The Ballad Of Glass: Spring

by a guy with many hats

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Human, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rarity, Romance, Sex
Length: 54072

Glass Work was born in the north. He's lived there his entire life, used to the cold and the quiet. But when he pushes himself to move past it, and try to make a life down where the sun shines and the cold gives way to warmth, his plan is ruined.

Glass Work was born in the north. He's lived there his entire life, used to the cold and the quiet. But when he pushes himself to move past it, and try to make a life down where the sun shines and the cold gives way to summer warmth, his plan is completely ruined.

Preread by Mikesnipe

Part of Equestrium

Published 2014-12-16 03:30:09 UTC
Last updated 2015-03-03 20:20:15 UTC

Arrival

I stepped out of the train, into the budding spring air. "Oh gods...it's so warm." I set my bag down on the platform and looked around. The rustic train platform was surrounded by green and old world houses. Wood covered everything, and what wasn't covered was pocked with greenary. "Hmm. It's nice." I felt a warm rush of air pass by me, the magically powered lights overhead biting away the darkness. The platform was nearly empty, only a few ponies and a pair of Satyrs was standing about. "Oh...I thought--"

"Glass?" A strong voice called out to me. I snapped around, finding a satyr mare with a black mane and a bright orange streak standing before me. She wore a burgundy shirt, with a pair of jean shorts covering up her red legs. She towered over me, a solid ten centimeters taller than me. She smiled down at me. "You're Glass Work right?"

I continued to look the mare over. She had a strange charm about her, something that matched the town itself. "Yes, and you are?" I extended my hand, figuring the greeting would be universal among hand born creatures.

The mare smiled at me. "I'm Darcy." She stepped forward and wrapped her hands around me, picking me up and lifting me off the ground. I felt the air squeeze out of my lungs as the mare hugged me. "Welcome to Ponyville."

I huffed loudly as I was dropped back on my hooves. "Whoa, hey there, hello." I stepped back, brushing off the smell of apple scented soap off my jacket. "Alright, so, hello  Darcy." I looked around the platform, the chirping crickets in the background starting to unnerve me. "How do you know my name?"

Darcy just kept smiling. "Rarity asked me to come pick you up, said she couldn't make it out this late."

"Oh!" I grabbed my bag and stretched my legs. "I see. A shame, I was looking forward to meeting her in person."

Darcy stretched her arms. "You're a little proper, don't you think?" She walked up to me and pulled my bag away. "I guess it makes sense, you're here for Rarity." She hoisted my bag onto her shoulder. "So, she told me to take you home for the night, but I figured I'd let you pick where to go."

I rubbed my shoulders, starting to feel a bit overheated in my coat. "What do you mean? Can I not just--"

Darcy shook her head. "I'm not about to take you straight to Rarity's at midnight, gotta let that mare get some sleep." She looked off the edge of the platform, towards a collection of bushes. "But you can stay with me and my family for the night, or I know a few hotels you can stay at."

"Oh...." I rubbed my nose and took my coat off, stripping down to my long sleeve shirt. "That wasn't exactly planned for." I looked the mare up and down. "Who exactly are you? How do you know Ms. Rarity?"

Darcy smiled at me and wave me along. "Come on, you can stay with me tonight. We have a guest room."

"Oh course." I trailed after the mare, slowly shedding my clothes in light of the humid spring night. "Dear Celestia, it's really gross out isn't it?"

Darcy looked back at me. "How do you mean?"

I still felt terrible, my hooves bare, my chest covered by a single shirt. "Humid out, and hot." I was carrying just about everything I'd worn from Storm Side on my shoulder. "How do you live like this?"

Darcy chuckled. "It's seventy degrees. And we generally don't wear overcoats in springtime."

I coughed sharply, the smell of pollen thick in the air. "I'm starting to think I should have acclimated more before throwing myself south." I could feel myself starting to sweat. "Oh gods above...this is horrid."

Darcy's chuckle changed to an outright laugh. "It's not even that hot out. Where are you from?"

I kept on walking down the cobblestone roads, the earth hot underhoof. The world was blanketed in darkness, only broken up by the occasional street lamp. "Storm Side. Northern Hold." I wiped off my forehead with my sleeve. "Muggy, gross, hot."

Darcy slapped my knee with her tail. "You'll get used to it." She took a hard left onto a residential street, leaving me plodding along like always. "So how was the trip?"

I sighed softly. "Average? Met a few people, held a girls hand when she was nervous--"

"Aw, just out of the blue?" Darcy stopped under a lantern and watched me walk. "Did you know her?"

I shook my head. "No, she was a guard cadet and she seemed nervous. I think she was hitting on me, but she was a bit too young for me." I adjusted my mass of cotton and wool on my shoulder. "Age of consent might be young, but I'm not about to lower my aim just because of that."

Darcy smirked, turning away from the lamp. "So you just held a stranger's hand on the train?"

I followed her, the greenery surrounding me rather refreshing when I could get past the heat. "I guess I did. But, like I said, she seemed nervous, and it was harmless as could be."

Darcy stepped onto one of the passing lawns, heading towards a porch lit doorway. "No, I think it's sweet."

"Oh." I rubbed my mouth. "Most people back home would call me strange for doing something like that."

Darcy shook her head, the orange streak in her mane swinging left and right as she did. "Sounds like Storm Side is a bit stuck up."

I cringed and shook my head ever so softly. "Not stuck up, I'd say reserved. Not that it matters...seems like this is a friendly enough town."

Darcy stepped onto the porch and nodded. "Yeah, it's not bad here." She pushed a key into the door and slowly opened it up. "Now...be a little quiet. They're expecting guests, but I'd rather not wake everyone up if I can avoid it."

I looked around the block. "Am I about to get kidnapped? This seems a bit dodgy."

Darcy stared at me, eyes wide in the pale moonlight. "Kidnapped? Why on Celestia's green earth would I do that?"

I shrugged. "Keep me as some weird sex slave in your basement, sell my organs, something like that."

Darcy frowned hard. "You have some weird fantasies."

I shrugged. "Honestly either one wouldn't be that enjoyable, granted one is getting abused, the other is getting murdered, so you know, choices choices." I looked past Darcy, into her home. It looked normal enough, entry that lead directly into a living room. Nothing too sinister aside from a family portrait with a woman a stallion and Darcy. "I suppose I don't really have many options. Either trust you and brave the odds, or sleep in a gutter."

Darcy looked back into her house. "Do you want a hotel for the night? I could ask my dad if he's lend you some bits...."

I took a deep breath and puffed out my chest. "No, no. I'm a little paranoid by nature, growing up in that cold rock up north will do that to anyone. No, I've gotta get past it and try to act normal."

Darcy nodded. "So you're gonna stay?"

"Until tomorrow. Oh, on one condition--"

Darcy put her hand on her hip, swinging her tail let and right. "That being?"

"I'll need a shower in the morning." I patted the clothes on my shoulder. "I'm a little sweaty as is, and after a night in bed I think I'm going to need something cold."

Darcy stared at me, silhouetted in the dimly lit doorway. "You like the cold, don't you?"

I stepped up after her, causing her to walk inside like a guide. "It's more I don't like the heat."

Darcy chuckled softly, leading me through the hard wood floors of the salmon painted house. "It's not that hot. Spring just started, and it's night." She ran her hand along the wall, catching it the nooks of each doorway. "Oh, uh, bathroom." She tapped one of the doors. "Parent's room is upstairs. I'm the last door on the right, you're gonna be the last door on the left."

"Sounds good. There a lock on the door?" I asked, looking over the various pictures. "Oh...oh wow, where is this?" I stopped along one of the pictures, a huge expanse of sea behind a woman sitting on what looked like sandstone ruins.

Darcy leaned her head next to me, uncomfortably close for my tastes. "Oh, that's my mom. Some place called Tunis."

"Wait...on Earth? Oh, I see." I tucked my hands into my pockets. "So that red stallion is your father or an uncle or--"

"Mac? Yeah, he's my daddy." Darcy grabbed me by my wrist, not my sleeve as I would have liked. "Come on, getting late."

"Your, Daddy, not you dad?" I felt her word choice was a bit childish. "Honestly, how old are you?"

"Probably about as old as you." She shot back, whipping my fetlock with her tail. "Boom happened kinda suddenly, if you recall."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I completely recall my conception. Every second I was a sperm, clear as day." Darcy whipped my fetlock with her tail again, starting to leave a sting. "Ow, you know you feel awfully alright hitting a complete stranger!"

Darcy pulled me to the end of the hall, stuck between two doors. "Oh please. Rarity has been talking about you for a month. Between Applejack, Rarity, and her friends everyone's been trying to figure out who should help her."

I bit my lip. "Wait...help her? I was just supposed to--"

Darcy placed my bag on the ground between us. "Do you not know? Rarity broke her foreleg a while back. She tripped on her foal and fell down her stairs."

I stared at Darcy. "Wow.... So, I just got a lot of information that should have been mentioned previously." I grabbed my bag and backed up. "So not only does she have a child, she has a broken foreleg?" I looked down the hall, the light flickering near the door. "Where's the father in all of this?"

"Not sure. You'll have to ask her." Darcy put her arm up and cracked her back. "Now it's kinda late. I'll show you around town tomorrow."

I sighed loud enough for her to hear. "Sure." I turned to the door behind me and opened it. What met me inside was a bit jarring. Dirty clothes strewn everywhere, the smell of apple soap and body odor, a single electric lamp in the corner with a picture of Darcy and a red stallion. "Oh...." I turned around and gently closed the door. I faced Darcy, puffing my chest out slightly. "That was the wrong door."

Darcy smirked yet again. "You can sleep in there if you really want. I mean, I won't stop you if you need somebody to keep you company."

I felt my tail crimp at the base. "I'm fine...." I slid past her, opening up the door and heading into the next room. I flicked on the light and looked around. Plain. Plain white sheets, plain king bed, plain walls, plain wood furniture. This read guest room like nothing else could.

"So you're gonna be okay?" Darcy asked, leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed. "Ready to go by ten?"

I rubbed my forearms. "Ten? Sure, sure, just wake me up." I turned to the bed, "Just knock or something."

Darcy tapped the doorway. "Alright then, you get scared I'm right across the way--"

"Alright, stop it!" I snapped around in a huff. "Honestly, it's old already!"

Darcy smiled at me. "Then you're going to hate Ponyville. Now go get some sleep, you're being cranky." She turned around and pulled the door shut.

For the first time in three days I was finally alone. The room had one window facing the street, but aside from that, I was alone. I tossed my clothes across my bag and undressed. The burn scars on my body itched slightly, but shedding my clothes was already doing wonders on the heat situation. "Madness.... I suppose happy madness, but still." I rubbed my bare skin and pulled at my short cut tail. "Ugh, I hope this bed is soft."

Spring

I woke with a jump. "Oh!" I pushed up; sitting upright in the cushy bed I was laid in. I looked around, a bit dazed by the sunlight filtering in through the thick beige curtains. I shot a hand to my forehead, everything a bit hazy. "Where am I?" I felt warm, safe, but confused. "Marin? Mom? Angle-- oh wait...Darcy, yes." I rubbed my forehead, trying to figure out what to do next. "Right...train. Okay, sweaty, shower. Shower." I threw the thin sheet over my body off and shifted my legs off the bed.

For the first time in months I had slept in the nude, and for the first time in my life I'd woken up uncomfortably warm and sweaty. "Hot, hot, why is it so damn hot?" I grumbled and groaned as I moved towards the window. "Gross, sweat--" I flung the window open, my eyes burning from the bright white light. "Oh god!" I pulled the curtains back closed and turned away. "My eyes...." I rubbed my eyes with my fingertips, dampness dotting on my fingers as I tried to sort out my vision. "By the elder gods, what time is it?!"

I swung around, searching for a clock of some sort. My searching found fruit in a small alarm clock near the bed. "Seven? How?" I looked back towards the window, blurry vision stained by the bright buzzing stars that perforated my vision. "God damn.... Everything's just crashing down." I stumbled around the room, my hooves clopping loudly against the wood floor. I met one of the warm walls with my hand and slowly started to move towards the door.

I rubbed my head as I opened the door and flung myself into the salmon colored hall. I walked along, trying to get my bearings. Darcy's room was across, the bathroom was down the hall. I hurried down, starting to feel myself drop out of my sheathe as I anticipated peeing. "Oh man...it's so warm." I pulled my hair back, more of a mane than hair just by sheer volume. "Uuuuh-uuuh why-a-babub." I pushed the door to the bathroom open, scaring myself with a loud step onto tile. "Bah, ah...why?"

I looked around the clean white tiles, catching my blue bearded face. "Great, I can look like a corridor case when I meet Ms. Rarity. Grand." I rubbed my face and slowly plodded around the white tile room, eventually settling down and leaking. "Gods above...best part of the morning." The rush of relief, the awfully thick smell of ammonia, the constant sound of water rushing into the bowl. "Oh god...thank Celestia for small miracles." I finished up and stepped back, starting to wake up fully and face the sheer sticky grossness that clung to my everything.

I huffed and drew back the shower curtain of the clean white bathroom. I stepped blindly into the bathtub, the room familiar enough for me to ignore my discomfort for long enough to rinse myself. I pulled the curtain shut and turned one of a set of twin knobs on the wall. A rush of freezing cold water hit me, snapping me awake and washing a thin layer of grim off my skin. "Bugger my ass!" My leg shot out, clacking hard against the porcelain floor. I shook myself hard, pushing past the icy feeling and letting myself fall into the cool rush of cold water.

I pressed my hand against the wall, letting out a guttural moan as the heat of the night dripped off, leaving me cold and clean as I was accustomed. "Ooooo, thank everything." I could feel my hair start to fall over my head. I yanked it back, pushing it back like a lion's mane. I let out a shrill yawn, sounding like a kitten as it finished up with a sharp howl. I looked around, my now woken state giving me some clarity. "Soap...soap...soapa...." I looked among a set of bottles, finding what could only be Darcy's shampoo.

Apple scented and girly. Looking around there was only bottles from her. Apples, apples, caramel and apples. Her parents must have their own bathroom. "Lucky. Must be nice not having to share."

"Hey dad...I'm just gonna pee okay?" I locked up, a warm spot lighting up the back of my neck before shooting straight to the base of my tail. I wasn't alone, and that single fact sent me into full lock down. I just held the bottle of girly soap in my hands, trying not to freak out. A loud dripping sound filled the room, followed by a full blown trickle. "So...what's the plan? We gonna go out or wha--" The trickle stopped. "...Dad?" A pair of hooves hit the ground hard. "Holy shit!" The door flung open, followed by a two hoof snap, then a loud slam.

I stood bolt stiff, trying to keep from freaking out and screaming. "Breathe...breathe you idiot." I finally drew a breath, flooding my lungs with cold crisp air. "Okay...I'm okay. Should have locked the door, that's completely my fault." I squirted a large amount of shampoo onto my head and started cleaning myself off. "Going to have to skip my tail, but I'm not about to abuse the kindness of strangers!" I viciously cleaned my head, letting the water drip down my human upper half and down my thick pony coated legs. "It's alright, friendly people, friendly town, easy mistake."

I finished off and snapped the water off, my cold shower quickly losing the battle of temperatures. "God damn it, everything is hot in this town!" I shook myself hard, ridding myself of a lot of excess water. "Gods above I- towel... oh please." I pulled the curtain open and started looking around. "No no no." I opened up a set of cabinets, a drawer, under the sink, above the toilet, nothing. "No no no no- damn!" I rammed my head against a wall and stood there dripping onto the tile. "I should have gotten a hotel...I should have stayed in Storm Side."

I sat wet on the toilet, wallowing in my dropped guard like an idiot. Tak tak tak "Hello?"

I looked towards the door. "Uh, yes?"

Darcy's voice cracked through the door once again. "...Glass?"

"Yes." I rubbed my face.

"Oh... I'm so sorry."

I ran my hand through my damp hair, clawing it back out of my eyes. "It's my fault." I looked back to the dripping shower wall. "Darcy...can you do me a favor?"

The unmistakable sound of nails on wood filled my ears. "What do you need?"

I huffed and rubbed my brow. "A towel. ... And a hair tie." I pulled my hand down along my face. "And a razor if you have one.... I'm sorry to intrude...I'm just in a rather rough state--"

"No, no, you're a guest. First time in Ponyville should be the best time, right?" Darcy tapped the door with her hand. "I'll be right back."

I sighed loudly and stood up. "Take your time...not like I have anywhere to go." I walked to the opposite wall and stared at the toilet. "... She didn't flush. I was sitting- grand.... Just grand." I pulled at my hair, "Only up from here I suppose. Sure as shite can't go down." I allowed myself to chuckle. There was a certain comfort in rock bottom, like a floor.

The door creeped open, Darcy facing off to the side as she stuck a towel with some stuff on it through the door. "Here I- hello." she snapped her head away, dropping the towel and everything on the floor. The door snapped shut once again. "Sorry!"

I looked down myself. "Honestly...." I scooped up the supplies. I turned to the mirror and pulled my hair back into a ponytail. "There's a comfort in the floor, rock bottom is great! Then the floor gets ripped out from under me!" I brought the razor against my face, sheering off my shitty beard in a few masterful strokes of a disposable razor. "Yanked out from under me, cruelly, violently!" I finished up, no longer scruffy and beleaguered.

I washed off my face and finally dried off. My bottom half was wrapped up in a bright lime green towel, standing out like mad against my black legs. I stepped out of the bathroom, face to face with Darcy in a tee-shirt and shorts. "Uh...hi there." Darcy tapped her fingers together. "Sorry, I feel like I crossed the--"

I walked up to her hand threw my free arm around her. "Fuck the line!" I stated, a bit joking in tone. "If I set a line right now, someone, some cosmic force is just going to move it!" I squeezed her as best I could with one arm. "I quit!" I pulled back, pressing my back against the wall as Darcy held her thighs. "I can't--"

"Eh-herm." A rough voice broke down the hall and straight into my ear. "Pardon...."

I turned down the hall. A massive red pony with orange hair was staring right at me. "... Mr. Darcy." I turned to face him and bowed. "A pleasure."

The pony walked up to me. "Macintosh." He looked me up and down. "Big Mac is fine."

I nodded once. "Macint--"

"Big Mac." He corrected, giving me a bit of space.

I let out a soft breath. "Big Mac, I'm Glass Work. Thank you for letting me-" I bowed again, my hips causing the towel to unfold around me and drop off my rear, only held over my crotch by my hand, "-stay in your home. It has been an absolutely awe inspiring morning!" I turned my head towards the other end of the hall and rewrapped myself in the towel. "Now, if you'll let me I'd like to go get dressed and remove myself from your home. I don't want to be an intrusion any longer than necessary."

Big Mac looked me up and down. "Eeyep."

"Eloquent." I walked back to the room I'd slept in and pulled a thin set of clothes around myself in record time. "Bloody everything." I slapped on a pair of plug fitted horseshoes and walked off with my bag in tow. "I'm going to leave now!" I shouted to the empty hall, walking towards the exit with as much poise as I could muster. "Good--"

"Wait!" Darcy peeked out of her room. "I'll show you to Rarity's. It's the least I can do." She stepped out, into the hall, her strong red legs locked up in a pair of tights that cut off at the fetlock. "First time playing host, I don't want to be rude."

I looked the heavyweight mare over, her massive form strong and lean as could be given her size. "Darcy, you took me in, you let me use your shower, and you didn't cut out my kidney for profit. All in all you've been a better host than most I've met." I tugged at her shirt, making sure to keep my hands away from her breasts. "Now, time for me to be a good guest, and le--"

Darcy grabbed my bag and my wrist. "I wasn't asking." Her voice was playful, but nothing short of what I'd come to expect from her. She pulled me along the hall, into the entry and past Big Mac and what I could only assume was his wife. "I'll meet everypony at the acres, okay?"

A sweet voice shot out. "Wait! Bage--"

"I've got money!" Darcy shouted back, pulling me outside, nearly ripping my arm off in the process. "Bye mom!" I followed along, my fresh face already starting to feel sweaty from the modest morning heat. "Hey, so how'd you sleep?"

We slowed down, Darcy let go of my hand and left me to follow at my own pace. "Fine."

Darcy kept on, waving at a few ponies as life returned to the dead streets. "Alright, well what do you think of Ponyville so far?"

"It's fine."

Darcy looked back at me with a frown. "So...sorry--"

"It's fine."

Darcy stopped at the end of her street, causing me to bump into her. "Are you just going to say fine to everything?"

I shook my head, my ponytail slapping against the sides of my skull. "Look, it's been a rough morning. Not exactly the best way to meet a family, or to behave around a young mare like yourself." I brushed myself off, starting to get a big flustered from the heat. "Now can we please move on?"

Darcy stared at me, my bag on her shoulder. "Are we friends?"

I rolled my eyes. "Sure, why not. I was planning to keep to myself and stick with Ms. Rarit- Mrs. Rarity, but seeing as she's got a broken leg, why not." I turned my head towards a rolling cart, plodding along the cobblestone street like Corridor Case chugging along a tentbox. "I'm trying to stop being a hermit...and you're-- Yes. I'm going to shut up and say ye--" I was cut off by a hardy slug straight into the meat of my bicep. "Ow, what the hell!?"

Darcy frowned softly. "Sorry, you were being a jerk."

I rubbed my arm. "And that gives you license to slap the shit out of me!?"

Darcy's tail whipped around like mad. "You can hit me back if it would make you feel better."

I flopped my arms against my side. "First off I'm not going to hit a girl. Second, that's hardly a fair fight!"

Darcy smiled down at me. "Hey, we'll see if we can't toughen you up."  She started off again, leaving me behind to nurse my arm. "Hey so, my dad asked if I liked you."

I huffed and followed after her. "Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?"

Darcy walked backwards, stretching her arms wide. "I don't know either. He said you were proper. Makes sense you're going to Rarity's I guess." She rubbed her forearm, clenching her other hand around my bag. "You're not curious about what I said?"

I shook my head. "I wouldn't be interested either way. Just got out of a bad relationship and I need some time alone."

Darcy grew a very soft, very subtle frown. "Yeah, same here." She looked around the sidewalk. "Not that it was bad. But me and him said we should date other people. Said that it would be better if we didn't go through life only having dated each other."

I cocked an eyebrow and walked over. "And you agreed?"

Darcy sighed loudly. "Yeah. I get what he meant, but it's like...weird. He's been the only one I ever dated, he's been my friend for so long, trying to start up again just feels weird."

I took a deep breath. "Well, sounds like a temporary thing. And it is good to get a grasp on what you want out of your love life. Take my advice, try all the flavors, the perky one, the sullen one, smart- get a good feel--"

"So you dated a lot?" Darcy asked, putting her hand on her hip. "Mr. Player?"

I laughed. "Hardly. There's just nothing else to do in Storm Side. You either socialize, go to school, or freeze off in the corridors." I looked down at the stone slabs that made up the walkway, poking a bit of grass with the tip of my hoof. "Socializing there is different though, very straight forward. Would you like to have sex? Would you like to date? Take you to dinner? You could get a feel on what everyone wanted quick as could be."

Darcy popped an eyebrow. "So that's a yes?"

I huffed and stretched my fingers. "I know what I'm looking for. I've had a few mares, seen what Storm Side had to offer."

"You really don't want to say it." Darcy laughed.

"I've banged a few mares, yes. But my point is, it helps you get better at that kind of dance. If I'd only ever dated Vix I'd be a damn wreck! She was domineering, I would have ended up alone for the rest of my years if I'd stopped with her!"

Darcy frowned and cocked her head. "I get it. It still feels weird though. But, try new things, settle down when you're ready, right?"

"Right." I rubbed the back of my neck, the heat feeling a bit less with my thin attire. "Otherwise you might end up finding out you're not right after you're all tied up."

Darcy shrugged. "I guess. Just kinda harder to date when almost every boy you know is part of the Apple Family."

I shrugged. "It's a big world. Ponyville's a start, but hey, I'm from the edges of Equestria! You can go--"

Darcy smiled at me. "I know. I used to go to Appleloosa a lot." She turned back onto the path, chugging along the grassy walkways into the town proper. "So, how bad was it?"

"Was what?"

"You said you left a bad relationship. What happened?"

I laughed softly. "Oh boy...let me tell you about Marin."

Aus

I rubbed my arms, my sleeves pulled up to my elbows. "So...yeah, Marin was a bit crazy." I tugged at the tie in my hair. "I mean--"

Darcy's low snicker turned into a chuckle. "You called her Rainbow Dash? That's- you know she lives in town, right?"

I snorted. "Who, Marin? God I hope not."

Darcy shook her head. "Rainbow Dash. But, I think she's either married or seeing somepony."

I coughed roughly. "Look, I've had a crush on that mare since her old wonderbolt shoots. But it's just a crush, I'm not--"

Darcy turned to me, walking backwards down the road. "You a fan of hers?"

I bit my tongue. "Nnnyes. I'd be lying if I said no. But it's not like I really wanted to be with her. It was a childhood thing, growing up with heroes you can connect with. Getting older, hitting puberty and wanting to screw those heroes. It happens."

Darcy shrugged. "Do you want to meet her?"

I stuffed my tongue against my cheek. "If I met her I'd probably gush like a schoolfilly, so it's probably not a good idea until I've got a place to stay for a while."

"Hey--"

"Bahfucka!" I jolted forward, slamming against Darcy's front. "God damn!" I spun around, shoving off Darcy's stomach and turning to a satyr mare in a sweater. I looked the blonde mare over, brown sweater, grey coat, screwy golden eyes. "Excuse me, why the buggering--"

The mare ground her hoof into the ground softly. "I like your voice."

I stood off with the willowy mare. "Excuse me, foc--" I stopped myself before I drew attention to her eyes. "F-- Can I help you? You've already been incredibly rude and I'm in a bit of a hurry!"

The mare ground her hooves into the ground and swung her hands back and forth together. "I'm Misty... hi." She swung her hands wide, shaking her hips slightly. "That's all." She stepped back and sprinted off, her sweater billowing behind her as she ran.

I stared at the mare as she ran down the street. "Alright...what the hell?" I turned to Darcy, keeping my finger pointing towards the mare. By the time I turned around I was face to face with another few satyrs. A white coated pair, a boy with blue hair, a girl with blonde hair and blue streaks. "Alright...now who's th--"

The blonde wore a half awake expression, the boy sporting a pair of deep mauve glasses on his face. The girl walked up to me, looking me up and down. "...Darcy was right... he does sound funny."

I pulled my arm up to keep the lazy mare back. "Excuse me, Darcy, who exactly is this?"

Darcy laughed, towering over the growing welcoming party. "Techno-" she pointed to the man.

"Yo." He waved at me, smiling softly.

Darcy moved her finger to the mare. "And his sister--"

The mixed maned mare poked my shirt. "Say g'day."

I stared at the tiny girl, chest flat as a board, frame tiny, height joining the parade of small. "Are you making fun of my accent?"

The mare looked up at me, gazing up from under her half lidded eyes. "I don't know... probably a little bit."

I rubbed my face, squaring off with the mixed mane. "Really? Can I get a name before every prepubescent little boy wants to come harass me?"

Darcy and Techno backed off, talking amongst themselves while the mixed mane stared gormlessly at me. "Goldie, now say g'day. You sound Australian, it'll be funny."

I stared at the mare, befuddled by her sudden outburst. "What is Australia?"

The mare shrugged. "There's a guy in town who sounds like you, he said he was from Australia. Now say g'day."

"Good day?"

The mare grew a dumb smile. "Awesome...." She dug her hands into her pockets and leaned back. "Hey... you wanna come to my birthday party?"

I leaned back. "Wait...what? Why is everyone in this town so gods damned friendly!?"

Goldie shrugged. "I don't know.... Anyways, you wanna come?"

I looked off behind her, Darcy and the brother were talking on their own, leaving me to contend with the young mare myself. "Um... when is it?"

"November." Goldie stretched one of her legs, kicking a pebble down the path as she reeled it back. "So, you wanna come?"

I stared down at the short mare. "It's March."

"So? You wanna come or not?" Goldie looked around, her thin vest fluttering as she walked in place. "Oh man...they're gonna go all weird again."

"Who?"

Goldie snapped back to me with a frown, her wine colored eyes still only half open. "Darcy and Tech, they get all weird when they talk."

I shook my head. "How do you mean?"

Goldie shrugged. "Like, they get all, I miss you and junk."

I realized what she meant rather quickly. "Oooh, they were the dating couple? He seems a bit short for her."

Goldie laughed softly. "I know right? It's weird when the girl has to lean down for a kiss, right?"

"Right." I looked around, a number of ponies staring at the strange collection of hybrids around me. "So.... I need to get going, places to be, work to be done." I walked past Goldie, leaving her swaying her hands in her pockets. "I'll get back to you about the birthday thing when it gets closer, okay?"

Goldie shrugged. "Kay."

I shook my head and hurried off, grabbing Darcy by the arm and pulling her away from her old friend. "Darcy, need to go now."

Darcy stumbled backwards, still holding my back on her shoulder. "Whoa, hey!"

"No, don't start. Rarity's, now!" I pulled her along, ignoring the shouts from behind. "Yes, yes, nice to meet you too! Busy now, ask later!"

Darcy dug her hooves in, grinding me to a quick halt. "Hey, I was talking to him!"

I spun around, spotting the blonde mare, Misty, watching me from across the street. "I'm getting hunted here, meet and greet missile crap needs to stop."

Darcy put her free hand on her head. "Wait, what?"

I took a deep breath. "I've been here, in Ponyville, and so far I've met four satyrs a pony and a woman. Now, I don't like meeting people as is, so can we just go and get me set up?"

Darcy scratched her head. "Uh, sure.... You know, most of us went to school together...so, you meet one of us, you're gonna meet like five others really quick. Talk with a pony and you'll meet five other ponies, get it?"

I rubbed my face and let out a long groan. "I know, and I'll be happy to meet them when it's not so hot out, and when I'm not in a hurry! Now please, can we just go?"

Darcy frowned at me. "You know, if you didn't want to meet people you probably should have gone somewhere else."

"I've noticed! Everyone in this town is so god damn happy and friendly! Gods... Storm Side was so cold no one ever stopped to talk, and we liked it that way!" I crossed my arms and huffed. "But I'm here, trying to change, but throwing a wave of people at me isn't how I'm going to let it happen." I held my hands out. "I need to ease into it, alright?"

Darcy nodded slowly. "Alright. Well, I really needed to talk with him, so I'm gonna--"

"You ex? The little one told me." I took my bag from her. "He's a bit short for you, don't you think?"

Darcy shrugged. "I'm the tallest satyr in town. Everypony is short compared to me."

I tilted my head left and right. "I suppose. Are you two still friends?"

Darcy put her hands on her hips. "The best!"

"Well, then stop talking to me and go sort yourself out." I looked around, spotting a few buildings that could match the bill for Rarity's. "Now which building?"

Darcy turned, looking out over the market. "Circle one with the pillars."

I nodded and pulled my bag up. "Thanks--"

Darcy grabbed me as I tried to pass. "Hey, so... I'll come by and pick you up later, I'll show you around town proper and--"

"Yes, fine, can I go?" I pushed her hand off me and kept on. "Later, gonna go, meet ponies, bye."

Darcy held her hand in the air. "Uh... bye?"

I shook my head and charged off through the crowded market square, ponies and stalls filling the path to the shop. "Everyone here is too damn friendly. Hi, I'm Misty! Hi I'm Darcy, let me let you stay in my house! I'm Techno, I'm still friends with my ex! I'm Goldie, I like to make fun of accents!" I tossed my hands up. "Gods... I'm Glass, I like talking to myself!" I shook my head, angry at myself. "God damn it.... I hope Rarity isn't a ruinous ball of joy like the rest of these monsters."

Rarity

I groaned loudly and pushed the door to Carousel Boutique open. "Hello? Mrs. Rarity?" I took a deep breath, warm vanilla scent flittered into my nose. "Oh, well...that's a good sign." I could hear arguing deeper in the shop. "Hello?" I walked along the fancy interior, different mannequin species propped up along the walls. It felt strange seeing a griffon and a satyr, it was very apparent where the two species mixed on each and was rather visually jarring.

I kept on, scanning through the single large room. "Hello?"

"Hello?" A proper voice shot back. "Ooo, one moment!" A loud snap came from one of the doors along the curved wall. "Jewel stop it!" A door flung open, popping out a maroon maned filly with an extremely sharp manecut. "Jewel!"

"Oh!" I stepped between the filly and the door outside, causing the young mare to slam nose first into my legs. "Mrs. Rarity?" I picked the foal up, the dazed child limp in my hands.

"Stop her! Please, stop her!" Rarity shouted back, followed up by an uneven trot. "Help!"

I looked down at the filly in my hands. "I did...?"

A tall mare with a strange contraption on her left side hobbled through the doorway, her left foreleg was wrapped up tight and a strange crutch with a wheel was slung against her side. "Oh thank you so much." She squeezed through one of the doors that lined the wall and carefully wheeled herself over. "You must be Mr. Work." She smiled at me, a kind, calm, collected smile.

I couldn't help but return it, her civility a welcome change from the honkey tonk shit I'd been dealing with. "Glass Work, good to meet you Mrs. Rarity." I held the foal like a football, tucking her into my shoulder. "I think maybe we should speak for a while."

Rarity looked up at me with a smile. "Of course, and I'm sorry I couldn't meet you myself." She looked down at her leg. "An accident in the barrens, jewel hunting can be a bit treacherous at times."

"Hmm, well I do hope you're alright, but you really should have mentioned this to me before I left home." I set the filly down, holding her between my hooves. "A rather sour surprise--"

"Did I not?" Rarity nearly fell, reflexively trying to bring her hoof to her chest. "Oh, sorry. And I could have sworn I sent a few letters."

I sighed loudly. "Mail has a tendency to get lost on its way up north, you very well might have, but the letter never reached me." The filly tried to wiggle free, squeezing herself through my hooves for only a moment. "Your filly I take it?"

Rarity smiled at me. "Yes, she's a sweet filly, doesn't exactly like when mommy brushes her mane, does she?" Rarity leaned down, smiling at the filly between my legs.

I nodded. "She doesn't talk much--"

"Mute." Rarity stated, growing a bit dour for just a moment. "She doesn't speak at all."

"Oh, apologies." I scooted my legs apart and let the filly free. "At any rate, I'm here, ready to work, ready to settle in."

The filly marched back behind her mother, then back again into the open door. Rarity watched the filly sulk off. "Fair enough." She nudged her head towards a set of stairs in the next room. "You'll be staying in my room until my leg heals, I'm sorry, but I'm not really able to use the stairs very well."

I followed her along, the subtle scents and pleasingly clean home calmed me. "That's fine, I spent the last night in a stranger's house, took a shower while she peed in the same room as me." I shook my head. "My morning was rather complicated."

Rarity's tail swept the way behind her. "As I said, I'm rather sorry. I would have sent Vintage, but sadly he's not here anymore."

I held my breath as we stepped into a smell sitting room. "Oh, my condolences. Your husband?"

Rarity slowly turned around, her thick purple mane bobbing under its own weight. "He is, but condol-- oh! Oh, no, he's alive!" Rarity pranced her back legs in place. "No, no, he's in the hospital."

"Oh, still then." I looked around the thick seating, Victorian style in such an age was rather refreshing. "Is he going to be alright?"

Rarity frowned. "We'll be fine, and I do think they're assigning a guard to the barrens from here onward." Rarity hobbled along, the wheel of her brace squeaking slightly. "I could tell you what happened, but I'd imagine your first day was rather stressful. I'll give you a bit of time to sort out your things, then we can speak."

I took a deep breath. Rarity walked away from the steps and over to a large couch. "You have no idea how nice that sounds. Thank you." I gave a quick bow and turned to the stairs. "Which--"

"It has a note on it. I was expecting Darcy to bring you straight here if you arrived early." Rarity carefully set herself along the couch, keeping her limp leg splinted off the side. "And I am sorry if she was rather excited, the town has a way of welcoming new arrivals rather flamboyantly."

I felt something warm trickle into my heart. "Ma'am...your civility is so out of place in this town, thank you for it."

Rarity turned away and waggled a hoof at me. "Rustic, but they mean well. Now go, and don't mind the room, I had it cleaned and sorted before you arrived."

The warmth in my chest started to boil up. "Alright, I'm just going to go before I say something stupid." I hurried up the stairs, no creak no groan. I hurried down the clean white halls, tasteful picture frames and a happy pony family bringing life to the clean white. I kept my nose forward, not wanting to intrude. My walk was cut short, the upstairs hall rather shallow. Four doors, one with a note taped to the front.

I hurried down the hall and plucked the note. The soft plodding of hooves drew my attention back, Rarity's filly was slowly sulking her way past me and into the room at the left end of the hall. I could help but feel a little bad, her mane was a half styled mess. "...Sorry." I mumbled, unfolding the note.

The filly stopped in her doorway and turned around, giving me a quick look over before ducking back into her room. I rubbed my mouth, getting snubbed by a filly was just as bad as getting snubbed by anypony else. I flipped open the note and set my bag down.

Mr. Work, I'm so sorry for the inconvenience. Please make yourself at home, my daughter is across the hall, bathroom is across from the sewing room, please don't use my private bath. Thank you.

"Fair enough." I opened the door. "Oh...good lord." I peeked my head in, the room was spotless, clean creams, whites, and violets. "I can't stay in here...." The furniture had a strange waxed sheen to it, the double bed in the end of the room had the unmistakable starchiness you could only find with a brand new set. "She spent money on me? Well...." I could feel a bit of a hollowness in my gut. "Sooner I get to work, the better I suppose." I pulled my bag in and felt a coldness settle on my skin.

The room was absolutely perfect, fancy furniture, pleasing pale colors, the air was cold crisp and lifeless. It was tailored perfectly to me. I set my bag down and went up to a dresser with a note. "Mr. Glass, feel free to use this." I looked up at the dresser, starting to feel my throat tighten up slightly. "Hmm, I feel a bit spoiled." I peeked into each drawer, the sharp slide of wood on wood filling my ears as I found each one empty. "Spoiled."

I spotted something horrid in the last drawer. "Oh- shit!" I slammed the last drawer shut with my hoof and took a step back. "Okay...each one except the bottom, alright." I rubbed my forehead and stepped back. "Alright, alrighty, base." I put my hand on the smooth painted wood dresser. "Base. I'm okay." I pushed off towards the door. I was free of my bag and ready to get exploring.

I hurried into the hall and down the stairs in a flash. Rarity watched my descent. "Better?" she asked, stretching her damaged foreleg.

I let out a sharp hoot. "Immensely." I hurried over to her, my thin metal shoes tapping loudly against the ground. "Now, a talk?"

Rarity smiled at me as I took a seat across from her. "Oh course. I'd imagine you're curious about the leg."

I closed my eyes and shook my head. "I am, but I wasn't going to ask."

Rarity sighed loudly. "It's rather simple. Diamond dogs tend to dig tunnels underground in the barrens, my husband and myself were out picking gems and... well, a cave system fell in."

I felt my back snap straight. "The ground just fell out from under you?"

"Mmmhmm."

"That's bloody terrifying!" I grabbed the tight cotton arms of my seat. "Is your husband alright?"

Rarity's frown returned. "He'll be alright, he fell much farther. He's going to be in the hospital for some time still."

I leaned back in my chair. "Such a shame." I looked past Rarity, out a bright gleaming window. "I'll do what I can here, but I hope you understand my expertise isn't in living assistance--"

"Glass-work, yes?" Rarity covered her mouth and laughed. "I thought the name was rather telling."

I laughed nervously, watching a shadow bolt past the window. "Glass working, jewelry, and several carving styles." I crossed my arms. "There are reasons I go by Glass... oh, we're all college students and he's a blue collar worker! Look, it's in his name!" I held my hands up and wiggled my wrists. "It was bad enough catching crap for my work, but a whole different thing when Christmas rolls around and suddenly everypony wanted gifts." I rolled my eyes. "But we got off track--"

"Hardly." Rarity ran her hoof along her couch, her bright blue eyes a bit tired. "I was speaking with my friends about you. You would have either ended up sorting books, applebucking, or helping me, and I do work with gems and jewels."

"And that, ma'am, is why I signed up." I sat back, settling in with a smile, the light fading for just a moment yet again. "But, I thought I would ask, do you--"

Rarity nodded knowingly. "The Apples have a forge, I'm sure they'd let you borrow it if you were intending to work in Ponyville full time."

I smiled wide at the mare. "That would be- wait, is Darcy an Apple Family mare?"

Rarity looked over to me with a frown. "Yes. You sound--"

I groaned softly. "Don't take this the wrong way, but everyone in this town is too god damn happy." I laughed nervously. "This place could do with a good storm, settle them in. Either that or they need to get more intimate, work that energy out before going into public."

Rarity sputtered slightly and covered her mouth with her hoof. "Oh dear...I'm sorry, that was unexpected."

I shrugged. "I mean, have you ever--"

"Yes, cold, quiet, solitary." Rarity nodded. "I was there for the reconstruction, I designed the college uniforms."

"Really? I've always loved the style, very napol--" I cut myself off as the light flickered once again. "Alright, who the hell is out there?!" I jumped up and hurried to the window.

Rarity sighed softly. "Glass, I'm afraid you're probably not going to like what's waiting out there, but it is going to come for you."

I snapped around. "What?"

"Hi--"

I let out a shrill scream, flinging my hands up and pressing my cheek against the window. "Ah-Jesus no!" I slapped my hands against the glass, face to face with the blonde mare in a sweater. "Who- how- Rarity?"

The mare smiled at me and grabbed my wrist. "Come on, you're gonna be late!" She yanked me towards a side door in the sitting room. "Come on!"

I stared at Rarity as I was pulled closer and closer to the outside. "Mrs. Rarity!?"

Rarity smiled at me. "Enjoy yourself, Glass, I'll show you what I need help with tomorrow, for now enjoy your party."

"Party? Party!?" I stumbled along as the blonde mare pulled me towards the door. "What party!? There was no party!"

The mare in the sweater's hand tightened against my wrist, her smooth skin pleasant enough compared to the tugging on my joint. "Your welcome party, I told Pinkie Pie and she got everything set up in a flash!"

"Oh no no no, no!" I grabbed onto the door frame. Darcy was waiting outside for me as well, a small herd waiting to greet me. "No! No fu--" Darcy shook her head and grabbed my hand from the mare in the sweater. "Darcy, you fucking traitor!"

The blonde mare, Misty, just smiled at me. "Come on, it's gonna be fun!"

Darcy wheeled me around, eventually getting her arm between my legs and hoisting me up into a firefighter carry. "It wasn't my idea, but if you don't go none of us are gonna hear the end of it." She swung me around, kidnapping me from my polite host. "It's gonna be--"

"God damn this spaztic ass place!"

Misty popped into my view, walking next to me as I was carried down the soft cobblestone plaza. "There's gonna be cake. I'll be there, Darcy's gonna be there, you'll--"

"I don't want bloody cake!" I tried to kick free, only managing to get a sharp squeeze for my defiance. "Piss!"

Darcy shook her head, rubbing my ribs with her headband. "It would either be me or Pinkie, and Pinkie would be a lot less subtle."

Misty just kept smiling at me. "Darcy said you wanted to make friends, so I thought it'd be nice to have her throw you a party."

I glared down at the mare in the sweater. "You... I won't forget this...."

Misty smiled wide. "Yay."

Party

"So...where are you dragging me?" I hissed, slung across Darcy's back like a dufflebag. "Do I at least get to know?" I looked around, the town blurring together like the generic little village it was. "Ye olde' shoppe number seventy-six?"

Darcy shifted me around, her tanned arms wrapped around my leg and arm. "Don't be like that. Look, I'm sorry, but this was the least traumatic method." She took a turn, leaving me staring at the mare in the sweater. "Would you rather have me come and pick you up, or Pinkie Pie screaming in your face, welcoming you, saying hello to you." She laughed to herself. "The horrors of hello. That'd make a good book."

"I'll be sure to write it for you once I leave this backwater!" I huffed angrily and kicked my leg. "And you...little...bloody blonde git."

Misty smiled at me. "You're welcome! It's gonna be so much fun!" She pulled her wrists together and trotted in place. "So much food, fun, music."

I let out a meager sigh. My stomach felt like a small fishing weight plopped into my guts. "Oh geez...." I turned to face the road, unable to slam down the chirpy mare. "Sure...fun." I sighed loudly and went slack. "You know, Darcy, Misty, hospitality can be a bit of a burden. You two should let me host a party for you next time. Bloody...show you some gods damned Storm Sider hospitality...."

Darcy leaned back, making my stomach churn as she teased me with a drop. "I heard that--"

"Oh piss!" I grabbed Darcy's arms. "I- oh...soft." I rubbed her arm, the soft tanned skin smooth under my thumb, causing her to jerk forward. "Oi!"

Darcy's tail whipped around like mad. "Hey! What happened to being- like...no touch?"

I realized what she meant and pulled my arms away. "Sorry!"

Darcy's tail was going wild. "I'm gonna put you down, alright?!"

"Yeah-yeah-yeah, floor now." I felt myself slip of Darcy's back, my hooves clattering metallically against the ground. "Okay, yeah. No more carrying, okay."

Darcy whirled around with her tail in her hands. "Uh, yeah. Things got kinda weird." I watched her finger, twirling a strand of orange hair around her nail. "Sorry."

I brushed my hands off on my pants, the back pockets catching on my palms. "Uh, yep." I tucked my hands into my pocket. "...See, hospitality is weird."

Darcy let her tail whip back. "It's not that bad. I mean like...it's fine sleeping with family, right?"

I watched Misty twirl along the road. "What, like, in a tent? Yeah." I put my hands in my front pockets. "Listen, I'd sleep with you, just, you need to stop touching me! I'm barely more than a stranger to you!"

Darcy's face was stuck up in a staunch frown. "...You'd sleep with me?"

I stared at her. "You know what I meant. Don't play games."

Darcy put her hands up. "Fine, I didn't mean anything by it."

I shook my head. "I know, but you're far too comfortable touching strangers."

Darcy shrugged. "You're not really a stranger--"

"What's my favorite color?"

"White."

I stared at her. "... What's my shoe size?"

Darcy looked down at my hooves. "Four, six in mares."

"...  Shut up." I turned towards Misty, walking along just to avoid the odd conversation. "You farm people must have mind powers from being out in the sun too long."

Darcy walked up along side me. "Your hooves are normal sized, you're wearing a white scarf, and honestly I'm just trying to be friendly."

I grumbled angrily and kept my hooves moving. "Go spend a season in Storm Side, you act this friendly you'll end up pregnant and married by the end of the third month." I crossed my arms. "Just...stop touching me. If you want to drag me somewhere-- you know what!" I stomped my hooves, pulling Darcy sideways to face me. "If you want to touch me, wrist, arm, no hands, and above the belt!"

Darcy smiled at me. "Fine, same rules apply to me."

I extended my hand. "Perfect."

Darcy took my hand, giving it a firm squeeze. "Sure. And sorry, you should come down to Sweet Apple Acres, or the farmland, you'll see I'm really not trying to start something."

I sighed softly, rubbing my palm and turning back to the fine cobblestone walkway. "I might, you people apparently have the equipment I need." I rubbed the inner parts of my knuckles. "By the way, lotion?"

Darcy smiled at me. "It's nice right? Daddy bought it back when he went to Washington for a convention."

I nodded. "Wait, Earth? Gods...you know, I've heard so much about it, but I've never been."

Darcy put her hands in her pockets, her fingertips showing in the white offshoots of her shorts. "It's nothing super special." She pointed a finger from under her shorts. "Also, we're here."

I looked up, spotting a large square building with a modern wood shingle roof. "Oh, wow. Well, that's not what I was--"

Fweeeeeee

"Holy piss!" I jerked my leg up, and flung myself away, pushing Darcy's elbow away as I turned. "Fuck!" I felt my hoof slip out from under me, my other hoof jamming its metal shoe into the grooves in the cobblestone. "Oh god!"

A pink mare with a party favor in her mouth was standing, leant over, where I had stood. "Welcome, a happy happy welcome, from all of us to you!" The mare kept singing, her sugar scented mane bouncing in my face. Misty was joining in, her sweet voice stumbling behind the chipper pink mare's. I just stared, my legs twisted up from my near collapse. ".. From all of us to you--"

"Stop, stop, for the love of Luna, stop!" I put my hands out, the mare backing up slightly. "Please! Loud!"

The pink mare smiled at me, lowering her volume to a whisper. "Happy happy--"

"Volume wasn't the only issue!" I untwisted my legs and backed up. "Please...please, just...space, please."

Misty and the pink mare looked at each other. "Okay." The pink mare lowered her head, whispering with a heavy rasp. "Wait for you inside."

Misty walked up, shoving a cupcake into my hands. "Pinkie's parties are the best, but we'll wait inside."

Darcy laughed to herself. "See, that's why I got you. Imagine Pinkie coming for you like that, you would have imploded."

I looked down at the cupcake in my hand. Pale blue green, minty smell with a backing of pine sap. "Huh...." I looked over the sappy smelling treat. "Hmm, smells like a fir tree." I nipped a bit of green frosting and let it settle on my tongue. "...Hmm, frost berries...." I looked back down at the young style of treat. "Did someone tell her where I was from?"

Darcy walked over. "What?"

I turned the cupcake in my hand, working the ridges like a gear. "This smells like home in the spring time." I flexed my fingers around the treat. "She must have got the ingredients from the Arboretum... had to be." I held the treat in my palm. "Great...now I feel like a jackass."

Darcy looked down at my hand. "Smells like tree."

I took a deep breath, a rush of warmth darting across my skin. "Yeah, it does. Like cold days." I passed the cupcake to Darcy. "Try it."

Darcy looked me up and down. "That's not really right, it's you--"

I turned to her with a glare. "I said eat the cupcake...."

"Okay!" Darcy put her hand up, "Calm down." She brought the cupcake up and took a large bite. "Oh, wow."

"Good right?"

Darcy's face scrunched up, her cheeks turned up sharply into a steady smile. "Buck yeah! Why didn't you want to eat it?"

I shook my head and walked towards the door the mares had gone through. "Trying to control my diet, and guilt." I rubbed my hands together, sweaty. "Guilt is pretty bad." I pushed the door open, revealing a large lodge room, snooka table, couches, card tables. It screamed rec center, and sure enough it was sporting the massive amount of young mares and stallions, satyrs and ponies, humans and a single sphinx. "Whoa--"

A blonde girl with a vest and a handkerchief tied around her neck popped up before me and snatched up my hand. "Howdy, Cinnamon Cider!" She jerked my arm up and down like mad, her boyish grin bright as could be. "Glass, right?"

My elbow started to hurt as she worked my arm. "Yes, yes! Lords above, stop trying to rip my arm off!"

Cinnamon kept shaking my entire arm as a queue fromed up behind her. "Oh come on now, can't be that bad! If it is, you gotta come by the acres, we'll get you good to go, ripped and ready!"

"What? Ripped and read-- oh...bugger." My voice was sharp, more surprised than anything else. Cider lifted up her vest, showing off a sharp set of pale abs, well defined and tight. "Son of a bitch...."

Cider yanked her shirt down. "Yeah partner, telling you, you come out to the acres and we'll have you fit as a fiddle in a month!" She gave my arm one final pull, leaving me to waggle my joints and try and stem the burning. She put her hand on my shoulder. "Sorry ifin' I overdid it, good ta have you here."

"Ow, yeah...good to be here I suppose." I rubbed my joint, watching as the next in line showed up. A pony with a stern look on his face walked up. "Um, hello."

The pony looked me up and down. "Yep," he stuck his hoof out, "Clash."

I bopped his hoof with my fist. "Glass. Good to meet you?"

The pony nodded once and walked himself out of line. Another came and took his place just as fast. A purple pony with a blonde mane. "Hi there, Dinky Do, at your service." She pulled me into a quick hug. "Misty said you were a little weird. What's wrong, you don't like hugs?" She laughed softly.

I shook my head. "Not particularly, no. Wait- you know her?" I pointed to Misty, the mare in the sweater waiting off to the side of the line. "How?"

Dinky smiled at me. "Sister, and I know--"

I put my hand up. "Gonna stop you there, my brother is a full blood pony too." I let my hand fall. "It's weird, right?"

Dinky swayed her head left and right. "A little, but hey, family, right?"

"Right." I put my hand in my pocket, letting it hang at my side lightly. "Well, I'm glad my problem isn't overly unique."

Dinky smiled at me, sending a shiver up my spine with is sheer sincerity. "Hey, if you ever want to talk about it, Misty will let you know where we live."

I looked past the line, at the sweatered mare. "Um.... I think maybe that would send the wrong message." I rubbed my throat. "If you catch my meaning...."

Dinky looked back to Misty. "What? Oh- hmm, maybe? You should come over anyways, be nice to talk to someone from the old college."

I felt my ponytail tug. "Wait, you--"

Dinky smiled at me. "Graduated two years ago, majored in Botanical Thumology, plant magic."

I stared at the purple mare. "Dinky, I love you."

Dinky just smiled. "Cool, glad to be loved." She threw a hoof around me and gave me a quick squeeze. "You'll get used to Ponyville, give it some time." She patted my back with her hoof and broke off, leaving me to the next in line.

The blue haired kid from behind nodded at me, constantly. "Yo."

I looked the kid over, he wore an old guard uniform, tattered with time and use. "Techno, right?"

The kid smiled wide. "Yeah man, most people here are good with names, glad you are too."

"Hmm, we talked a few hours ago. I'm not that dense." I shoved him back a step, my hand landing against his chest. "...That was weird."

Techno frowned and nodded, his glasses bobbing up and down. "Trying to get into the swing?"

I flicked my wrists. "Everyone here is so touchy!" I rubbed my arms. "So, your sister next in line, gonna ask me about her birthday again?"

Techno scratched his head. "Goldie? No, too young." He looked over towards one of the food filled tables. "There's alcohol here--"

"What? Where!?" I reached out and grabbed him by the lapels. "Where!?" I started to shake him rather hard. "What do you know!? Tell me what you know!" I closed my eyes and let Techno's weight swing against my arms. "Where, damn you, where!?"

Techno dug his fingers against my arms. "Hey, dude! On the table!"

I let him go, turning to the tables. The line looked around at each other, staring at me as I hurried over to the nearest table. "Where are you...." I scrounged around, the entire room watching me. I found it, the burning gift from the god. A bottle of bright blue-green pine liquor sat on the table. I reached back and tore the tie out of my hair and straightened out. "...Ladies and gentlemen, drunk." I turned the bottle up, letting a rush of sappy tree liquid pour down my throat.

I kept on, leaning against the table with my free arm. "Holy shit."

"The whole thing?"

"Oh my god, he's gonna die!"

"Go."

"Go!"

"Go-go-go-go-go-go!"

The entire room started to chant. I let my eyes close, letting heavy bubbles shoot up the glass neck of the bottle. I could feel myself going stupid as I drained the bottle. I felt myself run out of breath, my head starting to spin as I chugged. It was humiliating, horridly childish, utterly stupid, but I loved it. A loud glassy thunk followed up as the alcohol stopped. "Fu-uuuuuuuck!" I slammed the bottle down, causing the rest of the glassware on the table to jump. "One month dry, worst month of my life!" I bopped the bottle against the table. "I've got an hour before I black out...fucking, people do the things! Do all the fuckin things!"

The room was icy, the crowd just staring at me in awe. Darcy let out a sharp woop. "Wooo, party!" Music kicked in mere moments later, rushing me with heavy rhythm.

The room went through two ticks. Silence, then roaring. I just stood there, leaned against the table as the young crowd cheered. "Bloody pissed up!" I felt good for the first time I'd been here. Surrounded by thick, smokey smelling food, cheering ponies, all glazed over with a stomachful of northern gem rotting away in my gut.

Darcy ran over, trotting to a stop before me. "Holy crap, are you gonna be okay?"

I looked up at the tall mare. "Huh? Oh, yeah." I shoved the bottle into her grip. "There...marital aid."

Darcy cocked an eyebrow and looked down at the bottle. "Uhh...."

I shook my head. "That crap just went straight into my gut, so...I've got an hour before I black out. I mean, I'll still be walking around after that, but memory just goes pff." I flicked my hand off my temple. "Gods...I needed that...like, now."

Darcy snickered to herself. "Wow, I mean- wow."

I waggled my wrist at her. "It's been a long few days...little drunk will make these toothy fucks all the more tolerable." I pointed to a grey satyr stallion in a yellow set of work pants. "Oi...whosat?"

Darcy looked out into the crowd. "Uh, Mason. Mayor's kid."

I looked past him, a mauve mare with massive breasts and a juicy looking haircut was talking to a few ponies. "Bloody, that one?"

Darcy leaned against the table. "You know you could go talk to them, ask them in person. That's Vintage."

I covered my mouth with my wrist, a burp quickly turning into a hiccup. "Uh...I would, but if I let go of this table I might bash myself." I looked behind me, snatching up a few bits of sliced something. "...Meat? Cool...." I shot back a salty bit of cured meat. "Ya know...it's really considerate and all, but like, ponies man are like...crazy. They touch everything and talk too much."

Darcy looked me up and down. "You're a pony too."

I cocked my head and grew a heavy grimace. "Technically."

"No, no technically-" Darcy found a glass and poured herself something to drink, "-you're a pony, end of story."

"Allegedly."

Darcy shook her head. "Allegedly because it's true."

"Fuck you Darcy, don't call me a hoers!"

"Hoers?"

"I know what I saids!"

Darcy laughed. "Your eyes are closed."

I forced my eyes open. "What!? No." I looked around, a few ponies dancing in some open space on the main floor, a blue maned pony sitting on a tower with some music equipment strung up, and the unmistakable scent of young drunks. "No...."

"And you're slurring." Darcy sipped her drink. "Do you want to sit down or something?"

I looked behind me, moving a tray of food out of the way and hopping myself up onto the table. "Good enough."

Darcy dipped her nose into her drink and shook her head. "Great, now all that food's been near your ass."

"Bitch...." Darcy looked back and me with eyebrow raised. "I was gonna say sumthin else...forgot what." I grabbed another bit of food and popped it into my mouth. "Something about my ass."

Darcy chuckled. "You should get drunk more often, you're already a lot more fun."

I shook my head. "Only in major social occasions. And after train rides. And after I see my ex, crazy slag she is-- oh fuck off!" I hopped down from the table. "No!" Marin was poking her way inside. "Why!? Darcy, medic! The bitch followed me!"

"Medic?" Darcy looked over to the door. "Uh, I wouldn't call her a bitch, she might hit you."

I looked again. "Oi, wot?"

Darcy shook her head and laughed. "Did you really have to drink the whole bottle?"

"Wasting time."

"Alright-" she held a hand up, "-that's Clover, she moved from the north or something a while ago. Like, Translymania or Canterlot or something."

I looked again, the mean unicorn slowly shifting into a bat pony. "Oh, good on her-him, him her, hermy--"

"It's a her."

I shrugged. "Alright. You say so." I turned my head, finding a pink haired mare next to me. "Oi...hi."

The mare nodded at me. "Nice party."

I turned to Darcy. "Who--"

"Bandage." She clarified, dipping her nose into her glass again. She popped back up with a grimace. "Man, you probably shouldn't have drank all that in one sitting, your liver is going to explode."

I shook my head. "Drink lots of water in the morning, flush it out."

Darcy swirled her drink in her hand. "I don't think that's gonna cut-it"

"...Tit?"

Darcy turned to me with a frown. "Cut--it."

"Ah." I turned to the mare on my right side. "Why are you pink?"

The mare turned her head. "Because mom had pink hair, why are you blue?"

"Because I got dumped!" I shouted, turning it into a laugh. "Get it?"

Bandage smiled at me. "Sure, nice to talk to you I guess." She pushed off the table, leaving me alone with Darcy again.

I watched the mare leave. "Bloody love tights...." I turned to Darcy, "Did I scare her off?"

Darcy shrugged. "You might have overdone it. Take some time for everypony to catch up."

I started nodding my head in time with the music. "Better hurry then." I reached up and tipped Darcy's glass up, causing her to sputter and spew Everclear over her shirt. "Uh...are you sure you should be drinking that?"

Darcy held her arms out, her shirt soaked with flammable levels of booze. "I'm six-four...I can hold my liquor. And I was drinking it, now I'm wearing it."

I stuffed my hand in my pocket, grabbing my lighter. "H-e-re, clear that right up."

"Glass, what the hell!?"

Jewel

I sat at a tiny kids play table, head resting in my hand, elbow propping me up. "God...what happened?" I rubbed my face as Jewel walked about, clad in a tiara and a dress. She levitated a tray along beside her, setting up a few stuffed animals around the other edges of the table. She set down a glass of milk before me and a few empty cups around the animals. "...Thank you."

The filly flicked her tail at me and sat down across from me at the plastic table. She nodded at me, flashing that rich maroon mane at me. She levitated her glass up, sipping loudly before closing her eyes and humming.

I looked around the prissy white room. "...Sorry about the bed." I turned my head to face the stripped off sheets. I'd spent the night half on and half off the filly's bed, unable to find my way back to my own room. "I'll make you something good for breakfast, promise." I rubbed my face, carefully drinking the cold glass of milk. "Milk might have been a bad choice." I felt my skin creep as the thick substance passed down my gullet. I shook myself hard, pulling back a sickeningly warm burp. "I'm gonna go get some water...."

Jewel put her hooves on the table and stood up. I watched the filly walk around my side, hurrying over to the door. Once again I was left alone in the young filly's Elk-Tsar inspired room. "...Should I be alone in here?" I looked around, the strange styles a bit unfitting with the rest of the high Canterlot style. "...Feel like I should watch for an Elk crossing." I rubbed my face, my cheeks burning as I tried to hold back the swilling feeling in my stomach. "God...Darcy was right."

Jewel popped back into the room with an entire pitcher of water. "Oh...you're an angel." I held my hands out, letting her levitate that blessed water into my hands. The heavy mess quickly lightened as I poured the gallon down my throat. The cold sensation cooled my throat, then my cheeks, then my forehead, then my entire body. It must have been how metal felt when getting quenched. I closed my eyes, listening as something squeaked.

"He does drink a lot."

"Yeah, too much maybe?"

"Did he pee the bed?"

I stopped drinking, letting my eyes pop open and shoot down to the filly. "...Wot?" I looked around, Jewel was sitting calm, mouth completely shut. One of her animals, a stuffed rabbit bounced on its chair.

"Oh...he heard us." The rabbit bounced in place. Glowing a thin rosy purple as Jewel levitated it up and down.

A stuffed human doll started banging its arms on the plastic table. "So what, he's just a big dumb who doesn't know how to be nice!"

A pony doll started waggling its ears, the filly switching from doll to doll to talk through them. "But he said breakfast, and he didn't be mean."

I stared directly at the filly. "You can talk. Your mother said you couldn't." I scratched my head, the heat starting to rise in my body again.

The filly shrugged and started levitating the human doll around. "Rarity said, talk nice, be good filly, don't do this! Jewel doesn't want to be a good filly all the time! Jewel wants to have fun!" Still the filly's lips never even moved.

I rubbed my face with my fingertips. "Filly, you're weird."

The pony doll waggled its ears again. "You're weird too!"

"I know." I rubbed my brow with my wrist. I let out a long huff and moved my hand up to my forehead. My eyes stung from every little source of light, down to the filly's magical grip. "I'm gonna go shower and start breakfast...what do you want?"

The filly looked around coyly. Her lips pursing for just a moment. "Chips." her lips barely opened, but sure enough her voice was exactly what I was expecting, rich, proper, but with the childishness that a filly her age always carried.

"Fried? I uh...sure, why not, I'll make hash browns or something." I stood up and brushed myself off. "Sound good?"

The filly looked away from me, towards her bed. "Yes." She threw the pony doll at me. I scrambled to catch it, nearly falling backwards as the soft cotton toy was hurled at my head. "Don't tell mom, please. You're my friend, so don't tell her, or I'll tell her you slept in my bed."

I cringed hard. "Ooh, blackmailing so young?"

The filly shook her head. "I'm not little! I'm ten!"

I smiled at her. "That's pretty- pretty youung." I covered my mouth and dropped the toy. "Oh god--" I whirled around and pushed my way out of the room. I threw myself into the hall, slamming against the oposite wall with a loud thud.

"Oh dear, Mr. Glass!?" Rarity's proper voice cried out from below. "Are you--"

I ignored it and started scrounging my way towards the bathroom. I flung the door open and tossed myself against the edge of a bathtub. I leant my stomach over and let forth a torrent of bile, draining my body of the disgusting funk in mere seconds. It burned life battery acid, with a soft coolness on the tail end as the milk came up as well. I closed my eyes as I vomited into the tub, simply waiting for my body to be done tossing itself up and down.

I spat out a few strings of bile, my insides burning like crazy. I did my best to ignore the horridly acidic taste of vomit. "Fuck--" I spat again, throwing my arm out to try and find the water. "Please...gods above, help me." I groaned loudly and slapped the faucet on. A rush of ice cold water splashed over my head and down my back, seeping into my shirt and dripping down into my waistband. My ass went cold as the water dripped down my body, sending a sharp chill up my back. "Oh god... Celestia, whoever, thank you."

I felt my head grow heavy as the water soaked in, leaving me cool and clean. I pulled at my mouth cutting off a few strands of saliva. "Sweet mother above...." I fished my head out of the tub and squeezed the water out of my mane. I turned off the showerhead and scrambled back over to the sink, ducking my head into it and letting the water rain down into my mouth.

My lips burned, my mouth was sticky, my eyes hurt and my throat ached. A rough night indeed, but nothing I couldn't bounce back from. I felt a bit like a water balloon, each chug of pristine water started to clear my mind, cool my body, and wake my soul. I let out a strange moan and pulled away from the sink. "Fuck...everything." I splashed some water on my face and started to pull my hair back. "Just...dicks, cocks, dicks, and butts." I turned off the sink and walked back to the bathroom door. "Oh...please, just.... Body, you need to stop." I closed the door again and turned to the toilet. "Please...stop leaking!" I fished myself out and let it flow.

I stood there, leaned against the wall as the sound of rushing piss sounded off. "...Alright...." It continued, pouring more and more bright yellow into the toilet. "...Okay, come on now." I leaned my head against my arm against the wall. "It's enough! Let off it! Alright, I bloody get it!"

"Glass, who are you talking to?"

I looked down at the floor. "Uh, no one! Just, rough morning." I finally finished up, tucking myself away and sorting myself out. Hand washed, mouth clean, a quick finger tooth brush, hair sorted. I was finally fixed, but completely empty now. "I hunger--" I cut myself off and slumped forward. "Eurghle." I turned back to the door and hurried out, finding Jewel standing with her pony doll on her back. I made sure my fly was up and fixed my shirt. "...Not a word."

Jewel threw the doll at me again. "Potato."

I grabbed the doll and held it under my arm. "You have a promising future as a ventriloquist."

Jewel stared at me, then gave a quick look around. "What?"

I shook my head and nudged my head to the stairs down. "Nothing. Food, now come on. Bloody starving."

The pony doll lit up in my hand. "Jewel's not food!"

I smiled at the filly. "Food for a monster."

The filly's ears went flat, her sharp maroon mane flipping up for just a moment as her ears flicked. "No...."

"Uh huh."

"No."

"Big ol--"

"No!" The doll was ripped from my hands. "No monsters!"

I clenched my hand hard as the doll ripped away. I thought back to her father, Rarity's leg, the barrens. "I'm just playing...now, come on, something to eat will start the morning off right. Okay?"

The filly covered her face with her doll, keeping her blue eyes focused on me. "Okay."

Escape

I sat at a workbench, a plate of hash browns at my side, the mare who were keeping me sitting a bit away. "Sorry if they're not great, never really worked with real potatoes before." I looked down at the assortment of tools and setting materials. "So, should I get started or--"

"Mr. Work...really, come sit with us," Rarity called from the other room. I rubbed my shoulder and forked a little more food into my mouth. "Mr. Work?"

I grabbed my plate and swung around the drab beige workshop. "Coming, against my will I might add." I shook my head softly, the starchy salty hash greasy and palatable. "Wouldn't be the first time, and I'm doubtful it  will be the last." I laughed softly at my own dirty joke, letting it peter out into a sharp groan. I pushed my way into the large circle room, a hub for all of Rarity's craft rooms and fitting stations. Another quick walk into the kitchen and over to the table saw me home. "Are they overcooked?"

Rarity rolled her eyes and pulled a seat out for me with her magic. "No darling, now please, sit and eat."

I felt my voice catch in my throat. "I'd really rather get to work--"

Rarity pulled me along with her magic, forcing me down into a chair. "It's eight in the morning. Now sit down, eat, then I'll show you what I need done." Rarity shook her head and levitated a forkful of potato into her mouth. "And no, they're not overcooked."

I laughed softly. "Well, I have one thing going for me then." I finished off what little food I had left and leaned back. "There, done." I rolled my tongue along the backside of my teeth, grinding salt into nothingness and letting the nicely textured fry feed my mind. "Work now?"

Rarity popped her eyes open and slammed her fork down. "Mr. Work, irony aside, if you ask to work one more time I'm going to call the mailmare's daughter to come and throw another party for you." Her eyes were flat, deadly. "And I know how much you enjoyed yourself." Her flat expression whirled up into a mean looking smile.

I groaned loudly and sat back, watching Jewel make a face at me as I gave up. "Fine. I want you to understand how backwards this is though. I'm here to work and you're--"

"You're here as a guest, and remember what I said?" rarity flicked her tail. "You must really want to see her again."

I tapped my fingers on the solid oak table, the rest of the kitchen half renovated with a newer feel to the changes, fine tile, smooth counters, sharp edges. "So, I've done some construction, maybe you--"

"Really?" Rarity flicked her goof hoof down at me. "You're a terrible guest, so jumpy."

I looked around and shook my head. "I want to feel useful!" I crossed my legs. "Give me something to do, gods, I've been here two days and I've done naught! I was supposed to be working and--"

Rarity reached out to me, putting a hoof on my hands. "Glass... settle in."

I frowned hard and pulled my hands to my sides. "I am settled...."

Rarity looked over at Jewel. "Glass, we are out of milk, and we could use a few other things. Do you know where the grocer is?"

I felt my throat tighten up. "Market's outside, right?"

"Spring market doesn't have what we'd need. After winter the only things in the market are trinkets and Appleloosan apples." She shook her head, "So I take it you don't know?"

I coughed roughly. "I suppose not...." I clasped my hands together. "I suppose--" A loud clattering tap came from the kitchen door. "...What?"

A bright tanned face peeked into the window. "Rarity, is he in there?"

Rarity wrapped the doorknob in her magic and pulled it open. "Good morning Darcy."

Darcy leaned in, waving to all of us at the table. "Hi there, oh good...." She walked in and slowly closed the door behind her. "You ran out of the party last night, nopony knew where you were."

I flipped my hand up, letting my wrist go slack. "Right here."

Darcy's tail whipped around behind her. "Clearly." She looked around, "Well, I just wanted to make sure he made it home, wasn't dead somewhere."

Rarity cocked an eyebrow. "Hmm, well while you're here, would you mind escorting Mr. Work to the grocery store?"

I grew a sharp, extremely agitated frown. I jammed my middle finger into the underside of the table. "Of course...because I need a nanny."

Rarity smiled at me. "Well, we don't want you getting lost again."

I pressed my tongue against the back of my front teeth. "Sure.... Is there a list?"

Rarity nodded. "I'll go make one." She shoved off the table, nearly falling while forced to balance on two legs and a wheel. "Oh my--"

"Don't trip." I grumbled, standing up to face Darcy. The tall red and tan mare just shook her head. "Don't judge me."

Darcy smiled. "I'm not, can't speak for everyone else, but I'm personally not."

"Better not be." I joined her near the door, letting my ass rest against the wall. "...So, did I do anything really stupid while I was out?"

Darcy turned her head to me, a complex face carved into her skin. "Hmm, you threw a horseshoe and dented the wall, ate a box of crackers, but nothing too super weird." She put her hands in her jeans, stretching down to her fetlocks instead of her usual thigh fit. I couldn't help but look her over, her pants didn't fit well, far too tight. "Glass...stop."

I looked up to her face, stopping at her arms. Even her shirt was tight. "Darcy, you need to shop better. Ms. body builder needs to go a size up."

Darcy frowned. "I've had this outfit for years...like, I don't want to just get rid of it."

I looked over to Jewel, sitting and chewing a heap of fried hash with her doll in her lap. "Isn't Rarity a seamstress?"

Darcy nodded. "Yeah, still expensive though." She nudged me with her elbow. "Unless you're paying, I don't get enough from Mac to pay for alterations and stuff."

I bit my lip hard. "Well then Darcy, I have a proposal." I looked towards the exit of the kitchen, making sure I had some time before Rarity would come storming back in. "You get me to a furnace or a workshop, and I'll make you something, sell it, and pay for any alterations."

Darcy cocked her head. "Okay, what do you get out of this?"

"I don't have to sit here and have your ass prominently shoved into view, and I get to work. Win win." I put my hands under my armpits. "Rarity doesn't want me working...gods only know why."

Darcy shrugged with a neutered expression. "Maybe she thinks you need to relax."

I turned up to face Darcy, wearing my angry face. "I'll relax in the workshop, now do we have a deal?"

Darcy smiled, quickly letting it fall as she realized I wasn't joking. "Sure, guess I'll go get the groceries, right?"

"Exactly." I watched the door, Rarity's magic thrusting the note. "...Keep her talking, I need to go grab some things from my bag."

Darcy stuffed her hands in her pockets and leaned against the wall. "Such as?"

"Tools, coals I have, supplies." I looked at the window. "Most glass working takes a day just to melt the glass, but I have a few tricks to get this done in a few hours." I swung my hands back and forth as Rarity looked into her fridge. "Perks of having a unicorn mother, you can skip a lot of life's physical limitations."

"Mmm, I wouldn't know. But, I'm alright with just being way bigger than you. Oh, and faster--"

"Shut up."

"And better at growing plants, and more fertile, and more--"

I tightened up my hand, focusing on the few times I'd seen Darcy's back. "Uh huh...keep going." I was never very good at levitating thing, but slowly I could hear her voice hiccup as I poked her shoulder blades, looking to snap her bra. "Bet ya can't do that, can ya?"

Darcy waved her hand around her back. "Alright, alright, calm down."

"I am calm." Rarity finally turned to me, "Ready?"

Rarity smiled and held the list for me. "Do me a favor, if you're out long, do bring something home." I took the list, watching as Rarity levitated a bag of coins over to Darcy. "And you, if he so much as tries to buy something metal or wood, or anything that could be a vague tool, smack him."

"Jesus, really!?"

Darcy took the bag, "Yeah, sure. Don't worry, I'll make sure he cools it."

I looked down at my hooves. "Well...suppose I'll go find my boots, meet you outside." I hurried past Rarity and out into the main room. I took a hard left into the sitting room. Another quick turn, a fling up the stairs, a thud as I met Rarity's door with my arm. "Ow...." I flung the door open and found my bag sitting out, tools and clothes packed densely inside. "Yes."

I dropped down to one knee and scrambled to collect what I could fit inside my coat. I would end up sweating like a pig on a spit, but I managed to pack my coals, my shaping tools, a small blowing pipe and a glove into my usual summer coat. I patted myself down, making sure it was as inconspicuous as possible.

I hurried down stairs, running through Rarity's house like a mad man, now clad in my new short clothes and a padded cotton jacket. "I- was ill prepared- for this fucking swampland." I held my collar as open as I could and hurried through the prissy building, dodging mannequin and stacks of stock clothes on my way out.

I tossed myself out into the hot air of Ponyville market. Darcy managed to catch me, stopping me from slamming face first into the ground. "Whoa there, take it easy!"

I pressed my tongue against my wisdom tooth. "Oh man...come on, hurry, I'm going to melt in this thing."

Darcy swung my around onto the road. "Alright then, what's the--"

"I need glass powder, sand, something. I need water, newspaper--"

Darcy put her hand up. "Water and newspaper aren't hard, and I think that the old craft workshop used to have some glass powder in it. Blacksmith left a while and we've been keeping all that sort of stuff in there since then."

I stared at her. "...It was a metal shop?"

Darcy shrugged. "It was like, everything the farmland needed. We got windows, we got metal bits, shoes, leather--"

I put my hand on Darcy's ribs. "Darcy shut up before I squeal like a little filly."

Darcy looked down at my hand. "You know, Rarity's gonna be really mad if she finds out."

I took my hand off her and turned to the market. "Look, she won't, alright. Besides, you really--"

Darcy put her hands on her hips. "I need to--" Just before she could finish a button popped off her shirt. She pulled her hands to her chest and closed up the gap. "Oh son of a- shit...." She hunched forward and kept her shirt together. "Alright, alright, fine."

I cocked an eyebrow. "You know, maybe it's time to just get a new outfit."

Darcy frowned hard. "I've worn this style for three years, and this is my favorite damn shirt, I'm not getting rid of it!" She clenched together the dark red-brown collared shirt. "...Do you have a safety pin?"

I patted down my pockets. "I have a paperclip I think." I moved to my front pockets and found it. "Ah, here we go." I passed it off and turned around. "Just hurry, alright?"

Darcy grumbled a little. "God- I can't-- This fucking thing sucks! ... There!"

I turned around, her shirt now sporting a bright silver pin right across the split. "DIY shirt repair your specialty?"

Darcy's frown tugged at the corners. "Oh shut up."

"You shut up!" I unzipped my jacket. I took a deep breath and turned to the far off flat land I'd passed on the train. "Can we go? Can I work yet?"

Darcy walked past me, whipping me with her tail as she passed. "Sure, but you're being a jerk."

"I know! I just- I need to craft, I either need to build something or go take care of something else! But I need to do something before I lose my balls!" I raced after her, my bare hooves loud against the market ground. "I promise you, I will be the nicest person in existence, just give me some labor!"

Darcy kicked at me. "I get it--"

"Don't bloody kick at me!"

"Don't bloody bloody at me!" Darcy swung around. "You're such a--" Another button at the bottom of her shirt went flying off. "God damn it!" She jammed her shirt into her pants, showing off a sharp brass belt. "Its been doing this since last harvest!"

I put my hands in my pockets to part my coat and get some air. "Tough work out?"

Darcy finished up with her fix. "Oh, you want work, the fall harvest will make you cry." She turned back around, hands sliding around her waist band as she tucked her shirt. "Ugh.... You really think you can make enough to fix it?"

I rubbed my chin, forcing my eyes up from her waist. "My works used to go for hundreds, then again they were a lot more involved than what I can do in a few hours, but I figure a well thought out piece could get enough." I bit my index finger. "Something sunny, maybe a pattern like Celestia's cutiemark."

Darcy swung around, the path out of town starting to get green and lose its cobblestone path in exchange for a dirt road along a hedgerow. "You can do that in a few hours?"

I nodded sharply. "I can--"

"Hey!" Misty's voice shot in from behind, a heavy weight bouncing off my shoulder and forcing me to stumble. "Glass, hi!"

I straightened out, not bothering to face back. "I can make a sheet and melt it into something nice quick enough. Just going to need colored glass...so, mixing a few from scratch, controlled cooling, stuff like that. It'd usually take a day or two, but...use a few of the coals I brought--"

"Glass, hi." Misty stepped around infront of Darcy, smiling back at me despite my ignoring her. "Where are we going?"

I bit my lip. "The coals will take care of the heat and the melting, only have a few though so...this is going to be a personal favor." Darcy looked down at Misty, smiling gently. "And I can cool them down with a bit of magic. It'll come out a bit...lower quality, but its the first project since I got burned, so, practice."

Misty and Darcy both looked up to me. Misty rubbed her throat. "You got burned?"

I coughed loudly, watching the hedgerow lead us even further into a wide expanse of green pastures and fields. "Misty, do you have to be here?"

Mist flinched back slightly. "Um...I guess not." Her tone was almost exactly like Jewel's earlier no.

I felt the guilt settle into my chest as she dropped out of our walk. "...God damn it.... You can come!" I turned around. "You can come if you want!"

I watched the mare's wings fling out two slits in the back of her sweater pressed tight against her back. "Yay!"

I turned around with a grumble. Darcy was staring at me with a sharp smile. "Don't you start.... Emotions are terrible."

Darcy closed her eyes and shrugged. "I wasn't going to say anything."

I grumbled loudly as a third pair of steps joined us. "Look, where's the workshop?"

Darcy stretched her leg. "Just follow me, we're not far."

Molten

I felt my skin creep as I plodded along the grass. "Darcy...this is yokel. This is extremely, very, massively yokel." I stretched my legs, causing Misty to giggle. "What...what's funny?"

Misty covered her face with her sleeves. "Your leg's all twitchy." She flapped her arms, slapping her sleeves against her wrists. "It's funny looking."

I sighed loudly. "You know, I'd think a mare in a sweater wouldn't make fun of me for dressing oddly! It's so damn hot out, how can you wear a damn sweater!"

Misty wrapped her covered hand around her other sleeve. "It's not hot--"

Darcy looked back, still leading us through the dirt paths through massive fields of freshly planted vegetables and grain. "He's a snowpony, he thinks anything above freezing is hot."

"Damn right!"

Misty looked back to me. "But- I'm not hot." She looked into her sweater. "I uh...it's not hot."

I looked her up and down, slowly realizing one horrid fact. "Misty, how long have you been wearing that one jacket?"

Misty looked down at her sleeves. "Um, a few days."

I tightened up my right eye, staring at the mare, her collar bare. "Are you wearing anything under that?"

Misty fixed her buttons. "Like, underwear."

I let out a strange grunt. "Eugh, Misty, you've been wearing the same clothes for at least two days?"

Misty stretched her arms, swinging them to the sides and causing a loud crack from her back. "I change. I just have the sweater--"

"You've got underwear, pants, and a sweater! That's not--"

"I'm not wearing pants." Misty grabbed the edge of her sweater and pulled it down.

I held my hand in the air as I walked forward aimlessly. "Okay, so you're basically wearing the same dress for days at a time? Good gods...you do realize how gross that is, right?"

Darcy and Misty both stopped to watch me walk. "Why?" Darcy asked, grabbing me by my shoulder. "Why is that gross?"

I shook my head and kept walking. "Like, dead skin and sweat and junk. Just...eugh."

Darcy ran up to lead me again. "You know it's not like underwear, right? You can wear a dress without it getting all gross for a few days." Darcy shook her head. "I've worn the same bra a few days in a row for a while, just easier than having to grab a new one, and less laundry."

"Savages." I looked across the farms. "Is that it?" I pointed out over a field of budding carrots, to a large concrete building that looked like it had gone through quite a few additions.

Darcy softly kicked the back of my legs. "Yeah, that's it. Jerk."

I whirled around. "Oi, at least I change my clothes every day!"

Misty rubbed her lap and walked towards the building. "It's not bad...do I smell?"

I shook my head and turned back around. "No.... It's just not good."

Darcy shoved me with her shoulder, nearly throwing me into a passing pony. "Why? What's not good about it?"

I threw my hands up. "It's just gross. Icky, just--"

"Oh shut up." Darcy shoved me, backing against the concrete building. "How long is this gonna take?" She pulled a small metal lock off the door and pushed it open. "I'll go get the grocery--" Another button popped off as she turned to face me.

"Ha...." I walked past her, spotting a switch on the wall. "Mr. Big Bust--"

Darcy tried to force her shirt together. "It's not my boobs...it's my shoulders...." She tried to fix the clip in her shirt. "Damn...."

I looked her over, she still looked like any other giant girl to me. "Darcy...just take it off, or go change."

Darcy's face curled up into a heavy frown. "Glass, just--"

"It's not going to stay closed." Misty walked beside me, standing in the blank concrete entry. "I really don't care, just stop with the--"

Darcy undid her buttons and tied the shit together at the base. "There, bett--" Another set of buttons came off. "God damn it!" She stomped a hoof. "This is crap!"

I rubbed my forehead. "Darcy--"

"I can fix it!" She tried to keep her shirt together, her bra was bright red against her tanned skin, like her father's coat.

"Darcy--"

"Wait!"

"Darcy stop." I walked up to her and pulled her hand away from her shirt. "Darcy...go change."

Darcy's frown hung heavy on her face. "My shirt's dead...isn't it?"

I nodded. "It was never alive, but yes. Shirt is kill."

Darcy let her hands fall to her sides. "I'm just- you can get to work, look around, I'm sure you'll find everything." She turned to the door. "I'm gonna go change. I'll be back in a few."

"Yep." I nodded and turned around. "I'll just-- Uuuuuuuuh." I felt myself drool, a large concrete box with a load of doors poked between machines and furnaces waited for me. Tools on racks, boxes and shelves, the smell of metal and ash, the clean concrete, the stone and steel littering the shop. "Oh god above, thank you."

Misty scratched the floor with her hoof. "What's wrong?"

I turned to Misty with a flash, her odd eye poked over towards the tools. "What's wrong? What's wrong!?" I leaned over her and grabbed her my the upper arms. "What's wrong is I died! I am dead! This isn't real!" I ran across the cold concrete ground, over to a large furnace, stone, still covered in coke and filled with crucibles. "Oh god...yes...." I hugged the stone creation, slowly caressing the wonderful stone beast. "I'm gonna cry...."

Misty's hooves clicked over to me. "Um, Glass...you're weird."

"I know," I cooed, reaching into my jacket and tossing a few coals into the furnace. "And I love it!" I pulled my lighter up and tossed it in after the coals. A flash of blinding heat swam around my back, causing Misty to put her arm up. I held my arms out like an idiot. "Oh man...I love that feeling."

Misty backed up, already starting to sweat in the bright burning light. "Um...I thought you didn't like the heat?"

I laughed and took my jacket off. "This? This isn't heat, this is work." I turned to the fire spitting furnace. "This is art!" I felt like singing, swinging myself around the shop. "Oh by Luna, by Celestia, by the sun itself, this is what I live for!" I ran to the shelves, running up and down the aisles. "Glass powder, silica, machine rollers and coloring powder! Cutters and hammers and scorers oh my!" My voice was high, jubilant, my face forced up into a smile. "Oh my god!" I spun around the solid metal shelves. A stack of boxes full of broken glass lay on one of the lower shelves. "I'm gonna pee my pants!"

I turned my head and started grabbing fireproof jackets and clothes to keep the flame out, all of them neatly stowed along a set of lockers on the wall between two doors. "It's got a bathroom! It's got a bathroom in its own building!" I turned to Misty, smiling wide as I could. "Are you not excited!?"

Misty smiled and pulled her arms into her sweater. "You're blushing...."

"I know!" I trotted in place. "I know I know I know! It's awesome!" I threw the heavy safety equipment down and started getting dressed. "It smells like soot and dust, and everything is so leathery and-- ahhhh-ha!" I put on a pair of gloves and ran back to a small shelf, grabbing a pair of heavy iron tongs. "Misty, don't just stand there! Find a crucible!"

Misty swung her arms. "Um, a what?"

I shook my head and ran over to the furnace. "I got it!" I picked up a large crucible and started throwing glass into it. "Oh- crap...ahead of myself." I stepped back from the shard filled crucible. "Um...okay, need colored sheets." I rubbed my face, leathery gloves scratching my face. "Tail wrap, need to--"

"Glass-" Misty walked up to me, a soft frown on her tweaked face, "-can I help?"

I looked at the mare, sweating heavily under her dress. "I uh- sure." I tossed my gloves down. "You know, I didn't even realize I'd gotten dressed." I laughed to myself and turned to the shelves. "I need to mix silica powder." I looked across the room, so much passed up in my frenzied haze. "Okay, alright." I walked back to Misty, taking a quick look around the entry to the workshop. "Okay, okay, table over there-" I pointed to a small metal table, "-find some seats. We'll have some time while the fires stoke."

Misty tapped her covered up hooves on the ground, her shoes wrapping half way up her lower legs. "It's hot in here."

I shook my head. "Yep. Yes it is." I hurried over to the shelves past the furnace, the room much longer than it felt upon first inspection. I grabbed a bag of silica, stepping on a bunch of iron and steel fragments littering the floor. I grabbed a bag of glass powder and a scanned for a few pigments. I found a few powders that looked to be about half a century old. "Alright, this should work."

I hurried over to the table in the entry area, throwing down the bags. I grabbed a few crucibles and drudged them over, "You know, you don't have to be here."

Misty shrugged. "Should I leave?"

I sat down with a leathery thud, now wrapped up in iron worker's apparel. "It's going to get hot.... Like, I complain about how it is outside, but this is going to be really, not just me bitching, hot."

Misty stared at me, or attempted to with one eye cocked to the side. "I'm alright." She tapped her hands on the hard metal table. "You like Darcy?"

I felt my throat dry out. "W-what? I just got here--"

"You're friends?" Misty asked again, still smiling.

I sat down and dug my hands into the silica bag, a scoop already laid inside. I started measuring out the proper doses into each of the crucibles. "Orange...yellow...other yellow." I looked up to Misty. "And yes, I'd call her a friend. As loose a word as friend is."

Misty smiled at me, teething showing slightly. "We're friends, right?"

I sighed loudly. "Sure, yes." I loaded up a crucible with the proper powders. "Why is everyone in this town so friendly? Oh, let me get that for you! Oh, let me help you! Oh, come hang out! Oh hi, let me shake your hand and show you my abs!" I let out a long sigh. "...Cinnamon was actually really hot...." I rubbed my face. "Stomach you could sharpen knives with...." I started to grow uncomfortably aware of the girl at my side.

Misty just smiled. "She's pretty."

"Yep." I nodded. "She is."

Misty looked around nervously, swinging her arms at her sides. "Sorry if I'm not talking much...everypony thinks I'm dumb...I just.... Sorry."

I snapped my head up, the unexpected words slamming into the sides of my head. "Um, I never ass--"

"Because my eyes." She pointed at her right eye. "Everypony used to think I was dumb. I just, don't talk much."

I bit my lip and looked down to the filled ceramic and stone jars. "Thank you, for sharing I mean." I picked up a crucible and carried it over to the furnace. "And I'm not being facetious, I know what it's like trying to open up." I got prepared, wrapping myself up in the leathers yet again. "Everypony used to make fun of my- uh...doesn't matter. Changed things about me...got better."

Misty looked over to me, leaning over a small railing that separated the entry from the main floor. "I'm glad."

I worked slowly, placing each of the pots into the furnace. "So am I." I finished up quickly and looked around, the walls of the shop lined with machines. "Kiln...kiln--there is it-- is it? It is." I laughed at my screwed up words. "Oh boy, so excited." I flicked on the electric kiln, the warm whirl in the air making my hair stand on end.

"I'm back!" Darcy shoved the door open, "Cider came--"

"Howdy!" Cider's chipper voice shot in. "Whoa, who's the one in the suit?"

I could barely see, the tinted mask on my head blinding me. "Uh- wait...when did I--" I pulled the mask off. "I don't even remember putting that on.... I'm working on automatic! I love it."

A rough cough came from behind the girls. "Darcy...can we talk?"

I stared up at the door, orange legs, red legs, and grey legs all stuck around the door. "Oi, who's there--" Darcy ignored me and walked out. Cider and Misty started talking, leaving me standing in the concrete pit. "Right, so I'll just...stand here and work." I turned back to the furnace, an electric feeling in the air as I masked up and peered in. The powder was already half melted, a bright orange bubbling pot of gold.

I sat and watch as my coals did their work, infused with powders and gems pulled from the Crystal Empire and north lands. "And here we go." I ran to the shelves again, grabbing a ladle and fork. I raced back to the fire spitting forge and dipped in, a glob of bright glowing glass gooey and thick in the large metal dipper. I dolled a load of glass onto a rolling table, the whirling machine on before I could realize my hands were moving. I started to hum to myself as I squeezed the glass into the rollers, watching a line of molten glass lay out in a sheet.

A roll done, a sheet of bright orange glass pressed and ready to cool I reached to the pile of tools near my jacket and grabbed a scorer. My arms hissed smoke as I accidentally leaned against the mess. "Bugga!" I pulled back, shaking my arm to stop the burning. "Piece of piss...."

I kept on, carving out the curves I'd use for Celestia's rays. My body felt warm, eyes wide as I fell into my groove yet again. "Don't take me down tonight, I don't wanna sleep till I mmm-neh-ne." The rays of Celestia's cutiemark were done and ready to be remelted. The excess glass tossed over onto a shelf with some metal brackets.

Glass from the furnace, to the rollers. Cooled by magic and the heated forge air. Score, score, pop. Score, score, pop. Pieces falling into my hands with each deft movement. I placed the pattern out in the kiln, the glass melting together to form up a perfect glass replica of Celestia's cutie mark. All that it needed was time.

I hurried and started to load up the furnace with more glass for future days. "Oh wait--" I turned to the crowd of humans, ponies, and stayrs watching me work. "I- uh...."

Darcy smiled and pointed to each. "Uncle Jack," a man with a large hat. "Auntie A.J." an orange pony with another hat and a kind look about her. "Caramel!" A yellowish pony with brown hair. "He used to work with the machines, carriages, supplies."

I felt harrowed, my heart beating like a drum. "Uh.... Hello?"

The man nodded at me and left unspoken. The orange pony smiled and walked down to me. "Howdy, welcome to Ponyville." She hugged me across the chest, a quick, loving hug.

Caramel smiled too. "Glad to see this place working again, just...you gonna watch it or should I?"

I bit my lip. "Yes, someone should make sure it doesn't catch fire." I turned to the furnace. "Check every few hours...I'll be back--"

Applejack shook her head. "Well, you gonna be using this place? Because, if somepony is, gotta work something out."

I frowned hard. "I can pay rent if I start making--"

Applejack shook her head. "I heard you're from the fancy smansh college up north, right?"

I ran my fingers together. "Yes."

Applejack smiled at me. "You know anypony that works with metal? Leather? Tool maker?"

I felt my spine straighten. "Yes, yes, and also yes!"

"You think--"

"Yes!" I smiled wide and pulled my mask off. "I met a lot of workers back in studies. I'm sure if you put up a work for stay like I took, you'll get someone quick as light!"

Applejack smiled. "Then I think we can start buildin' again."

I coughed roughly. "Mostly.... I'm still work for stay with Ms. Rarity." I laughed softly. "I'm not actually supposed to be here."

Applejack smiled and cocked her head. "Then maybe ya should get back to it."

I cringed and let out a sharp groan. "She asked me to talk with ponies...."

Applejack put a hoof on my leg. "Sweetheart, you're talking to a pony right now."

I groaned again. "Yeah...but this is work talk, not, oh hi can I milk!"

Applejack frowned sharply and turned to the group in the entry. Misty shrugged. "Well, finish what you're doin, then go on, go listen to Rarity." Applejack patted my hip. "Go on, get."

I looked over to the kiln. "Well it should be done by now." I walked up and pulled the kiln open, scooping the glass art out and passing my hand over it. A strong heat zipped into my hand, then in a moment the glass cooled. "Yep. Darcy, here! Sell this." I dropped out of my gear, setting everything down and turning off the machines. "Darcy." I shook my body, cleaning off the glass with a rag and a buffing piece. "It's a little warm."

I walked up to the giant, holding the smooth glass sun out for her like a sword. She slowly took it, backing towards the door. "Oh- you made this!?"

I stretched my arms, sweaty and spent. Truly satisfied by the glossy opaque glass, the sun brought down to earth and forged into beauty to match Celestia herself. "Yeah." I turned to Misty, "Oi, who wants to go get some water?"

Cider, Applejack's obvious child, was standing with Darcy, looking at the piece. "Heck in mud...."

I pushed past everyone, out into the clean cold air. "Oh that feels good." I wiped off my brow. "Lov--"

I felt myself lift off the ground, "Thank you!" Darcy's voice was high and squeaky.

I kicked my legs like a bike rider. "Oh god!" I grabbed her arms, wrapped around my stomach. "Down, down! No!"

Darcy swung my about. "It's really nice!"

"I bloody know, now put me down!" I tried to kick free. "It's not a big deal!"

Darcy tossed me over her shoulder. "Come on! I'm gonna buy lunch!"

Apples

I stood outside the workshop with Cider, suckling from a hose to replenish my lost water. The slightly coppery water wasn't the best, but I couldn't complain. The rushing cold was acting like any other water cooling, taking my overheated body and flushing it with cold. I tossed the hose down into the grass. "Oh god...like hangover breakfast all over again." I took a deep breath. "Oh god...that was today, wasn't it?"

Cider stared at me with a smile, leaning against the concrete box in the middle of the field. "Partner, you drink like a fish."

I shook my head to throw water off. "I know." I rubbed my face. "Cider...can I tell you something without you getting offended?"

Cider stretched her arms, her red vest jangling along its metal bits. "Depends."

I looked the strong mare up and down. "Eh, I'll risk it. You're really hot. You have a body that could make an asexual renounce that." I frowned hard as she shifted her hips, bumping her flank against the building. "Darcy said you're related to most of the people at the Acres, so, as an outside, you've got a body like a model." I wiped my hands together, "That's all."

Cider tugged at her vest, sliding her hands down her front to her jeans. "Uh, that's a little bold." She frowned ever so softly. "Thanks I suppose...not sure what I'm supposta do with that."

"Nothing." I shrugged. "I just thought you should know. Probably don't get told that often enough for that uh...that body." I turned around to face the fields. "Darcy's got it too, but I have a thing for pale skin." I rubbed my face. "And a body like-- I'm really sorry, I feel like I'm coming across as a pervert."

Cider walked up next to me and kicked a stone. "Ya are." She put her hand on my shoulder and jostled me. "Still not really sure what ya meant by it though." She looked up to me with a smile. "Odd way to ask for a date, ya ask me."

"Oh no no no--" I crossed my arms in front of me and backed up. "No.... If I wanted to date, I'd just tell you." I shook my head, ending it looking dead on Cider's freckled face. "I'm very honest." Green eyes, beautiful. "But I've had some rather abrupt ends to my other relationships recently." Soft smile, soft skin. "I just felt you should know, because I can't imagine many people around here tell--"

Cider patted her hand against my ass, making me shoot forward hit first. "I get it partner." She laughed as I stumbled forward. "Ya ain't terrible yourself."

I felt my face burn like wildfire. "Uh.... Please don't do that." I rubbed my ass. "Please, please--"

"Partner, be glad I didn't do more." She laughed softly. "Colt calls a filly cute, something's gonna happen." She smiled wide and tipped her hat. "Make ya feel better ya can do it to me. Just a quick pat, worker's show, ri--"

I opened my eyes, the blue sky rolling overhead. "...Why am I on the ground?" I looked around my world swimming as Cider pulled me upright. "What happened?"

Cider started snickering as I got to my hooves. "I think ya fainted, partner."

"I don't flirt...." I walked about like an idiot, eventually stopping and leaning against the rough concrete wall. "You don't flirt--"

"You were." Cider shot in, leaning against the wall next to me.

I shook my head. "No...I wasn't." I shook my head. "You don't flirt in Storm Side. You like someone, you say it--"

"That's flirting, partner." Cider started to laugh. "And sorry to say, don't look like you're all that good at being flirted at."

I shook my head. "Again, you don't flirt where I'm from. You be completely honest, and see where it g--"

"Flirting...sounds like flirting, maybe a little less subtle." Cider stretched out.

I huffed softy. "I'm going to go find Darcy...forget I said anything, alright?"

Cider shrugged. "Alright, if ya say so."

I pushed off the wall, hurrying across the farmland yet again. My mind flitted to Cider, her smile, her eyes, her hair and her tail. The whole time she had it wrapped around her leg, and I was only thinking about it now. "God damn it...." I rubbed my face as I walked past the Acres, into the town again. "I don't know, brain, I don't know." I mulled over the prospect of dating.

I rolled the thought around while I walked, the town thickening up around me as I hit the market square. I'd been in a relationship most of my life since I hit puberty. Dating was how I felt normal, but after Marin things felt odd. Five mares in my life, more stable than my friends as they moved on to specialize in math or science, leaving me with the blue collars of Storm Side. But I could always count on them, even Marin in earlier days was kind and listened to me.

I sighed loudly as I slipped past a crowd, spotting Darcy towering over a crowd of ponies. I walked to the back of the crowd, Darcy's face sporting a tight smile. I pushed my way through. "Darcy, what's going on!?"

Darcy snapped her head over to me. "Oh my god, Glass!" She ran over, a bag of bits in her hand. "This guy-- this-- Oh my god!" She pulled her hands up, shaking them together and prancing in place. The girliest I've ever seen her. "Glass, someone bought it!"

I took a step back, nudging a pony's flank. "Sorry about that. Darcy, how much?"

Darcy pushed the bag into my hands, heavy coins weighing down my arms. "Some human in a white coat! He- I think it was- the-- Celestia's stallion!"

I felt my eyes force themselves open. "Wait...how much is in here!?"

"Like a thousand bits!" Darcy grabbed me by my shoulders. "Dude, he like-- Oh...hey, she'll like that. And then he like-- He-- fuck!"

I grabbed her by her sleeve, her new shirt barely more than a tank top. "Darcy, come here...." I dragged her through the crowds, over to an open spot in the market. With the crowds clear I straightened out the giddy girl. "Darcy, look at me.... What happened?"

Darcy grabbed my arms. "Money! Lots of money!"

I looked at the bit bag in my hand. "Darcy...did you get the groceries...?"

Darcy's expression went flat. "Glass, are you not excited?"

I shrugged. "It's not my money, it's yours. Now can you go get the groceries?"

Darcy's face deflated. "...My money?"

I shrugged. "Darcy, it was a gift to pay for the shirt, its your money, it--" Darcy snapped forward and bear hugged me. "Ow ow ow, my ribs!" She lifted me off the ground again, squeezing my arms against my ribs, and my ribs against my insides. "Darcy, crush me!"

Darcy swung me about. "Thank you! Like, a lot!"

"It's bloody fine, I've got someplace to work now! But you're fucking crushing--my--lungs!"

Darcy gave me one last squeeze, my ribs aching as she released her hold. "Glass, I'll make this up to you--"

I stepped back and rubbed my ribs. "You showed me where to work...it's fine." I let out a weak squeak, holding my sides. "Darcy, you need to stop, stop with the exercise before you turn into Lennie."

Darcy took the bits from me. "Lennie?" She tugged her headband, her white shirt snug against her.

"Of Mice And Men." I looked towards Rarity's home, the circular white building calling back to me. "Now can you bring the groceries to Mrs. Rarity, or not?"

Darcy frowned hard. "You should really be more excited about this than you are."

I shrugged. "I was excited today. If I'm excited at least once a day, I'll be happy." I put my hand on her forearm and gave a soft squeeze. "Now seriously...I need to get back to Mrs. Rarity--"

Darcy pushed my arm off and hugged me again, her embrace warm and soft. "Glass...thank you, for real."

I didn't complain, for once she wasn't slinging me over her back or breaking my bones. "It's fine Darcy. You're blowing this way out of proportions."

Darcy set me down. "Or maybe you're underwhelmed. Either way, I'll see you soon, alright?"

I shrugged. "Sure." I turned to the boutique. "Hopefully Rarity won't question things...say I got lost or something." I hurried over, across the buzzing market square. I slinked around through the kitchen door, Jewel waiting for me in the kitchen, just like I'd left.

She smiled at me, a wry, sneering smile. "What...what's--"

"Mr. Work." Rarity's voice came from the next room. "You're not wearing boots."

I held my mouth open. "Uh.... No?" I walked through the half built kitchen, finally ready to settle down and be civil again. "Was I--"

Rarity peeked into the kitchen with a smile. "You said you were going to go put on a pair of boots before you left."

I bit my lip. "I did say that, didn't I--"

"And you're covered in soot." Her eyes narrowed.

I rubbed my face, black smudges rolling over my cheeks. "So I am...."

"And that ruckus in the market." Rarity limped into the kitchen, standing off with me. Her smile matched her child's. "A replica of Celestia's cutie mark was just sold to a rather high bidder." She walked up to me and turned her nose up. "Couldn't be that, and perhaps I'm speculating--"

"It was me." I threw my hands up. "I went to Sweet Apple Acres and used their forge." I held my arms up high as I could. "Sue me."

Rarity pouted, her lips pushed out hard. "Oh you're no fun." Rarity swished her tail around. "How much?"

I sighed loudly. "I don't know. I gave it to Darcy."

Rarity lowered her head, looking up at me from under her eyelids. "Hmm?"

I looked over to the table and hurried over. I stuck my tongue out at Jewel, getting one right back as I dragged a chair away. "Little monster." I sat down before Rarity, crossing my legs as she settled down onto her haunches. "Darcy needed to tailor her shirt, so I said I'd craft something for her to trade. She got a new shirt, you got groceries, I got to work." I crossed my arms. "Mrs. Rarity, I regret nothing."

Rarity laughed, a haughty, prissy laugh. "Oh dear...you gave an ornament worth that much to Darcy? You- you sir make your intentions known!"

"What!? No!" I shot up. "No!"

Rarity just laughed. "I must admit, most are intimidated by her. She's rather-"

"No!"

"-tall."

"Yes she is, but no I'm not!" I looked back to the market. "I'm not...right?"

Rarity smiled at me. "Unsure of yourself now?"

I grumbled softly. "I've only been here a few days...I'm not sure where I stand with this place. I need...time, I think."

Rarity smiled at me. "Well at any rate, you've done what I wanted you to do."

"Oh?" I sat back down and rubbed my head. "And what was that?"

Rarity smiled at me. "You've loosened up, even if it's only the slightest bit. And maybe you made a friend."

I groaned loudly. "Mrs. Rarity, I have friends--"

"In Ponyville?"

I sat there, quiet. "This is going to be a long week, isn't it?"

Rarity laughed to herself. "Only if you make it. And by the way--" Rarity walked over and put her hoof on my knee. "That was very nice of you. But thousands of bits might have overdone it."

I rubbed the back of my neck. "I didn't sell it. I just gave it to her." I put my hand on Rarity's hoof. Her coat was soft under my fingers. "Apparently someone in a white coat bou--"

"Oh no...." Rarity pulled her hoof back. "Oh...please no." She lowered herself down, hunched over slightly. "Abrasive, sandy mane?"

I shook my head. "I wasn't there. Something about Celestia's stallion?"

Rarity's ears went flat. "I know him.... He's not exactly well liked."

I shrugged. "A thousand bits for that small piece, if it wasn't charity then I'd have to question his mental fortitude."

Rarity rolled her eyes. "I suppose. And it was probably a gift." She looked out the window. "I'm never going to enjoy his company. But I'm glad to see he isn't lighting anything on fire."

I leaned back in my chair. "Is he an arsonist!?"

Rarity shook her head and brushed off her chest with a hoof. "No, simply something I could imagine him doing."

I frowned hard. "That's a bit harsh."

Rarity rolled her eyes. "At any rate, I suppose it is sweet...in some sort of way."

I shrugged. "I wouldn't know. Now, can I go shower? Settle in for a while?"

Rarity waggled her hoof at me. "Groceries?"

"Darcy's going to get them."

Rarity smiled at me, wrinkles showing around the corners of her mouth. "You really like her, don't you?"

I pursed my lips, my eyes blurring slightly. "Rarity...please."

Darcy

I sat with Jewel and Darcy in a park by the lake. "You know, ponies are still talking about what you said to Cider."

I rubbed my face, time spent with Darcy and Misty had just about gotten me past all that, yet she always found a way to bring it up. "Darcy, its been a week! Really...how many times are you going to shoehorn it?"

She shrugged. "How many times is Misty going to tell you to date?"

I rubbed my arms. "I hate how worried about it she is." I watched Jewel run up to the shore, a bunny eared hat on her head. "I just want you to be happy. What does that even mean?"

Darcy sighed loudly. "Probably exactly what it sounds like." Darcy bounced her leg on her knee. "If you couldn't tell, she likes you."

I sighed. "Ya think?"

Darcy shook her head at me. "No, I mean-- Probably plutonically...she's in a relationship."

"What!?" I turned to face Darcy with a snap, nearly flinging myself from my seat. "Is that a--"

"Rainbow Dash's son, he's been in Cloudsdale visiting family I think." Darcy smiled, not at me, but at the lake.

I rubbed my face. "Satyr?"

"Mmmhmm."

I groaned loudly, bitching at the trend. "Like everyone else I'm going to meet?"

Darcy cocked an eyebrow. "He's got a few pony siblings...."

"God damn it!" I hopped upright and turned to face Darcy. "What is that!? Why first one satyr, then ponies? What happened?!"

Darcy's face twisted slightly, into something sad, something rough. "Do you not know? I figured everypony knew." She uncrossed her legs and scratched at the grass with her boot. "Hybrid policy, about eighteen years back, or...something like that. Said that if you had a hybrid, satyr, drake, hippogryph, mule, half-elk, you'd get a tax cut and some assistance raising the kid." Darcy shook her head. "Heck, even people that didn't want kids had them, just to put them up for adoption and get the break."

I felt my heart sink. "What?"

Darcy shook her head mournfully. "It was about the same time you were seeing Thestrals too. I guess it worked, there was a boom, but still...I don't know if it worked better than if they'd just left it." Darcy rubbed her nose. "Bolt wouldn't be around, Mason wouldn't be around," her eyes grew slightly teary, "Hann wouldn't, Misty wouldn't, Mumble and Pogo...Nero...."

"Me." I pressed my hand against my heart. "Oh god... I- I--" I looked down to my hands, a sick feeling settling in my arms. "Oh god...." It felt like someone had kicked my stomach straight into my ribcage. "Celestia...why?" I felt like someone was ripping open my ribs. My mind flashed to my parents, who I thought of as my parents. My mother, my father, my brother, who was what? Was I just some donated sperm baked into my mother? Was I some botched night on potions?

Darcy looked up at me. "Glass, you okay? You're grabbing your chest, do you need help?"

I took a deep breath, my heart trembling as I pulled it back. "I'm okay. I think I'm okay." I let out a soft whimper. "I felt better when I didn't know about all that." I rubbed my chest. The prospect of my life in exchange for money sat sour in my stomach. "I think I need to make some calls." I turned to Darcy, still glancing back to Jewel, now playing with her friends. "Darcy, you?"

Darcy shook her head. "No, I asked Mac, he said no. I asked momma, she said no too. Said they knew each other way before, and that.... I mean...most of us were accidents." She rubbed her arms, watery eyes lowering to the ground. Beautiful green broken and tired for only a moment. "Nobody knew it was gonna happen.... Jack-- Armin, they knew." Darcy rubbed her cheeks, hiding a small smile with her fingers. "It feels weird, right? Thinking about where we came from."

"Darcy stand up." I looked over to Jewel. "Jewel, come over here!" The filly spun around, chasing her tail for a bit before dashing over.

Darcy stood, towering over me, tall as ever. "Glass, what's up?"

I bit my lip, making sure Jewel was close and safe. "Don't make fun of me." I walked up to Darcy, keeping my eyes on Jewel. "Just don't make fun of me." I wrapped my arms around Darcy, pulling her against me. My head landed against her cheek, Darcy's arms held out at her sides as I pulled her tight. "It does feel weird...."

Darcy's hands slowly fell against me. "Glass...are you--"

"Hugging people...I'm not sure I like it." I chuckled softly. "Better than being hugged I suppose...but not by much." I broke it off quick, escaping before Darcy could hold me in place. "Now...this-- what you said, I need to ask some ponies a few questions."

Darcy frowned hard. "It really bothers you, doesn't it?"

I looked back towards Jewel. "You know, it bothers me more that I don't know. And I mean, nothing certain, but I'd like to know for sure one way or the other." I rubbed my face. "Damn.... I know it shouldn't bother me, they love me, I know. I just, I think I need to know."

Darcy stood there, soft in her stance. "I get it." She looked across the grassy expanse leading down to the lake. "We should probably--"

"Darcy...are we dating?" I asked outright, turning to face her dead on. "This is a date, isn't it? Misty's been telling me to ask you...I just-- It is, isn't it?"

Darcy's eyes went wide. "Um...is it?"

I stuffed my hands in my pockets. "I think it is...."

Darcy chuckled nervously. "You seem disappointed."

I huffed sharply. "Not disappointed, exasperated in myself I think. I said I'd hold off, and here we are, trading fucked up stories, watching a filly play while we sit and talk on a bench." I rubbed my hands together.

Darcy's face fell from a blushy smile to a frown. "It doesn't have to be a date...we're friends, it--"

"Yes, and dating just means there's a mutual attraction...right? Two friends, who happen to want to attempt something more. Right?" I stretched out. "I'd- I-- Uuugh, didn't used to be this difficult."

Darcy smiled at me, one side of her lips raised. "You said you--"

"Darcy, go out with me?"

Darcy covered her face with her hand. "Wow...I didn't think you'd actually just ask like that."

I felt my cheeks burn. "Like I said, you see something you like, you go after it. Too much pissing about and you might lose your chance."

Darcy laughed into her hand. "You know, coming from anyone besides you or Tech, I'd level them."

"What makes me different then?" I looked down to Jewel, the filly racing between my legs in a figure-eight.

Darcy turned away, sliding her hand against my shoulder and down to my hand. Her palm was soft, warm, bit with firm grip. She turned to me with a smile. "Honesty. I don't think you've told a lie since you've been here." Her face was kind, expression warm, grip tender, eyes shimmering like polished emeralds.

I stretched my neck, my hand now confined to Darcy's for eternity, or at least until she let go. "Honesty is always the best policy, easiest way to avoid making enemies and easiest way to make friends." I laughed to myself as Jewel peaked up at me, smiling. "I suppose I could start lying, cant imagine I'd have much use for it now though."

Darcy laughed and tugged me along towards the town proper. "Glass, you can be honest, maybe just don't say it. Like with Cider I mean."

I cocked my eyebrow. "Are you saying she's not fit? That mare has a body you could bounce coins off of."

"And I don't?"

"Well I haven't seen." I pinched my nose with my free hand. "I suppose I'll find out soon enough."

Darcy laughed and slowed down, forcing her fingers between mine and tightening her grasp on my hand. "If daddy doesn't kick you to death."

"Ha--ha, that's a joke, right? ... Darcy? That's a joke, right? Right? Right!"

Darcy giggled, something that shook me to the core. "I don't know. Techno made it out alive, more or less."

"That's not funny!" I looked down to Jewel, her airy laugh filtering through her hat, drawn over her mouth. "You're a little monster, mute little turd!"

Jewel pulled her hat back on and stuck her tongue out at me. Darcy pulled me close to her. "Glass, don't fight with a filly."

I turned to Darcy in a flash. "I'll fight you! I'll...fight you somewhere.... With some--"

"Are you making a sex pun?"

"An attempt.... A very, very bad attempt."

Darcy frowned at me. "It is pretty bad."

I shook my head. Thoughts of a penis in boxing gloves flashing through my head. "Imagine if a penis actually had to fight a vagina? Bloody frightening."

Darcy whimpered, drawing in a raspy gasp before turning away. "W-h-hat?"

I pulled my hand free. "Like, if that's what sex was! Like a literal punch up between a penis and a vagina!" I let out a sharp sigh. "Man...why did you not stop me sooner? Could have stopped me from making a fool of myself at any point there."

Darcy shrugged. "Because it was funny? Not the joke. Watching you defend yourself, like a cat when you scare it."

I groaned loudly. "You know...Misty asked me if I liked you, I said yes. I thought she was asking if I was single, I guess she was." I rubbed my nose, making sure Jewel was still around. "She kept telling me how pretty you were, like, shoving me towards you whenever I tried to work."

Darcy muted her expression. "She's always been a little weird, if you couldn't tell from the eyes."

I shook my head. "She's worried about me I think...and I don't know why." I looked up to Darcy, her red shirt finally fixed, her shorts still tight as ever. "You know, she's right though."

"About?"

I slid my fingers across her wrist and down against her hand. "You are cute."

Darcy blushed, then let it fade almost instantly. "Wait...Misty said I was cute? I'm not sure I like having another girl say I'm cute...."

"Yes, well, I don't like being hugged or carried around. We all have issues."

Darcy pulled me closer. "Yeah well...somepony needs to get over his."

"Maybe.... Getting bear hugged by a six foot mare isn't going to help--"

"Too bad, you just signed up for more."

I watched Jewel run along the green path into town. "What can I say, ever since I've been here I've been a glutton for punishment." My mind shot back to Misty. She'd been nudging me and prodding me back towards my normal operations, albeit in an uncomfortably Ponyville way. I needed to go talk with her. I needed to talk to my family. "Darcy, do I need to meet your dad? I did already, I think--"

"You can come over for dinner, I'm sure Rarity won't mind."

"You know, I'm starting to wish she would mind a little more!"

Sale

I sat in the market, tending a borrowed stall. "Hmm...I feel so special." I counted out a bunch of bit coins, the first sale being so high set a precedent, and now my works were selling for an insane amount of money. It wasn't outrageous, but still far outside what I would have got in Storm Side. Small pony sculptures or crystal utensils or anything really.

I'd had a pony order something special a while back, and sure enough they popped into view from the crowd. A purple legged satyr with shiny silver-blue hair walked up to my stall. "Hey Glass."

"Striker...morning." I nodded at the sharp haired girl. "You here for the statue?"

Striker nodded. "You had it done?"

I reached under the stall's table. "It wasn't easy. Thank you for the multiples, the first two feathers caught fire...." I pulled the thin glass rectangle out, stood vertically with a feather imbedded in the crystal. It bore a solid black base and an otherwise flawless build with the feather buried inside. The feather was perfect, save one chip taken out to add an imperfection and give it a beautiful style. "I had to dip it in acrylic before working it."

Striker let out a gleeful cheer and grabbed it. "Oh my gosh! Mom's gonna love it!" Striker looked up at me, beaming. "How much?"

I sighed loudly. "Is it a gift? I thought it was your feather."

Striker shook her head. "No, it's my moms."

I rubbed my chin. "...Flitter?"

Striker frowned hard. "That's my aunt."

I laughed nervously. "Uh...Cloud Chaser, right?"

She shrugged. "I won't hold it against you, both weather ponies, same colors, I get it."

I coughed roughly. "Thank you for not crucifying me." I looked down at my bit bin. "Uh, twenty bits?"

Striker nodded and slapped down two ten bit coins. "Cool."

I nodded and grabbed the coins. "Indeed." I leaned forward, looking up and down the street. "Have you seen Darcy anywhere?"

Striker stretched her wings. "Um, who?"

I scratched my head. "I thought everyone knew each other in this town.... Uh, six-six, tanned, red leg--"

"Oh the big ass Apple mare! Yeah, saw her walking around near the acres." Striker set the glass piece down and put her hands on her hips. "Why?"

I shrugged. "We're dating."

Striker's eyes popped open. "Wow...does her coltfriend know?"

I stared at her, bewildered. "I'm her boy--colt-- I'm the one, and yes...I know."

Striker scratched her head. "Uh, wasn't it the blue haired kid?"

I rubbed my head and leaned against the table, resting my hand in my hand as I stared out at the busy market. "Apparently? To be honest I didn't give her exs much thought."

Striker shrugged. "They seemed like...really close. What happened?"

"Something about exploring options...who knows?" I laid my head across my table. "look, if you see her tell her to come over, I need help counting bits."

Striker picked up her gift. "Business good?"

I waggled my hand. "It's alright. Enough to rent a cheap apartment." I tapped my fingers on the table. "You don't care, do you?"

Striker laughed loudly. "Not really, but I thought it'd be nice to ask." Striker leaned against the table. ".... Is she into some weird stuff? Like...I don't know...weird stuff."

I cocked an eyebrow. "I wouldn't know, it's a discussion we haven't had."

Striker smiled. "You should ask--"

"Why so interested?" I stared at her, burning a hole into her head. "Hmm? Trying to get at something?"

Striker rolled her eyes, her wings betraying her. "Hey, knowing other people's fetishes, is my fetish." She smiled and slapped her hand against the table. "Anyways, I'll tell her if I see he--"

"Domination." I stretched my neck. "...I'm actually rather...agressive in bed."

Striker swung around to face me. "Really? You're so quiet th--"

"You asked. I can't speak for Darcy, and no one is going to believe you if you tell them." I stretched my fingers. "Or, maybe I'm lying, screwing with you." I smiled. "Have to admit, feeling better since I got the stall."

Striker nodded. "It shows. Still don't talk much, and you mumble a lot, but hey, baby steps."

I frowned hard. "Hey, compared to Storm Side I'm gregarious as hell!"

Striker stopped herself from laughing. "Gregarious?! What!?"

I sighed loudly. "It-- have you not learned words?! Go back to school you damn corridor case!" I crossed my arms and leaned back in my seat. "...Words...I'm not crazy, I know words!"

Striker laughed. "See, that's what I mean." She grabbed her gift and tucked it into her bag. "Anyways, I'll find her for you."

"Wait!" I reached out, calling back to her amongst the market. "...Are we friends?"

Striker smiled at me. "Sure."

I leaned back in my chair. "... So you call-- Never mind, I'm just going to accept it." I shrugged. "Better than back home, everyone just knows everyone else, all strangers that know eachother...."

Striker frowned hard. "Aw...that sounds terrible."

I waved her away. "Different. Granted I do like being able to walk down a street and having people actually say hello to me." I started to laugh. "I get all warm."

Striker clapped. "Aw, the little snowpony is melting! Oh boy, it's heartbreaking." Striker waved as she left. "See ya."

Once again I got a warm tingle in my belly as she waved at me. "Oh no...I fear I'm becoming normal." I rested, tending to a few customers and swelling my bit supply. Glass work and a few crystals zipped away, a week's worth of work paying into a rather deep stock of coins.

I flipped through a few stacks, watching ponies zip around with bags and boxes. I started singing as I slid the cold gold composite coins across my finger. "And you come to me, freezing, and I stand there waiting for you to--"

A warm voice broke the bustle of the market. "Are you singing?"

I looked up, glancing at Darcy before looking back down. "It's an old song. Now, are you going to take a seat and help?"

Darcy's legs traveled around the stall, eventually disappearing behind me as she fiddled with a rather loud folding chair. "You could ask nicely." Darcy flopped down next to me and brushed her boot against my own. "Just saying." She reached down, my eyes drawn to her hands as she undid her boots.

I shook my head and set a roll of bits down. "Really?"

Darcy yanked her boot off, a pair of normal white socks surrounding her hoof. "Hey, save it. I like it." She nudged me with her shoulder. "And look..." She pointed up.

I let out a short sigh and looked up her legs, a pair of scratched up jeans from her calf where her boot ended up. She wore her red shirt, collar repaired, entire thing let out and now fitted nicely against her slender looking frame. "Hmm, it's nice. You wear a slim look well." I looked up face to face with her, freckles arched up as she smiled. "What?"

I felt something brush my wrist. "Thank you." She grabbed my hand and pulled it down under the table. "I bought a few other things, and uh...here." Something pressed into my palm, replacing her hand. "It's nothing too big."

I stopped and looked down at my hand as Darcy stood up, tending to a customer. I found a cold metal ring in my palm, built with a crest of Storm Side college. A beautiful silver outline of a knight's helmet with a pony muzzle. I felt my gut sink at the prospect of what it entailed to get this. I bit my lip and rolled it around my fingers.

I slipped the ring onto my middle finger, an auxiliary finger, and one that wouldn't be weird about marital ties. "It bloody fits...." It sat snugly against the root of my finger, just tight enough not to wiggle, but not tight enough to be uncomfortable. "...Ho--"

"Forty bits." Darcy sat back down and set a stack of bits on the table. "Glass statuette."

I looked up to her in a flash, the beautiful tanned girl looking forward at the crowd that swirled around us. "Um...thank you." I ran my hand around the ring. "...How much was it?"

Darcy shook her head. "It's fine."

"How much?"

"Less than you gave me."

I moved my hand to her lower thigh. "Darcy...how much?"

Darcy shoved my hand off. "Glass, don't worry about it."

I bit my lip and wrapped my hand around the inside of her leg, pulling her against me. "Thank you...." My fingers dug into her flesh slightly. "Thank you."

Darcy pried my fingers away and took hold of my hand. "It's alright." She reached down with her free hand and pulled off her socks. "Now, I'm gonna get your shoes off."

I groaned softly and slammed my head against the table. "Again with this--"

"Yes." Darcy's hooves started to wrap around my right leg, trying to tuck under my boot and undo it. Darcy hugged my arm and leaned against me. "Oh, and you're welcome." She nuzzled my cheek. "We should take a picture some time."

I rested my hand against Darcy's leg, propping myself up as the sun faded in the distance. "You know, I did need help counting bits--"

"Later."

"I thought we could--"

"Later."

"Lunch? Dinner? Some--"

"Glass." Darcy tugged my hand to her right leg, pulling me against her. "Later." She looked up to the sun, dipping low and painting the sky gold. "We should go camping, or go out for a run, or something."

I bit my lip. "...Later?" I looked out to the sun. "I mean, if we're drawn between the two...I'm content, sitting here I mean...with you--"

"Glass...shut up and watch the sunset with me." She smiled at me, green eyes still as beautiful as ever.

I felt myself blush as I looked at her. I turned away and faced the falling sun. "Yeah, yeah I'd like that."

Call

I stood in Rarity's room, Jewel hanging from my chest as I pinned her against me. My arm was tucked under her forelegs, the half asleep filly swinging free from withers down. The loud buzz of Equestria's dial tone tittered away. I'd much perfected the Earth ring, but a phone was a phone across dimensions.

I let out a long yawn as Jewel started to slip out of my arm. I lifted a leg, boosting the filly up by her flank. "Don't fall...just-- Eeeeeugh, don't fall...." I covered my mouth with the phone as I yawned. "Come on...damn cable." I leaned against a wall, bound to a spot drilled into her wall. Archaic systems made obsolete over time, but far easier than sprouting poles from the earth. Every phone, internet, every system cable was buried deep underground and paved over in the years since my birth.

A loud double beep rang in my ear. "Hello?"

I took a deep breath and waddled back towards Rarity's bed. "Hey dad." I sat back, letting Jewel rest against my lap. "I've got time to talk...Mrs. Rarity is at the hospital for the night, so I figured I'd call."

My dad let out a long yawn. "It's a little late, don't you think?"

I looked over to the window, the sun was setting, but for everyone back home that was time to knock out. "Sorry, time behaves differently over here."

My dad laughed. "Hey, did you get the box yet?"

I scratched my head with the phone. "What box?"

"Oh, never mind then." He coughed into the phone. "So, how is it down home?"

I bit my lip. "I can see where you got the energy from--"

"Glass...it's not that bad."

"I know, I know." I pet Jewel's head as she curled up against me. "The people are, nice."

"Glass...."

"I'm being serious! A little overbearing at times, but intentions are good." I pet along Jewel's face, rubbing her lower jaw and scratching her chin. "...I have a marefriend."

A loud shuffling filled my ear. "What? Really?! Glass that's great!"

I shrugged, futility settling in moments later. "She's nice, nicer than Marin--"

"Well that's not difficult, son."

I laughed softly. "Yeah.... I wish it'd been different." I rubbed my eyes. "Her name is Darcy, she's interesting to say the least."

Things went quiet on my dad's end. "... That's good."

I bit my lip. "You were going to--"

"I know her dad. He's a real quiet kinda guy."

I nodded. "Quiet, yeah."

A loud sigh came from the other end. "Glass, why'd you really call? Because we both know it wasn't to say hi."

I lowered my head, staring at the white and maroon filly ball in my lap. "Who is she? I know... I couldn't tell Angle, but I know."

A long silence filled the air, hanging between us for a painful amount of time. "When that box comes, you'll get what you want. But you'll just have to wait. Now tell me about this girl, Darcy."

I shook my head. "You know, you have a way of--"

"It comes with being a dad. Now are you gonna talk with me, or bitch at me?"

My ass grew a bit warm at his words. "Fine.... She's tall, she's tanned, she's...she's got a problem with hooves."

"Can she walk?"

I shook my head. "Dad, she likes to play with hooves. It's not life threatening, it's just annoying." I rubbed my face. "She keeps taking her boots off and digging the side of her hoof into my shoes until they pop off."

My dad laughed. "That's cute, Glass, I didn't know you could be cute!"

I sighed away from the phone, not wanting to give him the satisfaction. "Anyways, things are going well. She hasn't struck me with anything weird or pushed, things are going well." I ran my hands through my hair.

"How long have you been with her?"

I took a deep breath, letting it out ever so slowly. "A month? Maybe a little less. It didn't take as long as I would have liked...but she's.... She's sweet, you know?"

"Glass, you can't stay out of a relationship. We all  know. I mean, you had your first fillyfriend in grade school."

I felt my cheeks heat up. "It's not like I try. I just don't like being alone is all--"

"Are you making friends?"

I closed my eyes and leaned back. "A few. A mare named Misty, her sister Dinky, Mrs. Rarity if you count her. Mason, Striker, Penn. Yeah, I talk with a lot of people now." I scratched my head. "Oh...I talk with a lot of people now...."

My dad laughed loudly. "Good, that's why we sent you down there. Now...it's late, and you should get the box soon. Call me when you get it, oh and get some sleep."

"Hey wai--" A loud click cut me off. "Bastard...." I hurried and put the phone down. "Could have at least waited to hang up on me." I cradled Jewel and stood up. "Come on, let's go." I slung her up, over my shoulder and walked out.

A quick walk into the opposite room was all I had. I set the filly down in her bed and put my hand against her forehead. "Alright...alright, do you need anything?"

Jewel splayed out atop her sheets, too hot to be tucked in. "Imaba...." She popped her eyes open and looked towards me. "...Where?" She looked around, breathing starting to pick up. "Where is it?"

I looked behind me, her pony doll stuffed in the corner. "Here." I stood up and scooped the piece up. I walked it back to the flailing filly and set it down next to her. "There--"

She yanked it from my hands, wrapping her hooves around it and turning to the wall. "Mine!" She nestled against the wall, her tail tucked under her legs.

I stared down at her. "Jewel, are you alright?"

I spotted a bright blue eye flitting towards me before flashing back to the wall. "...Jewel doesn't need you." She used her rabbit voice for the pony figure. "...Jewel is--"

I sat down next to her. "First time all alone with me?" I asked, running my hand over her side. She flinched under my touch, her leg contacting up towards her belly. "Do you want me to leave?"

Jewel let out a sharp whine. "...No...."

I kept rubbing her side, the soft white filly slowly relaxing. "Do you want me to do anything?"

Jewel huffed softly. "No!" She tightened up around her doll. "No."

I continued to pet her. "Do you want me to take you to your mom?"

Jewel went slack against her bed. "Jewel wants her daddy. I miss my daddy...now mommy's gone and you're here alone."

I closed my eyes and kept petting her. "I suppose I am." I took a deep breath and moved my hands around her midsection. "Come here--"

Jewel started to whimper and cry as I pried her up. "Stop it! Stop!"

I picked up the screaming filly and set her down in my lap. "We'll see your dad soon. I promise." I squeezed her against me, the Filly left to rub against my chest as I held her. "Jewel?"

"He's not good! He's all wrapped up!" Jewel shoved her hooves against my stomach. "I don't wanna see him! I don't--"

"Jewel, we'll go see him soon, I promise." I dug my fingers into her mane. "We'll go without your mom if you really want."

Jewel stopped pushing and stayed stable in my arms. "...She doesn't like me."

I ran my hand down the filly's mane, scratching the back of her neck. "She loves you."

"No she doesn't." Jewel buried her face in my shirt. "She yells at me--"

"She expects a lot from you, but she doesn't hate you." I scooted back on Jewel's bed and rested my back against the wall. "You should talk to her."

"... I'm scared...."

I laid the filly out over my chest, her bright maroon head leaned up against my chin. "It's okay to be scared. It's okay to be confused. But you need to talk to her." I sighed loudly and turned off the lamp near her bed with my magic. "We'll see your dad, and check on how you're feeling after." I held the filly loosely. "Now, get some rest, we have a big day soon enough."

Dinner

I sat with Darcy, Jewel, and Mrs. Rarity eating some brought home dinner from a finer end fast food place. Darcy sat next to me, while Jewel and Rarity sat on either end of the table. Darcy kept her mouth to a glass, all the while secretly bumping my hoof or pushing her leg between mine. I stopped eating for a moment and looked up at her. "Darcy...really?"

Darcy looked off to the side and kept a glassful of juice to her lips. Her hoof forced itself between my own, nipping up and down, trying to get my shoe off. Jewel kept a hoof against her bright red face, giggling and laughing as she ate. Rarity glared at her child. "Jewel...what's wrong with you?"

I huffed softly as I felt my right shoe come off, Darcy growing a playful smile behind her glass, green eyes joining in. "Darcy is molesting my leg...I think jewel is peeking under the table."

Darcy pulled her legs back to herself just as Rarity leaned down. "Hmm? I'm doing what?" She wore such a smug grin, I couldn't help but feel a jolt of rage shoot up my spine. "You look mad." She smiled and dipped her head towards her glass. "Are you mad?"

I pursed my lips into a cartoonish frown. I kept staring as Rarity pushed back up. "Mr. Work, you're missing a shoe."

I sighed loudly. "I noticed. Like I said, Darcy is molesting me."

Darcy rolled her eyes. "Oh you're no fun." Darcy put her hoof against my right leg.

Rarity laughed into her good hoof, nearly falling once again. "Oh dear--"

"Are you alright!?" I hopped up, Darcy's hoof jammed up against the top of my shoe. "Darcy!"

"I'm gonna get that shoe off!" Darcy put her drink down and grabbed the table.

Rarity just kept laughing as she straightened out. "Oh dear, do you two need some alone time?"

I grumbled angrily and pulled my shoe off myself. "She's insufferable!" I tossed the shoe down, Jewel lost her shit as I did, bursting out laughing and pointing. "It's not playful--"

Darcy smiled wryly, "Yes it is."

"No, it's bloody not!"

Rarity coughed into her hoof. "Actually it is."

"No!"

Darcy pushed her leg between my hooves. "Yes."

"No it's not!"

Rarity closed her eyes and nodded. "It's rather cute."

"I'm not cute!"

Darcy grabbed my arm and pulled me back into my seat. "Depends on who you ask."

Rarity waved a hoof, again almost falling and causing Jewel to spit a chunk of food onto her plate. Jewel shoved her hooves in her mouth to stop herself. Rarity glared at her child before looking back to me. "You know, if you wish I could take Jewel to bed, give you two--"

Darcy smiled sharply. "I'd love to spend the night."

Rarity laughed. "Oh my, I think Glass might combust if I let you, and I must admit I'm tempted."

I held my arms out, "You want me to play?"

Rarity looked to me out of the corner of her eye. "It couldn't hurt to see you lighten up."

"Fine." I leaned back in my chair and grabbed Darcy under her knees. I pulled her sideways, laying her legs over my lap. Darcy held on to the edge of the chair, almost falling backwards on her way. I leaned back my shoes off, a mare in my lap, Jewel suffocating as she tried to keep from laughing. "Darcy...come here." I swung my arm around, keeping her from falling backwards off the side of her chair. "There, I'm light!"

Rarity and Darcy looked to eachother. Rarity covered her mouth with a hoof. "Glass, you look extremely uncomfortable."

"I'm trying!" I hurried and helped Darcy off my lap. "I'm trying...playing and touching hooves and--"

Darcy grabbed my leg and drew it over her knee, letting my hoof sit between her legs. "This alright?"

I sighed loudly and pulled my leg back, slipping it between the back of Darcy's. She crossed her hooves, trapping my leg between hers. "There...I'm okay with this." Darcy squeezed my leg, dipping her lips against her glass yet again, smiling as she moved her hand. I couldn't help but smile, she like to torture me, but something about having her squeeze my leg like that, and the smile, and even the shoe thing started to melt me. "Alright...enough with the smile."

Darcy made an absurd angry face. "Oh you're such a stick in the mud."

Rarity looked to me, levitating a bit of hay into her mouth. "So...who's staying where? Because, and I am sorry Darcy, but I'd rather not have some couple besides myself and Vintage sharing my sheets."

Darcy shook her head. "Um...we haven't even kissed."

Rarity cocked an eyebrow and turned to me. "Glass, really? After all the time you two have spent together I'd thought you'd been going at it like bunnies-- Jewel, room, now!"

The filly bolted upright and sprinted out of the kitchen. Everyone watched the filly scramble away, her voice shrill, still never speaking a word aside from roaring laughter at my physical anxiety. "...Little monster. Rarity, your--"

"I know." Rarity tossed a bit of food into her mouth with a graceful show of magic. "Believe me, I didn't raise her like that." Rarity dabbed her lips, leaving purple smears on her napkin. "Now, it is a bit late, and I think it's time you saw Ms. Macintosh home." Rarity stood up and turned to the door. "Stay the night with her if you must, but be ready in the morning. I'm tailoring a few outfits and I need a model, so come home showered." She whipped her tail around. "No need to come home sweaty and spent, if you are sweaty and spent, perhaps a shower might help, hmm? A quick wash? Soft skin, touching-" Rarity waggled her hips, looking back at me and Darcy with a smile. "-or maybe just kiss her and keep things innocent. Either way, enjoy your night, both of you."

I watched Rarity leave. "Gods...she really lays it on thick, doesn't she?"

Darcy rubbed my leg between her hooves. "A little bit." She let my hoof go and stood up. "But it is pretty late." She looked to the back door, out into the market. "Did you want to come over? I'd appreciate if you spent the night."

"Why? I'm not about to rush in and stick myself between your legs after a week." I stood up, grabbing a few bits of meat as I did.

Darcy smiled at me. "First off, I think you did." She looked towards the door, her headband's ends flopping against her head as she turned. "Hoofsies aside, I meant cuddling." Darcy rubbed her arms. "I get lonely, I mean, if you--"

I sighed loudly, the prospect of not having to sleep alone lit up my heart. "I used to sleep in the same bed as my brother, you have to when it gets cold enough...." I turned to the doorway into the boutique. "I'll go grab some clothes."

Darcy grabbed me before I could leave. "Glass, you trust me right?"

I carefully removed Darcy's hand. "As much as I can, considering you're asking me."

Darcy swung herself around me. "Then wait here. I wanna get your clothes."

I rubbed my face. "Do I get to pick yours?"

Darcy smiled as she slipped out of the kitchen. "If you want." She disappeared into the dark room, leaving me standing alone in the half empty kitchen. My mind drifted to Cider, to Applejack, to Darcy's mother. It seemed that the orchards bred women of superb form, even if that meant they came with a bit of hick and far too much comfort with strangers.

I sighed loudly. "I suppose...it's not a terrible price." And, in the back of my mind, I couldn't help but be excited. As much as I hated it, as much as I loathed their excitable ways, their overly happy ways, their everything, I was excited. The heat was subsiding, the grass was green like I didn't even know existed, and I could actually roam if I ever had the time. Back home, you stuck to the corridors or went out into the ice in some sort of tank or car, carriage, something to keep you from freezing to death, but here I could just walk.

I could go outside, I could walk my mare home at night without having to run through corridor after corridor, I could breathe fresh air and walk at the same time. Darcy popped back into the room with a bundle of clothes. "Here, I didn't make it weird."

I took the clothes and tucked them under my arm. "I'm sure. Now, can we go?"

Darcy took the lead, holding the door as I hurried outside. "Excited?"

"Been thinking more and more about life down here. I mean, life outside Storm Side, Crystal Empire, Canterlot, anywhere the sun actually shines." I rubbed my arm, bare white skin for the first time in years. "It feels good to be able to touch the air, and not have to get treatment for frostbite."

The town was quiet, the street lamps lit, a few thestrals milling around as the sun set. Even at night his town had life, much smaller in number, but life all the same. Shops only lit during the night, dim red lights to soothe the eyes of the night dwelling kinds. A town with two lives. I carried along, following Darcy through the streets. "Glass, sorry."

I hurried up to her, having fallen a bit behind in my gawking. "Hmm? For what?"

Darcy put her hand on the back of her neck, popping out the bright orange streak that ran through her otherwise black hair. It seemed odd, I'd never really put much thought into her hair, I should have. "I feel like I went a bit overboard--"

"With the hoof thing? A little." I caught a look at her face, tanned skin still dotted with freckles across her nose. Her hair sported a bright orange bang, sitting wide and strong amidst the pale black. "It's fine though.... I asked you, out, for lack of a better word.... Oh, and I really don't mind too much, just enough to say something."

Darcy looked me up and down. "So you're not mad?"

"I was flustered, but mad, no not at all." I stretched my free arm as we approached her street, the constant clop of hooves reminding me I had no shoes. "The shoe thing, the shoe thing did piss me off quite a bit...."

Darcy laughed softly. "Sorry."

I shook my head. "If you want to do that, please, not in front of Rarity. She's letting me stay there, she's a potential business partner, and I've been sneaking a few petty gems from her stock."

Darcy's eyes went wide. "You've been--"

"I leave packets of bits in her work room, so...I am paying for them. But yes, I'm stealing gems." I put my hand up. "Sue me."

Darcy nudged me with her shoulder. "Or I could just keep kicking your shoes off."

I turned away. "I suppose you could. Again, it would have been fine if I wasn't trying to eat, and keep up appearances of professionalism. Yes, Glass Work, pinnacle of professionalism! Watch as my marefriend plays hoofsies with me under your dining table!"

"Are we doing impressions now?" Darcy puffed out her chest. "Oi I'm no fun, I work all day and complain about humidity like I'm ninety! I asked Darcy out but when she tries to play and help me adjust I just huff and puff like some blustering mule!"

"A mule, really!?" I walked backwards before her, clearing my throat before attempting my girl's voice. "I'm Darcy, I'm so excited, everyone in my town is so friendly I can just walk in and pee while somepony is taking a shower! Oh, sorry, I thought you were my dad!"

Darcy rolled her eyes, her tail, tied off at the end, wooshed around wildly. "Alright, alright, I said sorry! Me and my dad are the only ones who use that shower, and that's only when mom is using the upstairs one! I had no I--"

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were trying to see me naked." I jeered, trying to steer the conversation into a calmer mood.

Darcy scoffed. "Oh please, I've had to take care of my cousins, and after you've seen one nude little kid run around, you've seen them all."

I shook my head. "Nude? Like--"

"They play in the mud, then strip down and go play in the orchard." Darcy shrugged. "Everypony tells me and Cider to watch them, but I'm not fast enough to catch them all!"

I frowned hard. "You know, you saying you don't care about me naked...it hurts my pride." I coughed roughly and turned around to check if I knew anyone out. "No? Alright...Darcy, something I should tell you if this ever goes past innocence...I've--"

Darcy shot her head back, leaning away from me. "STD?"

"Oh god no!" I shook my head hard, making myself dizzy. "No, no, I- god no." I stopped shaking my head and turned to face Darcy's street, her house plain as ever. "I had issues with...size, as a younger stallion." I rubbed my lips with my wrist. "Nothing like getting laughed out after your first time...."

Darcy cringed hard and walked past me. "Oh, man.... That's rough."

I shrugged and cocked my head. "Needless to say my ego was annihilated, so...I uh--"

"I won't laugh--"

"Well it's not a problem anymore!" I felt my face start to burn. "Bloody-- piss.... I could ask any mare out, but this is always a pisser." I took a deep breath as Darcy stepped up onto her porch. "I took potions to, increase size. So, I just thought I'd share if it seemed disproportional...."

Darcy grew a bit pink, standing there, one hand on her door, one on the railing to her porch. "Uh...is it like a foot?"

I shook my head. "No- no, I'm not stupid, it's.... Can we go inside? I'd rather not talk about my issue out in public."

Darcy puffed out her cheeks and pulled the door open. "Sure, Mac might here and stomp you like a watermelon, but okay."

"Heah." I walked in after her and hurried down her hall. "Anyways, it's, above average, but not stupidly so." I stuffed my hands in my pockets. "They actually warn you about it, that if you drink too much of the potion it might be too big, and it might rot." I felt a shiver run up through my spine. "Nothing more romantic than talking about somepony's penis rotting off."

I turned to face Darcy. She was bright pink across her freckled cheeks. "Uh, wow. Why'd you tell me this now?"

I cocked my head. "If you wanted to leave. I want to be transparent here, and if it's something that you don't like I'd rather we cut it off now then draw this out until I'm dug in like a tick."

Darcy smiled at me then turned to the wall. "I'm not really worried about it. Not sure if you're used to this, but I'm not here trying to have sex. I like you, you're fun to play with and you seem nice." She stuck her tongue out at me. "And I've got a few things to take care of the whole, sex, thing."

"Eeeyup."

I locked up and immediately started stepping back. "No...no...no, no, no--no-no." I backed into the bathroom, barely catching a glimpse of a red face peeking over the edge of the hall. "I'll be in here for the night!" I clutched my clothes to my chest as Darcy and Mac talked. We'd talked before, but getting caught like this was going to end with someone in the ground or in a trashcan.

The door slowly creeped open, Big Mac's orange mane showing first. "Glass, come on out." Mac swung his head down the hall.

I bit my tongue hard, letting it jut from my lips as I followed. "Sure, I've lived long enough." I sauntered behind the massive pony, lurching towards my death with each step. "Sir, if you're going to kill me, just do it. I'd prefer to end it quickly."

Mac turned around, blocking me from the exit. "Nope...." He looked me up and down. "Open."

I ran through a quick list of things I could open. "My mouth?"

Big Mac nodded. I popped my mouth open. "Hmm, smoke?"

"Nuh sur."

Mac leaned in. "Breath's okay.... You're the one at the old workshop...you talk with Darcy much?"

I nodded and closed my mouth. "Almost every day for the past two weeks, few days missing. I think she--"

"Mmmhmm." Mac walked around me, his short cut tail low. He looked up at me, glaring at me. "Ya got plans?"

"Get changed into something warm, spend the night in your guest room."

Big Mac's expression changed in a flash to something tired. "...Really?"

I took a deep breath. "You asked if I had a plan. My plans, far different than Darcy's."

Mac cocked an eyebrow. "How so?"

I shifted from hoof to hoof. "I would be fine staying under the same roof as her, but she wants me to sleep with her. And when I say sleep...I mean sleep. I mean laying down, clothed--"

"I get ya." Mac turned to the window, accidentally bumping me with his flank. "Sorry." He turned back to me, blocking me from the exit. "You the reason she's been out a lot?"

"Part of it." I stretched my neck. "I'm not--"

Mac looked over to a small piece on the table under their pictures. "This yours?" He nudged his head to a solid glass apple I'd molded.

I bit my tongue. "Can I see it?" I walked over and picked up the glass bit. Green crystal, molded with spun stem and leaf. "I believe so."

Mac walked up next to me. "Ya work hard?"

"I try. Seems this town conspires to see me relax more than I wish, but I'd say so."

Mac huffed softly. "Eeyep...." He turned to me with his normal flat expression. "...Try and get her to clean up."

I snapped my head to him. "Wha?"

Mac shook his head and turned to the door outside. "Filly's room is a mess, you get her to clean up I'll...do somethin' nice."

I made a tsk sound with my lips. "I can certainly try."

"Eeeyup. Ya seem like the neat type...ain't seen the workshop that organized in...hmm, ever."

I felt my cheeks heat up. "A clean shop is a productive one."

"Hmm, good words." With that the Goliath walked out, leaving me trembling in the hall. My legs felt like they were going to collapse.

Breathe Glass, breathe or die.

I took a deep breath and turned to Darcy's door. "Jesus, Celestia, Celsus, my heart." I leaned against the wall and hurried over. I slipped inside, Darcy already changed into a pair of panties and a shirt that went past her ass. "Your dad let me live."

Darcy turned to me, her breasts seeming larger than before. "I didn't hear any screaming, so I figured."

I couldn't help but stare. They usually weren't noticeable at all, and even when she was popping buttons on her shirt they didn't seem large. "Uh.... Bra?"

Darcy looked down at her chest. "Nope."

"I could tell." I sighed loudly and turned to the door. "How does it feel? I mean, you hide them well or have them pulled against your chest whenever I see you, but this is--"

Darcy put her hand up. "I'll tell you the same thing I tell everyone else. You lay a watermelon on your chest, then once the day's over, you take it off."

I felt a strange sympathy pleasure radiate from my ribcage. "So, like when you let me go from a bear hug?" It felt like breathing, it felt like letting tension go, it was letting tension go. Like shooting a rubber band or stretching a spring.

"Yeah, now are you gonna change, or what?"

I looked to the door. "I'll go change in the--"

Darcy rolled her eyes and grabbed my wrist. "Oh come on, I'll face the other way if you want."

I groaned loudly and waited until she turned around. I changed out my clothes in a flash, stuck in a pair of boxers and no shirt thanks to Darcy. "Fine, there, done." I threw my hands up. "And really?"

Darcy turned back to me, smiling. "Trust me, you'll thank me." Darcy looked me up and down. "Just trust me."

I looked to the windows. "Sure. Now how is this gonna work?"

Darcy frowned. "Uh...yeah...probably like before." She turned to the bed. "I always end up as big spoon." She looked down to her hooves. "Being tall isn't great some times."

I looked up at her. "Do you want to be?"

Darcy looked back to me. "Well, it's just how it-- Whoa hey!" I walked up behind her and put my arms behind her legs and back.

"I'm going to be a cripple by the time I'm forty...." I grumbled, dipping her back and catching her in my arms. It felt like someone had placed a alligator clip on my spinal column. "Alright--" I hoisted her over the bed and put her down. "Oh god--" I rested my hands against the bed as Darcy rolled onto her back. "Yes, stupid, I know!"

Darcy looked a bit worried. "Are you gonna be okay?"

I stretched my back. "I'm going to need a chiropractor later, but for now I should be alright." I ran my hand along Darcy's bed. "Ugh." I pulled back the covers and laid down behind Darcy. "Here." I placed my arm under Darcy's head, my other hand under her arm around around her side. I wrapped my leg over her thigh and between her hooves. "Hmm.... alright?"

Darcy shifted around as I sloppily pulled the covers over us. "...Glass, I've never been little spoon," she whispered softly, grabbing my left arm and adjusting it to her stomach. "It feels weird.."

I pulled my arm free and tugged her bow out of her mane. "And I'm holding a six-something mare, it's weird all around." I tossed her hair tie aside, placing my hand back on her ribs. I let out a long sigh and nestled in against her. She was warm, her mane smelled faintly of sweat and leaves. I felt her move my hand under her shirt, against her stomach.

I ran my hand along the border of her coat and bare skin, both soft, one smooth, the other velvety. "Glass...what's it like up north?"

I felt her head rest against my right forearm, pinning me. It was no longer my arm, simply a pillow for Darcy. "Cold, lonely, lots of people rushing through life."

Darcy held her left hand against my wrist. "Oh...." She guided me down, placing my hand against her thigh. I could feel something smooth amongst her coat. "Glass, thank you."

"Mmmhmm."

"Thanks for...well, a lot."

"Mmm."

Darcy nestled against my arm and squeezed my leg with her hooves. "Do you like me?"

I buried my face in Darcy's hair, darkness finally overtaking my vision. "Darcy, what a dumb question." I moved my hand back to her warm stomach and squeezed her against me. "Kindness...presence, talk all of it goes a long way." I kissed the back of her head. "Now get--"

Darcy swung herself around, face to face with me in a flash. My right arm was still pinned, my left hoof was spat out then rewrapped by Darcy's thigh, my left arm found a new place against Darcy's back. She looked at me for a moment, the jostling sheets going quiet. "I love you."

My heart stopped. Love was something I kept in, love was something I reserved. I'd known her about a month, and already this. No matter how much could be attributed to kindness, closeness, or time spent, it burned me. I found myself caught in a fork. Do I let go, forget what I was and try to build something new, or do I cling to what I am, what I know, and what is honest?

I slid my hand up her back, accidentally lifting the back of her shirt as I slipped to her head. I had no idea how long this would last. A month, a season, a year, who knows. But in that moment, I let go. "I love you too." I dipped forward, turning my head slightly to keep from slamming our noses together.

It was soft, benevolent and without lust. Closed eyes, only opened after. Her lips were gentle, her arm wrapped around my shoulders as I held her against me. I broke it off silently and left Darcy to tuck under my chin. She tucked her arm against me, my left hand resting against the arch of her back. Darcy sighed loudly. "Thank you."

Brush

I woke up warm. For the first time since I've been here, I felt warm upon the morning. I opened my eyes, Darcy was sitting on her side of the bed, facing the windows. "Glass, hey."

I took a deep breath and sat upright. "Darcy, morning--"

"I'm sorry," Darcy stated, turning to face me. "I'm really sorry."

I cocked my head. "For what?" I looked down my chest, no markings, no nothing. "Is it on my back?"

Darcy shook her head, a terrible frown on her face. "I-- I asked if you loved me...or I said I loved you." Darcy turned back to the window. "I'm sorry."

I scratched my head. "Why?"

Darcy let out a soft sigh and looked up, the orange streak in her hair bright. "I put you on the spot, and I know you're not...I know...it's--"

I swung my legs off her bed and stood up. "Ah...that." I rubbed my eyes, clearing my vision. I blew a long stream of air and turned to face her. "I know what I said."

Darcy shook her head. "I got emotional, and I said something weird. Just, nopony ever held me like that, they always said I was too big or they'd get crushed or--"

"Darcy"- I walked over to her, standing near the bottom of her bed, -"it's okay."

Darcy turned to face me. "Glass...I asked you if you loved me. I said I loved you. I just...I had a moment. It's only been like a month, I shouldn't be saying that stuff and I--"

"Are you going to leave?" I asked plain.

Darcy turned to me with a heavy frown. "Should I? I like you Glass, you're nice to me, you're nice to everypony I've seen you with--"

I tilted my head. "I did tell your cousin to fuck off...."

Darcy's eye tightened up. "What?"

"Your cousin was watching me work, like leaning over my shoulder, so I told him to fuck off."

Darcy stared at me, bewildered. "Um.... Okay, but my point is I-- You said you weren't interested in getting--"

I sat down beside Darcy, letting my hand lay palm up between us. "Darcy, I know. And I agree things got...heated." I looked up to her, eye to eye with the mournful girl. "But I don't want you to leave."

Darcy looked down to my hand. "I just feel like I screwed up."

I shook my head. "Darcy I asked you. I know you like me, I like you. I don't know if I love you, and I really don't think we've spent enough time together for you to say you love me. But I don't want to lose you because we both did something stupid."

Darcy looked back up to me, sighing exasperatedly before turning to the window. "Techno would have said it was--"

"Darcy, I'm not Techno." I put my free hand on my chest. "Darcy...if you're looking to replace him, I don't think it's going to work for us." I started to pull my hand back. "I know it's not easy, losing someone you care about like that, but I can't replace him."

Darcy turned back to me, eyes watering. "Then that's it?"

I held my hand out. "It doesn't have to be." I closed my eyes and lowered my head. "Darcy, I've told you I'm trying to change, and I think you could help me, I think moving on, getting into a different relationship, getting into a different way of living, all of it, I think it can help me. But it can't just be me, and it can't be just you trying to replace him."

I opened my eyes, staring down at my blue legs. "I want to be there for you, like you've been for me. But I think...I think things need to slow down, I'm trying to change, but I need something to be stable in my life, I need something I can come back to."

Darcy bit her lip and looked down at her own hooves. "I'm really sorry Glass...I didn't mean to--"

I held my hand out again. "Darcy, love is a boil. Love burns, love bubbles and pops, and it takes time for that heat to die down. But on the same hand, it can build up in a different place, and it takes time to reach that." I looked to my hand, soft and pale in the filtered sunlight. "I think, we give it time, we move slow and let things simmer...I think it could work, and I want it to work." I turned to face Darcy, eyes watery, forcing a similar response from me. "Look at me, I'm almost crying. Darcy, I care about you, you've been one of the few ponies really trying to push me to change, and I'm glad!"

Darcy shook her head. "I shouldn't have pushed you...."

I clenched my fist. "Darcy, I want to change, and I know I can't do it alone! I want your help, and I want to help you. I just want things to be slower." I eased my fist, back into a flat hand. "I don't want to lose a chance with you because of this. And I don't know if I love you right now, but I care about you, I want to see you happy, and I think you're one of the people I want helping me change." I motioned my hand to her. "So please, be my marefriend, not my wife."

Darcy stared at my hand. "...Wife?"

I shrugged. "I don't know about here, but if you can say you love someone in Storm Side, after being trapped days on end with the same person in one room, you best to marry them."

Darcy's brow fell into a sharp V. "Days stuck with you?"

"Terrible right?"

Darcy smiled. "Yeah." She took my hand, interlocking our fingers and warming my palm.

I sighed loudly. "So...no love?"

Darcy smiled at me again, huffing softly. "A little love, just a little."

I lowered my head and laughed. "I can handle a little. I think we can both handle a little."

Darcy pulled my hand to her thigh. "So what, we're still friends?"

I bit my tongue. "A little more than friends, less than lovers though. Filly, Colt, friends."

"So are you still gonna kiss me?"

I pursed my lips and scowled at my hooves. "I think I could manage that."

"Hoofsies."

"Aye."

"Staring into my eyes."

I laughed sharply. "That would be a little weird."

"Sharing a bed still?" Darcy asked, tugging my arm. She wore a soft, tempered smile.

I breathed deep. "On one hand, warm bed. On the other, implications." I turned to Darcy, "I think I'll leave that one to you."

Darcy smiled wide. "I think it's okay."

"So do I." I turned to the door into the hall. "Maybe don't walk in on me showering though. I think that's a good place to draw the line right now."

Darcy stood up, finally releasing my hand. "It was on accident."

"Sure it was." I stood up and stretched my arms. "I'm sure you were just interested in young coc--fuck!" Darcy poked my upper ribs while my arms were raised. My voice was shrill as I jerked away from the tender poke. "Slag!"

Darcy shook her head. "I thought you said slow down? Flirting still okay?"

I rubbed my side. "First off, I was joking. Second, I don't flirt."

"That's not what Cider sai--"

"Well Cider flirts!"

Darcy rubbed her chin. "Then isn't she better at knowing what's flirting and what's not?"

I stared at Darcy. "Are we going to go get breakfast or not?"

Darcy looked off to the side. "Sure." She walked over to her dresser. "Oh, and glass...I'm really sorry--"

"You said that already." I grabbed my clothes from the floor.

Darcy turned to me with a sour expression. "I'm just telling you again."

I nodded. "Fine, I'll tell you again too. It's fine, just...don't ask me if I love you again."

"Do you like me?"

"Yes." I turned to face Darcy before walking out. "Now are we really going to do this?"

Darcy smiled and kicked her leg out. "If I didn't test the boundaries, how would I know where they were?"

I grumbled angrily. "Darcy, you told me you loved me. And- I might, in time, but what else was I going to say? It was late, and I couldn't fit this entire conversation into the few moments before I fell asleep."

Darcy sighed and fixed her shirt. "I guess not." She turned to me with a strange expression. "Glass...I'm not trying to replace him."

I sighed and walked over. "Are you not?"

Darcy bit her lip. "I don't think I am."

"You don't think?"

Darcy looked down at the floor. "I am, aren't I?"

"A little. And it's a fine line between moving past someone and replacing them." I reached out and took her hand again. "And I'm more than willing to help you move on, but I can't be him."

Darcy let me rub my thumb along the ridge of her index finger. "How do you do it?"

I sniffled softly. "I focus on someone new. I find out everything about them that's completely different from the last and I focus on that."

Darcy smiled at me. "Well...you're a little shorter--"

"Oh come on!"

Darcy grabbed my hand again. "But you held me like he wouldn't. Your hand is warmer." She smiled down at me. "You're better at kissing...."

I turned away. "More practice...and Darcy, a bit much."

Darcy's face shot to a nervous frown. "Sorry."

I held my hand up. "It's alright. It's not easy, going from sixty to ten. Wasn't easy when I did it, won't be easy for him. Just takes time." I sighed loudly and looked out the window. "So...we're starting over?"

Darcy looked to me. "I think so. Slower this time, right?"

I nodded. "Aye. Well...I'll admit the hoof thing is growing on me." I lifted my hoof and slid it along her lower leg. "This is a bad habit...."

Darcy fought my hoof. "Better than smoking."

I ran my hand along my mouth. "So...friends, good friend--"

"Colt friend, filly friend."

I nodded. "So I have a favor to ask." I turned to Darcy and stood tall. "Can I ... can I brush your tail? Mane? Both?"

Darcy cocked her head and leaned back. "Uh, sure?"

I smiled. "None of my exs ever let me."

Darcy shrugged. "I know some ponies like that, it just depends I think. Or maybe its because of where they were from."

I looked down at Darcy's tail. "I don't know, nor do I care much. It's a bonding moment and its something they kept from me for too long." I turned to the door and went to get dressed. "Wait until I find out it's nothing special and they just didn't like me that much."

"Maybe. Oh and Glass, thanks."

I huffed and walked down out of Darcy's room. "Yes, alright. ... Thank you too...." I turned away from her room. "Really...thank you. I thought I was going to lose my friend for a bit there."

"Ha! You think breaking up would make me stop being your friend!?"

"No, I thought it would break your sick farmer telepathy! Sadly it seems to have only made it stronger!"

Wait...I said friend. I don't have friends. Do I? I looked back at Darcy's room. A change in a good direction if I do. Not sure if I'm ready for friendship commitments though. Talking is annoying.

Visit

I sat in Jewel's room, forcing the filly against my lap as she tried to scramble away. "Stop it you little-- stop!" I tried to stop her from wiggling, the filly refusing to let me get her dressed. "We're going to see your dad, now stop it!"

She let out a shrill scream as I forced the dress over her head. It sounded like a fawn mewling in the jaws of a timber wolf. "No! Nooo!" Her pitch was high enough to break glass. "Nooooo no no no!"

"Holy shit! Calm down!" I struggled to force her legs through the holes. "It's a dre--"

"No!"

I yanked her up and straightened out her dress. "Come on, don't you want to look pretty for your dad!?"

Jewel dug her hooves into my belt as I pulled her up. "No, no, nooo!" She started wailing, hooves kicking the top of my balls as she squirmed. "Noo!" Her whimpers and cries devolved into something utterly pathetic. I pulled her dress over her flanks and threw the filly down. She landed on all fours and immediately threw herself down. She let out a sharp, shrill wail and started to kick her legs. "I hate you! I hate you!"

"Oh my god!" I threw my hands up. "What did I do to you!?"

Jewel looked up at me, blue eyes wrought with pain. "Eeeeeeheh-heh-heh!" She beat her hooves against the floor and slammed her head against her play table. "I don't wanna! I don't wanna!"

"Oh my god, what the fuck?" I stepped back and leaned my head out of Jewel's room. "Rarity, what did I do!?"

I could hear Rarity's cough over her filly's screams of anguish. "Did you get her dressed?"

I looked down the hall, out the window. "Yes, but I'm afraid the market is going to think I'm killing somepony!"

Rarity cleared her throat. "She does that every time I dress her. She's absolutly horrible about getting dressed. The only words I've ever heard her say have been angry bitter screams...."

"I hate you all!" Jewel hopped up, kicking and screaming, bucking and running around the room. Her voice was outright painful, ripping apart my ears as she stood in her room and screamed at me.

I stormed over to her. "Jewel, knock it off!" I grabbed her under her forelegs and tossed her over my shoulder, deflecting her screams away from my ear. "Good god!" I felt myself frown extremely hard as I whisked her down the stairs, kicking and screaming like a maniac the whole while. "Rarity, your child is insane!"

She turned to me, her brace squeaking as she turned. "Oh I know! I put anything on her and she screams her head off! A pair of pants, a dress, skirt, a hat!" Rarity shook her head. "If she doesn't want to put it on, she screams and screams, and when she can't scream, she sulks, she sulks and moans."

Jewel's screams started to turn into sobbing. "Well...I'd call it bleating or mewling, but either way." I rubbed the filly's back, her tail hanging low as Rarity turned around. "Does she do this--"

Rarity nodded and flicked her tail. I couldn't help but look, checked back into place by her panties hiding her privates expertly. They matched her coat and made her look almost like a featureless doll. "Every, single, time." She wheeled herself through the shop, ushering a few ponies out as she walked. "Now, I'll be getting my cast off. Vintage will be getting out soon enough, but I'm sure he'd appreciate the visit."

I carried the whimpering filly outside, the warm spring morning sprinkling heat over my arms. "If I can ask, how bad was it?"

Rarity turned around, walking backwards through the market. "The fall?" Rarity flipped her mane. "Oh dreadful. I fell perhaps five meters, Vintage fell five, then six, then thirty." She shook her head hard. "I do feel...a modest amount of sympathy for the diamond dogs, when they saw he was that badly injured they dug him out and brought him to the surface." She bit her lip. "I'm still not a fan, rather savage creatures, but I don't think they mean to hurt others, simply negligent in their tunneling."

I licked my lips and bounced the filly's flank with my forearm. "There are a few up in Storm Side, a few test subjects for drugs and spells and what not, and two students."

Rarity's eyes popped open as she swung around. "Really? Hmm...still, I'd like it if they stayed away."

"Understandable considering--"

Rarity shook her head hard. "Oh no, this isn't why. We've had previous interaction. This is simply the latest trauma in a series of poor choices on their part."

I shrugged. "Only so much I can do, and I don't think I'm going to change your mind." I bounced Jewel against my shoulder. "...This however, this is ridiculous."

Rarity looked back at me and rolled her eyes. "She is just the most belligerent creature about getting dressed, and being dressed."

I rubbed Jewel's back, the sobbing filly emanating sympathy like a bomb emits radiation. "I suppose better to be a pony then, if you're going to be a nudist I mean."

Rarity stopped and looked back at me. "You mean because of breasts? Well, I'm doubtful that would stop her."

"That's my point." I looked across the street, our walk already finding us on the road just outside the hospital. "Better to be decent, and...no off--"

Rarity kept on down the cobblestone walk, ignoring the carriages and carts that joined the ponies in the main street. "Oh no, I think human modesty did a lot of good for Equestria--"

I smiled wryly. "And this is completely independent of you making clothes?"

Rarity chuckled and hung her mane to cover her face. "Of course darling. Why ever would you insinuate that making an extremely large sum on panties alone would influence my decision?"

I laughed and bounced the sobbing Jewel in my arms. "Oh no, I would never suggest such." I looked off towards the hospital. "Now, about clothes...Darcy bought some--"

"Her shirt, a few others, pants, skirts, and...a sweater." She smiled back at me. "I do believe it was for your benefit though, it...how can I say this without being lewd...." Rarity bit her tongue and let her eyes roll up towards the top. "It...it.... It framed her cleavage very well. And by very well, I mean you could lose a limb in there." Rarity stopped to cover her hoof and laugh. "Oh dear...I'm sorry, it was an open chest sweater and with the bra she bought, it's ridiculous."

I coughed roughly. "They are bloody massive. I really don't know how she looks as slender as she does most days!"

Rarity smiled at me. "And she's only a c-cup. Or I believe that's what it is. To be honest even after I had Jewel mine were rather petite."

I moved my hand up and cupped Jewel's head, covering her ear. "I don't know cup size...."

Rarity started off again, up the walkway to the hospital ramp. "It's proportional. Size of the body and size of breast are measured to find the cup size."

This is fucking fascinating.

Rarity turned onto the ramp, leading me along despite my able bodied status. "Darcy's breast are large, but considered a smaller cup than she looks because she's simply so tall. And yes, I dress her down into a b, it suits her. She's rather tough, but I put her in a dress and she looks willowy, it distracts from her height and draws the eye to her legs." Rarity sighed loudly. "She really did draw that card quite well."

"Her legs?" I walked ahead of Rarity and pulled the door open. "Why's that?"

Rarity nodded and me and walked inside. "The shade of her coat is very rich, and her hooves are nicely proportioned to her thighs. Not like some ponies, gangly or stout legs never look amazing."

I stared at Rarity. "...You know, I was making enough to move out soon, but--"

"Well if you do, be sure to visit." Rarity slapped my leg with her tail. "Craftspony to craftspony, it's a nice chat without having to worry about offending somepony."

I scratched my head and leaned back to keep Jewel against my chest. The large hospital lobby really a blank floor with benches lining the side of the wood worked walls. "Why's that?"

Rarity walked up to the counter and slid a piece of paper to a pony being it. "Because dear, I have no real hold in glass making, and I don't think you hold much stock in tailoring. With vintage, well, he knows tailoring, and I do know a bit about vinting. So, criticism can be taken as insults...from both parties." She huffed softly as the pony behind the counter hopped up.

"Ah, a fair point, and I was going to ask if I could stay longer--"

"So long as you pay rent." Rarity was met by a pony in a strange hat. "Now, if I'm not done soon, take Jewel home. I'm sure being dressed was enough of an ordeal for her already."

I nodded. "And well, I hope you won't be offended, but I'll do my best to leave as soon as I can find an apartment. I will visit though."

Rarity smiled and walked off. "Oh! He's here to visit Vintage by the way!" she shouted to the lobby desk. A human looked up for her desk and over to me.

The woman hurried over to the desk and looked me up and down. "For Mr. Vintage?"

I nodded. "Yes."

The woman pointed to the side. "Elevator to the third floor, someone will meet you there." She quickly walked away, leaving me a bit deflated.

"Hmm I suppose bedside manner is more for the patients...but still." I turned to my right, a long hallways with a set of stairs and a pair of elevators offshot from the main room. I hurried over, Jewel huffing and mewling in my arms, a step down from her pained  howling earlier. "Jewel...are you alright?"

Jewel stayed silent.

I walked up and jammed the elevator button. "Oh come on...you're not going to talk to me now?" The elevator opened up, offering itself free to me. I stepped in and leaned against the back wall. "Filly...that's just rude." I dug my fingers into her mane. "Anything?"

"I hate you...."

"Oh no you don't!" I grabbed Jewel and held her out at length. "Don't you start! Filly, your mother might tolerate that, but we're going to visit your father! Now, I can take you home if you're going to be bad!"

Jewel took a deep breath, obviously getting ready to scream. "Eeee--"

I pulled her against my chest and jammed my thumb into her mouth. "Don't!"

Jewel bit my thumb hard. "Aah--"

"No!" I squeezed her against me, pulling my thumb out and replacing it with the side of my index finger, where my finger lead into the inside of my thumb. "You can bite and kick, but the screaming has to stop."

Jewel clamped down on my hand and huffed. Her nostrils flared as she chewed on me. "Meph." She snorted and wiggled around in my arms, her eyes watering slightly.

"That's fine. You huff all you want, but I won't put up with you screaming in my ear!" I lifted her up with my knee. "All this over a dress...." I looked down at her, the thin tan sheet barely covering her. "Really more of a poncho with sleeves." It was completely plain, with a blue band across her flank. I had to guess the plainer the better considering her disposition to the matter.

The elevator dinged, a mare with a tight fitting set of scrubs already waiting. "Mr. Rarity?"

I scratched my head. "Uh...not family, but I'm here to visit Mr. Vintage."

The nurse nodded. "Yes, we were waiting for you. Right this way." The nurse spun around, her tail was slashed short and tied up at the base. I couldn't help but feel a bit heavy, my tail still long and bushy.

I should cut my tail like that.

The hall was extremely dull. White, obviously redone, the doors equally white with small windows on each. The pony charm was there, but everything felt sterile and human. And as efficient and clean as it was, I did have a fondness for the pony style architecture. Each door that passed felt oddly prophetic, like I was going to open the door to meet Rarity's spouse, and he'd be some cut and copy pony.

The nurse spun around and nudged her head towards a door. "He's in there, he should be awake. And if he's not he's supposed to be."

I looked into the room, blankets and sheets covering the window. "Hmm, I don't want to be a burden." I put my hand on the handle and pushed it open. The room smelled of fresh hay, heavy and warm. "Oh...hmm, rather nice."

"Hello?" A warm voice pulled me over. "Who's that? New nurse?"

Jewel wiggled in my grip, dropping to the floor and scurrying over to the hospital bed. "Hi daddy!"

A cream pony with a thick, dark red mane turned his head. "Jewel, hi sweetie." He looked down at his child with a smile. His reddish gaze traveled up to meet me. "You must be Glass, right?"

I looked him over, his body wrapped up in sheets, his forelegs forced against his chest by braces, his back legs were extended and held high in a series of ropes. "Oh... I didn't realize my reputation preceded me."

The pony, Vintage, nodded. "Well, Rarity asked me before she sent you those letters."

I nodded. "Makes sense. And it's good to meet you, your wife has been lovely to me."

Vintage smiled, Jewel leaning against his bed and nuzzling his neck. "I'm sure- oh wait!" He looked down. "Jewel and you talked?"

I sighed loudly. "We did...she's stonewalling me because I had to get her dressed."

Vintage frowned hard and looked down at his filly. "Jewel...still?" He looked up at me. "I was hoping she'd have to talk, but stubborn as her mother it appears."

I chuckled softly. "Can't say I'd know. But, she is tolerable."

"Who, Rarity or Jewel?"

"Both!"

Vintage snickered. "Good answer." He settled back into his bed. "Oh boy...almost out of here."

I coughed into my hands. "Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, I'll leave you alone with Jewel." I turned to the door. A loud cart tappering down the hall caught my attention. I rubbed my face. "Hmm...he seemed, nice." I leaned against a wall as the cart was pushed away. "Huh." I looked around, the third floor of the hospital was nearly empty.

A satyr pushing the cart along stopped next to me, pink hair, white coat. "Sir, do you need help?"

I scratched my head. "No, I'm just waiting to take someone home."

The girl nodded at me. "Let me know if you need anything then."

I stretched my arms. "I will, thank you."

I got a warm smile in return for my kindness. It knocked around my insides, giving some semblance of life back to the copy pasted hospital. It didn't do anything against the hanging sense of dread the washed over me as I stood there, waiting to catch some incurable disease or die spontaneously from some explosive chemicals.

I pushed off the wall and wandered around the clean white halls until I found a small office and lobby. I hurried up, greeted by a pony with no mane, buzzed clean down to red stubble. "Hello, can I help you?"

I sighed and looked around. "Can you tell me what exactly is taken care of up here? I don't see many doctors, and it all seems very empty."

The pony closed her eyes and nodded. "This is stable recovery. Ponies simply resting up from long term injuries. Generally speaking we don't have many ponies in here at all, and those that are, well they stay for just long enough to learn their names." She smiled and cocked her head. "They stay in care watch for a while after their operation, then once we know they're safe and need minimal attention they bring them here." The pony rubbed her hooves on the counter. "It's more about talking to them and keeping them company than actually treating them."

"Hmmph, I suppose that would explain that." I scratched my head.

The mare nodded. "You're visiting, I take it."

I nodded. "Sort of. I'm bringing someone to visit. She's too young to be wandering around on her own."

The nurse smiled at me. "That's sweet of you."

I shook my head. "The family is putting me up, so it's the least I could do." I leaned against the counter. "To be honest there's plenty of other things I'd rather be doing."

The nurse closed her eyes and shrugged, still smiling. "It is rather dull around here. Worst that happens around here is somepony still lights a candle."

I chuckled and turned back towards Vintage's room. "Well, I should get back there." I started off, my boots thudding loudly against the soft linoleum floor. Everything felt waxy, the walls, the floor, even me. I hurried up and flung Vintage's door open. I didn't say anything and simply walked up beside his bed.

He glanced up at me before looking back down at his daughter. "Jewel...you have to."

Jewel flopped back down onto her haunches. "But she's mean to me--"

"She's not! Jewel, baby, she just wants you to look pretty."

Jewel huffed and sputtered, hopping up onto all fours. "I don't wanna be pretty!"

Vintage leaned his head back and rolled his eyes. "Hey Glass, welcome back."

I nodded. "Thank you."

He looked over at me from the corner of his eyes. "Alright, so this little filly is being a real pain in the balls, isn't she?"

I rubbed my mouth. "Well, you said it, not me."

"Well it's true! That little horn has a blunt tip, and she had a bad habit of running full tilt like a tiny little lancer." He turned his head to face me. "Imagine walking down the stairs and suddenly you've got a filly horn deep in your gonads."

I coughed softly. "I'd rather not."

Vintage nodded. "It's not good." He turned to face Jewel. "I'd know." Jewel covered her mouth and laughed slightly. "Anyways...you take her home, and you make sure she talks to her mother!" He aimed it more at Jewel than me. "You hear me? Because if I get home and you're still not talking to her I'm gonna tell her about the toothbrush incident!"

Jewel's ears shot against the back of her head as a bright blush crossed her face. She turned to face me, asking me, begging me for some aid. "No...."

I covered my mouth, the implications of a budding young filly and a toothbrush heated up my cheeks. "Uh, should I have--"

Vintage looked over at me, eyebrows held high. "She's twelve, I know she doesn't look it but she's growing up, and she needs to decide if masturbating is going to come before speaking like a normal pony." He turned his head to meet his daughter in a snap. "And I know! And now he knows! And he'll tell your mother unless you go and apologize! It's gone past being a kid, now you're just being childish!"

Jewel let out a shrill squeak. "I don't wanna!"

I backed towards the door. Vintage kept on guilting his daughter. "You wanna be a big girl you have to stop being such a rude little turd! You wanna do that, you'd better grow up all around, because I'll wrap you in a chastity belt if I don't hear you talked to Rarity!" Vintage turned his wine colored gaze to me. "And you, tell her if I'm not out of the hospital!" He grumbled to himself before looking back to me. "She promised me she'd talk to her when I went to the hospital, good to know if I'm not there she won't listen to me."

Jewel frowned hard and pushed her head against her father's ribs. "No...daddy no...."

Vintage's face eased into something calm. "Glass...pet my filly, I can't." He wiggled his forelegs, wrapped up and bound to his chest. "Glass, pet my filly!"

I slowly walked over and dug my hand in against Jewel's head. "Alright." Jewel nuzzled her fathers side as I pressed her against him.

He smiled and turned to me, lowering his voice to a whisper. "Good kid. Now get her out of here, they promised to bring me something special before I left. And I really don't want Jewel sticking around when they bring in Mares in Manehattan."

I chewed on my tongue, letting my flat molars grind my meat. "Sure." I slid my hands down Jewel's sides and slung her up in my arms. "Do you want me to send your wife up if I see her?"

Vintage's eyes shot wide. "Is she getting her cast off?"

I nodded. "Aye, it's why she's not here now--"

"Then yes, yes, yes." He nodded and threw his head back. "And...before you say anything, yes, I'm not exactly the fanciest, and I don't know how I got so lucky. Now, you're going to have to watch Jewel for a while, because Rarity's gonna be a bit occupied until late." He smiled lewdly. "And by the way, it's been a pleasure talking to you."

I coughed wetly. "Uh...wow--"

"I make wine my friend, you learn how to relax and not take life so serious while waiting for grapes to ferment." He turned to face the TV in his room. "I do know how to be serious, but I'm losing my mind in here. I'm sure when we talk outside of this you'll find me a lot more proper."

I nodded slowly. "I understand, I work glass, and if you don't learn to occupy yourself between forging sessions you go mental."

Vintage smiled. "Well then you know what waiting is like, and as stallions, I think we both know the best way to pass the time. Now seeing as I can't, do direct my wife this way." He smiled and looked off towards the door. "Now go on, I don't want anypony else to be stuck here because of me."

Couch

I sat with Darcy in Rarity's sitting room. "So what, she never came back?"

I crossed my legs, holding Darcy's tail across my lap with one hand, and a brush in the other. "No! I just took Jewel home and she never showed up!" I ran my fingers through Darcy's tail and followed up with the brush. A warm coo flooded the room as Darcy turned her backside towards me. "It's been two days, I think she might be staying with Vintage." I tugged the brush through a knot at the end of her tail. "Jewels been really quiet recently too.... It's extremely eery."

Darcy's hooves tapped against the floor. "Is she alright?"

I shrugged. "Physically, yes. But damned if her dad didn't roast her in front of me!" I ran my hand up to Darcy's ass, grabbing the base of her bushy tail. "Also...tell me if I'm getting too close."

Darcy looked back at me with a smile. "You're already touching my butt, at this point you can't really get any closer."

I huffed and kept on with her tail, strands of long orange hair tugging away with the brush. "You know it's not about that." I ran my fingers through the underside of her tail, her dock thick and warm under my touch. "So...uh, are you gonna stay the night?"

Darcy's tail tried to pull away as I dragged the brush through the top, double teaming her tail until no knot remained. She let out a soft whimper as I pulled everything past the knots near the end of her tail. "S-sure-- ow...."

"Maybe you shouldn't constantly put that tie on your tail. It's nice and all, but you're getting knots all along the same place."

Darcy swung herself away, sitting diagonally across the couch. "Well, how do you wear yours?"

I looked back as I scooped her tail up in my hands and squeezed it end to end. "Hmm, long, but I do need to cut it. Something like your dad's would probably be better for work." I swung my tail around a bit, the confines of the couch jamming up my spine. "A bit breezy down there though...I'm not sure."

Darcy sighed as I swapped out the brushes for something less needly. Something to simply smooth out her tail and collect its hairs. "You used to complain it was too hot--"

I brushed down her tail a few times, my fingers following to gather up any forgotten strands. "Well it still is, I just don't complain about it anymore." I moved the brush around, pressing it up against her butt. "...I uh...."

Darcy peeked behind her. "You're keeping it there a while...."

I bit my tongue and pulled the brush down, sweeping up the underside of her tail. "Yeah, I'll do it after this." I swept up her tail, the line of orange amongst the black now prominent and straight. "Don't hit me."

"What why-- Wha?" She jumped forward as I dug my hand into her back pocket. I gave her ass a bit of a squeeze, the muscular beast not really all that squeezable from my position or her stance. Darcy turned and faced forward on the couch, sitting back and pinning my hand with her weight. "So, you just lost your hand for a while."

I sighed and scooted next to her in an effort to avoid jamming my right arm into oblivion. "I figured." I leaned against her, the only way to keep my elbow from aching. "...Bloody warm." I flexed my fingers, the heat in her simple jean pocket breaking through the usual cold that was buried in my fingers. "So, you never answered."

Darcy wiggled her flank. "Well, you can't come over without leaving Jewel alone, and it's been a few days...so, why not." She put her arm around my neck. "Now get your hand out of my pocket."

I pulled my hand free, butt warmth clinging to my digits. "Well don't sound so--" Darcy pulled me across her lap by my neck. She turned her legs towards me, pulling me up against her chest while the rest of me sat limp across her stomach and lap. I laid my head down across her breast, the soft creature beneath me giving way until I was seated calm and content against her. She leaned her head back, half spooning me as I lay across her body as best as the couch could provide.

She let out a soft groan, chest heaving slightly against my head. I couldn't speak, only watch as the tanned skinned mare dug her nails against my head, her left arm laying down across my chest. "I'll stay."

I let out a soft coo as Darcy's fingers went through my mane. I closed my eyes, leaving myself to Darcy. Her nails scratched against my scalp, causing short mumbles and moans as I adjusted to the mare holding me in place. "So that's what it sounds like."

I opened my eyes, face to Face with Darcy's bright green eyes. "Hmm?"

Darcy smiled and closed her eyes. "Nothing."

I knew what she meant, the soft grunts I was making were indeed reminiscent of something twisted. "Why must you bring that up? This was perfectly innocent until now."

Darcy twirled my mane around her finger. "It still is."

I sighed as she tugged at the knot she was making. "Is it?" I let out a small grunt as she pulled through the knot. Her left arm wrapped around my chest like a roller coaster safety bar. "Seems like this is going to lead somewhere bad."

Darcy leaned back, stretching us lengthwise across the couch until her cheek rested against my temple. "It doesn't have to."

I lifted my legs onto the couch, playing little spoon as Darcy leaned back. I switched from Darcy's breast to the arm of the couch, sandwiched between it and Darcy's own head. "Historically speaking, this leads to--"

"Well I'm different." She cooed, causing me to shudder as she blew past my ear. My cheeks lit up as she teased my scalp and kissed the very edge of my ear. "I'm alright like this."

I sighed loudly, letting myself be pulled back against  Darcy until my tail was squeezed between her thighs. "I don't have much of a say right now, do I?"

Darcy's breathing only managed to press us closer. "Not really." She buried her head in my mane. "You smell like pine cones."

I felt my cheeks flare up again. "Yeah well you smell like apples...."

Darcy adjusted herself. "I know."

I let out a long groan and pushed free. "Alright...I can't do this." I rolled off the couch, Darcy's hand grabbing my shirt and twisting me as I fell. "Ow-- Alright, I can't be little spoon...."

Darcy looked at me with a frown. "Really?"

"At least not on the couch...it's too small already." I got upright as quick as I could, Darcy simply staring at me as I brushed myself off. "Don't look at me like that...."

Darcy rolled her eyes and stood up. "You're so weird."

"I know, you know, we both know I'm weird." I rubbed my mouth with the flat of my hand. I sat down on the couch and laid down. "It just feels weird having you lay on top of me."

Darcy shrugged and laid down next to me, pulling my arm across the couch to use like a pillow. "Too bad. Next time I'm being big."

I shook my head as I threw my left arm around her, sitting with my elbow across her ribs and my hand against her stomach. I pulled her against me, resting my chin on her crown. "Fine...just feels better this way." I forced my leg over hers and back between her hooves.

Darcy chuckled softly. "Feels like you're wrapping around me."

I squeezed her, her soft cotton shirt smooth against my fingertips. "Shh...."

Darcy sighed and wiggled her way back against my body. "You shh."

I went slack, sunken into the couch and pressed against the back by Darcy. It felt secure, being wedged in like this felt tight and snug as I'd grown accustomed to throughout so many long winter nights. Jewel was already to bed, fed and watered. Sleeping on the couch wasn't exactly the best idea, but with what Rarity said I didn't want to risk getting thrown out for using her bed.

"Glass?"

"Hmm?"

Darcy let out a long sigh and reached for my hand. "I didn't get a goodnight kiss...."

I frowned hard. "I'm sorry...do you--" I stopped myself as I felt my hand dip down into her shirt. I went limp, not wanting to grab at her breast like an animal.

Darcy laughed softly. "Sorry, I know you said slow down...."

I bit my lip. "...I uh.... Uh...." I couldn't stand the warmth coming from her body, even as my hand rested gently atop her breasts. Darcy grabbed my middle finger and played with it.

"You gave Misty that necklace...it looks good."

I was out of it, focusing on trying to keep myself from jabbing her back. "Mmm...."

"So you don't mind touching her chest." Darcy dragged my finger to the edge of her bra.

I buried my face in her hair. "Mmm...."

Darcy guided my finger back and forth against the edge of her bra, dragging my nail across her warm skin. "So, do you feel weird touching mine?"

I huffed back the down of her neck. "Weird's not how I'd describe it."

"Mmm,"- she grabbed my hand and tucked it between her breast and her bra. -"weird now?"

Warm, soft. Perky nipple against the insides of my fingers. Smell of apples. Pressure on my groin. I couldn't see a thing.

I let her guide my hand down, cupping her breast with my index and thumb against her nipple. I lost control of my hand, my fingers closing on her and causing her to let out a soft mumble. "Mmph." She tensed under my hand, squeezing my leg with her hooves. A loud clatter followed as I digressed.

I could hear my heart beating in my ears, and before long I locked out everything but the warmth and the pressure of the mare against my belly. I hadn't done a thing, she'd guided me straight down her shirt without so much as a word in protest. And now here I was, mindlessly tweaking and playing like an idiot.

Darcy's voice devolved into gentle squeaks and moans as she settled in. There was no good night, there was no kiss, only two half ponies laying against each other into the night. I kept my face against her head, lost in her orange streaked mane. My hand remained pressed against her in her bra through the night, and for untold time after I went to sleep.

I didn't dream, and just as quickly as I'd gone to sleep, I was awake again.

I looked around, the sitting room clean and white. Darcy was still pressed against my stomach. But over us both, a blanket lay stretched out over us. "Oh no--"

"Oh yes." Vintage peeked into the room. "Oh yes...." He stood tall, legs unbound, Daughter resting on his back. "And you left our bed open, so thoughtful."

I slumped my head down against Darcy's, nearly breaking my nose sideways on the fall. "Oh god...."

Vintage laughed heartily. "Yeah, your little mare here had her shirt pulled down, so...I went ahead and threw a sheet over ya."

I groaned softly. I ran my hand up and down, Darcy was hanging out of her bra, out of her shirt, chest bare against the blankets. "... Great."

Vintage smiled at me, maroon head shaggy. "Oh, and you got a package. So hey, good night all around!"

I turned and jammed my head against the arm of Rarity's couch. "Sure. Great night, best part is I don't remember it."

Vintage trotted off, chuckling as he went. "That's how good nights go. Now, you want some breakfast?"

Box

I sat in the workshop with Cider, Darcy, Misty, Mason, Striker, and her brother Slice. Cider cleared her throat, leaning against the wall while everyone else sat at the entry table. "So...what happened?"

Darcy and I were the only ones away from the table, sitting in the pit area as she cut my tail down to something short and manageable. "Nothing happened!"

Darcy held my tail in place, her hand painfully close to my ass. "He touched my boob."

The two stallions I'd come to talk to on occasion snickered. "Mason, Slice, shut the fuck up!" I pointed at them, unable to move towards them while Darcy snipped my tail. "You keep it up I'm going to put a glass plug two feet in your asses!"

Mason kept on laughing, Slice, the youngest of us, crossed his legs and scooted back in his chair. Mason ran his hand through his grey mane. "Oh man, it's--"

"Pink hair!" I shouted, adjusting myself as Darcy worked on my tail. "Pink hair you orange panted prick!"

Mason frowned hard and flipped me off. "I told you that as a secret!"

"And you're asking personal things that I don't feel should be answered!" I leaned back, Darcy's breasts landing on my head. "...Simply because one of us is more open, doesn't mean you should take advantage."

Darcy sighed loudly, her chest heaving against my crown. "Hold still, if I cut you there's gonna be a mess." Darcy rubbed my head and went back to cutting. I could feel the weight chopped off my spine, chunks of hair lopped off my tail. "You're gonna look like a deer."

I huffed softly, forced to watch the small group of satyrs stare at me. "...Seems like I never talk with many ponies...."

Mason covered his mouth and stood up. "Solidarity man, and I can leave and get my sister if you want."

I shrugged. "Dinky, Jewel, Rarity, Applejack, Big Mac.... Just none my own age--"

Darcy pulled my tail. "You could. They're out there, but everypony here was at your party, and if a new satyr shows up its a big deal for everyone." Darcy snipped a chunk away. "And I think it's done, I might have-- no...no, that's fine."

I waggled my tail, throwing off a few stray hairs before standing. "...Feels like my ass is gone."

Darcy reached out and patted my rear. "Nope, if anything it's more noticeably."

I jumped forward and grabbed my tail, sheered down nice and short. I started to feel a bit self conscious as I brushed my ass off. "Don't do that." I had gone from down past my fetlocks to about middle of my thigh. "I always thought my dock was longer than that...."

Darcy shrugged, scissors still between her fingers. "Nope. And I think it looks nice."

Misty giggle in the distance. "Your head doesn't match now."

I reached up and grabbed my ponytail. "Yes well, I'm going to trust my hair to a professional." I turned to face Darcy. "Sorry, but one is a bit more important to me than the other."

Darcy rolled her eyes and leaned over the chair to kiss me. "It's fine. I'm just glad I didn't cut you." Her lips were soft, her skin growing tanner as the spring went on towards summer. She'd changed out of her usual jeans, sporting a dark maroon dress with a white apron tied around her front. What Rarity said about making her look tall and thin was never truer.

I took a deep breath as she leaned back. "God you're beautiful. I don't feel like I tell you that enough." Something about her dress, her skin, her smile, everything about her felt right. And the change from her usual casual wear to something a little more formal made my heart flutter as I thought of her as mine. "Darcy...I love you." Darcy grew a bit pink as I turned back towards the entry.

The room lit up with laughter. Misty's giggles overpowered all the others. "Oh my gosh, it's so cute!"

I rolled my eyes. "Alright, off with yall!" I threw my hands at the room full of satyrs. "Out, out!" Everybody started to filter out aside from Misty and Darcy. "Come back later, closed, something.... Monsters."

Darcy walked up behind me and tossed her arms around me. "So...we're saying--"

I put my hands on my hips. "Yes.... Rub it in if you must."

Darcy laid her cheek against my head. "Heat of--"

I bumped her back with my flanks and turned to kiss her. I hated having to lean up to kiss her, but it felt right even with that humiliation. I closed my eyes and swung back towards Misty. "No... I know what I said."

Misty was melting against the railing, laying across her hands and smiling like an idiot. Darcy chuckled softly. "Oh wow...that was cute."

I shook my head. "No Darcy...I'm not cute." I sighed loudly and looked down at my hooves. "Gods, I have to admit, it feels good to say that."

Darcy rested against my crown. "You gonna say it again?"

I bit my lip. "Not in public...."

Darcy nuzzled my head. "Please?"

I shook my head. "Look, I just said I loved you, I meant it, now please...give me some time to recover."

Darcy scoffed. "You make it sound like such a bad thing."

I opened my eyes, Misty was leaning over the railing, her wings holding her softly in the air. I groaned softly and turned away from her. "Look, love is still--"

"You said it first this time." Darcy moved her arms over my shoulders. "And you said I'm beautiful."

"Both true." I slipped out from Darcy's grasp. "Things have been...complicated, warm." I rubbed my arms. "I mean look at me, I'm in a tee-shirt. I have a short tail." I turned to Darcy. "I've got a beautiful mare to love...and best of all she actually loves me back." She was tight in stance, hands held together on her lap. "Oh don't look at me like that...." I turned away, cheeks a bit warm. "Now, are we gonna open the box I got, or are we just gonna stand her and make faces?"

Darcy walked past me, slapping my legs with her tail. "I could take either, but I'm gonna guess you want box."

I shot upright. "...That's dirty as piss water...."

Misty watched Darcy walk up into the entry. "I don't get it--"

"Good!" I wiped off my face and hurried up into the entry. "Good. You don't need to get it." I shook my head. "Beaver."

Misty stared at me, bewildered. "Beaver?"

"Nothing." I walked up to the metal table, a large cardboard box sitting square in the center. "... Triangle." I found a box cutter on the table and sat down across from Darcy. "Furry--"

Darcy stifled a laugh. "Glass...come on."

"... Fine. But that was really dirty." I opened up the cutter and started to slash away the tape. "Nice of my dad to finally send this...or, for the delivery service to deliver it. Been waiting for a while." The slats came open little by little. "Heavy, right?"

Darcy shrugged. "Kinda?"

I lifted up the flaps, a large grey coat was folded over the top. "Oh, oh!" I pulled it out, a matching pair of pants following up in quick succession. "My old uniform!" I tossed the sharp grey uniform down, the orange accents bright as ever. "Hmm...so this is just like a care package...or...I'm being kicked out."

Darcy pulled a key out of the box. "Uh...this is an address here in town. Twelve-twelve North Lakeside."

I let out a strong sigh. "So I'm getting kicked out." I rubbed my forehead and leaned against the table. "Must be my dad's old house. I didn't even know he still had the key." I felt my heart sink into my stomach. "God...I don't feel great."

Darcy frowned and slid over to my side of the table. "Glass...you okay?"

I took a deep breath. "Yeah, I knew it was coming." I felt Darcy's hands rest against my shoulders. "...Thank you."

She squeezed me tight. "You want a hug?"

I sighed loudly and rubbed her fingers. "I'm alright."

Misty cooed loudly. "Oh my gosh...you two are so cute."

I glared at the young blonde. "Seriously... I will throw you out on your ass."

Misty just smiled. "No you wont."

Darcy coughed roughly. "Misty, he will."

Her smile faded rather quickly. "You would?"

I huffed and turned back to my box. "Look, just not really the time to be making those quirky little observations." I stood up and looked back into the box. "Dear Celestia...they packed this thing fu--" I stopped dead as I pulled a box of candy from the box. I felt my skin grow cold as I stared into the box.

Darcy's hands tightened around me. "Glass, you just went really pale...."

Misty's voice chirped in. "Glass? Glass?"

I felt my arms start to shake as I reached back into the box, my fingers felt numb as I pulled a frame out, the glass cracked, the picture inside faded and water stained. My throat went numb as I looked dead on at the picture. A smiling woman, pale white, blonde hair, blue eyes. She was holding something wrapped up in cloth, and my dad was leaned in cheek to cheek with her.

Darcy's hands flexed around my shoulders. "Glass...."

Misty wrapped her hands over her mouth. "But, you said--"

"Holy shit." I felt my skin creep as I recognized my own infant face in the picture. "What the fuck?" The soft brown frame snapped loudly against the table as I pushed away. My mother was a pony, she had brown eyes, yet here I was however long ago in the arms of another woman who shared my eyes. "Oh god I'm gonna be sick!" I shoved away Darcy and Misty and ran to the door, my bare hooves clopping loudly as I ran to the door.

I threw myself outside, the warm spring air shocking me to the core. The feeling of warmth against my icy skin left me stunned. I fumbled off the landing and into the grass path through the farms. I rolled flat, resting face down in the damp grass. I couldn't hear, a loud ringing taking over as I tried to piece together what was going on. My mother was a pony, but beyond that she had brown eyes. No matter who you were, no matter what you changed yourself into, you couldn't change your eyes. I'd always assumed my eyes came from my father, only a brighter tone.

I dug my fingers into the grass. The cold had sunken deep into my flesh, rocking my bones to the core. I shook my head, the woman in the picture, I had nothing in my memories about her, nothing. Yet, here I was, forced into a faded old picture with her holding me, my father jammed against her cheek, my tiny body wrapped up and held tight at the center of the picture.

But the picture wasn't brown, or grey, or any natural color to Storm Side. It was green, it was bright, it was surrounded by nature. I held my stomach as bile swirled in my throat. My vision shook as Darcy and Misty's hooves ran out and into my vision. I clutched my arms, watching as a set of hands wrapped around my biceps.

I let myself be carried, watching as passing ponies ran over to see if I was okay. Darcy's face was twisted up into something hurt, something worried. Misty looked shattered, like seeing me in such a state was a stab to the chest. I took a few deep breaths, barely staving off suffocation. "Glass?" Darcy pulled me back into the shop. "Glass, come on talk to me!"

I shook my head and grabbed her arms. "Where is it!?"

Misty hurried over to the table, bring back the broken picture. "Careful--"

I took it from her, leaned back against a wall and sat on the floor. The picture burned my eyes, I wanted to break it, I wanted to eat it, I wanted to hold it, I wanted it gone and I wanted it to be immortalized in silver. "I need to go home." I tried to stand up. "Darcy, I need to go home--" I stumbled back, hitting my shoulders on the wall. "Darcy, help, help me."

The girls' faces were in horror. Darcy held me back. "Glass. Glass are you okay?"

Misty turned to the door. "I'm gonna go get help!"

I stared at Darcy, holding her arms tight. "Darcy I need to go home, please, please I need to go home."

Darcy leaned forward and wrapped my head up in a hug. "Glass, it's okay--"

"I need to go home."

Darcy pet the back of my head and pulled me tight. "I know, I know. It's gonna be okay."

"Darcy please, I need to go home!" I held the picture tight against my stomach. "Darcy please--"

"Shhh, it's okay."

"Darcy help--"

I closed my eyes as she cradled my head. "It's gonna be okay." She ran her fingers through my hair. "I'm right here, you're okay."

I felt my eyes drip against the side of her head. "Oh god.... I'm so sorry." I let go of the picture, letting it rest against my chest. "Darcy I'm so sorry--"

"Shhh."

I grabbed Darcy around the back, squeezing her tight and letting myself fall against her. "Oh god I'm so sorry! I'm so tired, Darcy, I'm sorry." I squeezed her tight, trying to get a better grip and suppress the ache in my chest. "Darcy I'm so sorry!" I let out a strange wail as I grabbed her. "I'm so sorry--"

Darcy hummed softly and pulled me upright, sitting me down in a better posture against the wall. "It's okay Glass, it's gonna be okay." Darcy held my head tight, tucked up into her shoulder. "She's pretty Glass, she's really pretty."

Wait

"I'm going home." I pulled my college coat back on and buttoned up the slate grey uniform. "I don't know when I'll be back."

Rarity and Vintage stared at me. Rarity nudged Vintage with a  hoof. "Oh uh, you sure that's the best idea?"

I shook my head. "No, but I already told Darcy, I already told everyone." I ducked down and started packing my bag. "I mean, I'll be back. Just, a week or so gone is all."

Rarity nodded. "Well darling, we would be more than happy to keep your possessions safe while you're gone."

Vintage bit his lip. "When do you leave?"

"Today, Darcy is going to ride to Stormside and back with me, but she said something about the harvest, so she won't be staying long." I rubbed my face. My breath trembled slightly. "I don't want to go, but this--"

Rarity stood up and walked over to me. "Darling, you'll be back, and we'll be waiting. Now its apparent something has bothered you, and if this is how you have to deal with it, then by all means don't worry."

I rubbed my chest. "I know, and I'm honestly more worried about what might happen up there than down here." I dug my fingers into the spaces between my coat's buttons. "I feel different, even a season away and I feel different. I'm just--"

Vintage walked over, nuzzling his wife on the way over. "Hey, don't worry kid. We'll be here when you get back." He bopped my hip with a hoof. "Rarity and I will have something nice waiting for you when you get back."

I looked down at the pair. "I uh...I--" I dropped down to my knees and tossed my arms around each of them. "Thank you." I hung against them, resting and counting on their support. "Thank you both so much."

Rarity cooed softly and placed a hoof against my back. "Oh darling...."

Vintage leaned against my head. "Kid, go take care of your stuff.... You're making it weird." His voice carried absolutely no conviction, but a soft tremble. "Seriously...good luck."

I pulled away and rubbed my eyes. "Aye, yeah, I'll be okay." I caught my breath and turned to the door. "No party when I come back this time." I took a few deep breaths and stepped towards the door into the market. My backpack hung heavy on my shoulders, the picture burned against my thigh.

I stepped out into the dark morning, ponies, satyrs, and humans waiting for me. They cheered softly as I walked out. "What the hell?"

Mason stepped forward. "Hey, Glass." He grabbed my hand and shook it by force. "I just told a few ponies what was happening...so, I mean we weren't going to let you just sneak away."

Twenty or so lives, all torn out in the dawn hours just for me. Big Mac, Darcy, Striker, her brother and sister, Dinky and misty, the people I've come to call friends were all waiting for me. I rubbed my chest. "Uh, hello everyone."

Darcy walked up and scooted Mason away. "Glass, you sure you want to go?" She grabbed my hands, turning them palm up as she drew a circle around it. "You could stay with us if you needed someplace to go."

I could see Big Mac nodding in the background, along with his wife astride him. I looked up to Darcy. "It's someplace I have to be. Something I have to ask." I wrapped my fingers around her hand. "You should stay Darcy...I don't want to drag you out there just--"

Darcy squeezed my hand hard, actually causing a bit of a twitch in my elbow. "I'm not letting you just leave." She put her hand around my back and squeezed me against her, tail wrapping around me and stroking my spine. "I'm going to see you home, even if I can't stay."

I licked my lips and looked down at my hooves, wrapped up in dark black boots. "Somehow I knew you'd say that." I pushed back slightly. "I'll meet you at the train, I've got some things to take care of first."

Darcy squeezed me tight. "Alright, I'll be waiting." She slowly pulled away, soft hand rolling over my skin. I could help but stare as she wandered off into the foggy morning. I turned to the crowd, my heart low, settled into my gut as I moved.

I walked up to each and every person there, gave them each a quick hug and goodbye. Everyone who knew me let me off easy, all except for Misty. "Glass, you come back soon!" She threw herself around my neck, pulling me down to her level. "You come back, alright!"

I slumped over, my spine bending painfully. "Misty I'll be back in a week--"

She squeezed me tight, her scratchy sweater rubbing against my neck. "Too long!"

Dinky popped up in the background. "Alright, Misty, come on." Dinky used her magic to pry away the frantic girl.

I straightened out and stretched my arms. "It's only a week, I mean by the time I get back summer's going to start." I looked around, the crowd was refusing to leave me. "I think I'm going to get going... I'll see you all soon, I promise." I turned to the road, the dirt path uncomfortable with my boots on. I missed the feedback of walking barehoofed, these boots felt fake, like I was walking on stilts.

As I walked I spotted a pegasus taking care of an already age old tradition that refused to make way for modern life. She was blowing out the flames in the lantern posts that dotted the city. Electric lights had taken over Storm Side, but even in Canterlot the streets were still lit by fire. I took a deep breath and watched for a moment. The lime green mare was gently fluttering to each lantern, opening it up and blowing the light away with expert movements.

I stayed planted. I didn't want to move. Something about the sheer simplicity had me at a standstill. My gut ached as I forced myself to walk on. My mind darted back to the picture and I sprung off towards the train station. Everything would be here for me when I got back, but first I needed to know who she was, what happened if she was my mother, I needed answers.

I charged through the early morning, racing through the streets and over to the train in mere moments. Darcy stood waiting by the entrance, the train waiting for me and only me. I pulled the tickets out, bought right after I recovered from my episode. "Darcy, inside." I pointed to the door with the tickets.

She swung around and followed me in. I jammed the tickets over to the pony who checked them and swiftly started off towards the bed cars. I'd bought my own ticket, and for the first time ever I would have a whole room to myself on the train. The interior felt as dry and beige as ever, yet as soon as I stepped past the sliding door to our room I was calmed.

Pale grey soothed my eyes, the small twin bed jammed up against the wall was a blessing, and the storage room was more than perfect. Darcy stepped in next to me. "Uh...one bed?"

I bit my lip. "Yeah...." I brushed her thigh, eventually finding and grabbing her hand. "I figured--" Darcy shoved me back against the wall. "Darcy what the fu--" I shut up as our lips met. She broke off and pressed her forehead against mine. "...So--"

Darcy pulled herself away. "Sorry, sorry...." She grabbed her head, her bow sliding down the back of her head as she pulled her fingers through her hair. "Sorry."

I took a deep breath, savoring the dampness on my lips. "I mean the implications were there...you just dove straight in." I walked over to the window and set my bag down.

Darcy sat back on the bed. "Sorry, I'm really--"

I spun around and sat down next to her. She stared at me, a tanned face soft under the dim cabin light. "Darcy." I reached up and gave her a quick slap on the cheek. "Shut up." I leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss. "I think less--" Darcy stared at me, eyes even, that beautiful worry never leaving her face. Even as she slapped me hard enough to tip me backwards and onto the bed. "Fucking-- piss!" Before I could recover and shout Darcy was hanging over me, arms on either side of my head. "Darcy for--"

She leaned to the side and tore a button off her shirt. "Get this bucking shirt off me."

I felt my heart skip as she tore her shirt open. "Darcy...Darcy I love you...." I scooted back. "I say that both because I'm leaving for a week and because I fear what is going to--" I was cut short yet again as Darcy's weight flopped down against me. Her warm body pressed up against me, her lips met mine. If only for a moment things were innocent. But with a turn of her head and a pair of hands on either side of my head, things passed that inevitable line young couples always passed.

I pushed back for a moment, Darcy's breathing ragged as her hair fell over her face. "Uh...Darcy...." I found my hands on her sides. "I love you." I squeezed her. "I mean it, Darcy."

She hovered over me, eyes shimmering in the early morning light. She leaned down and laid against my chest. "I know Glass...I know." Her fingers dug into my coat. "Thank you--"

"Uh, aye.... I think maybe we save the gooey for after though?" Darcy pushed up, straddling my groin as she ripped her bow away from her mane and threw her shirt off. I felt myself shiver. "Holy shit I'm gonna fucking die."

Darcy grabbed my coat. "Better--" She stopped dead and leaned back. "Uh... Better--" She ripped away another layer of my clothes. "Glass...you're ruining the moment."

I reached down to my pants and unzipped them. "Better?"

"Much."

Snow

I shifted around under Darcy's arm. "Snowing." My voice was low as the girl to my back pulled me tight against her. "It's snowing Darcy."

Darcy let out a long sigh, her breath warm as it zipped through my long mane. "Are we getting close?"

I sighed loudly, safe and warm under Darcy's touch. "I don't know. Did we fall asleep? I feel groggy still...I can't actually tell." I rubbed my eyes, the pale light streaming through the now frosted window was odd, only illuminating the thin slit the window projected in an eery display. "Light looks weird." Brilliant mouth, way to keep up with brain. In a just world I would have been a drooling mental patient for all the times my words failed to match my brain.

Darcy nuzzled my head, her leg tossed over mine, her hoof between my two. "Should we get up?"

I grumbled softly and stretched my arms. "Get up, get dressed, just to go to dinner and sleep in a different bed." I sat upright, Darcy's hand staying on my side. "I hate the train ride down...they need to install that human made line in quicker." I stepped upright and off the bed, my bare body getting a harsh kick as the cold hit me. "Celestia no.... Your stupid farm air is screwing with my body."

Darcy pulled the sheet over her head and watched me shake. "No, but now you get why normal ponies hate winter."

I took a deep breath and rubbed my arms. "You didn't bring any warm clothes either, did you?"

Darcy shook her head and got her hooves out from under her. "I didn't think I'd be leaving the train."

I grumbled softly and rubbed my face. "What size are you?"

Darcy looked out towards the window. "Why?"

I shook my head. "Because I can probably get you a uniform. They're made out of wool with cotton insides. You'll probably fit into a large on the technical style."

Darcy stared at me, eyes half open. "Did you just call me fat?"

I stared right back, slumping my shoulder forward slightly. "You're six-something. You look like you could crush a coconut by looking at it the wrong way."

Darcy smiled lazily. "Worked on you."

I felt my stomach tense up. "Not really the same--"

Darcy popped her eyebrows up. "I probably could."

I huffed and grabbed my clothes off the ground. "I don't think we're going to find out." I pulled my pants on in an instant. "I don't need you threatening my gentiles to climax...." I tensed up all over and shook my head. "A scary thought to say the least."

Darcy laughed and grabbed her shirt from the end of the bed. "You're just scared cause I'd do it."

I turned to her just as I pulled my arm through my jacket. "Yes! Yes I am!" I buttoned up my undershirts, then finally my coat. "But you never answered my question, size?"

Darcy pulled her breasts back into her bra and buttoned up her shirt. "Medium...."

I stared at her. "You know, we can't really tailor a uniform within two minutes, right?"

Darcy huffed angrily. "Large...."

I walked up to her and took her hand, lifting her to her hooves. "Thank you. I know just who to ask too." I pulled my bag down from the  storage above the bed and found a pair of gloves. "Here, try these on."

Darcy took the gloves and pulled them on while I got ready. "I think my fingers are too long."

I looked over to her. "Ah...sorry--" I stopped as I spotted something strange outside. I rushed over to the window, Darcy following quickly. "Oh, it's happening." I smiled gently. "They're going to thaw everything soon."

Darcy watched as a bright blue ray shot into the sky. "Whoa, neat."

I nodded quickly. "Summer's coming, I guess it's for that."

Darcy smiled over at me. "You know, if you need to stay for a while, I think everypony will understand."

I took a deep breath. "I might be a bit longer then. I've got something I have to find." I snuck my hand around Darcy's back until I could hold her against my by her hip. "Darcy...why can I feel bare coat?"

She smirked at me. "No pants."

I sighed softly and watched as the great expanse of endless rugged white hills was cut off for a bright open train station, the stone walks surrounding the slits where trains could pull in were bustling with ponies. "Occam's Razor I suppose." I squeezed her hip. "Go find your--pants." I rubbed her side, up under her shirt and over the joining between coat and bare skin. "Go find...pants. Pants."

Darcy bumped me away with her hip. "Then stop."

I bit my tongue and grabbed my bags. "Aye, sorry." I walked to the door of the small room and flicked the lights off, the window enough to light up the room. "Waiting on you."

Darcy huffed. "You know, we did strip. You could let me get my socks on before rushing me."

I rolled my eyes, watching her socks zip over her hooves. They were followed up by a hardy pair of leather work boots. "Ponies in boots still feels like an odd concept."

Darcy finished getting dressed in her usual jeans and collared shirt and marched up to me. "It's better than getting your leg caught in a thornbush."

"Fair point." I slid the door open and lead Darcy out into the hall. "Well, at any rate, welcome to Storm Side." I made my way to the door and stepped out onto the cold stone expanse of the train station grounds. The massive empty space absolutely flooded with ponies and the auxiliary species.

"It's--" Darcy stopped dead, looking overhead at the massive vaulted ceiling, carved and painted with plaster and stone. "Oh my god." She bumped into my back, grabbing my shoulders to steady herself. "This exists?"

I looked up at the paintings of windigos and ice, ponies and lances, fire coming from Eureka's horn. "I guess Ponyville's still a bit new compared to Storm Side."

Darcy looked down at me. "New?! We've--"

"Storm Side wasn't founded, it was rebuilt." I felt a heavy frown settle on my cheeks. "I'll tell you about it one day. But yes, this place is very, very old." I pointed up to the ceiling. "Eureka, the Last Pyromancer. Skane, Founder of Old Equestria." I pointed to the painting over the exit, out into the corridors that made up Storm Side's streets. "The coronation of Celestia, the recognition of the Sun Goddess." I pointed to the one below it, that was inlayed with doors and windows. "The fall of the thestrals, the conversion of High Rock to Canterlot." I shook my head. "They're even painting one of Princess Twilight's defeat of Tirek, over in the north hall."

Darcy gawked at the painting of Eureka, lost in the display of fire rushing forth from her horn and burning away a windigo's tail. "This is nuts."

I nodded. "Yeah, nuts." I felt the cold start to sneak into my coat and rest against my first layer of clothes. "We should go, we need to find Professor Bloom and Professor Murdoch. Sooner the better," I stated, turning to her. "Your nipples are going to cut through your shirt if we don't hurry."

Darcy looked down and immediately covered her chest. "Through the bra!?"

I just looked at her arm, tanned skin covering her shirt. "You underestimated the cold." I took her free hand and started off towards the main halls. "I'm sure Professor Bloom will help you out."

Uniform

Our hooves tapped loudly on the hard corridor floor. "I'm sure you'll like her." I rubbed my wrists as I lead Darcy down the halls. "She's a bit...rustic. You'll probably get along." The hall was a calm pale brown. The warm air being pumped in gave it a cozy feel despite the long walk to the next building. "It's on the way, mostly."

Darcy grabbed my hand. "Okay."

I pulled her along down the hall. "I'm sure--" I stopped dead as a satyr with a strange blue-green mane wandered past. "I'm sure...." I stopped and turned to watch her. "Uh...I, hey." I reached out after her. The girl just kept walking, leaving me standing like an idiot. I knew her, from some time, from some place, all lost to poor memory. "I know her."

Darcy walked around behind me. "Who?"

I looked back to her, her face honest and confused. "The mare-" I turned back to an empty hall. "-that-- She was just there." I looked around the dull brown corridor. "Um, nevermind." I rubbed the back of my neck and hurried back down the hall.

The constant tapping of our steps dragged on as we hurried down the hall. A pair of people at the far end caught my attention, a man and a mare were standing just outside the main floor of the college's main offices. "Bloom, I'm sure they'll let ya." One of my father's old friends was chatting idly to the professor I was looking for. His voice was thick, with a heavy bite to each of his words. "I don't think--"

"Aunt?" Darcy leaned to the side, shoving me over slightly. "Aunt Bloom?" She left me standing in the hall and walked over to the pair. I lagged behind and watched as the redheaded professor turned to face us.

Professor Bloom stepped into the center of the long hall. "Darcy? Hey, girl!" The mare walked over to Darcy in a hurry. "What the hay you doing here?"

I walked over, taking up a place beside the man. I looked up to him with a calm expression. "Professor Hicks."

The man looked down to me. "Aye-- Oh pissing hell! The little Anglo spawn again!" He laughed loudly and rubbed his prosthetic eye. "Glass, how ya been?" He stuck his hand out to me. "Burn any labs recently?"

I laughed weakly and met his hand. "Can't say I have...."

Professor Hicks nodded. "And you can call me Joel, not tutoring anymore so you can stop being so uppity."

I pulled my hand away and shrugged. "You're still--"

"Older, smarter, better looking, aye. But that doesn't mean you can't pretend we're equal." He slapped the back of my shoulder lightly. "Such a angsty uptight little shit, still-" he laughed through his teeth. "-glad to see ya again."

I rubbed my arm and looked over to Darcy and Professor Bloom. "Hmm, so what's happening? Why are you two not in your offices?"

Joel fixed his uniform and rubbed his eye. "Bloom's taking over a few alchemical classes, we were about to go celebrate." He rubbed his face, his beard scratching loudly as he did. It made my arm itch, my muscles aching to reach out and touch it. "Who's this?"

I licked my lower lip. "Date? Marefriend? Normal friend--"

"Again?" Joel leaned against the wall into the offices. "You ever take a break?"

I shook my head. "Still an uptight prick, remember."

Joel laughed. "You said prick."

I coughed roughly and looked down to my hooves. "Well, anyways. I think you might be able to help me." I turned to face him. "I need a uniform--"

"For her. Right. I figured." He pointed to Darcy and pushed off the wall. "New student or--"

"Maybe. Probably not--"

Joel scratched his head. "Glass, I can't really give away uniforms just--"

Professor Bloom coughed loudly. "Joel, go help this little filly into something warm." She pushed Darcy towards us, her tail popping up from the hoof on her ass. I stepped to the side as the redhead walked over and swept her hoof behind me. "Ya'll go get warm, I'll take care of this'in."

I mumbled slightly as I was pushed out into the center of the hall. The professor stopped me before I could reach too far from the doors and swung me around. She smiled at me and took a deep breath. "Oh boy, small world." She laughed softly and turned to face the door. "How the heck you bring me my niece outta the blue like that?"

I scratched my head. "Niece?"

Professor Bloom nodded. "Do ya not know my full name?" She smiled wide. "Bet ya can guess it."

I coughed roughly. "Apple...Bloom...." I rubbed my hands together. "Bit of a massive family."

Professor Bloomed smiled and nodded. "You bet. Glad to see little Darcy's gone and grown up. Been a long time since I've seen another Apple."

I bit my lower lip. "To be honest I had no idea." I looked at her uniform, pulled tight and ironed out. "No mark, not real-- I mean...I guess the accent." I looked down the hall. "I'm not in trouble, am I?"

Apple Bloom cocked her head. "Depends, you in trouble before we talked?"

"No."

She nodded. "Then I can't really see you being in trouble now."

I rubbed my hands together. "So...." I coughed into my hands. "Uh...." I looked her over. "What's...new?"

Professor Bloom laughed heavily. "Oh boy, you really ain't all that relaxed, are ya?"

I interlaced my fingers and let them rest against my thigh. "Well, you are a professor--"

Bloom shook her head. "Not yet partner. Soon, but not yet." She smiled and moved a hoof to her stomach. "Probably gonna be a momma sooner than a professor."

I felt my eyes pop open. "Huh, congratulations?"

"Thanks partner." She smiled back to me and laughed. "Gonna be a little pony colt."

I bowed gently. "Again, congratulations."

Bloom stifled a laugh and looked up at me. "How in the heck you get a girl like Darcy to put up with that?"

I laughed and ran a hand through my tail. "No idea. Luck? Probably luck, or the nervous charm is finally working out for somepony."

Bloom shook her head. "I'll be danged if you don't have a little bit of adorability on ya. Still, gotta loosen up."

"Oh I am." I rubbed my arms. "Compared to when I left last winter, I'm about as loose as I'm going to get, sober."

Bloom shook her head. "Oh ponyfeathers. Just keep working on it."

I felt something heavy sink into my stomach. "That's actually part of the reason I'm back." I brought my hands together. "A bit of closure." I felt a shallow sickness settle in my gut. "Dear Celestia, I almost forgot." My eyes burned. "Um, do you know where Noteworthy is?" I rubbed my eye. "Dear Celestia, I actually almost forgot...."

Bloom put a hoof on my leg. "You alright partner?"

I took a deep breath and cleared my eyes. "Yes, yes, I'm fine." I rubbed the tip of my nose and fixed my posture. "Got caught up with Darcy, it seemed so much more important for a while."

Bloom rubbed my leg with her hoof. "You need a tissue sweetheart?"

I let out a long breath. "I think I'm okay." I stepped back, watching as a few ponies walked past, their heads down completely unengaged. A cold display, unenchanted by the emotion any of us were displaying in public. Where I would have drawn a crowd in Ponyville, I stood alone in Storm Side. "It's a bit cold."

Bloom smiled and turned to watch the ponies walk. "A little. But hey, if you need somepony to talk to--"

"I have them. I have her." I pointed to the door into the office building. "She's decent at taking my mind off things."

Bloom nodded. "She's a special girl, always done the best for everypony." Bloom's smile slowly turned to a frown. "But, if ya don't mind me asking. Wasn't there somepony else?"

I scratched my neck. "It's not my place to say." As if on cue, Darcy walked out of the offices. She was wrapped up in a thick grey uniform with blue accents running up and down the sides of the legs and the arms. I turned back to Bloom. "Now, if you'll excuse me?"

Bloom nodded. "Go on, you know where I'll be."

I walked up to Darcy and took her hand. She looked back to Bloom. "Uh, I'll tell Mac and AJ you said hi!"

Bloom waved at us as I slowly walked Darcy down the hall. "Yep, keep 'em healthy girl! Keep em strong!"

The tapping returned as we walked down the hall. I took Darcy's hand again. This time instead of the soft pat, a subtle scratch of cotton met my own gloves. "Warm?" I asked calmly.

"Warm." Darcy answered back. "You said ponies weren't nice here. They seemed--"

"They are nice." I held her close to me as we walked down the beige corridors. "You have to find them here though, they don't come to you."

Darcy huffed and pulled me into the center of the hall. "You make it so dramatic."

I pulled her back towards the right side of the walkway. "I suppose so." I thought back to the train, to why I was here for a brief moment. "Darcy."

"Hmm?" Her smile was sweet, her expression so king.

"Thank you for coming."

Hello Father

I walked up through the last corridor to my home. Darcy stood by my side as I got ready to knock. "So...our house is kinda small. It's a tight fit for four, so I think five might be a bit--"

The door slowly swung open. My father was standing there before us, mane an absolute mess, eyes surrounded by deep dark circles. "Hey kid...."

"Holy shit." I coughed into my wrist. "Dad, you alright?"

He looked down then popped his eyes open. "One of my pictures is missing. So, no, not really."

I felt my stomach sink deep into my body. "The--"

He nodded and held the door open. "We can talk inside."

Things felt suddenly sluggish. Darcy took the first step and pulled me past the threshold into my old home. Paintings were missing, there was a long red stain on the pale blue walls, furniture was pushed to the side, and there was no noise. Darcy nudged me along. "So, hello Mr.--"

"She does look nice." My dad huffed, leading us down a small hall into the sitting area. "Sorry you have to see the place like this." He picked up a book from the floor and set it on a chair. "Things haven't been great recently." He looked back to us, his eyes still red and darkened. "There's a bed in one of these rooms. Should probably get some sleep." He nudged his head towards a door. "If you wouldn't mind...."

My skin creeped up and down my back as Darcy let go. "Okay. I'll just wait...." She slowly stepped to the side, then out into another room. I stood off with my father in our old den.

I pressed my tongue against the back of my teeth. "Where's Angle?"

My father looked to the one couch that was left. "Gone. Kiln too." He shook his head and turned to me. "You know, that picture wasn't supposed to be in there." He laughed softly and sat down on the floor. "It was supposed to be your uniform and some food." He stopped laughing and rubbed his face. "Kiln put the picture in and sealed it up without me. Dear Celestia."

"She took Angle?" I asked, walking over and sitting on the arm of the couch.

My dad tapped his hooves on the ground. "You know, she never liked you." He laughed and shook his head. "She was good at pretending."

"No she wasn't." I kept my voice calm. "Dad, she never talked to me, she never treated me like Angle. You think I didn't know?" I rubbed my eyes and stood up. "You know, I knew something was wrong. I just didn't know what!" I held my arms out. "Dad, why wouldn't you tell me!?"

"What was I going to say?" He stood up and waved his hoof around the room. "You were one when she died. I met Kiln two months after, and what was I supposed to do? You needed a mother and I couldn't raise you on my own!"

"You could have told me." I ducked down and sat on the floor before him. "You could have told me before I left."

My dad stayed standing for a bit, blustering and trying to speak. He eventually plopped down across from me and huffed. "I didn't know how you'd react."

"It wasn't well." I felt the knot in my stomach shift, sitting up against my kidney. My hooves scraped against the floor as I tried to sit properly. "But we could have talked."

Noteworthy took a huge breath and slumped forward. "Glass, they're not coming back. None of them. Kiln's moving to Canterlot, she's taking Angle--"

"Angle's almost an adult. If he wants to come back, he will." I ran my hand over the smooth wood floor, now left with scratches were furniture was dragged or pushed. "What happened?"

Noteworthy stood up and tossed a hoof up, his dark blue mane jostling heavily. "I got angry. I yelled! And she packed up and left me!" He stamped his hoof. "She shouldn't have sent you that picture! She did it to try and hurt you, Glass!"

I shoved off the floor. "I know, dad! I know! She never looked at me. She never talked to me, it was always through Angle! I know she hated me, I know she didn't want me around!" I patted my chest. "Everything I owned was in that box, dad! The clothes, the key--"

My father popped upright. "What key?" He ran up to me, sliding a few paces as he skidded to a halt. "What hey!?"

"Twelve-twelve North Lakeside." I reached into my pocket and pulled the key out. I grabbed his hoof and set it down gently. "You didn't even know, did you?"

Rage flashed across my father's face. "I thought I lost this. She had it.... The whole damn time she had it." He dropped the key, the janky sound high and piercing over the great nothing that drifted around us. He shook his head gently. "Glass, I didn't."

"I know." I felt my eyes sting. "I know."

My father reared up and rested against me with a hoof. "Glass, kid, I didn't know."

I slowly lifted my arm up. "I know...." I set it against his back. My stomach was shifting painfully. But he was here. Angle, my mother, Kiln, they were gone. But here I was, with father and mate. I slowly tightened my grip, my father doing the same. "Where is she?"

Noteworthy squeezed me against himself. "Gone. Passed." His clarification sent a chill down through my entire body. "I'm sorry Glass. I didn't know she sent you all that."

I squeezed my father against me, resting against the side of his head. "I'm an adult.... I'll be fine." I took a deep breath. "Can I see her?" I dug my fingers into his coat. "Can I see her?"

My father leaned his head against my cheek. "Glass, tomorrow." He let go, slowly sliding down off me and onto four legs again. "Tomorrow. We can talk, we can figure this out." He smiled at me. "I promise, we'll figure this out."

I looked down at him. "And? What about you?"

Noteworthy opened his mouth and looked around. "It's not much, I know, but I'll make it work." He smiled and looked towards the door Darcy had gone through. "Better acoustics here anyways."

I couldn't help but feel a nervous twinge run up and down my back. "You're not going to kill yourself...are you?"

Noteworthy yanked his head back. "Glass...."

I shrugged. "It's certainly a possibility given what just happened--"

Noteworthy shook his head, a scornful frown sitting heavy across his face. "Three days ago, and please, I survived losing May. And I promised her I'd raise you right."

I felt my eyes burn again. I blinked a few times and looked towards the door. "Is that her name?"

"Pretty, right?" He tapped the floor with his hoof. "You saw the picture--"

"I have it." I dug into my pocket, my bag sitting by the door. "She's beautiful." I handed the picture over.

My father took it in a flash and pressed it against his chest. "She is. She always will be." He laughed softly as he looked down at the picture. "You two have the same accent. I think you might remember if you think back far enough." He turned to look at me, his own eyes watering slightly. "She used to sing to you, even when she was sick."

I felt the wind leave my lungs. "Don't tell me that.... God, don't do that to me this late."

Noteworthy laughed softly. "Then go to sleep kid."

I ducked down and gave my father a quick hug. "Dad, I love you."

I felt him jerk under my touch. "I-- I uh-- I love you too kid." He leaned against me. "Never thought I'd hear you say that." He shoved me away with one hoof. "Seriously, go get some sleep."

I stumbled upright. My hooves slipping on the scratched up floor. "Fine, but--"

"I have the couch, and somehow I think you're going to need the bed." He smiled while he shook his head. "Now go on, get some rest."

I lingered in the room for a bit. I rubbed my hands across my leg, my tail wrapped itself around my hand. "Sure." I turned to the door, twirling my tail between my fingers. I slipped into my dad's old bedroom, now stripped bare and only left with my bags in the corner and Darcy standing half stripped before me. I looked up at her, green eyes bright in the pale lamp light. "Did you listen?"

She nodded slowly. "Are you going to be okay?"

I looked around the empty room and slapped my arms against my sides. "I don't know. I think so." I looked Darcy up and down. She was bare save a set of underwear. "I just--" I walked up to her slowly and threw my arms around her, pressing my face against her collar, forcing myself just a bit lower so I didn't bash her chin with my skull. I squeezed her tight, the layer of cloth encompassing me left only my face bare to touch her bare skin.

She was warm, her fingers finding home on the back of my head. I let out a short huff and started to go slack. "I'm really tired." I tried to hold on, slowly sliding down her chest until I was barely held up against her stomach. "Darcy, help."

Darcy yanked me upright, keeping her arms under my own. She pulled me over to the bed and helped me sit. "Just hold on and let me--" I watched her hands go for my coat. I stayed upright for a few seconds before I flopped onto my back and clocked out. I was barely holding myself together, and either emotional breakdown was going to take me, or sleep. I opted for the more manly approach.

Prophetic Goodbye

"You'll be okay?" I walked with Darcy towards the train depot. "I mean if you--"

"I'll be fine." Darcy bumped me with her flank. "And ponies aren't as mean as you said they were up here."

I bit my tongue. "I never said they were mean, I just said we don't interact well. Or at all if we can avoid it." I rubbed my neck. "Bloom and Hicks aren't from around here originally. That's why--"

"Well, they still live here." Darcy hugged herself. "God, it was so good to see her again." She swung herself left and right in the middle of the hall, getting a few odd looks from a few ponies as they walked towards class.

"Weirdo...." A passing mare slapped my leg with her tail.

Darcy's eyes popped open, a dull frown slammed down hard over her lips. "I take it back."

I watched the ponies wander off deeper into the beige stone corridors of Storm Side. "I told you."

Darcy slumped forward. "Fine, but it was still good to see Abby."

"A--B? Abby?" I snorted loudly. "Do you really need to shorten it?"

Darcy punched me square in the chest, soft enough not to bruise, hard enough to knock the wind out of me. "Shorten something else you're not careful."

"Why must you taunt me." I stuffed my hands in my coat pocket and walked on down the hall. Darcy hurried up behind me. She walked beside me as we walked out into the grand train station. A loud metal grinding came from above. "What the hell?"

"Whoa, freaky...." Darcy pulled my sleeve. "The roof is open."

"What? No it's-- Oh pissing hell, it is." I held the top of my head as I looked up. The roof of the train station was peeled open, the sky above a clear warm day. "It's happened. Summer's here." I looked over to the walls. "They're thawing everything."

Darcy looked over in time to watch a few humans start up the barriers that kept the windows safe. The once white frost that lay behind them was now a sunny afternoon fit for Ponyville. Green grass laying for a square mile where they'd cleaned away the ice. "Whoa, balls."

I nodded. "Yeah, it doesn't last long. Usually a week or so." I rubbed my wrist. "They do it right before summer starts, and let it freeze over again as it gets going." I watched as an actual bird flew outside. "Everything's damp for the first day. It's nicer towards the end. ... Like mares."

"That's-- Wait, what?" Darcy snapped her head to me. "What's that mean?"

I coughed into my fist. "Most mares have better asses than faces.... Ponies...I mean." I patted my chest. "Not to say ponies are ugly, I'm just more in tune with a pretty face like yours."

Darcy shoved me a step away. "Nice save."

I nodded. "I thought so." I felt a victorious smile grow over my face. "Oh boy, I'll miss you."

Darcy grabbed my hand. "You're not gonna be gone that long."

"Still." I turned to face her. "I'll miss you all the same."

Darcy smiled at me, a warm, kind little smile. She leaned down and gave me a quick kiss. "Go fix your thingy."

I felt my heart sink slightly. "It's not really something I can fix. But I'll try." I squeezed her hand. "Have a safe trip."

Darcy pulled away. "Bye."

I was blessed to have someone like her watching out for me, let alone settling for my awkward ass. "Goodbye." I couldn't help but watch her the whole way as she walked towards the train out of Storm Side. Maybe it wouldn't last forever, but I had to thank god that it lasted this long.

Hello Mother

I stepped back into the main corridor. The aorta of Storm Side. My father was waiting dead center in the lonely hall. "You ready?"

I walked up to him. Things seemed too calm for what we were about to do. "I am. Show me."

My father cleared his throat and turned to face the other end of the corridor. "Dust Memorial Grounds."

I took a deep breath and walked past him. "Of course. Where else would she be."

My father joined me on our long walk down the empty hall. The vaulted ceiling seemed to funnel his words around me. "She wanted to be buried in Sydney." He laughed weakly. "By the time I figured out where she meant, I'd paid for the spot here."

I swallowed hard. "I'm sure she'd understand--"

"You never even spoke to her--"

I turned to face him. "She's my mother. I don't have to know her, I am her, I'm her Celestia damned blood!" I patted my chest. "I'm sure she's fine, wherever she is, I'm sure she's looking down at you and I with the widest smile she could make!" I thought back to the picture of her, the only sight I had of her. "I know it. And I'm glad she's here, I'm glad she can look down on me and smile while I visit her!" I beat my chest. "If you think--"

"Glass. It's enough." My dad walked up to me and put a hoof on my leg. "It's enough."

I took a deep breath. "Is it? Will it ever be enough?" I grabbed my chest. "...Can I hear her? Can I--"

My dad rubbed my leg. "Let's go see her, we can talk there." He patted my thigh and turned back down the hall. "Come on, sooner the better." He hurried along at a brisk pace. I took a moment to collect myself before following. I wished Darcy was here. I wished I could have her hand in my own. I needed something to squeeze, I needed something warm to be there for me.

I hurried down the hall. The halls I'd grown so accustomed to seemed foreign and long. Each concrete step felt new, each painted wall older and more faded as the walk progressed. Each turn and loud clop of hooves echoed softly. "Dad, where are we?" I looked t the faded walls, bits and pieces weathered beyond the capacity of my years.

My father sighed loudly and took a hard right. "A really, really old corridor." He turned towards a wide open ending to the great blank hall. Painted vines and ponies with snowflakes pouring from their horns faded out into the great white room that lay beyond. It was blinding. I could only see the faintest outline of pillars beyond the blinding white light.

My dad turned to face me, blank against the white light. "Glass, you coming?"

I swallowed hard and pressed on into the light. "Yeah, just give me a second." I shielded my eyes and stepped into the room. The blinding white light dissipated as I stepped into the vast empty field. The sky was clear overhead, the giant square room laden with snowy grass and pillars stood bolt stiff from the earth. The sun sat high above the arctic world of Storm Side, made all the brighter by the damp greenery that lay before me.

My father stood out on the path through the mile long room. "Glass, come on kid, this way."

I followed idly after him. The massive indoor track was a behemoth, now shown the light of the late spring thaw. I walked upon soft ground, in awe of the serene silence of it all. The path through the room was simple hardened dirt, guiding me along after my fathers. I could see his steps buried in the dust.

i carried on through the bright white pillars, some capped with gold or bright colored marble. The dead surrounded me, yet I had never felt more at peace. Not even in Darcy's arms did I feel so calm, so secure in my future. "I should have been an undertaker...." I looked to my side. My mark was a bright white star. I'd grown up wanting to be a magician, but I could barely pick up a blowing tool, let alone cast an actual spell. Now all I could associate my mark with, was the peaceful dead. "Dad...this place is really eerie."

My dad turned around, ducking down to avoid getting slapped in the head with a sparrow. "It really is. It's even worse when it's closed."

I hurried over to him. "Did that fucking bird just--"

My dad nodded. "Yeah, they're not used to actual living things, so they try to attack whatever shows up. They're harmless."

I swallowed and walked over to him. "Still, that's a bit odd to say the least."

My dad turned to a small white obelisk and sat down. "Birds aside, we're here."

I walked next to him and looked down at the gold plaque. "Alice N. Glass...." I turned to face my father. "Is this where it--"

My dad licked his lips. "It was for her, and you went into those classes well enough."

I felt lost. Like the one mainstay I had, my work, my life, my family, all of it was slowly eroding around me. I knew there was something wrong from the start, but the pieces were slowly coming apart in larger chunks than I'd anticipated. "What did she do?"

My father turned to me with a dulled frown. "Violinist, and one of the nicest ones I've ever known."

I rubbed my throat and ducked down before her grave. I rubbed my side. "So...we still don't know what this is?" I stood up and shook my head. "You know what...that's okay." I rubbed my face. "That's okay." I took a deep breath. "I have her." I smiled down at the grave. "I've got this much, and I think that's enough."

My father walked up beside me. A small box sat in his upraised hoof. "Here kid, I think it's about time you had this."

I took the box from him and watched as he walked off. "Dad?"

He walked backwards away from me. "They won't kick you out. And I've got things to do. You take care of yourself kid, and go back and enjoy your life."

I watched him leave. I was alone, but I had something to turn to. The grave at my back, a mare to my front, a family at my side. I opened up the box idly before looking down into it. A small thumb drive was sitting inside. I cocked my head. "Why...would he give me this...?" I closed the box and put it into my pocket.

I turned to the grave and sat down before it. I looked down at my hands, then to the grave. I took a deep breath and looked up to the sky. I had my family lines, I had my home, I had people to turn to, and I had the sunshine on my skin. I smiled up at the bright blue sky overhead.

I was at peace, and with my family known and the haunting uncertainty gone from my chest, I could go home and try to make a proper life back in Ponyville.

My smile refused to face. The arctic sun decided to shine bright and warm upon me. I laid down on the grass by my mother's grave. I never knew her, I might never still, but I knew of her, and that was enough to settle my heart and ease my stomach.

Spring had come and guided me through to a warm spot in the sunshine. Summer was here.

Train Ride South

My stomach fluttered gently as I watched people storm around the train station. "So...who is this mare?" I asked as I rubbed my hands together, trying to bite away the frost that clung to the air. I looked around the icy train station in Storm Side, the college towering over the town and station below. "Singer?"

"Seamstress." My little brother corrected, the normal looking earth pony nodded slowly. "I think her sister is a singer. Famous in Manehattan if it's the same mare."

I looked down at my body, my jacket pulled tight against me, my pony legs wrapped up in a thick pair of slacks with my hooves capped off in a pair of thick leather boots. "Angle, does it ever bother you--"

"Yes. Every day of my life." Angle nodded quickly. "What's up?"

I stared at my brother with a bit of a frown. "I meant that I'm--"

"My brother? Oh yes, a nerd like you, oh boy." He started laughing gently. "You're talking about dad right? Because he's a pony, and you're a satyr?"

I let out a long sigh as the train started to pull into place, shooting steam high into the air and causing a sudden miniature storm in the covered station. "Like...I understand you, but what the hell happened to me?" I looked down my arms, lifting a hoof to get a better view of myself. "It still bugs me...." My father was a pony, my mother, a pony all the same. Yet somehow I'd come out different, a satyr in a houseful of ponies. "I'm never going to get an answer, am I?"

Angle rolled his eyes. "Look at your tail. Look at mine." He swept his tail around to my hoof. "See that?" Of course he was my brother, of course, we were the same family, but somewhere along the line something had changed. "Why don't you just ask him?"

I shook my head and stood up. "What am I gonna say? Hey dad, did mom cheat on you at some point? Or am I a science project?" I grabbed my bags as a pony started blowing a whistle and herding everypony onto the train. Ponies mixed with the occasional provincial or hybrid. "I'm probably just over thinking it. Probably just... turned into a pony one day after I was born...." I scratched my head and looked towards the train. "I guess it doesn't matter."

"You're right, it doesn't matter. You're my brother, and we'll love you all the same, satyr, or pony, or whatever you want to be. We'd love you even if you're gay!" He started to laugh slightly.

I rubbed my cold nose, the very tip freezing to the touch. "That's screwed up man. And it just bugs me some times, being different--"

Angle hopped off his bench, stretching his hooves and shaking his mane. "Oh jeez, you finally leave home and suddenly you're all contemplative and stuff." He walked over to my and hugged my across my stomach. "Go on, Glass, go make something out of yourself." He pushed off and stumbled back. "I'll take care of mom and dad while you're gone."

I huffed softly. "Go make something out of myself? I'm going to Ponyville... don't expect too much."

Angle's face snapped to an unamused glare. "You're such a downer. Mom said, go out, explore, have fun, and you're just so damn negative!" He stomped around towards the snowy mountains to the north. "Do you really want to stay here with the same mares, with the same stallions, each and every frozen day?"

I rubbed my arm and looked out through the glass roofed train station. "I guess not. Just nervous I guess." I bit my lip, "No...I know I'm nervous...just, trying to take my mind off it I suppose."

Angle turned to me with a smile. "Why? Ponyville is full of satyrs man, put your mind on that! You could meet a mare, you could get a job! Who knows, you might even learn how to have fun, you god damn stick in the mud!" Angle started laughing into a hoof. "Dude, you're getting put up by a fancy dressmaker, for free--"

"Work for stay." I corrected, hoisting my bag up. "And if I'm late, she'll probably send me back, so... I'm gonna get going." I turned to the train, stepping over the stone platform and into the line. I looked back at my brother, the younger earth pony strong and strange as ever. But as I watched him, that niggling little doubt started to creep back into my mind.

Why was I different? I could have been happy as a pony, but now I was just different. I never got picked on, there were always enough kids like me that no one cared that I was different. But I didn't like being strange. I didn't like having to talk with my mom and try to goad the truth out of her. Was I some bastard? Was I just something born different just because? Why would my dad change?

My thoughts were cut off as a pearly white glove pushed into my vision. A smiling satyr with a bright pink streak in her hair just stood there, hand out. "Um... ticket?"

I felt my cheeks heat up slightly. "Oh, sorry." I dug my hand into my pocket and slapped my ticket into her hand. "Really sorry--"

The mare laughed slightly and punched a hole into the bottom half. "It's a little warm."

I felt the burning in my cheeks spread across my nose. "Uh, yeah. Sorry. ... Pocket." As soon as the ticket met my hand again I jammed it into my pocket and stormed onto the train. I could feel a tail sweep the back of my leg, causing me to trip slightly. I felt a shiver shoot through my entire body. "Hey- alright...." I mumbled to myself, hurrying into the packed cattle-call seating.

I hated it. Ponies everywhere, no seats, only one spot left open for me. "Oh great...." I started off towards the seat, trying to ignore the talking ponies surrounding me. The constant chatter and noises of ponies started to grate. I shoved my bag up into storage, just as quickly flopping down in the open seat. I settled in, ignoring the squeaky seat and the pony to my side.

"Oh... hi Glass." A stern, almost husky voice cut into my life.

I bit down hard, already sure of who I'd had the displeasure of sitting next to. "Marin...hello." I crossed my legs, pushing my hoof lightly against the next row of seats. "How are you?"

"Dating again." She shot back, the both of us still refusing to make eye contact. "He's a lot bigger than you."

I pulled a sharp breath through my teeth. "Well knowing you, you'd need something big."

I felt something grab my shoulder. "Did you just call me loose!?"

I pushed the hoof on my shoulder away and turned to face my green ex. "Yes, yes I did. Apparently you are, why else would you sleep around so god damn much?"

The tiny green unicorn puffed out her cheeks. "You know, I needed a little attention too! And all you ever--"

"Can we just sit here, endure this, and part ways as soon as possible?" I begged, scooting away from her as much as I could. "Let's--"

I looked out into the isle, a passing drink cart suddenly started glowing. "That's fine!" Marin shouted, magically flinging a bottle into my forehead. It pinged off with only a modest amount of pain, and much less than the mare stomping over my lap. "I don't have to sit here and take this from you anyways!"

I held my head as the tiny mare shoved a hoof into my groin. "Marin, you bitch!" I shouted, trying to keep the mare from ruining me any further. I slid towards the window, narrowly escaping an angry hoof to the hip. "Why can you not be civil?"

Marin bumped the drink cart out of the way, shoving the satyr who'd taken my ticket into a row of seats. "Civil? I'll show you bucking civil!" Marin lit up her horn, yanking her bag off the rack and flinging mine into another passengers head. "There's your bucking civility!"

I covered my head as the room exploded. Shouts and screamed filled the air as the mare from the drink cart pushed my bag onto my lap and took a seat next to me. "Uh...who--"

"My ex...." I grumbled, rubbing my forehead with my fingers. "Long story there...."

The satyr next to me looked back at the crazed mare storming towards the next car. "Oh... Well, congratulations on getting out alive." Her laugh was sweet, honest. It brought a small, bittersweet smile to my face. "So, would you like something to drink?"

I took a deep breath, my laugh quickly fading as I thought of what to order. I pulled a few bit coins out of my pocket. "Whiskey...." I rummaged around my wallet and slapped down my ID with my coins.

The satyr rung her hands together nervously. "We don't serve alcohol on the train. Sorry."

I looked the perky redhead over. "Ah.... Then I should be fine." I put my stuff away and plopped my arms down atop my bag. "This is going to be a long ride."

The same pearly white glove shoved itself back into view. "Well, sorry to hear that. I'm Geo, by the way."

I felt a small candle strength warmth rest in my stomach. I took the mare's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Glass Work."

Geo smiled at me as she pulled away, back to her cart. "Well I'll see you around then. Bye."

I waved the girl away as she wandered off. "Bye...." I turned to the window, the train car slowly getting back to normal after my old mate's explosive outburst. "Oh gods.... It's going to be a long ride." The train, in agreence with my sentiment, started off. I watched as the train hub slowly chugged past. Ponies and provincials zipping past as the arctic world outside Storm Side came into view.

Our home, nestled in the mountains, covered by ice and snow. It reminded me just how far north we were. A border town, on the border with literally nothing. Only cold, snow, and wind chill were left past our mountain home. Yet somehow the greatest college since Canterlot was stuck out in the northern most city. But, our town was by far the most diverse. I looked around the train, hippogryphs, ponies, satyrs, humans, even a traveler from the lands past the frozen barrens, a deer, were calling this train home for the night.

"Yo." A griffon carefully sat down next to me.

I waved at him. "Hello."

Things went blissfully quiet again. For all the trouble Marin had caused me, I now had a perfect view of the constant rush of white as the train plowed on towards the Crystal empire. It would take hours, hours stuck beside a bird man, hours of sitting in this uncomfortably springy chair, hours of watching white nothingness zip past. All of this, just to try living somewhere away from the frost which I was so accustom to.

"Oh god...why did I leave?" I asked myself, leaning against the wall and staring at the rushing winter plains. I turned and looked at the griffon next to me. "Excuse me...have you ever been to Ponyville?"

The griffon turned to me with an unreadable birdish expression. "No." He turned to face the front with a snap, completely snuffing my conversation.

"Oh...well, never mind." I tapped my fingers on my bag and settled in again. "Riveting as always, bird man." I watched the white roll by, turning to grey, then to black. Time melted as I swung between consciousness. The long winter nights seemed to grow longer without the mountains or the candlelit halls of Storm Side. And I couldn't help but sleep. The worries I'd held, the apprehension in my body, it was terrifying, and at least in sleep I could escape it.

I was leaving home for what might be the last time. I was leaving the life I'd known, giving it all up for a chance in the sun. Giving it all up for a little sand, for the smell of coal and oil burning up. I was giving it up for the mare I'd be helping, and for a chance at living normally after my life of cold seclusion in Storm Side.

And the hollow feeling in my gut grew more and more as the white faded away into green. Crystal shoots jutting out of the ground to replace the occasional ice blasted rock in the plains. They made me feel worse than ever before. I was born three years after the return of the empire, and seeing how tall the spires that were once only nubs on the ground had grown was maddening. Eight teen years, locked up alone in the cold. Left to play with the occasional magic student or scholar.

"Hey, are you alright?" A voice clearly forcing itself to be quieter than it usually was poked my ear. "You're crying."

I snapped around, finding a burly looking stallion hovering his head where the bird man had been. "What? Am I?" I reached up and dabbed under my eyes. Sure enough a simple bit of water was clinging along the bridge of my nose. "Oh...so I am." I wiped off my eyes. "Just thinking is all, I'm fine."

The stallion stared at me, his frown lightening only slightly. "Well if you're sure...alright." He turned to his seat again.

I rubbed my eyes, turning back to the window as the world slowly rolled to a stop. An awkwardly unfamiliar train station plopping into view. I felt myself pop upright slightly, jarred awake by the obnoxiously plain station. "Oh.... I thought it would be crystal." I rubbed my mouth, slightly disappointed at the display. I turned and watched as a load of ponies got off, another smaller group getting on.

Everyone was leaving Storm Side, almost no one besides students went up north. It burned my guts a little, but the free seats meant I could finally take my bag off my lap. "Oh, that seat's taken I guess?" A warm voice asked, turning into a satyr with a glowing crystal mane. "It's fine--"

"Oh no, no, no, it's my fault." I grabbed the handle on my bag and pulled it back onto my lap. "It's my fault, really." I let out a deep sigh as the mare smiled at me. "Sorry, it's been a rather long day."

The mare sat down next to me, wrapped up in a strange looking purple uniform. "Trust me, I totally get it." She leaned back into her chair, something white on her shirt catching my attention. I tried to read it, the wording at an awkward angle and blurry. "Uh... are you looking at the tag or my girls?"

I felt my eyes force themselves wide open. A burning sensation landed right across my cheeks. "Oh- no no no the tag!"

The mare smiled at me. "I was playing around. Don't freak out that bad." She turned to face me dead on. "Guard cadet."

I mumbled to myself a bit. "Just had enough female abuse for the day, not really trying to- oh! Oh, that's where that's from!" I clapped my hands together, pointing at her with both fingers. "Crystal guard?"

The mare turned and straightened herself out as the train lurched forward. "The one and only." She looked around, drawing my attention to the ponies in purple. "Training starts in Summer, so everypony is getting ready to head out there."

I looked around at the mass of empty spaces, only occupied by one pony. "Wait...so, why'd you sit next to me?"

The mare looked around again, this time with a gently smirk. "These ponies, they're not too happy about me going along. Obvious reasons aside, I used to tag the crystal spires in the city."

"Oh!" I laughed, "that makes a little more sense." I covered my mouth as I laughed. "Tagging? Like with paint?"

The mare nodded, snickering slightly. "Yeah. They said I could either join the guard or I could work until I paid off all the damages. I figured I'd get to travel a little more this way."

The train ride seemed to kick off, the crystal fields burning away into green, then again into the mountains. "I know the feeling." I leaned back and rapped my fingers on the edge of my luggage. "Trapped in the ice for eighteen years, really feeds the wanderlust."

The mare pulled her hands up. "Oooh, wanderlust." She laughed gently. "You lusty?"

I started laughing my nervous laugh. "Not exactly what I meant."

"Oh lighten up-" the mare shoved me slightly, "-I'm just teasing."

I rubbed my arm, the girl's punch a lot more forceful than she intended. "I'm sure." I let out a shrill whine as I stretched out. "If you don't mind though, I'm going to get some sleep. All I can really do to pass the time anyways."

"Oh, so you're just going to leave me here?" The mare asked, putting a hand on my thigh. "You don't think I'm bored too?"

I coughed softly. "I uh- I... I'll just ask, are you hitting on me?"

The mare cocked an eyebrow. "No, I have my hand on your thigh because you've got a pug face."

I sighed loudly. "Well sorry to say I'm not really interested." I carefully pulled her hand away and placed it back on her lap. "Just got out of a crazy ordeal with my last mate, not really ready to dive head long into the next potentially unstable mare."

The mare made a sharp hissing noise. "Damn, you don't hold back!"

I nodded, a bit proud in my bluntness. "No ma'am, no I do not."

The mare smiled at me. "Well alright, but I'd still appreciate the company. Everyone is a little nervous, and having someone--"

I slid my hand down my luggage and over her lap, landing swiftly on her hand. I grabbed her hand in my own, giving her a soft squeeze, and getting a rougher one in return. "Traveling really is a bit scary, isn't it?" I chuckled to cover my own shifting grip. "You're only going to Canterlot, and only coming from the Empire."

The mare smiled at me, starting to falter in her extremely happy show. "Yeah.... Were you already on the train?"

I looked out the window, the dim grey mountainside overtaking the green flatland on our way up. "Storm Side to Ponyville. Maybe down to Saddle Arabia if things don't work out there."

The mare squeezed my hand hard. "Oh... sorry." Her jewelish mane glimmered slightly as she looked out my window. "Wait, so you don't have a place to go? How old are you?"

I took a deep breath. "Eighteen."

The mare tried to pull her hand away. "Oh! I'm really sorry, I didn't know--"

"It's fine. How were you supposed to know? I look young, I know." I eased my grip slightly, but kept her hand in my own. "Just be glad you have everything worked out in advance. Things, things get that much more scary when you don't know what's going to happen next."

The mare looked out the window. "Yeah-" she wrenched her hand, touching her wrist to my own, "-I get it."

I looked away from the climbing mountains and towards the now fidgeting mare. "My name is Glass."

The mare looked up at me, starting to get that perky energy back. "Oh, uh, Ruby." She squeezed my hand. "Your hand is kinda sweaty."

I stared at the mare softly. "So is yours."

"Well I'm nervous," she shot back, scratching the back of my hand slightly. "So... you're not going to Canterlot. You think we'll see each other again after this?"

I let out a long sigh, the mountains giving way to the broad overlook of the northern half of Equestria. Grand vistas of white, green, and now a burgeoning yellow-brown were taking over the lands. "Honestly, probably not."

Ruby squeezed my hand. "That sucks."

Things went quiet, time melting once again before coming to a dead stop in the vast Canterlot Central Station. Ruby squeezed my hand as hard as possible. "Well, this is me." I let her go, enjoying the smooth texture of her fingers dragging across my palm. "Thanks for keeping me company."

"Oh it was not--" I was cut off as something soft pressed up against my cheek. No noise, no warning, only a single soft adolescent kiss on the cheek. "What?"

Ruby pulled away. "Bye." I watched the purple bound mare step out, joining a rush of purple wearing ponies. I reached out ever so slightly before yanking my hand back and putting it on my bag.

"Oh...." I grabbed my free hand and squeezed it, already starting to miss the security of another body next to me. "Hmm, I hope she does well." I flexed my hand, nervously passing time as I waited to arrive at the last stop. I hadn't even realized the train was moving until we started on the down slope down Canterlot Mountain. "Oh Gods.... I hope I'm not late."

I clung to the edge of the waking world as the sun dipped low over the western mountains and the great White Tail woods. The trip down from Canterlot to Ponyville would cap off my day, and leave me weary and alone in an entirely new city. Excitement and panic fought in my stomach as the outside world grew to dark to see. But soon enough I'd be in Ponyville, and soon enough I'd be flung headlong into a new way of life, in a new town, new everything.

The train lurched to a stop, waking me from my twilight stupor. "Last stop for the night, Ponyville!"

Misty

I ran my hands along yet another finished piece. "Rarity, why did you keep me from this." I wiped down the crystal spire, a bright red gem buried inside. "Beautiful." I felt the heat from the piece bleed into my hands, then out through my body into the air. "Misty, what do you think?" I swung myself over to her, sitting in the entry, watching me.

Misty smiled and walked up to the railing. "It's pretty." She tapped her hands on the railing. "Who's it for?"

"Uh, no one." I walked up to the polishing station, cleaning up the piece for show.

Misty hummed softly. "How's Darcy?"

"Good, she's getting this habit of playing hoofsies under tables." I finished up and took my gloves off, letting the smooth geometrical spire rest in my hands. "What do you think, a nice pendant right?" I held it to my chest. "Sit about there, lost in some busty mare's cleavage."

Misty covered her face with her sleeves. "Probably."

I took a deep breath. "Misty...what is it you want from me?" I walked up to the lower part of the entry, holding one hand against the railing. "Misty, Darcy told me a few days ago...about Bolt."

Misty's face twisted up slightly. "He's nice to me, I really wish he'd come home soon."

I licked my lips and walked back into the entry of the workshop. "So you are dating." I set the piece down and looked back to Misty, her tail peeking out from under her sweater. "But then why worry about me?"

Misty turned around with a chipper smile. "Because I've never had a brother. Always wanted one."

I laughed softly as she settled down across from me. "What? Brother--"

"Yeah!" Misty reached out over the table. "Do you have a sister?"

I rubbed my face. "A brother, a sister in the womb."

Misty's smile widened. "That's nice."

"Misty...what's so nice? You're always smiling."

She shrugged, pulling her hands back across the table. "I don't have a reason not to. You were new, you seemed scared--"

"I was not scared!" I slapped the table. "Apprehensive, maybe, but not scared!"

Misty frowned. "You seemed unhappy, and I didn't like that. I wanted you to be happy, and you seemed to like Darcy...so I told.... I--" Misty pushed her hand into her other sleeve. "Don't be mad, I told her you wanted to be best friends. I told her she should...like.... Get close."

I stuck my tongue out, biting the meatier parts of my mouth. "You're the reason she kept coming around?"

Misty grew a bit pink. "You seemed sad...when she was around you talked, you smiled a little--"

"So by your logic, I wanted to date her?" I grabbed my glass piece. "Misty...that's a bit of a leap--"

Misty shook her head. "No, I thought you two were friends, so I told her you wanted to hang out more. And...I wanted to hang out more, and see you happy."

I took a deep breath. "Misty...I'm not sure how I feel about you watching out for me."

Misty's smile dropped like a brick. "Oh...sorry."

I took a shallow breath. "Don't be. Like I said, I don't know how I feel about it. But I do wish you would have said something sooner." I stood up and turned back to the workshop. "I thought you were aiming for me yourself, then suddenly I--"

Misty giggled, letting it turn into a slight uproar of laughter. "I'm only fifteen!"

I nodded, scanning a small bin of chain. "Again, would have been good to know sooner." I found a fine bit of thin chain and started wrapping it around the pendant. "And...thank you." I put a few dabs of acrylic on the spots. "Darcy- she's fun."

Misty's smile started to burn me. "I'm glad, oh...and Goldie wants to know if you'll go to her birthday still."

I shook my head and walked around behind Misty. "Isn't her birthday in fall?"

Misty looked back at me as I draped the pendant over her shoulders. "Yeah...she's...just--"

I made sure the chain set well against her neck. "There, not the busty mare I was thinking of, but it'll have to do."

Misty pushed off the table in a flash, spinning around and jamming her forehead against the underside of my throat. "Thank you." She wrapped her arms around my sides. "Thank you, thank you!"

I held my arms out. "Ah haaa, I'm extremely sweaty...." I felt a bit warm, my chest achy and heavy. "Oh god...emotions suck...." I looked down to the mare hugging my gut. "Wait...fifteen, don't you still have school?"

Misty pulled back away from me. "Um...sort of...?" She smiled wide. "I-- work...study.... With Pinkie Pie--"

"You're skipping school, aren't you?"

Misty grew a bit pink. "A little."

I glared down at her. "You're a little shit, ya know that." I turned her around and started pushing her towards the door. "Out, out! School!"

Misty tried to keep from moving. "Wait-- I mean--"

"Stop snooping in my life and go to school!"

Misty swung around and tried to dig her hooves against the concrete floor. "Are you happy?!"

"Ecstatic, now go to school!" I carried her to the door. "I'll tell Darcy you said hello."

"Do you like her?" Misty swung around and grabbed the doorway. "Glass, do you like her?"

"I do." I gave her a quick hug. "And if you're so worried about me being happy, then go to school."

Misty frowned at me. "Fine...but you have to be nice to me--"

"Misty, seriously...why are you--"

Misty grabbed my hand. "Because I like seeing ponies happy, and you...you weren't happy."

I frowned and grabbed the door. "Misty, I'm fine. I'll find my way. Thank you for your worry, but I'll be fine." I closed the door. "Brother. I don't think I'm ready to be a big brother like that." I covered my mouth and laughed. "Really not sure how I feel about my little sister pushing me towards mares and parties...."

I went back into my concrete work box, hips bouncing as I danced to my work. "Again with the birthday thing."

Dream

I sat in the park again, watching the water ripple as I waited for Darcy. I'd called her out to keep me company, unable to go back to the boutique for a while.

Darcy walked over slowly, coming off from the road into town. "Glass...you alright?" She plopped down next to me, scooting over to me until out hips were touching.

I rubbed my face hard. "No...."

Darcy put her arm over my shoulders and pulled me against her. "What happened?"

I took a deep breath and looked down to the bag between my legs. "I had an accident...."

Darcy frowned extremely hard. "You peed yourself?"

I groaned softly. "No.... I wish I had." I lowered my head. "You know I haven't had a place to masturbate for the past month...."

Darcy looked up at me, peeking at me from below. "What? I don't get--" Her eyes went wide. "Oh...my gosh...."

I sighed loudly. "I need to find someplace to wash Rarity's sheets."

Darcy leaned away and started to chuckle. "Oh my god...oh dear Celestia...you had a wet dream?"

I looked up at her with a glare. "You're laughing!?"

Darcy started to grow red, trying to stem her laughter by covering her mouth. "Oh my gosh...I'm sorry, you called and I thought you got kicked out."

"How is this not worse!?"

"You came your pants! In Rarity's Bed!"

I sighed loudly. "...Thank you Darcy, thank you."

Darcy squeezed me against her shoulder. "Oh Glass...oh boy...come on, let's go take care of this." She stood up, helping me to my feet quickly. "Come on.... Before they get crusty--" Darcy broke out laughing before finishing.

I shook my head and started walking back towards town. "God damn it...I should have just burned them." I sighed loudly and grumbled to myself. "I even justified it in the dream...oh it's not permanent, just a one night stand! God damn it...I think I have a problem."