//------------------------------//
// 1 
// Story: Steps on a Twisting Path 
// by guldringr 
//------------------------------//

An alarm went off in a mostly dark room, light barely starting to come in through the window as the sun rose. With a slight groan of annoyance Twisted sat up and turned off the alarm. She quickly went about her normal morning routine of brushing her teeth making breakfast and getting into her work uniform, finally stopping to give a quick smile to the picture of her mother.

"Alright I'm off." Twisted says to her little puppy who leaps immediately licking her face. "Down Reginald" Twisted pushes the young dog off laughing. At his puppy dog eyes Twisted gives him a pat. "Don't worry mommy will be back." Barely a shadow crosses her face as she realizes what she said before quickly moving out.





Despite having already worked there a week, Twisted was still surprised that she had gotten a job at the Ditsy delivery agency, many people were surprised by how easy it was to get a job at the most well-respected delivery service in Equestria.

"Hey there, miss Paths" her manager, Toppled Mountain, had somehow snuck up behind her despite his stature matching his name. "Hope you're doing alright this morning, have a longer route to normal for you today."

After catching her from the sudden scare, Twisted smiled up at the large earth pony. "Okay I'll get on that." Brief encounter with her boss finished, she went to get her wagon set up.





Most of Twisted's usual route was pretty boring, but she always looked forward to when she had a package for the cheese factory. (She still had no clue why Equestria's Premier joke shop was named that) despite looking like a factory it always had a warm air and genuinely smiling employees, and the manager….

"Hey Twisty!" Said the aptly-named pegasus Surprise who had seemingly popped up out of nowhere. "How are you doing today? Do you have a delivery for us? Well of course you do, you wouldn't be stopping by here during work if you didn't, how's little Reginald doing? I love dogs, love love love them! Oh and how is your plan-"

"Hey Surprise" Twisted gave a smile at the mares rambling antics. " I'm doing fine, I have a few packages for the store, Reginald is doing fine, and I'm perfectly on track!" It had taken a few encounters to get used to Surprises rapid-fire questioning, but she liked to think she was getting rather good at it.

Surprise nodded as she waived a few employees over to take the boxes from the cart.  "How much are you planning on saving up anyway?"

Twisted held out a clipboard for Surprise to sign. "Well I want to make sure there's enough to live off of for at least a few years in an emergency, but ditzy's pays surprisingly well….. if I'm strict with my money I can probably get away with it in a year." She closed the back of the cart and got re-hitched. "Well it's always nice talking to you Surprise, I gotta get going, lots of deliveries to make today."




It was getting later in the day as Twisted made her last delivery, a few large she had to deliver to the manager of a newly-opened pet daycare called "The Chaos Garden"

She was a bit surprised that the address had let her down a dirt path into one of the many wilderness preserves, and even more surprised to only find a few small buildings at the end of the path and a bunch of almost natural-looking habitats.

"Well hello there" A somewhat quiet yet commanding voice says, Twisted turns to see an earth pony stepping on the path from slightly Into the Woods.

"Hello are you Miss Posey? I have a delivery for you." Twisted pulls out her clipboard and starts to unhitch.

"Ho, don't worry about it, I've got it"

Twisted was about to protest when she saw Posey lift two of the rather heavy boxes at once, quickly walking over towards the small Shed off to the side.

After a moment of surprise, Twisted quickly moved to help, lifting up a box in her magic and following. "This place is nice, how soon are you accepting clients?"

Posey gave her a contemplative look. "Probably next week, what kind of pet do you have?" The last part was said with excited quickness.

"Reginald, my big little pupper." Twisted’s smile grew thinking about her beloved puppy. "He's got the biggest little paws, and the cutest little face, and he's going to be my big old Adventure some day!"

Posey chuckled hold at the eager display, but gave a slight frown at the last part. "Are you planning on putting him through a training program? Not all dogs are suited for a life of adventuring."

"I hadn't really thought about that…" Twisted said tapping her chin.

Posey gave a sigh before smiling.  "I guess I could help you with that, if you wanted to stop by after your work?"

"I'd be happy to!" Twisted gets the wagon ready to go. "Sorry but I got to go for now, don't want to leave Reginald alone longer than I have to"

"Come again" as twisted walks into the distance Posey facehoof’s.

"Come again? She was here to deliver a package, stupid F-"





After quite the long day of work Twisted walked into her house with a bright smile. "and with that I'm one step closer!" Something she has started saying as a daily ritual as Reginald eagerly tried to attack her uniform.

Today was a good day