Working with Buttons

Life had proven itself to be a cruel bastard, once again, to Bob. Not only had he somehow ended up in Equestria, which had ruined his standing that he had previously had in his old world, but now he was also losing his mind here as well. Why, you might be asking? Well, Bob was raised to be a worker. For him, working was a way to pass time, and a way to contribute to the bettering of the structure around him and his loved ones. He had worked so many times and started working so early in his life that it had ingrained itself into his very nature, becoming a way of life that was necessary for him to continue onward.

Why this was such a problem was because once he had arrived here and after the initial shock had worn off of both human and ponies, there at one point came the issue of where he would be staying. Wouldn't you know it? Rarity, ever the bearer of the element of generosity, graciously offered a roof for Bob to live under for the time being. Bob was grateful, oh he was... Until he came to BE under Rarity's roof. You see, Rarity's generosity somewhat directly opposed Bob's worker lifestyle.

It all started when Bob decided that if she was kind enough to offer a roof over his head, he might was well try and pay back the favor over time while also saving up enough to eventually move out into his own home. Most of the ponies in town were still a bit on edge with Bob, so his new friends and him would have to get things settled over time, which meant that Bob wasn't going to be getting a real job for a while. He hated it, but with patience comes rewards, as his mother always used to say. So, he figured he'd repay Rarity in the meantime by doing some chores around the house.

It began the next morning when Rarity had awoken and walked into the kitchen to find Bob doing her dishes.

"Bob, darling, whatever are you doing?," Rarity asked.

Bob looked over to her for a second, before returning to work and replying, "Doing your dishes."

Oh no. That's no good, Bob, not at all. Not with Mistress Generous around, nuh uh. Rarity's generous nature kicked right into gear, took aim right at Bob, and blasted his former lifestyle to pieces. "Oh goodness, no!," Rarity proclaimed, "I simply can NOT allow a guest in my home to do something that should be the homeowner's responsibility. Move out of the way now, darling, let Mama Rarity do those dishes."

Rarity trotted up, and bounced Bob away with her fat marshmallow butt. Bob wanted to object, he REALLY did, but a fault of his came into the picture. He was just way too polite to argue with a lady in her own home, and they were her dishes after all, so she did have a say over who did and didn't do them. Bob did a slight bow in understanding, gave a sheepish grin, and walked off; all the while, in his mind, repeatedly pulling out a large selection of various weaponry and blasting that marshmallow butt to nothingness as he roared with the agonized rage of a thousand eternally damned souls.

That wasn't the worst of it, though. For months now, every single time he would go and try to do something to repay her, she would somehow magically appear as if from nowhere, and declare that he needn't worry about anything. It drove him mad. He was furious. So furious, that Bob couldn't handle it anymore. He'll get a job, damn it! He'll get a job if it's the last thing he does! It's the pride of a man on the line here!

As Bob came to learn in his research at Golden Oaks Library though, Cutie Marks also worked against him. Almost every profession had the accurate amount of ponies with fitting cutie marks, and the job market would only fluctuate to accommodate as such. Basically, no jobs for Bob the worker. However, he then saw a glimmer of hope in a paragraph. A paragraph about ponies who had lost the meanings to their cutie marks. For these few, there existed a haven that would take them in. A haven called porn. A haven that was currently seeking more actors & actresses, if they could be called as much.

Bob stared at the paragraph, baffled. Not so much that he didn't know the ponies poked, they had to reproduce somehow after all, but more in the fact that this would probably be his one and only opportunity to get away from Mistress Generous once and for all... And it involved him poking ponies; something he was unsure whether or not that was acceptable or otherwise.

After an extremely awkward conversation that followed the question when he had asked Twilight, along with her mistaking the question as him coming onto her and her being a blushing & stuttering nerdy mess about it, he came to learn that interspecies relations were for the most part smiled upon, as long as both individuals were sentient. For Bob, that was good enough. Work didn't always have to be enjoyable, even if somewhat morally questioned on his part. As long as it was work, he was fine and dandy. Ah, he could almost hear the angels singing.

The next morning, Bob took the train to Manehattan, the only town in Equestria that had a porn studio.

__________

Suri Polomare was a mare down on her luck. Ever since the Rarity fiasco at Prim Hemline's rehearsal, and Coco's desertion, Suri's life had gone downhill. Her exploits had been revealed to the press through Coco, and the press had a hayday with it, feverishly taking Suri's name and rubbing it into large quantities of dog poop. As was the result, Suri had lost all amounts of credibility as a fashion designer. She was now living in a home with no furniture, as she had to sell all of it, but she was also facing two weeks before eviction.

Not to say she didn't deserve it. She tried to pick up and handle all the cards, but quite frankly, hooves aren't that good for carrying things. However, what she did deserve after what she had learned from this experience, was a second chance. She had learned her lesson the hard way, and all she wanted to do now was to just get back to making dresses and showing off her designs to those who would be willing to look. This could no longer be the case, though. The meaning behind her cutie mark with the buttons was now rendered meaningless.

Opportunity showed itself to her as well, however. She had gone out for a walk one afternoon when few ponies were out, when it had smacked her in the face. Quite literally, it was a bit windy, and a Classifieds had taken a rough landing on her muzzle. She pulled the paper from her face and decided to look at it. If she couldn't be a fashion designer, she could at least find work elsewhere to sustain herself, right?

Well, she was right, but maybe not in the way she would have wanted. The only job listing there was, was the one that was almost always there. Porn. She then read that the payment for either actor for actress was 300 bits to begin with, and then a percentage of bits added on afterwards from sales. She thought to herself, maybe if she was a good enough porn star, maybe then she could get back on her hooves. Worth a try at least, right? Not like she had anything else going for her right now, she figured.

With that, she headed off to XXX Wink Studios to apply for a role.