The golden rays of Celestia’s waning sun washed over the lush trees and shrubbery of Rabbit Creek Park. One would be hard pressed to find any part of the park where ponies weren’t enjoying the late afternoon. Be it walking their pets or simply having a picnic, the cheerful ponies of Hundred Oaks always made some time for some fresh air.
All, of course, except for one.
Overlooking the park was an apartment that stood three stories tall. Its weathered bricks contrasting nicely with the winding ivy vines that stretched over the right side of the building. Most windows were open and their curtains drawn, showing small snapshots of the interior. Once again, all except for one.
“Good afternoon, Inertia!” Somepony said, catching the zony pegasus’ attention.
The tired actress lifted her head slightly to look at whoever had talked to her, spotting a blue stallion dressed in a mail pony uniform. A simple harness hung across the stallion’s chest, attached to a cart that was overflowing with boxes and envelopes.
“Hello!” Inertia answered, giving the earth pony a grin, “Anything for me today?” She added, curiously eyeing the cart.
“Let’s see!” The pony said, pulling out a clipboard. He flipped through the pages for a few seconds before looking up and smiling, “Not for you, but I do have something for Morgan!”
Inertia couldn’t help but roll her eyes with a chuckle, of course she had ordered something.
“Here you are,” The stallion said, holding out a small cardboard box.
“Thank you,” Inertia answered with a bow, taking the box and balancing it between her wings.
“All in a day’s work,” The blue earth pony answered, tipping his mail pony hat, “See you around!” He added, walking off with his squeaky cart.
Inertia turned to face the little alleyway on the side of the apartment building, walking up to the rickety metal stairs that led to her and Morganite’s place. She would’ve just flown up the two flights, but the box held firmly between her wing shoulders wouldn’t let her.
Three knocks sounded off the oak door of the apartment when she reached the top… Then two more…
“Bat ponies have super hearing” She muttered in a mocking tone, chuckling to herself.
She dug through her small saddlebag and produced a bronze key, unlocking the door and revealing the inside of the dark apartment. The air within was slightly stuffy and carried a slight tinge of… paint thinner?
The living room was pretty much exactly the same as she had left it that morning, down to the half-empty coffee cup she had left on the table. Inertia turned to the side and hung her saddlebag up on one of the hangers next to the door. She set down Morgan’s box on the table.
“Inertia? Is that you?” A mare asked from the bedroom.
“No, it’s the royal guard, you’re under arrest for mango laundering!” Inertia shouted back.
After a resounding laugh, the door to the bedroom flew open to reveal her roommate, Morganite.
The bat mare’s light yellow coat was dotted with paint droplets, her soft pink mane held up in a messy bun. A strange contraption was attached to the left side of her glasses, holding up a second lens. The bat pony flicked the additional lens out of the way before cocking her head and giving Inertia the cutest grin.
“How was filming today?” She asked, walking into the living room.
Inertia picked up the cup from the table and walked over to the kitchen on the left-side wall before answering.
“Pretty good, actually, had to film a shootout scene,” She explained as she washed her coffee cup, “Want anything to drink?”
Morganite pulled a chair out and took a seat, keeping her eyes fixed on Inertia.
“I’ll have some coffee if you want to make some,” She answered, but her smile quickly disappeared, replaced by a much more serious stare. The bat mare lifted a hoof and pointed at one of Inertia’s rear legs, “Did you have an accident on set?” She asked, concerned.
Inertia lifted an eyebrow before turning her head to the side and stretching out the leg in question. Her thigh was wrapped in a pink bandage, covered in deep crimson stains.
“Oh! I forgot to take that off after the scene!” She said, chuckling, “That explains why ponies were staring at me on my way back” She added.
“Don’t worry, soon they’ll be looking at you because you’re famous!” Morganite said.
The two mares shared a laugh for a moment before Inertia got back to work on brewing some coffee. As soon as she turned to throw away the coffee filter, however, Inertia noticed that the garbage can was also exactly the way she had left it that morning. That being completely overfilled.
“Morgan, did you forget to take the trash out?” She asked her roommate, who immediately went slightly pale.
“...No?” The bat pony answered. Inertia looked at her with a raised eyebrow, her expression completely unamused, “...Okay yeah, I forgot,” Morganite admitted.
“Celestia almighty Morgan, you always forget the garbage!” Inertia exclaimed, “You’re flying it out to the dumpyard first thing tomorrow,”
The bat mare’s ears drooped slightly.
“Okay yeah, fair, I got distracted painting my Warhoof figures,” She admitted, “B- but I’m almost done with them!”
“I don’t have a problem with your hobbies, just try to do what needs to be done around here too” The actress explained, chuckling, “Oh! and the mail pony had a box for you,” She added, pointing at the cardboard package on the table.
Morganite’s eyes widened. She whirled around and ripped the box open, taking out a plastic paint jar.
“Yessss!” She squeaked, “It’s just the shade I needed!”
Inertia would never understand that mare’s absolute obsession with getting the exact colors right on the little pony models she liked to collect, but there was something heartwarming about seeing the mare get so excited over something as simple as a paint jar. She walked over to the table with one cup of coffee balanced on each wing.
“Here you go,” She said, leaving one of the cups in front of Morganite.
“Thanks ‘Tia!” The bat mare squeaked back, picking up the coffee and taking a sip, “You make the bestcoffee!”
Inertia turned to look at the espresso machine on the counter, then back at Morganite.
“You do realize that the machine does most of the work, right?” She asked, cocking her head to the side, but her mouth was swiftly covered by a yellow hoof.
“Shhhhh, take the compliment,” The bat mare said.
The pair shared a laugh again, slowly sipping at their coffee cups. As soon as they were finished, Morganite was the first to get up.
“I’ll wash the cups, you take that bandage off,” She said, ginning.
“Thank you,” Inertia answered before turning around to undo the wrapped cloth on her thigh, “Wow, Neighseneger ties some strong knots,” She commented after finally managing to pull the bandage off.
“She tied that on you?” Morganite asked over her shoulder as she dried the two cups.
“Yeah, Black Light gives me some first aid at the end of the scene,” Inertia explained, chuckling, “I still can’t believe I landed a role with the Aurelia Neighseneger, and my first ever role to boot!” She said, thinking about the saddle arabian actress. She had to give Hitchtrot credit on the casting, she would’ve never thought about the massive mare to play the role of Black Light. Sure, the hours of makeup needed to attach a fake horn and paint her stripes on were probably draining on her, but she seemed to enjoy the role enough to put up with it!
Truly, her getting the role had almost been too good to be true. But she couldn’t complain, director Hitchtrot needed a pegasus zony for the role, and there was only one of those registered in the actor’s guild.
“Wait, didn’t you star in that one movie with the nightclub scene?” Morgan asked, cocking her head to the side after closing the cupboard door.
She did have a point, Inertia had starred in Dognado 7. It wasn’t really a big movie, but of course Morganite had watched it. She had played a nightclub hostess that gave the protagonist somewhere safe to sleep. The movie was… bad… very bad. The special effects were the best part… and that wasn’t a high bar. But hey, a paycheck was a paycheck.
“Fair enough, my first big role” She amended, rolling her eyes.
Morganite gave her a short chuckle before stretching her wings slightly, the joints popping from their prolonged inactivity.
“Welp, I have some painting to do,” She stated, “Wanna use the living room or are you coming to the room too?”
“I’ll stay here, don’t want your paint getting on my scripts,” Inertia answered.
“Suit yourself,” The bat mare said, walking back towards the bedroom door while twirling her tail around to the beat of some melody she was humming.
Inertia followed her into the room, passing by the messy desk where the dozens of little pony figurines that Morganite had been painting stood. The zony pegasus walked all the way to the wardrobe on the far wall of the room. She had left her own copy of the script on the movie set, but she fortunately had a spare one.
“If you need anything I’ll be right here,” She told the bat pony as she left the bedroom.
“Yeah, you too,” The mare responded, her eyes completely focused on the rearing stallion figurine on her desk.
Inertia let out a sigh before walking out of the room.
The next couple of hours were spent in near complete silence, truly a gift for Inertia, who had a whole lot of lines to memorize. Nothing that she couldn’t handle, of course, but she still had to pay attention to all the notes the director had left for her. Apparently this next scene would involve her character and Aurelia’s being alone in a sewage system where they would talk. Or, rather, she would talk, and Aurelia would fail to understand what she was saying.
Black Light sure does remind me of Morgan sometimes. She thought, chuckling at the idea of the bat mare having the completely ridiculous powers of the film’s main character. That would be a sight to behold.
A loud yawn brought her attention back to reality, where she noticed that Morganite had walked out of the bedroom. Several new stains now dotted her coat, the same color as the new jar of paint she had received.
“Hey ‘Tia, I’m sorry about the garbage thing,” She mumbled.
Inertia adjusted her position on the chair and turned to fully look at the mare.
“Hey, it’s not a big deal. In fact, I can take it with me tomorrow morning on my way to filming, I’ll pass over the dumpyard anyway,” The zony pegasus said, offering a warm smile.
Her words clearly didn’t have the desired effect, something made painfully obvious when the bat mare puffed out her chest and pouted.
“No! You always do things for me!” She said, giving the floor an adorable little stomp, “I want to do something for you for a change!” She added.
“Something like what?” Inertia asked, cocking her head and raising an eyebrow.
The yellow mare went quiet with her mouth agape, almost as if she hadn’t been expecting to get this far. But she quickly straightened herself and spoke up.
“I- I want to try cooking for tonight!” She exclaimed.
“I mean… sure, why not?” Inertia said.
With nothing but the sound of flapping wings as a warning, Inertia suddenly found herself being struck by a yellow and fluffy missile.
“Thanks ‘Tia, you’re the best!” The bat mare said, hugging the actress tight.
“Need… air…” Inertia managed to wheeze out as her ribs were crushed by her roomate.
“Oh! Sorry!” The mare said, letting her go.
Inertia looked down at herself and saw that she had acquired several paint spots on her coat. She definitely needed to get that cleaned before her coat got stained, lest Hitchtrot become absolutely furious tomorrow.
Come to think of it, she thought a bubble bath would probably be a good idea in general. I doubt Morgan will need my help anyway.
About an hour later, both mares were sitting on the apartment’s balcony, every single window opened wide to let the thick black smoke out of the small living area. The acrid smell of burnt plastic was still thick in the air.
“In my defense, the instructions didn’t say anything about taking it out of the package first,” Morgan said, kicking her rear hooves off the side of the balcony.
“I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to bake instant noodles in the oven, with or without the package” Inertia answered with a chuckle.
“Yeah… fair,” Morgan said, clearly saddened by her culinary exploits.
Inertia stretched out a wing and wrapped it around the yellow mare, resting on her shoulder slightly as they watched the sunset. Once the last of Celestia’s golden rays were swallowed by the horizon, Inertia got back on her hooves and stretched out her back. The smoke was completely gone by now.
“We should be good to close the windows again, don’t want our heating bill to go through the roof” She said with a chuckle.
Morganite got up as well, her slitted eyes still fixed in the spot where the sun had disappeared. She turned around to look at Inertia with slightly damp eyes.
“Okay, I can’t let that disaster stand, I know another way I can apologize!” She stated, stomping the floor again.
“You really don’t need to-“ Inertia started, but the bat mare cut her off.
“Yes I do! I know exactly how to pay you back!” Morgan exclaimed, her usual excited shine returning to her eyes.
Inertia cocked her head to the side and looked at the bat mare with a mixture of concern and intrigue.
“We are going to go out for dinner, and I will pay for it!” The mare said, grinning.
“Oh! That’s… really sweet,” Inertia said, smiling, “I’d love that,”
Morganite lit up immediately at the zony pegasus’ words, giving a smile so warm that it could’ve easily melted steel.
The pair set out from the apartment and were met by the bustling Friday night streets of Hundred Oaks. Soft orange light strings hung between the sidewalk trees, bathing the buzzling ponies in their radiance. Several shops had been set up on the street, with cheerful vendors happily announcing their prices. Fridays were nice, the local artisans always had something to offer.
One of the stands caught Inertia’s eye, covered with all sorts of hoof-made earrings. She took a step closer to it and looked up at the smiling pink mare that sat behind it.
“See anything you like?” She asked.
Inertia took a long glance at the offered accessories. Her attention was immediately drawn to a gemstone-encrusted earring shaped like a little sun. But there was one other piece of jewelry that would be even better.
“I’ll take this one,” Inertia answered, using a wing to place some golden bits on the stand’s tarp.
“Here you go,” The pink vendor answered, setting aside the chosen article.
The actress smiled and took the item, turning back around to where Morganite was waiting for her.
“What did you get?” The bat mare asked.
“I got you this,” Inertia answered, stretching out a wing and offering the little earring to the yellow mare.
Morganite’s orange eyes went wide as she sat on her haunches and took the earring in her forehooves. The earring was a small blue gem that had been cut to look like a star, surrounded by a golden shield. The insignia that she had so painstakingly painted onto the chest of all her minifigures.
“Thanks ‘Tia!” The bat pony squeaked before throwing her hooves around the zony pegasus’ neck.
“You still looked a little sad about the noodles, thought it would cheer you up!” Inertia answered, laughing.
The pair went along their merry way, stopping ever so often to greet some of their neighbors. Thousand Oaks may not be a small town, but the sense of community couldn’t be denied.
Eventually, the pair made their way to the Galloping Grub. The small burger joint was neatly placed overlooking a small plaza where dozens of ponies were enjoying the cool night air. The alluring smell of deep fried hay immediately bombarded the two mare’s noses, all but making them flutter towards the closest table in the restaurant.
“Welcome back, Morgan!” Flipper, the cook, said as soon as he saw the pair, “Brought your friend with you this time?” He added.
Inertia immediately raised an eyebrow and stared at her roommate. Morganite, for her part, had shrunk back into her chair, hiding her face behind her forehooves.
“I… might’ve come here for lunch too…” She admitted, unable to meet the actress’ gaze.
The zony pegasus let out a chuckle before shaking her head slightly.
“So that’s why there were no dirty dishes,” Inertia said, still chuckling.
Morganite said nothing, instead letting out a muted squeak. She rapidly straightened herself out again the instant Flipper walked up to their table with the menu. The near instant switch from embarrassed to attentive only made Inertia laugh harder.
“I gotta say…” Morganite started before taking a moment to munch on some hay fries, “I don’t really get why you’d ask for a salad over a hayburger,” She added.
Inertia looked down at her plate and then looked over to her roommate’s.
“Because, if you think about it…” The bat pony continued, taking a sip from her soda cup, “It is basically the same thing,”
The zony pegasus took a bite out of her salad, raising an eyebrow at the other mare.
“How is a burger the same as a salad?” She asked.
Morganite held up her burger, examining it as if it were a gemstone.
“Well this has hay, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and bread!” She said, “Whereas your salad has… lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and croutons! It’s basically the same!”
Inertia chuckled at the mare’s words.
“For starters, a hoofful of croutons is nowhere near the same amount of carbs as a burger bun. And my salad doesn’t have deep fried hay!” She exclaimed, taking a sip of water, “And this has actual tomatoes in it, not just a ton of ketchup,” She added, gesturing to her salad.
“Potato potato,” Morganite said, brushing her off with a hoof.
“And in any case, it’s not like I don’t want to eat a burger, I just have to watch my weight for the movie!” The actress exclaimed.
Morganite’s brow furrowed, an expression that might’ve been intimidating had it not been for her adorable face.
“I watch my weight too!” The bat mare said, pouting.
Inertia raised an eyebrow, unamused.
“Morgan, your flanks literally jiggle when you walk,” She said, staring at the bat mare.
The yellow mare’s eyes opened wide, but they quickly shifted to a more mischievous expression.
“Looking at my flanks often, are we?” She asked, chuckling.
Now it was Inertia’s turn to be surprised.
“Touche,” She admitted, laughing along.
Both mares dug back into their food, with Morganite asking for a second cup of soda despite Inertia’s disappointed stare. The zony pegasus made a mental note of dragging the yellow mare to the gym someday.
“Oh, by the way, I was wondering…” Morganite started after some time.
“Yup?” Inertia said.
“Since you hang around Aurelia so much… is the rumor true?” The bat mare asked, her eyes wide and twinkling with wonder.
The actress raised an eyebrow, wondering which of the many, many rumors about the saddle arabian actor she could be referring to.
“If it’s the one about her using steroids I can tell you it’s fake, saddle arabians are that big,” Inertia said.
Morganite chuckled.
“No! Not that! I meant the one about the Warhoof 30k movie coming out! Is she really going to be the lead?” She asked, her eyes somehow getting even wider.
“I… don’t know actually,” Inertia admitted, much to the yellow mare’s disappointment, “But she has been talking about another big project,” She added, which immediately made the bat mare’s ears perk up.
“Oh I hope she does!” Morganite exclaimed, “And if you get offered a role for it, you’re taking it!”
“Okay! okay!” Inertia said, laughing at the mare’s words.
The pair finished their food and set out towards the park, not wanting to let such a beautiful night go to waste. It was an incredibly beautiful night, barely any clouds dared obscure Luna’s wonderful moon, nor did they cover the hundreds of stars that dotted the sky.
Inertia looked around for a moment before realizing that all the best spots had already been taken by other ponies, but as soon as she turned to ask Morganite if she had found anywhere to lie down she realized that she had been left alone.
“Morgan?” She asked, whirling around to look for the yellow mare.
“Over here!” The bat pony squeaked from behind the actress.
Inertia turned around to spot Morganite walking up to her, an ice cream cone firmly held in each wing. One of the cones was orange, while the other was light green.
“Oh! Thanks!” The zony pegasus exclaimed, taking the pistachio cone with her forehooves.
“Hehe, you’re welcome, ‘Tia” The bat pony answered, “Find anywhere to sit?” She added.
“No… but come to think of it…” Inertia said, her gaze slowly drifting towards the sky.
The yellow mare understood almost immediately, nodding in agreement. Both ponies unfurled their wings and took off, holding their ice cream firmly in their forehooves. Fortunately, the clouds weren’t that far off the ground, making the flight fairly short. Both mares set down on the fluffy cloud and lied in silence, enjoying their dessert.
“You really like the night sky, don’t you?” Morganite asked, rolling over to look at Inertia, whose eyes were completely stuck on the stars above.
“Yeah…” The actress said, “Someday I’ll get to see them… someday… Until then? I’d be happy with playing an astronaut!” The zony pegasus answered, laughing.
“I’m sure you’ll make it someday, ‘Tia,” The bat mare said, looking up at the stars as well.
A soft breeze blew past them, moving their cloud slightly. Inertia felt the other mare shiver slightly under the cold wind, it was to be expected, given her thin coat and lack of feathers.
“You wanna go back down?” She asked the bat pony.
“Nah, let’s stay here a bit longer,” The mare answered.
“Okay, but I won’t let you get sick,” Inertia said, stretching out her wing and offering it to the other mare.
Morganite chuckled, but scooted closer to her anyway and draped the wing over herself like a feathery blanket.
“So fluffy…” The bat mare mumbled, snuggling against the wing.
Inertia looked at her roommate and smiled, she was an adorable mare. Her gaze returned to the night sky, where she traced all the constellations she had known since she was a filly.
“You know,” Inertia said, keeping her eyes on the sky, “I could get in trouble for this, but would you like to come along with me for filming tomorrow? You could get Aurelia’s autograph,”
Silence.
Inertia turned to look at the bat mare that was comfortably cuddled up under her wing, fast asleep. She carefully tapped Morganite’s leg with her own, but the yellow mare didn’t wake up. A very soft snore escaped the adorable bat pony as she snuggled into the actress’ wing.
“Yeah maybe that’s for the better, wouldn’t want to get booted off the film,” Inertia told herself with a chuckle.
She lied there in silence for what must’ve been an hour, maybe two. Eventually, the cloud they were on got too thin to keep supporting them and slowly started to sink. Inertia took this as a sign that they should probably get going.
Once more she tried to wake the bat mare up to no avail. With a sigh, the actress lifted her wing off the sleeping mare and got up. Her back popped slightly as she stretched, getting ready for the flight ahead.
“Let’s go,” She said with a smile, wrapping her forehooves around the dozing mare and stretching out her wings. If there was one thing she knew about Morganite, it was that she could sleep through a hurricane.
With the bat pony firmly held between her hooves, the zony pegasus jumped off the cloud and glided peacefully down, trying to land as close as possible to their apartment. Most of the ponies that had been in the park were gone by now, with only a hoofful of couples remaining.
Once the ground started getting too close, the actress started to fly, trying to keep her wing strokes as smooth as possible to not wake the dozing mare. Fortunately, she managed to softly set her down on the top of the stairs without the mare waking up. Once the door was open, Inertia carefully picked up Morganite and carried her into the apartment, setting her down on her bed and pulling her blanket over her.
“Sleep well, Morgan,” She whispered, noticing a hint of a smile appear on the sleeping mare’s mouth, or maybe she had just imagined it.
Author's Note
A short little fic for a friend, love your OCs and I’m glad you liked it.
