The Lost Firefly

Firefly's green eyes opened ever so slightly. From her blurred vision she had just managed to make out the alleyway wall right in front of her. Shaking the ringing from her ears, she rose her head up and hit it on the top of her cardboard box that she sleeps in. The box was wet and quite mossy, due to the storm that happened overnight. Her nose was a rosy red, as she may as well have a cold. Crawling out of the mucky box, she shook her mane and brushed it down with her hoof, trying to flatten her hair down to look less messy, but failing as her mane rose back up in knots.

Her chin ached, due to the fact that some ponies still do not trust her, and they kick her chin whilst she sleeps. Rubbing the crust from her eyes, she trotted out of her alleyway and into the streets of Ponyville. As she was saying hello to many ponies that cross her path, she saw Sugar Cube Corner in the distance. Speeding up her walking, she accelerated through the doors of the bakery, having to stop herself by sliding on the ground.

She did her usual routine; say hello to Mr and Mrs Cake, wash her hooves, put on her apron, start baking, give a cupcake to the baby-cakes and then set the rest out on display for ponies to buy. What she usually does before all of this, though, is have some milkshakes with Pinkie. But Pinkie was no-where to be found. Firefly didn't worry, though, as she had been told that she was an element of harmony, and may have to be pulled out of work every-so-often.

When Pinkie Pie arrived back at Sugar Cube Corner, Firefly was thrilled. Her grin almost reached her eyes as Pinkie nervously stepped towards her. Firefly noticed that she was feeling uneasy, and her smile turned into a worried expression. She put her hoof on Pinkie's shoulder.

"Pinkie, are you all right?" Firefly asked her. Mr and Mrs Cake stopped to see what was the problem.

"Yeah, I'm fine, sorry I missed the opening." Pinkie tried to grin, but everyone could tell she was worried about something. "Though... I need to ask you something."

"Oh, go ahead." Firefly smiled again. "Ask me anything you want."

"I want you to answer truthfully, though." Pinkie warned her. "Pinkie Pie promise."

"Why? Don't you trust me?" Firefly looked at Pinkie, then rolled her eyes and sighed. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

Pinkie paused, then looked Firefly dead straight in the eye. "Do you have a home?"

Firefly fell back a bit. Her mind went woozy, and her vision went blurry. She could see the home of her parents when they were in Ponyville, and then her mind flashed to her 'cosy' cardboard box. The only other home she had was in the Everfree, and she didn't want to tell Pinkie about that. She was classed as homeless ever since she left the Everfree forest.

"N-No." Firefly gulped. "I don't have a home."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Pinkie's face dropped to the ground, but her eyes never left Firefly's face.

"I didn't want you to worry."

"Well that didn't help! I'm now worried!" Pinkie thought for a moment, and then remembered the storm from last night. "You poor filly..."

"I'm not a filly any more." Firefly said with a stern voice. "I needed to raise enough money for a house, that's why I was looking for a job."

"That makes sense." Pinkie gazed over at the Cakes, who were standing in the doorway. She gestured for them to leave the room.

"How'd you figure out, anyway?" Firefly sat down, and Pinkie mimicked her.

"I was having a meeting with the other elements." Pinkie stated. "Our baby dragon told us that your name wasn't registered on the residents list."

"Baby drago-?"

"So, we decided to get you a house! Three months free rent!" Pinkie laughed, and used her party canon to fire confetti. "Isn't that great?"

"Wh-What..?" Firefly fell again, regaining her balance halfway. "P-Pinkie, I..."

"Don't thank me." Pinkie raised her hoof in the air. "Just think of it as a gift. All you had to do was ask!"

"I asked Mayor Mare what I could get for a few bits." Firefly told her. "She told me that houses were more expensive."

"That's strange." Pinkie tapped her chin. "Usually shacks are affordable for only five bits...."

"It wouldn't be surprising if she didn't want me in the town." Firefly chuckled with a tear going down her chin. "After what my parents did..."

"Still not your fault." Pinkie grinned, trying to cheer her up. "Now, stop fussing over the past, and come with me to get your new house!"

Firefly quickly wiped a tear from her cheek. "O-Okay..."

A police colt trotted up to the cell bars. He nodded at the pegesi guards, and they responded by slamming their hooves on the bars. StitchedHeart's ear twitched at the loud noise. She slowly turned her head around, creepily glaring at the stallion that wishes to talk to her. She wiped dust off of her orange prison suit, and skipped happily towards the bars that kept her from freedom.

Putting her hooves around the muddy iron bars, she pulled her face as close to the police colt as possible. She breathed heavily, seeing her cold breath. She twitched her ears one by one, and tried using her magic to pull him closer, resulting in failure as it gave her a large electric shock which sent her backwards. She pulled herself forwards and pressed her face against the bars.

"You wanted to speak with me, ma'am?" The colt asked her.

"Yeah." StitchedHeart laughed. "I want a phone call."

"Irrelevant." The colt told her. "You're not aloud."

"Not just one?" StitchedHeart asked. "I need some social interaction."

The colt looked left and right. "Fine." He said. "But only one call."