Angel landed lightly on a roof, sitting on her haunches. She had her shiny taken away, her largest and most recent. But, there, on her right forepaw, she could see the smaller glistening bauble given to her. It was not hunted for, unlike most of the shinies she ever had.

A nice pony whose bodyparts confused her had made it for her. He had asked nothing for it. She didn't have to wait until he wasn't looking... She reached for the ring, slowly turning it and admiring the way the light reflected off of it. He had just surrendered it to her, despite being an obvious collector of shinies, much like herself. He adored shiny things, and made them with his magic.

And he just gave that lovely little piece to her without hesitation. He had made it, just for her. It didn't make sense.

Angel slumped, her belly flat on the roof as she grunted. Why had he been so kind to her? Well... Well... Maybe she was overthinking it. Wasn't it obvious, really? He had said why. He wanted to be her mate. He wanted to be with her, to be her companion.

He was a friend.

And he was lost. Where was he? She sat up with a little frown. "Not make kits," she said assuredly, failing to imagine how he could do that with her. "Still friend. Still mate." He had tried the hardest, without trying, to win that position. He wasn't some random buck that tried to show off how fit and fast they were. He hadn't tried to force their way onto her, however odd that would have been. She softly chuffed, imagining Trash on her back, perhaps growling? But there would be nothing he could do back there but make little noises until she shook him off.

He didn't want her for kits. He wanted her... For...

Why did he want her? She was increasingly certain he wanted her, but why? She would have to ask him. And to ask him, she would have to find him.

It was at that moment that memory clicked, her eyes widening. "Stupid Angel." She slapped her forehead with the fleshy pad of her right hand. She had remembered she had left the poor thing on that roof. He couldn't jump like her! Was he still there, on that roof? Poor thing. She bounded quickly back where she had left him. "Not be hurt. Not be mad..."

But that rooftop was bare, nothing on it but herself as she landed on it lightly. There was no sign of her prince. She peered over the edges fretfully. Had he fallen and hurt himself? She didn't see his broken body, or trails of red that would imply that unfortunate fate.

A sharp pain lanced across her form and she jumped with fright. A unicorn was climbing up onto the roof, his horn crackling with power. That roof wasn't a safe place! She hit the roof just long enough to bounce away from it. "We will need spikes," grunted the pony as he turned away from her.

Had poor Trash been attacked by the other pony? They didn't usually attack each other, or much of anything, really. Yet there that pony was, zapping her. She had to find Trash! Her face brightened, remembering one pony who could possibly know and would be willing to tell her.

The source of his trash magic.

Trash sat down and looked out the window of his new, small, apartment. His allowance wouldn't allow him to even keep that for long. He sighed softly as he turned his head away. "Gonna need to earn some bits..." There wasn't anything else for it. Allowance was done, over... He'd have a roof over his head for a little bit, then he'd be a pauper on the streets.

That wasn't his style! "Time to do... what you do best." Make things he liked? Well... "Yeah, but I have to do something with it afterwards..." He stood up and started for the door. "I have to sell it." Oh, if only he still had his collection. A little frown marred his face. "For one, it's mine," he grumped as he willed the door open and stepped through. "For two, selling some of it would have helped." He closed the door behind himself. "For three, I made them!" His walking began to relax, his usual sedate mood seeping back in, replacing the momentary flaring of irritation.

"Stepping out?" asked the pony by the front door of his apartment building.

Trash knew him, they had a guard, one guard. Not nearly as many as he was used to having, still, at least one. He had turned down other places for their complete lack. It just... felt strange not having at least one around. "Yeah. Gotta work."

"Don't we all?" The guard nodded towards the door heading outside. "Got your key?"

"Huh? Oh." He drew his key from his pocket, floating in his magic. "Thanks for reminding." He had forgotten his key once or twice, back at the castle.

"Sure thing."

Trash pocketed the key and trot out to the street. There were ponies moving about their business, but they were not aristocrats. Well, some of them were, and many of them wished they were, but most of them were common unicorn ponies, just trying to get their business done.

He wasn't in the castle anymore. He wasn't a hoofstep away from Celestia anymore. That was good, right? She wasn't ordering him to do things he didn't want to do. He was free...

Free to fail. His trot faltered down to a walk, but he pressed onwards, heading towards the one place he knew he could get to work.

The source of his trash magic.

"Haven't seen him today." The junkyard pony lifted his shoulders softly. "If you want to hang around, bet he'll appear eventually. I tried keeping him out, never worked."

Angel inclined her head faintly left and right before she sat up and clapped her paws together. "Will hunt. Get shiny."

He hiked a brow. "Ya still don't know how to get around the junkyard without hurtin' yourself. Ya know, Trash did that no few times."

"Did what?" She flopped back to all fours, great ears wagging a moment from the motion.

"Hurt himself in there." He turned back to the junkyard. "Every time I told him to go home and not come back. This ain't a place for random ponies, but he always came back, and he didn't get hurt the same way twice."

Angel imagined the situation, teeth clenching before she nodded firmly. "Will learn." She pointed to herself. "Show how hunt."

"Woah woah woah. Hold onto yer horses." He shook his head firmly. "I didn't teach him, and I don't plan on teachin' you. You don't work here. All I want is for you to stay out here." He pointed to the ground. "This is the way in, so if he comes by, he'll have to go by here."

He was the only horse there, but he wasn't hers, so she decided she shouldn't hold him. Even if a little hug might have helped his grouchiness. There was exactly one horse she wanted to hold... "Angel stay." She flumped down her haunches solidly, planting herself. "Hunt."

"No hunt." He grunted softly, looking irritated, but he usually did.

She inclined her head. "No, hunt prince. Hunt Trash Prince."

"Oh, well, sure." He began trotting off towards the junkyard. "You see him, you catch him and ya did it, hunted him real good."

She would hunt him!

A hoof touched her left rump and she jumped into the air, coming down facing the source. "Trash!"

"Blingmomma." There was Trash, a little smile on his face. "I thought I lost you forever..."

Angel grabbed him up, hugging him tightly, smothering in soft warm fur as she flopped to the ground, becoming his affectionate prison. "Trash okay? Trash hurt? What happen? Angel sorry! She forgot. Forgot Trash not jump. Not jump like Angel. Angel stupid." Tears stung at her face as she rocked back and forth with her precious pony. "Mad at Angel? Mad forever?!"

"MmmMmmmMm," was all he could mumble from the depths of her embrace. What anger he felt towards her felt so small and distant at that moment. No matter how badly things had gone, there she was, worried for him. With a firm wriggle, he got his head free of her and gasped for breath. "Not... mad. Okay, maybe a little mad..."

Angel set him down carefully, wiping her wet nose with the back of an arm. "Not be mad. What Angel do? How make better?"

"Ain't a lot you can do, Angel. Celestia kicked me out."

Angel shrank back. "Lose den? Lose den! Bad boss horse. Bad!" She thumped the ground with a hand, making Trash vibrate with the impact of it so close to him. "No den?"

"New den," he corrected, pointing in the direction of his little apartment. "I need to work to keep that new den." He then pointed into the junkyard. "I was gonna go hunting, the Trash way. Stealing makes trouble..."

She inclined her head left and right, unsure exactly how things had worked, but... "Angel help. Show how hunt. Hunt Trash way."

"It's dangerous." He began to walk around her. "Lots of sharp edges."

"Angel careful." She step-hopped, matching his glacial pace. "Show. Show how hunt." She leaned in, pressing the side of her massive body against his smaller one. "Hunt Trash way. Trash magic!"

"It might hurt," he gently warned.

But that wasn't a no. She smiled brightly and suddenly plucked him up, placing him on her back. "Show how." She bounded towards the junkyard with, for her, sedate bounces along the ground. She even stepped over the line that seperated the junkyard from the rest of Canterlot, sniffing the air softly.

Trash slid back down to the ground with a slow breath. "Alright, first lesson, don't go grabbing your trashy boy without asking first." He nodded once softly. "Second lesson, big jumps could mean big ouches. Little steps, and watch where your, uh, paw's coming down."

Angel turned her left paw around to look at it before setting it on the ground lightly. "Did it."

"You did." He nodded, walking past her. "On the main paths, like this one, it's a little safer. The further you go away, the more dangerous it gets, but if you want to hunt, you gotta be brave, but not stupid."

"Brave, not stupid..."

"Trash!" came a shout from above. The junkyard pony was up in a crane, leaning out the side of it to frown at the two of them. "Are you bringin' yer damn rabbit in here? What'd I say?!"

"She's my responsibility, promise." He put a hoof over his chest. "I'm teaching her how, and if she gets hurt, we won't tell anypony at all."

"Not a one?" He raised a brow high.

"Not a one." Trash looked around more at ground level. "This way, Blingmomma. We'll start easy and work you up."

"Keep her close enough to prod her when she does somethin' dumb," warned the junkyard pony as he turned his attention back to what he was doing, directing his crane to grab a big heavy slab of metal with a great crunch of metal on metal. "Some of us actually have work to do."

"We got our own work," promised Trash quietly enough that only Angel heard him. "We won't be keepin' it this time. We hunt for food and, um, home. Yeah..." His tail gave a soft lash as he made his way carefully forward.

Angel followed after Trash, not a smile on her face. She had a calculating and wary expression on. She was hunting. Sure, it wasn't her usual form of hunting, but hunting was hunting, and she planned to do it right.

And there wouldn't be any big boss horses to take away what she got!

Author's Note

The duo is reunited, yay!

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