The Exchange Student

Shamus sat at his desk. His job was to check and approve exchange student forms. He would type the info in the computer if it was complete,  and send it back if it wasn't. He was in his thirties and had been doing this for a year at least. He lost track of how many forms he went through.

There were a couple different things on his desk. Pens, stapler, aroma candles, Post-its-

Aroma candles?

What were THOSE doing on a wooden desk filled with paper?

And in the possession of a thirty-year old man?

Shamus knew the fire risk, but he figured that the easiest way to make it seem less like he was in an office was to make it so that it didn't smell like one. His coworkers teased him at first, and eventually stopped caring, only flaring back up a little after he began adding chemicals to make the flames a different color (for effect).

Today's candle was cinnamon-scented with a reddish flame.

Shamus filed away yet another form, and decided he needed a short break. He opened up his email and found it was cluttered with junk mail. He almost cleared out his inbox, but then he saw something interesting. It was a message from one of his coworkers.

The subject was titled, "Really hard maze can you beat it?" Curious, he opened it and clicked on the link. It brought up a maze game. (what a surprise.) The first level was easy enough. the second was a little challenging. The third one started off easy and ended with barely enough room for the mouse. He frowned as he began to navigate it...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHGHHHH!!!!

His computer screamed at him and displayed a very creepy face.

Shamus jumped a good 5 inches off his chair and managed to bump his desk. Hard.

This, of course, knocked over the candle on his desk.

He started panicking has he realized that one of the forms scattered across his desk was on fire. On an impulse he picked it up-

...as it dissipated into smoke...

... and drifted out the open window...?

That form, of course, was Connor's. Who else would it have been? That would've made everything written thus far seem way too far out of place.

Derpy had finally finished delivering all the mail. She was now residing at home, and was finishing making another batch of muffins. After Applejack had showed her how to make her own signature apple muffins, she spent a good part of her spare time making those delicious pastries. It had been a long day for the mail pony, and now she needed sustenance.

Or as she sometimes put it, "Momma gun need herself some muffins."

Ding went the oven timer, the loveliest sound in Equestria. Now she could get what she had worked for. She carefully took out the pan, and from it got a muffin. She was about to eat it when she saw smoke.

Oh noes! Had she burned something? She quickly set down the pastry and looked for the source. Finding none, she looked back at the counter and found a short stack of paper where her muffin should have been.

Oh, was it a letter? Maybe it was for the Princess. There had been a few times previously when Twilight's Friendship reports had been sent a little off course; or so she had heard. So maybe she should send it to her. Looking at the papers more closely now, she noticed what exactly was in the letter.

Foreign language? Check.

Official-looking? Check.

Signed? A bit oddly, but check there too.

Yep, this was for the Princess.

Derpy sighed as she realized that her muffins would have to wait. She got her mailbag and a muffin for the road, and headed out to send the letter. She took off the ground and bit into her muffin. Mmmmm, perfect, she thought.