Dancer

Approximately twelve hours prior to the return of Nightmare Moon, Canterlot was just beginning to spark with the activities of the evening. As stars lifted into the dim-lit sky, a familiar half-mist crept into the streets of Canterlot, coating the cobblestones in silver and alighting upon the streetlights with a heavenly glow. As ponies bustled about for dinners and get-togethers, a small building two streets to the left and one block up from the Market Square sat, huddled and dim, between two thin wire fences.

Drawing closer, one could hear soft, crooning music from within, and upon opening the door, the sound increased to a dull ringing in the back of one's mind as their ears lost focus.Through it all drifted the satisfied sighs and loving moans of a business most unfit for young eyes.

A small horde of ponies clambered around a neon-edged purple walkway, scrambling for a better view of the glittering purple pole in the center or behind the red velvet curtains to where the occasional performer could be glimpsed rinsing down with a canteen of cold water. Above the walkway, a few younger mares danced in suspended cages, smiling down at the patrons.

Behind the clamor, two ponies reclined comfortably on the plush benches near the back of the room. The first, a dark gray Pegasus stallion with a blue-and-gray fringe of hair, shot a lopsided grin towards the current performer, the mare blowing him a kiss before sauntering off the stage. His companion, a red Earth Pony with a short-cropped yellow mane frowned, chewing the edge of a straw.

"Ah don't get what's takin' 'im so long." The Earth Pony rumbled. "Normally he's right on the last dancer's tail."

"He's right on the stallion's tails, that's for sure." The other laughed. "You know him; he'd never act ungentlemanly, even at a place like this."

"This club 'ere's a right fine establishment," he began, "when Mister Fancy let me get a job-"

The Pegasus held up his hooves in innocence/ "Ey, Mac, calm your jets. You know I don't mean nothing of it."

Big Macintosh huffed, frowning. "Still, Thunderlane, you talk bad about my place of work-"

"And you'll kick me out, like a jerk." Thunderlane teased, sighing wistfully. "Oh, if only I could seduce you just one eensy-weensy little time..."

"Ah said no before, and Ah'll say it again. No."

"Alright, alright." Thunderlane held up a hoof, silencing any further protests. "But whenever you want me, you can come get me."

"I've near had enough of you already." The farmpony snorted.

Thunderlane shrugged, shuffling his wings. "Hey, it never hurts to beg."

They both perked up as the noise level increased, along with the decrease of several dozen ponies from the stage.

"There he is." Thunderlane droned. "Told you he'd be on."

A dull navy stallion with a pale yellow mane strutted onto the stage, outfitted in a glittering purple cape and silver bodysuit. The thin fabric stretched taut over each surging muscle, even though the steps he took were soft and gentle, and his half-lidded eyes drew across the expectant faces below.

He reared up, hooking a hoof around the pole, and began to circle it. Subtly, he drew a hoof up to the ties around his neck, and with a short spin and a push, his cape flared out around him, draping him in it's satin veil before gliding to the ground. The stallion stood, both hooves wrapped around the pole and glitter-speckled tail wrapped around his Cutie Mark, and began gyrating softly.

"He never lets down, does he?" Thunderlane let out an appreciative holler before spreading his wings, their stiffness setting in as he watched the stallion.

Big Macintosh nodded in agreement, shifting uncomfortably. "My Moondancer never lets down."

Sure enough, some of the ponies watching had retired to the back rooms for a few moments, and Moondancer had dipped down into the crowd to half-please some lucky stallions himself. Bits spotted the platform like diamond's in a rich pony's ears, and almost too soon Moondancer gathered up the coins and exited the stage.

A white Earth Mare trotted up beside the two colts, only needing to bat her eyelashes before Thunderlane followed her away into a back room. Macintosh got up as well, trotting across the abandoned entrance and through the two heavyset Unicorns at the door to the stage.

After a short walk down a narrow hallway, Macintosh knocked on the door with a blue comet hastily taped onto the front. The door swung inward, and a particularly messy-maned Moondancer welcomed him in.

"Mac! Oh, I was wondering if you were here! I know you don't like coming on your day off, but I couldn't stand leaving you at home - oh! - Thunderlane was good company, wasn't he? Oh, I hope he wa-"

Big Macintosh silenced him with a sudden, deep kiss, and the dancer took a few moments to respond. As if by habit, the larger stallion moved him away from the door, into the small room behind. Moondancer gently pressed a hoof against Macintosh's chest, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry, but tonight... it took a lot out of me, and I..."

"I understand." Macintosh rumbled. "You're a prime piece of horseflesh."

"I'm your prime piece of horseflesh." Moondancer corrected, bringing them together in a second kiss before leading Macintosh out into the hallway. The thinner stallion's flanks glistened with sweat, among other things, and his weight bore down on his shoulders as he made his way to the staff exits at the back of the building.

"I'll get us a chariot. Just wait here, alright?"

Macintosh shook his head. "You're barely in a state to be standing. Ah'm not leaving you here all on your lonesome. There are worse ponies out at night then you'd believe."

"Yeah, don't you go giving me the streetwise lecture, you country boy." Moondancer stumbled, falling against Macintosh's side. "The companionship would be good, though."

"That's what I thought." Macintosh started walking, making sure to stay beside Moondancer.

The two continued in silence, making their way through the back alleys and darkened roads to the main street. A few mares hung about the lampposts, watching the passersby with false longing and heavy makeup. Moondancer's ears perked up as he focused on a pale green Unicorn across the street.

"Hey, Mac." He poked the workhorse's shoulder. "She's new."

"So what?"

"So, she's going to get picked up by some pervert. They all do on their first night."

Macintosh sighed. "Moondancer, you can't just go-"

"I am an adult! I have full control over what I can and cannot do!"

The mares around them had begun snickering, a few who had met the pair in the past rolling their eyes. Moondancer glared at them.

"Fine, do what you want. Girls, you'll keep an eye on him, right? I have to go get a chariot."

"You won't stay?" One of them sighed. "We'd love to have you."

Big Mac trotted off with nothing more than a swish of his tail, leaving Moondancer in the mare's company. One, a pink Unicorn with a two-tone purple mane, guided him over to a bench. "How was work?"

"Eh, same as always. No new customers tonight."

"Everyone's staying up for the Summer Sun Celebration." She replied, sitting on the bench beside him. "Nobody can sleep off a night with one of us either."

"You say sleep like that's what's going to happen." He teased.

She sighed, moving closer to him to allow another pony onto the bench. "It's best for us when you have one of your parties, Moondancer."

"I know, girls. It's best for all of us when we can get a night without our jobs, hm?" He laughed bitterly. "I can't say I hate what I do, but... it's good to get a break, y'know?"

She nodded. "We've been getting paid less as we stick around. Ponies are starting to settle down more than they used to."

"I know," he agreed, "I have trouble paying for the flat if Macintosh has a hard month."

They sat for a few moments in silence, calm together. Moondancer lifted a hoof, pointing at the lonesome green mare.

"What's her name?"

"We don't know." The pink mare replied. "She just showed up a couple hours ago. Her Cutie Mark is a harp, so maybe it Harpy or something."

Moondancer hauled himself off the bench, hissing as his hooves hit cold pavement. He trotted over, slowing down slightly as she looked up in fear.

She backed away, mint-and-white forelock falling over one eye. "T-ten bits for an hour. T-t-twenty for the night. Anything y-you want."

"Sh, sh. It's alright. I'm not going to do that to you." He gently touched her shoulder, recoiling as she flinched. "My name's Moondancer. What's yours?"

"H-Heartstrings. Lyra Heartstrings."

"Well, Miss Heartstrings, I'll give you fifty bits to be with me tonight. How's that?"

"T-thank you." Tears rose in the corners of her eyes as she took up stride beside him, crossing the road and returning to the bench with the other mares.

"Her name is Heartstrings." He told them, letting her take his spot on the bench. "And I'm sorry, but I don't have enough room for any more in the house tonight. Trust me, come the warmer seasons, the pay'll pick up and I'll get the hall booked again."

The mares nodded, disappearing into the night. Lyra shivered next to him, staying a distance away that Moondancer recognized as the fear-or-pay gap. A chariot turned the corner, the gray Earth Pony pulling it avoiding eye contact with either passenger, and allowed them into the covered carriage. Big Mac sat against the opposite door, hoofing through a magazine.

He looked up as the mare entered, terror crossing her face as she saw the other stallion. "Moondancer, you sure this is a good idea?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" He replied, slipping around the mare and taking a spot next to his coltfriend. "Excuse me, Miss, but how long have you been out here?"

She glanced up, startled. "J-just today."

"Great!" Moondancer turned to Macintosh, smiling. "She's new. Just one night."

"Fine." He relented. "Miss, mah name's Macintosh Apple, and this here's Moondancer. Ah'm happy to make yer acquaintance."

She nodded, looking down at the floor.

The cart shuddered to a halt, a brief silence augmenting the time between the clicking of the puller's bindings and the door swinging open. "We've arrived." The gray colt stated, backing away to let them out.

Moondancer exited first, helping Lyra out after. Big Mac jumped down effortlessly, gravel scattering from the impact of his hooves on the packed dirt.

"Could you be quiet?!" Moondancer whispered. "We don't need a friggin' parade!"

"Ah'm sorry Ah'm big!" The workhorse snapped back. "Now get along and unlock the door."

Moondancer rolled his eyes, kicking the door open with a back hoof. "You say that like it's locked. Miss Lyra, do remember to come inside."

She lifted her eyes from the pavement, following the two colts into the small building. Moondancer flicked a switch, and a dim lightbulb coated the room in off-white light.

The building itself was squat and dingy, but for the place itself the inside was quite clean. The carpet was slightly stained in places, but was not dusty, and the kitchen looked sanitary across the room. A pair of doors led off into a bathroom and a bedroom, both in the same half-dirty that the rest of the house sat in.

Lyra wandered into the middle of the room, looking around awkwardly. She timidly lay down on the carpet, rolling onto her back. "T-take what you must."

Macintosh looked down at her, holding a small pink cup. "Would you like some tea?"

"Yeah, I told you, don't worry." Moondancer grinned, helping her up. "After all, if I wanted one of you night workers, I'd have gotten someone of the opposite gender. And it would have been him," he gestured to Macintosh, who had sat down on a pillow nearby.

"B-but... you're giving me fifty bits."

"Au contraire, mon ami," Moondancer waved a hoof, "I'm not giving, I'm paying you to be with me for the night."

Lyra stared at him, her tea floating in a golden magic aura.

"A hint of advice; move to that one little town where he's from-"

"Ponyville," Macintosh interrupted.

"-and get a job there. It's just starting out, so there'll be jobs there that won't require... innocence." He placed his tea on the ground. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go take a shower. I may or may not require company~!"

Big Mac rolled his eyes, watching the stallion saunter his way through one of the doors. "Ah'll be joining him in a little while, alright? Make yourself at home. The door has a chain on it if someone starts knocking, 'kay?"

Lyra nodded, glancing fearfully towards the door, and Big Macintosh left her for the bathroom.

Moondancer sighed under the warm water, arching his back as the slick sweat ran off of his coat and down the drain. He tilted his head up, rinsing his mane out, and sat down, letting the water pour down over his shoulders.

He hissed as the curtain was pushed aside, welcoming in a gust of cold air. Macintosh noted his discomfort with a snort, pushing the curtain back into place behind him.

"Y'all gotten clean?" Big Mac rumbled, cramped uncomfortably in the far corner of the bath. "Ah don't want to smell some other colt's jizz all over mah coltfriend."

"I'm clean, I'm clean." He leaned over, falling back against his coltfriend's wide chest. He stared up into his eyes, smiling. "But hey, if you want to make me dirty again, well, I wouldn't object."

Macintosh smiled, leaning down and kissing Moondancer. The slimmer pony shifted as a not-so-subtle pressure was introduced to his lower back.

Breaking the kiss, Moondancer drew away, drawing his tail away from his nethers and nickering softly. Macintosh slowly lay down atop the smaller stallion, thick member pressing at the soft spread of skin below his lovers' tail. The farm pony hissed in a breath as his arousal grew, his hips shifting backwards to get into position.

"Are you ready?" He rumbled, leaning forward.

Moondancer bit his lip, aware of his own stallionhood swinging below his haunches, and nodded.

Macintosh pushed forward, entering Moondancer's plot with a second hiss. The latter groaned loudly, the hair on his spine lifting with the intense sensation of being filled. Sweat beaded on his forehead, washed clean by the warm water cascading over the pair.

Big Mac ground deeper into his partner, living up to his name. His tail flicked excitedly over his flanks as he neared his climax, unconsciously pushing Moondancer down into the porcelain basin.

Warmth filled Moondancer as the larger stallion came, white gunk spattering around the stallion's haunches and dribbling down to the drain. The second stallion's member quivered before spraying it's load as well, Moondancer moaning in pleasure.

Macintosh withdrew, standing in the water for a moment before exiting the shower - cold draft and all - gathering a towel from the cupboard and leaving the room. Moondancer took a deep breath, steadying his pounding heart before leaning back against the cold tile wall.

"Why is it that he says he loves me," the colt sighed, "but this all feels like just another job?"