Ember was by no means a weak griffin. She could work all day and not even give it a second thought. She even got into a few scuffles way back in high school so she could also take a punch if need be. But even though she was able to take a hit, continually getting kicked in the side while dragging a violently thrashing blue pony through town could wear on her. Her patience may have been very long, but it certainly wasn’t endless. They were nearing her house as her patience was reaching its endpoint. All the way to the front door Blue continued to yell obscenities and threats of what she was going to do when she got a hold of Scotch, several involved ropes and chains which caused Ember to raise her eyebrow and question the blue mare’s sanity a little.

While still keeping a grip on Blue’s torso, Ember fished around for her keys with her other talon and opened the front door. Her frown grew deeper as Blue continued to hit her and kick her in the thigh and side. Once they were inside the house and the door was completely shut, Ember started to loosen her grip on Blue to put her down. As she did so, Blue, not noticing she wasn’t being held as tightly as before, swung her right foreleg around and made solid contact with the side of Ember’s head. Blue instantly shut up and froze the second she realized what she just did. Ember winced in pain and rubbed her head with a wingtip before giving Blue a glare that could rival a cockatrice. A split second later, Blue found herself pinned against the wall.

“What the FUCK is your problem?!” Ember yelled in Blue’s now-stunned face. Blue could only stare back with wide eyes as Ember’s talons began to dig into her forelegs, causing her to wince. “Well?”

“...She fucked Berry…” Blue said in a faint whisper, averting her gaze from Ember.

“What?” Ember asked, tightening her grip on Blue slightly in order to get a clearer answer.

“She fucked Berry!” Blue yelled. “You saw the whole thing just as I did Ember. She fucked her and then she looked right at me! Why? Why would she do such a thing? I barely said even two words to her!” Ember loosened her grip as tears began to form in Blue’s eyes. Slowly, and cautiously, she let go of her and let her stand on her own once more.

“Why do you care? You’re not dating her or anything,” Ember said with a puzzled look. Now it was Blue’s turn to give the cold glare.

“You don’t understand. It’s not your fault, I never told you, but I’ve always had a big thing for Berry,” Blue said as she dropped her gaze towards the floor. “What I don’t understand is why. What did I do?”

“Who said you did anything? I told you from day one that bitch was crazy. Well, exhibit A,” Ember said with a slight shrug. “Look, if you wanna talk about it we can, so long as you promise not to hit me again. Next time I might not just grab you.”

Blue gave her a small nervous smile. “Heh, I’m really sorry. I just kinda lost control of myself…”

“I get it, just be sure to save the rage for the right pony. Go lay on the couch and I’ll make us some tea,” Ember said as she made her way towards the kitchen. Blue nodded and made her way towards the couch and plopped down with a *thwump* onto the soft cushions. A few minutes later, Ember came in with two steaming cups of tea. The strong scent of honey had an immediate calming effect as Blue took one in her magic and sipped it.

Ember sat in the chair beside the couch. “Ok, spill. What made you go all bat-shit crazy over this?”

“It’s not fair. I’ve spent practically days in there talking to Berry, getting to know her, pretending I’m interested in whatever she rambles on about, all to get her to the point where I could make a move on her. I was just about there too, and then Scotch just comes out of fuckin’ nowhere and does what I’ve been trying to do for months in less than thirty seconds!” Blue said exasperatedly as she kicked her legs around in a tantrum-like manner.

“So this is all because she fucked her before you could? Seriously? You made me drag you, kicking and screaming all through town, smacked me upside the head, all because Scotch fucked her first?” Ember said, slightly raising her voice. Blue shrank back on the couch a bit, pulling a pillow to her chest to offer some non-existent protection should Ember decide to lunge at her again.

Ember closed her eyes and took a few slow breaths. “Look, I’m not gonna grab you again so you can put the pillow down.” Blue chose to keep the pillow in between them. “Whatever. So what’s done is done obviously. What do you wanna do about it? Can’t un-fuck her,” she said with a roll of her eyes.

“I’m not stupid, I know that. I’m more interested to know why she did it. I mean, you were there the whole night, you know I didn’t do anything to her. So why do this?” Blue said as she threw her front hooves up in frustration. “There’s no damn motive!”

“Well, not entirely,” Ember said as she tapped her talon on her cup. “We both know Scotch hates me, but we’ve never actually gotten into a physical fight; it’s always verbal.”

“What’s your point?” Blue asked with a puzzled look on her face.

“Maybe she’s too scared to try and confront me directly, so she targeted you instead since she obviously knows we’re friends now. What I don’t get is why Berry?”

“I know for a fact I never said anything about Berry all night,” Blue said. “I may have been drunk but I know that didn’t happen.”

“Did you stare at her or something?” Ember asked, trying to think of how Scotch knew to target Berry.

“Heh, maybe. I typically can’t help but stare at those hot purple buns whenever I’m in there. Add booze and, well, yea,” Blue said with a shrug.

“Well then I guess that answers that mystery,” Ember said with a roll of her eyes. “Still doesn’t answer why Scotch wanted to start shit with me though. We’ve barely even seen each other the past several weeks.”

“I still don’t have a clue as far as that goes. All I do know is I’m gonna find a way to get her for this. There’s no way in hell this is going unpunished. Did you see that evil smirk she gave me at the end? I’m gonna fuckin’ strangle her!” Blue said through gritted teeth, some sparks pinging off the tip of her horn.

“Heh, yeah, ok, you do that you little blue menace,” Ember chuckled. “I think you’re all talk. It was you who stopped me from going and kicking her ass that one day, remember?”

“Yeah, but that was before I knew what an evil bitch she really was,” Blue remarked. “And I am a menace,” she added, sticking her tongue out in protest.

Ember rolled her eyes and smirked as she took her and Blue’s empty cups to the kitchen. “Look, we’ve both had a crazy night, so let's just get some sleep and deal with this in the morning. Sound like a plan?”

“Mhm.” Blue was still really pissed but knew there wasn’t anything to be done about it right this moment. She smiled and nodded to Ember, but in her mind she began working on what she could do to get Scotch back for this atrocity. Ember gave her a skeptical look as she walked back through the living room and made her way upstairs to her room. While Ember may have gone to bed, Blue sat up plotting for several more hours before finally falling asleep.

Dawn brought a new day, but sleep did little to diffuse Blue’s anger. The events of the night before were still very fresh on her mind and it was a losing battle to distract herself even though she tried by preparing some breakfast for Ember before she headed off for work. As she stood at the sink cleaning some tomatoes to add to the omelet she was preparing, Blue glared out the window at the soft plumes of smoke gently twisting out of the chimney of Scotch’s house next door. The sound of Ember coming down the stairs broke her from the trance and she put on her best ‘I’m-not-plotting-anything’-look as Ember entered the kitchen.

“Morning Ember, sleep well?”

“Eh, ok I guess. Would have been better without a bruise on the side of my head,” Ember replied as she sat down at the table and poured some juice. A slight frown formed on Blue’s face. “Look, I know you didn’t do it on purpose, but it still sucks.”

“I still feel kinda bad about it so I made you a special spinach and feta omelet,” Blue said as she diced the tomatoes and combined them with the other ingredients in the pan. “I fell asleep with the cooking channel on last week and when I woke up I somehow knew the recipe. Weird how my mind works…”

“You and your mind is what I’m worried about. Can I trust you here all day by yourself? I don’t wanna come home and find somepony chained up in my basement or some crazy shit,” Ember mused with a roll of her eyes.

Blue froze for a moment, her back to Ember. “Heh, of course not silly. Only a crazy pony would do that, heh, heh.” She tried to hide her nervous tone as she filed that idea away as a viable option. “I’m gonna get some cleaning done and maybe some shopping if I feel up for it later, we’re out of Sparkle Cola and pancake mix again.”

“Mmm you better. I don’t feel like having to come by and check on you like a damn foal.”

“Hey, I may have kicked you upside the head but I’m not crazy. In my defense, a lot of that had to do with me still being somewhat drunk,” Blue said as she slid the omelet onto a plate and floated it over to Ember at the table. Ember poked at it suspiciously for a moment. “Something wrong?”

“You better not have snuck onions in here, you know how I feel about those things,” Ember said as she took a bite and slowly chewed, searching for the accursed vegetable.

“Oh you are such a chicken. There’s nothing wrong with onions, they add flavor,” Blue said in an exasperated tone as she took her seat and began to eat the small salad she prepared for herself with the leftover spinach.

“There’s everything wrong with them! They infect everything they touch with that horrible smell and taste. I will have nothing to do with them,” Ember said as she slowly picked at the rest of the omelet. Blue gave her a flat look that a parent would give a fussy foal. Ember simply stuck her tongue out at her and took another bite. Breakfast as usual…

“Moving on. How’s work going?” Blue asked in between bites.

“Same old same old for the most part. The new guy I hired a few weeks ago backed a cart into one of the bay doors so I gotta get that fixed. Still don’t know how the hell he managed to do it, but he insists the brakes on the cart went bad on him. I find that doubtful,” Ember said as she poured more juice.

“You’re not gonna fire him for it are you?” Blue asked with a hint of concern.

“Wow you must think I’m some kinda dictator huh,” Ember chuckled. “Nah, I’m just writing it off as a mistake. Shit happens, that’s what insurance is for.”

“Good. Maybe while I’m on my way to the store I’ll poke around town and see if I can find some small job. Don’t think I forgot about pitching in more around here,” Blue said as she poured herself some juice as well.

“Eh, no rush. I got things covered. I appreciate the gesture of course but I don’t expect you to land something right away,” Ember said as she finished the omelet. “Damn that was good. You gotta make that again sometime.”

Blue smiled as she took the plate and her bowl to the sink. “Glad you liked it. I’d be happy to make it again. How’s lasagna sound for dinner?”

“Incredible,” Ember smiled, imagining the cheesy goodness already. “I might be a little late tonight though, I’m gonna take a look at some new wagons after I finish up tonight. Saw this new one a few days ago and now it’s all I can think about,” she chuckled.

“If you can afford it I say do whatever,” Blue said as she filled the sink with soapy water.

“Money isn’t the real issue, it’s just the simple fact that I don’t need it, I just want it,” Ember said as she put her coat on by the door and prepared to face the biting winds outside. Walking in them was bad, but flying made it even worse.

“Alrighty, well I’ll hold off on making it til a little later than usual and keep it warm in the oven in case you run late,” Blue said as she finished the dishes and wiped her hooves dry on a towel.

“Sounds good, thanks. And I was serious about behaving yourself. Don’t go starting shit with Scotch,” Ember said, giving Blue a stern look. Blue rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, ok mom. Geeze…” Blue said in a sarcastic tone. “I can control myself.”

Ember gave her another stern look before opening the door and wincing at the frigid wind. She pulled it shut behind her and started muttering about wanting to move out west where it was warmer. Maybe someday. Blue watched her pull the wagon out of the garage and take off towards the warehouse before she turned and trotted to the front hallway to put her own winter gear on. She knew as well as Ember did that sitting around the house all day would in fact lead to her doing something stupid regarding Scotch, so instead she was going to meander through town and see if anyone needed some help from a coffee-flanked mare.

The sun had just barely started to show its orange glow beyond the horizon. It was that time of very early morning when there was a layer of frost on most everything still, just waiting for the sun to come and melt it away. The streetlights were still on as the faint outline of a skywagon appeared above the still-sleeping town of Ponyville. As the wagon began its descent towards the cold cobblestones below, the words ‘Pegasi Cleaning Supply - Dirt Just Doesn’t Fly’ could be seen in bright blue on the sides of the wagon, flanked on either side by a picture of a smiling mare pointing a can of cleaning spray at some piles of dirt that were running away. The wagon was being pulled by a grey-coated stallion who wore a look on his face that said his thoughts were far away from where he physically was at the moment. His cutie mark being an empty bottle was a testament to that fact.

As he brought the wagon in for a landing in front of The Watering Hole, a mare opened the back door and jumped to the street below, followed by two others. They each wore uniform vests with the smiling mare from the side of the wagon on them.Two of the mares were laughing and talking to each other as they gathered cleaning supplies from the side of the wagon while the stallion unhitched himself from the harness and started fishing around for his keys, grumbling to himself as he did so.

“I don’t see why you don’t just dump his sorry ass Honeydew. You know you can do so much better.”

“I told you before Sunflower, it’s not that easy. All my CD’s are over his place still. It would take forever to replace my collection.”

“So you’re gonna stick with an asshole just because he has your CD’s? That’s a terrible excuse. Just admit you like the dick already,” Sunflower snickered. The stallion rolled his eyes as he found his keys and flipped through them to find the right one for The Watering Hole.

“Oh shove it Sunflower. You’ve dated worse stallions and you know it,” Honeydew retorted.

“Maybe I will shove it,” Sunflower said as she stuck her tongue out at Honeydew.

“Oh would you two just buck already? Geeze you two flirt like Lyra and Bon-Bon at last years Hearth's Warming party,” the third mare, Limeade, said as she grabbed a stack of empty buckets and tossed them to Honeydew. “Look, we got this stop and then three more after this, then we’re done so let’s get moving. I got other shit to do today.”

“Hey I’m not the one with the fancy keys, that’s WP’s job,” Sunflower said, gesturing towards the stallion who had just found the right key and walked towards the door grumbling. “What’s his problem? Every morning like this...”

“Well do you enjoy cleaning up other ponies’ shit for minimum wage?” Honeydew said as she took a few mops from the wagon.

“No, but beggars can’t be choosers all the time either. Bits are bits you know,” Sunflower replied.

“Can’t believe I went to fuckin’ school to end up being stuck cleaning shit up with you two,” Limeade grumbled as she grabbed a box of towels and walked after WP into the bar. Sunflower and Honeydew stuck their tongues out at her after she passed and then proceeded to look at one another and giggle before following them inside as well.

The scent that permeated the air in the bar was certainly of a particular nature and origin. It definitely was not the typical alcohol and sweat that they were accustomed to being faced with at The Watering Hole. This smell seemed to have a particular funk to it that instantly caused the group to scrunch their noses in disgust.

“Sweet Celestia, it smells like somepony was fucking in here,” Sunflower said, followed by a jab to the side by Limeade. “What? It does!” WP rolled his eyes yet again as he walked over towards the section with the tables and started spraying them with disinfectant spray and wiping them off. He chose this section of the bar on purpose since Sunflower and Honeydew would normally take the bar and spend the majority of the shift cleaning the same five foot radius around themselves as they gossiped and talked about whatever. He didn’t know what; he blocked them out as soon as possible. Limeade would go into the back kitchen area to clean the food equipment and stuff so she was mostly unseen for the remainder of the shift until the end where she gave the whole place a once-over to make sure it was satisfactory.

“Ewwwww it’s all sticky,” Honeydew said as she picked up a glass that was sitting on the bartop. She gave it a cautious sniff before reeling her nose back in disgust. “And it smells awful.”

Sunflower poked the top of the bar with a hooftip and lifted it up, looking in disgust as a strand of something dripped off it. “Oh I think I’m gonna be sick. We need a lot more bleach for this one,” she said as she furiously scrubbed her hoof with a towel. “I don’t think I wanna know what happened here, even though I’m pretty sure I know exactly what happened here…”

“Would you two just shut up and start cleaning already,” Limeade said from the other side of the bar. Sunflower and Honeydew both scrunched their noses and shook their heads ‘no’ in unison.

“There is no way in Equestria I’m touching this bar again,” Sunflower asserted. Honeydew nodded her head abruptly in agreement.

“Seriously? You two are such damn pussies I swear. WP, you take the bar and these two asses will cover the table section today,” Limeade said. WP opened his mouth to protest but closed it again once he saw Limeade already walking through the door into the back. He glared at Sunflower and Honeydew who only gave him innocent, sheepish looks in return. Celestia did he hate this job…

As the other two scurried over towards the tables, WP approached the bar, trying to hold his breath as he did so. Seeing how he didn’t exactly have the strongest stomach in the world, it was understandable why he disliked this job so much. Being surrounded by nasty, unidentifiable smells all day would cause just about anypony to hate it. But, just like Sunflower and Honeydew, he needed the bits to support himself and so he sucked it up and pushed through.

The smell was very pungent and pushed its way straight into WP’s nostrils. It had the peculiar mix of glue mixed with something sweet like icing. He felt his stomach turn a little as he sprayed some cleaner on the bartop and it started to bubble and fizz when it contacted the sticky residue on it. Turning his head away from the sight, he saw a case of Wild Pegasus sitting on the end of the bar and an idea formed in his head. Having never had a drink before, WP wasn’t intimately familiar with how alcohol affected the body, but what he did know is that it could dull the senses, which was something he desperately wanted right now. He slowly moved towards the bottles, fake-cleaning along the way to make it less obvious should the other two look over and see him.

Once he reached the case of Wild Pegasus, he pulled one of the bottles out and looked at the label. On the front was a picture of Rainbow Dash, shooting up through the sky, a trail of rainbow color flowing behind her. ‘Wild Pegasus’ was written in big letters beside it in some sort of western-style font. At the bottom in tiny print it said ‘45% alcohol by volume’. The last part meant nothing to WP since he had no clue if 45% was high or not, but what he did know is he needed something to help him get through this shift. Looking over towards Sunflower and Honeydew to see if they were looking his way, WP took one of the bottles and twisted the cap off with his teeth. Not seeing any glasses nearby, and not really trusting any that might have been after the one Honeydew touched, WP sniffed the contents before taking a small sip. Nothing. He took another sip, a little bigger this time, feeling the slight burn of the alcohol as he swallowed it. He waited another moment. Still nothing. He looked at the bottle puzzled. ‘Isn’t this supposed to make you stop feeling feels?’ he thought to himself. So he took a larger drink this time.

This continued for several minutes more until roughly half of the bottle was empty. Nothing seemed to change at all for him though. Giving the label a confused and somewhat irritated look, he put the bottle down for now and walked back over to see how the cleaner was coming along on the unknown mess on the bartop. The bubbling had stopped and the foam was white now, meaning it was ready to be wiped up. Grabbing a hooful of rags he started scrubbing at the substance that was now a slippery paste. He felt his stomach turn again as the smell assaulted his nose once more now that he had started moving it around. Before going any further, he casually walked back to the bottle of Wild Pegasus and took another big swig, hoping it would start helping soon.

Just as he was taking a drink, Honeydew suddenly started laughing loudly on the other side of the bar. WP’s eyes went wide and he immediately put the bottle back in the case and acted like he wasn’t doing anything. He looked over at Honeydew and saw her and Sunflower sitting at the booth in the corner, playing with the salt and pepper shakers and apparently making them hump each other it seemed. WP just rolled his eyes and shook his head. He would never understand mares…

After another minute or so he felt the coast was clear once again and he pulled the bottle back out. He frowned as he saw that it was nearly all gone by now and he still could smell the horrible ooze on the other side of the bar. Grumbling to himself, he took one more pull from the bottle before putting it back with the others. Then, taking a deep breath and holding it, he walked back towards the mess. As fast as he could, he finished wiping it up, trying desperately to not get any of it on his hooves. Once the majority of it was cleaned up, he let out his breath and gasped for fresh air. A few more sprays and wipes and the atrocity was finally cleaned up. Applying a polishing compound, WP nodded primly at the mirror-like finish that it provided the bartop.

Gathering up the rags, he walked to the end of the bar to throw them away. When he turned around, he saw the bottle of Wild Pegasus still sitting there with some left. ‘Eh what the hell’ he thought to himself as he finished it off and discarded the bottle in the trash with the rags. As he stood there at the end of the bar, having finished cleaning it and now just waiting on the other two to do something, WP had a moment to think, which was rarely a good thing. The immediate thought on his mind was how much he hated this job. What made it worse is knowing he was stuck with it; it was the only one he managed to get. He didn’t necessarily hate Honeydew and Sunflower, but they annoyed the hell out of him a lot which didn’t help his displeasure.

As he stood there lost in thought, he absentmindedly took a second bottle of Wild Pegasus out and started to sip on it.

‘Maybe Honeydew isn’t so bad. She’s kinda hot in a way,’ he thought to himself as he watched the two mares on the other side of the bar. Immediately after that thought crossed his mind, a shocked (and slightly repulsed) expression came over his face. He looked down and saw the bottle of Wild Pegasus in his hoof and it started to make sense. ‘Wow, talk about delayed reaction…If it takes that much just to make me think something ridiculous like that, it’ll take a lot more to help me forget this shitty job,’ he thought to himself, looking to the six remaining bottles in the case. He grabbed two more of them and stowed them away in his supply bag beneath some rags so the others wouldn’t notice.

With a slight stumble, WP walked to the other end of the bar to sit and wait for Limeade to finish in the back so she could inspect his work and they could move on to their next stop. A gurgle deep in his stomach drew his attention away from the door.

‘I knew I shouldn’t have skipped breakfast again,’ he internally scolded himself. It was a bad habit he had picked up the last few weeks and every time it came back to bite him. ‘I’ll just drink a little more to have something in my stomach until I can grab a muffin or something.’

After another ten minutes of waiting and sneaking sips from his stashed bottles, Limeade finally came out from the back, wiping her hooves on a towel and tossing it away. Honeydew and Sunflower immediately stopped their condiment-humping game and grabbed a rag to imitate cleaning. Without saying a word, Limeade slowly walked around the bar, checking the surface and chairs for anything that was missed. When she got to where the “spot” was before on the bar, she dragged her hoof across the now mirror-like finish, causing a squeaking noise.

“Hm, nice job WP,” she said to the stallion. WP gave her a slight smile and nodded. He knew he did a good job, unlike the other two in the corner who were more interested in making things lewd. Once she looked over the tables and, shockingly, found them satisfactory, she nodded. “Ok, let's head out. Three more stops and we’re done.”

Since WP had the keys, he was the last one out. As he turned his back to the others to lock the door, he snuck another swig from the bottles before trotting back to the wagon and strapping in. He felt slightly dizzy now and was glad that he only had to pull the wagon to the next stops since they were all within a few blocks of where they were now. After the other three had gotten in, he started pulling forward, stumbling once or twice.

Fortunate for him, the next few stops were much quicker than The Watering Hole. His stomach was really starting to turn and jump inside of him from what he took to be hunger pains. WP continued to take hits off the Wild Pegasus trying to quell the pain but it didn’t seem to be doing anything to combat it, possibly making it worse it seemed. As they were leaving their last stop, Limeade gave him a weird look when she saw him leaning against the wagon with a pained look on his face.

“WP, you ok? You don’t look so good.” WP only let out a low moan in response and rubbed his stomach. “Oh, looks like you’re sick.” Luckily his eyes were closed so Limeade couldn’t see the ‘no shit’ look he thought to himself. The pains were getting worse and a splitting headache had also joined the party. Another low moan escaped his mouth. “Tell you what, why don’t you just head home. I can take the wagon back to the warehouse with the two dipshits,” she said, glancing back at Honeydew and Sunflower as they were trying to spray each other with disinfectant spray. Limeade frowned and shook her head.

WP gave her a slow nod and a small smile as to say ‘thank you’ before turning and very slowly walking towards where Cloudsdale was floating way up above, near the border of the Everfree. He was in no condition to fly right now but he hoped if he walked a little bit it might slowly ease the pain by the time he was under Cloudsdale.

About half an hour later WP found himself finally making it out of downtown Ponyville and slowly progressing out towards the Everfree. Much to his misfortune, the pain in his stomach seemed to be getting worse. Every so often it would give him a sharp jab of pain that would cause him to stop walking and squint his eyes shut until it passed. His headache was thumping in tune with his heartbeat, making it impossible for him to try and distract himself from the pain. The dizziness that had started a while ago had also gotten worse. The path in front of him seemed to curve back and forth in an ‘S’ shape even though it was a straight line ahead. As he walked, he went in a zigzag pattern as he over-corrected his trajectory trying to stay straight.

A little further down the road, WP swayed to the right side of the road and was unable to recover to the center of the path, leading him to fall against a fence that lined the road here. Finding himself unable to muster the strength to push off the fence, he chose to walk alongside it and use it as support. This was working fine enough until he came to a gap in the fence and found himself face-first in a driveway. He moaned as he laid there, unable to move just yet. The fall had shot his headache to a new level of pain where it felt like his eyes were going to pop out of his head.

After a few minutes of laying in the middle of the driveway, WP cracked his eye open slightly. Through his fuzzy vision, he could see two houses in front of him. The one on the left was the one who’s driveway he was currently calling home. It was a nice cottage style house with a skinny plume of smoke curling out the chimney. Fortunate for him it didn’t look like anypony was awake yet; he didn’t want anypony to see him like this. With much effort, he picked his head up and looked back at the road. Nothing in either direction as far as he could tell. A sign indicated that Ponyville was to the left, where he came from, and the Everfree was to the right, as was clear by the increasingly thick treeline.

Even in his seriously inebriated state, he knew there was no way he was making it any further anytime soon. He needed to find somewhere he could curl up and hopefully sleep this off. Going up to the front door of the house was out of the question in his mind so he began looking for alternatives around the house. Way up the driveway, behind the house and next to what appeared to be a large garage, he saw a garden shed. ‘Perfect!’ he thought to himself. ‘Now if only I can pull my sorry ass all the way over there, I’ll hopefully be able to sleep this shit off. Sweet Celestia I’m never touching another drink as long as I live.”

With a great amount of effort and groaning (and the help of the fencepost beside him), he pulled himself to his shaking hooves once more and began his slow journey down the driveway. He hoped nopony in the house would see him before he was able to get in the shed and hide away; he was in no condition to try and explain his situation. After what felt like an eternity, he finally reached the aluminum shed and slid the door open as quietly as possible. Inside was really dark so he reached to the side and flicked on the light and slid the door shut behind him. In the center of the shed was a large riding tractor with a plow attached to the front. On either side were shelves and hooks with various tools and buckets of miscellaneous things; some paint, some fuel, some oil, typical shed decor. In the back of the shed was what he was hoping to find; several large bags of woodchips. While certainly no comparison to a mattress, WP was in no condition to be picky as he squeezed past the tractor and climbed on top of the bags. As he closed his eyes, he prayed that he would feel better whenever he woke up. He let out a big sigh and the world slipped away.

Ember was finally on her way home after another long day at work. She pulled behind her a brand new, straight off the lot delivery wagon equipped with every feature and option that was available. She wore a huge grin on her face as she turned into her driveway and headed for the garage. Trying one of the new wagon’s features, she tapped a button on the harness and squee’d when the double doors of her garage began to open. It was clear that it didn’t take much to excite her when it came to new gadgets to play with. Closing the door behind her to seal out the cold air pouring inside, Ember shook some of the snow off her back and wings before walking towards the side door, flicking the light off, and heading towards the house.

As she approached, she could smell the previously promised lasagna and instantly a smile grew on her face in anticipation of the delicious dish. Opening the kitchen door and hanging her scarf on the hook, Ember let out a long sigh.

“Hey Blue, I’m home,” she yelled into the other rooms.

“Oh hey,” came Blue’s voice from upstairs. “I’ll be right down, just had to fix my mane a bit.”

“Alright,” Ember said as she walked over to the stove and peeked in through the glass window to see the bubbling cheesy goodness inside. She began to salivate and had to wipe her beak with a feather before it dripped all over the floor. Rather than visually torture herself anymore, she got a glass from the cabinet and poured herself some Sparkle Cola that Blue had bought when she went to the store earlier. She made a mental note to ask Blue if she had any luck finding a job while she was out too.

A few minutes later, Blue trotted into the kitchen and gave Ember a smile. “So how was your day?”

“Work kinda sucked as per usual,” Ember said with a roll of her eyes, “but I bought a new wagon on the way home so that makes up for it.”

“Ooo I bet it’s awesome,” Blue said as she grabbed an oven mit and checked on the lasagna.

“I’m gonna have to literally study this manual to figure out the crazy amount of features this thing has,” Ember said as she plopped a sizeable book on the table that had a picture of the new wagon on the cover. “It has heated harnesses and automatic flight stability control for Celestia’s sake!”

Blue smiled. “Sounds like someone has a new toy.”

“Hey I work my damn feathers off so sue me if I buy something a little unnecessary once in awhile. It still hauls cargo so therefor it’s not a waste,” Ember said as she stuck out her tongue at Blue.

“I never said you didn’t deserve it, it’s just that those of us without the gift of flight don’t get wingboners over automatic flight controls and whatnot,” Blue chuckled.

“Eh, yea, makes sense,” Ember replied. “So, any luck with the job search? I know you went out cuz we got more Sparkle Cola now.”

Blue took the mit out of her mouth and sighed. “Nothing yet. I talked to several different places but nopony gave me a definite answer yet. Maybe I’ll hear something tomorrow.”

“I wouldn’t get too down about it. It’d be unusual for them to hire you right on the spot anyway,” Ember shrugged.

“Yeah I know, just had my hopes kinda high I guess. I gotta learn to stop doing that…”

Before Ember could respond, the timer on the oven began to ding. Blue turned around and shut it off before grabbing the mit again and opening the door. Wincing at the wave of heat that escaped the oven, she pulled the pan out and set it on top of the burners to cool a little bit before she cut it up into portions for them. Once it was on plates, she levitated one over to Ember and another to her spot at the table. The plate barely sat down on the table before Ember began to devour the lasagna. ‘She sure does love her food,’ Blue mused to herself with a smile. After getting a Sparkle Cola for herself, she joined Ember at the table and began eating.

The following morning brought with it a fresh layer of snow blanketing the landscape. Little tracks from some of the small woodland creatures were the only imperfections on the silky smooth snow. Inside, a smouldering pile of ash and embers was all that inhabited the fireplace in the living room; a testament to the wonderful blaze that was no more. Blue shivered on the couch in her sleep, having kicked her blanket off at some point in the night. Rolling over and glaring at the fireplace, she reluctantly rolled off the couch and threw some more logs on the cast iron cradle before stuffing newspaper underneath and lighting it. Grumbling, she made her way into the kitchen to see what could be done to quell her rumbling stomach.

Pulling some milk out of the fridge with her magic, Blue walked over to the sink to rinse off a glass to use when she looked outside and saw the fresh coating of snow covering everything. ‘Ohhoho Ember is gonna be so pissed when she sees this,’ she mused to herself as she poured some cereal into a bowl. Right on cue, Ember walked into the kitchen rubbing her eyes with her wingtips. She stopped in the middle of the room and continued rubbing for a few seconds more before blinking a few times to clear her vision of sleep. The moment she looked out the window and saw the snow, a deep frown formed on her beak.

“Just fuckin’ great…” she grumbled as she grabbed a bowl and poured herself some cereal. Blue tried to hide her small smile.

“Oh it’s just a few inches Ember. Won’t take long to clear with that plow you have,” Blue said. “I’d do it for you but I have no clue how to drive that crazy thing.”

“Ug. This is why I wanna move further west. They don’t have to deal with this shit,” Ember complained. “Mid-70’s all year long and not even that much rain on top of it. It’s a damn paradise if you ask me.”

“If you did that you’d be complaining about the heat and you know it,” Blue pointed out. Ember grunted in response. Blue knew she was right but also knew Ember would never admit it.

A few minutes passed, each of them continuing their breakfast while flipping through the paper for something of interest. Ember glanced at the clock and rolled her eyes.

“Well, guess I better get out there and clear this shit away before I have to get to the warehouse.”

“I’m gonna head back into town today and see if anything came from those interviews I had yesterday,” Blue said as she put the paper down and levitated their bowls into the sink.

“Cool. If you wanna wait like fifteen minutes I’ll have the front cleared,” Ember said as she put on her coat and scarf.

“Take your time,” Blue said as she trotted back into the living room to check on the fireplace.

Ember opened the kitchen door and immediately hated the world as the cold wind zapped every bit of warmth she had from any unprotected body part. Mumbling various curses about places Celestia could stick the sun, she trudged her way towards the shed to get the plow out. Pushing the door open, she flicked on the light and checked the fuel level in the tractor.

“Empty… Of course it’s fuckin’ empty…” she grumbled. Turning around to the shelves, she grabbed the fuel can from the bottom shelf. Fortunately diesel had a much lower freezing temperature so it was still liquid. Grabbing a funnel, she started pouring it into the tank on the side of the tractor. Out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw something move and quickly flicked her head to the side. Nothing. “Damn wind…” she muttered as she continued to fill the tank. Again she saw something shift out of the corner of her eye; this time she knew she wasn’t seeing things. Putting the fuel canister down, she focused on the far corner of the shed, where the light didn’t clearly reach. She saw something that looked shiny slowly moving up and down.

“What the fuck,” she muttered under her breath. Squinting still didn’t give her any idea of what it might be, all she could tell was it was alive and it was large. Grabbing a shovel off the wall behind her, Ember slowly circled in front of the tractor to get closer to the thing. As she rounded the plow, she could hear slow breathing coming from the darkened area and her heart rate instantly rose and the grip on the shovel tightened considerably. Staying up against the tractor, Ember stood still for a moment, considering what might happen next. Knowing nothing good would likely come from this, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She reached over the cab of the tractor and flicked the headlights on, flooding the back half of the shed with bright light.

“Sweet Luna shitting moonrocks, what the fuck is that?!” she screamed, startling the thing seemingly half to death. The creature immediately jumped from its position on top of the bags of woodchips and made a horrible screeching noise of terror. It flailed around and attempted to fly towards the door as Ember yelled and swung her shovel at it, causing it to jump backwards in surprise, not noticing she was armed before. It would have been able to just fly away, but its wings appeared to be missing; the place where they should be sporting two stubby protrusions. The lights of the tractor were blinding it, which Ember took advantage of as she jumped on top of the edge of the plow and took another swing. She missed, but just barely this time. “What the fuck are you?!” she shouted.

The creature only made more panicked screeching sounds as it tried desperately to find a way out. Ember swung the shovel and made contact with the middle of the creatures left rear leg, causing it to elicit a high-pitched squeal and scramble around the tractor, hitting one of the support beams for the shed with a resounding thud. Ember grabbed one of the creature's legs and pulled it towards her. Not giving it a chance to react, she slammed it against the side of the tractor tire, holding it firmly in place with the handle of the shovel. Glaring at the thing in front of her, she growled in a menacing tone. “I’ll ask you one more time. What. The hell. Are you?”

“Please don’t hurt me! I’m not what you think I am I swear!,” it said in a panicked manner. Ember raised a brow at it.

“Oh so you can talk, that’s helpful,” she said, ever so slightly loosening her hold on the shovel. “What’s your name? And what are you doing in my shed?”

“My name is Marcus, and how I got in here is still pretty fuzzy to me honestly,” Marcus said with a small shrug and innocent grin. Ember pushed the handle harder against his chest. “Ah! Geeze! I swear I don’t really know. Last I remember I was cleaning this shit up at a bar in town and then I came across some-” His eyes widened in realization. “The Wild Pegasus…” he groaned.

“What?” Ember asked, thoroughly confused.

“I snuck some Wild Pegasus while we were cleaning the bar, but when I first drank it, it didn’t seem to do anything, so I drank more. Like, three bottles more.” Ember’s eyes widened in surprise. “Yeah, that would be my reaction too. Long story short, I got horribly sick and tried to make it home, but only got to your driveway before I just couldn’t make it any further. So I managed to drag myself in here and, well, here we are,” he said with a nervous chuckle.

“Wait, there’s no way in hell you were in town if you looked like this,” Ember said, looking at his appendages that sported numerous holes and gaps. “Changelings aren’t exactly accepted creatures around here, or anywhere for that matter.”

Marcus rolled his eyes and sighed. “You don’t need to remind me.” A bright green light began to run up the length of his body, causing Ember to squint and avert her eyes momentarily as it left behind a grey colored coat in its wake. Once the transformation finished, Ember turned her head back and found herself face-to-face with a grey-coated pegasus stallion.

“Woah… That’s trippy,” she said with wide eyes. Marcus just gave her a small smile.

“Would you mind letting me down? This is really starting to hurt,” he said, looking down at the handle firmly planted against his ribs.

“Yeah, just don’t try shit,” Ember said, taking the shovel off him but still keeping a solid grip on it just in case.

“Relax, I’m not like all the stupid stories you’ve heard in the news and stuff. Those changelings are still acting under the control of the hive mind,” Marcus explained.

“So why aren’t you then?” Ember questioned.

“Well, when we got blasted out of Canterlot, whenever that was now, some of us were shot so far away from Chrysalis that we lost the connection and became independent,” Marcus said. “As such, I’ve been wandering around Equestria for a while now on my own just trying to find a place to settle down and have my own life, you know?” Ember gave him a somewhat skeptical look but appeared to believe his story. She supposed it wasn’t completely impossible. “Look, I don’t expect you to believe me right away, but the fact that I’m just talking to you and not trying to suck out your love or whatever should reinforce my story.”

Ember slowly nodded as she recapped all that just happened. She noticed Marcus was holding his back left leg up slightly to keep from putting weight on it, it seemed. “What’s wrong with your leg?” Marcus gave her a flat look and glanced at the shovel she was still holding in her claw. “Ehehehe, oh yea. Oops. Look, I got some painkillers in the house you can take and lay down for a little until you can walk on it again, then you can head home if you’d like.”

“I’d appreciate that. Maybe they’ll finish off this headache I still have from yesterday,” Marcus replied, following her towards the door.

“By the way, don’t tell my roommate Blue that you’re a changeling. She might freak out and do who knows what, so just keep it under wraps for now. I’ll talk to her later when I get home from work,” Ember said as they approached the kitchen door. Marcus nodded in confirmation and followed her inside.

Blue was putting on her scarf and boots when the two of them came in the kitchen door. "Ember? Didn't you go out to plow the snow a while ago? I thought you just went to work already."

"I was, but I found this guy in the shed and kinda hit him with a shovel," Ember replied. Blue gave her a questioning look. "Look, it was dark and I didn't expect to find someone else in there. His name is Marcus, by the way." Marcus gave Blue a polite smile.

"Nice to meet you," Blue said as she finished putting her scarf on. "Did she hurt you real bad with the shovel?"

"Not really, just a nasty bump on my leg. Ember said she'd give me some pain pills and let me rest up a bit before I head home," Marcus replied, still trying to not put weight on his back leg.

"Nice going Ember, you could've killed him," Blue said in a joking tone.

"Please, if I wanted to kill him I would've." Marcus got a concerned look on his face. "Relax, I'm only kidding."

"Or is she?" Blue added. Ember just gave her a flat look.

"Anyways, I gotta get to work. I'll clear the driveway when I get home I guess. I take it you're headed into town Blue?"

"Yeah, gonna see if I got lucky enough to land one of those jobs. Sure hope so..."

"I'm sure you'll find something," Ember said. "Marcus, you can just hang out here for a few and I'll go get the meds upstairs. Since Blue is leaving, I'll give you a lift home in my wagon."

"Ok, thanks. I appreciate it," Marcus said as he sat down in the hallway. Blue gave him a wave goodbye and headed out the door and towards town. A minute later, Ember came back down the stairs with some pills for Marcus. He took them as they walked back out the kitchen door and to the garage.

"Damn, nice ride," Marcus commented when they walked into the garage and he saw the brand new wagon parked there. Ember chuckled.

"You bet your ass it is. Every option you can get," she smirked. "Hop in the back and we'll get going." He climbed into the back of the wagon as Ember strapped into the harness and pulled out of the garage, shutting it behind them with the press of the button. "You said you lived in Cloudsdale, right?"

"Yeah, a few blocks away from the stadium," Marcus said from the back. About fifteen minutes later, they arrived in Cloudsdale and Ember found Marcus's house and pulled up out front.

"Thanks again for the ride, and sorry again for this morning," he said sheepishly.

"Eh don't sweat it," Ember shrugged. "Actually, I'd really like to ask you some more about the whole changeling thing sometime. You think we could meet up sometime and chat?"

"Uh, sure, don't see why not." Marcus scribbled his number down on a scrap piece of paper and handed it to Ember. "Gimme a call and we'll set something up. Sound good?"

"Cool, thanks. I'll call you." Ember gave Marcus a wave and took off towards work. As she flew along, she had time to think about how she'd explain to Blue that he was a changeling without her flipping out. Not seeing any clear way of doing so, she settled on just winging it and trust that Blue would be open about it.