One Pony Short Of Insanity

Chapters

Chapter 2 - Behind The Cloak
Chapter 3 - Morning Coffee
Chapter 4 - Arrangements
Chapter 5 - Excuses
Chapter 6 - Coffee Flanks
Chapter 7 - New Friends
Chapter 8 - Expanding The Group
Chapter 9 - Scotch On The Rocks
Chapter 10 - Of Parties And Punch
Chapter 11 - What's Done Is Done, But Certainly Not Forgotten
Chapter 12 - Scotch's Folly
Chapter 13 - Stealing Home
Chapter 14 - A Friend Might Just Be Right Under Your Nose (Or Beak)
Chapter 15 - Oh What A Night
Prologue
Chapter 1 - A Last Resort
Chapter 16 - "I'm not dead so there's still hope, right?"

Chapter 2 - Behind The Cloak

“Why do I keep making such an ass of myself…” Apple mumbled as he exited the bar. A frigid wind whipped down the street, biting through his thin scarf and cloak causing him to wince and pick up his pace. He may have only had to go across the street to get home, but on nights like this it might as well have been across town. “Nobody wants to hear about her. The sooner I figure that out, the sooner I can get out of this shit hole and away from him...”

The pony of his disdain was his brother, Pippin Apple, a rather burly earth pony stallion who was bigger than Apple. He was a heavy-drinking college dropout who got lucky and landed an easy-ass job that enabled him to sit on his ass at home all day flipping real estate. Apple hated him for how easily he stumbled into money and by association, mares (and even the occasional stallion, but that was on really drunken nights). Pulling the worn key from his pocket and fidgeting with the temperamental lock, Apple finally shouldered the front door open and kicked it shut behind him. He made his way up the front staircase leading to the third floor where they shared a cramped apartment. As he walked down the dimly lit hall, he could hear the various ponies going about their own lives in their respective apartments. He came to the door with the crooked number “315” nailed to the front and sighed as he pushed the door open. A pony with the same coat color as Apple but a blue mane with a green stripe was sitting on the couch playing a game on their Neighstation.

“Aw fuck you you piece of shit camper!” Pippin yelled into a headset mic. “You spawned in the same spot three fuckin' times you fuckin' hacker.” Apple just shook his head as he hung his scarf on the doorside hook, then closed his eyes as he heard it fall off the wall as he began to walk away. Celestia he hated this place…

The apartment he shared with his brother was by no means a spacious place. In fact, it was probably the example one would use to describe the exact opposite of the term. The front door led to a small, cramped hallway through which he could barely fit due to the oversized radiator and the hook on the wall where some jackets hung. This led to a living room which was filled with two computers, a mass of cables, a small couch, a TV with a gaming console, and a bookshelf. Overall this didn’t leave a lot of space for movement. The apartment’s only redeeming factors were the large panoramic window on the other side of the living room, and it’s rather well equipped kitchen. It was a bit behind in modern upgrades, but that was expected of a cheap apartment.

“I’m home Pip,” Apple said reluctantly, hoping Pippin wouldn’t hear him and he could get behind him and to his room undetected. But he wasn’t known for his luck.

“Oh hey bro. Score any hot ass at the bar tonight?” Pippin said over the back of the couch. “No I wasn’t talking to you asswipe. Get back over there and snipe you useless scout.”

“No Pip…” Apple said. He hated when Pippin asked him about his sex life, or lack thereof. Everyone in the building saw their apartment as a revolving door of sex and booze thanks to Pippin. The bar being right across the street didn’t help this scene one bit.

“We gotta get you laid bro. When was the last time you got it wet? Oh yea, never,” Pippin sneered. “You can’t tell me you didn’t see at least one hot piece of flank over there tonight.”

“Well… I did talk to two ladies over there but not in that way,” Apple replied, looking anywhere but his brothers now huge grin. Never had he wished to not have said anything so much.

“Spill it. I wanna know who they were. Maybe I’ve tapped that already and can give you some pointers. I’ve gotten around town a few times,” Pippin smirked.

“It’s not like that. Only one was a mare. The other was this griffin I’ve seen around town before. I think she owns that moving company over on Blackjack Blvd. I think her name is Ember or something. Didn’t catch the mare's name though,” Apple muttered.

“A griffin huh? I hear they like it really rough. Bet I could rut her something good,” Pippin said, kinky ideas filling his polluted mind.

“Please, she’d rip you to shreds with the talons she has. Those things are terrifying up close,” Apple said as he made his way to the kitchen to grab a bowl of cereal. Wonderful, down to the last box of Cheerileeo’s again. Pippin always ate the good cereals, but Cheerileeo’s were too bland for his tastes. Apple found them just fine though. “Besides, I’m more interested in the mare that was with her. All I remember was she had a coffee cup cutie mark and was this ridiculously sexy shade of blue.”

“Sexy shade of blue huh? I’d like to fill her coffee cup with something,” Pippin yelled from the living room. “Oh you no-scoping piece of shit! No! NO! Oh fuck me with Celestia’s forehooves…”

“I take it you lost again,” Apple said as he came out of the kitchen and sat beside Pippin on the couch.

“Yeah, fourth game in a row. Fuckin' disgraceful…” Pippin said as he put the controller down and took the headset off. “So how’s the job search coming? Ever since Twilight kicked your cult-loving ass to the curb you’ve been even more mopey than usual. It’s annoying.”

Apple immediately looked away. His brother always gave him a hard time about his beliefs and would never let it go. A lot of ponies were like that actually. “It’s not too good. Nobody is quick to hire me once they find out the Princess of freakin' Friendship fired me… I just don’t know what I want to do, or what I’m good at really.”

“Watermelon?” Pippin asked as he bit into a large slice he got after a short walk to the kitchen. Apple shot him a level stare. Pippin knew he had an aversion to the cursed fruit ever since the time when Pippin stuck one on his head when they were younger. “What? Just trying to help. It’s good.”

“Moving on. I really want to find a place of my own; start my own life. Preferably away from you,” Apple said, muttering the last part.

“Oh so I guess all those long nights we spent cuddling meant nothing to you. I see how it is.” Pippin got up and walked to the door, putting on his coat and faking tears. “You never loved me! I gave you sweet release and you never loved me!” Pippin wailed.

“Would you shut the hell up you lunatic! Celestia it’s bad enough the neighbors think this place is the front for the biggest pimp company in Ponyville but you don’t have to add fuel to the fire!” Apple said, pulling Pippin away from the door and throwing the coat on the chair. Pippin leaned up and planted a quick peck on Apple’s cheek. Apple’s pupils contracted to pinpricks as his jaw dropped in disbelief. The ear-splitting grin on Pippin’s face was legendary. “I hate you so much,” Apple whispered, still staring off in shock.

“Keep telling yourself that Salty,” Pippin cooed into his ear. Apple finally broke from his stupor and pushed Pippin back onto the couch, not breaking his grin in the slightest.

“I’m going to forget that,” Apple said while sitting down on the chair behind his computer desk, still trying to process what just happened. He put on his headphones, blocking the distracting noises of the outside world, including Pippin, who after a while got on his own computer to rage on the Armada II forums. Nevermind that, he had his own worries. Things were already off to a bad start when he visited his favorite message board only to see a lot of posts containing misconceptions, prejudgments and general hate concerning Starlight Glimmer.

Starlight Glimmer... The name sounded like music every time Apple let it slide through his mind. He simply had to close his own eyes to see hers, which were like lakes without a bottom, glistening and calm, yet not defenseless when it came down to it. Apple could stare into those eyes forever; listen to that voice, that incredibly soothing voice that could tell him anything it wanted to. Every time Apple thought about Starlight, he wished he could feel her, stroke her beautiful mane and tail, stare into those eyes, hold her hooves if she was sad, run through the fields with her if she was happy. He wanted to be with her. It was incredibly frustrating knowing that it could never be. He was restricted to his dreams and to spreading her teachings throughout Ponyville, as unsuccessful as that may be.

He got increasingly angry as he read the hateful and prejudiced comments and posts regarding Starlight. He set out on correcting all the fools, explaining Starlight’s noble morals for them, showing them they were wrong the entire time. But they would not give up. They would not admit defeat, constantly claiming they were in the right, that Apple had no idea what he was talking about. An hour had passed before Apple realized that he was getting nowhere.

He was just about to lay the final smackdown on one of the neighsayers, when suddenly his screen went black accompanied by the low hum of a computer turning off, making him look up. He noticed how the apartment was completely covered in darkness. The light from the street was very dim on the third floor, so he quickly cast his luminary spell. The first thing he saw was Pippin’s face, who quickly covered his eyes with his hooves when Apple shone the light on him.

“What did you do?” Apple asked.

“Nothing! I just… turned on my desk lamp,” Pippin said, gesturing towards the lamp in the darkness.

“You know our breaker box is a piece of junk, right? We can only power so many things at once and with two computers, a video game console, and some other things, something small is all it takes to blow it.”

“I know Elstar, I’ve lived here for just as long as you have.” Pippin stretched. “I have to go to the toilet. Be a good little brother and fix this, ok?” He left before Apple could even protest.

“Great,” Apple mumbled to himself as he stumbled his way to the kitchen, tripping over loose wires and nearly smacking into a wall. “‘Be a good little brother’, he just wants me to fix it!” Apple jeered as he made his way to the breaker box, fumbling with the semi-detached lever. Once the panel was open, he had to be very careful not to break off the part of the very outdated knife-style breaker switch that was still attached. Slowly pulling it back with his levitation, he felt the lever bump out of the tripped position. Now he had to put some force on it. Closer, closer… the lever snapped up into the top connector, restoring the power. He sighed in relief, then shook his head. Science really outdid itself every time. He could swear the tolerance that breaker had lowered every day. Science...

Technological development was on an all time high in Equestria ever since scientists discovered that arcane magic could be used as a source of power. Shortly after that discovery, the first power plants were erected, utilizing semi-regular magic input from a unicorn projecting some basic arcane spells into a generator which were then multiplied and distributed across the country. Ponyville’s own power plant was situated at the dam, where it could use the water to boost output. It was something Ponyville’s mayor was rather proud of.

It was strange, Apple thought, that even with all this technology available, Ponyville had retained its traditional look. Save for an antenna here and there, not much technology was seen outside the houses. Arcane-powered vehicles did exist, but were barely used. Most ponies preferred to pull their own carts. Not all developments were as great however.

Ever since the Equestria Wide Web was invented by Cee Code, an officer of the Royal Guard, and made available to the public, ponies from all over Equestria had the power to unite, converse with like-minded ponies, and to advance society as a whole. What Cee and his associates didn’t realize was that this would also allow the world’s idiotic, mean spirited, and sometimes even criminal ponies to meet up as well. Indeed, it didn’t take long before the first hacker’s collective was founded under the name Pseudonym.

But hackers weren’t as common as the ponies who truly received Apple’s ire: the uninformed, simple-minded, ‘trollish’ ponies that he met on an almost daily basis online. He fought and argued with them, but to no avail. Never did they give up, never did they give in. On the flip side, a blessing was that he had also met some of the nicest ponies ever on the Net. He supposed it had at least fulfilled its function there. He conversed with his internet friends as much as he could, since he had no friends in real life. It was something he spited himself for, even if he had forsaken his chance of making friends by spreading Starlight’s teachings the way he had, or attempting to anyway. He was grateful for it since it at least gave him something to do in all those unemployed hours.

Chatting, however, was not the main way Apple spent the majority of his time at home. Most of it was spent playing an array of video games. His computer back on now, he booted up his old copy of The Ponies 3 with a bunch of expansion packs. Tonight, he wasn’t in the mood for a game of Age Of Ponies, or Pegasus: Total War, or even Nation V; just playing with some virtual ponies going about their lives was going to do tonight. Things already got off to a good start when a burglar tried to rob his innocent ponies of their desk lamp. The police arrived just in time to catch the burglar, who had just sat down to read some books. Apple cracked a smile as he controlled the lives of these virtual ponies like Starlight did in real life. ‘If I ever meet her,’ he thought again, ‘if ever…’

Apple was disrupted when Pippin stood up from behind his computer and pushed out his chair with a very audible rumble. He was so absorbed in his own game that he didn’t even notice Pippin’s return from the bathroom some time ago.

“I’m going to bed, Elstar. It’s almost 1 AM,” he said, accompanied by the low buzz of a computer shutting down.

“Well alright, but keep yourself from calling your sluts over. It’s been a shitty enough night as it is,” Apple said.

“Nah, none tonight. I got some sweet tail from that Pinkie character the other night though. Dude, that mare can do things with her tongue that would make a pony eat pork...” Pippin said before heading to the bathroom to clean up before going to bed. Apple merely shook his head as he slid back behind his monitor. He wasn’t going to dignify that with a response even if his life depended on it.

Not long after Pippin had left the room, Apple’s thoughts began to wander as they tended to do late at night. Why did Pippin always get everything? And Apple meant everything. He got the money, he got the mares, and he got the seas of free time. And what did Apple get? No job, no money, and definitely no mares. It stung him in the depth of his soul. Apple had always told himself that relationships were a waste of time and money; that romance was a sad excuse to spout nonsense, and for most of his life he acted accordingly, staying far away from girls, saying no to dances and gala nights, and in general tried his best to not earn any affection. His efforts have proven to be quite successful thus far.

But recently he started feeling a desire; an urge every time he saw a couple together. It took greater and greater effort to banish the thoughts of romance. Surely he was above such idiocy… but he wasn’t. Pippin constantly talking about how great love and the making of it was didn’t help matters in the slightest either. Apple wanted it more and more, and it was also getting more and more difficult to ignore.

He shook his head to himself again as he clicked around to find the pony who had gone missing in the basement of his virtual house. He snickered when he opened up the pony creator to make a household containing Starlight Glimmer and that blue mare from the bar.

A few minutes later, a notification sound made him alt+tab out of the game. While he didn’t mind talking to his friends a lot, when it happened while he was playing games then it could become a nuisance ever so slightly.

He cut the conversation short, even though he felt really old and heartless doing so. For now, he just wanted to forget some of the things that happened today. Closing the chat window, Apple sighed and returned to his game.

Chapter 3 - Morning Coffee

The cold autumn night gave way to a crisp morning. Bright sunlight reflected off the countless orange and yellow leaves still clinging to their branches in their last effort to not fall to the cobblestone road below. The town was beginning to come to life; several ponies pulling carts here and there, beginning their day in the picturesque town. A faint ringing could be heard from the distant schoolhouse, signaling the current time of 7 o’clock.

Sunny Blitz cracked an eye open and glanced toward the crack in the drapes that mocked him by allowing a fine sliver of light to pierce through and land perfectly on his eye. He was one of the few ponies in town who had to be up this early on a normal basis since he was responsible for opening up the local coffee shop, “Cuppa Joe”. Donut Joe had hit it big in Canterlot with his donut shop and since decided to branch into more business ventures as well, earning even more success and becoming a decent rival for Sparkbucks. In a smaller town like Ponyville however, smaller brand shops like Joe’s did better than bigger chains since there was more favor towards what’s been popular locally rather than what was ‘in’.

Sunny stared at the alarm clock, waiting for it to catch up and go off. It was always a minute behind no matter how many times he reset the thing so he eventually just gave up; his body clock was pretty much right on the money every day anyhow. The second the buzzer started to sound, he slapped the top with his hoof and lazily rolled out of bed with a slight groan. After a quick stop in the bathroom to freshen up, he was off to the kitchen to prepare his favorite breakfast, Trottingham muffins with zap apple jam spread. As he sat at the kitchen table he lazily looked out the window at the ponies milling by outside. His apartment was on a corner of the building and gave him a perfect vantage point to see a lot of the action that this slightly-out-of-town area offered; just enough to be entertaining and not the amount of congestion as downtown. Watching ponies go about their day from this vantage point was something Sunny always loved to do to either start his day or decompress after a hard day at work.

“Crap, I lost track of time” Sunny said, looking at the clock on the stove which read 7:15 already. “I gotta get down to the shop and open up.” Leaving the plate on the table to be cleaned up later, Sunny trotted over to the door and swung his apron over his neck and secured it behind his dark brown mane. The green stripe going down the center was always something he found appealing about himself, not that he was the one to worry about vanity really.

Exiting his apartment, Sunny turned to leave and almost tripped over his neighbor sprawled out on the hallway floor. Berry Punch was one hell of a bartender but tended to get a little wild after closing. He had heard she held drinking contests after hours, and had never lost even once. Sunny had seen her work before though and figured she deserved to have a good time after dealing with the insanity night after night. He knew the service industry all too well and didn’t mind a nice hard drink after work himself on occasion. Or two. Or five… Whatever. He didn’t have a problem… Though his colon might have disagreed sometimes.

Stepping over the sleeping form of Berry and opening the door leading to the street corner, Sunny was presented with that unmistakable crisp smell of fall. Inhaling deeply, he turned and began trotting towards the coffee shop, excited to start the day. He might only be an employee there but he still treated the place as if it was his own; always cleaning everything he could, making sure every customer left with a smile, giving a muffin to a wide-eyed filly every so often. It was a great job once you looked past all the stress the restaurant industry brought along with it. The paperwork was his least favorite part, but he knew if he ever wanted to advance in the company he’d have to learn it eventually. That could wait however. He was content where he was for now.

“Hey Scotch, ready for your usual I see huh,” Sunny said as he drew closer to the shop to find one of his most regular customers standing outside. Scotch always stopped in for a large coffee before she had to run off to class at the local university.

“Ugh. Don’t talk to me until I have that elixir in my hooves,” Scotch replied with heavy eyes and a clear Trottingham accent. A heavy workload at school was taking an obvious toll on the red-coated unicorn mare.

“Heh. Of course,” Sunny replied, unlocking the door and stepping aside for Scotch to enter. Flicking on the light switch, Sunny made his way behind the counter and began the prep work for the morning. It was still another 30 minutes until his help would arrive to cover the busy morning bustle. Scotch took her usual stool at the counter and plopped her head down on top of her crossed forehooves.

“So how goes your classes?” Sunny asked as he closed the register and began crushing some beans for Scotch’s drink.

“Who knew arcane electronic engineering would be so hard,” Scotch replied with a sarcastic tone and a roll of her eyes. “I swear, if I can’t find a job that pays out the arse once I’m done…” she muttered. Sunny simply smiled and continued working on the drink, covering the top in a creamy white foam and a dusting of cinnamon that usually made him sneeze.

“I’m sure you’ll be just fine, Scotch. Even if you don’t get the job you want right away, we’re always looking for help here around the shop,” Sunny said, getting the level stare he expected in return.

“Oh yeah, that’s what I’m spending twenty-five thousand bits a year to do, pour mud water. No offense…” Scotch said, catching what she said a little too late. Sunny just smiled and nodded.

“I know it’s not ideal for everyone, but it pays the bills, and that’s all that really matters to me,” he replied. Scotch just stared into her drink, watching the steam roll off the top.

“How’s that neighbor of yours? Haven’t seen her in here for quite some time now,” Sunny said.

“Who? Ember? She’s fine I guess. I don’t see much of her myself to be honest. Last I heard she started her own company and it took off, been busy as hell ever since. Must be nice…” Scotch muttered. She didn’t really hate Ember, well, maybe she did a bit, but to say she wasn’t at least jealous of the griffin was an understatement. She never had the courage to just admit it though and it reduced their neighborly relationship to petty childish games like raking leaves onto the others lawn, or mowing their lawn up to the exact millimeter the property line ended and not a hair over. It was rather amusing when she thought about it.

“That’s good. I miss seeing her in here. She’s the only griffin in Ponyville after all. And certainly not bad to look at either…” Sunny mused, looking off across the shop imaging some intriguing things he’d like to do with Ember if given the chance . Scotch just gave him a flat look. There was a reason she preferred mares and that right there was it; stallions only thought about sex.

“Gross,” Scotch muttered, rolling her eyes. Sunny broke out of his twisted vision and smiled sheepishly at Scotch.

“What? You never looked at her before?” he asked.

“I’m not going to dignify that with an answer,” Scotch replied, dropping several bits on the counter and making her way towards the door. “Anyway, I’m late for class. I don’t need any more of your warped thoughts distracting me.”

“Hehe… sorry. See you tomorrow then, same time right?” he questioned, though he already knew the answer.

“Of course. This is the only thing that keeps me from killing these morons I see daily,” Scotch replied over her shoulder with a quick smile before trotting off in the direction of the university. Sunny just smiled and shook his head.

“Always a good way to start the day…” he mused.

Chapter 4 - Arrangements

Cold autumn mornings were rarely punctuated by any sort of noise in the early hours. Occasionally one could hear the gentle whistling call of the cardinal or chickadee who, for reasons not understood by ponykind, stayed through the winter rather than fly to warmer regions. Ember enjoyed hearing the light call of the cardinal on the outskirts of the forest surrounding her house. It was one of the only things about waking up that she didn’t hate. One thing was for certain, she was not a morning bird by any stretch of the definition.

Something was different this morning though. The cardinals call was replaced by a hum and a loud whirr that seemed to grow louder by the second. She brushed it off, figuring she was still asleep and simply hearing things. The noise grew louder still. A diesel engine roared to life outside the house, causing her eyes to shoot open; her bright green iris focusing on the room around her and her ears trying desperately to figure out what the hell could be making the cacophony of noise. Then it hit her. There was only one pony anywhere close that could be making such a racket: Scotch…

“I swear, I’m gonna strangle that crazy red bitch…” Ember muttered under her breath as she threw the covers off and stretched her wings out wide, earning a painful-sounding pop from them which made her wince before relaxing in satisfaction. Going to the window and looking out confirmed her suspicions. Across the front lawn was Scotch with a leaf blower and wood chipper. There was no need for any of these tools at this hour but Ember could certainly think of something she’d like to toss in the chipper right about now. Stomping across her room and flinging her door open she made her way downstairs, completely forgetting there was now somepony else there.

“Alright you little red bitch! You wanna play this game do ya?” Ember screamed out the front door at Scotch, who just carried on like nothing was going on, feigning deafness with her earmuffs on. Blue nearly fell off the couch at the outburst and shot up at the sound of Ember screaming.

“What the hell is going on?” Blue asked.

“About to make red pony woodchips is what’s going on,” Ember said as she stomped across the room to grab her coat. “That lunatic next door plays these stupid games with me all the time and I have no idea why. I’ve hardly said two words to her ever since she came here from Trottingham or wherever.”

“Have you ever tried talking to her? Maybe there’s some normal explanation why she’s doing this now,” Blue said reasonably. Ember was having none of that as she grabbed her coat off the hook.

“There is nothing that needs to be pulverized at this hour. It could at least wait until ten,” Ember said, sliding her large wing through the one side of the coat.

“Come on, don’t start a day like this. Let’s just have some breakfast and maybe she’ll stop soon,” Blue pleaded. An empty stomach was a powerful motivator.

“Fine, but after breakfast I’m calling those diamond dogs to undermine her driveway again. That was worth every single bit when she plopped into the sinkhole that one year,” Ember laughed. Blue looked at her nervously, not completely certain if she was kidding, but not wanting to find out either.

“Oookay then… Here, I’ll make some pancakes. They’re my favorite,” Blue said with a smile as she finished folding the blankets on the couch and trotted into the kitchen.

“Pancakes huh. Been quite a while since I’ve had those. Usually never have time to make ‘em in the morning before heading straight for the warehouse,” Ember said as she followed Blue to the kitchen table.

“You haven’t had pancakes like these, trust me,” Blue smiled as she gathered all the ingredients and began to mix. Ember sat at the table and stretched out her talons before kicking her back paws up onto the adjacent chair and reclining. Maybe she could get used to somepony else being around the house.

~~~

A week had passed since Blue first came to stay with Ember. With no promise of steady work anywhere on the horizon still, Blue was trying to contribute to the household as best she could by cleaning and cooking what she knew how. Ember was gone most of the day which made cleaning easy, not to mention using magic. She and Ember had been getting along great, putting her initial fears at bay for the time being. Blue even managed to calm the waters between Ember and Scotch just by distracting her with pancakes. Who knew that something so simple would be the griffin's weakness.

The days were mostly uneventful. Blue would do whatever around the house during the day, maybe trying to get some writing done at times but still a little too distracted to really make anything come of it. Ember would come home in the early evening and Blue would try to have something ready for when she came in. They would sit at the table and talk about a variety of things ranging from personal tastes to things around the house that needed done at some point or another. The topic of family came up once but both of them quickly steered the conversation elsewhere and had avoided it since.

“So Ember, what’s it like owning your own company already? I bet it’s nice having all that money,” Blue said as she cleaned a dish from the evening meal.

“Ha! Oh please. I wish it was a lot of money. Look around you Blue, bit signs everywhere. This place isn’t free to run,” Ember said as she gestured all around her with a wing. “I mean, sure, it’s great not having someone else telling you what to do, but the flip side is you have to do all the telling.”

“Hm, guess I never thought about that side of it,” Blue said. “Still doesn’t sound like a half-bad life though. You have a lot of nice things to show for it.”

“Eh, yeah I guess you’re right,” Ember sighed. “Kinda gets lonely though that’s for sure.” She cast her eyes down towards the table and got rather quiet. Blue could tell she was deep in thought about something.

“Have you always lived alone?” Blue asked her after a moment.

“Yeah. When I first went off to college I got a big loan and used part of it as a down payment on this place. The rest went to books and crap that are now just gathering dust upstairs. Maybe I could use the chemistry one to slap some sense into Scotch,” she chuckled.

“Why’d you stop?” Blue asked as she finished the dishes and stacked them back in the cabinet next to the sink.

“A few reasons really. One, I started to hate it after the first year and two, the money was running out fast. It was either take out another loan or stop going and use the rest of the money to take a risk and start my company. Fortunately for me it worked out. It’s bad enough I’ll be paying that damn loan off til I’m dead,” Ember said as she idly picked at her wing with a talon.

“Well you certainly seem to be on the right track now at least. I’m glad it turned out good so far,” Blue said as she took a seat across the table.

“Me too. It was really touch-and-go for a while but things have stabilized finally. It’s nice to have some extra bits to play with,” Ember chuckled as she glanced at the plush toy on the shelf that looked suspiciously like herself. Blue followed her gaze and gave her a weird look when she saw it. She didn’t know how she never noticed it before now.

“What the hell is that?” Blue asked.

“What? That? That’s Charcoal. Bought her at a convention I went to in Baltimare last year. She’s super rare,” Ember grinned.

“Uhuh, ok, sure... “ Blue raised a brow at her but chose to just let it go. Everypony had something they liked to collect she supposed.

“Anyways, I’m headed to bed. Finally finished that job at town hall today,” Ember said, getting up and stretching her wings wide and giving them a light flap.

“Yeah I’ll be turning in soon too,” Blue said. “Hey, could I talk to you about something in the morning before you head out? It’s been on my mind the last day or so.” Ember paused in the doorway and looked over her shoulder at Blue.

“Uh, yea, sure. Will it take long? I have a lot of work orders to go over from the week.”

“It shouldn’t, but if you want to wait til tomorrow night we can,” Blue said, rather quickly too Ember noted.

“Let’s just plan on when I get home then. If it’s important then I don’t wanna rush you,” Ember said as she headed up the stairs.

“Ok, that sounds great. I’ll cook something special too,” Blue said with a smile, hoping Ember didn’t pick up on her nervous tone. She waited until Ember was completely up the stairs and out of sight before dropping her smile instantly. She finally asked to talk to her, now the hard part was asking her if she could maybe make their living arrangement a more permanent thing.

~~~

Everything was perfect. The table was set, the food was being kept at the perfect temperature in the oven, and Charcoal had been dusted. All that was left was for Ember to walk through that door. Blue had been nervous about things in the past. Every time she submitted some of her writing she had to try and contain her feeling of hope and nervousness, knowing that it would most likely come back as a rejection yet again. But this was different. Ember wasn’t a publisher sorting through hundreds of submissions. She was able to talk to her face to face and convey emotion. Something that publishers lacked apparently…

“Oh Celestia I hope she doesn’t kick me out after this…” Blue muttered as she paced nervously around the kitchen, glancing at the clock every half a second it seemed. “What if she hates me for asking? What if she says no? *Gasp!* What if she actually says yes?!”

“Who you talking to Blue?” Ember asked as she opened the kitchen door.

“Ehehehehe… nopony at all Ember. Just my usual writers ramblings,” Blue grinned, hoping to throw the attention somewhere else. “I made your favorite, salmon.”

“Mmmm yes I could smell it as soon as I came up the driveway. Can’t freakin wait!” Ember said as she tossed her coat on the hook and hurried over to the table, which she noted seemed to be set with even more care than usual.

“Here you go,” Blue said, levitating a full plate in front of her. “I spent all day on this making sure it’s perfect. Hope you like it.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever had salmon I didn’t like,” Ember chuckled as she immediately dove into the plate stacked with salmon and assorted steamed vegetables. “Oh Celestia is that delicious,” she cooed.

“Great,” Blue smiled, taking a plate of veggies for herself and sitting opposite the ravenous griffin. After a few minutes of devouring her food, Ember finally slowed down to a reasonable pace. Blue saw this as her chance to make her move. “So Ember… We’ve been living together for almost two weeks now.”

“Mhm. Yah it’s been gweat,” Ember said through her beak full of food.

“Oh I agree completely,” Blue replied. “That’s kinda what I want to talk to you about actually… You see, I’ve come to realize I just might not be able to find any work writing anytime soon. I’m not giving it up of course, but I’m thinking about trying to find some kinda small job here in town somewhere just to get some savings built back up.”

“Makes sense to me,” Ember said, currently in between mouthfuls.

“Good. So….” Blue trailed off. “I was wondering what you might think about me maybe, possibly, I dunno… staying here on a more permanent basis?” Blue held her breath as the words left her mouth. It was out in the open now; completely out of her control. Ember froze, a spoonful of veggies halfway to her mouth.

“Come again?” Ember said, lowering the spoon back to the plate.

“I just, well, I dunno… Maybe it was a dumb idea. Forget I said anything. Dessert?” Blue tried to force a grin as she presented a piece of chocolate cake.

“No no, what are you implying here?” Ember asked her, folding her claws on the table in front of her.

“Well, I felt we were getting along so well now that maybe you wouldn’t mind me actually living here for a while. I want to get a job of some kind so I can at least help out and give you something in return, I don’t expect to stay for free,” Blue glanced to the left of Ember and could swear Charcoal was laughing at her. She had to remember to put a glass lid over that thing…

“Hm, you know what? That sounds pretty good. It has been pretty great having somepony to come home to these past nights as opposed to a dark house. Sure. Stay as long as you need Blue,” Ember said with a smile.

“Really? I don’t want to invade your personal space or anything of course…” Blue said, still not certain that she heard right.

“Eh, this house is plenty big enough for two of us. It hasn’t been a problem these last few weeks so I don’t see the big change really, just extended til whenever,” Ember shrugged. “We can finish cleaning out those boxes tomorrow and finally get your stuff off my wagon in the garage; been needing that thing at the warehouse actually.”

“Oh I promise you won’t regret this Ember!” Blue squealed as she jumped up and ran across the table to give her a big hug. Ember was startled at first but relaxed and closed her wings up and patted Blue on the back.

“Don’t mention it Blue. You’re not the only one who likes having somepony else around,” Ember said as she decided to return the hug with more sentiment. “I think this’ll work out just fine.”

Chapter 5 - Excuses

Apple stretched himself out as he woke up. It had been a pretty rough night, not like he wasn’t used to that by now. He had a tendency to stay up late playing games. It brought along its own problems though, mainly still being awake at 3 AM, realizing the time, and then quickly stumbling off to bed without brushing his teeth. It wasn’t ideal, and it definitely wasn’t helpful when Pippin was pleasuring himself in the bed on the other side of the room. It took a while to fall into a dreamless sleep.

He rubbed his eyes with his hooves as he moved his back legs sideways so they hung partly outside of the bed, waiting for the strength to return to his muscles. When it finally came and he attempted to stand, he nearly fell out of bed. This definitely wasn’t the first time this had happened though; he had a carpet put next to the bed for that very reason. Standing up fully, he checked the clock for the time. 10 a.m. Really? It was that late already?

Not like he had anywhere to be. Being out of a job had its merits at times. He noticed how Pippin wasn’t in his bed across the room. Calling out for him yielded no reply. A quick inspection of the very small apartment confirmed that Pippin wasn’t home. He sat down on the chair beneath the huge panoramic window, which also served as the dining chair for the folding dinner table. It was the one place of the apartment he actually liked. He could stare out over Ponyville with Twilight’s Castle in the background for hours, especially at night when the light coming from the houses gave off the most beautiful reflection in the castle’s crystal walls.

Apple came back to wondering where Pippin was. He did occasionally have to actually visit some of the real estate he bought so he assumed that to be the case. The business must be booming with all the new ponies moving to Ponyville following the new Princess’ ascension. That meant only one thing: Pippin would make even more money, making him feel like the superior even more so than he already did. Ever since Apple lost his job, Pippin had to pay all the bills and he wouldn’t shut up about it. Apple could recall a shouting match just three days ago...

“You’re miserable! Ever since you lost your job you’ve been a failure! Mom was right as always. You have no idea what the fuck to do with your life, your degree is useless, and now you’re some sort of crazy cultist?! What the fuck are you doing?!” Pippin shouted, his voice nearly cracking.

Apple could only sit there on the couch, eyes downcast. He knew Pippin was right.

“I don’t know what to do with you Elstar” Pippin muttered as he closed his eyes.

“Like your life is so fucking perfect…” Apple said under his breath, but not quiet enough.

“Ex-fucking-cuse me?!” Pippin opened his rage-filled eyes again.

“You have an easy job, you drink like crazy, you shout at ponies over the internet, you bring home anypony that tickles your fancy, you… you…” Apple was struggling to find the words.

“What? I what?! Come on, spit it out!”

Apple remained silent.

“That’s what I thought. You’re a real pansy aren’t you. You’re out there all day, making no progress on spreading your bullshit cult, crying about how bad you feel for poor Glimmer or whatever she’s called. Well guess what, nopony fucking cares!”

That argument probably went on for another 45 minutes after that. The memory of the truth being flung in his face in such a way hurt him. Pippin was right. Maybe it was all pointless. Apple went to the kitchen; the only other place of the apartment he cared to be. He liked to think of himself as quite the cook. The best parts of the day were either when he was letting go playing some games or losing himself in a good cooking session. It was also the one way to get Pippin to shut up sometimes; having him chow down on his amazing pasta. Well, he used the term “amazing” pretty loosely when it came to cooking, but it was still the best pasta he’d ever tasted.

Apple thought of the kitchen as his personal domain. Pippin was completely useless in the kitchen so he barely ever entered. Apple mindlessly threw some hay bacon strips into a frying pan; one of his favorite breakfasts. Once more, he lost himself in his cooking, even if it was just making sure the hay bacon didn’t burn. He remembered when he used to really get along with Pippin. Things had always been great between them growing up, but they split apart to study. Pippin went on to some college, and Apple moved to a Canterlot Uni dorm. During that time, Pippin had changed. Both of them had. Canterlot Uni was absolutely brutal, or at least it was to Apple. He barely got his degree. Pippin had dropped out of college, but during his time in the second year there, he really changed for the worse.

The crackling of fat coming from the hay bacon strips made him come back to the real world. He quickly turned them over and started levitating a plate and some cutlery out of the cabinets, along with some bread out of a small wooden box in the corner. When the strips were done he put them on the bread and sat down at the folding dinner table in the living room.

Apple sighed before biting into his breakfast. He had no friends, no job, no money to really speak of. He was alone. His conversion thing was failing and he had pretty much alienated himself from most of the Ponyville residents because of it. Everypony he approached brushed him away, not interested at all with what he had to say. He got slapped by the local elementary school teacher for asking if she wouldn’t mind teaching some of the Equality teachings in her class.

He found himself staring at the wall with the warm smell of the food glowing against his chin. He couldn’t keep going on like this. Slowly he took another bite and began to think. If only there was some way he could start over, but in this harsh world there were no such things as do-over’s.

But where to even begin a comeback? He tried to think. Was there anypony who didn’t instantly turn him down? Well… that griffin and that mare from last night seemed pretty nice. He nearly face-hoofed himself. “Silly Apple… they won’t just accept you like that.” But the least he could do was try, right? “Maybe they would. But you can’t just walk up to somepony and ask them to be your friend.” 'Why not though?' he thought to himself. He should at least try. “Hmm… you’re right. Wait… am I talking to myself?” Yes. Yes he was. “Now I know I really need to get out more…” Apple was right, and the voice in his head agreed. “Agh! Stop…” Giving himself a few good taps to the head, Apple went to the kitchen, got some sweets for the road from the glass jar on top of the refrigerator, opted for his scarf rather than his cloak, and walked outside into the biting fall air.

He immediately regretted not putting on his cloak, but he had already locked the door to their apartment complex and didn’t feel like dealing with the bother of opening it again. He’d just have to soldier through it. He tightened his scarf once more and moved on.

Before leaving, he had quickly looked up Ember on the computer. The ‘Talon Logistics Inc.’ website wasn’t the most advanced site ever, but it served its purpose. He easily found Ember’s home address. It was on the outskirts of Ponyville, quite a ways away from his apartment actually, but he could manage. A walk around Ponyville would do him well anyway seeing how it was pretty much the only exercise he ever got.

Ponyville was great this time of year. Well, it was usually pretty great, but something about walking through all the orange and yellow, past all the shop windows with a gentle breeze in the air made him feel warm inside. And he needed to feel warm inside, apparently winter was going to be quite extreme this year according to the monthly Cloudsdale Weather Report everypony gets. Apple loved winter though, so he wasn’t one to complain.

It was quite refreshing; walking through mellow Ponyville, hopefully starting a new life soon. This was something he really needed. He had been a bit depressed for a few weeks now by his repetitive failings and was determined not to mess this up. Not now. That would probably be the worst thing that could possibly happen right now. He quickly shook his head to banish such thoughts.

It was about 30 minutes to Ember’s house. He had plenty of time to come up with something to say that wouldn’t come across as being incredibly awkward and weird, as he was famous for. That was going to be the biggest problem. He wasn’t exactly the best at conversation. In those 30 minutes, he accomplished coming up with a great total of zero things to say. When he finally made it up to Ember’s front gate, he hesitated and reconsidered about four times before finally making his way to the front door and knocking.

“Whatcha' wanna talk to Miss Bird Brain for?” a red unicorn jeered over the hedge separating the two lawns.

“Excuse me?” Apple said, giving her a weird look.

“Nothing. Just watch yourself or you’ll end up in a sinkhole under your own driveway” she commented, walking back to her front door and kicking it shut behind her. Apple had no idea what the mare was talking about and decided to just let it go. He rang the doorbell this time, assuming his prior knock went unheard.

“I’m coming!” came a voice from inside the house. Apple stepped back a few feet, observing the well-built pieces of furniture arranged on the porch. Seeing the door open out of the corner of his eye, he was fully expecting the giant griffin to swing the door open but was pleasantly surprised when he was greeted by the sight of the blue unicorn mare from the bar the other night.

“Can I help you?” she inquired.

“Um, yes, uh, well, maybe. Ehehehe…” Apple stumbled. He knew he was making an ass of himself by the strange look on her face; he had to get it together. It was at this moment he realized he had absolutely no excuse as to why he was there. Thinking quickly, he pulled something out of his flank that he didn’t think would work in a million years. “I’d like to know how much it would be to pack and move a small apartment-full of belongings.” Genius! Well done Apple.

“Oh, well you’ll have to talk to Ember about that, that’s her business. I’m just staying here for a while” Blue said, turning around and heading back into the house. “Why don’t you come in? I’ll go get her for you.”

“Great, thank you” Apple said, moving into the foyer and taking a look around as he unwrapped his scarf. The house was a cottage-style house, very cozy and warm. A crackling fire burned brightly in the fireplace, sending dancing light across the floor. “Have a seat anywhere, I’ll be right back” Blue said as she trotted upstairs. Apple nodded and slowly circled the couch and chose to have a seat on the chair in the corner. After several moments, Blue trotted back down the stairs, trailed by Ember.

“So, Blue tells me you need some stuff moved. How big of a place are we talking?” Ember said to Apple as she rounded the couch and had a seat, Blue sitting next to her.

“Yes. I’m currently living with my oaf of a brother and can’t take it anymore. I just want a place of my own finally” Apple said, more-or-less making it all up as he went. He could just reference all the dreams he had of finally moving out and it became rather convincing, even to him.\

“Don’t I know you from somewhere?” Ember said, squinting her eyes and tapping her scarily sharp talon on the couch arm.

“Heheh… Yes, I was in the bar that night, rambling on about my crazy ideas…” Apple said, rolling his eyes at how bizarre he must have come across to them now. “But that’s not an accurate depiction of who I am, trust me. I may be odd, but I’m not insane I assure you.”

“That’s what they all say” Ember said, chuckling and rolling her eyes. “So what do you need moved? Just some boxes or furniture too?”

“Well there’s a few boxes, a couch, some computer equipment…” Apple drolled on, his eyes rolling around the room as he tried to come up with more stuff that imaginably needed moving. “Aw hell… Pippin always told me I was a terrible liar… Look, I’m not here to discuss moving things. The truth is I just wanted to see you two again. After talking to you that night in the bar, I was thinking it would be kinda nice to get to know you.” Blue and Ember were wearing matching expressions of raised brows. Both sat in silence while looking at the fidgeting stallion in the armchair. “It was a stupid idea, huh…”

“Well I’m not gonna lie, you were super weird in the bar” Ember said with a grin. “But I’ve certainly seen weirder characters around believe it or not. What do you do?”

“Well nothing currently” Apple said, casting his eyes downward. “I was working for Princess Twilight but that ended rather abruptly once she found out about my ‘unique’ interests. So for now I’m stuck living with my plothole of a brother until I can find some kind of work to get a place of my own finally.”

“I feel your pain” Blue said with a chuckle. “Ember here was kind enough to let me live with her until I can find steady work myself. Being a writer sure isn’t what I envisioned it to be…”

“Working for Twilight was the first job I had out of school actually” Apple said. “It was great while it lasted but, well, yeah. It’s over and done with now. Not really sure what’s gonna be next. If my cutie mark is any indication, I’m not exactly the luckiest pony around.” Blue and Ember looked at the spilled salt shaker adorning his flank as he gestured to it with a sarcastic wave of his hoof. “Stupid thing…”

“It’s… Um, not that bad” Blue said. “It could be just a generic purple shield with a vague symbol inside or something.”

“Ponies and their crazy butt tattoos…”Ember drolled. “It’s times like these that I’m glad to be a griffin. None of that ‘destiny’ nonsense. Do what I want, when I want to.”

“We’ve talked about this before Ember, it’s not that cut-and-dry” Blue said with a slight roll of her eyes.

“Whatever” Ember replied as she got up from the couch and headed towards the kitchen. “Anyone want some watermelon?”

Apple’s eye did a quick twitch that fortunately went undetected by the pair. “Uh, no. None for me thanks. Just some juice if you have it” Apple replied.

Ember disappeared around the doorway, leaving just Apple and Blue in the room. Apple nervously played with his hooves, trying not to make eye contact with Blue inadvertently. Blue just calmly sat there, unaware of the stallions inner struggle.

“Do you like hoofball?” Blue asked, startling Apple out of his daze.

“Huh? Oh, eh, not particularly. My brother more or less ruined all oval-shaped objects for me when we were young… I prefer reading or online gaming myself” Apple replied.

“Oh, I see” Blue said. “What do you like to read?”

“I’m a fan of Mules Verne myself. Occasionally some comic books at times. For the artwork of course…” Apple said, rubbing the back of his mane.

“Heh, you and Ember might have something in common then. She has a plush of herself in the kitchen that she insists is worth a lot of money. Thing just creeps me out…” Blue said.

“Don’t tell me it’s Charcoal!” Apple said, a lot louder than he intended. “I mean, yes, I’ve read a lot about those. I saw that there was a signed Charcoal plush bought at last years convention in Baltimare but never found out where it went. I’ll have to see it sometime.”

Blue just rolled her eyes. “I’m sure she’d be more than happy to show you.”

“What’s this I hear about Charcoal?” Ember said, re-entering the living room with a tray of glasses of juice and a few slices of melon. “Don’t be hating on my precious.”

“Seems we have another pony here who knows about her. Better lock her up before the nerd parade comes and grabs her” Blue joked.

“You’re just jelly Blue. She’s so show-accurate it’s scary” Ember said as she sat the tray on the table and took her seat next to Blue again. “So what’d I miss?”

“Nothing much, just Apple saying how he likes to read. That’s how we got onto the plush topic” Blue replied, taking a glass of juice from the tray.

“Ah, nice. I’m more into reading myself. That TV behind you is more for decoration than anything honestly” Ember said as she pointed a wingtip towards the TV on the wall behind Apple. “I’m way too busy now to watch anything.”

“Heh, I wish I knew that feeling” Apple replied. “Right now I have nothing but time on my hooves until I can land a job somewhere. I used to beg for time to watch TV when I was busy at the castle but now it’s become an enemy.”

“I manage to keep rather busy around here while Ember’s at work by either writing or cleaning up a bit. It’s amazing how much junk she’s accumulated all by herself really” Blue mused, elbowing Ember in the side lightly.

“Whatever Miss Neat Freak” Ember said back, gently slapping Blue upside the head with a wing. If Apple didn’t know any better, he’d say these two had been friends for years.

“Anyway, I could always use some extra help around the warehouse if you’re ever interested” Ember said, turning back to Apple.

“Oh I certainly appreciate the offer, but I have a few other options I’m working on at the moment.” He didn’t, but they didn’t need to know that. “I’ll certainly keep it in mind though.”

“Alrighty, you know where to find me now” Ember said. Apple gave a small smile and nodded.

“This might be a long shot, but would you two care to grab a drink with me sometime? Get to know each other more?” Apple suggested, hoping that the pair would be up for it.

“I don’t see why not” Ember shrugged. “Blue?”

“Yea that sounds like fun” Blue said with a smile. “How’s Friday around 7 sound?”

“Heh, I’m wide open” Apple said with a chuckle. “I’ll meet you two at the bar we were at before. Sound good?”

“Yep” the pair replied in unison. Is that what happened when you lived with someone for an extended period? Celestia he hoped not since he was still stuck with Pippin…

“Great. See you then” Apple said with a smile. Getting up, he made his way towards the door, grabbing his scarf off the hook and wrapping it around his neck in preparation for the biting wind outside. Ember and Blue turned on the couch and gave him a quick wave as he pulled the door shut behind him and took a few steps off the porch. Once he was a safe distance from the house, he let a massive grin plaster itself on his face.

“I can’t freakin believed that worked…” he muttered to himself. “Sit on my horn and spin, I have a date!” Apple squee’d as he trotted back towards town.

Chapter 6 - Coffee Flanks

Author's Note

Please note: This chapter contains an explicit portion. It is marked before and after by "Explicit portion begins/ends here" for those who wish to avoid it.

Chapter 6 - Coffee Flanks

Sunny Blitz let out a sigh of relief when he received the evening’s final payment of bits for a coffee. He smiled warmly towards the last customer; a mare with a charcoal black mane, deep purple eyes with huge bags underneath them, and a treble clef for a cutie mark. “I hope you enjoy your… dark coffee...?” Sunny looked at the mare. Something about the look in her eyes was actually terrifying.

“You would understand if you had to live with my roommate” she said. Suddenly, she grabbed the stallion by his apron and pulled him halfway over the counter. “You don’t know what I have to put up with day to day”. She violently let go, nearly knocking him into the wall behind and walked out, coffee in hoof. Sunny merely adjusted his apron. Being service staff was never a breeze.

As the last staff member present, it was up to him to lock up for the day. He went to the back office to turn off the lights and grab the keys. Putting on his cloak and walking outside, he noticed that the first snowflakes of the year had started falling. He locked both entrances firmly, putting the keys in the inside pocket of his coat. Another workday done, another bunch of satisfied customers. He checked his watch and saw that it was only 7 PM. A smile formed on his lips as he realized there should still be enough time for a drink or two at the bar. He thought of the shortest route there and then he was on his way.

He never thought he’d enjoy being in customer service, but as it turns out, he did. It always gave him such joy when he saw another customer leave with a warm smile and a mostly warm coffee. And that, it turns out, was really all he needed. Though he didn’t look it, Sunny Blitz was not a very confident earth pony. Deep in his heart, that feeling slightly filled him with disgust about himself. Earth ponies were supposed to be strong and immovable, like the earth. That feeling of disgust, that sense of disdain he felt for himself, had taken root deep in his brain and it had flourished for a long time, expressed as a heavy depression, until he took the job as a barista at Cuppa Joe’s.

Ever since then, it had been his body and spirit that flourished, rather than his disgust. This job gave him a purpose, albeit simple and uneventful, but it provided him with more than enough joy and cheerfulness despite the occasional angry customer and the mean words that were said sometimes. It gave him a sense of direction; a reason to wake up early in the morning, brush his teeth and begin the day smiling. The negativity and the feeling of uselessness however still remained within him, slumbering at the back of his mind, waiting to strike once again and drag him down into a pit of despair and misery. If not kept in check, it would…

Sunny stopped himself right there. He almost felt the need to slap himself. He would not go on that dark train of thought once again. His life was good the way it was right now and he was not planning to let it take any turn for the worse. Who cares if he skipped out on college after high school? Who cares if he could be doing something more profitable right now? He certainly didn’t.

Sunny never really marveled at nighttime Ponyville. The windows in the charmingly designed cottages and small apartment complexes didn’t emit a very appealing light, and even though it reflected quite beautifully from the crystal walls of the Princess’ castle, he never really thought a lot of it.

He had to stop to brush some fresh snow off his coat. The light snowfall from earlier had increased substantially and it didn’t take long until everything was covered in a thin layer of the fluffy white stuff. He couldn’t help but smile as he walked through the gas-lit streets of Ponyville. For some reason, the town seemed to have gotten even more cheerful with the white carpet cover. He drew a crude pony in the snow with his hoof and then moved on in a quick pace after checking his watch again and seeing that 30 minutes had already passed since leaving Cuppa Joe’s.

He still reached The Watering Hole in good time. Seeing it was a Friday night, and ponies from across the county were celebrating the weekend, it would probably be impossible to even get a seat let alone order a drink at the bar. Pulling open the heavy wooden door unleashed a torrent of warmth and loud conversations from within the packed building, looking to be standing room only already even though it was relatively early still. Luckily for him, he spotted one of his regular customers sitting with two others at a table in the far left corner of the room. It was a dead giveaway due to her coffee cup cutie mark, but Blue Stroke sure loved her morning coffee, and Sunny was only too happy to oblige. Navigating through the sea of ponies in various stages of inebriation, Sunny managed to eventually reach their table and greeted them with a smile.

“Hello Blue. Nice to see you outside the shop for a change” Sunny chuckled while smiling at the group. “Out with some friends I see?”

“Oh, hey Sunny! Yeah nice to see you too. These are some friends of mine. This is Ember, the griffin I told you who’s letting me stay with her until I manage to save up some bits again, and this is Apple. We met him a few nights ago right here actually” Blue said as she gestured to the respective companions around the table. Ember smiled and nodded at Sunny who returned the gesture and Apple gave a slight smile but kept his head down a little. Sunny assumed him to be the shy type.

“Would it be too much to ask if I was to join you?” Sunny asked. “There doesn’t appear to be any more seats anywhere. Typical Friday crowd when there’s a hoofball game on.”

“Yeah sure, pull up that chair” Ember said, gesturing to an empty chair beside the table recently vacated by an overly-intoxicated mare who now seemed quite content on the floor. Sunny raised a brow at the mare on the ground but took the chair regardless. He wasn’t in the business of picking up drunk ponies. Well, not physically lifting them up that is. A roll in the hay was another matter entirely.

“So what do you do?” Ember asked Sunny as she raised a wing to get the waiter's attention. The cheese sticks here were incredible and second on the griffins list of favorite things ever, right behind pancakes. A waiter across the room nodded to her, knowing exactly what she wanted seeing how she ordered them by the basket every time she was in here.

“I’m a barista at Cuppa Joe’s over on Bottlecap Blvd. Pretty much run the place since I’ve been there the longest of any pony there. Most just come and go while they’re in school but I decided early on that that just wasn’t for me.”

“Well looks like we got something in common already” Ember said. “I gave up on school too. Friend of a friend said it’s for eggheads and I couldn’t agree more.”

“I just decided it wasn’t gonna work for me. I just didn’t see the point in what I was doing. I already had the job at the coffee shop and was plenty happy there so I more-or-less just said fuck it, why spend all this money?” Sunny shrugged as he took a sip of the water that another waiter brought while they were talking.

“Exactly!” Ember said as she threw her claws up in exclamation. “I’d rather have money over a stupid piece of paper hanging on the wall. They said I’d never be able to do anything without that dumb thing and look at me now? Own my own company so they can stick it where Celestia doesn’t shine.”

“Oh, you own your own company? Wow, that’s impressive seeing how you’re so young still” Sunny commented.

“I may be young but I’m the furthest thing from stupid when it comes to business” Ember remarked, rubbing a talon on her fur.

“Of course” Sunny said. “It’s nice to see others succeed without having to follow the regimented schooling paths the uppity ponies say we all need. Reassures me that I made the right choice as well.”

“Eh, do what makes you happy is my motto” Ember said as she nudged Blue. “Right Blue?”

“Yeah I guess. Just make sure you can live off what makes you happy I suppose” Blue said in a slightly sarcastic tone.

“How are things with you, Blue? Haven’t seen you quite as often in the shop lately. Everything ok?” Sunny said, turning his attention from Ember, who was perusing the rather extensive menu.

“Could be worse I suppose. The whole ‘brilliant writer’ gig didn’t exactly play out as I imagined, but like I mentioned, Ember here was nice enough to let me stay with her until I get things in order” Blue said as she gave Ember a small smile that the griffin returned before returning to her menu investigation. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do, so in the meantime I just try to make myself useful around the house and still write a little here and there whenever the mood strikes me.”

An earth pony mare approached their table with a pen and pad. “Ready to order?” she asked. The group all exchanged glances to confirm that they were ready and each nodded.

“I’ll have the hay burger with extra fries and three shots of Wild Pegasus” Blue said, earning some wide-eyed stares from all around the table. “What? Can’t a mare let loose?” Ember smirked and gave her order next.

“I’ll have the same, except make mine two Long Island Ice Tea’s. See Blue, you’re not the only one who can handle their liquor” Ember said as she jokingly poked Blue in the side with a wingtip.

“Oh it’s gonna be like that is it? Please, I guarantee I can handle more than you. You may be bigger than me but that doesn’t mean shit when it comes to building up tolerance over the years. And let me tell you, being a writer is a perfect excuse to drink” Blue smirked. “Keep em coming waiter.”

The waitress raised a brow but jotted the order down on her pad and turned to the stallions who were still trying to process what they just saw. “Um, yeah, ok, I’ll have the hay fries and a large salad with extra daisies please. Just hot tea to drink” Apple said as he folded his menu and handed it to the waitress.

“I’ll have the portobello burger with extra cheese and a Colta-Cola if you don’t mind” Sunny said as he passed his menu to Apple who passed it to the waitress. She smiled and walked back towards the double doors that led to the kitchen in the back.

“So you drink?” Ember said to Blue with a cool tone. “Didn’t expect that out of a pretty little mare like you.”

“Don’t let my hotness fool you, I can really hold my own when it comes to drinks” Blue said with a big smirk plastered across her muzzle. “Like I said, writing equals depression and Wild Pegasus equals happy pony.”

“Hey you won’t hear any argument from me. I’m all for getting a little crazy every so often” Ember said as she perused the drink menu still on the table. “Hm, not a bad variety for being such a small place.”

“Yeah, prices aren’t too bad either” Sunny commented. “Beats most small-town bars that tend to mark up their liquor to make more money from tourists. Ponyville isn’t a huge tourist destination yet though luckily.”

“It’s getting there. My brother works in real estate and he’s selling a ton of new places to ponies from all over the place looking for that ‘quiet country lifestyle’” Apple added. “Won’t be long before this place is more and more crowded unfortunately. Especially with Twilight’s castle attracting so much attention.”

“Yeah that’s a good point about the castle” Sunny remarked. The waitress returned with their drinks, setting the rather large assortment of colorful liquor in front of Blue and Ember while Sunny and Apple sipped their average drinks.

“First to finish their first round doesn’t have to cover the bill!” Ember exclaimed as she grabbed her first glass in her talon and downed it in a rapid gulp.

“Oh it’s on Feather Head!” Blue laughed as she grabbed a shot in both hooves and downed them in unison, slamming the glasses upside-down on the table. Apple and Sunny exchanged a glance that said ‘are they seriously doing this?’ as they shrugged and figured it was good entertainment if nothing else.

Ember and Blue managed to power through two rounds of drinks each before the food finally arrived. The pile of glassware was growing in front of Blue while Ember’s was only a few behind. Blue was doing shots though whereas Ember had regular tumbler glasses filled with ice. Not wasting a second, they all dived in, it being many hours since they all ate last.

“Ohm my gob thwis is swooo gwood!” Ember said with a mouthful of fries.

“I knol wight!” Blue replied, bits of fries flying out her mouth. Apple maintained his flat look of displeasure as bits of fries landed on and around his salad, several particles finding their way into his drink as well. He brushed them off, not one to say something even if it was annoying him. This continued for the remainder of the meal, Sunny just observing the spectacle in amusement. After they had all finished their meals, the waitress came and cleared the plates away. “‘Nother round!” Blue blurted out. The waitress looked at her, then at the small pyramid of shot glasses in front of Blue before looking to Ember who simply shrugged.

The waitress shrugged back and went back to the kitchen with plates in tow. “I better get a big stack of bits for this shit…” she muttered.

The door to the bar swung open and hit the back wall with a bang. “Alright! Which one of you lucky mares wants me to spank their withers!” a voice yelled.

Apple shot straight up in his seat; he knew that voice. “Oh sweet Celestia not tonight…” he groaned.

“Common, who wants to sit on my plot and spin!” Pippin yelled across the bar, already stumbling from obvious pre-drinking drinking. “Lemme show you what a ride on the Ponyville Express is really like!”

“Friend of yours?” Ember smirked at Apple as he sunk further into his chair.

“Brother....” he muttered with his hooves covering his face. “Every Friday night with him I swear…”

“Will he be ok? He seems pretty out of it” Sunny commented, turning around in his chair to look at the sight of Pippin getting put into a headlock by Berry Punch as he tried to climb over the bar.

“No. No he won’t be. I always end up having to drag his sorry ass home when he’s like this. Sorry guys, looks like I’m gonna have to call it a night and handle this…” Apple sighed as he got up and started to put on his coat, dropping some bits on the table to cover his portion of the bill. “If that’s not enough just let me know later and I’ll cover it.”

“Don’t worry, we got it” Ember said. “You wanna meet up later this week again?”

“Sounds great. I’ll give you a call later and we’ll set something up” Apple said as he turned to leave.

“I’ll come with you and give you some help” Sunny said. “Looks like you could use a hoof.”

“Thanks, I’d really appreciate it. He usually passes out about halfway across the street and I end up dragging him” Apple said, glancing back over at the bar and seeing Pippin already unconscious. “Hm, looks like we got an easier job tonight.”

“You two gonna be alright?” Sunny asked Ember, glancing over at Blue who now had her head on the table with a little dribble of drool slipping out her muzzle. The sizeable pyramid of empty shot glasses was impressive to say the least.

“I’m perfectly fine. Don’t know if Coffee Flanks here can say the same though.” Ember chuckled, stroking Blue’s mane absentmindedly. “We’ll be heading out soon probably. We’ll catch up with you guys later this week. Sound good?”

“Sounds great. I could use a break from all the nothing in my life” Apple said as he rolled his eyes with a smile. “You two get home safe.”

“Yeah be careful” Sunny said as he dropped a pile of bits on the table and turned to follow Apple to pick up Pippin’s passed out blob.

“Yep. I’ll probably have a few more before we leave. I’m not even buzzed anymore” Ember said as she picked up the drink menu once more. “Hmmm, Luna’s Mareheat… Sounds fruity!” Apple and Sunny just exchanged a look before heading out of the bar with Pippin on their backs.

~~~

Explicit portion starts here:

“Night Berry, see you next weekend” Ember said as she made her way to the door, a still-passed-out Blue lying on her back. She decided to stay about an hour after Apple and Sunny left to have a few more drinks whose names intrigued her. She was more tipsy than before but still quite a ways from drunk.

“Night Ember, have fun tonight” Berry said with a wink and a nod towards Blue. Embers eyes widened a bit and she could feel a redness covering her cheeks. Rather than try and stumble out a reply, she made her way out the door. Outside, the cold night air stung her eyes as she squinted against the constant wind. Turning to face the direction of her house, she spreads her large wings and began to flap but immediately stopped, remembering she had a passenger. Ember sighed, not looking forward to having to walk all the way home in this cold but clearly there wasn’t any other choice. She removed her scarf and wrapped it around the now slightly shivering form of Blue.

Up until now she never really gave Blue two looks, but something about the perfect mix of drunken stupor and sobering winter winds had her staring at Blue’s sleeping form on her back. Now that she actually looked, she didn’t think Blue was half-bad looking. Dare she even say hot? It’s been quite a few years since Ember was last in a relationship and it ended on a sour note which led her to mostly seclude herself from society and not even pursue romantic interests. This of course was the root cause of her increased loneliness over the years, but the pony now sleeping on her back had shown her that she could in fact enjoy the company of others. A small smile grew on her beak as she turned back towards home and began walking, careful this time not to disrupt her cargo.

The walk home took about 40 minutes due to her slowed pace. When Ember finally turned into her driveway it was well past 2 a.m. and she was itching to get into the warm house. Making her way to the front door, she fumbled with her keys for several seconds, realizing that not all the booze had worn off just yet. Finally getting the right key on the fifth try, she opened the door and basked in the wave of warm air that rolled out. She gently walked into the living room and, using as much care as talons would allow, lowered Blue onto the couch. Blue merely twitched a little from the shift in padding but never awoke. With a caring smile, Ember placed a blanket over her and made her way into the kitchen to make herself some hot tea with honey before bed. She had a headache forming the size of a house and wanted to curve it before it got too intolerable.

While waiting for the water to boil in the kettle, Ember had a seat at the table and put her paws up on the adjacent chair and let out a groan. “Ug, I really need to slow it down. I’m not as young as I was when I used to do this every weekend…” she groaned. “Come on water…” As steam gently started to rise out of the spout of the kettle, Ember leaned her head back and closed her eyes, reflecting on the last few weeks and how much had happened, most notably Blue. She had come to really like having the mare around the house, especially when she came home from work and needed someone to talk to. She wasn’t a half-bad cook either, Ember mused. Her thoughts drifted to earlier just outside the bar. Had she really never looked at Blue that way? Ember took a moment to think back over the last few weeks and in doing so realized there were quite a few occasions she could recall absentmindedly staring at the unicorn's flank. She thought nothing of it at the time of course but the more she thought about Blue now, the more her heart rate increased and she could feel the redness returning to her cheeks.

“Who am I kidding… I don’t even know if she swings that way…” Ember muttered, opening her eyes to the sound of the kettle starting to slowly emit a whistle. She hurried over to the burner and turned it off before it got too loud and possibly woke Blue. Pouring the boiling water over the tea bag and adding a few squirts of honey, Ember made her way back to the table and sat back down to think. She couldn’t recall Blue ever stating what her preference was really, not that that was something you up and told everypony when you first meet them. But still, Ember had a feeling deep down that she knew the answer. Perhaps it was a little clearer now that she thought about it. Blue would always like to watch Ember take off in the mornings for work and frequently commented on the unique burnt-orange hue of her inner wing feathers. She also liked helping Ember preen them when they became matted from flying in high winds, and she’s pretty sure she caught her looking at her from the kitchen window one afternoon when she was bent over fixing a spoke on her wagons wheel. There were several other occasions that crossed the griffins mind and a small grin started to spread across her beak as she sipped her tea. “Well, guess tonight would be a good night to get some answers” she mused. Putting her mug in the sink, Ember made her way back into the living room to check on Blue.

What she came face to face with she was not prepared for in the slightest. Since she had been in the kitchen, Blue had tossed and turned on the couch quite a bit, sending the blanket to the floor in a heap and her dark blue-striped tail over her back. That wasn’t what got Embers attention, though. Blue had tossed and turned in such a way that her flank was on top of the one arm of the couch with her rear legs draped over the arm and dangling down, leaving Ember with an all-access view of her marehood. Ember’s eyes went as wide as plates as she froze, unable to look away from the pink folds. She swore she could see it moving as Blue breathed in and out on the couch.

“Luna fuck me with the moon…” Ember let out in a shallow breath, still entranced by the sight before her. She always thought Blue was attractive, but this kicked her into a whole other level of desire. Gears began to turn in her head as she tried to think of how to handle the situation before her. A wide grin formed on her beak as an ever so naughty idea came to mind. Pulling her eyes away from Blue’s precious tunnel, she went over to the closet and began to fumble around in the pile of boxes at the bottom. Luckily this was one place Blue didn’t clean. “Come on I know it’s still here somewhere…” she grunted, shoving boxes out of the way. “Aha! Yes!” She shoved a small rectangular box out beside her and flicked the door shut. The box was covered in plain wrapping with a single label reading “MareMaker 1900x” on the side. Opening the box, Ember pulled the bag off the stallion-shaped vibrator. She only used it a few times before just throwing it in the closet and forgetting about it. Penetration wasn’t her thing.

The grin never leaving her face, Ember made her way back to the sleeping form of Blue; ass still in the air for all to see. What a glorious sight it was too. Ember could feel herself starting to get wet just staring at Blue’s bright pink slot, glistening ever so slightly in the dim lighting of the room. She turned the vibrator to level 1, a dull hum emitting from the toy as it shook in her claw. Ever so slowly she moved it towards Blue’s pussy, resisting the urge to flick her tongue deep within its folds. As the tip of the cock made initial contact with the extra-sensitive flesh of Blues lips, Blue shifted forward on the couch a tiny bit, causing Ember to jerk the toy away. After about a minute, she repositioned the vibrating cock head at the base of Blue’s pussy, aiming for her clitoris. She was rewarded by a low moan escaping from Blue’s still unconscious form. Ember started to put a little pressure on the rubber cock, causing it to part the pink folds slightly and begin to enter. As it went in, Ember turned the dial up to 3 out of the possible 10 and watched in awe as a single drop of moisture began to leak out at the base Blue’s pussy, sliding down the underside of the toy. This was all the motivation she needed to turn the dial to 5 and push a little further. She was rewarded by even less resistance as the walls of Blue’s pussy began secreting a sweet nectar, welcoming their new companion.

Ember caught a whiff of the secretions as they began to flow freely. The smell went straight from her brain to her own region and she immediately started to massage her now thoroughly moistened lips with her other claw. The vibrator was a good half-way inside Blue at this point and Ember had no intent on stopping now; even if Blue woke up, would she seriously tell her to stop? Of course not. She went this far, she had to finish. More specifically, she had to make Blue finish. Now more motivated than ever, Ember inserted the cock even farther still into Blue’s now sopping wet slit. Turning the dial to 7 gifted her with a long moan from Blue, encouraging her to rub her own clit even faster. She knew she couldn’t last much longer at this rate; the visual stimulation alone was too much, but she was determined to not finish first. She won the drinking contest earlier, she could win this.

Pushing the phallic toy as deep as it’ll go, Ember let go of it and leaned back to get a better view. The fur surrounding all of Blues backside was a darker shade and matted flat from the wild ride she was on. Ember stared through half-lidded eyes at the bright pink lips as they seemed to pulsate, pushing more and more delicious secretions out every time, soaking Blues thighs and covering the arm of the couch. She turned the dial to 8 as she continued to rapidly rub her own pussy with her claw. A throaty ‘coo’ escaped her mouth as she tilted her head back and closed her eyes in pure bliss, listening to the sounds of the vibrator going to work on Blue and the slightly more sporadic moans escaping her. She could tell she was getting closer.

Her wings now fully extended, Ember leaned up against the wall and pressed them firmly against it and began to move up and down, sending shivers of pleasure down the length of each wing. She shuddered as she looked over at Blue, still bent over the couch, getting rutted by the oversized throbbing cock in her. Reaching forward, she bumped the controller to 9 and grinned when she heard Blue starting to pant. Oh she had her now all right. She’d definitely win. Wanting to get a good view of the show, Ember pushed off the wall and brought her face inches from Blue’s backside. The amount of juices sloshing out around the cock were impressive to say the least; the smell intoxicating. Not even thinking, Ember stuck out her tongue and gave Blues sopping wet marehood one solid lick from the base all the way to her now exposed clit. The moan and yelp that came from Blue was all the reason Ember needed to do it again. She could feel herself getting even closer to her own peak, but was determined to hold off until just the right time.

Giving Blue's clit one more lick, Ember leaned back and decided it was time for the finale. Turning the dial up to 10, the pulsating cock wedged inside Blue shot to new levels of buzzing as it gave her all it had. Ember knew she only had a few seconds longer before she would come, and what a glorious come it would be. Blue began to pant harder and faster than ever before and even let out slight yelps in between gasps for air. Suddenly her eyes shot wide open and she let out a loud yelp as an electric jolt shot straight through her entire body. A light blue bolt shot from her horn, leaving a charred mark on the far wall. Behind her, Ember had a front row seat for the greatest show she could ever imagine. All at once, she saw Blues folds retract for a brief moment before gushing out a torrent of juices, even sending the vibrator shooting out. Several more waves followed, drenching the arm of the couch and even spraying some onto Ember a few feet back. That was all Ember needed as she rubbed her own clit furiously at the sight. An electric jolt shot across her extended wings as she came like she hadn’t come in years. She could feel the puddle forming beneath her as wave after wave poured from her drenched pussy, but she couldn’t care less. Seeing stars for several seconds will do that to you.

As her vision finally began to clear, Ember saw the slumped-over form of Blue still lying across the couch arm; her backside still dripping wet from the events that just transpired. Panting, she looked down at her own region and just now realized how drenched she really was. Every inch of her back legs were soaked and it was impossible to tell what was from her and what was from Blue. Not like she cared. Finally managing to catch her breath and stand, Ember slowly moved to the side to see Blue’s eyes as wide as ever, staring at the wall and still panting heavily.

“What. The fuck. Was that?” Blue gasped out in between breaths.

“Ehehehe… Um, I was curious?” Ember said in an embarrassed tone as she shrugged, not expecting Blue to buy it one bit. “That and I suppose Wild Pegasus made me do it.”

“That. Was. Incredible.” Blue continued to pant, finally starting to regain control of her breathing once more.

“Sooo you’re not mad?” Ember said in a worried tone. “Cuz I’m not gonna lie, I don’t really know what made me do all this. Not just booze that’s for sure.”

“If you can promise me you can do that every time, be my guest” Blue said as she finally turned her head to the side to face Ember. “Incredible…” she muttered to herself again as her eyes slowly began to close.

“Heh, guess I still got it” Ember smirked as she went to the bathroom to wet a warm towel to begin the cleanup. Both she and Blue were an absolute mess and she didn’t want to just leave her like that all night. Dried private parts were no fun, she knew… Getting the towels, she returned back to the living room to find Blue passed out even more so than before she brought her home earlier. Ember smiled at the blissful smile on her muzzle and proceeded to wipe things up. Once things were as clean as she was going to get them for now, she made her way back upstairs and jumped in the shower before climbing into bed. She would no doubt be calling her part-timer to cover the whole day tomorrow. There was no way she was leaving this bed anytime soon. For the first time in several months, she finally fell into a deep, restful sleep.

Explicit portion ends here

~~~

The bright sunlight shone through the window, landing right on Embers eyes. She groaned and rolled over, pulling the covers over her face and fought to get back to sleep. It was no use, once she was up she was up. Rolling onto her back, she opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling, sleep still clouding her mind. After several moments just lying there staring at nothing, her eyes grew wide in clarity of the events of last night.

“Oh fuck me…” she groaned as the whole evening came flooding back to her. “I did not seriously do that…” Ember played the events over and over again in her mind and came to the conclusion that what she remembered did indeed happen; her still-aching nethers were a testament to it…

The smell of breakfast being made wafted up the stairs and found its way into her room and eventually her nostrils. It was an intoxicating aroma of eggs sizzling in a pan next to some sausage. Ponies never ate meat, but Ember wasn’t a pony so she chose to indulge in the deliciousness. Blue looked at her weird for doing so but didn’t really argue it all that much. Rolling onto her side, Ember looked at her clock; 10:17. She rarely ever slept in this late and thanked Celestia she thought to call Flitter to cover the day before she went to bed. Deciding that it was time to get up and face Blue, she begrudgingly got to her paws and made her way into the bathroom across the hall. She couldn’t wait to finally get the one in her bedroom fixed… A quick splash of water banished any remaining sleep that remained in her eyes. Spreading her wings out wide, she gave them a quick preening before making her way downstairs, all the while trying to think of what to say to Blue.

Walking through the living room, Ember could still smell the lingering aroma from the events not eight hours ago. The thoughts made her shiver. As she entered the kitchen, she saw Blue over at the stove with a frying pan filled with exactly what she was expecting; eggs and sausage. Upon the neatly set table, a daisy sandwich was already made, obviously Blue's breakfast. A cold pitcher of juice was in the center, condensation clinging to the exterior.

“Um, morning” Ember sheepishly said. Blue stopped humming whatever tune she was humming and looked over her shoulder.

“Hey Ember, did you sleep well?” Blue asked. Was that a smirk and a wink Ember just saw?

“Like a rock” Ember replied with a smile. “Best in months. How about you?”

“Mmmm I think you know that answer” Blue grinned, swishing her tail back and forth a bit. “What got into you last night anyway?”

Ember turned a new shade of red as she ducked her head down. “I really don’t know. I wasn’t even drunk really, that’s the worst part. One minute I’m making tea, the next I can’t get your blue ass outta my mind.”

“Hehe, it is pretty great huh” Blue chuckled. “You’re not the only one thinking about somepony, er, somegriffin else. I’m sure you’ve caught me staring a few times. I’m not exactly stealthy in that regard…”

“Yeah I have” Ember said as she poured a glass of juice. “I guess that’s part of what led me to do what I did.”

“Makes sense to me. I don’t have a problem with it if that’s what you’re worried about” Blue said as she brought over the plate of food and set it in front of Ember. She took a seat where the daisy sandwich sat and continued. “I’ve never really cared for stallions myself. Don’t mind them, but don’t really like how they’re so rough all the time. Or so I’ve been told…” she trailed off. Ember stopped mid-bite and stared at Blue.

“Wait wait wait, you mean that I was your first time?” Ember said in shock. It was hard to imagine an attractive mare like Blue not getting a regular rutting, especially with her drinking history.

“Well, if you consider what we did as doing it, then yes. You were my first” she said, turning her face away slightly to hide the deep red. “Have you done it before?” Ember thought back to her first year in college and the stallion she messed around with for a few months. It was nothing but brief sex. Unsatisfying sex at that. Then there was this electric-blue-maned unicorn mare that showed her tricks with a horn that she didn’t know existed. That’s when Ember decided to pretty much do away with stallions.

“Twice” Ember replied honestly. “The first was just sad, unfortunately. Poor bastard couldn’t go more than five minutes without blowing his load. Gave me some bullshit excuse that I was ‘too tight’. Like that’s a bad thing or something. Then I met this unicorn mare that really gave me a ride. We hung out for a few months until she met this earth pony ‘prodigy’ and they ran off together. Still don’t know what happened to her really.”

“Hm, that’s too bad” Blue regarded her.

“Eh, it is what it is I guess. I seem to be better flying solo anyways” Ember said, swirling the juice around in her glass. “You’re sure this won’t make things weird between us?”

“Nah, like I said, I’m cool with it. A little foreplay while I was conscious would’ve been nice, but that can wait for next time” Blue winked at Ember as she took a bite of her sandwich. Ember could feel her wings starting to fluff up and it took a lot of focus and will to keep them mostly at her sides. “Heh, you fliers are funny” Blue said, not missing the fidgeting Ember just did.

“Hilarious…” Ember muttered as she tried to think of anything else to make her burning cheeks disappear. “On another note, when you wanna hang out with Apple and Sunny again? We said we’d call them didn’t we?”

“Yeah, I figured we could get together on Wednesday. There’s some parade or something going on in town, thought that might be fun. I’ll give them a call later.”

“Cool. I’m gonna run to the store and stock up on some stuff. Been running low on pancake mix” Ember said as she got up and put her plate beside the sink.

“Don’t you have to work today?” Blue questioned her, checking the calendar.

“I called Flitter to cover it. Left her a message before I crashed last night. I knew there was no way I was gonna be flying around town today after last night” Ember chuckled.

“Oh, ok. Nice. Why don’t you pick up some more salmon while you’re out? I think we’re out of it again” Blue said, pulling the fridge door open with her magic to confirm there wasn’t any salmon left. “Nope. You just shovel that stuff down don’t you?”

“What can I say? It’s delicious, especially the way you make it” Ember said as she put on her coat and opened the door to leave. “I’ll be back in a few hours. Call if you need something.”

“Oh I’m pretty sure you gave me all I needed last night” Blue cooed with half-lidded eyes, making her brow go up and down. Embers eyes went wide and Blue laughed as she saw her wings start to poof out again. “Haha, go on, get, you dirty birdy.” With that, Ember swung the door shut and took off towards town.

Chapter 7 - New Friends

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Chapter 8 - Expanding The Group

Of all the noises one could wake up to, Sunny never understood why the obnoxious buzzer was the sound of choice for alarm clock manufacturers. Effective, yes, but also annoying to all hell. Even better was how the clock always seemed just out of reach when it started blaring its greeting. Wonderful way to start one’s morning…

Sunny couldn’t recall the last time he ever went to bed as late as he did the night before. His life was so routine that spending the night with Blue, Ember, and then Apple until late really threw off his normal rhythm. Turning over in bed, Sunny was greeted with a piercing beam of light threading its way straight through the inch-wide gap in the curtains. Waving his hoof around wildly, he finally managed to make contact with the still-complaining clock and ended its audible assault. Letting out a sigh at the silence now surrounding him, he slowly and reluctantly rolled out of bed, nearly continuing to roll right over were it not for a quick grab for the bedside table for stabilization.

Making his way into the bathroom off his bedroom for a quick brush to get the stale taste out of his mouth, Sunny started to form a mental checklist of things he needed to do today. He recalled that his keys were still in his pocket from the night before, so he wouldn’t have to panic when they weren’t on the hook, and also that he would need to take a different route to work today to avoid the main street that had been commandeered by the fillies and colts in the area as their snow battlefield. Sunny may have liked winter, but getting smacked upside the head with a cold slush ball was a different matter.

Picking his head up from spitting out the toothpaste, Sunny caught a glimpse in the mirror of the clock on the blue and white tiled wall behind him. His pupils shrunk to pinpricks when he saw it read 7:45. He had to be at Cuppa Joe's at 7:55 to open at 8 and it was at least a 10 minute walk in good weather, let alone snow. Time to hurry! Trotting to the kitchen, he passed through the spacious living room; one of his favorite rooms in the apartment. It may have been rather large for just one pony, but he certainly couldn’t complain about the large TV flanked by two floor-to-ceiling bookshelves packed with all his favorites. His parents always told him that he should strive to do something more with his life and buy a house like a proper stallion his age, but he just didn’t see the need. Years of saving and not having to take out a bunch of loans for college had enabled him to get a more reasonably-sized apartment and have a nest egg of bits in the bank. He was perfectly comfortable.

Tapping a hoof on the counter, Sunny impatiently stared at the red-hot heating coils of the toaster oven as it warmed up his rushed breakfast. The bell didn’t even finish ringing before he grabbed the muffin from the tray, juggled it a few times before grasping the very hot pastry in his teeth and rushed to the door to put on his coat. As he shut his apartment door and turned to rush down the hall, he saw Berry Punch’s tail sticking out from her closed apartment door. No doubt she was completely passed out on the other side and stuck with her ass against the door as she was known to do in her drunken stupors. Sunny merely rolled his eyes as he trotted by and opened the front door to the street.

If the alarm clock was a bad way to wake up, so was sub-freezing winds to the face. Sunny cringed as he squinted at the piercing wind and turned towards the coffee shop. The battle on Mane Street was in full swing by this point seeing that school was cancelled for at least today. Making his way down the icy street was a challenge all its own and Sunny felt he deserved a reward for managing to not fall on his plot even once. Maybe a nice hot chocolate would be in order. The thought brought a smile to his face as he rounded the corner and started to approach the coffee shop, still arriving about five minutes late despite his quickened pace.

Standing outside the shop was one of the part-time helpers, Apricot. She was a very light orange-colored earth pony with a white mane with light green stripes. Studying culinary at the university, she had applied for the job at the coffee shop figuring it could give her some experience in the industry. She was fairly new but picked up everything Sunny taught her really fast so he was more than appreciative to have her help during the morning rushes.

“Morning Apricot, sorry for running a bit late. I was out with some friends last night and got to bed later than I planned” Sunny said as he unlocked the door and held it open for her to enter.

“Eh don’t worry about it. I was only here for a few minutes. Any longer and I’d have to hit you with a stale muffin though” Apricot said jokingly as she hung up her scarf and went behind the counter to begin prep work. “Did you have fun?”

“Oh yes. It made me realize it’s been quite a long time since I got out and just hung out with other ponies. Really cool ones too, plus a griffin” Sunny said as he hung his scarf and coat beside hers on the rack and began counting the register.

“A griffin huh? The one that runs that shipping company on the other side of town?” Apricot asked.

“Yeah, her name’s Ember. I imagine they named her after the unique fire-like color of her feathers; really cool looking. She’s actually letting Blue stay with her since she apparently fell on hard times” Sunny said as he counted.

“Oh Blue? Wow that’s too bad. She’s always in here scribbling a ton of stuff down on those notepads, but now that you mention her I guess it has been a little bit since I saw her last. Guess that would explain it” Apricot said as she stacked clean glasses in rows for quick access.

“Yeah, being a writer is apparently a lot harder than just writing. She at least has Ember to keep her company and support her. Apple on the other hand, well, not so lucky let’s just say that” Sunny chuckled as he closed the register and washed his hooves before preparing the various pastries in the case.

“Apple? Like ‘Apple’ Apple?” Apricot asked with a puzzled look. “They got that whole farm. What could possibly be wrong there?”

“No no, different Apple. He made that quite clear actually so I imagine he gets that confusion a lot. This one lives with his brother Pippin in a small apartment across the street from The Watering Hole. I actually had to help carry his brother home after he passed out at the bar. It was rather amusing to see Berry put him in a headlock though” Sunny mused as he wiped down the glass on the case. “Anyways, after we got Pippin in bed, we talked for a bit. Nice guy but damn does he need to get laid. You should’ve seen him blush when I said he liked Blue.”

“What makes you say that he does?” Apricot asked as she flipped the ‘closed’ sign to ‘open’.

“He was sneaking peeks at her all night at the bar. Pretty obvious if you ask me. It’s hard to believe how shy he is though. Maybe I can help him somehow” Sunny said.

“And just how do you plan on doing that Mr. I’ve-Never-Been-On-A-Date?” Apricot teased. “If anyone should give him advice it’s me. At least I’ve dated a few ponies.”

“Hey I’ve read books on it so shush” Sunny retorted. “I may not be able to give first-hoof advice, but it doesn’t mean I can’t offer some pointers.”

“Ok Doctor” Apricot chuckled as she went into the back to grab some more glassware. “So what did you guys do? Just drink?”

“No, we ate too” Sunny said in a smart-ass tone. He could feel Apricot rolling her eyes and grinned a little. “We just got to know each other really. Blue and Ember got into a drinking match and I can only imagine how that turned out later after we left.”

“Heh, that I would’ve liked to see” Apricot shouted from the back. “You guys gonna hang out again sometime soon?”

“Hopefully. We’re supposed to be in touch sometime soon to make plans to do something. I’m really excited actually. Like I said, it's been a while since I did anything besides just work. Lemme tell you, it gets old pretty damn quick” Sunny said as he glanced out the window at some ponies milling by on the sidewalk out front.

“Good for you Sun. It’s nice to see you perky. You were starting to get all mopey around here and it was a real bummer” Apricot said as she returned from the back with several trays of glasses on her back. The way earth ponies managed to balance things on their back was something that never made sense to Sunny, but he surely didn’t question it seeing how he lacked a horn and wings himself.

“Yeah, well, working a lot and doing nothing else will tend to do that to ya” he replied. “But that’s behind me now.”

“Cool. Listen, I’m gonna run downstairs to get more muffin mix. You ok for a few?”

“Yeah, sure. Take your time” Sunny replied, putting on his apron and walking behind the counter to wait for the first customer.

It was about fifteen minutes before the bell over the door jingled, signifying the first of the morning crowd. Sunny greeted each customer with a smile and a “Hello, welcome to Cuppa Joe’s”, something that always brought a smile to their faces for whatever reason. But who was he to argue if it made them happy? He and Apricot steadily worked away at the stream of customers that continued in for the better part of the morning; he handled the bakery case and the register while she flipped and tossed glasses around like a juggler making all the custom drinks. Occasionally they would glance at each other and grin. Apricot knew what to do as she tossed a glass filled with beans into the air, spun around, grabbed the jug of milk, poured it into another glass, spun back around to catch the first glass and hoofed it perfectly into the bean grinder. The crowd in front of the case watched in awe and stomped their hooves in applause when she finished. The great drinks were only part of the reason so many ponies came here in the morning.

As the morning crowd finally began to die down to a trickle, Sunny and Apricot began to clean up. The afternoons were never really busy enough for both of them to be there so Apricot usually took off around noon, leaving Sunny to handle the rest of the day.

“Alrighty Sun, I’m outta here if that’s cool with you” Apricot said as she came out of the back, wiping her hooves dry on a towel.

“Yeah that’s fine. Great job today” Sunny said with a smile as he finished counting the morning sales and filling out the paperwork. Celestia did he hate the paperwork…

“Cool. See ya tomorrow. Hope you catch up with your friends soon” she said as she trotted out the door. Sunny nodded and continued counting as Apple came in as Apricot was going out.

“Hey Sunny, how’s it going?” Apple asked, walking up to the counter and looking over the numerous pastries begging to be eaten.

“Hey Apple, didn’t expect to see you today. What’s up?” Sunny asked, putting down the paperwork and closing the register.

“Not much, just out for a walk around town. Hey, I came across some fliers for this music concert thing somewhere next week, wanted to see if you wanted to go. Figured it’s something you, me, Ember and Blue could enjoy” Apple said as he showed Sunny the flyer he came across earlier on his way there.

“Sure, sounds great. Wanna meet at the bar before and we’ll go from there?”

“Works for me. I’ll call Ember and Blue later and see if they wanna come. Sure hope they say yes” he said with a hint of doubt in his voice.

“I’m sure they will. They seem like the fun-loving types so I don’t see them passing up the chance to get outta the house. I know I sure as hell don’t” Sunny said with a chuckle. “Just up until last night I didn’t have anypony to go out of the house with.”

“Heh, yeah I know what you mean. I had such a great time last night I barely slept, was humming all morning. Pissed Pippin off to no end but so what” Apple shrugged with a smile. “It’s about time I get to piss him off for a change.” The bell above the door jingled as a group of four ponies trotted in chatting to one another, making their way to the bakery case with hungry looks in their eyes. “Well, looks like you gotta get back to work. The fliers are all around town for the concert if you need some details but we’ll talk before then I’m sure.”

“Sounds like a plan” Sunny said as he turned to the group of ponies. “Hello, welcome to Cuppa Joe’s!”

~~~

It actually took quite some time to serve this group of friends. No wonder, one of them was Lyra Heartstrings. It wasn’t that she was indecisive, she was just really distracted by her friends visiting from Canterlot, and her marefriend, Bon-Bon. Sunny always had a good time talking to Bon-Bon, even if the conversation right now was just her apologizing for Lyra constantly getting sidetracked and turning around to talk to her friends.

“I’m so sorry, she’s always like this when they come over” Bon-Bon said. “It’s like she suddenly has the mind and soul of a school filly. I can only imagine what they would be like if they had their other friend Moondancer come over too.”

“Moondancer?” Sunny asked.

“Well, she was mentioned once or twice. I’m sure that if she was once friends with this lot, she’s probably a real social butterfly. Though I don’t understand why she’s never come over before… Eh, probably too busy I guess. Anyway, I’m really sorry” Bon-Bon said, and then pulled Lyra away from her friends. After giving her a stern ‘Order. Now.’, Lyra finally got something.

“At least we didn’t hold anypony else up” Bon-Bon said as she walked away from the counter with her bag of pastries. But when Sunny looked to the front door to confirm, he saw Scotch. How long had she been standing there?

“About five minutes” she said, seemingly reading his mind. “You know how I mention sometimes that I feel invisible and ignored? Right there.” She walked up to the counter. “I mean, seriously, why can’t twats notice me sometimes? It’s not like I blend in with my surroundings” she said, gesturing to her dark red coat. “Ah, whatever. Just give me my usual.”

Sunny smiled and started on her drink. He crushed some coffee beans for her coffee while he warmed up the water. “You’re later than usual. Don’t you have school today?”

Scotch looked at Sunny as if he was an idiot. “Uh, it’s the weekend. Equestria to Sunny?”

“Weekend already?” Sunny blinked a few times. “Where did this week disappear to?”

Scotch simply shrugged. “I dunno man. All I know is that this weekend is nothing but misery. Gotta study for three tests and one exam, like I don’t already have enough to do. I tell you, I could really use a pick-me-up.”

Sunny chuckled. “Like a quick fuck with somepony?” He chuckled to himself again as he turned the coffee machine on.

“Oh ha ha ha, aren’t you a comedian. Although… it might not be such a bad idea…” Scotch contemplated.

“Hey, as long as it’ll make you feel better. Celestia knows it’s not the first time you’ve done it purely for the pleasure. You used to tell me all about it, remember?” Sunny said, referring to the fact that, up until a few months ago, Scotch got laid pretty regularly. Strictly mares though, and in various ways too. It was pretty clear to Sunny that Scotch was a bit of a slut. Well, quite a big one actually. She’d do just about anything to satisfy her needs, but as of late she had stopped doing it, instead finding joy in the simpler things in life like annoying her neighbor. He thought all this to himself as he handed Scotch her coffee.

“Yeah, I think I might do just that. Ember has gotten into the habit of digging holes in my front lawn as a retaliation for who the hell knows what, and for the love of Celestia I can’t avoid them. Everywhere I walk, there’s a bloody hole. It’s shite!” Scotch exclaimed, with even more of a Trottingham accent than usual.

Sunny nodded. He never really understood the rivalry between Ember and Scotch. He tried to get Scotch to call a ceasefire, but to no avail. Just then he remembered the concert Apple had mentioned. Ember would be there too. If there was any place where those two would call a truce, it would be there he thought. Nopony liked making a huge scene in public, right?

“Hey, there’s this music thing happening next week. I’m going with a few friends of mine. Maybe you’d want to come along?”

Scotch was in the middle of gulping down half her coffee, but put it down on the counter to answer. “Uh… sure? I enjoy good music as much as the next pony so I don’t see why not…” she said, hesitating ever so slightly.

“I’m glad to hear that. I promise you, it’ll be fun. I think you’ll really be able to hit it off with my friends” he said while he smiled brightly.

“Uh, ok then, sure. I’ll try to be there” she said, enveloping her coffee in a burnt orange glow as she hovered it to her mouth, drinking it all down at once. When it was empty, she crushed the empty cup on the counter. “Ahh… That feels good…” Scotch gave Sunny one of her rare smiles. “This should get me through the day. Do you have any idea how much studying I have to do? It’s crazy. This semester is bloody brutal.” Sunny gave her a small smile and nod.

“I’m sure it is, but you’ll pull through. You always do” Sunny said as Scotch turned to leave.

And with that, Scotch walked out of the coffee shop and turned towards home. Sunny watched her disappear around the street corner, all the while making a list in his head of things to say to get Ember and Scotch to sign a truce.

Chapter 9 - Scotch On The Rocks

Scotch left the coffee shop and turned to start walking home. It was rather chilly so she picked up her pace a bit, looking forward to lighting a nice big fire. Sunny inviting her to the concert was rather unexpected and kind of caused her to lose her focus. ‘Why did he invite me to hang out with his friends? Who are these ponies anyway?’ Scotch thought to herself as she trotted along the street absentmindedly. As she started to turn the corner, she suddenly found herself face-down in a pit.

“Son of a BITCH! Ember! You better pray to Celestia I don’t get my damn hooves on you you feathered twat! Arrrgh!” Scotch didn’t know how Ember pulled off digging these pits all over town just where she was going to be walking, but she knew she must be behind it somehow. She just had to be. The frequency in which she found herself at the bottom of a conveniently-placed pit was just too much to be mere coincidence.

Mumbling numerous obscenities, Scotch pulled herself out of the pit, brushed the mud off her coat the best she could and continued home. After what felt like forever, she finally made the turn onto her street and started for her driveway. Several slip-and-falls later she scrambled onto the porch and pushed the front door open. There were only two things in this world that could make Scotch smile; one was feeling the warmth of the house wash over her and the other can’t be mentioned in good company.

Trotting to the kitchen to make some hot cocoa, she slumped her saddlebags off in a heap by the door. “Eh, fuck it. I’ll pick em up later” Scotch said as she stepped over them. While filling the kettle up with water and placing it on the stove, she pulled a cup off the shelf and floated it over to the table with the hot cocoa mix. Glancing out her kitchen window, her eyes narrowed as she observed the numerous filled-in holes scattering the yard. She never actually saw Ember dig them, but it still urked her to no end because in the back of her mind she knew she was behind it somehow. Someday she’d get to the bottom of it. The kettle began to whistle, drawing her attention back from the window.

Pouring the boiling water into the cup with some mix, Scotch sat down with a thud at her kitchen table and sighed heavily. Plopping her head down on her crossed forehooves on the table in front of her, she glanced at the clock on the wall and watched the seconds tick by, waiting for the cocoa to cool down some. She wasn’t the most social pony by any stretch of the imagination, but that didn’t mean she was exempt from loneliness. She thought about how there was nopony that lived anywhere near her besides Ember. She honestly couldn't remember why they fought like they did; some days she wished she could just go over and hang out or something but it just never seemed to happen that way. Sighing, she took a sip off the steaming cup.

“Maybe this music thing Sunny mentioned will be fun. Celestia knows I could use some fun in my life” she muttered to herself as she poked at a marshmallow bobbing in the cocoa. “It’s been forever since I’ve seen some live music. I wonder who these friends are he mentioned. Wonder if they’re anypony I know from school.” She shrugged as she took the last sip from the mug and floated it over to the sink and returned to the living room.

Between schoolwork and sleeping, Scotch rarely had time to just sit and think, and maybe that was for the best. So long as she kept moving it distracted her from the piercing loneliness she found herself in. She wasn’t mean to anypony at school, but she was never the type to just strike up a conversation with somepony she came across and possibly make friends. For her at school, the focus was the work and getting wherever on time, not stopping and chatting. With her full load of classes, she simply didn’t have the time to stop and chat. When she got home she had reports to write, and of course she had to eat still, although her frequenting the coffee shop lessened that burden to an extent. She couldn’t live off of muffins; only one mare in Ponyville appeared to be able to pull that off.

The more she sat and thought about it the more the dark thoughts of depression wore at her, and that was certainly not a path she wanted to go down at the moment, or anytime really. She trotted over to where her saddlebags laid on the ground where she slumped them off before and placed them on the table, books and paper spilling out. Sifting through the pile, Scotch organized the various books and assignments into their respective piles before stepping back and giving them an overview.

“You know what? Fuck it. I’m not doing anything else tonight” she said with a hint of a smile. “I’m getting a nice hot shower and going the hell to bed. This crap can wait.” It felt good to brush off her responsibilities for a change, a smile crossing her muzzle as she trotted upstairs. Not long after, the sounds of humming and running water filled the small home.

~~~

Scotch woke up the next day to the acrid smell of diesel and the ear-destroying noise of a lawn tractor, but not just any lawn tractor. This was an oversized, oil-guzzling monster, and it just so happened to also be the the one Ember had in her shed to mow her large backyard, or plow her driveway given the weather, no doubt to spite Scotch. Her frown expanded.

“This is just how I wanted to spend my Sunday, yelling at a cooing bitch” she sighed, calculating how much study time would be wasted by this. She had made a rough mental chart in her head detailing the frequency and length of her confrontations with the orange-feathered nuisance. Their record length was a full afternoon. She recalled that particular fight being about the eternally-burning tire she threw over the fence into Ember’s backyard after a failed arcane experiment. The problem wasn’t its eternal burning, it was it setting the sun-dried grass on fire. In fact, most of the argument took place while they were busy dousing the flames. And after they were done, Ember was kind enough to toss the offending tire back into Scotch’s own backyard. Much appreciated, Ember...

She got out of bed, and once again had an epiphany. “You know what bitch? I’m not even going to give you the pleasure of seeing me pissed, ‘cause I’m staying right here.” She smiled at her evil plan. ‘That should teach the pigeon. Heh… pigeon’ Scotch smirked to herself as she pulled the sheets back over herself and curled up in a ball again. She wondered if Sunny’s friends would be ponies she would get along with, perhaps even become friends with. The thought of finally having some friends brought a smile to her face as she rolled over to face the nightstand and grab a pair of earplugs to block out the mower. Not long thereafter sleep found her once again.

Scotch awoke again several hours later not to the smell of fuel but rather the pangs of hunger coming from her stomach. She recalled that she only had the cup of cocoa the night before and was now seriously hungry for some actual food. Throwing the cover off and rolling to her hooves, she trotted over to the mirror hanging on the wall behind her dresser and began to untangle the absolute disarray that was her mane. Why she chose such a complicated manestyle she never knew but what she did know is it looked damn good on her and made other mares jealous, so that alone was reason enough to keep it. After about five minutes and one broken brush handle, Scotch gave herself a once-over in the mirror before nodding primly and trotting into the hallway and down the stairs en route to the kitchen.

As she entered the kitchen, the cocoa mug sitting by the sink caught her eye and made her frown. “Must be nice having Blue do all the dishes you damn fowl” Scotch mumbled under her breath as she turned towards the fridge, her stomach growling with increased frequency. Levitating a plate from the cabinet and onto the table, she opened the fridge and immediately her eyes became big and watery. Nothing was in there except the light bulb. It was then that she remembered that she was supposed to stop at the store before coming home last night, but talking to Sunny and falling in the pit had distracted her and she forgot. “Damn it… Now what the fuck am I gonna do” she muttered, searching the cabinets for something edible. “Celestia, I’m not that poor. What the hell happened to all my food? Has it really been that long since I was shopping? I really need to cut back on this crazy school load.”

After confirming that there was indeed no food in the house at all, the only option left was to go shopping, but seeing how hungry she was right this moment, she had to stop at the coffee shop first and at least get a muffin in her. Throwing on her boots and scarf, and grabbing a bag of bits that looked to be enough for something at the coffee shop and the store afterwards, Scotch opened her front door and stepped out into the gentle snowfall. Taking a moment to clear her walkway, Scotch dusted off her doormat and rolled her eyes at what it read, ‘Life’s a bitch and so am I’. “Hm, and I wonder why ponies are put off by me…” Scotch sighed. “I’m gonna get rid of this thing. Seems much more appropriate for Little Miss Snow Plow over there” she said as she glanced over at Ember finishing up plowing her driveway and walk. Putting the mat to the side, she turned and headed towards town.

Scotch could smell the sweet aroma of freshly baked muffins wafting out the door of the coffee shop as a pony pushed it open to leave as she approached. ‘There better not be a line or I’m gonna murder somepony’ she thought to herself as she went in. No line, just Sunny and another pony she was surprised to see behind the counter. “Apricot? You work here?” she asked with a confused look on her face as she walked up to the counter.

“Oh hey Scotch! Wow I never see you outside of school. What brings you in?” Apricot asked as she mixed up a few drinks.

“I’m always in here, just ask Sunny” Scotch said, gesturing towards Sunny who smiled and nodded as he started making her drink, not even waiting for her to say she actually wanted it. He knew.

“Huh. Guess I always miss you since our class schedules are a bit different” Apricot said.

“How do you two know each other exactly?” Sunny asked as he ground some beans.

“We’re in a history class together. Used to be in a creative writing class together too but I dropped it after the first week” Scotch replied.

Apricot smiled. “You should’ve hung in there, it was a lot of fun.”

“I’m already buried up to my damn horn in reports and shit so I don’t need a class that’s nothing but writing thank you” Scotch replied, rolling her eyes. “Bad enough I have to deal with my damn neighbor that decides to plow her driveway at 6 a.m.…”

“Who’s your neighbor?” Apricot asked, wiping her hooves off and coming around the counter to sit with Scotch at one of the tables.

“Her name’s Ember. She’s that griffin that owns that shipping company on the other side of town. She thinks just cuz she owns her house she can do whatever the fuck she wants, when she wants, and it’s infuriating” Scotch said as she levitated her completed drink over to herself from Sunny. “Oh yea, gimme like three muffins too. Haven’t eaten since lunch yesterday.”

“Oh I’ve seen her around. Was just talking to Sunny about her the other day actually. She’s hot,” Apricot said with a grin. Scotch nearly choked on her drink and Sunny started to snicker before ducking behind the counter to avoid the projectile muffin aimed at his head.

“What the hell did you just say?!” Scotch exclaimed, looking at Apricot in disbelief.

“What? I think griffins are hot. You don’t? I mean, come on, her feathers look pretty sick” Apricot argued. “Plus they got talons so they can actually pick things up, unlike with these damn hooves. If you’re not a unicorn then it’s pretty much just too bad.”

“Ok, I’m convinced you’ve lost your damn mind. She’s a crazy pidgeon who perpetually digs holes around town just to make me fall in them” Scotch said. Apricot and Sunny both gave her a look with raised brows of doubt. “I’m not crazy I swear! I know it’s her! I just haven’t actually seen her do it yet…” she trailed off.

“Just cuz you hate her doesn’t mean somepony else can’t make a pass at her. Is she seeing anypony?” Apricot asked with a hint of hope in her voice that made Scotch want to regurgitate her muffin.

“How the fuck should I know? The only time we talk is when we’re yelling at each other over the fence” Scotch said. “If you wanna be a bird fucker then you go find her and ask.”

“I don’t want to fuck her. Well, not yet anyway. I’d wanna get to know her first” Apricot said as she got up from the table and started to walk behind the counter again. “Maybe you should try to get to know her better too, or at least some other ponies. I never see you at any of the school events.”

Scotch sighed. “I know… Part of me wants to go, but another part of me just hates those big social gatherings. I like solitude, but hate it when it turns to loneliness.”

“That’s why I invited you to join me and my friends at the concert later. I figured you’d get to know them better and maybe you could start hanging out with us some. By the way, Ember will be there” Sunny said.

“Ooo! She will?” Apricot said with a big smile. “Can I come too? I wanna meet her.” Scotch let out a loud groan and plopped her head on the table in front of her. Sunny just smiled and turned to Apricot.

“Sure, I’m sure the others won’t mind.” He handed her a flyer with the information that Apple had left. “We’re planning on meeting at the bar a few blocks away and then going from there.”

“That sounds awesome. Can’t wait!” Apricot said, her huge smile never leaving her face. “Anyway, I got some prep work to finish downstairs. Yell if you need me Sunny.”

“Will do” Sunny said as he checked the stock in the bakery case.

“Ugh, there’s no way I’m getting out of this music thing is there” Scotch muttered, her head still lying on the table.

“Why would you want to? I thought you’d be excited to finally meet some new ponies and maybe make some real friends finally” Sunny said. “No offense, but you really need it Scotch.”

“I know I know… Doesn’t make it any easier though, especially now that I know the pigeon will be there” Scotch said, putting a little more disdain on ‘pigeon’.

“Look, just give it, and her, a chance. I bet you two have never tried just talking. And other ponies will be around so I doubt either of you would want to cause a scene, so perfect opportunity to just put your stupid feuds to rest” Sunny said reasonably. Scotch hated to admit it but he had a point. Plus she was tired of all the yelling and tension. Since they were the only two that lived where they did, it would help her stress if she didn’t get an aneurysm every time she thought of Ember next door.

“Fine. I’ll give it a fair chance if she does. And if this backfires, it’s all on your arse” Scotch said, finally picking her head off the table. “I gotta get to the store and stock up on food. I got nothing but dust in the fridge at home.”

“If I don’t see you again soon, I’ll call you with the time we’re gonna be meeting, sound good?” Sunny asked as Scotch opened the door to leave.

“Yeah, sure, that’ll work. And tell Apricot to keep her bizarre sexual interests to herself will you?” Scotch said over her shoulder. A pony passing by outside caught that part of the conversation out of context and immediately got a puzzled look on his face as he continued walking, trying to figure out what the hell was just being discussed.

Sunny chucked. “I’ll see what I can do. Take care.” Scotch waved as she walked around the corner, checking this time for magically materializing pits waiting to claim her as their next victim, but found none. She continued towards the store, her head filled with what she might possibly have to say to Ember that wasn’t considered improper when amongst company. This was going to be interesting.

Chapter 10 - Of Parties And Punch

Author's Note

Please note: This chapter contains an explicit portion. It is marked before and after by "Explicit portion begins/ends here" for those who wish to avoid it.

Chapter 10 - Of Parties And Punch

The snow was starting to pile up to Apple’s ankles as he stood in front of The Watering Hole, looking nervously side-to-side. His new friends hadn’t forgotten him, right? A dark thought came over Apple for a second.

“They would never. Although, I barely know them... Maybe they did cancel on me…”

“Silly Apple, they would never come to a party with somepony like you!” He started banging his head against the deep green painted wooden wall, nearly giving himself a pretty good concussion, but then he felt a hoof tapping on his shoulder, urging him to stop. A look to the side revealed Sunny’s beaming face.

“What’s so funny?” Apple asked, feeling his head with his hoof to check for any wounds.

Sunny giggled, “Oh, nothing… Just that the sight of somepony unleashing his fury against a wall isn’t something you see every day.” He thought for a second, “or night.”

“Yeah, it’s already 10 past 5, they should’ve been here by now. We agreed to meet here at 5 so we could get some food before heading to the soiree!” Apple said as he adjusted his cloak.

Just then, the sound of hooves crunching in the snow came from around the corner. Anticipating, Apple and Sunny turned around to face the new arrivals and were greeted with Apricot accompanied by an unknown mare with a grey coat and a mane and tail that ranged from yellow to red. She had a melon slice for a cutie mark. Apple frowned.

“Hey guys!” Apricot said, perhaps a bit too loud, before poking the mare next to her. “This is Melon pone! She’s my PFF from high school! She recently moved here, so I thought it would be nice for her to meet some folks.”

Melon pone giggled. “You jerk!” She playfully nudged her friend. “My real name is Melon Drop.” Melon Drop noticed Apple staring at her flank, specifically at the melon slice. “Dude. Why are you looking at my cutie mark like that?”

Sunny was ready to jump to his aid. “Oh, he’s just a bit awkward about things like that. He probably really fanc-” he was cut off by a poke from Apple.

“No no no, that’s not it.” Apple’s frown grew even more. “I… dislike mel-” he was, in turn, interrupted by a poke from Sunny.

“Keep it to yourself buddy…” Sunny whispered to Apple between his teeth.

“Right… well, this is certainly an interesting welcome. I’ve heard about the strange things that happen in this town sometimes…” Melon Drop said.

“Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet! One time, there was this bunny stampede…” The flow of chatter continued as Apricot and Melon Drop went inside to look for places to sit.

“Do you recall her ever asking if it was ok to bring a stranger along?” Sunny asked, wiping a thin layer of snow off of his jacket.

“No, I don’t. And especially not if it was ok to bring a melon along” Apple said as he readjusted his mane inside his hood.

“What’s the deal with you and melons anyway?” Sunny asked.

Apple tossed his head upwards. “None of your business, thank you very much! It’s very much my own.”

“Alright, alright… hey, there they are!” Sunny pointed to Blue and Ember appearing in the snowy mist.

“Hey!” Blue said, quickly closing the gap. “Sorry about being late, I took too long showering.”

“That’s fine. Let’s just get something to eat” Apple said, holding the door open. Ember and Blue went inside, but Sunny stayed outside.

“Sunny? Aren’t you coming?” Apple let go of the door, letting it slowly close. “What are you waiting for?”

“I'm kinda bringing another guest as well.” Sunny said with a nervous look.

“Oh? You told me about Apricot earlier, who-” Apple’s pending question was answered before he could even finish. Around the corner came a mare with a dark red coat and the most intricate manestyle he had ever seen, but it didn’t take him long to realize he had seen her before.

“Wait… aren’t you Ember’s neighbor?” Apple asked.

Sunny thought about how to answer this tactfully, but Scotch interrupted. “I’m Scotch, and yes, I am Ember’s neighbor.”

“But weren’t you horribly insulting to her or something?” Apple asked, slightly confused.

“I very well might have been, but I’m not here to continue fighting. Today has been too much of a shit day. Two tests with the prospect of another exam later this week? Yeah right. Celestia I hate Mondays…” she said as she trotted inside.

“Looks like we’re complete. We have to hurry now, I have to get in there before Ember and Scotch lose their tempers” Sunny said, about to run in, but Apple stopped him by asking one last question.

“Is Scotch like, your marefriend or something?” he asked.

“What? Oh no, she’s not ‘into’ stallions” Sunny replied before quickly running inside.

“Oh…”

Scotch’s heart was beating as she entered the bar. This was it, the moment that could make or break the entire evening. She saw the pigeon sitting at a table with three others, who were merrily chatting away while Ember herself was placing some orders for drinks with the waiter.

‘The least she could’ve done was wait for the rest of us’ she thought to herself. ‘No, wait, bad Scotch. You’re supposed to be making friends here. Just… play it cool.’ She suppressed her usual anger that arose when she saw Ember and walked towards her.

Ember turned around from the waiter when Blue tapped her, and pointed a hoof at the new arrival. For a moment, Scotch and Ember looked at each other. A lot can happen in one moment. The natural order is established; all future interaction of the night could be decided. In this particular case, neither party could agree as to what the natural order actually was going to be. In this second-long stare, it was as if a lightning bolt was temporarily suspended between their eyes… and then the moment ended.

“Hello Scotch. Good to see you tonight” Ember said stiffly.

“Good evening Ember. It's good to see you too” Scotch replied, equally wooden. She sat down at the table, opposite Ember. Sunny finally came in.

“Oh thank goodness, you two haven’t started fighting yet” Sunny said, relieved that his effort to unite these two hadn't been disregarded to the realm of fables, not yet anyway. Not long after Sunny, Apple came in.

“Hello everyone!” he said, sitting down at a table next to Scotch and Melon Drop, while Sunny sat in between Scotch and Blue.

Sunny and Apple were eager to start the evening off, so after the waiter had been called once more and more orders had been placed for the new guests, the night could begin. And what a night it would be.

At this hour on a Monday night, it didn’t take long for their orders to be finished. While bar food wasn’t usually something to write home about, the least it could do was fill you up.

“Who hosts a party on a Monday night anyway?” Melon Drop asked.

“Well, Miss Melon, I shall be more than happy to tell you” Apple said, giving Melon’s despicable cutie mark another glare, missing the fact that Melon shot Apple’s own cutie mark a sharp look as well.

“Please, do continue, Mister Salt, is it?” said Melon.

Apple’s eye twitched ever so slightly, but he decided to ignore the comment. “This party is, of course, hosted by Ponyville’s own Octavia. It is not just ‘any’ party. It shall be a soiree, where we can talk and discuss various matters while listening to a small ensemble from the Canterlot Orchestra perform various symphonies, amongst other forms of classical music, of course.”

“That sounds really nice actually, Mister Salt. A shame none of us are dressed for the occasion” Melon said, giggling when she got another evil glare from Apple.

“I can assure you that formal wear is not required” Apple said, becoming ever so slightly flustered.

Blue raised a hoof. “Uh, that’s not what it said on the flyer you gave us, Apple. It said something about a rave. I was actually really excited for that.”

“I didn’t see anything about a rave on there” Apple said, taking the flyer from Blue and looking it over. Sure enough, the flyer looked identical to the one he saw earlier; date, time, location, everything. The only difference was this one was promoting a rave concert rather than the classical soiree he was expecting.

Ember took a sip from her drink. “I was excited for the rave too, not that I have anything against classical.”

Apple started furiously apologizing, but Sunny stopped him. “It’s fine, Apple. There must be two parties going on at the same place, that’s all.”

“Yes, right, sorry. Let’s just finish our food and get to this party” Apple said, trembling ever so slightly as he levitated his fork into his food. This was not going as he had carefully planned in his head.

Melon noticed Apricot glancing at the griffin next to her multiple times. She chuckled. Apricot had been talking about this Ember ever since she was invited. However, Apricot and Melon liked to think they were connected via the universe. Well, Melon did at least, so she pretty much knew all about Ember before long. “And? Is she what you expected?” Melon asked.

Apricot turned around. “It’s pretty much what I expected and more” she said, casually nodding.

Melon winked at her PFF. “Remember not to flirt too much. Don’t want to ruin the we’re-friends-going-out mood, you know.”

“Like you’re one to talk” Apricot said. Melon looked at her friend with slight confusion. “Really? ‘Mister Salt’?” Apricot said when she noticed Melon clearly wasn’t getting it.

“Oh, Apple? I mean, he’s pretty cute, you have to admit that” Melon said, a slight blush appearing on her light gray cheeks.

“Oh come on!” Apricot exclaimed, but in the polite way so that none of the others beside Melon Drop heard her. “You’re crushing on him pretty hard. I saw your eyes shift to his ‘cutie mark’, but I also saw you stare at the whole picture ever so slightly too long.”

“W-well, that was just because, you know, because-” Melon began.

“But you’re going about it totally the wrong way. You were embarrassing him!” Apricot said, a hint of disapproval in her voice.

The blush on Melon Drop’s cheeks grew deeper. “I just wanted to look into his eyes directly, you know. And after he gave me that stare, I just had to see it again. He looks hot when he’s pissed off.”

Both mares laughed. “Well, it’s going to be a long night, and you know what, I’m feeling generous. I'm going to help you. But no more pissing him off, ok?” Apricot said.

“Ok… But don’t make me say weird pickup lines. You know how I feel about that” Melon Drop said.

Apricot giggled “Of course.”

It didn’t take long for the group to finish their food, but they still stayed and chatted for a while. With there still being a lot of animosity between Scotch and Ember, it made the situation a little bit tense. Eventually they decided it was time to head out and by 8 o'clock, they finally arrived at the party.

~~~

The house the party was held at was one of Ponyville’s most peculiar structures. It appeared to be literally split in half down the middle, straight through the door. The left section of the house had the pipes of a large organ sticking out of the roof. The house, with it’s two distinct styles, was an odd sight. Tonight though, it looked even stranger than usual. There was a black steel structure behind the house, and as they got closer it appeared to be a framework holding up stage lights, speakers, and smoke machines along with a DJ booth in the middle. The booth, surrounded by jumping ponies from Ponyville and the surrounding area, was shone on by four different rays of light from spotlights hanging on support pillars holding up the whole structure. It was occupied by a white unicorn pony with a spiky blue mane, wearing her trademark purple glasses and bobbing her head along with the beat.

“Oh my, this isn’t what I expected at all” Apple said, looking around at the crowd in a nervous manner. “I don’t do well in huge crowds like this.”

“You don’t have to stay out here you know. It appears there’s a whole separate party going on inside the house” Sunny said, gesturing to the line of prim and proper ponies filing into the house with their muzzles ever so slightly upwards.

“I don’t want to leave all you guys though. I mean, this party was my idea in the first place, it wouldn’t be right for me to go off and leave you all to have all the fun” Apple said as he shifted his weight from one side to the other, clearly getting nervous as the crowd grew around them.

“I’ll go inside with you if you’d like” Melon said. “Believe it or not I’m not too fond of huge crowds either. Like the music, but hate getting shoved and bumped all the time. A nice evening just chatting sounds like a good change of scenery.”

“I actually don’t mind some classical myself” Ember said as she hovered above the group. “I find it rather relaxing and Celestia knows I need to relax after the shit week I’ve had.”

“Me too! I love classical!” Apricot blurted out, earning her a jab in the side from Melon. “Owww what was that forrrr?”

“What did I tell you about coming on too strong? Remember? If you’re helping me, I’m helping you too. Cool your flanks” Melon muttered to her. Apricot blushed a bit and nodded.

“Aww come on you bunch of donkeys. Am I the only one here who wants to go crazy?” Blue said in a disappointed, almost whining tone. Ember and Scotch both rolled their eyes, then happened to look at each other and notice the other just did the same thing. A small smirk formed on their lips. “I thought the whole point of tonight was to have fun.”

“It is” Apple said. “We can all still have fun. Let's just spend some time at each of the parties, that way everyone can have a good time.”

“Fiiine” Blue said in an exacerbated tone. Now it was Apple’s turn to roll his eyes. Sunny just chuckled beside him. “Let’s meet at the buffet table in an hour and we can all tell each other how the party’s going from there, sound good?” The group nodded. Blue, Scotch, and Sunny went towards the mass of jumping ponies while Ember, Apricot, Apple, and Melon made their way towards the house.

The ponies congregating in the yard were a stark contrast to those that were making their way inside the home. Outside was chaos, inside was dignified and proper. They even had little cheese ponies on little plates with little toothpicks in them. A bowl of melon balls caught the ire of Apple as he walked past the hors d’oeuvres table. Melon noticed and snickered to herself, determined to figure out this bizarre distain. Mutterings and goings-on could be heard throughout the warmly lit space, accompanied by the soft melody of a cello and a few other instruments. A soundproofing spell was clearly at work to be able to keep the insanity that was happening out back from penetrating the refined environment inside.

Ember inhaled deeply and slowly let it out. “Oh this is nice. Relaxing atmosphere at last. I never have time to just unwind at home. Scotch is always yelling something about falling into holes or some shit at me the second I pull in the driveway. Crazy bitch.” She muttered the last part.

“Mmm I too enjoy the soft, flowing tones of classical music. It helps me deal with Pippin a little easier. Not much, but a little” Apple said as he looked around the crowd. All over the room there were little groups of ponies, two to four strong, just chatting and smiling as they sipped their drinks. “This is what a party should be.”

“I don’t mind a good rave now and then for the adrenaline rush, but those should be attended sparingly if you ask me. I’m not as young as I used to be” Ember said as she took a drink off the tray of a passing waiter.

“Oh please, you’re still plenty hot” Apricot said.

Ember coughed on her drink. “Excuse me?” she said once she stopped coughing. Melon rubbed her forehead with a hoof and closed her eyes.

“Ehehehe did I say hot? I meant, um, it’s hot in here! Yeah! That’s it. Hot in here. Anypony else want a drink? I’ll get us some drinks!” Apricot hurriedly said as she grinned and backed away from the group before making a break towards the drink station.

Ember raised her brow and unfurled her wings. “Hm, she’s an odd one isn’t she. Not as weird as you, Apple, but still up there.” Apple gave her a flat look as she grinned at him. “Hey, you wanted friends, well then get used to being picked on. Friends give each other shit all the time. That’s the real magic of friendship bud.”

Apple cleared his throat. “Yes, well then, should we start to make our way around? See who’s playing? I do hope to see Octavia at some point, I’m a huge fan of her work.”

“Oh I just love her rendition of Beethooven’s symphony #2 in E flat. The way she captured the transition from dark to light at the central peak really showed the influence she got from Crescendo, that Prancian composer” Melon said as she began to walk forward towards the main room of the house. She got a few steps before she realized the other two weren’t following her. Glancing back over her shoulder, she was met with a puzzled look from both of them. “What? A mare can’t have intelligent interests? I’m not all parties and drinking just cuz I’m in school.”

“I would absolutely love to discuss Octavia’s works with you” Apple said, a big smile forming on his muzzle. “Would you like to grab some hors d’oeuvres? I’d love to hear what you think about her rendition of Baritone’s concerto…” The pair trailed off into the room, leaving Ember standing there, still not entirely sure what just happened.

“Guess I’ll go find where Apricot went and see if she’s still delusional” Ember said as she went into the next room where the food and drinks were set up. She saw Apricot over by one of the tables looking at the array of different fruits laid out in patterns of various musical notes. “So you still think I’m hot?” Ember said, causing Apricot to jump, let out a quick ‘eep!’, and toss the plate of fruit she was assembling up over her head. Ember caught a piece of pineapple as it fell back down and popped it in her mouth. She chewed it with one brow raised as she looked at Apricot.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to say that I swear. Please don’t hate me!” Apricot hurriedly said, looking everywhere but at Ember.

“Hehe, relax, I’m not mad or anything. I thought it was funny” Ember said, finishing the piece of pineapple. “I tend to have that effect on ponies.”

Apricot blushed and turned her head. “I see. Where are Apple and Melon?”

“They started getting all horny talking about Octavia and went off to I guess try and find her to fangirl over her or something. I dunno” Ember said as she grabbed a plate and began loading it up with different fruit.

“Oh” Apricot said. “Is there any particular piece of hers that you like?”

“Meh, I don’t really like any one composer more than others. I just find the music in general to be relaxing. Moving heavy crap around all day really makes my wings sore so it’s nice to come home and soak them while I have it on in the background” Ember said.

“I enjoy that too. After a long day at school I like to come home and just lay on my bed with it on. Helps me fall asleep too” Apricot said, smiling at the pleasant memory.

“Yep, it’s certainly hard to beat” Ember said. “You wanna go see what else is going on here?” Just then from the other room, a mare exclaimed ‘oh my!’ in a refined tone. “Heh, sounds like Apple and Melon may have found Octavia.” she chuckled. Apricot giggled too.

“Yeah let’s go see what they’re up to, then we can go find out how the party outside is going” Apricot said as she started heading towards where the mare's voice came from. Ember nodded and followed after her.

~~~

A thumping bass permeated the air throughout the whole back of the house. The crowd of ponies was speckled with glowing neon sticks being swung around; flashing lights having a strobe effect on the mass of bodies moving about. The crowd’s energy would flow up and down in direct conjunction with the beats being pumped out through the massive speakers and you could tell the DJ knew exactly what she was doing as she flipped switches and knobs to change the tempo and mood.

At the portable bar set up at the back of the crowd, Sunny leaned against one of the stools, observing the crowd moving to the high-energy music. Sipping his drink, he looked around to see if he could spot Blue or Scotch who had disappeared into the crowd a while ago and have yet to resurface. He was about to go in and try to find them when Scotch pushed her way out of the mob of ponies.

“Bunch of crazy bitches” Scotch muttered as she walked next to Sunny and ordered a few drinks. Sunny smiled, still scanning the crowd for a sign of Blue, or any of the others for that matter.

“Having fun?” Sunny asked. He knew the answer but thought it would be fun to hear her reply anyway.

“So much it should be illegal” Scotch replied, rolling her eyes and downing one of the drinks. “Thank Celestia this place has a bar otherwise I’d have to choke some ponies. Grabbing my arse…”

“Heh, well it is a pretty crazy party out here so I imagine that kinda stuff will happen. Once we find Blue I figured we’d head inside and see how the other party is going with the others. I bet it’s much less chaotic” Sunny said, finishing his drink and placing it back on the bar. “You stay here, I’m gonna go find Blue.”

“Whatever. Just watch your arse in there” Scotch said, making decent progress on her second drink already. Sunny started to thread his way into the crowd. The only real advantage he had in finding Blue was her color and the fact that she was a unicorn. Other than that, everypony looked the same in this giant mass. Shouting her name wasn’t an option over the thumping music that drowned out any voice. He started just working his way up and down the rows of ponies as best he could. After checking through the whole crowd several times, and even the other bar on the opposite side of the area, Sunny made his way back to the bar where Scotch was still sitting.

“Well, I have no idea where the hell she got to. I went over every pony here and I can't find her,” Sunny said, sitting down beside Scotch.

“Maybe she made her way inside already?” Scotch suggested. Sunny shrugged. He hadn’t thought of that yet but it seemed to be the only option left.

“Ok, let’s go check and see if she’s in there I guess. If not, well, maybe Ember can fly around some and find her or something.” Scotch downed the last bit of her drink and got up, Sunny following behind her as she pushed through the crowd towards the house.

~~~

Ember and Apricot made their way into the main room where the music had come to a stop just after they heard the mare's voice a few moments ago. A small circle of ponies were gathered towards where the band was set up but something else seemed to be going on. Making their way to the front of the group, Ember and Apricot looked on in disbelief. A cello laid on its side on the stage and a rather inebriated Blue had her forehooves wrapped around Octavia’s hind leg, being dragged across the stage as Octavia tried to shake her off. Ember shook her head and covered her face with a claw, Apricot stifled a snicker behind a hoof.

“Get off me you ruffian!” Octavia growled as she continued to poke Blue with the bow from the fallen instrument, trying to break Blue’s grip on her hind leg.

“Come on! I only want you to sign my butt! I love you Trebel Flanks!” Blue cried, clearly having had a few too many at the party out back. “Pleeeease!”

“Would someone please remove this animal from my leg?” Octavia pleaded, not making any progress on prying Blue off. All the high society ponies around looked at one another and shrugged. They didn’t want to get near the crazy blue mare and risk her latching onto one of them instead.

“Excuse me, coming through, pardon…” Apple pushed his way through the circle of ponies and rushed over to Octavia and Blue. “I am so terribly sorry Miss Philharmonica, please forgive my friends actions here. She has clearly had too much to drink at the other party” Apple explained as he began pulling Blue’s legs off of Octavia, all the while Blue was whining and putting up a struggle.

“Just get her off me so I can finish our ensemble. We were right in the middle of the third bar when this crazy mare came out of nowhere and latched onto my leg asking me to sign her flank. I told Vinyl something like this would happen” Octavia muttered, glaring towards the back of the house.

“Yes, of course, certainly” Apple said, finally breaking Blue’s grip on the leg and pulling her back a ways. Blue kicked her hind leg out, hitting Apple in a rather tender place. He let out a high-pitched ‘eep’ and stumbled back, losing his grip on Blue. Blue took this opportunity and made another grab for Octavia but a yellow talon grabbed her foreleg before she could reach it.

“Ok, that’s enough of that” Ember said, grabbing Blue around the torso with her other claw. “Once you go around trying to get somepony to sign your ass, you’ve had too much to drink. Let's get you some fresh air and sober you up a bit” Ember said as she picked Blue up and began heading towards the door. “Sorry for the interruption Miss Octavia, we’ll keep her under control for the rest of the night.”

“I should hope so. I don’t need any more of those wubstep lunatics invading my soiree” Octavia said, readjusting her mane and tail and straightening her bowtie. Turning around to pick her cello up from the floor she muttered something about ‘Vinyl’, ‘kicking flank’, and ‘no hornjobs for a month’. Melon trotted up to the still-recovering Apple and helped him back up.

“You ok there? She got a pretty good kick on ya huh?” Melon said.

“Yeah I’m fine, just knocked the wind out of me is all. I’ll be fine in a few minutes” Apple replied, awkwardly standing and slightly leaning to the left. “Let’s just follow Ember and make sure Blue is ok.” As they reached the back of the small crowd that had gathered, Apple and Melon saw Ember holding a now passed out Blue, telling Scotch and Sunny what had happened. Sunny was trying to suppress a laugh while Scotch rolled her eyes.

“Freakin lightweights. I could drink ten times whatever she had and be perfectly fine” Scotch remarked. “I don’t understand what’s so hard about handling your liquor.”

“Not all ponies have years of practice trying to drink away their pathetic existence” Ember shot back.

“Don’t start that shit with me you fuckin’ crow. Just because I’ve been in school forever doesn’t mean I don’t know what I’m doing. I just took my time to make sure I was doing what I really wanted to” Scotch said, glaring at Ember.

“Whatever you say” Ember said as she turned towards the door to the back, still carrying Blue. The cold air outside would help get Blue back to normal a little faster.

“Ladies, please, don’t fight here. We agreed to have a good time tonight, not open old wounds, remember?” Sunny said.

“Yeah yeah…” Scotch drolled on. “Friendship is magic and all that other bullshit. Wild Pegasus is magic if you ask me. I’m headed to the bar for some more.”

“Wow she really can put down a lot of liquor can’t she” Melon said to Apple next to her. “Only pony I know that can drink that much is Berry Punch and even she has a cap. Didn’t you say something about Blue having a crush on her or something?” Scotch was about halfway out the door but flicked her ear around when she heard this.

Sunny chuckled. “Oh Blue was staring at her quite a bit when we were out at the bar the other night. It was rather amusing actually. Guess we all know she wants Octavia too apparently. She has good tastes at least” Sunny said as he made his way towards the door, followed by the other three. Scotch trotted out the door and made her way to the bar, gears turning in her head.

The party out back hadn’t died down in the slightest since the group was inside the house. The beats were still pumping out and the DJ didn’t show any sign of stopping anytime soon even though it was getting later in the evening. All of them, minus Scotch who had planted herself at the bar again, made their way to an empty table at the back of the crowd to sit and see what could be done about Blue.

“We could try cold water, that seems to always wake them up” Apple shrugged. “At least that’s how I get Pippin up when he’s passed out in the middle of the hall and blocking the way.”

“All they have is beer and liquor here so I don’t think that’s an option right now” Sunny said.

“What about some kinda shock or surprise?” Apricot suggested. A huge grin immediately formed on Embers beak, memories of the other night coming back in full clarity. “What’s so funny Ember?” she asked.

“Ohhh nothinggg…” Ember replied in a sing-song tone. “Just remembering a funny surprise I played on a friend once who passed out. Sure woke them up that’s for sure. Hehehe…” The rest of the group looked at her with raised brows. “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it. Won’t work here anyways.”

“Oookay then… any other ideas?” Melon asked.

“Something spicy maybe?” Apple shrugged.

“Hmm, yea that might work. I saw some salsa on the table back there. I’ll go grab some” Melon said as she got up and headed toward the buffet table nearby. She returned with a small bowl of salsa and put some on a chip and popped it in Blue’s mouth, then they all waited. About ten seconds later, Blue’s eyes shot open and she began panting furiously, trying to wipe the burning hot salsa off her tongue.

“Sown off a bwitch whawt was thawt fowr?” Blue said once she finally got it mostly out of her mouth, letting her tongue hang out still.

“You’re no fun unconscious” Apricot said. Another smirk formed on Embers face but Apricot decided to act like she didn’t see it this time. She’d make a point of figuring out what that meant later.

“Yeah but freakin hot sauce? That’s just evil. Couldn’t you splash me with cold water or something?” Blue asked before reaching for a cup of beer that had been on the table prior to them all sitting down. Sunny was about to stop her but she downed it before he could even utter ‘wai-’. “Ah that’s better. What?” Blue asked, noticing their collective grossed-out expressions.

“Nothing. Nevermind us. What you say we go and try to enjoy the rest of the party?” Apple suggested.

“Sounds good to me. Let’s go!” Melon said with a big smile, grabbing Apple and pulling him towards the crowd. “You coming guys?”

“Yeah come on guys, the night’s still young and I still got plenty of party still in me!” Blue said with an equally big smile on her face.

“You guys go ahead, I think I’ll just stick back and have a few drinks” Ember said, gesturing towards the bar. “We’ll come find you in a little bit.” Sunny and Apricot nodded in agreement.

Blue shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She trotted after Melon who was still pulling Apple into the crowd even though he was protesting about not doing well in tight spaces.

“So…” Sunny said, tapping his hooves together on the table. “What’s up?” Ember and Apricot both gave him a flat look. “Hey I don’t see either of you starting a conversation” he said defensively.

“Yeah, cuz we’re drinking” Ember said, taking another sip of her drink and looking around.

“Well, doesn’t mean we can’t talk about something still” Sunny said. “How’s your company doing Ember?”

“Considering I’m the only one in Ponyville that doesn’t drop your stuff from the sky, pretty good” Ember replied.

“Heh, now you know why I never order anything fragile to be shipped here” Apricot chuckled. “I just pick it up at the train station when it comes in.”

“Wise choice. I was considering going into the delivery business too but that’s a big change. I’m busy enough as it is with just moving things, you add regular shipment delivery and you’re talking serious volume” Ember said. “I suppose it’s not entirely out of the question though.”

“That’d be pretty cool. Bet you’d be rolling in it then huh” Apricot said.

“Heh, yeah, probably” Ember mused.

“So I’m curious, what’s it like living on your own? I really can’t wait to get the hell outta the dorms, but I’ve never lived on my own before, outside school anyways” Apricot said, her eyes scanning the surface of the table sheepishly.

Ember smiled. “For me it’s pretty great. I value my personal space more than most do so it was great to find a place that’s set far enough away to be quiet, but not so far that it’s a pain in the ass to get stuff. So long as you got the money, then you’ll do fine.”

“Yeah, see, that’s kinda the problem. Culinary is a great field to be in, in Canterlot. But in a smaller town like Ponyville it’s next to impossible to find a place that’ll pay enough to support yourself, and I have no desire whatsoever to move to Canterlot. I guess I’m gonna be in the same boat as Blue is when I finish school.” Apricot hung her head and cast her eyes downward. Ember watched her closely. She knew all too well how she was feeling seeing how she was in a similar position herself with school not getting her where she thought it would. She got lucky with how things turned out for her, but she also knew that not everypony else would fair as well.

“For what it’s worth, I kinda know how you feel” Ember said, looking down at her drink and swirling it around a little. “School wasn’t what I thought it would be for me either. I just got lucky with how the business took off like it did. If it hadn’t, I really don’t know what I would’ve done.” Apricot looked up at her with a small smile. “Lemme put it this way Apricot. If you need help finding a job when you finish school, you can work with me for a while to help get you started with some money. I know it’s not your target field, but money’s money.”

“Thank you Ember, I really appreciate that. It actually makes me feel a little more relaxed about it knowing I have somepony, er, griffin, to go to if I really get in a tight place” Apricot said, a genuinely relaxed smile forming on her face. Ember smiled back and took a sip of her drink.

Sunny was just sitting there, chin resting on his crossed hooves, watching the two with a huge grin on his face. Ember noticed. “What? Something amusing to you?” she asked the bemused stallion.

“Oh, nothing” he sing-songed. “I just love seeing two friends bonding. Even though you just met, I can tell you’ll get along just fine.” Apricot giggled a little and turned to face the crowd again while Ember rolled her eyes and did the same. A moment later, Scotch stormed over to the table, her coat covered in dirt and her eyes full of fire.

“Alright you damn featherbrain, I don’t know how the fuck you keep managing to dig these holes all over the place for me to fall into, but I’m fucking sick of this shit! I’m gonna kick your furry arse right here, right now!” she shouted, banging on the table. Ember looked at her with complete confusion.

“What the hell are you talking about you crazy bitch? I’ve been here this whole time. Ask these two” she said, gesturing to Apricot and Sunny who nodded, not sure if they should get involved or not.

“Bullshit. They probably cover for you while you went off and dug the hole. All this because that damn tire lit your lawn on fire” Scotch said, glaring at Ember.

“Yard on fire… What? Oh Celestia are you talking about that stupid failed experiment of yours like two years ago? You seriously think that I don’t have better things to do with my time than run around town, predicting where you’ll be, and somehow find enough time to get ahead of you to dig a fuckin hole so you’ll fall in? Ever think that you’re just an unlucky dumbass?” Ember said back, clearly thinking Scotch had finally lost her last shred of sanity.

“Once or twice would constitute luck, but this shit happens way too often and there’s only one pony, no, griffin, that would have it out for me” Scotch fired back.

“You’ve lost your damn mind, Ethyl” Ember said, knowing that that name hit a particular nerve with Scotch. The fire in Scotch’s eyes burned a bit brighter.

“The only thing here that sucks is that whore of a roommate of yours. Saw her sucking dicks all throughout this crowd tonight” Scotch sneered. The smirk on her face would make Discord proud.

At the mentioning of Blue, Ember immediately slammed her glass down on the table and got up, fully extended her wings, and gave Scotch a glare that would rival a cocatrice. “What the fuck did you just say? I’ll give you one chance to change what you just said before I beat the hell out of you right here, right now.” To emphasize her intent, Ember dragged her talons across the table surface, leaving deep gouges in the metal. Sunny and Apricot slowly started backing away while they still could.

“You heard what I said you egg laying wanker” Scotch jeered, slamming her forehooves on the table opposite Ember. They were inches from each other’s faces, waiting for the other to flinch or make the first move. Sunny thought about trying to say something but then saw one of the stage lights glint off of one of Embers talons and immediately retracted his thought. As much as he hated seeing ponies fight, this was out of his control. Apricot just stood there, partially frozen by fear.

“Hey guys! Come check this out! Melon got Apple to crowd surf and it’s freakin hilarious!” Blue said, bursting out of the crowd and immediately breaking the steely glares going between Ember and Scotch. “Come on, you’re gonna miss it!” Blue trotted up and started tugging on Embers leg, trying to get her to come along with her. Ember broke her staring contest, looked at Blue, and sighed.

“Alright, fine. For you, Blue…” Ember said with a hint of irritation. She’d much rather pummel Scotch into one of the holes she insisted she kept falling into, but Blue was her friend and she wanted to make her happy more than fight. Sunny and Apricot let out a collective sigh of relief and hurriedly followed after Blue, eager to get far away from the scene they just witnessed.

“You coming Scotch?” Apricot asked in a cautious tone. She didn’t want the rage-filled mare to turn on her next.

“No, just go do whatever. I’ll be at the bar again” Scotch said darkly, turning and heading for the bar once more.

“Ok… We’ll come get you when we’re ready to leave then I guess” Apricot said before turning and trotting after the others. Scotch just gave her a wave of the hoof; a ‘whatever’ gesture as she walked away. The anger from the fight hadn't dissipated yet, just got momentarily bumped to the side. She still wanted to beat the shit out of Ember, but even she knew those claws could do some serious damage; she wasn’t stupid. In actuality, she was pretty damn scared just then when they were face to face. Typically when they fought, there was a fence in between them, but here there was only air. No protection. Sure she had her horn but when it came to combat spells, well, she was pretty much at nil. The vast majority of unicorns only knew basic, useful spells like levitation and maybe some very basic teleportation, but combat spells weren’t readily taught unless you were in the Royal Guard or went out of your way to study them on your own. Scotch was in neither of those categories.

Still wanting to enact some type of revenge to prove that she won the fight, Scotch sat down heavily on the bar stool. The bartender gave her a look that said ‘you again?’ but the piercing glare he got in return flipped his attitude around rather abruptly. Scotch squinted her eyes, glaring hard at the bar top in front of her, tapping her hoof on it beside her. The gears in her head were spinning full speed as she tried to formulate a way to hurt Ember without so much risk of getting ripped to pony shreds. She slowly opened her eyes from her tight squint, an idea slowly populating in the back of her mind. She focused all she could on it, trying to bring it to the front and see what it was. Once all the pieces clicked into place, her eyes got wide before narrowing to slits once more, this time accompanied by the most evil, twisting grin that possibly ever formed on a mare's muzzle. She rubbed her hooves together in excited anticipation for how she would go about her revenge. The best part was, it didn’t involve Ember directly, but Blue would be destroyed.

~~~

“Oh for the love of Celestia put me down already!” Apple yelled at the ponies bumping him around over their heads like he was some kind of watermelon-colored beach ball. Melon stood to the side, a huge smirk on her face as she thoroughly enjoyed the sight before her. A moment later, Blue arrived with the others in tow and immediately burst out laughing again at the sight of the floundering Apple. Sunny and Apricot joined her while Ember, still a bit sour from the confrontation that just occurred, stood with a flat look on her face before even she couldn’t resist laughing at the sight. Apple noticed them standing there and glared once he realized they were not there to offer assistance.

“Et tu, Sunny?” Apple said to the laughing stallion as he continued to be bounced around above. “I’d certainly expect this from the others but I thought you were above that.”

Sunny qualmed his laughter for a moment and regained his composure. “Hey from down here it’s pretty damn funny. You of all ponies too.” Apple gave him a flat stare in return. “Fine, fine, we’ll get you down. Would you mind, Ember?” Ember rolled her eyes, a grin still on her beak as she spread her wings wide and with two good flaps, was hovering above the bobbing Apple. Rather than just pluck him up though, she just stayed there with a smirk.

“Oh I see how it is. Just gonna let me float around the whole damn concert and enjoy this beautiful view of the night sky are we?” Apple said, clearly getting irritated.

“Oh shut up ya big baby,” Ember said as she reached down and grabbed his forelegs in her claws, lifting him up before lowering him back to his hooves. She chose to stay hovering above the group for now.

Apple took a moment to brush over his coat, pulling several pieces of food from his mane and tail with a disgusted look. “I have never wanted a shower more than right this very moment,” he shuddered. “Hooves went… places…” Melon, Blue, and Apricot burst out laughing again while Ember and Sunny rolled their eyes. “I’m serious! The violation was very much real and I do not appreciate such things!” Apple exclaimed. This only made them laugh more so he simply threw his hooves up in exasperation. After looking around at those present, Apple noticed one missing. “Hey, where’s Scotch at?” The question got Apricot and Sunny’s attention rather quickly.

“She’s at the bar, we’re gonna get her before we leave later,” Apricot replied quickly. She saw Ember glare off in the direction of the bar and hoped she wouldn’t fly over there and start shit, but she remained hovering where she was. The fact that Ember could kick some serious ass but also had that level of control over it made Apricot even more anxious to get to know her more. With Ember hovering above them, Apricot tilted her head a little, trying to sneak a peek at Ember’s flank, but she rapidly averted her stare when Ember suddenly turned back around and came down to land.

“Looks like there’s some commotion going on over by the house. Wonder what happened,” Ember said, gesturing towards the house with a wingtip.

“Maybe somepony else tried to show their devotion to Octavia by trying to take her leg hostage,” Melon snickered. Blue turned red in the face and turned her head the other direction, finding something particularly interesting on the ground beside her.

“Ooo I wanna see that!” Apricot said as she started trotting towards the house. “Come on guys, maybe Octavia will smack somepony with her cello!”

“I highly doubt that,” Sunny said reasonably.

“I can hope can’t I?” Apricot retorted. Sunny gave her a small smile as he followed after her. Ember took to the skies again rather than pushing through the crowd of ponies and getting her feathers all ruffled. Scotch did that enough earlier. The closer they got to the house, the more yelling could be heard and the more dense the crowd got. It became near impossible to get any closer at a certain point so they stopped where they were and Ember flew ahead to see what was going on. She returned a minute later with a grin.

“Ohoho you’ll never guess who’s fighting up there,” she chuckled.

“Who? Who? Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!” Blue bounced up and down. Ember grabbed her and held her still until she stopped hopping.

“I don’t know who the hell gave you caffiene but I already hate them. Anyways, it’s Octavia and Vinyl.” The other ponies looked at her with confused looks. “Hello? DJ Pon3? The mare that was on the stage the whole night? That’s Vinyl.” A moment of realization came over the group as they turned and saw that the space behind the DJ booth was vacant even though the music continued to play. “You ponies really need to listen to some new music…” Ember muttered.

“What are they fighting about though?” Apple asked.

“Best I can gather, a pony from the party out here, or rather a very drunk pony from the party out here, stumbled into the house, somehow made their way on the stage, and then began making out with Octavia's cello while she was still playing it,” Ember said. It sounded too funny to be true to her too and her friends didn’t buy it either apparently, judging by the stares they were giving her. “Hey, don’t believe me? Push to the front and hear for yourself.”

“That couldn’t have happened. There’s just no way in hell something that funny could actually happen,” Melon said as she looked towards where the two ponies were facing each other, yelling various obscenities she was sure.

“Like I said, go hear for yourself,” Ember said, gesturing with her head for them to push towards the center of the circle of ponies. Sunny and Apple took lead and started funneling a path through the wall of ponies with Blue, Apricot, and Melon following. After about a minute of pushing, and a few winks from a few ponies when Apple pushed somewhere he shouldn’t have, they reached the front of the crowd just in time to catch some of the shouting.

“... told you this would happen Vinyl! I said it explicitly last month when we were planning this whole thing that there was no way that this ridiculous mob you call a fanbase wouldn’t somehow interfere with my soiree. Well look what happened. One of the drunk neanderthals interfered, and violated my cello nonetheless!” Octavia shouted at Vinyl, who just stood there with her purple glasses still on.

“Oh yeah? Well maybe your party was just so damn boring that one of my fans felt generous and wanted to spread some of the awesomeness we’re having out here to your stupid high society asswipes in there,” Vinyl shot back. Octavia gasped and put a hoof to her chest in response to the harsh comment.

“The refuse you have the audacity to call music is nothing more than reprocessed voltaic auditory disorganization,” Octavia replied, brushing her mane out of her face and tipping her muzzle upwards.

“I don’t know what half that shit even meant but I doubt it was a compliment coming from you. Look, why don’t you just go back inside and pluck your little strings or whatever it is you do on that oversized violin,” Vinyl said.

“It’s a cello, Vinyl. And I would, but I can’t bear to even touch it at the moment because your drunken buffoon made the side all sticky with Celestia knows what. You’re paying to have it refurbished I hope you know.”

“Like hell I am Treble Flanks. How about you say you’re sorry for causing a scene at my kick-ass concert and I won’t take the noise cancelling spell off the house.”

Octavia glared at Vinyl. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Oh I dare, just like I dared you to do that thing with the whipped cream last Tuesday. You didn’t mind touching sticky things then,” Vinyl grinned. Some witnesses said you could see smoke slowly curling out of Octavia’s ears after that remark. A collective ‘ooooooo’ passed through the surrounding crowd.

“I swear to Celestia Vinyl, I will end you,” Octavia growled, lowering her head as if she was about to charge Vinyl like a raging bull.

“Pssh, what ya gonna do? Classical me to death?” Vinyl snickered. Before she was even done laughing, Octavia had snatched the purple glasses off of Vinyl’s face and in what seemed like a moment of slow motion, threw them to the ground, causing one of the lenses to shatter. A collective gasp rippled through the crowd before all became deathly still and silent; all eyes on the two ponies facing each other. Vinyl’s mouth hung agape and Octavia wore a look that said ‘oh I went there’. The surrounding ponies slowly started backing away, knowing that nothing good was about to happen. “Alrighty, I’m smashing the cello” Vinyl said casually as she turned and trotted towards the house. Octavia stood there a moment, processing what she just said before bolting after her into the house. All the music had stopped playing now since Vinyl had dropped her spells on both the house and the DJ booth to focus on Octavia. Pretty much the whole crowd had turned to watch the spectacle unfold between the two musicians.

Loud shouts and the sound of various things being broken could be heard from within. Occasionally a piece of furniture or musical instrument or speaker would be ejected out a window, followed by more shouting. All the high society ponies stood outside the house, clearly uneasy as the large crowd of Vinyl’s fans stared at them with weird looks. They slowly started making their way to their carriages parked along the side of the road, eager to get away from this volatile environment. The racket emanating from the house continued on, showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. It was becoming clear that the concert was over so ponies began to disperse, most in an awkward fashion seeing how this wasn’t normally how a concert ended. Ember, Blue, Apricot, Sunny, Apple, and Melon were left standing there, staring at each other for a few moments while they processed what they just saw happen.

“Well then, I guess the party’s over,” Apple said, running a hoof through his mane and looking around.

“I’d say so, yes,” Sunny agreed.

“Well that blows. What are we gonna do now? It’s not even that late yet,” Blue pointed out. “I’m not even close to tired.”

“Why don’t we go hang at the bar for a while? You know, just hang out and talk bout stuff,” Apricot suggested. The rest of the group nodded in agreement on the idea. “Ok then, I’ll go get Scotch.” Ember immediately ruffled her wings in clear irritation of that part; her face quickly turning into a sharp glare. Sunny took a tentative step back along with the others. They all trusted Ember, but damn if razor sharp talons didn’t put a pony on edge.

“Look, I know you two kinda had it out back there, but you don’t have to talk to each other there ok? We’re just gonna hang out, have some food and drinks, and chat,” Apricot said as she came up next to Ember and gently put a hoof on her side. Ember didn’t look at her, but stayed facing forward and let out a low growl.

“If she makes another comment like that about Blue, or even you for that matter, I’m gonna turn her into pony jerky,” Ember snarled. “If she decides to be civil, then so will I.”

“All I ask is that you try, Ember,” Apricot said, gently tapping her until she retracted her wings and her glare lessened. “I’ll go get her, you guys go on ahead and we’ll meet you there.” The group turned and started walking towards town while Apricot went and fetched Scotch from the bar, only to go to another bar. While they all walked, each pony seemed to be planning their escape route for if things really came to blows at the bar. Naturally they all hoped it wouldn’t, but it couldn’t hurt to be prepared.

~~~

It seemed that a lot of ponies from the party had the same idea. The bar was rather crowded; much more so than a regular late night crowd. Berry Punch was behind the bar as per usual, flinging drinks in her impressive fashion while a few waiters and waitresses buzzed around the room serving the influx of guests. The constant murmuring of conversation could be heard throughout the space and proved effective in creating a warm, inviting atmosphere to anypony coming in from the cold. They all took turns scanning the room for an open table.

“Excuse me but are there any-” Apple started to say to a passing waitress as she zipped by with a tray stacked high with mugs of cider. “Pardon me but is there an open-”. He began to get flustered at their ignorance of him. Ember looked at him with a grin and nudged him in the side.

“You’re going about it all wrong,” Ember said as she spread her wings and began looking for the next waiter to come their way. Once she saw one hurriedly cleaning a table before trotting towards the other side of the room, she pushed off the ground and landed heavily right in his path, causing him to skid to a halt in front of her. “We’d like a table, please. Now.” The waiter looked at her rigid stare and the not-too-pleased look on her face before looking down at her talon tapping on the stone floor in an impatient manner. He gulped once before sheepishly nodding and started trotting towards a semi-round corner booth. Ember turned towards the group with a smirk. Blue was laughing while Melon and Sunny were snickering to themselves behind their hoof; Apple just stood there with a look of shock.

“How could you be so rude to him? He didn’t do anything to you,” Apple said in a surprised tone.

“What? I said please,” Ember shrugged as she began walking after the waiter. “Besides, we’d be here all night if we had to wait for you to assert yourself.”

“Yes, well, I still don’t approve of your forceful methods,” Apple remarked as he followed after her. Ember just rolled her eyes. The waiter waited for all of them to be seated before asking if they’d like anything to drink.

“I’ll have a rum and coke,” Sunny said as he began to peruse the menu.

“I’ll have a Gin Sour,” Melon said. “And a plate of potato skins please.”

“Oh dear, umm, hmm…” Apple said as he looked over the drink menu. It might as well have been written in Dragon glyphs.

“Just bring him a gin and tonic,” Sunny said to the waiter before looking over to Apple. “Trust me, you’ll like it. It’s not too strong at all.”
Apple nodded and continued looking at the menu intently, determined to decipher the code that was alcoholic drink names.

“I’ll take a Long Island Iced Tea,” Ember said. “And an order of the cheese sticks.”

“I’ll have an Orgasm!” Blue said loudly. Everypony at the table immediately facehoofed. “What? Haven’t you had one before? They’re awesome!” Ember leaned over and put a claw over Blue’s muzzle.

“I think you had plenty to drink at the party there, Blue. Bring her an Arnold Palmare and a tall glass of water,” Ember said to the waiter who still had a confused look on his face but nodded anyway.

“Oh, we’re still waiting on two more by the way,” Melon said to the waiter. “Just go ahead and put our orders in and by the time you get back they should be here.” The waiter nodded and gave them a polite smile before trotting off towards the bar.

“Well he sure is a quiet one isn’t he,” Melon remarked.

“Being threatened into serving us might do that to a pony,” Apple commented as he looked at Ember with a flat look. Ember just smiled and shrugged.

“Hey, I don’t have time to stand around and wait for ponies to decide to do what I want or need them to do all the time. You think I’d have a successful company if I let an employee do that? Of course not. I only do it when necessary, not all the time,” Ember said to Apple. Apple looked like he was going to say something else but the look she gave him said she was starting to become irritated and he didn’t want a repeat of that so he just dropped it.

Melon kept scanning the room for some sign of Apricot and Scotch, but they still didn’t seem to be there yet. “You think they’re ok? I figured they’d be right behind us,” Melon wondered.

“Maybe they fell in one of those imaginary holes she’s always talking about,” Ember snickered.

“Unlikely,” Sunny said. “They probably just got caught in the crowd leaving. There were a lot of ponies there afterall.” No sooner did Sunny finish his sentence did the two ponies in question come through the door. “Ah, see?”

“Apricot! Scotch! Over here!” Blue shouted over the crowd, and right into Ember’s ear. It was at that very moment Ember regretted releasing Blue’s muzzle from her grasp. Apricot spotted Blue waving at them and smiled before nudging Scotch and they began making their way over to them. As soon as they reached the table, the waiter returned with their drinks and appetizers.

“Huh, what perfect timing,” Melon commented. “These are the two we were waiting on,” she said to the waiter. “What’ll you guys have to drink?”

“Ugh, just gimme a Zombie and a Painkiller,” Scotch said, receiving very odd looks from the group, including the waiter. “What? It’s what you drink if you wanna forget the last 24 hours.”

“Why would you want to forget tha-” Apple began before Melon put a hoof over his mouth. “Ah, well then, anyways...”

Apricot looked around the table at all the different drinks the others ordered before pointing to the tall glass in front of Ember. “I’ll have that. Whatever that is,” she said with a smile. Ember raised a brow at her.

“You want it, but don’t even know what it is?” Ember questioned her.

“Eh, sometimes I like the unknown, what can I say?” Apricot said, still with a big smile on her face. Ember kept her brow raised.

“I’ll be right back with those and then I’ll take your food order,” the waiter said before trotting off towards the bar again. The group picked up their menu’s and began looking for what they might want. Seeing that Ember and Scotch were seated across from each other, it was clear to everypony else that they were exchanging ‘shooty looks’ at each other over the tops of their menu’s. Apricot nudged Ember in the side, getting her attention.

“Remember, you promised,” Apricot said in a hushed tone to her.

“I know, I know. I’m not doing anything, just making sure she knows I’m watching her,” Ember replied. Apricot gave her a look that clearly said she didn’t believe a single word of that. “Look, I said I wouldn’t start shit, and I meant it. Ok?” Apricot gave her a small smile and turned back to her menu. Scotch rolled her eyes and continued to look over her menu. Those with very acute hearing might have heard her utter ‘whipped’ under her breath.

The waiter returned a moment later with the additional drinks. Scotch immediately dove right into hers, not even giving the condensation on the side of the glass time to roll down. Apricot gingerly took a few sips from hers while Ember smirked at her. She coughed once or twice but smiled and continued drinking. They all put their food orders in and the waiter took their menu’s, leaving the table clear except for the small lantern flickering in the center, casting streams of light across its surface. The silence lasted for a good two minutes before Sunny coughed to break it up.

“So… What’s everypony doing this week?” he asked, clearly fishing for anything at all to get some form of dialogue going.

“Got a few tests this week, and a report I really don’t feel like finishing, but that’s nothing new,” Melon said, absentmindedly stirring the ice cubes around in her drink with the straw.

Apricot sighed. “Yeah, me too… I can’t wait to be done with this crap. It’s so damn boring. I just wanna get out and start my career already.”

“It’s only the beginning…” Ember said in a tired tone.

Apricot gave her a small smile. “What do you mean by that?”

Ember took a drink from her glass before answering. “You go to school because that’s what they say you should do. You take the classes that they say you need to take to get the degree you wanna get. You spend thousands and thousands of bits to do everything they say you need to do, but when you graduate, you see that what they told you to do isn’t what’s gonna get you a paycheck. All the classes and crap you spent hours studying doesn’t mean shit in the real world all the time. It simply comes down to common sense and a strong sense of independence and responsibility. That’s the only thing that’ll give you a fighting chance to survive in this damn world.” She sat there looking into her glass, a look in her eyes showing she was deep in thought; a pensive frown on her beak. The whole table was silent, not sure what exactly would be an appropriate response.

“Come on Ember, it can’t be that bad,” Melon said with a slight chuckle. Ember looked at her with a glare.

“Have you ever lived by yourself?” Ember asked her. Melon shook her head ‘no’. “Then you don’t have the experience to talk then, do you? Come talk to me when you know the feeling of coming home to a dark house every single night of the week after working the whole damn day. Talk to me when you know the feeling that no one will be there to greet you or help you relax or tell you shit will get better. Talk to me when you know how it feels to dread getting up in the damn morning because you hate what your life has turned into and you don’t have a way to change it. You think school is bad? Well I got news for you, real life sucks a thousand times worse.” She stood up and began walking towards the restrooms, a very dark aura surrounding her now. Melon shrunk back in her seat with a somewhat ashamed look on her face.

“I didn’t mean for that to happen…” she said quietly.

“We know,” Blue said in an understanding tone. “You see, all she said was true though. She was extremely miserable before I moved in with her. Even for a while after I moved in she would be just plain horrid to deal with in the mornings; always angry and glaring at stuff. But as the weeks went by, she started opening up more and calming down and before you know it, she was actually coming home from work with a smile on her face. She never directly told me why, but I kinda put the pieces together on my own of course. To put it plainly, she was horribly lonely.” Blue looked at her drink as she said that last part, not wanting to look up just yet. The striking silence fell over the table once again.

“Maybe we should talk to her. You know, show her that we’re here for her now,” Apricot suggested.

“She’ll come around. It might take a little bit of time, but she will. I don’t know if she really considers you guys ‘friends’ yet so it might be a little harder until then, but we’ll get there,” Blue said, looking in the direction Ember walked off in.

“I hope so… I feel so bad for her,” Apricot said sadly.

“Yeah, me too. I didn’t know it was that bad before,” Sunny added.

“At least I’m not the only one who’s familiar with depression and shit at home,” Apple remarked. “We can at least brood on that together.”

Sunny gave him a flat look. “Brooding isn’t the way to fix that you know. The only way is to get out and spend time with ponies, just like we’re doing right now,” he said as he gestured to the others sitting around the table. Apricot, Blue, and Melon smiled at him while Scotch was sitting there, seemingly in her own world of thought. Sunny nudged her in the side. “Right?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah, friendship and magic and all that, sure,” she said.

“Why you always gotta be a bitch, Scotch?” Blue blatantly asked. “I mean, come on, I know your life can’t be much better. You’ve been in school for how long now and still haven’t graduated?”

Scotch fixed her with a stern glare but saw Apricot looking at her in the corner of her eye. She let out a big sigh and looked towards the table. “Look, I know I can be a real pain in the arse to be around. Believe me, I know. I don’t mean to be such a bitch all the time, really. It’s more or less a defense mechanism I’ve developed over the years from not being very socially adept in school, or anywhere else really for that matter. I’m not used to the concept of ‘friends’ really so this whole thing is gonna take a lot of getting used to for me.”

“So long as you’re willing to put this shit between you and Ember to bed, then I think we’ll all be able to get along,” Blue said.

“I agree, all this fighting between you two isn’t getting anything accomplished,” Sunny said. “I mean, really, what do you expect to accomplish from it anyways?”

“She just pisses me off to no end and I can’t stand it,” Scotch said as she threw her hooves down on the table. “I don’t know why. Maybe because she seems to have her life together, which is way more than I can say for myself. It’s like she said, I’ve been in school for how long now and it still feels like I’m treading water.”

“Well if that’s the case, why don’t you switch your major?” Sunny asked.

“I’ve done that like three times already. I can’t do it any more without starting completely over since credits can only be transferred a certain number of times,” Scotch said in an exasperated manner, plopping her head down on the table with a ‘thud’. “I just wish I could switch lives with Ember or some shit. Just see what it’s like to even be remotely successful in something.”

“It’s not all sunshine and glitter, you know,” Blue replied. “There’s a lot of stress and other shit you don’t even realize that goes along with that.”

“Yeah, but still, I just want some kinda feeling that I’m doing the right thing in school at least,” Scotch said, lifting her head just in time to notice Ember walking back towards the table. “Shit… Don’t say anything to her, ok?” The others nodded. Ember came back to her seat and sat down without saying a word or looking at anyone. Melon coughed and took a drink.

“Sorry about that. I just kinda lost my cool for a moment,” Ember said as she finished off her drink. Apricot looked at her own drink, having only taken two tiny sips out of it thus far and mentally slapped herself for not being able to keep up with Ember. ‘You’ll never get her attention at this rate’ she said to herself. Ember glanced at her and she just gave her a polite smile in return. ‘Smooth, Apricot, real smooth…’

“It’s fine. It’s good to just let it out every so often,” Sunny said. “If nothing else, you distracted us from how long the food is taking,” he chuckled. As if the waiter was around the corner just waiting for them to mention something about the time, he trotted up carrying a large tray filled with all of their orders. Blue’s eyes got real wide and she began to salivate as the waiter set the plate down in front of her. Before it even fully left his hoof, Blue was devouring the food like it was going bad by the second. He gave her an odd look and continued to pass out the dishes. Ember gave the waiter a look that said ‘I’m sorry, we really should have her trained better’. He smiled as he continued around the table. Once everyone had their meals, he made his way to the other tables nearby.

Ember slapped Blue upside the head with a wing. “Da hell’s the matter with you? We’re in public.”

“Buh I’m hungwy,” Blue said in a muffled tone through a mouthful of food. Ember gave her another flick to the head with her wingtip. “Ah stop it, fine, geeze...” Blue slowed down her ravenous pace while the others around the table snickered to themselves.

Scotch stared intently at Ember from across the table, slowly chewing her food. She knew she said she’d try to make amends with her to the others, but there was still this boiling animosity within her towards the griffin. The way Scotch saw it, Ember had everything that she wanted herself; a house, a job, money, and most importantly, a friend. Why didn’t she get to have any of those things? Why was she stuck in school with no clear goal in sight? Didn’t she deserve to be happy too? The eventual conclusion she arrived at was no, she didn’t deserve happiness. If she did, surely her life wouldn’t be this pathetic and hollow feeling. Shooting imaginary daggers at the griffin sitting across from her, who was just sitting there eating and chatting with Apricot about whatever, Scotch deemed that if she herself couldn’t have those things, then she’d do whatever she could to take them away from Ember. Obviously she couldn’t steal her house or job, but what she could do was drive a deep wedge between her and Blue by going through with her plan she formulated back at the concert. And so the evil grin returned as the ponies around her went about their conversations, blissfully unaware.

~~~

Roughly an hour passed and the conversation amongst the group flowed from the upcoming weather schedule to how high Ember had ever flown to the rumor that the weather mare Rainbow Dash tasted like Skittles. Apricot insisted that the last one was true but the consensus of the group was that she was full of it. Apricot simply crossed her forehooves and stuck her tongue out at them. Ember had ordered several more orders of cheese sticks and received several odd looks from the others in response to the speed in which she devoured them. She certainly didn’t let that deter her from enjoying every one of them though.

Throughout the night, Melon and Apricot continued to silently communicate through looks across the table at each other. They each knew the other had their eyes on a prize and it was up to the other to help make it happen for the other; mutual crush assistance, you might say. Melon looked at Apricot, then subtly flicked her head towards Apple. Apricot, in response, wiggled her brow a few times to encourage Melon to make a move. Melon grinned and turned a light shade of red as she averted her gaze to appear inconspicuous while planning her next move.

Apple was seated directly across the table from Melon and was discussing something about foreign politics and history or something with Sunny. Melon lost interest the moment she heard the words agrarian socialist and some other terms she couldn't dream of knowing the meaning of. But she didn’t care about that. All she wanted was to get a bite of that apple. She subconsciously licked her lips as her mind wandered into steamy territory as she thought of the things she’d do to him when she finally got him alone. But, before any sexy fun times could be had, she had to get his attention and have him even notice her.

Slowly, she extended her hoof under the table, guiding it in the direction of Apple. When she felt contact with something, she began to slowly move up and down along the side of it; a sultry look now on her face. Melon was focusing on Apple, expecting him to perk up and look her direction in response to her touch, but he continued on with his conversation with Sunny as if nothing happened. A puzzled look came over Melons face as she moved her rear hoof further down the object she was rubbing and felt the curve of a paw. Immediately her pupils contracted and a huge wave of realization swept over her. She slowly turned her head to look at Ember, feeling her eyes drilling into her. Ember sat there, arms folded on the table, glaring at her; a single talon tapping on the table. Melon gave her the best ‘oopsie’ smile she could and let out a nervous chuckle as she hurriedly pulled her hoof back towards her seat. Once Ember turned back towards Blue, Melon looked at Apricot, who was simply shaking her head in a pitying manner.

Rather than try something like that again and risk getting clawed to death, Melon formulated a new plan. She sat and waited patiently for a lull in Apple’s conversation with Sunny where she could interject. Soon enough she saw her window and went for it.

“... and that’s how Equestria was made,” Sunny said with a smile as Apple stared at him in a confused manner.

“I surely don’t remember reading about it that way,” Apple replied.

“Well, you can’t believe everything you read now can you,” Sunny said.

“Nope, sure can’t,” Melon interjected. “Say, Apple, I was wondering something. How many mares have you dated?” The question clearly made Apple uncomfortable as he shifted in his seat a bit.

“Um, well, none actually,” he replied sheepishly. “I was never much of the social butterfly as you can imagine so I never really managed to muster up the courage to ask a mare out. I spent most of my free time reading and playing online games with some friends.”

“Female friends?” Melon asked, already knowing the answer.

“Heh, no. Mares usually don’t enjoy the role playing games me and my friends played. It mostly involved re-enacting historical events and political factions, stuff like that,” Apple replied.

“Have you ever wanted to play some games with a mare?” Melon asked, putting a slight inflection on ‘games’. She noticed Apricot roll her eyes.

“Computer or board games? It seems mares aren’t too interested in the kinds of computer games I’m into but I also enjoy board games. Twister was one of my favorites when I was a younger colt,” Apple said, a thoughtful look coming over him as he remembered some better times.

“Oh I could certainly get into that,” Melon said in a slightly suggestive tone. “Maybe we could play it sometime. You know, have some fun.”

“Sure! I can ask Pippin if he’d like to play too. He’s amazing at it,” Apple said with a smile. Melons face dropped as she quickly realized she was getting nowhere this way. She’d have to find a more direct approach, but not with everypony else there.

“Yeah… uh, sounds great,” Melon said, trying to hide her disappointment behind a forced smile. Apple smiled back and turned back to Sunny to resume their conversation. Melon looked at Apricot for some sign of what she should do next but Apricot just shrugged. Neither of them had experience dealing with a stallion that didn’t pick up on their subtle advances immediately so this was new to them. She may have been momentarily stumped, but she wasn’t giving up that easily. She just needed some more time to figure out what might get her noticed by Apple.

While Melon may have been temporarily out of the game, Apricot still wanted to try her luck at getting noticed by Ember. She sat there staring at the griffin sitting next to her, letting her mind fill with the thoughts of what it would be like to be taken for a flight. Ember’s wings were larger than pegasi wings so she assumed that meant she could fly faster, possibly for longer distances too. Her eyes shifted to the primary feathers and their incredible blend of fiery orange and yellows. It made her look like she was flying fast just sitting still. Ember reached over and grabbed her drink with a claw which brought to Apricot’s mind the fact that she could actually grasp things with her claws, something Apricot would like to be able to do. Magic was great and all, but even so, it looked like claws would be even more convenient. But that was a dream that would go nowhere so no point in dwelling on it.

As Apricot was pondering the utilitarian uses of claws, her eyes absentmindedly drifted towards Ember’s backside. She found it curious that only ponies seemed to get cutie marks and made a mental note to ask Ember about it someday. Did griffins have some other way of determining their destiny? Was it up to them to find it out for themselves by other means? Or did they just do what they wanted, not letting a magically-appearing butt tattoo influence who they became? Apricot was rather partial to the last one, but never knew a griffin that she could ask. So many questions filled her mind…

“Enjoying the view?” Ember asked, causing Apricot to jump back to the realization that she was staring at Embers backside with wide eyes. She immediately turned a shade of red that could rival Ember’s feathers and averted her gaze.

“Oh, uh, well, yes! I mean no! No, yes! Aw fuck me…” Apricot stammered out. Blue snickered behind a hoof while Ember continued looking at her with a raised brow and a curious expression. This was going worse than what just happened for Melon. “I, uh, was just thinking about some stuff, that’s all.”

“Did that stuff involve her ass?” Blue laughed. Apricot turned red again and sheepishly looked down.

“Maybe…” she mumbled. Blue stopped laughing and looked at her surprised, not actually expecting her guess to be accurate. Ember wore a similar surprised look on her face.

“Wait, what?” Ember asked in a puzzled tone. “Apricot, what’s going on here? Don’t think I haven’t seen you looking at me all night. I’m not oblivious to things like Apple over there.” Apple, Sunny, and Scotch were in a deep conversation about a Trixie-centric government and the implications it would have on the rest of the world, so this remark passed by completely unnoticed. “See?”

“Sorry, I’ve just never been this close to a griffin before. I mean, sure I’ve read about them and all, but to see one up close is still really cool,” Apricot replied. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or anything of course.”

“I get that a lot so it’s cool,” Ember said. “It’s not unusual for ponies to have a whole bunch of questions about us seeing how most of the stuff they hear about us isn’t accurate.”

“Like what?” Apricot asked.

“Like the fact that we’re all dicks. We’re not. We just have a tougher way of handling things than you ponies do. Someone pisses me off, they’re gonna know about it,” Ember said, turning a claw around in front of her, inspecting its sharpness. Apricot gulped.

“Heh, good to know,” Apricot said in a nervous tone. Ember put her claw down and looked at her.

“Look, relax Apricot. You seem pretty cool to me so I’m not gonna just up and slice you if that’s what you’re thinking.” Apricot gave her a sheepish smile at the insinuation that she’d expect Ember to hurt her, even if it was a tiny, tiny percentage true.

“I know you won’t, and my staring isn’t all out of fear. I was hoping to have the chance to get to know you better too. You seem knowledgeable about a lot of life stuff and I’ve been thinking about a lot of that lately with school starting to wrap up and all.”

“Always happy to offer some advice,” Ember smiled. Apricot relaxed some more.

“Awesome, thanks. Maybe we could get together sometime next weekend and talk about it?” Apricot held her breath waiting for the inevitable turn-down. Was she overstepping her boundaries; assuming she and Blue weren’t together? They were living together afterall. But that didn’t necessarily mean they were anything more than really good friends. Waiting for Ember’s reply felt like an eternity.

“Yeah that could work,” Ember replied. Apricot immediately perked up and her eyes brightened. “You can come by my place and Blue can cook up something.” And just like that Apricot was deflated. She was hoping it would be just she and Ember alone, but she would have to make the best out of the situation she was presented.

“Sounds awesome,” Apricot said, forcing a bit more enthusiasm than she was currently feeling. “How’s Saturday night work for you?”

“Fine with me. I’m usually home by 4 so how about you stop over around 5. Blue, that ok with you?” Ember asked, turning to Blue who was staring at Berry Punch behind the bar with a distant look in her eyes. “Yo, Coffee Flaks, snap outta it!” Ember said, snapping her talons in front of Blue’s face a few times to bring her back to reality.

“Huh? Yeah, sure, three-way, fine,” Blue absentmindedly said, resuming her stare at Berry. Ember rolled her eyes and turned back to Apricot.

“Saturday night it is then,” she said. Apricot smiled and took a sip off her drink as she looked across the table at Melon, who was grinning at her and wiggling her brow. Apricot gave her a questioning look and Melon picked up two forks from the table and began to interlock their prongs back and forth while continuing to wiggle her brow at her. Apricot stared at the forks for a moment before she realized what Melon was implying and proceeded to turn a deep red again before shaking her head ‘no’ and sticking her tongue out at Melon. Melon just smirked and rolled her eyes, putting the forks down.

“And that’s why I only take fresh muffins to the park now,” Sunny said, concluding his conversation with Apple.

Apple chuckled. “Hehe, I can definitely see why now. I’ll be sure to keep that in mind when I next go.”

“What’s all this about muffins and the park?” Apricot asked with a look on her face that told Sunny and Apple that she was completely lost.

Sunny smiled and chuckled a little. “I’ll tell you the story another time. It’s getting really late and I gotta be at the shop early to open up, so I think I’ll be headed out now. You and Melon wanna tag along since it’s on the way to the dorms?”

“Sure. Yeah, it is pretty late huh,” Melon replied, looking around at the much lighter crowd surrounding them. There were only a few tables of ponies left and they all looked like they were about ready to leave as well.

“I better be headed home too. Pippin tends to pass out in the hallway with our door open and I don’t want somepony to just walk in and take something,” Apple said as he got up along with Sunny. “You guys leaving too?” he asked Scotch, Ember, and Blue.

“Not yet, I just got this new drink and haven’t finished it yet,” Scotch said, gesturing to her mostly-filled glass.

“I’m gonna finish these cheese sticks and my drink before I go too,” Ember said. “These things are way too damn good to waste even a crumb.”

“I’m just gonna hang here til she’s ready to leave,” Blue said, gesturing towards Ember. “I mean, we’re headed to the same place afterall.”

“You sure you three will be alright alone?” Melon asked in a slightly skeptical tone.

“Yeah, yeah, the worst has blown over, right Ember?” Scotch said in the most convincing tone she could so as to not raise suspicions about her plan. Ember sipped her drink and nodded. She was too tired to bother fighting anymore. At least not tonight anyway.

“Alrighty then. Well, this was a lot of fun! We certainly need to do it again sometime soon,” Apple said in a cheery tone. It was clear the socially-sheltered stallion finally managed to relax and enjoy himself for a change.

“Yeah I agree,” Melon said. Sunny and Apricot nodded. They all waved bye as they walked towards the door and eventually outside and down the street out of sight. And then there were three…

Several minutes passed of everypony just staring at each other, no real conversation forming. Blue took the initiative and decided to talk about some of the writing she was currently working on.

“Hey, have I told you about the latest piece I’m doing? It’s about Equestria, but it’s set in this alternate reality where nuclear war has fucked everything up super bad! It’s so awesome!” Blue exclaimed. Ember rolled her eyes having heard this exact same story about ten times prior to this. Scotch wore the most uninterested look on her face as she kept working on her drink. Neither of these reactions deterred Blue in the slightest and she continued right along. “So there’s these big underground things called Stables, and they like, save the ponies and stuff. But before I get into all that, lemme tell you about PipBucks…”

~~~

Explicit part begins here:

Scotch looked around. With Blue and Ember leaving, it was time for her to enact her plan. She was now the last pony in the bar, save for Berry Punch herself. Berry was starting to clean the bar counter. She slowly moved her hooves, wiping a dirty towel back and forth over the bar. Her mane flipped back and forth with every move and at this late hour, at this level of sleep deprivation, and with that small amount of alcohol she did drink, it seemed tantalising to Scotch. Almost in slow motion, she saw Berry’s purple mane swing around her head. Some dirty thoughts started to populate in the back of Scotch’s mind. She wanted her.

And after all, why not? Like Sunny said, Scotch could use a pick-me-up. At least she told herself that was the reason. The real reason was to piss off Blue, who Scotch could see outside of the window talking to Ember. But she’d rather keep that reason to herself.

Other senses taking over, she stood up. As she walked in front of the bar, she looked at Berry through half-lidded eyes, causing Berry to look at Scotch, confused for a second. Scotch slowly walked around the counter, making her way towards Berry behind the bar.

“Uh, can I help you?” Berry asked.

“I dunno, can you?” Scotch replied in a sultry tone, winking at Berry.

“Well the bar’s closed if you haven’t noticed. Can’t give you anything else tonight” Berry said, gesturing to the empty tables all over the room.

“Oh I’m not interested in the booze. I’m in the mood for some… Punch” Scotch cooed as she peered out the corner of her eye to see if Blue or Ember had noticed yet. The two were still talking outside the window but weren’t looking inside. Have to get their attention. Thinking quickly, Scotch swept her foreleg across the bartop, knocking an empty bottle off and onto the ground, causing it to bounce and then shatter. This got Blue and Ember to turn her way. Now was her chance. Skipping all the romance, Scotch swung her foreleg over Berry’s neck and pulled her into a deep kiss, making sure she had a direct view of the window and Blues face. Seeing Blue looking at them, mouth agape, Scotch went all for it and gave Berry the best mouth fucking she could. After a few moments, they pulled away to pant.

“Oh… so that’s what you meant by Punch… You know what, I think I can open the bar for a few more drinks” Berry said, reaching behind herself to the bottles on the shelf and pulling a few down from the second from the top row. “You wanna do this or what?”

Scotch blinked for a second, not completely believing that this was actually going how she planned. She heard that Berry could get wild after closing, but didn’t think it would be this easy. Remembering that Blue was still staring at them, she had to act fast and do something to keep their attention. “You bet your juicy arse I do.” Scotch grabbed one of the bottles from Berry and took a big swig from it, glancing at Blue while doing so. ‘Oh this is going to destroy her’ Scotch thought to herself, a grin forming on her muzzle.

Berry was apparently growing impatient. Grabbing Scotch, she rolled her onto the bar and locked her mouth onto hers once more. Scotch was taken by surprise at being flipped onto the bar but went along with it, trying to plan ahead. Keeping up with Berry was proving to be a challenge she didn’t anticipate. Scotch craned her head back a little to get a glimpse out the window, making sure her audience was still there. Blue was pressed against the window while Ember stood behind her with her arms folded, a flat look on her face.

“What do you keep looking for? You trying to put on a show for your friend out there?” Berry asked, noticing Scotch’s constant head-turning towards the window.

“Well, yes and no. I’m trying to piss her off royally to be honest. But that’s just part of it. I’d still wanna buck you even if that wasn’t the case” Scotch replied.

“Shoulda just said so” Berry said, a grin forming on her face. “What you say we give her something to really watch.” Scotch’s eyes went wide as Berry locked her mouth against hers again and started moaning extra loudly. At the same time, she rolled herself partway onto the bar and straddled Scotch to one side, flicking her tail back and forth while stroking Scotch’s mane. Scotch was surprised for a moment but quickly got on board with the plan and smiled an evil smile before matching Berry’s moans and tail-flicking.

“I can tell this ain’t your first time” Berry grinned, breaking the kiss for a moment. “Since you’re not a newbie, let’s kick this into high gear.” Wasting no time, Berry rolled herself on top of Scotch and began grinding hard on her. Immediately Scotch could feel a wetness coating her belly. While rocking back and forth, Berry tilted her head back and took a long swig off the bottle she was holding. Setting it down beside her, she gave Scotch a wink, then started to move her head down towards Scotch’s legs. Once she was in front of Scotch’s prize, she gave Scotch one more smirk before shoving her muzzle forward, straight into Scotch.

“Oh fuck!” Scotch exclaimed, throwing her head back against the bar. It has been a long time since Scotch had actually had somepony do this to her. Now it was all she wanted.

“Thu wike twhat huh” Berry said, her muzzle still connected to Scotch. Scotch could only moan and twist with pleasure, forgetting that she had an audience outside watching everything. Berry went from just blowing air into Scotch to sticking her tongue out as far as it would go, licking at her walls from top to bottom, coating Scotch in her saliva. She tasted amazing. Pulling her muzzle away with a grin, a single strand of Scotch’s glorious secretions still connecting her mouth to in between Scotch’s legs, Berry gave a half-lidded smirk to Scotch who was laying there panting heavily.

“Why’d you stop?” Scotch asked in a disappointed tone.

“You know how this works, you gotta give a little to get a little” Berry said, turning around and laying on her back, legs spread. “Come on, get in there.”

“Calm your horses, I will.” Scotch said, rolling onto her stomach, her face a mere inches from Berry’s already thoroughly wet marehood. ‘Sure doesn’t take much to get her juices flowing’ Scotch thought to herself as she moved her muzzle closer. She swore she could smell fruit punch. Sticking her tongue out, she took a long lick from the base of Berry’s vagina, sending a shiver up both ponies spines. Berry arched her back with pleasure and let out a long moan, encouraging Scotch to get creative. Curling her tongue into an “o” shape, she stuck it in as deep as she could before letting it unfurl to its normal shape. Then, while flicking back and forth, she turned her muzzle sideways and repeated the process. Berry started to buck her hips up and down on the bar, her moans getting louder and louder, her breathing becoming more and more erratic. Scotch put one hoof under herself and began playing with her own marehood some more, still wet from the previous attention Berry had just given it. She could tell she wouldn’t last too much longer if Berry was to do what she had just done to her again. It was at this moment that she snapped back to reality for a brief moment, remembering why she was doing this in the first place; to destroy Blue. She could hear the door being pulled on and some faint yelling outside as Blue tried to get in, but Berry had locked the door already. This was just too perfect.

Deciding to really kick things up a notch, and to ensure Berry was the one to finish first, Scotch started to think of her options. She could just keep working on Berry with her tongue like she was and get her to her peak, or she could get kinky and give her the wildest orgasm of her life. Easy choice, she went with option two. While she continued to lick away at Berry’s sopping wet pussy, she loaded up a spell into her horn that she learned a few years ago. A few seconds later, a small aura of magic appeared right around Berry’s clit and began to rub it, slowly at first, but with an increasing speed. The banging on the door was getting harder; Blue might actually try to break it in. She had to pick up the pace a bit just in case. As soon as Berry felt the magic envelope her clit she nearly lost it. “Oh sweet Celestia fuck yeah!” she shouted as she bucked her hips against Scotch’s face even harder than before. “Make me cum like I was your marefriend!”

‘That’s just what I intended on doing’ Scotch grinned to herself as she picked up the pace even further, Berry’s juices sloshing out all around Scotch’s mouth, soaking her muzzle and the thighs beside. Scotch was only getting so far on herself with her hoof, so she decided to try something she never did before and split the spell in two; one on Berry, one on her. Focusing as much as she could given the sensational overload occurring, she closed her eyes and pushed the spell through her horn more. A moment later she could feel something warm and tingly enclose around her own clit. Her focus waned for a moment, the aura on Berry’s clit flickering momentarily. Scotch promptly regained her focus and got control of the spell. The warm, tingling sensation was unbelievable; there was no way she would last more than a few minutes at this rate. She continued to lap up as much of the sweet liquid pouring out of Berry as she could.

“SS-scotch, I’m gonna cummm s-sooon” Berry stuttered, her eyes flicking open and closed in rapid succession. Scotch wanted to match Berry’s orgasm so she picked up the pace on herself, inching ever closer to that glorious finish.

“Mm-me t-toooo” Scotch stuttered back, her vision becoming cloudy and her focus waning. She rubbed herself furiously, feeling the wetness soaking her thighs and running down, pooling on the bar. Any second now....

“AahhhhAAHHH!” Berry exclaimed as she arched her back, a torrent of warm liquid squirting out directly into Scotch’s mouth, taking Scotch by surprise. Scotch’s eyes widened as she pulled her muzzle back a little to inhale. Watching Berry convulse, a stream of cum trickling out of her vagina, Scotch lost her own control. With one final tug with her magic, she let go. Letting out something in between a squeak and a scream, she clenched her eyes shut as one of the most powerful orgasms she’d ever had ripped through her. She looked beneath her just in time to see a giant gush of cum squirt out of her pussy and splash over the bar. She let out a gasp as a second wave came over her, nearly as powerful as the first, unleashing another gush, splattering down the side of her legs. Her vision became blurry and her horn glow died down, a sticky residue coating the length of the spiraling shaft.

Exhausted, Scotch collapsed onto the bar, laying right in the puddle of Berry’s secretions, but she was too deep in ecstasy to care at this point. Panting heavily, her vision starting to clear up, Scotch turned her head towards the window just in time to see Ember pulling Blue away from the bar, Blue kicking and screaming inaudible profanity towards the window. Ember had a solid grip on her torso though so she wasn’t getting free anytime soon. A huge, evil grin spread over Scotch’s muzzle. It worked exactly as she wanted; Blue saw the entire thing.

“Wow… That was fuckin incredible” Berry mumbled, drawing Scotch’s attention from the window.

“Hell yea it was” Scotch replied. “Best I’ve came in months. Celestia did I need that with all the stress from damn school.”

“Heh. Glad I could be of assistance I guess” Berry smirked, rolling off the bar and nearly falling over, her hooves still very wobbly.

“Thanks again for being cool with this ‘plan’ of mine. I really owe you one” Scotch said, rolling off the bar herself and examining what a matted mess her and Berry’s coats were. “How about I help you clean this mess up?”

“Nah don’t worry about it. There’s a cleaning crew that comes in in the morning before we open for lunch to wipe the whole place down. It’s their problem” Berry shrugged. “Believe it or not, this isn’t the worst thing to happen on this bar.” Scotch looked at the bar and scrunched her muzzle a bit. This solidified her sitting at the tables rather than the bar from now on.

“Ok… Still, thanks again. You seem to be a fan of the alcohol so how about I buy you a nice bottle of liquor?” Scotch suggested. “It’s the least I could do for you helping me ruin somepony else’s dreams of being with you before me.”

“Oh so that’s what this was about. Huh, never knew little Coffee Flanks over there had a thing for me. Heh, guess I am kinda hot” Berry snickered. “Sure, that works for me.”

“Well it wasn’t to get back at her actually, I was really going after that damn pigeon she was with. Fuckin can’t stand her… And seeing how I couldn’t really think of a way to get at her, well, I went after the next best thing, her roommate.”

“How evil, I love it!” Berry grinned. “Nothing like seeing your secret crush get fucked by somepony else while you can’t do a single thing about it.”

“Exactly” Scotch replied, putting her scarf on by the door. “I’m serious about the liquor. I’ll drop it off in a few days.”

“Eh take your time, I got plenty of options in the meantime” Berry said, shrugging at the bottles lining the wall behind her.

“Heh, yeah, true. Anyways, take it easy” Scotch said as she unlocked the door and stepped out into the snow. Another evil grin spread across her muzzle as she started walking parallel to two continuous lines in the snow, right beside two paw prints headed towards her house.

Explicit part ends here

Chapter 11 - What's Done Is Done, But Certainly Not Forgotten

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 12 - Scotch's Folly

Author's Note

Hello all,

I'd like to apologize for the huge wait for this chapter. This was the first one that was written by one of the other guys (instead of me) and it took a lot longer as such. But, it turned out wonderful in our opinions and I hope you'll agree after reading it :twilightsmile:

Also, 13 and 14 are done, but still need to go thru a final edit, so it shouldn't be quite as long as it was between 11 & 12. Enjoy!

Chapter 12 - Scotch's Folly

Of all the places Scotch wanted to be, College Counselling certainly wasn’t one of them. She could be studying and catching up on some of her overbearing workload, but a little feeling inside of her kept telling her that visiting the counselor was the right thing to do. Either way, visiting the counselor would be a nice little break away from the torment of Arcane Electronics and her overly obnoxious peers.

Scotch was having a hard time coming to terms with what she did three days ago. That little incident with Berry had left her feeling guilty, while also making her nethers ache in both pleasure and pain whenever she thought about it.The feeling of guilt was a feeling Scotch herself was unfamiliar with. Never had she done something she hasn’t regretted, but never before had she felt this way even when she went through with the most disgusting of plans. But why was she feeling all this guilt right now? That was the question that needed answering, and she believed the only pony that could help with this would be the college counselor.

Well, maybe she would get her answers if the counselor would just hurry up already! Scotch had been sitting in the back corner of the waiting room alone for the past twenty minutes. Chairs were aligned in rows all facing in the direction of the receptionist, much to Scotch’s fancy. The receptionist was a really cute hot pink colored mare with a strawberry colored mane with a cutie mark that looked like a flower petal. These features weren’t the main focus of Scotch’s vision. The main focus was of course the mare's absolutely perfect ass that she constantly wiggled in her general direction while she was bending down to sort through paperwork. The view from where she sat was absolutely perfect and it kept Scotch from dozing off.

Scotch gave herself a slap in the face with her hoof reminding herself that this constant lust for other ponies wasn’t helping her. She chose to stare at more sensible things around the room, which of course meant the more boring objects. The shade of the walls piqued her interest, then it was a potted plant, and then it was the wicker basket the plant was being kept in. Thoughts came into her mind about how good the basket would look in her house. Maybe she could put it on the outside and fill it with beautiful flowers she could steal from Ember’s garden and…

Scotch gave herself another slap in the face. “Not. Helping,” she muttered to herself.

“Is everything ok?” the receptionist chirped from behind her desk. Scotch’s consistent self-beatings had managed to grab her attention. She considered this a plus to her already dreary day.

“Yeah, sure! Everything is fine and dandy! Just hyping myself up for my session is all!” Scotch responded with a heavy amount of sarcasm, her Trottingham accent strong as ever.

“Oh! That’s great! Glad to know you’re doing fine at least,” the receptionist replied in a rather cheery tone.

‘Not the smartest tool in the shed it seems. Hell, Ponyville ponies in general seem to struggle with my sarcasm,’ Scotch thought to herself, this clearly not being the first time her sarcastic comments failed.

With that short exchange with ‘pinkie flanks,’ Scotch was back to sitting quietly staring at random objects around the room. She really had no idea what was taking the counselor so long. Was she sorting books or something? What could be more important than tending to her patients? Did they get somepony who’s special talent is tardiness? So many questions that Scotch would never get answers to since they were taking forever. Seeing as how Scotch had registered every object in the room and the counselor was still running late, she decided to close her eyes for a short while. If she fell asleep, it wasn’t her fault.

Suddenly, there was a crash through the door as a lavender colored pegasus flew through hastily, waking Scotch up from her ten seconds of slumber. The pegasus had a dark blue mane with a purple and pink colored streak running through it, and a cutie mark of a large pink star surrounded by five smaller white stars. She also had a large protrusion sticking out from the top of her head… Wait a second… This pegasus looked a bit like…

“Twilight Sparkle!” the receptionist cheered in joy. “So glad you could make it on time!”

‘On time?’ Scotch thought to herself.

“Well, I do run a tight schedule. I only just received word that Miss Garden was off sick, and luckily I had an opening on my already busy Princess schedule so I had Spike add this appointment last minute and then quickly flew over here as fast as I could.”

‘As fast as she could?’ Scotch thought to herself.

“So, is it a friendship problem or…” Twilight turned around slowly meeting Scotch’s gaze. “Aha! Hello. I’m Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship. I will be your counselor for today.”

Scotch continued to stare at Twilight. She wasn’t super fond of the Princess after what she did to the Great and Powerful Trixie two years ago. Ruining her career like that put a dampener on Scotch’s spirits and she never once forgave Twilight for doing so. Fortunately, Trixie came back and was now even more Great and Powerful than she ever was before. She will someday beat Twilight in a magic duel, and Scotch was determined to be there when it happened, cheering Trixie on every step of the way.

“Hellloooooo! Is anypony there?” Twilight called out.

“Huh? Oh, sorry. Just thinking about… stuff… My name is Scotch,” Scotch replied lamely.

“Hmm…” Twilight pulled out a clipboard and pen from… somewhere with her magic, and began jotting down notes. “Inability to stay focused on one particular subject. Does that sound right to you?”

“Don’t ask me. Even I don’t know what I’m thinking or doing sometimes… No control in this pony!” Scotch answered, images flashing back to the ‘sweet’ night with Berry. Scotch cringed at the thought of it and crossed her hind legs. The peculiar position she was sat in allowed her to do so.

“Hmm…” Twilight jotted down a few more notes. “So! I’m going to take a wild guess and say you’re here because you have a friendship problem! Friendship problems are my specialty, y’know. They don’t call me the Princess of Friendship for nothing. Ha ha ha…” Twilight gave a rather large and creepy grin and leaned in close to Scotch, her eyes wide.

“...yeah, I guess you could say it’s a friendship problem,” Scotch lied, wanting to get the creepy alicorn out of her face.

“Wonderful! Don’t worry Scotch. I’ll have your friendship problem solved in a jiffy. Follow me to my, well, I mean Miss Garden’s office. We can talk about it over a cup of tea!” the giddy alicorn replied.

“Tea? Tea tastes like cow shit. No thanks Sparkle. You can keep your tea…” Scotch said with a disgusted expression on her face.

Twilight reeled back at the freely flung colorful curse word and hesitated a moment before speaking again. “Well, you’re clearly from Trottingham so I assumed… Anyway! It doesn’t matter. Follow me please.”

Scotch’s backside had gone completely numb while sitting down in the same chair in the same odd position for the past 30 minutes. Struggling to pick herself up, Twilight looked at her with a concerned expression etched across her face as she considered helping the mare. Scotch however successfully managed to pick herself up and slowly limped her way on over to Twilight who was standing next to a set of double doors that lead to a short hall lined with offices on either side.

That was the last time Scotch will ever be sitting in that position ever again. More time wasted!

~~~

“So tell me Scotch, why are you such a, as you put it, ‘bitch’?” Twilight asked, forcing out the last word. The counselling session was already well underway, but not much progress had been made. Twilight seemed to be holding off on asking the important non-friendship problem questions. She wasn’t exactly cut out for this counseling business.

“That question is a bit on the nose, isn't it? Well, I'm not gonna lie, I am a total bitch. Ha, guess this makes your job easier then. How many ponies do you get that just flat out admit that about themselves? Ha ha.... ah, fuck... I shouldn’t be making light of this. My reasons are... complicated to say the least and so filled with delusion that you'd possibly declare me insane and lock me up. It might even be for the best, y'know...” Scotch replied with a hint of sadness in her voice. It was clear that what she was doing to other ponies and her attitude towards them was getting to her.

Little sweat drops appeared on Twilight’s forehead. More curse words freely flung at her by Scotch really did make the mare extremely uneasy. Scotch didn’t care though, and continued using them as she saw fit. It was a good stress reliever.

“Well, since I was very young, I've always had this... feeling of sorts that somepony or something out there is out to get me. Some... higher power has just been toying with my life nonstop to make me the most miserable pony alive. My best guess at who's behind all this would be Discord, but he's been reformed for quite a while now... at least I think so. Is that true, Sparkle?” Scotch asked

“Don’t worry Scotch. We have Discord under control. Princess Celestia did decide to invite Discord to the Grand Galloping Gala, and it turned out… rather interesting,” Twilight said, obviously unsure if she should even talk about the Gala in detail. But that wasn’t her job at the moment.

“Well, it has to be somepony... or something else!” Scotch concluded, pretty sure of herself.

“Why do you think this, Scotch?” Twilight asked, with a genuine curious expression.

“Well, when you've been me for 22 years, you come to notice things. All of my goals I have set in life have been snatched away from me due to bad things happening that make it harder and harder for me to mentally function. Now, I push ponies away, because all they’ve ended up doing in the past was distract me from the things I see as important, either by something awful happening to them, forcing me to care, or by just being general distractions with their idiocy. What do I find important? Well, my education... Eugh... education... I'll get to that in a bit.”

“Although I'm a stone cold bitch on the outside, I do genuinely care for a lot of ponies. Not ponies here in Ponyville though, but back up in Trottingham. No offense, of course,” Scotch said quickly trying to save herself. She may not respect the Princess, but she didn’t want to get banished to the friendship dungeon or whatever cringe-worthy thing Twilight used.

“None taken,” Twilight replied with a little smile. Scotch returned it, which was the first non-evil genuine smile she gave a pony in quite some time. “Who is it you care for exactly?”

“My family for one. My mum wants me to do well in my education and go on to be a better and smarter pony. Work a better job and do what she could never do. I want to make my mum proud, and in her eyes I've always been her little sweetie. By Celestia, if she could see the state I was in right now, she would disown me. Feuding with my neighbour? Forgetting to buy groceries? Rutting a pony to get at somepony else? What the fuck is wrong with me?” Scotch said, forgetting that she hadn’t brought up the pony rutting with Twilight yet.

Twilight reacted in a very appropriate manner, by flinching, quickly covering her mouth with a hoof and saying, “You did WHAT?!” Scotch glared at Twilight urging her to forget about what she just heard and move onto the next question. “Ahem, right! Well, that’s certainly something,” Twilight said while pointlessly flicking through her notes with her magic. “So, um… Why are you going through with your education when you quite obviously hate it so much?”

“Well, like I said, I want to make my mum proud. At the end of the day, I'm putting myself through hell to make her proud of me. I'm not going through education for myself, I'm doing it all for her. In reality, I've always wanted to be a stage magician.” Scotch replied. Twilight perked up with the mention of stage magician.

“Stage magician? I know a stage magician. I could…”

Before Twilight could finish, Scotch cut her off. “I know it sounds pointless due to the abundance of magic found throughout Equestria, but stage magic is different. Stage magic takes very basic spells that any unicorn can learn, and through careful trickery and illusions, it can turn these spells into something amazing that only alicorns can legitimately replicate using their real magic! I read the Great and Powerful Trixie's autobiography on all of this kind of stuff, and she knows what she's talking about. The mare is a living legend and I love her in so many different ways... The things I'd do to her if I got the chance... Ahem... Sorry, what were we talking about?”

Twilight appeared to be in another cold sweat. The slight mention of someone wanting to do things to Trixie sent some shivers down her spine. It was too creepy and she wasn’t entirely comfortable hearing all of this. But she had to. It was her job as the stand-in counselor. “Ahem, well we were talking about stage magic. But, I want to know, why didn’t you follow up on all of this? You’re obviously very passionate about it,” Twilight asked with another small smile.

“Well, yet again, it all routes back to my mum. Mum, despite being very supportive of me, never saw the point in stage magic. When I was young, she caught me trying to replicate some of the Great and Powerful Horsedini's tricks while watching some very old tapes I stole from school. Horsedini is Trixie's grandfather by the way... Just a little... Trixie... Trivia... The more the better! Ha ha... ahem…” Scotch finished lamely, her eyes darting around the room. Twilight just continued listening curiously. The little trivia detour didn’t bother her in the slightest. “Anyway, from what I can remember, she didn't approve of the stuff I was doing, calling it pointless and saying that there is no career and no future in it for me. She then went on a long rant about what would happen if I fail my studies, and then went on to saying she wants me to make her proud. So, since then I decided not to follow my true dreams... and follow my mums dreams... Huh, now that I say it like that, it feels like I've been fucked over... Agh, shit! Here we go again! The eventual realization that something out there wants to make me suffer. Can't follow my true dreams because of my mum, and I can't achieve my mums true dreams due to my own decreasing sanity and inability to do work! Fuck my life!”

Twilight, yet again reeled back at the freely flung curse words. Her mouth was agape and she was completely speechless. This time, Scotch noticed, “Sorry, that outburst wasn't necessary. I mean, I love my mum but, now I'm starting to feel like she fucked me over... Agh... I don't know... Sorry, and sorry about the swearing... Any more questions?”

Twilight shook herself, trying to fling out the swear words she’s been hearing for the past half hour out of her head. Scotch just looked at her waiting for the next question. “Ah, yes. It’s fine. No need to apologize at all. You uh… brought up a neighbor earlier when you mentioned the… pony rutting… Care to tell me a bit about her?” Twilight asked, again forcing out the last couple of words she was uncomfortable saying. What was wrong with this mare? Does she live in a kids show where they aren’t allowed to say swears or something?

“You want to know about my neighbour?” Scotch asked angrily. Twilight nodded. “What, that featherbrained wanker? Ember?” Scotch asked again, fury building in her voice. Twilight nodded again but quickly, obviously not wanting to be on the end of Scotch’s wrath, but she had no choice in the matter. “I'd rather not talk about that bitch! All she does is go on about how successful she is! She lives in this big fucking house, somehow manages to dig holes wherever I fucking go, and constantly pretends she has nothing to do with it. Bitch, it's obvious you're behind all this shit! I can tell you are from a mile off. I swear to Celestia, if I fall in another hole, I am going to walk to her house, rip that bitch's beak straight off of her ugly pigeon face, and shove it where the sun doesn't shine!”

Twilight, feeling faint, tried her hardest to stay stable. She flicked through her notes again pointlessly looking for something to take her mind off of the absolute nuclear swearing spree Scotch just went on. She didn’t even need to ask anything before Scotch continued in a much more calmer tone.

“...Oh, who am I kidding... I'm jealous of Ember… Ember has... everything, and I have nothing. Ember is set in life; she owns this company and she has all these great friends. Meanwhile I'm struggling at College chasing somepony else's dream, while living on my own in a tiny house I can't be bothered to clean properly. I don't hate the chick, she just makes me extremely angry. Ever since I threw out a burning tire and almost burned her whole garden to the ground; which was an accident mind you, I was trying to aim for the dustbin outside, it's gotten worse and worse!” Scotch continued. Twilight had now gotten over the swearing spree and was now listening intently. “And now I’m scared the next time I see her, she’s going to rip my face clean off!

“To be honest, I just want it all to stop, but I can't stop fighting back. I feel the need to defend myself, hold my ground, and maybe one day she'll give up trying to mess with me and leave me alone. But that's not going to happen... Ever since I had sex with Berry, everything feels like it's going to go to complete shit. Despite what I say, I've never done anything to her on purpose that I haven't regretted. But this? Having sex with Berry? This was despicable even for me... I could have done something a lot less extreme, such as stealing her Charcoal plush and holding it hostage until she bought me a Trixie one. Those things cost almost 1000 bits down in Baltimare! It's insane! Anyway... If Celestia shines on me, one day all this shit will get put behind us... and we might even become friends? Hmpf... maybe... Although solitude is more my thing, I would like to at least give friends another shot,” Scotch finished. The slight mention of friends perked Twilight up and she stood to attention, ready to do a friendship speech. Before she could say anything however, Scotch waved a hoof urging her to sit down. “Sorry, Sparkle, but the only pony who will be able to make friends with her is me… If I ever feel like trying to.”

There was a short silence. Scotch had gone over absolutely everything she could think of at the moment. Scotch hated it when there was a lull in the conversation, so she quickly thought of something random to talk about. “I have something a little embarrassing I'd like to admit. Nothing leaves this room, right?”

Twilight shook her head, “Of course not. Wouldn’t be a counseling session if I just went out and blabbed all of your problems to my friends now, would it”

“I hope you’re telling the truth,” Scotch said, unsure if Twilight was or not. She inhaled a gulp of air and then said as quickly as she possibly could, “ I kind of have a shrine to Trixie down in my basement... It's filled with posters, autobiographies from various points in her life, a couple of dirty magazines when she starred as guest model in PlayPony magazine, a couple of plot photos I managed to sneakily take while watching her shows, and my prized possession! A signed 24 inch poster I got when she was doing her show here in Ponyville two years ago.” Scotch stopped for a second, and then glared at Twilight. Twilight gave a little uneasy shrug, secretly knowing what Scotch was hinting at. Neither of them said anything about the ‘career ruining’ however.

“Anyway, Trixie has always been a star in my eyes, and a huge inspiration if I ever do decide to say 'fuck you mum' and go and practice stage magic,” Scotch finished with a short exhale.

“That wasn’t super embarrassing. We all have some sort of secret in our lives, and it’s fun to tell them to friends. I had a shrine to Celestia when I was a lot younger. Hee hee! It was fun collecting. I unfortunately had to stop when she took me in as her student. My mom still has it all boxed up back in Canterlot,” Twilight reminisced, unaware that Scotch had just drifted off into another short rant.

“What do you mean that wasn't embarrassing? Well, more taboo then. To my knowledge, ponies here don't like Trixie that much. Remember when she came and enslaved everypony with some sort of dark magic last year? Well, that's the source of it I'm guessing. I must admit, that wasn't Trixie's finest moment, but since then she seems to have gotten herself back on track. Hell, in her latest autobiography, she completely drops the Great and Powerful act, and just writes as herself, and talks about her life in general which she never really did. In previous autobiographies, all she talked about was her recent successes, which were fun to read about, but in this it was all about her life. That must have took some courage considering how people view her these days. Fortunately, the mare is back, and I have some more plot photo's to add to my collection. Ha ha ha! Ohhh, for a mare as miserable as me, if there is one thing that makes me happy it’s a good play around with Trixie!”

And with that last little line, Twilight had had enough. She simply slumped over in the chair she was sat in and slowly passed out. She didn’t need that much detail about Scotch’s daily life.

“I guess this means I can go now?” Scotch asked, standing up and getting ready to walk out of the door.

“Uh-huh…” Twilight said faintly, hardly aware at what the question even was.

“Good. I need to get back to work. I’ve had enough of my time wasted today.” Scotch began walking towards the door. She suddenly turned around to Twilight. “Also, just so you know, we aren’t friends, Sparkle, and we never will be. You tell anypony about my Trixie shrine and I will personally find you, and kick your arse!”

“Uh-huh…” Twilight said again faintly, hardly aware that she had just been threatened.

“Good… Anyway… Thanks for the help… I don’t feel any different, but it was good to get some things out in the open,” Scotch said thankfully. “Anyway, seeyah Sparkle!”

And with that, Scotch closed the door and began making her way towards the exit of the college counseling reception. Her next lesson was starting soon, but sweet Celestia, she really needed to piss! The lesson can wait.

~~~

The College toilets were a magical place indeed. A place where anypony could go and release themselves in many a different way. Usually, the most common sounds you would hear would be the odd pony relieving themselves, or maybe even the odd two ponies rutting one another in one of the stalls. These sounds never really occurred when Scotch was there, but there was one sound that happened very often when she was.

“AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!” Scotch bellowed in an absolute fit of rage as she bucked open one of the cubicle doors, not even caring if there was another pony on the other side. This seemed to happen often, because each stall door had two dents in them. Some fresh, some not so fresh.

The counseling session had worked and Scotch got what she wanted, but she couldn’t understand all of this intense rage she was feeling all of a sudden. Did Twilight put a spell on her so she could create a friendship problem? Plenty of questions ran through Scotch’s mind as to why she was feeling these emotions, and all of them making little to no sense.

Scotch marched her way over to the isle of sinks and slammed her forehooves down hard on the ground causing the nearby trash can to rattle. She turned on each of the taps with her magic and let them run while she grabbed the large wall-long mirror in her magic.

“Oh that is just great, Scotch! You went and told all of your problems to a mare you barely know, and a mare who has a record of not being able to keep secrets. Who the hell let Sparkle be the stand-in counselor? That’s like getting Trixie to be a stand-in attorney or something!” Scotch yelled, her grip on the mirror getting tighter.

“And in addition to that, I just realized that I still have work due in for Professor Archimedes today. I was supposed to do it in my free period, but stupid me and stupid Tardylight Sparkle wasted my time! This counseling fuckery has done more harm than help!” Scotch roared again slamming a hoof down once more.

“I am so sick and tired of abso-fucking-lutely everything going wrong in my life! I can’t do this due to falling in a fucking hole! I can’t do that due to me deciding I need counselling after banging a pony! I have to put up with obnoxious morons on a daily basis in class that do nothing but shout their poor jokes every five fucking seconds!” Scotch yelled again, her grip on the mirror getting ever tighter. Cracks were beginning to appear.

The sinks were now beginning to overflow with water, indicating that Scotch might have been raging for a bit too long. Scotch however didn’t care. Instead, she shoved her head into one of the sinks for a few seconds; her magical grip on the mirror faltering slightly. She pulled her head out and sprayed water everywhere; her rather intricate mane was somehow still perfectly intact.

Scotch resumed her full focus on taking out this mirror. She began putting even more pressure on the mirror, making it crack even more. “Everything has gone to complete shit! I can’t focus on anything anymore. I can’t do work, I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I can’t think, and I definitely can’t apologize to Blue. Ember will see me and she will kick my arse no doubt…” Scotch said in a calmer tone… This didn't last for long though.

“If I wasn’t such a fucking moron, I wouldn’t be in this fucking position! Fuck you Scotch!” she yelled, slamming a hoof on the ground, her grip on the mirror getting even tighter.

“Fuck you!” Tighter…

“FUCK YOU!” Tighter…

“FU-”

“Scotch! Sweet Celestia girl, shut up! I can hear you from the other side of the campus,” said a familiar voice. A voice Scotch only ever heard when she was the only one worth speaking to.

Scotch’s focus on the mirror dropped, leaving it extremely cracked, and Scotch exhausted. She whirled around to look at the source of the voice.

“Oh… Hi, Vanilla…” Scotch said, now in a much calmer tone.

Vanilla was the only pony at College that even considered talking to Scotch, but that really only happened whenever there was no one else for her to talk to. She was a unicorn mare with a mane matching the color of yummy chocolate, and a coat matching the color of her name. Her cutie mark was a bar of chocolate with a bite taken out of it. She also had really cute freckles which Scotch took a fancy to. Vanilla wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but she was really sweet. But some of the things she did in class made it worth making a documentary out of her. ‘The Most Derpy Unicorn Ever.’

“What’s all the shouting about? Chipped a hoof?” Vanilla asked naively while turning off each of the sink taps with her piercing blue magic.

“Vanilla, if you know me, the only part of my body I care about is my mane. It’s better than every single one of the rat's nests I’ve seen in class,” Scotch bragged rudely, running her hoof quickly through said mane.

“So… what? Did you get your mane wet? Is that why you’re shouting?” Vanilla asked again.

“Well, yeah I did get my mane wet... But that isn’t what I’m shouting about,” Scotch replied, looking at the various puddles that were dotted around her now.

“Did you drop a bar of chocolate in the toilet?” Vanilla asked covering her mouth with a hoof. The thought of anything happening to her precious chocolate making her shiver.

“No,” Scotch replied bluntly. “Look, can I ju-”

“Wait! Did you crack the mirror?!” Vanilla asked, now noticing the state of the mirror, cutting Scotch off.

“Yes, I cracked the mirror. Now, can I-”

“Scotch, you know cracking a mirror is punishable by bad luck! Seven years bad luck in fact. I’ve heard stories that when you break a mirror, Discord comes out of the next mirror you see and curses you. If you break that mirror, he’ll come out of the next one but this time he’ll curse you with fourteen years bad luck! It’s a lose lose situation, Scotch!” Vanilla said, her voice filled with fear and a touch of naivety.

Scotch simply shook her head. “Look, I appreciate you telling me this. It really works wonders for what I’m currently going through. Besides, Discord already cursed me when I was born. I’ve known the guy personally for 22 years even though he was locked in stone. Hell, I might even marry him someday!” Scotch replied sarcastically.

“You don’t want to marry Discord, Scotch! He will make fill your life with bad luck and chaos. I’ll help you break every mirror you find. We both have magic, we can smash them all quickly if we work fast enough. I’ll lead the charge,” Vanilla said. It looked liked her hyperactive sugar rush was kicking in for the day. Mirror smashing seems like it could create a lot of good material for the hypothetical documentary Scotch was thinking about.

“Yeah, yeah… Ok then you crazy mare. You go smash all the mirrors in College, and I’ll go to class,” Scotch said getting ready to leave the restroom, already exhausted with Vanilla’s antics.

“Wait, class? Professor Archimedes class? Sweet Celestia, we’re going to miss it! I’ll walk with you and we can talk abou-”

“No!” Scotch interrupted. Before Vanilla could even figure out what Scotch had just told her, she had already bolted out of the restroom towards class, leaving her to ponder over which mirror she could smash first after class had finished.

Another day, another group of crazy peers to deal with.

~~~

Scotch’s attitude towards other ponies made it very apparent that she wasn’t somepony that fully embraced Twilight’s definition of the “magic of friendship.” Her consistent method of pushing other ponies away to avoid potential connections and potential heartbreak made it so that those ponies intentionally ignored her because she wasn’t worth their time. This was very apparent when it came to her peers she had to work with at College.

As much as Scotch would like to ignore her peers in return, it was not always possible unfortunately. Her class had a knack for getting really loud, really obnoxious, and really annoying really quickly. The consistent shouting and screaming of repetitive jokes and general goof-offs made it next to impossible for Scotch to even get a slither of work done in class if she chose to do so.

The class was typically the most annoying when they were being taught by Professor Archimedes, who so happened to be the one giving the lesson today unfortunately. The professor from Germaneigh typically waited for everypony to take their seats next to their work stations, briefly give the lesson, and then he would lose himself rambling on about any random non-college related project he was doing at the time. He wouldn’t respond to questions, tell the class to quiet down, or even trot around the room helping anypony struggling with their workload; which of course was one of the reasons Scotch loathed him. You would occasionally hear him say something to himself about his project, or he would scream something followed by a maniacal laugh, but that was all you’d ever hear from him.

Professor Archimedes was a weird one indeed. Not much was known about the Germaneic professor besides a handful of rumors Scotch had reluctantly overheard from some of her peers. Some say he used to be a doctor up in Canterlot who successfully managed to harness the power of healing magic to enchant a weapon that supposedly healed ponies much faster than any other kind of healing spell. Unfortunately, when he decided to test it on a sleeping patient, it dissolved her skeleton, and he was kicked out of Canterlot with his medical licence revoked, never to be heard from again…

...Until of course he resurfaced as a teacher of Arcane Electronics, which rendered the whole rumor complete bullshit. How in Equestria does somepony go from ‘healing’ patients to somepony that teaches a fairly new form of magic? And why the hell would the College hire a ‘quack’ doctor? It just made no sense. Even his cutie mark resembled what seemed to be electronics. It featured a baby blue lightning bolt inside a light blue circle. Odd considering how new arcane electronics is. Doubtful that he got his cutie mark only a few years ago.

“Excuse me, Frau Scotch? Vould you mind entering ze classroom? Ve are all vaiting very patiently for you.” The familiar heavily accentedtones snapped Scotch out of her daydream. The ponies in her thoughts really did have a tendency to show up whenever she pictured them.

Scotch looked the white unicorn professor dead in the eyes. Professor Archimedes corrected his glasses with a hoof and looked back, obviously waiting for a response. “Sorry Archie, I was just thinking about that project you’re working on instead of helping me catch up on my work. What will happen when you complete this project? Will it create a super-massive black hole and swallow the whole of Equestria, or will it grant you the power to actually fuckin’ help me?” Scotch asked making it very apparent that her patience with the professor was wearing thin.

“Now now Scotch, you must realize zat I am a pony who has a very important role to play. A role zat vould endanger ze entire college if I do not persist in vhat I am doing,” the Professor replied, tightening his light blue tie with his magic. Important role, he said? This prompted an eyebrow raise from Scotch.

“Important role? So are you saying that this important role is more important than doing your job and helping ponies actually do their work so they can survive in the future?” Scotch asked again, taking a step closer, her voice rising. The commotion managed to gather the attention of some of Scotch’s peers who just looked at them with goofy grins. They were about to see Scotch blow her top, which is something that always got a good laugh.

“Scotch, if I did not complete zis project, zen you all vould have no future at all. And by no future I mean... YOU VOULD BE DEAD!” the Professor answered, quickly shouting the last four words for some odd reason. It’s something he tended to do a little too often. The shout aroused more attention from the class. A double showing of anger! This must be fun. “Anyvay, I promise you zat vonce zis project is done, I vill help you with all ze work zat needs to be done. I promise.” Did Scotch actually detect honesty in his expression? She was unsure.

“Yeah, well you’d better. Because if you don’t and I fail this entire course, I’ll do something with your little mechanical projects. It involves something called ‘ihren arsch’,” Scotch said in her typical threatening manner. She wanted to do well so badly, but yet again things kept holding her back. The incompetence of this certain professor was one of them.

“You’d better vatch your tongue, Fräulein, otherwise I von’t be helping you. And please… DO NOT CALL ME ARCHIE! Ich heiße Professor Archimedes, Die Dritte! Now, get to class!” the Professor demanded, pointing at the door with a hoof.

“Ja, ja, sure… Vhatever you say monsieur. Danke, danke…” Scotch said, putting on a joke overly exaggeratedaccent while trotting towards the open door to the class at a steady pace. Her peers were snickering with one another, but not because Scotch had just said something she found quite humorous, and she could tell. She had seen this snickering all too often.

The classroom wasn’t a big lecture hall or anything of the caliber. In fact, the room was decently small and only fit to accommodate around eighteen students. Work stations lined up against the left wall and the right wall, with more workstations in a row in the center of the classroom. The professor’s desk and workstation was located directly at the front of the class where said professor would be easy to reach if anypony needed any help. Of course, that wasn’t possible when it came to Professor Archimedes.

Scotch’s usual spot was located in one of the far back corners, which is where she had hoped to get some peace and quiet to focus on her work. But due to the small accommodation of the classroom, Scotch was always sat next to one of the many clowns that inhabited her life like a parasite. While trotting over to her spot, a paper airplane somepony threw almost touched down in her mane. Instead, the airplane stopped inches from Scotch, caught in her burning orange magic. She crumpled the airplane into a little ball and tossed it back in the general direction from whence it came, causing several more snickers from her ‘audience.’

Pulling out a chair with her magic, she slumped down into it and sat in that awkward upright position. It may be uncomfortable, but damn did it look fancy! Scotch was such a regular at this workstation that she actually took the time to personalize it by etching little doodles into the wooden table tops using the sharp edge of one of her quills. Doodles included little etchings of Trixie’s cutie mark, a fairly crude drawing of the perimeter of Ember’s house, a little demonic looking flower with the words “kill or be killed” etched in a little speech bubble above, and Scotch’s very own phone number in case any hot mares wanted to give her a call. It was mostly just nopony though.

She slipped off her saddlebags, dumped them on her work station, and began rummaging through the various items she regularly needed. One of those items included an old generation portable music player with earphones with various song tracks featured on it ranging from DJ PON3 to Countess Coloratura. If she remembered to charge it up the previous night, then she could at least manage an hour of peace from her peers while she listened to the sweet sounds of music.

To Scotch’s good fortune, the music player was charged and she breathed a sigh of relief. Continuing to go through her saddlebags, she brought out her notepad, quill and ink, laptop, and a guide book the college gave her about Arcane Electronics, and turned the page to the one she had bookmarked. Currently in class, they were researching all about Artificial Intelligence which was one of the easier subjects for her to grasp. All of her previous assignments were the ones dragging her down; however this was a breath of fresh air. Dare she say she found it fun? Now if the class would behave themselves, maybe she could get through the lesson without bucking somepony in the face.

Completely ignoring the Professor’s briefing, Scotch turned on her laptop and put on her earphones. She was met with the beats of a more chilled out DJ PON3 song. It was a collaboration mix between Octavia Philharmonica and DJ PON3 herself. Rumor has it that Octavia’s part in the song wasn’t even agreed upon, causing a rather large argument. But rumors are rumors, and if this did truly happen, they would have just had hot sex afterwards. Despite the controversy, Scotch enjoyed this song and nopony could stop her from liking it. The relaxing beats made her completely forget about the rest of her class who were currently in the midst of aerial warfare. Sad, considering most of these ponies were in their 20’s.

Scotch began to drift off before she even got the chance to open up the internet and find a good site to research from. She thought about the various ponies that inhabited her class, much to her aggravation. She didn’t want to think about them. However, quite a few amusing things did tend to happen, but it was mostly on rare occasion.

She thought back to Vanilla, who, being the ditsy mare she was, thought it was a clever idea to try and download chocolate off of the internet. Although the sky was the limit when it came to Equestrian magic, downloading chocolate off of the internet was a bit far fetched. This moment brought plenty of joy to the rest of the class, and even managed to get Scotch to smile a little. Vanilla was still taunted about that very moment on occasion, and her response to these taunts was typically a facehoof, stuttering, and her odd laughter that sounded like she was out of breath.

The music in Scotch’s ears changed to a new song. This time it was Countess Coloratura with a rather melancholy song about an argument. This reminded Scotch of two stallions in her class that regularly argued with one another. The topics would range from stupid arguments about the pronunciation of certain words, to which princess was the best princess, to more sensitive subjects such as the coal reserves in the Zebra lands and how Equestria should start mining them. Occasionally the class would erupt into a massive debate with one side against the other. Scotch however would stay out of it like a smart pony.

Scotch’s eyes started to become heavy, the fit of anger earlier in the day and the soothing music causing her to become tired. She crossed her hooves on the top of her workstation and slumped her head on them, shutting her eyes. Her day dreaming progressed into more vivid dreams as she fell asleep.

~ ~ ~

“COME HERE YOU RED MOTHER FUCKER! I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!” boomed a voice coming from somewhere in the darkness. Scotch found herself in a completely dark space where absolutely nothing was visible. She waved her hooves in front of her face, but couldn’t see anything at all.

“I’M GOING TO MAKE RED PONY STEW TONIGHT!” boomed the voice yet again, circling around her making it impossible for her to sense where it was coming from. Scotch backed up slightly until her rump pressed up against what felt like a wall. She turned around and found herself inside The Watering Hole. Her rump had pressed up against the bar where she found two ponies giving each other a good rutting. The scene was fresh inside Scotch’s memory, and it made her cringe while she stared at it. Jeez, was she really that messy though?

Turning to her right, she saw Blue with her face pressed up against the glass window staring into the bar with gritted teeth and tears in her eyes; a face like thunder! A look of pure evil! She let out a scream of pure anger that completely shattered The Watering Hole like glass causing Scotch to fall into the dark abyss below.

With a thud, Scotch found herself on the floor of what seemed like a basement; the concrete floor hurting Scotch’s back despite it being a dream. The basement was entirely empty, except for one small light source in the far corner that illuminated a little blue pony curled up in the fetal position rocking back and forth. Scotch took a step forward towards the pony, but reeled back when she caught a quick glimpse of a shadowy feathery figure flying quickly past her. Scotch spun around to see where the shadowy figure went, but it was completely out of sight.

Continuing towards the little blue bundle, Scotch’s heart began to race and she felt the room grow cold. This was a bad idea. Approaching this figure was a bad idea. Scotch had played enough creepy games to know where this was going. Don’t approach the crying pony because crying ponies lead to jumpscares. As much as she didn’t want to, Scotch continued trotting forward carefully, listening out for any signs of the feathery figure again. Instead, she heard whispers. Whispers that were coming from the blue pony.

Whispers of revenge. Whispers of murder. Whispers of kidnapping. Whispers of rape. All of these whispers were entering Scotch’s head all at once giving her a splitting headache. Scotch fell to the floor clutching her head with both of her forehooves. The whispers got louder and louder and began to become intermixed with sobbing. Scotch wanted to scream and call for help, but she had no mouth. Clenching her eyes shut she decided to wait out the whispers. They might pass.

Fortunately, they did, but they were replaced with one new whisper. A whisper Scotch had heard before when she was very young. A nursery rhyme.

“Hush now… Quiet now…”

“It’s time… to lay your… sleepy head…”

The singing voice was low and was intermixed with sobs. Scotch could pinpoint the voice this time. It was coming from in front of her. Scotch dared to open her eyes and was met with what she expected. The Crying Pony…

The Singer…

Blue…

Scotch crawled herself as fast as she could away from Blue. The blue pony was standing upright on her hind hooves brandishing a knife in her green magic. A manic grin was etched across her face as she began to move closer.

“Hush now…”

Blue’s mouth didn’t even move when she said those words causing Scotch to back up even further and gain even more chills.

“Quiet now…”

Blue raised the knife. Scotch backed up even further but was stopped when her back pressed up against the basement wall. She shielded herself with her hooves and began throwing porcelain pots at Blue that had magically materialized next to her. Unfortunately the pots just disintegrated as they got close to Blue.

Blue ambled forward more and more and Scotch was running out of her infinite number of pots. Blue was getting too close for comfort now; her knife gleaming from the one light source in the room. Scotch was about to throw her last pot, but couldn’t. It was too heavy, yet it was the size of a Breezie. It was like all the strength inside of Scotch had suddenly disappeared.

Before Scotch could realize what was going on with the pots, Blue was right on top of her, grinning manically in her face. Scotch tried to let out another scream, but without a mouth, how could she? Blue raised the knife even higher with her magic; her horn beginning to spark with green energy.

“It’s time… to… go to bed…”

Blue sang the last line much louder than the others while she quickly plunged the knife into Scotch. Scotch let out a scream of pain and terror now that her mouth had suddenly returned.

However the knife never pierced Scotch. In fact, it had dissolved into ashes as soon as it touched her. Along with the knife, so had Blue. Scotch was breathing extremely heavily and her heart was pounding so hard she felt like she was going to throw it up. She quickly got up in a panic and brushed off Blue’s ashes.

The room had suddenly changed again. This time Scotch found herself in a long hallway lit by dim torches. Looking around, Scotch couldn’t see anypony following her. Without even thinking, Scotch headed down the hallway in one direction.

It didn’t take long until she was met by the same booming voice she heard earlier.

“HOW DARE YOU HURT BLUE YOU RED MOTHER FUCKER! YOU’D BETTER RUN BITCH BECAUSE I’M REALLY FUCKING HUNGRY!” the voice boomed again from all around her.

Scotch had had enough and wanted this nightmare to end. She listened to the voice and began running down the hallway. It felt like she had been running for hours, yet she had only been running for a few minutes. A dead end came out of nowhere practically flying towards her at mach 10 speed hitting Scotch in the face, causing her to stagger backwards. After a short backpedal she managed to get her bearings for only a few seconds before tumbling down and flopping straight on her front with her legs splayed out like a starfish.

Despite the impending doom that she knew was just around the corner and could appear at any second, Scotch just laid there, completely unable to move. Try as she might, her forelegs and back legs were stuck to the ground making her efforts useless; the already dimly lit hallway and her darkening vision from her head trauma making it next to impossible to see what exactly was holding her down.

She continued to struggle in her trap, barely being able to tug her legs a few centimeters from the ground before they slammed down on the dirt floor again and again. What exactly was holding Scotch down? Magic? Ropes? Was it some kind of nightmare logic that made absolutely no sense? Why wasn’t she able to escape from this? She could escape from absolutely anything with little magic tricks and some muscle; her special talent making stuff like that a cinch. Maybe special talents didn’t transfer over into the dream world?

Who would have thought it was possible to lose your train of thought in a nightmare. Only Scotch, a mare of varying degrees of mental instability was capable of doing this. Very impressive, but not useful. She found out how ‘not useful’ her train-wreck of thought was when she failed to notice the fiery colored griffon standing right in front of her, staring her down.

The hallway she was in had faded away to reveal a new location; a location she knew all too well simply from the various times she had scouted the place looking for ways to cause a little trouble and get unneeded revenge. Ember’s lounge. The house's owner of course was standing over her with a glare that she only gave to the finest of cheese sticks.

“You have… absolutely no idea… how long I’ve wanted to get you… in this position,” Ember panted, obviously out of breath from all the chasing. Weird considering she was hardly giving chase to begin with.

‘So… Is this a wet dream now? Make up your damn mind, brain…’ Scotch thought to herself.

“Ohhhhh! This is just perfect. No Scotch, this isn’t a wet dream. Although I suppose you’d like that wouldn’t you? Filthy red slut…” Ember threatened, suddenly gaining the ability to read minds. On the word slut, Ember slammed her front claws down on the ground centimeters from Scotch’s face, making Scotch let out an ‘eep’ in terror.

“No… You’re here right now because I want to slap some tape on your slit and tear you into cocky little Trottingham pony pieces for what you did to Blue… Poor girl DOES NOT need your bullshit, and neither do I,” Ember threatened yet again, dragging her unnaturally sharp talons across the floor leaving wide scratch marks. Scotch was still completely unable to move and was forced to watch the threatening tower of a griffon parade her weapons of mass destruction around in front of her.

“Chopping you into pony pieces will make it so much easier to make you into a pony stew,” Ember said with an unnatural savage tone in her voice.

Out of nowhere yet again, the location changed to what looked like a more derelict version of Ember’s lounge. Her furniture was in tatters, messed up with what looked like blood stains and claw marks. Scotch, for reasons only dreams would understand, was now standing up on all four of her legs again. Ember had backed away to a quiet corner of the room and sat in an old tattered lounge chair.

But something was extremely off about Ember this time. Instead of being her usual flame colored self, she was now as dark as charcoal. Her claws were tapping on the side of the chair, puncturing little holes in it with her even more unnaturally sharp talons, and grinning an evil grin. Along with her new charcoal look, she also sported a deep dry red color, mostly found on the tip of her beak and talons.

If Scotch found Ember frightening and threatening before, then it’s safe to say that Scotch was petrified of this new Ember. She really didn’t like that grin of hers, or the darkness of her feathers, or the red tinted talons and beak that was quite obviously blood. On a whim, Scotch magically threw a pot at where Ember was sitting, only for her to fly up into her ceiling…

...which wasn’t a ceiling. Instead the ceiling was replaced by an endless dark void, giving Ember a lot of space to fly around while dodging the various number of pots Scotch had somehow stumbled across yet again. Seeing that her efforts were completely futile, Scotch made a break for the door leading to the outside world. She dived over the tattered lounge chair just narrowly avoiding Ember who was now taking dive bombs to try and decapitate her or pick her up and carry her to whatever stew she had boiling.

Scotch galloped on over to the door leading outside, only to find that it was locked. Typical. Maybe now that she was free of her ground imprisonment she could use her special tricks to get this lock open. She tried her best to focus on the lock's mechanism, which was hard to do when you had to avoid dive bombing griffons with talons that could cut through pony bone like it was air. The thought alone of Scotch being torn to shreds in one swoop made her lose focus on the lock mechanism and she was now back to a petrified state.

Ember had recovered from her last dive and was now readying herself for a new one. She glared at Scotch once more and gave another evil grin letting out a bone chilling hiss. Ember was part lion after all, but this hiss sounded like something you’d hear from a snake, or a vampire fruit bat. Except in this case it would be a vampire blood bat. Again, Scotch’s wandering mind led to her downfall.

She didn’t notice that Ember was already halfway towards her and closing the gap quickly with the insane speed of her dive. Scotch couldn’t move again. Her body was frozen due to petrification. All she could really do was sit and watch as Ember closed the gap.

Was this really worth it? Was all of this pain and fear worth ruining Blue’s life for? No, and Scotch realized this in those short seconds. All Scotch wanted was some peace and quiet. All she wanted was for Ember to feel beaten and broken so she would leave her alone. Not this. This nightmare was a living pony hell for Scotch. She couldn’t apologize to Ember, because what if all this happened? Dying was the last thing Scotch wanted. Could she run away? Far away! That would work.

Ember was now almost on top of Scotch, and closing fast. Closing her eyes, Scotch curled up into a fetal position in front of the door and began to scream. The last glimpse before she closed her eyes was Ember’s now raised talons gleaming threateningly, ready to tear this miserable little pony to shreds.

~ ~ ~

Blood-chilling screams weren’t typically the normal noise heard when it came to college lessons. One would have assumed that Archimedes had now chosen to experiment healing magic on the students and had failed miserably after yet another ponies skeleton got dissolved in a puff of blue magic after hearing that scream with no context. But no, the scream came from Scotch. The one pony who’s very traumatic nightmare had caused her to fall backwards off her chair screaming like she’d just been stabbed by Princess Celestia’s horn.

When screaming like this after a nightmare, one enters a quiet state where only the screaming pony is aware of themselves. They aren’t aware of the physical damage they just caused to their property or property of others while they rolled around on the floor bucking constantly. They aren’t aware of the various eyes glaring down at them in both shock, amusement and even fear in some cases. It was a state where anypony could let it all out without them worrying about what other ponies around them were thinking. Or maybe this was just a defense mechanism unique to Scotch. Who knew?

After almost ten seconds of rolling around screaming, Archimedes had decided to step himself up and restrain Scotch using his magic to do so. Wrapping her in a veil of telekinesis and suspending her off the ground so she couldn’t do any more damage with her flailing hind legs, Archimedes approached her and did something rather unorthodox for a college professor.

He punched her in the face… Lightly of course. It was just a wake-up slap more or less, but it felt like a hell of a lot more than that to Scotch.

It did manage to regain Scotch from her fit of screaming though. She stopped suddenly, slowly opening her eyes that she didn’t even realize she had closed. Looking around the room from her new floaty position, she saw way too many eyes glaring at her. More eyes than she was comfortable with. She could have sworn she even saw a few looking at her with consideration, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that all of these eyes were looking at her, and she was beginning to feel a great amount of unease.

Scotch had also not realized but while she was suspended in midair, Archimedes was giving her an absolute howling lecture. Her sense of hearing had all but diminished during her screaming state and had still yet to recover. Fortunately for her sanity (which had already diminished greatly at this point), she didn’t hear the rather sadistic amount of snickering coming from three stallions behind her getting a good view of her ‘you know what.’

“...and vhat must a put aside my highly important project for? A screaming mare, whom thought it vas a gut idea to fall asleep in class anyvay. I’m not surprised zis happened…” Scotch’s sense of hearing was beginning to come back so she could now begin catch bits and pieces of the lecture. It was not good… Not good at all.

“...was ist los, Frauline? Cat got your tongue? Answer me, dammit! I’m not standing here for ze good of meine health. WAS. IS. LOS!?” Archimedes was pissed. This was the first time anything really managed to distract him from his very important project. For all we know we could only have two minutes before we all exploded. Celestia knows what kind of crap he’s making.

Scotch really needed to get out of this rather unflattering position. The snickers from behind her were now coming to her attention, and she knew exactly what the snickering was about. Quickly regaining her senses, she moved her tail to cover what the perving stallions were getting a good view of, causing them to let out a sigh of disappointment.

Now… How does a pony escape from a magical grip from another? The answer: Overload said ponies horn with your own magic causing a brief magical surge, leading said pony to lose their ability to do magic for a brief moment. Simple, really. All Scotch had to do was find the correct magic frequency, and boom! She’d be free and her captor wouldn’t be harmed in the process. The Great and Powerful Horsedini knew his stuff, and Scotch found this particular method useful for other sticky situations she so happened to be in.

However, Scotch really didn’t care about safety measures anymore. She was stuck in an unflattering position, had filthy stallions staring at her private area, had way too many eyes glaring at her from around the room, and she had just screamed the place down meaning others could be coming to see what’s up very soon. With an orange spark, Scotch struck Archimedes’ horn with a cancellation spell, putting full power into it trying to make sure she caused the thing to split open from the top down.

You didn’t necessarily need the correct frequency, you just needed to overload the horn with enough magic so it stopped working, however this was a lot more dangerous. It was kind of like a method used in Arcane Electronics, more specifically by ponies called ‘hackers.’ They called it ‘DDOSing.’ This is when a hacker overloads an arcane server with enough magical data packets that it begins to slow down and eventually stop working. Of course, an act like this was illegal in Equestrian eyes, and it managed to grant these hackers a good prison sentence of up to four years depending on what got DDOSed. New magic and all? It’s scary...

Whatever Scotch was doing, it was certainly working as predicted. She strained every last bit of cancellation magic into Archimedes’ horn, thus causing the magical field surrounding Scotch to flicker. Suddenly, there was a pop, and Archimedes fell back in a cry of pain while Scotch fell onto the ground belly first, her horn smoking. Upon closer inspection, Archimedes hadn’t sustained any life changing damage, but his horn was flickering blue sparks.

Scotch picked herself up and dusted herself off, including wiping the new found soot off of her horn. Looking around the room she noticed all eyes were still on her. Crap… One thing may have been sorted, but she still had her audience to deal with.

Suddenly, everypony began to stomp their hooves on the ground. It sounded like… an applause? A real applause? Wow! All Scotch had to do was take on a teacher and suddenly gain the respect of everypony. Ponies were nodding their heads in approval as the stomping got even louder. Scotch could get used to a life like this… A life of thunderous applause…

However, this felt wrong. Something about all of this felt off. Nopony should be able to win over a crowd of delinquent immature ‘wankers’ just by putting others through physical pain. It was wrong, and yet somehow this is how one earned respect! No… This applause was undeserved, and Scotch hated it.

“Stop it…” Scotch muttered, looking downwards at the professor who was now touching his horn with a hoof, and received shots of pain every time.

The applause continued.

“Stop it!” Scotch said raising her voice. The sound of the applause filling the room drowning out anything she might want to say.

The applause got louder.

“Shut the fuck up, please!” Scotch shouted, her mind beginning to swirl. The noise from her peers yet again getting to her.

The applause grew even louder, but Scotch noticed a few ponies give her a weird look. They knew what was about to happen.

“ALRIGHT YOU FUCKING CUNTS! STOP YOUR FUCKING STOMPING, AND SHUT THE FUCK UP BEFORE I TELEKINETICALLY DROP YOU INTO THE FUCKING FLOOR! Fucking twats…” Scotch had yet again lost her cool, but instead of being an environment where she was on her own, she was in an environment where she could verbally let loose on a few ponies.

The applause immediately stopped, save for a few pervy stallions that decided to continue as a joke.

Scotch whirled on the three and unloaded a raging torrent she had been keeping cooped up inside her for way too long. “Alright fuck boys, you got a good look at my cunt, didn’t you, huh? Fucking liked it and all, huh? Disgusting fucking inbreds.“ Scotch jabbed each one of them with a hoof. She knew who the three were. They were brothers, all members of the Apple Family. No wonder they smelt like pig shit and rotten apples. Typical smell of the Apple Family.

“I’m surprised at you three, you know? Being a member of the Apple Family and all. You sure you want to be staring at my cunt all day, when you can quite easily do more with your sister’s, mother's, grandmother’s, aunt’s, great aunt’s and cousin AJ’s cunt back home, right? Ohhh sorry… By do more, I mean have already done more! No wonder there’s so fucking many of you deformed inbred freaks!” Scotch verbally lashed at the three brothers, causing a collective gasp to echo throughout the room.

One of the brothers, the oldest named Sour Apple, stepped forward. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Now listen here Missy. Ya’ll insulting mah family name like that? That’s worth a good ol’ ass kickin’ if ah ever saw one. We ain’t inbred, are we fellas?” Sour turned to his two brothers who all gave rather nervous shakes of their head. Hmm… Maybe Scotch did have some merits to her insults.

“Oh, give over you turd colored prick!” Scotch yelled, now insulting the color of the stallions coat. It did look like a turd. No argument there. “Ya’ll this and ya’ll that. I’m sorry, but I find your way of speaking laughable. You’re too laughable to even be considered threatening!”

“You filthy Trottingham whore!” one of the younger brothers, Toffee, stepped forward readying to buck Scotch right in the face. Quickly, Scotch grabbed the brother with her telekinesis and shoved him back into his seat before he even got a kick off. Suddenly, Scotch felt a little twinge of pain in her soot-covered horn. The use of the magic disabling spell must have taken it’s toll, which was understandable. The spell demanded a lot from the caster, and it didn’t help that this was her first time casting it.

This was really starting to get out of hand, for both Scotch physically and mentally, and the rest of the class. The classroom was starting to become a mess, she had lost what little cred she had left with the Apple family, and now she could feel a migraine coming on from her over-dependency on magic. But she mustn't back down. She mustn't let them think she’s weak. She shrugged off the pain from the migraine, mare'd up, and continued doing what she did best.

“Unicorn Master Race, baby! Can’t get a horn like this if you’ve been inbreeding since the dawn of time now, can you?” Scotch taunted, getting in the brothers face. “I’m done with you scum…”

Scotch turned away and headed towards the door exiting the classroom, and was greeted with a gaggle of ponies staring in, looking to see what the crazy mare was up to. More audience members? Scotch didn’t have time for this.

Approaching the door, the ponies shuffled slightly but didn’t move. They were attempting to keep Scotch contained until somepony of authority showed up to settle things. She didn’t have time for that. She thought about grabbing the two closest ponies blocking the door with her telekinesis, but remembering the pain she felt before, she hesitated on the thought. She may be able to push through the migraine with a smile and a bitchy attitude, but how long would that last?

“Get out of my way!” Scotch ordered as she barged her way through the crowd, leaving the ponies watching her in awe. She may be a mad mare with attitude, but she had talent. Leaving a classroom in a complete mess was something Scotch had never intended to ever do, but she had no choice. They were in her way, and she refused to back down. She was done. Finished. There was no way she could return to college after the shit she pulled today. Nopony would ever come near her ever again.

Storming towards the college exit, she was impressed that nopony was following her to apprehend her. She was surprised, but deep down she knew that she deserved any punishment that would be given to her. Were they scared? No… Not possible. No pony in Equestrian history would ever pull a stunt like this. Equestria is a lovely place filled with friendship and flowers and rainbows and…

...and Scotch needed to leave. There was nothing left for her anymore. She could never return to college, she could never apologize to Ember, and she could never return home to Trottingham a failure. She was stuck, but she could come up with a plan. Of course she could! The Great and Powerful Scotch always had a plan!

But first, she needed a drink… A hot drink… Scotch wondered if Cuppa Joe was still open, and if so, if Sunny was still working.

~~~

As Scotch’s grandfather used to say, “Planning on a coffee-free mind is a plan to fail.” Coffee is a perfect drink for planning the most ambitious and ridiculous of plans. The caffeine boost, helping one stay awake through the early hours of the morning. The smell of the coffee, clearing one's senses and giving one a much clearer vision on what they wanted. It was the perfect drink for the brain!

Or, you know, tea could work too. Scotch couldn’t really tell the difference between either drink anyway. Especially when she was using either to recover from frequent hangovers. They all tasted the same.

But a hangover wasn’t the thing she needed to nurture right now. She needed a plan. A plan to escape Ponyville. A plan to escape Ember and Blue and avoid ever apologizing to either of them. Her special talent was escaping things, so escaping problems was no different. It should be an absolute cakewalk.

After about an hour or so of fast-paced trotting through Ponyville, Scotch finally arrived at Cuppa Joe’s and was met with that sweet smell of coffee as soon as she opened the doors. She took a big whiff of the air and almost immediately, her senses were lifted. She could think clearly now the rain from her mind had gone. Even the pain in her horn was beginning to subside.

Scotch began walking towards the counter at a rather slow pace, almost the speed of a crawl. She needed to think, and she needed to come up with her plan as fast as she possibly could. For all she knew, Ember, and even more likely, Blue, could walk through those doors any second now and she’d be red pony chunks on the ground. And it would be Sunny’s job to clean them up! Poor stallion…

A vision flashed in Scotch’s mind showing Ember flying Scotch, tied up tightly with a rope, high up over Ponyville, and the next moment later she was being dropped to the ground screaming. The vision made her cringe with fear. Her imagination was vivid enough, and the coffee smell certainly wasn’t helping all of these dark thoughts. Scotch was more eager now than ever to get out of Ponyville. What if these visions became a reality? They most likely will, knowing Ember’s track record for low shit tolerance.

Scotch’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a trio of school fillies who had just received a cupcake from Sunny, who was grinning warmly from behind the counter. The school fillies didn’t notice the frazzled red unicorn mare due to them being so busy singing some made up song, and because Scotch was lost completely in her own thoughts, she didn’t notice them either. This concluded in an almighty splat of cupcake icing all down Scotch’s front.

It really wasn’t Scotch’s day…

“Oh for the love of Celestia, will you brats watch where you’re going?!” Scotch shouted, waving her hoof at them like an old grandmother telling some kids to get off her lawn. The fillies had stopped their singing and were now looking up at the pissed off mare with wide, trembling eyes.

“We’re so sorry miss… We… we didn’t mean to do it…” said the trembling fillies in unison.

“You didn’t mean to? Well maybe if you open your eyes for more than a second, you would see whatever is a few feet in front of you, huh?” Scotch shouted again, whipping the cupcake icing off of her front and viciously throwing it onto the ground with a slop. “I swear, if I catch you three interrupting my thinking bubble again, I’ll bake you all into cupcakes. Little Filly Cupcakes! It would be a hit with those Diamond Dogs, don’t you think?”

“No! Please miss, I’m sorry! Don’t bake us all into cupcakes. It was Peachy Pie’s fault! Bake her instead!” urged one of the fillies, who was the exact color of the sun. If Celestia had a child, could this be her?

“What?! Sunny Daze, how could you? I’m your best friend! And besides, I think you would go better in a cupcake,” Peachy Pie told her ‘friend,’ sticking her tongue out, disgusted she even suggested the idea. These fillies didn’t seem so phased by the idea of being turned into cupcakes anymore.

“A Diamond what?” the other filly asked naively, who was a blonde-maned grey unicorn. She looked a little bit like the ditsy pegasus mailmare. She also just stared blankly at Scotch, completely unresponsive to her threats.

“Please Miss, bake Peachy Pie! She’ll make delicious peach cupcakes… Obviously…” said Sunny Daze, who was now practically begging for her friend to be the one to get eaten… What was wrong with these kids?

“Alright! That’s enough. Fillies, ignore what she said. Here, I have another cupcake for you all,” in came Sunny, still obnoxiously grinning at the fillies and offering each of them a new cupcake.

“Yaaaaay! Thank you Mr. Sunny! See Sunny Daze? Why can’t you be nice like Mr. Sunny? You both share the exact same first name,” Peachy Pie said with a mouthful of cupcake.

“Well excuuuuuuuse me, but I don’t like being turned into a cupcake, Peachy,” Sunny Daze reasoned, sticking her tongue out at both Peachy and Scotch. “Anyway, I am a good filly! Mommy always said so!” Sunny Daze began to beam. Selling out your best friend. How saintly…

“Girls, please… Don’t start arguing in here. Aren’t you supposed to be heading home?” Sunny reminded the trio.

“Oh, right… Sorry Mr. Sunny! Come on girls,” Peachy said and began trotting out of the store followed closely by Sunny. Shortly after leaving, they began arguing again about cupcakes. Fillies are always so loud. You can hear them when they’re so far away.

Scotch looked down and noticed that the little grey unicorn filly was still staring up at her with a puzzled look on her face. Scotch sighed, “What is it? Do I have something in my mane?”

The little filly continued staring with the same puzzled expression. Scotch leaned in close and stared back. Did the little filly want a staring contest or something? Seeing as how unresponsive she is, they might be there all night.

Suddenly, a shrill and loud noise came from behind Scotch, breaking her concentration, “DINKY! WE’RE LEAVING!” Scotch turned on a dime, ready to pound the noise-maker into dust, but was grabbed hold of by Sunny before she got the chance. The little grey unicorn, Dinky, had now darted out of the store.

Sunny spun Scotch around and looked her in the eyes. There was anger in those eyes. Anger was something you didn’t really see much from Sunny. Something was quite obviously bothering him. “Scotch, will you take a breather for just a second? What the hell is wrong with you? I know you’re usually irritable, but this? Threatening kids? That’s a bit much, don’t you think?” Sunny asked, trying really hard not to raise his voice above a few decibels.

Scotch chuckled, “Trust me Sunny… Threatening kids isn’t the worst thing I’ve done today. How about insulting the inbred? Is that too much?”

Sunny facehoofed, “Scotch… You really need to get a grip. Insulting ponies isn’t going to get you anywhere. It’s only going to make things worse. I wouldn’t be surprised if those fillies told their parents. What will you do if three very angry mothers came banging on your door, or worse yet, came bothering me?”

“Well, I won’t be around to see these angry parents. Thank Celestia for that,” Scotch breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing she needed was angry parents on top of angry blue unicorns, angry griffons, angry professors and angry Apple’s.

“What is that supposed to mean, you won’t be around?” Sunny asked, now looking slightly more concerned.

“Nothing! Nothing at all. Now, be a dear and get me the regular old coffee I like. Please? I need mad pony thinking time,” Scotch said and began walking towards the stools in front of the counter. Sitting on her regular stool, she took out her quill, ink, and notepad from her saddle bags and began jotting down notes for her escape plan…

...which is what she would have done if she hadn’t left her saddle bags at college after her little ‘moment.’ Shit… Looks like it was time to improvise.

Looking around the store, Scotch could see a wide variety of items to use for planning. First things first, she needed something to write on. Napkins will do! Finding the closest napkin dispenser, she pulled out five or ten napkins all at once with her magic and scattered them on the counter in front of her. There was another slight twinge of pain in her horn, but Scotch paid it no mind. She smiled down at the napkins, knowing that she had just done a smart thing. Sunny, who had now just began brewing the coffee, took notice of what Scotch was doing. He just looked on in concern, hoping she didn’t do anything too stupid or dangerous.

Ok, next item. Scotch needed something to write with. A quill and ink won’t do, and nopony in the store at the moment looked like they had one on them. Shit, this is going to be tough. Looking around the store a bit more, Scotch noticed a rather fancy looking pony wearing a gorgeous hat with what looked like peacock feathers. Convenient timing, Miss Fancy Pants! Despite the minor pain, Scotch managed to pluck the feather from Fancy Ponies hat using her telekinesis. The feather wobbled precariously in the air; Scotch’s telekinesis weakening as she floated it over to where she sat, but she persisted.

Ok, so that’s two items down. One to go… Scotch just needed the ink. How in Equestria would Scotch get ink in a place like this? Looks like this is a job for the legendary coffee brain drink!

“Ahem, Sunny? Could you hurry? I’m awfully parched over here,” Scotch said, fluttering her eyelashes trying to charm the buck, much to her displeasure. Stallions really weren’t her thing.

Sunny chuckled, “Well, if you’re parched, then why do you want coffee then? Wouldn’t a glass of water do you just fine?”

Ouch. Talk about caught in the act. “What? Parched? Did I say parched? No no no, I meant I’m not parched. Not parched in the slightest. I’d like to be parched though. Yep…” Scotch tried to recover lamely.

Sunny simply sighed, “It’ll be done when it’s done, Scotch. Just relax. You really do seem more frazzled than ever.”

All Scotch really could do at this moment was sit and chill. She really just couldn’t think of any good ink substitutes. Scotch began mentally kicking herself for leaving her bags behind at college. If she would have restrained herself, she might be already well on her way to planning her escape…

The door behind Scotch opened and in came four more ponies, all of which carried saddle bags of their own. Maybe Scotch could ask one of them for some ink…

...Or maybe not. As Scotch turned around, she instantly recognized the four. It was the three Apple brothers, tailing behind a rather pissed off looking Vanilla. Scotch quickly turned back around and began nervously rearranging the napkins in no particular order. She thought she had escaped the college…

The three Apple brothers took a seat not so far away from Scotch in one of the booths and just stared on over to where Scotch was sat. Vanilla trotted up to Scotch and sat to her left. Scotch didn’t even respond to Vanilla’s presence, and instead continued rearranging the napkins. Vanilla let out a gentle ‘ahem’ trying to get Scotch’s attention. It didn’t work. Vanilla raised up her hoof preparing to gently punt Scotch around the back of her head. Scotch saw this out of the corner of her eye and quickly flinched, turning towards Vanilla in a flash, visions of Blue punching Scotch repeatedly with her forehooves flashing through her mind. She raised up her own hoof to shove Vanilla’s away, and quickly gave Vanilla a nervous shooty look. The Apple brothers snickered in response to this. Vanilla however just looked Scotch deeply in the eyes.

After a few long seconds, Vanilla perked up and broke the silence. “This all happened because you broke that mirror, y’know…” Poor naive, naive Vanilla…

Scotch grunted in response to this. Breaking mirrors didn’t cause bad luck, and if it did then Scotch already had the bad luck inside of her. “Oh you would think that, wouldn’t you? How naive can your little mind be?” Scotch asked, jabbing Vanilla with a hoof.

Vanilla simply shrugged, “Hey girl, I’m only speaking the truth here. It’s all a massive conspiracy! You break the mirror, and suddenly everything goes to shit. This isn’t some coincidence, this really is some Discord bullshit!”

Sunny leaned over from where he was still brewing Scotch’s coffee. It was nearly done it seemed. “Hey, you’re uh… Really not helping with this conspiracy crap. So can you please give her a rest? She’s had a tough time as of recently,” Sunny requested, noticing Scotch’s shooty look.

Vanilla shrugged again, “Hey man, I’m only trying to help a chick out. That’s what friends are for, right?” Vanilla nudged Scotch, giving her a wink.

“We are not friends, and we never will be. Please Vanilla, I’m trying to plan something really important right now. So unless you have a bottle of ink to give me, piss off. The shit flowing out of your mouth is really starting to put me off from wanting this coffee,” Scotch threatened, jabbing Vanilla with a hoof at the end of every sentence.

“Ouch, alright girl. Take it easy…” Vanilla said with a pout. She turned towards the three Apple brothers, who were sat down trying to stifle their laughter. “Hey, uh… What should I do guys? She’s really killing my vibe.”

Sour Apple, who had now donned a rather fetching looking black desperado hat since Scotch last saw him, looked back at Vanilla, and then back to Scotch, and then back to Vanilla again. A smile crept across his muzzle. “Y’know what ah would do? Ah would tell her t’ get her shit together, y’know?”

“Oooooh! Ok, I got this guys. Don’t worry. She’ll be a changed mare when I’m done with her,” Vanilla said excitedly. She might be getting a new friend today. Vanilla began turning back to Scotch. Locking her own eyes with Scotch’s, who was shooting the same look, she inhaled, and spoke.

“Y’know what Scotch, you really have to get your shit together! Get it all together, and put it in a saddle bag, all of your shit, so it’s together... And if you gotta take it somewhere, take it somewhere, y’know? Take it to the shit store and sell it. Or… Put it in a shit museum. I don’t care what you do! You just gotta get it together. Get your shit together!”

Whatever the hell Vanilla just verbally spat out managed to cause a collective stare from every single patron around the cafe. All eyes were trained on her, and all eyes were looking at her in a state of bewilderment. Vanilla simply just sat there, grinning, thinking she had said something that could rival Princess Twilight’s friendship lectures. It was quite obvious this wasn’t the case when Sunny facehoofed, and following suit, so did Scotch, breaking her gaze away from Vanilla’s now obnoxious grin.

The the Apple brothers were now trying their absolute hardest not to erupt in a fit of laughter, all of them applauding Vanilla’s lecture with stifled grins and tears in their eyes. Getting out of her chair and turning to her ‘audience,’ Vanilla took a bow expecting to be showered in sweet smelling roses. Of course, knowing the collective response of the entire cafe, this never happened.

Whatever these four were doing, Sunny wasn’t having any of it. Getting out from behind the counter, he trotted towards Vanilla who was still bowing to her imaginary audience and gave her a tap on the back. She stopped instantly, realizing that she might be doing something stupid. She turned, and was greeted by a rather tired looking Sunny wearing an expression that simply said ‘what are you doing?’ Vanilla let out a nervous giggle and turned her head slowly towards her band of ‘inbred misfits’, as Scotch would call them. They were getting ready to bolt.

Sunny may have not been the most intimidating Earth pony, but being in a position of authority made one a lot more scary. “Alright, I want you, and the three stooges over there out. If all you’re doing is making noise and harassing my customers, then I really don’t want you around anymore,” Sunny ordered sternly.

Vanilla quickly searched for a response in her head, “What? Harassing? I wasn’t harassing, I wa-”

“Ah ah ah, no. I don’t care about any of your excuses. Whatever you were trying to do obviously wasn’t an attempt to help liven up the mood,” Sunny said, looking over to the exit briefly and noticing the Apple’s bolting out, ditching Vanilla. “Ah, look. Your colt friends just dumped you. So are you going to chase after them screaming ‘why did you leave me,’ or are you just going to continue standing around?”

Vanilla took a few steps backwards. There was a moment of silence, where Vanilla darted her eyes left and right looking around the cafe nervously. It was a perfect time for her to leave without saying a single word more. It’s what Sunny wanted, and it was what Scotch wanted. “Agh, to hell with it… If Scotch wants to just brood and rearrange napkins, then what do I care? Her bad luck isn’t my problem anymore,” Vanilla said, reflexively twitching, expecting Scotch to hurl a cup at her out of rage. She was surprised when nothing even came her way. No cups, no curse words, nothing. Scotch just sat there in complete silence.

It was time to leave Scotch be. She wasn’t even responding anymore. Vanilla turned towards the exit with her tail literally between her legs and trotted out. Sunny turned back around once he knew Vanilla had left the premises and began making his way back behind the counter. Scotch then caught his attention. All she was doing was sitting there, unresponsive, completely straight-faced. Scotch’s coffee had finished brewing, so grabbing a cup, he poured the coffee, added Scotch’s favorite amount of milk and sugar, and passed it to her. Scotch simply let out a shrug.

“What’s the matter, Scotch? Was it those four? Don’t let them get to you,” Sunny said with a smile as he came around the counter and sat beside her. No customers were arriving, so a little time off was well justified.

“I can’t drink this, Sunny…” Scotch muttered, pointing a hoof towards her horn. “When I try magic, it feels like my skull is going to split wide open. I can’t take doing any more magic. I could hardly lift a peacock feather! I fucked up big time earlier today… Hell, I’ve been fucking up big time my entire life.”

Sunny gave another warm smile, “Hey, let’s not think about these fuck-ups. You have hooves, y’know.”

“Thanks, but I don’t have that amazing Earth pony dexterity that you guys magically have. I’ll have to pass on this one. I wasn’t thinking straight at all… I just wanted to plan my Ponyville escape,” Scotch said, staring down at her coffee.

Sunny gave Scotch a look of curiosity and asked, “Ponyville escape? That’s a bit extreme don’t you think?”

“Not extreme when you have an angry little blue Unicorn, an angry griffon that could rip me into pony pieces, an angry Germane professor, and of course the three or four stooges breathing down my neck…” Scotch nervously blurted out, quick flashes of Ember’s sharpened talons flashing through her mind yet again.

An angry little blue Unicorn, and an angry griffon… Sunny instantly knew whom Scotch was talking about. “Scotch, I don’t know what you did, but whatever you did do, you need to apologize to both Blue and Ember. This can’t continue. I mean, all of this is making you look sick for ponies sake!” Sunny urged. He didn’t like seeing his friends fight.

“No, but you see, that’s the thing though! I can’t apologize. I won’t even be able to get a single word out after what I did to Blue… It’s all such a colossal fuck up,” Scotch loudly said, slamming her hoof down on the counter in frustration. The noise gathered a few looks from some ponies around the cafe.

“Whatever you did, it can’t be so bad that you’re willing to leave everything behind. Tell me what happened. And quietly, please,” Sunny now said, willing to help Scotch in any way he could, giving her another warm smile.

Scotch made herself comfortable. What she was about to say would likely cause a wide variety of reactions from Sunny. Maybe most of them bad, but what could she do? Could Scotch fuck up any more? Possibly not… The counselling earlier really didn’t help too much, but maybe talking to a friend might help.

~~~

About five minutes had passed since Scotch had finished telling Sunny her general life story relating to the past few days. Every little disgusting detail was gone over, giving Sunny a lot to digest. He sure did take his time digesting it however. For the past five minutes, all he did was sit there in silence, thinking about what to say. Every now and then he would open his mouth taking a short inhale like he was ready to finally say something, but then close it abruptly, shaking his head.

Scotch had simply slumped her head down onto the counter, staring deeply at the coffee mug placed in front of her. She wanted a drink, but her magic didn’t allow any safe use of telekinesis. So instead, she kept staring at it, wondering if she could try picking it up with her hooves. It couldn’t be that hard to do, but she decided against trying. Her streak for fucking things up wasn’t over just yet.

“So, uh… How was the… y’know… sex with Berry?” Sunny asked with an uneasy tone in his voice, morbid curiosity getting the better of him. Scotch raised her head up from the counter, and gave him a deadpan stare. “It’s just… I’ve been thinking about plucking some berries, y’know,” Sunny said with a slight smirk.

“What. The actual. Fuck,” Scotch said, smirking back at Sunny. “Tell me you’re not serious?”

Sunny let out a little chuckle, “No, no, I’m not serious. I just find it kinda amusing is all.” Despite the sensitive situation, it was sort of funny to think back on. The stupidity of it especially tickled Sunny’s funny bone. “But seriously though, Scotch. What the actual fuck was going through your mind? That’s what had me curious.”

Scotch sighed, thinking about how stupid her thought process was that night. “I don’t know Sunny. I don’t know if I was drunk, or if I lost control of myself. My brain has a mind of it’s own sometimes, funnily enough. To be honest, all I really wanted was to use Blue as a way of getting back at Ember.”

“And what did Ember do to deserve your unyielding revenge?” Sunny asked, briefly checking around him looking to see if any customers had arrived. By some miracle, none had. It really was a slow day.

“Honestly, I really don’t know. Jealousy maybe, but it eventually just turned into the two of us flinging our own shit at one another for no reason besides petty revenge. But you know me Sunny, I can’t back down if somepony wants to start shit. Stubborn Pony has to hold her ground!” Scotch proudly proclaimed.

“So, why exactly are you wanting to run if you have to hold your ground?” Sunny asked, the hard questions were coming thick and fast.

“This is different though! Don’t you see? This is a matter of life and death! If I don’t get out of Ponyville, Ember is going to rip me to pieces, with Blue helping her!” Scotch replied nervously, pointing towards the cafe’s exit like that was the exit to Ponyville.

“But do you know that for sure? You do realize that Ember is possibly the most civil griffon I’ve met, right? I’m sure she’ll talk it out with you,” Sunny attempted to reassure.

“Have you not seen those talons? Why wouldn’t she want to use them on a little pest like me?” Scotch frantically responded, the thought of the talons getting to her more and more. “All I want to do is live! Achieve me dreams! Fuck all this Arcane Electronic bullshit. Stage performing is where it’s at these days.”

Scotch winced slightly, the pain from her horn shooting down into her skull the moment she even mentioned magic. Sunny caught wind of this. “With a horn injury like that? Scotch, I’m sorry but the way I see things… Well, let’s just say you’re kinda stuck.”

“Stuck huh? Really? Pfft, I’m never stuck. I can escape from everything. Planned, or completely improvised, it doesn’t matter. I escape, and that’s all you need to know!” Scotch proudly said, still speaking in a more frantic tone.

“Scotch…” Sunny said, trying to get her attention.

“I bet I can come up with a sound escape plan right now…” Scotch said, beginning to grin.

“...Scotch…”

“Ok, so you know the hot air balloon Sparkle used to use before she got those wings, right? Well, it’s never guarded, meaning anypony can pinch it. So, all I need to do is take that and…” Scotch began grinning more, shaking slightly.

“...Scotch!”

“...and wait for the Wonderbolts to come chasing after me. Then, when they get close enough, I grab some of the spare rope, if they have some in the balloon, and capture some of the fastest Wonderbolts by lassoing them and tying them to the balloon. So then…” Scotch said shaking even more from excitement.

“Scotch!”

“...So then… I fly my new Wonderbolt-powered hot air balloon all the way down to Trottingham. Put on an airshow for the masses with my new flying capabilities, crash the balloon into Number 10 Drawning Street to end the show because fuck the Trottingham Mayor and his taxes, rake in all the bits from the passers-by, use said bits to buy The Great and Powerful Trixie’s love, buy a house, retire early, and then me and Trixie can make sweet love every night! Perfect plan! What do you think?” Scotch said grinning wildly, her mane becoming frazzled from all of the excited shaking she was doing.

“Scotch… That is the most convoluted thing I’ve heard since your story about how you had sex with Berry, and then the events leading up to you telling me. You’re really good at telling convoluted stories, but this plan sucks.” Sunny said, facehoofing after fully digesting the whole plan.

“Oh… Way to be a Debbie Downer, ay mate…?” Scotch said, slightly realizing that the plan might have been a bit shit.

“Scotch, I want you to look me in the eyes right now. Ok?” Sunny urged, giving a gentle smile. Scotch turned slightly, looking Sunny directly in the eyes. It was kinda creepy with the now out of place mane, but it was what he asked for. “Listen, I want to tell you a story. You mentioned Trixie in you little rant… You’re obviously more than just a fan.”

Scotch perked up excitedly at the mention of Trixie, “Are you kidding?! I fucking love her and I’d love fucking her.”

“Shhh, I’m kind of a fan too but... I’m not as obsessed. But listen, what you plan on doing… Running away from everything… It goes without saying, but running away won’t help you. Your best bet is to just face your fears. I know, I know… It sounds cliche, but it’s true. Fate will find a way to catch up with you eventually. It always does. Karmic retribution and all that,” Sunny explained, smiling slightly at how cliche he sounded. It amused him somewhat.

“Hmpf, I don’t believe in fate… A load of superstitious bollocks,” Scotch pouted, folding her forelegs.

“Hey, I’m trying to make a point here, ok? You know Trixie used to have your mentality right? She used to believe running away from things did nothing but benefit her in the long run. She always proclaimed how Great and Powerful she was before vanishing away in a poof of smoke, only to leave behind a bunch of slightly annoyed individuals. Well, she couldn’t really do that when she was captured and forced to perform a show by the Diamond Dogs,” Sunny said, getting slightly excited at the fact that he was getting to tell this story.

Scotch doubted the truth of this story. “The Diamond Dogs? You’re making this shit up.”

Sunny held up his forehooves and exclaimed, “No, it’s true. Heard it straight from the horse's mouth herself.”

“You… met… T-T-Trixie and you didn’t tell me?!” Scotch said, raising her voice, getting some looks from around the cafe.

“Hey, I didn’t even know you liked her. Besides, it was a while ago and she looked pretty messed up. She was covered in dirt, grime, drool… It wasn’t a pretty sight. But anyway, she came into the cafe asking for a latte to go, I asked her what happened, and funnily enough she told me,” Sunny explained, smiling. It was a fun story, and telling it to a Trixie fan was sure to get some great reactions.

“And… What exactly happened?” Scotch asked, now a lot more curious.

“Well, much like you right now, she was stuck. She couldn’t run because it wouldn't benefit her, and she was scared that the thing she wanted to run from was going to kill her. History likes to repeat itself, except in your case I doubt you’re in any danger. Trixie however was in terrible danger, and she’s lucky to even be alive. As I said, the Diamond Dogs wanted her to put on a show, or she would be forced to dig up gems for them for eternity. Failing the gem digging, she would be put on a spit, roasted, and eaten…” Sunny said with an ominous tone in his voice.

“Fuck me with Celestia’s solar flares!” Scotch exclaimed. Sunny chuckled at her little outburst. This is the reaction he expected.

“Exactly… It wasn’t pretty. However, even without any convincing from any outside sources, she faced her fears and put on her show. She even said it was her best show yet. Shame no one got to see it,” Sunny said remorsefully. He would have loved to see the show, and no doubt Scotch would have too.

“Fucking Diamond Dogs…” Scotch muttered under her breath.

“But you see what I’m getting at, right? Trixie has faced her fears, survived, and came out on top and she didn’t run. She did the thing that terrified her the most. Let you idol inspire you to do what you fear the most! Please,” Sunny begged. He didn’t want to see Scotch in such a frazzled state anymore.

“Damn, this story really does put things into perspective doesn’t it? Fuck… I’m such an idiot…” Scotch said, banging her head on the counter.

“No Scotch, you aren’t an idiot. You are a smart pony with a lot of intelligence, potential, and you have one of the most crazily imaginative minds that I’ve ever seen. Despite how bonkers that plan of yours was, it was imaginative. You’re my friend, Scotch, and I’m here to support you no matter what. If you need more help at all, don’t be afraid to come and ask,” Sunny reassured, giving a beaming smile.

“Thanks but… I’m really not good at apologizing…” Scotch muttered quietly.

“Well, I can help if you-”

“NO!” Scotch shouted, gathering a few looks from around the cafe yet again. She noticed, and decided to continue a lot quieter, “no… Please… Don’t force this. I’m still not sure if I should take the risk.”

“Ok… I won’t help you apologize. I won’t force any of this to happen if you don’t want it to. But please, at least give it a go,” Sunny said reluctantly. Some ponies are just really stubborn it seems.

“I’ll think about it… Heh, but I’ll say one thing though…” Scotch began to say, starting to smile a little bit.

“What’s that?” Sunny asked.

“Why would I ever want to leave Ponyville now that I know I have a cool friend backing me up?” Scotch asked rhetorically, looking back at Sunny with a big smile.

“Heh heh, well, what else can I do? I can’t just leave you alone forever. I don’t know what you would do on your own.” Sunny said, smiling back.

Scotch leaned off of her stool giving the Earth pony stallion a hug. Stallions may not be good for fucking, but they sure were good for hugging.

“Thank you…” Scotch whispered, tearing up slightly.

“Don’t mention it,” Sunny said proudly. He’d earned himself a hug today and he was happy to have gotten one.

The hug went on for slightly longer than it should have, but that didn’t matter. Hugs were nice, and it was a great way of showing appreciation to somepony you care about. It was a good stress reliever too, which Scotch needed since she hadn’t hugged somepony in forever.

“Oh crap, my shifts over!” Sunny realized after looking at the clock, breaking the hug, “I don’t know who the hell will be filling in. Possibly Apricot or somepony else… Not that sure.”

“So… Are you just gonna go home or…” Scotch asked, unsure if he wanted to go home or...

“How does your place sound?” Sunny said with a slight smile.

“Y’know… Oddly I was hoping you would say that. It’s a date then!” Scotch cheerfully said, getting her wish!

“Ha ha, brilliant,” Sunny chuckled. The two ponies got off of their stools and began making their way towards the cafe exit. They talked about what they could do together. Scotch suggested she show him her massive Trixie collection; they were both fans after all. Sunny’s eyes lit up at the thought of seeing said collection, and the pair began hurrying swiftly towards the cafe exit.

Of all the shit that happened today, this was a highlight. A blossoming friendship! Something Scotch really, really needed.

Chapter 13 - Stealing Home

As Apple was walking through Ponyville, he thought to himself how this was unusual, seeing as how before he met his new friends, he would just sit at home doing nothing. But, for these past few days, he really felt like he actually had something to do. And, after all, he did like walking around in the snow, even if it was chilling to the bone.

It had been a few days since the party. Socially interacting with other ponies other than his brother was still very hard for him, but he felt that he was getting better at it. The past few days he spent mostly hanging out with Sunny Blitz, usually at the coffee shop. A good hot chocolate is never a bad thing, and Sunny always knew how to make it just right. He would sit at the counter and have a casual chat with Sunny, and Apricot too. Then, from where he sat, he could observe Ponyville’s inhabitants go about their business through the large windows of the establishment. It was one of his new favorite things to do.

But he had no time for pleasantries today. It was getting late, and Pippin had neglected to buy any food, leaving Apple to go out and buy food for himself. Not like buying food was something Pippin would do anyway. He just assumed Apple would go out and buy the food while he sat at home. Apple frowned. He felt a swear, or some sort of angry mumbling would be something one would do right about now.

“Pippin is such a fucking bastard,” he said to himself. There. It already made him feel a little better. Cathartic, or something.

With Hearth’s Warming Eve just around the corner, and with a lot of shops closing earlier to give their employees some time off to spend with their families, Apple had to go to the one store in town that ran full time, all the time: the soup store. It was just a few streets away from his apartment, so it wouldn’t be too long of a walk. He started to sink into some thoughts while he mindlessly walked towards the store. Besides Sunny, he hadn’t actually hung out with his other friends that much. He saw Apricot a bunch, and Melon Drop was also around the coffee shop sometimes, but Scotch and Blue Stroke, who were usually common sights there, had apparently not been in for some time now. Not to mention Ember, who was always working it seemed.

While he was thinking, he barely even noticed that he was almost there. He looked around for the bright white board that hung above the store window. He saw the sign eventually, but his attention was quickly grabbed by a downtrodden blue mare with a coffee cup for a cutie mark, head hung low, slowly trotting across the street. Apple’s heartbeat increased slightly and he ran towards her.

“Hey, Blue! I didn’t think I’d run into you!”

Blue Stroke looked up, “Oh. Hey Apple...”

Apple was confused. This was unlike how Blue normally acted. He was determined to find out what had happened. This was something friends did for each other, right?

“What’s… wrong?” he asked, hoping he said it right.

She sighed. “I got rejected again. That’s the fifth job interview this week that I messed up. You’d think that somepony with my qualifications would find it easy to get some sort of job regardless of where I asked, but no. Nothing I do is any good. It’s all sloppy.”

Apple was unsure how to react to the stream of words. How do you handle such a situation? Change the subject? Attempt to comfort her?

“It can’t be that bad. You’re good at a lot of things!”

Blue looked at him directly. “Like what?”

Apple was panicking, although he didn’t show it. ‘I don’t know you that well!’ he thought. “You’re uh…,” ‘SEXY LOOKING,’ he almost blurted out, “... very smart,” he said, with a hint of uncertainty in his voice that he hoped she didn’t pick up on, but bad luck struck again.

“I mean, sure,” she said with a hint of disapproval. Was this how mares behaved? Perhaps it was a good thing he stayed away from them for as long as he did. He had heard about mare behavior, of course. Pippin might not be the most reliable source, but he was adamant that mares were like a different species. It was like they behaved on another level entirely, according to his brother at least. And from his tone, Apple could tell it was one of those times that Pippin was being genuine about something.

“I mean it,” Apple said. “You graduated with admirably high grades, and from a great university, right? That’s more than I can say. I mean, I graduated but my grades were not something to really write home about… My professor was a total jerk, anyway.”

She chuckled. “Where are you headed, anyway?”

‘Success!’ he thought. ‘She changed the subject by herself! Impending disaster averted!’ “I’m just headed to the soup store. Pippin didn’t bother to buy food. Again. So I have to do it myself. Again.”

“I was just going to get some soup myself. Might just perk me up a bit after being denied a job so many times…” Blue said.

“Yeah, it just might,” Apple agreed, as he followed Blue into the soup store.

Just as they entered, an angry stallion walked out of the entrance. “No soup for you! Come back, one year!” shouted a voice from inside the shop, and most likely the reason for the stallion leaving.

As Apple entered, he saw a mostly clean glass counter with various delicious soups visible to all the visitors. The walls on both sides had benches for any customers who had to wait, but they were more of a common courtesy than anything else, as customers rarely had to stay much longer than it took to place and receive an order. Directly behind the glass counter was the kitchen, visible to any visitor’s eye. An array of shining metal cooking equipment, attended to by serious-looking staff, promised high quality to the consumer. But the sight that demanded the most attention was the stallion directly behind the counter.

He was definitely a bit bigger than the average earth pony stallion. He had an oak colored coat, a short, deep brown mane, very thick eyebrows, and a thick mustache that beamed ‘authority’. His eyes were a deep brown as well. His cutie mark was, quite simply, a soup can. His voice boomed, with a similar accent to Lotus Blossom at the Ponyville Spa. Presumably, they came from the same homeland, but nopony dared to ask him about it. His real name was not even known, but his demeanor had earned him the endearing nickname; ‘The Soup Neighzi’. The only thing you were allowed to do in his soup store was order, stand and receive, and nothing else. There was usually a line leading to the outside, filled with ponies wanting to get great soup, but since it was getting late, it was only Blue and Apple. Apple gulped. The Soup Neighzi could do anything to them, and nopony would ever find out… there were no witnesses around to tell the tale! What if the reason that the soup tasted so great was because there was pony flesh used in it? Apple didn’t even notice when Blue stepped up to the counter until it was too late.

“Order!” The Soup Neighzi said, almost yelling the words.

Blue looked the stallion straight in the eyes. “I need condolence soup! Extra noodles! And a second batch of egg drop soup because my friend likes that.”

Apple gave Blue a weird look. She didn’t say she was ordering for Ember too. He guessed he should have just assumed it, seeing as how they acted around each other.

The Soup Neighzi slowly brought his face closer to Blue’s, leaning over the counter. His face was getting red, like it was about to blow. “Do not tell me how to do job! No soup for you! Come back, one year!” he said, pointing towards the door.

Blue merely turned around and flicked her tail towards the angry soup vendor, with an attitude that confounded Apple, leaving him to make his order. Soup Neighzi quickly snapped his head towards him, “Order!”

Apple thought for a second, “Tomato soup, your finest soup that ponies order when they're down, and egg drop soup. How you normally make it,” he added.

The Soup Neighzi was still staring at Apple as he quickly scribbled down a note and handed it to one of the workers in the kitchen, who, seemingly out of nowhere, pulled out a bag with three containers, the soup names written on them in thick black marker pen.

“Thank you!” Apple quickly bolted out the door, scared his soup would be taken away from him, and glanced back nervously as he exited. He looked down the street and saw Blue already walking away. He couldn’t let her just go home yet, not in that mood. He felt like he still had a job to do and by Celestia, he was going to do it. He never thought the whole friend thing was for him, but he was smart enough to know not to knock it before you try it, as the saying goes. Maybe he could end up liking it. So far it’d been… Alright, he thought. But now was his chance to see a new side of friendships. He never tried to help another pony with their feelings before, so how would he even know if he was good at it or not? He wasn’t doing bad so far, was he? Who was he to judge?

“Hey uh, Blue!” he yelled after her, getting her to stop and turn around. He ran up next to her.

“What’s up Apple?”

“Oh well um, I uh, I just thought you’d want some uh… Company! Yea that,” he said awkwardly. He really meant it when he said he wasn’t good at this thing, at all. He didn’t even have the slightest bit of experience. His awkwardness didn’t help him. ‘Goddesses, you sound like a stuttering idiot’ he thought to himself.

“Oh, sure. I’d like that…” Blue replied quietly.

“Oh really? Great!” Apple said, a bit too loud he realized, causing him to shrink back a bit. “Sorry, I mean that’s good.” Blue laughed in response.

“If you were trying to cheer me up, it worked, a bit. You sir, are a funny little pony,” she said smiling, pointing and nodding her head towards him, laughing a bit again.

“Me? Funny? Pssh, no. Never been told that before in my life. And, wait, who are you calling small?”

“You, silly pony. Have you seen yourself in a mirror recently? You’re not the biggest stallion in town, that’s for sure.”

“Yea, whatever,” he said, a bit annoyed.

“What, something wrong?” Blue asked. Now it seemed to him that she was helping him more than the other way around like he planned.

“Pippin says I’m small too. He exaggerates, just to mess with me, but it still bothers me nonetheless.”

“That’s your brother right?” Blue wondered. She didn’t really know Apple too well considering they rarely ever spoke. She never had a big problem with him though, she thought he was alright, better than a lot of the annoying ponies in this town at least. She too wanted to get to know him better.

“Yea, Pippins my brother. Hate him to be honest. I try to avoid him as much as possible, but he’s still family so… Eh?”

“What’s wrong with him?” Blue asked curiously.

“Wrong with him?” Apple laughed. “What’s right with him?”

“It’s that bad?”

“Yea, er, well, no, not always,” he said, and continued after he saw Blue raising a brow. “He has a job, and I don’t, so it’s not right for me to hate him. He provides all the income in our household right now, because my lazy ass can’t get up to go get a job.” Blue gave a face of realization. “But as a pony? Oh no, I don’t admire him, how can I? I don’t even know how he keeps a job but he manages it somehow.”

“What does he do that’s so bad?” Blue asked, continuing her questions. Blue, having a minor in psychology under her literature-focused major, knew that to understand another pony you have to understand what they are living with, what they deal with everyday. This was probably the best way for her to get to know him better. And the only thing he could probably talk about. His cluelessness could bother her sometimes. It’d be hard to start a conversation with him because he’d either shy away or if you did manage to get him involved he wouldn’t have a damn clue what the hell you were talking about. ‘Goddesses, that can be annoying, can’t it?’ Blue had wondered. She knew this was something he could talk about, and extensively.

“Oh my, there’s too much to even say all at once. I’d have to write a book. I suck at writing books. But uh, yeah well, he’s just a straight asshole for one. An absolute asshole I tell you!” he yelled, stomping his hooves as they walked. “Do you know how many times he’s threatened to kick me out of the house?”

“Uh, a lot?” Blue suggested meagerly, giving him an odd look.

“Damn right a lot! And for what? I was mad at him in the morning for making a lot of noise the night before? Stupid stuff like that. It really… really grinds my gears. I don’t know the last time I’ve seen him come home without being completely smashed or with a mare or two or three or even more sometimes to do who knows what! Either way he always makes a lot of noise and I can almost never get any sleep. And whatever messes he makes, he makes me clean them up. He’ll pull the whole ‘this is my house, and paid with my money’ card every damn time. Treats me like I’m some sort of pony slave or something. I swear if I didn’t rely on him for… everything, then I wouldn’t hesitate a second to get out of there.”

“Wow that sounds like shit. There’s really nothing positive you can say about him?”

“Well, he does at least give me money to use and go out freely as I want. But that’s probably because he just hates the sound of me whining about it.”

“So he’s really just that bad?”

“Yes he’s that bad. I’m pretty sure he’s the only reason I’m still living with him too. The first time I built up enough courage to go out and try for a job, he showed up and botched up the interview by saying a bunch of weird things about me. I don’t know if he was drunk but I suspect he did it literally just so I’d have to keep living with him and he would never have to clean up after his own messes. Sometimes I feel like he makes messes just so he can have the enjoyment of watching me clean them up. If I’m not home, and I try not to be as much as possible, he’ll just let it sit and wait for me to get back to clean it.”

“Now I’ve met some pretty shit ponies in my life, but nopony has ever been that bad to me. You’re brother takes the shittiest cake. But, at least you have us now, right? There’s nothing he can do about that, now is there?”

“Well actually, I’ve barely talked to him about any of you. I fear if I say too much he’ll get interested and want to come in to ruin it for me.”

“That’s understandable I guess. We should do something about that. There has to be something you can do, right?”

“No, not really. Nothing I haven’t already tried. He’s too ignorant to listen to anypony besides himself.” Apple stopped in his tracks, prompting Blue to stop as well. “This is my place, I better get going, probably some mess I have to fix,” he gestured towards the door.

“You know what, why don’t you come home with me tonight? Get away from Pippin for a night.”

“Uh, I don’t think I could do that, and don’t you live in Ember’s house?” he wondered.

“Well yea, but she won’t mind. She doesn’t need that entire house to herself.”

“You sure?” he asked wearily.

“Yes, now come on.” Apple still looked unsure. “Our soup is getting cold, hurry up.” He still was wary. All of a sudden there was a random yell elicited from inside the apartment, sounding a lot like a mare having quite a good time.

“Alright, fine,” Apple said as he walked after Blue yet again. “It’s just up the road right?”

“Yea, a bit more towards the edge of town. Not too far.” Just then a sudden gust of cold wind blew through the street, chilling each of them to the bone. Both Blue and Apple were shaking as they walked. “Sweet Celestia’s sunny ass it’s cold!” Blue exclaimed. Apple gave the expression an odd look before just shrugging it off.

“Yea… It is. Not like we can do anything about that…” They both continued to walk in silence for a few moments before Blue spoke up.

“We could uh… We could huddle together,” Blue suggested. Apple gave her a cautious look like he thought it could be dangerous. “For warmth. You know, body heat?” Blue said.

“Right, right, sure whatever,” he said dismissively. Blue gave him a large smile as she leaped against him, now moving parallel to each other as they walked to keep warm.

“Oh my, I didn’t know you two were a thing!” a voice said from behind them. They both turned to see Melon Drop walking behind them. Why was she there? Neither of them knew, but she was.

“Us? A thing?” they each said in unison, followed by a short laugh.

“Yea, I mean look at you two, huddling up and such,” she responded. She was serious. She actually thought they were a thing. ‘That was ludicrous, right’, they both thought. There’s no possible way they could become ‘a thing.’

“For warmth!” Blue retorted.

“Yea yea sure, whatever you say blue butt. But I see what’s going on here. You can’t fool me!” she said humorously, pointing at each of them.

“Nopony is fooling anypony here Melon, trust me,” Blue said convincingly.

“Umm, yea, what she said,” Apple tried to assist, not helping very much. Just then, as Apple took a step forward across the snowy ground, his hoof struck a patch of ice, and he immediately wobbled all about. Apple, being the clumsy pony that he was, couldn’t help but thrash around in an attempt to balance himself. He reached out to grab the nearest support he could. As soon as he grabbed it, he fell over, but instead of his support helping him get back up, it fell with him to the ground. Melon, watching it all go down, ended up looking at Blue, Apple’s support, on the ground flipped upside down, and Apple atop her.

“Uh huh, yea, sure, not a couple, not at all. Whatever. See you later love birds.” And with that Melon turned and trotted off towards her home, a smirk on her face. Apple and Blue looked at each other sheepishly, giving each other awkward grins. All of a sudden they both at the same began getting off of each other.

“So sorry about that, I slipped,” Apple apologized.

“Don’t be, your body was warm. It felt, nice,” Blue replied.

“Oh... okay.” He didn’t know what to say. “But sorry anyways.” They continued their walk home, back in their side by side walking position for warmth, and made sure that Melon was not behind them anymore. Just then Apple remembered the whole reason he followed Blue in the first place. He was supposed to be trying to help her with her problem. What a great friend he was, just forgetting about a friends serious problems. “I just remembered, I was meaning to ask you about this whole job hunt of yours, try and help you and such.” Immediately, Blue’s head dropped towards the ground and she closed her eyes for a few seconds.

“Right… That…”

“If you don’t want to talk about it that’s alright. I just thought you might like some comforting. I’d be willing to do anything if it meant helping you.”

“No you’re right. I can’t put this off. I can’t lie, it’s had me down quite a bit. I could use a bit of comfort.”

“So what’s the problem then? Why can’t you seem to get a job? You’re a smart pony, we all know that.”

“Well, at first I wasn’t taking the whole job thing too seriously, so I went into the first interview completely drunk…”

Apple’s eyes grew wide. “What?! Really?” Blue nodded. “What did you do?”

“I don’t know for sure but I think I ended up sticking my ass in the stallion's face and telling him to… Kiss it or eat it or some shit like that. Luna damn me! What was I thinking going into a job interview drunk like that!”

“Well… I can’t tell you that. Only you can. What was that job for?”

“Bank assistant…” Blue answered solemnly. Apple gasped.

“Y-you stuck your uh… Butt, in a bank presidents face?” he asked. Blue nodded slowly. “Just how drunk were you?”

“A full bottle of Wild Pegasus and three shots of straight liquor…”

“Dear Celestia! That’s not healthy, you know that right?”

“Yea, I know. But I was treating my job search as a joke at the time and I thought it would have been funny to blow it off like that. The last four interviews all just went poorly in general all around. I gave stupid answers or did stupid things, simple as that. So here I am now a week later, jobless. I’ve practically run out of any good choices anymore. I don’t want some low-class, low-paying job, I have a degree for a reason. Now it would only be a temporary job, but still, I have expectations to meet.”

“Don’t worry about it, you’ll get one eventually.”

“I doubt it. I suck at getting a job like I suck at everything else, go figure.”

“Blue, you don’t suck, no more than me at least.”

“No, I do, in every way. Trust me.”

“How?”

“I just do, okay?”

“You’re not going to change your mind, are you?” Blue shook her head. “Alright fine, think what you want, but just know that I, and all of our friends don’t think you suck. Don’t forget that.”

“Sure, whatever.” They were nearing Ember’s house towards the edge of town.

“You’re sure Ember won’t mind me being here?” Apple asked.

“Yes I’m sure, she won’t mind a bit. As long as we don’t break anything or wake her up.”

“She’s asleep?”

“Yea, don’t worry about it, she sleeps like a rock. We’ll be fine,” Blue said as she opened the door with her magic.

“You know you didn’t have to do this for me. I would have been fine just dealing with Pippin.”

“I know,” Blue said, closing the door, “but to be honest, I was being a bit selfish when I asked you to come with me.”

“Selfish? How?”

“I kind of wanted somepony to be with. I needed somepony to talk to and I wanted you to follow me so I didn’t have to feel alone. Talking to ponies takes my mind off things. Sorry, you can go home if you’d like. It wasn’t right of me to do that.”

“What, no! No it’s fine. I’m more than happy to be helping you. I know I’m not very good at it, but it feels good to be trying.”

“Oh, you’re not bad, you’re fine really,” Blue said trying to console him.

“Really?” he asked hopefully.

“Okay, you’re still a pretty weird dude,” she said bluntly.

“Oh…”

“No, don’t feel bad! It’s in a good way. I like that. It makes you interesting to talk to, just some added entertainment.” Apple didn’t look convinced. Blue sighed before continuing, “Look, you made me laugh. That might not seem like anything special, but you’re the first to do so in a few days actually. Just by being around you I’ve felt a little better to be completely honest.”

“You… You really mean that?”

“Yes, of course I do. I may be a bunch of pretty bad things and can be called a bunch of pretty shit things, but a liar is not one of them. I know what everypony always says about you, I know how you feel a bit excluded from the group sometimes because we treat you differently, but really, I think I can easily say I like you more than most of them. You’re simple, calm, and while I may not show it, like, at all, I like that about you. You’re probably the only one that I would feel comfortable talking about my problems with because, as somepony who has plenty of their own, you would never judge me. The best ponies to talk about your problems to are not the ponies that have some doctor's degree, no, it’s the ones that feel the same way you do, because they can talk to you in a way that no doctor ever can, because they understand it personally instead of having learned about it from some damn book. They know the best ways to help each other, even if they don’t know how to help themselves,” Blue said as she sat down and immediately began eating her soup, placing Ember’s in the fridge for tomorrow.

“Wow, that… That actually made me feel better,” Apple said as he sat down across from her.

“Okay, good, because now it’s your turn,” she said, taking a big gulp from her soup. Blue was pretty hungry and the soup was really hitting the spot.

“My turn? To do what?”

“To make me feel better. So far all I’ve done is help you.” Blue took another large gulp of her soup, already almost done. It was some pretty damn good soup. Watching this blue pony stuff her whole snout in a bowl of soup was kind of making Apple lose his appetite. He was more of a mannerly type and watching this in front of him made Apple cringe just a little bit. He was thinking about saying something about how she had a spoon, but decided against it. When Blue pulled her head up from inside the paper bowl, the bowl instead stuck to her snout as she raised up, covering her face.

“That soup,” Blue started, sounding muffled as she gripped the bowl in two hooves, “was really fucking good,” she said as the bowl came off with a pop. Apple was giving her one of the most revolting looks. “What?”

“I take it you liked the soup?”

“Liked it? Pssh. I wish I could bath in that shit! I can just imagine it now, feeling all of that brothy goodness… All over my body… Everywhere.” Blue had on her face what was probably the weirdest smile Apple had ever seen. Actually, he thought he had seen it before. It was the face Pippin got when he was talking to the mares in town that he called ‘hot’.

“Riiight…” Apple said awkwardly. “Interesting.”

“Oh shit, I’m being weird again, sorry, I know that makes you uncomfortable.” That was an understatement to Apple. “Luna damn it! I suck at being a good friend, look at you, I probably just ruined your night just by saying that weird shit. I’m sorry…” Apple felt bad. By not allowing somepony to be who they are he just made them feel awful and he felt it was his fault. There they were, two awkward ponies, both sitting, thinking to themselves that they each were a bad friend and they each had hurt the others feelings. Apple, being the one who had more control of his emotions, pulled himself out of the mental hole and became the bigger pony for once. He wasn’t going to fail this time. He was going to help Blue, no matter what it took. She needed him right now. He might not be the best for the job but right now he was the only thing she had.

“Oh come on, it wasn’t that bad. It was actually kind of funny.” Sometimes ponies have to lie. “It wasn’t that weird. You just… Got a soup bowl stuck on your snout…”

“It wasn’t too weird?” Blue asked solemnly.

“It was… Weird, yes, but come on, look who you’re talking to right now. I’m the king of weird, sort of.”

“That… Kind of helps I guess.”

“Alright look, I know you’ve been feeling pretty down recently. That’s really the only reason I followed you, I want to make you feel better. I want to be the best kind of friend I can be. I will help you in any way I know how. Just say it, and if I can, I’ll do it. As long as it would make me a better friend and make you feel better.” Blue sat for a minute, quietly thinking as she watched Apple eat his soup slowly. She thought of all the strategies and ways she knew to make a pony feel better. There was a lot of things Apple could do for her and she knew that, but there was one thing that she had in mind. She knew how the saying went, ‘you never really know a pony, until you’ve seen all sides of them.’ To her narrow-mind, that only had one meaning...

“How ‘bout we uh… You come sit on the couch with me?”

“Will that make you feel better?”

“Yea, it will,” she assured him before turning away, “if this works the way I hope it does…” she said under her breath to herself. They both got up from the table, now done with their soup, and walked toward the kitchen door. Blue levitated the paper bowls into the trash as they exited. Apple climbed up on the couch all the way on the left end, facing the television. Blue crawled up next to him, sitting only inches away. It was a bit close for Apple’s liking but he was adamant to push through it for Blue’s sake.

“So uh… What we gonna do on the couch? Watch a movie?”

“Oh, we’re not watching a movie,” she replied in a sly tone.

“Are we… Talking about something?”

“Not really, no,” Blue replied again, though this time she had managed to inch a bit closer to Apple and turn a little towards him without him even noticing.

“Hmm. Are we… Gonna play a game?” he asked innocently.

“I guess you could say that,” Blue replied much less innocently.

“Ooh, I like games! What kind of game are we playing? Mind games? A board game?” Blue almost laughed at his cluelessness, but managed to hold it back and keep a calm composure.

“A physical game…” Blue was now turned completely towards Apple, a lecherous look in her eyes. Apple took notice of her new position on the couch.

“Oh I don’t know… I’m not very good at physical sports…” Blue began reaching a hoof towards his chest. “And I’m especially bad at wrestling...”

“You might surprise yourself Apple…” she laid her hoof on his chest softly, causing him to shiver a little. He really was not used to being touched by other ponies. He usually avoided all physical contact with others.

“No I-I uh, I-I’m uh, I mean it when I say, I’m really bad, absolutely horrible, the worst,” he struggled to say as he stuttered. He had absolutely no clue what Blue was trying to do right now but he really didn’t like wrestling.

“Mhmm,” Blue murmured, disregarding what he said. She slowly began to apply pressure to his chest with her hoof at the same time as she began leaning forward towards him. Slowly he was pushed back, ever so slightly. Blue had always wanted this, a lot. Right now, she needed it, she really needed that something. She didn’t like to admit it to anypony, but she had never even gotten close to getting intimate with ponies before. If this went the way she wanted, this would be her first.

“I-I know I said I’d do anything, but does it have to be a physical game?” Blue did not respond and instead continued to push Apple back. His hooves that had been firmly planted in front of him in the usual pony sitting position, were beginning to rise up off of the couch more and more as he got pushed back. All the while Blue was staring intently into his face with those same lecherous eyes. Now was the time for Blue to see Apple’s other side. She almost felt bad trying to do this to him but she was confident he would thank her for it later. Now all she had to do was push him back just a bit further and he’d be all hers. It was time for her to dive into this. Honestly, Blue was nervous, this was her first time after all. She had no idea what to expect from an actual stallion. Blue had never felt another stallion like that, in any way, or in any places. This truly was new territory for both of them. ‘Here goes nothing…’

Blue pushed Apple completely backwards so that he fell onto his back on the edge of the couch, exposing his underside to Blue. Apple yelped a bit as he tumbled back, but remained relatively calm. ‘What the hell is she doing?’ he wondered. Blue had not moved her gaze away from his face just yet, and Apple could swear she hadn’t blinked the whole time she had been giving him this such weird look. Nopony had ever looked at him like that before. “What kind of game is this?” Apple asked. Blue had scooted herself over Apple’s toppled body so she was above him, now looking down.

“You’ll see alright. I’ll go first, and you just let me do the work. Then we’ll go from there, alright?”

“What’s the purpose of this game exactly?”

“To make both of us feel a hell of a lot better. Just go with it and don’t argue. You’ll thank me later.”

“But-”

“Remember, you said you’d do anything. This is anything.”

“But what is ‘this’?” Apple questioned. Blue did not answer this time and instead moved her face towards him, ending up along his neck, her nose just barely touching. Blue’s body was now resting entirely atop his, despite the fact that they were the same size. This was way too close for comfort for Apple but Blue was right, he had to do this for her. He was going to remain positive and optimistic, no matter how hard that might be for him.

Blue finally went in and dug her snout right into the side of his neck, nuzzling him furiously. Apple just sat there and did as she said. ‘Let me do all the work.’ So be it. Suddenly Blue opened her mouth and put a considerable part of Apple’s shoulder in it, nibbling all over. A shudder ran through Apple’s body. As weird as it was to him; it felt really good. It gave him a feeling he didn’t remember the last time he ever felt. He couldn’t put a name to it though, but he felt his insides churning and his body moving in unfamiliar ways.

Slowly, inch by inch, Blue worked her way around his body, moving mostly in the desired down direction. More and more Apple was getting this weird feeling inside of him and right now he didn’t know if he liked it. He was almost tempted to tell her to stop whatever this was. Blue had made it down to his stomach, covered in less fur than most other parts of his body. Blue starting licking him furiously all around, coating his stomach in her saliva. Again, Apple shuddered in surprise to this new found feeling inside of him. He was staring down at Blue, now below his head on his half upright body as she worked all over him. ‘What a weird game’ he thought to himself, ‘fascinating, she must be using some kind of magic to make me feel like this. She has to be. I've never felt like this before.’ Apple closed his eyes and turned his face upwards as he decided he was just going to try and sit back and enjoy this weird belly licking while it lasted. She was probably almost done anyways, then he’d have to lick her stomach and all that weird stuff. Whatever, he might as well just get it over with. He noticed Blue stopped licking but did not look or even open his eyes to see why.

Blue was ready. She was ready for what she’d been waiting for. She’d taken long enough teasing him, it was time to get serious. Blue stopped her licking and raised her head a bit above him. Now, it was time. She was gonna see just how much ‘stallion’ this weird little pony really had on him. Blue had no idea what to expect at all. She had no gauge or idea just exactly how much she was supposed to be looking at. She didn’t know the normal sizes and such, but when Blue finally brought herself lower and feasted her eyes upon her prize, she was… Amazed to say the least. She didn’t know how to judge Apple, but from the porn and such she had seen before, as far as she knew, Apple was pretty big, ‘And erect’ she noted. Knowing Apple to be who he was, she was actually expecting to be moderately let down, but this? This was no let down, Blue was pleased, quite a bit. Apple as a pony may have been kind of small but this made up for it in her mind. He was massive, or at least the biggest she’d seen. ‘They do always say the shy ones have something big to hide don’t they?’ she muttered to herself quietly. ‘Apple here… Had a lot to hide it seems.’ Blue didn’t know how to start, and she knew Apple could not guide her. Apple wasn’t even looking, she noted, even better actually; it will surprise him.

Blue positioned her head above his already quite, but not entirely erect, large stallionhood. He really did have a lot of stallion on his small body now didn’t he? She didn’t know what to do exactly, so she was just going to have to dive right in and do it. ‘Here goes nothing,’ she said to herself again, with a side nod of her head. Without even a little tease or lick like she knew many ponies would do, she practically did as she said and dove right in. Immediately she inserted Apple’s most intimate and sensitive part into her mouth but not all the way just yet. Apple’s eyes shot open and his head snapped forward as he moaned. He saw Blue’s head between his legs. In her mouth was just the tip of his member, and she was moving her tongue all around it like a lollipop. Apple couldn’t help but moan in ecstasy as she did so. It was only then that he realized just how big it was. He had never seen it like that before… Was this the weird feeling and movement he was having? It felt, indescribable, but amazing to him nonetheless. He, as much as Blue, was amazed to see just how big his member had gotten and it somehow was pleasing him to see Blue over-top it, actually comparing it to the size of her head below him. It was just short of the size of a filly’s foreleg, and almost just as thick. He realized what she was doing now obviously, but did not fully understand it just yet. He was just gonna let it play out. Every touch of Blue’s tongue on his member sent shivers of ecstasy through his spine. He had never felt this good before, and he liked it. He just couldn’t shake the fact of how weird this was.

“Goddesses, who knew you were so fucking big,” she said, taking her mouth off of him for a bit, before immediately going back on. She was having almost as much fun as he was and could tell she was already starting to feel really wet herself, but that could wait. Blue slowly began moving her head down, taking in more and more of Apple inside her mouth. Apple saw more of himself disappear inside Blue, now about halfway down his huge shaft, and as she did so he saw it twitch and swell a bit more inside her, making the already large thing a tiny bit harder to handle, but Blue was managing. The feeling for him was immensely pleasurable. Blue, seeing he was liking it, instead of going down, twisted her head around it, covering all sides, eliciting a great moan from Apple above her. His member had swelled to what they thought was maximum size and Blue knew there was no way she was going to get any farther down without choking herself, so she stopped just past half way.

Apple looked down again as he saw Blue retreating from his sizable stallionhood. “Why are you stopping? Whatever you were doing felt great…”

“First off…” Blue said, panting and out of breath, “I was sucking your dick... It’s called a blowjob, you’re welcome. Second of all, you aren’t the only one that gets to have all the fun.” Apple had heard of one of those before from Pippin, one time he said he got one from four mares all at the same time. So this is what Pippin had meant when he was telling Apple about blowjobs… Apple shuddered at the thought of seeing his brother doing… This. He avoided looking at pony’s privates, especially other stallions, but the image in his head of four mares around his brothers own shaft gave him the chills. Unfortunately he couldn’t say he hadn’t seen his brother’s dick a few times...

“So I-I’m doing good so far?” Apple asked.

“You haven’t really done anything yet. Your dick on the other hand… Who knew somepony like you would be so… Big.”

“Is that a bad thing?” he asked, looking down and poking his erect member, watching it wobble around. From where Blue was sitting, leaning forward towards him, it was leaning against her chest.

“A bad thing! Goddesses no, that’s amazing! More for me. I’m just as new to this as you are but they say the bigger the better most of the time. And you, you sir… Are bigger than almost any stallion I’ve ever seen, that’s for sure,” she said, giving it her own poke.

“I thought you said you’ve never done this before?”

“Porn magazines dude, I’m sure your brother has some.”

“He does, never opened one, never wanted to.”

“You don’t need to, you have the real thing right here baby,” Blue said with a huge grin as she began leaning forward towards his face. The more she leaned forwards, the more her body pushed his penis in between both of their chests, pinning it between them. Blue almost shuddered at the thought of having that massive thing rubbing all over her body. Now, all the way back on top of Apple, Blue went right in for the kiss, surprising Apple. His eyes went wide as soon as Blue made contact, muzzle to muzzle. She had to use her tongue to force his mouth open but as soon as she did he was into it as much as she was, kissing her right back. Apple didn’t even notice it yet, but Blue’s wet marehood, currently grinding on Apple, was dripping all over his chest. When they both released for air there was a look of shock on each of their faces, staring at each other intently. Immediately, Apple, not Blue, dived right back at her this time. They both were gasping and moaning as they embraced each other so intimately. They finally released each other and gasped for another extended amount of time.

“So, what now?” Apple asked though gasping breaths.

“You had your fun, now it’s time for you…” she took a long drag of air to catch her breath, “to return the favor…”

“What do you mean by that? I don’t know what to do.”

“Don’t worry, it’s easy.” Blue scooted forward on top of Apple, feeling his huge member rubbing her underside below her as she moved. Her chest was covering his head as she continued to lay down. As she raised up, Blue was forward enough that his head was directly below her own. They were each staring into each other's eyes. Apple still didn’t even notice how almost his entire chest was wet now, soaked in a mixture of light sweat and mostly Blue’s sexual secretions.

“What’s this, what are you doing?” Apple asked. Blue facehoofed and scooted forward even more, her underside now sitting atop his neck and pressing against the underside of his head.

“Ugh, look down!” Apple did as requested and found himself face to face with the most private part of a mare. He’d never really seen it like this before, he’d barely seen it at all in fact. Tails always covered this region, and whenever they weren’t he would look away. There was no looking away from this one though, it was almost literally in his face. ‘Are they always this wet?’ he asked mentally. He didn’t know how, but by seeing this he felt his out-of-sight member swell yet another time. Apple was turned on, and attracted to the sight, in a way he had never been before. He had never looked at mares, or stallions mind you, in that way. But right now, looking at Blue’s… ‘Vagina?’ he tried to recall. He missed school the day when they gave all the colts and fillies this lesson. His parents had never given him the talk either. It was a wonder how Pippin turned out the way he did. “What are you waiting for? My wet pussy scares you or something? Afraid a big pussy like this is too much for you?” ‘That’s what they call it? A pussy?’ he wondered.

“What am I supposed to do?” he asked sheepishly, still staring dumbfounded into her marehood.

“I don’t know, pleasure me!” she said, sounding almost commanding.

“How am I supposed to do that?” he asked, his face still locked on her privates, practically speaking into it.

“I don’t fucking know! You think I’ve fiddled around with other mares? Just do what I did to you, but instead of me putting your dick in my mouth, you put your mouth in my fucking wet pussy.”

“In there?”

“Yes in there! Eat that shit out! Goddesses hurry, talking to you almost turned me off completely!”

“Oh, ok.” Apple, no longer wanting to make Blue wait and anger her anymore, decided to dive right in head first, literally. Apple buried his snout into her, and dared open his mouth. Blue, while moaning in pleasure, gripped his head and pulled him on harder. Apple was all in now, the whole front of his snout soaked in Blue’s juices. Experimenting, Apple, while buried deep in Blue, stuck his tongue out and licked along the lengths of Blue’s lips, from bottom to top. Blue once again, shuddered in pleasure, telling Apple he was doing right. He continued to work with his tongue, going in and around Blue’s marehood, covering as much as he could, all the while Apple’s muzzle was being drenched in Blue’s juices. Apple couldn’t help but get some in his mouth as it dripped, but did not object. Blue continued to moan in pleasure as Apple went on, and could feel herself getting close. She didn’t want to blow just yet. Blue pulled herself back, and looked down at Apple. Blue couldn’t help but laugh a little as she saw his entire snout sopping wet, drenched in the white fluids of her pussy. That was a lot considering she hadn’t even climaxed. Apple gave her a sheepish grin, well aware of his embarrassing circumstance. He tried to lick off as much as he could. “Are we done?”

“Not quite. Neither of us climaxed yet.”

“What’s that?”

“You’ll see.” When Blue turned around to look at his stallionhood sticking straight up behind her, she couldn’t believe it. “Holy shit dude, I think it got a little bigger. I didn’t even know a stallion could get this turned on.”

“I did what? Something good?”

“Your dick is absolutely fucking massive, that’s a good thing, and that’s all you need to worry about right now. Because right now, we're about to use that baby!” Now, Blue knew what she was about to do, and she knew what it meant. Blue didn’t want to have to use a condom, she actually wanted to feel him inside of her. She knew that’s how you could get pregnant, but she had these magic pills she knew she could just take afterwards so she wasn’t worried, in fact, she was more excited then ever. Using her magic, she lifted herself just barely off of Apple, and moved herself back. She felt the tip of his shaft rub against her underside and the anticipation only grew. Now successfully below him, she could really get the full good look at his truly great penis.

“Oh, are you going to do that mouth thing again?”

“Shh, better.” Blue stood on all fours on the couch and took a few steps until once again over Apple. She had to make sure she was lined up just right for this, didn’t want to miss on her first try. Apple still had no idea what she was doing.

“Are we gonna kiss again?” This time Blue did not answer back at all and instead wiggled her ass around a bit in excitement. This was the moment she had been waiting for, and Apple too, though he didn’t know what he was about to get. Blue placed her forehooves on Apple’s chest and began lowering herself on her hind legs just barely. She could now feel his tip poking her lips below. Slowly she guided herself and let just the very top of Apple slip within her. Apple had not gotten a very good idea of just what exactly Blue’s pussy was besides a place of great pleasure, as his tongue had not given him a good idea of what it was like. He was already moaning a bit along with Blue but was completely unaware of what she was about to do. Blue, confirming he was in right, began to count down from five in her head, preparing her to take in Apple’s sizable dick. ‘5,4,3...2...1…’

Blue let her hips drop and plunged Apple’s penis deep within her pussy. Blue yelped, and Apple groaned, throwing his head back.

“Oh, sweet Celestia’s sunny flanks!” Blue yelled in pleasure. She had managed to get pretty far down on Apple, but not quite all the way. She wriggled around, taking in more and more of him. Already both of them were bordering closely to their climaxes. Apple was currently in a world of pleasure he had never known existed, and he didn’t want it to stop. Blue felt much the same. Blue was actually concerned she would end up hurting herself if she attempted to take in the rest of Apple’s penis but in her trance of ecstasy and untold sexual pleasure she paid no mind to that. The feeling of Apple inside her was like nothing she had ever felt before, and never thought she would feel. Blue felt like the luckiest mare in the world right now to have somepony like Apple with her. She didn’t know if there was anypony else in Equestria she could have gotten to have sex with her, much less go as far as she had gone. Blue also didn’t know if she could have been any luckier to have found a stallion packing as much as Apple was. And to think, she thought the vibrator Ember snuck in her was good. That was nothing compared to this. Blue reveled in the thought that there was actually another pony inside her, fucking her! She threw her hips back and forth again, taking yet another inch of the penis inside her. The feeling of every single inch of length within her, rubbing her inner walls was indescribable. With a little more effort Blue successfully forced herself downwards again. She had finally managed to envelop all of Apple’s dick deep within her, reaching his base. All of Apple’s extremity disappeared completely within Blue’s sopping wet pussy. Blue was well aware of the jolt of pain the drop gave her insides, but the pleasure received made up for it by a long shot. Every single inch of space inside her pussy was absolutely filled by his massive dick.

Neither had reached climax amazingly, especially for two ponies who were virgins. Apple didn’t know it was coming either, he was too busy throwing his head back and moaning to pay attention to the great buildup of pressure within him, within Blue. Blue, placing more pressure on Apple’s chest with her forehooves, was able to use her hind ones to push herself up. Once raised back up, all but the top of Apple still inside her, she suddenly let her forehooves drop from his chest, causing her entire body to drop, once again taking in all of Apple at once. Both ponies let out a small yelp in surprise. Blue’s chest, no longer supported by her forehooves, was lying across Apple. She grinded her chest up and down the length of his, causing his dick to go farther in and out of her. Apple raised his head to meet Blue’s, now right below him. Without hesitation each of the ponies locked their mouths together in an intimate embrace. Apple was finally starting to get it. He knew exactly what both of them wanted. Without being told, Apple began to buck his own hips below him, thrusting into Blue atop him, still kissing. Catching Blue by surprise, she yanked her head back from their kiss in surprise. “Holy fuck!” she yelled. “Oh fuck, oh fuck, Luna fuck!” she continued to yell, repeating her ‘oh fuck’ with every thrust of Apple’s hips.

Blue couldn’t hold it anymore, the pressure was too great. She was going to cum and give Apple a real surprise. With every thrust of Apple’s penis into her depths, a wet squishing sound resounded around them, again and again. Apple continued to thrust, every time feeling better than the last one. He was convinced the longer they went the better it would feel. He was ready to go till morning if that was the case, and maybe even more. He didn’t want this to ever stop. The pressure he felt in his penis was still growing gradually, each time causing it to swell a little more. Blue was really starting to have a hard time handling Apple. He was fucking her raw and he didn’t even know. Blue was almost tempted to tell him to slow it down. It still felt like the best thing ever regardless. Good thing Blue was about to end it before he ended up hurting her.

Suddenly Apple felt Blue’s pussy tighten around his penis. As if the fit was already not tight enough before, he felt he was now fitting into something two sizes too small. Blue launched herself back up on her forehooves, upright again, eyes clenched shut in ecstasy. Her flood gates had opened and she was letting it all out now. Over and over her vagina was releasing torrents of cum all over Apple’s dick inside her. With something that large within her it was almost hard for her juices to escape around it but the sheer amount she released was too much to hold and it quickly began pouring out of her pussy all over Apple’s lower body. Meanwhile, Apple was still lost in a world of pleasure, and Blue’s release only helped to heighten it. He was struggling to continue his thrusting, but continued anyways, much to the pleasure of both ponies involved. The pleasure build up had reached its peak, and it was only a matter of time before it was all released. As somepony who had never felt the pleasure of a release, Apple had a lot inside him, and he was about to unload it all into Blue, unbeknownst to him.

Blue felt his member pulse greatly inside her and she knew what was coming. Apple’s last test of sexual capabilities. So far he was A+. Now all Blue had to see was the rest of what Apple’s dick had to offer. Before either of them knew it, Apple blew his top. Apple howled in ecstasy as he started his great release, and Blue did much the same as she felt every little space inside her get filled to the brim with cum. Having already climaxed, Blue had another thing she wanted to do. Without warning, Blue yanked herself upwards, pulling Apple’s penis completely out of her in the process. Immediately she jumped backwards, getting in position as fast as she could. Blue didn’t wait even a fraction of a second to put her mouth back around the explosive cock below her, taking in even more than she had earlier, without fear. Apple didn’t stop his grand release just yet. There was quite a lot inside him to be released in the first place. It didn’t take long at all for the thick meaty shaft in Blue’s mouth to fill her up completely. Blue couldn’t lie, she was loving it. The taste of both Apple’s seed and his penis in her mouth was like nothing she had ever tasted before, and she would swear by Luna, it was the best thing she had ever tasted, but maybe that was just her currently sexually controlled mind talking. She wondered if every stallion tasted like this. Apple was relentless as he continued to fill Blue’s mouth more and more. She could swallow over and over but just another burst would fill it back up. As far as she knew, no stallion should ever have even close to this much cum inside them. She attributed it to the fact that this was somepony who had never even masturbated before. As Apple’s dick finally started slowing down she just stopped trying to swallow the fountain’s juices and let it drip and slosh out of her mouth.

Now that it was over, Apple was able to get a good look at what he had just done. Raising his head and looking down towards where Blue’s head rested next to his already deflating member, the sad reality that it was over had begun dawning over him and his mind was getting kicked back to its usual gear. Looking down at the scene below him, the first thing he saw in the dim light was Blue’s face, smiling. Much of her face, and all the area around her mouth was dripping in the white sticky fluid he had just released. Blue’s situation was almost comical as she plopped her face down into his exposed inner leg with a slosh sound. Apple was already quite relaxed but Blue was panting heavily into his leg in which her hidden face was burrowed. She was exhausted, and her head was resting face down between his left hind leg and his member. Apple looked around her and saw that everything else around them was coated with their fluids. Much of the couch around his penis in a surprisingly large vicinity was covered in the white stuff. His dick looked like it might as well have been dipped in the it. And all around his dick, his stomach, inner thighs, and tail were covered in cum just the same, including both Blue and the part she was laying on, face down in his matted fur.

“Uh, Blue?”

“Huh? Yea? What?” she said as she popped up from her face down position, looking like somepony who had just run a marathon drunk, mouth still slightly dripping. Apple didn’t know why, but all of a sudden he found staring into her vibrant green eyes, in great contrast to everything else in the room, to be very pleasing.

“Uh, what… What now?” he wondered. “Do we have to clean up this mess now?”

“No… No…” she mumbled pitifully. She began pulling herself forward slowly, up next to Apple instead of on top of him this time. She felt like she was about to pass out. Everything they just did wore her out completely. She wished she could have kept going longer but this was only her first time. Maybe she’d get better at it eventually. “Let’s just… Let’s just… Just rest.” Blue’s head collapsed against the couch and she wrapped her hooves around Apple. He returned the embrace and they were now two ponies wrapped up together, both them and the couch drenched in sexual fluids, wrapped up in each other’s hooves. Apple was finally understanding everything, or starting to.

“Is this what love is?” he asked.

“Huh?” she questioned, not quite sure she heard him right.

“Do you love me?” he rephrased. Blue took a second to answer.

“I love your monstrous fucking penis, that’s what I love…” she said in a lecherous tone that sounded like the farthest thing from a sober mare.

“Oh…” he said disappointingly. Neither talked for over a minute.

“And you…” she said finally, with a small kiss afterwards. Neither said another word for the rest of the night before they fell asleep in each other’s embrace.

Chapter 14 - A Friend Might Just Be Right Under Your Nose (Or Beak)

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Chapter 15 - Oh What A Night

With both her talons on the sides of the dilapidated cardboard box, Ember pulled, but it wouldn’t budge. Ember wasn’t one to give up that easily. In fact, it irritated her to rather high amounts. The offending box contained the pieces for a large artificial Hearth’s Warming tree that she was planning to use for tonight’s Hearth Warming Eve party. That is, if the box would come down through the hatch leading to the attic, which it was fighting really hard to not do. Ember gripped and pulled harder, twisting her face in exertion. It upset her to such a degree that the tips of her talons pierced the cardboard. Glaring daggers at the box, Ember had had enough now. She gathered all of her strength for a final pull. That’s when the box gave in.

~ ~ ~

“I’m telling you, I’m fine!” Ember said.

“No, you’re not. Not if you keep wincing like that,” Blue said, holding the ice pack against the back of Ember’s head.

“It’s just gonna be a bump, ok?” Ember said, wincing again as Blue moved the cold compress against her head.

Blue shook her head. “You hit the side of that attic hatch pretty hard.”

“It’s not my fault the box decided to give just at that time…”

Blue removed the ice pack, examining the red skin. “You look fine now. Just be careful.”

“Don’t worry, I will,” Ember said, getting up and walking out of the bathroom. “I got Hearth’s Warming decorations to get.”

Ember climbed back up the ladder, entering her attic. She looked around and sighed. Piles and piles of paperwork lay built up in countless boxes alongside other miscellaneous stuff she acquired over the years.

“I’m so glad we have email now…” she said to herself, looking at a years old bill. “Honestly don’t even know why the hell I still have these things. Like I’ll ever need an electric bill from four years ago.” She tossed the piece of paper aside. Somewhere behind all these boxes were her Hearth’s Warming decorations; fancy lights and more, just waiting to be hung up… If she could find them. She sighed and started her search.

Box after box, bill after obsolete bill, she finally found two boxes tucked away in a corner filled with a wreath, garland, glass balls, lights… all the things needed to spruce up a house. A short search yielded another large box containing a huge line of lights, enough to line her entire roof outside in lighting. She grinned as she took one of the boxes.

“Blue! I found them! Can you give me a hoof with them?” she said, raising her voice so Blue could hear her downstairs. Blue came up the stairs and climbed up the ladder a few steps to levitate a box down.

“These look nice, Ember. Where’d you get them?”

“I got them when I first moved here. Only used them the first year, stopped putting them up ever since. I didn’t see the need…” Ember sighed, then smiled. “I’m glad I get to bring them out again.”

“It’s nice that you’re happy, but I only asked where you got them,” Blue said, sticking her tongue out at Ember before she got a chance to be angry. Ember rolled her eyes and carried the box downstairs. Blue followed closely after her, carrying both of the other boxes in her magic.

“Showoff,” Ember said.

“I’m just perfect, that’s all,” Blue said with her nose in the air.

“Pfft, let’s just get started,” Ember said in an exasperated tone, grabbing some pieces of the tree from the cardboard box she pierced earlier and putting them onto the stand. It took about fifteen minutes to build it up, but now the lights and the garland could be hung on it.

“Soooo…,” Blue said, levitating the lights out of their box. “How are you… feeling now?”

“About what exactly?”

“Well, you know, everything, really…” Blue said, putting the lights on the tree, having a bit of trouble with some branches.

Ember looked away before answering. “I don’t know, does ‘fine’ cover it?” Blue gave her a skeptical look. “A lot has happened in just a few days so I guess it’ll take a while to process and, well, ‘accept things’.”

“That’s understandable, I just...“ Blue sighed. “I just feel a bit guilty for some reason…”

“Don’t really see why you would, unless you knew about how I felt about you before you did that, but we both know you didn’t,” Ember said, pulling the lid off a box of glass ornaments and looking at her distorted reflection in the convex surface.

“I just can’t help but feel… like I caused all this,” Blue said. She shook her head, “No, I’m not going to keep thinking about this and feeling down about it… Celestia knows I feel bad enough about myself when I do that…”

“Mmm,” Ember replied. She knew how quickly Blue could fall into one of her pits, mainly from the fact that she was prone to these pits herself before Blue came around.

Blue was now standing up on all fours, using her magic, walking around the tree to see if the lights were all right. Satisfied with her work, she sat down. Instantly she went wide-eyed when she felt something jabbing her hindquarters.

“Ouch!” Blue yelped. “A star in my ass!” She immediately jumped up and, looking behind her, saw the multi-pointed star still protruding from her flank. Ember immediately covered her beak with a talon to hide her laughter but couldn’t help snickering out loud, receiving a sharp glare from Blue as she plucked the star from her behind with her magic and tossed it towards Ember. She simply caught the star and flapped her wings a few times to get it on the top of the tree where it belonged.

“Look, why don’t you get started on the food and I’ll finish the decorating in here so nothing else finds its way inside you,” Ember smirked. Blue just stood there with a sour look on her face, rubbing the spot where the star made contact.

“Don’t be so calm, I just got Super Nova’d in my ass. What if I’m bleeding back there?”

“Aww woo want me to kwiss the wiw boo boo on your poowr bloo butt,” Ember said in a mock-baby tone, nearly falling backwards laughing. Blue gave her a flat look and turned her snout up in the air and huffed.

“You’d want that, wouldn’t you,” Blue said, glaring at Ember. “My ass is my own, thank you very much.” Ember just rolled her eyes and smirked as Blue turned and trotted towards the kitchen. The flick of her tail that Blue did just before disappearing beyond the door didn’t go unnoticed.

Ember went back to unpacking the various other decorations and laying them out on the coffee table and couch. Working her way around the room, she put them up in their respective places: wreath in the center of the mantle, garland draped over and around it, some holly mixed in for color. Several candles were placed around the room and lit, eliciting a pleasant aroma of cinnamon that filled the room in a matter of minutes. Ember smiled as she stepped back into the center of the room and looked around, admiring her work. It had been many years since she ever decorated for anything and seeing the room all decked out and festive gave it a very warm and inviting feel. Walking back over to the pile of boxes left over, she saw one more wreath sitting to the side with a tag on it that read ‘front door’. Grabbing it, Ember walked over the pile of boxes and went to her front door. Pulling it open, her happy mood vanished as she found herself face to face with Apple, his hoof mid-air, clearly about ready to knock. Ember could feel a burning in the back of her head but decided to keep it in check.

“Ugh, it’s you…” she said in place of the colorful expletives that flashed in front of her mind. Apple just wore a nervous grin and looked down, gently prodding the doormat.

“Hey, Ember. Just thought I’d come early since I agreed to help Blue prepare the food for tonight,” Apple said. “Am I… doing something wrong? You seem upset for, well, I can see why you’d be angry at me, of course, me and Blue sort of ruined your couch, but, I… uh… She fixed that, right?” Apple stopped talking, instead just looking at Ember with a face that expressed a certain form of fear, the pained expression that flashed across Ember’s face the previous day still fresh in his mind. “Can I… come in?” he asked finally.

Ember moved aside, “Sure… Blue’s in the kitchen already,” she said, with some hidden undertones that Apple didn’t notice. He was still not the type who easily picked up on social cues.

“Thanks!” he said, smiling, something that greatly annoyed Ember for a reason she understood, sadly, all too well. Apple trotted past her to the kitchen. Was it just Ember, or was there a certain… skip in his trotting? Just the thought alone made her feel sick. She decided to sit down just outside the kitchen where she couldn’t see the two ‘lovebirds’, but still be within hearing distance. Grabbing a book with a green marker in it from where she had left off the last time she read it, she got comfortable in her armchair and hoped those two wouldn’t distract her too much from her reading.

“Hey Blue…” said Apple’s voice from the kitchen. Already Ember found herself mildly distracted and annoyed. If this was how he was going to be the entire time, then she couldn’t be held responsible for what she might do.

“Hey Apple!” Blue replied in a cheery voice.

“How… how are you feeling now?” Apple asked, with a lot of implication in his voice. Ember assumed Apple referred to that lunch (she hesitated to call it a lunch ‘date’) he and Blue went on yesterday.

“I’m doing fine, thanks for asking,” Blue replied.

“Good, good… Because we need to talk, Blue,” Apple said, suddenly in a very serious tone that seemed somewhat unlike how the stallion usually was.

“About what?” Blue asked, though Ember guessed she probably knew the answer.

“About everything. About that… night. About you and me, about ‘us’,” Apple replied. “It’s important we talk about this. I feel…” he trailed off. Ember almost wanted to walk out and let the two talk alone so her ears would be spared, but she couldn’t walk away. She had to stay and listen, like some exterior force was driving her.

“Do we have to do this now?” Blue said, the sound of an oven being opened and something being slid into it came from the room.

“Oh, let me help you with that… and yes, we do need to talk about this now. We put it off at lunch yesterday because you didn’t want to, but I think that every day we don’t talk about it is a day I’m going to live in uncertainty about you and me,” Apple said, surprisingly mushy, even for him, and enough to make Ember gag just a tiny bit.

Blue sighed, “Alright… here we go then… Let’s talk.” There was a distinct sound of an oven closing, and the tick-tick of a dial being turned along with the near-silent hiss of an oven heating up.

"Well, when you told me, at the end of... our, well, our intercourse... you said you loved me... and you meant that, right?" Apple asked. Ember could clearly hear the uncertainty in his voice. She almost felt bad for him… almost. Ember could hear a bit of a wheeze following that question. It sounded vaguely like a laugh, or a snicker, and she assumed it came from Blue. Ember laughed to herself. ‘Poor Apple,’ she thought. ‘So delusional…’

“Well… It’s complicated, Apple. Or maybe it isn’t. You see, I didn’t have sex with you because I was attracted to you, or loved you,” Blue said. Ember had to really struggle to keep in a laugh. This was too rich!

“Oh… Ok… If that’s the case, then why did you agree to have lunch with me? Or was that just a friend thing?” Apple asked. Ember could almost see the disappointment and sadness on his face just by listening to his voice and she couldn’t lie, she was loving this just a bit too much.

“I wasn’t finished… You see, I loved you after we did it, and since then… so I guess, to answer your question, it’s yes. And that’s why I went to lunch with you. It all goes back to what I told you that night, that I feel comfortable around you… with you,” Blue said, with a tender tone in her voice. Ember’s good mood evaporated like a snowball in Tartarus. This wasn’t really what she had hoped for at all. Perhaps she should have expected it, after all Blue seemed quite pleased with herself after the whole ordeal, but this still left a very sour taste in her beak.

“R-really?” Apple asked in a quite dumbfounded tone. Like Ember, he was surprised, but unlike Ember, he was far more excited. “Because, you should know, I’ve… I’ve had a crush on you for a while. Heh, you probably already knew…”

The next words that came out of Blue’s mouth weren’t shocked, but merely surprised. “Really Apple? I… I had no idea… You were…” Blue attempted to say, but Apple interrupted.

“Yes… I was… well, I am, in love with you…” Apple said hesitantly, though Ember felt there were many things he said in a hesitant manner. “Hehe, oh boy, I must sound so silly and sickening…” Finally something Ember agreed with. She might go as far as to say it was the first time tonight Apple sounded like a sane individual. She mentally facetalon’d in expectance of Blue’s reply.

“You… are? Apple, I had no idea… So I suppose that’s why you wanted to talk all serious-like,” Blue said, her volume increasing, while there was a lot more rumbling of kitchen equipment and cutlery.

“Shh, Blue! Ember will hear us, are you crazy?” Apple said.

“Yes I’m crazy, I fucked you!” Blue said, followed by a laugh, and probably Blue sticking her tongue out, Ember thought. This whole conversation was getting annoyingly vivid in her mind. “Besides,” Blue said, “Why would Ember mind?”

“Oh… nothing, just, forget about it, Blue…” Apple said. “But I was going to ask you… do you… uhm…”

“Yeah? You can ask me,” Blue said.

“Would you… um… go on a date with me? You know, soon?” Apple asked, with that eternal tremor in his voice when he asked a question like that.

Blue’s reply came surprisingly quick. “Yes, yes of course! I’d love to!”

Ember could swear she heard Apple jump with all four hooves in the air, quickly followed by a shuffle, and a weird noise Ember could only describe as… She got up and walked to the kitchen doorway, peering around to see the most dreadful sight so far; Blue and Apple sharing a romantic kiss. ‘Blegh,’ she thought. She huffed and quickly walked away, trying to get rid of her anger by saying to herself that she wasn’t into Blue anymore.

~ ~ ~

Ember quickly made her way to the front door when the doorbell rang.

“I got it!” she shouted. As much as she wanted to interrupt Apple and Blue’s courtship, they were still preparing dinner. Also, she has a suspicion who might be knocking.

“Hey Ember,” said a familiar pony, who, after being wreathed in green flame for a second or two, revealed himself to be Marcus.

Ember smiled. “Hey Marcus. You got my invitation then?”

“You bet I did! Though, what was that scribbled mess you put on the back of it though? Something about a box and a surprise… Well, anyway,” he stopped talking and pulled a neatly wrapped gift out of his saddlebag, “For the grab bag.”

“Oh, that message on the back? Just a little prank I plan on pulling...” Ember said.

“A prank? I like pranks! Mind telling me what it’s about?” Marcus asked, his green eyes lighting up a bit with excitement, “Because I can help, with my shapeshifting and everything…”

“Oh, well, I did actually have you in mind. You see… Well, why don't you follow me inside, I'll show you,” Ember said, moving aside for the Changeling to enter.

“Uh, alright. Lead the way,” Marcus said, coming inside and following Ember upstairs after she’d closed the front door. “Why are we going to your bedroom?” Marcus said, a small blush forming on his black cheeks that really did look out of place.

“This is where I planned on wrapping my gift for the grab bag, of course,” Ember said, opening the door.

“Oh…” Marcus said disappointingly, following her into the room.

Ember’s bedroom was spacious, with a large bed where she could almost fully stretch her wings out without reaching out of the bed. Also in the room was a large cardboard box that was already wrapped, but had a separate lid that could fit over the top.

“There’s… nothing in there,” Marcus said.

“That’s because, well… Uhm… You’re the gift. You see, imagine the surprise on a pony's face when a Changeling pops out of a gift? It’s going to be hilarious!” Ember said, trying to give the Changeling her most convincing smile.

“So let me get his straight,” Marcus began, raising whatever functioned as a Changeling’s eyebrow, “You want me to…”

“To sit in this box when the guys arrive, and then to pop out at whoever opens the gift,” Ember said. The thought that she wanted Blue to be the one to get this little surprise, she kept to herself.

“You have a strange and cruel form of humor, Ember. Is that a griffin thing or… You know what, nevermind,” Marcus said, sighing. “I guess I’ll do it… I’m sure I’m going to regret it, but whatever. I guess I owe you for giving me the opportunity to be normal.”

“That’s the spirit! Now, why don’t you stay up here until my friends come?” Ember said.

“Sure…” Marcus said, prodding the box.

Ember smiled. “Ok. I’ll go downstairs and-” getting interrupted by the doorbell, “I’ll go and get that,” she said, and went downstairs.

~ ~ ~

“Everypony’s here,” Ember said, looking around the well-decorated room. All her friends were sat in a circle, except for Blue who was lounging on the couch. In the middle of the circle were six gifts, wrapped in fancy Hearth’s Warming Eve colors.

“Nice decorations, Ember!” Sunny said. “Did you do that yourself?”

“Nah, I did it all by myself,” Blue said with a flick of the front of her mane, and sticking out her tongue towards Ember yet again. Ember rolled her eyes, sighing. Would Blue ever change?

“Uh, actually I put most of them up while Blue was preparing the dinner,” Ember said.

“I thought as much,” Apricot said, “This place definitely has the Ember touch right now, I can see it!” She smiled warmly at her feathered host. Ember smiled back. Something about the orange earth pony was very appealing to the griffin. She couldn’t pinpoint exactly what, but it made her happy she was here. Suddenly, Melon, who was sitting beside Apricot, poked her and smiled a wide smirk. What followed was the kind of quick conversation only two ponies who had been best friends forever could have. Ember simply shook her head.

“Alright, everyone! So, before we get started, are there any of you that don’t know how grabbags work?” Ember asked, looking around the group gathered in the living room. Apple, Melon and Sunny raised their hooves. Ember nodded, “Ok, let me start from the beginning then. First pony, or me, takes a gift and goes back to their seat, feeling all smug about getting the first pick,” Ember began, looking at Blue while saying that. “The second participant can either take a new gift from the pile or take the first pony’s gift, in which case the first partaker has to take another one from the pile. Third guy can do the same as the second and if they take a gift from one of the others, then they can either take a new one or take it from someone else and the cycle repeats until everyone has a gift. It can get kinda convoluted if you don't set it up right from the start, and you don't have to make it extremely confusing with a ton of back and forth stealing, but that's what makes it a fun game. So, everyone got it now?”

“I have no clue Ember,” Apple said, looking at all the exciting gifts, “But let’s get started and see how it goes anyway.”

“Right. Well, Blue, would you like to do the honors?” Ember asked, looking at the blue mare in question.

“You’re damn right I’ll do the honors,” Blue said, eyeing up the biggest gift in the pile. Was it just Ember, or was she salivating? Blue was really weird sometimes...

“Well, go ahead then,” Ember said, even though she didn’t need to. Blue was already making her way to the big box, levitating it up and taking it to her seat with her snout in the air.

“Apple, you’re up next. You can either take Blue’s gift, or take a new one from the pile,” Ember said, repeating the rule. Apple took a new gift from the pile. Typical, Ember thought, he doesn’t want to take his ‘sweetheart’s’ gift. The turn passed on to Sunny Blitz.

“Hm, nice gift Blue. I’ll have that, thank you!” Sunny said, walking over to Blue, who at first tried to weakly hold onto the gift like a cat whose toy was being taken away.

“But that was mine…” Blue said, pretending to tear up.

“It’s how the game works,” Ember said, “But at least you get to take a new gift now. Remember, you can’t immediately steal back from the pony who just stole from you.”

“Right right… Hmmm…” Blue looked around. Eventually though, she settled for a new gift from the pile. Then it was Ember’s turn. Without a doubt, she went straight for Apple’s present.

“Sorry Apple. Finders keepers!” Ember said, smirking at the unicorn stallion. Apple merely sighed, and opted to once again get a new present from the pile. Melon smiled when it was her turn.

“I’ll take that gift of yours, Ember,” she said, walking over and taking it. “Very mean to take that from Apple, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah, alright. I’ll take your gift again, Apple,” Ember said.

“Again? Why, Ember?” he asked while levitating the present over to her. “It’s like you’re just out to get me.”

“It’s just coincidence, alright? You just happened to have something I wanted. Now, don’t be sad and pick another gift. Or steal one,” Ember said.

“Hmpf, very well. That big gift, Sunny… Can I have that please?” Apple asked, but he was already levitating the gift over to himself.

“I thought we were friends, Apple,” Sunny said, in a feigned cold tone.

“We are. But this is war, and I must play the game tactically. I hope you understand,” Apple said, in an equally feigned haughty voice. Sunny then picked a new gift from the pile, leaving only one gift in the middle, and moving the turn to Apricot.

“Hmm… You haven’t really been stolen from, Ember… Can I… just, if you don’t mind…?” Apricot asked. Ember didn’t know why she was unsure, or why she would be so scared to take her gift, unless… no, that would be ridiculous. Not that she’d have any issues with it, of course… Or would she? This whole thing was so confusing to her.

“Well I have been stolen from, Apricot…” Ember said, giving the gift to the mare.

“Oh, well, do you want it back? You can have it back!” Apricot said, followed by a hesitant giggle.

“Oh no, it’s fine. It’s the game. Apricot, are you feeling ok?” Ember asked, looking at her with a raised brow.

“Oh, yea, I’m fine, I really am. I’ll have that gift, thanks…” she said, taking the gift from the griffin’s claw. Apricot’s odd behaviour left the griffin wondering, but she was now without a gift. She could end the game now by taking the last gift in the middle, but she wasn’t one to abruptly end the fun.

“Blue… your gift please,” Ember said, making a ‘give it to me’ gesture with her right talon, “It looks nice.”

“Fine,” Blue said, “I’ve always thought that huge gift was mine. Apple… the big gift, pretty please,” she said, giving him her puppy eyes. The response was just as Ember expected.

“You can have it Blue… I wouldn’t have said no…” he said, floating the gift to Blue.

“That’s because it’s the rule, you can’t say no even if you wanted to,” Ember said.

“Yes, I know that Ember, I’m not stupid,” Apple said.

“Sure, sure…” Ember mumbled, and then in a normal voice, “Get a new gift, Apple. Don’t keep us waiting.” Apple smirked a smile that gave Ember the urge to gag.

“That uh, that gift of yours, Ember,” he said. Blue giggled, and Sunny smiled too, while Melon and Apricot were whispering to each other about something Ember could only guess at.

“Come on Apple,” Sunny said, “Leave her be.”

“A grave injustice was dealt here… Ember, your gift please,” Apple said. Ember frowned.

“Sure, here you go. Was all that theater really needed?” she said.

“Well, yeah, of course! Come on, couldn’t you play along?” Apple said with a slightly disappointed tone in his voice. Ember merely rolled her eyes and then looked at Apricot.

“Can I have my present back?” she asked, “I kind of like its shape...”

“Oh, sure, sure, Ember. Here you go…” Apricot said, hoofing the gift over to Ember. Ember once again noticed that weird tone in her voice.

“It’s just a game, Apricot. Are you ok?” Ember inquired.

“Yes, I’m fine, Ember, don’t worry about me. I’m one hundred percent completely undoubtedly not losing my shit right now,” she replied, giving Ember a smile that made the griffin feel only somewhat satisfied.

“Oh… ok then,” Ember said in a tone that clearly showed she didn’t really believe Apricot, but she just let it go. Now Apricot had to take the last gift and the game would be over. Or not...

“Melon, gimme,” Apricot said, turning to Melon beside her and making an inward gesture with her hooves. Melon raised a brow at her and hoofed over her gift.

“You know I won’t forget this you backstabbing bitch,” Melon jokingly said to Apricot as she grabbed the last gift from the middle and brought the game to a close. Apricot just grinned and hugged her newly stolen gift to her chest.

“I know, but it was worth it. You haven’t really been stolen from so who better to do it than the last pony you’d expect?” Apricot giggled. Melon smiled and rolled her eyes, turning back towards Ember.

“Ok, so we all have a gift, now do we just all unwrap them at once or go in a circle or… what?” Melon asked.

“Well, since Blue picked first, you open first since you’re sitting next to her and we’ll go around and Blue will open last,” Ember said.

“Works for me,” Melon said as she started ripping the paper off with her teeth. “Oh! It’s, uh… whipped cream?” she said with a questioning look into the box. Blue covered her mouth with a hoof to suppress a giggle. “I didn’t even know they made whipped cream tubs this large,” Melon said as she pulled the sizable container of the whipped dessert topping out of the box, sporting a large picture of Mrs. Cake on the side with a slightly manic grin. Apricot snickered next to her.

“I can think of a few things you can put that on besides food,” she said in a suggestive tone. Melon just shot her a glare, but looked back at the tub of whipped cream with a curious look in her eyes. Apricot just smirked. “My turn!” she yelled as she started tearing the wrapping off her gift. “Oooo, what’s this?” she said as she reached in and pulled out a corkscrew-shaped beaker. There was a slightly green glow coming off of the liquid inside as Apricot swirled it around to look at the label. “‘Twilight Sparkle’s Butterfly Wing Potion. Impress your pegasus friends with only a 1.75% chance of falling to your death…’ Ooooh, and it’s sour apple flavor!” Apricot smiled excitedly as she popped the cap off and tilted her head back to drink it, but Ember reached over and grabbed the beaker from her hoof before any spilled out.

“Woah woah woah, are you crazy?! You don’t just chug the whole thing! See all the lines on the side? It has doses you use depending on how long you want the wings to last,” Ember said as she pointed to the markings on the side of the bottle.

“Ehehe… guess I should read the instructions first, huh,” Apricot said sheepishly as Ember handed the beaker back to her. “Sorry, I just heard that it gave you wings and immediately wanted it cuz, you know, that way I could be more like you…” she trailed off as she turned her head away from Ember.

“Hey, we can try it out sometime later and maybe get to go flying together, but for now lets just put it over here so you don’t start buzzing around the room tonight,” Ember said as she took the bottle and put it under the table behind her where it wouldn’t get knocked over. “Sound like a deal?” Apricot gave her a huge smile and nodded. “Good. Well then it looks like it’s my turn,” Ember said as she started tearing the paper off of the box on her lap. Her expression immediately went from excited to just flat out unamused as she reached in and lifted out a ‘FlimFlam OopsieWhoopie Cushion’. Blue and Apricot both immediately burst out laughing and fell to the floor in tears while the others tried to politely cover their laughs behind their hooves but soon began laughing out loud as well. “You all suck so hard,” Ember grumbled as she threw the ‘gift’ to the ground in front of her, only to have it emit a loud ‘pttttbbbb’ sound as the air was forced out of it. Everypony lost it again.

“Oh sweet Celestia I’m gonna piss myself!” Blue choked out in between her hysterical laughing on the floor, kicking her legs around in her fit. The laughing continued for another solid minute before everypony was able to slowly breathe normally again and wipe the tears from their eyes. “I don’t know who brought that, but I freakin’ love you,” Blue said as she climbed back onto her spot on the couch, still having trouble hiding her smirk. Ember just gave her an unamused look from across the circle.

“Well, now that you all got that out of your systems, Sunny, I believe it’s your turn,” Ember said, turning to Sunny.

“Ah, yes,” Sunny said as he tore the paper off his gift. He pulled out a small sphere with a dark little window on one end and a question mark stamped on the opposite end. He turned it around puzzlingly in his hooves, not sure what it was before noticing some words appear in the dark window. “‘Whatever’?” he said questioningly, reading the words in the window. He shook the ball and the words ‘get a life’ appeared. “What the…?” He shook it again.

“It’s a Sarcastaball,” Ember spoke up. “You know those Magic 8 Balls? Well, this is the same thing, except it gives smart ass answers instead,” she chuckled. Sunny shook it again and the words ‘oh cry me a river’ appeared.

“Wow, now I’ve seen everything,” he chuckled. “I’ll use this whenever a customer complains about their drink at the shop. Let’s see what you got Apple.”

“Right, well then,” Apple said, lifting his gift up and shaking it gently. “Hmmm, I wonder what it could be…” He put his ear up to it as she shook it some more, then pulled it away from his ear and sniffed it.

“Oh would you just open the damn thing you fruit,” Ember said in an annoyed tone, crossing her arms. Apple paid her no mind and began to carefully unwrap the paper, trying his best to avoid ripping it. “What the hell are you doing? Are you gonna reuse it or something? Come on already!” Ember heckled yet again.

“For your information, yes, I do reuse wrapping paper if I can. It’s very wasteful to just rip it to pieces when it can be saved,” Apple replied in a matter-of-fact tone. Ember shook her head and put her face in her talons and groaned. Apricot smiled gently and stroked her right wing with a hoof. After what felt like an eternity, Apple got the paper off the gift and pulled out what was inside. “Oh my, that’s a big chocolate bar,” he said as he levitated out a bar of chocolate that resembled a large brick rather than a standard candy bar. The picture on the wrapper of a mare sporting a huge grin with chocolate all over her face ensured that the consumer of this oversized treat was in for both an oversized stomach ache and a trip to the dentist.

“Bet if you melted a few of those down you could bathe in chocolate,” Blue remarked as she took the bar from Apple with her magic and looked closer at it. “Mix this with that whipped cream over there,” she gestured to Melon holding the tub of whipped cream, “and you got the makings of a fun night,” she said with a wink as she floated the candy back to Apple, who stared at her with wide eyes for a moment.

“Yes, uhm, that does sound like fun, Blue. I’ll keep that in mind,” he stuttered out as he made it look like he was reading the label. “285 servings… Sweet Luna…”

“My turn!” Blue bellowed as she dove on top of her box in front of the couch. “Ohoho I’ve waited long enough to get into you, you giant gift you,” she cooed as she enveloped the top of the box in her magic and began ripping the paper off. Once the paper was clear, she slowly began to pull the lid off. Across the group, Ember had a grin from ear to ear and was rocking back and forth in her chair in anticipation for what was about to happen. Blue pulled the lid about three inches up and…

“Surprise, bitches!” Marcus yelled as he burst up out of the box, his forelegs spread wide and a big smile on his face.

“Sweet Luna’s explosive ovaries! What the fuck is that thing?!” Blue screamed as she backpedaled and flipped over the backside of the couch. Apricot jumped out of her chair and grabbed Melon in an embrace and they both shrieked while Apple shot out of his chair and dove behind the couch where Blue landed. Sunny quickly turned around and took cover behind his own chair. Ember was in absolute hysterics and didn’t notice the green magical aura enveloping the cast iron fire poker as it floated from its place next to the fireplace and began heading towards the back of Marcus’s head. “Die you mutant zombie bug thing!” Blue yelled from her defensive position behind the couch as she swung the poker in her magic. Marcus caught sight of it out of the corner of his eye and managed to dive out of the way just as the poker came down and smashed the side of the box. This loud bang brought Ember out of her laughing fit enough to realize what was going on and she immediately jumped up.

“Wait! Blue, stop! It was a joke!” she yelled as Blue readied another hearty swing. Marcus was laying on the floor, still recovering from his leap out of the box and didn’t see the second swing headed straight for his back. The whole scene seemed to go in slow motion in Ember’s eyes as she saw the poker heading straight for Marcus. Without thinking, she thrust her wings as hard as she could and dove towards him, grabbing a hold of his right foreleg and pulling as hard as she could before they both tumbled against the wall as the poker smashed down, taking a sizeable chunk of wood out of the floor not two feet from where they now laid. Blue readied a third swing as soon as she realized she missed again but brought it to a screeching halt mid air once she saw Ember in the path. Ember cringed and put up her arm instinctively to block the blow that would no doubt shatter her arm bone, but fortunately didn’t come. She slowly unclenched her eyes and looked towards Blue, who was now out from behind the couch and in a full fighting stance, breathing heavily, the fire poker still gripped in a sparkling green aura beside her. The others slowly peeked out from their hiding spots now that the fight seemed to have stopped and looked on with wide eyes.

“Just put the poker down, Blue. I can explain everything,” Ember said in between deep breaths. “He’s not a monster, or a bug, or a zombie, ok?” Blue’s harsh glare lessened and she slowly lowered the fire poker, but didn’t put it down completely. Ember took note of this and made sure to keep herself in between Blue and Marcus as she helped him up from the floor.

“Well that sure as hell wasn’t part of the plan I hope,” Marcus said, rubbing his side as he stood up and winced.

“Agh! It talked!” Apricot shrieked as she latched onto Melon even tighter and continued to shake. Ember pinched the bridge of her beak. This was not how she imagined things playing out.

“What the hell is going on Ember? What plan is he talking about?” Sunny asked, slowly stepping out from behind his chair.

Ember let out a deep sigh. “Look, this is Marcus. He’s a Changeling I found asleep in my shed out back a little while ago. I nearly killed him when I found him in there so I guess I should have seen this reaction coming,” she said as she nodded her head towards Blue and the floating poker. “Anyways, once I found out he could talk, he explained to me how he’s not a part of that whole ‘hive mind control’ thing anymore since that shit that happened in Canterlot however long ago, and now he’s on his own free will and just trying to make a living for himself. So I figured I’d help him out a little and introduce him to you guys in what I thought would be a funny way, but clearly I was very mistaken on my approach here.”

“So, he’s not gonna suck out our souls or whatever it is that Changelings do to survive?” Apple said in a shaky tone, still mostly hiding behind the couch. Marcus rolled his eyes.

“No, we don’t ‘suck out your souls’... I am so tired of hearing that rumor,” Marcus said as he stomped his hoof on the floor. He sighed before continuing. “Ember is the first pony, er, griffin, that saw me without being in my disguise, so I don’t blame her for trying to kill me at first, but I’m very grateful she took a second to actually listen to me and see that I’m not like those Changelings you may have heard about attacking Canterlot that day. You see, whenever we got blasted out of the city and far enough away from Chrysalis, it broke her connection to us and that resulted in any of us that were thrown far enough out to gain free will of our own. I’ve been wandering around Ponyville disguised as this pegasus named ‘WP’ just doing bullshit cleaning jobs, trying to make enough bits to live on my own.”

“Oh, well, that’s a relief then,” Apple said while he slowly climbed over the couch and onto its cushions next to Blue, who had in the meantime put the fire poker back into its holder next to the fire. “And here I thought my love was going to get sucked away,” he said while giving Blue a look. Ember looked away in disgust, Sunny coughed, Apricot didn’t quite understand what was happening, Marcus, looking questioningly at Apple and Melon, looked away as well, for similar reasons that Ember did, though with less disgust. Suddenly, Apple looked at Ember with a questioning face. “Uh, Ember? Where’s my gift? You know, the one with the 2-bit bottom-of-the-bin wrapping paper?”

“Oh, of course. I was saving that, because, well, obviously Marcus isn’t Blue’s real gift.” As she was saying that, she grabbed a rectangle-shaped present from one of the shelves, where it had been this whole time. “Here you go Blue,” she said, giving it to the blue mare. She smiled and quickly began opening it. The gift turned out to be a spell book of sorts, not one of those ancient tomes one would find in the Canterlot Library of Magic, but rather a modern adaptation of one such tome. Blue began to read the first page out loud.

“‘Hello there, and thanks for purchasing this revised version of Spectacularly Special Spells and Enchantments, originally written by Clover the Clever, and adapted for the modern pony by Buck Brandy and Took Off. We hope that you’ll find all kinds of useful spells for use in daily life.’” Blue looked at the group. “‘If you like this, perhaps you’ll be interested in the following books… blah blah blah…’” Blue grinned. “I’m gonna have fun with this. Thanks Apple,” she said, blowing a kiss to him over her hoof. Ember wanted to crush something in her talon.

“I believe you two have some final preparing to do with the food, so why don’t you two go and do that,” Ember said, giving Apple and Blue a sharp glare. “Besides, the fact that you got Apple’s gift was actually all random chance.”

Blue jumped up from the couch, coercing Apple to jump up too. “Yeah, okay Ember. We’ll get right on that,” she said, walking to the kitchen like she didn’t even hear what Ember just said, with Apple following closely behind. Ember had a desire to vomit when she thought about what the stallion’s eyes were currently focusing on.

Ember looked at the remaining guests. “Well, anyway, everyone has their gifts now, so now I guess we’ll just wait for the food to come along. Until then, do what you want I guess.”

“Haha, like getting naked? I mean, that counts as everything, right? Right?” Apricot said, smiling nervously at everyone, but Ember in particular. She promptly got a harsh poke from Melon.

“We’re usually naked anyway, Apricot.”

“Oh yeah, of course, haha! Guess I just derped!” Apricot said, followed by more nervous laughter and awkward coughing from everyone else in the room. Ember, however, had to hold in a chuckle, and smiled warmly at her. “I’m… going to the bathroom now. Be right back!” she said, then ran off to the bathroom.

“Uh, Ember?” Marcus said, being the first to speak up after an uncomfortably long period of awkward silence following Apricot’s retreat. “You said everyone had their gift, but… I didn’t get anything. Come on, even I brought a gift.” Ember frowned and threw the whoopie cushion at him.

“Enjoy,” she said, with the most unamused facial expression she could muster.

“Thanks, Ember. Much appreciated,” Marcus said dryly.

“You’re welcome,” Ember said, finally letting all the tension from what had just happened with the fire poker drop. “I need a fucking drink…”

Ember walked into the kitchen where Blue and Apple were doing final preparations for the dinner. There was a lot of sizzling and the clattering of cutlery and plates, and also the giggling of two ponies. Seriously, what was up with these two? Ember opened the the refrigerator to see if there was any soft drinks she could help herself to when suddenly she felt something bump against the other side of the fridge door, accompanied with a soft ‘Oomph’. Ember closed the door, and on the floor was Apricot, rubbing her forehead with her right hoof. In her mouth was some mistletoe.

“Ouch… fuck… That did not go as I hoped…”

“What were you even trying to do?” Ember asked with a slight frown on her face.

“In my mind I was a lot more graceful but… heh, I guess I just let myself go… Sorry, Ember.” Apricot quickly got up and fled to the living room, leaving Ember confused, but eventually she shook her head and got a can of soda from the fridge.

Ember stepped back into the living room, sat down in one of the armchairs, and popped open her can with a soft hiss. It was not until after a few minutes had passed that she noticed the unusual silence. She looked around, and saw everyone holding their breath and looking at something behind her. Ember slowly turned around.

“Hehe… Hi Ember… again…” Apricot said, balancing on her two hind hooves, on a chair, trying her utmost to attach mistletoe to the ceiling to where it would be right above Ember.

“Apricot, seriously, why are you even… what you are doing right now?” she asked.

“Oh, me, I’m just... “ she attempted, but finally failed her precarious balance act and fell off the chair and hit the floor with a solid thud. “Ow! …Figures. I was just… you know, stirring up drama? Yeah, let’s go with that,” she said before skittering off to Melon, where they softly started whispering and giggling about what just happened. How could she just shrug off falling off a chair? Ember sat back in her chair and watched Sunny engage in conversation with Marcus. Sunny probably had all sorts of questions to ask the Changeling, and come to think about it, so did she. Ember got up from her armchair and started walking over to join in their conversation.

~ ~ ~

“You’d better not have added an overload of saltiness to the pasta.” Blue said.

“Haha,” Apple said, shaking his head. “I hope you didn’t accidentally add any coffee beans or caffeine to the soup.”

“That wasn’t even a good one, oh salty one,” Blue replied in a semi-joking manner. Apple couldn’t help but feel a warm, pleasant feeling. Is this what properly being in love felt like? If it was, then he certainly enjoyed it. He was about to reply to Blue when Apricot entered from the living room.

“Hey you two,” she said in a hushed voice. “Can I ask something? Like, it’s something small.”

“Uh, sure,” Blue said. “Go ahead.”

“Well, I’ve been trying to get me and Ember under this mistletoe, but I’ve failed a couple times… But now I think I came up with a plan, a plan so amazing not even my best friend knows about it!”

Apple frowned. “Are you sure that she doesn’t know because you came up with it five minutes ago?”

“That could be it, but that’s not the point. Want to help me with my plan or not?”

“Yes, let’s get you and Ember kissing!” Blue said with a big smile on her face that weirded Apple out just a tiny bit.

“I like that attitude Blue,” Apricot said, looking behind herself and towards the living room. “I’m going to hang this mistletoe up on the top of the door frame. Then you two call Ember in and then I’ll handle the rest. This’ll work you guys, you’ll see.”

~ ~ ~

“...and that’s how the hivemind works. Sort of,” Marcus said.

“That was some of the most confusing shit I have ever heard,” Ember said. Changeling society was still a mystery to her, and most of Equestria in general really.

“That’s fascinating,” Sunny said. “I don’t quite understand everything, but… it was good.”

“Uh, Ember, could you come in here for a sec?” Apple said, peeking his head around the corner of the kitchen door. “It’s for a… something. We need your help, ok?” Ember grumbled something about Apple not being very ‘able’ and got up, but was stopped when Melon Drop spoke up.

“It’s alright Ember, I got it,” she said. “I’ll give an update on the food situation too. It’s taking forever.”

“Thanks Melon,” Ember said, sitting back down.

“Don’t mention it,” she replied, and started walking towards the kitchen. Just as she pushed open the door, she was tackled by Apricot and flipped over, ending up on her back with Apricot on top of her. Apricot had her eyes closed and didn’t wait a second to lock their mouths together. Melon blushed heavily when she realized what was happening, but didn’t know quite how to react, causing Apricot to resume kissing until she softly broke off the kiss and opened her eyes to gaze upon her prize. Her joyous expression washed away as she realized who exactly she was in this position with. Everyone turned to look.

“Uhm…” she began, trying to hold her panting in. “I can explain.”

Melon looked at her friend with a mixture of anger and kindness, a weird combination. And she was blushing too. “What the… why?” she said in between her panting.

“I… thought you were Ember and uhm… you’re under the mistletoe so I think I’m in the right here,” Apricot explained as she shrugged and grinned down at Melon beneath her.

Melon sighed. “I know you were messing around with mistletoe. I just didn’t think you’d be so violent with it… although, I also know you can be impulsive sometimes. Now, can you please get off me? We’re being stared at.”

“Oh, right, sorry,” Apricot said, getting out of their compromising position. “Sorry again,” she said, heavily blushing. “But don’t say it didn’t feel nice!”

Melon turned red. “Whether I enjoyed it or not is besides the point. I’m not… you know, never mind.”

“Yeah, okay, sure… Uh, Ember, when’s the dinner coming? I’m getting pretty hungry,” Apricot asked.

“Yeah. What’re Blue and Apple up to?” Sunny asked. “Can you check on them, Ember?”

“Yeah, sure. At least I won’t get tackled by somepony…” she said, and walked over to the kitchen. She raised an eyebrow when Apple and Blue were nowhere to be seen. “Hmmm,” she murmured and walked back into the living room. “They’re not in the kitchen. I’ll have a look around the house, why don’t you all put the food on the table for when I come back?”

“Sure boss…” Marcus said. “Damn, it’s like being back in the Hive around here.” Ember shrugged and walked into the hallway to go up the stairs and check the bathroom, where she supposed at least one of them had to be. Halfway into the hall, however, she stopped when she heard a peculiar sound. It sounded like… gasping and ‘Mmmm’-ing. It came from the cupboard under the stairs.

“Please don’t be what I think it is…” she mumbled and opened the door. Immediately she was filled with disgust when she saw the scene in front of her. Granted, it was not as bad as she thought it’d be, but it was still pretty bad. What she saw was Blue and Apple in a tight embrace, making out with tongue and everything. “Guys. Guys! Stop it!” she said to them forcefully. Both turned their heads towards her with frightened expressions on both their faces, though perhaps less on Blue’s.

“Hehe… Hey Ember…” Apple began, but Ember cut him off.

“Just don’t even…” she sighed. “Go help the others bring the food to the table.”

“Uh, yes Ember. Right away,” Apple said, and galloped off after giving Blue a meaningful look that probably said ‘We’ll continue this later’ or something, Ember thought to herself, and shook her head. She hoped things would get better during dinner. The smell coming from the kitchen was rich with flavor, so she hoped it’d raise her spirits.

~ ~ ~

“And now, I present to you… Apple and Blue’s special pasta-lasagna surprise!” Blue said as she removed the large silver food cover with her levitation magic from the platter. A collective ‘Oooooh’ went through the group as they observed the dish.

“I hope you guys like it. We spent a good amount of time on this little masterpiece,” Apple added while he sat down on a chair at the end of the table next to Blue, who was starting to divide the dish into equal pieces for everyone with a large knife and levitating the individual pieces to everyone’s plates. Apple looked on with a cheerful smile on his face, hoping that his friends would love it. He saw it as a big moment, even though he realized that’d be a bit silly, it was just a dinner party after all.

“Wow… this is big you guys,” Melon said. “Did you two like, plan this?”

“Well, it actually just sort of happened spontaneously. It came from an argument of what we were going to make. Blue wanted to make lasagna and I wanted to make pasta… eventually we came to an agreement to mash it all together, and this, as you can see, is the delectable result,” Apple said with a big grin on his face. “Bon appetite!” he said, and sat down, watching everyone as they started eating. Soon the room was filled with the sounds of clinking silverware and noises that expressed delight.

“This is good stuff,” Marcus said. “I’ll say it’s better than love.”

“I second that,” Melon said. “It’s certainly a treat. Can you give me the recipe afterwards, Apple? I’d like to make this myself.” Apple smiled and nodded. This was going exactly as he had hoped. Now for the next part on his agenda: Conversation.

“So Ember… how’s business?” he asked.

“Hm?” Ember replied, her beak full of food. She quickly swallowed. “Business is fine. Parcel delivery is more lucrative than you think, and business has been increasing. In fact, I’m looking for a new employee. The workload has just been increasing for a while now, so I kind of want a second somepony to help me out. Been keeping my eye open for more warehouse space too.”

“Ah, really. Interesting. The same applies to my brother, though I’m pretty sure most of you know that by now, how much I despise him and all that,” Apple said.

“Speaking of your brother,” Sunny asked, “Is he ok? I haven’t seen him in a while.” Apple could feel the tension building inside him.

“Pippin? Pippin’s fine. Fucking fine, as always. Drinking, raking in money, getting a new mare over every night… Using all of that to boss me around, it’s crazy…” he said, looking down.

“Well, I’m sure he’s not that ba-” Apricot began, but Apple continued his tirade.

“Well, you should have seen this one night. He had that pink pony from the baking shop over, they went all fucking night!” He looked up. “All fucking night! Try sleeping through that and then see if you still think it’s not that bad, because it is that bad.” He looked back down again.

“Well... We… care for you…” Melon said, followed by varying degrees of nods, the least of which came from Ember; more of an eye roll really. Conversation fell silent after that, and the only sound that still filled the room was the mind-numbing sound of cutlery making contact with plates, which was on occasion a noise that felt like it pierced your brain. Then Blue spoke up.

“Sooo… Anything interesting happen to anyone lately?” she asked, to which the group shook their heads, Melon and Sunny saying ‘Nope’. “Well… Y’know what we need?” and gave everyone a look.

“More food?” Apricot said.

“Somepony to do the dishes,” Ember replied after swallowing.

“Cheaper drinks at the bar?” Sunny said.

“More police on the streets?” Apple suggested.

“Our dreams to come true?” Melon said.

“Love?’” Marcus said with a giggle.

Blue looked a bit annoyed. “Yes, yes, all of those things too… But I got some happier topics for us to talk about,” she said, smiling. Everyone looked at each other in confusion.

“Like what?” Apple asked.

“It’s about something that happened two nights ago,” Blue said. Apple’s eyes went wide and he dropped his fork and knife on the plate with a loud clang when he realized what Blue was referring to, earning him some weird looks. He looked directly at Blue, trying to give her some indication that he thought she should leave it there, but his panicky behavior had already gathered enough attention.

“Oh? What happened?” Marcus asked. Ember made a disgruntled noise that went largely unnoticed. The others nodded at Marcus’ question.

“N-nothing happened… nothing at all! We had a… good day, yes, a great day, that’s all… We went to the… park?” Apple said, trying hard to come up with a diversion.

“Come on, tell us,” Apricot pushed.

“Sounds like a fun time, tell us,” Sunny said. Ember let out a ‘hmph’ again.

“Yes Apple, you should tell them,” Blue said with an evil grin playing around her muzzle. Apple started tapping his forehooves together while one of his back hooves repeatedly tapped the floor.

“We… we had a great time… out at that park I mentioned… oh the fun we had…” he began, when he immediately got interrupted. This had really taken a turn for the worse.

“What park?”

“What did you do at the park?”

“Was it a water park?”

“The park… uhm,” Apple struggled, unprepared. “It was Ember’s couch…” He went wide eyed again. “No, no, Climber's Dao Tsj... Foreign… National Park,” he said quietly to correct himself, but it was too quiet and already there were whispers about ‘Ember Park’. He was really feeling like he was botching this up. ‘Dammit,’ he thought, ‘Why must this happen to me?’

Blue’s grin got bigger. “I was lucky enough to see some geysers.” Apple wanted to bury his head in the floor. “It was quite a sight to behold.” Ember let out a huge sigh while everypony else looked at Apple and Blue with confusion.

Melon wondered. “Is that park near here? I didn’t know we had geysers.”

“I’ve never heard of ‘Ember Park’… sounds like fun, I’d like to visit it…” Apricot said quietly.

Sunny looked at Ember. “Was there a park named after you?”

“No,” Ember replied stiffly, unable to smile, and then sighed. “They weren’t at a park.”

“Blue, why'd you lie,” Sunny asked with a chuckle. Apple looked at Blue, and saw that her face looked akin to how she looked at him during that night. He didn’t know what to think, whether he should be proud that she enjoyed it so much that she was reliving it in her mind, or that he should be disgusted. ‘Why now…’ he thought. Suddenly Blue started shoving her chair in his direction and leaned in uncomfortably close to him.

“Tell them,” she whispered to him in a sultry tone.

Apple swallowed and looked around at the group. “Well, b-basically me and Blue uh… we… we met at the soup store.. you know, that soup store… anyway, we met up there when it was snowing that evening… and then uh… we talked a bit about random stuff… Y’know, Blue’s job search and my… brother…” Apple stopped talking and looked around.

“That’s it?” Sunny asked.

“No…” Apple said, mentally preparing for the inevitable. Ember cringed.

“Then what happened?” Melon asked.

“Yeah Apple,” Blue said with that grin, looking really pleased with herself. “What happened?” Ember gave her a look.

“So uh, we walked home… the weather was snowy, like I said… then we ran into Melon,” he said, giving the pony in question a look, “And we fell… I thought I dislocated my jaw but, well, I didn’t… and uh…” He looked at Blue again, whose tail was swishing back and forth through the gap between the cushions, while she also had the same weird, lecherous look on her face. “So then we got up and Melon said some.. stuff, and we uh… the trees were nice…”

“Come on Apple, get to the meat of the story,” Blue said in that weird tone. Her tail was swishing faster and faster.

“We went to Ember’s house and uh… ate soup,” he said, hesitating to go any further with this. Why was it always him who got into situations like this? He couldn’t see this night getting any worse. “Then afterwards we uh… did some stuff… together.”

“What kind of stuff?” Marcus asked.

“Oh, you know… ‘it’. Stuff. A lot of stuff. It. Stuff. Y-yes. S-St-tuff. Then after we… uh the stuff happened and uh… Yeah, ‘it’ was fun, we had fun doing stuff and ‘it’...” Apple was panicking now and Blue’s tail was now at full revs, and the others started to notice it too.

“Her tail’s going like mad,” Marcus stated. “Like a…” he gulped, “Fly-swatter.” This provoked Apricot to giggle.

“Stutter-horse and a fly-swatter,” she said in between her laughter. “It’s just… the best.” Marcus, Melon and Sunny joined in on the giggling, but suddenly scrunched their noses when a weird smell started to fill the air around the table. Ember let out a big sigh again, imagining herself anywhere else but here.

“What’s the weird smell?” Melon asked, sniffing and looking around. “It smells like… cinnamon and… and…” She blushed and stopped talking.

“Arousal,” Apricot said. “You’re thinking of arousal.” Melon covered her eyes.

“Yes, that’s what I meant,” she said and quickly stuffed her mouth full of food to escape any further embarrassment. Blue’s eyes went wide, and she quickly grabbed hold of her tail and kept it still.

“Just tell them, please…” Ember said. “End this horrible conversation.” Blue was also impatient.

“Yeah Apple, get to it already! Everyone is dying to hear it!” Then she whispered to him, “me especially. Go on, tell them in great detail.”

“W-well… uh… We… Blue decided… and then we… physical sports… licking… And uhm…” Apple tried, but Blue interrupted.

“We fucked,” she said bluntly. “And holy shit what a fuck it was. You should have seen it!” Everyone at the table looked at Blue weirdly, even Apple, who was there. “No, really, you guys should see this guy’s dick,” she said, pointing at Apple. Melon spit out all her food, looking a bit sick. “It’s huge, and the feeling I had when he was thrusting it up,” she said, slowing down when she realized what she was actually saying, “into my juicy… wet…” She shut up. Everyone had stopped eating, except for Marcus.

“Well, there goes my appetite…” Melon said, looking sadly down at her plate. Apple noticed that Ember has a similar expression on her face, which Apricot was glancing at.

“Well, Blue?” Marcus asked. “Keep going, I was loving the story.”

Everyone shook their heads, Sunny saying ‘No, just no!’

“I’m not hungry anymore…” Apricot said.

“I guess they’re… leftovers…” Apple managed to get out. “For another time…” Another awkward silence fell over the group, or rather it would have been silence if not for the sudden loud and grating noise of a wood chipper turning on outside. Immediately, Ember’s face went from sad and disgusted to furious.

“Oh no… not today, you little red bitch!” she said, getting up and charging out of the front door. Blue also looked angry and ran after her. Apple looked around and sighed.

“You guys go outside and watch, I’ll… clean this up,” he said, gesturing at the plates that still had food on them. Everypony (and Changeling) got up and followed Blue and Ember outside, with a sigh a couple muttered ‘Thank you’s’.

~ ~ ~

Ember was furious. Sure, eventually she should probably make up with Scotch, but not now. Now she had crossed the line. This was her evening, her first Hearth’s Warming Eve with friends in absolutely forever, and Scotch would attempt to ruin it like she ruined everything, and Ember wasn’t about to stand for that. Ember grabbed her scarf, put it on, and stormed outside into the snow. Scotch was standing on the line between their two properties, or as far as somepony could tell due to the snow covering everything. As soon as Ember ran outside, Scotch turned the wood chipper off and fumbled for a note and two little gift-wrapped… things she had standing on the wood chipper, levitating them to her side. Blue ran after Ember from the house and caught up to her and they were now standing next to each other facing Scotch, while the other guests came up from behind. Scotch levitated the note in front of her and started reading it before Blue and Ember could even say anything.

“Hey Ember and Blue,” Scotch began, her voice trembling ever so slightly. Blue and Ember raised their eyebrows, and Sunny gave a little smile, encouraging her to keep going. “So… this is my ap-apology to you, from… me. I’m… sorry.” Ember and Blue did not look any less upset, but at least they didn’t look like they were going to do something violent anymore. “Let’s b-be real here… I’m n-not… the nicest pony. In fact, I’m a horrible… No, wait, that’s not right…” She stopped talking to reread her note. “Ah, ok, I’m going to continue now… It’s obvious. The… the things that I do sometimes can’t be… they can’t be... controlled by my whacked out brain.” She made a silly ‘I’m crazy’ gesture with her hoof, which went without response. “So yeah, I’m sorry…” She took a moment to read more things from the note quickly before saying them out loud. “In fact, I have a good idea! Let’s be friends!” she said, but the tone in her voice didn’t make it sound very reassuring. “Yeah! That sounds f-fun. We can go out and... have a fun party time down at Sunny’s apartment.” Sunny’s eyes went wide for a bit while everyone but Ember and Blue looked at him for a second. Scotch kept going and seemed to be getting more and more desperate as the note went on. “Or get a nice cold cider during cider season,” Scotch continued. Apple, who just came out of the house and joined the rest of the group, didn’t read the mood very well.

“But cider season isn’t for another like, seven months…” he said. Scotch started nervously shifting from her left hooves to her right hooves, and read the note through another few times.

“Or head down to P-Princess Twilight C-Castle and t-trash the place. Dear Celestia that thing is ugly, am I right?” she looked around. “Or am I right?” Everyone looked at her, Blue and Ember with annoyance, some with confusion, others with a form of pity, but no one laughed. Scotch looked around, and suddenly trotted to the right a bit, where they noticed a rake lying in the snow, obviously placed there just recently. Scotch lowered her head a bit, stepped on it, swinging it upwards and hitting her square between the eyes. She took a moment to hold her head. Everyone could see she was holding in tears and a scream. “S-so… so… yeah,” she kept going, despite the pain. “I-if all of those… things sound fun, I’d be up for… n-no, down to clown.” There were some whispers of ‘That’s just bad’ and ‘No…’ from the group. Apple’s right eye twitched just slightly, and Sunny was starting to look slightly panicky. Scotch, still teary-eyed, kept going. “W-we’ll… all be laughing about this in the morning… right?” She looked around, but Blue and Ember’s expressions had not changed. “Right. T-thanks for your time, Pigeo- Phoenix and Coffee Buns! Love, Scotch…, No wait, fuck me, not love,” she gave a slight chuckle and shut up and looked at Ember.

“Laugh about this in the morning…” Ember said. “You’re right I’ll be laughing about this pathetic excuse of an apology.” The tears in Scotch’s eyes became more clear.

“Is this some kind of trick,” Blue said, “because it feels like it.”

“No, no, it’s not! I’m for real, really!” Scotch said, a bit loud. She sidestepped and pretended to slip, landing face first into the snow, and looked up. “Look, I have gifts!” She levitated the two small, crudely wrapped gifts to Blue and Ember.

“I can already tell what that is, Scotch. It’s barely wrapped,” Blue said.

“Just… just open it…” Scotch said while she got up and looked around nervously. Inside Ember’s gift was a small plushie of Charcoal, the same character she already had. It was distinctly lower quality than the bigger one Ember already had. Her mouth did not so much as twitch. Blue’s gift was a coffee mug, of equally low quality and made of plastic.

“What is this cheap shit?” Blue asked.

“It’s a coffee mug! I thought you’d like it…” Scotch said, with that tremble still in her voice.

“Well I don’t. And as for your apology, I don’t believe for a second that this is your best effort. It’s quite simply the worst apology I have ever seen, along with the worst gift that has ever been given. This is just another one of your stupid ways to try and ruin our lives, isn’t it?” Blue started. Ember looked at the plushie with a facial expression that was a bit unclear as to what she was feeling. Then she looked up.

“Yeah, Scotch. Get out of here. I don’t want to see you again. Not for a long time,” she said coldly. The tears that had for a long time been in Scotch’s eyes finally started spilling out of her eyes and rolled down her face.

“I j-just… I just wanted…” she covered her eyes with her hooves. “I-I’m s-s-sorry…” Scotch sputtered out as she started running away in tears, dropping her note in the snow. Sunny shot into action and ran after her. Ember reached out and picked up the note before she and Blue turned around without saying anything, though there was a look of uncertainty on Ember’s face while she was looking at Scotch running off. Apple and the others soon started making their way back inside too after giving each other some weird looks. Once inside, Apple sat down with Blue while the others gathered in the living room once more.

“So how are you feeling?” Apple asked Blue.

“I feel fine, Apple…” she said. “I just really need a bit of respite from this… everything. I need to relax…”

“You can watch some TV… drink some tea… lie down and sleep…” Apple went on to suggest relaxing things, including but not limited to ‘sleeping potions’, ‘mowing the lawn’, ‘stare out over the savanna’ and ‘be free’, but Blue had stopped listening. The slightly cinnamon-ish smell had returned, along with the odd look on her face as she concocted a plan in her head. She suddenly stopped Apple from going any further by blocking his mouth with one of her forehooves. “Mmph?”

“So I was thinking, I still need to get back at Ember for that hilarious Changeling-In-A-Box joke, and we, you and me, still need to… how do I put it, cement our uh… relationship. So I thought, why not combine those two things in one?” she said, removing her hoof from his mouth.

“Right. So what’s your plan then?” Apple asked.

“Well…” Blue began, “Ember has a really nice, plush bed upstairs that she’s very fond of and doesn’t let anything near. I was thinking we uh, ‘use it’ for our own purposes.”

“Right? I don’t get it.”

Blue sighed and got really close to him, their fur touching. “I meant…” she moved a hoof to his chest and started rubbing it slowly, “we put your uh,” she moved her hoof down his body, “skills to the test.” Apple finally got it.

“Oooohh… so you want us to…” he blushed and made a quick ‘thrusting’ gesture with his hips. Blue nodded and licked her lips. “In Ember’s bed?”

“Oh of course… it has nice springs too so we’ll be bopping up and down like crazy,” Blue said to him.

“But won’t Ember… you know, not like that?” Apple replied cautiously. Blue shrugged.

“That’s the point, I’m trying to get back at her.”

“Well ok Blue, if you say so…” Apple got up, as did Blue, and together they started making their way upstairs. Halfway up the stairs Blue turned her head around.

“And I’m on bottom this time,” she said in that lecherous tone. Apple smirked as even he was getting in the right spirit. Blue opened the door to the bedroom and both of them entered, then she closed the door behind them.

“Are you not going to lock it?” Apple asked.

“No, no, we want Ember to see this, right?” Blue said while she climbed onto the bed and got into a sexy position and gave Apple some intense bedroom eyes. “Now come up here…” she said, slowly and sensual. Apple climbed onto the bed, and Blue rolled onto her back and spread her back legs immediately, where Apple once again was presented with that wet sight. Blue could see his member growing between his legs from where she was lying and smirked. Apple, however, decided to not come forward immediately but decided to do something that he now understood was called foreplay, which he found out after one quick search on his computer. He lay down on his belly, wincing as his stallionhood got stuck between his body and the bed in its currently half-hard state. “What are you doing, Apple,” Blue asked, even though she knew exactly what. Apple moved his head forward, stuck his tongue out and gave Blue’s wet marehood a long lick, top to bottom. Blue made a couple pleased noises as she squeezed her eyes shut and shivered, urging him to go forward. “Oh,” she said while Apple licked her wet pussy slowly, even moving his tongue inside at some points, “I can tell you and I are going to have some fun.”

~ ~ ~

Ember was sat in an armchair, reading the note Scotch dropped, her other talon playing with the small Charcoal plush. Strangely enough it made her feel… sorry, as weird as that was. She read the note out in her head.

Hey Ember & Blue,

So this is my apology to you, from me. I’m kinda terrible at apologising so we’ll great at apologising so sorry. Let’s be real here. I’m not the nicest Pony. In fact I’m a horrible piece of shit that should It’s obvious. The things that I do sometimes can’t be controlled by my whacked out brain. Ember being partly to blame for all the So yeah, I’m sorry.

Infact, I have a good idea. Let’s be friends! Yeah! That sounds fun. We can go out and have a fun party time down at Sunny’s apartment. Or drink our lives awa-Or get a nice cold cider during cider season. Or head down to Princess Twilight’s castle and trash the place. Dear Celestia that thing is ugly, am I right? Or am I right?

(Note to future Scotch, if no one laughs, locate conveniently placed rake and stand on it and try to remain conscious when it hits you)

So yeah, if all of those things sound fun. I’d be up for doing these thingsdown to clown. (This is cooler) We’ll be laughing about this in the morning, right? Right. Thanks for your time, Pigeon & Mocha ArsePhoenix and Coffee Buns! (Cool nicknames. The hours worth of thought I put into these has to be worth it)

Love, Scotch

(Note to future Scotch. If faces remain unimpressed and hugs aren’t given, improvise! Just not with the rake if rake was already used.)

Ember placed the note on her lap and stared into the fire in her fireplace, letting out a long sigh.

“Hey… You ok? Looks like you got a lot on your mind,” Apricot said as she came up beside Ember and sat down. Ember let out another long sigh before responding, keeping her gaze on the fire.

“I don’t know. I have so much going through my mind right now it’s hard to just pick one thing and try and sort it out. I have a shit ton of stuff going on at work with business picking up, all the bills and things here, trying to get my mind in order about my feelings towards Blue, and now this.” Ember turned towards the plush she still had in her talon, looking at it with a mixture of irritation and uncertainty. Apricot nodded and scooted a little closer to Ember.

“Well, I don’t know what good I’d be in regards to the stuff going on at work, but I’m more than happy to try and help you sort out the other stuff,” she said with a slight smile, unsure how Ember might respond to the offer. “You seemed to feel a lot better after we talked in the market that day, right?”

“Mmm… that was nice, yea,” Ember said with a slight smile, remembering the laughs they shared over their drinks.

“You know I’m more than willing to help you if I can. It’s what friends do,” Apricot said.

“What was that?” Ember said, turning to her with a raised brow.

“What was what?” Apricot replied, mentally kicking herself for adding the inflection to ‘friends’.

“The way you said ‘friends’. Why’d you say it like that?”

Apricot shifted back and forth a bit, looking up towards the ceiling for some kind of distraction. “Umm… Heh, no reason, just me being weird I guess. I mean, you saw the mistletoe stuff earlier so you know I can be a bit kookie. Heh…”

Ember turned towards Apricot and rested her chin on her talon. “Apricot, I’m far from stupid. I know you meant something by that, so just tell me and get it over with.”

“You’ll think it’s stupid…” Apricot said as she looked down and pawed at the floor to avoid Ember’s stare.

“Try me,” Ember said as she kept her position and smirked a little. Apricot continued to shift back and forth nervously.

“Mmmmm… Ok, but in private. I don’t want the others to overhear and make fun of me or something,” Apricot said, gesturing to the others on the other side of the living room, engrossed in some conversation that seemed to be about political stability of the country should Luna be in power rather than Celestia. It seemed Sunny was getting rather heated at the topic and Ember was glad to get away from political talk, so she nodded and pointed towards the kitchen. Apricot nodded back and they both got up and made their way into the kitchen and shut the door behind them.

“Wanna drink?” Ember asked as she went and opened a cabinet and got two glasses out.

“Just water would be fine, thanks,” Apricot replied as she took a seat at the kitchen table. Ember laughed a little and rolled her eyes.

“Come on, how about a real drink?”

“Ehhh… I’m not a big alcohol fan. If you have something light I’ll have some,” Apricot said as she played with the napkin holder on the table. Ember nodded and opened the freezer for some ice cubes, picking a few out and plopping them in the glasses.

“Sounds like Sunny is getting kinda pissed out there, heh,” Ember said, nodding towards the living room where Sunny’s voice was getting louder, accompanied by Marcus and occasionally Melon. “See, that’s why I keep my beak out of political matters. They lead to nothing but arguments.” She opened a small cabinet beside the fridge and took out a few ornately-shaped bottles with amber-colored liquids inside, pouring them in set amounts in one glass and noticeably lesser amounts in the other.

“Mmm, me too,” Apricot mumbled, glancing towards the door. “I don’t like yelling all that much. Even if it’s something I’m really passionate about, I back down pretty damn quickly if it turns into an argument,” she said, turning back towards Ember who was setting the glasses on the table in front of them, taking a seat across the table from her. Apricot took her glass in her hooves and took a small sip, testing the strength of the alcohol inside. It felt warm on her tongue and tingled her throat as she swallowed. “Hm, nice. Not strong at all. Thanks.” Ember smiled across at her.

“You said light so I made it light. I’m not gonna try to get you drunk and fuck you or something,” Ember said jokingly. Apricot’s eyes went wide and she started coughing on the next sip she had taken while Ember was talking. She quickly put the glass down and coughed to the side several more times, trying to regain her composure. “Relax, I was kidding. Here, have some water.” Ember handed her a bottle from the case she had on the floor beside the fridge. Apricot slowly drank some and calmed her coughing down to where she could talk again.

“Heh, I knew you were kidding, just caught me off guard is all,” Apricot said as she took a few more sips of water.

“Is that why your cheeks are bright red?”

“That’s from the coughing!”

“Mhm, sure it is,” Ember said as she smirked and took a sip of her own drink. She found she got a certain amount of amusement making Apricot squirm.

“Whatever,” Apricot said as she crossed her forehooves and turned her head to the side with a ‘hmph’. “Why are we in here again?”

“You said ‘friends’ with that tone to it that I can tell you meant something by it and I wanna know what,” Ember reminded her.

“Oh, that… I was hoping you’d just forget it if we talked about other things…” Apricot said as she looked down into her glass and swirled it around a bit. Ember put her glass down and folded her arms on the table.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years of living alone, it’s that holding things in and not dealing with them only makes things worse in the long run. So tell me, what’s going on?” Apricot let out a sigh but continued to look down at her drink.

“You know how Melon and I have been friends since high school?” Ember nodded. “Well… The other half of that is she was really my only friend there. I’ve always been shit at making friends so when I somehow got to talking to her in one of our classes, it made me happier than I ever was before. As the year went on we got closer and closer and when summer came around, we got to spend nearly every day together, talking, laughing, sharing our secrets… We got really close to the point where I started feeling this weird feeling whenever I saw Melon at first period during school. Kinda like butterflies in my stomach I guess you could say. The second we left school, I missed her. This feeling kept getting more and more frequent the more time we spent together until something happened one night that still hurts me to think about honestly.”

“Oh, well, if it’s something that personal, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to Apricot,” Ember said, not expecting the conversation to take a detour towards Feel City.

“No no, it’s about time I told someone about this. It happened a few years ago now and I think it needs to be let out finally.” Apricot paused for a moment before continuing. “I trust you won’t tell anyone else about what I tell you here, right Ember?” she asked, looking up and making direct eye contact with the griffon across the table from her. Ember froze for a moment as she looked straight back at her.

“Of course not. Whatever you tell me stays between you, I, and Charcoal over there,” she gestured towards the plushie sitting on the shelf by the fridge. Apricot smiled and nodded.

“Thank you. Anyways, so this one night, Melon and I were over one of our places, I don’t remember who’s, watching a movie, laying together on the couch. This big mushy romantic scene comes on and before I even knew what I was doing, I was leaning in to kiss Melon.” Ember’s eyes went wide as she listened with full attention. Apricot let out a sigh and looked back down into her glass. “The part that hurts to think about is how she responded. I mean, we’re best friends and all so I know she tried to hide it, but I could tell she was pretty upset over the whole thing judging by how fast she squirmed off the couch to avoid me… Naturally I tried to apologize and play it off like I was kidding but she saw right through that bullshit and just asked me to leave. So I did, walked home crying my flank off, and didn’t talk to anyone for nearly a week afterwards.”

“I’m so sorry…” Ember said, reaching across the table and putting her talon on Apricot’s hoof. Apricot wiped the beginning of a tear away with her other hoof and smiled a little. “At least you two were able to sort this out though obviously.”

“Yes, we were, but it was anything but easy. She wouldn't talk to me for over two weeks and when we finally got together to talk, I didn’t even know what to say so I ended up bawling my eyes out into her chest like a damn filly for like ten minutes straight.” Apricot took a drink before continuing. “When I was finally able to talk in coherent sentences, I told her everything. About how I felt, the butterflies, the feeling of being completely alone whenever she left me, how much I looked forward to seeing her next… I said that I loved her, and I’m sure you can guess how she replied.”

“That she didn’t feel the same way…” Ember said grimly, knowing she was right. Apricot nodded solemnly across the table at her.

“Mhm. She said she loved me as a friend, but she wasn’t into loving mares that way. Broke my heart obviously.”

“So what’d you do to get over her then?” Ember asked.

“Well, honestly, part of me still hasn’t I don’t think. I mean, you saw what happened with the mistletoe where it ended up being her instead of you. Sure I played it off like an accident, and in all honesty it was, but those damn butterflies were riled up when I opened my eyes and saw her beneath me. I’ve fantasized about that for years… Mmm…” she trailed off.

“Uh, little too much info there, Apricot,” Ember said, snapping her out of her little fantasy she was clearly reliving in her head.

“Ehehehe… yeah, sorry,” she said, turning her head and blushing.

“So back to why we’re in here…” Ember said, gesturing towards Apricot with her talon to pick the conversation back up.

“Right, yes, well… After Melon and I got back to a mostly normal friendship again, I clearly realized that I was into mares over stallions. There were a few in school that got my juices flowing, if ya know what I mean,” she said, winking to Ember who smiled and rolled her eyes. “I never got that feeling towards any stallions I saw before so I settled on that’s how I am and just came to accept it and enjoy it. But there’s one thing that I never felt even once when looking at any of those mares.”

“The butterflies... “ Ember said, her brain putting the pieces together as to where this was going.

“The butterflies,” Apricot repeated, nodding. “When I first saw you Ember, I got a feeling inside me I haven’t felt for years, ever since the whole Melon fiasco. I honestly didn’t think I’d feel that way again towards anypony.” Ember raised her brow as she spread her wings out beside her. Apricot blushed. “Ok, I especially didn’t plan on a griffin making me feel that way, or even meeting one for that matter. So long story short, that’s the reason I’ve been acting so weird around you lately. I’ve been trying to figure out if this feeling is something that could be real, or if I’m just setting myself up for heartbreak again, because I’d really like to not go through that if I can avoid it…” Ember sat across the table, silently regarding Apricot for several moments, not exactly sure what to say. She had a slight idea that this was what was going on, but some things you just can’t plan a reaction for. Apricot shifted in her chair nervously, playing with her tail between her hooves, doing her best to avoid eye contact. “Look, I know this whole thing was stupi-”

“It’s not stupid,” Ember interrupted her. “I appreciate you feeling comfortable enough to tell me this, Apricot, but-”

“Oh here it comes… The part where you tell me you’re not into mares either and don’t want to be anything more than ‘friends’. Stupid fucking Apricot. Stupid, stupid, stupid!” she said as she knocked herself in the forehead with her hooves.

“Would you stop that?!” Ember said, reaching across the table and grabbing a hold of Apricot’s hooves, keeping her from smacking herself more. “You didn’t let me finish.” Apricot stared straight back at her, holding her breath without even really realizing it. “What I was trying to say was I don’t know how I feel about all this; it’s a lot to take in at once obviously. But, to make you feel better, I am into mares more than stallions myself, as you could gather by the stories Blue will be more than happy to share, so I wouldn’t be against a relationship with you on the grounds of that.”

“So… Does that mean we can go on a date?” Apricot asked, hope building on her voice.

“Heh… Slow down Apricot, we barely even know each other really yet. Let’s focus on becoming better friends before we talk about anything more, ok? Then we can see if a more serious relationship would work for us.” Apricot was absolutely beaming.

“Oh of course! I’d love to get to know you more! Griffons have always fascinated me ever since I was a foal. I have so many questions! Like what do you like to eat, how do you fly... Oh! Do you lay eggs?” Ember gave her a flat look. “Ehehe… Right, I’ll stop now.”

“Look, I’m sure you know how swamped I am with work getting busier and busier, but let's make a point of getting lunch sometime this week and we can start talking about stuff. Y’know, get the ball rolling,” Ember said as she got up from her chair and went over to the sink to rinse out her glass.

“Sounds like a plan to me. I’m still on break for the next week from school so I’m free pretty much whenever,” Apricot said, bringing her glass over to Ember at the sink. “Hey, um, thanks for listening… It really did help me. I know we didn’t talk about anything going on with you, but I promise I’ll make it up to you and listen to you bitch about whatever you want for as long as you want when we’re at lunch.”

“Heh, ok deal. I’ll try not to put you to sleep with all my ‘adult problems’,” Ember said jokingly as she poked Apricot in the side with her tail.

“Hey watch it with that thing or I’ll tie you to the fridge,” Apricot said, sticking out her tongue .

“You don’t know, maybe I’d like it,” Ember winked back at her, causing Apricot to turn a bright red. “Haha, oh that never get’s old…” Apricot scrunched up her snout and turned away from Ember with a huff.

“I’ve always heard griffons were into kinky shit,” Apricot mumbled under her breath as she headed back towards the living room.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Ember said, still facing the window above the sink. “Oh yea, we also have really good hearing.” Apricot smiled and shook her head as she pushed open the door and went to see if the game of sun versus moon had died down yet. Seeing them all still talking and nopony dead, she assumed the debate smoothed itself out.

Back in the kitchen, Ember stared out the window into her back yard, watching the snow slowly fall in the beam of the spotlight by the door. Her mind was reeling from the torrent of emotions flying through it, only escalated by the conversation with Apricot just now. She looked to the right at the fence near her garage and noticed two robins huddled next to each other on one of the posts to keep warm. She couldn’t help but smile to herself at the sight.

‘Maybe a relationship wouldn’t be such a bad thing…’ she thought to herself.

‘Oh who are you kidding? Why would anypony love you?’ said a rather harsh voice in her head. ‘What the hell do you have to offer to somepony else? You work way too damn much and you’re cheap as all hell. You wouldn’t give them the time they need or loosen up on those damn bits to have a good time.’

‘Well… that doesn’t mean I can’t maybe change if I found somepony worth changing for, right? I mean, I didn’t have any issues spending more on things when Blue came into the picture.’ she thought back.

‘Blue is just a friend.’ the voice shot back.

Ember furrowed her brow. ‘Yes, I don’t need reminded of that.’

‘Just saying. If this thing with Apricot goes the distance, you’re gonna be playing a whole different ball game. One, might I add, that you have no experience playing.’

‘I don’t need experience. I can learn as I go just as she can I’m sure.’ Ember continued cleaning the glasses they just used as she thought.

Her inner voice shrugged, leaving her questioning how that was even possible. ‘Hey, I’m not saying it’ll work, and I’m not saying it won’t. I’m just saying you gotta really make some changes to this shitshow you call yourself before you even think about it.’

Ember put the two glasses back in the cabinet and stepped back into the middle of the kitchen. Closing her eyes tight and spreading her wings out wide, she let out a big sigh before fluffing them and folding them back at her sides. ‘Why is this kind of shit never easy…’ she asked herself, relieved when she didn’t get a reply from her inner voice again. Shaking her head, she pushed open the door and went back into the living room to rejoin the others and to see how the argument turned out. When she entered the room, she found that everypony was looking at the ceiling with intrigue. Sunny was the first to notice that Ember had come back in.

“Hey, Ember, do you have mice or something upstairs?” he asked, still looking up after shooting Ember a glance.

“Forget just ‘some’ mice, there’s a whole freaking hive up there,” Marcus said. “Is that the right word? A hive?”

“No, Marcus, it’s called a colony,” Melon replied.

“A colony? Wow, ponies are weird…” Marcus said as he looked up again. Melon shrugged and looked at Ember.

“So like Sunny asked, do you have mice? A really strange breed of mice that makes odd squeaky noises?” Suddenly, the squeaking was interrupted by high pitched ‘Fuck’ and ‘Oh fuck’, along with the occasional groan and yelp.

“Oh… no, that’s not mice…” Marcus said. “I was wondering what the strange influx of love was. I thought it was just Apricot…” Apricot caught Ember’s glance and quickly turned away, hiding her blushing cheeks as best she could.

Sunny looked around. “Uh, has anyone seen Apple and Blue since we came back inside?” Everyone else looked around too, as pointless as that was. Ember knew all too well what was going on. What really made her mad was when she realized where exactly this was happening.

“You little motherfucking salty son of a…” she began, but stopped and starting sprinting to the stairs, ascending them at a high speed. Some violent thoughts sped through her mind and she had every intention of enacting them as she opened the door, to her bedroom. On the bed were Blue and Apple. Apple was on top, thrusting down into Blue, who was on bottom, moaning that high-pitched moan that the others heard downstairs. But just as Ember was about to announce her presence, Blue climaxed in a relentless fashion, a large amount of liquid forcing it’s way past Apple’s member and splashing all over his lower body. Most of it, however, landed on the bed. Something inside Ember just snapped. She walked forward. Blue’s eyes were still clenched shut, as were Apple’s as he continued to thrust. His eyes suddenly snapped open as Ember grabbed his torso with both of her talons, digging them into his skin slightly, and lifted him up, pulling him out of Blue in the process. A few splashes of Blue’s juices landed on Ember’s fur, but she didn’t care. Apple was startled to say the least.

“W-wha- Ember?” he began as he realised what was happening. Blue’s eyes were now wide open too, as was her mouth as she watched Ember lift him up, but she was unable to bring out a word. Ember started to swing him up and down as she prepared to throw him against the wall. “Wait wait wait, what are you doing? Ember-” he tried to say, but he was too late. With one smooth motion, Ember threw him, but too far to the right. The wall where she was planning to throw him against was the same wall with the window that looked out over the front yard. Apple sailed right through, smashing through the glass and frame of the second story window with a loud scream, followed by a thud and a rustle when he landed. Ember walked forward to the broken window and looked out. Apple had landed in a bush, but he was barely moving.

“What the actual fuck Ember?!” Ember heard Blue yell out behind her. She could hear Blue rushing out of the room and towards the stairs. Outside, Ember saw the others rush out the front door to see what the noise was and immediately saw Apple upside down in the bush, not moving. Ember rolled her eyes and turned back inside, making her way to the stairs and headed down with no sense of urgency in her step. Walking out the now open front door, she stood on the porch and watched Sunny and Marcus pull Apple from the bush, branches and leaves sticking out of his mane and tail and a considerable amount of blood coming from a gash on his left side. They laid him down on the yard and Melon and Blue rushed towards him.

“Ooooh… He doesn’t look good at all…” Melon said as she brushed some of the leaves and branches away.

“Move! Get away from him! Let me do it!” Blue yelled, frantically pulling things off of Apple with her magic.

“We need to stop that bleeding like, now,” Sunny said, pointing to the gash. Blue apparently hadn't noticed the gash until now and began to sob a little as she continued picking broken glass and sticks off of Apple, who was still unresponsive.

“I know I’m not a pony per say, but are legs supposed to bend that way?” Marcus said, pointing with a slightly queasy expression to Apple’s right front leg. Blue and Melon both let out a collective gasp as they noticed the right angle the leg was bent at right below Apple’s elbow.

“I’m calling an ambulance right now,” Melon quickly said before running back inside the house, right past Ember on the porch. Blue had steady tears running down her face now as she picked the last few pieces of glass that she could see off of Apple. Sunny had ran inside and grabbed a towel that he applied to Apple’s side to stop the bleeding for now, from the biggest cut at least. Blue looked at Apple’s oddly bent leg once more before a tiny spark went off in her eyes. She immediately turned and got into a fighting stance, facing Ember directly and bearing her teeth as she seethed with anger. Ember returned the gesture with a flat look, unamused by this little display.

“What? He’s not dead. I can see him breathing still,” Ember said, shrugging and pointing to Apple’s chest going up and down very slowly, almost unnoticeable.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?! Why the hell would you throw somepony out the damn window?! You could have killed him!” Blue screamed.

“Hey! I meant to throw him against the wall for your information. Maybe I slipped on the puddles of your cum and he ended up going to the right more. Maybe if you could keep your damn legs shut for a few hours this wouldn’t have happened,” Ember yelled back, pointing a talon in Blue’s face.

“Are you seriously trying to blame this on me? Are you fucking nuts?!” Blue yelled back in an incredulous tone. “I’m not the one who threw him out a damn window!”

“You were fucking on my bed! And even worse, you were fucking him on my bed! I don’t want that fucking fruit touching my bed!” Ember yelled, her wings spread out at her sides now. Blue was right up in front of her now, her horn glowing and a scowl on her face.

“What’s stopping me from just casting any number of spells on you that would paralyze you or make your feathers just fall off? Or even better, I’ll paralyze you, then take you upstairs and fuckin’ launch you out a window!”

“Oooo I’m so scared,” Ember said in a mocking tone, holding her talons up in feigned fear. “You ain’t gonna do shit and you know it.” Just as Ember finished saying that, Blue’s horn began to glow a brighter green before Sunny interrupted.

“Uh, guys? I think we need some more help over here. I think he might have stopped breathing,” Sunny said, his ear on Apple’s chest. Blue’s eyes went wide in fear and her horn immediately stopped glowing as she whipped around and rushed back to Apple and grabbed his face, shoving Sunny aside.

“Don’t you die on me you fuckin’ salty bastard!” Blue yelled as she pulled his face to her chest and began to cry bitter tears once again. Ember, looking at the sight had mixed emotions. There was a very, very tiny part that knew she overreacted, but that part was being stomped on by the other part that remembered vividly seeing them doing it on her bed. Her personal space. The only place she had to really look forward to being able to stretch out and be alone, and now it was soiled in the worst possible way. Next she replayed Apple soaring through the window in her mind and a slight smirk came over her face, which she quickly hid, not wanting to have Blue do something crazy with her magic out of anger, even though it was still a strong possibility.

Melon rushed back out of the house. “The ambulance will be here in five minutes,” she said in a shaky voice with a worried look on her face and signs of some tears. “They said to keep pressure on the gash and try not to move his leg.”

“He’s barely breathing! What do we do?!” Blue wailed as she still held Apple’s head in her lap. “I’m gonna fucking get you for this Ember. You better fucking sleep with one eye open for the rest of your damn life.”

“Oh just shut up already. He’s not dead, relax. It’s just a broken leg and a cut. Few weeks in a cast and he’ll be back to fucking you in the ass just like you apparently like so much,” Ember said with a roll of her eyes and a brushing motion of her talon. No sooner did Ember finish her sentence, Apple let out a loud moan and started shaking in Blue’s lap. Blue looked down at him with a look of pure fear, at a complete loss for what to do. His eyes were clenched shut and he was clearly writing in pain as he continued to moan louder before coughing up blood into the snow and then going quiet and limp. Sunny and Melon both put their hooves to their mouths and had a very worried look on their face while Blue just stared at Apple in shock, tears streaming down her face. For a split second, even Ember felt remorse for doing this to him, honestly not wanting this to happen.

Silence filled the air around them, the only sounds were Blue muttering ‘no, no, please, no…’ under her breath as she held Apple close, rocking back and forth. In the far distance, the wail of an ambulance siren could be heard, piercing through the freezing night air.

Author's Note

Well here it finally is, chapter 15. Took much, much longer than I would have liked, but I hope you all are happy with the results :twilightsmile:

With any luck, 16 won't take as long but it's barely in the planning phases right now so we'll see how it goes. Hang in there!

As always, feedback is appreciated :pinkiehappy:

Prologue

The sun had set long ago. It was already 11 p.m. and inching closer towards midnight as Ember arrived home from work. She pushed the door closed behind her with a claw and gazed into the dark room. Sighing, she reached over towards the wall behind her and struggled to find the switch. There was a sudden click as light flooded the room, momentarily blinding her as her eyes adjusted. After a few moments of standing still to decompress, she took off her hat and placed it on the hanger by the door. She began to wander towards the center of the room and quickly found her way onto the couch with a resounding thump followed by a long dragged out groan. Ember stretched out her long wings and began to massage them with her claws, almost cooing in pleasure. She wasn’t necessarily an average looking griffin by standards. Her soft brown coat was rather typical, but what set her apart were her unique feathers that accented her head and made up her wings. They were a deep orange at the base and blended smoothly into a golden yellow at the tips. When they were fully extended, a lot of ponies stared, giving Ember’s ego a bit of a boost.

Blue Stroke, a unicorn mare with a blue coat, vibrant green eyes, two-toned blue mane and tail, and a coffee mug cutie mark, peeked her head around the corner of the doorway to the kitchen. “Ember, you’re finally home. How was work?”

“Tiring. Very tiring. Whoever said owning your own company is easy work is a filthy liar. My wings are sore, my legs are cramping, and I think my neck needs an ice pack,” Ember responded from the couch.

“That bad huh?” Blue asked. Ember simply nodded in response, still spread out wide on the couch. “Well, maybe this will cheer you up.” Blue levitated two bowls of steaming stew around the corner, bringing a smile to Ember’s face. She walked out of the kitchen with the stew in tow behind her and sat in the small chair beside the large couch. The smell was intoxicating. Blue levitated a bowl over to Ember and she gripped it in her talons. Almost immediately she started to down the stew in the bowl. By the time she pulled her face away from the bowl most of it was already gone. Ember looked up to see Blue giving her an understanding smile. “Anyways… Tell me about your day.”

Ember started to take Blue through her day. She went on about the morons that are her clients and how she’s sick of dealing with some of them, and about almost having a crate fall on her head from above when that grey wall-eyed mare dropped it while helping to move a neighbor. Ember often complained extensively about the Ponyville Postal Service in general.

After finishing the stew and thanking Blue for making it, Ember headed upstairs for a hot shower, leaving Blue alone to do whatever it was that Blue did on her own. Dishes, she assumed. Or at least she hoped so. Blue really needed to get her mind off of life and just relax a bit. Celestia knows things had not been going the way the blue mare had envisioned, and she found that doing the dishes allowed her to unwind a bit and process her thoughts.

Upstairs, Ember began to go about her evening, preparing for a much needed night of rest. Fortunately, she didn’t work the next day; she had a part-timer working for her to cover at least two days a week so she didn’t lose her mind. Well, no more than she had already, at least. Exiting the shower, she spread her wings wide to dry and knocked a cup off the sink, causing her to let out numerous colorful swears pertaining to Luna’s nether regions. After cleaning it up with a grumble, she headed back downstairs only to find Blue sprawled out all over the couch on her back watching TV, yet again. A few jabs with a wingtip got her to scoot over and make room. On TV tonight was their favorite show to watch, The Little Boom Hypothesis.

Ember glanced over at Blue and thought back to how quiet her house used to be before Blue moved in several months ago…

~ ~ ~

Blue Stroke graduated as a Literature major from the university of Pranceton over a year ago. She was one the youngest graduates ever in Equestrian history, second only to A.K. Yearling, whom Blue had mentioned before as being one of her greatest inspirations. Blue had been rather successful in school. Her only problem was that sometimes ponies would tell her that she had problems staying devoted; that all too often she would start something and give up on it later. Even so, she managed to graduate near the top of her class.

Soon after her graduation, she hired Ember to move her stuff from her dorm at Pranceton to a temporary small apartment in Ponyville, where Blue thought she’d be able to find plenty of writing material. After all, Ponyville was known as Equestria’s most abnormal village. During the trip, Blue went on and on about how she had these big plans for writing countless novels and tales and how she was going to be crazy successful, and Ember simply listened. Through talking, they had grown to be friends rather quickly, and they even shared some laughs along the way. After unloading everything at Blue's apartment, they agreed to keep in touch and exchanged information. Blue was set to find a good job working for a publisher, or attempt to become a self-employed author if all else failed.

A few months later, Blue had found herself still without steady work and an ever-depleting, if not empty, bag of bits. With no promise of work on the horizon, barely enough money for one more month of rent and food, one of her parents deceased and the other on the other side of the country in Las Pegasus, she was left with no clear alternatives. While packing up her things with no obvious goal in mind, Blue came across Ember’s card she got way back when they first met. Thinking she might at least know somepony who could help her out, Blue gave the griffon a call and asked if they could meet up sometime soon.

Chapter 1 - A Last Resort

Ember was unloading a cartload of sofas behind Davenport’s Quills and Sofas when her cellphone started ringing in the breast pocket of her work vest. Two taps got her to the call; talons sure were handy. It was Blue Stroke calling. ‘What could she want?’ Ember thought to herself. It had been months since they last saw each other. After several minutes of talking, it became clear that things had really gone south for her. She was about to run out of money and couldn’t pay her rent, plus her student loan interest rate was pretty substantial, which was something Ember could relate to. Money was part of the reason Ember had to stop her schooling too. Blue sounded pretty desperate and asked if they could meet face-to-face. Ember hesitantly agreed and said to meet at this bar in central Ponyville. After apologizing to Davenport and calling up her part-time worker, in exchange for an unusually large bag of bits for coming in on short notice, she headed off. Ember had a feeling this wasn’t going to go well.

~ ~ ~

The Watering Hole was a middle class establishment in the center of Ponyville; it was always warm and cozy. The furniture was made of age-old hardwood and varnished multiple times over the years to the point of a near-mirror finish. Throughout the entire space, the smell of age and history permeated the senses. The Watering Hole had been around pretty much since the founding of Ponyville a couple hundred years ago. On a busy Friday night like this, all the seats were taken, and the the smells were a combination of pretty much everything you could imagine. From one wall to another one could look and see ponies from far and wide; ponies in Ponyville for business, those who just got off work, or even tourists drawn by the recent ascension of Princess Twilight Sparkle. A pony only had to approach a table to find themselves in a colourful conversation with some of the visitors.

One of the most spectacular sights in the bar was the bartender, Berry Punch. To serve so many patrons at the same time, she almost flew from side to side behind the bar. Sometimes it seemed she would throw a glass into the air, serve a customer on the other side of the counter, and be back in time to catch the glass and fill it. Those sitting at the bar watched the spectacle and cheered at the performance. Berry was clearly in her element as she basked in their cheers and continued to serve every customer. Ember observed all this through the window as she stood outside, waiting for Blue to show up.

She tightened her scarf around her neck. It was a late fall, and already the cold was in the sky, enveloping buildings and ponies alike, or at least those ponies who still dared to go outside at this time of night. The streets were covered in leaves of orange and yellow; a lone pony trying to move them into a pile. He sighed every time a gust of cold northern air blew his heap apart and resumed pushing them back into formation once again. The sound of hooves trotting over the worn cobblestone streets pulled Ember from her thoughts. Blue came into view around the corner, wearing a scarf of her own. As Blue drew closer, her smile grew as she saw Ember, and the griffin returned the gesture. When she reached the door, Ember held it open as Blue trotted inside.

Once inside, Ember flipped a few bits to the busboy and got them a table towards the back that he just finished cleaning off. They sat down, a few ponies glancing wearily at the griffin's polished talons as they glinted in the glow from the lamps above. There weren’t many griffins in Ponyville, if any at all besides Ember, and the residents were especially mistrusting since a visiting griffin had really caused havoc in town a year ago.

“So, what’s up?” Ember asked. Blue immediately looked down at the table, not wanting to make eye contact. When they last spoke, she had made such a big deal of how she was going to be a big shot writer and literary superstar. And now here she was, at her last resort.

“Um, well, not much. That’s kinda the problem really,” Blue said. “I can’t find any work to save my life and nothing I submit even gets a second look from the publishers. If I don’t figure out something within the next few weeks, I’m gonna be out on my ass.” Blue tapped her hooves together nervously.

Ember regarded her coolly, not entirely surprised by the situation. Whenever she heard of somepony going to school for writing she smiled on the outside, but rolled her eyes on the inside. It was not a solid career path by any means. She reflected back on her own time in the university and how intolerable it was for her. She made it a little more than halfway before deciding to call it quits and, using the remaining savings she had, she started her company to fill the demand for freight delivery in Ponyville. Her business had taken off since then, seeing how most everypony had lost faith in the local mailmare to get their parcels to them in one piece, or even to the right address for that matter. Most ended up with a “sorry” and a muffin. It may have been a nice gesture, and even a good muffin, but it won’t always make up for it.

“What are you going to do then?” Ember asked, sipping on the glass of water the waiter had put down for them while they looked over the menu.

“I can’t move back home,” Blue admitted. “Ever since mom died I haven’t been able to figure out where in Equestria dad went. Somewhere around Las Pegasus I imagine seeing how he loves bit slots… I’m sorry, that was personal. I shouldn’t talk about things like that.”

“No no, it’s fine. Both of my parents are still alive, but we don't talk much ever since they separated. Me and my dad do a little bit, but I hardly ever see or hear from my mom unless it's to bitch and moan about something dad didn't do.” Ember cast her eyes downward. "I'm just glad I got out of there when I did."

“Oh, that’s rough… I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up." Ember gave her a small smile and a nod. "But anyway, going back to what I was saying before, I have nowhere to go. I have no idea what to do or where to go. I’m screwed…” Blue stared into her drink the waiter just put in front of her, absentmindedly spinning the dark orange liquid around with her magic.

Ember sat and thought for a moment before saying what came to her mind. “I... have an extra room you could stay in for a few weeks if you need. Just some dusty boxes in there now but I can move those to the other room with dusty boxes. They won’t mind,” she proposed, hesitantly.

“I don’t know… I hate to impose like that. I mean, I certainly appreciate the generous offer, but I just don’t know…” They sat there in silence for a few moments before Blue rubbed her temples, sighed, and smiled at Ember. “Ok fine, I’ll do it. Thank you, Ember. Really. It means more to me than you know. And don’t worry, I’ll be out of your feathers in no time. Just as soon as I finally find a job...”

Ember smiled back at Blue over the top of her menu. She wasn’t entirely sold on the idea herself; she just said it more or less because it felt like the right thing to say at the time. She had always lived alone, so having somepony else there would be a big adjustment. Oh well, it was only temporary, right? She had a deep brooding feeling she was gonna regret this, somehow, someway. Maybe not immediately, but eventually.

“Let’s order some food,” Ember said, raising her index claw to the waiter.

After giving their orders to the waiter, a cloaked stallion started awkwardly making his way towards the table. He was wearing a hooded coat that notably had a bulge where his horn had to be. Ember and Blue could see a forced smile on his face as he drew closer to their table.

The stallion sat down. “Hello… ladies!” He was taken aback a bit by the imposing griffin. He gulped, but continued. “Have you heard the Word of our Lady and Savior Starlight Glimmer?” Before any of them could react though, he smashed his face into the table and abruptly stood up. “Ach, I’m sorry for wasting your time… I’ll just leave.” He started making his way to the door leading outside. Ember could vaguely hear some mumbling about ‘finding a new approach’ and ‘stupid, stupid, stupid’ as he walked away.

Blue and Ember looked at each other. Ember saw Blue mouth ‘what the hell?’ to her.

“Wait, come back!” Ember said. She felt sort of bad for him. The stallion turned around.

“I’m really, really sorry. I don’t know why I thought that would work. It never has and it never will,” he said as he shifted nervously on his hooves.

“What in the world were you even trying to do? You didn’t come across very convincing, whatever it was you were trying,” Ember said.

The stallion sat down once again. Using his aquamarine magic, he pulled his hood back. He had a pale yellow coat and a plain red mane with a bright green stripe running along one side of it. His eyes were the same bright blue-ish color as his magic aura. “Well, if you must know, I used to work as an administrative assistant in the Princess of Friendship’s new castle. As such, I could read through the reports there. One of the reports I read was about a mare from a village in the north, Starlight Glimmer. I read all about her, saw the pictures made of her, read the compilation of her teachings… I had a revelation; I was working for the enemy! This Starlight Glimmer is our true leader we should be following! She’s amazing. So I decided to spread her teachings here in Ponyville. Of course that didn’t sit well with Princess Sparkle and abruptly got me booted from my job, but that’s fine, I can manage. Though sometimes I feel like they’re watching me now,” the stallion said while looking over his shoulder nervously. Ember could tell he was definitely pretty insecure, maybe a bit paranoid as well.

“Oh, that lunatic cult leader I heard rumors about. I didn’t think she was real,” Blue said with little tact.

“Oh, she’s real. A real nut,” Ember commented, ignoring the stallion’s eye twitch. “What’s your name anyways?”

“Elstar. Elstar Apple. No relation…” Elstar replied. “ I’m not related to the famous Ponyville Apple family, I just happen to have the same last name. Trust me, I checked my ancestry. Please just call me Apple; it’s short, easy to remember, and strangely enough the most uncommon name in the Ponyville Apple family lineage." Apple stood up and adjusted his coat. "Anyways, it was nice making your acquaintance but I really must be off. As much as I would love to stay away from my brother, I don’t trust him to be left alone at our flat for extended periods of time.”

“Um… ok then. Nice meeting you too I suppose,” Ember said as she tossed a look at Blue that said ‘what’s up with this guy?’ Blue simply shrugged and gave Apple a small smile as he turned and walked towards the exit, awkwardly dodging some drunk ponies along the way.

“Well, that was weird. Was it just me or did you think his mane looked like watermelon too?" Ember said to Blue, making her laugh a bit. "Actually, nevermind, forget I said that, it’s weird. Although Ponyville isn’t exactly known for it’s normalcy."

“Yeah, that’s part of the reason I wanted to move here,” Blue said in a tired tone. “Figured it would give me a lot to write about, and it did, but nothing that anypony wants to read apparently… Anyways, can we get going? It’s getting rather late and if we’re going to have to move stuff out of my apartment I’d prefer not to freeze to death doing so.”

“Sure. Lemme just pay Berry and we’ll head over there. I have my cart parked on the side so we’ll only have to make one trip hopefully.” Ember got up and made her way over to the acrobatic Berry Punch, paid the tab, and gestured for Blue to follow her to the exit. Outside, the flickering light from the gas street lights cast a warm glow over the now mostly empty streets. Leaves spun in circles as the wind whipped them in a tornado-like funnel in between the buildings. They made their way to Ember’s wagon parked on the street next to the bar and Blue climbed in as Ember strapped in and with a few powerful thrusts, they were off, flying through the freezing night sky.

~ ~ ~

Fortunate for them, Blue didn’t have many things to pack since she came from a small college dorm when she first came to Ponyville. A couch, a few end tables, a small bed, a desk complete with a lamp, and a desk chair all fit in the wagon with plenty of room to spare for Blue to ride along. Watching Ember take back to the skies, Blue couldn’t help but feel a little jealous of those with the gift of wings. She knew of spells that could provide temporary wings but heard about how that turned out for one of the local residents and decided she’d stay clear of that spell. For now she would be happy looking out the side of the wagon at the twinkling lights of the sleepy town below, sprawled out over age-old farmland bordering the nearby Everfree forest.

Blue felt her mane blow in the wind as she was looking out in the distance. Far away, she could see the capital city of Canterlot, built on the tallest mountain of the large mountain ranges that crossed Equestria. It was a stark difference to the valley region Ponyville occupied. She could see Equestria’s peaks, permanently covered in snow even in summer and spring, but she also saw Canterlot’s spires and towers, trying furiously to outdo each other. If Blue had looked further, or if she was higher up, she would have been able to see the distant twinkling of the Crystal Empire and it’s palace.

The stretches of railroad connecting the country formed an unbroken iron and steel line. Blue could see a night-goods train steaming away in the depths below her, carrying various luxuries bound for Canterlot. The floating city of Cloudsdale in the far distance was slowly making its way towards Ponyville as winter drew closer.

About 20 minutes later, Ember began the descent and landed outside her home on the outer reaches of town. A spacious yard bordered the house on all sides, flanked by a wooden fence to deter any of the neighboring forest creatures from stopping by for an unwelcome visit. Pulling behind the house, Blue was impressed by its size for only housing one griffin, but who was she to question how Ember decided to spend her money? She dreamed of having a house like that someday as well. Ember backed the wagon to the garage, unstrapped it from herself, and began to make her way towards the back door.

“You coming or just gonna sleep in the wagon all night?” Ember asked Blue, who was just sitting in the wagon staring at the house still.

“Oh, yeah, right, coming!” Blue said as she jumped down. “Aren’t we gonna unpack my stuff?”

“Nah, we’ll take care of it in the morning. My wings are killing me from working this big contract I just got from the mayor. She wants all the filing cabinets moved from one end of town hall to the other and can’t give me a straight reason as to why they need to be moved in the first place. Whatever, they pretty much told me to name my price though so I’m taking my time with it. Doesn’t make them any lighter though that’s for sure,” she said, rubbing her outstretched wing.

“Do you have another bed I can use?” Blue asked, recalling Ember saying the rooms were full of boxes earlier.

“The couch is plenty comfortable. Plus it’s only for tonight. I’ll move all the stuff around in the morning,” Ember replied as she made her way to the door. Blue shrugged and followed after her. She wasn’t exactly in the position to insist for things so the couch would just have to do for now.

Entering the kitchen door after Ember, Blue felt the warmth of the home wash over her and the stress of the day instantly began to melt away. They entered via the kitchen, where the warm flicker of the light above cast a warm glow over the entire room. Pots and pans hung from racks on the white tiled walls; their copper finish causing the light to dance across the bright white wooden cabinets. A table in the center of the room was set for one.

“I’ll grab some blankets for you on the couch. Tomorrow after breakfast we can move the boxes up to the third floor attic,” Ember said, pulling Blue out of her trance. Blue nodded as she followed her into the living room and looked around some more as Ember made her way upstairs to get the linens. The living room was every bit as cozy as the kitchen. A medium-sized fireplace was on the wall to the left with bookshelves flanking it on either side. A small desk sat in the corner with a lamp spilling light across the papers, namely bills and the like. Dark wooden beams lined the ceiling in parallel fashion. Blue slowly walked around the couch in the center of the room and sat down, giving it a test feel.

“Wow, this might actually beat my bed,” she muttered, thinking back to the bargain mattress she had sitting in the wagon still. Leaning her head back against the cushions, she could feel her eyes becoming heavy already. It had been a long day, but she was used to being up until the wee hours of the morning, trying to force out every little idea she could onto the paper in her search of that big breakthrough she had been hoping for for so long.

“You like the couch I see,” Ember said popping her head over the edge of the couch from behind her. Blue practically flew onto the mantle as she jumped off the couch in surprise.

“Hahaha! Oh we got a jumpy one here! This’ll be great,” Ember laughed as Blue scowled at her from across the room. It was just now she realized there is no graceful way to climb down from a mantle…

“Don’t do that!” she shouted back. “I can’t stand it when ponies scare the shit outta me…”

“Oh relax, I wasn’t trying to. Griffins are just naturally stealthy I guess,” Ember shrugged ever so sarcastically. Seeing how griffins were among the largest sentient creatures in the country, their ability to be stealthy in any form amused her. “Anyways, here are some blankets. If you get cold, feel free to light a fire. Wood’s in the kitchen by the door. TV remote is on the table there, not like there’s anything worth watching nowadays anyway. Don’t even know why I still waste bits on that stupid cable service…”

“Ok. Thanks again. I promise I won’t be here too long. I never want to overstay my welcome,” Blue said, looking at the floor and finding something fascinating about that particular floorboard at the moment.

“Eh don’t worry about it. Who knows, maybe it’ll be nice having someone else around the house for a change. Gets awful quiet here all by myself,” Ember said as she made her way towards the stairs. “My bedroom’s the second door on the left, bathroom is across from that on the right. Some stuff is in the fridge but I keep a pretty sparse menu here since it’s just me.” Blue nodded and started to spread out some of the blankets on the couch. Curling up beneath them, she waited for the light upstairs to go out before letting out a deep sigh. It felt good to be here. She wasn’t sure what it was about Ember but she really liked talking with the griffin. Even if their interaction up to this point was only brief, she hoped they could become good friends. She took another look around the cozy room, let out another sigh, and fell into a deep sleep.

Chapter 16 - "I'm not dead so there's still hope, right?"

The long, white-walled hospital hallway was virtually silent throughout. The entire place was empty apart from an antsy blue unicorn, a pissed-off griffon, and a couple nurses pacing up and down the halls. The blue unicorn lifted her head as her eyes absent-mindedly followed the swinging tail of one of the nurses.

‘What are they even doing?’ she thought to herself idly. ‘All these nurses keep walking back and forth like they have something to do, but no one is here besides us.’ One nurse, after she passed by the blue unicorn and the griffon, stopped for a moment and caught the blue one staring at her.

“Need something?” she asked snidely with a look of disgust, making sure to lower her tail down between her legs. Blue shook her head and blinked rapidly as she regained her focus.

“Huh-wha, what? Oh, ah, no thank you I was just uh… Admiring, I mean uh, gazing, at your uh… ass, no, tail. Yep. Carry on. Sorry,” Blue stuttered madly, blushing like she was trying to set records. The griffon beside her laughed a little at Blue’s embarrassment, but Blue payed her no mind. Both of them went immediately back to silence, though one of their cheeks were a lot rosier than the other’s.

‘What is going on with you Blue?’ Blue thought to herself. ‘I wasn’t trying to make it look like I was staring at her ass, I just kinda… Was. I guess if stallions are going to stare at mine so much then there’s nothing wrong with me doing it with other mares, right? To uh… Compare, yes. To compare. That's why. Can’t have any mares with a better ass than mine, right?’

Blue began hitting herself in the head with a hoof, eliciting a confused glare from Ember beside her. ‘Damn it, I’m not here to think about mare’s asses. I’m here to support Apple! He needs me! He wouldn’t want me doing this. He would want me thinking about… Him? You know, come to think about it, we’ve already had sex twice — scratch that, one and a half — and I barely know anything about him besides a minimal part of his personal life. Don’t they always say you should get to know a guy before you let him… Well, y'know, inside you? And oh boy, was he inside me… NO! Bad mind! Think non-dirty thoughts, you are a clean pony. Oh wait, you’re not a virgin anymore, Blue. That’s unsettling to think about…’ Blue sighed and rested her head on her upraised hoof. Ember stole a quick glance at Blue, unbeknownst to the unicorn. The silent griffon was very busy deeply contemplating how her life has changed since this beautiful blue mare came into her life. There’s no denying it; her life has changed, and when change comes, you can adapt, or you can be left behind. With all the new friends she had made recently, there wasn’t much about her life that was the same. Last year she spent the holidays alone, like the year before that, and the year before that. But this year? This year she had a whole big group of friends. ‘And two of them even had sex in MY bed…’ she thought to herself angrily.

They each glanced to each other momentarily before quickly snapping away upon noticing the other. ‘Why is she even here?’ Blue asked herself. ‘She threw Apple out a window, so I doubt he would even want her here at all. I would ask her but frankly I don’t even want to hear her voice. Already bad enough I have to sit next to this birdy bitch. What am I even doing with my life? The one pony, er, griffin, that has ever shown me hospitality is now sitting next to me furious because she somehow decided it was a good idea to literally pull my stallion OUT of me! Which REALLY hurt by the way! Tearing Apple out of me probably hurt me more than it did Apple, but considering I wasn’t the one thrown out a window I really can’t complain. It still hurts though…’ Blue stole yet another glance at Ember. ‘Look at her… She shows no remorse. She’s probably happy she threw him outta the window. She probably wants to throw me out one too. Note to self: stay downstairs from now on, and stay away from windows…’

The nurse from earlier walked past them once again but this time when she saw Blue glance at her — even just barely — she rudely flicked her tail at Blue, making her flinch and reel back in her chair. ‘What a bitch. She probably only walked past just so she could do that. There really is no reason she had to walk past so I assume that’s the case. There really is nothing going on here; Apple is the only patient. Every other room here is currently empty, surprisingly enough. They have like five nurses working and currently only one patient. To be honest I don’t even know why they have that many ever. Ponyville Hospital never has more than just a few patients at a time. Ponies here don't exactly get hurt often. Actually, I take that back. I hear that the rainbow-colored weather pony we have in Ponyville is in here all the time. They say she crashes a lot. But still, I swear half these nurses are here just so they can get the stallions and sometimes mares (like me) in the waiting room to look at them. Hmph, it’s not my fault like all of them look like they should be models. Hm, come to think of it I’m pretty sure I saw that one down the hall in last years “kinky nurses” issue of Playpony.’ Another different nurse walked by, but Blue carefully decided to look away this time and instead to the side where Ember was sitting. Oddly enough, Blue noticed Ember’s eyes were up and following the mare’s tail like Blue’s were earlier.

‘Oh you dirty birdy you. Never can get enough of us ponies now can you? Hell, I like stallions, that’s no surprise, but birdbrain’s mind here next to me can’t think of anything but the mares. I would know, I see her peeking at my behind every chance she gets. Funny thing, I think she sometimes knocks stuff on the floor from the couch just so she can see me lean down and pick it up. I guess she forgets I have magic, but I purposely don’t use it because it amuses me when I see her face afterwards. I swear next time she does that I’m gonna use my magic, but instead use it to force her to pick up whatever the hell she dropped. Celestia damn it brain! Stop getting off track! Stop thinking about these weird things! Goddesses… I need my coffee. I wish I was good at conjuration magic so that I could just make coffee appear. Well, technically I can but it just tastes bad. Conjuration was never my strong suit, I was always really good at transfiguration, but I don’t think the staff here wants me turning their potted plants into coffee mugs. Anyways… What was I supposed to be thinking about again? Oh, right! Apple. Goddesses I hope he’s ok. That gash in his side looked pretty deep… And his legs looked pretty twisted.’ Blue suddenly gasped. ‘Does this mean no sex?! No! Wait mind, don’t start thinking about that again! Right now I should be thinking about my stallion’s well-being but I'm too busy thinking about his big dick. I really need to stop that, what is wrong with me? Maybe my mind is just a bit restless. I haven’t exactly slept much recently. I could probably fall asleep in this chair if I wanted, but there’s no possible way I’d do that while Apple is in such bad condition. The doctor said he would be ok by sometime tomorrow and that a little magic should patch him right up in no time at all, but I took some medical magic classes before and I know full well that healing magic can only go so far. All I can do now is hope it can go far enough.

‘I don’t care what Ember told me, she still better sleep with one eye open for at least a month. Come to think of it, that still wouldn’t help her. She couldn't stop my magic even if she wanted to. I would tell her to go find somewhere to hide when she sleeps, but why would I want that? I want this birdy bitch to suffer! She not only tore a damn big dick literally straight out of me, but fucking threw said bearer of big dick out of the goddess damn window! She’s gonna get what’s coming to her all right! I have to make sure I get her back with something she’ll never forget. Hmm… Oh all the things I could do to her. I could throw her off a Manehattan skyscraper in her sleep, I could turn her into a dog and trap her somewhere, I could yank something out of her like she did to me, except her’s would have to be even bigger and more painful. Either way, I’ll get this bitch back for what she did. I still don’t even know why she came to the hospital. To laugh at us? She’s probably laughing on the inside right now. She doesn’t feel bad for what she did, she’s a griffon, they’re violent, that’s what they do. At least she hasn’t torn somepony open with those talons of hers. I’m sure as hell she’s thought about it before. I swear if she even scratched me with a single damn claw of hers… She would regret it, let’s just say that. In my life I’ve had bad tendencies to do bad things when it came to getting back at ponies. Back in college there was this one nerdy stallion who kept trying to make a move on me. He always got uncomfortably close, and always said the dumbest pick up lines possible to get me to give in. He even resorted to telling me he had a big dick, so in response I cast a spell or two and... Let’s just say he didn't leave the bar with a very big dick. Yep. Wow, that was ages ago… I never saw him again that’s for sure. Kinda weird to think about how I avoided all relationships back in school and now here I am today with Apple. I was too busy studying and focusing on school back then to care about all the stallions staring at my flanks. Speaking of flanks…’ The nurse that Blue believed to be a model earlier walked by nonchalantly, swinging her tail in just the right way as she swung her hips from side to side. Both Blue and Ember couldn’t help but each steal a peek. Blue thought the nurse probably was doing this on purpose. The angry nurse from earlier must have said something about Blue staring.

‘Alright, back to maliciously plotting. I’ll have to strike Ember when she least expects it for sure. If she expects it then it won’t be as fun. I just… I just can’t believe her! Why would Ember do something like that? Was her jealousy really that strong? I can’t really tell why to be honest. It was either she hated Apple, was jealous Apple was getting my flank and not her, or was mad there was now a dried puddle of cum on her bed sheets. Come to think of it, probably a mix of all those things… But why? Apple is such a nice stallion, he’d never hurt a fly. Ember knew she couldn’t have me. I may like mares a little, but in the end I always wanted a stallion. Only reason Ember ever got under this tail was because she happened to lift it herself while I was vulnerably asleep on the couch. She couldn’t fucking resist, that bitch! She couldn’t keep her grubby little lecherous talons away from me. If I really wanted I could file for sexual assault. It’s not like I consented to that or anything, she just up and decided to vibrate my insides while asleep. The only reason I shouldn't press charges is because I kinda have to live with her… For now. I would like to keep my place to sleep no matter how much I may hate this griffon sitting next to me. I could always just cast a spell right now and make her disappear forever, sending her to some far off danger in the Everfree Forest. Markus could take her place, nopony would know. I’m sure he can take the form of a griffon if he wanted. Hmm… I won’t do that but maybe Markus could help me with my revenge… Speaking of revenge, I just remembered, what Ember did to Apple and me is not the only thing I need revenge for…

'That little red bitch Scotch! How could I forget! I still need to get back at her as well! Frankly though, I’ve forgiven her a little bit, but she still needs to be punished... Just… Maybe not as severe as whatever I plan for Ember. I can probably just lock her in a basement or something like that, something easy. Hmm, yes, I like this. Putting fear in the hearts of other ponies fills me with excitement… Is that a bad thing? I mean, it makes me feel good just thinking about it. Too good… I’m not evil though, right? I’m just getting even. That’s all. Yep. You fool around with the filly I wanted to fool around with right in front of me: you get trapped in a basement. You yank a good rutting literally right out of me and throw it out a window: you… You get something really bad done to you. I don't know yet. Something that will make sure she will not to mess with me again! Or Apple!’ Blue noticed she had been maliciously rubbing her hooves together and caught Ember’s awkward stare. “Sorry, I was just uh… itching…” Blue said very quietly and timidly, in stark contrast to the borderline insane thoughts she had going in her head. ‘I’m sane! Quit judging me, me!’

* * *

The halls of Ponyville Hospital were silent save for the sounds of snoring coming from the waiting room. Ember had made herself comfortable on one of the padded benches and was fast asleep, not making a sound. Blue, on the other hoof, was sprawled out across her chair in a very painful-looking position, head tossed back and mouth wide open like a bird bath. One need not look far to see where the snoring was coming from. After a particularly loud inhale from Blue, Ember opened one eye and glared at the blue mare still fast asleep. If it wasn’t for being up so late the night before, she probably would have never been able to fall asleep in the first place with the snoring Blue was pumping out. Glancing to her right at the clock on the wall, she saw it was about ten minutes to six. Groaning, Ember slowly sat up and stretched her hind legs, wincing as the joints popped from being in such a confined position all night. Rubbing one eye with a talon, she reached over with her other and poked Blue to wake her up.

“Hey, chainsaw mouth, wake up, it’s morning.”

“I didn’t steal your mango I swear!” Blue blurted as she jolted awake from the poking in her side. Ember opened her mouth to say something but was thrown off by the bizarre outburst and just stared at her with a raised brow. “Ember? Where are we?”

“Uh, the hospital, remember?” Blue’s eyes flashed as she recalled all the events of the night prior and then immediately fixed Ember with a piercing glare. “Yes, that all happened. Now get up, the doctor should be around soon to tell us Apple’s condition.”

“Why the hell do you even care? You probably just want to make sure he’s not a vegetable so you don’t have to pay for life support, you heartless pigeon.”

“Oh don’t even sta-” Ember began to say before catching sight of the doctor rounding the corner of the room.

“Good morning ladies. I hope you’re not too sore from sleeping in those chairs all night,” the doctor said as he nodded towards them and glanced back at the clipboard he was levitating in front of him. He was a light brown-coated unicorn stallion who, from the looks of it, has only been out of school for a few years at the most.

“Could have been better,” Blue said as she stretched and winced as something in her back popped loudly. “Sweet Celestia I hope you know a good chiropractor.” The doctor smiled and sat down in front of them.

“My brother is actually a chiropractor in Cloudsdale and does some work for the Wonderbolts during their off time, but I don’t think he’d be too thrilled to come to little old Ponyville for a personal call,” the doctor chuckled. “He got dad's wings and I got mom’s horn and he flew off the first chance he got where I don’t have that luxury.”

“As fascinating as this family history is Doc, can you get on with how Apple’s doing? I’d really rather not be in this place any longer than I have to be,” Ember said in an exasperated tone. She hated hospitals immensely and couldn’t wait to get out of here once she at least knew that Apple wasn’t comatose.

“Right right, sorry. I tend to ramble sometimes. Yes, as for your friend there, he suffered quite a few injuries actually,” he said as he flipped through his notes on the clipboard. “Three broken ribs, a severe fracture in his right front leg in two places, a sprain in his left front fetlock, numerous lacerations all over, heavy bruising on his torso, and of course internal bleeding.” Both Blue and Ember winced as the list grew and grew. They both knew Apple was in bad shape, but to hear it all listed off like that led them both to think it was a miracle he was still alive. The doctor caught their looks and quickly sat up. “But it’s not all bad, we were able to heal all the lacerations and reduce the bruising with magic. The internal bleeding stopped last night once we stabilized him and we were able to set his leg in a splint so it’ll heal on its own in a few weeks time.”

“When can we see him? I wanna see him now!” Blue frantically said, hopping off her seat and shuffling her hooves anxiously. The doctor looked at the clock on the wall and turned back to Blue.

“Well, normally we don’t start visiting hours until seven, but seeing how you’re the only ones here, I think we can make an exception,” he smiled. Blue immediately took off down the hallway. “Uh, he’s in room 407, down the other hall.” A blue blur whizzed by them going in the opposite direction, nearly knocking one of the nurses over in the process who didn’t hesitate mumbling some expletives after Blue down the hall.

“Uh, is she always like this?” the doctor asked, turning back towards Ember who was still sitting on her bench.

“You don’t even know the half of it…” she sighed, slowly getting up and making her way down the hall that Blue had just bolted down.

Ember leisurely made her way down the empty hallway, the sound of her talons clicking on the tile floor was the only noise meeting her ears for a while until the faint beeping of a heart monitor caught her attention. Glancing to the right, she saw one of the room doors open and caught sight of Blue sitting beside a bed occupied by the yellow stallion. She quietly entered the room, ignoring the look Blue gave her, and took a seat in the chair by the window overlooking town. The room was small, only having the hospital bed, an end table, and the chair Ember occupied. Not much would be expected from a hospital in a town as small as Ponyville though. Efficient would be a better word to describe it. Nurses and doctors were never far away from patients that needed them.

Blue turned her attention from Ember entering back to Apple lying in the bed. Even with what the doctor said they did, he still looked like a huge mess. His hair was matted all over, bandages and gauze covering a good portion of his body, and his right front leg was in a cast held in place by a pulley system. She followed the IV tube running from his left foreleg up to the clear bag hanging beside the bed on the wall, then glanced at the green line jumping methodically on the screen beside it, eliciting the monotonous beep-beep-beep. Blue felt a lump in her throat as her eyes welled up with tears that she tried fruitlessly to hold back. She herself had spent very little time in hospitals and didn’t like them any more than any other pony, but she didn’t get super uncomfortable in them like Ember did. Her eyes wandered from the screen down to Apple’s chest, watching it rhythmically rise and fall with his slow breathing.

'He looks so peaceful…' Blue thought to herself as she watched him breathe, eyes closed, mouth ever so slightly open. 'Heh, he looks kinda cute like this in a way. This is the first time I’ve seen him asleep, just a shame it had to be like this…' She gently lifted his left foreleg and placed hers underneath, letting out a long sigh as she turned her attention back to the gentle rise and fall of Apple’s chest. Ember turned her head slightly and glanced over out of the corner of her eye to see what was going on behind her. From where she sat, she couldn’t see Apple’s face, just his lower body and Blue’s back, so not much really. Letting out a quiet sigh, she turned her attention back to looking out the window at the several ponies starting to go about their day in the street below.

After what felt like an hour, but in reality was only about five minutes, Apple let out a low-pitched groan and shifted on the bed. Blue immediately sat up straight and had her full attention on him as he shifted his position, winced, and slowly opened his left eye.

“Oh sweet Celestia you’re alive!” Blue squealed as she instinctively hugged Apple, causing him to immediately yelp in pain and she to quickly retract with a sheepish look. “Eheh… sorry. I’m just so happy that you’re awake you don’t even know.”

“If anypony is glad I’m awake I would think it would be me,” Apple said in a low, scratchy voice as he pushed himself up in the bed slightly. “Sweet Luna I feel like I was run over by the Friendship Express…” A small smile grew on Blue’s face at the analogy.

“So… Do you remember what happened last night at all?” she asked with some hesitation, hoping in a slightly selfish way that he did so she didn’t have to be the one to remind him of the awful events. Apple looked up towards the ceiling as he recalled the night before.

“Well, I remember being in you,” he smirked, “then something sharp in my sides and next thing I know I’m on a crash course for the window. After that it’s kinda blank. I don’t remember being brought here or anything.” Apple tried to swallow and winced. “Ugh my throat is as dry as the desert. Is there some water around?”

“Yeah, there’s some over by the door, I’ll get it,” Blue said getting up from his side, his eyes following her over to the right side of the room. “What I’m curious of, Apple, is if you remember who threw you out the window.”

“Well, it obviously wasn’t you. You were too distracted,” Apple smirked at Blue as she poured some water into a styrofoam cup. Blue rolled her eyes and smiled. “So that only leaves…” Apple’s eyes wandered towards the ceiling again before coming down on the left side of the room, right on Ember sitting in the chair by the window. “EmbehrhrrrAAHHH!” he shrieked and recoiled towards the opposite side of the bed, the ECG beeping with an increased vigor. “Gah! You’re here to finish me off! I should have known! Help! Nurse! Blue! Somepony!” Ember opened her mouth so say something but was cut off by Blue.

“Apple! Relax, I’m right here,” Blue said as she rushed back to the side of the bed, putting herself in between Apple and Ember. “She’s not here to hurt you, isn’t that right, Ember,” she said as she turned her head and fixed Ember with a glare. Ember opened her mouth again but instead of saying anything, opted to just shut it again and nod a few times. “See, it’s ok, you’re safe.” Apple’s breathing and heart rate slowly returned towards normal.

“Then why exactly is she here?” Apple asked, glancing over Blue’s shoulder and at Ember. Blue was wondering the same thing and had yet to really get a clear answer on the matter, so she turned towards Ember as well. Ember looked between the two of them for a moment before taking a deep breath and letting out a long sigh, letting her body slump in the chair.

“Look… I know I went too far here.” Blue and Apple both wore expressions that clearly conveyed ‘oh, you think?’ Ember dismissed them and continued. “Both of you know that I’m usually pretty good about keeping my anger in check, but something about walking in on you two doing that on my bed of all places just… caused something to snap in me and act without thinking.” She rubbed her left wing and glanced towards the wall. “I know it won’t mean anything to you now or probably forever, but I’m sorry.” Apple opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Blue interjected.

“Sorry doesn’t cut it you psycho! What if he had landed on his neck? You could have killed him!” Ember kept her focus on the floor in front of her. “You say you’re sorry, but I don’t buy it for a second. Why don’t you get the hell out of here before you get the sudden urge to launch us out this window too.” Ember looked up at them, opened her mouth and immediately closed it again. She knew nothing she said right now would help the situation in the slightest with Blue’s temper being flared like this. Apple stayed silent but didn’t take his eyes off of Ember. Letting out another long sigh, she slumped out of the chair and slowly made her way out of the room, not casting her gaze up from the floor.

“You didn’t have to yell, you know,” Apple said once he felt that Ember was far enough down the hall to be out of earshot. “I think she was legitimately trying to apologize.”

“Yeah? So? You believe any of that horseshit? She’s only apologizing to clear her conscience and make herself feel better. She doesn’t give two shits about you,” Blue said angrily, still staring out into the hall where Ember walked off.

“Look, Blue, I’m not so sure she meant it either, but I’d still like to believe that at some point she could mean it. I want that to be the case. I want us all to be able to be friends and get along without the thought of violence breaking out hanging over our heads anytime we’re in the same room together.” Apple let out a small chuckle, “Call me a crazy optimist, but I think it can happen someday.”

“You’re crazy, that’s for sure. Or the meds they have you on,” Blue said, turning her focus from the hallway back to Apple. “It’s gonna take a hell of a lot for me to trust her around you again, if ever.”

“Come on now, I’m not dead so there’s still hope, right?” Blue smiled a little and placed her hoof over Apple’s on the bed.

“I suppose…”

“That’s the spirit!” Apple smiled, then winced and glanced down at the bandages and cast on his leg. “Mmmm… guess this means no, ahem, relations for a while, huh…” Blue frowned and looked over his bandaged body.

“Yeah… Guess we’ll have to talk to each other. Ugh…” she said in a sarcastic tone, rolling her eyes and smiling. “Although, to be fair, we probably should have done more of that before just humping like rabbits.” Apple let out a small chuckle.

“That would be nice. Nothing wrong with getting to know each other more if we expect this to go anywhere between us.”

“Mhm,” Blue mumbled as she glanced out the door into the hall and caught sight of the doctor walking by. “Oh! There goes the doctor, lemme grab him and let him know you’re up. I’m sure he wants to go over stuff with you.”

“Ok, I’ll be here,” Apple smiled as he laid back on the bed and tried to hide another wince of pain that shot through his leg. Blue rolled her eyes before getting up and trotting out of the room and down the hallway after the doctor.

***

“Bbbbbbbrrrrmmm… Open up here it comes!” Blue’s voice said from inside the hospital room as she levitated a spoonful of food towards Apple’s mouth in an airplane-like fashion.

“No. I’m not a damn colt, I can feed myself,” replied an irritated Apple.

“The doc said you need to get something in you and you haven’t taken the liberty of eating yourself, so it’s up to me to get you to eat something. Now open that mouth up or I’ll make you open it!” Blue said at an increased volume.

“No! I don’t want it! Get that away from me!” Apple protested, avoiding the levitating spoon as much as he could while being confined in the bed.

“Damn it Apple I’m gonna get on top of you and shove this in your mouth if you don’t open up already,” Blue shouted.

“Ahem… Sorry, are we interrupting something?” Sunny said from the doorway as he looked at the sight in front of him; Blue was perched on top of Apple’s bed, careful to avoid standing on his injuries, with a spoonful of what looked to be mashed potatoes levitating in front of Apple’s mouth, which had several splotches of potatoes where Blue had clearly failed to gain entrance with the floating food. Both Apple and Blue’s eyes got wide as saucers as they both turned and saw Sunny standing there accompanied by Melon and Apricot. Sunny was holding back a smirk while Melon and Apricot were already giggling at the sight in front of them.

“Nice to see you taking advantage of Apple’s immobility, Blue,” Apricot giggled.

“She’s trying to force potatoes on me,” Apple said with a huff. “I don’t even like potatoes…”

“Oh be quiet, they’re good for you and yummy,” Blue said as she rolled her eyes and popped the spoonful into her own mouth as she climbed off the bed carefully. “Damn baby…”

“I heard that,” Apple replied, sticking his tongue out at Blue who didn’t hesitate to return the gesture.

“Seriously? Are we foals in here?” Sunny chuckled as he walked over to the chair in the corner and took a seat while Melon and Apricot sat at the foot of the bed. “So obviously we came by to see how you were doing after the rather colorful events of last night. I assume you’ve talked to the doctor by now?”

Blue glanced at Apple before turning to Sunny. “Yea, the doc went over the laundry list of injuries with us earlier, but assured us it wouldn’t take too long to heal. Said he wanted to keep Apple here a few more days to make sure he’s stable and then he can go home.”

“I see. Well that’s good to hear. Melon over here was up all night pacing back and forth worrying about you,” Sunny turned to the other mares in the room and regarded them with a smile. Melon’s eyes got wide and she instantly started to blush.

“I just didn’t want him dead Sunny geeze… Make me sound like I’m in love with him or something…” Melon said thru her mane that she pulled in front of her face.

“Did you guys go home or just stay at our place?” Blue asked.

“We just stayed there, did some cleaning up the best we could,” Sunny replied. “I patched the window with some cardboard I found in the shed out back but obviously Ember will have to get someone else out there to fix it proper, especially with the cold weather hitting.” He paused and looked around a moment. “Speaking of Ember, where is she? Wasn’t she here with you guys?”

“Yea, she was here earlier, but then she left after she tried giving Apple this bullshit apology,” Blue said, rolling her eyes.

“Blue, she left because you told her to, and I told you already, you don’t know if it was bull or not. Don’t be so quick to assume just because you’re mad at her,” Apple said. Blue let out a small huff but didn’t reply.

“So we don’t know where she went then?” Apricot interjected, a hint of worry on her voice. “I mean, we know she didn’t come home because we were just there and would’ve seen her heading that way on our way in.” She tapped her forehooves together. “Maybe we should go look for her. It’s really cold outside and she could get sick if she’s not somewhere warm.”

“Be my guest and look for the damn pigeon but I’m staying right here with Apple,” Blue said in a rather callous tone, eliciting another flat look from Apple. “Besides, he still has yet to eat something.”

“You guys stay here, I’ll go out and look for her,” Apricot said, turning to leave.

“Wait,” Melon said. “Here, take my scarf with you in case you do find her so she’ll have something to wear too.” Apricot smiled and gave Melon a quick hug before turning and heading down the hall and out of the hospital.

***

Apricot instantly shuddered the moment she stepped outside the warm hospital lobby into the biting cold winter winds. Squinting her eyes, she turned towards downtown and started walking, hoping it wouldn’t take her too long to find Ember. ‘I mean, how hard can it be to find a big griffon like her in a town full of ponies?’ she mused to herself as she walked. There wasn’t really any accumulated snow on the paths for her to look for paw prints, and even then Ember had wings so Apricot quickly tossed that tracking idea aside as her easy way out. Letting out a huff, she pushed open the door to the Watering Hole, hoping to see Ember at the bar, but was only met by the drunken glances of the few ponies in there at the time, none of which were griffons. “Eh, what the hell, might as well ask Berry if she came through here while I’m here,” Apricot muttered, making her way to the bar.

“What’ll it be?” Berry asked her as she took a seat at one of the empty stools. Apricot almost folded her forehooves on top of the bar in front of her, but quickly retracted them once she recalled the story Ember had told her of what happened on top of the bar after hours.

“Oh I’m not here for a drink,” Apricot began, eliciting an eyebrow raise from Berry. “I was hoping you might’ve seen a friend of mine I’m looking for, Ember.” Berry gave her a blank stare. “Uh, she’s the only griffon in town?” Berry’s eyes lit up in recognition.

“Oh, her, yea I saw her a few hours ago walk by out front. She didn’t stop in or nothing, just passed by.”

“So you don’t have an idea of where she might’ve been headed?” Apricot asked hopefully. Berry just shook her head.

“Like I said, I just saw her walk past the windows heading towards downtown, but that was a few hours ago now so who knows where she was really going.” Apricot’s expression drooped a little at the quickly- dashed hope of a solid lead. “Look, if she comes by again, I’ll let her know you’re looking for her, uh…”

“Apricot,” Apricot replied. “And I’d really appreciate it. I’m hoping I can find her before she gets sick from the cold out there.”

“Well Ponyville isn’t exactly a metropolis, and your friend stands out rather well I’d say, so I’m sure you won’t be looking too long,” Berry smiled at her. Apricot let out a small chuckle.

“Yea, good points. Anyways, I’m gonna get back out there, thanks for your help,” Apricot said as she dismounted her stool and headed for the door. Berry smiled and nodded before turning back to the other ponies sitting a few stools down.

“Mmm… Well that’s one strike,” Apricot mumbled as she stood outside the Watering Hole, tapping her chin with her hoof. “Maybe the market? Maybe she wanted to buy Apple something to show that she’s sincere?” With that thought in mind she started trotting towards the market in town.

Her hopes of finding Ember there were quickly dashed as she rounded the corner and was greeted by a completely deserted square. The only thing moving all around were the wisps of light snow being blown to and fro in the gusts of wind. “Fiddlesticks…” Apricot huffed as she plopped down to think. “I was certain she’d be here, but then again, nopony is so I should’ve thought of that. Hmmm… where else to try…” She idly glanced around the square until some movement at the far end caught her eye. A stallion wearing a red vest was pulling a cart stacked full of boxes of varying sizes and shapes, but it wasn’t the stallion that caught her focus, it was the bright red lettering emblazoned on the side of the cart: ‘Talon Logistics - Storage and Management’. Immediately Apricot’s eyes lit up with an idea. “Of course! I bet she’s at work! She always goes there when she’s feeling bad about something.” Without another thought, Apricot got up and started heading towards the more industrial part of town where Ember’s warehouses were.

After about fifteen minutes of walking, the buildings around her changed from the charming cottage-like buildings one was used to seeing in Ponyville, to a more sturdy, rough construction of brick and metal. The roads were rougher here from the much heavier loads being driven across them so dodging bumps and divots was keeping Apricot light on her hooves. She got turned around once or twice seeing how Ember had only told her the address once, and all the buildings looked more or less the same if you didn’t know what you were looking for. Pausing for a moment in the middle of an intersection, Apricot looked down the street to her left and smiled as she caught sight of the sign she had been looking for. As she trotted up to the building, she stopped short in front of it to admire its sheer size. The brick structure stood four stories tall and ran the entire length of the block. In front of her was a massive set of double doors made of solid wood and reinforced with iron hinges. Running beneath the door was a set of train tracks that led inside the building somewhere, clearly for hauling freight in and out. Suspended directly above the door, illuminated by a spotlight on either side, was a huge sign that read ‘Talon Logistics - Document Storage and Management - Warehouse H’. Apricot looked at the ‘H’ part with a bit of confusion before glancing at some of the smaller warehouses surrounding this one and noticing small red signs above each of their respective doors, each with another letter.

“Damn…” Apricot muttered out loud. “I didn’t know she had this much space.”

“It is pretty impressive, isn’t it?” said a voice from behind her.

“Sweet Luna fuck me!” Apricot shrieked and whipped around to see who was behind her.

“Woah, woah miss, I didn’t mean to scare ya,” said the stallion standing there. Apricot immediately recognized him as the stallion she saw in the square earlier on account of his red vest and the cart behind him. “Just heard ya commenting on the buildings and thought I’d put in my two cents.” Apricot took a moment to breathe and calm her heart back to normal before trying to speak.

“Ahem, excuse my outburst, I’m just not used to being snuck up on from behind,” she said, clearly embarrassed at her rather explicit exclamation.

“Meh, no worries. Sorry for scaring ya, though I’m kinda surprised you didn’t hear me with this cart and all,” he said, glancing behind himself at the cart stacked with boxes. “Anyways, what brings you by? You looking for something in particular around here?”

“Yes, actually, I’m looking for my friend, Ember. Apparently she’s the one who owns this,” Apricot replied, panning her forehoof at the warehouse in front of them. “I just didn’t know it was this big…” The stallion nodded.

“If you think the outside is big, you should see the labyrinth inside. Aisles and aisles of boxes as far as the eye can see. It really is quite impressive honestly,” he said with a small smile, glancing around at the other warehouses surrounding them. “If you’re looking for Ember, yea, she’s inside. Came in a few hours ago to catch up on some projects as she normally does. If you’d like I can take you to her.”

“Oh I’d really appreciate that, um, I didn’t catch your name…” Apricot replied.

“Fiddle,” the stallion replied. Apricot gave him a strange look. “Yes, I know it’s an odd name,” he said, turning to show her his cutie mark, “but when you’re cutie mark is a cog gear and a screwdriver, and you know how much I like to fix and tinker with mechanical things, it makes more sense,” he chuckled.

“Oh, so… what are you doing delivering then?” Apricot asked, not seeing the correlation between mechanics and delivery.

“Oh I just do this from time to time to help Ember out when we’re short hooved around here or when something comes up and needs rushed. Normally I’m the maintenance for all the buildings around here for her.”

“Ah, I see. Makes a lot more sense then,” Apricot smiled. Fiddle smiled back and started walking towards the doors in front of them.

“If you’d just follow me, I’ll show you where her office is in the back. Hope you don’t mind a bit of a walk,” Fiddle said as he reached in his pocket and pulled out a giant iron key. Apricot silently nodded as he pushed it into a hole next to the door and heaved it to the right a quarter turn. On the other side of the door you could hear a heavy metal bolt disengage from some other piece of metal and slide out of position, causing the door to become slack. Walking over to a handle on the middle of the door, Fiddle pulled hard and the giant door swung open slowly. Apricot stood in awe as she slowly got a look at the inside of the massive warehouse. Fiddle ushered her inside and pulled the door shut behind them, locking it back up again. In front of them, Apricot saw where the train tracks led to a docking platform directly ahead of them where the single set of tracks branched off into three separate bays, each with a crane mechanism beside it and pallets of boxes beside those. Above them were metal shelves with metal grated floors that you could see through the different levels, all the shelves were completely packed with boxes from top to bottom. Looking to her left and right Apricot could see nothing but more shelves and boxes as far as she could see, her mouth hung agape at the sheer size of it all.

“Yoohoo, you coming?” Fiddle shouted from where he now stood on one of the dock platforms, pulling her momentarily out of her trance. While she was standing there staring he had taken his cart and parked it on the side and made his way up a small set of stairs at the edge of the dock.

“Oh, uh… Yeah, I’m coming,” Apricot stuttered out as she made her way up the small stairs and began to follow Fiddle down a hallway beneath the racking. Their hooves elicited a gentle clang on the metal grating beneath them as they walked, the lights in front of them progressively turning on to illuminate the rows around them. Glancing down each one, Apricot could see endless boxes on the shelves along with carts and ladders scattered here and there. The whole place had this certain musty smell about it that Apricot found strangely appealing. She never took herself to be the kind of mare that would like the smell of dust and oil, but something about it here was putting her in the mood for it. Before she could complete that thought, she found herself running muzzle-first into Fiddle, who had stopped in front of her. “Oh! Ow, I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you stop.”

“Well I’d rather you bump into me than that metal pole to your right,” Fiddle chuckled as Apricot rubbed her nose from the impact. “Anyways, as I was saying while you were clearly entranced again, Ember’s office is down this hall and on the right,” he gestured down a hallway on their left. “I’m gonna go wash up a little and finish some work back there on the dock if you two need me.”

“Oh, ok. Thank you so much for your help, Fiddle. It really does mean a lot to me,” Apricot said as she started walking down the hallway he pointed down. Fiddle smiled and continued down the other hall. As Apricot continued down the hall, she read the signs on the wall pointing to various rooms. “Lunch room, mechanical, electrical, accounting… Ah, President.” She paused for a moment and smirked. “Heh… President Ember… Oh that sounds rich. Gonna have to remember to tell the others about that one.” Still with a smirk on her face, she turned right down the hall where the sign pointed and walked down past several vacant offices to the one where light was coming from the doorway. Slowly peeking her head around the doorframe, Apricot saw Ember sitting at her desk, looking down at a pile of papers with both talons on the sides of her head. The expression she wore clearly was not a happy one. Apricot frowned slightly as she glanced around the rest of the office. It was a decent size but somehow felt full. Besides all the papers on Ember’s desk, there were numerous filing cabinets lining the back wall behind the desk, each labeled with a different warehouse letter. The right wall was a giant window overlooking another part of the warehouse below which included more shelves and racking from what Apricot could see. On the left wall was a giant cork board with papers pinned all over, each covered with multiple colored highlights. To the right of that was a giant calendar with a whole bunch of scribblings on it. Apricot took a quiet breath as she slowly lifted her hoof to the doorframe to announce her presence finally. “Um… Knock knock?”

“Gah!” Ember exclaimed, her wings flaring out as she shot up from her focused position in her chair. “Apricot?! What the hell…? How did you even get in here?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. Um, Fiddle let me in?” she said rather tentatively, not wanting to get the nice stallion in trouble for letting her into somewhere that was obviously meant to be a secure area.

“Oh… Damn it Fiddle…” Ember muttered under her breath. “What are you doing here then?”

“I came looking for you of course,” Apricot said rather matter-of-factly. “When Sunny, Melon, and I went to see Apple this morning, they said you left a while ago and they didn’t know where you went. I got worried that you’d get sick out in the cold somewhere… So I came to find you and make sure you were ok,” she said, turning slightly to hide her reddening cheeks. Ember sat back down and let out a sigh.

“I’m fine, Apricot. I just have work to catch up on,” she said, gesturing to the mounds of paperwork on her desk. “This shit ain’t gonna do itself unfortunately.”

“Is there something I can help with?” Apricot asked curiously, craning her neck to get a glimpse of some of the papers.

“Depends. Do you know anything about the logistical functioning of a 100,000 square hoof warehouse?”

“Um… I don’t think so,” Apricot said timidly. “I honestly didn’t even know buildings this big existed in Ponyville until now, seeing how I’ve never been to your work before.”

“Well then I don’t see how you could help here unfortunately,” Ember replied. “Come to think of it, how did you find my place anyways?”

“You told me the address once a while ago when we were talking about you first starting the business, and I just remembered it I guess. I got the idea to look for you here because I was in the market square and noticed Fiddle on the other side pulling your cart with your logo on the side, so I figured you would be here.”

“Hm. Well I guess that at least proves that advertising on the carts gets noticed,” Ember mused. “You wanna sit down?” Ember gestured to one of two chairs in front of her desk. Apricot nodded and climbed on top of one and made herself comfortable, letting out a sigh at the cozy warmth of the office.

“It sure is cold out there,” Apricot said as she glanced out the window of the office to the right.

“Well, yea, it would be impossible to heat and cool a space this massive efficiently,” Ember replied, not looking up from her desk. “I only heat my office, the lunch room, and a few other offices where a few other ponies sometimes are. Plus an area that’s special climate controlled storage but that’s different.”

“I was referring to outside, but yea, I can see your point in here too,” Apricot said, turning back to Ember at her desk.

“Oh, yeah, that too. Sorry, I’m a little distracted. Between having to have this contract ready in a few days and the shit that happened last night with Apple, my brain is a bit frazzled at the moment.”

“I can imagine. Does this work?” Apricot gestured to a coffee / hot chocolate machine sitting on a table by the door. Ember glanced up and nodded. “You want some?” Ember shrugged nonchalantly. Apricot took that as a yes and got up and went over to the machine, setting up two cups on it and hitting ‘brew’ under the hot chocolate option. “So I hear that you tried to apologize to Apple. Is that true?”

“Ugh…” Ember crumpled up a piece of paper in her talon and chucked it towards a trash can in the corner, leaning back in her chair and rubbing her eyes. “I did try to, but Blue kinda interjected and told me to get lost, so rather than start shit and make a scene in the hospital, I just shut my beak and left.” Apricot nodded as she turned back around from the machine with two steaming cups in her hooves, handing one to Ember.

“Mhm. I heard. Well, at least you made an effort to apologize, that says a lot to me.” Ember rolled her eyes a little. “Look, I know it’s not me that you have to apologize to, but Apple isn’t a jackass. I believe he’ll hear you out if you try again when the timing is a little better and Blue’s temper has cooled a bit.”

“I suppose…” Ember mused as she gently blew on her cocoa and took a small sip before setting it down on the desk. “I honestly didn’t mean to go crazy like that Apricot. It’s like I told Blue, or rather tried to tell them both this morning, just something about seeing them do that in my bed just… snapped something in me.” Apricot nodded.

“I can obviously only imagine how I’d react in this kind of situation, but seeing how I don’t have the strength to launch a pony out a window, I would probably have to resort to bucking something really hard instead, which I imagine isn’t as satisfying as throwing the thing that pissed you off to begin with,” Apricot chuckled as she took a sip of her cocoa. Ember let out a small smile.

“Well, in its own twisted way it was very cathartic,” Ember chuckled. “I’m certainly not looking forward to having to clean all that up back at my house though that’s for sure…”

“Oh we took care of that for the most part,” Apricot said from behind her cup. Ember gave her a puzzled look. “Melon and I cleaned up as much as we could inside and Sunny went out to the shed and found some cardboard to temporarily patch the window so at the very least snow doesn’t get inside everywhere.”

“Well I’ll be damned…” Ember muttered. “Thank you. Really. That means more to me than you know.”

“Nah don’t mention it birdy, it’s what friends do,” Apricot said, giving Ember a quick wink and giggling. Ember smiled and took another sip from her cocoa. Silence befell the pair for a few minutes as they sat there and enjoyed their cocoa. Glancing out at the shelves once again, Apricot was the first to break the silence. “Ok, I have to ask, how in the hell do you find anything in a place this damn big?!”

“Heh… Honestly, it’s really not difficult at all, so long as the warehouse ponies are doing their job right and put boxes back where they’re assigned to go.” Ember reached over to a pile of papers on the corner of her desk and took the top one off. “Here, I’ll show you. Follow me.” She got up and, with Apricot in tow, proceeded down to the dock where Apricot had come in. Ember led her over to a pallet of boxes with a card on the side that read ‘Pallet H257 - Ready For Reshelving - H Building’. “Ok, see this pallet number?” Apricot nodded. “It coincides with this list right here.” Ember pointed to the paper in her talon with the heading ‘Pallet H257 - Current location - H-Dock’. “Now, all these boxes have these barcode numbers on the sides of them and all those numbers are here on this list. So for example, if you look for box number 14275982, and find it here on the list…” Ember looked down the list and found the box in question, “you can see it goes in location H204R697.” Apricot wore a look of pure confusion. “It’s easy, really. H is the warehouse, the one we’re in now. 204 means 2nd floor, 4th row, which they’re all labeled in the aisles. R means the right side of the row, and 697 is the slot in that row. See?” Apricot looked at the list in Ember’s talon and a look of clarity slowly came over her face.

“Oooooohhh… I see now… Huh, that really isn’t that hard after all,” Apricot said.

“Yep. Told ya. Also helps that this place was completely empty when I bought it so I was able to set everything up the proper way from scratch. I’ve been in other companies warehouses who have a different system and it’s seriously nothing but luck that they find anything,” Ember laughed, looking around them at the rows of racking surrounding them. Glancing up directly above them, she could see Fiddle on the 3rd floor, walking across the center aisle. “Hey, Fiddle! What’s the idea just opening the door for anypony on the street? How many times have I told you these warehouses are secure storage?” she said in a lighthearted tone. Fiddle looked down through the grating and rolled his eyes with a smile.

“She said she knew you and looked nice enough, so I said why not,” he replied before walking down an aisle and out of sight.

“Oh so now everypony who knows me and looks nice is allowed anywhere. I see. Next thing you’ll be holding parties in the vault,” Ember yelled after him.

“Already have. The one on last Tuesday night was smashing,” came Fiddle’s distant voice from down the aisle. Ember chuckled and shook her head.

“Fuckin’ Fiddle…” she smiled.

“Sooo how exactly did he end up working for you?” Apricot asked, curious more than ever after witnessing such an odd interaction between what she understood to be an employee / boss relationship.

“Fiddle worked for the manufacturing company that used to be in this warehouse before I bought it. Once I moved in, he approached me and asked if I’d be interested in his services as maintenance, and seeing how I don’t know every brick of these places like he does, it was a no brainer to have him on the team. Besides me, he’s the only other full time pony I have on staff, all the rest are part time during the week.”

“Huh. Nice. I can’t really fathom how the hell you managed to fill this place like it is with just you and him doing it tho.” Apricot remarked, looking around at the thousands of boxes surrounding them.

“Hm? Oh no no no, we didn’t move this all ourselves,” Ember laughed. “We’d be dead by the 4th truckload. Nah, when I initially opened and word got out that companies would have a local alternative to the competition, Sky King, who is located all the way in Manehattan, clients literally flooded me with wanting to switch. So of course I took them on, would be stupid not to, I just hired a lot of temp workers for the first several months while we got everything transferred from Sky King’s facilities to here. For a solid month and a half we literally had a steady stream of fully packed sky carriages and rail cars flowing in and out of this dock day and night. Trailer would back in, they’d offload it, barcode every single box, assign it an empty location from the master inventory sheet, and put it on holding pallets until they could be shelved. Was pretty smooth sailing honestly, which surprised me. I was expecting way more problems than we had.”

“But there’s no way there are this many companies in Ponyville, are there?” Apricot asked with a puzzled look. Ponyville was a growing community, but this was on a whole new level here.

“Nah. A good bit of it is Ponyville, but I have clients in Cloudsdale, Manehattan, Baltimare, Appleloosa, a few small contracts in Griffinstone, and even some government contracts in Canterlot. The way you can tell whose box is who's kinda quickly is by looking at the call letters on the barcode label,” Ember said, pointing to a box on the pallet in front of them. “See this one? It has the call letters BNBN above the barcode, which if you work here long enough you’ll learn stands for Bon-Bon’s Confectionery. Or this one here is CNBCS which is Canterlot Bureau of Census and Statistics. Some are a little more obvious like WBLTS for the Wonderbolts in Cloudsdale, who store all their personnel file archives here along with some historical memorabilia they keep in the vault.”

“Not gonna lie, I thought these were all just a bunch of boring, dusty boxes, but this is turning out to be pretty damn sweet Ember,” Apricot smiled. “I mean, you got it in with a lot of important ponies.”

“Well, yeah, I guess I do in a way,” Ember shrugged.

“One thing I don’t get though is how the hell don’t you live in like some giant mansion? You’ve got to be making a fortune off of this!” Apricot exclaimed, throwing her forehooves out beside her in an outward gesture.

“You would think so, but take into consideration how much this kinda space costs to keep. I mean, I have twelve warehouses on this block, H here by far is the largest, but still, that’s a lot of real estate, which equals more taxes, more electricity, more upkeep… Sure I save a good deal by not keeping a lot more full time ponies on staff, but between Fiddle and I, and the part timers during the week, we manage to keep things running smooth enough. Any money I ‘save’ goes away for emergencies like a roof repair or a water pipe bursting. Stuff like that. I simply pay myself enough to live comfortably.”

“Mmm… I see… Guess I don’t think of things like that,” Apricot mulled. “Would explain why you’re the successful business bird!” she smiled brightly at Ember, who smiled and turned away to try and hide her reddening cheeks. She wasn’t used to being complimented like this. Apricot moved in beside her and gave her a light hug. “You don’t give yourself enough credit for what you’ve managed to accomplish. There’s a ton of ponies that would kill to have accomplished what you have, so don’t feel like you’re not important.” Ember returned the hug and nodded slightly. “Now, how about you take a little break here and we head back to the hospital to see the others and maybe you can get that second chance at that apology that you wanted, huh?”

“Ugh, I’d rather be squished under this pallet…” Ember scoffed, lightly kicking the pallet beside them with her paw. Apricot gave her a nudge with her flank, eliciting a small, involuntary smile from Ember. She let out a sigh. “Ok, let’s go. Lemme just tell Fiddle I’m gonna be gone for a few hours and then we’ll leave.” Apricot nodded and waited by the stairs while Ember flew off to find Fiddle. A few minutes later, she reappeared and they headed off in the direction of the hospital.

Author's Note

Surprise! I'm not dead!

Let me just apologize for how long this took to get out. Between working more than just full time, and other projects that pop up and get in the way, progress has been an uphill battle to put it lightly. I'm really trying to get myself back into the habit of writing even just a little bit every few days but me and self-discipline don't always see eye-to-eye.

But, with any hope, 17 won't take almost 6 months to get out... Pathetic... :ajbemused:

Feedback appreciated as always!