Welcome back to New Pegasus fillies and gentlecolts, lets get back to the adventures of Rain Runner shall we?
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, at all, if I did, I'd not be here.
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CHAPTER 4:
BREAKING THE BANK
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"Hey New Pegasus, this is your good friend Windtalker. It seems there's been a bit of a coup in the halls of the Tartarus Gate Casino, with long time Omaretas head Night Wind being ursurped by a mare by the name of Bluejay. There are some rumors that there was an outside influence that lead to this sudden change, but the new leadership of the Omaretas won't comment at this time."
"So what are we going to do now?" Vice asked as we left the Casino, honestly I wasn't sure how to answer that question right away.
"Its getting late," I replied, looking up at the sky where Celestia's sun was starting to set. "I think we should find a place to stay for the night, do you have any suggestions?"
"How about Stable 21?" Vice suggested. "Its just up the strip and it has the best rates in town per night."
"That works," I said with a nod, Vice knew New Pegasus a lot better than I did anyway, so he probably knew where to go. "Lead the way."
He nodded and we started walking down the Strip. We went past another Casino, this one was made up of a towering building with the words "Crystal Palace" over the entrance. Honestly I wasn't sure what to expect from this city, I had only been here a day, but things had been pretty quiet.
"Do you know anything about Mr. Rider?" I asked, I had to admit I was curious because of what I knew about him from mom.
"Honestly, not much," Vice admits. "He's run New Pegasus since the end of the war, but nopony has ever actually seen him leave the Lucky Horseshoe. He's kind of an enigma really, I've wondered about him a lot. What was he like when you met him?"
"Arrogant, self centered, obsessed with keeping the city under his control," I said. "I think he considers me a threat because of my mom."
"Your Mom?" Vice asked confused.
"Before the war, my mother and Mr. Rider, or Wind Rider as he's known, crossed paths while she was in the Wonderbolt Academy. Mom was threatening to break his speed records so he tried to frame her so she'd get kicked out of the program. Thankfully mom had help from Rarity who exposed the truth and Wind Rider was thrown out, I guess he's afraid I'll take the city over or something."
"Well, are you going to?" Vice asked.
"No way, I couldn't run a city," I said indignantly. "Come on, lets get to Stable 21."
He nodded and it didn't take long to find it, there was a sign that had the gear like symbol on it with the words Stable 21 on it.
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We checked into the Stable and where directed downstairs. I looked around and honestly I wasn't really sure what to make of this place, I had only been in Stable 112 before, and that wasn't for very long, but this one was inhabited with ponies around it and various gaming tables and other devices.
"Interesting design," I commented as we turned down a hallway into one of the corridors where our room was.
"Yeah, the experiment here was to build a society based on games of chance, not really sure how that worked," Vice admitted as we opened the door to our room.
"Experiments?" I asked, I wasn't sure what he was talking about, what experiments?
"Oh, you don't know?" Vice asked. "Most of the Stables where set up by Stable-tec with social experiments. There are a few control Stables, I think 112 was supposed to be one, but I don't know. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle started some pretty messed up experiments from what I've heard."
"Wait, the Cutie Mark Crusaders made the Stables?" I asked, I had heard Sweetie Belle's name mentioned in the audio on Project Legacy, but all three of them building the Stables?
"They did try to save Ponies with them," Vice added. "It just, didn't always work out... are you okay Rain?"
"Its just, weird," I said brushing my mane back. "I knew the CMC back in the simulation, I have a hard time believing it. Heck, Scootaloo was like an aunt to me..."
"Rain, they're not the Ponies you knew," Vice said as he shook his head. "The war pushed a lot of Ponies to doing desparate things, including them. I know its a lot to swallow, but they did try to do the best they could do."
I nodded in understanding as I slipped off my Stable barding and layed down on the bed, stretching out as I did. "Good night Vice," I said as I pulled the blankets over me.
"Good night Rain," he said as he layed down in his own bed.
After a long moment I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep. As I did my thoughts went to the beautiful mare I had seen in the Aces lounge.
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"I'm gonna take a trip to Pegasus
Goin' huntin' down on the strip
I got a bet to make on a real big stake
I'm throwin' down my platinum chip.
So if I cross your trail
Better turn your tail
Boy you ain't gonna give me the slip."
I blinked and looked up at the stage to see Crystal singing again in the lounge, but this time it was just me in the audience. She smiles at me as she finishes the song and trots forward towards me.
"Did you enjoy that?" She purred as she looked at me with a smile, I felt a blush creeping onto my face as she ran a hoof along my front slowly.
"I did," I said with a nervous smile. "You have an amazing singing voice."
"Thank you," she said with a smile as she nibbled at my ear a little. "You're quite the beautiful mare, you know that Rain?"
"Uh, thanks," I said, blushing more at the attention I was getting from her. "But I didn't think you thought of me like that."
She smiles at that as she pushes me back in my seat. "You never know until you ask my dear, but you have to be able to get me free before you can do this for real."
I blushed heavily as she kissed me on the lips, this was a dream, but honestly I didn't care. Right now I just wanted to enjoy the moment as I wrapped my wings around Crystal.
This was a wonderful dream.
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I woke up the next morning to find myself back in the room in Stable 21. I had never felt so dissapointed to wake up alone in bed in my life, maybe I really was falling in love with Crystal Belle...
"Well, I think somepony slept well," Vice said with a smirk as he looked over at me. "Dreaming about Crystal?"
"How'd you know?" I asked as a blush creeped onto my face as I remembered the dream I had the night before.
"You sometimes talk in your sleep," Vice said with a chuckle. "Talk, moan, cry out... I hope these walls are soundproof."
"Lets, just go see if we can figure out how to get Crystal Belle out of debt with the Chairponies," I said with a blush as I got out of bed. "Do you have any ideas?"
"Well, you could see if you could go talk to Lucky," Vice suggested. "He's the pony in charge of the Double Diamond, if he'll listen he might be able to at least make you an offer."
"Its worth a try," I said as I started preening my wings. "And then we have to find the other 4, which won't be easy at all."
"Why do you want to find the others anyway?" Vice asked.
"We where apparently made to help Ponies, and honestly Equestria needs a lot of help from what I've seen," I said. "If anypony can help Equestria, its us, at least I hope so."
"Well, that's as good a reason as any," Vice said as we got up and headed out of the room.
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So that's how we found ourselves in the lobby of the Double Diamond Casino for the second time in as many days. As we looked around we saw Crystal Belle dressed in a tiny dress serving drinks.
"Can I get you two..." the Unicorn said and her eyes went wide when she saw us. "What are you two doing here?"
"We're here to help you," Vice said. "You're never going to get out of debt with the Chairponies at this rate."
"If you can tell us where to find Lucky, we'll make sure that we get it done," I said. "Please Crystal, we just want to help."
"You're asking for trouble if you want to try and deal with Lucky," Crystal said and shook her head. "I know you want to help, but he's trouble, he might kill you, or worse you'll wind up like me."
I paused a little, I didn't have any real loyalty to Crystal, but I wanted to help her none the less. Still, I knew I had to do the right thing, and that meant helping Crystal.
"I insist, we want to help you," I said with a smile, Crystal took a deep breath.
"Okay Rain, I'll tell you where he is," she says and nods back towards the end of the room. "He's back there with his cronies."
"Thank you," I said and we headed into the back, there where a few ponies dressed in suits, the leader had two mares in skimpy outfits draped over him with a fedora on and a suit as he looked over at me. "Uh, Lucky right? I'm here to talk to you about a mare."
"Look kid, if you're looking for a mare to share your bed with you might want to talk to the Omaretas, that's more their thing," Lucky said.
"What? No, I'm here about Crystal Belle," I replied as I blushed heavily. "I want to talk to you about clearing away her debt."
"I see," Lucky said as he lit a cigar. "That Unicorn is the biggest draw of my casino, why should I just let her go like that? What could you possibly offer me in return?"
I honestly wasn't sure how to answer that question, I hadn't really given it much thought. There had to be something I could offer him, but what could I?
"What do you want in return?" I asked. "There has to be something you'd like."
Lucky took a long puff on his cigar as he thought on it, he put out the cigar before leaning back. "There is one thing, the only thing worth that much of debt, but its a tall order, are you up for it kid?"
"Alright, tell me what it is," I said. "I need her to.. .err..."
"You've got it bad huh?" He said with a smirk. "Alright kid, here's the deal. In the Lucky Horseshoe's basement there's a computer system that runs through it, its how Mr. Rider regulates everything see? If you can hack into that system and give me access to it, I'll let your little marefriend go."
"She's not my..." I tried to protest but the blush on my face told a different story. "Alright, I'll do it."
I just hoped I wasn't making a big mistake.
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"Are you crazy?" Vice asked. "You only got into the Lucky Horseshoe last time because Wind Rider wanted to talk to you, I don't think he'll just let you in easily."
He had a point, honestly I had no idea how I was going to get into the Lucky Horseshoe, its not like it was open to the public or something. Normally I'd have gone for a flight in order to clear my head, but that was pretty much out of the question with my wings still out of commission. I put the device that Lucky had given me in my bag to get ready.
I wondered if this was how Aunt Scootaloo felt, she had been grounded her whole life, though I wasn't sure if it was a magical problem.
"Honestly I don't know," I admitted. "He didn't give me any sort of deadline though, so I might be able to at least think it through a bit first. In the meantime, do you know of any Pegasi doctors here in New Pegasus?"
"Why do you... oh your wings," Vice said with a shrug. "Well, lets see, there's Saffron, she's not too far, why don't you see if she'll see you today?"
I nodded and Vice lead me towards one of the nearby buildings.
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We walked into the building as we went past a poster of Fluttershy that advertised something called the Ministry of Peace. When we came inside there was a bell ringing and a Pegasus mare trotted into the room, she was a rust colored mare with a dark red mane.
"What can I do for..." She started to say before she looked up at us and she stared in shock at the sight of me.
"This is getting really old..." I said with a groan. "Yes, I know I look like Rainbow Dash, its a really long story, I just need you to look at my wings is all."
"Figures, of all the ponies to walk in here," the mare said with a groan. "Are you sure there isn't another Doctor you could ask?"
"What's wrong?" Vice asked as he looked at the mare confused.
"My family has, history with her's," the doctor said. "My ancestor was Lightning Dust."
Oh, great another pony with a history with my mother, it felt like this was going to be happening a lot. Lightning Dust, I didn't remember much about her other than that she was a Pony who was a lot like mom, but had been a lot more reckless. Honestly I hadn't expected her to have a descendant in New Pegasus.
"There's not much point to denying it, my mother is, was Rainbow Dash," I said with a sigh, which got a look from the mare. "Its a really long story, but... I just need somepony to look at my wings, I can find somepony else."
"I'll, take a look at them," she said after a moment. "I'm a doctor, I shouldn't let that kind of thing get in my way."
I nodded and she gestured to a bed for me to sit on and I sat on it while Vice moved to the back to wait.
"So, exactly what's the problem?" She asked as she ran a device over my wings slowly. "Your wings look pretty normal to me."
"Its complicated," I said. "I spent years in magical stasis, since I left it I haven't been able to fly at all."
"Huh, I remember hearing Crystal Belle had a similar problem," she said and shrugged. "Really if that's the case there's nothing I can do for you, you'll just have to wait until they decide to start working again."
She took out a small device and checked my wings over just to be safe and shook her head. "Yeah, It looks like your magic is slowly returning, but its too early to tell."
"Well thanks anyway doc," I said and got to my hooves and paid her.
She nodded and I headed back outside with Vice, honestly that hadn't given me too many ideas, but I might have a plan.
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I looked up at the towering Lucky Horseshoe casino and took a deep breath as I trotted towards it.
"I'm guessing flying through a window is out of the question," I commented and Vice shook his head.
"The Securitrons would just shoot you down," Vice said. "Trust me, ponies have tried that one before. Well, maybe you can still get in, it depends on whether or not your authorization was removed."
I nodded and trotted up to the front door and tried not to look nervous at the pair of Securitrons guarding it. "Uh, hi, I'd like to get into the Casino again."
"You are not authorized to enter," the first Securitron said. "State your business."
"Uh, we're here to, take a look at the computer systems in the Casino," I said, it wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either."
"Yeah, there's some connection problems with the other Casinos so we're here to make sure that everything is working okay," Vice added. "I don't think Mr. Rider would like it if he lost his terminal connections."
"We will send a message to Mr. Rider," the second Securitron said and they stopped for a moment to send a message to their boss, we waited for a few tense moments before getting an answer. "Very well, Mr. Rider says you can enter."
"Thank you," I said and trotted forward with Vice close behind before I whispered to him. "How'd you know that would work?"
"Its been a problem in New Pegasus for a few years," Vice whispered back. "I heard some of Lucky's goons talking about it earlier."
"Well, thanks again," I said with a smile. "You're really coming in handy."
"You're welcome," Vice said with a smile as the doors opened for us and we went into the Lucky Horseshoe.
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"This is Windtalker here again with the news," the voice of Windtalker said over the radio as we started looking for the main terminal system. "There's reports of a new Pony in the city of New Pegasus who bears a striking resemblence to the infamous Rainbow Dash. Whether or not there is a connection with the minstry mare in charge of the Ministry of Awesome is unknown of course, but keep an eye out for her. There are a few more reports about the change of leadership in the Omaretas, it seems that Bluejay is claiming to have done it all on her own. Mr. Rider has yet to comment, but seeing as how the Securitrons aren't massing on the Tartarus Gate, it seems he doesn't care for the moment."
I stopped by one of the terminals and looked it over for a long moment. I wasn't quite sure what to do here, but I started working on it.
"So, why do you think Lucky wants access to Wind Rider's systems?" I asked as I started typing on the terminal. "Doesn't Lucky work for him as the head of one of the Three Families and all?"
"You know, I have no idea," Vice admitted. "Now that you mention it, it is kind of strange, but I'm sure whatever his reasons are they're good ones."
"Well, we'll just have to see I guess," I said as I kept working, it was password protected of course. "So, what's up with the third family? I haven't heard anything about them."
"Oh yeah, the Crystal Hoof Society," Vice said. "They usually keep to themselves except when you visit their Casino the Crystal Palace. Honestly I don't know a whole lot about them other than that they're made up of Unicorns."
"And the Chairponies are Earth Ponies right?" I asked, which got a nod from Vice. "So, that means each family is made up of one of the three main tribes, interesting."
"Yeah, are you any closer to getting this hacked?" Vice asked.
"I'm trying to figure out the... there we go," I said as I put the code in, figured really, it was HSALF, that was kind of a strange choice of passwords (was that even a word? It sounded, somehow familiar), but I wasn't going to complain. "Alright, lets see what we've got here."
When the screen came up, several options appeared on the screen:
RESTORE CONNECTION TO NEW PEGASUS SYSTEMS
WIND RIDER'S LOGS.
REPROGRAM SECURITRONS.
I checked the Terminal and found a port to connect the device that Lucky had given to me. Before I did that though, I selected the option to Restore the connection.
"Well, I guess if we don't then it would be suspicious," Vice said with a nod as the terminal started to go through screens showing parts of New Pegasus as the connection was restored. "Wait, what's that one?"
I blinked a little as I saw the screen, it showed part of the Tartarus Gate with Bluejay talking to some ponies in strange outfits that I didn't recognize, they looked like uniforms of some sort. I was about to say something when the screen changed again.
"That was weird," I said with a shrug, but there wasn't really anything we could do, the screen finally read "CONNECTION RESTORED."
"Well, that wasn't too hard," I said as I took out the device and connected it into the slot, I just had to hope that this was going to work.
"Yeah, nothing can go wrong now," Vice said, he just had to say that didn't he?
"Do you always tempt fate this much?" I asked, Vice just shrugged as the device did its work on the terminal and the systems. "Lets just hope that it doesn't get..."
"Well, well, Rain Runner, you're starting to become quite the annoyance," the voice of Wind Rider echoed around us. "Who sent you this time, Lucky? Glory? General Gavin maybe?"
"We're just here to fix the computer systems," I said, trying to sound calm. "This is just a misunderstanding."
"I see, well its a shame but I have to deal with you, Securitrons, eliminate the intruder," Wind Rider said and the security robots rolled forward.
This really, really wasn't my day.
"Did you really think I'd just sit back and let you hack into my systems?" Wind Rider asked as I drew my pistol and prepared to fight the Securitrons. "I told you that this is my city and nopony will take it from me."
"Look, I'm not here to take your city away!" I protested. "I'm just trying to free a friend from her debt."
"What problem do you even have with Rain?" Vice asked.
"What problem? Her mother ruined my life!" Wind Rider said angrily. "I was one of the greatest fliers of my time, then her mother came and ruined everything!"
"You ruined your own life!" I countered. "You decided to break the law to get my mother in trouble, she had nothing to do with that. What do you even have against my mother anyway?"
There was a long pause from the stallion before he finally gave an answer.
"I will tell you everything, if you listen better than your mother did," he said coldly. "Come up to my penthouse and leave your weapon behind."
I gulped, I didn't like this, but I didn't have much of a choice as we headed for the elevator to go upstairs.
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Once again I found myself looking at the computer screen that Wind Rider used to communicate with ponies. The still image looked at us coldly before he started to talk again.
"Of course you know part of my story already because of your mother," he said calmly. "But I'm sure you're not aware of the whole story."
Does he like hearing himself talk or something? This wasn't going to be fun at all.
"I said I'd listen and I'll listen," I said. "Whether or not I'll like what you have to say is another matter entirely."
The image didn't change, I wondered if it was just a frozen image on the screen instead of a live feed, but I was probably overthinking it. I sat down and listened to Wind Rider start to talk, whatever he had to say at least would buy us some time while whatever Lucky was up to was carried out.
"Years before the war, before your mother was even born, I was a young colt that had come to hero worship a member of the Wonderbolts named Summer Breeze," he said. "She was the best of them all, and held many speed records. I was just a young colt living in Las Pegasus, but I set out to join the Wonderbolts."
Summer Breeze... Summer Breeze... that name didn't sound familiar at all. I thought I knew all of the names of the Wonderbolts, but that didn't ring a bell as a member of the Wonderbolts, but somehow it seemed familiar. Vice just shrugged a bit.
"What happened to Summer Breeze?" I asked, I was genuinely curious at this point.
"A month before she retired her records where broken by some hotshot newbie," he said with a tone of spite in his voice. "I did my best to help cheer her up, but she was never the same, she retired forgotten. I swore to make sure that the same thing would never happen to me."
"Which is why you tried to frame my mother," I said with a growl. "She was threatening to do the same thing to you."
"All we have in this world is what legacy we leave behind to future generations," Wind Rider said coldly. "That's why I rebuilt my home city, New Pegasus is the shining light of the Equestrian Wasteland, that is my legacy, one that nopony can take from me."
Great, this guy was a nut, but I needed to make sure that I got out of this without being shot by one of those Securitrons. Had he really done all of this to build up his own legacy? That made a disturbing amount of sense actually.
"Then your mother survived by pure chance because she had broken her wing on a mission with the other Ministry Mares, so she wasn't there when the other Wonderbolts where massacred," Wind Rider continued, that I didn't know.
"Your story is, interesting," I said as I tried to sound polite. "But I don't see why you think everything is mom's fault. You didn't have to frame her just to get back at her, you could've accepted what happened and moved on with your life. Legacy isn't about what you do, its about what impact you have on ponies and how you're remembered."
I could practically feel the glare Wind Rider was directing at me, even though his image didn't change.
"What would Summer Breeze think of you if she could see you today?" I added. "It sounds to me like she went out with more dignity than you ever did."
"She died!" Wind Rider snapped. "Years after retirement, she died in an accident with her husband and son... the only surviving member of her family was her granddaughter, and I don't even know what happened to her."
I swear, I felt like I heard this somewhere before, did I know somepony growing up with that backstory? I swear, this was going to drive me crazy if I didn't think of it, but there was little point in dwelling on it now.
"Look, there's not much I can do to help you with your, problem," I said with a groan. "I feel for you, I really do, but it still sounds to me like it wasn't mom's fault."
"Get out of my Casino!" Wind Rider said. "I don't want to see your face in here again, and if you cause any trouble in my City, my Securitrons will deal with you."
I gulped a little at that, and I headed out with Vice without another comment.
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"Well, that went well..." Vice said sarcastically as we left the Lucky Horseshoe.
"Its not so bad, at least we got out of it alive," I said and glanced up at the towering casino for a long moment. "Though, I have to wonder why he made his home here, it seems a bit much."
"Who knows why he does anything," Vice said with a shrug. "He probably has some sort of reason."
I kinda wish I knew more about this city, this whole place felt strange, it was a truly alien place to me. I was having to improvise a lot, and Vice was going to be a lot of help since he was a lot more familiar with the city than I was.
"So, do you think that was enough for Lucky to do whatever he wanted done?" I asked, Vice just shrugged.
"We'll see I guess, I'm pretty sure it was," Vice said. "Just be careful, you don't want to stir up too much trouble around here."
"Hey, I'm not that bad, I'm sure we'll be fine," I said with a chuckle. "I'd rather avoid getting into trouble with the Secuiritrons anyway. Something about this city doesn't feel right, and I don't like it."
"Yeah, its, pretty much one of a kind, and not really in a good way," Vice said with a shake of his head. "Wind Rider keeps it alive, but it seems its more like for his own personal gain. What should we do?"
I paused for a long moment, there really wasn't much we could do at this point, New Pegasus had been around for a long time and there wasn't a lot we could do to change it. Right now I just wanted to get Crystal and the others together, if that was done then maybe we'd at least be able to figure something out.
No, we had to figure something out, Equestria needed healing and maybe we could work together to help it. After all, that was the original intention of Project Legacy wasn't it? We where going to help Equestria.
I just hoped that we could.
"Well, I guess we should get back to the Double Diamond then," Vice said. "And get your marefriend freed from the Chairponies."
Oh dear Celestia, he was never going to let me live that down was he?
"She's not my marefriend, at least not yet," I said with a blush on my face as we headed for the Double Diamond. "Do you think she'll go for me though?"
"I dunno, maybe," Vice said with a shrug. "I don't really know a lot about Pony relationships, especially those between two mares, but I say if you want give it a try."
I nodded, its not like I really had anything to lose by trying. But I'd worry about that later, for now I just wanted to make sure she was saved.
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We entered the Aces lounge where a group of ponies where on the stage singing and dancing. I looked around before I spotted Lucky seated at a table with other members of the Chairponies, he looked up as we trotted over.
"Well, well, if it's not the pony in love with Crystal," Lucky said with a smirk. "So, I assume you got what I wanted you to."
"I did, but there was a bit of a complication," I said and explained what happened to him, I just had to hope that he was going to be reasonable. "I did my best, but Mr. Rider may know what I did, that could be a problem for you."
"No matter, he won't know who was behind it," Lucky said as he took out a cigar and lit it, offering one to me.
"No thanks," I said with a shake of my head. "So exactly why did you want access to the Lucky Horseshoe's computers?"
"In this town, the only thing more valuable than caps is information," Lucky said. "And that particular piece of information is more valuable than what you can currently offer me. I'm sure you understand."
I looked at Vice and he just shrugged, it felt like we where being jerked around a bit here, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. For now, I was just going to wait and find out later, I didn't really have much of a choice anyway.
"Besides, our access is currently uninterrupted, you did good kid," Lucky said with a chuckle. "I might have to give you a job if you keep this up."
"Really I just want you to keep your end of the deal," I said. "I got you access to Mr. Rider's systems, so you wipe away Crystal's debt. Or do you want me to bring you a girl while we're at it?"
Lucky chuckled a little at that before he nodded to one of his goons who trotted off before he looked at me again. "Never let it be said that I'm not a Stallion of my word."
We waited for a few minutes before Crystal came up to us, she looked at me for a long moment before looking back at Lucky.
"Crystal, it seems that your friend here has bought your freedom," Lucky said as he put out his cigar. "Consider yourself fortunate, ponies normally don't get a break like that from me."
"You really did it?" Crystal asked as she looked at me and I nodded. "Why?"
"It was the right thing to do," I said with a smile. "Besides, Equestria needs all the help it can get. We need to work together and find the others, its why they made us isn't it?"
"Well, I suppose so," Crystal says with a shrug.
"Besides, she has..." Vice started to say and was stopped when I covered his mouth with my wing.
"Don't listen to him, its just what I said before," I said quickly, I wasn't ready to tell Crystal I had a crush on her, at least not yet.
"Uh, okay, I just need to go and get my stuff out of my room," Crystal said and we headed for the elevator.
I blushed a little when I realized I was occasionally looking at her flank.
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I looked around at the decor of the hallway in the Double Diamond Casino's upper levels, and I had to admit that it was pretty nice. While the paint and wallpaper was peeling in a few places, it was pretty nice as far as casinos went.
"So, you really think you can help Equestria huh?" Crystal called out from the bedroom area where she was packing her saddlebags.
"I do," I said as I examined the room curiously. "I think we all can if we can work together."
"Well, maybe," Crystal said. "But that's easier said than done, you're the only pony from Stable 112 I've met other than the ones in Maresprings. So basically you're going to have to start from square one."
"Yeah, I know," I said with a sigh, she was right of course and there wasn't really anything I could do about it. "I'm guessing we can't just stay here as a base of operations."
"Sorry Rain, but I only got this room as long as I was singing here," Crystal said as she trotted out of the room. She was now wearing saddlebags and a PipBuck that where colored white and purple with Rarity's three diamond cutie mark on them and a strange blocky gun in a holster with a similar design and color scheme. "So we'll have to find somewhere else."
"We'll manage," Vice said with a shrug. "The one good thing about New Pegasus is that there are plenty of places to stay."
"Well, there's always Stable 21 again," I said with a shrug and gave Crystal a nod. "Are you ready to go?"
Crystal took one more look around the room before she nodded. "Yeah, lets go," she said and we headed out the door.
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"Shattered remains of once great cities
These silent highways lead to halls of stone
Every horizon sees it closer now
I venture onwards into the unknown."
I couldn't help but smile as I listened to Crystal sing, her voice was amazing. It took me a moment to realize that she was singing the same song I had heard play on the radio, although the voice clearly wasn't the same.
"So why didn't you tell her that you're in love with her?" Vice asked me quietly. "It'll be obvious if she ever spots you staring at he flank."
"I don't stare at her flank that much..." I said blushing. "And I'll tell her when I'm ready, we just met, it would be kind of awkward to tell her now."
"If you say so, if I was you I'd just tell her," Vice said. "I mean with everything that's going on, isn't it better to just tell her?"
I paused a little at that as I tried to decide what to do, honestly I still wanted to wait before I told her. Besides, I didn't want to come across as some sort of weird fanpony when I was just trying to get all the ponies from Project Legacy together.
I took a deep breath, I was going to wait until the time was just right to tell her, for now I just wanted to enjoy her voice.
"So, Crystal, exactly how did you get into debt with the Chairponies?" I asked her as I trotted up to her.
"I have a bit of a gambling problem," she admitted rather sheepishly. "I took out some loans with the Chairponies and couldn't pay them back, so I wound up working for them as an entertainer and waitress."
She paused for a long moment, I honestly was trying to figure out what I thought of that. I suppose in a weird way it made sense, but I didn't really have a whole lot I could do about it, at least she was out of debt now.
"Thank you Rain, you really helped me out back there," Crystal said with a smile. "The way I see it, I owe you for that so I'll give you a hoof with your quest to find the others, wherever they are."
"You're welcome, and we're glad to have you along," I said and Vice nodded in agreement. "Is there anypony who might be able to help us find out what we need to know?"
"Well, you could try the Crystal Hoof Society," Crystal suggested. "They generally know a lot about that kind of thing, if you can get them to talk to us at least."
"Alright, that sounds like a plan," I said and made a note of it in my PipBuck, a marker came up on my EFS, it was starting to get late though, and my stomach growled. "Uh, anypony up for some dinner?"
Crystal laughed musically as we started walking down the strip again. It was nice to be able to relax after having gotten Crystal out of debt, we still had a long way to go, but it felt like we where finally making some real progress.
I didn't know what the future was going to hold for me tomorrow, but for now, we had a real chance to succeed at our mission. Crystal was just the first step, we'd find the other four soon.
At least I hoped so, we still had one heck of a mission ahead of us, but if we could help Equestria then it would be all worth it.
LEVEL UP!
Perk Received: Underworld Negotiator.
Details: You've shown skill in being able to negotiate with the seedier side of New Pegasus and its shadowy leader. You get a bonus to your Speech stat when interacting with certain ponies.
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Yay, done with this chapter too, I'm on a roll today.
So anyway next chapter Rain and Crystal start searchjing for information on more of the ponies from Project Legacy. However what they find out isn't going to be pleasant, as it turns out that Rain has been targetted by a strange pony with a mysterious agenda. Find out what's going on next time in, "Nighmtare."