(To avoid confusion, characters in this chapter refer to a certain sport as "soccer." I'm sure some people will argue they should be saying "football," but since this is Brazil they'd be speaking Portuguese anyway. -Starman Ghost)

Antonio shut the door to his small studio apartment behind him and his key clinked on the counter.

"It's me."

Evening Star emerged from the clothing-packed closet, grinning broadly. As grateful as she was that he had an internet connection, and as much as she had been enjoying talking to sympathetic humans online, it was no substitute for face-to-face contact.

"Hey, Antonio! About time you showed up! How was work today?"

"Same as every day."

"So...bad then."

"I pack boxes on an assembly line eight hours a day. I think 'bad' is the only option there," he said lightly. "But what the hell, I don't have to think about it again till tomorrow. How's things for you?"

She sighed wistfully. "I've got cabin fever, I've got it bad. I'm tired of sitting in here all day, all week, ducking into the closet whenever I hear the door open. I just want to go out and gallop down Main Street, feel the wind through my mane, police be damned!"

"Sorry, Evening. I wish I could help you there. I tried asking around a bit. Don't worry, I was sneaky about it, didn't say anything that would give you away, just hinted around a bit that maybe I didn't think all ponies were evil. I'm actually surprised how many people listened, but I still don't think I'll be convincing the whole city any time soon. That was a risk showing yourself to Nico, by the way."

"I know, but you said yourself that he really seemed to agree with you, and he did! Once he got over his shock, it turned out he was a great guy! Besides, it's been a week and he hasn't told anyone. I think we're in the clear."

"Yeah, I've known Nico for years. Even if he didn't like it he wouldn't call the cops on me, he knows there's a good chance they'd haul me off to jail too. That's why I agreed to it."

"Turned out pretty well, I'd say. Now I don't have to hide when he comes by to watch soccer. Now I can actually sit on the couch with you guys and watch it, and talk about it."

"Speaking of, you know he doesn't like people calling him Nico, right?"

"Oh, I know! But...he's just so funny!" Her horn glowed cherry-red, and her voice became low and slightly raspy. "Hey! It's Nicolaus!" The glow faded, her voice returned to normal, and she giggled, a hoof raised to her mouth.

Antonio grinned. "You really never get tired of that, do you? Can't blame you though. If I could, I probably wouldn't either. You sounded just like him. You'll make a great actor once this all blows over."

For a moment, Evening Star just looked away uncomfortably. Antonio knew why. It was a sting of resentment - not at him, but at her situation. After having risked so much to help the humans, here she was still having to hide from most of them. She'd been prepared to do so, of course, but it was still hard not to feel angry when she hadn't been outside in weeks. She wondered when, or even if, it would blow over.

Finally she said, "Why don't I get dinner ready?" She usually cooked for them now; after all he had done for her, she figured it was the least she could do.

"Fine by me," said Antonio. He opened the door to his groaning refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of Fanta Grape.

Then the apartment became awash with red light. Cabinets opened. Pans flew through the air. Can openers peeled lids. Dials clicked on the stove. Evening Star wasn't good enough with telekinesis to focus on a lot of objects at once, so she couldn't do it much faster than a human could. Antonio still found it fascinating to watch.

A few minutes later, Evening Star levitated a pair of steaming bowls over to the table - potato soup for her, pork and beans for him. She wished she had better options to work with, but she didn't blame him. He couldn't really afford better food. She had, at least, grown comfortable with the idea of preparing meat. She didn't like it, but she could live with heating it if that was all she had to do. They were eating what they had and what they could, and she didn't begrudge them for that.

Evening Star hovered a glass of water over for herself, Antonio popped open his soda, and they sat down to eat, Evening Star having to carefully squeeze her way into her chair because it was so close to the wall. It was strange for her, having had fresh food all her life, to think that many humans lived mostly on canned, preserved goods. And those were the ones that got to eat at all. Maybe that was something Equestria could help with if this ever got resolved peacefully - it'd surely make more humans think twice about their judgments of ponies. The thought reminded her of the HSR, and she cheered a bit, remembering the organization's webring she had discovered earlier.

A moment later, she was blowing gingerly on a spoonful of hot soup when she noticed that Antonio was frowning at his soda, which he had just taken a rather large swig of. She let her spoon fall into her bowl.

"Antonio? Something wrong?"

Antonio was turning the plastic bottle over in his fingers. "I dunno...it tastes different somehow. Like, you know I drink this stuff every day. This time, though..." He tapped the bottle with his pinkie finger. "...I'd swear it's sweeter. A bit thicker too." He shrugged. "It's probably nothing."

Evening Star nodded and went back to her soup, but the conversation stayed with her. She had a feeling she'd forgotten something, something important. There was some connection she should have made there, but what was it? She had to think...sweet...grape...thick...

Antonio was taking another large swig when suddenly the bottle glowed red, yanked itself out of his hand, and landed on the floor, spraying its contents as it went. For a moment he couldn't do anything but cough and gag into his hand. After regaining his composure, he glared at Evening Star.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Evening Star was staring at the bottle, ashen-faced. When she finally spoke, her voice was trembling.

"Antonio...that bottle was laced with...with Potion."

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