“You’re sure about this?” a unicorn who was not tall asked a unicorn who was not short. Both were part of the House Operations Measurement Enclave, tasked with ensuring civilian homes were safe.

“Yes” the unicorn who was not short said. “We have reports that this residence regularly has scalding hot water in the shower. Our orders are to negate the heat.”

“But there’s a restaurant down here too.”

“We can do that without affecting the restaurant. Look, I’ll be honest with you: I don’t like this task either, and I’d rather just not do it, tick it off our list anyways, and be done, but our work will be checked, so we have to do it.”

“Can’t we at least leave them some way to contact us?”

“Officially no, but the back of our forms are blank, and we do have a pencil.”

“I can start on the paperwork while you get the lock started.” The not tall unicorn got the items from the not short unicorn and began filling in the form with letters and numbers, all arranged in ways that could be read and understood. The not tall unicorn also totally did not see an apology letter being written on the back of the form by a second pencil they totally didn’t bring along.

The unicorn who was not short finished their lock spell. “Time for the key.”

“Of course.” The unicorn who was not tall ignited their horn and made the key spell, wove it into the lock spell, and finished the job. “You did use the heat lock, right?”

“Yes. What’s cool and cold will stay cool and cold, what’s warm and hot will become cool and cold.”

“I’ll drop off the envelope.”

I was curled up and shivering like I’ve never shivered before in the basin of my shower with freezing cold water coming down on me. I was taking a normal shower with the water at its hottest when it became ice cold all of a sudden.

I wanted to pick up one of my legs and turn off the water, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it, as that would expose more of me to the frigid water. It took a while for me to figure out that I could scoot closer to the lever a little bit at a time.

It took what felt like an hour, but I finally got to the point where I was able to lift both of my legs up at the same time and turn off the water. I needed heat immediately. I needed a towel.

Still shivering, I began climbing out of the shower tub. It took a while, but I eventually managed to tumble out, landing on my back. The towel on the floor was already absorbing lots of the frigid water from my hair, but I needed more of it out and off of me.

I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror as I curled back up. My skin had a slight blue tone to it. I had to move. I had to get warmed up somehow.

“Yang? Are you here?” That was Gilda.

I had to take a few shuddering breaths to get enough air in my lungs, but once I did, I shouted “HELP!”

To my delight, I heard her talons and claws racing up the stairs. It didn’t take long for her to find me. “What happened?”

“T-t-towel please” was all I could get out.

Gilda quickly grabbed some towels and wrapped them around me before using her wings to hold me against her. “Sweet Celestia, you’re cold.”

“The water. Something happened to the water.” I could feel her body heat at work already. My eyelids began to feel heavy.

“Hey, don’t fall asleep on me now.”

“Anyone here?” someone said from downstairs.

“Brew, we need some hot chocolate upstairs stat! Yang’s cold!”

“Explain while I work!”

“Something happened to the water!”

A moment of silence followed. “It’s fine down here!”

Gilda shook me a bit. “Yang, what happened to the water?”

“Hot, then cold” I said. “Sudden.”

“It suddenly went from hot to cold!”

“I’ve got hot water down here!” Brew responded.

“That’s weird.”

“I’m coming up!” Brew soon joined us, a metal thermos under his wing. “Here.”

Gilda took the cap off the thermos as I slowly reached for it with my slightly blue hands. She put it in my hands and gently pushed it towards me. I put it up against my lips and began drinking the hot chocolate inside. I could feel it warming me up from the inside, and the sugar helped revitalize me. “Thanks.” I was feeling better already and my breathing was returning to a normal rate. I could also see the blue ever so slightly going away from my skin. Eventually, I ran out of hot chocolate, but at least I was feeling much better. “You said the water was fine downstairs?”

“I got the hot water for the chocolate just fine from the tap” Brew said. “You said that the hot water turned cold up here?”

“I take my showers at temperatures that would scald just about anyone else. If I recall what Silver Pipe said, the hot water up here comes out at 150 degrees at the hottest.”

“So you take showers at 150 degrees.”

“Yes. It’s nice to be burnproof and practically immune to heat. I can work out in the sun all day without a worry, I can wear all black in the kitchen all day and not break a sweat, and I can handle hot things left and right without burning my hands. It’s part of why I stay in the kitchen.

“Also, could you two leave me for a bit? I need to put on my clothes, and I’m not keen on being undressed around anyone.”

“Alright” Gilda said. “Want the door closed too?”

“Yes, please.”

Gilda and Brew left, taking the empty thermos and closing the door on the way out. Once they were gone, I got to my feet. I was a bit shaky, but otherwise alright. I turned around to the shower and turned the lever all the way to full heat. Normally, there would be some steam in a matter of moments, but there wasn’t any. In fact, the air was getting a bit of a chill to it. I turned the water off before the bathroom got too cold, then got dressed for work.

I was sure I could afford to spend a few minutes basking on the roof to warm back up, so I did just that. I made sure my hair was spread out to help get the remaining cold water out. It wasn’t quite as warm as previous months, being the middle of September, but it wasn’t cold. My black clothes helped me warm back up, and I was feeling better quickly.

My eyes were starting to droop closed when Gilda came up. “Got something in the mail for you.”

“Hm?” I sat up and accepted the letter. It was from the House Operations Measurement Enclave. I’d never heard of such a group, and I didn’t like their name. It had a nice acronym though.

I opened it and saw a form detailing that my house was under suspicion for me secretly burning foals with scalding hot water and that the appropriate action to take was to make all the hot water turn cold with a temperature cap of 60 degrees. I could probably tolerate that, but it wouldn’t be very nice.

“Hey, there’s something on the back” Gilda said. I turned it around and saw a more traditional letter.

Dear Yang Xiao Long,

First off: We wish to apologize for turning your hot water cold. The reason we were given for doing this is that an anonymous source said you were burning foals for fun with scalding hot water. We’re sure this is a lie, since what we both know about you doesn’t line up with that and we don’t really like anonymous sources.

We’ve drawn out the diagram for the key spell needed to undo the lock spell, and we’ve also diagrammed the lock spell as well for convenience.

If you come after us, we’ll understand why. Whatever we have to do to make up for it, we’ll do.

Sincerely, H.O.M.E. Team 32, Cinnamon Roll and Window Frame

“I should probably bring this to Twilight’s attention tomorrow. She’ll know how to handle this.”

“Why not today?”

“Twilight said she was taking today off last week, and even as a friend, I’m not going to bother her with this. It can wait for court tomorrow. Besides, today’s Friday, and I have a grill to run.”

“Fair enough. You going to be alright today?”

“Maybe a bit clingier to the heat, but otherwise alright. I’ll just have to make a sign of some kind so I don’t go in the shower tomorrow and freeze again.” Snowflakes and icicles sounded like a good theme for the sign.

“Alright. I’ll see you inside.” Gilda left me on the roof with the letter/form and did a big fancy loop that took her up into the air before landing right at the front door. That got a bit of applause from me before I jumped down and went inside. I had to double check who was going to be there that day so I could make something for each of them on the grill.

Saturday came and I very nearly took a shower. If it weren’t for the sign I’d made, I might have frozen myself to the hospital. Or maybe the sauna. The thought crossed my mind to go to the spa sometime.

As happened on weekends at the castle, it was busier than weekdays. Fortunately, there were books to read and I’d had a good breakfast: a loaded baked potato with burnt ends in it. Gavan came up with the idea and it’s been a hit among the staff. We were also planning to start offering it very soon, hopefully to general approval.

My tax free period was also coming to an end, but with the way things were looking, we could even jump to the full tax rate (15% of the Carne Den’s income) and still be doing spectacularly well. I didn’t know the exact numbers off the top of my head, but we’ve had days recently where our profits were as high as 1,000 bits, though the daily profit tended to hover more around 600 bits.

Eventually, my turn came and I went into Twilight’s court. “Hi, Yang. What brings you to my court today?”

I produced the form/letter I had gotten. “This should explain it.”

Twilight brought the paper to herself and read it over a few times. “It is official, but I’ve never heard of this House Operations Measurement Enclave. ”

“They did their thing to the water pipes while I was in the shower yesterday.” I shivered at the mere memory of the frigid water. “If it weren’t for Gilda and Brew getting me warmed back up, who knows where I’d be right now?

“Personally, I think one of the nobles from Canterlot is behind this. They seem to be the only ones who are going after me.”

“Would you mind if I read your memory of the event?”

“Go ahead.”

Twilight read my memory and we were both shivering at the end of it. “Yang, I swear upon my tiara that you will have answers within a week and justice the week after. You could have ended up in the hospital or worse if you hadn’t turned off the water and been warmed back up.

“Also, I caught a glimpse of a baked potato with burnt ends in your memory. It looked good.”

“If you can restore the hot water, I’ll give both you and Spike one.”

“Well, with these diagrams, it’s going to be really easy. If you want, you can use my shower today. Take as long as you want. We’ll go to your place together.” I wasn’t prepared for her to casually offer her shower like that, but I wasn’t about to question it either.

I’d been in Twilight’s bathroom before, but that was shortly after I woke up here. Looking back on that time, well, I’ve come a long way since my arrival, even if I generally stay in town. As usual, I turned the water to its highest temperature, and it felt nice. I could feel my concerns about the cold water in my shower melting away, both from the heat and Twilight’s promise to take care of the problem at home.

“Excuse me, who are you?” I asked the unicorn behind my house.

“Inspector Cold Gaze of the House Operations Measurement Enclave. Who are you?”

Did this stallion live under a rock? Or a glacier? “Yang Xiao Long. I live here.”

“Were you the one who had this temperature lock on Yang’s water installed?” Twilight asked.

“No, I’m just an inspector.”

“Do you even know why this lock was put here?”

“No. All I do is inspect the lock spells that are in place.” Twilight’s response was to pull out the lock spell circle, unlock it, and make a show of shattering both the lock and key sections. Cold Gaze didn’t even flinch. “I’ll be sure to add that to the report, Princess.”

“I also want you to put in that report that I want everyone in the House Operations Measurement Enclave in my court on Wednesday, even if they’re sick or injured. Yang came close to having a severe case of hypothermia yesterday thanks to your group.”

“My apologies for that. I’ll put that in the report as well. I’ll see you on Wednesday.” Cold Gaze left and it felt like the temperature back there went up a little bit.

“Thanks, Twilight” I said. “Say, if you wouldn’t mind checking the water upstairs, I’ll get those baked potatoes made.”

“Sure thing.”

Twilight and I went into the kitchen through the back door and I started on the potatoes while she went upstairs. While I was fixing them, Gavan came in. “Baked potatoes for lunch?”

“They’re for Twilight and Spike” I answered. “She just fixed the cold water problem from yesterday, which is a huge relief for me. She’s getting one for that and Spike, well, he should get one too. He’s awesome.”

“And if she likes it, we could use that as an endorsement to sell them.”

“Really? I didn’t think of that. Say, how’s the family doing back in the Empire?”

“Better and better every week. They’ve hired a few more griffons over the past couple weeks and are saving up to come visit us in December.”

“I thought you came here by yourself?” I got a small plate of stashed burnt ends from storage and started putting some in the spuds once they were warm.

“I did. I’ve simply come to see everyone here as family too. How about you?”

I thought on that for a bit. “Yeah, I think I do as well.”

Twilight came down just as I finished putting the potatoes in a box. “Good news, Yang: the water is back to normal and I’ve even enchanted the showerhead to heat the water up another ten degrees just for you.”

“Awesome! You’re the best, Twi. Burnt ends?” I held up the plate of meat.

“Sure thing.” Twilight got three and floated them to herself, along with the prepared and packed potatoes. “Thanks. They’re good. Anyways, I’d better get back to the castle.” With a flash, Twilight vanished.

A rolled up letter popped into existence in front of me while I was preparing some food. I caught it and set it aside to read as soon as I could. I wasn’t about to lose the rhythm I had going.

It took about 15 minutes for a lull to appear in the kitchen. I took the letter to the office to read it.

Dear Yang,

Those baked potatoes with burnt ends in them were really, really good. I don’t know how you came up with the idea to do that, but it’s amazing. Spike wants to know when they’re going to be on the menu so he can be the first to order one.

I’ve also sent a letter to Celestia informing her of what happened to you yesterday and she’s already got ponies looking into the House Operations Measurement Enclave. She’s never heard of it either, but she shares our suspicions that one of the nobles on the council is behind it, if not more than one of them.

Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle

After reading the letter, I set it aside and smiled. I’d have answers to this soon enough.

Author's Notes:

Another chapter so soon? It's almost like I used some of my idle writings for I Burn as a chapter or something.