Chapter 3

>Uncle’s house seems nice.
>The décor is a tasteful, contemporary palette of beiges, creams and deep blues.
>The elegant furnishings are all in perfect condition, the styles far from the likes of what existed in Hollow Shades.
>The grand spiral staircase stands in the large hallway, leading up to what you assume to be the bedrooms.
>This must have been really expensive.
>As far as you knew, Aux wasn’t THAT well off, not so much that he could afford something this nice.
“Your house is amazing, Uncle, how could you afford this?”
>He smiles appreciatively.
>”Well, I guess I’ve always been pretty good at saving my money…but even so, I was really, uh, lucky…to get this place.”
>You sense that there is a story behind this, but maybe that would be best left for later.
>Don’t want to shoot yourself in the foot so soon after arriving.
>”I’m sorry about the, uhm, drama just now…”
>He’s piqued your interest, you had been wondering what exactly could have caused the mare to flip out like that.
“Yeah, I was wondering about that…what happened? That is, i-if you don’t mind me asking.”
>He shrugs
>”You’re gonna be living here, so I guess there’s no point in trying to keep secrets.”
>He leads you to the lounge and sits down on one of the couches.
>You sink down into the soft cushions of a striped green armchair, glad to finally be giving your legs a rest.
>”So, that was Twinkle…uh, she and I were….busy upstairs just before you arrived.
>Uh oh, did you just cockblock your uncle?
“Did I interrupt?”
>He smiles to himself, embarrassed.
>”No, don’t worry about it. Besides, things had already gone south before you knocked on the door.”
>He winces.
>”I had a, tsk, little accident when I was trying to get ready. I had trouble opening the condom, they’re tricky to open with hooves, but I managed to open the sachet with my teeth.”
>Okay, so he’s bad at opening things, but nothing disastrous yet.
>”But when I tore the top off, I managed to catch the top of the condom itself on a tooth…”
>He pauses.
>”…and when I turned round a little too fast the uh the condom flew off and hit her…in the eye”
>The last part comes out as a mumble, which only serves to make it funnier and you have to work hard to hold back a guffaw.
>”Anyway, uh, as I said you’re welcome to stay here with me. I made up the guest bedroom upstairs if you wanna come and have a look”
>The two of you work your way up the winding staircase.
>“I don’t really have many guests so it doesn’t get much use, though I did give it a good dusting when I got your letter”
>He leads you to a door across the room from the master bedroom, the door to which is open and you can see that his room bears a massive colour contrast to the rest of the house.
>His bedroom resembles some kind of clichéd love-nest, all in deep purples and reds.
>It even has a mirror above the bed.
>All of that seems at odds with his apparent poor luck when it comes to crushing pussy.
>Maybe he was just trying too hard…
>Your attention is reigned back in when Aux opens up the door to your room.
>It’s…surprisingly nice, very spacious and with plenty of light and a big bed.
>[spoiler]Maybe things wouldn’t be so bad[/spoiler]
>“So yeah, I’ll give you some time to unpack and get settled in. I’ve gotta go to the market and get some things.”
>He turns to walk out before quickly hopping back into the room.
>“Almost forgot! Here’s your key to the house!”
>The silver key dangles from its fob in his teeth and clunks hits the chest of drawers with a light tinkle as he drops it.
“Thanks, Uncle, for letting me stay here.”
>He smiles genuinely.
>”It’s no problem, your parents would have done the same if it were me. And please, call me Aux.”
>You nod curtly and he makes his exit, clopping down the stairs and out the door into town.

>Unpacking your possessions doesn’t take too long since disturbingly little survived the fire.
>Your empty trunk slides neatly under the bed and you hear the soft sheets calling to you.
>No, you needed to wash up first, you were still filthy from spending a night in the forest muck.
>The bathroom is found just down the hallway and you admire the contemporary bathware.
>It’s certainly better equipped than your house back in Hollow Shades, or even the Battered Nook.
>Gleaming white and blue tiles with polished stainless steel faucets and a chrome shower head.
>Noice
>You hit the button and the water starts  to flow from the head in a wide, even cone.
>A testing hoof determines that it’s already at just the right temperature and you hop in, revelling in the sensation of being cleaned by the warm water.
>As though the gravity of recent events suddenly hits you, you instantly feel drained, sapped of energy.
>It takes the precious little left in your tank to stumble out of the shower, dry yourself off and amble back to your room before you collapse on the feathery duvet, letting your exhaustion overtake you.
>You drift off to sleep, contemplating your new situation.
>Though you had a place to stay, you were still a NEET, which just felt like exploiting Aux’s good nature.
>You needed a job.
“Job”
>You mumble it into your pillow as if to tell it to remind you when you wake up.

>Birds tweeting loudly outside your window drag you back into the land of the living.
>Self-entitled bastards
>Why do they have to wake you up so early?
>Pulling back the covers, you hop out of bed and make your way downstairs.
>It appears your uncle is already awake and reading the newspaper.
>“Afternoon Anon, guessing you slept well!”
>He chuckles and nods towards the clock on the kitchen wall.
>12:17pm
“Damn, sorry, I lost track of time”
>He shakes his head nonchalantly
>“Don’t worry about it, bud. You’ve been through a lot recently, it’s only natural for you to be wiped out.”
>You take a seat across the table from him and pluck a ripe apple from the bowl in the middle, taking a big bite and enjoying its sharp sweetness.
>“So, what’re you up to today? Seeing the sights? You ever been to Canterlot before?”
>Hastily gulping down the chunk of apple you were chewing on you tell him your plans.
“I figured I’d better look for a job, sitting around doesn’t seem so exciting anymore, I guess”
>He looks genuinely surprised.
>“Wow, that’s pretty grown-up of you, you’ve definitely matured a lot since I last saw you…though that WAS about 15 years ago now…fuck, I feel old now. I was, what, 16 then? Shit.”
>He chuckles and hands you the jobs ads of the Canterlot Journal.
>“There may be a decent place to start looking.”
>You read through the classifieds, noting down a few promising ones; working in the warehouses, helping in an old ponies’ home, being an assistant to a mane stylist or even a job as a masseur.
>That last one sounded good, and you were rather proud of how good you were with your hooves, though you hoped they could include training for you.
>Taking your notes in your mouth, you hop up from the table and make your way out the front door, saying farewall to Aux as you do.
“’ee oo ‘ater, ungle!”
>”Good luck! Remember, be confident.”
>You nod enthusiastically and head out into the world, taking in the sights and sounds as you make your way to your first prospective place of employment.

>Hmm
>Maybe this job hunting lark was harder than you initially thought it would be…
>The warehouse guy said you didn’t look strong enough for the heavy lifting he had in mind, the mare running the old ponies’ home said you didn’t have enough experience and somepony had already been hired for the assistant’s job at the salon…
>It was all down to the massage parlour now.
>You were stood outside the building, a pretty place in the style of the rest of Canterlot with a swirled gold and indigo roof and a deep brown oaken door.
>Ok, remember what Aux said – be confident.
>Chin up, pout a little, look like you mean business, eyes front, good.
>The door wasn’t as heavy as it looked.
>It swung open easily as you put your weight against it, resulting in you crashing chin-first onto the marble floor.
>”Sacré bleu! Are you ok, monsieur?”
>The voice is sweet and just oozes femininity.
>You look up to see a pastel blue mare with a pink mane standing over you.
“A-Am I dead?”
>She narrows her eyes.
>“Quoi?”
>”Are you an angel?”
>Smooth
>She giggles and offers a hoof to help you up.
>”Non, just a simple pony”
>At that moment, you think you may be seeing double as a result of the knock to your head, as an almost identical pony trots over to the two of you.
>However, you realise this can’t be the case when this new mare, pink with a blue mane, starts talking.
>“Is everything alright, chérie?”
>The blue one responds, still giggling a little.
>”Oui, je vais aider notre client à ses sabots”
>Once up, you regard the pair sheepishly, they must be twins.
>Such resemblance would otherwise be impossible.
>Both were definitely easy on the eyes.
>Confidence, Anon, CONFIDENCE.
>You clear your throat.
“I’m here about the uh ad. F-For a masseur. The job. The one in the Canterlot Journal.”
>Fantastic.
>You really are shit at this, you know?
>The pink mare raises a delicate eyebrow and brushes a stray whisp of mane out of her face, while the blue one speaks up in her sugary voice.
>”Ah! Oui! Excellente! My sister and I are opening a new spa in a town not far from ‘ere and are looking for some ponies to run zis branche in our stead. Do you ‘ave any experience?”
>Ah.
“W-Well not exactly in a professional sense, but I do pride myself of being good with my hooves!”
>Pfffft
>That sounded a lot better in your head.
>The pink mare reached out and took one of your hooves, prodding it a little with her own, before gently lifting it up to her muzzle and nuzzling it a little.
>She even batted her eyelashes at you enticingly.
>[spoiler]sweatingcolt.png.mp4.mov.exe[/spoiler]
>”Hmph, zey are very nice hooves, very soft and delicate…”
>A bit emasculating there
>True, you weren’t the biggest stallion around, but you wouldn’t call yourself ‘delicate’.
>” ‘owever, we don’t really ‘ave ze time to spare to train you, and we need somepony with a bit more skill for this position.”
>Aww
>Shit
“O-Oh, oh okay”
>A smile creeps onto her face
>”But we could maybe find a space for you in our Ponyville branche, if zat would be…pleasurable”
>More fluttering of the eyelashes
>U-Unf
“Uh-”
>Your voice cracks.
>Get it together, Anon
“I uh I can’t, I mean I live here in Canterlot now and…”
>SHITNIGGERWHATRUDOING?!
>WRONG ANSWER 
>She huffs and turns away from you, going 
“Suit yourself zen”
>The blue one turns her attention back to you and smiles sadly.
>”Sorry…”
>Still in shock from your turning down of pet status for 2 qt mare twins, you back out of the spa and into the hustle and bustle of the square.
>” ‘ave a nice day!”
>Even if they did turn you down, it’s only polite to respond.
“Y-You too”
>Nailed it

>You sigh heavily and cross your final option off the list.
>Welp, maybe it’s time to admit defeat for today.
>There’s always tomorrow.
>“Excuse me. Sir? Sir?”
>You look up, confused, pen in mouth.
“huh? bee?”
>It’s a unicorn stallion, and a pretty handsome one at that, with a grey coat and a blonde mane.
>He smiles charmingly and chuckles.
>“I saw you going into the spa and you seem like just the kind of pony my bosses are looking for.”
>Uh huh…
>You narrow your eyes.
>That smile again.
>”Here’s my card”
>He levitates a paper wafer in front of your nose.
>‘Dreamy Nights – Talent Scout – 42 Golden way, Upper Canterlot’
>Interesting…
>Still, you were none the wiser as to what he was advertising.
“So these bosses of yours…are they hiring?”
>Another toothy grin.
>”You bet! They’re always looking for talented stallions!”
“Huh…Wow, thanks!”
>”Tell ya what, you give it a think and if you’re interested then stop by my office.”
“I will, thanks again!”
>He trots off suavely and you head back in the direction of uncle’s house, business card gripped between your teeth.
>Maybe you’d failed to get the other jobs, but this looked promising.

>Dinner time was rolling around when you finally arrive back home.
>You whip your [spoiler]key[/spoiler] out and unlock the front door.
>”That you, anon?”
>Aux is in the kitchen, and something smells good.
>You didn’t know he could cook.
>Drawn by the exotic flavours, you follow the wafts of the tasty scent.
“That smells great, where’d you learn to cook?”
>Sat at the table, Aux laughs.
>”You’re joking, right? I can’t cook to save my life! Think I started a fire the last time I tried…no, I order most of my food in, that way others do the cooking and I don’t risk burning down the street. Come on, sit down before it goes cold, it’s great”
>You weren’t going to argue with free food, especially seeing as how you hadn’t eaten since the apple that morning.
>The vegetable curry and boiled rice goes down well.
>Spicy food wasn’t usually your thing as it sometimes didn’t really agree with your stomach, but this was delicious and filled you up nicely so you wolfed it down quickly.
>”So, how was job-hunting? Any good news?”
>You swallow down your last mouthful and recount the earlier failures.
>The last one leaves your uncle shocked.
>” Wait wait, hold up a second. Are you telling me you passed up on what was essentially a job where you were basically going to be paid to feel up mares all day, and then go back to a provided bed and most likely get rutted by one of, if not both of, some cute twins?!
“Yep, bu-”
>”What. The. Fuck! I would’ve bitten their hoof off if it was me, do you think they’re still looking for somepony to fill the role? I may go down there tomorrow…”
>The two of you share a laugh.
“But the day wasn’t a complete failure, I DID get invited to an interview by some business agent who says his company is hiring”
>”Just like that? Doing what?”
>That was a decent question.
“I honestly have no idea.”
>Aux was just about to get another mouthful of food when he stopped mid-motion and looked up at you suspiciously.
>”You don’t know? Didn’t they tell you anything? What kind of interview is this?”
>Hopping up from your chair, you grab the card from the counter behind you and put it down in front of him.
“Again, I don’t know, but he said his bosses were looking to hire talented stallions like me.”
>Aux splutters and coughs as he hears this while reading the business card.
>”You realise what this is, right? I mean, yeah, the money’s good but are you sure you want this?”
>Honestly, you had no idea what he meant, but you didn’t want to seem as though you didn’t know what you were doing so just went with it.
“Well I do need the money, especially after my insurance pay-out was stolen on the trip over…”
>He purses his lips and shrugs.
>”Fair enough, if that’s what you’re into who am I to judge?”
>The clock loudly chimes out its 9 o’clock announcement.
>You should probably get some rest, a few hours on your hooves has really worn you out and you want to be up early tomorrow in order to get to your interview.
“I show probably go to bed, busy day tomorrow after all”
>Aux nods and yawns himself.
>“Yeah, I won’t be too far behind either.”
>You thank him for the food and head upstairs to bed, once again being swallowed up by the softness of the quilt.

>”Anonymous?!”
>Who was that?
>Somepony calling your name.
>”Anon?!”
>You force your eyes open, it’s pitch black outside, or at least it would be if batponies couldn’t see in the dark very well.”
“Urgh, fuck me what time is it?”
>”Anon, you awake?”
>It’s Aux, what was wrong?
“Yeah, I’m awake, what’s up?”
>”You’ve got a visitor! I’m sending her up. Ok, it’s the first room on the left upstairs.”
>Her?	
>…
>Strange.
>You don’t hear any hoofsteps on the stai-
>All of a sudden the door slams open.
>”Hej! Nice place ya got hier, Anon! Much better than my apartment haha”
>It’s that white batpony mare from before, except this time she’s out of her guard armour.
>This allows you to much better appreciate the supple curves of her frame.
>Very neat.
>Too loud though, you’ve only just woken up and so her cacophony is almost painful to your sensitive ears.
“Whoa, what’re you doing here, Flora? Florence? Florence, right?”
>She nods vigorously, clearly pleased you remember her.
>But she doesn’t answer your question, so you ask it again.
“Why are you here, Florence?”
>”Åh, I just came to see how you were, you know, since we’re friends!”
>Friends? You barely know this mare.
“We’re friends?”
>She cocks her head to one side and looks at you curiously as if you had just asked a stupid question before breaking into a fit of giggles.
>It has a distinct nasal quality to it, though coming from her it doesn’t sound too bad.
>”Usch, you’re a funny guy, Anon!”
>She sees the ‘I’m not joking’ look on your sleepy face and her laughter subsides.
>”O-Of course we’re friends…I mean, we’re both bats…and we know each other’s names and…”
>She looks down sadly at the floor, absentmindedly kicking it with a hoof.
>“Well I don’t really have that many vänner…”
>Oh God, your heart.
>Better patch things up before it gets too much to take.
“No, no, i-it’s okay, Florence. Sure we’re friends…uh,  vänner right?”
>That seems to pick her spirits up and she looks back to you, her toothy smile back as though it had never left.
>”Okej! Härlig! Now for the real reason I came.”
>She flashes a cheeky grin.
>This mare.
“What is it?”
>” I maaaay be on the trail of the griffon bandits who stole your money.”
>No way.
>You jump up from bed with a flap of your wings and continue to hover just off the ground in front of her.
“Are you serious?! Are the guard tracking them down?”
>A grimace.
>”Föga. It’s just me. I know a griffon who runs a bar in the Lower District, and he knows a guy who knows a guy who kno-“
>Oh, one of THESE stories.
“Yeah, I get it, what did they say?”
>She opens her mouth to speak but says nothing.
>A confused look appears on her face and she bites her lip, thinking.
“Jävlar. I can’t remember. Well, you’ll need to come with me to see my friend again, I guess.”
>Fantastic, more hassle.
>Things are never easy, are they?
>”Come on, let’s go! börja!”
>She grabs you by the hoof and flies off, dragging you behind her.
>Wait, she meant tonight?
>No, you had your interview tomorrow!
“Whoa, hold up! I can’t do anything tonight! I have a thing to do tomorrow.”
>To punctuate the sentence, you spread your wings to slow her down.
>The two of you are flapping on the stairs, with uncle Aux watching sneakily from the living room.
>”Why not tonight? I’m trying to help you, Anon…”
>The puppy dog eyes again
>FUCK
>She certainly has you by the balls with that
>You stammer out a response
“I-I get that, and thanks, but I’m trying to find a job. And right now that’s more important than possibly getting caught up in something dangerous”
>She scrunches up her muzzle frustratedly, though her buoyant enthusiasm remains.
>”Dangerous? You mean exciting, nej?”
>A cheeky flash of the fangs and a wink.
>There’s a sparkle in those watery blue eyes that moves you, makes you want to follow her, even if it DOES drop you directly in the shit.
>Play it cool though, don’t want to seem like you’re too bothered about it or you may come across as cloying or maybe overly enthusiastic.
“Pfft, fine, sure. I’ll come with you. But not tonight, tomorrow evening we’ll go, ok?”
>Nicely done.
>Her frown softens.
>”Bra! Sound’s good! I’ll meet you here at, hmm, omkring tio?”
>You give her a blank, sideways look.
>”That means about ten. At night. Rätt?”
>You nod and she starts to flap her way over to the door.
“See you tomorrow then, Florence”
>A cheery call of ‘Adjö, Anon!’ comes back and she flies out into the night.
>Good.
>Now that that was dealt with, you could get back to sleep.
>You trudge your way back up into your room and get back under the covers.
>Nice and warm.
>Nice and quie-
>”Who was the mare, Anon? She’s pretty cute.”
>Ugh
>Fucking Aux…
“Just a friend, Uncle, just a friend.”