Days passed. At first, Toaster was happy and hopeful, just knowing that as soon as she walked into town she would be swarmed with wonderful customers. Every day, she would start early in the morning, marching into town with her head held high and her various slutty outfits at their sluttiest. She would walk the streets and meander through town, trying to lure in any stallion that she could, and she would stay out until late in the evening, prowling the town for late-night visitors.

As time passed, though, her situation stayed the same. None came. She had no customers. At most they would look at her, and she would smile, just as she had been taught to- -and they would turn away. She just did not understand, and every day, she became increasingly discouraged.

The few ponies that she knew were supportive. In what little time she took off from work, she would occasionally spend time taking to Scootaloo in Lyra’s backyard about various things. Sometimes she would talk to Lyra, but Lyra was always working, either welding things onto her armored vehicle or assembling armor and whatever “assault weapons” were. Toaster would also sometimes see Muffins and Bread in town, almost always together, or Bread alone. Bread was her favorite, because he brought her food.

After four days, though, the desperation started to set in. Toaster became increasingly cognizant of her situation, that she had been fired from her brothel for poor performance and that she was once again repeating that pattern- -but this time, it was worse. In the brothel, customers would sometimes come and ask for her, even if she could never finish the job. Her in Ponyville, though, none of them even propositioned her. She was failing again, and it terrified her, because if she failed here, she did not know what she could do next.

So, on that forth day, she found herself racing through the streets as a brown pony with an hourglass cutie mark ducked in and out of the allies and between buildings. He was quick, as if he had practiced running considerably, but Toaster had limitless reserves of prostitute stamina. She raced through the streets, jumping over the waste bins that he tipped over to try to stop.

“Come on, you know you wan’ it,” she said, replicating perfectly an accent that she suspected he would prefer. “Come over here and show me yer ‘sonic screwdriver’!”

“No!” he cried, panting. “Just go away!”

“Not until you pay me!”

“But I didn’t do anything!”

“Not YET! Now get ove’ here and turn my hourglass!”

“Nooooooo!”

He ran across a large open area and Toaster knew that she had won. The only thing in that area was a kind of blue shed.

She accelerated, and she could almost taste his stallionhood. He was not much to look at, but at least his color was better than hers. He had actually stopped to talk to her, not like the others. He had only asked the time, but Toaster knew that he wanted her bad.

The stallion ducked into the door of the blue box, and closed it. Toaster heard the sound of several deadbolts locking as she approached and pounded on the door.

“Don’t close it yet! I’m not inside!” she cried. Then, increasingly panicked. “Don’t worry, you’ll fit! I’m bigger on the inside!”

“Go away!” he said form inside the box.

Toaster sat outside the box for a moment, holding onto it, and felt tears welling in her eyes.

“Fine,” she said, mostly to herself, and then slowly walked away. She immediately set her eyes on another passing pony, and leapt out at him.

“Five bits for a suck and a blow? Two for a hoof?”

“No,” said the blue, gray eyed unicorn.

“Me neither,” said his companion, a unicorn who was identical in every way, down to the snowflake cutie mark.

“PLEEEEEAAASSEE!” cried Toaster, grabbing onto his rear leg as she walked away. His body was oddly cold, but Toaster held on as he dragged her. “Okay, okay, one time low price! Five bits for a full ride! Anything goes! Three? One! One bit! Please! I need money! Just buck me, mister, I won’t tell anypony! Promise!”

“Filthy pony,” he growled and slammed his front hoof into Toaster’s forehead. She saw a number of bright lights, and was thrown backward into the mud.

“Please…please…” muttered Toaster incoherently as the pair of unicorns walked off. “I just want you to love me…”

The blow had been surprisingly substantial, and part of it had impacted Toaster’s horn. She managed to stand and shakily moved into an alleyway, where she leaned against a dirty wall. As she did, several cold, wet droplets landed on her body. She looked up to see a crowd of Pegasi moving already leaky clouds into position, darkening the sky. It was starting to rain.

Toaster let out a long sigh, and let the raindrops fall down her face to disguise her tears. There was nothing in the alley except for rats, a drunk or possibly dead pink mare clinging to a mostly drained wine bottle, and several dumpsters. Toaster considered climbing into one of the dumpsters and just lying there.

Then, suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Toaster immediately ceased crying and restored her professional outward appearance and turned toward whoever had touched her.

“Hey there, mister stallion, feeling lonely to- -”

Her words caught in her throat and her expression fell when she saw that the pony who had tapped her shoulder was not a horny stallion, but in fact a yellow Pegasus mare with long, pink hair.

Before Toaster could ask why this mare was there, the mare lifted a shaking hoof with a bit in it.

“I’d like to…um…I don’t really know what the verb is, because it’s…oh…probably dirty. But…I have money…and if it’s okay, I’d like to…well…”

Toaster looked down at the mare standing before her- -she was shorter than Toaster, but not by much- -and her mind momentarily froze. She had long ago sworn never to lie with a mare- -but there, before her, was a shiny golden bit, just waiting for her to earn it. This was the first time she had been propositioned since she had come to Ponyville, and the Pegasus was not unattractive- -but she was a SHE.

“Yes,” said Toaster, before her mind could think about it very much. She assumed her professional face once again, but was glad for the rain, because now she had completely lost the ability to control the tears. She lowered her head and nuzzled mare. She giggled awkwardly, as though she were afraid and nervous- -but not nearly as nervous as Toaster was. “My, what a soft one you are! I’ll be sure to be extra gentle on you…” she leaned closer. “Unless you’d prefer I wasn’t…”

“Oh my,” said the mare, producing a forced smile as Toaster took her bit, sealing the contract.

“You want to step into my office?” said Toaster, pointing toward the alley. She looked down at the drunk pony. “I think she might be dead,” she said, pointing. “So I guess we don’t have to worry…”

“Out here in the rain?” said the yellow mare. “Oh dear…you could catch a cold! Or worse, pneumonia! No, I simply can’t stand by and let that happen to a pony in need! You can come with me to my cottage. We can…eeh…do what we need to do there…”

“I’m yours for the night, miss…”

“Fluttershy. My name is Fluttershy.”

As soon as Toaster stepped into the cottage, she was overwhelmed with the smell of animals- -a LOT of animals. At least one of them was a ferret. They were definitely well cared for, but the house still smelled like a zoo, and Toaster could see birdhouses- -not outside, where birds were supposed to live, but hanging from the ceiling. With birds in them.

“Nice place you have here,” wheezed Toaster, though her watering eyes.

“Thank you,” said Fluttershy. “Can I take your clothes?”

“Oh, wow,” said Toaster. “You’re really chomping at the bit, aren’t you?”

“Oh my,” said Fluttershy, blushing heavily.

“Well, if you want a show…” Toaster threw her wet hair back and looked at the mare, trying her best to pretend that she was instead facing a handsome stud of a stallion instead of a soft, demure mare. “Oh, Fluttershy, look at me,” she said, running her hoof down her body. “I’m all wet…” Before Fluttershy could react, Toaster danced into the center of the room. With trained precision, she moved to nonexistent music, slipping off her clothing with ease as she swirled gracefully around the floor. Her stockings, her skirt, her blouse all came off and she continued to gyrate, now totally nude.

“Oh my,” said the yellow mare, putting her hoof in front of the eyes of a small white rabbit that had appeared beside her. As she did, her wings compulsively extended. “Eep!” cried Fluttershy, trying to force them back down as she blushed. “My down!”

Toaster giggled slightly, in part because it was funny and in part because she was terrified. Not only had she accepted a job from a mare, but she had been led to her house out in the woods. All alone. With nopony around. For all she knew, this “Fluttershy” could be a serial killer intent on toast for dinner. Nevertheless, Toaster had accepted the job- -and by the Sex Goddess Cadence, she would finish it.

Finishing her dance, Toaster flopped down onto the couch in the room, spreading her legs coyly. “Now that I’m all dry, why don’t you come over here, and we’ll get…toasty.”

“Oh sweet Necros,” said Fluttershy. She turned to the rabbit. “Angel Bunny…(gulp)…you might not want to watch this next part.”

The rabbit made a gagging gesture and hopped off. Rain pounded down on the windows outside, and Toaster took note of it.

“It’s really going down out there,” she said. Then, smiling seductively. “I guess it and me are about to have something in common.”

“Yeah, sure,” said Fluttershy, weakly. She sat down on the farthest possible end of the couch, pushing Toaster’s lower hooves out of the way and leaning far over the armrest.

“Aww,” said Toaster, sitting up and leaning her naked body on Fluttershy’s. She was oddly soft, softer than even the softest of Canterlot whores. Toaster was jealous. “You don’t need to be nervous. I don’t bite. Well, not enough to draw blood. Well, not enough to leave permanent scars. Well…” She stopped herself. That was counterproductive. “Let’s just start slow.”

Carefully, Toaster turned the other mare in her seat. Fluttershy’s body stiffened, but she was surprisingly submissive. Toaster easily got her into a preening position, with her wings facing hers. This was the most Toaster could bring herself to do so early on. Toaster had, in fact, preened a mare before; it was part of her training. She had actually done extremely well. Wing action was not really gay, after all. Wings were just wings.

Toaster reached down and rubbed her head against the center point of the wings, where the nerve plexus passed through them. Fluttershy cried out as her wings instinctively extended, to the point where all of her pale white-yellow down was exposed.

Slowly, Toaster leaned in and nibbled on a flight feather. As she did, she was suddenly struck in the face by a plume of feathers as the mare’s wings suddenly clenched with enough force to knock Toaster backward.

“Crap!” she cried, panicking, wondering if she had hurt the poor girl. “That’s never happened before! Are you okay? Did I go to hard?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “No…they’re just sensitive…”

“So no wings, then,” said Toaster. She took a deep breath, trying to control her nausea. “Then I guess…” She centered herself, and put on a happy face. The customer was always right- -and they were sensitive to hesitation. The prostitute must always be in control of the interaction, must always lead. She cannot show weakness. “Does that mean you want me to move onto the main course, then?”

“Main- -main course?”

“I do wonder what flavor you are.”

Before she could back out, Toaster reached down and lifted the mare’s tail. Fluttershy squeaked in displeasure, but hid her face with her hooves. Toaster found herself face-to-face with her opponent, the most perfectly shaped set of mare-parts she had ever seen, a thin strip of pink in the middle of a perfect yellow body.

Toaster reached in and cupped one of her client’s mammates, and felt her hoof shaking. She still remembered what her own had tasted like, and knew that this was not going to be fun. Slowly, she extended her tongue and them moved in for the kill.

Almost as soon has her tongue had just barely touched Fluttershy’s lips, the yellow mare jumped so high that she struck the ceiling, rattling several birdhouses and sending a number of small and hopefully non-insectoid creatures scuttling from beneath the couch.

“Come on,” said Toaster, now somewhat angry as she smacked her lips to try to get the horrible sour taste out of her mouth, which was actually somewhat reminiscent of lemon-vanilla custard. “Look, I don’t usually do mares, and you’re not making this easy for me.”

“Sorry, I’m sorry,” said Fluttershy, gasping as she descended, shaking, onto the couch. “I’m just…afraid.”

“Aww,” said Toaster. She reached out and kissed the other mare. That was not terribly disgusting, but it was still unpleasant. Toaster did not even bother to use tongue. “It’s okay. I work for you, remember? Just hold still and let it happen. I promise I won’t hurt you.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I always promise that.”

Fluttershy took a deep breath. “Okay.” She once again raised her rump. “It’s just…I’ve never had anypony put anything…well…down there.”

“I know,” said Toaster, once again lifting the mare’s tail. As soon as she saw those mare-parts again, she almost threw up. Then an idea occurred to her.

“Hmm,” she said, pulling Fluttershy’s tail higher and revealing an entirly different orifice. “I suppose I could just rim you…you’d like that, I think.” That, and a plot hole was a plot hole. It was not a gender-specific technique, and Toaster was okay with it.

She leaned in, but once again Fluttershy cried out. This time, instead of jumping, she slammed her plot so hard against the couch that more small things came out from below- -and this time, Toaster saw that they really WERE bugs.

“Can we just…cuddle, mayble?”

“What gives?” said Toaster, suspicious. “You went through the trouble of going out into a rainstorm to hire a whore, but when I actually try to pleasure you, you won’t let me? It’s almost like…” Toaster’s eyes widened. “It’s almost like didn’t even WANT sex. Like you were just trying to be NICE.”

Toaster stared accusingly into Fluttershy’s eyes, and Fluttershy suddenly smiled awkwardly.

“You got me,” she said.

“I see,” said Toaster, calmly. Then, all at once, she collapsed onto Fluttershy’s lap, releasing all the tears and sobbing that she had been containing within herself.

“Oh my!”

“What’s wrong with me?!” cried Toaster, soaking Fluttershy with tears. “I can’t do anything right! Nopony wants me! Am I ugly?! I’m too ugly!”

“No, no,” said Fluttershy, stroking Toaster’s green hair. “You’re not ugly. You’re a pretty pony.”

“No, I’m ugly! I’m the poopie baby! All I ever wanted to do was have sex, and get paid for it, and I can’t even do that! Literally EVERY mare can have sex, but I can’t! I just want to be LOVED!”

“Shh, shhh,” said Fluttershy, petting the sobbing prostitute ontop of her legs. “It’s going to be okay.”

“No it isn’t! I got fired from my job because I’m a virgin! Because I spent three years in a brothel and couldn’t get laid ONCE! And now everypony here hates me! I’m a failure! A horrible, ugly virgin failure!”

“No, no,” said Fluttershy, hugging Toaster. “Hugs make everything better.”

Toaster responded by hugging Fluttershy so hard that she heard something inside crack. Then she laid back down on Fluttershy’s lap, and let herself slowly wind down.

Eventually, Fluttershy spoke. “I don’t mean to be rude, but…have you ever considered that maybe selling your body, well…”

“What?”

“Well, that it might not be your special talent?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Toaster. “Of course it is.”

“But why?”

“If I can’t even have sex right, what else do you think I can do? Nothing…”

“Was it some sort of childhood trauma, maybe?” Fluttershy gasped, and whispered. “Where you sexually abused?”

“No,” said Toater. “I had a completely normal childhood. I grew up happy, and my daddy loved me. He once even patted me on the head, and said, ‘you are going to do great things’. That memory got me through some tough times…” She thought for a moment. “Maybe it’s because I never knew my mother? Maybe I never had a female role model to tell me how to please a stallion properly. Yeah, that’s it!”

“You’re lucky in that regard,” said Fluttershy, oddly darkly.

“What? Why? Oh sweet Luna’s Nightmare-stained plot, don’t tell me you’re an orphan and I just messed up real bad.”

“Oh, no no no no no! I have a mother, and a father…and a brother.”

“That sounds pretty normal.”

“The last two are the same pony.”

“Oh,” said Toaster. Then, dong the mental math, “OH.”

“Yeah. My mother isn’t exactly a nice pony. Or a pony at all. If she had been here, you would have gotten, well…”

“Screwed?”

“Yes. After disembowelment. She’s really into that whole ‘necrophila’ thing.”

“Eew.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, you know what they say: ‘incest is wincest’.”

“Nopony says that.”

“I say that.”

They both paused for a moment, and then laughed just a little bit. Toaster felt a little better. “I wonder if I have any siblings,” she asked, more to herself than to Fluttershy.

“Look,” said Fluttershy. “Toaster, was it?”

“Uh-huh.”

Fluttershly reached for a tissue and passed it to Toaster. “I know what it feels like to be different from other ponies, and how hard it can be.”

“Really?”

Fluttershy nodded, and extended her wings. “I’m a Pegasus, from Cloudsdale. But I can hardly fly. Back in flight school, everypony said I was fat. They even had a nickname.”

“What was it?”

“Flutterbutter.” Toaster used her full concentration to suppress a snort of laughter. That simply would not do, not against the pony who had invited her into her house on a rainy day and tried to make her feel better. “Ponies…how to put this…they don’t like what you’re doing.”

“But everypony loves sex!”

“Yes, but around here…it’s different.”

“So everypony hates me?”

“I wouldn’t say that they HATE you, but…”

“Oh,” said Toaster. “Well, then, how did you deal with it? When you were fat?”

“I wasn’t actually fat,” corrected Fluttershy. “I was actually rather willowy.”

“But you’re not a tree.”

“Not yet. And don’t start with that.”

“Sorry.”

“What I did was, I found friends. First was Rainbow Dash, but then others who would help me when I needed it. Surely you have made some friends by now?”

“Well, I guess so,” said Toaster, counting ponies that she knew. “There’s Lyra, and Pink Friend, Scootaloo, Muffins and her brother…”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “Muffins doesn’t have a brother.”

Toaster blinked. “Then who’s been bringing me food? Are you sure?”

Fluttershy nodded. “I’ve known Muffins my whole life. She used to foal-sit me. I even knew her when she was named Ditzy Doo. She’s an only foal. She did have the cutest little borzoi puppy, though…”

“But I can’t have sex with my friends! They’re all female! No offense, though, you actually tasted okay for a mare.”

Fluttershy smiled and shrugged. “I try.” Then she lifted Toaster up and looked her in the eye. “I don’t think this is a problem I can solve for you. I’ll be here to support you if you need to talk to somepony, but I think this is something you might need to find out on your own.”

“My own? How?”

“Well, just think about the root of your problem.”

“I do spend a lot of time thinking about roots…”

“And if that doesn’t work, you can always talk to Twilight.”

“Wait, you mean PRINCESS Twilight? No way I can talk to her! I don’t even know where she lives!”

Fluttershy blinked. “In the big castle. You know, the one made out of crystal.”

“Well, yeah, I figured she lives in a castle, but I don’t even know where it is.”

“Um, just outside of town.”

“Yeah, but WHICH town?”

“Uh…this one?”

Toaster’s eyes widened to a degree that actually appeared to frighten Flutterbutter. “You mean Princess Twilight lives HERE? In PONYVILLE?”

“Yes?” squeaked Fluttershy.

Toaster groaned loudly. “No one tells me anything.”

“You seriously didn’t know?”

“Of course not!”

“How? It takes up most of the town.”

“I specialize in sex, not smarts. Well…” Toaster’s spirits fell again. “I guess I don’t specialize in anything anymore…”

“Hey, now, cheer up,” said Fluttershy. She pointed out the window. “Look, the rain is starting to slow. You can stay here if you want until it finishes.”

“Thank you, but no,” said Toaster, hugging the yellow mare once again. “I need to do some thinking. And here.” She pressed the bit she had been paid back into Fluttershy’s hoof. “I don’t take hoofouts.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I am,” said Toaster, crossing the room and opening the door. “Thank you so much.”

Toaster smiled and waved as she left and walked down Fluttershy’s cobblestone path. As she did, Fluttershy flopped back onto her couch. She smiled, glad that she had helped a pony in need. She looked around the room and suddenly realized that Toaster had left her clothing.

“Oh dear,” said Fluttershy. “I’ll have to send it back to her…unless…” She picked up Toaster’s super-short, semi-transparent skirt and held it to her waist. “I think this might actually fit me.”

As she was doing this, Angel suddenly entered the room.

“ANGEL!” cried Fluttershy, throwing the skirt behind her couch and jumping on the fishnets that she was about to try next. “What are you doing here?”

The rabbit squeaked slightly.

“What do you mean the refrigerator is empty? I just filled it!”