Shadow Play

Testing sat in the park, a bag of bread on his lap. In such a situation, it is odd for anypony to not be throwing some to the innumerable pigeons around them. Testing, however, was generally weird as far as most things went, and denying some pigeons the bread that he intended for his friends was just par for the course - possibly even birdie.

As he had hoped, a few hours into waiting he saw the mare of the hour. There, strolling down the path was Bitter Sweet, looking much the same as she had nearly two weeks ago. He had tried to meet her the day before, but she hadn't strolled down the park's path - or maybe she had done so at a time he hadn't been watching.

As she slowly approached, Testing couldn't help but get that feeling once more. The tingle that spoke of the fear that the future was to bring about. Taking in a breath to steady himself, he stood up as she passed by.

"Hey, Bitter Sweet." He greeted while putting on a good smile. Sweet turned to look at him, a look of unsure recognition on her face. "Testing," He provided, "We met out here in the park the other day." Her face lit up with a smile as she connected the dots.

"Testing! Good to see you again!" She said while folding her hands in front of her. "Glad to see you're doing better today. Things turning out better recently?"

"Oh yeah, though I do have something I'd like to talk to you about." Testing said, steering the conversation as quickly to where he wanted it as possible.

"Oh?" Sweet asked, cocking her head to one side. "If you want a date, I have to say I'm not into stallions... or anypony to be fair." Testing blinked that away, shaking his head with a smirk at the ridiculous romcom nature of this conversation.

"No, no, I already have a mare of my own." He said, waving her off. "No, I just wanted to see if I might be able to help you?" He smiled at her, his heart racing as he hoped to the high heavens to make this work out well despite himself. "I mean, you cheered me up when you really didn't have to while you yourself were apparently not doing your best. I'd like to return the favor if I can." Sweet paused at this, likely unsure how to take what had been said.

"You... want to help me?" She asked, looking Testing up and down quizzically. "We barely know each other. If not for knowing each other's names I'd say we were perfect strangers."

"Yeah, and even so you helped me out." Testing pressed. "You gave me a hand when you didn't even know my name. Now I know your name and I'd like to see if I can give you the same." Sweet was taken aback by this. She didn't seem appalled by the notion, but she was certainly surprised and a bit at a loss for words. "I'd like to help you," Testing repeated, "and, if you were willing, maybe even be considered a friend?"

"My friend?" Sweet parroted. Then, a second later, a smile broke out across her face. "Sure, I'd like that." She answered finally. Testing returned the smile, feeling he had made progress. "I mean, I don't have much of anything that I need help with right now." She continued, dashing Testing's hopes slightly. "Most of my problems are... more to do with time. I'm mostly just bored. Sure, things haven't been their best, but I have plans for the future. But, I'd very much like having you as a friend."

"Oh... well you're sure you're doing alright?" Testing asked, hoping to not push his luck on this. Sweet paused and then shrugged.

"Yeah, it's just a matter of time until things sort themselves out." She looked back to Testing with a smile fitting her name. "Thank you for wanting to be my friend, though. It means a lot to me." Testing gave a faint smile, happy that he had done at least that much. It mightn't have been the most he could've done, but it was all he seemed to be able to manage.

"Hey, why not swap numbers? Stay in contact beyond just... well, wandering over to the park in hopes of finding each other." Testing chuckled. Bitter Sweet gave a giggle at that as well, pulling out her phone.

As they swapped numbers, Testing couldn't help but wander if the slight easing of the feeling was him becoming accustomed to its presence or if - just maybe - he might be doing something right. Either way, it was reason to smile stupidly all the way back to the apartment before he had to head off to work.

Testing took a breath in as he stepped once more into the Prissy Pony. The one pony that had held that feeling in his presence the strongest beyond that very first time he had ever felt it may just be in the club. That pony also so happened to have good reason to believe that Testing might've cheated at a card game.

At the time, Testing just wanted to prove a point. He wouldn't have had Red Tape pay the large sum one way or the other - despite how helpful it would've been to do so. He would've pardoned the other stallion's stupidity with money in exchange for teaching him a lesson about writing checks his luck wouldn't cash.

It was unfortunate, therefore, that the two of them had the exact same spread of cards in front of them when betting had ended.

Walking up to the counter, Testing caught Clean Sweep's eye. The mare finished cleaning off a glass before grabbing one of the wooden boxes from the store of them. She planted the box on the counter and leaned on it, staring Testing - who was a tad bit shorter than her - directly in the eye.

"The fuck did I hear you did last time you were in here?" She asked pointedly, keeping Testing from grabbing the box and running. "I had to tend to some guests in the back rooms past closing and I come back out to find, lo and behold, my newest Teller decided to play stupid games with the owner's son."

"To be fair, he told me to play." Testing said in his own defense.

"Oh did he now?" Clean leered with the force of a thousand disappointed mothers. "And I suppose he also asked you to spit in his face."

"No... and I also didn-"

"No, you didn't, but I did hear what you did do." She snapped at him. "You fuckin' tried to cheat him out of the game. You went for a royal flush of your own and found out how bad that goes when you don't actively know who has what cards."

"Am I supposed to?" Testing asked, genuine intrigued by the prospect that he'd have to learn card counting, though also generally curious what all his job expected of him. He was also, far more pressingly, absolutely terrified of the mare and only had his odd sense of humor as a fallback plan in stressful situations such as these.

"Well, in your defense, you didn't have the spectacles in your box the other night, but even so it was a dumb move that I hope to never hear repeated. Capisce?" Testing slowly nodded, though still confused. "Good." Clean huffed a moment later, releasing her hold on the box.

"Tonight you'll have the piece that will ensure you will no longer have any such problems." Clean Sweep sighed, opening the box. "Most of the boxes have them, with the exception of the boxes we hand to first time Tellers. Seems that, though you are still considered a first time Teller, you will be needing these." She said holding up a pair of spectacles. "Every card's back is marked in special ink that tells you what everypony at the table has. Now do be careful since these things cost upwards of two normal paychecks. I know you're strapped for cash, so don't make things worse on yourself."

Testing slowly nodded, recognizing the value of such an item, both in functionality and actual price tag numbers. "Table seven, or am I being switched?" Clean Sweep simply nodded and shooed Testing away to his work before returning to her own.

He was certainly glad that she wasn't entirely mad with him, but the disappointment she radiated wasn't nice either. He could only hope to regain her good graces.

Setting down at the table, he looked around, sliding on the minorly shaded lenses. They had that certain vibe of an old fashioned dealer in a shady saloon someplace, which made them that much cooler in conjunction with their functionality. His table, according to the list, would be a female only table. An interesting change to be sure, but not one that would prove much of an issue.

As he began to shuffle the deck in anticipation of his players arriving, Testing froze as he felt a hand placed on his shoulder. A hand that caused the heart pounding sensation he had been so mystified by to reemerge in full force. Taking a steadying breath, Testing looked over his shoulder at Red Tape, who gave him the most saccharine sweet smile he had even seen. The stallion had forgone his garish wear from their last encounter and now wore a black, pinstripe suit that looked positively professional.

"Teller, buddy, glad you had the guts to come back to work after that little... altercation." Red Tape said through gritted teeth.

"About that," Testing began, only to be shut down by Red Tape as he sat down across from him, that misplaced smile still across his lips.

"Oh, you don't have to worry, I'm not mad. No, I'm not mad at all about what you tried to pull." Red Tape said, his tone almost natural were it not for the gritted teeth. "No, pops taught me better than to get mad at just some Teller." The suddenly menacing Red Tape leaned forward, his expression unmoving as he stared down Testing. "Because, when a pony like me gets shown up, gets made the fool..." He hummed a single note as he pulled back, becoming more at his ease as he let the implications of his words do the work.

Oh what work they did! When combined with the aura that only Testing had to live with, it was a pain to have to keep anything close to a poker face around the pony on the other side of the table. Something in the stallion told Testing all he needed to know, and yet left so much unspoken to be discovered later.

"You're trapped, Testing Testing. You're a cornered pony with no other routes to eking out a meager living than to come. Right. Back. HERE." Red Tape said matter-of-factly, his smile morphing into a true grin of satisfaction. "So come on, gnat, dance with the spider."

Testing did his best to hold his nerve, even as he felt the aura of malice and unrealized dread growing in its potency. "You wanted this, after all!" Red Tape pressed as he leaned back comfortably in his chair. "And best of all," Red Tape chuckled an airy laugh, swiping something off the collar of his suit, "you lost all your allies the same night you pulled the stunt that's got you here, to where you need them the most. And do you know why?"

Testing shook his head, desperately wishing for some reprieve from the oppressive atmosphere that surrounded him at that moment. "Because," Red Tape continued, folding his hands in front of him in a state of pure ease, "you just aren't worth the trouble to help.

"You're just the new hire from off the streets. Had you been around for maybe a day or two more and established something of any type of rapport with anypony at all; well maybe you might've had some friends around these parts. But, as it stands, you aren't worth enough to protect. Do you know what that means?" Testing had a sinking feeling he did, in fact, know. Red Tape gave a contented sigh as he watched Testing like a predator stalking a maimed piece of prey.

"It means I get to have fun with you." Red Tape's smile only grew in its sincerity and size as he looked Testing up and down with hunger. "The bouncers don't have your back - not even Stony who got given a few paid days off as recompense for me calling him names - , the Tellers don't have your back because they don't know or care for you, the bar tenders don't know you exist beyond last night, the dancers think you're an idiot who'll burn himself alive before making any meaningful progress, Clean Sweep thinks you're a fool who needs a few lessons in the world, and my father - oh my!"

Testing did his best to not shrink back from the smile that showed more and more teeth that somehow now had a far more menacing gleam to them than any teeth he had seen - and he had seen some very menacing teeth before. "My father," Red Tape pressed with arrogant glee, "has more than a few reasons to despise you. He might take a fair hand towards you because he always does with everypony, but underneath the thin veneer of polite social interactions, my father hates you and wants you hurt as much as I might IF I were mad."

Red Tape let out a boisterous laugh, slapping a hand on the table as he struggled to say his next few words. "But isn't it grand that I'm NOT mad?" His laughter died away a second later as he rubbed a tear from his eye before focusing back on Testing. "No, not mad at all. Because, you see, anger is a choice. I choose to not get mad.

"No, I choose, instead, to get even. I choose to not stoop to your level of petty back and forth and to go straight for the fucking jugular. I CHOOSE..." He let the word hang in the air, its immense weight bearing down on Testing like a shark on its prey, "to make you my bitch." He hissed with immeasurable glee.

Testing couldn't help what emotions sparked across his face at that pronouncement. He couldn't help the voices he heard in his hindbrain. Voices that mocked and jeered him. Voices that told him who he was. A voice that proclaimed it all, all they had done to him in the dark. A voice so familiar.

"He... he hypnotized me while they fucked my ass. And then he fucked me... he... he made me think I was a filly... and then a bitch... and then made me forget who I was... and then m-made... he made me his slut.

"And deep down, the other guy... that guy who is me but isn't? He's still Gunther's sex crazed, nympho slut! I'm still Gunther's sex crazed, nympho slut! Every second I feel whatever he made me into bleed into who I really am! Every second I'm not cumming, and every time I cum... no matter what, I can feel his words in me. Ringing inside my mind!

"I can't fight it... I... I'm a slut... a HONRY, SEX CRAZED, NYMPHO, SLAVE-DICK SLUT! I don't want to be, but... but he's drilled it so deep inside of me... he's made me cum, he's molded me, he's whipped every inch of ME out of ME, until he has gotten exactly what he wanted out of me! A slut! A helpless... worthless slut..."

Testing held back a multiplicity of urges as he stared down Red Tape, his fist clenched and his expression barely hiding anything of what storm raged inside of him. Part of him, a part he had beaten back as best as he could, wanted to fall to his knees and suck Red Tape off until what little part of Dick Slut's life could be extinguished as he drowned in the other stallion's cum.

The other part of him wanted to throw the table as Red Tape had the other night and choke the stallion in a primal rage. Testing held back that urge, leashed it beside the urge that wanted to die from fellatio related asphyxiation. He chained both inner beasts deep inside of himself as he stared Red Tape down.

There, seated in that stallion, was something far darker than simple juvenile dickishness. There was a piece of the stallion across from Testing that sought to hold, to take, and to humiliate. Testing began to wonder if this stallion really had friends so much as those he kept at arms reach to humiliate with greater ease.

"So what do you have to say to me, bitch? What do you say to the stallion who so graciously decided to make you his own personal bitch?" Red Tape said with a malice filled demoniac smile. Testing swallowed back bile that had risen up in his throat. A piece of Cress, the part that had almost devoured Gunther, suddenly made so much more sense to Testing.

Where compassion driven by the realization that Gunther was in much the same boat as Testing after the griffon had had so much of his mind taken away had created a great disconnect in emotional understanding, there was now a intensely personal understanding of the boiling rage and utterly pure hate that Cress had had. Testing had to fight to not let himself give into that same anger.

It was the anger that had nearly killed Gunther. It was the anger that had killed Silver. It was the anger that now made his hands clamp down in a ironlike grip onto the sturdy wooden box.

"Well, bitch?" Red Tape prodded, leaning forward.

"Go to Hell." Testing spat back.

"Oh, trust me, bitch," Red Tape replied pleasantly, seeming almost pleased with the answer, "by the end of this, you'll wish I had only taken you through Hell." Testing gripped his box tighter as he stared down Red Tape - the stallion who had gone beyond just a stupid colt in Testing's mind. Where once he might've thought to call this thing that might've been a pony at some point 'Red', now only the full brunt of the name felt fitting. Not for its meaning, but simply for its weight.

Red Tape tipped a nonexistent hat to Testing as he stood up from the table, taking his leave - though not before patting Testing on the shoulder in an almost friendly way. Testing struggled to not tear about an launch the solid block of wood into the back of the other stallion's skull. With enough force there wouldn't even be pain. A quick death by the sheer force of turning the other pony's gray matter into a thin paste inside his skull.

Testing took a few deep breaths, trying his best to remain calm as he set the box down on the table as his strippers took to his table finally - all of whom seemed completely disinterested in the stallion's emotional turmoil.

They, despite any wish to keep distance from their Teller, couldn't help but notice how the stained oak box - whose sides were an inch thick at their thinnest points - seemed to have divots in its surface in the shape of hands taken by barely restrained rage.