Miles ducked his head through the door to the supply shop and smiled at its familiar shopkeeper. The stallion immediately stood to attention, being but a salute shy of a soldier.

"Ah, hello again, sir. I wasn't expecting you back until later," said the stallion.

Miles raised an eyebrow at him with a chuckle and replied, "Yes, well, it turns out I work even faster than I give myself credit for."

"Not that it's a bad thing you're here early or anything, bu-"

"Of course. However, I had some other business come up that I need to be attending to, so I came right away. I know I promised you a thorough payment, and here I have it, as promised," Miles interrupted.

As Miles began to reach into his pocket with slow movements, the stallion tensed up, watching Miles's hand with fear. "W-Wait! I-"

"Hm?" Miles paused, looking the stallion squarely in the eyes. The stallion did not respond, his eyes drifting back down to Miles's hand. Miles smiled and finally drew the bag of coins from his pocket. "So, how much do I owe you?"

The stallion appeared relieved. He sighed and approached the counter. "O-Oh, heh... That'll be twenty bits in total, sir," he said.

"Bits...? Is that what this currency is called?" questioned Miles.

The stallion chuckled breathlessly. "Yeah, those there coins are bits."

Miles gathered up fifteen bits from the small sack Mrs. Cake had given to him and handed them over to the store pony. "There you go. Thankyou, Mr...?" Miles offered up a hand to the pony as he trailed off.

"O-Oh, uh, I'm Pointy! Heh... A-Also, you only gave me fif-" Pointy appeared cautious as he closely watched Miles's fingers wrap firmly around his hoof, wincing upon contact.

"I'm sure you are..." Miles murmured with a mirthful laugh.

"Wh-What?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm Miles, and it was a pleasure doing business with you." Miles grabbed the supplies still sitting on the counter-top since their last encounter. "I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other somewhat often." He ducked under the doorway once more and left Pointy to his own thoughts.

Pointy sighed to himself once the hulking human had departed. He peered down at the bits and whispered, "Great..."

Muddy smiled to herself with anticipation as she patiently awaited the arrival of her new human friend. The girls were already upstairs preparing, and she'd been left alone to greet their visitor upon his arrival.

Celestia's sun had mostly set, and the heavens had just begun to open. Light rain pitter-pattered down onto the cobblestone path outside; the residual puddles it created glistened with the last few gracious rays of sun, bequeathing their energy for the satisfaction of those so inclined to appreciate it.

Muddy sighed to herself in admiration of nature's beauty as her head lulled lazily onto her hoof in rest. All of her preparation was done. The chairs had been kicked and broken so as to give Miles something to do. The house looked presentable, from the mounted cuckoo clock to the cross-hatched carpet; all was thoroughly dusted and cleaned. Not that this was any different from her usual standards, of course, but she did an extra once-over just to be sure.

Muddy heard her friends squabbling over something from upstairs, yet just rolled her eyes and hurried over to the kitchen to make sure she had her appliances ready to provide any kind of hospitality that Miles might need. As she turned the jug of her coffee grinder to positioned perfection, Muddy heard a loud knock on the door.

"Oh! Coming!" She dashed over to the door, noticing her friends had suddenly gone quiet upstairs. She opened the door to be greeted by the friendly, ever-smiling face of Miles looking down at her.

"Good evening, Ms. Muddy," he said as he leaned down and ruffled her mane. "May I come in?"

"Of course! Welcome, Miles..." Muddy stepped to the side and held out a hoof, puffing up her chest in pride as she awaited his reaction to her picture-perfect home.

"Thankyou." Miles stepped past her and briefly glanced around the room. The living area housed multiple couches with what looked like an archaic television set, yet was joined onto the throughway between the kitchen and the stairs leading to the upper floor. The kitchen area was open and also connected to the throughway, the stairs and the living space.

No complete walls separated any of these four areas from each other - only waist-high counter-tops and over-embellished cup holders. "Nice place, I must say. There is no way you have a home like this all to yourself. Is your husband home?"

Muddy giggled "O-Oh, no. I'm single, and I share this home with my two best friends, whom I believe you've already met."

"Ah, yes, I did..." Miles scratched at his stubble as he made a point of looking for a place to set his tools down.

"You can put your stuff down on the tea-table over there, o-or anywhere you like, really..." stammered Muddy.

He placed his tools down on the nearest surface and cracked his knuckles. "So, would you like to point me in the direction of the malfunctioning chairs...?"

"Just over here..." Muddy trotted past Miles and into the kitchen before turning to face him. Miles followed.

"Alright, this should be an easy fix. It will only be a matter of minutes." He reached for his tools.

Muddy appeared moderately alarmed. "O-Oh! Well, for these, I guess..."

"For these...?"

"Y-Yeah... There's, uh... There's more upstairs. Mhm." Muddy looked hopefully towards Miles.

Miles cocked an eyebrow at her. "Okay, then... Well, I'd best get to work, now."

"O-Oh, is there anything I can get for you, like a cup of coffee, or...?"

"Coffee would be lovely, thankyou."

Muddy scurried over to the counter, standing on her hind legs and working the coffee grinder. After a few moments, she placed the beans into the mixing machine and chanced a glance over her withers.

It was only for a very small moment, but as she stole a quick peek over her shoulder, she saw Miles standing upright, facing her directly with a hammer in hand and a dark expression on his face.

As her bones chilled, she chanced a double take.

He was not looking at her after all. He was kneeling down and working on the first of the four chairs. But after a moment, he glanced up at her, noticing her disturbed expression and heavy breathing. He winked at her before swiftly returning to his work.

Muddy chalked it up to being a figment of her paranoia and returned to preparing the coffee.

As the coffee continued to boil, Muddy's thoughts raced a mile a minute - how would Miles react to finding out she'd bluffed about the chairs upstairs? He hadn't seemed interested in any of them when they first met, so why would that have changed after the fact? If he rejected them, how would she deliver on her promise? Had she been brash in even making such a promise? Was she letting her love for her friends cloud her judgement in allowing a massive alien into their home?

"Mud, could you pass me that small toolbox, please?" asked Miles. He pointed off to the counter without looking up from what he was doing. Muddy snapped back to reality and turned around to look for the box.

Mud? Had she heard him correctly? She grabbed the toolbox and trotted over to Miles. The machine continued to bubble. She froze in place with the toolbox held within her teeth next to Miles, unable to shake the uncomfortable feeling his speech had given her. The bubbling pressure on her eardrums caused her to draw breath as her mouth acted on impulse. "It's Muddy," she blurted.

"Hm? What was that?" asked Miles. He slowly turned his gaze towards the usually demure mare and halted his work in fascination. He could see the ironclad scales of her armour once more shed and cascade down her sides in a twinkling dance toward the floor.

"I said, it's Muddy."

"What's Muddy?" Miles appeared amused, folding his hands over his knee as he squatted. "The coffee?"

As Miles began to laugh, Muddy placed the toolbox down and began to walk back over to the coffee machine. "Heh, I h-hope not!" She chirped as she switched off the machine and regained control of herself, hoping she could simply drop the issue.

"As do I, Mud. But that's not really an answer to my question," Miles purred with guttural, practiced grace

Muddy ducked her head as Miles bore witness to her shell hardening once more. "Y-Yeah, I'm sorry, but I forgot what I was even referring to..."

A sudden force gripped firmly onto her shoulder, and her entire frame seized up in terror. She heard a gentle breathing in her left ear, yet dared not to look back into the malignant maw now holding her hostage. A thousand spidery tendrils voraciously hooked their barbs into her flesh, attempting to drag her down into the floor and merge her being with the vapid vacuum of arrested existence.

All sound in the room vanished as it became a secluded dimension of its own. Anxious anticipation caused the muscles around Muddy's eyes to spasm slightly, forcefully squeezing the beginnings of tears from their ducts.

A breath rolled over her ear, its volume amplified by her mental state.

Muddy squealed with a small hop and said, "M-Mistake!"

Miles knelt down and placed a hand on the mare's mane. "Are you alright? What happened?" Miles said, alarm lacing his voice as he began to stroke the mare's back gently.

"I-I made a... I made..."

"Oh, Muddy..." Miles shook his head with a sigh and lifted her chin to sink directly into his inviting gaze. "I'm sure the coffee's fine, even if you did make a mistake with it."

Muddy looked up in confusion. "W-What? N-No, I made a... With..." she muttered in confusion. The diminutive mare slowed her breathing, steadily regaining her composure. "Oh, I'm s-sorry, Miles. Never mind..."

"Don't worry about it, Muddle. I shouldn't be much longer with these chairs, now." Miles patted Muddy reassuringly on the back and moved over to resume his work.

"Muddle...? Oh, the coffee! It'll be going cold!" Muddy scrambled back to her hooves and began pouring the coffee. One cup for Miles and one for herself. "Alright, here you go." Muddy held out the coffee to Miles with a shaky foreleg; he looked between the cup and the mare holding it a few times. He did not move to take it from her. Her muscles began to complain after a few moments of reaching out to him. "Y-You don't want it now? I'm sorry it's not piping hot..."

"Oh, that can be excused. It's just that I do recall asking for two sugars." Miles said sweetly and inclined his head at her. "Please."

"Oh, y-you did?" Muddy's brow furrowed. She then swiftly placed the cup down and reached into one of the ocean blue cupboards for a pot of sugar cubes. After plopping two cubes into Miles's cup and stirring, Muddy attempted to pass the drink to him again, this time with a steadier hoof.

Once again, Miles did not take it, instead thrusting the base of his palm into the leg of one of the chairs to test his fix. He nodded with satisfaction and stood to his feet, only now reaching out and taking the drink from Muddy. "Grazie, Muddy."

"Grat-see?" Muddy tilted her head to the side in confusion, causing her droopy, purple hair to trail along the round of her face.

"It's Italian: a language from my home world." Miles noted with a sip of his coffee. "This coffee is lovely, thank you."

"Oh! You speak multiple languages?" Muddy appeared interested as she felt the rest of her nerves begin to settle at the sound of Miles's voice.

"A couple, yes. But not Italian." He set his drink down as he began work on the next chair.

"Ooh, Match will be very happy to hear that..." Muddy snickered to herself.

"Your friend?" Miles did not look up from his work.

"Yeah, the one with the gorgeous red coat!" Muddy clopped her fore-hooves together excitedly and yet reservedly.

"Oh, okay," Miles muttered. He appeared disinterested, focusing on his work as he moved onto the third chair.

Had Muddy been Pinkie and thus not already donned naturally droopy hair, it would have literally deflated in dejection on behalf of her friend.

Suddenly, as though called upon by a higher power, the door at the top of the stairs blew open and somepony could be heard clamouring down the steps leading to the lower floor of the house.

As Match sprinted round the corner, she ran her mouth with an impatient squeal as she began stamping her hooves. "Muddy, was that him?! I can't wait any longer!" she shouted.

Muddy's pupils shrunk. She looked awkwardly between Match and Miles. Match and Miles stared at each other, with the former's mouth hanging open in embarrassment and the latter appearing mildly irritated. A good ten seconds of this passed, and Muddy could no longer stand the tension.

Her voice, while perfectly smooth as ever, screeched like a fork on a plate as she sliced through the excessively viscous atmosphere. "H-Hey, Match... In fact, our guest is already here! Heh..."

Another short silence. Muddy said, "S-So, Miles, this is my friend, Match! I believe you two have already met..."

After yet another short silence, and as Match appeared to be attempting to melt into the floor, Miles stood to his feet and made his way over to her.

Intimidation had not worked the last time they met. Perhaps this mare was too dim to even pick up on passive aggression. "Bonjour, petit poney," he mused. A hand made its way down to Match, pulling her gently to her hooves before shaking her left fore-hoof. He cupped her hoof with both hands and smiled. She gasped quietly to herself at the feel of his foreign appendages, each digit's contact sending tingling sensations through her foreleg.

Match's eyes glistened as her heart was viciously and yet oh-so-delightfully pierced with a frilly pink arrow. Miles held her awe-filled gaze for a few more moments before quietly slinking away, leaving Match feeling somewhat woozy.

Muddy glared at Match, and the moment she caught her eye, Match stood to attention and coughed into a hoof. "Ahem... Y-You speak Prench, Monsieur Miles?" asked Match.

Miles was already back to his work as he now tinkered with the final chair. "Prench? You mean French?"

"Uh..." Match was lost for words. Another awkward silence began draining Muddy's psyche.

"W-Well, how about the 'Triple M Crew' head right on upstairs once Miles finishes on that chair? I-If you're nearly finished with it, that is..."

"Aaand, done." Miles lifted the chair, as if on queue, and bashed his palm against it once again to check for weak spots. "Also, we're not a crew."

Miles noticed Match flicking her head discreetly with an irritated look on her face as she looked up the stairs.

"Hmm..." Miles hummed and rounded the table. He polished off the last of his coffee and set the cup down with a clink. He did not take his eyes off of Match as he stepped to the side and waited to follow the others upstairs. Match smiled awkwardly at him.

Muddy made her way over to Match's side and glared up into the mare's face in silent communication. Match nodded with subtlety.

"H-Hey, Match... Did you know that Miles here can speak different languages from his home world?" Muddy attempted to fill the space as the trio ascended the stairs.

"What?! So it wasn't Prench? Wow..." Match grinned to herself with a dreamy sigh.

"How many more chairs did you say there were going to be again?" asked Miles, the irritation lacing his voice audible only to the smaller mare.

Time almost seemed to freeze when Miles posed this basic question. However, Muddy blundered, and failed to stop her friend from opening her mouth before it was too late.

"Chairs? Upstairs? What chairs?" Match placed a hoof to her mouth in confusion as she noticed Muddy's panicked expression all too late.

Miles froze in place just before they reached the landing. Muddy could feel the air grow thin, with what little that remained seemingly swirling around the alien's form in discordant harmony with his flaring temper. Muddy began stammering.

"O-Oh, Match, silly f-filly... The chairs we called Miles over here to fix...! There were some more upstairs, remember?"

"Of course... I forgot... M-My bad..." Match ducked her head in remorse, not for fear of the giant who now coincidentally had them cornered, but instead for fear of Muddy's disappointed and scolding glare.

Muddy couldn't help but slap a hoof to her face on account of her friend being such an airhead. An adorable, lovable airhead, but an airhead nonetheless. Muddy opened the door and led the others through. Miles appeared reluctant, as he thudded through the door several seconds later.

Muddy hardened her shell once more and began lightly scraping her hoof on the ground as she spoke to Miles without looking up at him. "Say, Miles... Would you mind waiting in here for a moment while we go fetch our other friend? We won't be long, and I'm sure you'd get along..."

"I fail to see why there needs to be a gathering of persons just so I can fix a bleeding chair," snipped Miles. These ponies were treating him like a fool.

"Ehehe... We'll be right back!" Muddy dashed off down the hall with Match in tow, leaving Miles alone in the middle of the hallway. These ponies were seemingly well off, if the house and its furnishings were anything to go by. Miles couldn't help but notice the various picture frames lining the walls of the hallway, most of which depicted the three mares smiling together in various scenarios, from snowboarding to what appeared to be a pizza party. He failed to find anything they could offer him.

The ponies were taking their sweet time, and so Miles took matters into his own hands and began looking through the surrounding rooms in search of the supposed chairs he had to fix. He had peeked inside two bland bedrooms and one sparkling clean bathroom before the trio of mares finally meandered down the hall towards him with sheepish looks on their faces.

"I've checked these rooms, and there are no broken chairs in sight," Miles stated. He raised an eyebrow as the mares looked between each other awkwardly. "Would any of you care to tell me what's going on here?" He began striding forwards, meeting the mares halfway.

Miles stood immediately in front of them, a towering behemoth with a slightly sinister glow in his eyes. Nougat's eyes grew to dinner plates as she peered up at the human, unsure of what to think. Match licked her lips with literal hearts in her eyes as she soaked in the human's domineering presence. Muddy, on the other hand, fought through her uneasiness and stood as tall as her tiny frame would allow, facing the creature with confidence.

As Muddy straightened her neck and stared the human down, Miles turned his gaze to meet hers, with a look of wonder creasing his features. "W-Well... The chairs are back here, Miles, in this room at the end of the hall." Muddy motioned behind the trio with a hoof. "We were just making sure you'd have good working conditions before you got there..."

"And your friend?" Miles motioned towards Nougat.

"Oh, Miles, this is Nougat." Muddy looped a fore-hoof over her friend's shoulder. "Nougat, this is Miles!"

"Pleasure," stated Miles. He pushed through the ponies and made his way towards the room at the end of the hall without so much as a glance in Nougat's direction, determined to pocket his payment and be on his way as soon as possible.

"H-Hey! Don't ignore me!" Nougat's voice was whiny, and as Miles turned he noticed she'd lifted her chin and closed her eyes, looking away from him. Miles cracked his neck and took a step back down the hallway towards them.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"J-Just a second... I really gotta pee..." Muddy dashed off into the bathroom at the end of the hall at lightning speed.

"W-Wait... Muddy...?" Nougat whispered. Her indignation fizzled out in tandem with her miniature brown friend's disappearance. "M-Match...?" Unfortunately for Nougat, her other friend was still mostly motionless, the hearts now floating above her head and popping.

"Look at those muscles..." Match trailed, hopelessly lost in a world of her own.

As Miles approached Nougat, he watched her reaction very carefully. His face was unreadable. Nougat shrunk further and further into herself, appearing as small as she possibly could.

Miles reached down towards the mare, attempting to grab her by the back of her neck, much as he did with Pinkie Pie. "Little pony..."

Moments before contact was made, Muddy reappeared next to Nougat, panting almost as much as Match, albeit for an entirely different reason. Muddy appeared apologetic at first... Until she saw the terrified expression on Nougat's face.

"Miles..." The human stopped dead with his arm outreached. Muddy's voice deepened and laced with venom. "What are you doing...?" She scuffed her fore-hoof along the carpet.

Miles peered closely at her expression. He then shook his head in disbelief and began to chuckle. Nougat quivered while Muddy appeared perplexed. Her expression gradually softened.

"I was just taking a moment to introduce myself to your other friend here, actually," said Miles. He wiped a finger across his eyelid as his laughter faded. "Apologies for laughing, but you looked so cute standing there with your face all scrunched up like that!"

Muddy's jaw hung loose, while Nougat ceased quivering and questioned her interaction with the alien. Had he simply been trying to fix his mistake of ignoring her?

Match on the other hand was checking herself in a nearby mirror with a frown and muttering something about being cuter than Muddy.

Eventually, Muddy sighed, pulling over Nougat to address the human. Nougat turned her head away once again, closing her eyes as her short, pink mane bounced slightly with the motion. "Now, Nougat here," Muddy said, placing her hoof on the side of her friend's head and forcing her to face Miles with little difficulty, "would like to introduce herself properly..."

Nougat looked down at the floor with puffed cheeks.

"Nougat..." Muddy warned with a tilt of her head.

Nougat sighed. "My name is Nougat... Nice to meet you, or whatever. You know, like... Mmf!" Once the deed was done, her head immediately flung to the side again as she refused to look directly at Miles. Muddy shook her head with a small laugh as she mouthed the word 'sorry' to Miles.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, too," Miles said. He stood to his feet, his speech rapid. "I'm Miles - a human from planet Earth. I appeared here against my will - Earth might be in this Universe, or it might not. I don't really know or care." He turned and made his way towards his destination once again with a crack of his knuckles. "I'm sorry, but I really must be fixing these supposed chairs now and be on my way."

Muddy dashed in front of him, attempting to block the door. "Ah, yeah, the chai- oof-" Miles walked through her and into the room. Nougat slowly crept down the hall, but noticed Match was still mushing her own face with her hooves in the mirror.

"Hey...! Psst!" Nougat whispered at her.

"What?!" Match hissed back in irritation.

Nougat signalled towards the room with her head, and Match's expression softened immediately as she attempted to regain her not-so-subtle seductive smoulder. Nougat rolled her eyes and trotted up to the now fallen Muddy, lifting her to her hooves. "Are you okay, Muddy?"

"Y-Yeah..." The trio froze once they noticed Miles standing by the master bed with a dead expression on his face, peering down at it.

Muddy internally screamed when Match stepped into the room with a flourish of her mane. "You know, Miles," purred Match, "in just a few short minutes, I can make you forget your old world even exists..." She sat back on her haunches and batted her eyelashes with a giggle. Nougat rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"You've fallen into a whole new world," continued Match. "Now that you're here, why not just... Let yourself go and have some fun?" Her words and motions were completely lost on the human, as he had not so much as glanced in her direction.

After an agonising twenty seconds of silence that followed, Miles reached out and dug his hands under the bottom edge of the bed with a snarl.

"W-Wait, Miles, we can explai-" Muddy stammered, but she had spoken too late. Miles had already flung the bed across the room with the force of a stampeding bull.

Time slowed to a crawl as the bed impacted a bookshelf against the wall and brought both down in an almighty crash on the floor. The various sexual instruments that had been covering the bed careened all around the room with comical bounces. A small amount of dust from the plethora of books that had been lining the shelves of the bookshelf gradually settled over the residual chaos.

Miles stormed over to the trio and grabbed Muddy by her mane; he lifted her to his eye-line with a blank glare. "Look at this mess. I'll be here for hours fixing this." he said, his voice unsettlingly calm.

Muddy blabbered in confusion. "W-Wait, y-you'll fix this...? B-But you just made this mess yourself..."

Miles began breathing rapidly as he put the tiny pony down and smoothed out his hair, calming himself down. "Muddy... You lied to me about the chairs."

Muddy's ears drooped down in shame. "I-I know..." she mumbled.

"You lured me here to play along with your sick kinks," growled Miles.

"I'm sorry..." All three of the mares now sat, their expressions a mix of regret, disappointment and, in the case of Match, arousal.

"You angered me and caused me to mess up a perfectly clean and tidy room..." Miles turned with a sigh and put his hands to his hips as he lowered his head in thought. After a few seconds, he said, "Tomorrow."

"Huh?" Muddy raised an eyebrow.

"I'll fix this tomorrow. All of it."

"R-Reall-"

"Not because you deserve it, but because it's what's right for the world." Miles pointed a finger at her.

"Uh..." The three mares looked at each other in confusion before speaking in unison. "Thanks...?"

"Don't thank me. Just give me my payment for the chairs downstairs and I'll come by tomorrow." Without another word, the human looked between the three mares, seemingly deep in thought. He snapped his fingers and then pushed through them. The girls could hear him thudding back down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Muddy, Match and Nougat sat in silence for a minute or so, not uttering so much as a word as they stared at the astounding amount of damage the alien had caused to their master bedroom in one movement.

Eventually, Match spoke up.

"I wish he'd sling me around like that..."

Muddy blew an involuntary raspberry and looked at her friend in disbelief. "You can't be serious, Match..." she said, breaking into incredulous laughter. "I... I think I made a mistake in making my promise to you earlier. I'm sorry..."

Nougat rolled her eyes and punched Match on the shoulder. "The guy's kind of a hothead..."

"Kind of...?" mumbled Muddy, incredulously.

Match lunged at Nougat and began rolling around with her. "You're half right...!" shouted Match. The two mares laughed their hearts out.

Muddy facehooved. This had to end here; this alien clearly wasn't safe. She'd have to find a way to distract Match long enough for her to lose interest. She pulled her friends' faces upwards to look at her.

She took a breath and said, "Girls. I'm sorry, but I don't think this is going to work with the alien."

"His name is Miles!" whined Match.

Muddy sighed. "I don't think this is going to work with miles. Match, if you're somehow still interested after what just happened, then this is going to have to happen much more slowly."

Match huffed and fixed up her mane. She then sat on her haunches and crossed her forehooves with a pout. Muddy could not help but stifle a giggle, causing Nougat to snicker.

"Match, if your flank manages to pull this alien rage-ball, I'll happily be your personal shopping assistant for an entire month!" teased Nougat.

"Now, now," said Muddy, placing a hoof on Match's shoulder, "we just have to put it on the back-burner." She pursed her lips.

"Aww, but Mud-" Muddy placed a firm hoof to Match's lips, silencing the mare's protest.

Muddy said, "I'm sure he's not going anywhere, Match. Slow. Down." Match's expression softened and she released a breath at Muddy's words. Muddy continued, "Now let's go down and see him off. It's been an eventful day for all of us."

The three mares made their way back down the hallway. Nougat looked up and muttered, "Black hole..."

Match snarled and readied to pounce Nougat, but the two flinched when Muddy stamped a hoof, stopping their fight before it could start.

Once the three reached the top of the stairs, Muddy caught Miles's eye for a moment. He stood leaning against their fridge with an unreadable expression.

As she led her best friends down the stairs, Muddy smiled to herself and began planning how best to distract them once the alien was out of their manes.

Nougat scratched her ear with a hoof and said, "So, uh, where are we gonna sleep tonight?"

Muddy's smile vanished.

Author's Note

14/10/2024 - Touched up with some revisions and additions.