Toby was at a loss of what to do. The events from the day before all came together and jumbled into a large, confusing mess inside of his head. What started as a simple spa trip ended up turning into something that was threatening to become a nightmare. He admitted to himself that he needed a day by himself to process, so he stayed home.

He had heard nothing from Luna, which made him a bit hesitant and worried. Horrible scenarios played themselves over inside of his head, making his thoughts about the matter turn sour. He had not expected his girlfriend (or marefriend?) to simply just turn on him like that. In all fairness, he was very rude to Clarity. Luna shouldn't of gotten upset on her behalf, right?

Toby lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Clarity. Just the thought of her made him angry, but why? Something about pummeling him in the side of the head the day before had set him off, although he wasn't sure why. He was always a person who highly valued physical touch; did that just mean he would get more butthurt when someone hit him?

It took her a long time to apologize for hitting him, too. Even still, it sounded half-assed beyond belief. Did she really want to hurt him? After all that time caring for him when he was thrown into the dungeons, just to do that?

A picture flashed into his head that made a hot pang of guilt rise into his throat. He was standing on the edge of a half-ruined Canterlot, preparing to jump down the waterfall. The expression on Clarity's face at that moment, when she realized what he was going to do...

Why am I so stupid? Toby thought to himself, groaning. The noise caught the attention of Pacificae, who was relaxing by the fireplace on a rug made for them by Rarity.

She sat up and chirped, cocking her head to the side.

"I'm fine," Toby replied quietly. "A lot happened."

Pacificae walked over and rested her head on the bedside. Toby placed his hand on her fuzzy head and began scratching the area behind her ears. She closed her eyes, thoroughly enjoying the feeling.

After some time had passed, Toby stretched. "I need to run into town to get some groceries. You want anything? Any particular kinds of food?

Peace chirped.

"Bananas and apples? That's simple," Toby said with a smile, and slowly got to his feet. "Anything else?"

Peace shook her head.

"Groovy. I'll be back in probably a half hour," Toby yawned as he shuffled over to the door. He slowly put his coat and scarf on and made his way into the frosty air outside. It was late March by now, and it was still frigid. The town had some sort of huge event planned soon that they called the "Winter Wrap-Up". Toby didn't feel like questioning their way of going about things in this world for obvious reasons. It didn't make a difference to anyone whether or not he understood.

There were more ponies out and about today than he expected. He pulled up his scarf a little higher. As he passed by, he started to notice that he was receiving an unusual amount of attention.

"Look, it's the monkey-thing Princess Twilight is friends with... wasn't it a 'hooman' or something like that?"

"Did you hear what he did to that guard mare? Apparently she did a lot for him, too."

"Sweet Celestia, he's a flankhole. I don't want my fillies around him..."

Toby quickened his pace, wishing they would stop. It had hardly been twenty four hours since all of it happened, how did word spread so fast? Not only that, but how were the ponies all viewing him as an asshole already when he had barely been known amongst them?

Much to his relief, he made it to the grocery store soon after. He wasted no time entering, hoping it would shelter him from the unnerving stares. It was much quieter in the store, aside from the soft music magically playing from the ceiling. He grabbed a basket and began to make his way towards the produce aisle. Patting his pocket, he realized with a sad lurch that he forgot his shopping list at home.

As he turned a corner, he almost collided with Rarity.

"Oh man, I'm so sorry," Toby apologized to the very startled mare. "I should have been more careful. Are you-"

"Yes, I would agree with you there," Rarity replied coldly. "I expected nothing less from you, after everything that's happened."

"Are you being serious or not?" Toby asked, feeling like he had just been punched in the stomach. "Are you joking right now? Rari-?"

"Don't talk to me, I have more important things to do," she answered curtly, and trotted off.

Toby fell into stunned silence. Yesterday, she had been excited to offer him a chance to relax. She was super warm and friendly. Something had changed between now and then. Did someone tell her about him saying "go to hell" in Clarity's face before leaving her on his front porch?

Why would they all alienate him so quickly, then? It all seemed so unfair. It was true he had been a jerk to her, but there was another side to it! Did no one else see her deck him in the middle of the road??

Or maybe they did... and didn't care.

Did I really just betray myself again? he thought. Just when I start putting my good faith in these ponies and things seem to start going well...

Toby shook his head. It was too early to be thinking about that. Ponies surely weren't that horrible, especially since he could already count the number of times they had shown him forgiveness on two hands. Maybe all of this would simply die down after a little bit, and everyone could be happy again.

...Right?

He grabbed the items Peace requested, then decided to get a cooking pot and a bunch of canned soup. No point in trying to remember what was on his shopping list, and he was low on money as well.

Money... he hadn't thought that far ahead. He needed a job. The provisional money Fluttershy had lent him was nice and all, but there was no way he was going to mooch. As if he needed another reason to decrease the public opinion of himself.

It was when he was at the checkout stand when he saw a sign on the wall that read:

Hiring Back-End Clerk
Rate: 20 bits/hour
Applicant must be able to do the following:

Toby read through the list of requirements and smiled. All of these were easy for him! Not only that, but they were paying 20 bits an hour!!!

The cashier totaled up his goods and said in a tired voice, "Thirty one bits. Would you like help with your groceries today?"

"No, I'll be fine thank you," Toby replied politely. "I actually have a question about the sign right there." He pointed to it.

The pony behind the counter's eyes followed along to the sign. He looked slightly skeptical. "You want to apply?"

"Yes please, I need work," Toby answered.

"Well normally we'd have you fill out an application, but the owner is in today," the pony sighed. He clearly did not want to be at work today. "I'll go grab her, make sure you keep your receipt with your groceries. Just wait over here a moment." He gestured to the area behind the counter before trotting off.

Minutes later he returned with a very tired looking unicorn mare. She had a green and brown mane that had a windswept look, and a very light green coat. She looked shocked when she saw him at first, but forced a smile.

"Corny here tells me you're interested in the Back-End Clerk position?" She asked in a very polite tone, though her voice was a much higher pitch than Toby anticipated. He nodded.

"Would you please come up to my office, then?" the mint-colored owner stated. "I'll conduct your interview and capability test there."

As Toby followed the owner into the back, he thought to himself What the heck is a capability test?

"Alrighty, you passed the interview part of it," the owner announced (who introduced herself as Minty at the beginning of the interview) as the two of the sat in her office. "Now we need to test you on your ability to physically meet the requirements of the job. This part is where everypony else has failed in the past."

Toby gulped. That must have meant that it was a very hard test.

"Alrighty, so first I'm going to ask you to demonstrate how to pick up that box full of paper right there," Minty began, pointing to a - surprise - box full of paper. "Keep in mind, it is fifty pounds."

"Sure thing!" Toby answered, and squatted down next to the box. He made sure to lift with his feet as he stood up.

Minty now looked slightly more energetic. "Oh, you made that look easy. I'm not really sure how your body works, but as long as you don't put any stress on your back when lifting heavy things we'll be good."

"Yeah, I use my legs to lift this stuff," Toby replied, carefully setting the box back down. It was really heavy, but not unbearable. "I worked at a grocery store when I was younger as a shelf stocker."

"Right! You mentioned that earlier," Minty chirped, suddenly looking like a caveman who had just discovered fire for the first time. "Alright - you're hired!"

"Wait - already?" Toby asked, pausing.

"Yep! Usually the physical part of the interview is longer because the ponies who apply have a hard time lift heavier things without magic. Even then, it's a little rare for a unicorn to be able to lift more than sixty pounds with their horn," Minty explained.

"What about those who can?" Toby asked.

"They wouldn't work at a grocery store because they can lift heavy things," Minty elaborated.

"Ah."

"Alrighty, so let me get your uniform real quickly..." Minty said in a muffled voice as she rummaged through a drawer. "Let's see... ah! Here we go!!"

She handed Toby an apron and a baseball cap with the store's logo on them. He gave a quick thanks.

"You have no idea how badly we needed the position filled," Minty groaned, resting her head on the desk. "I've had to do all the back end work myself, since there's nopony else capable of doing it. The ones who can obviously don't want a grocery store job."

"Well, that just makes both of us winners, eh?" Toby asked. "Thank you so much for taking me on, even though I'm not a pony."

Minty waved her hoof dismissively. "Princess Twilight put an end to all that stuff a while ago. Anycreature can work here, they have the right."

"I see... I still have a lot to learn," Toby remarked. "When is my first day?"

"How does Monday at 4:30AM sound?" Minty asked.

"I have no other plans, it works for me," Toby agreed. "I can deal with the early mornings."

"Great! See you then!!" Minty replied, looking very cheerful.

Toby's trip home was anything but smooth.

The number of ponies out and about was much greater now, and it seemed that everyone knew about his treatment of Clarity. To them it was clear that in their eyes Clarity had done nothing wrong. It was so one sided he could vomit.

He wasn't going to blame Clarity for it, despite what everyone else might think. She was not the kind of pony to spread rumors to hurt others. Especially not if she was trying to make up with him.

Speaking of which...

He caught sight of Clarity heading into the woods in the direction of his home. He made to follow her, but he was stopped by an orange hoof. He turned to see a glaring Applejack, whom he had never really held a conversation with before one-on-one. She wasn't alone however, and Pinkie Pie stood at her side. Even though Toby had never really interacted with Pinkie either, he knew that she was by far the friendliest pony around and that it was impossible to get into her bad books.

Or so he thought.

"What are ya doin', Toby?" Applejack asked angrily. "Why did you hafta treat Clarity like that? What in tarnation did she do??"

"She literally decked me in the middle of the road yesterday when there were better ways of showing frustration!" Toby said defensively. "Of course I was gonna get -"

"So that's how ya treat yer family, huh?" Applejack scathed.

"You're acting like the meaniest meanie to her!!" Pinkie joined in, causing Toby to look at her in shock. "You could have given her a chance, but you said reallyreallyreallyreally mean words to her!! You're a JERK."

"Now hold on, girls -"

"Poor Clarity, I'm glad she told us," Applejack said coldly. "It's good to know that yer a bad apple in the core. I had a hunch in the beginning."

"You aren't even gonna give me a chance to explain myself?" Toby said quietly, starting to shake with anger. "Who's being mean now? It's only been -"

"Why should you?" Pinkie snapped, causing many ponies around to cast frightened looks in their direction. "You've been so -"

"IT'S ONLY BEEN ONE DAY!!" Toby cried out. "IF YOU'RE TYING TO ROPE ME IN AND SET ME UP FOR ANOTHER MISUNDERSTANDING, JUST... leave me alone." He shrugged them off and walked away, ignoring their protests. He just wanted to get home with his groceries. The conversation had completely killed his good mood from getting a job.

Everyone just wanted to act like nothing was wrong with him. Even in the recent days, Luna seemed to have forgotten Toby's past completely. They all just wanted him to be fine with no problems. It seemed that way, at least. Perhaps they didn't really care about his own problems.

As he made his way into the clearing where his home was, he found Clarity waiting on the porch. She looked surprised to see him, and stood up quickly.

"Toby, I -"

"What are you doing here?" Toby asked.

Clarity recoiled. "I-I came again to see if you were home, to see i-if you were okay... I also j-just wanted to talk -"

"Listen, I'm fine," Toby sighed, massaging his temples. "Don't worry about me, alright? Also... I'm sorry for being really cold to you. Something about you punching me in the face as a greeting pisses me off."

"I-I have been thinking about that..." Clarity replied. "I realized th-that the public isn't l-like the Royal Guard... slapping or punching was a severe punishment for those who b-broke the rules... I was so scared, Toby, I thought you were dead! B-But when I saw that you were alive, I n-needed to see you... I-I'm so sorry for hitting you, I'm not used to being outside of the palace..."

"Clarity, I know you didn't want to hurt me seriously, and I really appreciate you apologizing," Toby said quietly. "I just - need some time."

"The ponies in town are being horrible right now, though..." Clarity pressed. "I know that this will affect you. Especially since you come into contact with them a lot..." Her eyes rested of the bags of groceries that Toby still held.

"I know, but... give me some time, okay?" Toby asked, giving Clarity a weak smile.

This simple gesture made the difference. Clarity's eyes widened and she bolted over to Toby, wrapping him up in a monstrous hug. She began to cry.

"Toby, oh thank you. Thank you thank you thank you!!!!" she bawled. Toby awkwardly patted her head, trying to fight back his own emotions. She really cared about him...

When she released him, she took a couple steps back. "I-I... will give you all the space you need. I'm not going anywhere though, alright? I'll always be there for you. Please remember that..."

"I will," Toby replied weakly. "Don't be a stranger."

Clarity beamed, sniffing. "Okay!"

"Don't worry about the other ponies, alright?" Toby continued. "I'll deal with it."

Clarity frowned. "It's just not fair to you... everyone except me is angry at you for being rude to me, isn't that ironic?"

"It really is, good grief," Toby sighed. "Besides, how does everyone else know what happened? There was a bunch of stuff that only happened when it was just you, Luna, and myself around."

Clarity paused. "You didn't know? Luna went and ranted about it to a bunch of ponies in the market when she went shopping."

Toby froze. No. She didn't actually do that, did she?

"Thank you for telling me," Toby replied. "I'm gonna go inside now. Bye."

"Be safe," Clarity said with a very concerned look.

Toby closed the door behind himself, set the groceries down, and slumped to the floor once again.

Luna was the reason everyone hated him now, apparently. His own marefriend.

His world became darker and darker. He hardly even noticed Peace coming up to him with concern. He looked at the jackalope and forced a smile.

"Peace, can you go get some of the firewood at the bottom of the hill? Here's the last of the bits we have, that should be enough."

Pacificae hesitated, but the nodded and took the pouch of coins that Toby had extended to her. She walked out the door when Toby opened it for her. As soon as she was out of sight, Toby opened one of the cupboards nearby and pulled out a roll of gauze. He then grabbed a kitchen knife from the table and sat down on the floor. He rolled up one of his pant legs until a good portion of his thigh was showing. Everything was black, and his emotions and thoughts swirled around him like a suffocating black cloud.

He pressed the blade of the knife to his thigh, inhaled, then sliced.

Author's Note

It's been months, I know. Things have been rough. However, I present to you a new addition to the story, one that I've been brewing up for a while. Enjoy!