On the last day of her former life, Daisy Dingo had been in Equestria for three days. It wasn’t her first time in the magical kingdom, having visited on a school cultural exchange trip when she was younger. Now, after graduation and looking for a path in life, she’d saved up and come again, searching for inspiration. More accurately, she was looking for a way to get back into acting.
Daisy’s brush with potential movie stardom a few years ago had never left her and, even though it would be expensive, she was hoping to find a way back in, even to expand her skills beyond her uncanny Margay West impersonation. (And her Batty Davis was coming along nicely, though she said so herself.)
Her teachers had advised her to consider alternative paths given how expensive and difficult it was to get into good acting schools. Never one to be denied something she truly wanted, Daisy had surprised them by pointing out, “Well obviously in this country. What about abroad?”
Her brothers had chipped in the money – some of it even earned through real jobs! – and Daisy had sat through the tedium of the long flight to the equine capital of the world, watching in-flight movies for inspiration. Once there, and working off the jet lag, she’d gone on the warpath, trying out at every free class and off-Bridleway place she could find. She was going to make contacts, she was going to get into a good school, and she was going to be a star!
Okay, so it probably wouldn’t be that simple. Daisy’s current visa allowed her to stay and work in Equestria for a few weeks before she could qualify to take a citizenship test, which might take some time. And that current visa allowed her to do the sort of jobs (potential) actors always did to keep themselves afloat, but nothing higher paying.
She had a week booked at her hotel and if none of her leads on an affordable place to live panned out there were always youth hostels. The only real question was how long her bank account would hold out before she either had to call home asking for more money –which Danny would never let her live down– or she was forced to return home before her citizenship could go through.
But Daisy was determination itself. If she didn’t become an actress in Equestria, she was going to become something special somewhere!
Plus, there was always voice acting. That sounded cool.
***
Currently, Daisy wasn’t worrying about the future too much. Or trying not to, anyway. She’d taken a walk through the city, enjoying the streets and shops and sights, and was currently relaxing by the railings of the Canterlot quayside, enjoying the sun, the energy of the city, and the admiring glances she was getting from passers-by.
She was getting so many that a possible alternate revenue source (which would probably pay more than acting would) had occurred to her, but she’d need her own apartment and that pesky citizenship approval to do it properly. If she was going to get into sex work, she was going to be a proper escort, not a street walker.
Then again, given the genuine smiles she’d gotten out of every clothing store and café worker so far maybe a basic Canterlot retail job wouldn’t be so bad. Pedestrians seemed happy to drop a few coins in the hats of the street musicians, and since so many ponies liked her accent, they’d probably love her singing voice!
That was what Daisy liked about Canterlot, and Equestria in general. The friendly atmosphere and a feeling of infinite possibilities.
She sighed contentedly, closing her eyes and filling her nostrils with the smell of the river water, delicious food from the restaurants nearby, and even the smell of freshly cut grass in the parks on the other side of the river.
Her equally acute ears twitched at the sound of clicking heels echoing from further up the street but quickly growing louder. Someone was running! In heels?
Daisy turned and yelped as some sort of brightly coloured discus whirled towards her like a saw blade! She threw out a hand to catch the thing and looked down, bemused, at a stylish sun hat. Her nose twitched as the pleasant perfume smell of the hat and heels owner came towards her.
“Oh, thank you, darling!” she panted. “You don’t know the favour you’ve done me. I just bought that, and it would be a tragedy if it wound up in the river! Bloody weather team and their random summer breezes…”
Ah, Daisy remembered, ponies could control their weather, couldn’t they?
“No problem,” she smiled, returning the hat and looking the purple haired owner over.
She was, to say the least, a striking figure, with an amazingly white coat and an expertly coiffured mane. And a Unicorn, no less, one of Daisy’s favourite breeds of pony!
Even still slightly hunched to get her breath back, the Unicorn was a beautiful sight. She accented her natural colours with turquoise eyes-shadow to match her crystal blue eyes and a shade of pink-red lipstick Daisy would love to try herself sometime.
As the Unicorn straightened up to dawn her new sun hat, Daisy was treated to the sight of the jacket and thin blouse she was wearing over what seemed to be her actual outfit for the day. She would have stood out wearing anything, but what she was currently wearing surprised Daisy.
The normal clothes covered (though not very well, which Daisy suspected might be intentional) a black latex catsuit, topped by a heart shaped piece of latex that contained, but certainly didn’t hide, the Unicorn’s impressive white cleavage, which was heaving very nicely from her running. The heels Daisy had heard weren’t neck-breaking high heels, but they were certainly stylish and attached to a pair of almost thigh-high white leather boots, cuffed at the Unicorn’s knee by pink bands, with matching pink heart built into the toes.
(Did ponies technically have boot toes? Daisy remembered something about this from biology class, but it wasn’t a big deal just now.)
Even though the Unicorn had a nice white jacket, one arm had slipped out slightly from running, allowing Daisy to see one of the elegant white leather opera glove, also tipped with a pink cuff, that she wore to match her boots.
“Thank you again, darling,” the Unicorn beamed as she adjusted her hat and a department store bag slung over her other arm. “There must be something I can do for such a display of generosity!”
Give me your tailor’s number, Daisy thought. There was something vaguely familiar about that suit, but she was enjoying the view too much to care.
“Eh, right place, right time,” she said, shaking the Unicorn’s gloved hand. “Daisy Dingo at your service.”
“And I imagine you must be sick to death of people telling you they adore your accent, yes?” the Unicorn chuckled.
“Not yet,” Daisy smirked, which made the Unicorn burst out in musical laughter. Her accent was very posh, not that Daisy minded. It was the kind of tone she wanted to master in her acting.
Could this lady have connections? Everything about her screamed fashion, and Daisy certainly wouldn’t mind spending more time in such beguiling, enthusiastic company.
“Hey, sorry, but I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before? Or at least your outfit! Which looks amazing, by the way.”
“You may have indeed, Daisy Dingo.” There was something sultry about the Unicorn’s own smirk, and quite a bit of pride. “I am the one, the only--”
“Rarity!”
A rhythmic thumping sound Daisy had assumed was a truck having trouble starting a few streets away turned out to be a massive purple and green wall running towards them with it’s own shopping bags. Daisy was so stupefied by the sight of a dragon charging towards them she almost fell backwards into the river, but her new acquaintance shot out a steading gloved hand to catch her arm.
“Yes, Rarity,” she smiled, rolling her eyes. “Delighted to meet you, Daisy. And this is my bodyguard, Spike the Dragon.”
“You got ahead of me,” Spike said reproachfully, oddly dignified despite the fact he was dressed in a polo shirt and his jacket knotted around his neck.
Not that Daisy would’ve mouthed off to someone almost ten feet tall, with arms almost as thick as her own torso bulging out of those rolled up polo shirt sleeves. Also, there was something sad and worried in the dragon’s voice that made her wonder if their relationship was simply professional.
Probably not from the way Rarity walked up to him and cupped his face with a gloved hand.
“I’m fine, darling, it was just a runaway hat.” She turned to smile at Daisy again. “Which our new friend here was kind enough to catch. We were just discussing ways to express my gratitude. Lunch, perhaps?” Her eyes twinkled in a way that reminded Daisy of Danny’s own mischievous looks. “For starters?”
“Well, since you’re offering!” Daisy smiled back.
She could smell more than Rarity’s perfume and mown grass now. She could smell
opportunity.
***
Rarity had a different idea of lunch than Daisy had, not that the dingo was about to complain. Or maybe all restaurants in Canterlot were like little palaces. It smelled great and the décor said ‘rich’, which was all Daisy cared about. She’d have to remember this place when she made it big.
She’d definitely want the waiters to treat her like they did Rarity, too. All she’d done was walk into the place like she owned it (…huh. Maybe she did?), and they were now being led to a table by the head waiter himself. There were even bus boys waiting to take Rarity’s bags, coat and new hat, gently placing them on a small pedestal next to her chair.
Daisy suppressed the urge to giggle as they did the same with her jacket and admired the sight of Rarity with only that paper-thin blouse covering her amazing suit.
She was briefly worried she didn’t have the table manners for this kind of place, which had three types of forks next to the plates, but Rarity put her at ease with their chat, speaking to Daisy almost like an old friend and certainly like an equal, even as she turned slightly to wave at important looking ponies at other tables.
Daisy kept her eye on those ponies. Some of them were clearly glad to see Rarity. Others were blushing a little. A few looked nervous. Daisy would love to make someone look that uneasy just by going to lunch. Spike helped her with the French and Italian words she didn’t recognize, and she was soon enjoying one of the best meals she’d ever had, courtesy of the menu’s carnivore option, enjoying her chat with Rarity.
“Ah, now I know why you look so familiar! I saw your line at the Melbourne Market show!”
“Yes, fashion is my passion, darling!” Rarity chuckled, before taking a sip of her wine. “Well, one of them, anyway.”
There was something about how she said that, something confident and…devious? Daisy wasn’t sure, but she felt totally at ease with this beautiful Unicorn. Rarity running her own fashion business might explain her latex outfit, but Daisy felt instinctively that she hadn’t designed it herself. She’d ask later, when they knew each other better.
“But enough about me. Tell me about yourself, Daisy! What brings you all the way to Canterlot? Will we be lucky enough to have you as a permanent fixture?”
“Maybe, if things work out.”
“Maybe?” Rarity’s lovely brow furrowed slightly, and she reached across the table to take her hand, surprising Daisy. “You’re not in any trouble, are you?”
Daisy saw Spike roll his eyes, but with a slight smile on his face. Must be a couple thing, maybe Rarity offered to help people out a lot. Beyond taking them to fabulous restaurants and insisting on paying for everything, in which case Daisy was more than ready to accept.
“Not yet,” she admitted, because she was aware of how her luck worked by now. She gave Rarity’s gloved hand a little squeeze. “I do wanna live here, actually. I mean, who wouldn’t? Just a lot of things to sort out first, y’know?”
“I think I have some ideas,” Rarity agreed, returning her hand to elegantly grip her wine glass stem. “Rest assured, I can help!”
Daisy blinked. “You don’t even know what the problem is yet? Hell, you just met me!”
“And I’m more than glad I did,” Rarity smiled. “I have an eye for…talent, let’s say. You have drive or you wouldn’t have saved up to come here at all.” She indicated Daisy’s shirt and jeans with her glass. “They let you in despite the dress code because you’re with me, darling, but I can picture you in many types of outfits easily. Business suit, ballroom gown. You have the right attitude and the right eyes. Let me guess; modelling, music or acting?”
“Acting,” Daisy agreed, blinking in surprise.
“Ah, the theatre,” Rarity sighed wistfully. “You’ve picked the right place, we have some of the best shows in the world here, and you’ll look simply fantastic on a poster!”
“Well, I’m looking for schools right now,” Daisy qualified, hoping to get back some control in this conversation. She wasn’t sure where things were going, but she liked the faith Rarity already had in her, even if her goals were apparently that obvious.
“We have plenty of those too! I’d be more than happy to help with fees.”
“Yeah? For, what, just saving your hat?”
“Of course, darling! If you need more reason, how about the pleasure of your company?”
“What would I have to do in exchange?”
Rarity and Spike exchanged a glance. They had an answer, but Daisy sensed they were going to hold it in reverse for now.
“Well,” Rarity mused, gazing up at the ceiling. “I don’t normally keep track of favours with friends. It’s not the sort of thing a lady does. I suppose before I can answer that kind of question I’d need to see if you could make good on the investment?”
“Huh?”
“How’s your acting, darling?” Rarity clarified. She was still friendly, but Daisy could feel a business-woman-like attitude in her voice now, like the Unicorn was assessing her. For what, Daisy didn’t know, but a chance to show off was a chance to show off.
Daisy took a deliberate sip of her white wine (she didn’t want to risk getting drunk in front of someone as impressive as Rarity) and dabbed at her lips.
“When I’m good,” she drawled, “I’m very good. When I’m bad, I’m better.”
The entire restaurant didn’t fall silent at this, but the immediate area around them did. Daisy took another causal sip of wine, relishing Spike and Rarity’s stares.
“Bloody hell,” Rarity said distantly. She still had all her poise and obvious power, but Daisy could tell she’d caught her would-be benefactor completely off guard. “And that’s my favourite movie too…”
“It was like she was in the room with us!” Spike agreed.
“And I can do it for almost twenty-four hours, sweetheart,” Daisy continued. She winked. “I got stamina.”
Rarity was grinning widely enough for the corners of her mouth to almost touch her earrings. Whatever sort of test this was, Daisy was doing great at it!
“Can you sing?” Spike asked. He looked at Rarity. “We can’t put Fluttershy on every night, and those stand ins last week…”
“We’d probably want to keep it in the family anyway, yes darling,” Rarity agreed, looking between him and Daisy. She raised an eyebrow. “Well, Ms. Dingo?”
“Sure I can sing,” Daisy chuckled in her regular voice. She blinked at the focused look Rarity was giving her. “What, here?”
“Is that a problem, darling?”
Daisy felt it in her soul. If she in any way let down this woman, didn’t meet the expectations and confidence in those beautiful blue eyes, she’d never forgive herself for throwing away the opportunity she felt fermenting around her.
“What sort of number would you like?” she asked, willing confidence into her voice. “Up to you.”
Something about Rarity’s cold, clam aura made Daisy know she should stand up for this. No one made any fuss as she did and began her rendition of Is Your Love Strong Enough, one of her favourite 80s numbers.
Her voice wobbled a little at the beginning and in all honesty the song really needed that synth-rock sound to work, but she took control and let herself get into it. Nobody would complain. Rarity had just walked in here and been given a table, of course nobody would complain. Daisy didn’t even meet the dress code and whatever power Rarity had over this place meant it didn’t matter. And the feel of the surrounding patrons’ eyes on her felt good. Being seen with Rarity felt good.
She stopped after the second chorus and waited. Rarity was smiling.
“Made up your mind?” Spike asked his employer.
“Quite.” Rarity finished her wine and snapped her fingers.
A waiter appeared with a fresh bottle. Daisy sensed they were preparing to leave now, but there was no sign of a bill even though Rarity had said she’d pay for everything. Maybe she had a tab with the restaurant, maybe she just had absolute power over it. Either way, Daisy got the sense that following this Unicorn, however much it made the fur on the back of her neck tingle from unseen danger, was the best decision she’d ever made.
“Can you do jazz numbers, darling?” Rarity asked as Spike stood, picking up her bags.
“Sure, I was in the top of the class in our music program all through school.”
“Capital! That’s more in keeping with our tone.” “Your what, sorry?”
“Quite right, I’m getting ahead of myself.” Rarity stood up as the staff came with their jackets. Daisy reached for hers but hesitated as Rarity simply held out her arms and the staff carefully, professionally slipped it on for her. She smiled as the dingo copied the gesture, to the same result.
“You’ve proven you have almost everything I look for in an impressive amount of time, my dear Daisy. I’m happy to pay your tuition at whatever acting school you chose to attend, and if you insist on repaying me then my only requirement is that you work for me. With full benefits, of course.”
Daisy blinked, stunned as the staff brought over Rarity’s new hat, the one that had introduced this strange, beguiling figure into her world. “Wow. R-really?”
Rarity nodded, collecting her bag and turning to the exit. Daisy had to jog slightly to catch up. “I mean, that’s great of you and all, but I don’t know if…You see, my visa…”
“I’ll handle it, darling. Don’t you worry about a thing.”
“Are you sure? I dunno if I even qualify for…whatever it is you want me to do. And I only sent my citizenship application in yesterday!”
Rarity let out a chuckle that was almost perfectly timed with the sharp click of her boot heels on the faux marble stairs. “Oh Daisy, believe me, you absolutely qualify for what I have in mind, and once you’re one of my Darlings you’ll be practically able to walk through walls, never mind red tape.”
“Rarity owns a nightclub,” Spike explained, walking behind them and trying to look like a professional bodyguard while carrying what looked like ten bags full of clothes. “What she’s saying is you’d be a perfect fit. She hasn’t been wrong, ever!”
A nightclub? Daisy felt something buzzing all over her fur, like the excitement of preparing to pull off a good prank but magnified. She was going to be in a fashion designer’s nightclub! She was going to get to dress up and sing to smooth jazz! And this was the side hustle she’d have while training to be a world-famous actress!
“Holy–I can’t wait!” She sprang forward, surprising Rarity as she hugged her from behind. “You mean it? Thank you! I don’t believe this! I knew this city was special! I can start right away!”
“It is still day, darling,” Rarity chuckled, patting her hand before gently prying herself loose.
“Oh,” Daisy blushed. “Right, right…”
“But that’s the spirit! Besides, you know what’s better than dessert after a good lunch?” Rarity’s eyes flashed like her latex as she dramatically pointed down the street towards some towering, high class shops. “Shopping!”
Daisy turned to Spike, staring as the dragon sighed, all the bags in his grip seeming to exfoliate with him in sympathy.
“Uh, but isn’t that all–?” She cocked a thumb at Spike’s load.
“Hmm?” Rarity blinked, her perfect lashes fluttering, then grinned and looped an arm around Daisy’s. She was surprisingly strong. Not that Daisy wanted to escape from the woman who was going to turn her into a super star. “Oh, that was just the warmup, darling!”
Spike sighed again.
***
Of course, Rarity insisted on paying for all this, too. Daisy did feel obligated to mention her bank account could just about handle a pair of shoes in here (and those cost almost a month’s rent) but Rarity simply told her to stop worrying about her own bank account, and only concern herself with Rarity’s.
“And you don’t have to worry about my bank account any time soon, darling.”
She was probably right, or at least she had the confidence to buy many things, recommending just as many to Daisy. Not that the dingo minded, but it was blowing her mind a little that this could be her life from now on. Rarity had offered –well, told her she was going to have– a job at her club and it must be doing well; some of the brands she was buying had Princess Celestia’s seal of approval on them, with price tags almost as long as Daisy’s arm!
Rarity seemed to approve of Daisy’s regular outfit, a basic shirt and jeans combo in the soft blue colours she liked, and asked lots of questions about her tastes, trying to help her find a more expensive look that was to her liking.
Daisy noticed signs in the more expensive segments of the store asking customers not to try on clothes unless intending to pay, which Rarity ignored as easily as she’d ignored that restaurant’s dress code, egging Daisy on to try anything she fancied.
Daisy got the impression she was going to like working for Rarity. Although she did feel a bit sorry for Spike, who’s load looked set to double just from Rarity’s new purchases, never mind her additions. Not so sorry she wouldn’t make plenty of purchases, of course!
Rarity kept the chat going as they moved from department to department. She’d been to Australia on business a few times and had a smashing time. Daisy wondered what would have happened if they’d met on one of those trips, because she was having the time of her life right now and hadn’t even seen Rarity’s club yet.
The conversation moved onto friends and family, Rarity enjoying a good chuckle at the mention of good old Blinky back home and mentioning he reminded her of a younger Spike back in the day, which made the dragon huff. Daisy learned Rarity had a younger sister who worked at the club and quite a lot of friends, and plenty of people who she referred to as “my Darlings”.
It seemed to be a term of endearment for people who worked in her club, and Rarity kept assuring Daisy she’d love them.
She also stressed that Daisy would of course be allowed to take breaks, not even only holiday ones, to visit her brothers, whenever she wanted. The last thing Rarity wanted to do was break up a family! Daisy appreciated the offer, though she wouldn’t mind a very long break from Danny and the boys.
The subject made her wonder if she should ask more questions about her citizenship, and the influence Rarity seemed to have over it, but she saw an evening dress that was just begging her to try it out and it was soon the furthest thing from her mind.
Until she caught Spike glaring over his shoulder once or twice.
***
They were heading for the exit, Spike having been provided with a small cargo dolly to wheel Daisy and Rarity’s small city worth of shopping. Spike leaned over the handles to speak to Rarity.
“Right behind us. Don’t look. Just ask the car to meet us around the side.”
“Of course, darling,” Rarity said, still smiling, but Daisy could see her lovely blue eyes hardening in the shadow of her hat brim. She casually held up her phone and, unhindered by her glove, typed out and texted this instruction with one hand. “Daisy, we don’t want you to worry, but just stick close to me, alright? Nothing will happen to you.”
“Uh…”
Despite Spike’s advice, Daisy turned around. All she could see were more shoppers, checking things out, but suddenly every aisle of skirts, every potted plant, hell, every bathroom door suddenly felt like it contained a hunter, an invisible army that would swarm over them and carry them away to…to…to what?
“Daisy,” Rarity said, sounding to the Dingo as if from a great distance away, and suddenly she felt the warmth of one of those strong arms around her shoulder, making her turn to look at the Unicorn’s grim but sincere face. “Listen, please. You’re with me now. And I do not allow anything bad to happen to anyone who is with me. I pride myself upon it.”
Daisy, still walking because Rarity’s hold meant she had to in order not to fall over, hesitated. She saw the promise in Rarity’s eyes, the guarantee her new employer…friend? Lover? Would lay down her life for Daisy, even after less than two hours of knowing her. And more than that, Daisy saw the promise.
The promise of biblical scale destruction that would come for anyone who so much as looked at Daisy the wrong way, now she was within Rarity’s circle.
So Daisy smiled, nervously but faithfully, and nodded. “A-alright. I can handle myself. If I’ve got to. Just so you know.”
“Good. But it won’t come to that.”
“I’ll make sure of that,” Spike said grimly.
They were out on the street now, and turning into an alleyway…
***
Daisy was half panicking, half looking for a weapon when Spike made his move.
As if he were pulling a tissue from a packet, the Dragon pulled the hand-bar off his dolly, steadying it to a stop. Rarity had maneuvered herself and Daisy in front of the dolly, so it acted as a sort of barrier between them. Whoever was following them would have to get past it if they got past Spike.
And from the look on the dragon’s face, Daisy knew they wouldn’t get past Spike.
Still, Rarity let the bags she was carrying silently drop off her arm and –Daisy felt she shouldn’t have been surprised– reached down to her left boot, raising her leg to bring it in reach, keeping one hand reassuringly on Daisy’s shoulder as she pulled an extendable metal baton out of its cuff.
She saw Daisy looking at it, nonplussed, and gave the dingo a wink.
A figure rounded the corner, freezing as it saw them, caught completely off guard by the sight of a stone face Rarity in her full outfit, Daisy looking equally surprised as him in the new outfit she’d upgraded to in the store, and the small parade float of shopping in front of them.
Which was what Spike, crouched against the right wall of the alley, had been counting on.
There was a blur of purple and Spike was running into the startled, skinny pony, baring him up and along like a paper bag drifting into the fender of a car. The stallion let out a startled yelp that was cut off by hitting the left wall and being pinned.
Spike, with no sign of effort beyond maintaining his jogging pace, had driven the ends of his bar into the bricks, trapping their stalker’s arms with the bar across his chest. The stallion’s ratty sneakers were actually almost a foot off the air, kicking spasmodically at the Dragon’s ankle hight.
Spike grabbed him by the collar with one hand and pulled back his other, clenched into a fist. Daisy didn’t doubt for a second that, if he wanted to, Spike, who’d been so friendly and charming to her moments ago, would willingly hit this creep hard enough to burst his head like one of Meatball’s old footballs.
“Wait!” the creep squawked in a New York(ish) accent.
“Hang on, darling,” Rarity called. She left Daisy’s side, her heels clicking irritably as she marched up to Spike’s prisoner, squinting at him. “Oh, it’s you, Street Rat.”
“Um, hey Ms. Rarity,” the creep said, trying to grin. Daisy felt a flash of revulsion: he had a gold tooth that ruined the effect. “Sorry to bother ya, but y’know how it is.”
“You’d have to crawl a lot further up the bacterial chain to bother me, dear,” Rarity sighed, slipping her baton back into her boot.
Spike, still holding his about-to-strike pose, looked questioningly at her. Rarity gave him a smile and a nod, then indicated Daisy with her head. Spike looked reluctant to leave her, but even Daisy could tell that, pinned or not, Street Rat was about as much of a threat to Rarity as a piece of litter. She and Spike stood a little behind Rarity, waiting.
“So who or what is it now?” Rarity asked, evidentially bored.
“Well, y’know, client confidentiality an’ all–”
“Of course.”
“–but they got muscle, so when they asked if I knew youse, well…”
“I won’t hold saving your own skin against you, darling,” Rarity said, not kindly but Daisy got the impression she meant it. “So they asked you to have a word with me about…?”
“A lil’ of everythin’,” Street Rat sighed. “D-don’t get me wrong, I told ’em you run a respectable business, none of that rough stuff, but y’know how these new types think. They do it, so everyone is.”
“I’m familiar with the subspecies, yes.” Rarity was examining the fingers of her gloves, not even bothering to look at Street Rat anymore. “You told them I don’t bother with anything outside the club, they wouldn’t listen, and you thought coming to me personally means nothing would happen to you if they sent some thugs after me and I inevitably found out you were the one who told them about me, correct?”
“Yes ma’am.” Street Rat was looking at his sneakers, depressed and blushing.
“Well that’s very gallant of you,” Rarity said sweetly, surprising him. “Oh, don’t get any ideas, I’m fully aware you only did it because you’re a self-serving little cockroach, but you’re a respectful self-serving little cockroach. Tell them I’ll meet a lieutenant to reiterate the point– on neutral ground of my choosing, of course –and that they can have their nasty hard stuff all to themselves. Chiao.”
“Uh, wait!” Street Rat called as she turned towards Spike. “You, ah, wouldn’t mind Spike there maybe roughin’ me up some?”
Rarity blinked at him.
“These guys’re pretty into their image, y’know?” Steet Rat explained. “If I don’t come back lookin’ like I got what was comin’ to me, they’ll give it to me to save face, y’know? I don’t mind loosin’ some teeth, not my lucky one of course,” –he licked his gold one, making Daisy and Rarity shudder with disgust– “and hey, if I had a black eye, that’d be good! Just some kinda bruise, y’know?”
“I get the picture, dear, but you know if you want that sort of thing we only do it for a fee.”
“Oh, well…” Street Rat blushed some more but seem to brighten up, pigeon chest swelling fruitlessly against the bar. “If, ah, if Applejack’d be up for an outcall? Tonight? Two hours?”
“Of course, dear!” Rarity sounded disconcertingly delighted at the idea, whipping out her phone. “Let me just schedule it, she’ll be delighted to see you! Same gear as last time?”
“Could that be with the red stuff as well as the black?” Street Rat asked. “I said we’d try it out next time.”
“No problem at all.” Rarity tapped buttons as Spike guided Daisy by the shoulders to the dolly and began to wheel it to the mouth of the alley. Something buzzed in Street Rat’s pocket. “And done!”
“Thanks Ms. Rarity, you’re one in a million!”
“You know it, dear.” Rarity turned, striding up to a stunned Daisy’s arm and taking it without breaking stride.
“Oh, uh, Ms. Rarity?” Street Rat called after them plaintively.
“Hmm?” Rarity looked over her shoulder, registering the bar. “Oh, where is my head at today! Spike, let the poor thing down this instant.”
Spike rolled his eyes, letting go of the two remaining support beams on the dolly and walking back down the alley.
“Does that kind of thing happen a lot?” Daisy asked.
“Sometimes,” Rarity sighed. She raised an eyebrow at Daisy. “Would it be a problem? No hard feelings if you want to walk away now, as much as it would break my heart.” She felt Daisy’s arm. “Oh, you poor thing! You’re shaking!”
“Nah, it’s okay!” Daisy grinned drunkenly as Rarity began to take off her jacket. “That’s not fear. It’s excitement! I dunno what you’re into, but I know I want in.”
“Oh, I knew I liked you!” Rarity, chuckled. Their mutual laughter was cut off by a screech of tires somewhere.
Spike walked up, holding the removed bar in one hand and his own phone in the other. Even though Street Rat had fled, he looked disapproving and a little worried now. “That’s the club. Uh, everyone else was off and Bark had to go with Rivet on an outcall, so the only driver left was…”
“Don’t tell me,” Rarity whined, shutting her eyes.
She practically leaped into Daisy’s arms as a limo came tearing around the corner, its right side off the tarmac and in the air and skidded to a halt before slamming down in front of them so hard it felt like they bounced into the air along with its tires. Some shopping bags fell off the dolly.
The driver’s window buzzed down and giant pink hippo’s head in a suit squeezed itself out. “Hiya, Rarity!”
“Hello, Murry-dear,” Rarity sighed.
“Who’s the new girl?”
“Uh, hi?” Daisy waved an uncertain hand. “I’m Daisy?”
“Hiya, Daisy! The Murry is jazzed to meet you!”
“Darling, we’ve talked about this,” Rarity said, opening the side door and looking as if she’d sooner be climbing into a witch’s oven. “Personal pronouns are your friends.”
“Oh, right!”
Daisy climbed into the back of the limo (which, despite her uncertainty, was as swanky as anything in their shopping bags and even had a bar), sitting next to Rarity and, even though they were still parked, pulled on her seat belt. Rarity nodded grimly.
“I’d just like to assure you, darling, usually all our rides pride themselves on their smoothness. I love Murry to bits, really, but, well…”
“No, I think I recognize him from Meatball’s posters,” Daisy said, gripping the seat a little. “His derby posters.”
“Ah.”
After that, they were a little too busy to talk. Spike and the girls were too busy holding onto…anything, and Murry was driving. Well. He called it driving…
***
They made it in one piece, although Daisy got out of the limo wanting to upchuck a lot of little pieces. She stamped the nausea down – she was not going to do anything embarrassing in front of Rarity.
“He means well,” Rarity groaned, leaning against a lamp post. Spike and Murry were unloading their shopping while the girls got their land legs. “Could you handle a drink?”
“I’d kill for one,” Daisy assured. “Something stiff.”
“My thoughts exactly. The lads can load our things into the service lift, and it’ll be waiting for us in my apartment.”
“Your apartment?” Daisy took in the area around them now. It was easier now that everything wasn’t a Murry induced blur. “Oh, it’s around here then? Because I gotta say, this is lovely!”
It really was–an old but elegant street with high windows, proud, lush trees and lots of stylishly sweeping railings. And the architecture! Even a nearby fire hydrant had some livery!
“My apartment is in the club itself, darling, but thank you,” Rarity beamed, holding out an arm to guide her. “We’re all quite happy to be here. The only real problem is parking can be a bit of a bugger, cost us a whole star in our first review, but we persevere.”
“Indeed we shall,” Daisy smiled.
“That’s the spirit, darling!”
Rarity led her around a corner, through a small park and up a slightly slanting street to a sort of plaza. Fashionable shops and restaurants took up the block to their left, the block on the right appearing to be warehouses, and in the middle of them…Daisy’s eyes went wide.
Rarity’s building was a ten floor Art Deco…mansion? Palace? If it hadn’t been so stylish Daisy might’ve mistaken it for a bank, perhaps another department store. Lovely purple, black and pink awnings and drapes were artfully laced along the front, making the place look as inviting as it was dynamic, and its mirrored windows glinted in the late afternoon sunshine.
Above the front doors awning was a logo, which also appeared on the glass of the ground floor mirrors, lovey cursive letters next to a graphic of a mirror.
La Miroir
“So what do you think, darling?” Rarity asked as they paused outside the front door.
“You own La Miroir?” Daisy couldn’t stop staring up at the logo. “You own the best night club in Equestria?!”
“Well, one doesn’t like to brag,” Rarity chuckled, preening her mane a little.
“So, uh…is it true?”
“Is what true, sorry darling?”
“Is it even okay for me to ask?”
“Ask what, Daisy?” Rarity asked. She looked a bit concerned for the Dingo now.
Daisy looked up and down the street. Other a few cars (which, yes, were a bit awkwardly parked because of how narrow and curving the streets were) and a few creatures out for a stroll the area was mostly empty at this time of day. The closest person to them was a griffon on an upper balcony three building away, and he was taking a nap. Still...it was pretty heavy stuff. Pretty dangerous, if true.
Pretty exciting, if true.
“Rarity, you’ve been amazing to me and all,” Daisy whispered, worried she might gabble hysterically otherwise, “so I don’t want to offend you or anything–”
“I don’t offend as easily as I used to, darling,” the Unicorn smirked, “but the gesture is appreciated.”
“Okay, but, well, is it true…I mean, is this that La Miroir? The brothel?”
Rarity shut her eyes and inhaled through her nose. “We don’t like that term, but yes, darling, we provide a romantic experience. If you don’t want to that’s more than fine.”
“Oh, no, sign me up! I was thinking about it as a way to pay for acting school right before we met, actually!”
“Oh!” Rarity blinked, then smiled. “Hmm. Talk about a coincidence.”
“I guess. But what I’m saying is…” Daisy dropped her voice again, she and Rarity leaning conspiratorially towards each other so the pony could hear her. “Is it true you also work with Rouge the Bat? The jewel thief?!”
“She prefers the term treasure hunter, darling.”
“So you do?!” Daisy hissed in delight.
Rarity’s smirk turned into a devious grin.
“You do!!!” Daisy clamped her hands over her mouth in embarrassment at that delighted (and loud) squeal. The griffon only snorted in his sleep and rolled over.
“Yes, yes, I have the honour,” Rarity chuckled, genuinely delighted. She posed slightly, sunlight shimmering on her latex costume. “She wouldn’t let me wear this otherwise. Her suit, if you were wondering why you found it so familiar. I and all my Darlings wear one, which means you will too.”
“Brilliant!” Daisy fist pumped, because that action was the only way she felt she could stop herself doing something even more childish like jumping for joy. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “So, if that’s all true, about you and her I mean, is it also true you’re running an international smuggling ring out of here?”
“Mm-hmm.” Rarity nodded, without a hint of shame.
“And I know you sued that newspaper that said you were the third biggest supplier of drugs in Canterlot, but…?”
“Oh, quite true, yes darling, but only the soft stuff.” Rarity languidly waved a gloved hand, as if explain some trifling detail at a garden party. “Headache and hangover cures, mostly. Our custom aphrodisiacs, things to make you a different gender or species for an hour, that kind of thing.”
“Is that what that creep was asking you about, then?”
“Street Rat? Yes.” Rarity rolled her eyes. “Every once in a while, some operators in Manehattan or Las Pegasus hear from our customers about the amazing high we gave them, and assume I’m going to start dealing crack, or smack, or biff, bam, pow, whatever ridiculous name they come up with for their hard stuff. Foul concoctions! They’re welcome to kill each other over it. Nothing to do with us.”
“Cool. And is it also true you secretly own the biggest secret, 100% illegal casino in Equestira?”
“Oh absolutely, darling. That’s why I can afford a hundred custom latex suits for all of us and full medical and dental for our brave security team.” Rarity held up three fingers. “Fashion. Sex. Cards. That’s our three biggest earners, and I can tell by the delight in your voice you don’t have a problem with any of it.”
“Nope! How soon can I make them my three biggest earners?”
Rarity threw back her head and let out that musical laugh Daisy was starting to love so much. “Ah, you’re a shot in the arm, Daisy. I don’t allow my Darlings to use the casino, and when you’re on the job the rule is you’re only allowed the aphrodisiacs if you need them. Other that that, you can go nuts on the top floors. Oh, that’s where you’ll be living, and I won’t hear a word otherwise! No rent, since I’ll be paying all of it, and it’s far, far better than any dorm room.”
“Fine by me!” Daisy took Rarity’s arm again. “What about fashion?”
“Would you be interested in doing a little modelling for me then, darling?”
“Sure!”
“And I’d be delighted to have you,” Rarity explained as they crossed the threshold into Daisy’s new life, the foyer of La Mirioir, “if you’re old enough. Which, I know it’s not the done thing to ask a lady her age, but…”
“18,” Daisy said, looking around, impressed by even just the foyer. The grand staircases winding their ways to the upper floors, the fine black marble reception desk, the combination of drapes and mirrors that made her feel like she was already in a fashion show…
She hesitated and looked at Rarity. “Is that a problem?”
“Not for everything else, darling,” Rarity assured, digging some keys out of one of her glove cuffs and unlocking the barrier of the reception desk, “but I’m afraid that under Equestrian law you’re only allowed to model if you’re at least 20.”
“Oh.” Daisy’s ears drooped a little.
“Still! Only two years to go, eh? Sorry, be with you in a minute, then I can show you everything legal and otherwise.” Rarity moved behind the desk, slid a sleek looking monitor up out of a panel and began to log in on the keyboard.
Daisy looked up as the walls seemed to flicker. What she’d assumed to be just posters were actually monitors built into the walls. They showed some beautiful looking ponies and other creatures, dressed like Rouge and looking sensuously into the camera. Bars under their images, the same mauve as Rarity’s drapes, flickered and changed times. Some of the Darlings changed to other Darlings, equally as beautiful.
“These are the Darlings who’ll be available in-house tonight,” Rarity explained. “Haven’t changed them since last night, just taking care of it now before we open. And I have to take Applejack off the roster because she’s going to be visiting Street Rat, obviously.”
“Obviously,” Daisy smiled and nodded. “Mind if I meet any of them?”
“Of course, darling! Some of them will be sleeping, of course, or still out with clients, but some of them will be wondering around. In fact…” Rarity typed at the keyboard a little. “Ah, I see my ’53 Ferrari has been checked out. I wouldn’t even have to look to know it’s Dashie, the empty space would practically scream her name.”
“Dashie?” Daisy asked.
“Short for Rainbow Dash,” Rarity beamed, indicating one of the wall monitors.
Daisy felt an excited tingle run through her as she looked up at the image of a gorgeous sky- blue Pegasus with a straightened but still wild mane every colour of the rainbow, clad in the tight latex of a Rouge suit and giving perhaps the sultriest expression of any Darling she’d seen yet.
“Hey…” Daisy blinked and pointed. “Isn’t she in the Wonderbolts?”
“Sometimes,” Rarity sighed. She hit some keys and Rainbow’s image flickered and was replaced by a beautiful grey lemur, wrapping her impressively large tail around her shoulders like a mink stole. Tangle her bar read. “They went through a lot of changes a few years ago. Dashie didn’t see eye to eye with any of them and eventually walked out. Her boyfriend Soarin did the most beautiful thing and went with her, proving she meant more to him than anything.”
Her face darkened slightly, and Daisy knew once more that nobody should ever dare threaten Rarity’s Darlings. “But even that wasn’t enough to lessen her depression, so I…offered an alternative. Now if those fools want the best flyer they’ve ever had to work part-time for their silly shows, they’ll pay her twice an auxiliary Wonderbolt’s salary and be damn grateful I let them anywhere near my Rainbow.”
There was a roar of an engine outside, drawing closer, and a joyous, feminine whoop.
“Ah, as you can probably tell, she isn’t depressed anymore,” Rarity smirked, logging out and sliding the monitor back into the desk’s surface. “Although I’ll admit, given how she handles my cars I sometimes wonder if I should have taken her under my wing. Hang around and say hello, she’ll just love you!”
Daisy leaned against the desk, arms folded and waiting, curious. She’d followed Rainbow Dash’s career on and off and had to agree that the Wonderbolts were pretty boring now-a- days. If kids like Shifty didn’t watch the cartoons, it’d probably be game over. She was curious to see Rainbow in the flesh, as she’d always struck Daisy as a tomboy type in the footage she’d seen.
***
The mare who sashayed her way up La Mirior’s red carpet couldn’t have been less like the one Daisy had seen on TV.
It wasn’t just the latex suit, identical to Rarity’s and which Rainbow totally had the figure for, it was… well, like she was a more exuberant version of Rarity, using a single flap of her wings to send herself sailing over the threshold and halfway into the foyer in a ballerina’s pose before landing perfectly on one leg, one hand on her hip and the other cradling an old- fashioned racing helmet, stylised with feminine floral patterns.
The only part that felt like it fit the Rainbow Dash that Daisy had heard of was the driving goggles still over her eyes, which, when she removed them, had the same lovely shade of blue eyeshadow as Rarity and all her Darlings. The same lipstick was applied to her lips, too. Daisy really was going to have to get her hands on that stuff, it looked fantastic.
“Rarity, daaarling!” Rainbow Dash announced in a husky purr of a voice, swaying her way up to the Unicorn to wrap her wings around her and deliver two pecks on her cheeks. “Mwah! Mwah! You keep that beauty tuned like a dream, if she were a gem she’d be a crown jewel somewhere! Don’t worry, Spike’s seeing she gets back downstairs safe and sound. But, ah, who’s this enchanting creature?”
She turned, holding out a gloved hand to Daisy. The dingo shook it, smiling and admiring how much strength was in Rainbow’s grip. The Pegasus could clearly throw a punch if she needed to but had the same grace as Rarity.
“This is Daisy Dingo, our latest Darling,” Rarity announced proudly, putting her arms around Daisy’s shoulders like a proud parent. “As you can tell by her dress sense, she’s impressed me greatly. Oh, and you know that hat I saw?”
“The one you simply must let me borrow some afternoon?” Dash grinned, although she was looking Daisy up and down appraisingly. Daisy felt mildly flattered: Dash clearly liked what she saw, assessing her as an equal, not a rival or a threat.
“Yes, yes Darling, well, you’ll never guess what, there was this sudden breeze-”
“Ugh, bloody weather team!” Dash rolled her eyes. “We should write to the mayor. Back in the day even I wouldn’t have stood for that sort of thing.”
“Mmhmm,” Rarity smirked, her tone making Daisy feels she should be as dubious. “Well, it snatched my new hat clean off!”
“Oh no!” Dash put a hand to her pink-red lips in genuine horror. Daisy was surprised, given Dash’s athletic fighter’s build. She’d seen the Pegasus run loop-de-loops around a live thunder cloud on TV. Perhaps the whole tomboy thing had been an act for the cameras?
“Well Daisy saved it from a fate as flotsam in the river,” Rarity finished happily. “We got to chatting and she’s fully committed to joining us here at La Miroir.”
“Capital!” Dash shook her hand again, and surprised Daisy (not unpleasantly, she looked and smelled gorgeous) with two kisses of her own. “You’ll love it once you’ve seen the light, darling, I know I did.”
“Seen the light?” Daisy chuckled. “Will that be some song you want me to sing, Rarity?”
“Oh, that accent!” Dash put a hand to her ample bosom. “An Australian Darling, how wonderful… and you sing too! I can’t wait to hear you, you simply must meet Octavia and Vinyl.”
“And wait ’til you hear her Margay West, darling,” Rarity laughed. Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out. “Hmm, that’s Rivet back, Kit will be glad… Sly and Carmalita texting… we’ll have to send someone to the airport for them… ugh, brewery’s updating its terms again…”
“I think what Rarity’s saying is you’ll need a temporary tour guide,” Dash chuckled to Daisy.
“I’d be delighted,” Daisy smiled, accepting the mare’s arm around her waist. “If that’d be okay, Rarity?”
“Of course, of course, I need to set some things up for your…initiation anyway,” Rarity smiled. Her phone buzzed again. “Drat! Uh, meet me in the office when you’re finished, darlings?”
“Count on it, darling,” Dash said and blew her a kiss as she walked Daisy towards a curtained door. “Ciao, Bella! Now, Daisy, any questions?”
“About the smuggling, the drugs, or the casino?” Daisy grinned.
Dash threw back her head and let out a laugh that was a bit more of a bark than Rarity’s musical one, but still joyfully feminine and similar. “Oh, you cheeky thing, you’re going to fit right in!”
***
Daisy guessed that La Miroir must once have been a hotel, given its large foyer, lounges, kitchen, and the magnificent ballroom. Dash was delighted to confirm that hunch, complimenting Daisy on her intuition. Apparently, this was a trait highly prized amongst Darlings. Daisy felt even more certain she’d fit right in; all that time carrying out her brothers’ plans meant she’d gotten really good at sensing what a situation needed. Like a running start and an emergency exit.
This early in the day (gosh, it was only a quarter past noon! How quickly Rarity had come into her life, and how quickly Murray had driven them here), the only staff around were the security team and a few waiters, killing time in the lounges after cleaning them.
Daisy was impressed by the size of the TVs, and Dash assured her the ones upstairs in the Darlings private quarters were even better. Movie night in Rarity’s private apartments was quite the event during the holidays.
She was introduced some of the people who’d be keeping Daisy and her new companions safe, including her boyfriend Soarin (who was usually the bar tender but doubled as a bouncer some nights) and her girlfriend Spitfire, a flame-coloured Pegasus dressed in a black suit and tie but with the same eyeshadow and lipstick as Dash and Rarity.
“Yeah, Rarity likes us to look like this,” Spitfire explained after shaking Daisy’s hand, “which is fine because we all like wearing it.”
“Can’t wait to try it myself,” Daisy smiled.
Dash and Spitfire immediately produced sticks of pink-red lipstick from somewhere about their persons.
“Love it when they do stuff like that,” Soarin chuckled. He beckoned a tall figure who’s been watching from the corner. “And this is Tempest. Don’t worry, she’s harmless, really.”
“Very funny,” said the incredibly tall mulberry coloured pony, coming over to shake Daisy’s hand. “It’s okay, hon, I know how I look.”
“Sorry!” Daisy stammered. “I didn’t mean to stare–”
“It’s fine,” Tempest grinned, stretching the scar across her left eye. “I consider it a compliment. Let’s the riff raff know not to mess with me or my Darlings, y’know?”
“And you should know you can always count on Tempest to have your back, darling,” Dash said, putting a comforting arm around Daisy’s shoulders.
Daisy gave a reassuring smile but still felt guilty about feeling freaked out about Tempest’s broken horn. Even without magic (if that was how that worked?), the tall mare had plenty of wiry muscle under that black suit and Daisy didn’t doubt she’d happily kill someone if she had to.
“Plus, who knows,” Tempest said causally, “maybe you and I’ll work together sometime.”
“I have sometimes thought I could use a bodyguard back home,” Daisy chuckled. That made Dash give a feminine laugh and her lovers’ and Tempest smile.
“I mean as Darlings,” Tempest explained, gesturing to her makeup. Daisy had to admit it also worked for her, even if the effect was a bit more glam rock than on Rarity. “I’ve been thinking about joining up as well, since so many of them can look after themselves.”
“You know full well you never need an excuse to try on the suit, darling,” Dash smirked. “It certainly never stopped Spitfire.”
“I’ve never heard you complain,” the other Pegasus said, kissing her lover on the cheek.
Daisy felt a bit warm in her face and in her stomach at this. It wasn’t that she was a prude, far from it, she’d experimented back home, but it was odd to see blatantly sexual things talked about so openly, and to see it in a sweet context like Rainbow Dash’s little family here. In fact, hadn’t Rarity said her own little sister was around here somewhere?
“Well, I hope you have fun whatever you do,” she told Tempest, accepting Spitfire’s lipstick and applying it to her own lips. “You seem happy here already, too.”
“Yeah, me and my Twilight love it here,” Tempest smiled, stepping aside so Daisy could see herself in one of the many mirrors around the room. “And we know you will too. Although you seem a little nervous. Dash showed you Zecora’s grow house yet?”
“Subtle,” Spitfire deadpanned, rolling her eyes as Dash and Daisy burst out laughing.
***
To Daisy’s somewhat childish delight, it turned out La Miroir was full to bursting with secret entrances and passageways. Dash was delighted to show her some, making Daisy feel privileged to be let in on such secrets, even if they were necessary to get to the club’s more… politically incorrect areas.
One of which seemed to have been a sort of secret wine cellar-and-bar, deep in the bowels of the building. According to Dash, it was either designed so the building’s original eccentric owner could hide out in style during some sort of siege, or so he could trick rivals downstairs and brick them into the walls.
At this point, Daisy wouldn’t have been surprised. La Miroir, elegant and stylish as Rarity herself though it was, was kind of like being inside a living point-and-click adventure game.
“Wow,” she said when they reached a room that wasn’t full of boxes, old wine caskets, and chemical drums. “That’s a lot of weed.”
Indeed it was. The curving art deco design of the structures the green masses were lined up in must once have been part of a bar or maybe just classy hotel furniture. Either way, they were covered in nice smelling soil and yards of lush green cannabis leaves now.
“Well, being a Darling can be somewhat high-maintenance,” Dash chuckled, leaning against a table edge. “Everybody needs something to take the edge off, sometimes. Do you partake, darling?”
“Sometimes,” Daisy agreed, looking around. “You’ll understand if you ever meet my brothers.”
Dash laughed more genuinely at that.
Rarity’s art deco preferences continued even this far into the bowels of her sanctuary –the heat lamps above the weed were made from stylish, curving gold light fixtures Daisy had seen all over the club, and a large alcove in the corner had been sealed off by art deco-style glass plates to turn it into an underground greenhouse. Splashes of bright rainbow colours seemed to dance through the blurred glass.
“Mind if I ask what that stuff is?” Daisy asked, cocking a thumb at it.
“House specials,” Dash said. “Rather beyond me, I’m afraid, but the only kick bigger is our spa. Have you visited yet?”
“No! You guys have a spa?!”
“Did I not mention? How remiss of me!” Dash took her by the arm, leading her towards a white curtained doorway. “I’ll just introduce you to Zecora and then we’ll march right back upstairs and get you one of Bulky’s massages. You’ll think he’s an angel because he’ll take you to Heaven.”
“Bulky?” Daisy asked.
“Bulk Biceps. He lives up the name, as you’ll see, but that means his index fingers alone could write a symphony on your infraspinatus~” Dash let out a sultry sigh at some internal memory.
“My what?”
“Ah, ’Cora darling, there you are!”
Dash had raised her voice and was waving to a figure in a white medical coat, who turned from some golden and green flakes on a board to look at them approach her across the cavernous lab.
It looked more like an actual bar even though its floor was now full of tables of lab equipment and Daisy could see the bar was piled high with chemical bottles and beakers instead of drinks. What really made it feel like a lab wasn’t the microscopes, however, but long, twisting golden pipes running across the ceilings and walls.
The Zebra turned around properly to greet them, giving Daisy a view of her silver-grey cleavage and the Rouge costume under her coat, and plucked a long cigarette holder from between her lips, immediately appearing elegant despite her workshop surroundings.
“Ah, Rainbow,” she said, returning the hug the Pegasus gave her, “If you’re eager for a sample then patience, I must insist. At least wait until you’ve introduced this lovely guest in our midst!”
“Cora darling, we’ve talked about this,” Dash smiled, though there was a chiding note in her voice to go with her wagging finger. “This is Canterlot, not the Everfree Forest. Save it for the rubes, of which Ms. Daisy Dingo is certainly not one.”
“Sorry, sorry, old habits,” the Zebra agreed, waving an apologetic hand. Her voice had a bit of an accent and was proud and intelligent. She certainly had the laidback attitude Daisy had come to think of as the definition of La Miroir but didn’t seem as…dainty, as it were, as Rarity’s Darlings… not Dash, anyway.
Zecora took another puff of her cigarette as she shook Daisy’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Daisy. I assume you’re destined for Darling-hood or Rarity wouldn’t have allowed you down here. You don’t seem like one yet, if you don’t mind me saying.”
“I could say the same about you,” Daisy teased. “You rock that look, but is it just for show?”
Zecora laughed throatily. Her voice, while rich, lacked any croaks like a hardcore smoker’s and now that Daisy thought about it the smoke wafting off the cigarette in her holder didn’t smell as acrid as tobacco normally did to her sensitive nose. It was a nice, addictive scent, like the smell of the latex on her and Dash’s bodies.
“You could say that, yes. I have my reasons for not joining Dash and the others at Rarity’s side, but I also wish to show that I’m very much on Rarity’s side. You and I should chat some time, I have fond memories of my time in Australia.”
“You should ask about Daisy’s incredible impressions,” Dash tittered. “She’s really quite amazing and she’s going to acting school on top of that!”
“Impressions?” Zecroa took another puff of her cigarette, eyeing Daisy. “Hmm. Would you mind testing some samples out for me sometime, then? When you’re fully on board, of course. I’ve been trying to come up with a potion that can make one person sound like another, and if you’re good at that--”
“It’d be my pleasure, hon,” Daisy drawled in her West impression. Dash grinned at the look on Zecora’s surprised face. “But wouldja be wavin’ that cigarette around when I do? Doesn’t seem the smartest thing, an open flame so close to all these chemicals.”
“Hmm, smart,” Zecora smirked to herself. “And safety-conscious, I like that in a Darling. Don’t worry, this is a magic flame, keeps all heat contained. It’s not even nicotine, Rarity won’t let that stuff outside the smoking sections up top. One of my own concoctions that makes smells and tastes of latex. Would you like a sample?”
“Sure!” Daisy grinned. Zecora reached a gloved hand into a draw and pulled out a white box with purple lines on it. No names or logos, but it probably wasn’t a coincidence it was in Rarity’s colours. “Cigarettes that don’t stink or choke you, that’s ingenious! I’d love to see what else you’ve got but you look real busy-” She waved a hand at the door, indicating the weed patch. “-and Dash still owes me a peek at the casino and spa. But I’d love to try out that impression thing you mentioned, that sounds like it’d come in handy for Rarity’s, ah…side- line.”
“A few of them, yes!” Zecora took and kissed her hand. “Lovely to meet you, I look forward to working with you.”
***
“That’s the politest drug lord I’ve ever met,” Daisy told Dash, pocketing her new cigarettes as they headed for the passageways throughout La Mirioir. “…also the first.”
“She prefers the term alchemist, darling,” Dash said, “but yes, ’Cora’s just lovely. We’re lucky to have such talented partners and management, one shudders to think what it would be like if some of those Cro-Magnons in the rest of the scene were to get their greasy paws on our little slice of Heaven here.”
She actually did shudder, wings and all, and Daisy intuitively knew she was doing it the way Rarity would.
“Management, huh? Should I meet them too, or…?”
“Oh, you will in time, darling. Well, I supposed a quick rundown wouldn’t hurt. There’s Rouge, our inspiration after Rarity. She doesn’t work here, she’s actually one of our Diamond members, but she owns stock in the club, so she likes to make sure everything’s all ship shape and proper. Then there’s Sassy-”
“Sassy Saddles?” Daisy blinked. “The fashion magnate? Runs Rarity’s line?”
“Co-runs, darling, but yes, that’s our Sassy! She has…more experience in La Miroir’s trade than one might expect. Put it this way, if you think we love your accent you should’ve seen how we reacted when Sassy began slipping into hers. She’s from somewhere in Peckham, I believe. Speaks like as much a lady as Rarity most of the time, but when a job’s going either really well or really badly, well, sailors would blush.”
“That sounds amazing,” Daisy grinned. She looked up at the walls, the arterial secret passageways through the body of La Miroir. “I suppose I should start memorising these beauties if I want to use them. I’d hate to get lost in here.”
“Don’t worry darling, you’ll be a natural the second your suit’s on,” Dash smiled, then put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. “In fact…why not, it’s what Rarity would do after a line like that.”
She walked up to a wall and blew some dust off a glass patch. Daisy had seen some here and there and realised they must be the wall mirrors throughout the club. That was clever! Like how movie characters could look through the eyes of old portraits, except customers would never suspect someone on the other side of these.
And obviously once a Darling was familiar with the maze in the walls, all she’d have to do was look out through a one-way mirror to check the coast was clear, and, as Dash was now doing, press a stud on the bracket of the wall light fixtures that lined the passageway, opening a concealed wall door.
Dash led her into a plush boudoir-like room, almost like one of the department stores Rarity had treated her to. She felt her tail flick compulsively up and down her spine as she saw rows of white boots and gloves, with those lovely pink accents.
“Already?” she asked Dash, almost breathless.
“Why not?” Dash beamed, pulling a large custom laundry bag out of one of the room’s many wardrobes. “You’re practically a Darling already, and since we were passing the ground floor wardrobe… our customers are sweethearts, you understand, but they can, ah… stain, so we like to keep a change near-by.”
Daisy took the bag, trying to stop her hands shaking from excitement. Dash, giggling, had to help her unzip it, and there it was… that amazing pink breastplate, in Daisy’s size, even.
“If you like, I can--” Dash began, pointing to a chair in a curtained alcove.
Daisy put a hand on her shoulder this time and stroked the side of her face. “No. I mean, first, we’re going to work together. We’re going to see each other… as nature intended quite a bit.”
“I certainly hope so,” Dash smiled, half lidding her eyes.
“And second, I want to thank you for this. A lot. Showing you all I’ve got sounds like a good start to me.” Daisy then leaned forward and kissed the Pegasus right on the lips. “Also, that.”
Dash recovered from the shock and wrapped her arms around Daisy, pulling her close as the dingo got as close as possible, their lips together, their tongues sliding off each other, fighting to find each other again. Their arms ran up and down each other’s backs, the occasional moan escaping them, their breathing growing more and more excited.
Dash’s gloved hands worked themselves under Daisy’s blue shirt and began struggling to unhook her bra. Daisy broke the kiss only to slip out of her shirt and loosen a strap with one hand, still clutching her suit bag, and Dash soon had her out of it and was kissing and squeezing her pink nipples, bright against her soft golden underbelly.
Daisy ran her hand through the Pegasus’ beautiful hair, feeling the strong shape of her skull as she threw back her own head and gasped from the pleasure. She worked a hand down to her new skirt and let it fall to the floor, now only in the suspenders Rarity had helped her pick out.
“A work of art…” Dash gasped, taking a few seconds to register Daisy’s almost totally bare form. Then she was back at Daisy’s eye level, both their eyes shut as they kissed again, Dash’s gloves working down until they could brush Daisy’s bushy tail, squeeze her peachy ass.
Daisy wrapped one leg around Dash’s, the pony baring her weight as she pulled herself up slightly to kiss Dash’s neck and probe one of those powerful wings with her free hand. Both sensations made Dash moan again, trying to pull Daisy even closer.
Eventually the kissing drained them and, still warm and hungry for each other, they had to break their lips apart, panting.
“Room for… one more girlfriend…?” Daisy managed.
“I have… three or four… in the club…” Dash agreed, her breastplate heaving. “Not… not including my… regular customers… of which I am convinced you shall have many… Now, let’s get you into that suit… before we… before we lose track of time altogether, hmm?”
Daisy smirked, letting Dash scoop her up like a bride and carry her over to one of the room’s bureaus. She realised she was still holding onto her new suit, well, the bag it was in, anyway. She was clutching it so tight that she might never let go of all the possibilities that her new life offered.
Dash managed to keep her hands to herself as Daisy stripped out of her suspenders and underpants, which the dingo rewarded by standing, running a hand through her hair and spreading her legs so Dash could see her labia, grinning like a demon, before laying her new suit on the bureau and pulling it out.
She spent a few seconds biting her lip, just rubbing a finger and thumb over that shiny black perfection, but the need to feel it on her skin broke the spell of simply touching it.
It felt… sumptuous, as she slid her legs into the leggings. The interior was a soft kind of padding but the feel of the rubber was still there, like tasting chocolate with her skin. Pulling it up was simple enough and Daisy was interested to find that Rouge’s outfits did come with straps, and even black bra cups, that could be pulled up and looped around her back, hooking together to act as a sort of base for the breastplate, which also had little hooks to hold it in place. If need be, it seemed, you could wear just the cat suit and still retain your modesty…
…not that Daisy cared much for modesty at this point.
Her catsuit was easy enough to pull on and slip her tail through the hole, which could be stretched as wide as need be and shrank around it as if by magic (perhaps Rarity had enchanted it), but she still needed some help to zip up the back and seal the whole thing. Well, she could have done it with very little effort, but she wanted an excuse to feel Dash touch her again.
Then it was on with the boots, which clung to her legs so nicely it was if she’d always worn them, a few seconds to re-do her lipstick and add some of that fantastic blue eyeshadow, and then to slowly, sensually, pull on her new gloves.
She stood up to take in the whole effect and almost couldn’t believe she was looking at herself.
“No”, she smirked to herself, her eye roving over all that black and pink against her brown and golden fur. “This is me. This is who Daisy Dingo is from now on.”
She stopped practically groping herself and turned slowly to Dash, leaning against the bureau and posing like a model. “How do I look?” she whispered, already feeling something like how Rarity must feel all the time.
“You look like you work at La Miroir,” Dash grinned, walking up and kissing her again. Everything great about their contact was amplified by the feel of their latex. With her fingers inside the gloves, covering but not dulling her touch, Daisy’s already acute senses were slightly enhanced, making the taste and warmth and feel of Dash’s body in the darkness of her closed eyes feel so much… more.
Maybe she was just used to the Pegasus already (although certainly not bored of her, and never likely to be), Daisy found the willpower to ease out of the following make out session and straighten up.
“Casino, then?” she asked, catching her breath.
“Hmm.” Dash held up Zecora’s gift, showing Daisy how to stretch one of her glove cuffs so she could reach the small pockets inside it and store her cigarettes, then selected a bottle of scent. A little spray. Daisy was pleased to realise it was a more high-class version of the perfume she usually wore. Seemed she wasn’t the only one with a good sense of smell.
“There,” Dash purred. “Just one last little step and you shall truly be one of us… but that can wait.” She held out her arm. “I believe madam wishes to visit our local den of iniquity and then our gateway to Heaven, no?”
“Oui,” Daisy agreed, leaning against the Pegasus as she took the arm, and the two set off, giggling.
“Not bad”, Daisy thought. “Only a couple of hours in a new country, and I’ve already got a job, a future in acting, a fat bank account, a new wardrobe and even a new girlfriend. Maybe more if all Darlings are as awesome as Dashie here. Not bad at all.”
***
La Miroir’s casino wasn’t quite as exciting as Daisy had thought it would be, but in the club’s defence it was empty. The real action, Dash informed her, only started in the evenings, when the club’s gold and diamond membership could access it.
The casino itself had begun as a speakeasy during Canterlot’s prohibition era, one of the building’s many, many secret rooms. Daisy could tell it was part of the club by how elegant and stylish it was, even with the booths and tables empty. There was even room for a small stage, where a breathtakingly beautiful blue Unicorn and a bright pink…what were they called? Earth ponies? Yeah, one of those was up there too, having… well, Daisy supposed it was the Darling equivalent of an argument.
“This is La Miroir, Darling,” the Unicorn was saying, gesturing to the whole casino with a purple wizard’s hat in her gloved hand. “Not a Chuck E. Cheese.”
“Oh, no doubt, Darling, no doubt,” the pink pony replied in a somewhat squeaky but still sophisticated voice, “but one should never be afraid to add a little colour to one’s routine, no?”
“No and no, Darling,” the Unicorn countered patiently, “but there is ‘colour’, and then there is what you are proposing.”
“Is Pinkie proposing we fire differently coloured food substances around the room again?” Dash sighed as she and Daisy approached the edge of the stage. She leaned over to kiss the pink one, who was sitting on the edge, on each cheek. “You know I love you, Darling, but it really was bad enough when you were suggesting it for the fountains.”
“Not around the room willy-nilly!” Pinkie protested, pouting. Daisy reckoned her lipstick was just a bit redder than the others to help it stand out against her pink coat and complexion. “And if we could get the geometry right, they could land right on the guest’s plates in ways that matched their–”
“If Rarity’s Trixie can’t have fireworks, you can’t have jets of jam, Darling,” the Unicorn said finally. She looked down at Daisy. “She’s proposing I pull it out of my hat tonight, you see.”
“I see,” Daisy smirked as she shook each of their hands.
“This is Daisy Dingo,” Dash said promptly, “and yes, we all adore her accent. Daisy, this is Pinkie Pie, our most enthusiastic entertainer, and this is Trixie Lulamoon, our club magician. I suspect you’ll be joining them down here some nights if you can sing as well as you do everything else.”
“Sounds like a safe bet,” Daisy agreed, turning to examine the room. Not all the lights were on, but looking down at her suit, she really admired the way they flashed off the latex. Yes, she could see it… her on stage, crooning some romantic number, all the guests enraptured by the sight of her body and the sound of her voice…
“Have you seen the light yet, Darling?” Trixie asked, picking up a matching purple cape slung over a stage table.
“I don’t think so?” Daisy squinted.
“Daisy is well on the way to becoming one of us,” Dash smiled, patting her shoulders.
“Hmm. Rarity’s Trixie could… help with that,” Trixie offered, plucking a gem broach off her cape’s collar.
“Uh,” Daisy began, backing up a little, suddenly uncertain, “thanks, I guess, but we haven’t seen the spa yet–”
Dash’s arms wrapped intimately but tightly around her left as another set suddenly wound around her right. Daisy whirled, startled, to look into Rarity’s sultry face.
“Plenty of time for that, my Darling,” she said, smirking. “And for the record Trixie, if anypony’s going to show my Daisy the light…”
Daisy was about to demand to know what the hell that stupid phrase of theirs even meant, when Rarity’s eyes and horn suddenly lit up with the softest but most beautiful light she’d ever seen, like the kind that dances off a diamond’s facets as it revolves through a dark room lit only a single spotlight.
Something about that light slid easily behind Daisy’s eyes and wrapped itself around her brain. She couldn’t look away from the beautiful sight, feeling her entire focus, her entire being pulled towards Rarity’s wonderful light like a magnet. Everything, even the memory of why she’d suddenly felt nervous, lost importance. There was only the light. Only Rarity.
“…it’s me,” Rarity finished.
***
They’d taken Daisy somewhere, somewhere safe. She wasn’t sure, but she didn’t care. She knew Rarity wasn’t always in front of her, but somehow the light was, as if it was inside her, allowing her to look at it, which was all she wanted.
“Can you hear me, Daisy?” Rarity’s voice.
“Yes…” Daisy continued to stare into nothing… nothing but that wonderful light.
“Good. Can you see the light? Can you see my light?”
“Yes…” Daisy smiled drunkenly. “It’s beautiful…”
“Thank you, Darling! Of course it is, it’s my light.”
Daisy was vaguely aware of Rarity’s presence close by now. Was the Unicorn sitting next to her? Were they on a couch? It didn’t matter. Only the light mattered.
“You love my light, don’t you, Daisy?”
“Yes…” Daisy managed, with the most passion she could muster. It was easy, the light was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen, but it was hard somehow as well. The light smoothed over everything, all her cares and worries, made it had to muster much passion. Except, of course, for seeing the light.
“You’ll love it a lot more if you shut your eyes,” Rarity told her, her voice steady and silky. “Your eyes which are so heavy. You want to shut your eyes so you can see the light better.”
“Shut my eyes…” Daisy agreed. Her lids had been flickering this whole time and now felt heavy, sliding shut, the darkness creating a wonderful void for the light to fill inside her mind.
“Yes, shut your eyes and listen to my voice. Only my voice. You love my voice as much as my light, don’t you, Daisy?”
“Yes…” Daisy sighed happily.
“What do you love, Daisy?”
“Your light…”
“Good girl, my light and…?”
Daisy struggled slightly, but only slightly. The light was breath-taking, all consuming, but the other thing went so well with it. “Your voice…”
“Yes, that’s right,” Rarity purred. Daisy felt something. A hand petting her, maybe? She couldn’t tell and didn’t care. “My light and my voice, always with you, always inside of you. All you need to do is see the light and listen to my voice. Are you listening to my voice, Daisy?”
“Yes…” As if she’d want to do anything else.
“Good. Now, listen to my voice as I tell you to imagine yourself floating in a nice, relaxing void…”
And Daisy was. A place of total peace, no gravity, no hardness, no nothing. Just her, the light and Rarity’s voice, floating in nothingness. Bliss.
“Now Daisy, my Darling…I want you to open your eyes…and tell me what you see.”
Daisy did so. It was odd; she felt like she was still in that lovely black void, but she also knew that her eyes were open, that she was sitting in some kind of office looking at…
“You,” Daisy said, smiling sleepily.
“No,” smiled Rarity, dressed in her amazing suit, sitting casually on a desk, her eyes and horn still glowing with that incredible, world devouring light. “You’re looking at a mirror. Repeat that for me, please, my Darling.”
“I am looking at a mirror…” Daisy repeated obediently.
“Yes.” Rarity drew closer. “I am the mirror and when you look at a mirror, you see yourself in it. You are one of my Darlings, essentially a part of me. Repeat.”
“A part of you…” Daisy sighed blissfully as Rarity tenderly stroked the side of her face. “I am a part of you…”
“Yes.” Rarity leaned forward, filling Daisy’s lap with as much warmth from their bodies touching through latex as her light was filling Daisy’s head. “Now, I’m going to kiss you, Daisy, while you’re in this lovely trance. And since you now believe that you are looking in a mirror, this shall be like kissing your reflection. But this reflection shall fill your mind, your body, your soul. You shall become me, be me. One of my Darlings, forever. Do you understand?”
“Yes…” Daisy breathed.
“Of course you do, my Darling…” Rarity smirked. “…you’re me.”
And so she leaned forward and pressed those lovely pink-red lips to Daisy’s own.
***
There was more to it than that, of course. Between this lovely scene, Rarity made her hypnotised Daisy look at a bunch of profiles and web pages on her private desktop. Files on her other Darlings, even footage of other Darlings ‘seeing the light’. From Daisy’s entranced perspective it was like she was there, in Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy and Renamon and Alopex and all the other Darlings’ bodies.
In their bodies, as their minds were turned into near copies of Rarity’s, complete with intense loyalty to her and devotion to her way of life, and, of course, her love of fashion and disinterest in common morality.
There were mundane things too, such as rules from the club’s website, its prices and what a Darling could offer a client. Security procedures, things like that. Mundane but important things in keeping Rarity’s Darlings safe, even those that could absolutely defend themselves.
The result of all of this was that when Rarity snapped her gloved fingers, the dingo whose eyes fluttered open was very different from who she’d been when she’d entered the private world of La Miroir.
***
“Good morning, Darling!” Rarity checked her wall clock, an Art Deco piece in between framed reviews of the club. “Well, still the afternoon, but you get the idea. How are you feeling?”
“Mmmm,” the new Darling purred, stretching her latex clad body in the office chair she so beautifully occupied, curling her booted legs with just the right amount of provocativeness. “Simply fabulous, thank you for asking, Darling! How about your good self?”
“All the happier for seeing you, my Darling,” Rarity chuckled. “Just a few quick questions. What do you offer for $50?”
“My body, clothed or otherwise, and my luscious lips, of course,” Daisy beamed. She still had her accent, but her cadence was slightly posher. Rarity thought it suited her, but given that it was a mimicry of her own voice, she would.
“What is the secret of your boot heels?”
“Oh, these little beauties?” Daisy smiled as she held up one of her long, luscious legs, showing off her heel. “Dainty little dangers. Cliché as it is, all I need do is click my heels and they’ll magically turn sharp enough to see off any customers who get the wrong idea. I can use them for a covert kick, which coupled with the hard plastic of the adorable pink hearts on them is a nasty combo, and I can even pull them out to…gain the upper hand, if you’ll pardon the pun.”
“Only because it’s you, Darling,” Rarity chuckled, walking over to stroke the side of her face. “…and the reason for your existence?”
“Why, to serve you, of course, Darling!” Daisy grinned, leaning up to kiss her inspiration. “Just tell me what you want, and it shall be yours. It’s the absolute least I can do for introducing me to the world of glamour and refinement that is your orbit.”
“I’m sure I’ll think of something,” Rarity smirked. “Right now-” she reached into her glove band and produced a key. “Take this up to… you know where?”
Daisy’s eyes glazed over so quickly that only Rarity, who’d been looking for it, would notice. “Floor ten,” she replied in her breezy, sophisticated new voice. “Where all my fellow Darlings live. Room 22.”
“Exactly,” Rarity agreed, kissing her. “Write out an email to your friends and family letting them know how you’re getting on, that you’ve found a part time job. We’ll give it a few days before telling them you’ll be working full-time at the club, that way it won’t appear too odd you’ve devoted your life to us.”
“Mmmm, nothing odd about wanting to be close to you, Darling,” Daisy purred, leaning closer to embrace Rarity’s perfect body as she took her key. “Am I working tonight?”
“Indeed, you are, Darling! Why go to all this effort to add you to my collection if I can’t show you off? And with you on display, I don’t doubt we’ll have plenty of repeat business.”
“I shan’t disappoint you, Darling!” the new Daisy promised, kissing Rarity on both cheeks.
“Oh, just one last thing, my Darling.” Rarity’s smirk became hungrier as she resumed leaning on her desk, holding one of her legs out a little further than the other. “To make sure your programming is complete, that your old personality shall merge with it instead of resurface completely… be a lamb and worship my custom leather boots, won’t you?”
There was just a hint of a pause, Daisy’s eyes glazing over again… but not for long.
“Yes, Darling,” she breathed rapturously, sinking to her knees and crawling over to take Rarity’s boot in her gloved hands and running her willing canine tongue up and down the white leather.
“Good girl.” Rarity leaned over slightly to pat her new pet on the head. “You’re mine now, aren’t you?”
“Yes, Darling…” Daisy panted between licks. “Of course I am…”
***
That night, the new Daisy Dingo would earn La Miroir $450 on her first night. She would take part in all sorts of extra-legal business for the club, ranging from covert to ridiculous. Her old personality would indeed come back, gradually, filtered through the copy of Rarity’s permanently blanketing her brain. She would become a staple of the private world of the Darlings almost immediately, though she would return to her native Australia to see her family during the holidays. They all assumed the acting bug had just bitten her a bit too hard.
Daisy would sort of achieve her former dreams of movie stardom, attending Canterlot’s best acting school where she acquired skills of persuasion and deception that would come in quite handy for fattening Rarity’s already considerable bank account, but she’d suffer slightly from typecasting as a high society lady or a damsel in distress - not that she minded.
She also became a bit of a controversial figure – there were of course rumours of her escorting, but any real threat was neutralized by the number of custom clips she appeared in for La Miroir’s website: even if a producer wanted to risk admitting they recognised her from, well, high-class porn, Twilight Sparkle had written the most wonderful little bit of code that allowed Rarity to learn when someone high profile, like, say, producers from The Walt Whinny Company who could get her Daisy a juicy part accessed her wares. Most of Daisy’s credits would still wind up as murder victims or exotic dancing in music videos. Again, she didn’t mind at all. She was finally famous, just as she’d always dreamed of being, and in more than one way.
Daisy Dingo was one of Rarity’s Darlings, now and forever, and would never leave the dark and beautiful world of La Miroir.
The End, Darling~!
Author's Note
FA version here.
