’‘How Can I Help You?’’ [w/ Story]  
Fillydelphia. A shining city on Equestria’s West coast. One of the few that were loyal to the crown and had survived the war completely untouched, as a result the city was one of the best places to live in. Lucky for me, that also means there are plenty of odd jobs to be done and the streets are pretty safe from crime.  
It was almost dark, I’ve been sweeping this store for God knows how long, but I got paid, with a 10-bit tip on top of my pay check. That’s nice, but fuck I’m hungry as hell. I left the shop where my colt, Danny, was waiting for me to take him someplace to eat before we rest for that night. Problem is most of the stores and restaurants were closed, but hopefully there’s at least one place still open.  
I took his hoof and we walked down the street. After a little bit he tugged at my hoof. I looked down at him and he pointed to a neon sign glowing behind us. “Mack’s Diner,” it read. I’m kind of surprised I didn’t notice it.  
I’ve only heard that it’s a roadside diner, but we’ve never actually went in. Though, the smell just made my stomach growl louder. Guess it doesn’t hurt to check it out.  
Inside, the walls were ringed with orange and white strips. The floor was clean and leveled with black and white tiles placed in a checkerboard style pattern. The diner was ringed with booths, each seat made of red leather with black highlights. But what caught my attention was the waitresses skating from table to table with food, wide smiles and nice outfits.  
One of the waitresses skated up to us, a light pink mare with a blond mane and red highlights.  
“Good evening miss! Find yourself a seat and a waitress will serve you real soon!” When I looked around, the diner’s mostly empty, but before I could pick out a seat, Danny already bolted to the booth at the corner next to a window.  
“Wha- Danny.” That kid…I love him so much.  
I sat next to him and was already taken aback by how soft and smooth the seats are. But it felt really nice, especially after working for so long.  
We waited for a few minutes while the jazzy music played over the diner. After that a waitress skated to us. Her long mane was blond with blue highlights and pinned back in a pony tail, her muzzle a daintly white with white freckles dotting her cheeks. What was off-putting was her midnight black coat, contrasting the other pastel-colored waitresses. Nonetheless, she smiled at us while setting down the menus and utensils wrapped in napkins.  
“Hi! My name is Silvia and I’ll be your server tonight, what can I get you to drink?”  
“Hmm… We’ll just have water, thanks.” Danny and I didn’t have much preferences on drinks.  
“You got it!” She came back as quick as she left with two glasses and a pitcher. She did some flashy tricks with the cups that Danny absolutely loved, humming softly in the process. But something about what she’s humming sounds familiar…yeah, I remember. She’s humming one of my first songs, “Bathroom Concert”. Can’t say I’ve heard people still liking that song after putting out newer and better ones.  
“You two choose what ya want and I’ll be back to get your orders.” She smiled at us and skated away to tend to another table.  
We looked at the menu and I realized I forgot to clean up. I got up and looked to Danny.  
“Mommy has to go wash up. Stay here, alright?”  
He nodded and I made my way to the diner’s restrooms. Like the rest of the place, the restroom is very tidy. No one is around though.  
That was when I heard the door open. I looked to see that it was Silvia, though she didn’t have her skates on. She looked back at me.  
“Oh, hello! Like our services?” She smiled at me after asking. Geez, her eyes were intense.  
“Um, yeah.” I turned on the water and started washing up. Subconsciously, I started humming as I did so. I didn’t know why, but it got Silvia’s attention real quick.  
“Good, cause I don’t!” She turned me around roughly and looked into my eyes, like she was looking for something.  
“Bling?”  
Bling? Why would she ask me that? I started getting uncomfortable.  
“L-Look, I think you’re mistaking me for someone else. I need to get back to my table.” I tried to get out of there but she aggressively held me in place.  
“Bling Pearl! It’s me, Nightswift.” She let her mane down and wiped the freckles and nose marking off her face, and there it was, the face I thought I would never see again.  
“…Nightswift?” I held back my tears the best I could. She nodded and quickly pulled me in for a hug.  
“Damn, Bling, I thought you got clipped.”  
I couldn’t hold them back anymore and I held her tightly. It had been way too long since I’ve had anything like this. I didn’t want to let go…  
But it would’ve been too awkward. She let go and got a good look of me. “What happened to you?”  
I calmed myself down and told her honestly.  
“I don’t even know. I just woke up one day and I looked like this.”  
She blinked, looking me up and down.  
“That’s so weird…Why didn’t you tell someone?” Seriously? Did I need to explain why?  
“Would they have honestly believed me?”  
“Yea-…Okay, good point. Where have you been? House?”  
“Out in the streets.”  
She nodded slowly “Ah…fuck, Bling, that’s a real bad spot. You’re lucky there ain’t any SS here. Well, why don’t you head back out there and eat, and afterwards I’ll get off my shift and show you a safe house I have here in town? It’s the best I can get ya.”  
Are you starting to see why I didn’t see her as a cold-blooded terrorist?  
“Thanks, I really appreciate that.”  
“No sweat, your name is still Bling, ain’t it?” I wasn’t too sure about that, honestly.  
“Yeah, I guess.”  
“You guess? Did you change your name?”  
“Well since I no longer look like ‘Bling’, yeah.”  
“Alright, fair enough, what’s your name?” I told her what name I went by. “Mel? Come up with that yourself?” Was it really that bad?  
“Why? Sounds dumb?”  
“No, it’s plain…Then again, I’m Silvia, so I guess I can’t throw stones.” She shrugged.  
“Eh. I should probably head back out there before Danny eats the photos off the menus.”  
“Heh, don’t worry,” She went about putting her make-up back on. “After my shift I’ll take real good care of you guys. It’s what friends do right?”  
“Yeah.” I left her to do her thing and rejoined Danny on the table. Not long afterwards, NightSwift, with her make-up on and her mane pinned back up, came back out to take our orders.  
Danny tried to order one of everything off the menu, but I chose a meal for him. NightSwift just smiled and laughed at his efforts and handed some crayons and a coloring page to him to keep him busy while we wait for our food. I looked out the window and saw some storm clouds rolling in and the wind picking up speed, the echo of thunder resonated dully in the distance.  
After a little bit, my focus got disrupted by NightSwift skidding into view with our food placed in two large trays.  
“And here you go!” She carefully placed the hot and fresh food in front of us. I thanked her and stopped Danny from digging in.  
“It’s still hot, sweetie.” He let out a whine in disappointment.  
“Your mom’s right kiddo, here.” NightSwift took an empty cup, showing it to Danny, then covered the top and shook it. She then set the cup down and when she uncovered the top, the cup was full of chocolate milk.  
“Ta da! This stuff is nice and cold little buddy.”  
Danny looked at it in awe. “Wow!”  
NightSwift winked at me and skated away. After letting the food cool we started eating. It was very nice, high quality food. NightSwift stopped by every now and then to refill our glasses. Danny started picking up the pace a little. Poor kid hasn’t had food this good before.  
“Sweetie, slow down. You’ll choke on it if you don’t chew it.”  
That was when we heard a loud clash of thunder as a flag pole down the street got struck by lightning in a blinding flash. Danny let out a startled scream and I quickly looked out to see the rain starting to fall. The wind didn’t look like it was going to let up. The storm rattled the windows and swept up rubbish while we ate. When we got done, I flagged down NightSwift, who got off work to join us.  
“Ych, rotten weather out there.”  
“Yeah, no kidding.” Danny yawned and I looked to see him rubbing his eyes. “Apparently it’s not enough to keep him from being sleepy, though.”  
NightSwift grinned. “Ahh, he’s a cutie…Erm, I mean if you’re a mom, that is.”  
“He came out of my womb, so yeah.” Don’t worry, at this state Danny’s too tired to make out what we’re even saying.  
“I figured, he’s got your good looks. Ready?”  
“I guess we’re as ready as we’ll ever be.” I take Danny in my arms and got up from my seat. NightSwift put her jacket over us to shield us from the storm.  
“Great! Follow me.”  
“We’re right behind you.”  
She led me out into the storm and to a spooky-looking abandoned motel in the middle of the city. The building creaked and groaned in the storm. She then led me to the side of the building where an old semi sits. She helped me into the truck, which turned out to be the secret entrance into the motel.  
“It’s pretty well hidden, I’ll admit.”  
“Thanks. DON’T go through the front or back doors, they’re rigged with teleportation spells.” Inside the place was dusty but decently well kept. In the middle of the gutted room was a mattress near a shrouded radiator along with a couch, easy chair, coffee table, and a rug. “And here’s home! It’s not much, but there is more furniture around here. This is just what I threw together.”  
“Thanks again for this. I really appreciate it.”  
“Eh, don’t mention it…Say, who’s the father?” Oh, boy…It was too late in the night to be telling the whole story, so I just left it at this:  
“Nobody important.” I set Danny down on the mattress so that he can sleep.  
“…Mm. Anyways, feel free to make yourself at home. There’s other foodstuffs and medical supplies scattered around here.”  
“Alright.”  
We said our goodbyes and she left us in our new home. I was beat, so I joined Danny on the mattress. It was way better than the concrete of the alleyways we were used to sleeping in.  
It wasn’t long before we fell asleep.  
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If you need context, read the stories here in order:  
www.deviantart.com/billy2345/a…  
www.deviantart.com/theblingdsh…  
www.deviantart.com/theblingdsh…  
Yes, two lost friends finally reunite after two long years. What will be next in Mel’s story? Who knows?  
NightSwift (c) billy2345  
Story was written collaboratively by billy2345 and myself.  
Art (c) me