Twist sat at the bar and stared at her drink.  It was cheap, potent and one would often be enough to get the job done for most ponies.  That was her third and she still wasn't feeling the buzz.  Not that she'd felt much of a buzz on alcohol anyway.  Not since that night ten years ago.

She'd worn her best dress, a blue and white number that fit just so in just the right places in the hope of a proposition.  Twist had waited for about forty five minutes for Goldmane, son of crime boss Gladmane.  While she didn't approve of their business, Goldmane had never been anything but nice to her.  He'd paid attention to her when other colts had ignored her,  supported her when others doubted her.  So, in return she was extra nice to him.  So much so that when she got the test results back she was over the moon.  She'd even told him right away.

"You're Twist ain't cha," asked a large stallion with a busted face as he approached her table.

She'd seen this guy before.  He'd worked as Goldmane's bodyguard on occasion.  The thought of a monster like him being bossed around by her boyfriend made her moist but she didn't think anything more of it than that.  "Yes I am.  Is Goldmane alright?  He's running late."

"Sorry about that.  Goldmane had some business to take care of.  He sent me to take you home."

Perhaps it was the naivety of youth but with a smile and a nod she left the restaurant with the stallion.  She'd prattled on about this or that not that Twist could remember until they got to the coach in the alley way.  "Hey who's that," she'd asked when she saw the shadow in the coach.

Quicker than lightening the stallion cracked his hoof across her face and sent her world spinning.  Still she fought and hollered, not that anyone intervened.  They knew not to.

 He quickly restrained her and the other pony levitated a syringe and jammed it into her.  At first, Twist felt the sting of the puncture and then she felt a bliss unlike anything she'd ever felt before.  Her limbs grew heavy and the world faded away as did the urge to do much of anything.

She didn't know how many hours she was out.  However, when she came to and looked down at the blood on her dress the only thing she thought was that her, 'my dress is ruined.'  The world spun on a dime as she heard the big stallion mutter something from the shadows.  "You're gonna be in big trouble," she screamed, "I'm Goldmane's..."

"Not no more you ain't," said the stallion, "We took care of that.  You ain't havin' a ...."

"Baby," she'd said before crying herself unconscious again.

She woke up in the hospital after that.  The doctors explained what had happened.  They told her that she'd almost died and that she'd never have kids, whoever worked her over had seen to that.  The stallion however, had seen to something else.  She now had a hunger for something she shouldn't.  

At first it was just to keep the dreams of her covered in blood and the constant, 'I told you so,' she got from her family away.  Yet each time she shot up, each time she felt the world slip away she slipped further into it.  Eventually, when it became too obvious what she was doing they cut her off, but she didn't quit.  She just found other sources of income.

She pondered those sources as she sat at the bar.  The hush money, the stock options to go away, and the occasional tips for an expert performance.  She thought about it as she ran her hoof along the rim of the glass and sighed quietly to herself before she ran her other hoof over her track lines.  They itched.  

"Hey sorry I got held up," said a voice from behind her.

She reached into her bag and pulled out some cash and set it on the bar. "Stick it in and walk out."

"Cool," said the voice as she felt the slight change in weight.  "Hey be careful with that stuff okay?  I think the cut's a bit more pure than last time.  Seriously, it could kill you."

Twist didn't say a word to the courier as he took his money and split.  She looked into the bag and sighed.  "This town killed me long ago."