The Thief and the Dancer

“Crap! We’re gonna be late! Gracie move ya ass!”, a yellow and blue griffon yelled up a fire escape. At that a blur of white and cream came tumbling down the ladders of the stairwell. With a amazing landing on her hooves, the blur came to a stop to reveal a cream colored young earth mare wearing a white leotard. Her coffee colored mane in a (very) messy ballet bun.

“*pant* Don’t remind me Gabe! Ooooh, Mrs. Shot is gonna have our flanks for breakfast if we don’t motor.”, Gracie responded as she got her keys out to her motorbike.

“That’s what I was trying to tell ya! Girl I swear, sometimes I don't get how you’re a beautiful dancer yet a total klutz in everything else!”, Gabriel said as he launched up and followed his best friend to the studio/club where they both worked.

When they got to “Shotglass's Night Club/Dance School”, they were met with the angry face of their employer Mrs. Gin Shot and the frazzled faces of their fellow coworkers, Cold Breeze and Serene Waters.

“YOU’RE LATE!!!!”, Mrs. Shot screeched as the pair of friends walked through the front doors and clocked in.

“We’re sorry Ma’am. Traffic was a monster on 12th and Oats. But at least we’re here now.”, Gracie apologized as she went to place her saddlebags by the entrance to the studio.

As she set her bags down and went to grab her uniform, she heard frantic wing beats and before she could turn a blur of blue/grey fur and mane came barreling into her side. Effectively causing them both to crash onto the floor in a heap of hooves, tails and laughs.

“Cold Breeze, what’s got you tripping worse than me this morning?”, Gracie asked after they got untangled and back on their hooves.

Cold Breeze sighed as he fixed his sunglasses, “If Mrs. Shot being more frightening than usual today isn’t bad enough, last night my apartment was robbed!”

Gracie gasped at this as Cold continued to explain how it happened after he left work the previous night to find his apartment trashed and some valuables stolen.

“Do ya think it was that burglar that’s been all over the news?”, Gracie asked as he finished.

“Possibly--anyways”, he started before slipping into his black leotard and sitting them both down “level with me Grace, why were you really late?”, he finished.

Gracie sighed as she strapped on her slippers and snapped up her skirt.

“Fine. While there was bad traffic on 12th and Oats, I overslept and almost didn’t hear Gabe break in my window or crawl into my room. He woke me up finally by screeching at the top of his lungs to and I quote: ‘Get the fuck up or he’d drop me off the East Manehattan bridge into the harbor.’ unquote.”, Gracie explained as she fixed her mane into a better bun. Cold Breeze simply laughed at this as he unlocked the sliding door that lead to the dance studio. They both grabbed their water bottles and towels as they headed into the dimly lit studio. Gracie dropped her bag in front of the mirror wall as Cold did the same before turning on the old boombox in the corner.

“Let’s wait for Gabe and ‘Rena' to get here. Then we can start practicing the routine for tonight's dinner rush.”, Gracie said as she flipped through the CDs looking for their warm-up music.

“M’kay….” Cold started but fell off into a daydreaming state. He was quickly snapped out of it by the sound of talons tapping against the smooth wood floor.

“Okay! Before the ‘wicked witch of the west-end’ shows her ugly rear end and barks at us, I have a few announcements! Announcement 1.): A big thanks is in order to Serene for covering my shift this upcoming Saturday. Announcement 2.): We have a special guest coming tonight. A Mr. Perfect Pirouette from the North Manehattan Academy of Dance will be showing up tonight--” Gabe started before a loud scream broke his train of thought.

“THE ‘Perfect Pirouette’?!?!?! As in the most famous dance instructor in all of Equestria?! The same pony who trained such dancers as Moondance, Swan Song and Cobalt LeFleur! And he’s coming to this run-down nightclub/bar! Tonight!?!?”, Serene interrupted with an excited scream.

“The very same! I somehow managed to get our audition tape we did a month ago to his publicist. Who then showed Mr. Pirouette. Who thought it was amazing...I assume. Anyways, He’s supposed to be on a train from Ponyville coming today and he’s staying here for 3 days! He’ll be here at 8pm.”, Gabe finished to a uproar of excited chatter and squealing on the girl's part. The excitement was broken by a loud thump of a cane on the floor by Mrs. Shot. Thus was the signal to get ready to warm up.

“Such is life in Manehattan. You work your flanks off to get here only to get struck back to square one. Waiting tables and dancing to make hardly minimum wage and a few good tips. I’ve been here almost half my life and feel like I’m barely making a name for myself aside from dancing and waiting tables. But don’t fret. Because I have a feeling things are gonna change for all of us real soon.”, Gracie whispered to her friends as they started to warm up in the hot dance studio.