about 'Ghosties'. Said 'Ghosties' are most likely just nightmarish hallucinations her sick mind cooked up; and now that I'm thinking about it, could some of that interaction been an act? She seemed to be genuine in her kindness- but considering how well composed she was for most of it (least as far as I can tell) she's clearly been dealing with this for a long time, but for whatever reason, something snapped and broke her. Something... And I'm not sure I want to know what did. 

I look down at Pinkamena. So many different thoughts trying to tell me what to do, what to feel. None of them felt complete. I can only guess how long this kids been suffering, but as much as I wanted to ponder on that, I had to do something to help her.

Ok lets see.... Oh! Rarity and Applejack! They should be done stocking our inventory by now, I'll go find them! I shouldn't leave her alone though... even if her condition doesn't worsen I don't need Gilda randomly deciding to come back out and find her. I cringe thinking of the sick kicks she'd probably get out of it. I'm going to have to carry her... all dead hundred something pounds of her... shit... 

I maneuver her off of my lap, and loop my arms behind hers and attempt to drag her. I only got a few steps before I felt my back strain, letting out a curse in discomfort.

"Ok... new plan."

I tried kneeling down again, using all my strength, I tried scooping her into my arms- figured bridal style could work... it did not. As soon as I tried to stand again, my knees gave out and instead of rising to my feet, I fell backwards and now Pinkamena was on top of me.

Oh my God NOOO!! Not this stupid, anime style slapstick crap! This subhuman is drooling all over me! Ok, OK that wasn't nice, after all, she didn't mean to do this. I think. Just roll her off of you and try again. 

The fall had ended with me on my back, and a now horizontal Pinkamena laying across me, abdomen to abdomen.

It's abdomen right?
Yeah... hell it doesn't matter, I'm a scientist not a doctor! Ok um... Dammit no matter which way I roll her this is going to feel weird... Sh-...Sh-should I roll her towards me? Away? I could slip out from under her?... Oh man... God dammit, GODdammit I don't want to be doing this! I guess towards me??? I can slip out from under her while I do it and get out of this faster. 

My hands shoot to her sides, and at the risk of getting a hernia, I pulled the Pink kid as hard as I could towards me. With a heave she was on her back and I was lower but....

Back squishing breasts back squishing breasts back squishing breasts ow ow ow off off OFF

Not. Comfortable. I was almost done, so without losing too much confidence, I heaved again. This produced worst results.

BREASTS SQUISHING FACE BREASTS SQUISHING FACE BREASTS SQUISHING OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOOOooohahahod she's sooooft AH!

I slip out from under her as fast as I can and wipe the sweat now starting to peak out of the top of my head.

Skin... soft skin- touching, sliding against, dirtying my skin, germs gross gross GROSS!!! Why did it have to be a brothel owner! I hate skin! I hate feeling flesh- I hate this! And this THING passes out in front of me and I have to deal with it! That's not fair- this isn't fair!  I hate this, I hate everything about this place- I want to go home! I want to see Spike again!... Spike... No. Not, not now. Gotta help Pinkamena.

I just now noticed she was laying on her back flat again, realizing my error, I scrambled my way over to her, arching her head so it was on my lap. Right back where we started. Dammit.

Dammit! Ok think think... think... You're a rational woman, what's something a rational person would do in this situation?...

I mulled over whatever few options I had, normally I take the time to weigh the pros and cons but I'd never encountered a scenario like this before- I had know way of knowing if Pinkamena was on short time, or if I had injured her somehow. Deciding to give into basically the only option I actually had- I went with my gut instinct:

"AppleJA~~CK!" What? I was desperate!

To my shock and surprise she heard me.

"Twilight? What're ya yellin' your head of fo- what in tarnation!?" I didn't see her come in, but almost immediately after her exclamitory question she was right beside me. "What happened? Who's this? She ok???"

Too many questions, too fast- breathe, breathe, breathe... 

"S-she uh, sh-she's Gilda's newest victim. Name's Pinkamena. W-we were talking, and out of nowhere she freaked out; I think it could have been a kind of panic attack? Anyway, she fell over, and I was trying to carry her over to you, but she is deceptively heavy!"

I see Applejack use her index finger and thumb to turn Pinkamenas head towards her.

"... She looks young... damn Gilda. Look at that mark on her eye... She roughed this one up. I'd go so far as to guess personally too. She has a thing about doing that..."

The idea of Gilda roughing up Pinkamena makes me simultaneously angry and sick to my stomach. Kid's no doubt got a screw or two lose, sadly, but I highly doubt she deserved whatever happened to her. I know her too; Gilda... she probably had no issue with trying to justify it to her- she's scum, and has a perpetual talent for making someone hate themselves.

"Yeah... she does. She's kinda weird but she's nice enough... why her?"

"Answer to that's in Gilda's head; a place I want to remain as far away from as possible. Come on, help me get her up; lets get her to Rarity. The two of us'll look 'er over see what we can patch up." I nod.

"Right." Together we heaved Pinkamena into Applejack's arms, the cowgirl finding it much easier to carry her.

"What in the hell you talkin' about 'heavy'? She's light as a goshdern feather, Twi!"

"Up yours, brute! Do I look like I can sustain another persons weight with these twigs I call arms?"

"Hell I'm surprised you carry that massive head on ya shoulders."

"Why you-!"

"Enough. I'm taking her to the back room. You comin'?"

I contemplated it a second longer than perhaps I should have. That corner of mine I never find myself leaving; so if I do go back there, Applejack and Rarity will most likely ask questions, and I hate interrogations. They wouldn't see it as that, but I would. Alternatively; I do want to make sure Pinkamena will be ok, or at least stable; I agreed to come along, despite how out of character (to them) it would seem.

On our way to the back, I paused and spared a glance behind; making sure no one was watching. The truth is since the three, well four now, of us are here against our will- that kind of information doesn't exactly stay secret. Plenty of the others here will, and have, sell/sold us out if it protects their positions and hides from Gilda's scorn. Gilda doesn't play favorites, but she does appreciate a good mole.

Catching up with Applejack, I entered the kitchen area, where she was laying our comatose guest on the food prep table. Biting my tongue at the temptation of reminding Applejack how unsanitary that is, I made a mental note to wipe it down when they leave. Rarity was in there, looking shocked, maybe even horrified, as she was explained the situation of our new co-worker.

She's a warm person, I can't fathom how she keeps that up. Maybe the almost entire year of alcohol helps with that. 

A year she's been here... almost, I think. How long has it been now Spike?... Two years? Three? Since I saw you? Since I... last held you. That's how life works though right? Like that song '... then one day you find, ten years have got behind you?' Feels like forever.... like yesterday. I feel it... My life wasting away, passing me by. Where could I have been by now? Where could we have been by now, Spike? I wanted so badly, to work hard enough to get, at least you, out of here. Get you into a school, away from the life you've had, even away from me if necessary. I know we fought a lot near the end, I get it; the stress of all the death we've seen together. Mom, Dad, my brother.... Oh Shining... I... Don't cry... Dammit don't cry. Not here; not in front of them.

I heard, or my sense registered at least, that Fancy Person and Rhinestone were talking, but I couldn't remember a word. I'm instantly tuned back in, however, when they begin removing Pinkamena's shirt.

"Um HEY, what are you two doing???"

Rarity made eye contact with me as she answered.

"Oh darling look at her, the poor thing looks like she's been through Hell. Me and Ms. Applejack decided it would be a good idea to check for any other injuries and see if they can be treated."

"Shouldn't you, like, God... Ask her?..."

"Twilight, dear I completely understand if you're uncomfortable at the thought, so please, do not feel you need to force yourself on our account. Applejack mentioned you were with her when she fell, when she wakes up I'm sure she would be delighted knowing you helped as much as you did."

Dammit Glamour Shot, that's not it... you didn't f... feel um her on your... and to put actual visuals to the sensation...
holy shit. 

"No. No, its cool. We're all adults here, right? Female adults. Its not like we're squeamish male types, right?"

This time Applejack looked at me.

"Uh Twilight, I don't think bein' a woman is really important here. Anyone can be nervous about this without it being labeled to a stereotype for guys."

Shit- last time I attempt humor. Stupid... rational objectivity white knight... 

"That uh... that was a joke, Applejack."

She stared blankly and blinked.

"Oh.  ... It wasn't funny-"

"TAKE the damn shirt off, Bumpkin!"

Letting out a chuckle at my expense, Mrs. Ozarks signaled Rarity to prop up Pinkamena. Together they removed her jacket; nothing too bad- some old cuts and mild bruising. Removing the shirt itself was something else entirely. 

"Oh Lord..."

My mind in all of its hang ups couldn't even register the scandly clad woman- I was too focused on her 'collection'. Some old, and recent cuts along her stomach, chest, and upper area around the shoulder blades. Bruises across her chest that look like they went underneath her bra. I could see marks, God, they looked like scratches-  claws even! Trailing lower down her stomach, along her sides. More bruises, and insecionary wounds. They... they look like they go underneath her pants.

Good God... I'm gonna be sick... If they remove them, I-I'll lose it. Shit, what happened to this kid? A... A-are those bites on her... and her... oh shit... my stomach. 

Applejack and Rarity are coming through in mumbles again, most likely comparing visual notes on Pinkamena. I'm so out of it, I practically jump out of my skin when Rarity; gently as she could, to her credit, set her hands on my shoulders.

"Twilight. Are you still there, dear?" I have more difficulty meeting her eyes than I care to admit.

"Y-yeah. I'm good. It's just... a lot to take in." I'm in such a stupor, my sanitation phobias don't kick in when she transitions her hands to my face.

"Are you certain? We hold nothing against you if you wish to bow out. It is easy to see how uncomfortable this whole mess is making you, so do not feel any shame if you wish to leave. We are grateful enough that you stuck it out as long as you have." I nod my head. Firmly, but probably unconvincingly.

"Yes. I'll be fine." Rarity nods as well.

"Very well... Twilight, we are going to remove her bra, the -ahem- 'lower region's we will wait until she wakes, for her consent, but there are injuries we must bandage up, and disinfect. I am giving you a 'heads up' as they say,  so if that is too much for you-" I squirm myself free from her silky grasp, even more twitchy now.

"I-I can't. Not for that. I'll stay, but I'll look elsewhere. Just let me know when your done, yeah?" With a thin pressed lips and a determined bop off her head, Rarity headed back towards her and Applejack 'patient' and I made myself acquainted with the wall, with an about face.

It was a nice wall. A strong silver; stainless American steel. 'Steel' reminds me if the 'Steelers and how much my Dad hated that football team. Football reminds me of the lunches Mom would make on those game days. I miss those days... I miss my parents, only more and more as I get older. Those days remind me of Spike. He loved Football, wanted to be a quarter-back. He had a little ball he'd play with, with Dad, he knew the players by their names, not just teams, had too many jerseys to count. Eighteen when I left him. How old are you now? Twenty-Two? Its almost Fall again I think; birthday is the fourteenth of November, so almost. 

Age brings me to myself. I'm twenty-five. Quarter way through... how much life do I have left? How much of my soul did Gilda take away from me? If I could ever get out of here, could I even get my life on any kind of track? The memories here would stain my mind for however long I live. Life... my life... its practically over and done. One bad day ended my life, I was supposed to go to school. Give Spike a better life... 

Christ it never really hit me but... that's over. That can never happen. If Gilda has it her way I'll stay here forever, or until I get too old. When that day comes, she'll probably watch, she'll watch as they put the bullet in my head. Hmm... death. Never really scared me, not too much at least. Its nature. But... like this?  Death given by this scum? Is that my fate? And what if they do? Is death just a state of mind? What if they shoot me in the head then? Nothing? And what if Heaven is real? Do I even deserve to go there? I've never been a believer. I think I'm a good person, but- shit, how does all this work? Am I here because I deserve to be? Ok, stop. This train of thought does nothing but drive me down a dark road. A road I don't need to go down anymore. 

Think happy thoughts; psh- easier said than done. That reminds me, I'm owed my call to Spike. I hope he's ok, he's still a kid; at least to me. I still remember... I still remember his tiny arms when he was a kid, they could barely fit around me, now he could probably loop me. I haven't seen his smile in so long... he's got the most adorable dimples, and those green eyes, like a light Jade. I swear he could have been a ladies man by now, but he's always been focused on his own thing, that's good though. I don't know how I'd feel about someone being involved with him like that... a strange thought I suppose but that kids my everything, I know everything about him. What he hates, loves, I remember the first time he died his hair green- he thought it was the coolest thing. His laugh, his tears... his smell.

*sigh*... I don't know why my brain would retain some of that stuff, especially that last part. I'm... I-I'm not- I never have been his mother. 

Disregarding my current train of thought as pointless I decided to see what the progress was with the other two.

"How's it going Doctors Fine, and Howard?"

"Just finished." Cowgirl Curtis. "Y'all can turn around now Twi."

I turned around to see Pinkamena with a discarded shirt still, bra back on, but bandages covering most of her upper area; wrapped around her stomach, various spots in her arm, a couple bandaged parts with the slightest dim of blood seeped through. She didn't look any better, but hopefully soon she'd at least feel better, and those wounds will heal. She didn't even show any signs of discomfort... was she hiding the pain, even in sleep?

"Phew... well Ms. Applejack and I did our best Twilight, just needs a few days for the disinfect to take its course and the bandages will be able to come off."

"Good thing we had a doctor in the house, huh Rarity?" The person in question smacked the hick in statement (?) playfully on the arm.

"Please. It was as basic of first aid as one could muster. I simply remembered bandaging my little sister when she was much younger." Applejack crossed her arms and leaned back against the nearest wall.

"Huh. So you're sister was a bit of a scrapper too?" 

Rarity decided to hop up in the counter, right leg over left, and took to petting Pinkamena's hair. I swear she could be a mom, that woman.

"Goodness no. My little Sweetie Belle was a good girl. Usually." She giggled, most likely remembering good times past. "She always looked up to me, I suppose. I don't believe she was interested in a career in fashion like myself, but she liked having similar tastes. She was adventurous, not afraid to run, and climb, I say you've never seen a little girl in light colored dresses be so proud of scraped knees." She laughed again. "I truly hope she never loses that sense of wonder." If I wasn't in a weird place I would have let my heart warm up a little bit.

"I hear ya Rarity, Applebloom was much the same. Wan't no fan of dresses though, aw hell no! Jus' like me, jeans and plaid design flannels. She worked hard, that kid, but was still so much a kid you know? Tough little thing to. Goddamn I swear, she won pretty much every fight she was ever in." Rarity's free hand shot to her heart hearing that last part.

"Goodness! She fought with the other girls?" Applejack let out a loud singular 'ha'.

"Shoot no! That was preschool level for her. I'm saying making  boys cry."

"Oh dear... how... empowering?"

"Aw hell ya don't have to tell me how bad it was. I couldn't deny being proud of how strong she was though; not just physically, but her mind, her heart. Even my stoic-ass brother gave her a smile and pat on the shoulder once the teachers couldn't see."

Rarity removed the hand from her heart and opted to twirl her poofy purple hair around her little finger. Maybe strong country girls telling her stories of their tough little sisters turn her on?

"My family would never have approved. I'm certain Mother and Father would just die! Hm... Was it tough growing up out there?" Applejack shrugged.

"Ma and Pa not being around hurt. Macintosh and I loved her we couldn't be parents. Our Grandma lived with us, but she could only do so much. Losing her son sapped a lot of life out of her as y'all can understand. Macintosh, bless that big Bastard, was so focus on keeping the roof over our head he couldn't always have the time to help Bloom out. We ain't no Einstein's either, so she was practically on her own when it came to her schoolwork. Poor thing... she hated it when Mac and I fought. Which was often but.... well point is she's the best of either of us; she'd try to say otherwise but I wouldn't have it. Had Mama's brains and Daddy's heart."

Mood took a somber tone from that, I know she didn't mean it to but, man what a downer... I shouldn't be so rude though, I was literally just missing Spike in a similar manner.

"Applejack... I think about my sister everyday too. I miss her and home terribly. I just try and remember the times that made me smile. Its all I can do, knowing I'll... never see her again."

"I keep trying to hold onto hope but... every damn day I feel its more and more impossible. Why are we even here? There are days of business where we ain't even used- are those tiny extra profits that important to her?"

"I have no doubt in my mind, yes, darling. I'm thoroughly convinced she's all of the Seven Deadly Sins given human form..."

They were silent again. I felt strange. Like I actually felt the need to converse with them... share the pain? Or do I want to attempt to build some form of a relationship with them? It goes against everything I told Pinkamena but... screw it. If I'm going to be here forever I might as well not be completely miserable.

"I uh... I have a little brother; adopted. We found him when he was a kid, no parents, no home. We took him with us and... I loved him like he was my own. We saw each other as siblings but I always wished he saw me like... doesnt matter now I guess, I'm stuck here....... He's... all alone. My sister in law was in mourning when we arrived here, parents are gone, he has no family we could find and then... *sigh* all this happens. I may be Gilda's prisoner, but he's the real victim out of the two if us. Once a month Glida allows me to make monitored calls to him. Its only just better than nothing... I can't imagine how much he's grown without me..." They let me talk with no interruptions. I appreciated that more than I could say. "He's real smart, you know? He was always a little on the lazy side sometimes, but his mind has a real, unique edge to it, I don't know how to describe it. He would... probably... like you two..." Rarity looked close to tears.

"Twilight, dear, that must be so hard to have on your conscience, I am so sorry. Gilda has cost all of us time with our siblings, but to have lost your parents and brother? I... can't imagine." Why is she crying?... Why for me? I don't deserve that...

"Why are you crying?" Rarity answered as she wiped some tears that had fallen on Pinkamena's forehead.

"Because you and Applejack won't." That simple sentence, this melancholic gesture of kindness, it broke me. I turned around and leaned forearm first against the wall. 

Don't show them anymore weakness then you already have dammit.. don't let them see you like this, save yourself at least a decimal of dignity.

It all hit so hard at once. So many feelings all of then negative, I could only describe it as reality. Reality throwing me down to the ground and kicking... I couldn't take it, I was never as strong as I think I am. 

Eyes stinging, audible cries wanting to burst out of my throat... just swallow it down. Bury it deeper. Its the only way you'll stay sane- huh?  I tried covering my mouth to prevent any sound from slipping through, but as I did, I felt a strong hand on my shoulder. Applejack... I turned to face her 

"Twilight look, uh... I know we ain't exactly got stable ground to stand on since our first meeting, but, well... We're in this Hell hole together. And I gotcha, alright? Me and Rarity both, no more and no less than each other, and definitely no more or less than Pinkamena. For what little its worth: you can trust me, 'n Rarity. Alright?"

I felt weak, and insecure about doing it, but I couldn't handle holding this all in any longer. I slammed into Applejack, and cried into her chest, with the minimal decency I could muster. I tried not to let out any sounds lest I drop dead of embarrasment, but I couldn't stop myself when she hugged me. Letting me feel some small fraction of comfort since I've been here. My blubberings only increased in volume when I felt Rarity embrace us.

I don't remember how long we stayed like that, venting to each other, I just remember if only for a moment, feeling lighter. Every ounce of fear Gilda pumped into me, every disgusting human that's used me, every ounce of that drug I've been forced to use, the loss of all my family. The realization I am completely alone; I poured out to them. This nightmare wasn't over, and it might not ever be. I may never see Spike again; no turning back. At least... at least I have them now. 

Pinkamena...

I had almost forgotten about her. I was pretty rude to her for a bit earlier. I should make up for that. I lingered in Rarity and Applejack's arms for several moments before I broke the connection.

"I... haven't been good to you two. I'm sorry." Cowgirl shook her head definitely, gently smacking my arm.

"Don't worry bout it none, we sure as shoot don't hate ya for it. We just gotta stick together. As best as we can in here."

"Applejack is right. We may not be able to get out if here, and Lord knows this is a truly dreadful place to be, but at the very least, we can support one another. As good as we can."

"I... I'm still not social- er, good at being social... I'm awkward around others, and I still might not be the easiest person to talk too. In fact I'll probably still be closed off... so I mean, you know... I... don't really serve you too much of a purpose..."

"Aw hell that ain't what it's about Twilight.  Just stop having such a stick up yer ass and we'll be alright!"

Did... did she just seriously-!?

"Did you just interject humor into this!? That was completely inappropriate!" She shrugged at my aghast expressions.

"Eh. Seemed fittin' ta me."

"You can't just hold someone as they cry the repressions of their soul out, and make a joke!"

"Not sure if, 'repressions' is a word, but its called bein' human. Life's full of mood whiplash."

"But it completely juxtaposes the atmosphere!"

"Twilight we're a nerd from Los Angels, a beautician from Michigan-"

"Fashion designer!"

"And I'm a homeless ranch hand, and apparently our newest neighbor is a NATURALLY PINK haired kid with anxiety issues or somethin'."

You know when she puts it like that... Man I must come off really square sometimes...

"... For the record, hick, that was only kind of funny."

We all shared a laugh at my admission. Our first laugh as friends... yeah... friends.

"You and Rarity can go. I'll stick by Pinkamena." 

"Are you certain Twilight?" Rarity questioned.

"Yeah. I owe her a solid. Plus I'm concerned... she seemed to avoid wanting to sleep. I theorize night terrors, and since I'm a familiar face; she'll respond, hopefully, more rational to seeing me."

The two shared a look, and conceded to my plan.

"Alrighty Twilight, holler fer us when she wakes up."

"Right." I nod.

They vacate the back area, and I'm alone with my thoughts again. I didn't mind it so much this time, sure I was alone with an unconscious girl in the same room, but its nice to know allies are in just the next room.

'Girl'... That word reminds me of the other inquiry I had.

How old is she... Gilda's nuts, but I don't think she's crazy or stupid enough to intentionally kidnap a minor. That being said, I also don't think she isn't nuts enough to not make a mistake. Even if she's seventeen, eighteen tomorrow; that's still a minor. I've been told before that 'age is just a number'. Negating my opinion on that issue, I highly doubt even the most bleeding heart could condone that in the context of this place. If she's under eighteen we could have a shot to get out of here. I'm not so desperate  to get out of here that I'm hoping for that, but- wait... No... That might be even worse. If Gilda did make that mistake, and find out the person she roughed up, and forced into this place was a minor she would flip. I don't doubt that, what I'm unsure of is what she would do. I can think of several things but they all end up with Pinkamena being killed. Shit... So if she is  underage does she- SHOULD she keep quiet? Should I encourage her keeping quiet- WOULD I?... I could never live with myself if She died talking and I encouraged her to, but how would I feel telling her to stay quiet? How do I justify that? Hell never mind me, how does she live with that? How would she feel? Nothing good. Can guess that. Oh God I just remembered; I potentially felt up a minor- almost got turned on BY A MINOR...

"This is so fucked up..." I had to vocalize what I was thinking, but saying it instead of thinking it just made it worst I think. How is it that the prospect of a potentially underage, and insane, unconscious woman lying several feet from me is somehow unsurprising to me. 

This is weird to think, but I almost feel like I'm underreacting. I'm creeped out and worried, and sure my stomach feels like relieving itself slightly, but, shouldn't I be freaking out more? Shouldn't I be hysterical? Shouldn't this situation mean something to me? Has 'living' here at this place for as long as I have numbed me to these outlandish happenings? Or have I always been like this?... I always knew I was socially awkward but, I never contested the idea it could be something akin to sociopathy. Is that what this is? Great... look at yourself Twilight, one exceptionally bad day begets one shit life, and now I'm all existential and shit. I'm a science person not a philosopher! Although isn't that why I never pursued a career in that field in the first place? Learning how everything works is amazing, but a lot of the colleagues I met were a bunch of monotone, nihilistic robots. I had too much to care about to allow myself to be that detached from my feelings. Maybe that's why... everyone's gone now... Mom, Dad, Shining, I'll never see Spike again... I should really just off myself one day and get it over with, Gilda can replace me, Spike will... shit, no- I can't- he can't go years without seeing me, then all of a sudden hears I'm dead! Oh God... I'm selfish... I'm selfish, and trapped, losing my mind- my skin feel like its crawling. 

The fear and anger of my thoughts sent wave after wave of painful convulsion throughout my body. I gripped the sides of my arms to find they that had turned cold.

My eyes hurt...

All of a sudden it hurt to turn my eyes in any direction; they felt weighed down, and scratchy. I keep them looking forward and I feel better, but if I move them even a centimeter over I become aware again, and my heart starts racing. I try to regain control of my thoughts, but I lose myself, and end up stumbling backwards until my back hits the wall, and I involuntarily slide own until I'm on the floor,the volume and un-rythmatic nature of my breathing doubling. A hand clutches at my heart as the thoughts spiral more and more out of control- thee weren't suppose to happen anymore; these moments and situations- I'm calm, level headed- not this... not this mess.

Look at you, you stupid idiot, been like two years, and NOW you're scared? The sex and high's were too good huh?

I've been here before- you're simply a manifested negative train of thought- you're not real, I'm ok- 

Don't be stupid- of course I'm not real, you're subconscious is so incredibly fucked that the normal doubts and insecurities people have just have a louder voice today. Isn't that sad, idiot?

I'm not depressed- I'm not insane!

Never even implied that, stupid. You did that all by yourself, Why wouldn't you? You never had a real understanding of people, or even a real drive to learn about the bonds that tie people together. Of course you wouldn't know how to talk to Pinkamena, or help her. You imagined that the worst scenarios of life could never happen to your dreary existence. Maybe you are crazy. 

No I'm not! If it wasn't for Gilda... If Mom and Dad didn't die... this isn't my fault, I-I didn't do anything wrong... the moments of weakness, I haven't had them in so long, I thought they might have been gone, but-

Stupid girl. You never had these moments until that brat came into your life- bullies and isolation- you could deal with every depressing reality imaginable- being alone, death, gripping paranoia of never achieving your goals, but once he rejected you, that turned it all downhill.

Is my mind so twisted that I would try to put blame on Spike?

Are you so selfish that you would try to do the same to your dead parents?

I close my eyes as a memory engulfs my senses.

********************************************************

It was only a few months removed from my parents funeral. Spike had just come home from school. I had understandably been in a place of pure darkness mentally, but I was stable enough to remember Spike's meals, and times to wake him up. I had attempted conversation at dinner, but he was distant and cold; not unusual for him, sadly, but in my state, I was unable to deal with him not being open with me. My attempts to reach him failed, and in a moment of weakness, I became angry.

We yelled and screamed at each other. I can't remember what we said to each other; not fully. I don't think my heart would allow it; the memory speeds by at a snails pace- neither static or still. All I remember was I slapped him, I remember the shock on his face, and the terror in my, as my tear filled eyes widened so hard they hurt. I was disgusted, and ashamed with myself. I reached a hand out to try and apologize, but he smacked it away. I'll never forget what he said next. 

"I don't know what you tell yourself... but you are not and have never been my Mom."

My world broke. I fell to my knees as he left the room, attempting to call out to him, but my hysterics wouldn't allow. I cried all through the night, and into the morning, because I had failed him. And I couldn't, no matter how much I wanted to, make it right.

******************************************************

I came to in  cold sweat; with a lukewarm dampness upon my forehead. I was... laying down? Yeah, I'm on the ground, I think. No wait... 

I look around to see that my body is on the floor, but my head is in a lap. I turn my groggy vision upward to see two warm blue eyes looking at me. It was Pinkamena's lap. 

She's... awake?

"Hi." She said it so warm and smooth I almost fell asleep right there. Or would it be back to sleep? Did I sleep? "Sorry if this feels inappropriate, it's just that... I've... I've uh... been where- I've been where you are too." I'm fighting to stay awake, but, my body is too worn out to even move.

"Yeah?..."

"When I woke up, I saw you on the ground and instantly I knew. I recognized all the signs. The erratic breathing, the tears, your temperature..."

"This has... you've been through this too?" She smiles sadly at me.

"Even the fetal position." I think she sensed that I was going to pass out; she began stroking my head. "They told me you stayed despite being uncomfortable... thank you for that, Twilight. You can rest, if you want. They're out in the dining room." 

"Hm... how long was I out for?" She shrugs at me. "Oh... Pinkamena?... Does... does this stuff, these moments, and feelings, do they... ever go away?..."

My eyes shut when she answers yes. The hesitation in her voice tells me she's lying.