Lone Wolf: A Halfling Side Story

by Dee Pad

Part 7 - Perspective

Guise glanced around as he spooned another mouthful of orange pineapple ice cream into his mouth. Rocky's Road was actually more crowded than usual today—a whooping four people instead of the usual two or three, not counting himself. But while not more than one or two tables or booths were occupied at the same time, Sweetmint had informed him that customers have been coming and going pretty frequently all day. It wasn't a particularly hot day or anything, so nopony could really determine what was different about today.

It was really putting Sweetmint's work into perspective. It was pretty common for her to work late, but now Guise had to wonder why. She's stated on numerous occasions that Rocky's was a small-time ice cream parlor that only barely got enough business to stay open, so it would appear that the only reason she usually worked late was because she had to pick up the slack for her incompetent coworkers. Even then, Sweetmint usually clocked out before Tapioca and Frosted Chips, leaving them to clean up and lock the door.

Speaking of whom, for what seemed like the first time since Guise started stopping in at Rocky's, Tapioca and Chips were actually working for once. The frequency with which customers were arriving meant that Tapioca had little time to stop and shoot the breeze or flirt with customers. She was actually looking a little haggard, her mane—normally silky smooth with not a hair out of place—was a little frazzled and damp with sweat, though, based on what Guise had observed about her in the past, he assumed it didn't take much to wear her out. She had apparently been trotting back and forth all day, serving bowls of ice cream to the shop's patrons like she was supposed to. Even Frosted Chips was proving that his hooves weren't glued to the floor next to that same table everyday. He'd been wiping down all the tables systematically, sweeping the floors, taking empty bowls to the back room to be cleaned, which was where he was now. It would seem those two were good for something when the time came, though there was no lack of audible sighs from Chips since he couldn't take the time to enjoy his favorite hobby of booty watching.

But, of course, if things were busy enough to even get those two to actually do their jobs, that meant it was extra busy for Sweetmint. She had to make and scoop the ice cream while also taking orders from the customers as they came in. Guise knew her well enough to know when she was holding herself back. Her face was pretty flush, but he could tell it was from frustration rather than exhaustion. Understandable considering the place was supposed to close half an hour ago. She was probably forcibly holding herself back from screaming whenever another customer walked in. Guise had been the one to suggest to her in the past to not bottle up her emotions; if she was upset or angry, the people responsible for causing it should know. Obviously, her work place wasn't an ideal venue for venting, and judging by how quiet she'd been since he showed up today, Guise and Persimmon were probably going to have to join forces to quell the coming storm.

But it seemed the day may have actually been winding down. Two of the four present customers—again, Guise notwithstanding—stood to take their leave, leaving just the other two to finish up. Unfortunately, they'd been sitting around for a while and had actually ordered a second helping of ice cream, so it seemed they were in no hurry to leave and weren't aware or simply didn't care that they were holding up the people serving them. But no customers had arrived in some time now, which meant that Sweetmint, Tapioca, and Frosted Chips could preemptively clean up and be ready to clock out as soon as those two were finished.

Sweetmint finally took a moment to take a breather, leaning on the clear counter top and exhaling and long breath of air. Guise was almost afraid to say anything to her, worried that even a whisper would cause an avalanche. But he stood from the table anyway, taking his now empty bowl with him if only to make less work for the three employees. He approached the counter, gently placing the bowl upon it and speaking quietly to Sweetmint.

"How you holding up?"

The icy glare she shot him was practically tangible; it actually felt like he'd been stabbed between the eyes by an icicle. However, she closed her eyes and let out another deep sigh. She glanced at the two remaining customers, keeping her voice down to make sure they couldn't hear her complaining. "Our hours are posted on the door. How inconsiderate do you have to be...?"

"Well, looks like you're at the home stretch now, so tell you what: when we get home, you can take a swing at me."

That suggestion actually elicited an eager smirk from her. "Really? You'd be willing to take a punch from me to help me cool off?"

Guise chuckled confidently. "You can try, but don't get your hopes up. I've been in my fair share of tussles, so I know how to defend myself. And I can guarantee that I've taken hits harder than anything you can dish out."

"That only makes me want to punch you harder," she said with even more enthusiasm. "Never thought about having a 'sparring session' to help work off steam. Maybe I should think about getting a sandbag to beat up on. You know, for when your face is not within hoof's reach."

A light thud was heard as Tapioca's head dropped onto the counter top next to the conversing couple. The normally perky mare panted with exhaustion. "I'm pooped, Minty..."

"Me, too, trust me." Sweetmint actually gave her a genuine smile, seemingly not bothered by her complaint despite her own frustration. "You two have actually been a big help today, so thanks for not slacking off for once."

The other two customers finally got up to leave, now giving the employees a chance to let their muscles loosen up.

"I need a shower, like, now," Tapioca wheezed. "Can I take a minute to fix my mane?"

"We're not exactly done yet. Just wait a few more minutes, we'll finish cleaning up, and then we can all go home."

Apparently fate had heard the hope in her voice and chose that exact moment to crush that hope via the jingle of the entrance bell. Sweetmint wanted to join Tapioca in dropping her head onto the counter, but managed to have enough wherewithal to avoid showing the new customers any disdain. Guise didn't even bother to look in their direction. He was almost equally pissed with this whole situation as Sweetmint was considering he'd just gotten off work himself before he came over here. He wanted to go home and relax just as much as she did, and staring these inconsiderate assholes in the face would likely only make him more impatient and irate.

"My, isn't this a quaint little place."

"It seems pretty low key for Canterlot."

Guise's eyes shot wide. He recognized those voices. The first voice sounded rather sophisticated, yet held a level of confidence and compassion that was dissimilar to the self-important socialites of Canterlot. But it was the second voice that had really grabbed his attention. That was a voice he was more than familiar with, and one he would never be able to mistake. There was no lack of hesitance to confirm what he already knew, but he turned toward the entrance anyway.

Two mares had stepped inside, both wearing a set of saddlebags. One was a white unicorn mare with a luxurious, expertly-styled, purple mane. The mascara and eyeliner she wore accentuated her deep blue eyes, but wasn't quite as blatant as Tapioca's makeup.

And the other mare... was a changeling.

Chamella?!

"It's minimalistic, darling," the unicorn said. "It's become a rather popular style in the last few years."

"I can put dresses together fine, but I just don't have an eye for interior design the way you do, Rarity."

Guise struggled to make sense of what he was seeing. With a name to put with the face, he now remembered exactly who the unicorn was, but even still, she wasn't exactly who he was focused on. Even if there had been other changelings besides Shade and Chamella living with ponies, there was no mistaking those pink eyes and long, dark purple mane. Guise had known her just as long as he had Shade. He didn't consider her an old friend or anything, but he also didn't hate her. He was more indifferent to her than anything.

But what was she doing in Canterlot? Sure, she lived in Ponyville, which wasn't exactly far, but what reason did she have to come to this city? She was normally pretty meek, so he couldn't imagine she was one to enjoy painting the town red. Then again, a lot had changed since he knew her back then. The last time he saw Chamella, she was staring down Captain Wraith with a passion and rage he'd never seen in her eyes before, so she could be a completely different person now for all he knew, even if she didn't look it at a glance.

Sweetmint tapped Tapioca on the shoulder, prompting her to lazily lift her head from the counter with a groan. Sweetmint directed her attention to the two new customers, particularly the changeling. Under normal circumstances, they both likely would have had to force smiles to avoid looking like grouches, but they seemed to be too intrigued by the identities of these two customers.

Chamella and Rarity casually approached the counter, perusing the assortment of ice cream flavors on display. Guise half-expected Chamella to say hi to him or something, but he had briefly forgotten that he was in disguise right now. She had no idea that someone she'd known her entire life was standing right next to her. It felt weird, but Guise actually had to force himself not to say anything to her. He wanted to find out what she was doing in Canterlot, but he had a facade that he needed to keep up, so he was just going to have to let this chance encounter run its course.

"Goodness, all of this ice cream looks simply divine," Rarity commented, tapping her chin as she struggled to make a decision. She smiled amicably at Sweetmint. "What would you recommend?"

Sweetmint seemed to be caught off guard by the question, clearly still a little awestruck to see a changeling in her place of work. "Oh, um... Well, I always like to recommend my specialty." She pointed to the tub of green ice cream with chocolate chips. "Mint cookie dough."

Rarity held a hoof to her chest with a giggle. "My, it's like we've known each other for years. Cookie dough ice cream is my go-to comfort food for when I'm rendered simply inconsolable. A bowl of that sounds lovely. Not that I'm in need of comfort food at the moment, mind you," she giggled as she happily placed a few bits on the counter.

"Okay." Sweetmint then looked at Chamella expectantly, hesitating slightly as she stared a changeling in the eye for the first time—as far as she was aware. "And how about you?"

As friendly as she was trying to be, there was no denying the slight hitch in Sweetmint's voice. Guise heard it, Sweetmint heard it, and judging by the look on her face, Chamella heard it as well. Guise noticed the awkward look of embarrassment in Chamella's expression. That was a little more reminiscent of the person he knew.

Seeing the reticence in her eyes as well, Rarity gave Chamella a light nudge and a smile. "You may as well introduce yourself, dear."

"Uh, right. I-I'm Chamella. It's nice to meet you," the female changeling greeted quietly. "Sorry, I'm still getting used to all the extra attention we've been getting since the wedding. Pretty much everypony's been staring at me since we got to Canterlot today."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Sweetmint apologized with genuine remorse. "I'm Sweetmint, and I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"It's okay," Chamella said with a small smile. "I'll try some of that mint cookie dough, too." She added her own bits to Rarity's.

"Okay, take a seat." Sweetmint starting scooping up two bowls worth of the mint cookie dough with no sign of annoyance that they were delaying the shop's closing, while Rarity and Chamella took off their saddlebags and sat down in one of the booths on the other side of the shop. She then noticed the way that her boyfriend was staring at the customers. "Kinda unexpected, huh?" she quietly commented.

Guise finally managed to tear his eyes away from his old acquaintance. He had to try and not act weird to avoid raising any suspicions. "A little, yeah. Given some of our past conversations about changelings, I'm surprised you didn't mention your sister."

Sweetmint sighed with some slight annoyance. "On any other day, I'd honestly be pretty interested in having a chat with them. But it's been a long day, and I'm not exactly in the mood to be shooting the shit with strangers. I just want them to finish their ice cream and leave so we can go home," she told him as she placed the two bowls of ice cream on the counter. "Tapioca."

"Hm?" The other mare glanced back, having been distracted by the two customers. Up until now, she had been staring at them with a quizzical expression, like her brain was struggling to work something out. But upon noticing the bowls on the counter, she seemed to remember that she was still supposed to be working. "Oh, right." Tapioca promptly delivered the bowls to Rarity and Chamella, which the pair received with gracious smiles.

As surprising as this unexpected reunion was, Guise was in the same boat as Sweetmint right now. He wanted to get home, too. It wasn't like he worked at Rocky's; Guise could leave anytime he wanted, but he had to be a "good boyfriend" and wait for Sweetmint to finish up. But now he had to wait around until Rarity and Chamella were finished their ice creams. Not a scenario he ever imagined he'd have to think about, but here he was.

"I may as well have another bowl," Guise grumbled to Sweetmint, dropping some additional bits on the counter and holding out his bowl to her. "Fill 'er up."

Sweetmint did as he requested, though with a begrudging sigh. At that time, Frosted Chips reemerged from the back room, his face and mane damp with what Guise hoped was dishwater. Both Sweetmint and Guise watched silently as he slowly wandered over to the booth where the previous customers had been seated to retrieve their bowls. But, unsurprisingly, he took this brief reprieve from cleaning up to linger for a moment and stare at Tapioca, who was giving Rarity and Chamella their orders. Oddly, he didn't even cast a passing glance to the changeling seated there and just sauntered quietly back to the back room.

"That's the very definition of single-mindedness right there," Sweetmint remarked as she passed Guise his ice cream.

"Say what you will, the kid knows what he wants," added Guise.

He sat down at his usual table again to eat his second helping of ice cream. He made sure to position himself so that he didn't have to look directly at Chamella. But for his own curiosity, he kept them within his peripheral vision and was quietly eavesdropping on whatever conversation they chose to have. He wasn't even sure what he was listening out for; Chamella probably didn't have any information that would be useful to him, but he was too curious to completely ignore them.

"Here you go," Tapioca said with a chipper lilt in her voice as she placed their bowls of ice cream on the table for them. "Enjoy."

Rarity gave her a grateful smile. "Thank you very much. And may I add that your mane looks positively fabulous, darling."

Tapioca glanced up, tugging lightly on the hairs hanging in front of her face. "Oh, really? It's kinda messy right now."

"True, but I'm no stranger to my mane becoming a little unkempt after a hard work day. I can simply tell by its structure how well you usually style it, and if what I'm picturing in my mind's eye is accurate, I would bet it looks fantastic under normal circumstances. Do you style it yourself?"

"Totally," Tapioca confirmed proudly. "I spend, like, two hours on my hair and makeup every morning."

Sweetmint has complained about her being late for work in the past, and now Guise knew why.

Tapioca glanced at Chamella, grimacing slightly at the changeling's long, straight, and comparatively unimpressive hair. "Do, uh... Do you style your own mane, too?"

Chamella shied away in response to her somewhat judgmental tone, regardless of whether or not Tapioca meant to come off that way. "I... I don't style my hair... I prefer it how it is," she told her sheepishly, demonstrating exactly why by hiding her awkward blush behind the purple strands.

"She's allowed me to style her hair in the past, but she's always been pensive about it," Rarity explained. "She's a natural when it comes to designing clothing for others, but she doesn't actually have any interest in altering her own look, which is perfectly commendable in my opinion."

Tapioca simply blinked, looking as though she didn't fully comprehend the notion. "Oh."

"I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself," Rarity said with a touch of embarrassment. "My name is Rarity. Lovely to meet you, Miss..."

Tapioca didn't answer right away. In fact, she knit her brow, seemingly wracking her brain over something. But after a few moments, it appeared as though a light bulb had flickered on inside her head—a rare occurrence if Guise had to guess. "Oh, I thought that sounded familiar. You have the same name as a mare who opened a new boutique here in Canterlot recently. That's, like, a funny coincidence, huh?"

Rarity shared a somewhat awkward look with Chamella. "Er, that would be my boutique, dear, Canterlot Carousel."

Tapioca grinned obliviously. "Then it's a totally funny coincidence," she giggled, demonstrating that she may or not have fully understood the definition of the word coincidence.

Rarity smiled along awkwardly. "Yes, indeed. Have you been, Miss...?"

"Oh, right, my name! I'm Tapioca. And, yeah, I've been there a few times. The dresses there are, like, totally amazing."

The white mare smiled proudly. "Well, thank you. Although I can't take all the credit. Chamella and Sassy Saddles have been equally helpful in designing and managing respectively."

"Now you got me thinking about it. I wanna go over there and look for another new dress now," Tapioca giggled.

"Well, unfortunately, we're closed for the day. You'll have to wait until tomorrow," Rarity regretfully informed her.

Tapioca pouted at the news. "Poo. I would've been able to if we closed when we were supposed to."

Rarity's eyes suddenly widened as she spooned some ice cream into her mouth. "Beg pardon?"

"Yeah, we were supposed to close, like, more than a half hour ago or something, but people kept coming in for ice cream."

Rarity practically went into a panic, quickly rising from her seat. "Gracious! I had no idea we were holding you all up! I am so, so sorry!" She hastily stood up, prompting Chamella to follow her lead, and looked to both Tapioca and Sweetmint with deep apology. "We'll just get out of your way so you can clean up and head home."

Sweetmint walked out from behind the counter to stop them. "You don't have to do that, it's fine. I'm not going to complain about getting extra hours or anything." For as accommodating as she was trying to be, Guise knew that her words didn't match her feelings. She was probably secretly relieved that they had made that realization, though she still gave Tapioca a discreet, reprimanding glare.

Rarity held up a hoof. "No, no, we are being terribly inconsiderate, and I apologize."

Sweetmint didn't argue any further beyond that, likely just glad that this work day could finally come to an end. "Alright, but at least let me get some plastic cups and spoons so you can take your ice cream with you."

Rarity sighed remorsefully. "Very well. Thank you."

With that, Sweetmint headed to the back room to fetch the cups and spoons for them.

Rarity held a hoof to her face, the regret clearly visible in her expression. "Oh, I feel simply awful. I noticed the sign posted on the door and everything, but I was so focused on the interior that I didn't pay attention to the work hours."

Chamella glanced briefly in Guise's direction, speaking quietly. "I'd feel a little worse if we were the only customers here, though."

Tapioca also turned to Guise, but gave a dismissive wave of her hoof and giggled. "Oh, he's not a customer. That's Minty's boyfriend. He's just being a sweetie and waiting for her."

"Technically, I am a customer," Guise finally chimed in to correct her, pointing to his bowl of ice cream.

Rarity wore another apologetic expression for him. "Well, perhaps I should apologize to you as well, Mr..."

"Crimson."

"Mr. Crimson. Please accept my apology for our thoughtlessness."

"I think you're overreacting just a bit if you ask me," Guise told her.

"Perhaps, but I'm just trying to be empathetic toward people who put in a hard day's work and wish to enjoy a relaxing reprieve from the stress. I know I've had days where I internally groan whenever a customer arrives with an order at the last minute."

Chamella looked at Guise curiously. "Where do you work, Mr. Crimson?"

Guise hesitated for a moment. For some reason, the notion of just talking casually with Chamella felt weird. He'd have to watch what he said to her; if Daily Scoop could discern that he was a changeling based on the stuff he'd told her about him, Chamella might see through him even easier. But he also couldn't just not talk to her. That would look equally as strange. "The Soup Spoon. It's just across the street from here."

"Oh, it must be nice to work someplace close to your special somepony," Rarity commented. She looked at him coyly. "Let me guess: that's how you two met."

Guise shrugged. "Pretty much," he confirmed. "We both happen to spend our breaks at the café across the street, so we saw each other a lot. We eventually got to talking and just went from there."

"Well, aren't you lucky, getting to see your girlfriend during your breaks," Rarity giggled. "Sounds like you two have a good thing going."

Guise smirked a little. "Well, I don't like to rub my good fortune in other people's faces," he chuckled, obviously leaving out the fact that such aspects of his relationship were premeditated.

"You guys seem pretty nice," Chamella commented sheepishly. "I'm usually pretty apprehensive about coming to Canterlot because... Well..."

Tapioca tilted her head in confusion. "Because what?"

"Because she's a changeling," answered Rarity, prompting Chamella to shy away behind her mane.

Tapioca just stared uncomprehendingly.

"The... The invasion, dear. When the changelings attacked Canterlot."

"Ooooh, yeah, I forgot about that." the simple mare said with an innocent smile. "That was pretty weird with all those buggy ponies flying around."

Rarity cleared her throat, discreetly gesturing to Chamella.

Tapioca blushed with embarrassment and grinned awkwardly. "Uh, no offense."

"That's okay. I still feel bad about it, so I can't say I blame anypony for judging me for it," Chamella admitted ashamedly.

"Now, I've told you that you need to stop beating yourself up over the things you did in the past," Rarity told her firmly. "You've been forgiven countless times. And you didn't even do anything during the invasion."

"I unlocked the door to the Elements of Harmony," she retorted guiltily.

Rarity flicked her hoof dismissively. "Like that even mattered in the end. You didn't hurt anypony is the point. In fact, you actively avoided conflict. You were only there because Shade and Guise were."

Guise sat there quietly. It felt pretty strange to hear somepony say his name outright. He hadn't actually heard his own name said out loud since he left the Changeling Kingdom. He had to wonder how Chamella and Rarity would react if he just suddenly decided to reveal himself, not that he'd actually do that.

Tapioca pursed her lips in thought. "Shade's that other changeling from Ponyville, right?"

Chamella nodded. "Yeah."

"He your boyfriend?" Tapioca asked with a teasing titter.

Chamella's ebony cheeks flushed deeply, becoming flustered by the assumption. "What?! N-No! He's just... He's my best friend, but we're... not like that. And he's married now anyway."

"What about the other guy?"

Chamella blinked, confused. "What other guy?"

"Rarity mentioned somepony named Guise. Who's that?"

Guise listened intently.

"Oh. He's just a guy Shade and I knew growing up. He wasn't exactly a nice person. He actually tried to kill Shade a couple of times."

"Sounds like a jerk," Tapioca said with a disapproving pout.

"That's a word for it, I guess. But he did help us save my nephew a couple months back, so I guess he's not all bad."

Anyone else might have been flattered by a comment like that, but Guise had no interest in being seen as a "nice guy" by anypony other than Sweetmint, and even then she seemed perfectly fine with him being a snarky smartass from time to time.

"Where is he now?" asked Tapioca.

"No idea," Chamella replied with a shrug. "All I know is that he left the Changeling Kingdom. He seemed like he was interested in finding somewhere to settle down, but he at least promised not to hurt anypony. I don't know how much his promises are worth, though, so I won't be surprised when he comes crawling to us to help him out of a bind."

Somehow, it was a little disheartening to hear that even Chamella didn't have much faith in him. Guise and Shade used to frequently butt heads back in the day, even before he tried to ruin Shade's life. It was hard for Guise to pinpoint exactly what Chamella was to him, but she had never looked at him the way Shade did until he tried to steal his girlfriend to use as his own love bug. She always seemed like she was willing to tolerate his bullshit if only because she needed the extra companionship in a harsh and unforgiving environment.

And Guise couldn't recall any instances where he treated her poorly. Of course, he had always seen the two of them as means to an end—tools to be taken advantage of when the opportunity arose, which he eventually capitalized on—but he'd never done Chamella any harm before his betrayal. He wasn't going to claim that he wasn't an irredeemable asshole, but hearing the vindictiveness in Chamella's voice, especially after he helped save Shade's son, was really starting to put his life into perspective. She seemed grateful when last they saw one another, but she obviously hadn't entirely forgiven his past transgressions, not that he could blame her.

But that did bring a concern to mind: were they even going to be willing to help him if he needed it? They were supposed to be the good guys in this situation, but what incentive did they actually have to go to bat for him if he requested it?

Sweetmint finally returned from the back room with two plastic cups and spoons, breathing an exasperated sigh. "Sorry that took so long, the stock room's kind of a mess. I asked a certain somepony to organize it a thousand times, but she still hasn't," she accused, glaring at her coworker.

Tapioca pointed to herself, a look of confusion upon her face that had become a rather familiar feature for her. "You mean me?"

Sweetmint didn't dignify that with a response, simply rolling her eyes as she transferred Rarity and Chamella's ice cream to the plastic bowls. "Here you go," she said with a smile as she passed them the cups.

"Thank you very much, and my apologies once again," Rarity said. "I'll tell you what: I'll pass along both of your names to Sassy Saddles so that the next time you visit Canterlot Carousel you'll get a discount on an item of your choice."

"Thaaaat's really unnecessary," Sweetmint assured her.

Tapioca hastily held out her hoof with an eager smile. "Now, hang on, Minty. We can't turn down an offer like that. We'll look like total ninnies."

"I haven't worn a dress since my high school prom, and that one's probably being eaten by moths in a closet at my parents' place," Sweetmint argued bemusedly, clearly just wanting this conversation to end so she could go home. However, despite her protestations, she sighed and gave in. "But, whatever, fine. Thank you. That's very kind of you, Miss Rarity."

"You're very welcome, darling. Now then, we'll be off. Lovely meeting you all," Rarity bid them with a wave as she made for the door.

"Sorry for holding you up, but it was nice chatting," Chamella said with a small smile as she followed Rarity.

Finally, for the first time since Rocky's Road had opened that morning, the place was completely devoid of customers, Guise excluded. Sweetmint wasted no time pulling off her hairnet and apron, threatening to snap the straps of the latter in her haste. She hung up the apron, then flipped the sign on the door to deter anypony else from coming in. "Alright, I'm heading home this very instant. Tapioca, finish cleaning up."

"You're not gonna help?" Tapioca practically pleaded, her voice sounding as though she'd been betrayed.

Sweetmint shot an irate glare over her shoulder as she placed her hoof upon the door, all the stress of the day coming back to her with the force of a crashing wave in a storm. And right now, Tapioca was the beach upon which that wave was crashing. "You still don't seem to be getting it through your head that I have to be here earlier than you to get everything ready before we actually open in the morning. So if I ask you to finish cleaning up, I expect you to clean up, no questions asked. Seriously, we've been working together for how long now? When are you going to get a grasp on what it is you're actually supposed to do here? And why the hell would you just bring up that we were supposed to be closed?! You don't say shit like that to customers!"

"We were just talking, I—"

"Well, maybe you should try thinking before you speak for once!"

Guise watched as Tapioca's ears flattened against her head, the mare looking like a puppy being scolded for urinating on the carpet. It may have been the first time he'd seen her actually look like she was taking Sweetmint's words to heart instead of obliviously letting them fly over her head. It appeared Tapioca was intelligent enough to register pain after all. Surprisingly, Guise found himself feeling a little bad for Tapioca; the one time she had actually put in a decent amount of work and even earned thanks from Sweetmint, it was just as quickly taken away from her.

Not getting any further back talk from Tapioca, Sweetmint then turned her attention to Guise, though she had yet to unfurrow her brow. "Come on, Crimson."

For as much as he wanted to get home himself, Guise found himself hesitating. Sweetmint's current attitude was less than ideal, and given that he had offered to let her try and punch him when they got home to relieve stress, he was actually a little concerned about his own well being despite insisting that he could take it.

He glanced down at his bowl of half-eaten ice cream. "Um, I'm gonna hang back and finish this. That okay?"

Sweetmint glared at him for a moment, but then opened the door and turned her back to him. "Whatever." She slammed the door shut behind her, the glass wobbling from the force and almost knocking the entrance bell loose.

Guise slowly spooned a scoop of ice cream into his mouth, suddenly in no rush to finish, even if it was starting to melt.

Tapioca sat down at the table with Guise, shuffling her hooves dejectedly and staring down at the table. "I think she's mad at me..."

"What was your first clue?" Guise responded snarkily.

"I think it was when she started yelling."

Guise just stared, bemused. Apparently her obliviousness hadn't abandoned her enough to be able to recognize sarcasm. But he decided to cut her some slack and not pile on. "Look, if it means anything to you, I think she's just in a bad mood. It's been a long day for her, she's stressed out, and she's taking it out on whoever's closest. Maybe don't take it personally."

Tapioca lifted her gaze to stare into Guise's eyes, a small, grateful smile creasing her lips. "You're a really nice guy, aren't you, Crimsy?"

"Stop calling me that," he demanded with a grimace.

Tapioca flicked the frayed locks of her pink mane with a scoff. "But she's always like this. I've been trying to be all nice and stuff to her, but she's such a sourpuss."

"She has anger issues, you know that, right?"

"Well, yeah, duh, but can't she, like, take it out on somepony else?"

"She does, believe me. You're just not around to see it."

Tapioca continued to stare him in the eye with an interested look. "How do you put up with it?"

Guise shrugged. "Like I told you, just don't take it personally. I like to think I've got some pretty thick skin, but it probably has more to do with how similar we are."

Tapioca tilted her head. "Similar? But you two are nothing alike. She's all grouchy and angry, and you're such a sweetheart."

Guise sighed internally. He hadn't been blind to her painfully obvious advances in the time he'd known Tapioca, but it would seem her apparent and inexplicable infatuation with him had made her blind to his thinly-veiled disgust toward the notion. Most of his interactions with her involved either a revolted sneer, or a distasteful comment, but nothing seemed to be forceful enough to make it through her thick skull, much to his chagrin. And being called a "sweetheart" didn't sit well with him either; not even Sweetmint called him pet names like that.

"You really don't know anything about me. Me and her actually have a lot more in common than you think. I'm no stranger to a little rage, trust me. I can take anything she can dish out, verbal or physical."

Tapioca cast a sultry stare across the table, lightly fanning her face with her hoof. "Oooh, a real tough guy. I totally see why she likes you."

Guise just rolled his eyes as he had another spoonful of ice cream. "I've actually encouraged her in the past to not keep her emotions bottled up. I know from personal experience how good it feels to vent all that pent up anger and frustration."

"Then why didn't you go with her?"

He stared down at his bowl of ice cream for a moment. "Because she seems to be in a particularly bitchy mood today. And not the fun kind of bitchy where we can trade insults. I kinda want to let the heat die down a little before I walk into that oven."

Tapioca leaned on her hooves, batting her fake eyelashes at him. "Well, you can hang out with me as long as you like, Crimsy."

And that invitation was all the motivation that Guise needed to shovel down the rest of his ice cream and stand up. "On second thought, maybe I will head home and see how she's holding up."

Tapioca stood up as well, looking a touch disappointed, but smiling gratefully anyway. "Oh, okay. But it was nice to just, like, talk and stuff, you know? I feel a little better. Thanks, Crimsy."

She moved in to give Guise a hug, but the stallion was quick to put the kibosh on that by holding her at hoof's length. "Yeah, no, none of that, please." It was only now that he spotted Frosted Chips standing by the door to the back room, glaring in his direction. But that gave him a way to hopefully end this conversation efficiently. "Don't you have work you still need to do? You want Mint to yell at you again?"

"Oh, uh, right." She quickly gathered up the empty bowls left by Rarity, Chamella, and Guise and promptly trotted off to the back room to clean them. She paused to look back at him over her shoulder, giving him a sly wink. "See you later, Crimsy." She then disappeared behind the door.

Frosted Chips gave Guise another disapproving scowl, but silently followed her back in there, likely not going to be doing anymore work himself now that she was in there with him.

Guise quietly sighed, scratching his head. It wasn't his intention to sit and chat with Tapioca, but for once her company was actually preferable over Sweetmint's given the latter's mood. He felt a little bad for leaving Persimmon to handle her all on his own, but not bad enough that he was willing to put himself in harm's way.

Unfortunately, the conversation certainly didn't help with distancing himself from Tapioca. She was still an insufferable airhead, but for some reason he decided to take pity on her for once. She was a simple-minded individual, so if he could help Sweetmint deal with her emotional issues, why not use his superior intellect to at the very least ease what little stress a complacent simpleton like her might have? Still, though, it wasn't like he had any reason to do it other than killing time, but he was starting to realize that he was getting pretty good at this kind of thing.

Before Guise could even turn toward the door, he heard a quiet knocking on the glass. Guise was caught a little off guard when he looked. Standing outside with a sheepish look on her face was Chamella.

"Um... Sorry, but we, um... We forgot our bags in the booth," she said through the door. "Can I come in to get them, please?"

Guise hesitated for a moment. He had thought his encounter with Chamella was over and he didn't need to think about it anymore. He hadn't expected to see her again, let alone so soon.

But she was waiting for him to respond, so he opened the door for her and she quickly trotted over to retrieve the two sets of saddlebags. As she headed back toward the door, she stopped next to Guise, giving him a bashful and grateful grin. "Thanks, um... Crimson, right?"

"Uh, yeah. No problem."

There was a rather awkward moment of silence between the two. Guise wasn't at all surprised by her social skills, or lack thereof, but he also felt like something needed to be said. A thought he'd had earlier came back to him, but was it something he really wanted to pursue? He wasn't likely to get another opportunity like this.

The slight blush on Chamella's face only deepened as she started awkwardly inching toward the door. "So, uh... Anyway, I better get going. Thanks again. And it was nice meeting you... A-Again..."

"Chamella, wait."

She turned around with a curious expression.

Guise paused as he stared her in the eyes. He was actually about to do this. With a deep breath, he steadied his nerves and just ripped the bandage off. "It's me."

Chamella raised an eyebrow, but Guise leaned in closer, giving her a closer view of his eyes. The golden color of his irises shifted to blood red. Chamella's jaw dropped instantly as she realized what exactly it was that this supposed stranger was trying to relay to her. "Guise?! Is that you?!"

"Shh! Keep your voice down!" he warned her.

She glanced around in a panic to ensure there was nopony around, inside or outside the ice cream parlor, who would be watching them. "What are you doing here?!" she asked, barely able to keep her voice down in her shock.

"Okay, listen, before I answer any questions, we probably shouldn't be seen talking to each other. People might get suspicious." He peered over her shoulder and through the door. "See that café across the street?"

Chamella followed his pointing hoof to the building in question, with the cozy veranda out front where a few people were enjoying coffee, either engaging in idle conversation or quietly reading the day's newspaper.

"Meet me there in a few minutes, and disguise yourself as Sweetmint, okay?"

Chamella looked uncertain about that request. "You want me to disguise myself?"

"Yes, that's what I just said, pay attention."

"Sweetmint was the girl who took our orders, right? The green mare?"

"Right. She's my girlfriend, so it won't look weird if people see me talking to her."

Judging by the look on her face, Chamella seemed a little confused and concerned by this whole situation, but she nodded in agreement. "Okay. I'll just head over there now."

"Alright, go on ahead. I'll catch up shortly."

***** ***** *****

Guise took a seat at one of the empty tables on the café's veranda, picking one off by itself and away from any of the other patrons. He sighed deeply and took a long swig of the coffee he'd just ordered, paying no mind to the fact that it was still piping hot. Chamella hadn't quite shown up yet. He had seen her head inside the café, but she hadn't come back out yet. He didn't know what was taking her so long, but the wait was giving Guise some time to think about the situation he'd now found himself in.

He'd willingly revealed himself to her. The logic in his head was that both she and Shade were meant to be his backup plan if he screwed up, so it made sense if at least one of them knew where he was. Chamella was preferable; he still never wanted to see or speak to Shade again if he could help it, and Chamella was less likely to give him crap about it.

But he could have just let her go. He knew where Shade and Chamella lived, so what reason did he actually have to tell Chamella? Why was he bothering with this? Why did he have a sudden compulsion to talk to her? Maybe he was just going stir crazy and needed somepony to talk to other than Sweetmint; Daily Scoop wasn't around anymore, and Tapioca was not exactly what he'd consider intellectually challenging. But maybe, in the end, this would be for the best. It was in his best interest to set up his contingency plan in advance rather than wait until something went wrong to ask for help.

Guise looked when he saw somepony sit down at the table with him. To anypony else at the café, it would have looked like Sweetmint Scoop, but Guise knew it was Chamella in disguise. Even a body switch wasn't enough to completely conceal her, as the uncertain expression on her face wasn't characteristic of the pony she was impersonating. Considering Guise and Sweetmint were regulars at this café, he had to wonder if the barista found it odd that "Sweetmint" had ordered a cup of tea instead of coffee.

"Sorry for taking so long. I had to hide in the bathroom for a while to make sure nopony saw me change," Chamella explained, her quiet and apologetic tone sounding bizarre to Guise with Sweetmint's deeper voice. She lifted one of the green hooves that replaced her usual chitinous and hole-riddled ones, staring at it for a moment. "It's been a while since I've shapeshifted. Feels kinda weird not to be in my own body."

"What are you doing here?" Guise asked, not wanting to beat around the bush.

Chamella was caught off guard by the abrupt question, wincing a little. "Um, well, Rarity and I came to Canterlot to check up on the new boutique she—"

"Nevermind, I stopped caring," he interrupted with a roll of his eyes.

Chamella scowled slightly at his attitude. "I asked you first anyway. What are you doing in Canterlot, Guise?"

Guise discreetly glanced around to make sure nopony was eavesdropping on their conversation. "Don't use my real name. Call me Crimson."

"Just answer the question."

Guise sighed as he prepared to share his story with her. "Look, it's like I told you guys last time we saw each other: I'm just here to quietly live my life. Is that a problem?"

Chamella glared at him, her eyebrow raised skeptically.

"If I were doing anything seedy, would I have bothered telling you I'm here?" he told her to try and assuage her suspicions.

"You'll have to forgive me for not being entirely convinced," she told him, her voice dripping with doubt. "I know you. Just because you helped us out once doesn't mean you've redeemed yourself."

Guise leaned back in his chair with a groan. "Geez, what happened to all that 'love and tolerance' crap your friends were supposed to teach you guys?"

Chamella retracted slightly, looking a little ashamed. "Sorry. I guess I'm just still surprised to see you. I honestly wasn't expecting to ever see you again."

"The feeling's mutual, trust me."

"So... How are things going?"

Guise blinked. Judging by the look on her face, she seemed to be under the impression that he just wanted to do some catching up. "Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not here to make small talk with you. Shade promised that you guys would help me out if I got myself into some hot water, that's all."

Chamella narrowed her eyes at him. "What did you do?"

"Nothing, don't jump to conclusions. I'm just hedging my bets to make sure I've got something to fall back on in case something goes wrong. Come on, can't you just have a little faith in me?"

Chamella took a sip of her tea, contemplating the situation. "Well, if you're going to rely on us, then I feel like we should get a better understanding of your circumstances. Shade said he wasn't going to bail you out if you did anything heinous or hurt anypony, so I need to know that you haven't done anything wrong so far. That's fair, don't you think?"

Guise sighed, scratching his neck. "Yeah, I guess."

"So how long have you been in Canterlot so far?"

"Coming up on two months now. I spent a couple of weeks scouting out other towns and cities before settling on this place. It's so foolhardy for one of us to live here that nopony would expect it, you know? And it's... pretty close to you guys, so... just in case something goes wrong..." he mumbled.

"And you weren't lying about having a job? You're actually working and pulling your weight here?"

"Begrudgingly, but yes." Guise pointed to the building adjacent to the café. "Like I told you and your friend earlier, that's the place there if you wanted to confirm it for yourself, though I'd rather you didn't at the risk of raising suspicions."

"Speaking of suspicions..." Chamella glanced around before leaning in and whispering, "Does anypony know about you?"

"Around here? No."

Chamella quirked an eyebrow. "'Around here'?"

Guise sighed as he readied to share the information. "You know a mare named Daily Scoop, right?"

"Daily? Well, yeah. She was actually in Ponyville not long ago. She said she just came by for a visit, but given all the questions she asked, I get the feeling she just wanted to know more about the kidnapping. Wait, why do you know Daily?"

"Because you're currently disguised as her twin sister."

Chamella's eyes widened and she looked down at the body she was using. "What?! I... I didn't know she had a sister. She's never mentioned anything about that."

"Guess that trait runs in the family," Guise said with a roll of his eyes.

"So, wait, are you saying that Daily knows about you?" Chamella inferred incredulously.

Guise leaned against his hoof with a groan. "Yeah. I slipped up and she figured me out. She's a sharp one, I'll give her that."

"Why wouldn't she mention this to us? She didn't say anything about you when she visited."

"Because she promised she'd keep it a secret."

"Why?"

Guise glared across at Chamella, insulted by her insinuation. "I'm sorry, do you think I'm incapable of acting like a civilized person? That I can't be nice enough that somepony would be willing to give me the benefit of the doubt?"

"She threatened to write an article about you, didn't she?"

"She already wrote it," he groaned. "She's just waiting to see if I screw up to publish it."

"So now you're forced to behave so she doesn't reveal your secret."

He scowled at her assumption. "What did I just say? I didn't do anything wrong. She wrote it as more of a just-in-case kinda deal."

Chamella shrunk back apologetically. "Sorry. I guess it makes sense. If her sister is okay with it, then I don't see why she wouldn't be, too."

Guise cocked an eyebrow. "I didn't say anything about Sweetmint knowing."

"What?" Chamella stared at the dead seriousness in Guise's eyes. "Your girlfriend doesn't know?"

"Of course not, why would she? Why am I bothering to wear this disguise if I'm just going to tell everypony? I'm trying to fly under the radar here. That was the plan from the beginning, remember?"

"But... you're deceiving her."

"Yeah. Your point being...?"

Chamella gave him a disapproving look. "It's not right."

Guise scowled at her. "I told you last time we saw each that I was doing this my way. I outright said I wasn't out to make friends. If you were so against it from the start, you should've tried to stop me."

"I was hoping you'd have a change of heart after what happened to Glory."

"Then I guess you were giving me a little too much credit."

"I don't like this. You shouldn't be lying to people like this."

Guise's frustration only escalated with that comment. "That's rich. You're accusing me of lying to people? If I recall correctly, didn't Shade do the exact same thing when he left home? And look how things turned out for him."

"But his lie almost ruined his happiness."

"And who's fault was that?"

Chamella flinched. Guise could tell by the sudden look of shame and guilt on her face that she still hadn't forgiven herself for what she'd done in the past.

"I really shouldn't have to remind you that it was my meddling that got him where he is now. I might have tried to ruin his life once, but it turned out that he was better off for it, even if it wasn't my intention."

Chamella managed to compose herself somewhat, glaring more defiantly. "But that doesn't make what you did right. My own mistakes in the past also helped shaped the way our lives turned out, but that doesn't mean they weren't still mistakes."

"You seem to be implying that I don't know what I'm doing."

"I know exactly what you're doing, and that's what worries me."

Guise grit his teeth. He would have expected this kind of resistance from Shade, but Chamella? She was supposed to be a doormat, too timid and pathetic to fight back. He'd never have expected that she would be able to rile him up so much. "You don't know anything. You're making wild assumptions because you obviously think I still can't be trusted."

"Nothing you've said makes me think you can be trusted, especially after hearing this. We only gave you a chance because you helped us save Snowflake, and now I know that even Daily is trying to keep you in line. If she really trusted you, she wouldn't have to blackmail you."

"So you're still going to look at me like I'm some kind of criminal?"

"You did spend two years in a dun—"

"Shut it!" Guise peered over his shoulder to make sure his outburst hadn't garnered the attention of the other people on the veranda before turning back to Chamella, his face full of indignant frustration. "I said I had no intention to hurt anypony. Is my word not good enough for you?"

"I'd feel better about this if Shade knew."

Guise leaned forward, firmly planting his hooves on the table. "You are not telling Shade I'm here. I was fine with telling you, but I want him to stay out of this."

"He needs to know. He's the one you made the promise to," Chamella insisted.

"Let me make this abundantly clear," Guise started, a belligerent look in his eyes. "If Shade ever comes here looking for me because you told him I was here, I will kill him."

Chamella didn't seem bothered at all by the threat. "You can't kill him."

Guise blinked, staring at the unfazed expression on her face. "What?"

"You can't kill Shade. You've tried a couple of times in the past, but you've always failed. He's stronger than you."

Guise sat there in silence, her words needling him incessantly. Every muscle in his body tensed up, his heart started beating furiously, and his pupils narrowed to the size of pin pricks. A seething rage built up inside him; a sensation he hadn't felt in quite some time. Nothing got under his skin more than the notion that Shade was better than him. Even if it was true—which he'd even acknowledged in the past—it still infuriated him to no end to think about it. And hearing it from somepony else was even worse. It was an affront to his pride and the person he saw himself as.

But this was no place to lose his head. Chamella could clearly see the anger in his eyes, but she didn't seem worried. She was waiting for him to let his emotions get the better of him and thus sabotage himself. But he wasn't about to give her the satisfaction of being right, so he managed to keep his anger under control.

"You won't be able to do anything if Shade showed up here to stop you," Chamella warned him. "But if it makes you feel any better, I can try to convince him to leave you alone for now."

Guise glared at her adamantly. He was admittedly pretty peeved by how cocky she was being right now. It was somehow even more aggravating to get this kind of spiel from her of all people. But there were other ways to make her keep her mouth shut. "You're not telling Shade. If you do and I find out, then I can't guarantee Sweetmint's safety."

Chamella narrowed her eyes doubtfully. "You'd be willing to hurt your 'love bug'?"

"I don't want to hurt her for the record, but if threatening her is what it takes to keep you silent, then you're not giving me much choice."

Chamella glowered at him. "See? This is exactly why I can't trust you. How can I when you make threats like this?"

"I haven't done anything wrong since I got here!" Guise snapped. "In fact, all I've done is help people! And you still have no room in your mind to believe that I can behave myself. I've been trying to be a nice guy all this time to make this whole process easier. I didn't have to pull you aside and share all this with you, but I did anyway. I even sat down and consoled somepony I can't stand earlier. Do you know how hard it is for me to keep my mouth shut when everypony around me is being an insufferable moron? I've had to reign myself in to keep up appearances, and Sweetmint is the only person I feel like I can be myself around even a little. But, you know what? This little talk of ours has made me realize something. I despise being the 'nice guy.' I've had to swallow my pride for the stupid people around here, but that's not enough, is it? You won't be happy unless I'm domesticated like the rest of you. The fact that you, of all people, are sitting here and trying to put a leash on me is making me understand how soft I've gotten and how much I hate myself for it. You were right from the beginning: I am lying to everypony here. So, thank you for putting things in perspective for me. You've now given me the motivation to be more myself again. I hope you're proud of yourself. Now, I would appreciate it if you were to leave and never show your face in front of me again."

Chamella stared at him in silence for a few moments. "Just because you helped people doesn't mean you've made up for anything, especially when it sounds like you're only doing it for your own benefit."

Guise just glared harshly.

She stood up and started walking away. She stopped just short of the veranda's steps to glance over her shoulder at him, her expression a mixture of anger and disappointment. "For the record, I wanted to trust you, but you're still just as selfish as you've always been. There was a moment where I actually thought you might have changed." And that was all she said before she left, disappearing down the street.

Guise let out a long sigh, ignoring the prying eyes staring in his direction after his outburst. He downed the rest of his coffee and leaned back in his chair, no lack of regret in his mind as he let this whole thing simmer. "So did I..."

He got up to head home, but his mind was going to be pretty preoccupied for a while, he figured. He honestly couldn't believe how stubborn Chamella was being. She was supposed to be one of the good guys, yet even she wasn't willing to believe that he could be a good person. Of course, it wasn't like she was wrong. Guise had told himself on numerous occasions that everything he did in Canterlot was for himself. Suppressing his personality was a necessity in order to blend in, but apparently that wasn't enough. He had to be genuinely nice in order to be trusted. If anything, it was her own fault for expecting any better from him. She knew better than most people what kind of person he was, but just because he was doing things for himself didn't inherently mean that he was making other people's lives worse.

And that was what stuck in his craw the worst. It wasn't the notion that she didn't trust him, it was the realization that he had changed. Thinking about the time he'd spent with Sweetmint, his "truce" with Persimmon, his dismissive attitude at work, his conversation with Daily, and even earlier today when he was talking to Tapioca, he now understood how much of his dignity he'd had to sacrifice to get where he was now. After all this time, he found himself pondering a question he'd asked himself when this all started: was it worth it?

But even if his pride was wounded, he still had his convictions. He came to Canterlot for three reasons: food, shelter, and love. He'd achieved two of those goals, but he wasn't going to slack off until he got the third. But only one person mattered when it came to getting it. By no means was he under any obligation and act civil towards anypony else, so maybe it was time to actually take a page out of Shade's book and start being himself.

"Crimson?"

And it would seem that fate had given him a good place to start. As he was walking down the sidewalk on his way home, Guise turned around to find Tapioca coming up behind him. There appeared to be a touch of concern in her eyes, but that was offset by the glint of hopefulness

"What do you want?" Guise snapped, practically gnashing his teeth at her.

Tapioca flinched at his aggressive tone, but still walked up to him expectantly. "Are you okay?"

Guise raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Why?"

"It looked like you and Minty were having an argument. You both seemed pretty mad. Trouble in paradise?"

Guise grimaced. He was more concerned with the other people at the café, so he didn't even realize that somepony had been watching them through a window across the street. But, judging by what she'd said, it appeared that she hadn't actually caught the conversation. Guise and Chamella had kept their voices down for the most part, so he suspected that nopony would have heard enough to discern the topic of their conversation.

Tapioca leaned closer with that familiar, sultry expression. "If you need somepony to talk to, we could always find a nice, quiet place. Just the two of us."

Guise couldn't just ignore this. He had some venting to do, and as it turned out, there was somepony here that needed to be put in her place. He firmly pushed her back to put some space between them, scowling venomously into her eyes. "Let's get something perfectly straight here. I am not, nor will I ever be, interested in you. Your voice irritates me, your advances are revolting, and you have the intelligence of a fruit fly. Furthermore, my relationship with Sweetmint is none of your concern. If I wanted your input, I'd ask for it, but why the hell would I ask a bimbo like you for advice? So kindly keep your nose out of my business, and fuck off."

Guise didn't even wait for her reaction. He just turned his back on her and started back on his way home. He had no idea if she was even smart enough to understand what he was telling her, but at the very least, he couldn't hear her hoofsteps behind him, so he could assume that she'd been effectively dissuaded from continuing to bother him further. But that did feel good. Guise felt like he needed that, but it was going to take much more than that to revitalize his damaged ego.

***** ***** *****

The door to the apartment swung open abruptly, almost putting a dent in the wall. Guise walked inside the apartment and slammed the door just as hard behind him. He immediately noticed Sweetmint lounging on the couch, aggressively stroking Persimmon's back. The cat was staring back at Guise with a pleading look, silently begging him to tag him out before his owner ground his spine to dust. Guise payed little mind to the feline, instead focusing his attention to his girlfriend.

There were already three empty bottles of beer on the coffee table, and Sweetmint was currently nursing a fourth. In the time that he'd known her, Guise had gotten a sense for why she drank that stuff. Apparently it had nothing to do with taste, but rather the alcohol evidently had medicinal properties that helped relieve stress. It wasn't uncommon for Sweetmint to have a bottle after getting home from work, but on particularly stressful days, she needed a little more. It did appear to have a side effect of making her a little tipsy, but Guise couldn't deny that it tended to affect her mood positively. Still, he was a little surprised to see that she was already on her fourth bottle since getting home from work. He could see the telling redness starting to glow in her green cheeks.

Sweetmint looked at him curiously. "You took your time. What, you get distracted?"

Guise didn't answer. She was eyeing up the grimace that had been on his face the whole walk home. He walked over to her, snatching the nearly full bottle of beer from her magical grasp with his neon green aura.

"Hey! What the he—"

Despite Guise's rudeness, Sweetmint could only watch in surprise as her boyfriend started guzzling down the full contents of the bottle in one go. Once it was empty, he popped the rim from his mouth with a shudder as the gross taste of the swill buried itself into his taste buds. He let out a loud burp, more of the off-putting flavor coming up with it, and he dropped the empty bottle on the coffee table.

Sweetmint observed the display with more intrigue and curiosity than anything else. "What happened to you?"

Guise stared at her for a moment. A lot of questions were swirling around in his head currently, but most of them were about himself. The last time he'd felt this uncertain about himself was while he was locked up in the dungeon of the changeling hive, which was only exacerbated when he saw how much more powerful Shade had gotten in the meantime. It made him question his priorities, and it was one of the reasons why he was where he was now. But his conversation with Chamella had been sobering, and he felt the need to remedy the things about himself that he disliked. To that end, he needed Sweetmint's input.

"Am I an asshole?"

Sweetmint raised an eyebrow at the odd question, but the look on his face relayed the seriousness of the question. "Well, yeah."

Guise didn't visibly react. She had answered the question honestly, but there was no hint of distaste in her voice. "And you're okay with that?"

She shrugged. "Everypony around here is an asshole. I guess I've gotten used to it."

"So, I'm no different than everypony else, then?"

"I didn't say that. There are different kinds of assholes in the world. Most of the people here are pompous assholes who enjoy the smell of their own farts. Tapioca and Chips are stupid assholes that are too dumb to realize they're assholes. Me, I consider myself more of an angry asshole who flies off the handle every now and then."

"And what does that make me?" Guise asked curiously.

"You're a no-nonsense asshole," she said with a confident smile. "You know what you want and you don't let people get in the way of it. Some people might call you a selfish asshole, but I prefer to think of you as motivated."

After talking to Chamella, Guise thought that that was an interesting way to put it. "So you don't think I'm selfish?"

"You know, I still remember what you said to me on our first date," Sweetmint said with a wistful grin. "'If you want something, you have to just take it when the opportunity shows itself.' Some people might interpret that as selfishness, but I could hear the passion behind it. Maybe you are an asshole, but so am I. We're both sick of everypony else's shit, and that's kinda what drew me to you if I'm honest. I don't really wanna be with a guy who can't speak his mind and just say what he wants."

Guise smiled fondly at her. His chat with Chamella made him feel like he'd grown soft, that he was treating the people around him with a little too much respect and certainly more than they deserved, at least in comparison to how he'd normally treat them if he weren't holding himself back. But he had said to her himself that Sweetmint was the only person he felt like he could be himself around. She was the only one who mattered, and this only reinforced his decision to be with her; everypony else could go dive off a cliff for all he cared.

"When did you get so sentimental?" Guise asked teasingly.

"I'm buzzed, give me a break. Speaking of which, you better be planning on getting me another beer before you sit down."

Guise went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle for her, as well as one for himself, before returning to join her on the couch.

Sweetmint opened her bottle and took a swig. She turned to her boyfriend, who was fumbling to remove the cap from his bottle. She took it from him and expertly twisted the cap off with her magic, passing it back to him with a condescending smirk. "So, what brought this on all of a sudden?"

"I was just doing a bit of... reflecting," he sighed.

"You weren't gone all that long," she commented. "How much thinking can you do in a half an hour?"

"Hey, I'll have you know that my mind is a busy place. If I can get a few moments of quiet every now and then, I can get a lot done, planning-wise."

"Got some plans, do you?" Sweetmint said with interest. "What kind of plans?"

"Just personal stuff. You don't need to worry about it."

Sweetmint let her head rest against Guise's shoulder. "Alright. I've got my own problems I wanna drown anyway," she said as she took another swig.

Guise let himself relax a little. He was a bit hot under the collar after his reunion with Chamella. He couldn't even be entirely sure that she wouldn't tell Shade about him, but he just had to hope that his empty threat was enough to keep her quiet. It pissed him off to no end that Chamella couldn't just sit back and let him live his life without constant supervision. And it was especially rich coming from her. They had both trespassed upon that pegasus girl, so what made her think she was better than him? She was just a hypocrite. She had no right to decide what was right or wrong.

But it was an eye-opening experience. If anything good came of it, it was the realization that Guise wasn't living the life he wanted to live. He was content when he was with Sweetmint, but that was about it. While it may be for the best to remain low key when he was at work for the sake of keeping his job, from now on it was open season on everypony else. No more casual conversations with people he couldn't stand, no more keeping his mouth shut when somepony got on his nerves. If anypony wanted to try him, they'd better be ready for retaliation.

Guise gulped down a mouthful of beer, shuddering again as the vile flavor assaulted his palate. "Eugh. You actually like this stuff?"

"'Like' is a strong word. You sure you wanna start drinking?"

"If it's as useful a remedy as you claim it to be, then I'm willing to give it a shot."

She chuckled, lifting her bottle. "Well, in that case, cheers."

Guise clinked his bottle against hers, the two of them ready to just sit back and put this day behind them.

Comments

[Luckysweep]

Now that's one way to set up a "I'm getting DRUNK!" sequence.