A Trip to the Lady (un)Luck Casino

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1: New Hires
Chapter 2: Established Staff
Chapter3: Novo's First Show
Chapter 4: High Society Patrons
Chapter 5: Another New Hire, and a Little Fun
VIP Visitors
Pink Planning

Prologue

Author's Note

This is based on the Lady (un)Luck Casino series by Blue64, the story is inspired by the art series but is not the official story of the series, for that you will have to follow the art.

Prologue

Sphinx looked over the earnings and expense reports with a predatory smile, her sharp teeth glistened just a moment before her laughter filled the office causing her buxom bust to shake in her legless leotard with gold trimming along the top of the bustline. Her maroon fur seemed a bit shinier than usual, and her tail twitched about in approval. Her chair and desk were composed of a noticeably gleaming mahogany, and styled with gold ink-paint to have quite a few desert images, which gave the office a distinct look. According to the reports, the casino’s expenses were almost a third of the revenue generated by the establishment. It seems far more visitors were willing to put themselves in debt than are willing to admit to such. Looking over to the next set of papers, she sighed, another list of applicants to look over. Despite the fantastic income and competitive pay, several employees on the floor kept filing for their service time before the end of their first month, she was sure she didn’t put that much stress on her employees. Now she had to find a half dozen new employees, maybe more, by month’s end.

Everyone called her Sphinx, even her closet employees, and she was fine with that. The sphinx race habitually allowed itself to be referred to by its race due to their general solitary nature, especially in regards to others of their own race, a fact very few were even aware of, even the so-called most learned scholars were generally unaware of the fact. Did she have a proper name? Yes, was she going to share it with anyone? Only if they proved worthy to know the fact. To date, only about a dozen individuals had earned the right to know her proper name, and only 1 was currently living last time she checked. Sphinx reinvented herself every few decades, a habit of most of her race, due to her race’s generally long lifespan. Due to their unique mystic properties, sphinxes had average lifespans measured in centuries. How old was Sphinx herself? It’s considered quite rude to ask a female her age, especially particularly long-lived ones.

There were a few applicants, but the ones that caught Sphinx’s attention the most were a demure yellow pegasus named Fluttershy and a reserved gray earth pony named Marble Pie. Chances were very likely their applications were either a result of coercion from someone trying to break them out of their shells or a joke by a third party. Fluttershy would make for an excellent waitstaff, her natural flying ability would enable her to get to patrons on the upper levels more effectively. Marble Pie would probably do better as a card dealer, maybe poker or Twenty-One (better known as Blackjack by some) to start things off. Sphinx had started Umbra out on poker, the mare had begun flourishing surprisingly fast and well, probably had something to do with her elitist attitude that had mellowed a bit into a haughty but respectful manner these days.

While confident ladies were usually good for business reasons, ladies who are a bit more reserved would probably attract more business, as well. Sphinx herself was confident, she had to be as the Casino’s owner and primary manager. Yes, having ladies that are naturally a bit more...submissive would work out well for business. Now, she just had to arrange interviews, face to face meetings always helped.

The casino also needed some non-gambling entertainment, Queen Novo of the sea ponies offered her services, as well as those of her daughter, as entertainment. A lot of the floorspace would have to have pools and fountains built into them, possibly with some kind of light show that could be programmed and adjusted. Sphinx, naturally, accepted the offer and began renovation plans for the entire Casino. It wouldn’t do to have her star performers be unable to reach most of the public spaces on the main floor, Sphinx was making sure there were water passageways for her aquatic stars. If the two had a way to navigate without the need for the watery passageways, all the better, but Sphinx liked to make sure all her employees had some measure of comfort.

Chapter 1: New Hires

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Chapter 2: Established Staff

Umbra groaned as she put on her so-called uniform and made her way out to do her job. She had once been the terribly feared King Sombra, but one poorly worded bet with that Sphinx had effectively turned her into the creature’s indentured servant. She had been locked into a binding magical contract, one only she and her employer could see marked on both her arms and legs, she had even found the mark flashing on her face a few times, this meant severing whichever limbs the mark showed up on from herself would be fruitless on the best of days.

Way back, a few centuries ago, when King Sombra ruled over the crystal city known as the Crystal Empire, King Sombra had the physique of a conqueror, his magic was as toned as his own masculine muscles. He ruled over his domain with an iron fist, he took the whole nation by force because Sombra had believed, and proved (in his mind at least), he could make everything more efficient. Then the day came that day, that wretched day when the alicorns of the sun and moon intervened against him and cast him into the shadows. He tried to curse the land to be lost with him, but that accursed Princess Luna had already thought ahead and littered the city in runes to ward Sombra’s magic away, she had perfectly disguised herself with her own magic and discreetly hidden the wards for what must have been days or weeks before she and her sister, that accursed queen known as Celestia, made their official appearance and cast him into the shadows.

Since cursing all his subjects was turned into a non-option, Sombra used what was left of his magic to shift his shattered remains to the Umbral Crystal Cavern, the place he had obtained his dark magic powers. It would take decades to bring his powers up to fighting form, maybe almost as long as he ruled to get up to full force. He was keeping near the cavern, it helped accelerate the regaining at his power. That’s when he met...HER. The entity known as Sphinx had a Pegasus, which Sombra later learned was named Somnambula, with her and Sphinx made Sombra an offer, one he found far too enticing for his own good.

The two of them would play a game, with Somnambula playing the part of a neutral party due to restrictions and rules that were forced upon her by Sphinx sometime prior to this meeting. The wagers were simple, Sphinx would give Sombra even greater power than he knew before with her ancient racial magics if she were to lose the game and Sombra would be placed into a new life as her subordinate for much longer than he was willing to put his plans on hold if he should lose. The game was simple, a version of the game was often played by foals when he was young, Temple of the Quiz, a game where each player would ask random questions on a subject given by the scorekeeper, who also happened to be the game’s judge. Somnambula was well-suited to the role, she had a vested interest in Sphinx losing because it meant she would be freed of her obligations to the entity. But Somnambula also had no commitment to Sombra’s victory because she knew quite well what he would do with the power he would gain after achieving success. A judge that desires none of the players to be the victor was always the best choice, in Sombra’s opinion. The game ran for almost 3 days, both players catching each other off guard with their knowledge of a variety of subjects quite a few times. But Sombra faltered 5 times first, those who fail to properly answer 5 questions in the game lose.

And what did Sombra get for his loss? His perfect male form transformed into the figure of a mare harlot, in his opinion, and renamed Ms. Umbra! And worst of all, as Umbra, she was forbidden from ever acting on plans of vengeance, revenge, and conquest. She was to be Sphinx’s loyal little mare, with clearly significant assets. When Las Pegasus was going up, it was Umbra that suggested they persuade the town to legalize gambling and start their own little establishment to take advantage of it all. Sphinx liked the idea a little too much, she took things a bit too far for Umbra’s tastes, at least Somnambula agreed with her on that front. They managed to convince the town to put legalized gambling in its own charter, thus significantly increasing the difficulty of legally shutting down institutions like gambling houses and casinos. Then they started the first casino in modern history, the Dry Luck Bar and Casino. Sphinx had coined the phrase for the establishment, at least she was the one credited with instituting it. After a few decades, they shut down the place after making it look like newer businesses were doing a better job of eating into their revenue than they were, what some would call business fraud today, but nobody could prove it. Then they puttered around the country experiencing its delights and sights for a few decades before returning to Las Pegasus, now a den of gambling and games, and raised the Desert Oasis Casino.

The establishment was erected on almost the exact same site as its predecessor that started the whole trend. Of course, Umbra wasn’t happy about being made to do a job she had thought was behind her now. And even less happy with her so-called employer deciding her bosom needed to be a bit more buxom then unilaterally making her a bit more busty by the rising of the sun the next day. What did being buxomer have to do with working in a casino? Other than draw more attention from degenerate stallions, and a few envious mares.

Now Umbra had to get to work, as card dealer no less. Umbra was quite capable of the duty. And much to her own chagrin, she actually liked being a dealer, especially when it was games like Poker or 21. She still waited for the day Sphinx lost one of her wagers, it would mean she would be free to do as she pleased, maybe even be back to being a stallion again. She actually had a few outfits intended for stallions in her wardrobe for the occasion, but most of her attire was for her clearly mare body, Umbra’s HHH-Cup bust made it very clear to her she was stuck as a mare for an extended time.

She went over to her wardrobe and grabbed a light purple dress, strapless and backless with a bit of a furry top in part for her bosom, and pulled it on up. As she was pulling it up Umbra remembered she needed her bra, she floated one her strapless bras (she really wasn’t paying attention to which one, they were all the same to her) over and secured it with her magic before bringing the rest to where it was secured on her body. She huffed as she put on her card suit-themed collar, Umbra was ordered to wear it at all times when she was on card duty (which was almost every day she was working on the floor, or just overseeing things as the official one in charge of card games on the casino floors). After making sure she was presentable, something she barely did as a stallion (a ruler should project their authority regardless of their appearance), Umbra was out the door and making sure her room was secured, that was practice drilled into her by various experiences leading up to this time.

Umbra made sure she had all her attire on, then made her way down to the main floor, she was the one in charge of all card games in the casino, and today she was supposed to be training one of the new hires, Marble Pie. Sure everyone thought they knew the rules, but the house rules for any establishment meant the rules weren’t the same as what you did with your friends around a table in your spare time. Since she knew all the shortcuts, it pays to have been one of the ponies responsible for designing the layout, Umbra was on the floor in half the time it would take someone else to get there. She found Marble Pie, in her black shirt (that allowed ample showing off her bosom without constricting her chest) with a jacket adorned with playing card diamonds and black miniskirt with a slit on the left side with a yellow belt adorned with yellow roses on the sides and fishnet stockings and black high heeled shoes, standing confused at the main poker table, there were 5 total poker tables around the floor, looking more than a bit confused, in addition to looking apprehensive. The table was closed to players, the velvet ropes all about it were littered with signs stating it was being used for staff training. Umbra sauntered up to the mare and introduced herself, she also told the gray mare that she would be training her.

Looking Marble over, Umbra gave a small nod of approval, the gray mare definitely had an attractive figure, the kind Umbra would have liked to keep close if she were still a stallion. Like most earth ponies, Marble Pie had a bountiful bosom, a delightful E-Cup in this case. Chances were Sphinx would decide to ‘enhance’ a few of Marble’s assets, so there was a good chance Marble would have a noticeably larger bosom by this time next week. Umbra didn’t mind others having their assets altered all that much, she just despised it when it happened to her, the process kept reminding her of her own failings from when she took Sphinx’s wager and lost.

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While Umbra was doing her thing, Chrysalis was doing her morning routine. She hated how she had not only been tricked into service for Sphinx, but she had also been tricked into having her entire hive also be under the maroon monster’s employ. Chrysalis thought it would be an easy win, she had always considered herself the master of subtlety. She challenged Sphinx to a game, a game changeling princesses are forced to play in their youth called Capture the Crown, a card game that’s so old that it predates Equestria. Sphinx had said it was no fun without proper stakes for Chrysalis as well and made the agreement that if Chrysalis won then she and her hive would get the casino and everything it brought in but if Sphinx won then Chrysalis and her hive would be in her service for a minimum of six centuries. Chrysalis made the bet a month after the casino went up, that was a little over five years ago.

Capture the Crown had always been an easy win for Chrysalis, she had bested all of her siblings and a few of the long-established queens before she was even twenty years of age. Somehow all of that didn’t matter; Chrysalis lost 3 of 5 games before it was even noon that day. She lost each game in under an hour despite having a long track record of making each game she played have a minimum of three hours. Chrysalis's sound defeat resulted in her being a subordinate of Sphinx and basically delegating most of what was going on in the casino. Now, her hive was barely more than waitstaff and security.

Speaking of waiting on patrons, Chrysalis had to train one of the new hires, Fluttershy, on how to be a proper waitress at the casino. This was going to be a long day, she was probably going to down a lot of honey wine (also known historically as Mead, but the casino and lounge called it Honey Wine because it sounded a bit more refined, she wasn’t going to argue against that) before the day was through. Chrysalis liked her Honey Wine extra sweet (it felt like she was drinking the emotions she liked to feed on most, love and passion, although passion without love had a bit more of a spicy kick to it in her opinion).

She made her way down to the main floor and encountered the yellow pegasus, she was just as buxom as she had been when she had been dragged through that door, for now. Sphinx made it a habit of ‘enhancing’ the bosoms and rears of those under her employ, but that usually didn’t start happening until the third or fourth day, this was technically Fluttershy’s first day. Chrysalis didn’t mind getting bustier, it was quite the opposite for her. While others felt annoyed at getting buxomer, Chrysalis reveled in it. She got a serious buzz out of it. She had even felt herself get wet a few times from the experience of having her bosom modified by magic that is not of changeling origin. Fluttershy was already an oddity among pegasi. Most pegasi didn’t get any bustier than a lower D-Cup but usually had their bosom size between an A-Cup and CC-Cup, Fluttershy had a naturally grown an upper F-Cup bosom.

Chrysalis subconsciously licked her lips for a second, she couldn’t wait to play with the pegasus’s bosom. Something she was allowed to do but only in specific parts of the grounds, and definitely not on the floor, not without being requested to put on that kind of show by patrons beforehand. For whatever reason, Sphinx liked Chrysalis's kinky tendencies, so she let the changeling queen get away with a few things she probably should be able to.

“Alright,” said Chrysalis as she came up next to Fluttershy in her new waitress outfit, which the yellow mare was feeling a little embarrassed in, given it was a legless leotard with an open back and plenty of space for displaying cleavage through it open back strapless design it was somewhat understandable some would be uncomfortable in it. “You are currently set to be waitstaff, that’s my jurisdiction, you might be trusted with other duties as your employment continues, but for now, it will be your job to wait on patrons to the best of your abilities, if they like you then they might give you a tip. When it comes to tips you want chips more than straight cash, if they tip you with bits, then the boss lady will demand a cut, but if they tip with chips that means the establishment is paying in the tips and the boss is using whatever cuts she’s taking from proceeds around the establishment to pay you, it’s a good deal.”

“Um, okay,” said Fluttershy shyly, “so, how will my training start?”

“Most of the early patrons you see here are actually members of the staff I have jurisdiction over going about to influence the patrons' decisions that come onto the floor. While the establishment is technically open at all hours, the game floor has strict hours on when game officiators can be active. Anyway, your task is to go about to everyone here and do a basic duty run with at least a dozen of them and return to me and report everything you did and was requested of you.”

Fluttershy just nodded demurely and started trotting off, almost falling over a few times because she wasn’t used to trotting about in footwear with elevated heels, and Tartarus, did they make her legs and plot look enticing! Fluttershy did her best to do as instructed and came back almost twenty minutes later and gave her report. Chrysalis just stared at her with a professional serious look.

When Fluttershy finished her report, Chrysalis had her voice take on a serious tone and said, “Slow,” the pegasus looked at her confused, “you did everything right, but you did it too slow. Anyone of the waitstaff should be able to do everything you did in 5 minutes, you took 4 times as is expected of the staff. Also, your report took too long; if you can’t sum it up in 5 words or less, then you need to work on being concise.”

“You kind of sounded like Rainbow Dash for a moment,” said Fluttershy in her reserved voice, “she’s very obsessed with speed, of course, she’s also trying to get into the…”

“Stop right there,” said Chrysalis as she held her hand up in a stopping motion, “that sort of talk isn’t suitable for the floor, save those sort of conversational pieces for the lounge and your private quarters. That sort of idle chitchat doesn’t have any right to be on the floor if you are not a patron or customer,” she fixed the pegasus with a stern look and firm voice, “Is that clear?”

“Yes,” said Fluttershy hurriedly as she snapped to attention.

“Good,” said Chrysalis, “now go out and practice your duties again, and try to keep everything under seven minutes, if it’s something that will run longer than that you are to report to me and state what it is that’s needed, same holds true with anything you are confused on.”

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Celano chuckled to herself as she wiped down the bar portion, she always seemed to be behind it these days. The parrot was in a sleeveless, sparkly sequestered dress with a rather large cleavage window, Sphinx’s orders, she was also wearing her usual green elbow-length arm sleeves that stopped just shy of the wrist. Celano didn’t mind, her white feathers usually got well-complimented by the sparkly outfits, and now she had company, Queen Novo, the seapony that was the casino’s new live entertainment was sitting on the small stage with part of her tail in the pool that was now part of the lounge going through some voice exercises. The seapony was already pretty busty, and chances were she would be getting buxomer by the week’s end. Celano was rather busty herself; she was currently sporting a GG-Cup bosom. Celano had been part of the Buccaneer Bar, a pirate-themed bar and grill that had gone under five or six years ago. Celano just told Sphinx as long as she was able to handle the alcohol and mix drinks, she was happy with whatever duties she had. Celano was made the head of alcohol sales. She had a unique eye for spotting the best quality drinks, regardless of their nature, alcoholic, non-alcoholic, pseudo-alcoholic, Celano was able to spot the quality of the drink at barely more than a glance.

Celano was from a family that had a long legacy of working with beverages, some cases being less than legal. As a bit of an in-joke for the family, Celano was given the exact same name as a confirmed pirate in the family. The joke was that while her namesake did clearly illegal acts, Celano herself was the most strict in following the law, mostly the law’s wording. Celano herself was a bit a rebel; she had numerous cases of skirting the lines of code on the legal side of things that she could conclusively claim. All her actions were legal, even if many of them were advised against by actual law enforcement.

Celano just looked over and enjoyed the view, Queen Novo was wearing a seawater-themed bikini top. Chances were Novo had many more similar outfit pieces in her wardrobe. Celano was the kind of lady that liked observe other ladies; she also liked ‘inspecting’ guys that passed through. It was an open secret among the established staff, and quickly learned by newer employees, that Celano was a semi-open bisexual. Queen Novo was one of the latest new hires, and the current point of fixation for Celano herself.

Another point about Celano, one that only Sphinx seemed knew currently, was that Celano had a degree in Psychoanalysis and was a licensed sexual therapist, basically she was licensed to help others with their sexual problems, be they confused about their orientation or nature of their fetishes. Anyone coming to her about “fixing” what they thought was sexually wrong with another individual was never the kind of job she would accept. Celano was all about helping others open up and come to acceptances about themselves, she was of the mind that telling others what they should be like was a waste of energy and resources. Her employer, Sphinx, was in agreement on that front, she even had few bylines in Celano’s contract that Celano would take over as the company mental consultant when the need arose.

Celano thought back to Chrysalis, that bug was a raving pansexual, it seemed her sexual orientation changed at least a dozen times a day most days, probably to be expected when your race can literally alter its form. Umbra was dealing with her own issues, mostly what seemed to be conflicting ideas about what is to be expected of mares and stallions, Umbra's mindset was incredibly outdated at times, and she seemed to have lapses every now and then to that outdated mode of thinking. Sphinx herself was a mystery, mostly due to her age and tendency to effectively reinvent herself every few decades or centuries. Nailing down Sphinx from a psychoanalytic standpoint was a host of issues in and of itself, a proper analysis of her could probably make the careers of folks in a few dozen different fields. Then there was the head of security, Somnambula, she was the closest dead ringer for the historical figure Celano had ever seen, if it weren’t for the vastly different periods of time between when Somnambula lived and the modern era, Celano would swear the two were the same pony. Somnambula was strict, stern, very career-minded, but warm and friendly when off the clock or taking a break in the lounge. Umbra, Somnambula, Chrysalis, and Sphinx were challenging to get proper reads on most of the time, they spent a lot of time keeping more secrets than they shared.

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Somnambula looked around the security room. It never ceased to impress her how this one room and everything connected to it allowed just a small handful of ponies to do what it took an entire battalion of officers to do just a few centuries ago. The dozen or so monitors flickered between 6 or 7 different viewpoints every few minutes, but they had manual overrides so you could lock any monitor on to a specific camera if needed. The cream orange pegasus thought of how much easier everything technological advancement had made things.

Somnambula was quite the looker, a cream orange pegasus with an EEE-Cup bosom was not something you saw every day, at least outside the casino. Her mane and tail were a lustrous teal. And while she was usually in a red dress with matching high heels, something of a joke by Sphinx for some reason, today she was in what she considered her proper security outfit. Said outfit was a sandy yellow business suit that had the older versions of card suits adorning it (Coins, Wands, Chalices, and Swords). That didn’t stop Sphinx from having fun with Somnambula, since Sphinx was usually the one personally taking care of orders, she had made sure Somnambula’s security outfit had two giant coins right over the pegasus mare’s breasts, complete with the image of Sphinx’s head on said coins.

Ages ago, Somnambula had been a hero, she had faced many different threats and did what she could for the populace. Her first encounter with Sphinx set the tone for how she would see the maroon monster, she managed to best the creature’s challenge. The second encounter had a similar outcome, but things started taking a turn with the third and fourth encounters, and things went an unanticipated way, even if it was somewhat expected, with their fifth encounter.

Somnambula, wanting to end the encounters, and apparent oppression, brought on by Sphinx relented to a singular challenge, one she was sure the monster couldn’t cheat her way out of, especially with all the rules placed on the both of them. Sphinx might have been a terrible monster that brought tremendous problems with her, but she at least had the decency to respect and follow the rules of challenges and games imposed on her and others. The gamble almost paid off, the two were closely tied in the trial when Somnambula failed due to a problem she had accidentally made for herself and disregarded, the decision came back and bit her hard in the plot. As a result of her own foolishness, Somnambula was now a loyal subordinate of Sphinx for what turned out to be an unending loop. Somnambula had inaccurately reasoned that Sphinx would lose interest in her, and as such, made the blunder of stating that her terms of service would end when Sphinx had a complete loss of interest in her or lost another one of the Challenges that Sphinx herself agreed to with another creature. Turned out, Sphinx maintained varying levels of interest in Somnambula long after the bargain was struck, and all challenges Sphinx had with others always seemed to turn out in her favor due to the failings of her opponents.

Now, Somnambula was stuck being the good little mare for the monster. And to make matters worse, Sphinx used her magic to keep Somnambula youthful and vibrant. Sphinxes, as a race, had ancient and powerful magics that allowed them to maintain the youthful structure of a mature adult for ages in addition to giving them lifespans so long that only dragons could rival them in terms of longevity. And to make matters worse, they could apparently share those effects with other creatures if they met certain requirements, all of which Somnambula inadvertently did.

So here she was, playing the role of head of security for a casino established by Sphinx to further entertain her. Whatever Sphinx was after with the whole casino venture was a mystery to Somnambula, aside from the potential entertainment value. Every time Somnambula asked Sphinx about it, the maroon monster just made a comment about not wanting to ruin the fun or mystery.

Author's Note

Somnambula's business outfit hasn't appeared in the series by Blue64, it's something that I came up with to display her sense of seriousness and business.

Chapter3: Novo's First Show

“Are you sure you don’t want to join me for this,” Novo asked Skystar.

“Maybe next time,” said Skystar, “it’s only been four days since we got here, I’m not comfortable about this place yet.”

“I understand,” said Novo as she swam past Skystar in the nude, Skystar was equally as naked, and opened up her wardrobe and grabbed a pair of seafoam green starfish-themed pasties and placed it on her considerable bosom, they laid over almost the entire front of her tatas with the center of the starfish over the nipples. “I don’t know how long the whole event will last, but I have to be where they told me to be where they want in twenty minutes, the show is supposed to start a bit after that. Try not to cause too much trouble while I’m out.”

“I doubt that will be much of an issue,” said Skystar, “seeing as I can’t even mess with the room service most of the time.”

Queen Novo looked at her daughter with a look that said she expected more from the girl, “You chose to come with me for this, I told you several times you were not required to follow my choice. Besides, you looked clearly uncomfortable during that meeting with Sphinx.”

“Something about that lady just makes me feel uneasy,” said Skystar, “and I honestly couldn’t think of anything else to try and commit to. Maybe after we get some of the currency they use on the surface, I can try investing it into something I feel is a better fit for me.”

“Alright,” said Novo before pecking her daughter on the forehead, as she swam out, she said, “we will discuss this in more depth when I get back.”

************************************************************************

Queen Novo arrived at what looked to be a dressing room about five minutes after her little chat with Skystar. The first thing she saw was Sphinx, her new employer giving a bit of a disapproving look at her. Before Novo could ask, Sphinx said to her in a disapproving amused tone, “Oh, honey, we can’t have out on the floor like that. Those stars don’t properly complement your complexion; maybe if your coat was a darker color, it would be fine. I guess I should have warned you about aesthetics above water, that’s my bad. It’s my first time officially working with an aquatic individual.” Sphinx snapped her fingers, and starfish pasties changed to a dark blue with seafoam green accents, “There we go, much better and everything is a bit more complimentary. Now, you’re good to go,” she took a look at the clock and said in an impressed voice, “and ahead of schedule.”

“How about we start the show a bit earlier than planned, that way it can run a bit longer as a treat for the guests who arrived for this first show,” said Novo, with curious tone to her voice.

“I like it,” said Sphinx, “You were supposed to start in twenty minutes, but we’ll bump it up to 10, that should give the rest of the crew the time they need to finish the setup for the show. Just remember, your original show was supposed to go for an hour, now we’re adding 10 minutes onto that.”

“Is that so,” said Novo with amusement, “I have been known to just go on my singing for over two hours if someone doesn’t interrupt me.”

“Maybe next time,” said Sphinx, “this is more of an intro show for our patrons.”

Queen Novo just nodded before diving back down following the passage to her “stage” and came to her entry and waited for the appointed time, Sphinx would use her magic to send the message Novo was on. Novo actually had no experience with this sort of thing, she had only ever sung for ponies she was familiar with. Due to seapony anatomy, outfit options were severely limited, even if you were familiar with the nuances of what was required for making attire custom-tailored to their bodies.

After a few minutes, Sphinx gave Novo her cue and the seapony queen burst out of the trough of fountain she was in and expertly landed on the water from the top spout, all without disrupting the flow of the water and began singing a wordless song, after a water-resistant (but not waterproof) microphone was transported to her via magic a moment later, she began to sing. Her melodic song went on, completely undisturbed, for a good half hour before she took a brief break to get some water back in her mouth from the fountain with a few elegant handfuls of water. She was used to having a very high level of moisture in the air when she sang above water, the atmosphere here was much drier than she was used to.

After her short break, she started a whole new melodic song, one with a clearly different tune. At some point between the first and second song, the number of listeners to her show had increased by a sizeable margin. She kept going at the second song for about forty minutes before breaking to get some larger sips from the fountain than before the first break before diving into a third wordless song. Once again, the number of observers had increased between breaks. Novo’s third, and final, song was longer still, while still being wordless but with a shift in the melody, many could notice, and stopped just shy of an hour when she finished.

Sphinx hadn’t told her to stop, chances are she hadn’t expected the first show to run almost double her original estimated time but let it all slide with just how much attention Novo got with her song. Shortly after finishing, Novo thanked all the patrons present before diving back into the base of the fountain and making her way to the backstage area to consult with Sphinx on what was to come next.

Author's Note

And here we have more characters coming in

Chapter 4: High Society Patrons

“Oh come now,” said the white unicorn stallion in Canterlot finery with a blue mane and mustache with a monocle, “I’m sure it can’t be that bad.” He looked over at the lithe white unicorn mare in a sparkling black strapless dress with a respectable DD-Cup bosom with a bit of disapproval.

“Ms. Fleur Dis Lee was caught intentionally distracting other players by basically making statements about how she would like the rules of the current game to change,” said Umbra with annoyance, her GG-Cup bosom bouncing a bit when she huffed with said annoyance, “and that’s in addition to her clearly malicious statements at the figures of myself, the dealer, and the other female players.”

The stallion gave the mare he was defending a pointed glare before addressing Umbra, “She made mocking comments about everyone else’s busts, again?”

“Yes,” said Umbra flatly, “and that was in addition to mocking the attire of some her fellow players. Since she was so intent on being hostile towards her fellow patrons, we will be confiscating half her winnings and barring her from all the tables for the next nine hours.”

“You can’t do that,” declared Fleur with an entitled tone to her Upper Canterlot accent.

“Actually, we can,” said Umbra in a haughty matter-of-fact manner, “it’s a policy at this casino, unless you would rather we reorient you out of the suites to a room for a lower roller.”

Fleur huffed indignantly and did her best to elegantly stomp over to the bar for casino patrons, she knew that with everything else her lounge privileges were suspended. “I’m terribly sorry about all this, my good lady,” said the stallion with incredible sincerity, “I thought bringing her here as a reward for her recent accomplishments would be a bit more civil.”

“It’s not your fault, Mr. Fancypants,” said Umbra with feigned investment, “it’s all on her, her actions led to all the suspensions on her options here, just because you are associated with her, for the time being, doesn’t mean the same for you. You are, after all, one of our most respected patrons.”

“I thank you for the vote of encouragement,” said Fancypants with respect, “hopefully, she will learn from this experience.”

“If not, we could always have the boss show her what it’s like to make a ‘real’ wager,” said Umbra, “when you play against Sphinx, you pay exactly what you wagered but not in the way you expected.”

“I will take your word for it,” said Fancypants, “but I will warn Fleur that her behavior might result in her making a bet she’s not really willing to pay.” With that, he sauntered over to where Fleur was apparently sulking at the bar

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Elsewhere in the casino, a different game was going on at a table. Marble Pie was in her new dealer outfit running the roulette table, so far none of the ponies presently playing had guessed right. Of course, most of them didn’t care, they just saw a pretty mare and thought if they impressed her with high bets, regardless of the outcome, they might get a shot at her, especially since she was so reserved. Of course, most of them were paying more attention to her chest than the wheel, and they didn’t seem to really care when they had called it wrong.

Eventually, Marble got a bit too uncomfortable with the crowd that formed around her, she was a bit oblivious to the fact more patrons were watching her chest than the wheel during the game, and even after it. Marble was a surprising favorite, among stallions and mares, due to her never actually saying anything. Usually, the signs that she was moving to another table or going on a break was her literally putting up signs that said as much. Marble’s unease was getting to a point she was more than a little uncomfortable, so she put up a sign that said she was going on break and made her way away from the table. Marble had been employed at the casino now for a little over a week, her bust had expanded to a generous GG-Cup.

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Celano watched at the main patron bar as Fleur Dis Lee downed her third glass of chocolate liqueur, it was always fun to watch so-called dainty mares down potentially strong alcohol. “You look like you can down your liquor with the best of them,” said Celano with an amused tone, “not quite the delicate flower you like to show off as.”

Fleur turned to look at the parrot and scoffed for a moment before saying in a snarky tone, “At least I don’t need surgery to make my patrons happy.”

“Oh, these,” said Celano with a quick play of her breasts, “they’re all-natural, a little modified by magic, but the only blades that have come near these babies have been the swords of my personal collection.”

Fleur looked over at the buxom parrot in a sparkly sea-green dress that had a noticeable cleavage window with noticeable surprise, “You don’t look the macho type.”

“I’m a pirate girl through and through,” said Celano jokingly, “my family even jokes it’s in my blood. I kind of play into it by collecting various pieces of gear from the age of sailing, my personal room looks like a bit of a nautical museum at times. Now, why did you come over here all sulky?”

“The stallion next to me on the last game cheated and made it look and sound like I was the one who broke the rules,” said Fleur in an annoyed tone.

While most of their spirits were bought from all about, the dessert drinks were made in-house by Celano herself, her room had one of the only 3 doors to the fermenting chamber. A little surprise Sphinx had her mix into the dessert beverages was a truth serum, Celano was actually instructed to make the potion a key component of all the spirits she made. So, Celano knew Fleur was telling the honest truth. She discreetly motioned for Chrysalis to come over to the patron bar.

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Chrysalis saw Celano signally she had something potentially sensitive to share. Seeing as the floor was back to manageable levels of ruckus, the changeling queen made her way over to the parrot bartender. Once she was within eyeshot close enough to lock eyes at a distance, she used a telepathy spell to say, What is it I need to know?

Celano shot back, It was actually one of the stallions that was cheating, he did something to make it look like Ms. Fleur was the guilty party. She seems to get a bit...passionate when she is not expressly on the job. Classic working and off-work disconnect, we’ve seen it plenty of times.

I’ll send word to Somnambula and have her go over everything at the table, said Chrysalis.

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Somnambula carefully massaged her face with one of her hands as she took a few deep breaths and exhales. Chrysalis sent her word that someone had cheated and made it looked like a different player had been the one cheating, that was twenty minutes ago, and now she had six folders worth of recorded information that showed someone had been tampering with everything from other players to the bucking security system with mundane tricks like sleight of hand and magical means that included some surprisingly impressive glamour spells. Granted, all their recording equipment had anti-glamour charms from Sphinx herself lodged in them, so even the most powerful glamour spells only had a few seconds of activity on the cameras the caster could see.

Somnambula was very much of the engineering mindset of having a set of two and a replacement ready to go just in case. Her policy with the casino’s security was a bit more than most would anticipate, she had five visible cameras for any given area watching, along with three hidden backups watching the same general area, and made sure that one of the storage areas was dedicated solely to storing replacement cameras. Some ponies had been throwing glamorous on three cameras in her sets of five every few minutes, it looked like this was some sort of gambling gang that made most of their proceeds on basically cheating casinos and other gambling establishments.

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Sphinx was not happy, she just got told a gang of cheaters made a bit of a fool of Umbra, granted Umbra had something like that coming every now and then but it should be the house making a fool of Umbra, not some jerks cheating for what they thought was easy money. It was time to show the fools who they were messing with, and she had just the bait for such a group, but she would have to wait for the right moment, false security and false confidence were what made such the plans for dealing with cheaters be all the sweeter.

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Fleur was much happier now, she was exonerated of cheating and was making a killing at the poker table, she always had a knack for games of chance. The dealer, Marble Pie, seemed calmer than she had some time earlier at the roulette table, probably due to the fact that only 2 other players were at the table with Fleur, both mares. One of said mares was the acclaimed Octavia, the other was the so-called queen of night parties, Vinyl Scratch, also known under the alias DJ Pon-3. Both mares were rather buxom, much to the continuing chagrin of Fleur, she was supposed to be a symbol of envy for mares on and off the runway but these two mares were making her feel jealous and inadequate.

Octavia was a beautiful gray earth pony mare with lustrous black mane and tail in a purple sparkling sequenced dress, with her very noticeable H-Cup bosom on display in the dress, and that was to say nothing of the fuschia sequined elbow gloves she sported along with them, she always did have the kind of style Canterlot liked most. Vinyl Scratch, on the other hand, was a white unicorn mare with electric blue mane and tail, popular gossip said she dyed it that way and her natural color was a bit more bland but no paparazzi ever caught that image, even the less than reputable ones had trouble finding blurry, easily mistakable images to use to “validate” the rumor mill. Vinyl’s attire was more nightclub, less social elite. Her shirt, if you could call it that, was white and had a section in the chest that let her GG-Cup bosom out on display with a bra-like piece that had black straps, and its lowest section barely met the midriff, there were three yellow dots on the shirt, one in the upper center and two on the end of the bra’s side of the straps. Vinyl’s pants were black, with the back half of the leg being a yellow netting for some reason, and a yellow stripe running vertically down the center of the front. Vinyl wore shoes that blended into her white hooves to give her a little extra height while Octavia was wearing a pair of stylish pink high heels, high heels she was noticeably getting uncomfortable with.

The pair seemed to be doing okay with the game but kept acting like schoolchildren that weren’t sure if the other pony liked them in a potentially romantic way, judging by the way they kept casting glances at each other between periods of looking at their cards. Fleur didn’t mind, the actions of other players was of little concern to her, after checking to see if she was cheating after her third straight win, the casino just accepted Fleur was just that lucky. When she finally walked away from the table, Fleur had a lot three times as much on her as she had when had joined the table.

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After the table had closed Sphinx was alone with Umbra in one of her interrogation rooms, for larger creatures, usually not a good sign. “Umbra,” said Sphinx in a terse tone, “what is one of the first things I tell you to do before starting a game or passing out cards?”

“Always check for magical shenanigans,” said Umbra in a worried voice.

“Very good,” said Sphinx, “so why didn’t you notice someone was using a glamour at your table, despite dealing out cards and doing exchanges?”

“I didn’t feel the presence of any magic, I thought everything would remain as it appeared.” Umbra suddenly felt her chest have a bosom forty times bigger than usual with her now in a compromising position, Sphinx then began to spank the mare for a good half hour. Umbra cried out in pain over the whole thing. After the spanking was finished her bosom was returned to its usual HHH-Cup bosom.

“Always check for magic with all the means at your disposal, not just go by feelings. Do I have to send you back to training with Somnambula,” the black unicorn mare shivered as repressed memories of Somnambula drilling policies into her head assailed her for a split second.

“No, I don’t think that will be necessary,” said Umbra hurriedly.

“See that a repeat doesn’t happen,” Sphinx said, “Only your fellow employees and myself are allowed to make a fool of you.”

Author's Note

Probably should have included this chapter with the initial post

Chapter 5: Another New Hire, and a Little Fun

Zecora looked around the office with a bit of worry on her face, this was not what she expected when she got a note from Fluttershy saying there was someone in Las Pegasus who wanted to meet her. The zebra mare wasn’t particularly busty, with only a basic C-Cup bosom, but somehow she didn’t feel like that really mattered. She was in her formalwear, an outfit that Rarity had stitched up for her just a few days prior, the forest green dress was strapless with an open back and displayed her own mark on a few different points, one right across her chest and the other two considerably lower but spaced well enough apart from each other. Zecora was sitting in a seat across from the figure known as Sphinx, the herds of her homeland had mixed stories about the creatures, but all the stories mentioned how sphinxes were more willing to toy with others than other creatures.

“So, may I inquire,” said Zecora, “just what brought me seeing you to be a desire?”

Sphinx grinned knowingly at the zebra mare, “We both know that rhyming is a willing quirk of those that follow your path in zebra societies. As for why you were out in the Everfree, far from any of your own kind, I have a few thoughts but won’t voice them here. No, the reason I requested your presence is that I very much would like a mare with your talents in mixing mystic concoctions to work for me. In fact, I very much think you are hired now, no sense in leaving the grounds just yet.”

Zecora had heard of this, a Sphinx deciding unilaterally they wanted someone to do something or be somewhere and stating things clearly to that individual. “May I inquire what makes me such a desirable hire?”

“Well, for one, no other establishment has a zebra. For another reason, I find your figure one I very much would like to mold, much the same way I did with all the mares under my employ.”

“I noticed that each mare you have on staff has rather large assets, anywhere else such proportions would incite many to laughs.”

“Let’s just say I have my ways and leave it at that. Now, you’ll be mixing up drinks when on the floor, go see Celano when you leave this room, but after you’ve gotten acquainted with the room that’s been prepared for you, she’s in charge of all the spirits. As for another reason I want you here, the answer is simple, I want you to make some potions exclusively for me and my establishment. That said, you’re already hired, preparations have been made for you. You can leave anytime you wish, but at least try things out here a few days.”

“I have been needing practice in interacting with ponies in a few ways, I suppose it won’t hurt to help you out for a few days.”

“Excellent, you are in room 239,” Sphinx handed the zebra mare a key with the number burned into the decoration, “feel free to arrange and style the room any way you want, it is a personal space just for you. While your friend, Fluttershy, has her room here on the main floor, yours is on the second floor. I’m still working just what your duties here will be, besides the obvious, so you have a few days to settle in and make your personal space homier. Take the time to familiarize yourself with the establishment, the lounge is open to you and where you will be able to socialize with other employees.”

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Zecora looked around the room she was placed in, the room was the first place she went after leaving Sphinx’s office, it was as barren as she thought but more spacious than she anticipated. The entire room, excluding the private washroom, was almost twice the size of her little hut, a hut that had taken her days to build properly. There was a large bed (easily enough space for 3 or 4 ponies to share with a bit of room to spare), some sort of purple crystal for entertainment or communication purposes on the wall, a white bedside table with a lamp on both sides of the bed, and the whole scheme for the floor and walls and ceiling was a very bland and basic white. There was a note on the closer bedside table stating she could arrange things however she wanted but changing the walls and ceiling and floor would require written approval from Sphinx herself.

The washroom was surprisingly spacious, the room was maybe a quarter the size of her hut, with a toilet, sink, tub/shower, and fresh towels on a very bland-looking counter the sink was part of. The sink and toilet were clean and shiny porcelain and the spigot of the sink and tub were shiny chrome, as was the showerhead. Honestly speaking, this was a pretty daring display of modern innovation, but it all felt so lifeless to Zecora, she wanted her living space to feel, if not look, very much alive. The real problem would be getting her personal effects to the place, even if it was for a few days.

After taking a look around the room, and making a few notes on what she needed to get to bring to decorate her space at the establishment, Zecora made her way down to the employee lounge. It took her a few minutes, mostly because she was unfamiliar with the establishment and had to check her door a half dozen times to make sure it was properly locked, but Zecora made it down to the employee lounge.

When Zecora arrived at the lounge Celano, the bustiest parrot the zebra mare had ever encountered, greeted her. The white parrot was definitely an oddity to see, mostly because parrots were uncommon to pretty rare outside of tropical regions.

“What will it be for you, sugar,” said Celano with a wink.

“Something to relax the mind and calm the hand, this place is a bit more than I thought anyone could have planned.”

“Yeah, I had similar thoughts when I came to work here,” said Celano as she began mixing something up, “the little pirate-themed bar I was working at went under a few years ago, something about the mayor at the time making a decree about dismantling any establishment that glorified known criminals. And unfortunately, pirates are known criminals. But then Sphinx, the owner of this place, gave me a generous job offer just as I was afraid my personal finances were about to go under, I took up her offer intending to only be at it a few months and now I’m a loyal employee that really can’t think of working anywhere else.”

“I see, but why would she wish to hire me?”

“My guess, the exotic factor, hardly any place in the country has a place you can actually interact with a zebra. Your breed is hard to come by in this country. Although, you aren’t quite eye candy yet, not that I mind.”

“I did notice that all those in this establishment’s employ have features that could make almost anypony wish to cry out ahoy.”

“Nice little nautical joke there, you would have probably fit in with a few of the groups I spent my time with before being employed here.” The white parrot passed her something pink that smelled of citrus and palms.

Zecora accepted her drink and sipped at it slowly, looking about as she did so. She noticed little things, like some of the staff looked eerily similar to one another, only with slight differences to keep the casual, or likely drunk, observer from noticing as they looked about. “I must say, I did not think I would see duplicates so early this day,” said Zecora as she set her beverage down for a moment.

“That would be Chrysalis’s hive,” said Celano, “I don’t know how, but the boss managed to get a changeling queen in her employ, which includes all of that queen’s subordinates. As you can imagine, Chrysalis isn’t very happy about having to be subordinate to anyone. On the upside, some of her subordinates are a bit happier about the situation, a few are even acting a bit more independent than the others.”

Zecora looked to the busty bird bartender in surprise, she had heard rumors about changelings and their hives but every tale she heard had dismissed something like that as old tales from ponies that likely got a little too drunk. To hear someone just casually say that there was a changeling hive working in plain view was quite the surprise. Zecora had to know how this came to be, and Celano was a good place to start, at least for now. While carefully sipping her drink she thought of how to approach the subject, then just decided to go with a general curious question. Chances are she would get what Celano knew the subject, which would probably be mostly rumors circulated among the staff.

“So tell me,” said Zecora, “how did this come to be?”

“Sphinx, our illustrious employer,” said Celano, “didn’t give too many details when I asked about the subject. All she said was Chrysalis lost the game. Chrysalis and Umbra both complain about losing their bets with Sphinx. It seems Sphinx likes playing games with stakes to them, which is probably why she seems at home in places like casinos, and if you lose the bet to her she makes sure the full letter of the agreement is held to until the terms of the agreement have been met. I had a minor wager with her a few months ago, nothing serious, just bet I could make a better tasting cocktail from random ingredients than her by the end of the day, if I won she would give me every drink recipe she knows, if she won she got to,” the parrot gestured at her figure, “I lost, of course, but she at least admitted it was a close game, the final drink she made felt like I was floating in a pool of crystal clear water on the best day of the year. I think she was just being nice.”

Zecora blinked a bit at the busty bird, she knew sphinxes were notorious for their puzzles, it was something that practically everypony knew, but to think the one sphinx she actually had the experience to meet actually reveled in her puzzle-like games was more than enough of a warning to her to keep from hopefully get further caught in her new employer’s trap. She decided to head back to her room and change out. “Our employer decided you will train me on what is needed,” she gestured to the drink mixing equipment, “and then I will be doing so alone after the appropriate knowledge within my mind has been seeded.”

“Something tells me they’re going to like your manner of speech,” said Celano with amusement.

With that Zecora put her glass on the counter and made her way back to her room. Once back in her room, the zebra mare found a package on the bed with not that just said it was her new outfit. She had a feeling something like this would happen. Zecora opened the pack to reveal a torso leotard with fishnet stockings that went all the way up her legs when she put them on, and a pair of short black high heels. The zebra mare put on the outfit after triple-checking that all her room’s locks were properly set. After she put on the outfit she marveled at how well it fit her, but the chest area felt a little loose, for a short time anyway. About a minute after she had the outfit on she felt her bosom grow to somewhere around thirty-five percent bigger than when she had gotten back to her room. She suddenly recalled a comment by Sphinx during their initial conversation. On her way back down she felt her plot, of all things, also increase but it also was toning as it grew and she moved. She would have to check a mirror when she got the time to see just what happened to her rear.

Author's Note

So yeah, Zecora has joined the cast.

VIP Visitors

Umbra just stared at the scene before her, this was supposed to be a poker match, why were her players spending more time acting like schoolchildren that like each other but don’t want to say anything than adults actually trying to gamble? She just stood there watching Vinyl Scratch and Octavia blush at each other and throw in random bets, they didn’t try to make a show of pretending to look at their cards. Fine, if that was going to be the way they did things she was going to have some fun with it.

“Alright ladies,” said Umbra, “since you are such exceptional patrons,” it wasn’t a lie, the two had been frequenting the casino almost as soon as its doors first opened, “I have been authorized to give you access to the VIP section, we will switch out to a new game in one of the private booths there.” The two mares looked at her with a mix of surprise and delight, Umbra was happy because the VIP chamber allowed the staff to up the ante in more interesting ways than just increasing the betting amounts. The two mares snapped out of their high school blushing contest and blinked in surprise, even watching as Umbra packed up the table and motioned to follow her.

Vinyl Scratch and Octavia quickly got from their seats and followed the black unicorn mare. They all made their way through the facility until they reached a set of doors that said only authorized individuals were permitted beyond that point, the sign was just above a set of double doors that had no windows and looked plain, aside for the slight gold pattern of Sphinx on it and the ornate looking door handles. Umbra reached into her bosom, amusingly enough, and pulled out a key decoration in the shape of Sphinx’s head held to the doors, the imprint of Sphinx on the doors flashed for a split second then the doors opened seemingly on their own, the handles even turned down and up at a forty-five-degree angle without anyone touching them, and the three entered the seemingly dark area before the doors closed behind them and the chamber became fully illuminated with a light that was bright but not harsh on the eyes.

The chamber seemed to be broken into several rooms, the room they entered was the first of these rooms in the chamber and seemed to be its own private dining and bar area, the shelves all had some very exotic, and expensive, spirits on them but also had an extra layer of specially reinforced glass and the whole case was locked up with seven different kinds of locks. It seems that anyone that did manage to sneak or force their way in here was going to have a hard time pilfering the obviously small fortune in booze. Umbra led the two through an arch to the left of the room, this new room looked more like a set of tables for up six guests, two guests per table, with what looked like a platform rising out the water at the front of the room, the back of the room had a game table, looked like it could play the role of a card table or craps table.

Umbra set the cards on the table and started shuffling them with her dark indigo colored magic (another one of the “gifts” Sphinx had given her, for some reason when she ended up in servitude to the creature she had the color of her magic shift from the malevolent umbral color it had been during her Sombra days to this muted party color) as she said, “Alright ladies, the game is Strip Poker, house rules.”

The two mares stared at Umbra in clear surprise, “What does that mean,” inquired Octavia in her refined voice, “exactly?”

“Simple,” said Umbra, “you start the game with a standard ante of a single casino chip, size is your choice but make sure it’s around the same cost as that of the other players, then each bet after involves the use of one or more articles of clothing, all players with no more clothes to bet are out of the game, and the winner is the one who has clothes remaining on their figure, the winner also decides what to do with the losers and for how long.”

“I’m in,” said Vinyl Scratch excitedly, the electric blue maned white unicorn mare was practically grinning with excitement, “I’ve been trying to get...my associate to play some more risque games as of late.” Octavia shot Vinyl a look that was a mix of annoyance at her antics and gratitude that the white unicorn hadn’t voiced the nature of their relationship. Octavia had been doing her best to avoid risque activities, in public and private, but it seemed Vinyl was a bit too dedicated to her wildcard persona when out and about when she didn’t have any business calling, not that Octavia minded too much.

“Well, if you both insist,” said Octavia, “I suppose I should try going all in. How about we make it a bit more interesting.”

“Ooh,” said Vinyl with interest, “what do you have in mind?”

“Five games,” said Octavia as she held up an elegant hand in a sparkling glove, “with the best of three winning out. Each individual game win allows that winner to decide a little thing for the other players.” Umbra suddenly didn’t like where she knew this was going, Sphinx was going to probably institute this as a new house rule the moment she read this. Umbra’s arrangements with Sphinx wouldn’t allow her to keep this little wager under wraps.

“Ooh,” said Vinyl, “what about when you get the three wins?”

“If Vinyl or I get the 3 wins,” said Octavia, “we can request something for ourselves from the house, if our host wins they can make a request of either, or both, of us that has a maximum of 5 days.”

“I’m going need to have a talk with the boss for a moment,” said Umbra neutrally outside, but inside Umbra was panicking, she knew Sphinx wouldn’t just okay this but also find a way to draw this out. And while Sphinx would likely want to do this deal but Umbra was still playing the host then she would be the one doing all this first. Umbra didn’t think it would go this way, especially when it came to someone as reserved as the immaculate Octavia, she just wanted to feel like the in-control stallion she was before the events that led to her current situation, having to beautiful mares in the nude and alone in the room with her was supposed to feel like being that big stallion for a brief moment, not a vehicle for furthering Sphinx’s approach to games.

Umbra excused herself for a moment to make a quick, and personal run to Sphinx. On the way out she brought Zecora in to handle the VIP drinks, Celano was on duty at the casino’s official bar, so Zecora would have to do for the time being. Besides, Umbra didn’t want to use the changeling network, it would let Chrysalis know of her unintentional buck-up. Zecora introduced herself as she entered and started unlocking the drinks and mixing materials.

“Greetings, I am Zecora, one of the new staff,” said Zecora as she took care with the door as she entered, “if something about me amuses you then do not be afraid to laugh.”

Vinyl Scratch made no attempt to hide the fact she was following the Zebra’s body with her eyes, Octavia also found herself doing the same but she at least tried to be more discreet about it. How could they not, the zebra mare had a GGG-Cup bosom and plot big enough to set a drink or two on with noticeably little problem. If Zecora had noticed their stares at her she didn’t indicate as such, she just made her way to the bar and opened things up.

“What sort of mix do you wish to drink,” inquired Zecora as she grabbed one of the mixing shakers and almost juggled it before setting it on the bare before her, “I seriously hope it will not be something that later ends up in the sink.”

“How about you give us both the VIP special,” said Vinyl with a smirk behind her purple-tinted shades.

“Um, yes,” said Octavia carefully, “that sounds agreeable.”

Zecora nodded and grabbed quite some red and white spirits and poured them into the shaker with some ice before securing the top and cap then putting on a little dance with her shake as she also grabbed two wine glasses near the end of the nearly three-minute show, during which time the two did not notice Umbra’s return with what appeared to be some notes on parchment. Zecora then sat her plot on the bar and placed the two glasses on each of her rear’s mounds and began pouring the drinks over her shoulders into the glasses, with quite a bit of expert skill. Vinyl was clearly loving the show, Octavia made a look of embarrassment and brought one of her sparkling gloved hands up in front of her blushing face. Zecora was smiling over her shoulder the entire time.

After pouring the drinks, Zecora picked up the glasses and stood up before handing the glasses over to the pair of mares. She then made her way out of the chambers silently after gesturing to Umbra at the game table. She did this mostly because that she was instructed to keep the ponies in the VIP section company while Umbra was out for a personal chat with Sphinx. She didn’t mind too much, she didn’t have much to do recently and had probably spent more time making sure all her belongings were getting and organizing most of them around her room. Also, now that her cauldron was getting in, Sphinx was setting up a place for her to work on various concoctions.

Umbra started shuffling the cards as Vinyl and Octavia approached the table with their drinks in hand, her magic illuminating the cards as the deck was cut into smaller segments that were then shuffled together into a crisscross fashion. “Alright ladies,” said Umbra, “the boss excited about this little wager, should the house come out of this with three wins then you’ll both have to do a special music event that lasts five nights. Don’t worry, we’ll be sure to clear it all with your publicists. Now, do you have what you’ll ask for with your three wins? Or are you just going to think about it as we play?”

“I have a few ideas,” said Octavia, “but I will keep them to myself until the game is over.”

“I’m just gonna wing it with that sort of thing,” said Vinyl, “focus on the game first, then think about what I would like to ask for after. Best not to jinx it with the assumption the game is already in my pocket.”

Umbra nodded and started dealing the cards, “Alright,” said Umbra, “this is going to be a variant of seven-card stud, I know you know the rules since you’ve played it a few times with me.” Inside her head Umbra was screaming, she couldn’t hear her stallion voice anymore but that didn’t matter at the moment since she basically gave Sphinx a new way to mess with everyone. “The only real new rule you need to be aware of is that after the initial ante, you are to bet with your attire until you have literally nothing left on, that means you will be expected to use your undergarments in the betting, and only after you have literally nothing on will you be permitted to bet with whatever chips you have. And just a reminder, the house rule on checks is you can only perform three consecutive checks before betting, or calling of some kind are mandatory for continued play. Also, your removed attire will be returned to you at the beginning of each game, but only after the winner had made their say on what to impose on the other players.”

Vinyl was grinning behind her glasses as she set her drink and bag of casino chips down in front of her next to her dealt cards, Octavia was looking far more embarrassed by the turn of events as she placed her bag of chips and drink down on the table next to her cards and picked up the hand she was dealt. Both tried to switch over to keeping a neutral face as they brought their cards up to view. Vinyl’s smile a moment ago would have been a terrible bluff, but her starting hand was actually one of the better starts she had found herself with in quite some time. Octavia’s opening hand didn’t inspire her with confidence, with only three cards that could pass for a small hand all off-suit chances were she would be the first one throwing down pieces of her attire. Umbra’s starting hand wasn’t bad, it wasn’t good either, it was okay for a hand.

Octavia looked over to Vinyl, she knew Vinyl would follow her lead in places like this since she was the one in the know with the classier places they frequented. Octavia reached into her bag and pulled out a 90-bit chip and threw it out as the ante, Vinyl and Umbra followed her lead. After a few minutes of intensive staring at their cards, the players started betting. Vinyl started off with her shades, revealing her maroon eyes underneath. Octavia and Umbra called by throwing their gloves into the pot.
Octavia decided she might as well just roll with it and think about it later. By Umbra’s admission of the rules, they would be getting all their attire back after each game.

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Twenty minutes into the first game, Octavia and Umbra were down to their undergarments, much to Octavia’s embarrassed chagrin. Vinyl was missing her shirt, and loving it, with her bra and bosom out for all to see. Octavia was feeling embarrassed not just because she was down to her bra and panties, she was embarrassed because she was in a set of white lingerie with blue highlights that Vinyl had given her as a gift just a few months prior. Umbra wasn’t feeling all that embarrassed, she had been put in similar situations by Chrysalis and Sphinx numerous times before, of course, that still didn’t change the fact that two of Equestria’s biggest names in music could see her lacy lime-green lingerie any less embarrassing. Granted, Umbra didn’t want to end up in a situation where she had been after the Fleur debacle, and this situation was starting to bring back flashbacks of her punishment, despite she was fully clothed when she was spanked.

Just fifteen minutes later and Vinyl was pulling the pot in and giggling to herself, there was a considerable pool of chips along with the attire that had been betted during the game. “Alright, my rule is simple,” said Vinyl with a big grin as she tossed the attire that wasn’t hers over to the other players with her magic and pulled her shirt on, “you both have to do an over the top gesture every time you bet for the rest of the day.”

Umbra’s left eye began to twitch, after these rounds of betting those two could just retire to their rooms and hold off on the bets but she would still be required to do so for the rest of the day, and chances were Sphinx would extend the rules imposed on the players here considerably longer than that. After making sure everyone was fully attired again, while shuffling the cards, Umbra dealt out the next set of hands.

Vinyl almost wilted when she saw her hand, a runt would have been an improvement, she would have to bluff as much as she could on this one. Octavia almost gave away her hand, she was just two cards off from a royal straight flush, in diamonds no less, and the last two cards were a pair of black fours. Umbra looked at her hand almost chuckled, she had two sets of three lows, not the best hand but in the circumstances definitely a winning one.

To the surprise of the others, Octavia started off the betting this time by throwing out her gloves almost as soon as she put down the ante. Clearly, she was confident she had a potentially winning hand, or was at least close enough to one to warrant such a bold move. Vinyl figured Octavia was bluffing, she had been doing so for maybe half the last game and not given away her distress, and decided to call her bluff by throwing in her shirt and shades, Octavia had to call by adding in her footwear. Umbras was not happy, she threw in her own gloves and footwear.

Umbra tried to rush this next game, to her detriment, and within 12 minutes the game was to a similar point it had been just a half-hour in. Which meant Umbra was in just her panties with her bra in the pot, Octavia was in a similar situation since she was also down to her underwear but had yet to move any of her lingerie, and Vinyl was grinning like a fool despite being completely naked. Vinyl was only permitted one last bet in this state, as was confirmed by Umbra in the last game when Octavia had ironically been the first player to end up completely nude.

Five minutes later Umbra was in the buff and Octavia pulling in the pot while combing through it to look over for her attire to throw on. Once she was back in her formal dress, much to the amusement of Vinyl Scratch, Octavia issued her ruling, “Upon leaving this chamber, for the rest of the day, and all of tomorrow, all the players must dress in their best attire.” Octavia shot Vinyl a knowing smirk. Vinyl did have a fancy dress, which Octavia had made sure had been packed for the trip, but Vinyl never thought she would have to be wearing it, until Octavia’s decree left the gray mare’s mouth. Vinyl had enjoyed the show of ridiculous poses Octavia had made, especially when she was down to her lingerie, but now she had the feeling this decree was Octavia’s way of getting back at her.

The following match, including ridiculous poses, was won by Umbra when she was down to her panties and had her bra in the pot, Umbra’s decree was for her fellow players to have every bet be made with an additional minimum of 80 bits in chips. Matches four and five were additionally won by Octavia, her decree for the end of game 4 was to have all players show the cards they were swapping out of their hands. And after game 5 was won, Octavia asked for Novo to give her and Vinyl a private show in the VIP lounge, Umbra hurriedly had Chrysalis send the message off to Sphinx what the winner’s request was, she knew her comprehensive report of the day’s activities and dealings was not going to be pleasant for her.

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Princess Luna stepped into the facility, the princess of the night had been made aware of the new staff, one of whom is a practitioner of the performing arts. The midnight blue alicorn was in a sexy little black number that gave more than ample room for her cleavage, which was considerable thanks to her luscious L-Cup bosom, along with a front split just below the waist, which had an indigo belt, to give a view of her gorgeous legs. Her silver collar, silver-hemmed blue elbow gloves, and silver shoes helped complete the look.

Chrysalis appeared to greet the buxom midnight blue alicorn, and guide her around. “Mistress Luna,” said Chrysalis in a friendly voice, “it is so nice to see you visiting this establishment, to what do we owe this visit?”

“We were made aware that one of your staff is a practitioner of the performing arts, as a patron of the arts we would like to observe a few of her shows.”

“Of course,” said Chrysalis, “I will let the boss know about your request, they should be getting back to you soon. I will lead you to the VIP section to wait, please follow me.”

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Queen Rain Shine stepped into the facility, she had heard rumors about the surprisingly ethnically diverse staff of the facility, she was thinking of being a patron of the facility. Also, she needed to get Autumn Blaze out somewhere that would allow her to interact with other creatures. Rain Shine herself was noticeably tall and buxom, her lime-green elbow-gloves and thigh-high high-heeled boots and forest green dress with splitting down the sides from the waist down and yellow decoration around her exposed naval that continued in a pattern around the waist area were the epitome of class for the kirins. Her back sweeping maroon horn with pink stripes upon her forehead was also a thing of beauty.

The white kirin queen and her teal hair were well kept and beautiful as is, her natural swirls upon her head gave off the illusion she had her hair well-styled. In truth, she just brushed the hair on her head and tail and it all naturally fell into place, no magic or specialist needed. Rain Shine was merely wandering about the lobby, and adjoining areas open to the public, it was best to do things from the eyes of a tourist before anything else.

While she was wandering around one of the staff, a buggy-looking unicorn-like creature, informed her that the proprietor of the establishment would like to show her around. Rain Shine immediately got the impression this was a special service not many guests were treated to such a distinct hospitality, she motioned for the creature to lead the way. She was led through the lobby to a maroon-colored cat-like creature that seemed to be just a head or so shorter than her, which was a bit of a surprise given Rain Shine’s height.

“Greetings, Madame Rain Shine,” said Sphinx as she approached Rain Shine, “how about I show you around a bit, and we can finish it all up with a stop over in the VIP area.” Rain Shine took a moment to think about it and gave a regal nod, Sphinx gave a big grin and started showing her around.

Somnambula was doing a security check on one of her tables, in the little red number Sphinx insisted she wears about the facility, with her black bra underneath, along with a set of black knee socks and short red high-heel shoes. She suddenly became aware of the fact she no longer had a set of panties, only Sphinx would be so brazen, and it really showed just how much her rear and hips have grown while working at the casino. She looked over her shoulder to see Sphinx in her usual leotard, with a red feather boa over her shoulder closest to Somnambula, guiding a tall white kirin in a very distinct green dress. Sphinx seemed to be giving the kirin a tour, if you went by what Sphinx was saying to the guest she was guiding around.

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About a half-hour after Sphinx had given her tour, she and Rain Shine entered the VIP section. Celano was at the bar pouring a starry fizzing beverage into a martini glass for Princess Luna. “I was not expecting the wondrous Princess Luna to be here as well,” said Sphinx as she motioned for Celano to make her the beverage she most preferred. “Madame Rain Shine, Celano is our master of spirits, she can mix up almost any beverage you ask for.”

“I think I will just have what the illustrious Princess Luna is having,” said Rain Shine in her elegant voice, “I wouldn’t want to overextend your staff by requesting something that could be arduous to make at this time, maybe next time the two of us cross paths.” Celano nodded and started mixing up the drink, throwing in little flourishes as she mixed and shook the ingredients. The final product looked almost identical to the beverage that resembled a starry night sky.

Princess Luna chuckled as Rain Shine stared at her starry glassy with more than a bit of confusion, “Night’s Spirit never looks the same with each pour,” said Luna playfully, “It’s like the everchanging night sky, and if you are lucky then you might get a constellation or two in your glass.”

Rain Shine looked intently at her glass to see if she could spot a constellation at all. After a bit she noticed something. "Oh, I believe this is Ares is it not?"

“My first mix was Cancer, I don’t know what it is about first mixes and zodiac constellations.”

“What was your second pour?”
“I got Signus and Tritium together, for some reason, those two aren’t near each other in the night sky, if I don’t ordain it, it’s a bit amusing.”

“So, we get to drink the stars as they could be, maybe we could start ‘charting’ the sky in our glasses.”

“That sounds like a fun game, best of luck.”

Author's Note

I know it's been a while, hope it was enjoyable. Might be a while until the next chapter.

Pink Planning

Author's Note

And we're back, sorry this chapter took so long. I got distracted with some other projects, in addition to running to a bit of a block. This chapter was intended to be longer, but I decided to just wrap it up since I couldn't figure out where to go with this chapter a bit.

Pink Planning

Pinkie looked around the hallway as she was led from the elevator. When she and Marble had come here, Pinkie had been stopped at the elevator. Now the...she wasn’t a pony but definitely a mare, was leading Pinkie through to the elevator. After passing through the hallway when the lift stopped, Pinkie found herself in a surprisingly extravagant office. The creature across the table to her looked like a big maroon cat with wings in a leotard.

“Pinkie Pie,” said Sphinx, “your reputation precedes you. I am known as Sphinx. I am planning on hosting a potentially big event soon.”

“Ooh,” said Pinkie Pie with a little bounce of excitement.

“There are talks of the publisher wanting to host a big Daring Do event to coincide with the release of the newest book that is coming out, and I want to host it at this complex, I have some rooms set aside for various events here, it’s one one of the reasons why I had this place built the way it has. You have a reputation for being able to plan for large gathering events, mostly parties and the like, so I’m pretty sure this is well within your purview. And, of course, you will be suitably compensated for your time in my employ.”

“Oh, most definitely,” said Pinkie, “I know quite a few ponies looking forward to such an event, this would really help them out. I do this sort of thing more for the smiles than the bits,” said Pinkie Pie, “but I appreciate your gesture of allowing me to have both. Also, I was here with my sister, Marble Pie, as moral support up until I got stopped from accompanying her. How is Marble doing, anyway?”

“She’s actually one of our more popular dealers, even if she doesn’t really say much. She also has a room here that she is free to make use of however she wants, so no need to worry on that front. All my employees that live on the grounds are given free access to anything from the kitchens for three meals a day, what they do with that is on them. If you want, I can arrange your own personal room while you are here, or I can give you a key so you can share your sister’s room with her.”

“That’s okay, Marble needs to better understand what she can do on her own, but I’m sure she would appreciate it if my private quarters were adjoining hers, it would probably make her feel a bit more comfortable knowing family is nearby.”

“I think that can be arranged without too much hassle. I know you’re more of a free agent, so we’ll need to write up a contract to make sure we both are able to get what we want out of the arrangement with each other. Not to make light of your professionalism, I just like to make sure all parties know where they stand in the arrangement, and having a legally binding document helps keep the reminder of consequences in everyone’s minds.”

“Oh, I toooooooootally get it,” said Pinkie Pie in a serious tone, “I’ve had a few jerks and meanies try to pull something that wasn’t agreed on at all, there were even a few cases of things never discussed being brought in by one side without anypony else knowing until that last minute.”

“How did you deal with them,” inquired Sphinx, it was best to hear about the pink mare’s problem-solving abilities from the mare herself, any other way would lose some of the personal nuances to things.

“I arranged for them to basically embarrass themselves without knowing until it was too late,” said Pinkie, “I’m particularly proud of that one time I got half a parade to literally march up to their armpits in a lake before they realized something was wrong, they weren’t paying attention to the fact one of the maps I had out for the route was for a completely different town. In my defense, I had forgotten to get that map out of my supplies, but it did provide me with a test to see how observant they were...spoiler, not very.”

“Respectable, amusing, and completely on their heads when they try to argue back. Please try to keep it to my style while you are on the payroll.”

“Don’t worry, I have a few plans for ‘Punishment Games’ lined up, I’ll pass off the top 20 to you before it’s time to set up for the event, I’m sure you’ll want to pick the winners from the best of the best.”

“Thank you, Ms. Pie, I’ll see what I can do about getting some extra compensation to you if I take a stronger liking to any of them than I anticipate, it’s always best to reward those that go above and beyond for their service.”

“You know how to do business right. Is there anything I should be made aware of before going forward with the plans?”

“Not at the moment, I think we’ve covered all the important things in our correspondences up to now, I’ll let you know about any changes or issues we have, or have one of my staff pass the message on to you, as soon as I become aware of them.”

Pinkie gave Sphinx a polite bow of her head and excused herself, she had a lot of planning to take care of. Sphinx watched as the pink mare trotted away, she started taking mental notes on how she could...make some improvements to the Pinkie Pie’s figure. Given the pink mare’s personality, her adjustments could prove amusing. Also, Pinkie Pie was one of the only ponies that was not under her direct employment that met Sphinx personally, aside from special cases like political liaisons or the princesses of Equestria, but that was more of response to the meticulous, often absurd, notes the pink mare had on basically everyone she knew, Pinkie Pie during her first negotiations with Sphinx, which was through one of Chrysalis’s hive as a liaison, had somehow managed to gather potentially sensitive information regarding Sphinx in almost no time at all.

It was best to keep on the pink mare’s good side, and maybe work on a way to bring her in on a more permanent basis. Pinkie already had family working under Sphinx, and had suggested another family member for a future project, nothing to too out of the ordinary there, ponies liked to make sure their families were well cared for, even if they didn’t really have any involvement in their lives beyond familial obligations.

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A few weeks later Pinkie was in the employ of the casino, she spent most her early time with her sister, Marble Pie, and had quite a few changes to her figure as well, not quite as dramatic as Marble’s figure. Pinkie was even more buxom than her usual look, she went from a EE-Cup to a HH-Cup, she also got an even fluffier bubble butt, she adapted to her enhanced features much quicker than most of the staff.