Dead Money

Every day the same routine.

Starnsy wakes up, just before her alarm, turning it off. She lays in the bed for another five minutes before finally dragging herself out of it. She turned back to the bed as she reached the doorway. Wobble, her husband, wasn't home. He was most likely still at the office. She let out a deep sigh, before making her way to the bathroom and stepping into the shower.

The hot water heater was off again. Starnsy descended, cold and naked, down the steps into the basement. She felt around the basement, letting her eyes readjust to the darkness. She was eventually able to fix it, going back up the steps, back to to the bathroom, and back into the shower. She couldn't, however, find the motivation  to even scrub herself clean. She stood half-asleep in the shower, worrying about her husband. It had been his dream to serve in the Royal Guard, and he was only one step down from that, working with the national law enforcement in Equestria. He came and went at all hours of the day, sometimes called in for office work, and other times, called in to don a full fledged S.W.A.T. uniform and body armor, however, those kinds of calls rarely happened. With the recent layoffs they were shorthanded around the office, and he had started to work later and later hours.

She shook her head and sighed. He'll be fine, she thought. He always is...

She turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. Normally, a nice hot shower would have woken her right up. The warm water cascading down over her body, soaking into her green coat, wetting her scarlet mane and tail, soothing her muscles, rejuvenating and readying her for a new day. But it didn't. She rubbed her eyes and began to rummage through the dresser for her underwear. She pulled out a pair of black lace panties, like one would see in a risqué magazine. Wobble had gotten these for her birthday one year, as a joke. She really only wore them for him, or on special occasions, but seeing as she hadn't done laundry yet, it was all she could wear, and she definitely wasn't going commando.

Her bra followed, it was black, but not lace. Then, some jeans; tight fitting but not exactly skinny jeans. They had some brown paint splattered on the side of the right leg and they were quite comfortable to wear. Her shirt? A plain black T-Shirt, with a white tribal design on the front. She didn't know what it was, or what it meant, but it was nice too. She took a soda from the fridge and grabbed her keys off of the counter, leaving her house and locking the door behind her. She looked up at the sky as she walked, the gray clouds blocking out the Sun's rays. Overcast. What had the five day forecast said? Right, 70% chance of rain. She sighed again. In retrospect, she should have brought an umbrella. She shook her head, quickening her pace, so that she could get to her workshop before the rain started.

After a long and wet walk, Starnsy took a soggy step into her workshop, the bells on the door ringing softly. The workshop smelled the same as it always did, the heavy smell of chemicals in the air, mixed with the faint smell of sawdust and metal, and the air freshener that barely worked. And it was freezing. She let out a frustrated sigh. "Fix." Her partner, Fix n' Repair, worked with her in her workshop. Being a pegasus, he was used to the colder weather in and above the clouds. Starnsy was not. She went over to the thermostat. "61 degrees. Really Fix?" She turned it back up until the cold air stopped flowing. Once more, she went behind the counter, to find Fix asleep in one of the office chairs, snoring lightly. She looked through one of the cabinets, grabbing an air horn and holding it up to Fix. She took a deep breath and pressed down on the top. The blaring sound of the air horn echoed through the workshop and Fix fell out of his chair, looking around frantically.

"Get up. We have work to do."