Rarity fumbled her keys into her door. After a few tries, she finally jammed them into the lock and twisted. Her eyes lit up as the door swung open. Spirit batted at her mane as she walked through the Boutique and put the groceries onto the counter.

“Okay Spirit, I’m going to try and cook this meat for you.” Rarity said as she looked at the small container of chicken meat. She gagged a little bit, but then pulled an old dusty book out of her bag. The cover read “The Griffon Guide to Cooking.” It looked like it hadn’t been touched in over ten years. She had visited the Library earlier and borrowed it from Twilight. She had been so nose deep in a book, she didn’t even notice Spirit on her back!

Rarity opened the book and perused until she had found the chapter on cooking chicken. Spirit could smell something good, but he was too absorbed with rolling around with a small ball of yarn than food.

“Step one, put chicken in a small plastic bag and pound it until the thicker end of chicken matches the height of the thinner end.” Rarity read out loud. “Oh, that doesn't seem too hard. What’s next?” She read on. “Make sure not to thin it out too much or the chicken will dry during high heat.” Rarity read over the passage a few times before grabbing a rolling pin and beating the chicken down. Being such a stickler for detail, Rarity pulled out a ruler to try to make this chicken as perfectly as possible.

Spirit started running around the Boutique and eventually noticed Opal sitting in a chair. One of his favorite things to do was to chase her until he either tired himself out or he caught her and licked her to the point of excess. Opal didn’t seem to like either outcome.

Rarity followed the instructions in the book one at a time until she put it on her vegetable griller.

“Eugh, I’ll have to remember to really clean this off before I use it again.” Rarity gagged. She then proceeded to sit the chicken into her small charcoal stove. Before long, the chicken had sat for the perfect amount of time and a delectable smell wafted around the Boutique. Rarity didn’t want to admit it, but the chicken that she had just cooked did smell rather good, but she would rather take a scissor to her favorite clothes than eat meat.

“Spirit!” She called. “Dinner is ready!” As soon as she said that, she heard the unmistakable thumping on the stairs and then quiet steps towards the kitchen. Now Spirit had started to notice that he was hungry, and for the first time ever, he smelled something that made him want to run in circled for an hour. Rarity took a plate and cut the chicken into small pieces as she saw in the book and set it down in front of Spirit.

“Here you go, Sweetie. I hope you like it.” Spirit took a cautious step towards the plate. He sniffed at it and then looked back at Rarity.

What is this stuff mommy? He thought.

“Go ahead dear, I’m sure it’s very good. Go on!” rarity urged. She also longed to know if he liked her cooking. Hearing Rarity’s pleading tone, he looked back at the chicken and licked a small chunk of it. He seemed surprised for a second, but instantly jumped onto the plate and ate all the chicken in less than a minute.

“I guess you really did like it, huh?” Rarity cooed as she stroked Spirit’s fur. After he wa finished licking the plate clean, Spirit turned around and licked Rarity right in the face. This was a normal occurrence… other than the fact that he had just eaten meat. She would totally need a shower sometime soon.

“Ewwwww!” She exclaimed as she frowned, but she couldn’t frown for much longer. Spirit didn’t stop there. He ran up to her and continued to lick her face.

I love you mommy. I love you mommy. He thought as he tried to lick her face clean of all worry. Rarity eventually gave in and just let it happen. Once he was done with that, Spirit laid down on his side and let out a long breath. Rarity watched him for a minute before she as well, lay down next to him and stared at the ceiling. She could feel him breathing beside her, and not only that. She could feel her entire body feeling warmer. Calmer next to him. She felt safer.

Before they knew it, they were both fast asleep next to each other, trading their heat and letting any worry slide away.

The air felt crisp to the stallion. His mane swayed in the wind as he stood on the balcony of his apartment. He had a bit of a migraine, but then again, he was always having a migraine. He learned to ignore it. He couldn't remember exactly what happened that night. He was with two other stallions he had met at a get-together in Ponyville and all of a sudden he woke up in the middle of a blizzard, alone with nothing but his own pool of blood and a smashed lantern. It was honestly a miracle to be alive.

He wanted to know what happened that night. He didn’t have that much to drink did he? The only thing that he could recollect was some sort of small animal, but that could just be his faulty memory. He needed to figure out what happened that night and he wouldn’t stop until he did. The first course of action would be to try to figure out who he was with and why he woke up in a pool of blood. It wouldn't be easy though. There were over seventy ponies at that get-together. It was an anonymous meetup as well, so he had no way of knowing who exactly was there.

He had no choice but to hunt down those ponies and find out what happened to him and he would stop at NOTHING to get it.

Author's Note

Uh. This is awkward.

I'm a little late, but here you go! I'll be updating this story MUCH more often.

Enjoy!