Chakra’s internal clock woke her as soon as the morning sun started to lighten the sky. She ate a simple breakfast of carrots -bought from the local market- and prepared for the day.  
She stood outside of her tent, waving and smiling to anypony who walked through the fairgrounds and looked her way. For the first time since she arrived in Gallup, Chakra didn’t have a single customer all morning, or throughout the early afternoon.  
The day dragged on, until the unicorn could easily tell that the sun was starting its descent from the sky. After standing around all day, she was incredibly bored, and her urge to leave this dried-up town, in search for a new source of income had been restored. She took the wooden sign off of her tent, hoping that ponies would get the message that she was closing early. Then, she trotted off towards the racetrack.  
As she drew closer, Chakra recognized a white unicorn lingering by the edge of the track. She had seen this effenimate stallion a few days ago. Although, she couldn’t remember his name, and just remembered that it had something to do with candy.  
Chakra lingered a short distance away from the other unicorn, hoping not to draw his attention while she scanned the surrounding area looking for Falcon. After a few moments, she started to feel awkward again, still unsure why she wanted to ask this mare, when she could really ask anypony else in town. Not to mention, she wasn’t wearing her cape, and the longer she stood here, out in the open, the more likely it became that all of Gallup would notice her and guess what she was doing. A gentle voice finally shook her back to reality.  
“Hey there. Looking for somepony in particular?” the candy horse -Chakra finally remembered his name was Peppermint- was looking at her with curious blue eyes.  
Chakra quietly cleared her throat, before speaking with an aire that did not mirror the nervous thoughts which had just been swirling in her mind. “As a matter of fact, I just wanted to ask Falcon a couple of questions. Is she still around?”  
Peppermint’s face lifted into a somewhat smug-looking grin as he said, “You’re in luck. She usually goes home after training, but today she wanted to stick around and talk to you.” He trotted closer to Chakra as he spoke, then murmured to her with a sideways glance. “She’s down at the fairground’s showers, if you want to go and join her.”  
Chakra’s ears laid back, and a rear hoof stamped in involuntary annoyance, before Peppermint spoke again.  
“Only joking! Just guard her stuff, I’ll go get her.”  
Chakra barely had time to question why a pair of saddlebags needed to be “guarded” before she heard familiar heavy hoofbeats.  
“Oh goody, the showmare’s here. You taking your act on the road now?” Chakra didn’t need to be psychic to pick up on Raceway’s bad mood.  
“I just want to speak to Falcon.”  
“Mmhmm, well, it’s a good thing you two are ‘speaking’ then. Our ‘star athlete’ could use some stress relief before the big event.”  
“You don’t know anything.” Chakra’s sudden feeling of defensiveness overrode the small voice within that told her she shouldn’t talk back to a stallion of Raceway’s stature. Chakra was quite sure that Falcon didn’t see her that way, but Raceway persisted in a whisper.  
“Oh yeah? Well, what I DO know, is that there are a lot of mares around, but do you see her trying to impress any of them? Nope, just the flashy, new showpony. Probably because you’re guaranteed to not be around long, so she won’t have to care about hurting your feelings when she’s done with you.”  
The little unicorn felt a hot, prickling anger inside, but kept her mouth shut. Her silence was partially to discourage Raceway from speaking any longer, and partially because she was surprised. She had heard much worse from strangers before, especially in big cities, but she was able to ignore those insults, or shrug them off. However, his suggestion that Falcon was using her… that actually stung.  
After a moment, Falcon and Peppermint could be seen returning towards the track. Chakra didn’t spare a glance for Raceway, as the sound of his wide, heavy hooves assured her that he was leaving. Good riddance.  
“Hey there,” Falcon called when they drew close, “I was hoping to talk to you.”  
Peppermint turned away with a quick, “I’ll let you two chat,” and then walked back towards the tangle of buildings that made up Gallup.  
Chakra cleared her throat before speaking, “I wanted to talk to you too. I was wondering if you could suggest which nearby town would be best to travel to next.”  
“What? Wait, why do you want to move on so soon?”  
“Well, business dried up. I didn’t have a single customer today. I really can’t stay in one place too long, or I won’t be able to support myself.”  
Falcon became uncharacteristly shy and quiet for a few moments, which caused Chakra to look at her curiously. The mare seemed to be struggling to say something.  
“I…. Well, you see, I had some thoughts on that.” She paused for a long moment, seeming to choose her words carefully, while Chakra’s curiosity grew. “Since you’re kinda living out of your tent, I just…. I thought maybe you’d like to borrow my couch?”  
Chakra didn’t respond immediately. Perhaps it was just Raceway’s mockery, but she was suddenly wary of Falcon’s intentions.  
Falcon quickly stammered to explain herself. “I know you’re probably gonna want to say no, but can you really turn down a soft place to sleep, and some nice meals - that you don’t have to buy - for a couple days? I mean, come on, you should at least stay until the race this Sunday.”  
“Well…” Chakra muttered, “I’ll admit, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity… if as many ponies are coming as you say.”  
“Well, I can’t predict the future,” Falcon said, her smile growing more relaxed.  
Chakra smiled in return, “I suppose it would be alright to take a few days off. Just until Sunday.”  
The pair packed up Chakra’s tent, as she was too paranoid from the road to just leave it, and her wagon, unattended for long. Before leaving the fairgrounds, they made sure that the small sign that had been staked into the ground was replaced, where it would be easily seen. It now read “Reserved for Chakra Gem - until Sunday.” Hopefully, this would ensure that nopony thought she had left town early, and she would still have the space to set up in before the race.