> Lone Wolf: A Halfling Side Story
>  by Dee Pad
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Part 1 - Intrusive
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot was a bustling city of high society ponies, enjoying their lives in their utopia of marble and gold as they loomed over the rest of Equestria from atop their mountainous throne.  While the populace was primarily comprised of haughty unicorns, the kingdom's capitol still maintained a welcoming and hospitable air.  It was rare to see the people coming and going through the decadent streets without smiles on their faces.  Perhaps that could be attributed to the fact that it was also home to Princess Celestia, who was known for her comforting and motherly demeanor, allowing them to live happier, more complacent lives.

Whatever the case, the luxuries offered by the city, coupled with the guidance and care offered by the princesses, made Canterlot a desirable place to live.  It had many gourmet restaurants, consistent fair weather thanks to its diligent team of weather pegasi, and ample lodging with its many spacious and sophisticated houses.

An ideal location indeed...

Unbeknownst to the complacent populace of Equestria's capitol, they were being observed vigilantly.  A lone changeling lay upon a thin tree that sprouted from a crack in the side of the mountain that Canterlot was built upon, even further up the peak from where the city was situated.  The spikes of his crimson mane swayed gently in the breeze, the wind at this altitude possessing a noticeable—and unfortunately familiar—chill, though he didn't let it bother him.  With the characteristic neon green of changeling magic, he lifted the carcass of a dead rabbit he'd caught earlier to his mouth, absentmindedly tearing into it with his long, pointed fangs, ripping off a chunk of flesh and idly chewing as he continued to stealthily observe the city from his vantage point.

It had been several weeks since Guise left the Changeling Kingdom, and a lot had happened that threw some uncertainty into his perception of what he wanted.  He'd spent the last two years of his life sealed away in the hive's dungeon for planning to usurp the throne.  Then, he was recruited by Queen's Chrysalis's captain in order to kill the person responsible for him winding up there to begin with.  And if that weren't backwards enough, not only did he wind up not killing his quarry, but helping him save his family and stop another potential usurper.  Needless to say, Guise was conflicted by the recent events in his life.

All of this meant that Guise had some thinking to do.  While it seemed that Chrysalis was grateful for the hoof he had in taking down her traitorous captain, enough that she didn't send him back to the dungeon, Guise knew he didn't want to stick around in the Changeling Kingdom any longer.  The perpetual, chilling winds and lack of food made for a depressing lifestyle that he'd had to put up with for years before this, and he was sick of it.

Especially after seeing the life Shade had made for himself.

Guise had known Shade his whole life, but he never once thought of him as a friend—and that fact hadn't changed.  He'd always viewed himself as being better than Shade; he was more cutthroat, more cunning, more devious, as a changeling should be.  So why was it that a goody-goody like Shade had managed to make a comfortable life for himself within pony society, with friends, a home, food, and a family?  It infuriated him.

What was worse, now Guise had to trust Shade.  He'd made his intentions clear when they last left the Changeling Kingdom: Guise wanted to find a better life for himself, but it was only himself that he had in mind.  He was still a changeling, and changelings were hardwired to deceive and manipulate for personal gain.  Shade hadn't been too keen on the idea of Guise hiding within the homes of ponies, but Guise knew he couldn't cause any trouble or risk losing everything he'd worked towards.  The two changelings had a deal: Guise helped Shade save his family, so he was willing to give Guise the benefit of the doubt as thanks, and would bail him out if something went wrong—so long as it wasn't a massive screw up.  That meant that Guise had to behave himself.  The red-maned changeling's expression soured as he thought about it, but he couldn't really argue.  All things considered, he was lucky that Shade was willing to turn the other cheek on this.  Besides, Shade had no idea where he'd gone, so it wasn't like his leash was on too terribly tight.

But, as mentioned, Guise was much more cunning than Shade, and he wasn't stupid or naïve.  Guise wasn't going to infiltrate pony society half-cocked like Shade had when he first left the Changeling Kingdom.  Guise had a plan, and he'd spent the better part of the last few weeks working on it.

The first step was actually finding a suitable place to live.  Guise had traveled all over the Equestrian countryside to scout out its many towns and cities, and eventually settled on the capitol resting below him.  Guise knew he was taking a huge risk by choosing this place, given that it was also home to Equestria's princesses, not to mention the populace was a little wary of changelings since the invasion.  But that was two years ago, and Shade had done a good job of earning the ponies' trust, so they've likely lowered their guard a little since then.  Guise also knew that Shade lived in that podunk town of Ponyville nearby—he could see the place in the distance from his elevated perch.  The convenience of that was part of the reason he chose Canterlot, since Shade was supposed to be his contingency plan.  But Guise smirked as he thought about the ingeniousness of his plan.  He himself had once said to Shade that it would be stupid of a changeling to hide within the capitol, especially after the invasion, so who would expect one to do just that?

Step two was a little more complicated.  He needed a mask.  Guise wasn't planning on living openly like Shade.  Theoretically, he could, as Shade's presence had warmed the ponies up to the idea of friendly changelings, but he'd still prefer to keep any prying eyes off of him.  And if word got out that he was in Canterlot, even if he was behaving himself, he'd no doubt have Shade breathing down his neck.

So his time spent scoping out other towns was also used to find a suitable disguise.  It would be foolish to imitate a person who was actual from Canterlot, and kidnapping or killing somepony to take their place would probably fall under the category of "massive screw up," and Shade would certainly not back him up after something like that.  So he had to pick somepony from out of town.  The complicated part was cutie marks.  Since those things were representative of a pony's special talent, he had to chose somepony that had a talent he could imitate, or, better yet, pick one that was vague and open to interpretation.  Thankfully, he'd banked a sizable amount of potential faces to wear that met his criteria, so that wasn't really an issue anymore.

There was one significant hurdle he needed to overcome, however: his illiteracy.  The ability to read and write was commonplace within Equestrian society, so Guise's lack of education would be a glaring hole in his facade.  It was an issue he hadn't entirely worked out just yet, but he was taking the necessary steps.  So far, he'd been able to get by and learn a thing or two based on context clues and asking the right questions while performing his undercover reconnaissance.  He was confident that he knew enough to at least blend in, so long as he avoided extended interaction with people.  It would be something that he'd have to continue working on over the course of his stay.

Guise glanced up at the sky, noting the position of the sun.  He let out a reluctant sigh, rolling his eyes as he stood up on the thin tree he'd been laying on.  He took one more bite of the rabbit carcass before tossing the rest down the cliff side.  Guise wiped the blood from his muzzle, then flittered his translucent, tattered, insectoid wings to take off from his perch and fly down toward Canterlot.

The changeling touched down some distance away from the city limits so as not to be spotted by anypony, taking cover within the foliage that surrounded the outskirts of Canterlot.  With a flash of his neon green magic, emerald flames surrounded his body.  Where once stood a changeling, with smooth black chitin, bug-like wings, and legs filled with holes, was now a pony.

Guise had donned the appearance of a unicorn stallion—one of the many ponies he'd seen in passing during his travels.  He had specifically chosen a unicorn due to seeing more convenience in being able to use his magic than he would from flight if he'd chosen a pegasus, and, for his needs, he saw no significant advantages to the natural, physical strength possessed by earth ponies.  There was a little concern about somepony sussing him out via the color of his magical aura—the one aspect a changeling's disguise couldn't hide—but it wasn't like it was unheard of for a normal unicorn to have green magic.

The coat of his fabricated body was a bright crimson, while his mane and tail were a mixture of white, yellow, and light blue.  While the colors of his hair were a little off-putting to him, the mane had a rather wild style to it, which suited his tastes fine.  Additionally, the faint glow of his sky blue sclera was replaced by the standard white possessed by ponies, while the blood red of his irises were now golden in color, accompanied by rounded pupils as opposed to thin, predatory slits.

Most importantly was this stallion's cutie mark: a shining light bulb.  Guise figured it would be difficult for somepony to discern its meaning at a glance, meaning that he could make up any crap to fool anypony who asked.  In truth, Guise had no idea what this stallion's special talent was, nor did he care.  He didn't even know the name of the guy whose face he would be wearing.  Even if he did, he wasn't going to risk using it for himself as he ran the risk—however unlikely—that somepony might recognize him.  Coming up with a fake name meant that, even if his disguise looked familiar to somepony, he could deny it and hope the person simply thought they were mistaken.

With his mask on, Guise began to saunter casually into the city as though he belonged there.  He had a destination in mind.  In fact, he had to be there at a certain time.  Guise always liked to do things at his own pace, so being forced to schedule a portion of his day to these ponies' whims was a little irritating, but unfortunately necessary.

One of the most important things Guise had had to keep in mind when formulating this plan was how dependent these ponies were on money.  They may have had food and shelter, but those comforts didn't come free.  Honestly, Guise felt he could survive just fine on his own.  Food was plentiful throughout the Equestrian countryside for a predator like him, much more so than back in the Changeling Kingdom, so food wasn't necessarily an issue.  Even having a house wasn't really a problem; he'd been holing up in a cave in the mountain for the time he'd been in Canterlot.

But there was one thing he wanted that made all of this necessary.  It was the one thing that all changelings wanted, even above food and shelter.  But if Guise wanted that without compromising himself, he'd need those things first.  And in order to get those things, he needed money.  And in order to get money, he needed one more thing:

A job.

Guise groaned silently, trying not to hang his head in disgust and draw attention to himself with a sour expression.  He was not enthused in the least by the prospect of doing these ponies' chores for them.  Changeling's were normally pretty self-sufficient, capable of taking care of themselves without needing anypony else's help.  But with how complicated pony society was, they apparently needed to rely on each other just to get by in their day-to-day.  Sure, some changelings chose to work in small groups, but that was mostly just to take advantage of their "companions" if an opportunity arose—Guise was well familiar with the idea.

Finding a job had been one of the hurdles that Guise was worried about the most, in part due to the previously mentioned notion of subservience.  However, another issue was being lucky enough to find a job that he could actually do.  As a changeling who hadn't spent much time within pony society, he wasn't yet intimately familiar with how this whole thing worked.  Most ponies acquired jobs that suited their special talents, but that wasn't exactly on the table for Guise.  What he had needed was a job that was easy, didn't require him to read or write, and, ideally, would keep him out of the public eye.

But Lady Luck had apparently smiled down upon Guise when he had first arrived in Canterlot.  After asking around, he found out that a local restaurant was looking to hire a steward.  He had no idea what that was at the time, but he actually did have some experience working at a restaurant when he posed as Shade once a couple of years ago.  He couldn't speak for how well he performed at it, and it was only a few days, but he figured it couldn't hurt.

The disguised changeling arrived at Canterlot's restaurant district, a series of streets lined with all manner of dining establishments.  Most of them looked pretty classy, the kinds of places where you had to know a guy who knows a guy to even get a reservation, but there were some smaller, more humble places to dine, likely to satisfy the runoff that didn't have the cash or connections to get into the more exclusive restaurants.  Guise had to admit, though, that the aromas that wafted through the streets were definitely alluring.  He hadn't really taken the time to indulge in pony food since he'd left the Changeling Kingdom, but that was mostly because he needed to save his bits for other stuff.  Besides, he doubted that there were any places around the city that served meat.

Guise eventually arrived at his new place of work, a restaurant called "The Soup Spoon."  It was one of the less fancy restaurants, but still managed to have an air of haughtiness.  He honestly couldn't even remember what the actual dining area of the restaurant looked like, nor did he care.  Aside from his first day, he always entered through the back, where the kitchen and his station were, to prepare for his shift.

As it turned out, "steward" was apparently just a fancy way to say "dishwasher," as that's pretty much what he did, in addition to taking out garbage and whatever other menial tasks the cooks had for him.  In truth, the job was infuriating.  It wasn't like it was difficult; scrubbing dishes and taking out trash was within Guise's limited skill set, and the ponies apparently even had machines that did most of the washing for him.  It didn't even take long for him to learn to use it, and he'd only been there a week.  Rather, what caused Guise to grit his teeth behind his lips was more so the notion of having to take orders from these ponies.  His coworkers were a bunch of snooty chefs that traipsed around the kitchen with their noses so far up in the air he wondered how they could see where they were going.  Every fiber of his being wanted to give these high and mighty food jockeys a good tongue lashing, but he restrained himself.  Guise counted himself lucky that he could get a job at all, let alone one that met such specific criteria for his needs; he couldn't risk getting fired.  As aggravating as it was, Guise was going to have to keep his mouth shut and his head down for a good while.

After a few hours of toiling away and having to listen to the cooks arguing across the kitchen at each other, Guise was finally given a chance to take a breather.  His breaks were the only part of his day that he looked forward to, second only to actually clocking out.  Still, two fifteen minute breaks and a single half-hour lunch break were little respite in comparison, but it was something.

Guise wasted no time hanging up his black apron and cap and stepping outside.  Spending so much time washing dishes meant that his coat and mane were always a little damp, not to mention the sweat that accumulated in the kitchen with all the ovens going constantly.  So it felt good to step outside and feel the fresh air against his fake fur, allowing the warmth of the midsummer sun to dry him at least partially until he inevitably had to get back to the slog.

Thankfully, there was quaint little café right next to the restaurant where he could sit and enjoy a light snack during his breaks.  Guise ordered a bagel and a cup of coffee before taking a seat at one of the tables on the outdoor deck.  He wasn't too keen about having to spend the bits he'd earned on food when there was a veritable buffet of good eats prancing around the lush, grassy plains of the green countryside, but fifteen minutes wasn't exactly a lot of time to do some hunting, and he didn't want to risk heading back to work with the smell of blood on his breath.

But it wasn't as though he disliked pony food; in fact, it was the opposite.  Pony food was delicious.  It didn't quite give him the same satisfaction as tearing the meat off of a fresh kill, but the flavors were incredibly diverse and kind of addictive.  Of course, he'd never admit that, even to himself, but his reluctance had more to do with money than personal preferences.  The coffee was at least helpful, as it appeared to have some sort of magical property to restore his energy, which made trudging through the work day a little easier, even if the bitter flavor was a bit offensive to his tongue.

From his table, Guise glanced across the street as he took a bite of his buttered bagel.  On the other side of the street from the café—and, by extension, The Soup Spoon—was an ice cream parlor.  The sign above the entrance read "Rocky's Road" in rather childish-looking font.  The name was simple enough for Guise to read with his limited knowledge of written word.  But the ice cream parlor itself wasn't the reason Guise had his eye on the place.  It was actually something inside that was on his mind.

Or rather, what was currently stepping outside.

The door to the building opened with the sound of a jingling bell, and out stepped a unicorn mare, who then began to make her way to the café where Guise was.  Her coat was a minty green color, while her mane and tail were an off-white with many brown speckles and was long and thick, giving them the appearance of half-melted, cookie dough ice cream.

Guise discreetly observed her as she stepped up onto the deck of the café, placed an order of a chocolate chip muffin and a cup of coffee, and took her snack to a table near Guise.

She was his target.  Guise wanted one thing from this endeavor.  Food?  There was plenty of that out in the wild.  Shelter?  Certainly desirable, and a house or apartment was definitely better than living in a cave, but Guise could live without it.  But the one reason he was willing to put up with all of these ponies' nonsensical traditions, laws, and confusing economics was love.

Changelings didn't want love for the same reasons as ponies.  For them, love was a source of power.  Guise had gotten a taste of that power once a couple of years ago, and since then, he's wanted more.  He had made a deal not to cause trouble, but what harm could it do just to indulge in a little love from time to time?  As long as he didn't use that power, then Shade couldn't really persecute him.

And this mare was a prime candidate.  While he had been scooping out a suitable job, he had also been keeping his eyes peeled for eligible mares.  There was nothing particularly special about this mare, and she didn't really stand out from the crowd, but that's exactly why she caught Guise's attention.  If he was going to pick a mare to be his "love bug" for the foreseeable future, he'd have to find one that not only didn't really seem to draw much attention to herself, but was also at least tolerable to spend time with; he was going to try and avoid brainwashing his target if he could help it.  Based on his initial observations of this mare in the week he'd been working at The Soup Spoon, she seemed to meet those criteria well enough.

The minty green mare happened to glance in Guise's direction.  She gave the disguised changeling a friendly grin.  The two had seen each other pretty much everyday since Guise started working at The Soup Spoon, as they both happened to take their breaks at the same time and waited it out at the café.  They'd never said anything to one another, but saw each another often enough to exchange silent pleasantries.  Little did she know that Guise had been taking mental notes the whole time.  He hadn't gleaned much about her personal life outside her work at the ice cream parlor, but her demeanor seemed to indicate that she was a little more down to earth than the hoity-toity socialites that were common in Canterlot.  Guise figured that would likely make her a more suitable subject for his needs.

Now, all he needed to do was break the ice to set everything in motion.

Guise smiled back amicably—a practiced fabrication of course.  He pretended to look thoughtful, as though hesitating as he mulled something over, making sure she could see the expression on his face.  He then looked back at her more confidently, gesturing to the empty chair across from her at her table.  "May I?"

There was a moment of contemplation from the mare, but her smile persisted through it as she answered.  "Sure."

Guise took his coffee cup and half-eaten bagel over to her table, sitting across from her.  So far so good.  He knew now that he had her interest, so now it was time to put on the charm.  "Hard to believe we've never actually introduced ourselves, huh?"

"I just figured after a week of saying nothing but 'Hi' to each other, anything else would just make things awkward.  I thought we had a good thing going," she laughed jokingly.

Guise faked an amused chuckle.  Now that he had actually heard a full sentence from her, he noticed her voice was a little lower than he'd expected; not deep, per se, but certainly not shrill.  Guise held out his hoof with a grin.  "I'm Crimson Neon," he lied.

The mare accepted his hoof and shook it.  "Sweetmint Scoop," she said, her voice going a little higher as she put a little extra pep into her introduction.  "But most people just call me Mint.  So, do you prefer 'Crimson,' or 'Neon'?  Or do have some kinda nickname you like to go by?" she asked with interest.

"Crimson's fine."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Crimson," Sweetmint greeted with an affable smile.

"Likewise," Guise responded with a similar smile.

"So, Crimson, I'm guessing you're not from around here," Sweetmint assumed.

"Not exactly hard to suss that out when everypony else around here is so stuffy," Guise chuckled.

Sweetmint cast a insulted look across the table at him.  Guise knew enough about faking emotions to tell it was obviously facetious.  "A bold thing to say when I'm sitting right here."

The comment, that was clearly intended to fluster him, didn't faze Guise in the least.  "You think I would have if I thought you were one of them?  You're not like the people around here either, you know."

Sweetmint leaned back in her chair slightly, smirking a little.  She seemed impressed by his deduction.  "You're pretty perceptive."

Guise shrugged the compliment off modestly, but internally, he was patting himself on the back.  He wouldn't be much of a changeling if he wasn't observant of his targets.

Sweetmint leaned forward on the table, taking a sip of her coffee.  "So, where are you from?"

"Fillydelphia," Guise told her.  That wasn't entirely untrue; the person whose visage he was using was some random guy he saw in Fillydelphia while he was doing reconnaissance in various towns and cities around Equestria.  "I've only been here for a couple of weeks.  What about you?"

"Manehattan, but I've been living here in Canterlot for a few years."

Guise quirked an eyebrow.  He couldn't help but notice a slight look of exasperation on her face as she gently brushed a hoof over the side of her thick mane.  While he wanted to get as much information about her as he could to make wooing her a little easier, he knew it was possible to overstep, so he decided to stick to the small talk rather than start to pry into her personal issues already.

Sweetmint smiled again.  "So...  The Soup Spoon, huh?"

Guise groaned quietly at the implied question.  His own exasperation was an attempt to make himself more relatable for Sweetmint and help endear himself to her more easily.  But that didn't mean his response wasn't still somewhat genuine.  "Yeah...  Not my ideal career choice, trust me, but it was pretty much all that was available."

"You don't like cooking?"

"I'm not a cook," Guise said with a grimace.  "I wash dishes."

"Oh," was her reaction.

That worried Guise a little.  He hadn't considered that his job might affect her opinion of him, but it wasn't like there was much he could do about that given his lack of applicable skills.

However, much to his relief, Sweetmint offered a sympathetic grin.  "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound judgmental.  I guess I was just wondering what your cutie mark has to do with working at a restaurant."

Guise glanced down at the image of the shining light bulb on his flank.  He smirked slightly.  He figured the question would come up at some point.  In fact, he'd been anticipating it.  He was rather proud of the explanation he'd made up, and he planned on using it to segue into the next step of his plan.  "Actually, it has nothing to do with it.  I got my cutie mark because I have a lot of bright ideas.  I fancy myself somewhat of a problem solver.  It's part of the reason why I left home; I felt like I was running in place, you know?  Like there was more I could do elsewhere."

Sweetmint giggled quietly.  "I know that feeling.  It was pretty much the same for me when I left Manehattan.  But I would think a talent like that would make you better suited to a managerial position or something."

Guise shrugged.  "Gotta start somewhere, right?"

"Fair enough."

Guise leaned forward slightly, faking a frustrated expression.  It was time to get the gears turning.  "But, you know, for as much as I like to help people with their problems, I have a problem that I just can't seem to find a solution for."

Sweetmint stared with curious interest.  "And what's that?"

A cocksure grin spread across Guise's muzzle as he looked across at her.  "I'm not doing anything tonight, and I just don't know what I'm gonna do with my time.  I was hoping maybe you could help me out."

Sweetmint practically had to stifle a snort as she caught onto his play, but there was a clear hint of interest in her pale pink eyes.  "Wow.  Well, aren't you a smooth operator."

"Too cheesy?" Guise chuckled awkwardly with false embarrassment.

"Maybe, but you're just lucky I like cheese," Sweetmint laughed.  "Alright, I think I can donate a little of my time to help you.  Meet me here when you get off work?"

"Sounds good."

Sweetmint stood up from the table, taking the last bite of her muffin and downing the last of her coffee.  "Well, break's over.  I'll see you later, Crimson," she said with a playful wink as she headed back to the ice cream parlor.

Guise wore a self-satisfied smirk.  That went even more smoothly than he'd anticipated.  He pegged her as an agreeable and friendly individual, but still had expected to work at least a little harder to convince her to go on a date.  Either way, he had his hoof in the door.  Now, he just had to work on sealing the deal.

But before that, he had to endure the rest of his work day.  Guise finished off his bagel and his own coffee, allowing the bitter mixture to energize him enough to fight back his reluctance and get his hooves moving back to The Soup Spoon, though not without a disdainful eye roll.


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


Guise sat in waiting on the deck of the café, tapping his hoof on the table impatiently.  After a long and weary day enduring shouting matches between the cooks while he had to idly scrub dirty dishes, he was just relieved to get his apron off and escape that culinary prison.  It was particularly nice to know that he had the next two days off.  Guise was starting to feel like Queen Chrysalis's stories about the ponies being oppressive had some merit if his job was any indication.  But thankfully, as disagreeable as his superiors were, they at least had enough consideration to give their employees some time off every now and then.

Guise found himself wondering if all of this was really worth the effort.  He could easily survive in the wild on his own wits, rather than have to subject himself to being these ponies' errand boy for the sake of something as asinine as currency.  Sure, the luxuries of pony society were alluring, but ultimately unnecessary.

But he just had to keep reminding himself that he was doing this for love.  Even if he couldn't use the power that love would grant him due to the stipulations of his deal with Shade, he still wanted the sensation that it gave him.  He had gotten a taste for it, and he wanted more.  The euphoric feeling that flowed through his body when he'd fed off of Shade's pony partner was incomparable.  He may have had to put up with working a menial and demeaning job, but if he managed to make this connection with Sweetmint, he'd have a battery he could go to to recharge after a long day.  If a cup of coffee gave him enough energy to get through one day of work, a little love was like a hundred cups of coffee, but without giving him the jitters.  In his mind, that was more than worth the effort.  And besides, even if he promised not to cause trouble, once he'd gotten enough power, who was going to be able to stop him if he had the mind to go against his word?

But that was a bridge he'd cross when he came to it.  Guise had some work to do before he could consider possible uses for the power love would grant him.  Shade's girlfriend was already in love when Guise had taken his place, so he didn't really have to do anything.  But he had to actually put the work in to make Sweetmint Scoop fall in love with him.  Thankfully it seemed like it was going well so far based on the whopping fifteen minutes he'd spent talking with her.  He didn't suspect it would be too difficult to win her over.  Sweetmint seemed like a perfectly nice and agreeable person; the ideal person for someone like him to take advantage of.

Unfortunately, punctuality didn't appear to be among her desirable qualities.

Despite the fact that Sweetmint had been the one to suggest they meet at the café again once they were both finished work, she had yet to show up.  Guise knew based on his observations from his first week of work that he and Sweetmint finished work around the same time, yet his shift ended half an hour ago and here he was, waiting around for her.  Given that working a job was enough of a slog for him to deal with, he valued what little time he had outside of work, so he wasn't exactly keen on having that time wasted.  That would have been a strike against Sweetmint, but Guise could see that it wasn't entirely her fault.

From his vantage point, Guise could see into the large windows of Rocky's Road.  The last customers had left some time ago, but he could see Sweetmint still running around and cleaning up, alongside her two coworkers.  However, it appeared to be Sweetmint doing most of the cleaning up.  One of her coworkers—another unicorn mare, but with a creamy white coat—was too busy adjusting her long, strawberry pink mane in the reflection of the windows, and the other—a light brown unicorn stallion with a greasy-looking, dark blue mane, the ends of the strands tipped with white—was standing in the middle of the ice cream parlor with a broom, but wasn't doing anything except staring rather awkwardly at the mare fixing her mane.

After waiting another fifteen minutes, Sweetmint and her coworkers were finally able to punch out.  The other two went on their way to their respective homes, while Sweetmint locked up.  She dropped the key in the black satchel slung over her shoulder, then stood there at the entrance for a few seconds, eyes closed and taking a few long, deep breaths.  She finally looked across the street to find Guise staring in her direction.  She hurried over, her expression a mixture of embarrassment, apology, and exasperation.

"Sorry, I'm late," Sweetmint said with a sigh as she sat down, dropping her satchel on the deck with a complete lack of care.  "Guess we're off to a bad start, huh?"

Guise responded with a dismissive shrug.  Given his goal here, he couldn't really afford to put her down on anything that bugged him, like keeping him waiting.  He was going to have to play the role of "supportive boyfriend" quite fervently if he wanted this to work.  "Don't worry about it.  It's not like it was your fault."

Sweetmint leaned against her hoof, rolling her eyes.  "Yeah, it's not like the sign on the door has our hours on it or anything," she pointed out sarcastically.  "It clearly says we close at five, so of course this couple has to show up at four fifty-nine and request a flavor that we're out of.  And we can't turn 'em away because 'the customer's always right,' so Rocky's got us mixing a new batch of butterscotch pecan for these two while he gets to clock out and leave us behind to clean up."  She paused, taking another deep breath.  Her frustration died down a bit when she looked across at Guise.  "Sorry, just... a little on edge right now.  I'd understand if you wanted to head home."

Guise shook his head with a small smile.  "Nah.  Like I said, I'm not doing anything tonight anyway."

Sweetmint smiled back gratefully.  "You must be a pretty patient guy."

Guise chuckled inwardly.  Waiting forty-five minutes for a date was nothing compared to two years of being locked in a dungeon.

Sweetmint shook her head to clear away the aggravating thoughts.  "Alright, I'm not gonna talk about work.  How about we just pick up where we left off earlier?  Getting to know each other a little better would make for a pretty good first date, don't you think?"

"Exactly what I was thinking," Guise agreed.

"So, you said you've only been here a few weeks.  You got family here? A house?"

Guise practically burst out laughing.  "Ha!  A house, that's a good one.  You think I can afford a house in this place just washing dishes?"

"Hey, I don't know your life," Sweetmint retaliated defensively.  "You could be loaded for all I know and just wanted to come here for a change of pace."

"Yeah, no.  I came here to get away and do things at my own pace, nothing else really," Guise told her with slight disgust.  He wasn't lying.

"I can empathize," Sweetmint responded with a quiet sigh.  "I figured coming here would be good for me, too, but here I am, three years later, and still dealing with a bunch of—"  She paused, stopping herself short with no lack of visible restraint.  "Sorry.  I said I wasn't going to talk about work."  She managed a smile again as she got back on track.  "So, where are you staying then?"

"Marble Heights," Guise answered, tilting his head in the general direction.

Sweetmint raised an eyebrow.  "Really?  I always thought that place was kinda swanky.  You just implied you don't have a lot of money."

Guise knew that was true, but the same could be said about any of the apartment complexes he'd scoped out.  Obviously he wasn't actually staying there, since he'd made a temporary home for himself in a cave further up the mountain.  Truth be told, he had never actually set hoof in the building, he just picked one and went with it.  He simply gave Sweetmint a dismissive shrug.  "It's not like they don't have cheap rooms.  I just found one that I could afford on my limited budget."

"I guess.  I've never actually been there myself.  My apartment building looks pretty fancy, too, but my place is nothing to write home about.  Especially after I moved in.  Guess they're all about drawing you in with their elegant exterior, but once you see the inside, they're nothing special."

Guise couldn't help but notice her eyes drift back to the ice cream parlor with a rather disdainful look on her face.  She insisted that she wasn't going to talk about work, but it seemed like it was the only thing on her mind.  Guise was hoping to get some more information about this mare for his mission, but she seemed too distracted to give him the answers he was looking for.  So he may as well get what he could.

"Do you not like working at that place?"

Sweetmint looked back at him suddenly, her grimace quickly disappearing as though she hadn't realized where her mind had gone.  "Hm?  Oh, uh..."  She sighed again, a distinct look of disappointment on her face.  She was obviously reluctant to talk about it on the first date considering it was clearly a sore spot, but Guise's understanding expression seemed to loosen her up a bit.  "Well, it started out fine.  I love making ice cream—I mean, my cutie mark is pretty self-explanatory."

Guise nodded along.  Her cutie mark was a scoop of chocolate ice cream in a shallow, plastic cup.  While he had deduced that it had something to do with ice cream, there was one puzzling quality to it: there was an odd string protruding from the top of the scoop.  It must have been something about ponies he hadn't quite grasped yet, so, in an effort to not seem ignorant, he just played along and pretended he understood.

"My goal in coming here was to work at a place like Rocky's for a little while and eventually open my own ice cream shop.  I know my ice cream's good enough to draw in customers, but..."

Guise just stared at her.  He wasn't exactly sure how this story of hers was going to help him, but it was better to feign interest just in case.  "But what?"

Sweetmint discreetly looked around at the other patrons of the café, leaning in over the table and whispering to Guise.  "Don't tell anypony I said this, but working at Rocky's is a nightmare."

Guise groaned internally.  He hadn't planned on being an ear for this girl to vent her problems into, but now he was kind of cornered and forced to sit here and listen to her prattle on.  He knew that being a good listener was going to be imperative to earning her affection, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

"So why are you still working there?" Guise inquired, trying to force himself to engage in this mundane conversation.  "Aren't there any other ice cream places you could work at?"

"None that are hiring.  Rocky's was only recently opened when I moved here, so it was pretty easy to land a position."  Sweetmint groaned rather loudly, running a hoof down her face.  "But everypony there is insufferable."

Guise's ears perked up.  That actually sounded like something he could relate to.

"They're absolutely useless.  They have no business working there at all."

"Yeah, I kinda noticed," Guise said as he glanced toward the empty ice cream parlor.

"Then you know what I'm talking about!"  Sweetmint's voice rose in volume as she got increasingly aggravated by the thought.  "Tapioca's a complete airhead, more concerned about keeping her obviously fake eyelashes straight than she is about actually doing her freaking job.  She's some Daddy's girl who has no idea how the world actually works.  I'm willing to bet that the only reason Rocky hired her is because she flirted with him during her application.

Sweetmint leaned more firmly onto the table with a smirk on her face, though her eyes displayed a distinct look of disdain.  "And don't get me started on Frosted Chips.  I know for a fact that he has absolutely no right to be there.  He's Rocky's little brother, and the only reason he's there is because their mom made Rocky hire him."  She couldn't help but chuckle at the ridiculousness of it, but it was a dark and spiteful laugh.  "He's such a weirdo.  He just stands around doing nothing except staring at Tapioca's ass.  I sincerely hope he doesn't stare at me that way when I'm not looking.  He creeps me out with how quiet and awkward he is—I'm not even sure I've ever heard the guy speak."

"Hey, it could be worse.  They're not constantly bickering the whole time, like my coworkers," Guise chimed in to try and one-up her.  "Do you know how hard it is to not just punch somepony in the face when they won't shut up about stupid, little things?  I'm not exactly somepony who likes to sit by and let incessant people like them irritate me to no end."

"At least your coworkers are actually good at their jobs.  Those two slackers get paid while I'm doing most of the work.  I'm convinced that my ice cream is the only reason that place is still in business, yet I get paid peanuts and can barely afford my rent."

"And at least you're doing a job you enjoy," Guise retaliated.  "You think I wanted to be a dish jockey when I moved here?  It's humiliating.  It's demeaning.  I hate everything about it.  But it's all that was available because nopony else is desperate enough to do it."

Despite how heated the two of them were getting over their grievances, they both had smirks on their faces.  Sweetmint let out a surprisingly satisfied sigh.  "Sounds like we're both a couple of losers down on their luck, huh?"

"I'm no loser," Guise corrected with a cocksure grin.  "I'm just waiting for my moment of glory.  Trust me when I say, if you want something, you've gotta have patience.  The real losers are the people who sit around and act complacent.  I've got places I wanna go and things I want to accomplish."

Sweetmint grinned at him with admiration.  "Man, I wish I had that kinda drive.  I envy you, Crimson.  Must be hard to be positive when life keeps throwing lemons at you and you don't have a juicer."

Guise shrugged.  "Just gotta grin and bear it.  If you want something, you have to just take it when the opportunity shows itself."

"Sounds like stealing," Sweetmint said with an amused titter.

While he knew she was making a joke, Guise didn't dispute it.  "Not if you earned it."

Sweetmint leaned back in her seat, staring at the confidence in Guise's eyes.  She smirked mockingly.  "Geez, you almost sound kind of sinister when you say it like that."

Guise's grin fell.  He hadn't realized exactly how genuine he was being with his words.  While she wasn't looking at him with any suspicion, he figured it might be best to tone it down a bit.  He laughed with a touch of embarrassment—not entirely forced.  "Sorry, I can get pretty passionate about this stuff."

"It's okay.  It's hard not to admire it," Sweetmint told him understandingly.  She stared rather sheepishly.  "And I should apologize.  I can't say this has been a very orthodox date so far."

Guise laughed off her apology.  "Hey, personally, I think ragging on coworkers is a perfectly acceptable activity for a first date.  Feels good to vent, you know?"

Sweetmint sighed.  "I know.  I feel like I needed this honestly."

Guise couldn't help but notice how the smile had left her face, her exasperation seemingly doubling back on her.

But her smile managed its way back as she gazed gratefully across the table.  "Thanks for letting me get that off my chest, Crimson.  It's nice to meet somepony around here that I can just chat openly with about all that crap."

Guise was silent.  It definitely seemed like things were progressing faster than he'd anticipated.  His plan to be attentive and supportive was paying off already.  The odd part was that he wasn't expecting to be as into the conversation as he was.  It certainly boded well for his plan since he'd have to spend a prolonged amount of time with this mare if things worked out.  So far, she was the most tolerable person he'd met in Canterlot—maybe the most tolerable person he'd met period.

Sweetmint straightened up in her seat, her expression becoming much more chipper.  "Tell you what: I'll make it up to you.  You working tomorrow?"

Guise shook his head.  "Nope.  Got the weekend off."

"Me, too.  Wanna hang out again tomorrow then?  Maybe try and have a proper date?"

Guise smiled back at her, a victorious feeling of self-satisfaction in the back of his mind.  "Sure, sounds like fun."
> Part 2 - Explosive
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Guise lay staring up at the ceiling of his temporary home, hooves crossed behind his head and barely able to keep his eyes open in his boredom.  The cave he'd picked out was nothing special.  It was rather shallow, barely worthy of being called a cave, but it was enough to protect him from the elements at least.  He'd done what he could to make it a little more comfortable, gathering up leaves and grass to create what could maybe pass as a bed if you used your imagination.

Still, holing up in a damp, cramped cave was something he wished he didn't have to do any more of.  This was basically how he'd spent the last two years of his life.  The only difference was that he wasn't sealed inside and only offered scraps and rotten fruit for sustenance.  He even had some decorations in the form of several animal carcasses picked clean of their meat.  Mice and bugs were pretty much the only sources of meat available in the Changeling Kingdom.  If you were lucky, a rabbit might get brave or desperate enough to wander into changeling territory.  But it was mostly rabbits that littered the floor around Guise's hovel, with a few mice and birds to break up the monotony.  Guise was pretty pleased to have ready access to meat; he usually only ate fruit if it was the only thing available.  So now that he was living in Equestria proper, he'd barely touched fruit since wild animals were so plentiful.  Sure, he was spending a lot of time in Canterlot, but he rarely ever spent the few bits he'd earned so far on food.  Why bother when there were more satisfying morsels running around?

Guise glanced to his right from his reclined position on his makeshift bed.  Nearby sat a small sack of bits, the golden coins spilling out onto the floor of the cave where it had been haphazardly dropped.  Those bits were what Guise had made so far from his degrading job washing dishes for those snooty cooks at The Soup Spoon.  Even so, he'd already had to spend some of it just to keep himself fed on snacks and coffee during his breaks.  All things considered, he had plenty of money to support his current lifestyle, but he didn't have to pay for housing and only very little for food.  The ponies had to live off of wages like this.  He had no idea how their society managed to remain stable when they relied on an inane concept like currency, nor did he understand why these little pieces of gold held such value to them.

Regardless, that was how it worked, and Guise had to reluctantly accept that fact.  Maybe it would be worth it in the end.  He'd gotten a brief sense of what it was like to live in a furnished home and sleep in a cozy bed a couple of years ago, so perhaps he saw some merit to all of this.  As self-serving as his motives were, maybe just being a normal member of pony society wasn't such a detestable notion after all.

Guise sat up, shaking his head in frustration.  "Don't be stupid.  You're not like him.  You'll never be like him."

Nothing irked Guise more than when his own mind ended up inadvertently comparing himself to Shade.  Shade was exactly the opposite of what a changeling was supposed to be.  He was the exact opposite of Guise.  Changelings weren't supposed to care about others; they were supposed to dupe others into caring about them and feeding off of their love.  Queen Chrysalis claimed she cared about her subjects, but even she fell victim to the changelings' true nature when her own captain took advantage of her.  Guise refused to fall into the same trap.  Caring about somepony only makes you vulnerable, to which any victim of a changeling could attest.  Guise wasn't going to be another victim.  Everyone who wasn't him was only there to serve his needs.  Even though he was currently trying to earn a mare's affection, he would not return it.  There was no one who Guise could say that he cared about.

No one alive anyway...

In the time since he had left the Changeling Kingdom, Guise had focused on himself and only himself.  He had no interest in doing anything for the benefit of anypony else.  Yet, on occasion, he found himself thinking about a certain other person: Glory.  He wouldn't even be where he was now if it weren't for her.  She was the one who had let him out of the dungeon in the first place, even though it was without the permission of her superior.  And that decision was what ultimately got her killed.  Sure, she had let him out with the sole purpose of having him kill Shade, but that choice was why Guise was able to do what he was doing.  In essence, he owed Glory his life.

Guise didn't regret many things in his life.  He regretted not killing Shade two years ago.  He regretted the fact that he had to now rely on Shade if things went awry, as it limited his newly acquired freedom.  But above all of that, for some reason, he regretted not saying thank you to Glory while he had the chance.  Guise wouldn't classify himself as a considerate person, but he wished he had at least done that much.

Guise was jostled from his thoughts by the sound of a small squeak.  A curious squirrel was sniffing around the entrance of the cave, perhaps in search of food.  Why it had wandered so far up the mountain was beyond him, but Guise wasn't about to argue with having his meals delivered to his door.

The squirrel was apparently too busy poking around the shrubbery at the entrance to notice its predator approaching, his jet black chitin blending in with the darkness of the cave.  With little effort, Guise snatched the critter up with his magic, watching as it struggled and squeaked in its panicked attempt to escape.  Guise didn't kill it right away, as its writhing was the closest thing to entertainment he'd had all morning.  He stared at the squirrel hanging upside-down in his magical grasp, contemplating something quietly.

Just because he couldn't thank Glory to her face didn't mean he couldn't still thank her in some manner.  There was something about her that set her apart from other changelings, and with her death, that skill went with her.  Guise wanted to do something about that.

Guise held the squirrel firmly, preventing it from struggling further and forcing it to stare into the blood red eyes of its captor.  Guise gazed intently into the critter's beady eyes, his own eyes beginning to glow green.  After a few moments and no reaction from the squirrel, Guise begrudgingly relented, his eyes returning to their usual red.

"Tch.  Still nothing..." he grumbled, venting his frustration by biting off the squirrel's head and crunching its brittle skull between his fangs.  "Wish I could practice this on something other than wild animals."

After having a quick snack, Guise meandered over to the cave's entrance and across the small, grassy ledge it was located upon.  He peered down at the city below him, then up at the sky.  It was about time to head out anyway.  He was supposed to meet Sweetmint Scoop for a date today, so he grabbed the coin sack in the cave, shoveling a few bits into it just in case he needed them for anything.

Guise groaned quietly as he took to the air and flittered down toward Canterlot.  It would have been so much easier to just find somepony that already had somepony they loved and take their place.  Guise had enough work to do with his new job and just trying to acclimate himself to their bizarre culture, but he had to also properly court this girl and get her to fall for him.  At least he'd learned that she had similar feelings about the people around Canterlot, so she might not be a terribly intolerable person to spend time with.  Still, it was a lot of effort to go through when he didn't know whether or not he'd be successful.  If he made one wrong move, all his time would be wasted, even if she didn't find out he was a changeling.  He actually had to be nice and warm and supportive.  That must have been why it was so easy for a softy like Shade.

As was his usual practice at this point, Guise landed around the outskirts of the city to put on his disguise before sauntering in casually.  Since Guise wasn't entirely familiar with the city yet, Sweetmint suggested they meet up at the café where they met up yesterday and go from there.

Once he'd made it to the restaurant district, Guise headed straight for the café.  However, he immediately noticed that Sweetmint was not waiting for him on the outdoor deck where he'd expected to see her.  Guise rolled his fabricated, golden eyes.  He really hoped that tardiness wasn't a habit of hers.  Guise barely knew how to read a clock and used the sun to determine the time, yet even he was more punctual than that mare.

Guise was about to begrudgingly find a table to sit at while he waited, but he happened to look across at Rocky's Road, noticing something peculiar.  Inside was most definitely Sweetmint serving ice cream to some customers.  Guise quirked a vexed eyebrow.  She'd told him she had the day off today.  The mint green mare happened to glance toward the window when she had a moment, locking eyes with Guise outside.  She frowned apologetically before getting back to her work.

Guise sighed internally.  He may as well figure out what the deal was this time, so with a roll of his eyes he stepped into the ice cream parlor, his arrival signaled by the tinkling of a bell above the door.  Guise instinctively shivered upon entering, the temperature inside noticeably colder, though that wasn't exactly surprising.  The inside of the building wasn't very fancy, nor was it terribly spacious, with a few tables set up here and there and a couple of booths along the left wall.  The cave that Guise was living in had more space than this place.  On the right side was the counter where Sweetmint was working, donning her hairnet and white apron.  The counter had a clear top, displaying the variety of ice cream flavors available below, and behind the counter along the wall was all of the equipment for making the frozen treats, which Sweetmint was currently making use of.

Barring Guise and Sweetmint, there were only four other ponies present currently.  Three appeared to be customers who had just been served and sat at one of the booths as they idly conversed while they ate their ice cream.  The last one was the awkward stallion that Guise knew was Sweetmint's coworker, named Frosted Chips apparently.  His blue mane with white tips looked even greasier in person.  Guise wasn't going to claim to be an incredibly hygienic individual, as his disguise mitigated most of those issues, but even he knew enough about the ponies' social stigmas to at least bathe regularly.  This stallion apparently didn't get the memo.  Guise noted his cutie mark, which appeared to be a half-baked, chocolate chip cookie that was broken in half.  He didn't appear to be doing anything aside from just staring at the table he was wiping down with a rag, seemingly lost in thought, or, given the vacant expression on his face, not thinking at all.

Guise ignored the others, focusing instead on Sweetmint as he approached the counter.  He didn't even have a chance to ask his question before she answered it.

"Sorry, Crimson," she started remorsefully.  "Tapioca didn't show up for work today, so I had to fill in."

Guise put on a compassionate expression to try and ease her guilt, ignoring the quiet sigh coming from the stallion wiping the tables.  "Judging from what you told me, I'm not exactly surprised.  If I were in your position, I'd clock her the next time I saw her."

Sweetmint grimaced, but there was a clear glint of interest in her eye.  "Yeah, well, I don't wanna get fired, so we'll put that idea on the backburner.  But Rocky said I can punch out early if she does show up, so here's hoping."

Guise sighed in exasperation.  He wasn't exactly sure what he was supposed to do in this situation.  Should he wait around for her?  Would that be seen as considerate, or patronizing?  He didn't exactly want to just sit around in an ice cream parlor all day.  "You want me to wait for you?" he asked.

Sweetmint smiled gratefully.  "That's sweet of you, but you don't have to do that.  We can postpone our date until tomorrow if you want."

Guise shrugged.  "Eh, it's not like I have anything else lined up today.  Maybe I'll get some dinner and check back on you later."

"Thanks, Crimson.  You're a sweetheart."  Her lips then curled into a grumpy scowl.  "I wish certain other people could be as considerate as you."

Guise didn't react to the comment, but he wanted to smirk.  At least he knew he was doing his job well.  If anything, with all of these people who were making her life harder, it could lead to her becoming more attached to him, latching onto the one person who actually appeared to care.  He offered a sympathetic smile to Sweetmint.  "Alright.  I'll stop by later, then."

"See ya."


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


Guise wasn't a big fan of wrenches being thrown into his plans.  Granted, it wasn't like having to postpone a date was a huge setback or anything, but it just bothered him when things didn't go as planned.  He was supposed to be using this time to collect intelligence on his quarry and endear himself to her.  Any time he wasn't spending with Sweetmint was extra time it would take to earn her love.  He was already starting to get a little agitated by this "dating" business.

But that time could still be used for something.  Given that he had spent the majority of his time working since arriving in Canterlot, Guise wasn't entirely acclimated with his new environment just yet, and figured it'd be in his best interest to familiarize himself with its facilities.  It wasn't necessarily that he planned on using any of them, as it all seemed like pointless pony stuff, but Sweetmint's interests were pertinent to his goal.  It might help him ingratiate himself to her if he knew some places that she'd enjoy, so he kept some stuff in the back of his mind in case the opportunity arose.

At this point, Guise had been wandering aimlessly around Canterlot for a couple of hours.  He'd even taken a brief trip outside the city limits to catch himself some dinner, but now he figured it was about time to check back in at the ice cream shop to see if Tapioca had shown up to relieve Sweetmint.  He just wanted this day to get back on track.

As Guise started on his way back toward the restaurant district, his eye caught sight of something.  Normally, he couldn't care less what the other ponies around the city were doing with their time, but when he spotted a mare with a strawberry pink mane casually chatting up the vendor of a nearby fruit stall, he suddenly felt himself overcome with ire.  Guise scowled in her direction, but waited until she'd finished her transaction to approach—if one could call flirting to get free food a "transaction."

Guise watched as she was given an apple by the vendor she'd enamored with her good looks and no doubt seductive words.  Then, as though she were completely unaware of the implications of her actions, she began to saunter away from the direction Guise was headed, which, by all rights, should have been where she was headed, as well.  Given that this mare's actions were having an effect on his plans, Guise felt it was within his right to have words with her.

As the mare was passing by, taking a big bite of the shiny, red apple she'd just been gifted, Guise held out a hoof to stop her.  She gave him a vexed, practically disgusted look, but Guise spoke before she could.

"Hey, you're Tapioca, right?" he inferred gruffly.

"Yeeeah.  And what's it to you?"

Guise felt his teeth grit behind his lips involuntarily.  One sentence and he already wanted to smack this mare upside the head.  Her voice practically scraped his brain like claws on rocks, but he didn't exactly have time to question how anypony could possibly find her alluring.  "You know you're supposed to be working right now, don't you?"

He received a grimace from her.  Admittedly, it must have seemed weird for a random stranger to come up to you and lecture you on playing hooky, but Guise didn't let it bother him.

"And who are you supposed to be anyway?  Are you, like, a stalker, or something?"

"I'm Sweetmint's boyfriend, Crimson.  We were supposed to go on a date today, but she had to take your place since you didn't show up to work."

Tapioca's disgruntled grimace suddenly let up and she looked Guise's false body up and down.  There was a sudden look of interest in her eyes.  "Really?  I didn't know Minty had a boyfriend," she practically cooed as she continued to look him over with a coy smirk.  "I guess you are kinda cute.  Don't know why you'd bother with such a plain girl like her.  Sure you wouldn't like to... 'trade up?'"

Tapioca leaned closer to Guise, tossing her luxurious mane in an obvious attempt to entice him.  Guise, however, found himself backing off with a disgusted sneer.  "Look, can you just go to work like you were supposed to so Sweetmint and me can go on our date?  It's not exactly fair that she has to work on her day off while you're out here gallivanting around like it's no big deal."

She pulled away with a disappointed pout, scoffing at Guise.  "Whatever.  Guess I don't want Minty throwing another hissy fit."  Tapioca took another bite of her apple before turning around and starting toward the restaurant district.

Guise walked behind her, making sure not to take his eyes off of her in case she wanted to sneakily slink away when he wasn't looking.  Now that he was within closer proximity to her for the first time, he finally noticed her cutie mark: an open pudding cup with a plastic spoon in it.  It was hard not to notice considered she seemed to almost purposely sway her hindquarters back and forth as she walked, earning a few looks from passing stallions.

With that in mind, Guise contemplated something.  Tapicoa was pretty quick to make a move on him.  It made him wonder if perhaps it would be in his best interest to 'trade up,' as she so eloquently put it.  Evidently he didn't need to work to garner her affection, but at the same time, could what she displayed really be called 'affection'?  Based on what he'd already seen, she seemed to be the sort to use her good looks to get what she wanted.  She might make for a good changeling, but not a great love bug.  Assuming that she was genuinely interested in Guise, he didn't exactly feel the same way.  She was already getting under his skin, and he had a feeling that any love he got from her would taste like stale bread.  There wasn't much point in changing up his plans now anyway.

Once they'd made it back to Rocky's Road, Tapioca stepped inside nonchalantly with a flip of her hair, Guise following behind her.  Guise noticed that there were no longer any customers present, but Frosted Chips was still cleaning the same table two hours later.  However, the awkward stallion finally looked up once Tapioca arrived, his eyes locked onto her and following her every movement.

"Morning, Minty," Tapioca greeted in a singsong tone as she casually walked up to the counter.

"It's one o' clock," Sweetmint deadpanned with a scowl.

"It is?"

"Yes, and you're four hours late.  What's the deal?"

"I wanted a day off, that's all," she responded with no hint of jest.

"We've been over this, Tapioca.  You're supposed to let Rocky know when you're taking a day off.  You need to give a heads up at least a few days in advance," Sweetmint reprimanded her, her frustration visibly and audibly rising.

Tapioca tilted her head, the look on her face displaying genuine confusion.  "But how am I supposed to know when I'll want to take a day off until I wake up?  I dunno when I'm not gonna be in a working mood."

Sweetmint ran a hoof down her face in aggravation.  "Usually you need an actual reason to take time off, not just whenever you feel like it.  Besides, you've eaten through all of your sick days already.  You're lucky that Rocky's going easy on you."

Tapioca scoffed at the scolding she was receiving.  "Why are you complaining?  You're getting paid, aren't you?"

"I'm not gonna argue about extra cash, but I still need my days off.  I can't just afford to blow off work whenever it suits me, but I've got things I wanted to do today."

Tapioca glanced toward the door where Guise was silently waiting and listening in on the argument.  "Right, going out with your boyfriend."

Sweetmint's green cheeks suddenly turned red and she turned to Guise, as well.  "Wha?  Did you tell her you were my boyfriend?"

Guise suddenly felt a touch of worry in the back of his mind.  Was he not supposed to?  He was under the impression that dating somepony meant they were boyfriend and girlfriend.  Evidently, that was not necessarily true.  He decided to casually play it off with a dismissive shrug.  "I figured it was the simplest way to convey who I was.  Why?  Is it a big deal?  I thought we were hitting it off?" he said, the mock hurt in his tone belied by his playful smirk.

Thankfully, his joking was enough to elicit a small smile from Sweetmint, though it didn't last long when she turned her attention back to Tapioca.  "Just get to work.  I've made enough of each flavor to last the rest of the day provided nopony helps themselves to any 'free samples,'" she chastised, indicating that it was a regular occurrence.  She pulled off and hung up her apron, and tossed her hairnet in the trash, letting her long, thick mane fall free.  Sweetmint grabbed her satchel and came out from behind the counter, headed toward Guise and the door.  However, she turned back for another moment.  "And don't forget to lock the door when you close up this time, Chips."

Frosted Chips never took his eyes off of Tapioca, just staring silently.

"Chips!"

The brown stallion practically fell over when Sweetmint raised her voice, finally giving her his attention.

"Lock the door when you leave, okay?" Sweetmint told him slowly and sternly.

He simply responded with a lazy nod before turning his gaze back onto an oblivious Tapioca as she dressed for work.

Sweetmint shook her head, but said nothing else as she left, Guise following behind her.  As soon as the door closed behind them, she let out a long groan, throwing her head back in exasperation.  She offered an apologetic frown to Guise.  "Sorry you had to see that, I'm just..."  She sighed, running a hoof through her somewhat unkempt mane.  "I'm a little frustrated right now."

Guise waved it off as the two started down the street.  "Hey, like I said yesterday, ragging on coworkers is an acceptable way to waste time.  Besides, I can't say I blame you.  I spent barely ten minutes with Tapioca and wanted to deck her.  I don't know how you manage to put up with her all day."

"Yeah, well, even my willpower has its limits."  Sweetmint stared at Guise for a moment.  "Look, Crimson, my suggestion from earlier still stands; if you wanna postpone, we can.  I don't know if my mood right now is conducive to having an enjoyable date."

Guise internally rolled his eyes.  He really didn't want to waste time postponing dates when his goal here was earning this mare's affection.  Besides, it wasn't like her attitude mattered; he'd already deemed her tolerable enough to spend time with—especially now that he knew how much worse it could be had he targeted somepony else—and it wasn't like he could afford to ditch her anyway.  He may not have put much time into this relationship yet, but he'd rather not have to scope out somepony else given how ideal the current circumstances were.  He doubted he'd get this lucky a second time.

With that in mind, Guise smiled at her reassuringly.  "Nah.  A person's emotions let you see who they really are.  I'm curious to see who Sweetmint Scoop is when she's not trying to rein herself in to make a good impression on her date."

"Be careful what you wish for..."

Guise raised an eyebrow, glancing at the mumbling mare.  "What, you think I won't like what I see?"

She shook her head.  "I don't know.  Maybe I'm just being pessimistic because I'm tired and frustrated."  She gave Guise a hopeful look.  "You're really willing to put up with me when I'm in such a foul mood?"

Guise smirked at the question.  "I've dealt with worse, trust me."

Sweetmint managed a small smile.  "You're something else, you know that?"

He dusted a hoof on his chest with a playful and cocksure grin.  "Well, I don't like to brag."

The green mare giggled, Guise's lax attitude seemingly lifting her spirits somewhat.  "Eh, maybe this'll be good for me.  If I went home now, I'd probably just sit around stewing over how annoyed I am with Tapioca.  I probably should do something to take my mind off of it."

"Anything in mind?"

"Well, this is supposed to be a date.  I'd suggest getting something to eat, but it's just past lunch time already."

"Hey, anything you wanna do, I'm game," Guise told her with an indifferent shrug.  "I'm new to this city, so you'd probably have more ideas than me."

Sweetmint mulled it over for a minute.  Guise watched as she contemplated her options.  She didn't necessarily appear to be weighing her options.  Guise could kind of tell by the way she was briefly glancing at him and the slight tinge of pink in her normally-green cheeks that she had something specific in mind, but seemed hesitant to suggest it.

"Something on your mind?" Guise inquired in an effort to expedite the process.

"Uh, hmm...  I was thinking of suggesting we go to this bookstore downtown."

Guise instinctively gulped.  "A-A bookstore?"

"Yeah, see, I actually have this book reserved and it should be on shelves by now, I just haven't had a chance to pick it up."  Sweetmint gave Guise a guilty look.  "Uh, sorry.  I guess that sounds a little self-serving, huh?"

All things considered, Guise wasn't in much of a position to complain about somepony else being self-serving, so he shrugged off her concern.  "It's not like I have any better suggestions."

Sweetmint breathed a sigh of relief.  "Thanks.  I've actually been looking forward to getting this book to help me relax after a  long work day.  You read much, Crimson?"

He knew this was a hurdle he would have to overcome eventually, but that didn't make it any less worrying.  He didn't know how Shade had dealt with this issue, but he had a feeling it was one of the many things he hadn't bothered considering before haphazardly leaving home.  Guise had at least taken some preliminary steps to making himself somewhat literate, though certainly not enough to pass himself off as an avid reader.  He was just going to have to play this one by ear and hope she didn't get suspicious.

"Nah, books are for dorks."

"Hey!"  Sweetmint gave him a light jab in the shoulder as she pouted grumpily.

Guise simply laughed off her insulted reaction.  "Relax, I didn't say there was anything wrong with being a dork."

Sweetmint huffed indignantly.  "Could've used a little more tact, jerk."

"Come on, I was just messing around.  Don't take it personally," Guise told her with a teasing smirk.

"Ya know, this is our first proper date.  You sure you wanna jeopardize this by making quips like that?" Sweetmint retorted with a challenging smirk of her own.

"I wouldn't if I didn't think you were thick-skinned enough to take it."

She sighed in response.  "Yeah, well, even the thickest skin can still crack."

The smile had fallen from her face rather quickly.  Guise figured some good-natured ribbing would help build a bit of camaraderie between them, but he was starting to feel like he was pushing his luck.  She'd already made it clear that she was having a bad day, so while she certainly seemed like she enjoyed a little bit of back and forth, Guise decided it best to let up for now.  The last thing he wanted right now was to lose favor when he felt like he was making good headway.

"Sorry," Guise apologized, fabricating a sympathetic frown.  "I was just trying to lighten the mood."

Sweetmint's smile returned, though a little weaker.  "I appreciate it.  And I'm not upset with you or anything.  I can tell you're just joking.  Honestly, considering everypony around here either has their head up their own ass, or is too dumb to properly function, you've been a real breath of fresh air, Crimson."

Guise shrugged with false modesty.  "Us 'normal' people gotta look out for each other, right?" he chuckled, fully aware of the irony.

"I can get behind that," she laughed along with him.

As they continued on their way—Sweetmint leading the way to the bookstore—Guise thought about the question she had asked previously, about whether or not he did any reading.  While it would be ideal if he had to talk about himself as little as possible, he was trying to forge a close relationship with this mare; she was going to inquire about his hobbies and interests at some point, and while he had devised some lies to share with her when she did, it might actually be wise to at least try and pick up a real hobby, both to help him blend in and stave off the tedium of pony life.  But that was something he'd tackle another day.

But on the other end of the spectrum, it would also behoove Guise to feign interest in Sweetmint's hobbies.  It was his understanding that gift giving was a common ritual between couples to earn affection.  Figuring out what sort of things Sweetmint liked would give him some ideas as to what gifts would be appropriate.  He wasn't too keen on spending his limited cash on frivolous things, but love was the reason he was doing all this, so such gifts could be considered a necessary expenditure.  She apparently had an interest in books, so that was probably a good place to start.

"So, what kind of books are you into?" he asked.

Sweetmint hesitated briefly.  Guise cast a sidelong glance at her, raising an eyebrow at her odd reaction.  She was blushing slightly and avoiding eye contact.

"Um, well..." she started, scratching her neck.  "They're not really 'books,' per se.  More like... graphic novels."

Guise's eyebrow only lifted further.

Sweetmint's blush deepened when she noticed the look he was giving her.  She let out a defeated groan.  "Okay, it's manga, alright?  I read manga."

Guise's eyebrow never moved from its elevated position.  Her belligerent response suggested that it was something she was ashamed of, but he didn't have enough information to determine why.  "'Manga'?" he echoed, puzzled by the odd word.

Sweetmint groaned again, lowering her head.  "Great, now I have to explain what manga is."  She took a deep breath as she reluctantly prepared to elaborate.  "They're like comic books, but they have a distinct art style.  They're really popular in Nippony."

Guise waited for more, but she was staring at him like she was waiting for his inevitable, snarky remark.  "That's it?  What's the big deal?  So, they're like books with fewer words and more pictures?  Sounds less dorky than normal books."

The mare rolled her eyes at his ignorance.  "It's actually the exact opposite.  Manga is typically considered the peak of dorkiness to the laypony.  Some people are so into it that they collect merchandise and cosplay and junk.  J-Just to be clear, I just read the manga.  I don't do any of that other stuff.  And it's only one manga.  I stumbled across an issue when I was a kid and got hooked, that's all.  I'm not some otaku or anything."

Guise was already a little bewildered by this information, mostly because he had absolutely no idea what she was going on about; there were several words she'd just said that sounded completely alien to him.  But he saw an opportunity here.  Her defensiveness over this indicated that she was embarrassed about it.  So, in his endeavor to be a "good boyfriend," this may prove to be an ideal time to show how supportive he could be.

He held up a hoof in a bid to calm her down, also passing along a supportive smile.  "Alright, I get it.  Don't get your tail twisted.  So, basically what you're saying is, you are a dork, just not a huge dork."

Sweetmint sighed, her embarrassed blush relenting, but not disappearing entirely.  "It's not something I talk about with other people.  I'm afraid they'd make fun of me."

"Who cares?"

She looked back at him again, a mildly incredulous look on her face.  He was still smiling at her, but it wasn't in a teasing manner.

"Why should you care what other people think?  Just do whatever the hell you want.  You wanna read some dorky comic book?  Go ahead.  If it's something you enjoy, then just enjoy it.  Remember what I said about just taking the things you want?  Same principle.  Don't let other people tell you what to do.  If they're gonna judge you for something that makes you happy, then screw them, right?"

Sweetmint stared in quiet shock for a minute, but eventually smirked at him, though she couldn't completely conceal her bashful gratitude.  "I swear, you must have rehearsed some of this crap."

Guise laughed.  She wasn't wrong.  "Look, I know a thing or two about being judged for my wants, trust me.  Let's just go pick up your comic book."

"It's not a comic book, it's manga."

"But you just said it was—"

"Like a comic book, but it's different."

Guise rolled his eyes.  "You really are a dork."  The comment earned him another playful jab in the shoulder.

The two eventually arrived at the bookstore.  It was tucked pretty out of the way from the main streets of Canterlot, located downtown.  Downtown Canterlot didn't look any different than the rest of the pompous city, but the bookstore looked humble enough, not looking as though it was carved from a block of marble chiseled from the side of a mountain next door to the gates of heaven.  It was flanked by what Guise assumed was an antique store on the left, and a small coffee shop on the right.  The latter may have seemed relatively humble, but the patrons visible through the windows seemed just as uptight as everypony else in Canterlot, even if their attire was notably more casual.

Sweetmint lead Guise inside the bookstore with an eager skip.  It was actually a lot more spacious than he was anticipating.  Bookshelves lined the walls and formed short aisles in the back, each labeled by a sign hanging overhead that indicated the genres one would find down each of them.  The center of the building was populated by several reading tables, along with ponies making use of them, making the place seem more like a library than a bookstore.  And immediately to the right of the entrance was a reception desk, a young, bespectacled mare behind it manning the register and ready to help patrons find what they were looking for.

Sweetmint gave Guise an energetic tap on the shoulder, grinning eagerly at him.  "Alright, I'm gonna see if my manga is in.  Why don't you have a look around?  Maybe reading's not your thing, but who knows?  You might find something you like."

Guise doubted that very much, but did his best to force back a begrudging grimace.  "Yeah, sure."

He watched as his date hurried over to the far right side of the store, approaching several racks of what he assumed must have been "manga."  He figured it probably wouldn't take long for her to find it, so he decided to actually have a look around.  Guise wasn't exactly comfortable in here; his illiteracy would certainly become evident if anypony here had the mind to try and chat him up, so he avoided eye contact with any of the customers who were reading or perusing the aisles.

However, Guise didn't make it very far into the bookstore before something actually caught his eye.  Set up in front of one of the aisles was a rack of newspapers.  Guise pulled one out and stared at the front page.  While he couldn't read everything printed on the paper, it wasn't the words that had grabbed his attention, but the black and white photo accompanying them, the sight causing Guise's lips to curl into a disgusted scowl.

In the photo were three people.  The one in the center he recognized as Princess Luna.  It was hard not to remember her considering he once stared her down, both of them with killing intent in their eyes.  But it was the other two that were of greater importance.  Staring lovingly into each other's eyes were two individuals.  The one on the left was a pegasus mare, dressed in an elegant wedding gown.  Guise recognized her, as well.  How could he not?  She once served as his "love bug" for a few days and was the reason he was seeking out love once more.

But the person whose eyes she was so lovingly gazing into made Guise's blood boil.  It was not a pony, but a changeling, donning a fancy tuxedo and gazing just as passionately into the pegasus's eyes.

Shade.

Just the sight of him was enough to churn his stomach.  Sure, Guise was only where he was now because Shade had agreed to help him, but he didn't exactly consider this situation ideal.  He'd have been much better off if Shade had never found out he was using his girlfriend to gain power.  Guise could have been king of the changelings by now if things had gone his way, so just because Shade was willing to bail him out in a bind didn't mean he had to like it.

And now those two had tied the knot apparently.  He thought he had heard rumblings around town of a wedding that people were making a big deal out of, but it hadn't occurred to him that it was Shade's wedding.  Not that he cared, of course.  Getting married meant nothing when it came to love.  Chrysalis had intended to marry that guard captain under the guise of Princess Cadance for the sole purpose of worming her way closer to Equestria's throne.  Guise had no use for such frivolities, but these ponies seemed to enjoy making a big spectacle of it.

Guise had to tear his eyes away from the paper to avoid ripping it in half, placing it back into the rack, though not without applying a few resentful crinkles.  He was hoping he'd never have to see Shade's face again, but even seeing a colorless photo of him was enough to make his bile rise.

"What do you mean, 'we don't have it'?"

Guise glanced back at the counter by the entrance, the voice of a rather irate-sounding mare grabbing his attention in the otherwise quiet and peaceful bookstore.  He was a little surprised to see that it was Sweetmint leaning on the desk, her upset tone clearly making the clerk more than a touch uncomfortable.

"W-We sold the last copy yesterday," the clerk stammered, shrinking back under the disdainful gaze of this other mare.

"I reserved a copy," Sweetmint told her, tapping a piece of paper laid on the desk.  "I have the receipt.  I don't think I should have to explain to you how reservations work.  You're supposed to put a copy aside so that I can pick it up when I have a chance.  The receipt says I have two weeks to pick it up, but it's only been a few days.  So what happened?!"

The clerk hurriedly rummaged through the catalog in vain hope that she had overlooked something.  "I-I don't know.  Somepony else was working yesterday.  They must have sold it without checking the reservations list."

"Are you kidding me?!  Do you know how my week has been?!  I was looking forward to reading that to unwind after a long week!  This is unacceptable!" Sweetmint bellowed angrily, practically crawling over the desk and causing the wimpy clerk to back up against the wall in fear.

"I-I can put aside another copy when the next shipment gets here, s-so—"

"What good does that do me now?!  And how am I supposed to know the same thing won't happen again?!"

"I-It's not my fault..." the clerk whimpered quietly, her lip quivering.

Guise stared on in mild shock at what he was witnessing.  By now, the few other customers that were present were also watching in stunned silence as Sweetmint chewed out the defenseless clerk.  As much as he enjoyed seeing some loser get a verbal thrashing, he was caught quite off guard by Sweetmint's sudden shift in attitude.  He hurried over to figure out exactly what was going on.

"Whoa, Mint, what's up over here?" Guise asked in an attempt to diffuse her.

Sweetmint spun around, diverting her glare to him.  Guise had stared down some pretty intimidating individuals in his life; Queen Chrysalis, Captain Wraith, even Glory.  In all of those situations, he'd never backed down, even when he knew he was outmatched.  But the moment Sweetmint's incensed eyes met his, Guise instinctively took a step back.

"They sold my manga!  Can you believe that crap?!"

Guise glanced around at all the eyes that were staring in their direction.  Given what he was and what he was trying to accomplish, the less attention he garnered, the better.  He held up a hoof to Sweetmint, gesturing for her to lower her voice.  "Okay, just calm down.  It's not that big a deal."

"Not a big deal?!  I—"

Guise grabbed her by the shoulders and started leading her toward the door in a desperate bid to escape this situation.  "Alright, let's just... get some fresh air, or something.  Yelling about it isn't gonna accomplish anything."  He was a little surprised that she wasn't resisting.

Sweetmint huffed in aggravation.  "Fine.  Let's go."  She cast one more stern glare to the cowering clerk before the pair took their leave of the bookstore.

Once outside, Sweetmint took a moment to collect herself, closing her eyes and taking several deep breaths.

"So, you wanna explain what that was all about?" Guise inquired.

Sweetmint looked him in the eye.  While her anger was still visible within her pink irises, her expression had become more apologetic.  "Sorry.  I just... lost my cool, that's all."

"That's understating it just a tad, don't you think?"

She breathed a deep sigh.  "It's, uh...  It's been a long week.  Can we just try and forget that happened?"

Guise stared at the regretful look on her face.  For her sake, he forced a sympathetic smile.  "Yeah, sure."

Sweetmint managed a smile back.  "Thanks.  I know I'm probably not making a good impression here, so I guess I should count myself lucky that I found a guy who's so considerate and patient."  She glanced across the street.  There was a vending machine offering a variety of flavors of soda pop on the corner.  "I think I could use a drink to cool my head."

Guise watched in silence as she sauntered across the street.  He was starting to think she wasn't the mild-mannered mare he'd pegged her for, and she had no idea that Guise's patience was simply a result of him really having no other recourse.  He'd chosen her as his target because he figured she wouldn't draw much attention and they could stay out of the public eye, but that outburst just now was not something he'd expected from her.  However, he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt for now and assume that he just caught her on a bad week; he didn't want to have to go through the trouble of scouting out another love bug just yet, though he was beginning to think it would have been wise to pick out some backups just in case.  Too little, too late now though.

Guise was suddenly jostled from his thoughts by the sound of a loud, metallic bang, directing his attention back across the street.  Sweetmint was glaring now at the vending machine, striking it aggressively with her hoof.  Guise already had a bad feeling about this.  He hurried across the street.

"Uh, what's going on?" he asked cautiously.

"The son of a bitch ate my bit!" Sweetmint accused, giving the machine another forceful smack.  "Come on!  Either cough it up or give me my freakin' money back!"

Once again, Guise noticed that Sweetmint had suddenly become the center of attention, her enraged voice drawing the eyes of passersby.  "Just chill out, Mint, okay?  People are staring," he said quietly.

"No!  I'm not gonna just 'chill out'!  All I wanted was a damn drink!  Is that so much to ask?!"  Sweetmint grabbed the machine by the sides, shaking it violently.  "Just give me my drink, damn it!"

A random stallion that happened to be passing by made the poor judgment call of approaching Sweetmint.  "Ma'am, I think the machine's out of order."

Sweetmint shot an icy glare at the stallion, her eyes bloodshot and manic.  "Noooo, ya think?  I hadn't figured that out.  Thanks for the astute deduction, Professor!  What would I have ever done without you?!"

The stallion took a cautious step back, holding his hooves up defensively.  "I was just trying to help, calm down."

Sweetmint narrowed her eyes at him.  "'Help'?  How is pointing out the obvious helping?!  The only thing that would have helped is if somepony had bothered to put a damn sign up before the piece the shit stole my money!"  She punctuated her frustration with the vending machine by giving it a swift kick with her hind leg, putting a sizable dent in the front of it.

A loud clunk came from the machine, a can of soda now sitting in the slot as if the machine were trying to apologize and assuage her anger.

Sweetmint's rage died down just a little, inhaling a breath through her nose.  "Okay, that's better."  She snatched up the purple can of grape soda with her aura of pink magic.  She glanced back to the stallion who was still standing there for some reason.  "What?  Problem's solved, you can be on your way."

He didn't say anything, just gave a dismissive flick of his hoof as he continued down the sidewalk.

"You okay now?" Guise asked, making sure he was at least a leg's length away from Sweetmint.

She let out an indignant snort through her nostrils.  "'Okay' might be expecting too much, but at least I got my drink."

Eager to cool herself off with a nice, cold beverage, Sweetmint popped the tab on her soda.  As if to add injury to insult, the loud fizz of the carbonation was accompanied by a spray of purple liquid, coating the mare's face, mane, and horn with the sugary and sticky grape soda.

Guise saw her bloodshot eye twitch, her normally-green face burning red with rage.  He half-expected the heat of her anger to evaporate the soda staining her coat.  Sweetmint was visibly shaking.  The aluminum can was crushed in her magical grip, jettisoning the rest of the beverage into the air and all over the sidewalk.  He took a chance and looked around at the onlookers, though made sure not to take his eyes off of Sweetmint for more than a second at a time.  Many of the people staring in their direction were quietly murmuring, and considering that Sweetmint had already caused some property damage, he was a little worried that somepony was going to call for a royal guard to deal with the problem—the problem being the mare he was supposed to be on a date with, which made him an accomplice.

"I think we should go," Guise suggested quietly.

Sweetmint closed her eyes, taking a long, shaky breath.  "Can you please walk me home?" she requested, her voice surprisingly calm and quiet.  "I don't exactly trust myself not to slug the next person who looks at me funny.  I may need somepony to hold me back."

Guise hesitated for a moment, unsure as of yet if he would be considered one of those people.  But, against his better judgment, he obliged.  "Uh, sure.  Where's your building?"

She pointed over her shoulder, down the street across from the bookstore.  "It's just a few blocks from here."

The two of them started making their way down the street.  Guise cast the occasional glance at Sweetmint to assess her emotional state.  She was keeping her head down, actively trying to avoid making eye contact with anypony.  From what he could see through her grape soda-soaked mane, her face appeared to be a mixture of lingering anger, embarrassment, and shame.  And never once did she look back at him.

Guise assumed she was thinking the same thing he was: this date was not going as planned.  He was offering her the common courtesy of escorting her home, but at this point that was mostly in anticipation of an explanation.  Her behavior just now had to be more than just a week's worth of pent-up frustration.  Whatever answer she gave him was probably going to influence whether or not Guise deemed this relationship worth pursuing.  And judging by her expression and body language, she was likely expecting to be dumped after this.

After about ten minutes of walking, they finally made it to Sweetmint's apartment building, the decadent sign out front reading "The Ivory Horseshoe."  True to its name, it was a U-shaped building that actually looked pretty fancy, sharing the same color scheme as the rest of Canterlot with a combination of white, purple, and gold and having a garden of large, exotic plants in the very middle.  The apartments' entrances lined the inside wall of the U-shaped building, with six on each side and three at the end.  There was even a second level with a walkway spanning all the way around and with just as many rooms up there—fifteen rooms on both levels for a total of thirty apartments.

Sweetmint lead Guise up a flight of stairs on the right side, stopping at the third door.  She fumbled around in her satchel for a moment, removing her key and unlocking the door.

Guise wasn't entirely sure what he was expecting.  Based on the building's elegant exterior and the fact that this was Canterlot, one might expect the rooms to be just as posh.  On the other hoof, prior comments that Sweetmint had made suggested that the place was rather cheap.  In reality, it was kind of a combination of both.  The interior didn't exactly match the high falutin designs that made Canterlot distinct, but it was still rather homely, more closely resembling a more condensed version of the homes Guise had seen in his brief time in Ponyville a couple of years ago.

There was a small kitchen area off to the right of the entrance.  It didn't exactly offer much room to work, the dining table taking up most of the floor space, but there was enough space for an oven, sink, refrigerator, and microwave.  Sweetmint appeared to have added her own touch, as well, as upon the counter were what appeared to be smaller and cheaper versions of some of the ice cream machines he'd seen at Rocky's Road.

Across from the entrance was the living room area.  It was sparsely populated with furniture; just a simple, wooden coffee table, a couple of side tables, and a comfy-looking, blue couch facing the left wall.  That same wall had a rather sizable set of shelves with compartments of varying sizes, though it didn't appear to see much use as the only things stored on it were some containers of weird, colored sticks and a few stacks of reading material—more of that "manga" stuff, Guise assumed.  Off to the right of the living room was a hallway that one could safely assume lead to the bedroom and bathroom, but Guise couldn't exactly confirm that from where he was.

However, while the place was cozy enough on its own merits, it wasn't exactly in a cleanly state.  The sink was full of dirty dishes, and both the kitchen table and coffee table were covered in empty takeout containers and a few beer bottles that hadn't yet been thrown out.  Additionally, there were what appeared to be several small, plush animals littering the floor.  Certainly an odd sight to see in a grown mare's apartment, but they appeared to be well worn down, with the stuffing exposed on some of them, or ears torn off.  On top of that, the apartment possessed an odd odor that Guise couldn't place.  It wasn't offensive, but it was certainly noticeable.

"Sorry about the mess," Sweetmint apologized, though rather halfheartedly.  "I wasn't exactly expecting to have company over today.  Anyway, I'm gonna take a quick shower.  Make yourself at home if you want.  You can grab something out of the fridge as thanks for walking me home.  Or you can just leave if you'd prefer.  Can't say I'd blame you."  A pitiful sigh escaped her lungs as she wearily headed for the hallway and into the bathroom to clean up.

There was a moment where Guise actually considered listening to her and just leaving.  A part of him felt like this mare might end up being more trouble to get love out of than he expected.  The only reason he was still there was out of sheer curiosity and the hopes that Sweetmint was just having an off week.

So, while he waited for her to wash the grape soda out of her hair, Guise decided to have a look around the small apartment.  He wandered into the living room to get a better look.  Upon the coffee table, amongst the used food containers and empty beer bottles, were some of those manga books she'd told him about.  Out of curiosity, Guise picked one up and looked it over.  On the cover was an earth pony stallion wearing a rather over-the-top outfit consisting of a wide-brimmed, blue stetson, a long trench coat of the same color, a sword tucked away in a red sheathe, and far more belts than was reasonably necessary, and flying alongside him was a large owl wearing a black bandit's mask.  Guise couldn't read the title of the book due to a combination of the stylized font and the fact that the words were too bizarre for him to properly pronounce with his limited literacy.

He flipped the manga open, finding that the cover was the only part of the book that had color, the rest simply being black and white.  The contents weren't quite what he was expecting, mostly depicting the character from the cover battling against monsters more hideous than anything Guise had ever seen.  And it was surprisingly violent, with depictions of blood and dismemberment as the stallion cut through the beasts with his sword in his mouth.  Certainly not something he'd have expected a mare like Sweetmint to be into, but he couldn't say he wasn't a little intrigued.  A book that spoke more with images rather than words seemed like something he could get behind.

Guise put the manga back down, but as he did, he noticed that there was also a newspaper laying there.  It happened to be a copy of the same newspaper he'd spotted at the bookstore; the one that covered Shade's wedding.  Its presence got Guise wondering what Sweetmint's opinion of it was, as well as changelings as a whole.  But that was a question for another day; he didn't want to cast suspicion on himself by randomly bringing up the topic of changelings.  He'd have to wait for an opportunity that felt more natural.

Guise detected movement from the corner of his eye, diverting his attention to the hallway.  From the open door on the left—presumably the bedroom—wandered a small, orange tabby cat, stretching out its legs and digging its claws into the carpet.  The moment it turned down the hall, it stopped dead in its tracks, its tired eyes suddenly widening at the sight of the unfamiliar pony standing in the living room.

The two simply stared at one another, not moving.  Guise wasn't entirely sure what to make of this.  He knew some people kept pets, but for someone like Guise, small animals like this were usually seen as nothing more than a meal.  Obviously he'd have to suppress his predatory urges in this case, though it wasn't like that was difficult.  He just wasn't expecting Sweetmint to have a cat, though that did explain the chewed up toys littered about and possibly even the strange musk.

The bathroom door on the right opened, and Sweetmint stepped out again, drying her mane with a towel.  Her eyes met Guise's once more, looking a little surprised.  "Oh, you're still here.  Uh, thanks, I guess.  Kinda thought my behavior today would've scared you off," she said a little dejectedly.

The orange tabby began to rub up against Sweetmint's leg, garnering the mare's attention.  Despite the mood she'd been in all day, Sweetmint finally managed a genuine, peppy smile upon laying eyes on the feline, running a hoof gently down its back and prompting it to lift its tail in approval.  "Hi, Persy," she said sweetly, giving the cat a light chin scratching.  "Boy, Momma's happy to see you."

Guise raised an eyebrow.  "'Persy'?"

"Yeah.  Short for Persimmon."  Sweetmint picked the cat up, cradling it against her shoulder and carrying it out into the living room with her as it affectionately nuzzled into her cheek.  "I named him that because he's orange, and well... purr-simmon.  Get it?"

Guise just blinked vacantly.

Sweetmint's amused grin faltered at the blank stare he was giving her.  "Alright, not a fan of puns.  Noted."  She let the cat hop back down onto the floor in front of Guise.  "Say hi to Crimson, Persy."

The cat simply stared up at the stranger warily.  Guise did much the same.  Persimmon took a step closer, sniffing the air, but then suddenly arched his back and hissed, prompting Guise to take a step back.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there.  He's not gonna bite, Persy," Sweetmint said to the cat in an effort to calm it down.  "Sorry, Crimson, he's not usually like this.  But I guess we don't get visitors often, so he's not used to other people."

The cat gave Guise a wide berth as it meandered over to the kitchen where its food dish was.

Sweetmint gave Guise a hospitable smile, though it looked a little forced.  "So, can I get you anything?  Water?  Coffee?"

"Uh, no, thanks."

It didn't take a terribly perceptive person to notice the uncertain expression on Guise's face.  Sweetmint let out a long sigh as she tossed aside her towel.  "Guess I owe you an explanation, huh?"

Guise wasn't about to admit that that was pretty much the only reason he was still there.

Sweetmint shied away ashamedly, mumbling quietly.  "I, uh...  I kind of have some... anger management issues..."

Guise tilted his head, puzzled.  "'Anger management'?"

"Yeah, I... sometimes have difficulty keeping my temper in check.  It's gotten me into some hot water a few times back in Manehattan.  I got in trouble a lot in school when I was younger, and I've had a few unpleasant confrontations with the cops over the years."  She ran a hoof through her still damp mane with a sigh.  "It's part of the reason I came to Canterlot in the first place.  Yeah, I wanted to open my own ice cream place, but I also kinda just wanted to go somewhere where I could have a fresh start.  I've been doing what I can to help me deal with it: I attend a monthly anger management class, I try meditating sometimes, I even have incense," she told him, pointing to those strange sticks on the shelf Guise noticed earlier.

Persimmon wandered back from the kitchen, rubbing up against Sweetmint's leg, though Guise could have sworn the cat briefly gave him the stink eye for a moment.

Sweetmint slowly ran a hoof over Persimmon's back as she continued.  "I've been doing everything in my power to keep myself under control, but everything just seems to pile up until I just... explode.  Today wasn't even the first time it's happened since I moved to Canterlot.  I thought this place was going to be a lot more serene than the hustle and bustle of Manehattan, but it seems like most of the people here are just..."

"Morons?"

"That's a little nicer than what I was gonna say, but sure.  I'm just glad I haven't gotten the attention of the royal guards yet."  Sweetmint let out another resigned sigh.  "I was hoping you wouldn't have to see that side of me, Crimson.  You seem like a nice guy, so I don't expect you to want to put up with me and my problems.  There's a reason I'm still single after all, and don't really have any friends to speak of.  You probably don't understand what it's like to feel that rage build to the point where it boils over."

Guise stared at her, then discreetly glanced down at the newspaper on the coffee table.  She knew a lot less about him than she'd ever understand.

"You think I don't know what it's like to be angry?"

Sweetmint gazed into his golden eyes, which were suddenly filled with a fiery passion.

"Let me tell you something.  Back home, there was this guy.  I wouldn't really call him a friend, but we'd known each other our whole lives.  Wasn't really anything special about him or anything; just another guy doing the same thing as everypony else.  But, a couple of years ago, he decides he wants to do something with his life, vows to leave home and make a new life for himself somewhere else.  I figured he wouldn't make it.  I guessed it'd be a week before he came crawling back with his tail between his legs."

Sweetmint simply stood there quietly, listening intently.

"I ran into him again a few weeks back.  We hadn't seen each other in two years.  Guy's got a family and everything now.  And you wanna know what he said to me?"  Guise narrowed his eyes disdainfully.  "'I don't have time for you.'"

"Sheesh, sounds like a real asshole," Sweetmint remarked with a grimace.

"Right?  Do you know how I felt in that moment?  How badly I wanted to clobber him for his self-righteous attitude?" Guise posited passionately, choosing to leave out the fact that he did try to kill him after that.  "We were no different growing up, and now, all of a sudden, he's acting like he's better than me just because he's got a family and shit now!  And that's just the most recent example of the crap I've had to put up with in my life.  So don't tell me I don't know what it's like to feel seething rage and hatred."

"So...  You're not off put by the fact that I have anger management problems?"

Guise smirked with a chuckle.  "'Off put'?  You just want to do your own thing without having to deal with life's shit, but everypony around you is making your life a living hell with their incompetence and lack of brain cells.  If anything, I don't think I've ever related to somepony more."

Sweetmint managed a small, grateful smile.  "You won't mind if I fly off the handle occasionally?"

"Mind?  I encourage it.  I'm not one to keep his emotions bottled up.  If you've got something to say, say it.  Some jackass pisses you off?  Let 'em know not to mess with you."

She laughed quietly in response to his speech.  "I mean, that's the kind of thing that's gotten me in trouble in the past, and I don't want either of us getting fired just for blowing off steam, but I definitely appreciate how understanding you're being, Crimson."

Guise shrugged modestly.  "We're both outsiders here, right?  If anypony should have one another's backs, it's us."

"No, I'm serious," Sweetmint continued, her smile exuding fondness and a small twinkle in her eye.  "After an outburst like that, I'm usually fuming for the rest of the day.  But here I am, just a half an hour later, with a smile on my face.  I guess I never realized how much of a difference it makes to have somepony there to help me.  So..."

She inched closer to Guise her cheeks tinging pink.  Without warning, she pressed her lips against Guise's, catching the disguised changeling off guard.  But, not wanting to discourage her, and knowing how important this moment was for his mission, he leaned into the kiss.

Sweetmint pulled away, but never removed her gaze from Guise's golden eyes.  "Thanks," she said softly.  "And now you can tell people you're my boyfriend."

Guise grinned back at her, but while she likely saw it as an affectionate smile, in reality, it was one of triumph.  The first kiss was Guise's indication that he'd made the next big step in his plan.  He had garnered her interest, made himself relatable, and, by empathizing with her problems and sticking around in spite of her flaws, he had caused that interest to evolve into affection.  Now it was just a matter of turning that affection into full blown love.

Admittedly, this was going far more smoothly than Guise had anticipated.  While Sweetmint's anger issues were a possible liability, he couldn't deny the convenience of it, as it gave him an angle to work with to endear himself to her.  In actuality, he surprised even himself with how willing he was to talk about his past.  That wasn't something he'd planned out when fabricating a backstory for his Crimson Neon persona.  Obviously he left out a lot of important details, like spending two years in a dungeon and trying to kill Shade.  Twice.  But his own past experiences just happened to work in his favor in this case.

And while there was risk that Sweetmint's temper would end up getting them both in trouble, it might at least make his life here in Canterlot a little less boring than he thought.
> Part 3 - Conservative
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Guise touched down unceremoniously, letting out a long, exhausted groan as he landed on the small plateau outside his cave.  He sauntered inside the confines of his temporary home, carelessly tossing a bag of bits onto the floor with the rest.  He let himself drop onto his bed of grass and leaves, relaxing his muscles after a long work day.  The spikes of his red mane were barely discernible, flattened out by the sweat that had accumulated over the course of the day.  It happened to be a particularly hot summer day, and working in a kitchen with ovens and fryers and leaning over a sink of hot water all day made the day simply unbearable.  He was barely able to fly back up the mountain in his condition.

It was times like this that he envied Sweetmint; she got to work in an ice cream parlor, where it was always nice and cool.  Guise contemplated heading over there under the pretense of seeing her just to cool off a little, but he was also pretty hungry and wanted to sink his fangs into something first.  Though an ice cream dessert was admittedly tempting.  Strangely, he'd yet to even taste ice cream, despite the fact that his "girlfriend" made it for a living.  Today seemed like an appropriate day to try it.

After catching his breath, Guise sat up, glancing at the several sacks of bits laying on the floor.  It had been a few weeks now since he started his life in Canterlot and he already felt like he'd accrued a sizable stash of money from his job.  Were anypony to somehow stumble upon his cave, they might think a young dragon had taken up residence and started a small horde.  Admittedly, he wasn't really sure if what he had was actually considered "a lot," but he noticed the prices of things in the shops around Canterlot, and comparing that to what he had, maybe he wasn't quite as affluent as he thought.  And people had to live off of wages like this.  Guise only had as much as he did because he refused to spend any of it if it wasn't necessary.  One of his goals was to use this money to pay for a real house so he wouldn't have to live in a cave any longer than he had to—he'd had enough of that over the past two years—but he still wasn't sure how close he was to that.

But he was considering spending a little right now.  Sweetmint should be getting off of work soon, and on a hot day like this, he figured he'd try some of her ice cream before she clocked out.  But first he wanted to make a brief stop at a waterfall further down the mountain to clean up; he was pretty sure his body odor would permeate his disguise, and as comfortable as he was around Sweetmint, he'd rather not go in smelling like an old gym bag.

Things had actually been going rather smoothly with Sweetmint.  Guise had been courting her for about two weeks at this point and hadn't encountered any outstanding issues aside from her touchy temperament, but as long as Guise made sure that he wasn't the one lighting the fuse, then it wasn't a problem for him—he couldn't speak for everypony else, though, not that he cared.  It was actually kind of fun for him to watch Sweetmint tear some jackass a new one, even if it only happened once or twice since he'd met her; it made those days a little less dull, and would provide him a chance to further ingratiate himself to her by helping her calm down afterward.

After quickly cleaning himself up and grabbing a sack of bits to take with him, Guise headed toward Canterlot, donning his Crimson Neon appearance and blending into the crowd.  He immediately made for the restaurant district, admittedly looking forward to cooling off inside Rocky's Road.  However, it appeared that he was a little too late, as once the shop came into view, he could see Tapioca stepping outside with her bags, clearly preparing to head home.  Or maybe she was leaving early.  From what Guise had learned about her over the past couple of weeks, that wouldn't have surprised him.

But Tapioca wasn't the only one leaving.  Both Sweetmint and Frosted Chips were leaving as well, the former locking the door behind her before sauntering down the sidewalk alongside her coworkers.  Guise couldn't help but notice the rather disgruntled look on her face.  It wasn't uncommon to see her looking weary after a day of work, but he had come to recognize this expression as being a little more than exhaustion.  And he could infer that the oblivious grin on Tapioca's face wasn't helping matters.

Sweetmint's sour expression lifted a little once she saw her boyfriend trotting towards them, managing at least a small smile.  "Hey, Crimson."  She picked up her pace to meet up with him faster, eager to plant a quick kiss on his lips.

"Hey," he greeted back coolly.

"Hi, Crimson."

Guise had to force back a grimace when Tapioca's grating voice scraped his eardrums.  She was giving him a somewhat sultry look, which was an unfortunately common occurrence whenever he saw her.  Guise just did as he usually did and tried to ignore her, as well as the quiet stallion with them who had slightly knit his brow at him.

"Guess I caught you a little late," Guise said to Sweetmint.  "I was hoping to get some ice cream to stave off the heat."

"I'll tell you what: I have some shopping to do, so you help me carry my groceries home, and I'll make you some as thanks."  She pointed to the pair of large saddlebags she had on her back along with her satchel.

Guise discreetly sneered at the other two ponies with her.  "Are they coming with us?"

Tapioca blanched at the notion.  "As if.  I wouldn't be caught dead in the places where Minty shops."

"Well, not all of us have as much disposable income as you," Sweetmint retaliated with a resentful scowl.  "I have to shop at the cheaper places because I can barely pay my rent with the pay I get."

Tapioca quirked a genuinely puzzled eyebrow.  "'Rent'?  Oh, right!  That's the thing Daddy pays for."

Sweetmint could only stare as though this mare's sheer existence were baffling.  "What world do you live in?"

"What?  Why doesn't your dad pay for your rent?"

"Because my dad lives in Manehattan, and because I'm a grown-ass adult who pays for things with my own money," Sweetmint informed her, her frustration with the conversation already beginning to hit its apex.

"Just ask Rocky for more money," Tapioca suggested as though it were as simple as that.

"I did!  I've been asking for a raise since I started working there three years ago!  Not all of us get everything we want handed to them on a silver platter.  Some of us have to actually work to get what we want."

"I work," Tapioca scoffed.

Sweetmint rolled her eyes with an annoyed huff, grumbling under her breath, "The only thing you work is your backside..."

"Huh?"

"Nevermind.  Anyway, I guess we'll get going.  I'll see you tomorrow, Tapioca.  You, too, Chips," Sweetmint bid them with a halfhearted wave.

"Later, Minty!" Tapioca sang as she cantered off, Frosted Chips absentmindedly following behind her.

"Chips."

The stallion glanced back, looking confused as though he'd been in a trance the whole time.

"Other way," Sweetmint reminded him tersely.

He looked around, awkwardly trying to get his bearings before giving a lazy wave and wandering down a different street.

Sweetmint ran a hoof through her thick mane.  "Honestly, those two were born to aggravate me..."

"Rough day?" Guise inferred as they started on their own way to the supermarket.

"Well, work wasn't particularly bad or anything today, but I am a little stressed.  My landlord has been hounding me about this month's rent, but money is super tight for me right now.  He's giving me some leeway, but I've asked for extensions enough in the past that I'm sure his patience with me is running thin."

"Are you not making enough money at your job?"

Sweetmint let out a long sigh.  "I make enough to survive, sure, but I got other stuff I wanna spend my money on, too."

"Like your manga?"

"Alright, I know I don't need my manga, but what's the point of being a 'productive member of society' if I can't do the things I want to do.  That's the difference between 'living' and 'surviving.'  I want to live a little, too."

Guise could certainly relate to that; it was pretty much the whole reason he was even here.  If somepony puts in the work, then why shouldn't they deserve to indulge a little?  Still, though, he understood that those rewards didn't come easy.  He hadn't really had a chance to properly relax since leaving the Changeling Kingdom, just using this time to build up his cash.  Apparently, Sweetmint was in the same boat, except in her case she'd been doing it for three years and hadn't really gotten anywhere yet.  Guise found that thought admittedly discouraging.

"Is there anything you can do to get more money?" Guise asked, genuinely curious for his own sake as well.

"Nothing that doesn't involve gambling or getting a second job, neither of which I wanna resort to.  At this point, my only hope is getting a raise, but I've been trying to convince Rocky to give me one pretty much since I started working there and he's always dismissed the request."

Guise noticed her brow beginning to furrow and her voice getting more irate.

"I mean, my ice cream is that place's whole business.  Tapioca and Chips would probably end up setting the place on fire if they tried to make the ice cream from scratch.  I think the problem is that Rocky knows I don't have anywhere else to go to get a job, so he's not worried about me quitting on him.  And as much as I hate to admit it, I know Tapioca is part of the reason we get as much business as we do.  She's hot, there's no denying that.  I've definitely noticed that we get fewer customers on days that she's not working.  But it's not like I haven't gotten a lot of compliments about my ice cream, so I know people like it—they wouldn't keep coming back if they didn't like it."

Sweetmint looked Guise in the eye, her growing frustration evident.  "But is that enough to warrant giving her a raise instead of me?  I've been working there for three years and haven't gotten shit!  Tapioca got a raise after six months!  Is that fair?!"

Guise wasn't entirely sure how to answer.  He hadn't been around long enough to comment on the ethics of such an issue, but figured he'd just give her the answer she wanted to hear.  "Doesn't sound fair to me.  If I was in your position, I'd give Rocky a reason to listen."

"As much as I'd like to, I'm not about to threaten my boss.  He might not be worried about me quitting on my own, but I doubt he'd have much issue firing me if I got too disagreeable with him."

Guise didn't say any more.  The situation was obviously more complicated than he was capable of comprehending, and any advice he tried to give, Sweetmint would likely have a reason to counter it.  Besides, he speculated that if this conversation continued on much longer, she might end up in a rather foul mood—more so than she was already—and that wouldn't be good for anypony.

They eventually arrived at the supermarket, which, for Guise, didn't really stand out from all the other decadent buildings in Canterlot.  If it weren't for the signs above the entrances, he imagined even the ponies would have difficulty telling these places apart.  But even then, Guise's limited grasp of the written word didn't help much in his case.

It was certainly more distinguishable on the inside, however, and much to Guise's relief, it was actually rather cool inside the building.  It was a rather large building with many aisles of shelves lined row by row to display all manner of food and other miscellaneous products.  The place was pretty well populated by ponies, whether they be customers doing some shopping as they had come to do, or the uniformed employees stocking the shelves and running the registers.

Sweetmint grabbed a shopping cart near the entrance and started heading for the aisles.  Guise could deduce based on her pace that she knew exactly what she wanted and where to get it.  He had no desire to memorize the place the way she apparently had; there wasn't really any need considering the only food he was interested in wasn't something that ponies would have stocked, and even if they did, he could easily get it for free without having to spend his hard-earned bits by just going out and doing a bit of hunting.

The first thing that Sweetmint threw into her cart were about a dozen sealed cups of prepackaged noodles.  That struck Guise as a little odd.  Considering she was strapped for cash, he was surprised to see her shovel so much of it into her cart.

"You like that stuff?" he asked.

She flashed him a grin, an odd mix of glee and shock on her face.  "You haven't discovered instant noodles?"

Guise simply shrugged.

"Well, I don't know what silver spoon you're eating from, but this stuff is a literal miracle for people like me.  Seriously, a higher power invented this stuff as a gift for the lower-middle class citizen.  It's super cheap, super tasty, and only takes a few minutes to prepare.  It's perfection."

Guise quirked an eyebrow at her strangely exuberant attitude toward such a simple-looking food item.  "I'll, uh... take your word for it, I guess."

Sweetmint scoffed at his response.  "Sheesh, broaden your horizons a little, Crimson.  Not all of us have discerning palates like you apparently do.  Seriously, what kind of stuff do you usually eat that you've never even heard of instant noodles?"

Obviously, Guise wasn't about to answer that truthfully.  But he also didn't have a firm idea of what ponies usually ate for meals.  He knew they were herbivores, but he suspected just saying "carrots and lettuce" wasn't going to be a sufficient answer.

"What?  Is that so hard to believe?" Guise said dismissively.  "There's lots of different kinds of food out there.  So I haven't tried one thing, don't make a big deal out of it.  It's not like I only eat the most expensive and exquisite foods."

Sweetmint gave him a playful and eager nudge.  "Then I'm gonna treat you to a nice, 'home-cooked meal' when we get back to my place.  You need this stuff in your life, Crimson.  You'll be happier for it."

Guise just shrugged in a bid to appease her.  "Alright, fine, I'll try it."

She grinned with confidence at his reluctant acceptance, apparently pretty sure he'd enjoy it.  Guise couldn't really imagine he'd be as into it as she was.  He hadn't eaten much pony food in his life, and while what he has tried had admittedly been pretty tasty, none of it really compared to the taste and satisfaction he got from a piece of fresh meat.

Guise followed Sweetmint throughout the rest of the supermarket, only observing with mild interest in what she was piling into her cart: a couple of loaves of bread, fixings for sandwiches, some apple and orange juice, and various snacks like potato chips and cookies.  She also grabbed some milk, sugar, cream, and everything else she needed to make ice cream at home.  Guise didn't even want to think about work once he took his uniform off, but making ice cream was Sweetmint's passion.  Even if she didn't really enjoy putting up with the stresses of work, he learned that making ice cream at home was one of the things Sweetmint did to unwind when she got home.

By now, the shopping cart was looking rather full, which got Guise thinking about what kind of budget this mare was actually on.  Sweetmint was complaining about how tight money was earlier, but now she had loaded up her cart to the point where it was nearly overflowing.  Either he was starting to understand why she didn't have much disposable income, or perhaps all of this stuff was just as cheap as those noodles.  Tapioca had suggested that this place wasn't very upscale, so that could be why Sweetmint shopped here to begin with.

The last area of the supermarket they visited was the liquor aisle.  The shelves there were lined with oddly labeled, glass bottles, and were kept separate from the store's other beverages.  Guise remembered seeing similar bottles of this stuff laying around Sweetmint's apartment, so they must have been something she liked, though he didn't understand what was so special about them that they'd have an aisle of their own.

Sweetmint grabbed a case of a particular brand of beer, but paused as she was about to put it in the cart.  She noticed the look Guise was giving her, eyebrow cocked as he sized up the case.  "What?  Don't look at me like that.  This is one of those 'wants' I was talking about."

Guise shifted his expression quickly.  She'd apparently misinterpreted his look of confusion as a judgmental glare, which made him think that, whatever reason it was somepony would drink this stuff, it was something worth judging.  He held up his hooves defensively in an effort to diffuse her.  "Alright, I get it, chill out."

Sweetmint eyed the case of beer she'd just picked up, then gave her boyfriend a curious look.  "You drink, Crimson?"

Guise blinked.  What kind of question was that?  Didn't every creature have to drink to survive?  But considering the topic of the conversation was focused on the beverages that she'd just picked up, he inferred she was likely talking about that specifically.  Again, he didn't know what the difference was, but with his lack of knowledge regarding it, it may be risky to attempt to bluff his why through this.

So Guise shook his head.  "Nah."

"Is that for moral or personal reasons?"

Guise groaned internally.  What was it about this stuff that required questions like that?  But, again, he shrugged indifferently.  "Not really.  I just haven't tried it."

Sweetmint stifled a somewhat mocking chuckle.  "Wow.  Never tried instant noodles, never tried alcohol...  It's starting to sound like you lived a pretty sheltered life back in Fillydelphia."

Guise didn't make any further comments.  Her guess was pretty accurate, though obviously not for the reasons she was likely assuming.  Right now, he just wanted this pointless and confusing conversation to be over so they could be on their way.  Honestly, he was starting to regret even leaving his cave today, and he wouldn't have if he hadn't been so bored.

So, after receiving a dismissive shrug from Guise, Sweetmint dropped the topic and headed for the register to check out.

Once the cashier was finished ringing her up, she grinned amicably at Sweetmint.  "That'll be forty-three bits total, Miss," she said with a chipper lilt.

Sweetmint inhaled sharply through her teeth.  "Yeesh, a little more than I was expecting.  Oh, wait!"  She began to fish around in her satchel.  "I'm pretty sure I have some coupons in here somewhere...  Aha!"  She produced a few small scraps of paper with a triumphant flourish.

The cashier received them, eyeing them up for a moment before casting an apologetic frown across the counter.  "Oh, I'm sorry, these expired yesterday."

"What?"  Sweetmint snatched them back to confirm for herself, a loud groan escaping her lungs.  "Come on!  You've gotta be kidding me.  It's just one day, can't you make an exception?"

The cashier continued to frown sympathetically.  "Sorry, I could get in trouble if I did that.  The date's are there for a reason.  You should've done your shopping sooner, I guess."

Sweetmint scowled across the counter as she crumpled up the coupons and stuffed them back into her satchel.  "Yeah, thanks for the advice, Captain Hindsight," she snipped, eliciting a slight wince from the cashier at her sudden grouchiness.  She started begrudgingly rooting around in her satchel again, grumbling the whole time.  "I don't even know if I have forty-three bits in here..."

"You can put something back if you don't have eno—"

"Yeah, no shit, I know how this works," Sweetmint interrupted with a grumpy glower.

The cashier just stood there, looking rather uncomfortable now and afraid to open her mouth anymore.

Guise watched the awkward transaction take place in silence.  With everything she's been talking about today, what with her money woes and such, he had a feeling that Sweetmint was starting to go downhill, mood-wise.  It would be for everypony's benefit if he could do something to prevent that.  Plus, he didn't really have the patience to deal with this right now and wanted to speed things along so he could go about his day.

Guise stepped up next to Sweetmint, holding up his own sack of bits.  "Look, if you don't have enough, I can pay for it," he offered, though he wasn't keen on the idea of having to throw away his hard-earned cash on her groceries.

Sweetmint's annoyance quickly dissipated.  "What?  No, no, I can't let you do that.  I mean, a guy paying for a meal on a date is one thing, but you don't have to buy my groceries for me.  That's a bit much, and, if I'm honest, a little patronizing."

Guise shrugged.  "I'm just trying to help, but if you don't want my charity..."

Sweetmint bit her lip, clearly debating the choice in her head.  "Mmm..."  She groaned in reluctant defeat.  "Alright, fine, but only half.  And I'll pay you back when I can, okay?"

Guise flashed her a reassuring grin as she dug up as many bits as she could find in her bag, then pooled it with Guise's money to pay the uncomfortable cashier.  Sweetmint even offered the cashier an apology before they made to leave.

The green mare passed along her oversized saddlebags to Guise, then began stuffing them with as many of her purchases as she could.  With each item she packed in, Guise felt the weight on both his back and legs growing, grunting as he struggled just to keep his knees from buckling.  It was made even worse when she dropped the case of beer on the middle of his back rather recklessly.

"You gonna be okay carrying all that yourself?" she asked with a hint of concern upon seeing the clear strain on his face.

"Y-Yep...  No problem," he hissed through clenched teeth.

Sweetmint rolled her eyes with a smirk at his obvious lie.  "Right, sure you are.  You don't have to act all macho to try and impress me, you know?"  She hoisted the beer off his back again, placing it upon her own.  She passed him a grateful smile.  "You've already helped a lot.  Thanks, Crimson."  She gave him an appreciative peck on the cheek as the two of them made their way back to Sweetmint's apartment building.

Once they made it back to The Ivory Horseshoe, Guise noticed a bit of trepidation on Sweetmint's face, cautiously, yet hurriedly trotting up the steps to her apartment while glancing around as though she were paranoid about something.  She let out a sigh of relief once they actually got inside.

"You got a stalker or something?" Guise asked as he placed the stuffed saddlebags on the dining room table.

"In a sense," she answered as she started putting her groceries away.  "Like I said earlier, Mr. Hide, my landlord, has been on my ass about the rent for awhile, so I'm trying my best to avoid him and draw this out as long as I can.  But, whatever."  She grinned more cheerily at Guise.  "I promised you some ice cream as thanks for helping with the groceries, so lemme get started on that."  She set out the ingredients she had just bought.  "Any particular flavors you prefer?"

Considering Guise had never tried ice cream before, he obviously had no answer for that.  So, he responded with an indifferent shrug.  "Surprise me."

As she set to work on that, Guise wandered over to the couch to lay down and rest after lugging those heavy saddlebags around.  However, his efforts were stymied by an orange tabby cat sprawled out on the sofa.  Persimmon wasn't asleep, just lounging, but was staring up at Guise, the changeling casting a stern glower down at the feline.  He wasn't taking up the whole couch on his own, of course, but appeared to be purposely taking up as much space as possible while staring mockingly at his owner's boyfriend.

"Persy, don't be greedy," Sweetmint told the cat from the kitchen.

Persimmon reluctantly rose to his paws, taking his time stretching before hopping off the couch and heading for his food dish in the kitchen, allowing Guise to take a seat and relax.

Guise heard the sound of digital beeps, casting a puzzled look toward the kitchen.  While Sweetmint was busy with all of her ice cream stuff, she'd apparently put something in the microwave.  He couldn't imagine that the microwave was required to make ice cream.  "What're you doing?"

"Ice cream is dessert," Sweetmint stated matter-of-factly.  "So I'm making us some supper first.  You said you'd try some noodles, right?"

Guise discreetly rolled his eyes.  She was making an awfully big deal out of these noodles, so much so that he found it highly unlikely that they would live up to the hype.  There was no way something like that could compare to the taste of fresh meat and raw flesh.

After a few minutes, the microwave beeped and Sweetmint promptly delivered a cup of piping hot noodles and a fork to her boyfriend.  Holding the cup with his neon green magic, Guise eyed up the noodles with scrutiny.  Mixed in with the curly noodles were small pieces of various diced vegetables, and while it didn't look particularly appetizing to him, he had to admit that the smell was at least a little tantalizing.

"Stop staring at it like it's gonna bite you," Sweetmint goaded him as she returned to making ice cream, taking occasionally mouthfuls of her own cup of noodles.  "You'd think they killed your family or something.  Just eat it."

With just a touch of trepidation, Guise scooped a forkful of noodles into his mouth.  He paused the moment the flavor hit his tongue.  He could see the smug smirk on Sweetmint's face from the corner of his eye.

"Well?  That's pretty good, right?" she said.

In truth, Guise was astonished.  How could something so simple and so cheap taste so good?  It defied all logic.  But as much as he wanted to shovel more of it into his mouth, he also didn't want to give Sweetmint the satisfaction of being right.  "It's alright," he answered, trying to remain detached.

Sweetmint had to stifle an amused snort.  "Yeah, nice try.  I saw that look on your face.  You're hooked already, I can tell."

Guise simply shrugged as he nonchalantly took another bite.  "Okay, it's pretty good, what do you want from me?"

"Alright, whatever you say, tough guy.  Seriously, though, what do you normally eat?  Your budget can't be much better than mine."

"I didn't say it was.  I've just never tried instant noodles.  Is that so hard to believe?  Maybe I'm just a little more frugal."

A sigh escaped Sweetmint's lips.  "Or maybe you have more self-control.  I know I shouldn't keep on buying stuff I don't need when money's this tight, but I guess I just keep hoping something's gonna happen to turn things around for me.  It certainly doesn't help that I had to pay a fine for that vending machine a couple weeks back, so even my anger issues are having an effect on my finances.  And that's not even counting the stuff I do to help deal with my emotional problems."

Guise sat quietly as he finished his noodles.  Even if money wasn't the biggest issue for him, Sweetmint's money woes could have a possible effect on his plans to woo her.  If she was too focused on just making sure she had a place to live, their relationship was likely going to become secondary, thus slowing things down for Guise.  Helping her figure something out might be his best course of action, but he wasn't sure how to do that without just giving her all of his own money, and he didn't exactly want to do that.

After finishing their noodles, Sweetmint walked over to the couch to join Guise, carrying with her two bowls of ice cream and passing one to him.  Guise eyed it up for a moment.  It was green, which was already odd, but was speckled with bits of chocolate.  It sort of reminded him of the one who made it.

He looked at Sweetmint, who was absentmindedly eating hers already, looking somewhat lost in thought.  She was pretty eager to make him some of her ice cream earlier, but now she didn't even seem to be thinking about it.  It seemed the change of topic had caused her mood to shift rather quickly.  So, as a "good boyfriend," Guise saw it as his duty to perk her up.

"What kind of ice cream is this?" he asked, mostly in an effort to lift her from her funk, but also because he was actually rather curious.

"Hm?  Oh, it's mint cookie dough.  Kind of a specialty of mine."

"Do you make it at work?"

"Yeah, of course.  It's actually one of our more popular flavors," she told him with a hint of pride, finally smiling again.

Guise scooped a spoonful of it into his mouth, Sweetmint observing with interest.  The mixture of the minty flavor and the chocolate-y sweetness combined with the thickness and texture of the cookie dough ice cream may have been the most bizarre, yet delightful thing Guise had ever put in his mouth.  It also helped that the coldness was especially refreshing on such a hot day.  He wore a smile so genuine that it surprised even himself.

"You like it?" Sweetmint asked hopefully.

"It's delicious.  I guess I can see why you don't bother being modest about this when you're talking about work."

Sweetmint gave him a light jab in the shoulder, but couldn't keep the tinge of red off her cheeks at the compliment.  "Shut up."  She leaned against him as they continued to eat their desserts.

Not wanting to be outshined, Persimmon wandered over again and hopped up onto the back of the couch, laying down behind Sweetmint and snuggling against her mane.

"I know I've said this before, Crimson, but having you around has made things a lot easier for me emotionally.  It kind of feels weird to say that considering we haven't actually known each other that long, but I guess that's what makes you special."

"I like to consider myself a good listener.  It's a useful skill for helping people with their problems," Guise said in response.  Obviously, his "listening skills" were more akin to reconnaissance, but she didn't need to know that.

"You've been doing a pretty good job so far," she said gratefully as she nestled into his neck.

Guise noticed she went quiet for a moment, glancing down at her.  She had a rather contemplative look on her face.  "Something on your mind?" he decided to inquire.

"Um, well..."  Sweetmint sat up, looking Guise in the eye with a little reluctance, yet some hopefulness.  "I just thought of an idea.  What if you moved in with me?"

Guise had to forcefully keep himself from smirking.  Yet another welcome advancement toward his goal.  Sharing a residence would go a long way to speeding this along.  But he figured he'd play this one cool.  "Yeah?  I mean, not that I'm against the idea, but what brought this on?"

"Everything we've been talking about.  It's just been great having you around, and I guess I just want more of that.  Plus—and I know this is gonna sound a little more selfish—if we share the apartment, it'll probably cost less for both of us."

Guise gave her an agreeable smile.  "Then, sure, why not?"

Sweetmint grinned cutely, clearly quite relieved.  "Then I'll mention it to Mr. Hide next time I see him."

At that very moment, there was a knock on the door.  The sudden noise startled Persimmon, who hopped off the couch and hid behind it.  Guise and Sweetmint shared curious and pensive glances, respectively.

"Expecting somepony?" Guise asked.

Sweetmint groaned quietly.  "There are only two people who ever bother knocking on my door, and only one of them really has a reason to right now.  Guess his ears must've been burning..."  She climbed off the couch and reluctantly went to answer the door.

When she opened it, Guise caught sight of an elderly unicorn stallion with a dull purple coat and pink mane, though the latter had greyed thoroughly over the years.  But his most distinguishing feature was the cantankerous expression on his face.  Guise already didn't like this guy, but he also heard Persimmon let out a low growl from behind the couch.

"Mr. Hide, hi," Sweetmint greeted, though with a noticeable lack of enthusiasm.  "Can I help you with something?"

"You know full well why I'm here, young lady," he answered in his grumpy and gravelly voice.

Sweetmint rolled her eyes.  "Look, I told you I won't have enough until next payday.  I just need a little more time."

"Well, unfortunately, you don't have 'a little more time.'  Due to..."

Both Sweetmint and Guise noticed the pause.  There was a brief look of worry on the landlord's face, but he quickly put on his stern glower once more.

"...unforeseen circumstances, I can't give you anymore extensions on your rent.  I'm gonna need the money by the end of the week."

"What?!  But I don't get payed again until next week!  I can't make that deadline!"

Mr. Hide shrugged inconsiderately.  "Not my problem.  But I would be willing to take some stuff off your hooves to resell it, if that's what it takes to pay it off."

Sweetmint quirked an eyebrow.  "You'd rather take my stuff than kick me out?"

"I said I'm 'willing,'" he corrected grouchily.  "Honestly, considering how unreliable you've been with paying off your rent, I'd be happy to give you the boot, but I'm not in a position right now to be kicking out tenants."

Sweetmint's curiosity and suspicion only grew at that statement.  "Not that I'm complaining, but what exactly is going on?"

Mr. Hide seemed caught off guard by the question, responding rather defensively.  "None o' your business is what it is.  Just be ready to pay up by the end of the week, no 'ifs,' 'ands,' or 'buts' this time, got it?"

He was about to turn and leave, but Sweetmint reached out to him again.  "Whoa, wait, hold up a second!"

"What?  I'm very busy, you know?" he spat in annoyance.

Sweetmint stepped aside and gestured to the red stallion sitting on her couch.  "This is my boyfriend, Crimson Neon."

Mr. Hide stared at Guise for a moment, then back to Sweetmint.  "Am I supposed to care?"

"Well, we were just discussing the possibility of him moving in with me.  Would that be something we can work out?"

The landlord narrowed his eyes at her.  "I just made it clear that I'd rather not have you here at all, and now you just want to invite your boy toy to stay with you?"

Sweetmint glared adamantly, clearly becoming increasingly frustrated by this whole exchange.  "But if we were sharing the place, we could pay the rent easier."

"Tell me something: how many beds are in these apartments?"

"Huh?"

"Just the one, right?  Which means it's only one tenant per room.  We ain't prepared to accommodate more than one person in each apartment, so nothin' doin'."

"Come on, you're just being unreasonable now!" Sweetmint argued.

Mr. Hide pointed a stubborn hoof at her.  "Have the money ready by Friday."  And with that, he stomped off before Sweetmint could get in another word in.

Sweetmint slammed the door shut with an aggravated groan.  "The hell is that old fart's problem?!  He wants me to pay the rent on time, but when I give him a suggestion to help with it, he shoots me down!  Can you believe that shit?!"

Guise had to admit, this was an unfavorable turn of events.  It seemed there were going to be more obstacles in his way than he'd anticipated.

Sweetmint dropped unceremoniously back onto the couch, digging into her ice cream the same way that Guise would tear into a freshly killed rabbit.  Persimmon came out of hiding, hopping up onto the arm of the couch next to her and purring comfortingly, though it didn't seem to be helping.

"So, what now?" Guise asked.

Sweetmint lifted her head suddenly, a hopeful look in her eyes.  "Shot in the dark, but maybe I could move in with you instead.  I certainly wouldn't mind not having to deal with that curmudgeon anymore."

Guise tensed up a little.  Obviously, that option wasn't on the table, but he had to fabricate a reason why.  "My place is even worse than this honestly.  I can ask the landlord, but I'm pretty sure they have similar policies over there."

Sweetmint sighed in defeat.  "Then it's either sell some of my ice cream makers, or move out of this place before the end of the week.  But then there's the issue of finding a new place to live."  She ran a hoof through her mane in exasperation.  "Everything's just going to shit right now...  I dunno what I'm gonna do..."

Guise pondered his own options for a moment.  As ideal as Sweetmint originally seemed as a target due to being much more tolerable to spend time with in comparison to other Canterlot citizens, it was becoming more and more evident that her own situation was less than ideal.  This mare had just as many hurdles to overcome as he did, if not more.  At this point, his options were either to abandon Sweetmint and seek out a new target, or find a way to help resolve her issues.  Considering he'd already put in a fair amount of work for this relationship—not to mention money—he'd prefer the latter.  He had introduced himself as somewhat of a problem solver with his false persona, so maybe he could figure something out.  At the very least, he figured he'd do the same as the landlord and give her until the end of the week to see what happened.  Maybe something would come up in that time.


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


Guise traipsed his way through Canterlot on his way to Sweetmint's apartment, letting out a long yawn as he did so.  Sweetmint had been in a rather despondent mood when he'd left her place the previous day.  While it wasn't uncommon to see her get frustrated or angry when something wasn't going her way, seeing her look so defeated didn't bode well for his own future.  If she wasn't happy, and there wasn't really anything he could do to help, then acquiring the love he sought was going to be particularly difficult.  And it was going to be even more unfortunate if Sweetmint ended up having to move out of her apartment.  In such a case, it was unlikely that she'd be able to continue trying to balance her own life and a romantic relationship at the same time, and that wasn't ideal for Guise.

The odd thing was, it wasn't just himself he was thinking of now.  Guise pitied her.  In the relatively short time he'd known her, Sweetmint was really the only person he'd met who was at least tolerable to spend time with.  When he'd arrived in Canterlot and formulated his plan, his intention was to simply find a love bug and only really engage in conversation when he needed to, keeping to himself so he could relax and enjoy the love he received.  But the more he got to know her, the more he realized how much the two of them had in common—namely, their intolerance to the insipid people around them.  He even enjoyed the occasional back and forth, exchanging quips and playful insults with her.  It even turned out she knew all of the best tasting pony food around, and could even make some of it herself, so that was definitely a plus.

In the end, Sweetmint really was the ideal choice for this endeavor, which made it all the more pertinent to aid her in her time of need.  The problem was, he didn't know how to do that.  Guise hadn't gotten much sleep the previous night because he'd been too preoccupied trying to figure something out.  The only solution he could think of was simply to give her all of the money he'd earned since moving there, but that would really only be a temporary solution and wouldn't fix her current living situation, which would ultimately just put him back at square one.  Guise was going to have to face facts: if they couldn't figure something out, he may have to ditch Sweetmint and Canterlot entirely and start over somewhere else.

By now, The Ivory Horseshoe was just ahead.  He wasn't exactly looking forward to spending the day with his depressed girlfriend, but there was always a chance she'd come up with something of her own to fix things.

But as Guise approached, he caught sight of a familiar stallion exiting a smaller, nearby building that Sweetmint had told him was the main office for the apartments.  So it made sense that it was the landlord, Mr. Hide, that was stepping outside.  However, he wasn't alone.  With him was a rather burly, blue earth pony stallion wearing a pair of sunglasses and a suave, black suit that looked practically ready to burst at the seams from the guy's raw musculature.  Mr. Hide lead the unfamiliar stallion around to the back of the office building, which struck Guise as a little odd.  Surely any business transaction would be handled inside.  But, considering that this old fogy was the reason Sweetmint was in her current situation, Guise figured it'd behoove him to learn a little more about him.  Eavesdropping on this presumably unorthodox meeting may be a good way to start.

Guise quickly glanced around to make sure there was nopony around, or peeking through their windows, then shed his current disguise in favor of another.  He now wore the appearance of a random, blue pegasus stallion he'd seen in his travels, using his fabricated wings to flutter up to the roof of the office.  He stealthily crawled over to the edge to spy on the pair of stallions having their "secret" meeting.

"I just need a little more time, Strongarm.  I promise I'm good for it," said Mr. Hide, his voice practically quivering.

"Tanner, come on, we've given you plenty of time already," said the burly earth pony—apparently named Strongarm—his tone a lot more nonchalant than the landlord's.  "The boss isn't gonna wait around much longer."

"I can make the payment once I have everypony's rent money, I swear.  There're just a few lollygaggers that are holding out, that's all."

"Listen, Tanner, my friend."  Strongarm placed a hoof on the elderly stallion's shoulder.  The gesture and his tone seemed sympathetic, but it was also strangely threatening.  "I understand the situation you're in, so surely you can understand that I'm just doing my job.  You can't blow as much cashola as you did on the slots and not expect to have to pay off your debt in a timely manner.  I mean, unless you want this little venture of yours to find itself under new management," he said, gesturing to the apartment building.

"Please, just a little more time, I beg you," Mr. Hide pleaded desperately.

Strongarm sighed, scratching his neck.  "Look, I like you, Tanner, but I don't exactly want to have to make the trip out here again—a flight to Canterlot from Las Pegasus ain't cheap, ya know?  We gave you a heads up so you could get everything in order to make the payment.  But, I guess I'm a softy at heart.  So, because you seem like a good guy, and I don't wanna have to force you to give up everything you've poured your heart and soul into, I'll try 'n' convince the boss to give you a little more time.  But I can't promise anything more than a couple of months, got it?"

Mr. Hide breathed a deep sigh of relief, giving Strongarm a grateful smile as he vigorously shook the burly stallion's hoof.  "Oh, thank you.  I promise I'll have the money by the next time you visit."

Strongarm gave the old man a rather patronizing pat on the cheek.  "I'm sure you will.  Cuz you know what's gonna happen if you don't."  And with that, he turned and left, disappearing around the corner of the building.

Mr. Hide took a moment to collect himself before heading back around front and reentering the office.

Guise sat up on the roof of the building for a few minutes to contemplate this information.  At least now he knew why the landlord was giving Sweetmint such a strict deadline to pay her rent.  It turned out he was in a very similar situation and had a debt of his own to pay off.  But that didn't exactly simplify anything; in fact, it only complicated things further.  Now, not only did Sweetmint have to worry about her own financial issues, but even her landlord was in a spot of trouble.  If either one of them weren't able to make their respective payments, then Sweetmint could very well be out of a home.

But maybe there was something Guise could do to help both of them.  After all, he had a particular ability at his disposable that he could use to deceive and influence people.  And maybe, if he played his cards right, he could bring about the necessary changes to fix these problems.

So, with that in mind, Guise fluttered back down to the ground, once more replacing his disguise with another.  But, instead of his usual alter ego, he took the form of Strongarm, complete with suit and sunglasses.  And instead of heading for Sweetmint's apartment like he'd originally come here to do, he instead made for the office.

Guise peeked through the window of the door, noting that Mr. Hide was nowhere in sight within the reception area.  In fact there wasn't anypony present.  Guise wasn't even sure if the place had a receptionist or not.  Mr. Hide was the only employee here that he'd met, and even then he only saw him for the first time yesterday.  Guise decided to just waltz straight in.  From what he gathered from that brief interaction, Strongarm seemed like a confident individual, so he wasn't going to let things like manners be a hindrance here.

Guise casually sauntered past the reception desk and down a hallway off to the side.  He noticed of the two doors in the hall, one was open and had a name plate reading "Tanner Hide," so he headed straight for it.  Inside was Mr. Hide, busily scrounging around in a filing cabinet.  He hadn't seemed to have heard anypony come in behind him.  Guise politely, yet still a little loudly, knocked on the open door to get the landlord's attention.

Mr. Hide practically jumped out of his skin at the unexpected interruption, and seeing Strongarm standing at the door probably wasn't doing him any favors.  "S-Strongarm?  I-Is something wrong?  You didn't change your mind, did you?"

Guise waved off his worry with a dismissive flick of his hoof.  "Do I look like somepony who'd go back on his word?  I promised you an extension and you'll get it."

Mr. Hide still gulped nervously.  "Then... is there something else I can help you with?"

Guise smirked.  "Actually, it's the opposite.  Considering it would benefit everypony involved if you could make your payments in a timely manner, I figured I'd donate a few extra minutes of my time to help you brainstorm some ideas to not only get your money sooner, but maybe even make more."

The old codger raised a suspicious eyebrow.  Guise wasn't sure exactly how well these two knew each other, so it was difficult to tell if the look he was receiving was because he was acting out of character.  Regardless, Guise was going to press onward with this train of thought.

"You'd be willing to help me?" Mr. Hide repeated to make sure he understood correctly.

Guise held a hoof to his chest.  "Like I said, I'm a bit of a softy deep down.  So..."  Guise walked around behind the desk, just casually taking a seat on Mr. Hide's office chair.  "Any issues around here that maybe need addressing that could help things along?"

The elderly stallion simply groaned quietly.  "Well, like I mentioned, some of my tenants like to procrastinate on their payments.  I've been trying to be accommodating, but given my situation, I can't exactly afford to be too lenient."

"A man after my own heart.  You and me got a lot in common, Tanner," Guise said.  Despite his claim that he was here to brainstorm, Guise had only one suggestion he wanted to make.  "So, would bringing in more tenants be the most effective solution here, or no?"

"We're already at full occupancy.  Have been for the better part of two years," Mr. Hide told him.  "I had considered raising the cost of rent a smidge, but I'm afraid that'll just make 'em want to move out and find a cheaper place."

"What if you just accept more occupants anyway?"

Mr. Hide quirked an eyebrow.  "How's that?  You think I can afford to expand the place with this debt hanging over my head?"

Guise shrugged, swiveling back and forth in his chair.  "Of course not, and I know those apartments are designed for one tenant, but who's to say that that has to be a rule just because there's only one bed?  I'm sure there are plenty of people staying here that'd love to share the place with their special someponies."

Mr. Hide tapped his chin in thought.  "Now that you mention it, one young lady asked me yesterday if her boyfriend could move in with her."

Guise leaned forward, clomping his hooves on the desk firmly and with mock surprise.  "And you said no?  What, so you're just gonna turn down extra cash?"

"It ain't as simple as that."

"What's so complicated about it?" Guise argued.  "It seems to me that this is the best solution.  Clearly some of your tenants are having difficulty paying their rent on time, so if they have somepony to split the burden with, you can charge each of them a lower rate, but still make a greater sum total.  I mean, how much extra work is it gonna be to accommodate one more person per room?"

Mr. Hide hummed, his eyes looking to be glinting with interest.  "I suppose not much.  We really just offer the space and basic furnishing.  They might end up using more hot water, but that's about it.  Hmm...  You know, that's not a bad idea, Strongarm.  And in retrospect, I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner."

Guise hopped up from the chair with an enthusiastic grin, walking over to the landlord and giving him a firm pat on the shoulder.  "Atta boy!  See?  If we all work together, we can streamline this process, no problem.  It's win-win-win, right?  Your tenants don't have to pay as much, you still get more money, and we don't have to hound you for your payments."

Mr. Hide smiled rather genuinely and excitedly.  "Then I'll get right on this.  Thanks again for your help, Strongarm.  I must say, I never expected a tough like you to be so kind."

Guise flicked a hoof with false bashfulness.  "Aw shucks, Tanner, you're making me blush.  Anyway, I'll let you get to it.  I got a flight I need to catch."

After a quick hoofshake, Guise took his leave, a rather self-satisfied smirk on his face.  That went swimmingly.  He almost couldn't believe how easy it was to convince the old man to go with it.  Ponies really were so easy to manipulate.

Once outside, Guise quickly ducked behind the office building again, making sure nopony was watching, and switched back to his usual disguise of a red unicorn.  He then made for Sweetmint's apartment, ascending the stairs and entering without even bothering to knock.  Only Persimmon was visible within the immediate area, laying on the back of the sofa and casting a rather judgmental glare at Guise, as per usual.  Guise heard the sound of running water, indicating that Sweetmint was likely in the bathroom.  That assumption was confirmed when she walked out into the living room with a towel on her head.

"Oh, morning, Crimson," she greeted, though her tone was lacking enthusiasm.  "I was kinda worried it was Mr. Hide.  Want some breakfast?"

Guise shook his head.  "Nah, I already ate," he responded, still enjoying the aftertaste of freshly-killed duck.

"Alright.  Hey, can you pop a couple of slices of bread in the toaster for me?  Oh, and turn on the coffee maker, too," she requested as she went back to the bathroom to finish up.

Guise did as she asked before taking a seat at the kitchen table.  After a few minutes, Sweetmint returned with a still slightly damp mane just in time to catch her toast as it popped out.

"So, what's on the docket for today?" Guise asked her.

Sweetmint cast a look over her shoulder as she buttered her toast.  Guise was grinning rather smugly, his hoof draped over the back of his chair nonchalantly.  "Uh, nothing yet.  Why?  Something in mind?"

Guise simply shrugged.  "Not really.  I was just curious if you had anything planned."

"You seem to be in an awfully chipper mood this morning," Sweetmint noted.  She plated her buttered toast and poured up two cups of coffee, passing one to Guise as she joined him at the table.  She let out a weary sigh.  "I wish I could have that sort of optimism right now."

Guise tried not to grin knowingly.  "Something bothering you?"

She replied with a bemused stare.  "You know what's bothering me.  It's Mr. Hide and this whole rent situation.  I could barely get any sleep last night because it was constantly on my mind."  She took a listless bite of her toast, looking apologetically at Guise.  "If something doesn't change before the end of the week, I might end up having to move back to Manehattan."

Guise surprised her with a dismissive flick of his hoof.  "You're a smart cookie, Mint, you'll figure something out."

Sweetmint cocked an eyebrow.  "I think you're giving me a little too much credit.  Seriously, how can you be in such high spirits?  I'm stressing out over here, and you're acting like it's no big deal," she scolded, her worry now compounded by rising frustration with her boyfriend's annoyingly positive attitude.

Before Guise could goad her further, there was a knock at the door.  Sweetmint got up with a groan, already having a feeling she knew who it was.

Just as she suspected, it was Mr. Hide.  However, instead of his usual grumpy disposition, he met Sweetmint with an apologetic frown.

"Please don't tell me you need the money today," Sweetmint said with exasperation.

"No, of course not," he corrected, his voice sounding significantly more empathetic than last they spoke.  "Actually, I want to discuss the request you made yesterday."

Sweetmint looked shocked to hear that, a glint of hopeful optimism in her eyes.  She didn't notice Guise smirking discreetly.  "Wait, really?"

"Yes.  After giving it some consideration, it doesn't seem like such a bad idea."

Sweetmint still held her breath.  "Will I still have to pay the same amount?"

Mr. Hide shook his head.  "I'll lower the rent for anypony sharing a room.  I still have to figure out the exact numbers to make this work, but I think it'll be more manageable for you from now on."

Sweetmint finally let out a relieved breath.  "Thank Celestia.  You have no idea how glad I am to hear that."

Mr. Hide turned his attention to Guise.  "I'll need you to deal with the paperwork once I get everything in order."

Guise didn't say anything, only nodding in affirmation.  Paperwork wasn't exactly his strong suit, but maybe he could get Sweetmint to handle it for him.

The landlord turned to Sweetmint again.  "And I'm willing to give you a little more time to pay this month's rent, but!"  His expression and tone shifted back to their usual crotchetiness.  "I expect you to make future payments on time.  You don't have an excuse to put it off anymore."

Sweetmint looked a little doubtful of that, but still smiled gratefully.  "I'll do my best, Mr. Hide."

He let a out a gruff, "Hmph," as he turned to leave.  "See that you do.  He can move in whenever he's ready.  I'll let you know when I have the paperwork ready.  Well, have good day, you two."  Mr. Hide gave a halfhearted wave goodbye before being on his way.

Sweetmint shut the door, immediately turning to tackle Guise with an excited hug.  Guise practically spilled his coffee as his girlfriend held him in her happy death grip.  She pulled back, grinning with elation.  "Holy crap!  I can't believe this!"

"Well, that was certainly a lucky break, huh?" Guise commented, trying to fight back his self-satisfaction.  "See?  Everything has a way of working out in the end, right?"

She gave him a snide smirk.  "Weren't you supposed to be a problem solver?  Where were you on this one, smart guy?"

Obviously, Guise didn't take offense to her ragging.  Little did she know that he was the reason this was happening.  It would be nice if he could tell her so that he could bask in her praise and respect, but alas.  "Well, maybe I should just leave then so you can date your 'guardian angel' instead," he retorted mockingly.

"Maybe if I ever meet them, I will.  But for now, I'll just have to settle for you."  She punctuated her playfulness with a quick kiss on Guise's crimson lips.  "So, you wanna get started moving your stuff over here?"

"I don't really have anything to move," Guise said with a shrug.  "I don't buy anything I don't need, so I just have to grab my cash and I'm all set."

She leaned forward, a sultry look in her eyes.  "Great.  Then that means you can move in tonight."  She gave Guise another kiss, longer and deeper this time.

The satisfaction that Guise felt at this moment rivaled the time he'd duped Shade's girlfriend two years ago.  He was quite confident that he'd finally gotten back into a similar position.  But he noticed something odd.  That satisfaction he felt only seemed to swell as he stared at Sweetmint's smiling face.  While he certainly enjoyed patting himself on the back for his ingenious solutions to these ponies' problems, everything he did also happened to benefit her as well.  Of course, that was the plan; he needed her for his own ends, so the happier she was, the better it was for him.  But something about the genuine, happy smile on her face was strange to him...

Guise shook the thought from his mind.  His plans had practically reached fruition already.  It was just a matter of time until he was in a position where he could simply forget about any of his former worries, and if Sweetmint ended up in the same boat, then he was okay with that.
> Part 4 - Protective
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The light of the morning sun shone warmly in the room, chasing away the cold left by the night.  It was a familiar feeling, yet this morning, it felt somehow different.  Being woken up by the sunlight was a regular occurrence; it acted as the signal that it was time to get up and ready for the day ahead.  But it was hard to discern what exactly about this morning differed from all the rest.

Guise finally opened his eyes, and once his senses had reconstituted enough to realize he was awake, the reason became evident.

Guise lay on his back, but the ceiling above him was not the dark, jagged stone of a cavern he was used to.  It was still stone, but it was perfectly even, white marble.  He was used to the sunlight shining in through the wide, open entrance of his cave hovel, but today it shone through a glass pane built into the wall, the slightly transparent, blue curtains dampening, but not mitigating the light, making it at least inoffensive to his tired eyes.

Furthermore, what Guise felt at this particular moment was a feeling he'd not experienced in a long, long time: comfort.  He didn't lay upon a bed of dead grass and leaves on a cold, rocky floor.  Instead, he lay in an actual bed, with a cozy mattress and plush pillow underneath him, and warm, cotton sheets on top of him.  Guise began to second guess whether or not he was actually awake.  The last time he'd slept in a real bed was two years ago, but he could scarcely remember what that felt like.  He didn't recall it being this comfortable, though.  He wasn't sure if it could also be attributed to the fact that he was still disguised as a pony; that was a weird feeling, waking up with a coat of fur instead of his stiffer chitin.

But what was perhaps the most irregular thing about this morning was not the room, not the bed, not his pony body, but the other person in the bed with him.

A mint green foreleg lay draped over Guise's crimson chest.  He turned to his left, his gaze met by the peacefully sleeping face of Sweetmint Scoop.  It wasn't as though he'd never shared a bed with anypony before; he spent a few days pretending to be Shade, so he slept together with his girlfriend, but only to keep up appearances.  But as he lay there with Sweetmint, he found himself with no desire to get up.  He was cozy for once in his life.  It was a rare sensation and he wanted to enjoy it a little.

A rare sensation...

Guise's thought reminded him of something: the reason he had gone through all this trouble.  As he continued to stare at the slumbering mare next to him, a strong desire overcame him.  His cravings hadn't been this intense in a long time, and now he had the opportunity to finally sate them, after all this time.

Sweetmint stirred in her sleep.  She rolled over onto her opposite side, turning her back to Guise, but did not wake up.  Guise took advantage of their altered position to slowly and cautiously prop himself up, trying not to to wake her up.  He hovered over her, leaning his head down close to her and opening his mouth with a breathy hiss, like a predator preparing to sink its fangs into its prey.  Guise sat there, motionless, for several seconds.  Eventually, he closed his mouth with a disgruntled grimace.

Nothing.  After all the strides he'd made in his relationship with Sweetmint, even now with the two of them sharing a bed, he could get nothing from her.  She still hadn't fallen in love with him yet.

Guise flopped his head back down onto his pillow with a disappointed groan.  He really thought he'd get to taste it again after all this time, but apparently he still had some work to do.  Maybe he was expecting too much.  He'd only been courting her for a few weeks.  But then again, Shade had only been with that pegasus girl for a month and she fell for him in that time.  He'd been duping her just as Guise was with Sweetmint, so what was he doing wrong?  It was possible that Sweetmint just wasn't as easily manipulated as Shade's girlfriend, or perhaps her own living situation and emotional issues just made love an afterthought for this mare.  Either way, Guise wasn't out of the woods yet.  Now he just had to figure a way to make this final push to the finish line.  But at least for now he could enjoy the comfort that Sweetmint's bed was offering him.

The door to the bedroom, already slightly ajar, creaked open a little further, but Guise could see nopony enter.  He received a bit of a start when something suddenly hopped up onto the foot of the bed.  Sweetmint's orange tabby cat was now seated by their back hooves, just staring at Guise.  The changeling didn't budge, hoping that Persimmon would lose interest in whatever it was he was looking for and let him get back to sleep.

Persimmon's gaze remained fixed on the stallion laying with his owner, his tail swaying slowly.  Guise recognized the look in the cat's eyes.  Whenever he saw Persimmon, the cat always seemed like it was giving him the stink eye.  He wasn't exactly sure what he'd done to earn the feline's ire, if anything.  He wasn't even sure if a cat had a high enough level of intelligence to be judgmental.  Either way, Guise's patience with the cat had already run thin in the time he'd been dating Sweetmint.

Persimmon started walking up Sweetmint's side of the bed, nuzzling into his owner's mane.  The mare stirred in her sleep, a quiet moan escaping her throat.  She opened her eyes, her sleepy gaze met by a softly purring tabby cat.

"Morning, Persy," Sweetmint cooed, giving the cat a light scratch under the chin.  She rolled over onto her back, patting her chest.  Persimmon followed the gesture and climbed on top of her as she pet him rigorously, his purring growing louder and lifting his tail in approval.

Guise observed the odd display of affection from both of them, Sweetmint and Persimmon nuzzling one another's noses.  "This one of your morning rituals or something?"

Sweetmint's eyes widened slightly, turning her head to Guise.  "Oh, good morning, Crimson," she said with noticeably less zeal than she'd given the cat.  She chuckled with embarrassment.  "Sorry, kinda forgot you were here."

Guise grimaced a little.  Given that greeting, maybe he shouldn't be surprised that he couldn't get any love from her yet.  The cat was getting more love than he was.

"Okay, Persy.  Down."

Persimmon followed the order, jumping off the bed and out the door.  Sweetmint briefly rolled over to Guise to plant a quick kiss on his lips.  "As much as I'd like to stay here a little longer, I've gotta get ready for work."  She threw off the covers and made for the living room.

Guise lay there for a minute longer, if only to get a little more comfort time from his new bed.  But he eventually decided to get up as well to join Sweetmint for breakfast.

Sweetmint had already popped a few slices of bread in the toaster for both of them and turned on the coffee pot.  So, Guise simply took a seat on the couch.  Sweetmint eventually brought over their buttered toast and coffee cups, sitting with him to enjoy their breakfast together.

"So," she started as she crunched into a crispy slice of toast.  "You working today, too?"

"Nope.  Apparently they're doing some renovations, so they've got the place shut down for a little while," Guise answered with a quiet groan.

As much as he despised his work there, he wasn't terribly keen about having his cash flow cut off for the time being.  But now that he was thinking about it, money had suddenly become much less important.  His original intention was to buy a house of his own.  He hadn't considered the notion of moving into Sweetmint's apartment.  If anything, living in an apartment instead of a house would likely be significantly cheaper—especially since he was splitting the rent.  Guise was likely going to have a sizable amount of disposable income from here on, though it was likely Sweetmint was going to expect him to pitch in with groceries and whatnot.  He may have to actually start planning out a budget for himself.

"Lucky you," Sweetmint commented with an envious nudge.  "I wish I could get time off like that occasionally.  Rocky's Road is pretty bland looking.  Not exactly a memorable place, but I guess most of the customers are too busy staring at Tapioca to care."

A needy mewl from the floor grabbed Sweetmint's attention.  Persimmon was staring up at her expectantly.

"Mm, shorry, Pershy," she said to the cat as she stuffed more toast in her mouth.  Sweetmint got up again, bringing her coffee with her as Persimmon followed her to the kitchen.  She opened the refrigerator and retrieved a resealed can of cat food.  "Momma's got company now, so I've gotta divide my attention between you boys."

As she filled Persimmon's dish, Guise couldn't help but notice the cat glance back at him with what he could only assume was a scowl.

Sweetmint finished off her toast and coffee, and made for the bathroom to clean up.  Listening to the sound of running water, Guise began to think about some things he may have overlooked.  While he had had no issues with hygiene so far, Sweetmint was sure to eventually question the fact that Guise didn't have so much as a toothbrush.  But she was going to be at work all day, so today would probably be a good day to plug any holes in his facade.

Guise was jarred from his thoughts when Persimmon suddenly jumped up onto the coffee table.  The cat stared haughtily at him, turned its gaze onto Guise's coffee cup sitting on the table, then looked back at Guise.

"What?" Guise said with an annoyed glower.  He was getting tired of this cat's attitude.

Without much hesitation, Persimmon extended his paw, staring Guise dead in the eye as he swat the cup off the table.  While the cup didn't break, its contents spilled onto the floor and started soaking into the carpet.  Guise just stared back, vexed by the feline and its actions.  But Persimmon immediately jumped down and scurried back to the kitchen.

Drawn by the sound of the cup hitting the floor, Sweetmint came out of the bathroom with a toothbrush in her mouth.  She stared incredulously at the overturned mug and dark brown stain spreading through her carpet.  "What the hell, Crimson?"

"Huh?"  Guise was caught quite off guard by her accusation.  "That wasn't me, it was your cat."

Sweetmint narrowed her eyes at him.  "Seriously, blaming the cat?  How old are you?"

"What, you don't believe me?  You think I'd just toss a cup of coffee on the floor?"

"I think the chance of you being a butterhooves is higher than Persimmon knocking it over.  He's a good boy, he'd never do anything like that.  Now, get some soapy water and clean that up before it stains too much.  Mr. Hide'll be livid if he sees that.  Dish soap's under the sink," she ordered before returning to the bathroom.

Guise stood up, sneering towards the bathroom, then turning his ire onto the orange tabby staring triumphantly from the kitchen.  Had that little mongrel done that on purpose?  Guise decided to keep his anger pushed down for Sweetmint's sake.  She obviously cared about that cat a lot, but based on what he'd seen so far, Guise had no idea why.  So, he kept his mouth shut and just did as he was told, filling the sink with soapy water and getting a rag to clean the mess Persimmon had framed him for.

Once Sweetmint had finished up in the bathroom and come back out, Guise decided he would finally voice a question that had been on his mind for some time.  "Why do you have a cat?" he asked as he scrubbed the carpet.

Sweetmint raised an eyebrow as though the question sounded absurd to her.  "What?"

"Isn't taking care of a cat just a lot of needless work and wasted money?"

Despite the question effectively insulting Persimmon, Sweetmint didn't jump to his defense.  Instead, she grinned knowingly.  "You've never had a pet before, have you, Crimson?"

Guise stayed silent.  He could have made a snarky remark about "love bugs" being like pets, but that would obviously be a bad idea.  Besides, "victim" may have been a more apt term in that case.

Sweetmint could read his expression.  "Then you just don't get it."  Persimmon wandered over again, rubbing against his owner's leg.  She picked him up and cradled the feline against her shoulder as she gently stroked his back and he nuzzled into her mane.  "A pet is no different than a family member.  You love them and care for them as though they were a sibling, or even your own child.  Persy's one of the most important things in the world to me."

Guise had pretty much figured that out already, though he couldn't say he completely understood.  "I guess I just figured, what with how much you've complained about money issues, taking care of a cat would upset your budget."

Sweetmint frowned slightly in response, even clinging a little more tightly to Persimmon.  "Actually, believe it or not, Percy isn't one of those 'wants' we talked about yesterday.  I need him."

Guise quirked a curious eyebrow.  "How's that?"

"He's my emotional support animal."

The changeling's eyebrow only lifted further.  "Your what?"

"Emotional support animal.  Some people keep pets as a way to help deal with emotional distress.  Usually its for social anxiety or depression, but Percy helps me with my anger issues."

That wasn't quite the answer Guise had been expecting.  One of the things Guise decided to do himself in an effort to help win this mare over was help her keep her anger under control.  Little did he know that he was essentially filling the exact same role as her cat.  It was an odd notion to think about, not to mention a little humiliating now that he was aware of the comparison.

"Actually, that's the only reason I'm even allowed to keep him," Sweetmint continued.  "Normally they don't allow the tenants here to keep pets, but I've got special permission.  Really, you don't understand just how important Persimmon is to me.  If I didn't have him here to help me wind down after a hard day, I'd've probably been thrown in jail or something by now."  She then cast Guise a scornful glare, though there was still a hint of playfulness in her eyes.  "Bet you feel like a jerk for blaming him for that mess now, don't you?"

Of course, he didn't, but there was no point in arguing over it; she clearly wasn't going to believe that her precious kitty cat could be a troublemaker.  So, he just begrudgingly continued to scrub up the spilled coffee, all the while receiving a haughty look from the cat nestled against Sweetmint's shoulder.

There was suddenly a knock on the door, and Sweetmint went to answer it.  Standing outside was a portly, older unicorn mare with a light orange coat and a curly, forest green mane.  Her facial expression reminded Guise of the first time he'd seen Mr. Hide: terse and grouchy.  Was everypony living at this complex a complete grump?

"Sweetmint, your—gyah!"

The mare reeled back in shock, her eyes locked onto the cat still held in the green unicorn's embrace.

"There a problem, Bran?" Sweetmint asked.

Guise noted her challenging tone when she spoke, implying that Sweetmint likely didn't get along well with this mare.

The mare—apparently named Bran—covered her mouth and nose with her hoof.  "Could you put that dander-ridden fur ball down please?  You know I'm allergic."

"Then why are you here?" Sweetmint questioned with narrowed eyes.

Bran paused, clearly waiting for Sweetmint to heed her request. But Sweetmint never so much as budged, even seeming to hold Persimmon tighter.  Bran rolled her eyes and took a step back, still keeping her muzzle covered.  She produced a few sealed envelopes with her magic, holding them out to Sweetmint.  "Your mail got mixed in with mine."

Sweetmint used her own magic to snatch them from her rather aggressively, then gave her a disingenuous, "Thank you."

It was only now that Bran managed to wrench her disgusted grimace away from the cat and look past Sweetmint to the stallion scrubbing her floor.  "Who is that?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but that's my boyfriend Crimson.  He's living here now, too."  Sweetmint leaned in with an instigating glare.  "There a problem with that?"

Bran lifted her nose slightly.  "Oh, yes, Tanner mentioned that he's allowing rooms to be shared now."  A disapproving scowl curled her muzzle as she stared at Sweetmint.  "Don't tell me he did that for you."

"I just mentioned it to him and he liked the idea, that's all.  What of it?"

Bran scoffed.  "Tch.  Why is he doing you so many favors?  First that flea-ridden animal, and now him."  She punctuated her displeasure with an exaggerated and obviously forced sneeze.  "You young mares think you can just get anything you want because you're pretty."

Guise could practically hear Sweetmint's teeth grinding behind her lips.

"First of all," Sweetmint started through clenched teeth, "Persimmon does not have fleas.  Second of all, do not talk to me about using 'feminine wiles' to get what I want.  I would never resort to shit like that."

Bran simply responded with a haughty and doubtful, "Hmph."

"Goodbye, Bran," Sweetmint said in a low tone before slamming the door in the mare's face.

Guise just watched as Sweetmint let Persimmon down and stomped back toward the bathroom.  It appeared that there were a lot of people that she didn't get along with.  Considering just about everypony in Sweetmint's life seemed to be entirely intolerable, he was beginning to wonder if maybe she was the common denominator here.  Then again, he'd noticed through his own experience that everypony in Canterlot seemed to be all high and mighty and full of themselves, even before meeting Sweetmint.  She was more likely just like himself; one of the only sensible people in a circus of assholes.

"Who was that?" Guise asked as he finished cleaning the coffee out of the carpet.

Sweetmint returned from the bathroom, having attempted to cool herself off with a splash of water to the face.  She let out a loud groan.  "Bran Sourdough, one of my neighbors."

"I take it you two don't get along."

"Like baking soda and vinegar," she deadpanned.  "I don't really interact with my neighbors at all, but Bran has kind of made it a point to get on my case whenever she can."

"What did you do to her?"

Sweetmint shot him a harsh glower.  "What, you assume it's my fault?"

Guise didn't flinch.  "Alright, then what did she do?"

"She's been on my ass ever since I moved in here, and it's because of Persimmon."

"She doesn't like cats?"  While Guise made sure his tone was inquisitive, he couldn't say he blamed Bran.

"You heard her, right?  She's allergic to cats.  She's been trying to get Mr. Hide to make me get rid of him since I got here, but considering Persimmon never leaves my apartment, and the fact that she lives on the other side of the  building means she doesn't really have anything to worry about.  But, of course, she finds excuses to come over here and trigger her allergies on purpose, then complains to Mr. Hide about it.  Thankfully, he seems to have enough sense to recognize that she's just being a whiny bitch."

Sweetmint grabbed her satchel and made for the door.  "Alright, I gotta get going to work."  She straightened her bangs with a sigh.  "Looks like I'm going into work hot today.  Hopefully Tapioca and Chips can manage to stay out of my hair."  She glanced back to Guise, who was sitting back down on the couch, and Persimmon, who had wandered over to snuggle her leg as she left.  "Oh, think you can feed Persy at dinnertime?"

Guise looked up, a little caught off guard by the request.  "Huh?"

"I normally fill his dish before I leave, but he usually wolfs it down in minutes, so he has to wait for me to come home to feed him again.  But now you can feed him."

Guise glanced at Persimmon.  He could have sworn the cat was smirking at him.  "Uh, sure..." he agreed, though reluctantly.

"Great.  Just keep his dry food and water topped up, and give him a big spoonful of wet food at dinner time.  The food's in the cupboard by the fridge."  She leaned down to nuzzle her nose against Persimmon's, speaking sweetly to him.  "And you take good care of Crimson while I'm gone, okay, Persy."  She received an affirmative meow.  "Alright, have fun, you two."  And with that, she left the apartment to head to work, leaving Guise alone with the cat.

Guise threw a sour look at Persimmon, who was giving him a very similar look.  Whatever this cat's problem was, Guise didn't really care.  It was just a dumb cat.  He couldn't let something like that get under his chitin.  So, he opted to simply ignore the feline's combative attitude and just go about his day.

The changeling let out a yawn, which made him realize that he hadn't actually had a chance to drink his coffee that morning, thanks to a particular furry nuisance.  So, Guise turned on the coffee pot again.  While he wasn't entirely accustomed to all of this pony technology, working in a restaurant had helped him learn to use various kitchen appliances through observation.  And with the pot brewing, he went to sit on the couch while he waited.

All things considered, this was likely to be a rather boring day.  There wasn't really anything he could do in this time to improve his relationship with Sweetmint, unless he wanted to go pay her a visit.  Not exactly something he wanted to do since it meant also being in the vicinity of her incessant coworkers.  But there were other things he could focus his time on.  He knew he'd have to do a bit of shopping, though he was reluctant to do so.  He'd never actually done any shopping since living in Canterlot, so he was a little wary about doing so by himself.  He was confident he could manage it, but that didn't mean he was looking forward to it.

But that was something for later.  Right now, Guise didn't feel like heading out until he'd at least had his coffee, and maybe something to eat that wasn't bland toast.  But it wasn't like there weren't other things he could do in the meantime.  Guise had other things he needed to work on to make living amongst the ponies more seamless.  One of those skills was reading.  He was making some strides in that department, but there was only so much he could learn without proper aid.  And Sweetmint didn't exactly have much in the way of reading material lying around.  Just some newspapers and those manga things she enjoyed so much.

There was a moment of hesitation as Guise stared across from the couch at the shelf on the other side of the living room.  There was a stack of manga sitting right there.  Guise had already had a peek at their contents and had been admittedly intrigued by what he saw.  Maybe it wasn't actually a bad idea.  With his neon green magic, he levitated one issue over to himself, flipping it open and seeing what he could glean from it.  And even if he didn't learn anything, at least the imagery of this guy cleaving monsters in half was entertaining.

But something was off.  Guise didn't know what, but something in the air was bothering him, distracting him from his attempt to pass the time.  He lowered the manga hanging in front of his face to find an orange tabby cat sitting on the coffee table and staring straight at him.  This situation looked familiar, except this time the cat didn't have a full cup of coffee to knock to the floor.

Speaking of which, Guise's coffee was probably ready by now.  So, ignoring the aggravating glare of the cat, he got up to prepare his drink.  He poured up the black brew, but then paused.  He was only now realizing that Sweetmint was always the one who had prepared the coffee whenever he came over, and he hadn't really paid attention to where she kept the sugar.  He was probably just going to have to look around and hope to find it before his coffee went cold.

However, he didn't have to look for long, as he noticed upon glancing toward the sink that there was a glass bowl upset on the counter, a pile of white granules scattered all over the place.  Guise raised an eyebrow.  Surely Sweetmint hadn't spilled it, otherwise she'd have cleaned it up.

Guise knit his brow in annoyance, casting an aggravated glower at the cat seated nonchalantly on the coffee table.  Guise grit his teeth, stomping over to the smug feline.  "Alright, you and me have got a problem."

Persimmon didn't flinch.  He only continued to stare casually back at Guise, his tail swaying gently.

"I don't know what your problem is with me, but just to let you know, I'm not gonna be a doormat for you to walk all over like you do with her," Guise told the smug feline.

Persimmon just started idly grooming himself, unfazed by Guise's irate tone and expression.

"Hey!  Don't you ignore me when I'm talking at you!"

The cat simply looked up with exasperation at the stallion's continued indignant tirade.

"You might think you rule the roost around here, with Sweetmint waiting on you hoof and horn, but let me tell you something."  He leaned in close to the cat menacingly.  "You're not in charge here anymore, so you'd best show some respect."

Persimmon just stared, clearly bemused and unimpressed by Guise's assertions.

Guise glared down at the cat, a small smirk creasing his lips.  "Oh?  Not intimidated, huh?  I guess you don't really know what you're up against, do you?  You think just because your a predator that you get to waltz around like you own the place?  Well, I've got news for you, fur ball: you're not the only predator here!"

Guise feinted toward the cat, shedding his pony body in a flash of green magic and aggressively gnashing his pointed fangs.  Persimmon screeched in fright and shock at the terrifying creature now standing before him, leaping off the coffee table, vaulting over the back of the couch, and sprinting down the hall and into the bedroom to hide.

"That's right!  Who's the king of the jungle now, fuzz face?!" Guise taunted with a victorious cackle.  "Guess you'll think twice before you decide to mess with me from now on, huh?"

With his adversary sufficiently subdued, Guise breathed a refreshing sigh.  It was unlikely that Persimmon would have the balls to challenge him now, so he finally felt like he could relax.  In fact, it felt good to be able to discard his disguise.  He knew he wasn't going to get many chances to walk around in his natural body anymore now that he shared a home with somepony else, so Guise figured he'd make the most of any time he got to himself.  Of course, it was a little risky; if somepony were to walk in without knocking, or even just pass by the window, he'd be in a tight spot.  But those issues were easily resolved, and Guise simply locked the door and drew the curtains on the window over the kitchen sink.  And now that he had complete privacy, he could lounge in peace.

Guise returned to the kitchen, remembering that he still hadn't had his coffee.  He grimaced at the mess that Persimmon had made of the sugar, but quickly scooped it all up with his magic and dumped it back into the sugar bowl.  He prepared his coffee and went back to the couch, intent on continuing to peruse Sweetmint's manga to pass the time and maybe improve his reading skills while he was at it.

The apartment remained in complete silence for the next couple of hours, much to Guise's relief.  He could lounge around au naturel, nopony incessantly nattering in his ear, and no impudent felines to grind his gears.  He'd managed to get through three different issues of Sweetmint's manga, though didn't understand much of it due to the use of a lot of bizarre words.  Still, he was enjoying it well enough, though he wasn't sure if that was something he wanted to admit to Sweetmint.

Eventually, Guise was distracted from his "reading" by a rumble in his belly.  He glanced up at the clock sitting on the shelf.  It was almost noon by now.  He never used to associate meals with specific times of the day, just searching out food whenever he was hungry, but living in pony society has started to form habits, mostly due to his regulated breaks at work.  Noon was lunch time, and his stomach was reminding him of that.

Under normal circumstances, Guise would have simply gone out to do some hunting to satiate his appetite.  But he had other things he wanted to do today and didn't want to spend an hour or so tracking down prey.  With a labored groan, Guise lazily rose from the couch and headed for the kitchen.  However, he stopped when he spied something from the corner of his eye.

Down the hall, he spotted the furry face of an orange cat peering out of the bedroom, the feline's pupils wide and wary as he eyed the changeling in the living room, and his body low to the ground, ready to scamper off at a moment's notice if the ebony creature decided to make a move.

Guise grimaced.  He was only now remembering that Sweetmint was expecting him to take care of her cat.  He probably should have thought of that before threatening it so aggressively.  She probably wasn't going to be happy if she came home to find Persimmon frightened and traumatized.  And there was really only one person she could blame for that.  Guise knew just how important Persimmon was to her now as well.  As much as he hated to admit it, he was going to have to at least attempt to get along with the cat in order to avoid ticking Sweetmint off.  This was an unexpected hitch in his plans.  Guise knew he was going to have to put in work to earn the trust of a potential love bug, but now he also had to earn this cat's trust, too.  That thought was both annoying and a little humiliating.

With that in mind, he figured he may as well feed the cat while he was getting his own lunch.  Guise simply threw a cup of instant noodles into the microwave, then set to locating Persimmon's food.  Sweetmint had said it was in the cupboard by the fridge, and when he opened it, he spotted a stack of small, tin cans.  Guise grabbed a couple and looked them over.  While he couldn't actually read the labels well enough to identify them, there were a least pictures of cats on them, so that was a good indication.

The question now was: how was one supposed to open these things?  He didn't see a tab like he'd seen on soda cans.  There was no way he was going to be able to just force it open.  There had to be some sort of implement he could use to open it.  Guise was sure he remembered seeing something to that effect when he was at work.

He started to look around for something, but was interrupted when he noticed Persimmon poking his head out from the hall.  Suddenly, an idea came to Guise.  While Sweetmint hadn't actually told him where the tool he was searching for actually was, Persimmon was always around when she was preparing to feed him.  The only question now was whether or not Guise would be able to get a clue from the cat.  No harm in trying, he figured.

Guise cautiously approached the feline.  Persimmon's eyes widened, taking a few steps back and preparing to bolt at the first sign of danger from this monstrous-looking creature in his home.

"I'm not gonna hurt you," Guise said quietly in an effort to placate the cat's fear.  "I just need your help for something."

Persimmon simply took another step back.  Guise knew he wasn't going to convince him to cooperate with just words, and he wasn't willing to play the nice guy card any more than he needed to.  Instead, he just grabbed Persimmon with his magic, instilling panic in the cat as it flailed and growled in his magical grasp in an attempt to escape from his captor.

"Look, just calm down.  If you want to eat, you're going to have to let me do this, alright?" Guise told the cat tersely.

Persimmon didn't cease his struggling, so Guise had to get a little forceful.  He tightened his magic around the cat, preventing it from moving too much, and stared Persimmon straight in the eyes.  A low growl escaped the cat's throat as they exchanged glares.  But Guise's blood red eyes began to glow green, Persimmon's eyes did the same, and his struggling became weaker.  Guise continued to stare for several moments, going on a full minute, before he reluctantly let up with a groan.  Persimmon looked a tad groggy after that, but once his senses came back, he hissed and growled again, so Guise let the cat go and he scurried off toward the bedroom again.

"So much for that," Guise said with a disappointed shake of his head as he went back to the kitchen to hopefully find a can opener.  "I know Glory said it took her years to learn to do that, but that doesn't make it any less aggravating," he aired to himself as he searched cupboards and drawers.  "Or maybe cats are just too stupid for it to work on..."

Guise did eventually find what he was looking for in one of the kitchen drawers, so he turned his attention back to the two cans of cat food he'd taken out.  He now noticed that the labels had other animals on them as well; one with a fish, the other with a chicken.

Must be the flavors, he thought.

Guise wasn't sure if it really mattered which one he used, but figured he'd just go with the fish since that was Persimmon's favorite.  He readied the can opener to peel the tin open, but paused, an astounded look of disbelief on his face.

Wait, how do I know that?

Guise had never been aware that Persimmon's food had different flavors until now, so how had he determined which was the cat's favorite so decisively?  He glanced toward the hall again, though Persimmon hadn't returned.  There was only one explanation.  The spell had worked, he just didn't realize it.  He may not have seen anything directly, but his subconscious must have still picked up the information.  A self-satisfied smirk creased his lips.  So what if it took Glory years to learn it?  He wasn't Glory.  Maybe he was just a natural at this.

With newfound vigor, Guise cracked the can of fish-flavored cat food open and scooped a spoonful of the gooey substance into Persimmon's dish, refilling the water and dry food dishes while he was at it.  Persimmon hadn't come back yet, but Guise had done what he was instructed to do, so he didn't care much beyond that.

He retrieved a plastic cap that he'd seen Sweetmint use to reseal the cans so that he could put it away in the fridge, but he paused for a minute with the can in his grip.  He stared at the goopy food in the can, raising an eyebrow in thought.  This stuff was apparently fish-flavored, and the other can he'd looked at was chicken-flavored.

"Right, cats are carnivores, aren't they?  Does that mean this stuff... is actually meat?"

He continued to stare at the mush in his grip, questioning the fact that he was actually considering this.  But what harm could it do?  Guise scooped an teeny, tiny bit of cat food with a spoon, holding it in front of his face and hesitating.  If this stuff was meat, it was perhaps the most unappetizing meat he'd ever laid eyes on.  It looked more like something that would come up one's esophagus rather than go down.  At this point, Guise's curiosity was too strong.  Whether or not this stuff looked good, he had already made his decision to try it.

Guise just decided to get it over with, clamping down on the spoon quickly.  He let the gruel sit on his tongue for a moment.  His eyes widened in mild surprise.

"Hey, that's not half-bad."

Maybe the texture was a little off putting, and it still didn't compare to fresh meat off the bone, but given that he wasn't going to get as many chances to enjoy the taste of meat from here on out, this stuff might make for a suitable substitute.  Although he'd have to be careful that Sweetmint didn't catch him, and she might get suspicious if some cans of the stuff went missing.  But he was planning on doing some shopping today anyway; why not add it to his grocery list?

Now Guise was curious about the other flavors, but restrained himself.  He'd get to try them in due time.  But for now, he figured he'd have just a few more bites of the fish-flavored stuff.

However, as he was about to bite down, he spotted movement from the corner of his eye.  Persimmon had reemerged from the hall, apparently trying to stealthily make his way to his dish.  But the moment the cat noticed the changeling staring down at him, he stopped cold.  But instead of a fearful look in his eyes, Persimmon seemed befuddled by the sight of the creature eating his food.

"What?  Don't look at me like that," Guise said defensively.  "We're both carnivores here.  Go about your business."

Persimmon only continued to stare, clearly confused by what he was seeing.

Guise rolled his eyes and placed the plastic cap on the can to reseal it.  "Fine.  I was gonna get my own anyway."  He put the can in the fridge, but still ate the spoonful of cat food he had taken out.  He then opened the microwave to retrieve his actual lunch, taking his noodles over to the couch.

Persimmon backed off a little as the changeling passed, but once Guise had sat down and started eating, the cat took the opportunity to approach his dish and have his own meal.

Guise watched from the corner of his eye as the cat ate.  It was an odd situation he'd found himself in.  Befriending a cat was not something he ever expected to have to do.  Even now, "befriend" might be a strong word.  At the very least, he should probably undo the damage he'd done when he frightened the cat.  The best way to do that for now was to simply give Persimmon space and not be confrontational.  At least he could be confident that the cat wasn't likely to try and mess with him anymore.

Persimmon finished his meal and started back to the living room.  He stopped again when his eyes locked with the changeling.  Guise waited to see what he'd do, but Persimmon just scampered off to the bedroom again, though not nearly as hastily as before.

Guise finished off the last of his noodles and his coffee and got up from the couch.  He glanced at the clock.  It wasn't even one o' clock yet, so Sweetmint wouldn't be home for a few hours still.  But he had errands to run, and wanted to make sure he got them done before she finished work.  He grabbed a set of Sweetmint's saddlebags and a sack of bits and started for the door.  He paused for a moment, though.  He had almost walked outside without a disguise.  That would've been bad.  He quickly shapeshifted to his Crimson Neon persona before being on his way.

However, he didn't make it far before he caught sight of a familiar face coming his way.  Sauntering along the second floor walkway was the disagreeable mare that Sweetmint had spoken with that morning: Bran Sourdough, if he was recalling correctly.  He would have simply ignored her, but she seemed to hesitate upon seeing him exit the apartment, almost as though she were surprised to see him.

She straightened up, continuing to traipse toward him with her nose held high.  "Good afternoon," she greeted, though it sounded more terse than a greeting ought to be.

"Hey," Guise returned halfheartedly.

"You're Sweetmint's boyfriend, right?  Crimson, was it?"

Guise eyed her suspiciously.  Based on the very brief interaction he'd observed with this mare, she didn't exactly strike him as the sort to randomly engage in idle small talk, especially considering the fact that she clearly didn't get along well with Sweetmint.  So why would she be interested in chewing the fat with her boyfriend?

"Yeeeah..."

Bran glanced to the apartment door, then back to Guise.  "Is Sweetmint home?"

"No, she's at work."

She looked at the pair of saddlebags seated upon Guise's back.  "And where are you off to?"

Guise narrowed his eyes at her.  "What does it matter?"

Bran curled her muzzle at his rude response, which Guise found rather hypocritical.  "I'm simply asking a question."

"So am I.  Why do you care where I'm going?"

Bran rolled her eyes.  She obviously hadn't anticipated Guise being difficult.  "If I must be honest, I don't.  I was just trying to start a friendly conversation."

Guise didn't believe that for a minute.  This mare clearly wanted nothing to do with Sweetmint, so why would she wander across the building for no reason?  But maybe he could discern her intentions if he played along.  He groaned quietly with an eye roll of his own.  "Fine.  I was just about to go do some shopping.  Does that answer your question?"

"Why are you not at work?  Do you not have a job yourself?"

Guise grit his teeth behind his lips.  What was this mare's problem?  For somepony who claimed to want to have a "friendly" conversation, she was sounding quite judgmental.  Besides, considering she was still around at the same time of day, he could very well ask her the same question.  "I have a job, but the place is closed for renovations.  What are you up to?"

Bran glanced around, her posture suddenly becoming defensive.  "'Up to'?  I'm not 'up to' anything.  I was simply out for a stroll and saw the opportunity to properly introduce myself to a new tenant."

She extended her hoof to him.  Guise briefly contemplated ignoring the gesture, but this exchange was going to end up being a battle to determine which of them could be the bigger pony, so he reluctantly accepted and shook her hoof.

"Bran Sourdough.  Nice to meet you," she greeted again, though her still-haughty tone negated all semblance of affability.

"Crimson Neon," Guise responded with a lack of enthusiasm.

"So, how long have you known Sweetmint?"

Guise was both curious and suspicious as to what this mare was hoping to learn from this conversation.  "Just a few weeks.  Why?"

Her eyes widened slightly in surprise.  "Really?  Moving rather quickly, aren't we?"

Guise scowled slightly.  "I really don't think that's any of your business.  Besides, it was more about helping each other financially than anything else."

"I see.  That's quite pragmatic of you.  Honestly, Sweetmint never struck me as the proactive type.  It's hard to believe that she could convince Tanner to change the boarding situation."

Guise chose to bite his tongue on the fact that it was actually his meddling that resulted in that.  "Well, it's not like you can complain.  It helps everypony here, right?"

Bran scoffed.  "It doesn't help me.  I'm still single."

"What a shocker," Guise mumbled sarcastically.

"If anything, it makes things more frustrating for me," Bran grumbled.  "More tenants means more noise.  Pretty soon, the peacefulness around here his going to be nonexistent.  And it'll only be worse if Tanner allows any more pets in here."

Guise noticed her casting a disdainful sneer toward his and Sweetmint's apartment.

"Are you a cat person, Crimson?" she asked with a judgmental tone.

From what Guise could understand, this was the crux of the issue when it came to Bran and Sweetmint's mutual dislike of one another.  He was admittedly curious as to where this train of thought would lead.  "Not particularly.  Honestly, he's a little irritating."

"Have you discussed that with her?"

Guise raised an eyebrow.  Sweetmint had mentioned that Bran wanted her to get rid of Persimmon.  He had to wonder if she knew exactly why Sweetmint had him in the first place, and if she even cared if she did know.  But he decided to not mention it and let the conversation play out.  "I only just moved in, so I just haven't gotten used to it yet."

"Hmph.  She shouldn't even be allowed to keep it if somepony in the building has allergies."  Bran punctuated that with a blatantly forced sniff.

"Wouldn't really be an issue if you just stayed on your side of the building."

She scoffed again, becoming increasingly indignant toward Guise's attitude.  "You're just like her.  I can see why you two were drawn to each other."

Guise rolled his eyes at the comment.  He really didn't want this conversation to drag on much more than it had.  "Whatever.  Anyway, I have stuff to do, so if you'll excuse me..." he said brusquely as he turned his back on the mare.

Bran didn't so much as offer a farewell, not that Guise was surprised, nor did he care.  But as he started toward the street to make his way to the supermarket, he happened to glance over his shoulder.  Bran was still standing where she was, next to their apartment, watching him walk away from her elevated vantage point.  For somepony who claimed to be out for a stroll, she didn't seem too eager to move.  But Guise simply shrugged.  Why should he care?  If anything, the fact that he and Sweetmint had a mutual dislike of this mare only gave them more fuel for conversations where they berate the insufferable people around them.  So that was something fun to look forward to.


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


Guise sauntered lazily back up the steps of the apartment complex, an exasperated groan escaping his lungs.  His little shopping trip took longer than expected, and he didn't even come back with much.  His unfamiliarity with the process of shopping made the seemingly-simple experience more of a chore than he'd expected.  At the very least, he'd acquired what he'd set out to get.  He now had his own toothbrush, as well as a few cans of cat food for his own personal enjoyment.  He figured he'd also pick up a few other bathroom sundries while he was out, like shampoo, but it still must have looked like an odd combination of items to the clerks and other customers.

Guise entered the apartment and tossed his bags on the kitchen table, removing his purchases and delivering his bathroom amenities to their proper place.  But the cat food was a little questionable.  It had occurred to him while he was out that, if he wanted to keep a stash of it for himself, he'd need to hide them from Sweetmint since it would be obvious that Persimmon wasn't eating that much.  So, instead, he didn't bother buying much and just put them with the rest in the cupboard.  It wasn't like he was going to eat the stuff everyday anyway; only when he was alone and didn't have the opportunity to go hunting.  He'd likely just have a spoonful or two when or if he had to feed the cat, so he could just claim he bought a few extra cans for Persimmon while he was out.

Speaking of which, he figured he should probably find the little mongrel and see if he was still cowering somewhere.  Maybe he'd even give him an extra serving of food to try and calm him down for when Sweetmint got home.  He even opted to keep his disguise on to hopefully avoid spooking him—Sweetmint was going to be home pretty soon anyway, so it'd be pretty bad if she came home to find a changeling lounging in her apartment.

Persimmon didn't appear to be anywhere in the living room, so the only place Guise could think that he'd be was the bedroom.  However, when he went to check, the cat wasn't asleep on the bed.  Guise peered underneath the bed to see if he was hiding himself away, but there was nothing there except a few small boxes.  Guise scratched his head in confusion.  Those were the most likely places, and it wasn't like the apartment was very big.

He began to search the place up and down for the cat, even checking the bathtub and the kitchen cupboards, but there was no sign of Persimmon anywhere.  He couldn't have gotten out of the apartment; Guise was certain he'd closed the door when he left, and he highly doubted that the cat could open it himself.

"Okay, either the cat knows magic, or something happened here," Guise said to himself as he pondered the situation.

This wasn't exactly a scenario he wanted to find himself in.  The first time Sweetmint leaves him to take care of Persimmon—a pet that she loves very deeply—he goes missing.  She probably wasn't going to take that very well.  He had to find that cat.  The only thing he could think to do was go outside and search for him, but given that Guise had been gone for a few hours, Persimmon could have been anywhere by now.  But it wasn't like he had any other options.

Guise hurried to the door, but the instant he opened it, he nearly ran smack into his exhausted girlfriend on the other side.  "Oh, shit—I-I mean, hey, Mint.  Home already?" he greeted with a big, forced smile.

Sweetmint gave him a very bemused stared.  "Shut up.  I'm not in any mood to tolerate your optimism right now."  She brushed past him, tossing her satchel carelessly to the floor.

That wasn't good.  Of all the days for Sweetmint to come home with a sour disposition, today was not ideal.

"Uh, tough day?" Guise asked cautiously.

She shot a glower over her shoulder.  "What was your first clue?"

Guise raised a hoof defensively.  "Alright, calm down."

"Ugh!  Tapioca's a complete dunderhead!  Of course, the only time she decides to try and use the soft serve machine is when I'm on break, and I have to come back and clean up a big mess of melted ice cream off the floor while she washes her 'delicate' hooves because she just got a hooficure yesterday," Sweetmint complained in a mocking tone.  "And was Chips any help?  Of course not, because watching Tapioca wipe off her dainty hooves is far more important."  She flopped down onto the couch, burying her face in the throw pillows.  "Persy!  C'mere, sweetie!  Momma needs you!"

Guise stood there quietly with an uncomfortable grimace as the seconds ticked by.

Sweetmint eventually lifted her head from the pillow, looking around in confusion when Persimmon didn't show up.  "Persy?  Where are you, baby?"  She peered over the back of the couch as though she expected to find the cat sauntering slowly down the hall.  It was then that she turned her attention to Guise, eliciting a nervous gulp from the changeling.  "Crimson, where's Persimmon?"

Guise inhaled a sharp breath.  "Yeeeah, see, here's the thing..."

Sweetmint prepared a venomous glare for what sounded like bad news.

"I went out shopping for a few hours, and when I came back, he was... gone."

Guise expected Sweetmint to be furious with him, exacerbating her already foul mood.  But instead, her face was overcome with worry, hopping off the couch in a slight panic.  "Gone?!  Wh-Where?!  What happened?!"

"How am I supposed to know?" Guise responded to defend himself.  "Like I said, he was gone when I got back.  I looked everywhere in the apartment, but couldn't find him."

"Did you leave the door open?"

"No," he answered resolutely.  "I know with one hundred percent certainty that I closed the door when I left."

"Well, however it happened, we have to find him!  Let's go!"  Sweetmint hurried to the door and rushed outside without even waiting for Guise.

Guise threw his head back with a groan.  "Great.  As if that cat hasn't been enough of a headache.  Now I've gotta spend the rest of the day searching the city for him."

He followed Sweetmint outside in time to see her bolt down the stairs and gallop toward the street, shouting the cat's name desperately.  Guise had no idea where he was even supposed to start.  Canterlot was huge; Persimmon could be anywhere by now.  But it wasn't like Sweetmint was going to let him not help, and it was in his best interest to have the cat around for her sake, even if he was a royal nuisance.

Guise was about to chase after Sweetmint to catch up, but he happened to glance across to the other side of the building.  A certain mare was poking her head out of her door, but the moment Guise locked eyes with her she retreated back inside.  Guise narrowed his eyes, his ire building as he put the pieces together.  It didn't take a genius to figure out what must have happened.  He was disappointed in himself that he didn't think of it sooner.  Who seemed to be the one person besides himself who hated that cat?

He made his way over to the opposite side of the complex, intent on getting some answers.  He aggressively knocked on the door he'd seen her peering out off and waited.  Of course, no response.  "I know you're in there.  I'm not blind," Guise called through the door.

After several moments of dead silence, the door slowly creaked open, Bran Sourdough's judgmental eyes gazing through the narrow crack.  "What do you want?"

"Cut the crap, Bran, I know you let the cat out.  Where is he?" Guise demanded.

Bran lifted her nose at his attitude.  "Why, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Bullshit.  Who else would've done it?"

"How should I know?  Perhaps Tanner changed his mind and 'evicted' the animal.  He would have spare keys for all the apartments."

"Except I don't have a key, so I left it unlocked.  Anypony could've waltzed in and done it."

"Precisely.  Anypony could have done it, yet you blame me.  The nerve," Bran huffed, insulted by Guise's accusation.

"Not only do I think you did it, but I bet that's exactly what you were about to do when we bumped into each other earlier.  You just weren't expecting me to still be home."

Bran glared, becoming increasingly indignant, but also more visibly flustered as beads of sweat started to form on her forehead.  "I never!  I don't have to stand here and subject myself to this slander!  I have half a mind to report this mistreatment to Tanner and have him turn around his decision to let you stay here."

As belligerent as she was being, a crack in her defense showed itself in the form of a barely stifled sneeze.  Guise raised an eyebrow at her, to which she responded with even greater defensiveness.

"What?  I have a cold."

"You seemed fine earlier."

"It came on quickly."

Guise had had enough of her transparent lies.  He flung the door open, catching the mare off guard.  Now that she wasn't partially obscured, he took immediate notice of the several adhesive bandages affixed to her fetlocks that weren't there earlier.  "I suppose next you're going to tell me you fell down some stairs."

"You have no evidence of anything, and quite frankly, I'm tempted to take my complaints to the royal guard for this unwarranted attack on my character."

"Unwarranted, my ass.  Anypony with half a brain could figure out you're the most likely suspect," Guise snapped, though admittedly feeling a little bad to imply that about Sweetmint as well.

"Yet all you have to prove it are a coincidental sneeze and a few tiny scratches.  Hardly decisive, I would say," she stated confidently.

Guise sneered at her.  She had a point, but proving she had done it wasn't the issue here.  His objective was to figure out what happened to Persimmon.  Bran knew.  She had to know.  The problem was dragging the information out of her.

But that's when Guise got an idea.  She didn't have to tell him.  Guise had the capability to acquire the information himself, though he was a little doubtful that it would work.  Still, it was a better alternative to continuing this asinine argument.

Guise forcefully grabbed Bran by the horn, pulling her head near his and staring her intensely in the eyes.

Bran resisted, startled and frightened by his sudden aggression.  "Wh-What are you doing?!"

"Shut up, it's just a spell, it won't hurt.  Now, sit still," Guise commanded.

Bran tried to wrench her horn free from Guise's grip, but he made sure to keep her eyes facing him.  His own eyes began to glow an eerie green, and once Bran's eyes started to do the same, her struggling weakened.  Her expression shifted as though she were on the verge of sleep, but still looked rather uncomfortable, like she had gotten a sudden headache.

Guise knew what she was experiencing; he'd been on the receiving end of this spell before.  It wasn't pleasant.  It felt like something was inside your skull, crawling over your brain.  But her reaction alone was an indication of progress.  He'd had nothing to practice on since leaving the Changeling Kingdom except animals, and he had to imagine that their lower intelligence made rummaging through their memories a bit more tedious.  Guise hadn't even been able to get a glimpse of anything from any of them yet, but his experience with Persimmon earlier that day gave him some confidence.

And as he held Bran in his grip, somewhat pacified by the effects of the spell, he finally saw something.  In his mind's eye, Guise saw flashes of somepony's point of view.  He even briefly saw himself in his disguise.  These were Bran's memories of their meeting earlier that day.  Unfortunately, Guise didn't know how to manually sift through the memories like Glory could.  He could only assume these specific thoughts were coalescing because they were fresh in Bran's mind and relevant to their conversation.

Guise concentrated as hard as he could, trying to take note of all the still images appearing in his head.  They were a little fuzzy and dark, like poorly shot photographs, but discernible enough.  Bran talking to him; Bran entering their apartment; Bran finding Persimmon; Bran forcibly bringing Persimmon to her apartment.  That last one should have been all he needed to see, but he had managed to get a bit more.  She struggled to keep the cat under control, which was evidently how she got scratched up, and the last images he saw were Persimmon bolting out the door and Bran chasing after him.  However, she obviously couldn't keep up with the agile feline, and Persimmon vanished around the street corner to the right from the building.

Guise finally let go of Bran's horn.  He knew the feeling of dizziness and discomfort was something the victim experienced upon being released from the spell, but he hadn't expected to feel that as the caster.  It was a tad disorienting to have so many images flashing in his mind and out of his control, so it took a few seconds for his own thoughts to take over again and his vision to refocus.

Bran was in much the same boat, blinking rapidly and shaking her head.  "Wha...?  What did you just do to me?"

"Like I said, it's just a spell I've been working on.  Don't worry about it.  More importantly..."  Guise glowered harshly at her.  "The hell is wrong with you?!"

Bran was taken aback by his sudden anger.

"Are you really so far up your own ass that you'd steal somepony's pet just because you don't like it?!"

She balked in disgust at not just his attitude, but his language.  "I beg your pardon!"

"Don't bother with your little charade anymore, you're not fooling anypony.  I've met some shitty people in my life, and I'll admit that I've done some bad stuff in the past, but I was under the impression that people around here were supposed to be friendly and hospitable!  Mint was right about you: you're just a bitch!"

"Excuse m—"

"Shut it!  Do you even know why Sweetmint has that cat?  Have you ever bothered to stop thinking about yourself long enough to ask?!"

Bran hesitated to respond, likely believing she would only get cut off again.  But Guise waited until she said something, scowling furiously all the while.  "O-Of course I do.  But why should she get special treatment just because she has a tendency to throw temper tantrums?  Would you reward a child for behaving that way?"

Guise ground his teeth at this insufferable and selfish mare.  He couldn't believe that somepony like this actually existed.  It was becoming increasingly plain to see that all that "friendship" stuff he'd heard about didn't come as naturally to these ponies as he'd initially been lead to believe.  He wasn't ignorant to the hypocrisy of his words, but given who and what he was, that was to be expected of him.  What was her excuse?  What was anypony else's excuse?  He couldn't fully understand why, but her ignorance and selfishness enraged him.

"You don't know her," Guise scolded.  "She has to put up with an endless amount of bullshit everyday because everypony in this damn city is either selfish, moronic, or both!  And you want to take away the one privilege she has!  The one thing that actually brings a little happiness into her life!"

"I-It's not like I was going to kill it or anything," she argued, though it was obvious that her resolve had weakened significantly; she wasn't even bothering to lie about it anymore.  "I was just going to bring it down to the pet shelter."

Guise prodded a hoof firmly against her chest.  "I don't give a shit what you were 'planning' to do.  The fact of the matter is, you slighted her, and by extension, me.  And let me share a little tidbit about myself."  He leaned in close, a menacing look in his golden eyes.  "I know how to hold a grudge.  So, if you know what's good for you, you'll keep your nose out of our business from now on.  Got it?!"

Bran just nodded fearfully, cowering away from him.

Guise backed off, but maintained his authoritative air.  "Good.  Let's keep it that way.  I'd rather not have to have this conversation again.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a cat to find."

And with that, Guise casually sauntered off to search for Persimmon, leaving a shaken Bran behind to shut herself in, locking the door behind her.  Based on what he'd seen in Bran's memories, Sweetmint had actually gone off in the wrong direction to find the cat, so it fell to Guise to find him.

Honestly, Guise wasn't really even thinking about Persimmon right now.  In fact, he was experiencing an odd mixture of emotions, what felt like both anger and satisfaction.  It had been a long time since he'd been able really lay into somepony like that.  As furious as he was with Bran, he had to admit it was cathartic given that he had to reign his emotions in in order to more effectively blend into pony society.  It was him that had once told Sweetmint not to keep her emotions bottled up, but obviously there was a time and place for everything, and now was that time for him.

The odd thing was, he wasn't expecting to have been so passionate about this.  He was being a complete hypocrite and he knew it, but nothing about what he said was actually disingenuous.  He really didn't care about that cat, but his argument with Bran was predicated on Persimmon's importance to Sweetmint.  He was eager to jump to her defense, but a part of him wasn't sure if that was a result of his own desire to vent his frustration towards all the deplorable ponies he'd met recently, or if it was genuinely for Sweetmint's sake.  She was important to him, but he was starting to wonder if his initial goals weren't the only reason for that.

Guise continued down one of Canterlot's streets, absentmindedly glancing around to see if he could spot Persimmon anywhere.  He passed by an alleyway between two buildings, where some movement caught his eye.  There were only a couple of garbage cans in the dark alley, but he had definitely seen something, and he could still hear something moving around.  It was worth a look.  He wandered into the alley and looked behind the trash cans.

Sure enough, there was an orange tabby cat cowering in the darkness, clearly frightened and confused.  However, Persimmon's eyes widened in what Guise could only interpret as cautious optimism the moment the cat saw him.

"There you are," Guise said with an air of annoyance and indifference.  "Come on, Mint's worried about you."

A little surprisingly, the cat actually listened to him, following him closely as they left the alley and returned on their way home.  Persimmon was actually sticking oddly close, keeping low to the ground and shifting his eyes back and forth, wary of every stranger that passed by.  Sweetmint had mentioned that Persimmon never leaves the apartment, so he must have been pretty shaken up to suddenly find himself wandering the unfamiliar streets, even if they weren't actually very far from home.

Guise guided the cat back to The Ivory Horseshoe, and as it happened, Sweetmint was just coming back as well with a rather disheartened expression, hanging her head low and practically looking to be on the verge of tears.  But, not surprisingly, her mood lifted the instant she laid eyes on her boyfriend walking toward her with her lost kitty.  Guise even smiled himself when he saw the elated grin on her face.

"Persy!"  She galloped toward the cat, Persimmon meeting her halfway and leaping into her grateful embrace.  "Oh, Momma was so worried about you, baby.  Don't scare me like that again."

"He actually didn't make it far," Guise told her, trying to sound indifferent.  "He probably could've found his way back eventually."

He was suddenly caught off guard by a thankful and surprisingly aggressive kiss from Sweetmint.  "I'm so sorry I blamed this on you at first.  I still don't know how he ended up getting out."

Guise could have told her it was Bran, but for some reason he decided against it.  Sweetmint probably wouldn't have been surprised to hear that, but she was happy now.  Why spoil her mood?  So, Guise just shrugged.  "Doesn't really matter now, right?"

The three of them headed back to their apartment.  Persimmon seemed elated to be back in a familiar space, immediately rubbing against the corner of the couch and purring rather loudly.  Sweetmint immediately grabbed a cold beer out of the fridge, eager to put this stressful day behind her.  Guise simply planted himself on the couch lazily.

"I guess I should get started on supper," Sweetmint said with a long sigh, the day's events clearly having taken their toll on her.

"Don't put yourself out," Guise suggested.  "Just throw in some noodles or something."

"Done and done," she agreed, doing just that.  "But I think I'm gonna take a quick shower first."

Guise just leaned back against the couch as Sweetmint entered the bathroom.  However, he was startled when Persimmon hopped up onto the arm of the couch right next to him.  Guise stared the cat in the eye skeptically, wondering what nonsense the feline intended to aggravate him with this time.  But, in contrast to his expectations, Persimmon actually nuzzled against Guise's cheek.  The changeling pulled away with a groan, his red cheeks suddenly becoming redder.  The cat just purred affectionately.

"Don't get the wrong idea," Guise told Persimmon.  "I only helped you because of her.  That doesn't make us friends."

Persimmon only mewled gratefully, no vindictiveness in his eyes whatsoever.

Guise just sat there quietly.  It was still a little weird to think about the fact that he was filling a similar role as this cat: helping Sweetmint stay happy.  He didn't know what to think about that, but it was the reason he wanted to find Persimmon, and keeping Sweetmint happy was one of his goals.  The smile on her face when she saw her cat again was almost as satisfying as tearing into Bran was.  Even though he had told her she should be allowed to vent her anger when she needed to, he was beginning to think that maybe seeing her happy was just a little more important, if only for his own satisfaction.  Was that selfish?  Guise honestly couldn't tell.

Sweetmint returned from the bathroom with a towel around her head.  The microwave had stopped a few minutes ago, but the noodles were likely still warm anyway.  But, instead of tending to her own supper, she opened the cupboard where Persimmon's food was kept.  The cat, recognizing the action, immediately hurried over to the kitchen in anticipation.  "Suppertime for Persy, too, right?" she said cutely.

Guise glanced to the can she took down.  "There's one open in the fridge."

"Oh, right.  Guess I'm not used to having somepony else to feed him."  Sweetmint looked at the can in her magical grasp.  "Unless he wants chicken.  Want chicken, Persy?"

"Tuna's his favorite."

Sweetmint blinked.  "What?  How do you know that?"

Guise lifted his head.  He'd said that without thinking.  Why would he bother?  It wasn't even like he cared.  Right?  He just shrugged, not even bothering to explain himself in the hopes of appearing apathetic once more.

Sweetmint cast a sly smirk from the kitchen.  "Did you two bond while I was gone?"

Guise just grumbled, hoping that she couldn't pick out the blush on his crimson cheeks.  "Shut up."
> Part 5 - Subjective
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Guise spooned a mouthful of strawberry ice cream into his mouth, savoring the sweet, natural flavor.  Sweetmint's ice cream had become a delicacy for him.  Out of all the pony foods he'd tasted since moving to Canterlot, her frozen confections were by far the best.  He'd said as much in the past, and even if he didn't want to admit it to her face, the fervor with which he consumed her creations was evidence on its own.

But he suppressed his enjoyment of it for the time being.  At home, it didn't matter, but he was in public right now, seated at a table at Rocky's Road.  There were a couple of other customers present, as well as Sweetmint's two dopey coworkers, so Guise would rather not display any emotion that wasn't utter indifference, both to avoid drawing attention to himself and maintain his own dignity.

The only reason he was even there was to wait for Sweetmint to clock out, but a little ice cream after working in a hot kitchen all day was always welcome.  But it seemed like Sweetmint had to work a little late today; some customers were still coming in even though Guise knew it was past closing time.  He actually felt a little bad that he may have been contributing to that, but something struck him as very strange.  Even though making ice cream was Sweetmint's passion, it was rare to actually see a smile on her face whenever he'd visit her at work.  He knew she had little patience for her coworkers and how her work there was apparently going unappreciated, so it was surprising to Guise to see such a chipper grin on her face as she served the latecomers.

Guise shrugged it off.  It wasn't like she didn't have good days.  If everyday at work was a struggle for her, she likely would have gone on a rampage by now.  So he didn't think too much of it as he continued to enjoy his ice cream treat.  But that was a little hard to do when there was an irritating distraction right next to him.

Guise clenched his eyes shut, his temple throbbing in annoyance.  He shot a sidelong glare to the table next to his, from where the sound of heavy mouth breathing originated.  It seemed like every time Guise came to Rocky's, Frosted Chips was wiping down the same table.  He was pretty sure he'd never actually seen anypony even sit at that table, probably because that greasy-maned kid was always there.  And what was he doing besides cleaning a mess that wasn't there?  The same thing he always does: staring at the backside of the parlor's other female employee as she served ice cream to the customers.

Guise knew comparatively little about Frosted Chips than he did about Tapioca, and in the case of her, that was more than he cared to know.  But all he knew about the kid was that he was Rocky's younger brother and blatantly smitten by Tapioca, though "smitten" was putting it politely considering how creepy it was with his constant gawking and heavy breathing.  If Guise was going to have to wait here for Sweetmint anyway, he figured he deserved to do so without this constant annoyance.

"What's your deal?" Guise asked tersely.

Chips didn't budge.  He only continued to stare at Tapioca's hindquarters, practically panting.

Guise shuddered slightly.  He didn't even want to think about what thoughts must be going through the kid's head.  "Hey."

The increase in tone snapped Chips out of whatever hypnotizing spell Tapioca's ass had put him under, finally directing his attention to the crimson stallion seated at the next table.

"I said, what's your deal?"

Chips just glanced back and forth, as though he still didn't understand that it was him to whom Guise was speaking.

"Do you even do anything around here?"

The brown stallion just silently continued to wipe the table down, as if that were an answer to the question.

"Banging your head on a brick wall there, hun," Sweetmint told him from behind the counter.  "I haven't been able to get a word out of him since he started here.  Rocky swears he isn't mute, but I've yet to see—or hear, rather—evidence to suggest otherwise."

Guise eyed up the quiet stallion.  Even though he and Sweetmint were talking about him, in the time that Guise had looked away, Chips's attention had once again returned to Tapioca.  "Hey."

Chips turned to him with the same amount of surprise as he had the first time Guise addressed him.

"Say something."

Chips just stood there awkwardly, remaining completely silent.

Guise just sighed.  Admittedly, a part of him wanted to mess with the kid a little and make the weirdo sweat, but his mane was probably already greasy enough without Guise contributing with his teasing.  At least his heavy breathing had stopped.

The other customers in the building finally finished off their ice creams and made their exit, leaving just Guise and the place's three employees.  Sweetmint was pretty quick to shut down all the machines and hurry over to the door to flip the "Open" sign to "Closed" before anypony else decided they wanted an ice cold treat, letting out a heavy puff of air as she pulled off her hairnet and apron.

"'Bout time.  I was starting to think this day would never end."

"Wait, Minty, we still have one customer left," Tapioca informed her, casting a sly grin at Guise.

"He's not a customer.  He's just waiting for me."

Tapioca stared at Guise with legitimate confusion.  "But... he's got ice cream."

"But he's coming with me once I leave, so it doesn't matter," Sweetmint explained with mild exasperation.

"What, I can't finish?" Guise inquired with a little bit of genuine disappointment.

Sweetmint rolled her eyes.  Guise detected a hint of impatience, not that he was too surprised.  "Fine, but hurry up."

Tapioca sat at the table with Guise, gazing at him with a sultry smile and tracing slow circles on the table's surface with her hoof.  "I can help you finish if you want."

Guise grimaced at the offer.  If Tapioca's grating voice wasn't bad enough, her frequent, less-than-subtle advances sent an uncomfortable shiver down his spine.  It didn't help that he always felt like a hole was being bored into his skull from the adjacent table whenever she decided to flirt with him, but it's not like he was at all intimidated.

Sweetmint, however, was quick to pull Tapioca's chair away from the table, giving the flirtatious mare a reprimanding glower.  "You have cleaning to do.  I'm clocking out because I've got shit to do."  She then turned to Guise.  "You can either get up now and come with me, or stay here and finish your ice cream while these two keep you company."

Guise glanced between the two other ponies, one bobbing her eyebrows suggestively, the other showing more emotion than usual with his defensive glare.  He then looked down at his half empty bowl of ice cream, then back up at Tapioca and Frosted Chips, then to Sweetmint, who was staring back with an eyebrow raised impatiently.  He hastily shoveled the rest of the strawberry ice cream into his gullet and stood up to join his girlfriend.  "You undaesdimade me," he slurred with his cheeks packed.

Sweetmint just smirked as she headed for the door.  "Right.  And how's your teeth?"

"F-Fine, fank you vewy muj," Guise answered with an unconvincing shiver as he swallowed the ice cream.

She had to stifle a snicker at his attempt to save face.  Sweetmint turned back to her coworkers briefly.  "Don't forget to lock up, you two."

"Bye, Minty," Tapioca bid her.  Her eyes then landed on Guise, half-lidded.  "Bye, Crimson," she cooed, prompting yet another disgruntled glare from Chips.

Guise just chose to do as he usually did and completely ignore both of them as he and Sweetmint left.  They started making their way down the street, but Sweetmint couldn't help but notice the uncomfortable grimace on Guise's face, smirking knowingly.

"That's what you get," she chuckled teasingly.

Guise shot her a glare.  "Don't act like I was the one being impatient.  You gave me an ultimatum, and I chose to have my cake and eat it, too."

"Was it worth the brain freeze?"

Guise twitched a little as the coldness lingered on his medulla, attempting to maintain his steadfast expression and failing.  "O-Obviously.  A little discomfort in exchange for good ice cream will always be worth it."

Sweetmint giggled somewhat bashfully.  "I'll take that as a compliment."

"Right.  It was your ice cream, so why are you complaining?  Did you want me to throw it away?"

She sighed apologetically.  "Sorry, I'm just in a bit of a rush, that's all."

"Why the hurry?  All things considered, you seemed to be in a good mood today."

"I mean, it's not like Tapioca and Chips haven't been dumb as hell today, but I've just got other stuff on my mind, that's all."

Guise noted the persistent smile on her face.  He wouldn't quite label it as "giddiness," but seeing her grinning as much as she was after work was a rarity.  "What kind of stuff?" he asked curiously.

While her smile remained, a rather embarrassed blush tinged her minty green cheeks.  "Remember that manga I reserved and the library sold it to somepony else anyway?  Well, they finally got some extra copies in, and just in time for the next issue, which is releasing tomorrow.  So I'm gonna blitz through that issue today in preparation for the new one."

"And what if they do the same thing as last time?" Guise inquired cautiously, recalling the first time that happened.

"If I show up there tomorrow and my reserved copy of the new issue isn't there, then heads are gonna roll."

Guise stared at her silently.  The innocent smile on her face as she said that was both cute and unsettling.  If there was one thing he admired about her above all else, it was her utter intolerance of other people's bullshit.  The fact that she would openly admit that she may inflict bodily harm on somepony if they crossed her one too many times was honestly pretty endearing to him, if not a little unnerving.

"Is it bad that I'm kinda hoping they screw up, then?" Guise said with a playful, yet still genuine grin.

Sweetmint shrugged.  "As long as you're willing to go to jail with me for being an accomplice to second-degree murder."

Guise turned his eyes up, pretending to give it some thought.  "I'll think about it."

By now the two of them had made it to the library and Sweetmint hurried in with a spring in her step.  Guise presumed that the extended wait she was forced to endure for her manga was actually making her even more excited for it, so did she really have any room to complain in the long run?  The receptionist behind the counter was the same timid mare that had been on the receiving end of Sweetmint's previous tirade, so when she spotted the mint green unicorn step inside, she became understandably uneasy.

"I'm just gonna be a few minutes," Sweetmint told Guise.  "I think I'm gonna apologize for my behavior last time, but still make sure to imply the consequences if it happens again."

Guise just chuckled inwardly at how sinister she sounded despite her smile and her "good" intentions.  He left her to it, not wanting to undermine her authority by idly spectating.  She wouldn't be long anyway, so he figured he'd just wander around until she got her manga.

Conversely to the first time he accompanied Sweetmint to the library, there was actually a decent number of people present today.  Most of the ponies were seated at the reading tables and quietly conversing, likely discussing the contents of whatever books they were reading.  But there were also several people gathered around some kind of display.  A small table had been set up with stacks of books upon it.  It appeared to be multiple copies of the same book.

Out of curiosity and a little boredom, Guise decided to see what the buzz was about.  Once he approached the table, close enough to properly assess what was going on, he stopped in his tracks.  Accompanying the books on the table was also a large portrait, as well as a bulletin pinned to the bookshelf the table was placed against, though Guise couldn't read it.  The portrait was much more important anyway, as it depicted a certain lavender alicorn.

Guise grimaced instinctively at the sight of her.  Twilight Sparkle.  Or rather, Princess Twilight Sparkle.  He wasn't sure when that mare got her wings—sometime while he was imprisoned in the dungeons of the changeling hive—but apparently she was royalty now.  It wasn't like Guise had anything personal against her, but her magical prowess was storied.  She was such a threat that Queen Chrysalis even had to adjust her approach to the invasion of Canterlot to include absconding with the Elements of Harmony, preventing her and her friends from interfering.  A lot of good that did in the end, but it was a testament to how dangerous she was to people like Chrysalis and himself.  Granted, it wasn't like she was there in person at the moment, so Guise really had nothing to worry about.

Still, he was curious as to what this all meant.  The books laid out on the table must have been written by her.  It wasn't like he'd be able to read them, but Guise picked one up to see if he could discern what exactly they were.

And he froze stiff.

Guise's reading comprehension was still rudimentary, but he managed to at least pick out the title of the book, one particular word causing a bead of nervous sweat to form on his forehead.

The Nature of Changelings.

He glanced around discreetly.  As he feared, the people gathered at the library all seemed to be checking out this book.  This was worrying.  If he was reading the situation correctly, then it appeared that Twilight Sparkle had written a book about changelings.  That meant that if people read this book—which they were—they were going to learn more about changelings and how they operate, and that was bad news for him.  It was possible that the contents of this book would contain information that would make it easier for the ponies to discern a changeling in disguise from a real pony.

What was worse, as well as aggravating, is that Guise knew exactly from where this information was coming: Shade and Chamella.  They were close friends with Twilight, and no doubt those goody-goodies were sharing everything they possibly could about their species' biology and abilities in case Chrysalis decided to launch another invasion.  Not only that, Guise had also met the alicorn in person a couple of times, and she was fully aware of what he was about.  It was entirely possible that he was even mentioned by name in this book.  But it was hard to determine exactly how Twilight Sparkle would have viewed him.  She may have written about his and Shade's tussle in the middle of Ponyville over his brainwashing of Shade's girlfriend, but she also could have mentioned his involvement in taking down Wraith and saving Shade's son.  She and her friends were willing to let him go when he left the Changeling Kingdom despite his past transgressions, but probably only because Shade and Chamella were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for helping them.  At the very least he was glad he decided to use a fake name, but this was still disconcerting.

Guise continued to stare at the cover of the book.  Perhaps this wasn't all bad.  He decided it may be in his best interest to actually purchase a copy for his own use.  He may not be able to read it well yet, but when he could, the information in this book may actually help him patch any potential holes in his facade.  Though he figured he may want to avoid letting Sweetmint find out he had it so as not to raise suspicion.

"Whatcha got there?"

Guise nearly jumped out of his fabricated skin when he heard Sweetmint's voice right next to his ear.  An uneasy stammer was all he could manage in response, glancing quickly between her and the book in his grasp.  A part of him wanted to just drop it, if only because he was now worried the color of his aura might start to tip her off.

"Is that Princess Twilight's book?  You planning on buying a copy?"

"Uh..."  How should he answer that?  Would saying yes be suspicious?  Then again, plenty of people in the library alone had copies themselves, so was it really that out of the ordinary?  Guise managed to compose himself, shrugging to try and appear detached.  "Sure.  Might be handy, you know?"

Sweetmint nodded.  "Yeah, it might be interesting to learn some stuff about changelings."

Guise forced back a regretful grimace.  He was hoping she didn't really care about changelings enough to have any interest, but considering where she lived, he shouldn't have been surprised.

She briefly glanced at the display table, sizing it up for a moment, then gave Guise a knowing smirk.  "And I bet you've got no 'ulterior' motives whatsoever, right?"

Guise's heart rate suddenly shot up.  "Wh-What?"

"No, no, it's fine.  I get it.  I mean, she is a princess, so it makes sense.  I'd be lying if I said it didn't cross my mind, too."

Now Guise could only raise an eyebrow, both concerned and rather confused.  She had somehow deduced that he had other reasons to buy the book, but that second statement sounded weird.  What exactly was she trying to insinuate?

"Anyway, I got my manga," she continued, holding up the copy.  "So if you wanna go ahead and buy that book, we can head home.  I'm pretty excited to start reading this."

"Uh, yeah, sure," was all he said in response as he did just that.


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


Sweetmint dropped herself down on the couch with enthusiasm, Persimmon hopping up onto the back of the couch behind her head.  She cracked open a cold beer, tore open a bag of potato chips, and prepared to delve into the fantasy world within her manga.  Guise was busy making a cup of coffee for himself, but was eyeing Sweetmint curiously as she starting munching on chips, her eyes locked onto the pages.  There was a smile of almost child-like wonder on her face as she read.  She must have been even more excited about this than she was letting on.  For somepony who claimed that she wasn't as big a dork for this stuff as some people were, she was looking pretty dorky right about now.

"Were you really that excited about this?" Guise inquired as he poured his coffee.

Sweetmint let out a groan, clearly disgruntled by his interruption when she was just about to get into it, though she managed to keep smiling.  "Look, I'm not usually like this for every issue, but the last one ended on a huge cliffhanger.  Then the copy I reserved got sold, so I had to wait even longer.  It was agonizing.  If any good came of that, it's made this all the more exciting for me.  I'm finally gonna get some answers to the questions the last issue raised.  At least I hope so.  Guess I'll find out soon enough."

Guise just rolled his eyes.  While he had been discreetly perusing her collection when she wasn't around, he really only did so for the action scenes.  He couldn't care less about the plot and characters, but mostly because he still didn't know what the whole thing was about due to his lack of literacy.  And even if he did, there were other, more pressing issues on his mind right now that would make reading manga a little low on his priority list.

He wandered over to the couch himself, sitting next to Sweetmint with his coffee, as well as the book he'd purchased himself.  Guise simply sat there, quietly staring at the cover.  The contents of this tome could potentially be harmful to his cause, so it was pertinent to read it.  Or at least try to read it.

Sweetmint tore her eyes away from her manga, observing as Guise just stared at the princess's book.  "Aren't you going to read it?"

Guise looked up suddenly, having forgotten for a moment that she was there.  "Huh?"

"I mean, the cover's not gonna tell you much.  Kinda gotta open it to learn anything," she joked.

Unfortunately, there was a problem with that.  He could just pretend to read it, but what if she asked a question about it?  And if he didn't read it, that would also look a little weird; she'd wonder why he bought it in the first place.  So, he opted to be dismissive in hopes that she'd back off.  "Why don't you just concentrate on your own book, huh?  You were pretty eager to read it just a minute ago."

"Alright, chill out, snippy," Sweetmint huffed.  "Geez, and I thought I was temperamental."  She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, her lips curling into a sly grin, just like when they were leaving the library.  "I guess you really didn't buy it for the sake of reading it, huh?"

Guise stared back at her.  There it was again.  What was she trying to get at?  She was clearly implying something, but Guise could not for the life of him figure out what.  But whatever it was, Guise didn't like it and felt the need to hopefully misdirect her.  "Of course I did.  Why would I bother buying it if I didn't plan on reading it?  I just... don't feel like reading it right now, that's all."

Sweetmint knit her brow, slightly vexed by his odd answer.  "Then why are you just staring at it?"

"Hey, I told you I'm not really much of a reader," he answered defensively, desperately hoping to put this conversation to an end.  "I just have to be in the right mood, that's all.  Right now I'm just..."  He stared at the cover of the book again, his tone becoming more quiet and thoughtful.  "...thinking about stuff."

Sweetmint's confrontational expression softened when she noticed her boyfriend suddenly looking so serious.  She looked at her open manga for a moment, then closed it, placing it on the coffee table.

Guise took notice of that, raising an eyebrow.  "What's wrong?  Lose interest already?"

"Actually, I'm kinda curious about something."  She gently took Twilight Sparkle's book from him, looking it over herself.  "The changeling invasion was, what, a little over two years ago now?"

Guise tensed up a little, unsure of where this train of thought was going.

"You know, it happened not long after I first moved here."

Guise stayed silent.  She had previously told him that she'd been living in Canterlot for about three years, so she was around when he and the other changelings assaulted the castle.  He'd never thought about that until now.  Guise had been admittedly curious for some time as to what her opinion of changelings was, and now that the topic had been brought up, now seemed like an appropriate time to inquire.

"What was that like?" he asked.

Sweetmint puffed out her chest, attempting to look tough.  "Well, I'm not somepony who'll just hide under the bed when bad shit's going down, but..."  A crack appeared in her courageous exterior in the form of an uneasy frown.  "...it was still pretty scary.  I mean, I've never even heard of a changeling before that, so I didn't know what to expect.  I just kinda... stayed inside until the whole thing blew over."

Guise could definitely understand that.  As one who had participated in the attack, he knew full well such a choice was justified.  Guise even considered himself a particularly violent and bloodthirsty changeling, and he wouldn't have put it past himself to have torn into her if he'd encountered her during the invasion; he'd probably have done the same to anypony had he not been preoccupied with the goings-on in the castle.

"I know you didn't really experience it first hoof or anything, but you had to have heard about it after it happened, right?  What was going through your head?" Sweetmint asked him.

Guise pondered that for a moment.  How should he answer that?  What would sound most believable?  "I was pretty shocked.  Can't say I was expecting it.  But by the time news made it to Fillydelphia, the whole thing was already over."

"Still, it must've had some kind of impact if you were interested in buying that book."

Guise shrugged.  "Well, I am living in Canterlot now.  It'd be nice to prepare myself in case of another invasion."

"Makes sense.  Hopefully that's not gonna happen anytime soon, though."

Though he didn't really care what Chrysalis and the other changelings did anymore, Guise still would rather they didn't attack again now that he was trying to live in Equestria.  Unfortunately, based on his last encounter with the queen, she seemed like she was motivated to launch another invasion, but as for when she would be ready, he had no idea.

"What do you think about the changelings?"

Guise looked her in the eye.  This was a question he expected to come up at some point, yet he still hadn't quite figured out what his answer was going to be.  For his own purposes, coming up with an answer that didn't incriminate him would be ideal.  To that end, perhaps some more misdirection was in order.  "What do you mean?  They're dangerous, obviously.  How else am I supposed to feel?" he answered, making sure that there was a little noticeable disdain in his tone.

"Really?" Sweetmint reacted, looking a touch surprised and maybe even a little disappointed.

Guise suddenly felt like he'd made the wrong decision.  He figured that, since she had to experience the invasion herself, she'd been more inclined to agree with that viewpoint.  How was it that she had such distaste for most of the ponies around her, but seemed to be sympathetic toward the actual threats?

"But it's not like all of the changelings are bad, right?  I mean, there's those two living in Ponyville.  Apparently, they're really friendly."

Guise knew that full well, but he'd already hitched his cart, so now he had to pull it.  "But isn't deception the changelings' whole thing?  Who's to say they won't turn on us?"

"You really think they would?  One of 'em's married with a kid.  That's in kinda deep to do a heel turn now, don't you think?"

"And isn't that exactly how they'd want you to think?  Changelings get more powerful by feeding on love, right?  Chrysalis was strong enough to overpower Princess Celestia during the wedding, so how powerful do you think that guy in Ponyville is by now?  If he decided to turn on us now, who's gonna stop him?"

Sweetmint sat in silence for a moment.  Guise observed her closely.  She seemed to be mulling his words over rather seriously.  "I feel kinda bad for thinking you have a point, but if he was gonna do that, he probably would have by now, right?"

Similarly, Guise also felt a little bad.  Not for the changelings, and especially not for Shade, but for Sweetmint.  Everything he just said was actually steeped in truth.  He'd said directly to Shade's face that if he wanted to take over Equestria with the power he'd built up, he probably could.  Of course, knowing Shade, he'd never listen to him.  But seeing Sweetmint's reaction, he was starting to think maybe he should backpedal a little on his prejudiced viewpoint.

"Maybe, but that doesn't really excuse all of them.  But..."  Guise stared down at the floor.  It was ironic considering the stance he'd chosen to take in contrast to Sweetmint, but Guise knew that Shade and Chamella weren't the only changelings who had good hearts.  "...I guess it's not like they can't be good people.  Still, though, two out of thousands isn't a great ratio."

Sweetmint leaned back against the couch, Persimmon taking the opportunity to nuzzle into her mane.  "Yeah, I can see where you're coming from on that.  It's not encouraging, I'll admit.  But I don't feel like there's anything wrong with trusting the ones that want to be given a chance as long as they're nice people.  Everypony—or changeling, I guess—deserves a second chance if they want it, don't you think?"

Guise didn't answer, he just chose to contemplate her words in silence.


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


Guise let out a long, disapproving sigh, trying to keep it from becoming a loud groan.  As if one trip to the library weren't bad enough, he was getting dragged along on a trip there once again for the second day in a row.  He didn't know why Sweetmint had been so insistent that he accompany her, but the weird thing was that she seemed to be under the impression that he was planning to go there himself.  She'd been acting oddly and saying strange things ever since he bought that book, and Guise had no idea what was up with her all of a sudden.

He had better things to do with his time today.  The previous day's conversation with her about changelings had given Guise a lot to think about.  He was even able to tune out the bickering chefs at work because his mind was so preoccupied by the subject.  He wanted to consider the stance he'd taken on the topic.  His intention was to act like he didn't trust changelings in order to throw her off the scent, making him appear less likely to be one himself.  He hadn't anticipated somepony like her being so sympathetic.

But Guise didn't have time to ponder that right now.  After their brief conversation yesterday, Sweetmint had powered through her manga and now she was eager to get to the next one, which apparently was available today.  But he had no idea why she needed him to go with her, even if she seemed to think there was a legitimate reason somehow.

Sweetmint was well aware of the grumpy grimace on Guise's face, and she retaliated with a knowing smirk.  "Don't be such a sourpuss."

"I didn't ask to join you out here.  I was content just chilling at home for the rest of the day."

Sweetmint rolled her eyes, though her grin never faltered.  "Right, like you weren't planning on this yourself."

"Seriously, what are you going on about?" Guise asked with growing annoyance.  "What reason could I possibly have to go to the library that doesn't involve you?"

She just snickered, as though she found his confusion and belligerence amusing for some reason.  "Look, you can play the tough guy card all you want, but I saw the way you were looking at that book.  You think I don't know what's going through your head?"

Guise's eyes widened slightly.  Before, the things she was saying were just confusing, but now he was worried.  She couldn't possibly have figured him out, could she?  Just because he was interested in a book about changelings?  Was that why she was trying to sympathize with the changelings yesterday?  Was she trying to discreetly tell him something?  Did she know and was trying to relay that she was okay with it to get him to reveal himself?  That couldn't possibly be the case, could it?  Just in case it wasn't, he kept his trap shut.  The last thing he wanted right now was to tell her the truth and find out that he was completely off base and ruin everything.

He inhaled a deep breath to try and reduce his heart rate, then simply gave Sweetmint a dismissive huff.  "Whatever you're thinking right now, you're wrong."

"Whatever you say, big guy," she said patronizingly, eliciting a disgruntled groan from her boyfriend.

By now, they had made it to the library and headed inside.  Similarly to the previous day, there was a crowd of ponies present.  The difference was that there were far more than yesterday.  The place was pretty lively for a library.  Guise had to wonder what exactly was going on.  He couldn't imagine that this many people would show up for a new issue of that manga Sweetmint was here for.  But the people had formed a line that extended almost back to the door, and it seemed to lead over to that table where Twilight Sparkle's books were placed yesterday.  But why would people suddenly be clambering for the book today?  Out of curiosity, Guise peered around the crowd to get a better look.

And if finding a book about changelings wasn't worrisome enough to make him sweat, what he saw today made his blood run cold.  It wasn't just the books that were there at that small table.  Now, along with them was the very mare who had written them; a lavender alicorn with a friendly smile on her face.

Guise nearly had a panic attack.  Even if he had no personal beef with Twilight Sparkle, that didn't mean he was willing to go anywhere near her.  If there were anypony out there who'd be capable of seeing through his disguise and ousting him, it was her.  She was the one who had sussed out Chrysalis after all.

"This is pretty exciting, isn't it?  Meeting one of the princesses?" Sweetmint whispered.

"Wh-What is she doing here?!" Guise stammered in panic, but had the wherewithal to keep his own voice down as well.

Sweetmint raised an eyebrow at his reaction, her ears folding back as she seemed to realize something.  "Wait, so you actually didn't know she was going to be here?"

"No!  I had no idea!"

"Oh.  I figured you knew she was coming to do a signing session for her book today.  I mean, it was on the poster with the books."

Guise just stared, bewildered and apprehensive and cursing how long it was taking for him to get even a slight grasp of the written word.

"Well, this is a little awkward, then," she said apologetically.  "You said you weren't much of a reader, so I just assumed you bought the book just to get it signed."

Was that why she'd been acting so weird?  She was just teasing him because she thought he was excited to meet the princess?  At the very least, that was one concern laid to rest, but now he had a totally different problem ahead of him.

Sweetmint shrugged.  "Well, you're here now.  Might as well get it signed anyway while you have the chance."  She produced the book Guise had purchased yesterday from her bags.  She must have taken it with her thinking that he was going to take it anyway.  "Who knows?  It might be a collector's item down the road.  Maybe it'll be worth some dough if we hang onto it long enough."

Guise was now faced with a dilemma.  While there was no guarantee that Twilight Sparkle would see through his disguise as long as he didn't do anything suspicious, there was also no guarantee that she wouldn't.  She knew Shade and Chamella personally; they were close friends with her.  Guise liked to think that he was a pretty good actor, but could he fool somepony who was knowledgeable enough of changelings to have written a whole book about them?  On the other hoof, would it look suspicious to Sweetmint if he tried to worm his way out of this?  What reason could he come up with that would be an acceptable excuse to duck out?  Either way, he felt that the latter option would be less risky.

"I-I'm not interested," he told Sweetmint, trying to maintain an air of apathy.

"What's wrong now?"  She smirked again.  "Don't tell me you're starstruck.  You?  I know this is a little sudden and everything, but I never expected you to be nervous in front of a celebrity.  You're usually pretty composed and confident."

Guise stared at her.  The way she'd said that and the way she was looking back at him made that sound like a challenge.  Was she trying to goad him into this, and, if she was, was he going to willingly take the bait to shut her up?  He glanced across the room to where the alicorn sat, idly signing copies of her book for the library's patrons with an amicable smile.  It wasn't like he had to actually talk to her or anything.  He'd just give her the book, she'd sign it, and they could be on their way.  No big deal.

Guise breathed a reluctant sigh of resignation.  "Alright, fine."

The two of them took their places at the end of the line, Sweetmint wearing an oddly excited grin.  Guise looked at her, a tad puzzled.

"I thought you were here for your manga."

She simply shrugged.  "I'll grab it on the way out.  I'm actually kinda excited to meet Princess Twilight.  You know, I've lived in Canterlot for three years, but I've never actually met any of the princesses.  I hear you can sometimes find them wandering around the city for one reason or another, I've just never been in the right place at the right time."

Guise could have done with fewer meetings with the princesses himself.  While he's never seen Princess Celestia or Princess Cadance in person, there was the one time he and Princess Luna were ready to kill one another during the invasion.  And, again, while he had encountered Twilight Sparkle multiple times, he was usually more preoccupied with other things to pay her much mind.  Still, he would rather completely avoid any interactions with the princesses if he could help it.  He may have been living in Canterlot, but considering the size of the city, it was unlikely he'd ever randomly bump into one of them.

At least, that's what he thought.  Today had already proven otherwise.  And Twilight Sparkle didn't even live in Canterlot.

The line gradually grew shorter and shorter as satisfied customers took their signed copies of Twilight's book home with them.  As Guise and Sweetmint got closer and closer, the tension rose, though for different reasons for each of them.  But eventually their turn came, and Guise was now face to face with the alicorn.

Twilight Sparkle gave the two of them a friendly smile, as she had for everypony else.  "Good evening," she greeted in a chipper tone, her time spent repetitively signing books apparently having not affected her mood in the slightest.

"It's an honor to meet you, Your Highness," Sweetmint said politely, bowing her head slightly.  Guise was actually a little surprised with how curt she was being.

The alicorn waved dismissively.  "Please, I'm here today as an author, not a princess.  No need for formalities here."

"Well, in either case..."  Sweetmint passed Guise's copy of the book to her.  "It'd still be an honor to have a signed copy of your book."

Twilight received the book and readied her pen.  "And how would you like this signed?  Just my signature, or should I personalize it for you?"

"I guess that's up to you, hun."

Guise suddenly looked up.  Sweetmint was looking at him expectantly, but he wasn't sure he'd quite heard her; he was too focused on maintaining his composure and looking for any sign of suspicion from the princess.  "Huh?"

Sweetmint rolled her eyes with an amused grin, turning back to Twilight.  "Sorry about him.  I think he's a little nervous."

"That's alright," Twilight responded with a quiet giggle.  "I've gotten a fair amount of that today.  I know I've been a princess for a while now, but it's still a little difficult to get used to people treating me differently."

Sweetmint nudged Guise in the side, earning an annoyed glare from him.  "Hear that?  You're fretting over nothing."

Guise only continued to glower at her.  If she knew exactly why he was nervous, she might not take that tone with him.

Seeing that Guise still hadn't said a word, Sweetmint groaned and gave the princess an apologetic smile.  "I guess you can just sign it to both of us.  My name's Sweetmint Scoop, and this is my boyfriend Crimson Neon."

Twilight happily signed the inside cover, then passed the book back.  "Do you have a copy of your own you'd also like me to sign?"

"Huh?"  Sweetmint was a little caught off guard by the question, her cheeks suddenly flushing red and looking awkwardly at the alicorn.  "Oh, uh, no.  I mean, not that I'm not interested, but we, uh...  We live together, so we can just share this one.  But I can buy a copy if you—"

Twilight lifted a hoof to stop her, smiling reassuringly.  "No, no, that's fine.  I was just asking, just in case.  Sorry if I put you on the spot there."

Sweetmint laughed off the slight misunderstanding.  "Right, sorry.  For the record, I am looking forward to checking it out.  But I actually came down here today to get the new issue of Kohl the Sentinel."

Twilight's eyes suddenly widened, a glimmer of interest in her purple irises.  "Wait, you read Kohl?"

Sweetmint blinked.  "Uh, yeah.  You've heard of it?"

A wide grin spread across the alicorn's face.  "Heard of it?  I love that series!  It's one of my favorite mangas!"

A similar smile dimpled Sweetmint's lips, pleasantly surprised by this information.  "Really?  I didn't expect a princess to be into manga, let alone one like Kohl."

"Are you kidding?" Twilight said with a chuckle.  "I cosplayed as Kohl for Nightmare Night once.  Even made the costume myself.  None of my friends got the reference, but it was still fun."

"Are you picking up a copy of the new issue while you're here, too?"

"I actually already have a copy.  I have them imported and delivered right to my place as soon as the new issues are released so I can read them right away."

"Wow.  That's dedication," Sweetmint remarked, visibly impressed.  "If I'm being honest, I'm not really into manga as a whole.  Kohl is the only one I read, but it's soooo good.  I guess I can't really consider myself 'cultured' like you."

"You shouldn't think of yourself as any less of a fan just because you don't read more manga.  As long as it's something you enjoy, that's what makes you a fan," Twilight told her with a reassuring smile.

"It's not like there are many people around that'll get on my case about it anyway.  I don't think I've met anypony else until now who cares about manga in the slightest."

"I know how that feels.  Back when I still lived here in Canterlot, I sometimes tried to organize meetups to meet other fans, but nopony ever showed up.  It's actually only in recent years that manga has started to gain more mainstream popularity, but Kohl is still a little niche.  You couldn't even get any manga here in Canterlot when I lived here.  Princess Celestia would order them from a comic book shop in Manehattan for me."

Sweetmint's eyes lit up.  "The place wouldn't happen to have been Four Panel Comics, would it?"

"Yes, that's it!  How'd you know?"

"I'm from Manehattan.  That's where I used to buy mine."

"Wow, it really is a small world, isn't it?"

What is happening?!

Guise could only stand there in utter, silent bewilderment at what he was witnessing.  Not only was Sweetmint engaging in idle, inane conversation with Princess Twilight Sparkle, but the two of them may as well have been speaking a different language.  He was just supposed to get the book signed and leave.  How had this suddenly devolved into a pair of dorks geeking out over a stupid comic book?

The stallion in line behind Sweetmint tapped her on the shoulder.  "Hey, we came here to get our books signed, too, you know?"

Sweetmint shot an icy scowl over her shoulder.  "Do you mind?  I'm talking to the princess."

The stallion didn't seem to appreciate her tone, but still took an instinctive step back.

"I'm sorry.  I guess we are being a little rude," Twilight said to the other ponies in line, offering an apologetic smile to them, as well as Sweetmint.  "I'm still signing for another half an hour, but if you're willing to stick around, we can continue our conversation when I'm finished."

Sweetmint beamed at the offer.  "Seriously?  You wanna just hang out and chat?"

"Sure.  None of my friends back home are into this stuff, so I don't have anypony to discuss it with.  It might be fun to share opinions with somepony for once.  You know, if you're not busy," Twilight requested hopefully.

The green unicorn replied with an eager smile.  "Even if I was, I'd blow it off in an instant to hang out with one of the princesses."

"Mint."

Sweetmint glanced over at Guise, a slightly confused look on her face.  "Oh, you're still here?"

Guise grimaced at her tone, but also saw it as his out.  "You're the one who dragged me here, but if you don't need me to stick around—"

"Yeah yeah you go on home I'll see you later," she told him with a dismissive flick of her hoof.

Guise didn't bother to say anything else and just took his signed book and headed for the door.

"It was nice meeting you," he heard Twilight call out to him before he left.


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


Guise slapped a spoonful of cat food into Persimmon's dish, laying it on the floor for the cat to dig into.  Before putting the can back into the fridge, he took a small spoonful for himself, gulping it down without even taking the time to enjoy the flavor of what was supposed to be chicken.  But that wasn't enough.  He reached into the freezer to grab some ice cream that Sweetmint made, scooping a bit into a bowl and bringing it over to the couch with him.

He was a bit ruffled to say the least.  That encounter with Twilight Sparkle was the closest he felt he'd come to being found out, even if she didn't seem suspicious of him at all.  Just being in her presence was an unnecessary risk he didn't want to take.  And to make matters worse, Sweetmint had to get all chummy with her.  Who would have thought that the only other person dorky enough to read the one manga that she did was Princess Twilight?

Persimmon, finished with his meal, hopped up onto the arm of the couch next to Guise.  The changeling gave the cat a brief glance.  "She was making things needlessly uncomfortable for me," Guise vented to the cat.  "I know she doesn't get why, but I feel like I conveyed my feelings pretty well."

Persimmon obviously didn't respond.  In fact, he didn't appear to be paying attention at all and was just staring at the dairy treat that Guise was eating.  Guise rolled his eyes, but offered a spoonful of ice cream to the cat, which he happily began licking.

"Why am I talking to a cat?"

Guise finished off his ice cream rather hastily, having not learned his lesson from yesterday and giving himself another helping of mild brain freeze.  But it might have actually been helpful since he was feeling a little hot under the collar right now.  To that end, he got up to head for the bathroom, leaving the empty bowl on the coffee table for Persimmon to lick clean.

The changeling turned on the faucet and splashed some cold water on his face.  He stared at his reflection in the mirror, his false, crimson coat dripping wet.  On a whim, Guise returned to his natural form, making it easier to see the ire in his blood red eyes and slotted pupils.  He honestly wasn't sure exactly why he was so upset about this.  It wasn't like anything bad came of the day's events.  Twilight Sparkle clearly had no idea that she had signed a book about changelings for a changeling, and the whole ordeal was over and done with now anyway.  Could he even call it an ordeal?  It was really nothing, and yet he was reacting as though it were.

Guise breathed a sigh.  Obviously he was just a little on edge due to the risk of being found out.  And Sweetmint had unknowingly made it worse by springing it on him out of nowhere.  Despite the strides he'd made, Guise had to admit something to himself: he wasn't just worried about being found out, he was scared.  The thought of being discovered was frightening to him, especially now that he had put this much work into his new life.  Being revealed not only meant having to leave Canterlot, but it would also grant the ponies knowledge of his presence, making any future attempts to rebuild his life all the more difficult, if not impossible.  And he didn't want to lose what he'd gained; good food, shelter from the elements, a cozy bed, a companion...

Guise stared into his own eyes as they widened slightly.  That wasn't a word he'd expected to come to mind.  Sure, Sweetmint was the least objectionable option in comparison to everypony else he'd met so far, but she was still ultimately a means to an end.  He couldn't afford to get attached in case he did need to abandon this place and start over somewhere else.  But that was the puzzling part; why was the possibility of getting attached even a concern?  If she was a means to end as he had convinced himself she was, then he shouldn't even be thinking about this right now.

He shook his head, donning his pony disguise once more.  He was just flustered, that's all; a little uneasy after coming face to face with that princess.  He was overthinking.

Guise decided to just stop thinking about it.  He grabbed his toothbrush to give his teeth a cleaning and his tongue a scrapping, if only to rid his mouth of the smell of cat food in case the ice cream hadn't done a good enough job.

He heard the sound of the apartment door opening, but it was accompanied by a voice.  And not just one voice, but two.

"...she did tend to be a bit... intrusive at times."

"Yeah, she's been like that since we were kids, and she's not shy about it either.  She's always been a firm believer that honesty is the best policy."

"Well, I guess she has that in common with Applejack, though her approach is certainly more abrasive.  But I could tell she has a good heart.  She did stick her neck out for them when all the other reporters were trying to back them into a corner."

Guise froze, the toothbrush nearly dropping from his mouth.  He wasn't surprised to hear Sweetmint's voice, of course, but the other voice was what was worrying.  He desperately hoped that that familiar voice wasn't who he thought it was.  But as much as he wanted to hunker down in the bathroom for a while in case he was right, he knew it was inevitable.  Guise rinsed out his mouth, spit into the sink, and swallowed his apprehension.  Stepping cautiously back out to the living room, he saw the realization of his fears standing in the kitchen with Sweetmint.

"Guess who's here!" Sweetmint said giddily, gesturing to the smiling, purple alicorn with her.

"Hello again," Twilight greeted amicably.

Guise glanced between the two mares, unsure what to make of this development.  "Uh, no offense, but what's she doing here?"

"We got pretty caught up in our conversation and didn't realize that the library was closing," Twilight answered.

"So I took a shot in the dark and invited her over," Sweetmint added with enthusiasm.  "Guess what she said!"

Guise just stared, bemused.  "Ye—"

"She said 'yes'!"

"We both figured that if we were going to talk about Kohl the Sentinel, we may as well have the reference material handy," said the princess.

"Right.  My collection's over there on the shelf.  I might not be a big manga fan, but I have every issue of Kohl."

Twilight wandered over to the shelf in the living room, picking up a stack of the books with her pink magic and looking them over with interest, but seeming more preoccupied with reorganizing them than actually viewing their contents.

"Do you want anything, Princess?" Sweetmint offered.  "Water?  Coffee?  Tea?  Uh..."  She took a look in the fridge, realizing now that they didn't have much to offer guests, let alone royalty.  "Beer, maybe?"

"Oh, I don't drink," Twilight informed her, though didn't remove her attention from her idle sorting.

An embarrassed blush tinted Sweetmint's cheeks.  "Uh, right.  Should've figured.  Sorry."

"It's alright.  Being a princess doesn't mean I can't drink alcohol, I just choose not to.  Actually, Princess Celestia enjoys a glass of wine every now and then.  I've even seen her get a little wobbly at garden parties occasionally." Twilight said with a snicker.

Sweetmint chuckled a little herself.  "Really?  That's kinda surprising."

"I know, right?  But, uh, I'm going to have to ask you to keep that information to yourself."  Twilight's cheeks flushed a little as she grinned somewhat awkwardly.  "Truth be told, I've never even tried alcohol myself."

"Then you're in the same boat as Crimson.  He's never tried it either."

"Anyway, to answer your question, a cup of tea sounds good," Twilight said gratefully.

Sweetmint hesitated, a look of realization on her face.  "Uh...  I may have only mentioned tea to be polite.  Me and Crimson are coffee drinkers.  I don't think I actually have anything for tea here."

"Oh.  Well, water's fine."

Sweetmint poured up a glass of water for the princess and placed it on the coffee table for her, then set the coffee pot for herself.

Twilight, finished reorganizing each issue of the manga by release, started toward the couch, but was stopped by a curious kitty staring up at her.  She gave the cute feline an admiring smile.  "Aw, who's this adorable, little guy?"

"That's Persimmon," Sweetmint answered as she prepared her coffee.

Twilight held her hoof to her mouth to stifle an amused giggle.  "Ah, like purr-simmon.  That's clever."

Sweetmint shot a smug smirk at Guise.  "See?  She gets it?"

"I never said I didn't get it, I just don't think it's funny," Guise grumbled.

Twilight gently pet Persimmon, running her hoof down the cat's back and eliciting purrs of approval.  Guise couldn't help but sneer at the feline, all the more evident now that Persimmon just picks and chooses to whom he wants to be nice.

"So, will you be joining us, Crimson?" Twilight asked him.

Guise was ready to give her a derisive and resounding "No," but Sweetmint chimed in with a scoff before he could.

"Not likely.  He thinks this stuff is for dorks."

"You don't like it?" Twilight said, looking a little disappointed.

"I never said anything about not liking it," he answered, casting a corrective glower at Sweetmint for implicating him.  "I've just never read it."

Technically, he wasn't lying, but that was more because he couldn't read it rather than a lack of interest.  But he wasn't about to admit that for fear of bringing his literacy into question, as well as wanting to avoid engaging in conversation with the princess.

"Just ignore him," Sweetmint said with a dismissive flick of her hoof in Guise's direction, accompanied by a teasing smirk.  "He'd only suck the fun out of it anyway."

As Sweetmint and Twilight took their seats on the couch with a stack of manga in front of them, Guise just went to the kitchen to get himself a cup of coffee and sat at the kitchen table.  He contemplated holing up in the bedroom for a while until the alicorn took her leave, but there was a hint of morbid curiosity in the back of his mind.  He may have acted aloof about the manga, but he did secretly enjoy what he saw within those pages.  Maybe if he stuck around and eavesdropped for a bit, he might be able to learn what it was actually about.

"So, when did you start reading Kohl anyway?" Twilight asked Sweetmint.

Sweetmint picked up a specific issue and held it up to Twilight.  "Around the time volume two started, I think."

"Ah, well, that's a good time to start.  From what I've heard, that's the most popular arc."

"Really?  Volume four's my favorite personally."

"Then you're in the minority there.  I like that arc as well, but apparently most fans dislike it because they feel it was a rather drastic turn in tone and story."

"I guess I can see that.  Going from simply investigating cultists and stuff to fighting hordes of demons and spirits might cause a bit of whiplash.  But I kinda like the high octane action of later volumes."

"It never really bothered me either.  But I've always enjoyed the series more for the character interaction rather than the action or even the overall plot."

"Yeah, the characters are great, right?  I'm personally all about Garek."

Twilight chuckled quietly with a slight roll of her eyes.  "That's a little cliché, don't you think?"

Sweetmint tilted her head in confusion.  "Whaddya mean?"

"The 'brooding anti-hero' archetype is always the fan-favorite."

"Hey, I mentioned that this is the only manga I read, right?  Cut me some slack.  I don't know all the tropes.  And he's a good character.  Are you gonna say he isn't?"

"No, no, of course not."

"Then who's your favorite?"

"Kohl."

"Hm.  I don't know.  I know he's the main character, but I always thought Kohl was kinda boring.  At least compared to the other characters."

Twilight shrugged.  "I can see that, but I've always tended to gravitate towards the main characters of stories, I don't really know why.  Maybe it's because I have a pet owl, too."

"Whoa, Sentry's not his pet, he's his sidekick."

"Right, right, thanks for the correction.  Even as a princess I'd never get away from the ridicule of making a rookie mistake like that at a convention or something," Twilight laughed.

Guise leaned against his hoof, letting out a long, bored breath through his nostrils.  Their conversation was even more boring than he'd anticipated, and he was completely lost to boot.  Maybe he'd have been better off stepping out for a walk.  At least then he could mitigate his boredom by going hunting or something, and it would keep him away from the princess for a while.

Twilight happened to glance in Guise's direction noticing the look of sheer boredom on his face.  "I think your boyfriend is feeling a little left out," she whispered to Sweetmint, though Guise had no difficulty hearing her.

"He's the one who just chose to sit there and do nothing but drink coffee.  It's not our fault he doesn't want to join in."

Twilight turned her sights to the coffee table.  Among the many issues of Sweetmint's manga was also the copy of the book that Twilight had signed for them earlier.  "Maybe a change of subject is in order," the alicorn suggested.  "We don't only have to discuss Kohl.  Let's talk about something we can all get involved in."

Sweetmint followed her gaze to the book, catching her meaning, but not appearing enthused by the suggestion.  "You wanna talk about changelings?"

Guise looked up suddenly, a reaction that didn't go unnoticed by the princess in the room.

"He bought my book, so I can infer from that that he at least has some interest or opinions on the subject."

"For the record, I haven't read it yet," Guise chimed in.

Twilight smiled, looking at Sweetmint.  "See?  He's been listening, so he's obviously feeling excluded."

Guise grumbled to himself, mentally kicking himself for walking straight into her trap.

"You might as well join us, Crimson," Sweetmint said, patting the empty spot on the couch next to her.

With a reluctant sigh and a roll of his eyes, Guise gave in and waddled over to the couch, planting himself to the right of Sweetmint, putting the green unicorn between himself and Twilight.

A look of regret suddenly came across Twilight's face.  "I'm sensing a little tension here.  Is this maybe a touchy subject for him?"

"Not really," Sweetmint answered for him.  "At least, not from what he's told me.  I think he's just a little worried since you're friends with the changelings back in Ponyville and he doesn't really trust the changelings."

"Mint!" barked Guise in disapproval.

Twilight raised her hoof calmly.  "No, no, it's understandable.  Most people don't know Shade and Chamella as well as I do," she said, oblivious to the irony of her claim.  "But take it from me, they're good people."

"Well, that's not really the issue," Sweetmint told her.  "It's more about all the other changelings."

Twilight nodded.  "I see.  Well, that has been a concern for us as well.  We all want there to be peace between ponies and changelings, but, personally, I don't think it's an unrealistic dream."

Guise had to think about this for a second.  Would it really be a good idea to maintain the stance he took during his conversation with Sweetmint?  It was obvious where Twilight stood in this debate, so she was going to try and refute any argument he came up with.  But did her opinion really matter?  Everything Guise was doing in this new life of his had to do with Sweetmint.  Whether or not Twilight looked favorably upon him wasn't really of much concern.

However, before Guise could even chime in, Sweetmint spoke instead.

"But he made a good point when we were talking about this yesterday.  Two friendly changelings out of thousands is not exactly encouraging.  I mean, if they want to be given a chance, that's fine, but how many are actually coming out here looking for that?"

"They're probably just scared that they won't be accepted," Twilight argued.

Again, Guise was about to speak up, but couldn't get a word in over Sweetmint.

"You've been to the Changeling Kingdom, right?" the unicorn asked.

Twilight hesitated at the question.  "Well, yes.  Shade's son was abducted and we went there to save him.  We were keeping that information under wraps for a while so that Shade and Winter could get their lives back in order and focus on the wedding."

"Okay, so when you went there, how many changelings did you meet that wanted to make friends with you?"

Twilight paused, the question having her a little dumbstruck.  Guise, too, was surprised to hear Sweetmint be so argumentative towards the princess.

Twilight broke eye contact, answering somewhat quietly.  "Well...  Just one, but she... was killed by another changeling..."

Guise grimaced remorsefully.  Of course, he knew exactly about whom she was talking.

"And that's exactly what I'm talking about," Sweetmint continued.  "Maybe they are scared to try, but there are just as many changelings—if not more—who'll kill their own kind if they turn their backs on the colony, right?"

Things went rather quiet after that.  Both Twilight and Guise silently thought about it, though the latter had to imagine that Twilight was attempting to formulate a counterargument.  Guise knew that Sweetmint really didn't have any basis for that assumption, but he couldn't exactly say she was wrong.  Wraith did kill Glory because she betrayed him, and he was willing to do the same to any changeling who did likewise.  Maybe Wraith was an outlier in that regard—a changeling who sought to take the throne—but even though Wraith was dead now, and even though Chrysalis seemed to be much more accepting and actually cared about her people, he hasn't heard of any instances of other changelings trying to do what Shade and Chamella had done since.

Twilight finally looked up, a more resolute expression on her face.  "We just need to show them that they don't have to be scared.  We'll give them that chance if they really want it."

"I just don't think this is something you can force," Sweetmint said.  "Making friends is all well and good, but if you're too pushy about it, they probably won't receive it very well.  The changelings don't really seem to be very receptive of that kind of thing to begin with.  I've heard the eyewitness accounts of the invasion—I was here when it happened.  A lot of those people said that the changelings looked like they were enjoying themselves during the attack."

"We really shouldn't base our opinions of the changelings as a whole on the actions of one group.  That's preaching the wrong message."

"This isn't about race, Princess.  Like I said, if they wanted to make friends, they're more than welcome to, but it's pretty obvious that most of them aren't interested in that.  I don't hate the changelings, I'm just trying to look at this more realistically."

"And I don't think that's an acceptable outlook," Twilight responded, knitting her brow slightly.  "I don't think it's realistic or conducive to doubt their ability to change and want better lives for themselves."

"And I don't want you pushing your own morals on us because you're a princess," Sweetmint told her, pointing an accusatory hoof at the alicorn.  "If the day comes that the changelings show up here and say they wanna be friends, I'll happily greet them with open hooves.  But until that day comes, they haven't done shit to earn our acceptance.  Your two friends are the only exceptions, and that's not enough to convince me that we're safe from another invasion."

The apartment went quiet again after that.  Twilight seemed to be mulling something over, though Guise highly doubted that she was second guessing her convictions; she looked more like she was wishing this conversation hadn't happened to begin with, and he couldn't say he blamed her.  He, too, was caught completely off guard with how heated this had gotten.  And he was especially shocked that it was Sweetmint who had done that.  Guise hadn't really said a word this whole time, but Sweetmint was basically just paraphrasing what he'd said yesterday.  The strangest part was that she seemed like she was in the same boat as Twilight until today, but now all of a sudden she was on his side?  What happened?

Sweetmint's face was visibly hot, her minty green cheeks glowing a dull red.  She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.  She was clearly holding herself back for the princess's sake, and Guise knew how hard that must have been for her.  She looked Twilight in the eye, apologetically, yet also defiantly.  "I'm sorry, but... I think you should leave, Your Highness."

Twilight sighed.  "I see..."  She finished her glass of water and stood from the couch.

Sweetmint leaned back against the couch, frustrated, but also visibly stressed and even a little worried.  Guise took notice of that, and had a feeling he knew why.  She'd just chewed out Princess Twilight and made it abundantly clear that she didn't fully trust the changelings, knowing full well the alicorn's stance on the subject.  Guise suddenly felt the need to chime in, standing up and stopping Twilight before she made it to the door.

"Hey, I don't want you to think she's a bad person, okay?  She's not," Guise told Twilight.

Sweetmint stared from the couch, but remained quiet.

Twilight sighed again.  "It's not that I think there's no credence to her argument, but—"

"But it's not her argument."

Both Sweetmint and Twilight stared at him, puzzled.

Guise held a hoof to his chest.  "It's mine.  Just yesterday, she was all for giving them the benefit of the doubt, and I was the one who didn't trust them.  Don't think less of her for regurgitating my words at you.  She was just trying to stick up for me."  He turned around to give Sweetmint an appreciative look.

A small, sympathetic smile appeared on Twilight's face.  "For the record, I'm not judging either of you.  I suppose, given my past experiences, I've just come to expect people to come around on these matters a little more easily.  I know you aren't the only people out there who still feel that way, but you've at least made it clear that you're willing, and that's good enough for me.  Now, it's my job as a princess to do whatever I can to make everypony's—and everychangeling's—lives better.  I won't try to force the issue, but I'm still going to try my hardest to make peace a reality.  I know it's achievable."

Sweetmint hopped up from the couch and hurried over to Twilight, the redness in her face due more so to shame than anger now.  "I'm sorry if I was a little out of line, Princess.  I really do want the best for everypony—and changeling—I swear."

Twilight smiled sweetly.  "I know."

"Y-You're welcome to stay if you want," Sweetmint told her in apology.

Twilight gratefully waved the offer off.  "No, I really should be going, but not because I feel uncomfortable.  I was actually supposed to meet with Princess Celestia for tea after my signing session, and I'm afraid I might be a little late now.  But if you want to get together again the next time I'm in the area to talk about the latest issue of Kohl, I'd be more than happy to meet up."

Sweetmint finally managed a smile again.  "Y-Yeah, I'd like that.  Thanks."

Twilight opened the door as she prepared to leave, giving the pair a wave goodbye.  "It was nice meeting both of you.  Enjoy the rest of your evening."

"You, too, Princess," Sweetmint said back with a wave of her own.

The moment the door closed and Twilight was gone, Sweetmint dropped to her haunches with a loud thump, the sigh that escaped her lungs almost as loud.  "Holy shit, that was stressful."  She cast a weak, but grateful smile at Guise.  "Thanks for jumping in at the last minute there.  I was actually afraid that I pissed her off.  I mean, I almost just kicked a princess out of my house.  How crazy do you have to be to do something like that?"

"You know, you didn't have to jump to my defense like that," Guise told her, holding out his hoof to help her back to her hooves.  His tone was uncharacteristically quiet, as well as appreciative, which Sweetmint seemed to pick up on.

"Yeah, well, you seemed like you were pretty serious about that stuff yesterday.  I didn't want you to think you were a bad person."

"So you'd rather make yourself look like the bad guy?"

"It's not like that was my intention!" she said defensively.  "I thought she'd be a little more sympathetic, but once I started, I just kinda kept digging myself deeper.  I was actually kinda terrified.  My heart's pounding like a jackhammer right now."

Guise gave her a smile; an honest-to-goodness, genuine smile.  "Well, whatever the case, I really appreciate it."

Guise leaned in, giving her a brief kiss.  If he was being honest with himself, he still wasn't entirely sure why he was so appreciative.  Why did any of that matter to him?  Twilight's opinion meant nothing to him.  His own opinions that he told Sweetmint about the changelings weren't really even entirely true anyway, but she still went to bat for him.  Did that matter?  Again, he wasn't sure.  But, he was pretty sure that that was the first time he'd ever initiated a kiss with Sweetmint.
> Part 6 - Relative
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Crimson."

"What?"

"You're supposed to be helping me."

Guise lifted his head from the couch cushions, casting a lethargic stare at Sweetmint as she glared back from the kitchen.  The kitchen was looking spic and span, with immaculately polished counter tops and appliances, and any used or half-used containers and dishes either cleaned and put away, or tossed in the trash.  It was unusual to see the apartment looking so clean.

Conversely, the living room was still a mess.  The coffee table was still occupied with empty noodle bowls and Sweetmint's beer bottles, Persimmon's toys were littered around the floor, and even the couch upon which Guise lay was full of the cat's shed fur and dander.  Sweetmint had tasked Guise with cleaning the living room while she focused on the kitchen, but he'd yet to lift a hoof to help.

Guise and Sweetmint were pretty used to lounging in their own filth—even more so for the latter given she'd been living there for three years longer than him—but he never considered the mess an issue.  Now, suddenly, Sweetmint was insisting they clean the place up.  Based on the state he'd seen the place in on his first visit—not to mention the odor—Guise would have figured the place hadn't been cleaned since she first moved in.  It wasn't like he cared; anything was better than sleeping on a cold, jagged, stone floor.  But why bother in the first place?  It wasn't like they had visitors regularly, and even the one guest they'd had since he started living there didn't seem to mind the mess, and she was a princess.

"I asked you to help, so I expect you to chip in," Sweetmint scolded the lazy changeling.

Guise laboriously rose from the couch with a reluctant groan.  He figured if he was going to do menial chores, he may as well get a reason why.  "Why are we doing this?  What's the point?"

"Look, I'm not exactly a big fan of cleaning up either, but we can't just let this place become a pig sty.  I can only imagine the fit Mr. Hide would have if he ever found mold growing in this place."

Guise narrowed his eyes in suspicion as he gathered up the empty noodle cups.  "Really?  The landlord is the only reason you're cleaning this place up?  I've been living here with you for a month, and you've never showed any concern about cleanliness."

Sweetmint rolled her eyes.  She appeared annoyed by his continued complaints, but the sigh she let out sounded like she was surrendering.  "Alright, I was gonna surprise you when I got back home from work, but if you're gonna be a big baby about it, I might as well tell you now.  My sister's coming for a visit today."

Guise raised an eyebrow.  "Sister?  You never mentioned you had a sister."

"Well, let's be real, we've been dating for a while and neither one of us have really talked much about our lives before we came to Canterlot.  I just mentioned my plan to open an ice cream shop, and you only talked about that asshole you knew growing up.  Honestly, I've gotten the impression that neither of us really like talking about the past."

He couldn't argue with that, but his reasons for that were a little different than hers.

Sweetmint finally gave him a smile.  "But, if there's anything about my life back in Manehattan that I look back at fondly, it's my relationship with my sister.  For as much as my temper has gotten me in trouble, she's been there just as many times to bail me out.  Plus, she's the only person I've known before I met you who was capable of dealing with my shit.  So you can imagine I've been looking forward to introducing you two to each other."

Guise tilted his head in thought.  Putting it like that, he was actually kind of interested in meeting her now.  But that still didn't answer his question.  "So you're willing to clean the apartment for your sister, but not a princess."

Sweetmint groaned loudly.  "For fuck's sake, are you still gonna try and argue your way out of this?  First of all, I didn't exactly have time to clean up when Princess Twilight visited, and I definitely will if she ever visits again.  Second, if my sister comes here and sees the state this place is in, she'll be giving me shit about it the whole time.  And not because she's a neat freak or anything, but just because she enjoys needling me about little things like that because she knows she's the one person I can never really get mad at."

Guise held up his hooves, gesturing for her to calm down.  "Alright, I get it, geez."

"If you 'get it,' then why don't you actually help?  I have to head to work soon, so you're going to have to finish cleaning up before I get home."

Guise grimaced at the notion.  He wasn't fond of having to spend his coveted days off doing chores, but it wasn't like the apartment was very big, and Sweetmint had already cleaned the kitchen.  He'd easily be able to tidy up the living room before she got off work at five.  So, he gave her an indifferent shrug.  "Fine, but there's still no reason to rush me."

Sweetmint grabbed her satchel and headed for the door.  "Maybe, but if I get back and this place isn't spotless, somepony'll have to clean what's left of you off the walls.  Capiche?"

He dismissively waved off the empty threat, though he could never keep a slight smile off his face when she tried to act like a hardass.

"And don't forget to change Persy's litter box.  And try and get the cat hair out of the couch while you're at it."

"Alright, just go already!" Guise snapped, his annoyance with all these instructions reaching a boil.

She flashed him a condescending smile as she started stepping outside, clearly pleased with herself that she had somepony else to pawn her chores onto now.  "Have a nice day, hun."

Guise sighed inwardly, but still managed a small grin toward her as she left.  "Yeah, fuck you, too."


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


Living in Canterlot had its downsides for a changeling in hiding.  Being within close proximity of the castle meant there was always risk of encountering royal guards, or even the princesses themselves.  The average citizens of the city were mostly pompous socialites who walked around like they had sticks so far up their butts they were practically coming out of their mouths.  Guise counted himself lucky that he'd found a pony like Sweetmint, not only due to her personality, but also because she lived further downtown, pretty much as far away from the castle as possible; the closer one got to the castle, the more stuck-up the people got.

But living in Canterlot came with its perks.  One of the perks that Guise particularly enjoyed was the near-constant fair weather.  He'd been living there for around a month and a half at this point, and there have been very few days that weren't bright and sunny.  It was still summertime, but Guise assumed the weather ponies would schedule a few more rainy days, not that he was complaining.  The sunny skies complemented one of the other aspects of Canterlot that he enjoyed—or rather, the area around Canterlot.  From the lush meadows at the bottom of Canterlot Valley, to the surprisingly forested peaks of the mountain the city was built upon, there was no lack of pleasant scenery around Equestria's capitol.

Of course, for someone like Guise, the aesthetics weren't the important part.  A quaint environment like that meant plenty of wildlife for a predator to sink their fangs into, which was exactly what Guise was doing now.

He had finished his chores at home, though whether or not the apartment's condition met Sweetmint's standards was yet to be seen.  Either way, he did what was asked of him, and now he was enjoying a nice break and a reward.  Well, he had yet to actually catch his reward, but Guise figured it wouldn't take long.  In actuality, it had taken him a lot longer to clean the apartment than he assumed, though he'd never admit that to Sweetmint.  It probably didn't help that he took liberal breaks throughout the day, both to get away from the monotony of his chores and to take a bit of time to brush up on his reading.

All of that meant that he didn't exactly have a lot of time for hunting.  Normally, Guise would choose a locale further away from the city to find prey, but today, he was actually just on the outskirts of the city.  He made sure to pick a spot away from any residential area where there would be more people, but that didn't mean he didn't have to be careful.  He was currently searching a thicket near the face of the mountain, populated by enough trees to provide cover from both ponies in the city and the prey which he was stalking.

The problem was, he was within sight of Canterlot Castle.  Thankfully, the castle's high walls prevented anypony on ground level from being able to see him, and he doubted that there were many guards—if any—stationed within the towering spires.  Even if they were, he was still far enough away that he was confident that nopony would be able to identify him as a changeling from this distance, so as long as he kept within the treeline, he should have enough cover to go undetected.

Guise stealthily weaved his way between trees and bushes, keeping a vigilant eye out for potential prey.  As he approached the edge of the thicket—within view of Canterlot Castle—he caught sight of a rabbit munching on some wild vegetables.  Distracted animals made for easy targets.  Guise managed to get within ten feet of the rabbit without being seen or heard.  It would be child's play to simply grab it with his magic and snap its neck, but it had actually been over a week since he'd gotten a chance to go hunting.  The occasional spoonful of manufactured cat food could only do so much to placate his desires.  He wanted not only to taste fresh meat and blood upon his tongue, but to earn it.  He wanted to let his primal instincts take over and pounce upon his prey as though he himself were a wild animal on the prowl.  To that end, Guise inched closer to the foraging rabbit.  Now concealed behind a bush less than five feet from the small mammal, Guise crouched down, licked his lips, and prepared to lunge.

A subtle cracking sound broke the silence in the otherwise peaceful thicket.  The rabbit suddenly lifted its head, now alerted to another creature's presence.  The odd part was, it was not Guise that had made that sound.  He had a look around himself, but could see nothing else that could have made that noise.  However, the sound had done a good job of distracting him, for when he turned his sights back to his prey, the rabbit was already making a break for it.  Guise took a few steps out of his hiding place, but didn't go any further since the rabbit was heading toward the castle walls; it'd be too risky to pursue it any further.  With a grumble, Guise gave up.  He'd have to head back into the trees to find something else to hunt.

A second cracking noise caught Guise's attention, louder than before.  Again, he looked around, but saw nothing.  Then, there was another sound; a voice.

"Shit..."

A loud snap could be heard from above, followed by the rustling of leaves and more snaps and cracks.  But before Guise could look up to assess what it was, his sight was instead directed to the ground when something landed near him with a loud thud and a pained grunt.

It was a pony; a unicorn mare with a light beige coat and a mane striped with brown and white done up in a small beehive—though currently looking more than a little messy and decorated with leaves and twigs.  Her cutie mark depicted a microphone with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of it, and she was also wearing a black blazer and white undershirt.  A black satchel fell to the ground beside her, and she was even wearing a pair of binoculars around her neck, though one of the lens appeared to have cracked from the fall.

Guise should have followed the rabbit's example and bolted, but he was far too dumbstruck by the sight of a pony suddenly falling out of a tree.  He just stood there, gawking at this mare as she recovered from her spill.

The unicorn inhaled a sharp breath through her teeth, rubbing her chest.  "Ugh, that's gonna leave a bruise."  She lifted her binoculars, grimacing at the cracked lens.  "Damn it, I just bought these.  Wonder if they'll give me my money back if I can convince them it was faulty..."

The mare stood up, stretching her back to work out any kinks from her tumble.  And it was only now, as she rolled her neck to assess any potential pain, that she realized she wasn't alone.  From the corner of her eye, she spotted another individual standing not far away, and he was just staring back, his mouth agape just as much as hers was now.

"Whoa.  A changeling."

Guise took a step back, as though his body were trying to get him to leave now before it was too late.  However, there was a morbid curiosity stirring within him that kept him where he was.  The mare's reaction was surprisingly lax for somepony who just discovered a changeling skulking around near Canterlot, and she made no effort to flee.  If anything, there was an equal amount of curiosity in her maroon eyes as she turned fully toward him.

"Hello."

Guise blinked, unsure of exactly what was happening right now.  He was so dumbfounded by this mare's response to seeing a changeling that he replied without thinking.  "Uh...  Hi."

The mare picked up her satchel, slinging it over her shoulder, then began fishing through it until she produced a pad of paper and a pencil with her dull red magic.  "So, what brings a changeling to Canterlot?"

Guise raised an eyebrow, puzzled and suspicious by her continued lack of concern with her situation.  "Excuse me?"

"Well, it just strikes me as a little ballsy for a strange changeling to be hanging around Equestria's capitol so casually," she said, idly twirling her pencil in the air.  "Does anypony know you're here?"

Guise was utterly flabbergasted by the unicorn's gumption.  To stare a creature like a changeling directly in the face and act so nonchalant about it was just reckless.  Who exactly was this mare?  Whoever she was, she'd asked a question.  At this point, booking it out of there would only raise suspicion and likely prompt her to inform the princesses of his presence.  Since he'd been discovered anyway, Guise decided it may be best to play along with this impromptu interview in hopes of getting this mare to keep her mouth shut.  But he had to pick the right answers to her questions; whatever seemed least threatening.

"Uh...  Yes?" Guise answered, hoping that pretending as though his presence was already known would prevent her from making a big deal of this.

However, she responded to that reply with a doubtful raise of her eyebrow, though she looked oddly intrigued.  "Alright, gonna take that as a 'no,' then."  She jotted something down on her notepad.

Guise was already growing tired of whatever this was, so he figured he'd get to the meat of the issue.  "Okay, what are you doing?"

"I'm just asking a few questions," she stated matter-of-factly.

"You're not... scared or anything?" he inquired.

"I'm reserving judgment until I get all the facts.  And your first response wasn't exactly encouraging, just to let you know."

"You realize you're not exactly in a position of power here, right?" Guise told her, his fangs glinting in the sunlight.

She wasn't fazed at all by his threat, raising her notepad and waving it lightly in the air.  "Am I not?  Your less-than-convincing answer just now tells me that you're here in secret, so all I have to do is tell the princesses about you and you're done."

Guise glowered at her, crouching slightly to present the threat.  "You think I couldn't just kill you before you got the chance?"

She pointed her pencil at him defiantly.  "If you wanted to kill me, you'd have done it by now.  You basically laid all your cards on the table already by still being here."

Guise straightened up again, letting his muscles loosen up a bit.  This mare was pretty brazen, he had to admit that.  It was hard not to respect her courage.  But the fact of the matter was that, despite what he'd claimed, she had a point: she had the upper hoof here.  So how was he getting out of this?

"So, can I continue with my questionnaire?" she asked, tapping the eraser of her pencil rhythmically on her notepad.

As much as Guise despised being the underdog, he really had no choice but to indulge this mare.  He just gave her a begrudging grunt.

"Do you have somepony you're siphoning love from?"

Guise hesitated to respond, but he could technically be honest with this one.  "No."

The mare seemed surprised by that answer.  "Really?  Having trouble landing a nice mare?  Or stallion?  I don't want to assume."

The changeling grimaced slightly, admittedly a little insulted by her insinuation that he couldn't woo somepony.  "For your information, I do have a girlfriend."

She nodded her head.  "I see.  Then she just doesn't love you yet, is that it?"

That one stung a little.  Guise was still a bit sore about the fact that he'd been dating Sweetmint for over a month now—around the same amount of time that Shade had been dating that pegasus girl—but he'd yet to get anything from her.

"So, if or when she does, what do you plan to do with that power?"  She turned her gaze toward Canterlot Castle.  "Assault the castle and overthrow the princesses?"

Guise didn't visibly react to her presumption.  It was a novel idea, if not a tad unoriginal, but his aspirations weren't quite that lofty.  And it was at this point that he may be able to make an argument for himself to get this mare off his back.  "Look, I know it might be hard to believe, but I didn't come here to cause trouble.  I just wanted to get away from the Changeling Kingdom."

"Uh-huh..."  She jotted down some more notes.  "If that's the case, then why do so in hiding?  There are friendly changelings just a town over.  It probably wouldn't be too shocking to the people around here if there was one more."

"Because I don't need you ponies breathing down my neck.  I don't intend to hurt anypony, I just want to live in peace without any prying eyes on me.  Is that too much to ask?"

The mare stared into his blood red eyes, looking for any signs of insincerity.  She simply shrugged.  "Alright."

Guise blinked, unsure if he heard that correctly.  "What?  Wait, really?  Just like that?"

"Well, I'd be a pretty big hypocrite if I distrusted you after what I just said.  I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt in the name of peace between our peoples.  Now it's on you to do your part and not make me regret it."

Guise let out a relieved sigh.  It was entirely possible that this mare was outright lying to him, but he wasn't about to pass on an opportunity to keep his identity and presence under wraps.  As much as he'd rather this whole thing hadn't happened to begin with, he was now going to have to trust this mare to keep her mouth shut.

The changeling gave her a somewhat smug grin.  "Trust me, you won't even know I'm here."

She chuckled quietly.  "Ah, you've got a sense of humor at least.  I like that."  She made a few more quick notes before replacing her pad and pencil in her satchel.  "Anyway, guess I'll be off.  As much as I'd like to chat more, I've got plans.  I'd say, 'See you later,' but I probably won't if you can help it, right?"

Guise didn't say anything.  He just watched as the mare waved and casually sauntered away, having no issues turning her back to a changeling.  This had certainly been an interesting development.  He'd been discovered, but she had claimed to be willing to trust him.  But like he said, this was never about whether or not the ponies would trust him or not.  Plus, at this point, he may have been in too deep.  Being revealed now might only cause some trust issues as a result of hiding his identity for so long already, so it was better for everyone involved if he just remained under the radar.


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


The rest of the afternoon was uneventful.  With his chores complete and having filled his belly with some tasty meat from his hunting trip, Guise returned home to take a nap on the couch while he waited for Sweetmint to return from work.  Persimmon seemed to have the same idea, the cat lounging with his legs extended on the back of the couch.

Guise wasn't entirely sure what time it was when he got back, nor did he bother checking, but he knew his hunting session had to be short, so he would guess it was pretty close to five at this point.  But even with how little time he had, he didn't even get that much after what happened out there.  He was still thinking about that, and it made falling asleep a little difficult.  He wasn't too pleased with having to trust a strange pony with the knowledge of his presence, and it was likely going to be something that popped up in his mind every now and then.  He was just going to have to try and push those thoughts from his head somehow.

The door to the apartment suddenly burst open.  "Surprise, asshole!"

Guise jumped with a start, tumbling off the couch and onto the floor.  Persimmon had a very similar reaction, bounding off in a panic toward the bedroom.  The changeling looked up, struggling to regain his constitution in his state of half-sleep.  Sweetmint was standing at the door with a triumphant grin, clearly satisfied by his reaction.  "The hell was that for?" Guise complained, rubbing his eyes.

Sweetmint simply traipsed in, throwing her satchel onto the kitchen table as she scanned the living room.  There was a look of pleasant surprise on her face.  "Huh.  Not gonna lie, I was kinda expecting this place to still be a mess."

"That's a weird way to say 'thank you,'" Guise deadpanned.  "Nice to know you've got so much faith in me."

"Oh, don't act all butthurt, princess," Sweetmint chided with a dismissive wave.  "Seriously, you need me to feed you compliments all day or something?  Your 'fragile' ego need some stroking?"

Guise raised an eyebrow at her as he sat back down on the couch.  "What's with you today?  I'm used to seeing you come home a little pissed off, but now you just sound...  Well, like kind of a bitch."

Sweetmint nodded with a quiet laugh, looking at him with a less smarmy, apologetic smile.  "Sorry.  I'm just trying to warm up for when my sister gets here.  We're probably gonna be taking verbal jabs at each other all day, so I gotta keep my wits about me."

"Do you two get along well?"

"Yeah, we talked about it this morning, remember?  My sister's practically my best friend.  It's too bad she can't visit more often.  I might get upset with some random nopony getting up in my business occasionally, but with her I know it's all in good fun."

"Hm.  Guess I've never had anypony like that in my life."

Sweetmint trotted over to him, teasingly tousling his mane and eliciting a slight scowl from him.  "Well, now you have me, so you better grow some thicker skin.  And don't expect my sister to pull any punches just because she doesn't know you.  She's pretty blunt, so just don't take anything she might say too personally."

Guise looked at the clock on the shelf as he fixed his mane.  "When's she supposed to get into town anyway?"

"Oh, she's probably already here.  She likes Canterlot, so she's probably off enjoying herself.  She knows what time I get off work, so she'll probably show up any minute now.  Honestly, I'm surprised she didn't drop in at Rocky's to say hi."

At that moment, there was a knock at the door.  Sweetmint smiled eagerly.  "Ah, speak of the devil.  She always was pretty punctual."  She hurried over to the door to answer it, swinging it open with earnest and more enthusiasm than Guise usually saw from her.

However, Guise most assuredly did not share in her enthusiasm once he laid eyes on the mare beyond the threshold.

You've got to be kidding me.

It was her; the unicorn mare that dropped out of the tree while he was out hunting.  The one person who knew there was a changeling in Canterlot, and she had to be Sweetmint's sister.  Could his luck be any more rotten?

"Hey, Sis.  Long time no see," Sweetmint greeted, giving her sister a welcoming hug.

"You waiting long?" the other unicorn asked.

"Nah.  Literally just got home."

"Then you planning to use the bathroom right now, cuz I could use a shower."

Sweetmint was now noticing the mess her sister was in.  Her mane was full of small twigs and leaves, and her clothes and coat were stained with sticky, yellow tree sap.  "Sheesh, you look like you spent the night out in the woods.  What the hell hap—"  She let out a groan, running a hoof down her face.  "For fuck's sake, you were spying on the princesses again, weren't you?"

"It's not 'spying,' it's 'investigative journalism,'" she corrected.

"It's an invasion of privacy is what it is.  Seriously, how many times do you need to be caught snooping around the castle before you learn your lesson?"

"Hey, give me a little credit.  I was at least a hundred feet from the wall this time."

Sweetmint just sighed and stepped aside.  "Just go clean up."

Before her sister could even do that, she only now noticed the stallion sitting on the couch and staring at her with his mouth slightly agape.  She eyed him up for a moment, looking confused, but intrigued.  That expression looked familiar to Guise.  Sweetmint observed as her sister analyzed the unfamiliar stallion, an unusually long silence having fallen over the apartment.

The mare appeared to be thinking something over, but after several tense seconds of scrutiny, she managed a smile, finally breaking the silence as she peered back at Sweetmint.  "You, uh... didn't tell me you were having other company over."  She shot a disapproving sneer at her sister.  "Please don't tell me you're trying to set me up on a blind date."

Sweetmint scoffed at the assumption, stepping over to her sister's side.  "Pfft, keep dreaming.  I already called dibs on this one."

The beige mare's eyes widened slightly, giving Guise another once over.  Guise could have sworn he saw a hint of amusement in her maroon eyes.  "Really?"

"Yep.  This is my boyfriend Crimson Neon.  Crimson, this is my big sister Daily Scoop."

Sweetmint was giving Guise an expectant look, obviously waiting for him to stand up and greet her sister.  He was understandably hesitant, but pensively got up from the couch to shake her hoof.

"Nice to meet you," Daily greeted with a friendly grin.

"Uh, yeah...  You, too..." Guise greeted back with audible caution.

Daily cast Sweetmint a snide smirk.  "You didn't mention you had a boyfriend in your letters."

The green mare rolled her eyes with a groan.  "Because I didn't want to give you the chance to write a list of quips in advance.  So if you wanna come up with any scathing remarks, you'll have to do so in the shower."

Daily flicked her hoof.  "Oh, please, I'm not that catty.  But we do seem to have a lot of catching up to do, so I'll make it quick," she declared as she dropped her black satchel on the coffee table and tossed her sullied clothes over the back of the couch before disappearing into the bathroom.

Sweetmint grimaced at the blazer and shirt transferring their filth onto her furniture.  "You know, my couch is not a laundry basket," she called out, but her voice went unheard—or simply ignored—through the sound of running water.

Guise let out a discreet sigh.  As unexpected as this was, it wasn't like Daily knew he was the changeling she'd met earlier.  All he had to do was keep up appearances until she left and he'd be fine.  Still, he wasn't sure how to feel about the fact that she was carrying around notes of his existence in her bag.

"So, what do you think?"

Guise tilted his head as he considered his answer to Sweetmint's question.  "She seems... nice."

"You're allowed to be honest," she told him with a smirk.  "Daily doesn't really care what people think of her.  I mean, she is a journalist."

He'd already gotten that impression from her.  She was staring down a changeling with not even an iota of fear just a couple of hours ago.  Now that he knew that the sister he'd been told about was that same mare, everything Sweetmint had said about her was starting to sound pretty accurate.  "I might need a little more time to get used to her."

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Sweetmint chuckled as she headed toward the fridge.

After a few minutes, the sound of running water stopped.  Daily came back out of the bathroom, her mane wrapped up in a towel.  At the same time, Persimmon finally reemerged from the bedroom to investigate the third voice in the apartment.  It didn't take long for Daily to notice him.  "Hey, there, Persy.  Glad to see your Aunt Daily?"

Persimmon sauntered down the hall, giving her a wide berth and turning his nose up at her as he made his way to the kitchen.

"Charming as always, I see," Daily deadpanned with a slight grimace.

"Catch."

Daily barely had to lift her head to snatch the beer bottle her sister had thrown to her with her dull red magic, popping the cap with a sharp fizz and taking an eager swig.  "You know what goes good with beer?  Ice cream."

"I see your tastes are as bizarre as ever," Sweetmint quipped as she pulled a plastic container out of the freezer.  She removed the contents—a slice of neapolitan ice cream cake covered in rainbow sprinkles—and placed it on a plate, passing it and a fork to her sister.

Daily wasted no time taking a bite, savoring the mix of flavors with a satisfied moan.  "Mmm, perfection, like always.  So, any luck getting Rocky to let you serve stuff like this?"

Sweetmint rolled her eyes with a disdainful groan as she cracked a beer of her own.  "What do you think?  That guy's about as stubborn as a concrete wall.  'Keep it simple,' is what he always says.  Jackass..."

Daily simply shrugged as though the response wasn't at all surprising.  "Maybe I should write an article about the top ice cream parlors in Equestria.  I could purposely exclude Rocky's Road to give him the kick in the flank he needs to step up his game.  Or, alternatively, I could include him, and the extra business he gets as a result would force him to diversify his menu options."

"Don't waste your time.  Like I said, he never listens.  But speaking of Rocky's, I'm surprised you didn't stop in for a visit."

"I would have, but I got..."

Guise eyed her up.  He had a feeling he knew why she didn't visit her sister at work, but how much would she actually reveal.

"...distracted."

Sweetmint gave her a skeptical look.  "By what?"

Daily shrugged.  "Nothing important."

Guise breathed an internal sigh of relief.  Apparently his trust was not misplaced.  If Daily was going to share the news of her encounter with a changeling with anypony, he'd have thought it'd be her sister.  But it seemed she was a mare of her word and intended to keep that information to herself.  Guise felt a little more comfortable knowing that.

Daily cast an interested look toward Guise as she took another bite of her ice cream cake.  "Well, I think we've beaten around the bush long enough.  I wanna know your story.  Crimson, was it?"

Guise nodded.  "Yeah."

Daily grabbed a chair from the kitchen table and brought it into the living room, sitting upon it and encouraging Guise to have a seat on the couch.  Guise was a little reluctant considering how eager she looked, but sat down and was shortly joined by Sweetmint.

"So, where you from, Crimson?" Daily asked first.

"Fillydelphia," he answered plainly.

With her magic, Daily retrieved her notepad and pencil from her satchel and began jotting notes, earning a suspicious look from Guise.

Sweetmint rolled her eyes.  "Don't mind her.  It's just a habit of hers."

"I like to have references handy for things, events, or people that interest me.  Don't think too much about it," Daily added.  "Anyway, what reasons did you have for moving to Canterlot?"

"I just felt like I needed to get away from everything, start over somewhere else," Guise answered honestly.  He had to answer honestly since that's the same reasoning he had given Sweetmint.

"I can understand that," Daily said with a nod, jotting more notes down.  "Sometimes life hits you hard and you don't have the means to strike back.  Mint was the same way."  She smiled at the two of them.  "Guess you two are like kindred spirits, huh?"

Sweetmint gagged at the comment.  "Sheesh, don't give us that 'fate' and 'destiny' crap.  Society's shit all ends up in the same sewer, so it just makes sense that we'd run into each other eventually."

"Not exactly a flattering analogy, but I'm with her," Guise agreed.

Daily shrugged.  "Well, at least you two lovebirds are on the same page."

A slight blush tinted Sweetmint's cheeks.  "Whoa, uh, let's not throw around the L-word all willy-nilly, alright?"

Daily looked between the two with a touch of surprise, her eyes lingering on Guise for a few extra seconds.  "Oh, sorry.  Thought you'd've reached that point by now quite frankly."

Guise was in that same boat, but as frustrating as it was, he knew trying to rush the issue would likely only make it more difficult in the long run.

Daily then gave the two of them a grin.  "But you guys seem to get along pretty well.  I mean, you're already living together."

"Yeah, but, admittedly, that was more for money reasons," Sweetmint said, scratching her neck.

"Still, it's nice to see my sister happy," said Daily with a fond smile.  "Last time I was here, you couldn't stop going off on your coworkers, or your neighbors."

"And I still do, but I have him to vent to now, so you don't have to sit there and listen to me complain."

"It's not like I mind.  What are sisters for?"

Guise glanced between the two, a question coming to mind that he figured he'd throw out there, if only to take the focus off himself for a bit.  "What exactly is the age difference between you two anyway?"

Daily curled her lip in thought.  "What, like, ten minutes?"

"Nine and a half, thank you very much," Sweetmint corrected insistently.

"You were the one who introduced me as your 'big' sister, Mint, and now your acting all indignant over thirty seconds?"

"I was being respectful."

"So, you guys are twins?" Guise inferred.

"Fraternal, but, yeah," Sweetmint confirmed.

"What about you, Crimson?  Any siblings?" Daily inquired, readying her notes.

Guise just shook his head.  "Nope.  I didn't even have anypony I'd call a friend, let alone family."

Daily tapped her pencil against he notepad, humming with interest.  "Hm, so, what, you grew up in the slums of Fillydelphia, fending for yourself?"

He just shrugged.  "I guess you could put it like that."

The beige mare scribbled something down enthusiastically.

"You know this isn't an interview, right, Daily?" Sweetmint told her with a smirk and a roll of her eyes.  "I get that you wanna know more about my new boyfriend, but I'm sure he'd like to get to know you a little better, too."

"I'm only here for a couple of days.  You can tell him anything about me after I'm gone, but I won't get another chance for a while."  Daily observed the bemused expression on her sister's face, and sighed in defeat.  "Alright, fine.  Ask away."

Suddenly Guise felt like he'd been put on the spot.  He honestly didn't know what to ask.  But this mare had dirt on him.  She didn't know exactly to whom she was talking, but she still essentially had ammunition to use against him if she felt the need or desire.  It would be in his best interest to learn a little more about this mare, just in case that information could become useful to him at some point.

"You said you were a journalist, right?" Guise started.

Daily lifted her head proudly.  "Freelance, but yes."

"What's that like?"

She lolled her head back and forth as she thought about her answer.  "Well, I get to travel a lot, but being freelance, that's at my own expense.  That's why I lug a carriage around wherever I go instead of taking the train.  Saves money on travel and accommodations while also keeping me in shape."

"Yet you keep coming back here hoping to get an interview with the princesses," Sweetmint teased.

Daily scowled with mock hurt.  "I come here to see my little sister.  I just try to meet the princesses while I'm at it."

"Even though you've already met them."

"I met them, yes, but I still didn't get my interview."

Guise cocked an eyebrow.  "You've met the princesses?"

Instead of answering, Daily shot a look to her sister.  "What, you never told him?"

Guise turned his own attention to Sweetmint.  "Told me what?"

"She's actually become kind of a celebrity in the journalism biz recently," Sweetmint told him.

Guise looked between the two curiously.  "And what does that mean exactly?"

Daily looked at Sweetmint, appearing insulted.  "You really haven't told him anything about me, have you?"

"He didn't even know I had a sister until today."

Daily crossed her front legs with an exaggerated pout.  "Guess I'm just not important enough to even mention."

"Oh, stuff it.  Here, just look."  Using her pink magic, Sweetmint hovered a newspaper from the shelf over to the couch to show Guise.  It was the same newspaper with the article about Shade's wedding.  "Daily was the one who wrote the article about the changeling wedding."

Guise's eyes widened, trying to restrain the incredulous gaze he was giving the beige unicorn.  As if this mare couldn't possibly have any more reasons to concern him, now this comes up.  "You were at the wedding?"

"Not just the wedding.  I was hanging around Ponyville a while before that.  Got a direct interview with Shade and Winter Maple.  Even got to meet the princesses while I was there."

"Yeah, apparently she'd become too important to even bother paying her little sister a visit while she was in the area."

"Hey, I had to get that article to a publisher before those other vultures beat me to it."

"You see what her 'extravagant' lifestyle is doing to us?" Sweetmint said to Guise, the tone of hurt in her voice belied by the snide grin on her face.  "She brushes shoulders with royalty and suddenly can't make time for me."

"Better than staying home reading those nerdy comic books of yours," Daily shot back with her own derisive smirk.

Sweetmint wasn't fazed by her attempt to insult her.  In fact, she took it as an opportunity.  "First of all, they're not comic books, their manga."

Daily waved off the correction with a scoff.

"Second, I'll have you know that Princess Twilight is a fan of manga, too.  And not just one, but a whole bunch."

Her sister didn't even blink, staring back with doubt.  "And how exactly do you know that?"

Sweetmint held a hoof to her chest and lifted her nose, speaking with the same haughty superiority as the people she despised in this city.  "Because we played host to the princess just recently."

"Psh, you expect me to believe that Princess Twilight came to visit you?  Yeah, right.  Pull the other leg."

"She did.  We actually spent a lot of time discussing Kohl the Sentinel.  Crimson was here.  Tell her, Crimson," Sweetmint instructed Guise.

Daily looked at him expectantly, but Guise just shrugged, having to suppress a slight grin of amusement.  "I have no idea what she's talking about."  He received an amused titter from Daily, as well as a firm slap upside the head from Sweetmint, though it didn't diminish his mirth.  "But joking aside, she's telling the truth."

"We got a signed copy of her book," Sweetmint added, producing the book to show her sister the signature on the inside cover.

Daily didn't seem impressed, just grinning patronizingly.  "That's cute.  I read an early draft of the book when I met her."

Sweetmint grimaced at her.  "It's not a competition."

"You brought up the princess visiting just to one-up me."

"Semantics," Sweetmint dismissed with a flick of her hoof.

Guise had to admit, now that he felt this mare was trustworthy enough to keep his presence to herself, he was actually enjoying her company.  She was just as snarky as Sweetmint, and seeing the two of them exchanging verbal blows was kind of endearing.

But some questions lingered in Guise's mind, though he was reluctant to ask them.  The topic had been brought up, so why not inquire?

"So, you covered the changeling wedding and interviewed them," he started.  "I guess you got to know them pretty well, huh?"

"I've been pretty curious about that myself," added Sweetmint.  "I haven't seen you in awhile, so I want to hear some of the details you left out of your articles."

"I didn't really leave anything out except the business with the kidnapping," Daily told them.  "I was kinda sworn to secrecy on that.  Seriously, it felt like the whole town was preparing to use me as a ritual sacrifice if I blabbed about it.  But they've since publicized that whole deal now.  I might actually head down to Ponyville after my visit here and see if they're willing to go into more detail about it."

"So?  What are they like?" Sweetmint asked eagerly.

Daily simply lifted an eyebrow at the question.  "What, you didn't talk about them with the princess when she was here?"

"Only briefly, but she's close friends with them.  I'm sure you're not shy about your own personal opinions of them."

"I don't know what you're expecting," Daily started with a shrug.  "They're perfectly nice people.  Maybe a little defensive when you start asking questions they don't like, but they're basically normal members of that town.  If it weren't for the fact that they were changelings, you wouldn't be able to tell 'em apart from everypony else.  Shade's kid even looks exactly like a pony, but with bug wings."

Sweetmint grinned at the mention of it.  "Right, the...  What are they calling him?"

"Halfing," Daily answered.  "You can only imagine how shocked I was to see that.  I went there to ask about the wedding.  I was not expecting to see a half-changeling baby when I got there."

"Was he cute?" Sweetmint asked with a giggle.

"The most adorable little amalgam I ever laid eyes on.  So spunky and playful that you'd never guess he went through such a harrowing experience."

Guise saw this as an opportunity.  She may have been friendly enough when they met earlier, but there was always the chance she had said those things to get herself out of a potentially dangerous situation.  Now that Daily wasn't face to face with a changeling—at least as far as she knew—this seemed like a good time to see if she was being genuine.

"So the changelings in Ponyville are friendly and everything, but what about the rest of them?" Guise inquired.

Daily looked him in the eye curiously.  "The 'rest of them'?"

Sweetmint placed a hoof gently on Guise's shoulder.  "You sure you wanna open this can of worms again, Crimson?"

"What's this about, then?" asked the older sister.

Sweetmint sighed as she started.  "Crimson is just concerned that they're not all good people."

Daily stared at the stallion inquisitively, remaining silent for a moment before answering.  "I mean, the same could be said for any race or species.  There are always gonna be good eggs and rotten eggs."

"But the changelings seem to be mostly rotten, don't you think?" Guise suggested.

Daily looked to her sister for a moment, observing the unsure expression on her face.  She then looked back to Guise and shrugged.  "Maybe, but doesn't that make the good ones all the more special?  If a person is willing to abandon the only life they knew in pursuit of something better, then they must be worth a second chance.  I mean, just look at you."

Guise flinched, his heart rate suddenly jumping up at her implication.

"You sound like you had a rough time of it in Fillydelphia, yet you seem perfectly happy here.  I'd say you were a hypocrite if you turned them away."

The disguised changeling breathed an internal sigh, relieved, but a little annoyed at himself for being so skittish.  In any case, he'd gotten an answer, and it was at least nice to know that her opinion was consistent.  He smiled at Daily in response.  "I never said I would, to be fair."

"It's also not like I wasn't fishing for anything suspicious when I was in Ponyville.  It's important to get to know a person a little before you start making assumptions, too."

Guise was pretty satisfied by her answer.  The more this conversation continued, the more relaxed he became.  While there was no guarantee that she would keep her word in the future, this whole experience could at least give him a little peace of mind.


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


The first day of Daily's visit was spent entirely at Guise and Sweetmint's apartment, just shooting the breeze.  Guise had gotten a pretty good read on the mare in that time.  She and her sister were a lot alike; bold, laid back, not afraid to speak their minds.  Daily had shown a tendency to get a little... personal with some of her questions, but Sweetmint was quick to reprimand her if she crossed any lines.  Honestly, Guise almost wished she could stick around longer; having another person like Sweetmint around could help counteract all the idiocy and smarm that seemed to permeate this city.  The only reason that was an "almost" was because of the knowledge she had.  Regardless of how much he may or may not enjoy her company, or how trustworthy she seemed to be, she was still a threat to him as long as she knew there was a changeling around.  She was likely to spend any extended amount of time in Canterlot trying to suss out which of the city's residents was the changeling in disguise, so the sooner she left, the safer Guise would feel.

But she was only around for one more day.  Tomorrow morning, Daily would be taking her leave of Canterlot once again. supposedly heading down to Ponyville to visit Shade and Chamella, if their conversation the previous day was any indication.  So Guise was actually kind of looking forward to hanging out with her a little more now that he was finished work for the day.

If nothing else, getting along with Daily might even help his relationship with Sweetmint.  And that was a point that had stuck out to him more now after Daily had surmised his situation during their first meeting.  Somehow, it was even more aggravating that he'd yet to earn Sweetmint's love now that somepony had caught onto that fact.  It hurt his pride as a changeling more than anything, and he was determined to treat that blemish.

Guise stepped out of The Soup Spoon for the day, eager to put his work behind him.  He was about to make his way straight to Rocky's Road to see if Sweetmint was ready to clock out as well, but was stopped by a familiar voice.

"Hey, Crimson."

It was Daily.  She happened to be trotting down the street toward him with a grin on her face.  Guise met her with a smile of his own—which surprised even him, if he were to be honest.  "Hey.  Good timing.  I was just about to go meet up with Mint."

"Same."  She glanced at the restaurant that he'd come out of.  "So, this is where you work, huh?  Food any good?"

Guise shrugged.  "No clue.  Never bothered to try it.  I'm stuck in the dish pit all day, so it's not like I get to taste test the stuff.  Little pricey for my tastes anyway.  And knowing what the rest of the staff is like, I don't really want to spend anymore time in there than I have to.  The chefs are always bickering, and the servers are all smiles until they come back to the kitchen and just gossip about all the customers behind their backs."

"Yeah, the public doesn't really see the behind-the-scenes crap in the food service industry.  I've actually written a couple of articles on the subject in the past, but people seem to prefer turning a blind eye to that stuff because they don't want to think too much about where their food comes from or how it's prepared.  I'm surprised a guy like you took a job like that, though I presume it was more out of necessity than desire."

"You got that right," he confirmed with a groan.  "I don't like keeping my trap shut when the people around me are being insufferable morons, but I can't risk losing my job.  I'm not just supporting myself anymore after all."

Daily grinned with a quiet chuckle.  "It's a little weird to hear somepony saying that about my little sis."

Guise looked quizzically at her.  "What's that mean?"

"You guys have been dating for, what, like, a month now?"

"Month and a half.  What's your point?"

"You know that's longer than any of her past boyfriends?"

Guise was actually a little surprised to hear that.  "She's never even mentioned past boyfriends."

"Not surprising, she's probably not proud of it.  Maybe she doesn't want me mentioning this, but I'm sure you know about her anger issues by now."

"I'm well aware, yes."

"Well, not everypony is willing to put up with that.  It doesn't help that her past relationships were with people who cared more about themselves than her.  She'd never admit it, but she's a good looking mare.  Could stand to do more with her mane, but that's besides the point.  The point is, she's attracted the wrong kinds of people in the past."

Guise stayed quiet.

Daily smiled pleasantly.  "But there's something different about you, Crimson.  I know it's only been a month and a half, but it's nice to see her with a guy who's willing to stick around in spite of everything."

Obviously she didn't know of his intentions.  If she knew who—or rather what—he was, she might see that he was no different than any of her past boyfriends.  Nevertheless, the comment managed to elicit a small blush from him, hopefully obscured by his already red coat.  "Yeah, well, it's like I told her when we first started dating: we're both fish out of water here, so we gotta have each other's backs."

Daily didn't make any further remarks on the matter, simply continuing to smile approvingly.  "Well, hey, let's not keep her waiting.  I wanna see if I can get some ice cream in me before they close up."

"Right.  But, uh, you might wanna..."  Guise pointed to Daily's styled mane.  The mare plucked a stray leaf from her hair, grinning awkwardly with a slight blush.  "Doing a little more 'investigative journalism'?"

"Don't tell Mint."

Guise chuckled.  "My lips are sealed."

The pair made the short walk to Rocky's Road, practically across the street from The Soup Spoon.  There wasn't much more going on inside than on any other day.  The place was devoid of customers for the time being, and the establishment's three employees were doing what they usually did—which is to say, nothing, save for Sweetmint.

Speaking of whom, the green mare was looking a little annoyed with how little her coworkers were doing to help her out, but that was expected at this point.  However, her face lit up when she saw both her boyfriend and her sister arrive.  Unfortunately, she didn't manage to get a word in to greet them before Tapioca could.

"Heya, Crimson," she greeted in a sultry tone as she walked up to him, tossing her mane and batting her fake eyelashes.

Guise grimaced slightly in disgust, carefully stepping around her and trying to avoid eye contact.  "Yeah, hi..."  He made his way to the counter, but Tapioca followed closely behind him.

"Tapioca," Sweetmint addressed sternly, prompting the other mare to snap from her entranced stupor.  "You're supposed to be cleaning up."

Tapioca rolled her eyes, returning to busing the tables.  Guise couldn't help but notice the coy grin she cast over her shoulder as she walked away, purposely swaying her backside in a blatant attempt to be enticing.  No chance in hell would he ever consider taking that bait, but Frosted Chips still cast an unintimidating glower in his direction, to which he responded with a more imposing scowl of his own.

"What are you looking at?"

Chips's glare immediately faltered, turning away and getting back to wiping down the tables.

Daily leaned on the transparent counter top, smirking slightly as she greeted her sister.  "I see your coworkers are as eclectic as always."

"Don't even get me started.  You've heard this song and dance before," Sweetmint grumbled.

"I don't mind rereading a good story."

"Yeah, well, I'd rather not go off about them when I'm about to head home."

"Think we could get a scoop before you clock out?" Daily asked, giving her little sister the puppy dog eyes.

Sweetmint couldn't very well say no to her sister, so she forced a smile.  "What flavor?"

Daily perused the selection of colorful dairy treats underneath the counter.  "Well, I'd be remiss if I didn't have a bowl of your mint cookie dough while I was here."

Sweetmint then turned to Guise.  "What about you?"

"Same," he answered.

"Alright, take a seat.  I'll have it ready in a minute," she informed them.  Guise and Daily sat down at the table nearest the counter as she prepared their orders.  She then placed the two bowls and a pair of spoons on the counter and waited, glaring in Tapioca's direction, who was too busy eyeing up Guise to actually do her job.  "Tapioca."

The distracted mare lifted her head.  "Hm?"

Sweetmint simply pointed to the two bowls, casting her coworker an irate glower.

"Oh, right."  Tapioca trotted energetically over to the counter, picked up the two bowls, and delivered them to the only customers in the building.  "Here you are.  Enjoy."

Daily gave her a rather patronizing, "Thanks," before she began digging in.  "Mmm...  Damn, I've missed this stuff."

Tapioca eyed up the mare curiously; particularly her mane.  "You know, your hair looks like ice cream," she commented, noting how her hair style and the white and brown stripes of her mane looked like a soft serve ice cream cone.  Tapioca then turned to Sweetmint, staring at her hair.  "And your hair looks like ice cream, too, Minty.  You two look like you could be related."

Sweetmint gawked at her coworker with a vexed and dumbfounded expression.  "You've met her before, Tapioca.  She's my sister.

The other mare seemed genuinely surprised to hear that.  "Huh?  She is?"

"Yes," Sweetmint answered with growing annoyance.

Tapioca stared at Daily again, who gave her a casual smile and a wave.  "Are you sure?" she asked, clearly confused.

"Sure that she's my sister?  Yeah, I'm pretty sure."

Tapioca tilted her head, her scrunched eyebrows making it look like smoke was going to start billowing from her ears if she tried to think any harder.  "I don't see it."

"You just said—"  Sweetmint had to forcibly stop herself from shouting, instead running a hoof down her face in exasperation.  "Just shut up already and get back to work..."

As Tapioca went back to cleaning tables, Daily took notice of the way Frosted Chips was staring at her—or rather, a specific part of her.  She smiled mischievously, giving Guise a silent look and gesturing to the distracted stallion.

Daily leaned on the table, looking right at Chips.  "Hey, Chips.  I'm madly in love with you and want to have your babies."

She received no response.  Chips just continued to stare at Tapioca.

As amused as she was, there was a hint of disappoint on Daily's face.  "You know, teasing him is fun and all, but it kinda sucks some of the enjoyment out of it if he doesn't react at all.

"You just gotta be more forceful," Guise told her.  He demonstrated by banging his hoof on the table, the loud noise causing Chips to jump with a start and look around as though he'd just snapped out of a trance.  His eyes finally met Guise's, the disguised changeling shooting him a mock glower.  "Hey!  You just gonna ignore this nice girl?" he scolded, pointing to Daily.

Chips glanced at the beige mare.  Daily stared back with half-lidded eyes and a seductive smile as she waved at him.  Chips just blinked slowly as though the situation were alien to him, and turned his attention back to Tapioca.

Daily snickered at the whole thing.  "Well, maybe not quite the reaction I was hoping for, but I'm entertained.  And, honestly, a little insulted."

"Yeah, I'm sure you want him staring at you the way he stares at her," Guise said with a smirk.

"You don't know what I want," she replied jokingly.   Daily spooned another mouthful of ice cream into her jaws, then stared with intrigue across the table.  "Speaking of which, I've actually been wanting to ask a little more about you, Crimson."

Guise raised an eyebrow.  "I feel like we talked pretty extensively yesterday."

"One evening is not enough time to get to really know a person.  And you're my little sis's boyfriend.  I need to make sure she found the right guy."

"Daily," Sweetmint addressed her tersely from behind the counter.  "I don't need you curating my romantic interests."

"What?  I'm just curious, that's all.  I've got a lot of questions left.  Come on, you know how I am.  There's no detail too small to leave out."

Sweetmint rolled her eyes with a reluctant huff through her nostrils.  "Fine.  But keep your questioning out of the bedroom, alright?"

Daily waved the request off, and everypony chose to ignore the disappointed sigh from Tapioca.  "Yeah, yeah.  Anyway..."  She turned back to Guise.  "From what you told me, you had nopony to rely on back in Fillydelphia.  No real friends, or family, or anypony worth putting your trust in.  That about right?"

Guise shrugged.  "Pretty much.  When everypony around you is either just as self-serving as everypony else, or too stupid for their own good, you've gotta learn to look out for yourself.  I mean, Canterlot's not any better apparently, but there was at least one person here who's worth spending time with."

Sweetmint smiled involuntarily at the remark.

Tapioca also grinned, holding a hoof to her chest.  "Aww, that's sweet of you, Crimson."

"Not you, shut up," Guise corrected with a sidelong glare.

"Surely there had to be somepony back home that wasn't as bad as all that," Daily presumed.

"I mean, sure, there were people who were around more than others, but it's like I told you before, I wouldn't exactly consider them friends."

"Right, right."  Daily absentmindedly jotted a few things down.

Tapioca leaned over to peer at the notepad.  "Whatcha writing?"

Daily held the pad against her chest to hide it from the mare's prying eyes.  "Just my personal musings.  Nothing you need to concern yourself with."

Tapioca backed off with a pout.

Daily turned her attention back to Guise.  "So, what were you hoping to get out of leaving Fillydelphia?  Did you have a plan?  A goal?  You said something about 'starting over' yesterday."

Again, Guise shrugged in response.  "Yeah, because when you're living a life as shitty as mine was, just leaving it all behind and starting anew with a clean plate seems like a viable option.  I've got enough ingenuity and resourcefulness to figure things out."

"Hm.  And your not shy about it either.  I like that," Daily said with a smile of admiration as she wrote something down.

Guise grinned proudly.  "It's like I told Mint on our first date: if you want something badly enough, you just have to take it.  Don't concern yourself with what other people think.  You might have to put up with a lot of crap sometimes, but if you're smart, determined, and a little ruthless, you can bend life to your will."

"Now that's a quote," Daily said with a chuckle, making sure to make note of that.

"He's something else, huh?" Sweetmint commented with a fond smile as she took off her apron and hairnet.  She walked out from behind the counter to give her boyfriend a kiss.  "You won't find any other guy in Canterlot like this one."

"Tell me about it," Tapioca agreed, practically swooning.  Her reaction elicited an emasculated huff from Frosted Chips.

Daily observed the way her sister was staring at Guise and smiled fondly.  "Not gonna lie, you two are definitely cute together.  It's nice to see you like this, Mint."

Sweetmint gave her sister a puzzled look.  "Like what?"

Daily waved dismissively.  "Nothing, nevermind."

"Well, if you wanna continue interrogating my boyfriend, can you do so back at our place?" Sweetmint continued.  "We were supposed to close up ten minutes ago, and I want to get out of here before anymore customers show up."

Daily and Guise finished the last of their ice cream, the former dropping some bits on the table to pay for them.  She gave Guise a grateful smile.  "For indulging me."

"Alright, Tapioca, Chips, finish cleaning up and lock up when you leave," Sweetmint instructed.

"Sure thing," said Tapioca as she waved goodbye.  "Bye, Minty!  Bye, Minty's sister!"  Her gaze then became much more sultry.  "Bye, Crimsy."

Sweetmint forcefully pushed her sister and boyfriend toward the door, Daily snickering the whole way.  "Just go, hurry."


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


Daily Scoop took her final bite of her toast, licking the remaining crumbs and dabs of butter from her lips.  Sweetmint and Guise did much the same as they finished off their breakfasts as well.

This was actually a little bittersweet.  After another day of getting to hang out with Daily, Guise and Sweetmint were getting ready to say their farewells.  Sweetmint expressed that she never liked saying goodbye whenever her sister left, as she was one of the few people in her life that didn't absolutely aggravate her.  And after this whole experience, Guise felt the same way.  Daily's blunt honesty, thick skin, and sharp wit were a breath of fresh air for him.  He had finally found somepony else aside from Sweetmint who he could relate to a little, and even respect.  It was just unfortunate that she couldn't stick around.  As a freelance journalist, she was constantly on the move, looking for her next big story.  But she was Sweetmint's sister; chances were, she'd be back eventually.

"Well, I'd better get going," Daily proclaimed as she got up from the kitchen table.  "I've gotta walk my carriage down this damn mountain without letting it run me over."

"Is there really any rush?" Guise said as he leaned back in his chair.  "Ponyville's not exactly far."

"Yeah, but it's just my first stop on my way back to Manehattan," said Daily as she slung her satchel over her shoulder.  "I wanna get as much out of my daylight hours as I can."

Sweetmint walked over to give her sister an affectionate hug, a sight that Guise was pretty sure he'd never seen—even the hug they shared when Daily first arrived was quick and eager as opposed to emotional like this one.  "I really wish you'd visit more often.  I miss my big sis when she's not around."

Daily shrugged in an effort to look detached, but couldn't keep the fond smile off her face.  "Yeah, well, you don't really need me around as much now, right?"

Sweetmint followed her gaze, her eyes meeting with Guise's.  Both Sweetmint and Guise seemed a touch confused, but didn't say anything.

Daily cantered over to the door, encountering Persimmon as he walked away from his food dish.  She attempted to run a hoof down the cat's back, but Persimmon ducked out of the way and kept walking, giving her a haughty flick of his tail.  "I'll miss you, too, jackass..." Daily deadpanned sarcastically.

As Daily placed her hoof on the doorknob, she gave her sister one last smile.  "I'll see you when I see you, Sis.  Try not to destroy the city before I can visit again."

Sweetmint chuckled at the lighthearted barb.  "No promises.  See ya, Daily."

Daily opened the door, but paused.  She looked back at her two hosts for a moment, her gaze fixated on Guise in particular.  "Actually, before I go, I wanna talk to Crimson for a minute."

Guise pointed to himself, not quite sure if he understood.  "Me?"

"Yeah.  Can you join me for a bit?"  Daily gestured for him to follow her outside.

Guise shared a confused look with Sweetmint, but she shrugged and nudged him along.

Daily and Guise stepped outside onto the second floor walkway of the apartment complex, walking a little ways toward the stairs and away from the door and window of Guise and Sweetmint's place.  Daily glanced around, seemingly keeping an eye out for anypony else in the area, but they were alone.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Guise asked curiously.

With a sigh, Daily turned to Guise with a rather serious expression.  "Look, I know I said I'd give you the benefit of the doubt, but I need to make sure my little sister's safe."

Guise blinked.  Had he heard that correctly?  "Wh-What do you mean by that?"

"You don't need to keep playing dumb.  I know who—or rather, what—you are."

Guise tried to maintain his composure, discreetly glancing around to ensure they were alone.  Had she really figured him out?  Of course, he knew that she knew there was a changeling around, but as far as she knew, she could just be throwing out a wild accusation at an innocent pony.  But the strange part was, if she was so sure she'd sussed him out, why hadn't she said anything, even to Sweetmint?  "And what exactly do you think I am?" he asked, trying to play coy.

Daily smiled slightly, the question practically the same as a confession to her.  "Come on, are you really going to fight me on this?  No offense, but you didn't really do a great job of hiding it."

Guise grimaced, insulted.  "And what's that supposed to mean?"

She chuckled.  "I saw the look on your face when I first walked in.  Some random stranger isn't going to react so shocked meeting a new person."

"But you wrote that article about the changeling wedding, right?  Your sister even said you were a 'celebrity' in the journalism world."

"But you didn't know that at the time.  But the real clincher was your story."

Guise quirked an eyebrow.  "My story?"

"A guy who dealt with a lot of hardship growing up, so he decides to leave home on a whim and start over somewhere else.  Sounds pretty similar to a certain other person I know.  Maybe one that I wrote an article or two about."

Of course, he knew about whom she was speaking, but that was hardly concrete evidence.  "You could say the same thing about Sweetmint."

"Maybe.  But you've also yet to outright deny anything."

Guise let out a defeated sigh.  Regardless of how much he tried to misdirect her, he'd learned enough about her in the past couple of days to know that she wasn't one to back down or doubt herself.  The question now was: what exactly was this conversation supposed to be about?  "What do you want?" he asked tersely, trying to keep his voice down.

"Listen," Daily started, the seriousness returning to her voice.  "You said that you weren't here to cause trouble, and I don't want to come off as prejudiced or anything, but it's hard not to have some doubts about this.  You understand, right?"

Guise felt similarly considering the knowledge of his presence was essentially in her hooves.  "Not that I'm complaining, but... why haven't you said anything?  You know your sister's boyfriend is secretly a changeling.  I don't want to tie the noose around my own neck, but don't you think that's something you should tell her?"

"It's like I told you the other day: I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt.  You want to live your life away from prying eyes, and I'm willing to respect that as long as you can respect others, particularly my sister."

"But what incentive do you have to keep my secret?"

Daily smiled at him.  "Remember what I said yesterday about Mint's past boyfriends?"

Guise stared quizzically.  "What about it?"

Daily glanced toward their apartment with a fond grin before looking back at Guise.  "You know, whenever I've come to Canterlot in the last three years to visit my sister, she's always grumbling and groaning about her dumbass coworkers, her snooty neighbors, or her money issues.  But these last couple of days...  I'll be honest, I'm not sure I've ever seen her this happy."

Guise didn't say anything.

"Look, I don't know what your ultimate goal here is, or whether your intentions here are selfish or not, but the fact of the matter is, Mint's life has clearly been better with you around.  Would I like you to tell her you're a changeling?  Sure, of course.  I'm not particularly fond of you lying to her, but I can at least understand why; even I'm not sure how she'd react if she found out, and like I said, she's been happier since you showed up, and I don't want to ruin that any more than you do."

All in all, this was pretty surprising for Guise to hear.  She was being unexpectedly understanding of his situation, and he honestly felt a little bad.  He knew this was a scenario that he shouldn't take for granted, but he just felt it was a little too convenient.  "So you're just going to trust me with your sister's well being?"

"You seem like a nice enough guy, assuming this isn't just some persona you put on whenever you're in disguise.  But considering you've been pretty much the same as when we met out by the castle the other day, I don't feel like that's the case."

"And what if it is?"

Daily smirked, her grin actually a little devious.  "Well, that's why I have this."  She opened her satchel, removing a small stack of paper and holding it in front of Guise.

The changeling leaned in to look it over.  There was a lot written on the paper and he obviously wasn't going to try and read everything.  But it was the larger words printed at the top that caught his eye.  "'In Plain Sight'?  What is this?"

"Surely you've noticed all the notes I've been taking since I got here.  Yeah, it's a habit of mine, but it's a habit with a purpose."

Guise finally caught her meaning, his eyes widening and glaring at her in shock.  "You're blackmailing me?!"

Daily grinned smugly with a forced sigh.  "'Blackmail' is such an ugly word.  I prefer to think of it as 'insurance.'  So, if I ever catch wind that you hurt my sister, then this little tidbit," she said, waving the papers at him, "is getting published.  Your little secret will be out, and I know you don't want that."

Guise just silently scowled at her.  No wonder she had been so willing to keep her mouth shut about it.  She had him under her hoof the whole time and he didn't realize it.  In a way, he kind of admired how underhoofed and cutthroat she was, but it didn't mean he was okay with her holding this over his head.

Daily could clearly see the look on Guise's face.  She replaced the draft back into her bag and gave Guise a nonchalant shrug.  "Hey, look at it this way: if everything you've told me in the past few days is actually true, then you have nothing to worry about, right?  You're just here to live your life in peace, aren't you?"

Guise loosened up a little.  She had a point.  Pretty much everything he'd said to her was true, so there really wasn't any threat here as long as she kept her word.  So he smirked confidently.  "You're right.  I don't have anything to worry about."

"That's the spirit," Daily exclaimed with a smile.  "See, that's why I like you.  You've got confidence and you don't take shit from anypony, and that's how I know my sister's in good hooves."  The smile suddenly faded from her face, her expression becoming more stern and concerned.  "That being said, there's one thing I need to know before I'll truly be okay with this."

"And what's that?" Guise asked with a cautious look.

"Do you love her?"

That was an important question.  It would've been easy to simply lie and tell her he did, but at the same time, Guise was still a little sour about the fact that Sweetmint didn't love him yet, and he still didn't understand why.

Daily could infer the answer based on his silence.  "So, when you said you just wanted to live in peace, did that mean you just needed food and a roof over your head?  If that's the case, why are you bothering with my sister?  Are you just after her love?  Are you no different than all the other changelings?  Is she just a tool to you?"

Guise knit his brow defensively.  Oddly, her tone wasn't accusatory or upset, but rather inquisitive.  But her questions elicited something in him: uncertainty, yet resolution.  "I don't know exactly where she and I stand right now, but what I do know is that I wouldn't be here without her.  I had doubts about living here when I first arrived, so it was surprising when I realized how much one person could affect my outlook on that.  Do I love her?  I wouldn't go that far, but I can say with genuine honesty that I respect and admire her.  I don't know how much that means to you, but there aren't many people I can say that about, and the ones I can are dead, so... interpret that how you will."

Daily closed her maroon eyes in thought.  "Well...  Maybe that's not what I wanted to hear, but I guess I can't expect every changeling to be as flexible as Shade and Chamella.  But, based on what those two have told me, just that much means you're definitely different from other changelings."  She gazed at the serious expression on Guise's face.  "But she doesn't love you yet either."

Guise practically flinched as she reiterated that fact, like he'd been slapped in the face.

"I find that to be a little strange considering the way she looks at you."

"What, you think she is in love with me?"

Daily shrugged.  "I can't really say that, I'm not an expert on relationships.  All I know is you two certainly seem to enjoy one another's company.  Would you at least consider her a friend?"

Guise thought that over for a moment.  He'd never had anyone he would have called a friend in the past.  Shade and Chamella were acquaintances at best and emergency food at worst.  Even Glory—one of the only people he actually respected—wasn't exactly his friend.  He owed her one, but that was it.

But was Sweetmint different?  He'd taken notice of how much he related to her, and that was one of the reasons he stuck with her this long.  He didn't know that about her when he first targeted her.  His justification for that was the fact that she was less cloying than everypony else around, but the more he got to know her on a personal level, the more things just seemed to... fit.

Guise looked Daily in the eye, still with some uncertainty.  "The term 'companion' has come to mind in the past, if that means anything to you."

Daily took a second to analyze that, but managed a smile.  "It's something at least."

Guise was genuinely surprised by her acceptance.  "Just like that, huh?  This is your sister we're talking about.  I figured you'd want what was best for her."

"I do, obviously.  And in comparison to her past relationships, you are the best thing for her.  Maybe you don't love her, but I can tell you at least care about her, which is more than I can say about her previous boyfriends.  So I'm willing to let you two work on this together because she seems to care about you a lot.  And, based on what I've seen and what you've said, I don't see any reason that you can't start feeling more strongly about each other.  Mint's happy, and you're not taking advantage of her as far as I can tell, and that's what's important.  I told you that if a person is willing to abandon the only life they knew in pursuit of something better, then they must be worth a second chance.  I don't want to find out I was wrong to trust another changeling.  But, just in case, I have my 'insurance' to help keep you in line."

Guise managed a small grin.  "And I'm going to make sure that you never have to resort to that."

Daily chuckled.  "That almost sounds like a threat."

"I didn't say it wasn't."

Her chuckle evolved into a louder laugh.  "Ah, I knew I liked you.  Even when somepony's got you cornered, you keep baring your fangs."  She held out her hoof to him, which Guise accepted without hesitation.  "It was interesting meeting you, Crimson, if that is your real name."

"Same."

"I do hope the next time I come for a visit that I can get to know the real you a little better."

"I can't make any promises on that, but, for the record, I have been pretty truthful about everything.  Though, whether or not you choose to believe me is up to you."

"I guess we'll see in due time, won't we?"  She turned to take her leave, but paused to look back at him once more, speaking with compassion.  "Take care of my sister, okay?  And don't give up on her.  She'll understand just how important you are to her eventually."  With that, Daily gave a quick wave and she descended the stairs, leaving Guise to his own devices again.

The changeling breathed a deep sigh.  This had been a rather interesting couple of days, to say the least.  Guise definitely had conflicted feelings about all this, but as long as Daily was true to her word, he should have nothing to worry about.  He had to wonder if she would keep this information from Shade and Chamella, but considering she wouldn't even tell her own sister, he felt he could trust her.  Still, if she knew as much about Shade and Chamella as she claimed, then it was probably a good thing that he never revealed his real name.  If she knew exactly who he was, then she might not feel quite as inclined to keep his identity a secret, especially from those two.

But he put it out of his mind for now.  There wasn't really anything he could do to stop her now anyway.  If she decided to stab him in the back, then she'd do it eventually, so there was no sense in fretting about it until it happened.  Besides, if she did, and she wound up ruining his new life for him, he'd just hunt her down.  So there was that to look forward to.

Guise reentered the apartment.  Sweetmint was quick to meet him with a look of curiosity.

"So, what was that about?" she asked.

He simply shrugged, though didn't try to keep the smug smirk off his face.  "Nothing important.  She just wanted to tell me how much of an honor it was to meet me and how lucky you are to have a guy like me."

Sweetmint rolled her eyes, giving him a weak slap in the chest.  "You're gonna wear out your lips if you keep tooting your own horn like that."  Despite her teasing, she wrapped a hoof around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss.  "But, if she did say something to that effect, I couldn't necessarily say she was wrong."

If he was being honest, Guise felt pretty good right about now in spite of everything.  While he was still uncertain how close he was to earning Sweetmint's love, he was still comfortable with where things were.  Sweetmint's sister had put her trust in him, and where he was now was pretty acceptable all things considered.  Maybe Daily's comments about his importance to Sweetmint had just gotten to his head a little, but he suddenly felt like there was no reason to rush things.  It still gave him a lot to think about.  Given how just one person made living amongst these ponies bearable, perhaps it wasn't just his importance to her that was worth considering.
> 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.
> Part 8 - Obstructive
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It felt like a rare occasion to see anything other than clear skies above Canterlot.  The local weather team had arranged for an overcast sky, which at this point Guise assumed was just an effort to make the city and its people seem at least a little humble; they already seemed like they were full of themselves, so basking in the splendor of Princess Celestia's sun all day everyday would have made them look pretty self-important.  But it was more than likely just in preparation for some rain later in the day.  That's usually how it went with these ponies and their manually adjusted weather.  Must have been nice to just pick and choose the weather whenever it suited them...

Guise took a sip of his coffee, a quiet sigh escaping through his nostrils.  He rubbed his temple lightly with a slight groan.  He'd had a bit of a headache since he woke up that morning.  He and Sweetmint had been drinking the night before, and she explained that one of the downsides of drowning your problems in alcohol was hangovers.  She teased him a bit when he rolled out of bed, insisting that they didn't even drink enough to warrant a hangover and accusing him of being a "lightweight."  He didn't fully understand what she meant by that, but he felt as though he should be insulted regardless.

He glanced across the street.  From his vantage point at the café where he was taking his break, he could see Sweetmint through the windows of Rocky's Road.  She was taking off her apron and discarding her hairnet, ready to take her own break.

Guise also couldn't help but notice that Tapioca seemed to be nattering on about something with an oblivious smile on her face, following Sweetmint all the way to the door until the green mare shut the door in her face to escape her inane chatter.  But Tapioca happened to look across to the café, her eyes meeting Guise's.  She gave him one of her trademark sultry stares, waving demurely at him.  Guise thought that odd considering what he'd said to her the day prior.  He'd made it abundantly clear that he wanted nothing to do with her, but apparently nothing could break through the barrier of stupid between her ears and her brain.

Sweetmint gave Guise a passing wave as she briefly stepped inside the café to get a coffee, promptly returning to sit with him, though didn't say anything right away.  She didn't even look him in the eye.  Guise noticed a perturbed look on her face.  She seemed to be pondering something.

"What's up?" he asked.

She took a sip of coffee and finally looked across at him.  "Tapioca's been acting weird today."

"What exactly constitutes 'weird' for her?" Guise asked derisively.

"Well, it's not like she hasn't been her usual brainless self, but for some reason she won't shut up today.  She's been yammering in my ear since she showed up to work and it's starting to grind my gears."

"How is this really that much different than any other day?  Just tell her to shut up and leave you alone."

"Normally I would whenever there are no customers around, but it's not the same.  She's constantly been bringing up our relationship, trying to pepper it into the conversation wherever she can."

"And that's surprising to you?"

"Look, I'm not gonna act like I'm blind here.  I know she has a thing for you, but she flirts with every good looking guy she crosses paths with."  Sweetmint swirled her coffee around in her cup, staring into it for a moment in thought before looking back at Guise.  "This isn't something I've ever really considered before, but...  Do you think I'm insecure?"

Guise quirked an eyebrow.  "Insecure?  About what?"

"About us.  I mean, I've seen the way you look at her when she's talking to you, and it's the same way I look at her, so I know I should have no reason to worry.  But every time she tries to hit on you, I start feeling like I have the same look on my face that Chips does."

Guise had to force back a mocking smirk.  "You're jealous?"

Sweetmint rolled her eyes, a blush quickly filling her cheeks.  "Shut up, I'm not jealous."  She let out a sigh, taking a small sip of coffee.  "But I do get irrationally upset when I see her flirting with you.  It's probably more so about how blatant she is about it.  It's pretty disrespectful to both of us."

"So even when I'm not around, she's still talking about me?  Geez, that girl's got it just as bad as Chips does."

"But that brings me to what's so weird about today.  It's not just you she's talking about, it's us."  Sweetmint leaned against the table, knitting her brow in vexation.  "She's been acting all sympathetic, like she thinks we're having issues."

Guise paused in the middle of taking a sip of coffee.  Now he was starting to understand what this was about.

Sweetmint looked him in the eye, curious, but agitated.  "She seems to be under the impression that we've been fighting, saying that we were here at the café getting into a pretty heated argument.  Now, I know we got a little tipsy last night, but I'm pretty sure we didn't drink nearly enough to forget anything, especially something that supposedly happened when we were sober."

Guise had a feeling something like this was going to happen.  He'd made the decision yesterday that he was going to stop being passive-aggressive and treat anypony who wasn't Sweetmint with the respect they deserved—which is to say, none—but there was a reason he'd originally chosen to keep his personality subdued.  Acting like a total jerk all the time was likely to cause problems, and that was already taking effect apparently.

But, this was Tapioca they were talking about here.  It'd be pretty easy to explain that away.  So, to that end, he nodded.  "Okay, I think I see where this is coming from."

"Enlighten me," Sweetmint requested, listening intently.

"I finally had enough of her shit yesterday and told her where she could shove it.  I guess she doesn't take rejection very well and is trying to get back at me by making up garbage about us to get us to argue."

Sweetmint practically laughed at the explanation.  "That's it?  Sheesh, I know she's not the brightest bulb in the box, but surely even she could come up with something more believable than that.  It is a little weird though.  I never expected her to be so petty.  I know she's pretty flirtatious, but you'd think she'd just let that stuff roll off her back.  Getting rejected by you must've cut her pretty deep."  She downed the rest of her coffee and stood up.  "Well, hopefully this means she'll stop flirting with you at least.  Seriously, it's still pretty shitty of her to so blatantly flirt with my boyfriend when I'm right there.  When is she gonna get a clue?  Anyway, guess I'll head back.  See you when you get off work, Crimson."  She gave Guise a quick kiss before heading back to work.

"Later."

Guise watched her saunter back across the street.  The moment she stepped back inside, Tapioca walked up to her and started talking again.  He wasn't sure what effect his lie would end up having.  Tapioca had been telling the truth—at least as far she knew—but Guise couldn't admit that.  Of course, Tapioca had this coming.  If she was going to act like a clueless bimbo and make moves on somepony who clearly had no interest, then she deserved to be rejected the way he'd done to her.  If she were smart enough to recognize his less-than-subtle signals, then this wouldn't be happening.


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


Guise stretched his back to work out the kinks induced from leaning over a sink all day.  Like most days, his false mane and coat were damp with a mixture of dishwater and sweat, but he unfortunately didn't have the luxury of the shining sun to help him dry off today.  In fact, as he left The Soup Spoon, he could have sworn he felt a drop of rain hit him.  Hopefully Sweetmint could finish up in a timely manner today so they could get home before it started to rain.

With that in mind, he hurried across the street to Rocky's Road.  Judging by what he could see through the windows, there appeared to be a few customers left, so it looked like it was going to be a little longer before they closed.  He figured he may as well have a bowl of Sweetmint's ice cream while he waited.

But the moment he opened the door, Sweetmint set her sights on him.  She stepped out from behind the counter and towards him.  "Good, finally.  Crimson, please tell her that we're good and she can stop obsessing," she commanded, pointing at Tapioca.

Guise looked at Tapioca.  She was wearing a rather unfamiliar look of frustration, but, of course, he knew why.

"I know I saw you two arguing yesterday, but Minty keeps saying it never happened.  Tell her, Crimsy," Tapioca pleaded.

Guise grimaced at the situation he'd stumbled into.  He didn't really want to be caught in the crossfire like this, but he was in it now.  He was obviously going to side with Sweetmint; he couldn't just say that it was Chamella he'd been speaking to, that would be way too suspicious.  What Tapioca thought about what she saw made no difference to him anyway.  He'd shown her enough sympathy yesterday, and he was done putting up with her nonsense.

"You're wrong," he told her plainly.

Tapioca's mouth hung open in shock.  "Huh?  B-But, I saw—"

Guise held up his hoof to stop her.  "Look, I did stop at the café for a coffee yesterday before going home, but Mint wasn't there.  I don't know who you thought you saw, but it wasn't her."

Tapioca's ears drooped, clearly struggling to understand the situation as she thought she saw it.  Guise assumed she must be very confused about all this, but that's what she gets for shoving her nose in their business.

"There, you see?  You're seeing things," Sweetmint said with a great deal of irritation in her voice.  "Now, stop acting like you care about our relationship, shut your gob, and get back to work."

Sweetmint returned to her station behind the counter, Guise accompanying her, but in front.  He requested a bowl of ice cream, but as Sweetmint was preparing it, he happened to glance over his shoulder.  Tapioca was just standing there, staring at him with a look of uncertainty and confusion.  Guise chose to ignore her, taking his dairy treat to a table to eat it.

However, he barely had a chance to take one spoonful before the cream colored mare appeared again in his peripheral vision.  Tapioca had wandered over to his table, eventually sitting down across from him.

Guise scowled across the table.  "What?"

"I...  I don't understand," she said quietly.

The changeling groaned internally.  It was pretty obvious that she wasn't going to drop the subject until she could make sense of it, so he may as well do something about it.  "Listen, even if Mint and me did have an argument, does that automatically mean our relationship is in trouble?  Couples argue, they make up, get over it."

"But why are you pretending it didn't happen?  I totally saw it, and you were really upset and stuff."

"Does that mean it's any of your business?  What, are you into couples counseling now or something?"

"I just don't see any reason for her to get mad at you.  You're such a sweet guy, Crimsy.  I would never get mad at you like that."

Guise could practically feel Sweetmint's glare pointing in their direction.  Given what she'd said earlier, he assumed Sweetmint had little tolerance for such talk right now.

"You told me yesterday that you two have a lot in common, but I don't see it," Tapioca commented.  "She's all mean and grouchy.  How can you like somepony like that?"

"Excuse me?"  Sweetmint stomped out from behind the counter again, glaring daggers at Tapioca.  "Are you going to say that it's impossible to like somepony like me?"

Tapioca shrunk back a little, but scoffed.  "You could be a little nicer sometimes.  I always try to be super friendly, but you just get mad and say mean stuff."

"Because you're an idiot!"

Tapioca flinched at the insult.

"Have I ever once suggested that I wanted to just sit and chat with you?  How am I supposed to be all chummy with somepony like you?!  There's more air in your head than there is brain!  The only reason you even have a job here is because you walk around shaking your ass everywhere!  You take days off and come in late whenever it suits you with no repercussions, and when you do decide to come into work, you barely do anything other than spout nonsensical comments and flirt with customers!  And you get paid more than me!"

Guise sat quietly with his mouth slightly agape as Sweetmint laid into Tapioca.  Had this happened a day ago, he might have stepped in to try and calm her down, especially since there were customers present who were staring at them.  But now that Guise had resolved to stop caring about anypony who didn't matter to him, he actually wanted to see this happen.  So he just sat there and watched this unfold.

"But you don't even have to think, do you?" Sweetmint continued, her tirade not letting up.  "No, you just have everything you want served to you on a silver platter while I have to work ten times harder just to get by in life!  And to make matters even worse, you have the audacity to try and make moves on my boyfriend right in front of me!  You expect me to be nice to you after that?!"

Tapioca stood up defensively, but her expression didn't seem too steadfast under Sweetmint's ever-building rage.  "I-I was just being playful."

"Bullshit!  If you were just being playful, you should have backed off when it became obvious that neither of us were happy about it!  And now you're pissy about being shot down by him so you're trying to fabricate drama to start something!  Stop trying to butt into our love lives so you can try and weasel your way between us!  Why would he even be interested in somepony like you?!  Nopony wants to be with somepony as stupid as you!"

Tapioca's lip began to tremble, her eyes looking to be on the verge of tears.  However, she knit her brow regardless.  Despite how much she was being verbally torn apart, she still appeared to have some will to fight back.  "At least I would treat him better than you!  Crimson shouldn't have to put up with your dumb anger issues.  A sweet guy like him deserves a girl who's just as nice, not some angry... bitch!"

Sweetmint's pupils narrowed like a feral beast.  That last insult was what pushed her over the edge.  Without warning, Sweetmint violently shoved Tapioca away, causing the other mare to stagger backward.  She collided with a chair and tumbled backward onto the floor.  The customers present gasped in shock, but appeared to be too stunned to move.  Frosted Chips, having been silently observing the entire exchange, suddenly rushed over to Tapioca's side, though stopped short as the fallen mare propped herself up.

Tapioca stared up at her attacker, a hurt and fearful look in her eyes.  Sweetmint was the exact opposite; she glared icily down at Tapioca, no remorse whatsoever on her face.

"You don't know anything about us or our relationship," Sweetmint growled furiously.  "You think I don't care about him?  I love Crimson more than anypony I've ever been with, and I don't want you assuming that I don't treat him with the respect he deserves."

Guise's eyes went wide.  Did he hear what he thought he'd heard?  Had she even realized what she'd said?

"Now get this through your thick skull: I don't ever want you to say another word to him, got it?  Take a hint," Sweetmint ordered, her voice oozing with venom.  And that was the last word before she went back to work.

Tapioca stood back up, albeit shakily, but didn't say anything.  She looked Guise in the eye one more time, looking as though she expected him to say something in her defense.

Admittedly, this may have gotten a little out of hoof.  But given the mood Sweetmint was currently in and despite wanting to inquire about what she'd said, Guise decided it was in his best interest not to say anything that might set her off again.

Seeing that Guise wasn't going to try and defend her, Tapioca hurried off to the back room for a little privacy.  The customers present took the opportunity to discreetly get up and leave, not even finishing their ice creams.  Chips just stared at the door to the back room, clearly wanting to go console Tapioca, but not having enough nerve to actually do it.

Guise turned to Sweetmint.  Her face was beet red, the rage still boiling in her expression.  She was fixing herself a bowl of ice cream, likely to help cool her head a little.  Guise half-expected the dessert to melt just by being in such close proximity to her.

This had been a very unexpected turn of events.  All things considered, it may have been better if that hadn't happened, but because of this, Guise discovered something that piqued his interest.  He just needed some clarification.

Guise stood up and approached the counter.  "Mint, you okay?"

"Go home, Crimson," she told him, her voice still as icy as it was when she was yelling at Tapioca.  "I know I usually like having you around to help me calm down, but I don't really want you here for this right now, okay?  I think I need to be alone for a while.  We can talk we I get home."

Guise frowned.  He wanted a more definitive answer, but he wasn't likely to get Sweetmint to open up about anything right now.  So, he just did as she requested and left.  Hopefully, she'd be able to keep her emotions in check well enough as they closed up to not cause anymore harm.  He wasn't entirely sure why he cared whether or not she had hurt Tapioca, but a part of him felt like she may have gone a tad overboard this time.


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


By the time Guise had gotten back to the apartment, rain had started to fall.  It was only a light drizzle for now, but based on how quickly it had come on from the time since he'd left Rocky's, it was likely only going to get heavier.  Guise only had to make a brief trip to the bathroom to dry off his mane, but it was easier to momentarily shift back to his changeling form to wipe off the rest of his body, then back to his disguise with a relatively dry coat of fur.

Guise wandered back to the kitchen, throwing a bowl of noodles in the microwave and topping up Persimmon's food and water.  Once his own food was ready, he took the bowl over to the couch to sit back and relax.

Of course, he didn't actually do much relaxing.  It was hard not to think about what had just happened at Rocky's.  Guise had seen Sweetmint get upset, and she had regaled stories to him about instances of violent tendencies, but he'd never actually seen her attack somepony until today.  All things considered, it could have been worse.  All she did was push Tapioca, and she didn't seem hurt—not physically anyway—but it was still a little shocking to see.

Guise was all for giving somepony their comeuppance, and Tapioca definitely had it coming for how much she had made Sweetmint's life more difficult.  He was honestly kind of proud of Sweetmint for finally putting the airhead in her place.  She was taking his advice and letting the people who annoy her most know how she feels.

So why did he feel like he wasn't enjoying this as much as he should?  Maybe it was Sweetmint's reaction.  Despite taking his advice, she didn't seem too satisfied by what she did.  Whenever Guise got angry, it always made him feel better to take it out on somepony.  Was it different for Sweetmint?  Was her anger not an outlet to relieve frustration and stress like it was for him?  He expected her to revel in it, not continue to stew.  But they would talk about it when she got home.  He was curious about what exactly was going through her head right now and how she felt about this.

But it was taking her a while to get back.  Guise had finished his noodles, and had even started looking through Twilight Sparkle's book to brush up on his reading.  At this point, it had been almost an hour since he'd left Rocky's Road and Sweetmint had yet to return.  After what had happened, he expected she'd want to get home as soon as possible so she didn't have to look at Tapioca's face anymore.  He had to wonder what was holding her up.  The rain had since picked up, creating a chorus of white noise against the walls and roof of the building.  Maybe she was waiting for it to let up a bit before trekking home.

But, eventually, Guise heard the sound of hoofsteps on the walkway outside.  They were rather aggressive stomps that he could practically feel from inside.  He could safely assume who was causing that, but a flash of green and white through the kitchen window was the clincher.

The door burst open suddenly, threatening to tear the hinges out of the wall.  Guise didn't even have time to register the face of his girlfriend as her satchel was violently thrown across the apartment with a furious shout, bouncing off the coffee table and scattering everything upon it onto the floor, along with a trail of water droplets.  Guise watched, wide-eyed, as Sweetmint, soaked from horn to hoof in rainwater, clomped over to the fridge to grab a beer, flicking the cap onto the floor and chugging half the bottle in one go.

Guise expected that she would still be in a bad mood when she got home, but if anything, she was even more upset than she was earlier.  He could have sworn he saw the water dampening her face evaporating into steam.  "Whoa, you okay there?"

Sweetmint shot a rage-fueled glower toward him.  "He fired me!"

Guise blinked, still a little befuddled.  "Who did what now?"

"Rocky," she elaborated, grabbing almost every bottle of beer they had in the fridge with her magic and taking it over to the coffee table.  "He came by after you left, found out what happened, and fired me!  Can you believe that shit?!"  She plopped herself down on the couch next to Guise, paying no mind to the moisture soaking into the upholstery.  "Persy!"

The cat almost immediately hopped up onto the back of the couch and wasted no time cuddling into his owner's mane, despite how wet it was; a testament to his dedication to comforting her.

"So, wait, you lost your job?" Guise asked, wanting to make absolutely sure he understood correctly.

"That's what 'fired' means, yes," she snarled, taking another sizable gulp from the bottle.  "This is bullshit.  I'm the only reason he managed to keep that place open for three years, and he has the gall to cut me loose.  And for what?  In defense of that dumbass bitch?  When are men gonna learn to stop thinking with their fucking dicks?!  There's no way he doesn't realize how little she actually contributes to his business.  Does he actually think that her good looks are enough to keep customers coming in?"

"So who's gonna make the ice cream without you around?"

"What the fuck do I care?  The place can burn to the ground now, I don't give a shit."  She downed the rest of her first bottle and immediately grabbed another one.  "But it'll probably be Rocky.  He at least knows how to make ice cream.  He just hired me so he wouldn't have to and could focus on just managing.  I don't know, he might make Chips learn something to actually help out for once."

Guise sat quietly for a moment, thinking this over.  "So...  What now?"

Sweetmint didn't respond right away, just staring at the far wall and stewing in her anger, though Guise could see a hint of uncertainty in her eyes.  She took another swig of beer and let out a long sigh.  "I don't know, and I'm in no mood to think about it right now.  So, the plan for now is to get drunk and talk shit about those assholes."  She offered a bottle to Guise.  "Care to join me?"

Guise contemplated the offer.  This seemed like a pretty serious situation, but he wasn't likely to be able to have a civilized discussion with her about it when she was like this.  He would have to wait for her emotions to simmer down so they could go into it with level heads, and if he joined her in drowning her problems in alcohol, maybe he could expedite the process.  So, to that end, he shrugged and took the bottle.


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


"So, she says...  She says, 'Like, you never taught me how to mix the ice cream.'  So I'm like, 'Tha's why I'm tryin' to show you, moron.'  I mean, how are you s'posed to learn if nopony shows you, huh?  'Oh, but I'm gonna get it all over my hooves.'  Suck it up, princess."

Guise chuckled, perhaps a little more than what Sweetmint's story warranted, but everything seemed more entertaining in his current state.  "Tha's a pretty good impression of her," he commented, his laughter causing him to wobble in his seat.

"Tha's because I hafta listen to it all day," Sweetmint groaned.  She grinned, practically giggling already.  "Hey, I can do an even better impression of Chips."

Guise observed with interest—or as best he could with how distorted everything looked right now.  "Le's hear it."

The two of them just sat there in complete silence for several moments, Sweetmint visibly struggling to hold back her childish laughter.

"Are you...  Are you gonna do it?" Guise asked, wondering if he had missed something in his addled state.

"Pfft, I just did," she tittered in amusement.

Guise struggled to understand, knitting his brow as he wracked his brain.  "I don't get it.  I never heard 'im talk, so I dunno what he sounds like."

"Tha's the joke, dumbass!" Sweetmint slurred teasingly.

She burst into laughter in response to his obliviousness and collapsed against him.  Guise didn't currently possess the equilibrium to endure her weight, so the two of them fell lazily onto the couch cushions, Sweetmint giggling like a ninny and Guise just trying to keep his eyes open and prevent himself from passing out.

Sweetmint propped herself up onto Guise's chest, running a hoof over his fake, crimson fur.  Guise figured she was going to lean in for a kiss, though he may have been mistaking her drunken, half-lidded stare for a sultry gaze.  It must have been the former, because she groaned as she turned to the coffee table.  She clenched her eyes shut, her horn flickering weakly with pink magic as she grabbed a near-empty bottle and slowly and carefully hovered it over to herself.  She put it to her lips and threw her head back to guzzle down what was left, but appeared disappointed by how little she got out of it.  She haphazardly dropped the empty bottle on the floor, giving Guise a firm pat on the chest as she laboriously crawled off the couch.

"I'm gonna see how much we got left."

With Sweetmint's weight lifted from him, Guise finally found the strength to pull himself up against the arm of the couch in time to see Sweetmint stagger and faceplant on her way to the kitchen.

She groggily got back up with a grumble.  "Fuck's sake, Persy, don't run in front of Momma like that."

Guise glanced over his shoulder to the other end of the apartment where the tabby cat was sound asleep in his bed.  At this point, he wasn't actually sure which of them was the one who was seeing things.

This had been a new experience for Guise.  The day before, he and Sweetmint had a few drinks and got a little tipsy, but right now, he felt like his brain was out to lunch.  His vision was blurry, he could barely sit up straight, and he struggled to form complete thoughts.  Half the words that had come out of his mouth in the last couple of hours just kind of fell out without being prescreened by his brain first.

Apparently, this was a somewhat regular exercise for Sweetmint.  She had told him that she liked to get drunk after a disaster of a day, but even with how emotionally unstable she was, those days were still few and far between.  This was the first time he'd seen her any more than just a little wobbly.  She was having to use the kitchen table and the counter just to keep herself from falling over again on her adventure to the fridge.  She seemed to have a little better control of her faculties than Guise did, though.  He felt like his legs would turn to paste if he tried to stand up.

But his observations during this time certainly yielded an interesting contrast.  It was astounding how positively alcohol affected Sweetmint's mood.  Earlier that evening she was on the verge of bursting a blood vessel, but now she was giggling like the idiots she was disparaging.  They'd spent the entire evening talking smack about Tapioca, and Chips, and Rocky, and anypony else they could think of that crossed them in any minor way possible.  So even if Guise was having difficulty just keeping his eyes straight, he had to admit that he was enjoying himself.

"Hey, guess who jus' found two more bottles at the back of the fridge~" Sweetmint sang victoriously, holding her trophies aloft.  She made her way back to the couch, treading much more carefully now that she had precious cargo in tow.  She passed one to Guise and plopped herself down again.

Guise watched as she twisted the cap off, tossing it onto the coffee table with all the others, and took an eager swig.  He found himself staring at the content smile on her face.  Even if the purpose of all of this was to forget ones troubles, he still found it difficult to believe that alcohol would so easily put recent events out of her mind.  Maybe now wasn't the best time to bring it up and risk souring her good mood, but by the time that thought entered his mind, his mouth had already spoken the words.

"So what're you gonna do now that you don't have a job?"

Sweetmint scrunched up her face.  Guise couldn't tell if she was upset that he'd brought it up, or if she was just thinking about it.  "I don't wanna really talk about that right now.  We're s'posed to be forgetting about that for now.  S'probly something we should discuss when we're sober," she slurred quietly.

Guise gave in surprisingly easily after that, though he chalked that up to his brain maybe not being in the best state to argue something as important as that.  Still, he'd brought it up for a reason, even if he wasn't entirely sure of the reason himself.

Sweetmint watched as Guise took a sizable gulp of beer, smirking proudly at him.  "Ya know, I gave you some crap for being a lightweight yesterday, but for a first time drunk, you're holding your own pretty well."

Guise glanced at the bottle in his neon green grasp.  For as bizarre as it felt being drunk, there was a strange feeling of familiarity that came with it.  There was a faint, euphoric sensation that he could swear he'd experienced before.  And that made him think of something.

"Didja mean what you said earlier?"

Sweetmint stared quizzically.  "Wha?  Wha'd I say?"

"You said you loved me more than anypony you've ever been with.  Wazzat true?"

Her eyes widened a little.  "Did I say that?"

"I think so," said Guise, starting to feel unsure himself.  "It kinda stuck in my mind."

Sweetmint tilted her head, almost losing her balance in the process.  "Mmm...  Maybe I did."  She let out a long, remorseful sigh.  "Don't take this the wrong way, hun, I care about you a lot, but I dunno if I shoulda dropped the L-word so soon.  I wasn't really thinking about what I was saying."

Guise wasn't entirely sure what to make of that answer.  He was a little disappointed to hear that, but he also wondered if she really would have blurted that out if she hadn't meant it.  "So... you don't love me?"

Sweetmint leaned against his shoulder.  "Don't say it like that.  I know this isn't exactly what anypony in a relationship wants to hear, but it's not you, it's me."  She took a deep breath through her nostrils.  "Can I let you in on a secret?"

Guise raised an eyebrow.  "Uh, sure."

"I don't exactly have a great track record when it comes to relationships."

Guise said nothing.  He'd already heard as much from her sister about the kinds of guys she's dated in the past, but he stayed quiet to let her continue.

"I told myself a long time ago that I need to stop letting my guard down around guys I like.  I have a tendency to get too attached too quickly, and it takes me too long to realize how shallow they all are.  I've been burned too many times, so I've been forcing myself to hold off until I'm absolutely sure.  Thing is, I don't know how long I have to wait to feel confident about it anymore.  How soon is too soon?"

"So you're worried that I'm just like all those other guys," Guise surmised.

"I don't want to think that, but I can't help it.  Like I said, I really like you, Crimson, but I'm afraid if I say it too soon, I'll end up getting hurt.  And if I wait too long to say it, I might hurt you.  It's one of those, uh...  Whatchamacallits...  Catch-twenty-twos?  I think that's it."

Sweetmint looked up to see the expression on Guise's face.  He was staring back down at her, looking a little confused, but that may have been the alcohol.  Still, she managed to smile again.  "But...  I dunno, maybe I'm just falling into the same trap again, but you've been so accepting and supportive...  I went into this relationship telling myself to stay under control, then on our second date I just exploded.  And you stayed with me.  Not only did you stay, you encouraged me.  So, I really do feel like you're different from the others."

Guise didn't comment on all of this.  He didn't necessarily need to hear her say "I love you," he could determine that himself.  He was surprised that she could be so lucid despite being drunk, but he also figured she wouldn't have opened up like that if she were sober.

She lifted her head from his shoulder, looking into his eyes apologetically.  "You're not disappointed, are you?"

If he said he was, he'd only seem like those other guys she dated.  But the truth was, he wasn't disappointed.  Regardless of how she thought she felt, Guise was now more confident than ever that they were on the right track.  So he shook his head with a drunken grin.  "Nah.  I'm not an expert on relationships or nothin', so if you're not ready to say it, then whatever.  Take your time.  S'not like I'm ready to say it either.  Honestly, I really like you, too.  I like hanging with you, you're one o' the toughest bitches I've ever met.  There was only one person I knew that I respected as much as you, so it don't really bother me if you got some emotional or commitment issues.  S'nice just to have some companionship in a world tha's just been crapping on me lately."

Sweetmint leaned toward him.  "Well...  Tapioca was right about one thing at least: you are a sweetheart."  She gave him a tender, but somewhat sloppy kiss.

Guise grimaced at the sappy compliment.  "Don't you start calling me that."

She giggled at how much deeper the red in his cheeks was getting.  "Hey, want some ice cream?"  She rose from the couch again, accidentally kicking a few empty bottles they'd left on the floor, and wobbled her way to the fridge again, returning to the couch with a couple of slices of ice cream cake.

Guise wasn't entirely sure how well ice cream went with beer, and his stomach didn't exactly feel as though it was in the best condition, but his brain wasn't in any shape to properly consider the consequences.  He enjoyed the flavor and texture of the ice cream cake, moaning with delight.  "Rocky doesn't know what he's giving up."

"Tha's what I told him!  I told him if he just added stuff like this to the menu, he'd get a ton more customers.  All the other ice cream shops in Canterlot have limited selections, too, so we'd have a leg up if we diversitified a little."

"Diversi-what?"

"That's just another reason for me to open my own place.  I'd have so much shit on the menu, it'd make Rocky's head spin."

Despite her drunken rambling, Guise had to admire the determination in her eyes.  She was opening up a lot tonight, and for some reason, he felt like he owed her something.  Maybe it was the alcohol messing with his brain, but he had an idea.  "Hey, wanna see something cool?"

Sweetmint's curiosity was piqued, like a foal who'd been offered a present.  "Something cool?"

"Yeah.  Since you shared a secret with me, how 'bout I share one with you?"

She leaned forward excitedly.  "Lay it on me."

Guise smirked, and with a lack of hesitation that surprised even him, he enveloped his body with magical, green flames.

Sweetmint's eyes went wide with shock and wonder, for sitting with her on the couch was no longer a pony, but a changeling.  "Whoa...  How'd you do that?" she breathed, leaning closer in disbelief.

Guise chuckled, lifting a hoof to his lips.  "Shh.  I said it's a secret, 'member?"

She curiously raised a hoof and tapped one of Guise's pointed fangs, eliciting an annoyed grimace from the changeling.

"Stop that."

"That is cool.  I didn't know you knew magic like that.  Hey, check this out."  Sweetmint grabbed his fork that he was using to eat his ice cream cake and, along with her own, stuck both of them in her mouth to emulate a crude depictions of fangs.  "I can do it, too."

Guise couldn't help but laugh at her nonsense.  "You look like an idiot."

"Takes one to know one."

"Gimme that back."  Guise snatched one of the forks from her mouth to continue eating.

With no lack of intrigue, she watched him bite into his snack.  "So, are you, like, a vampire or something?"

Guise cast her a quizzical look.  "Wha?  No.  Uh, I mean, kinda, I guess?  In a sense?"

"Do you drink blood?"

"Not from a glass or anything, just from the little bunnies and mice and stuff I eat."

"Gross."  Despite the brief comment, Sweetmint still smiled and giggled.

"I like your ice cream better, though," Guise admitted, packing another big mouthful into his fanged maw.  "Ish sho tashty."  He shuddered, his eye clenching shut in pain.  "An' cold..."  Guise blinked, an odd and intriguing thought coming to mind.  "What would blood ice cream taste like?  Oh, or blood ice cream cake!"

"I don't care how drunk we are, I ain't makin' you no blood ice cream."  She leaned into him resolutely, her warm fur rubbing against his smooth chitin.  "But when we do open our own place, ice cream cake it gonna be one of our centerpieces."

Guise quirked an eyebrow.  "'Our'?"

"Well, duh.  What, you wanna be on dish duty your whole life?  Oh, hang on."  She got up from the couch again and staggered to the bedroom, returning about a minute later with a pencil and some blank sheets of paper.  She sat down on the floor next to the coffee table and began to doodle and scribble messily.  "I've got ideas and recipes for all sortsa shit I want at my place.  Sorbet, sundaes, floats, banana splits...  And that's jus' the menu.  Wait'll you see what I want the place to look like!"

Guise just stared at her.  He was surprised at how quickly she'd gotten past the fact that her boyfriend was a changeling.  She was really all over the place when she was drunk.  Now she was just fervently drawing up plans and recipes as though she were completely sober, though her penmanship suggested otherwise.

She cast a crooked smile over her shoulder at him.  "C'mon.  Help me out here."

As puzzling as this all was, Guise was in no state of mind to argue.  So he just shrugged, stumbling off the couch and sitting next to her on the floor.


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


Guise stirred in his slumber, grumbling incoherently to himself.  A blinding light was assaulting his eyes, even through his eyelids; it felt the same as if he were staring directly into the sun.  If that weren't enough, his head was pounding.  He hadn't felt a throbbing pain like this since he got his ass kicked by Wraith.  It was like some tiny, unseen musician was belting out a raging drum solo inside his skull.  An off-putting odor pervaded his nostrils, but he presumed it to be his own breath since it smelled and tasted like beer and regret.  He also had an uncomfortable kink in his back, but he didn't yet have the strength to move from where he was.

Speaking of which, he had no idea where he was.  All he could tell through his headache and his state of half-sleep was that he definitely was not in bed.  Guise laboriously peeled his eyes open, his eyelids feeling as though they had been glued shut and also weighed a hundred pounds each.  To add to the effort was the piercing light, giving him even more incentive to just lay there and try to get back to sleep, but his headache was going to make that difficult.  So he found himself in a bit of a conundrum.

But his eyes were open now, and after a few moments of adjusting, he was able to identify the light as simply the morning sun shining through the kitchen window.  The sky was still slightly overcast and moisture still clung to the glass from the rain they'd had yesterday, so the light shouldn't have been as bright as it felt.  On top of that, he had a better grasp of his bearings now.  His eyesight was level with the floor, his face resting on the carpet and in a pool of his own drool.  He was laying in the space between the couch and coffee table, one of his hind legs still elevated by the couch after he'd apparently tumbled off of it at some point during the night.

With what little strength he had, Guise managed to prop himself up, using the couch for balance.  He'd had a mild hangover the previous morning, but this was on another level entirely.  He lifted a hoof to rub his eyes, hoping it would help him keep them open.  But, oddly, his fetlock didn't feel as soft or furry as he expected.  In fact, it felt uneven.

Guise glanced down at his leg, his eyes finally managing to open fully.  Instead of a coat of fine, red fur, he saw black chitin and many holes.  He glanced down at his body, finding much the same everywhere else, along with a pair of insectoid wings on his back.  A feeling of dread suddenly came over him.

He remembered now.  At some point during the night, Guise had willingly revealed himself to Sweetmint, though he couldn't recall why he'd done it, or what her reaction was.  He needed to figure that out before anything else right now.

With no lack of effort, Guise finally stood up to have a look around the apartment.  Empty beer bottles were littered around the apartment, and Persimmon was sitting on the coffee table, licking some melted ice cream off of a couple of plates that had been left there, and he noted that it was currently ten o' clock.  But the one thing Guise was looking for was nowhere to be seen.  He chanced a glance down the hall and noticed that the bathroom door was open and the light was on, so he decided to investigate there, quickly switching back to his pony form before peering inside.

Sweetmint was, in fact, in the bathroom, sitting on the floor and sound asleep, using the toilet seat as a pillow and looking more unladylike than he'd ever seen her.  There were a few small stains of dried vomit on and around the toilet.  It would seem she had had a harder time of it than he did.

Regardless of any concerns Guise may have had about what happened last night, he felt the need to wake her up, giving the unconscious mare and nudge.  "Hey, Mint.  Wake up."

Sweetmint groaned, her sleeping face contorting into a grimace.  "Fuck off..." she mumbled, weakly flicking a hoof at him in a poor attempt at a disgruntled punch.

Honestly, he couldn't blame her for being disagreeable.  His head was pounding hard enough, and he was pretty sure he hadn't drank as much as she did, so he could only imagine what she felt like, even if she supposedly had a higher tolerance.  But he gave her another nudge anyway, if only to try and coerce her into finding a better place to sleep.  "Come on, get up.  I'll put on some coffee."

Sweetmint finally lifted her head, rubbing her eyes.  "Ugh, what time is it?"

"Ten."

She groaned and pulled herself to her hooves.  "Shit...  I'm already late for work.  I gotta get cleaned up.  Damn it, I hate going in with a hangover."  She lazily shoved Guise out of the way to get access to the mirror over the sink, splashing some water on her face to clean up the drool and dried vomit from her face.

Guise quirked an eyebrow.  "Uh, Mint?  You got fired, remember?  That's the whole reason we're in this state in the first place, isn't it?"

Sweetmint just stared at her reflection for a moment before leaning against the sink with a long sigh.  "Oh, right...  Geez, we got pretty plastered last night, huh?"

"No kidding," Guise agreed, massaging his throbbing temple.

She looked at Guise with tired eyes.  "You said coffee?  I could use some of that right now."  She pushed past him, dragging herself toward the kitchen.

Guise walked behind her.  He was waiting for her to bring up a particular subject, one that he figured she'd be interested in getting more information about.  He was hesitant to mention it himself, but he needed to know what her thoughts on it were.  "So, uh...  Do you remember anything from last night?"

"Nope," she answered bluntly, though with a small smile.  "But that's how I know it was a good night."

Guise breathed a sigh of relief.  It turned out that memory loss was a beneficial side effect of getting drunk, at least in this case.  But after a close shave like that, it was safe to say that he wasn't going to be getting that drunk ever again.

Sweetmint passed him a cup of coffee before sitting at the table with one of her own.  Guise followed suit and sat with her.  "What about you, lightweight?" she teased with a smirk.  "You remember much, or did you pass out too early?"

Guise thought hard about it.  He only caught brief flashes of the night in his mind, but not enough to piece together anything they did, or anything they talked about outside of him shedding his disguise.  The way that his drunken memories lined up in his head felt pretty similar to the memory scanning spell he'd copied from Glory; just flashes of sequential images, though a lot blurrier and distorted.

He shook his head.  "Nothing coherent.  I just know we talked about stuff, but I don't remember what."

"Well, I guess we got plenty of time to talk now, huh?" she responded with a groan.

"Speaking of which, there was a topic we were supposed to discuss," Guise reminded her.  "What kind of predicament are we in right now?"

Sweetmint just shrugged as she took a sip of coffee.  "We've been pretty comfortable financially since we started living together, but I don't think we can scrape by on just your paycheck alone.  I'm gonna have to find another job A.S.A.P."

"There any other ice cream places hiring?"

"No clue.  The only reason I was working at Rocky's to begin with was because it was the only job available that suited my skills.  I might have to settle for something simple and menial until something better pops up."  With a reluctant sigh, Sweetmint got up from the table again and began making her way to the living room.  "I should probably get on that now.  I can't really afford to sit around doing nothing."

She approached the coffee table in search of a newspaper, brushing aside the many discarded beer bottles littered around.  But she paused, staring quizzically at something.  "What's all this?"

Guise got up to see what she was on about.  Sweetmint held several sheets of paper in her pink aura, analyzing them carefully.

"What is it?" Guise asked curiously.

He picked up a couple of sheets himself.  While he didn't expect to be able to read anything written on them, the sloppiness of the notes made that an even more insurmountable task.  And the doodles weren't much better, but such was to be expected from a pair of drunks.  He glanced at Sweetmint.  As befuddled as he was by this, he saw the increasing intrigue in her eyes.

"I think these are plans for an ice cream parlor.  Look at all this," she said quietly, almost more to herself than to him.  "Recipes, menus, even floor plans.  And a lot of it matches up with the ideas I've had for my own place."

"Huh.  I guess now we know what we were talking about last night."  Guise glanced to her again as she stared wide-eyed and whimsically at the papers.  "Mint?"

She grinned at him confidently.  "Let's do it."

Guise quirked a puzzled eyebrow.  "Huh?  Do what?"

"Open our own place!" she exclaimed enthusiastically.  "I was furious about losing my job, but maybe it was the kick in the flank I needed to actually go through with my original goal in coming here.  I mean, look at this stuff!  Even in a drunken haze, I know exactly what I want to do and how to do it!  It's just a matter of getting everything off the ground!"

"And how exactly do we do that?"

Sweetmint's smile faded.  The question had quickly taken the wind out of her sails.  She looked over the papers again, looking like a child who'd just lost their favorite toy.  "Oh, right...  That's a good point.  Even if I have the plans and the drive to do it, starting a business is gonna require money, and lots of it.  And we don't have lots of money."

"How much would you need to get started?" Guise inquired.

She studied the plans her drunken self drew up.  "Well, first of all, we'd need to buy a place.  That would be the biggest expense by far.  Plus we'd need all the equipment for making the products, and the stuff I have here in the apartment ain't gonna cut it.  All in all, there's no way we could get started with anything less than, like, ten thousand bits, maybe more."

Guise grimaced at her estimate.  "Yeesh, that's pricey.  Is that realistic?"

"Not if I don't have a job."  Sweetmint dropped herself onto the couch, letting the papers flutter to the floor.  "Shit...  I really fucked up this time, didn't I?  I just had to let loose on Tapioca.  Even if it was a pain working there, at least I was good at it.  I probably won't find a better job than that that won't drive me up the wall just as much."  She sighed regretfully.  "Maybe I should go talk to Rocky and see if he'll give me another chance.  Or at the very least apologize to Tapioca.  I actually feel kinda bad about what I said, even if it was true."

"You think he'd listen to you?"

"Probably not.  He didn't seem too bothered about firing me in the first, almost like he was waiting for me to slip up so he could give me the axe.  And I don't exactly trust myself not to fly off the handle again if I have to look at his stupid face for too long."

Guise pondered the situation quietly.  He felt at least a little responsible for this.  He was the one who had told Sweetmint to show anypony who got under her skin who they were messing with.  Would she have torn into Tapioca like she did if he hadn't encouraged her?  With that thought in mind, he came up with an idea.

"What if I went to talk to him?"

Sweetmint stared at him, her eyes exuding both confusion and gratitude.  "What?"

"Well, Tapioca's the reason you got fired, right?  You said that Rocky looks favorably upon her because he's got the hots for her.  And we know Tapioca has a thing for me, so why not use that to our advantage?  I can talk to them and see if I can get Rocky to turn around his decision."

"That's... not a bad idea actually.  You'd be willing to do that?"

Guise shrugged with a cocksure smirk.  "It's not like there's much to it.  I just have to talk to the guy for a few minutes and see what happens.  I'm not gonna make any promises, though.  Plus, in case it doesn't go well, you can use this time to search for another job, just in case."

Sweetmint hopped off the couch and tackled Guise with a grateful hug, catching the changeling off guard.  "You're amazing, you know that?"

He chuckled self-assuredly.  "Better than anypony else."


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


The plan was simple, all things considered.  A brief conversation with Rocky, and maybe Tapioca in the process, shouldn't be difficult in theory.  Of course, Guise knew full well that Tapioca wasn't the easiest person to talk to, nor did he ever enjoy it, but hopefully she'd be willing to back him up if he buttered her up a little.  She likely wasn't too pleased with him for lying to her yesterday, but he expected a simpleminded mare like her could be easily won over with a little sweet talking, as revolting as the notion was.

The real wild card was Rocky.  It had only just occurred to him today that he'd heard Sweetmint mention him numerous times, but he'd never actually so much as laid eyes on the guy.  For somepony who was supposed to be running the business, it didn't feel like he had much of a presence there.  The only thing he really knew about the guy was that he was Frosted Chips's older brother, and was apparently forced by their mother to hire him.  Given that and his supposed attraction to Tapioca—a trait that ran in the family it seemed—he sounded like a real pushover.  But if that was the case, why would somepony like Sweetmint have such a hard time getting through to him?  She was tough as nails and was practically running the place in his absence.  Guise was just going to have to assess him personally.  Rocky had to be there now; with Sweetmint no longer working there, and how incompetent the other employees were, somepony had to make the ice cream.

But now that he was making his way back to Rocky's Road, he had to wonder why exactly he was doing this.  If anything, this may have been a blessing in disguise for Sweetmint.  She may have been good at what she did there, but she was clearly miserable at that job; with annoying coworkers and an ignorant boss, how could she not be?  He didn't fully understand the logic.  Maybe the chances of getting a job at another ice cream parlor were slim, but all she had to do was get another job and endure it long enough to make the money to open her own place.  Although, there was no telling how long that would take.  Even if she found another job, there was no guarantee she'd find one that paid better.  And if this conversation with Rocky went well, maybe he could not only get her job back for her, but even convince him to give her a raise.  Sweetmint did seem grateful for his offer, though, indicating that she definitely wanted her job back.  It may have been that actually doing something she enjoyed offset the frustration brought on by everything else.  If she were to work a job like the one Guise had, or some demeaning retail position, she might just snap entirely.  But Guise was happy to put an asshole in his place either way.  Even if he couldn't get her job back, it just meant that there'd be no consequences to tearing Rocky a new one.

Once he'd arrived at Rocky's, though, he slowed his roll a little.  Guise discreetly peered in through the window from the street.  He could see both Tapioca and Frosted Chips inside, doing what they usually do and slacking off.  Tapioca was sitting at one of the tables, adjusting her fake eyelashes, and Chips was just staring at her, as usual.  It wasn't like they had much to do seeing as there were no customers currently, and neither of them knew how to make the ice cream.

Speaking of which, Guise couldn't see anypony else aside from the two of them, meaning that Rocky wasn't there after all.  But that couldn't be right.  He had to be around somewhere, perhaps in the stock room taking inventory or something.  Guise had come all this way regardless, and he wasn't intending to go back home without anything to tell Sweetmint.  At the very least, he may as well talk to Tapioca.

With that in mind, Guise took a deep breath to prepare himself for dealing with her stupidity, though he had to actively remind himself that he needed to be nice to her.  It was discouraging to know that he already had to double back on his resolution to stop giving a shit about anypony's feelings, but considering this was for Sweetmint's sake, he had to swallow his pride once again.

Guise stepped inside, the bell over the door signaling his arrival.  The sound immediately grabbed Tapioca's attention, though her reaction was unlike every other time he'd stopped by.  It started familiar, with a glint of interest in her eyes, but she must have quickly remembered the events of the previous day, as Guise noticed her ears flatten against her head, breaking eye contact a moment later.

This might actually be fortuitous.  It would be better to talk to her first before he met Rocky so he could use her to win his favor.  So, it was time to do what changelings do best and turn on the charm.

"Tapioca."

Just that one word seemed to gain her interest, her ears perking up slightly.

Guise placed his hoof gently on the table, doing his best to look remorseful.  "I want to apologize for what happened yesterday."

There was a hopeful glint in Tapioca's eyes.  "You do?"

"Yeah, and about the way I acted the other day while I'm at it."  He took a seat with her at the table.  He wasn't unaware of how closely Frosted Chips was watching him either, but ignored him; Chips had nothing to do with this, so Guise saw no need to even acknowledge his presence.  "I wasn't in a very good mood and I took it out on you, so, I'm sorry for that."

A smile appeared on Tapioca's face.  However, it was only there for a moment before she forced it back, trying blatantly to appear aloof, but failing to hide the obvious blush in her off-white cheeks.  "I get that.  I totally wasn't even mad about that anyway.  You and Minty looked like you were pretty mad at each other, so, like, I knew you were pretty upset."  She stared at him with genuine hurt in her eyes.  "But I don't get why you lied about it.  I saw you arguing with Minty, but you both said it didn't happen."

Guise felt like this was going to be child's play.  Tapioca wasn't exactly what one would call "smart," so saying the right thing and summoning just the right amount of emotion would probably be an easy task.  She may have been somepony who liked to take advantage of her feminine wiles, but Guise knew she was simple enough to be manipulated pretty easily herself.  It shouldn't take much convincing to win her over.

"Tapioca," Guise started, his expression full of false sympathy and regret.  "I don't know what to tell you.  It's like I said: whatever you thought you saw wasn't the case.  I wasn't with Mint at the café after you guys closed up shop."

Once more, just like yesterday, Tapioca was confused by the assertion.  "But...  I know I—"

"Are you sure you're remembering correctly?" Guise asked with fake concern.  "I mean, Mint and I hang out over there everyday during our breaks.  Maybe you just thought you saw her because you're used to seeing us there together."

She tilted her head, clearly still puzzled by the explanation.  "You think?"

"They've done studies on this kind of thing, you know?  When people are used to seeing something specific, they might still see it even if something's different," Guise lied, figuring a little bullshitting would help move this along.

Tapioca tapped her chin in thought.  "Oh...  I didn't know that.  Geez, it's a good thing there are ponies out there who study brain stuff.  Our brains work, like, really weird, huh?"

"Some do," Guise murmured.

"What?"

"Nothing.  So, do you accept my apology?" he asked with crocodile tears.

She hummed for a few moments.  For a second, Guise was a little worried that he would have to do more to convince her, but, once she looked into his pleading eyes, she gave him a smile after thinking it over as much as her brain was capable.  "Aww, I can't stay mad at you, Crimsy.  You're too sweet."

Tapioca leaned over with her hooves extended, but Guise pulled away.

"Okay, you're gonna have to stop doing that," he insisted.

Tapioca didn't have any issues backing off, though her smile did drop for a moment.  "So... is Minty coming by to apologize, too?"

"Oh, uh..."

That was something he hadn't entirely considered.  He figured getting himself back on her good side was all he'd need, but if she really wanted Sweetmint's apology, he was going to have to think fast.  Even if Sweetmint said herself that she should apologize to Tapioca, it had seemed to him like the only reason she had to do it was because she regretted getting fired for it and not out of any actual respect for Tapioca.  But if that's what she wanted, he could give it to her, even if it was an outright lie.

"She's not coming over, no, but that's not because she doesn't want to apologize," Guise explained.  "She actually feels really bad, too, but she's afraid to see you again because she thinks you'll be really mad at her.  She figured it might be better if I delivered her apology for her.  Is that okay?"

"Oh...  I guess," she answered, though with a touch of disappointment.  "I kinda wanna hear it from her, but I guess I understand."

"Well, think about it like this," Guise started with a grin.  "If I can tell her you accepted her apology, then she won't feel so pensive next time she sees you and can give you a proper apology in person.  How's that sound?"

Tapioca's eyes lit up, and she smiled widely.  "Okay, that sounds good."

Guise gave her a grateful smile.  "Great.  Oh, and while I'm at, we also wanted to know how you're feeling.  You weren't hurt from your fall, were you?" he said, feigning even more sympathy in an effort to sweeten the pot.

She giggled bashfully.  "Aw, that's sweet of you to ask, but I'm fine.  I think I might have a small bruise on my butt, but that's it.  Wanna see?"

Guise had to fight the urge to shudder in disgust, not needing Chips's disapproving glare to convince him to turn down the "generous" offer.  "Uh, no, there's no need for that, thanks."

That had gone pretty much as smoothly as Guise could have hoped for.  So, with step one out of the way, it was on to the next phase, which might prove to be a little more challenging.  "So, hey, since we got all this cleared up between us, I was hoping to talk to Rocky.  Sweetmint wants to know if he'd be willing to give her another shot.  You know, seeing as she feels bad about how she treated you."

"Oh, yeah, that's a good idea," Tapioca agreed.  "And I can, like, put in a good word or whatever if that helps."

"That'd be appreciated, thanks."  Guise glanced around the parlor.  "So, uh...  Is Rocky here today?"

"Well, cha.  I mean, who's gonna make the ice cream if Minty's not here, right?"

"Okay, so where is he?"

"In his office, I think?" she answered, though not sounding sure of herself.

Guise blinked, taking a mental note of how small the building actually was.  "I... didn't know this place even had an office."

At that moment, the door to the back room opened and out stepped an unfamiliar unicorn stallion.  Guise could safely infer that this guy was probably Rocky, but he didn't exactly match his mental images of the guy.  Using Frosted Chips as a reference, he was expecting somepony thin and lanky, even a little nerdy.  In truth, Rocky was rather burly, taller than even Guise and notably more muscular; a far cry from his greasy twig of a brother.  His coat was a dark brown, and his mane was creamy orange and was surprisingly well styled, his bangs fashioned into white tips not unlike Chips's, but using actual hair gel instead of naturally-exuded oils.  His cutie mark depicted an ice cream cone—unsurprisingly—with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  But what looked at first like chocolate chunks in the ice cream actually appeared to be small rocks; unappetizing to say the least.

The moment Rocky entered the parlor proper, he stopped, his eyes locking onto Guise.  The changeling didn't budge as the larger stallion silently scrutinized him.  Guise was waiting for this gruff-looking stallion to say something, the judgmental scowl on his face not exactly filling him with confidence about their upcoming chat.

Rocky narrowed his eyes at Guise, but a moment later they flew open, a wide smile spreading across his lips as he clomped a hoof on the floor.  "Ah, got it!  You must be Crimson Neon," he exclaimed, his voice not nearly as deep as Guise would have thought for a guy of his stature.

Guise got up from the table to approach him.  "Yeah, and look, we need—"

Before he could finish, Rocky grabbed his hoof and shook it fervently.  "It's nice to finally meet you, bucko!  Name's Rocky Road.  Mint and Tapi have told me a lot about you.  You sound like a real swell fella from what I've heard."

Guise pulled his hoof away, waving it lightly to shake off the vibrations going up his leg.  "Right, sure.  But, listen, I want to talk to you."

"Lemme guess: it's about Mint getting fired, right?"

Guise narrowed his eyes.  This guy was giving him a weird vibe.  He was unexpectedly perky and amicable, and one would expect somepony like that to seem a little sympathetic of the situation.  But the big grin on his face showed nothing of the sort.  No anger in recalling Sweetmint's behavior, and no remorse about his decision.  Something wasn't sitting right with Guise, but for all he knew, this guy could just be a moron like everypony else who currently worked there.  He'd know soon enough either way.

"Yeah.  You got time?" Guise requested.

Rocky glanced around his place of business to all of the empty tables and booths.  "Only if you're not planning on partaking in our wares.  Kind of a slow day in here.  Let's take this to my office."

"Rocky."

The burly stallion looked to Tapioca with an accommodating grin.

She gave him a smile of her own, but looked a tad sheepish.  "I just wanna say that I'm not mad at Minty anymore, okay?"

Rocky gave her an affirmative salute.  "I'll keep that in mind.  Follow me, Mr. Neon."

Guise followed Rocky into the back room, which wasn't anything special.  It looked pretty similar to the stockroom at The Soup Spoon where all of the supplies were kept, and Rocky's place seemed to use it for much the same purpose, though there was also a sink present for cleaning up dishes and the like, and a freezer for storing the perishables and anything prone to melting.

But Rocky guided Guise to a connecting door off to the right.  The room beyond that was Rocky's office, but it was rather cramped—Guise couldn't begin to fathom how Rocky had gotten his desk in there considering the large stallion had to shimmy his way between it and the wall just to get behind it and sit down.  If Guise had to venture a guess, he could have sworn this office was just a repurposed broom closet.

"Have a seat," Rocky insisted affably, gesturing to an old, worn out chair in the corner.

Guise grimaced at the chair.  The metal legs looked like they'd been rusting for years, and the leather seat cushion was considerably worn.  He was half-expecting the thing to collapse the moment he sat upon it, but, miraculously, it held up under his weight as he pulled it up to Rocky's desk, though the cracked leather dug into his backside uncomfortably.

"So..." Rocky started with a long sigh, though his enthusiastic smile persisted.  "Mint, huh?  How's she handling it?"

"She's working off a hangover right now."

"That bad, huh?" Rocky chuckled.  "Well, unfortunately, that's what happens when you don't treat your coworkers with respect.  Violence in the work place is a big no-no around here."

"That's what I came to talk about," Guise told him.  Given the unassuming grin on this mysterious stallion's face, Guise figured he needed to maintain a stern demeanor to make sure he was listening and understood that this was a serious conversation.  "Mint needs this job.  It's something she's good at and enjoys doing, and anywhere else she finds work probably won't give her the satisfaction she needs to make her everyday life tolerable."

Rocky shrugged, though he continued to smile, which was only proving to agitate Guise the longer he was in his company, especially with how indifferent it made him seem to the situation.  "She probably should've thought about that before she assaulted poor Tapioca.  That sweet girl never did nothin' to nopony."

"You heard her say that she wasn't mad anymore, right?" Guise reminded him.  "Mint feels bad about what she did and wanted to apologize to her and you."

"And yet she's at home while you sit here in her place.  If she needs and enjoys this job as much as you say she does, why didn't she come here herself?  Don't answer that, it's rhetorical."

"You obviously know about her anger issues, so can't you give her some leeway or something?" Guise asked.  "She has difficulty reigning in her emotions and has a tendency to just... explode when the stress piles up.

Rocky leaned on his desk with his forelegs crossed, his weight causing the wood to creak.  He responded to Guise in a much lower and quieter tone, and while he continued to smile, his eyes were much more apathetic.  "That's not really my problem now, is it?"

Guise's pupils narrowed slightly as he stared at Rocky's smirking, uncaring face.

"I mean, it isn't until it is, like now.  But what I'm trying to say is that it's not our job to help her keep herself under control.  That's on her."

Guise grit his teeth behind his lips at the sudden shift in Rocky's attitude.  "Do you even realize what you're losing by firing her?"

"Oh, I never said that she doesn't have talent, far from it.  I'm a little embarrassed to admit that her ice cream puts even mine to shame."

"Then don't you think she at least deserves a second chance?"

"'Second chance'?" Rocky echoed with a dark chuckle.  "My friend, she's had more than enough chances over the past few years.  You think this is the first time her temper has caused me and my employees problems?  Her skill is the only reason I've kept her on this long.  I've basically been looking for an excuse like this to fire her."

Guise felt his blood beginning to boil, the smarmy, self-satisfied curl of Rocky's lips infuriating him further with every word he uttered.  Not only did this guy have no sympathy, he was actively proud of himself for firing her.  "Where the hell do you get off?" he snarled.

Rocky's smile finally faltered, making way for confusion.  "Hm?"

"I'll readily admit that Sweetmint's attitude can be problematic, I'll give you that, but what makes her the one that you're so eager to get rid of?"

Rocky raised an eyebrow.  "You lost me, bud.  What's this about?"

Guise stood up, knocking his flimsy chair over in the process as he slammed one hoof on the desk, using the other hoof to point in the general direction of Tapioca and Frosted Chips.  "I'm talking about those two idiots out there with wool for brains!"

Rocky firmly pressed a hoof against the desk, the combined weight of the two stallions practically bowing its surface.  The expression he wore now was the most serious Guise had seen from him since he first laid eyes on him.  "Hey, now, pal, I won't have you slandering my staff, especially since one of 'em's my own kin."

"Mint was the only one who actually worked around here!  You'd be losing literally nothing if you got rid of Tapioca and your brother!"

"I'm sure it must seem that way to you, but given Mint's disposition, she probably has a tendency to make mountains out of molehills.  You're essentially approaching this from a position of bias."

"What the hell are you talking about?!  Those two may as well just be spare tables with how little they do, and that's probably giving them more credit than they deserve!"

Rocky didn't appear bothered by Guise's belligerence.  "How much time do you spend around here, Mr. Neon?  I'm willing to  bet not much, comparatively.  Sweetmint's attitude is what's holding her back, while Tapioca's performance has been exemplary."

Guise blinked, dumbfounded by the ridiculous claim.  "Where the hell are you getting that from?"

"From Chips."

And suddenly it was like the entire puzzle had come together.  All this time there was a missing piece—or rather, a piece that Guise couldn't find a place for.  He'd never even met Rocky until today, making his prior question sound more than a little ironic.  So how would Rocky know any better than him what goes on around here?  But now it was all starting to make sense.  Sweetmint was the driving force behind this business, yet she was constantly getting shafted.  Meanwhile, Tapioca did barely anything, yet she'd received a raise early on and constantly got away with coming in late and skipping work entirely.  And all this time it was because of that mute little turd.

"Chips?  You've been basing your decisions on him?!"

"Of course," Rocky answered proudly.  "He tells me everyday how things went around here, and he has nothing but good things to say about Tapi."  His smile shifted to a disappointed grimace.  "But in contrast, I hear very little about Mint's performance unless she has one of her hissy fits.  It's a real shame that somepony with such talent can't be as friendly or patient as somepony like Tapioca."

"You can't be serious!  Chips does less around here than Tapioca!  All he does all day is stare at her ass!  He's just saying all that crap because he has a stupid crush on her!"

Rocky shrugged.  "Listen, chum, I trust my little bro to be forthright and honest with me.  I'll take his word over yours any day, especially since your opinion is based on the things Mint has told you."

Guise growled furiously behind clenched teeth.  As a changeling, he wasn't terribly familiar with the concept of nepotism, but seeing as the unwavering faith that Rocky had in his brother was practically the entire reason why Sweetmint has had to struggle through her life in Canterlot, he couldn't help but become enraged.  "That piece of shit is lying through his teeth!  All he wants is for that bimbo to notice him, and he'll make up any garbage like that to get in her good books!"

Rocky glared sternly at him, his voice lowering another octave as he leaned forward to intimidate Guise.  "I told you I don't appreciate you talking about my employees in such a manner.  Now, I'm normally a pretty agreeable fellow, but when you start dragging my friends and family through the mud, you'd best be prepared to get a little dirty yourself."

A bloodthirsty grin spread across Guise's face.  For as much as he was trying to remain low key in the couple of months he'd lived in Canterlot, there was always a part of him that was looking for a reason to get physical.  Tearing out the throats of helpless animals could only do so much to satisfy his blood lust.  "You think I'm scared of you?" he chuckled darkly.  "I've dealt with guys way tougher than you, and even then I was more excited than afraid.  If you want to throw down, I'm game."

Rocky leaned back in his chair, looking rather nonchalant.  In fact, his self-important smirk came back in full force.  "Alternatively, I could just have Chips fetch the royal guards.  Violence isn't the only way to resolve altercations like this."

Guise scowled at the threat, but reluctantly backed off.  That wasn't a bluff he could afford to call.  If there was anypony Guise wanted to avoid in Canterlot if at all possible, it was the princesses and the royal guards.  He didn't have much choice but to take the threat seriously.

Clearly satisfied that Guise had been adequately subdued, Rocky lifted his nose haughtily.  "Alright, glad to see we understand each other.  Now then, this little powwow has been fun and everything, but I think it's about time for you to be on your way, friend-o.  And feel free to buy a bowl of ice cream on the way out.  Like I said, it's been a slow day, so it'd be appreciated."

Guise glared at him a moment longer, practically shaking in his anger.  It took every ounce of his willpower not to leap across the desk and paint the walls of the office red, but he managed to keep his fury under control and left with no more than a low, indignant growl and a loud slam of the door.

Once he'd returned to the parlor proper, Tapioca was quick to approach him with an optimistic smile.  "So?  How'd it go?"

Guise glowered irately.  "What do you think?"

Her ears flatten in disappointment, proving that she wasn't entirely blind to context clues.  But despite the bad news, she managed to keep grinning.  "Oh, that's too bad.  But I'm sure Rocky'll come around.  He might look all big and tough, but he's really a total softy underneath.  Just like you, Crimsy," she cooed.

Like usual when she got a little flirty, Tapioca leaned closer to him, but, also like usual, Guise firmly held her back, giving her a stern and, quite frankly, restrained glare.  "Have you not learned your lesson yet?  One of the reasons Mint lashed out at you was because you keep flirting with me.  When are you going to take a hint and back off?"

She stepped back with a look of dejection.  "Oh...  B-But I—"

Guise held up his hoof to silence her.  "You've already caused enough problems for us, so I'd appreciate it you'd leave us alone.  Got it?"

She gave him a pleading look, appearing to be on the verge of tears again, but she said nothing.  Guise took that as his opportunity to get out of dodge before Rocky came back out.  But as he was heading for the door, he caught sight of a second set of eyes peering at him.  As was the norm whenever Tapioca would be overly friendly with him, or if he said anything to upset her, Frosted Chips would always give him the stink eye, and this time was no different.  Guise could usually ignore him, as his glare was the least intimidating thing he'd ever seen, but knowing what he knew now, it was hard not to leer contemptuously back at him.  The raging fire in his eyes must have been visible, because Chips broke eye contact the moment he turned in the greasy kid's direction.  Guise wanted nothing more than to deck Rocky's little watchdog, but he knew that would only end up causing more trouble.

Guise only cast one more glance over his shoulder at Tapioca, who was staring back at him pleadingly.  It looked like she wanted to say something, and even took a step toward him, but then hesitated.  Seeing as she'd apparently lost her nerve, Guise simply took his leave of the place.

He was not happy right now.  Maybe in the long run this whole thing wouldn't matter as long as Sweetmint could find another job, but knowing that her employ at Rocky's had been entirely conditional the whole time, how little that asshole actually cared, and the fact that Rocky's decisions were being fed by his little brother's biased and hormone-fueled input was enraging.  Guise's role at the moment was to be supportive of Sweetmint, and that was going to be difficult if he had to deliver this news to her, not to mention his current mood not exactly being conducive to the effort.

With that in mind, Guise desperately needed to let off some steam.  Punching Rocky or his little brother right in their stupid faces would have been ideal, but he was obviously going to need an alternative.  To that end, he made a beeline for the city gate, intent on sinking his fangs into a few defenseless critters.  The tang of blood on his palate might help pacify his violent urges.

Guise casually trotted outside the city limits, walking some ways along the trail that led down the mountain.  He traipsed into the surrounding foliage, far enough away from the path and the train tracks that nopony passing along would spot him through the ample vegetation.  Once he felt like he was a respectable distance away from the city and safely out of sight, Guise breathed a deep sigh and shed his disguise.

And that's when he heard a quiet gasp.

Guise spun around quickly,  and his eyes went wide with panic when he realized he wasn't alone.  So focused was he on just relieving his stress and anger that he didn't even check to see if he was being followed.  He never thought that anypony would bother following a random stranger outside the city.

But it had to be her, didn't it?  Cowering behind a nearby tree, staring aghast in his direction, was Tapioca.

Shit...

For whatever reason, she'd followed him all the way out here, and as a result, she now knew his secret.

Tapioca didn't budge.  She appeared to be frozen in shock, or fear, or both.  But even in her confused and frightened state, she still managed to utter a single word.  "Cr-...  Crimson?"

Guise stared silently at her.  He couldn't just let this go.  This wasn't the same as with Daily Scoop.  He needed to take care of this now before it became a serious problem.  He took a step toward her with a resolute expression.

Tapioca shuddered under his gaze, taking a step back, but unable to do any more.  Her pupils shrunk in fright the closer that Guise got.  "Wh-What are you doing?" she stammered fearfully.

"Just hold still, and try not to scream."

Tapioca's legs began to visibly shake, and the creamy white shade of her face suddenly went even paler.  And once he was close enough for her to see the blood red of his eyes, her own eyes immediately rolled back and she collapsed onto her side.

Guise blinked, staring down at the now unconscious mare.  He shrugged with a sigh.  "Well, I was going to knock her out myself, but that works, too."  He groaned, running a hoof through his spiky, red mane.  "You just had to go and make things even more complicated for me, didn't you?  Now I've gotta figure out how to get out of this mess..."
> Part 9 - Captive
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The citizens of Canterlot were just going about their day as though it were no different from any other.  The sun was still shining, children were frolicking in the streets, and adults were heading home from work.

All of them blissfully unaware that one of their own was missing.

Guise stared down at the city below.  His face had been contorted into an unsure grimace for the past couple of hours.  This vantage point reminded him of when he'd first arrived at Canterlot, using the very same cave he called home for a while to scope the place out and slowly put his plans together.

He threw his head back with a groan, dragging a hoof over his face and through his mane.

What the hell am I supposed to do now?

When he had first come here, he was able to take as much time as he needed to figure this out, to piece everything together so there would be as few roadblocks as possible.  He still expected there to be a few hiccups along the way, but nothing so major that he couldn't come up with a quick and effective solution.  But this wasn't just a minor hiccup, this was a serious fuck up.  Guise didn't have the luxury of time in this instance.  If he didn't come up with something fast, it wouldn't be long before the people started to notice that something was wrong.

Guise was starting to think he'd gotten too complacent, too cocky.  One lapse of concentration and now he had suddenly found himself in dire straits.  He found himself a little flustered in the face of this issue as well, which only made trying to think straight a more difficult task.  This wasn't just something he could explain away.  He needed to come up with something to ensure that he could get back on track, but as for what that was, he hadn't the foggiest.

A quiet moan caught Guise's attention.  He glanced over his shoulder and into the cavern behind him.  On the floor inside, an unconscious mare finally began to stir from her fainting spell.

Tapioca rolled over, as though she were trying to get comfortable and get some more sleep, but was unable to find a position that suited her.  Clearly frustrated by the rough, stone floor digging into her, she finally propped herself up and opened her eyes.  She was obviously a little confused to find herself inside a shallow cave, looking around to get her bearings.  Her eyes were quickly drawn in the direction of the sunlight pouring in from the entrance, where she also spotted the silhouette of somepony else standing there, the blue of his sclera practically glowing in the dark and making the blood red of his irises more pronounced.

If adjusting to the sunlight hadn't narrowed her pupils enough, the sight of the changeling shrunk them to needle points.  Tapioca began to shake, and her lips started to tremble fearfully.

Guise turned toward her with a commanding glower.  "Do not scream."

Tapioca immediately clamped her hooves over her mouth, clearly afraid of what would happen to her if she found herself unable to control her voice.

"Alright, listen up, and listen good," Guise began, walking over to the cowering mare.  "I don't plan on hurting you as long as you can behave yourself.  I just need you to sit there quietly so I can figure out what to do about this.  Got it?"

Tapioca nodded rapidly.

Guise narrowed his eyes at her skeptically.  A bead of sweat rolled down her face and she whimpered into her hooves under his gaze.  He hadn't really been sure if he could trust her to fully comprehend the gravity of her situation, but the fearful look in her eyes was convincing enough.  Satisfied that she could be a good girl and sit still for the time being, Guise traipsed back over to the cave entrance to continue trying to work this out.

The minutes ticked by, a thick silence pervading the dank cavern as Guise wracked his brain and Tapioca supposedly wondering what was going to happen to her.  It was difficult to come up with any reasonable way to clean up this mess without leaving any loose ends.  There were only two clear cut solutions Guise could come up with on such short notice: The first was to simply abandon Canterlot and start over somewhere else, but he'd put too much time and effort into this to give up now.  That would have to be plan C.  Plan B would be to fall back on his original contingency plan of asking Shade and Chamella for help.  This little kidnapping wasn't planned, so they might actually be willing to help him out.  But after his conversation with Chamella, he didn't have a lot of faith in them anymore.  If even Chamella couldn't give him the benefit of the doubt, then it would seem he couldn't rely on them after all.  He could try, but going to them so soon after his talk with Chamella would likely only convince her that she was right not to trust him.  And Guise wasn't about to give her that satisfaction.  Devising plan A would have to be his foremost priority, but that was proving to be troublesome.  He just needed more time.

"Um..."

Guise groaned, pressing a hoof to the bridge of his nose in exasperation.  Apparently being quiet for even a few minutes was simply too much for her undeveloped brain to handle.  He could have lashed out at her and put the fear into her, but right now, he simply didn't have the energy to scold her.

He looked over his shoulder, making sure the annoyance in his expression was evident.  "What?"

Tapioca stared at him, the fear in her eyes accompanied by an odd look of curiosity.  "Are...  Are you really Crimson?"

Guise stared back at her in silence.  She was obviously scared and confused, and probably had a lot of questions.  He had already said he wouldn't hurt her, but maybe if he answered a few of her queries, she'd be a little more willing to cooperate and stay quiet for more than three minutes.

"Basically, yes."

Tapioca tilted her head.  "'Basically'?"

"There is no person named Crimson Neon.  I made that name up.  But the guy you knew as Crimson was me the whole time, if that answers your question."

"Oh..."  Tapioca was quiet for a few moments as she wrapped her mind around that information.  She then spoke again with more curiosity.  "So...  What's your real name?"

Guise scowled at the question.  "What does it matter?"

"Well, if your name's not Crimson, then what I am I supposed to call you?"

"You don't have to call me anything.  You're just supposed to sit there and keep your mouth shut like I told you."

She hung her head slightly, but didn't take her eyes off the changeling.  It was evident that she was having difficulty following his simple instructions given her alarming and unexpected circumstances, so Guise decided to cut her a little slack in the hopes that she'll at least stay calm.

"Any other questions?" he asked reluctantly.

Guise's question seemed to lift her mood slightly, the fear and worry in her eyes fading a bit.  She glanced around at her surroundings.  Her face did go a little pale when she noticed the bones of small animals littered around.  "Wh-Where are we?"

"In a cave near the top of the mountain."

Tapioca cautiously walked over to the entrance, stepping out onto the narrow, grassy ledge outside.  She stopped cold and took a quick step back when she looked down on the city below them.  "W-Wow...  W-We're pretty high up."

"Yeah, you can basically call this my first apartment.  I was living here for a few weeks before I moved in with Mint."

"How'd we get up here?" she inquired, looking around and spotting nothing but sheer cliff around them.

"Hello?"  Guise buzzed his thin wings to answer her question.  "I can fly.  I just carried you up here, which wasn't easy, by the way.  You ponies are pretty heavy."

Tapioca balked in offense.  "Are you calling me fat?"

Guise stared at her, bemused.  "I'm not dignifying that."

Feeling a little uncomfortable near the cliff side, Tapioca opted to instead return to the relative safety of the cave.  She turned back to Guise with another question.  "So...  Why'd you bring me here?"

"Why do you think?" he growled.  "I can't exactly have you walking around now that you know I'm a changeling.  Speaking of which, why the hell were you even following me?  You were supposed to be working."

Tapioca's ears drooped and she hung her head.  "I felt bad about you and Minty, so I was gonna follow you home so I could apologize."

As weird as that reasoning was, Guise could understand why she'd do that.  If she had asked to accompany him in the mood he was in, he would have certainly turned her away.  And it wasn't like she was a stranger to skipping work without repercussions.

But that didn't mean he was okay with it, especially considering what ended up happening as a result.  Guise stomped over to her, glaring sternly into her eyes.  "Well, do you see what you've done now?  Now I'm in this dumb predicament because, once again, you acted without thinking!  Now Mint doesn't have a job, and I've got to figure out how to deal with this wrench in my plans."

Tapioca flinched under his accusatory words, a guilty look on her face.  "Wh-...  What are you gonna do, then?"

Guise groaned, turning his back to her and walking back over to the entrance.  "I don't know yet.  That's what I've been trying to figure out, but it's hard to think when I have to answer your questions."

The cavern went quiet after that.  Hopefully Tapioca understood her situation well enough to listen to him and stay silent for a while to let him think.

"Do you guys hate me?"

Guise looked back at her again.  The expression on her face was pitiable.  She looked to be on the verge of tears.  And of all things that could have brought her to that stage, it wasn't the fear for her own well being, it was the worry that they hated her?

"I just wanted to apologize for calling her a bitch..." Tapioca sniffled quietly.  "I didn't want to cause you any trouble."

Against all odds and all the things that Guise had told himself, he actually felt a little bad for her.  She had good intentions, just bad timing.  Guise inhaled a long breath through his nose, speaking to her a little more sympathetically.  "Look, I can't speak for Mint here, since she's known you longer than I have, but 'hate' might be a strong word.  You have no work ethic, no common sense, and your flirting is frankly repulsive.  That last one is more of a personal thing, but all of it adds up to you being annoying.  Would I say I hate you?  Technically, no.  I have a short list of people I hate, and I don't think it's worth putting your name on it considering what the other people have done to get on it."

Tapioca finally managed a smile in spite of her circumstances.  "That does make me feel a little better," she giggled, walking up to Guise.  She looked him over analytically, now finally taking the time to size up a changeling up close and grinning with intrigue.  "Even if you look different, Crimsy, you're still a—"

Guise held up a hoof to silence her.  "Don't say it.  I'm already sick of hearing it."

"So, does Minty know you're a bug pony?" she asked innocently.

"Changeling."

"Whatevs."

"No, she doesn't.  Nopony does.  Which is why I have to take this development seriously."  Guise groaned, dropping to his haunches in defeat.  "And Mint was actually ready to turn lemons into lemonade, too.  Getting fired actually gave her the motivation to want to open her own place, but instead of helping her out, now I have to deal with this shit."

"She wants to open her own ice cream place?"

Guise raised an eyebrow at her.  "What, she never mentioned that?"

Tapioca shook her head.

Guise stood up again, starting to feel a little curious himself.  "You two really never talk about stuff?  You've known her for three years."

"I try to talk to her, but she just gets all huffy.  I was kinda hoping if you and me became friends, she might start being nicer."

Guise grimaced.  "You're not going to convince me that that's the reason you keep flirting with me."

She blushed with a bashful grin.  "Nah, I just think you're kinda hot.  Speaking of..."  She leaned toward him, batting her fake eyelashes.  "What, uh...  What are you gonna do with me now that I'm your 'helpless prisoner'?"

The changeling shuddered at her insinuation, nudging her back to put a little extra space between them.  He looked her dead in the eye with an irate and incredulous glower.  "Seriously, what is your problem?  Do you not understand the gravity of the situation you're in?  I'm a changeling.  You're supposed to be afraid of me."

Tapioca backed off a little when Guise snapped at her.  "But you said you weren't gonna hurt me."

"Maybe, but if this had happened a few months ago, I probably would have killed you by now and been done with it."

She gulped nervously.  "B-But... you seemed so nice."

"That's a combination of your own obliviousness and my acting skills.  Of course I'm gonna be nice, I'm trying to worm my way into pony society without people looking at me like I'm some kinda monster, which I am.  For the record, I'm not a good person.  I've tried to kill people, I've brainwashed a pony, I tore out another changeling's wings once.  I even spent the last two years of my life locked in the dungeon of the changeling hive because I planned to usurp the throne.  What I'm trying to say here is, I'm not your friend."  Guise groaned loudly, stomping over to the cliff in a frustrated huff.  "And now I've got to fix this mess somehow.  I can't just have you walking around knowing what I am."

"I-I can keep your secret.  Promise!" she pleaded.

Guise glared skeptically.  "Look, I do not trust you to not blab about this to anypony.  You can't keep your yap shut for five minutes, let alone the rest of your life.  So I'm not about to put my trust in you while you also have this information to hang over my head."

"So, what, you're just gonna keep me here?  For how long?"

Guise shrugged.  "Who knows?  Could be a few days, could be a few weeks."

"What?!" Tapioca shrieked.  "You can't do that!  How am I supposed to reapply my makeup?!  My mascara's already starting to clump!"

"Pretty sure you have more important things to be concerned about than your makeup," Guise deadpanned.  "Nopony's gonna see you for awhile except me anyway, and I don't give a shit what you look like."

"I mean, that's sweet of you to say and everything, but I don't wanna live in a cave.  There's no bed, no carpet, no air conditioning..."

"And if you hadn't followed me, we wouldn't even be in this situation!" the changeling spat.

Tapioca shrunk back under his harsh glare.  "So...  Wh-What are you gonna do?"

Guise sighed in frustration, scratching his head.  "I'm still thinking about that.  This isn't an easy thing to fix.  If you're gone too long, people will start to take notice and get suspicious."

"What do other changelings do?"

He raised an eyebrow at the odd question.  It almost sounded like she was trying to help him, but considering her circumstances, that was probably in her best interest.  Guise didn't expect her to throw out any useful advice or suggestions, but that question did get him thinking.  "Hmm...  Usually a changeling would kidnap a pony for the purposes of taking their place."  Guise tapped his chin in thought.  "I suppose I could just take your place for the time being until I can figure out something better."

Tapioca tilted her head in confusion.  "How are you gonna do that?"

Guise stared at her, bemused and a little dumbstruck.  "How do you think?"  He answered her question by shapeshifting, replacing his chitinous body with a coat of creamy white fur and a bouncy, strawberry pink mane.

Tapioca gazed in awe at the spitting image of herself now standing before her.  "Oooh, it's like looking in a mirror."

"A mirror with fifty I.Q. points over you maybe."  Guise suddenly shuddered, shaking his head uncomfortably.  "Yeesh, how do you put up with this voice?  It feels like there's a cat scratching the inside of my skull."  He quickly transformed back to save himself the torment, also now feeling a tiny bit reluctant about this plan knowing the pain and indignity he'd have to endure.

"So, you're just gonna pretend to be me?"

"Pretty much, I guess, though that's gonna come with its own complications.  Being you means I'd have to do your job at Rocky's, though from what I've seen, you don't really do much, so it shouldn't be difficult.  The real issue is my own job.  I'm not gonna be able to balance two jobs.  As extreme as it may be, in order to maintain appearances, I might have to quit my job and focus on yours."

Tapioca breathed a sigh of relief.  "Well, that's good.  I need my job.  Daddy said he's only gonna pay for my apartment as long as I have a job, so if I get fired, he's gonna cut me off."

"Don't get any delusions about this," Guise told her tersely.  "Any bits I earn while disguised as you I'm keeping for myself.  Me and Mint can't survive on just one paycheck."

"Huh?!  But I need money, too!  How am I supposed to buy groceries and makeup and stuff?!"

"You don't need that stuff while you're here," Guise reminded her sternly.  "Your dad's paying your rent for you, so your financial situation is handled.  All I really need to do is make sure I know exactly what to do at Rocky's and make an occasional visit to your apartment building so nopony notices that anything is amiss.  To that end, I'm gonna need you to fill me in on all the stuff you usually do at work and where you live."

Tapioca crossed her forelegs in a huff.  "As if.  If I don't tell you anything, then you can't do any of that, and you'll just be forced to let me go, right?"

Guise smirked, a little amused by her defiant attitude.  "Maybe you're not as stupid as I thought you were.  But you know what?  I have a more preferable method of getting information out of you that doesn't involve having to listen to your grating voice."

Guise suddenly stepped closer to her, leaning forward until their faces were a mere inch apart.  Tapioca was startled by their closer proximity, her face flushing red as Guise stood intimately close to her.

"Wh-What are you doing?" she breathed, sounding both worried, yet oddly curious.

"Just hold still and look into my eyes," he commanded quietly with an assertive smirk.

Tapioca's blush deepened at his order, her heartbeat practically audible as it pounded against her rib cage.

Guise's eyes started to glow green, and Tapioca's soon did the same.  Her face contorted uncomfortably, but she maintained eye contact, although looking as though she were fighting sleep.  Guise concentrated on the spell for a few minutes, rooting around in Tapioca's memories for the information he needed.  He tried his best to get in and get out as quickly as possible to avoid having to stick his proverbial hoof into that mess for any longer than he needed to and hopefully avoid anything unsanitary, especially involving himself.

He eventually released her from the spell, shaking his own head as he was learning that it was equally uncomfortable for him as it was for his victim.  Tapioca stood woozily, wobbling a little as her senses gradually came back to her.  She blinked rapidly to refocus her vision.

"Whoa...  Wh-...  What was that?"

"It's a modified spell I picked up from another changeling.  It lets me poke around in somepony else's memories.  The simplest way to describe it is essentially as a mind-reading spell, but I still haven't quite gotten used to it yet.  I've only really been able to practice on Mint's cat, and he gets pissy every time I try."

"Wow, that's kinda cool," she commented, impressed by his ability.  She rubbed her temple, wincing slightly.  "Feels kinda weird though.  Kinda like something's crawling over my brain.  But it's... a good weird, you know?  Can you do it again?"

Guise stared in befuddled disgust at the strange request, her innocent and intrigued smile both confusing and off-putting.  "Not unless I need to, and right now, I don't need to, nor do I want to—especially if you're gonna be a weirdo about it.  But I have the info I need.  Now I just need to make sure I can juggle my personal life and your job without raising any suspicions."

He wandered over to the cliff side, flittering his wings as he prepared to take off.

"Wait!" Tapioca called out in panic as she ran over to stop him.  "You're really just gonna leave me here?!"

"We've been over this.  Yes, I have to," he repeated with an exasperated groan.  "Look, I'll bring you food when I get a chance.  But right now, I need to get home.  Mint is probably wondering where I am.  Oh, and one more thing..."  Guise turned around staring her down with a furious intensity that caused her to take a step back.  "Don't even think about screaming for help while you're up here, or I'll make sure you regret it.  Get me?"

Tapioca nodded fearfully, backing up into the cave again and sitting herself down quietly like a trained dog.

"Good.  Now, just sit there and be quiet.  I'll stop by again tomorrow after work."

Guise finally took off to return home, leaving Tapioca behind to wallow in isolation while he tried to figure out where to go from here.


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


The door of the apartment swung open lazily, making way for its disguised changeling resident.  Guise was mentally exhausted.  Having started the day with a painful hangover, then dealing with Rocky's infuriating attitude, and now inadvertently finding himself the culprit in a kidnapping because somepony couldn't mind her own business.  Needless to say, this wasn't a great day for him.

Guise's face was hot with frustration and stress, and it wasn't until now that he noticed just how much he'd been sweating.  A shower sounded pretty good right about now.

Taking a cursory glance around the apartment, he noticed that Sweetmint wasn't home.  Persimmon was sprawled out on the couch by himself.  If Sweetmint had been in the bedroom or something, he doubted she'd be without her furry stress ball by her side in these circumstances.  She must have stepped out for some reason, maybe finally working up the will to go talk to Rocky herself, or figure out where her boyfriend has been for the past couple of hours.  He'd make up some crap to cover his tracks when she got back.

Guise made his way to the bathroom, turning on the shower, shedding his disguise, and stepping underneath the light spray of water before it had a chance to heat up.  The cold water felt refreshing as it ran down his smooth, chitinous skin, alleviating the heat in his face, though the low temperature elicited a shudder as it invaded the holes and crevices of his legs.

Of course, it wasn't like a little cold water was going to completely cleanse his stress.  He couldn't afford to put the whole thing out of his mind just yet.  The plan he'd come up with was off the cuff and was only going to be a temporary solution to a major problem.  Guise was not chuffed about having to imitate a pony like Tapioca.  It was irritating just to be in her presence, but now he was going to have to act like her himself.  He fancied himself a good actor, but even he wasn't sure if he'd be able to stand hearing her voice coming out of his own mouth, or having to act like a complete simpleton.  Thankfully, it'd only have to be during work hours at Rocky's, then he could go home and have an intelligent conversation with Sweetmint to cleanse his palate.

But how long was he going to have to keep it up?  Taking Tapioca's place didn't solve anything; it was only to buy time until he could come up with a permanent solution.  But how exactly could he fix this?  Any way he sliced it, letting Tapioca go was a liability.  There would be no way to stop her from snitching on him, so he couldn't just put his trust in her.  He needed more time to figure this out, and a few minutes in the shower wasn't going to provide that.

Guise turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, grabbing a towel and giving himself a once over with it.  As he dried himself off, he heard the door to the apartment open.  Sweetmint must've been home now.  He reapplied his disguise and went out to meet her.

Sweetmint seemed like she was a little stressed herself, a weary look in her eyes as she breathed a long sigh, though that was very understandable.  She appeared to be carrying a newspaper in her magical grasp.

The mare looked up to see her boyfriend approaching from the hall.  "Oh, you're home."

"Where were you?" Guise asked, eyeing the newspaper within her pink aura.

She held the paper up.  "Just went down to the bookstore to grab today's newspaper.  Need to check out the classifieds.  I was only gone for a little bit.  I must've just missed you when I left."  She dropped the newspaper on the table and turned on the coffee pot.  "What took you so long anyway?  You were gone for a few hours."

Guise knit his brow in frustration.  The honest truth was probably the most believable excuse.  "Rocky was being a complete douchenozzle, so I took a walk around town to cool my head."

"Been there," Sweetmint grumbled.  She poured up her coffee and sat down at the kitchen table.  "I'm guessing that means you had no luck."

Guise grabbed himself a mug of dark brew and joined her, shaking his head in response to the assumption.  "Sorry.  And you wanna know the worst part?  Turns out Tapioca's not the one you should have focused your anger on."

Sweetmint arched an eyebrow.  "What?  What's that mean?"

"The reason she's been getting special treatment isn't because Rocky has a thing for her, it's because Chips does."

She blinked uncomprehendingly.  "Wait, what?  How's that work?"

"Rocky doesn't spend a whole lotta time at his own place of business, does he?"

"Not really.  He's usually there in the mornings to give us a rundown of what we're doing for the day, or close to closing time.  Why?"

Guise scowled as he thought about everything he'd learned.  "He's been basing his decisions on what his little brother has told him.  Which means that Tapioca's ass was receiving a lot of high and unjust praise, and Rocky evidently doesn't bother to fact check his brother's claims."

"That little shit!" Sweetmint cursed, pounding a hoof on the table and causing a drop of coffee to splash from her mug.  "Are you serious?!"

"Heard it straight from the horse's mouth.  So it would seem that because you treated Tapioca kinda poorly, the kid didn't have nice things to say about you."

"Shit, really?"  Sweetmint held a hoof to her face remorsefully.  "Fuck, now I really feel bad for Tapioca."

"Don't get me wrong, Tapioca is still a moron and more than deserving of derision."  Guise thought for a moment about the situation and some of the things Tapioca had said.  "But it seemed like she legitimately wants to be your friend.  She told me to tell you she wants to apologize for calling you a bitch."

Sweetmint sighed.  "I guess I've been a little harsh with her.  I should probably head over there tomorrow and apologize properly."

Guise nodded and took sip of his coffee, but the moment the brew started down his throat, he suddenly remembered that there was a problem with that.  He choked on his coffee, coughing loudly as his lungs tried to force the hot liquid back up and down the correct pipe.  If she went down to Rocky's tomorrow, Tapioca wasn't going to be there—at least, not the one she was expecting.  It would probably be easy to fake an apology and get it over with, but Guise really didn't want to chance having a conversation with Sweetmint while disguised as Tapioca; things were going to be stressful enough for him for awhile, so he didn't want any more potential complications to make it even more difficult.

"Uh, you sure about that?" Guise asked, trying to keep his voice level to hide the mild panic.

The green mare quirked a quizzical brow.  "Why?  What's wrong?"

"Well, given what I just told you,  we don't exactly know how you'll react to seeing Rocky and Chips again, right?  Those two are the reason you got treated like crap while you worked there."

Sweetmint scratched her neck with a grimace.  "Fair point."  She shrugged.  "Eh, it's not like I ever have to see Tapioca again anyway.  Maybe if I bump into her on the street someday I'll apologize.  No point in going out of my way, especially when I've gotta use that time to find another job."

Guise exhaled a sigh of relief at having dodged that bullet.  And he now had a convenient segue to change the topic.  "Speaking of which, I'm guessing you've had no luck on your end either."

Sweetmint pulled the newspaper over to herself, flipping through it to the classifieds.  "I'm weighing my options right now.  I know I need a job as soon as possible, but I don't want to go in half-cocked.  I'd like to have a job that I can at least tolerate.  Who knows?  Maybe there's something out there I'll actually like.  Not getting my hopes up though.  And not every place is gonna post ads in the paper, so I might have to make the rounds and keep an eye out for 'Help Wanted' signs."  She took a sizable swig of coffee, an odd look of amusement in her eyes.  "You know, I haven't been on a job hunt since I lived in Manehattan.  Tomorrow's gonna be a weird and probably awkward day."

Guise couldn't agree more, but for different reasons.  While she was out searching for employment, he was actually going to be quitting his own job to work as her former coworker for the time being.  It wasn't exactly something he was looking forward to, but at the very least it would make for an interesting experience.


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


"You know you're never going to forgive yourself for this, right?"

That's what Guise's reflection was saying to him as he stared into the mirror, his own eyes staring judgmentally back at him.  And he understood.  Appropriately, the voice of his reflection reflected his own feelings.  He needed to take a little time this morning to come to terms with what he was about to do.

For the first time since he'd gotten a job, he chose willingly not to show up to work, effectively meaning he had quit.  He doubted his superiors, given how stuffy and ill-tempered they were, would be as lenient about tardiness as Rocky.  He'd essentially crossed the point of no return now, so even if he still had reservations about it, there wasn't really anything he could do about it now.  All he could do was mentally prepare himself for the indignity he was about to put himself through.

Guise stared into the bathroom mirror of the café that he and Sweetmint frequented, taking just a few more moments to stare into his own eyes.  He could feel the self-judgment, reminding himself of the words that his ego had been repeating to him since he woke up.  He glanced down at the half empty cup of coffee he'd bought.  Even though he told himself that he'd try and avoid getting drunk again in the future, a part of him wished that he had something a little more potent than coffee to help him get through this day.  But this was going to have to suffice.  He threw his head back, downing the last of the bitter brew in the hopes that it would do something for him.

With a sigh, Guise closed his eyes.  A flash of green light filled the empty bathroom, and when Guise opened his eyes again, it was no longer him that was staring back at him from the mirror, nor was it his Crimson Neon persona.  It was the feminine face of Tapioca, makeup and all.  The only indication that it wasn't actually the same simple-minded mare was the disgruntled grimace on her usually peppy and oblivious face.

This was like an exercise in humiliation.  It didn't matter that nopony would know the difference.  He knew, and that was enough.  Guise had only just put on his costume; he hadn't even gotten into character yet and he already hated himself.  Just standing there and seeing the gross eyeliner and mascara on his face, and recalling the ear-scraping sound of Tapioca's voice coming from his own mouth was revolting.  A part of him just wanted to keep his mouth shut all day so he wouldn't have to suffer the experience of acting and talking like her, but that would be uncharacteristic of the pony he was imitating.

Just get it over with...

Guise dragged himself to the door and out of the café, too disappointed in himself to even care about the people raising eyebrows at the mare walking out of the stallions' bathroom.  He begrudgingly crossed the street, stopping on the opposite sidewalk.  He turned his new, powder blue eyes up at the sign over the entrance of Rocky's Road.  He just blinked slowly, hoping that this was all just a bad dream and that he was about to wake up.  No such luck.  With a long sigh and no lack of trepidation, Guise finally bit the bullet and stepped inside.

As expected, Frosted Chips was already present.  The few extra minutes he'd spent reluctantly building up toward this moment had caused him to be a little behind on Tapioca's shift, though he presumed that neither Chips nor Rocky gave a shit since she apparently had a penchant for showing up fashionably late—or not at all on some occasions.

Guise had to will himself not to cast an incensed glare at the greasy stallion.  Knowing that Frosted Chips was the very reason why Sweetmint was treated so poorly at work made it difficult not to sock him in his dumb face and give his vacant expression some extra features.  Guise figured he'd feel the same way when he saw Rocky, though the bulkier stallion was nowhere to be seen at the moment, likely in his office.

But now that he was there, something occurred to him.  Chips started eyeing him rather intently the moment Guise stepped inside.  This wasn't a factor he'd bothered to take into consideration when he decided to do it, but he was now impersonating the object of the kid's affection.  That meant that Chips was now going to spend the majority of his time staring at Guise's backside.  That thought sent an uncomfortable shiver down his spine.  No part of him wanted a creepy weirdo like Frosted Chips ogling his hindquarters, even if it wasn't his own butt on display.  But, unfortunately, Guise had never noticed Tapioca objecting to the way the kid stared at her, so he was just going to have to do his best to ignore him.  But, on the bright side, he also never noticed Tapioca ever really interact with Chips either, so that was a plus.

Guise wasn't given much of a chance to acclimate himself to his new workplace before Rocky came out of the backroom with a smile on his face.  He immediately set his sights on "Tapioca," his smile widening further.  "Ah, good morning, Tapi!" he greeted enthusiastically.

Guise sighed internally.

Here we go...

He plastered a big, doofy grin on his face, mustering up his best chirpy, singsong voice.  "Morning, Rocky~!"

Just kill me...

"So, um..." Rocky began, looking a little hesitant as he scratched his cheek.  "Listen, Tapi.  I appreciate everything you do around here, but since we're down a pony now and I've got to pick up Mint's slack, I'd like it if you would try and show up for work on time from now on, yeah?  Oh, and be a peach and let me know if you plan on clocking out early.  We can all be eager to get home after a long day, but you kinda just disappeared on us yesterday.  I know it was a slow day and all, but let's not make it a habit, 'kay?"

"Sure thing, Rocky," Guise agreed, his fake smile already hurting his cheeks and his pride.

"Oh, and you were in such a rush that you left your bags here.  You gotta be careful you don't forget your keys and lock yourself out of your apartment."

"That'd be pretty stupid of me, huh?  Good thing I forgot to lock my door yesterday."  It may have been an easy lie to make up, but Guise could honestly see Tapioca as the kind of pony to forget to lock up before leaving for work.  And he'd have to remember to grab those bags before he left since paying brief visits to Tapioca's apartment was going to be part of keeping up appearances.

Rocky laughed heartily.  "Alright, then, let's get started, folks."

And so began Guise's first day in Tapioca's shoes.  He already felt like this was going to be a cakewalk.  Even if Rocky was deciding only now to tug on Tapioca's leash, he did so very passively.  He might not have had a romantic interest in her as Sweetmint had originally believed, but he obviously held Tapioca in high regard anyway.  Of course, Guise knew why that was: Rocky's little brother.  Whatever lies Chips was feeding him, Rocky was blindly going along with it, to the point where even when he was trying to be stern, he came off as a total pansy.  Apparently, Tapioca had no idea just how much power she had within this establishment.  And that could be something Guise could use to his advantage.

But for now, Guise decided to simply observe the goings-on around the shop.  He'd gotten a pretty good idea of what a day in the life of Tapioca was like when he browsed her memories, but there was only so much he could learn with that spell until he could perfect it.  Thankfully, it seemed that the place was pretty easy going.  Rocky handled the making of the ice cream, and Tapioca's job was only to serve it to customers and help clean up at the end of the day.  Chips just bused tables and washed dishes throughout most of the day—at least when his eyes weren't glued to his coworker's behind.

But there was a minor complication that Guise hadn't considered until now: Tapioca's favor was a result of Chips's input, but now that Sweetmint had been fired, it meant that Rocky was going to have a more prominent presence.  It was possible that he might get to see how little Tapioca actually did.  Although, it wasn't Tapioca at the moment, so Guise could work around that and actually put the work in to keep up appearances.

Of course, that would only come into play if the place was busy.  As the hours passed and the day progressed, Guise was starting to notice a distinct lack of customers.  It had always seemed like things were pretty steadily paced at Rocky's when Sweetmint worked there, with the occasional slow days and infrequent busy days, but it felt to Guise like things were exceptionally slow.  They were only getting a couple of customers an hour, but maybe that's how things usually went around here.  Guise would need more time to get a feel for a typical work day at Rocky's.

About halfway through the day, the shop's three staff members were really just sitting around doing nothing.  Even Rocky was just leaning on the counter, tapping his hoof in boredom.  So, since things were pretty slow at the moment, and there wasn't much work to actually do, Guise decided now may be a good time to exercise his borrowed leverage.  Rocky may not have been willing to listen to Crimson Neon, but maybe if Tapioca sweet talked him a little, he could perhaps convince him to turn around his decision to fire Sweetmint.

Guise approached the counter, making sure to do so with a dainty gait.  "Hey, Rocky?"

Rocky lifted his head at the sound of the feminine voice addressing him, his perky smile coming back in full force at the prospect of striking up conversation to stave off the tedium.  "What's up, buttercup?"

"So, um...  I know you had that talk with Crimson yesterday.  You know, about Minty," Guise started, attempting to act demure to hopefully soften Rocky up.

"Yeppers.  What about it?"

"Are you suuuuuure you can't reconsider bringing her back?" he asked, adding a bat of his fake fake eyelashes and curling his bottom lip into a sad pout.

Rocky smiled sympathetically, which Guise didn't take as a good sign.  "Now, Tapi, it's super nice of you to feel all remorseful for her and everything, but I think you of all people should have more reason to be glad that she's gone than anypony else."

"But wouldn't you rather have somepony else make the ice cream while you focus on managing and junk?"

"It's not like I don't plan on hiring somepony to replace her.  I just gotta put an ad in the paper.  I'm sure somepony'll answer it lickety-split."

"You think you'll find anypony better at it than her?"

Rocky chuckled, giving Guise a light tousle of his strawberry pink mane.  The changeling had to force back a disgruntled grimace.  "You're a doll for caring so much, Tapi, but you know what they say: nice guys finish last."

Guise was more than familiar with that mindset, though he wasn't fond of having it thrown back at him.

"If I go back on my decision, that'll make me look bad.  She'll probably just think that I'm a pushover and that she has complete control around here.  It might make her even worse than she was before.  Besides, this was a long time coming.  Shoving you was the straw that broke the camel's back—and it could've been your back.  You should be thankful that you weren't hurt worse."

Guise sighed in disappointment, mostly as one last play to try and sway him, but there was definitely veiled contempt behind his regretful eyes.  It was going to be hard to convince Rocky to change his mind, if not outright impossible.  Rocky believed that he was in the right after all.  Besides, it may have been better to delay such pursuits until he managed to figure out what to do with Tapioca.  It wouldn't put him in a great position if he did manage to convince him to rehire Sweetmint while he himself still had to impersonate Tapioca.  That might get weird, and it'd throw an additional variable into the mix that he really didn't need right now.

"Okay..." Guise whimpered to try and earn sympathy, though Rocky seemed like he wasn't going to bite.  "I just wanna throw out there that I think she deserves another chance.  I said some things I shouldn't have, too."  And that was true.  Tapioca had said herself that she wanted to apologize to Sweetmint.

Rocky smiled, but didn't say anything for a few seconds.  Guise stared at him with a little hope, as the large stallion seemed to be mulling something over.  "Tell you what: if Mint comes down here and apologizes to you personally—no boyfriends to do her talking for her—I'll consider giving her another shot."

Guise's eyes widened in surprise.  He honestly couldn't believe that Rocky had suddenly done a one-eighty like that.  "Really?"

"You betcha."  Rocky's smile suddenly became a lot more smug, not dissimilar to when Guise had talked to him yesterday.  "But she'll have to beg me for it."

Guise felt a vein in his temple pulse.  "What?"

"And I mean on her knees, pleading me to give her her job back.  I need to know that she understands who the boss is around here, and she can't just push me or my employees around.  Figuratively, or, in your case, literally."

It took a great deal of willpower for Guise to keep his facial expression even.  Anything more than a pout would seem uncharacteristic of Tapioca, let alone the venomous sneer Guise wanted to shoot at Rocky right now.

In an instant, Rocky went right back to his happy-go-lucky grin as he stepped out from behind the counter.  "Welp, seeing as we've hit a teensy lull, I'm gonna take this opportunity to do some paperwork.  Tapi, think you can handle taking orders if a customer shows up?"

Guise unclenched his teeth long enough to answer the question.  "I'll try my best," he said, though it was hard to keep all of the venom out of his voice.

"Atta girl!  Now, if you'll excuse me..."

Rocky exited into the back room, finally giving Guise some room to breathe.  He was actually going to take a page from Tapioca's book and slack off now that Rocky wasn't around; it wasn't like Chips was going to tattle on him.  Besides, Guise had more important things to think about than work, but he wanted something to chew on in the meantime.  If Sweetmint's comments in the past were any indication, it wasn't uncommon for Tapioca to help herself to free samples of ice cream; something else that Chips likely never included in his "reports."

Guise scooped himself a small bowl of strawberry banana and took it to one of the tables.  The moment he took his first spoonful, he had to pause.  Rocky had admitted himself that Sweetmint's ice cream was better than his, but it was only now that he was actually tasting Rocky's for himself that Guise realized how wide the gap really was.  Sweetmint's ice cream was always oozing with flavor and was a treat for Guise's otherwise meat-loving palate.  Rocky's ice cream barely had anything that could be described as flavor.  The strawberry banana that he was currently eating tasted like it was made with unripe fruit.  How did that guy get a cutie mark for making ice cream?  Or perhaps Guise had been spoiled by superior ice cream, so anything he tried now tasted like dirt.  Either way, Rocky had to realize how much of a detriment losing Sweetmint was to his business.

But it wasn't like there was any hope of her getting her job back.  Rocky really must've had it in for her to be so stubborn and apathetic about it, but Guise knew that was mostly Frosted Chips's doing.  But the ultimatum he'd issued didn't inspire any confidence either.  There was no way in hell that somepony like Sweetmint would stoop so low as to beg for her job.  And even if Rocky had chosen to be a little more lenient, it seemed like Sweetmint was intent on leaving the place behind out of spite anyway.

Guise finished his bowl of bland ice cream, setting aside the bowl for Chips to clean later.  And as the day rolled on, Guise just got more and more bored.  He was having difficulty coming up with a half-decent solution to his Tapioca problem, and there weren't a lot of customers showing up to help him fight the tedium.  Most of the ones who did didn't seem to stay long, though given how Rocky's ice cream tasted, he couldn't say he blamed them.  It also played against Sweetmint's theory that Tapioca's good looks were part of the draw of this place.  Guise had seen for himself that customers—particularly of the male variety—tended to linger just to chat and flirt with Tapioca, but that was mostly just because she initiated and was a chatterbox herself.  Guise wasn't going to go so far as to actively flirt with every customer since Rocky was really the only one he had to fool, and he presumed Chips would be too distracted by his ass to care about how he was acting.  If nothing else, this was certainly easier than his previous job, though he'd eventually have to think about what he was going to do if and when he sorted everything out.

Once the end of the day approached, Rocky burst out of the back room with a zealous grin.  "Alllllright, folks, closin' time!  I trust you two know the routine by now.  Ah, who am I kidding?  You two know the routine better than I do.  I know it was a slow day today, but good hustle anyway.  So, I'm gonna trolley on home and leave you guys to it.  Chips, I'll see you at home.  Tapi, I'll see you tomorrow.  Toodles!"

Guise watched as Rocky trotted exuberantly out the door.  He seemed pretty enthusiastic about calling it a day, and as much as Guise despised the guy now, he could relate to that at least.  But Guise's day wasn't over quite yet.  Once he was done here, he needed to make a trip up the mountain to check up on his "prisoner" before he could head home himself.  But before that, he had to clean the parlor.  He sauntered off to the back room to grab a broom and drop off any dirty bowls to be washed, then returned to begin sweeping the place for a few minutes.

"You're not Tapioca."

Guise nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of a quiet, nasally voice coming from seemingly nowhere.  His eyes darted around in search of the voice, thinking that they had maybe forgotten about a customer who had been blending into the walls.  But no matter how hard he looked, Guise couldn't see anypony in the relatively small building.  The only people still present were himself and...

Guise's eyes fell on Frosted Chips, who was staring at him with a knit brow.  The changeling blinked, dumbfounded.

Was that him?  Holy crap, he can talk.

Guise paused briefly.

Wait...  What did he say?

"Excuse me?" Guise asked, unsure if he'd heard correctly.

"You're not Tapioca," Chips repeated.

Guise could only stare back in equal parts shock and anger.

You've got to be kidding me...

There was no way this lazy, inattentive weirdo could have seen through his disguise.  Maybe he hadn't been acting as flirty as Tapioca, but that was hardly grounds for accusing him of being an impostor.  Guise could get around this.  It shouldn't be any trouble to convince him otherwise.

"What are you talking about, silly?" Guise responded with a feminine giggle.  "Who else would it be?"

"I don't know, but you're not her.  You're different," he argued adamantly.

Guise was already fed up with this, but he had to keep insisting, flicking a hoof dismissively.  "I'm just having an off day, that's all.  It's been pretty boring around here today in case you didn't notice."

"That doesn't matter.  Tapioca is always a joy to be around, always smiling no matter what."

Guise forced back a grimace.  What fantasy world did this kid live in?  "So you think I haven't been acting like me?"

"It's not just the way you act, but the way you move."

The changeling quirked an eyebrow.  "Huh?"

"Tapioca's mane has a particular bounce due to the way she walks, she flutters her eyelashes more when she talks to people, her questions have a stronger upward inflection, and her flank sways rhythmically when she moves, side to side like a metronome without missing a beat."

Guise could only stare in utter bewilderment.  It was one thing to mimic a person's voice and basic, everyday behavior, but copying little details like those was a much more demanding endeavor.  Most people wouldn't even notice such minute intricacies, especially somepony who daydreamed as much as Frosted Chips.  Then again, what did Chips spend most of his time daydreaming about?  Tapioca.  Guise knew that the only thing that occupied the greasy kid's mind at any given time was her, but he had assumed that that was just him being a pervy little weirdo.  But it seemed like Chips may have been more deeply enamored with Tapioca than he'd presumed if he noticed tiny mannerisms like those.

For as confrontational as Chips was trying to be, some slight fear filled his eyes.  "Are you... a changeling?"

Guise could argue all day, but this kid appeared to be far too stubborn to believe him, and if he started telling people that there was a changeling around, that could be troublesome for him.  He needed to nip this in the bud.

Guise stomped up to Chips aggressively.  "Alright, listen up, you little shit stain," he snarled, forcing Chips to take a step back in surprise at his sudden shift in tone and attitude.  "If you value your personal health, you won't breathe a word of this to anypony.  I've come too far for my efforts to be ruined by a greasy turd like you."

Chips seemed taken aback, though that was pretty understandable; it must have been pretty jarring to him to see "Tapioca" acting and talking like that, even if he knew it wasn't really her.  Whatever the case, any bravery he exhibited had quickly gone out the window.  However, he managed to stand his ground, furrowing his brow again.  "Wh-Where's Tapioca?  If you hurt her, I'll—"

"You'll what?"  Guise took another step forward, his challenging expression once again causing Chips's resolve to falter.  "You think you're tough enough to take me?  You think you're her white knight?  Please.  A stiff breeze could give you a bruise.  But if it makes you feel any better, I haven't laid a hoof on her.  She's fine."

"How...  How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"You don't, but you don't really have a choice, do you?"

Chips looked to be getting increasingly worried, no doubt concerned for his crush's safety.  "I...  I'll just tell the royal guards."

"Go right ahead."

The wimpy stallion raised an eyebrow at the challenge, suspicious of the changeling's implication.

"But just remember that Tapioca's at my mercy."

Chips's pupils narrowed in fright at the threat.  Guise smirked.  The kid was too easy to read.  He knew the best way to keep Chips in line was the prospect of his beloved coming to harm.

Guise leaned forward with a malicious grin.  "You wouldn't want that, would you?  If I found out that you tattled on me, I might have to hurt her.  Would you be able to live with yourself if you knew that you were the reason I had to hurt her?  How would she react if she knew it was your fault?"

Chips practically began to tremble at the thought of it, but Guise wanted to drive the point home harder.

Guise lifted a hoof to his forehead daintily, feigning distress as he mimicked Tapioca.  "'How could you?  I can't believe you would be so heartless and let this brute mar my pretty face.  You're, like, the most awful, despicable, selfish pony I know.  I never want to see your totally horrible face again!'"  He ended the scene with a smug smirk.

Chips said nothing in response.  He could only cowardly lower his head in defeat and reluctantly obey the changeling's order.

"Good boy.  Now, you just keep doing what you've been doing and keep your trap shut.  I don't want to have to hurt her any more than you do."  With that, Guise sauntered casually to the back room to grab Tapioca's forgotten bags before preparing to leave Rocky's entirely.  He paused briefly at the front door to look back at Chips.  "Oh, and be a dear and clean this place up, 'kay?" he requested, once more mocking Tapioca's tone of voice to rub salt in the wound.

Chips straightened up in surprise.  "Huh?  B-But we're supp—"

"Ah ah," Guise interrupted.  "You really wanna push it?"

The brown pony shrunk back, unable to find the will to argue.

Confident that Chips was firmly under his hoof, Guise took his leave, letting the greasy kid do all his work for him.  Under normal circumstances, Guise would have been in a panic over yet another pony finding him out, but this was Frosted Chips, and he just happened to have the perfect deterrent for him.  And Chips was a really quiet guy to begin with, so Guise felt like he wasn't in any real danger.  It was also rather cathartic given that that turd was the source of a lot of Sweetmint's problems, so this was karmic justice as far as he was concerned.  It might cause some unwanted complications later on, but with everything else he had to deal with at the moment, he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.


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


Guise touched down outside his old cave home.  He could see Tapioca sitting off in the far corner, looking a little sickly.  It wasn't that she was physically unwell, but she seemed rather off-put by the collection of animal bones scattered about, no doubt uneasy about the implication that it was her captor that had killed and eaten them.

But her mood seemed to lift instantly the moment she noticed Guise return.  One wouldn't expect a prisoner to be relieved to see their captor return, but Tapioca immediately stood up to meet him halfway.  "Oh, thank Celestia, you're back.  I was worried you forgot about me.  I'm staaaaarving."

Guise rolled his eyes in annoyance.  "It's been twenty-four hours.  I get you're hungry, but 'starving' is overstating it."

"Please tell me you brought food," she pleaded, her stomach growling loudly in desperation.

The changeling held up two brown paper bags he'd brought with him, tossing one onto the ground in front of her.  Tapioca took one look at the red and gold horseshoe logo and blanched in disgust.

"Ew, Hayburger?  I can't eat that.  That stuff's, like, über greasy.  It'll ruin my figure."

"You're not exactly in a position to be picky," Guise reminded her apathetically.  "If I'm gonna have to dip into my savings to feed you, I'm gonna go with the cheapest available option.  If you've got a problem with that, there's grass right outside."

Tapioca followed his pointing hoof to the short ridge outside covered in green grass, then glanced back at the bag.  With a reluctant and unenthused grimace, she cautiously opened the bag with her powder blue magic as though it were a container of hazardous chemicals.  She removed an object wrapped in thin, yellow paper, peeling it away to reveal the burger within.  She stared with disgust at the meal her captor had decided to torture her with: a pair of sesame seed buns sandwiching some deep fried hay, pale, shredded lettuce, a couple of moist pickle slices, and far more ketchup than was reasonably necessary.  She refused to touch the thing with her hooves as it was bleeding an unappetizing mixture of ketchup, pickle juice, and fryer grease.  Tapioca looked like she was on the verge of puking, but she'd need something in her stomach first in order to vomit.  She slowly opened her mouth, taking a slow, deliberate bite and forcing herself to chew.

She swallowed her first bite, her face showing disgust and shame.  "Bleugh...  This is gonna go straight to my flanks..."

"Tough it out, sister," Guise said, sitting against the wall and opening the second bag of takeout.  He didn't waste any time digging into his greasy burger.  "Take it from me, it could be way worse.  When I was locked up, I was lucky to get a piece of rotten fruit or half-eaten mushrooms.  Most of the time I was just waiting for random bugs to crawl into my cell through the cracks in the walls and drinking dirty water that dripped from the ceiling.  Compared to that, you're living in the lap of luxury."  He removed a cup of cola from the bag and took a long slurp on the straw.  "I don't even know what you're complaining about.  This is probably among the tastiest pony food I've had.  Just a notch down from instant noodles, and two from Mint's ice cream."

"It's super unhealthy.  And this is all I get to eat for the whole day?  How am I supposed to survive on just one meal a day?  The least you could do is bring me some breakfast in the morning."

"The 'least I could do' is leave you up here to rot like the rest of these animals, but I don't exactly want to have to imitate you for the rest of my life."  Despite how undesirable the notion was, Guise managed an amused grin.  "Although, having said that, being you does have a few perks.  I actually didn't have to pay for these meals.  I was able to convince the cashier to pay for me thanks to a little 'tactical flirting.'"

Tapioca balked at the insinuation.  "Wait, you went into Hayburger disguised as me?!  Augh!  Now people are gonna think I like going to dives like that!  And that I have a thing for greasy fry cooks!  You're gonna ruin my reputation!"

Guise shrugged indifferently as he took another bite of his burger.  "Not my problem."

She shot a disgruntled huff through her nostrils.  "Spoiling my image...  It's not enough that you're taking my money for yourself?"

"I'm doing all the work right now—and more work than you ever did, might I add.  I had to quit my job to make this work, and I need some income to support me and Sweetmint, especially since she's unemployed now."

Tapioca grumbled begrudgingly as she took a sip of soda.  She was attempting to use her disgruntled pout to guilt Guise, but that obviously wasn't going to work.  However, there was a distinct look of curiosity in her eyes.  "So, um...  How...  How was it, then?"

"How wuz wad?" Guise responded with a mouthful of burger.

"Work.  You're not gonna ruin that for me, too, are you?"

"If anything, I'm going to make you look good."  Guise grimaced as he thought about everything that pissed him off about the place and the people who worked there.  "Not that you ever had to really do anything to be treated well there.  But I did already hit a minor snag."

"What kinda snag?"

"Namely, Chips."

Tapioca arched an eyebrow in confusion.  "Who?"

Guise just stared at her in silent awe.  "Frosted Chips."

She blinked vacantly.

"Your coworker.  The weird kid that never talks."

A light bulb seemed to finally switch on in Tapioca's brain.  "Ooooh, you mean Rocky's little brother."

"Yes.  Are you really that ignorant?" Guise chided in annoyance.

Tapioca turned her eyes up in thought.  "I guess I never learned his name.  Honestly, I kinda forget that he's even there," she giggled.

"How can you not notice?  I know he's quiet, but the guy spends the whole day just staring at your ass."

Tapioca held a hoof to her chest and smiled.  "Aww, really?  That's so sweet."

Guise grimaced, bemused by her reaction.  "If you think harder, I'm sure you'd actually find it creepy."

"So, what, you don't like him staring at your butt when you're pretending to be me?"

"Well, no, it's disgusting, but that's not exactly the problem.  He managed to deduce that I'm a changeling."

Tapioca tilted her head.  "How'd he do that?  He must be a smart cookie."

"I wouldn't give him quite that much credit.  It's more so because he has a massive crush on you.  He's memorized all your mannerisms down to the finest details.  I consider myself a good actor, but even I don't notice imperceptible shit like that."

Tapioca blushed bashfully.  "Aw, that's, like, so romantic.  I never knew I had a secret admirer."

"I think 'stalker' might be a more appropriate term, but I guess I'm not in a position to judge on that front given the research I had to put in before making a move on Sweetmint."

"What are you gonna do about him?  Are you gonna bring him up here, too?"

"That's not really an option.  I can't impersonate two people at once.  It's not a big deal anyway," Guise said with a dismissive flick of his hoof.  "The kid's a wimp.  All I had to do was threaten to hurt you and he clammed up pretty quick."

Tapioca gulped nervously.

Guise rolled his eyes.  "Relax, I'm not actually gonna hurt you.  I just had to put that out there to keep him from telling anypony."

"Would it really be that big a deal if people knew you were a changeling?" Tapioca inquired.  "I mean, there's those two changelings in Ponyville, right?  They're friendly.  I actually met one of 'em the other day."

"I know, I was there, remember?" Guise reminded her.

Tapioca's eyes widened slightly as she remembered that she was still essentially talking to Crimson Neon.  "Oh, right."

"And it's not as simple as that.  I'm not like them.  I told you about the things I've done.  Even if I came clean, there's no way anypony would give me the same treatment as those two.  I'd basically be a criminal on parole at best.  And besides, I'm in too deep now.  If anypony realized how long I've been deceiving them, they'd never be willing to trust me—especially Mint..."

Tapioca noticed the sullen look on Guise's face as he listlessly chewed his food.  "You really care about her, huh?" she said sympathetically.

"Don't get the wrong idea," Guise corrected her.  "Mint's essential to my overall plan.  I need her for love, that's all."

She tilted her head, puzzled by the explanation.  "Uh, isn't that what everypony wants from a relationship?"

"For changelings, love is a source of power.  Now, I'm not saying that I plan on taking over Equestria or anything, I just want to be able to enjoy the taste of it, the sensation that it gives you.  It's simply a luxury, but I need somepony to get it from.  Mint just happens to be the best option available."  He sighed, running a hoof through his mane.  "Or she would if I could actually get any from her..."

"She doesn't love you?" Tapioca presumed with a frown.

"I don't know..." Guise mumbled uncertainly.  "She might, but she mightn't."

The mare only tilted her head further, clearly befuddled by the whole situation.

"All things considered, I have more important things to focus on right now," he said, casting a glance in Tapioca's direction.  "And so does she.  I can't really be pressuring her into loving me right now when she's got so much on her mind."  Guise threw his head back with a groan.  "Everything's just spiraling out of control...  This was supposed to be quick and easy, but now all this shit is happening."

Tapioca's ears drooped remorsefully.  "If it means anything, I'm sorry I ruined everything for you, Crimson."

Guise looked back at her.  He could have taken the opportunity to take his frustration out on her.  Up until now, he had blamed her for this, but was she really responsible?

The changeling breathed a long sigh, leaning back against the stone wall.  "This isn't your fault.  You were right from the start."

Tapioca blinked uncomprehendingly.  "Huh?  About what?"

"About what you saw at the café.  As far as any outside observer was aware, I was there talking to Mint."

"You were?!" the mare gasped in shock.

"It was actually Chamella.  I had to lie about it when you and Mint started arguing to avoid suspicion.  And that just started a chain reaction.  Mint got fed up and took it out on you, she got fired, I went to talk to Rocky, you felt bad so you followed me...  And here we are...  I can't exactly fault you for feeling sorry—you ponies can be sappy like that."

Guise hung his head in defeat, resigning himself to the truth of the matter.  "This is my fault...  I'm the one who fucked everything up.  Funny to think that it was all because I decided to have a friggin' conscience.  Now I'm up shit creek, and Mint's gotta concentrate on getting her life back in order so she can open her own place, and I can't really even help her in my current predicament."

"I'm sure you'll think of something.  You're a smart guy," Tapioca said quietly with a soft smile.

He scowled slightly in response.  "Why are you trying to comfort me?  You're my prisoner, remember?"

"Um, I dunno," she admitted sheepishly.  "I know you said you did bad things, but I still think you're a nice guy.  You're thinking about Minty and everything."

"For my own selfish purposes."

"But she's still happy, right?"

Guise sat quietly as he ruminated on her simple perception of his situation.  As much as he could easily throw her comments out as naïve optimism, he had heard similar words before from a much smarter pony.

He exhaled a quiet breath through his nostrils.  "I'll try and figure something out.  I don't want to have to keep you here."

Tapioca smiled hopefully.  "Does that mean you'll let me go now?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself," he snipped with a furrowed brow.  "I still don't trust you to keep this information under wraps."  His expression softened a little.  "I just want things to get back to normal."

"Well...  Good luck.  I hope it works out."

Guise stared at her.  He really didn't know how to react to her optimistic smile.  He couldn't understand why she was still being so nice to him.  It could have been that she was just trying to guilt him into releasing her, but he didn't believe that she could fake it that well.

Guise finished his burger and drink and tossed the garbage to the side, standing up as he prepared to head home.  He glanced over his shoulder at Tapioca one more time, who was still smiling at him.  He stared at her for a few silent moments before speaking up quietly.  "I'll bring you something for breakfast tomorrow morning."

Tapioca seemed surprised by the offer, a light blush tinging her cheeks, but she didn't get a chance to respond before Guise took off.
> Part 10 - Imperative
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another day down, and another exasperated sigh.

With a pair of saddlebags on his back, Guise stepped out of the building where Tapioca's apartment was—an unsurprisingly posh place and no doubt expensive if her swanky and spacious flat was any indication.  He was disguised as the mare himself, of course, since he needed to keep up appearances.  Tapioca didn't seem to have many friends outside of Rocky and Chips—if they could be called "friends"—not that Guise was expecting any less.  So all he really had to do while taking her place was go to work at Rocky's and pay a quick, daily visit to her apartment so that nopony there noticed she was gone.

The disguised changeling found a suitable place around the forested outskirts of Canterlot to shift back to his normal body, buzzing his wings and taking off up the spire of the mountain.  He landed outside the cave near the summit, taking a quiet moment to wind down, not that his day to day was terribly stressful or anything.  Inside the cave, he spotted Tapioca building a small castle using the empty takeout containers that had built up over the past two weeks she'd had to live there.  She didn't exactly have much to do while waiting for Guise to show up, so she had to do something to entertain herself and stave off the boredom of her isolation.  Cleaning out the animal bones had been one of the first things she did, and she had even made a makeshift bed for herself out of grass and flowers she'd plucked from the ridge outside.

Boredom wasn't the only thing she had to deal with, though.  After two weeks of living in a cave, Tapioca was having a great deal of difficulty maintaining her precious good looks.  Her creamy white coat had started to darken, and her usually bouncy mane had become quite unkempt.  Given how her attractiveness was one of her defining traits, it would certainly be a little jarring for people to see her in this condition, practically unrecognizable with flat and frazzled hair and her lack of makeup.  If there was one major complaint that Tapioca had voiced in the first few days of her imprisonment, it was her physical condition.  Guise eventually got fed up enough with her bitching and moaning about it that he offered to fly her down to a nearby stream running down the mountain every few days to at least clean the dirt and grime from her coat and mane, and to clear up her clumped and runny makeup.  Guise thought that she actually looked slightly less repulsive without all that gunk on her face anyway, not that he'd ever say so out loud—he didn't want to do or say anything to encourage her amorous behavior toward him, especially considering he was the only person she was able to interact with now.

Guise wandered inside, his hoofsteps grabbing Tapioca's attention.  She was always quick to get up and greet him whenever he showed up, eager to finally have somepony to be the recipient of the inane and idle musings that randomly popped into her head while she was alone.

"Hey!" she greeted with a chipper lilt.  "You bring supper?"

Guise held up a brown paper bag with the Hayburger logo and tossed it to her.  Tapioca deftly caught it and quickly removed the contents.  Without any hesitation, she bit into the greasy burger he'd brought her.  She had reversed her opinion on Hayburger pretty quickly after about the first week and now anticipated it as though it were a treat between the takeout noodles and toasted sandwiches.

The changeling watched as she enthusiastically dug into her meal and took a loud slurp of her cola.  Tapioca was surprisingly content for somepony being kept against her will in a dark cave.  And with that in mind, he removed his saddlebags and tossed them to the ground in front of her.

"Here."

With cheeks packed with burger, Tapioca eyed the bags quizzically.  "Wuzzad?"

Guise broke eye contact, rubbing his neck awkwardly and hoping the slight blush on his face wasn't noticeable in the darkness of the cave.  "You've been pretty patient through all this, so I figured I'd bring you a little something extra."

Her curiosity piqued, Tapioca opened one of the flaps and peered inside.  Her eyes widened, a twinkle appearing in her sky blue irises.  She removed several small objects, including, but not limited to, lipstick, mascara, eyeliner, blush, and a whole assortment of other makeup and cosmetics.  She turned her eyes up at Guise, a shaky smile on her face as she appeared to be on the verge of grateful tears.  "Crimsy..."

Guise promptly raised his hoof before she could say anything.  "Don't read into it.  All of this is going to be easier for me if you're not whining and complaining.  I just figured this was an easy way to keep you quiet."

His reasoning didn't diminish Tapioca's appreciation.  She just continued smiling as she looked over the products her captor had brought her.  "They're all my favorite brands, too."

"Well, yeah.  I just swiped all this stuff off of the vanity in your apartment."

"Oh..."

Guise took notice of her sudden disappointment and cast her a corrective sneer.  "What, did you expect me to go out and buy makeup for you?  I can't afford to be buying frivolous crap like that right now."

Her appreciative smile returned regardless.  "Still, it was nice of you to bring this stuff, Crimsy.  Thanks a bunch."

"Yeah, whatever," he responded dismissively, sitting down to eat his own takeout.

Tapioca swiftly finished off her burger, eager to get started on prettying herself up for the first time in two weeks.  The first thing she decided to address was her messy mane, taking out a hairbrush that Guise was generous enough to pack and starting on working out the knots in her hair.  While she was at that, she glanced over to the quiet changeling as he ate.  "So, how was work?"

Guise shrugged.  "Same old, same old.  Things are getting a little slow, though.  Like, slower than usual."

"Makes sense.  We're getting near the end of summer.  Ice cream's not exactly a hot item in the fall."

The changeling quirked an eyebrow at her.  "Pun intended?"

Tapioca blinked.  "What pun?"

Guise shook his head.  "Nevermind."

The mare grunted as she worked out a particularly nasty knot, letting a out a sigh.  "I might be able to work out the kinks, but I'm not gonna be able to get it back to its usual bounciness without my conditioner."  She cast a pleading grin to Guise.

The changeling scoffed at her passive request.  "Forget it.  I might be an asshole, but I don't exactly want to poison the water around here.  I might want to eat those fish at some point."

"Changelings eat meat, right?"

Guise stared bemusedly at her.  "I feel like you've seen enough evidence to not need to phrase that as a question."

"So how come I never see you eating any meat?  You always eat takeout with me."

"Let me answer your question with a question: do you want to see me eat meat?  I could go out right now and catch a cute little bunny so you can watch me snap its neck and tear out its throat.  I'd have no problem with that."

Tapioca grimaced uneasily.  "Uh, n-no thanks."

"Exactly.  Maybe don't ask questions you don't want the answer to."

"You know what I could really go for right now?  Some of Minty's ice cream.  Think you could sneak me some sometime?"

Guise rolled his eyes.  "I'd rather not do anything suspicious around her, like sneaking off with a tub of ice cream for no reason.  She was wary enough when I started coming home later than usual because I have to come up here to bring you supper.  Now she thinks I'm working more hours, but she might notice that something's up if she finds out I'm not bringing home extra cash."

"How's that going anyway?  Is she any closer to opening her own place yet?" Tapioca asked as she removed a small, folding mirror to start applying her eyeliner.

"It's only been two weeks.  We're nowhere near close to that yet.  She's been running over the plans and everything, but we can't exactly do much with that until we have the money."

She flashed him a reassuring smile.  "Don't worry.  I'm sure you guys can work through this."

Guise stared at her genuine grin as he took a sip of soda.  They're conversations over the past two weeks have been pretty similar to this.  Whether it was her lingering desire to apologize to Sweetmint, her continued attraction to Guise, or simply her want to get this whole thing over with, she was being unusually supportive of Guise and his goals for somepony being held against her will.  It could have also been that Guise was the only person she was able to talk with now.

And that was an aspect of all this that Guise hadn't really thought about at first, but as time went by, he found himself often engaging in conversation with Tapioca, despite his complaints about how annoying she was and how grating her voice was.  A part of him had hoped that maybe he'd rub off on her and she'd grow a little more common sense through intellectual osmosis.  He wasn't sure how well that was working, but he had noticed that some of her verbal ticks were becoming less frequent.

Tapioca stared into her small mirror as best she could, walking over to the entrance to get a little more light and look herself over now that her makeup was reapplied.  "Well...  It doesn't look right without having my mane styled, but it's something."

She snapped the mirror shut.  Now that she was outside, she looked down at the city below them; a portrait of whites, purples, and golds and the majestic spires of the castle by the cliff's edge.  A wistful sigh escaped her lungs and she looked back at Guise.  "Do you miss home sometimes, Crimson?"

The changeling scoffed at the question.  "Miss the biting winds, lack of food, and stupid, self-centered drones?  Yeah, right.  I left the Changeling Kingdom because that place is a shit hole.  I might be in a bit of a bind right now, but even if everything got royally fucked up for me here, I wouldn't even consider going back there."

"You don't have any friends back home?"

"Nope.  Changelings don't have friends."

"But what about—"

"Those two are obviously different.  Don't lump me in with them."

Tapioca went silent.  She'd had a few questions about changelings and their homeland during her imprisonment, but Guise elected not to divulge his connection with Shade and Chamella.  She didn't need to know his history with them, and he hadn't so much as even revealed his real name, and had no plans to do so.

Guise noticed the way she was staring longingly at the city.  "You miss your family?"

"Uh, yeah, a little," she said quietly.  "I didn't really visit Mommy and Daddy much after I moved out, but now that I can't, I kinda want to see them more.  It's hard knowing it might be a long time before I can see them again."

"I'm working on that as best I can.  Believe me, I want this to be over with just as much as you, but I haven't figured anything out that works for everyone involved.  Even if I trusted you to keep my secret, Chips might go and tell the royal guards the moment he finds out you're out of danger."

"I get it, and I really do appreciate you taking care of me during all this, Crimsy," she expressed, sitting down beside him, though keeping a little distance between them as she knew by now he preferred.  "But isn't there, like, anything you can do to speed this up?"

"If there was, I feel like I'd've come up with it by now," he grumbled in frustration.  "I know you miss your family, but if it means anything, they don't even know you're gone."

"It's a little weird to think that Daddy's still paying for an apartment that nopony's even using right now."

"Does seem like kind of a waste.  Me and Mint could really use that cash right about now."

"Oh, Daddy has plenty of money.  He owns a company that makes and distributes pudding.  Like, really good pudding.  I think we're, like, um... maybe the... eighth richest family in Canterlot?  Something like that?  Eighth or ninth, I think Daddy's business magazines said.  And that's not counting the princesses."

Guise stared at her somewhat incredulously.  "Really?  I knew the people of Canterlot were all high society snobs, but I had no idea you were that loaded.  So why are you working at a place like Rocky's if your family has that kind of money?  Seems like you're already set."

Tapioca scoffed, tossing her partially styled mane.  "Ugh, because Daddy kicked me out.  He says I have no work ethic and no appreciation for the value of a bit.  He said the only reason he's paying my rent is to just make things a little easier for me, but if I lose my job, I'm on my own until I get a new one.  I mean, come on.  A bit is worth a bit, right?  I might not be a mathemagician, but I know that much, duh."

"Guess that does answer a lot of questions about you," Guise quipped somewhat contemptuously.  "Sounds like you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth.  You don't really know how harsh the world can be when you've got your daddy's money to fall back on."

"I'm starting to get the idea..." she responded, glancing around sullenly at the cave they were sitting in.  "Is this how you lived back home?"

"Not even close.  I didn't have anypony delivering me burgers and fries.  I'm sure I've gone over this before."

"Yeah, it sounds rough out there," she said, staring at him sympathetically.

"And that's why I'm doing what I'm doing.  I just want to be able to say I'm comfortable with the way I'm living my life.  Mint once said something along the lines of, having not just the things you need, but the things you want, is the difference between living and surviving.  I've spent my entire life 'surviving.'  I just want to be able to live."

Tapioca smiled fondly.  "Well, I think you deserve the life you want."

Guise looked back at her.  "Even after all the stuff I told you I did?  By your pony laws, I'm already basically a criminal."

"But if they don't know about that stuff, does it really matter?"

Guise didn't immediately reply.  From anypony else, that would have been a rhetorical question, but the way Tapioca's head was tilted, he could tell she was genuinely unsure.  Unfortunately, he didn't have an answer for her, so, out of sheer curiosity, he decided to flip it back on her.  "What do you think?"

She turned her eyes up, tapping her chin as she pondered it.  "Well, you haven't done anything bad since you got here, right?"

"Except kidnap you."

"But you've been taking care of me," she said with a smile.  "And I know you've been making Minty happy.  She gets pretty defensive when I talk to you."

"Specifically, when you get all flirty," he reminded her sternly.

"I just know she really likes you.  And I can tell you really care about her.  I mean, isn't that why you're doing all this?  For her, and helping her open her own place?"

Guise just stared off at the opposite wall, silently thinking to himself.

"You might be kinda prickly sometimes, but deep down, I know you're a nice guy, Crimsy.  Maybe you just need to, like, give yourself more credit or something."

Again, Guise said nothing.  It wasn't like he hadn't heard anything along those lines before, but he never really put much stock in it until now.  Guise had always been out for himself, ready to stab anyone close to him in the back if it would help him get something he wanted.  But could his actions actually be considered selfish if they actively benefited the people involved?  He certainly wouldn't call himself altruistic, but maybe he wasn't quite the parasite he'd pegged himself as.  But, again, these weren't questions he felt like he should be concerning himself with right now.  He introduced himself to Sweetmint as a problem solver, but it was his own problems that he was having difficulty resolving.


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


Two weeks felt like a long time when you had to regularly check up on your kidnapping victim.  Guise was pretty stressed out when this whole debacle started, but over time, things had leveled out somewhat.  And that was in part due to Tapioca's surprisingly compliant attitude, which only got more tolerable with time.  With how little she was complaining, her annoying mannerisms becoming more subdued, and even her attempts at being supportive and helpful, Guise almost felt like he was training a pet.

As bizarre as the notion was, Guise couldn't say he disliked it.  As long as things were under control, there wasn't too much reason to worry.  He didn't want to be taking care of Tapioca forever, but he was currently in a position to at least maintain the status quo.  Work at Rocky's was easy enough and Tapioca's paycheck was respectable thanks to Frosted Chips's biased reports.  And as he'd said to Tapioca, Chips himself wasn't really an issue; the ever-present threat to Tapioca's well being—as empty as it was—kept his lips effectively zipped, although the kid has gotten uncharacteristically talkative out of concern for his crush.

Home was really the only place where Guise decided to set these issues aside temporarily so he could just relax and unwind.  Usually, sitting at home was when he and Sweetmint would discuss plans for her ice cream parlor for whenever they actually got the money to go ahead with that, or to talk about how her day was going, which has been an interesting topic to say the least.

As Guise got back to the apartment, he anticipated being the subject of Sweetmint's venting at her situation; that was pretty much how things went since she lost her job.  So, with that in mind, he braced himself as he walked inside.

"'Eeeeey, there he is..."

Guise paused at the threshold.  Sweetmint was sprawled out on the couch with a lopsided grin, leaning her head over the arm of the couch to watch her boyfriend come home.  This was an unusual sight given how the last two weeks have played out for her, but once Guise noticed the red tint on her green cheeks and the half a dozen or so beer bottles on the coffee table and floor, he could hazard a guess as to what was up.

"Are you drunk?"

"Getting there..." she claimed, propping herself up to take a swig on her current bottle.  "Wanna join me?"

Guise grimaced at the offer.  "No thanks."  He dropped his bags on the kitchen table and walked over to the buzzed mare.  "Didn't you just get off work?  How are you this wasted already?"

"I'm not wasted..." she argued, though her voice was betraying her words with the way she trailed off.  "I only had a few drinks."

Guise glanced at the coffee table again, and the bottles scattered around.  "How many is 'a few'?" he asked sarcastically as he went to prepare himself a cup of coffee.

Sweetmint looked around at the mess she'd made.  "Do the blurry ones that keep moving around count?"

The disguised changeling rolled his eyes.  "Why are you even getting drunk in the middle of the week?  I thought you hated going into work with a hangover."

Sweetmint let her face sink into the couch cushions, her reddened cheeks flushing even deeper.  "Hrmm..."

Guise arched an eyebrow at her evasive response.  It didn't take much guesswork to figure out what had happened.  Guise groaned in annoyance.  "You quit again, didn't you?"

"They're all douchebags..."

Guise leaned on the counter, running a hoof over his face in aggravation.  Sweetmint had been actively searching for a new job since she got fired, and hadn't actually had much difficulty landing one.  The problem was, nothing seemed to be good enough for her.  Either the job was demeaning and lame, or her coworkers were insufferable, or a combination of both.  It was almost like she was looking for things to complain about and use them as an excuse to quit.  This was the third job she'd quit in two weeks.

"How exactly do you plan on saving up money to open your own place when you keep quitting every job you manage to get?" Guise scolded her.  "You think my income is good enough?  I thought we went over this."

"I still get paid for the hours I worked."

"But now you've gotta spend another day looking for a new job, maybe more.  Not exactly what I would call 'efficient.'"

Sweetmint rolled over onto her back, kicking her legs out in frustration.  "But it's just soooo dumb!  Being bossed around by not just my coworkers, but even the customers who think they know better than me!"

"I've seen you treat cashiers pretty poorly in the past, too, you know.  You sure you want to be labeled a hypocrite?"

She leaned her head backwards over the arm of the couch.  "C'mon, you wash dishes for a living.  You know what it's like to be on the bottom rung."

Guise walked over to the couch with his coffee, continuing to scowl with authority as he looked down on her.  "The difference is that I grit my teeth and push through it.  Honestly, I thought you were the same way.  You complained all the time about working at Rocky's, but you were there for three years.  What happened to that patience and willpower?"

"I dunked it all on Tapioca..." she mumbled.

Guise stared at the pitiable mare trying to bury her shame in the couch cushions like a child being scolded.  He had accused Tapioca of having no work ethic, but the longer this was dragging out, the more Sweetmint was starting to remind her of Tapioca in that regard.  She just seemed to have no will to persevere anymore and spent all her time grumbling and groaning.  "If you keep this up, you're eventually going to develop a reputation and nopony is going to want to bother hiring you, you know that, right?"

Sweetmint stared back up at him silently.  With no lack of effort, she lifted herself up into a sitting position, tapping the spot next to her.  Guise rolled his eyes, but placed his coffee cup on the table and sat with her.  He was immediately pushed down onto his back, his girlfriend laying atop him and resting her head against his chest with a soft moan.  Guise had a vague, blurry memory of the two of them being in a similar position before.  He seemed to recall her getting a little emotional and serious back then.

"It's not what I want to do..." she mumbled into his chest fur.

Guise didn't respond.  As much as he should be reprimanding her, he figured he'd let her get whatever was bothering her off her chest.

"I want to make ice cream.  That's what I'm good at, and that's what I enjoy doing.  That's why I was able to suffer through working at Rocky's for three years.  It kept me sane.  Now I don't even have that...  I know I should just grin and bear it because I need to save up money for my own business, but..."  Sweetmint sighed, her warm breath caressing the fur of Guise's chest.  "It's hard...  I know what I should be doing, but actually doing it is difficult when I don't have anything to focus on that'll help me keep my temper in check.  Do you know how many people I cursed out on just my first day at these new jobs?  I knew that my old job was what gave me my limited patience for putting up with the shit around me, but maybe I never realized just how much until now."

The apartment went quiet for a short time as the two of them just laid there.  Guise really felt like it was his job right now to keep her on track so they could continue moving forward.  If Sweetmint kept doing this, it was just going to inadvertently extend how long he was going to have to keep Tapioca in captivity and how long he'd have to continue impersonating her.

"I miss working at Rocky's..."

Guise glanced down at her as she sighed again into his chest, kneading her hooves softly over his fine coat.  He never thought he'd hear those words from her, but like a lot of things that had happened to Guise lately, it was all about perspective.  At this point, he had to decide whether it was more important to be tough with her so she'd get her act together, or be more supportive to give her the peace of mind and will to endure.  Either way, they both needed to figure out the best way to get out of this slump they were in.


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


Wiping down tables and sweeping the floor was really all Guise had to fill time at Rocky's until the end of the day, though even that was just for show; how could the tables and floor get dirty if they had no customers?  And that's how many people came in looking for ice cream today: a big, fat zero.  Obviously it made Guise's job easier, but it was boring as all get out and made the day feel like it was dragging on for eternity.

But even with all this free time on his hooves, he couldn't manage to think of any solutions to the multitude of problems he and Sweetmint had.  No matter what he came up with, there was always a drawback that he couldn't find a fix for.  He was going to have to face facts: if he wanted out of this situation as soon as possible, he was going to have to accept the fact that there were going to be permanent complications he would have to deal with.  So the problem now became which of those complications was he most willing to suffer through?

Guise set the broom aside for a moment to take a breather.  Not that he was exhausted or anything, but he just needed to stop for a second to think a little more clearly.

"How's Tapioca?"

Guise shot a sidelong sneer at Frosted Chips.  The kid never had the balls to say so much as a word to the girl he had a crush on, but he was concerned enough to risk ticking off the guy holding her captive.  "You ask me that everyday, and everyday I give you the same answer: as long as you keep quiet, she's fine," Guise snipped.

Chips always seemed a little conflicted whenever he'd talk to Guise.  The changeling couldn't determine whether or not that was the shock of hearing Tapioca's voice snarling at him, or if he was fighting with his desire to try and do something to help her.  If it was the latter, then Guise knew the guy was a total pansy.  A real man would accept the risks and put everything on the line to defend his ideals or things he cared about.  Chips was too much of a wuss to even think about throwing a punch at the risk of endangering his beloved, not that Guise thought a punch from him would even leave a mark.

And if there was any joy Guise got from this whole predicament, it was making Chips his verbal punching bag.  With all the stress and frustration he was dealing with, it felt great to have somepony to take it out on.  And it gave Guise a chance to be the changeling he always said he was; ruthless and threatening.  Granted, it didn't give him the same rush of adrenaline as actually brawling with somepony who could put up a fight, but it was better than nothing, especially since he had to offset the nice things he was doing for Tapioca in the meantime.  And that was actually a boon to having Chips know he was a changeling; not having to be nice or act like Tapioca as long as there were no customers and Rocky was in his office.

"When are you going to let her go?"

Guise groaned, growing irritated at Chips's persistence.  "Who says I will?"

"What do you need her for?  She doesn't have a boyfriend or anything."

Guise pursed his lips in thought.  Chips was under the assumption that Guise was mimicking Tapioca for the purposes of acquiring love—a perfectly reasonable guess, of course.  The notion was actually rather interesting considering how strongly Chips felt about Tapioca.  The problem with that was he knew he was a changeling.  Guise wouldn't be able to get any love from Chips under these circumstances, not that he wanted it; his love would probably taste greasier than the food at Hayburger and would overpower the sensation and taste it should have.

The changeling shook his head.  He didn't want to divulge that Tapioca's kidnapping was simply a result of unfortunate timing since he needed the threat to be present to keep him quiet.  But he also couldn't think of any other legitimate reason to kidnap her.  "I've got shit I need to sort out, that's all, but who knows how long that'll take?"

Chips turned away for a moment, seemingly thinking about something before looking back at Guise.  "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Guise quirked an eyebrow.  Tapioca he could understand wanting to help where she could since she knew her kidnapping was incidental, plus she had a thing for Guise.  But Chips?  Sure, he wanted to help Tapioca, but wouldn't he rather try and think of something that didn't benefit Tapioca's kidnapper?

"Look, kid, I'm sure in your fantasies you think you can be her knight in shining armor, and she'll shower you with praise and affection for your 'bravery,' but the fact of the matter is, you're a snot-nosed loser who couldn't help even if you wanted to.  So, why don't you just leave these grown-up matters to the grown-ups and butt out?"

Chips shrunk back slightly, but still had a defiant look in his eyes—albeit rather weak.  "I'm twenty-three..."

"Do I look like I give a shit?"

Their brief discussion was interrupted by Rocky returning from the back, so Guise had to quickly get back into character, putting on a painted smile and adjusting his pink mane.

"Hey, Rocky," Guise sang.  "Are we all done today?"

Rocky didn't answer right away, which Guise immediately recognized as odd.  Compounded by the lack of Rocky's usual carefree grin, Guise could tell something was up.

Rocky did eventually smile, but not with as much energy as he was known for; his expression was a mixture of sympathy and acceptance.  "Sure are, Tapi.  And not just for today either."

Guise and Chips exchanged puzzled looks, the latter shrugging in confusion.  Guise tilted his head at Rocky.  "Uh, what's that mean?"

Rocky sighed, scratching his head and looking around awkwardly.  "Well, y'see...  Uh, how do I put this?  We're done."

That only served to confuse the two employees further.

"'Done'?" Guise echoed.

"Yeah, done.  As in, finished, finito, kaputsky.  I'm closing up shop for good."

"What?!  Why?!" the changeling blurted in shock.

"We're all used to working shorter hours during the fall and winter, right?" Rocky explained in a surprisingly nonchalant tone given the circumstances.  "And things tend to slow down during the tail end of summer.  But not like this."  He gestured to the empty parlor, indicating that they had not a single customer all day, and that they were lucky to get one or two a day in the past week.  "If this is how summer is going, I've got little hope for the seasons ahead of us.  So, I'm just cutting my losses and moving on."

Guise stepped forward in a panic.  "You can't!  I need this job!"

Rocky smiled sympathetically, placing a hoof on Guise's shoulder.  "I'm sure you've got nothing to worry about, Tapi.  A pretty, talented girl like you could probably land any job she wanted in this city."

That didn't really give Guise much comfort considering that that wasn't quite the issue.  But he couldn't exactly explain what the real issue was.

"Anyway..." Rocky continued with more enthusiasm than one would think for somepony who just decided to give his business the axe.  "It's been a slice working here and everything.  Here's your final pay..."  He dropped two sacks of bits on a table.  "And you guys can clean up and close up one last time."

Rocky started toward the door, but Guise wasn't about to drop the issue just yet, grabbing Rocky by the leg and dragging him back.  "That's it?!  Just like that?!  Are you insane?!"

The burly stallion sighed remorsefully, but looked a little annoyed.  "Look, Tapi, it's not like this was just a spur-the-moment decision.  I've put a lot of thought into this.  From the start, this was just something I wanted to try out, and, to be perfectly honest, I never expected it to last.  I'm surprised we made it three years.  I'm somepony who likes to try new things, and I get disinterested doing one thing for too long.  But you know what I'm thinking now?  Tiki bar."

Guise blinked, staring with mouth agape at what he was hearing.

Rocky looked around at the place one more time.  "Gonna need more space than this, though.  I just gotta sell this place off to get me started.  And, hey, if you're that concerned about your job, just hit me up when I open my new place.  I'll probably need waitresses.  Might be awhile, though, so don't hold your breath.  Anyhoozitz, I'm gonna head out.  Chips, see you back home.  Tapi, I'll see you...  Huh, I was about to say 'tomorrow,' but, you know...  See ya when I see ya, I guess."

Guise could only stand there, bewildered and shell-shocked by how suddenly this had happened.  Just when he thought things couldn't get any more complicated...

"Wh-...  What's going to happen to Tapioca now?" Chips asked with concern.

Guise glanced over his shoulder.  "Fuck Tapioca.  What the hell am I supposed to do now?!  My whole plan was predicated on holding this job until I came up with an effective solution or had enough money to move forward.  Now shit creek is flowing out into excrement ocean, and I don't have a boat, let alone a paddle."  He threw his head back in frustration, his annoyed groan practically an aggravated shout.  "I need some space to think..."

With that, Guise grabbed his bag of bits off the table and took his leave as well, leaving a confused and concerned Frosted Chips behind to clean up one last time.


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


Guise had made a brisk pace back to Tapioca's apartment building, barely even acknowledging that there were other people walking the streets and almost bumping into a few of them.  He'd received a few disgruntled looks and huffs from passersby, though he didn't even notice given everything on his mind.

Tapioca's building was swanky as all get out.  It was only three floors, but considering how fancy the place was, there probably weren't a ton of people who could afford to live there.  But Guise had never really taken the time to observe the scenery of the lobby, only noting the water fountain in the center simply due to its size.  The only reason he ever went there was so the people there could see "Tapioca" coming and going.  Although, the receptionist was really the only one he usually encountered; he had started his visits by offering chipper greetings, but it became increasingly obvious as the days went by that the snobby and inattentive receptionist didn't give two shits and would rather sit there and file her hooves, so Guise didn't bother with her anymore.

It wasn't like he had the time to deal with her anyway.  Right now, all Guise planned to do was step inside Tapioca's apartment all the way up on the third floor, drop off her saddlebags, and then head up the mountain to break the news to her.  In his haste and his current predicament, he'd even forgotten to pick up something to eat.  He'd need to try and remember to do that when he left; Tapioca was likely to be whiny if he didn't bring her supper, though he couldn't imagine either of them having much of an appetite with this situation hanging over their heads.

A part of him wanted to sit around in Tapioca's spacious and well-furnished apartment, if only to give himself some time to absorb everything and hopefully level out his head enough to think calmly and logically.  But Tapioca deserved to know about this as soon as possible.  If she was going to eventually return to her normal life, a job was something she was going to need, so the least he could do was give her as much time to think about what she'd like to do now that she didn't have one anymore.  Alternatively, the two of them could discuss what job Guise could go for in the interim that Tapioca might be willing to work when she was free.  But then there was the issue of his own employment, and that was a different set of problems entirely.

Guise just shook his head with a loud groan.  There was too much to think about right now, so he decided to focus on one thing at a time, the first being Tapioca.  So he headed back downstairs and left the building.

"Tapioca."

Guise only briefly acknowledged the presence of the middle-aged unicorn stallion approaching him with a stern expression as he stepped outside.  He looked vaguely familiar with his light brown coat, slicked back, forest green mane, and spiffy business suit, but he just decided to keep walking, hoping that his own disgruntled expression was enough to discourage any further harassment.

"I'm not in the mood right now.  Buzz off," was all Guise said as he brushed past the stallion.

The older pony looked more than a little miffed by Guise's attitude.  "Excuse me?  You have a lot of nerve to speak to me that way given your situation, young lady."

Guise groaned, turning back to face the guy.  "Look, I said I'm—"

But he paused, a sudden realization hitting him.  There was a slight niggling in the back of his mind that he recognized this stallion from somewhere.  But considering the authority and specific words with which the stallion had addressed him, Guise may have pieced together with whom he was speaking.

Oh, shit.  Is this her dad?

Thinking harder about it, Guise now recalled seeing glimpses of this guy when he had looked through Tapioca's memories using Glory's spell.  He may have made a mistake by acting dismissive and grouchy.  Guise had to backpedal fast.

"Oh, uh, sorry..."  He hesitated, swallowing his pride once more for a moment.  "...Daddy...  I, um...  I wasn't paying attention to who was talking?"  Hopefully that was believable enough for the airheaded Tapioca.  Although, now he was recalling exactly what the guy had said.  "Uh, wait...  What situation are you talking about?"

Tapioca's father lifted his nose sternly.  "You know very well.  I believe we had an arrangement when you moved out.  I would provide payment for your accommodations so long as you were employed to ease some of the stress of living on your own."

"Huh?!" Guise balked in surprise.  "H-How do you already know about that?!  It literally just happened!"

"I requested after you were hired that Mr. Road inform me if your employment at his establishment should ever be terminated.  He did so immediately."

"That was, like, ten minutes ago!"  Guise didn't even have to summon up the willpower to add Tapioca's mannerisms to his speech given how flustered he currently was.

"He's a prompt fellow.  Reminds me somewhat of myself in my heyday.  In any case, I shouldn't have to inform you of why I'm here, then."

As if Guise wasn't already in a state of near panic over all of this, now Tapioca's father had to show up out of nowhere and pile on without giving him any room to breathe or think.  "B-But it's not like it's my fault!  Can't you at least give me a bit of a buffer period here?!  I shouldn't be punished because Rocky has the attention span of a goldfish!"

The stallion looked down his nose at his "daughter."  There was a hint of guilt in his eyes, but his expression remained strict.  "Our arrangement was clear, dear.  We made no stipulations regarding the circumstances of your dismissal.  Besides, hardship such as this builds character.  Do you believe that I had a safety net to fall back on when I was starting my pudding empire?  Perhaps this will grant you proper motivation to find something you particularly excel at.  You may have your cutie mark, but that does not limit you as to the things you can accomplish.  I'm hard on you because I want you to succeed, Tapioca.  Do you understand?"

How was Guise supposed to respond?  How would Tapioca respond?

Guise lowered his head, ears folding back submissively.  "Yes, Daddy..."

Tapioca's father smiled, placing a compassionate, yet firm hoof on Guise's shoulder.  "You'll bounce back, dear, I'm sure of it.  I love you.  Good luck."  He gave his "daughter" a tender kiss on the forehead, belying the authority with which he'd previously spoken, and took his leave again.

Guise just stood there, watching until the stallion was no longer in view.  He ran his hoof through Tapioca's silky, pink mane with a sigh.

Well...  I just ran out of time, didn't I?


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


Guise touched down outside the cave, his hooves hitting the grass rather heavily.  As usual, Tapioca was inside, her own hooves clacking against the stone as she jogged in place.  It was a ritual she'd taken up in order to get some exercise and work off any extra weight she might gain from all the fast food Guise had been bringing her.  She never struck Guise as a particularly fit pony—slender, yes, but not exactly toned—but she seemed to have some endurance at the very least.

However, any satisfaction she would experience from a good workout was about to be demolished once Guise broke the news to her.  He had found himself feeling pity and even sympathy for Tapioca in more recent weeks.  She had genuinely wanted to be friends with Sweetmint, but Chips's biased feelings lead to Sweetmint developing an unjust distaste for her.  And now Guise had to put her through all this simply because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Guise didn't have any disillusions about how much he'd changed in the past few months; he'd softened up, and he knew it.  It took talking to Chamella to make him realize that.  Maybe he wasn't a marshmallow like her and Shade just yet, but his heart was starting to bleed just a little.

Which meant that he wasn't just concerned about how today's revelations were going to affect himself, but Sweetmint, and even Tapioca as well.  He genuinely felt bad about what he was about to do.

Tapioca ceased her jogging, panting lightly from her exercises.  It was only now that she noticed Guise standing at the entrance with their bagged lunches, though judging from her peppy grin, she hadn't noticed the remorseful look on Guise's face.  "Hey, Crimsy," she greeted breathily.  "Just in time.  I just worked up a killer appetite."

Guise walked inside, silently passing her her meal.  She was quick to remove the cup of cola and take a long swig to quench her thirst.  Her enthusiasm in the face of her circumstances was just another thing that made Guise feel kind of guilty.  It was astonishing to him that she trusted him so much despite knowing the horrible things he'd done.  But he was about to dash that pretty soon.

The changeling rubbed his neck awkwardly.  "Hey, so, uh...  Bit of bad news..."

Tapioca looked up as she took a bite of her hayburger.  "Hm?"

"You, uh...  Might not have a job anymore."

The mare coughed and gagged suddenly on her food, pounding a hoof against her chest to force the mouthful down her throat.  She stared with panic in her eyes, her mood shifting instantly.  "What?!  You got me fired?!"

"No, of course not.  If anything, I've been doing your job better than you ever did."  Guise groaned, running a hoof over his spiky mane.  "Business has been tanking lately, so now Rocky's suddenly lost interest in selling ice cream.  He's shutting the place down to open up a... 'tiki bar' or something, whatever the hell that is."

"Crimson!  You gotta find me another job, fast!  If Daddy finds out, he's gonna cut me off!" Tapioca demanded.

"Yeeeeah, about that..." Guise continued with a sharp inhale through his teeth.  "He already knows."

Tapioca's jaw dropped.  "What?!"

"Which effectively means neither of us has a source of income right now, and neither does Sweetmint at the moment."

The panicked mare began to hyperventilate, grabbing the paper bag her food had been in and breathing in and out of it.  "Wh-What am I supposed to do now?!  I'm gonna be homeless without a job!"

"You've been homeless for the last two weeks," Guise reminded her.  "And you don't have to do anything anyway.  I'm the one who's got to come up with solutions to these problems.  But now I don't even have time to think about that!  I've got to find another job for you, or we're all going to crash and burn!"

Tapioca attempted to steady her breathing, holding a hoof to her chest and staring at Guise with just a little bit of hope.  "Please tell me you know what to do."

Guise growled in frustration, scuffing up his hair as he tried to wrack his brain over this.  "I've been trying to figure this out for the past two weeks, but I've got nothing.  The most ideal answer to all of this would be if I could somehow just get my hooves on a buttload of money so Sweetmint can just open her damn ice cream shop already."

Tapioca's ears folded back sympathetically as she watched Guise practically tearing his hair out over this.  "If it means anything, I'd give you some money to help out...  You know, if Daddy would let me.  My family might be rich, but I don't actually have a ton of money myself."

Guise's eyes widened suddenly, a spark igniting in his mind.  Just like that, he had an idea.  It was risky, to be sure, but it might just be crazy enough to work.  He turned to Tapioca with a toothy, maniacal grin, the mare shrinking back slightly at the unsettling expression.  "Hey, Tapioca...  What kind of situation would you say you're in currently?"

She hesitated, caught off guard by the menacing smile on his face.  "Um...  A financial situation?"

Guise chuckled darkly.  "Nope.  A hostage situation."

Tapioca tilted her head.  "Huh?"

He took a step toward her, his slotted pupils narrow like a predator on the hunt as he flashed his fangs.  "It's such a simple solution, I can't believe I never thought of it until now!  Your family's loaded, and you're at my mercy.  All I gotta do is hold you for ransom!  I get the cash I need, quick and easy, and you finally get to go home.  It's win-win!"

"Wait, that's totally bonkers!" she argued.  "You'll get in soooo much trouble!  They'll throw you in jail!  I thought you wanted to go unnoticed!"

Guise wasn't fazed by the assertion, his cocksure grin holding fast.  "Did you forget who you're talking to—or rather, what?"  He refuted her point by quickly shapeshifting between several different, unfamiliar ponies before returning to his natural state.  "Nopony has to know it was me."

"I-I don't know," Tapioca said with deep uncertainty.  "It still seems kinda risky."

"I'll admit, it might not be the most elegant solution, nor the safest, but desperate times call for desperate measures.  Besides, what are you complaining about?  I just said you get to go home.  What, you wanna live up here for the foreseeable future?"

She hummed quietly, clearly conflicted about this as she twirled her mane with her hoof.

"Look, you said you'd be willing to give us money if you could, right?  So this isn't really much different than that, 'cept it's your dad's money.  And you wanna see you're family again, don't you?"

At the mention of that, Tapioca managed a weak smile.  "Yeah."

"You don't have to worry about anything," Guise assured her confidently.  "I'll handle everything, and you just gotta sit back and play the victim, alright?"

"Um, okay, but..."

"What?"

She hung her head sheepishly.  "I thought you didn't trust me to keep your secret.  Are you really okay just letting me go?"

Guise stared at her quietly for a moment.  She could have just kept that to herself and hoped Guise had forgotten about that aspect of the situation.  But she was really worried about what was going to happen to him after all this.  She was thinking about him when she should have been more concerned about herself.  Guise was starting to think that, despite how he felt about her since he'd known her, he was lucky that it was her that had stumbled upon his secret and not somepony else.

"The fact of the matter is, you were always going to be a variable I couldn't work around," Guise admitted.  "There's nothing I could do to absolutely ensure that you wouldn't blab without killing you, to put it bluntly, but that would create its own problems.  So..."  He sighed in resignation.  "I'm just going to have to trust you.  I don't have a choice."

Tapioca's ears drooped.  "Then doesn't that just mean that all of this was pointless?  I was always willing to keep your secret, Crimson."

Guise grumbled, a very slight hint of red in his cheeks.  "Well, to be honest, the time we've been forced to spend together has kinda helped me shift my stance a bit.  You're not really as much of a pain in the ass as I first thought."

The mare blushed with an appreciative smile.  "Aww, Crimsy..."

Guise quickly deflected the topic in another direction.  "Plus, it wouldn't have solved our money issues.  Sweetmint would still be out of a job, Rocky would still close his place down and you'd be jobless.  I guess the only difference is that I'd still be working at The Soup Spoon."  He shrugged.  "Eh, nothing for it now.  At the very least, a big payout like this'll speed things along."

He stared at Tapioca.  Under normal circumstances, this would be where he would intimidate her to do as he asked, but instead, he gazed at her pleadingly.  "Now, Tapioca...  Can you please, please not mention my involvement in all this to anypony?  If I have to put my trust in you, I want to know that my trust is not misplaced.  You can't tell anypony I'm a changeling, and you can't tell anypony that it was me who kidnapped you.  Can you do that for me?"

Tapioca didn't answer right away, she simply sat there with her lips pursed as she thought about it, earning a disgruntled glower from Guise.  Her ears perked up suddenly, her eyes lighting up.  "Oh!  What if...  Um, I promise to keep your secret if you promise to get me a job at Minty's place when she opens?"

Guise blinked, a little miffed, but at the same time, a little impressed.  "What, now you're blackmailing me?  Geez, I never expected you of all people to be so underhoofed."  He smirked at her.  "I'm almost kinda proud."

She giggled bashfully at the compliment.  "So, you'll trust me?"

He flicked a hoof dismissively.  "Yeah, yeah, not like I have a choice anyway.  But don't get your hopes up.  Mint's the one who's gotta make those decisions.  I'll throw your name out there, but I can't promise anything."

"That's fine," Tapioca agreed with an elated grin.  She bounced gleefully in place.  "Yes!  I finally get to go home!"

"Whoa, hold up for just a minute," Guise interrupted.

Her mood instantly dropped, her expression falling again as she waited for Guise to rain on her parade.

"You're gonna have to stay up here for another few days at least while I work out the details of this ransom thing.  As far as everypony down there is concerned, you're still fine and dandy.  Your dad thinks he just saw you, so if he got a ransom note tomorrow, he might get suspicious and they might start to think that changelings are involved.  So, think you can hold out up here a little longer?"

Tapioca looked a little disappointed, but all things considered, she held strong.  "Oh.  Well, I guess so."

"Great," Guise said with a smile.  "And since you're about to 'disappear,' that also means I don't have to pretend to be you anymore.  Although, that means I'm gonna have to find something else to occupy my time while Mint thinks I'm at work."

"You can hang out with me more," Tapioca suggested eagerly.  "It'd be nice to have company all day."

Guise chuckled inwardly.  A couple of weeks ago, or even a couple of days ago, Guise might have shuddered at the thought.  But now, the notion didn't really seem all that bad.  Who knows?  Maybe planning this whole "kidnapping and ransom" thing  with her could be kind of fun.
> Part 11 - Initiative
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

With an idea on the table, it was time for Guise to get the ball rolling.  He was about to turn this kidnapping incident into a full blown hostage situation, and such a drastic decision required careful planning and consideration.  He couldn't afford to ignore even the slightest potential hiccup; the risk was high enough as it was.  As long as Tapioca kept her word, there shouldn't be too much to worry about, but he was still going to have to approach this analytically.

Unfortunately, time was not on Guise's side currently.  With no source of income now, and Sweetmint bouncing between jobs, they were going to end up burning through their savings steadily.  And since money was an integral part of this whole thing, setting everything in motion as soon as possible was of the utmost importance right now.  The ransom was just one part of the overall plan.  Even if she didn't know it, Sweetmint had her part to play in all this as well.  Guise couldn't very well just waltz back home dragging a wagon of bits behind him without an explanation.  They needed to use what money they had currently first, and use the ransom money as a secret fallback plan.

And Guise had an idea of what to do with it.

Guise returned home with purpose in his steps, swinging open the door and not even slowing down as he trotted across the apartment.  Sweetmint was lounging on the couch with Persimmon, reading the new issue of Kohl the Sentinel and not looking for a new job.  With his magic, Guise snatched up the manga suddenly and tossed it on the coffee table.

Sweetmint looked up at him with a furrowed brow, her temple throbbing in annoyance.  "You know, if you want somepony to kick you in the balls, you can just ask."

"We gotta talk," he told her promptly.

"If it requires yanking my manga away from me, it better be important."

"Rocky's shutting his place down."

Sweetmint blinked.  "What?  Really?"

"Yup.  Ran into Tapioca when I was leaving work and she said so herself.  Apparently business ground to a screeching halt in the last couple of weeks, so now he's just gonna ditch it and try something else."

"Ha!" Sweetmint exclaimed triumphantly, pounding her hoof on the couch cushions.  "See?  I was right!  I knew that place would fall apart without me.  Serves the fucker right."  She let her revelry die down a little, sighing with a shrug.  "Not that it matters now, I guess.  I doubt Rocky would be willing to hire me at whatever he tries his hoof at next.  Which is what exactly?  Did Tapioca say?"

Guise grimaced, shrugging indifferently.  "A tiki bar or something."

Sweetmint's face scrunched up in confusion.  "A tiki bar?  Kind of a far cry from an ice cream shop.  Not to mention kinda tacky for a city like this."

"That's not the point anyway," Guise interrupted.  "The point is, Rocky's selling the shop."

Sweetmint's eyes widened a little as she caught onto his meaning.  "Wait, he is?"

"Yeah, he needs more space than what that place offers.  Which also means that you have a place to start now."

She sat up on the couch, staring at Guise with some uncertainty.  "What, you want me to just go and buy the place?"

"To put it frankly, yes."

Sweetmint observed the seriousness in her boyfriend's face, but still hesitated.  She sighed, brushing her mane to the side.  "If we just run in and buy it now, we'd be practically broke.  And that's assuming he gives us a decent price.  If shit goes south, we'd be out on the streets.  We can't afford it."

Guise leaned closer, and Sweetmint pulled back, caught off guard by the determination in his golden eyes.  "You know what we can't afford?  We can't afford to let this opportunity slip by.  You remember what I said when we first met?  If you want something, you have to take it.  We talk to Rocky and negotiate before he winds up selling it to somepony else."

"But given my history, he's definitely gonna try and gouge me," she argued.

"Then gouge him right back!  An eye for an eye!  Since when do you sit back and take shit from assholes like him?"

Sweetmint stared in silent awe at the passion behind Guise's words.  But even still, she was reluctant.  "But no matter what he ends up asking for, it's gonna be a lot.  It's too risky."

"Mint, listen to me."

She continued to gaze at the intensity in his eyes.

"I came to Canterlot with nothing to my name.  I started fresh, and if things went sour, I could've been done for."

Sweetmint quirked an eyebrow.  "What's your point?"

"My point is, you don't get anywhere in life if you don't take a few risks.  I'm here now with you because I took a huge risk.  Maybe shit can go the wrong way, but only if you let it.  So I say we go all in on this.  You want your own business and a job that doesn't suck ass, so don't sit around griping and moaning about dead end jobs and let's go grab life by the fucking horns!"

The mare simply sat there in stunned silence.  "Where the hell is this coming from all of a sudden?"

"Mint."

She flinched at the authority in his tone, like a parent scolding their child.

"It's not me that's changed here, it's you.  I never saw you as the type of person to sit around on your ass and let life trample all over you because one little thing went wrong.  You're a badass, and you're not afraid of letting people know that.  So hitch up your saddle and show life you're not gonna take its shit anymore!"

Sweetmint suddenly steeled her expression, hopping off the couch with newfound fervor.  "Yeah!  Fuck life right in its ass!  I'm not gonna roll over and let my life fall apart!  I got shit I wanna do!"  Her sudden shift in attitude prompted Persimmon to take off in surprise.

Guise smirked proudly, relieved to finally see her coming out of this rut she'd been in since losing her job.  "Damn straight!  If Rocky thinks he can work us over, he's got another thing coming."

"Hell yeah!"

But for as much as the collective vigor in the apartment had risen, it just as quickly died down, leaving Sweetmint just glancing around awkwardly.  She looked at the clock on the shelf.  "But, uh...  It's already kinda late.  Maybe we should grab life by the horns tomorrow."

Guise felt like the wind had effectively been taken out of his sails, but he had to admit she had point; the sun was already starting to set.  "Uh, sure."

"Soooo..."  Sweetmint awkwardly scuffed her hoof over the carpet, feeling a little weird about how subdued things had gotten after such a rousing pep talk.  "Want some coffee?"

"Okay."

Guise sat down on the couch as Sweetmint went to turn on the coffee maker.  A lot of what he'd just said was off the cuff, but it seemed to do the job well enough.  He needed to keep the pressure on her to go through with this; he couldn't have let up if she decided to stay in her funk since this was meant to be a part of the bigger picture.  Obviously, buying Rocky's place wasn't as much of a risk as Sweetmint thought it was, assuming Guise got the money he needed from Tapioca's father, but giving her a kick in the flank was important for getting the gears turning.  Thankfully, it ended up being easier than he'd anticipated.  He knew she had the passion required to go through with this, it was just a matter of reminding her of how much she wanted it by demonstrating passion of his own.

So, hopefully, tomorrow they would track down Rocky to negotiate and get this whole thing off the ground.


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


Guise sat back on the dew-covered grass, leaning back against a tree as he silently thought to himself and mulled over the plan.  It was a little hard to think with the constant sound of splashing water, though.

He had brought Tapioca a little ways down the mountain to clean herself up in the gentle stream running down the cliff side.  They were still some ways above Canterlot, on a quaint little outcrop of land around the side of the mountain.  It was a pretty picturesque spot all things considered, with several trees and the babbling brook, and the mountain provided ample shade in the morning, so it was a nice place to take a nap.  And it wasn't like Guise had anything better to do anyway.  He didn't have a job and also didn't have to impersonate Tapioca anymore, so he was willing to do pretty much anything to kill time, and spending that time with Tapioca was conducive to his current goals.

Speaking of whom, Tapioca seemed to enjoy these little excursions more than Guise did, as had become evident.  Of course, that was understandable given her circumstances; any opportunity to get out of that cave and rinse the dirt and sweat from her coat and mane was more than welcome for her.  She was splashing around in the stream like a little kid and just enjoying herself, while he just laid back and watched disinterestedly.

Tapioca waded her way over to the edge of the stream closest to where Guise lay, leaning against the bank with an enthusiastic grin.  "You sure you don't wanna come in?  The water's not too cold."

"I have a shower at home, thanks," he answered dismissively.

"It's not about cleaning up, silly," she giggled.  "It's fun.  I forgot how much I liked swimming.  We have a pool back home, but I haven't used it in years.  Maybe I should start going to the public pool in Canterlot after this whole kidnapping junk is over."

"Do whatever you want, I don't care."

Tapioca pouted in disappointment.  "You're such a buzzkill sometimes, Crimsy.  You don't have to be so stuffy all the time, you know.  You're allowed to have fun."

"I don't think you want to know what I consider 'fun.'  Besides, I've got important shit to think about right now.  I don't have time for gallivanting around and having a gay old time."  Guise was suddenly pelted by a spray of water.  The changeling shot up in surprise, casting an annoyed glower at the mare lounging in the stream.  Tapioca was giggling playfully at him, his glare doing nothing to diminish her mirth.  "You know, I'm not going to be sorry when this is all over and I never have to see you again," he grumbled, wiping the droplets of water from his face.

"Yeah, right," Tapioca scoffed in amusement, stifling a doubtful snicker.  "You're totally gonna miss me."

"Keep telling yourself that," Guise told her as he tried to dry himself off.

"I mean, I'm gonna be working with you guys when Minty opens her ice cream shop, right?  So you'll see me everyday."

"Don't make assumptions," he warned her.  "I haven't actually mentioned that to her yet.  We need to make a lot of preparations first before we start thinking about hiring employees.  We're going to try and talk to Rocky about buying his place from him.  Mint should be tracking him down now to arrange a meeting and negotiate a price.  But even if things go well with that, there's no guarantee she'll be willing to hire you."

Tapioca frowned dejectedly.  "You don't think she will?"

Guise thought about it for a moment.  "I don't know.  She did want to apologize for hurting you after she found out it was Chips's fault that you were getting special treatment.  Maybe she'll give you a chance as a way of saying sorry."

The mare lowered her muzzle into the water, the notion of being rejected like that pretty hard for her to deal with apparently.  She burbled in the water for a minute, seemingly lost in thought before she lifted her face from the stream again.  "So what's the deal with Chips anyway?"

"In what sense?"

"Aren't you worried he's gonna tattle on you when I'm free?"

Guise shrugged nonchalantly.  "Not really.  See, he knows your kidnapper is a changeling, but he doesn't know it's me specifically."

Tapioca tilted her head, the gears in her brain grinding as best they could.  "Huh?"

"He doesn't know that Crimson Neon was the one that kidnapped you.  As far as he's concerned, your captor is just some random changeling.  And once your free, he'll just think that changeling will flee the city.  Just don't tell him that Crimson is a changeling and it'll be fine."

Tapioca leaned on the bank, humming in thought over something again.  "You know, you still haven't told me your real name."

"And I still don't plan to," he reminded her adamantly.

Tapioca shrugged.  "Eh, I like the name Crimson anyway.  And I like Crimsy even better."

"That makes one of us..." Guise grumbled.

Once more, Tapioca let her mind wander.  Guise noticed the slight hint of red on her cheeks, and was hesitant to inquire.

"What now?"

"Um...  Chips asks about me, right?"

Guise arched an eyebrow.  Now he was admittedly curious as to where this was going.  "Are you kidding?  It's all he ever talks about.  Like, literally.  The first time I hear him talk, and you're the only thing that's on his mind."

"Hmm...  I never really knew he cared so much," she mumbled, more to herself than to Guise.  "I barely even noticed he was around."

"I'm a little surprised you never picked up on it.  He might not talk much, but he's not exactly subtle with the way he stares at your butt all day."

Tapioca's blush deepened, and Guise could have swore he saw what looked like a slight, goofy grin on her face.  "That's pretty sweet of him."

"I feel like I've iterated this before, but that's not really what I'd call 'sweet.'  More like 'creepy'—'disturbing' even."

She shrugged.  "I mean, a compliment's a compliment, right?"

Guise sighed with a roll of his eyes.  "You know what?  You're both weirdos."  Guise stood up and walked over to the pair of saddlebags sitting nearby.  "Alright, bath time's over."

Tapioca's chin dropped onto the grass with a pout.  "Aw, come on.  I only get to leave the cave every few days.  Can't I at least have a few more minutes?"

"We have work to do—both of us," he told her authoritatively.  "I didn't carry you down here to have a picnic."

With a disappointed sigh, the mare climbed out of the stream, shaking off the water like a wet dog.  She took a moment as Guise rummaged through his bags to glance around.  "You know, this would be a nice place for a picnic."  The moment she said that, a brown paper bag landed on the ground in front of her.

"You can have breakfast at least," said Guise.

Tapioca sat down next to one of the many trees surrounding the stream, removing a toasted daffodil sandwich with lettuce and tomato from the bag and a bottle of orange juice and began eating.

"So..."  Guise started as he sat back down in the grass.  "We have some stuff we need to do to move ahead on this ransom thing."

Tapioca gave him a quizzical look.  "Whad do I haf to do?" she asked with a full mouth, spraying crumbs on the grass.

Instead of answering her, he pulled a pencil and several pieces of paper from his bags and held them out to her.

Tapioca took them, holding them up along with her sandwich in her powder blue aura.  Her expression of confusion remained.  "What's this?"

"You're writing the ransom note."

"What?!  Why?!  You're the kidnapper.  Shouldn't you write the note?"

"I can't write it.  I'm still learning how to read.  Writing's a little out of my reach right now."

Tapioca frowned sympathetically.  Guise had told her a little about the Changeling Kingdom, so she knew how harsh it was out there.  "They don't even have schools out there, I guess."

"The closest thing to buildings back home are the ramshackle hovels we built out of sticks and mud, and even a particularly strong breeze could knock them over."

"And nopony's noticed that you don't know how to read or write?"

"I'm pretty good at finding ways around it.  And for the record, I can read a little.  I've been getting better since I got here."  He redirected her attention back to the paper.  "But you need to do the writing.  Besides, your dad will be more inclined to believe that this isn't a bluff if he recognizes your penmanship."

Tapioca nodded in understanding, taking another bite of her sandwich and readying the pencil.  "Okay...  'Dear Daddy...'

Guise pressed a hoof to his nose and groaned.  "No, Tapioca, you don't get to decide what's on it.  You just have to transcribe it for me."

The mare blinked blankly.

The changeling rolled his eyes.  "Just write down what I say, okay?"

Tapioca readied the pencil and paper, waiting patiently for Guise to begin.  However, he was just staring bemusedly back at her.  "What?"

"You're dripping on the paper."

She glanced down to find several wet spots on the sheet, her damp mane continuing to drip all over it.  "Oops."  She discarded the soggy sheet of paper and grabbed another, holding it a little further away from herself this time.

"Alright, so..." Guise began as he thought about how to word it.  "'Mister...'  Uh, what's your dad's name?"

"Figgy, but his colleagues call him Fig for short."

Guise cleared his throat to start again.  "'Mister Fig.  This letter is to inform you—'"

He was suddenly interrupted by a ripping sound.  He turned to Tapioca, her pencil having torn a hole through the thin paper.

"Heh, sorry.  I tend to press kinda hard when I write," she apologized with an embarrassed grin.  She glanced around until she spotted a small, flat rock nearby, dragging it over to her.  She placed a fresh piece of paper upon it to use it as a stable writing surface.  She smiled innocently at Guise.  "Okay, keep going."

Guise groaned in mild annoyance, but was at least glad that he had the presence of mind to bring extra paper.  "'Mister Fig.  This letter is to inform you that your daughter has been abducted.  You needn't worry for her safety, as she's just fine...  For now.'"

"This doesn't really sound like you, Crimson," Tapioca commented.

Guise rolled his eyes at her interruption.  "It's not supposed to sound like me.  The less it sounds like me, the better.  I just need to make sure he knows the threat is there and make my demands clear and concise."

Tapioca tapped the pencil on her chin as she thought.  "I don't know.  I think it might sound better if it was more... aggressive.  Like...  'I have your daughter, and if you ever wanna see her again, you have to give me a butt ton of money.'  Something like that."

As childish as it sounded, Guise couldn't help but chuckle.  "I think I'm gonna stick to the more cold and calculated approach, but I gotta admit, I like where your head's at."

Tapioca smiled proudly, her wet tail swishing over the grass happily at the compliment.

"Anyway...  'Her well being hinges entirely on you, Mister Fig.  If you wish for her to be returned to you unharmed, then you will follow my instructions to the letter.  Deliver...'  Umm...  How much did Sweetmint say she needed to start a business?  I think it was ten thousand bits, or something.  Eh, maybe I'll go with twelve thousand to give us some breathing room.  'Deliver twelve thousand bits and I will return your daughter to you.  And it goes without saying that I expect you to keep this to yourself until after we make the exchange.  We will rendezvous at the bottom of Canterlot Valley later today.  Come alone.'"

Tapioca tilted her head as she stared at the paper.  "Um...  How do you spell 'rendezvous'?"

"How the hell should I know?  I don't know how to read or write, remember?  Just say 'meet up.'"

"Okey doke..."  Tapioca penned the final words, but took a moment to look it over.  "Wait, 'today'?"

"Not literally today.  Today as in the day I drop off the note," Guise explained.  "I don't want to give him much room to breath on this.  The less time I give him, the less time he'll have to try and devise some kind of trap for me."  He let out a sigh as he looked Tapioca in the eye.  "That being said, I know I said you'd only have to be here for a few more days, but I might have to hold off on delivering this to your dad for a little while longer.  I have to make sure that me and Sweetmint can make this deal with Rocky before anything else.  You just have to hang in there, okay?"

Tapioca observed the noticeable sympathy in Guise's expression and gave him an agreeable smile.  "Sure.  Uh, I have a question though."

"What?"

She pursed her lips as she appeared to think about how to phrase her question.  "So, like, you said you needed the money as a 'fallback plan,' right?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Isn't Minty gonna wonder where that money came from?"

Guise grinned slightly.  He was actually a little impressed that she'd thought about that.  But, of course, he'd considered that himself already.  "Mint still thinks I have a job.  If this whole thing falls through, she's gonna expect me to support the two of us until she can find a job she's willing to stick with.  And I'm gonna have to find one for myself in the interim, not to mention fabricating an excuse as to why I lost or quit my previous job."

Tapioca's eyes lit up, clearly impressed by Guise's foresight.  "Wow, Crimsy, you really thought of everything, huh?"

The changeling smirked.  He wasn't going to turn away a good ego-stroking, even if it was from Tapioca.

"I guess you'll want this now."  She passed him the ransom note.

"Hang on, I need you to proofread this to make sure you got it right," the changeling told her.  "Read it back to me."

"Alright...  'Mister Fig.  This letter is to inform you that your daughter has been abducted.  You needn't worry for her safety, as she's just fine.  For now.  Her well being hinges entirely on you, Mister Fig.  If you wish for her to be returned to you unharmed, then you will follow my instructions to the letter.  How much did Sweetmint say—"

"No, no, Tapioca, just...  No..."  Guise ran a hoof down his face in frustration.  "That wasn't part of the letter."

"Well, you could've said that," she argued with a defensive pout.

Guise sat down with an annoyed groan.  "Just... start over.  We're not leaving 'til we get this right."


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


Both Guise and Sweetmint stood out on the sidewalk, staring up at where the sign on the building in front of them used to be.  The disguised changeling had a confrontational look on his face in anticipation of what was going to happen inside.  The green mare, however, while determined to do this and take the next big step in her life, also seemed to be feeling a little nervous if the unsure grimace on her face was any indication.

"So...  How do we approach this?" she asked her partner.

"This is your endeavor.  Last I talked to him, I got the impression he was judging you for sending me to fight your battles, so I think you should do most of the talking.  I'll be here for backup, though—making it a two-on-one might put him on edge, even if he doesn't show it."

"You think that's all that necessary?  You're talking like he's some diabolical mastermind."

"He might seem pretty happy-go-lucky, but I've seen that he's actually pretty cutthroat.  We can't let our guards down around him."

Sweetmint nodded, knitting her brow in determination.  "Right.  Put the pressure on, got it.  I've got some words I wanna share with him anyway.  That dillhole and his brother need a hoof firmly planted up their asses.  Figuratively."

The two of them then walked into the building once known as Rocky's Road—it still actually belonged to Rocky of course, but hopefully by the end of this, it would be under new management.  It had been quite some time since Sweetmint had set hoof into this building, so being back here now must have made her feel conflicted.  She wasn't looking forward to having to negotiate with Rocky, but she was pretty enthused by the prospect of actually starting her own business finally.  Sweetmint was even eyeing the place up as they made their way to the office, no doubt trying to figure out what she wanted to change or add once it was hers.  Rocky hadn't done anything with the interior yet; the only thing that had changed since the place closed down was the removal of the sign outside.  That was good since Sweetmint was hoping to get the equipment there as part of the package.

The couple headed straight for the back room, then to the adjoining office where Rocky was waiting for them.  The burly stallion was seated behind his desk already in preparation for the meeting that Sweetmint had requested a few days prior.

"Well, howdy, you two," Rocky greeted with a chipper grin, mimicking a southern drawl.  "I've been twiddling my hooves in anticipation all day for this.  Take a seat."

He gestured to a pair of small, worn chairs, though the space within the cramped office made it difficult for both Sweetmint and Guise to maneuver and actually sit on them comfortably.

Rocky leaned on the desk, his smile as friendly as ever.  "So, how goes it?  You holding up okay since the... 'incident'?" he asked Sweetmint as though she were an ex-con.

"Let's just get down to brass tacks here, Rocky.  We came here for negotiations, not small talk," Sweetmint told him firmly.

Rocky leaned back, his smile unwavering as he nodded.  "Ah, a mare of business.  I can certainly relate to that, yes indeedy.    So, you wanna buy my place off me, huh?  Exactly what kinda price are you looking for?"

Sweetmint and Guise shared a glance, a full conversation unfolding between the two in the span of one silent moment before the mare looked sternly back at Rocky.  "Make me an offer and we'll go from there."

"I... feel like that should be my line, but whatever," Rocky said with a shrug.  He started leafing through some papers sitting on the desk, analyzing them professionally, though Guise could swear that some of them were completely blank.  He had to be messing with them.  "Lemme see here...  If my figures are accurate, then I suppose I could let the place go for... twenty thousand."

Sweetmint slammed her hooves on the desk in outrage, her stoic front shattered by her anger in an instant.  "Twenty—!  Oh, you can just go fuck yourself right out a third-story window!"

"Mint, chill," Guise suggested calmly.

Rocky appeared to be trying to hold back a triumphant smirk, but Guise could see the tiny crack of a smile.  "What?  I thought you came here to buy the place, Minty.  Now you're saying you don't want to?"

"That price is outrageous and you know it," Sweetmint hissed vindictively.  "I know full well how much the equipment out there is worth, and adding that onto the building still wouldn't be anywhere near twenty thousand."

"It's called supply and demand, friends," Rocky said haughtily.  "I have the supply, you have the demand.  The value of something is whatever somepony is willing to pay.  Seeing as you seem pretty dang keen on getting this place for yourself, I thought you'd be willing to shell out the dough for it."

"I don't have that kinda dough to shell out, you swindler," Sweetmint growled.  "Maybe I would if I had been treated properly around here."

Rocky raised an eyebrow, looking genuinely confused.  "What do you mean?"

"Don't give me that crap.  A little birdie told me you've been basing all your decisions, like who to give a raise, on the shit your little brother's been shoveling you."

Rocky shot a brief glare in Guise's direction, and the disguised changeling glared right back.  "Look, regardless of whether or not his little crush on Tapioca has swayed his judgment, there's no denying that you've been difficult to work with, Mint.  It's never been your skills that's held you back, it's your attitude.  And poor Tapioca payed for it.  You know, you're lucky she's such a sweetie.  She could have sued you for what you did, but she didn't, because she's a nice gal."

Guise noticed Sweetmint beginning to grit her teeth rather tightly.  He knew she felt bad about what she did to Tapioca, and he wasn't too fond of Rocky trying to use that against her, so he decided to interject.  "This is supposed to be a business transaction, right?  Shouldn't we not let personal feelings come into this?"

"You're probably right, but my point stands," said Rocky adamantly.  "If she wants this place as badly as she seems to, then she's gotta pay the right price."

"Your price is far from right.  I can't afford what you're asking," Sweetmint reiterated.

"That sounds like your problem."

Sweetmint pounded a hoof on the desk furiously.  "This is bullshit!  You know damn well I'm not some rich moneybags!  And I know you know because you're the one whose been paying me peanuts for the past three years!  If you weren't willing to haggle, then why the hell'd you even agree to this fucking meeting?!"

Rocky shrugged, unfazed by her outburst.  "I thought it'd be fun."

Guise watched as Sweetmint's face contorted into an enraged scowl.  He half-expected to hear her teeth grinding in her mouth and the desk cracking under her hooves.  He saw the slightest of movement from her and immediately grabbed her hoof to prevent her from doing anything she might regret.  Sweetmint directed her furious glare at her boyfriend, but Guise gazed back sternly and began to coax her to the door.  "I think we should discuss this privately for a few minutes, Mint."

Sweetmint glanced between the two stallions, letting out a reluctant huff through her nostrils as she followed him out of the office.

"Take your time, I've got all day," Rocky said with a nonchalant smile.

Guise escorted a fuming Sweetmint back out to the parlor, where she was quick to voice her displeasure.

"Augh!  That fucking asshat!  Can you believe him?!  Where does he get off charging a horn and a hoof for this dive and acting like it's no big deal?!  I swear, I was two seconds away from knocking his teeth in."

"Mint, don't you get it?  That's exactly what he wants," Guise told her firmly in an effort to help her level out and think straight.

"What're you talking about?"

"He knows about your temper and is trying to exploit it.  He wants nothing more than for you to take a swing at him right now.  And you know what's going to happen if you do."

Sweetmint let that notion simmer for a moment, taking a deep breath as she thought about this logically.  "He'll do what Tapioca didn't.  He'll sue me for every bit he can get."

"Exactly.  Then he'll have your money, and he can still sell this place to somepony else."

Sweetmint scowled at the thought of it.  "I never figured Rocky could be so conniving.  You really got all that after meeting him once?"

"I like to think I'm a pretty good judge of character," Guise said with a modest shrug, though there was no hiding the smug grin on his face.  Of course, he wasn't about to admit that he'd spent a good two weeks getting to know Rocky in secret.

"So what do we even do?" Sweetmint asked with a defeated sigh.  "He's obviously not interested in selling the place to me.  He just agreed to this to mess with me."

Guise scratched his head, just as lost as she was.  But he knew they literally couldn't afford to let this go.  The whole plan with Tapioca's kidnapping and the ransom revolved around getting Sweetmint's business off the ground, some extra money to fall back on in case it didn't work out.  But that was in the event that they actually bought Rocky's place.  He'd have to reevaluate the whole thing if they couldn't make this deal, and Tapioca probably wouldn't be too pleased to hear that.  "I guess we'll just keep the conversation going to see if we can work something out.  Maybe as long as you keep your cool and don't play into his hooves, he'll get bored and take the discussion more seriously.  I mean, if he knows the place isn't worth that much like you think he does, then there's gotta be a more reasonable price he'll agree to, don't you think?"

Sweetmint didn't answer.

Guise quirked an eyebrow at her.  She was glancing around the shop as though analyzing something.  She appeared to be thinking pretty seriously about something.  "Mint?"

"You're right.  He knows that price is ridiculous, and I know exactly why that price is ridiculous."  With newfound vigor, Sweetmint smirked confidently at Guise.  "I think I got this."

"Yeah?"

She nodded.  "Yup.  Follow my lead."

With purpose in her steps, Sweetmint made her way back to Rocky's office with Guise following alongside her.  He was admittedly intrigued to hear what she had in mind.  He had told her that she should do most of the talking, so he was willing to sit back and let her do what she needed to make this happen.

Once the office door opened again, Rocky greeted them with another affable smile, though by now, Sweetmint and Guise knew how fake it was.  "Hey, welcome back, amigos.  So, have you decided to take me up on my generous offer?"

Guise normally would have expected Sweetmint to cast a disgusted sneer at the patronizing question, but as she sat down, she actually chuckled.

"Fuuuck no.  Actually, I want to make a counter offer."

Rocky shrugged and sighed, though his victorious grin never faltered.  "Well, unless you actually plan on offering more than I asked, I don't see how you could entice me."

Sweetmint slapped a hoof onto the desk firmly, the sound startling Rocky.  "This shithole is not worth twenty thousand bits," she reiterated sternly, yet maintained a calm and confident air about her.  "Nopony in their right mind would pay something that crazy for this place.  If you were going to make that offer to everypony who was interested, you'd never sell this place, even to the rich assholes uptown."

Rocky didn't appear fazed by her claim, simply sitting back and curious to hear her explanation.  "And what makes you think that?"

"You know I took a job here because I planned to open a place of my own some day.  I don't want to think that you've been willingly trying to hold me down or anything, but I've been using some of the free time I've had to scope some things out over the past three years for when I eventually quit—or got fired, I guess.  So you can bet your ass that I know what this place is worth."

"Enlighten me," Rocky said with a challenging tone.

Sweetmint leaned forward, staring the large stallion right in the eye.  "First of all, this place is basically a backyard shed compared to most of the businesses around here.  It's tiny, the storeroom is also where we clean the dishes, which isn't exactly sanitary, and this office is just a repurposed broom closet.  We don't even have a bathroom here, for fuck's sake.  We've had to go across the street to the café to use the toilet."

Finally, a crack appeared in Rocky's facade, his smug smile fading slightly.

"And not only that, but the location is terrible.  We're situated waaaaay in the back of Restaurant Row.  Potential customers have to walk past at least two other similar businesses to get here, and even then, the aforementioned size of the place makes it easy to overlook.  You would have to do a lot more than what you have been to get people's attention."

A rather devious smirk appeared on Sweetmint's face.  "Which brings me to my next point: I've got it on good authority that you've closed up shop because business has been going down the shitter lately.  When did that start happening again, Crimson?"

Guise smirked as well, having been enjoying this silently.  He knew where this was going, and the grin steadily draining from Rocky's face made him more than willing to pitch in.  "Tapioca said it was around a few weeks ago."

"A few weeks ago?" Sweetmint repeated with mock surprise.  "Why, if I'm not mistaken, I think that was around the same time that you fired me."

Rocky wasn't smiling anymore at this point.  He wasn't even scowling grouchily in response to having his assertions torn down.  He looked like a cornered mouse with no teeth with which to bite back.

"Let's not sugarcoat things, Rocky," Sweetmint continued.  "My ice cream was the only reason why this place stayed in business as long as it did, and maybe a little credit goes to Tapioca for being pretty and flirtatious.  But as soon as you had to rely on your bland, tasteless ice cream, people started to notice that this place was going downhill."

"Alright, that's a little below the belt," Rocky practically whimpered.

"Shove it, I'm not done.  Basically what you've done is completely tank any reputation I've built for this place.  Now when people see this place, they're gonna think twice about stopping in because they're expecting subpar ice cream.  What that means is that anypony interested in buying this place would be taking a huge risk because of you.  And I think that should factor into the price."

Rocky gulped.  For as cocky as he'd been this whole time, he clearly underestimated Sweetmint's willpower.  He must have seen her as nothing more than a grouchy, ill-tempered bitch to believe that she would fold at the slightest sign of adversity.  She was a lot more business savvy than he likely believed.  That was made evident by the pensive hitch in his voice when he spoke up.  "I, uh...  I guess I can come down on the price a little.  How about... seventeen?"

Sweetmint narrowed her eyes at him.  "The equipment here is almost more expensive than the building itself, especially after everything I just mentioned."

"Fifteen?"

"Ten."

Now it was Rocky's turn to balk in surprise.  "You can't be serious.  I'd be taking a loss if I sold it for that."

"Tough shit, 'cause nopony else is gonna pay what you're asking.  You either take the loss now, or wait Celestia knows how long to sell the place."

Rocky sighed, sounding and looking conflicted.  "You know, I still hold the better hand here.  I know how much you want this place, but...  I do want to sell as soon as possible."

Sweetmint smiled, clearly feeling pretty good right about now.  In fact, Guise could have sworn he even saw a hint of sympathy in her eyes as she looked across the desk at Rocky.  "Tell you what: you sell the place to me for ten thousand—because, let's be real, that's about what it's worth—and I'll help you advertise whatever kinda place you open up after this.  What was it, a tiki bar, or some shit?  We can benefit each other a little here."

Rocky tapped a hoof on the desk as he mulled the offer over, though judging by the look on his face, it appeared they'd already won.  With a defeated and reluctant sigh, Rocky leaned onto the desk, looking Sweetmint in the eye.  "Alright...  Ten thousand.  You've got a deal."

The smile on Sweetmint's face was more genuine than Guise had ever seen from her.  Rocky held out his hoof, and Sweetmint happily did the same, shaking to confirm the deal.  "Awesome.  Pleasure doing business with you, Rocky.  And if it means anything, I'm sorry if I've been difficult to work with, but that's mostly for Tapioca.  We can meet back here tomorrow to make the exchange?"

Rocky nodded.  Though he was clearly disappointed by the outcome, a small smile still managed its way onto his lips again, as though to respect his opponent after a hard-fought battle.  "Sure.  See you then."

Guise and Sweetmint got up to leave without another word.  Considering the barely restrained grin on the mare's face, Guise was surprised with how quiet the short walk back through the building was.  He expected Sweetmint to be triumphantly boasting about her victory, but she didn't say a word despite her visible elation.  Guise was tempted to break the silence, but decided to let her revel in this in her own way.

They stepped outside and onto the sidewalk, closing the door to their building behind them.  Sweetmint stopped for a moment, taking a long, deep breath.

"Fuck yeah!"

Sweetmint reared up, proclaiming her accomplishment to the sky and scaring the crap out of several passersby.  She brought her hooves back down so firmly that Guise almost expected the sidewalk to crack.  Apparently she'd only been holding in her elation to prevent Rocky from witnessing it, though Guise wouldn't have been surprised if he'd heard that from his office.

Guise found himself grinning at Sweetmint's display of sheer, unrestrained happiness, vicariously getting his own fair share of enjoyment out of this as he watched her celebrate.

But out of nowhere, she turned to him, wrapping her hooves around his shoulders and kissing him deeply, catching Guise quite off guard.  After several seconds of this unexpected display of public affection, Sweetmint pulled away, but kept her hooves tenderly draped around her boyfriend's shoulders and staring into his eyes with a happy and satisfied smile.

"I can't believe this is actually happening," she breathed quietly, likely trying to discern whether or not this was a dream.  "I couldn't have done this without you, Crimson.  Thank you so much."

"Ah, don't give me the credit," Guise told her with genuine modesty.  "That was all you in there.  I never thought about all that stuff before we came here."

"I'm not just talking about today, Crimson.  It's everyday," she told him softly, an uncharacteristic tenderness in her voice.  "You've done so much for me over these few short months.  You made living in Canterlot a lot more bearable, helping me live more comfortably with my financial and emotional situations.  Even if there were a few bumps along the way, it was all worth it in the end if it meant getting to where we are right now.  You put up with my stupid, defeatist attitude after I got fired.  I wouldn't have had the motivation to even get here if you hadn't been here to kick me in the flank.  I never would have been able to do any of this if I hadn't met you, Crimson."

Guise noticed a twinkle in her pink eyes.  There had been times in the past where she'd looked at him similarly, but there was also always a hint of uncertainty that seemed to suppress whatever it was she was thinking about.  But this time, he didn't see that.  What he saw in her eyes was what he could only describe as assured decisiveness.  Whatever was currently going through her mind, what it was she wanted to say, it was coming from the heart, and she wasn't doubting herself anymore.

"I love you, Crimson.  And I really do mean it this time," she told him passionately.

Guise didn't respond right away.  He took a silent moment to let it sink in.  This was it.  All the goals he'd set for himself had finally been achieved.  He had food, a home, and love at the ready.  He saw no reason to doubt the validity of her words and her feelings.  All he needed to do now was seal the deal.

Guise tenderly placed a hoof against the back of Sweetmint's head, bringing her forehead in contact with his, their horns crossed.  "I love you, too.  Honestly, I've been waiting to say it for a while," he told her.  That was half true, but all he had to do was say it convincingly.

"Yeah, I had a feeling," she said with a guilty grin and a bashful blush.  "Sorry to keep you waiting, but...  Well, we've discussed it before.  But I'm not worried about that anymore.  I know you're not like those other guys."  She nuzzled into his neck affectionately.

Guise's satisfied smile faltered slightly.  She was right; he wasn't like those other guys, because he was smarter than them.  He was more patient, more focused, more cunning, more selfish...  He had the will to endure this relationship long enough to get what he wanted and then some.

He wasn't like them, because he was worse than them.

The changeling breathed a quiet sigh through his nostrils as the two continued their "loving" embrace, paying little mind to the other people eyeing them up judgmentally as they passed by.  This wasn't really the time to be questioning his motives and methods.  There were other matters that needed his attention.  Now that Sweetmint had what she needed to start up her business, that meant that Guise could move on to the next step of this scheme of his.


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


The trek down to Canterlot Valley felt a lot longer when one had to walk the whole way down.  Guise used to come down here frequently to hunt before moving in with Sweetmint, but having the privilege of flight made him ignorant to how deep the valley actually was.  But he chose this location to make the exchange because of how deep it was; so far down that nopony in Canterlot up on the mountain above would even notice the specks wandering around down there.  Walking down on hoof was proving arduous, though, but it was a necessity—Guise wasn't sure he had the strength to carry Tapioca all the way down on his back.

Speaking of whom, Tapioca was in the same boat as Guise regarding how tiring the walk was, the difference being that she was much more vocal about it.  Surprisingly, she hadn't gotten as exhausted as Guise would have assumed, but then again, he knew she liked to exercise to keep her figure trim; she had impressive stamina for a pony as dainty as her.  Her complaints had more to do with the pain in her hooves, as walking down a somewhat steep slope the whole way was hard on the legs.  Still, the least she could have done was ease up with the griping once they actually got down to the bottom.

"Ugh!  How much further, Crimsy?" she whinged.

"Would you shut up already?  We're at the bottom, quit your bitching," Guise snipped back.

"I'm sooooo hungry and mega thirsty.  Couldn't we have gotten dinner or something before coming down here?"

"I want to make sure we're here before your dad shows up, so we're not wasting time with that.  You can have your fill when you get back to your opulent mansion, 'your majesty.'"  Having ventured far enough into the valley, away from the beaten path, Guise gestured to a river running down the middle of the canyon.  "Drink from there if you're desperate enough."

Tapioca lolled her head around with a reluctant groan.  She'd had to put up with 'roughing it' for a few weeks now, so drinking unfiltered water from a natural water source wasn't too far out of her comfort zone anymore, much to her chagrin.

After having a quick drink to quench her thirst, she sauntered over to where Guise now sat in the grass, laying down on her stomach beside him.  She glanced at Guise with an arched eyebrow—or rather, the pony Guise was pretending to be.  "Why do you look like that?"

Guise glanced down at himself.  Rather than the usual red coat he was used to wearing, his current disguise had dark blue fur, a bright orange mane, and a pair of five-pointed stars for a cutie mark.  He was willing to give Tapioca the benefit of the doubt and assume she wasn't dumb enough to forget what changelings were known for.

"I've explained this before, but I guess now's a good time to go over everything again while we wait.  Your dad doesn't know your kidnapper is a changeling, and I want to keep it that way.  If he knew that, then when he tells the royal guards and the princesses about this whole thing, they'll be scouring Canterlot for a changeling.  That means everypony becomes a suspect, and they'll systematically go through everypony in the city to narrow things down, which means they'll eventually make it to 'Crimson Neon' and the jig'll be up.  Get it?"

Tapioca nodded.  "That makes sense.  So that means you don't wanna be Crimson Neon either, right?"

"Exactly.  This guy I'm disguised as is from another city, so once this is done, the guards are gonna search for this stallion in Canterlot, but aren't gonna find him.  So they'll likely expand their search to neighboring towns and cities to find him."

"And what if they do?"

"Then one of two things will happen: they can arrest him and that'll be that, because I don't really give a shit if some nopony has to serve my sentence for me.  Either that, or they'll determine he's actually innocent and deduce that the real culprit is a changeling, but by the time they figure that out, their kidnapper will be long gone as far as they know, because why would he stick around for that long, right?"

Tapioca tilted her head.  "Uh, okay.  I guess I get that," she said, though was starting to sound a little confused.

Guise sighed.  "Look, you don't really need to worry about these kinds of details.  I'm more or less just going through my thought process here.  That being said, you do have some stuff you need to keep in mind, and I want to make sure you understand your responsibilities in all this."

She shuffled her hooves nervously.  "It's not gonna be complicated, is it?"

"On paper, no, but I'm gonna try and make it as clear as possible to make sure you know what you have to do."

Tapioca took a deep breath, as though preparing to take an exam.  "Okay."

"First off, I need to ensure that you understand that my very livelihood—and, to a degree, Sweetmint's—hinges on whether or not you can play your part properly."

The mare gulped, no doubt made a little less confident now that she was aware of the stakes.

Guise stared at her rather intensely, yet also pleadingly.  "I have to put my faith in you that you can keep my secret.  So, I just want to ask again: can I trust you not to mention to anypony that your kidnapper was me?  Meaning you can't even say that your kidnapper was a changeling."

Tapioca's innocent smile returned with renewed assurance.  "Ya-huh."

Guise hesitated for a moment to analyze her expression.  "And you know I don't have any nefarious intentions, right?  You trust me?"

She gave him a sympathetic smile.  "'Course I do, Crimsy.  I got to know you pretty well over the last few weeks.  You've had a rough life, so if you wanna be happy, then you should be happy."

Guise didn't detect a disingenuous tone, and for as much as he'd seemed to rub off on her lately, he still doubted that a lie from her would get past him.  It would seem Tapioca's simple naïveté was working to his advantage.  But as content as Guise should have been by that answer, he couldn't bring himself to smile, though he couldn't pinpoint why.

"That'll have to do," Guise said, accepting that he could trust her.  "But let's go over the more important details.  When you get home, you're definitely going to be questioned by the royal guards.  The less information you give them, the better, but you can't just refuse to answer their questions.  So, you're going to just have to feign ignorance for the most part.  For all intents and purposes, the only thing you should know is what your kidnapper looked like."  Guise pointed to the face he was currently wearing.  "This person is the one who kidnapped you, got it?"

Tapioca nodded.  "Okay.  Are you gonna make up a fake name?"

"No.  Even if I did, the authorities would probably assume it was fake anyway.  If they ask you anything about the guy that isn't what he looks like, you tell them you don't know.  He didn't give you a name, where he's from, or what he wants the money for.  If they ask where he was keeping you, say you don't know.  Just tell them that you were blindfolded when he brought you down here.  Oh, and as far as everypony else knows, you've only been gone about a week."

"Because they thought you were me, right?"

"Right."

Tapioca grinned, staring admiringly at Guise.  "Geez, I know I said this before, but you really did think of everything, didn't you?"

Guise shrugged modestly, though he had no disillusions about how good a changeling he was.  "There's always margin for error, but I like to think I hit the important points at least."  However, he grimaced slightly.  "But there is one more thing: Chips."

Tapioca furrowed her brow grumpily.  "I told you we should've gotten something to eat first.  But you might still have time to head back up to town and grab a snack before Daddy shows up."

Guise rolled his eyes.  "Not potato chips, you dolt, Frosted Chips."

"Oh.  Wait, I thought you said he wasn't a problem."

"Maybe not, but he could be.  I mean, he's got a pretty one track mind, so my hope is that once he sees you're okay, he'll just forget about the whole thing and go back to being a creepy, mute stalker.  But if he does prove to be troublesome, can I ask for your interference?"

Tapioca tilted her head.  "How's that?"

"He'll probably listen to anything you say without question, so if you tell him not to concern himself with the kidnapping, he'll likely just go along with it."

"Oh.  'Kay, I can do that."  She pursed her lips as she mulled everything over.  "So...  Chips knows my kidnapper's a changeling, but doesn't know it's you.  But Daddy thinks my kidnapper's some random guy, but doesn't know you're a changeling.  And the guards are gonna be looking for that random guy, but might figure out it's really a changeling, but still won't know it's you and...  Uhhh..."

Guise watched as her face contorted in her attempt to grasp the situation as a whole.  He sighed, placing a patronizing hoof on her shoulder.  "Don't hurt yourself, kid.  Just remember the essentials and we should be golden."

From there, the two of them just waited.  After about an hour, Tapioca had already devolved to rolling around in the grass impatiently, and it was starting to get on Guise's nerves.  It might have been less annoying to actually talk to her during that hour, but it was somehow more irritating to watch her act like a stray cat in silence.

"When's he supposed to be here?" she whined impatiently, breaking the silence.

"To be fair, I didn't specify a time.  It's also entirely possible that he assumed this was a trick."

"A trick?" Tapioca repeated with confusion.  "How's his daughter getting kidnapped a trick?"

"Think about it.  You just lost your job and your dad cut you off.  He probably knows you're in a bit of a panic over your circumstances.  And to suddenly receive a ransom note demanding money?  He might think you staged this whole thing in order to get some cash from him."

"Wait, you think he might not be coming?" she asked nervously, the topic having sowed some doubt and concern.

"I wouldn't worry about it.  He'd be taking a risk if he just blindly assumed it was a bluff.  If he cares about you, then he'll come with the money anyway to make sure you're alright.  Plus, he probably knows you well enough to know you wouldn't have the mental acuity to orchestrate something as elaborate as a fake kidnapping.  So there's that."

Tapioca breathed a sigh of relief.  "Yeah, Daddy knows me better than anypony."

The changeling might have considered making a quip about how she'd essentially just insulted herself, but he suddenly spotted movement in his peripheral vision.  Some distance down the valley, the same direction from which they came, was what he could only assume was Tapioca's father Figgy.  "Speak of the devil..."  He glanced at the mare beside him.  "Game time."

Tapioca stood up eagerly, no doubt relieved that Guise's hypothetical turned out to be untrue and excited by the prospect of finally returning home.

The two of them waited as the figure approached.  But as they got closer, Guise noticed something odd: there appeared to be two ponies headed their way.  One of them Guise could easily identify as Figgy, but the other he didn't recognize.  Whoever he was, he was pulling a cart behind him, the contents of which were covered by a tarp.  Guise assumed that must be the money he'd demanded, though he stared suspiciously as the two stallions approached.

The pair stopped, maintaining a safe and cautious distance.  Figgy's eyes were locked onto Tapioca.  There was notable worry in his eyes, though he was clearly staying on guard, especially now that he was face to face with his daughter's kidnapper.

Tapioca grinned widely upon seeing her father again, starting towards him eagerly.  "Daddy!"

However, she only managed to take one step before Guise held out his hoof to stop her.  She turned to him with a hurt look, but he just continued to glare at the two stallions.  "Tapioca, sit."

Without a moment's hesitation, Tapioca followed the command, planting her haunches onto the grass.  As much as she wanted to get home, she knew Guise wanted this to play out a specific way and was willing to let him do this however he saw fit.  Although, seeing his daughter following orders like an trained dog elicited a disdainful sneer from Figgy.

Guise ignored the look Tapioca's father was giving him, shooting a harsh glare right back.  "I believe I specified that you come alone," Guise reminded him in a low tone, shifting his attention to the other stallion: a very large, muscular earth pony with a white coat, black mane, and a rather dapper black vest.  He was giving Guise a rather steely look through squinted eyes, but the changeling couldn't determine if he was trying to appear threatening, or if that was just his natural expression.

"You expect me to transport twelve thousand bits down a mountain on my own?  I don't have that level of physical strength or stamina," Figgy defended.

Once more, Guise eyed the bulky earth pony.  "Is he a royal guard?"

"No, he's—"

Guise held up his hoof to silence Figgy.  He then gave a sidelong glance to Tapioca.  "You know that guy?"

Tapioca nodded with a chipper grin.  "Yup.  That's Wellington.  He's been Daddy's butler and bodyguard since before I was born.  I always call him Uncle Welly."  She waved enthusiastically to the large stallion.  "Hi, Uncle Welly!"

Wellington only responded with a slight, acknowledging nod and a gruff grunt that could perhaps be interpreted as an amicable greeting.

Given the guy's size, Guise wouldn't be surprised if Figgy had brought him along to attempt to subdue his daughter's captor, but Guise was no stranger to taking on people bigger than himself.  Still, he'd have to stay on guard and avoid getting close to him just in case.

Figgy gestured to the cart behind Wellington, and the earth pony removed the tarp to reveal the veritable treasure hoard of gold coins within.  "Here's the money you requested.  You may check for yourself to confirm that it's all there."

Guise turned to Tapioca again, gesturing toward the cart with a tilt of his head.  "Check it out."

"Huh?  Me?"

"Just do it.  And you two, back off while she investigates."

Figgy backed away from the cart without arguing and Wellington followed suit.

Tapioca slowly approached the cart, looking in at all the money stacked up in there.  "Uh...  What am I looking for?"

"I want to make sure this isn't some kind of trap.  Just stick your hoof in there and fish around a bit."

"What?!  But if it's booby trapped, I—"

"It's alright, puddin', it's safe," Figgy told her.

With her father's assurance, Tapioca dug into the pile of coins with her hoof, rooting around for anything suspicious.  "Um...  I only feel lots and lots of bits."

"Good enough," said Guise.  He let out a long sigh, giving a flick of his hoof.  "You can go home now."

Tapioca practically squealed with glee as she scampered over to give her father a loving hug, which he returned with deep relief.  She even gave Wellington a hug, though he didn't react much at all.

"Let's go home, dear," Figgy said to his daughter.  "You look like you could use a shower and a hot meal."

"Totally," she giggled.

Figgy and Wellington both cast one more harsh glare in Guise's direction, but didn't say anything and turned back to leave and escort Tapioca home.  However, the mare discreetly glanced back over her shoulder, giving Guise a quick wave goodbye and a sly wink, though Guise didn't respond.

Guise waited until the three of them were no longer in sight before letting out a long sigh, running a hoof through his fake, orange mane.  Finally, this whole ordeal was over.  Tapioca could return home, he didn't have to keep foalsitting her, and now he could put all of his attention toward helping Sweetmint get her business off the ground.

He turned his attention to the cart full of bits, groaning in annoyance.  First thing first, he'd have to hide the ransom money.  He speculated that the royal guards would assume he'd flee the city immediately after the exchange, so hiding the cash right under their noses seemed pretty safe.  He'd previously scoped out a cave in the valley where he could safely conceal it and check its contents more thoroughly, but he certainly wasn't going to bother counting every single bit.  And maybe if it turned out they didn't need the money, he could just give it back to Tapioca.  That'd be safer than holding onto dirty money himself.

But more than anything, Guise was just relieved he could finally get back to his normal life.  He was going to keep an eye on the situation over the next few days, but as long as Tapioca kept her mouth shut, he shouldn't have anything to worry about.  It was time to head home and truly relax for what felt like the first time in weeks.


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


Nights had been a little tedious for Guise lately.  With everything that had been on his mind, it was hard not to spend every waking moment thinking about what he was going to do to fix it all.  That usually resulted in sleep eluding him, leaving him laying in bed and staring up at the ceiling while Sweetmint dozed soundly beside him.  Of course, Guise was no stranger to sleepless nights, having spent the vast majority of his life enduring bitingly cold winds, or the uncomfortable, stone floors of caves.  But, for some reason, being kept awake by his own thoughts he found more aggravating, giving him all the more reason to resolve all these problems that had cropped up.

And he'd done it.  The conundrums he'd had thrust upon him had finally been abated.  Sweetmint was ready to start her own business, Tapioca was back home, and they had plenty of money to fall back on if they needed it.  Guise's life had gotten back on track and things were looking up.  Maybe there were still a few little things that could go wrong, like Sweetmint's business not working out like they hoped, or Tapioca or Frosted Chips blabbing about him, but Guise wasn't too concerned about any of that.  He'd planned things out adequately enough that he could be comfortable with where his life was again.

Yet, even so, once again he found his eyes creaking open in the middle of the night.  Guise spent a moment in his state of half sleep just staring straight up at the ceiling until his thoughts were able to coalesce properly.  Even though there wasn't anything that should keep him up at night anymore, he still knew why he was awake right now.

Guise turned his head to the left.  The soft light of the moon managed to permeate the curtains well enough for him to pick out the back of Sweetmint's head laying on the pillow next to him, her quiet breaths the only sound that could be heard in the room.  He just stared at her as she slept, and suddenly felt an urge he hadn't felt in quite some time.

The changeling carefully propped himself up in the bed, doing his best not to disturb Sweetmint or the sleeping cat curled up at the foot of the bed.  This was something he hadn't attempted in a while, mostly because he didn't want to be disappointed again.  But if ever there was a moment to try again, it was now.  Guise leaned over Sweetmint, opening his mouth in anticipation.  A part of him was expecting nothing to happen, just like last time, tempering his expectations to soften the blow a little.

But the moment Guise began to slowly inhale, a thin, pink mist began to flow from her neck and up into Guise's waiting maw.

This was it.  Love.  Tangible, delicious love.

It had felt like years since he'd tasted it—and technically it had been—but now he was finally able to indulge in this luxury once more.  And it was just as good as he remembered it, though it wasn't exactly the same.  Compared to Shade's girlfriend, whose love tasted rather sweet, Sweetmint's love—ironically—had a hint of bitterness to compliment its sweetness.  Guise could equate it to an especially good cup of coffee with a hefty dose of sugar that didn't overpower the flavor.

But it wasn't just the irresistible flavor that he enjoyed.  While the flavor reminded him of coffee, the sensation that love gave him couldn't be adequately compared to anything else he'd ever experienced.  As the tangible manifestation of Sweetmint's love slowly drifted into his mouth, Guise could feel its effects flowing throughout his entire body.  It was especially noticeable in his horn, a tingling sensation radiating through it.  He had little doubt that it would feel even better if he were to start focusing his magic so he could feel just how much his power was growing at this moment, but as tantalizing as the idea was, he didn't want to risk Sweetmint being woken up by the light or hum of his magic.  It wasn't like he was draining very much anyway, just enough to enjoy it; if he overindulged, then Sweetmint would eventually start feeling the effects.  Still, even this little amount was more than enough to trigger that familiar feeling of euphoria that he was desperate to experience again.  It was a little similar to the feeling he got the one time he'd gotten drunk with Sweetmint, but he was much more cognizant and could enjoy it properly, making the comparison practically moot.  She was free to get hammered if she wanted that sensation, but Guise would rather sit here in silence and siphon delicious, empowering love.

But something was wrong.  Guise closed his mouth and the pink mist dissipated.  Sweetmint's love tasted even better than her ice cream, easily the best thing he'd ever tasted in his life.  The sensation flowing through his whole body was euphoric and exactly as he remembered it.

So why wasn't he satisfied?

Guise lay back down on the bed, his eyes returning to the ceiling.  It didn't make any sense.  This was what he had been seeking from the very beginning, even above food and shelter.  He finally had it now, unrestricted access to love, and it tasted just as good, if not better, than it did the first time.  But, for some reason, he wasn't able to enjoy it wholly.  How could something taste so good and provide such euphoria, but still leave him unsatisfied?  It couldn't have been quantity; even that little morsel he'd just had should have sated his appetite after going so long without it.  So what was missing that he needed to actually enjoy this?

The changeling sighed, rolling over onto his side and facing Sweetmint's back again.  He was tempted to go for seconds on the off chance that just a little more might do the trick, but he didn't want Sweetmint waking up drained of energy.  He doubted it would make a difference anyway.

So it would seem that Guise had something else entirely to keep him awake at night.  Now his nights were going to be plagued by wondering what it was that was still missing.
> Part 12 - Productive
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A small rabbit scampered across the grassy field at the bottom of Canterlot Valley, diligently searching for the leafiest of greens to munch on.  The vegetation in the valley was abundant, so the herbivores seemed to be rather picky over what plants they consumed, choosing to indulge only in what they perceived as the tastiest or most nutritious flora.  The little rabbit passed by many shrubs and flowers that, to most foragers, would have been perfectly adequate to make a meal of, but this greedy bunny wanted something choice.

A particular bush grabbed the rabbit's attention.  Small, white flowers peppered the twigs, and the green of the leaves sparkled like emeralds as the sun glistened on the morning dew.  And the fat, juicy berries growing on it were especially appetizing.  The gluttonous rabbit wasted no time stuffing its little cheeks with tasty berries, becoming so overindulgent that it didn't even notice the pair of blood red eyes gazing from within the shrub.

Before the rabbit even had a chance to register what was happening, it suddenly found itself impaled on a pair of long, sharp fangs, and its neck snapped under the force of crushing jaws.

Guise peeled the dead rabbit off his fangs, tearing a chunk of flesh off as he did and savoring the taste of meat and blood on his palate.  With everything that's been on his mind lately, Guise hadn't had as much time to do a little hunting.  Even over the past week or so when he didn't have a job he needed to attend, he just didn't have the state of mind to track down some helpless prey.

But that was in the past now.  He still didn't have a job, but Sweetmint didn't know that.  The difference now was that he didn't have to tend to Tapioca anymore, so he was free to do whatever the hell he wanted with his time now.  It had felt like ages since he'd had the pleasure of sinking his fangs into the frail body of a tiny animal.  That was a form of satisfaction he had dearly missed.

At least one thing he missed was still satisfying...

Guise let out a sigh as he finished his meal.  On a whim, he focused his magic into his horn, letting it glow rather brightly with its vivid, green aura.  He definitely felt like his magic had grown just a little bit stronger, though maybe not enough to do anything significant with it just yet.  The difference was minute, but noticeable.  It wouldn't take long for him to reach the level of power he once had two years ago.  Back then, he only needed three days worth of love to get to that level, but he was perhaps as overindulgent then as the rabbit he'd just eaten.  This time, he wasn't brainwashing anypony, and his goal wasn't to gain power anyway.  All he wanted was to taste it and enjoy the sensations it gave him.

But he couldn't even do that apparently.

Guise shook his head.  As disappointed by this turn of events as he was, he didn't want to dwell on it.  He was in a comfortable place now, and he didn't want to squander that by wracking his brain over something as trivial as this.  He was probably just overthinking it anyway.  Whatever was going on would sort itself out in due time.  That's what he'd been telling himself since he woke up that morning anyway.

Right now, it was probably about time to see what Sweetmint was up to.  He'd make a quick stop back at their apartment to rinse the smell of blood out of his mouth, then head over to where he knew his girlfriend was busily spending her day.


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


It was an odd thought to Guise that, despite the fact that Sweetmint hadn't worked there in a few weeks, Guise had still had to regularly go to Rocky's Road anyway.  He hadn't really had to change that habit much aside from the fact that he was going there as somepony else and to actually work there for two weeks.  But even now, he was still heading back there, and it was still going to be a regular occurrence.

Of course, the major difference now was that the place was no longer Rocky's Road.  In fact, it didn't even belong to Rocky anymore.  By now, while Guise was supposed to be "at work," Sweetmint should have finalized her deal with Rocky and the place would now be under new management—their management.  Sweetmint had expressed great interest in spending the whole day there and getting everything ready for their grand opening.  She wanted to open the doors as soon as possible, so she was intent on working her flank off to do just that.

Guise was admittedly pretty proud of her.  After being stuck in a funk since she got fired, he'd managed to light a fire under her hot enough to reignite her passion for ice cream making.  Given that he had chosen her to be his love bug from the beginning because of her personality above all else, seeing her being all dejected and unmotivated was not reflective of the mare he'd come to know.  But Sweetmint had practically leapt out of bed that morning, downed a big cup of coffee, and charged off to meet Rocky and make the exchange.  That was the mare he knew.  If anything, she was more than the mare he knew now.  She used to just tolerate the crap that life threw at her, only occasionally bursting a blood vessel and flying off the handle in a rage.  But now, she was taking Guise's advice and grabbing life by the horns, identifying what she wanted and just taking it, just like he'd told her when they first met.

The changeling was admittedly pretty interested in what she had planned for the place.  Sweetmint had shown him some plans she'd drawn up in the past, but now that they had a venue to work with, it'd be easier to picture it.  Guise walked up to their new building.  Even though it looked exactly the same as when he was there yesterday, it still seemed different with the knowledge that they now owned it.  Obviously, there was still no sign up; Sweetmint hadn't actually settled on a name for the new business yet, and he wasn't sure how high a priority that was.

Guise walked inside, his arrival signaled by the familiar chime of the entrance bell.  The sound of the bell was followed by the sound of hoofsteps from the backroom, and the door suddenly burst open, making way for a rather energetic, mint green mare.

"Welcome, fuck face!" she greeted enthusiastically.

Guise gave her a grin.  She usually only addressed him in such vulgar terms when she was in a particularly good mood.  "Hey.  Guess the deal's done, huh?"

"Yup.  I slapped Rocky with a fat check, signed the papers, and now I'm the proud owner of this quaint, little shit hole.  Now we just gotta give it some love and turn it into not-such-a-shit-hole.  And I mean a lot of work.  I wasn't lying yesterday when I told him this place probably has a sour reputation and poor location.  It's gonna take a hefty helping of good, old-fashioned elbow grease to build this place the momentum it needs to take off."

"So how's that been going so far?"

"Not bad, really.  I mean, I've been making plans for this for years at this point, everything from the menu to the interior design.  I wanna focus on renovations for the time being—can't be closing down shop to fix the place up right after opening.  I think the first thing I want done is the sign."

"Yeah?  You decide on a name already?"

Sweetmint grinned confidently.  "Yeah, check this out."  She hurried back into the office and returned with several sheets of paper, showing one to Guise.

The changeling looked it over.  It appeared to be a pencil drawing of what she wanted the sign outside to look like.  It was actually pretty well drawn.  He was honestly surprised by her artistic ability.  Guise had seen her drawings before, but only stuff she'd done when she was drunk.  Even then, she was pretty good at it, so seeing something she'd done sober was especially impressive.  Her design wasn't as childish as Rocky's, having a more sharp appearance overall and looking as though the whole thing were frozen in a layer of ice.  His reading comprehension wasn't good enough to recognize the single word on the page, though, so he was going to have to bluff his way through this topic.

Guise decided to take a skeptical approach.  "And this is the final name?"

Sweetmint grimaced.  "What, you don't like it?"

"It looks cool—no pun intended—but I figured we would brainstorm names together."

"Come on," she insisted with an eager grin.  "It's a great name.  Frostbite.  Just saying it gives me chills—pun totally intended."

Now that he had actually heard the name, Guise was pretty confident in his own standpoint.  "I don't know.  Doesn't exactly sound inviting."

Sweetmint's grin only grew larger.  "See, that's the draw.  All the other ice cream shops in Canterlot are either all classy or childish.  We can grab people's attention by being a little more—again with the puns—cold.  We might end up attracting a lot of hipsters that way, but a customer's a customer.  And think about it: how funny will it be when people are saying to their friends, 'Hey, let's go get Frostbite'?"  She snickered at her own joke.  "In all seriousness, it's like I've said before: we've gotta do everything we can to set ourselves apart from everypony else.  Maybe people'll think it sounds uninviting, but that thought alone might spark curiosity, you know?"

Guise held up his hooves with a resigned sigh.  "Alright, whatever.  You know more about this stuff than I do, so I'll trust your judgment.  It's not like I dislike the name or anything, I'm just trying to see it from an outside perspective."

"Yeah, well, it's what we're going with," she said with a cocksure grin and a firm, condescending pat on Guise's cheek.

Sweetmint dropped the papers onto one of the tables, alongside a newspaper that she'd brought with her that morning.  Upon laying eyes on the newspaper, she was quick to change the subject.

"Hey, have you seen this?"  She tossed the paper to Guise and he caught it with his neon green magic.

While Guise wasn't going to bother trying to read the headline on the front page, his attention was drawn to the photo on it.  It was a picture of Tapioca and her father.  Guise didn't really feel like he had to bluff to figure out what this was about.  "Whoa, really?" he reacted with mock surprise.

"Yeah, crazy, right?  Nopony even knew she was gone for a whole week.  I don't even know why somepony would want to kidnap her of all people.  Surely there are less annoying victims you can target."

Guise could certainly agree with that sentiment.  "Well, as long as she's okay, I guess."

"True.  I might not have the highest opinion of Tapioca, but I did feel my heart jump when I saw that."  She took the newspaper back and looked over the article again.  "It's pretty weird, though, right?"

Guise arched an eyebrow.  Now that the whole thing was public, he was curious to learn how people viewed his scheme.  "How do you mean?"

"Tapioca's family is loaded, but the kidnapper only demanded twelve thousand bits.  I mean, I paid almost that much for this dive.  Why go through the trouble of kidnapping somepony for so little money?"

Probably because you paid almost that much, Guise thought to himself.  "Maybe he figured if it was only a relatively small amount, it wouldn't be worth pursuing him over it."

Sweetmint shrugged.  "Who the fuck knows?  These types of lunatics can probably rationalize anything in their own heads.  They're probably so desperate or crazy that they don't think these things through properly."

I like to think I thought it through pretty well, thank you very much.

She wasn't wrong, though.  Guise was pretty desperate at the time.  Even though he tried to plan out all possible scenarios, some things were bound to slip through the cracks.  The amount he demanded was something he figured might be called into question, but he also assumed that the larger the amount, the harder it would be to hide.  He had to approach that aspect of the plot practically, especially since he wasn't fleeing the city with the cash and had to keep it stashed somewhere.

"Either way, they're still on the hunt for the guy.  Apparently the royal guards are combing the area for him," Sweetmint said.

Guise wasn't too concerned about that.  That, too, was something he'd expected.  It wasn't like he hadn't noticed the guards patrolling the city streets all day.  They were likely to investigate Canterlot Valley as well, but the bits were hidden deep inside an out of the way cave whose entrance was concealed by dense foliage.  He'd even buried the dough under a pile of rocks and gravel and disposed of the cart somewhere away from the valley in case they happened upon his hiding place.  No doubt they'd give up looking around Canterlot after a few days and expand their search to other towns, so he just had to wait it out.

"Man...  I wonder how Tapioca's doing after all that," Sweetmint muttered with some concern in her voice.  "She'd just lost her job, and then gets kidnapped out of nowhere.  She must be a complete, emotional wreck right now."

"Heya, Minty~!"

Guise and Sweetmint both stared at the pony who'd just suddenly walked in, the entrance bell accompanied by her grating, singsong voice.  A cream white unicorn was waving exuberantly with a chipper grin, her mane and makeup looking exceptionally well-managed compared to how Guise had been accustomed to seeing her lately.

Sweetmint blinked, staring rather incredulously.  "Tapioca?  Uh, what are you doing here?"

"Whaddaya think, silly?  I came to start work," she answered as though it should have been obvious.

Guise slapped a hoof against his own face, already exasperated by Tapioca's presence and stupidity.

Sweetmint arched an eyebrow.  "You, uh...  You don't work here anymore, Tapioca.  Rocky shut the place down, remember?  Just because I own the place now doesn't mean your position here transfers over."

Tapioca tilted her head in confusion.  "Huh?  But Crimsy said he'd ask you to hire me."

Guise rolled his eyes with a deep sigh.  He didn't even have to look to feel Sweetmint's eyes drilling a hole through him.

"Is that right?" Sweetmint practically growled at her boyfriend.

Guise held up a hoof defensively.  "Okay, yes, we had a little chat after she lost her job, and I might have said I'd mention it to you at some point when you got around to opening your own place.  But to be fair, I never promised anything.  It was more or less just to shut up her whining about it."

"Wait, you haven't even asked her yet?" Tapioca inferred with hurt in her voice.  "But you said—"

"I never got around to it, okay?" he told her.  "There was never a good opportunity to bring it up."

For as annoyed by this information as Sweetmint appeared to be, she offered Tapioca a sympathetic look.  "Listen, Tapioca, we're still working out this whole thing right now.  I'm not really thinking about hiring staff at the moment."

The other mare frowned, her ears drooping dejectedly.  "Oh...  Uh, o-okay...  I guess I'll see you later then..."

Sweetmint watched Tapioca trudge slowly back to the door.  Guise could already see the remorse building on her face.

"Wait, hang on."

Tapioca turned back to Sweetmint with a hopeful look in her eyes, her ears perking up again.

"Listen, I know you went through a rough time recently, so I'd feel like a real bitch if I didn't extend you an olive branch.  Plus, I guess I do still owe you an apology.  Soooo...  How about, when we're ready to open, you can come work for me doing the same thing you did before?  Sound good?"

Tapioca's lips curled into a toothy grin and the mare practically hopped in excitement.  "Totally!  Thank you soooo much, Minty!"

Tapioca was about to lunge at Sweetmint to give her a grateful hug, but like Guise had done many times in the past, the green mare held out a hoof to stop her.

"However," Sweetmint continued sternly.  "I am not going to cut you the same kind of slack Rocky did.  If you're gonna work for me, you're gonna pull your weight.  No slacking off, and no complaining when you're told to do something.  Got it?"

Tapioca was undeterred by the conditions of her employment, simply nodding enthusiastically.  "Mm-hm, gotcha!  You can count on me, boss!"

Sweetmint managed a smile as well.  "Great.  As long as we have an understanding.  But you don't have to call me 'boss.'"

With how pleased she was, Tapioca cast an equally grateful look toward Guise, even if he didn't really do anything in the end.

But with that out of the way, Sweetmint shifted the subject.  "So how you holding up anyway?"

Tapioca blinked.  "Hm?  Whaddaya mean?"

"Uh, the... the kidnapping," Sweetmint elaborated for the surprisingly confused mare.  "I wasn't expecting to see you out and about so soon.  Didn't you only just get released yesterday?  Are you sure you're well enough to be out?"

"Pff, it wasn't all that bad," Tapioca scoffed.  However, she noticed the discreet, corrective glare that Guise was casting her and quickly backpedaled.  "Uh, I mean, not as bad as I thought it'd be, you know?  It was pretty scary at first, but he took care of me and stuff.  It was just kinda lonely, that's all."

"Oh.  Well, as long as you're okay, I guess.  Where was he keeping you anyway?"

Tapioca's eyes ever-so-briefly shifted to Guise, who lifted his brow expectantly in response.  "I... don't know.  I was blindfolded when he moved me!" she said with perhaps more zeal than was necessary, proud of herself for remembering Guise's instructions.

"So why'd he only want twelve thousand bits?" Sweetmint asked.  "Doesn't seem like a whole lot in exchange for somepony's life."

Once again, Tapioca glanced at Guise with uncertainty.  "Uh...  I-I... don't know?"

Guise decided it was time to interject.  If this kept up, it was only a matter of time before Tapioca cracked and said something suspicious.  "Come on, Mint, give her break.  She probably came here to put all that behind her, right?"  He looked expectantly at the mare in question.

Tapioca recognized the authority in Guise's eyes and nodded.  "Yeah, I don't wanna talk about that junk.  I spent all day yesterday talking to guards and stuff.  It was omega boring."

Sweetmint nodded apologetically.  "Right, right, sorry.  But, I mean, we're kinda busy right now, sooo..."

For as dim as Tapioca was, the frown that appeared on her face seemed to indicate that she recognized the hint.  "Oh.  Dang, I was kinda hoping to hear about the stuff you wanna do to this place."

The green mare ran a hoof through her mane with a sigh, still clearly feeling a little guilty.  "I guess... if you don't have anything better to do, you can stick around if you want.  You sure the guards don't have more questions for you or anything?"

Tapioca shook her head with a peppy smile.  "Nah, Daddy convinced 'em to give me some space for awhile after I told him I had another job lined up."

"Being awfully presumptuous there.  You're just lucky I owed you an apology," Sweetmint told her.  However, she quirked an eyebrow.  "Wait, how'd you even know I bought the place already?  I only just made the deal yesterday."

Tapioca and Guise discreetly exchanged unsure looks.  Guise wasn't entirely sure how to explain that one, nor could he even say anything with Sweetmint standing right there.  The mare's propensity for just saying things before thinking them through was starting to paint the two of them further into the corner.  But he was going to have to trust Tapioca to come up with something at least halfway believable.

Tapioca's eyes briefly shifted to the papers on the table that had a bunch of Sweetmint's plans on them, her face suddenly lighting up as though somepony finally hit the on switch in her empty head.  "Because... I know you," she said with a smile.  "You always seemed to have a good handle on business junk.  You basically ran this place most of the time since Rocky was barely ever around.  I figured you'd snatch the place up pretty quick."

Guise grinned rather proudly.  Perhaps she was a better liar than he gave her credit for.

Sweetmint blushed modestly.  "Yeah, well...  I wouldn't have had the motivation to do it without a certain somepony by my side."  She nuzzled up to Guise briefly, though the smile on Tapioca's face as she watched the rare display of affection made her regret it almost immediately.  So she pulled away again, coughing awkwardly into her hoof and attempted to change the subject.  "So, uh...  If you wanna see some of the stuff we've got in mind, check this out."

Tapioca followed her over to the table with the papers.  Sweetmint spread the sheets out to let her look them over, and Tapioca grabbed one sheet in particular.  "Oooh, is this a menu?"

"Kinda.  I've just been jotting down any ideas that come to mind.  I'll probably have to narrow things down so as not to make things too complicated.  I've been thinking of having, like, a rotating menu or something, switching out flavors and stuff on a day-to-day basis, or week-to-week, or whatever we end up deciding."

"Sundaes, sorbet, soft serve, banana splits..."  Tapioca was practically drooling as she rattled off everything that Sweetmint had written down.  "What about toppings?" she inquired eagerly.

"Oh, there'll be plenty of toppings, trust me," Sweetmint answered confidently.  "And feel free to make some suggestions.  I want this place to blow every other ice cream place in the city out of the fucking water, so the more ideas we have, the better."

"Oh, you know what I used to do when I was a filly?" Tapioca started eagerly.  "I used to crush up potato chips and mix it in my ice cream."

Sweetmint's eyes suddenly widened in surprise.  "Holy shit, me too!"

"It's sooo good, right?"

"Yeah!  The mixture of sweet and salty was surprisingly tasty.  And ice cream with some crunch has an odd satisfaction to it, like with sprinkles, or chocolate chunks."

"Totally!"

"Shit, I thought I was the weird one for liking that."

"Or maybe you're both weird..." Guise muttered under his breath.

Sweetmint smiled enthusiastically, looking over her menu notes again.  "You know what?  I'm gonna add potato chips to my order.  We can offer it as a topping."

Tapioca clapped her hooves jubilantly.  "Oooh, this is fun!  I thought running a business would be, like, snoozeville, but I'm already having a blast!"

"You say that, but you don't have to balance the budget, or do all the paperwork.  Devising the menu is probably the most fun part, so you don't really have a feel for the actual 'business' aspect of the business."

"Well, it's probably best to leave that junk to smart people like you and Crimsy."

Sweetmint actually blushed a little at the compliment.  "Oh, well, thanks.  But you did just give me a good idea, so if you wanna help come up with new flavors or toppings, we can brainstorm together."

Tapioca grimaced with uncertainty.  "Uh, is that gonna hurt?"

While normally the airhead's idiocy would annoy Sweetmint and make her question the future of pony kind, she actually managed a lighthearted chuckle.  "Just don't think too hard and you should be fine."

"'Kay.  Oh, what are you calling the place?  Rocky called it Rocky's Road, so are you gonna call it, like, Sweet Street or something?"

"No, but that might actually make a good name for an ice cream flavor.  But the name I'm going with is Frostbite."

"Brr.  Oooh, that gave me shivers just hearing it," Tapioca commented with a grin.  "With a name like that, I know where I'd wanna go to cool off on a hot day."

Sweetmint glanced smugly back at Guise.  "Hear that?  Somepony gets what I'm going for."

"You must be so proud to have her approval," Guise quipped sarcastically.

"Don't be a dick just because you're outnumbered, hun."

"Does he not like the name?" Tapioca asked with a tilt of her head.

Sweetmint waved off any concern with a lighthearted chuckle.  "Relax, we're just messing with each other.  Wanna see some design ideas?"

"You bet!"

Guise stood by quietly as he observed the two mares, Sweetmint going over other aspects of their business for her new employee.  It was such a strange sight.  Over the past month, Guise had warmed up slightly to Tapioca.  He still found her lack of intelligence rather needling, but considering how supportive she'd been toward him and Sweetmint, Guise found it difficult to dislike her the way he used to.  She was still annoying, to be sure, but she had at least become more tolerable.

But he was surprised to see Sweetmint suddenly hitting it off so well with her.  Pretty much all of the past interactions Guise had witnessed between the two of them have been largely negative.  Even if Sweetmint felt she owed Tapioca an apology, he figured she would have seen it as more of an obligation than genuinely caring about her feelings.  Yet here they were, having a friendly and productive conversation as though the two had been friends for years.  Then again, there was a particular exterior force that was the cause of most of the tension between the two mares, but now that Tapioca was working for Sweetmint as opposed to with, that wasn't really an issue anymore.

It was then that the entrance bell jingled again, interrupting the conversation between the two mares.  And the person who had just walked in was one of the last people they would have expected or wanted to see: Frosted Chips.  The young stallion casually walked in with a pair of saddlebags on his back as though he were heading in for another day at work, even though it was the evening now.

Not surprisingly, his sight immediately locked onto Tapioca, his eyes widening upon seeing her.  He was no doubt relieved to see the real Tapioca again and seemed to instantly recognize that it wasn't her doppelganger.  However, what appeared to catch him off guard was the fact that she was staring right back at him.  Tapioca gazed at Chips with some slight uncertainty, but Guise could have sworn he saw a slight blush on her face.  Chips's blush, however, was entirely apparent.  Based on what Tapioca had told him, Guise was pretty sure this was the first time the two of them had ever actually made eye contact with one another, and Chips's brain didn't seem to know how to process that.

In contrast, Sweetmint gave the greasy stallion a scornful glower the moment he walked in.  "The hell are you doing here?" she growled.

Chips managed to jerk his eyes away from Tapioca when Sweetmint addressed him.  He didn't appear to be bothered by her vindictive tone—or, more likely, was too inept to recognize it—and used his deep blue magic to remove a sheet of paper from his bags, passing it silently to Sweetmint.

The green mare raised an eyebrow in suspicion, clearly debating in her head whether or not to humor him.  But curiosity took hold and she snatched the paper out of the air, looking it over.  Sweetmint looked quite vexed by what she was reading, turning her eyes back on Chips.  "A résumé?  You want me to give you a job?"

Chips simply nodded.

Sweetmint eyed him up for a moment before chuckling darkly.  "You're kidding, right?  What in Equestria makes you think I would hire you after what you put me through?"

Chips tilted his head slightly.

"Don't act dumb!" Sweetmint snapped, prodding a hoof firmly against the stallion's barrel and prompting him to take a startled step back.  "I know what you've been doing this whole time!  You've been feeding Rocky praise for Tapioca and talking shit about me for the past three years, and he's just been blindly going along with it!  You're the reason I've been miserable here this entire time!"

Chips shrunk back frightfully with a nervous gulp.

Unexpectedly, Tapioca stepped forward to interject.  "Minty, don't you think you're being a little harsh?"

"That's easy for you to say.  No offense, but the only reason you got treated so well when you worked for Rocky is because this mute jackass has a thing for you."

Tapioca briefly glanced at Chips, then back to Sweetmint.  "M-Maybe, but... what if he just didn't realize how the things he said would affect you?  If he was only thinking about me, wouldn't that be possible?"

"Don't try and justify his actions.  He's an asshole, plain and simple, just like his brother."

Guise watched as Tapioca's ears drooped a little.  She seemed pretty insistent that Chips wasn't as bad as they thought he was, and Guise was starting to think there was some truth to that.  Chips didn't exactly seem like the brightest kid when it came to anything that wasn't Tapioca, so her theory sounded plausible.  The real puzzler was why she was even going to bat for the guy in the first place.  Tapioca seemed pretty sympathetic toward Sweetmint's plight after Guise explained everything to her, so he'd have thought she would side with her on this.

Tapioca stared pleadingly at Chips, the eye contact and close proximity making Chips's face look like he was filled with strawberry jam.  "You didn't... say those things about her on purpose, right?"

Chips just stared into Tapioca's eyes.  It was hard to tell if he could even hear what she was saying with how flabbergasted he looked.

"You were just saying that stuff for my sake, right?  So just apologize to her, okay?  Please, Chippy?"

There was a long pause as Chips and Tapioca stared into each other's eyes.  The stallion looked like he might faint at any moment from how much blood was flowing to his head.  But Chips eventually managed to tear his eyes away from her to look at Sweetmint again.

"Sorry..."

Sweetmint's incensed scowl vanished for a moment, clearly just as shocked to hear him speak as Guise once was.  However, she composed herself quickly and scoffed at him, though Guise could see her ire had dissipated somewhat.  "An apology doesn't automatically make things better."

"You apologized to me and I accepted it," Tapioca argued empathetically.  "Can't you just give him another chance like you did for me?"

Sweetmint let out a long breath through her nostrils and ran a hoof through her mane.  She stared at Chips, her expression conflicted.  "I suppose when it comes down to it, it's more so Rocky's fault for not fact-checking.  He was really the royal douche here in the end.  I saw that firsthoof yesterday.  But here's the thing: even if I wanted to hire you, we don't exactly need a full crew of people to run this place, and I don't know if we could afford to pay that many staff members.  To be blunt, we probably don't even need Tapioca, but I owed her an apology.  I don't owe you anything.  Besides, couldn't you just get a job when your brother opens his new place?"

Chips glanced toward Tapioca briefly.

The green unicorn took notice of that and groaned.  "Right, of course...  Anyway, sorry, but I can't give you a job.  But I guess the least I can do is turn the other cheek and not outright ban you from showing your face here.  If you wanna visit and have some ice cream, or say hi to Tapioca, that's fine."

That alone seemed to put at least a small grin on Chips's face, and even seemed to please Tapioca.

"Not gonna lie, though," Sweetmint continued, "seeing you is still bringing my blood to a simmer.  So for both our sake, I think I'm gonna head to my office and get some paperwork done.  Keep on eye on the place for me, would ya, hun?"

"You got it," said Guise as Sweetmint left.

Tapioca grinned at Chips.  "See?  She might be prickly, but she's a real softy underneath, just like Crimsy."

Chips didn't smile back.  Instead, he just stared at her with a look of intense disbelief.  Guise presumed that he was still trying to figure out whether or not he was dreaming.

The mare tilted her head in slight concern.  "You okay, Chippy?  Your face looks like a bottle of ketchup.  Are you sick?"

It took a moment for the kid to make a decision, but it seemed like he was choosing to indulge in this potential dream world, as he shook his head finally to answer the question.

"Don't be all protective like he's just a harmless puppy, Tapioca," Guise interjected, giving Chips a glower not unlike Sweetmint had.  "Whether it was on purpose or not, he's essentially been the primary reason why Sweetmint's been teetering on the edge since she moved to Canterlot.  She was just lucky I showed up to help keep her shit together."

"But he apologized and Minty accepted.  Isn't that enough?"

"Please," Guise scoffed.  "She's tolerating it at best.  She's got more important things to focus on than this loser, that's all."

Tapioca scowled at Guise.  "Stop being mean to him.  You're supposed to be a nice guy, Crimsy."

"I believe I told you that I am not a nice guy.  I've got no obligation to be chummy with him, because we both know what his motivation is, and that's the only reason you're sticking up for him.  Being single-minded is not an excuse for being an asshole," Guise stated, fully aware of the hypocrisy.

"But you don't have to worry about that anymore, right?" Tapioca argued.  "Minty's not hiring him, and everything turned out okay in the end, so it doesn't matter."

Guise let out an aggravated huff through his nostrils.  He was loathe to admit that she had a point.  But at the same time, while Chips was no longer Sweetmint's problem, he was still Guise's problem.  In truth, it might have even been better if Sweetmint had decided to hire him, then Guise could keep tabs on him since he was the only person who knew Tapioca's kidnapper was a changeling.  But with that in mind, he had already discussed with Tapioca how to help keep his lips zipped.  Guise would feel a little more tolerant himself if he could ensure Chips's silence.  It was just a matter of moving the conversation in the right direction.

"You know, you of all people shouldn't be blindly trusting somepony just because they're showing an interest in you.  That's probably how you got kidnapped in the first place if I had to venture a guess," Guise started, shifting the topic.

Tapioca gave Guise an uncomprehending stare.  She was no doubt confused as to why he'd bring that up, but hopefully she'd play along.

"Um..."

The mare turned to Chips, who appeared to want to say something, but suddenly clammed up the moment his eyes met Tapioca's again.  "What's wrong?" she asked.

Chips audibly gulped, his anxiety apparent by the red still flushing his face and the beads of nervous sweat forming on his forehead.

Guise actually found this kind of interesting; despite how enamored Chips was with Tapioca, he had probably never actually said anything to her—or if he had, she never noticed.

But after what could be presumed to be at least three years of silence, Chips finally spoke to his crush.  "Are you okay?" he asked.  His nasally voice was quiet, but suffered a noticeable crack from his lingering pensiveness.

Tapioca tilted her head.  "Huh?  Why?"

Guise rolled his eyes.  "The kidnapping, Tapioca.  You know, that 'harrowing' and 'frightening' experience that you were released from just yesterday."

Her ears perked up, the look on her face signalling that she understood what he was trying to do.  "Oh, right!  Uh, yeah, I'm fine.  Like I told Minty, it wasn't that bad."

"He didn't hurt you, did he?" Chips asked with only about as much courage as Guise would have expected from a wimp like him, and more than he would have exhibited if he knew he was in her kidnapper's presence.

Tapioca waved off his concern with a flick of her hoof and a dismissive smile.  "Nah, I'm good.  He made sure I had food and stuff, and he never laid a hoof on me."

"Did you know he was a changeling?"

Guise and Tapioca both exchanged quick, discreet glances.  Guise was admittedly curious as to how she planned to handle this.  It shouldn't matter either way how she decided to approach this question, so he didn't give her any real signal about how he'd suggest she answer it.

"Uh, yeah, I knew that," Tapioca answered.  "But please don't think he's a bad guy.  He, uh...  He said he's just trying to live peacefully and stuff, but he was really desperate for money and didn't have any other way to get it."

She briefly looked in Guise's direction for approval.  The changeling himself wasn't sure if this was the best response, but the objective here was to convince Chips to not worry about the whole situation too much, so being sympathetic towards her kidnapper might have been the correct call.

"But how can you trust a changeling?" Chips asked.

Tapioca smiled.  "Not all changelings are bad, right?  He didn't have to be nice to me, but he was.  And it sounded like he had a hard life," she said with a sympathetic frown.  "He doesn't want to hurt anypony, he was just in a bad situation and I got caught up in it.  Actually, he only wanted the money to help somepony he cares about because they were both in a tight spot.  He's a little rough around the edges, but he's really just a big sweetheart who cares more than he's willing to admit."

Chips blinked in silence for a few moments.  Guise eyed him up curiously.  Something was going through the kid's head, that much was evident, but it wasn't until Chips slowly shifted his attention to him that Guise realized what it was.  Chips was staring at him incredulously, like he'd just had a sudden and shocking revelation.

Guise felt his heart rate start to climb.  No way...

"It was you," Chips breathed in disbelief.

Tapioca suddenly looked like she was on the verge of panic.  "What?!  N-No no, of course not!  That's silly!  Crimsy's not a changeling, haha!  Isn't that silly, Crimsy?!"

Guise didn't respond.  He and Chips were exchanging intense stares.

"Crimson is the only guy I've ever heard you describe like that, even though he's actually a big jerk.  It is you, isn't it?  You're a changeling.  You're the one who kidnapped her."

"No no no no!" Tapioca continued to argue in hysterics.  "He's not, really!  He's just, uh...  He's just got a lot in common with my kidnapper, that's all!"

"Then why isn't he denying it?"

Tapioca turned to Guise.  His glare was harsh, but like Chips said, he wasn't denying it.  Guise could have easily just told him he was wrong, but he no longer saw the point.  Frosted Chips knew Tapioca better than he knew anything else—if one could earn a master's degree for knowledge of her, he'd have one framed on his wall—so, of course, that meant he knew her interests.  And as much as Guise hated to admit it, she had been interested in him, and Chips knew that.  The kid likely saw him as a rival for Tapioca's affection, and knew exactly how she felt about him.  Tapioca had gotten a little too descriptive and had inadvertently shared a little too much with the wrong person.

"Crimson?" Tapioca addressed him cautiously, clearly feeling uncertain and guilty about this turn of events.

"What are you going to do about it?" Guise challenged, glaring unwaveringly at Chips.

Frosted Chips straightened up with uncharacteristic resolve.  "I'm gonna protect her."

Tapioca blushed lightly at the proclamation.

"There's nothing to protect her from," Guise told him.  "The stuff she was saying about my intentions was true.  I'm just here to live my life.  She just happened to stumble upon my secret, that's all.  I'm not gonna hurt her and she's free to go about her life like normal.  I've got better things to do than keep her on a leash."

"But what if she tells somepony?  What'll you do then?" asked Chips.

"She just told you, and what's happened?  We're having a civil discussion about it.  I could say the same thing I did to her when she found out: I could just kill you to ensure your eternal silence, but that would only create more problems than it would solve.  So let me ask you another question: are you gonna rat me out?"

"Please, don't!" Tapioca pleaded with Chips.  "If you just keep this secret, we can all just get on with our lives like nothing's different.  Nopony has to fight or get upset.  Chippy, please."

Chips hesitated.  Guise could tell he was conflicted, torn between protecting the mare he cared about, or conforming to her request in order to please her.  "But how do you know you can trust him?"

"Because everything he's doing, he's doing for Minty.  If you tattle on him, she'll be hurt by this, too."

"But that's his fault for lying to her," Chips argued.

Guise took a firm step forward.  "Listen, regardless of whether or not you think I'm trustworthy, I've already left my mark.  Actions speak louder than words, kid, and all you have to do is tear your eyes away from Tapioca's ass for two seconds to see the changes I've made.  Sweetmint was stuck in a financial rut—which you were partially responsible for, by the way—but my meddling allowed her to live more comfortably."

"But that was for your benefit, right?" Chips retorted.

Guise sneered.  "Maybe, but in doing so, I even managed to get our landlord out of a bind.  And everything lead to this point.  Mint and Tapioca might have been at odds before, but now they're practically friends."

Tapioca grinned at the thought of it.

"Mint may have gotten fired, but now she owns her own business.  Again, thanks to my encouragement.  Your brother doesn't give a shit that his business went under because he was never invested in it to begin with.  Even your crush has finally noticed that you exist."

Chips turned to Tapioca, who was smiling back at him.

"None of that would have been possible without me.  Everypony involved has benefited from my involvement.  I've done absolutely nothing wrong since I got here."

Chips turned his eyes down in thought, mulling it all over carefully.  His affection for Tapioca was his true driving force, so Guise's hope was that as long as she was okay and in his corner, Chips would be compliant and accepting.  The fact that she was even talking to him was probably the whole reason he was giving this any consideration.

"Can't you just give him a chance?  Pleeease, Chippy?" Tapioca requested once more.  "Like I said, even though he kidnapped me, he took good care of me.  He never hurt me, and we would just kinda talk and keep each other company.  I even helped him with the ransom stuff."

Chips stared into Tapioca's wide, pleading eyes once more.  He then glanced back at Guise for a long moment, then back to Tapioca with a deep sigh through his nostrils.  "Okay."

Tapioca practically hopped with glee.  "Really?!  Oh, thank you, Chippy!  You're the best!"

She suddenly embraced Chips with a grateful hug, causing the stallion's face to flush red like a boiled crustacean once more.  Judging by the lack of further protestations, Guise presumed that a hug from Tapioca was all the reward he needed to know he made the right decision.

"So, you happy now?  Can we just get on with our lives?" said Guise, exasperated by this conversation.

"I-I guess...  A-As long as you don't hurt T-Tapioca," Chips said, though clearly still flustered from having his crush's hooves wrapped around him.

Tapioca finally released Chips, but still skipped happily in place at how things turned out.  "This is great, right?  Now we can all be friends!"

"Let's not go overboard," Guise told her with a grimace.  "He's still a piece of shit if you ask me.  But as long as he keeps quiet, we won't have any problems."

Chips stared at Guise with a somewhat hopeful look.  "Can you convince Sweetmint to hire me?"

The changeling rolled his eyes with a loud groan.  "Fuck off.  You're not pulling that same crap, too.  Mint already told you why you can't work here.  And I'm honestly getting pretty sick of being blackmailed.  Can't people just get jobs on their own without my help, seriously?  And it goes without saying that neither of you are to mention any of this to Mint."

"Why not?" Tapioca questioned.  "You really don't think she'd be okay with it?"

Guise turned his eyes down with a slight grimace.  "I know she wouldn't..."

"How do you know that?"

He glowered at Tapioca defensively.  "That's none of your business.  Besides, she's perfectly happy with the way things are.  Why risk compromising that?  There's no harm in her not knowing I'm a changeling."

Tapioca shifted her hooves, her expression conflicted.  "I guess, but I don't really feel good about keeping secrets now that we're friends."

"'Friends' might be pushing it.  And, admittedly, I don't know how much faith I have left in your ability to keep your trap shut."

"I didn't say anything bad to the guards, I swear!" she insisted.

Guise flicked his hoof dismissively.  "It's not like I have a choice anyway.  Just don't let me down, okay?  Same goes for you, Chips."

Tapioca flashed a reassuring smile, while Chips simply nodded.

It was nice knowing that he had both of their cooperation, even if there was realistically nothing stopping them from outing him.  Guise actually felt a little grateful; mostly to Tapioca.  Maybe it was about time he did something for her in return.  "You still need some cash to make ends meet, Tapioca?"

"Huh?  Uh, not really?  I kinda have a job now."

"We don't know how long it'll be before we're ready to open this place.  I'm just saying, if you need some help, the least I can do is offer some of your dad's money if you need it."

Tapioca's eyes sparkled a little at the offer, and she tapped her chin in interest.  "Hmm, well, if you're offering, I won't say no," she giggled.  "I could use some new makeup.  We left most of mine up on the mountain.  Think you could grab a few hundred sometime?"

"A few hundred?!" Guise balked.  "How is makeup that expensive?!"

"Well, if you want the good brands."

Guise glared adamantly.  "You get one hundred.  Mint and I might still need that money, so the rest comes out of your own pocket."

Tapioca rolled her eyes with a scoff.  "Ugh, fine..."

At that moment, Sweetmint returned from her office, a slightly annoyed look on her face.  "Are you two still here?" she grumbled, staring at Tapioca and Frosted Chips.  "What, you got nothing better to do than loiter around my shop and shoot the shit?  It's hard to get any work done with Tapioca scraping the walls with her yelling.  The hell are you guys even talking about out here?"

"Tapioca's just excited about working here, that's all," Guise told her.  His response may have sounded nonchalant, but internally he was breathing a sigh of relief that Sweetmint hadn't been able to discern the topic of the conversation.  He might have to reduce Tapioca's "allowance" for not being able to control the volume of her voice.

"Well, she can go be excited elsewhere.  You and me got work to do," she instructed Guise.  "Just because I'm the owner doesn't mean you get to coast off of my success."

Guise grimaced back at her.  "Geez, who pissed in your cereal?  You were in a good mood just a few minutes ago."

Sweetmint flicked her hair with a groan.  "Yeah, well, paperwork's not exactly fun, and he kinda spoiled the milk the moment he walked in," she complained, pointing a hoof at Chips.

"Do you want us to leave?" Tapioca inferred.

"You don't work here just yet, so there's really no need for you to be here."

The white mare nodded.  Despite Sweetmint's attitude shift, she continued to smile amicably, no doubt still pleased as punch about all that's happened in the past fifteen minutes.  "'Kay.  Can I come by for a visit tomorrow?  I wanna see all the totally awesome stuff you plan to do with the place."

Sweetmint rolled her eyes, but cut her some slack.  "Yeah, sure.  I could use some company while Crimson's at work, I guess, even if it's you."

Tapioca tilted her head in confusion.  "At work?  But he works here, right?"

"Not yet I don't," Guise corrected her tersely.

Her ears twitched as she realized her mistake and quickly backpedaled.  "Oh, right."  She grinned awkwardly, eliciting a discreet, exasperated groan from Guise.  "Anyway, I'm out.  Later, Minty!  Bye, Crimsy!"

"See ya," Sweetmint waved halfheartedly.

However, just as Tapioca was about to head out the door, Chips jerked back to life and reached out to her.

"Um..."

Tapioca looked back at him curiously.  Sweetmint watched with equal, if not greater, intrigue.

Chips hesitated pensively, his face flushing red once more as though that were its permanent color now.  With an audible, apprehensive, and self-doubting gulp, he spoke to her.  "D-Do you... want t-to... get... d-dinner?"

Sweetmint's jaw practically hit the floor in awe.

Tapioca, however, barely reacted to the question, simply curling her lips in thought.  "Mmm...  Yeah, I'm kinda hungry.  Sure."

Chips's legs looked like they were about to give out on him, and the widest, goofiest grin Guise and Sweetmint had ever seen shakily curved his lips—actually, it may have been the first smile they'd ever seen from him.  Hearing his dream become a reality and having Tapioca agree to a date with him seemed to inspire a newfound confidence within him.  "H-How about we get something at The Gilded Spork?  Th-That's your favorite restaurant, right?"

Tapioca lolled her head back and forth as she contemplated that.  "Hmm...  Nah, I wanna get some Hayburger."

Chips blinked, completely caught off guard.  "H-Hayburger?  B-But you hate Hayburger."

Tapioca giggled at his assumption.  "What're you talking about?  I love Hayburger.  Where'd you get that idea, Chippy?"

Totally bewildered by her assertion, Chips glanced over his shoulder at Guise, the only person he could figure may have been responsible.  The changeling was staring up at the ceiling awkwardly, trying not to look suspicious.

"O-Okay..." Chips agreed.  He was still obviously a little frazzled, but he wasn't going to argue with Tapioca now that he actually had a date with her.  And with that, the two of them went on their way.

Sweetmint just stood there, dumbstruck, for several moments before casting an incredulous look toward Guise.  "Seriously.  The fuck happened while I was gone?"


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


Guise let out a long yawn as he sauntered down the mountain path toward Canterlot Valley.  His hooves were a little sore from the long walk, but he had time to kill while Sweetmint thought he was at work.  Besides, he could use a little bit of exercise for once.  He would be the first to admit that the more laid back lifestyle of ponies was making him a little lazy, though recent events made sure he always had something to do.  But now he was bored out of his skull until Sweetmint was ready to open up shop.  Still, beats slaving over a pile of dirty dishes.

As strange as the thought was, Guise would have been fine with killing time by hanging out with Tapioca—mostly to keep an eye on her and make sure she didn't blab about him to anypony else—but he worried that spending too much time with her might raise suspicions, and he didn't want to run the risk of randomly running into Sweetmint while she was doing errands for the shop.  It wasn't like that was an option anyway.  Tapioca was apparently spending the day with Frosted Chips.  Three plus years of going completely unnoticed by her and now the two of them were already on their second date.  Guise almost felt a little pride in knowing that he was responsible for getting an empty-headed ninny like Tapioca and an awkward weirdo like Chips to hook up.  Almost.

But it was like he'd told Chips the previous day: everypony was happier because of Guise's actions.  It may have been incidental, but it was still a fact.  Tapioca was happier, Chips was happier, Sweetmint was happier...

Yet as Guise wandered down the mountain, he felt like he was the only one without a smile on his face.

He tried tasting more of Sweetmint's love last night, hoping that whatever problem he'd had with it before might have magically fixed itself.  It didn't.  Something was still wrong, and it was becoming increasingly frustrating.  Guise was now even contemplating just giving up on that altogether to avoid further disappointment, even if the taste of it was still delectable.  He felt like if he were to keep doing it and getting no satisfaction from it, it would only prove to make him more aggravated and irritable.

Even so, there was still the hope he could figure out what the missing ingredient was eventually.  Guise would be incredibly infuriated if it turned out that he went to all this trouble for nothing.  It was almost enough to make him want to actually use the power he was getting from it for something, regardless of how Shade and Chamella would react.  But he didn't want to just give up everything he'd worked for and have to start over somewhere else.  He was willing to stick this out a while longer, but he also wanted to put it out of his head for the time being.

That was part of the reason he'd come down to Canterlot Valley: just to give himself some time to try and think about other things.  And he also promised to give Tapioca a hundred bits, so he was on his way to his hidden stash to grab the cash for her.

Guise walked along the monolithic cliff face underneath Equestria's capitol looming overhead, but his destination was farther than that.  Further down the valley and far away from where anypony in Canterlot would reasonably be able to look, Guise stopped at a patch of thick shrubbery growing at the base of the cliff.  He pushed his way through the bushes, grumbling as the twigs clawed and scratched at him.  At least without a disguise he didn't have to be concerned with dirt and leaves getting caught in a fabricated coat, but it still made a slight mess of his spiked mane.

Beyond the bushes was a well concealed cave entrance.  Guise assumed it must have been an animal's den at some point, but he'd yet to encounter any potential inhabitants.  Even if he did, he wasn't afraid of whatever it might be, be it a bear, or even a manticore.  He was pretty confident in his ability to fend it off, or at least use his aerial agility to escape.  He fearlessly tread inside, his changeling eyes allowing him to navigate the dark cavern.  It took a few minutes of walking to get to where he'd stowed the money, but who in their right mind would travel this deep into a potentially dangerous cave?  It seemed like a perfectly safe hiding place.

Guise spotted the mound of dirt and rocks he'd buried his ransom money underneath and started clearing some of it away until his golden horde was revealed.  Anypony who did happen to wander into the cave might just think a young dragon had started a horde here.  He produced a brown sack and started filling it with bits, counting out exactly one hundred.  He'd never actually bothered to count if the whole sum of twelve thousand was there or not, like he'd demanded—who had that kind of time?—but he didn't really care that much at this point.  With the way things were going, he doubted he'd even need the cash.

With Tapioca's money safely secured, Guise began to make his way out of the cave once more.  However, as he was beginning to approach the exit, he stopped cold.  His ears swiveled forward.  He could hear voices.

Guise remained perfectly still for several moments.  There were definitely people outside in the valley.  He couldn't pick out what they were saying, but he could distinguish two different voices.  Carefully, the changeling crept toward the exit, using the shrubs outside as cover as he peered outside.  His heart rate jumped up immediately.

Wandering around the valley some distance away were a pair of stallions clad in golden armor—one a unicorn, the other a pegasus.  They were conversing with each other rather casually as they halfheartedly glanced around at their surroundings.

"You really think he'd still be here?" the pegasus asked his comrade doubtfully.

"Hey, I never said he would be," the unicorn responded.  "Personally, if it was me, I'd've hightailed it out of this whole area after making the exchange."

"Right?  What dumbass would be stupid enough to hang around afterward?"

"The only reason we're down here is because 'Mr. McMuscles' insisted," the unicorn sneered mockingly.  "But I guess he had a point; it would take awhile to lug a cart full of bits outta here, so there's some credence to his assumption, I suppose."

The pegasus groaned.  "Please don't tell me we're gonna have to do a stakeout.  It's Sidearm's birthday, dude.  We were all gonna go out and get shitfaced to celebrate."

The unicorn shrugged, but visibly shared his companion's frustration.  "I sure hope not.  Let's just look around for a little longer and tell 'em we found 'nothing suspicious.'"

Guise ducked back into the cave, an aggravated, yet quiet growl escaping his throat.  This was just what he needed right now; a pair of royal guards snooping around.  He expected they would comb the valley at some point, but their timing couldn't have been worse.  At the very least, they seemed pretty lax about actually doing their jobs properly.  It sounded as though they were just going to halfheartedly search the area and be on their way.  Guise just needed to lay low inside the cave until they gave up and left.

"Hey, check this out."

The voice of the pegasus guard caught Guise by surprise.  He sounded uncomfortably close, his voice echoing through the cave.

Shit...

Guise hurried deeper into the cave, doing his best to tread lightly and avoid his hoofsteps being heard.

"There's a cave here," the pegasus pointed out to his partner.

"Probably an animal den or something."

"Dare you to go inside."

"You 'dare' me?  What are you, twelve?"

"Fine, then I bet you twenty bits you're too much of a wuss to go in there."

"Fuck that.  There might be a bear or something in there.  We came out here to find a kidnapper, not get mauled by wildlife."

"Now that you mention it, it does look like it could make a good hidey hole.  Think our culprit camped out in here?"

There was a short moment of silence, a moment that Guise spent silently hoping they turned around.

The unicorn sighed in resignation.  "Yeah, I guess we should check it out.  But if a bear shows up, I'm bailing on you."

Guise clenched his teeth, his whole body tensing up.  This was bad.  The cave was a straight shot, no alternate routes where he could evade them.  If they trekked all the way to the back where he was, they'd definitely catch him.  It was dark, sure, but the chances of both of them passing on by without bumping into him were slim.  All Guise could really do was try and conceal himself as best he could behind some rocks.

He had little doubt that he was going to be spotted.  Even trying to disguise himself as a random person claiming to just be exploring the area wouldn't work once those two found his stash of bits.  If that was the case anyway, Guise decided it best to at least protect the knowledge that he was a changeling by shapeshifting into the dark blue stallion with the bright orange mane that everypony believed was Tapioca's kidnapper.  All he really had to do was evade the guards and shift to another form unseen to lose them.  He was confident enough that he could manage that, though, unfortunately, his backup cash was essentially forfeit at this point.

That was the plan.  It wasn't much of a plan—more like a bid of desperation—but it was his best option.  He took the form of Tapioca's "kidnapper," and lay in wait.  He heard the metallic echo of the two guards' armor through the cave and getting closer.  Guise's heart was pounding.  As loathsome as this situation was, he had to admit it was at least exciting.  The feeling of his blood pumping vigorously and his adrenaline building; this was a different sensation entirely from the taste of love, and one that he also missed.

Guise heard the sound of a hoof on the floor immediately next to him, and took that as his cue.  He leapt out of hiding, blindsiding the unicorn guard with a violent punch to the side of his head and followed that up by tackling the pegasus to the ground while he was reeling from the surprise attack.  Guise took advantage of the darkness in the cave, making a beeline for the exit while the two guards were disoriented.

"Shit!  Hey, come on!  He's getting away!" the pegasus called to his companion.

A cocksure grin spread across Guise's lips.  That was even easier than he expected.  Those two were going to have to get their bearings and stumble their way out of a dark cave now and he could just make his escape, no problem.  It sucked that he had to leave the money behind, but it was better than being caught.

Guise bolted out the exit and back outside, the bushes at the entrance not slowing him down.  However, the moment he leapt out of the shrubbery, he ran face first into what felt like a brick wall, causing him to fall backward onto his backside.  Guise shook his head and glanced up at the offending object, his cocky expression immediately replaced by one of vexation.

Standing before him was the beefy butler that had accompanied Tapioca's father to the exchange yesterday.  He just stood there, motionless, staring down at Guise with an unreadable expression—or rather, Guise assumed he was staring through his squinted eyes.

The hell is this asshole doing here?

Guise didn't exactly have time to ponder his presence.  The two guards were hot on his heels and he needed to get out of dodge.  So the changeling booked it past Wellington, nimbly slipping by the burly stallion without issue.  But he suddenly felt his momentum stop cold, along with a sharp pain stemming from his tail.  Guise glanced back to find the orange hair of his fake tail firmly gripped between Wellington's teeth.  If the earth pony's eyes had been open enough to see them, Guise presumed he would have witnessed a merciless glower.

With seemingly no effort whatsoever, Guise suddenly found himself being hurled through the air by his tail, slamming him into the cliff side.  Guise groaned as he stood back up, glaring right back at Wellington.  He felt the pain that had just been inflicted upon him begin to subside, a sure sign that his adrenaline was beginning to spike.  Guise knew what that meant, and he bared his teeth with a menacing grin.  His bloodlust wasn't going to let him just leave now that a challenge had presented itself.  If this guy wanted a piece of him, he was going to get it.  All of it.

Just then, the two guards finally caught up.  The unicorn let himself relax when he spotted their target cornered against the wall by Wellington.

"Well, well, guess it's true, then: the culprit does always return to the scene of the crime," he commented with a cocky smirk.

"This isn't actually the scene of the crime, just where they met up to make the trade," the pegasus corrected.

"Who cares?  I just wanna see this dirtbag pay for that sucker punch," the unicorn sneered, rubbing his cheek.

Guise flashed a challenging grin.  "You wanna go?  Sure you do-gooders wanna get violent?  Wouldn't that be brutality?"

The unicorn shrugged.  "I didn't say anything about the two of us.  We'll just leave the physical stuff to 'Mr. McMuscles' here, since he's not a royal guard anymore."

Guise quickly glanced back at Wellington, vexed by the guard's words.  'Anymore'?

Whatever the case may be, Guise didn't really have an escape route anymore thanks to the big guy, not that he was complaining.  He'd been afforded opportunities to tear into people verbally over the past few months, but harsh words weren't going to satiate him.  He didn't doubt his ability to take the butler down; Wraith was more threatening than him, and Wraith had magic and flight on top of his physical strength.  And one upside to choosing a unicorn as his disguise was that he could still use his own magic without revealing himself.  And Wellington couldn't block it.

Guise decided to can the trash talk and just throw out another attack to catch Wellington off guard.  But the moment his horn began to glow green, Wellington smacked him upside the head with a backhoofed slap.  Guise staggered sideways, knocked for a loop by the surprising speed and reaction time of the bulky earth pony.

"Ooh, that looked like it hurt," the pegasus guard chuckled darkly.  "Not talking shit anymore, are you, jackass?"

The changeling's bloodthirsty smile never faltered.  "Heh, you think that pathetic slap impresses me?  I'll show you what power is!"

Guise's horn lit up again.  He might not have fed on Sweetmint's love for very long yet, but a blast at full power would even send this burly stallion reeling.

But, once again, Guise didn't even have a chance to loose the bolt.  Wellington firmly planted his hoof against Guise's cheek with a vicious punch.  He must have blacked out for a second, because Guise didn't remember falling over onto the ground.  His vision was blurry and his ears were ringing.  Guise attempted to stand up, but found his equilibrium had been thrown out of whack and he just toppled over again.

"Did...  Did anypony catch that train?" Guise stammered deliriously, unable to reconstitute his thoughts.

The pegasus guard sauntered over to the collapsed pony, nudging him with a hoof.  Guise just groaned weakly in response.  "All bark and no bite.  Typical."

The unicorn glanced up at Wellington with a satisfied grin.  "Think you can give him a lift, big guy?"

Wellington let out a gruff grunt in affirmation, roughly tossing their disoriented quarry onto his back and started making their way back up the mountain.


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


This was perhaps the closest thing to what Guise would call, "The worst possible scenario."

Beaten down in essentially a single blow was humiliating enough, especially considering he had once held his own against someone as tough as Wraith.  But now he had come full circle from the last two years in the Changeling Kingdom.

Once he had regained his senses, Guise had found himself staring up at a white, marble ceiling and laying upon an uncomfortable cot.  Once again, he had found himself in lockup and sealed off from the world for his crimes.  The only indication of where exactly he was currently was the barred window.  He thought he may have been in the dungeons of Canterlot Castle, but he could see the castle through the window.  He must have been at the local police station.  He wasn't entirely sure how long he'd been there, but the sun was still pretty high in the sky, so he estimated it was around noon when he came to; probably not long enough for anypony to realize he was missing yet and he was still in his disguise, if that was any consolation.

All he could really do at this point was think about the mess he was in.  The guards that had brought him in stopped by to give him some shit about being a cocky asshole, to which Guise responded with a hearty, "Fuck you."  But the past couple of hours he'd spent wracking his brain over how he could get out of this situation, if he even could at all.

Guise breathed an aggravated groan as he rolled over on the cot, turning his back to the bars sealing him in.  There didn't appear to be any other malcontents being held there currently, so at the very least Guise had some peace and quiet to contemplate all this.

But that notion was shattered by a stern grunt, eliciting another groan from Guise.  He rolled over see who wanted to bother him this time.  He thought the grunt sounded familiar, as it turned out to be Wellington, his face as unreadable as ever.

What Guise hadn't expected to see was the pony who was with him: Tapioca.

The changeling quickly rose from his cot, though a slight knitting of Wellington's eyebrows told him to keep his distance, despite the iron bars separating them.  He had to be cautious here.  Assuming Tapioca hadn't blabbed, everypony was under the impression that he was her kidnapper.  He was going to have to watch what he said.

Guise cast a vindictive glower at Tapioca in an effort to keep up appearances.  "What do you want?" he growled.

Tapioca opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated.  She glanced up at Wellington, who quirked an eyebrow slightly at her.  "Um, do you think I can talk to him alone, Uncle Welly?"

Wellington grunted in disapproval.

"I, uh...  He might be scared to talk if you're glaring at him, right?  Pleeease?"

The burly earth pony stared into her wide, puppy dog eyes, and his expression softened slightly.  He gave a somewhat reluctant grunt in response, shooting a warning glare at Guise before taking his leave.

Guise watched until Wellington rounded the corner and left the holding area.  Once he was certain they were now alone, he addressed Tapioca, though still kept his voice down just in case.  "What the hell, Tapioca?  I thought you said he wasn't a royal guard."

"I didn't know he was!" she answered apologetically.  "Daddy never told me that until today."

Guise sat down, running a hoof over his fake, orange mane with a groan.  "Damn it.  I knew it was some kinda trap.  I should've been more forceful when that brute showed up with your dad.  Must've gone with him for reconnaissance or some crap."

"What even happened?"

"I went down to the valley to get your money and got ambushed.  I really must be getting soft.  It was stupid of me to go down there so soon when it was obviously going to be a hot spot, but I just had to be a nice guy, didn't I?"

"Sorry..." Tapioca offered with her head hung low.  "Uh...  I could maybe pay for your bail to get you out."

"You got that kinda money?" he asked doubtfully.

She grinned awkwardly.  "I was kinda hoping I could borrow a bit more?"

Guise grimaced, but he wasn't in any mood to chastise her stupidity.  "That money's a lost cause anyway.  They've probably already recovered it by now, so now my backup plan is down the drain too.  Besides, it'd be more than a little suspicious if my victim posted my bail.  Speaking of which, why are you even here?"

"I was on my date with Chippy when Uncle Welly showed up and told me that they caught my kidnapper.  At first, I was like, 'huh?'  But then I totally realized what that meant.  They wanted me to come here to make sure it was the right guy and maybe get some more information outta you, like who you are and where you live and junk."

"Well, as long as they don't know what I am, I'm gonna need you to go ahead and keep your mouth shut."

"But what are you even gonna do now?  You're in jail, Crimsy.  Minty's gonna wonder where you are."

Guise let out a long, reluctant sigh.  "Alright...  I've been giving this some thought since I was put in here, but I can't think of any reasonable way of getting out of this mess.  But there is one possibility.  It's not something I ever wanted to resort to, but I hedged my bets for a reason."

Tapioca perked her ears up, listening intently.  "What is it?"

"You remember Chamella?"

The mare pursed her lips in thought.  "Um..."

"The changeling girl.  You met her."

"Oh, right, her.  She was the wimpy one you knew growing up, right?"

Guise raised an eyebrow, but almost smiled.  She couldn't remember her from her name, but she remembers her from the stories Guise had shared during her captivity.  "Right.  Anyway, I made a deal with her and the other changeling in Ponyville a few months ago when I left the Changeling Kingdom.  I helped save their little halfling brat, so they agreed to bail me out if I ever got into a rough spot."

"So she's gonna get you out of here?"

Guise grimaced doubtfully.  "I... don't know.  She didn't sound too happy with the way I was going about things last time I talked to her.  She might not be willing to help, but this is the only chance I have."

"But how are you gonna ask her?  You're kinda in jail."

He stared at her for a moment, hesitating to speak what was on his mind.  "That's why I need you."

"Huh?"

"I know I'm not exactly in any position to be asking a favor of you, but you're the only one I can rely on right now."

She gulped nervously.  "I...  I'll do what I can, I guess."

Guise looked Tapioca straight in the eye with utmost seriousness.  "Okay, then listen to me very carefully.  I need you to go down to Ponyville, find Chamella, and ask her to come here so I can talk to her."

"Y-You want me to go get her?" Tapioca stammered.

"Yes.  Even you should be able to handle something as simple as that.  But if it's at all possible—and this is a long shot—can you try and convince her to keep the fact that I'm a changeling secret when she gets here?  I doubt she'll go along with it, but I just want you to try."

"Um..."

"Oh, and one more thing—and I can't stress this enough—if she does agree to help, she's no doubt going to want to get Shade involved.  Do everything in your power to make sure she doesn't.  I don't want him having any involvement in this or the rest of my life if I can help it.  You got all that?"

Tapioca swallowed, her face full of uncertainty.  Still, she answered with a simple, "Mm-hm..."

Guise leaned closer, a pleading look in his eyes.  "Tapioca.  Please, don't fuck this up.  This might be my last chance to get my life here back on track.  Do everything you can to convince Chamella to help me, as long as it doesn't involve Shade.  I'm counting on you."

Tapioca grimaced, fidgeting slightly as she prepared to leave.  She glanced over her shoulder to look at Guise one more time.  Her expression was less than assuring, but he was still putting his full trust in her, and Guise knew she didn't want to let him down.  Now all he had to do was wait and see if she was successful.
> Part 13 - Cooperative
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sweetmint eyed up the inside of her new establishment, visualizing everything she wanted out of it.  She'd already spoken to somepony about getting the sign made for the entrance, and she was really looking forward to seeing what it looked like hanging above the door.  She was told it might take at least a week to put together an intricate design like she'd requested, but she had other stuff she needed to do in the interim anyway.

She had painters lined up to come in tomorrow and give the place a bit of color.  As it stood, the inside of the building was a dull white, with only the red of the booths' cushions to break up the monotony.  Sweetmint only intended to add some light blue accents, though, as that coupled with the white was basically the look she was going for.  Actually, what she really wanted was a mural all along the walls depicting an arctic coastline, with icebergs and auroras, but they didn't exactly have the cash to be spending on such a complex design.  She and Crimson had spent almost everything they had just buying the building, with only enough left over to touch the place up and get ready for the reopening.  That meant that if this business failed, they were going to be up a creek.

Yet even with that possibility looming over her, Sweetmint still had a smile plastered on her face.  She was confident in her ability to run this place successfully.  If Rocky could manage to hold the place together for three years, she should be just fine.

But it wasn't just confidence, it was outright happiness.  She couldn't remember the last time she was this happy, or if she'd ever been this happy.  Sweetmint finally had the ice cream parlor she'd dreamed of owning nearly up and running, and, on top of that, after all of the crappy relationships she'd let herself get suckered into, she finally found "Mr. Right."

Crimson was the guiding light she needed to move her life forward, the spark that finally ignited the flame of passion within her instead of just her rage and frustration.  And the last outburst she'd had was a few weeks ago, when she had her fight with Tapioca.  It was unprecedented for her to go this long without lashing out at somepony, or damaging public property.  She thanked Crimson for that too.  It was hard to believe that so much in her life could change because she decided to sit down with a random stranger at a café.  That was why she felt so sure of herself when she finally told him she loved him.  All of the hesitation and doubt, the fear of opening herself up too soon or to the wrong person having been quelled, all because of him.

Sweetmint lifted her head suddenly, glancing around cautiously as though she were worried that somepony might have been around to observe the goofy grin on her face as she thought about Crimson.  She shook her head, chastising her own childish daydreaming with a quiet chuckle.  She had better stuff to do than reminisce.  Getting together a list of supplies she wanted to order was one of the tasks she had set for herself that morning.  Might be time to get a jump on that.

But that thought would be put on hold for the moment when Sweetmint heard the jingling of the entrance bell, accompanied by a familiar voice.

"Guess who!"

Sweetmint grinned with elation to see none other than her own sister walking inside.  "Daily?!"  Without wasting a moment, she hurried over to give her sister a hug, but also a snide smirk.  "Okay, what gives?  It's only been, like, a month since you were here last.  Got a scoop lined up here or something?"

Daily scoffed with mock insult.  "Come on, Mint, give me a little credit.  You think I need some incentive to come visit my little sis?"

Sweetmint eyed her up skeptically.  There was no denying the slight crookedness of Daily's grin.

"Okay, okay, I've heard rumblings that Princess Cadance and Shining Armor might be having a baby and wanted to see if I could get any info from the princesses.  That what you wanted?"

The green mare waved off what shame her sister might have had, with a lighthearted chuckle.  "Relax.  I'll take any excuse to see my sis.  I'd be more upset if I heard you were in town and didn't stop by to see me."

"Hey, I know I'm not the most considerate person in the world, but I'd never neglect my baby sister," Daily said with a patronizing pat on Sweetmint's cheek, eliciting an indignant glare from her.

"Nine and a half minutes, Daily."

"And don't you forget it."  Daily tread around the shop, glancing around curiously.  "Can't help but notice the place is kinda quiet.  And the sign outside is gone.  What, you helping Rocky with some renovations or something?"

Sweetmint wanted to give her sister a smug grin, but she was too legitimately happy to use all of her snark.  "Nope.  Rocky doesn't own this place anymore."

Daily stared at Sweetmint in disbelief.  "Wait...  You mean you..."

Sweetmint grinned from ear to ear with a nod.

"That's awesome, Mint!  Congrats!  So, what the hell happened that lead to this?"

"Rocky's a fickle douche nozzle and lost interest once his business started going downhill because he fired me for lashing out at Tapioca."

"Ah, well, that's a pretty concise summary.  And I assume that you jumped on the chance to scoop the place up once Rocky put it up for sale."

"Pretty much.  Now, I'd offer you a beer, but..."

"Got any rum raisin?"

Sweetmint laughed quietly.  "I'll see what I can do."  She headed to the backroom briefly to scour the freezers, returning with a tub of the requested flavor and a bowl and spoon.  She scooped out a bowlful and passed it to her sister.

"So, what's the new name?" Daily asked with a mouthful of ice cream.

Sweetmint grinned proudly.  "Frostbite."

Daily pursed her lips in thought.  "Mmm...  Not the most inviting name, is it?"

Sweetmint rolled her eyes.  "Ugh, you sound like Crimson."

Daily smiled coyly at the mention of the name.  "And how are things going with him anyway?  You two, uh... doing alright?"

The younger twin cocked an eyebrow at her sister's odd tone.  "Yeeeah...  Why?"

Daily held up a hoof to diffuse any defensiveness Sweetmint may have put on.  "No, nothing.  It's just that I know your dating history and I just want to make sure things are going well."

"Well, they're just peachy keen, I'll have you know.  Crimson's a great guy.  Better than all the other assholes I've dated."

Daily quirked an cautious and caring eyebrow.  "I don't want to light any fuses here, but I'm pretty sure I've heard you say that before."

"But I mean it this time.  I took my time with this relationship and we're perfectly happy together."  Sweetmint's defensiveness let up to make way for a genuine, heartfelt smile.  "Honestly, I wouldn't be where I am right now without him.  All of this," she said, sweeping her hoof around at her shop, "is because of him.  You've got to admit that that would be a lot of effort for a guy to go through if he didn't love me back."

"Alright, just wanted to make sure.  Trust me, I'm happy for you two.  But, really, I was kinda hoping to see him again too.  Where is he, at work?"

"Yeah, so you'll have to wait a little longer to interrogate him about our personal lives," Sweetmint quipped.

"So what happened to your coworkers?  They get the axe when Rocky shut down?"

"Basically, but Chips is probably going to get a job when his brother opens a new place.  The little turd actually had the audacity to ask me to hire him after he was the reason why my paycheck was dirt."

"What about Tapioca?"

Sweetmint sighed somewhat regretfully.  "I, uh, owed her an apology, so she'll be working here with us when we open.  Oh, and did you hear?  She was kidnapped recently."

Daily blinked.  "Whoa, seriously?  That's crazy.  Is she alright?"

"Yeah, she's fine.  She only got released the other day, but still came by yesterday as if nothing even happened.  I swear, that girl lives in her own world where even being kidnapped is just a leisurely outing for her."

"Hm."

Sweetmint noticed the look of thought on her sister's face all of a sudden.  "What?"

Daily's head jerked up.  "Huh?  Oh, nothing.  Do, uh...  Do they know who it was?"

"Kinda.  They got a description of the guy, but I don't think they've identified him yet.  I think the only thing they've been able to suss out is that he's not from around here."

"Interesting..." Daily pondered quietly.

Her sister's response wasn't quite what Sweetmint was expecting, but she was pretty sure she had another tidbit that might throw her off balance.  "You think that's interesting?  Listen to this: Chips finally had the guts to ask her out on a date."

Daily had much the same reaction to that news as Sweetmint did, her jaw hanging open, though with a slight, surprised smile.  "No way.  That little dweeb finally grew a pair?"

"Yep.  Asked her out yesterday and she said yes.  I think they're out on a date right now."

"Well, color me impressed," Daily remarked as she had another mouthful of ice cream.  "Didn't think he had it in him.  That's almost more newsworthy than a royal baby.  Man, I missed a lot over the past month."

"Maybe that'll convince you to visit more often," Sweetmint said with a snide grin.

"I'll consider it.  Think Tapioca would be willing to share some details about her kidnapping with me?"

Sweetmint grimaced uncertainly.  "Maybe, but she didn't sound like she had much to share.  Like I said, she's been acting like it was no big deal."

Daily smirked knowingly.  "I don't know.  She might be a bit dimwitted, but I get the feeling there's more going on here than meets the eye."

"The hell makes you think that?" Sweetmint questioned with suspicion towards her sister's assertion.

Daily shrugged.  "Call it, 'journalist's intuition.'"

Sweetmint was about to inquire further, but was interrupted by the entrance bell again.  Tapioca's ears must have been burning, because she just so happened to arrive at that moment, accompanied by her new boyfriend.  However, Sweetmint was quick to notice that she hadn't entered with her usual chipper grin and dainty gait.  In fact, there was a look of urgency on her face.

"Speak of the devil..." Daily quipped with a grin.  She smirked coyly at the new couple.  "So, how're the two lovebirds doing?"

The question elicited a slight blush from Chips, and caused Tapioca to hesitate slightly.

"Um, Minty?  I-I need to talk to you about something," Tapioca requested.

"I'm a little busy here.  Can it wait?" replied Sweetmint.

"N-Not really.  It's kinda super important."

"Sounds urgent," Daily interjected nonchalantly.  "You two go ahead.  Don't mind me."

Sweetmint eyed her sister, noting that she wasn't exactly giving them any privacy and was just standing by and listening intently.  With a shake of her head, Sweetmint turned back to Tapioca.  "Alright, whatever.  What's up, Tapioca?  What's so 'super important' that it can't wait?"

"It's Crimson."

That was enough to thoroughly get Sweetmint's attention, a slight tinge of worry coming over her.  "What?  What about him?"

"He's, uh...  He's a little bit, sorta, maybe... in jail..."

Sweetmint's jaw dropped, more flabbergasted than shocked by the information.  "In... jail?  Why would he be in jail?"

"It's a long story.  Um...  Can you just come with me to see him, please?" Tapioca asked.

Sweetmint noticed a distinct look of remorse on her face, though she had no idea why Tapioca would feel remorseful.  But she shook her head, flicking a hoof dismissively.  "Look, I don't know what's going on, but whatever it is, I'm sure you got something mixed up along the way.  Crimson's not in jail, he's at work.  And I'm also at work, so if you could kindly let me get back to it—"

"No!" Tapioca blurted in panic.  "Y-You've gotta come with me!  I'm crazy serious!"

"You're crazy alright," Sweetmint grumbled with growing annoyance.

"Now, hang on Mint," Daily quickly joined in.  "Maybe we should listen to her."

The green mare raised an eyebrow.  She was used to her sister having a more detached demeanor in regards to other people's affairs, but for some reason she was now sounding like she was worried, as though this were somehow her business.  "Why?  This is obviously just something stupid and pointless that Tapioca is misconstruing."

"Come on, I know she's not the brightest bulb, but even she wouldn't mix up something that sounded this serious."

"We could easily debunk that by going over to The Soup Spoon right now and asking to see him," Sweetmint argued.

"He doesn't work there anymore," Tapioca told her.

Sweetmint stared at her, befuddled by the assertion.  "The hell are you talking about?  Of course he does."

"Like I said, it's a long story.  Pleeease, just come with me.  We gotta go now," Tapioca pleaded, Chips agreeing with a silent nod.

"What's the harm?" Daily added.  "Are you really that busy here that you can't indulge her?"

Sweetmint looked between the three other ponies.  Whether it was out of actual urgency or sheer curiosity, she relented and breathed a reluctant sigh.  "Fine, whatever.  But if this turns out to be a false alarm, I'm docking your first paycheck."

Tapioca didn't seem at all deterred by the threat, just trotting in place impatiently before leading them all outside.  "Okay, let's go, hurry!"

Sweetmint briefly turned to her sister.  "Why are you so insistent on humoring her?  You looking to get a laugh out of this?"

Daily gave her a surprisingly concerned look in return.  "I just have a feeling this is more important than you think.  Call it—"

"Can it, I know what you call it.  Let's just get this over with."


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


Tapioca and Chips lead Sweetmint and Daily to the local guard station, just as she said.  However, Sweetmint gave a curious and aggravated lift of her eyebrow when the white mare did not guide them through the front entrance.  Instead, Tapioca quietly and sneakily crept around the building, looking more than a little suspicious with the way she was crouched and frantically glancing around.  There were plenty of people around giving the group of four ponies some odd looks, though considering Tapioca was the only one attempting to be stealthy, they didn't pay them too much mind.  Still, if any officers or guards were to see them creeping around the police station, they'd likely get into some trouble.

Having circumnavigated the building and removing themselves from public view, Sweetmint finally decided to get to the bottom of this.  "Okay, enough of this 'infiltration mission.'  The fuck are we doing out here?"

Tapioca looked up at the back wall of the police station, her eyes shifting between the few barred windows above them.  "One sec.  Crimsy?  You there?" she called out, though kept her voice quiet.

Out of curiosity, Sweetmint waited to see what Tapioca expected to happen.  After a moment, a blue-coated, unicorn stallion poked his head up from behind the bars of one of the windows.

"Tapioca?  The hell are you doing back—"  The stallion stopped cold the moment his eyes landed on Sweetmint, staring back at him, vexed and exasperated.  A look of panic washed over the stallion's face and he ducked back down to conceal himself.  "What the fuck is are you doing?!" he chastised from inside his cell.

Sweetmint sighed, turning to Tapioca with a deeply bemused look.  "Okay, Tapioca, I don't want to believe that you're a complete moron, but even somepony with cataracts could tell that that's not Crimson."

"It is, though!" she insisted.  She shuffled her hooves awkwardly, looking rather guilty.  "See, um...  Crimson's a...  He's a changeling..."

A long groan and some quiet obscenities could be heard from inside the cell.

Sweetmint raised a skeptical eyebrow.  "A changeling?  How do you figure that?"

"He's the one who kidnapped me," Tapioca answered.

A quiet, exhausted breath escaped from Sweetmint's lungs.  "Okay, assuming that your kidnapper was a changeling, you know they can transform into anypony, right?  Including my boyfriend.  They were probably trying to trick you or something."

"No!  It's really him, I swear!  He's been a changeling the whole time!"

Sweetmint briefly glanced at Chips, who nodded to corroborate Tapioca's claim.  "Alright, then why did he kidnap you?" she asked skeptically, humoring her assertion out of sheer curiosity.

"Like I said, it's a long story."

"And I think it's about time you divulged," Sweetmint demanded with increasing frustration.

Tapioca's ears drooped as she started.  "Um, I kinda accidentally found out he was a changeling, and he didn't want me telling anypony so he kidnapped me until he could figure out what to do."

"A lot of good that did me in the long run..." came a defeated grumble from the jail cell.

"He posed as me for a while to work at Rocky's, then we wrote a ransom note to Daddy so he could get some money in case your business didn't work out."

Sweetmint's expression softened slightly.  "What?"

"But he got caught today and he asked for my help to get him out."

"So you're just gonna somehow break him out of prison?"

"No, he wants me to go down to Ponyville and get that changeling girl.  But..."  Tapioca turned away ashamedly.  "But this is mega important and stuff and I'm super nervous I'm gonna mess it up somehow since this is Crimsy's last chance and it'll be all my fault if I screw up.  So I wanted to ask you to help me help Crimsy."

The imprisoned stallion poked his head up to the window once more.  "And by doing that you've already fucked up entirely.  The whole point of this is that she doesn't figure out I'm a changeling, so way to go, Tapioca.  Job well done," he scolded sarcastically.

Sweetmint stared up at the stallion.  Within his frustrated and defeated expression was something familiar.  Despite his dire situation, his were the eyes of somepony who didn't like to sit around when there was an issue that needed resolving.  Even though she thought this pony was a stranger, she knew she'd seen those eyes before.

"Wait...  Then, it's true?" Sweetmint uttered in disbelief.

The stallion sighed in resignation.  "The jig's finally up...  No point in trying to play dumb, I guess."

Tapioca, Daily, and Chips all waited silently, watching Sweetmint for her reaction to the news.  At first, the green mare just continued to stare at who she now knew was Crimson Neon in disguise.  Her brain was struggling to process this information.  She wasn't sure if she was even capable of accepting it as the truth.  A part of her mind was telling her that she needed to simply ignore all of this and pretend it didn't happen, that, as unhealthy as repressing that knowledge was, it was ultimately the safest thing for her to do.

But she couldn't.  She couldn't just ignore it, because there was something else within her that wasn't about to let this go so easily.

"Are you...  Are you fucking kidding me?!"

Tapioca and Chips both flinched at Sweetmint's sudden, enraged outburst, though neither Daily nor Crimson seemed at all surprised.

"I did it again, didn't I!" she bellowed angrily toward her sister.  Daily simply gave her an uncertain shrug.  "I don't fucking believe this.  How many times have I told myself I wasn't going to fall into these assholes' traps anymore?!  Seriously!  I had patience, I didn't let myself get attached too quickly, I made sure not to pour my heart out too much until I knew for sure he was the one.  But he was a fucking changeling the whole time?!"

Crimson just laid his head on the windowsill silently, letting Sweetmint continue her tirade without defending himself.

"Of fucking course this would happen to me, right?!  After all the shitty relationships I've fallen into, I finally find one decent guy and even he's a fucking manipulative, self-serving cunt!"

Daily finally decided to step in, addressing her sister calmly.  "Okay, calm down, Mint.  I'm sure there's more to this than you think."

"How do you know?!" Sweetmint snapped at her sister.  "Don't go to bat for him just because your friends with those two in Ponyville!  Clearly this asshole had other things in mind, evidenced by the fact that he's currently behind fucking bars!"

"I'm just trying to help you look at this with a level head.  You getting too upset to think about this clearly."

"Of course I'm upset!  You of all people should understand why I'm so fucking upset!"

"You're right, I do," Daily responded more firmly.  "Which is exactly why you need to chill out for a sec."

"Why are you taking his side?!  I'm your sister!  You should be mad at him too!"

"Because I told him I'd give him the benefit of the doubt, which is why I'd prefer it if we considered this situation logically and calmly."

Sweetmint blinked, a vein in her temple suddenly throbbing as the meaning of her sister's words hit her.  "You knew about this?!"

"I did," Daily answered simply.  "I figured it out after I stumbled upon a changeling on the outskirts of town and managed to suss out that it was your boyfriend."

Sweetmint's face suddenly flushed red with rage, now directed toward her own flesh and blood.  "And you never told me?!  What kind of sister are you?!  You knew about all of the jackasses I've dated over the years and just sat by and said nothing when you found out my new boyfriend was a damn changeling?!"

"Being a changeling doesn't automatically make him an asshole," Daily argued.

"Maybe not, but lying to me certainly does!"

"He has his reasons."

"Yeah, and I'm sure what he told you was totally the absolute truth, no doubt," Sweetmint snipped sarcastically.  "No, you know what?  Fuck you," she told her, jabbing her sister in the barrel roughly.  She then turned her attention to the stallion quietly watching from his prison cell.  "And fuck you too!  You can rot in there for all I care!"

Without another word, Sweetmint stomped off, kicking a stray stone at the wall of the police station hard enough to chip the pristine marble.

Tapioca turned up to Crimson with a bit of panic in her eyes.  "D-Don't worry, Crimsy!  We'll still get Chamella and get you out so you can—"

"Don't bother," he scolded, though with abject defeat in his quiet voice.  "Everything's ruined now...  Even if she did manage to get me out of here, I'd have to abandon Canterlot and start over somewhere else anyway, so, thanks a lot.  You've really been a big help.  Now just shut up and leave me alone..."

Crimson stepped away from the window, presumably ignoring any more goings-on outside.

Tapioca lowered her head in regret and shame, and Chips placed a hoof on her shoulder to comfort her.

Daily, however, continued to stare in the direction that her sister had left in angrily.  But once things had quieted down, she gestured for Tapioca and Chips to follow her.  "Come on.  I'm not about to let my sister do something she might regret."


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


Daily reemerged from her sister's ice cream shop.  Tapioca and Frosted Chips were waiting outside for any news, but Daily simply shook her head.  "She's not here."

"We gotta keep looking," Tapioca insisted.  She lowered her head, her ears flattening down.  "I feel super bad about all this.  I thought she'd be okay with it and wanna get Crimsy out of jail.  I didn't mean to break them up..."

"Don't beat yourself up yet.  She probably went back to her apartment.  Let's save the self-loathing and guilt for after we talk to her."

Chips gently tugged on Daily's blazer, pointing to direct her attention across the street.  It would seem there was no need to go to Sweetmint's apartment, as the mare was currently walking out of The Soup Spoon.  The three of them hurried over to meet her, noting the lack of raw anger on Sweetmint's face now compared to when they saw her last.

"You okay, Sis?" Daily asked.

Sweetmint didn't look her in the eye.  She just sighed quietly.  "I asked them if I could see Crimson.  They told me he quit around a month ago.  I didn't want to believe it, but I guess that clinches it.  My boyfriend was a changeling."  She looked to her sister with deep apology.  "Sorry for lashing out at you like that Daily."

The older sister waved it off dismissively.  "Don't worry about it.  I know you better than anypony, so I've learned not to take anything you say during your fits of rage personally.  And believe me, I get why you'd be upset.  Maybe I should have told you sooner.  Might've lessened the blow, but then I'd be breaking my promise to Crimson."

Sweetmint couldn't really blame her sister for wanting to give Crimson the benefit of the doubt.  Daily probably saw herself as a sort of "ambassador" between ponies and changelings being the one who wrote the first news articles about them and their lives.  She likely thought it'd be hypocritical to be judgmental toward another changeling.

But she had to wonder if it really would have been better if Daily had told her sooner.  Would she have been more accepting of him and his identity if the lie hadn't lasted as long?  Upon first learning about it just fifteen minutes ago, she was overcome with anger, which was pretty much what she would have expected.  But she also expected to be stewing in that anger for hours—maybe days.  Anytime she usually got that upset, it wasn't uncommon for her to want to break something to quell the raging seas inside her.

But right now, the fury barely ebbed within that storm.  Her anger was present, but subdued.  What she felt now was unlike what she'd felt in any of her past relationships.  She felt betrayed, like a part of her that she treasured was now gone.  Crimson had taken that part of her away, but she couldn't bring herself to be as angry as she expected.  She just felt lost now.

Sweetmint looked into her sister's eyes with an expression of utter dejection and self-pity.  "Is there something wrong with me?  Do I just have a stink around me that attracts these kinds of scumbags?"

Tapioca took a step forward.  "But Crimsy's not—"

Daily held out a hoof to cut her short before addressing her sister.  "Mint, I can't say whether or not it's been poor judgment or just bad luck, but what I do know is that Crimson isn't the same as those other guys."

Sweetmint knit her brow once more, her sister's continued defense of that liar beginning to rekindle the indignant fire within her.  "Yeah, you're right.  Because he's a changeling.  Not to generalize, but they're the most manipulative creatures in Equestria.  Most guys are just selfish jerks.  That douche is essentially a professional con artist out to plunder some hapless mare of her love."

"Just let me lay something out on the table for you."  Daily pointed to the empty ice cream shop across the street.  "Who owns that place?"

Sweetmint rolled her eyes.  "Don't talk down to me like I'm a child, Daily.  If you've got a point to make, just go ahead and make it."

"Didn't you tell me yourself earlier today that the whole reason why you're the current owner of that establishment is because of Crimson?"

There was a moment where Sweetmint's ire simmered down for a moment as she stared across the street at her shop.  However, she quickly devised a counterargument.  "So you're going to tell me that a complete, self-serving asshat wouldn't have done that, is that it?  But what if that was part of his plan to dupe me from the beginning, huh?"

"To paraphrase something you told me earlier: seems like a lot of effort to go through for somepony you don't actually care about," Daily insisted with a shrug.  "Granted, I can't speak for specific individuals' patience and dedication to a goal, but if all he cared about was getting love, there are far easier, more susceptible targets than somepony like you."

Tapioca noticed Daily's eyes shift in her direction briefly.  She cocked her head to the side uncomprehendingly.

"Maybe, but he didn't exactly know much about me when we first met," said Sweetmint.  "My anger issues seemed to catch him off guard."

"And when did he find out about your anger?"

Sweetmint arched an eyebrow at the seemingly inane question.  "Uhh, on our second date.  Why does that matter?"

"Based on what I've seen, your past boyfriends usually booked it once they saw that side of you.  But Crimson got to witness it on your second date, before he'd really gotten to know you too well.  And yet he chose to stick around."

Sweetmint paused for a moment.  "I mean...  He told me that he was no stranger to rage."

Daily lifted her nose slightly.  "I thought you didn't trust him."

"I don't, but..."

Tapioca spoke up again.  "Minty, me and Crimsy talked a lot when I was kidnapped.  He's had a tough life and he's done some bad things, but he just wants to live a quiet, peaceful life.  He tried to act like he didn't care, but I could see he really did.  I could see it in his eyes when he talked about you," she told her with a fond smile.

"That was probably just to get you to sympathize with him," Sweetmint argued.

"But he's done a bunch of good things!  Not just for you, but other people too!  He said he was the one who made your living situation more comfortable."

Sweetmint quirked an eyebrow.  Was she referring to how Mr. Hide eventually decided to allow more than one tenant per apartment?  Was that really Crimson's doing, or was he taking credit for it?  But if he was just taking credit for it, surely he would have mentioned it to her in order to further endear himself to her, right?

"And Crimsy's the reason me and Chippy are together."  Tapioca hugged her new, silent, awkward boyfriend, pressing her cheek against his.  "Right, Chippy?"

Chips simply reacted with a goofy, blissful grin and a deep blush.

"See that?" Daily said, pointing to the happy—if not naïve—couple.  "Talk shit about him as much as you want, there's no denying Crimson's made an impact around here."

Sweetmint looked between the three ponies, their insistence only proving to further aggravate her.  "Am I the only sane one here?  How is it that I'm the one who's spent the most time with him, but you guys are the ones who are willing to trust him?  Even though he kidnapped you," she said, pointing to Tapioca, "and my own sister knew he was deceiving me from the start.  What is this bullshit role reversal?"

Daily sighed remorsefully.  "Look, I'll admit that it's entirely possible that he lied to me about his intentions when I first met him, but the whole reason I've been willing to give him a chance is because I've never seen you so happy before, Mint."

Sweetmint stayed silent, though kept her brow furrowed.

"I don't think anypony's ever made you as happy as Crimson has.  Even if it was for his own benefit, it's hard for me to really be mad at him after everything he's done for my little sister."

Sweetmint let out a huff through her nostrils.  She couldn't deny that her life has been running rather smoothly since Crimson showed up.  And she also had to admit that it was indeed a lot of effort just to make her fall in love with him.  She still felt her blood beginning to boil whenever she thought about the whole situation, but she was starting to feel like she owed him at least something, though it certainly wasn't forgiveness.

"Alright, then let's head down to Ponyville."

The three other ponies stared at her, caught off guard by the sudden declaration.  Tapioca leaned forward hopefully.  "You wanna help him get out now?"

"Pfft, fuck no.  You said Chamella knows him, right?"

Tapioca nodded.  "That's what he told me."

"Then let's ask for her opinion.  See what she thinks," Sweetmint suggested, her tone detached and vindictive.  "And I'm admittedly curious to see how that worm tries to wriggle out of this.  Come on.  Let's catch the next train down."

Sweetmint sauntered off toward the train station.  Tapioca skipped happily behind her, clearly just glad that she was giving Crimson a modicum of a chance.  And Chips, of course, followed closely behind Tapioca.  Daily, however, hesitated momentarily before making to catch up, feeling a touch unsure.

"If my hunch is correct, this might not go well..."


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


Sweetmint sat silently, staring out the window and watching the landscape quickly passing by.  The elevated view of Canterlot Valley had since evened out, the train now travelling on level land as they headed toward their destination.  It had been over three years since Sweetmint had ridden a train, as she had never left Canterlot since she first moved there; as much as she would have liked to make a trip back to Manehattan to visit her family, she hadn't had that kind of money to spend.  Even now may not have been the best time to be blowing dough on train tickets considering she'd just dropped a ton of money buying Rocky's place, but that wasn't exactly the most pressing thing on her mind right now.

The clacking of the metal wheels against the tracks was the only sound present within their train car.  Not even Daily or Tapioca—who were normally pretty chatty—were saying much of anything.  The tension was thick within the train car, and it emanated from the green mare staring out the window with a persistent scowl on her face.

She still couldn't believe this was happening.  Everything had been going so perfectly, then Tapioca had to walk in and burst her bubble.  Sweetmint couldn't even decide if it would have been better if she never found out about this.  Ignorance being bliss was always more Tapioca's thing, but she could barely think straight due to how upset she was.  The feeling of betrayal she felt gradually began to build to a boil.  She'd never admit it, but she was hurting right now, she just managed to hide it well behind her anger.  That anger was the reason she was even going to these lengths.  While she may have been happier not knowing the truth, she wanted nothing more right now than to put an asshole in his place.  Prison was too good for Crimson.  In order to feel truly vindicated, Sweetmint needed to tear into him herself.  If anything, this was an opportunity to rub salt in his wounds.  By her own admission, Crimson was a major contributing factor as to why she was where she was now.  So what better punishment for a manipulative scumbag like him than to have to watch the girl he was duping reap the benefits of his efforts without him?  She wagered that would stick in his craw pretty good.

But he wasn't the only person adding to her frustration right now.  Sweetmint discreetly glanced at the other three ponies sitting with her.  It irked her that these three were so willing to give Crimson another chance after how blatantly he was using her.

Tapioca was fidgeting nervously.  Sweetmint was perhaps least surprised to see her siding with Crimson.  She'd always seemed to have a thing for him, and he'd probably been feeding her all sorts of lies while she was in captivity.  She was clearly suffering from Trotholm syndrome, so Sweetmint didn't exactly take stock in her insistence that he was actually a good guy.  She felt much the same about Frosted Chips; he was just going along with this because it was what Tapioca wanted.

But it was Daily that was really bothering her right now.  The fact that her own sister was willing to side with a guy who had been taking advantage of her was both infuriating and disheartening, and was really the main reason why she was even entertaining the idea of hearing Crimson out.  Sweetmint had always rolled her eyes whenever her sister claimed something to be 'journalist's intuition,' or whatever crap she was calling it, but if there was anypony she trusted more than anypony else, it was Daily, even if she believed that she was way off base this time.

Either way, they'd find out soon enough.  Chamella would confirm or deny what they suspected.  There was a part of her that wanted nothing more than for Chamella to tell them that Crimson was a deceptive charlatan and give Sweetmint a definitive reason to kick his ass.  But she'd be lying if she said there wasn't also a part of her that wanted her sister to be right about Crimson, but her roiling anger kept that part in check to avoid giving herself false hope.  Whatever the case, the moment of truth was fast approaching.  They would have their answer pretty soon.

The sound of the train wheels gradually beginning to screech signaled to the passengers that they were pulling up to their destination.  Sweetmint, Daily, Tapioca, and Chips all got up to prepare to disembark once the train came to a stop.

As the four stepped out onto the train platform and started making their way into town, they took a brief moment to take in their new surroundings.  Ponyville seemed to be a much more humble town than Canterlot, and nowhere was that more evident than the town's homes with their more traditional, wooden construction and thatched roofs as opposed to the fancy, marble buildings of Canterlot.  And while Canterlot was full of stuffy socialites and a population of ninety percent unicorns, Ponyville appeared to have a near equal mix of the three races, and all of them were smiling and gave the four visitors friendly waves.  Sweetmint was starting to wonder if maybe she would have been better off moving here instead of Canterlot.  Probably would have been cheaper at the very least.

However, it was hard to ignore one particular landmark: the giant castle built within a huge, crystal tree.  Sweetmint had heard about Princess Twilight Sparkle's new castle popping up out of nowhere, but seeing it in person as opposed to pictures in a newspaper was something else.  If nothing else, it was certainly the fanciest and most excessive treehouse Sweetmint had ever seen, and looked more than a little out of place in the small town.

But they weren't there to sightsee.  They had a goal in mind and Sweetmint was intent on getting it over with.  "So, you know where Chamella's place is, right?" she asked Daily as they walked through town.

"She doesn't have a place of her own.  She lives with Rarity at Carousel Boutique.  Follow me."

Daily lead them through town to a relatively tall and surprisingly ornate building.  This place looked more like it would be right at home in Canterlot, with its pink and purple color scheme and decorative aesthetic, but Sweetmint had briefly met Rarity, so based on the fashionista's personality and manner of speaking, she might have even been able to deduce this was her place on her own.

Daily walked up to the building and prepared to open the door, but Tapioca reached out to stop her.

"Wait, you're just gonna walk into somepony's house?  Isn't that, like, mega rude?"

"She might live here, but its also her place of business.  It's fine.  Besides, I'm a friend."

Sweetmint raised an eyebrow doubtfully.  "'Friend'?"

Daily lolled her head back and forth.  "Eh, maybe 'acquaintance' is a little more accurate, but we're just splitting hairs here."  She then opened the door and lead them inside.

Their arrival was signaled by the chime of an entrance bell, a familiar sound to three of the four visitors as a sign to the employees that a customer had arrived.  The bell was perhaps more purposeful for this establishment in comparison to Rocky's Road, though, as it was a much larger building and nopony seemed to be present within the foyer at the moment, just the four of them and their reflections in the mirrors on the small, nearby stage.  If Rarity was around, the bell would tip her off that there was a visitor.

And sure enough, a singsong voice called down from the second floor.  "Coming~"  As expected, a white unicorn mare with an immaculately-styled, purple mane came prancing down the stairs with an affable smile.  "How may I—oh."  Her eyes immediately landed on Daily, who gave her a friendly smile in return.  "Miss Scoop.  Well, this is certainly unexpected."  Rarity then glanced to the three other ponies with her, a pleasantly surprised smiled creasing her lips.  "Oh, and it's you three.  Equally unexpected, but certainly not unwelcome.  If I'm not mistaken...  Sweetmint, Tapioca, aaaand..."  She paused as she stared at the one stallion with them.  "Actually, I don't think I ever got your name, Mister..."

Chips remained silent, just blinking as though he'd forgotten his own name.

Tapioca grabbed him affectionately, like a child hugging a puppy.  "This is Chippy."

"Frosted Chips," Daily corrected.  "Don't worry about him, he's a quiet one.  He's just tagging along."

"You know these ponies, Daily?" Rarity inquired.

The journalist nodded with a smile, draping a hoof over Sweetmint's shoulder and pulling her closer, much to the green mare's annoyance.  "Yep.  Mint here is my twin sister."

Rarity's eyes widened in surprised.  "Really?  You never mentioned you had a sister, let alone a twin."

"I try not to get into my own personal stuff when I'm doing my journalism thing."

"Yes, you would much rather get into other people's personal stuff, isn't that right?" Rarity quipped with a knowing, yet somewhat judgmental smirk.

Daily shrugged, not bothered by the snarky response.  "Look at it however you want."

"So, what brings you here?" asked Rarity.  However, before they could answer, her eyes lit up and she looked between Sweetmint and Tapioca.  "Oh!  I think I get it.  You want to make good on my offer from last we met."  She smiled modestly.  "Well, while I'm flattered that you'd want to come straight to the source, there was no need to go out of your way like this.  But, since you're here, you're welcome to peruse for a dress or garment that piques your interest and I'll be sure to give you a nice discount."

Tapioca grinned eagerly and was about to start looking around for a dress that caught her eye.  But Sweetmint held out a hoof to stop her, giving her a terse glare before turning to Rarity.

"Actually, that's not why we're here.  We came to talk to Chamella."

Rarity quirked an eyebrow.  "Chamella?"  The inquisitive look on her face seemed to indicate she wanted to ask why, but was likely holding herself back because she didn't want to pry.  She also seemed a touch disappointed.  "I see.  Well, she's on her lunch break currently, but..."  Rarity analyzed the expression on Sweetmint's face.  "This sounds important.  Let me fetch her."

Rarity trotted through an archway to where the group assumed was the dining room and kitchen.  After a few moments, she returned with her changeling employee following along with her.  Chamella halted in her tracks the moment she locked eyes with Sweetmint.

"Oh, uh...  Hey.  Good to see you again," the changeling greeted, though it was notably halfhearted.  "Rarity said you needed to talk to me?"

Chamella's tone didn't go unnoticed by Sweetmint.  A near indiscernible sigh had escaped the changeling's lungs, but Sweetmint caught it.  She had phrased that response as a question, but her somewhat frustrated expression and low tone of voice would seem to indicate that she already knew what this was about.  That pretty much confirmed that Chamella did, in fact, know Crimson, and also evidently knew what he was doing this whole time.  That would make yet another person who didn't bother to tell her, but she'd bring that up later.

"Yeah, but can we go somewhere more private?"

Chamella followed Sweetmint's eyes and glanced over her shoulder.  Rarity was peering out through the doorway to the kitchen, but ducked back in once she'd been caught.  Chamella sighed.  "Sure."

The four ponies and one changeling made their way outside once more, walking around to the back of Carousel Boutique, but still some distance away from the building to avoid any prying eyes or curious ears.  Once they had sufficient privacy, Chamella started with a cautious question.

"So...  What's this about?"

It didn't take a detective to figure out that the changeling already knew full well the answer to that, but was simply being careful in case she was off base.

"It's Crimson.  He told us to find you."

Chamella groaned quietly, brushing her long, purple mane out of her face.  "What did he do?" she asked with mild annoyance.

"So you do know him?" Sweetmint asked for clarification.

"Yeah.  Shade and I promised to help him out if he got into a bind.  So what kind of trouble is he in?"

"He's in jail," Daily answered.

Chamella's eyes widened slightly, both with surprise and a little aggravation.  "In jail?  Why?"

"He kidnapped me," Tapioca replied nonchalantly.

The changeling only became even more taken aback by that.  "What?!"  She threw her head back with a loud groan.  "Ugh, this is what I was afraid of.  I really did want to believe he could change, but he's still just the same person he always was."

Sweetmint turned to her sister.  "See?  She confirmed it.  He's a jackass and he's exactly where he belongs."

"But it was an accident!" Tapioca argued defensively.

"How do you 'accidently' kidnap somepony?" Chamella inquired.

"I found out he was a changeling and he panicked so he took me to a cave because he didn't trust me to keep his secret until he could figure out how to fix everything because Minty just lost her job and he needed to help her."

Chamella blinked blankly as Tapioca caught her breath.

"All of that is to say that this was all just unfortunate happenstance," Daily clarified.

"So even you knew about this, Daily?" Chamella asked.

Sweetmint gave her sister a harsh glare.  "Yeah, figure that out.  Even my own sister couldn't be bothered to tell me my boyfriend was a changeling."

"Think about this from his perspective, Mint," Daily told her.  "What would you have done in his position?"

"How should I know?  He's a changeling.  Kidnapping people is kinda what they do."  Sweetmint glanced apologetically at Chamella.  "Uh, no offense."

Chamella shied away behind her mane again.  "Given my history, I don't really have any right to be offended..."

Daily looked her sister in the eye and she pointed to Chamella.  "Yeah, that's right.  Even Chamella here has kidnapped somepony before, and she's not only a respected member of this community, but the person she kidnapped is now one of her best friends.  So can't you give Crimson a little leeway?"

Sweetmint glowered at Daily.  "I'm not giving him jack shit until we head back to Canterlot and hear what he has to say for himself.  He still kidnapped somepony.  I'm sure Chamella understands that he shouldn't just get away with it because she made the same mistake."

Chamella nodded in agreement with that statement.  "I do.  Just because he said that, doesn't mean he's telling the truth.  He kind of has a bad reputation behind him already."

"But he hasn't actually done anything bad!" Tapioca continued.  "He never hurt me or anything.  We just chilled out and talked while we tried to figure things out together."

"What are you talking about?  He used you to extort ransom money from your dad," Sweetmint reminded her.  Her eyes widened slightly as a thought occurred her.  "And I'm only now realizing why he only demanded twelve thousand bits.  For fuck's sake, did I buy Rocky's place with ransom money?!  Am I gonna be implicated?!"

Tapioca waved off her slight panic dismissively.  "Nah, he said that money was just in case your ice cream place didn't go well."

Sweetmint sighed in mild relief, but scoffed.  "Tch.  Shows just how much faith he actually had in me.  Asshole..."

"Okay, can we get back on track here?" Chamella interjected.  "So, what, he expects me and Shade to just bail him out of jail?   Is that why you all came down here to find me?"

"Oh, uh, he said he only wanted you, not Shade," Tapioca corrected.  "Maybe I'm reading things wrong, but from what he's told me, it sounds like he doesn't get along super well with Shade."

"That's understating it," Chamella deadpanned.  "And I can't say I'm surprised.  But I'm not exactly swimming in money.  Even if I wanted to, I can't exactly afford to pay to bail somepony out of jail.  Plus, we told him upfront that we'll only step in if it's a minor screw up.  Hurting people or kidnapping is a step too far if you ask me."

"Can I make a suggestion?" Daily said, raising a hoof.  "Why not just go talk to him, get his side of the story and determine how you feel about it then?  That's what I did when I came to interview you guys."

Chamella sighed, rubbing her neck reluctantly.  "I guess I could.  The authorities would probably be willing to go a little easier on him if he had another changeling vouch for him—which I'm not guaranteeing I will."

"Oh, um..."

Chamella quirked an eyebrow at Tapioca.  "What now?"

"Can you not reveal that he's a changeling?  We're the only ones who know," she said, pointing to herself and the three other ponies.

Chamella stared at her, confused.  "Wait, the guards still think he's a pony?"

Tapioca nodded.

"Well, how am I supposed to help him without revealing he's a changeling?" Chamella posited in annoyance.

Sweetmint shrugged indifferently.  "That's up to you.  Personally, I don't give a shit.  The only reason I came to find you is to see if you can get that bastard to confess to how much of a fucking asshole he is."

"No no!  You gotta help him!" Tapioca insisted.  "I know he's done bad stuff, but he really is a nice guy now.  Minty's just kinda mad right now."

"'Kinda mad' is putting it lightly.  If she does manage to get him out of there, I'll probably just kill him myself."

Chamella turned away, seemingly contemplating the situation carefully.  "We did make a promise...  I guess the least I can do is see what I can manage.  But doing that without revealing his identity is going to be difficult."  She hummed in thought before looking at the four ponies, some hesitance in her face.  "I might have an idea, but it's gonna require asking somepony else for help."

"It's not Shade, is it?" Tapioca asked worriedly.

Chamella shook her head.  "No, but she's definitely somepony we can trust.  Is that okay?"

Sweetmint rolled her eyes with a scoff.  "Whatever."

Chamella walked past the four of them, gesturing for them to follow.  "Alright.  Follow me."


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


Where their changeling guide had taken them wasn't exactly where they had been expecting.  The group of five now stood before the enormous castle that had cropped up overnight some time ago, now the new home of Princess Twilight Sparkle.  Seeing the building up close was a surreal experience.  They imagined this was what it must have felt like to be a child's dolls with their "enchanted castle" play sets.

"We're asking Princess Twilight for help?" Sweetmint inferred.

Chamella nodded.  "We can trust Twilight.  And if anypony can come up with a way to help, it's her.

Tapioca trotted eagerly in place, barely able to contain her excitement.  "Oooh, I've never actually met one of the princesses before.  This is super exciting, right, Minty?"

Sweetmint shrugged.  "Well, I actually have met her before, sooo..."

Both Chamella and Tapioca quirked their eyebrows in surprise.  "You have?"

"Yeah.  She did a signing for her book a while ago.  We actually got pretty engrossed in conversation and she even came over to my place for a short visit."

"What?!  Now I'm omega jealous!" Tapioca whined.  "You're friends with a princess?!"

"I wouldn't go that far.  It was only a short time.  Somepony as important and as busy as her, she probably doesn't even remember me at this point."

"Of course she does," Chamella assured with a smile.  "There's a reason why she's called the princess of friendship now.  And even if she wasn't, she's got an impeccable memory.  There's no way she forgot about you.  If anything, she'll only be more willing to help if you two already know each other."

Even with that extra reassurance, Sweetmint still couldn't manage any more than an indifferent look.  "If you say so."

Chamella knocked firmly on the grand double doors of the castle, the sound resonating rather loudly, even outside.  The group stood around quietly as they waited for something to happen.  Tapioca was first to speak.

"Um...  Is she not home?"

"The castle's... kinda big," Chamella said awkwardly.  "She's still getting used to the place, and it's possible she didn't even hear us."

As she said that, one of the two doors finally swayed open slowly, revealing the lavender alicorn herself.  Twilight gave Chamella a quizzical look.  "Oh, Chamella.  You know you don't have to knock, right?  You can—"  She paused when she noticed the four ponies behind her, particularly Daily and Sweetmint.  Twilight smiled amicably.  "Oh, hey!  Daily, Sweetmint!  Good to see you two.  But, uh, what brings you here?"

Sweetmint was about to open her mouth, but Twilight gasped suddenly, interrupting her.

"Wait, don't tell me you found more fans of Kohl the Sentinel?!" the princess assumed, glancing toward the other two ponies with whom she was unfamiliar.  "Did you come down here to arrange a meetup?!  Oooh, this is exciting!" she exclaimed, clapping her hooves gleefully.  "You should have let me know in advance!  I would have had Spike prepare refreshments!  Daily, I didn't know you were a fan of Kohl too.  You should have said something."

Daily scoffed, having to suppress a mocking snicker.  "As if.  I'm not into that nerdy stuff."

"Oh.  Well, you're still welcome to join us.  I suppose you'll want a tour of my new castle, though I'm still learning the lay of the land myself, admittedly, but my doors are always open for any fellow Kohl fans."

Tapioca tilted her head in puzzlement.  "What's 'Kohl'?"

Twilight blinked, noticing an equal amount of confusion on the faces of both Chamella and the quiet stallion with them.  "Wait, so you're not here for a meetup, then?"

"No, we're not." Sweetmint answered with a hint of apology.  Admittedly, had the circumstances been different, she'd have been more than happy to join the princess to talk about the manga with her, but there were more pertinent matters that had to be dealt with.

"Oh, well, that's a little disappointing, but maybe another time.  So, then, why are you here?"  Twilight took another look at the group outside her door, her eyes eventually falling on Sweetmint.  "And where's Crimson?  He didn't come with you?"

"Actually, he's the reason we came here," Sweetmint answered.

Twilight tilted her head.  "I... don't understand."

Chamella looked Twilight dead in the eye with the utmost seriousness.  "Twilight...  Crimson is Guise."

The alicorn's eyes widened slightly, briefly glancing at Sweetmint.  "What?!  Really?  Wow.  I, uh...  I wasn't expecting that."

"And he's in jail."

Some concern came over Twilight's face.  "Oh.  I see..."

"Guise?"  Sweetmint repeated with only a touch of curiosity.  "That's his real name, huh?"

Tapioca pursed her lips, wracking her brain over something.  "That name sounds familiar.   Maybe he's, like, one of my exes or something."

"I mentioned him briefly last time we met," Chamella told her.  "He's the guy Shade and I grew up with."

Daily inhaled sharply through her teeth.  "Yeeeah, this is what I was afraid of."

"What?  You know something?" Sweetmint asked her sister.

"I had a hunch about who he really was based on how similar his story was to Shade's, but I was kinda hoping I was wrong.  Guise tried to kill Shade on multiple occasions and apparently even aspired to usurp the throne of the Changeling Kingdom at one point."

"He spent the last two years locked up in the dungeons of the hive," added Chamella.

Sweetmint's eye twitched.  She threw her hooves up in outrage, stomping furious circles around Twilight's doorstep.  "Great!  Just fan-fucking-tastic!  So he's not only a liar and a kidnapper, but he was a fugitive before we even met!  I've been dating a criminal the whole time!  Do I know how to pick 'em, or what?!"

"To be fair, we wouldn't have been able to rescue Snowflake without him," Twilight told her.

"So, what, one good deed is enough to forgive kidnapping and attempted murder?  I know you're the princess of friendship or some shit now, but don't you think that's being a little too lenient?"

Twilight held up her hoof authoritatively.  "First of all, that was before I was dubbed the princess of friendship.  Secondly, it wasn't really my decision.  Shade was the one who let him go.  Considering it was him and his family that Guise had slighted, his forgiveness takes precedence over mine."

"And based on what I saw, he seems like he's turned over a new leaf," Daily added.

"And you still believe that?  Even knowing who he is and what he's done?" Sweetmint continued to argue.

"Attempted to do," Twilight corrected.  "He never actually accomplished any of the bad things he sought to do."

"Oh!  Well, I guess that makes it all better, doesn't it?!  He might be a criminal, but at least he's bad at it," Sweetmint hissed with venomous sarcasm.

Tapioca smiled with relief.  "See?  I knew you'd come around, Minty."

Sweetmint simply shot a harsh scowl at the dimwitted unicorn, causing her to recoil slightly.

Chamella glanced between the four ponies that had come to help.  "So, aside from Sweetmint, the rest of you are still willing to help Guise out?"

"Totally!" Tapioca chirped.  "He's gruff on the outside, but a real sweetheart on the inside."

Frosted Chips smiled in agreement.

"And whatever his intentions were when he arrived in Canterlot, there's no denying that he's made my little sis happy," Daily added.

Chamella sighed deeply, rubbing her leg remorsefully.  "Maybe I was a little hard on him...  He said he wasn't doing anything bad, but I wouldn't believe him.  I shouldn't have made assumptions.  I should probably apologize..."

"But you were right," Sweetmint reminded her.  "Even if it was 'an accident,' kidnapping is kidnapping.  And he's still a liar."

"Let me ask you something, Sweetmint," Twilight interjected.  "I can see that you've clearly already convinced yourself that he's a bad person, and that's certainly understandable for somepony in your position.  But if that's the case, why come all the way out here?  You could have just gone about your life now that he's in jail."

"I want to hear what he has to say for himself," Sweetmint growled.

Twilight raised an eyebrow at her assertion.  "I see.  And you need us for that?"

Sweetmint narrowed her eyes in suspicion.  "What are you implying?"

"I mean, you could've just spoken to him earlier when we were at the guard station," Daily interjected.  "But you stomped off in a huff because you were letting your emotions get the better of you."

"I feel like there's more to this than even you realize, Sweetmint," Twilight said sympathetically.  "Which is why I'd like to speak with him myself."

"That's what we wanted to ask," Chamella said.  "And if it turns out his friends here are right about him, I'd like to uphold our end of the deal and bail him out.  It's just, uhh..."

Twilight observed the awkward and embarrassed blush on the changeling's face and sighed with a soft smile.  "Money, right.  I'll see what I can do."

Tapioca clapped her hooves gleefully.  "Yes!  Thank you thank you thank you!  Crimsy's gonna be soooo stoked!"

"Well, if I know the train schedule as well as I think I do, then the next train to Canterlot isn't for another hour and a half," Twilight informed them with a inviting grin.  "You're welcome to come in for some tea while we wait.  Oh, but you were a coffee drinker, if I recall, right?  I'll have Spike fix us all something and you can give me the rest of the details of this little situation."

As opposed to everypony else, Chamella started down the steps instead of into the castle.  "I should probably ask Rarity if I can take the rest of the day off for this."

Tapioca skipped happily inside, just excited to see the inside of a princess's castle.  In contrast, Sweetmint groaned quietly, but still accepted the offer.  Twilight's previous comment stuck in her head.  She wasn't really sure what the princess meant, but for some reason that was all she could think about now.  Regardless, at least she was willing to help.  She expected the presence of both Chamella and Princess Twilight would back Crimson—or rather, Guise—into a corner and get him to spill his true intentions.

So, then, why did she suddenly feel conflicted about this?


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


Having given Princess Twilight all the necessary details, the group of five ponies and one changeling had boarded the next train to Canterlot and made their way to the guard station where Guise was being detained.  While one of the members of their group was a changeling, it was suggested by Twilight once she was told about Guise's requests that it may be for the best if Chamella arrived in disguise to help conceal Guise's identity.  To that end, as far as the guards were concerned, the sixth "pony" in their group was Rarity.

Upon arriving at the guard station, they found a single pegasus guard—in armor, but without his helmet—sitting leisurely at a desk and flipping through a magazine.  Hearing the door open, he glanced up and was immediately caught off guard by the sight of Princess Twilight Sparkle.  He hastily scrambled to put his helmet back on, standing from his desk and at attention to salute the princess.

"Y-Your Highness, good afternoon!" he greeted with a slightly embarrassed crack in his voice.  "I wasn't expecting you.  To what do we owe the honor?"

Twilight sighed with a roll of her eyes, clearly still not used to the royal treatment, even though she had her own castle now.  Even so, she mustered up as much authority as she could before speaking to the guard.  "At ease," she ordered, prompting the guard to relax.  "It's my understanding that you have somepony locked up here for kidnapping.  Is that right?"

The pegasus nodded.  "Yes, but he hasn't been cooperative about giving us his name, so we haven't been able to properly identify him."

Twilight closed her eyes as if thinking about something.  Sweetmint watched closely.  While they had given Twilight enough details about the kidnapping and Guise's situation, the alicorn hadn't yet said exactly what she planned to do to help, or even if she would bail him out or not.

"I know him," Twilight stated.  "May I speak with him?"

The guard quirked an eyebrow in surprise and confusion.  "You do?  Uh, yeah, sure.  That'd be a big help."  He glanced over the princess's shoulder at the other five ponies behind her.

"They'll be coming with me," Twilight told him before the guard even had a chance to question it.  "And we'd like to keep it private, if you don't mind.  He may not be as open with a guard standing by."

"Alright, whatever you say, Princess."  The stallion pointed to the set of doors that lead into the detention area of the station.  "Second cell on the left."

Twilight nodded with a friendly and grateful smile.  "Thank you.  I'll try to sort this out."  She gestured for her five companions to follow her through the doors, shutting them behind them so that the guard wouldn't be privy to their conversation.

The group of ponies trotted down the short corridor of only six holding cells, three on each side.  As the guard said, the only occupied cell was the second on the left, where a dark blue stallion with an orange mane lounged on a small, uncomfortable-looking cot.  The sound of several sets of hoofsteps on the marble floor must've caught his attention because he was already glancing in their direction by the time they came into view.  He took one look at them before his eyes fell on the lavender alicorn, and he let out a long sigh.

"Are you just doing everything you can to make this worse, Tapioca?" he groaned, not even bothering to get up from the cot.  "You've brought pretty much everypony that I didn't want knowing about this."

Tapioca's ears drooped regretfully.  "We didn't bring Shade, though," she said weakly.

Guise shrugged.  "Yeah, I guess you at least did that much.  And not that it's gonna make much difference now, but you did also somehow manage to convince Chamella to come here, so, kudos, I guess."

Chamella blinked, a little surprised.  "How'd you know it was me?"

Guise finally sat up, looking at the form of Rarity standing outside the bars.  "Because I'm not stupid.  That chick you're disguised as—"

"Rarity."

"Like I give a shit.  She has no reason to be here without you, so it's pretty obvious it's you.  Plus, I've always been better at sussing out other changelings than Shade ever has.  How many times has that moron failed to recognize me when I was in disguise?"  Guise turned his attention back to Twilight.  "So, is your presence here supposed to be good for me, or what?"

"Given your situation, Chamella thought it best to ask for my help," the alicorn answered.

Guise arched an eyebrow.  "So you are actually here to help me?"

"I came to more clearly assess your intentions and make a decision based on what I hear."

Guise scoffed, rolling his eyes and leaning back against the wall.  "Tch.  Then it sounds like you already know what your choice is.  I doubt you've heard much good about me today, on top of all the shit you already know about me."

"Actually, I've heard almost entirely good things about you today."

Guise stared at her for a moment, then turned to Sweetmint.  She stared back, the look she cast one of frustration and hurt.  "Okay, from Tapioca and Chips maybe, but her?  Doubtful.  And she's the only one whose opinion matters in this scenario, right?"

"Not necessarily.  As is the case in any court hearing, your guilt or innocence shall be determined by a jury of your peers."  Twilight gestured to the people with her.  "These are your peers, and I've listened to everything they've had to say about you.  That's the reason I came here.  I am willing to help you, but I want to get your side of the story."

"What do their stories have to do with this, and what even is there to determine?  I committed a crime, and now I'm here.  There's no question about what I did."

Twilight shook her head.  "This has nothing to do with Tapioca's kidnapping.  This is about you and the relationships you built with these people.  I'm judging your character, not your actions."

"So, then, you want to know why I came here and what I plan to do, is that it?"

"More or less."

Sweetmint stood by quietly.  While there was a lot she wanted to say to him, she wanted to let the princess do her thing.  But, the thing was, she wasn't exactly sure what it was she expected to hear anymore.  And before Guise began speaking, he briefly turned to her.  There was an almost conflicted look in his eyes.  She didn't know what he planned to say, but whatever it was, she had a feeling it was going to be the truth.

Guise sighed as he started.  "Well, I hate to disappoint you, but my whole reason for coming here was love.  I wanted to find somepony to dupe into loving me so I could feed off that love.  You know, like changelings do."

Chamella stepped forward.  "You told me that you weren't going to actually do anything with that power though, right?"

"I did, and I meant it.  But I didn't care who had to get hurt for me to achieve it.  I had no intention of befriending or helping anypony except the one I chose as my 'love bug.'"

"Yet you ended up helping people anyway," Twilight reminded him.  "Was that because doing so would benefit you, or something else?"

Guise narrowed his eyes.  "If you're talking about Tapioca, that was hardly my doing.  She's just too dense to understand when somepony is trying to shake you off."

Tapioca leaned against the bars of the cell.  "But all the stuff you did was for Minty, right?  You did soooo much stuff for her and made her happy.  Even her sister said Minty's super happy with you around."

"Are you listening?" Guise snapped.  "That was all part of the plan to earn her love.  You need to get it through your head that I'm not a good person.  I'm a selfish piece of shit who doesn't give a flying fuck about anypony but himself.  I don't deserve your sympathy, I don't deserve your forgiveness, I don't deserve your help."

"So, are you saying you'd rather stay in that cell?" Daily asked.  "Sounded like you were pretty desperate to get out if you were willing to rely on Tapioca for help."

"That was before she spilled the beans to Mint."  Guise glanced at Sweetmint, that same conflicted look in his eyes.  "We both would've been a lot happier perpetuating the lie.  But now getting out would only just give me a chance to start over somewhere else."

"And you don't want to do that?" Twilight questioned.

"You said it yourself: you came here to determine whether or not you wanted to help me," Guise said with a resigned sigh.  "I doubt I said much to win you over."

Twilight looked around to the people around her.  They were all staring at her rather expectantly, save for Sweetmint, who was still just staring at Guise.  The princess exchanged silent looks with Chamella, the changeling's expression rather sympathetic.

"Shade and Chamella made a promise to help you out of a bind, so I suppose this is them holding up their end of the bargain," Twilight explained.  "Regardless of the person you claim to be, or the intentions you claim to have, they offered you a second chance.  What you choose to do with it is up to you."

"You're still gonna let him out?" Tapioca asked hopefully.

Twilight nodded.  "Give me a moment."

She briefly left the holding area and returned a few moments later with the guard from before.  The pegasus eyed up Guise through the bars before addressing the princess.

"So?  Get anything out of him, Your Highness?"

"I get the feeling all of this was a big misunderstanding," Twilight told him.  "I'd like him released, please."

The guard threw up an eyebrow in confusion.  "Uh, we... can't just release him."

Twilight blinked.  "Why not?"

"Because he kidnapped somepony," he stated matter-of-factly.  "I don't see how that's a 'misunderstanding.'  And even if it was, he still assaulted an officer and resisted arrest, and we still need to I.D. him.  Can you just give me his name?"

Twilight glanced at Guise, biting her lip.  "Um...  N-No, I can't..."

The guard tilted his head in suspicion.  "I thought you said you knew him."

"I-I do, it's just...  I made a promise.  I can't tell you who he is."

The guard shook his head with a shrug.  "Well, then I can't let him go.  Princess Celestia is supposed to come by to pass judgment on the guy tomorrow, and if we can't get a proper I.D., he'll probably end up in the dungeons."

"B-But, uh..." Twilight stammered as she struggled to come up with something.  "I'm a princess.  Can't I supersede that order?"

The guard had to force back an almost amused smirk.  "Supersede Princess Celestia?  No offense, Your Highness, but I don't think the princess of friendship has that much pull."

Twilight's ears flattened against her head, and she cast an apologetic look at Guise, who actually looked a little disappointed himself, though also not surprised.  "Oh...  I just thought..."  She sighed, turning to her companions.  "I'm sorry, everypony.  I thought there was more I could do.  I guess I just wasted everypony's time."

"Well, it was worth a shot, I guess," Daily said with a shrug.

Chamella cast an apologetic look at Guise as everypony prepared to leave.  "Sorry.  I wanted to keep our promise, I swear.  And for what it's worth, I'm sorry I didn't trust you.  I... hope things work out for you somehow."

Guise didn't say anything.  Instead, his eyes shifted to Sweetmint, who just continued to stare at him with that same look in her eyes.  And as Daily, Chips, Chamella, and Twilight started toward the exit, Sweetmint didn't move.  She hadn't said a word since they had walked in.  A part of her didn't want to just walk away without saying the things that were rattling inside her brain, irritating her like an itch she couldn't scratch.  Even if Guise wasn't going to be able to get out of prison, she still needed to say her piece.

"Wait!"

Everypony, Sweetmint included, turned to Tapioca.  The cream white unicorn was biting her lip rather hard, looking more nervous and unsure than Sweetmint had ever seen her.

"This, uh...  This whole thing isn't what you think," Tapioca claimed, a drop of sweat rolling down her face.

Everypony exchanged confused looks, trying to figure out if any of them knew what she meant.  Sweetmint happened to turn to Guise, expecting this to perhaps be a ploy that he had set her up to, but he looked equally puzzled.

"You mind elaborating, Miss?" the guard requested.

Tapioca cast an apologetic and still uncertain glance toward Guise.  "Uh...  I-It was fake..."

The guard arched an eyebrow.  "What was fake?"

"The kidnapping."

Sweetmint saw Guise's eyes widen suddenly.

Of course, everypony, save for the guard, already knew the kidnapping was fake—or rather, the kidnapping was technically real, but the ransom was planned by the two of them—but admitting to it served only to implicate Tapioca as well.

Twilight approached her with a discreet, warning gaze.  "Tapioca, what are you doing?"

Tapioca ignored the princess, glancing briefly back at Guise before explaining to the guard.  "I-I lost my job and my dad cut me off, so I was scared and didn't know what to do.  So... I found somepony to help me stage a fake kidnapping so I could get some money from Daddy to hold onto until I could find a new job."  She managed a smile, though it looked very forced and nervous.  "See?  I wasn't in danger or anything.  We planned it together.  He, uh...  He wasn't supposed to get caught, though.  So?  Can you, uh, you know... let him go?  Pretty please?"

The guard simply gave her a deadpan stare.  "Well, no.  Staging a kidnapping is also illegal."

"But not as severe an offense as an actual kidnapping," Daily interjected.

"I guess that depends on what her father thinks," the guard surmised.  "But judging by what I've seen, I doubt the dude would want to see his daughter behind bars too."

Tapioca gulped.  "Wait, does that mean I'm being arrested too?"

"What did you think was going to happen when you admit to faking a kidnapping?" Daily asked rhetorically.

She blinked blankly.  "Oops."

"We'll contact your father and see how he wants to handle this," the guard told her.

Twilight sighed and stepped forward.  "That won't be necessary.  Seeing as the offense has changed, the charge has changed also.  There's no reason her father has to know she was involved in criminal activity.  I'll cover the cost of their bail—both of them—including the assault and resisting charge."

"You sure about that, Princess?" the guard questioned, giving her a chance to change her mind.  She responded with a simple nod.  The stallion shrugged as he removed his ring of cell keys from a clip on his armor.  "Alright."  He unlocked Guise's cell, opening the door and stepping aside for him.  "I still don't know who you are, fella, but you are one lucky son of a bitch to be friends with the princess of friendship."

Guise still had a rather bewildered look of disbelief on his face as he stepped out of the cell, so much so that he made no effort to stop Tapioca when she tackled him for an elated hug.  He didn't even say a word and just glanced between all the people who had gone out of their way to help him.

And with that, they all left, like nothing was even out of the ordinary about what just happened.  Twilight teleported a fat bag of bits onto the guard's desk and the group of seven stepped outside.

"Well, mission accomplished," Daily stated with a satisfied smile.  "Whaddaya say we get the hay outta dodge and celebrate with some ice cream?"

"I don't think this is something to be celebrated exactly," said Twilight.  "But let's just be glad it's over with."

"I guess I should be thanking you guys, huh?" Guise said quietly.

"That would be the convention, yes," Daily quipped.

Chamella turned to Guise, her apologetic expression ever present.  "I want to apologize again for not trusting you.  We made a promise and I should have been more willing to let you do things your own way as long as you aren't hurting anypony."

"Look, you have nothing to apologize for," Guise told her with a defeated sigh.  "I mean, I was manipulating somepony for my own benefit.  Just because they aren't getting hurt doesn't make it right, right?"

"I suppose that depends on how the victim feels," Twilight postulated.

Everypony turned to Sweetmint.  Even now, all she did was stare at Guise, her expression difficult to read.

"But Minty went all the way to Ponyville to get help for you," Tapioca added enthusiastically.  "I know she's mad 'n' junk right now, but I just know she's, like, mega happy that everything worked out.  Right, Minty?"

Sweetmint didn't respond.

"You're too naïve for your own good, Tapioca," Guise told her.  "The fact of the matter is that my life here in Canterlot is done with.  If I want to live my life the way I want to live it, I'm gonna have to start over somewhere else."

"I think you should at least stick around long enough to pay Twilight back for bailing you out," Chamella recommended sternly.

Guise sneered at her.  "Did you miss the part where I said I was a piece of shit?  I'm grateful that you guys went out of your way to help an asshole like me, but I feel like it's your fault for trusting such an asshole in the first place."

"So that's it?  You're just gonna bounce?" Daily inferred.

"That's what I said.  Go ahead and publish your article for all I care.  By the time it gets around, I'll be long gone."

"I don't think so."

Everypony turned to Sweetmint.  Finally, after letting everypony say their pieces, she decided she'd been patient enough.  As they said, she was the victim in this scenario, and while she made her thoughts evident earlier that day, she had a lot more she needed to get out, and a lot more she still wanted to hear from him.  There was no way she was going to let him leave without some form of closure.  She would hunt him down to the ends of Equestria if she had to.

"We need to talk.  Just the two of us.  No mediators."

Guise stared at her for a moment, not an iota of surprise on his face.  "And you're gonna make me?"

"You're damn right I am.  You got a problem with that?"

Guise glanced over his shoulder at the others.  Tapioca and Daily looked a little hopeful, obviously wanting him to go with her.  Twilight and Chamella, on the other hoof, didn't seem sure of what he would do, likely half-expecting him to ignore her and just leave.  Frosted Chips...  Well, he probably hadn't really been paying attention for most of this whole thing.

Guise stared Sweetmint straight in the eye with a sigh.  "Alright.  Let's go."

Everypony was pretty surprised to hear him be so compliant given everything he'd said up until this point, but without another word, Sweetmint lead Guise along, leaving the rest of them to wonder exactly where this was going to go and what Sweetmint hoped to get out of it.
> Part 14 - Decisive
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

This was not how things were supposed to go.  Guise had so carefully planned out everything, but now those weeks of preparation were for nothing.  He was starting to understand how Chrysalis felt.  And now, here he was, being lead away in defeat, akin to how it felt to be dragged down to the hive's dungeon after his first failure to accomplish his goals.

It was uncomfortably quiet, understandably so.  It was as if the citizens of Canterlot were watching somepony walk the green mile, even though no eyes were actually on him.  Guise followed along behind Sweetmint, neither of them saying a word.  He couldn't see her face, but he knew her well enough by now to know the way she carried herself when she was mad.  He was about to get chewed out hard.  He wouldn't have been surprised if she was planning on leading him down a back alley to beat the crap out of him, not that he would blame her; were he in her position, he'd probably do much the same.

But that was one of the puzzling things about this.  Sweetmint was mad, sure, but typically when she was mad, she was always vocal about it.  Loud outbursts and physical aggression toward the nearest breakable object were the norm during her fits of rage.  But this wasn't a normal fit of rage.  She was silently seething, and that was concerning.  The entire time the others were trying to get him out of jail, all Sweetmint did was stare.  Not necessarily scowling, but more like she'd been thinking deeply about something, something she was unsure about.  It must have been the reason she wanted to talk to him in private.

Conversely, everypony else had seemed genuinely worried about him.  Of course, Tapioca and Frosted Chips were no surprise really, but considering how Chamella had reacted when last they spoke, he wasn't actually expecting her to help, let alone apologize.  Even Twilight Sparkle showed him some sympathy, though that may have been for Chamella's sake.  Guise would ask them about it, but he wasn't going to be sticking around much longer anyway.  Whatever their individual cases may have been, however, Guise still wasn't expecting so many people to be willing to go to bat for him.

What was also surprising was how it was Tapioca that ultimately saved him.  As dimwitted as she was, she managed to come up with something that ended up actually working, despite the fact that she had implicated herself in the process.  It reminded him of a certain other person who had helped him in the past.  And with that in mind, he figured he might stick around in Canterlot just long enough to thank her properly; he didn't want another debt to go unpaid.

When Guise finally took his eyes off of the back of Sweetmint's head, he noticed where they were going.  The Ivory Horseshoe was just ahead.  Seems he'd get to step inside his Canterlot home one last time before he had to hit the road.  Remaining just as quiet as she'd been the whole time, Sweetmint lead Guise up the stairs and into their apartment—or rather, just her apartment once more.  He felt a little bad; after the effort he went through to make living there easier for her, she was going to have to fend for herself again now.  But she had her own business now.  With her actually in control of her life for once, Guise had a feeling she'd be just fine without him.

Nothing looked different.  Persimmon was curled up and napping in his bed on the far side of the living room, a couple of beer bottles and mugs were sitting on the coffee table, an issue of Kohl the Sentinel had been left open on the couch.  One would think that everything was normal.  But the air inside the apartment was thick with tension, exacerbated by Sweetmint roughly pulling the curtains shut as though she wanted Guise to feel trapped and cornered.  Despite that, she didn't stand anywhere that would block his access to the door, instead walking over to the couch, but not sitting down.

Finally, Sweetmint turned around to face Guise, her expression just as incensed as he'd imagined.  Yet, still, she said nothing.  He waited a few moments, expecting that she was searching for the proper words, perhaps trying to determine which obscenities would best express how she currently felt.  But after a rather long and unnerving silence, Guise decided to take a chance and speak.

"So, you wanted to talk to me, huh?" he said, his voice low and quiet.  "Where exactly do we start?"

"No."

Guise quirked an eyebrow.

"I'm not talking to this guy," she said, sweeping her hoof up and down, indicating Guise's current form.  "And I'm not talking to Crimson Neon.  I want to talk to Guise."

Guise exhaled a breath through his nostrils, rolling his eyes slightly.  Obliging the request, the form of Tapioca's "kidnapper" was swept away by green flames, and he finally revealed his true face to Sweetmint.  "That better?"

She eyed up the changeling standing before her, not so much out of scrutiny, but almost curiosity, as though she were trying to figure something out.

"What?" inquired Guise.

"Something about you looks... familiar," she claimed, squinting her eyes.

Guise rubbed the back of his neck.  "Yeah, I might have shown you this that night we got really drunk.  I guess you were too wasted to remember."

She took another moment to look him over, perhaps trying to piece the alcohol-damaged memory together.  All things considered, Guise expected her to have a bigger reaction.

"So...  This is the real you, huh?"

Guise was on guard.  He didn't like how calm she was being.  "Yeah.  This is me."

Sweetmint knit her brow a little more as she stared him in his blood red eyes.  "I got your whole story from Chamella and Princess Twilight.  You weren't kidding when you called yourself a piece of shit."

Guise looked away, his ears drooping a little.

"Chamella says you claimed you weren't going to do anymore bad shit.  What happened to that?"

"Look, the whole thing with Tapioca—"

"Was an unfortunate coincidence, yeah, she kept saying that."  She stepped forward aggressively, prodding Guise roughly in the chest.  "But I'm not talking about her.  That was an accident, sure, but everything you did with me was deliberate, right?"

Guise let out a breath through his nostrils, a defeated look on his face.  "Yeah, you're right.  I came here with no intention of caring about anypony but myself.  Everything I did for your benefit, was also for my own.  I had to do what I could to make sure you fell in love with me."

"So you could feed on my love."

Guise shrugged in silent affirmation.

"Well, were you satisfied by what you got?"

Guise looked into her judgmental eyes.  He could tell she wasn't just mad.  She was too tough to ever cry, but she was clearly hurt by his actions.  Whether or not anypony would believe him, he never intended to hurt anypony, physically or emotionally.  Had everything gone to plan, Sweetmint, nor anypony else, would have found out he was a changeling, and everypony would have been better off.

"It... wasn't supposed to go this way..." he answered her solemnly.

"Obviously.  But you got what you wanted anyway, right?  You pulled me in, got me to drop my guard, and I said I love you.  Was that not enough for you?"

"Not to get too deep into the specifics of how changelings operate, but we kinda need a consistent supply of love.  The more we get, the stronger we grow."

"So I was just going to be a battery for you, then?"

Guise ran a hoof over his spiky, red mane with a sigh.  "Pretty much."

Sweetmint inhaled deeply.  Guise could tell she was showing a great deal of restraint right now, but the question was: why?  She had every right to deck him for what he did to her, yet she was still trying to just talk this over.

"I just cannot believe I let this happen again," she complained, though Guise couldn't tell if she was saying it to him, or herself.  "But I guess my dating history is what made me such a perfect target for you, huh?"

"Actually, I didn't know about that stuff until I met your sister."

"And what's the deal with that?!" Sweetmint bellowed.  "She claims she was essentially blackmailing you, but is that really all there was to that?  Why not just tell me?!  It would have saved me all this fucking trouble!"

Now that it had been brought up, Guise realized now that Daily had been trustworthy.  She kept her promise like she said she would, though a lot of good it ended up doing in the end.  Still, Daily had been one of the people who had vouched for him, even though her own sister was livid about it.

"Well, whatever.  Nothing for it now.  But to go back to my previous question: are you satisfied?  Was my love good enough to call this a success?"

Guise let out a quiet sigh through his nostrils as he took a moment to think about his response.  "The idea was to live an easy life here, away from the crap I had to deal with in the Changeling Kingdom.  Love was really just a motivator—only one of the things I wanted in order to live the life I wanted to live.  I've never had a house, I was lucky if I could get one meal everyday...  It was a real shit show out there.  Just a few months ago, had I been in a position like this, I'd've probably tried to use the power I got from your love to boot the princesses out of their castle."

"And what about now?"

He shrugged.  "It's been more about the sensation it gives you.  As schmaltzy as it sounds, love actually does invigorate us, but not for the reasons you ponies associate with it.  I just wanted it because I enjoy it, and it might take my mind off of whatever comparatively minute stresses I have to put up with."

"Huh.  Sounds like me with a bottle of beer after a long day at work."

"You're not wrong.  But..."

Sweetmint quirked an eyebrow at how Guise's expression fell suddenly.  "But what?"

"The weird thing was... it wasn't satisfying."

"Why not?"

"That's just it, I don't know.  I tried feeding on your love a couple of times, and I felt my magic get a little more powerful, but it just didn't do anything for me for some reason."

"So that's part of the reason why you're so willing to bail on Canterlot, then?  I'm not good enough for you?" Sweetmint presumed, no doubt a little insulted.

"No, that has nothing to do with it.  I didn't want to abandon all the planning and effort I put in, so I was willing to stick around and try to figure out what the issue was.  I'm leaving because I don't want anypony knowing I'm a changeling.  I've explained this to your sister, I've explained it to Tapioca.  Given my history, the last thing I want is people like Shade and Chamella looking over my shoulder while I'm just trying to live my life.  Is that really so much to ask?"

"And that's a big deal for you?"

"Yes," Guise insisted with an adamant step forward.  "Because I know what I am, and I know how people are going to look at me.  I don't need people looking at me and wondering whether or not I can be trusted because I know I can't be trusted, so why put up with that shit?"

"Even if some people actually do trust you regardless?" Sweetmint reminded him.

Guise simply shrugged.  "If anything, that's just a testament to how untrustworthy I am, if I can even maintain their trust after being found out.  But, whatever.  They can wonder about me all they want, I won't lose sleep over it.  I always knew this was a possibility, so I made sure not to get attached."

"Then why are you still here?"

Guise blinked at the question.  Sweetmint's expression was hard to read.  The question sounded like a dismissive challenge, but there was still a hint of confusion in her eyes.  "What?"

"I may have tried to strongarm you into having this conversation, but there was nothing actually stopping you from just leaving.  What could I have done?  But you agreed to come here and talk about this for some reason.  So something's not adding up here."

Guise went silent for a short time.  Now that she had brought it up, she had a point.  Why had he agreed to come here?  What reason did he have to explain himself to her?  He may have owed at least something to people like Twilight, Daily, Chamella, and even Tapioca.  But all things considered, he didn't really own Sweetmint anything.  In fact, it was the other way around.  He'd gone out of his way to make her life better.  If anything, he should be the one who was upset at her for being so ungrateful.

But that's not how things were playing out.  The only thing Guise was upset about was being found out and the subsequent headaches that followed it.  But even now that that had been pointed out to him, he still wasn't making to leave.

At that time, Persimmon rose from his bed with a sleepy stretch.  He sauntered casually across the living room, brushing up against Sweetmint's leg briefly before doing the same to Guise, clearly unaware of the context of the situation.

Guise watched the cat's show of affection quietly, the feline showing no sign of hesitance in the presence of the changeling's true face.  Without even thinking, Guise gently stroked Persimmon's back, eliciting a contented purr from the tabby.  He surprised even himself with that action, but it did make something clear to him.  He wasn't being entirely truthful—to Sweetmint or himself.

With another quiet sigh, Guise ran a hoof through his mane.  "I guess just because I don't care, doesn't mean I haven't, you know... enjoyed my time here.  I originally chose you as my target because I thought the rest of the people in this city were pompous douchebags.  You seemed like the only person who was at least tolerable."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Sweetmint deadpanned.

"You were worried that I'd leave when I found out about your anger issues, but, if anything, that only reinforced my choice.  We actually had something in common, and that's not exactly something I was expecting from you ponies.  I guess if I regret anything, it's that I might not find somepony who's as...  I don't know, what's the word I'm looking for?  Fun?  Yeah, sure.  Somepony who's as fun to hang out with as you."

Sweetmint didn't respond, but she didn't exactly look upset either.

Guise managed a small grin.  "Never thought I'd meet a non-changeling who could match my biting wit, but trading barbs with you was always an enjoyable way to spend an otherwise quiet day."  His smile vanished, and he stared at Sweetmint with some regret.  "But I guess that's over now, huh?"

Again, she said nothing.

"Not that you care, I suppose, given how shitty a boyfriend I've been.  So you're probably just waiting for me to say my piece and get the fuck out of your hair and your life, so I guess I'd better just fuck off, right?"

Once more, Sweetmint said nothing, although she did break eye contact briefly.

Despite what he said, Guise found himself hesitating.  Something about this didn't feel right.  He couldn't bring himself to leave just yet.  Sweetmint's attitude this whole time was puzzling.  As upset as she was, her rage had yet to truly resurface.  Even though she was being quiet right now, something was telling him that there was something she wanted to say—something maybe even she wasn't certain about.

Whatever the case, there was one more thing Guise wanted to do before he left.

"Hey, you mind if I try something?" he asked.

Sweetmint raised an eyebrow in suspicion.  "Like what?"

Guise cautiously stepped over to her.  He started leaning in closer, but she immediately took a step back, glaring harshly at him.

"The hell are you doing?"

"Look, it's...  I just want to use a spell that lets me see your memories, that's all."

She once again threw up an eyebrow.  "'That's all'?  And how do I know you're not just gonna brainwash me or something?  You guys do that, right?"

"We can only brainwash somepony when they're in love with us, so, you know...  You've got nothing to worry about anymore," he explained, though his voice wasn't without a hint of defeat.

Sweetmint eyed him skeptically, still hesitating.  But that hesitation alone gave Guise an idea of what he might find if she agreed to let him use the spell.

She let out a reluctant huff through her nostrils and glared at him warningly.  "Make it quick.  And don't go digging too deep.  Get me?"

Guise simply nodded, leaning in close as the two had done many times before during their farce of a relationship.  "This is gonna feel a little weird, just a head's up."

Receiving no further objections, Guise set his horn alight with a neon green aura, his eyes soon doing the same.  He gazed into Sweetmint's pale pink eyes, which began to shift to the same green once he'd established the connection, her face contorting slightly in discomfort as every other creature he'd done this with had.

And with that, he was in.  Just like with Tapioca or Bran, images started to coalesce in Guise's mind.  Everything that flashed before his mind's eye were familiar sights to him, almost as though they were his own memories; the only difference was that he was now seeing those memories from Sweetmint's point of view.

The first thing he saw was an image of himself across a table, sipping coffee.  It was their first time meeting at the café across from Rocky's.  After that, the things he saw were like flipping through an old photo album.  Their conversation after he witnessed her first outburst of rage; how happy she was when he brought Persimmon back home; the two of them giving Rocky a verbal beatdown; even some blurry images of the night they both got drunk.  It was a mental recap of their relationship.

The thing was, Guise still wasn't as adept with this spell as Glory had been, so he couldn't freely peruse their memories as well as she could.  That meant that he usually could only see the most prominent things on their mind.  While everything he was seeing were still just quick images in his mind, all of these memories were crystal clear.  Even with how mad Sweetmint was with him right now, she was still thinking about the time they had spent together, recalling their shared memories.  It must have been the final remnants of any love she had left for him.

But something was different this time.  It wasn't just images that appeared in his mind.  For the first time since he'd been practicing this spell, he heard voices.

"But he's done a bunch of good things! Not just for you, but other people too! He said he was the one who made your living situation more comfortable.  And Crimsy's the reason me and Chippy are together."

"I don't think anypony's ever made you as happy as Crimson has. Even if it was for his own benefit, it's hard for me to really be mad at him after everything he's done for my little sister."

"Maybe I was a little hard on him... He said he wasn't doing anything bad, but I wouldn't believe him. I shouldn't have made assumptions. I should probably apologize..."

"Honestly, I wouldn't be where I am right now without him.  All of this... is because of him. You've got to admit that that would be a lot of effort for a guy to go through if he didn't love me back."

Guise heard the voices of Sweetmint and the other people he'd come to know, and the things they'd said about him.  These comments had stuck in Sweetmint's mind so thoroughly that even with his limited prowess with the spell, Guise could still hear them.  And now they stuck with him, echoing in his mind as though the voices were a part of his own conscience.

He'd been so insistent that he was the bad guy—an irredeemable, self-serving narcissist.  Yet even still, these people still defended him.  Guise had done everything he could to convince them that he was an asshole, and everything he did was for his own benefit.  But had that really been for the purposes of convincing them?  They were giving him a chance to continue being manipulative, yet he was choosing not to take it.  Lately, all he'd been doing is tearing himself down, and as detached as he claimed to be, he knew he didn't want to leave.

As the images of Sweetmint's memories continued to flash in his mind, he was starting to understand.  The good things that he'd done had lead him to start believing that he'd gone soft, leaving him a shell of his former self.  His defeatist attitude was an attempt to convince himself that he hadn't changed, that he was still the lone wolf he'd always been.  But was that necessarily because he wanted to go back to the way he was, or did he simply feel... guilty?  Like Sweetmint said, if he didn't care, he could have just left.  But here he was, willingly looking through the memories that he'd helped make here.  Because he had enjoyed it here.  He'd built a life for himself, with good food, a nice home, and a person he could actually relate to more than anypony he'd ever met.  Sure, there were headaches and annoyances and hurdles that he had had to overcome, but even in spite of those things, he admitted that he liked the life he'd made here.  Living here hadn't made him soft...

It made him better.

With some reluctance, Guise released Sweetmint from the spell.  She shook her head to relieve the odd feeling in her brain, before looking back at Guise.

"So, get what you wanted?"

Her voice was a mixture of judgment and wistfulness.  Guise felt much the same way.  And as much as he didn't want to leave, he knew he wasn't welcome here anymore.  It didn't matter what Tapioca and Frosted Chips thought.  It didn't matter what Daily thought.  It didn't matter what Twilight and Chamella thought.  All that mattered was what Sweetmint thought.  And he'd betrayed her.  He'd said it himself: he didn't deserve their forgiveness; he didn't deserve their sympathy; he didn't deserve any of the things that made him happy.

"Yeah..." he uttered with a forlorn sigh.  "Just... wanted to remind myself of the stuff I'm leaving behind.  I probably won't have any trouble finding a new place to live, or a place in this society to squeeze myself into.  But I doubt I'll ever meet another person like you."

Sweetmint said nothing.  She just continued to stare at him, her expression unreadable.

Guise started toward the door.  "Well, guess I'll get out of your hair.  It's been fun, Mint, and I mean that.  Good luck with the shop and all that."

He was prepared to finally leave and abandon everything he'd come to enjoy.  He found it strange when a wistful feeling came over him, some remorse welling inside him as he thought about the fact that this was the last time he'd see her.  But he'd brought this upon himself by lying to her.  As much as he hated to admit it, this was inevitable.  No matter how well he blended in, no matter how deceptive he was, he was bound to slip at some point.  He'd told Shade as much a long time ago, and now he had to suffer the sour taste of his own words.  It made him wonder if this had all really been worth it.

"Hey."

Just as Guise placed his hoof upon the door handle, Sweetmint's voice caused him to pause.  He turned back to her, her expression a little softer than he'd expected.  She turned away briefly, looking conflicted about something, before staring him straight in the eye.

"What is it you really want?"

Guise didn't answer right away, mostly because he wasn't expecting a question like that.  But Guise had already answered it before anyway.  "Like I said: food, shelter, love.  That's all I need."

"I didn't ask you what you 'need.'  I asked what you wanted."

"What I want..."

"Yeah.  Because from the sound of it, you don't have the same drive I remember seeing in you anymore.  Sounds like you're just planning on eking by and not much else."

"Does it matter?" Guise replied quietly.  "You don't have to care anymore."

"It matters because I don't want to think about the idea that the guy who got me off my ass when I was in a slump is just sitting around and settling instead of grabbing life by the balls.  Because getting what you want, and getting what you need—"

"—is the difference between living and surviving..."

Guise let her words sink in.  Those had been words that had stuck with him since he'd known her.  Ever since he'd heard them, he had been determined to live his life by those words.  But now, here he was, fully prepared to live a life of mediocrity because he had failed.  It wasn't even like this was his first failure.  Even when he got barred in the dungeon of the changeling hive, all he could think about was everything he was going to do when he got out.  But for some reason, he felt even more defeated right now.

Because everything he wanted was here.  He wanted to live in Canterlot.  He wanted to live a comfortable life in a half-decent apartment.

He wanted Sweetmint.

"Look, the reason I ask is because I've been thinking about what Daily and the others have been saying," Sweetmint continued.  "And regardless of your intentions, you have done a lot for me, so..."

For the first time that day, Sweetmint's face was completely devoid of any anger or confliction.

"Thanks."

Guise stood quietly for a moment, simply staring at her.  "Don't worry about it."

Her seriousness returned once more.  "But you still haven't answered my question.  What is it that you want?  Is it just love?  Because you claimed just now that it was something you needed."

He did say that.  From the beginning, he saw love as a luxury, though it was one of his main sources of motivation in this whole endeavor.  But after everything that had gone through his mind today, did he really think he'd be satisfied with somepony else's love?  So he had to ask himself: at what point does something you want become something you need?

So now, he had his answer.

"I've spent my whole life surviving.  The only time in my life I've ever felt comfortable has been these last few months.  Because I didn't just have everything I needed.  I had everything I wanted too.  I'm sick of surviving.  I want to live.  Here.  With you."

The apartment went silent as the two of them just stared at each other.  Even Persimmon sat and watched them from his perch atop the kitchen counter, his tail swaying patiently.

Sweetmint closed her eyes momentarily, taking a long, deep breath.  When she looked back at Guise, the seriousness was still there, but he could also see a twinkle of compassion—and perhaps even hope—in her pale pink irises as well.  "Then tell me you love me."

"What?"

"If you can say with one hundred percent honesty that you love me, then maybe... we could give this another shot."

And just like that, Guise had been given an ultimatum.  She was giving him an out.  It was the easiest decision of his life.  All he had to do was lie and tell her that he loved her and he could continue to coast through life worry free.  He was set.

But that was the thing.  After all of this, all of the time he'd spent with her, the ups and downs, the quiet moments and the surprises...  He was being honest when he said he enjoyed her company.  He had been genuine every time somepony like Bran or Rocky had slighted her.  He legitimately wanted her to succeed and couldn't stand to see her dejected and unmotivated.

This whole conversation had helped him realize something: he didn't have to lie.

"I do love you," Guise uttered quietly, just as much to himself as to Sweetmint.

It surprised even him that he had actually said it, and with absolute sincerity this time.  Tapioca had repeatedly insisted that he cared about Sweetmint, and he repeatedly denied it, refusing to believe that he had a compassionate or selfless bone in his body.  It had never occurred to him that she was actually right.  Now that he was facing the notion of never seeing her again, it just hit him all at once.  So this is what it felt like to care about somepony—to love somepony back.  And it felt... surprisingly good.

But just because he knew he was being honest didn't mean that Sweetmint would believe him.  He didn't exactly have a great track record for being truthful in her eyes if her behavior today had been any indication.  Now all he could do was wait for her response.

The tension was practically tangible in the apartment as Guise stared into Sweetmint's eyes, her face still painfully unreadable.  It was unnerving.  She was always one to wear her emotions on her sleeve, but throughout this past half hour or so, she'd been mostly stoic and stone-faced, not wanting to let her guard down around the guy who'd deceived and manipulated her.  Guise desperately wanted some kind of reaction from her—anything to relieve the tension in the room.

Without any warning, Sweetmint suddenly drew back her hoof and delivered a violent right hook to Guise's cheek.  The changeling staggered back, caught off guard by the unexpected blow, but did not retaliate or get upset.  He simply sighed dejectedly, rubbing his cheek.

"Alright, I guess I deserved th—"

His sentence was cut off when Sweetmint suddenly pulled him in, her lips pressing firmly against his.  If the punch had caught him off guard, then the kiss had him completely flabbergasted.  He could only stand there looking dumbfounded as she pulled away again.

Despite the supposed sign of affection and the fact that her hooves remained around his shoulders, she gave him a dead serious glare.  "Don't you ever lie to me again, or I'll kick your ass."

Guise remained quiet for a moment, still struggling to decide whether or not this was real, but all things considered, he wasn't really in a position to question it.  After everything he said and everything he'd realized within the past fifteen minutes, he wasn't about to take this for granted.  "Yeah, you got it," he told her with uncharacteristic softness.

As she pulled away, Guise couldn't help but notice that Sweetmint still wasn't smiling, despite the fact their relationship had supposedly been mended.

"You okay?" he asked.

She ran a hoof through her mane with an exasperated sigh.  "Today's just been kind of an emotional roller coaster, that's all."

"So you actually trust me?"  Guise realized he may have been rocking the boat, but he was also dealing with some strange and unfamiliar emotions himself right now.

"I've just been thinking about everything my sister and the others have been saying.  I was royally pissed off about this, and you know full well how I get when I'm pissed off.  I might need a little more time to let all this sink in."  She looked Guise over curiously.  "After all, this isn't exactly the face I'm used to.  But, yeah, I trust you.  At least until you fuck up again.  You ain't gettin' another chance if that happens."

Finally, a playful smirk creased her lips, easing Guise's mind.  There was a worry that he'd dug himself too deep, and that even though he was being genuine with his feelings, she still wouldn't trust him.  But that smirk on her face was all the evidence he needed to know that things could get back to normal.  "Believe me, I'm not gonna take another risk like that.  So, you gonna apologize for punching me?"

"Fuck no.  You had it coming, you prick," Sweetmint chided, though her smirk persisted.  "Besides, you promised awhile ago that I could take a swing at you to help relieve some stress.  I was just finally taking you up on that offer."

"Fair enough," Guise grumbled, rubbing his sore cheek.  "So where exactly do we go from here?  I'm not exactly an expert on 'real' relationships."

"Can't say I am either, to be honest.  I've never actually patched things up with a boyfriend before," Sweetmint admitted.  She then cast him an authoritative glare.  "But it's not like I wanted to let you get out of playing your part around here."

Guise cocked a puzzled eyebrow.  "The hell's that mean?"

"You were integral to me starting my own business.  Like hell I'm gonna let you bounce and make me run the whole thing by myself," she explained, her playful smirk returning.  "You fancied yourself a problem solver, right?  I'd say that'd make you a pretty good manager."

"Uh, that may have been one of the things I embellished," Guise admitted.

"Well, tough shit.  You reap what you sow."

Guise rubbed his neck awkwardly.  "In that case, this might be a bad time to mention that I... don't know how to read," he told her though clenched teeth.

Sweetmint blinked.  "You serious?"

"I didn't exactly grow up in an educational environment.  But, for the record, I've been slowly teaching myself.  I can manage some simple reading.  Though probably not enough to do paperwork or anything."

"Huh.  You know, that does explain some things."  Sweetmint glanced over her shoulder to the shelf in the living room.  She shot a devious smirk at Guise, earning a cautious look from the changeling.  "Well, then, I guess I'll just have to teach you myself.  And I think I have the perfect teaching material."  She used her magic to hover over an issue of Kohl the Sentinel.  "You're not getting out of this, bud.  You're gonna read Kohl."

Guise didn't really flinch.  In fact, he blushed a little with embarrassment.  "Truth be told, I have been using your manga to help teach myself.  There's a lot of confusing words in there, but I've actually gotten pretty into the action and the violence and stuff.  It's pretty badass."

Sweetmint just stared at him blankly for a moment.  "I've never been more attracted to you than I am right now."


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


This had felt like the longest day in history for most people involved with this drama.  That had especially been the case for Sweetmint and Guise.  But now that that had been put to rest, they could finally get things back to normal, though it was certainly going to take some getting used to for both of them.

But they had lives in progress that needed attending to.  Just because they'd both been through the emotional wringer today didn't mean they were about to lay about for the rest of the day.  Sweetmint was a budding entrepreneur who had a business she needed to focus on, and Guise wanted to help her with that.  To that end, after a brief time at their apartment to discuss their lives going forward, they were headed back to Sweetmint's shop, Guise having donned his Crimson Neon persona once more.

They noticed even before they made it to the door that the place was not empty.  Daily, as well as Tapioca, Frosted Chips, and even Twilight and Chamella—the latter having returned to her changeling form—were present.  Guise and Sweetmint were expecting to have to explain the situation eventually, so perhaps it was fortuitous that they were all still here in one place; it would save them some time.

The sound of the entrance bell as they stepped inside garnered the attention of their company.  Sweetmint and Guise were immediately met by relieved smiles by the group, not taking much to infer that things went well when they spotted the two still together.

Well, save for one person...

Tapioca worriedly trotted over to Sweetmint, glancing repeatedly between her and Guise.  "So?  Did you make up?"

Sweetmint arched an eyebrow at her obliviousness.  "That... should be obvious.  He wouldn't be here if we didn't."

Tapioca grinned gleefully at the news, trotting in place excitedly.  "Oooh!  I knew you would!  Told ya he was a sweetie!"  She tackled Guise with an unwelcome hug, but was shoved away a second later, though his disapproval didn't affect her elated smile.  "I'm ultra happy for you guys, 'specially you, Crimsy."

"His name is Guise, remember?" Chamella reminded her.

Guise rolled his eyes.  "Look, Crimson's fine.  Just because you guys know about me doesn't mean I want everypony knowing I'm a changeling.  We're just gonna operate the way we have from the beginning.  Which means you all still need to keep this a secret.  Got it?"

There was a noticeable hint of disappointment on Tapioca's face.  "Oh.  That's too bad.  Not gonna lie, you looked kinda hot as a changeling, but at least you're still hot like this too."

Guise groaned quietly, and Chips cast Guise a jealous grimace.

Sweetmint gave the other mare a reprimanding glare.  "We've been over this, Tapioca."

The flirtatious mare flicked her hoof dismissively.  "Pfft, chillax, Minty, I know.  It was just a compliment."

Sweetmint just shook her head in response before turning to everypony else.  "Anyway, I'm kinda surprised you guys are still here," she said to Twilight and Chamella in particular.

Twilight giggled with a slight blush.  "Admittedly, I was worried about you, but also just a little curious.  I wanted to make sure you were alright, and I'm glad to see everything worked out."

The green mare smiled amicably in return.  "Well, thanks for your concern.  And for everything else too.  This wouldn't have been possible without you."

"Don't mention it.  Happy to help."

"It goes without saying that I still want you two to keep this information away from Shade," Guise reminded them.

"Sure," Chamella agreed with a smile and a nod.

"But I suppose we should probably be going now," Twilight said.  "You two have a lot to deal with right now, I'd imagine."

Sweetmint grinned gratefully.  "Maybe the polite thing to do would be to say you can stay if you want, but, honestly, you're right.  Still, you're welcome to come visit anytime."

"I'll be sure to do that.  I'm looking forward to trying some of your ice cream when you get this place open," said Twilight eagerly as she headed for the door.

Chamella followed behind her, but stopped as she passed Guise.  She gave him a small smile.  "I'm happy for you, Guise.  Really, I am.  I wish you two the best."

Guise didn't respond.  But just before they stepped outside to leave, he called out to them.  "Hey."

Twilight glanced back.

"I'll pay you back the bail money eventually.  But we might need some time."

Twilight smiled nonchalantly.  "Don't stress over it."

With that, Twilight and Chamella took their leave to return to Ponyville.

Daily placed a hoof around her sister's shoulder, pulling her in for an affectionate embrace.  "Nice to see everything working out for my baby sis.  Bet you two lovebirds are pretty relieved, huh?"

Sweetmint rolled her eyes with a groan.  "Look, don't think we're gonna be getting all mushy on each other because of this.  We're not some fairytale romance, or whatever garbage you might be thinking.  If he started acting all sappy and romantic, that'd be more reason for me to dump him than finding out he's a changeling.  That's not exactly why I fell in love with him."

"And if I ever did start acting like that, then you can just go ahead and kill me," Guise added with a grimace.

Tapioca giggled.  "Maybe, but I bet you're all over each other when you're alone together," she teased, earning an amused snicker from Daily.

"Fuck off," grumbled Sweetmint.

"Oooh!  You know what'd be fun?  You should go on a double date with me and Chippy!"

"Fuck.  Off."

"Alright, leave 'em alone, Tapioca," Daily told her, though was still wearing a mirthful smirk herself.

"Seriously, we just want to go about business as usual," Guise insisted.  "You don't have to act like our relationship is any more special now than it was before."

"You say that, but considering what I've seen my sister put up with in the past, it is special," Daily commented with a fond grin.  "Not because you're a changeling, but simply because you're still here.  I knew there was something special about you when I first met you, even if you insisted otherwise."

"Whatever, just don't treat us any different, okay?" Sweetmint requested.

"Sure, sure.  Anyway, you guys got literal business to attend to, so I'm gonna get out of your hair," said Daily.  She gave her sister a quick hug, which, despite her mild annoyance with the conversation, Sweetmint returned heartily.  "I'll try to visit more often."

"I'd appreciate that," Sweetmint said with a smile.

Daily looked at Guise.  "Take care of her, alright?"

Guise smiled back.  "She can take care of herself, but I'll do what I can to help."

"Well, I'll see you when I see you.  Good luck with...  'Frostbite,'" Daily snickered as she stepped outside.

"Bitch," Sweetmint quipped under her breath, though couldn't keep the grin off her face.  She then turned to her new manager and employee.  "Alright, enough of the relationship talk, we got work to do around here.  Crimson, you can tidy up the back room.  Tapioca, you can sweep up out here and wipe down the tables.  Chips..."  She paused as she stared blankly at the silent stallion.  "Right, you don't work here.  Uh...  Just try not to get in the way.  Or help if you want, I don't give a shit.   Just don't distract Tapioca.  Huh.  That's sounds pretty ass backwards when I say it out loud."


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


"Everything cleaned up?" Sweetmint asked Tapioca as the cream white mare returned from the back room.

Tapioca wiped the sweat from her brow, inadvertently smearing some of her eyeliner in the process.  "Yup.  Freezer's all tidy and the dishes as all washed and dried," she confirmed with an exhausted pant.  "Sheesh, I never realized how much work I actually had to do around here when Rocky owned the place."

"That's because Chips did most of your duties for you," Sweetmint deadpanned.  Despite her employee's complaining, she flashed a smile to Tapioca.  "But you've been keeping up better than I expected, so nice work, Tapioca."

Tapioca smiled back weakly, still a little unaccustomed to receiving praise from Sweetmint.  "Thanks, Minty."  She walked over to the table where her silent boyfriend sat waiting for her to finish cleaning up.

Another day's work was done and everypony was getting ready to head home for the evening.  Guise was busy counting up the day's earnings at the register, but paused, noticing the way Sweetmint glanced around at her shop—something he'd seen her do at the end of almost everyday.

It had been nearly a month since the grand opening of Frostbite.  The place had been decked out mostly how Sweetmint had envisioned it; the intricate sign hung over the entrance outside, a couple of racks of assorted snacks, like potato chips and gummy candy, were set up as niche topping options for customers, and the walls were painted a mixture of white and light blue, but they had plans to eventually turn it into the arctic mural that Sweetmint wanted.

Most of all, though, it was successful.  From pretty much the outset on the day they first opened, business was steady and sustainable, even despite the fact that they were on the cusp of autumn's chillier weather.  Less than a month in and they had already managed to attract "regulars."  Sweetmint had put in a ton of work to make sure they accomplished this, and she was still putting in a ton of work.  Guise was supposed to be Frostbite's manager, but given his limited literacy, she had to do most of the paperwork herself until she could properly teach him to read and write.  All of that meant that she was working her ass off just as much as she did when she worked for Rocky.  The difference, however, was the smile she had on her face the whole time.

Even a month later it still felt so surreal to her.  She'd told Guise as much every now and then, how she expected to wake up one morning and find herself back in her old rut.  It was usually the moment she laid eyes on the sign out front that she realized she wasn't dreaming anymore.  Her pride in her accomplishment, as well as her lingering disbelief, was always the reason she found herself just looking around at what she'd built up.

And Guise always found himself smiling too when he watched her—in part because he knew how his own contributions lead to this, and part because he just liked seeing her happy.  It still bothered him just a little that he'd fallen into the same trap Shade had, often mentally chastising himself for thinking anything remotely sappy, but he just had to not vocalize those thoughts; not because he was ashamed that he loved somepony, but mostly because he knew Sweetmint would give him shit for being a schmaltzy dumbass.

Still, as satisfying as it was to put in a hard day's work on the business they ran together, it was also a relief to turn in for the day after a job well done.  It was nearing closing time, and while there was still time for some last minute visitors, no customers remained currently aside from Frosted Chips, though he could hardly be called a customer; the only ice cream he ever actually bought was for Tapioca, the mare happily digging into a bowl of vanilla ice cream he'd bought for her with crushed up salt and vinegar chips mixed in for added flavor and texture.

Sweetmint eventually pulled herself out of her reverie and turned to Guise behind the till.  "We all good to go?"

"Eager to get home?" he asked, though with a knowing smirk.

"You know damn well I've got a new issue of Kohl waiting for me.  I don't mind closing up a little early for that."

Guise closed up the register, leaving a small sack of the coins on the counter.  "Alright, I got all this tallied anyway."

"Great."  Sweetmint grabbed the bit bag.  "Tapioca, pay day, head's up."

"Hm?"  Tapioca barely had a chance to react when the brown pouch collided with her chest, nearly forcing her to spit up the ice cream in her mouth.  Luckily, she managed to clumsily grab it with her hooves before it fell or spilled its contents.  She swallowed her mouthful and grinned happily.  "Thanks.  Lemme just add my tips..."

Guise and Sweetmint watched as Tapioca placed her own bag of bits on the table—a little bigger than the one they'd given her—and poured the contents into the new sack, stuffing it so full she could barely draw it shut.

"Some things never change," Sweetmint said with a shake of her head.

"Hey, she's bringing in customers," Guise remarked.  "As much of a douche as he was, Rocky had some good ideas.  And now we have her to attract the customers, and your menu to keep 'em coming back."

"I'm not complaining, trust me.  If it works out in my favor, I'm all for it.  You ready to pack it in, then?"

"Yep," Guise answered as he stepped out from behind the counter.

Sweetmint was just about to remove her apron when they once more heard the familiar sound of the entrance bell.  It wasn't uncommon to get last minute customers, but, much to their surprise, these customers were very familiar faces.

"Good evening, darlings~!" sang a white unicorn mare as she pranced inside.

It had been a while since they'd seen Rarity, but less so for her company.  Following behind her was Chamella and Twilight.

Rarity immediately took notice of Sweetmint about to take off her apron and was suddenly overcome with a look of guilt.  "Oh, dear.  Did we do it again?  Goodness, since when did my timing become so impeccably unfortunate."

"No, no, it's okay," Sweetmint assured her as she retied her apron and stepped behind the counter.  "We were actually being a little selfish and about to close up early.  If you guys want something, place an order and have a seat."

"Oh, I'll just have the delectable mint cookie dough," Rarity requested as she took a seat at the table with Tapioca and Chips and quickly started a conversation.

Twilight and Chamella approached the counter, gazing up at the blackboard hanging from the ceiling that displayed the weekly menu.

"Well, there's certainly a lot to choose from," Twilight commented, tapping her chin in contemplation.

"Alright, cut the crap," Guise interrupted as he walked back behind the counter, his tone terse—yet quiet so as not to grab Rarity's attention as Tapioca received her order from Sweetmint—catching the two customers off guard.  "I thought we had an understanding.  I told you guys I didn't want people keeping tabs on me."

Chamella knit her brow at Guise's paranoid assumption.  "For your information, we're in Canterlot on business and decided to drop in here for a friendly visit."

Guise arched an eyebrow with mixed skepticism and guilt.  "Yeah?"

Twilight nodded.  "Princess Cadance is in Canterlot to visit her aunts and was hoping to be fitted for a formal dress she can wear during her pregnancy, so we came here with Rarity to—"

Guise held up his hoof with a groan.  "Yeah, yeah, I get it, I don't care."  He received a firm jab in the shoulder from his girlfriend, responding with a spiteful sneer.

"Don't talk to the princess like that, you jackass," Sweetmint scolded.

"I don't give a shit if she's a princess or not," Guise hissed back.

"You don't have even a modicum of respect for other people, do you?"

"When did I ever give the impression that I did?"

"Maybe when she bailed you out of jail."

"It doesn't count if it's out of obligation."

Twilight looked upon the couple with some concern.  "Everything alright between you two?"

They both turned to the princess, eyebrow's quirked like they found the question absurd.  "Yeah, fine.  Why?" Sweetmint answered nonchalantly.

A relieved smile creased the alicorn's lips.  "Nothing, nevermind.  So, how have things been around here?  Business doing well?"

Sweetmint grinned proudly.  "Booming, thank you.  I mean, we got a ways to go to make back the money we invested in the place, and there's still some stuff I wanna do to improve things, but we're getting their steadily."

"How about you, Guise?" Chamella asked with a cute smile.

"What about me?" he responded with a suspicious glare.

"How's life now that your friends know about you?"

Guise didn't answer right away.  Instead he glanced over Chamella's shoulder to where Rarity was sitting.  The fashionista was too engrossed in her conversation with Tapioca to pay attention to them.  "You didn't say anything to her, did you?"

"No, of course not," Chamella replied, insulted by his insinuation.  "I promised to keep your secret, and I'm going to.  The trust goes both ways here."

Guise rolled his eyes.  "Yeah, yeah."

"Maybe we should change the subject to something more casual," Twilight suggested.  Her eyes then suddenly lit up.  "Oh!  Have you read the new issue of Kohl, Sweetmint?"

The green mare grinned at her choice of topic.  "Not yet.  It's waiting at home for me to show up.  We're gonna have a candlelight dinner with only the finest, gourmet noodles and a vintage bottle of beer I bought at the supermarket," she said with a joking chuckle.

"Sounds romantic.  I see why you were eager to close up early," Twilight giggled.  "All joking aside, it's a great issue.  I don't want to spoil anything, but the dialogue is so witty and charming in this one, even if there isn't much action or plot progression."

"I kinda figured that when the two of them met up at the end of the last issue.  Not that I'm complaining.  I enjoy Kohl and Garek's banter almost as much as their fights."  Sweetmint glanced at her boyfriend, earning a puzzled eyebrow raise from the changeling.  "Hits a little close to home, you know?"

"Are you nerds done yet?" Guise groaned.  "I thought you wanted to finish up."

Twilight smiled apologetically.  "Sorry, I guess we are leaving you and Chamella out of the conversation with this topic."

"Not as much as you think," Sweetmint corrected with a smirk toward Guise.  "Turns out this asshole's been a closet Kohl fan the whole time."

"I will end you," Guise threatened, tempted to shed his disguise so he could gnash his fangs at her.

Twilight beamed at the news.  "Really?!  Then you should absolutely join us when we finally get around to arranging a proper meetup!"

"Fat chance," he scoffed disdainfully.  "I'm only in it for the action, the violence, the blood and gore.  I couldn't give less of a fuck about 'character development,' or 'plot,' or whatever shit you dorks are spouting off about."

"Play the tough guy card all you want, I've seen how into it you get when we read together," Sweetmint teased with a smarmy smirk.

Guise retaliated with a smirk of his own.  "Awfully hypocritical coming from you considering you claim you're 'only' into one manga."

She narrowed her eyes at him.  "The hell's that mean?"

Guise turned to Twilight.  "You know she draws her own manga?"

Twilight's eyes widened.  "Really?"

Sweetmint's eyes, however, shot only the most venomous and iciest of daggers at him.  "What?!"

"Yeah, I found some of her drawings hidden in the bedside table," Guise laughed.

"I told you that was my private drawer, you dick!" she bellowed, giving Guise a swift smack to the back of his head, though the blow did nothing to diminish his mirth.

"That's pretty cool," Twilight complimented.  "Being honest, I've always kinda wanted to try my hoof at making my own manga or comic book.  I've got lots of story concepts, but I don't really have any artistic talent."  She suddenly gasped.  "Oh my gosh!  You could show me when we meet up and maybe we could collaborate!  With my ideas and your art, we—"

"N-No, thanks," Sweetmint interrupted, an embarrassed blush filling her cheeks.  "It's just a hobby, okay?  I don't take it that seriously."

"Oh.  Well, alright.  But I'd still like to see what you've drawn if you'd let me."

Sweetmint rubbed her neck bashfully.  "Uh, I... guess I could."

"And you should join us, Chamella," Twilight suggested.

Chamella's ears perked up, surprised to have been randomly pulled into the conversation.  "Huh?  Oh, uh, I think I'll pass.  Guise mentioned violence and blood and stuff...  I think I've had enough of that kind of thing in my lifetime.  Honestly, I'm a little surprised that you're into that stuff, Twilight."

"It's not like Kohl is 'about' the violence," Twilight corrected.  "Well choreographed fight scenes can be exciting and everything, but it has an engrossing story and likable characters to keep you reading."

"I think the answer's still no."

"Can we please stop talking about this now?" Guise insisted with a roll of his eyes.  "You two still have to order something, and we want to get home sometime while the sun is still up."

"Oh, sorry," Twilight responded with an embarrassed giggle.  She turned her attention back up to the overhead menu.  "Geez, there's so much to choose from though.  It all sounds so good, it's hard to make a decision."

"Hey, tell you what," Sweetmint interrupted as she preemptively started to gather up ingredients.  "I'll make you guys a couple of banana splits on the house.  You know, since I never got a chance to properly thank you for helping out Crimson."

"Oh, well, I suppose I can't very well say no to that," Twilight said agreeably.

"Is it possible to pay back the bail money with free ice cream?" Guise asked hopefully.

Twilight pretended to think about it for a moment.  "I'll consider it," she chuckled.

Sweetmint quickly prepared the two dishes for Twilight and Chamella, and by the time she did, it was about time to close up.  But, being the good hostess she was, she was willing to wait for her customers to finish their ice cream before calling it a day.  Instead, she removed her apron and cap and decided to join them, she and Twilight sitting down with Rarity, Tapioca, and Frosted Chips and joining in on their conversation.

Guise, however, chose to seat himself in one of the booths in the corner of the room, not interested in joining them, even if their table hadn't already been crowded.  But he was a little surprised when Chamella sat down across from him with her banana split, flashing him a cute smile.

"Still a loner?"

Guise let out a quiet huff through his nostrils.  "I haven't changed that much.  I don't have any desire to engage in inane chitchat with anypony other than Mint.  Especially at the risk of your friend getting a little too nosy."

"I understand, but I still think everything would be fine if people knew."

Guise furrowed his brow adamantly.  "I'm not reiterating my stance on this."

"Okay."

Guise quirked an eyebrow as Chamella casually enjoyed a mouthful of ice cream and banana, her smile persistent.  "That's it?  Not gonna try and convince me?"

She shrugged.  "Like you said, you haven't changed that much, so I know I can't change your mind."  Chamella smiled surprisingly fondly at him.  "But you've changed just enough for me to trust you.  If this is the Guise that Sweetmint fell in love with and wants to spend her life with, then who am I to argue?  Besides, we'd probably end up going through all this stuff again trying to convince everypony else you're trustworthy, especially Shade."

"Yeah, I don't exactly want to have to suffer through that," Guise groaned.  "Just because you're willing to trust me doesn't mean that Shade or the princesses won't want people keeping an eye on me."

"Yeah, that's true.  As long as you're not hurting anypony, I don't have any problems."

"Would've been nice to hear that a little sooner," Guise muttered.

Chamella's smile fell, her ears drooping apologetically.  "I know, I'm sorry."

He waved her apology off with a flick of his hoof.  "Forget it.  It's not like I did much to earn your trust in the first place except help save that little half-breed—for my own ends, I remind you."

"Well, you can't look out for other people if you don't look after yourself first.  Now that you've gotten comfortable, you can start caring for somepony else."

"Sheesh, when you put it like that, I sound like a stray animal."

Chamella giggled awkwardly.  "Heh, sorry.  I'm just trying to let you know I understand your situation, that's all."

"It's fine.  The stray animal comparison isn't that far off, all things considered.  Mint's teaching me how to read now."

"I remember going through that," Chamella laughed.  "It's pretty embarrassing, right?"

"Especially when your girlfriend is making quips about it the whole time, and making you learn by reading manga," he grumbled, though a small grin of amusement was visible on his face.

For the first time in both their lives, Guise and Chamella shared a laugh.  Guise would have never thought about the idea of relating to her of all people, but it wasn't as bothersome a thought as he imagined.

Chamella spooned another mouthful of ice cream into her grinning mouth.  "It is nice knowing that I don't have to worry about you.  I promise not to bother you and let you just live however you want."

Guise smiled back.  "I appreciate that.  But..."

Chamella tilted her head as he hesitated.  A very slight blush could be seen through his already crimson cheeks.

"If you're ever in town, feel free to stop in for some ice cream."

Chamella grinned.  "I will."


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


The sound of a long, sleepy, yet satisfied yawn reverberated through the small apartment.  Sweetmint lazily sauntered toward the bathroom with a blissful smile on her face.

Guise was already in the bathroom, staring into the mirror as he brushed his teeth.  It was an oddly enjoyable feeling to have clean fangs for once.  He never used to risk cleaning himself up in his natural body very often at the risk of getting caught, but now he didn't have to worry about that.  He practically took pride in the sheen and sparkle of his needle-sharp fangs, feeling as though it added to his intimidation factor—not that he could really do much intimidating nowadays.

But Guise didn't get much time to admire himself after he rinsed his mouth out, as Sweetmint shoved him aside to clean her own teeth.

"Sitting down with a good meal, a bottle of beer, and a new issue of Kohl is a pretty good way to spend an evening, don't you think?" she remarked as she brushed.

Guise shrugged indifferently as he scooched past her and out of the cramped bathroom.  "If you say so."

Sweetmint rolled her eyes, following him out into the hall with her toothbrush in her mouth.  "Oh, don't try and act tough.  I saw how into it you were getting as I was reading.  There was barely any action, yet your eyes were glued to the page."

"I was trying to learn the words.  You know, the whole point of you reading them to me in the first place," he argued defensively.

"Yeah, right," she scoffed with a mocking smirk.  "Who are you trying to convince: me or you?"

"Why are you being such a bitch tonight?"

Sweetmint sidled up next to him, her grin still willfully needling, but her eyes more sultry, though the image she was going for was muddied a bit by the foamy toothpaste around her lips.  "Because it's fun."  She returned to the bathroom to rinse, then returned to follow Guise to the bedroom.  "Why do you have such a hard time admitting that you like something?"

Guise hesitated, staring her in the eye for a moment.  "Because... I'm not used to it."

She blinked, a little confused by his answer.  "Not used to liking something?"

"Look, can we just drop this?" he insisted as he shifted back to his Crimson Neon disguise—in part to hide the blood filling his cheeks.

Sweetmint stood there quietly as Guise crawled into bed.  Persimmon sauntered in as well, gleaning that it was bedtime, and hopped up onto the foot of the bed and curled up.  Sweetmint followed their example and lay down next to her boyfriend.  She cast him a discreet, sidelong glance, noticing the conflicted look on his face.  "Did I strike a nerve or something?  Sorry, I'm not used to you actually taking offence to my shit-talking."

Guise sighed, turning his head away slightly.  "I'm not offended..."

Sweetmint stared up at the ceiling quietly for a few moments before breaking the odd silence again.  "I think I get it, though."

He turned back to her.

"After everything you've told me about your past, and living in the Changeling Kingdom...  You only ever cared about yourself, so things are a lot different for you now, right?"

"I think you're reading into this a bit much."

"Well, let me ask you this."  Sweetmint rolled onto her side to look him straight in the eye.  "You love me, right?"

Guise narrowed his eyes in suspicion.  "What are you trying to do?"

"Yeah, see?  That's what I'm talking about.  I know you do, but you still have a hard time saying it out loud, even when it's just the two of us, don't you?"

Guise broke eye contact, grumbling to himself.  He did love her, and that was something that still surprised him every time he thought about it.  But he knew she was a little off base.

"Look, I get it," she continued.  "Throwing your feelings out there can make you feel vulnerable and can bite you in the ass, I know that first hoof.  But the reason I'm harping on this is because of something you told me."

Again, Guise turned back to her, raising a curious eyebrow.  "What was that?"

"How you claimed that love was something you wanted originally, but now it's something you need."

Guise rolled his eyes.  "Okay, this is gonna sound a little corny, but those are two different things.  The love I wanted was for feeding on, the love I needed was the reason I wanted to stay here with you."

Sweetmint stifled a quiet snicker.

The changeling groaned and rolled over, turning his back to her.  "If that's how you're gonna act, I'm not taking part in this."

"No, no, I'm not making fun of you," she insisted, snuggling up to him and wrapping her hooves around his chest.  "Maybe I like it better when you're being a smarmy hardass, but I don't mind if you get a little sappy every now and then.  You know, in private."

Guise didn't say anything.

Sweetmint stared at the back of his head, but she had an idea of what his expression was at the moment.  She was starting to get the impression that something else was bothering him.

"Is my love still not satisfying?"

Guise looked back at her.  "What?"

"Like, the love you've been feeding on.  You told me once that it wasn't satisfying for some reason.  Have you not figured out the problem with that yet?"

Guise just stared into her eyes for a moment.  She'd finally managed to find the root of the issue, so there was no sense continuing to be indignant about it and just bite the bullet.  He turned over onto his back.  "No, but mostly because I haven't fed on any love since the last time we talked about it."

"Why not?"

The changeling blinked.  "Whaddaya mean, 'Why not?'"

"One of the reasons you came here was to feed on love, so why did you stop?"

He just stared, befuddled by the question as though the answer should have been obvious.  "Because... you don't want me to?" he told her, though with a noticeable lack of certainty in his voice.

"When did I ever say that?"

"What, you want me to feed on your love?" he asked somewhat incredulously.

"It's not what I want, it's what you want," she stated matter-of-factly.

"And... you'd be okay with that?"

"Does it have any adverse affects on me?"

"I mean, if I take a lot, you'll feel pretty drained afterwards.  That's why when I did it before I didn't take much.  But even if I did, you'd recover eventually.  It'd be no different than being winded after a workout or something."

"So no real harm, then?"

Guise shrugged.  "Not really."

Sweetmint stared up at the ceiling, pursing her lips in thought.  "So, what, you just need permission?"

"It's more complicated than that.  Trust is a factor here."

"You think I don't trust you?"

"No, but feeding on love regularly would make me more powerful."  Guise looked her in the eye again.  "Would you be comfortable with that?"

Sweetmint continued to stare up at the ceiling, a slight, inexplicable blush tinging her cheeks.  "I mean...  If it meant you could do the sort of stuff that Kohl and Garek do..."

Guise finally managed a small smirk.  "You're such a dork."

She jabbed him in the ribs, her blush deepening.  "Shut the fuck up."

Once Guise's mild amusement subsided, he turned his own eyes upward.  "But, to be perfectly honest, trust and permission aren't the reason I haven't done it lately."

"Then what's stopping you?"

Guise inhaled a deep breath, unsure if he wanted to admit this, but it was just as well now that they've come this far into the topic.  "I don't want to be disappointed again."

Sweetmint turned to him, but said nothing.

"Being perfectly honest, I'm a little worried that if it turned out to still be unsatisfying, it might make me want to leave."

Sweetmint propped herself up, looking down on him with concern in her eyes.  "You really think that would happen?"

He stared back up into her pale pink eyes, his expression serious and remorseful.  "I'm afraid that would happen, because that's the kind of person I am: selfish."

She knit her brow slightly at him.  "We gonna go down this road again?  Stop beating yourself up.  That's not the Crimson I know—not the Guise I know."

He continued to stare, observing the steadfast look in her eyes.  She was right.  The reason he was still here was because he cared about her, and because he had his convictions.  He put up with a lot of crap to get to where he is now.  He never gave up when he first felt that dissatisfaction from her love, and he had no intention of leaving her now.

Guise shook his head.  "You're right.  I'm not gonna let it bother me.  If it's not as satisfying as I thought it'd be, then why get hung up on it?"

Sweetmint turned her gaze toward the wall, though wasn't looking at anything in particular.  She appeared to be thinking about something, her lips pursed contemplatively.

"Something wrong?" Guise asked, curious what was on her mind.

"Hm?  Uh, I dunno, it's just..."

"What?"

She leaned on his chest with a grumpy pout.  "Well...  Honestly, it is a little annoying that we don't know why it was so unsatisfying.  It's actually kinda insulting.  What, there's something wrong with my love or some shit?" she griped toward the wall. 

"It's not my fault.  At least, I don't think so."

Sweetmint looked back down at him, a sudden look of determination in her eyes.  "Then try it again."

Guise quirked an eyebrow.  "Beg pardon?"

The mare dropped back onto her pillow.  "Just taste some love and see if it's still the same," she ordered.

Guise propped himself up, grimacing awkwardly.  "That's, uh... a weird request, you know that, right?"

"You sayin' no?  Come on, I wanna figure this out as much as you do."

He waited for her to throw out a "Just kidding," or "Nevermind," but she certainly looked dead serious.  He should've guessed that she wouldn't take something like this lying down—so to speak.  If anypony other than Guise were to tell her that her love was lackluster, she'd probably deck them.

Guise hesitated, but he was a little curious himself seeing as it had been awhile since he tried.  Maybe his previous assumption that it had to do with the amount he fed on at once was actually accurate, and now that he had her permission, he could test that theory.

"Alright.  You ready, then?" he asked.

There was a sudden look of reticence in her face.  "Uh, I guess I should ask how this works.  I've never seen you do it."

"It's not complicated.  Just give me a minute."

Guise loomed over her, leaning down close to her face.  Sweetmint instinctively drew back when Guise opened his mouth and began to inhale.  Then, she failed to suppress an amused snort.

"The hell are you doing?" she snickered.

Guise closed his mouth, staring down at her with a vexed glare.  "What?  You told me to do this," he reminded her defensively.

"Are you a friggin' vampire, or something?" Sweetmint joked, still chuckling.  "You wanna transform so you've got the fangs to complete the image?"

Guise scowled in response.  He'd made that same comparison about changelings in the past, but he wasn't about to admit that to her face and add fuel to the fire.  "Do you want me to do this or not?  Because at this point I could go either way."

Sweetmint gave him an apologetic pat on the shoulder as her mirth died down.  "Okay, okay, I'm sorry.  Go ahead, do your thing."

Guise sighed with a roll of his eyes, but at least Sweetmint was able to wipe the infuriating smirk off her face, so that made it a little easier for him.  So once more he leaned down, opened his mouth, and began to inhale.

A stream of thin, pink mist began to drift up from Sweetmint's chest and into Guise's mouth.  The mare watched, transfixed by the ribbon of what she could infer was the ethereal manifestation of her love.

But while she was focused on the visual aspect of the display, Guise focused on the taste.  It tasted exactly the same as it had before: an enjoyable mixture of sweet and bitter, like a cup of coffee with extra sugar.  It was a taste he'd realistically give up meat for if he could find a food that could perfectly replicate the flavor.  But the flavor wasn't what he was looking for.

Guise paused, the trail of pink dissipating.  Sweetmint took immediate notice of the incredulous look on his face.

"What's wrong?"

He didn't answer.  He was too dumbfounded to answer.

That sensation...  He felt it—the satisfaction he'd been looking for.  It was there now, the euphoric feeling of Sweetmint's love radiating through his body, his horn tingling as his power grew ever so slightly.  The emptiness that he'd previously experienced from it had been filled, and by such a comparatively small taste.  It was baffling.  What had changed?  What had been missing that was suddenly there now?

Or maybe that was the thing: nothing was missing.  In fact, it was the opposite.  There had been something else there—an extra ingredient that spoiled the broth and prevented him from enjoying it.  Something that had been there that wasn't present anymore.

Guilt.

Guise had never felt guilt about anything before he met Sweetmint.  He'd never cared about anything but himself before her.  He didn't feel guilty when he'd taken Shade's place to siphon love from his girlfriend, but with Sweetmint it was different.  He cared about Sweetmint.  He subconsciously judged himself for duping her.  That was why he couldn't enjoy her love: because he knew he didn't deserve to enjoy it.  As corny as he knew it sounded, love was most enjoyable when it was mutually shared.  Shade must have discovered that a long time ago, though he knew Shade didn't indulge in it the way he wanted to himself.

But that was behind them now.  Guise had wound up falling in love with the mare he'd intended to use simply as a battery for love.  With that guilt out of the way, he could properly enjoy the love she willingly gave him.

"Crimson?"

Sweetmint's voice snapped him from his stupor.  "Huh?"

"How is it?  Anything different?"

"Uh...  Yeah.  It's... amazing.  Better than anything I've ever tasted," he uttered, still somewhat in disbelief.

Sweetmint breathed a sigh of relief.  "Well, thank Celestia for that.  If I'm gonna have a changeling boyfriend, I better damn well have the best tasting love this side of Equestria.  So, you want more, or...?"

Guise considered her offer for a moment before smiling down at her.  "Nah, I think I'm good.  Don't wanna go overboard."

"You sure?"

He nodded.  "I'm just relieved that I can actually enjoy it now.  That's enough to sate me for the time being.  Maybe another night, though."

Sweetmint smiled back.  "Well, my pleasure.  Glad you enjoyed it."

Much to her surprise, Guise leaned down, planting a tender kiss on her lips.  Even if the two of them were in love, it still wasn't often that Guise initiated a kiss.  The two so rarely engaged in physical displays of affection, even in private, so when they actually occurred, they both knew it meant something special.

Guise laid his head back down onto his pillow to turn in for the night.  Just as he closed his eyes, he felt Sweetmint cuddle into him, and he cuddled back, letting out a satisfied sigh.

The silence didn't have much time to settle in, though, as Sweetmint spoke up once more before they drifted off.

"So, when you gonna use my love to take over Equestria?"

A small, amused grin creased Guise's lips.  "Eh, thinking more about it, being a king sounds like too much work.  I'd rather just hang here like this."

Sweetmint chuckled quietly, nestling into his neck.  "Lazy bastard."

Guise held her closer, his smile persisting.  "Fuck off."


The End