Shimmer Glass waited an hour after her shift ended before leaving the kitchen.
Lady Luna didn't seem like any of her previous... employers, and the Sapphire Carousel was a far cry from her previous places of employment, but that didn't mean she could drop her guard. The girls she had met so far had been kind to her, but the clients... well, this place served a more respectable clientele, but then again, some of her worst memories had involved clients who wore very respectable masks.
Shimmer made her way down the hallway behind the rehearsal area that served as the main throughway between the various parts of the backstage. She smiled at a few of the girls who passed her by, thankful that none of them were accompanied at the moment. It looked like she had waited long enough to prevent being accosted by rowdy johns.
At least Lady Luna had guards to deal with those. If only her old pimp had thought to do the same, then...
Shimmer shook her head. It's not like any of them actually cared about her. In fact, despite the Lady's cold exterior, she was the only one who had actually seemed concerned about her well-being. Enough to create a position that would allow her to put her other skills to good use.
Her first day of work had been nothing short of a dream, if a very stressful and demanding one. Despite how harsh a taskmaster the head chef had been in the kitchen, it had been an incredible feeling to be praised in a way that didn't trigger the familiar twinge of shame that was her constant companion.
As Shimmer continued down the hallway towards the dorm where she and her son would be staying, she allowed herself a small smile. Things were finally looking up, and maybe it wouldn't be too bad to let herself hope a little.
She passed by one of the dressing rooms and heard a familiar rough voice come out from it. Curious, she peeked inside nearly on instinct.
Inside, she saw the guard from yesterday — Rainbow Dash, her name was — leaning against a wall with one arm raised high, in a pose that made her loom over a smaller girl what was mostly obscured from Shimmer's view, though she did see locks of rich purple hair behind the larger frame.
"C'mon, Rares." That voice dripped with arrogance and entitlement, and Shimmer froze at the sound of it as her brain locked down and warned her not to draw any attention to herself. "I saw the way you looked at me the other night when I threw that Svengallop creep out. You totally had the hots for me. So how about we find an empty room here and you can do some professional training with me, if you know what I mean."
Bile rose up in Shimmer Glass' throat as her panic switched modes and she hurried away from the door, barely avoiding breaking into a run as she desperately tried to get away before Rainbow Dash noticed her. She'd been a fool to fall for the luxurious trappings of this place, to hope for a new life where her worth could come from something other than her body.
Ths Sapphire Carousel had seemed too good to be true, and it was.
The guard had seemed gentle enough around her son, and she'd asked before taking one of her sandwiches, but Shimmer supposed that everyone acted more proper around their boss. A lesson that she'd learned time and time again was that a person's true character was revealed when you gave them power over someone.
And Rainbow Dash had just shown what kind of person she really was.
It was fine, she told herself. She'd come to this place expecting to sell her body to give her son a future. If this was the price of security, she'd pay it willingly.
But that didn't mean she wasn't going to avoid Rainbow Dash as best she could. She'd had enough of brutes taking what they wanted from her in her life, and she wasn't going to let the guard have her way with her if she could help it.
Rainbow Dash disgusted her, and she would stay away from her.