Apple stretched himself out as he woke up. It had been a pretty rough night, not like he wasn’t used to that by now. He had a tendency to stay up late playing games. It brought along its own problems though, mainly still being awake at 3 AM, realizing the time, and then quickly stumbling off to bed without brushing his teeth. It wasn’t ideal, and it definitely wasn’t helpful when Pippin was pleasuring himself in the bed on the other side of the room. It took a while to fall into a dreamless sleep.

He rubbed his eyes with his hooves as he moved his back legs sideways so they hung partly outside of the bed, waiting for the strength to return to his muscles. When it finally came and he attempted to stand, he nearly fell out of bed. This definitely wasn’t the first time this had happened though; he had a carpet put next to the bed for that very reason. Standing up fully, he checked the clock for the time. 10 a.m. Really? It was that late already?

Not like he had anywhere to be. Being out of a job had its merits at times. He noticed how Pippin wasn’t in his bed across the room. Calling out for him yielded no reply. A quick inspection of the very small apartment confirmed that Pippin wasn’t home. He sat down on the chair beneath the huge panoramic window, which also served as the dining chair for the folding dinner table. It was the one place of the apartment he actually liked. He could stare out over Ponyville with Twilight’s Castle in the background for hours, especially at night when the light coming from the houses gave off the most beautiful reflection in the castle’s crystal walls.

Apple came back to wondering where Pippin was. He did occasionally have to actually visit some of the real estate he bought so he assumed that to be the case. The business must be booming with all the new ponies moving to Ponyville following the new Princess’ ascension. That meant only one thing: Pippin would make even more money, making him feel like the superior even more so than he already did. Ever since Apple lost his job, Pippin had to pay all the bills and he wouldn’t shut up about it. Apple could recall a shouting match just three days ago...

“You’re miserable! Ever since you lost your job you’ve been a failure! Mom was right as always. You have no idea what the fuck to do with your life, your degree is useless, and now you’re some sort of crazy cultist?! What the fuck are you doing?!” Pippin shouted, his voice nearly cracking.

Apple could only sit there on the couch, eyes downcast. He knew Pippin was right.

“I don’t know what to do with you Elstar” Pippin muttered as he closed his eyes.

“Like your life is so fucking perfect…” Apple said under his breath, but not quiet enough.

“Ex-fucking-cuse me?!” Pippin opened his rage-filled eyes again.

“You have an easy job, you drink like crazy, you shout at ponies over the internet, you bring home anypony that tickles your fancy, you… you…” Apple was struggling to find the words.

“What? I what?! Come on, spit it out!”

Apple remained silent.

“That’s what I thought. You’re a real pansy aren’t you. You’re out there all day, making no progress on spreading your bullshit cult, crying about how bad you feel for poor Glimmer or whatever she’s called. Well guess what, nopony fucking cares!”

That argument probably went on for another 45 minutes after that. The memory of the truth being flung in his face in such a way hurt him. Pippin was right. Maybe it was all pointless. Apple went to the kitchen; the only other place of the apartment he cared to be. He liked to think of himself as quite the cook. The best parts of the day were either when he was letting go playing some games or losing himself in a good cooking session. It was also the one way to get Pippin to shut up sometimes; having him chow down on his amazing pasta. Well, he used the term “amazing” pretty loosely when it came to cooking, but it was still the best pasta he’d ever tasted.

Apple thought of the kitchen as his personal domain. Pippin was completely useless in the kitchen so he barely ever entered. Apple mindlessly threw some hay bacon strips into a frying pan; one of his favorite breakfasts. Once more, he lost himself in his cooking, even if it was just making sure the hay bacon didn’t burn. He remembered when he used to really get along with Pippin. Things had always been great between them growing up, but they split apart to study. Pippin went on to some college, and Apple moved to a Canterlot Uni dorm. During that time, Pippin had changed. Both of them had. Canterlot Uni was absolutely brutal, or at least it was to Apple. He barely got his degree. Pippin had dropped out of college, but during his time in the second year there, he really changed for the worse.

The crackling of fat coming from the hay bacon strips made him come back to the real world. He quickly turned them over and started levitating a plate and some cutlery out of the cabinets, along with some bread out of a small wooden box in the corner. When the strips were done he put them on the bread and sat down at the folding dinner table in the living room.

Apple sighed before biting into his breakfast. He had no friends, no job, no money to really speak of. He was alone. His conversion thing was failing and he had pretty much alienated himself from most of the Ponyville residents because of it. Everypony he approached brushed him away, not interested at all with what he had to say. He got slapped by the local elementary school teacher for asking if she wouldn’t mind teaching some of the Equality teachings in her class.

He found himself staring at the wall with the warm smell of the food glowing against his chin. He couldn’t keep going on like this. Slowly he took another bite and began to think. If only there was some way he could start over, but in this harsh world there were no such things as do-over’s.

But where to even begin a comeback? He tried to think. Was there anypony who didn’t instantly turn him down? Well… that griffin and that mare from last night seemed pretty nice. He nearly face-hoofed himself. “Silly Apple… they won’t just accept you like that.” But the least he could do was try, right? “Maybe they would. But you can’t just walk up to somepony and ask them to be your friend.” 'Why not though?' he thought to himself. He should at least try. “Hmm… you’re right. Wait… am I talking to myself?” Yes. Yes he was. “Now I know I really need to get out more…” Apple was right, and the voice in his head agreed. “Agh! Stop…” Giving himself a few good taps to the head, Apple went to the kitchen, got some sweets for the road from the glass jar on top of the refrigerator, opted for his scarf rather than his cloak, and walked outside into the biting fall air.

He immediately regretted not putting on his cloak, but he had already locked the door to their apartment complex and didn’t feel like dealing with the bother of opening it again. He’d just have to soldier through it. He tightened his scarf once more and moved on.

Before leaving, he had quickly looked up Ember on the computer. The ‘Talon Logistics Inc.’ website wasn’t the most advanced site ever, but it served its purpose. He easily found Ember’s home address. It was on the outskirts of Ponyville, quite a ways away from his apartment actually, but he could manage. A walk around Ponyville would do him well anyway seeing how it was pretty much the only exercise he ever got.

Ponyville was great this time of year. Well, it was usually pretty great, but something about walking through all the orange and yellow, past all the shop windows with a gentle breeze in the air made him feel warm inside. And he needed to feel warm inside, apparently winter was going to be quite extreme this year according to the monthly Cloudsdale Weather Report everypony gets. Apple loved winter though, so he wasn’t one to complain.

It was quite refreshing; walking through mellow Ponyville, hopefully starting a new life soon. This was something he really needed. He had been a bit depressed for a few weeks now by his repetitive failings and was determined not to mess this up. Not now. That would probably be the worst thing that could possibly happen right now. He quickly shook his head to banish such thoughts.

It was about 30 minutes to Ember’s house. He had plenty of time to come up with something to say that wouldn’t come across as being incredibly awkward and weird, as he was famous for. That was going to be the biggest problem. He wasn’t exactly the best at conversation. In those 30 minutes, he accomplished coming up with a great total of zero things to say. When he finally made it up to Ember’s front gate, he hesitated and reconsidered about four times before finally making his way to the front door and knocking.

“Whatcha' wanna talk to Miss Bird Brain for?” a red unicorn jeered over the hedge separating the two lawns.

“Excuse me?” Apple said, giving her a weird look.

“Nothing. Just watch yourself or you’ll end up in a sinkhole under your own driveway” she commented, walking back to her front door and kicking it shut behind her. Apple had no idea what the mare was talking about and decided to just let it go. He rang the doorbell this time, assuming his prior knock went unheard.

“I’m coming!” came a voice from inside the house. Apple stepped back a few feet, observing the well-built pieces of furniture arranged on the porch. Seeing the door open out of the corner of his eye, he was fully expecting the giant griffin to swing the door open but was pleasantly surprised when he was greeted by the sight of the blue unicorn mare from the bar the other night.

“Can I help you?” she inquired.

“Um, yes, uh, well, maybe. Ehehehe…” Apple stumbled. He knew he was making an ass of himself by the strange look on her face; he had to get it together. It was at this moment he realized he had absolutely no excuse as to why he was there. Thinking quickly, he pulled something out of his flank that he didn’t think would work in a million years. “I’d like to know how much it would be to pack and move a small apartment-full of belongings.” Genius! Well done Apple.

“Oh, well you’ll have to talk to Ember about that, that’s her business. I’m just staying here for a while” Blue said, turning around and heading back into the house. “Why don’t you come in? I’ll go get her for you.”

“Great, thank you” Apple said, moving into the foyer and taking a look around as he unwrapped his scarf. The house was a cottage-style house, very cozy and warm. A crackling fire burned brightly in the fireplace, sending dancing light across the floor. “Have a seat anywhere, I’ll be right back” Blue said as she trotted upstairs. Apple nodded and slowly circled the couch and chose to have a seat on the chair in the corner. After several moments, Blue trotted back down the stairs, trailed by Ember.

“So, Blue tells me you need some stuff moved. How big of a place are we talking?” Ember said to Apple as she rounded the couch and had a seat, Blue sitting next to her.

“Yes. I’m currently living with my oaf of a brother and can’t take it anymore. I just want a place of my own finally” Apple said, more-or-less making it all up as he went. He could just reference all the dreams he had of finally moving out and it became rather convincing, even to him.\

“Don’t I know you from somewhere?” Ember said, squinting her eyes and tapping her scarily sharp talon on the couch arm.

“Heheh… Yes, I was in the bar that night, rambling on about my crazy ideas…” Apple said, rolling his eyes at how bizarre he must have come across to them now. “But that’s not an accurate depiction of who I am, trust me. I may be odd, but I’m not insane I assure you.”

“That’s what they all say” Ember said, chuckling and rolling her eyes. “So what do you need moved? Just some boxes or furniture too?”

“Well there’s a few boxes, a couch, some computer equipment…” Apple drolled on, his eyes rolling around the room as he tried to come up with more stuff that imaginably needed moving. “Aw hell… Pippin always told me I was a terrible liar… Look, I’m not here to discuss moving things. The truth is I just wanted to see you two again. After talking to you that night in the bar, I was thinking it would be kinda nice to get to know you.” Blue and Ember were wearing matching expressions of raised brows. Both sat in silence while looking at the fidgeting stallion in the armchair. “It was a stupid idea, huh…”

“Well I’m not gonna lie, you were super weird in the bar” Ember said with a grin. “But I’ve certainly seen weirder characters around believe it or not. What do you do?”

“Well nothing currently” Apple said, casting his eyes downward. “I was working for Princess Twilight but that ended rather abruptly once she found out about my ‘unique’ interests. So for now I’m stuck living with my plothole of a brother until I can find some kind of work to get a place of my own finally.”

“I feel your pain” Blue said with a chuckle. “Ember here was kind enough to let me live with her until I can find steady work myself. Being a writer sure isn’t what I envisioned it to be…”

“Working for Twilight was the first job I had out of school actually” Apple said. “It was great while it lasted but, well, yeah. It’s over and done with now. Not really sure what’s gonna be next. If my cutie mark is any indication, I’m not exactly the luckiest pony around.” Blue and Ember looked at the spilled salt shaker adorning his flank as he gestured to it with a sarcastic wave of his hoof. “Stupid thing…”

“It’s… Um, not that bad” Blue said. “It could be just a generic purple shield with a vague symbol inside or something.”

“Ponies and their crazy butt tattoos…”Ember drolled. “It’s times like these that I’m glad to be a griffin. None of that ‘destiny’ nonsense. Do what I want, when I want to.”

“We’ve talked about this before Ember, it’s not that cut-and-dry” Blue said with a slight roll of her eyes.

“Whatever” Ember replied as she got up from the couch and headed towards the kitchen. “Anyone want some watermelon?”

Apple’s eye did a quick twitch that fortunately went undetected by the pair. “Uh, no. None for me thanks. Just some juice if you have it” Apple replied.

Ember disappeared around the doorway, leaving just Apple and Blue in the room. Apple nervously played with his hooves, trying not to make eye contact with Blue inadvertently. Blue just calmly sat there, unaware of the stallions inner struggle.

“Do you like hoofball?” Blue asked, startling Apple out of his daze.

“Huh? Oh, eh, not particularly. My brother more or less ruined all oval-shaped objects for me when we were young… I prefer reading or online gaming myself” Apple replied.

“Oh, I see” Blue said. “What do you like to read?”

“I’m a fan of Mules Verne myself. Occasionally some comic books at times. For the artwork of course…” Apple said, rubbing the back of his mane.

“Heh, you and Ember might have something in common then. She has a plush of herself in the kitchen that she insists is worth a lot of money. Thing just creeps me out…” Blue said.

“Don’t tell me it’s Charcoal!” Apple said, a lot louder than he intended. “I mean, yes, I’ve read a lot about those. I saw that there was a signed Charcoal plush bought at last years convention in Baltimare but never found out where it went. I’ll have to see it sometime.”

Blue just rolled her eyes. “I’m sure she’d be more than happy to show you.”

“What’s this I hear about Charcoal?” Ember said, re-entering the living room with a tray of glasses of juice and a few slices of melon. “Don’t be hating on my precious.”

“Seems we have another pony here who knows about her. Better lock her up before the nerd parade comes and grabs her” Blue joked.

“You’re just jelly Blue. She’s so show-accurate it’s scary” Ember said as she sat the tray on the table and took her seat next to Blue again. “So what’d I miss?”

“Nothing much, just Apple saying how he likes to read. That’s how we got onto the plush topic” Blue replied, taking a glass of juice from the tray.

“Ah, nice. I’m more into reading myself. That TV behind you is more for decoration than anything honestly” Ember said as she pointed a wingtip towards the TV on the wall behind Apple. “I’m way too busy now to watch anything.”

“Heh, I wish I knew that feeling” Apple replied. “Right now I have nothing but time on my hooves until I can land a job somewhere. I used to beg for time to watch TV when I was busy at the castle but now it’s become an enemy.”

“I manage to keep rather busy around here while Ember’s at work by either writing or cleaning up a bit. It’s amazing how much junk she’s accumulated all by herself really” Blue mused, elbowing Ember in the side lightly.

“Whatever Miss Neat Freak” Ember said back, gently slapping Blue upside the head with a wing. If Apple didn’t know any better, he’d say these two had been friends for years.

“Anyway, I could always use some extra help around the warehouse if you’re ever interested” Ember said, turning back to Apple.

“Oh I certainly appreciate the offer, but I have a few other options I’m working on at the moment.” He didn’t, but they didn’t need to know that. “I’ll certainly keep it in mind though.”

“Alrighty, you know where to find me now” Ember said. Apple gave a small smile and nodded.

“This might be a long shot, but would you two care to grab a drink with me sometime? Get to know each other more?” Apple suggested, hoping that the pair would be up for it.

“I don’t see why not” Ember shrugged. “Blue?”

“Yea that sounds like fun” Blue said with a smile. “How’s Friday around 7 sound?”

“Heh, I’m wide open” Apple said with a chuckle. “I’ll meet you two at the bar we were at before. Sound good?”

“Yep” the pair replied in unison. Is that what happened when you lived with someone for an extended period? Celestia he hoped not since he was still stuck with Pippin…

“Great. See you then” Apple said with a smile. Getting up, he made his way towards the door, grabbing his scarf off the hook and wrapping it around his neck in preparation for the biting wind outside. Ember and Blue turned on the couch and gave him a quick wave as he pulled the door shut behind him and took a few steps off the porch. Once he was a safe distance from the house, he let a massive grin plaster itself on his face.

“I can’t freakin believed that worked…” he muttered to himself. “Sit on my horn and spin, I have a date!” Apple squee’d as he trotted back towards town.