As Luck Would Have It

It was a long way from Abyssinia, but the trip was going to be well worth it, from what she understood. With a job lined up for the most prestigious baking company in Equestria, it was time for Jasmine to make a decision. She could either keep baking bread in her hole in the wall business, or she could spend every single shiny coin she had and move to new horizons in Ranchtown. The Abyssinian cat people were a rare sight, especially in Northern Equestria. She was definitely one of the fluffier breeds of cat women and she bared a golden tan coat with brown bengal spots all over. Sunglasses covered her bright green eyes as she rode in her old yellow muscle car through highway after highway. Having to ship her car overseas was a real bitch too. It cost her just about as much as gas money on this ridiculously long trip.

All of this for an interview. Really, she must have been out of her mind. Four hour naps instead of sleeping, driving for fifteen hours a day, living off of sandwich burritos from her car seat and possibly killing the hell out of her car. Was it all really worth it? If this job didn’t pan out, she may as well be dead. There was no recovering from something like this. She couldn’t even put a down payment on an apartment if her life depended on it. After the bit exchange rates hit, she was stuck with an overly heavy bag of shiny gold colored coins. She probably only really slept two out of the four hours because she was staying up and kicking herself for being so stupid!

Still, this was her decision and it was time to take responsibility for it! She had to get this job and she had to find a place to live on really short notice.

The cat was done. Her head was aching from lack of sleep, her mouth was dry and her hair was an absolute mess of brown strings. It was a crow’s nest! Her eyelids were so heavy and she couldn’t stop yawning long enough to see where she was going. It was getting to be nightfall soon, and she rolled down her window once again to get some fresh air flow to rejuvenate herself. This trick only worked a couple of times and she was on her thirtieth.

Then, it happened! Finally! Welcome to Ranchtown Pop: 9,300! This revelation did not help her. Though it picked up her mood, she was still dying all over. The curvy brown cat was in desperate need of a stop, but she literally had no money for a hotel, so the inn by the entrance was a definite no go. She had to think fast.

She had enough to fill her tank with gas and she had food for a couple of days, but all of this was for nothing if she couldn’t find a place to stay. It was time for some thinking on her paw-like toes. Jasmine had come too far to fail now, and her interview was the next day. She kept driving around town, thinking as hard as she could, but that wasn’t very hard as she was already overly exhausted. Maybe if she got some crappy motel she could go without food and just hope for the best.

That was it, though, she had reached her limit. She had to get out and stretch or she was going to cramp all the way up to her neck. The cat girl turned into the first parking lot she could find and got out of her car. She slumped over, her legs aching all over as she sighed. Her back popped and her mouth lapped with her tongue. Needing water at the very least, she looked at the store she stopped at. Her heart sunk, it was a video game store. Still, some stores such as this had beverages and she could at least spare two bits for that. It was fine, she was going to chance it.

She limped into the store, trying her best to keep her dignity about her. There was a young stallion at the register, dressed in a black uniform shirt with his hat on the counter that he quickly scooped up and put on his head at the sight of her.

“Hi, welcome to Video Star, take your time, look around.” The sight of an Abyssinian was definitely a novelty around these parts. He blinked as she smiled at him and took her little awkward steps up toward the counter where she laid her sunglasses down. Why she still had her sunglasses when the sun was almost wholly under the horizon was anyone’s guess.

“Umm, hi there, mate.” She spoke in a very strange accent he had never heard in his life. Jasmine’s attempt at composing herself was obviously worthless, as his strange look never went away. She smiled never the less. “I’m needing some water. If you don’t mind, I don’t know if I can pay for it. I don’t even know how much this stuff worth.” She tried to get out her money bag, but it suddenly felt really heavy.

“Ma’am? Are you feeling alright?” Patch leaned over to the side to match her as she bent forward.

“Yeah! I’m doing fine! No problems at all. She’ll be right.” Jasmine put on another big smile as she dropped her coinbag when her hand loosened its grip. “Oh! Look at me. Let me just get that.”

“No, ma’am! Don’t lean--” He started to warn her. She crouched to pick it up and sure enough, the blood rushed to her head and she fell right into the cabinet, hitting the floor hard. “--down…”

He huffed a horse noise as he looked at her out cold and passed out on the floor. Then looked at the store he had to close in ten minutes. This was exactly what he needed. He dragged his hand from his head to his muzzle and sighed. He supposed closing ten minutes early wouldn’t hurt anyone.

Well, the first thought she had was that everything worked out just fine. She was in a strange apartment on someone’s bed. She felt like she was trampled by several cows and her head felt several sizes too big as her brain was attempting to pulsate out of her skull. Jasmine looked around to see she was in a very decked out room. By decked out, she meant that someone had decorated with several different cartoons and what looked like video game posters. There was a telly, a shelf full of what looked like movies or games or something, she wasn’t really part of that whole culture.

“Hello?” She asked in a cracked, sore throated voice. The place was still, quiet and the door was closed. Jasmine made sure she was still wearing her clothes, knowing that some people were quite messed up in the head and it would be just her luck to find the one who had a sex dungeon. Her clothes were there, though, and there didn’t seem to be any meddling of any kind. She peeled herself off of the bed sheets and everything continued to ache and complain at her for being so hard on herself for the past three days.

The bengal cat girl attempted to stretch and felt numerous pops and cracks come from various places on her body. When she finally felt halfway mobile, she went to the door and opened it. That’s when she jumped out of her skin at a shadow appearing in her peripherals.

“Hey, you’re--” Patch was startled as she screamed and jumped straight back into the room. Her tail was poofed out to its fullest extent and her ears hugged the back of her head while her pupils constricted to the smallest they would go as she gasped for breath. “--awake…”

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Jasmine said as she got back up and walked to him with her hands together. “I’ve been a right dunce of a blow in. I promise I’m not normally like this. It’s just been a bit hard these past few days, I drove all the way from the coast and I think I’ve slept… maybe three hours in three days. I can’t really remember.”

“Whoa, hey, it’s okay.” Patch said as he held out his hands. He had on a towel around his waist as well as another towel wrapped around his shoulders, having just gotten out of the shower.

“What happened? How did I end up here?” She looked around, seeing there was an empty room down the hall and seeing that the place was surprisingly spacious for a bachelor flat.

“Well, you passed out after your head hit my counter. You bent over too fast and you lost consciousness.” Patch said as he went into his room to fetch some clothes. He grabbed some undies from his drawer and pulled them up over his legs from under his towel while she looked around the house. “You overexerted yourself. There’s bottle water in the fridge. I suggest you drink two bottles for starters.”

“I think you’re right.” She made her way to the kitchen, but as soon as she opened the fridge, she looked around to the microwave, where the numbers 12:00 were blinking on the clock. “Whoa, wait, what time is it?”

“Oh, um…” He took a moment to fetch his phone as he put on his jeans. “It’s almost two.”

“Oh, hell.” Jasmine hissed as she downed an entire bottle of water. “Where is my car?” She started to feel around herself for her pocket stuff, but none of it was there. “Where are my keys?”

“Your car’s in my store parking lot, and your keys are on my desk, along with your bits and your cellphone, which is thoroughly broken I might add.”

“Yes, it’s a heap and I need a new one.” She ran to his room and tried to think. “Do you have a washer?”

“A clothes washer? Yeah, it’s in the hall.” As soon as he said yeah, she immediately started ripping off her clothing and stripped down to her bare ass. Patch’s eyes bulged almost out of their sockets as she handed him her clothing.

“No time for formalities! I need these cleaned and I need a shower! Please! Indulge me for a bit, would you?” She put her hands on his cheeks and brought him face to face with her. “Please?”

“Umm… yeah. I can help.” Patch said, however, those were some famous last words he just uttered.

“Oh, my God! Thank you!” She pecked his snout and rushed off to his bathroom. He tried not to stare at her tail, but that was very hard to do as her curves were like something out of a dream. He had never in his life seen an Abyssinian before, but he had heard of them. This one had a very strange way about her, and he tried to decipher whether it was just a difference in culture or not. Still, he looked at her clothes and then walked over to his washer.

“I need to get to an interview happening in just two hours! If I don’t make this interview, I’ll be proper fucked in a hurry! I hate to leech off of you like this, but I need to use your good Samaritan qualities just a little more. Is that room for rent?”

“Oh, yeah, actually, my roommate moved out two weeks ago. I’m about to be due on my rent, and it’s going to clean me out pretty hard.” He said as he set the washer and started it up. “I guess you’re looking for a roommate?”

“How clever of you. Yes, yes I am.” She quickly turned on the water drenched her body in the hot water and started washing off the last three days off of herself. “I guess you could call this my application.”

“So, this interview, I’m guessing it’s for a good paying job?” Patch put on his shirt and started thanking his lucky stars he was off today. The image of her naked form sat in his brain for a good long while, but then he shook his head. This girl was in need of help, and if his mother taught him anything, it was to help those in need and things normally worked themselves out.

“Oh, are you kidding? I get this job and I will be part of the greatest bakery in Equestria! I suppose you’ve heard of Butterscotch Bakery?” She asked as she put mane shampoo into her hair, loving the smell of it, but knowing it would kill her hair. Still, it was better to have weird hair effects than unwashed hair. She didn’t want to look like a total loser for the biggest interview of her life.

“Butterscotch? Yeah, it’s over there on 9th and Chariot. That’s a pretty big company you’re joining.” He said, actually impressed.

“Damn right!” She shut off the water and got out, grabbing hold of any towel under the sink and starting to dry herself. “I get this job and I’ll pay a whole month’s rent to make it up to you. I’ll even stock your kitchen with actual food. The stuff you have in there is bloody awful.”

“Wow, that sounds like quite the job. So, you need me to help you get to it? What if it doesn’t go as planned and you botch the interview?” Patch asked as the door opened to show an angry cat woman with a towel wrapped around her torso and another wrapped around her hair. She glared at him with the stink eye and he instantly shut his trap.

“Gee, it’s awfully sweet of you to voice my fears and nightmares. Coming to a strange country and nearly killing myself to do it, only to fail in the end. However, I’m trying to keep an optimistic view on the situation, if you don’t mind. Thank you!” She poked a claw from her pointer finger onto his arm enough to make it sting and not break the skin. He flinched a little and rubbed his arm.

“Um, yeah, optimistic.” Patch looked off to the side and thought for a moment. He wasn’t really a baker by any means, and he certainly didn’t know how to help her in this scenario.

The wait for her clothes to wash and dry was excruciating. She was nearly bouncing up and down while she wore one of his long shirts with no underwear. Still, she had to admit that taking a shower after three days on the road felt like a dream come true.

Finally, the dryer buzzed. She squealed with delight as she pulled off her shirt right in front of him and her modest breasts were exposed with her bright pink nipples in full view. It was odd how she didn't seem to notice when she was flashing him. Honestly, she was a whole nother race and he had no idea whether he should be turned on, but he was.

“Alright! Ready!” She said as she slipped on her green dress sweater and smiled. “I'm gonna get that job even if it kills me! Which it's already tried and failed!” Jasmine stood proud with her fists on either side of her hips. She let out a loud string of fate provoking laughter which ended abruptly. “Okay, let's go.”

“Right.” He uncrossed his arms and went down with her to his car. She was greeted with a very unsightly image of a vehicle that was well past its prime. The paint was chipped, the roof was fading, the bumper was bent and rusty and the windshield was cracked.

“Ummm, quite the beauty.” The cat girl said as she watched him unlock the doors.

“It's paid for.” He shrugged as he got into the driver's seat and turned the key. He figured getting her something to eat would be beneficial so he took her to the Wheatery.

“I'm sorry, did you say wheat burgers?” She looked at the drive through menu and her eyes widened as there was one huge glaring issue she saw right off the bat. “Oh, hell, I completely forgot. You horses are herbivores.”

“Uh, yeah, didn't that occur to you when you moved here? Can't cats live on vegetation?” He looked at her, then back to the menu.”

“We're omnivores but we lean toward carnivore. Bloody hell, just get me anything. Here I am being a chooser.” She leaned her head onto her hand and her elbow onto the arm rest. That nagging feeling that she had made a mistake in coming here started to set in once again.

Patch would have liked to sympathize, but he couldn't even begin to imagine what she was going through. He rolled down his window and leaned out to the speaker.

“Ummm two number ones with orange juice, please.” He looked back at her and then tapped his thumbs on the wheel.

“Anything else for you, Patch?” The older sounding lady said over the speaker.

“No, Ma, that's all for me.” He smiled.

“Alright, darlin’ pull around.” She said and he drove forward.

“Your mum works here?” Jasmine gave him a puzzled expression. Finding it strange that she recognized his voice over a speaker like that.

“No, that's Ma Bushel, she's managed this store since before I was born. I'm just a regular customer. She's like a mom away from mom, you know?”

She looked to see a larger mare with a red mane and bright blue fur hand him the two cups of OJ and took his bits, handing him a bag.

“Oh! Who is this?” Ma said as she peeked inside of his car to see a very unique sight. “You’re Abyssinian, right?” The older mare gave her a smile and a wave.

“Yes, ma’am, just came to Ranchtown last night. I needed some help and Patch is giving me a lift.” She patted Patch on the shoulder and Ma’s smile got bigger.

“Patch, you old softie, you sure do have a big heart don’t ya? Well, Miss, he’s about the sweetest thing this world has seen, so I’d say you lucked out.” Then she turned to Patch and pointed at him. “You take good care of that little thing, you hear?”

“I will, Ma. Thanks.” He waved at her and Ma blew him a kiss.

“Bye bye! Have a good day, sweetie pie!” They exchanged waves and he drove off as he handed Jasmine the bag.

“Well, she seems nice.” She said as she picked up the drink from the holder on her side and took a big gulp.

“The nicest in the world.” He agreed as she handed him his wheat burger. “We still have thirty minutes. Anything else you want before you go get that job?”

“No, thirty minutes is good. Showing up early is a sure fire way to impress them. If you want you can drop me off by my car and I can take it from here.” Jasmine asked and he was already shaking his head.

“Nah, we’re going to be roomies. I may as well see this to the end. I’ve been told I’m something of a good luck charm to everyone else. Not that it’s helped me any.” Patch chuckled and she did too.

“Thank you. I really can’t tell you how much I appreciate this. I really wish all Equestrians were like you.” She gave him a sweet smile and he blushed a little bit as he ate his burger. “This is going to be something of a trick, but I think I can pull it off just fine.”

She took one bite of her wheat burger and her eyes opened wide. She blinked and looked over at him as he gobbed down the last few bites of his and used a napkin to clean his hand while the other was on the wheel. She chewed, her mouth pursing as she tried to bare with it. Each chewing bite was like biting a soggy piece of bread with a strange flavoring. She swallowed and then put her fist up to her mouth as she choked it down. She got a very sickly feeling all through her torso and her tail twitched behind her, fluffing out a bit.

“You alright?” He asked and she nodded, smiling at him.

“Peachy.” She attempted a very wide fake smile as she took yet another bite of her burger. She was so hungry that even the nastiest food was somewhat tolerable, but this was really pushing it. After another session of forcing herself to swallow again she took a huge gulp of her orange juice to get that taste out of her mouth. While he stopped at a traffic light, he looked over to the left to make sure no cars were coming, then she crumpled up the paper for what remained of her burger and stuffed it into the paper bag.

“Alright, there it is.” He pointed to the right as he started to turn. “Remember, confidence is key. Look them in the eye and give them short, direct answers to all of their questions. Starting a friendly conversation in the middle of an interview is a sure-fire way of getting that job all nice and tied up in a knot.”

She took deep breaths and rubbed her hands together. He turned into the parking lot of the Butterscotch Bakery and parked among a great deal of other cars in their lot. Apparently, it was not only a large bakery location, it was also their corporate building. All the sudden, Patch started to imagine himself working at the corporate location of the Video Star. All of those bigwig district managers, CEO’s and VIP’s running through your store, judging it because it didn’t meet the standards by a half-inch or the display wasn’t big enough. He shook his head when he thought of the stress and constant tension he would be living under because one asshole who rose to the top of the ranks was unsatisfied because all of his employees weren’t perfect little angels.

Of course, he wouldn’t dare say any of this to her. Selling video games was one thing, but baked goods was a whole different beast. If she got one recipe wrong, she would get reprimanded to a harsh degree. That was just at a normal location. The corporate location would be ten times worse. Such pressure on the poor kitty would probably crumble her like paper at this point. She gave up everything to be here and follow her dream of becoming a baker for this huge corporation and now she just had one single step to go through. The fact of the matter was that one single step nearly destroyed her.

“Alright, I’ll be out in a bit.” She said as she went through the door with him. The lobby was huge. There was a cash register on one side of the bright brown wooden floor, then spread out through the lobby were loaves of bread, cases full of pastries, tables to sit on and even a gift shop to the far right with t-shirts, plush dolls and keychains. It was an impressive set up. Ponies were sitting at tables, having coffee and different tarts along with sandwiches. “I think you can find something to do out here.”

She started toward the receptionist near the elevator in the far left corner of the store but then stopped. Jasmine thought for a moment, then turned around to him and looked into his green eyes as he blinked at her. She took two steps toward him and embraced the stallion with a cuddling hug. She kissed his cheek three times and put her hands on either side of his cheeks.

“Thank you.” She whispered and just from the misty look in her eyes, she really meant it. She patted his shoulder once and then turned toward the elevators. She trudged forward, approaching the receptionist with every bit of confidence she could possibly muster.

Patch stood in the middle of the lobby with a wide-eyed expression as she walked away. He could see her tail flicking from left to right as she walked and got to the front counter. She said one thing to the lady and she smiled, directing her to the elevator. Jasmine looked back at him as she walked toward the elevator, and she waved. He waved back at her and gave her a thumbs up. She smiled at this as she got into the elevator, and the doors shut.

That’s when Patch started to question what his endgame of this was. He walked around the giftshop, looking at all of the weird novelty items and he started to wonder if he was even doing this for any of the right reasons. Yeah, having a roommate would be nice, but he sure as hell was going to great lengths to get her as a roommate. Did she even like him? Did he even like her? Was there anything to like?

By no means was Patch racist, nor did he find her to be anything less than an astoundingly beautiful cat. That was just it, though, she was a cat girl. Even if she had a thing for him and she ended up becoming his roommate, could anything even happen between them? For all he knew, she found him repulsive and was only using him for a ride and to get a job. As soon as she got the job and started paying her half of the rent, she could just become Solar Flare, the sequel.

Patch shuddered at this thought. He shook his head. There was no sense in worrying about all of this. This was just something he figured he could ride out. He only hoped that things were going smoothly on her end.

“Well, Miss Jasmine, so good of you to arrive here on time. We know you had to pull a few strings in getting here for this job, and we thank you for your effort.” The black and white spotted stallion said as he sat down at his desk with her sitting on a chair in front of it. His white suit looked quite nice and cleanly pressed. “I must admit, we were quite impressed with your resume.”

“I’ve participated in so many bake sales, it was ridiculous, and I never under baked or over baked any of the cookies or doughnuts.” Jasmine bragged about herself, but made sure she didn’t seem too arrogant. Then she remembered she needed to keep eye contact with the stallion with the combed and styled gray mane. “I heard you were looking for an assistant baker position and I jumped at the opportunity.”

“Don’t you mean you ‘pounced’ at the opportunity?” He gave a small chuckle. It took her half a second to even register that he was spouting off a joke. She gave a fake little giggle and made sure to smile. It was just such a bad joke for so many reasons, she didn’t know whether to be offended or pity this poor stallion who had no real sense of humor. “Still, we did find your feats to be quite admirable. So we were willing to offer you the position of assistant baker.”

Her heart fluttered and sang at the top of its lungs. Her fur stood on end as she broke out into gooseflesh.

“It’s at one of our locations in Las Pegasus, it’s in the bottom floor of one of their finest casinos.”

Sunk. That’s all she could think of. Her heart dropped into the bowels of her stomach and her eyes widened.

“I’m sorry, did you just say Las Pegasus?” She asked, trying with all of her might not to jump at him with her claws bared and sink her fangs into his jugular.

“Yes, it’s a marvelous location and Easy Bake will be your head baker in the mornings and help you manage the stand.” He said as he clicked his pen three or four times. “We will be needing a bit more information here.”

“Wait, hold on, I was told that I was coming to Ranchtown to interview for a position as assistant baker. There was no mention of Las Pegasus. Will I be given travel expenses or hotel benefits for my way over there?” She asked, making sure her voice didn’t escalate in volume. However, the fissure happening within her chest was only growing.

“No, you will have to make your way over there yourself.” He said as he started picking up papers. “Is there a problem?” He clicked his pen three or four more times.

“I spent almost every red bit I had coming to this country. Hell, I didn’t even know what a bit was until I got to shore! I was told that I was coming here, that was it. I gave up almost every single piece of belonging I had to make it this far and now you’re telling me that I need to travel another thousand miles to get to Las Pegasus to help manage a baking stand? Far be it for me to expect the fair suck of the sav! How dare you tear me from my life, promising me a mint when all I get is a great big ‘thanks for coming, now get stuffed!’ What the hell am I supposed to do now? Magic myself to Las Pegasus and hope that I can fill my car with well wishes, hopes and dreams? What the hell is wrong with you!”

“Ma’am, I’m going to need you to calm down.” He started clicking his pen once again, obviously agitated at her tone and disrespectful attitude.

“Oh, calm down he says! Let me just drag you out of your house and home and tell you there’s a nice holiday on the horizon and shove you down the shitter!” Jasmine’s tail fluffed right out as her pupils went to the size of penholes. She bared her fangs and got up from her chair in a huff. “Now, I’m away from me family and friends, stuck in this hovel with a whole crockpot full of stuck up, pissant horses like you, and I have you thank for it! So, thank you, ya fuckwit!”

“I’m going to have to ask you to--” As he clicked his pen for the second time on his next slew of clicks, she lashed out with one swipe of her claws, and splattered black ink all over his immaculate white suit as the pen fell to pieces. That’s when the pieces dropped on the floor, more ink spilling out onto his carpet; giving him the middle finger on her way out.

He cried out in horror as he looked at his very expensive suit and tie which were now covered in black ink splotches. Before he could say another word, she slammed the door behind her. Her brows furrowed and her head going about a mile a minute with how much she just fucked up. Not only did she fuck up in coming here, but now she fucked up in burning that bridge. Hell, she didn’t just burn the bridge, she was pretty sure she over smoked the ashes and drained the river beneath it.

Her time from the top floor through the elevator to the bottom floor was all a haze of bad thoughts and regrets. She realized her eyes were filled with tears and they were dripping down her cheeks like a torrent. The rundown, decimated cat girl kept walking toward the exit, even though the image was very blurry. She thought she heard her name in the distance but she didn’t even want that name anymore. She didn’t want to be her anymore. Jasmine had given up everything. She had nothing, less than nothing, in fact. She was destitute. Even if she somehow got back to her home country, she had nothing there anymore. She’d have to move back in with her mum and that would have been admitting defeat. That was rock bottom. Building her life back up from this level was a fruitless, futile gesture.

“Jasmine!” Her name sounded again, this time a bit louder as she pushed the door that felt so heavy all the sudden. The strength in her arms were gone now. She had no strength, physical or otherwise. “Jasmine! Wait!” Patch said as he got to her and helped her push the door open.

“Iayamayamakin!” She said, only able to speak in ninety-nine percent vowels and everything else was just lost in a scatter of subconscious gibberish. Patch wasn’t sure if she was speaking in her native tongue or if she was just trying to get something out that wasn’t coming out, either way, it was obvious something was wrong.

“Jasmine, oh my God, what happened?” He held her by her arms and she couldn’t even be asked to stand, she shoved herself into his chest and clung to him with all of her might, letting out a loud roar of sobs muffled by his shirt. Tears stained his fabric and her face grinded against him as if she were trying to suffocate herself. He knew she couldn’t talk at the moment, so he just held her tight, rubbing her back as she kept pouring tears into him. He leaned his head onto hers and rocked her back and forth as he let her cry it out.

It was a good long while before she finally calmed down enough. Her sobs slowly began to taper off until she was simply breathing in small spurts. His shirt was almost soaked by the amount of tears she shed. After a strong effort, she was finally able to talk. She told him everything as she held tight against him. He said nothing to her, he merely shook his head at the whole thing. What a piece of shit company to do something like this. Take one of their most promising young applicants and lead them into nothing, that was just bad business.

“Now, I’m sunk. I can’t even pay you for your kindness.” She whined so pitifully and that started up another long slew of tears as she pushed her face into his chest once again.

“Oh, Jasmine. Don’t even worry about that. You’ve done nothing to even inconvenience me. You’ve been wonderful company today. I feel like my day is so much brighter because of you.” Patch said this and it was truthful. The excitement she emitted and the unique turn of events she brought to his table was the most adventure he’d seen since that one… night. That was not a night he wanted to bring up then, though.

She turned her head and leaned the side of her face onto him. “You’re too kind.” She breathed another long, wavering breath, her cheeks burning with so many hot tears that scarred her face.

In that hopeless moment where all seemed lost, the door slammed open. At first, Jasmine thought the asshole had called security on her for “assaulting” him but then she saw a pink pony with fiery red hair stomp out with a white furred pony following behind her.

“What a complete asshole! I told them I needed that cake three months ago, and they said they needed two months to finish it. Now they’re telling me ‘next couple of months?!’ Are they high?!” Pearl growled and stomped down the stairs as Death Metal followed her. “Can you believe this? What kind of business is this anyway?! I thought these jerks were supposed to be world class and now it sounds like they couldn’t cook a tv dinner! What the hell are we going to do now?”

“We could pick up one at the grocery store.” Death Metal said and Pearl stopped and turned back at her with an especially ugly look. Pearl gritted her teeth while Death simply stood there with a placid expression and dug a cigarette out of her pocket. She lit it and took a long drag. “Honestly, there’s smaller companies that could probably do better than these morons anyway.”

This calmed Pearl down a little bit and she sighed. “Shit, you’re right. But now we have to dig through the list AGAIN and try and get a new bakery. The wedding’s in three days, Death! Three!”

“Ummm, ma’am?” Patch said, drawing both of their attention. Jasmine looked up at him as he spoke. “My friend here, she’s a really good baker. She might be able to help.”

“What?” Jasmine asked, then looked over at the two earth ponies who gave their full attention to her.

“Have you baked a four story wedding cake before?” Pearl asked, seeing that the Abyssinian girl had been crying. That face, it looked about as distraught as Death after she met her mother at the florist shop.

“I’ve done a lot of cakes.” She said, but her confidence was at an all time low, she couldn’t even bring herself to advertise her skills to these two nice looking ponies. “But I don’t have the facilities, I don’t have a job, I can’t even pay for my own food for the next week.” Despite her best effort, she sobbed a few more times and leaned into Patch once again.

“Geez, crying to me about money. What are you thinking?” Pearl said, drawing a puzzled expression from the cat girl. “I have the recipe, icing and layer plan for the cake of my dreams. You want to talk about money? I’ve got enough to pay for your food for the next year! You bake me the cake of my dreams and I’ll set you up with a job. Hell, you can be the head baker at one of my restaurants, I don’t care! You do this for me and it’s yours!”

Patch hadn’t even noticed this, but all the sudden Pearl started to look very familiar. “Ummm… ma’am. Are you Pearl Necklace? The lady who has the fragrance?”

“Which fragrance? Canterlot, Ice Pearl or Fire Musk for men?” Pearl asked, making his jaw drop. It just occurred to him that they were talking to someone who owned half of Ranchtown.

“You’re… Pearl Necklace?” He asked again. For some reason, he kept thinking that maybe she was an assistant or an associate or something like that. Everyone in Ranchtown had heard about her upcoming wedding. By the looks of things, that would make the other pony Death Metal, the often pursued but never interviewed fiance.

Pearl lifted her eyebrows up and nodded with a big grin. “Yeah, that’s what my Dad named me. So,” She looked over at Jasmine and went back to her business face. “I can give you a sum right now and then I’ll pay you the rest upon completion. But you have three days to get it finished. Do you need an assistant? I can get someone on pretty short notice, if you need. If you’re as good as your friend here says you are, I can make you my go-to baker. That means you’ll be taken care of.” Pearl said with a smile on her face. Then she got up to the cat, who was about the same height as her and put her hands on her arms. “Listen to me, very closely. This wedding planning has been a disaster. I’ve already fired two wedding planners because they were incompetent and did not follow my instructions. One of them was even going to order a garden party when I specifically said no garden parties. I don’t expect absolute perfection, but I do expect common sense and total communication. What is your name?”

“It’s Jasmine.” The cat woman looked Pearl in the eyes. The pink pony’s eyes were red in the irises and absolutely stunning in their beauty.

“Alright, Jasmine. I’m Pearl Necklace, like your friend here said. This is my bride-to-be, Death Metal.” She motioned over at the raven black maned pony to her left.

“Sup.” Death nodded toward her, then looked at Patch, who smiled.

“G’day.” Jasmine smiled at her. “A-are you really going to give me this chance?”

“I do not have time to be flipping through ads and recipes and can’t do’s. I need can do’s and I need convenience. That is convenience I can afford to pay a little extra for. So, here.” Pearl turned around and started walking toward her car in the parking lot. Death motioned for them to follow as she walked behind the pink pony. She opened her red convertible’s door and opened her glove compartment. With the press of four buttons on a keypad, she opened a mini-safe in her car and pulled out ten rolls of coins. Each of them with the number “50” on them.

Patch’s jaw went slack as she handed all of the rolls to Jasmine.

“Here’s a down payment. Do a good job and I’ll triple it. You get me?” Pearl said as she closed her safe, then her glove compartment.

“Y-yes. Thank you, Miss Pearl. I promise, I’ll do my very best to make this happen.” Jasmine said with an astonished expression on her face. She held the bits in her hands then looked back at Pearl who pulled out her phone and handed it to Jasmine.

“Type in your number and add yourself to my contact list. This is not something I do for just anyone, mind you.” Pearl said and pulled out her sunglasses from her dark blue blouse. She watched Jasmine punch in her number and handed it back to her.

“But, why are you--” Jasmine began to ask, but then she figured she shouldn’t question such a good thing to happen to her. “I mean… I don’t know if I could ever repay you.”

“You’re going to repay me, that’s the point, isn’t it? I’ll contact you later today with the details. Dry your tears and get in gear.” Pearl said as she put on her sunglasses and walked to the other side of the car while Death made her way to the passenger seat. Jasmine and Patch stared in dumbfounded wonder, not believing what just happened.

Death Metal looked at the two of them and shrugged. “She’s got a thing for hard luck cases.” She said as she closed the door to the car and Pearl started it up.

Patch looked at the car as it drove away, then to Jasmine who was looking at one of the rolls of bits. This was far more than she needed and could pay the rent by herself if she really wanted to. She unfolded one end of a coin roll and slipped a small handful of bits into Patch’s palm. Both of them stared at the money, flabbergasted and speechless.

“Does… does this mean I can move in?” Jasmine asked, looking at him. He passed her a gaze of disbelief.

They sat in front of his TV on his bed. His back was leaned against a wall and she was dressed in one of her thin, white shirts with long sleeves, along with a purple pair of pajama pants from her luggage. She leaned against his chest with her eyes closed and she purred ever so deeply. Her face rubbed against his pectoral and she would give it a soft nibble, enjoying his flinched reaction with a small giggle before going back to purring. The TV was on, but neither of them were watching it at that moment. His arms were around her and she was cuddled up to him. They were warm, cozy in his full size bed. Once in a while, she would go up to his shoulder where his shirt was showing his tan fur and she would start licking on it. Jasmine groomed him with such an affection before rubbing her face into him and purring all the louder.

That’s when she opened her eyes and saw that he was already staring down at her with his warm, welcoming eyes. She smiled and gave him a little smooch.

“Do you like tea?” She asked him in a soft voice.

“Ummm, I’ve drank it a few times. To me, it just tasted like hot water.” He said with a small chuckle. She chortled a little and leaned her head onto his shoulder once again.

“That’s because someone didn’t make it right. It’s about tea time now, but I can get it later.” That’s when she felt his hand up against her cheek and cuddled into it with a tiny love bite and a lick. Her purring continued once again. “You’re the sweetest pony I’ve ever met. You did all of that for me and you asked for literally nothing in return. You were going to let me stay here even if I didn’t have a job, weren’t you?”

He did not hesitate to nod. “Yes. I would have gotten a loan somewhere or done something to make it work. I wasn’t just going to leave you.” He looked back at her and that look he gave her made her heart melt and flutter at the same time. “I can’t deny that I care about you, and I couldn’t bare the thought if something were to happen to you.”

“You big softie, your Ma was right.” Her smile widened and then she was taken off guard as he leaned in and kissed her on the lips. She hummed in surprise, but then continued to hum as she pressed her lips back to his. Her paw-like hand ran through his mane and over his broad neck and shoulder. Their kiss was so tight, so warm. Jasmine was forced to lean all the way back onto the bed while he got on top of her and tilted his head to deepen the kiss. Her purring was out of control at this point, going a mile a minute in her throat as she closed her eyes and rubbed her lips against his; stroking his mane.

She finally broke the kiss in order to catch her breath. Her face was flushed as much as his was and the his arms were still so warm around her, but she didn’t get too hot. She felt like she could stay in his arms forever and not regret a thing.

“Even if I did lose everything. Even if I hadn’t gotten the job from Pearl and even if I never saw my home again, at least I had you.” She began laying little kisses along his cheek as her blush only intensified. He smiled at this and chuckled a little bit.

“Still, it was nice that you got the job from Pearl.”

“Oh, yeah, totally. That was a stroke of luck.” She giggled a bit and looked at him once again, laying another kiss on his lips. “I think I’m gonna enjoy having a roomie. What do you think?”

“Is that supposed to be a trick question? My last roommate was a bitch in devil’s clothing. I’ll do the dishes for you anytime.” They both had a good laugh at this. Then they had another nice long moment of silence. Jasmine pushed him over onto his back and resumed her position on top of him with her head on his chest.

That was when Patch opened his eyes to see that the TV was still on without them even noticing. He was so caught up in the moment that he was going deaf to everything else around them. Not that it was surprising to him at all. It’s not like anything else mattered at that point.

“Fillies and gentlecolts, please put your hands together for my next guest, Red Quill!” The talk show host said as he motioned toward the other side of the stage and out walked a red pegasus with black hair and blue eyes. He’d actually read the two Red Quill books that were out at the moment, and he genuinely liked them too. Patch noticed that he didn’t seem all that use to be on camera, because he had that nervous tick that a lot of newcomers to the spotlight had. It was strange to see him on television though. The books didn’t have so much as a picture in the back cover like some authors did, nor did his online profile have a picture of him either. Now he was showing up on a talk show. They must have finally talked him into going public. The red pegasus pony was dressed in a black business suit with a white dress shirt underneath. He looked pretty stylish, but it was an awkward stylish.

For some reason, it seemed like Patch had seen him before. Was Red Quill from Ranchtown?

“Thank you, Mr. Quill, glad to have you on the show.” They shook hands as Red Quill sat down.
“Well, thank you for having me, Spotlight.” He said as he fixed his jacket. “I have to admit, this is my first TV appearance.” Patch chuckled at this, it was nice to finally be able to put a face with the name.

“So, you’ve got two books out and now your third one is set to come to bookstores?” Spotlight asked in a clear attempt to advertise for him. All good authors should be so lucky as to get television sponsorship.

“Next June on the fifteenth.” He said this and the crowd began to cheer. Fable looked out at them with a smile and a wave. “Yeah, it’s been a long time coming. It was a really fun road to write these three books.”

“Well, I bet, I had trouble writing my English essays for college. Those were a thousand words, and these books are how many words?” Spotlight asked, tilting his head as he spoke.

“Oh, a lot more than a thousand, that’s for sure.” Red Quill said this and the crowd began to laugh.

Patch chuckled at him. For someone who was so nervous in the limelight, he was handling himself pretty well. Still, he couldn’t shake the fact that he’d seen that guy from somewhere. Maybe there was more than one red pony with black hair? Well, there probably was. Either way, it didn’t matter.

He looked over to see that Jasmine was asleep now, breathing gently on him while she slept with a little smile on her face. Replaying the incidents of the passing day would be impossible at this point. It was such a huge rollercoaster of random happenstance that Patch would be hard pressed to relay these to anyone. Explaining anything of that day was an impossibility because he would barely know where to begin.

Still, somehow it all worked out for the best. “Somehow” being the key word there. Patch didn’t worry about it, though. He had a cat girl napping on him now, possibly sleeping in the same bed with him, and he was totally fine with that. More than fine, actually. Even after his crash course with sexual intercourse, nothing could prepare him for the joys of seeing a member of the opposite gender want to sleep in the same bed as you. What happened after that was a nonproblem.

Speaking of which, right when he had that thought was when the cell phone to his right had a notification. He reached for it to see that Jasmine had gotten a text. He only got the beginning of the text through her lockscreen notifications, but it made his eyes widen all the same.

“Hey, this is Pearl, I got a place for you to work tomorrow. Meet me at seven in the morning shar…” Patch read this in his head and was quick to reach over to grab his own phone from the night stand and set an alarm for six in the morning. It was already seven o’clock, so he figured he’d let her sleep and wake up on her own if she did so before then. The downer part, though, was now he was stuck underneath this beautiful cat girl. That pretty much meant that he was more or less going to sleep at this point.

Then it popped in his head! He reached over to his night stand, this time grabbing one of his many Neptune 5 controllers and turning on his system. He chortled a bit as he loaded up a game, then kissed the cute kitty on her cheek, making her smile in her sleep as he started up his save file.

Life can take you to strange places, but right now it led him to playing his video game in one of the most comfortable spots he had ever been in his life. That was alright with him.