//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: The Late Shift 
// by PessBont 
//------------------------------//

Rainbow Dash lay lazily sprawled out on the front counter, her head nestled in one hoof, the other lightly tracing the outline of a loose mushroom. When it was unable to continue to hold her attention, she flicked it to the other side of the counter, managing to fling it past the napkin holder, a new record for her. She let out a heavy nose sigh, a mildly horse-like pant escaping from her nostrils. 

Dash hated working the late shift. Well, actually, for starters, she hated working at a bucking Domino’s Pizza in the first place, but giving her the late shift on a Friday of all days was just plain cruel. She should be out practicing her flying routine, or at the very least, doing something with her friends tonight, but instead, here she was idly playing with loose toppings while watching the clock slowly tick towards closing time. She didn’t even know why Domino’s insisted on staying open until midnight, they almost never got any customers anyways, and really, who in their right mind would want a large pizza this time of night, anyways?

She glanced up at the clock: 11:15. She lightly smiled to herself, less than an hour left. She didn’t figure that any of her friends would still be up at this hour, but if she raced home, she might be able to finish a chapter or two in the most recent Daring-Do book before knocking out. She looked around the restaurant, and it was suitably devoid of activity; the only ponies remaining were Snips and Snails sitting in a corner booth. As boring as the night shift was, Rainbow did appreciate the calm atmosphere. Given how active her lifestyle tended to be, she rarely had a chance to just sit and relax in a quiet environment outside of her afternoon naps on the cloud patch. And if there’s one thing that working the late shift let her do, it was let her mind go blank for a little while, at least when she wasn’t making deliv-

“HI RAINBOW!”

The sudden-high pitched voice right in her ear caused Rainbow to jump out of her seat and land on the floor, losing her train of thought. Unfortunately, moments of quiet were usually short-lived when she shared shifts with the pink party pony, which was most days since Pinkie requested to work similar shifts with Rainbow. As much as Dash welcomed the company, Pinkie’s...demeanor did sometimes tend to grate on her nerves (then again, when did it ever not?). 

Rainbow picked herself up, rubbing her head with her hoof slightly as she planted herself back on her seat.

“Hey Pinkie,” said Rainbow flatly. 

“Our shift for the week is almost over, isn’t that great?” said Pinkie with an ear-to-ear grin, sticking her face mere inches away from Dash’s. Rainbow had no idea how Pinkie was able to stay so excited and cheerful at all hours of the day, especially working the graveyard shift with her at Domino’s, but at this point in their relationship, she stopped trying to make sense of it and just go with it. It saved her the extra aggravation, at least. 

“Yeah, and then we get to do it all over again next week. Yay,” sighed Rainbow Dash with feigned excitement.

“Aww, don’t be such a grump, Dashie, we should celebrate!” Pinkie’s voice reverberated off the walls.

“By doing what? Cleaning out the grease from the ovens, mopping the bathroom floor? Or maybe we should re-alphabetize the toppings in the fridge again? Ugh, I hate this job...” glumly replied Rainbow, her voice trailing off on the last few words.

“Well, you wouldn’t have to have this job if you didn’t crash through Twilight’s window and break one of her bookshelves, silly!” said Pinkie, not losing one bit of her jovial attitude.

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” said Rainbow as she buried her face in her hooves. 

“C’mon Dashie, the best way to make light of a bad situation is to smile and have fun with it! That’s why I requested to work the same shifts as you, because I knew you’d be miserable having to work all by your lonesome self, and I wanted to be here to cheer you up!” said Pinkie.

Rainbow considered Pinkie’s comment for a moment. “Really?” she asked. Pinkie enthusiastically nodded her head, beaming brightly. Rainbow couldn’t share her same enthusiasm, but couldn’t help but let out a small smile. As irritating as Pinkie could sometimes be, she was at least genuine and always had her friends’ best interests at heart.

“I think I’m gonna go wipe down the tables one more time, hopefully that’ll help the next 30 or so minutes pass,” said Rainbow, hovering over to the other side of the counter and grabbing a washcloth. Pinkie watched her go but couldn’t help but let out a sigh herself. She really tried to bring up Dash’s spirits since she had to take the job to pay for Twilight’s window (and other subsequent property damage she caused...it was a doozy of a wipeout, to say the least), but she knew how much Rainbow hated her situation. Dash had never been one to process personal failure well, and Pinkie could tell that, in Dash’s eyes, this job was really nothing more than an embodiment of her failure. The damage to Twi’s house weighed heavily on Dash, and this job certainly wasn’t helping her take her mind off it. 

Pinkie snapped out of her train of thought and noticed that she, too, had began to form a depressive frown on her face. She quickly stiffened her face up, not wanting to succumb to the same sadness that Dash currently occupied. She began thinking, looking around at the counter hoping that something would give her an idea. She didn’t even know what she was thinking of, but she knew that she had to do something to help lift their spirits. 

Suddenly, her head and ears shot up as a lightbulb went off in her head (and in the lamp above her), her face returning to a bright smile. Without an extra moment’s thought, she dashed off to the back and picked up the phone.