Northern Lights

A Small delicate pegisi mare trotted into the Tavern, she had a cold beauty about her. Like a snowflake. Her Birth name was Snow Shine, named after her Bright white Coat and her sky blue mane. She styled it in a way that it hung long and straight. Her beauty was contrasted by her cutie mark, It was just as lovely, but one had to wonder what a broken heart made of ice and pierced with an arrow meant.

These days she went by Night Shine.

Seating herself at the bar she let out a loud and shirking laugh, waiting for the bar tender to wait on her.

Shala usually got weird ponies lately. This one didn't seem to be an exception. The laugh was a bit unsettling but she had worse before. She approached the pegasis and gave her the usual dull look that said she didn't care.

"...What do you want?"

Night shine Smirked at the Bar pony, gazing at her threw lidded eyes. "I Would like, a Sex on the Beach" She over announced her vowels and her voice was high but not as screechy as her laugh. She barely even Looked at the pony, as if she was not worth her time.

"Make it to Pegisi standards, I don't want stallions having there way with me because you were to heavy hooved." She let out another of her streaking laughs before pretending to become very interested in inspecting her hoof. In reality she was watching Shala over the nail.

Shala stared at the pony for a few moments. Yep, this one is pretty crazy. Loooong night.

She wordlessly got the vodka, cranberry, orange and peach bottles together and began to mix her drink, not putting as much love into crafting it as she could. Once done, she wordlessly pushed the glass over in front of her before taking up a rag and polishing a glass. She was fine with ignoring the pony for now. She was probably a bitch anyhow.

Sipping at the drink Night Shine Made a few exaggerated faces of disgust before pushing the drink away and Turning her nose up. "I suppose I should have expected the cheap brands from a ratty place like this." She spoke loudly but to nobody in particular. Heaving her Chest in an exaggerated sigh.

"Tell me bar pony." Her red eyes stood out like drops of blood on her white body as she stared at Shala. "A Pegisi friend of mine lives here, She probably dropped buy trolling around for a stallion no doubt. Or mare, She doesn't really have a type." She snorted as if she thought that was the funniest thing and shoved the picture of young night at Shala.

Shala had delt with these kinds of ponies before in Manehattan. She had delt with a lot of them. She kept a poker face and kept polishing the glasses as her less than stellar drink was pushed away and given praise higher than she hoped for what she put in it.

Internally she sighed as her direct attention was called to. So she is looking for somepony. Great. One of those. She turned to look at the picture and hesitated. The mane was different, but she could not mistake the rest. She knew exactly who that pony was.

"...I may have seen this pony. She might have passed through here, though I'm a bit foggy on the memory." She said before turning her attention back to her glass polishing. She kept her poker face, but inside she was thinking about what kind of trouble Night might be in.

The Grin that crossed Night Shines Face was anything but Kind, it was the grin of a Pony that calls striking animals with lightning bolts fun. Placing Both hooves on the counter she leaned in as close as she could to Shala, without getting behind the counter. "Think real hard. Maybe she said where she works, Who she cares about, that Kind of thing."

"If you need help." her voice was sickly sweet now. "I would be happy to help!" With that she kicked over her drink, shattering the class and making quite the mess.

She let out the Laugh again. Before grinning and uttering a monotone "oops"

Shala managed to keep a poker face up until the shattering of the glass. She couldn't help but frown at that.

That was such a waste of alcohol...

She visibly sighed and looked up to this pegasis, now giving her her full attention. "You know, either your really stupid, or really desperate for some rough sexual attention. I haven't decided which yet. Could you help me with that?" She smirked and leaned forward on the counter.

"Oh, and if its the latter, sorry to disappoint you, but i think the other white pony with blue mane has a lot better looks going for her. Not to mention she plays nice music. I have a feeling you wouldn't be able to even fare well with a triangle."

Night Shine Lashed out with a hoof Aiming to Slap the insolence off her face.

"As If I would settle With bedding a Unicorn, You have NO passion, And as soon as I get out the crop you would start crying." Night Shine Nearly Screeched. Standing on the counter to lean over Shala.

"You have No idea Who you Just insulted you horn waving Slut! I am Night Shine, I have Tortured ponies to death for less Insult then what you just did."

Lowering her head She sneered at shala, her eyes now wide and her pupils madly small. "And all under dear Night Flares orders, yet you protect her!"

Shala barely managed to pull her head back in time to dodge the hoof swipe. Usually she would have taken it to the face, but on this occasion she was working, and thus not drinking.

While she was now VERY upset with this pony, she couldn't help but feel a bit excited. It had been a while since she had to deal with such a bitch of a pony. There was just some satisfaction to be had when dealing with them.

Taking a firm stance behind the counter, Shala raised an eyebrow and smirked. "I didn't know trees could grow that big, let alone be able to fit it so far up your flank." Shala noted her surroundings, and anything she could use to defend herself. The glasses, empty bottles, and some paint thinner disguised as vodka were the first few, though she hoped it would not get that bad.

"I must say, I am not sure who your talking about. But i did see a sign earlier that said 'lost dog'. I guess that was you wasn't it? The brothel will be happy to hear that you were found." Shala grinned a little more.

I'm so going to start a fight at this rate. I should call for the cops but this is too fun. Shala happen to be no stranger to combat. She was not exactly a fighter, but she had learned to bash heads enough to not be totally helpless in a bad situation. At least long enough for help to arrive or for her to get away. Then again, this pegasis was kind of small.

Screeching Night Shine stomped hooves and kicked over every stool within reach. "At least I have had something up my ass!" Picking up one of the downed stools she threw it at the Unicorn. "With your face I would think it was you going to a pleasure house. Not to work there mind, but Someone like you seems experienced in paying for sex."

Flapping her wings she hovered over to The bar pony her fist raised. "Night belongs to us! You will give her back!" With that the threw a punch at Shala.

Shala ducked enough to avoid the barstool, but she got hit by the punch across her face. A punch that actually got her laughing a little. The whole situation was just too funny to her. It was just too comical for her to take it seriously.

"Well, if that's that you think." She said taking a few steps back and rubbing her cheek. "Then I'm sorry to say i wouldn't even consider you for free. Or if you paid me."

Shala put her horn to use. She may not have used it much but this was rather fun. She picked up the nearest bar stool behind Shine and hurled it at her while she backed away. She quickly followed up by throwing an empty bottle at her from the side, hoping to tangle her wings. If she wanted to pick a fight behind the bar counter, Shala had plenty of things to throw at her that could get very sharp.

Shine Bucked it, not even looking. "Stupid Horn head, Always relying on your magic. But your Magic doesn't Work so great If your pretty little horn gets shattered!" Her Pupils were so small now, they were almost not there, One Eye had a Tick. "I once had a Unicorn, He lived a full three days After I cut it all off, Each day I cut another inch off. His screaming was so beautiful."

With every word she inched closer to Shala. Knocking away the larger projectiles but the smaller ones peppered her skin with scratches.

"I WANT TO HEAR YOU SCREAM!"

She shrieked, Lunging to tackle Shala.

Shala had to admit that while she had been in many bar fights before, this ponies deflection of the barstool got her to take her more seriously. This wasn't just another mad pony. This pony had been in scuffles before.

Her grin went away and she felt her adrenaline take hold. Her horn glowed as more glass objects started flying off the counters and shelves, many intentionally breaking before flying toward Shine.

There was no way she could dodge the tackle. The pegasis had the advantage of speed with her wings. She did what she thought best and charged right back at her, using her horn as a lance. Hopefully the both of them charging at each other would give her a nice start in drawing blood.

Shine Angled it so she would take The Horn to her mouth. Knocking out a few of her front teeth, but the way they shattered they were false teeth anyway. Blood ran out of her mouth, The horn had also gouged the roof of her mouth.

Night Shine braced her hooves on the ground dig in, while a good amount of spit and blood ran out of her mouth and around Shala's Horn.

Quickly, Shine Gripped Shala's horn between her molars hard, grinding her teeth. She was going to the dentist anyway.

Her body and Wings twanged Dully from the glass embedded in the wounds. Talking around Shala's horn Night Shine panted Heavily. "The Smell of blood only makes me want to here your scream more. YOUR MOVE HORNHEAD!" For all her strange dialect and squeaky voice she was very good at talking around something large in her mouth.

Shala couldn't help but feel a bit awkward. Sure it was a full on fight with blood being spilled, but to have another ponies mouth on your horn was reserved for more...intimate interactions.

Running her options through her head, she had to get a leg up because right now Shine had her by the horn (terrible). Shala did not want to give her time to get leverage to try and fulfill her threat of horn removal.

What she did next was a bit of a gamble. She pushed forward and reached both her hooves to try and grab her wings. While this put her in a terrible position to be flipped around by the horn, if she got a hold on her wings she could threaten to pull them forward enough to break them, hopefully.

Something about hearing that squeaky voice talking so terribly really irritated Shala even more. She really really hoped she won this fight so she could smash her face in. Some Manehattan justice would do her so well.

As Shala griped her wings Shine threw her chest against Shala's, so her wings wouldn't break. Gritting her teeth against Shala's horn she Raised a hoof as if to bash at Shalas skull.

A dark gray pegisi stallion advanced from the back wall, he had watched for some time. Slipping in during the fighting. His face held a look of a pony from Neighpon It was stoic and held little emotion.

He didn't even blink when His Hoof made contact with Shines Jaw. Flinging her into the wall and knocking down a few bottles. Shala's horn ripped threw her cheek, leaving quite the mess.

"You were to stay in Cloudsdale, you make to much drama." Sneering at Shala he advanced on Shine. "Playing in the trash."

"YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO FALL, I'M LEADER TO-" Shine was cut off when the pony struck her in the Jaw again.

Sighing he bent down to throw her over his back. "How will you win our sister back like that?"

Shala felt something pop in her head. It was easily one of the most physically unpleasant feelings she has ever felt. Her skull felt like it has cracked open, but the pain...it was all too intense.

She screamed and immediately collapsed in place, clutching her head as unspeakable horrors of furious pain burned through her horn. She flailed her hind legs around, smashing a few things in the process.

It took her a while before she could look through her tears of pain and up at her horn. The sight of it only traumatized her further. Her horn was bent, a few chips of it missing, and blood was coming down. It was terribly fractured.

Shala let out another wail of pain only now with more emotional than physical pain. She felt so many things. Fear, helplessness, anger, depression. It brought back her mind to the one fateful day that got her her cutie mark. The day she grew to hate clocks.

She mumbled and sobbed in pain to herself, speaking numbers and time. The ticking in her head was getting louder and old memories were stirring. It would be a while before she got up from behind the bar.

Night Fall Scoffed at the Unicorn, such weak things. Turning he left the bar, He would have to fly Shine to the next town over, He didn't want to risk taking her to the doctor her. Shaking herself awake Shine looked back in time to See the broken Unicorn.

Her Laugh was pained and caused her to spit up blood. "Who's going to screw you now, with your messed up horn!" She slurred as Fall left the bar.

Stopping outside Fall turned to her. "you have caused enough trouble, and now you are useless to me. Sister will never come back if she sees you." He griped one of her wings in his mouth and pulled it until it was dislocated. Shine let out a scream that could have been pain or pleasure, judging from the smile on her face as she passed out.

Taking off Fall flew in the direction of the nearest town. Shine knew the drill, she would make up a story about being mugged or worse, when asked about it. He would leave her where she would be found.

Shala hardly heard what words came from Shine, but she managed to make them out. In her mess of emotions and pain, she managed to somehow pull out a coherent steam of thought to build into words. Even with all the pain and trauma, she found herself incredibly furious and it fueled her to speak.

"Who's horn are you going to blow now loose lips!?! And DON'T you forget the name! Its TICKYCLOCK WOODS!" She screamed out after her. Moments later she succumbed to her pain and misery and fell back into her near catatonic state of mumbling the time and moaning in pain.

Later she would probably regret giving her birth name, but that was hardly on her mind in those moments of rage.

It must be something in the air here. Some kind of magical phenomena that warped all laws of probability to provide an outcome that let one in a hundred situations happen nine times out of ten.

Either way, Intel was walking down the street when he heard the screaming. It took several moments of surprise for his shocked brain to figure out it was Shala that was shouting. His legs reacted faster, already running to the scene when he made this realisation. When he arrived at the scene, all he saw was her stumbling in pain.

Without taking note of his surroundings, he rushed to Shala. "Oh, dear Celestia and Luna," he murmured as he leaned against her to try and steady her. "Shala, Shala, are you alright? Can you hear me?"

His eyes then rested on the pony's broken horn, causing another gasp from the noble pony.

What happened here?

Shala mumbled incoherently in reply. She felt weak in the hooves and was shaking terribly. It took her a few moments to get her eyes to focus.

The sight of Intel gave her a small relief, but she did not show it. Instead she sobbed and leaned into him, mumbling more numbers and other nonsense. Whatever happen here to her had traumatized her to far to even speak.

You know what? That doesn't matter. Not now.

"Come on. Come on. You're better than this," Intel tried, completely unsure of the effect, "No, you really are. We need to get you to a hospital." He paused to reflect on the reversal of the situation. "Don't worry, everything's okay for now. Um. I'm here? For what it's worth? Come on, say something, Sh- Tickyclock."

Wow, and I thought 'Intelligent' was-

Save it.

With a hesitant hoof, he started stroking the mare's mane.

Shala froze for a moment at the mention of her true name. It was hard to tell if she was more assured by it or upset as she stared at the floor. She seemed to page through memories and thoughts, not sure of how to take Intel's knowledge of her name before mumbling the time to herself again.

If any of her thought processes were working, alcohol was one of them. She wanted some right then and there. It stuck her like lightning. The sight of her loved Bacardi, untouched by all the destruction about her, made her stop groaning in pain for a moment. She instinctively tried to use her horn to pick it up but it resulted in the bottle nearly smashing into her and giving her a tremendous wave of pain.

Shala collapsed to the floor, her horn throbbing in pain. In the end, she had her bottle of Bacardi.

"Oh, fuck."

Part of Intel wanted to hate himself, but the rest of him couldn't think of a good enough reason to.

"Celestia damnit all!" he cried, looking around for anypony but finding none, "Did nopony else hear any of this? This sucks major..."

He started breathing consciously, trying to calm himself down. "Okay, then. Signalling spell. Emergency. Medical." His horn glowed, magicking a large signal above the tavern.

"Then, then- make sure victim stays alive," Intel choked, trying to stay composed. He knelt beside Shala, "Shala, Shala, keep awake. Please. I'm begging you," he pleaded, resting a hoof on her.