The dragoness known as Ember shoved through the building’s set of glass doors and swiftly removed her sunglasses—draining what remained of her purchased black coffee to then throw into the trash.

She eyed the receptionist behind the desk. “Hey, could you tell Gary that—”

“Ember!?” the human receptionist squeaked, her eyes bulging from the sight. “So you really do work here! I thought you looked familiar before, but—”

Ember held out a claw to stop her. “Technically, I don’t ‘work’ here. Gary’s just my agent. And speaking of Gary… could you maybe tell him that I’m here?”

Instantly, the receptionist’s face went crimson. “Oh! Of course! I was just so star struck there for a second. As if the same Ember from My Little Pony came into my office today and—”

When Ember raised a curious brow, the receptionist squeaked out again and finally paged for her boss. A moment later, the doors at the other end of the room swung open and a balding man in an expensive suit rushed out to welcome her.

“Ember!” Gary greeted warmly. “Baby! Honey! How long has it been? Feels like forever! My receptionist annoying you? I’ll get a new one. Just for you! Anything you want!”

Ember chuckled uneasily as Gary gave her cheek a kiss and led her back into his office.

“Your receptionist is fine, Gary,” she told him. “Sadly, I’ve been having that same kind of reaction everywhere I’ve gone ever since that Pony episode aired. People are yelling at me from their cars for Pete’s sake!”

Gary went behind his thick marble desk as Ember took a seat on one of his office’s couches, crossing one leg over the other. She glanced at the fruit tray on the coffee table between them.

“I had some cut up fruit brought in,” Gary explained. “Want a coffee? Tea? Water? Cocktail? Shot of tequila?”

“It’s ten in the morning, Gary,” Ember replied dryly. “But I’m fine, thanks.”

Gary barked out a laugh. “You’re right! So right! This fruit spread’s just terrible! I’ll chew out my receptionist for this!” Punching a button on his phone, he got into contact with the girl in the other room. “Rachel? This fruit just won’t do! Ember herself said so! So pack up your bags and beat it!”

“You’re firing me?” Rachel asked helplessly on the other end. “Again?”

“Not unless your receptionist skills improve,” Gary replied snidely. “Now stop bothering us! I’m with Ember right now, so hold all my calls.” He loudly hung up and turned back to Ember. “So where were we? Talking about that episode of My Little Pony?”

Ember smiled thinly. “I’d rather not, actually. I shot that thing six months ago and haven’t really thought about it since. I actually came to see what other projects you had for me. You did say you had some projects to show me.”

“I do! I do indeed!” Gary said, grinning at her like a hungry shark. “Everyone in this company just knew you were talented before, but this My Little Pony thing changes everything. After that episode aired, I can’t go five minutes without getting a call about you. You’re hot stuff, Ember! In more ways than one, if I do say so myself.”

Ember’s smile faltered a bit. “I have a boyfriend, Gary.”

“And I have a wife! So what’s the big deal?” Gary laughed heartily again. “Only kidding, Ember. In all seriousness though, since last week you’ve become the company’s new rising star. So that means we need to capitalize on it! I’m talking toys, posters, Halloween costumes, sports drinks, coffee commercials—”

“What?” Ember blurted, leaning forward on the couch. “You mean as the character I played on My Little Pony? Listen, Gary, as fun as shooting that was, I don’t want to get typecast as just that character. I’ve done a lot of other work than simply that TV show, remember? Those two seasons on Game of Thrones? That roommate character I played on How I Met Your Mother? Heck, I even did an episode of Sherlock last year!”

“I remember, Ember,” Gary informed her. “And now I have to ask: how was it working with Benedict Cumberbatch?”

Ember’s eyes rolled up into the back of her head as she took on a soft dreamy expression. “Fantastic! Flipping fantastic! I’d hack off one of my own wings if it meant I could work with him again. Anything for Cumberbatch. That’s my motto.” She sighed. “I’m not even mad he got to play Smaug over me. I know I was a close second, though.”

Gary nodded a few times. “Okay, okay. So no more My Little Pony for the time being. Would it change your mind if I told you the network wants to expand on your character? Would the term ‘spinoff’ do anything for you?”

Ember shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not getting typecast, Gary. One more episode as ‘Ember’? Maybe. But I’m not gonna sink so low as to start visiting conventions and signing autographs for twenty bucks a pop. I’m still a character actress, Gary! I still care about acting!”

“I know! I know!” Gary responded, holding his hands out to her. “All I’m saying is now’s not a bad time to be ‘Ember’. People all across the world are demanding more ‘Ember’, so why should I try and deny them what they want? Onto another topic: you ever thought about film rolls before?”

Now Ember actually became interested for once. “Only every day since doing school plays as a kid. I really have film offers now?”

Gary smiled greedily. “Oh, yes. Some of the biggest, in fact. Ever heard of a little film series called Fast and Furious?”

And like a popped balloon disappeared Ember’s sudden interest. “I’m not doing a Fast and Furious movie.”

“But you haven’t even heard about the plot, Ember!” Gary exclaimed. “They want you as their villainous villain! Think about it! Three month’s work? Seven figure salary? Not too bad, right? Could add a whole extra story to the home with that kind of income coming in.”

Thickly, Ember replied, “I’m a character actress, Gary. Meaning I enjoy playing complex characters. Not simpletons in exchange for truck loads of money.”

“But wait until you hear about the character they want you to play!” Gary tried in vain. “Her name’s Smolder and she’s completely bent on world domination using fast cars and giant explosions as her means of destruction—”

Ember suddenly rose off the couch. “You want me to leave, Gary?”

“Okay! Retry! How ‘bout as the next love interest in the upcoming Transformers sequel? It’s guaranteed to get your name out there big time!”

As Ember took a single step towards the door, Gary stood and motioned for her to stop.

“Okay!” he shouted. “Point taken. Let’s all calm down a bit and take a seat. I’m sure there’s still a project around here somewhere that you’d actually like.”

Sighing miserably, Ember returned to the couch again and held her head up with a claw. “What about theater?” she asked tiredly. “I used to do a lot of that before I suddenly became popular. You always had a few of those projects lying around for me.”

That statement made Gary grimace. “True. I always did have a few of those lying around…”

“But?” Ember growled.

“But then you did My Little Pony and now no one thinks they can afford you anymore—especially low rent theater companies that used to want you until now.”

Ember angrily smacked herself with a claw. “Great! Just great! So now I’m forced to either completely sell out with Vin Diesel as my co-star or get typecast and end up playing as ‘Ember’ on My Little Pony for the rest of my career?”

Gary raised his hands into the air. “But think about the money, Ember!”

“Actually, all I can think about right now is how much I want to hit you in the face.”

“Fine!” Gary replied earnestly. “I’ll take a punch in the nose from you—just so long as it gets the new Star Wars script in your claws.”

Ember had to ponder on that for a moment. She chewed on her tongue. “Wait. They want me in the next Star Wars film?”

Gary nodded excitedly.

“Hero or villain?”

Gary shrugged. “Not sure.”

“Do I get to hold a lightsaber, at least?”

Gary shrugged once more. “Also not sure, but I could always find out for you.”

Ember gave him a curt nod. “Let me know and I’ll get back to you on that. I could always use any Star Wars money to get my Dungeons and Dragons project off the ground. I still think David Fincher would be perfect for that series.”

“I’ll make some calls,” Gary added helpfully, leaning back in his chair with a rather relaxed expression. “See, Ember? It doesn’t have to be so bad being popular. You could always use it to your advantage. And some of these stories online they’re writing about your My Little Pony character aren’t even half-bad.”

Ember choked on air for a second and momentarily regretted turning down that earlier shot of tequila. “Come again?”

“Here, I’ll show you.” Gary typed a bit on his computer before he swung around his monitor for her to look at. He went on to clarify, “It’s called ‘fan fiction’ and basically involves people from all over the world writing about fictional characters they enjoy writing about. Ever since last week’s Pony episode, your ‘Ember’ character’s popularity has gone through the roof and people just can’t seem to get enough of her.”

Ember’s pupils shrunk as she stared at the screen. “My picture’s everywhere on here. It honestly looks as if every single story on this website is about me for some reason.”

“I know, right?” Gary replied cheerfully. “Isn’t it great? Let me show you one of the better ones. It’s a comedy involving Spike taking over all of Equestria. You’re in there, too.”

Gary gave his mouse a click and Ember took a moment to skim over the short story, giggling to herself at a couple parts. Although she’d never dare speak it out loud, she did have to admit it was a bit neat to read about her character again. Especially from people that genuinely seemed interested and excited about her.

When Ember was done reading it through, she grabbed the computer’s mouse so that she could scroll through some of the story’s comments. When she happened to glimpse some of the fan art of herself on the sides, she couldn’t help but laugh. They definitely made her look a whole lot slimmer than she actually looked in real life.

Then she caught sight of something near the top of the web page.

Ember furrowed her brows. “Gary? Why do you have the mature settings turned off? I can’t imagine people writing about ‘Ember’ like that—”

“Wait! Don’t turn those off!” Gary warned, reaching for the mouse again. Too late.

One innocent mouse click later and Ember was storming out of Gary’s office as quick as she could, leftover fruit tray in tow.

“Nope! Screw Star Wars!” she shouted to no one in particular. “I’m so done being popular! I think I’ll just go back to standup comedy, thank you very much!”

Behind her, Gary got on his hands and knees to plead. “Think this over, Ember! Please! You’re not even funny! You’ve never been funny!”

“That doesn’t stop other comedians, does it?” Ember roared, before she slammed the doors behind her.

A few seconds following that outburst, Gary got back to his feet and balled his hands into fists in anguish. “Damn it! There goes our biggest talent! Now what are we going do?”

“Do you want me to cancel your next appointment?” his receptionist asked him timidly.

“What? Cancel him?” Gary replied sharply. “Better not. He’s still our biggest draw after Ember. Just make sure you get a nice looking fruit spread this time, all right?”

Gary strolled back to his office to prepare for his next meeting.

“Spike’s always been a total diva when it comes to snack platters.”