Author's Note

This is an 'in-between' chapter folks, so, I apologize for the shortness. However, I plan on giving my short stories a little more attention for a bit. A new chapter should be up soon. As in, by the end of the week, soon. :D

Saturday Morning Wake-Up

The weekends. The amalgamation of one's anticipation and relaxation, bundled into forty-eight hours of usually workless and indispensable glee.

A time in which, be it for only one, or a pair of these days, one can usually discover an undertone of freedom from monotony as the streets clear themselves of heavier activity; ponies are able to put on even friendlier faces than usual, and weather seems to always turn out pleasant.

Was it due to the fact that ponies would not have need to work today, or tomorrow? Or was it simply the overall concept of such relaxation that put these ponies at ease?

Whichever it was, Mayor Mare would not know. After all, she had her own listing of business and work time to attend to throughout the week. Today, despite everypony else's heightened spirits, would be no different.

While any other member of Ponyville were content laying in their beds as their princesses of sun and moon worked to bring about the day, a certain gray-maned mare's ears twitched from below a collection of blankets and coverings, as the clock tower to the town chimed for those of few number to hear.

Of seven of these chimes, it took only six to wake her, the last doing nothing more than reinforcing her reasoning as her eyes peered open, and her ears gave one final twitch.

It was always a particularly tiring process to get up during the weekends for her, but at the same time, they held no specific difference, save for the fact that she was able to leave an hour earlier from work.

Even then, that small benefit that was provided to her on these days mattered little, her workdays usually putting her well over this time of clocking out and right back on her schedule of exhaustion every time.

Struggling to keep her eyes open, the mare gave out a near-soundless yawn, a small squeak escaping her near the end as she released the air she had momentarily held captive in her early-morning stupor.

"Oof... Just another day..." She mentally groaned; her usual mantra expressed once more, she took a quick glance around the room, and towards herself, making sure that she indeed had managed to make it to her bed last night.

Certainly enough, she gave out a sigh of relief as she took notice of the fact that she did, her bedroom's belongings staring back at her, all in the inclusion of mirrors, photos, and several wooden furnishings; barely anymore than the front portion of her head was all that she had left uncovered through the night, aside from a small fraction of her tail, and the tip of one of her hind hooves, which had ended up falling from her mattress from one of her late night kicks.

Three different blankets of varying thickness and textures warmed her tired and aching body as she attempted to collect herself through a tired fog, moving her fallen appendages back onto her queen-sized mattress as she turned herself over onto her back, exposing the rest of her hidden away head and face to the morning world.

Her half-opened blue eyes gazing up to her plain white ceiling, she blinked as she unconsciously fought a battle to free herself from the binding of softness and comfort that was her bed.

I need to paint this room, she thought distractedly as she once again gave a half-hearted blink. It was an odd, seemingly random thought, but it was far from one of no origination and reasoning.

She had been meaning to have her room painted for quite some time now, its white walls doing far too well at reminding her of the office, despite her current location's intent on being a place to relax; a safe haven that was usually just out of her reach to enjoy.

Pulling her front hooves to her sides as she took in a quick gulp of air, she lifted herself up along the headboard of her bed until she was able to easily rest herself on her back in a seated up position; the cold of the wooden headboard, as compared to her recently warmed body, sent a shiver down her spine, jolting through her fur like a sort of spark through water as she tensed slightly.

Using one of her hooves to rub at her tired and drowsy eyes, she tamped her other lightly onto the top of the nightstand to her immediate left, carefully seeking out her glasses. Each time she missed, she moved ever so slightly more to the side, her exhaustion seeming to prevent her from even attempting to simply turn her head and look for them herself.

Nonetheless, upon feeling the metal and jutting object atop her usually smooth nightstand, she carefully reached her other hoof for it as well, clamping the object in between the two and bringing it before her.

She narrowed her eyes as she looked over the glass of her eyewear, flipping and turning it as she ensured that they were clean before she then clicked open their thin metal legs, placing them on with a practiced grace; her ears momentarily wriggled, and her nose scrunched as the cold metal came in contact with each of its long aforementioned areas.

This proved nothing more than to be a quick adjustment to her, however, as she then leaned herself down and grabbed hold of her mess of blankets with her maw, fully seating herself up in the process, as she pulled off the coverings and moved them to the side, where they would remain for a good bit of time; at least until she felt awake enough to neaten them once more.

Another yawn escaping her, she promptly removed herself from the bed hoof after hoof, standing herself onto all fours and giving a swift stretch; her forelegs went as far in front of her as they possibly could, practically making the strain in her muscles audible, while she raised her rear behind her, getting out a good crick from her back.

Once this part of her daily routine was through, she glanced over to her nearby mirror, where her usual attire of a collar and cravat sat, smiling for the first time this morning as she caught sight of the disheveled and messy mare that stared back at her.

"Two more days..." She mused to herself with a shake of her head.

"Just two more days."

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On the exact opposite of this daily spectrum, another mare, this one of a combination of cerise and pink, laid happily in bed, a smile on her face as she pushed herself further into her blankets, hugging her pillow tightly and happily enjoying its soft and cool embrace.

The school teacher, Cherilee, had woken up herself not long ago, having become adapted to waking up early, so as to reach the school and ready the classroom–along with several stacks of papers, files, and the lesson plans–before the colts and fillies of her class could arrive.

Today, though, despite her early awakening, she felt no more than a satisfied bolt of joy and sloth as she continued to lay nonchalantly, immovably, in bed.

She wouldn't fall asleep, as her internal clock would likely be sure to keep her up in the idea that she would soon be late for work, but she would use these moments of freedom and breathing time to relax as if it were the last thing she would do.

Shifting to her opposite side, she lazily peaked an eye open to her closed–though still brightened by the outside sun–window, and their neatly placed, flower-patterned drapes. Just below this window was a wide cabinet, filled with a variety of her objects in each shelf, all in perfect order. Atop of this cabinet, there were several more objects, including various perfumes, hair care products–essentially everything the average mare would need, coupled only with frames of different pictures that she had collected over the years.

Among these pictures, one stood out. One of a familiar mare, features easily distinguishable as a cerise coat, pink mane, and green eyes made obvious; the difference, however, was their appearance. Younger, styled differently, and with a charming, though horribly out of style dress encircled around her.

Next to this mare, another stood, her features just as easily distinguishable; including tan fur and a deep shade of dark blue in her eyes; Again though, there were some differences. A wild pink mane and tail, a lack of glasses used for professionalism, her collar and cravat, which one would be unlikely to see off of her nowadays, utterly missing.

She remembered those days well. They were only a few years ago, after all. Before the mayor and teacher jobs, and back when everything was just a time in which they could relax without a care in the world.

She felt slightly guilty as to the fact that she was able to relax now, while her friend would continue to work herself to the bone, but there was nothing she could truly do about it.

"And besides, with that new assistant of hers, maybe she can get some rest too?" She smiled at the thought, closing her eyes once more and further embedding herself into the cushioned mattress below her with a sigh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Two hours to arrival! Two hours to arrival!" The train conductor's voice was the first thing to awaken the man as he rested atop his claimed bed in the train car, muffled by the door that stood between him and the occupants of said car, as he gave it a simple knock.

Of the fairly disgruntled, and seemingly exhausted ponies that he had shared the bed car with, he was the first one up, swinging his legs over the bedside before then reaching behind him and grabbing hold of the neatly stacked pile of letters that laid by the windowsill.

He gave a light yawn as he stood himself up, ordering his letters for what must have been the fifth time since last night, before looking to the door to the car and giving the conductor and acknowledging nod.

The stallion nodded back in return, slightly tipping his hat to the human before returning to his other duties.

It was hard to believe, if only for the man, that the train was actually this close to arrival. The schedule that he had taken to reading in between stops consistently said that the arrival to Ponyville would have taken another day. However, it seemed that, in between some of the several closed off stops, and fair overall conditions, just a little over twenty four hours had been shaved off over this long trip.

Two hours...

He smiled at the prospect, glancing out of his window once more, already imagining the sights that would be provided to him by a more rural abode.

"But first," he then reminded himself, glancing down to his held letters, "I need to deliver these as soon as possible."

And so, as the train continued to travel along the rails, bumping and gliding along the way, the clock ticked for the arrival of a new resident to Ponyville. One that holds promise to change the lives of two certain mares.