Of all the noises one could wake up to, Sunny never understood why the obnoxious buzzer was the sound of choice for alarm clock manufacturers. Effective, yes, but also annoying to all hell. Even better was how the clock always seemed just out of reach when it started blaring its greeting. Wonderful way to start one’s morning…

Sunny couldn’t recall the last time he ever went to bed as late as he did the night before. His life was so routine that spending the night with Blue, Ember, and then Apple until late really threw off his normal rhythm. Turning over in bed, Sunny was greeted with a piercing beam of light threading its way straight through the inch-wide gap in the curtains. Waving his hoof around wildly, he finally managed to make contact with the still-complaining clock and ended its audible assault. Letting out a sigh at the silence now surrounding him, he slowly and reluctantly rolled out of bed, nearly continuing to roll right over were it not for a quick grab for the bedside table for stabilization.

Making his way into the bathroom off his bedroom for a quick brush to get the stale taste out of his mouth, Sunny started to form a mental checklist of things he needed to do today. He recalled that his keys were still in his pocket from the night before, so he wouldn’t have to panic when they weren’t on the hook, and also that he would need to take a different route to work today to avoid the main street that had been commandeered by the fillies and colts in the area as their snow battlefield. Sunny may have liked winter, but getting smacked upside the head with a cold slush ball was a different matter.

Picking his head up from spitting out the toothpaste, Sunny caught a glimpse in the mirror of the clock on the blue and white tiled wall behind him. His pupils shrunk to pinpricks when he saw it read 7:45. He had to be at Cuppa Joe's at 7:55 to open at 8 and it was at least a 10 minute walk in good weather, let alone snow. Time to hurry! Trotting to the kitchen, he passed through the spacious living room; one of his favorite rooms in the apartment. It may have been rather large for just one pony, but he certainly couldn’t complain about the large TV flanked by two floor-to-ceiling bookshelves packed with all his favorites. His parents always told him that he should strive to do something more with his life and buy a house like a proper stallion his age, but he just didn’t see the need. Years of saving and not having to take out a bunch of loans for college had enabled him to get a more reasonably-sized apartment and have a nest egg of bits in the bank. He was perfectly comfortable.

Tapping a hoof on the counter, Sunny impatiently stared at the red-hot heating coils of the toaster oven as it warmed up his rushed breakfast. The bell didn’t even finish ringing before he grabbed the muffin from the tray, juggled it a few times before grasping the very hot pastry in his teeth and rushed to the door to put on his coat. As he shut his apartment door and turned to rush down the hall, he saw Berry Punch’s tail sticking out from her closed apartment door. No doubt she was completely passed out on the other side and stuck with her ass against the door as she was known to do in her drunken stupors. Sunny merely rolled his eyes as he trotted by and opened the front door to the street.

If the alarm clock was a bad way to wake up, so was sub-freezing winds to the face. Sunny cringed as he squinted at the piercing wind and turned towards the coffee shop. The battle on Mane Street was in full swing by this point seeing that school was cancelled for at least today. Making his way down the icy street was a challenge all its own and Sunny felt he deserved a reward for managing to not fall on his plot even once. Maybe a nice hot chocolate would be in order. The thought brought a smile to his face as he rounded the corner and started to approach the coffee shop, still arriving about five minutes late despite his quickened pace.

Standing outside the shop was one of the part-time helpers, Apricot. She was a very light orange-colored earth pony with a white mane with light green stripes. Studying culinary at the university, she had applied for the job at the coffee shop figuring it could give her some experience in the industry. She was fairly new but picked up everything Sunny taught her really fast so he was more than appreciative to have her help during the morning rushes.

“Morning Apricot, sorry for running a bit late. I was out with some friends last night and got to bed later than I planned” Sunny said as he unlocked the door and held it open for her to enter.

“Eh don’t worry about it. I was only here for a few minutes. Any longer and I’d have to hit you with a stale muffin though” Apricot said jokingly as she hung up her scarf and went behind the counter to begin prep work. “Did you have fun?”

“Oh yes. It made me realize it’s been quite a long time since I got out and just hung out with other ponies. Really cool ones too, plus a griffin” Sunny said as he hung his scarf and coat beside hers on the rack and began counting the register.

“A griffin huh? The one that runs that shipping company on the other side of town?” Apricot asked.

“Yeah, her name’s Ember. I imagine they named her after the unique fire-like color of her feathers; really cool looking. She’s actually letting Blue stay with her since she apparently fell on hard times” Sunny said as he counted.

“Oh Blue? Wow that’s too bad. She’s always in here scribbling a ton of stuff down on those notepads, but now that you mention her I guess it has been a little bit since I saw her last. Guess that would explain it” Apricot said as she stacked clean glasses in rows for quick access.

“Yeah, being a writer is apparently a lot harder than just writing. She at least has Ember to keep her company and support her. Apple on the other hand, well, not so lucky let’s just say that” Sunny chuckled as he closed the register and washed his hooves before preparing the various pastries in the case.

“Apple? Like ‘Apple’ Apple?” Apricot asked with a puzzled look. “They got that whole farm. What could possibly be wrong there?”

“No no, different Apple. He made that quite clear actually so I imagine he gets that confusion a lot. This one lives with his brother Pippin in a small apartment across the street from The Watering Hole. I actually had to help carry his brother home after he passed out at the bar. It was rather amusing to see Berry put him in a headlock though” Sunny mused as he wiped down the glass on the case. “Anyways, after we got Pippin in bed, we talked for a bit. Nice guy but damn does he need to get laid. You should’ve seen him blush when I said he liked Blue.”

“What makes you say that he does?” Apricot asked as she flipped the ‘closed’ sign to ‘open’.

“He was sneaking peeks at her all night at the bar. Pretty obvious if you ask me. It’s hard to believe how shy he is though. Maybe I can help him somehow” Sunny said.

“And just how do you plan on doing that Mr. I’ve-Never-Been-On-A-Date?” Apricot teased. “If anyone should give him advice it’s me. At least I’ve dated a few ponies.”

“Hey I’ve read books on it so shush” Sunny retorted. “I may not be able to give first-hoof advice, but it doesn’t mean I can’t offer some pointers.”

“Ok Doctor” Apricot chuckled as she went into the back to grab some more glassware. “So what did you guys do? Just drink?”

“No, we ate too” Sunny said in a smart-ass tone. He could feel Apricot rolling her eyes and grinned a little. “We just got to know each other really. Blue and Ember got into a drinking match and I can only imagine how that turned out later after we left.”

“Heh, that I would’ve liked to see” Apricot shouted from the back. “You guys gonna hang out again sometime soon?”

“Hopefully. We’re supposed to be in touch sometime soon to make plans to do something. I’m really excited actually. Like I said, it's been a while since I did anything besides just work. Lemme tell you, it gets old pretty damn quick” Sunny said as he glanced out the window at some ponies milling by on the sidewalk out front.

“Good for you Sun. It’s nice to see you perky. You were starting to get all mopey around here and it was a real bummer” Apricot said as she returned from the back with several trays of glasses on her back. The way earth ponies managed to balance things on their back was something that never made sense to Sunny, but he surely didn’t question it seeing how he lacked a horn and wings himself.

“Yeah, well, working a lot and doing nothing else will tend to do that to ya” he replied. “But that’s behind me now.”

“Cool. Listen, I’m gonna run downstairs to get more muffin mix. You ok for a few?”

“Yeah, sure. Take your time” Sunny replied, putting on his apron and walking behind the counter to wait for the first customer.

It was about fifteen minutes before the bell over the door jingled, signifying the first of the morning crowd. Sunny greeted each customer with a smile and a “Hello, welcome to Cuppa Joe’s”, something that always brought a smile to their faces for whatever reason. But who was he to argue if it made them happy? He and Apricot steadily worked away at the stream of customers that continued in for the better part of the morning; he handled the bakery case and the register while she flipped and tossed glasses around like a juggler making all the custom drinks. Occasionally they would glance at each other and grin. Apricot knew what to do as she tossed a glass filled with beans into the air, spun around, grabbed the jug of milk, poured it into another glass, spun back around to catch the first glass and hoofed it perfectly into the bean grinder. The crowd in front of the case watched in awe and stomped their hooves in applause when she finished. The great drinks were only part of the reason so many ponies came here in the morning.

As the morning crowd finally began to die down to a trickle, Sunny and Apricot began to clean up. The afternoons were never really busy enough for both of them to be there so Apricot usually took off around noon, leaving Sunny to handle the rest of the day.

“Alrighty Sun, I’m outta here if that’s cool with you” Apricot said as she came out of the back, wiping her hooves dry on a towel.

“Yeah that’s fine. Great job today” Sunny said with a smile as he finished counting the morning sales and filling out the paperwork. Celestia did he hate the paperwork…

“Cool. See ya tomorrow. Hope you catch up with your friends soon” she said as she trotted out the door. Sunny nodded and continued counting as Apple came in as Apricot was going out.

“Hey Sunny, how’s it going?” Apple asked, walking up to the counter and looking over the numerous pastries begging to be eaten.

“Hey Apple, didn’t expect to see you today. What’s up?” Sunny asked, putting down the paperwork and closing the register.

“Not much, just out for a walk around town. Hey, I came across some fliers for this music concert thing somewhere next week, wanted to see if you wanted to go. Figured it’s something you, me, Ember and Blue could enjoy” Apple said as he showed Sunny the flyer he came across earlier on his way there.

“Sure, sounds great. Wanna meet at the bar before and we’ll go from there?”

“Works for me. I’ll call Ember and Blue later and see if they wanna come. Sure hope they say yes” he said with a hint of doubt in his voice.

“I’m sure they will. They seem like the fun-loving types so I don’t see them passing up the chance to get outta the house. I know I sure as hell don’t” Sunny said with a chuckle. “Just up until last night I didn’t have anypony to go out of the house with.”

“Heh, yeah I know what you mean. I had such a great time last night I barely slept, was humming all morning. Pissed Pippin off to no end but so what” Apple shrugged with a smile. “It’s about time I get to piss him off for a change.” The bell above the door jingled as a group of four ponies trotted in chatting to one another, making their way to the bakery case with hungry looks in their eyes. “Well, looks like you gotta get back to work. The fliers are all around town for the concert if you need some details but we’ll talk before then I’m sure.”

“Sounds like a plan” Sunny said as he turned to the group of ponies. “Hello, welcome to Cuppa Joe’s!”

It actually took quite some time to serve this group of friends. No wonder, one of them was Lyra Heartstrings. It wasn’t that she was indecisive, she was just really distracted by her friends visiting from Canterlot, and her marefriend, Bon-Bon. Sunny always had a good time talking to Bon-Bon, even if the conversation right now was just her apologizing for Lyra constantly getting sidetracked and turning around to talk to her friends.

“I’m so sorry, she’s always like this when they come over” Bon-Bon said. “It’s like she suddenly has the mind and soul of a school filly. I can only imagine what they would be like if they had their other friend Moondancer come over too.”

“Moondancer?” Sunny asked.

“Well, she was mentioned once or twice. I’m sure that if she was once friends with this lot, she’s probably a real social butterfly. Though I don’t understand why she’s never come over before… Eh, probably too busy I guess. Anyway, I’m really sorry” Bon-Bon said, and then pulled Lyra away from her friends. After giving her a stern ‘Order. Now.’, Lyra finally got something.

“At least we didn’t hold anypony else up” Bon-Bon said as she walked away from the counter with her bag of pastries. But when Sunny looked to the front door to confirm, he saw Scotch. How long had she been standing there?

“About five minutes” she said, seemingly reading his mind. “You know how I mention sometimes that I feel invisible and ignored? Right there.” She walked up to the counter. “I mean, seriously, why can’t twats notice me sometimes? It’s not like I blend in with my surroundings” she said, gesturing to her dark red coat. “Ah, whatever. Just give me my usual.”

Sunny smiled and started on her drink. He crushed some coffee beans for her coffee while he warmed up the water. “You’re later than usual. Don’t you have school today?”

Scotch looked at Sunny as if he was an idiot. “Uh, it’s the weekend. Equestria to Sunny?”

“Weekend already?” Sunny blinked a few times. “Where did this week disappear to?”

Scotch simply shrugged. “I dunno man. All I know is that this weekend is nothing but misery. Gotta study for three tests and one exam, like I don’t already have enough to do. I tell you, I could really use a pick-me-up.”

Sunny chuckled. “Like a quick fuck with somepony?” He chuckled to himself again as he turned the coffee machine on.

“Oh ha ha ha, aren’t you a comedian. Although… it might not be such a bad idea…” Scotch contemplated.

“Hey, as long as it’ll make you feel better. Celestia knows it’s not the first time you’ve done it purely for the pleasure. You used to tell me all about it, remember?” Sunny said, referring to the fact that, up until a few months ago, Scotch got laid pretty regularly. Strictly mares though, and in various ways too. It was pretty clear to Sunny that Scotch was a bit of a slut. Well, quite a big one actually. She’d do just about anything to satisfy her needs, but as of late she had stopped doing it, instead finding joy in the simpler things in life like annoying her neighbor. He thought all this to himself as he handed Scotch her coffee.

“Yeah, I think I might do just that. Ember has gotten into the habit of digging holes in my front lawn as a retaliation for who the hell knows what, and for the love of Celestia I can’t avoid them. Everywhere I walk, there’s a bloody hole. It’s shite!” Scotch exclaimed, with even more of a Trottingham accent than usual.

Sunny nodded. He never really understood the rivalry between Ember and Scotch. He tried to get Scotch to call a ceasefire, but to no avail. Just then he remembered the concert Apple had mentioned. Ember would be there too. If there was any place where those two would call a truce, it would be there he thought. Nopony liked making a huge scene in public, right?

“Hey, there’s this music thing happening next week. I’m going with a few friends of mine. Maybe you’d want to come along?”

Scotch was in the middle of gulping down half her coffee, but put it down on the counter to answer. “Uh… sure? I enjoy good music as much as the next pony so I don’t see why not…” she said, hesitating ever so slightly.

“I’m glad to hear that. I promise you, it’ll be fun. I think you’ll really be able to hit it off with my friends” he said while he smiled brightly.

“Uh, ok then, sure. I’ll try to be there” she said, enveloping her coffee in a burnt orange glow as she hovered it to her mouth, drinking it all down at once. When it was empty, she crushed the empty cup on the counter. “Ahh… That feels good…” Scotch gave Sunny one of her rare smiles. “This should get me through the day. Do you have any idea how much studying I have to do? It’s crazy. This semester is bloody brutal.” Sunny gave her a small smile and nod.

“I’m sure it is, but you’ll pull through. You always do” Sunny said as Scotch turned to leave.

And with that, Scotch walked out of the coffee shop and turned towards home. Sunny watched her disappear around the street corner, all the while making a list in his head of things to say to get Ember and Scotch to sign a truce.