The sun had finally begun its descent, taking the humid heat with it. Lemon had begun to wonder if it ever would, but it seemed Celestia was obliging to the lemon farmer’s needs and the unicorn got to work. She pulled herself up from couch, straightening the blue sundress as she did. It had served her very well these past few hot weeks, the light fabric proving to he a lifesaver.

The yellow unicorn grabbed her matching watering can off the kitchen counter and filled it from the sink, mixing in the secret ingredients as the water filled the can. The recipe had been past down through her family for generations, ensuring their lemons had a distinctive sweetness that blended in with the sour fruit decedantley. Or that’s what her grandmother had claimed. In truth, the recipe was little more than sugar water, but no one needed to know that.

Satisfied with her brew, Lemon scooped the can up in one hand and headed to the foyer, humming a tuneless melody to herself as she did. She stepped towards toe yellow boots sitting by the door, looking as immaculate as anything she owned. She began to slip her foot in them, graceful as ever.

And then the door exploded.

Well, that may have been an exaggeration, but at the moment it felt perfectly accurate. Lemon jumped back, a shrill squeak of surprised escaping her lips from both the shock and the pain as she landed squarely on her rump. The watering can went flying from her hands, its contents splattering over the wood floor. As Lemon gathered her senses, she looked up at the intruder and frowned.

In the doorway stood her housemate, Golden Gear, in all her greasemonkey glory. Her jumpsuit seemed to have collected a few new tears today, and both her boots and gloves had a thick layer of something black and slimy on them. Naturally, Gear couldn’t be happier. The mare’s fur was a dirty rust color, contrasting heavily with her bright gold hair and tail. Lemon secretly wondered if her fur had always been that color or if the grime of the machine shop had soaked into it permanently over the years.

Golden looked down at her disgruntled housemate, her smile still beaming. “What are you doing inside on a day like this? Come on, let’s go!” Lemon snorted, annoyed. “That was my plan…” Golden ethowever had either not heard her or didn’t care. Without warning, she bent over and grabbed Lemon’s arm, dragging her up on her feet and pulling her out the door. Lemon was able to do little more than squeak out a few protests, only able to slow down her kidnapper enough to grab her boots before she was carried off to the great outdoors.