Where Friendships Wither, New Things Bloom

"Hey man, I'll have the Cheese and Lettuce sandwich with some tomatoes, BBQ sauce and- a chocolate milkshake to go, please."

After getting a shower and having a second round of breakfast I'd headed out. I'd had to use the majority of my leftover bits buying a very shiny new shower head which I now had neatly secured in my bag, I'd need to be careful with the last 30 or so bits I had left tonight. It was still pretty early considering I normally don't get up until around 1:30pm so it was a change of pace to watch the streets filling with ponies going about their business, looking around I could see restaurants, a few bars dotted here and there along with a particularly gruff looking guard and his partner going about their rounds.

Compared to the Royal guards over in Canterlot and Ponyville these guys were somewhat lax in their appearance, I wouldn't want to get into a fight with one of them considering they'd probably kick my ass but they were nowhere near as- shiny as the others. They wore no armour, just a leather jacket and a hat along with a snap out truncheon clipped on to their utility belt. Unlike the Royal guards who tended to carry either a big fuck-off looking spear or a short sword, they didn't really carry any other notable weapons besides a pepper spray and some other things I couldn't make out.

Walking down the street I thought about how Rumble had said he was going to apply for the Skyguard, he'd always wanted to join up and by the way he spoke about them you'd think he was already in. Honestly I probably would have joined up with him if I was a flapper but unfortunately I'm a filthy Earth pony so I'm stuck on the ground, unless one of the princesses suddenly decided to turn me into the first known male alicorn in Equestrian history that is, I think I'd make quite the benevolent leader... heh, a guy can dream right?

Taking a sip of my now half full milkshake I looked up, my life seemed to be on the rise since Sweetie Belle came knocking at my door, soaking wet. As the thought passed through my head my hoof decided to hit a rock which happened to somehow have found it's way into the middle of a concrete walkway. Tripping and landing face-first on the ground with my hooves sprawled out in different directions and my face drenched in milkshake I cursed that happy thought and told my brain to stop talking "Ugh fuck! Can't I get a break once in a while?!" Lifting my head I noticed two mares sitting outside a cafe giggling at my predicament, "Nice to know ponies will come running to help..."

Seeing that I'd dropped my drink as well as busting my fucking nose and I started on my way home, holding my hoof to my face in a futile attempt to stop the blood from leaking out. After about a minute or two of walking, I started to feel ill, the blood loss was getting pretty heavy. Stumbling and almost tripping over again I slammed into the back of another pony, fortunately, said pony was huge so I didn't do much other than nudge him an inch, unfortunately though, this huge pony was also the guard I'd passed earlier.

Instinctively the guard's rear leg shot out like a bullet, striking me directly in my chest, instantly winding me and knocking me to the ground. He spun, falling into a defensive stance, truncheon clenched between his teeth. Clutching my chest I looked up at him, watching as his face turned from a look of anger to one of confusion. Quickly sheathing his weapon he grabbed me, pulling me to my hooves "Hey, you all right there son? I thought you were coming at me there, what happened? Did I do that to your face?"

Catching my breath I dusted myself off "Yer, sorry about that, I wasn't looking where I was going and no, this was the concretes fault, I tripped over back there and bust my nose, that was one hell of a kick by the way, I'm surprised you didn't cave my chest in!" Putting his leg around my neck he laughed "HA! I'm impressed you could take a hit like that! Come on son, let's get you cleaned up" Taking me over to a nearby bench he shouted over to his partner, motioning for him to come over to us. The other guard gave me a pitying look as if he had seen this sort of thing before "Really Sgt.? What did you do this time?" Chuckling the apparent Sergeant gave me a nudge in the shoulder "This young man's been having a bit of a rough day is all, grab the first aid kit there would you corporal."

Turning back to me the Sargent instructed me to sit down and tilt my head back "So what's your name kid?" Doing as instructed I watched as the Corporal pulled a small green bag from a leather pouch on his belt "It's Button Mash sir, most people just call me Button, though."

Standing back and letting the corporal kneel in front of me he puffed out his chest "Button huh? Nice to meet you Button, I'm sorry it wasn't under better circumstances. I'm Sgt. Stronghoof." Motioning to the other guard in front of me "This is my partner Cpl. Nimbus" The Corporal was a young Pegasus pony with light blue fur, a darker blue mane, and matching dark blue eyes, he bore a somewhat bored look and seemed to be around the same age as me. The Sargeant, on the other hand, was a huge Earth pony with light red fur, a golden mane, and amethyst blue eyes as well as a pristine golden mustache.

After the corporal had stopped the bleed, he gave me a small piece of left-over bandage that he'd been using to slow the blood flow "Here, if it starts again in five minutes just jam this up there and hope it holds. If it starts again after that then you'll need to seek medical help, you may have popped a blood vessel and that'd need to be cauterised."

Sliding down from the seat onto my hooves I went to shake the Sargents hoof, instead of taking it however, he just thumped it "Nice meeting ya kid, if you're ever in trouble ask for Stronghoof, I owe you one for that kick earlier" putting down my hoof I laughed "Honestly sir I think I owe YOU one for the help." Turning to look at Nimbus I was surprised to see that he'd already sparked up a cigaret, he didn't seem much like the formal type so I just nodded, he nodded back, at that, we parted ways.

After spending a bit more time walking and eating my sandwich I started on my way home, it was already about mid-day so I'd been out for a while, fortunately, my face had stopped leaking a while back but I held on to that bandage just in case. Arriving back at my apartment I fumbled for my key, being an Earth pony, I was good with my hooves but doing little things like finding the right key would be so much easier with a horn. As I found the right key though I felt a tap on my shoulder, turning I saw that my landlord; Mr. Longhorn was behind me "So how goes the rent Mr. Button?" He was a slightly small pony, dark green fur with a blue mane and red eyes. There wasn't much notable about his appearance, having quite a pretty generic face you wouldn't really notice him on the street.

"Oh, hey Mr. Longhorn. Yer it's going good actually, I got an invite to a job interview at this place just this morning so I'll probably have your rent money by the end of the month as requested, he seemed quite happy with that but he looked as though he wasn't finished with me.

"So Button, I was looking through the CCTV this morning and it seems you've had a visitor? Now I don't mind you having a girlfriend living here button but I hope I won't be getting any trouble from you." I bit my lip not really knowing how to answer that "N-no sir, you won't but she isn't my-" chuckling he started walking away "Ok kid, whatever you say, just remember what I said."

Entering my apartment I dumped my bags on the floor and walked over to the fridge, opening it I grabbed one of the juice boxes Sweetie Belle had gotten the day before. After setting up the Neighstation I spent a few good hours playing my new 'Doomsday Equestria' game, at one point I'd decided to go on a rampage only to find out that you couldn't kill the kids in the game for some stupid reason, I know some ponies would consider that insensitive but fuck'em it's just a game after all.

Turning off the console I picked up my tablet, noticing the time was 5:30pm I remembered that Sweetie Belle would probably be getting off soon. Not having anything else to do I gave myself a quick look over followed by a spray of that nice cologne mom had bought me the year before I left, grabbing my jacket on the way out. I didn't want to waste the remaining bits I had so instead of doing the usual and calling a cab to my place I just hoofed it, the boutique, being in the heart of the retail and district meant that I could just walk to where ever I was heading so my pockets were safe for now. I noticed that it was getting pretty cold out, then again it was getting close to winter, heck, some places already had the flashing lights hanging in their windows so bringing my jacket was probably a good idea.

As I got closer to the boutique I passed a lot of places closing up for the night, ponies rushing to get their work finished, tables cleaned, chairs stacked, all trying to get home as early as they could. Eventually, I'd arrived at the boutique, walking in I passed a young mare who looked to be around 17, I guessed she was probably one of the girls Sweetie Belle and Rarity had been interviewing. Moving up to the office at the back of the store I peered in seeing that the girls were alone and looked to be packing up their things, before entering, however, my ears picked up, listening in on their conversation. "So are you wanting a ride home Sweetie?" Sweetie Belle replied in a slightly monotone voice "Oh no thanks, sis, Button's supposed to be picking me up soon"

Rarity's voice seemed to pick up at that gaining somewhat of a conspiratorially childish undertone "OoooOoo going out on a date are we?" Sweetie Belle's face turned red, letting out a little giggle "NO,no,no. Me and Button are just... friends- yer friends!" Rarity wasn't buying it for a second "Oh come ON Sweetie Belle! A nice young stallion like him living alone in the big city? You and I both know he doesn't have more than one bed so either he's been sleeping on the couch or you two have been sleeping together! And I know for a fact you aren't sleeping on the couch." Sweetie Belle's jaw moved without a sound, her eyes darting back and forth as if looking for the right words.

Rarity just chuckled aloud "Listen, Sweetie Belle, I've been around long enough to know some stuff and if there's one thing I can tell you, it's that you can't tell me anything I don't already know." Rarity pulled something out of her bag and put it into Sweeties hoof, whispering something in her ear, I couldn't quite see what it was without fully putting my head through the door though so I didn't bother trying it.

As quietly as I could I took a few steps back in the direction I'd came then proceeded to walk back to the office, trying to make my steps as inconspicuously loud as possible. Knocking on the door I heard a shuffling of bags followed by Rarity's voice calling me to enter. Opening the door both mares gave me a very innocent looking smile followed by them saying their adoos.

Exiting the boutique we started walking towards the music. "So... where are we going?" Honestly, I hadn't really thought that part through "I dunno, I was hoping we could just go out for a drink or something? We're not that far away from the main square, how about we just see where we end up?" Giving me a somewhat speculative glance Sweetie Belle smiled "Yes, I think that'll work for now."