Cold autumn mornings were rarely punctuated by any sort of noise in the early hours. Occasionally one could hear the gentle whistling call of the cardinal or chickadee who, for reasons not understood by ponykind, stayed through the winter rather than fly to warmer regions. Ember enjoyed hearing the light call of the cardinal on the outskirts of the forest surrounding her house. It was one of the only things about waking up that she didn’t hate. One thing was for certain, she was not a morning bird by any stretch of the definition.

Something was different this morning though. The cardinals call was replaced by a hum and a loud whirr that seemed to grow louder by the second. She brushed it off, figuring she was still asleep and simply hearing things. The noise grew louder still. A diesel engine roared to life outside the house, causing her eyes to shoot open; her bright green iris focusing on the room around her and her ears trying desperately to figure out what the hell could be making the cacophony of noise. Then it hit her. There was only one pony anywhere close that could be making such a racket: Scotch…

“I swear, I’m gonna strangle that crazy red bitch…” Ember muttered under her breath as she threw the covers off and stretched her wings out wide, earning a painful-sounding pop from them which made her wince before relaxing in satisfaction. Going to the window and looking out confirmed her suspicions. Across the front lawn was Scotch with a leaf blower and wood chipper. There was no need for any of these tools at this hour but Ember could certainly think of something she’d like to toss in the chipper right about now. Stomping across her room and flinging her door open she made her way downstairs, completely forgetting there was now somepony else there.

“Alright you little red bitch! You wanna play this game do ya?” Ember screamed out the front door at Scotch, who just carried on like nothing was going on, feigning deafness with her earmuffs on. Blue nearly fell off the couch at the outburst and shot up at the sound of Ember screaming.

“What the hell is going on?” Blue asked.

“About to make red pony woodchips is what’s going on,” Ember said as she stomped across the room to grab her coat. “That lunatic next door plays these stupid games with me all the time and I have no idea why. I’ve hardly said two words to her ever since she came here from Trottingham or wherever.”

“Have you ever tried talking to her? Maybe there’s some normal explanation why she’s doing this now,” Blue said reasonably. Ember was having none of that as she grabbed her coat off the hook.

“There is nothing that needs to be pulverized at this hour. It could at least wait until ten,” Ember said, sliding her large wing through the one side of the coat.

“Come on, don’t start a day like this. Let’s just have some breakfast and maybe she’ll stop soon,” Blue pleaded. An empty stomach was a powerful motivator.

“Fine, but after breakfast I’m calling those diamond dogs to undermine her driveway again. That was worth every single bit when she plopped into the sinkhole that one year,” Ember laughed. Blue looked at her nervously, not completely certain if she was kidding, but not wanting to find out either.

“Oookay then… Here, I’ll make some pancakes. They’re my favorite,” Blue said with a smile as she finished folding the blankets on the couch and trotted into the kitchen.

“Pancakes huh. Been quite a while since I’ve had those. Usually never have time to make ‘em in the morning before heading straight for the warehouse,” Ember said as she followed Blue to the kitchen table.

“You haven’t had pancakes like these, trust me,” Blue smiled as she gathered all the ingredients and began to mix. Ember sat at the table and stretched out her talons before kicking her back paws up onto the adjacent chair and reclining. Maybe she could get used to somepony else being around the house.

A week had passed since Blue first came to stay with Ember. With no promise of steady work anywhere on the horizon still, Blue was trying to contribute to the household as best she could by cleaning and cooking what she knew how. Ember was gone most of the day which made cleaning easy, not to mention using magic. She and Ember had been getting along great, putting her initial fears at bay for the time being. Blue even managed to calm the waters between Ember and Scotch just by distracting her with pancakes. Who knew that something so simple would be the griffin's weakness.

The days were mostly uneventful. Blue would do whatever around the house during the day, maybe trying to get some writing done at times but still a little too distracted to really make anything come of it. Ember would come home in the early evening and Blue would try to have something ready for when she came in. They would sit at the table and talk about a variety of things ranging from personal tastes to things around the house that needed done at some point or another. The topic of family came up once but both of them quickly steered the conversation elsewhere and had avoided it since.

“So Ember, what’s it like owning your own company already? I bet it’s nice having all that money,” Blue said as she cleaned a dish from the evening meal.

“Ha! Oh please. I wish it was a lot of money. Look around you Blue, bit signs everywhere. This place isn’t free to run,” Ember said as she gestured all around her with a wing. “I mean, sure, it’s great not having someone else telling you what to do, but the flip side is you have to do all the telling.”

“Hm, guess I never thought about that side of it,” Blue said. “Still doesn’t sound like a half-bad life though. You have a lot of nice things to show for it.”

“Eh, yeah I guess you’re right,” Ember sighed. “Kinda gets lonely though that’s for sure.” She cast her eyes down towards the table and got rather quiet. Blue could tell she was deep in thought about something.

“Have you always lived alone?” Blue asked her after a moment.

“Yeah. When I first went off to college I got a big loan and used part of it as a down payment on this place. The rest went to books and crap that are now just gathering dust upstairs. Maybe I could use the chemistry one to slap some sense into Scotch,” she chuckled.

“Why’d you stop?” Blue asked as she finished the dishes and stacked them back in the cabinet next to the sink.

“A few reasons really. One, I started to hate it after the first year and two, the money was running out fast. It was either take out another loan or stop going and use the rest of the money to take a risk and start my company. Fortunately for me it worked out. It’s bad enough I’ll be paying that damn loan off til I’m dead,” Ember said as she idly picked at her wing with a talon.

“Well you certainly seem to be on the right track now at least. I’m glad it turned out good so far,” Blue said as she took a seat across the table.

“Me too. It was really touch-and-go for a while but things have stabilized finally. It’s nice to have some extra bits to play with,” Ember chuckled as she glanced at the plush toy on the shelf that looked suspiciously like herself. Blue followed her gaze and gave her a weird look when she saw it. She didn’t know how she never noticed it before now.

“What the hell is that?” Blue asked.

“What? That? That’s Charcoal. Bought her at a convention I went to in Baltimare last year. She’s super rare,” Ember grinned.

“Uhuh, ok, sure... “ Blue raised a brow at her but chose to just let it go. Everypony had something they liked to collect she supposed.

“Anyways, I’m headed to bed. Finally finished that job at town hall today,” Ember said, getting up and stretching her wings wide and giving them a light flap.

“Yeah I’ll be turning in soon too,” Blue said. “Hey, could I talk to you about something in the morning before you head out? It’s been on my mind the last day or so.” Ember paused in the doorway and looked over her shoulder at Blue.

“Uh, yea, sure. Will it take long? I have a lot of work orders to go over from the week.”

“It shouldn’t, but if you want to wait til tomorrow night we can,” Blue said, rather quickly too Ember noted.

“Let’s just plan on when I get home then. If it’s important then I don’t wanna rush you,” Ember said as she headed up the stairs.

“Ok, that sounds great. I’ll cook something special too,” Blue said with a smile, hoping Ember didn’t pick up on her nervous tone. She waited until Ember was completely up the stairs and out of sight before dropping her smile instantly. She finally asked to talk to her, now the hard part was asking her if she could maybe make their living arrangement a more permanent thing.

Everything was perfect. The table was set, the food was being kept at the perfect temperature in the oven, and Charcoal had been dusted. All that was left was for Ember to walk through that door. Blue had been nervous about things in the past. Every time she submitted some of her writing she had to try and contain her feeling of hope and nervousness, knowing that it would most likely come back as a rejection yet again. But this was different. Ember wasn’t a publisher sorting through hundreds of submissions. She was able to talk to her face to face and convey emotion. Something that publishers lacked apparently…

“Oh Celestia I hope she doesn’t kick me out after this…” Blue muttered as she paced nervously around the kitchen, glancing at the clock every half a second it seemed. “What if she hates me for asking? What if she says no? *Gasp!* What if she actually says yes?!”

“Who you talking to Blue?” Ember asked as she opened the kitchen door.

“Ehehehehe… nopony at all Ember. Just my usual writers ramblings,” Blue grinned, hoping to throw the attention somewhere else. “I made your favorite, salmon.”

“Mmmm yes I could smell it as soon as I came up the driveway. Can’t freakin wait!” Ember said as she tossed her coat on the hook and hurried over to the table, which she noted seemed to be set with even more care than usual.

“Here you go,” Blue said, levitating a full plate in front of her. “I spent all day on this making sure it’s perfect. Hope you like it.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever had salmon I didn’t like,” Ember chuckled as she immediately dove into the plate stacked with salmon and assorted steamed vegetables. “Oh Celestia is that delicious,” she cooed.

“Great,” Blue smiled, taking a plate of veggies for herself and sitting opposite the ravenous griffin. After a few minutes of devouring her food, Ember finally slowed down to a reasonable pace. Blue saw this as her chance to make her move. “So Ember… We’ve been living together for almost two weeks now.”

“Mhm. Yah it’s been gweat,” Ember said through her beak full of food.

“Oh I agree completely,” Blue replied. “That’s kinda what I want to talk to you about actually… You see, I’ve come to realize I just might not be able to find any work writing anytime soon. I’m not giving it up of course, but I’m thinking about trying to find some kinda small job here in town somewhere just to get some savings built back up.”

“Makes sense to me,” Ember said, currently in between mouthfuls.

“Good. So….” Blue trailed off. “I was wondering what you might think about me maybe, possibly, I dunno… staying here on a more permanent basis?” Blue held her breath as the words left her mouth. It was out in the open now; completely out of her control. Ember froze, a spoonful of veggies halfway to her mouth.

“Come again?” Ember said, lowering the spoon back to the plate.

“I just, well, I dunno… Maybe it was a dumb idea. Forget I said anything. Dessert?” Blue tried to force a grin as she presented a piece of chocolate cake.

“No no, what are you implying here?” Ember asked her, folding her claws on the table in front of her.

“Well, I felt we were getting along so well now that maybe you wouldn’t mind me actually living here for a while. I want to get a job of some kind so I can at least help out and give you something in return, I don’t expect to stay for free,” Blue glanced to the left of Ember and could swear Charcoal was laughing at her. She had to remember to put a glass lid over that thing…

“Hm, you know what? That sounds pretty good. It has been pretty great having somepony to come home to these past nights as opposed to a dark house. Sure. Stay as long as you need Blue,” Ember said with a smile.

“Really? I don’t want to invade your personal space or anything of course…” Blue said, still not certain that she heard right.

“Eh, this house is plenty big enough for two of us. It hasn’t been a problem these last few weeks so I don’t see the big change really, just extended til whenever,” Ember shrugged. “We can finish cleaning out those boxes tomorrow and finally get your stuff off my wagon in the garage; been needing that thing at the warehouse actually.”

“Oh I promise you won’t regret this Ember!” Blue squealed as she jumped up and ran across the table to give her a big hug. Ember was startled at first but relaxed and closed her wings up and patted Blue on the back.

“Don’t mention it Blue. You’re not the only one who likes having somepony else around,” Ember said as she decided to return the hug with more sentiment. “I think this’ll work out just fine.”