The cold autumn night gave way to a crisp morning. Bright sunlight reflected off the countless orange and yellow leaves still clinging to their branches in their last effort to not fall to the cobblestone road below. The town was beginning to come to life; several ponies pulling carts here and there, beginning their day in the picturesque town. A faint ringing could be heard from the distant schoolhouse, signaling the current time of 7 o’clock.

Sunny Blitz cracked an eye open and glanced toward the crack in the drapes that mocked him by allowing a fine sliver of light to pierce through and land perfectly on his eye. He was one of the few ponies in town who had to be up this early on a normal basis since he was responsible for opening up the local coffee shop, “Cuppa Joe”. Donut Joe had hit it big in Canterlot with his donut shop and since decided to branch into more business ventures as well, earning even more success and becoming a decent rival for Sparkbucks. In a smaller town like Ponyville however, smaller brand shops like Joe’s did better than bigger chains since there was more favor towards what’s been popular locally rather than what was ‘in’.

Sunny stared at the alarm clock, waiting for it to catch up and go off. It was always a minute behind no matter how many times he reset the thing so he eventually just gave up; his body clock was pretty much right on the money every day anyhow. The second the buzzer started to sound, he slapped the top with his hoof and lazily rolled out of bed with a slight groan. After a quick stop in the bathroom to freshen up, he was off to the kitchen to prepare his favorite breakfast, Trottingham muffins with zap apple jam spread. As he sat at the kitchen table he lazily looked out the window at the ponies milling by outside. His apartment was on a corner of the building and gave him a perfect vantage point to see a lot of the action that this slightly-out-of-town area offered; just enough to be entertaining and not the amount of congestion as downtown. Watching ponies go about their day from this vantage point was something Sunny always loved to do to either start his day or decompress after a hard day at work.

“Crap, I lost track of time” Sunny said, looking at the clock on the stove which read 7:15 already. “I gotta get down to the shop and open up.” Leaving the plate on the table to be cleaned up later, Sunny trotted over to the door and swung his apron over his neck and secured it behind his dark brown mane. The green stripe going down the center was always something he found appealing about himself, not that he was the one to worry about vanity really.

Exiting his apartment, Sunny turned to leave and almost tripped over his neighbor sprawled out on the hallway floor. Berry Punch was one hell of a bartender but tended to get a little wild after closing. He had heard she held drinking contests after hours, and had never lost even once. Sunny had seen her work before though and figured she deserved to have a good time after dealing with the insanity night after night. He knew the service industry all too well and didn’t mind a nice hard drink after work himself on occasion. Or two. Or five… Whatever. He didn’t have a problem… Though his colon might have disagreed sometimes.

Stepping over the sleeping form of Berry and opening the door leading to the street corner, Sunny was presented with that unmistakable crisp smell of fall. Inhaling deeply, he turned and began trotting towards the coffee shop, excited to start the day. He might only be an employee there but he still treated the place as if it was his own; always cleaning everything he could, making sure every customer left with a smile, giving a muffin to a wide-eyed filly every so often. It was a great job once you looked past all the stress the restaurant industry brought along with it. The paperwork was his least favorite part, but he knew if he ever wanted to advance in the company he’d have to learn it eventually. That could wait however. He was content where he was for now.

“Hey Scotch, ready for your usual I see huh,” Sunny said as he drew closer to the shop to find one of his most regular customers standing outside. Scotch always stopped in for a large coffee before she had to run off to class at the local university.

“Ugh. Don’t talk to me until I have that elixir in my hooves,” Scotch replied with heavy eyes and a clear Trottingham accent. A heavy workload at school was taking an obvious toll on the red-coated unicorn mare.

“Heh. Of course,” Sunny replied, unlocking the door and stepping aside for Scotch to enter. Flicking on the light switch, Sunny made his way behind the counter and began the prep work for the morning. It was still another 30 minutes until his help would arrive to cover the busy morning bustle. Scotch took her usual stool at the counter and plopped her head down on top of her crossed forehooves.

“So how goes your classes?” Sunny asked as he closed the register and began crushing some beans for Scotch’s drink.

“Who knew arcane electronic engineering would be so hard,” Scotch replied with a sarcastic tone and a roll of her eyes. “I swear, if I can’t find a job that pays out the arse once I’m done…” she muttered. Sunny simply smiled and continued working on the drink, covering the top in a creamy white foam and a dusting of cinnamon that usually made him sneeze.

“I’m sure you’ll be just fine, Scotch. Even if you don’t get the job you want right away, we’re always looking for help here around the shop,” Sunny said, getting the level stare he expected in return.

“Oh yeah, that’s what I’m spending twenty-five thousand bits a year to do, pour mud water. No offense…” Scotch said, catching what she said a little too late. Sunny just smiled and nodded.

“I know it’s not ideal for everyone, but it pays the bills, and that’s all that really matters to me,” he replied. Scotch just stared into her drink, watching the steam roll off the top.

“How’s that neighbor of yours? Haven’t seen her in here for quite some time now,” Sunny said.

“Who? Ember? She’s fine I guess. I don’t see much of her myself to be honest. Last I heard she started her own company and it took off, been busy as hell ever since. Must be nice…” Scotch muttered. She didn’t really hate Ember, well, maybe she did a bit, but to say she wasn’t at least jealous of the griffin was an understatement. She never had the courage to just admit it though and it reduced their neighborly relationship to petty childish games like raking leaves onto the others lawn, or mowing their lawn up to the exact millimeter the property line ended and not a hair over. It was rather amusing when she thought about it.

“That’s good. I miss seeing her in here. She’s the only griffin in Ponyville after all. And certainly not bad to look at either…” Sunny mused, looking off across the shop imaging some intriguing things he’d like to do with Ember if given the chance . Scotch just gave him a flat look. There was a reason she preferred mares and that right there was it; stallions only thought about sex.

“Gross,” Scotch muttered, rolling her eyes. Sunny broke out of his twisted vision and smiled sheepishly at Scotch.

“What? You never looked at her before?” he asked.

“I’m not going to dignify that with an answer,” Scotch replied, dropping several bits on the counter and making her way towards the door. “Anyway, I’m late for class. I don’t need any more of your warped thoughts distracting me.”

“Hehe… sorry. See you tomorrow then, same time right?” he questioned, though he already knew the answer.

“Of course. This is the only thing that keeps me from killing these morons I see daily,” Scotch replied over her shoulder with a quick smile before trotting off in the direction of the university. Sunny just smiled and shook his head.

“Always a good way to start the day…” he mused.