House of Roses (Patreon)

 Lucky Card closed his ledger for the day and secured it in a special safe built into the wall of his office. He spun the dial locking the mechanism and then activated the various wards on it. He then finished the mint julep on his desk. The unicorn checked his appearance in the full-length mirror. He looked impeccable as usual. His gleaming white coat and deep red mane and tail along with his orange eyes gave him a rather devilish appearance.  

 
  From his desk he retrieved his billfold and watch which he slipped into one of the pockets on his crimson satin vest he wore. Carefully he unbuttoned the cuffs of his black silk jacket and confirmed that the safety catches on each of the spring-activated punch daggers that he wore on his front legs were set. 

  Finally from the center drawer of the desk he retrieved with his levitation what looked like a harmonica with four round openings on one side. Keeping those four opening pointed away from him he depressed a lever and swung down the back end of the device. Inside were four, squat .44 caliber rimfire cartridges. He removed each one and examined them for wear or any signs they might fail at a critical moment. One cartridge failed muster and was disposed of. A fresh one was retrieved from a pasteboard carton in the desk drawer and inserted into the chamber. The weapon had no visible grip or trigger mechanism and was not much thicker than his billfold. In fact he slipped it into a leather holster that made it look almost indistinguishable from the stallion's wallet. The holster was designed so firearm could be fired with weapon still inside it. Several times Lucky Card had dealt with a street thug by pretending to offer his wallet to them. He'd had a gunsmith in Fillydelphia make it for him years ago. He dropped the weapon into his other vest pocket. 

  
  Locking up his office behind him as he left the stallion took a moment to look down from the walkway upon his establishment. The House of Roses was one of the many nightclubs that operated in Manehattan. Lucky Card had been in charge of it for 5 years now since his Association had taken possession of it from its former owner. Tonight the club was busy as usual with the bar filling a steady stream of orders for drinks. The band would take the stage in about 30 minutes and he'd recently hired a new singer who appeared to be working out fine.

   
  And if she didn't he'd find other uses for her. He could always find uses for the young, attractive mares and stallions. Ponies usually had many uses.  

     
  Heading down the curved, red carpeted stairs he picked up his three regular security ponies two were your usually stallion muscle. Brawny earth ponies who no matter how much their tailors tried they looked like they were about to burst the seams on their suits.  

 
  The last member of his security was a young, attractive, unicorn mare in short, snug, crimson red dress. Only her short mane and tail made her stand out from the assorted working mares who kept single customer company during their visits to the club to the casual observer. However one look in her pale, ice-cold blue eyes made it very clear that she wasn't there to comfort anypony.     

        Lucky Card made a quick stop at the bar and confirmed with the head bartender that things were going well; he then walked over to a rather plain looking door labeled.
 Bar Supplies, Employees Only.

   
  The only thing out of the ordinary was the wiry, cigar smoking, bowler wearing, chocolate brown earth pony mare who was lounging on divan near the door. Spying Lucky Card and his entourage approaching the recently hired mare slowly rose from the divan with cat-like grace. Taking a second to straighten her black silk vest and matching bow tie, she proceeded to open the door and then step aside. She nodded her head at the manager of the club. The stallion returned the nod and passed through with his escorts into the room when the last passed through the mare closed the door behind them. 

  
  Lucky Card strolled down a rows of shelves that were filled with all the necessary stocks to run a busy bar and night club. Upon reaching the back wall of the room he stopped for a moment and his horn flared to life. After a few seconds the bricks in the wall appeared to squirm and then flow away leaving a stout metal door. Retrieving a key ring from his jacket pocket he unlocked the door and swung it inward. This led to a staircase that went down below the street level. The passage was lit by some feeble glow lamps that made a half hearted attempt to illuminate the staircase. The sound of hooves on wooden steps echoed off the walls of the staircase as the party descended down into the ground. The stairs ended in front of another large metal door. With another key on his ring the stallion unlocked the door. 

  
  The House of Roses was a profitable night club but the Association that Lucky Card belonged to had other business arrangements that they ran discreetly from this location. Swinging the door open revealed a spacious, tastefully decorated room with a half dozen card tables, a couple crap tables, and three roulette wheels. At the moment half the card tables were occupied and all of the roulette wheels and crap tables were in use.  

 
  There were other card rooms located in many clubs and hotels in Manehattan, but most of them were carefully regulated by the Crown and had restrictions on the size of bet a pony could place, and how much the house could extend a customer a line of credit. Most ponies were okay with that, but there were always ponies who were willing to take bigger risks to try and get a bigger reward. Thats where Lucky Card's Association was more than willing to help. For a fee of course.

   
  Making eye contact with floor manager sitting at her desk the pegasus mare in charge picked up a ledger in front her hoofs and tapped twice gently on the desk. This was a prearranged signal and told Lucky Card what he needed to know. Business was slow tonight but the house was ahead as it should be. No problems to report. 

   
  With this information Lucky Card crossed the card room and made for another door located on the far wall. Two stoic bouncers stood on either side of the door.  As he approached they unlock the door for him.

   
  The lighting was much dimmer in this room and one's sense of smell was assaulted by the scent of incense, sweat, and pheromones. Lounging on numerous random cushions were a dozen mares and a handful of stallions. Like the card rooms in Manehattan there establishments one could go to if one desired the companionship of a mare or a stallion for an hour or so, but like the public card rooms these institutions were carefully regulated and controlled concerning what the customers could do to the employees. Once again there were customers who had needs that polite society frowned upon. Who wanted to play a bit rougher than was considered appropriate.  

  
  To satisfy those needs the Association had made the arrangements to assure their special customers needs were met. Attached to this main room were several smaller rooms that were very private and very soundproof.     

        Of course these special customers put a lot of wear and tear on the ponies that provided for them, and a certain amount of turnover was to be expected. However Lucky Card always able to find new ponies to take their places. Manehattan was a big city with lots of ponies in it.  

 
  Of course due to the rigors of their work these ponies required extra care and supervision, but Lucky Card had several members of his staff that were experts at monitoring, caring for, patching up, and in general keep these ponies under control. Besides the liberal use of potions and other techniques meant that the staff could keep them in line with little difficulty.  

 
  There was a small office/medical examination area attached to the main room. Entering this room Lucky Card's horn lit up again and another hidden passage appeared with stairs heading upward. Climbing these steps opened out into an apparently abandoned storefront on the other side of the street. Of course his Association owned this building as well and it was used by Lucky Card and his upper staff when they needed to exit the club without being seen going out the front or back exit. The whole underground complex was carefully warded and shielded from nosey ponies and the authorities. 

  
  Going to the back exit of the building the four ponies stepped out into darkened alleyway. A quick check by his security satisfied them that it was unoccupied. Tonight Lucky Card had business elsewhere and didn't want his whereabouts known. The party was just starting down the alley when a young female voice suddenly spoke up.

   
  "Hi there." 

 To be continued.