I sat at a workbench, a plate of hash browns at my side, the mare who were keeping me sitting a bit away. "Sorry if they're not great, never really worked with real potatoes before." I looked down at the assortment of tools and setting materials. "So, should I get started or--"

"Mr. Work...really, come sit with us," Rarity called from the other room. I rubbed my shoulder and forked a little more food into my mouth. "Mr. Work?"

I grabbed my plate and swung around the drab beige workshop. "Coming, against my will I might add." I shook my head softly, the starchy salty hash greasy and palatable. "Wouldn't be the first time, and I'm doubtful it  will be the last." I laughed softly at my own dirty joke, letting it peter out into a sharp groan. I pushed my way into the large circle room, a hub for all of Rarity's craft rooms and fitting stations. Another quick walk into the kitchen and over to the table saw me home. "Are they overcooked?"

Rarity rolled her eyes and pulled a seat out for me with her magic. "No darling, now please, sit and eat."

I felt my voice catch in my throat. "I'd really rather get to work--"

Rarity pulled me along with her magic, forcing me down into a chair. "It's eight in the morning. Now sit down, eat, then I'll show you what I need done." Rarity shook her head and levitated a forkful of potato into her mouth. "And no, they're not overcooked."

I laughed softly. "Well, I have one thing going for me then." I finished off what little food I had left and leaned back. "There, done." I rolled my tongue along the backside of my teeth, grinding salt into nothingness and letting the nicely textured fry feed my mind. "Work now?"

Rarity popped her eyes open and slammed her fork down. "Mr. Work, irony aside, if you ask to work one more time I'm going to call the mailmare's daughter to come and throw another party for you." Her eyes were flat, deadly. "And I know how much you enjoyed yourself." Her flat expression whirled up into a mean looking smile.

I groaned loudly and sat back, watching Jewel make a face at me as I gave up. "Fine. I want you to understand how backwards this is though. I'm here to work and you're--"

"You're here as a guest, and remember what I said?" rarity flicked her tail. "You must really want to see her again."

I tapped my fingers on the solid oak table, the rest of the kitchen half renovated with a newer feel to the changes, fine tile, smooth counters, sharp edges. "So, I've done some construction, maybe you--"

"Really?" Rarity flicked her goof hoof down at me. "You're a terrible guest, so jumpy."

I looked around and shook my head. "I want to feel useful!" I crossed my legs. "Give me something to do, gods, I've been here two days and I've done naught! I was supposed to be working and--"

Rarity reached out to me, putting a hoof on my hands. "Glass... settle in."

I frowned hard and pulled my hands to my sides. "I am settled...."

Rarity looked over at Jewel. "Glass, we are out of milk, and we could use a few other things. Do you know where the grocer is?"

I felt my throat tighten up. "Market's outside, right?"

"Spring market doesn't have what we'd need. After winter the only things in the market are trinkets and Appleloosan apples." She shook her head, "So I take it you don't know?"

I coughed roughly. "I suppose not...." I clasped my hands together. "I suppose--" A loud clattering tap came from the kitchen door. "...What?"

A bright tanned face peeked into the window. "Rarity, is he in there?"

Rarity wrapped the doorknob in her magic and pulled it open. "Good morning Darcy."

Darcy leaned in, waving to all of us at the table. "Hi there, oh good...." She walked in and slowly closed the door behind her. "You ran out of the party last night, nopony knew where you were."

I flipped my hand up, letting my wrist go slack. "Right here."

Darcy's tail whipped around behind her. "Clearly." She looked around, "Well, I just wanted to make sure he made it home, wasn't dead somewhere."

Rarity cocked an eyebrow. "Hmm, well while you're here, would you mind escorting Mr. Work to the grocery store?"

I grew a sharp, extremely agitated frown. I jammed my middle finger into the underside of the table. "Of course...because I need a nanny."

Rarity smiled at me. "Well, we don't want you getting lost again."

I pressed my tongue against the back of my front teeth. "Sure.... Is there a list?"

Rarity nodded. "I'll go make one." She shoved off the table, nearly falling while forced to balance on two legs and a wheel. "Oh my--"

"Don't trip." I grumbled, standing up to face Darcy. The tall red and tan mare just shook her head. "Don't judge me."

Darcy smiled. "I'm not, can't speak for everyone else, but I'm personally not."

"Better not be." I joined her near the door, letting my ass rest against the wall. "...So, did I do anything really stupid while I was out?"

Darcy turned her head to me, a complex face carved into her skin. "Hmm, you threw a horseshoe and dented the wall, ate a box of crackers, but nothing too super weird." She put her hands in her jeans, stretching down to her fetlocks instead of her usual thigh fit. I couldn't help but look her over, her pants didn't fit well, far too tight. "Glass...stop."

I looked up to her face, stopping at her arms. Even her shirt was tight. "Darcy, you need to shop better. Ms. body builder needs to go a size up."

Darcy frowned. "I've had this outfit for years...like, I don't want to just get rid of it."

I looked over to Jewel, sitting and chewing a heap of fried hash with her doll in her lap. "Isn't Rarity a seamstress?"

Darcy nodded. "Yeah, still expensive though." She nudged me with her elbow. "Unless you're paying, I don't get enough from Mac to pay for alterations and stuff."

I bit my lip hard. "Well then Darcy, I have a proposal." I looked towards the exit of the kitchen, making sure I had some time before Rarity would come storming back in. "You get me to a furnace or a workshop, and I'll make you something, sell it, and pay for any alterations."

Darcy cocked her head. "Okay, what do you get out of this?"

"I don't have to sit here and have your ass prominently shoved into view, and I get to work. Win win." I put my hands under my armpits. "Rarity doesn't want me working...gods only know why."

Darcy shrugged with a neutered expression. "Maybe she thinks you need to relax."

I turned up to face Darcy, wearing my angry face. "I'll relax in the workshop, now do we have a deal?"

Darcy smiled, quickly letting it fall as she realized I wasn't joking. "Sure, guess I'll go get the groceries, right?"

"Exactly." I watched the door, Rarity's magic thrusting the note. "...Keep her talking, I need to go grab some things from my bag."

Darcy stuffed her hands in her pockets and leaned against the wall. "Such as?"

"Tools, coals I have, supplies." I looked at the window. "Most glass working takes a day just to melt the glass, but I have a few tricks to get this done in a few hours." I swung my hands back and forth as Rarity looked into her fridge. "Perks of having a unicorn mother, you can skip a lot of life's physical limitations."

"Mmm, I wouldn't know. But, I'm alright with just being way bigger than you. Oh, and faster--"

"Shut up."

"And better at growing plants, and more fertile, and more--"

I tightened up my hand, focusing on the few times I'd seen Darcy's back. "Uh huh...keep going." I was never very good at levitating thing, but slowly I could hear her voice hiccup as I poked her shoulder blades, looking to snap her bra. "Bet ya can't do that, can ya?"

Darcy waved her hand around her back. "Alright, alright, calm down."

"I am calm." Rarity finally turned to me, "Ready?"

Rarity smiled and held the list for me. "Do me a favor, if you're out long, do bring something home." I took the list, watching as Rarity levitated a bag of coins over to Darcy. "And you, if he so much as tries to buy something metal or wood, or anything that could be a vague tool, smack him."

"Jesus, really!?"

Darcy took the bag, "Yeah, sure. Don't worry, I'll make sure he cools it."

I looked down at my hooves. "Well...suppose I'll go find my boots, meet you outside." I hurried past Rarity and out into the main room. I took a hard left into the sitting room. Another quick turn, a fling up the stairs, a thud as I met Rarity's door with my arm. "Ow...." I flung the door open and found my bag sitting out, tools and clothes packed densely inside. "Yes."

I dropped down to one knee and scrambled to collect what I could fit inside my coat. I would end up sweating like a pig on a spit, but I managed to pack my coals, my shaping tools, a small blowing pipe and a glove into my usual summer coat. I patted myself down, making sure it was as inconspicuous as possible.

I hurried down stairs, running through Rarity's house like a mad man, now clad in my new short clothes and a padded cotton jacket. "I- was ill prepared- for this fucking swampland." I held my collar as open as I could and hurried through the prissy building, dodging mannequin and stacks of stock clothes on my way out.

I tossed myself out into the hot air of Ponyville market. Darcy managed to catch me, stopping me from slamming face first into the ground. "Whoa there, take it easy!"

I pressed my tongue against my wisdom tooth. "Oh man...come on, hurry, I'm going to melt in this thing."

Darcy swung my around onto the road. "Alright then, what's the--"

"I need glass powder, sand, something. I need water, newspaper--"

Darcy put her hand up. "Water and newspaper aren't hard, and I think that the old craft workshop used to have some glass powder in it. Blacksmith left a while and we've been keeping all that sort of stuff in there since then."

I stared at her. "...It was a metal shop?"

Darcy shrugged. "It was like, everything the farmland needed. We got windows, we got metal bits, shoes, leather--"

I put my hand on Darcy's ribs. "Darcy shut up before I squeal like a little filly."

Darcy looked down at my hand. "You know, Rarity's gonna be really mad if she finds out."

I took my hand off her and turned to the market. "Look, she won't, alright. Besides, you really--"

Darcy put her hands on her hips. "I need to--" Just before she could finish a button popped off her shirt. She pulled her hands to her chest and closed up the gap. "Oh son of a- shit...." She hunched forward and kept her shirt together. "Alright, alright, fine."

I cocked an eyebrow. "You know, maybe it's time to just get a new outfit."

Darcy frowned hard. "I've worn this style for three years, and this is my favorite damn shirt, I'm not getting rid of it!" She clenched together the dark red-brown collared shirt. "...Do you have a safety pin?"

I patted down my pockets. "I have a paperclip I think." I moved to my front pockets and found it. "Ah, here we go." I passed it off and turned around. "Just hurry, alright?"

Darcy grumbled a little. "God- I can't-- This fucking thing sucks! ... There!"

I turned around, her shirt now sporting a bright silver pin right across the split. "DIY shirt repair your specialty?"

Darcy's frown tugged at the corners. "Oh shut up."

"You shut up!" I unzipped my jacket. I took a deep breath and turned to the far off flat land I'd passed on the train. "Can we go? Can I work yet?"

Darcy walked past me, whipping me with her tail as she passed. "Sure, but you're being a jerk."

"I know! I just- I need to craft, I either need to build something or go take care of something else! But I need to do something before I lose my balls!" I raced after her, my bare hooves loud against the market ground. "I promise you, I will be the nicest person in existence, just give me some labor!"

Darcy kicked at me. "I get it--"

"Don't bloody kick at me!"

"Don't bloody bloody at me!" Darcy swung around. "You're such a--" Another button at the bottom of her shirt went flying off. "God damn it!" She jammed her shirt into her pants, showing off a sharp brass belt. "Its been doing this since last harvest!"

I put my hands in my pockets to part my coat and get some air. "Tough work out?"

Darcy finished up with her fix. "Oh, you want work, the fall harvest will make you cry." She turned back around, hands sliding around her waist band as she tucked her shirt. "Ugh.... You really think you can make enough to fix it?"

I rubbed my chin, forcing my eyes up from her waist. "My works used to go for hundreds, then again they were a lot more involved than what I can do in a few hours, but I figure a well thought out piece could get enough." I bit my index finger. "Something sunny, maybe a pattern like Celestia's cutiemark."

Darcy swung around, the path out of town starting to get green and lose its cobblestone path in exchange for a dirt road along a hedgerow. "You can do that in a few hours?"

I nodded sharply. "I can--"

"Hey!" Misty's voice shot in from behind, a heavy weight bouncing off my shoulder and forcing me to stumble. "Glass, hi!"

I straightened out, not bothering to face back. "I can make a sheet and melt it into something nice quick enough. Just going to need colored glass...so, mixing a few from scratch, controlled cooling, stuff like that. It'd usually take a day or two, but...use a few of the coals I brought--"

"Glass, hi." Misty stepped around infront of Darcy, smiling back at me despite my ignoring her. "Where are we going?"

I bit my lip. "The coals will take care of the heat and the melting, only have a few though so...this is going to be a personal favor." Darcy looked down at Misty, smiling gently. "And I can cool them down with a bit of magic. It'll come out a bit...lower quality, but its the first project since I got burned, so, practice."

Misty and Darcy both looked up to me. Misty rubbed her throat. "You got burned?"

I coughed loudly, watching the hedgerow lead us even further into a wide expanse of green pastures and fields. "Misty, do you have to be here?"

Mist flinched back slightly. "Um...I guess not." Her tone was almost exactly like Jewel's earlier no.

I felt the guilt settle into my chest as she dropped out of our walk. "...God damn it.... You can come!" I turned around. "You can come if you want!"

I watched the mare's wings fling out two slits in the back of her sweater pressed tight against her back. "Yay!"

I turned around with a grumble. Darcy was staring at me with a sharp smile. "Don't you start.... Emotions are terrible."

Darcy closed her eyes and shrugged. "I wasn't going to say anything."

I grumbled loudly as a third pair of steps joined us. "Look, where's the workshop?"

Darcy stretched her leg. "Just follow me, we're not far." Next Chapter: Molten Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 37 Minutes