//------------------------------// // Attempts are made... // Story: Life on the Frontier // by Starwind Dood //------------------------------// Attempts are made... It was another sunny day in Appleloosa. Actually, every day was sunny. That's what Carrot Top learned living out in the middle of the frontier after so long. Every day was sunny with almost no chance of rain to cool her often fried mind or shade from a stray cloud to lie under. It was no longer a wonder why no pegasus has ever lived here before. She would just stay low and cool to the ground today as she watched Braeburn buck the apples out of another tree. "Does it ever hurt when you do that?" "Well, you can really hurt yourself somethin' fierce if you start buckin' without knowin' the basics," he started to explain to her. "Buck too hard and you'll only hurt yourself against the wood, but if you buck too softly them apples are just gonna stay danglin' there." "Uh-huh?" Carrot Top replied, light headed from the heat. "What I would do for an apple right now." She brought a hoof to her head and swept away a wave of sweat, looking up afterwards to find Braeburn smiling over her. "Here," he held an apple out to her. "I could take a break right now anyway." "Thanks, I'll pay you back later," she softly groaned before biting into the juicy red apple. It was just like Braeburn's cutie mark, she often thought. "Your apples always so good that I just don't get it," she complimented him. "It's probably the reason I was sent here." "Oh, It's nothing some hard-work and a little sweat can't do," he cheerily replied back. "This farm is my everything. It's my life, and I've got to take real good care of it. Everyday I work as hard as I can to bring in just a few more bits and love to keep this place going for a long time." "But what would you do without the farm?" Carrot Top asked, daring to scoot herself closer and closer to the golden stallion. "It's almost a law of the universe that all things must come to an end." "I would start a new farm," he answered her with the same kind of enthusiasm. "If that one went down, I would start another, and if that one fell I would build another." "Really," Carrot Top sighed, exasperated. It wasn't the answer she was hoping for. "Well, what would you do... if you found a mare, a special somepony?" "A-a special somepony?" he choked. "Well, I don't know. I never really thought about it. My life is my farm. If I'm not farming here, than I'm doing odd jobs to make bits for the farm. Can't really say I have time for things like that. It's kinda silly." Carrot Top's eye twitched. She knew this wouldn't be easy. Nothing ever comes easy, but she was ready to struggle a little. "It may seem silly now, but what will you do when you get older? You won't be able to buck trees when you're old and frail." "Actually," he started with youthful vigor, "apple-kin stallions tend to have strong bodies well into their old age. Always strong and full of vigor!" "Really," Carrot Top sighed again. "I never noticed." Silverstar grimaced to himself as his two deputies stood at attention waiting for orders. "So, er, make your rounds around the town and if you see somepony suspicious, keep an eye on them... c'mon, we've been at this for months now and you still need me to spit orders at you? You know how to do your jobs!" The enthusiasm Derpy and Little Strongheart often brought with them was comforting, if tiring. "I will do my best," Little Strongheart replied with earnest fervor. "I just want to do my job well." "And you're the boss," Derpy added with a giggle. "It's your job to order us around." "Well you've got your orders," Silverstar snorted, "so get on it, will ya!" Derpy and Little Strongheart raced each other out the door, leaving their somewhat steaming boss behind. Another bright and sunny day was before them to tackle. "You know, Little Strongheart, I think we've got a good day ahead of us." "Coming from you, I feel that you may be right," Little Strongheart beamed. "So, should you take the southern part today, or should I?" "How about we go in one giant loop together? That sounds like fun, right?" "But, isn't that going against orders?" "Didn't Silverstar say we know how to do our jobs? C'mon, it will be fun." Derpy stopped and got on her hind legs. "Please, please, please with ice cream, sprinkles, and some blueberries on top?" she pleaded convincingly. "Well, I guess..." "Great!" Derpy turned Little Strongheart around and the two began their duties. "It'll be just us mares... you know what I mean." "But isn't that what we do most of the time?" "You're killing me here," Derpy sighed. Without bothering to explain, Derpy grabbed Little Strongheart and started setting both of them on their route around town. Little Strongheart didn't bother to argue with it. "So, how are things going between you and Braeburn?" "It is still morning, and you wish to talk to me about that subject?" she answered, obviously uncomfortable. Derpy just nodded at her. "Well... you ask as if there was something," Little Strongheart lamented, her eyes wandering to the ground. "It seems that he has become a little distant from me. Maybe, he just does not like me." "O-oh?" Derpy wanted to punt herself into the sky. She hoped for some kind of hopeful cheer from her little buffalo friend about some possibly zany and embarrassing scheme to grab Braeburn's attention, but now she was sullen, the mood around her turning darker. "W-well, maybe you need to rethink your strategy? Huh, huh?" "My strategy?" "Have you tried showing him the goods?" Derpy replied with a wink. "I have no idea what you are talking about," Little Strongheart replied in confusion. "Neither do I, it just always sounds like a good idea... anyway! You shouldn't give up if you like a guy, right?" "It's alright," she sighed, calming down Derpy's almost-flurry. "Besides, this just means Carrot Top can have him. I'm sure they'll make each other so happy..." Carrot Top winced with her contained but rising anger over her situation. She watched from the dirt as Braeburn went about his field duties with no slowing down, smiling happily and stupidly to himself as he watched the apples fall from the trees with each strike of his leg. "You know, if you don't start a family then how will you carry on your family legacy here in Appleloosa?" she quickly asked him. "W-what are you going on about now?" Braeburn's tail fidgeted uncomfortably behind him. "Well, I mean look at it this way." Carrot Top picked herself up and started gesturing with her forehooves. "You say that you'll continue to work on the farm without the need for a... special somepony, but without a... special somepony, how do you plan to start a family? And, without a family you don't have foals so... your farm won't have anypony to take care of it..." "I guess I never thought about that," Braeburn sheepishly admitted, pawing the ground. "Unless you plan for you sister to take care of—" "No way, no how, no chance, Celestia forbid it!" he quickly cut her off. "Well, that’s most certainly out of the question," Carrot Top commented with a wry smile. She felt closer to something. "So—" "What about you?" Braeburn interrupted her again. "Do you want a family, Carrot Top?" "Well," Carrot Top cleared her throat. "Well, yes, I do. I've wanted a family of my own ever since I was a little filly..." Derpy felt her throat run dry as she stared at Little Strongheart with her lazy eye. "You're really going to give up on him?" Little Strongheart, who had always seemed to thick-headed to actually surrender to anything life-threatening or otherwise, had given up and she had no idea how to process it. "It is not like I want to, but when he barely talks to me now, what hope do I have with getting closer to him?" Her eyes fluttered a little as she kept her vision straight on the path, not looking at anyone. "It was a little calf's dream from the start." "But don't you like him!?" Derpy fluttered over her. "Yes, I do." Little Strongheart grew annoyed. It wasn't the first time Derpy asked her. It wouldn't be the last time either. "And I would prefer it if you would stop bringing it up." "Derpy, Little Strongheart!" Apple Bumpkin called out to them from down the street. "Hey!" "Apple Bumpkin!" Derpy called back, flapping her wings and whizzing through the air. "Apple Bumpkin, Apple Bumpkin, you won't believe what Little Strongheart told me? She's going to give up on Braeburn!" "What, really?" she turned over to the steaming buffalo. Little Strongheart was beaming an uncharacteristic glare at her loudmouth friend. "I figured if any... one had a chance of getting a message through my brother's thick skull it was someone else with an even thicker skull." "W-what is that supposed to mean?" Little Strongheart steamed while flustered. "P-please do not pick on me!" "Simmer down, cowgirl, it was a compliment. Most mares here can't get a word through his backed-up ears, but you and that Carrot Top have managed to hold his attention for a pretty long time. You can't give up now." "I can, and will!" she stubbornly shouted. "And that's why you shouldn't give up," Apple Bumpkin sighed. "Well, it's true we have no right to interfere with your life." "We don't?" Derpy bleated. "But, you say he doesn't talk to you, but he talks quite a bit when it's just me and him at home." "He does?!" Little Strongheart stampeded up to Apple Bumpkin, staring at her with wide eyes full of hope. "Does he really mention me?" "He does, the way you work around town, how you helped on on the train heist awhile ago, how strong you are. Don't give up on something, or rather someone, that makes you happy. You'll regret it later, trust me." She smiled down at Little Strongheart and ruffled her hair a little. "Be bold." "Be... bold," Little Strongherat repeated to herself. "I do not think I can..." "Then just keep trying," Derpy added, taking Little Strongheart's hooves with her own. Friends that would cheer her on like this didn't exist in the buffalo tribe. In fact, Little Strongheart had few she could talk to about anything. She looked back to Derpy and Apple Bumpkin and smiled. "Derpy, Apple Bumpkin, thank you." Carrot Top closed her eyes, sliding back to the floor as she recounted over many childhood dreams that time had left for dust. "It's silly, but when I was a filly, my biggest dream was having a family. A nice husband, three foals; at least one a filly and one a colt. A large house with a big backyard. Maybe even a dog. I always thought that it would make me happy. I was such a silly filly..." "I'm actually kinda surprised you don't have a special somepony yourself." Braeburn punctuated the sentence with a quick buck to a tree. "You're a good cook, and cute to boot. Seems to me stallions would line up to have your hoof." Carrot Top whispered under her breath for no one to hear, "So why don't you be my special somepony." "I guess you and I just aren't the family type in the end." Her eyes shot open. "N-now hold on," Carrot Top suddenly found herself saying, her tone rising unconsciously. "Just because I haven't married or started a family or am even any close to that now doesn't mean it's never going to happen. I... I can still have my family." The passion of her own words took her off-guard. She had meant every word of it. "I... can still have one." "Er," Braeburn fidgeted. He did not expect that kind of outburst. He smiled uneasily, hoping to calm her down. "I didn't mean anything to make you angry, Carrot Top. I'm sure that you'll make a... fine wife and mother for that special somepony someday." He bucked another tree, turning away from her. Seeing him turn away, her eye twitched. Carrot Top picked herself up and went over to a nearby tree. She placed a backhoof against it, tapping it once to get a feel for it. "It's supposed to go like this?" "Like what?" Braeburn turned around. "Hey, don't hurt yourself!" "Oh, be quiet." Carrot Top bent down to build up tension and bucked the tree as hard as she could. "Ow." Three apples fell from the tree. "S-see, I did it!" "That was just three apples," he pointed out flatly, dragging his basket over to another tree. "You don't have to work yourself for my sake." "Well I personally wasn't expecting a single one to fall down, so I would like to gloat... a little." She gritted her teeth as Braeburn continued to brush her off. "Would you just look at me already..." "I guess that's enough buckin' for one day. Better bring the haul back to Bumpkin." Braeburn turned and bucked a whole basket of apples, sending it flying skillfully through the air and landing perfectly in the back of his wagon. He turned to Carrot Top and flashed one his charming smiles. "Neat, huh?" he chuckled. "Absolutely flawless," Carrot Top groaned tonelessly. "I'm left utterly breathless." "Well, I've had plenty of time to practice," Braeburn chortled innocently, smiling contently to himself as he approached his wagon. "Well, it's been fun, Carrot Top!" "W-wait!" she shouted. Braeburn stopped turning and looking at her in confusion. "I mean, do you have to deliver those apples now? Your sister has a lot of inventory, right?" "Well, yeah. All thanks to my hard work," he said, proud of himself for working harder and harder day after day. "Then she'll be fine for awhile!" She ran up to his side, resisting the urge to physically pull him away from his cart. "You know, in all the time I've been here, I haven't seen the frontier all that much. Aren't we really close to the San Palomino Desert? I bet you could show me something." "Carrot Top," Braeburn uneasily uttered, "are you okay?" Her confidence almost shattered in an instant when he asked her that. It almost did, and as she realized that her head had sunk so close to the floor she could almost kiss the dirt, she took a deep breath and pulled herself back up. She turned and looked Braeburn right in the eye with a smile. "I'm fine. So, can you show me?" "Well, alright then." His uneasiness transformed into a comforting warmth that emanated from his smile. Little Strongheart happily continued her routes with Derpy, who was lost on a strange tangent about raisins being a scam to get ponies to pay more for dry grapes. She barely understood a word she said, but she was happy just to be an ear for Derpy to talk to, until she accidently bumped into a local pony, knocking him over. "Oh, are you okay?" she extended a hoof out to him. "I apologise. I was distracted." The pony didn't take her hoof. He just pulled himself up and looked at Little Strongheart with strong contempt before quickly turning away. "Watch where you're going." He trotted off with little else to say, leaving a solemn buffalo and a frenzied pegasus. "Now that was rude!" Derpy shouted to no one in particular. "Very, very rude!" "It's alright." Little Strongheart placed a hoof on Derpy's flared wings to calm her. "It is not something to get riled up over." "But did you see the way he—" "I did, and it is alright," she sighed. "Just the fact that he decided to leave it rather than start a fight is the best I could ever hope for." Derpy continued to glare at the scene were the rude pony disappeared to before groaning in defeat. "I guess you're right, but it's a shame that that kinda thing still happens." "Well, it could have been worse," she chirped happily. "So, did you change your mind about Braeburn?" "Would either you or Apple Bumpkin let me?" Little Strongheart sighed, masking some of the gratitude she had towards her two friends for continuing to push her down her seemingly fruitless path. "It is nice to know that somepony thinks I have a chance, even when I think I don't." "You know what's funny? That's how Carrot Top used to think." Derpy smiled and nudged Little Storngheart in the side. "Maybe some of that pessimism of hers is rubbing off on you! Scary thought, huh?" "That is a very silly thought," she spat back, annoyed. "You know, this morning, she was mumbling to herself about watching Braeburn buck all day and trying to get some alone time with him. She's gotten a lot more daring, like a certain somebuffalo." "Well, if she wins him, then that's that. We told each other, no hard feelings, no matter what." Yet, as she said those words, she could feel some doubts forming in her mind. She tried to shake them away. She knew that, no matter what, she could never hate Carrot Top. She had come to see her as too much a friend to hate her. "How about we get some lunch and drop the subject. I am not comfortable talking about my... crush with Braeburn so openly." "Just like Carrot Top!" Derpy sang as she bounced on thin air. "I think this applies to everypony, and everybuffalo, and everyone." "Not everyderpy!" Carrot Top coughed, expelling all the dust from her lungs as she looked out into the deserted wasteland. She squinted her eyes, trying to see as far out as she could past the brown dirt and the gray mountains. "It's so still," she said absent-mindedly. "Well, deserts are supposed to be still, or else they wouldn't be all deserted and like. I think it's kinda calming," Braeburn told her, taking a deep breath of the dry air. He started coughing immediately. "How Little Strongheart was able to stand here for a whole day though, is beyond me." "What do you mean?" "You don't recognize this place? It's where Little Strongheart disappeared to all that time ago." He pointed to a nearby familiar scene, one that began to grow stronger in his mind as he remembered all the words Little Strongheart shared to him so long ago. "I guess she likes places like this, stampeding with her tribe all the time and such..." "Well, that's good for her, I guess." Carrot Top wanted to move the topic away from Little Strongheart. She grit her teeth a little, wanting to grind away any ill feelings she held. She just wanted Braeburn to look at her, and she wanted it desperately. "You know, a while ago their was this experiment to have three groups of farmers, each one comprised entirely of one of the pony races, to try and farm a desert." "Really?" Braeburn turned to her, somewhat intrigued. "What happened?" "Well, in the end it was the earth pony group that had the best return," she happily continued. "This wasn't really a surprise since it's been known for a long time that earth ponies are better farmers, but, when the dirt from the earth pony group's farm was examined it was discovered that it contained more nutrients. Pretty interesting, right?" "Kinda, but managing the nutrients of soil is just what farmers gotta do," he stated matter of factly. "But, it's still never been fully explained why!" Carrot Top began to gush as she got lost in her own explanation. "It was as if it all just happened magically out of nowhere. Unicorns say magic is a science, but their are still a lot of unexplained phenomena nopony can explain like where the princesses came from, or what is it that gives potions and brews their effects, or how this peculiar pink mare in our town can predict accidents!" "Miss Top," Braeburn interrupted her with a chuckle, "I don't understand a single word that is coming out of your mouth." "You— oh... I guess I kinda rambled there," she lamented, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "Well, I thought it was rather interesting when I was reading about it. You know, the soil here in Appleloosa, especially around your farm is really fertile." "Well, I do try my best," Braeburn humbly laughed. "And the further away from your orchard I get, the less fertile it becomes. If that's not some proof of the miraculous power of the earth ponies, I don't know what is. Even my own little garden tends to be rather bountiful with just a little care and attention." "Well, I think that that's just the kind of thing that makes things bloom. You put some love and care into something, and your hard work will be rewarded always." "If only the world actually operated like that," Carrot Tops groaned, taking a mound of dirt between her hooves and examining it. She took a small lick of it. "Yep, lots of salt, and currently not suitable to grow much beyond a cactus." "And here's where I nearly vomited all over myself and collapsed right in front of Little Strongheart," Braeburn laughed, never noticing the growing grimace on Carrot Top's face. She poured the little mound of dirt back to the floor. "It was here, that Little Strongheart told me she liked me." The words came out of his naturally, without him even noticing until it was too late. When he did, a hard lump formed in his throat. Carrot Top snapped to attention, her eyes growing wider as she turned to stare at Braeburn's backside. "W-what? Little Strongheart told you that she liked you?" "Yeah," he replied uncomfortably. "But, uh, I think she thought I was passed out at the time. You might remember, finding me here collapsed from exhaustion way back. Well, I wasn't exactly unconscious when I collapsed, and Little Strongheart told me all about her feeling'." "And what are you going to do about those feelings?" Carrot Top's voice cracked as she choked back some of her emotions. "What do you mean?" Braeburn answered her innocently. "Even if she believed you couldn't hear her, it takes a lot of courage for her to confess her feelings." Braeburn felt the urge to panic and run. "Well, I mean, uh, I was just thinking, maybe I can wait it out?" "Wait it out?" Carrot Top croaked. Braeburn turned to her, trying to put her at ease with that innocent smile he often wore, but she wouldn't see it. "You were just going to wait out her feelings?" "Well, I wouldn't put it like that. I mean, well, maybe something will happen and then I won't have to worry about anything. Like, everything will just work out, you know?" He pawed the ground nervously, unable to shrug off the strange look Carrot Top was unknowingly boring into him like a knife. "I mean, things are going fine now, right!? We're still friends, and eventually we'll all just be on with our lives! It's not like I asked her to do all that." "And you're just going to ignore that poor mare's feelings?!" Carrot Top cried back. "You're just going to pretend everything's the same?" "Well, yeah. What's wrong with liking things the way they are?" he asked defensively. "Everything!" Carrot Top screamed at him. Little Strongheart sighed to herself as she bit into a braeburn apple while basking in the warm glow of the sunset, giving Appleloosa a strange golden-brown glow. "Maybe I should just be happy with the way things are," she mused. "I mean, It's not like Braeburn hates me, I think. He just doesn't seem to want to talk to me anymore." "Didn't you say earlier that you were thinking otherwise," Derpy argued back. "Stop talking about throwing in the napkin when you haven't even tried yet! You just need to take a deep breath and say those magical words." she shot up into the air, punctuating her action with a twirl. "Say those magical words that you like him." "It is not that easy, Derpy," she groaned, taking another bite of her apple. "If I tell him, things might get worse. What if he never wants to see me again, and then I can never come back to Appleloosa." "That's silly," Derpy spat as she drifted to the ground. "What kind of silly thinking led you to that idea?" "The silly kind." It took a moment to register, but Derpy nearly doubled over laughing. kicking up clouds of dust with each flap of her clumsy wings. "Well you should get rid of that silly thinking. You've got to try, Little Strongheart. Imagine how happy you'd be if he likes you back." "Me... and Braeburn?" Little Strongheart slid to the floor, trying not to let all her little idealistic thoughts rush out of her mouth. "It would be very nice, but reality and fantasy are not the same." "Would you quit with the moping?!" Derpy shouted, catching Little Strongheart off-guard. "If you keep thinking like that, I mean, you won't do anything. You've gotta have more wishes than just wanting Braeburn as your special somepony." "My wishes?" Little Strongheart turned to the wonderfully glowing city, one full of so many memories and emotions now. "Of course I do!" Little Strongheart shouted back. "I wish to fix the bond between Appleloosa and my tribe, and I want to be accepted within them, and I want to prove myself to them." Courage and strength were welling with her words. "I will not let anybuffalo or pony stand in the way of those." "And Braeburn?" Derpy giggled back as she saw the confidence in Little Strongheart drain out of her. "You've got to be like that with him too, right?" Little Strongheart held a hoof against her chest, feeling the thick beats within it. "I should, so I'll have to try. That's what you want from me, right?" "Right!" Derpy chirped back. "But not today." Little Strongheart picked herself up and started towards the Apple Bumpkin's store. "I'm going to buy some apples for the tribe and head back, but I really do want to take everything you said to heart, but it's still not easy." She turned one last time to Derpy and bowed. "At the very least, I am thankful to have made such wonderful friends in both you and Carrot Top." "I'm glad we're friends too!" Derpy flew at Little Strongheart and grabbed her in a deep hug. "And I won't stop being your friend no matter what." A few minutes later, the two of them had split up. Little Strongheart had gone off to bring treats back to her tribe, with Derpy left to try and put her own advice to heart. "Be brave," she whispered to herself as she turned in the direction of the sheriff's office. She remembered the advice Cup Cake had given her. "Here goes nothing..." "Time to turn in," Silverstar yawned as he twirled a set of keys on the end of a hoof. "What to cook for dinner." He pulled out one of the keys and was about to lock the front door, but it opened before him, and on the other side was a gray pegasus. "What? D-Derpy?" he stuttered in astonishment. "What are you doing here?" "Can I come in?" she asked plainly. Her demeanor was anxious, her tail and wings unable to stay still for seconds at a time as she concentrated solely on him. "I, uh, have been thinking and I, uh, well, you know?" "I know what, Miss Derpy?" Silverstar growled back, annoyed by her sudden appearance and more of a lack of sense than normal. "I don't mean to be rude, but it's been a long and oddly tiring day. I left my thinking cap by my nightstand." "I'm here to tell you I'm willing to give us a shot, you big dummy!" she shouted at him, and the stallion couldn't believe what he had heard. "So, can you let me in now?" "A-are you serious?" "Let me in! Please?" Derpy pleaded with her face suddenly only a few inches away. Silverstar snapped back to the reality at hand and stepped aside, letting the now-sheepish pegasus flutter into the dusty room. "M-make yourself at home, if you want, I guess. I was just thinking of making dinner." "Oh, uh, I'll join you then... if you don't mind! I mean, I'm not imposing." She thought she sounded ridiculous. Silverstar, baffled and dazed, approached his pantry of easily-made canned dinners and had started fumbling with a can-opener. "I'm not much of a cook," he told her, his back towards her. "I just take these things and throw them over the stove." "That can't be good for you," Derpy answered him. An eye of his twitched. "I've had little reason to learn to cook." The can was finally open and Silverstar emptied its contents into a pot on the oven. He struck a match against his hoof and lit the timber within it, sending fire up to the stove. "It isn't healthy, but I still keep strong somehow. Experience in the line of duty maybe." "Mares don't like stallions that don't take care of themselves." Silverstar scowled and turned back to Derpy. "And what do mares like?" "They like stallions with confidence, which you have a lot of," she chirped back at him, smiling sweetly as she was the entire time. The scowl on Silverstar's face melted away in an instant. "And, uh, I think that it might be nice, being a special somepony for someone again, especially someone as nice as you.” Silverstar moved himself to the back of the room, sitting himself down by the back wall, next to Derpy. "Well, stallions like pretty mares who speak their mind honestly, like you." "Pretty mares?" Derpy moaned back, her tone dripping with venom. "Well, am I still pretty when..." "Miss Derpy?" "When I do this!" Derpy shoved her face right into Silverstar's and her eyes began trailing off in different directions, almost spiraling out of control. "Hm, well, am I still pretty now?" Silverstar laughed at her ridiculousness. "Prettier than ever, Miss Derpy." A noticeable deep red blush crept across Derpy's face as she withdrew herself. "Oh, really." Her back slid across the wall, and her head landed right on Silverstar's side. "Thank you," she whispered. Hours passed, and moonlight began to pour in through the window as Derpy continued to rest comfortably against Silverstar. Neither wanted to say a word, afraid of interrupting their perfect and blissful silence. It was like a dream, any moment reality could snatch them away and back to some gray future, but this was reality, not a dream. "You know," Derpy giggled, "aren't office relationships frowned upon?" "You're going to bring this up now?" Silverstar grumbled. "You're going to keep teasing me, aren't you?" "Well, it's kinda fun." Dazily, she leaned more onto Silverstar before slipping and landing on the floor, giggling with her wings fluttering in the air. "How does a pegasus trip like that when you have wings?" "Are you kidding me? Pegasi trip and fall and land on their faces all the time. We have this one weather pegasus back in Ponyville who crashes into stuff pretty often." "Hm, learn something new everyday." Silverstar stretched, pulling himself off the floor. He ambled towards the drawer containing all his liqueurs. He slowly opened it, and reached for a bottle he has been saving for a special occasion. "Cheers?" he smiled at Derpy. "You want to get drunk now?" she groaned. "That stuff will kill you, you know." Not the response he was expecting. "Only foals and fools die from alcohol, and I'm neither." "Fine, I still don't want any of it." She stomped a hoof to punctuate her sentence. With a heavy heart Silverstar replaced the bottle back in his drawer but pulled out a cheap bottle of whisky. "Fine then," he groaned as he took his place at the back of the office again, Derpy on her back and staring up at him from the floor. "What? You really disapprove of drinking that much?" "Last time I got drunk, it left a bitter taste in my mouth," she gagged. "That's how you know it's working." "And your mind gets all foggy and it becomes really hard to remember stuff." "That's what most drunks are banking on." "So what are you trying to forget about?" Derpy asked him. Neither of them has moved an inch in the past few minutes. They just silently stared at one another. "Until recently, I couldn't forget about my old... you know. If I got drunk, would I forget about him?" "For a while, but then you'll wake up and remember him all over again," Silverstar sighed, bringing the bottle closer to his mouth. "I guess I drink, 'cause I'm a little lonely." "Are you lonely now then?" Silverstar looked at the bottle one last time before setting it down. "No, are you thinking about him?" "No, I guess not." Derpy pulled herself up and scooted closer to Silverstar. "You know, if we got drunk, we probably would have accidently kissed, and then barely remember it the next day while nursing our headaches only to remember at some awkward time to make something even more awkward." "Miss Derpy, you may not know this, but a lot of desperate stallions find this to be one of the desired effects of alcohol," he answered her with deadpan humor. "But, instead we could kiss, and remember it fully the next day... that seems a lot nicer..." "You know, that does sound a lot nicer..." "Do you smell something burning?" Derpy asked, ruining the mood. "Hm... oh crabapples, the soup!" Carrot Top rested lazily on Derpy's bed, Dinky a foot away in her own. Neither of them were very sleepy, but with nothing to do and so late at night they tried to keep each other company to avoid a lonely night. Carrot Top didn't cook that night, but neither of them complained. Derpy wasn't home, and Dinky knew and told Carrot Top why. She had known since that morning. It was just them, two dusty moth-eaten beds, and the glare of the moon off the dirty windows. "So, how did things go with Braeburn?" Dinky asked Carrot Top. "When you got home, you were in a really bad mood." "Yeah?" Carrot Top sighed. "Are you going to answer my question?" "Not tonight," Carrot Top sighed again, turning on her side and away from Dinky. "Suffice to say, I made an ass of myself." "Mom says not to use the word ass cause it's demeaning to donkeys," Dinky reprimanded her. "Derpy also says that ninjas are after her secret recipes." She pulled the covers up over her, trying to get Braeburn's dumb smiling face out of her mind. "Just go to sleep, Dinky."