"A pony had too much to drink," warned Tempest, her speech not quite right. "Handle it, please."

One trick being that, Aside Celestia, who she was addressing, Tempest was considered a backup guard. She was good at making rowdy customers remember their place. Firm and commanding, some of them ended up begging to come back to experience that again. Some of them just left and didn't come back, but none of them kept making a fuss, which was the idea.

Celestia nodded, but Lauren, who was driving, cringed internally. Facing an angry and rowdy customer? About the last thing she wanted to do. Celestia was so good at it! A pity, Lauren was not. "On it," she promised anyway, looking in the direction Tempest had alluded to. "On it." She strode through the crowd, faster than Celestia would have done.

She couldn't help but compare everything she did to how Celestia would have done it. Lauren was walking hurriedly, a thing Celestia tended to not do. She was always collected, even when trouble was starting. Lauren was not a princess, gosh darn it all. There, a listing mare with a drink held against a hoof as she swayed and loudly argued with someone next to her about her prowess at the game they were playing.

It was loud enough to be audible over the crowd, even as Lauren/Celestia was still getting towards it. Being large had advantages. The crowd mostly got out of her way without even needing to ask, so she had that going for her. It came as no surprise to Lauren that the next ball throw, the inebriated mare threw it over the back of the game instead of up along the ramp. It landed in the netting, scoring her no points and getting her friend? Were they a friend? Whoever they were, they were laughing at the drunken display.

"I meant to do that," defended the slurring mare. "Itsh a secret move. Game's not over yet." She grabbed the next ball and started winding it wildly, windwheeling their arm.

Lauren/Celestia grabbed the ball out of the mare's distracted grip. It was surprisingly easy. The drunk wasn't holding onto the ball very firmly to begin with, and didn't notice its abscence, still spinning their arm wildly. "And!" She made the throwing motion, but had nothing to throw. The mare squinted and looked around. "Ha... wow... that was a good throw... Did you see that?" She turned for her friend, but they had vanished, scurrying off. "Where'd you go?"

"You won the game," informed Celestia. "Now, if you'd come with me?"

"I did?!" The mare began to follow Lauren/Celestia with a huge smile. "I knew I could... do it..."

Celestia slipped the ball back into the game as they wandered off. "Playing that hard, it takes a lot out of a pony?"

"It does," agreed the drunk. "Maybe another..." She dropped her glass and stumbled. "Maybe not..."

"Maybe not," agreed Celestia with an awkward smile. "Come on now." She led the drunk pony to "the tank". It was a place specifically for just that sort of thing, ponies that could hurt themselves, usually due to being wildly drunk. "You wait here, um, I'll get your prize."

The mention of a prize got the mare inside, sitting with such a proud look. She was entirely confident she had won.

Celestia closed the door carefully. With any luck, the drunk would fall asleep, and wake up later with a headache, and likely forget the part about why she was there in that small room. "One down."

James, who was also Luna, stood tall as she looked over the arena she was the announcer for. "A big win over at the slots," they announced with a point. "The machines are burning hot, but who will be next to control those flames?"

James smirked on the inside, maybe shouting silly things was actually kind of fun. Most ponies weren't actually looking at them, just using their words as to what else they should be looking at. A small difference, but key! "Those two are in it to win it." They were looking at two ponies competitively dancing on a game. "Maybe a new arcade high score will come out? Be there for that."

She was having some fun, but also becoming hungry. It wasn't against the rules, so she made her way towards the lunch line. She had to wait in that line like everypony else. Those were the rules. Luna wouldn't even consider breaking them, so James tried to be good too.

"Hey, Luna." Apple Bloom grinned up at them. "Hungry? I'll get your favorite." She was already reaching to make food.

"How are you holding up?" James/Luna inclined an ear at Apple Bloom, considering how to phrase that. "Are they putting extra hours on you?"

"Yes!" gusted Apple Bloom with a roll of her eyes. "But we got this." she winked dramatically at James/Luna. "We're takin' shifts."

James/Luna sat up at that. "Am I talking to Apple Bloom or Danielle right now?"

"Dani here," Apple Bloom replied. "We shift swapped like an hour back. Don't worry, I know all the recipes." And she was about halfway through making Luna's favorite. "We're usually in it together, but I saw the writing on the wall and let little Bloom take over so I'd be ready to do the same. Worked out!"

Luna inclined her head. That was… almost unreasonably clever. A moment of jealousy. Some pairs were so… "Smart. These shifts are not sustainable."

"Nope." Apple Bloom shoved a plate towards Luna. "Next! G'luck out there!"

Fleur fidgeted in place. Why wouldn't she? She was a he, at least on the inside. But the pony that approached wanted very female companionship. But Fleur, the real Fleur, she was fast asleep, worn to exhaustion. Eric imagined all the ways it could go wrong.

But he knew customer service. Talking to people? That wasn't the problem. The trick was that they wanted more than to talk, probably. They glanced at the clock. The client was due any moment then.

Newest of the mares, Eric was still a he. His gender identity had not shifted yet. He was a guy that was piloting a mare. But he had promised. He promised Fleur, who had done no wrong, that he'd handle it for her and let her get some rest.

A sharp knock stirred him from his thoughts. "Qu'est-ce?" he asked in one querying syllable. It was an odd miracle that touches of French, er, Prench seemed to come without being asked.

"Hello." The door opened, allowing a furry snout to peek in. A grey one, with brown eyes following it, a smile beneath it. "Woah." He apparently liked what he saw. "First time I ever saw you more than an inch away from Fancy."

Eric laughed at that, almost a titter, but that came from the body. "No Fancy here." She looked over the stallion. Familiar… So familiar… "I have… seen you before, assurément."

"Of course you have." He stepped inside, kicking the door shut behind himself. "You're just used to the usual work duds. I'm not a Wonderbolt, not today." His brows waggled a bit as he came across the room at a slow pace, watching her just as intently as she was watching him. "Thunderlane's the name, and today I plan to bring the thunder."

Eric froze, which meant Fleur froze. It was close to a worst case scenario! That stallion was not there to have a nice little chat. What he wanted involved very few words at all other than impassioned noises that Eric did not often make.

"Relax," he urged. "I'm a gentlestallion. We're going at the pace you set, my fair lady." He began to climb up onto the bed, his tail swaying, raised high in his excitement. "You brought the best today." He leaned in, touching his snoot to her clothes. She was still dressed in her casino best, and it seemed to only tickle him in the right way. "Like a wrapped present. Half the fun is revealing what I've been given."

What was paid for! Thought Eric in an angry internal shout. But that wasn't fair… No… Fleur did that work, and all the rules were being followed. Oh… "Excusez-moi? May I see your ticket?"

He started back at that, but a laugh followed shortly. "Yeah, 'course." He drew a ticket from nowhere in a trick ponies tended to have, using a wing for the feat. "Here you are, Fleur. All legit."

Eric/Fleur scanned the ticket swiftly. She would not get out on a technicality. It looked right. "Very good." Oh, why did she purr that? Eric hadn't intended to, but that's what came out.

But he felt something. Something inside. It was like… Fleur? A warm female presence was gently rubbing against his insides, giving off a sense of reassurance. Was this what it felt like when he was inside, for Fleur? Fleur had woken up, just a little. Enough to give some small input.

That was when Eric spotted that Thunderlane was already having a good time. A heavy stallion pillar swayed as he bit and pulled, drawing off her uniform one bit at a time. "You're not like the other mares."

Fleur raised an ear at that. "What are the other mares like?"

"Athletes." He rubbed in a circle with a hoof across her rump. "Hard, trained, and strong. Sexy, in a different way. They're not ugly, but you. You're nice and soft and so girly." He buried his face right into her side. "Which is what I want right now. We?"

"Oui," corrected Eric/Fleur without thought, smiling a little. Correcting Prench was easy enough. He… she… they were soft. He, Thunderlane, liked the soft. Eric was used to having some soft… An athlete he never was, but the soft parts were rarely considered the good parts. "Surely you admire the strength and power of your lady-friends, hm?"

Thunderlane spat out the last bit of fabric, leaving Fleur entirely revealed. "Sure, sure. Rainbow loves showing off, and she has plenty to show off." He waggled those salacious brows of his. "But it's different. She's like… one of those statues, all the bits chiseled just right." He chuckled in memory. "You, on the other hoof, now you…"

His breath washed over Eric's ear, his tongue following it a moment after, making it twitch gently. Eric was being climbed on, by another guy. But he wasn't a guy, um, physically? He was a mare. Those mare parts were even reacting to the event. His mental discomfort was at war with the basic programming, no, no that wasn't fair at all.

Fleur was inside him. She knew what needed to be done, and she was ready to oblige. He was the one standing in the way. Some friend he was being… "I want to try something new." With a powerful roll, Fleur got Thunderlane on his back. It's not that Thunder couldn't have stopped the motion, being far stronger, but he allowed it. Straddling him, Fleur smiled at him. "Have you ever done it from the bottom, mon petit homme?"

Thunderlane licked over his lips, watching her with half-lid eyes. "You keep talking like that and I'll take whatever position you like." His fore hooves went to Fleur's hips, squeezing inwards. "But don't keep me waiting too long if you can."

If Eric didn't have to watch it, it'd be easier. Moving into position and surrendering just enough to let Fleur help line things properly, Eric sank down and learned a new sort of contact.

Just as Thunderlane had promised, he moved as quickly as allowed, but never any further or faster than that. But that didn't matter, in the end. Fleur was a sensual mare, and soon both were calling out their approval of the intimacy they were taking part in.

"Mon premier amant." Not technically true. Fleur had other loves, but Eric's first as Fleur. Both were confident Thunderlane wouldn't dissect the foreign words, too busy in the act. She nuzzled under his chin and nipped at his throat, breathing harshly as they danced together.

That wouldn't be an upset customer.

Author's Note

Learning, growing, and adapting. Our human halves get a chance near the surface.

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