Love is Strange

by PaisleyPerson

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“You’re hired.

“W-What?”

“I said, you’re hired.”

“But I didn’t-”

“Yeah, just put the resume there. It’s just a formality. I mean, waiting tables doesn’t really require a real extended skill set, ya know what I mean?”

“But sir! I’ve only just told you my name!” The buff, beige-coated earth pony finally stopped dancing around long enough to look at her. He had a mop of red and orange-streaked hair and golden eyes. He currently wore a more-or-less clean chef hat and a completely grease-stained apron from under which a pizza-shaped cutie mark poked out. Mindy’s vision was impeded by a countertop, or she would have seen that his shaggy hooves were tipped with the same red-orange as his mane.

“So you don’t want the job?” he quizzically looked over the equally perplexed mule. She was quite attractive for one of her breed, with a stormy gray coat accented by a creamy white muzzle, white underbelly, and a white spot around each of her eyes. Her mane was jet black with bangs that just overlapped her deep blue eyes. A lighter blue barrette pinned back the lower portion of her hair, which was medium-length and currently curled. She had no cutie mark, as mules didn’t possess such markings.

“N-No. I mean, yes, I do want the job.” Mindy had, in fact, come in to respond to the ‘Help Wanted’ sign sloppily scrawled in the window.

“Then I’ll tell you what. If you can make it through the lunch rush, you get the job. Uniforms are in the back. Put one on and start at table nine.”

Mindy stood quietly in shellshock until the clattering of silverware rudely drew the mule from her thoughts. She wasn’t going to push her good luck, and quietly did as she was told. Head still spinning, she shuffled into the back, expecting to find a bustling kitchen. Instead, she found only two ponies frantically scrambling to keep up with orders, one of which was Three Cheese, the stallion who had just hired her.

“It’s that closet there,” he called, pointing with his hind hoof as he juggled three pans on the stove. Mindy picked it out instantly, and hurried to change into the outfit- a simple black apron with the restaurant’s name, The Barley Bucket, embroidered on the front. Unfortunately, it was about three sizes too large, but she put it on anyway.

“Which one is...” She emerged from the closet, already tugging the apron back up.

“Table nine is there in the corner.” The second pony pointed, expertly balancing one tray between her wings, one on her hoof and yet another on her head. She had a pink coat, a ruby red and pink-striped mane and tail, both of which were neatly combed but kept short for a mare. She expected to find a food-related cutie mark, but instead she found two red paw prints.

“They were just seated. Start by getting their drinks- your order tickets should still be in the big apron pocket.” Mindy reached down and found not only the tickets but also a pen.

“But what do I-”

“Don’t worry about it- I’ll teach you as we go.” The mare took off to deliver her load. Mindy heaved a sigh, likewise rushing to attend to her new duties.

---

Mindy quickly realized why Three Cheese had been so eager to hire her- the place was horribly under-staffed, and as Cheese said, it was the lunch rush. The first hour was a living Tartarus. It wouldn’t have been so bad if she had known what the hay she was doing. It wasn’t that she wasn’t used to waiting tables- she had been a waitress most of her working life. She had just plunged in with no prior knowledge as to the menu’s contents, table numbers or the restaurant layout. She was even rendered unable to direct one customer to the restrooms. At last, the angry cacophony subsided, leaving the overworked staff to themselves for the break they deserved.

“Phew! Sorry to put you on the spot, there.” Cheese came from the back with three milkshakes. He set the tray down on the counter and offered one to the pink mare whom she had learned to be Paw Print, and the second to the mule herself. “Here you go, Mindy.”

“I-”

“Don’t worry- it’s on the house. You earned it.” He slid the shake over before she could decline. Mindy hesitantly took the glass before realizing how hungry she was- she hadn’t eaten a thing all day.

“Like I was saying,” Cheese resumed, sipping his own drink, “I didn’t mean to throw you in a whirlwind like that. It’s just that we’ve been losing staff left and right. It’s hard enough to maintain a family-run business without the staff copping out on you. It’s ‘cause school’s started back up now, I think, and the kids were finding that they couldn’t handle homework and a job after all. I get that, I really do, but they could at least give us a head’s up!”

“Now, Cheese, calm down,” Paw Print soothed.

“I even had to call in my wife to give some extra support!” he went on with no intention of following her instruction.

“I’m supposed to be at veterinary school at the moment,” Paw explained.

“Paw Print shouldn’t have to sacrifice her education for a couple of irresponsible school fillies! Never shoulda hired ‘em in the first place,” he grumbled.

“It’s perfectly alright. I completely understand,” Mindy assured. “Frankly, I’m just glad I found a job. I never got the chance to thank you, by the way.”

“Please! It should be us thanking you! You really saved our tails back there! After my last girl quit this morning, I put up that sign up in the window out of desperation. I didn’t think anyone would answer so fast, but hey, I won’t knock it.”

“I’ll run an ad down for the newspaper on our way home,” Paw absentmindedly commented.

“Unless you’ve got anypony you could recommend?” It took a moment before Mindy realized he had been addressing her.

“Me? Erm, no, I’m afraid not. I just moved to Canterlot, and haven’t really had the chance to meet anyone here yet.” Mindy decided not to add that she had no intention of making new friends.

“That so? What brings you to Canterlot, Mindy?”

“A fresh start, I hope,” she stirred her drink.

“A fresh start meaning what? New career? New home? Starting a family?” Three Cheese slyly winked, elbowing his wife.

“Cheese, don’t push her,” Paw Print chided.

“No, no,” Mindy sadly chuckled. “No family. I tried that once, and, uh... never again.”

“Oh.” Cheese stopped laughing. His wife smacked him.

“I thought he loved me, but he didn’t,” Mindy went on. Her eyes were distant, her mind elsewhere. “All I ever wanted was to have a family, but mules are sterile. Brent said he didn’t mind, that we could always adopt if we ever got that far. We went steady for a year... that was when I caught him cheating on me. He was worried I’d tell and ruin his reputation, so he started spreading rumors that I was the one who cheated. All my ‘friends’ believed him. They said awful things...”

“You don’t have to talk about it,” Paw Print assured. Mindy quietly nodded, and dabbed at her damp eyes. What the hay had she been thinking?! She wasn’t sure why she had started opening up to these ponies- she barely knew them. Perhaps it was because they were there, and had been willing to listen. At the same time, she couldn’t just unload all that drama onto her new boss. She was supposed to be making a good first impression, and she’d just blown it! She’d probably just made a new record for least time employed.

“Sorry. I didn’t-” The jingling bells interrupted Cheese’s apology to alert them of a new customer. Mindy jumped at the chance to excuse herself.

“I’ll get it.” Blitzing through that first hour had been rough, but she was finally starting to get the hang of things. She got the drinks taken care of almost too quickly, but perhaps that was just because she dreaded the idea of returning to the back. Once she delivered the two lemonades and received a food order, however, she didn’t have much of a choice.

“Two orders of the special,” she quietly informed, eyes down as she tacked the ticket up to the order wheel.

“Coming up,” Paw Print assured, doing her the courtesy of pretending nothing had happened. Relieved, Mindy was also going to let it go.

“Hey.” Mindy stopped, realizing she wasn’t going to get away scott-free. “I don’t know exactly what happened, but don’t stop looking just after one bad experience. ‘Kay?” Her black curls bobbed once, though she had no intention of following this advice. “Alright then,” he let her go. “Just remember, my door is always open.”

“Cheese? Can you take care of the specials, hun? I can’t stand to see you in that oversized apron anymore,” Paw fiddled with the end of Mindy’s apron, which was beginning to fall down again. “Come on. I’ll see what I can do.”

---

The Barley Bucket had treated Mindy well, even if she had only been there for a week. It was a small yet bustling restaurant, though for some reason, they really were having trouble finding employees. Three Cheese obviously didn’t seem to be picky when it came to hiring, which left Mindy to assume no one had yet applied. Mindy had also deduced that they were a young, inexperienced couple that hadn’t quite gotten the hang of the business world- they treated their employees more like friends than subordinates.

The restaurant was only a few blocks from where she worked, which made travel easy, if not boring. She fell into a steady routine of trekking to and from work, which proved to be a drab but reliable life with no excitement, just as she liked it. She had learned a lot in one week, though perhaps more about the ponies who worked there than the restaurant itself. Paw Print was very social, and enjoyed casual chit-chat in between seating tables. This gossip was bearable, considering that she worked part-time in order to keep up her schoolwork. But it was Three Cheese that was the real talker! Ever since her meltdown on that first day, he had politely refrained from discussing Mindy’s personal life, and instead talked about everything else.

From this casual conversation, Mindy learned that he and Paw Print were just recently married and now occupied a house they had inherited from her parents. They even offered to invite her over sometime to acquaint her with the area and some of their friends. Mindy quickly declined, but Cheese insisted on giving her their address for “another time” These ponies were friendly, true, but they were encroaching on inappropriately friendly, considering they were her employers. Mindy didn’t think they meant anything by it, and that it was just their way.

It had been another late night for Mindy, though the real challenge had been escaping that chatterbox called Three Cheese. On this particular evening, Mindy departed from work with a big bag of takeout and a wallet full of tips. She shuffled home along the dark, dingy sidewalk by the dim light of the flickering street lamps. She had stayed very late to help them wrap up tonight, but Cheese had promised that a more rigid schedule would be provided when they got more help. ‘If they ever get more help,’ she ruefully thought.

She just hoped she wouldn’t always be getting home this late. It was dark out, and there wasn’t a pony in sight. Even with her limited experience here, she knew it wasn’t safe for anyone to be walking around at this time of night. Who knew what kind of riff raff was lurking in the shadows?

Mindy shivered, and kept her head down as she picked up the pace. ‘Stop making yourself paranoid,’ she chided herself, accelerating to a trot. ‘Just go straight home and you’ll be fine. You’ll be-’ The screeching clatter of crunching metal set her off. Mindy broke into a full on canter, bolting for her apartment. She hadn’t even rounded the block when a cry reached her ears. As spooked as she was, Mindy normally would have kept going... except the call belonged to that of a child.

Mindy hesitated. She wanted to go home and know that she was safe in bed more than anything, but it was just a child. It hadn’t sounded any older than two or three, and most certainly not old enough to be out unsupervised. Was it alone? Was it hurt? Where were its parents?

‘It’s not your problem, it’s the parents’. Let them take care of it.’ Evidently, the parents were either slacking or absent, because another cry assaulted her ears. With an angry, nervous huff, Mindy figured she should see what the problem was.

The sound had come from a dark, narrow alley between two buildings. The way through was completely obstructed by two dumpsters, but on the other side lay a sagging abandoned lot. Judging by the spread of empty soda cans lying around, someone had been digging through here and caused the noise she heard.

“Hello?” Mindy anxiously called. It was dark and hard to see, and the flickering streetlights weren’t helping at all. Another small clatter answered her, and a rogue soda can rolled out from between the two dumpsters. “C-Come out,” Mindy gulped. “O-Or.. or I’ll-”

For the first time, Mindy noticed an eerie green glow reflecting off the surface of the metal cans. What was that? Whatever it was, the creepy light was doing nothing for her nerves. ‘Probably just a little unicorn child. The light’s just their aura... yeah...’ One hoof gripped the cold, grimy surface of the closest trash bin. ‘On the count of three. One... two... three.’ The dumpster gave way with an awful screech, and she was faced with two huge, glowing eyes.

“CH-CH-CH-CHANGELING!” At that moment, Mindy’s hoof met a surprisingly durable soda can, and her shifting weight caused both can and leg to fly out from under her. Her head collided with a hard wall, and the last thing she saw were those blue, beady eyes.