In the months that followed, drinking at the bar became your only pastime after your working hours. Once you were finished at work, you would come here, have a drink and leave. The bartender, Moonshine, was the best guy to speak with while you were consuming his stock at an immeasurable rate. You often talked about your work experiences, like weird friends that hang out a lot, yet, still don't know each other that well. Today, he retold the story about the time a stallion walked into the bar and came out so drunk he was saying that " Queen Chrysalis was hiding out in his attic and lived off of his love, also jelly donuts." Why jelly donuts? You had no clue, but the story random enough to make Moonshine nearly drop the glass mug while he told the tale. During your laughing fit, the bar door creaked open, only to reveal a pony. What really made her catch your attention, was the armour that graced her body, it possessed a color of midnight blue, equipped with a crescent moon gracing the helmet and shoulder plates.
"Hey there, Nightingale." Moonshine greeted, it seemed that he knew her.
"Hey, Moonshine." She said, returning the greeting. Walking up to a stool stationed next to you, Nightingale took a seat. Sliding her a full mug from across the table, Moonshine asked,
"How was work?" Nightingale sighed and took off her helmet, and let's just say that she was not the gruffy and tomboyish type. She had a visibly lustrous navy blue coat, it was easy to identify that her coat was more fluffy than that of a normal pony coat, her eyes had reptilian pupils. The color of her mane, tail, and eyes were defined by a magnificent sapphire. Last, but not least, her ears and mouth were especially different, her teeth, sharp and glistening and her ears sporting a knife like point at the tip. All in all, Nightingale was not like the others, but, will she... You shook your head vigorously to knock some sense into yourself. Seriously, what are you thinking? Here you are, saying that you won't let the same things happen to yourself ever again, but here you are already thinking about dating this mare, Good job Anonymous.
"I just got fired, I fell asleep during a 24 hour shift and my CO (Commanding Officer) caught wind of it and ejected me on the spot. Now I have no way to pay for my home, so I thought I could live with you until I get back on my hooves."
"Sorry, but I don't make enough bits to support two ponies, let alone, pay for this place. You haven't asked anypony here in Ponyville?"
"Of course I did, ponies are still scared of bat ponies, so "Can I live at your place" instantly translates to "Let me live with you so I can kill you in your sleep." Man she's got it rough. In a way she reminded you of yourself when you first arrived here, scaring everypony witless. Maybe you could let her crash at your place, just to help her out. But where was she gonna sleep? While you were pondering possible places she could reside in your home, you remembered a room door across from yours, strange as it may seem, you never really went in there. Before you could ask her if she would like to stay with you, she speaks to Moonshine, "Well, thanks for the drink, Shiny, see you later." She turned and hopped down from the barstool, you stopped her before she could leave,
"Wait! You could crash at my place just until you could get situated." After you finished your words, Nightingale turned to look at you with those luminescent sapphire gems,
"Really? You'd do that for me? But, I have no way to pay you."
"It's fine, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing you're out there in the cold with no shelter. Especially since Hearth's Warming Eve is in a few weeks." Slowly Nightingale's face shifted to a smile, a sharp and slightly intimidating smile, but a smile nonetheless.
"Thank you so much. Honestly, I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't shown up."
"No problem, it's getting late so we best get going before it becomes cold."
"I hear you loud and clear um, what's your name by the way?"
"Anonymous, Anon for short."
"Alright then, Anon, let's go." Walking up to the door, you pushed it open for her. Your actions elicited an,
"Oooh, what a gentlecolt." From Nightingale. During the walk to your home, you conversed with her about your interests and hobbies, the basics. Upon reaching your doorstep, your pull the keys out of your back pocket and unlock the front door.
"Follow me." You told her as you made your way over to room you never explored.
After you got to the door, you wrapped your hand around the knob and opened the door to reveal a bed, a nightstand, a dresser, and a lamp. That was more than you bargained for, that's for sure.
"Hey, this is a nice room. Oh, could you show me to the bathroom. I need to take a shower."
"Of course, it's that last door down on the right end of the hallway."
"Awesome, and can I just say that not many ponies would do something like this for me, so what you've given me here really means a lot."
"It wasn't a problem. And let me just say that I know what you've been through.
With ponies fearing your presence and all."
"Yep, that's for sure. But ponies have always been so reluctant to accept other species. I just thought that with Luna's return, things would change."
"Yeah I know how you feel."
"Anyway, I need to jump in the bathtub. This armor causes me to sweat so much." And with that, she turned around and the sound of bath water came into play. Well, you should start on dinner, she was probably hungry.
*30 Minutes Later*
You set down a serving of hay fries for Nightingale, while you put down a burger for yourself. You had bought your meat from griffons since you hated fruits and vegetables.
"Mmmm, is that a burger I smell?" Nightingale made her way into the kitchen and sat at her side of the table. "Anon, what is this?" You looked up at her,
"Hay fries?" Nightingale gave you a look of pure terror,
"Ugh, I hate fruits, vegetables and especially cheap imitations of good food."
"Well, I guess you'll just have to wait until tomorrow."
"Anon, look, you left the oven on." You looked at the oven to see that the coils weren't even close to orange. Turning around to face her, you quickly came to the realization that you've played yourself.
"Where's my burger?" Belching, she gave you an ear to ear grin,
"Wow, Anon. You sure do know how to cook." Hell, it may have cost you and your stomach a delicious burger, but that smile had enough calories to give you heart disease.