Ember was unloading a cartload of sofas behind Davenport’s Quills and Sofas when her cellphone started ringing in the breast pocket of her work vest. Two taps got her to the call; talons sure were handy. It was Blue Stroke calling. ‘What could she want?’ Ember thought to herself. It had been months since they last saw each other. After several minutes of talking, it became clear that things had really gone south for her. She was about to run out of money and couldn’t pay her rent, plus her student loan interest rate was pretty substantial, which was something Ember could relate to. Money was part of the reason Ember had to stop her schooling too. Blue sounded pretty desperate and asked if they could meet face-to-face. Ember hesitantly agreed and said to meet at this bar in central Ponyville. After apologizing to Davenport and calling up her part-time worker, in exchange for an unusually large bag of bits for coming in on short notice, she headed off. Ember had a feeling this wasn’t going to go well.

The Watering Hole was a middle class establishment in the center of Ponyville; it was always warm and cozy. The furniture was made of age-old hardwood and varnished multiple times over the years to the point of a near-mirror finish. Throughout the entire space, the smell of age and history permeated the senses. The Watering Hole had been around pretty much since the founding of Ponyville a couple hundred years ago. On a busy Friday night like this, all the seats were taken, and the the smells were a combination of pretty much everything you could imagine. From one wall to another one could look and see ponies from far and wide; ponies in Ponyville for business, those who just got off work, or even tourists drawn by the recent ascension of Princess Twilight Sparkle. A pony only had to approach a table to find themselves in a colourful conversation with some of the visitors.

One of the most spectacular sights in the bar was the bartender, Berry Punch. To serve so many patrons at the same time, she almost flew from side to side behind the bar. Sometimes it seemed she would throw a glass into the air, serve a customer on the other side of the counter, and be back in time to catch the glass and fill it. Those sitting at the bar watched the spectacle and cheered at the performance. Berry was clearly in her element as she basked in their cheers and continued to serve every customer. Ember observed all this through the window as she stood outside, waiting for Blue to show up.

She tightened her scarf around her neck. It was a late fall, and already the cold was in the sky, enveloping buildings and ponies alike, or at least those ponies who still dared to go outside at this time of night. The streets were covered in leaves of orange and yellow; a lone pony trying to move them into a pile. He sighed every time a gust of cold northern air blew his heap apart and resumed pushing them back into formation once again. The sound of hooves trotting over the worn cobblestone streets pulled Ember from her thoughts. Blue came into view around the corner, wearing a scarf of her own. As Blue drew closer, her smile grew as she saw Ember, and the griffin returned the gesture. When she reached the door, Ember held it open as Blue trotted inside.

Once inside, Ember flipped a few bits to the busboy and got them a table towards the back that he just finished cleaning off. They sat down, a few ponies glancing wearily at the griffin's polished talons as they glinted in the glow from the lamps above. There weren’t many griffins in Ponyville, if any at all besides Ember, and the residents were especially mistrusting since a visiting griffin had really caused havoc in town a year ago.

“So, what’s up?” Ember asked. Blue immediately looked down at the table, not wanting to make eye contact. When they last spoke, she had made such a big deal of how she was going to be a big shot writer and literary superstar. And now here she was, at her last resort.

“Um, well, not much. That’s kinda the problem really,” Blue said. “I can’t find any work to save my life and nothing I submit even gets a second look from the publishers. If I don’t figure out something within the next few weeks, I’m gonna be out on my ass.” Blue tapped her hooves together nervously.

Ember regarded her coolly, not entirely surprised by the situation. Whenever she heard of somepony going to school for writing she smiled on the outside, but rolled her eyes on the inside. It was not a solid career path by any means. She reflected back on her own time in the university and how intolerable it was for her. She made it a little more than halfway before deciding to call it quits and, using the remaining savings she had, she started her company to fill the demand for freight delivery in Ponyville. Her business had taken off since then, seeing how most everypony had lost faith in the local mailmare to get their parcels to them in one piece, or even to the right address for that matter. Most ended up with a “sorry” and a muffin. It may have been a nice gesture, and even a good muffin, but it won’t always make up for it.

“What are you going to do then?” Ember asked, sipping on the glass of water the waiter had put down for them while they looked over the menu.

“I can’t move back home,” Blue admitted. “Ever since mom died I haven’t been able to figure out where in Equestria dad went. Somewhere around Las Pegasus I imagine seeing how he loves bit slots… I’m sorry, that was personal. I shouldn’t talk about things like that.”

“No no, it’s fine. Both of my parents are still alive, but we don't talk much ever since they separated. Me and my dad do a little bit, but I hardly ever see or hear from my mom unless it's to bitch and moan about something dad didn't do.” Ember cast her eyes downward. "I'm just glad I got out of there when I did."

“Oh, that’s rough… I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up." Ember gave her a small smile and a nod. "But anyway, going back to what I was saying before, I have nowhere to go. I have no idea what to do or where to go. I’m screwed…” Blue stared into her drink the waiter just put in front of her, absentmindedly spinning the dark orange liquid around with her magic.

Ember sat and thought for a moment before saying what came to her mind. “I... have an extra room you could stay in for a few weeks if you need. Just some dusty boxes in there now but I can move those to the other room with dusty boxes. They won’t mind,” she proposed, hesitantly.

“I don’t know… I hate to impose like that. I mean, I certainly appreciate the generous offer, but I just don’t know…” They sat there in silence for a few moments before Blue rubbed her temples, sighed, and smiled at Ember. “Ok fine, I’ll do it. Thank you, Ember. Really. It means more to me than you know. And don’t worry, I’ll be out of your feathers in no time. Just as soon as I finally find a job...”

Ember smiled back at Blue over the top of her menu. She wasn’t entirely sold on the idea herself; she just said it more or less because it felt like the right thing to say at the time. She had always lived alone, so having somepony else there would be a big adjustment. Oh well, it was only temporary, right? She had a deep brooding feeling she was gonna regret this, somehow, someway. Maybe not immediately, but eventually.

“Let’s order some food,” Ember said, raising her index claw to the waiter.

After giving their orders to the waiter, a cloaked stallion started awkwardly making his way towards the table. He was wearing a hooded coat that notably had a bulge where his horn had to be. Ember and Blue could see a forced smile on his face as he drew closer to their table.

The stallion sat down. “Hello… ladies!” He was taken aback a bit by the imposing griffin. He gulped, but continued. “Have you heard the Word of our Lady and Savior Starlight Glimmer?” Before any of them could react though, he smashed his face into the table and abruptly stood up. “Ach, I’m sorry for wasting your time… I’ll just leave.” He started making his way to the door leading outside. Ember could vaguely hear some mumbling about ‘finding a new approach’ and ‘stupid, stupid, stupid’ as he walked away.

Blue and Ember looked at each other. Ember saw Blue mouth ‘what the hell?’ to her.

“Wait, come back!” Ember said. She felt sort of bad for him. The stallion turned around.

“I’m really, really sorry. I don’t know why I thought that would work. It never has and it never will,” he said as he shifted nervously on his hooves.

“What in the world were you even trying to do? You didn’t come across very convincing, whatever it was you were trying,” Ember said.

The stallion sat down once again. Using his aquamarine magic, he pulled his hood back. He had a pale yellow coat and a plain red mane with a bright green stripe running along one side of it. His eyes were the same bright blue-ish color as his magic aura. “Well, if you must know, I used to work as an administrative assistant in the Princess of Friendship’s new castle. As such, I could read through the reports there. One of the reports I read was about a mare from a village in the north, Starlight Glimmer. I read all about her, saw the pictures made of her, read the compilation of her teachings… I had a revelation; I was working for the enemy! This Starlight Glimmer is our true leader we should be following! She’s amazing. So I decided to spread her teachings here in Ponyville. Of course that didn’t sit well with Princess Sparkle and abruptly got me booted from my job, but that’s fine, I can manage. Though sometimes I feel like they’re watching me now,” the stallion said while looking over his shoulder nervously. Ember could tell he was definitely pretty insecure, maybe a bit paranoid as well.

“Oh, that lunatic cult leader I heard rumors about. I didn’t think she was real,” Blue said with little tact.

“Oh, she’s real. A real nut,” Ember commented, ignoring the stallion’s eye twitch. “What’s your name anyways?”

“Elstar. Elstar Apple. No relation…” Elstar replied. “ I’m not related to the famous Ponyville Apple family, I just happen to have the same last name. Trust me, I checked my ancestry. Please just call me Apple; it’s short, easy to remember, and strangely enough the most uncommon name in the Ponyville Apple family lineage." Apple stood up and adjusted his coat. "Anyways, it was nice making your acquaintance but I really must be off. As much as I would love to stay away from my brother, I don’t trust him to be left alone at our flat for extended periods of time.”

“Um… ok then. Nice meeting you too I suppose,” Ember said as she tossed a look at Blue that said ‘what’s up with this guy?’ Blue simply shrugged and gave Apple a small smile as he turned and walked towards the exit, awkwardly dodging some drunk ponies along the way.

“Well, that was weird. Was it just me or did you think his mane looked like watermelon too?" Ember said to Blue, making her laugh a bit. "Actually, nevermind, forget I said that, it’s weird. Although Ponyville isn’t exactly known for it’s normalcy."

“Yeah, that’s part of the reason I wanted to move here,” Blue said in a tired tone. “Figured it would give me a lot to write about, and it did, but nothing that anypony wants to read apparently… Anyways, can we get going? It’s getting rather late and if we’re going to have to move stuff out of my apartment I’d prefer not to freeze to death doing so.”

“Sure. Lemme just pay Berry and we’ll head over there. I have my cart parked on the side so we’ll only have to make one trip hopefully.” Ember got up and made her way over to the acrobatic Berry Punch, paid the tab, and gestured for Blue to follow her to the exit. Outside, the flickering light from the gas street lights cast a warm glow over the now mostly empty streets. Leaves spun in circles as the wind whipped them in a tornado-like funnel in between the buildings. They made their way to Ember’s wagon parked on the street next to the bar and Blue climbed in as Ember strapped in and with a few powerful thrusts, they were off, flying through the freezing night sky.

Fortunate for them, Blue didn’t have many things to pack since she came from a small college dorm when she first came to Ponyville. A couch, a few end tables, a small bed, a desk complete with a lamp, and a desk chair all fit in the wagon with plenty of room to spare for Blue to ride along. Watching Ember take back to the skies, Blue couldn’t help but feel a little jealous of those with the gift of wings. She knew of spells that could provide temporary wings but heard about how that turned out for one of the local residents and decided she’d stay clear of that spell. For now she would be happy looking out the side of the wagon at the twinkling lights of the sleepy town below, sprawled out over age-old farmland bordering the nearby Everfree forest.

Blue felt her mane blow in the wind as she was looking out in the distance. Far away, she could see the capital city of Canterlot, built on the tallest mountain of the large mountain ranges that crossed Equestria. It was a stark difference to the valley region Ponyville occupied. She could see Equestria’s peaks, permanently covered in snow even in summer and spring, but she also saw Canterlot’s spires and towers, trying furiously to outdo each other. If Blue had looked further, or if she was higher up, she would have been able to see the distant twinkling of the Crystal Empire and it’s palace.

The stretches of railroad connecting the country formed an unbroken iron and steel line. Blue could see a night-goods train steaming away in the depths below her, carrying various luxuries bound for Canterlot. The floating city of Cloudsdale in the far distance was slowly making its way towards Ponyville as winter drew closer.

About 20 minutes later, Ember began the descent and landed outside her home on the outer reaches of town. A spacious yard bordered the house on all sides, flanked by a wooden fence to deter any of the neighboring forest creatures from stopping by for an unwelcome visit. Pulling behind the house, Blue was impressed by its size for only housing one griffin, but who was she to question how Ember decided to spend her money? She dreamed of having a house like that someday as well. Ember backed the wagon to the garage, unstrapped it from herself, and began to make her way towards the back door.

“You coming or just gonna sleep in the wagon all night?” Ember asked Blue, who was just sitting in the wagon staring at the house still.

“Oh, yeah, right, coming!” Blue said as she jumped down. “Aren’t we gonna unpack my stuff?”

“Nah, we’ll take care of it in the morning. My wings are killing me from working this big contract I just got from the mayor. She wants all the filing cabinets moved from one end of town hall to the other and can’t give me a straight reason as to why they need to be moved in the first place. Whatever, they pretty much told me to name my price though so I’m taking my time with it. Doesn’t make them any lighter though that’s for sure,” she said, rubbing her outstretched wing.

“Do you have another bed I can use?” Blue asked, recalling Ember saying the rooms were full of boxes earlier.

“The couch is plenty comfortable. Plus it’s only for tonight. I’ll move all the stuff around in the morning,” Ember replied as she made her way to the door. Blue shrugged and followed after her. She wasn’t exactly in the position to insist for things so the couch would just have to do for now.

Entering the kitchen door after Ember, Blue felt the warmth of the home wash over her and the stress of the day instantly began to melt away. They entered via the kitchen, where the warm flicker of the light above cast a warm glow over the entire room. Pots and pans hung from racks on the white tiled walls; their copper finish causing the light to dance across the bright white wooden cabinets. A table in the center of the room was set for one.

“I’ll grab some blankets for you on the couch. Tomorrow after breakfast we can move the boxes up to the third floor attic,” Ember said, pulling Blue out of her trance. Blue nodded as she followed her into the living room and looked around some more as Ember made her way upstairs to get the linens. The living room was every bit as cozy as the kitchen. A medium-sized fireplace was on the wall to the left with bookshelves flanking it on either side. A small desk sat in the corner with a lamp spilling light across the papers, namely bills and the like. Dark wooden beams lined the ceiling in parallel fashion. Blue slowly walked around the couch in the center of the room and sat down, giving it a test feel.

“Wow, this might actually beat my bed,” she muttered, thinking back to the bargain mattress she had sitting in the wagon still. Leaning her head back against the cushions, she could feel her eyes becoming heavy already. It had been a long day, but she was used to being up until the wee hours of the morning, trying to force out every little idea she could onto the paper in her search of that big breakthrough she had been hoping for for so long.

“You like the couch I see,” Ember said popping her head over the edge of the couch from behind her. Blue practically flew onto the mantle as she jumped off the couch in surprise.

“Hahaha! Oh we got a jumpy one here! This’ll be great,” Ember laughed as Blue scowled at her from across the room. It was just now she realized there is no graceful way to climb down from a mantle…

“Don’t do that!” she shouted back. “I can’t stand it when ponies scare the shit outta me…”

“Oh relax, I wasn’t trying to. Griffins are just naturally stealthy I guess,” Ember shrugged ever so sarcastically. Seeing how griffins were among the largest sentient creatures in the country, their ability to be stealthy in any form amused her. “Anyways, here are some blankets. If you get cold, feel free to light a fire. Wood’s in the kitchen by the door. TV remote is on the table there, not like there’s anything worth watching nowadays anyway. Don’t even know why I still waste bits on that stupid cable service…”

“Ok. Thanks again. I promise I won’t be here too long. I never want to overstay my welcome,” Blue said, looking at the floor and finding something fascinating about that particular floorboard at the moment.

“Eh don’t worry about it. Who knows, maybe it’ll be nice having someone else around the house for a change. Gets awful quiet here all by myself,” Ember said as she made her way towards the stairs. “My bedroom’s the second door on the left, bathroom is across from that on the right. Some stuff is in the fridge but I keep a pretty sparse menu here since it’s just me.” Blue nodded and started to spread out some of the blankets on the couch. Curling up beneath them, she waited for the light upstairs to go out before letting out a deep sigh. It felt good to be here. She wasn’t sure what it was about Ember but she really liked talking with the griffin. Even if their interaction up to this point was only brief, she hoped they could become good friends. She took another look around the cozy room, let out another sigh, and fell into a deep sleep.