Chapter 2:
The Rose Deluxe:
The Rose Deluxe. A huge isolated building located in the middle of Ivy Street, the most popular strip in New Neighington, filled to the brim with drunken college students, the occasional stag do, and the local drug dealer on the search for any party hungry suspect willing to fork over 15 plus bits for some shit gear. The building itself was quite impressive, surrounding the sides hung pink neon-colored lights that made the white bricked building stand out on its own, as a huge cocktail glass figure hung in front of the building, with a single rose hanging out of it.
Just like Lightning said, you can’t miss it.
It was, without a doubt, the most popular location amongst the nightlife seeking ponies looking for a cheap but fun night out. Cheap entry; cheap drinks; cheap girls. Everything a stag do or a couple of lads (And the occasional Mare) could ever want and more.
“Wow…” I said to herself in amazement. “Why doesn’t it surprise me that it’s a fucking strip club?” I chuckled, shaking my head. It’s Lightning Dust, I reminded myself. It’s fucking Lightning Dust I was talking to.
Walking up to the front of the building, a lengthy line could be seen hugging the wall as the concussion inducing blasts of music could be heard and felt vibrating through the floors and walls, as the semi-drunk ponies looked at each other in confusion as they all yelled “What!?” while others just nodded and laughed, pretending that they heard the other pony as they swayed on the spot.
I chuckled at the display in front of me. Walking up to the front door, the bouncer looked at me in confusion before holding out a hoof to stop me in my tracks. “Who are you, missy?” He said in a gruff tone.
“I’m here to see a mare called Lightning Dust. The name is Rainbow Dash.” I said calmly.
He looked at me for a second more, before moving his outstretched hoof over to his walkie-talkie. “Hey, there’s a mare here called Rainbow Dash looking for Lightning. Should I let her through?” There was a brief pause. “Understood.” He said.
“You can head on in Miss. Go straight to the left and you’ll find a ‘Staff’ door, just head on through.” He finished as he held open the door for me.
“Cheers big guy.” I said as I walked straight in. The sounds of ponies complaining at my instant entry soon fading out as the door closed behind me.
What hit me almost immediately was the smell. The thick scent of sex, booze, and sweat were familiar and almost homely to a street mare like me. Coco owned a few establishments like this back in Las Pegasus, but they never had the popularity or budget like the Rose Deluxe, I could see that the moment I saw the building. This probably had a responsible team behind it. Unlike the ponies Coco probably employed to run hers. Low class; low area; low everything. Not something to write home about.
I turned left and saw the ‘Staff’ door immediately, another guard posted outside. Our eyes meet, and he opened the door for me immediately as I walked on past, to be instantly greeted with numerous ponies sitting down on ripped coaches drinking whiskey or mixed vodka, as busy employees hurried through door-to-door. A red-coated mare with a spikey black and navy blue mane saw me, nodded, and pointed to the stairs to her right.
I walked on past, mindful of my own space as I walked up the stairs, the flashing lights of the dance floor pulsating of the walls. Lightning must be upstairs in the V.I.P section drinking her socks off.
Typical.
I rounded the corner and I was immediately blasted with loud music and the same old smell I smelt downstairs. This place was everything I could have imagined. Ponies upon ponies were dancing wildly on the dance floor below, ponies lined the bars longer than the eyes could see, as stallions tried valiantly to pick up some mares with sweet rose-covered lies; some succeeding, others not so much.
I look to my right, and across I could see Lightning’s golden mane shine out like a fire in the dark, before making my way over, passing numerous ponies who wobbled around me or just straight up into me. I chuckled. Been there. Done that.
Lightening saw me and called me over. “Rainbow, you made it!” She shouted as she laughed loudly, leaning back against the sofa as her cocktail swayed, held afloat by an outstretched wing.
“Now this is a sight I haven’t seen in years!” I laughed as I sat down next to her. “Pissed with a drink in your wing; by Celestia how I’ve missed that.” Fuelling the infamous back-and-forth banter me and Lightening shared.
Lightening put her drink onto the glass table in front of her, before turning to look me in the eyes. “I’m glad you could make it Rainbow, you made the right choice, trust me.” She turned to the side and shouted at a Pony who barely looked like she could stand. “Hey, Sapphire! Get Rainbow here a drink.” She looked at me for a moment, before turning back. “A lighthouse! Get her a lighthouse!”
The mare looked at Lightning for a moment, nodded, and then stumbled off to the bar right behind her.
Lightning chuckled. “Drunk bitch.” She said with a shake of the head.
“Thanks for the drink, but I’ve barely got enough money as it is. I can’t afford to get drunk, my landlord is a bitch Unicorn who thinks she’s a fucking queen.” It stung to say, but I’m dead broke, living off instant noodles with a kettle that barely boils water properly, not something one would consider ‘fine dining’.
“Don’t worry about it, Rainbow. This drinks on me.” Lightning said as she shook my shoulder. “I want to talk about what you’ll be getting yourself into if you’re still serious about joining the gang. I’ve already put in a word about you to Mythic Aura, who runs the East block.”
“I was under the impression you run the East block.”
“Me?” Lightening laughed loudly. “No, I run this place!” She extended her hooves around her. “This is my domain. All the business here is done through me. Drugs, booze, hookers, everything. I’ve made it far for the few years I’ve been here, but I ain’t in the big big leagues yet.”
I was shocked. How the hell did Lightening become the boss of The Crimson Serpents' most profitable night club? That’s some serious power right there. And if my experience is anything to go by, I would bet she runs a few more than just this one.
“Here’s the drunken bitch!” Lightning suddenly shouted, and even I struggled to hold in laughter at the sight of the state this Mare was in as she handed Lightning her Lighthouse, which was nowhere near as full as it should be, most likely staining the carpet behind her or she mistook it for her own and started to drink it. I don’t know, nothing would surprise me after looking at this wreck of a Mare.
Even Lightning took note of how empty the drink was, before handing it to me with a shrug of her shoulders. “No more drinking for you, Sapphire. Go get some water down your neck and head off home, you’re done.” Sapphire nodded absentmindedly, before turning around and falling straight into the bar behind her.
Lightning just shook her head and laughed. “I don’t think that’s just alcohol. She’ll be picked up in a minute anyway, she works her.” She turned back to me. “Don’t get me wrong, she’s good for a laugh, but that little missy gets into more trouble than she’s worth, but I keep her around. She’s popular with the…” She coughed. “Let’s say, the ‘older’ clients. She does the jobs no other Pony here wants to do, by choice or not.”
“Now!” Lightning continued before I could get in a say edgewise. ”Drink up, we’ve got business to discuss.”
I continued to look at Sapphire as security tried picking her up off the floor. Lightning was right, that wasn’t just alcohol. Despite her barely looking awake, her eyes themselves were as wide as sources. Ecstasy, cocaine, I would guess one of the two. Cocaine probably.
As Sapphire was helped up off the floor, she started to push the security away and swear audibly over the blaring music. Definitely Cocaine. You can’t get mad at somebody robbing your own house on Ecstasy, makes you feel like you can be everyponies friend. On Cocaine, however, makes you feel like you could beat everypony up with your hooves tied together and your eyes blindfolded.
I shook my head and sipped my drink. Been there. Done that.
“I’m gonna be honest with you Rainbow, the jobs you’ll be doing is basic shit. Doing deliveries, picking up money that’s owed, racking up bags and weighing them, all that shit a high-schooler can do, but Mythic doesn’t know if he can trust you yet, even with me vouching for you.”
Lightning looked me in the eyes. “I know you’ve been there and done that, we all have. But trust me, the sooner you do this, in 2 or 3 months you’ll be by my side running shit, you’ve just got to show Mythic you can get stuff done.”
I laughed in sheer disbelief. “What is this bullshit! Why can’t I just join you right now? I don’t want to do this boring shit that would barely earn me some pocket change if I’m lucky. You run this joint and probably a lot more, I would bet you have more power than Mythic himself!” I couldn’t believe it, getting degraded to doing jobs like this.
Sure, I got caught doing a delivery, but that was to a fellow crime lord himself, handing over the best China White Heroin that money can buy.
“Don’t bite me Rainbow, I’m doing the best I can. And trust me on something.” She leaned over to me and stared into my eyes. “Don’t. Fuck. With. Mythic. Trust me on that Rainbow. Otherwise, he’ll send one of his boys over and you can say goodbye to those pretty little wings of yours as he skins them off.”
I can’t believe it. Fear. I can see pure fear in Lightning’s eyes.
Noted.
Lightning leaned back into her seat and sighed. “Listen Rainbow, just think it over. We’ll meet up back here and talk about it in a weeks’ time, gives you plenty of time to figure things out.” Lightning downed the rest of her drink with a single swig. “I know that you’re pissed, but it’s the right thing to do. And before you know it, you’ll be by my side running this joint, earning stacks that can’t help but fell out your pockets.” She laughed.
I shook my head and began downing my drink. Doing basic lackey shit was boring and cheap and there’s always the looming threat of getting jumped or caught, but the good side was that you’re not on any Police watch list that Ponies like Lightning and Mythic were probably on, and had to be careful with the moves they made in public.
The higher jobs you get more money and more freedom, but only behind closed doors. With the jobs I’ll be doing, I get less money but more freedom to do what I want in public, without the fear of a pig watching me from behind a corner.
Only the Ponies that run shit get the perks of both. They own everyone. And for the ponies they didn’t? They owned the Ponies who did.
I sighed. “Ye, I’ll think about it and get back to you on that one.”
“What are you doing for money, anyway?” Lightning asked with a cocked eyebrow. “I doubt many places would hire an ex-criminal like yourself.”
I chuckled. “I work as a packer in a warehouse, packing up boxes day in and day out. And when I get home to my apartment, I do some extra cleaning for my bitch of a landlord.” I could feel it in my stomach. Pure embarrassment. I can feel it coming. Any second now Lightning’s gonna laugh her ass off.
To my surprise, she didn’t. “More reason to take up my offer. And don’t worry, I’m not gonna laugh at you, I had to do the same thing when moving here. There’s no shame in earning a living, Rainbow.”
I couldn’t believe it. What the fuck happened to Lightning?
“Enough of this talk, listen here.” She grabbed my shoulders and pulled me close. “Down that drink, get to the bar, and order us some Celestia-damned drinks!” She laughed loudly. “Oh, and just say Lightning sent you. Time to drink the night away, Rainbow!”
I got up and began my walk to the bar. Lightning’s changed, but I’m no fool. I’ve been in this game for years, and I know Ponies, and I know Lightning. Ponies like that don’t change so drastically, with no sign of who they used to be, and especially not in this game. There was no cockiness, no ego, and she showed something I never thought she would.
Sympathy.
It just didn’t add up. The way the Ponies back in the cell moved out the way and avoided eye contact, the casual mocking when talking about my deal gone wrong, the way she didn’t get up and help Sapphire, but sat and laughed. The way she acts just doesn’t add up with the way she talks to me.
Maybe I’m being too paranoid and she has changed. But I’ll wait. I’ll bide my time, see how she acts, how she moves. I’d be a fool to trust her. You’re a fool to trust anyone in this game. And I am no fool.
“Two lighthouses. Lightning sent me.” I added. The bartender moved, no hesitation, but quick, almost hasty movements. I chuckled.
Something’s wrong. I’ll figure it out, but for now, let’s enjoy the night.
End of Chapter 2: