not[i/] say anything," Midnight grumbles.

"Hey, don't blame me. I haven't said anything here," I retort, putting my hands up with palms out toward her. "This is all you." The proclamation brings Midnight's eyes to me as she growls, as if she wants to pounce on me – and not for snuggles.

Out of my peripheral vision, I spy Starla taking the time during this brief interaction to jump from her chair and circle around the fire toward Midnight, a gleeful smile gracing her face as she approaches. "Midnight, you know that no one here thinks any less of you, right?" she proposes.

I don't expect Starla's words nor her presence here to help matters with Midnight's attitude. Yet much to my surprise, Middie relaxes just a tad as she raises her head up to look at Starla.

"...fine," she relents in a subdued voice, averting her eyes as soon as she speaks. "I'm— well he... we both sort of share the bed," she manages to stammer out, her ears tucked back in utter embarrassment.

While Teddy remains quiet, his expression says it all as he eyes me, offering up a heartfelt smile and a sage nod of approval.

"Was that really so hard, Mid?" I ask her.

"Shut up, dumbass."

"I guess it was," Starla interjects with another bit of laughter before cutting it short and stepping closer to Midnight, resting a hoof on her shoulder. "Sorry, Midnight. I'm not trying to tease you. I just— you work so hard to prove to everyone how tough you are. Like you have something to prove – especially when I'm around. It's almost like a sibling rivalry or something."

"You do strike me as an overly cheery, kinda annoying Celestia," Midnight jokes, letting a goofy smile crack through her frustration.

Once again, Starla's grin she seems to always sport starts to grow devious as she cocks her head. "Oh, you actually watched the little girls' show we originated from?"

"He made me," Midnight spits without pause, pointing her hoof toward me.

"Bullshit I did," I scoff. "You were the one to suggest it and I didn't argue."

"You

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I am in utter awe that I somehow didn't notice that during one final run through this morning. It's been a rough few days irl - thank you.

I'm with him... I get blamed for everything at work, especially if I'm not there.

Dope chapter!

Teddy says that was the goal when developing the ponies where he once worked, just for ease of integrating with consumers, rather than having something requiring a specific feed. Still, would it have been that much more difficult to just have em as regular... uh, ponies, or horses? Just send em out into the yard to munch on grass?

...then again, that's not gonna work out here, where sand is everywhere. Admittedly, I don't actually know squat about horses.

While being true that equines prefer a more grassy diet, sometimes equine would turn to meat in cases where a preferred source of nutrients is not readily available (like on a frozen tundra or a desert)

I don't have to look at Midnight to know she's giving me the stink eye for crushing her moment. "You're a dick," she grumbles. "You're sleeping alone on the shitty couch tonight."

Epic chapter!

Is it really blame if the results are positive?
Midnight sure has an odd way of saying "thank you". 🙃

But Midnight just beams with sadistic glee. "You amuse me with your silly idle threats," she comments in a drawn-out, silky tone.

That's one of the best lines yet. 🤣