.
As Bitmaker opened his eyes the next morning, he felt a little worn. Spending time in the sun, on a hot day like yesterday, had never done him any good in the past. And getting a marefriend hadn't changed anything about it. Especially considering how this marefriend of his had abundant energy that seemed limitless and the habit of developing sudden desires to play catch in parks or do other crazy things.
A slightly desperate chuckle forced itself out of Bitmaker's throat as he moved in his bed and slowly sat up, his back feeling sore. He slumped and stayed like this for a few seconds, before he yawned and reached for his glasses on the nightstand with one of his leathery wings. He adjusted them on his nose, then checked the right side of the double-sized bed. It was empty and only the mussed sheets were proof that somepony else had been lying there. Bitmaker yawned again. It was nothing new that Cozy was getting up much earlier than him. He left the bed and entered the bathroom.
As Bitmaker came out again fifteen minutes later, a sweet, toasty smell entered his nostrils. He instinctively sniffed, then followed the trail of scent, being completely drawn to it, like hypnotized. Bitmaker trailed through the corridor outside the bedroom and down the wide, white stairs of his mansion. The red carpet that covered the stairs in the middle tickled his hooves, but Bitmaker only noticed it at the edges of his mind. The scent intoxicated him completely and drowned out his other senses.
The kitchen was spacious. A white-tiled floor spanned from one end to another. The middle was occupied by a large, round dining table made of mahogany wood and rows of shelves stood at three of the four walls. Opposite of the door and beyond the table was a long kitchen unit, consisting of two large sinks, several boards near the floor, a huge oven with a large cooking plate, a generously-sized countertop next to it, a fridge and a dishwasher. In one corner of the countertop stood a microwave, a toaster and a coffee machine. They looked lost on the massive expanse. The toaster made a quiet humming sound, though, and he could hear water boiling inside the coffee machine. He had arrived at the source of the alluring scent.
Cozy Glow stood at the countertop, a pink apron tied around her neck that was covering her chest and belly. As she turned around at Bitmaker, having noticed his hooves clopping on the white tiles as he entered the kitchen, a stitching of three bit coins on top of a rook on the apron's frontside came into view. She gave him a beaming grin. “Good Morning!” In a flash, she stepped away from the kitchen unit and was in front of Bitmaker. Cozy clasped her hooves around his chest and looked up at him with a grin.
Bitmaker placed a hoof on Cozy's mane and began to stroke it gently, his hoof going through each of the curls in it. “Morning, Cozy,” he spoke, still drowsy.
Releasing her hug, Cozy Glow looked up and gave her coltfriend a wide grin. “Would you like coffee? It's almost done!”
Bitmaker nodded silently. The mare released her clasp around his chest and ran off for the kitchen counter again. He grabbed a chair and sat down at the table. As he watched Cozy fiddling with something that she blocked from his view with her body, the kitchen around her suddenly changed. The counter got replaced with a bigger one and when Cozy Glow turned around at him again, her apron was gone. She was holding a tray in her hooves and wore a sickly-sweet smile on her lips. From the corner of his eyes, Bitmaker could see other ponies swarming to the counter, readying empty trays. Cozy Glow opened her mouth. “Bitmaker? Hey! You're falling asleep?”
All of a sudden, Cozy was wearing an apron again. It seemed to appear out of thin air. The kitchen reappeared, as well, looking just like before.
“Bitmaker?” Cozy asked again. “Are you alright?” The young mare reached with a hoof for his forehead. “You don't have fever, do you?” Her face changed to the expression of an intense frown.
Bitmaker sighed a little, almost unnoticeable, as he felt her hoof on his forehead. “It's Summer, Cozy. We're probably getting just as much hot weather today as we did yesterday.”
“Just making sure,” Cozy responded, a little defensive. She put the same hoof onto her own forehead, gave it a curious expression, then breathed a sigh of relief. “You should eat now!” she said then.
“Eat?” Bitmaker directed his eyes towards the table upon perceiving something in their corner and noticed with surprise that a plate with a green cupcake and a piece of toast on it stood there, like they had appeared from thin air. The toast was buttered and a blob of red jam was on top of it. Next to the plate stood a mug of black coffee. It was steaming. His face expressed cluelessness about the breakfast that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
“Are you sure you're okay? Bitmaker?” The look in Cozy's face refused to become less worried.
“I'm fine, don't worry. I was just in thoughts.” Bitmaker leaned in on Cozy and kissed her forehead. The mare giggled. “Aren't you going to eat breakfast yourself?”
“Um-hm!” Cozy nodded brightly. Then she dashed off to the counter again.
Bitmaker looked away from her and finally redirected his attention to the food in front of him. He reached for the mug and gulped down a good amount of the coffee. The coffee made him sigh in bliss as it started to drive the tiredness out of his body. Bitmaker grabbed the toast and bit a chunk out of it.
While he chewed, he concentrated his senses that were not busy with tasting and smelling the breakfast, on Cozy Glow. Bitmaker grabbed the coffee mug, closed his eyes and leaned back. He focused his ears on the clinking sounds that came from Cozy while she prepared her own breakfast. His mind went adrift, the sounds carrying him away. Chatter from all sides filled his ears. He opened his eyes again, just to confirm that, despite the vivid impression, he was still in the kitchen of his house.The chatter died momentarily.
As he took a sip from his mug, Bitmaker's eyes trailed along the pattern of the wooden table's surface. Suddenly, he knew that he had seen a similar pattern before. He closed his eyes again to recall where and, then, it was like he had been transported to a different place.
He was in the cafeteria again. The inside of his head felt slow and distant. The sounds of Cozy's preparations melded with the sounds of the cafeteria. The chatter returned and now he could see that it came from ponies around him, students of the friendship school. His inner eye showed him the cafeteria of the school almost as vividly as if he was actually there. He could see that he was sitting at a table as well. The air flimmered and stirred at the opposite side of the table. Cozy Glow appeared, younger and smaller than now, exactly as he remembered her from eight years ago. She was sitting there, not looking at him, her full attention on a bowl of milk permeated with crispy and crunchy cereal.
Bitmaker could not look away. Something was radiating from this filly, a vibe he could not describe, a kind of energy he was unable to put into words. There was something about her. Something, he felt, that made her different than other fillies her age.
“How is your name?” Bitmaker asked.
Cozy Glow looked up, giving him a furtive glance that made him shudder in a way that was as undescribable as the feeling he had when he was merely watching her. The filly remained like this for a few seconds, even her chewing had stopped. Then she swallowed.
“I am Cozy Glow!” she chirped. “Your new best friend!” The grin she gave him was captivating.
“My best friend?” Bitmaker cocked his head. He felt confused.
“Bitmaker? You're talking to yourself.”
Cozy Glow vanished. And so did the table and the cafeteria until everything was black. Bitmaker opened his eyes and sat up, abruptly. He almost spilled his coffee in the process. Opposite of him sat Cozy Glow. Older. Bigger. She blinked at him.
“Bitmaker?” Cozy asked again.
Bitmaker put down his mug. “I talked to myself? I was talking to you, Cozy,” he uttered. Only slowly, the vision vanished from his mind. Bitmaker shook his head. “I am sorry. I was just thinking about something.”
“You do a lot of thinking this morning,” Cozy Glow assessed. She looked down and put a spoon into a bowl full of tiny, donut-shaped cereals that came in many colors. Immediately under them, the milk turned blue, red, purple and green. Cozy picked up a small pile of the cereal, with barely any milk on the spoon, and put them into her mouth. Crunching sounds came forth from it as she bit down on the fruity bits. Next to her bowl stood a plate with a yellow cupcake and a glass with orange juice.
Bitmaker picked his mug back up and emptied it, gulping down the rest of the coffee all at once. He left his chair and trotted towards the counter, aiming for the coffee machine. The coffee in the pot was still steaming, as he noticed with relief, so he refilled his mug.
Back at the table, Cozy's bowl already contained almost no cereal anymore. She fished out the remaining pieces, then grabbed the bowl with both hooves, held it at her lips and began to drink the colored milk greedily.
“Careful, Cozy, don't spill something on your coat.” Bitmaker couldn't suppress a laugh.
Nothing spilled. In a skilled fashion, Cozy Glow sipped all the milk out of the bowl without a single drop landing outside of her mouth. She put it down and wiped off the milk stain on her lips. Then she halted for a moment. A rather loud burp escaped her throat. Cozy tapped against her chest three times, then she took the cupcake from her plate. She bit into it and closed her eyes in satisfaction.
“Do you remember the day we first talked with each other?” Bitmaker spoke up. “You were eating the same cereals as you did now,” he reminisced.
Cozy Glow locked eyes with him and swallowed. “Of course! They always were my favourite ones!” She smiled and took another hearty bite.
“Um-hm.” Bitmaker nodded and sipped from his coffee. “And who would have thought eight years ago that we will become friends and then even more than that?”
Cozy Glow stopped eating for a moment. “Well, I did! The friend part, at least.”
Bitmaker raised one of his eyebrows, giving Cozy a slightly stern look.
“Eh, I'm just messing with you!” Cozy giggled into her hoof. “I didn't expect we would become actual friends someday!”
Bitmaker's eyebrow lowered again. “It was unexpected,” he agreed and took another sip from his coffee. After he swallowed, he reached for his own cupcake.
Cozy had finished hers in the meantime and took the glass with orange juice into her hooves. She sipped from it. “So, what are we doing today?”
“Going to the factory,” he said. “I need to check on the production there and talk with some of the workers.” He bit a chunk out of his cupcake.
“Oh, cool!” Cozy perked up, smiling. “Can I come with you?”
Bitmaker chewed the piece thoroughly before he answered. “Of course. If there is time left, we can even start working on the project.” He nodded, silently approving his plans for the day.
“YAY! This is going to be so great!” Cozy Glow put her cupcake down, jumped up in her chair and raced around the table. She fell around Bitmaker's neck and crushed him with a hug. A squee escaped her throat.
Bitmaker, who had just reached for his mug again, swayed by the sudden impact. “Hey, watch out!” he shouted, startled. His mug shook a little, spilling some of its content onto the table.
Cozy did not seem to hear him, she snuggled her face into his neck and coeed happily.
Bitmaker carefully put the mug back on the table before he embraced his smaller marefriend. He stroke over her back and caressed her wings, making Cozy groan in comfortable satisfaction. The two of them remained in this position for a little while, then separated.
“Are you finished eating?” Bitmaker asked while Cozy made her way back to her chair. “We should leave soon.”
“I'm almost done!” Cozy cheered, dutifully. She grabbed her glass and drank the last orange juice, with quick gulps.
Bitmaker emptied his mug likewise.
With both of them finished, they slipped down from their chairs and made their way to the exit of Bitmaker's mansion, trotting closely side by side.