>It’s late, the sun just dipped below the horizon and the sky turned a beautiful pink and red hue.
>Looking out the window, you looked at the clock over the register and noticed it was half past eight. 
>Just about time for you to be getting off and heading home for the night. 
>You expected Anon to already be home, he always got off much earlier than you did.  
>Pull Tab wasn’t going to make it tonight, she had several late appointments at her firm, but she’d be over tomorrow.
>Walking into the backroom, you quickly took off your waitress uniform and tossed it into your bags.
>Picking up your bags and strapping them on, you walked through the door and almost ran into the boss.
>He squeaked, and then spoke.
>“Oh Moonlight, the others tell me you’ve been doing an excellent job. Keep up the good work.”
>A smile and a burst of heat spread through your cheeks.
“T-thank you sir.”
>“Take care, Moonlight.” He chuckled. “Don’t party too hard with Anon this weekend.”
>Okay, now you were really blushing. 
>Even the other waiters and waitresses giggled at that.
“I-I w-won’t, sir.”
>“Goodbye, Moonlight.”
“Goodbye, Sir.”
>As embarrassing as it was to have your boss and your coworkers laugh at you, it wasn’t nearly as embarrassing as the other night was. 
>You thought you were going to have a panic attack while Pull Tab was telling your most intimate secrets to Anon.
>Instead you got back at her by telling Anon about the time she went to jail for flying under the influence. 
>By bed time Pull Tab and you were completely embarrassed, and Anon was in tears from laughing so hard.
>Stepping out the door and checking to make sure your bags were tight and secure. You flapped your wings and flew toward home.
1/6

>Reaching home, you landed on the door mat, and wiped your hooves clean before entering. 
>Inside Anon was already cooking up something wonderful that had you floating into the kitchen.
>“Hey Moonlight, how was your day?” Anon asked while adding a dash of pepper to the boiling pot.
“It was good, how was yours?” You asked.
>“Eh, it was so-so”
>A few seconds passed before you broke the silence.
“What’re you cooking, Anon?”
>Anon stopped stirring, and retrieved a washed carrot from the sink. 
>While cutting it he explained, “I’m making a stew, but I didn’t know if you wanted anything else to go with it or not.”
>You rubbed your chin with your wing until an idea popped.
“Some cornbread would go great with this!”
>“Yeah, that does sound pretty good. You get it started and I’ll finish this up and help you.”
“Alright, let me put my stuff down, and I’ll get to it.”
>Trotting back to your room, you took in all wonderful smells being cast throughout the house. 
>Your mouth practically watering, you threw your stuff in your room and galloped back to the kitchen.
>When you returned Anon was holding his… hoof, claw, hand thingy underneath the sink with a sizeable cut on one of his digits.
“Are you alright?” 
>“Yeah, I’m fine. Just cut my finger.” 
>Walking over to the pantry, you grabbed out a bandage and walked back to Anon.
>Anon held out his cut so you could apply the bandage.
>You’d always hated when the chef’s cut themselves in the kitchen, every time it happened, it made you feel nauseous. 
>This time though you were more worried about Anon than being queasy. 
>You sterilized his finger with some rubbing alcohol, and wrapped it in the bandages. 
>“Thank you Moonlight,” Anon said with a smile and a scratch behind your ear.      
>Oh stars, you loved it when he scratched behind your ears. 
>After mixing up the cornbread mix and pouring it onto the sheet, you had to help Anon cut up the rest of the vegetables.
2/6

>Sitting down at the table, you and Anon were just about to dig in.
>“Hold on, I picked this up at the store,” He said, walking over and pulling a bottle of red wine. 
>You couldn’t contain your happiness, and it just exploded all at once.
“I love red wine! Where did you get it? What variety is it?”
>Anon just smiled at your enthusiasm.
>“I remember how much you said you loved it, and I thought why not buy some as a thank you gift.”
>You cocked your head. A thank you gift? What was he thanking you for?  
>He got two glasses from the cabinet, sat one of them down for you and him, and poured a bit in both.
>The wine was a vivid violet in color, and smelled of heavenly roses.
>Taking a sip, you savored the somewhat sweet taste as it tickled and danced around your mouth before swallowing. 
>“Do you like it?” Anon asked, before he took a sip.
“Yeah, it’s great! But what were you saying about it being a thank you gift?”
>He sat his glass down and smiled as he forked a potato out of his bowl.
>“Today marks two months since I arrived, and I just wanted to say thank you for being so welcoming.”
>Your cheeks burned, and your ears wavered from embarrassment. You tried to think of something to say to that, but nothing came to mind. 
>Instead you sat in your chair awkwardly blushing for a minute or two before Anon broke the silence. 
>“What’s the matter Moonlight, cat got your tongue?”
>You deadpanned. He was still using the cat jokes…
“Cat jokes? Really Anon?”
>“Well, I had to break the awkward silence somehow,” He chuckled. “Besides, you never said anything.”
>You furrowed a brow at him playfully.
“Yeah well, what did you want me to say? Something about sharing Hearts and Hooves day together?”
>Wait, Did you just ask him if he wanted to spend Hearts and Hooves day together?
3/6
 
 >He stopped what he was doing, and looked at you like you had just spilled a horrible secret.
>“What did you say?” He asked, completely focused on you.
>A chill ran down your spine and your stomach felt like it had butterflies.
>You gulped as he sat there waiting for an answer. A bead of sweat trickled down your neck, and you gave him a fake smile.
“I-I uh…” You took a breath. 
>Well, he already heard it why hide from it now?
You continued, “I was wondering if you wanted to do something together on Hearts and Hooves day?”
>Heart beating in your throat, he sat there as if he was in shock. Then, his demeanor changed and his gaze shifted from you to the table. 
>“I…I…I think I need to go to the store to pick up some more wine!” He smiled a fake smile 
>Grabbing his wallet and jacket, he quickly dashed out the door before you could say a word.
>Did you say something wrong? Was there something wrong with you?
>You slumped down onto the table and felt like those butterflies in your stomach had banded together and punched you as hard as they could.
>Sniffing, you’re vision got cloudy and a single tear rolled down your cheek.
4/6
>It was cold and your fingers felt numb, but you didn’t even feel them through the guilt and confusion. 
>The walk wasn’t too long, just thirty minutes to the store and back, plenty of time for you to beat yourself up over bad decisions.  
>Why did she ask you that? Why didn’t you answer her? Why did you still feel something toward Twilight? Why did you think you could return home? 
>WHY! WHY! WHY!?
“God-fucking-dammit!” You yelled, at the top of your lungs. 
>Kicking a small snow drift, you watched the snow silently impact the other snow. 
>Those bartender’s words really haunted you now as you made your way toward the local grocery. 
>Wrapping your face from the cold, you thought of something you could say to make it up to Moonlight, but nothing seemed good enough for you having to run out on her like that. 
>A small set of stairs covered by the thick snow gave way, and you fell on your ass with a very hard THUD.
>You didn’t try getting up. Why bother? You’d fucked up something awful…
>Resting your head in your hands, you wondered what Twilight would say about all of this?
>You wondered if she would want you to move on and find another, but deep down inside you wondered if you could move on. 
>It still hurt every time you thought about moving on from Twilight, but it wasn’t like you were going back to P0nyville any time soon.
>Besides, it wasn’t like Moonlight had asked you to marry her or anything. She’d just asked if you’d wanted to do something with her. 
>You felt even more like shit now that it had occurred to you that you’d rejected her like that over something so small, but you couldn’t return without the wine…and maybe some flowers.
>Running to the store, you arrived in no time at all. You practically flew down the aisles grabbing another bottle of wine and a bouquet of roses.
>The line was awful, but you finally got to the register and gave the cashier twenty five bits 
5/6

>Telling them to keep the change, you ran out of the store,(despite their protests) but you had to get home. 
>You had to tell Moonlight that you’d love to spend time with her on Hearts and Hooves day! 
>There was nothing that could have stopped you! Snow slowing you down and icy paths be damned! 
>Slipping and falling, those icy paths may have slowed you, but the wine and roses were still in perfect condition. 
>Getting up and shaking the snow off, you quickly and carefully made sure you didn’t fall again.
>You could see home, and you quickened the pace until you got to the open front door... wait, something wasn’t right.
>The front door was standing wide open.
>Moonlight never left the door open. You dropped the flowers by the door and walked in holding the wine bottle by the neck.
>Your heart sank as you walked through the broken glass littering the table and floor, busted and shattered wooden legs from the chairs you’d been sitting at earlier, but Moonlight was nowhere in sight.
>Dirty and wine soaked hoof prints led down the hallway. Were they Moonlight’s? 
“Moonlight!?” You called out down the dark hallway.
>No response. 
>Cautiously, you walked down the hallway where the prints led to your room. The tracks stopped at your door, you reached for the knob and slowly.
>Quickly, you rushed inside heart beating a hundred times a minute to see…nothing. 
>Everything was packed neat and nice just as if you had left it. 
>Except for an envelope addressed to you lying on your bed. It was sealed with a kiss and smelled of perfume.
>Opening and reading it, you felt a jolt of terror shoot through you like no other.
Dear Anon, 
I have your marefriend with me at the old abandoned steel mill. Please come quickly, the water’s quite cold.
Love, 
FS
6/6