The slums of Manehattan were never a place for civilized folk. The air, the surroundings, it all screamed out. Wanting more victims to hold with its clutches. Never wanting to let go as the city made you its own plaything. Keeping you locked away from the world outside. A blanket of smoke wrapping around you as it dragged you to the very pits of Tartarus.

"Well, that's how most of the ponies described it at least." He laughed. "Those ponies were posh snobs anyways, even if a little dirt gets under their hooves, it's like Tirek himself rose from the dead to end the world." He shuffled in his seat when he finished speaking.

Looking to the mare in front of him, he noticed her uneasy gaze. The corners of her hot pink eyes brought up in an attempt to smile. Her coat a light brown while her mane was an auburn red. The candlelight of the shop flickering and making the shadows of her soft features dance across her body.

"So, what can I do for a young mare like yourself?" He asked in a low tone. His voice echoing slightly through his dimly lit shop. Items hanging from the ceiling by thick ropes, no shelves in sight.

"My husband–" she stopped herself, looking to the floor as she did so.

"Husband?" He hummed. "Issues in bed? Can't get it up?" He asked.

Her eyes widened as her face flushed a deep red. "W–What? No! It's–"

He coughed, interrupting her before she went any further. "Sorry, that was a bad joke on my behalf." He said solemnly. "You noticed him looking at other mares more than he would you?"

She didn't answer.

"Jealousy is a leading factor to why most mares, married or otherwise, visit my shop." He gave a light chuckle. "It isn't uncommon, and never a bad thing to be jealous, it can show that your truly love him, but you feel like that love isn't being showed back."

Tears began to fall from her eyes as she continued to stare at the floor. Her body shivering as she choked on the lump in her throat.

He sighed, closing his eyes as he brought a hand up to his face. Dragging it down until it ran over his chin, letting it drop back down to his side. He gave another sigh before he spoke. "And that's why I am here. To help make everything better."

Reaching over the desk he brought the mare's head up. Making her gaze meet his own.

"Do you know the price of what I am selling?"

She shook her head.

"Not a single Bit, I don't want your money. What I want is your word. A promise. A favor." He gave a smile. "Nothing sexual, not that sort of favor. Just your word that you'll do one that I want you to do when the time comes. You can either come to me, or you can wait until I come to you. It depends on when you feel ready or not."

"W-What would I need to do?"

"Nothing sexual, illegal, or anything you wouldn't want to do. Those are my rules. All you have to do, is put your hoof in my hand, and shake, then I give you what you want and I get something in return."

He brought his hand back from her chin, but held it in front of her. "Now. Do we have a deal?"

She raised her hoof, but hesitated to let him take it.

"With my help. You won't have to fear about your husband leaving you. He'll never want to take his eyes off of you ever again."

She hesitated once more before letting her hoof rest in the palm of his hand, his fingers wrapping around it. She then began to shake her entire body. Her mane whipping back and forth as she did so.

The laughter that came from him boomed and echoed, feeling as if it were about to shake the shop to the ground.

She stopped shaking. Looking back up at the strange creature.

"No no no, like this." He lifted her hoof upwards, than let it drop back down. "That's a shake."

"Oh," she blushed once more. Repeating the motion as she lifted his hand and let it drop.

Letting go of her hoof, he leaned back in his chair. "There will be a necklace hanging from the ceiling to the left of the door. Take it, but don't put it on until you are with you loved one. Do you understand?"

She nodded. A smile on her face as she fiddled with her hooves.

"Go on then, and watch out. Ponies around here are dangerous, especially to pretty mares like yourself."

She giggled as she got up from her seat, nearly tripping over her own hooves as she trotted to the door. Looking up and to the left, she spotted the necklace he spoke about. The necklace itself was made from gold and shaped to form a number of flowers linked together by the petals. A single dark pink gem studded the central flower, the candle's light making the gem sparkle and shine as if the night sky itself was trapped inside.

She stood on her hind hooves and plucked the flowers from the rope with ease. Looking back to the creature at his desk, she took the necklace in her hoof. "Would it be rude to ask what you are before I leave?"

He chuckled. "No. Do you want to know?"

She nodded in reply.

"I am human, just like you."

An eyebrow on her face rose while the other fell. "But I'm a pony."

"We are both thinking, feeling beings. We both have wants and dreams. That makes you just as much a human as I am, and me just as much as a pony as you are." He rose from his seat, his face becoming blocked by the seemingly infinite items that hung from the ceiling, spreading his arms outwards as he spoke. "Family in nothing but the connections we share as two kindred souls living in this world, trying to make our dreams come true before we lose the chance."

He sat back down. "Now go on. Go be happy for the both of us."

She smiled. Bowing her head before leaving the shop, the door opening and closing with a small jingle.

As the silence began to retake the room, he smiled. Grinning as laughter began to rumble from the back of his throat.

"Now all I do is wait," he said as he quieted down. His laughter dying as fast as it came. "True happiness is something you earn. Coming to me for happiness was the biggest mistake you could have ever made."

Leaning back in his chair, he kicked his feet up onto the desk. Sighing as he relaxed and began to drift into the land of dreams. Hoping to get a visit from a certain princess.

"Maybe I can strike up a deal with her as well," he mumbled before a weak chuckle escaped from him. "Maybe some day."

As he fell asleep, the candle flickered and whipped violently. An offending light trying to snuff it out. And in the blink of an eye, the shop went dark. The world disappearing entirely as the light died and he fell asleep.

Author's Note

Well, my first attempt at a drama. Let me know how it turns out.