//------------------------------// // Day One (and Done) // Story: Strip Slip // by Indeliblink //------------------------------// "You what?!" Pinkie exclaimed, her mouth hanging open. Rainbow hovered in front of her, on the opposite side of the counter at Sugarcube Corner. "I got a job!" Rainbow replied, her face splitting into a huge smile. "Already?" Pinkie nearly vaulted the counter, barely managing to restrain herself and instead settling for reaching across and yanking the pegasus in for a hug. "That's great!" "I know!" Rainbow shut her wings, plopping onto the floor and stepping from one hoof to the other. "I can hardly believe it myself! Wait, what am I saying? Of course I'd get another job right away. Who could resist this, after all?" She motioned to herself with a broad sweep of a wing, and Pinkie giggled. "Hah, right!" Pinkie patted her on the head, and Rainbow grumbled, craning her neck back to avoid the pink hoof waving in front of her. "So, where ya workin'?" The pegasus froze. "Huh?" "Where are you going to work?" Pinkie asked slowly. Rainbow fidgeted, shifting her gaze around the building to avoid meeting that of her friend. "Uhm... uh..." She scratched her head awkwardly. "Public... ehm... service?" Pinkie stared at her, waiting for her to continue. "Yeah, and?" "Well... I, um..." Rainbow really didn't want any of her friends knowing about this little... endeavor yet. Well, she supposed Pinkie already kinda knew, but she preferred to spare her any more details about exactly what her job was. "Look, I don't--" She was silenced when Pinkie began vibrating on the spot, her tail flattening and curling repeatedly as her ears fell over her eyes. After a few seconds, all movement from the pink mare ceased, and Rainbow poked her warily on the shoulder. "Pinkie sense?" She asked, already pretty much knowing for certain the answer to that question. "Nope," Pinkie said, surprising her. "I just had a little too much coffee this morning, I guess." She rubbed her chin thoughtfully, looking at Rainbow with narrowed eyes. "So, 'public service,' huh?" "...Yeah." Rainbow took a small step backwards, which was followed by another as Pinkie leaned over the counter, analyzing her closely. "Lemme guess..." The mare's blue eyes scanned her up and down, making Rainbow shuffle her hooves uncomfortably. "You got a job in a bar!" "H-How'd you know that?!" "Just a guess." Pinkie smiled sweetly, ignoring Rainbow's disturbed glare. She gasped suddenly, placing both her front hooves on the counter. "Oh my gosh! Are you a waitress?" "...Yes. Yes, you're absolutely right. Yep." Rainbow nodded quickly, taking a few steps towards the door. "Listen, Pinks, I'd better go. I've gotta get to... my job. Like, right now. Waitressing. Yeah." She pushed the door open, sparing a final glance over her shoulder. "See ya!" Pinkie stood, watching the mare depart and fly away, before letting out a quiet chuckle. "She actually thinks I bought it. As if I didn't already know." She turned and headed back into the kitchen, giggling all the way. "I was all 'Nope, no completely obvious Pinkie Sense going on over here, just too much coffee,' and she was all 'Oh, yeah, sure, coffee, public service, blah blah blah.'" She snorted and pushed a tray filled with cupcake batter into the oven. "She's totally a stripper now." "What was that, dearie?" Mrs. Cake strolled through the kitchen door, giving the pink mare an odd look, but she waved her off with an innocent smile. "Oh, nothing!" "And for our final act of the night, we've got a special treat for ya: we have a new arrival to the scene today, ponies!" Rainbow stood just behind the edge of the pulled-back curtain, her hooves tapping anxiously as she peeked out at the crowd gathered around the stage. It was actually a bit bigger than she had first expected. Not that she was nervous, or anything like that. Oh no, Rainbow was ready to shine--literally. As a matter of fact, her new boss had supplied her with some sort of coat-enhancing oil that he claimed 'made every stallion perk up a bit, in more ways than one.' Whatever that meant. All she knew was that she had seen the effect the other mares had had on the audience so far today, and if her awesomeness had anything to do with it, she was going to knock their socks off. Speaking of which... She glanced down at her own hooves, which were covered in white silk socks. They had been recommended by her boss, who told her that they prevented friction burns and made it easier to slither all around the pole. Plus, they could only work in her favor in the turn-on department. What kind of pony didn't like socks? After her newfound employment last night, she had come before opening hours this morning to gauge her skills on the pole, and the bartender had been impressed, offering only a few small tips like these that would make her routine more... effective. Still, she wasn't 100% sure that saving her for the last act of the night was such a good idea. An awesome, hot-as-Tartarus newbie was still a newbie, and a newbie wasn't closing-act material. He must see something in me, I guess. Not that I'm surprised. She flipped her neatly-combed mane with a hoof, her wings fluttering in anticipation. "Please welcome the strong, the graceful: Rainbow Dash!" Graceful? Rainbow frowned. That didn't sound like the sort of word ponies used to describe other, cooler ponies. But she digressed. At least she hadn't been called 'frilly' or 'beautiful' or some other wimpy thing. Rainbow smirked as a polite round of applause broke out, and with her chin held high she emerged into view and strutted over to the pole. She could feel the stares of several dozens of ponies on her, and her smug grin widened as a few cheers rang out through the room. She raised her two forehooves and ran them up the pole, the white silk socks gliding smoothly over the surface. Her back arched and her chest pressed against the cool metal, causing her to shiver. Her tail flicked back and forth in long strokes, and she trailed her eyes over each captivated face that gazed expectantly for what was to come. It was time to give them what they wanted, and she was going to do just that; she winked at one particularly lucky stallion in the front row, who grinned stupidly back at her. Oh yeah, I've got these ponies right where I want 'em. She walked around the pole in a circle, supporting herself on her hind legs and gripping the pole lightly as she swung around it, swaying her hips much more than she knew was necessary to draw her audience in. As if they hadn't been already. Rainbow lowered herself onto all fours and wound herself around the pole, brushing against it as she circled once, then hovered off the ground and twisted her body around it, much to the enjoyment of her viewers. Her face flushed when she really considered her situation; I mean, really, imagine it! Her, doing this? Sure, she was a smoking hot piece of flank if she ever saw one, but still... Yet if it was such a degrading experience, why was she enjoying it so much? She pondered this as she once again clung to the pole, this time wrapping her wings about it and leaning back to throw a seductive glance at the crowd. That very action brought on another wave of whistles, and she came to realize what so enticed her about this job: Power. She didn't get much admiration for her feats in the average day (other than from Scootaloo), and what little she did get was usually in reference to her previous Sonic Rainboom. This was different, however. Nopony ever called her pretty, beautiful, or whatever else to her face. It didn't dampen her spirits, of course, but this sudden new showing of appreciation for her physical self was... intoxicating, to say the least. And she wanted more. She drank in the attention as she forged on through her performance, no longer hesitating to pull out all the stops to really get the crowd going. Tricks and twists she'd never even considered attempting before were thrown into the mix, each one building on the mounting excitement filling the bar. It was around this time she began to notice ponies tossing scraps of paper onto the stage, and she squinted to identify what they were. Her eyes widened in a mix of surprise and glee when she realized it was paper money, some even in small crumpled-up wads of bills. Her boss had mentioned she might be good enough to bring in a decent round of tips, but the amount she estimated was already lying beneath her made her tremble in excitement. "Hey, babe," a gravelly voice called out, and Rainbow was snapped out of her thoughts. A stallion near the front of the audience grinned devilishly, pointing a hoof at her, and she recoiled from the extended limb slightly. "Why don't we get out of here and head back to, say, a hotel?" He cackled then, and Rainbow made a disgusted face, as did a couple ponies around them. "Take a hike, squirt," Rainbow replied, turning her nose up at him, which earned a chorus of oooooooooooohh's from the rest of the crowd. Much to her chagrin, the stallion only grinned wider. "Oh, a fiesty one. I like your sass." He ran his eyes over her figure once more, then met her annoyed eyes again. "And your flexibility, too." Rainbow sent him a vicious glare, and the stallion, along with a few ponies near him, took an involuntary step back. Rainbow noted, with some amusement, that his tail was pinned between his legs, and his eyes were darting around nervously. With a quiet cough, he backed through the crowd, bumping into a few more annoyed ponies, and finally skittered out of the bar, a wave of satisfied cheers erupting from the building in his absence. Finally settling back down on her back hooves, she was met by an even more vigorous series of catcalls that made her blood rush to her face and her ears twitch in exhilaration. It was time to go in for the kill. Rainbow hugged the pole, pressing her furred chest against it once more, and began to slide lower as her back arched and her backside gradually stuck out further and further. The background noise grew to a peak as her underside touched her knees, and she wiggled her rump for good measure before slowly straightening up to full height again. She raised one of her forehooves to her mouth and gently tugged on the tip of the sock covering it, keeping her gaze directed towards the crowd. Once it had come off, she snagged it with her wing and hurled it into the crowd, chuckling under her breath as several stallions (and a few mares) scrambled to retrieve it. She repeated the process with her other three socks, not quite tracking (or caring) exactly who caught each one. When they were all off and in the hooves of a select few audience members, she cocked an eyebrow and threw herself around the pole, pouting as cutely--ugh, what a totally uncool word--as she could at the enraptured ponies in front of her. Which was, needless to say, pretty dang cute. Through the roar of the cheers and stomping hooves, the pegasus gave a powerful flap of her wings, thrusting herself upwards and twirling around the pole until she reached the ceiling. Her hind legs wrapped tightly around the pole, she slid back down, continuing to rotate her hips around it slowly. She hissed in pain as her skin stuck and screeched against the metal, leaving shining red bands across her thighs. Okay, yep, that was a terrible idea. Never without socks. She let out a harsh whoosh of breath, trying to ignore the stinging burns. It wasn't easy. Holy hay, that bucking hurts! With a strained smile, she beat her wings gently to hover around the midpoint of the pole, keeping it loosely between her legs. She spun to face away from the crowd, then leaned back until she hung upside-down from the hip. She gazed out over the audience, relishing in the mixed expressions of awe and desire on the faces that stared back. She locked eyes for a number of seconds with one such pony, who was sitting at the bar. Her mind barely registered the white coat, the stylishly coiffed purple mane that framed the mare's face, and those oddly familiar blue eyes filled with shock-- Oh my god. A weird noise came from Rainbow's throat as the mutual recognition struck her in the gut. Her legs slipped from around the pole, her wings snapped shut, and she fell to the floor in a heap, her widened eyes staring up at the ceiling. She felt numb. She couldn't feel her... her... something. Ergh, she couldn't even remember a name for whatever it was she couldn't feel! Even her brain seemed as though it was screeching to a halt. Her breathing sped up as her vision went out of focus, a queasiness wringing her stomach. The next thing she knew, she was leaning flat against the wall backstage, a scattering of paper bills floating to the ground in her wake. She panted heavily, holding her forehead in an effort to stop the relentless pounding that rattled her consciousness. Black spots danced across her vision, and she felt uncomfortably hot all over. She had to get out of here, if only to get some air. Where was the door? And... and... Why was she so dizzy all of a sudden? "Rainbow Dash?" And more importantly, what in the hay was Rarity doing here?! The unicorn appeared next to her, appearing concerned, if not a bit frazzled. "Rainbow, darling! What in Equestria are you doing here?!" Rainbow slapped a forehoof over her face with a groan. Some first day this turned out to be.