//------------------------------//
// The Plan 
// Story: The Contract 
// by -Mazer 
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	“How dare he?” Rarity snarled. She had been pacing within the confines of her hotel suite. While she had originally been impressed with the luxury of the room she had been presented, it was a fleeting emotion. Any positive feelings the room could provide were thrown aside the moment she reflected upon this afternoon’s meeting. “He sends his goons to spy on me, flies me halfway across the world, makes me wait in his stuffy lobby, only to tell me that I’m worthless?” She stomped her hoof against the carpeted floor. “I will show him that Rarity is a force to be reckoned with!” 
Normally Rarity would take some time to relax before starting a new project but she was just too irritated to bother. She grabbed her saddle bag and stormed out of the hotel.
“Madam,” her chauffeur - a black-furred panther who bared a striking resemblance to Bagheera – bowed his head. He was standing outside of one of the fancy horseless carriages she had seen from Baloo’s airplane. The “automobile” along with its driver were both given to Rarity by Khan himself. While he did not hold any faith in her abilities, he was not above giving her a chance to prove herself. Ergo, he had the bits she had brought along converted to Cape Suzette’s currency – pieces of green paper called ‘dollars’ – while also providing her the hotel suite and chauffeur. 
“Take me to the fashion district.” She snorted while climbing into the backseat of the automobile. She sat herself back against the cushioned chair while the panther bounded into the driver’s seat. With a lurch, the automobile pulled into the paved roads of Cape Suzette while Rarity fumed in silence.
It did not take long for the sights and sounds of Cape Suzette to distract Rarity from her irritation. She could not get over the various different species of animal that resided within the city. Everything from alligators to antelopes, from boars to lions; she had never experienced such diversity! Back home, every creature had their own city. It was not by choice but just by design. Certain species lived in specific regions of Equestria thus they tended to stick to the territories to which they were accustomed. But not here.
“Madam,” the panther’s voice cut through her thoughts. “We’re closing in on the fashion district.” He gestured with a single claw. She looked through the window and gasped. 
“By Celestia’s mane,” she whistled. “It is marvelous! I daresay that this rivals Manehatten in its extravagance!”
“Let me know if you see something that catches your eye.” He offered.
“Oh yes, of course!” She pressed her hooves to the window while staring at the bright white storefronts. They all had large, brightly-lit windows that displayed their wares; everything from beautiful red evening gowns to seductive, low cut black dresses. Rarity examined the display windows carefully before a sense of dread began to settle in the pit of her stomach. “Excuse me, but I am not seeing any stores that cater to ponies.”
The driver was quiet for several seconds before stating; “There are not many ponies who live in Cape Suzette.” He was quiet for a couple of seconds more then added, “In fact, I think you’re the first I’ve met.”
Her jaw nearly hit the floor. “What?”
He shrugged. “I’m sorry, Madam.”
“But how could Khan expect me to sell dresses to ponies if there aren’t any ponies to purchase them!” She narrowed her eyes. “He is setting me up to fail, isn’t it? He wants to see me squirm, to admit defeat!” She began to grind her teeth together. “This is just a sick game to him, isn’t it?” A cold, sly smile slithered across her lips. “Very well. I’ll play his game.” She looked back to the driver. “Where did that bear work again?” She frowned. “It had a silly name. Something that rhymed.”
“Are you talking about Baloo?” the driver asked.
“Yes, him.”
“Higher for Hire.” He offered.
She blinked. “How did you know that?”
“Mister Khan uses them all the time for special deliveries. Baloo may be uncouth but he never fails a delivery.”
Rarity’s grin became that much more devious. “Perfect. Higher for Hire, please. The faster we get there, the better.”
“Yes Ma’am.”
The driver did as he was instructed and within mere minutes they were pulling up along the side of Higher for Hire. Not surprisingly, the office was as scruffy as the pilot who worked there. Rarity thanked her driver, letting him know that he was free to do whatever he wished for the rest of the night, before approaching the front door. She was about to knock when she noticed that the door was opened a crack. Cautiously, she poked her head into the office.
“Hello?” she whispered, trying to adjust to the darkness. “Is anyone here?”
Nothing.
A brief’s moment of concentration was all Rarity needed to illuminate her horn. Carefully she crept into the filthy office, trying her best not to trip over the open boxes or sheet of paper. She could not believe just how messy this establishment was. Could it be that Baloo the Bear ran it himself? She wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case. Who in the right mind other than that oaf of a bear would keep a business so filthy?
“No, no, no,” Rarity whispered. “This will not do. This will not do at all.” She peaked around. No sign of anyone in the office. “Alright, Rarity, let’s get to work.” She began picking up the papers off the ground, using her magic to levitate, organize, and stack them into very neat piles. Once they were back in order, she set them down amongst the empty bookshelves. Next came the boxes which she neatly disassembled. She found some spare twine and used it to tie the cardboard up. Once the cardboard had been stacked in a corner, she made her way to what she could only assume was a desk, if one could see it underneath the stacks and stacks of papers, blue-prints, and binders. Humming to herself, she began to lift the mess off of the desk, organizing them one at a time until all that was left was a pile of newspapers. Using her magic, she pulled them up off the desk…
Revealing a female bear who seemed to have fallen asleep under the mess! Rarity gasped in surprise, stumbling backwards. “Oh my!”
The bear snorted awake. “Huh?” She clumsily patted her paw across the desk until she found her alarm clock. She stared at it with glazed-over eyes. “What time is it, Baloo?”
“Uhm,” Rarity cleared her throat. “Baloo, uhm, is not here…”
“Of course he isn’t.” The bear sighed. She stretched her slender front legs over her head, cracking her elbows and her back at the same time. “And who are you?” she sighed while yawning.
“Oh, yes,” Rarity cleared her throat. “My name is Rarity and I am here for a business proposition.”
“Business?” The bear’s eyes suddenly snapped into focus. She shoved herself out of her chair, walking on all fours towards Rarity. She was a lot smaller than the other bears Rarity had seen, and a lot more slender too. She wore a red jacket with blue slacks and kept her hair in a tight bun. Although she couldn’t be older than her early thirties, the stress lines near her eyes could have made her seem like she were in her forties. She still was rather lovely though, for a bear that is. “What kind of business are we talking about? Do you have some cargo that needs to be delivered? Or do you need to be flown somewhere important?” She offered her paw to Rarity who shook it. “I am Rebecca Cunningham and I am the owner of Higher for Hire. I’ll be more than happy to relieve you of your money,” she coughed. “I mean, your deliveries.”
Rarity chuckled. As a small business owner herself, she understood the stress that Rebecca must go through on a daily basis. “I am actually looking for Baloo, you see…”
“Becky,” a familiar voice called from the outside. “Whose limo is that outside?” the voice laughed. “Don’t tell me you finally got a date to the prom.” Baloo kicked the front door in and sauntered into the office. “Oh, well lookie what we have here.” He grinned. “Rarity, right? What are you doing here at this time of the night?”
“A better question, mister,” Rebecca snapped. “Is where have you been? We have a crate of cracked coconuts that need to go to Cucamonga tomorrow morning a I don’t need you sleeping through your alarm again!”
“Relax Beckers. I was just out getting us some chow.” Baloo dug into his flight jacket and pulled out two wrapped burritos. He tossed one to Rebecca who was barely able to catch it. She glared daggers at Baloo but her tone eased down a bit. “Thank you, Baloo.”
“Anytime.” He flopped his wide bottom into an armchair and used his claws to peel back the burrito’s wrapper like a banana. The chair groaned under his weight. “So  what’s up Rarity?” He took a quick bite from his snack and continued talking with a mouthful of food. “Tired of Sphere Hans Afeady?”
“Swallow your food, Baloo,” Rebecca groaned.
Baloo did as he was told. He wiped his mouth with the back of his paw. “Anyway, like I was saying; tired of Shere Khan already?”
Rebecca blinked. “Shere Khan?” She looked to Rarity. “What do you have to do with Khan.” She blinked a second time. “Wait, who cleaned up my office?”
“I did.” Rarity admitted.
“How?”
“With my magic.” She explained.
“Huh.” Rebecca looked to Baloo who shrugged. “You can use magic?”
“Why yes.” Rarity paused then frowned. “Oh, I am sorry. I forget that you are not accustomed to ponies here.” She pointed her hoof towards her horn. “As a unicorn, I am able to use magic. I am sure it must come as a surprise to you both…”
“Naw,” Baloo shook his head.
“Not really,” Rebecca agreed. “We’ve seen it all. Ghost pirates, giant squids, air pirates.”
Baloo snapped his claws. “Don’t forget robots and killer pandas.
“Yeah, robots and pandas.” Rebecca shrugged. “We’re not really surprised by anything anymore.” She whistled. “Not a bad job you did, though. I really appreciate it.” She unwrapped her burrito. “So what can we do for you? You said you wanted to talk to Baloo?”
“I did.” Rarity cleared her throat. “It has come to my attention that Mister Khan doesn’t really want to hire me for anything but that he flew me all this way just to humiliate me.”
“Yeah,” Baloo nodded. “He does that.”
“But why?”
“He has a very low opinion on small business,” Rebecca explained. “He uses them when he must, but most of the time he tries to bankrupt them. He cannot tolerate any competition, no matter how small.”
“We’ve had our run-ins with him,” Baloo commented. “But he’s decided to leave us alone now.” He grinned. “As the best pilot who has ever lived, Khany would be a fool to get rid of my plane.”
“Nevertheless,” Rarity interjected. “I do not tolerate being made a fool of.” She looked to Baloo. “He has challenged me to make an outfit that proves that I am worthy of his time although it has become apparent that ponies are in very short supply in your city hence I am unable to properly model off my clothes. There is no point in trying to sell something when there is no pony around to buy it.”
“Makes sense,” Rebecca agreed. “I must say I am impressed with your business sense.”
“I run a boutique of my own back at home.” Rarity smiled with pride. “Now, I shall not retreat from this challenge with my tail between my legs. Neigh! As such, I have decided to take the one creature I know and transform him from a slob into a gentleman. Once Khan and his board members see what I am capable of, they will have no choice but to reconsider their opinion of me.”
Baloo snickered. “Not a bad idea, lady, but who are you going to get at this hour of the night?"
Rarity batted her eyelashes towards him. "Why Baloo, I thought you'd never ask..."