A Night at the Sprawl Bar and Grill

It was a busy night in Manehattan, ponies in the streets were taking down Hearthswarming decorations, gritting the roads and generally preparing for the coming new year. All amongst the typical hustle and bustle of the city as everyone else went about their business.

Meanwhile, down in one of the more dodgy areas of town, the Sprawl Bar and Grill was just as busy as the outside world but for a far different reason. Rather than taking down their Hearthswarming decorations like the rest of the city the Sprawl's workers found themselves playing host to a group of griffon mercenaries who had wandered into the area looking for some place to hang out over the holidays on the cheap along with their usual patrons. Waitresses barely kept up with the endless stream of orders as ponies and rowdy griffons called for drink after drink after drink, the cues for the bar's pool table had all been broken in fights over the last few days and tensions were high between the mercs and the regulars as they vied for the attention of the staff.

Amongst all the chaos one of the mercenaries sat apart from the rest, idly twirling a bottle cap between her fingers as she stared at the bottom of a beer bottle on the bar before her. She took a sip from the bottle and sighed. Despite the complete anarchy slowly unfolding all around and all the drinks she could possibly want just a few feet away from her... she was really bored.

(Into the fire.)

Shortly after, a unicorn in somewhat scorched but somewhat colorful clothing and a tired expression under the tattered matching hat walked on into the bar with a light grumble. Despite the hard mood he seemed to be in, he was seemingly deft enough to avoid bumping into anyone but still seemed annoyed at how rowdy the place was.

There was a lot of patience on his part however, waiting upon the counter and being miraculously tended to when he offered a big tip to go along with his order. He just wanted something cold and soothing, and once he got it, he moved away to a quieter spot the first chance he got.

The unicorn made his way over to the lone ladygriffon's table, but despite his rush to get there, he actually greeted her softly "Good evening..." and sat down gently to drink quietly and with relief... In his grasp, was a cold large wet coconut with a straw. Every slow gulp he took made it seem like it was bringing back life to his tired expression.

The unicorn would see a pair of dark green eyes look his way as the griffon looked up at him before leaning back in her seat, looking him up and down for a few moments. From what the unicorn could see she was wearing a brown, heavy looking leather jacket with a plain white shirt and some kind of metal gauntlet on her left ha-- no, wait, that was her hand. The griffon didn't say anything for a while as she continued to just look at him, her gaze focusing on the coconut in particular. After a couple more seconds of silent staring she finally spoke up. "Evening... Didn't even know they had any of those around here, place seems a bit too shitty for that kind of thing. So, weird coconut thing, outfit that looks like it was pretty flashy at some point; my guess is either you stole the outfit and then came into a bar to not drink for some reason or you're not from around this part of town... and you still walked into a bar to not drink which to me can only mean you're mad," She leaned in, holding her metal hand out and smiling, "So hello flashy looking crazy coconut guy, I'm Valkyrie. What's your name?"

The stallion chuckled weakly, and slowly offered a free gloved hand to shake with hers. He briefly thought something was odd about her grasp for a gauntlet, but did not pry on that, instead looking to her with chocolate brown eyes. "... Name's Sugary Market; And I know where I am." He took a long sip this time, gasping refreshingly. "Heard they normally use these to go with other drinks, but I just wanted good cheap juice... Especially after that scuffle earlier." He grumbled a bit. "Conflict of interest... I just finished a job capturing a rogue with a bounty. But then some other merc came by and fought me over it! I won the duel, but that was after I tailed the other guy all day..." He sighed again, and took another sip. "... How bout you? You doing okay yourself? Looking a little weary over there." The more he stared, the more concerned he got. Little did he know he was looking at one who did the beating to herself already.

Now that he was looking at her Sugary could see that the griffon had quite a few scars on and around her face the majority of which were mostly faded or covered by her feathers but there were a couple of scars on the right side of her face which were large enough that they were clearly visible and not likely to ever fade enough that they wouldn't be obvious. He would also be able to see slight signs of numerous small scratches on her beak that looked like she had tried to conceal them by polishing it though once again there was something no amount of work could conceal, this time coming in the form of a small chip. However despite all the scars and scratches she didn't even look past her early twenties, clearly someone who had seen far too much violence in her time.

"Heh, well Sugary, I'm sorry to hear that. Me, though? Well I'm just a little bored. Not really much going on around here unless you count some of the guys here probably making asses of themselves and smashing something over someone's head... again." Valkyrie looked over at a some of the mercenaries over at the bar arguing with some of the regulars before taking a swig of her beer, by the sounds of things someone made some remark about them being "a bunch of dumb fuck birds" or something to that effect and now things looked like they about to heat up. Valkyrie groaned and face palmed at the sight. "Case and point. I give that two minutes at most before one of those morons ends up in the hospital picking glass out of their face for the next week. It's been like this every night since we got here and I'm amazed no one's got themselves killed. Just last night a couple of guys glassed each other over some frigging peanuts. I'm all for a good bar fight but they were free peanuts." She shakes her head before continuing, "Well at least I'll probably have an excuse to punch some random dickwad in a few. That should be fun... though it does get samey the tenth night in a row."

Sugary chuckled more lively this time, looking around with a bit of caution this time to the rowdy crowd when more harsh insults got tossed. "At least I got paid. But It might be wise to avoid conflict here instead... Tension's rising fast all over. Might explode... I foresee great violence..." Maybe it was his connection to magic, but he seemed to have a sixth sense for danger. Or rather, he seemed very keen on who was the most likely to be hostile there; And every second the count rose. "So much for a calm day. I'd rather have a proper sparring match... What's your usual take on work by the way, Miss? Waiting for a chance to catch a big fish around here...?" He was genuinely curious about the griffon, wondering if she was just a drunk looking for trouble or really just that terribly bored.

Valkyrie snickered, barely holding back a laugh. "You foresee great violence, huh? Oh, I wonder what gave you that impression in this lovely establishment," she took another swig of beer, "On the work front, though I'm not planning on doing much while I'm here. I just came because no one else had a better idea. I don't really want to do anything very noticeable around here. Too much old crap I'd rather not dig up again..." She trailed off and just stared down at her beer for a moment. "Damn... that was a bit of a mood killer. Let's talk about something else instead, yeah?"

"I mean more than the usual rowdy bar, but I'm hoping I'm wrong..." He smirked at her, having been listening rather well despite the noise as his ears pointed towards her. "Sure, why not? How about you tell me what kind of job you prefer to do. I can't make any promises, but I might have a tip or two on places with more peaceful work than here..." He looked side to side and leaned in a bit more. "As in... Less competition, but okay rewards. Think I've had my fill of the city for a while if you catch my drift."

"Well I've just had my fill of this city. As I said I'm only here because no one had a better idea and by better I mean an idea that meant going literally anywhere else. There's no place like home... exactly why I don't want to be here any longer than I have to. Just go here every night, hope nothing happens happens beyond some broken chairs and faces then leave when everyone else finally gets bored and moves. That's my plan but right now it doesn't look like anyone else is sick of this city yet so I guess I will wait." She took a breath before downing the rest of her beer and dumping the empty bottle on the table, letting it roll towards the edge of the table only to end up teetering over the edge without actually falling. "At least they don't water down the beer I guess. That's one good thing about being here."

Once it reached the edge, he grabbed the bottle himself just to avoid needless garbage, but kept his focus on her. "Sounds like you're waiting for any excuse to just go already... I guess I misunderstood earlier, but you're under contract with a group here or what? Can't you just leave whenever? Also... Mind if I get you one of these?" He showed her the coconut he finished drinking, looking healthy, sober, and refreshed as the hollow fruit was still wet in his grasp. "I don't doubt you can handle beer, but it might be a good idea to wash down with something else, you know? Like this." The placed his hand to one side of the opening and ripped out a chunk with a very firm grip before lightly chewing on the fruit. He was a strong one to be sure. "Mm~... Crisp and fresh."

Valkyrie looked around the bar and pointed at all the other mercs around the place, almost all of whom were also griffons. "Well I think there's a kind of theme here that should answer the contract question. Though I tend to go off and do my own work so I don't spend much time around them." She smiles at him at him upon hearing his offer but shakes her head. "I don't know about that. Do I look like the kind of girl who drink out of a coco--" She stopped speaking abruptly as the sound of glass smashing could be heard.

It looked like the argument between some of the mercenaries and the regulars had escalated and one of the mercs had pinned a guy down on the bar while another waved a broken bottle around in their hapless victim's face.
"SAY THAT AGAIN! I DARE YOU, NO, I DOUBLE DARE YOU MOTHER FUCKER! SAY IT ONE MORE DAMN TIME!!" Rather than answer the Pegasus pinned to the bar just screamed and started squirming in an attempt to free himself as many others in the shot up in their seats or not so discreetly started reaching for bottles, ash trays and the like to hit someone with in the fight that was definitely going to happen now. Valkyrie simply started face desking as things escalated.
"What. did. I fucking. say? I. frigging. called it... uuuuuuuuuurgh."

Sugary, in turn, snorted as his own worries began to be proven right, the fight seemingly about to begin. He patiently remained in the seat he was in, having a bad feeling to just leaving Valkyrie be on her own... Not so much worried for her safety, but that she'd make things worse for herself getting too into the fight. He grasped his coconut rather firmly. "I advise retreat away from here... But I'll understand if you wanna back up your contract comrades. What'll it be, Miss?" From the sound of things, he was on no one's side except hers that night. Seems she made a chatter buddy who wanted to keep listening to her as he took a defensive posture even as he sat.

Having finished bashing her head on the table Valkyrie looked back up at Sugary, rubbing her head and wincing as she overdid her face desking. "Well... even if we did try to leave I doubt we'll just be able to walk on out." She said while nodding over to a group sitting near the front door who were all staring at the pair intently, waiting to see what they were going to do.

Meanwhile a crowd was forming around the bar, the bartender slinking off into the kitchen and locking the door as the crowd started to get more aggressive now things were kicking off. It wasn't long before punches started getting thrown around and the sounds of more glass breaking and cries of surprise, rage and pain filled the room as things quickly escalated into a full on brawl near the bar. The situation was becoming one of total anarchy as griffons and ponies just let themselves loose upon each other and more and more were joining the fray with each passing second. Soon the entire place would go from a crappy bar to little more than another mess in Manehattan as the brawl commenced.

Sugary minded the bunch subtly, assuming they were not too happy to see them talking together for whatever reason. "If we can't walk out, we could try running?" He suggested humorously yet seriously just before things escalated to a full-on fight all around. "Good grief!"

Of course, the first thing he had to deal with was one of Valkyrie's contract companions coming for him, rage and drunken stupor making him an unwilling target. But the attacking griffon was quickly met with a skull smack by coconut as he got up from his chair, sending the victim tumbling onto a nearby jukebox and hitting it... The mess had music to go with it at that moment...

"Sorry!?" He apologized towards her. Then, he saw another stallion going for her from the side, to which he responded by knocking them aside with the chair with a very firm grasp. "Hey, back off!!" Right there and then, he got tackled from both sides by a another griffon and a stallion alike, having just made an enemy out of both sides... He looked like he could handle them as he grappled them with his arms and legs, but he'd likely need her help now in his tired state.

Immediately Valkyrie sprung into action, practically jumping off her chair as she ran around the table to help Sugary, beer bottle in hand. The stallion grappling with him got the worst of it as he turned to face her having heard her coming only to have the bottle smashed over his head, the blow sending him reeling back with bits of glass sticking out of his muzzle as Valkyrie moved onto the griffon, delivering a heavy kick to the side of his head and knocking him out cold as he slumped onto the floor beside Sugary. Valkyrie then reached out to give Sugary a helping hand and was before the stallion came back for more, punching her in the arm... a decision he immediately regretted. As the blow connected a metallic clang and the distinct cracking sound of bones breaking could be heard before Valkyrie's assailant started screaming and clutching his hand, the hit not even visibly fazing the griffon as she immediately turned and punched him square in the face with the same arm, dropping him like a bag of hammers. "What a dick. Did no one ever teach him it's rude to hit a girl?" She said with a chuckle as she turned back to help Sugary up like she was earlier, it was clear that she enjoyed that last part quite a lot.

Sugary accepted the help and got back up on his hooves, looking at Valkyries arm more curiously. "Thanks. That's a really good set of armor you got there. Oh, watch out!" Just then, he deflected a beam of magic coming at them onto a nearby assailant before he glared in the direction it came from. "Oi! Use magic responsibly, you ass! THIS is how you do it right!" Now he was getting into it, charging up for a shot of magic of his own as a small sonic wave meant to knock out a foe hit the other on the head. He then flinched and looked to her as he put his fists up. "Agh...! Dangit, this is not how I wanted to relax. Think we can still make it out in once piece?" As he asked, he got tackled again, but this time he was ready and forced the attacker onto the table and twisted his arm. "I'm open to ideas, Miss...!" The crowd around them grew ever more aggressive and would likely swarm them at any moment.

"Uhhh armour, yeah, let's go with that." Valkyrie looked a little awkward for a moment before ducking out of the way of a thrown ashtray and flipping the table for the pair to hide behind, the sound of a series of thuds and smashes following soon after as more objects were thrown while Valkyrie started crouching behind the table. "I don't know! Let's just beat the shit out of anyone that's stupid enough to fuck with us. That usually works! Beyond that I got no-- Oh shit!" Valkyrie quickly rolled out from behind the table not a moment too soon as a pair of griffons carrying the Pegasus from the bar came running through, easily knocking it out of their way. Holding the pegasus above their heads the griffons charged past Sugary and straight for the window and throwing the helpless stallion through the thin sheet glass into the street, leaving him bloodied and unconscious by the side of the road as the pair of griffs high fived and cheered about their triumph right before running right on back into the fray as Valkyrie got back up. "Well I guess if you wanna go we could just go that way." She said, pointing at the broken window.

He ducked as prompted, kicking the pinned one on the table out of the way to keep him away as well while the others ran by. Though he looked a bit sorry for the bartender. "Not exactly my preferred style of exit, but it'll do... First though... HA!!" With a quick charge and a stomp empowered by magic, he sent out a force shockwave ahead of them to knock everyone between them and the window off balance and out of the way. "Now or never! Hit anyone on he way out if you must!" He led the way, kicking a couple who tried to get up and take a swing at him while being hit with a few things being tossed about instead before he jumped out. "Ow...!"

Once he was out, he hoped the fight would not follow them if she made it, being wary of the nearby body looking beaten. "Good grief..."

Valkyrie took a couple of seconds to look back at the massive fight that was now in full swing before following Sugary out the window and only briefly stopping to whack some random mare in the jaw as she passed by before jumping through the remains of the window. Flying straight over Sugary, Valkyrie instead landed right on top of the unfortunate pegasus who, up until that point, looked like he might have been about to wake up. She patted the unconscious stallion before quickly jumping back up off of him. "Well, all things considered that went pretty well. I guess at this point we get a taxi or something," She looked over her shoulder at Sugary, "So do you have some place near here you were planning on going back to or something? If you don't have anywhere... you know, I have a room at a less crappy motel around here I was staying at. I guess you could stay with me for the night... If that's what you want." She turned around to face him properly now and luckily for the both of them it seemed the bar fight was actually staying in the bar for now.

He looked up to her as he brushed himself off, clothes lightly falling apart a bit more from the scuffle. "I do have a place of my own, but it's farther out the city limits..." He smiled a little. "I wouldn't mind staying with you if you let me though. Plus... We did have our talk interrupted." He flinched lightly as a bottle smashed nearby being tossed from within the bar. "And I fear more interruptions if we stay, so we should skedaddle..."

"Yeah, I'd rather not get pelted with something through a window. It's just a couple of blocks away, follow me." Valkyrie started walking down the street, not even paying the unconscious pegasus on the ground any attention and she started making her way back to the motel she was staying at.

As he walked calmly by her side, he sighed wistfully. "At least we get peace and quiet now... So! You never did quite answer what kind of jobs and places you prefer to be at. Course, I understand if you'd rather tell me when we can sit and relax..." He looked to her legs, knowing she was already drunk and expecting her to have some off balance, though he'd only offer to help her walk if she really needed it.

"I'd rather wait if it's all the same to you. Shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes to walk there anyway." Valkyrie had no trouble walking along the street towards the motel. All things considered she hadn't had time to really get that drunk at the bar. There wasn't really anyone on the side of the street as the pair for now as the vast majority of folk stuck to the other side of the street to avoid going near the bar fight, leaving their path pretty clear for a good part of their journey.

Since the was no hurry on the topic of his questions, he moved to something else as they made their way instead. "In that case, allow me one indulgence... You got a lot of brass with how you handled yourself back there." He smirked at her. "Taking on locals and your own troops, and now we have peace and quiet to ourselves. You're certainly making a strong impression for this traveler." If his jovial tone of voice was any indication, he meant it in a good way. Valkyrie had been an interesting meet so far to him.

Valkyrie was gradually picking up the pace, wanting to get back to her room as soon as possible rather than just wandering around outside. "Well they'll probably be too drunk to remember in the morning and if the do they'll remember that they came at us first. Nothing happened back there that wasn't totally deserved in my opinion." By now they would just be able to make out a large, flickering neon sign coming up in the distance and though it would be impossible to make out any words it was clear even at a distance that the sign appeared to be a bright pink flamingo.