By late evening Missus Fixit was tired from the excitement of the day, and Thomas suggested they depart to let the elderly mare rest. For the walk back, Thomas chose to leave behind his equipment so they could progress quicker. The return trip was much quieter with everyone in company tired themselves.

Fluttershy continuously glanced between Rarity and Thomas, who seemed to be getting along quite well on Missus Fixit’s porch. Now it was utter silence, which normally for her would be a welcomed thing. Rarity had mentioned briefly that Thomas had opened up a little bit. Maybe that was the reason behind the awkward silence? Tentative glances between the two?

Finally, the tops of buildings came into view, they were only five or so minutes from town now. Fluttershy immediately noticed Thomas’ shoulders relax.

“Thanks.”

Both mares trotted ahead to match his pace.

“What was that?” Rarity asked.

“I said thanks. You know, for helping.”

“Oh, it wasn’t a problem dear. Although you should thank Fluttershy more so, she did all the work.”

Thomas shook his head. “No, not just the cats, but Missus Fixit.” At the two equine’s confused expressions, Thomas sighed and continued, “She doesn’t get many new guests, especially ones who don’t treat her different because she’s blind. It was good to see her smile like that again.”

Rarity smiled. “It was nothing at all, Thomas. She was such a lovely mare, very friendly.”

“I’ve dealt with blind ponies before, so I know how that can be.”

Both Thomas and Rarity turned to Fluttershy, and her ears immediately went flat under their sudden scrutiny.

Thomas held a confused expression for a moment, then his face cleared. He gave Fluttershy a sympathetic look. Rarity continued to stare in confusion until her friend went on.

Fluttershy let out a labored sigh. “It’s a common trait that runs in pegasi as they age. My grandmother went blind very early in her life, before I was even born.”

“Fluttershy, dear, I didn’t know,” Rarity said, nudging against her friend.

“Huh. Didn’t know it was a pegasus thing.” Thomas placed his hands in his pockets. “Even in a world full of rainbows and marshmallows, genetics is still a bitch.”

It was quiet between the three as they approached the storefront, until Thomas noticed something in the distance.

“I must be seeing things.” They walked closer, Thomas rubbing his eyes. “No flippin’ way.” He then began a brisk jog towards his shop, where the two mares now just noticed a wagon was parked in front of.

As Thomas ran inside, Rarity and Fluttershy took a closer look at the carriage.

Match’s Gas and Oil.

Rarity swore she recognized that name. Judging by the metal barrels that lined the wagon, she could only figure they held in them some form of burning oils or fluids.

There was then a roar of laughter coming from inside, of who Rarity thought was Thomas’. The two mares walked up inside, and were greeted by a… strange sight.

Thomas had a red earth pony in his arms, his back legs kicking in the air while Thomas was giving the poor stallion a noogie into his blue mane.

“Tom! Let me down!” The pony pleaded.

“No way! I haven’t seen you in over a year, then you come marching in here saying that you’re getting married and have a foal on the way? You don’t do that to one of your pals, Junior!”

Finally, with a blush on her cheeks, Rarity let out a lady-like cough and the two males quickly gathered themselves to the presence of two females. The pony crossing his legs of embarrassment, and then Thomas just dropping him afterwards.

“Right, introductions. Rarity, Fluttershy, this here is Matchbox Junior, or we just call him Junior for short. Junior, Rarity and Fluttershy, they’re here to…” Thomas rose a brow. “Actually it’s complicated, but they helped with Missus Fixit’s cats, so yeah.”

The earth pony, Junior, stood while rubbing his head. “Nice to meet you ladies. I can only hope that whatever Tom’s done to bring upon the wrath of the Elements of Harmony isn’t too severe.”

“Wait, you know who we are?” Rarity was taken aback.

“Well duh, you’ve only saved Equestria how many times now. Not to mention my fiance has your Fall Weather Spectrum collection.”

“Really?”

“You seem surprised.” Thomas rejoined the group, several mason jars in one hand and a bottle with amber liquid in the other.

“Well, we aren’t recognized very often,” Rarity said, taking notice of the Bourbon label on the bottle.

Thomas took a seat at the table, pouring a small amount of bourbon into each jar. “Well, I didn’t, and I’m sure ninety nine percent of the town didn’t, so there’s that.”

“So, how do you two know each other?”

Fluttershy took a seat at the table with Thomas, while Junior stood ahead of Rarity. “Well, me and my father used to live here. I grew up in this town,” Junior said.

“Yeah, the lucky bastards struck black gold about thirty miles North of us,” Thomas interrupted.

Junior rolled his eyes. “We were always in the gas business, but when my father struck oil about six years ago we moved to Manehattan to expand the business.”

“Senior was always griping about living here, saying he wanted better for Junior. Well, they’re better off now, ain’t that right?” Thomas gave the stallion a grin.

Junior gave a halfhearted chuckle. “Yeah, you could say that.”

“Ah, don’t gimme that mopey dopey crock. You’re engaged! And have a foal on the way! It’s time for celebration, a toast!” Thomas handed the stallion one of the mason jars, as well as offering one to Rarity.

“Moi? Isn’t this a special occasion for you two?”

“Oh no, you two helped me out today, it’s the least I could do.”

Rarity took the jar in her magic, studying it carefully.

“Relax, it only had a few screws in it. It’s cleanish.”

Rarity gulped, trying her hardest to ignore the messy spots that covered the outside of the jar, and hopefully not the inside.

Thomas pushed the last jar towards Fluttershy. “You too.”

“Oh, um, th-thank you.” Fluttershy took the jar between her hooves, giving it a sniff.

“A toast, then!” Thomas raised his glass, and the rest followed. “Congratulations on the announcements, and you better name the foal after me.”

Rarity and Fluttershy shared a giggle, Thomas smiling as all four glasses clinked together, and they took a sip. Well, the mares took a sip, Thomas and Junior downing the contents quickly.

“So, who’s the lucky mare? How’d you two meet?” Thomas asked.

Junior smiled, “Oh golly, it’s quite embarrassing.”

“Hey, I gotta have some fuel for your roast at the wedding, so spill it.”

Thomas poured himself and Junior another couple shots of the bourbon.

“Well, it was about two years ago when we met. You remember when dad had expanded the factory again, buying that old lot across the way? Well…”

----------

“...And then Doc comes running out of the building, his empty bottle of whiskey in one hoof as he throws it at me, rage in his eyes, ‘Damn it Tom, if I find you in my liquor cabinet again I’ll skin yer hide and ship ya to the Canterlot Zoo!’.”

All the ponies but Fluttershy erupted into laughter, the timid mare instead sporting a broad smile on her face. While the story of Junior meeting his special somepony was very heartwarming, the conversation derailed to the antics that Thomas would partake in with Junior.

Junior was on the verge of tears. “Oh Celestia, I’d never seen Doc so mad in my life.”

Thomas took another sip from his jar. “Hey, you best be thankful I took the fall for you. If your old man had found out it was you stealing Doc’s whiskey he’d have killed ya!”

The group let out another round of laughs, Thomas being the first to calm down.

“Say, how’s the old man anyway? I haven’t heard from him in a bit. I’m sure he’s gotta be ecstatic over the news of getting a grandfoal.”

Junior’s smile vanished instantly, shifting his eyes down into his empty jar. Rarity took immediate notice of the strained expression the stallion was wearing.

There was an awkward silence for a few moments.

“Tom, can we talk in private a minute?”

Thomas frowned. “I don’t see why not. Is that okay, ladies?”

Rarity and Fluttershy looked to one another. “Sure, go right ahead. It’s been an honor you two sharing these tales with us as it is,” Rarity said.

Thomas stood, walking with a slight wobble to the Employees Only door. “Step into my office, and we’ll chat.”

Junior stepped through the open door way, then without a glance Thomas followed suit.

It was quiet for a few moments.

“So, I wonder what that was all about?”

Fluttershy looked to her nearly empty jar. She was still on her first glass. “I think it’s something to do with Junior’s father.”

Rarity recalled the last hour, how they’d been telling stories about years past. Every time Senior was mentioned, Junior’s face would shift, but he’d keep the facade up.

“Oh dear, do you think-”

Rarity was cut off by the sound of shattering glass coming from behind the door.

“Tom! Calm down!”

“Calm down?! How the fuck do you expect me to calm down?”

“Look, there wasn’t anything anypony could do-”

“Like hell there wasn’t!”

“Tom, we had no magic!”

“I fucking know that! What do you think I went through for that week of hell? This town was dead, and I was the only thing left standing!”

“Tom, there wasn’t anything you could have-”

“You don’t know that!”

“Neither do you!”

There were loud stomps, then suddenly the door was bashed in, going so far to swing and hit the chalkboard and knock it off kilter. Both mares jumped, the pure anger in Thomas’ expression sending cold chills through their spines.

“Thomas, dear, is everything alright?”

He ignored Rarity, marching over to the table and grabbing the still half full bottle of bourbon off the table.

“Thomas?” Fluttershy asked quietly.

“Shop’s closed, everyone out,” He growled.

“What?”

He turned on the mares. “I said the shop’s fucking closed! Everypony out! Shoo, vamoose!”

Fluttershy hunkered down in her chair, hiding as much as herself behind Rarity as she could. Rarity couldn’t tell if she was shaking herself, or Fluttershy shaking her.

“Tom! Don’t take it out on them!” Junior came through the door.

Thomas turned to Junior. “I’m not taking it out on anyone!”

“Yes you are, you’re yelling at them ya jackass!”

“Fuck you Junior, just everypo-fuck-one just get out of here.”

“Thomas, please, calm down. Whatever the problem is I’m sure-”

Thomas cut Rarity off, throwing the bottle of bourbon at the wall about ten feet from the mare. “NO! You can’t fix it, I can’t fix it. No one can fix it! It’s done with, over! I’d watched friends die back home, shot on the street or shot up on drugs. This place was suppose to be different. No senseless deaths, no one killing each other. You’re straight out of a goddamn fantasy for fuck’s sake! You can fly, you can use magic, so why the fuck do you still die?”

Thomas was panting, his hands clenched into fists and shaking as he stared down at the mares. Fluttershy let out a whimper, Rarity’s eyes damp as she stared hard at him. His eyes softened, looking at the shattered remains of the bottle. The liquid running between the floorboards, little specks of glass littered everywhere. He even noticed some in Rarity’s tail.

“I-I’m” Thomas’ voice cracked, his eyes once filled with rage now were cooled, soft, and if Rarity was allowed to believe it, sad, “...fuck.” Thomas’ shoulders slumped as he turned away from the mares, dragging his feet as though they were weighted down. He stopped at the foot of the stairs, glancing back to the still shaking mares, then slowly walked up. They all flinched as a door upstairs slammed closed.

“Well, that could have gone worse.” Junior started for the exit. “You two should come with me.”

The two mares didn’t need to be told twice. They practically galloped out the door.

They were silent for several seconds as Junior unloaded one of the barrels from his cart.

Fluttershy let out a breath before she spoke, “W-what happened back there?”

Rarity was shocked to find Fluttershy the first to talk, the timid mare still looked ready to break down crying.

“That’s Tom being Tom.” Junior pushed the barrel to the front porch.

“That’ doesn’t answer anything,” Rarity added.

Junior sighed. “Tell you what, how about we take a walk? I’ll explain what happened, and maybe you two can make sense of it all.”

“Well, it’s getting very late. We should be heading back to Sunny’s…” Rarity said.

“Then we’ll talk on the way there.” Junior taped a receipt onto the top of the barrel, then joining the two mares they began a slow walk.

“About two weeks before Tirek came stomping through, my father got sick. At first it wasn’t anything to worry about, but it got worse when it should have gotten better. Something to do with us being around so many industrial chemicals.”

“Oh my…” Fluttershy whispered.

“So, he had to go to the hospital for some treatments and chelation therapy. The only stuff that would work was magic induced transfusions, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.”

Rarity nodded. “Yes, I’m familiar with it.”

“Good, because I haven’t the slightest clue. Anyway, it was all magic based stuff. Well, he was getting better, the stuff was getting out of his system. His kidney had started to work again even, which was a huge step forward.”

Junior stopped at the front porch of Sunny’s, looking at the doors.

“So, you ladies probably know more about what went on with Tirek more than I do.”

“Well yes, we were there for quite a bit of it.”

“Mhm. Yeah, you were there for all the Tirek parts of it. Did you happen to see anywhere after he’d left a town? City?”

“Well, no, we hadn’t.” Rarity’s ears dropped.

“It was a disaster. Manehattan was knocked into the dirt and forced to eat it. We lost electricity, running water, everything. All the unicorn medical staff resorted to primitive methods, but without their inherent magic, they were placebos on an open wound. When we lost our magic, the hospital unicorns lost their magic…”

“The treatment stopped…” Rarity whispered.

“The first couple days weren’t so bad. He was still showing signs of improving, so we thought maybe he’d had enough to keep him going. But then, the third day hit, and he took a turn for the worst. The unicorns were frantic, working themselves beyond exhaustion, trying to help everypony.

“There were so many, the hospital was overcrowded. Then they started prioritizing patients on health status and age…”

Both mares were quiet, just staring at the stallion.

“He was only sixty five, you know. They were checking off ponies as young as fifty.”

“By Celestia…” Rarity swore.

“Yeah, right. Not even the princesses could help. Well, the three anypony knew couldn’t.”

Rarity narrowed her eyes. “What are you saying?”

“Well, we have four princesses now, don’t we? We knew three were captured, but where was the fourth?”

Both Rarity and Fluttershy turned their gazes away from the stallion. He paid no attention.

“Where was Princess Twilight Sparkle, when we had no leadership, no structure, no hope?”

“Junior, you cannot push that sort of blame onto her! She hadn’t intended it! She’s not the cause of your father’s death.”

Junior let out a sigh. “Yeah, I know she isn’t. But a lot of ponies still resent her for the lack of leadership for those days. Even though once she did take action, the medical staff was able to save most everypony.”

“So, are you saying, um, that’s why Thomas is so mad? At Twilight?”

Junior looked to Fluttershy, shaking his head. “Knowing him? He’s probably mad at himself. Why? I haven’t a clue.”

“Supposedly, his magic wasn’t taken from him,” Rarity said.

“Well, he has no magic to take first off. Secondly, he wasn’t touched at all by Tirek?”

Rarity was taken aback. “No magic…?”

Fluttershy stepped forward, “Um, no, according to the townsponies, he wasn’t even around when Tirek came through.”

Junior let out a sigh. “That, explains it then. Well, we better go inside so I can send Bob in there to handle Tom. Bob is still around, isn’t he? You ponies didn’t capture him or anything?”

“Why would we do that?”

Junior opened one of the doors. “Well, after Canterlot I’d figured you mares had some bad mojo with changelings.”

Both mares stopped in their tracks, Rarity only now noticing the broken out window next to the doors. “Bob’s a changeling?”

Junior stepped through the doorway, holding the door open for the two mares to step through.

“Ah, that explains the window then,” Junior said, looking around the main room. “How odd though, everything else seems to be intact.”

“That’s because, thankfully, cooler heads reacted in time before somepony got seriously hurt.”

The three looked to see Sunny behind the counter, who herself was glaring at them.

“Owch!”

Or more accurately, the ponies hiding behind them.

“Girls? What are you doing?” Rarity asked, staring dumbfoundedly at her four friends all in a pile against the broken window, then with bemusement noticed their ears against the tarping. “Were you eavesdropping on our conversation?”

Rainbow Dash scoffed. “What? Pfft, no of course not. We wouldn’t do a thing like that, right girls?”

Applejack’s muzzle scrunched up, eyes darting side to side. Pinkie’s mouth was zipped closed. Even Rainbow Dash was averting her gaze, forelegs crossed against her chest. The only pony standing out was Twilight, who had her ears flat on her head as she looked down at the floor.

It didn’t take a scientist, or in her case a fashionista, to realize what Twilight had heard to give her a downcast expression.

“Hey Sunny, long time no see.” Junior stepped to the counter, conversing.

Rarity and Fluttershy looked to one another, nodding, then Rarity spoke. “Girls, we need to talk.”

----------

“Wait, he threw the bottle at ya?” Applejack asked.

“Well, not directly at us, but towards our direction. Enough for glass to get into my tail.” Rarity continued to brush said hair length, all the while little bits of glass fell into a dustpan on the ground.

“I knew there was something fishy about the guy,” Rainbow said.

“What do you mean?” Rarity asked.

“From the sounds of it, the guy’s a total boozer.”

“I wouldn’t go that far, after all he had found out a dear friend of his had…” Rarity looked to a still downcast Twilight, “...passed on.”

Fluttershy listened intently, letting Rarity take the reigns of the discussion. There wasn’t much she could contribute that Rarity didn’t already know. In fact, there were things her friend knew about Thomas that she didn’t.

“From the sounds of it, I’d say the feller’s had some rough spots ‘nd has problems expressin’ himself right. I’ve dealt with family like that. Don’t help none he were drinkin’.”

Rainbow blew a raspberry. “If you ask me, that’s all I gotta know about the guy to say he’s got a neigh from me.”

Pinkie Pie snorted a laugh at the pun, causing Rainbow Dash to roll her eyes.

“Well right now Dash, I think we can only safely get Rarity ‘nd Shy’s votes. They interacted with him. We’re just gettin’ their side of the story.”

Rarity and Fluttershy nodded, then the former looked to their still quiet friend. “Twilight? Darling, are you alright? You’ve hardly said a word in edgewise.”

Twilight jumped, startled from being the center of attention suddenly. “Oh, what? Yeah, I’m uh, I’m fine. You two were just about to give me your votes, right?”

Both mares nodded. Twilight brought over the massive book Thomas had given her to read, as well as a notepad. “Okay, what do you girls say? Yay or nay?”

Pinkie let out another snort.

“Yay.”

“Nay.”

Everypony looked to Fluttershy, who now that she was the center of attention, tried and failed to hide behind her mane.

“Yay? Fluttershy, darling, were you not in the same room with Thomas?”

“Um, yes, I was.”

“And you saw how rude he was, and violent. Someone like that couldn’t possibly-”

“If it wasn’t for Thomas, Missus Fixit would have died.”

The room fell silent for several seconds.

Rarity broke the silence first. “Well, darling, sure everypony was in a rough spot, but we don’t have any proof Thomas even did as he said.”

Silently, Fluttershy took out from her saddle bags a notebook and placed it on the ground. “When Missus Fixit and I were alone, we talked quite a bit. She’s a very lovely mare to speak with, and everything I asked about Mister Baker was normal.”

“Normal?” Twilight asked, taking the notebook in her magic.

“Well, she couldn’t tell me he was perfect. He had flaws, but flaws that easily any pony could also have. Just because he isn’t like us, doesn’t mean we can hold him to a different standard than us.”

All the mares looked at one another, thinking, while Twilight was flipping through the notebook. “Fluttershy, what is this?”

Fluttershy smiled. “That was what Thomas was using to keep track of everypony in town. His daily schedule of how he took care of them, when, as well as other tasks the ponies asked of him while he was… helping.”

“How did you get that?” Applejack asked.

“He’d left it at Missus Fixit’s home when things returned to normal. She knew he was keeping records of how and when he took care of the townsponies because she could always hear him writing. Not to mention there are several elderly ponies in town that have to have regular medication.”

Twilight stopped at a random page, studying the crudely drawn charts. The hoof, or possibly handwriting was also rather dull.

“How do we know it’s even his writing?” Dash asked.

Twilight levitated her saddlebag over, drawing out a small, plain business card. While most of it was in standard typed bold, the last line, If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right! was written out. Sure enough, it was easy to tell they were from the same person.

Applejack looked over Twilight’s shoulder. “Eeyup. I saw his chalk board in the store, see them there T’s? That’s how they were there too.”

Rainbow scoffed. “Okay okay, so he did write it, big deal. Still doesn’t prove anything.”

“These are some very detailed charts, Rainbow,” Twilight said. “If in fact this is accurate…”

Twilight dropped the open notebook back into the center of her friends, rubbing her head with a hoof. “It just doesn’t make any sense. How can someone so volatile be so… so…”

“Kind?”

Everypony looked back to Fluttershy, who was holding the notebook in her hooves.

“Don’t you girls remember when we first came to town, how everypony was trying to protect Thomas? Why would they do something like that to someone they didn’t like, or respect?”

The mares were quiet for another short time.

“I think he’s hurting. Not just because of Junior’s father’s death, but because of something else. The news he got today was just the final wave to crash the dam.”

“Wow, Fluttershy, that was…” Rainbow rubbed the back of her head.

“That was deeeeeeep, girl,” Pinkie spoke up.

“Well, Rarity, do you change your mind then?” Twilight asked.

Rarity looked at the notebook in Fluttershy’s hooves. “I… need to think about it some more.”

“Well, if that’s as far as we’re gonna get, I say tomorrow it’s me ‘nd Dash’s turn.”

“Wait, why us?” Dash protested.

“Yeah, why you two?” Pinkie also protested.

“‘Cause Twi’s still readin’ that there monster of a book, ‘nd ain’cha workin’ on some sorta party fer him?”

Pinkie hopped in place. “You betcha! I just gotta make sure I tone it down a bit on account of his craaaaazay mood swings.”

“Then we’ll be sure not to serve alcohol,” Applejack said.

“Yeah,” Pinkie said, then again with more energy, “Yeah! We don’t need any alcohol to make a party more fun!”

“Wait, you never have alcohol at our parties,” Rainbow said.

Pinkie waved a hoof, “Eh, it’s usually a stallion thing. Then again, none of you are ever at my stallion themed parties.” Pinkie winked. “For good reason.”

“Wait, what?” Dash asked, but never got an answer.

“Well, on that note, I think it’s about time we split into our rooms and got some shut eye. Night all.” Applejack stood, walking towards the door, followed by Rainbow and Pinkie.

Fluttershy placed the notebook back into her saddlebags, for safe keeping, she told Twilight, and climbed herself into bed, tired from the day's excitement. All that was left was Rarity and Twilight, of whom the latter was still sitting in her original spot, staring at nothing.

“Twilight, would you like to... talk about something?”

Twilight noticed Rarity’s worried expression, but didn’t respond.

“I’m sorry you heard those things Junior said about you, about what ponies think about you, but you have to ignore those thoughts. It wasn’t your fault.”

“It’s just… just how many ponies did I leave to fend for themselves? I could have just gone right to Tirek and gotten it over with right then and there, win or lose.”

“Twilight, darling, it wasn’t your fault that those ponies lost their magic, or suffered so. Tirek did those things, he caused those ponies pain.” Rarity sat beside her friend, wrapping a foreleg around her shoulders. “You cannot beat yourself up over it. You did the right thing, and if ponies say you did it wrong, then let them deal with the next bad guy that tries to take over Equestria and see if they do any better.”

Twilight sat there, silent, as she digested her friend’s words.

Rarity’s smile diminished. “Darling, I think what you need right now is some sleep. Get some rest, and we can all talk about this, as a group of friends.”

----------

Twilight, in fact, couldn’t sleep. For hours she laid on her back, under her covers, thinking. At the three hour mark, she threw off her sheets with a groan. Her mind kept on racing with thoughts from earlier. She wanted to be mad at somepony, or blame something for what all happened. Tirek was the obvious choice, but self doubt was right beside him.

Suddenly, Twilight heard a muffled crash come from downstairs. She sat up, noticing Fluttershy and Rarity still sound asleep. She crawled out of bed and to the door. Cautiously, she snuck out of the room and into the hallway, and followed the sound of clinking glass coming from the main dining area. She followed the wall, stopping just before it turned into an open balcony, when a hoof step from behind her made her spin on her heels.

Twilight didn’t think she would ever get over just how terrifying a changeling was up close, and Bob was no exception. It also didn’t help that he had half of his head wrapped up in bandages from their… altercation earlier. Twilight couldn’t look him in the eyes. She could feel her ears drooping down as she withered under his gaze. Bob didn’t seem to be offended in any way, but stepped around the mare to look over the railings. His discerning sigh told her all she needed to know.

Bob walked down the stairs, leading Twilight to the bar where a disheveled human sat on a stool, talking to himself. One of his hands was holding a half-full bottle of amber liquid, the other a coffee cup. Thomas’ eyes were half-lidded, staring at the liquid in the cup as his hand gently rocked the mug. As they drew closer, Twilight realized he wasn’t talking, but singing to himself.

“If I could save time in a bottle, the first thing that I’d like to do, is to save every day ‘til eternity passes away just to spend them with you.”

Where Twilight hesitated, Bob marched behind the counter, standing on the other side and glared at Thomas. It took some more mumbling and another drink from his mug to finally notice the changeling.

“Oh, heeeeey Bob. Fancy seeing you here at this hour. You know it’s suuuuper late, right?”

Bob blinked, unamused.

“Okay, okay, okay. So I miiiiight be a little drunk, and miiiiiight have locked myself out of my shop, so I miiiiiiight have come here for a drink or two… or five, I lost count after two.”

Bob let out another sigh, moving towards Twilight. He waved a hole-riddled hoof in front of her face, enough to make her to stutter as she tried to regain her composure. Staring was impolite, and she had just done a lot of staring. It wasn’t her fault that his buttoned up shirt was currently unbuttoned, showing what she could only describe was his bare, muscular chest.

Again, Bob harrumphed, making Twilight focus her attention on the changeling. He pointed at his eyes, then to herself, then finally to Thomas. It took a second, but Twilight got the meaning. She nodded, and Bob marched back up the stairs, to do what- she didn’t know. Only thing she did know was to keep an eye on the obviously inebriated human… Fun.

When she returned to the human, he’d somehow moved from the barstool to the floor, propping his back against the counter while he nursed the little remnants of his liquor bottle. Or more accurately, Sunny’s liquor bottle she could only guess he’d procured from behind the bar.

Twilight moved to sit next to Thomas, while still keeping a couple feet from him. If he’d lashed out so violently towards two of her friends with only a couple of drinks, there was no telling what he’d do after an entire bottle.

“Soooo… you’re a pffffrincess, huh?” Thomas said, still staring at the floor.

Twilight’s ears perked. “Yes, as crazy as that sounds, I am.”

“Why’s that crazy?”

Twilight blinked. “Well, if you had known me before-hoof, you’d never think I would become one.”

Thomas raspberried. “You shound as though you didn’t have a choice.”

Twilight’s ears drooped. “I… didn’t, exactly.”

Thomas finally turned to the mare, although his eyes showed struggle to focus on her.

“Sooooo wha, like you were born into royalty or shomethin’?”

Twilight shook her head.

“I… ascended into it, after completing a difficult spell, and learning about the magic of friendship.” As she talked, Twilight took the distraction to levitate the bottle back onto the counter.

Thomas raspberried again. “Woooow, that all?”

“It was more difficult than it sounds.”

“Shtill, I mean, you weren’t asked ‘Hey, you did this shtuff, now you can become a princess!’.”

Twilight shook her head. “No, it just… happened.”

“Damn, story of my life.” Thomas began patting the ground in a vain search for the bottle.

Twilight tilted her head. “How so?”

“Me, being here ‘nd all. I didn’t choose for this. I just shorta… showed up.”

“Showed up?”

Thomas shrugged. “I was just… driving home from work, yeah, and poof I was here.”

Twilight had so many questions to ask, but one that she felt really mattered.

“How did you come to terms with it?”

Thomas blinked a couple times, clearly lost. “With what?”

“Coming here? You just said that you had appeared here, wasn’t it hard to adjust?”

Thomas violently shook his head, scratched his chest, then rubbed his eyes. “After the, uh, shock of finding myself… here, I tried to think positively about it. Everything here was a wonderland of fantasy and excitement. Things I’d known of in fairy tales were real, like flying ponies, and frickin’ magic! It was so unreal, I couldn’t even imagine both of our worlds having similarities.

“That was, until I found Bob.”

Twilight noticed the changeling from the corner of her eye. He hesitated at the bottom of the stairs, but then continued back around the counter.

“Bob’s my best friend, you know. Except for the Fixit’s, he was my only friend for a long time here. I found him, out in the desert, on the brink of death. I threw him into my van and drove back to town, brought him to Doc, well our first Doc, before we got Hollywood and before Sheriff was part time. Anyway, I brought him to Doc and asked what we could do.

“You know what he said to me?” Twilight shook her head. “He said he didn’t work on bugs.”

Twilight chanced a glance at Bob, she noted his stoic expression as he straightened up the liquor bottles.

“I’d never experienced a pony acting so... so mean before. The Fixit’s took me right in, and sure I had experience with other ponies, but I didn’t really fit in. We didn’t hang out, go out for drinks, none of that. It took me a long time to realize those first two years I had become a shut in, locking myself in the workshop. Then I found Bob, and I started to notice how ponies around town looked at me. Talked about me.

“I just wanted to help this pony. I didn’t know he was a changeling, just that he looked different. I started asking other ponies for help, no one would. Most just tried to ignore me. I gave him water, tried to feed him but he refused. I was desperate. The Fixit’s didn’t know much more than I did.

“Finally, it happened.”

Twilight glanced back to Bob who had stopped mid-cleaning of a low ball glass. She turned back to Thomas. “What happened?”

“I lost my temper. Persuaded the mayor to resign, Billfold took over, and Bob got his help. The Fixit’s sent me out more to work on projects so I’d talk and meet everyone. I owe those two a lot, and Bob too. Once Bob got better, we started to learn a lot about him. For one thing, you notice he never talks?” Twilight nodded. “Yeah, apparently there’s this taboo in changeling culture, the one thing you never do.”

Twilight looked to Bob for the answer, but he remained quiet, so Twilight asked, “What’s that?”

“You don’t ask why.”

“Why?”

Thomas nodded. “Asking a question is a sign of intelligence, and their queen doesn’t want smart drones. She wants drones that take orders and do them regardless. So, they take the changeling, beat him up, and cut out his tongue as the first warning. The second is they beat them up again and throw them into the desert to die.”

Twilight’s mane and tail hair stood on end. “They… do what?” She looked between the two, Bob finally the one nodding. “That… that can’t be…”

“And that was my second lesson on how our worlds were more alike. I couldn’t believe such things existed in this marshmallow world.”

Thomas began to sit up. Twilight motioned closer to stop him, only for the human to place his hand on her head and use her as leverage to stand.

“Thanks,” Thomas said, much to Twilight’s annoyance and ruffled mane. “The final piece of the puzzle came a few years later, when Mister Fixit got sick. I’d yet to experience a pony dying, so I had hopes that maybe they didn’t.”

By now Thomas had staggered to a secluded section of wall, where a large frame was made. Inside the frame was over a dozen pictures of ponies. Then Thomas pulled out a photo from his pocket.

“I was wrong.” Thomas slipped off his untied boot, and using a nail Twilight didn’t know where it came from he tacked the photo onto the wall inside the frame using his footwear.

“First it was Mister Fixit, then Doc, then Farmer Jack’s wife Pumpkin Patch and their son, Pumpkin Seed. It was like a wave of despair hit Oasis. It was just finally seeming like things were getting better, too, until…”

Thomas looked at Twilight, his inebriation appearing to be letting up if his lack of swaying was any indication, then looked back to the picture. “And now, I’ve lost another one.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Thomas.”

Thomas shook his head. “It sure feels like it.”

Twilight wanted to say more, but kept her mouth shut. She desperately wanted someone to talk to about her problems, but was this something she could talk with the human about? She felt it was her fault, for so much of what happened, could she handle it if he went off on her? Blamed her for everything? She would take it, but still, he was already distressed as it was.

“Well, at least you won’t be stuck here any longer than you have to be.”

Twilight stared at Thomas with a confused look. He dropped his boot, stepping his bare foot into it as he staggered back to the bar, his bottle and cup already gone thanks to Bob who was on guard. He took a seat on his original stool, looking at his reflection in the bar mirror. Noticing his disheveled appearance he ran a hand through his hair and tried to button up his shirt.

“I’m sure Rarity and Fluttershy told you all about that little incident we had earlier.”

Twilight joined him on a stool. “Yes, they told me about what you do for Missus Fixit, and help her with what she needs. And that you’re very caring.”

“And that I have a nasty temper and throw bottles of bourbon.”

Twilight winced at that. “Well, Rarity was taken aback by that.”

“Yeah, no shit.”

“But still, we talked it over.”

“And you’re leaving in the morning, right?”

Twilight shook her head. “No. In fact, Fluttershy defended you.”

Thomas stopped buttoning his shirt, which wasn’t lined up properly Twilight noticed, as he turned toward Twilight, one brow up.

Twilight nodded. “She saw flaws, but overall believes in the goodness of your heart. She’s behind you. Rarity is on the fence still, which after having to pick all the glass out of her tail that’s amazing in itself.” Twilight let a small chuckle escape.

Thomas let out a breath. “Huh, ain’t that somethin’,” he said looking back into the mirror at both of their reflections, “and what about you?”

Twilight stiffened. “I’m… not so sure myself yet either. You do remind me of another pony I know, who cares almost to a fault.”

“Who’s that?”

“You’ll find out tomorrow,” Twilight looked to the clock on the wall, “or rather, later today. It’s quite late.”

Thomas rubbed his face with both hands, his voice muffled by the appendages. “You’re telling me.”

Bob found this to be his cue as he nudged Thomas on the side. “Hm? Oh, got the spare room for me?”

Bob nodded.

“Cool, thanks bud.”

With help from Bob, as in using Bob’s head as a makeshift cane, Thomas began his march up the stairs. One last thing Thomas said caught Twilight’s ears.

“Say Bob, what happened to your head?”

Twilight let out a groan, slamming her head onto the bar top.

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