Meeting the locals

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I was slowly becoming aware of a dull headache as I woke up, the likes of which I wasn’t unfamiliar with. I was also becoming aware of the fact I was laying down on and covered by something soft, and I was comfortably warm, all of which helped take my mind off the dull headache. I also noticed that my whole body felt strange. It still felt human, and a quick joint test confirmed that everything bent quite normally, with the only impediment being the slight stiffness that came with waking up.

I set to work opening my eyes next, a task made slightly difficult with sleep still in them. I brought a hand up and rubbed my eyes to clean them out. Once they were cleared, opening my eyes was a lot easier, and the sight that greeted my eyes was a deep violet, opaque glass-like roof. Part of it was lit up brighter than the rest, and I followed the glow to a glass balcony door. Outside, I saw the sun over some rolling hills, either rising or setting. I couldn’t tell which it was.

I suddenly heard knocking at the door and a female voice ask, “Excuse me, but may I come in?” In the following silence before I answered, I was able to make out a few voices talking amongst themselves, and they sounded female too.

I kept my silence brief before answering. “Yes, come in.” I was stunned at the sound of the voice that came out of my mouth. It wasn’t mine, but it sounded kind of familiar. I couldn’t immediately place it though.

The door opened into the room, and I was stunned once again. The being that walked in was a purple pegasus with a horn on its head. And then I was stunned yet again when it spoke. “Are you alright? You took a nasty fall.” The voice that came out of it was female, and she sounded concerned. “Then again, I suppose crashing through the castle and getting hit on the head by a metal case is a bit worse than nasty. But you survived, so that’s good, right? Perhaps you could tell us how you got here and where you’re from? There’s so much we could learn from each other and oh sweet Celestia, I’m rambling again. Sorry. How about you tell me your name?”

“Uh, what?”

“Your name. The term others use to refer to you or call for your attention.”

“What’s yours?”

“My name is Twilight Sparkle.”

“I’m. . . Uh, my name is. . .” I wracked my brain for my name, but it kept coming up blank. “I think I forgot my name.”

“Amnesia? That’s not good. We need to figure out a proper name for you. Do you know of anything else you may have forgotten?”

“Um. . . My wi-fi password. But that was long before I came here, so that shouldn’t count. Besides, how would I know what I’ve forgotten?”

Twilight thought it over for a bit. “You said you forgot a password, so you know you forgot that. Was it an important password?”

“Yes and no. But that doesn’t matter.” I sat up and noticed that there was some extra weight to my chest. Intrigued, I looked down, part of me knowing what I would see, another part really hoping that it was something else not attached to me.

The moment I saw the two round masses on my chest (and the thankful confirmation that I had clothes on. They looked familiar too), my breaths became shallow. I knew those weren’t supposed to be there. I cautiously poked one of them and confirmed that they were indeed real. I heard the horned pegasus saying something, but I wasn’t paying attention. I lay back down and brought the blanket up to my neck as I told myself that that did not happen.

I barely registered the sound of the horned pegasus’s hooves leaving the room, and I barely heard the door close and another set of hooves approaching the bed a minute later. After the hooves stopped, I heard a soft fwoosh and felt something land by my legs. Whatever it was walked up along my side, and in a few seconds, a soft yellow equine face framed by a very nice pink mane showed up in my vision. I turned to look into her soft blue eyes and felt a sense of calmness come over me. Despite that, I still kept the blanket over me. Then, she spoke.

“Is something wrong? Does anything hurt?” Her voice was one so sweet and kind, angels would be envious. So sweet and kind was her voice, and her concern for me so apparent, I couldn’t help but answer.

“Nothing hurts.” I wanted to stop there, but I found myself continuing. “It’s just that I’m female now, and I used to be male. And I have some suspicions about who I look like. On top of that, I can’t even remember my name.” Some of my guts had been spilled, but I still had some more left to spill. “I’m worried about my friends back home, and I’m worried about what will happen to me here. And here I am, telling all my problems to a yellow pony-”

“Pegasus” she corrected.

“-A yellow pegasus who may as well be the greatest interrogator and therapist in the world.” I stopped to take a few breaths. “Am I just scared?”

“Yes, you are scared. And I know just how to help. All you have to do is sit up.”

I sat back up and let the blankets fall. After a second, I felt myself get embraced in a hug. It felt weird, considering my new physiology, but the niceness of the hug overpowered the weirdness, and I hugged back. This pegasus was very huggable, and I felt myself relaxing very quickly.

Eventually, the hug was broken, much to my dismay. “Can you walk?” she asked me.

“I think so. Could you move so I can get out?”

“Oh, sorry” the yellow pegasus said before floating up and backwards off the bed and onto the floor. “Please don’t worry about asking me for help.”

I nodded in acknowledgement before extracting myself from the blankets. I saw my legs, and their shape and clothing pointed in the same direction as my other strong suspicions. “Do you know if there’s a mirror in here?” I got out of the bed and stood up. I felt a bit taller than before, and I certainly stood over the pegasus.

“Oh, yes. There’s a few in Twilight’s bathroom” the yellow pegasus said while pointing towards a particular door, though it looked more like part of a bookshelf. I went inside and closed the door, the darkness lasting for only a moment before the room seemed to gain its own lighting from sources I couldn’t see by some sort of sorcery.

It didn’t take long for me to find a full length mirror, though it was kind of short, so I had to crouch a bit. What I saw in the mirror was what I had suspected: Yang Xiao Long. I felt my legs give out from the surprise, and the Yang in the mirror did the same thing.

I felt that the most appropriate thing to do was curl up on the floor and try to deny everything. I tried denying the heat of summer once, after negotiations with it failed. It didn’t work at the time, and it still wasn’t working at that moment.

I don’t know how long I was there, but the yellow pegasus came in eventually, concerned for me and using those interrogation and therapy tricks to calm me down again and get me to a sitting position.

“Do you need another hug?” she asked. I didn’t hesitate on her offer and, without standing up, I pulled her into a hug. From my spot on the floor, I could still see the mirror, and the Yang in it was hugging the same pegasus I was.

“I’ve figured out a name.”

“That’s good. What’s your name?”

“Yang. Yang Xiao Long.”

“That sounds. . . unique.” Once again, the hug was broken. “Oh, the girls wanted me to tell you that you’re invited to join us for breakfast.”

At the mention of breakfast, I felt and heard my stomach growl. “I’d say I agree with you, but I think my stomach did that already. Please lead the way.”

The pegasus and I stood up and she led the way. My pace was slow because of my hunger, and so I kept a hand on the wall. Part way there, I stopped and lay on the floor for a minute, the hunger doing its thing where I couldn’t move very well. The pegasus (I made a mental note to learn her name) showed her concern, but I told her to just wait and give me a minute. While I stayed there on the floor, just breathing, she did not leave my side. I wouldn’t have minded if she went on ahead, and was about to say she could, when I suddenly remembered that she knew the way to the food, and I didn’t.

After a minute, I felt the pains dissipate to a dull sensation, and I got back up with no problem. After she made sure I was alright, the pegasus resumed leading me. It didn’t take long for the smell of baked goods to reach my nose, the smell both delightful and invigorating.

We walked into a large room that I considered a banquet hall before a dining room with how spacious it was. Off in a corner, I saw Twilight and four other ponies, with coats of white, pink, orange, and light blue, along with manes of violet, dark pink, blonde, and rainbow respectively. The rainbow one caught my attention, but didn’t hold it for long when I felt my stomach growl again.

“Ah, Fluttershy, you’re back.” the white one said, unwittingly telling me the name of the pegasus who had been so helpful. I had to wonder what kind of name it was. It was a nice name, but it didn’t sound like any kind of name I’d have come up with.

“Hi girls” Fluttershy said. “Our friend here has a name now.” She sat down on a cushion at the rather low table and I followed suit. She then turned to face me. “Would you tell them your name? Please?”

“Yang. Yang Xiao Long” I said. “Now, where’s the food? I’m starving.”

“Pinkie?” Twilight asked the pink pony. What an appropriate name for a pink pony.

“On it, Twi” Pinkie gave a sharp mock salute before dashing off with unbelievable speed, and I followed her with my gaze to what was probably the kitchen door. After the door stopped swinging back and forth, I heard her say “The food’s over here, Yang.” I turned back and saw the table covered with a plethora of breakfast goods, and Pinkie back at her spot at the table.

I looked between her and the kitchen door. “How had she? When did she?” I could feel my thought processes jamming up, and they were raspberry flavored.

A muffin with raspberries in it was suddenly stuffed into my mouth, knocking me out of my stupor. It was warm and soft, like it just came out of the oven. On top of that, it also stuck together very well, with practically no crumbs, something that I was quietly thankful for. Crumbs would have been awkward enough if I were alone at that moment.

“Oh, Yang” Twilight said. “I haven’t introduced you to my friends yet. The pegasus who helped you is Fluttershy. She takes care of all kinds of animals, and is really good at calming them down.”

“I still think she should be an interrogator or therapist” I thought.

“The white unicorn is Rarity. I think you two will get along quite well.”

“On what grounds?”

“The orange earth pony is Applejack. She’s a farmer and grows the best apples I have ever had.”

“Maybe later.”

“The light blue pegasus is Rainbow Dash, the fastest pegasus in Equestria and Ponyville’s weather manager.”

“Weather manager?”

“And finally, there’s Pinkie Pie. She simply is.”

“Huh?”

“And what about yourself, Twilight dear?” Rarity asked her. “Surely you could tell Ms. Yang a bit about yourself, no?” That was one more thing I would have to get used to: people addressing my by my new and not original on my part name.

“Oh, yes. I’m Twilight Sparkle, the princess of friendship and magic. I live in and own this castle. I’m still getting used to it a bit. And while it’s on my mind, how did you come up with your new name? It sounds like one that would take some thought to come up with.”

“I’ll keep it short, since there’s food here” I said. “I used to be male, I put on these bracelets, got sucked through some kind of portal, and showed up here like this. What I look like now is a character from a show I used to watch. I also can’t remember my old name, so I just chose her name.” I followed the end of the explanation by grabbing a slice of what smelled like banana nut bread, spreading what looked and smelled like butter on it, and taking a bite. Much to my delight, it was banana nut bread and butter as I recognized it. It also held together nicely, like the raspberry muffin did.

“Oh my” Rarity said. “That sounds positively dreadful, darling.” Her face went from one of concern to one of realization to one of slight mischief. “Say, darling?”

I didn’t like that face or her tone. “Yes?”

“You could stay in the guest bedroom at my boutique.”

“What.” An offer like that out of the blue was very unusual.

“I won’t charge you anything, since you don’t have any money.”

“Well, that’s a nice thing to do.”

“I’ll just need you to model occasionally. Your clothes are very interesting, and I can feel the ideas of what I could make for you growing in my head. Twilight, do you have any pencils and paper around here?” A small cup of sharpened pencils and a stack of paper appeared in front of Rarity with a violet flash of light. “Thanks dear” Rarity said to Twilight before her horn lit up with a blue glow, a similar one pulling out all of the pencils and a lot of the paper, which then started drawing. “Yang, could you stand up so I can see all of you?”

“Why should I?” I asked back as I ate another piece of banana nut bread with butter. It was very good.

“So I can make full sketches for you. I have lots of ideas that I’m sure you’d like.”

“And if I say no?”

“Then I’ll just have to find out what to do to make you say yes. Or I can wait.”

That gave me some food for thought, and she seemed to realize it. I thought it over as I went for some orange slices.

After a few seconds, I asked for one of the pencils and a blank piece of paper, which were floated over to me. Grabbing the items from the glow felt a bit tingly. Once I had them, I set them down and started writing down my ideas.

Eventually, I finished it. “Here’s my list of conditions for me to model for you. Are you ready to hear it, Ms. Rarity?”

Rarity looked up from her sketches. “Hm? Oh, go ahead.”

“Wait a minute!” Twilight floated over her own piece of paper and brought up an inkwell and feather quill in a violet flash. “Go ahead. I’ll record this so it can be referenced later.”

I cleared my throat for no particular reason and began. “I, Yang Xiao Long, will model for Ms. Rarity at any feasible time under the following conditions:

“One: Free room and board. Does Ms. Rarity find this condition acceptable?”

“I already offered those, so yes.” I noted her answer. The scratching of quill on paper came from in front of Twilight.

“Two: I will be able to provide input on all designs meant for me. Is this condition acceptable?”

“I suppose so.” Once again, the scratching sound.

“Three: Once every fortnight, Ms. Rairity will offer at least one free outfit of my design. Is this acceptable?”

“A small price to pay for inspiration. I just hope it doesn’t turn into the dress incident again.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll let you have a say in the designs. What was the dress incident?”

“That. . .” Twilight started as she looked at everyone else. “That is something we’d rather not discuss.”

“Then I shall remain eternally curious. Four: upon my securing a job outside the boutique, it will take priority over modeling. Acceptable?”

“That’s certainly not unreasonable.”

“What does Rarity get though?” Rainbow Dash said. “That sounds like a bunch of demands.”

“Hold it, sugarcube” Applejack said. “I don’t think she’s done yet.”

“And I’m not” I confirmed. “I was just about to get to what I give in return.

“In exchange for the above accommodations, I will model on demand, barring a job or something else coming up. I will help with errands once I learn the layout of the town. I will help as needed to the best of my ability around the boutique. I will not interrupt any work going on unless it’s a critical matter. I find these terms acceptable, but do you think these are adequate, Ms. Rarity?”

“So long as you also stop calling me Miss, we will be fine.”

“I can do that.”

“Alright” Twilight said, a second piece of parchment in her glow, the quill scratching on it with amazing speed. “I have written up an official contract based on what I’ve heard. Real ink and paper. Just sign it and it will be official.” The paper floated out between us. Rarity was quick to sign it with a quill, which she floated over to me. I didn’t bother rereading it and just put my name on the line.

“Official?” I asked.

Twilight reclaimed the contract. “As a princess, I can write official contracts. And I can waive a few of the taxes that would normally be applied for something like this.”

“Taxes?” Rarity and I asked at the same time.

“Yeah. I love reading all kinds of literature and legal documents, but even I will admit the tax codes are convoluted. And I’m the one the other princesses turn to for advice on the matters of the taxes.”

“Who decides the taxes around here?” I asked.

“The stuffy nobles in Canterlot. I’m doing everything I can to simplify it, but it’s still not easy. At least the two sensible nobles aren’t adding anything.”

I took a moment to marvel at her supposed work. “Good job. You keep at that. When can I see the boutique?” I wolfed down another slice of the delicious banana nut bread and grabbed another two slices. That stuff was good, even by itself.

Off to the new home

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It turned out that Rarity’s boutique was called Carousel Boutique, and looked kind of like a carousel. It was also her house, apparently. The whole building looked like something out of a little girl’s cartoon. Actually, the whole town did.

Speaking of the town, it was full of ponies in many different colors, both from pony to pony and on the individuals themselves. Most of them were earth ponies, but I did see some pegasi and unicorns scattered throughout. They also saw me. According to Rarity, the only reason they weren’t just running inside and boarding up the doors and windows as tended to happen when someone odd came to town was because she was with me, and her words and actions carried a bit of weight.

“Here we are: Carousel Boutique, where everything is chic, unique, and magnifique” Rarity said with a flourish as we went inside. The the inside also looked like something out of a girls cartoon, with dark purples and other pastel colors dominating, along with small decorations that, while a bit painful for me to really look at, were fairly out of the way. There were also pony shaped mannequins. Poniquins? “The stairs in the back lead upstairs. The guest room is the first one on the right, mine’s at the end of the hall, and the bathroom is between those rooms. The first door on the left is a small storage closet, which you can freely use, and the second door is the one to Sweetie Belle’s room.”

“Sweetie Belle?”

“Oh, I must not have mentioned her yet. She’s my little sister. She and her friends just got her cutie marks.”

“Ri~ight. I’ll just check out the guest bedroom now.” I made my way up the stairs, which were long enough for me to step on, but not as tall as I was used to. I had to keep my steps small as not to trip on the stairs. I considered taking the steps two at a time, but decided to try it later.

I got to the top of the stairs and saw a short hallway with five doors. The last door and the one to the left of that were off limits, as far as I was concerned. I first looked in the door on the left, seeing only a few sparse winter accessories. Considering that the temperature outside was fairly decent, they probably wouldn’t see any use for a while.

After closing the closet, I went down to the bathroom. It looked like a regular bathroom, with the walls being painted a calming violet and everything inside being pristine. Everything was also oddly proportioned, at least for me. For the ponies, I was sure everything was alright.

Once I had looked over the bathroom, I went to the guest room, and I was blown away. The room was so nice and well made, it put some higher end hotel rooms I’d been in to shame. It was so immaculate, I started to feel kind of bad just setting foot inside.

I don’t know how long I was standing there, but I was eventually brought out of my trance when Rarity poked my midsection. “Yang? Dear, are you okay?”

“Huh? What?” I shook my head before continuing. “Oh, yeah. It’s just that I've never seen a room this nice, and I’m almost afraid to walk into it.”

“Thanks, darling. But please, do walk in. If you need a small push to go in, I’ll help you out.”

I stood there and thought about her offer. I must have been thinking too long because I felt something hit my back with enough force to send me flying into the room, where I landed on my front. I didn’t hit any of the furnishings, and the carpet was very soft, so it didn’t hurt much. It did give me a brief reminder of my still new female form.

“Now that you’re inside, what do you think?” Rarity politely asked as she came in.

I got to my feet, noticing that, despite the force of whatever hit me, I didn’t feel any pain, which was weird. I looked around and took in the extravagant room. It had its own closet, which looked fairly large, certainly bigger than the one across the hall was. The huge bed had a canopy over it, the dresser was covered with all kinds of detailed carvings, and a fancy desk with a fancy chair sat in a corner by the window. All the wood on them was white, which didn’t sit well with me. “Still extravagant. It just needs to be toned down a bit. I still feel kind of bad being in here.”

“Hmm. How about this: while you’re here, you can redecorate the guest room however you’d like. However, I will not lend hoof, horn, or bit to help you.”

“Bit?”

“Money.”

“Sounds reasonable. Does redecoration include. . . furniture modification?”

“Modifications? Such as?”

“The posts on this bed. I don’t like them or the canopy. Same with a lot of the colors here.”

“I’ll allow paint and rearrangement. I won’t let you do anything else to the furniture or room.”

“Aww.”

“Now don’t be like that. I’m sure you’ll get used to it. Besides, the bed looks big enough for you.

“Anywho, could you come downstairs? I’d like to get your measurements so I can make properly fitted clothes for you. Celestia knows how bad an improperly fitted outfit feels.”

“I can understand that. Let’s get this over with.”

The measurements were done, and I was curled up on the guest bed, feeling kind of bad, both emotionally and physically.

It started out simply enough, with the tape measure floating next to me and Rarity recording the numbers. However, she had to get a bit closer with the tape, and that was when things started getting problematic, especially as she got closer to. . . certain areas. I’m not sure which measurement she was going for,, but something in me snapped and I grabbed the tape measure from her magic and pulled it apart. I think it was something she was prepared for, since she pulled out another one from who knows where and flew it over towards me. I snagged it and pulled it apart too. This continued for three more tape measures, at which point she stopped and we cooled down a bit.

After I managed to articulate an explanation for why I thought I was destroying her tape measures when they got too close to those areas, Rarity got a somewhat grim look on her face. She apparently knew a spell that could obtain every single physical measurement of somebody at once and record it in her mind, but the actual useage of the spell was not entirely pleasant for her or the subject being measured. She’d only cast it once before, but she refused to go into detail. After thinking it over, I talked Rarity into using it on me. The winning argument from me was the preservation of her apparently high end tape measures.

All I had to do was let myself get hit by the spell’s beam, and so I did. I quickly regretted it, though I couldn’t back out at that point. It felt like thousands of tiny snakes crawling over, in, and through every part of my body. EVERY. SINGLE. PART. It felt like it lasted for almost an hour before it stopped, though it was apparently only ten seconds based on the clock. Once it was over, the phantom sensations kicked in, causing me to swat at my body randomly for a while before they stopped.

Rarity didn’t look much better than I did. Her mane and tail were still curled perfectly, but she was flat on her back and had a thousand mile gaze. If what I felt was any indication, she was dealing with all the lengths and angles of every internal and external bit of me. I decided to let her be and went upstairs to the guest room, where I curled up on the bed, the crawling sensations still haunting me. I also felt bad for breaking five tape measures when Rarity was doing nothing wrong. Hindsight is 20/20, and right then, it hurt like a Serious Punch to the feels. I wasn’t sure why I was being so emotional either. Maybe was because I had been turned female? I didn’t know.

I wasn’t sure how long I was there, but I heard some knocks at the door, followed by Rarity’s concerned voice. “Yang? May I come in?”

“Sure” I said. The door opened and Rarity walked in. “I would like to apologize for making you uncomforta-”

“Let me stop you right there, Rarity” I interrupted. “I was the one who really started that whole thing that led to the measurement spell. I reacted violently and pulled apart some of your tape measures out of my discomfort, and I am sorry about that.”

“At least you didn’t get all of them. But pulling them apart is an impressive feat in itself. Those were top of the line, and had the best tensile strength available. You could catch Rainbow Dash flying at high speed with a net made of them.”

“Rainbow Dash. . . She’s the one that can break the sound barrier?”

“Yes, but we’re getting sidetracked. I’m sorry for sending the tape to places you weren’t comfortable with. I never thought you’d lash out like that, Yang.”

“It was kind of a reflex. I don’t know what came over me. Back home, I was the last person to really get upset at anything, let alone angry. Disappointed, sure, but not upset.”

“I see. Would a bit of lunch make you feel better?”

“You have something in mind?”

“There’s a cafe that makes great food not too far from here. I’m sure you could find something there that you’d like.”

“You’re sure?”

“There’s something there for everyone, even the pickiest of eaters. If nothing else, you could always make a custom order. We can leave whenever you’re ready.”

“I’ll be down in just a moment” I said, which Rarity took as her cue to leave the room. Once she was out and I heard her go down the steps, I got out of the bed and made my way over to the bathroom. I may not have had my phone anymore, but nature still found a way to call me.

“Oh, Yang, there you are. I just finished some sketches for you to. . . Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?” Rarity asked me.

“You know I used to be male, right?”

“Of course. You said so at breakfast.”

“Stallions and mares use the toilet differently, right?”

“Yes. What are you getting at? Do you need help?”

“No. After I took care of business there, I was washing my hands when I realized I had gone through the motions as if I had done it that way my whole life.”

“That’s what’s got you looking so pale?”

“Something’s messed up with my head, Rarity. I’m not complaining about not having to learn these things from scratch, but that those were my natural actions is something else entirely.”

“Hmm. I can see how disconcerting that would be.”

With no warning, a wadded up ball of paper fell from the ceiling and landed between us. Rarity picked it up and read it out loud. “Dear Rarity: please bring Yang to Sugarcube Corner after you’re done with lunch. I’ll have some chilly slices of cheesecake waiting for you two. Sincerely, Pinkie Pie.

“Well, that certainly explains how this got here.”

“I heard every word, and nothing explained how it got here.” I was confused.

“Pinkie Pie, darling. Just Pinkie Pie. A piece of advice: don’t question her. Twilight did that once and got hurt. Badly. Anyways, time’s a-wasting, so let’s head out, shall we?”

Sampling some local cuisine

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The walk to the cafe was uninteresting. Fewer ponies were as wary of me as before, and the glances I saw that were in my general direction were more curious than anything. I found it strange that they would all shift their view on me that quickly, and in a positive direction as well.

Finally, after a few quiet and not exhausting minutes, we arrived at the cafe. “Here it is, darling. The Olive Branch Cafe. Whenever my mind is in turmoil, I can find some peace here. And the food is quite nice, too.”

I looked at the cafe. The building was fairly small, but in a cozy way. There were both outdoor and indoor seats available. Everything was kind of small for me, but I had quickly come to accept that. Oddly enough, the doors were about the right size compared to me. I wonder why?

“You can choose where to sit, Yang. Anywhere you want is fine.”

I looked over the seating options outside, and also took a look inside. I was about to elect for an outdoor table in the sun when a small decorative fountain inside caught my attention, and it was right by a table with two chairs. I then led Rarity inside, whence I commenced more efficient gazing upon the fountain. It was made of a medium gray stone and looked like a giant drill on the end of a simple robot arm coming out of the ground. The water flowed down the spiral channels in the drill towards the bottom, where it continued the downward spiral without physical channels at a sharper incline.

With my mind made up, I went to the table next to the fountain. Rarity picked up on my obvious intentions and sat in one of the chairs. I pulled the other one out across from her and sat in it, but the size was a bit small for me, like a kid’s chair. Even after numerous small position adjustments, I simply found it to be too awkward for me to properly sit in, so I wound up moving the chair aside and sat on my knees. The table was a little high up now, but I had managed that at some restaurants back home that had low chairs.

“You seem enraptured by that fountain, Yang. Dare I ask why?”

“It reminds me of something from home that I saw once. Something really cool. Do these fountains have titles or names?”

“What kind of decent work of art has no name? This one is called ‘Pierce the Heavens’. I honestly don’t know why it’s called that, but it seems fitting.”

I brought a hand down on the table. “I’m going to find a job, and I’m going to find a way to buy that. I want it for myself now.”

“Yang, I don’t think that’s-”

“Let me keep the dream, Rarity. Let me keep the dream.”

Rarity sighed. “If you say so. Oh, here comes our waitress.”

A neon orange earth pony mare walked up to our table seconds later. “Welcome to Olive Branch. What would you like to drink?”

“Hm. I think I’ll have the celestial tea today. Two sugarcubes please. What about you, Yang?”

I thought for a bit. “Could you make a light cinnamon tea with honey in it?”

“Of course. I’ll be back with your drinks as soon as they’re brewed.” Before leaving our table, she dropped off a couple of menus. Rarity picked hers up with her magic and I picked mine up with one hand. Less than two seconds after looking at it, I promptly introduced my face to the table.

“Yang? Are you okay?” Rarity asked.

“Peachy. Fine. Alright. A-Okay. I just found out that I can’t read a thing here.”

“Oh. Oh my. Oh, that is bad. I never thought that would happen.”

“It’s not the kind of thing you think about.” I sat back up. “So, what’s on the menu?”

“There’s appetizers, salads, sandwiches, entrees, pastas, and desserts. You can also make your own salads.”

“How about a custom salad then? Just give me the options one part at a time.”

“Alright. Lettuce, spinach, or mixed greens for the base?”

“Lettuce.”

“Choose what you want: shredded carrots, peas, broccoli, onion pieces, soft pasta, grass, beans, hay, tomato slices, pineapple. Any number of those are alright.”

“Shredded carrots, peas, and double on the soft pasta.”

“Croutons. Rye, kaiser, wheat, or white.”

I was reminded of a song with those options. “Rye.”

“Do you want shredded cheese? It’s parmesean.”

“Eh, sure. Why not.”

“And the available dressings are-”

“Not going on my salad” I politely interrupted.

“Really? No dressing? But that’s one of the most important parts of any salad!”

“Not mine, and I’m not moving on that point.”

“Oh, alright. I’ll place the order for you.”

“Thanks, Rarity.” I went back to gazing upon the fountain. I’m not sure what kind of sorcery they used to get the water to flow like that, but it was cool.

Eventually, the waitress came back and we got our tea. Rarity also made the orders, placing mine first, followed by hers, a light summer wrap. Once the waitress got the orders down and left, we drank our teas. The teas were still steaming a bit in their glasses, but I had no problem holding it, and no problem drinking it. The sweet cinnamony drink was warm, both in temperature and flavor, but neither bothered me. Back on Earth, I avoided hot foods and drinks since either the temperature hurt or the heat made my nose run, neither of which were happening now.

I also noticed that I had a slightly bigger glass than Rarity did. She explained that the cooks and brewers always had clear sight of their customers, and made what they thought to be the correct amount of food or drink, regardless of the price. Talk about good service.

While we waited for our meals, Rarity pulled out a few pieces of paper. “After I got over the spell and collected myself, I made some templates for your outfits. I know clothes are important to you, so let’s get something extra designed for you while we’re here.”

“Wait. How do you know that clothes are important?”

“Twilight has had a few. . . Adventures. We also have a friend who lives in those lands. I’ll tell you more later, but I did get to go there myself a few times, so I have a good idea of what’s what. For now, describe what you would like.”

“I want something comfortable. No stylish cuts, no unneeded openings, or patterns. Nothing too form fitting either.”

“So, you just want something plain and simple?”

“Shirt, pants, undergarments, socks, the basics. And perhaps something to sleep in.” I had no idea where that last one came from.

There was a blush on Rarity’s face for a moment before she seemed to remember something and it went away. “I can do that. The basic outfit would take the rest of the day once we’re done at Sugarcube Corner. As for something for you to wear to sleep in, I’ll see if the spa could spare us a robe for a few days. They cater to a lot of species, so we should be able to find something that fits decently enough.”

“Eh, I won’t complain.”

“Aside from your unique physiology, these clothes I’ll be making for you will be different in yet another way from what I usually make.”

“Hm? What do you usually make?”

“I usually make dresses and outfits for formal occasions, which are one of the few times we ponies actually wear clothes. Those kinds of outfits are fairly delicate. What I’m going to be making for you will have to be more durable, as you’ll be wearing them longer and more often. They’ll have to be much more durable.”

“How do you stay in business if your products are so specialized here?”

“I’m the only clothier in Ponyville, and my reputation has gotten me orders from around Equestria. I tend to get a high end order at least once per week.”

“Oh? That’s interesting. Say, I think our food’s on its way.” I saw our waitress coming our way with a tray on her back, and what definitely looked like our food on the tray. She stopped by our table and eased the tray from her back onto the table before using her mouth to grab the dishes our food was on and putting them on the table, the salad in front of me and the light summer wrap in front of Rarity.

“Is there anything else I can do?” the waitress asked us.

“I believe we’re fine” Rarity said. “We’ll let you know when we need something.”

“Alright. Enjoy your meals” she left us, and I looked down at my salad. The soft pasta, a spiral shaped kind that I have no idea what the proper name is, took up a good portion of the dish. Then again, I did order it double. The carrot shreds also stood out, along with the rye croutons and shredded cheese. The peas kind of blended in with the lettuce, but they were there. I picked up my fork, stabbed part of the salad, and pulled out a bit of everything. I took a bite and was satisfied with the salad. It wasn’t anything special, but I liked it that way. Fancy salads never sat well with my tastes.

“Yang, would you mind if I sampled your salad?” Rarity asked me, the wrap in her magic, a dainty bite missing from it. I saw onions in there, and that was all I needed to know not to get that. I think I also saw some hay.

“Go ahead” I said after swallowing the first bite and while getting another. A fork with Rarity’s glow around it found a spot in my salad before finding its way over to Rarity’s mouth.

After chewing my salad for a bit, she swallowed and thought for a bit before speaking. “It’s rather plain, and the ingredient variety does leave a bit to be desired, but it’s not bad either.”

“Such is how I like my food” I said before returning to the salad and my valiant efforts against its existence.

The meal proceeded in silence, Rarity not talking while she ate in her delicate manner and myself not talking while I ate in my not-so-delicate manner, while under a slightly disapproving glare from Rarity.

It didn’t take long for us to finish our food and drinks. We settled on a few sketches for some basic outfits before Rarity paid and we left. I made a mental note to come back here and ask about the Pierce the Heavens fountain. I wanted it.

“And now, off to Sugarcube Corner” Rarity stated. “Pinkie Pie’s there. And I have an idea of what may be in store for you as well.”

Sugarcube Corner was a gingerbread house. I’m not kidding, it looked like a real gingerbread house. I didn’t try to see if it was real gingerbread because, while I did kind of like the stuff, I wasn’t a big fan of it. I preferred snickerdoodles and shortbread cookies.

“Huh. The lights are on” Rarity observed. “I was not expecting that.”

“You were expecting them to be off?” I asked her. “Why?”

“Oh, no reason. At least none that you need to know right now.”

Rarity walked in, and I warily followed her. Beyond the saloon doors was an interior that looked like it was made more of sugar than anything else. Hardly anything here was not dessert themed. Like Rarity’s boutique, it looked like something straight from a little girls cartoon. Already, I liked the Olive Branch Cafe better, thanks to its simpler and more plain decor.

“Oh, hi Rares!” Pinkie Pie shouted from behind the counter. “I saved a spot just for you and Yang. It’s over by the open window.”

I found the open window and the table by it. I got there before Rarity, though not by much. Much to my surprise, there was a large yellow cushion on the floor on one side. There was also a rich violet one on a chair on the opposite side of the table. It didn’t take a genius to figure out which of us was to sit where.

The cushion was quite comfortable, even though I still had to sit on my knees. It also brought me up to a more comfortable level with the table, which was nice.

We couldn’t have been sitting for more than fifteen seconds when an explosion of sound and confetti came from my right. Naturally, I looked over there, and saw Pinkie Pie wearing a party hat and the rest of the bakery suddenly covered in bright party decorations. She threw some confetti into the air (how she did that with hooves is beyond me) and yelled “SURPRISE!”

I don’t know if she said anything after that because I immediately jumped out the open window and nailed a landing on the ground a few feet down. Before I could start running, a whole slew of pastel ponies popping party poppers, including Pinkie Pie, yelled out “SURPRISE!” and I stumbled back against the building. I think I was hyperventilating.

The next thing I knew, I was in a hug. I felt the soft wings and saw the light pink mane and I quickly calmed down. “How could you?” a soft, yet firm voice said. It was Fluttershy’s voice, and she did not sound happy. “Yang is scared right now. Everypony back off and calm down.”

Amazingly, everyone present backed off and quieted down. Fluttershy did not back away, as she maintained the hug and soothed me. I felt the worst of my adrenaline rush and fear melt away, though they didn’t entirely vanish. My breathing was still audible and kind of shaky, and I’m fairly certain that if Fluttershy were to let go of me, I’d simply fall on my side on the ground with all the grace of a cinder block.

I don’t know how long I was in the hug, nor when I brought my arms up to return it, but I eventually broke it and sat against the bakery, a few tears coming down the side of my face. “Feel better, Yang?” Fluttershy asked me.

“A bit” I answered. “What just happened?”

“A Pinkie Pie Surprise Party. She does it for everyone new to Ponyville. They usually go off quite well, but I guess it didn’t work this time.”

“Yang?” Pinkie asked me as she walked into my sight. She sounded and looked kind of sad. “I’m sorry for scaring you like that. None of us thought you’d react that way. I know an apology won’t fix everything, but I hope an apology and a dozen fresh cookies will be a good start.” In her hooves was a paper bag. I tentatively grabbed the bag and set it next to me. “Also, Yang? Welcome to Equestria. We all hope you can find some joy here.”

I nodded back and Pinkie walked away, the crowd quietly dispersing as well. A moment later, a concerned Rarity showed up. “Are you going to be alright, Yang?”

“In a bit. I just need some time to breathe.”

“Take as much time as you need. Fluttershy? Once Yang collects herself, could you show her to the boutique? I need to run some important errands and make some extra clothes for her. I’m sure you understand.”

“Of course, Rarity. I’ll do what I can to help her.”

“I’ll have to properly thank you later for this favor somehow. Ta ta, dears” Rarity said before walking off. I just stayed where I was. The ground and bakery wall were becoming a comfortable spot for me as I took less shaky breaths.

I don’t know how long I just sat there, staring off into space, but I eventually stood up, as did Fluttershy. “Which way to the boutique?”

“Oh, it’s this way” Fluttershy said before leading me away from the bakery and towards the boutique. I made sure to grab my dozen cookies before I followed her.

Why visit the moon when the moon can visit you?

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For the whole walk to the boutique, I was glancing everywhere, not sure where Pinkie might pop out from. If there’s one thing I had figured out about her by now, it’s that she has some kind of impossible set of skills.

Fluttershy caught on to my wary glances for the pink mare. “Pinkie won’t pop up like she usually does, Yang. She learned her lesson already.”

“Well, I can’t be sure of that” I answered, my glances not stopping in the slightest. I just knew she could be anywhere at any time.

“Oh, I just remembered something. I have to let Discord know not to surprise you. He truly is reformed now, but he can be worse than Pinkie if today was any indication.”

I didn’t like that. I’ve never taken sudden surprises that well. I made sure my friends knew that. I was called a coward sometimes because of that, but I didn’t let it get to me, even if it was true. “So, who is this Discord guy?”

“He’s the embodiment of chaos. He was troublesome in the past, but now he’s nicer, and has actually helped us out of a few tough spots recently. He’s really nice now. Most of the time. He also looks like a bunch of creatures spliced together.”

I had trouble imagining what Discord looked like, so I gave up on that endeavor. I still kept an eye out for Pinkie.

Fluttershy continued talking. “Oh, did Rarity tell you about Opalescence?”

“Who?”

“That’s her cat. She’s really nice once she starts to like you, but can be a bit mean until then. You’re really alien to. . . well, everything here, so I don’t know how she’ll take to you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Once we got to the front door, Fluttershy simply opened it and walked in, suddenly raising a big question in my mind: If someone’s business is also their home, do you knock or just walk in? I’d have to get that clarified.

Since nothing happened when Fluttershy walked inside, I followed her without Pinkie checking. Nothing Pinkie-like happened, so I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding.

“Rarity, are you here?” Fluttershy said.

“Inspiration room, Fluttershy” Rarity said. “Yang, how are you doing? Better?”

“A bit” I said. “I don’t know if I’ll get any sleep tonight, though. I’m afraid Pinkie will show up out of nowhere again.”

“Oh. That doesn’t sound good. And it’s still your first day here in Equestria. At least, your first day fully awake.”

I suddenly imagined every waking and dreaming moment full of Pinkie randomly appearing out of all kinds of places like some kind of jack in the box yelling “SURPRISE!”. It was not something I wanted to deal with.

“Yang, how about you go take a nap?” Fluttershy suggested. “Perhaps Luna will come and help you with your worries.”

“That may take a while to do.” I suddenly imagined Pinkie popping up out of the covers next to me when I had gotten into an empty bed. “I’ll give it a try though.”

“Before you do that, Yang-” Rarity came out of a fairly well hidden door, a box in her magic. “Here’s your robe.” She floated the box over to me and I accepted it. Holding it and the cookies with one hand and opening it with the other, I saw a neatly folded white robe inside with purple trim. Certainly not my first choice of colors. “I know it will fit you fairly well, Yang. Oh, if you could lend me your clothes after you change, that would be great. I’d like to figure out just what they’re made of so I can make better clothes for you.”

“I’ll put them in this box and set it outside the guest bedroom door then.”

I hadn’t made it two steps before Rarity spoke up again. “It’s not the guest room right now. While you’re here, it will be your room, and I hope to hear you refer to it as such.”

“Alright, Rarity.” She did not interrupt my careful walk up the stairs. I was still looking out for Pinkie, but she still didn’t show up. I carefully opened the door to the guest. . . My room. Once I was sure Pinkie wasn’t there, I dashed inside and closed the door.

Rarity and Fluttershy watched Yang’s quick entrance into the guest. . . her room.

“Do you think Yang will be okay?” Fluttershy asked Rarity.

“I think time and Luna’s help will do her some good” Rarity said. “Personally, I can’t imagine what she must be going through, the poor dear.”

“Neither can I. Would you like to know what I think, Rarity?”

“Certainly” Rarity said as she looked over and prepared some fabrics. “Don’t worry about breaking my focus.”

“I think you’re doing Yang a great service. You offered her stability in a strange place, and I really believe you were the best option for her.”

“Oh? Do explain.”

“Applejack would probably have her helping around the farm fairly quickly, Rainbow lives in the clouds, Twilight’s castle is huge and can get really busy sometimes, I have all my animal friends and Discord, and we know what happened with Pinkie”

“Tragic. Just tragic. Pinkie’s heart is in the right place, but she acted too soon, in my opinion. I know we shouldn’t be talking about her behind her back like this, but I can’t help it.”

“I understand, Rarity. I also agree with you. I hope Luna can do Yang some good.”

“No need to hope, darling. Luna’s presence always helps.”

“You’re right. Oh, Yang just put the box out. Should I go get it for you, Rarity?”

“I’d appreciate that. Just put it by the inspiration room door.”

Fluttershy quickly had the box with Yang’s clothes in her hooves and was gliding down the stairs with it when Rarity finished her sentence, and so was quick to gently set the box by the door.

“Is there anything else I can help with, Rarity?” Fluttershy asked.

“Hmm. If you have any ideas for what Yang might like, I’ll keep them in mind. She wants simple designs.”

Fluttershy put a forehoof to her chin in thought. “I think colors like those on her clothes would be a good start. I also saw a black logo on one piece of her clothes. It looked like a heart with flames on it.”

“Hm. Thanks, Fluttershy. It’s always nice to have extra input.”

“Oh, it’s no problem at all. I’d better go take care of my animal friends. They love playing with Discord, and he has a great time too, but he can’t take care of them that well.”

“I remember that one incident. Have a good day, Fluttershy.”

“You too, Rarity.”

Taking off my clothes, even behind a closed door and drawn curtain, was a daunting task. Not just because I’d be facing my new self, but because I also knew deep down that Pinkie might still show up in here.

I started by taking off the Ember Celica, which had been retracted the whole time. Nothing happened when I took them off, which drove home the point of my body’s changes a tiny bit further. Still female. Still Yang.

I came to the realization that what I was facing right now was like a taking off a band-aid: it’s daunting since you know it will be unpleasant, but it’s best to do it quickly and just get it over with. Unfortunately, my clothes now were like a puzzle band-aid.

I will not describe the process of my experience undressing, but I think the best word to describe it would be ‘interesting’. Once I had everything in a semi-decent pile on the dresser, the Ember Celica separate, I pulled the robe out of the box. As I had observed before, It was white and purple, which I didn’t really care for. What I didn’t notice before was a short skirt, since it was within the folded robe. It fell onto the floor softly, but I still heard it. The skirt matched the robe’s colors and material, so it went with it nicely.

As I held the skirt, the male part of me strongly objected to putting it on. I was inclined to agree with it, but the sensible part of my mind told the male part to shut up, swallow some lightly salted pride, and just put it on, as it would be better to at least be somewhat decent with something disliked than not decent at all. I followed the sensible side’s argument and just put it on, followed by the robe, which, while it did feel like it was made for something a bit bigger than me, still fit nice enough. It was also incredibly soft.

There was one thing the male part and sensible part of my mind agreed on though: the skirt was too short for my liking. For now, I’d just have to put up with it.

As I slid the robe box out into the hall, now filled with my still new (and only) clothes, I entertained the thought of getting regular pyjamas made of the same stuff as this robe, though black and yellow would probably be a better color scheme.

I suddenly realized what I was thinking and did my best to banish the thoughts to a dungeon somewhere deep in my mind, but the idea remained. Maybe just a personal robe in those colors would suffice. Yeah.

I checked under the covers for any pink ponies, and even though the search yielded nothing, I was still cautious about climbing into the bed. I still did make the climb in, and though my borderline paranoia about Pinkie showing up slowed it down, sleep did come to me.

Ah, the beach. The most ideal place for summer relaxation. A reclined lounge chair to lay on and an umbrella to provide shade made it all better. A chilled drink in one hand simply made things perfect. However, I couldn’t help but feel that this beach was a little. . . off. Or maybe that was just me?

Despite the strange feeling, I just kept watching all the people. I took a sip of my chilled drink. It was strawberry flavored. I looked up towards the sun and felt at peace. Then the sun suddenly turned into the moon and night fell upon the now deserted beach. The temperature also started to quickly fall and I found myself starting to shiver a bit.

A dark blue pony with a mane and tail like the night sky walked into my line of sight. Aside from the mane and tail, it also had a horn and wings. I would have said something, but my teeth were too busy chattering from the still-dropping temperature.

I could only watch as the pony drew closer, and I was able to tell that it was a mare. She sat down a short distance from me and just looked into my eyes for a moment. Suddenly, her horn glowed and a dryer came up out of the sand. She opened it with her magic and pulled out a large blanket. I felt her magic lift me a bit off the beach chair before she wrapped me in the blanket. It was toasty, and I was quick to relax. “Thanks.” And my voice was Yang’s. A quick shift of my muscles also indicated the same for the body, and the sight of a lock of golden hair simply confirmed it.

“Think nothing of it. Now, could you tell me what troubles you?” the mare said. Her voice was regal, yet warm.

“First off, who are you?” I would have pointed a finger at her, but alas, the warm blanket was too powerful for such a feat to be executed. Since I couldn’t point, I settled for a gaze in her general direction.

“My apologies. I am Princess Luna. I control the moon, paint the night sky, and watch over the dreamers in Equestria at all times. I do believe it is your turn to introduce yourself.”

“I forgot my real name, so I go by Yang Xiao Long, or just Yang. It’s who I got turned into.”

Luna had a contemplative look on her face for a moment. Perhaps she was making a mental note? “Interesting. Anyways, you seem troubled. What’s on your mind?”

“Where to start?”

“How about the beginning?”

“Alright” I took a deep breath before starting. “I got sucked through a portal, leaving my friends behind, crashed through a crystal castle, woke up to find I’m not even on my planet anymore, went from male to female on the way, forgot my name, been comforted at least three times by a yellow pegasus, found myself living with a unicorn in a clothing store, found out I’m illiterate here, developed a fear of pink ponies popping up out of nowhere, and now I’m talking to a horned pegasus who can summon dryers in my dreams. And it’s still only the early afternoon of my first waking day here.”

Luna hung her head for some reason. “That does sound like a hectic day.” She then looked into my eyes again for a bit before continuing. “It seems Pinkie Pie is your biggest problem right now.”

The moment Luna uttered that name, a whole herd of Pinkies started showing up from all kinds of places. The dryer, the sand, the umbrella, each of their manes, and I swear one of them popped up from between my back and the chair I was in. I retreated down into the warm blanket, shivering despite its warmth.

I heard a number of what sounded like laser blasts and things disintegrating outside my warm cocoon. Eventually, all was silent until Luna spoke. “You can come out, Yang. The Pinkies are gone.”

I slowly made my way up from the inside of the blanket, looking around everywhere. All I saw was Luna, the sand, the waves, and the umbrella. “You’re sure?”

“They were a bit tougher to remove than some other apparitions I’ve seen in the dream realms, but they are gone. It must be serious.”

“I don’t take sudden surprises very well. She somehow managed that twice in five seconds both inside and outside the bakery. It makes my head hurt just wondering how she did it.” I brought my hands up to clutch my head, and at the same time, a large fissure appeared in the sand, a sickly purple glow coming from it. A number of smaller cracks crept out from it, expanding its area of influence.

“I can not remain here much longer, Yang. All I can say is that you should be ready to fight.”

“But I don’t know how! I’ve never fought anyone or anything before! Not even in any games.”

“You must fight. It is the only way you can save yourself and your friends.” Before Luna or I could continue, she disappeared as a wisp of smoke.

When Luna disappeared, the crack’s growth accelerated a short distance in front of me, and I couldn’t help but watch as a giant pink hoof reached out and planted itself on the beach, followed by another, and then the rest of the giant Pinkie came up, punching out even more of the beach. “SURPRISE!” she shouted before bringing a hoof down on me, the happy smile never leaving her face.

I jolted awake practically screaming my head off and scared stiff. As much as I wanted to move, I couldn’t. Not even a finger or toe would move. I wasn’t screaming for long when Rarity came in and pulled me into a hug, which quieted me down almost instantly. I was covered in a cold sweat and my breathing was ragged. Rarity was saying something, but I couldn’t make out what it was.

I heard another set of hooves approaching the room and I felt myself stiffen up. Eventually, their owner came in, and I relaxed. I don’t know who it was, but it wasn’t Pinkie Pie. Her coat was white, and her mane and tail were light lavender and pale pink with simple curls on them.

“Rarity, what was that- oh, that’s what it was” she said. Her voice was unbelievably clear. “Is there anything I can do to help her?”

“If you could get her a glass of water, that would be great.”

“Okay” she left in a hurry.

Rarity turned back to me. “Did you see Luna?”

I nodded, unable to force any words out.

“Did she help?”

I shrugged.

“That doesn’t sound good. Oh, here comes Sweetie.”

I saw the same pony come back in, a glass of water in her green magic. “I got the water, Rarity. I also got a straw, just in case.”

“Thanks, Sweetie.” Rarity broke the hug and used her magic to gently set me against the headboard before pulling over the glass of water. I reached out with both of my slightly shaky hands to grab the glass, ignoring the straw and just bringing the edge of it to my lips and drinking it all as fast as I could. My shaking hands didn’t stop shaking, but my breathing became more regulated and normal. “What happened, Yang?”

“Giant Pinkie.”

A look of understanding crossed Rarity’s face, while Sweetie’s became one of confusion. “Huh?”

“I promise I’ll explain in a bit, Sweetie. Just not here or now.” Rarity floated the glass onto the nightstand. “Yang’s just had a long day.” Well, that’s putting it lightly. I quickly hugged Rarity before getting my legs to moving again and slowly working my way out of the bed, or at least to a sitting position on the edge of it.

“How long was I asleep?” I finally asked.

“No more than thirty minutes.”

“I feel more exhausted than when I went to sleep.”

“Nightmares will do that. Did Luna tell you anything?”

I thought back on the dream. “She said I must fight to save myself and my friends.”

“Fight? Yang, from what I’ve seen of you today, you’re the last person to send into a fight, tough as you are.”

“And that’s the problem. Sure, I like watching fictional characters fight spectacular fights, but when it comes to real fights, I have all the fortitude of a piece of overcooked pasta. The fights I have been in, I was always the one getting beat up. I never got beaten too badly, but that’s because I always had some friends who would help get me out of there.”

“And even though you’re surrounded by ponies who care about you, you’re still alone. That sounds like the-”

“Stop right there, Rarity” Sweetie Belle said. Honestly, Rarity and I both forgot she was there for a bit. “Yang doesn’t need the dramatics right now. Anypony can see that.”

“Oh. Oh yes. Right.” Rarity cleared her throat. “Changing topics, I haven’t finished looking over your clothes yet, Yang. Would you like them back or. . ?”

“If you could make something quick and simple, that would be fine. I’ll just wait up here.”

“I can do that. It shouldn’t take me more than half an hour.” Rarity left the room to go downstairs to work on things for me, leaving me alone with Sweetie Belle.

“So. . .” Sweetie awkwardly started as she walked over to me. “I’m Sweetie Belle.” She held out a forehoof.

“Call me Yang.” I grabbed her forehoof and shook it. “When did you get here?”

“About ten minutes ago. Rarity said we had a guest and to treat her well, but didn’t give me any other details. So, if I may ask, what are you?”

“A female human, formerly a male human, and well on the path to a crazed human. I have not had a good day. It started out okay, especially in hindsight, but it’s just spiraled down from there. I hope things ease up from here.”

“You’ve certainly earned an easy day from what I’ve heard. What was that giant Pinkie thing you mentioned?”

“I’m scared of Pinkie Pie.” I felt a tingle go down my spine at the mention of her name. “She scared me twice in five seconds earlier today, both inside and outside the bakery.”

“Sugarcube Corner?”

“Yeah. I’m probably not going there on my own anytime soon. Or even with someone.”

“Can you tell me more?”

“No.”

“Aww.” I suddenly heard some frantic knocking from the front door, followed by frantic hoofsteps, and a few different frantic voices. Then came silence, followed by Rarity’s voice. I couldn’t make out anything that was being said, but it sounded important.

After a bit, Rarity came back in, a plain white T-shirt being put together in her magic. Rarity must have some serious skills if she can be that far along on it and make it without looking at it. “Yang, it appears a lot of ponies in town heard your scream from earlier. Twilight, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie-” I recoiled a bit at the last name. “-are all here and want to know what happened. Do you want to tell them what happened or should I?”

“I think Yang should” Sweetie said.

“Nopony asked you, Sweetie” Rarity chided as she looked over the just finished shirt, which she floated over to me after it met her satisfaction.

“I agree with Sweetie” I said, accepting the shirt. “Just give me a moment and I’ll be down there. Could I get a bit of privacy, please?”

Sweetie looked confused at the request, but obliged anyways. Rarity did not look confused, and closed the door on the way out. Once they were gone, I quickly took the robe off, put the shirt on, and then put the robe back on. With the addition of the shirt, I suddenly felt a lot better. It also fit me very well. It was a little on the loose side, but I was fine with that.

With that done, I walked out the door and went down the stairs. I saw Rarity and her friends there, but I kept my eyes locked on Pinkie. As long as she was in my line of sight, I felt safe. She was quick to catch my gaze and. . . did her coat get a few shades darker? And did her mane just deflate a bit? I was now weirded out by her some more.

I took a breath and began talking. “You’re here about the scream, right?”

“Yes, we are” Twilight said. “What was that about? Everypony in town is on edge because of it.”

“My animal friends all went into hiding once they heard it” Fluttershy added.

“Ah heard it back on the farm and had to check out what it was” Applejack stated. “Spooked Granny straight outta her hide.”

“I thought there was a monster down here” Rainbow contributed. “And all of Cloudsdale wants to know what it was too.”

“And I think I know exactly what it was” Pinkie glumly added. I may not like Pinkie, but I had a feeling she shouldn’t be like that. With those words, every eye and ear was on her. “I think Yang had a nightmare where she got squashed by a giant me.”

Every eye and ear then turned to me. “And now you’re scaring me even more, Pinkie” I said. “That’s exactly what happened to make me wake up screaming.”

Applejack gave Pinkie a bonk on the back of her head with a hoof. “Ah warned ya this would happen someday, Pinkie.”

“I know, AJ” Pinkie said. “I know. I already feel bad enough.”

“Did Luna visit you?” Twilight asked.

“Who exactly is Luna? A deity of some kind?” I asked.

“She’s the princess of the moon and the night. She watches over all those who dream and aids those who are having nightmares. She’s a dark blue alicorn, so she has a horn and wings, her mane and tail look like the night sky, and her cutie mark is a crescent moon.”

“I don’t know about that last part, but I think she did visit me. Wait, how would she do that?”

“Luna can travel through the dreamscape and enter any dream she likes. She’s the only one with that kind of magic.”

“Ri~ight. Moving on, is there anything else I can help with?”

“No, I think we’re done here. I’d better go tell the town what happened” Twilight said as she beat a hasty, yet polite exit.

“And I should go inform Cloudsdale” Rainbow said as she beat a hastier and less polite exit.

“Ah’m heading back to the farm” Applejack said. “You should come visit sometime, Yang.”

“I’ll see when I can” I said as Applejack beat a very polite and not too hasty exit.

“I’ll just go take care of my animal friends” Fluttershy said as she made a quiet exit.

Pinkie did not follow suit immediately. “Yang, there is something I need to do for you before I leave.”

I locked my gaze on her. “What is it?”

“I need to make the most solemn of promises I am able to make: the Pinkie Promise.”

I looked at my pinkie finger and promptly gave up on starting a coherent line of thought. “Explain.”

“The Pinkie Promise (patent perpetually pending) is a promise that you must never break. Breaking a Pinkie Promise is the best and worst way to lose a friend. Forever.”

I looked over to Rarity. “Those promises are serious. Trust me” she said. “I don’t know how they work, but they do.”

I turned back to Pinkie, who sat on her haunches, raised her right forehoof, and put her left forehoof over her chest. “I, Pinkie Pie, do solemnly Pinkie Promise never to scare Yang again through my actions.” What then followed were a series of movements corresponding to the words she spoke. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

Immediately, a strange sense of peace fell over me, like most of a heavy weight was lifted from my shoulders. I still felt some unease being around Pinkie, but I now felt that I could at least walk around without looking everywhere. Shortly after I had relaxed, Pinkie literally and figuratively brightened up and got her energy back. “Now that that’s done, I’d better get back to Sugarcube Corner.” Pinkie left so fast, she left a dust cloud shaped like herself behind, like she was some cartoon character.

Once the cloud dissipated, Rarity turned to me. “So, how does the shirt fit? Does it need any adjustments?”

“No, it’s good” I answered. “I like the fit.”

“I thought you would. Since your tastes are so simple, I could get you a whole outfit made today. Undergarments too.”

“Thanks, Rarity. I’m going to go back and try again at a nap.”

“I’ll wake you when I finish here.”

I nodded back at her in acknowledgement and went back up to my room, where rest claimed me much more easily.

Bringing an end to the day

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Once again, I found myself on the beach. Once again, I was in Yang’s body. Everything was the same as before. The sand, the chair, the waves, the umbrella, even the chilled strawberry drink. This time felt different though, more relaxing. I guess Pinkie Promises are powerful indeed.

With some warning, the area began to darken around me. I looked up and saw a cloud floating in front of the sun. The shade brought with it a pleasant coolness that would make the sun feel even better when the cloud moved away.

I heard a disturbance in the sand coming my way. “Back again, Yang?” It was Luna.

“Yeah” I said. “Are you really visiting me in my dreams, or are you just a figment of my imagination and the whole new body thing is messing with my head?”

“I assure you, I am very real. If you doubt it, come to Canterlot for the night court.” Luna showed up next to me by the umbrella, conjured a beach towel, and lay down on it in the shade. “You don’t seem as troubled as before. What happened?”

I told Luna everything that happened between my screaming from the earlier nightmare to coming back to the bed. I still was afraid of Pinkie, and probably would be for a while, but at least I could operate more normally now.

“A good turn of events” Luna observed.

“Yeah” I lazily agreed. “So, if I’m not having any nightmares, why are you here?”

“Because of a prophecy I saw. A human female would be brought over from another world, and be made a warrior. She would be the key to defeating ten great evils and preserving the peace of the land. All I could see was a black silhouette of her body, her long hair of burning gold, yellow gauntlets, and violet eyes.”

“Sounds like Yang to me. Also sounds like me, now.”

“The prophecy also said she would fall from the sky and land in Canterlot castle. You landed in the Ponyville castle, and so the prophecy isn’t entirely correct.”

I thought back to the merchant I saw, the man in the tan jacket with his impossible number of deerskin briefcases. I remember Sandra giving me the compacted Ember Celica, and the negative vibe I was getting from the man when I put them on. With this new information, things made a bit more sense. It still didn’t amount to much, but it was something.

“So, am I going to be brought to this Canterlot place?” I asked Luna.

“For now, no. Celestia would immediately send a chariot to get you once she got word of your location though. My prophecies may not always be entirely correct, but they’re accurate enough that she follows them very closely.”

“Interesting.” The cloud left from its spot between me and the sun, letting its rays warm me back up. It felt really good.

Luna and I just sat there in silence for a while before she spoke up. “If I recall correctly, you said you were unable to read anything here, right?”

“Yeah” I warily answered. “What are you getting at?”

“I could fix that problem for you with a single spell, but I would also have you learn how to fight in exchange.”

I liked the literacy option, but I didn’t like the fighting part. “I’ll pass on your offer.”

“Yang, you will learn how to fight one way or another. You can learn how to fight here in the safety of the dream realm, or on the very real training grounds of my sister’s guards.”

“I’ll find a way to avoid both."

“You can’t run from the fights forever. You should at least get some exercise while you’re here. If not for staying healthy, then to find your limits. Consider what I have told you. Ms. Rarity will be waking you soon, so I must leave again.”

Luna vanished in a wisp of smoke and the beach started to fade away to darkness while the sun’s light became more intense. Off in the distance, I could hear hooves coming closer.

I was in the process of waking up and opening my eyes when Rarity came in, her excitement contained, but quite clear. I could tell by her voice. “Wakey wakey, Yang. I have the rest of your new clothes ready for you to try on.” I grumbled a bit as I woke up. “I’ll leave them on the foot of the bed for you.” I felt a soft impact by my feet and saw Rarity leave the room just as I finished sitting up. I looked down at my feet and saw a pile of clothes sitting there. I picked the pile up and sifted through it. I saw undergarments, a pair of black socks that looked like they would come up to my knees, and black denim jeans.

After admiring the craftsmanship (craftsmareship?) of the clothes, I got out of the bed and promptly changed out of the robe and its skirt to the new clothes. Once again, as with the shirt, it all fit perfectly. The jeans were a tad loose, but not so loose that they’d slip off. They were also soft and comfortable, something I did not expect based on my various experiences with denim in the past.

I thought back on my discussion with Luna about exercising to find my physical limits. I couldn’t find any problems with that, especially since I had nothing else to do, and reading was still off the table. With that in mind, I went through a series of stretches to test the limits of the clothes, especially the jeans.

After almost ten minutes of moving through all manner of stretches (and discovering that I was way more flexible than before), I came to the conclusion that what repeatedly stopped me from stretching even just a little bit further was not the clothes, but my own body. I was able to do the splits, and even go beyond that without the denim even beginning to stress. I’m sure Chuck Norris himself would have been proud of the work in these jeans.

After finishing my stretches, I remembered that I had to talk to Rarity, even if only to praise her work. Before I left, I looked back and saw the Ember Celica on the nightstand, along with the bag of cookies. After a moment’s thought, I went over and put the Ember Celica on. They just felt right. I also opened the bag of cookies and saw, much to my delight, snickerdoodle cookies. I grabbed one and ate it in one bite. The flavor was spectacular, but simple. Its texture was in that sweet spot between crumbly and sticky, and it made me smile like an idiot. I wanted more, but I forced myself to stop at one. I’d save the rest for later.

I made my way out the door and down the steps, where I found Rarity working. I also caught sight of a white cat laying in a windowsill. I couldn’t remember the cat’s name at the moment. I cleared my throat to get Rarity’s attention, and it worked.

She looked me over before speaking. “I never thought I’d say this, but I like the simple look. More importantly, how does it fit?”

“This is only the first outfit you’ve made for me and I’ve already decided to swear off retail clothes forever” I stated. “I even stretched at all kinds of angles and nothing ever felt uncomfortable.”

“That’s wonderful to hear, darling. It’s about five o'clock, so I’ll be starting supper soon. Do you like casseroles?”

“Depends on the ingredients” I said as I looked at the cat, and the cat looked back at me.

“I was thinking of a basic veggie casserole. Are there any ingredients you don’t want?”

I thought back to the salad options. “Hmm. No hay, and no grass. I can’t eat those things. And no onions. I hate those.” I started making my way over to the cat, slowly.

“There goes two big ingredients. I will not let this deter me though. I will make a good, grassless casserole.”

I left Rarity to her dramatics as I came within arm’s distance of the cat. The cat didn’t move as I reached out to pet her. I started with simple strokes along the back and slowly working my way up to the head. Once I was stroking her head, I unleashed the ultimate in cat petting techniques: I scratched her behind the ears. She quickly became cat-shaped putty under my hands. I picked her up and continued scratching her, moving on to the chin and watching as she rolled belly up in my arm.

I turned back to Rarity and saw her slack-jawed expression. I walked over to her, and as much as I wanted to take a hand and close her mouth for her, both of my arms were occupied with a cat. I did the next best thing and balanced on one foot, using the other one to gently close Rarity’s mouth. “Words. Use them.”

After a few seconds, she did. “How did you do that? Opalescence doesn’t warm up to anyone that quickly, and I’ve never seen her on her back like that for anyone.”

“I scratched her behind her ears and on her chin. No biggie.” I then realized my advantage and a smirk came across my face. “After all, I have flexible hands with fingernails on them. You have blocky hooves.” And then Rarity’s horn glowed, a fainting couch appeared from somewhere, and she fell back onto it. I snapped out of smirk mode right there. “Rarity? Are you okay?”

“Just fine, just fine” she dramatically cried out. “Just go have fun with Opal while I prepare us a supper unworthy of even the poorest of ponies.”

“If you say so.” I left Rarity and went upstairs. Just as I reached the top of the stairs, Sweetie Belle came out of her room.

“Hey, Yang?” she said. “Do you think you could help me with some homework?”

“I’ll take a look.” Sweetie went back in her room and I went down the hall, Opal continuing to absorb the scratches and strokes from my hands, which had practically gone on autopilot. Darn cats and their mind control powers.

I went in Sweetie Belle’s room and immediately noticed the three paint colors. The bottom half of the walls were white, the top quarter was a pastel violet, and in between was a pastel pink. They matched Sweetie Belle’s colors perfectly. Speaking of her, she was on her bed with a few pieces of paper in front of her. Homework. Homework never changes.

“What do you need help with?” I asked. Once again, I faced the problem of illiteracy. However, I would try to help as best I could.

“Math” Sweetie stated. “Why can’t it solve its own problems?"

“Because math on its own is dumb” I answered as I sat on my knees as Sweetie giggled a bit. “What’s the problematic problem?”

“Variables. Y= something something X something else. They give us Y and want us to find X. But I want to know just where this will be used in the real world.”

“I actually used some math like that before I got pulled to this world.” Sweetie’s attention was firmly on me now. “The only difference is that I knew X and had to figure out Y.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You got any friends?”

“Applebloom and Scootaloo.”

“So let’s say you’re going to a big event somewhere in. . .” and I can’t think of any cities. There was one Luna mentioned, but I can’t remember it.

“Manehattan?”

“Sure. There’s an event there, and you go with your friends. Just throw me a number here: how many days will you three stay at the hotel?”

“Mmmm… four.”

“And how much does the hotel charge per pony per night?”

“Seven bits.”

“And let’s say you have some luggage that you let them take to your room and it costs six bits for that. The equation you have here actually has two variables in it.”

“Eh? But that’s even worse than what I already have” Sweetie complained.

“But I’ve given you a real situation. At least it’s not just plain numbers.”

Sweetie pulled out a blank piece of paper and wrote down the situation I described. I think. I already knew the answer, but I kept quiet and pet Opal. If it wasn’t for her purring, I’d swear she looked almost dead.

After a brief while, Sweetie got back to me. “I’ve got ninety bits for the hotel trip.”

“And that is correct. Rarity might say something about it not being so bad, but let me tell you, I wish it was that easy back home.”

“Hm? This was easy?”

“Back home, prices go up and down for various reasons with no obvious pattern, different regions have different tax rates, and the money went out to two decimal places. And if you’re going to another country, there’s the exchange rate to consider as well, which fluctuates a lot, even from hour to hour at times. Really, it’s a pain in the brain."

“What kind of world did you come from?”

Now that was an unexpected question. “The planet was good, as were a lot of things on it. The biggest problem was the government and the people running it. It was too big and the people in it were often greedy, putting their pockets and power ahead of the citizens’ wellbeing. They used math and language to their own ends.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“Ignorance is bliss. But at least now you know that it can be worse than the numbers in front of you."

Sweetie looked down at her paper that had a bunch of stuff on it I couldn’t read, but was arranged like math homework I'd had before. “Thanks, Yang. I think I can handle these now.”

“You’re welcome.” I stood up and left the room to go to my own. However, there were two problems in front of me, and the second one was the easy one: Rarity sitting in the hallway and the door handle. “Can I help you, Rarity?”

“What were you doing in my sister’s room?” I swear I felt the hidden edge in her voice. However, I fully intended to get out of this unscathed, and using the truth at that.

“Helping with math homework. I gave her a simple hotel scenario with some variables, then told her how it’s so much worse back home.”

And now she was curious. “It’s worse back where you’re from?”

“Details later. For now, I have a cat to spoil.”

As Rarity let me pass her, she said “Supper’s cooking. I’ll let you know when it’s done.”

I nodded in acknowledgement and went into my room, sitting on a random spot on the floor and letting Opal spill onto my lap. Seriously, I’ve never seen a cat that relaxed before.

I can’t help but wonder if I went a bit overboard on the ear scratching. I also realized that I had just pinned myself to this spot on the floor by putting Opal on my lap. Darn.

I’m not sure exactly how long I was sitting there, but I was really beginning to feel some pressure in my bladder. In the back of my mind, I was trying to figure out just how I knew how to hold it back, but in the forefront of my mind was the urgency of needing to go and the problem of a cat on my lap. If a cat is sitting on you, you don’t disturb the cat.

I was saved when I heard a ringing bell and Rarity calling “Dinner, everyone!”. Opal crawled her way out of my lap, enabling me to stand up and make a mad dash for the bathroom, where I didn’t care that I somehow knew how to properly relieve myself. I was just glad to let it out.

After a good, mellow handwashing, I went downstairs and followed my nose to the dining room. I found Rarity and Sweetie Belle already there, sitting around a cozy round glass table with three cushions on the floor. The cushions Rarity and Sweetie Belle were sitting on matched their mane colors, and the last one, a bright yellow, matched my hair. I sat down at my spot by the table, which currently only had empty plates and clean silverware.

“Yang, why are you five minutes late to dinner?” Rarity asked me.

“Opal was using her feline gravity powers to keep me sitting down with her on my lap and I really had to pee when she got off” I explained with a straight face.

“Opalescence? Gravity powers?”

“It’s a thing people said back home about cats. They lay down in sunny spots to charge their gravity powers, then walk over to you and sit on you, immobilizing you. Phone’s ringing in the other room? Too bad, you’re stuck. Bad TV show and the remote’s just out of reach? You’re not getting it. Need to use the bathroom? Hope you can hold it in.”

“That sounds. . . interesting. But for now, we dine.” Rarity lit her horn and floated out of the kitchen a fancy dish with a casserole in it. It smelled like a bunch of vegetables, which normally wouldn’t have appealed to me, but this actually smelled fairly good.

Sweetie Belle was also sniffing the air. “There’s something different about this casserole” she observed.

“You are correct, Sweetie. Yang can’t eat grass or hay, so I had to cut those out. I hope it’s still to your liking though.” With her magic, Rarity picked up a serving spoon and our plates, putting a bit of casserole from the still floating serving dish on the plates, then returning the plates to their rightful spots in front of each of us.

Rarity and Sweetie each picked up their forks with their magic and started on their casserole portions. I picked mine up, looked at the casserole on my plate, and got some of it onto the fork. I looked at it and saw a variety of green stuff, some not-green stuff, some stuffing that had become both green and not green, and some sliced nuts. I quickly took a bite and was not disappointed. I found the flavors easily tolerable, even kind of enjoyable. I wasn’t the biggest fan of fruits and other healthy things, but this was alright.

Partway through, Rarity began talking to me. “Yang, there’s something I want you to do tomorrow.”

“Hm?” I said around some casserole.

“You should go visit Twilight and have her teach you how to read.”

“Wait, Yang can’t read?” Sweetie asked.

“At least not your writing” I said.

“What’s wrong with my writing?” Sweetie sounded kind of defensive.

“What Yang meant is that she can’t read anything at all” Rarity countered. “I’m sure she can read her writing just fine, but we wouldn’t be able to read it at all.”

“Oh. I see. Sorry for jumping to conclusions, Yang.”

“No harm done. By the way, this casserole is better than I thought it would be.”

“Why, thank you darling. But if I may ask, what were you expecting?”

“Based on my experience, a warm, bready, soggy salad with subpar flavor.”

“Is there nobody where you’re from that can make a decent vegetable casserole?”

“There probably are lots of people who can make superb vegetable casseroles. I just never met any of them.” I took another bite, but realized my fork had come up empty. I looked down and saw all that was left of the first helping was some streaks of the stuff. “Can I have some more?”

“Of course.” Rarity floated the serving spoon into the casserole and put some more onto my plate. I thanked her and continued eating. The casserole’s flavor was really growing on me.

The casserole lasted through the end of supper. Or rather, supper ended when the last of the casserole was eaten. It was quite satisfying.

“Who wants dessert?” Rarity asked Sweetie Belle and me. I declined and went up to my room. The casserole was a good way to end what had been a hectic day for me. The sun still had yet to go down, but I changed to the robe and its skirt and lay down on the bed anyway.

It was then I came upon a sudden, drastic realization: I had nothing to do before going to sleep. My phone was no longer with me. I sighed. Boredom. Boredom never changes.

Day two: Part one

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The blissful darkness granted by one’s own closed eyelids. That spot between being asleep and awake, where all is right with the world, and the enveloping warmth of the bed that keeps your muscles soft and relaxed. I needed to wake up like that after that wild dream. Getting turned into Yang Xiao Long and dropped in a world of pastel ponies was certainly a new one though.

I was very relaxed when all of a sudden, the very thinkable and very highly unwanted happened: a beam of sunlight peeked through a crack in the curtains and landed right on my closed eyes. I turned to face away from it, but wound up putting my eyes right in the beam. I quickly turned the other way, but the beam had already done its vile work and there was no way I was not waking up. Something about my chest also felt strange. Come to think of it, my whole body felt a little strange. I opened my eyes and saw a nightstand, upon which a bag of cookies sat.

“Huh?” Since when did I have a nightstand? And my voice sounded odd too. Firmly in the female range. Familiar on top of that, along with the bag.

I sat up and looked around. I was in the room I kind of remembered falling asleep in. I remembered the intense boredom, just lying on the bed. I held up an arm and saw a loose robe sleeve. It was white with purple trim. Just like the one from the dream. Looking at everything in the room, the dream felt more like a yesterday.

Looking back at the nightstand, I saw the Ember Celica and the fingerless gloves attached to them. I remembered Ruby, Miranda, Ally, and Sandra cosplaying as team RWBY. I remembered getting the Ember Celica, activating them, and getting sucked through some kind of rift or portal. The castle crash, breakfast with ponies, a boutique, a fountain to pierce the heavens, getting scared by a pink pony, waking up screaming, some new clothes, a good veggie casserole, and a comfortable robe. It all came back in a flash, and I became breathless. I was breathing like someone who just had a close encounter with death.

I was brought out of my stupor when the door to the room opened, Rarity walking in. “Oh, Yang, you’re awake already. Sun in the eyes, I presume?”

Such a mundane question actually calmed me down a bit. Somehow. “Yeah. How did you know?”

“It’s what everypony who stays in here complains about. No matter what I do, I can never get the curtains to stay fully closed. Sleep well?”

“Yeah. I actually like how this robe feels. What would I have to do to earn it?” I may have liked free stuff, and really needed it due to lack of money, but I would just feel bad getting everything for free.

“You already have, dear. Your simple black and white outfit that I made yesterday has inspired me to make a whole new line of dresses. Black, white, and simple. Why, I came up with no fewer than fifteen designs last night. In fact, I’ve been up all night working on those designs. And that’s also part of why I’m here now.”

“I’m not the best judge of-”

“Not that, darling” Rarity interrupted. “I was planning on walking with you to Twilight’s castle so she could teach you how to read our writing, but I am in no condition to do that. Just look at my mane!”

I looked at it. It was in a state of mild disarray. “Is that it?”

“Well, no. I’m also really tired. Sweetie’s downstairs. She will take you to Twilight’s castle. There’s also a bit pouch with ten bits in it if you want to buy something small for yourself. After everything that you went through yesterday, I’d say you earned it.”

“Alright. Just let me change and I’ll be down there.” I collected the clothes Rarity made yesterday, and once she was out of the room, I quickly changed out of the robe and into them. I still found it amazing how well these basic clothes fit me, and just how comfortable they were.

Once I was done admiring the quality of the clothes (and maybe myself, just a bit), I went downstairs. I saw Sweetie Belle at the table, eating a bowl of oatmeal. There was another bowl of oatmeal on the table, untouched. In the middle of the table was a plethora of things that could be put in oatmeal, including my favorite: brown sugar.

I didn’t even need a single second to figure out that the bowl of untouched oatmeal was mine. I quickly took my spot at the table and loaded up on the brown sugar. I had only just finished mixing the brown sugar in the oatmeal and was about to eat a good spoonful when Sweetie Belle stopped me with her words. “Let’s go to Twilight’s castle.”

“Now?” I asked.

“Now” Sweetie confirmed, putting her saddlebags on.

“But I haven’t even started on my oatmeal yet.”

“You can eat it on the way.”

“Huh?”

“Yes. Just bring the dishes back from Twilight’s when you’re done there.”

Now this was just bizarre. I understood breakfast on the go, but a bowl, an actual non-paper bowl of oatmeal was just something that simply wasn’t done. In fact, breakfast on the go with actual, breakable dishes and metal utensils was just downright weird.

After just managing to hold the strangeness of the notion aside, I picked up the bowl, the oatmeal and spoon in it, and followed Sweetie Belle out.

Finally, I asked the question that had been on my mind since less than five minutes ago. “Why are we leaving so early?”

“Because Rarity needs to get her sleep, you need to get to the castle, and I have to go to school, which is in the opposite direction you need to go” Sweetie said in one breath.

“Oh.” That made a lot of sense.

The rest of the walk to the castle was quiet, as I didn’t feel like talking while walking with a bowl of oatmeal in my hand on the way to a castle I had crashed through. It just felt awkward. Sweetie probably didn’t want to talk since she was tasked with leading me to the castle. With what I knew of what was going on (which wasn’t much), I figured she didn’t really want to do this. At least I know I wouldn’t want to.

Finally, we showed up at the castle. Or at least got fairly close. “There’s the entrance” Sweetie pointed out. “You can make it there on your own, right?”

“I can navigate some tricky roads back home. I’m sure I can manage a straight line” I assured her.

“Alright. Have fun with Twilight. I guess I’ll see you back at home later.” Sweetie turned around and walked away towards her school. I turned my gaze to the castle and walked up to the main entrance. Oatmeal in one hand, I knocked with the other. A moment later, the door opened up, revealing not Twilight, but a green and purple bipedal lizard thing that did not look happy to be awake at this time of day.

“You’re Yang?” he asked, clearly tired.

“That’s what I ask people to call me now” I replied. “I was told that Twilight wanted to see me.”

“Follow me” he said, letting me in. I walked past and looked down at him. His crest came close to the middle of my thighs, so I was still the tall one here. Once I was in, he closed the door and started walking down the big hallway. I followed him into what looked like a conference room.

“Thank you, umm. . .” I started.

“Spike. I’m a dragon” he said.

“Thanks, Spike” I sat down in an actual chair by the table and set down my bowl of oatmeal before what he said caught up with me. “Wait, you’re a dragon!? An actual dragon?”

“Um, yeah. Don’t they have dragons where you’re from?"

I let my shoulders slump and turned to eat my oatmeal. “I give up.” In this new world of crystal castles (one of which I crashed through), unicorns (two of which I was now living with), and now dragons, having something as familiar and simple as a bowl of oatmeal with brown sugar was kind of comforting. I also found it kind of sad that I even could find such comfort in a bowl of oatmeal.

I think Twilight caught on to the mood when she joined me. “Hello, Yang. Is there something on your mind?”

“Not much. Just taking in the world and all its oddities.” I sighed and took a bite of the oatmeal. It was fairly plain, most of the flavor coming from the brown sugar.

“I can understand what you mean. Anyways!” Twilight’s tone became both serious and excited. “It’s time for you to learn our way of writing so you can read.”

I raised a hand and pointed to my oatmeal. “Can I at least finish my breakfast before we start?”

“Nope. You can eat during class.” I swear she was starting to get into a teacher mindset. “Before we start, tell me about your alphabet.”

I got another bite of oatmeal in my mouth and started talking before I swallowed. “26 letters, five being vowels, and one not quite a vowel. Numbers are base 10.”

While Twilight was quiet, I ate some more of the oatmeal. Finally, she spoke up. “That’s both a remarkable coincidence and kind of a letdown.”

“What, did I accidentally describe your letters and numbers?”

“Yes. I hope there’s at least something different somewhere.” Twilight’s horn lit up and a chalkboard flew into the room from somewhere up above. Once she set it down, six pieces of chalk were floated up, and each one made six unique, blockish shapes. The shapes were grouped into one of 10 and one of 26.

A pencil, quill, ink, and a few pieces of paper were soon floated over to me and arranged neatly around me. “I’m not getting out of this, am I?”

“Reading is a vital skill, so no” Twilight said. “We’ll start with numbers as a warmup for the alphabet. The single digits are zero, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, and nine. After that-” Twilight’s speech was interrupted by a the sound of a mostly empty bowl being moved onto a different spot on the table, followed by the sound of my face hitting the spot where the bowl used to be. “Yang? Are you okay?”

“Peachy. Just fine. It’s just that we have the same numbers. Zero to nine, I’m guessing after that comes ten, eleven, twelve, the teens, twenties, and so on?”

“Yes. Well, that was another disappointment. I wanted to learn a new way to count, too.”

“Good for me that I don’t have to.” I sat back up straight. “What’s in store for the alphabet?”

Twilight began reciting off the alphabet, and somewhere around E, I had started to recite it in sync with her, each of us growing quieter as we realized the letters were the same. A few seconds after Z, I brought my face upon the table’s surface again with great prejudice. I think I heard the table crack a bit too.

I did not lift my head back up, even as Twilight rattled off various letter combinations and their sounds, with me confirming each with a muffled “yes”.

Once she had gone through every combination, her head hit the table too. “Let’s just make, as much as I hate the name for it, a cheat sheet for you” Twilight said. “Based on my experiences, letting you go with that should get you reading our writing fairly quickly. You already know the finer points of the language, so it’s just a matter of recognition now.” I heard the scratching of a writing instrument on paper and turned my head up, seeing exactly that, happening a foot over the table.

Once it was finished, it came over to me. The Equestrian characters were spaced apart enough to make each distinguishable, and under each letter, I wrote both the upper and lower case equivalent from English. Under the numbers, I made sure to put both versions of 4. Once I was done, Twilight brought it back to her and went over all I had written with ink. While she was doing that, she asked me a question.

“Yang, I doubt I’m reading this wrong, but I have to ask why it looks like you put two versions of each of your letters below mine.”

“We have uppercase and lowercase versions of each letter” I answered. “The uppercase ones are mostly used on the first letter of each sentence or a name, but there are other times to use them too. And I don’t know why there’s two versions of 4.”

“Interesting. Equestrian writing has something similar with writing, but it’s just a size increase. And we only have one version of 4.”

“That simplifies thing for me.”

“Yes, it does. Just let me make a copy of this and you can have one of them.” Twilight’s horn glowed just a little bit brighter and the paper started to split like a cell. After a few seconds, there were two copies of the document, one of which was floated over to me. I plucked it out of the air and looked over it. The Equestrian characters were still weird to me, but at least I had a reference sheet. I also still had some oatmeal, which I set the reference sheet aside so I could finish it. At least food had no need to be translated for it to be eaten.

“So, I guess we’re done ahead of schedule?” I asked Twilight.

“Yes, we are. But this also means that I can teach you more things about this world.” Twilight had this glint in her eyes that told me I was in for an infodump. Joy.

Day two: Part two

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What Twilight taught me that really got to me was that the sun and moon were moved by two alicorns named Celestia and Luna, and that they resided in Canterlot Castle. I let her talk, and while I was willing to accept that they existed, my dreams of Luna being pretty strong evidence, I wasn’t so willing to accept that they controlled the sun and moon. No living being should wield such phenomenal cosmic power like that. I also found the story of Luna’s banishment as Nightmare Moon ridiculous. Really, it was all fairly crazy.

Thanks to the length of Twilight’s teachings, I wound up having a late lunch. A very late lunch. I showed up at the castle around seven in the morning. It wasn’t until three in the afternoon that she finally stopped talking and teaching. What I remember from that whole thing was that their alphabet and numbers are an efficient reskin of mine, Celestia and Luna are highly revered figures around the world, Pegasi can control and schedule the weather, the seasons shift manually instead of automatically, the Everfree forest is full of dangerous creatures, and lots of their cities and towns have punny names. That last one wasn’t directly taught, but I definitely noticed it. I also had to use the bathroom once. It’s still weird how I seem to know how to do that practically by reflex, despite having no training. I’ll definitely be getting used to that.

After the quick late lunch of sandwiches, Twilight put me in the teaching position. She wanted to know everything she could about Earth. After a few minutes, it felt less like I was teaching her things and more that she was interrogating me in an intense, yet friendly manner.

It was in the middle of her asking me a lengthy question about podcasts when I finally stopped her. “Twilight? I know you’re interested in all this stuff, but it’s almost six. I really should be getting back to Rarity’s.”

“What?” Twilight seemed caught off guard. “Oh, right. Could you at least stay for dinner? I’d like to get some more info out of you.”

“What’s for dinner?”

“Stir fry. Neighpon style. I’m cooking.”

If there’s one good thing that came from supper, it was that I got my own pair of chopsticks. They’re made of a clear yellow crystal and Twilight even resized them with her magic to fit my hands perfectly. How nice of her. Why ponies have chopsticks is entirely beyond me though.

The stir fry seemed to be, depending on which piece was picked up, either too stirred or too fried. It was made of vegetables, some fruit, flower petals, tofu, and egg. I wound up picking out about half of my food because of either the ingredient, the way it came out, or both. The other half was mostly tolerable with a few good spots. The few good spots did not make up for the merely tolerable mass of it.

To her credit, Twilight tried, but I think she shouldn’t cook. I think anything more intricate than a sandwich would wind up mediocre at best. I didn’t vocalize these thoughts though. It would not have been polite.

Spike offered to show me the way back to the boutique after the dishes were cleaned up. He seemed quite eager to do so as well for some reason. I chose not to wonder why, though I inevitably did wonder why. I chose not to express this intriguing question.

“So, Yang, could you tell me more about where you came from?” Spike asked on the walk there.

“What do you want to know?” I asked back.

“Well, is everyone as tough as you are?”

“No. The fall from when I first showed up would have killed anyone from my world. It’s called ‘terminal velocity’ for a reason.”

“Then how did you survive?”

“Yang’s body is built to survive impacts like that, even if it doesn’t look that way.”

Silence followed my statement. Silence tagged along with us until the Boutique was in sight.

“There’s the Boutique!” Spike said. “Are my spines straight?”

“Why does that matter?”

“So I can impress Rarity, of course. She’s just so beautiful.” Now I was starting to have an idea of why Spike volunteered to lead me to the boutique so readily. He has a glaringly obvious crush on her.

“Riiiight, you do your thing and I’ll do mine, okay?”

Spike didn’t answer. He also told me not to walk in before him (even though I technically lived there. Still getting used to that idea), and I complied. He knocked on the door and we waited.

We did not wait long for Rarity to open the door. She looked at her eye level, then looked up to me. Before she could say anything, I pointed down and she turned her gaze to Spike. “Oh, hello Spike. How are you this fine evening?”

“Just fine” Spike said, clearly swooning. “Is there anything, anything at all you need help with?”

“Not right now, Spike. Oh, I will need your help gathering gems next week. How does Tuesday sound?”

“I have to stay at the castle in case something happens. How about Wednesday?”

“That sounds good. If you’re here at noon, we can have lunch before we head out.”

“I’ll be here. You can count on that.” Spike stood up straight, puffed out his chest, gave a salute sharp enough to cleanly cut diamonds, then turned and left.

I watched Spike walk away until he was out of sight, then turned back to Rarity. “So, what was that about?” I asked before walking inside.

“Spike’s had a crush on me since he and Twilight first arrived in Ponyville” Rarity explained as she closed the door. “He likes to help me as much as he can, and I’ll admit that his help is useful. However, and I’d rather he not know of this, I don’t share his affections. I also have trouble turning down his offers to help me, since he’s so earnest, honest, and happy about it.”

“I see. And what’s this about gathering gems?” I was curious.

“There’s a rock field where gems grow outside Ponyville. I can detect gems very easily, and Spike can dig them out just as easily. He also gets to keep some of the gems.”

“Huh.” I’d have to see this in action at some point. “Say are there any leftovers? The stir fry Twilight made was terrible.”

“I’ve got some sandwiches in the fridge. Help yourself.”

“Thanks.” I went over to the fridge, crouched so I could actually look inside with some degree of ease, and saw what one would expect in a fridge, though there were also containers of flowers. No stem, just the flower itself. The sandwiches were easy to find. They were on a plate covered with clear plastic wrap, and closer inspection showed that, compared to what I was used to, they were fairly miniscule. Each one had a variety of vegetables on them, along with some cheese.

I took Rarity’s advice and helped myself to the sandwiches, thankfully undisturbed. It took three of them for me to feel full, which was a full half of the sandwiches. Being the good houseguest I was, I covered them back up and put them in the fridge.

Rarity caught me on my way out of the dining room. “So, how was your visit with Twilight?”

“Kind of underwhelming” I said. “Turns out our numbers and letters are almost entirely the same except for how they look. That and my cheat sheet should help me learn how to read pretty quickly.”

“That’s great. Also, I’m thinking of making you your own robe, since you seem to like the feel of the one I got from the spa, but the colors just aren’t you.”

“I agree. What do you have in mind?”

“I was thinking you’d tell me what you want.”

“Well, I was thinking black and yellow, but now that I’m saying it out loud, it doesn’t sound as good.”

“How about dark brown and yellow? I’m not exactly fond of using brown as a main color myself, but I think it would work for you. I can follow the patterns of the spa robe, adjust them to your size, and that would be that.”

“That sounds great. Oh, could you make the skirt longer than the one that came with the spa robe?” Where was this line of thought coming from? “That one is too short for my liking.”

“How long do you want it then?”

I thought for a bit before answering. “Knee length sounds good to me.”

“I can do that.”

“Alright. I think I’ll head to my room.” I put action to my words and went upstairs. Once I was there and closed the door, I went over to the desk and sat at it. I thought about things before putting my face on the desk with a fair amount of prejudice.

Something was going on in my head. First were the dedicated sleep clothes. I’ve never been much of a fan of that idea, and here I was asking for some. Then there’s the whole matter of the skirt with the robe. Since I was male before, skirts were never something I even considered wearing, and yet there I was discussing one for me with Rarity.

I was also missing home. I had friends there, and family. I already missed them, especially since I had no idea if I could go back home. I could feel my eyes watering already. And there was another thing: even though I was a very timid guy back home, I never really cried. This is the second time in two days I’ve cried, though this time was quiet.

Something’s going on in my head, I don’t like it, and I have no idea what to do about it. It’s scary.

Day three: Part only

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I woke up the next day on my side on the floor, a pillow under my head and the bed’s covers over me. I saw the desk and remembered my breakdown last night. I must have cried myself to sleep and fell over.

I also had to use the bathroom, so I got up, left my room, saw that the bathroom was unoccupied, went in, and took care of business. I still found it strange that I knew how to do that properly, but I was too tired from waking up to care at the moment.

I also realized that I needed a shower. It’s been days since I had one. I also realized I’d have to face my body in its entirety. I was not looking forward to that, but I also wasn’t looking forward to staying dirty all the time, especially in such a nice place.

I went downstairs after using the bathroom, as it was clear I would not be getting back to sleep, especially with the smell of warm cheese and eggs in the air. I followed the aroma downstairs, and on a lonesome plate was a cheese omelette. Rarity and Sweetie Belle were not there, so I figured it was for me. I wasn’t willing to take the chance that it wasn’t for me though, so I walked around a bit. I found Rarity at work in the shop area of the first floor.

“Good morning, Yang” Rarity said. “Sleep well?”

“I guess so” I answered. “Did you give me the pillow and blanket last night?”

“That was actually Sweetie’s doing. She saw you crying and stayed close to you. When you fell over, she gave you the pillow and blanket. After checking that you were alright, of course. You must have really worn yourself out though. She found you around 9 last night, she got me around 9:30, and it’s already past 10.

“Anywho, the omelette on the table is yours. I put a low power warming enchantment on it for you a few hours ago, so it should still be good.”

I thanked Rarity before going to the omelette. The main thought on my mind was how I was asleep for nearly 12 hours. That thought was soon replaced by wondering what I was going to do today. I couldn’t just live off Rarity’s generosity either, even if I had already helped her in her work already.

As I finished my omelette, which was surprisingly filling for its rather petite size, I decided to wander around town. There had to be things I could do out there. Besides, if I was going to be here for the foreseeable future, I’d have to learn the layout of the town at some point, and now was a good time.

I then remembered that I had realized that I needed a shower. I also realized and remembered that I didn’t have any extra clothes. Well, I did have Yang’s original outfit, but I didn’t want to wear that.

As if reading my mind, Rarity walked up to me, a box floating in her magic. “I made some more clothes for you, Yang. Just some duplicates of what I already gave you a few days ago. That should work well for you, yes?”

“Yes. Thanks. How does laundry work here?”

“Mondays and Fridays, and I keep the washboard in the back porch.” Washboards. I knew what they were, but the last time I’d seen one was a black and white video where it was part of a musical instrument. “And I assure you Yang, it’s a very nice washboard.”

I wanted to hit my head on the table, but my quota for that was full for the week. I might have also wound up breaking something, and I did not want to do that. “Someone’s going to have to teach me how to use that, I guess.”

Rarity gave a small gasp. “Did you forget how to use a washboard?”

“How can I forget something I never learned?”

So I spent an hour being taught by Rarity how to use a washboard and clothesline. Fun.

I took my shower and discovered some obvious things. First was that my body felt different. I will not go into details, but I will say that there are both obvious things that feel different and more subtle things that feel different. One thing I will say is that my limbs are smooth. There’s not even a single hair on them, or anywhere aside from my head.

Speaking of hair, that’s the second or third obvious difference I discovered. I started with the amount of shampoo I was used to, and quickly discovered it was not enough. I don’t know if I used the right techniques, but I got every part of my hair washed. The shampoo bottle was quite a bit lighter when I was finished. It smelled of lavender.

Drying off was yet another new experience. Once again, I will refrain from the details, but suffice to say it was strange. At least the towels were soft and very absorbent. I’ve never felt such nice towels before. I don’t know if it’s because they’re just very nice towels or if all towels are this soft here. Either way, it was a bit small for me, as just about everything seemed to be. Also, my hair holds a lot of water now.

After Rarity dried my hair with a spell and brushed it (at her insistence. It actually felt rather nice), I decided to look around town today. Rarity reluctantly allowed it, and so I went outside. She also gave me ten bits for lunch. After taking a breath of the clean air, I walked in the direction of Twilight’s castle.

One thing I quickly learned was that Ponyville had no real organization in its layout. There were no street signs saying which street was which, not that I’d have been able to read them anyways.

The walk was uneventful. I did get lost a few times, but the ponies were kind and helpful. I couldn’t think of anywhere back on Earth where people were this kind to each other, let alone to what would be considered an alien.

The whole town just felt nice overall. I had a good time walking around. In fact, I had such a good time walking around, I didn’t even notice Rainbow quietly floating right behind me until she spoke up. “Hi Yang.”

To say my reaction was not subtle would be an inaccurate statement. I happened to be under a tree when Rainbow greeted me, and when she did, I jumped in surprise, hitting my head hard on a branch around 20 feet up above me, also causing a cracking sound to ring out. A second later, gravity took over and I hit the ground with as much grace as the broken branch that followed and landed next to me a few seconds later.

“Yang, are you alright?” Rainbow asked as I slowly made my way to a sitting position against the base of the tree, my eyes shut and a hand on my head where I hit it. “I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Rainbow’s only answer was my breathing. I couldn’t focus on making even an incoherent sentence through the pain, which, while rather severe, was already starting to fade.

After what felt like five minutes or so, I started opening my eyes. The first thing I saw was Rainbow sitting in front of me, looking rather down and away from me. “Rainbow?” I knew she had a two part name, but I couldn’t remember the second part. I’d get it in time.

She turned to face me, and did not hesitate to make eye contact. She had a very apologetic look on her face. “Yang, I’m sorry for startling you like that. I didn’t think you would react that way. Can you forgive me?”

“I guess I can, but did you learn nothing from when Pinkie surprised me?” I felt. . . slightly irritated.

“I did learn you don’t take surprises well, but Pinkie is, well, Pinkie. And unlike her, I actually follow the laws of physics and magic.”

“Alright, just, don’t sneak up on me like that again, alright?”

“Sure thing, Yang. So, what are you doing today?”

“Walking around town, but now I just want to go back to the boutique. Man that sounds weird to me.” I stood up, the impact site on my head already nearly pain-free.

“You gonna make it back alright?”

“Um.” I looked around, not really recognizing where I was. “If you could show me the way, that would be nice.”

“Sure thing.” I stood up and walked alongside Rainbow, who hovered so she was eye level with me. “So, is there anything you’d like to talk about?”

I thought for a moment. “I got nothing. You?”

“Not really. Oh, how’s the weather today?”

“It’s a beautiful day to be outside."

“Thank you, Yang. I’ll be sure to let my weather team know you liked the weather.”

“Weather team? Like a bunch of people who predict the weather? Why would they care what someone thinks of the weather? Weather just happens.”

“Over the Everfree, weather just happens. Here in Ponyville, I’m the weather manager. We schedule it. Does nopony do that where you’re from?”

“Nobody can control the weather back on Earth. That doesn’t mean we haven’t tried though.”

“Nopony controls your weather? Then how do you get beautiful days like today, rain for the crops, and all that good stuff?”

“It just happens. We can predict to a degree what will happen though.”

“Alright then. What do humans do when a freak snowstorm hits?” Rainbow’s voice had a bit of a challenging tone to it.

“We send out fleets of trucks to clear the roads and put salt down to help keep it that way.”

“Missed rain?”

“Shrug and move on.”

“Leaves not falling in autumn.”

“That happens on its own. Also, evergreens are a thing.”

We continued this back and forth until we got to the Boutique. I not only surprised Rainbow, but myself with all that I knew about the weather back home. I walked inside and Rarity wasn’t in sight. However, I could smell something cooking, and it didn’t smell bad.

“I’m back, Rarity” I announced. “What’s cooking? Also, Rainbow’s here."

“Grilled and lightly seasoned vegetable patties” Rarity replied. “Care to join us, Rainbow?”

“I’d love to, but Tank needs to be fed” Rainbow answered. “For being an understanding tortoise, he sure can be unforgiving when he doesn’t get his food.”

“I see. Well, give him my regards."

“Can do, Rares. I’ll see you later.” Rainbow left in a modest hurry. Shortly after that, I had a late lunch/early dinner with Rarity and Sweetie Belle. It was good. Rarity had even found the time to make me a new robe today, even though she was working on other orders as well. It was medium brown with yellow trim, and on the inside of the back was Yang’s burning heart emblem in yellow. The sleeves, while still loose, weren’t overly large like most robes. I liked that.

It was only after I had retired to my room for the night and changed to the comfy new robe that I realized I hadn’t felt any pain from the tree branch since a short time into the walk here with Rainbow. The first thing that came to mind was the aura Yang and everybody in RWBY had. It made sense that I’d have it as well, now that I think about it.

Before I went to sleep, I figured I could fight my boredom with a book, then I remembered I couldn’t read their writing yet. I got my cheat sheet and started looking it over, doing my best to commit at least one of their letters to memory. I’m not sure if I succeeded or not because it eventually got too dark for me to see on account of my eyelids getting heavy.

My first fight. Ever

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It’s Wednesday. I have been in Equestria for over a week, and I’ve grown used to it. Admittedly, I’ve stayed in Ponyville the whole time, but it helps to be in one area when getting used to a whole new place. I still find magic odd, but I’ve come to accept it. Twilight tried some of her magic on me as well. Apparently, I can be affected by magic just like any other thing on the planet, but neither the Ember Celica, nor the many shotgun shells it came with could be affected by it.

Speaking of getting used to things, I’ve become less uncomfortable in Yang’s body. That does not mean I’m comfortable with it yet, though. That will either happen in time or not at all.

Today is the day Rarity and Spike went out to go harvest gems. They left shortly after noon, and I chose not to go with them. I figured today would be a lazy day for me. Well, lazier than usual. I took advantage of my superb jumping ability to make my way up to the top of the Boutique’s roof and just lay out in the sun. It felt nice. I could do this all day.

“Yang!” Spike’s frantic voice rang out from below. I reluctantly opened my eyes, sat up, and looked down.

“What is it, Spike?”

“Rarity’s been captured by diamond dogs! I need your help!”

“What?” I jumped down from my spot on the roof down to the ground. I did not notice the lack of pain from the landing. “When?”

“Almost an hour ago. Twilight and the rest of her friends already went to help her, but they got captured too.”

“So, why do you need me in particular?”

“Pinkie said to get you.”

“That’s it?” I understood that Pinkie had her strange, illogical ways with everything, and I knew I shouldn’t just accept that as reason enough to go, but I did.

“Yeah. Follow me.” Spike began running off in the direction he presumably came from, and I followed him for a minute or so.

“Wait up, Spike” I said. “Something’s telling me to go back to the boutique. I’ll be right back.” I turned around and ran back to the boutique, making it there in less than half a minute. I followed my gut feeling and went up to my room. I found a particular box and opened it. Inside were Yang’s original clothes, save for her boots, which I’ve worn daily. Also inside were the Ember Celica.

I took a deep breath and started changing my clothes, taking off the ones Rarity had made and putting on the ones I had come to this odd world with. For some reason, I found myself in an odd state of calmness during the whole change.

Once I was done and had the Ember Celica on (without any shells in them), I ran back out in the direction Spike had lead me. I ran past where I left him and kept going. I found him fairly easily. There was a gray rock field straight out in the direction he was going, and amongst the many shades of light gray there, Spike’s rich purple and green coloration really stood out.

As I got closer, I could see he was digging into a mound of what looked like fine gravel with his claws. He appeared to hear me, spared me a curious glance, then started digging again. I joined him in his efforts, grabbing as much gravel as I could and tossing it aside.

It wasn’t long before we got to the tunnel that was under the mound, though not necessarily through our own efforts. Two sets of giant paw-like hands (or maybe hand-like paws?) busted the pile, grabbed both Spike and me, then pulled us down inside. What followed was a fast,rough trip through tunnels lit with glowing gems, which concluded with Spike and I getting tossed into a cell. Literally.

“Spike! Yang!” Rarity’s voice said from within the cell. I got up and looked around. In the dim cell, which barely had any light crystals in it, I saw her and her five friends.

“So, what’s going on?” I asked.

“Well, Spike and I were getting gems as usual, with me locating them and him digging them up, when a hole appeared next to me, a diamond dog popped out of it, grabbed me, and took me down here. I told Spike to get the rest of the girls, and he did.”

Pinkie picked up the story. “After Spike had Twilight gather us together, we came out here and tried the same thing we did before. They didn’t fall for the ‘take the bait and drag us there’ trick, and while we were waiting, we got surprised and were nabbed from behind. I told Spike to get you just before Twilight used her magic to toss him away.”

“So, why not just magic your way out of this?” I asked. “I’ve seen Twilight teleport before.”

“Magic suppression rings” Twilight said as she pointed a forehoof at her horn, which did have such a ring on it. Hers was extremely thick, especially compared to Rarity’s. It made me wonder just how I didn’t notice them earlier. “These may not be high end suppression rings, but they can’t just be broken or slid off. I saw parts in these that could release a huge amount of electricity, so if we’re going to safely get these off, we’ll need a key.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound good.”

“No, and to be perfectly honest, I think only Pinkie knows how you can help get us out of here.”

All eyes turned to Pinkie. Pinkie looked back at all of us. “Okay, okay, I do know how Yang can save us, but if I told you how, it would totally ruin the suspense. No spoilers!

“Oh, Yang, look at that diamond dog! The tall one!” Pinkie said before dashing to the back of the cell. I walked up to and grabbed the barred door and looked at the one Pinkie mentioned. It looked like someone had merged a dog of some kind with a gorilla rather cleanly and gave it a cheap vest. That wasn’t what caught my attention though. What did was a small strand of gold hair on its left forearm. The mere sight of it made me feel something new, something I’d seen before in other people, but never in me.

I felt anger. I also felt something inside me starting to break, like a whole package of spaghetti being broken in half before going into the boiling water. The breaking was slow at first, but the more I looked at that bit of my golden hair, the faster the breaking happened. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t.

The dog turned to look at the cell I was in and smirked. That smirk ignited a flame inside me, which quickly spread through my whole body. I adjusted my grip on the bars and began pushing them apart, which wiped the smirk of that dog’s face. Once I had enough room, I stepped through the door and started walking towards the dog.

Once I was close enough, and I realized that the dog was bigger than I thought, I clenched my right hand into a fist and threw it at its chest. Even though I felt the power in my arm, the dog wasn’t too fazed by my sloppy punch. After I took my fist back, the dog delivered a punch of his own, sending me flying into a wall.

While I was making my way back to my feet, the dog made a series of howls and yelps. In the underground tunnels, the sound echoed quite a bit, so it would travel a long way. That would mean more reinforcements, and the very idea of that got my blood pumping. I was feeling thrilled and excited for the inevitable fight, but there was also part of my mind that was terrified both of the fight and what I was doing.

More dogs came in, including a big one with a flail. I lost my bravado at that sight and promptly hightailed it down the nearest unoccupied tunnel. The tunnel did not branch out, and on the other end was a cavernous chamber, easily over 100 feet tall. The floor was littered with embedded glowing gems, giving me just a bit more than enough light to see with.

It quickly became clear to me that these dogs knew their tunnels and were rather fast, as the one with the flail appeared from another tunnel up ahead and to the side. Before I could stop or change course, he swung the flail straight at me, and I failed to get out of the way of the crudely made ball, which smashed into my face and sent me into a stalagmite.

What does this world want with my face? Is it run by Optimus Prime? That would certainly explain a few things.

I got to my feet and took stock of myself. I had no injuries, and I concluded that auras are awesome. Speaking of the aura, I never really noticed it before, but now that I had one and it was weakened, I was aware of it. I also felt a heat building up in my body, most likely Yang’s semblance. I think my hair caught fire as well, or at least looked like it had. There was a brief sensation in my eyes as they presumably turned red.

A look around me revealed a few dozen dogs, each armored and ready to fight me. The one with the flail, who was bigger than the others, sent a few to rush me.

I activated the Ember Celica, turning them to their gauntlet forms. When the first armored dog got close enough, I threw a full power punch at its chest. My fist connected and sent it flying back into a stalagmite, breaking part of it off upon impact. After that, I took out the others in the initial charge with similar punches. I felt each punch drain a bit of aura as the armor hurt my fist, but that only made each following punch more powerful.

When I heard the flail’s chain being spun, I turned my attention to that dog. I saw the downward swing and charged straight ahead. I heard the ball smash into the ground behind me, but didn’t pay attention to it as I leapt and landed a single punch, sending the dog flying towards a wall.

A couple of dogs tried to run up behind me, but I heard them and let them come to me. I sent the left one flying with my right fist and the right one flying with my left. I heard more charging behind me, so I turned back around and saw the rest of them charging me as a group. I had enough time to take a breath before lashing out with a huge number of punches against all of them.

There was enough power in each punch to send them all flying into the wall behind them, and even cracking it. The cracks let in sunlight, and were quick to spread. The wall crumbled after less than a minute, flooding the chamber with light. I had to hold up an arm to protect my eyes from the light, but not for long. I felt the sensation in my eyes again, presumably signalling their return to their normal lavender coloration.

“Yang!” Twilight called out. I looked back and saw that she and everyone else was there with her, herself and Rarity freed of the rings. They all looked around, and so did I. “Yang, did you do all this?”

I looked between my hands and the destruction around me. What I’d done quickly caught up to me, and my hands started shaking of their own volition. My breathing became a bit rougher and shallower as well.

“Yang, are you okay?” Twilight asked, though the question barely registered in my mind. I felt my eyes roll up as I fainted right there. I was out before I hit the floor, claimed by a dreamless state of unconsciousness.

Depression knockout

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It’s been three days since I fought the diamond dogs. I woke up in a cold sweat the day after the fight. I thought the fight was a nightmare, but my clothes and Rarity’s story told the truth: I had fought and defeated almost a whole pack of diamond dogs. It had even gone to the newspaper. While I couldn’t read the writing all that well, I didn’t need to. The pictures of the damage I dealt was enough to scare me again. I didn’t even finish my breakfast after seeing that. I went back up to my room, turned the desk in the corner of the room, and just sat there.

Since then, I’ve been staying right here in this small corner, leaving only to use the bathroom when I had to. It’s a nice, dark corner, and nobody’s bothered me.

“Yang?” Rarity said from the other side of the closed door.

“Go away” I answered, though with no force to it.

“Yang, get out of your corner.” Rarity’s tone left no room for argument, but I made some anyways.

“No.”

Back on the other side of the door, Rarity, her friends, and her sister were gathered together. A few moments after Yang refused to come out, she said, “Was I this bad after the dress incident?”

“Yeah, but you were also being overly dramatic, which was at least somewhat amusing” Rainbow answered. “Yang, on the other hoof, is just depressing.”

“Maybe I could go in?” Fluttershy offered.

“No, I don’t think you’d do much good, Fluttershy” Twilight said. “Sorry.”

“Maybe a quiet party could help her?” Pinkie said, a party hat resting on her mane.

“You’re all using your heads too much” Applejack stated. “Ah think Ah’ll take the direct approach to getting Yang out.” Without waiting for a response, the farm mare walked straight into Yang’s room.

It didn’t take long for Applejack to open the window, pick Yang up, and defenestrate her. Applejack followed her target out the window and everypony else gathered around it. They saw Yang on the ground, not even attempting to move. All of them were concerned for Yang, but also knew she wouldn’t be hurt badly, if at all.

“Yang, why aren’t you stopping me?” Applejack asked as she started using some wrestling moves on me. I felt a bunch of joints popping. “Would you put up this level of resistance if you were all that stood between Equestria and someone who wanted to destroy it?”

“Yes” I honestly answered.

Applejack apparently didn’t like my answer. She released me, then grabbed one of my ankles with her mouth, and started swinging me back and forth over her. I didn’t bother counting how many times my face hit the dirt. I got a brief reprieve from the dirt when Applejack stopped swinging me around, but only because she threw me at a tree.

The pain was only a dull ache, and I idly noted that what I just went through with Applejack would have at least severely wounded anyone back on Earth.

“I think I know what’s gotten into you, Yang” Applejack said as she sat in front of me. “You’re afraid of hurting somepony with your power, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Let me tell you a story from my foalhood.

“Before I got my cutie mark, I decided that the farm life was not for me, so I went to Manehattan to live with my aunt and uncle Orange. During the weeks I was there, I became afraid of my strength. My farm upbringing made me stronger than even the adults there, and there were a lot of delicate things around me. I think I caused at least 2000 bits worth of damage by accident while I was there. I chose to stay in my room more often than not, and I felt bad about all the things I had broken. It weighed on my mind, and I moped around quite a bit. Not helping was the tiny portions of food they served that looked more like art than a meal.”

“So what happened?” I wanted to hear the end of the story.

“I was at the window and I saw a rainbow leading back to Ponyville. Turns out that was Rainbow Dash breaking the sound barrier for the first time, but I didn’t know that. I left Manehattan and came back to the farm, where I got my cutie mark.”

“Is there more to that story?”

“There is. I came back with an improved control of my strength. I don’t think it was as bad as you’ve got it though, but think about this: before you fought the diamond dogs, the only thing you broke was Twilight’s castle, which you couldn’t control.”

“I also broke some of Rarity’s tape measures.”

“Oh. Well, you still haven’t broken as many things in Ponyville as I did on my first day in Manehattan. Point is, you shouldn’t be afraid of your power like I was. In fact, Ah know just how you can use that muscle of yours for something good.”

“What?” I was interested both in Applejack’s idea and her brief change of accent. The latter was kind of perplexing, really.

“Construction! Sweet Apple Acres needs a new barn, and you can help us build it.”

“But what if I accidentally destroy it?”

“Then we’ll just clean up and start over. It actually happens quite a lot. Sometimes, we have to build three barns just to get one that doesn’t fall apart. There’s even a relative of mine out in a swamp that had to build four barns on the same spot before he got one that stayed up. The first one sank into the swamp, the second one fell over and then sank into the swamp, the third one burned down, fell over, and then sank into the swamp, but the fourth one stayed up.”

I thought on that for a bit. “That sounds like a strangely familiar story with the four barns in the swamp.”

“Ah guess there was a similar story back where you’re from. Now, get out of that robe and come back out here. And bring those bracelets of yours too.”

“Alright.” I didn’t really want to go and help Applejack, but if it kept her out of my hair, I’d give it a shot. I could only hope that she wouldn’t take up the role of an alarm clock. I jumped up to my window, but fell a bit short, landing on the roof instead. I climbed inside and saw Rarity and all her friends there, except for Applejack. “Can I help you?”

“Are you going out?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah, I’m going to appease Applejack and come back. Could you leave so I can change?”

All of the ponies except Rainbow went out the door, which Twilight closed behind them. Rainbow left through the open window instead, which reminded me to close it and the curtain. After I took care of that, I changed all my clothes, switching the robe set for the usual white t-shirt and black jeans, along with fresh undergarments. After having worn the same clothes for three days straight, it actually felt pretty good to change into something else.

I took some time to contemplate the Ember Celica before putting them on and heading out through the window. I would say that I nailed the exit, but my stomach chose that moment to vocalize how it hadn’t had anything for a while, which caused me to trip and fall onto the roof, then down onto the ground, where my stomach gave an even louder growl.

“Rainbow?” Applejack said.

“Yeah, AJ?” Rainbow asked.

“Ah need you to fly to the farm as fast as you can and tell Granny Smith to fix up something for Yang. An AFH meal. No grasses.”

“I’m on it.” Rainbow took off, quickly disappearing in the distance, leaving a rainbow contrail that ended on a distant hill.

I made my way to my feet, Applejack offering her back for me to use for support. I took the offer, which made standing that much easier. “You gonna be able to make the walk there, Sugarcube?”

“I don’t know.”

“If you need me to, Ah can carry you on my back.”

“Thanks.” I set off with Applejack, though I was walking quite a bit slower than normal. She didn’t seem to mind though.

After the fifth time I had to stop to let my stomach quiet down, I figured that it would be wise to take Applejack up on her earlier offer. I got on her back and she resumed the walk, now going faster than when I was walking with her.

“Hey Applejack?” I asked.

“You can call me AJ” she replied. “What’s up?”

“Are you really alright with me on your back?”

“Sugarcube, I’ve carried things that were far heavier than you, critters that were less cooperative than you, and critters that were both heavier and less cooperative than you on my back.”

“I’m feeling kind of awkward about this. Back home, horses and ponies were ridden and used for various tasks, but they weren’t intelligent like you. Riding one I can talk with just messes with me.”

“Yang, just relax. So many odd things happen around here that you riding on my back isn’t going to draw much attention. There’s also Pinkie Pie.”

“Oh.” I saw Pinkie wave at us moments after Applejack mentioned her. I weakly waved at Pinkie, who I still preferred to keep some distance from. Applejack also waved at her without breaking stride. Somehow. I don’t have any personal quadrupedal experience, so I wouldn’t know how she did that.

Applejack carried me until we got to the front door of her house, where I, with all the grace of a waffle, fell off Applejack. Once again, I picked myself up, using her as support. Once I was up, she opened the door. “Granny, we’re here!”

“You got that Yang girl with you?” an elderly female voice, presumably Granny Smith, called back. “The turnovers are almost done.”

“She’s here.” Applejack turned to me. “Go ahead and take a seat at the table, Yang.”

I found the dining room with little problem and sat down at the table, soon followed by Applejack. “So, what is this AFH meal?”

“Apple Family Hospitality. We cook it up for anyone who needs it, and you really need it, Yang.”

“Applejack, could you help me get the food out?” the presumed Granny Smith said.

“Sure thing, Granny.” Applejack went to the kitchen, and moments later she came back with a serving plate filled with food. Once she set it down, she went back to the kitchen and returned again with another serving plate full of food. This continued until the only empty spaces at the table were the many spaces for someone to sit down and eat, and even those were crowded by all the dishes. “Soup’s on, everypony!” Applejack shouted. I heard a herd of hooves behind me and saw Applejack’s friends coming in, each grabbing a spot at the table. Shortly after that was a yellow earth pony filly about Sweetie Belle’s age and a red stallion. He was both the largest pony I’d seen in person so far and the first male pony I’d seen.

I took a headcount once everyone was sitting down. There was Twilight, Spike, Rarity, Sweetie Belle, Applejack, a light yellow earth pony filly, Rainbow, an orange pegasus filly, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, the red stallion, an old green mare (presumably Granny Smith), and me. A whole baker’s dozen. Did they beat us while Applejack and I were on our way here?

“So, you must be Yang” the old mare said to me.

“Yes, I am her” I said. “Are you Granny Smith?”

“You bet I am. Ah heard you haven’t eaten for three days, so we’ll let you take what you want first.”

I looked over the spread of food. There were too many dishes to really choose from, so I grabbed some of the stuff from what was nearest, putting a bit of everything on my plate until there was no plate visible. I also had a bowl, so I put a layer of rice in it and put some of a thick vegetable stew on top.

As soon as I got everything I wanted, everyone else started getting their food. I didn’t pay them much mind though, as I was busy eating. I’d almost forgotten what food was like. Once I slowed down enough to actually take in the flavor and texture of the food, I noticed a distinct difference between what was here and what Rarity made. Rarity’s cooking was finer and made more to be enjoyed slowly. This food was simpler, but it was clearly made to fill someone up and make them feel great. It had some seasoning to it, but the flavor of the food was what I tasted most. It was delicious, and if it didn’t melt in my mouth, it was decimated by a few quick chews.

I wound up having a bit of everything. The slice of apple pie I finished on was good, but it would have been better if there wasn’t so much apple flavor to nearly everything else. But still, I felt rejuvenated and energized, like I could face any problem that didn’t involve fighting. Even my aura felt stronger. I also felt very full.

“You must have been really hungry, Yang” the yellow earth filly said.

“Yeah, I guess I was” I answered. “And you are?”

“Ah’m Apple Bloom. Applejack’s my big sister, Big Macintosh is my big brother, and Granny Smith is our grandma.”

“Nice to meet you all. And who’s the orange pegasus?”

“I’m Scootaloo” Scootaloo said. “I’m kind of Rainbow Dash’s little sister.”

“Kind of?”

“We’re not actually sisters, but we act like it.”

“Oh.”

“Feel free to rest up a bit, everypony” Applejack said. “Yang, we’ll be starting construction in half an hour or so.”

“Alright. Wake me when it’s time to head outside.” I went to the living room and saw a nice, wide couch there that was unoccupied. I lay down on it and found that it was the perfect size for me. One armrest comfortably elevated my head and the other was a perfect footrest. I soon slipped into the blissful type of sleep known as the food coma.

Fully recovered

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I was roused from my food coma by a hoof gently tapping on my head. I slowly opened my eyes and noticed that the hoof was clad in a light silver shoe. “Hello, dreamscape to Yang” Luna’s voice said.

I made a finger phone and put it up to my ear. “Hello dreamscape, this is Yang” I answered. “How can I help you?”

“How have you been? It’s been a while since we last spoke.”

“Well, I did get in a fight recently” I admitted. “I didn’t like it.”

“I read the article. So did Celestia, but I changed some words with a bit of magic before she read it to keep you hidden from her a bit longer. She now thinks there was a big fight among the dogs that just got out of hoof and escalated very quickly thanks to the pink one’s antics.”

“Thanks. Why are you keeping me hidden from her again?”

“So you have more time to get used to our world before she does something drastic like drag you to Canterlot and force you to train for combat.”

“Yeah, I’m not too thrilled with the idea of fighting. I don’t want to accidentally hurt someone.”

“But you seem to have gotten over that, at least partially.”

“Applejack shared a story with me.” I looked around at the nothingness of the area. “Could you, um, change the landscape? This void is kind of dreary.”

“Of course. What would you like? Perhaps the beach again?”

“Sure. How about putting us at a smoothie bar too?”

Luna’s horn flashed for a moment, and the blank dreamscape transformed into a beach. It was pleasantly warm, and my clothes were swapped out for some lighter, more beach appropriate ones. Behind me, the smoothie bar, a nice wooden shack, was quickly built. When I turned around, I saw a row of counter seats. Luna was already in one seat, so I sat next to her.

“How’s this?” Luna asked me.

“Quite nice” I answered. I turned to the server, a light yellow unicorn stallion with a straw hat on. “Sir? I’d like a cherry, orange, and lemon smoothie. What do you want, Luna?”

“I’ll have a chocolate shake.”

The stallion nodded and set to work on the drinks.

“So, Yang, would you mind telling about that fight?”

I sighed. “Well, I know my first punch was very sloppy. It did nothing. After that, the dog punched me into a wall, then it called for help and I ran. I found myself in a big chamber and then I was surrounded. After that, I kind of went on autopilot, just punching until I destroyed the wall with them.”

“And what spurred you to fight in the first place?”

I blushed and turned away as I gave my answer. “The dog guarding the cell messed up my hair. I saw some of it on its arm. It’s probably one of the stupidest reasons to get in a fight, isn’t it?”

“I’ve seen worse reasons.” Luna got her shake in a tall glass. “Like this one noble pony around 1200 years ago that shouted at his accountant for three days straight over a two bit miscalculation. That turned out to actually be part of a rival noble family’s plan to assassinate him, and it worked. After shouting for so long, he unwittingly took a poisoned drink and died a couple days later. Turns out the accountant had been bribed to make that mistake and the maid to poison the drink. Those two wound up getting the dead noble’s estate since nopony else in the family wanted it.”

I was stunned at Luna’s story. “Wow. That’s just, what were the families fighting over?”

“Who knows? That rivalry went back a few generations, so nopony remembered. But we’re off topic, aren’t we?”

“What was the original topic anyways?” I took a sip of my smoothie. The cherry, orange, and lemon flavors kind of clashed, but also kind of worked together. I liked it.

“I merely wanted to see how you were doing. You appear to be alright.”

“I guess. Applejack kind of roped me into helping her build a barn today. She also had a feast prepared for me, and it was good. It really helped me get out of my depression after the fight.”

“Physical activity and good food are the best ways to get rid of depression, so the doctors say. See if you can find something to do regularly.”

“At least once I’m able to properly read. I’ve been working on that.”

A pleasant breeze blew through the area. It felt nice. “That’s good. I saw how similar our alphanumeric systems are in one of Twilight’s dreams. I’m amazed at how they’re so similar and yet so different.”

“Yeah, but writing out the letters here is tough.”

“I’m sure you’ll get used to it.”

“I suppose.” I took a long sip of my smoothie. It was good. “So, is there anything else you want to say?”

“No, I suppose not. I suppose there’s only one matter of business left to take care of.”

“What is that?”

Luna’s horn lit up with a silvery glow. “A blessing for you.” The glow blasted off from the tip of her horn straight to my body. “When you wake up, you will be refreshed and energized.”

“Cool.” I was already feeling more energetic in the dream. “How long does this last?”

“Only once, but I’m sure it will be enough for today.”

I nodded in acknowledgement and grabbed my smoothie, taking it to a beach chair out in the sun. While this may be a dream, I intended to relax in it. I did not notice Luna’s departure, but that was alright.

I was roused from my food coma by a hoof gently tapping on my head. I slowly opened my eyes and noticed that the hoof was orange. “Time to wake up, Yang” Applejack said.

I gave a quick yawn. “Alright.” I started to get up, feeling refreshed and energized, but something was on me. I looked down and saw Applejack’s sister, Apple Bloom, I think it was, napping on my body. “I seem to have a bit of a problem, AJ. Your sister’s got me pinned down.”

Applejack looked over and saw my predicament, sighed, came around, and tried to pull Apple Bloom off of me. This only resulted in the filly wrapping her forehooves around my waist and holding on to me more securely. “Ah think you’ll just have to sit up. That ought to wake her.”

I thought on that for a moment before bringing myself into a sitting position, which did wake up Apple Bloom. “Yang?” she asked. “Could you lay down again?”

“Sorry, but I can’t” I said. “Applejack needs my help.”

“But you’re so nice and warm.”

I brought the back of the exposed portions of my fingers up to my forehead. It didn’t feel like I had a fever. “Really?”

“Really.”

I had to think my way out of this. “Do you ever have sleepovers with your friends?”

“Yeah. Our next one’s at Sweetie Belle’s. Why?”

This could not be more perfect. “If you get off me yourself, I will participate in your next sleepover.” Apple Bloom perked up at this while Applejack held her hat over her heart and hung her head. Huh.

“You mean it?”

“Yes.”

“Hm, alright.” Apple Bloom released and jumped off me, running off to do something. I stood up and stretched. “So, are we going out to get this barn built or what?”

“We are” Applejack said. “The supplies are already out there, ready to go. Just had them delivered yesterday.”

“Then let’s go.”

Our first stop was the tool shed. We probably spent fifteen minutes finding all the tools we’d need and putting them and a basket in a cart, which she hooked up to herself. That shed needed some slight organizing.

As we walked towards the pile of wood out on a distant hill, Applejack stopped for a moment. She set the basket under an apple tree and gave the big plant a single kick. A bunch of apples fell neatly into the basket. No other apples fell from the tree. I chose not to ask how that worked, and simply elected to take the basket of apples myself. The weight was barely noticeable over the rest of the walk to the hill.

I must say, whoever delivered everything here must take pride in customer satisfaction. Everything was neatly stacked and organized. They had set what looked like the outer wall pieces on the inside of the stack and the inside frame pieces on the outside, with a few sawhorses thrown in as well. There were boxes of long, sturdy nails on a piece of plywood that was sticking out a couple feet off the ground. Smart.

The whole stack was a couple feet taller than me and took up a lot of ground. “So, where are we starting with this?” I asked as I set the basket of apples down. “And this looks like way more than you’d need to build a barn.”

“Like Ah said before, we usually don’t get it done on the first try, so we always get more than we need” Applejack said. “We’ll start with the back wall first.”

Since I had both a pair of hands and a good jump, Applejack had me go on top of the pile and get some of the longer beams down. They had to be sixteen feet long and looked to be around 6x6. Wow. Seems the Apples did not mess around with structural integrity.

I pushed each beam until they were hanging over the edge of the stack before jumping off and going around to the parts that were sticking out. With a smaller jump, I reached up and grabbed one of the beams, my weight pulling down on it until I was standing on the ground again, at which point I walked it off the stack. I did forget that it would fall though, and that caught me off guard, causing me to stumble a bit. A quick readjustment of my position to the middle of the beam let me pick it back up, but this also revealed that, even with my enhanced strength, it was still heavy.

“What is this stuff made of?” I asked as I moved it into place at her direction, making half of the bottom of the wall.

“Solid oak. Nothing but the strongest wood for an Apple family barn.” Applejack picked out some wooden stakes connected with rope from the cart and started sticking them in the ground along the beam. While she did that, I put the other beam in place.

“So, are those where we’re going to build outwards?” The stakes were placed at regular intervals along all 32 feet of the beams.

“Yep. Are you sure you haven’t done this before?”

“I’ve seen others do it.” I didn’t mention that it was only in ads that came up before videos. I didn’t want to start that kind of discussion now.

“That makes things a bit easier. Put some 12 foot beams up at the stakes.”

As I found some of the specified beams, a thought crossed my mind. “Hey, AJ? Why do you use the foot for measurement when you have hooves?”

“Discord made the measurement systems, so Twilight says. It’s does explain how strange it is.”

“Huh.” I placed the beams where they were needed while Applejack brought up a box of nails and a hammer. Applejack actually had to teach me how to drive in the nail, and that putting it in at an angle would hold the two beams together. It made me wonder how earth ponies did it with any degree of efficiency.

Soon, I was elected to take the saw, a hand saw, and cut some angles in some of the beams. Big Mac usually cut them, but Applejack told him to not help this time. Once again, I had no idea how they did it.

“This is surprisingly easy” I noted as I cut the beam. It was like the saw was an extension of my arm.

Applejack looked over at my work, already nearly halfway through. “Easy? Yang, that’s solid oak you’re cutting through with a plain saw. Sure, I could do it, but I wouldn’t be that far by now.”

“Really?” As I finished cutting, I thought back to what I’d seen in RWBY about aura. It was a defense mechanism, and could be used in other ways, mainly with weapons. It was what allowed bladed weapons to stay sharp in battle, shields to not break, and so much more.

I chose to keep that revelation to myself.

Soon enough, we had a wall, at least the frame for it, done. “Phew. That’s done, at least” Applejack said. “Time to lift this one up into place.” She started tying a rope around the top of the wall.

“Uh, AJ, are you sure that’s wise?” I was concerned.

“Don’t worry, Yang. The ground’s level here, so it won’t tip once it’s up. I think.”

“But wouldn’t it be safer to add some supports to make sure it stays up? Just put some of the bases for the walls on one side and use some angled beams to keep it from falling on the other.”

Applejack thought about the idea for a bit before reluctantly agreeing to it. “Fine, go ahead.”

I quickly cut some more beams and set them in some gaps in the framework before grabbing some more beams, these even longer and heavier than the first ones, and setting them down. I held the first one up in place while I got to see Applejack set a nail in place with her mouth, then pick up the hammer with her mouth and drive in the nail. It looked horribly awkward.

“That did not look fun” I noted.

“Normally, Ah’d use my hoof for putting nails in, but this is too tough for that” Applejack said. “Ah always go to the spa for a massage after building something out here.”

We repeated the process with the other side, then spent a moment figuring out how to lift the wall up. A few ideas were tossed out, but the one we stuck with was Applejack and me slowly lifting it up, then once the wall was up, she would brace the wall to make sure it stayed up and I’d get the supports in place as fast as I could.

I’d like to say the plan went off without a hitch. No, really, it did. The supports on both sides worked perfectly. Applejack was impressed as well. We were both beat (me more than her) and decided an apple break was in store.

Once the apple break was over, we started on one of the long walls. It went like the back wall, but three times longer and without the arch on top. Applejack started building up a sweat under the sun, but I was feeling alright. Not a bit of sweat on me. I suspected that I had a heat resistance ability.

Partway through the building of the third wall, Big Macintosh showed up with a cart. He looked at the wall that was up, the wall that still had to go up, the wall that we were working on, and the pile of materials in the middle. He got this perplexed look on his face and started scratching his head with a forehoof.

“Uh, sis?” he said. It was the first time I’ve heard him speak.

“No, we don’t need your help Big Mac” Applejack answered.

“Not yet!” I quickly added.

“Which barn is this?” he asked.

“This is the one that’s being built” I answered before Applejack could. Then I remembered something. “Oh, this is the first one. If all goes well, we should have all four walls up soon, then we can put everything else in place, then there will be a lot of leftover wood and I have no idea what to do with it all.” I was feeling quite good.

Big Mac was quiet for a bit. “Are all humans this productive?”

“No. We have our share of unproductive people, and politicians.”

He was quiet again, seemingly in thought. “I brought some water for you.” He disconnected from the cart and walked off. A moment later, Applejack and I resumed work on the wall. We were nearly done with it when Big Mac showed up and talked with us, so we chose to finish it. Once we did, it was time for a water break.

There were two buckets of water. Applejack removed her hat, took one of the buckets, and dunked her head in it. I took the other, removed the Ember Celica, cupped my hands, and drank some water that way. The water was refreshing and cool. No wonder Applejack chose to dunk her head. Speaking of her, she pulled her head out once she had run out of air, and after taking a few breaths, poured the water over her entirely. I drank some more water while she took some time to breathe.

“Want some more?” I offered my bucket of water.

Applejack looked at the offered bucket. “You sure you don’t need to cool down? It’s been in the low 90s while we’ve been out here.”

“I think I’ve got heat resistance now. It’s actually pretty cool.”

Applejack facehooved. “That was a bad pun.”

“Hm?” I thought back on what I said, then facepalmed as well. “I didn’t even realize that was a pun. How about we just get the long walls up and get the last one built?”

“Sure.” Applejack and I each drank a bit more water before putting our respective items back on and turning back to the walls. “So what’s your plan this time?”

“Hm, cut out a few more supports, get one wall up, brace it, then do the same on the other side. Once that’s done, the walls can be nailed together. Think you can lift that wall up by yourself?”

“Oh, you bet I can. Now get to cutting!”

After I cut four beams, Applejack lifted the wall up, though apparently not with ease. She clearly struggled to get it up, so I was quick to get all of the supports in place. The other wall went up similarly, though not as easily since the first one took quite a bit out of AJ. She was breathing quite audibly and decided it was time for a five minute breather and apple break.

“Hey, Applejack, how about we stop here for today?” I suggested. “I can come back and help you finish up tomorrow.”

“No, we can finish it today” Applejack said. “Ah’m not stopping until this barn is done.”

“Don’t think of it as stopping. Think of it as, um, holding off the satisfaction of completion until a later date?”

Applejack glared at me. “Ah’m not buying that.”

“Oh alright.” I took a breath before saying what I really thought. “You’re getting exhausted, it’s apparently hot out here, and I don’t want you to hurt yourself through overworking yourself. I had a friend whose father worked on a farm and almost had to go to the hospital a few times because he overworked himself in triple digit heat. Regularly.”

“What happened to him?”

“He was talked down from his overworking tendencies after the 5th close call. He started taking regular breaks and actually started working more effectively from there on out. With that in mind, I say we stop here for today and come back to it tomorrow. And maybe get another set of hands here.”

“Hooves, Yang” Applejack corrected.

“Sure. I’ll see you tomorrow when I get here.” I waved and started to walk away before I remembered something. “Which way is the gate?”

As I walked past one of the boutique’s windows, I looked inside and saw Rarity talking to a tan earth pony mare who was wearing, in my opinion, a rather ridiculous white, blue, purple, and gold outfit. At least her hat was sensible, being white with only a purple ribbon on it.

I decided not to interrupt them and made my way around to the back of the building, where I jumped up to my window and went inside. I could barely make out what they were saying, so I went out of my room and sat on the stairs.

“I know you’re fine now, but what if Yang hadn’t come along to save you?” the mare who was not Rarity asked.

“Spike would have probably sent a letter to Celestia” the mare who was not Rarity’s guest answered. “Even if he had been captured with us, I’m sure Pinkie would have gotten us out somehow. She works in ways nopony can understand.” Amen to that, Rarity.

“Rarity, we’ve been friends longer than I’ve been a pop star. I’d rather lose my career in music than see a friend get hurt doing something for me.”

“It turned out fine in the end. I’m pretty sure the diamond dogs won’t be bothering me again since Yang beat them like she did.” Cue the start of the mild depression.

“You said they wouldn’t bother you again after you whined your way out of their tunnels. Please understand my skepticism.”

Rarity sighed. “If I must.”

“Could you tell me a bit about Yang? Ever since I read that article in the paper, I’ve been curious about her.”

“She’s an odd one” Rarity started. “Her body is lean and powerful, and she’s quite strong, too. I would pity whoever chose to pick a fight with her if she had the will to fight.”

“What do you mean?”

“She does not like to fight. In fact, that fight with the diamond dogs was the first time in her life that she’d ever struck back at anybody. As the story said, she fainted after the fight. After she realized her actions, she became depressed and just sat in the corner of her room. Fortunately, Applejack pulled Yang out of it earlier today.”

“I’m not sure if I’d want someone like her living with me. With how she broke your tape measures, I’d be afraid to let her into a dressing room or a Chineighse pottery store.”

“She’s quite gentle, actually. Opal loves her, and she even volunteered to be with the Crusaders when they come over next Friday.” Who were these Crusaders? “I think you should come by later so you can visit Yang yourself. As far as I know, she’s still helping Applejack build a barn.”

“I’m actually done for the day” I said.

“Yang? When did you get here? Where are you?”

I stepped out from the stairwell. “I’m back here. I heard some of your conversation too.”

“Oh, uh, did you now?” Rarity said as she turned around.

“Yep. So, am I a small time celebrity now?”

“For saving the mares who have saved the world multiple times?” Sapphire said. “I‘ve heard a lot of ponies talking about you in Canterlot over the past couple days. I knew Rarity was involved, so I came to make sure she was okay.”

“She was surprised to hear that you were living with me” Rarity said.

“I’d bet” I said. “So, what now?”

“What do you want to do, Yang?

“Honestly? I’m about ready to call it a day. You have no idea how heavy some of that lumber was.”

“And in today’s temperatures too?” Sapphire said. “I’m surprised you’re still standing, or at least not sunburnt.”

Ponies can get sunburnt? “I think I’ve got heat resistance now. And now that you mention it, I might also be unburnable. I am not going to test that theory though.

“Now then, if you’ll excuse me, I’m a little hungry, a little thirsty, and kind of tired, so I’m going to fix those in that order.” I didn’t pay any attention to Rarity or Sapphire as they started talking again.

Looking around the kitchen, I didn’t find much to eat. Rarity probably didn’t take any leftovers from the meal earlier. Maybe there weren’t any leftovers to take. With a quiet sigh, I chose to have a glass of milk. So much for a snack.

After having my glass of milk, I chose to have a second. Pony glasses are smaller than I’d like. Once that was done, I cleaned the glass, set it on the rack to dry, and headed upstairs.

I took off the Ember Celica and was in the middle of changing to my robe, which Rarity apparently cleaned while I was at Sweet Apple Acres, when a thought hit me. Well, more of a smell that hit me. That smell was me. The bed would have to wait.

I gathered my sleep clothes together and went to the bathroom. The shower was still a little daunting. I’m mostly used to my body now, at least when I’m wearing clothes and doing things. It mostly keeps my mind off all the changes. Personal hygienics brought all the differences to light though, and I didn't like it. I still put up with it though, since I had to.

I made my shower quick, as I preferred to. It kept the personal awkwardness down. I still had to figure out how to effectively wash and dry the golden mass that was my hair. I’ve gotten better than the first time I tried, at least.

After I was done in the bathroom and wearing my sleeping clothes (an idea I’ve actually warmed up to), I made my way to my room and into bed. Before I could fully fall asleep, I heard knocking on the door. “Hm? Who’s there?”

“May I come in, Yang?” Rarity asked.

“Sure.”

Rarity walked in, and I saw her carrying a brush in her magic. “I couldn’t help but notice a lot of tangles in your hair a minute ago, and I was wondering if you’d allow me to brush them out.”

“Go ahead.” I turned onto my side and let Rarity brush my hair. It felt good.

After a moment, Rarity spoke up. “I suppose I might have other reasons for doing this as well.”

“Hm?”

“I miss doing this with Sweetie Belle. Maybe I just want to cling to that a bit longer.” Anything else she said after that was lost to me as I fell asleep with her brushing my hair. It felt good.

I am not alone

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My peaceful sleep, well earned from a good day’s work, was cut short by two things: the sunlight landing straight on my closed eyes and some pressure in the bladder. At the same time. There was less than zero chance of me getting back to sleep now. Might as well take care of business. Breakfast should be cooking by now as well.

After I took care of the hygienic business, I went down the stairs and I could smell cinnamon rolls baking. Delicious, delicious cinnamon rolls.

“Morning, Rarity” I said.

“Good morning, Yang” Rarity responded from her workroom. “The cinnamon rolls should be done soon, but I’m in the zone, so I can’t get them out of the oven. Could you?”

“Sure.” I looked around the kitchen for potholders or something similar. “Uh, Rarity? I can’t find any potholders.”

There was a bit of silence. “We don’t have any here. Just use your hands and I’ll heal them to the best of my ability. There’s also some icing ready for when the rolls are out.”

I sighed. “If I must.” A timer went ‘ding!’ and I opened the oven. Inside was a stone dish with the cinnamon rolls neatly together in it. I took a breath and cautiously poked the stone dish with a finger. I didn’t feel anything like a burn, so I gave it a few more pokes, each longer than the one before until I had a hand fully on the stoneware. It did not hurt, and my hand wasn’t burnt.

I set the rolls on a prepped area of the counter and inspected my hands. I had handled something that was probably upwards of 300 degrees and they weren’t even slightly burnt.

I found the icing Rarity had mentioned and started spreading it on the rolls. Already, I could feel my mouth watering. They smelled great.

“Rolls are ready, Rarity!” I called out. “And I’m unburnt!”

“Excellent” she replied. “Set a couple on a plate for me, would you?”

“Sure thing.” I was about to just reach in and grab a couple of them when I realized that would be a bad idea. The rolls would get messed up and my hand would take some of the icing with it. I got a couple knives and used them to extract the rolls. I placed two of them on a plate for Rarity and three on a plate for me. “Hey, where’s Sweetie Belle?”

“She’s having breakfast with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo in town today.”

“Okay.” I decided to leave the three remainders in the dish. I took my plate and set it on the table. Before I sat down, I poured myself a glass of orange juice. I don’t know if it’s my new body or how it’s made here, but this stuff is amazing. It’s smoother than the low acid stuff back home, perfectly balanced between sweet and flavorful, and doesn’t have even the slightest traces of that pulp-like stuff that accumulates at the bottom. I’m leaning towards how it’s made.

My breakfast, being only some cinnamon rolls and orange juice, was eaten fairly quickly. Rarity did not come out at all while I ate. I licked the icing off my fingers once I was done with the rolls, drank my glass of orange juice, poured and drank another glass of orange juice, and went upstairs to change.

As usual, I chose a white shirt, black pants, the boots, and the Ember Celica. As much as I would like something different to wear, I don’t want to ask Rarity for it. She’s doing enough for me as it is, and I don’t want to work her even more and drain precious time, money, and energy.

I did catch a glimpse of her sales records though. After that glimpse, I got my cheat sheet so I could more easily decipher it. Apparently, the simple black and white pattern dresses are selling at hotcake levels. Some ponies were even paying upwards of 300 bits for a single one, so money didn’t really seem like a concern, but I was concerned anyways.

Huh, dresses. I’ve never worn one before, since I used to be a guy. Sure, I can kind of simulate one with the skirt and robe, but that’s a different thing entirely. Mostly. I am not looking forward to when Rarity has me put one on. Rainbow’s told me that she will do it, too.

I cast those thoughts aside as I went back down the stairs. Rarity was just leaving her workroom as well. What timing.

“I’m heading back to Sweet Apple Acres, Rarity” I said. “There is a barn that needs to be finished up.”

“Of course, dear” Rarity said. “Have a good day. I would say something about not getting sunburnt out there since you have no fur, but that’s apparently not an issue with you, so, tata!”

I remembered the way I had come from when I left Sweet Apple Acres yesterday, but there was a trace of doubt, so I jumped up onto the top of the boutique and looked around. Turns out I had no reason to doubt myself. I was right all along.

As I was walking through town, I felt and heard something metallic land on my head. It didn’t fall off, so I reached up and picked it off. It was a silver necklace with a rose design on it. The rose looked familiar. It took me a moment to realize it was the one associated with Ruby Rose.

“Thus kindly, I scatter” I heard as a whisper in my head while I looked at the necklace.

“Thus kindly, I scatter?” I repeated out loud. “Like mozzarella over tomato sauce and dough? Like Legos on the floor?”

“Like rose petals on the wind?” a male voice said from behind me.

“Yeah, that works too.” A few seconds passed by before I realized someone had spoke. I almost jumped out of my skin as I looked back. I saw someone there, a person dressed as Ruby Rose in her Slayer outfit. Skirt included. “When did you get here?”

“You summoned me here just now” he said. I gave him a quizzical look. “Oh, you must be new to this. You are what’s called a Displaced. Someone who got pulled from Earth and brought to another world by some force.

“I was cosplaying as Ruby Rose and I bought this Crescent Rose from a merchant. I suppose you were cosplaying as Yang?”

“Actually, it was a friend of mine who was cosplaying as her. I was just tagging along with her and some other friends. She gave me the Ember Celica, suggested I put them on, I activated them, and got turned into Yang.”

“Huh. That doesn’t sound too bad.”

“I used to be a guy and my personality is quite a contrast to Yang’s. I’ve had to get used to a lot of things aside from being dropped into ponyland.”

“Ponyland?” He looked around and saw the ponies walking in town. “This is not the kind of Equestria I landed in.”

“Hm? What kind of Equestria did you wind up in?”

He looked around for a bit. The ponies were giving us a polite amount of space. “I see some ponies here with fur colors and mane styles that match up with some people I’ve seen back where I’m from.”

I heard a rush of wind and a pegasus landing next to me. “Yang, who’s this?” Rainbow asked.

“Apparently someone kind of like me. He’s from another Equestria where everyone’s human.” I answered.

“Wait, what?” Rainbow looked him over. “You’re sure that’s not a, um, what’s a female human called?”

“Girl if young, woman if mature.”

“Yeah, one of those. How can you be sure?”

“Rainbow Dash, right?” He asked the pegasus.

The pegasus in question scratched her head with a forehoof. “Okay, so he’s a guy dressed as a girl and he somehow knows my name already.” There was a pregnant pause. “I deal with Pinkie Pie on a regular basis and I’m finding him weird. No offense.”

“None taken. Say, we never introduced ourselves. Call me Ross.” Ross held out a hand.

“Call me Yang.” I took his hand and shook it. Rainbow decided it was time to politely leave, so she did.

“Was that your real name before you came here?”

“No. I forgot my name on the way here, so I took up Yang’s own.

“So, what now, Mr. Ruby Ross?”

Ross facepalmed at the pun before answering. “Is there anything you need me to help you with or do for you?”

“Hmm. I’m on my way to Sweet Apple Acres to help Applejack finish building a barn, and we could use the help.”

“Sounds good. Do you want to walk or fly there?”

“I say we walk. It’s too beautiful of a day for flying.”

“Hey!” I heard Rainbow shout.

“Unless you’re a pegasus” I added. I got my bearings again and lead the way to Sweet Apple Acres.

During the walk to the farm, Ross enlightened me on the Displaced multiverse. People were brought from Earth to some version of Equestria and turned into various characters or granted their abilities, as was his case. I understood what he was talking about, but couldn’t quite wrap my head around it either.

If it hadn’t happened to me, I’d think it was some weird fanfiction thing someone started and others expanded on with their own stories.

Eventually, we came to the Apple Farm gate. “Alright Ross, over there is the barn we’ll be working on.” I pointed out the framed walls that were just visible in the distance. “Go on over and we’ll meet you there.”

“Alright.” Ross gave a salute and sped off to the barn. He was really fast. In what had to be less than fifteen seconds, he made it to the barn, something which took Applejack and I a few minutes to walk to. He also left behind a trail of rose petals, which quickly dissolved.

After getting over my surprise, I walked up to the front door and knocked. A moment later, it opened up, revealing Applejack, hatless. “Howdy, Yang” she greeted. “Ready to finish that barn?”

“Yep” I responded. “I even brought some extra hands.”

“Hooves, Yang.”

“Whatever. Let’s go.”

Before Applejack came out, she went back inside. A moment later, she came out hatted and with an empty basket on her back. We went out and started the minutes long walk to the barn, stopping only for her to kick a few apples out of a tree and into the basket. We were quick to resume our walk since it took only a few seconds for her to make the small harvest.

When we got there, Applejack noticed something sitting on the lumber. Or rather, someone. “Uh, Yang? Do you know who that is?”

“The extra hands” I answered. “Applejack, meet Ross. He’s someone kind of like me.”

“So he crashed through a castle too?”

“Wait, what?” Ross asked.

“I kind of fell into Twilight’s crystal castle after I fell from the sky” I sheepishly answered. “At least the only thing hurt was the castle itself.”

Ross was quiet for a bit. “And all I did was stumble onto some pavement when I came through to my Equestria.

“So, are we going to build this barn or what?”

Building the fourth wall of the barn wasn’t like building the first wall, despite their similar shapes. The door had to be factored in, after all. And I thought I saw Pinkie with a sledgehammer a few times, as if she wanted to break the fourth wall, but was holding back.

Ross was in charge of cutting the thick lumber, by his choice, and his scythe skills were quite apparent. He was able to make very precise cuts with his Crescent Rose, and faster than me with the saw. I held a beam over my shoulder, Ross cut it appropriately, and Applejack was put into the role of overseer, directing us more than actually working. She didn’t seem to like that very much, despite being very good at it.

The wall frame was built in what was probably half an hour, but likely more. Once it was done, Applejack and I raised it into position and held it there while Ross drove in the nails that would hold it together. He wanted to use Crescent Rose to literally shoot the nails in, but he couldn’t because he didn’t have the right munitions. Come to think of it, with the right ammo, I could use the Ember Celica as a pair of nail guns. And to make it better, there would be no need for locating and picking up an air powered tool, since the rounds could have only enough power to drive in a nail.

Egads, where did that, admittedly rather clever, line of thinking come from? Eh, I’ll figure it out later.

Once the fourth wall was up, I asked Applejack a question. “So, how are we going to get the roof on this thing?”

Applejack answered my question. “We’re going to build up the inside first, then we’ll get to the roof from there.”

“Why not get some pegasi to lift the pieces and build it up there?” Ross suggested. It did sound smart.”

“Because you would need at least four pegasi to even lift these beams up there, and if one of them falls, we’d have to take extra time to repair anything it hit.”

“So building the inside now will give us both the interior structures for it and the scaffolding to put the roof up?” I answered.

“You got it, Yang. Now let’s get to work!”

The first thing we had to do before building the interior was get all the 6x6 posts out from the giant pile. We used way less than half of them for the frame, and they were taking up space we needed to move around in.

Applejack had the easiest job, since she was just marking where things would go. Ross and I were tasked with taking the giant posts out. With both of us working at it, it was easy enough. As we neared the end of the pile, it was becoming evident Ross was getting tired.

“You okay there?” I asked him.

“Yeah, yeah” Ross said between breaths. “I’m just tired and reconsidering my choice of long sleeves, since I’m getting a little warm.”

“AJ, what’s today’s temperatures?”

“Ain’t going below 70 today” she informed me.

“And I feel fine.” I really did. Thinking about it, I could feel the heat, but it simply didn’t affect me. I liked that. I could probably wear a black suit in the middle of the day in the middle of the desert and be just fine. Now I wanted a suit. “Maybe you should go rest for a bit, Ross. There’s plenty of shady trees around.”

“That sounds good” he agreed as he started going towards the nearest tree. “I can fight Roidmudes and Grimm with Crescent Rose, but a bit of construction work wears me out.”

“Fights and construction are like Roidmudes and Grimm: two totally different beasts.” Yes, that sounded like a good analogy. One was an intelligent mechanical humanoid thing that could slow things in an area down and the other was a shadowy beast.

“Good point.” Ross decided to jump up in the tree, but he soon fell back down. “Wait, you know what a Roidmude is?”

“000 is best Roidmude.”

“What?” Ross asked before dismissing the thought and jumping back up into the tree. I kept on moving the posts, though with much less efficiency than when Ross was helping. I did manage to get it done within an hour, so that was good.

After I got the last post moved, I went to the tree to check on Ross. Seems he had fallen asleep. I had to do something about that, and I knew just how to do it. I whispered “Red like Ross’s” into his ear. The reaction wasn’t immediate, but the facepalm certainly did its job of waking him up, along with knocking him off balance enough to fall out of the tree. “Feel better?”

“Yeah” Ross answered. “What’s next? Are we moving more lumber?”

“Yes, but not in the same way. We’re making stuff for the inside. AJ’s getting some water for us, so I can rest a bit now.” I landed next to him and sat in the shade.

For a while, we just sat there, waiting for Applejack to return. “Do you think she’s okay?” Ross asked. “It’s been a while since she left us here.”

“Maybe she just got caught up in something.”

A few seconds later, we faintly heard Applejack. “Ah’m tellin` ya Mac, the three of us got this. We don’t need your help.”

“Eenope” a male voice said.

“So if you agree, why are you insisting on helping us?” Applejack sounded a little upset.

“It sounds interesting.” This stallion was certainly one of few words. Come to think of it, I hadn’t heard a word out of him when I was at the feast yesterday.

“It’s just us building a barn. What’s so interesting about it?”

“It hasn’t fallen yet. It’s usually the fourth one that stays up.”

Applejack didn’t have any kind of response to that. She and her brother showed up a few moments after their conversation ended, each with a cart with water barrels in it.

“So, what’s up?” I asked Applejack.

“We got some water here and-” Applejack sighed. “-Big Mac’s going to help us finish the barn.”

Ross and I looked at the stallion. “Eeyup” was all he said on the matter.

“Drink up, everyone. It’s warming up, and I want everyone alive and well. We don’t want what happened to Apple Fritter last year to happen to us.”

We got the water barrels out of the carts and drank some of the water. It was refreshing, just like yesterday.

“So, what happened to Apple Fritter?” Ross asked.

“You don’t want to know” Applejack said. “Off to work, everyone!”

“But I do want to know” Ross said as he followed us back to the work site.

On the ground floor, we started by building what looked like stable walls, but were actually for tool and crop storage. At least, that’s what Applejack said that she and I were working on. Ross and Big Mac were making what looked like a workshop area by the opposite wall. Speaking of walls, we really needed to get some actual walls up on the frames.

The rest of the ground floor went at a good pace. Once we had everything made, we started on the next part of the interior: stairs to go up to a second level. A level we needed to also build the floor for.

I would do almost anything right now for a crane truck or two.

We somehow managed to build the second floor without any supports connecting it to the ground. It still would have been easier with a crane truck. All of us, except for me, were feeling the effects of the heat once we were done. AJ, Big Mac, and Ross were resting in the shade. Since I wasn’t worn out from the heat, I got volunteered to take an empty basket and harvest some apples. A whole dozen of them.

I tried kicking a tree like Applejack did, but I got nothing from the few tries. I didn’t want to punch the tree, remembering what those did in the Diamond Dogs’ cave. That left going up there to pick the apples myself. My initial thought was to get a ladder, but that idea fell under the next one, which was just to jump up there.

The only other times I’ve jumped have been when Rainbow scared me by accident and the times I’ve jumped onto the boutique’s roof. In both cases, I’ve not had to mind the power in my jumps, since the former was me being startled and the latter has nothing I could accidentally hit with a bit of caution.

I started with some small jumps, and gradually increased the strength I put in them, going a bit higher each time. My sixth jump got me close to the lowest branches, and the seventh got me close enough to grab a branch. Between the bark of the branch and my strength, I was able to hold myself up with ease. I got my free hand on another branch and pulled myself up. I clumsily got my legs up and made my way to an opening in the branches where I could stand.

There were lots of apples within reach. Multiple dozens, and this wasn’t a very large tree either. Fortunately, I only needed the one dozen, so I carefully selected and grabbed twelve very good ones. I put them in the basket, then decided to grab a few extra. If Applejack minded that, I could pay for them.

Getting down was much easier than getting up, since I did not need to use any strength. Moments after landing, I made my way back to the barn, basket of apples in tow.

When I got back, everyone was laying down on their backs, still in the shade under the second floor. “I have apples!” I called out. “How many do each of you want?”

“Two” Ross said.

“Three” Applejack answered.

“Four” Big Mac said.

I delivered to them the requested quantities of apples. I sat down next to Ross, grabbed an apple for myself, and bit into it.

If I do make it back home somehow, I am never going to truly enjoy apples there again. These were crisp, fresh, juicy, and just sweet enough. Overall, they were perfectly delicious.

“These are good” Ross said. “Really good.”

“Of course they are” Applejack said. “We grow the best apples in Equestria here.”

“I don’t doubt it.” Ross took another bite. “I’d like to take some back with me, to be honest.”

“I did pick a few extra apples” I admitted. “Sorry, AJ.”

“It’s alright, Yang” Applejack assured. “Ross can just take some of the extras you picked. Ah don’t mind. In fact, you can take some yourself, Yang.”

“Thanks.”

For a few minutes, we just stayed there, enjoying the apples, shade, and relative silence. I did get a kick out of seeing Ross’s face when Applejack picked up an apple with a single hoof, even though it perplexed me just as much how she could do that.

“Well, break’s over, everyone” Applejack decided. “let’s get to work on the roof frames and third floor.”

“Third floor?” Ross and I asked at the same time.

“Eeyup” Big Mac said.

Apparently, the logic behind making the third floor before making the roof framing was so you could stand on the floors and build the frame right there without all the risk of falling to the ground. I would have been fine from a fall to the ground at this height, and Ross probably would be alright too, but a pony might not.

Really, it was a fairly smart design. I know some machines would have made getting everything up a lot easier, but there was also a sense of pride and satisfaction in getting everything up by hand.

Once the roof frames were in place, all that was left to do was attaching the real walls. Ross was the one to give voice to my thoughts. “So, how are we going to put all these walls in place?”

“A lot of rope and the top of the barn” Applejack answered. “And Ah reckon you two will be perfect for this.”

Ross and I exchanged worried looks.

We were right to be worried. Applejack’s plan was to lasso us by our ankles, and have us upside down against one framed wall while she and Big Mac moved us around with the ropes from the opposite side.

Before we got tied up, we had moved a substantial amount of wall panels to the bases of the walls we were building, along with a lot of nails. Once that was done, Ross and I barely had any time to react before we were roped and pulled up and against the wall. Thanks to his speed, Ross was able to brace himself before impact. Me? I slammed into a fame post face and chest first. It stung a bit.

After we had a minute to acclimate to our new orientation, I realized we both had things on us that were a bit more gravity sensitive than anything else. For me, it was my chest and hair, both of which I could withstand. For Ross, it was his dress. Even though he was a guy, he treated it like he would if he were a girl.

It was both amusing and hard for me to look at. I blame societal norms and such.

Applejack offered a solution in the form of an extra bit of rope. It made things easier for us all since Ross wasn’t as occupied with the skirt.

We started putting up the wall panels after that. It wasn’t easy, and we could have done well with some hooks or something to help hold onto the panels. We’d take a piece, place it against the frames, then take turns nailing it in place. For a few hours, we just hung out like that, going around the barn until everything but the doors and roof were made.

When we were done, Ross took Crescent Rose and cut the ropes holding us up, starting with mine. I had only a moment to be amazed at his precision before falling to the ground. Face first. Because of course that’s how I would land.

“That doesn’t look like a good landing” Ross commented.

I got to my feet and responded. “I have no idea why, but the world seems to be after my face.” Both of us were a little dizzy. The ground was starting to look good again.

“Go ahead and take a break, you two” Applejack said. “In fact, you can go home if you want. Mac and I can finish the barn from here.”

“You sure?”

“Eeyup” Big Mac said.

“I think I’ll do that after some time laying down.” I let myself fall backwards onto the ground. Ross had a similar idea, but he fell forwards. Over a period of minutes, I started feeling better as my body reoriented itself.

Once I was sure I was able to stand without getting dizzy, I stood up, and to my pleasure, I was not dizzy. I counted that as a small victory. Yay!

“So, what now?” Ross asked as he stood up.

“I suppose we head off” I answered. Ross evidently thought it was a good idea too since he started walking off. I had to stop him though, as he was going the wrong way.

Once we were on the right path, bid Applejack and Big Mac our farewells, and snagged a couple more apples (with their permission), Ross started talking. “So, what kind of token are you going to have?”

“Token?”

“Something for other Displaced to use to call for your aid. That necklace you picked up earlier is my token.”

“Oh. Uh, do you want it back?”

“No, I have the original with me. A token is something related to you that you infuse with part of your soul and send out into the void. Think of it as a business card of sorts.”

I thought about everything I had, which wasn’t all that much. “I’ve got nothing I could use.”

“You could use your Ember Celica.”

I thought about that for a bit. “I’d rather not, considering what they did to me. I don’t want the chance of that happening to anyone else.”

“Fair enough. You don’t have to do it right now either.

“I should get going now. Pull out the necklace you used to summon me with.” As Ross said to, I pulled out the necklace. “Now just say that I’m done here and ready to go back.”

“Thanks for your help today” I said. “You can go back to your world now.” A portal opened behind Ross, and I took a few involuntary steps back, but there was no pull from it on either of us.

“I’ll probably be a bit sore later, but today was good. And I got some delicious apples out of it. Maybe I could give one to Kelly.” Before I could say anything, he dashed into the portal, which closed right behind him.

With a determined sigh, I resumed my walk back to the boutique, enjoying an apple along the way. It was another good apple. One thing I noticed was that the skin of the apple didn’t get caught in my teeth. Whether it was just my luck that the apple skins haven’t gotten stuck in my teeth or that the apples simply are that way, that was cool.

I was feeling quite good when I got back to the boutique. Another day of work, some knowledge gained, and I’m not all that tired either. I was feeling rather awesome.

“Hi, Rarity” I said as I came in. “How was your day?”

“Hello, Yang” Rarity responded. She was opening a box by her wall of fabric. Inside the box, though not for long, was a bolt of light blue fabric. “My day has gone quite well. I got three dresses made, sold two others, and set some clients up for measurements later this week. I also got some fabric in that I ordered a few days before you showed up.”

I did some mental math. “So, about two weeks ago?”

“Hm, yes. For an order like this, all the way from Vanhoover, two weeks is impressive speed.”

The council of Me, Myself, and I, despite not knowing where Vanhoover was, unanimously chose not to tell Rarity about Amazon or Ebay. Or shopping on the internet in general. “Cool. As for me, I made a friend, though I probably won’t see him for a while, and we helped with Applejack’s barn. We didn’t finish, but Applejack let us leave after we got the walls finished. She also said she and her brother could finish it.”

“That’s quite nice, dear. I’m not one for farming, or agriculture in general, but I can appreciate the work that went into it.

“Oh, I made something for you during a moment of inspiration.” Rarity set her fabric bolt down and went to her inspiration room. A moment later, she came back out and floated a thin brown and yellow thing. The sections were the same shape, a trapezoid with a narrow center and long angles. The brown section had a yellow outline of Yang’s burning heart emblem on it, which indicated that the longer side of the brown part was on top and the yellow was on the bottom, which would make an upward slant at the sides.

“What is it?” I asked as I picked it out of her magic and looked more closely at it.

“A choker. It’s like a necklace, but it’s tight enough to go anywhere on your neck. And despite the name, it won’t actually choke you. I got the idea for it from a client just today.”

“Hm. Well, it’s nice, but getting it on and off with all this hair won’t exactly be all that easy.”

“I’ve already thought of that. You can slide it open where the brown and yellow meet, then put them back together with ease.”

I looked at it again, not seeing whatever mechanism Rarity had installed. After a moment, I tried it and found that it slid apart with only a little effort. “How?”

“An enchantment, dear.”

“Oh.” Magic. No wonder I couldn’t see how it opened. With a mental shrug, I set to work putting it on. It was very easy, since the choker closed with ease, going right into position just a little bit above the base of my neck. It fit perfectly.

“It looks even better on you than I imagined” Rarity said.

“It feels good too. Consider it perfect.”

“Thanks, dear. I have a few more bolts of fabric to go through before dinner.”

“Alright.” I went upstairs to my room, an idea already in mind.

Once I was in my room, I sat down by the window and took the choker off, though with some reluctance. This could be a token. I held it and realized I had no idea how to do it. I still had some time though, so I pulled out Ross’s necklace. “Thus kindly, I scatter.”

I kept an eye out for Ross’s appearance through the window, but didn’t see him for a bit. I turned around and saw him standing at the foot of the bed.

“Need me again?” Ross asked.

“I have no idea how to make the token” I admitted. I was also wondering why he appeared behind me again. Maybe his token was faulty?

“Concentrate on it, have a message in mind, and when it’s done, you’ll see a small portal. Throw it in, and it will be out there. You’ll get to keep the original as well.”

“Alright.” I held the choker, closed my eyes, and focused on it. I think I went into a zen-like state. “If you need me, preferably not for fighting, call me over. The phrase is Come forth, calm flame.”

I felt something flowing from me to the choker for a fraction of a second, pulling me out of my possible zen state. I opened my eyes and saw a small swirling vortex in front of me.

“Just drop it in” Ross said. With a bit of trepidation, I tossed the choker in. A moment later, it came back out through another vortex, no worse for wear. After getting it, I put it back on. “Now anyone who finds a copy of it can call for your aid. And it looks nice on you.”

It felt nice to be complimented on how I looked. I never gave my appearance much thought before, but now that the seed of that idea was planted in my head, it was likely not to leave. “Thanks. You can go back to your world again.” Once again, a vortex opened up near Ross. He gave a quick salute and dashed into it, and soon there was no sign that he was there at all.

I looked to the bookshelf and its books. I grabbed a random magenta one and looked at the title. It took me a bit to decipher the title ‘Fashions Through the Decade’. There was also a tiny note written at the bottom to apologize for all the bad photos. Sounds like somebody probably travelled a lot for this book, especially considering just how thick it was.

I worked at my reading and learning of the ponies’ written characters until supper, which turned out to be Sweetie Belle offering to buy stuff for us from the Olive Branch Cafe and bring it back. I went with a salad like the one I had before and didn’t bother paying attention to Rarity’s detailed order.

As Rarity and I sat at the dinner table, we kept to ourselves. I read my book, admittedly rather slowly, and Rarity was looking at me like I was a blank canvas or something. I didn’t do anything to stop her, and she didn’t bother me.

After I finished page two and saw the horribly distorted picture on page three, Sweetie Belle came in, four containers floating next to her in her magic. I saw that each of them had a different letter on it. After closing the door, she came over to the table and set them down at my spot.

“Uh?” I eloquently asked.

“Go ahead and hoof them out, Yang” Sweetie said. “It shouldn’t be too hard to figure out which one is for which of us.”

“Did Twilight talk you into this?” Rarity asked. “It seems like something she would do.”

I spread the four containers out. All of them had a different letter on them.

“Yes, she did. She happened to be at Olive Branch suggested it.”

The letters were E, R, S, and Y. I kept the Y container for myself, gave the R to Rarity, gave the S to Sweetie Belle, and put the E container in the middle. “Whose is this one?” I asked.

“That one’s for everypony. It’s just some breadsticks and olive oil.”

We all opened our containers, and I saw my salad, perfectly made and waiting to be eaten. It was a slightly smaller portion than before, but if I remembered correctly, Rarity said they made the proportions relative to who ordered them. They couldn’t see me when Sweetie made the order, so they couldn’t make it the appropriate size. Oh well, nothing I can do about that.

Supper went quietly with each of us enjoying our food. Once we were done, we thanked Sweetie and we all left to do our own things. Well, I would have, had Opal not decided that she wanted to sit on my lap and pin me to the chair. I also found myself scratching her, further increasing her effectiveness with keeping me down. Outside, I was smiling. Inside, I was also smiling, but there was also a small part of my brain, just behind my left ear and about an inch in, that was wondering why I was helping Opal pin me in place.

“Yang?” Sweetie asked me.

“Yeah?” I asked back.

“I forgot to tell you this earlier, but Twilight wants to see you at her castle tomorrow morning. She wants to see what your limits are.”

“A fitness test?” For having nothing to really do, I sure was busy.

“I guess so. Good night, Yang.”

“Good night, Sweetie.” Shortly after she went upstairs, I began the monumental task of picking Opal up off my lap. With overly exaggerated effort, I successfully picked her up and set her on the floor, much to her apparent displeasure. “Sorry Opal, but I have to get ready for bed. Tomorrow is another busy day for me.”

I went upstairs and into my room. I grabbed my robe and its corresponding skirt, then over to the unoccupied bathroom. I took care of my personal cleansing routine, as I have less than twenty times before. I think it’s fair to say that I’ve fully adjusted to the new. . . waste excretion process. It wasn’t learning the motions that was tough, but rather accepting them as normal. For now.

After that was the familiar action of brushing my teeth. Amazingly, toothbrushes here are about the same size as the ones back home. I picked up my brush, put a bit of toothpaste on it, took a deep breath, and then started the fast brushing process. I had to be fast since the toothpaste was honey and grass flavored, and the latter flavor made me gag a bit.

Once I was done brushing and had rinsed my mouth with a mint mouthwash to get the grassy flavor out, I changed to my robe and its corresponding skirt. I had a feeling the ensemble wouldn’t win any awards, but it was comfortable, I liked it, and that was all that mattered.

Before I went to sleep, I looked over the clothes I had just taken off. There was a bit of dirt on them, but not much. I could wear them again tomorrow if I wanted to. I thought on the matter for a moment before deciding to put them in the basket of my dirty clothes. I still had a few extra changes available. I then turned off the lights and crawled into bed, lying on my back as I preferred to.

Apparently, I didn’t close my door all the way. Normally, this would not be a problem. Tonight though, Opal decided to come in and jump up onto the foot of my bed. I could tell it was her by the barely visible white cat shape.

“Oh, hi Opal” I greeted. “Are you here to sleep with me?”

Opal did not answer. Instead, she made her way up to my midsection, kneaded the blanket a bit, curled up, and started going to sleep. I followed suit soon thereafter.

At the end, the start

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I was mildly surprised to find myself waking up of my own volition. I looked around and saw that the sunbeam was only inches away from my face. I also didn’t see Opal, but I could hear her. She was very close to me. It felt like she was right next to me, based on the small warm breaths I was feeling on my face. I looked over in that direction.

Opal had made a nest out of my hair and had curled up next to my face while I was asleep. She was using her cat powers to keep me from getting up by pinning down my hair. Part of me wanted to be upset at Opal for messing up and sleeping in my hair, but since she was a cat, it was also very difficult to really get upset at her.

I made a mental note to brush my hair once Opal was off it. Maybe during my shower. Maybe I could try brushing it while I had shampoo and conditioner in my hair at the same time. That could decrease how much of both I used. But Opal had to get off first.

It was at least another half hour before Opal woke up. By then, the sunbeam had passed over my face entirely. She spent some time walking on me before getting off the bed, finally allowing me to get up. I stretched as I left my room, making a right to go to the bathroom. To my dismay, the door was closed. I could tell it was Rarity in the shower though by the voice and running water.

With a sigh, I went the other way down the hall and downstairs. Sweetie Belle was at the dining table eating a bowl of cereal. “Good morning” I said.

“Good morning, Yang” Sweetie responded. “Don’t forget that Twilight wants you to visit her today.”

“Thanks for the reminder.” I found a grassless cereal, grabbed a bowl and spoon, and joined Sweetie Belle at the table. “Say, what is today anyways? I haven’t been keeping track.”

“Today’s Sunday.”

“Thanks.” I started on my cereal, making small talk with Sweetie Belle. Well, she was doing most of the talking. I listened.

Probably twenty minutes later, Rarity came downstairs. “Oh, good morning, Yang. I didn’t know you were up.”

“Neither did I” I said. “I suppose the shower’s available?”

“Yes, but the hot water pipes will need a few more minutes to recharge.”

Huh? “The pipes need to recharge?”

“Is it different where you’re from? The hot water pipes here have enchantments in them that heat the water as it flows through them.”

“That’s. . . actually kind of cool. I’m not entirely sure how it works back home, but it’s not like that. Anyways, I’m going to take a shower, brush out the remains of the nest Opal made of my hair, and go to Twilight’s.”

“I was meaning to ask you about that, Yang” Sweetie said. “Opal usually likes to claw my mane apart for some reason.”

“I think she might have known that destroying my hair would likely mean no more scratches from me.” I went upstairs and into my room, collected a set of my regular clothes, and went to the bathroom. I figured there were still a few minutes to wait on the pipes, so I thought about what Twilight might have wanted with me. I was sure she’d ask how my reading skills were coming along, since she did help me get started on that.

After I was certain the pipes were warmed up, I disrobed and got into the shower. I tried my idea of brushing with the shampoo and conditioner in my hair to see if I could use less of it. To my delight, Opal’s nest was cleaned up with no fuss. Still to my delight, but less so, my idea didn’t work as well as I’d hoped. It did help spread the cleaning materials through my hair more evenly, though, so that’s a plus.

Once I was done washing, I turned off the water, squeezed a fair amount of dihydrogen monoxide out of my hair, got out, dried off, and got dressed. Once I was ready, I collected my robe, stopped by my room to put it away, and left the boutique.

I’ve already learned a few of the important locations around town. Normally, it would take longer, but because almost every building was a piece of art, it was fairly easy to identify where I was, and Twilight’s castle certainly stood out. Aside from being a giant thing in a town full of two story houses, it was also apparently made of crystal.

I knocked on the front door and it quickly opened with a purple glow. The glow soon encompassed me and I was pulled inside at high speed, down a couple corridors and out through another door, finally being let go. I still had my momentum though, and I found myself rolling across the ground, bouncing a bit along the way. I finally came to a stop when my face found purchase on the side of a rock sticking out of the ground.

I thanked my aura for being there to preserve my face. It also reduced the impact from what would be crushing pain to a brief stinging sensation.

“Yang! Are you okay? I’m so sorry about that!” Twilight said. There was no way to hide the panic in her voice.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine” I assured her. “What happened?”

“Well, when you knocked, I opened the door and pulled you through the castle back to here with telekinesis, and I guess my excitement got the better of me.”

“I see. So, what did you want to see me for?”

“To test your physical limits. I want to see how strong you are, how fast you are, your reaction speed, your agility, and whatever else I can think of along the way.”

“Alright, but your results will be a bit off.”

“What? How?”

“I have a semblance, and when I get hit, it makes me stronger.”

“Is there any way to reset it?”

I thought for a moment. “Well, if I get knocked out, it will reset.”

“Hello, Yang. I didn’t expect you to be asleep at this time of day” Luna said.

“Wait, what?” I was confused. “When did I fall asleep?” A quick look around the area showed that we were sitting on a cloud in a vague art gallery. The cloud was very soft.

“Just a moment ago.”

“But I was just talking with Twilight a moment ago.”

“What were you talking about with her?”

“Twilight wants to know how strong I am and a bunch of other stuff. I told her about how my semblance makes me stronger with each hit I take, and that being knocked out resets the boosts I would get.”

“I will go out on a limb and guess you got hit at some point.”

“My face met a rock at high speed before the discussion.”

Luna was quiet for a bit. “I believe you got hit with a sleep spell.”

“What?”

“Twilight is a mare of science, so she tends to correct anything that will mess up an experiment. Whether the sleep spell was deliberate or a reflex, I am uncertain. At least you’ll be rested up, right?”

“I guess so. How long will the spell last? I don’t want to be the next Rip Van Winkle.”

“I do not know of this Rip Van Winkle of which you speak.”

“He took a 20 year nap. It’s an old story from home.”

“Ah. As for your question, you might be asleep for the length of a Twilight Sparkle Panic Attack, and that depends on young Spike’s proximity. If he is close, then it shouldn’t be too long.” Note to self: find out what can make Twilight panic and don’t do those things. “I’ll go ahead and take my leave, Yang. I’ll bless you with a dreamless sleep.”

The gallery of vague art began to dissolve after Luna left, revealing a peaceful beige void.

I slowly opened my eyes. I was laying down on my back on the grass. I saw a blue sky above me, without a single cloud in it. It was a beautiful sky.

I sat up and quickly found Twilight, sitting off a distance from me, looking somewhat ashamed of herself. I recalled my discussion with Luna. “How long did you put me to sleep for?”

“Five minutes” Twilight said. “I really shouldn’t have, but I kind of just acted on my own.”

“Obsessed with the scientific processes a bit much?”

“Yeah, I am.”

I shrugged. “What happened while I was out?”

Spike joined us right at that moment, carrying a fair amount of water and a few books. “Twilight went into her panic mode a few seconds after she realized what she did. Before she could do anything that would normally be on a Tuesday, I got her to calm down.”

“Tuesday? What’s so special about Tuesdays?”

“Things usually happen in Ponyville on Tuesdays. Last Tuesday was when everypony got abducted by the Diamond Dogs and you saved us.”

“I don’t like that day.”

“I know.” Spike turned to Twilight. “I’ve got everything you asked for, Twilight.”

“Thanks, Spike” Twilight said. “Even the journal to contact Sunset?”

“And three new thought journals.”

“You’re the best, Spike.” Twilight took all the items in her magic and floated them over to a picnic table before addressing me and opening the book with what looked like a sun partially combined with a yin-yang symbol. “According to Sunset, human women often wear specialized athletic clothes when practicing or doing any kind of athletic activity.”

If the promotional pictures I’ve seen at various sporting goods stores were any indication, I think I knew what was coming up. I had to ask anyways. “What are you thinking, Twilight?”

“I dare say you are not dressed for the occasion. This simply will not do” Twilight said in a fairly good, if slightly exaggerated imitation of Rarity. 9.5 out of 10. She quickly went back to her regular voice. “For a few days, I’ve been talking with Sunset Shimmer, a friend who lives in a different world, and she’s sent me lots of information on humans. We even figured out how to send magazines through the journals we use to stay in touch.”

I wanted to know more, but I figured magic was the answer, so I decided not to ask. “What did you learn, and how is it relevant now?”

“Weird fashions aside,-” No argument from me on that point. “-I found many pictures of female athletes wearing sports bras and shorts or pants that fit them rather well.”

“Uh, are you thinking what I think you’re thinking?”

“I don’t know. What do you think I’m thinking?”

“I think you want to hit me with a spell to replace my clothes with the athletic wear you’ve described. I don’t want any part of that.”

“Well, you’re not wrong” Twilight admitted. “Why don’t you want to wear those kinds of clothes though?”

“As a former guy, I still have my thoughts of what’s normal and not normal for me. I’ve gotten used to the size and shape of my clothes here out of necessity, but I don’t want more to get used to.”

“You do know Rarity will try to get you to wear a dress, right?”

All of a sudden, I felt really motivated to find a job. One that would be an all day, everyday job, at least three miles away from the boutique. “Thanks, Twilight” I deadpanned.

“You’re welcome? But really, I think the athletic clothes will help you out. And I promise your clothes will be just fine.”

For a few minutes, Twilight and I went back and forth on the matter. She wanted me to wear the athletic clothes, which would be made out of her magic, but feel and work like the real deal. I simply did not want to wear something that revealed that much of my, admittedly great, body.

Spike was the one to come up with a solution. “What if you just try them on for a few minutes, Yang?”

“Hm?” Twilight and I said at the same time.

“Twilight can modify the spell so the clothes look however you want them to, Yang. If you really don’t like them, you can go inside, Twilight can dispel the clothes, you can put your normal ones back on, and then we can get on with this test.”

We were quiet for a bit. “That sounds reasonable” I admitted. “Is it an instant change?”

“No” Twilight said. “If you need some privacy, I can make a barrier for you.”

“I’d appreciate that. Oh, where will these clothes go?”

“I can make a box for them.”

“Alright. Privacy, box, clothes. Please make it fast.”

Twilight fired a spell in my direction, making a hexagonal privacy barrier with walls thin enough to let in light, but deny sight of anything that wasn’t a shadow. I looked around and saw that it had a nice domed ceiling. I questioned that for a moment before remembering that pegasi existed here, and I appreciated the thought.

It was a few seconds before I got hit with two spells in rapid succession. The first one removed almost everything I was wearing, though it didn’t get the Ember Celica for some reason. The next spell, less than a second later, turned into a sports bra, tight spandex pants, thin socks, and softly padded shoes.

“How is it?” Twilight asked.

I took in the outfit. I will admit, it didn’t feel all bad, but something was missing. “I think you might have overlooked something, Twilight.”

“Hm? I shouldn’t have. I studied the ensemble and others like it. I double and quadruple checked everything.”

I decided to be direct. “Lower undergarment. You wouldn’t see it in the pictures.” Direct, though I was, I didn’t want to say the real name of the garment out loud yet. “Could you teleport the box with my clothes in it in here and dispel the sports clothes?”

“And once you say so, reconjure the outfit?” Twilight said as she did what I suggested.

“Exactly.” I found the panties in the box of my clothes, which were very neatly folded, and put them on. “Ready!” a moment later, the outfit was put back on me. With my mind more at ease, I was able to think more clearly about how I felt about it.

“Better?”

“Yeah. Would you agree that it’s hard to do an experiment when you’re uncomfortable with what you’re wearing?”

“Oh yeah. After I ascended, I needed to get wing holes in my lab coats. I did my own modification, and it let my wings through. Oh, are you ready for the privacy barrier to go away?”

“Might as well get it over with. Is there more to the story?”

Twilight dispelled the privacy barrier. She and Spike looked me over for a moment before she continued. “There is. Rarity, somehow, got all my lab coats while I was asleep-”

“Passed out on the floor” Spike interjected.

“-she took all my lab coats and adjusted all of them. She made the wing holes properly sized and lined, and even reworked them so they fit me better. She presented her work as a birthday present the next day, and after I told her that I really liked it, she fell asleep right there with a smile on her face. It was a quiet party after that.”

“And as for the lab coats?”

“Since they fit better and the wing holes were properly fixed, I found myself less distracted and able to work on my experiments longer.

“But enough of us standing around and talking. How do you like the athletic outfit?”

“I’m actually okay with it. I don’t really mind my midsection showing.”

“That might just be the context of the situation. You wouldn’t wear that around Ponyville everyday, right?”

I thought about Twilight’s question for a bit. “No, I wouldn’t.” I’m too modest for that.

“Of course. Now then, on to the tests! The first one I’ve got actually serves two purposes. You will stretch to your limits, and I will record how flexible you are. This will also help get you warmed up for the next exercises.”

I started by stretching an arm across my body and holding it in place with my other arm. There was a bit of tension in my arm, specifically the elbow, and I kept at the stretch until I felt the joint pop. It felt good, though the way I saw Twilight writing in the book with the sun on it seemed to concern me a bit.

After I finished stretching my arms, I started on my body. I will admit that watching Twilight’s reactions to every pop of a joint was rather satisfying. That, or it was the actual sensation of my joints making those sounds that I liked. Probably the latter.

While I was finishing up the leg stretches, Twilight reopened the sun marked book, read something, and appeared to relax a bit.

“Yang, can I ask you a question?” Twilight asked.

“You just did, but go ahead” I said as I went through some stretches again.

“Why did you crack your joints like that?”

“It felt good. Besides, it’s good to get the pops out of your joints while you can. There was one time in Junior High where I was running from some bullies, my ankle popped, and that tripped me up. Then they got me. Then I was saved by some friends.”

“Hmm. I’ll have to look into this later.

“Now then, on to the next test: weight lifting. Here’s a density bar.” Twilight teleported a weight bar and bench for it out. When I picked up the bar, I found it to be quite light.

“Density bar?”

“I can change the weight of the bar by magically altering its density. It’s currently at ten pounds. I want you to bench press it five times, then I’ll increase the weight, and we’ll repeat the process until you can’t lift the weight.”

“Really? You want me to bench press something this light?” I lay down on the bench as I’ve seen others do before and set the bar in its place.

“Of course not. I’m going to start you at 100 pounds.” The bar glowed a bit with Twilight’s magic, but otherwise showed no signs of change. “Start when you’re ready.”

I took a breath, grabbed the bar, and lifted it up. It was actually easier than I thought it was going to be. As I went through the repetitions, I came to the conclusion that the beams from building the barn were way heavier. “Could I get 225 pounds, Twilight?”

“225? You want to go at that rate?”

“100 was too easy. Once it starts getting more difficult for me to lift, then you slow the weight increase.”

“225 it is then.” One zap later, and the bar was heavier.

I still was lifting it with ease, though this was closer to the weight of the beams. Probably a bit heavier.

I started to feel something like a challenge at 650 pounds. That took a bit of effort. More weight in the bar meant more effort to lift, obviously. The final weight I pressed a full five reps was 1000 pounds. The last weight I was able to fully lift was 1450 pounds. I tried 1500, just for a nice round number, but I couldn’t get a full lift out of it.

After the 1500 attempt, I got off the bench, carefully so as not to mess up whatever tests were coming up, and accepted some water from Spike. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, Yang” Spike said. “Need anything else?”

“No, not now. What’s next, Twilight?”

“Two one mile runs. One out, one back. Four minutes is your benchmark. Rest up a bit and I’ll get us set up. We’ll be teleporting to a nice place I know of. Here we go!”

In a flash of purple light, the scenery changed. We were now at a wide open plain. One that I had to brace myself against on my hands and knees from a sudden bout of dizziness. I also noticed something missing. “Twilight?”

“Yes, dizziness is common when you teleport the first few times. And I’m sorry for not warning you about that.”

“Thanks, but where are the Ember Celica?” I held up an arm, compact weapon clearly missing, to show her what I meant.

“Hmm. I’ll be right back.” Twilight teleported away, leaving me with Spike.

Silence reigned between us for a moment. Spike broke it after sitting down next to me. “So, do you like Ponyville?”

“I don’t know” I answered. “I broke through a castle, but everyone was more concerned about me, even though I was a total stranger. Rarity was nice enough to let me live with her, even if she does have an ulterior motive. Then there was Pinkie’s surprise welcome party for me. At least she gave me some delicious cookies. Last Tuesday is something I don’t want to remember. Helping Applejack with the barn was rewarding, and I made a friend as well.

“I’d say it’s been a mixed barrel of experiences, but overall not bad.”

“Is there anything you miss from home?” Spike asked, just before Twilight teleported in, looked around, and teleported out.

“Aside from everything I owned, I miss my friends. I miss the conveniences that were there, I miss, well, I can’t actually think of much else. Really, the day to day life here is a lot calmer. I’m not being hit with ads or promotions at every turn, the air is clean, and everything is just more colorful. Also, everyone’s friendly, at least once they warm up to you.”

“I kind of want to go to your world. It would be an interesting trip.”

I chose not to tell him about the potential brought up in speculative fiction about the government, any government, snagging him, locking him up, and studying him. Though considering the stories of what’s happened to individuals, it wouldn’t be too farfetched to think they would do that.

Before I could voice those thoughts, Twilight landed, the Ember Celica in tow on a string she was levitating. “Alright, I’ve figured it out.”

“Figured what out, Twi?” Spike asked.

“These are immune to all forms of magic. I can’t levitate them, I can’t teleport them, and spells that affect the properties of objects do nothing to them. Not even kinetic application spells work.”

“Can I have them, Twilight?” I asked. “I’d like to keep them close.”

“Oh, sure.” Twilight floated the line with the Ember Celica on it over to me, and I put them on.

“So, the mile runs?”

“Of course.” With a flash of her horn, Twilight made a parallel set of glowing white lines appear on the ground, the space between filled in with red. “Just go as fast as you can, take a few seconds to rest, and run back.”

“Alright.” I did some brief stretches, went to the start of the line, and got ready. Once Twilight gave the signal, I took off.

Back on Earth, I was a decent runner, considering all the times I had to run away from things. I even ran track in high school, but didn’t actually compete, despite my impressive times. I was going way faster than that now. Before I knew it, I had passed the end of the lines, and I had to use a good amount of distance to stop. After catching my breath, which didn’t take long, I returned to and ran back down the lines.

After I passed Twilight, I had to stop myself again, but that wasn’t as easy since there was a very quiet creek running through the area behind where I started. In order to stay dry, I jumped over the creek, which was probably ten feet wide, and safely landed on the other side, which also helped slow me to a stop, inches before I would have hit a branch with my face.

“So, how’d I do?” I asked after making it back to Twilight and Spike.

“Your average for the two runs was three minutes, which puts your running speed at approximately twenty miles per hour” Twilight reported. “You’re not as fast as most ponies are, but for a human, that is spectacular.”

“And I’m not even winded.”

“I will add Endurance to your list of traits. How about a cool down walk back to Ponyville?”

“Sure. Lead the way.”

Twilight cast a spell, and a glowing white line appeared three feet off the ground. After Spike jumped onto her back, she started following the line, and I followed her. “Is there anything about Equestria you’d like to know?”

I gave it some thought, looked to Twilight and Spike, then got a question. “How many sentient species are there?”

“There are a lot of sentient species in Equestria. However, I have a feeling that you meant to ask how many sapient species there are, and the answer to that is nine: there are ponies, griffons, minotaurs, changelings, diamond dogs, breezies, dragons, some breeds of cattle, and Discord.”

“And Discord is?”

“He is the spirit of chaos. He lives with Fluttershy, and we have asked him to come up with a different way to greet you than he usually would. Especially considering how you reacted to Pinkie’s party and that time Rainbow sneaked up on you.”

That made sense, though I had no idea what his usual greeting was like. Considering the examples of Rainbow and Pinkie’s surprises, I could only conclude that it would really startle me.

We continued on with our walk through the woods, eventually coming upon a wide trail. The line turned right on the trail, and once we were on it, Twilight dispelled the line. She seemed to know where we were now, and so we continued our walk in silence.

Our walk ended at an outer wall of Twilight’s castle.

“Alright Yang, it’s time for the next test: the vertical jump” Twilight said. “Just jump up three times as high as you can go.”

I looked and saw a balcony partway up the building. I briefly thought that such a jump was out of my range, then I remembered all the times I went into my room at Rarity’s with no problem, and when I jumped into an apple tree.

I think I was lost in my thoughts and started to tune out the world after a bit because the next thing I was aware of was a tap on my shoulder with no warning. I gave a yelp befitting my form and jumped up. Way up.

I caught myself on the balcony rail by one hand, and I was easily holding myself up. I looked down and saw an. . . Odd looking creature.

“Discord!” Twilight firmly said. “Why did you scare Yang like that?”

“So you could see how high she can jump” Discord said before stretching his body up so he was eye level with me, then picked a banana from his antler, and used it like a calculator. “It looks like she jumped up about sixty feet. Impressive.”

“That may be true, Discord, and it may be an interesting fact, but it’s not good data.”

“I’m sorry, Twilight, I couldn’t quite hear you from up here. Let me help you with that.” With a snap of his Talons, Discord produced two cans on a very long string, and dropped one of them down to Twilight.

While they talked, I could feel my grip starting to slip. I tried to get my free hand on the rail, but the mere movement from that alone caused me to fully lose my grip, and I failed to grab the rail, thus starting a sixty foot fall.

Normally, if someone fell from that height, they would be at least a bit terrified, and I did feel a bit of that. However, I was mostly calm about it for some reason.

My landing strategy left a bit to be desired, though. During my fall, I somehow turned upside down and I landed on my head. A few seconds after impact, I fully collapsed on the ground. Twilight was quick to come to my side, checking me for injuries before getting back on the soup can phone and blaming Discord for my fall.

Once the conversation was over, on account of Twilight teleporting Discord somewhere else, she returned to me. “Sorry about that. Discord is reformed, so he won’t be trying to take over the world again. He’s learned the value of friendship.

“So, how about we move on to the next thing on the agenda? Throwing a 10 pound ball.”

“Hold out your dominant hand.” I held out my right hand and an iron ball was teleported just above it, leaving me to catch it. I had no problem holding it. In fact, it felt lighter than it should.
“Feel free to throw it in any direction you want. I’ve enchanted it so it will vanish before it damages anything in Ponyville, and I’ll still be able to calculate how far it would have gone.”

“Really? Well, here goes nothing.” I rolled my shoulder in preparation, took a few steps forward, and a question crossed my mind. “How do you want me to throw it?”

“However you want.”

I settled for a normal overhand throw, putting all my strength into it. The ball went soaring over Ponyville, and out over the forest. I looked at my arm, thinking about the throw. Come to think of it, my aura felt weaker. “Um. I think we might have messed this one up.”

“What? How? Wait a minute. . .” Twilight seemed to be reaching the same conclusion I was. “You said you get stronger when you take damage, and you fell on your head when Discord was here.”

I continued for her. “And a hit to the head like that would use up more aura for protection, which would activate my semblance to make me stronger.

“Well then, in that case, should we call it a day?”

“Sure. Just let me get you your clothes and the privacy barrier.” Twilight teleported everything into place around me before dispelling the athletic clothes she had made.

While I was changing back to my regular clothes, I exercised extra caution. I did not want to damage these clothes simply because of my enhanced strength. “Do you know where the ball went?”

“No. Just that it went out into the Everfree. How about we go get some lunch?”

“Sounds good.” I finished dressing and had Twilight before she, Spike, and I started discussing what to do for lunch.

The iron ball did not simply land on the floor of the Everfree forest. It bounced, first off of a fallen log and over a river, the serpentine dragon in it completely oblivious. Next, it bounced off an angled rock, going back up over the treetops.

The ball went past Cerberus, none of his three heads noticing it. It went through a wide, artistic gap in the gates to Tartarus, and started falling down the stairwell, still bouncing, though not as much as before.

In a small cell sat a small centaur named Tirek. As he had been for a long time, he was bored. Bored and chained up. Bored, until he heard something rolling his way. He looked towards it, and saw an iron ball rolling towards his cage. Due to numerous layered spells, he was unable to stick even a finger out through the bars, but those spells did nothing to keep the iron ball from rolling in and coming to a rest at his forehooves.

With a bit of effort, he picked up the ball. “Today, I will escape” Tirek said to nobody but himself. “Today, I will start my revenge.”

Ignition

View Online

Today is Tuesday, and I actually woke up before the sun rose. It’s been a week since the Diamond Dog incident occurred, and while I still don’t like the memory, I’ve basically gotten over it. I thanked Applejack’s intervention and a couple of sessions with Luna for that. I briefly imagined what I would be like right now if there was no help given to me. I’d probably still be in the corner, just wasting away.

I put those thoughts aside as I changed from my robe to my regular clothes. New thoughts about yesterday’s spa trip filled the space the previous ones were in. I didn’t actually get any of the spa treatments myself, since I was just tagging along with Rarity and Fluttershy, but just the atmosphere alone was plenty relaxing. The air was comfortably humid and warm, the colors were soft pastels, the lighting was perfect, and the whole place had a fragrance that had hints of a multitude of other pleasant scents.

Fortunately, Rarity wasn’t charged any extra for me just tagging along, which was good. If she would have been charged extra, I would have politely seen myself out and asked if I could chill on the roof. That, or Rarity would have paid the extra charge anyways and I’d feel kind of bad about that.

Still, I had nothing to do while I was up, waiting for the sun. At least, not until I got an idea. “I’ll make breakfast” I said more to myself than the room. The room wouldn’t have said anything back anyways.

I made my way downstairs and to the kitchen, encountering nobody. I found the light switch, turned it on, and went over to the fridge as I thought about what I could make.

After a few minutes of deliberation, I chose to make scrambled eggs and a skillet pancake. The scrambled eggs were simple enough, but I had to look back through my memory a bit to remember how to make a skillet pancake. I knew I’d need an appropriate skillet and the oven.

One thing I was thankful for was that Rarity’s kitchen had what she called “futuristic” appliances, but to me, they were low end modern appliances that worked on different means. They were slightly smaller than I would have liked, but it was what I had to work with. Maybe I could make two skillet pancakes? As I thought that over, I started gathering the ingredients I needed.

As I was mixing up the batter, Rarity came downstairs, and she didn’t look 100% awake. I chose to fix that with a friendly greeting. “Good morning, Rarity!”

“Huh-wha?” Rarity so inelegantly asked. “Oh, good morning Yang. Are you making breakfast today?”

“Yep. I woke up early and felt like cooking. I’ve got it all planned out, too. Need coffee?”

“If you’d please. I’ll have some of the Too Early For This blend. It’s over the sink.”

I opened some small cabinet doors over the sink, looking for the blend. It was, of course, behind the last door I checked, since I stopped looking after I found it. The can was red and white, and featured a picture of an earth pony holding a mug with their left forehoof and their face planted on the table. Behind the table was a window showing the sunrise. It definitely looked like a unique marketing idea, sympathizing with those who felt that way.

It took a bit for me to figure out the coffee maker, but I soon had Rarity’s coffee brewing. I resumed my cooking in the meantime.

“So, what’s for breakfast, Yang?” Rarity asked me as I finished the batter and poured it into the skillet I had found.

“Scrambled eggs and a skillet pancake” I answered.

“Skillet pancake?”

“It’s a big pancake in a skillet, baked in the oven, and cut to serve.” I checked the oven, found that it was ready, opened it, and put the pancake in. “Now, we wait.”

While Rarity and I waited on the pancake, I got started on the scrambled eggs. I’ve made them before, so they were easy enough to make. A few eggs, a tiny bit of margarine, and a dash of pepper for extra flavor.

Since the eggs were done fairly quickly, I was able to serve some to Rarity with a cup of her coffee. Sweetie Belle happened to be coming down at that time, so I made a plate of eggs for her too.

“Thanks, Yang” Sweetie said before grabbing a fork with her magic and starting on her portion. “What’s in the oven?”

“One pancake for all of us” I said. “Orange juice?”

“Please, if you don’t mind.”

I went to the fridge, found the orange juice, and poured Sweetie Belle a glass. “Want some, Rarity?”

Rarity was already looking way more awake since she had some of her coffee. “Of course I’ll have a glass” she very politely and formally said. Soon, she had her own glass of orange juice.

While I was waiting on the skillet pancake, I had some of my scrambled eggs. They tasted a lot better here than what I made back home. Maybe it was because the ingredients were local and fresh?

Once the skillet pancake was done, I turned the oven off and opened it. Since there were still no potholders around here, I tentatively grabbed the skillet. I was quickly reminded by the fact that I wasn’t burned that I couldn’t get burned, even though I could feel the heat. It seemed like an inherent ability of mine since I didn’t feel anything happening with my aura or semblance.

Rarity looked a little uneasy, and kept looking at my hands. “Yes, Rarity?”

“Are you alright?” she asked.

I got a pad to put the skillet down on the table safely and set them down before holding up my hands. “No burns, Rarity. I’m perfectly fine.” I got a knife and started cutting the pancake into six slices, releasing steam and a delicious fragrance into the air. “I do recommend that we wait a bit on this, since it is still hot, I don’t want you to get burned, and I’d hate to eat while you can’t.”

“Hey, Yang?” Sweetie asked. “Is it possible for you to eat hot food and not burn your mouth?”

I hadn’t thought of that, though it did make some sense. “I don’t know. I’ll have to try that later. What’s going on today?”

“Business as usual” Rarity answered. “I’ve got a few things to work on and Sweetie has school to go to. And you’re still on your own.”

“Want to walk to school with me today, Yang?” Sweetie asked.

“Sure” I answered. The steam wasn’t billowing out of the pancake cuts as much, so I started serving it. All of us got one slice, and we all put syrup on our pieces. I took a bite and found it to be delicious. Rarity and Sweetie Belle agreed, and we each had a second slice.

“Yang, before you leave, there’s something I have to say” Rarity said as she dabbed around her mouth with a napkin in her magic.

“What is it?”

“Aside from thanking you for this excellent breakfast, even if the presentation left a bit to be desired, you have food stains on your shirt.”

“Hm?” I looked down and saw some noticeable stains. “I suppose I’ll change to something clean then.” I politely left the table, went upstairs, and into my room. I looked through all my options and found that the only clean thing I had was the outfit I came here with. I think I’ll call it my combat outfit, for lack of a better name.

While I was changing, I couldn’t help but think that something was missing from breakfast, but I couldn’t think of what it could be. I kept thinking about that until I came back downstairs. Sweetie Belle wasn’t in sight, but before I could ask where she was, I heard hooves coming down the stairs behind me. Since I could see Rarity already working on cleaning up breakfast, the hooves could only have belonged to Sweetie Belle.

There was a sudden burst of light in the dining room as Twilight teleported in. “Rarity, Tirek’s escaped again!” She said.

Rarity sighed as she set down the dishes. “Very well. Yang, could you take care of the dishes when you get back? I might be gone for a bit.”

“Sure thing” I said. Before I could wish her good luck in her task with this T. Rex thing, Twilight teleported herself and Rarity away. “Ready to go, Sweetie?”

“Yeah” Sweetie said before looking at the clock. “If we go now, we can make it there at a relaxed pace.”

“Sounds good” I agreed before we left the building. It was shaping up to be yet another beautiful morning in Ponyville. A few clouds here and there dotted the sky, but it was otherwise clear.

We filled the walk with idle talk. It helped me keep my mind off the combat outfit, namely how much of my skin it showed. I actually couldn’t bring myself to focus on that very much for some reason, which I guess I didn’t mind.

After I wished Sweetie Belle a good day at school once we arrived, I walked back to the boutique, perhaps a bit faster than normal. After all, those dishes wouldn’t wash themselves, right?

The atmosphere in town was one of calm, but there was also some tension for some reason. Like something big was going down somewhere nearby. Then again, a T. Rex is pretty big and scary.

Wait.

Were there really dinosaurs here? If so, that would be both awesome and scary. Then again, dragons were apparently a thing, so there could be dinosaurs. Unless the dragons killed lots of them. Fire breath, claws, teeth, and flight does make for a threatening creature.

I thought about that as I went in the boutique and started on the dishes that were in the sink. Rarity had already gotten the dishes mostly clean, some of them just soaking. All I did was add a bit more soap, scrub away at the foodstuff, rinse, inspect, and put the dishes on the drying rack. I was done in under 30 minutes.

With the dishes done, I had nothing to do. At least until Opal reminded me of her presence by rubbing against my leg. “Hey, Opal” I said before picking her up. “Meow are you doing?” Opal gave me a look that told me she was not amused and jumped out of my arms. “Oh come on! That was a decent pun, if nothing else.”

I decided to leave Opal be and let her do what she wanted. She’s a cat, and that’s what cats do. Still, I had to find something to do.

I could cook, but I couldn’t use everything and had no idea what to make.

I could try sewing, but I did not want to mess up Rarity’s supply or workspace.

I could take a nap, but I had too much energy for that.

I guess it was time to just read some more. On the bright side, I was able to read all the Equestrian characters easily now, so my reading speed was picking up.

I went up to my room and was about to go for a book when the metal case that had come with me (and hit my head) caught my eye. I picked it up and took it to the desk. After taking a seat in the slightly undersized chair, I opened the case.

Back when it was shown to me and my friends, the inside was simple black foam around the six pairs of shell bands. Not so anymore. Now it unfolded and stood up on its own to make a little pine tree shaped display with the six shell types along the bottom of it. The whole thing stood in the case, which seemed a bit small to hold such a thing by the looks of it.

As I finished admiring the little tree (which I could use as a little Christmas decoration), I remembered something else: there were twelve bands of ten shells, two of each color. With how much space each shell took up at the bottom edge of the tree, I had a hard time envisioning twelve bands of shells in the whole thing. Then again, I got turned into Yang Xiao Long and literally dropped into a world full of ponies of all kinds of colors and types, so I suppose it’s not too farfetched that this little tree could be holding all the ammo.

I noticed a piece of paper in the case and picked it up. It was a letter, and I was able to read it, but it fluctuated between English and Equestrian at random. It wasn’t written in the two different fonts, the letters would literally change while I was reading them.

Dear Yang Xiao Long,
I hope you’re doing alright in your Equestria, despite any troubles you may have.
I would like to issue a small apology, since it was not you I intended to bring to Equestria. I had planned for Sandra to be the one sent through, since she’s friendly and already had a fiery personality to begin with, which would let her adapt more quickly than you, despite losing her friends like you have.

Oh great, now I’m feeling kind of sad. That’s kind of depressing.

In addition to my apology, I also reworked your ammo case from afar, as I’m sure you’ve seen. It will store all your shells, both the ones you have now, and any you may get in the future. Just pull on the shell and both bands of that type will come out.
You can also pull the bands from the pouch on your right hip. Whichever shell type you want will come out. The bases of the shells are magnetized, so they will practically place themselves once one of them is set.
There’s also no need to worry about ammo consumption. You can put a band of shells in and fire all day without running out of ammo.

Well, that’s nice. Not that I really like the idea of firing anything like a gun, but still, an unlimited supply of something is an unlimited supply.

I can’t help you much, due to dimensional rules beyond your comprehension, but I wish you luck.
Sincerely, The Merchant.

. . .

That wasn’t helpful at all! I mean, yeah, unlimited ammo and the ability to pull it out of the pouch on demand is nice to know, and the little tree looks nice too, but that wasn’t what I wanted. If I was guaranteed an opportunity at a 100% peaceful life, that would have been amazing, even if I was stuck with Yang’s body. Now that I think about it, I kind of don’t want to give up this body. I’m more durable than anyone on earth, I’m faster, stronger, and plenty agile to boot. And the more I get hit, the stronger I become. Then there’s my inability to get burned as well.

I’m sure Sandra would go stand in a fire if she was here in these boots. I don’t know if the clothes would survive, though. Fire tends to burn fabric, after all.

After pulling that train of thought into its terminal, I turned the letter over. In more of that fluctuating writing was a list of the shells, listing their color and type.

Red - Explosive. Very damaging, use with care.
Orange - Buckshot. Moderate spread, moderate damage.
Yellow - Incendiary. 100 foot maximum effective range.
Green - Birdshot. Lots of tiny little pellets that don’t do much damage.
Blue - Flechettes. 7 little darts per shell. Each dart is pointed and bladed.
Violet - Slug. The shotgun equivalent of a bullet.

That was one deadly rainbow. And I was the only one able to use it. Didn’t mean I had or wanted to, though. The knowledge that it was available to me was uncomfortably comforting.

I gave the list of shells another read before putting the paper back in the case and turning to my original plan of reading something. There’s one dark green book called Masked Trotter that I’ve been meaning to read, but haven’t gotten around to. Today seems like a good day to read it.

I grabbed Masked Trotter and was about to head up to the roof to read it, but decided otherwise, instead just opening the curtains, putting a pillow on the floor, and laying down in the sunbeam. It had a comfortable warmth to it that put me in a peaceful state. It was hitting more of my skin than usual as well, which felt pretty good.

I put aside the growing mental conflict of liking the more exposing clothes for the sunlight vs the more modest clothing that I was more comfortable with and started reading.

While I was in the middle of Masked Trotter fighting a tiger monster that could breathe explosive darts, I heard the front door open. It drew my attention away from the book, not because it had opened, but because it sounded like it was slammed open. I stood up from the sunbeam, found something to use as a bookmark, set Masked Trotter down, and went downstairs.

I was prepared to greet Rarity, or tell someone that was looking for her that she wasn’t available, or even the clumsy grey pegasus that delivered the mail. I was not ready to see Sweetie Belle there, crawling inside and looking like she gained a few shades of gray everywhere.

“Sweetie? What happened?” I asked as I ran to her side to make sure she was alright.

“Rarity and her friends. . .” She started, apparently weak and short of breath. “Couldn’t stop Tirek’s attack.” She made another labored breath. “He took everyone’s magic.”

That. . . That sounded bad. And not like a dinosaur. I picked Sweetie up and carried her to her room. I set her in her bed and pulled the covers over her. “Can you tell me more in a bit?”

“Yeah” she said. I pat her head before going downstairs to the kitchen. I filled a glass with water and cut an apple up. I was in such a rush that I accidentally hit my fingers with the knife blade while cutting the apple, but my aura prevented the blade from doing any damage.

Aura is awesome.

Before I went back up, I decided to cut another apple (taking a couple of delicious slices for myself). With the apple slices on a plate in one hand and a glass of water in the other, I went upstairs to Sweetie’s room. “Here you go” I said as I set the food and water on her nightstand. “So, what happened?”

“Tirek broke out of Tartarus and is stealing everyone’s magic” Sweetie began. “Last time he broke out, Rarity and her friends sent him back there and returned everyone’s magic that was stolen.”

“I’m guessing the same trick didn’t work this time?”

“I guess not.”

I felt a fire starting in my mind. No, in my soul. A drive to take action. A drive to defeat this Tirek guy and return Sweetie’s magic. And everyone else’s. That would be good too.

I did not like this new drive. My last fight, also my first, scared me enough. “Can you describe Tirek?”

“He’s a red and black centaur, probably 200 feet tall.” Well, that certainly put a dampener on my fire and drive to fight him. “He also has everypony from town trapped in bubbles around him. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo saved me, at least.”

And now the fire went from hot embers to an inferno. I absolutely could not stand by while Tirek had everyone from Ponyville trapped and helpless. After making sure Sweetie Belle was comfortable, I found myself leaving the boutique, Ember Celica expanded to their gauntlet forms. I was ready to fight, but I also didn’t want to.

What was going on with me?

Fired up

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A few hours earlier, just past Whitetail Woods

“Tirek!” Twilight announced to the giant centaur, catching his attention.

“Hm?” Tirek said. “Oh, it’s you six. Here to seal me away in Tartarus again?”

Twilight didn’t bother to answer him. “Girls, Rainbow Power! Since he hasn’t drained our magic this time, it should be even stronger than before!”

“Right!” Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity said together, activating their parts of the Rainbow Power along with Twilight. As before, they changed forms, mostly in the gaining of more color, more mane, and more tail, but still a form change nonetheless. A sphere of pure magic appeared around them and lifted them up, higher than Tirek, then they fired a giant rainbow beam at him, each band of color ten feet wide and very bright.

Tirek felt no concern as the beam approached him. Instead, he lit his horns with a black glow, absorbing the Rainbow Power beam and becoming even bigger. “You really thought the same trick would work on me twice?”

“What? How?” Twilight said.

“Forget how, Twi” Rainbow said. “We just have to defeat him with something else.” The sky blue pegasus flew up and began circling Tirek’s upper half at high speed.

“Rainbow’s right this time, dear” Rarity said as she used her magic to pick up and sharpen over a hundred rocks. “I’m afraid we have to use a less than clean method today.” The rocks were sent at Tirek’s lower body, attacking him in various patterns.

“Leave his legs for me, Rarity” Applejack said as she charged in, ready to kick Tirek like he was a group of moving oversized apple trees.

“I’ll see if I can find a nerve to disable him” Fluttershy said as she flew onto Tirek’s back, Rarity minding the pegasus and stones’ movements.

“And I’ll do whatever it is I do!” Pinkie called out as she pulled aside a fake rock wall and got in the party tank behind it. “Twilight, get in! I’ll drive.”

After looking over all her friends and what they were doing, Twilight joined Pinkie in the tank. “When did you get this here?”

“I finished it yesterday during my lunch break. I have a few more outside Ponyville.”

Twilight didn’t bother with any further questions. She had learned not to do that years ago. As the tank slowly rumbled forward, she read the spring powered turret’s 3 page long operation guide (written in the finest of lightish red crayons) and looked over the various stale pony-sized cakes that could be loaded into it.

“Pinkie, are you sure this will work?” Twilight asked as she loaded and fired a cake at one of Tirek’s front legs.

“I have no idea, but it certainly seems fun, right?” Pinkie answered.

“I suppose so” Twilight said as the cake hit its target, surprising the centaur and getting a chuckle out of Twilight. “Why do you have a sword up here?”

“To hit bad guys with. Shall I drive you closer?”

“Not now.” Twilight loaded and fired another cake. It missed.

Tirek, now under attack by wing, hoof, stone, and overly stale cake, staggered a bit. He was not expecting such a barrage from the ponies, and their offense surprised him.

And that was all it did. Thanks to the magic he’d already absorbed, he was able to almost immediately heal after each attack, considering how little damage they did to him. For a minute, he just stood there, taking all the attacks. For a minute, Twilight and her friends attacked. For a minute, they had hope. Then Tirek drained Rainbow’s magic, sending her plummeting towards the ground at high speed.

“Rainbow!” Rarity called out, dropping her attack so she could use her magic to catch the falling pegasus. Right as she successfully saved Rainbow, her magic got drained as well.

Pinkie drove her party tank up between her drained friends and Tirek. “Twilight, how many cakes do we have left?”

“Just one, it’s kind of soggy, and it stinks” Twilight reported. “I already put it in a bag for disposal.”

“Dispose of it in Tirek’s face! I put a little surprise in it that he won’t like.”

While Twilight loaded up the bag, an awkward task even with her magic, Tirek drained Applejack’s magic and kicked her away with a massive tap from his forehoof. Fluttershy saw this and flew out to catch her. Her magic was drained while she was flying, but her momentum carried her forward to let her catch Applejack.

The two made a rough landing with Rainbow and Rarity, the slightly rough ground giving them minor scratches. The speed of their impact was not as nice though and they could feel it in their bones, though none were broken. They would certainly be bruised under their fur for a bit.

Twilight fired the soggy cake at Tirek’s face. Before it could hit him, he vaporized it. He didn’t even smell it.

“So much for the durian special” Pinkie remarked. “Those things are expensive, too. That one fruit cost me 50 bits for Celestia’s sake!”

A moment later, a beam from Tirek hit the tank, destroying it. Twilight and Pinkie were sent back by the blast. Just before Tirek drained her magic, Twilight used a bit of it to enchant and fling the sword at Tirek. When it hit his chest, the sword exploded into three smaller swords that also exploded, dealing a bit more damage to him.

All six mares wound up in a pile together, drained of their magic and hurt from the fight. Before they could even get up, Tirek caught all of them in a single magic bubble and brought them up to his face while recovering from the swordsplosion. “You six can stay in there and watch as I drain your whole town’s magic.”

“No!” all of them said at the same time.

Tirek looked like he was in thought for a moment. “Alright. I’ll tell you little mares a little story while I drain your town.” To make sure they heard him, Tirek cast a spell that prevented any sound from being made within the bubble. He started his trek towards Ponyville and began talking. “A few days ago, I was in my cell in Tartarus, minding what little business I had. I don’t know why it happened or how, but luck was on my side. An iron ball fell down from above and rolled into my cell.” Tirek conjured the ball, causing Twilight’s eyes to widen in shock at the revelation. “So you recognize the ball? Interesting.

“I picked it up with what little strength I had and started beating on a bar with it until the bar bent and I was able to drain some of the reinforcement and barrier charms from within it. From there, it only got easier to bend and break my cell. Once I was free, I went around freeing other prisoners in Tartarus before draining their magic and throwing them back in.

“Cerberus was easy enough to get past. Drained his magic, used a bit of brute force, and he let me past. After that, I went around draining magic, and here we are now.”

Nopony took that well. All six mares had come to love the giant three-headed dog in their own way. To hear he had been beaten up did not sit well with them.

“Now, behold as I drain your town of its magic.” Tirek started towards Ponyville, but was stopped by a fairly large meteor crashing into his head. Focus lost, he could no longer hold up Twilight and her friends, who started falling to the ground, screaming and with no way to stop themselves.

The falling mares were saved by a golden levitation field. “Celestia! Luna!” Twilight called out.

“How did he escape this time?” Celestia asked. “Did you use the Rainbow Power?”

“That was the first thing we did, he absorbed it, and he got bigger” Rainbow said. “We tried other methods, but they didn’t work.”

Before anyone could say anything else, Tirek got up, enraged by the rock Luna had thrown at him, and wasted no time in draining Celestia and Luna’s magic, which both healed and calmed him down a bit. He gathered all eight ponies in a bubble and brought them up to his face. “I’m almost sad to have captured you all. Now everything’s going to be too easy. In fact, I think I’ll bring all the ponies of your town here after I drain them from here.”

While his captives shouted in defiance, which was all they were able to do, Tirek’s horns gave off their black glow and soon, a wide variety of magics were pulled into the space between his horns. After the last of the magic was absorbed, a number of bubbles were sent out.

A few minutes later, what looked like everyone in Ponyville was trapped in bubbles and floating around Tirek. Some bubbles had only one pony while others had more than one.

“Twilight” Rarity whispered.

“Yes?” Twilight whispered back.

“I see Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, but Sweetie Belle’s not with them.”

Twilight looked around at the assembled populace, and didn’t see Sweetie Belle anywhere. “If she’s not here, then she wasn’t captured, which means we still have a chance to get out of this."

“Do you really expect her to stop Tirek and save everypony?”

“No. All I can hope for is that she can get Yang to save us.”

Rarity was quiet for a moment. “You do realize how crazy that sounds, right?”

“She saved us from the diamond dogs last week, and we were able to help her get back to normal. If she needs help again, we can provide it.” Unbeknownst to them, Celestia was now listening in on their whispered conversation.

“True. Maybe we could force her into a spa trip?”

“If that’s what it takes. If we need to, I could write it off as a medical expense of the crown.”

Now

Finding Tirek was no problem. He towered over everything and had lots of bubbles around him. They looked like they had ponies in them as well. I hoped that they only looked like that and didn’t actually have any ponies in them. That would not be good.

Making my way to Tirek was no problem. Traffic was unusually light in town for this time of day, but then again, there was nobody out here to count as traffic. I had the roads and paths all to myself.

The only problem I really had was that I couldn’t seem to stop myself. I didn’t want to fight this giant centaur, and not just because he’s a giant centaur, but because I didn’t want to fight at all.

Maybe it was this internal battle that kept me at a brisk walk rather than a full on run.

I came to a stop at the edge of the Everfree forest. The shortest way to Tirek was just to go straight through this really dangerous area. I did not want to go through it, but my body would not let me turn back either, so that meant I could only go forward.

“Band-aid method, Yang” I said to myself. “Just get through as soon as possible, and then maybe you’ll be able to run back to the boutique. That sounds good. You can run a 3 minute mile, you can be back there in half an hour. Hopefully.” I remembered Sweetie Belle, weak in her room and unable to do anything. I could not let her stay like that.

After a deep breath, I charged into the forest. Almost immediately, the underbrush started slowing me down. I decided to take a higher route along the tree branches, at least as soon as I could find an opening.

I eventually did find an opening and jumped up while running, but I misjudged something somewhere and tripped on a slightly lower branch, causing me to fall forward. I reached out to catch myself on another branch, but my fingers just barely brushed against it. I wound up falling to the forest floor face first with all the grace of a drunk brick.

As I got up, I decided that I wasn’t ready to branch out to the treetops for getting through the forest quite yet. However, since I’d lost my momentum and taken a facedive, I wasn’t quite sure which way to go. I had to get some height to find out which way to go, so I jumped up to the treetops, found Tirek, and started running again in his direction.

In a matter of minutes, I came to a clearing. It was filled with sleeping manticores, so I did not stop running. Fortunately, they didn’t wake up as I ran through. I think. I didn’t stop to check. I didn’t have time to stop anyways.

After jumping over a river and making it through some thinner and more peaceful woods, I left the forest behind. I decided a break was in order, so I turned back a little bit and quickly found a branch up in a tree that looked perfect. One jump later and I was resting on it.

After what was probably only a ten minute nap, I was ready to resume running, but since Tirek was in sight, I could probably just walk the rest of the way and save some energy, just in case I had to fight.

I jumped down and a few seconds later, I heard some growls and the sound of wood on wood. I stopped and looked around. Behind me were some literal timberwolves, and as soon as they saw that I saw them, they pounced at me. I had no intention of becoming food, so I ran from them as fast as I could.

I didn’t think, I just ran. As long as I heard them behind me, and they were keeping up with me, I kept running.

The wolves soon stopped chasing me on account of them getting blasted apart by some powerful magic blasts from above. I stopped after the barrage ended to briefly catch my breath. “Thanks for zapping those, whoever you are” I said. I looked up. And up. And up some more. I saw a massive red and black centaur surrounded by numerous bubbles, each certainly containing one or more ponies. I saw Spike and Discord as well.

I think I found Tirek.

He looked down at me. “What are you?” he asked.

“Human. Are you Tirek?” I had to shout to make sure he could hear me.

“I am. Are you here to try and save everyone?”

“Yeah. Could you let them go and return their magic?” Maybe he would be nice enough to do that.

“No, but let me make you an offer.” He had my attention. “You have an interesting magic about you.” I did? “You let me have that and I’ll let everyone go.”

“Okay. Just set everyone down gently, okay?” A moment later, I heard Twilight’s too late cry to not accept the offer. I mean, if he saw some kind of magic around me, and I hadn’t used it ever, then I could go on without it.

Tirek fulfilled his end of the bargain, gently setting everyone down away from us, dissipating the bubbles. “There’s that. Now for you.” His horns glowed black and I felt a pulling sensation on both my aura and myself. A moment later, I found myself flying upwards at an incredible speed before coming to a stop floating between Tirek’s horns. “How are you doing that?”

“How am I doing what?” I wasn’t doing anything.

“Resisting my draining spell!”

“I dunno. You’re the one with the magic, so you tell me.” I think he saw my aura. Or my semblance. Maybe both?

Tirek was quiet for a bit, presumably in thought. “I don’t know, but however you’re doing that, I don’t like it. I’m going to keep you right there so you can’t do anything.”

“Eh, alright.” A second later, something tiny, gold, silver, and a smidge lavender hit my face.

I saw Tirek leaving everyone from Ponyville in place and walk over to a city on a mountain topped with a castle that gravity seems to have mostly left alone. I saw him walk through the city, destroying everything and draining magic from all kinds of ponies that were just going about their lives. I didn’t have much choice in what I saw since I was still stuck between his horns.

“no” I said. I didn’t like what I was seeing. “No” I repeated. Various armored ponies fell before him. “No.” A huge museum got blown up. Ponies all around, many now hurt, were trying to run away. “No!” Tirek fired a beam at the gravity defying castle, and it no longer defied gravity. It crashed down on the city below, starting a landslide of rubble that Tirek stood still in.

The mountainous city was gone, and I did nothing to stop it.

“NO!!!!” I was back over the forest, still between Tirek’s horns, still able to see Ponyville’s ponies. I could tell that my hair was on fire, but that didn’t matter. I think Tirek was caught by surprise because he let go of me, and I landed in his hair. I felt incredibly powerful, like I’d taken a ton of hits and my semblance got activated, but my aura was fully intact.

I don’t know what it was that I just saw, but I didn’t like it. I had to stop Tirek, and force was the only option I saw. After I got up from landing on him, my hair not on fire, I extended the Ember Celica to their gauntlet forms, opened them up, and loaded the yellow shells. I had to do something about the mass of white hair that tangled around me as I landed in it.

I found myself still able to move despite the tangling. I crouched down, landed a punch with the incendiary round to Tirek’s scalp, and watched the fire start. His hair was coarse, unkempt, and nowhere near as fabulous as mine. I couldn’t help but think for a moment that Rarity’s been rubbing off on me.

I tried to make my way out of Tirek’s hair, but soon got more tangled. “Get out of there!” Tirek shouted before grabbing and pulling on me. His hair was keeping him from getting me out, so I decided to help both of us. I got an arm free from his grasp and punched a few times towards the hair that was holding me down. It burned just like the other part of his hair, and soon, I was freed, though promptly thrown up into the air. I saw Tirek patting his hair to try and put out the fires as I went up in the atmosphere.

While I was going up in the air, I punched downwards to spread more fire to Tirek’s body. Unfortunately, the shots lost their burn before they could reach him. I had to think fast now. I could keep the fire shots in for when I got close to him, but that would allow him time to strike back. I still needed to be able to hit him hard though.

I opened the Ember Celica and pulled out the yellow bands, none of which looked like they had been fired, and switched them for the purple ones. I finished the reload at the end of my ascent and started punching downwards, firing slugs at the giant centaur beneath me. Most of the slugs did nothing or landed around him, but it looked like a few did something based on the reactions I saw. I kept punching in his general direction as I fell.

My descent was stopped not by the ground, but by Tirek catching me with a punch and knocking me into a cliff face. I left an imprint, but at least it was my back that took the blow and not my front. That would not have felt nice.

“Now stay right there and don’t leave” Tirek ordered.

I didn’t feel like following that order. “I can’t let you do any more damage than you’ve done.” I could feel some hair getting pulled out as I extracted myself from the rock wall and went to the ground. I also felt my eyes change from their wonderful violet to a bright red color.

It may have been the rock wall that damaged my hair, but I will blame Tirek since he put me there. With a short battle cry and hair reignition after landing, I dashed forwards and landed a punch on one of his massive forehooves. Cracks radiated out from where I hit and a hole was made where the slug went in. I found an odd and somewhat sick satisfaction from Tirek’s pained cry and the sound of his hoof cracking, so I punched the hoof a few more times. What stopped me was him picking up the hoof and hitting me with the back of it into a rear hoof, which he then used to kick me towards the population of Ponyville.

It was not a nice landing.

“Yang, are you alright?” Twilight asked after I landed near her.

“Yeah” I answered. “Just taking a little rest.” The hits I’d taken had knocked out a good chunk of my aura, and I was feeling it. I was also feeling the massive strength boost from my semblance. I had to use it fast before I could give up the fight.

After inspecting his forehoof, Tirek’s horns glowed and the damage was soon healing. “See if you can break his horns. If my theory is correct, that should release the magic he’s absorbed.”

“Hm?” It did make a bit of sense. That was where I got pulled to when he used his draining spell on me, and them glowing was followed by something happening. “Alright, I’ll try. I just have to get there first.” I got up and ran back in, switching the violet shells for the red ones. Once I was sure I was far enough away to be safe, I punched downwards as I jumped, the explosion sending me flying in Tirek’s general direction. I also lost a bit of aura with the explosive move.

After using a few more explosions to fly, I wound up landing right where Tirek’s back made the change from vertical to horizontal. Soon, he finished his healing spell and began looking for me, walking around and putting an end to my brief idea of climbing up his back.

“I can’t get to his horns like this. Maybe I should bring his horns down to me?” I remembered a paraplegic I met in high school once. He said that it was a deep wound that cut through his lower spine that rendered his legs useless. He had my sympathy for the loss of his legs. “That could work.”

I braced myself as I lined up my punch. I had explosive rounds loaded, and I was about to punch out the spine of a giant centaur. There would probably be blood from the attack and dirt from the landing on me at the end, but at least he would go down. Hopefully.

I closed my eyes as I threw the punch. It was a good thing I did, as the explosion did indeed send out chunks of Tirek, covering me in sticky blood and bits of flesh. Under my feet, I could feel him faltering, but he was still standing and moving.

“One more punch” I quietly said. I put action to the words and threw another punch, this one going straight into the wound and knocking more gore towards me, but he still wasn’t down. I kept repeating “One more punch” and kept punching the one spot. More chunks of him came out with each punch as well.

As Tirek eventually fell sideways, I fell with him. The wind from the fall blew some of the chunks off of me and dried some of the blood that had built up. I wasn’t able to focus on the fall, so my landing was rough. It hurt a bit, but it also knocked of more of Tirek’s gore off of me. Of what didn’t come off, most of it accumulated some dirt. I could also feel my hair’s fire die down a bit, though it still burned.

I heard a massive groan coming from Tirek, and that reminded me that I had to stand up. I had to break Tirek’s horns. I had to save everyone. I found the energy to stand, wipe the mess from my eyelids, and move. I could only walk over to Tirek’s head, rather than run. I was running out of energy, so I had to end this quickly. Fortunately, he didn’t seem inclined to try anything. His injury and fall seem to have done a number on him.

Once I got to his head, I decided to destroy the horn furthest from the ground for whatever reason. With a few launched explosive shots at the inside of the curve closest to his head, the horn broke and fell to the ground. Judging by the sound it made on impact, its weight had to be at least in the triple digits. A few small colored clouds came out of the wound and flew off into the crowd of citizens.

Seems Twilight was right. With a last ditch effort, I put all my remaining strength into a single punch, hitting the same spot on the remaining horn, causing a huge mass of the colored clouds to come out and fly off to their rightful owners.

“No!” Tirek called out after I broke his horns. “How could you do this to me?”

“Because you. . . Well, I can’t brain right now” I got out before falling on my back, the fire now gone from my hair and my eyes returning to violet. I don’t think Tirek said anything else, but even if he did, I wasn’t paying attention.

After a minute, I got back up and started making my way towards the citizens. About halfway there, a whirring sound from behind caught my attention. I turned around and saw something that looked like a distorted and slightly twisted golden yellow triangle floating out of Tirek’s body. After a moment in the air, it shattered like glass and dissolved into nothingness. Somehow, with that, I knew Tirek wouldn’t be a problem anymore.

I turned back to the crowd of mostly ponies, and to my surprise, they were already up and moving about and forming neat, orderly rows, as if to hear a speech or something. Twilight, Luna, and a white alicorn bigger than either of them came up beside me. The white one’s horn glowed with gold colored magic and I felt slightly rejuvenated. Then, she spoke. “Citizens of Ponyville, I will keep this brief: today, Yang Xiao Long has saved not just us, but the world from the return of Tirek.” She continued speaking, but I wasn’t paying attention. Instead, I looked around, not sure what to do aside from just stand there.

I looked at the big white alicorn and wondered what her cutie mark was. All ponies had them, and since she was a pony, she should have one too. I looked down at her flank and saw a sun there with eight flares coming off of it. The flare that would be North on a compass was a bit different: unlike the other seven, it wasn’t making contact with the dark orange ring around the middle. In fact, the flare looked like the shape that had come out of Tirek.

Huh.

“Yang?” the white alicorn said, catching my attention.

“Huh?” I asked. Despite whatever rejuvenated me, I was still feeling rather tired.

“I said that as a reward for saving the world from Tirek, you can have anything you desire, courtesy of the Crown.”

“Anything?”

“Name it, and it shall be yours.”

I got the worn out gears of my mind to start working. After what felt like a minute to me, I gave my answer. “I want a spa trip, my clothes cleaned, and the Pierce the Heavens fountain from Olive Branch.”

The white alicorn seemed mildly surprised, like she wasn’t expecting that kind of answer. “Are you sure? You could set yourself up to live in luxury and power for life in Canterlot if you wanted.”

I felt a pang of frustration, sighed, and acted upon it, grabbing the alicorn’s horn and pulling her head down so my face was in hers. “Listen: I’m tired, I’m filthy, I just defeated a giant magic vampire centaur, and all I want right now is to get cleaned up and sleep for a couple days. The cost of what I want is almost nothing for you, so please just give me those three things.”

She was quiet for a moment. Everyone and everything was quiet. Then she loosened my grip, raised her head (revealing the dirt and blood I left on her horn. Oops), and spoke again. “Very well. Twilight, I want you to take care of the expense report for Yang’s wishes. The spa and cafe must be appropriately compensated for their services. I also leave Yang in your capable hooves.

“Luna, let’s help everypony get back to Ponyville. Tame though these woods may be, there are still dangerous creatures in and near it.”

“Aloe, Lotus, can you two come over here?” Twilight called out. Soon, the two ponies from the spa came over. “I’ll teleport you two to the spa so you can prepare everything you need to for Yang’s arrival, alright? I believe the works should do for her.”

“Sounds good to me” one of them, I’m not sure which, said. The other one agreed and Twilight teleported them away.

“Why don’t we just teleport, Twilight?” I asked.

“Because the Ember Celica would not teleport with us, and I assure you that nopony would want to pick them up by mouth” she answered. It made sense now that she reminded me. “Besides, the spa sisters need time to get prepared for your arrival.” Oh yeah. I must be really tired if I forgot a detail like that already. A moment later, Twilight and I began our walk through the woods back to Ponyville.

Embers

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Celestia and Luna

The princesses of the sun and moon walked along either side of Ponyville’s population as they made their way through Whitetail Woods, just along the border it shared with the Everfree. While they appeared to be alert and focused on their surroundings, that wasn’t entirely the case. Both had a perimeter detection spell set to 50 meters out, so they would know of any threats before something bad could happen to their subjects.

Unheard by the ones under their watch, Celestia and Luna shared an important conversation via telepathy.

“Luna, how can it be that I wasn’t made aware of Yang’s presence in Ponyville for almost a month?” Celestia asked her sister.

“Perhaps Twilight did not feel inclined to share Yang’s presence?” Luna suggested. “She is her own mare and princess, and we all have our own agendas, as I’m sure you’re aware. Perhaps she was too caught up in her work to inform you?”

“Then what about the article last week about the diamond dog attack? All six of them were captured and somehow escaped. Looking at what Yang did to Tirek, and considering what I heard between Twilight and Rarity, I think some information was suppressed somewhere.”

“Really? Where do you think it was suppressed?”

“Either far down the line at the local level or high up with just my paper, and considering the rumors I’ve heard during court, I suspect the latter. Theoretically speaking, Luna, how could this happen?”

“A quick enchantment to change selected bits of text right before you read the paper.” Luna showed no outward signs of it, but Celestia caught the mental flinch. “And why would you want to know this?”

“You know I follow your prophecies closely, Luna. They are very accurate. I had scheduled extra training for the guards so Yang could train with them.”

“Which is why I kept her hidden from you. Yes, she was the one who saved the Bearers from the diamond dogs. What nopony reported was the three days of depression that followed for her.”

“From what?”

“The fight with the diamond dogs. Her dreams were in such a state that even I couldn’t enter them. I found out what happened from Rarity’s dreams and talking with her. Turns out that that was the first time she ever fought in her life.”

“Seriously?”

“I’ll let you in her dreams at some point. Once she’s ready for you.”

Yang Xiao Long

I sneezed for some reason. Maybe a bit of dust got in my nose. Certainly got some stuff out of there at least, so that’s good.

The recoil from the sneeze was enough to knock me off balance again. I stopped counting the number of times I’ve stumbled from something silly like a bit of exposed tree root or my own feet after the second time. I think it was after the second time anyways. I dunno. How do I numbers?

At least Twilight was there to catch me with her magic again. The only things that really kept me going was the momentum of walking and Twilight’s magic. If I stopped or fell down, I might just fall asleep on the spot. I did not want to fall asleep while I was this dirty, but it could happen.

After some time, we arrived at the spa. I stumbled inside and was greeted by the spa ponies, who I thought were walking with us. “Twilight, how did they beat us here?”

“I teleported them, remember?” Twilight said. “You must be really tired to have already forgotten that.”

“Oh.” I would have felt stupid, but I was too tired for that. “So, what now?”

“Just take your clothes off and they can start their work. I’ll have your clothes cleaned so that you have something to wear later.”

“Okay.” I meandered over to the mare’s room and went inside, locking the door behind me. After that, I started removing everything. First the Ember Celica, then all the other clothes. Once they were all off and in a pile, Ember Celica on top, I left the room.

I found Twilight looking away from me, but the spa ponies weren’t. What’s up with that? “My stuff’s here, Twilight” I said as I set the stuff on the floor. I turned to the spa ponies. “Which way?”

“This way” the blue one said. I followed her. “We will give you a full cleaning, and we promise to be gentle in your more sensitive areas.”

“Okay.” In the back corner of my mind, I felt that I shouldn’t be naked like this around others, or at all, but that corner, along with everything else in my mind, was falling apart. I also barely registered the bit about my more sensitive areas, but it was forgotten about pretty quickly.

I was lead to a large jacuzzi-like tub with six waterfalls going into it. At their cue, I got in. As soon as I got in, I could feel the grime coming straight off of me from the force of some warm jets in the tub. I sat down on the bench in it and closed my eyes so the spa ponies could do their work.

I think I fell asleep in under five seconds. That’s got to be a record of some kind.

Twilight walked out of the spa, Yang’s clothes and the Ember Celica in a box in her magic. It all needed to be cleaned, and if there was one mare who knew how to do that better than anyone, it was Rarity.

“Putting the magicproof items on things that can be moved by magic. Why didn’t I think of that?” Twilight thought to herself. “It’s just like using a cart to move things that are too heavy for a pony to carry on their back. Simple, but effective.”

Twilight’s thoughts were drawn back to the fight between Yang and Tirek, and how Yang seemed more determined and driven to fight him, like she had something to fight for.

She arrived at Carousel Boutique with her thoughts on the bands that Yang had put in the Ember Celica, how different each one was, and what else could work with that model. Once she was out of her thoughts, she knocked on the door.

“I’m coming!” Sweetie Belle called out. A moment later, she opened the door, slightly damp. “Hello Twilight. Are Rarity and Yang alright?”

“Rarity’s with Celestia and Luna and Yang’s asleep at the spa” Twilight said. “When did you get here?”

“A few hours after everypony got captured. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo pushed me into a bush when the bubbles came, and I made my way back here to tell Yang.”

“Really? Oh, do you have a quill, ink, and parchment I could use for a moment?”

“There should be some in Rarity’s inspiration room.”

“Thanks.” Twilight went into her friend’s house and to the unoccupied inspiration room, quickly finding the quill, ink, and parchment. She wrote it out as she vocalized it. “Dear Rarity; Since I’ve only read about washing clothes and not actually done it myself, I’m going to trust you to clean Yang’s clothes. I did cast a sterilization spell on them, so they’re already a bit cleaner than before, and you won’t have to worry about any diseases Tirek might have been carrying.

“The same can’t be said of the Ember Celica though, since those are unaffected by magic. I believe Yang should be the one to clean them since she has the necessary dexterity to clean the finer parts of them, and can actually hold them.” Twilight paused in her letter for a moment, thinking, then resuming. “Once we know Yang’s alright, I’ll buy us all some milkshakes at Sugarcube Corner, even if Pinkie insists otherwise.

“Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle.”

Satisfied with her letter, Twilight took it and the box in her magic and left the inspiration room. Just as she was about to set the box and letter down, Rarity walked in, Yang’s desired fountain in her magic. “Sweetie Belle! I’m so happy you’re alright.” Rarity set the fountain down, ran over to her sister and the two hugged each other. “Oh, hello Twilight. Is that a box for me?”

“And a freshly written letter.” Twilight let Rarity take the box and letter in her magic. Before opening the box, Rarity read the letter.

“Really, Twilight?”

“What?”

“Just milkshakes?”

Twilight gave an exaggerated sigh. “And anything else you want.”

“That’s better. Now then, if you’ll excuse me, I apparently have some very filthy clothes to clean. Oh, Twilight, I just thought of something.” Rarity set the box down and went towards the stairs.

“What is it? Can I help in any way?”

Rarity didn’t answer for a few moments. Once she was done upstairs, she came down with another box in her magic. “Please take this to the spa. It’s Yang’s robe, and it’s the only clean clothes she has right now. How is she anyways?”

Twilight accepted the box. “She fell asleep the moment she was sitting down in the waterfall tub. Considering her state after the fight, I’m not surprised. I am surprised she managed to stay awake for the whole walk there. She was stumbling over nearly everything in her way, including her own feet and even nothing.”

Rarity gave a dainty giggle. “I’m sorry Twilight. I know I shouldn’t laugh, but I can’t help it.”

“It’s alright.” Twilight turned to leave, but then an idea struck her. “Oh, Rarity. I’ll talk with the spa sisters to see if they’d be willing to let Yang stay the night at the spa. If this robe is her sleepwear, and I think it is-”

“You think right, darling” Rarity interjected.

“-then she might not want to go out with it on. Sunset has told me how there are humans that do that, but they’re often lazy or something, like they don’t have as high of a dress standard as they should, but still pass. Yang doesn’t seem like that kind of person, so I can bring over some clothes for her later.”

“I can bring them there” Sweetie Belle offered. “As soon as there’s some dry clothes, I can take them to the spa.”

“Thanks, Sweetie” Rarity said.

“Or Sweetie could do it” Twilight added. “I’ll send you a telepathy message once I know if the spa sisters will house Yang tonight. Bye, Rarity.”

“Goodbye, Twilight.”

Twilight left the boutique, Yang’s boxed sleepwear in her magic and heading over to the spa. She didn’t dare look in the box to look at Yang’s sleepwear, despite her curiosity. It was not something a friend would do, and it was not something anyone should do while walking.

When she got back to the spa, Twilight found the spa sisters starting to wash the sleeping Yang’s hair under one of the waterfalls. They were very careful to keep her from accidentally drowning. “Hello, ladies” Twilight greeted. “Yang’s already looking much better.”

“Much of the filth came off from the water itself” Aloe said. “We have yet to actually wash her body.”

“Her hair caught a lot of debris as well” Lotus said. “We just finished getting it all out a minute ago.” She pointed to a bowl full of small things pulled from Yang’s hair, including leaves, twigs, and a few small chunks of Tirek. “I suspect we’ll get a lot more finer things out with the wash.”

“Wow” Twilight said. “Oh, I have a question for you two.”

“Go ahead.”

“Assuming Yang doesn’t wake up during her treatments, would you two be willing to house her for the night? You can add anything you need to to the cost of her trip.”

Aloe and Lotus quietly talked to each other while getting Yang’s hair cleaned. Once they were done discussing, Aloe spoke. “If you’d help us as we need it with her, we’ll house her for tonight, and we’ll even give her a meal before she goes back to Rarity’s.”

It didn’t take long for Twilight to give an answer. “Gladly. Oh, I brought Yang’s sleepwear, so if she’s still asleep once we’re done, she’ll at least have something. Where should I put it?”

“Behind the front counter. Be sure to put her name on it.”

“Alright.” Twilight brought the box to the counter, wrote Yang’s name on it, and set it in the appropriate place. Returning to the one who saved Ponyville, Twilight sat down, ready to help.

I slowly opened my eyes. I found myself on my side in an unfamiliar bed, but it was soft, warm, and I was tired. The world could wait for me, as far as I was concerned. Right now, I didn’t care that I was stuck in a world of technicolor ponies, magic, and no internet. The bed was calling for me, and the offer was very tempting. Buy 3 hours of sleep and the 4th is free.

Sounds like a car tire sales pitch. Huh.

“Hello, Yang” Luna said from behind me. I would have turned to look, but I couldn’t find the energy or willpower to do so.

“Hey, Luna” I said. “Need a nap? I’m sure there’s room on the bed for you.”

I felt the bed shift a bit as Luna climbed on. “Why do you take all the blankets, Yang?”

“I said there was room on the bed. I never said there were enough blankets. Besides, they’re warm and snug.” Oddly damp inside too, but it was still nice and warm, so I was okay with that. My hair felt wet too.

A moment later, Luna was in front of me, having extended the bed outward a bit and stepping over me. Rude, but I didn’t care. “I will get straight to my purpose for being here. On behalf of Celestia, myself, and all of Ponyville, thank you for saving us from Tirek.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Are you bothered by the fact you had to fight him?”

A bit of discomfort came to me. “A bit, but I’m honestly glad I did. Everyone got saved, the bad guy was defeated, and so life can go on.”

“Not Tirek. He died shortly after you released all the magic he had. Seems he had grown too large to live without the magic he’d absorbed.”

“So, did I. . . kill him?” I shuddered at the idea. Fighting was one thing, but killing was another.

“That isn’t a simple question, Yang.”

“It should be. Yes or no?”

“You did disable him and release all the magic he’d accrued, but the forces of biology and physics took him from there.”

“So I did kill him.” Despite the warmth I was encased in, I suddenly felt cold.

Luna was quiet for a bit. “I suppose so, but consider this: You were not the one who started it. You defended everypony.” Her horn lit up with a silvery glow and a little scene started playing in front of me. “Look at it this way: if someone with ill intent broke out of prison and into Carousel Boutique, would you hesitate to use force to get them out?”

“Probably not, but I wouldn’t kill them.”

“Tirek broke out of Tartarus and started stealing ponies’ livelihoods, their magic. You saw what happens when all magic is lost when Tirek’s horns broke. Our subjects would have suffered a slower, much more painful death. Twilight, Celestia, and I would eventually get ours back since alicorns naturally regenerate magic, but it would take a long time.”

“And I kept that from happening?” I felt a bit of optimism.

“Indeed. Just consider young Sweetie Belle. When she came to you, what was she like?”

“Grayed out, tired, and weak.”

“And now?”

“Bright and energetic. I think. I know I would be.” I was sensing a pattern about as subtle as my landing here in Equestria.

“All thanks to you.”

I sighed and thought things over. I suppose fighting wasn’t a bad thing, especially if lives were on the line. And I didn’t have to resort to fighting immediately. I could save it for a last resort, and even then, I could fight without any shells loaded. Those would be the final last resort.

My mind at ease, I asked something else. “So, is Celestia the white alicorn with the sun cutie mark?”

“Yes. She’s my big sister and moves the sun every day.”

“She moves the sun? I find that hard to believe.”

“I won’t try to convince you of that fact. Would you like to meet her?” Luna sounded a bit optimistic with her question.

“Later.” I yawned. It was a powerful yawn. “Luna, why am I so tired in this dream?”

“Because your body is beyond the point of exhaustion. To help prevent this in the future, I suggest getting out and exercising regularly. Laying around and reading may be good for the mind, but it doesn’t help the body very much.”

“But exercising just to exercise isn’t fun.”

“Then figure out a way to make it fun, or perhaps set some goals. You know, Applejack still hasn’t figured out what to do with all the leftover construction supplies she has from the barn you helped build. She’s been trying to dream up something new, but hasn’t had much luck.”

Very subtle there, Luna. “I’ll see about that once I’m back to normal. For now, I’m just going to close my eyes.”

Luna’s horn lit up and she left the dream. I curled up in the dream bed and slept.

Sleeping in a dream is strange.

Back to normal

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I opened my eyes and took a deep breath. The ceiling above me was unfamiliar, the comfortable bed I found myself in was unfamiliar, and someone put my robe on me while I was asleep.

I sat up in the bed, finding nobody around in the rather luxurious room. “Just how long have I been asleep?” Immediately visible was an open door leading to a bathroom. “Might as well.” I got out of the bed, my robe bringing some of the warmth with me, and went in to take care of business.

There wasn’t much in me that needed to get out, but I got out what was there anyways. After cleaning up and putting my robe back on, I turned to leave when I caught sight of my reflection. The first thing to catch my attention was my shiny hair. I swung a section of it around and ran a hand through it. It felt very soft and very clean. It smelled of a rich vanilla, and there wasn’t a tangle to be found. The rest of me felt very clean as well.

I had to go back to the spa at some point, even if only for a hair treatment. Those spa ponies must know what they’re doing if they were able to do all this themselves, and without hands at that. My hair was amazing, my skin was cleaner and softer than ever, I’m fairly certain I got massaged while I was out, and I had no idea what time it was, so I found a clock back in the bedroom.

It showed 10:00. A look at the closed curtains showed some sunlight, so it had to be morning. I think I was asleep for 18-20 hours. That’s got to be two days worth of sleep right there. Talk about exhaustion.

I was about to go through the closed door when I saw a box with my name in front of it. Interest piqued, I picked up the box. It was very light. I opened it and saw a set of my regular clothes in there, along with my boots, all cleaned up. A bit of digging also revealed my choker, which reminded me of its absence around my neck.

Clean clothes. I was happy just for this little thing right now. And I could put my robe in the box for easy transport once I changed, too. A second glance inside revealed an envelope at the edge, which I pulled out and opened. Inside was a folded piece of paper, which I took out and unfolded. Something golden fell out of it, but I was more interested in the first piece of paper. It was a letter, and the letters were not fluctuating, but solid Equestrian, and very nicely written at that.

Dear Yang Xiao Long,
I wish to continue extending my, my sister, Equestria, and the world’s gratitude to you for defeating Tirek, even if it was the most brutal and messy fight in Equestria’s history since an attempted minotaur invasion 300 years ago.
Luna and I have decided to grant you free access to Canterlot Castle. You may come at any time of day and go anywhere, even to the forbidden sections. This freedom comes with a lot of responsibility on your part though, and can be revoked at any time, though based on what I’ve heard about you, that is highly unlikely to happen.
In addition to free access to the castle, this also grants you free access to all events at the castle and on its grounds, even if you aren’t on the invitee list. You can also use any service you want or need at the castle.
The golden ticket included with this letter is necessary for your first entry to the castle and also serves as a one way train ticket to Canterlot, and you can use it at any time. Be sure to come straight to myself or Luna first though.
I hope we can have a cleaner and more casual visit in the near future. Sundays are a good time to visit, as I’m scheduled off on those days, barring the rare emergency.
Sincerely,
Princess Celestia.

I was about to pick up the golden ticket when I noticed something else on there, the writing a bit different. Probably a different writer.

P.S. Before you go to Canterlot, please tell me. I know my way around there and you can visit my family. I’m sure they would like to meet you.
Also, I am unable to clean the Ember Celica for you, due to their magic immunity. They’re on your desk, along with your new fountain and some cleaning supplies.
-Twilight Sparkle

After checking for anything else after Twilight’s added postscript, I picked up the golden ticket. It was fairly plain, if a bit large. In fact, it didn’t seem to have much detail at all. I’m sure the ponies in the know knew what to look for though.

I put the ticket and letter back together and set them aside before taking out the clean clothes. Once I double checked that all the windows and doors were closed, I changed out of the comfortable robe and into my normal clothes. I liked them better than the combat outfit because they covered more of me and I felt less exposed. They were also simpler in almost all their aspects, especially putting them on and taking them off.

Once I was changed and the robe was boxed up with the letter and ticket, I left the unfamiliar room and, to nobody’s surprise, found myself in an unfamiliar hallway. There were no signs, so I decided to go left. That’s where I saw some stairs going down, anyways.

I went down the stairs and through a door. On the other side, I found myself at the spa lobby. Lotus, at least I think that’s the name for the blue one, noticed me. “Good morning, Yang” she greeted. “We were wondering when you would wake up.”

Nice alliteration. “Good morning to you too” I greeted back. “So, am I good to go or is there something I need to do?”

“We do have something for you.” Lotus left the lobby for a moment before coming back with a cheese omelette, diced potatoes, and a fork on a plate held in a small potholder in her mouth. She set it on the counter, and I could weakly feel my stomach growling. “We were going to give you breakfast earlier, but you slept through it, so we saved this for you. We even kept it warm.”

I held back my eagerness so I could politely grab the plate and take a seat. I stabbed a few of the potato cubes and took a bite. They were lightly salted, lightly seasoned, a tad soft, and gone in under a minute. I had no idea just how hungry I was until now. I wanted to eat the omelette more properly, but my hunger was a beast, and it broke through the walls of etiquette I had in place. I hardly had any time to savor the flavor of the omelette, I was eating it so fast. What I did taste of it was good, so kudos to the chef.

After the omelette was gone, I began scraping at the plate with the fork to pick up little bits of melted cheese. Once it was as clean as I was going to get it, I returned the fork and plate to Lotus. “Thanks. It was good.”

She accepted the plate, putting it out of sight. “You’re welcome. I hope you can come visit us under more peaceful circumstances later.”

“Yeah, I might.” I picked up my boxed robe and letter. “I do like how clean you two got me, and I feel great.”

“That’s good to hear. Have a good day, Yang.”

“You too.” I left the spa and went outside. The weather was beautiful, ponies were going about their business as if nothing happened, the air was warm, and about a hundred feet in front of me was a large table lined with chairs. One of the spots had one of those metal domes on it, along with my name. Pinkie Pie was right next to the table, dressed like a waiter and wearing a thin fake moustache.

Suffice to say, I was curious and walked over to the table. “Hello, Yang” Pinkie said in a faux high class voice. “I welcome you to your unsurprise-thank-you-for-stopping-Tirek party. Please, have a seat.” She pulled out a chair for me. “And please, let me take your box.”

“Promise you’ll give it back?” I valued the contents of the box quite a bit.

“Whenever you’re ready to leave, I will make sure you get it back.” She sounded quite sincere, so I handed over the box and she somehow stuffed it in her mane. How did she do that?

Could I learn how to do that? I mean, I am strong, so I could carry a decently loaded backpack if I needed to, but being able to store stuff in my hair like that would be an amazing skill.

I took the offered seat and Pinkie lifted the dome off the table, revealing a double layered dome shaped plain cheesecake with a red velvet cake crust, already in ten slices. Before I could do anything, Pinkie was already at work putting the slices onto plates, revealing chunks of strawberries inside the cake. The large lower layer was set on one side of the plate while the small upper layer was taken off and set in the opposite direction next to the lower part. It was a neat trick and actually made for a pretty cool effect.

“Cheesecake’s on, everypony!” Pinkie called out. A moment later, the ponies I’d come to know best since I’d come here showed up and started taking their seats at the table. There were ten of us total: myself, Rarity, Fluttershy, Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle.

“Really, Pinkie?” I asked her. “A party?”

“Yep. It is only appropriate to have a party after such a big thing as Tirek’s defeat. Normally, I would throw a big surprise party, but I Pinkie Promised not to throw one for you after I scared you with the Welcome Party. I had to think quite a bit on how to throw a party for you, and then it hit me like a cream pie to the face: I just had to throw a smaller, quieter party, so I did just that. Do you like it?”

I looked over the gathering we had here. It was small, there weren’t any big surprises, and it felt nice. There was just one thing on my mind. “Yes, but why out here in the middle of the street?” A brown stallion walked by, waved to me, and I waved back.

“So you could see it as soon as you left the spa, silly. Are you going to try the cheesecake?”

Now that my stomach had some food in it, it had the energy to tell not just myself, but everypony around that I needed more food. I picked up the fork on my plate, cut off a piece of the smaller part, and took a bite. It was delicious, and the strawberry chunks were simply perfect in their texture and flavor. So I took another bite, noticing, but not really caring that everypony else at the table was eating theirs as well.

Twilight spoke up when I had just finished the smaller piece of my cheesecake. “So Yang, did you read the letter that was in your box?”

“Yes. I read every letter of the letter.” Some hooves met their owners’ faces. “I’ll probably hold off on going to Canterlot for a bit though. I need some time to settle back down after yesterday. The fight was yesterday, right?”

“Yes, it was. Today’s Wednesday.”

“Alright.” I turned to Sweetie Belle’s friends. “You two are still coming for the sleepover on Friday, right?”

“Yep” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo said at the same time.

“Alright.” I turned back to Twilight. “Since you seem to know everything Twilight, what can you suggest I do for regular exercise? Luna told me I should do some in case I have to fight again.”

“I suggest you ask Rainbow and Applejack for help with that. I may know what makes a good exercise regimen, but they know how to make one that works for you.”

I turned to Applejack and Rainbow. Applejack gave a friendly smile and nod while Rainbow grinned with a serious look on her face.

“Alright. Rarity, I’m going to need some new clothes for this.”

“Say no more” Rarity said. “I’ve really been thinking and dreaming about making some new clothes for you anyways. I’ve even come up with some designs already. I was going to run them past you yesterday, but then Tirek showed up. Would today work?”

“Sure. At least once we’re done here.” I turned to Sweetie Belle and her friends, a thought having occurred to me. “Shouldn’t you three be in class right now?”

“Nope” Sweetie Belle said. “There are no classes today because of Tirek’s attack yesterday.”

“Oh. That makes sense.” I turned back to Twilight after taking a bite of the cheesecake. “Twilight, could you come to the boutique to share the outfit you magicked up for me last week when we were testing my strength and such?”

“Sure” Twilight said. “I’m only happy to help a friend help another friend.”

“Thanks.” I continued with my cheesecake, listening in on the various conversations around the table. While I observed everyone, something came up in the back of my mind. It was small and didn’t interfere all that much with the bits of conversation I partook in, but it was persistent, never really vanishing. I had no idea what it was.

One more thing to deal with, I guess.

The party lasted for a while, Pinkie somehow providing us with drinks, until Rainbow had to leave for weather duty. After that, everyone else started leaving until it was just myself, Rarity, Sweetie Belle, and Pinkie Pie. The lightish red mare insisted that she would take care of the cleanup and wished the rest of us a good day, returning my box before I left.

“That was one of the quietest Pinkie parties I’ve been to for a while” Rarity said as we walked towards the boutique. “I rather enjoyed it. What about you, Yang?”

“It was nice, but I’m still not sure why Pinkie threw it in the middle of the street and why nobody around us seemed to care” I answered.

“It’s something she does from time to time, though not usually as quiet as yours was.”

The rest of the walk to the boutique was filled with talk about new outfits. Rarity had come up with ideas for business outfits, casual outfits, and various formal dresses.

It went unspoken, but it was clear by my body language to both Rarity and Sweetie Belle that I was not looking forward to the dresses or skirts. I knew plenty of girls and women back on Earth that regularly wore them, but I was not one of them. I mean, yeah, my robe has a skirt with it, but it’s not something I wear outside and I had to put it on out of necessity the first time.

We found Twilight sitting on the front porch of the boutique. She had saddlebags on her sides, but they didn’t appear to have much in them. “Hello again” she greeted.

“Hello, Twilight” Rarity said as we walked up to the visiting alicorn. “I presume you have something for me?”

“Yes. Can we talk more inside?”

“Of course. Just let me use the little filly’s room first. I might have had a bit too much to drink at the party.”

“Sure. I’ll wait downstairs.”

Twilight was the last of us to enter the boutique. I looked at the pedestal with mirrors on one side of it and just knew that, at some point, I’d be up there in a dress or an outfit that had a skirt with it.

I suddenly felt really motivated to just go out and exercise sometime soon. Of course, I’d need some different clothes for that. My regular outfit was good for day to day stuff and even hard work, and it did have plenty of flex and give in the right areas, but I’d rather have something else for working out.

I went upstairs to my room with my box and sat down at the desk. Pierce the Heavens was right there in the corner, the water still following the invisible spirals below the drill. I took some time to admire it before looking at the Ember Celica in their gauntlet form. They were dirty. So very dirty. There were also a bunch of cleaning supplies there. Water, metal polish (safe for paint and fabrics as well), sanitizer, a few rolls of paper towels, a towel, and a few washcloths. There were also a number of small handheld tools as well.

I set the box aside, sat down, and used some paper towels to move the gauntlets onto the towel. Before I started cleaning them, I made sure to take the bands of red shells out. I did not want to accidentally blast something to bits around here, even if I would be safe. The shells, despite being partially exposed, were completely clean. Well, except for a little smudge of something on one of them, but that was easily cleaned off with a slightly wet paper towel.

After putting the shells away, I put one of the gauntlets on the towel and started wiping the blood and dirt off of it. I got a lot of it off with a couple wet paper towels, but I could see places where the stuff had gotten that would require some disassembly to get at. Great.

I started looking around the mostly clean gauntlet for a way to take it apart. I’d have to be careful and keep track of what went where so I could put it back together. As much as I don’t like to fight, I’d also hate to not have them on my arms. I’ve grown used to their presence, and being able to defend others with them is nice. They’re also the most advanced weaponry in this world, as far as I knew. I could only imagine what could happen if a country with ill intent got them.

After a few minutes of searching, I eventually noticed something on the inside of the gauntlet: a small slider, slightly recessed just behind where the shells go. I reached in with one of my nails (which I now noticed had a bit of a shine to them) and slid it. Nothing happened until I twisted the furthest back section, which came off with a bit of force.

“Hm.” In the area where the sections overlapped was a bit more grime to clean off. I took to it with another damp paper towel and set the removed portion aside once it was fully cleaned. After I’d taken the next portion off, I decided to take it as far as I could with the simple disassembly.

I wound up with five large pieces, four of which needed further cleaning. I wasted no time on the task, but I also made sure to be thorough. The Ember Celica were robust and tough, but any debris in it could cause problems, and if it was something that could decay, stink.

Up next on the cleaning regiment was sanitation. I read the back of the bottle of sanitizer, and it said that direct and prolonged contact with skin, fur, hooves, claws, or feathers could cause mild chemical and/or magical burns.

That sounded like some powerful stuff. It also made me wonder if my inability to get burned covered those types of burns as well. If nothing else, I had my aura to protect me.

As I covered a washcloth with the sanitizer, I began to wonder why Twilight would give me such a strong sanitizer. Another glance at the front showed it to be industrial strength and hospital grade. Well, whoever made this stuff certainly knew what they were doing, but, eh, why think about it? Those bacteria and viruses that might be on my gauntlets needed to go away.

While I was sanitizing the pieces, I wondered how something that could cause burns from prolonged contact was also hospital grade. It didn’t make any sense.

It took about 15 minutes for me to sanitize every bit of the gauntlet that I could. I could feel the aura around my hand tingling as well, almost like it was dunked in soda. The tingling went away a moment after setting the sanitizing cloth down. A fast inspection of my hand revealed it to be unharmed in any way.

Aura is awesome.

I moved on to the next task: polishing the pieces. I took a fresh cloth and attempted to pour a small amount of the polish onto it. I was quickly reminded of a freshly opened glass ketchup bottle with how thick and slow the silver colored stuff was. I was getting bored waiting for it to come out, so I turned the bottle around to read the back. Apparently, this stuff, if ingested, could cause mild indigestion. It also suggested adding water before use.

I guess I should read these things more often.

Armed with new knowledge, I decided to change tactics. I dampened one of the washcloths and rubbed it in a bit of the stuff that had slowly oozed out and was slowly oozing back into the upright bottle. On the damp cloth, it shone. Thank goodness the sun wasn’t shining in the room right now. The glare from the polish on the cloth was very bright just from the room light alone.

I turned the glare away from me by turning the washcloth over and gently applying it to a piece of the Ember Celica. I sincerely hoped that the shine on the gauntlet would not blind anyone, including myself. Especially myself.

After I’d gotten every part of the section, I slowly removed the cloth. The piece had a beautiful shine to it that was not blindingly bright. Looking between it and it's filthy counterpart on the other gauntlet, I took a bit of pride in my work. I decided to use that pride to push myself to clean and reassemble them faster. Or at least at an ever so slightly less cautious pace.

I set the cloth aside and began the simple task of reassembling the Ember Celica I had taken apart. In under a minute, I had it fully reassembled and the slider put back in the secure position. The only part I hadn’t really cleaned was the attached fingerless glove. I think I could clean that part while cleaning the dishes tonight.

Once I was done thinking about cleaning the fingerless glove parts, I started on the other gauntlet. This time, I found the slider and slid it first. It took a bit more force to disassemble since there was more dried crud on it, but it wasn’t too bad.

While I cleaned, sanitized, and polished the remaining gauntlet’s pieces, my mind wandered towards the matter of clothes. As much as I wanted to think of other things, I found my mind unable to veer away from the topic. One thing that was consistent in all my thoughts on the matter was the Ember Celica staying on me. I’m sure Rarity could make it work. Somehow.

I think I’ve become a little possessive of and attached to the Ember Celica. I’m not sure what to make of that.

Once I had the second one reassembled, I took a moment to look at my work. The gauntlets looked even better now than when I first got them. I slipped them on and put them in their compact bracelet form. The gloves did feel kind of bad, like there were bits of stuff in them. Looks like I would be the one to volunteer for dish cleaning tonight after all.

I took the gauntlets off and turned my attention to the box. I sat by it on the bed, took out the robe and its skirt, refolded them together, and set them aside. I then took out the letter and ticket, thinking about them.

“Canterlot, huh? Sounds interesting. Next week, though.” Maybe I could start arranging the trip with Twilight tomorrow? I’m sure she’d be happy to guide me around. She said so in her own postscript that she added to the letter.

I changed my focus to my new fountain. I did feel a little guilty in getting it from the Olive Branch Cafe, but Celestia said I could have anything, and I was probably too tired to think entirely straight at that moment. Still, what’s done is done, and I liked it. The ammo tree that came from the case was about the same size and shape as the fountain, so they could go side by side. Or maybe opposite corners of the desk?

I decided to take the rest of the day fairly easy. The down time I had until supper, I spent doing stretches and exercises that didn’t need any equipment or very much space. Luna suggested I exercise since I’ve not done much of it, and her rationale made sense.

Besides, she was a princess and my dream therapist, I believe. When your therapist suggests you do something to help yourself, you should do it, right?

Mind and body

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Soft, comfortable warmth. Such is the state of the bed I currently rest in. The bed has been in such a state for a few hours, though I can’t account for the few minutes I was out of it to use the bathroom. For all I know, it could have turned into a glowing cloud that made those who gazed upon it praise it before it turned back into my bed right before I returned.

That probably didn’t happen, but who knows? If you can think it, it’s possible somewhere, right?

My blissful sleep was interrupted the same way it has been numerous times: the sun rising and shining right in my eyes through a small gap in the curtains. If Celestia really does control the sun, then I’d think she was doing this deliberately and was probably laughing right now.

Celestia pounded her hoof against the breakfast table in a manner most unbefitting of a princess, howling with laughter. “So, what happened next, Luna?”

Luna had a big smile on as she recounted a tale from night court. “He then produced a sharpened mango and tried to prove it could be used as a weapon by slashing one of the decorative plants. He missed, hit the vase, and his mango blade turned to mush.”

Celestia’s howling laughter started up again.

Yep. Laughing like an evil empress at my misfortune. One of these nights, I’ll sleep on my left side instead of the right and thwart her plans.

Still, no point in trying to go back to sleep now. I slowly sat up, rubbed the rest of the sleep out of my eyes, and took a deep breath. I felt the now familiar weight of my chest rise and fall with the breath. I did not like thinking about my breasts, but now I was. Admittedly not necessarily in a positive way, but still.

As I got out and stretched, I recalled one of my friends back on Earth who had breasts around the same size as mine, and she often confided in me how their weight hurt her back. I wasn’t feeling any such back pains, which I attributed to my enhanced strength.

”Why am I thinking these thoughts?” I thought as I collected some clean clothes from the dresser. My idle thoughts turned to my clothes. Even though I was a rather scrawny guy back on Earth, I was still a guy and wore the appropriate clothes. I’ve gotten used to wearing the clothes Rarity’s made for me, but I still find the smaller proportions a little odd. Years of wearing male clothes does not leave the mind so quickly.

As I’ve done before, I set the clean clothes down on the foot of the bed. Rarity should be making breakfast right about. . . yep, there’s the scent of breakfast. I had this odd feeling that something was missing from it though, but I couldn’t quite place what it was. Still, breakfast is breakfast. I left my room and headed downstairs. As I suspected, Rarity and Sweetie Belle were already down there.

“Good morning, Yang” Rarity said. “Did you sleep well?”

“Up until the sun got in my eyes” I answered as I sat down at the table. “And you?”

“I didn’t get much sleep. After making that exercise outfit for you, I simply had to keep at that design after supper was over.” Oh no. “So I wound up making a few more for you. They’re in the inspiration room.”

“Thanks. What about you, Sweetie?”

“I slept well” Sweetie answered. “I got all my homework done and had time to write some music.”

“Nice. How’s that going?”

“It’s going well, but I think I should visit an orchestra or band and hear how the instruments sound myself.”

“Always a good idea.”

“Breakfast’s ready~” Rarity sang as she floated out plates with french toast and scrambled eggs with cheese and a little bit of garnish.

We all ate at our own paces, not talking at all. The quiet void was filled with chirping birds and overall pleasant sounds. It was nice. Certainly better than cars. However, my mind was focused more on eating carefully so that nothing landed on my chest. The motions have become more natural since I’ve had this body, but they’re still annoying.

Sweetie finished first and broke the silence between the three of us. “I’ll see you later” she said as she left the table, put her saddlebags on, and went off to school.

After Rarity and I finished our meals, we simply sat at the table. My thoughts still wouldn’t leave my body for whatever reason, and Rarity picked up on it. “Yang, are you alright? It looks like you have something on your mind.”

“Yeah. Have you ever had a day when your thoughts, despite your best efforts, stayed on one single topic and it bugged you to no end?”

“Occasionally. Why?”

“I think I’m having one of those days. Do you have any suggestions?”

“Just let it run its course. Eventually, you’ll find something else to focus on.”

“Alright. Thanks.” I left the table as Rarity started cleaning up breakfast.

I went back to my room and picked up my clean clothes in preparation for my least favorite part of the daily routine: the shower. I did skip it one day here, and I felt nasty for the whole day. That was not pleasant.

I set the clean clothes on the countertop by the sink and started taking my sleepwear and the choker off. I folded the sleepwear up and put it on the opposite end of the counter while the choker went to the clean clothes. Once that was done, I went over to the shower, which was also a tub, and turned the water on. It only took a matter of seconds for the water to go from pipe temperature to very warm. Ever since I discovered my inability to be burned, I’ve been taking warmer and warmer showers.

With the water going and already steaming up the bathroom, I stepped in and closed the shower curtain, the rail for which was just inches above my head. It’s nice being tall, and I’m fairly certain that I’m a little taller than before, but in this world of pastel petite ponies, it’s hard to tell.

I always started my showers here with my back to the water, and today was no different. Of course, the water wound up in my hair first, making it wet and heavy. Well, heavier than usual. With how much hair I had, it was plenty heavy on its own, but as with my chest, my enhanced strength almost made it a non-issue. Almost.

Some water eventually made it through my hair, onto my shoulder, and trickled down my chest. Despite regular exposure to this, it was still a rather alien sensation. Especially at the very front of my chest. I dare not think about that. Too discomforting.

I will not deny that I am curious at to what my breasts feel like, but I refuse to poke, squeeze, or rub them as tends to happen in numerous shows and stories where a guy becomes a girl like I have. Aside from holding myself to some standards, the sensations are still too strange for me to really appreciate, if that’s even the correct word.

While I lathered up and rubbed some shampoo into my hair, I also scratched my head in frustration. “Why am I thinking about these things?!”

I focused my thoughts away from my chest, and this time, I was successful. Unfortunately, my thoughts wandered a bit lower down, specifically to the other female area of notability. Like my chest, I avoided the exploration one would expect in some other stories. This was a bit more of a challenge though, and to keep myself from poking around down there, I kept my legs practically pressed together. Washing down there was always a fast affair.

The silver lining to that was that it helped me with attaining correct posture. Since I hung out with girls more often than guys back on Earth, I noticed the differences a bit more easily.

One thing that I was able to adjust to fairly quickly was the total lack of body hair. My skin was smooth everywhere. As a result, water tended to slide off of me more than stay on and that made washing a bit tougher. When the water tends to slide off, it takes the soap away as well. Then again, everyone in Equestria has fur, so it’s quite likely that nobody’s made a soap designed for bare skin. The fur wash I’m using certainly doesn’t like to stay on me that well.

While I washed myself, I did my best to keep my thoughts off my body. I had some success when I sat down and simply let myself enjoy the warm water. At least until the water stopped making steam. “I guess it’s time to get out and dry off.”

I turned the water off with my foot before standing up and wringing my hair to get as much water out of it as possible. A lot of water came out of it. Once that was done, I began running my hands along my arms and legs to get a little bit more water off that way.

I stepped out of the shower and onto the towel I always set on the floor for exactly that purpose. I grabbed another towel and began drying off everywhere.

One unforeseen benefit to taking these really warm showers was that all the mirrors got fogged up. I didn’t have to look at myself in this body because of that. I’m sure I’ll get over that revulsion some day, but not today.

After quickly drying off, I quickly got dressed. Bra, panties, shirt, socks, jeans, and boots. I kept most of the boots hidden from view, so it looked more like I was wearing a pair of regular shoes.

I really need to get some proper shoes. The boots are nice, but they take too long to put on for my liking. I don’t think Rarity makes shoes, but I can ask her at some point. Today would be good.

Something I had to figure out at some point was how to set my hair on fire at will. I think it would help a lot with drying it after a shower. The natural waves and curls, paired with the quantity and density of the hair, seemed to hold in moisture rather well.

I left the bathroom with my sleepwear under my arm and went to my room with it. Using the bed as a table, I folded the robe and skirt together before taking them to a drawer I’d designated for them.

“I guess I’ll go see what Rarity’s got for me. At least it’s not a dress. Hopefully.” After closing the drawer with the robe in it, I left my room and went downstairs. “Rarity?”

“Yes, Yang?” Rarity called out from her workshop area.

I went over to her. “I seem to recall you had something for me?”

“Ah yes, one moment please.” Rarity finished a detail on her piece of paper before turning it over, leaving for a moment, and quickly returning with a large box. Well, larger than the others I’ve seen used. It wasn’t really all that big. Describing box sizes is tough. “I made a few exercise outfits for you based on the one Twilight conjured last week. Try them on, see what you like.”

I thought it over for a bit. “I think I’ll try them on later. I have to go talk with Twilight about something.”

Rarity sighed. “I guess I can’t argue with that. But when you do try them on, please tell me. I’d love to see how you look with them on. Besides, it will be a good start to your modeling for me.”

Modeling? When did I. . . Oh yeah, that contract Rarity and I agreed upon after I showed up. The one that I wrote and Twilight recorded. “Yeah, sure.” I took the box of outfits upstairs and set them inside my room.

I was just on my way out the front door when I remembered my question for her. “Hey Rarity? Do you think you could make some shoes for me?”

“Yang, I am not a ferrier.” There was a moment of silence as we looked at each other. Rarity soon realized her mistake. “Oh, not those kinds of shoes. I’ll see what I can do. Anything you want them to have?”

“I want them to be slip-ons, mostly black, and durable. These will be the shoes I wear for exercising and probably a lot of other things.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thanks, Rarity. I’ll see you later.”

“Bye!” Rarity and I waved at each other as I left the boutique.

I took a moment to enjoy the clean air before starting my walk to the castle. I looked around the colorful town and its colorful citizens selling their colorful goods. Before getting dropped in Ponyville, I never could have imagined anything this vibrant without it being rather gaudy at the same time. Maybe it was how everything was simpler. There was no pavement, no sidewalks, no cars, no utility poles, and, as far as I knew, no overwhelming sense of indifference from those surrounding you.

Then again, when you’re the only human living in a town of ponies, it’s hard to not be recognized. As that thought went through my head, I became ever so slightly self conscious. And my thoughts wandered to my body again. Wonderful.

By the time I got to Twilight’s castle, my thoughts about my body had dissipated. Before I got here, I saw a pony simply walk inside, so I figured I could as well. It wasn’t Mordor, after all.

Inside was a small line of ponies along a bookshelf built into a wall. Apparently, court was in session. I got in line and started waiting. And waiting. And waiting. I looked over to the shelf to see if there were any good reads there to distract me from the ponies in line that were growing restless. “I wish I had my phone right now.” Everything looked like it was nonfiction. I eventually settled on a decently sized book called “Last Stands: Defiance of Superior Forces: Abridged”.

I opened to the table of contents. Each section was apparently focused on a single species, and were further divided into individual battles. The first chapter was on ponies, and it had the fewest entries. Below that was a long list of griffon battles. One of them, titled ‘White Plains, Neighpon’, caught my attention. It was on on page 61. I turned there and started reading.

What is currently the Neighpon archipelago used to belong to the Griffon Empire. Approximately 500 years before Nightmare Moon’s banishment, Equestria invaded the islands. This was shortly after the invention of the crossbow on the part of the Equestrians.
The takeover of the archipelago took less than a year, but the griffons did not make it easy. Their defiance showed most prominently at their last battle on the island, the battle of the White Plains. There were only 500 Griffons, surrounded on all sides by an Equestrian force of 25,000. By all measures and predictions, the Griffons should have been defeated in a matter of minutes. They were severely outnumbered, had no ranged attack options, their emperor and higher military personnel were either dead or captured, and their supplies were down to practically nothing.
The Equestrian attack started shortly after sunrise, and both sides were ready. The 500 Griffons, armed only with katanas, charged straight into the Equestrian forces and immediately threw the formation into chaos. The Equestrians’ numbers started working against them. Since all of the Equestrians were armed and trained primarily with the crossbow at a distance, they couldn’t mount an effective melee resistance.
At sunset, the 500 Griffons were dead, but between 18,000 and 20,000 Equestrian soldiers died in the battle. Nobody knows how much of that was the Griffons’ own blades and how much of it was friendly fire, but what was certain was that the archipelago was now a territory of Equestria, thanks to the crushing victory they had earned.

The whole battle summary took up about four pages, due mostly to the text size. Still it was a good read, and I could swear it reminded me of something similar from one of my history classes. Or maybe a metal song Sandra liked. I wonder how she’s doing?

I was brought out of my musings by Spike. “Yang, it’s your turn with Twilight.”

“Hm? Oh, right. Thanks, Spike.” I opened the door and walked inside.

When I entered, Twilight had a rather exhausted look to her whole body. An exhausted look that ran for the hills beyond the hills once she recognized me. “Yang! I wasn’t expecting to see you here today. And it looks like you found a book that’s caught your interest.”

I looked back at the book I’d almost forgotten I had in my hand. “Oh, uh, I’ll just go put this ba-”

“You can borrow it if you want. Anyways, I don’t think you’d come here just to read.”

“Yeah, I want to talk with you a bit.”

“How about we talk about it over some brunch? You were actually the last one in line, and I’m getting hungry.”

“Sure.”

“Spike, we’re having brunch!”

“Alright!” Spike said as he came into the courtroom. “I wonder what we’re having today?”

“Whatever you want, as usual.” Twilight came down from her throne and joined Spike and me, the three of us heading towards the dining hall. Our path consisted of some halls and upward stairs.

“So, how has your morning been, you two?” I asked my violet compatriots.

Twilight’s exhausted look came back a little bit. “Mostly nobles complaining to me about stuff they want done to help them and their families.”

“Sounds boring.”

“I’m beginning to understand Celestia’s sweet tooth, at least.”

“And I had to deal with the line” Spike said. “Nobles don’t like waiting in line. Most of them, anyways. They start to complain if nothing happens for more than five minutes, and lots of their sessions are at least fifteen minutes. In fact, I think today’s line was better behaved than usual because they recognized you as the one who defeated Tirek and didn’t want to accidentally make you mad at them.” Wow. Word spreads fast in Equestria. As I thought on that, and as we entered the fairly empty dining hall, Spike continued. “I bet you didn’t have to deal with stuck up nobles back where you’re from.”

“Well, you’re not wrong” I said as we sat down at a table close to the kitchen. “I just had to deal with being picked on and pushed around by guys bigger than me. And shouted at for no real reason. Partially because of how scrawny I was and partially because I was always hanging out with and being saved by the girls.”

“And if you were to go back as you are now?”

That took a bit of thought. “I don’t know. Anyways, I didn’t come here to talk to you about that. I’d like to go to Canterlot next week.”

That caught Twilight’s attention. “Are you asking me, the princess of friendship and magic, to be your personal tour guide in Canterlot?”

“No, I’m taking up the offer she gave me in a letter a couple days ago.”

A moment of silence followed before all three of us laughed. “So, when do you want to go?”

“I’m thinking of leaving on Monday and maybe spending a few days there. A day to travel there, a day or two to do stuff, and a day to travel back.”

“As good as that plan sounds, I’m afraid we can’t be gone that long.”

“Why?”

“As a princess, I can’t be too far from the castle for too long. A princess’s work is never done, sadly. We can leave early one day and come back late the next day for the most time possible.”

“Oh. How about we go on Sunday?”

“Sunday? But that’s Celestia’s day off.”

“Exactly. We go for a casual visit. I’m sure she would like to have someone to spend her off day with.”

Twilight had no good counter argument to that, even though she tried. A waiter came to our table while Twilight was thinking. “Hello. What can I get for you?”

“I’d like a peanut butter and daisy sandwich” Twilight said.

“A bowl of rubies, sapphires, and emeralds, please” Spike said.

“I’d like some pasta with alfredo sauce” I said. Only too late did I realize they might not know what alfredo sauce was.

“I’ll have some water for you momentarily” the waiter left the table and went back to the kitchen.

“Twilight, is alfredo sauce a thing here?”

“Yes. I got the recipe for it and a few other things from one of my trips about a year ago.”

“Where?”

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you that. But maybe I can take you there someday after we visit my family up in the Crystal Empire.”

More family, huh? Should be interesting. “So, what are we going to do in Canterlot after we arrive?”

“If we take the 7 AM train on Sunday, we’ll be arriving in Canterlot around 9 AM. We’ll stop by Pony Joe’s to get some donuts for Celestia, then we’ll visit her. Being a princess myself, we won’t have any problems getting anywhere in the castle. After we’re done visiting Celestia, we can go to my parents’ house.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” A moment later, we got our water from the waiter. “So, what can I expect in Canterlot?”

“You’ll see-”

“Twilight, how about we leave it a surprise for Yang?” Spike interjected.

“That’s actually a pretty good idea, Spike. Thanks.”

The remaining minutes we waited for our food was spent just talking. When our food arrived, mine was the only one steaming.

As we ate, my mind wandered back to my body, mostly because I was leaning forward for each bite so as not to have any sauce drip onto my chest, kind of like at breakfast. Apparently, in response to my attempts to ignore those thoughts, my mind started thinking of the rest of my body.

“Just let the thoughts go, Yang.” I thought to myself. “Just let them run their course and they won’t bother you. Much.”

Twilight finished her sandwich first. Spike was still eating his gems when I finished my pasta. It was good, but it felt like there was a little something missing from it. I couldn’t quite place my finger on what it was though. I’m sure I’d figure it out in time.

“Is there anything else you need from me while you’re here?” Twilight asked me.

“No” I answered. “I think I’ll head back to Rarity’s now. And thanks for letting me borrow this book.” I picked the book up from its spot on the table and excused myself. “So, how do I get out of here?”

“I’ve got directories and maps that can be brought up with a touch on the walls at every intersection. Or you could open a window and jump out that way.”

“The window?”

“Pegasi can fly, Yang” Spike reminded me. “It’s not unusual for them to go in and out of windows. I’m sure you can survive a 3 story fall to the ground. 3 really tall stories, but still.”

“Yeah, that does sound easier.” As I approached a window, Twilight opened it with her magic. Before I jumped, a thought crossed my mind. “So, should I just stay here on Saturday night to make it easier to get to the train on time?”

“Oh, that’s a good idea” Twilight said. “I’ll see you on Saturday.”

“See ya”. With that done and book in hand, I jumped out the window.

The landing didn’t hurt, but physics did its thing with my body, once again reminding me of my chest, and by extension, all of my female anatomy. “Why is this happening today?” My thoughts were a giant crimson faced robot’s boomerang sunglasses, going away only to come right back to me.

I really hope it’s just a temporary thing.

The walk back to Rarity’s was uneventful and peaceful, save for the storm that was my mind wondering what was up with my brain and why it kept on wandering back to my body. You’d think that after a few weeks like this, I’d have stopped thinking about it.

Maybe I’m still not used to Yang’s body yet. I hope that’s not the case.

My storm of thoughts had died down a bit when I got back to the boutique, partially due to them subsiding on their own and a stiff breeze of intrigue when I entered and saw Rarity talking with the most clothed pony I’ve seen yet. The clothed pony was a light blue earth pony mare with a white mane and tail, and she was wearing a black, white, and magenta dress. She also had magenta lensed sunglasses on. Rarity was sitting with her back to the wall, so the mare she was talking with didn’t seem to notice me.

“Miss Rarity, what was your inspiration for these simple black and white dresses?” the clothed pony asked Rarity. She had a German accent, which confused me only a little bit. “They’ve taken the whole fashion industry by storm and everypony’s scrambling to figure out the secret to the simple pattern’s success.”

“It was. . . an act of my own generosity that inspired me” Rarity answered. She noticed me and I put a finger in front of my lips. I had heard the visiting mare’s question and did not want to be involved.

I was glad the floor here was carpeted, as little sense as it made for a store like this to have such a floor. Even with the carpeted floor, I still tread carefully. By my best guess, the visiting pony was someone involved in the fashion industry, and could probably pull me almost anywhere she wanted in there.

I was so focused on sneaking past her that I didn’t notice Opal until she jumped onto my shoulder from somewhere I didn’t notice. I let out a startled yelp and fell on my back from the surprise, dropping my book in the process. After I fell, Opal, who wasn’t hurt in the slightest, got off me and simply walked away.

“What was that?” The clothed pony looked around for a moment before she saw the source of the sound she heard: me. “Who are you?”

“She’s a guest here” Rarity answered.

“Hmm.” The visiting pony was looking me over like I was a buffet. “I, Photo Finish, would like to use you as a model. Truly unique, you are one of a kind. I will make you famous! Just think of all the money you could make, all the wardrobes you could fill, and all the fame you can have.”

Before Rarity could say anything, I said something while standing up. “No thanks.”

“What?” Photo Finish seemed a bit thrown off by my answer.

“I said ‘no thanks’. I’m not interested in fashion, having lots of clothes, or being famous. The money would be nice, but I have no idea what I’d do with it.”

“I. . . see. There will always be a spot for you in Photo Finish’s agency, I promise you that.”

“Thanks? I’ll just be heading upstairs now.” I made my way towards the stairs.

I was interrupted by Photo Finish calling out “Wait!”

I stopped and looked back. “Yes?”

“Your book.” With one forehoof, she picked up my dropped book and held it up for me.

“Oh, thanks.” I accepted the book before heading upstairs and to my room. I set the book down, then the urge to go to the bathroom struck. Better take care of that immediately.

One thing I will say about going to the bathroom as a female is that it does take longer to finish, handwashing aside. I don’t like thinking about what else is down in that area, so I try to be quick. I still wonder how I knew how to properly take care of business instinctively the first time I had to, as if I’d done it my whole life.

After I left the bathroom, I went back to my room and sat down at the desk and thought. “Alright, I’ll be part of Sweetie and her friends’ sleepover here tomorrow night, then Saturday night, I’ll be staying at the castle to leave on Sunday morning.

“Oh, I should tell Rarity I’ll be gone for a couple days. Probably during supper. At least I’ll be able to pack everything up with ease.” As I finished my thoughts, I opened my book to a random chapter. It was about a group of 20 minotaurs defending a castle entrance against over 600 enemy minotaurs.

There were lots of last stands in this book, which wasn’t surprising, considering the title. Of the ones I read, most ended in defeat at the end, but a few ended with victory for the smaller defending side, painful as it sometimes was.

“Excuse me, Yang?” Rarity said from the doorway. I looked at the clock and saw I’d been reading for a few hours.

“Yes?” I asked back.

“You said you wouldn’t model for Photo Finish. I’m kind of worried about you modelling for me now, to be honest.”

I sighed and turned to make eye contact with Rarity. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll model for you when it works out. She wanted me to model as a career or job, which one: I don’t want to do, and two: she doesn’t know me like you do.”

“Of course she doesn’t know you like I do. I’ve known you for nearly a month now.”

“But you let me live under your roof because you care about me first, even if you have a personal agenda on the side. Photo was thinking profits first and me second. I think.”

Rarity thought on that for a bit. “She did do something similar with Fluttershy once. She was pushed into the position of modelling for her, and it took a bit of intervention on our part to get her out.”

“That sounds like a story. Oh, I’m going to be in Canterlot on Sunday and Monday next week.”

“Oh? Alone?”

“No. With Twilight. I’ve got a golden ticket with my name on it, and I intend to use it as soon as possible. I do not want to forget about it.”

“Hmm. Say, while you’re there, could you pick up some Canterlot fashion magazines for me?”

“Sure. So, you want me to try the athletic outfits on?”

“I’ll give you some privacy to change.” Rarity left and closed the door.

“Alright Yang, time to face yourself a bit.” I got the boxes with the outfits in them on the bed and grabbed one at random. I opened it and saw a sports bra, a pair of shorts that looked like they would go to about the middle of my thighs, and a pair of socks that looked like they would come up to the middle of my lower legs. All of them were black with a yellow caution stripe down the sides and around the neckline of the sports bra.

“I actually kind of like this design.” It looked rather small compared to what I preferred wearing, but I remembered how I liked the one Twilight made.

Before Starting to change, I took some deep breaths. “It’s the same thing as before, just a new design and you have to do it myself. You can do this. You can do this.”

After a bit, I decided to just get it over with. I took off my shirt and regular bra before putting the sports one on, and I did it as fast as I could. My hair kept getting in the way though. I’d have to do something about that, but most certainly not cutting it. Once it was on, the sports bra fit quite well and was slightly snug on me.

As I changed the lower half of my outfit, I decided to try some stretches once I was fully changed. In fact, the change of clothes was really getting me in an exercising mindset. Maybe what you wear does affect your mindset. I never wear my combat outfit unless it’s the last thing I have available, or I know there’s going to be a fight.

Once I was fully changed, I did a few stretches. Rarity did some good work. Everything stayed in place and felt comfortable the whole time.

The time for procrastinating, sadly, came to an end. I knew Rarity was waiting, and I’d have to show myself eventually. It’s better to get it over with as soon as possible.

I left my room and went downstairs. Already, I could feel my self-consciousness rising. I did my best to push it aside as I came into Rarity’s sight.

“Hmm.” Rarity looked me over while I stood still in the middle of the boutique. “Something’s missing. No, something’s a bit off.”

“My lack of shoes?” I asked. I’d certainly need them.

“No, that’s not it. Well, you need those, but that isn’t what’s off.”

“Then what is?”

Rarity kept walking around me, her tail flicking a bit as she thought. While she was thinking, the front door opened and Applejack walked in. Her mane and tail were lacking the red bands that were usually in them. “Hey Rares? Ah need to buy some new bands for mah mane and tail. The last ones just broke. Hello, Yang.”

“Hi Applejack” I greeted back.

Rarity was pulled out of her thoughts when Applejack spoke. She still seemed to be in a detail focused mode when she faced her friend/customer. “Aha! I’ll be right back.” Rarity dashed off somewhere in the back.

I turned my focus to Applejack. “So, what do you think?” I motioned to myself and my outfit.

“Ah think you look good” Applejack said. “But what do you think?”

“It feels nice, but I’m not really excited with the amount of skin showing. I also need shoes.”

“Yang, why would you need a ferrier?”

Not again. “Wrong type of shoes.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“I’m back~” Rarity sang as she returned, three red bands in her magic. “Three bits, Applejack, as usual.”

Applejack took her hat off, revealing three bits in it. Rarity took the coins and gave Applejack two of the red bands. “What’s with the third band?”

“You have helped me solve a problem just by showing up.” Rarity tossed the third red band in my direction as Applejack began putting her mane in one of her new bands. By hoof. I don’t know how that works. “I was trying to figure out what was off with Yang’s new look, and seeing you without your ponytails was what made me realize that Yang needed one to complete this look.”

I easily caught the red band and gave Rarity’s words some thought. A ponytail would go well with this outfit. I just needed to think a bit on how to do it. I’ve seen some of my friends do it before back on Earth, but now I had to figure it out.

I think I wound up thinking too much on how to do it because Rarity pulled the band out of my grasp with her magic and was soon putting my hair up in a ponytail. Applejack was already done with her tail band when Rarity acted.

“Thanks, Rarity” I said. “Dare I ask when the hair care lessons are?”

“Thanks for the idea, Yang” Rarity said. “I’ll be sure to plan that at some point.”

“Have fun, Yang” Applejack said. “Ah’ve got to get back to the farm. Stop by and help out sometime. It could be part of your exercise routine.”

There’s something. Maybe next week. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

After thanking Rarity, Applejack left the boutique. Her compliment about how I looked good in these clothes still rang in my mind. It felt nice to be complimented like that.

“So, let’s get to modelling, shall we?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah, let’s get it over and done with” I agreed. The sooner, the better.

“I’d like to see at least three of these outfits on you. To the pedestal, dear.”

I stepped onto the pedestal, surrounded by its mirrors. I stopped when I caught sight of myself in the mirror. “I look good.” I had an excellent figure, and the clothes fit me quite well. “Really good.” I was sporting quite the athletic look. Lean, powerful, fairly curved, and possibly very distracting to the right eyes.

“Equestria to Yang!” Rarity forcefully said, accompanied by a few bright flashes of light in front of me. I put my hands up to block the light a little too late.

“What?” I asked her.

“You’ve been staring at your reflection for five minutes.”

“Oh. Sorry. I got a bit distracted by my own reflection. I don’t look at it very often.”

“Fair enough. Now then, could you strike a pose for me? I’m thinking something like you’re ready to run at a competition.”

I got on my hands and feet like I was getting ready to sprint. It wasn’t very easy due to how the socks and carpeted pedestal didn’t have much friction between them. Still, I got the position Rarity wanted. “This good?”

“Yes, it’s very good. All the material is holding together quite well.”

“What is it made of anyways? I like how it feels.” I switched to a sitting pose.

“A tightly woven type of spandex. I ordered a lot of the stuff over a year ago, but my prediction on the fashion world’s direction didn’t exactly come true, so it’s just been sitting around. I’m glad I finally got to use it, and to such great effect as well.”

Spandex, huh? “Well, it is nice, but I still need shoes.”

“I’ve already started on the design for those, but I have encountered a big problem.”

“Materials?”

“No. It’s worse than that.”

“Lack of experience?”

“No. Even worse.”

Now I was confused. “Then what?”

Rarity practically wailed out her answer of “I have no clue how to make shoes for you that would go with all your athletic outfits and your daily clothes! It’s a fashion emergency and I have no idea what to do!”

“That doesn’t sound too bad.”

One moment, Rarity was on the floor. The next, she was right in my face, and she most certainly did not teleport. She also looked dead serious. “Yang, have you ever seen someone from your world wearing shoes that were simply horrendous?”

I thought for a moment, allowing a memory to surface. A memory of a guy with a faded and worn red plaid shirt, faded and worn blue jeans, and bright neon green shoes that probably hadn’t been worn very much at that point came to mind. The shoes messed up the entire outfit. “Yes, I have.”

“Now you see the problem?”

“Yeah, I do.” I gently pushed Rarity off of me and we both sat on the pedestal in thought. “Hey, are you able to enchant the clothes you make?”

“Yes, but I rarely do. Why do you ask?”

“Make the shoes black and enchant them to change colors and patterns based on whatever socks I’m wearing.”

“You’re asking a lot of me there. It’s not that easy to come up with an enchantment like that.”

“I’m sure you can do it. So, do you want me to put a different outfit on now?”

“No. I’m already trying to figure out the enchantments.”

“Then I guess I’ll be making supper?”

“I suppose. And you should get started soon. It’s almost six.”

Egads, where did the time go? I didn’t bother changing clothes before going into the kitchen since there wasn’t enough time. I had to think of something fast. Something that couldn’t take too long to make. Something simple, but not vegetables and condiments between bread.

I could make a casserole. The one I made before came out well. Yeah, I’ll do that.

“Um, Yang?” Rarity asked me when I set the casserole down. It was still a little strange how I could handle hot things with my bare hands that would burn a normal person. The strangeness was offset by the sheer practicality of it though. Being able to get a firm grip on things straight out of the oven was pretty cool.

“Yeah?” I asked.

“Why is the casserole burnt?”

I looked back down at the dish. Everything about an inch in from the edge of the dish was burnt and what wasn’t burnt looked incredibly dry. “Uh, I was a little distracted. I had something on my mind.”

“Oh. Well, it’s not as bad as when Sweetie made toast in the past.”

I looked to Sweetie Belle. She noticed me, blushed a bit, and said “the toast had to be served in a glass.”

A glass. Toast in a glass. How, exactly, does one mess toast up that badly?

“Shall we eat out tonight?” Rarity suggested.

“What?” I asked.

Rarity apparently picked up on a bit of an edge in my voice. “Sorry Yang, it’s just a reflexive thing at this point for me. I do appreciate the effort you put into making it, but burnt food can make me a bit sick. Sorry.”

How could she. . . Oh. Sweetie might have something to do with that. I’ll leave that where it is. “I see. Just let me go change and I’ll be ready to go.” I still had the athletic clothes on, and to Rarity’s credit, they were really comfortable. At least I would be able to change quickly. Just a shirt, a pair of jeans, and my boots, and I’d be good to go.

“Why not just wear your new outfit?” Rarity asked me as I went up the stairs.

“It doesn’t feel right to wear it so casually. Besides, my boots don’t go well with it. You should know that.” I went into my room, quickly put on my regular clothes, and came back downstairs. “So, where are we going?”

“Let’s have Chineighse tonight.”

“Alright!” Sweetie cheered.

I had no qualms with that idea.

When we got back, I had to go and curl up on my bed. Rarity, Sweetie, and I all had the same thing; steamed rice and mixed vegetables, but something in it started disagreeing with me during the walk home. My equine hosts were fine though, so I don’t know what it could be.

Maybe changing to my sleepwear, brushing my teeth, and turning in early would help me feel better. I’ll probably be fine in the morning.

A trippy experience

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Ita POV

I hummed to myself, in a hot-tub on my island, away from the others for the day. As I was relaxing, I felt something fall and land around one of my horns.

“What the?” I mumbled to myself, taking the thing off and revealing a choker. “If you need me, preferably not for fighting, call me over. The phrase is Come forth, calm flame.”

“Alright… Come forth, calm flame.” I said, summoning a ring and linking it to the token’s function next to the tub.

Yang POV

I wanted to eat the scrambled eggs Rarity had made for breakfast. I really did, but I couldn’t stomach the idea of eating anything right now.

“I’m sorry Rarity, but I can’t eat this” I said to her. “I’m not feeling very good right now.”

“Oh, I’m sorry” she said to me.

I would have told her not to apologize if not for the floor vanishing from under my bare feet and me falling into whatever hole it was that opened up.

“What’s going on?” In what felt like a minute of falling, but probably wasn’t, my stomach decided to become an evil gymnast. It was doing all kinds of flips and making me feel extremely queasy.

My exit from the portal tunnel was nowhere as graceful as my entrance. I couldn’t orient myself properly and rolled on the floor of wherever my destination was for a second. I wound up crashing into something like a wall face first.

“Well hello there.” A voice said, sounding partially amused.

“Ugh, hey there too.” I got onto my back and looked towards the direction I came from. “Where are you?” I really wasn’t feeling good at all. The pressure in my stomach was building, and it did not feel good.

“Above you, you crashed into the side of my hot tub.” The voice said. “You alright there? You look like you’ll need a bucket in a second.”

“Something like that, yeah.” Truth be told, I would have settled for a deep hole in the earth as I was right now. A bucket suddenly appeared next to me in a flash of golden light. I quickly put my hands on the sides of the rim and leaned over it, taking deep breaths in and out through my mouth.

It didn’t take long for the stuff in my stomach to come out. The first heave had so much pressure behind it that some of it came out through my nose. I only had a single moment to catch my breath before a second blast came out, this time only through my mouth. A final, third shot followed. My stomach felt empty, but I was now dry heaving.

“Heal Order.” The voice above me said in a whisper, some green bugs floating around me and giving me an energy that made me feel… better. At least better enough to move a bit and not dry heave. I still felt really bad.

“Thanks” I said as I shakily stood up. “Oh, that was a mess. I can smell it in my nose.” I looked around and didn’t see anyone. I did hear what sounded like bubbling water, so I turned around and saw a hot tub with someone sitting in it. “Ah, hello there.”

“You look like you could use a dip, come on in.” The person said, giving me a grin. They looked and sounded female.

“I would, but I’m in my sleepwear, and I’m not too keen on getting it wet. It wouldn’t feel very good, I imagine.” I suddenly noticed a familiar band of some kind in her hand. It looked just like my choker.

“There’s a clothes basket over there.” She said dismissively, turning so she had her back to me.

“Um, I don’t think I’ll take that offer” I timidly said. “It’s still a bit awkward for me, being female. I mean, it’s not bad, but it’s still a big change.”

“You used to be a dude too?” She asked, turning back to me.

“Until about a month ago. And I’m living with a fashionista unicorn now.” And now I was on an island who knows where talking with someone who used to be a guy like me, but was more comfortable with her body than I was with mine.

“Must suck being unused to your body.” She said, resting her cheek in her hand as she crossed her arms over the edge of the tub. “I’m part succubus now, so I didn’t really get any of that… and I can shapeshift, so it doesn’t really matter.”

Sounds a bit OP to me. “Yeah, lucky you.” I made my way to the opposite side of the hot tub and sat down on the ground. I had a bit of breathing to do. “What’s your name, anyways?”

“Name’s Itazaru, or just Ita.” She said, relaxing in the tub. “Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Yang Xiao Long. I honestly forgot my original name though. Just call me Yang. I’m sorry you had to see me throw up like that. In fact, smelling it again, I’m catching a hint of grass, or something like it.” Maybe that had something to do with it? But I didn’t see any grasses in the Chineighse food.

“Gotta be careful with pony food, some stuff they can eat, you can’t.” Ita warned simply, shrugging. “You sure you don’t want a dip?”

“Nah. But some ice cream would help me, especially with my throat.” It was sore from the stomach acids that were forced through it.

“Alright.” Ita said, waving her hand and making a glass bowl of ice cream appear in my lap. The spoon in the bowl also appeared to be made of glass.

“Huh.” I picked up the glass spoon and had a bite of the ice cream. It tasted like honey. It melted in my mouth fairly quickly and coated my throat very well, stopping the remnants of stomach acid that were there. “Oh, this is good. Did you do this?”

“Yeah, heard honey was good for this kinda stuff, so I made sure to add it.” Ita said, shrugging with a lazy grin.

“Note to self: get honey flavored ice cream back in Ponyville.” I focused on my dish of ice cream until it was empty. “Thanks. So, do you need me for anything? Or do you just want a relaxing buddy?”

“Just felt like relaxing, really.” Ita said with a shrug. “If you change your mind, you can’t see below the water in the hot tub.”

“I’m not worried about the depth. I just don’t like facing my body.” I loved the steaming showers because it fogged up the mirrors, so I didn’t have to see myself there.

“I mean you won’t see yourself if you just go down enough in the tub.” Ita clarified. “The water’s not clear.”

“Hm?” I stood up, powered by intrigue and delicious ice cream. The water in the tub looked almost like something out of a cartoon or video game.

“So, feel like taking a dip now? The water’s nice and warm.” She said, splashing a little.

Looks like third time was the charm. “Oh, alright. But could you look the other way while I disrobe?” Hey, I punned!

“Okay.” Ita said, closing her eyes and turning her back away from me. “Just say when you’re in.”

“Sure.” I took off my clothes, folding each piece and setting it on the corner of the tub. As soon as the last of my clothes were wrapped up in the robe, I quickly slid into the tub, going until the water was around my neck. “Okay, you’re good.”

Ita opened her eyes and turned back to me, shamelessly showing off her breasts. I didn't care. “Cool. If you want, I can have a pokemon wash those for you.” She said.

“It’s fine. Also, I like the temperature in here. Did you know I can’t be burned? It makes getting things out of the oven really easy.”

“Must be handy.” Ita said, sitting back and relaxing. “So, what’s your world like?”

“Plenty of petite pastel ponies. Before I got dragged to Equestria, I never once imagined living with a unicorn that designs and makes clothes.” I never even thought that could happen at all. “A bad guy escaped earlier this week and I. . . Killed. . . Him.” Bummer mode engaged. “But at least everyone got their stolen magic back, so it wasn’t all bad. I fell asleep at the spa almost as soon as I got in their hot tub after the battle.”

“Huh… fought Tirek already?” Ita asked, clenching her fists and snarling. “I hate that asshole.”

“Fought and killed him. I didn’t like it, but I had to do it to save everyone and return their magic.”

“Good. Couldn’t have happened to a better ass.” Ita said.

Not the language I would have used. Still, I guess it fit. “But the one you know is still around, right?”

“Nope.” Ita said, popping the ‘p’. “That bastard won and then died of there being nothing left on the planet… when I got here I had to find Arceus’ plates, take them for my own, become a Goddess and restore life.”

Wow. That was a lot. “Um, alright. Sounds like you had a lot on your plate at the time.”

Ita snickered, looking amused. “That joke was bad.” She said, chuckling.

“It happens occasionally. You said you’re a goddess, right?” If she was, I had a little something in mind.

“Yeah, why?” Ita asked.

“Would you be so kind as to make a thingy for me?”

“What’s the thingy?” Ita asked, curious.

“The thingy I want is, well, I don’t know how it should look, but I want it to be able to put me in my combat outfit. I’m not sure if I’m describing it adequately enough for you. Am I?”

“You want something to let you change quickly.” Ita summarized, tilting her head. “Is that right?”

“Yeah. I want the change to be fast and not damage anything I’m wearing. Rarity has put a lot of work into my clothes, and I don’t want them destroyed every time I have to fight.”

“Sure, done.” Ita said, eyes glowing as she snapped her fingers. A very strange bracelet appeared in her outstretched finger, Ita twirling it.

“I was thinking something more like a belt buckle? My weapons are basically shotgun gauntlets, so a bracelet wouldn’t work too well for me.”

“Sure.” Ita said, seeming to crumble the bracelet up, before removing a hand, revealing the bracelet to now be a rectangular belt buckle, about the size and shape of a phone. “Just put on your combat outfit, then put this on your waist. It will connect to that outfit, so whenever you put it on, you’ll get the outfit. I’ve also made it so it can connect to multiple outfits and give you an energy boost whenever you use it.” Ita tossed the buckle over to me, and I caught it.

I looked the rectangular buckle over. “Wow, thanks. That’s like, going three extra miles for me. I guess I shouldn’t use this before I go to sleep then.”

“Probably shouldn’t.” Ita agreed, stretching. “So, this isn’t exactly free, you owe me a favor now, to be cashed in later.”

“I hope I didn’t just doom myself with this” I thought as I set the buckle with my clothes. “If it’s not exactly free, then how can I make it inexactly free?”

“Well, just do the favor for me later… don’t worry, I can promise you nothing you really don’t want to do.” Ita said with a shrug. “Oh, also, it sorta acts like a token in the sense you can talk to me through it, and if you ever need more than it can give on it’s own, just ask… though that may cost you more favors.” Ita warned.

“I guess that’s acceptable. So, are we just going to relax here for a while? It certainly seems like we’re not going anywhere at an alarming rate.”

“Sure, take a load off, masturbate, do whatever you want in here.” Ita said carelessly, shrugging and relaxing.

“I’ll pass on that second thing you said.” Just the idea of doing that sent a shiver of discomfort down my spine. “So, whenever I’m ready to go, all I need to do is tell you?”

“Yeah, I can send ya back no problem.” Ita said with a shrug. “Portal rings are kinda what the pokemon I’m displaced as is known for. It’s kinda become my thing.”

“Alright.”

After some time, I’m not sure how much, I was ready to leave. With a very nice towel Ita summoned for me, I dried myself off and put my sleepwear back on. I still wasn’t feeling 100%, but I certainly felt good enough to do some things. “Alright. I’m ready to go back.”

“Alright, bye! Don’t be a stranger now.” Ita said with a wink and a wave, opening a portal behind me. “The portal’s behind you.”

“Hm?” I turned around and indeed saw the portal. I felt a tiny bit queasy just looking at it. “Oh, thanks.” With a spoonful of trepidation, I stepped into the swirling vortex.

I must say, going through this when you’re not on the verge of losing last night’s supper is a bit better. Still, the thing wasn’t entirely pleasant either.

“There’s the end!” I was almost out of here again. It looked like my room on the exit, if the ammo tree and drill fountain on the desk were any indicators.

I also saw Rarity looking out the window. Was she crying? It certainly looked like it.

I was so distracted by Rarity that I couldn’t right myself for a proper landing and hit the floor like a brick. “Gah!”

“Yang?” Rarity said, hope clearly evident in her voice.

“Yes?” I asked her as I got to my feet.

“Yang!” Before I could stand up again, I was knocked back down by a high velocity hug from Rarity.

“What’s gotten into you, Rarity?”

“You simply vanished at breakfast. It was like the floor opened up and sucked you in.”

“Yeah. Um, Rarity? I appreciate the hug, but I also like being able to breathe.” For a unicorn, she sure had a lot of power in her body.

Rarity did not free me from her hug, but she did lessen the power. “Sorry. So what happened?”

“Well, I met someone else like me, lost last night’s supper, which I can still smell, and recovered a bit.”

“Wait, you can smell last night’s supper?”

“Some of it came out through my nose. There’s the scent of grass in there.”

“Eww.” Rarity decided she was done hugging me and backed up a bit.

“So, is Sweetie home yet?”

A moment later, I heard the front door open. “Sis, we’re here!” Well, sounds like Sweetie’s here, and she brought her friends.

“Yang, please don’t tell her about your disappearance” Rarity asked of me.

“Can do. Could you let me change?”

“Of course.” Rarity left the room, leaving me alone. I took the time to take a breather. Dimensional travel is exhausting.

The sleepover

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After changing to my regular clothes, I left my room and followed the sound of three fillies talking to each other. It sounded like homework talk. Or at least school talk.

As I left my room to go meet up with Sweetie Belle and her friends, I realized that I was thirsty. I needed some water. Two or three glasses at most.

“Hi, Yang!” Sweetie and her friends called out to me as I passed them at the dining room table.

“Hello” I greeted back as I continued on. “How was your day?”

“School as usual” Apple Bloom said. “What about you? Was your day okay?” She sounded concerned.

I got a glass and filled it with water as I answered. “Yeah, it was okay. Just had to deal with last night’s supper coming back up and out.”

“Ew” Scootaloo said. “How bad was it?”

I downed the water in a matter of seconds and refilled the glass. “I’ll be smelling it for a while.”

“What do you mean, Yang?” Sweetie asked me.

I tried to think of a gentle way to phrase it, but I couldn’t come up with anything, so I went with the more direct option. “Some of it came out through my nose. It smelled kind of grassy.” I downed the water in the glass again. “It still smells grassy.” Sweetie looked to be in thought about something before pulling her friends in close. They were discussing something in a hushed tone. I wasn’t sure whether or not to be worried.

As I joined them at the table, they broke their huddle. Sweetie took on an exaggerated professional tone. “Yang, we would like to thank you for helping us with our homework.”

“You’re welcome? What did I do to help you?” I needed details.

“One of our regular weekend assignments is to help someone in town with a problem and write a report on it. I’m sure you would like to know why you threw up, yes?”

“That would be nice.”

“Tomorrow, the three of us will investigate why you got sick.”

“But we have to deal with math right now” Scootaloo complained. “I hate math. Who even uses math?”

“Rarity uses it when she’s making clothes.”

“Big Mac uses it to predict harvests” Apple Bloom added.

“But what about Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo asked. “Where does math come in during the weather?”

“Air pressure, rainfall, cloud volume, temperature, heat index, wind chill, and more, I’m sure” I said before taking a sip of water. I then noticed the looks I was getting from the fillies, especially Scootaloo. “What?”

“How do you know all those things? You’re not a pegasus, or even in weather, so how would you know those terms?”

“Because I paid attention to weather forecasts back home?” I also paid attention in my science classes. I could begin to count how many times my work in those classes got copied, but I’d probably fall asleep while doing so, the number was so high.

“Most ponies who aren’t in weather don’t know those terms. Did you know someone who worked the weather where you’re from?”

“No. Nobody controled the weather where I’m from. The best we could do is predict a few days out.”

Scootaloo seemed obsessed with the topic. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were interested in the conversation as well. “You’re sure nobody controls the weather?”

“Nobody does. It just happens. We can predict and prepare for it, but that’s all.”

“How good are those predictions?”

“They’re generally pretty good, but I remember four times in one month where snow was predicted in my town, but it went around us. One of them had a big storm coming through the area, and it somehow left my area untouched. There was just this big triangular hole in the storm as it went around us.” Radar can be fun to watch sometimes.

Scootaloo was quiet for a bit. “I think I’ll just get to work on my math homework.”

And now, I was the odd one out. I had no homework or anything to work on like they did. I finished my water, cleaned the glass with more water (and a bit of soap), dried it off, and put it away. “So, is there anything I can do to help you three?”

“Ah’ve got a puzzle that’s been bugging me” Apple Bloom said. “You’re in a burning building, and all you have is a scarf, three bits, and a book. How do you get out?”

“Nopony could figure it out in class, so it became homework for everypony” Sweetie said.

I gave the puzzle a bit of thought while the fillies looked at me. Finally, I came up with an answer. “What if you just leave through the door or a window?” I got a dumbfounded look from all three of them. “What?”

“Is it really that simple?” Scootaloo asked. “Just walking out?”

“Well, you might have to run out, but yes.”

“Why didn’t anypony think of that?”

“I don’t know, but let’s use that answer” Sweetie said. “Thanks, Yang.”

“Glad I could help” I said. “So, do you need me to just be here or something?”

“I don’t know. Probably not.”

“I guess I’ll go for a walk then. I’ll try to be back before sunset.” I could use the light exercise.

“Alright. Oh, are you still going to participate in our sleepover tonight?”

“Of course.” I wouldn’t forget something like that. At least I haven’t forgotten it. Besides, it was happening here, so I wouldn’t really be able to get away from it.

“Have a good walk, Yang” Apple Bloom said as I left. I hadn’t bothered changing to my athletic wear since I was just walking.

“I’ll try.” I just hoped I didn’t get summoned again by someone. That would put a serious dent in tonight’s plans.

During my meanderings around Ponyville, I was able to smell supper stuff being cooked. While I could pick up on some good smells, it was all masked by the grassy smell. “How long am I going to be smelling that?” I was able to hide it pretty well, but the scent was making me a little nauseous. Nothing I couldn’t handle, though.

I got back to the boutique just as the sun finished setting. It was a good walk, though something was bugging me at the back of my mind as I caught the occasional savory scent. I had no idea what it was about though, but it was probably something food related.

“I’m back, everybody!” I announced.

“Hello, Yang” Rarity said as she rushed out to greet me fairly quickly. “I would have made something for you, but the girls wanted daisy and honey sandwiches. I’m sorry.”

Sandwiches, huh? “Alright. Say, do you have peanut butter and margarine?”

“Why yes, I do have those.”

“Excellent. I have an idea that will be either good, bad, or in need of refinement.” I made my way to the kitchen and started gathering some ingredients. Bread, peanut butter, honey and margarine, to be exact. It was time to try some potentially delicious science.

The first thing I did was spread a thin layer of margarine on one side of a bread slice. I would have started spreading some on the second, but I realized that would have messed things up a bit, so I put the peanut butter and honey on it instead. Once that was done, I put the other slice on top with the margarine facing up.

I found a small skillet, just big enough for a single slice of bread, and put it on the stove, setting the heat under it to medium. While I waited for it to warm up, Rarity came up to me. “So, what, exactly, are you making?”

“A grilled peanut butter and honey sandwich” I answered. “I’ve never actually made such a thing before, so I’m hoping for the best.”

“Alright. Just don’t leave it unattended. I’d hate for you to burn your sandwich.”

Burn it? I’d never. . . Wait a minute. What if my burn immunity also applied to food I ate? More science. Delicious, delicious science.

I put my hand on the skillet to check the temperature. It felt like it was up to the temperature I needed, so I picked up my sandwich, put a thin layer of margarine on the side that needed it, then set it on the skillet. It made a nice sizzle when it hit.

“Yang, if I may say something?” Rarity asked.

“Go ahead” I answered. “Why is she hanging around me like this?”

“Every time I see you touch something hot that would normally burn someone that isn’t a dragon, it puts me a bit on edge. I mean, you don’t even have anything I can see protecting your hands. I know you’re okay, but my instincts tell me otherwise.”

Ah. “You know, it took me a bit to get used to having that immunity, but now that I’ve got it, I’ve figured out how I can use it around here to make things easier. It helps in the kitchen, I can be outside all day and not get burned or sweaty, and I don’t have to worry about how hot some water might be.”

I took a moment to lift up the sandwich to see how the bottom looked. It looked brown enough for my liking, so I picked up the sandwich and flipped it over. While I got another slice of bread and put a thin layer of margarine on one side, Rarity continued. “I can see how that would be useful. And if I may ask, what’s the third slice for?”

“Science.” Delicious, delicious science. Maybe.

After a little bit, I checked the sandwich again. The bottom side looked brown enough for my liking, so I picked the sandwich up out of the skillet, put it on a plate, and put in the third slice.

“Yang, do you mind if I try a little bit of your sandwich?”

“Yes Rarity, I do mind. Please don’t. That’s my breakfast, lunch, and supper.” I wouldn’t say it out loud, but Rarity was being a bit of a pain right now.

“Oh, alright. Oh, I’ve made progress on your shoes.”

She had my attention. “Go on.”

“I’ve figured out the materials I’ll need for them and the design I’ll use. Of course, they will be fitted to your feet properly, since I do know those dimensions.”

“And the enchantment?”

“Still a work in progress. Say, isn’t your piece of, ah, toast done?”

I looked back at my toast and smelled it a bit. It looked a little underdone for what I was planning. “Not enough. Can you tell me more about the shoes?”

“I know just what materials I’ll need to make them. Going with how plain your normal attire is, I’ve decided to make your shoes plain as well. They will be all black, but there will be some design work done with different materials.”

“Alright, alright. I like that.”

“All I have to do next is figure out how to. . . uh, Yang? Your toast is starting to smoke.”

I looked back at the toast. “Looks like it’s done.” I picked up the toast and looked at the bottom of it. It was very badly burnt. Exactly what I was going for. I put it with the grilled sandwich and took them to the table.

“I think I’ll just leave you to your supper, Yang. Enjoy.” Rarity went out to the workshop area of the floor with a bit of haste.

After cleaning up my cooking stuff, I decided to start with my sandwich. It was still warm. I took a bite of it, and it was pretty good. Warm peanut butter and honey between two pieces of toast is certainly a good thing.

I took some time to enjoy my sandwich. Aside from the taste and texture being nice, it was also the first real food I’d eaten all day. Aside from the bowl of ice cream Ita summoned for me. The feeling of fullness made me feel good.

After the sandwich was finished off, it was time to look at the other thing on my plate: the burnt toast. This was to see if my inability to get burned would somehow make burnt food taste at least alright.

Since it was only burnt toast, I didn’t brace myself for anything. In order to get a good sample, I took a large bite of it.

The burnt toast tasted like burnt toast I’d had before: bad. I swallowed it with a bit of effort, then took another bite. “I’m not immune to burnt food. It still tastes bad.” I threw away the bad toast, cleaned the plate, set it to dry, then went upstairs.

The door to Sweetie’s room was open, but I didn’t hear anything from there. That made me a little suspicious. Three fillies in one room shouldn’t be that quiet. Unless they’re all reading, but that doesn’t seem like something they’d all do.

I walked inside and found the room to be devoid of fillies. “Where are they?”

“PONY PILE!” That was all the warning I had before I was jumped on from behind. I let out a girlish yelp of surprise when they landed on my back, causing me to fall forward. Fortunately, I caught myself before I would have landed on my chest.

“Hi, Yang” Sweetie said from my back. “How was your walk?”

“It was one” I answered. “What are you three doing?”

“Putting you at the bottom of a pony pile, of course.”

That was obvious. “Are there any rules to pony piles?”

Apple Bloom answered. “All you need is at least one friend and you make a pile.”

Scootaloo continued. “You don’t have to be a pony to join in a pony pile either. Just being a friend is good enough.”

“Friends, huh?” I wondered how something like a pony pile would be taken back home. If it were cats, it would probably be all over the internet. You know, there probably already are pictures of that on the internet. But people? A bunch of girls could probably get away with it, but not any guys. Double standards and all that. Here in Equestria, all you needed was to be a friend, and nobody seemed to care otherwise. At least that’s what it seemed like to me.

Why couldn’t friendship like this reign supreme back home? These ponies were making a very good case for not going back, even if they didn’t have a lot of the technology I was used to.

“Yeah” Sweetie said.

For a while, we just stayed there. “So, what do you do during one of your sleepovers?”

“Well, since I’m the host, I’m the last one to choose what we do. Since this is your first sleepover with us, how about you go first, Yang?”

Oh, wow. No pressure on me at all. “Do you have any games?”

“Dessert Utopia, Apologies, Comboats, One Card, Tattle Quest-”

“Wait, what was that last one?”

“Tattle Quest.”

“What’s that one?”

Scootaloo answered. “You have to escape from bullies so that you can tell the teacher about it. We used to play it a lot.”

Not what I thought it might have been. “Hmm. Dessert Utopia sounds more fun.”

“Dessert Utopia it is!” Sweetie called out. She went to her bookshelf, which I now noticed had a shelf full of board games on it, along with numerous books. The rest of us untangled ourselves and sat down on the floor, Scootaloo on my left and Apple Bloom on my right.

It didn’t take long for Sweetie to return with the game and set it up, thanks to her being able to levitate stuff. The board looked fairly large, and there were a lot of pieces in all kinds of colors. Sweetie, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom each took the piece that matched their fur color. I decided to go with purple since it matched my eyes and Apple Bloom took the one that matched my hair.

I looked over the board, and a sense of familiarity came over me. A path made of a rainbow of tiles, a stack of cards in the middle, and all manner of desserts made into a landscape. Dessert Utopia looked just like Candyland.

“Yang, you can go first” Sweetie said. “Just draw a card and move to the next tile of that color on the path.”

“Alright.” I drew a card and got a double yellow, so I moved my piece two yellow spaces.

I didn’t win the game, but we still had fun. All four of us made various dessert and color puns, but for some reason, mine were the only ones that resulted in facepalms. Facehooves? Something like that.

“What should we do next, Apple Bloom?” Sweetie asked as she cleaned up the game.

“Truth or dare?” Apple Bloom suggested.

A whole movie’s worth of ways that game could go so very wrong played through my mind in a matter of seconds. None of them were suitable for these fillies, or any young being.

Sweetie Belle opened a drawer and pulled out an empty glass apple juice bottle with “Truth or Dare” written on the label. She also got what looked like a tray of some kind. Seeing as the floor was heavy, yet soft carpet, that was probably a good idea.

“Have you ever played this, Yang?” Scootaloo asked.

“I know how it works” I answered as Sweetie set it up. “How long will this game last?”

“Twenty spins” Apple Bloom said. “Each of us gets five spins. I’ll go first.” With a hoof, she spun the bottle. For nearly a minute, it spun. It finally ended up on Sweetie Belle. “Truth or dare, Sweetie?”

“Uh, truth” she said.

“Is it true that you want to put makeup on Yang?”

“What? Where did that come from?”

“Seems like something you’d want to do. What’s the truth?”

Sweetie looked at me. “Well, now that you’ve put the idea in my head, I kind of do want to do that.”

“So, is it my turn?” I asked.

“Yep. Go ahead and spin it.”

I reached down and gave the bottle a spin. It didn’t spin nearly as long as Apple Bloom’s spin did, and it wound up pointing at me. “I guess I should just spin it again?”

“If your spin lands on you, it doesn’t count” Scootaloo said. “Spin again.”

I spun the bottle again. It landed on Sweetie.

“Truth or dare, Sweetie?” I asked.

“Dare.”

“Okay, a dare. Keep it clean, Yang.” I thought for a moment. “I dare you to, um. . . This is hard.”

“We’ve got time, Yang.”

I looked around the room as I thought of an idea. “I dare you to stand on your forehooves for at least fifteen seconds.” It wasn’t mean or embarrassing, but sounded challenging. Hopefully.

“Alright.” Sweetie stood up on all fours before balancing on her forehooves. And she did it with ease. Eventually, she sat back down. “Was that long enough?”

“Yeah, it was.” She just did that like it was nothing. I felt a bit defeated.

“My turn” Scootaloo said as she spun the bottle. Once again, it landed on Sweetie Belle.

“Oh come on!” Sweetie almost shouted.

“Truth or dare?” Scootaloo had a bit of a mischievous look on her face.

“I’ll take another dare” Sweetie said.

“I dare you to cut Yang’s hair.”

I suddenly felt something warm along my back.

“Uh, Scootaloo, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Are you scared that she’ll hate you?”

“No. Her hair looks like it’s on fire.”

I pulled a lock of hair around from behind me. It did look like it was on fire. My shirt wasn’t burning, and nothing else seemed to be on fire either. Interesting.

“I double dare you.” And that made the fire intensify. Sweetie turned Scootaloo’s head to look at me with her magic. “Oh. I’ll take back that dare.” My hair extinguished itself and I breathed a sigh of relief. “Instead, I dare you to put some of that massacre stuff on Yang.”

“Mascara, Scootaloo. I’ll be right back.” Sweetie left the room.

“And what did we learn?” I asked Scootaloo.

“Not to cut your hair?” Scootaloo answered.

“Yes. That would make me really mad and violent. It seems to be something I got when I was turned into, well, me. I don’t like it, but as long as my hair doesn’t get damaged, all’s well. You can ask Rarity about it.”

Sweetie chose to enter at that moment, mascara and mirror in her magic. “Ready, Yang?”

“Go ahead.” I took a breath and let Sweetie run the brush over my eyelashes. This was certainly a new experience for me. New though it was, it was also over pretty quickly. Sweetie gave me the mirror and I looked at myself. “I actually kind of like it. Good job, Sweetie.”

“Thanks. So, it’s my turn now.” Sweetie spun the bottle and it landed on me. “Truth or dare, Yang?”

“Truth.”

“What was your government like where you came from?” This question got groans out of the other equines in the room. I also think I heard Scootaloo and Apple Bloom call Sweetie a dictionary book worm under their breath.

“Short version: lousy. Long version: corruption was in every level, spending was through the roof, nothing good was getting done, most of the people elected there were more worried about their jobs and money than what they actually did, and last I checked, it seemed that nearly everyone from both wings, more one than the other, was against a political outsider who won the presidential election by speaking the truth. Fake news was also a thing that was happening. So yeah, it’s a mess.”

I think I may have gone a bit far with that description. All three fillies looked a bit terrified. Sweetie was the first to speak up. “Apple Bloom, was she lying about any of that? Please say she was.”

“Ah don’t think she was” Apple Bloom said.

“Oh, come on you two, it wasn’t that scary” Scootaloo said.

“You were the first of us to hide behind Sweetie Belle.”

“And here I thought the nobles in our government were bad enough” Sweetie said.

It seems I have killed the mood. Great. Let’s see if I could revive it. “Hugs and a pony pile?” Sweetie took the bottle and its tray off the floor and I was soon hugging all three of the fillies. Already, the mood was lifting. “Let us promise not to speak about the government where I’m from unless it’s necessary.”

“Agreed” all three said.

For a while, all three of us just stayed there. It was when I noticed Scootaloo starting to nod off that I decided to do something. “Hey, Sweetie?”

“Yeah, Yang?” she sounded tired too.

“What kind of sleeping arrangements do you usually have during these sleepovers?”

“We usually just share my bed.”

I looked at the bed in the room. There was no way I was going to fit in it. “Not tonight.” Still with the fillies in my embrace, I stood up and left Sweetie’s room to go to mine. “With me here, we’ll need more bed space.”

“Oh. I didn’t think of that.”

I set the three down on my bed. “I’ll be right back.” I grabbed my sleepwear and went to the bathroom to change. I took another look in the mirror at my eyelashes. As nice as they looked, I didn’t want to sleep with the mascara on, so I ran some water and rinsed it off. Once there was no trace of it left on my face, I changed to my sleepwear and brushed my teeth. I also took a look at the clock in here. “It’s not even 9:30 yet? Wow.”

Once I was done, I went back to my room. Sweetie Belle was the only one trying to stay awake, since her friends had fallen asleep. I turned off the room light and used the light from the risen full moon to find my way to the bed and get in. Once I was comfortable, I pulled the three fillies towards me. “Good night, you three.”

“G’night, Yang” three tired voices got out.

I still had a bit of energy, and I used it to contemplate a bit. How would this look if the fillies sleeping around me were human instead? And if I were still male? Many double standards would kick in for sure.

I let those trains of thought run for a bit before deciding to tell my brain to shut up and sleep, which was actually pretty easy with the three fillies that were snuggling up to me.

Downstairs, at 10 pm, Rarity began to get concerned. It was a little early for the fillies to be quiet. “I’d better check on them” she thought.

After taking a few seconds to finish and clean up a stitch, she went upstairs. Sweetie’s room was open and a light was on, so she poked her head in. Inside, she saw the bottle and tray on her sister’s bed, along with a mascara brush. She did not see any fillies or a human either. She did turn off the light before she left the room.

“This had better not be a prank.” Rarity opened the door to her room and poked around. Nobody was found. Going back to the hall, she noticed that the only closed doors were the ones to the winter closet and Yang’s room.

“I hope they’re in here.” Rarity quietly opened the door to Yang’s room, and by the moonlight, she saw all those she was looking for, asleep on the bed. With a relieved smile, she felt her tension flowing away. In fact, she was starting to feel a bit tired herself.

Rarity went downstairs and looked at her project for a few seconds before deciding it could wait through the night. After turning off the lights and locking the doors, she went back upstairs, took care of herself in the bathroom, put on her fluffy robe, and quietly joined the sleeping pony pile.

And then Opal walked through the ajar door joined them too.

Preparation for the trip

View Online

I woke up, not from a sunbeam to my eyes, but of my own volition for once. It felt kind of strange after waking up because of that sunbeam every day. It had become a bit of a routine to ever so slightly rage at the sun. A very tiny rage, like, small enough to make a lavish mansion and a vast 18 hole golf course on a trimmed pinky toenail with room to spare, but still a bit of rage at the sun.

I also woke up with the fillies around me, Rarity by my side, and Opal in a nest in my hair. I was the center of a sleeping pony pile. It felt very good, but there was a question in my mind.

“Did I not drink enough water yesterday?” I remembered bringing the fillies in here, but not Rarity or Opal. Unless they came in after I went to sleep, which made sense. It would also explain why I didn’t have to use the bathroom, either now or last night. “It’s too early to think.” Besides, the sheer amount of tranquility, no, THE TRANQUILITY, made thinking difficult.

For a few minutes, THE TRANQUILITY reigned supreme in it’s peaceful benevolence. Then Rarity shifted beside me and broke THE TRANQUILITY. Her horn poked my jaw in an uncomfortable way, which made me move my head, which moved Opal in her little nest, waking her up and further dispelling THE TRANQUILITY. After yawning, she looked around.

Opal seems to be a fairly smart cat, because it looked like she figured out that Rarity had caused me to move. Opal also seems to be a bit of a mean cat because she started stretching on Rarity’s flank and it looked like she was deliberately keeping her claws out.

Shortly thereafter, Rarity began to stir, her THE TRANQUILITY breaking down as Opal clawed at her flank. With THE TRANQUILITY being clawed away from her, both literally and metaphorically at the same time, Rarity woke up with a scream that would make a banshee in training after her first lesson sigh in disappointment.

Rarity’s scream did wake up the remaining three sleepers though, startling them into both awakeness and jumping off the bed, landing with three muffled thuds on the floor. It was a nicely carpeted floor, so it probably didn’t hurt that much.

Once we were all up, Opal smugly walked off in that way only cats can get away with. All of us were awake now, and THE TRANQUILITY was gone. The single moment I spent mourning for the loss of THE TRANQUILITY seemed to last a few minutes, then the need to use the bathroom slowly made itself known.

The urge came slowly enough that I was able to sit up and stretch in bed for a bit before having to get out. As far as I was concerned, getting to the bathroom took priority over greeting the ponies here with a “good morning”, since that was often followed by lots of talking, which was time I didn’t want to spend trying to hold it in. I may know how to do that and have some experience, but I didn’t feel like testing my limits there quite yet.

After taking care of business in the bathroom, I opened the door and Rarity rushed in as I left. In fact, she rushed in and closed the door so fast, a good amount of my hair got stuck in it. With the door locked, I had no choice but to stand there and listen as Rarity took her turn in there.

I found myself wondering why there was only the one bathroom in this house. Certainly, a second one could have been installed downstairs for customers or other guests? Unless I wasn’t aware of it after a month here, which was highly unlikely.

While my hair was still in the door and with the sound of running water coming from the bathroom, indicative of a shower, I saw the fillies coming out of Rarity’s room. “Girls, why do you all look a little wet?”

“We used the bath in Rarity’s bathroom to wash together” Sweetie said. “We always do that when we stay here. Besides, it’s what friends do, right?”

Friends bathing together, huh? I’ve only really seen that in some Japanese stuff back home. It wasn’t something done in my part of the world, and I found my thoughts to be similar to rain on a roof: sliding towards the gutter. I did not like that.

“Yang!” Sweetie forcefully said.

“Huh, what?” I responded. “Sorry, I was a bit distracted with some thoughts.”

“I was asking why you’re just standing there.”

“My hair’s stuck in the door. If you can somehow undo the lock on the other side without seeing it, I’d appreciate that.”

“Sorry Yang. I’m not that skilled with my levitation spell yet. We have to take care of some things downstairs, so we’ll see you when you’re free.” With that, the trio left me as they found me: with my hair stuck in a locked door.

I wound up standing there for the better part of what had to be an hour before Rarity left the bathroom. “Oh, good morning Yang. How long have you been standing there?”

“How long have you been in there?” I asked back.

A look of understanding was quick to come across Rarity’s face. “Oh. My most sincere apologies, Yang. However, I simply had to get in there. A mare can’t hold it in as long or as well as a stallion can.”

As I was aware. “And you didn’t notice my hair stuck in the door?”

“Your hair was stuck?” Now she looked a bit puzzled.

“How could you not notice?”

“I’m not sure. How about I treat you to a hair treatment at the spa today as an apology?”

“Just my hair?”

“Yes. It was caught in the door, and I want to see it fixed by somepony who knows what they’re doing. Besides, I have to save some bits back for a trip there with Fluttershy. It’s been ages since we last went to the spa together.” More friendship stuff. It was at once strange and something I wanted, but I didn’t feel like I could really enjoy that. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was a human in a land of ponies or formerly male. “Yang, I can see you’re starting on one of those downward spirals of thought, so stop that. But if I may ask, what are you thinking about? You can be honest with me.”

“I started thinking about my old body. All the different sensations and behaviors I’d grown up with and how they're different from the ones I’m experiencing now. It’s very strange.”

“Well, you’ve lasted this long, so I’m sure you’ll be fine. What do you want for breakfast?”

“Scrambled eggs with cheese between toast.” As nice as that sounded, it felt like something was missing, but I didn’t know what. I didn’t mention that something was bugging me as I went downstairs with Rarity.

“Good morning again, girls” Rarity said as we entered the dining area. “How does cheesy eggs and toast sound for breakfast?”

Exactly, and I mean exactly zero objections came from the girls at the table. I joined them. “Sleep well last night?” I asked them.

“Oh yeah” Scootaloo said. “That was almost as good as when I’ve slept with Rainbow in her cloud home.”

“That’s her way of saying she slept really well” Apple Bloom said. “As for me, Ah loved how warm it was.”

“I suppose we could say it was very tranquil” Sweetie Belle said.

“No” I said, surprising the fillies. “We were under the effect of THE TRANQUILITY.” For some reason, when I mentioned THE TRANQUILITY, I imagined a bit of an echo effect occurring with my voice. Weird, but I guess it fit.

“I liked THE TRANQUILITY. How can we get it again?”

I closed my eyes and held up a finger. “It is impossible to seek out THE TRANQUILITY. Instead, THE TRANQUILITY will come of its own accord when the time is right. The more you seek it, the more it will evade you.”

“Did someone mention my name?” A voice suddenly said from behind me. I leapt up out of my chair, hit my head on the ceiling, and fell back down into the chair, where I put my hands over the impact site and groaned. It didn’t hurt much, but it did sting a bit.

“Discord!” Rarity called out, identifying the one who spoke from behind me so suddenly. “Apologize to Yang this instant.” She was giving him a sharp glare.

“Let me think it over.” I felt him lean what was probably his lion arm on my head.

“Discord” the fillies said, adding their sharp glares to Rarity’s.

“Hmm. I see your argument, but can you make it any better?”

Opal jumped up on the table and gave Discord a look that said a lot. It said “I have not had my breakfast yet and you are delaying that. Also, I am a cat. Praise be to the felines.”

Discord broke down and wailed out what he said next. “I’m sorry, Yang! I’m sorry I startled you into hitting your head on the ceiling! Can you forgive me?”

I looked towards the mismatched thing that was Discord. He had ‘a very apologetic look’ written over his face, and his antlers were drooping a bit too. “Oh, fine. But I want to know why you did it too.”

“When someone in Ponyville says something that sounds kind of like my name, I have a random chance of appearing. I’ve been doing it for over a year, and everyone in town’s gotten used to it. I’m used to everyone being used to it too.”

Okay, that, kind of made sense? I was still trying to collect myself a bit after he startled me. “Okay. Can you not do that to me?”

Discord reached into the fluff at the end of his tail. When he was somehow about elbow deep into it, he pulled his arm back out, and he was holding a spray bottle filled with water. I got spritzed in the face with the water a few times before he put the bottle back in his tail fluff. “There you go. I will no longer appear randomly around you. Only when you call for me.”

“Thank you, Discord” Rarity said. “Now, if you don’t mind, I would like to get back to making breakfast.”

“Alright. TOODLES!” Discord stood up and, quite literally, walked out through a wall like he was a ghost. He is strange.

I was silent until Rarity served up breakfast. I got my egg and cheese sandwich, Opal got some cat food, and the ponies decided to have similar sandwiches to mine, though with green stuff in theirs.

“So, do you have anything planned for today, Yang?” Rarity asked me.

“Aside from going over to Twilight’s this evening, not much” I answered. “I just have to pack some clothes for a couple nights. If all goes according to schedule, and I see no reason it shouldn’t, I should be back on Monday evening.”

“Can we come?” Sweetie asked.

“To Canterlot, no. Staying the night at the castle, you’d have to ask Twilight. Anyways, I’m going to go ahead and take my shower. Rarity, the breakfast sandwich was excellent.” I excused myself from the table and went upstairs.

The shower was a steamy one, as usual. The heat always felt nice and the fogged mirrors added a degree of comfort once I was out, obscuring my body from my sight in them.

One thing I found to be interesting after a bit of thought was how, despite the high volume of steam, my clothes weren’t even slightly damp. I don’t know how or why that worked, but that was pretty cool.

Once I was out and my sleepwear was folded up on the bed, I realized something: I had no way to carry my things. I mean, I still had the box the other exercise outfits were still in, but that was no way to travel.

Maybe Rarity had something. A backpack would probably be best. Big enough to hold two days of clothes and small enough for the trip. But there probably wasn’t enough time for that to be made, so I’d have to settle with a small suitcase. If Rarity had any.

“Hey Rarity!” I shouted.

“Yes, Yang?” Rarity said when she showed up at my door. “Also, we don’t shout here. Much. It’s unladylike. Unless it’s an emergency.”

Duly noted. “Do you have a backpack or small suitcase I could borrow?”

“I do have a suitcase you could borrow. Come with me.” I followed Rarity to her room, and she began looking around the clean floor for something, her horn lit up. “Oh, where is it? Hmmmm, ah, here we go.” She pulled off a large circular section of carpet, rolled it up, and set it in a corner, revealing the hardwood floor underneath, along with what looked like an embedded dial lock in the middle. With a few turns of the lock, it clicked open and a triangular panel, which I couldn’t even tell was there, popped up. Then another one, and another, and another, until Rarity was kind of walled in by a dozen upright panels. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t invite you over here.”

“It’s alright.” I jumped over the panels with ease and landed next to Rarity. “What’s this?”

“It’s where I store my suitcases. For lighter travel, I usually take these three.” Rarity floated three suitcases off their stands. Two of them were fairly large for my purposes, but the third one looked to be the right size. My only issue was that it, like all the other suitcases here, was purple and pink. Not my colors of choice.

“I’ll just need this one” I said as I grabbed the small suitcase. At the same time, I wondered just why Rarity needed three suitcases of such sizes. Surely, for a species that doesn’t wear clothes very often, one wouldn’t need that much.

“Are you sure that’s going to be enough?”

I pointed to one of the other two Rarity had mentioned. “I could pack a week’s worth of my clothes into one of those suitcases back home. A fresh change for every day.”

“A whole week’s worth? How?”

“Proper folding, smart placement, and having a warm destination that requires lighter, thus thinner and smaller clothes. There was even room for souvenirs.”

“What about any other things you might have wanted to bring along? Surely, you’d need a suitcase for those effects?” She looked like she had a ‘gotcha’ face on.

“That’s what the backpack or a messenger bag would be for, assuming it wouldn’t be able to fit in the suitcase.” The look on her face disappeared. “How about we just say that you would understand if you were there? I’ve got things to pack, a walk to make, and time to kill, in that order.” I picked up the small suitcase and jumped back out of the suitcase storage circle with ease.

It’s awesome being this strong, I’ll admit. What once was heavy is now light, and being able to jump all over the place opens up quite a few options for getting from place to place.

As I packed up some clean clothes and my sleepwear, it occurred to me that I was actually going to be visiting royalty and not just more ponies. Then again, Luna and, Celestia, I believe, didn’t wear much aside from their regalia. There was a culture clash going on in my mind, casualties were high, and I needed answers. Twilight would know what to do.

After looking at all my packed clothes, I realized there was still a good amount of empty space in the suitcase. After a bit of thought, I put my combat outfit in as well, along with the buckle I got from Ita. I still needed to use it. After a bit more thought, I put in the caution stripe exercise outfit. If I was going to be bored, I may as well burn some energy. I also snagged the ticket for the train ride there. As much money as I’m sure Twilight had, if I could save her some bits, I would.

Looking at everything, I realized I had practically no variety of daily outfits. White T-shirt, black jeans, basic undergarments, and only my boots for footwear. At once, I was and was not okay with that. I’d have to talk with Rarity about that later.

After I closed the suitcase, I noticed that it had wheels. Just two fixed wheels, but still, it had wheels. Maybe I could find someone that made suitcases and see what they’d think of a four wheel design. If it works here, I could make some money that way.

The suitcase also had a telescoping handle built in, for whatever reason a quadruped would need one. Unfortunately, even with the handle fully extended, this suitcase wouldn’t roll with me. Fortunately, my strength came in handy, as it was still lightweight to me. I probably wouldn’t notice a much of a weight change unless someone put a few bricks in there, but even then, that didn’t sound too bad.

With the suitcase in hand like a briefcase, I went downstairs and beheld an odd sight. The fillies were singing a song of some kind I couldn’t follow. They were in sync and I could faintly hear some music coming from somewhere I couldn’t identify, like the whole room was a speaker.

When they finished, they were standing side by side in a row looking expectantly up at me. The last line they sang had something to do with wondering what I’d say.

“What was that song just now?” I asked.

All three of them sat down hard when I asked that question. Scootaloo answered first. “It was a song about what we’d do with you in Canterlot. I wanted to challenge you to a hoof race through the snobby noble neighborhood.” Well, I can’t do that since I lack hooves. Wouldn’t want to do that anyways.

Apple Bloom spoke next. “Ah wanted to show you some of the workshops there.” That didn’t sound too bad.

Sweetie spoke last. “And I wanted to show you the art district.” I have no idea whether to feel intrigued or uninterested about that.

“Maybe some other time” I answered. “If you three can schedule about, oh, five days for a trip there, figure out where we’d stay, and make a budget for the trip, then I’d probably go with you and do all those things, but this trip is more for business on my end than anything else.” All three of them deflated a bit.

“Can we at least go to Twilight’s castle with you?”

“I never said not to follow me there.”

I was just about to walk out the door when Rarity called after me. “Yang, wait!”

“Yes, Rarity?”

“Do you really have to leave so soon? It’s not even ten yet.”

“My train leaves very early tomorrow morning. I’d rather have some time to settle in before going to sleep at Twilight’s than coming later in the day.”

“Alright. Just, stay safe, alright?”

I spared a glance to the Ember Celica on my wrists. I really hope I didn’t have to use them. “I’ll be fine, Rarity. Hey, how about you tell the girls here where your sudden abundance of concern for me came from?”

The fillies looked towards Rarity, and she looked at them. While Rarity began awkwardly starting the story, I gave Opal a quick chin scratch and left.

Once I was a good distance from the boutique, I paused to give a sigh of relief. As nice as the company was, it was also nice to be alone for a bit. Alone, walking towards a friend’s giant crystalline castle in the fresh air of a town that hadn’t been industrialized yet. Or maybe it had been cleanly industrialized. Ponies did have magic, so maybe they managed to do it that way?

By the time I reached Twilight’s castle, I was thinking about what I would do to kill time. I was pulled from my thoughts shortly after I entered when a gray unicorn guard pony stopped me. “Yang Xiao Long?”

“Yes?” Why was there a guard here?

“I have been instructed by Princess Twilight to bring anything you may be taking on your trip to the room set aside for you in the east wing of the castle.”

My grip on the suitcase tightened a bit. “I appreciate the offer, but I’ve never seen any guards here before.”

“There are a few guards here every weekend for the extra hoof traffic that happens. We’re here to maintain order.”

I looked around and saw no movement, save for an imaginary tumbleweed. “Yeah, sure. How about this: you show me to my room and tell Twilight that I’d like her to meet me there.”

“I can do that, ma’am. Follow me.” The guard started walking down a hall and up some stairs.

After at least fifteen minutes of walking around and going up and down some stairs, I got the distinct impression that the guard did not know his way around the castle. “Wait a minute” I said at an intersection. He stopped and watched as I pulled up the map on the wall of the intersection. I think Twilight updated it a bit, since it now showed which sides were north, east, south, and west. It also had each floor on its own window, which could also be moved around on their own.

We were in the west wing of the castle, and a floor above the one with guest rooms. The one that had been set aside for me was even marked with the burning heart logo and my name. I was also able to map out a route in my head within seconds.

I gave the guard a deadpan look. “We’re done here. I still want you to tell Twilight to meet me in my room.” I walked off without another word. I was glad I didn’t give him my suitcase now.

I took the nearest stairwell down and followed my mental route to my room. The door was even marked with the burning heart logo, removing any doubt that there may have been as to whose room that was.

I walked inside to find the room to be a good one. It wasn’t as nice as Twilight’s, but it was still good. The bed even appeared to be big enough for me. A quick test showed that I would have no problem sleeping tonight, spacious as the bed was. “Maybe I could change to my combat outfit and put on the buckle Ita gave me. But Twilight could come in at any moment, and I don’t want to be caught changing. Better not to. I could change in the bathroom, but then I might miss her if I can’t hear her knocking.”

I have no idea how long my thoughts were churning in my mind, or why they eventually turned to fruit, but I was drawn out of them by knocking on the door. “Who’s there?” I asked as I sat up.

“It’s Twilight, and I brought lunch” Twilight’s voice said from the opposite side of the door.

I went to the door and opened it, allowing Twilight and Spike entry into the room, along with a large domed platter on a trolley. “What’s for lunch?”

“Since I couldn’t decide what I wanted to get for you or me, Spike made the call, but he didn’t tell me what he ordered.”

“Not just ordered, but helped prepare” Spike boasted. He opened the trolley and pulled out a small folding table. He set it up, along with three cushions. Twilight sat on the lavender one, I sat on the yellow one, and the green one was unoccupied. After he set the platter on the table, leaving almost no room for anything else, he handed out some napkins. “Ladies, I present to you our lunch.” Spike removed the domed cover, revealing a ring shaped pile of pasta with vegetables, melted cheese, and some alfredo sauce. In the middle of the ring was a stack of bowls, a pair of wooden tongs, and some chopsticks.

“Wow, Spike” I said. “This is just, wow. How much of this was your work?”

“The chefs did all the cooking. I prepared the trolley and set up the platter before they put the food on it as I asked them to. I also chose ingredients that I knew Yang would be able to eat and would satisfy all of us.”

I looked back at the platter of plentiful pasta. If I wasn’t already sitting down, I’d have fallen down already. “So, do we serve ourselves or. . . ?”

“Grab a bowl and help yourself.”

I did as he said, taking the top bowl and the tongs. As I loaded my bowl, a question came to mind. “What time is it?”

“Just past one” Twilight said as she grabbed a bowl and I let her have the tongs.

“Really?” I grabbed a pair of chopsticks. “I was thinking for quite a while then.”

“Thinking?” Spike said as he took his turn loading up his bowl.

“Yeah. I must have zoned out a bit. Felt a bit like a nap, really.” I took a bite of the pasta dish. “This is good” I said around a mouthful of the stuff. “Please tell me you wrote the recipe down.”

“Twilight would pull her mane out if I didn’t” Spike said before taking a bite of his serving. “I mean it. It was funny the first few times she did it, but it became kind of scary, so I started recording recipes.”

“Hey!” Twilight said. “It wasn’t that bad. Besides, it’s good to record what you do when you cook so you can make it again, or figure out what made something go wrong.”

Spike turned back to me. “Just ask Celestia about Twilight’s maneless moments. It happened back while she was in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.”

“I’ll be sure to do that.” I turned back to my delicious meal. Once again, the sense of something missing came to mind, but it wasn’t as strong this time as before. I was able to keep it at bay with the food and idle chatter with Twilight and Spike.

Even with all three of us going at it, there was still a lot of leftover pasta. “I hereby proclaim this to be our supper” Spike said.

“Spike, we should have something other than leftover lunch for supper” Twilight said.

“I hereby proclaim this to be a midnight snack.”

“This is not a midnight snack.”

“Breakfast?”

“It’s not breakfast food.”

“What if we put it in containers to snack on during the train ride?” I suggested.

“The train will have its own free food.”

“Then when are these leftovers going to be eaten?”

That made Twilight pause. She looked like she was trying to figure out an answer to the somewhat rhetorical question.

“I like the train snack idea” Spike said. “In fact, we could have a very light breakfast here, just enough to tide us over until we get on the train, and then have the leftovers as our breakfast on the train. The lighter breakfast would also allow us more time to do anything else we have to.”

“Fist.” I held out my fist in Spike’s direction, and he fist bumped back. “You are awesome, Spike.”

“Shh. I’m trying to keep that a secret” he stage whispered to me, though his smile said he wasn’t being serious. It didn’t take long for the two of us to start laughing. It was a very good laugh, though it seemed to baffle Twilight. “Anyways, Twilight has to get back to court, so I’ll take care of packing up today’s lunch for tomorrow morning. I’ve got the day off from line duty since we have guards here on the weekend, so I can do just about anything I want.”

“And I have nobles to deal with” Twilight said. “I’ll see you later tonight, Spike.” She gave him a hug and teleported out of the room to who knows where.

“So, do you have anything planned or?” I asked.

“After putting lunch away for tomorrow, I don’t have anything planned” Spike said. “Do you mind if I hang with you today?”

“Not at all, Spike. How long will it take you to put everything away?”

“Probably about 30 minutes. Why?”

“I have something to do, and I’d rather do it in private. That should be enough time for what I have in mind. I’ll be in the bathroom here. You can come in the room without knocking, but please don’t come in there without knocking.”

“Yang, it’s the bathroom. You don’t just walk into a bathroom someone else is in. It’s rude. And kind of gross.”

“Yeah. But I haven’t seen many ponies here wearing clothes, and I come from a place where clothes were the norm, so, yeah.”

“Culture differences. I get it. Reminds me of when the yaks visited. I’ll knock if it’s urgent.”

“Thanks.” As Spike left the room, closing the door behind him, I grabbed my suitcase and went into the bathroom.

I changed out of my regular outfit and into the combat outfit. I still didn’t like how much of me it exposed, but there was no way anyone would be able to look into this bathroom, so I was okay with it for now.

Once I was sure everything was on, I pulled out the buckle I got from Ita and put it in front of the one I had on now. For a second, it was quiet, then I heard a click from it, almost like a camera shutter. I held it in my palm like a phone and it displayed a 3D hologram of me in a neutral stance wearing the combat outfit, from scarf to boots. It also had a button on the side that seemed to act like a power button, since pressing it turned off the hologram.

As I started taking off the combat outfit, I wondered why I didn’t get my regular outfit into the buckle first. Since I had plenty of time for this, I didn’t bother pondering it for long. It took me less time to get my combat outfit off than it did to get it on, and it took less time still to put my regular outfit on.

After getting the regular outfit into the buckle, I held it out again and saw the new regular outfit option, along with a scrollbar under it. I poked the hologram with a finger and felt a slight tingle. I guess that was how I could tell I was doing something. I was able to easily swipe between the outfits.

For a bit, I simply played with the transparent hologram. I was even able to change the pose of the hologram, from the individual fingers to the hair. Helping with the finer points of posing it was the ability to resize the hologram up to life size. It wouldn’t let me go any bigger than that, which I was okay with.

I put the combat outfit into what could easily be described as a “BRING IT ON!” pose. Just after finishing my work, I heard knocking at the door. “Yes?”

“Is everything okay, Yang?” Spike asked. “I’ve been waiting out here for fifteen minutes already.”

“Sorry!” I turned off the hologram and quickly opened the door. “I got a bit distracted with something.”

Spike raised the equivalent of an eyebrow. “Were you distracted with yourself?”

“Yes. No. Kind of?”

Spike was quiet for a moment. “I don’t think you would have done anything weird, so I won’t ask.”

“Thanks. So, what should we do?” I had no idea myself.

“How about we just go for a walk and talk?”

“I’ve got nothing better to do.” After convincing Spike to take the open window exit strategy with me, we left the room that way and began walking around town.

“And that’s why I’m not going to join any dragon clans for at least a few decades” Spike said as he finished his story.

“I had no idea dragons could be that mean” I said as we walked. We’d been walking aimlessly for at least a few hours, based on the clock shop we’ve passed a few times. “Or that it took so long for them to grow up.”

“For my age, I’m probably the smartest dragon in the world. I think Twilight hatching me with her magic is a big part of that.”

That was news to me. I had no idea that was even possible.

I was about to ask for details when a mint green unicorn slammed into me and pinned me to a wall. “I JUST HAVE TO TALK WITH YOU!” she shouted in my face. “I’VE BEEN HOLDING MYSELF BACK FOR TOO LONG AND I JUST HAVE TO ASK YOU ALL THE QUESTIONS!”

“Lyra, cut it out” a tan earth pony mare forcefully said. “Calm yourself down.”

“BON-BON, I’VE DONE THAT FOR A MONTH NOW. IT WON’T WORK ANYMORE!”

“If you won’t calm down for me, then maybe you’d calm down for Yang? You’re scaring her.”

“Hm?” Lyra turned to look at me again. Bon-Bon was right about me being scared. I was breathing hard and I hadn’t blinked once. “Sorry. It’s just, I’ve been fascinated with humans for a long time, long before you came here, and now that I have a chance to talk with one, I’m just brimming with questions. Like-”

Lyra was suddenly cut very short in her questioning when Bon-Bon pulled her away by her tail. I took advantage of the opening and ran to a large tree nearby, jumping and climbing up it towards the top, safely concealed by the thick cover of leaves. As I caught my breath, I sat down on the branch I stopped on. On a nearby branch was a nest of birds, which didn’t run from me, but instead started singing. It was calming.

That unicorn was crazy. And maybe a tad obsessed. I didn’t really like her.

One thing that can be said for the thick foliage on this tree is that it did a good job of keeping anyone from seeing me. It also did a good job of keeping me from seeing anyone outside the tree, which prompted me to stay right where I was. At least the birds kept singing. One of them even perched on my shoulder for a bit before going back to the nest. That was nice.

“Spike, where’s Yang? I heard from my animal friends that she was here and that she was scared.” That was Fluttershy’s voice. Yay!

“Up there” Spike answered. “She’s been quiet, so I don’t know how she’s doing.”

“I’ll help her.” I looked down and I saw Fluttershy weaving her way up through the branches. She didn’t have the speed I had when I was coming up here, but she also wasn’t scared by an obsessed unicorn. “Yang, are you alright?” she asked as she landed next to me.

“Yeah” I said. I’d had some time to catch my breath since I’d run up here, and the birds had helped. “Is Lyra gone? I can’t tell from here.”

“She’s gone. Do you need a hug?”

I thought about it. Lyra being gone was good enough for me, but on the other hand, Fluttershy hug. “No, but I’d like one anyways.”

I stood up and Fluttershy gave me a hug, which felt nice. These hugs were better than any drug. Maybe. I never even tried drugs before. Hugs were still better anyways.

It also occurred to me that, in addition the fact that Fluttershy could be an amazing therapist or interrogator, she might also be able to spy on anyone with how she understood the animals.

This kind, timid pegasus could potentially be the scariest thing ever, she was giving me a hug, and I felt alright. What a world.

Eventually the hug broke. “Thanks, Fluttershy. Those hugs are always nice.”

“It’s no problem, Yang” she assured me. “Any time you want a hug, I’m willing give you one.”

“Thanks again, Fluttershy.” I turned to walk off, and only when my foot didn’t land on anything did I remember that I was high up in a tree. I fell, hit a number of branches on the way down, and then landed face first on the ground.

“Are you alright, Yang?” Spike asked as he rushed to my side.

“Yeah, yeah I’m good.” I stood up, unharmed and slightly disoriented and wondering why my face kept getting punished like this, but otherwise quite unharmed. Aura is awesome.

“If you say so. Yang’s okay, Fluttershy!”

“Oh thank goodness” Fluttershy said as she landed next to me. “That was a nasty looking fall.”

“And the landing wasn’t much better” I added.

“No, it wasn’t. Oh, would you two like to join me for supper?”

“That sounds nice. Can Twilight come too?”

“Of course, if she wants to. Let’s walk and talk.”

While we walked with Fluttershy, I told her about what I couldn’t eat here. She considered other ingredients and asked me about some she wasn’t sure about. She also told me about the animals that lived with her and how the citizens of Ponyville often came to her for pets and pet help. The idea of having a pet of my own did sound nice. I’d have to see what Rarity would think of the idea though.

I also found out, much to my mild displeasure, that Discord would also be there. He apparently lived with Fluttershy, though was in the process of moving out. I had no idea what to make of that bit of news.

On the way there, we made a stop at the post office. “You two go ahead” Spike said. “I just need to stop in here for a few minutes.”

“Okay, Spike” Fluttershy said. “Would you like us to walk slowly so you can catch up to us?”

“It’s alright. Go on without me.”

“Can do, good buddy” I said. “Don’t have too much fun, alright?”

“No promises there, Yang.” A moment passed before all three of us laughed. “But seriously, get going or we’ll be standing here until dawn.”

“Alright. See ya in a bit.”

Fluttershy and I left Spike to whatever it was he needed to do at the post office and resumed our walk. Fluttershy broke the silence pretty quickly. “You and Spike get along very well.”

“Hey, he’s awesome and he does things awesomely. Besides, he’s one of the few guys I’ve even seen here. In fact, why is it that I’m seeing mostly mares here? It’s kind of weird.”

“Lots of mares move here in the hopes of starting a family, but seem to forget that they need a stallion too. When a stallion does moves here, things can get a bit strange.”

“How do they get strange?”

“I actually don’t know. I usually stay in my cottage, away from town when that happens.”

I decided not to press any further. “So, is there anything else to talk about?”

“I actually have some questions for you, if you don’t mind.”

“Go ahead.”

“Well, um, since you were male before and are female now, can you tell me anything about the differences between being male and female?”

Wow. Tough one. “Well, the main differences I’m noticing are my chest and hips” and something down there I’d rather not even allude to. “Then there’s my more slender form kind of everywhere, which isn’t something I notice as much anymore. There’s also my voice, that’s different. And to top it off is how I have hair only on my head now, and just how much of it there is.”

“So you only have skin? No fur, feathers, or scales?”

“Nope.”

“Hmm.” Fluttershy looked to be in thought. She even had a wing on her chin.

“What’s it like to have wings?”

“Oh, it’s great. I can help animals that are stuck in trees, I can feed them faster, and I can shelter them too, all with the help of my wings. Preening can be a bit difficult sometimes, but it’s worth it.” That sounded like it would indeed be worth it.

As we made our way towards Fluttershy’s cottage, we talked about animals. Well, Fluttershy did most of the talking. I did tell her about a cat I had when I was younger, until it died. I was really sad on that day.

Eventually, we arrived and walked in. “Discord, we’re having guests for supper tonight.”

“Guests?” Discord asked. He was rolling around in a pile of green stuff.

“Discord, get out of the catnip. It’s not for you.”

“Oh, alright.” Discord stood up, leaving the bits of nip that were on him floating where he had been laying down. “I’ll clean it up too, I suppose.”

“Thanks. Yang, feel free to make yourself at home. The animals are friendly, so feel free to visit them. Most of them are out back. I’ll get supper started.”

“Thanks, Fluttershy” I said. I walked past Discord sweeping up the catnip with a cat themed broom and dustpan that happily meowed with every sweep.

I opened the back door and saw a wasp looking in my direction, just hovering at my eye level. For a few seconds, I just looked at it and it looked at me. “Nope” I thought as I closed the door. I was not going to go past a wasp just to visit a bunch of animals.

I turned around and went out the front door. I had no problem with walking around a few more steps to get to the animals out back. Even with my aura, I still did not want to face a wasp.

As I went around the cottage, I saw a lot of animals. I also noticed that the grass was surprisingly clear of anything that would stink up my boots, despite the huge number of animals. I was inclined to believe that these animals were either smart enough to take that business elsewhere or Fluttershy taught them that.

The animal that first caught my eye was a large bald eagle. I felt my chest swell with pride at the sight of the majestic bird that was the symbol of my home country. It probably noticed that because it turned to face me in that moment. For some reason, I held my left arm out and motioned for it to come over with my right hand.

I honestly wasn’t expecting the bird to understand me, but it did and moved from its perch to my forearm. “Hey there” I said. “Do you have a name?”

“She responds to ‘Meri’” Fluttershy said from the open kitchen window.

“Meri, huh?” It was a nice name for an eagle.

“Yes. She doesn’t take to strangers very well, but she seems to like you already. Maybe she could be a pet for you?”

I gave it a bit of thought. “Maybe later. Hey, how do you pet a bird anyways?”

“They often prefer the chest. It is a bit awkward, I’ll admit. But maybe Meri will let you pet her back?”

“Hey, Fluttershy, I just got a response from Twilight” Spike said as he walked into the cottage. “She regrets not being able to join us.”

“Oh. Did she say why she couldn’t make it?”

“She has an N.E.F. meeting to attend at the castle.”

“N.E.F.?” I asked.

“Nobles’ Economic Fantasy. We came up with the term after a meeting with them where Twilight was bored and frustrated out of her mind with how the nobles in the meeting were using recent short term gains to project long term success.”

“Well, that sounds stupid.”

“Unfortunately, that does describe a lot of the nobles” Fluttershy said. “There was one time I met some that were animal lovers like me, though none of them even had a single pet. I invited them here to have a meeting as fellow animal lovers, but they ran off after they saw all my animal friends that were indoors. I’ve met dragonflies with more of a backbone than them.” Now that was a burn. “Anyways, I’m about to start making supper. I’ll have some salads made for us shortly.”

“Cool. Just say when they’re ready and I’ll come in.” I spent the time waiting on supper with Meri perched on my arm since I didn’t really know what to do with an eagle that seemed to like me for no apparent reason.

I idly noted how, despite Meri being a huge bald eagle, and that she’d been on my arm for a few minutes already, I wasn’t feeling any exhaustion or strain in the arm she was on. Her talons weren’t digging into my arm either. She was either lighter than I thought or I was stronger than I knew.

I also noted that she wouldn’t be able to roost on my shoulders, partially because she was a large bird and partially because my shoulders were a bit smaller now. Why was I just noticing that change now? Probably because my hair covered my shoulders most of the time.

Eventually, the salads were done and I had to get Meri off of my arm. It should have been easy, but she did not want to leave me for some reason. “Come on, Meri, could you get off my arm? Please?”

My response was a low pitch screech and the bird shaking her head ‘no’.

“Come on, please? I have to go in for supper, and I’m pretty sure you’re not invited.” No response from her. “Fine. I guess I’ll just lower my arm with you still on it.” As I began lowering my arm, Meri fought back, using one wing to push herself and pull my arm up. I was even able to totally relax my arm and she was able to hold it in place. Once I was actually holding my arm out under my own power, Meri calmed down. “Fluttershy, a bit of help please?”

“Just turn around and close your eyes” Fluttershy said. I turned towards her and closed my eyes. I have no idea what happened, but Fluttershy somehow, without a sound, got Meri to leave my arm. “Okay, you can open your eyes now.”

I lowered my freed arm and opened my eyes. “How did you do whatever it was you did?”

“I have a technique called The Stare. I only use it after gentler methods have failed.”

“Ah. So, supper?”

“I have your salad at the table. I’ve got the main course in the oven.”

“I can help get it out for you, whatever it is.”

“Oh, it’s alright. I can get it.”

“I’m immune to burns, and I’d hate to see you get hurt because of hot stuff before you could enjoy it. Please?”

Fluttershy Fluttersighed. “I suppose I can let you help me there.”

Inside the cottage, Discord looked at his lion paw before a small palm tree came out of it and struck his face. A moment later, the tree turned into bubbles that looked like coconuts, floating around the room, popping at random and releasing a scentless fragrance into the air.

“What was that about, Discord?” Spike asked.

“A terrible pun has been made somewhere” Discord said. “I’ll leave it at that.”

“Sorry for the wait, everyone” Fluttershy said as she set small salads out for all of us. I took a spot at the table, which had two folded towels on it, and started on my salad. It had a variety of things in it, all of which were familiar to me.

I’ve had a lot of salads in my time here, and apart from the grasses in some of the ones I’ve seen, they’re a lot like salads back home: kind of boring. This one, though made with care and love, was no different to me. While it wasn’t bad, I also had a bit of a hard time liking it. How ponies lived with these so often was beyond me.

For a few minutes after the salads were finished, the four of us talked. We got a bit of a laugh when Spike did an impression of when a noble proposed a way to spend projected income before it was actually in.

The talking ended when a timer dinged. “The main course is ready, everyone” Fluttershy said. “It will be out shortly.”

“Alright!” I got up and followed Fluttershy into the kitchen. “Where should I set it once it’s out?”

“The stovetop will do.”

I opened the oven and pulled out a very beautiful pair of cheese pizzas on metal trays, one in each hand. Both of them were able to rest on the stovetop with ease. “Oh, this looks nice. You got a pizza cutter somewhere?”

“Right here. I’ll cut it” Fluttershy said around the handle of the cutting implement.

“Oh no, you don’t” I gently forced it out of Fluttershy’s mouth. No way I was going to let her do that.

“Why not?”

I started cutting the pizzas while I answered. “Because I don’t want you to get hurt preparing food like that. Sharp things around the mouth are a problem waiting to happen.”

“Do you do that with Rarity?”

“Hm, no. She has levitation abilities, so I’m not really worried about her getting hurt in the kitchen.”

“Oh. I see. Just bring the pizzas to the table when they’re ready.” Fluttershy slowly walked out to the table.

I suddenly felt really bad. The pizzas still looked and smelled good, but my enthusiasm for them was gone. My appetite for them was also watered down.

Why do I feel like I came really close to committing some kind of cosmic crime?

I put those dark thoughts aside as I finished cutting the pizzas into eight slices each. A pegasus, a dragon, and a whatever Discord was were waiting for me. As I wondered how I was going to serve these, I remembered the folded towels on the table. It made sense why they were there now.

I carried the pizzas out and set them on the table. “They’re still hot, everyone” I said as I sat down. Everyone went for a slice, myself included. I couldn’t help but feel that, even though everyone else, Fluttershy included, was enjoying the meal, I was under some kind of scrutiny. I retreated into my hair a bit during the meal and didn’t talk much. It didn’t feel quite right for me to do so right now.

Still, the pizza was good. Fluttershy had the fewest pieces, at two slices. Spike and I had four each, and Discord had six slices.

“So, who wants dessert?” Fluttershy asked in a happy tone once the mealtime discussions had died down.

“I do!” Spike and Discord said at the same time.

“I think I’ll pass” I said. “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll head back to the castle.”

“That’s alright” Fluttershy said.

“Thank you. The pizza was really good.” I left the table, wished Fluttershy a good evening, since the sun was already going down outside, and left the cottage. My pace was a slow one.

My mind was stuck in a rut the whole way to the castle. I couldn’t focus on anything except what had happened in the kitchen with Fluttershy. I made her feel bad, and I don’t like doing that to anyone, though this seemed to be on another level entirely.

I couldn’t even bring myself to try and go up the outside of the castle to get to my room. I walked through the castle to get to my room. I passed by a large conference room with an open door, Twilight and the other ponies inside talking about stuff.

I suddenly heard Twilight’s voice in my head. “Yang, could you come in here?”

I stopped where I was, shrugged to nobody, and walked into the conference room. “Hello.”

All the talking stopped the moment I spoke. I looked at the ponies that weren’t Twilight. They had what looked like fancy clothes on them. They were probably nobles. Was this the N.E.F. Spike spoke of? Twilight looked kind of tired too.

“Yang, could you take my place for a couple minutes?” Twilight asked.

I think I knew what she needed to take care of. “Sure thing.” I walked around the likely noble ponies up to Twilight.

“Everyone, this is Yang” Twilight said to the crowd. “While I’m gone, she’s in charge of this meeting. Treat her like you would treat me.” With a bit more speed than was necessary, Twilight left the big conference room. I heard her voice in my head again. “Use sarcasm and snark. I’m watching the room with a spell right now and I want to see the nobles get befuddled.”

“Okay, where were you before Twilight left me in charge with her power?” A subtle pun.

One of the noble stallions spoke up. “We were about to have her sign a Future Income Spending bill.” A piece of paper was floated over to me. I looked it over, and it was exactly like what Spike told me about back at supper.

“So this bill allows companies and the ponies in them to spend money they don’t yet have?” I had an idea brewing.

“And to not be taxed on that spending” the noble said.

“Sounds interesting. Who all likes this bill? Show of hooves.” All the ponies, except for one mare and one stallion to my immediate right, raised a forehoof. “Alright. I’m going to go buy some milkshakes with the five million bits I haven’t made yet. Who wants one?”

“You’re not buying those for a company, so you can’t do that.”

“But I’m in the company of ponies right now.” The two who didn’t show their favor for the bill put a forehoof on their muzzle to stifle their laughter. “Oh wait, it says here that ponies can do that. I’m not a pony, so I guess I can’t do that after all. Well, there goes the milkshakes I couldn’t afford in the first place.”

The laughter finally broke out from the two next to me. All the other nobles looked at the laughing ponies, then at me.

“So, did I follow the bill correctly?” I asked over the laughter.

The noble who gave me the bill took it back. “I’ll revise it for the next meeting.”

“Anything else?” As I looked for reactions among the assembled ponies, I noticed that the only one in the room without a horn was me. “Is this everyone?”

“Yes, all thirty of us are here” a mare said. “Why do you ask?”

“I’m just curious. I couldn’t help but notice that I’m the only one here that’s not a unicorn. What’s next?”

Another stallion spoke up. “We want to increase funding for all the schools in Canterlot so the students there can learn more.”

“Learn more what? Finish the sentence.” The laughter that had been dying down picked back up a bit.

“More of everything. We’ve seen studies that show the more a student learns, the more they will succeed when they leave.”

“Well, that’s obvious. Hey, I’ve been wondering something for a few seconds now.”

“Yes?” Was that a bit of caution in his voice?

“How would a farmer make use of anything in marine biology?”

“I’m not a farmer or a marine biologist, so I don’t know that.”

“Wow. Me neither! We should start a club for those who aren’t farmers or marine biologists! But to be serious for a moment, the answer is that a typical farmer has no use for anything in the field of marine biology.

“Tell you what: if you can convince the local Apple family that knowledge of marine biology will help them grow more and better crops here, then I’ll take your funding increase a bit more seriously.”

The laughing ponies fell backwards, trying to breathe and laugh at the same time. I liked those two. I turned to them. “Do you two have anything you’d like to say?”

“No” was all either could get out between giggles.

“Does anyone else have anything they’d like me to see?”

A different stallion spoke up. “Can we leave now?”

“I won’t stop any of you from walking out of here. The door is right there.” Almost immediately, after a bit of paper collecting, almost all of the nobles in attendance left the meeting. I turned to the two that hadn’t left. “So, what keeps you in here with me?”

The stallion answered once he managed to collect himself. “Miss Yang, the way you handled those two nonsensical bills was simply absurd, and in the best way possible.”

“I’ve heard of some crazy laws and ideas back where I’m from. I remember something about a company doing that whole ‘spending money we will have soon’ thing in one of my classes. One of my friends, she used a line about getting milkshakes for everyone using the five million dollars she was going to make eventually.

“So, if I may ask, what are your names?”

“My name is Fancy Pants and this is my wife, Fleur Dis Lee.”

“Hello, Yang” Fleur said. She had a bit of a french accent. “It’s an honor to meet you.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

“I’ll be honest for a moment. I’ve really been hoping to meet you at some point. You put a permanent end to Tirek and saved the world from him. You have my respect for that.”

“Unfortunately, our peers are not so informed” Fancy said. “Perhaps they will find out just who you are when they have their ponies look into your brief history here.

“Say, would you like to go for a milkshake? I’ll buy.”

Twilight responded in my head before I could respond to him. “Tell him to wait for me!”

“Let’s wait for Twilight before we go.”

“Very well. What do you think of Equestria compared to where you’re from?”

“It’s a lot simpler, but I’ve only seen Ponyville so far. I will be going to Canterlot for a business trip tomorrow though.”

“Is it a good or bad thing that things are simpler here?” Fleur asked.

“Yes.”

“A bit of both, I take it?”

“Right.”

“What’s something you miss from your home?”

“The internet.” Their faces told me that they didn’t know what that was. “Imagine a bunch of machines connected to each other over very long distances to share information.”

“Like a telegram!” Fancy exclaimed. “What kind of information?”

“Cat videos, pictures, how-to guides, music, games, pretty much anything you could imagine.”

“Those sound like big machines.”

I made a rectangle with my thumbs and index fingers. “I had a device about this big that could do all that and more. A lot of people did.”

Twilight entered the room. “Trust me Fancy, those devices are amazing. Addictive, though. I heard something about milkshakes that you’re going to buy?”

“Of course, Twilight” Fancy said. “After the way Yang handled this meeting, I say we end the day on a sweet note.”

“Then let’s get going.” We left the room and began the walk to Sugarcube Corner.

During the walk, Fancy Pants asked us what flavors we wanted. Fleur and I both wanted strawberry, while Twilight and Fancy went for peanut butter.

When we arrived, Twilight, Fleur, and I found a booth to sit at while Fancy got us our shakes. Pinkie was at the counter, and after she took the order and payment for the shakes, went into the kitchen to make them.

“I say, I do like her energy” Fancy said as he sat down next to Fleur. “Quite the change of pace from what the rest of the nobles go at.”

“And what about me?” Fleur tauntingly asked him.

“Absolutely perfect, as usual.

“So, Yang, what do you want to do while you’re in Equestria?”

Now that was a question. “I don’t know. If I really have no way home, I guess I’ll just learn to live here. Once that’s settled, well, I think I’ll work on it as things come.”

“Fair enough. I know that thirty years ago, I couldn’t have seen myself as the noble I am now. I was merely a successful tailor at the time, and I simply worked my way up from there. I like to think the reason I’m the noble most contacted by the commoners is because I’m the one who’s worked into my station, while all the other nobles seemingly inherited their wealth and a system that sustains it.”

Fleur jumped into the conversation. “The way he caught my eye was when my parents had arranged seven noble stallions, of which he was none, for me to choose from as my husband. I come from a lower noble family, and I found modelling to be a fun hobby. I was about to have my picture taken with me in a suit, you know, like stallions wear?”

“Yes, I do know” I said. Our milkshakes arrived, and Fleur continued after a sip of hers.

“Out of the blue, this random stallion comes up to me and says that he can make a better suit for me than the one I had on. I had one of my professionals give him my numbers, and the very next day, he presents the suit to me in a gift box. I put it on, and it fit me perfectly. I looked amazing. I looked in the mirror and I fell in love right there.”

Fancy picked the story back up. “She ran forward right into the mirror to try and hug me. She got it right on the second try.”

“I decided to follow him for a bit, which he didn’t mind at all. I saw how he dealt not only with the nobles, including the ones that had been lined up for me, but also the commoners. He knew of all these little restaurants that made food to be more satisfying than artistic, and they were amazing.”

“A far cry from the fancier restaurants you usually went to?”

“And I loved them. Every other day, I would spend time with one of the seven my parents had chosen. There was one point where all of them, without talking to each other, took me to dinner at the exact same restaurant. The day after those were all done, I found Fancy in his workshop, making a scarf. I told him about the seven dinner dates while he worked, and he listened to me. I finished my story when he finished the scarf and he took me to lunch.”

“Where at?”

“His place. He actually made lunch for us himself.”

“Was it love at first bite?”

“You bet your golden hair it was.

“Anyways, the day finally comes for me to choose my husband. The seven are lined up in front of me, and I-”

“Took the third option?”

“What? No. Bachelor number three was a hayball, he was so boring. I went with the eighth option. We had set up a little plan beforehoof, where I said “I’ll go with number eight” and Fancy opened the door behind the chosen ones and introduced himself. The only other one in the room who wasn’t surprised was the photographer, who was in on it. We still look back at the photos of everypony’s faces and laugh at them sometimes.”

“How did your parents take it?” I’d been sipping at my shake during the story. Both were quite good.

“Oh, they were so upset at me. Fancy, in his brilliance, actually thought this would happen, and I told my parents that I thought it was a secret test of my character, to see just how I chose somepony outside my given choices.”

“She was playing dumb and playing smart at the same time” Fancy explained. “It was beautiful to watch. We practiced that bit for over a month after she had definitely chosen me.”

“Anyways, my father was outraged at my choice and mom was flabbergasted. With a bit of help from the photographer, we escaped the room laughing. By that same time the very next week, we were happily married.”

“And we still are.”

“Sounds like you two had fun in the end” I said.

“And to this day, we still have fun.

“Nobles are known for abuse of their nobility to get what they want, and we’re no different there. Where we’re different is that we only use it against the other nobles for fun.”

“They’re the best nobles I know, and they’ll have your back, Yang” Twilight said. Her shake was already gone. “Say, why don’t you two stay at the castle tonight and catch a ride to Canterlot tomorrow morning with us?”

“As delightful as that sounds, I’m afraid I must pass on your generous offer” Fancy said before looking at the clock. “In fact, our train leaves in half an hour. Yang, you should come visit us in Canterlot at some point. We would be happy to have you as a guest.”

“Thanks, Fancy” I said. “I guess this is where we part ways?”

“Just for now” Fleur said as she and Fancy left their side of the booth. “It was an honor to meet you, Yang.”

“You too. Bye!” As they left, Twilight and I waved at them, and they waved back. “I like them.”

“Most of those who don’t like them are other nobles, mainly because they actually interact with the commoners and talk with them.”

“Fancy and Fleur are the best nobles.”

“That’s what all of us princesses think too.”

After I finished my delicious shake, Twilight took the empty glasses to Pinkie and we left the bakery just as the sun was setting. In the growing twilight, Twilight used her magic to provide a bit of light for us to walk back to the castle by.

I realized once again that this would be the first time I was staying somewhere away from the boutique. At least everything was packed and ready for tomorrow’s train ride.

A calmed thought

View Online

I went to sleep troubled, still pondering what I’d done in Fluttershy’s kitchen. I figured I was dreaming because I was watching an exaggerated version of what happened. I saw myself telling Fluttershy that I would take care of the pizza slicing after pulling the pizza cutter from her mouth, and almost shooing her out of her own kitchen.

Come to think of it, I don’t think there was any of her saliva on the grip of the cutter. Strange.

One of the replays got interrupted by Princess Luna swooping in. “You appear to be troubled, Yang.”

“Yeah, I am” I admitted. “After I told Fluttershy I would take care of the pizzas, and that I was helping her because she didn’t have any levitation skills like Rarity does, it felt like I had done something wrong on a cosmic scale. It looked like I almost made her cry.”

“Yes, she does have this air of fragility to her, though she’s truly far from it. If I’m reading this memory correctly, then you did what you did so that she wouldn’t risk her hurting her muzzle, yes?”

“Exactly. Hot cookware and sharp instruments should not be held or used with the mouth. You run the risk of hurting yourself and others with that. Besides, using a pizza cutter with your mouth just seems awkward.”

“Practically every piece of cookware that an earth pony or pegasus would move and use with their mouth has enchantments to make them safe to move short distances that way, even when hot.”

I was silent as I processed what she had told me. “And how, exactly, was I supposed to have known that? And what about sharp objects?”

“Despite their flexibility and soft texture, pony lips and the tongue are actually quite tough, both with and without magic going through them. The current theory on why that is is because, before civilization, ponies had to eat whatever they could, and sometimes, that was a prickly plant. The tough parts of the mouth are useful remnants from that time.”

I sighed at Luna. “Once again, how was I supposed to know that? Or the other thing?”

Luna thought for a moment. “I suppose there was no way you could have known those things.” She briefly looked deep into my eyes, or so it felt. “That bit of knowledge didn’t help you at all, did it?”

“No, it didn’t.”

“What if I told you Fluttershy was beating herself up over the incident like you were?”

“Huh?” Luna now had my interest and attention.

“I’m visiting her now as well, and she had a similar dream to yours. She saw herself as trying to intrude on your good intentions and benevolent actions. Both of you feel bad about it.”

“Really? And here I thought I’d brought her close to crying.”

“You actually did do that, but she’s willing to forgive and forget the incident, even if you aren’t.”

“What? Well, now that I know she was acting with good intentions and that we both had a forgivable lack of information, there no way I can’t forgive her. Can you tell her that?”

“I already have. I’m in multiple dreams at once, so I can convey messages quite easily, granted that I’m visiting the appropriate dreamers.”

“That’s actually kind of cool. Oh, I’ll be going to Canterlot tomorrow morning. I’m kind of nervous and excited. Are you going to be there?”

“Of course. Would you like to have lunch with Celestia and me? We’d both enjoy a chance to talk with you.”

“Sounds good to me. Oh, will I have to dress nicely or something?”

“Many of the petitioners arrive with nothing on. In your case, just looking decent by your standards will work.”

I sighed in relief. “Thank goodness for that.”

“Does one have to dress up when visiting officials where you’re from?”

“If I wanted to visit the President of my country, I’d dress and clean up to look at least businesslike. A dress, like one for a big dance, wouldn’t work though, even if it did look nice.”

“You have different types of clothes for looking nice? Interesting.”

“Would you wear the same thing in a meeting with another leader that you would at a formal dance?”

“No, but if you flip that around, the answer becomes yes.”

It took me a bit to figure out what she meant. “And you can get away with that?”

“When the diplomacy dresses look as good as they do, yes.

“It seems you are no longer troubled. Sleep well, Yang.”

The dream faded away to darkness, and I think I felt THE TRANQUILITY encroaching upon me.

Let us ride to Canterlot

View Online

I yawned as we waited at the train station. It was 6:30, Twilight, Spike, and I arrived and had our tickets since 6:00, and the train wasn’t here yet. It was dreadfully dull, but at least the sun was already warming things up. I liked the sun. No chance of being burned made it that much more enjoyable.

In the really early morning dullness, I found myself nodding off on the bench a bit. Twilight seemed like she was able to stay awake and alert though. She even hit me with magic bolts when I was beginning to fall asleep. It stung a bit, but otherwise didn’t really hurt.

There were other ponies up at this hour waiting for the train too, but they kept mostly to themselves. A couple of them looked like they were at the meeting that I took over last night. They certainly kept their distance from me.

Finally, at ten minutes before seven, the train pulled into the station. I stood up and stretched, getting a bit of energy back in my body. “So, how do we do this, Twilight? I don’t have much train experience.”

“Anyone onboard gets off towards the front of the car, and anyone getting on gets on towards the back” Twilight explained. “It’s a pretty efficient system. Certainly better than when the cars only had one door on each side. Everyone had to get their things and get off before the new passengers got on.”

“That does sound efficient.” Certainly better than the airports with their jetways.

“It is. In fact, it’s almost our turn to get on.” Twilight and Spike started going towards the last car of the train, and I followed along.

“What about our stuff?” My suitcase was indeed light to me, but it still took up space, and since things were generally a bit small here for me, leg space was a valuable thing.

“There’s storage over the seats. It’s a new thing that’s actually proving to be quite useful and popular. By giving ponies space to store their belongings in the car, it actually saves time with the luggage car not having to hold everything for everyone.”

“Cool.” I had to duck a little bit to get in the car, but the inside was spacious enough that I could fully stand up. The inside looked nice, and I was able to very easily access the overhead storage. I was expecting compartments like the kind on airplanes for some reason, but these were just simple sloped shelves with dividers. I put my suitcase in the one over where Twilight had chosen to sit at before joining her.

I’ve been on planes before, so I wasn’t unfamiliar with tight leg space. I actually had it a bit easier than most because I was so scrawny and thin. In fact, I was still thin overall. However, these pony train seats did not work well with my legs. They were set up like restaurant booths, including a table. I had to go to a modified cross-legged position to be able to sit down. It was an awkward position for me.

“Hey, Twilight, what are the rules for standing up and walking around?”

“You can move about the passenger cars freely after the conductor has checked your ticket. Before then, just stay in or near your seat. It’s one of those things that’s not really enforced, but is more just how it works” As Twilight gave her explanation, the train started moving.

I pulled out my ticket when Twilight and Spike got theirs out. I found it kind of odd that the tickets were checked after the train started moving, but didn’t say anything on that matter. Maybe I was too acclimated to planes and regulated airports.

After the tickets were checked, I noticed that the three of us were the only ones on this car. Everyone else was on other cars, apparently. I decided to stand after the tickets were checked. It wasn’t often back home that I could stand during the entirety of a ride. “So, what are we going to do for this two hour trip?” I asked.

“Well, I have a friend, her name is Sunset, and she has access to a ton of information on humans” Twilight began, then immediately continued. “Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve asked her for as much medical information on humans as possible, and two days ago, I got a book detailing human female anatomy and biology from her. It also includes general information on human anatomy and biology. I don’t know what the authors were thinking, publishing a male and female version of the same book, but it worked out for us this time.”

I did not like the potential implications. “Uh, are you sure this is the time or place to, uh, examine me?”

“Don’t worry Yang, I managed to talk her out of performing a full examination on you while we’re on the train” Spike said.

“That does not help me very much. Twilight, can you simply not examine me?”

“Yang, I need to know what your body is like in case there’s an emergency and you need medical attention. Here in this world, you are a mystery. A friendly, gentle, and powerful one, but still a mystery. We’ll just do the simple things first.”

“Like what?”

“Your heart rate.” Twilight pulled a book, scroll, quill, inkwell, and stethoscope out of her saddlebags. “I’ll check your pulse at your neck.” She cracked open the book and put the stethoscope on, then put the listening end on my neck. I was prepared for it to be cold, but it surprisingly wasn’t. For a whole minute, I didn’t move while Twilight did her thing. “And, according to the book, your relaxed heart rate is within a healthy range.”

Well, that was good to know. “What next?”

“I’d like to check your teeth.” Twilight flipped her book to a different section. With only a sigh, I opened my mouth to let her look around. She didn’t look around for long before allowing me to close my mouth. “Once again, all looks healthy, though I’d rather get a second opinion from Colgate. She knows more about the mouth than I do.” Colgate? A dentist pony? Wow. “I’d like to check your temperature next. I’m sure you know how to use a thermometer?” She pulled an old fashion glass thermometer out of a case in her saddlebag with her magic.

“The bulb part goes under the tongue, right?” I snagged the thermometer from Twilight’s telekinesis.

“Correct.”

I put the thermometer in my mouth and waited for it to do its thing. It actually didn’t take long at all for something to happen. After what was probably only ten or twenty seconds, the tip of the end sticking out of my mouth turned green, Twilight gently pulled it out, and recorded what she saw. “No, this can’t be right.”

Now she had my attention. “What’s going on?”

“According to the book, at your temperature, you should be experiencing a myriad of other outward symptoms, which you are not.”

“Give it to her straight, Twilight” Spike said.

“Alright. Yang, you’re running a temperature that even ponies, who are naturally warmer than humans, would call a fever.”

I thought it over. “So I’m hot blooded?”

“Check it and see.” Twilight floated the thermometer back to me.

“I’ve got a fever of 103?” That sounded bad, but I felt just fine. Strange.

“Come on baby, can you do more than dance?” Pinkie said as she popped out from the overhead storage.

“Whoa!” I fell backwards onto the floor from the surprise.

“Oh, too soon? Sorry!” Pinkie went back into the storage area, and when I looked in the shelf, she was already gone.

“How does she do that?”

“I don’t know, and I’m not sure I even want to know anymore” Twilight said. “I wound up in the hospital last time I tried to figure that out.” That sounded like a story. “Now then, on with the examination!”

Twilight had come prepared. She checked my body mass index (pretty low), my weight (just above the low end of the healthy range), my eyes and ears (both good), and checked my temperature again (still 103). Then she wanted to check my breasts. “No, Twilight.”

“But it’s important! Any problems there could spread or be indicative of other problems.”

“I will not deny that. However, I don’t want anyone poking and prodding them. They’re still a bit weird to me, and I’m not about to expose myself like that.”

“Alright then. Let’s move on down to your v-”

“No.”

“Yang, this is a very important part of your health. It has to be done.”

“Twilight, I’ve only had that opening for about a month. I’d rather ignore its existence as much as I can. I’m not denying its presence though.”

“But surely you’ve, ah, explored it?”

“No, I haven’t. And I don’t plan to either. Who would do that kind of thing? Besides, I thought you wouldn’t do a full examination of me. And how do you think Spike feels about this conversation?” When I mentioned the dragon’s name, the conversation stopped. We looked around, but didn’t see him in the car. “Where is he?”

“He’s probably in the dining car getting drinks for us. He does that when he senses girl talk and feminine matters on the train. The funny thing is that the drinks often pull us out of those discussions.”

“Clever dragon.” I decided it was time for some fresh air. I went to the rear of the car and went out onto the attached platform. It was railed in and secured, so at least there were safety measures in place.

I sat down on the platform to one side of the door and simply watched the rails retreating. I briefly looked back on the conversation with Twilight when she wanted to examine my more feminine parts. I think I handled it rather well. I told her not to do it, even if she did have some good points, and I didn’t even have to mention or demonstrate my strength.

My peace was interrupted by the door opening. I looked over and saw Spike coming out with a couple of drinks. “Twilight said you were here.”

“And she was right. What do you have there?”

“Lemonade. Want one?”

“Sure.” I accepted the offered glass and took a sip. “It’s good.”

“I think the train lemonade is better than other lemonades. I don’t know why.”

“Maybe it’s because you’re on a train that it tastes better? I know I’ve had that experience.”

“Really? You think it’s because you’re travelling that it might taste better?”

I took a sip before continuing. “Yeah. At least based on my previous experiences.

“Say, didn’t you tell me you talked Twilight out of doing a full examination? It certainly seemed like she was going to full examination mode on me.”

“I’ll talk to her. Hold my drink? Also, there’s a turn coming up.”

“Sure.” I took Spike’s drink and he went inside. A moment later, the train turned right. I held onto both drinks as the train continued on.

It didn’t take long for Spike to come back out. I gave him his drink as he explained what happened inside. “So apparently, she decided to not do anything that directly involved bodily fluids. Technically, she upheld her word, but she seemed to be getting at your more sensitive areas?”

“Yeah. I mean, she had good intention, what with my health and all, but I don’t feel comfortable allowing her to examine those areas.” I didn’t like the idea of examining them myself.

“I think you did the right thing. Besides, we don’t want you acting all weird because of an examination like that on the train.”

That was actually a good point. “So, how did Twilight feel?”

“She felt kind of bad once she realized that she was pushing your limit. She was happy with what she got though. It looks like your body temperature is way high though.”

“Apparently it is.”

“She thinks that your temperature, assuming that 103 is your normal temperature, may be the reason you haven’t gotten sick outside of that bad reaction you apparently had with the Chineighse food.”

“Huh?”

“Fevers are a reaction of the body to various diseases. They help kill off whatever’s making you sick. With your temperature being so high, you’re probably immune or at least highly resistant to a lot of diseases here.”

“Wow. Hey, I remember Apple Bloom saying I felt warm to her. That was probably why.”

“Well, nobody likes getting sick, so you’ll probably be fine. I mean, with your temperature likely keeping you from getting a lot of diseases, you’ll be able to easily build up your immune system here.”

“Yeah. Yeah, that’s pretty cool. I like not getting sick. Not being sick is good.”

“Yeah. Hey, want to come in for our real breakfast?”

“Now who could refuse that?” I got up and Spike and I went back inside. Twilight already had the leftovers out and warmed up, if the steam was anything to go by. And it looked like there were more leftovers than I thought because there was practically a whole meal’s worth of the pasta dish for each of us.

After breakfast and an apology from Twilight, I went back out to my spot on the platform. I liked it there. In fact, I’ve found myself outdoors quite a bit since I’ve been in Equestria, just to enjoy the weather and do stuff. Without the internet, there wasn’t much else to really do. That, and the seats in the car were uncomfortable.

I sat out there for most of the rest of the ride until I had to use the restroom at the front of the car. When I finished, we were close enough to Canterlot that I didn’t bother going back out. Instead, I just stood in the car with my suitcase as we pulled into the station.

I followed Twilight out of the car and took a moment to take in the Canterlot train station. It was bigger than the Ponyville one, but that was to be expected since Canterlot is apparently the capital of Equestria. I also saw a lot of ponies stopping to look at me. To them, I was this strange clothed creature following Princess Twilight Sparkle off the train.

“Sweet Celestia, it’s Yang Ziao Long!” a random pony called out. Seems my initial idea wasn’t true.

“No, it’s Yang Shou Long!” a different pony corrected.

“You’re both wrong!” a third pony called out. A shouting match soon erupted over the correct way to say that part of my name.

Meanwhile in Ponyville, Discord was chuckling. He saw how everypony froze when Yang stepped off the train. With only a little bit of his magic, he had prompted the first pony to call out Yang’s presence.

Discord had been hoping to see the ponies in the crowd rush up to her, then get knocked back and talked down to by Twilight, but the fight that was erupting over the simple pronunciation of one part of her name was so much more amusing.

“Well, that’s enough chaos for today.”

“Hey, Twilight, how about we just leave?” Spike suggested.

“That sounds good” Twilight agreed. “Yang, if you get separated from us for whatever reason, just stay out in the open. I’ll find you from the air. Spike and I know Canterlot, so we’ll be able to help you get to the castle.”

“Thanks” I said. “But now I’m a little concerned.”

“As long as we stick together, we should be fine.”

I hope Murphy didn’t hear what Twilight just said.

Murphy did hear what Twilight said. Somehow, I’d lost her and Spike, and now I was lost in Canterlot. At least I was staying out in the open, as she had suggested.

“Hey look! It’s Yang Xiao Long!” a stallion called out.

I sighed. “At least he got my name right.”

I was soon swarmed by a lot of ponies of all kinds of colors, each calling out for my attention. Almost all of them were unicorns, and many of them had scrolls with them.

Dear god, I had fans. Some of them even looked like they had colored and styled their manes and tails to look like my hair. I was honestly a little bit scared by that.

It didn’t take long for me to be surrounded from all sides by the swarm of ponies. Jumping out of the swarm wasn’t really an option either due to the pegasi in the air. “Help me, Twilight.”

Some of the unicorns might have gotten a little zealous to meet me because a few different colored layers of magic formed a cylinder around me. I put a hand on the inside and found it to be quite solid. It also muffled the bickering that was starting up, mostly among the unicorns with their horns alight.

While the crowd was occupied, I was able to test my confines a bit. I wasn’t quite able to stretch my arms fully out to my sides, and I had a couple feet of space above my head. As I stood in my cylindrical cell, I thought about what I could do.

I could try to punch the barriers down. I did have the pouch that would allow me to put some shells in if my fists couldn’t do it themselves. I also had no idea how the projectiles would act. They could get stuck, bounce around inside, or pass through into the crowd. Certainly, that would be my last resort.

I could try pushing on the barriers. If stressed, they’d probably break the concentration of the unicorns holding me here and give me a distraction to use so I could try to escape. At worst, it would do nothing, which was a safe choice.

I could also just wait for Twilight to save me. Celestia or Luna would also be good. The only problem I could see was that I might fall asleep and miss something that could get me out of here.

At least they let me keep my suitcase with me.

In Canterlot Castle, Twilight and Spike arrived at Celestia’s chamber door. Twilight knocked on it.

“Come in” Celestia said from the other side.

Twilight opened the door and walked inside. “Good morning, Celestia” she greeted. “How are you?”

Celestia’s eyes were closed as she enjoyed her tea. “Quite well, Twilight. How was your trip here?”

“It was. . . Alright. I forgot about how Yang is with her personal space while running some medical tests on her on the train, but we’re past that now. She’s quite healthy, but her base temperature is 103, which is odd.”

“That is indeed odd. So, Yang, what do you think of Canterlot?” Celestia’s question was met only with silence, prompting her to open her eyes. “Yang?”

Twilight, Spike, and Celestia looked around the room, none of them seeing the only human on their planet. “Maybe she’s just afraid to meet you right now?” Twilight suggested as Spike went back out of the room. “She was kind of rough with you after defeating Tirek.”

“Maybe. Spike, is she out there?”

“No, she isn’t” Spike reported. “And I know she wouldn’t just run off to explore the castle.”

“Oh no” Twilight said. “Where is she?”

“Calm down, Twilight” Celestia said as she stood up and started writing a note. “You and I will fly over the city to look for her. Spike, I need you to take this to the guard station down the hall. They will scour the castle for her. She is in Canterlot, right?”

“She got off the train and left the station with us, so yes.”

As soon as Celestia gave Spike the note, he ran off towards the guard station. “Let’s go, Twilight.”

“Yes, let’s go!” Twilight dashed out of the room and to the balcony, where she jumped off and began flying over Canterlot. Celestia followed at a more sedate pace before taking off as well.

Inside the castle, the guards were on full alert for Yang. Those not stationed anywhere began scouring the castle and asking around.

It’s been almost twenty minutes since I got captured. I had opted to do nothing for the time being. In the meantime, I’d found out that the suitcase I was borrowing was fairly strong in its construction. I was able to use it and the layered barriers around me as a chair of sorts.

I had also decided to try meditation to pass the time. I had some success with the breathing portion, I think. Maybe, if I did it right, I could meditate my way to THE TRANQUILITY. Of course, that would require the right environment and mental conditions. Probably a flat, sunny roof in a quiet area. Maybe the barn I helped build on Sweet Apple Acres? I seem to recall there being a flat section on the roof.

I was brought out of my musings when I heard something land on my bubble. I looked up and saw four large hoof shoe things and the underside of Princess Celestia. She was, somehow, sitting on the bubble, and my eyes began to wander down to her - okay, I’m just going to stand and disapprovingly look out at the crowd in the same direction Celestia is.

I was able to clearly hear her through my cell. “My little ponies, I ask of you all one little thing: please give Ms. Long some space. I can only imagine how scared she might be right now, trapped under all these barrier spells. I’m sure you would be scared too if you were trapped under nearly two dozen barriers and surrounded by overly eager ponies.

“I will be escorting Yang to the castle. Anyone who pulls us aside for something that isn’t important will be heavily fined. Now, step back, lower these barriers, and we can leave this behind us.” As Celestia made her orders, the crowd stepped back, allowing the alicorn to step down just as the barriers went down nearly simultaneously. “Thank you.

“Yang, would you mind stepping a few feet away from me?”

I complied with the odd request, giving her about ten feet of space between us. I was about to ask about it when the answer, covered in lavender fur and feathers, crashed right between us. “Princess Celestia, I just remembered something!”

“Not now, Twilight. Let’s walk and talk, yes?”

Twilight quickly took stock of the situation before she and Celestia walked off, the crowd parting for them. I followed them, eager to get to safety safely. I’ve had enough thrills in Canterlot for the trip already, and I was still carrying my suitcase.

“What was it that you remembered, Twilight?” Celestia asked.

“We were going to get something at Pony Joe’s for you and Luna, but we forgot to go there” Twilight said. “We can still go. My treat.”

“Get Spike and tell the guard that they no longer have to look for Yang. I will take her there myself.”

“Spike wouldn’t like it if we went there without him. Yang, I can take your suitcase to a room for you.”

“Really?” I said. “Thanks.” I let Twilight take the suitcase in her magic.

“Put her belongings in my room, Twilight” Celestia said. “We can go there once we’ve had our treats.”

“Sure thing, Celestia” Twilight said before she took off, leaving me with Celestia, who reached out with a wing and pulled me to her side as we walked.

“You really are warmer than a pony.”

“Yeah, I am” I said. “It doesn’t feel any different to me than the 98 degrees I used to have though.”

“Ponies tend to be at 100 degrees. But enough about biology. What do you think of our land?”

“Ponyville’s a very nice place. Everyone there has come to accept me as a fellow citizen. Heck, Rarity offered to house me herself when she met me for the first time.”

“She is quite generous.”

“No argument there. How much further?”

“It’s just up ahead. How about you tell me about your welcome party?”

With a bit of trepidation, I told Celestia about the attempted surprise party as we walked. That memory still scared me a bit. One does not simply forget a scare of that magnitude.

Twilight and Spike landed in front of us as I finished the story, feeling a bit better about it too, and Celestia and I arrived in front of a donut shop.

“It’s too bad my sister can’t join us” Celestia said. “We should get her something.”

We walked into the shop. Behind the counter was a yellow earth pony stallion who did not seem surprised at the Prnicesses’ entrance. “Hi, Celestia” he said in a very casual tone.

“Hi, Joe. Got room for four?”

The stallion looked around the empty shop like he was looking out towards the horizon. “I’m not sure. It’s really packed in here today, so you may have to wait a bit for enough spots.”

“Ah, but I am Princess Celestia. I can sit down anywhere I want. If I so order it, a spot will be made for me.”

I turned to Twilight and Spike. “Is this normal?”

“Yeah, it is” Spike said.

“The only spot you’ll be getting here is the single spot of chocolate icing on your donut” Joe retorted.

“A diet chocolate icing?” Celestia asked. “How could you do such a thing? And to your Princess, no less?”

“Like this!” Joe put a plain donut on a plate on the counter and put a tiny dot of chocolate icing on it.

Celestia walked up to the counter and scrutinized the pastry. “You make a very good point there. Fine then. I shall dine here this morning.”

During the whole exchange, it never felt like the tension was real at any point, mostly due to the grins that never quite left Celestia and Joe’s faces.

“So, what does everyone want?” Joe asked us. “The usuals for the three of you?”

“And Luna’s usual too” Twilight said. “Hot chocolates for everyone as well. We’ll also get some more to go before we leave. Yang, what do you want?”

“I’ll just go for a plain glazed donut” I said. “Nothing fancy.”

“Really?” Joe said. “You can have a whole order for free, my way of saying thanks for defeating Tirek. Anything, any amount.”

“Then I’ll stick with a plain glazed donut. You can add my hot chocolate to that if you want. That’s my whole order.”

“Yang did something similar when I told her right after she defeated him that she could have anything she wanted” Celestia said. “All she wanted was a small decorative fountain, a spa trip, and her clothes cleaned. She didn’t ask for any money, even though she was in a position to set herself for life.”

“I didn’t even consider doing that. Money wasn’t exactly at the top of my mind.”

“Sounds like you’re a modest one” Joe said before leaving us. It didn’t take him very long to get back to us. “I have your orders.” The first thing out was hot chocolates for all of us. The first plate out was Twilight’s, which was three eclairs and two donuts arranged in a cone that reminded me of a pod from the moon missions. The next one was Spike’s, a pile of six donuts with pink frosting and loads of sprinkles. Celestia’s was a variety box with a dozen donuts in it, no two being the same. Then came my single plain glazed donut.

I suddenly felt like I had ordered off a kid’s menu at a restaurant compared to what my companions got. Still, it was all I wanted, and that was enough. “So, why do you three have so many?”

Spike answered. “They need lots of energy for their magic, and I’m still really young in dragon terms. I will be for a while. Also, these donuts are really good.”

“Oh, right.” I took a bite and discovered that it was really good. It had a perfect consistency, wasn’t too sweet, and wasn’t very sticky. Most other donuts I had met only one or two, if any, of those descriptions.

As I took normal bites of my single donut, everyone else was eating theirs in three bites, at most. Their food was just vanishing at a pace that had me concerned in the back of my mind.

Celestia was actually the first of us to finish. “Are you going to finish that, Yang?”

“Yes” I said before popping the last bite in my mouth. “Why would you ask that?”

“Well, you were taking it so slowly, I was afraid you were just forcing it down.”

“Just because I’m not finishing a donut in two big bites before moving on to the next three does not mean I don’t like it. These donuts are actually bigger than the ones back home too.”

Celestia was quiet for a moment. “You’re just watching your figure, aren’t you?”

“What? No. But now that you mention it, my figure hasn’t really changed at all since I came here. At least my clothes are all fitting the same as they have been. I don’t really like looking in the mirror, to be honest.”

“Not even just to make sure you look good?”

“I’m not really worried about that.”

We talked about me for a while, much to my unexpressed annoyance. Eventually, Twilight ordered more of what we had, but to go, in addition to Luna’s usual, whatever it was. We got a large box with the pastries in them, all neatly divided and labelled, and Celestia teleported it to her room. Twilight paid and we left the donut shop.

I liked the place. My lone donut and hot chocolate inside had come to a collective four bits, and Joe gave the one to go for me for free as well since it was just one donut. I’m sure that, as willing as he may have been to allow me a huge amount of pastries, he may also be glad that I only had a small amount of them, since it didn’t cost him as much dough.

The second walk through Canterlot was much better. None of us got split up from each other this time, and we made it to the castle easily enough. Not even the sharper upward inclines along the way slowed me down. They probably would have worn me out before I got turned into Yang.

Celestia was able to get us into the castle with ease. Wherever we went in the castle, ponies cleared a path for us and bowed for her. It looked like Celestia, Twilight, and Spike were used to it. I don’t think I’d get used to it.

“So, what are we going to be doing?” I asked.

“I would like to talk with you, Yang” Celestia said. “I’m sure Luna would as well. Not as Princess and Heroine, but as friends.”

“And Twilight and Spike?”

“We’re going to visit my parents” Twilight said. “I’ve got some stories for them to hear.”

“And I’m sure she’s going to talk about you a lot” Spike said. “You are the most interesting thing to happen to Ponyville in a while.”

“And considering just how many strange things I hear about that come from Ponyville, that’s an achievement” Celestia said.

Our walk was soon interrupted by a white coated unicorn with a blonde mane and tail. I think he was at the meeting I was dropped in charge of. “Auntie Celestia, may I have a word with you?” he asked, stopping our walk. I’m not sure if he noticed me or not. Probably not.

“What is it, Blueblood?” Celestia asked.

“Last night’s finance meeting at the Ponyville castle was badly disrupted, and nothing got done. We need to hold another meeting, and as soon as possible.”

“And how was your meeting disrupted?”

“This strange creature I’ve never seen before was summoned in by Princess Twilight to take her place and made a mockery of our bills. We would like Princess Luna to lead the meeting here tonight.”

“A strange creature, you say?” Celestia looked like she was imagining something while she slowly reached her wing over my shoulders. “Would it happen to look like this one?” Celestia pulled me to her side and right into the stallion’s sight.

“Hi” I said.

“That’s her!” Blueblood exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m just here on personal business with the Princesses.”

“And what kind of business would you have here with them that would take priority over the nobility?”

“Blueblood, today is my day off from my duties” Celestia said. “Please move aside and let us pass before you have to be moved.”

“Auntie, I demand action be taken to fix this problem!” Blueblood was certainly being a stubborn pain.

“Then action shall be planned. Are you satisfied?”

“I want to know what kind of action it is.”

“You will find out later, if it happens. But now, I must move you.” Celestia picked Blueblood up in her magic and made him vanish.

“Where did you send him this time, Celestia?” Twilight asked.

“Two floors down.”

“That doesn’t sound very far” I said as we resumed our walk.

“The stairs are a long way away. It will buy us enough time. Once we are in my chambers, he will not disturb us.” The rest of our walk was uneventful, thankfully.

Celestia’s room had two guards by the door, and they let us pass with no problems. The room inside was opulent. The floors and walls were made of marble, the furniture was made of white wood with heavy amounts of gold detailing, there was an expansive balcony outside, and there was even a kitchenette. I was able to see into the bathroom as well, and it looked just as elegant. It even had a giant tub in it that looked like it could hold all of us and Luna with no problem. It probably wouldn’t, since I’d rather not do that, but it could. There was also another door on the opposite end.

“So, where’s Luna?” I asked.

“She’s in her room” Celestia answered. “She often sleeps during the day since she holds her court at night. Her room is right through the other door in the bathroom. We visit each other regularly.”

“Wouldn’t that cut into the sleep time though?” I can’t imagine how much rest would be needed for running a country.

“Normal ponies work best with around eight hours of sleep” Twilight explained. “Alicorns can operate on four hours due to how much magic they have. More than that is just a bonus.”

“We can wake her up later for lunch with us” Celestia said. “Or at least the treats we got from Pony Joe’s.”

There was a sudden scrabbling of hooves and the sound of a door being slammed open, and in a few seconds, Luna had joined us. “You got us things from Pony Joe’s?”

“Yes, we did” Celestia said. “Twilight, Spike, and Yang are also here.”

“Hm?” Luna pulled her attention away from Celestia and looked at the rest of us. Twilight and Spike waved at her while I was finishing recovering from Luna’s sudden entrance. I really don’t like being startled like that, especially by something bigger than me.

“Hey, Luna?” Spike said. “I think you might have scared Yang a bit.”

“Did I? I’m sorry, Yang. I heard Celestia mention that she got goodies from Pony Joe’s and I just had to rush over. I honestly didn’t know you were here.”

“I understand” I said. If my lone glazed donut and the hot chocolate were anything to go by, Luna had every reason to bolt up and over here like she had.

“So, when will we begin with these treats?”

“We will have them together after lunch, just the five of us. After all, Pony Joe’s might be good, but it’s even better with company.”

“As is any meal.”

“Oh, Blueblood wants to hold a finance meeting tonight with you as the head.”

Luna groaned. “Isn’t it your turn, sister?”

Celestia got a sly look on her face. “Now who said that’s what he would get?”

Luna, Twilight, Spike, and I had to think for a moment. Twilight was the first to think of something. “Wait, Celestia, you don’t mean?”

“Yes, Twilight. We will hold a meeting tonight like what happened at the end of the meeting last night.”

“You’re going to make me the head of the meeting?” I asked. “Wait, how do you know about that?”

“Twilight sent me a letter last night. Fancy and Fleur even visited to tell us about it.”

“We found their story quite amusing” Luna said.

“We won’t force you to do it, Yang. You can refuse the offer if you’d like.”

I thought about it. I did kind of like seeing the reactions of the nobles that didn’t like me, which was most of them. Fancy and Fleur would probably be there too, and they were cool in my book. “You know, I think I’ll take them on again. How long do these meetings usually last?”

“The shortest one I can remember lasted three hours” Spike said.

“Then let’s see if we can do it in two.” It certainly felt like an easy enough challenge to me.

“I actually have an idea for how we can do it” Celestia said before gathering us all in an ultimately pointless huddle, though it did make the planning feel that much better.

After the huddle was done and the plan was made, I got down to my business with Celestia and Luna. A small ceremony, simply me swearing not to abuse the privileges I was about to receive, was done. Once it was done, I was hit with a small spell that would simply tell the guards that I was permitted anywhere in the castle and on its grounds.

Twilight was apparently the one to come up with that spell, and an enchantment to go with it in the guards’ helmets, about a year ago after one of her trips, which she still wouldn’t tell me the details of. Apparently, free access to Canterlot Castle did not include divulgence of Twilight’s secret trip information.

Now that my business here was done, and it wasn’t anywhere near lunchtime, I wasn’t really sure what to do for the rest of the day.

Setting a record

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“Do I really have to wear it?” I asked Celestia. It was 5 pm and the financial meeting with the nobles was in half an hour.

“It would certainly have an impact” Celestia said. “Besides, Luna and I haven’t seen it when it was clean.”

“But the combat outfit isn’t the kind of thing to wear to a meeting like this. What I have on now is much better, though not necessarily ideal.”

“Is it because of how things were done where you’re from or because the nobles have better looking clothes on?”

I gave the question some thought. “Eh, mostly the former, some of the latter.”

“I’m sure Rarity could make something for you for occasions like this. Unfortunately, there’s not enough time. It would add shock value.”

“Maybe that would work if these were other humans we were talking about, but they’re not. I think there’s enough shock value in the plan as is anyways. Maybe I’ll let you see it on me after it’s over, but I’m not wearing it to the meeting.

“Say, can you give me a quick rundown of how these financial meetings work?”

“The nobles prepare spending bills and propose them for approval by the head of the meeting. In this case, at the national level, they need a princess or someone appointed by a princess. These same nobles are also the ones who create and change laws through the same processes. The two often happen at the same time, but they’re all called financial meetings.”

Sounded like politics as usual. “And if the head says no to one of their bills?”

“For this group, that’s the final word. With the exception of Fancy and Fleur, I doubt any of them know that the city level meetings outside of Canterlot can have the head overruled. If we keep it that way, they’re easier to keep in check.”

“I think I get it. Are any of them there yet?”

Celestia’s horn briefly glowed. “Luna tells me six of them are present already. We’ll get you in there ten minutes before the meeting starts.”

“You’re sure this will work, Twilight?” I asked. She had cast an illusion spell on me to make me look like Luna. I couldn’t tell if it was there or not. At least I had managed to talk Celestia out of me wearing the combat outfit.

“Yes, it will work” Twilight assured. “Just follow your lines and I’ll make the magic do its thing. When you sit down, it will look like Luna sitting down. Everything you do, it will look and sound like Luna’s doing it.”

“At least until the big reveal.”

“At which point, they’ll be stuck with you. You’ll be on your own, but we have faith in you.”

I took a deep breath. “Alright. Let me in.”

“Of course, Luna.” Twilight opened the door for me and I walked into the chamber.

When I entered, I got a few glances my way, followed by respectful greetings addressed to Princess Luna, which I returned with only a polite nod, as Luna herself did. She never actually greeted them by name at these meetings for some reason.

I took my spot at the head of the table and sat down on the ornate chair. This one was actually comfortable for me to sit in, and not just because of the heavy cushioning. It was made for a Princess to sit in, and was larger than the average pony seat. I liked it.

Eventually, the last of the thirty nobles came in and took their seat. The pony I had learned to be Blueblood was on my left while Fancy and Fleur were on my right. Those two did not look enthused to be here.

“It appears everypony is present” I said.

“Yes, Princess” Blueblood said. “We’re all here.”

“Excellent. I have been informed of the urgency of this financial meeting, so I shall make sure nothing disturbs us until we are finished here and all the bills have been looked over.” As soon as I said that, the doors were enveloped in Luna’s magic and audibly locked. “I presume everypony has their bills ready?”

“Yes, Princess Luna” Blueblood reported. At his cue, thirty bills were placed on the table. Some were pretty thick.

“Excellent. I would like to try something new tonight for this meeting. If you could all send your bills down to Sir Fancy Pants” -I successfully suppressed a snicker at his name- “I would appreciate that.” The nobles all looked at each other and shrugged before complying, almost entirely concealing him from my view. “Thank you everyone. Ah, excuse me for a moment. My nose is itching.” I lifted my forearm to where Luna’s muzzle would be and “pulled” the illusion away like a curtain, where it dissolved in the air. “Ah, that’s better” I said in my regular voice. “Let’s get started, shall we?”

I looked at the shocked expressions on everyone’s faces. The first ones to recover were Fancy and Fleur, who smiled at me. I think I caught the motions of a quiet giggle from both of them.

The next one to recover was Blueblood, unfortunately. He did not sound or look pleased. “You!”

“Me!” I responded with what was probably undue cheer. “Now then, let’s get this funancial meeting underway.”

“Was that a pun?”

“Yes. I have been placed as the head of this meeting by Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Twilight. If you have any issues with this arrangement, take it to them after we’re done here.”

“I’m leaving” Blueblood said. I did nothing as he and a few of the other nobles tried to leave the room. Keyword: tried. “Why won’t these doors open?”

“I did say nothing will disturb us until all the bills have been looked over, and that includes anyone leaving the room. Fortunately, there is a restroom available for this room, so we can take all the time we need. Now then, come back here and we’ll get this all sorted out so we can leave.”

“Fine then.” Blueblood and those who aimed to leave with him returned to the table and took their spots.

“Thank you. Fancy, could you give me one of the bills? And tell me who’s it is? I only know three of the ponies in here.”

“Of course, Yang” Fancy said before floating what looked more like a thick magazine than a bill off the top of the stack and towards me. “This is the Kingdom-wide Garden Tending bill by Lady Primrose.”

Huh. “Alright.” I opened the bill and began reading it. “Lady Primrose, would you tell us a bit about this bill?”

A mare on the left side of the table, all the way at the end stood up. Her dress was covered in floral patterns, but was tastefully done. At least she looked nice. “Of course. I have put my heart and soul into this bill, which will ensure that every hospital in Equestria has a well maintained garden for patients to rest and recover in, regardless of what their problem is. And they’ll also be available for those who aren’t patients either.”

As I read the bill, I began to have questions. “So, where is the funding for this coming from?”

“It will come out of the profits of hospitals and from the crown. The crown will also increase taxes to help cover this expense. Patients who rest and recover in the garden will heal more quickly and save money that way. In addition to that-”

I didn’t stop reading the bill as I spoke up over her. “Okay, I’m just going to nip this prime rose of yours in the bud and stop you right there.” Lady Primrose winced, probably from the fact that I cut her off. Or maybe it was the pun. “After the gardens are in place, are you going to use the same reasoning to get more flowers into the hospitals themselves? And where will you find space for these gardens? And how will the hospitals save money when they have to spend money on making sure their gardens are up to snuff? The extra staff and labor to make sure that’s all there would take a number of bits that I’m sure is in the thousands, per hospital, at the least.

“And once this little seed of yours is planted, where will its vines stop? In fact, I’m seeing something in here that says every desk will need its own pot of healthy flowers three years down the line.”

“They make good snacks for the staff and patients!”

“I will not debate that point, even though I myself don’t eat flowers. But now I’m seeing something about wall mounted vases every ten feet and on every side of every column another three years after the desk ones.”

“To provide a more pleasant atmosphere.”

I looked at the bill a bit longer before slamming it shut. “No.”

“What? But just think of all the good that bill could do!”

“Think of all the expenses.”

“It will be worth it.”

“No, it won’t. Fleur, please mark this one with a ‘B’ on the cover.”

“Of course, Yang” Fleur said before she put a red B on it. Of course, it was the Equestrian version of the letter, but it still worked.

“What’s next, Fancy?”

“A train travel security bill by Sir Teller. And I must say, you made excellent time with Lady Primrose’s bill.”

That sounded kind of familiar. “Thank you, Fancy. Tell us more, Sir Teller.” I got the bill and began reading it. It had pictures too, and the things looked kind of familiar.

There was a brief wince amongst the crowd before Sir Teller spoke. “Trains are generally pretty safe to ride on, but they can also be prime targets for beings with ill intent to attack and sabotage. This will put screening measures in every station and enclose them to minimize aerial problems, as well as places to put runes to prevent the use of teleportation and speed increasing spells.”

“Certainly an admirable intent, Sir Teller. Tell me, what prompted you to come up with such drastic measures?”

“There’s been a rash of attacks on trains in the minotaur lands in the past year, and I want to prevent that from happening here.”

“And the nature of these attacks?”

“Knives, swords, and clubs.”

That actually sounded pretty bad, but it wasn’t here. “Take this idea to the minotaurs and see what they think of it then. For the convenience of everyone in Equestria, I can’t approve this bill. I have experience with these kinds of measures back where I’m from, and they are a hassle. No liquids, shoes, belts and jewelry off, all your things put through one scanner while you go through another scanner yourself, and then collecting all those things. They haven’t even stopped 100 attacks in the, I believe ten years they’ve been in place. And the tickets to ride from those places are hundreds of dollars each. I can only imagine how much of that money goes to a security net that often catches nothing.

“So no, I’m not passing this. Fleur, give it a B, please. Next, Fancy?”

“Regulations on carts, chariots, wagons, and carriages used by their owners to provide rides for money, by Sir Blueblood.” He said.

“I give it a B.”

“How could you?” Blueblood said. He seemed to be a bit angry. “You didn’t even read it!”

“Once again, prior experience with similar things. Also, that bill looks more like a thick book than anything else. I can only imagine the number of regulations for everything in there. Nobody has time to read them. Infact, Fleur, could you give it a second B please?”

“Of course.” Fleur put a second B on it.

The rest of the meeting went by in a blur, not because everything was boring, but because I was going through everything so quickly.

Eventually, the end was approaching. “Just two more to go everyone.” Of the 28 bills I had gone through, none of them got an A of approval from me. It basically boiled down to either more rules and regulations funded by small tax increases or more spending in places that seemed both ludicrous and plaid. I don’t know how something can seem plaid, but it did, and rather quickly at that. “What’s next?”
1
“A bill to cut harvest quotas on all farmers, by Lady Fleur Dee Lis” Fancy said.

That was different. “Let me see that.” I got the bill from him. It was simply one piece of parchment with a few sentences on it to explain the quota cuts. Fruits, grains, vegetables, eggs, milk, feathers, all of it proposed to be cut in half. “Give it an A, Fleur.”

“Actually Yang, you have to sign it” Fleur said. “As the head of this meeting, you have to do approve and sign it.”

“Oh, right.” I had some practice writing with a quill before the meeting started, so I didn’t have too much trouble signing it. It was only after I wrote my full name out that I realized I’d used my script instead of the Equestrian one. Oops. I’m sure it can be figured out later. “What’s the last thing?”

“Lastly is my bill, which I’ve had ready to go for a few years now, but never was gotten to, that would require all bills approved at all meetings like this, both with us and those on the city level, to sign every page of a bill over five normal sized pages long.”

“Even if it’s only one sentence over?” I got the bill from Fancy.

“Yes.”

I looked at the B pile Fleur had moved to the floor. There were some pretty thick bills in there. “Does that include front and back as two pages?”

“Of course. I spent over a month figuring out and closing all the loopholes I could find in this bill. That’s pretty much all of pages two through seven.”

Lady Primrose spoke up. “But if all the pages have to be signed, then that means the heads of the meetings could dismiss something good just because it’s thick!”

She said it, not me. Still, I responded. “Then if it is thick, it had better be good enough to warrant every page being signed. Or you could try to simplify your bills to five pages or fewer. Nobody wants a bill longer than a Daring Do novel. I am willing to sign all seven pages of this bill because I think what it presents is good enough to warrant it. This bill will itself be an example of how to follow its contents.” I signed every page of the bill, still with my native script. I’d have to work on my Equestrian scripture at some point. Twilight would probably be willing to help with that. “And we’re done here. You’re free to go now.”

“Not yet!” Celestia’s voice rang out from above, and in a bright flash of light and heat, which did feel nice, Celestia teleported in. She stood next to Blueblood and directed a serious look at me. “Yang Xiao Long, I am very disappointed.” Blueblood and all the other nobles, except the best two, suddenly perked up.

“I’m sorry, Princess Celestia” I said. “What did I do?” I was kind of scared.

“You did what I only wish I had been doing for all these years I’ve been dealing with nobles.” Every face that was not Celestia’s turned to one of confusion, mine included.

“What?”

“I’ve always listened to the full explanations and read the whole of every bill, even when I see one that I’d read in a similar form before, and I’ve rarely deconstructed, or dismissed, the bills like you have.”

“But Princess, we were trying to help the citizens” Blueblood whined.

“And did you ever stop to think about how it would be implemented? In fact, I’m curious. Yang, how were you able to think through all these bills so quickly?”

“Where I’m from, the political system is fairly jacked up, very technical term there, and my family often listened to talk radio, where they discuss politics, politicians, and current events of the world. It was a mess back there, always changing, often accelerating. And some of the proposals here sounded pretty close to things back home that I’d heard about.”

“And the ones that didn’t?”

“Same line of thought: where will it all come from?”

“And Fancy and Fleur’s bills?”

“Short, simple, to the point, and requires nothing from the citizens. In fact, those bills help the citizens more than the others would have. With Fleur’s, I had no idea farmers had a crop quota, which makes no sense to me, but I suppose weather control helps with that. As for Fancy’s, it helps the citizens by basically requiring bills to be simple enough that the head of the meeting, or anyone in general, can understand them. So, are we done here?”

“Not quite yet. Everyone, please raise your hoof if you heard of miss Yang Xiao Long before last night’s meeting.” Only two hooves went up. I would have been surprised if more nobles raised a hoof than the two best ones. “Then allow me to introduce you to her. Everyone, this is Yang Xiao Long. She’s only been in Equestria for a month, and she’s already put a permanent stop to Tirek already after he escaped again and drained even my magic.”

“Who’s Tirek?” Blueblood asked.

“He was a centaur who drained magic to add to his own strength. He escaped a couple years back before being resealed. When Yang defeated him, he was over 200 feet tall, or eight times as tall as this room. She is a national hero, and she alone defeated him. For you to not know of him at all is very depressing. Everyone, I expect you to know more about Yang before the next meeting. Dismissed.” Most of the nobles left the chamber at that moment, just as Luna, Twilight, and Spike came in.

“I never thought one of these meetings could last for only 90 minutes” Twilight said. “I also didn’t think those puns would ever end.”

“Neither did they” I said.

“I, for one, enjoyed them” Fancy said. “I also must admit that I enjoyed watching everyone else’s reactions.”

“Yang, would you be willing to be the head for more of these meetings?” Fleur asked. “Also, why did you have me put a B on all these bills you didn’t like?”

“B is for Burn. And how often are these meetings?”

“About eight times per year” Twilight answered.

Hmm. “Alright, but only use me as the emergency measure, and a bit of notice ahead of time would be nice too. As much fun as this was, I don’t think I can do it on a regular basis.”

“I understand” Celestia said. “It’s why we take turns as the heads of the meeting.”

“Shall the seven of us have supper together before my night court starts?” Luna suggested. “We have enough time.”

With no disagreements voiced, we left for supper. Overall, today was an exciting day. In fact, there was so much excitement today, I decided I’d spend tomorrow only on the castle grounds until it was time to go back to Ponyville.

Last day of the trip

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My Monday morning in Canterlot went almost exactly as I had planned it. I had a good breakfast, though that feeling of something missing was prevalent. I still can’t quite place my finger on what it is, though I’m sure the answer will come to me eventually.

It was a little while after breakfast that things started getting interesting. I was going for a walk in the castle garden under the beautiful sky with the sun warming everything up when an armored earth pony came up to me. “Miss Yang Xiao Long?” he asked. For some reason, he didn’t sound pleased.

“Yes, that’s me” I responded. “Have I done something wrong?” I really hope not.

“I was informed late last night that you would be coming to boot camp in Canterlot before breakfast. It’s been two hours since then.”

“Wait, what?” I never applied for such a thing.

“I have orders to bring you there for standard training. If you walk with me, it will be easier for you and me both.”

“Sir, I never applied for the military here. I can’t even write Equestrian all that well.”

“Are you backing out on me now!?” I can’t help but wonder if this one was a drill sergeant. He had the voice for it.

“No, I never even applied.” How do you back out of something you never wanted in the first place?

“I was informed you might say something like that. You leave me no choice then. I must subdue you by force and drag you there myself.”

Now sounded like a good time to run. “Nope.” I ran at a pretty good speed past the stallion and back through the garden. I did not sign up for this, and I never told anybody I wanted it either. Something was up, and it wasn’t the fluffy looking clouds in the sky.

“Get back here!” the stallion shouted as he chased me. I didn’t respond as I ran through the garden. I wasn’t breathing anywhere close to hard, but it’s still good to save breath where possible.

If there was one good thing about the armored stallion chasing me, it was that I could hear him. I saw a tall tree up ahead, past a few sharp turns in a hedge maze by the looks of it. An idea clicked in my mind. The one chasing me was an earth pony, and ponies were not good at climbing trees. Probably.

I made my way to the tree and jumped up to the lowest branch, then made my way up a few more, giving me plenty of distance and cover. “Victory is mine!” I thought as I saw the stallion run past the tree.

Now that I wasn’t being chased, that brought to mind the question of why I had been chased in the first place. My name, as far as I knew, was very hard to mistake for someone else’s. It couldn’t have been Celestia or Luna, since they had no reason for me to be put in boot camp, let alone the military in general. Same goes for Twilight and Spike. Fancy and Fleur were right out too, since they were too nice for that.

The only conclusion I could come up with was that it was a noble at the meeting last night. I shot down and deconstructed almost all their bills pretty quickly, which was apparently a first, so I wouldn’t put them faking an application for me beyond them. It became a question then of who.

I made sure to stay still and quieted my breathing when I heard those armored hooves again. They were approaching me, or at least getting closer. He stopped under the tree and sat down. He didn’t seem to be looking for me now, but rather like he was waiting for someone.

For a few minutes, we stayed like that. Then Lady Primrose walked up to him. “Good day, sir” she greeted. “I heard you got a new recruit, the one and only Yang Xiao Long. Congratulations on having such a notable being in your camp.”

“She’s not there. In fact, she never even showed up. I’ve been chasing her for half an hour, and I can’t find her.”

“Then I would be happy to assist you. I can talk with plants, and you are in a garden after all.”

“Oh no” I thought. “Dear tree that I’m hiding in, please don’t give me away to her.”

Lady Primrose’s horn lit up with a bright green glow and the grass began to shift around and form a path to the tree. Not good. “Her trail stops here at this very tree, and there’s no trace of magic or anything flying through recently. She must be here.”

The stallion turned around and launched a powerful kick at the tree, causing it to shake violently. Unfortunately, I had gone out on a limb to watch them, wasn’t holding on to anything, and I fell to the ground face first. Surprise, surprise, it stung a bit.

“There you are, rookie” the stallion said before wrapping some of my hair around a forehoof and pulling my undamaged face off the ground. “When I get you to the camp, the first thing you’ll get is a haircut down to regulation length!” And then my hair lit up at that, causing him to recoil away from me. I felt a brief pulling on my scalp, and when I looked at the stallion, I saw a couple strands of my hair caught on his armor.

Oh no. And there’s that feeling of my eyes going red. “For the last time, you will not!” I was mad now. I retreated into my mind a bit as I lunged at the stallion from my spot on the ground and, very quickly, grabbed him at the top of his neck, stood up, spun around and choke slammed him into the trunk of the tree I had just fallen out of. Bits of wood came out from the impact, both towards me and I think a bit on the other side too.

With him taken care of, I turned my attention to Primrose, who was now backing away from me, clearly afraid of what I might do to her. The moment her horn lit up, I extended the Ember Celica to their full length. She fired a blast at me from her horn, which I easily blocked with the magicproof gauntlets.

“W-what are you going to do to me?” she fearfully asked as I approached and grabbed her the same way I had the stallion.

“You’re going in the dirt with your grasshole friends” I responded before picking her up as I had with the armored one, fancy dress and all, and choke slamming her into the ground, kicking up a plume of dirt upon impact.

After those two were taken care of, my anger was extinguished and I stumbled a bit as I got back in control of myself and my eyes changed back. I looked at the two ponies and their fearful looks in my direction. I did the only thing I could think of.

“Somebody help!” I shouted to the sky.

It didn’t take long for help to arrive in the form of four pegasi guards, their armor styled differently from the earth pony’s, to arrive. “Did you call for help, miss Xiao Long?”

“Yeah, I did” I said while sitting on my knees on the ground between the stuck ponies. “I did this to them.”

The pegasus in charge turned to his comrades and began talking with them. I could tell one of them was keeping an eye on me, even though I had no intention of going anywhere. Well, they couldn’t tell that, and I basically just admitted to assaulting two ponies in front of them, and oh god I’m going to be in a lot of trouble.

One of the pegasi left for the castle while the one in charge came to me and the other two tended to the stuck ones. “Yang Xiao Long, slayer of Tirek” he started. “I can tell you’re quite upset by this, so let’s not beat around the bush, and we’ll get this figured out as soon as possible: why did you do this?”

I knew that if I only told him why those two were stuck, it wouldn’t be enough, so I told him about my whole morning after breakfast. From my walk to my run, climb, fall, burst of anger at my hair being pulled out, and then calling for help. After telling him my story, I looked at my victims. Apparently, they were stuck worse than I thought they were. None of the pegasi had been able to get them out.

“Why would you get angry over your hair being pulled out like that?”

“It’s part of who I am, as much as I don’t like it. I don’t have any control over it. Anyways, what are the charges and the punishment?”

“Based on what we saw at first, it was going to be two high counts of assault, but now that I’ve heard your story, there’s likely more to look into. Princess Celestia should be here soon.”

“Very soon, captain” Celestia corrected as she landed next to us, followed by the fourth guard. “Yang, I want to know why you would do this.”

The captain answered before I did. “She did it in what I’m calling a case of self defense. Drill sergeant Iron Hoof was pursuing Yang, whose name was on an application to the military, and she only did this to them after her hair got damaged, causing her to fly into a rage that was apparently out of her control until it was over.”

“Why would Yang apply for the military? She’s much too timid for that.” There was no denying that.

“I believe someone filled out a form in her name. Why somepony would do that to someone who’s saved Equestria from certain doom is beyond me.”

Celestia contemplated the information for a bit before walking over to Lady Primrose, who was still stuck in the ground, and easily pulled her out with her magic. “Prove to me that you have no motive, Lady Primrose.”

“What?” Lady Primrose asked. “Why would you think I have any motives?”

“After Yang utterly destroyed your bill last night in a matter of minutes? The one you’ve worked on for so long? That you apparently knew about Yang’s “enrollment”?”

Lady Primrose shuddered for a bit before she gave up and answered. “I didn’t do it alone. Almost all of the council was in on it after the meeting. After we pulled all the information we could on her last night, we forged an application in her name with the assistance of one of the enrollment office’s transcribers.”

“Almost all of you?” Celestia probably knew who wasn’t in that group, and I think I was thinking of the same two too.

“I’m sure that if Fancy and Fleur’s bills were rejected, then they would have been with us too.” Suspicions confirmed. And they just got more points in my book.

I decided to speak up. “Did you know that last night’s meeting was the first time they got to even present those bills of theirs? And do you know why I approved theirs?”

“Why were theirs approved? Did they pay you anything?”

“No. Aside from being short and simple, they also went in the opposite direction of yours. Theirs eased restrictions on individuals and made it tougher for massive bills to go through while yours seemed more oppressive. Mr. Iron Hoof, how often do you read up on newly passed bills?”

“I always skip that part of the newspaper” he said as Celestia pulled him out of the tree and set him down. “It’s too long and confusing for me.”

“When you can, read the ones I approved. It won’t take long, I promise.”

“Iron Hoof, you aren’t getting out of this unscathed” Celestia said. “You were just doing your job, but you didn’t hear Yang out. This could have been avoided if you had just listened to her and used some discretion.”

“My apologies, Princess” Iron Hoof said. “I’ll return to the camp now.”

“No, you are taking the week off from training the rookies. Even with your armor and how tough you naturally are, getting slammed into a tree like that can cause damage. You will get a checkup to see if anything was damaged, undo Yang’s enrollment, and fix your armor yourself. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Princess.”

“You’re dismissed. And do make sure to read the bills Yang passed.” At her word, Iron Hoof left the scene, along with the pegasi guards, leaving a levitated Lady Primrose with Celestia and me. “Back to you and your admission, Lady Primrose. Whether or not you’re forgiven depends on Yang, since she was the one you targeted, but you all will be punished.”

“How can I earn her forgiveness?” Lady Primrose asked.

“I’m not the one to ask.” Celestia set the mare on her hooves. Her dress had bits of dirt all over the back, and a few tears were obvious. She didn’t look too injured though, which was surprising. I guess ponies are just tough creatures.

Lady Primrose slowly turned to me. “Miss Yang Xiao Long, what can I do to earn your forgiveness?”

Tough question there. I don’t like tough questions. “As long as you keep this from happening again, you’ll be forgiven. Pretty simple, yes?”

“No forced military recruitment, yes” Lady Primrose said.

“And you must pay for the damages Yang accrued through this scheme of yours, along with the time of those you’ve taken up” Celestia said. “Tell the members involved in this scheme that I will see them too.”

“Yes, Princess Celestia.” Done here, Lady Primrose left the scene scared. I know I’d be scared in a situation like hers.

“And how are you feeling, Yang?”

“Pretty bad” I admitted. “I don’t like hurting anyone, and I still have no control over my anger when my hair’s damaged. I just wish that this whole thing could have been solved with words alone. If it was, maybe I’d just be walking past this tree right now.” I looked back at the craters I had made with the two ponies. The one in the ground could be filled in and smoothed over, but the one in the tree would be a more permanent mark of what I can do. It’s not the kind of mark I want to leave.

Celestia followed my gaze to the tree. “You may have more restraint than you think you do. You didn’t use any of your, what are those things that go in your gauntlets?”

I looked at and collapsed the Ember Celica. “Shells.”

“Yes, you didn’t use any of those. You also stopped after you stuck them in their places. Neither were seriously hurt, thankfully. And you’re not angry right now either. In fact, the first thing you did once after your outburst ended was to call for help, and you even admitted to what you did. I see that as a strength of yours.”

“Or just me being timid.”

“No. It’s easy to deny doing something bad. Admitting you did something at the scene you caused means you did not run. It takes a certain strength that I don't see very often anymore among the nobility.”

“Thanks, I guess. I think I’ll just go back to the library in the castle. Sometimes, it feels like I can’t even walk outside without something happening to me. Thanks for your time.” As I made my way back to the castle, I found myself wondering if there was a sunny spot in there I could read at.

I didn’t find just a sunny spot in the library, but a whole sunny wing, filled with light reading and short stories. It even had a few weird sculptures made of panels at odd angles in an open area that were perfect for lounging on, as one pony was. I asked a librarian about it, and apparently those sculptures were built for just that purpose. They were also secured to the floor, both physically and magically, so the chances of them falling over because of climbing was pretty much null.

After finding a couple of cheery looking books, I made my way to the tallest of the sculptures and began climbing it. There was a spot at the top that looked nice, like two sides of a cube in a V-like shape. It was also the only spot on the tower that wasn’t enclosed. The climb there wasn’t easy, since I also had to move my books with me and the angles were weird.

It took me around twenty minutes, or so it felt, but I finally made it to the top. To my surprise during the climb, the whole sculpture wasn’t hot, not even the parts that had to have been in the sun for a few hours at the least by now. Those parts were just slightly warm. It was probably magic that kept it that way.

I got to my spot, settled in, and began reading one of my books. Now I could relax and forget about what happened out in the garden.

“Yang? Yang, wake up” Twilight said as she hovered next to me.

I yawned and stretched my arms. When did I fall asleep? “Twilight? What time is it?”

“Only three in the afternoon. We still have a few hours before we head back to Ponyville. Would you like to visit my family for a bit?”

“Not this time, Twilight. Sorry.”

“Aww. Oh, Yang, be careful. You’re pretty high up.” Hm? Oh, right, I was a good ways up. At least the sunlight was nice. “Also, you’re apparently a quiet sleeper. None of the librarians even noticed you were asleep until an hour ago.”

“Really?” At least my nap was a good one. “So, what are you doing here?”

“I’ve been looking for you to let you know that everything that happened this morning has been fully sorted out. I also wanted to let you know about how the bills you passed have been received.”

“Yeah?”

“The harvest collectors are not happy, since they can’t demand as many crops now. Lawmakers are not happy since they can’t pass those really long bills as easily. On the other hoof, we’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback from the general populace in Canterlot.”

“Does that mean I’ll have more fans here?” I was dreading the thought.

“Most likely yes. And across Equestria too. I wouldn’t be surprised if Applejack is at the station waiting to thank you when we get back to Ponyville tonight.”

“I’m sure I can handle that. So, what’s the plan?”

“After we get down and put your books back, we are going to see Rarity.”

Now I was a bit confused. “Huh?”

“She didn’t tell you? She has a branch of her boutique here in Canterlot. Seems she decided to make an impromptu visit there, so she said in the letter she sent me.”

“Why not just come here herself instead of sending a letter?”

“She sent it with her magic. She’ll be arriving at the station at 5:30, and we can take the 8:00 train back to Ponyville with her.”

“So we have five more hours in Canterlot then?” I turned to the side, slid off my spot on the tower with my books in hand and nailed the landing. “Do you have a plan for those few hours?”

“Of course I do. The first thing we’re going to do is gather all your things in your suitcase and go to the local Carousel Boutique. We’ll drop off your suitcase there and wait for Rarity at the station. If we arrive early enough, I can buy our tickets for the ride back ahead of time while we wait.”

“Shouldn’t you get special privileges, being a Princess and all that?” I let Twilight put the books back since she seemed to know exactly where they went. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had whatever equivalent there was to the dewey decimal system here memorized. I know I wouldn’t.

“I don’t take advantage of them unless I have to and if there’s no way I can do it with my magic. Buying a regular ticket is cheaper and easier than the crown reimbursing for first class.”

“Less money and paperwork.”

“I actually used to love paperwork. I’ve even had dreams where paperwork was all I did, and I was happy in them. Now that I’m a princess, it’s not as fun as I’d dreamed of it being.”

“Were you getting paid for each document in those dreams?”

“No, that wasn’t part of the dreams. Why do you ask?”

“If you got paid for each document you processed, it would be pay-per-work.”

Twilight gave me a deadpan look and loudly sighed. “Yang, why are you making all these puns?”

I was about to answer her when the question actually hit me. Why was I making all these puns? I didn’t do that before I came to Equestria, and I didn’t do it for a while after my arrival either. It was probably a recent development. “I don’t actually know. Hey, where’s Spike?”

“He’s at the comic store downtown. He’ll meet us at the station. Since we have time, would you like to get a donut at Pony Joe’s?”

“Now who would say no to that?”.

“I can think of a few ponies that would.”

We left the library and went up to the room I used last night. Along the way, Twilight told me about some of her adventures, like the time she and her friends in Ponyville, including Rarity, defeated Nightmare Moon and saved Luna. It sounded like quite the adventure.

Before making our way out of the castle, we decided to stop by Luna’s room, though it was mostly my decision. I knocked and Luna opened the door. “Hello, Yang, Twilight. What brings you two to my chambers?”

“Since I’ll be out of Canterlot in a few hours, I just thought I’d come by and say bye” I answered.

“You did it again, Yang” Twilight said from behind a facehoof. “You punned. Please stop.”

“Did I?” I thought over what I just said. “I did, didn’t I? Sorry. I’ll do my best to can the jokes for later.”

“Dang it, Yang!”

“That one was punintentional!”

“Oh be quiet already.” Twilight’s horn flashed and my throat felt kind of tingly for a moment. I tried to ask her if she just had a bright idea, but no sound came out of my mouth. “Thank you. I’m glad I know that mute spell.” She muted me? Not cool, Twilight. Not cool.

“Yes, the puns do get tiring after a while” Luna said. Traitor! “So, you’ll be gone soon? In that case, I wish you both a good trip back. I’ve got some mental exercises to work on. If I’m going to deconstruct bills like Yang did, I’ll need the practice.”

“That’s a good idea, Luna. Maybe we can practice with each other later on. That should help us out even more.”

“I’ll make sure we try it with each other when Cadance can join us. Oh, I’ve heard little Flurry Heart’s just starting kindergarten.” Who’s Flurry Heart? And when will I get to speak again?

“I hope the school’s ready for her. Or that a tutor is lined up just in case the school can’t handle her. I’d do it myself, but I can’t.”

“I’m sure you’ll get the chance to teach her all kinds of magic in the future.”

“Of course I will. Anyways, the clock’s ticking and teleportation isn't an option for us. Bye, Luna.” Twilight waved with a forehoof before walking down the hall. I waved to Luna as I left. I would have said ‘bye, Luna’ too, but I was still muted.

When we came in sight of the exit, Twilight asked me a question. “I’ll unmute you, but can you promise me that you won’t make more puns?” I nodded yes. At least I’d try not to pun.

Twilight’s horn flashed and my throat tingled one again. “Did it- yes, it did work” I said. “Thanks, Twilight.”

“I hope I don’t have to punish you like that again.”

Hmm. “Did you just make a pun yourself?”

It was Twilight’s turn to think back on what she said. “Sweet Celestia, it’s contagious.” I laughed a bit at her realization. I was still wondering when this punning of mine started though. At least it made me feel better.

We just got to the castle gates when I realized something. “Hey, Twilight? What if there are fans of mine out there?”

“Hm. That could be a problem, especially considering the barriers that you were trapped in last time. What if I were to fly and levitate you along? Since you’re wearing the Ember Celica, their magic immunity shouldn’t be an issue. If we go high enough, nopony on the ground should notice us.” I considered the options. Taking the ground route sounded more risky, but I’d also rather not be reliant upon Twilight. Then again, the air route was safer. I never thought that would be the case at any point. “We can stop at Carousel Boutique and you can hide there, along with your luggage. The mare that runs it is a friend of Rarity’s, so I’m sure she’d keep you safe there while I meet Rarity at the station.”

“I like the idea of hiding there. The less time I’m in the open here, the better I’ll feel.”

“Brace yourself, Yang.” Twilight spread her wings and crouched down, looking almost like a cat about to jump onto a table. A large, purple winged cat with hooves. I was enveloped in her magic, and the moment she took off straight upwards, I followed, along with my suitcase. I was now flying through the air with nothing on me but my clothes. The telekinetic field put a little bit of pressure on me from every direction, which both assured me that I was fine and made me a tad uncomfortable.

Fortunately, our flight was short, more like a big jump and some gliding. I was able to make out the boutique here fairly easily since its decor was similar to the one back in Ponyville. It was part of a big shopping plaza, and things didn’t look too busy. When Twilight landed, so did I, though my landing could be best described as the antithesis of graceful, maybe even a flop.

“Yang, are you okay?” Twilight asked as I got up.

“I’ve been through worse since I’ve been here” I said. Thank goodness for aura. It’s awesome.“Like that time I fell into your castle.”

“Yeah, that was a pretty bad fall back then. I’m sure that you would have been able to get right up if not for that case landing on your head.”

“And then promptly freaked out, leading to the need for a Fluttershy hug that much sooner. So, we’re here?” I picked up my suitcase, which wasn’t damaged. I’m sure Rarity would not have appreciated damage on it.

“Yep.” Twilight simply walked into the store, ringing a bell in the process. “Coco, are you here?”

“Just a moment, Princess Twilight” came a mare’s voice from the back of the store. In fact, it sounded more like it came from behind the mirror over the back of the shop. A minute later, a tan earth pony came out, wearing a purple and white collar and a red tie. “How can I help you oh sweet Celestia, it’s Yang Xiao Long!” My dread was dissipated slightly when she cleared her throat and composed herself. “Sorry about that. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you in person, Ms. Xiao Long. Rarity told me about the simple black and white dresses you inspired her to create. I’ve barely been able to keep up on those orders.”

“Sorry to interrupt Coco, but can you do us a favor?”

“Oh? What do you need from me?”

I answered. “I need a place to hide for a while before taking the train back to Ponyville tonight. I’d rather face the wild fans of mine out there as little as possible.”

“That’s all?”

“Yeah. I got stuck in a mob of them yesterday. It wasn’t pleasant, and Celestia had to break it up. On her day off, no less.”

“So that’s what all the noise was about yesterday. Come with me. You can hide out in my workshop.”

“Thanks, Coco” Twilight said as I followed Coco. “I know we’re imposing on you, but we really appreciate it.”

“If Rarity is allowing Yang to live with her, then letting her stay here for a few hours is no problem for me.”

“Thanks, Ms. Coco” I said as Twilight left the store.

“Please Yang, I prefer Coco, or Ms. Pommel.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s alright. I won’t get upset over something that small. Now, here’s my workshop.” Coco opened a door that lead to a workshop that seemed to only be barely spacious enough for the purpose, especially since one of the walls was actually a window overlooking the shop downstairs. Seems one way glass is a thing here. “Sorry it’s such a small space. The rest of the floor is storage, an office, and a bathroom. Space here is not cheap, and I’m no pegasus. Or unicorn.”

I wondered for a moment how an earth pony could manage the fine manipulation of the materials needed for making clothes. “It’s alright.”

“While you’re here, you can do whatever you want, but please don’t mess up anything I’ve got set up here.”

“If I ever dream of doing that, it would be a nightmare. You have any paper and pencils?”

“Plenty of both, and some really good sharpeners. Oh, I’ve got a guest downstairs. Excuse me.” Coco left me in the workshop, closing the door on her way out. I began to carefully look around for the paper and pencils in here. I had something on my mind.

“Hello, Yang” Rarity said. “I have something for you.”

“Really?” I looked up from my writing, seeing both my host and Coco.

“I’ve successfully made a pair of shoes for you, as you wanted them. And a bit sooner than expected.” Rarity pulled a box out of her saddlebags, floated it over to me, and opened it up. The black shoes within looked very durable and well made.

“I like them already” I said as I pulled them out of the box. “Do you want me to try them on now?”

“If you don’t mind, dear. We’ll give you some privacy.”

“Rarity, it’s just my shoes. It’s not like I’m changing my whole outfit.” Already, I was partway through getting a boot off. As nice and durable as they were, they also took longer to get on and off than I liked.

“So changing your clothes requires privacy, but not your shoes? That doesn’t make much sense to me.”

I shrugged and finished taking off my boot before starting on the other one. “So, what brings you here?”

“A surprise inspection. I give it a rating of Fabulous. Coco has really come a long way since her time with Suri Polomare.”

“I do like to think I learned from the best” Coco said. “Rarity has done so much for me, I have no idea how I could thank her.”

As I slipped on my new shoes, I noticed something. “Where’s Twilight and Spike?”

“Oh, Twilight came across her parents on the street and she started talking with them. I believe I heard her mention your name. Spike stuck with her. I can only imagine they have positive things to say about you.”

“Oh.” With my new shoes on, I walked around the workshop a bit.

“How are they?”

“They’re very nice. They’re soft, secure, supportive, slightly stiff, simply superb. I like them.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Coco, what do you think of them?”

“They really simplify Yang’s look compared to the boots, although the brown was a nice little splash of color. Oh, Rarity, I’ve come up with a black and white dress I’d like to show you.”

I tuned out the rest of the conversation, though I did look at Coco’s dress. The right half was white, the left black, and both sides had mirrored jagged patterns in their opposite side’s color. It was a very striking look, though not something I’d go for myself. Rarity seemed to like it though.

Eventually, Twilight walked in with Spike on her back. Both had big smiles on and were greeted by Rarity. “Looks like you both had a good talk with your parents.”

“We did” Twilight said.

“They really wanted to know about you, Yang” Spike said. “Since we weren’t exactly in a private place, we didn’t tell them very much.”

“What did you tell them?” I asked.

Twilight answered. “The results of your welcome party, that time you saved us and became utterly depressed, the way we pulled you out of it, and how you slept through your spa trip. We didn’t mention anything about you staying with Rarity.”

“I appreciate that. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Oh, that’s a very nice dress, Coco.”

“Thanks” Coco said.

“You’re welcome. I imagine that pattern would be popular among griffons.”

Coco looked over the dress, the gears of her mind at work. While that was going on, I took my writing off the clipboard, folded it up, and pocketed it. Fortunately, I was able to fit it in the pocket with only a little bit of effort. Unfortunately, it took up most of the space in the pocket. I was beginning to better understand why women often carried purses. I still didn’t understand the fashion part of it though. “So, what now?” I asked.

“We have just under two hours until our train leaves. I imagine none of us really want to be cooped up in here for that whole time.”

“If you’re worried about the crowds, Princess, they’re usually waning around now when everyone’s having supper” Coco said. “In fact, there’s a small restaurant near the train station I can recommend. It’s only been there a few months, and the whole inside is a bit smaller than this workshop, but it’s really good.”

“Really? What’s it called?”

“Crepes. That’s really what it’s called, and it’s what they serve.”

“Just crepes?” Rarity asked. “Sounds more like a dessert place to me.”

“The stallion there can make crepes for any meal. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even just a light snack.”

“How have I not noticed that place yet?” Twilight asked. “I go through the train station pretty often, and I haven’t seen it. Tonight, we’ll try it. If we don’t like it, we can get something on the train.”

“The storefront is only a little bit bigger than the door to the workshop. It’s easy to miss. Oh, pardon me. I see a noble guest down there.” Coco turned tail and went downstairs to tend to the customer.

I looked out the glass and saw that the noble in question was none other than Fleur Dee Lis herself. “Well, I think it’s time we got out of Coco’s mane. She has enough to worry about and we have dinner and a train to catch.” I snagged my suitcase after putting my boots in it and followed Twilight out.

On the way out, Fleur noticed me. “Hello Yang.”

I didn’t slow my pace and kept walking past her. “Hi Fleur. Bye Fleur.”

“Bye, Yang.” With our brief exchange done, I continued with Spike, Twilight, and Rarity out the building and towards the train station. I was wondering along the way just what was in the crepes at Crepes.

Coco’s description of the place was pretty accurate. The inside of the restaurant barely had enough space for the cooking area, us to sit down with our things, and the ceiling was just inches away from my head. A claustrophobic would not like it here. I don’t think a pegasus would like it either, based on how Twilight’s wings were fidgeting.

“Welcome to Crepes” the unicorn stallion said from the kitchen right by us. “You’ll find the menu on the table.” I looked at the table and saw under its glass surface the menu, seared right into the wood. Points to him for creativity.

I decided to get the deluxe fruit crepe, since almost all the others had flowers or grasses in them, and the ones that didn’t didn’t sound as good. That feeling of something missing nagged at the back of my mind again.

The stallion was quick to make and serve the crepes. Mine came out first, and it was big. There was no way I was leaving here hungry, though I might just get something on the train too. I didn’t pay Twilight or Rarity’s crepes much mind, but I was curious how Spike’s fried emerald crepe worked.

The light conversation and good food lasted us until twenty minutes before our train was due to depart. Twilight paid for the meal and we left the place, stomachs full. I wasn’t entirely satisfied, good as mine was, but it would do for now. We’ll probably come back here later.

Our train arrived right on time, and as the few on it got off, the few going to Ponyville got on. Rarity, Twilight, Spike, and I got the rear car to ourselves. Part of me wanted to sit on the back of the car again, but it was really close to sundown, so I decided against it. At least the trip ended on a peaceful note, even if today had a bit of a rough start.

Starting a new routine

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I woke up with a sunbeam to my eyes. Oh how I did and did not miss this during my time away from Rarity’s. Time to get going with the day. I started with a shower that would probably scald and burn anyone not immune to heat and burns like I was. The hot water felt really good to me. After getting clean, I got dressed as usual in front of the pleasantly fogged mirrors, my boots replaced with the new shoes, and went downstairs for breakfast.

“Good morning, Yang” Rarity said. “Sleep well?”

“Yep. My eyes got reacquainted with the sunbeam this morning” I said as I sat down to one of Rarity’s breakfast salad sandwiches. They were weird, but they somehow worked. That odd feeling came back too. Something was missing, or so it felt.

"Hi Yang” Sweetie Belle greeted from her spot at the table. “How was your trip to Canterlot?”

“Too exciting for me. I got separated from Twilight and Spike and trapped by a swarm of fans shortly after arriving. Then I became the head of a “financial meeting” with the same nobles that were here recently. At least I got some good things passed.”

“Politics? Boring.”

“Can I ask you to at least read the bills that were passed?”

Rarity gave Sweetie a look and a subtle nod. “Fine, I’ll read them. They’re probably full of boring and confusing legal stuff.”

“And as for yesterday, I got. . . angered. It got sorted out in the end though. After that, things were calmer.”

“Sounds interesting. Oh, would you like to know what Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and I figured out?”

“What were you figuring out?”

“Why you got sick the day after you ate at the Chineighse restaurant. It was a homework assignment.”

“Oh, that. What did you find out?”

“The oils they use to cook their food is based in a unique grass. I don’t know how that works, but it does. They wouldn’t tell us. We told them about your reaction, which was the first time they’ve ever had something like that happen with their food.”

“Really?”

“What we concluded was that the grass oils in the food did not agree with you. The food you got was stuff you normally eat, so that only left the oil.”

“So I have a grass allergy now. Great.”

“You only reacted when you ate it. If you were allergic to simply being exposed to the stuff, you’d be staying inside a lot more than you do. It was also a special grass, so you might just be allergic to that kind.”

Clever girl. “Good point. So I just have to continue not eating grass and grass infused products as I’ve done my whole life. In a land where grass is an important part of the diet. Got it.”

“We got a good grade on it, especially for our promptness.”

“Good job. A school project that actually helps someone. That would be a novelty where I’m from.”

The rest of breakfast went smoothly and quietly. Eventually, it was time for Sweetie to go to school. She gave both Rarity and me a hug, pet Opal on the way out, and left.

“So, will you be doing anything today, Yang?” Rarity asked.

“I think I’ll go for a walk or a run or something. I’ve got some energy to burn today for some reason. More than usual.”

“Sounds good. Oh, tell me how those shoes feel when you get back. I’ve never made any like that before and I need to know if I did well.”

“Can do. I’ll see you when I get back.”

I wandered around town for a bit before deciding to walk the town’s perimeter counterclockwise. That feeling from breakfast was almost gone, so that was good. I think just moving was getting it out of my system. The fresh air probably helped too.

I eventually came across the fence for Sweet Apple Acres during my walk and stopped. The respectful thing to do would be to just walk along it and not go over it, but I’m also sure Applejack wouldn’t mind me just walking around the farm, especially if I left everything alone.

My thoughts were interrupted by Applejack herself. “Howdy, Yang. Something on your mind?”

“Oh, hi Applejack” I greeted with a short wave. “Yeah, I do have something on my mind.”

“Ah’ll hear it out.”

“Well, I’m walking around Ponyville, literally, and I’m not sure whether or not I should jump the fence to walk on your farm.”

“Ah’m fine with it. You’re a friend, so it’s okay.”

“Really? Thanks.”

“It’s nothin’ to worry about. Up for a little race?”

I considered her offer and easily jumped over the fence to stand next to Applejack. “You know, that doesn’t sound bad. Where to where?”

“Ah’m thinkin’ from here, all along the forest edge, up to the fence on the other end of the farm. Think you can handle it?”

“I probably can. Just give me a minute to get ready.” I did a few stretches, especially in my legs. As I got limbered up, the thought crossed my mind that jeans weren’t really a good choice for this. Still, I was here, and there wasn’t any point in turning back.

“Ready now?”

“Just waiting on the signal.” My joints were sufficiently loose and I was ready to run.

Applejack said “GO!” shortly after we were both in position. As we ran at our full speeds, the forest on my right and Applejack on my left, neither of us really got ahead of the other. Neither of us were breathing hard either, though Applejack was breathing more easily than I was.

The whole race took what felt like 30 minutes, and Applejack won by a slim margin. “That was a good race, Yang” she said.

“Yeah” I agreed. “I’m kind of amazed I was able to run like that after all the time I haven’t exercised here.”

“Ah guess your body is just that amazing. You didn’t even break a sweat. Feel free to run here any time you want.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you later.”

“See ya.”

With a friendly nod, we each went our separate ways. Applejack went back to the farm and I jumped over the fence to continue my walk. The run was on my mind, namely the way my breasts kept going up and down, up and down, up and down. It was very annoying and actually hurt a little bit. On the other hand, the run felt really good. The jeans didn’t really flex as I needed them to either. They were good for day to day stuff, but running didn’t seem like one of those things.

I guess I could solve both problems with the athletic outfits Rarity made for me. I could also wear my t-shirt over the more exposing sports bra part, but that wouldn’t work for the whole outfit. It looked weird in my mind.

I guess I’ll just stop this walk at Rarity’s, change to an athletic outfit, maybe snag an apple, and then figure things out from there.

After I changed to the caution stripe set and had my apple, I found that I still had energy to spare, so I decided to go out and try running again. Before I went through the door though, I was stopped by my sense of self-consciousness. I was showing a lot of my skin with this outfit. More than I was used to, especially my midriff. Then I remembered that I was living in Equestria, where the midriff was exposed on nearly everyone, even the rulers here. With a strong exhale, I went outside with a bit of extra force opening the door.

The sound caught the eye of a few ponies who looked my way, then continued on as they were. None of them seemed to care that I was wearing a more revealing outfit. I was mostly relieved that none of them cared about the different look I had going on, but there was some part of me that didn’t like the lack of reactions. Strange.

I made the trek back to where I stopped my run along the town border. Along the way, my self-consciousness battled with the more free feeling of the outfit. The battle continued on when I reached my spot and even as I did a few stretches. Finally, I started my run and my self-consciousness lost the battle when practicality joined the free feeling. My breasts were still bouncing a bit, but it was nowhere near as bad as when I ran with Applejack. With my chest under control, I found myself enjoying the run more than the earlier one. Maybe I could put my hair in a ponytail next time? I did like it when I tried it before.

When I came to the fence for Sweet Apple Acres, I simply jumped over it. It did break the pace I had going though. Maybe I could get over that by jumping the fence like a hurdle? I don’t know how to properly jump a hurdle, but I’ll figure something out.

As I made my way around the farm, the idea of making this my routine came to mind. I could probably use some other exercise routines to balance it out and work my whole body. If I needed to fight my way out of a situation or save someone from a pile of rubble, it would be good to have the extra strength. I’ll have to find some way to work on that.

The answer

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It’s been about two and a half weeks since the Canterlot trip, and things have been going well, aside from me not really having much to do. I’ve tried on all seven of the athletic outfits Rarity made for me, and they all fit me quite well. The only one I didn’t really like was a psychedelic pastel pink and baby blue one (blegh). The shoes she made for me also changed colors a bit to go with the outfit I had on. It was a cool trick.

In that time, the feeling of something missing has gotten stronger, especially during meals. I don’t know what it is, but nopony in Ponyville has it. The only way I’ve found to get it to go away is by running. I’ve been wearing mostly just the athletic outfits recently, all of which bare my midriff. Even though I don’t sweat or overheat during my runs, they’re just easier to wear for the purpose than the normal t-shirt and jeans. That, and I’ve started taking a liking to them.

Today, I was out running around Ponyville again, wearing the caution stripe set (my favorite one). The nagging feeling was stronger than ever, an easy claim to make when it gets stronger every day, and I had just worked it out of my system when I was joined by none other than Rainbow Dash. “Hey Yang” Rainbow greeted as she lazily flew by me.

“Hi Rainbow” I greeted back without breaking pace. “What brings you to this part of Ponyville?”

“I just thought I’d join my friend for a bit. Are all humans as fast as you?”

“No, I’m superhuman. I think I can run a mile in 3 minutes, maybe less since I’ve been running daily.”

“Depends on how many timberwolves are chasing you?”

“Maybe.”

“Of course. Oh, would you like to meet a friend of mine? I’ve told her a bit about you already. She’s a griffon.”

“Sure thing.”

“Sweet! Oh, Yang, watch out for that-” I was so quickly taken into my thoughts about griffons that I missed a turn and ran into something. “-tree. Yang, are you alright?”

I began to comically peel away from the tree face first. “In a minute or two.” I finally flopped onto my back and caught a bit of breath. I wasn’t drained from my run, but more the surprise that came from running into a tree. I looked over my chest and saw the impression I left. Based on what I saw, and considering how I peeled away from the tree, my body was in really great shape. The area where my chest hit was the deepest part of the impression, which didn’t really surprise me. “Are my clothes damaged?”

Rainbow looked over my clothes for a bit. “No, they’re not.”

“That’s good. Less work for Rarity. So, your griffon friend?”

Rainbow offered a hoof to help me up, and I took it. “Her name’s Gilda. We went to flight camp together. The first time she came to Ponyville, it didn’t exactly go well. She’s lightened up since then.”

“Lead the way.”

“Try to keep up with me” Rainbow said before taking off back the way we had come from. I took a moment to get back up to speed and followed her. After jumping over a calm river and dashing into the whitetail woods, Rainbow came to a stop in a fairly empty park.

“Over here, Rainbow” the griffon, presumably Gilda, called out from the base of a tree. We made our way over to her.

“There you are. Gilda, this is Yang. Yang, this is Gilda.” Gilda stood up as we approached her. Her eyes were almost level with mine. I guess I wouldn’t have much reason to look down on her, nor would she have much reason to look up to me. At least physically.

“So you’re Dash’s newest friend? I’ll be honest, you don’t look all that powerful.”

“Gilda!”

“She’s not wrong” I said. “You don’t exactly see a lot of visible muscle on my slim body, right?” There was something in the air. Something that smelled delicious. And I wanted it.

“Well, if you don’t mind, I guess I won’t either.”

“Besides, I doubt I’d win a test of strength against her” Gilda said.

“You’re probably right.” I began sniffing the air, trying to find the source of the scent. It seemed like it was coming from Gilda’s direction. Maybe it was something in one of her saddlebags?

“Uh, Yang, are you okay?” Rainbow asked. “You don’t usually sniff the air like that.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” The scent was stronger on Gilda’s left side. If I could tell that, the scent had to be close. It had to be in one of her bags. Specifically, the left one. I moved closer to it.

“What are you doing?” Gilda asked as she backed away from me.

“I smell something good.”

“In there? That’s just my travel snacks. I doubt you’d want them.”

“Can I at least see them?”

Gilda looked at Rainbow. Both shrugged at each other. “Fine. But don’t blame me if it makes you feel sick.”

“I can probably take it.” It didn’t smell like there was any grass or flowers in it. Speaking of which, I really needed to find a new toothpaste flavor. After the Chineighse food incident, I’ve been having trouble brushing my teeth without feeling a bit sick.

“If you say so.” When Gilda pulled out a paper bag, the scent grew stronger. It was just too much for me to handle. Before she could open it, I leapt forward and snagged it right out of her talons. “Hey!”

“This isn’t normal” Rainbow noted, concern clear in her voice.

I was about to open the bag when Gilda grabbed my wrist. “That’s mine.”

“Not for long” I said before removing her talon from my wrist with my other hand. It didn’t take long for it to turn into a high speed grabbing duel. If we weren’t removing the other’s hand/talon from our wrists, we were holding the bag. It got to the point where our arms were just a blur and the bag looked like it was floating on its own in the middle of it.

A hoof smashing into my head and Gilda’s stopped us and Rainbow grabbed the bag with a forehoof before it could hit the ground. “Both of you, cut it out! Yang, what’s gotten into you? You’re usually not this aggressive.”

I managed to slow my mind down a bit to come up with an answer. “I’ve been having, oh what’s the word? Ahh, cravings! I’ve been craving something that nobody in Ponyville has, and whatever’s in there is probably what I want.”

“Gilda, what’s in here? I’m no good at telling your snacks apart from each other by smell.”

“A bacon wrapped steak” Gilda said. “Cooked medium and preserved for travel.”

“THAT’S IT!” I shouted. I leapt towards the bag, but Rainbow was faster. She took it up to a low hanging cloud that was just above us. “GET BACK HERE, RAINBOW! I WANT THAT MEAT!”

“No, Yang” Rainbow said. “This is Gilda’s.”

“I’VE BEEN SUFFERING THESE CRAVINGS FOR WEEKS! NOW GET DOWN HERE WITH IT BEFORE I FIND A WAY TO GET YOU DOWN!”

“Just do what she says, Rainbow” Gilda said. “I’ve seen this happen to griffons who don’t get any or enough meat for a week. When was the last time you had any meat, Yang?”

“I think a month and a half ago, or so?. It was before I came here.” And in a different body.

“Give her the bag, Rainbow.”

“What? Why?”

“I’ve got a friend back home who’s into the human thing, and he believes that if there’s an obstacle in front of a human, they will find a way past it or through it.” She’s not wrong. “If you don’t give her the bag, who knows what she might do to you?”

“Lyra’s obsessed with humans and she’s never said anything about this at any of her open air lectures on them.” That sounded like something to go to.

“JUST DROP IT, RAINBOW!” Gilda and I shouted at the same time.

“Okay, okay! But I’m staying up here.” Rainbow tossed the bag in our direction. I caught it and Gilda didn’t stop me.

With my goal in hand, I leapt up into a tree, where I opened the bag and saw a steak wholly wrapped in woven bacon inside. “It’s beautiful. . .”. Without any silverware or a plate, I did the next best thing and simply grabbed it. I took a moment to admire the woven bacon wrapping before tearing into it.

I relaxed with bliss as I chewed on the meat. How could I have forgotten about this? The juices, the grease, the bacon, everything went together perfectly. Especially the bacon. For all I cared right now, Tirek could come back and take over the world. I had a very nice steak. There was even a hint of barbecue flavoring in it.

“Look at that, Rainbow” Gilda said. “She’s peaceful and content now.”

“I had no idea Yang could eat meat. She never said anything.”

“Hey, Yang! Do humans usually go crazy like you did when they go without meat?”

I swallowed the bit of delicious steak and bacon I had in my mouth and considered the question. “I don’t know. We had so much of it and other foods available that it wasn’t really anything that came up where I’m from. But I would say that the people that choose to go without meat are kind of crazy. I met one girl back home who eschewed animal products altogether, including milk, butter, eggs, cheese, and more. She said we already knew each other, but I’d never met her before.”

“What do you call those who don’t eat meat?”

“Vegetarians. Depending on how far gone they are, they may also be called vegans or even hippies. Hey, where are you from, Gilda?”

“Griffonstone, capital of the Griffon Empire. It’s a whole three day’s flight away from here for me.”

“Is that the fastest way?”

“Yeah. The trains here weave through the landscape to get to Horseshoe Bay and the boats to cross the sea are also slow. It’s about 1000 air miles total.”

“Hm.” 1000 miles wasn’t much of a problem back home, since we had planes that could go coast to coast in around six hours and that was well over 1000 miles. Over 300 miles in a day under one’s own wing power was something else though. Not having my own wings, I could only call it impressive. Whether it actually was, I don’t know. I took another bite of the bacon wrapped steak and chewed on an idea that was forming in my mind.

“So, meat, huh?” Rainbow asked as she finally came down from her cloud and landed next to Gilda.

“The stuff’s pretty good” Gilda said. “Especially the steaks from Griffonian cattle. You should try some, Dash.”

I encountered a bit of gristle on the steak. Normally, I’d just spit it out, but not this time. I think my jaw muscles and teeth were also enhanced when I was brought here, since I was able to chew the tougher gristle up with no problem. I took a moment to take in the revelation, then went back to the more important steak. I was definitely going to have to wash my hands from all the juices running down them. And the gloves on the Ember Celica would have to be washed too. Somehow, nothing dripped onto my chest.

Finally, the time came where I had the last bacon and beef bite. “That was good” I said to nobody in particular.

“I’m glad you liked it” Gilda said. “You mind if I’m honest for a moment?”

“Go ahead.” I jumped down from the tree to be closer to eye level with Gilda. Everything seemed a bit clearer now that the craving was fulfilled.

“Since you were living with ponies, I thought you would have been the type to wuss out around meat. Most ponies and Equestrian citizens do.”

“Rainbow didn’t.” I decided to lick my fingers clean. More bacon flavored goodness for me.

“I’ve been around Gilda enough that it doesn’t affect me” Rainbow pointed out. “Fluttershy’s not really bothered by it either, since lots of her animal friends are carnivorous, though she does shy away from most griffons.”

That made sense. A moment later, two ideas clicked in my mind. “Hey, Rainbow? Could you do a couple small favors for me?”

“Sure. What’s up?”

“Can you have Twilight go through the books she got from Sunset on human biology and see if there’s anything about human diets in them? And can you see if Applejack still has the leftover materials from when I helped her build a barn?”

“Of course. Now?”

“If you don’t mind.”

“I’ll be back.” Rainbow took off at high speed, leaving a rainbow contrail in her wake.

“You got rid of her for a reason, didn’t you?” Gilda asked. She was sharp.

“Yep.” I put an arm around Gilda rather awkwardly and pulled her close. “What if we open a restaurant in Ponyville with griffons in mind? A restaurant that serves meat.”

Gilda stood up a bit to put a foreleg across my shoulders. “While I like the idea, how are we going to get griffons to come? It’s a long trip, and I took the fast way here.”

“We make it so good, they’ll want to come anyways. And when they want to come, there will be those who take advantage of that to come up with faster travel methods. This one restaurant could make faster trains happen.”

“I see what you’re saying. Hey, what if we come up with the faster trains too?”

“Then we could make more money off of that too. But let’s stick to the restaurant first.”

“Fiiine. What would we call it? The name should be something related to meat, but not super obvious. It would freak ponies out.”

Crepes came to mind as an example. The place and the food. “In a land of vegetarians, it would be a haven for carnivores. An eden.”

“Eden?”

“Mythological garden of paradise where humanity supposedly came from, according to some religions. What about Carne Den?”

“That sounds good. Griffons like dens. You’ll hardly find a house in the Griffon Empire without one somewhere in it.”

And it’s a pun. “Better and better. Hey, do you think Rainbow would be able to find us if we go into town and start looking at spots to build it?”

“A tall blonde human and a griffon larger than the average pony? I doubt she’d be able to miss us.”

“Good point. To Ponyville!” As we walked out of the woods, and after rinsing my hands and gauntlets in a stream, Gilda and I talked a bit more about the Carne Den idea, mainly the issue of supplies, especially beef. Equestrian cattle apparently had a degree of sapience while Griffonian cattle did not, but if Griffonian cattle were brought over here, they would start gaining sapience. The running theory on why that happens is magic, and I am willing to believe that theory. Pigs and chickens weren’t affected the same way though, so that could be an option. I just needed a supplier.

Among the locations Gilda and I considered were a spot only a short distance from the boutique, a big empty space in the market, and, jokingly, right up against Twilight’s castle. None of the spots sounded bad at all.

“There you guys are!” Rainbow said as we were walking past a store called Sofas and Quills. I wonder what they sold? “I’ve been looking all over Whitetail Woods for you!”

“Sorry, Dash” Gilda said. “We just couldn’t stay still.”

“So, what did you find, Rainbow?” I asked.

“Neither of Twilight’s books on humans mentioned anything about what humans eat, and Applejack still has that huge amount of construction material sitting around in the new barn. She really needs to get it out of there for an upcoming harvest.”

“That’s perfect! Hey, Rainbow, if you were to make a restaurant down here in Ponyville, where would you put it?”

“Close to Sugarcube Corner. Are you thinking of making a restaurant?”

“We are thinking about it” Gilda answered. “Would you be willing to help us?”

“Sure. After all, friends help friends, right?”

“Ya want to build something with the leftover supplies, Yang?” Applejack asked.

“Yep” I confirmed. “I’ve considered a few locations in town already.”

“What’re ya building?”

“A restaurant. It feels right to me for some reason.”

“A new place to eat in town? Please tell me it’s not going to be one of those fancy schmancy places where the food and plate weighs less than the bits you pay for it with.”

I put on a fancy accent for my answer. “The elites and nobles who dine at the establishments you have described would most certainly be repulsed by this eatery.”

Gilda got in on it too. “All the portions served shall be hearty and quite filling. The atmosphere there will be a very relaxed one, except for the kitchen.”

“The atmosphere in the kitchen would smell quite delicious.”

“Only because of all the good food being prepared there.”

“Exactly, my dearest cohort.” With a breath, I switched back to my normal voice. “So, will you help us, Applejack?”

“Sure” Applejack answered. “Ah’ll even help move the materials there. In fact, Ah’m so glad that they’ll be gone that you can have them for free.”

“Whoo! Thanks.”

“No problem, Sugarcube. Oh, go talk to Mayor Mare about it too. She knows all the rules and stuff for building in town. Twi would know the rules for restaurants.”

“Right.” Accursed legal stuff! It probably wasn’t as bad here as it was back on Earth, but still. At least it was easily accessible. “I’ll be sure to check with them.”

“Good luck, Yang.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you whenever I next see you.” I turned to Gilda and Rainbow as we left Applejack. “You two can go do whatever you want while I take care of the boring stuff.”

“Really?” Gilda asked.

“Yeah. Besides, I’ve still got some energy to burn, so I have to run or something.”

“Think you’ll be done in an hour?”

“Two at the most.”

“Cool” Rainbow said. “Gilda, let’s see if today is the day we prank Discord.”

“Sounds fun” Gilda answered. “If I don’t see you later Yang, well, it’s been fun meeting you.”

“It has been fun” I agreed. “See you later, Gilda.” After waving off my winged friends, I turned towards Ponyville and began my run towards town hall. Today was going quite well. I felt like there was nothing that could bring me down.

“A half hour wait?” I asked the secretary at the town hall.

“Approximately, Ms. Xiao Long” the receptionist said. “The pony who’s with her now just went in to talk with her. The mayor also works a bit differently than the princesses. She chooses who she sees instead of having a queue. She gives everypony fifteen minutes to talk with her, then she does some of her own work for another fifteen. If you’re lucky, she’ll choose to see you next.”

I sighed. “Alright then. I guess I’ll just take a seat and wait.”

“As long as you aren’t being disruptive, you can actually do whatever you want.”

Anything, huh? I still had a good amount of energy to burn off, so I couldn’t really sit down. I wonder if I can do pushups until the mayor comes out?

“Come on, Yang” a waiting stallion who decided to become my coach said from in front of me. “Ten more. You can do it. 250 is within your grasp.” He’d been counting since I told him I was on number 32.

“No” I said. “No more.” I was feeling the burn in my body, especially in my arms. I wasn’t doing the girl pushups from the knees, but normal ones from the feet. It was how I learned to do it back on Earth, and it was how I did it here.

“Come on. 250 is a good goal. It’s halfway between 200 and 300. If you won’t believe in yourself to do those ten pushups, then believe in everypony who believes in you. Name ten ponies who you believe in, and do one pushup for each of them. Say their name at the top of each pushup.”

That sounded good. Alright then, time to get ten more out. I planted my hands, took a breath, and pushed myself up. “Rarity.” That’s one. “Twilight.” Two. “Rainbow.” Three. The burn was already back. “Applejack.” Four. “Fluttershy.” Five. Halfway there. “Fancy.” Six. “Fleur.” Seven.“Uh, Sweetie Belle.” Eight. I had to finish this now. “Celestia.” Nine. “Luna.” Ten. I let my arms give out and I collapsed to the floor. I didn’t even care that I landed on my breasts. I was just glad it was over.

“250 pushups?” Mayor Mare asked from beside me. “How long have you been here?”

“She showed up just seconds after you accepted Colgate” the secretary answered.

“Really? Well, I guess I’ll accept Yang next. She’s earned it. It also looks like she’s almost ready to go to sleep right there on the floor.”

She wasn’t wrong. With some effort, I stood up, a few joints popping in the process. “Thanks, Mayor.”

“Follow me.” Mayor Mare went through a door, and I followed her. On the other side was an office. At her signal, I closed the door behind me before we sat down on opposite sides of her desk. I actually felt underdressed for this meeting, even though the mayor was wearing fewer clothes than me. “So, how can I help you, Miss Xiao Long?”

“I want to build a restaurant in town.”

“That’s it? No favors or anything?”

“Yeah. I just need to know where I can build it and what kind of codes there are.”

“If you want to build something in town, you need to pick out a plot of land and have a certified local surveyor with you. You must also have at least eight feet of space between your building and any neighboring buildings. The tents, carts, and wagons that ponies use around here to sell their goods don’t count as buildings since they can be moved easily enough and are open to everypony.”

“So, the main limitation is just giving other buildings their own space?”

“Pretty much. As long as you do that, make sure the construction is solid, and don’t build in the way of the roads, you’re good to go. You can make it look however you want. You could even make it look like a castle that Sombra would make.”

I wasn’t even going to ask who that was, but this Sombra sounded evil. “So, that’s the rules for building around here? Anything goes as long as it’s durable and respectful of space?”

“You got it. Is there anything else you’d like to ask me or talk about in your remaining twelve minutes?”

“Where can I find a surveyor?”

“Would you believe that Pinkie Pie is one?”

Considering everything I’ve seen her do and the feats I’ve heard about, I was only slightly surprised. “Are there any others?”

“Aside from Twilight, there’s a couple in the construction company here, but you’d probably have to pay them more than you would Twilight or Pinkie.”

“I see. Thanks for your time.”

“No problem, Miss Xiao Long. Oh, before you go, can I ask you a question?”

“Go ahead.” Please don’t be a tough question.

“Can I be the first customer at your restaurant?”

Easy question. “Only if you get there first. Have a good day, Mare Mayor.”

“You too, Miss Xiao Long.”

As I left, I smiled to myself. Not only were the rules here really simple, but I also flipped the mayor’s title and name around and she didn’t even notice. Time to walk to Twilight’s castle.

After enduring the insane, maddening, mind wrecking, and absurdly crazy long line consisting of absolutely nobody, I got to see Twilight. “Hi, Twilight.”

“Hello, Yang” Twilight said. “It looks like you’ve been working out.”

“Yeah, I’ve had a lot of energy to burn, lately. Rarity made a few of these for me and they’ve been my main outfits for a couple weeks now. This one’s my favorite.”

“The urge to move. I can understand that.” I’ll let her believe that that was my reason. “So, how can I help you?”

“Restaurant and building codes.”

“Really? Well, if that’s all, you can take the answer with you. Third bookshelf, second shelf, around the middle.”

“I thought you’d have the codes memorized.”

“I do, but I don’t think you’d remember all of them if I told them to you.”

“Good point. What’s the book called?”

“‘Building Codes and You: The Unabridged Collection’. It’s a little thick.”

“Thanks. I heard you’re a certified surveyor or something?”

“Indeed. I took the certification test for fun when I was six and I passed it with flying colors. I even did better than some of the trained ponies there. Some of them probably still bear a grudge against me for that.”

“Wow. So, would you be willing to be the surveyor for my restaurant? I’d rather not ask Pinkie.”

“Sure. Just pick a spot and, wait, Pinkie’s a certified surveyor?”

“That’s what Mayor Mare said.”

Twilight was quiet for a moment. “I don’t even know why I’m surprised. Why don’t you want her to survey the area? She’d probably have more insight than I would, since you’re making a restaurant.”

“She’s too crazy for me.”

“Ah. Well, good luck in your endeavor.”

“Thanks.” I went back out into the waiting area and hunted down the book I needed. It took a bit to figure out which one it was, since I haven’t really been reading much while I’ve been busy exercising off the cravings. I could really go for another bacon wrapped steak. That thing was delicious.

As I left the castle, I cracked open the book and looked at the table of contents. The first few chapters covered general building requirements while the rest of the chapters covered just about every kind of building’s unique requirements and suggestions. Restaurants, theaters, apparel stores, storage units, everything. I’d need a bookmark or three for this tome.

“Hey, Yang!” I heard Gilda call out. I looked up from the fire safety stuff I was reading and looked around, finding her in front of me, looking like she’d just come out of the shower. She was soaked everywhere.

“Gilda? What happened?” I asked. “And why do you smell like a strawberry banana milkshake?” Now I wanted a strawberry banana milkshake with the bacon wrapped steak.

“We didn’t get Discord this time. He cleaned us the same way Rarity washes clothes. Literally. Washboard and all. There were teal suds everywhere, and they just kept growing on us. We had to jump in a stream to get them all off. Rainbow’s already dried off and is getting some stuff to help me get dry.”

“Ah. Well, I’ve been busy with my stuff. I found out what we needed.”

“And that would be?”

“As long as there’s plenty of space between our restaurant and whatever’s next to it, we can build wherever we want. As for how it has to be built, that’s another matter entirely. I’m still reading up on it.”

“Guidelines? Pfft. We’ll just build it how we want.”

“No, we’ll follow the guidelines. We’ll still build it how we want, but the guidelines are there for a reason.”

“Oh alright. Hey, do you know how much material Applejack has that we can use?”

“Enough for a couple barns. Come to think of it, we might actually have a supply problem.”

“What, are you thinking really big?”

“No. We might have too much material. I want to use it all. I guess we could make some furniture out of it too if we had to.”

“Yeah. Hey, where are we going to get the money for this? I don’t exactly have a lot of money available”

“And I have no income.”

“Why not ask Celestia or Luna? From what Dash’s told me, they like you, so they might back you.”

“Yeah, but they’re basically government, and I don’t like asking for tax money. I could ask Fancy and Fleur. They like me and they would invest their own money. I’d have to go to Canterlot though.” I shuddered at the memory of my fans swarming me.

“Maybe you could ask them to come here?” Rainbow suggested as she landed and tossed Gilda a large fluffy towel. Rainbow looked a tad fluffed herself. “All you need is the right address, the right postage, and a bit of patience. The two ponies at the post office can help with the address and postage. They seem to always know every address, even the more obscure ones or the ones in other countries. You can even just give them just a name and they’ll figure it out in a minute.”

Interesting. “That’s a good idea. I’ll be sure to stop by there soon.”

“Hey, be sure to send me a letter at some point” Gilda said. “If we’re going to do this thing, we have to stay in contact.”

“I’ll be sure to do that. I think I’ll head back to Rarity’s now. I may need to practice my handwriting a bit before sending out any letters.” Saying it out loud made it sound really sad.

“Riiight. You go do that. See ya, Yang.”

“Bye.” I left the feathered friends and began my walk to Rarity’s.

“Hello, and welcome to Carousel, oh, hello Yang” Rarity greeted as I went into the boutique. “You’re back earlier than usual. Did something happen?”

“I met Rainbow’s friend Gilda” I said as I got myself a glass of water. “Also, I figured something out thanks to her.”

“Does it have something to do with how antsy you’ve been lately? You seem much more relaxed than usual.”

“Yeah. Turns out I somehow forgot about meat and meat products.”

“Meat?” Rarity looked a tad green. Better not press the matter.

“Yeah. Anyways, I’ve got a letter to write. I just hope my handwriting is passable.” I downed my glass of water, went upstairs, relieved myself in the bathroom, and went into my room. I sat down at the desk and pulled out a pencil and paper. I also pulled out my cheat sheet for letter conversion.

After a bit of thought, I began my letter. I spoke each part under my breath before writing it out.

Dear Fancy and Fleur,

It’s me, your friend Yang. I hope you’ve been doing well since we last met. I can only imagine the praise you two might be getting from the public for your bills. As for me, I’ve had an epiphany. You see, I’ve been missing something from my meals, and I’ve been having cravings. Though I didn’t know what it was for, I knew that nobody in Ponyville had it. Then, just today, Rainbow Dash introduced me to her friend Gilda and I realized what I was missing: meat.

Gilda and I became friends pretty quickly over that, and we decided to try and make a restaurant here in Ponyville that serves meat. Writing this out, I truly realize that I don’t have much of an idea how to build this restaurant. To the point, I would like your help with this project of ours. We need money to help make this happen, and I am loathe to ask for it from Celestia, Luna, or Twilight, since their money would come from taxes, and I don’t want support from tax money. That would be like asking everyone to support something they know nothing about or don’t like. I don’t know how much we’ll need, but I hope you can help us out.

If you know any professional contractors who can help us out, that would be even more helpful. Gilda and I could build it on our own, but I don’t know how well we would do. I already have Twilight on board as a surveyor to look over wherever we choose to build, Applejack providing a lot of building materials, and Rainbow Dash willing to help out.

If you’d like to talk about it with me more, feel free to come visit Carousel Boutique. If I’m not there, I’m probably running around Ponyville. I mean that literally. I’ve been running around the perimeter of the town for a couple weeks. My route is counterclockwise, so if you want to meet me, just go clockwise and we’ll eventually meet.

I’ve got enough bits that I can buy the three of us a small meal or snack in town. I look forward to your visit, if you do decide to visit.

Sincerely, Yang Xiao Long.

I set the pencil down and quickly worked out a developing cramp in my hand. Once it was gone, I looked over the letter. Compared to the letters on the cheat sheet, my Equestrian writing was rough, but at least it was legible. Roughness of my writing aside, it looked good to me, and now all I needed to do was take it to the post office.

I neatly folded up the letter, grabbed my bit bag, and went downstairs. “I’m heading back out, Rarity.”

“Alright” Rarity said. “Oh, Yang, if you don’t mind me saying, you look really good in those athletic outfits. Better than I imagined, even.”

“Thanks. They also do what they need to do really well. I also like how they feel. And the shoes have been holding up to all the running really well.”

“Well, they are only my first attempt at shoes like that. Oh, speaking of shoes for you, I’ve been working on a waterproof pair for you. There’s going to be a big storm next Thursday afternoon, and if you’re going to run in the rain, you’re going to need different shoes to keep your feet dry.”

Something perplexed me. “Do you wear rain shoes or something similar when you go out in the rain?”

“Oh, no. Most ponies don’t wear anything on their hooves in the rain, and I’m no exception to that. You, on the other hoof, wear shoes to protect your feet from the elements because of how soft they are.” She wasn’t wrong. “I’d like you to try them after I finish them. I should have them done for you before Wednesday.”

“Thanks. I’m heading to the post office and then making another lap or two around the town.” I’d probably be done sooner than normal today.

“Before you go-” Rarity pulled out an envelope from a desk and floated it over to me. “-Would you be so kind as to take that to the post office? It’s an order for more fabrics and materials.”

“Sure.” I snagged Rarity’s envelope and left the boutique. I walked the distance to town because it wasn’t far, and I didn’t exactly remember where the post office was, so I didn’t want to go past it.

The post office was actually pretty easy to locate, thanks to the big envelope over the entrance. And they were open too. I went inside and was hit with the smell of muffins. “Hello, Yang” the pegasus mare on the other side of the counter greeted. Her gray coat and blonde mane and tail were kind of dull, which contrasted a lot of this world’s bright and bold colors, but more distinctive were her misaligned gold eyes.

“Hello, Derpy” I greeted in return. I really wondered if that was her actual name or a just nickname everyone used. “I’ve got mail.”

“Really? I haven’t seen anything come in with your name on it.”

“No, I’ve got mail to send out. One thing from Rarity and one letter from me.” I set Rarity’s envelope and my letter on the counter between us.

“Oh. Let’s see. Rarity’s has the right postage. A bit more than she actually needs, but that’s fine. And yours needs an envelope and postage.”

“I heard you can figure out any address anywhere, so I’ll need that service for mine.”

“Of course. Doctor, we need you!”

“On my way!” a british sounding stallion’s voice called out from the back. The stallion, an earth pony with a light brown coat and a darker brown mane and tail, came up. “Hello, Miss Xiao Long. To whom are you sending your letter?”

“Fancy Pants and Fleur Dee Lis in Canterlot” I answered.

“Derpy will help you figure out the postage. I’ll get you your addressed envelope.” The stallion went into the back and I could swear I heard something like a car driving with the parking brake on for a moment.

“How quickly do you want your letter to arrive?” Derpy asked.

“Just the regular speed will do.”

“Three bits.”

I opened my coin pouch and fished out three coins. While I was doing that, the sound came back and the Doctor returned with an empty envelope, complete with Fancy and Fleur’s address and a return address of Carousel Boutique with my name on there. Derpy put my letter in the envelope and put it in a stack of outgoing mail. I gave her my three bits and we were done.

With my business in town taken care of, I went back to the boutique, jumped up into my room, put my bit bag in its proper place, then went back to my course. On the way, I decided to jog the laps instead of running them. If I happened to go back to running, oh well.

Correspondence

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It was a lovely Tuesday for a run. A little cooler than the past week, but still comfortable. The meat cravings have been much more subdued over the days since I met Gilda, and Rarity’s noticed the difference in my behavior.

My lunch for today after the morning run was a grilled cheese sandwich and an apple. While I was eating it, Derpy arrived with the mail.

Rarity sifted through the envelopes. “Order, order, bill, here’s a letter for you, Yang, fabric samples from Some Company, another bill, and another letter for you, Yang.”

I was only expecting one letter, so the second caught me off guard. “Huh. Thanks, Rarity.” I accepted the two that were for me and looked at the return addresses. One of them, the one I was expecting, was from Fancy Pants. The one I wasn’t expecting was from Applejack.

As I opened the one from Applejack, I closed my eyes and hoped it wasn’t an invoice for running on her property. When I opened my eyes, I saw that the letter was upside down. I turned it over and began reading it.

Dear Yang,
I read a copy of the newspaper with the bills you passed two weeks ago, and I want to say thanks for passing them. I know it’s been a while since you did that, but we thought another shoe would drop after those good ones passed. I’ve been meaning to thank you in person, but I can’t bring myself to stop you during your runs.
Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and I are all ready to help you move the building supplies when you need them. The upcoming harvest is only a month away, so we’re hoping to get them out at least a week before then.
From, Applejack

Well, that was a nice letter. Next time I see Applejack, I’ll be sure to stop and talk with her. I’m sure we could do with some produce in the Carne Den. Straight meat would be boring. And we’d probably do well with the extra variety.

I set Applejack’s letter down and pulled out Fancy’s. The writing on it was much cleaner and neater.

Dearest Yang Xiao Long,
It’s good to hear that you’re doing well. In fact, Fleur and I were just wondering how you were doing when your letter arrived. As for us, we’re still getting the stink eye from the rest of the nobles from the meeting. We also saw one of the crop collectors drop a rotten pumpkin on our doorstep. Where she got it at this time of year, I haven’t the slightest clue. As for the public, we visited one of our informants (Donut Joe, if you’d like to know), and he’s told us that he’s seen a slight lift in the moods of his more politically inclined regulars.
Now then, onto your restaurant. I will not hesitate to admit that the idea of eating meat myself is quite repulsive. However, what I see in your restaurant is a chance for you to hit it big in Ponyville. I did some research into the eateries in the town and saw, as I’m sure you’ve realized by now, there are very few good places to eat. Sugarcube Corner is a great bakery, there are lots of excellent cafes, and even a couple fast food restaurants. Some of my more gourmand acquaintances from around Equestria and the world have told me that they don’t go to Ponyville often because the food is tends to be light.
If you want your restaurant to succeed, you will need to cater to more than just the carnivorous consumers you’ve mentioned. Even if your food is spectacular, you need to also keep in mind the locals. Tourism can bring in good bits, but Ponyville, even with Princess Twilight’s castle, is not a big tourist town. Make sure you have options for the herbivorous beings as well. The more options you have available, the more you’ll be able to make and sell.
Since you and Gilda seem to be going in on this together, I’d like to speak with both of you together. Bring anypony else who you have helping you with this, and I’ll bring some of my best contractors. We’ll help you design and build the restaurant right the first time. You and Gilda will have the last say in the design of the place, but I ask that you do not dismiss the advice of the professionals. I’ve seen that happen so many times, I feel I must say that.
Whenever you have a day scheduled for everyone to meet, send me the time and place and I’ll meet you in Ponyville. I don’t think you’ll be able to get something for everypony from Sugarcube Corner, so you’ll need to find another place for us to meet.
Sincerely, Fancy Pants
P.S. Fleur won’t be able to come if the meeting is happening within the next two weeks. She got a very lucrative offer to teach some new models how to do what she does and just left on Sunday.

Well, that was at once encouraging and slightly disappointing. Still, I guess you can’t make stone bricks without breaking some rocks and leaving behind some pebbles.

I took the envelopes and letters back up to my room and began to really think about what I’d need for the restaurant. I’d probably have to visit the other eateries here. I already knew what Olive Branch was like, but I’d have to wander around a bit to figure out what else was here. I was not going to the Chineighse restaurant though, not after what Sweetie and her friends found out.

The first thing I’d have to do was find Rainbow and see if Gilda was still in town. That would make things easier. Except for the part where I’d have to find Rainbow. That would be tricky.

I was brought out of my thoughts by someone tapping on my window. I looked over and saw Rainbow on the other side. That was scarily good timing. Still, she knocked to get my attention and she had it. I went over to the window, opened it, and joined Rainbow on the roof. “I was just thinking about finding you, Rainbow.”

“I was having lunch at Sugarcube Corner when Pinkie said you needed to talk to me” Rainbow said. “Good thing I can eat and fly at the same time.” And now Pinkie’s mixed position on my list of known ponies was mixed even more. “So, what do you need?”

“Is Gilda still in town? I haven’t seen her for a while.”

“She had to leave yesterday since she didn’t have any extra meat with her. How have you been holding up, by the way?”

“Now that I actually know what it is that I was craving? Not so bad. I still want more meat, and based on Rarity’s reaction, she wouldn’t like it if I had any in the house.”

“No, I wouldn’t” Rarity said from the hallway as she went towards her room. Or the bathroom. Probably the bathroom.

“Is there any way you can catch up to her and get her to come back?”

Rainbow thought for a moment. “I could chase her down and ask her to come back, but griffons need meat and she’s out. The only other thing I can think of is to use the post office’s secret Anytime delivery. It’s expensive though. Ten bits per letter.”

“Anytime delivery?”

“Yeah. They really do mean anytime. I had some weather paperwork to send to Vanhoover once, and the regular rate would have been fine. Then I asked about the Anytime delivery and they guaranteed delivery to wherever I wanted it at the time I wanted it. I told them to have it delivered two days ago. The next day, I got a letter from Vanhoover’s weather ponies asking me how I submitted the paperwork the day before the requests for it were sent out. I had no idea how at the time, but I think there’s a time machine or something in the post office.”

“A time machine?”

“Time magic is extremely complex and neither of the ponies there are unicorns. That’s the only thing I can think of. Anyways, I can send a letter to some griffon guards I befriended during one of my trips and have them meet Gilda, give her some meat, and tell her to come back.”

“Yeah, that would be nice. Hey, do you know somewhere I could gather a bunch of people, er, ponies for little or no cost?”

“Twilight’s castle has a bunch of free conference rooms. Just talk to her and she’ll set one aside for you. I keep telling her she could make a few bits on the side with those rooms, but she keeps saying that she won’t charge anyone until there’s more demand for their use. I mean, if your restaurant has a room set aside for parties, wouldn’t you charge for its use?”

Note to self: do not have a party room in the Carne Den. Pinkie might do something. “Yeah, I see what you mean.”

“That’s one more who does. Nice camo outfit, by the way.”

“Thanks. It’s not my favorite one, but at least it’s not the one I don’t like. So, let’s figure some stuff out.”

“Right. When will you hold this meeting?”

“Well, with the whole Anytime delivery thing, I could have Fancy here whenever we need him to be here. As for Gilda, I’m not sure.”

“She flew out yesterday afternoon, so she’s probably almost over Horseshoe Bay by now, which she goes over during the second day of her flights. I could send the letter to them a couple days ago to stop her over the bay, give her your message, and she should be back on Thursday at the latest.”

“How did you figure that out?”

“When you’re the weather manager and a Wonderbolt, you have to keep thinking ahead. I simply figured out how to think ahead in the past, or something, I dunno. I’ll send a letter to my friends in Griffonstone and get Gilda here for this meeting. Anything you want me to put in the letter?”

Hmm. “If you could tell her I’ve likely secured some help with the restaurant and to be quick, that would be good. Also, I need to send a letter back to Fancy.”

“I can cover the cost of that letter for you, Yang.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It wouldn’t be a problem at all. I have bits just sitting around at home.”

“Thanks. I guess my normal afternoon run isn’t happening today.” I jumped off the roof and ran towards Twilight’s castle. I had stuff to organize.

“You need a conference room with a balcony to use on Thursday for planning out your restaurant?” Twilight asked.

“Yes.” I don’t know why Twilight felt like she had to repeat what I just told her.

“Then consider conference room five yours for Thursday afternoon. For free. In fact, you can have that room from midnight to midnight.”

“Excellent. And you’ll be there too, right?”

“Why wouldn’t your hand-picked surveyor be there? As a bonus for me, I’ll get a day off from this throne and nopony will be able to get me back unless something really urgent happens.”

“Sounds like a day is set. Now to go back out and find Rainbow. And to write a letter back to Fancy.”

Finding a fast pegasus with a rainbow tail and contrail shouldn’t be very hard, but it was. While I was going around town looking for her, I wound up on the roofs of the buildings. If I wasn’t so preoccupied with my pegasus hunt, I might have taken note of the parkour opportunity. The first few jumps were a bit shaky, but I got better pretty quickly. The many thatched roofs were actually normal roofs underneath, so moving across them wasn’t as bad as I thought it might have been.

Eventually, I found Rainbow. For whatever reason, she had decided to take a nap on top of Sugarcube Corner, curled up like a cat. I don’t know how she did it, considering the strange architecture, but there she was. “Rainbow?” I asked. She didn’t stir. “Oh, Rainbow~” I lightly sang as I poked her. “Hey, Rainbow.” No matter how many times I politely said her name, she wasn’t waking up. I had to go to the more drastic measure. “Rainbow, wake up or I’ll have Twilight make your feathers fall out.”

“No, not that!” Rainbow almost shouted as she woke up. “Oh, hello Yang. Wait, why would you have her do that?”

“It was the most threatening thing I could think of.”

“Really? Not smashing my hooves, snapping my neck, or pulling off my tail, but making my feathers fall out?”

“Well, it woke you up, so that’s good enough. Anyways, I’ve got a conference room set for Thursday. All we need to do is mail off a couple letters and then I’ll just have to get in contact with everyone I can get onboard. By the way, you’re invited to the meeting.”

“Really?”

“Yep. If you’re there and not reacting to the reveal of the nature of the restaurant’s cuisine that other ponies would be reacting to, then that should help calm those who do react to it.”

Rainbow thought a bit on what I said before she closed the distance between us and whispered “Wait, are you saying that you’ll be serving meat?”

“Yeah. It’ll have things that aren’t meat, too.”

“Yang, that bit of information changes everything. Lots of ponies are squeamish about even the very idea of meat. You’ll have to keep that card very close to your chest. Or maybe stick it in your chest. Only tell those who need to know.”

Did Rainbow really just suggest what I think she did? “So, is it time to write letters while we write letters?”

“What?” Rainbow blinked at me a few times before facehoofing. “Oh. I see what you did there. I’m going to go write mine at home. Meet you by the post office in an hour?”

“Sure. I’ll see you there.” I jumped down from the roof and ran back to Carousel Boutique.

Dear Fancy Pants,
I’ve secured conference room five in Twilight’s castle for this Thursday. You should be able to gather your best and arrive there around, oh, noon? I’ll have my contacts there too.
Now, I’m sure you’re wondering how you got this letter before your response to my first one has even left your mailbox. Let’s just say I learned something a tad strange about the post office here in Ponyville and leave it at that.
I’ve considered your advice and will heed your council, along with those who know what they’re doing. I look forward to the conference two days from when I sent this.
Sincerely, Yang Xiao Long

Well, that letter took a bit of thinking to get correctly written. I got a fresh envelope from Rarity and put Fancy and Fleur's address on it, along with the appropriate return address. Those apparently worked the same way here as back on Earth. Thank goodness for similarities.

Letter in hand, I left through the window and ran to the post office. It felt like more than an hour had passed since I last saw Rainbow, and I did not want to leave her waiting for me.

Rainbow was sitting in front of the post office when I got there. “I was wondering when you would show up” she said as she sat up. “I’ve been waiting here for ten minutes.”

“Sorry to make you wait” I apologized.

“Hey, I knew you’d come. After all, you have something to send off promptly. That, and you don’t seem to be the kind to leave someone hanging.”

“Thanks. Let’s take care of this. Lead the way.”

Rainbow went in and I followed her. Derpy greeted us from the counter as we approached. I let Rainbow start the talking. “Hey, Derpy. I’ve got two Anytime letters to send.”

“Let me get the Doctor” Derpy said before turning to the back. “Doctor, we’ve got two Anytimes!”

“I’ll be right there” the british sounding stallion said from the back. A moment later, he came out. “Two Anytime deliveries, I hear?”

“Yeah” Rainbow said as she slid her letter and twenty bits on the counter. “I need to send mine to Griffonstone about two or three days ago.”

“Alright. And you, Yang?”

“I need mine delivered to Fancy Pants minutes after he put the letter I got from him today in his mailbox” I answered as I slid my letter over. I really hope I got that straight.

“Alright. I’ll have them delivered at the appropriate times.” The stallion collected the letters and went to the back while Derpy counted out the bits.

“Thanks for using our Anytime service” Derpy said.

“Thanks for having it, Derpy” Rainbow said. “See you later.”

“Bye, Rainbow. Bye Yang.”

“Bye, Derpy” I responded as Rainbow and I left the post office. “So, what now?”

“I have to go plan Thursday’s storm. If the storm goes well, and they usually do around here, then I should be able to join your meeting. Early afternoon, you said?”

“Yeah. When’s this storm?”

“It’s due to start around three, and it’s going to be intense. After I get everypony in their positions, I’ll be able to fly down to the meeting. I have a really good crew up there.”

“Sounds good. I guess I’ll have to get back to my more normal clothes for that. And I really like these athletic outfits now, too.”

“I don’t see why you couldn’t wear one of those for the meeting. I mean, the only one who might care is Fancy Pants, and all I’ve ever seen him wear is a jacket. Besides, seeing as you apparently are in his good graces, he’d probably be fine with it.”

Rainbow doesn’t seem to fully understand my species and our clothing rules. I don’t entirely understand ponies and their clothing rules either, so I can’t exactly call her out on it. “Good point, but I’m still going back to my normal outfit, which I haven’t worn for, ooh, wow, three weeks. Hey, I haven’t checked a calendar, so what is today?”

“June 2nd.”

“Let’s see if we can open the place on July 4th.”

“Why July 4th?”

“That’s a very important day back where I’m from. There was always fireworks, music, and some kind of festivity on that day.”

“Sounds like something Pinkie would like. Anyways, you should probably go around and tell everyone you want at your meeting to be there.”

“Good idea. I’ll see you on Thursday. Bye.”

“See ya later.” Farewells taken care of, Rainbow took off into the sky, leaving the rainbow contrail I was looking for earlier. I thought about who I needed to talk to. I already had Twilight and Rainbow covered, but Applejack needed to be informed. I could see if Rarity would be willing to join, even if only to provide outfits for the employees. She might also be able to help with the looks of the place. I could ask if Sweetie Belle and her friends would be willing to work as waitresses, but that idea came with a sense of doom. I’ll only ask one of them, or maybe keep them in different areas. That didn’t sound nearly as bad.

I continued thinking about who I’d need to help me and all the staff I’d need as I ran towards Sweet Apple Acres. As I thought about it, the notion that I might be making so much headway in this project because I didn’t have the internet distracting me crossed my mind.

I caught up to Applejack just as she left a barn that wasn’t the one Ross and I had helped build. Maybe I could get his input on this project? Then again, I wouldn’t want him to be distracted by Rarity being distracted by his outfit. “Hey, Applejack!”

“Hm? Oh, howdy, Yang” Applejack greeted. “Ah’ve been meaning to thank you for those bills you passed. Sweet Apple Acres has always been able to easily meet and exceed the crop collection quota, so it never really was a concern of ours, but now the smaller farmers can have a better chance out there. Dang it, Ah rambled a bit there. Sorry.”

“Oh, it’s alright.”

“And Ah like the other bill too. In fact, Ah like it so much, Ah could just give you a hug for that alone.”

“Then do it.” I opened my arms as Applejack reared up and pulled me into a hug. I knew she was strong, as working daily on a farm will do that, but I had no idea she was this strong. If I wasn’t so physically durable or had no aura to protect me, she might have damaged something.

After a few seconds, Applejack let go of me. “Thanks again, Yang. You’re good in mah book.”

“Thanks. Hey, could you come to Twilight’s castle on Thursday? I’m holding a meeting for the restaurant I’m going to build, and since you have all those materials, I figure you should be there.”

“Really? Well, with the big storm on Thursday, we won’t be able to really do anything here, so Ah’ve got no problem being there. Is there anything you’d like me to do before Ah show up?”

“If you could make a list of the materials you’ve got, that would be nice.”

“Ah’ll be sure to do that. Hey, you should have Pinkie at this meeting of yours.”

“I’d rather not. She freaks me out with the way she just. . . defies logic.”

“Ah really think you should have her there. She’ll know what you’ll need for your restaurant. Ah don’t know much about how those places operate, but she would know those things. Ah can’t stop you from choosing whether or not to have her on board, but Ah really think you should stop and think about what she can provide. Ah’m sure she can provide enough valuable stuff to make her Pinkieness worth tolerating.”

There’s some food for thought. “I’ll think about it.” It sounded like a trip to Sugarcube Corner was on my list for today. Of course, I’d need to swing by Rarity’s and grab my bits. I’d hate to go there and not buy something, even if it was just a glass of milk.

That actually sounded pretty good.

As I made my way into Sugarcube Corner, I was thinking about how I could carry my money and other small things on me instead of in my hands. I didn’t exactly have an easy way to carry my bits, and I haven’t seen any paper money around either. If there was paper money here, I could see if Rarity would be willing to make an armband wallet to hold it.

“Hi Yang!” Pinkie enthusiastically greeted from her spot at the counter. “What do you want?”

My deepest answer was a split decision between going home and having the Carne Den well done. “For now, just a, oh, large glass of milk. And a snickerdoodle cookie. Also, I’d also like to talk with you.”

“Four bits please. Take a seat and I’ll join you.” I gave Pinkie four bits and went to a table in the middle of the floor. After my initial visit here, I was a bit wary of the booths along the walls. I knew it was silly, but that’s how it was. Shortly after taking a seat, Pinkie joined me. “So, what can I help you with?”

“I’m making a restaurant, and Applejack made some good points for having you help with it.”

“Oh, I would be tickled pink to help with that! Then again, I’m pink, like, all the time, so that phrase doesn’t really work for me. Or maybe I’m just a lightish red and I can still be tickled pink? I need someone to tickle me to find out.”

Not even three sentences into this conversation and I’m already leaning away from her a bit. “Um, Pinkie?”

“Yes?”

“What all could you help me with? I don’t exactly know a lot about restaurant operations, so what can you tell me?”

I took a sip of my milk as Pinkie answered. “Well, you’ll need a variety of staff to help you, which probably won’t be an issue, unless you’re thinking really, Really, REALLY big. You’ll also need connections to a number of suppliers, of which I know many. I also know where to get really durable kitchen supplies.”

I guess that sells it. “Well, in that case, you’re invited to conference room five in Twilight’s castle on Thursday.”

“You’re inviting me to a conference? Oh, I knew this day would come!”

“What, that I would invite you to something?”

“That, and June 2nd. And as it turns out, I requested this Thursday off last week, so yay!”

Normally, I would think that was a coincidence, but I couldn’t tell with Pinkie. I downed the rest of my milk, which tasted really good, better than the stuff back home, and set the glass back on the table. “I guess I’ll see you there.”

Pinkie picked up my glass with a forehoof and placed it in the front curl of her mane in defiance of physics. “Righty-o. I’ll even bring snacks for everypony.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you on Thursday then.” I got a couple extra bits out, gave them to Pinkie as a tip, and stood up, cookie in hand.

“Of course. Bye.” I left Sugarcube corner snacking on my cookie. It was a really good cookie. As I walked back to Rarity’s, I had a feeling that, even with Pinkie at the meeting, things would be alright.

All I had to do now was plan it out. I’ll do some more running until it’s about supper time, then I’ll set aside all of tomorrow to plan out my presentation.

Making plans

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I sat at the head of the table in conference room five, waiting for everyone to show up, except for Twilight and Spike. They were sitting at the other end of the table, clearly relaxing and glad to have the chance to do so. I hadn’t actually invited Spike to the meeting, but I was fine with him being here.

While they relaxed, I fidgeted with my papers again. I was getting a case of nerves. I’d had it all day, actually. It might also have something to do with the fact that I wasn’t out running, as had become normal. Every time I thought about going out to run a bit, the sight of the storm being built overhead dissuaded that idea. I was also back in my white t-shirt and black jeans, since I wouldn’t be able to focus on the meeting very well with an athletic outfit on.

The first to show up was Fancy Pants, along with a small crew of ponies. “Good afternoon, Miss Xiao Long. Do you have a place you would prefer I sit at?”

“If you don’t mind sitting on my left, that would be good. The rest of your team can have that side of the table.”

Fancy took his seat and his team sat down too, comfortably filling the whole side of the table. They talked among themselves about construction stuff while Fancy quietly waited for everyone else.

The next to arrive some minutes later was Gilda, who flew in through the open balcony doors and set a large travel bag down in the corner of the room. “Hey Yang.”

“Hey Gilda. Sorry you had to be intercepted and turned around.”

“I’m taking a bit of a risk being here. By the time I get back home, I’ll have been gone longer than I had planned.”

“Well, if this all works out, you won’t have to worry about going back.”

Applejack was the next to arrive. She didn’t say anything, but rather just took the seat next to Twilight and Spike. She didn’t look entirely comfortable being here, but there she was.

Rainbow’s arrival would be best described as speedy. She flew in through the balcony doors, turned around, and quickly closed them only seconds before an onslaught of rain started. “Now that was a close one.”

“I hope Pinkie’s alright if she’s out there” I said. Applejack smirked a bit when I mentioned Pinkie.

“I wouldn’t worry.” Rainbow took a seat next to Gilda and hoofbumped her fist. “I’ll pull out a seat for her.”

Immediately after pulling out the chair, Pinkie sprung up from it, complete with a spring sound effect. The Canterlot group, Gilda, and I all recoiled a bit from her rather. . . unorthodox entry method. “Hi everyone!”

“Uh, hi, Pinkie” I said. “How did you do that?”

“I’m Pinkie Pie.”

“Uh huh.”

“Don’t question it” Twilight suggested. “Only pain awaits you down that path of investigation. Trust me.”

“Right. Well, it seems everyone’s here, so, welcome to this meeting, everyone, and thank you for coming. As you’re all aware, I want to build a restaurant, and Gilda here is my comastermind, or whatever the term would be. We decided to make this restaurant one with omnivorous options, and we’re calling it the Carne Den. For those who don’t know, that means we’ll be serving meat products.”

The ones who reacted the most were the ponies that had come in with Fancy. They seemed a bit shaken by the reveal, but managed to keep their composure. The only local pony that really reacted was Applejack, and that was more one more of surprise. Twilight looked like she was cursing herself for forgetting about something I had reminded her of. Pinkie didn’t seem to react at all to the reveal.

I continued. “I believe that all of us can make this happen. Fancy, who did you bring with you?”

Fancy cleared his throat before beginning. “To my left are Silver Pipe, he’s a master plumber, Yellow Wire, she’s an expert thaumelectritian, and Straight Nail, he’s the best carpenter in Canterlot. All of them have their own workforce that they can bring in to help. We’ll also work with a local construction company to speed things up.”

“Applejack, do you have the list of materials I asked for?”

“Right here.” Applejack reached up into her hat, pulled out a rolled up piece of paper, and put it on the table.

Straight Nail was the first of Fancy’s ponies to look it over. “If I may ask, why do you have so much of these materials?”

“They’re leftovers from when Yang helped us build a barn.”

“It must have been a big barn if these were the leftovers.”

“Nah, we got it built on the first try for once. It usually takes three or four tries to get it built.”

Straight Nail was quiet for a bit as he took a breath. “Regardless of that, this will help us. What’s your asking price for all this?”

“As long as y’all need it, it’s free. Ah’m more concerned about clearing it out of the barn so we can actually use it for an upcoming harvest. Ah’ll even bring it to the site for free.”

“That sounds good. When we start, I’ll also have some ponies come to help move it. Many hooves makes the load lighter.”

“Sounds good. Unfortunately, there’s nothing here for the plumbing or thaumelectric lines, so we’re still going to have to get those. Still, this saves us a lot of money. Thank you.”

Silver Pipe spoke next. “As good as having those are, we still need to look at the site and blueprints before we can make a final cost estimate.”

“Yeah, I don’t exactly have either of those” I sheepishly admitted. “Rainbow, how long is this storm supposed to last?”

“Eight hours” Rainbow said. “It’s going to start waning around the six hour mark, but will remain this intense until then.”

“Well, that sounds like plenty of time to come up with a blueprint” Yellow Wire said. She sounded rather energetic. “Are there any maps around here?”

“I’ve got one in the throne room” Twilight said. “Since court is closed today, we can use it to figure out what we’ll need to do.”

“Is it a big map?”

“It’s a whole table. And I can switch it between map and blueprint modes with ease, along with a whole lot of other modes.”

“Sounds useful” I said. “Fancy, if I may ask, how much are you willing to invest in the Carne Den?”

“25,000 bits” Fancy said. “That should enough to get all the remaining materials we may need, along with payment for labor. With most, if not all of the lumber and nails taken care of, there might be enough in there to buy catered lunches for all the workers regularly.” 25,000 for the whole thing didn’t sound like much to me, but having regularly heard of things costing hundreds of thousands of dollars at the least back on earth, it was kind of hard for me to comprehend such a small estimate. Maybe the bit could go further than the dollar? I had no idea.

“Speaking of workers, we’re going to have to start hiring employees pretty quickly.”

Gilda interjected. “Hey, Fancy. When you get back to Canterlot, put the word out that we’re hiring. When I get back to Griffonstone, I can do the same thing.”

“That’s a good idea” Fancy said. “Of course, I will be putting the fact that you’ll be serving meat in the ad. It’ll help weed out those who can’t deal with it.”

“Sounds good” I said. I looked at my notes and saw something relevant. “One idea I heard was to build a house on top of the Carne Den. It’s apparently not uncommon to do that around here.”

“I did some research into that some time ago” Twilight said. “It started just over 700 hundred years ago, when carpentry was really taking off. Somepony noticed that Princess Celestia both lived and worked in the castle and decided to mimic that pattern with their own business and house. Others saw how efficient the design was and started doing it themselves.”

“Wait, does that mean I’d have to house all the employees?”

“Oh, no, not at all. In fact, if you look around, there’s a lot more houses than businesses. A normal house is still cheaper than a business with a house on top, and not everypony can be a business owner. Some ponies still do some business from their house, but that’s more of a side job.”

Thank goodness. “Good. Hey, how would sanitation work in the kitchen with quadrupeds anyways?”

Yellow Wire answered. “The newest method uses special thaumelectric tiles that sanitize anything up to four inches above it without hurting anything. As long as the tiles are cleaned regularly, they will last a long time, even under heavy traffic.”

“That’s awesome.”

“However, and I say this a lot, while they do sanitize, they don’t actually clean anything off. If you put a muddy hoof on the tile, it will sanitize it, leaving you with a sanitized muddy hoof. It’s no substitute for actual washing, just an enhancement.”

“Do ponies make that mistake often?”

“Yes.”

I wasn’t entirely surprised. “Alright. Hey, Fancy, how much would it cost to build just the restaurant itself without a house on top?”

“No more than, oh, 15,000 bits” Fancy said.

“Hm. What if we build the Carne Den by itself first, then add the house on top later? That would free up lots of money that could be put into the restaurant itself.”

“And any leftover bits from the construction budget could be set aside for the house addition later” Gilda added. “By then, we could have enough extra bits to make that part really nice too.”

“I have no objections to that” Fancy said.

“Alright” I said. “We can continue this topic over the blueprints. Pinkie, what are we going to need that you know about?”

“Any restaurant worth its salt and pepper has food in it” Pinkie said. “During my break at Sugarcube Corner yesterday, I came up with a few ideas, first of which are beverages of the adult variety. Berry Punch makes a variety of such drinks, she’s local, and she’s willing to provide them. She also said she’d help set up a tap for the drinks.”

“Alcohol?” Applejack asked. “Well, if you’re going to have that, consider me for that too. Local quality apple cider. You should try some, Yang.”

“Alright, I like the idea” I said. “We just need a bar. The Carne Den will be a bar and grill. What do you think, Gilda?”

“I like it” Gilda answered. “What better way to end a stressful day at work than a good drink?”

“What else do you have, Pinkie?”

“Well, I talked with the Cakes, and they’d be interested in providing things, too” Pinkie reported. “Aside from basic bread products, they’d also be willing to provide desserts like cakes, pies, and cookies in a variety of flavors. I also talked with Bon-Bon, and she’d also like to provide desserts. She said it was both as a way to make some money and a way to apologize for Lyra’s over enthusiastic reaction to seeing you a couple weeks ago.”

“Do any of them have grass in them?”

“Nope. Grass is not a good dessert ingredient. Continuing my report, I’ve also talked to a number of small farmers around Ponyville and they’d be willing to provide you with ingredients. I’ve got a list of them, if you’d like it.”

I had barely finished saying “sure” when Pinkie reached into her mane, pulled out a scroll, and tossed it my way. I caught it with a bit of a fumble and set it with my notes. “Anything else, Pinkie?”

“Party room?”

“No.”

“Okay.”

“Does anyone else have any ideas?”

“How about an outdoor area?” Rainbow suggested.

“I’ve already thought of that, Rainbow. Sorry.”

“Eh, alright.”

“Anything else?”

“There is something you should be aware of, Yang” Twilight said. I had a bit of dread at what she might say. “Taxes.” Yep. “For the first three months of your restaurant being open, you will not be taxed. The next three months are taxed at half the normal rate, and after that, you will be taxed normally. It’s a system designed to let new businesses ease into the taxes. It also lets them build up extra money for whatever they may immediately need more easily.”

That’s a benevolent tax system, if ever there was one. There was probably more to it, but that wasn’t the discussion topic. “That’s good to know.”

“Hey, how will y’all make it look inside?” Applejack asked.

“Well, if it’s going to be a den, it’s going to be a tad dark inside” Gilda said. “That’s how griffon dens are, anyways. They’re places to be comfortable and relax. Besides, it’s hard to relax in bright light.”

"Ah can’t really argue against that.”

“Hey, Rainbow?” I asked. “How long is the ground going to be muddy after this storm?”

“It should be dry by noon tomorrow” Rainbow reported. “I guess you don’t want to get your feet muddy?”

“I would like my shoes to stay clean, yes. The ones I have on are not waterproof, so my socks would get wet and that would not feel good.”

“Didn’t Rarity have you try some waterproof shoes between the last chapter and this one?” Pinkie asked.

“What? Chapters? Pinkie, what are you talking about?”

“Ignore the bit about chapters, Yang” Twilight said. “That’s just Pinkie being Pinkie.”

Riiight. “Okay then. Well, I did try them on, but they weren’t comfortable and actually started to fall apart pretty quickly. Hey, how about we go to the table Twilight mentioned and start drawing up the actual plans?” Most of those at the table agreed with me, but there were a couple of dissenting voices.

“Ah’d love to, but Ah’m done here” Applejack said. “Ah got more than Ah came here for, and aside from delivering the supplies, mah part in the construction is done. Ah’ll leave the planning and drawing to y’all to do. Ah’m going to go home and tell everypony the news.”

“As much as I’d like to see how it might look, I actually have to get back up over the clouds” Rainbow said. “The lightning delivery for this storm was delayed for some reason, and I have to be the one to sign and confirm it was delivered before setting it in place and setting it off. It’s going to be loud out there.”

“Fair enough” I conceded. “Just don’t start a parade, or it might get rained on.” Multiple hooves met their owners’ faces at that statement. “Alright, everyone who doesn’t have to leave, let’s go. Twilight, lead the way, please.” Everyone got up and went towards the door, except Rainbow, who stood by the balcony door. As we went out into the hall, Rainbow quickly opened the balcony door, dashed out, closed it, and took off. Seeing how much water came in from her just opening the door for a brief period really spoke of the volume of water that was coming down.

Applejack went with us downstairs simply because it was along her route. On the way, she offered me an invitation to try some Apple family desserts on Saturday, most of which involved apples. I couldn’t exactly refuse, since the offer was basically free dessert, and if they were going to provide food for the Carne Den, I’d have to sample at least some of the goods offered to make sure they were good.

Twilight, Pinkie, Gilda, Fancy, Silver Pipe, Yellow Wire, Straight Nail, and I gathered around the table Twilight lead us to in the throne room. Applejack walked past us, bid us a good day, and left. I could only hope that she made it home well, considering the rain outside.

“So, let’s talk locations” I said. Twilight took that as her cue to work a bit of magic on the table and bring up a 3D projection of Ponyville on the table. That was awesome. “Twilight, what do you think the best location would be?”

“Well, if you’re still going to be living with Rarity, there’s a good spot only a mile from her boutique that’s got plenty of space to build” Twilight reported as she lit the area up on the map. “There’s also a good area closer to the center of town, but would require a bit of landscaping and creative planning. Finally, there’s a spot near the train station that could work after removing a few big trees. Preparing it would be a bit of a hassle and is a bit farther from the farmers, but anything you’d need delivered by train would get there pretty quickly.”

“What’s the hoof traffic like in each area?” Fancy asked.

“The first spot has low traffic, but it’s also between a couple of filled residential areas, so it would be able to easily draw in locals from that area. The second spot would have the most traffic, but also face the most competition with the other eateries in town. The last spot is a prime area to catch the attention of travelers and, like the first spot, is also in a low competition area near a residential area, though that one still has a lot of empty houses.”

I thought the descriptions over. “Let’s take a closer look at that third spot, Twilight.” The map zoomed in on the third spot and a half mile radius around it. “Hmm. Hey, what if we take the thickest tree here and incorporate it into the design of the building? Maybe we can make it the middle of the dining area?”

“You’ll need an arborist to help with that” Straight Nail said. “I can build around any level of any tree, but to make sure that the tree grows the way you want it, you’ll need somepony else.”

“Hey, what if you take that tree down and carve out a bar from it?” Yellow Wire suggested. “You could take the branches from it to decorate the place as well.”

“That would make the place feel like a big nest” Gilda said. “I like it.”

“Thanks.”

“Of course, we can’t really decorate the whole place that way” I said. “We’ll figure out the rest of the interior design later. For now, let’s figure out the layout, and maybe getting a house built on top for me.”

Out in the middle of the Everfree Forest sat a strange gray monolith, undiscovered since its creation well over 1000 years ago. Occasionally, it would glow, but nothing would happen. A stray storm cloud, packed to the brim with lightning and broken away from the main storm raging over Ponyville, floated towards the rock. It's amazing path led it through the foliage without touching any of it before settling in a bowl formation in the top.

“Soon, I’ll be free again. . .”

As the nine of us at the table continued working on the plans, with good ideas from everyone at some point, we eventually got hungry. “Who wants to take a break?” I saw six hooves, a set of talons, and a set of claws rise at the question. “Twilight, Spike, how about you two go get something delivered down here?”

“There’s only one cook right now, so it’ll take a bit to get something for all of us” Twilight said.

“Hey, can he work with meat?” Gilda asked.

“He has to be ready to in case someone who eats meat visits. Unfortunately, we don’t store any of it here. You want him to make a dish with meat in it?”

“Duh. How do burgers sound, Yang? I’ve got some ground beef patties in the pack.”

“Make mine a double burger with bacon, cheese, and lettuce on it” I quickly said. “And some fries with ketchup on the side.”

“Potato fries, right?” Twilight asked.

“Of course. What other kind of fries would there be?”

“Hay fries.”

Oh. “Well then, potato it is. As long as grass is not used in my food’s preparation, it’s good.”

“I think I’ll try that myself” Spike said. “Single though. I don’t want to waste too much of Gilda’s meat.”

“A young dragon who’s yet to eat meat” Gilda said. “Have you been living on pony food and gems your whole life?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Spike, I have to step in and say that you will not have a burger like mine” I said. I was feeling a bit dramatic. “We will start you off with something simpler: a steak with bacon on the side. You should try those first. They are the greatest of meats, and if you can’t handle those, how can you handle meat with other ingredients in the same bite?”

“What makes steak and bacon so special?”

Gilda answered first. I think she liked going dramatic with me. “Steaks are food for the strong. Tearing into a whole one with your teeth shows just how tough you are, while cutting into one shows how much you appreciate it. After a hard and successful day of work, nothing beats a good steak.”

I continued with the other side of Spike’s answer. “As for bacon, that is a whole food group in and of itself. The mere smell and the sound of bacon cooking is enough to wake the sleeping from their slumber. Its flavor is divine, and it makes anything it’s on better. There is nothing, Nothing, that bacon can’t make better, even if it’s not food that’s being improved.”

“How about a financial meeting?” Spike thought he had me there.

“Then that becomes bacon with a financial meeting. Everyone, feel free to rest your minds a bit. I actually need to use the restroom.”

Twilight pointed out a cleverly hidden restroom behind her throne that she used during breaks in court. As I approached the door, it opened and Pinkie walked out, allowing me in.

The inside of the restroom was fairly compact, and the door sounded like it locked on its own. When I put my hand on the knob, it sounded like it unlocked itself. Nifty. Still, I had regular business in here to take care of.

After finishing up and washing my hands, I felt something odd and fuzzy in my chest. No, not in my chest, it was in my cleavage. I couldn’t look in there because of my shirt completely covering it up, so I turned away from the mirror and took my shirt off.

“Hey, Yang, I have an important question for you!” That was all Pinkie quickly said between the moment she somehow popped out of my cleavage and the moment I screamed and slapped her face, knocking her head into the wall with enough force to leave some small cracks in the structure before she slumped to the ground.

“Pinkie!” I quickly put my shirt back on before sitting down and checking on her prone form. The most obvious thing I saw was a red mark on her muzzle where I had reflexively slapped her. She had a distant look to her face, her breathing was ragged, and just looked like she had seen something horrifying. Aside from the occasional twitch and her breathing, nothing was happening below her head.

She was alive, but I didn’t know how well she was. I pulled her rather awkwardly onto my lap and held her close, stroking her mane the whole time. I could feel myself crying as I prayed that she would be alright and that the look on her face was just from the surprise of my reaction to her appearance.

I may not like Pinkie, and she might weird me out more often than not, but she never really did anything wrong. She may have deserved the slap for appearing from where she did, but not the wall. And certainly not the amount of power I had used. I don’t know what prompted her to appear like that though.

Some minutes later, Pinkie began moving on her own and slowly returned the hug I had her in. “I’m sorry, Yang. I don’t know how I could have broken a Pinkie Promise like that.”

“What is it you say about breaking those?”

“That it’s the fastest and worst way to lose a friend forever.”

“I think I see why you might have been able to break it. I haven’t been thinking of you as a friend, so there wasn’t really a friendship to break.”

“Are we friends now?”

“No, because you’re still too weird for me. Just don’t do that again, alright?”

“Can do. You know, if we stay in here long enough, ponies might begin talking.”

“Does anyone know you. . . somehow got back in here with a locked door in the way, along with no windows to go through?”

“No. Well, I guess if nopony knows, nopony will talk. Or maybe nopony will even care.”

“More importantly, how’s your head?”

“Still a little bit shaken, certainly not stirred, but otherwise okay.” She caught my gaze towards the cracks where she hit the wall. “Earth ponies are way tough. It’s going to take more than an overpowered slap into a solid crystal wall to brain my damage.”

Riiight. “Well, we should get back out there. We’ve got food coming.”

“You’re right. And if Twilight asks about those cracks in the wall, we will be honest about it. Unless they fix themselves and she doesn’t even know about it then.”

“Well, if you’re good to go, then let’s go.” I stood up, let Pinkie down onto her hooves, and we left the bathroom. Nobody seemed to care or even notice that we left the bathroom together. Fancy raised an eyebrow, but I think that was more because Pinkie left the bathroom twice after going in only once.

I still felt bad about what happened with Pinkie when the food arrived. The main thing keeping me from feeling worse was seeing that she was acting as normal as she usually did, and the red mark from my hand was gone pretty quickly.

Twilight and the cook levitated some food out for everybody. The smell of my burger drew my attention away from feeling bad, along with just how much meat was on it. A single patty on this would have been enough for me. With this one burger and the fries with it, I might not need much breakfast, if I was even hungry at all. At least if I didn’t finish it, I could make it my breakfast.

Spike had opted to join Gilda and me with our meat plates. “So, should I have the steak or bacon first?”

“Steak” Gilda and I said at the same time.

“And that one is?”

“The large one” Gilda pointed out.

“Is there a particular way to cut it?” Spike really didn’t know how to go about this.

“If you’ve ever cut something with a fork and knife, it’s the same thing, just a bit tougher” I said. I looked at my burger and took the bottom patty off. Even if my jaw was strong and my teeth were amazing, they don’t mean much if I can’t get the food in my mouth, and these patties were thick. “Just cut off a bite size piece and eat it.”

Spike still looked a bit uncertain, but he went about cutting it like a moderately experienced person would. After cutting off a piece, he held it up to inspect. “Well, here goes nothing.” He ate the bite that was on the fork and slowly chewed on it. His expression shifted from extremely cautious to a smile as he chewed it. “It’s really good!”

“Of course it is.” I turned to the cook, who was still in the room with us for some reason, probably to clean up when we were done. “Hey, would you like to work at the Carne Den as a cook?”

“You’ll have to ask my employer” the cook said as he looked at Twilight.

Twilight picked up on the conversation. “You can have him train your cooks, but that’s it.”

“Eh, good enough” Gilda said. “We’re not really the best for training cooks anyways.”

“Woah” Spike said. A look at his plate showed that his steak was already half gone and he had a piece of bacon in his grasp. “This stuff tastes beautiful. Bacon is amazing. Hey, Twilight, can I work at the Carne Den?”

“And what would you do there?” Twilight asked. “You’re still not tall enough to reach standard height cooking surfaces, or the tables, and there’s probably not enough room in their plans to have a dedicated cashier or cleaner.”

“Aww.”

“Hey, maybe we’ll figure something out” I assured the dragon. “And I just remembered something.”

“What is it?” Gilda asked.

“I have no idea how we’re going to make the payments work. Back on Earth, we had paper money and cards we could easily slip into these small folders that also had the check in them, but all I’ve ever seen here are these thick coins without any value other than one bit. On the bright side, that means nobody’s going to have to count out change, but every bit has to be counted out one by one.”

“There is something out there to help with that” Twilight said. “It’s called the 100 bit prism. It’s ten clear tubes arranged in a triangle, equilateral, of course, and each tube holds ten bits. It can be used to easily figure out, say, an 86 bit payment. Lots of places in bigger cities often have one at their registers, and some even use a lot of them as bit storage. The same ponies that make them also sell individual tubes that hold ten bits. The reason you don’t see many of them around Ponyville is because most of the transactions here aren’t big enough for them.”

“How much does each one cost?”

“The tubes are two bits each and the prisms are 25 bits each.”

“We could probably do with a prism and a few tubes.”

“Pardon me, Yang, but I have a question for you” Fancy interjected. Seeing his half eaten flower sandwich reminded me of my forgotten burger. I needed to get on that.

“Yeah?”

“Do you intend to oversee the whole project?”

“Well, I probably will, since you have other places to be, Gilda’s probably going to go back to her home really soon, and nobody else is really in on the vision for this project. Why do you ask?”

“I can find you an accountant to help manage the money for this project. I saw your reaction to the proposed 25,000 bits, and it was one that looked like my offer, calculated as it was, wouldn’t be enough. Knowing you as I do, it’s more likely you didn’t think it was enough to actually finish the construction.”

“That’s. . . actually a pretty good idea. And you hit the nail on the head with that last part about the construction.” A few hooves met their owners’ faces. “I’m just used to hearing bigger numbers in the cost of these things.”

“I see. Well, enjoy your meal.”

“I will.” I finally took a bite out of my bacon cheeseburger. It tasted really good, and even though the meats were juicy, they somehow lacked the dripping juices. I wasn’t going to complain about that. The buns had a bit of a crunch to them, like the inside had been lightly buttered and put on the grill. I liked it.

I was able to finish my burger with no problem, though I didn’t have much room left for the fries. I wound up sharing them with Gilda and Spike. I also let Spike have my leftover patty since he wanted to try it. After all the food he ate, I was surprised he was able to walk like normal.

After Pinkie gave everyone dessert, where she got it without leaving the room, I don’t know, we got back to the drawing board. We kept working at the design of the Carne Den until we all started nodding off. Twilight offered lodging for the night since the weather was so bad, an offer that went without refuse.

Groundwork

View Online

It’s been a few days since the meeting, and I was making laps around Ponyville again. While I’ve been running, I’ve also visited the small farmers Pinkie talked to. Most of them only grew single crops, but a few grew others as well, and all of them offered some recipes. To my surprise, Fluttershy was on the list. Not to my surprise after a bit of thought, she would be able to provide eggs. She had a large chicken coop with dozens of chickens in it. I got to see just how she collected the eggs too when she gingerly picked some up with her wings from a nesting box.

I’ve been trying different Apple family desserts every day as well. There were so many, I could only try a few per day. I talked with them and came to a decision: every month would have a different Apple family dessert, and the first one would be apple pie. We also discussed cider, and they would be able to produce quite a bit of it ahead of time. Their prices, based on what I’ve seen as a customer at a few eateries around here, were quite reasonable, especially if I returned containers for reuse.

I was joined on my run by a brown pegasus with a black and white striped mane and tail flying by me. “Can I help you, sir?”

“I’m here to help you, Ms. Xiao Long” he said. “My name is Brew Binary, and I’m the accountant Fancy Pants chose to help you with the Carne Den’s finances.”

I began slowing down to a walk so we could talk more easily. “Well then, it’s nice to meet you, Mr. Binary. Is there anything you need to tell me?”

“Aside from it being good to meet you, I arrived earlier today and I’ve also got all the construction ponies ready and started. I was told there would be a lot of materials ready and waiting for us, but I didn’t see any there.”

“Did you talk with Applejack? Orange earth pony, blonde mane and tail, most likely wearing a hat?”

“I haven’t talked to a pony like that yet.”

And there’s the first bump in the road. “I’ll find her and tell her to get the supplies over there. It might take a while though, since the train station area is kind of on the opposite end of town from her.”

“How long will that take?”

“Not too long, I hope.” I quickly figured out where I was on my lap and began running straight towards Sweet Apple Acres. It was time to start this big project/secret method to have a steady supply of meat.

I got to Sweet Apple Acres sooner than I normally would have during a run thanks to the more direct route I took. I found Applejack, Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith just as they were leaving the front door of their house.

“Hey, Yang” Applejack greeted. “What brings you here? Is it time to deliver the lumber and stuff?”

“Yeah” I confirmed. “I just found out recently myself, and the construction crews are apparently ready to go.”

“Why couldn’t they have had us deliver it yesterday? It would have made things a bit easier.” Apple Bloom asked as all of us except Granny Smith turned towards the barn.

“I don’t know. Are you going to need my help?”

“Eenope” Big Mac said. “We’ve got it planned out.”

“Ah’m taking the sheets, Big Mac’s taking the beams, and Apple Bloom is taking the nails and braces. It ain’t Twilight-level planning, but it’s good enough to work.”

“We should be there in a couple hours once we’re all hooked up” Apple Bloom said. “Go on there and we’ll be on our way.”

“Sounds good” I agreed before turning around and running off towards the construction site.

When I arrived, it was clear that Brew Binary hadn’t told me everything. There were construction ponies here, but they were just starting on the groundwork. They already had an outline of the building set up with some stakes and were working on removing the trees within the perimeter.

I found Brew Binary sitting and talking with the foremen. Foreponies? The four ponies in charge of the construction itself by the look of it, all of them somehow identical, their cutie marks concealed as well. I walked over to them. “Hello again, Ms. Xiao Long” Brew greeted.

“Hi” I returned. “I found Applejack, and she’s on her way with the lumber and stuff.”

“That’s good. And the situation’s not as bad as I thought it might have been. Fancy told me to get the construction started, but I was expecting to see the frame going up first. I’ve never actually seen how construction work is actually done from the start, so it’s kind of new to me.”

“Well, you are an accountant, so it makes sense that it might be outside your experience. How’s everything else looking?”

One of the foreponies answered. “We should have the trees cleared out and the ground prepared before sundown. As per the plans I read, that big tree will be set aside once it’s down. My son is actually quite talented at woodworking, so he’ll be the one to work on it starting tomorrow.”

That’s one big piece of furniture that we won’t have to worry about. Much. “Well, that’s good to know.”

“Say, where’s Gilda?” Brew asked. “I was told that she was also part of this project.”

“She decided to fly back to Griffonstone yesterday. She says she’s going to help spread the word about the Carne Den over there and see if she can get some griffons in on the business. On the bright side, she left me with plenty of meat, so I should be fine for a while.” That stuff was almost like a drug to me right now. Unfortunately, I had to go to Twilight’s for it since Rarity wouldn’t allow any of it in her house. “So, how fast do you usually work?”

Another forepony answered. “It usually takes us about a month at most to build one building, assuming something collapses partway through. If nothing collapses, we should be done in only a couple weeks.”

“Then let’s hope the only thing to collapse are the trees in our way.” As I said that, the big tree was cut and fell to the ground. One of the branches, about as thick as my arm, hit the ground, snapped, and somehow flew over the ponies in front of me, only to slam into my face, knocking me back a few steps and onto my back. If it weren’t for my aura, my face would have been severely messed up.

“Hey, careful over there! You hit Yang in the face! You could have hit us too!”

“Sorry! I just don’t know what went wrong.” Was that Derpy? Why was she here? “I’ll just be on my way now.”

I got the branch off my face and stood back up. “Well, that was unexpected.”

“Are you okay?” Brew asked.

“Yeah. It’ll take more than a surprise faceplant to really hurt me.” The foreponies and Brew collectively facehooved in unison.

“Anyways, where should we have Applejack drop the supplies?” one forepony asked.

“Wherever works best for you, so long as you don’t need to move it during construction. Why are you even asking me?"

“Standard procedure for our company.”

“Riiight. Well, I’ll leave the groundwork to you and your crew. I’m going to go back to my run. If you need me for something, just stop me when I pass by.”

“If you could come by before sunset, we’d like to show you our progress.”

“Sure thing.” With a short salute, I left them and got back on track as I passed the train station. As I resumed my run, I found myself, for the first time, wishing I had some music to listen to while running. I also thought about how much I’ve been running and just how easy it’s gotten for me. I had the stamina and speed to outperform anyone back on Earth, and a glimpse at the occasional reflection of myself still showed a healthy, slim body that belied the sheer power and endurance it held.

Another thought came to mind as I ran through Sweet Apple Acres: I was going to need Rarity to make work outfits for myself and my employees. I didn’t want to impose on her generosity by having her make them for free, so I’d have to work up the money to pay her for them. Maybe I could pay her for them over time. It would certainly be preferable to running the risk of any fur or feathers getting in the food, even with interest on the payments. Come to think of it, I was almost at that point in my lap.

When I went inside, Rarity greeted me. “Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything is chic, unique, and, oh, hello Yang. You’re back early. Need something?”

“Work clothes for the Carne Den” I answered. “Not just for me, but also for the employees I’ll have, too.”

“That’s a pretty tall order, but I can at least make yours for now. Do you want to go with the traditional white chef’s outfit?”

“No, I’m thinking black, and some kind of design that’s fairly simple. Maybe something that has a bit of a wrap to how it’s put on. I don’t know if I’m describing it right.”

“Not even close, but I have something in mind already. Instead of the usual buttons, you’re after something sleeker, but still resembling a chef’s outfit. Are you going to be doing any of the cooking?” Rarity already had a pencil and paper in her magic, sketching out her idea.

“No, but I think it would be easier to have everyone wearing the same uniform. At the least, it would save some money by only needing to modify the way it’s made and not the design.”

“But you could use a few small differences between them, even if just to signify job and rank. Like yours” -Rarity showed me the nice picture she had quickly drawn- “could have the hems around the cuffs, neck, body, and bottom be yellow, which goes well with your hair. The actual cooks can have red hems, symbolizing their presence in the heat of the kitchen. The waitstaff could have a dull orange, perfect for helping customers relax, like the leaves during autumn. Your bartenders could have blue, the color of water, the most basic of drinks. The highest ranking in each area could have violet going along their colors, going with your eyes as a way to show their rank and oversight position.”

“And green?” Rarity almost had the full rainbow.

“I don’t know. I’m thinking white hems for the dishwashers, should you have any dedicated to that position, to go with the suds and bubbles, but nothing for green. If you come up with something, let me know.”

“I will. Also, if I may ask, why does it look like mine has a short skirt in its design? It looks good, but I don’t really like wearing skirts.”

“Says the one who wears one to sleep every night.”

“That came about out of necessity. And I only wear it while I’m asleep.”

“And yet you haven’t asked me to come up with a replacement for it in all the time you’ve had it, now have you?” She got me there. “Back to your new outfit, it’s not simply a skirt by itself, more like a short dress, really. There will be a pair of pants to go with it too. I just haven’t fully drawn them out yet. They’ll be a bit looser than your jeans, so you’ll look more business-like.”

“I find that additional information to be acceptable.” I could deal with a skirt outside my sleepwear if it had something else under it. “Wait, you said dress?”

“Only a resemblance to one, dear. It will be short enough to not get caught on anything easily. You could just think of it as a long shirt, if that helps you out.”

That . . . was actually a pretty good way to think about it. It made the idea much more palatable. “It does help. When can you get it made?”

“Since I’m all caught up on my orders, I could have it done tonight. Have some water and go back to your running or something.”

“Thanks, Rarity. We’ll talk about the payment plan and how much it’ll cost later.” I quickly got myself a glass of water, drank it, and went back outside.

“Of course, dear. Wait, payment?”

After my second slow lap, I stopped at the construction site. The ground where the Carne Den was going to go was level and free of grass. The trees within it were gone, the giant one set apart from the others, and there was even the beginning of some framework.

“There you are” Brew said. “The foreponies just sent everyone else home about ten minutes ago.”

“How do you like the progress for the day?” one of the foreponies asked.

“It’s more than what you said you were aiming to accomplish.”

“We try. Silver Pipe, Straight Nail, Yellow Wire, and some of their crews will be here tomorrow to help out too. If you want to help in the construction work, just say so.”

“Thanks for the offer.” I could use that as some strength building exercise. And having me there means that I could be called upon for decisions. “I might just take you up on that.”

“I’m sure you’d be a big help. Well then, I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.” All four foreponies left in the same direction, leaving me with Brew.

“So, are they quadruplets or something?”

“No, they’re not” Brew said. “I asked them and it turns out that they’re two pairs of identical twins and their parents were identical twins who married other identical twins.”

“Stop, you’re making my brain hurt.” As simple as his explanation was, it wasn’t very easy to envision. “So, are you staying in Ponyville?”

“Yes. It also happens to be my first time here. I have a room at the hotel. Room 308. It has a great view of the construction site, and I will be using it as my office while I’m here.”

“Where do you live?”

“Canterlot. All the accountants Fancy talked to were from Canterlot. I just happened to be the first to volunteer to come here after his explanation of the Carne Den.”

“Ah. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“And the same to you.”

As we parted ways during the sunset towards our separate places, I began thinking about what I’d have to do in the future, namely interviews. I couldn’t hold the interviews at the construction site, since that was dangerous and distracting. I could hold them at Sugarcube Corner, but I felt that if I went there, I’d have to get something, and that would add up quickly.

When I arrived at the boutique, I saw Rarity and Sweetie Belle playing checkers outside by the front door. “Good evening.”

“Good evening, Yang” Sweetie greeted. “How was your day?”

“Construction on my restaurant has started. Hey, Rarity, how’s the outfit?”

“I finished it about 45 minutes ago.” Rarity moved one of her kinged pieces. “It’s folded up on your bed.”

“I’ll go try it on. Thanks.” I went up to my room and found the outfit, shirt, pants, and socks, neatly folded up. After closing the door and curtain, I changed into the outfit. The fit was very good, not too tight, not too loose. The lower part of the sleeves were a bit short and a tad tight, but putting the Ember Celica on filled the gap between the end of the sleeve and my hand. Transforming them went without a problem, which made the tightness of the sleeves more acceptable. The skirt portion came just shy of going halfway down my thighs, and despite the way it slightly contoured my legs, it didn’t hinder my mobility in any way. I could even do the splits without any problems since the skirt wasn’t a full circle of fabric and didn’t close like the rest of the top piece did.

With the new outfit on, I went back out to Rarity and Sweetie Belle at their table. I got there just as Sweetie was packing the game up. “I like it, Rarity.”

“And it looks good on you too, I must say” Rarity said. “Now, I recall you saying something about discussing a payment of some kind?” She motioned to the chair Sweetie was just in and I sat down in it.

“Yes. I can’t accept these uniforms for the Carne Den for free. Not after all you’ve done and made for me at your expense. While the gesture would certainly be nice, I’d feel guilty about it.”

“Really? Does that include yours?”

“Yes. Even if the Carne Den flops and I have to take up two jobs to pay them off, I will not let this go unpaid.”

“That’s quite noble of you, but I at least want you to have that outfit for free.”
Sounds like it’s time to negotiate. “Hmm. When you make, say, a custom dress, is part of your fee the design cost?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Then how about this: I still pay for the one I’m wearing, but you can discount the design fees and any other fees for fitting these uniforms.”

“Are you . . . trying to bargain with my generosity?”

“Uh, yes?”

Rarity put a hoof to her mouth and let out a dainty little laugh. “Nopony’s ever done that before. I don’t think you’re going to back down on your offer, but I still want to do something else for you for this.”

For a bit, Rarity and I made focused eye contact, as if we could transmit ideas to each other by the power of our sight. I was the first to come up with something. “I have an idea.”

“Oh? Do tell.”

“Could I use this spot for interviews? If I like an applicant, then I can send them right in for you to take their measurements and other notes.”

“This far from the building site? Maybe you’d prefer somewhere closer?”

“I can just put up a sign sign here and a sign there. You do make a good point about having a closer spot, though. Oh, maybe I could schedule certain days for being at the construction site and other days for interviews. I should figure that out and send a letter to Gilda.”

“I do have a spare calendar sitting in my inspiration room. Feel free to use it.”

I wasn’t going to argue against that offer. “Thanks. I just wish I could know how many were coming and when so I could schedule around them.”

“That would be nice, wouldn’t it? If I may make a suggestion, talk to Twilight tomorrow. She can help make a newspaper ad for you so you can get more applicants and to tell everyone your business exists. For now though, it’s about time to go to bed. There’s some vegetable and mushroom casserole in the fridge from tonight’s supper if you want any.”

“Sounds good.” My stomach made a sound of agreement. Skipping meals, while doable, isn’t necessarily a good idea. Rarity and I went inside once we were done talking. She went upstairs to go to bed and I found the casserole in the fridge. There wasn’t much of it there, just barely enough for a small meal. I shredded a bit of cheese onto it, mixed the whole thing up, wished that microwaves were a thing here, and sat down to my cold supper.

Maybe I could find someone who could make one. Ovens, stoves, refrigerators, and hot water are things here, and I’ve yet to see anything like a power plant in this little town. There was magic at work here, and it was versatile. It would be nice if I could tap into a bit of it.

Making the rounds

View Online

It’s a brand new day. The sun hit my eyes as it usually did, the shower fogged up the mirrors, and breakfast was good. I had my caution stripe athletic outfit on and had just left the front door when I was stopped by the earth pony from the post office. “Good morning, Yang” he greeted in that british accent of his.

“Good morning, umm. . .” I really wish I knew his name.

“Doctor. You can just call me The Doctor.”

“Doctor.”

“Yes, just like that. I have a letter for you.” He produced a letter from a saddlebag and held it out for me.

“Thanks.” I took the letter and opened it right there as The Doctor walked off. The writing looked kind of familiar.

Dear Yang Xiao Long,
This is you just over a month from now. The good news is that the Carne Den is a raging success, and I’m almost done decorating the bedroom. My bedroom. Yours too. Well, it’s mine, but it will be yours. You get the idea.
On the back of this letter are a set of dates for when the interviews will take place. Do whatever you want or have to on the other days.
Sincerely, Yang Xiao Long

Well, that was a rather brief letter. And that definitely looked like my Equestrian writing, if a little bit better than it is now. Before I continued, I went back inside and got the spare calendar. With Rarity’s unneeded permission, I took it up to my room, set it and the letter down on the desk, and began recording the dates. I had no idea who was going to apply, but I felt a bit of a thrill in my chest at not knowing that. I guess knowing a little bit of the future was kind of helpful. And according to the letter, the first interview was just under a week away.

With the dates recorded, I figured it was time to leave. As I went out through the window, I thought about whether to go to the construction site first or visit Twilight. If I went to the construction site, I might be there all day and not get to Twilight. If I went to Twilight’s, I wouldn’t be at the construction site until later on and might not help it progress as far as it could today.

By the time I’d reached the center of town, I’d come to the decision to visit Twilight first. The construction site could wait for me, and as Rarity had suggested, getting the word out about the Carne Den was important.

For a Monday morning, there certainly were a lot of ponies in line to see Twilight, all of them wearing official looking clothes. It felt like most of them were kind of frustrated at something, a feeling that was strengthened when a small group of ponies walked out of the court and gave me a collective stink eye.

Was I just the nearest target or had I somehow offended them? I really hoped I was just the nearest target, but the way the other ponies in line similarly looked at me when they noticed I was there, I began to doubt that. What could I have possibly done?

Spike did not miss the glares directed my way, and he singled me out to send me in before the rest of the line. I didn’t want to go before them, since they were here before me, but their continued glares and the occasional motion of the head convinced me to go on.

Twilight didn’t look exhausted when I entered the throne room, but she seemed to get a bit of energy when she saw me. “Yang! You would not believe the ponies who just petitioned before you.”

“I actually moved her ahead in the line, Twilight” Spike admitted. “Considering what the last petitioners said, and what the rest of the line looks like, I figured it would be appropriate to move her forward.”

“It has something to do with me, doesn’t it?” I asked. “Just give it to me straight.”

“If that’s how you want it” Twilight started. “Those were crop collectors and bill writers from Detrot. They were quite vocal about the bills you passed, and they don’t like them.”

“I guess nobody likes a rogue element sweeping in and immediately pulling power away from them.”

“No, they don’t. Anyways, while I was listening to the previous group, I came up with an idea.”

Both Spike and I turned our attention to the alicorn. “What is it?”

“Those doors are good at muffling lots of sounds, but anything loud enough can be heard through them. I’ll cast a small spell to make them think we’ve escalated to a shouting match ending in me defenestrating you, Yang.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know what defenestrating is” I admitted.

“Throwing you out through the window.”

“Oh.”

“That’s step one. Step two is that we let the next group in, and since it seems likely that they will be here to complain about the bills, you can simply wait on a chandelier, and at my cue, jump down behind them and spook them.”

That did sound kind of fun. “I’m sorry, but I must refuse that idea. Besides, that’s not why I’m here. I was wondering if you could help me get an ad into the papers for the Carne Den and that we’re hiring for all positions.”

“I can write it out over lunch and bring it to you for you to look over.”

“Thanks. Should I defenestrate myself or just walk out?”

“I’ll help you.” Twilight picked me up in her magic and tossed me out one of the windows with a lot of force. As I flew out, I saw her magic picking up all the pieces of glass and neatly stacking them somewhere close by. She’d probably fix it later.

I looked in the direction I was going and saw the train station up ahead. What luck this was, getting a free flight to work. As I flew, I got myself to a stance where I would land on the ground feet first.

Of course, the landing stance is one thing. I wasn’t really prepared for the actual impact and wound up stumbling a bit at high speed. Thankfully, I managed to stop myself and recover just before I hit a tree. “That was close!”

“Good morning, Yang” Brew said. “Your landing could use some work.”

“Yeah, I know. I guess I just don’t get the chance to fly like that very often.” I could use the Ember Celica to fly, but I wasn’t keen on firing them for that purpose, regardless of the unlimited ammo. I guess I should learn how to do that just in case I had to fly with them later. “So, where is everyone?”

“Not here yet. Silver Pipe, Yellow Wire, and Straight Nail should be arriving on the ten o'clock train. The local crews probably got notified of that and are going to help offload their supplies first. If they had to stop construction to help, that would make the construction lose momentum.”

That made sense. “So, what now? Neither of us really know how to put all this together.”

“I guess we can just stand around and talk.”

That sounded like a good idea. “So, how do you like Ponyville so far?”

“Well, I’m not too keen on the dirt roads here, but the ponies at the few places I’ve been to were quite friendly to me. Except for one pink mare who confused me more than anything. Still, as nice as it is here, I’ll be happy to be back in Canterlot once I’m done here. How about you?”

“Well, I like it. Where I’m from, there was stuff happening all the time, day and night. I actually like how quiet it is at night here. And the ponies here really are friendly. I mean, they accepted me here, and I’m the only one of my species on this planet. I don’t think I’ve been on this planet for even two whole months yet and I’m one of the locals as far as anyone’s concerned here.”

“Is that how it would work in your world?”

“Probably not. Let’s say you get sent there. There’s no telling what might happen. You might be seen as a threat, you might be seen as a pet. You might get captured by government agents or mistakenly hunted and killed.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“We don’t have a lot of experience with other sapient species. Sometimes, it seems like we barely get along with ourselves. I think ponies are more positive than humans. I mean, one of them, her name is Rarity, without having even known me for fifteen minutes, offered to let me live with her. Sure, she had a motive on the side, but it benefited me more than her.”

“Do you think you’ll be living with her for the whole time you’re here?”

“Nah. I think I’ll be out of the boutique before autumn.” Sooner than that, according to the letter I got earlier. “I’ve been there long enough though that it will always have a place in my heart. Next to the right ventricle, I think.” We continued standing around talking about stuff for a while before the four foreponies showed up, along with Yellow Wire, Straight Nail, and Silver Pipe. Behind them were two large crates, each big enough to hold a motorcycle. I felt excited at that idea, even though I knew there wouldn’t be such a thing in there.

Wait, why was I getting excited at the idea of a motorcycle?

“Hello, Yang” Silver Pipe said as he walked up to me. “Before we left to come here, I got something for you in the mail. I’m not sure which of these crates it’s in though, but it’s got your name written all over it. Yellow Wire, could you give Yang a crowbar?”

“Sure thing” Yellow Wire said before doing exactly as she had been asked to do.

“Like I said, it’s got your name written all over it. It should be easy to see.”

“Thanks.” As tempted as I was to just swing the crowbar and break the crates open, I knew that that wasn’t a good idea. Especially if there was a motorcycle in there. Or a bunch of loose things that would have to be picked up. It had to be done properly.

I opened the crate on the right first. Inside was just a bunch of neatly organized pipe pieces and some big rolls of wire. Nothing of interest to me, really. I opened the other crate and saw more pipe, more wire, and a collection of tools. Among the tools was a cardboard box with my name written on every side. Whatever it was, it was light. I actually felt a bit disappointed at the small box.

“That’s it” Silver Pipe confirmed. “Go ahead and open it up. We’ll be fine without you for a while.”

I sat down at the base of a tree and began carefully tearing the box open. Whoever had glued this shut did a really good job of it. Still, I got through it and to the contents: two white bands of spent shells for the Ember Celica.

. . .

What in the world was I supposed to do with these? Was there an instruction manual or something for this? I may not have known very much about firearms back on Earth, but I knew that spent shells were generally worthless, or at least worth less.

A glimpse into the box revealed a small white piece of paper. I pulled it out and read it.

These empty shells could be anything you want. Just put the same thing in each of them and watch them become a new band of shells before your very eyes.

Was today a day of short letters for me or something? Still, I needed a place to put these shells, and the Ember Celica weren’t an option right now. I put them back in their box, and just as I stood up, I noticed some picnic tables off to the side. When were those put there?

“Hey, Brew?” I asked as I walked towards the tables. “When were those put there?”

“Just this morning” he said. “It happened behind your back. They’re there so there’s a place for everyone to eat their lunch.”

“Are we the only ones that didn’t bring our own lunches?”

“No. Apparently, the families of these construction workers usually bring them lunch. However, that’s not how it’s going to be today.”

“Catering?”

“Catering. What’s a good place around here that caters?”

“Well, there’s Sugarcube Corner, but they’re more dessert than actual food. Hayburgers is out of the question, since I’d probably get really sick if I ate anything from there. You might try the Olive Branch Cafe. As long as there’s no grass, I can eat just about anything from there.”

“But are they good?”

“They are. Like I said, as long as there’s no grass, it’s fine with me. Grass based things can also make me sick, or if it’s involved anywhere in the cooking process.”

“Dare I ask how you know that?”

“It happened the day after I had some Chineighse food. I got really sick. Fortunately, if it really is an allergy, it’s only triggered when I actually eat the stuff.”

“No grass. Anything else you can’t eat?”

“I don’t eat flowers, though that’s more of a choice as far as I know.” I’d certainly never had any before.

“Alright. I’ll go ahead and talk to them about catering here. There’s easily enough room in the budget for it.” Brew left the site to go find the cafe.

I set the box of spent shells on the nearest table and walked over to the foreponies. I still find it weird how these four ponies are identical. “So, is there anything I can do to help?”

One of them answered. I doubt knowing their names would help me any. “Not really. We’d actually prefer it if you stayed out of our crew’s way. Even if you did help build a barn for Sweet Apple Acres, we don’t know the extent of your skills or how well you’ll mesh with the crew.”

Such honesty. “Alright. I’ll run a lap or two around Ponyville and I should be back here in time for lunch.”

“That sounds good.”

Without any further exchanged words, I set off on my run. The weather was good today. I wasn’t sure if the weather pegasi did that or if it was simply them not doing anything, but I didn’t really care either. It could be 110 degrees and I’d feel just fine.

I stopped back at the construction site after my second lap. During my first lap, I met a mare who was trotting the same route I took. She’d seen me running around Ponyville and decided to do the same thing to get in shape. As far as I was able to tell, she wasn’t in bad shape, but I’m no expert on equine fitness standards, so I didn’t really know. When I came across her on my second lap, she was sitting at the fence for Sweet Apple Acres, sweaty and tired. I could only hope she wasn’t going to push herself too hard.

“There you are, Yang” a forepony said. They needed name tags or something. “We’re just about ready for lunch. Care to join us?”

“Sure.” Lunch did sound good, even if it was going to basically be salad today. Eh, I could get a pork chop later. “Can I get a brief tour of what’s been done so far?”

“Of course. Andersmith, show her what we’ve done so far.”

“Of course” a tan unicorn stallion with blue in his mane, tail, and feathers said. I walked over to him and he began the brief tour. “Silver Pipe and Yellow Wire have already gotten the pipes and wires connected to the grid and sticking up where they’re going to come into the building. We’ve got two exterior walls fully framed and we have the layout of the rest of the ground walls done as well. The bar counter is being carved as well, though the tree had to be hauled away so it could be worked on. It should be done, back, and installed in a few days.”

“That’s excellent” I said. “How much do you think you’ll have done by the time you leave today?”

“I’d say, oh, all the framing for the lower level walls.”

Speedy, these ponies are. “That sounds good. Thanks, Andersmith.”

“No problem.”

With the tour done, we left the building in progress and went over to the tables. Just as we arrived, I saw Brew coming towards us, followed by a few ponies pulling boxy wagons. It looked like our lunch was here.

The ponies with the wagons connected them in a curved line and went to the convex side of it. They fiddled with something and the tops of the wagons unfolded, revealing a display with some ingredients spread out on each one, a pair of tongs with each ingredient as well. It was a big serving line.

“Lunch is ready, everypony” Brew said. “It’s a self-serve today, so come grab whatever you want.”

As excited as I was for lunch, I let the ponies who were actually building the Carne Den go first. All I’ve done today was talk to Twilight, run a couple laps, and get a tour of the progress. They’ve been moving stuff and putting things together under the sun. I was able to see the sweat on some of the ponies shining in the light while I hadn’t broke a sweat at all during my run.

Even though I was the last to go up to the line, there was still plenty of every ingredient left. There was even enough for everyone to have seconds if they wanted. The plates were kind of bowl-like, which made my pasta and salad more containable. There were grass and flower options, but I passed over them. Hooray for things that were optional.

Once I had my pasta and salad, I snagged two forks and sat down. Everyone left the spot where my shells were alone, so I took that spot for myself. Before I started on my pasta and salad, I used my forks to toss and mix them together into a pasta salad. Once it was mixed to my content, I started eating it.

While I ate, I noticed that I was a bit calmer this time than the times I’ve had meat. The only conclusions I could come to for why that was so was because either the meat increased aggression somehow, or it was more of a thrill, eating meat in this land of herbivores. It was probably the latter. And it might have had something to do with a whole month and a half of not having the stuff available. Still, variety is good. I also joined in on the conversations a bit, but mostly kept to myself.

My one serving was enough for me, so I took my plate over to the pony that was responsible for the used dishes and gave them to her. When I got back to my spot, I opened the box and pulled the shells out again, trying to figure out just how to make new rounds out of these.

“Hey, what are those?” the unicorn stallion on my left asked me. It turned out to be Andersmith. How did I not notice that?

“Shells for my gauntlets.” I turned one of the Ember Celica to its gauntlet form and opened it, putting one band in place before taking it back out and turning it back to its bracelet form. “The only thing is that these are empty, so they’re not very useful. There was a piece of paper with them that said I could make new rounds with them by putting stuff in them, but I’m not sure how.”

Andersmith thought for a bit, looked at the shells, and left the table. A moment later, he came back, a bunch of nails in his magic. “What if you put these in there?”

I snagged the nails from his magic. “You’re sure this is okay?”

“We always have way more nails than we need, so using twenty of them here isn’t an issue. Heck, we get 100 of them at a time for one bit, so it’s not like we’re losing much on this.”

“If you say so.” I set the shells up and began setting a nail in each one, pointed end up. The nails were about three inches long and noticeably stuck out from each shell. I had no idea how they would fit, but I didn’t think about it much as I continued onward. After I got the last nail in the last shell, they began to glow a dark gray and rich blue. I wasn’t able to see the shells for a second with how much glow there was, but once it was gone, I saw that the shells were neither white nor spent anymore. Now they were blue and dark gray, the latter color making four nail shapes on the sides of each shell.

“Are they nail shells now?”

“I think so.” I expanded and opened both of my gauntlets, put the shells in, and closed them. I left the table and went over to the nearby trees, quickly finding one with a bare spot on it. I stood about 15 feet or so from the tree and threw a few punches at it, each punch also firing a shot. The recoil on each shot was fairly low. Each shot was also quieter than the other rounds I’ve used as well.

In the bare spot was a group of nails, each sticking out a little bit. I put my fist up against the bare spot, away from the grouping, and pressed. To my partial surprise, the gauntlet fired a shot. The nail that came out was in the wood, the head slightly embedded in it.

I think I just found my nail gun. Nail guns, I guess. I do have two of them. When I opened the Ember Celica to remove the shells, I saw that, like the others, they looked like they’d never been fired. I guess I had an endless supply of nails now. I pulled one out with a bit of effort and saw that it was the same as the kind that had been put in.

I returned to my spot next to Andersmith as I returned the gauntlets to their bracelet forms and put the nail on the table. “I have an endless supply of these nails now. I can even put them in place in under a second.”

“That’s really cool” Andersmith said. “Hey, that means you could help us speed up construction a bit. Instead of us having to put the nail in place and hammer it in, all we need is for you to put your gauntlet in place and shoot it in.”

“Does that mean I’ll be able to help when you get back to work?”

“Depends on what the foreponies think of this development. I can talk to them for you, if you’d like.”

“That would be nice. Thanks.”

“No problem.” Andersmith polished off his lunch and went to the foreponies. After a bit, he came back. “They said you could start helping after lunch. They also said that you were to only help on demand, not at your discretion.”

Wow. These foreponies were serious. “I guess I can deal with that.”

Apparently, the way these ponies operate in the way they do construction is something like an assembly line. A section was built, taken to its place, set up, and put into place. I started out towards the end, putting nails in where I was told to put them in. Being able to secure the frames as quickly as I was with the nail rounds meant that the team I was with got frequent breaks.

Eventually, I got drifted over to the frame assembly area where I did more of the same. The assembly went faster than it had been before, once again thanks to the nail shells. It got to the point where we actually had frame sections stacking up a bit. One of the ponies from the assembly area, without much to do, started putting numbers on the frame sections and the layout of the Carne Den. Smart move.

As I worked with the construction ponies, I noticed that while they were sweating under the sun and through the work, I wasn’t. Heat tolerance is awesome, but I wish these ponies had it too. They could use it just as much as I do.

Thanks to my nail shells, we got almost the whole ground floor framed almost two hours before it was quit time for the crew. One section of the framing was left set aside and unattached so the bar counter could be easily put inside, along with other large items that might not fit very easily through the doorway.

“Let’s call it an early day, everypony” a forepony said. “Clean up, double check anything you need to, and get going.”

“Why?” one worker asked.

“With Yang’s help, we got both the lower level framing and floor setup done in record time. Tomorrow, we’ll be working on the back area. After that’s finished, we’ll build the frame sections for the upper floor. After that, we’re going to have to wait until the crane gets here. As far as I know, they should done with it in Appleoosa soon.”

“Sounds like a good plan” I said. “Since the back area’s going to be stone, I’ll stay out of it while it’s being built.”

“That’s the plan, everypony. You don’t have to go home, but please don’t stay here. The building is incomplete and lacks furniture, running water, and food.”

The ponies left the area in groups, chatting among themselves. I left by myself and walked towards Twilight’s castle, thinking about what I still needed to do. I still needed to find a good outdoor grill for the back area, along with good outdoor furniture that could stand up to the elements.

While I was mentally debating the benefits of using wood or paper for the menus, I arrived at Twilight’s castle. She wasn’t in the courtroom when I arrived, but it didn’t take long for her to teleport to the room. She appeared a distance away, only slightly surprising me, before walking over. “Hi, Yang. How’s the Carne Den coming along?”

“The lower level is framed and ready for more to go on” I said. “I think things are going to go quite well.” A random thought about my uniform crossed my mind, and I made a mental note to bring it up with Rarity. “So, how’s that ad looking?”

“Pretty good, if I do say so myself. I’ve already sent it out to numerous publications with the offers to run them for three weeks.”

“How did you get it out so quickly?”

“I used a small personal press to make multiple copies of it, then I put each copy in an envelope, along with the details of the offer, and teleported them out to the appropriate post offices.”

“At the same time?”

“No, I did it one by one. Teleportation spells can only have one starting point and one ending point, even if multiple things are being moved in the same teleport. I also had to refer to a few maps to get the addresses right. Still, it wasn’t that difficult to do.”

“How can I thank you for this?”

“Hmm. One free meal for Spike and me once the Carne Den is open?”

“Sure. But just you and Spike.”

“Do you think I’d use that free meal to order everything for everyone?”

“You? No. But the possibility of it crossed my mind.”

“Do your people always have negative outlooks on things?”

I thought for a bit. “Seems like it. At least I don’t recall hearing much positive news. Then again, negative news seems to fill air time better. So, are we done here?”

“Yes, we are. Have a good night, Yang.”

“You too.”

“Hi, Rarity” I said as I entered the boutique.

“Good evening, Yang” Rarity greeted. “Another busy day?”

“Yep. The first floor of the Carne Den is framed. And I got some new shells that really helped everything go together a lot faster.”

“Really? Do tell.”

“Nail shells. An endless supply of them. I can put nails in place really quickly and really accurately. It made the construction go much faster.”

“That sounds nice.”

“It is. Oh, I have a question for you.”

“Oh?”

“Could you add some purple to my Carne Den uniform? The yellow does look nice, but as the top overseer, even if my rank is denoted by the color, having purple on there would make it even more official.”

“I see. I see. Why didn’t I think of that? Bring it down here and I’ll get the purple lines on it.”

“Thanks, Rarity.”

Fighting dirty

View Online

After a few delays with the crane assembly, fortunately not crashing into the Carne Den, progress had started in earnest on the upper floor. The bathrooms, both upper and lower, were already done, complete with interior decoration. It didn’t make any sense to me, but at least we had functional bathrooms. The back area was also done, missing only the grill I would stand at. We still needed that.

Shortly after the upper bathroom was done, I’d began commandeering it as a temporary office space. Today, I had a bunch of paper and pencils, and I had to come up with the menu. I could send it out to the presses for printing tomorrow. I decided to have the menus printed on wood instead of paper. It was different.

I’d just closed the door and set my materials down on the countertop when I heard a ringing sound coming from the door. I looked at it and saw that the mirror was rippling, as if it was made of water. “That’s weird.” I cautiously approached the mirror. As I got closer, I felt a resistable pull coming from its surface. I poked the mirror and found that it wouldn’t let go of my finger. “That’s really weird.” Against my better judgement, I continued into the mirror.

Inside the mirror was a dark tunnel, devoid of all light except for one flickering point up ahead of me. I looked back and saw that the way I’d come was dark. It had also sealed itself off, and I couldn’t do anything to get back. I looked forward and went towards the point of light.

The point of light eventually became an oval pane of glass. I put my hands on it and and pressed. It actually gave a bit, but I didn’t break through it. There had to be another way out of here, but the blackness around me had no give, making travel through it a non-option.

I realized that the glass was the only way out, but it looked like very nice glass, so I didn’t want to break it. I looked around the edge for a frame of some kind to pull out, but I wasn’t seeing any such thing.

Just as I realized my search was fruitless, something shoved me through the glass at high speed, shattering it in a way that could certainly not be described as quiet. Surprisingly, the glass didn’t hurt, nor did the fragments cut my clothes. I wasn’t prepared for the shove, and I wound up skipping on the damp ground a couple times before faceplanting. “Why?”

After taking a moment to mope at my face’s misfortune of being targeted by, well, just about everything, I stood up and wiped some mud and grass from my face. Once I was able to see again, I saw a huge armored guy in front of me. I couldn’t see his face, but he seemed a bit tense at my presence. Wait, if I’m seeing another human, then did I get summoned again? If he’s tense, then he probably didn’t summon me. I turned around and saw a less taller-than-me person wearing mirror-like armor and carrying a huge mirror shield.

Hold on, I came out through an oval pane of glass, and that mirror shield is the same shape. He was behind me when I came out, so he must be the one who summoned me here. “Hello, uh, mirror guy. What’s your name?” The mirror guy simply pointed his sword at the taller taller-than-me guy. “What about him? Is he a friend of yours?” He pointed his sword at the other guy again, repeating the motion a couple times. “What do you want me to do? I still haven’t gotten your name yet.” If he was going to play this quiet game, I could just keep asking him until he cracks and speaks.

I heard heavy footsteps behind me, and they were getting closer. I looked back and saw the taller guy charging, and I was in the way, his sword and shield raised and ready for battle. I decided then that he wasn’t friendly, and ran away, past the mirror guy. That was a fight, and I had no reason to be part of it.

A few seconds after escaping the fight, I heard what had to be the two shields hitting each other, then one of them falling to the ground. I didn’t think much of it until I heard what sounded like metal being broken through. I looked back and saw the taller guy stabbing the downed mirror guy. “Well, that doesn’t look comfortable.

Wait a minute. I came out of the mirror guy’s shield. If that guy gets killed, then I might die too. Summons often die with their summoner, and I don’t want to die!” I took a moment to get myself in the right mindset. Even if I only had the nail rounds today, I still had to do something.

I noticed that the tall guy was preoccupied with the mirror guy than me. I took the chance to run back to them, turning the Ember Celica to their gauntlet forms on the way. I jumped before I got there and managed to angle myself to land on the tall guy’s back. He paused in his assault when I landed on him. I grabbed onto his left shoulder and began punching his helmet with my right fist. I got one punch to connect before he started trying to shake me off. I was glad I was really strong, since I was able to hold on and land more punches. The nails didn’t seem to do anything though, and were just rolling off his armor.

After a few punches, I realized that that plan of attack wasn’t working. I caught a glimpse of a nail that was resting on his armor and I picked it up. An idea came to mind, along with the dark hope that some of the fallen nails went into the soles of his feet. “This is going to hurt us both.” After steeling my resolve with a deep breath, I stuck the tip of the nail on the helmet around where his ear should be, put a bit of force on it, and dragged the nail towards me, making a horrible screeching sound.

“Arrghh!” my victim shouted for the both of us. He probably had it worse with the echo inside his helmet. I kept the sonic torture up for a few seconds before he managed to shake me off with a surprising amount of force, sending me flying into a tree. I hit the rough bark face first, fell to the ground, and stumbled backwards a bit.

“Thank goodness I have my aura. And my semblance. I just got a bit stronger from that.” Before I could collect myself and face the tall guy, I got knocked up into the air through the trees. I think I heard my clothes get torn a bit. At least I think I heard the sound of ripping fabric.

While I was up in the air, I saw the tall guy jump up towards me. It was all I could do to watch him come up to meet me with his sword raised. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the weapon as the flat side came down on my head, slamming me down towards through more tree branches and onto the ground. I landed in a puddle, fortunately not on my face, and the cold mud got to places it shouldn’t have. “I’m going to have to ask Rarity to fix this if I see her again.” I looked at the tall guy and saw him brush something gold off his shoulder. That looked like . . . Oh no.

I felt the color change in my eyes as they went red and rage built up in me, forcing me to my feet. My hair ignited and I felt the mud on me begin to dry and crumble off as I began giving off heat waves. “YOU!” I shouted before charging at him. He turned around just in time for me to jump on his chest, clamp around it with my legs, and pulled his helmet off, along with the blue scarf, exposing his head. It looked like a good target. I launched punches left and right, each one leaving a nail sticking out of his head. I was going to turn his head into a carpenter’s dream. I’d have fulfilled it myself, but I didn’t have a hammer.

I felt a strong hit to my back stun me for a bit before I was grabbed and thrown off of him. I twisted myself around to score a three point landing along the ground before charging back and jumping back at him. He put his shield up to block me, but I vaulted over it. I would have started putting more nails in his head, but he hit me in the chest with the pommel of his sword, knocking me back onto the ground on my back. That really hurt, but it also made me stronger. I saw him lift his sword with the blade aimed at me. I didn’t want to be cleaved in half, so I rolled out of the way, using my boosted strength to roll a bit faster. I looked back at him and saw him start to swing the blade my way along the ground. I rolled backwards away from him and the blade, putting some distance between us.

I charged once again, but he seemed to be prepared for that and charged at me. He probably planned the charge because his first step was with his left foot, then he kicked me with his right leg, knocking the wind and anger out of me. I landed on something hard and metallic, knocking it down with a hollow clang of metal before landing back on the ground. Now that I was calmed down, I was able to take stock of myself. Looking down, I saw that my sports bra was only holding together along the middle by a scant few threads, and my shorts, while not as damaged, were still torn up. My socks and shoes, somehow, weren’t damaged.

If I made it back, I was going to wait until the dead of night to make my way back to Rarity’s. Even if ponies usually wore nothing, they at least had their fur and quadrupedal forms to hide their bits. At least the whole town seemed to go to sleep at night. That would probably change once the Carne Den was finished, but it wasn’t done yet.

I was brought out of my thoughts by the tall guy tossing something at me. It landed between my breasts, tearing the few threads that were left in the process. Fortunately, my sports bra was wet enough to not fall to my sides. As I put a hand across my chest, my vision turned to black and the words “YOU FAILED” appeared in my vision. I blinked and saw black. I blinked again and found myself laying down in my bathtub, dirty and with my clothes still damaged. I took the stone out from its resting place and put it on the counter.

After having a few moments to catch my breath, I heard some knocking coming from the cupboard under the sink. Still with a hand over my chest, I opened the nearest door and Pinkie appeared. “Are you a casual?” she asked. “No matter. Here’s some clean clothes for you.” She set the white and purple outfit on the counter before going out of sight in the cupboard.

I checked under there for her and saw that she was gone. “I’ll never understand her.” I didn’t dwell on that much longer since I was dirty and tired. I needed to take a shower. I took my clothes off, set them down on the floor, and set the water to maximum heat. I was using my new shower for the first time and the place wasn’t even close to done yet.

Huh. My own shower. I was moving up in life.

After a good night’s sleep, not even caring I wasn’t in my robe, and even skipping the morning shower, I grabbed the cloth wrapped rock I got before and went out to a barren, rocky area outside of town. The stone seemed rather soft, and left marks easily. I could write with this, but what to write? After too much thinking about it, I just wrote “SUMMON” on the ground with English characters. Nothing happened, so I wrote “REALLY TALL GUY” after it.

I would have watched what happened after the letters began to glow, but the sound of a bunch of rocks moving in the distance behind me caught my attention. I looked over there and saw what looked like a little rock slide on a mountainside coming to an end.

I remembered the glowing letters and looked back at my writing. There, I saw the really tall guy from my trip yesterday. I scrambled back and ran behind a large boulder, his size and my memories of the fight spurring me to hide.

“Really?” I heard him ask. “This is the welcome I get after you summon me? You do realize what I had given you was a tool for summoning me when you need help, right?” I peeked out over the boulder at him as he rested on his sword and looked upwards. “Huh, pretty.” I looked in the direction he was and just saw the empty sky.

“What is?” I asked him. I wasn’t going to come out of hiding yet.

“So you’re asking the questions now.” Huh? “Simple really, you.”

It took me a few long seconds to think over what he said. “What?” I still didn’t get what he was getting at.

“You… The trees, the sky, everything really. Was really hoping to get a reaction out of you though. Shame I didn’t…” He sighed before continuing. “So, your name is Ying, right?”

I snickered for a second at the odd mistake. “Yang, actually. And you?” I climbed up on the boulder and sat down on it. He seemed friendly.

“I am Knight Artorias. My titles include The Abysswalker, The Wolf Knight, and the Companion to the Great Gray Wolf Sif.” He accompanied the titles with a wave, as if displaying them.

“So, what exactly happened? I’m still a bit confused about what led up to our fight.”

“Ha ha!” he laughed as he jumped up. “You see, it’s quite the tale, but I’ll give you a synopsis. I ended up fighting several ponies, two shot magic from their horns, another was flying around trying to hit me, and the last was using a lasso.” He gestured a bit as he told his tale. “I ended up beating them unconscious, so along with my partner, we brought them back. To be more specific, the two unicorns. That’s when the Looking Glass Knight appeared, after beating him up a bit, he summoned you.” He pointed a finger at me. “And hopefully you remember what happened, after all it happened maybe five minutes ago for me.”

“Oh, yesterday’s events. Yeah, I remember most of it, but after you damaged my hair, things are a bit hazy. I don’t like it when I get angry. Speaking of yesterday, I still need to write up the Carne Den menu.”

“So that happened yesterday for you? Interesting.” He put a hand on his chin. “I won’t ask about the hair thing, but a menu? Now you’ve caught my attention.”

“So, I’ve been here in Equestria for about, oh, a little over two months, I think? I haven’t been keeping track all that much. Anyways, for about a month and a half, I ate what the ponies did. I got sick after eating some Chineighse food and learned that they use a grass based oil in their cooking process and I got sick the next day.” I felt a little bit of controllable unease in my stomach at that memory. “I’m more cautious about pony food now, and I avoid eating grass as I always have before. Then one of Rainbow introduced me to a griffon, Gilda, and I went a bit crazy after rediscovering meat. Then Gilda and I decided to make a bar and grill, the Carne Den. It’s still under construction, but should be done soon. It’s going to have meat options and will be the start of Ponyville’s nightlife. Probably.”

“Two months. . . That’s how long you’ve been stuck here? Never thought I’d meet anyone else who was human. Back in my world, I’ve been stuck there for millenniums with two of my friends.” He was quiet for a bit. “Did you just say ‘Equestria’ and ‘Chi-neigh-se’ food?”

“Yes. That’s what this land is called, and that’s what that food, which I am not getting again, is called. I am aware of the puns, and even though I’m surrounded by neigh sayers, nobody seems to make a fuss or object to it.”

“I see what you did there, and I mildly disapprove.” He shook his head. I win! “Anyway, you said this place is called Equestria. Is it a city, a country, a continent, the world?”

“Country. We’re currently outside Ponyville. The ponies there are a friendly bunch, if a bit skittish. We’re actually in Diamond Dog area, but considering what I did here a couple weeks after I showed up, we should be okay.”

Artorias looked at the area around us for a bit. “Well, if it’s a country, then it must have a government, correct? I’d like to see what’s become of the lands of my former kingdom.”

“I don’t think this is your world. I’d have to send you back to yours so you can find out.”

“Of course I know that. I’m just wondering if you knew anything about the government.”

“Well, the princesses that rule this country are Celestia and Luna, both alicorns. There’s also Twilight, another alicorn, she lives in Ponyville. In Canterlot is a group of thirty unicorns that meet with a princess eight times per year to make laws and legislative decisions. Twenty-eight of them are, and pardon moi francois, power hungry idiots. The other two are awesome. Those two actually had smart bills that put restrictions on the government and freed up farmers a bit.”

“Did you say Twilight? That pony wouldn’t happen to be a purple unicorn? Because if she is, I may have beaten her up before our little skirmish.”

“Purple unicorn? Ha! Don’t be silly. She’s a lavender alicorn. Besides, that’s your Twilight, not the one here.”

“I’m just asking. . . I may need to make a profuse apology letter if she’s involved in the government in my world. Anyway, thanks for the information. I’m sure my compatriots and I will put it to good use.” He picked up his sword and shield. “Now, if you could, I must head off.”

“Alright. Go on back to your world. We’re done here.”

He didn’t disappear. “Uh. . . Try having the stone in your hand?”

“Hm? Oh, right.” I picked up the soapstone and and idea came to mind. “Hey, could you hold still for a moment?”

“Uh. . . Sure?”

“Thanks.” I walked up to him, jumped, held onto his shoulder with one hand, and with the soapstone in the other, I wrote “DISPELL” on his chest.

“What are you doing?” He looked away from me for some reason.

“Now, go back to your world.” At that, the word on his chest glowed and he faded away. For some reason, I didn’t let go, and when he became intangible, I fell to the ground.

Well, today’s been interesting. I brushed myself off and started the run to the Carne Den. I still had a menu to craft, after all.

Everything was right where I’d left it in my bathroom yesterday. I grabbed a pencil, paper, and clipboard, sat down on the floor, and started on the meat menu. As I worked on the items, I wondered if there were different fonts available for printing.

Interviews

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“Honey Suckle, right?”

“That it is” the white pegasus across from me said. “Lots of ponies say I’m the sweetest mare around.”

“So, why do you want to work at the Carne Den?”

“To bring joy to ponies and make a few bits in the process. And for everypony to love me. Is that last part okay?”

“Sure, as long as it doesn’t get in the way of your job. Speaking of which, you applied for being either a waitress or door greeter. Since there is no door greeter position, that means you’ll be a waitress. Is that alright?”

“That’s fine. All the better for ponies to love me! Bwahahaha!” Honey cleared her throat. “Sorry about that. I don’t know how that slipped out.”

“I’ll give it a pass for now. So, what are your thoughts on meat?”

“I’ve never actually seen the stuff myself, though I do know about it. It shouldn’t take me very long to get used to it.”

“Alright, alright.” I thought about the bright yellow maned and tailed pegasus for a bit. “Go inside and tell Rarity you need an orange Carne Den uniform.”

Honey’s face lit up. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome.” That was a pretty short interview.

“Sylvia Morris, I presume?” What an oddly normal name around these parts. She was also one of the few who submitted an application ahead of her arrival.

“That’s me” the tan unicorn mare across from me said. “What can I get you today?”

“That sounded very practiced.”

“I’ve got years of practice.”

“Alright. Can you tell me why you want to work at the Carne Den?”

“I’ve been a waitress for various restaurants in the past, and I love the job. Unfortunately, the pace of life in places like Manehattan got to be a bit much for me. My last waitress job lasted a year at a little place in the Horseshoe Bay area. I had to quit because, well, stallions who are out at sea for weeks at a time tend to get a bit . . . frisky, and I just couldn’t take it anymore. On the way out, I caught a glimpse of the local newspaper and saw that you were hiring for all positions. I’ve heard a bit about you, and I figured it would be fun to work with you.”

“Is that it?” Please let storytime be over.

“That, and I was fresh out of a job. Also, Ponyville seems like a nice, quiet place to live.”

Clearly, she hasn’t met Pinkie yet. Time will fix that. “You applied for the position of head waitress, and nothing else. You have years of experience, but tell me how you would run the position.”

“I’d let the employees under me, as long as they do their jobs well, relax. I’ve been under all kinds of head waiters and waitresses and experienced just as many styles of management. I’ve seen that, when the wait staff are under a more laid back manager that they like, and who likes them, they do much better. I’ve even experienced that shift myself, in both directions. Of course, I’d also lay down a firm hoof when necessary, but not at every little mistake.”

“And you can recognize patterns in other staff as well?”

“Of course. I can tell when an employee who’s made mistakes is doing their best to fix them, or when they just don’t care very much.”

“Always good. And your stance on meat?”

“It’s a thing that comes from animals and is eaten. My time in Horseshoe Bay got me used to the stuff.”

“Have you ever eaten meat?”

“I have been known to partake in the occasional bacon and cheese sandwich.”

“Go inside and tell Rarity you need an orange and purple Carne Den uniform.”

“Your name” I began. “Is it really pronounced the way it’s spelled?”

“Yes, my name is Fuxezz” the female dragon on the other side of the table answered.

“Yeah, I’m going to have a bit of trouble saying your name. It’s got a bit of, well, foul language in it. No offense, but I just can’t bring myself to say it. Can I just call you Fuzz?”

“Sure. It’s not the first time I’ve gotten that nickname for the same reason.”

For a scaly dragon, it sure was an ironic nickname. “Alright Fuzz, I just need you to answer a few questions for me, alright?”

“Sure.”

“What do you want to be at the Carne Den?”

“I want to be a hostess, waitress, bartender, or cook.”

She was versatile. “I can’t give you all of those, especially since there won’t be any hosts, but how about bartender? You’d also double as a waitress for those at the bar.”

“I can do that. I even have a special drink that I’ve perfected.”

“Really?” I probably wouldn’t drink it, but she didn’t need to know that.

“Fireball whiskey.”

“Please tell me there aren’t any actual fireballs involved. Or fire.” I didn’t want the place to burn down because someone had a drink.

“It only feels like it when you drink it. It heats up your belly and makes your breath really hot. Sometimes, it even turns your breath into steam.”

“Well, as long as that’s it, that’s fine. So, why are you applying?”

“I’m trying to figure out what friendship is. Princess Ember did that some time ago, and I want to see what it’s like and what it’s about. I figured that getting a job here in Equestria would allow me to find those answers. Everyone seems friendly, and that’s part of friendship, right?”

“Sure.” I couldn’t completely understand her logic though. “Now, the Carne Den will be serving meat and things with meat in them. Are you fine with that?”

“How can anyone not like meat? It’s good stuff.”

“I’ll take that as a yes. Now go inside and tell Rarity you need a blue Carne Den uniform.”

“Hello” I greeted. “Are you here for an interview, miss?”

“I’m actually a stallion” the silver pegasus corrected as he sat down across from me. “Don’t worry, that mistake happens all the time.”

“Oh. Sorry. You are here for an interview though, right?”

“Yes. May I say something though?”

“Go ahead.”

“I’ve heard things about you, but you don’t seem like what I’ve heard.”

Huh? “What have you heard?”

“I heard your hair was made of fire, for one thing.”

“My hair’s made of hair. It’s normal.” Except for when it ignites. Avoiding sharp stuff and combat helps keep it from lighting up.

“I also heard you have a bit of a temper.”

Slightly sensitive topic there. “It’s happened occasionally, but it usually takes a lot to push me that far.”

“You’re strong enough to topple a house by yourself.”

“I might be, but I’ve never done that.”

“You routinely hit things with your face.”

“Other way around. Hey, you’re here to be interviewed by me, not to interview me. First question: what’s your name and why do you want to work at the Carne Den?”

“Well, my name is Silver and I want a new job. I’m a talented acrobat, it’s even my cutie mark, and I’ve made a lot of bits off of it, but I don’t really like doing that. I heard you were building a new restaurant and figured it would be a good change of pace. That, and I’m incredibly curious about you, but couldn’t think of a way to approach you that wasn’t weird.”

“All you’d have to do is catch my attention and start talking. Next question: what positions are you after?”

“I want to be a waiter, host, or chef. I would have also gone for bartender, but I had a bad experience doing that once.”

“Hm? Sounds like there’s a story there.”

Silver looked a bit uncomfortable, but he told me anyways. “Let’s just say there was a big drunk stallion and, well, almost everypony mistakes me for a mare at first sight when sober. It was a very close call.”

He didn’t need to say anything else. “Yikes. No bartending for you until you think you can handle it at the Carne Den then. Anyways, last question: how do you feel about meat?”

“Blegh. I don’t like the idea of eating that stuff. I mean, I could get used to being around it, but I won’t eat the stuff.”

Hmm. “So you don’t like meat, yet you applied to be one of the cooks?”

“I can get used to it!”

“Alright, let me think.” I didn’t want him hosting or waiting, since there might be a repeat of his previous experience, even though he was willing to put himself out there again. He couldn’t be a good cook off the bat either since he seemed to be disgusted by meat. How could I work him into the position of a good cook? “Okay, I have an idea.”

“Yes?”

“You can start off as a dishwasher so you can watch the meat being prepared and get some exposure to it there. During a slow period, I or one of the other cooks can give you a hands-on experience with prepping and cooking the stuff. We can start on that before the place opens. Sound good?”

Silver thought it over a bit. “Yes, yes it does sound good. The idea, not the meat.”

“Good thing there’s going to be options. Go inside and tell Rarity you need a red Carne Den uniform and a white armband.”

Ever since I started the Carne Den idea with Gilda, I always thought I would be the tallest one to work there, being a human and all that. Gilda and I were very, very close to each other’s height, but I edged her out by just a tiny bit. The gray minotaur across from me was easily over a foot taller than I was, and the red eyes and hair did not contribute towards a friendly look. “Uh, hello” I greeted.

“Hello, Miss, uh, how do you pronounce your name?” the minotaur asked. “Newspapers don’t exactly come with pronunciation guides.”

“Yang Xiao Long. I take it you’re here for an interview, Mister, uh, what’s your name?”

“Aegir. Before we start, there’s something I have to show you.” Before I could ask what it was, Aegir briefly burst into green flames, and a moment later, had turned into a gray and red bug pony. “I’m actually a changeling.”

“Okay then.” I was more than a little confounded. “What’s a changeling?”

Now Aegir looked a bit confounded. “You’ve never heard of changelings? Well, to simplify it, changelings are shapeshifters and we feed off of emotions. There was an incident in Canterlot some years ago involving a changeling invasion, which was thwarted. I was in Manehattan at the time, and the changelings that attacked Canterlot were unrelated to me.” after finishing the brief explanation, Aegir changed back to his minotaur form. “I’m actually a rogue changeling. I neither have nor want to be part of a hive.”

I’ll have to look into that. Too bad there’s no internet here. “Alright. Putting history aside for now, let’s get started. Why do you want to work at the Carne Den?”

“I heard about you in the paper, and then I saw that you were looking for employees for the Carne Den, and I decided to try for a job. I’ve also wanted to meet you and decided that this would be a good opportunity to do that.”

All he’d have to do was find me and strike up a conversation if he just wanted to meet me and talk to me. “And what positions are you applying for?”

“I can be a bartender or security guard. I have experience and skills for both areas.”

Sounds useful. “That’s pretty good. Of course, as a bartender, you will be doing a bit of waiting on customers.”

“As would be expected.”

“Finally, and this is very important, can you tolerate meat?”

“Yes.”

“Well, in that case, go in and tell Rarity you need a blue Carne Den Uniform.”

Across from me was a small gray mare with a puffy red mane and matching tail. Or maybe she was a filly? Either way, she had specks of dirt across her body. “I’m here for an interview.”

“Aren’t you a bit young to be looking for a job?” She seemed more like a filly to me.

“I’m an adult, thank you very much. I just happen to be rather short and small.”

“Really? You certainly fooled me.” I couldn’t tell if she was telling the truth or not. Her size also seemed like a bit of a sore spot for her. I made a mental note to not bring it up unless neccessary. “So, let’s start. What’s your name and why do you want to work at the Carne Den?”

“My name is Ají Ajo. I've travelled across the world for a long time, and I’m looking to settle down somewhere. Before I can do that though, I need a job, and I saw an ad in a newspaper while I was on a train for here. You know how it is, right?”

“I understand.” Not the globetrotting part, but she didn’t need to know that. “So, what positions are you going for?”

“I can be a waitress, bartender, or even a cook. I’m really good at cooking with hot spices, and I like spicy food. I even won a pepper eating contest once.”

Hmm. “I might ask you to make something spicy for me at some point. There’s something I want to test at some point. However, you won’t be a cook.”

“Why not?”

“To put it simply, you’re short. You’d have to stand on your rear hooves to even see what’s cooking, and having stepstools everywhere for you is not a viable or safe option. For this same reason, I must also say no to bartending. That leaves you with being a waitress out of what you want. I’m willing to give you a chance at that.”

“Why just a chance?”

“Because you’re short, it might be difficult for you to do that job. If you do have difficulty that gets in the way of your work there, I do have a backup option.”

“What’s the backup?”

“Dishwasher. It’s not as glorious as, well, anything else, but it is a vital job. Speaking of cleaning things, what’s with all the dirt on you?”

“I like digging, finding gems, and just the feel of earth in my coat. I can clean up easily enough though. My fur actually has a bit of a natural sparkle to it when it’s clean.”

That sounded pretty cool. “That’s good to know. Now, the Carne Den will have meat products regularly. Can you tolerate being around that?”

“Yes. In fact, meat is really good at holding onto spices.”

“That’s interesting. Now go inside and tell Rarity you need an orange Carne Den uniform.” I hoped I wouldn’t have to tell her to get a white one in the future.

“You’re Yang Xiao Long, aren’t you?” the green unicorn across from me asked.

“Yes” I confirmed. “And you are?”

“I’m Cloverleaf, and I’d like to apply for a job at the Carne Den.”

“Sounds good. First question, why do you want to work at the Carne Den?”

“I just finished an extended trip through the Griffon Empire and I was thinking of looking for a place to settle when I saw that you were hiring. I got on the next boat to the Horseshoe Bay, then took the first train I could to get to Ponyville.”

“Wait, so there are ads out in the Griffon Empire?”

“Yes. I thought you’d know that?”

“No, I left it to a friend.” Twilight really went above and beyond.

“Sounds like a good friend.”

“She is. So, what positions do you want?”

“I can be a waiter. I can also be a kitchen aid. Just basic food prep and organizing, not actually cooking it.”

I’m sure he could learn how to cook if he was in the kitchen long enough. “That’s good. So, one more question: what do you think of meat?”

“I’ve never had it before. I am curious about what it’s like. I never got a chance to try it during my travels.”

Interesting. “Alright. I’ll make you a waiter. Go inside and tell Rarity you need an orange Carne Den uniform.”

“Uh, hello, everybody” I said to the small flock of griffons in front of me, led by none other than Gilda. “Gilda, what’s going on?”

“They’re all looking for a job at the Carne Den” Gilda explained. “I’ve already interviewed each of the griffons behind me. I’ve got one who’s got experience behind a bar, a few who can wait on tables, and a few more that can cook.”

Alright. “Are any of these griffons related to each other?”

“No. I wasn’t about to let a family have multiple members apply. There are a few more families looking for jobs around here.” As I thought over what positions were filled, Gilda continued. “Is that the Carne Den uniform you’ve got on? It looks nice.”

“Hm? Oh, yes. The colors actually mean different things. Hey, could you go find the other families? We don’t have any dishwashers yet.”

“Sure. how many?”

“Three should do.”

“I’m on it.” Gilda took off, leaving me with the flock.

“So, who’s the bartender out of you all? Just raise a foreleg.” One griffon, I couldn’t tell if they were male or female, raised a foreleg. “Go inside and tell Rarity you need a blue uniform.

“Cooks next?” A few talons went up. “You’ll need red uniforms. And the rest of you, the wait staff, you’ll need orange uniforms.”

“You’re not going to interview us?” one griffon asked.

“Gilda already did that, and I trust her judgement for this.” I looked in through the window and saw Rarity doing her thing with the tape measure. I’ve never seen her get so many customers at once. All these uniforms were going to be expensive, but Rarity would be making quite a bit once it’s all done. I could almost see the bits gleaming in her eyes.

I made a mental note to tell Gilda she was going to have a yellow and purple uniform like mine.

Construction was done under budget and two days ahead of schedule, everyone had their uniforms properly and fully fitted, and all the deals with the food suppliers were in place. All that was left was for everyone to practice and get familiar with everything.

I was busy admiring the work that went into the office when Brew walked in. “Pardon me, Yang.”

“Yes?” I tore my gaze away from the shiny desk to look at the accountant pegasus.

“I think I’d like to work here.”

“Really? Don’t you have a life back in Canterlot?”

“Yes, but the quieter pace of life in Ponyville has really grown on me since I’ve been here. Besides, I’m sure you could use an accountant to help manage the Carne Den’s finances, and I’ve been here with you from the start.”

I thought his offer over and was struck by an idea. “Brew, go to Carousel Boutique and tell Rarity that you need a green and purple Carne Den uniform.”

“Thank you. If I may ask, why green?”

“I associate that color with money.”

“Bits are gold though.”

“Back where I’m from, we had paper money. It was green.”

“Ah. Oh, how much time will you allow for me to actually move here, since I probably won’t be able to work while I’m relocating?”

“Until we’ve been open for a week. I can probably manage the finances until then.”

“That should be more than enough time. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. And if you see Fancy, could you say ‘thanks’ for me?”

“Sure.” Brew left the Carne Den to take care of his stuff. I could only wish him luck surviving the surprise party that was bound to happen to him once he’d moved in.

Opening day

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I was nervous. I was excited. It was almost grand opening time, and there was a crowd of ponies and a few griffons outside the front door. The mayor herself was delivering a short speech. It sounded like a speech praising me more than anything. I didn’t care for it, but I wasn’t about to stop her.

“-and here to say a few words is Yang herself.” The mayor cued me by starting a mild round of applause.

“Let’s go” I said to Gilda. Both of us had our uniforms on and we looked good.

“Right behind you” Gilda shakily whispered. Everyone who was working today gave both of us encouraging signs.

Gilda and I stepped out of the Carne Den and stood in front of the doors. The mayor didn’t seem to be expecting Gilda, but didn’t say anything. I had to deliver a small speech before we opened the doors to everyone. I wanted to do the speech with Gilda saying some stuff too, but she apparently has a mild case of very intense stage fright. “Hello, everyone” I began. “Welcome to the grand opening of the Carne Den. One month ago, I met Gilda and found out that I’d somehow forgotten that meat was something I ate. After a bit of a rough first meeting, we decided to make this restaurant. With the help of Sir Fancy Pants, we got the money we needed to build the Carne Den. With Gilda’s help, we got some new griffons in town who are looking to become residents.” I could swear I heard a party popper somewhere. “We’d also like to extend our thanks to the construction ponies who put this dream of ours together in the most literal of senses.

“We here at the Carne Den open our doors to all who wish to dine here, be they herbivores, carnivores, or omnivores. Now then, it’s almost three P.M., and I’m sure you’ve been saving up your appetites for this moment. At three on the dot, Mayor Mare will officially open our doors to the public. Once again, thank you very much.” I gave a slight bow before walking back inside with Gilda.

Gilda’s composure fell apart once we were back inside and the doors were closed. “That was almost too much for me out there.” She was breathing hard and her legs were shaking a bit.

“Deep breaths, Gilda. Deep breaths. You did good out there.”

“But I didn’t even say anything.”

“I couldn’t take all the credit for the Carne Den, and I wanted to make sure you were there so everyone knew it. Now go get some water and recover.”

“Right, right.” Gilda walked off towards the bar to get some water Aegir had already poured for her. In the time I’ve known the changeling, I’ve regularly thought of him more as a minotaur.

Gilda managed to recover her composure and I got my hair into a ponytail just before the doors opened, part of the crowd outside becoming a crowd inside. There weren’t enough seats for everyone, but the wait staff were already at work doing their thing.

Most of the questions I overheard were about the menus at the table, specifically why one had a red border and the other a green border. It was an easy way to tell the meat and meat-free menus apart. One pony actually looked a bit sick when the difference was explained and he ran out of the restaurant without even ordering a drink. It didn’t take long for his spot to be claimed.

Silver approached me after the runaway pony’s spot was filled. He still had the white armband on and was still washing dishes, but in the time we’d been practicing, he’d made progress in his meat tolerance, no longer looking green in the face when he was around the stuff. “Yang, we need you in the kitchen.”

“What for?” I asked. I hoped it wasn’t a dispute.

“The cooks need some help with the food prep so they can get to all their orders. I’d do it, but I don’t think I can bring myself touch raw meat yet.”

I knew he’d get there in time. “I’ll be right there.” Before going to the kitchen, I went to the restroom to wash my hands and the Ember Celica’s gloves. Sanitation is important, and I did my best to drive that into everyone’s minds, from the cooks to the wait staff.

I quickly found the head chef, a griffon named Gavan. “I heard you need my help.”

“Prepping and organizing the ingredients” he immediately clarified. “We need ten medium sized steaks and some salad vegetables right now.”

“Which salad vegetables?” I went to the cold storage, kept just a few degrees above freezing, to get the steaks first. I didn’t like going in the cold storage for some reason, so my trips there were brief. At least I had long sleeves on and the uniform’s fabric was fairly thick.

“All of them and some tomatoes.”

“Right.” I set the steaks down on the side of the central counter designated for meat, ran my hands over some vertically placed sanitation tiles, then went to the cool storage where the vegetables were and began making the multiple trips I’d need to get some of every salad vegetable and the tomatoes.

During the practice runs, I’d found myself in the kitchen more often than Gilda, while she found herself out in the dining area more often than me. The best reason I could come up with for that was that my heat immunity made me better suited to the kitchen and Gilda was better at making bolder statements around customers. That, and I had my aura to protect my hands from the knives.

Once I got the details of what was needed, I began prepping the steaks, cutting three of them up into small pieces and setting them aside for use in steak fries. One cook took one to go right on the grill and swapped it for a well done one, to be cut into strips for a salad. The remaining six simply needed to be scored a few times on both sides and set in a marinade for a few minutes.

While the meat was soaking, I quickly washed my hands, ran them over the sanitation tiles again, and started prepping the vegetables on the other side. Most of them got cut into slices, others got shredded, and some simply got pulled apart.

My prep help extended beyond what I was called in for, as they were quickly replaced by more orders that I was able to help prepare. For three hours, I was stuck in the tornado of activity that was the kitchen. If I wasn’t helping prepare the food, I was cleaning the counters in preparation for preparing more food.

Around seven, the end of the mass of customers was in sight and I was able to leave the kitchen. Every spot inside was filled and there was no line at all. It didn’t take long for me to find Gilda. I had a question for her. “What’s everyone saying about the Den?”

“Reception’s been good” Gilda said. “I’ve been helping Ají a lot though.”

“Is it because she’s small?”

“No, it’s not that” Sylvia said as she joined us. “She just seems to be getting all the really big orders. There was a griffon and unicorn duo that ordered five different things on top of the three different drinks they got between them, and that was just the smallest order she needed help with.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, you tend to miss stuff when you’re in the kitchen” Gilda pointed out. “How are they holding up in there, by the way?”

“Pretty good, though the rush really wore them down. They’re not stopping though.”

“I think the situation in the Griffon Empire is part of why they’re working as hard as they are.”

“What is it like in the Griffon Empire?” Sylvia asked as she joined us.

“Honestly? Pretty bad. Most businesses there are just scraping by and the farms are only slightly better off. You ask a random griffon in Griffonstone if they have a job and you’re just as likely to get a ‘no’ as a ‘yes’. Long story short, it’s bad. On top of that, it’s been bad for years, even before Nightmare Moon’s return.”

“That does sound bad.”

“It was. I was lucky enough to have a job that payed enough for me to save a bit of money regularly, but this is an even better job than what I had back in the Empire.”

“Is it the pay or what the job is?”

“Both, and by far.”

“Well, it’s been a fun chat, but we have customers to take care of. I’m going to take stock of our desserts. I’ve heard they’ve been flying off the shelf.” I went to the dessert display and saw that it was well stocked with apple pie, bowls of bon-bons, cheesecake slices, and brownies. I checked the dessert storage area and saw that it was already close to one third depleted, the pies having the largest bite taken out of them. I’d flagged and cut two of the pies in storage so everyone who worked today could have a slice, and both of them were still there. Considering how busy we’ve been, there’s nobody who hasn’t earned a slice. I told everyone at opening that they could have a slice, and I would make sure to tell everyone who closed that they could have a slice too.

I closed the cool cabinet and went towards the office. All of the bits we were making were being put in there, and as a security measure, I’d asked Twilight to work a bit of her magic on the door so that only those with a matching enchantment in their uniform could open it.

I was just about to go inside to check the bit pile when I saw a large group of fifteen walk in. I recognized twelve of them immediately, though the other three were unknown to me.

“Hello, Yang” Luna said. “Is it too late for us to come here on official business matters?”

“With me?” I asked.

“No, just within our group” Celestia said before walking over to me. She whispered “we’re using the term ‘official’ kind of loosely here.”

I whispered back “you just wanted to have an excuse to come here.”

“We might decide to use this venue for diplomatic meetings in the future with omnivorous and carnivorous races, so we must know what it’s like.”

I shrugged at her answer. “Sounds official enough for me.”

“So, do you have any spots available?”

“Right now, no. And our policy of treating every customer equally means that you’ll have to wait for a enough spots to open up. Same with Rarity and her friends.

“So, who are these three I’ve never seen before?”

Celestia stepped aside and let the three walk up to me. The reddish white alicorn spoke “I’ve heard a bit about you, Yang. I am Princess Cadence, this is my husband, the big brother of Twilight, Shining Armor, and this little filly is Flurry Heart.”

“Shining Armor, huh? I think Twilight mentioned you at some point.”

“Did she say anything about me?”

“That you live in the Crystal Empire and are her brother.”

“. . . That’s it?”

“That’s all I can remember her telling me. I think she turned to another topic after that. I don’t remember anything about an alicorn filly though.” I was no expert on equine biology, but her horn and wings seemed a bit big for her.

“I’m Flurry Heart” she said. “I’m four years old and I’m almost done with first grade!”

“Hm. Congratulations.” In my experience with four year olds, they tended to be a bit obnoxious and loud most of the time, or glued to their parent’s phone. Every time I saw a four year old with a smartphone, I sighed at the waste of potentially lifesaving battery. “Anyways, like I said, you’ll have to wait for the spaces to open up. Sylvia and Gilda have probably noticed you by now, so they’ll be able to help you when your turn comes.”

“If I may ask a question, Yang” Celestia stated. “Does your equal customer treatment policy have any exceptions?”

“Nobody gets preferential treatment, regardless of anything. The only exception to that is anyone who repeatedly and actively causes trouble here. Anyways, I have business things to do.” Before Celestia or anyone could say anything, I went into the office. There was a big pile of bits there in a big chest enchanted to stack them in rows of 25. I was skeptical of it at first, but that enchantment was working like a charm. I could even reach in, grab a bunch, drop them, and it would put them back in place pretty quickly.

There was a placard inside the lid of the chest that showed how many bits were in it, and it was showing a big number. Specifically, 2,534. A number of bits came in through the chute for them and brought the total up to 2,555. The chest had a 10,000 bit capacity, and if business kept up like it has, then it would be close to full when we closed, if not overflowing.

Well, we were making quite a bit of money. While I was glad none of it would be taxed for now, I also knew a lot of it would be spent pretty quickly, mostly on restocking our food and drink, then Friday would come and that was payday for everyone, including me.

I looked over our expense scroll and took a deep breath. I didn’t even have to add anything up to know that we needed more to cover everything, but I wasn’t worried. I knew we’d be fine.

I put the scroll back in its place, watched the chest’s total go up to 2,560, and went back out. I saw a group of four ponies head out, all of them looking satisfied, if a bit tipsy. They didn’t seem to either notice or care that they were walking past what were probably some of the most important ponies in Equestria, probably even the world. I went out to the dining area and saw Ají at work cleaning a table, probably from the group that just left. Gilda came in, got the dishes, quickly told her something, and went to the kitchen.

Everything seemed to be in order, so I went over to the big group of royalty and important ponies. “So, while you’re waiting and we’re kind of calm, is there anything you want to talk to me about?”

“If I may be honest and speak my mind for a moment?” Rarity asked. Nobody objected, so she continued. “I’m coming here without a positive mindset. All I can think about is that you’re serving meat here, and I find that stuff revolting. But, you are my friend, Yang, and I remember the incident with the Chineighse food. I should have seen it coming.”

I interjected. “If you’re thinking about eating meat here to make yourself feel better about that and to equalize some imbalance that isn’t there, don’t. We do have menus for those who don’t eat meat. Just use the menu with the green border.”

“How did you know that’s what I was going to do?”

“It’s what a dramatic type would do. Besides, I’ve lived with you for a couple months. Tell you what: if you really want to make it up to me, just cover a spa trip, okay?”

“I can do that.”

“Thanks.” That’s one thing sorted out. “Any other questions?”

“How’ve the pies been selling?” Apple Bloom asked.

“We’ve already gone through a third of them. It’s our most popular dessert right now.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. Anyways, I’ll go do some stuff to prepare for your group.” I left the fourteen ponies and one dragon to go into the kitchen. “Hey, Gavan.”

“Need something?” Gavan asked.

“Yeah. I just need to tell you something: we’ve got a group of fifteen waiting for enough space for all of them. It looks like everyone out there’s got their food, so take the time to let everyone take a breather and grab a bite. Since we’ve made so much today, I’m upping today’s meal allowance cost from 10 to 12 bits for everyone.” Happy mutterings went around among the cooks. I also started to feel a bit hungry myself. “I’ll talk with everyone else and see what they want for dinner. Since these are staff orders, there’s less priority on them, so no real rush.” It didn’t take long for me to get everyone’s orders, though figuring out what I wanted did prove to be a bit of a problem. I wound up settling on a bacon cheeseburger with a scrambled egg on it.

As everyone’s meals were made, I took them to the break room. It was a very nice break room. Everyone had a flag with their name on it so their food could be identified at a glance, which came in handy tonight since Ají’s burger looked like mine, except hers had a whole pepper in the middle of the patty. I still needed her to make something spicy for me at some point. For science, of course.

The first one to come into the break room wasn’t anyone who was here for the grand opening. “You’re early, Fuzz.” She was also already dressed for work. In a land where clothing isn’t often worn, I give points for that. Not many, though.

“It’s good to be early” she said. “How was the grand opening? Also, why do we have royalty waiting for open seats?”

“We were swamped for a few hours. And they’re waiting because nobody gets preferential treatment here, not even royalty, nobility, friends, or family. They’re also part of a group of fifteen, so we need enough spaces for all of them.”

“Is that the biggest group so far?”

“Yep. And knowing how things have been so far, Ají is probably going to be the one to take their orders. She’s been getting all the big orders for some reason.” After I mentioned the little mare, she walked into the break room and went to her food. “Hi Ají.”

“Hi Yang” Ají returned.

“Hey Ají” Fuzz greeted. Upon hearing Fuzz’s voice, Ají froze up. Fuzz sighed. “Well, at least she’s not running away from me anymore.”

“How long until your shift starts?” I asked Fuzz.

“About thirty minutes, I believe. How long until Ají’s ends?”

“About an hour, unless she gets caught as the waitress for the royal group. How about you go wait upstairs so Ají can relax a bit?”

“Isn’t that basically your house?”

“Yeah. Still, I don’t need an Ajísicle and there’s a pepper in her burger waiting for her. Get upstairs.”

“Okay, okay.” Once Fuzz left and went up the stairs by the door, Ají slumped a bit before regaining her posture.

“Why didn’t you say you hired a dragon when you interviewed me?” Ají asked yet again as she started on her food. Seeing a pony eat meat was a bit strange. “You know I’m scared of dragons.”

“I forgot I’d hired her when you were being interviewed” I answered yet again. “At least you won’t have to work with her for too long during the shift overlap.”

“And she’ll be staying at the bar.”

Silver lining for her. “Well then, enjoy your burger.” I took a bite of mine before heading back out to check on everything. Sylvia was already at work cleaning up some tables and Aegir was making notes, probably for Fuzz when she took over the bar area.

Sylvia did not turn down the assistance I gave in cleaning the tables she was working on by taking the dishes to the kitchen for her, nor did Silver object when I helped him wash the pile of dishes he had. Once the pile of dirty dishes was down to a less scary size, I went back out and saw that Ají was taking orders for the royal group of fifteen, who already had their drinks and that she kept herself almost on the opposite side of the table from Spike. I also saw Aegir and Fuzz talking with each other behind the bar.

Even if she wasn’t so small, Ají would be in over her head serving this group if she took it on. It would also take a while to prepare all their food, and I still had a bacon, egg, and cheese burger to finish. I made sure everyone was doing alright before going back to the break room, sitting down, and picking up where I left off on my food.

Note to self: get this burger with a bit of barbecue sauce next time.

I finished and left the break room to go check on Celestia and her group. “How’s everything so far?”

“The atmosphere is quite relaxing” Luna said. “It’s a soothing amount of darkness, but it’s also not dark enough to induce drowsiness. It is an excellent use of black, which is rarely seen like this in Equestria. You get my full approval.”

“Speaking of the relaxing atmosphere, I’d like to make you an offer, Yang” Celestia said. “There’s going to be a financial meeting soon, and I was wondering if you would be so willing as to let us use the Carne Den for the meeting. You would be paid quite well for this.”

Hmm. “What would you be willing to pay?”

“10,000 bits.”

Now that was a good offer. “Let me think it over. I’ll get back to you before you leave.”

“It’s not a decision to make lightly. Consider it carefully.”

I left the group and found Gilda. Something this big was not a decision to be made alone. Unless I was the sole owner, but I wasn’t. I brought her into the office. “Hey, Gilda. Celestia made an offer to us.”

“An offer from her on opening day?” Gilda certainly looked interested. “What does she want?”

“She wants to rent out the whole restaurant. There’s a financial meeting coming up soon, and she wants to hold it here. Her offer is 10,000 bits.”

“For the whole day?”

“Or at least the duration of the meeting.”

Gilda put a talon to her beak in thought. “We could get a bit more out of this.”

“What are you thinking?”

“If anyone gets anything, we charge appropriately. They get a salad? We charge them the same rate we would for anyone else and put that onto the 10,000 bit bill.”

“I don’t like that idea. I’ve actually met the thirty ponies that make up the financial meeting group. Most of them are snobs and one actually tried to shuffle me into the military. There are two good ones though. I actually got to head one of their meetings and I wrecked their bills. Except for two of them. Anyways, what we can do is still serve them, but we’ll charge them individually, or however they decide to pay the tickets.”

“What’s the point of that?”

“You’ll understand when you see their faces. It’s not that they won’t be able to pay, but that they have to pay that will get the reactions.” I could feel a dark and playful smile on my face. “Trust me, their reactions when something they don’t expect comes up is to live for.”

“What about the two good ones you mentioned?”

“Fancy Pants and Fleur Dee Lis.”

“Those are the ones who helped fund us, right?”

“That’s right. As much as I’d like to give them preferential treatment, we can’t do that. The best we can do towards that is serve them first. That would also irritate the other 28, so there’s a little bonus there.”

“Are you sure you’re not going evil?”

“Maybe a little. The fun and harmless kind of evil. Anyways, do we agree that we’ll rent out the restaurant for the financial meeting for 10,000 bits and charge everyone who gets something appropriately?”

“Sounds good to me.”

“I’ll tell her the terms then.” I left the office and made my way over to Celestia. I told her the terms Gilda and I had come to and she liked them.

Eventually, the time came to help Ají bring out the food. Honey Suckle and Cloverleaf had arrived while I was in the office with Gilda and they was able to help. Applejack kept giving Honey an odd look, like there was something she didn’t like about the pegasus. I figured they may have met each other before and not left on good terms. Still, it wasn’t my problem, and it didn’t look like there would be a problem either, so I let it go.

I kept myself available to help with the royal group for the multiple hours they were there. Celestia and Luna did leave the table to lower the sun and raise the moon, but they came back. Flurry Heart seemed to really like me, though I had no idea why.

They dined well. Some of them even ordered meat products, which did surprise some of us. At the end, their bill came to over 200 bits. Celestia covered it by herself, and even gave an extra 50 bits. I wound up making a few trips with the bit prism to the chest, especially since she paid with two groups of 75 bits. She insisted on the 50 extra bits being there, so I didn’t say no. If the customer wanted to pay extra, that was fine. Luna pitched in too, leaving a 15 bit tip for each of us who helped serve them, including me.

After the royal group left, the shift overlap was done and the night crew was in place. Sylvia, Gavan, and Gilda were still here though, since they had more responsibilities while I was still here because I lived right upstairs. The number of guests, while still strong, was also on a steady decline. Ponyville wasn’t a big town, and some of the late customers had already been in earlier. Not even day two and already there were repeat customers.

We closed the kitchen at midnight, an hour before closing. Gilda and Sylvia left at 11, along with the wait staff. I helped the cooks clean up the kitchen while Gavan took stock of what food was left.

With the surprising amount of meat we went through, we’d probably have to order more really soon. Or it might already be on its way if it was an anytime rate that hadn’t been sent yet.

The only customers we had after midnight were a few looking for something to drink. The apple cider proved to be popular, but the other drinks went pretty well. One thing that came up a few times was salt blocks, which we didn’t have. Apparently, those things are like a stronger version of alcohol for ponies. I think that might explain why there’s very little salt in Equestrian cuisine.

Eventually, 1 AM came about and it was time to close. The last customer had left five minutes prior, so all we had to do was lock up the doors. Fuzz cleaned the bar and I took a look at our income for the day before going to help her. “So, what did we make today?” Fuzz asked.

“Over 6000 bits” I said. “And I’m beat.”

“Need a drink?”

“No, I’m fine. Thanks for the offer though.”

“You sure? I could mix up some fireball whiskey.”

“It’s alright. It’s not like I have a long way to go to get home now.”

“Fair enough. Have a good evening.”

“You too.” I waved to Fuzz as she left into the dark outside, which was actually quite safe in Ponyville. Once she was gone, I made some preparations for the next day, went upstairs, took care of my hygiene, changed into my robe, wished I had a proper bed to flop onto, then slipped into my sleeping bag.

I needed a bed the same size as the one I used at Rarity’s, but beds that size are expensive. I could go ahead and get my portion of the day’s earnings, but that wouldn’t be fair to everyone else who had to wait until Friday. Fortunately, the bed was the only thing I had left to get for my house.

I thought about that for a bit. I really had my very own house now. I also had my very own business that was both profitable and a good front for me to get a steady supply of meat. I’ve come a long way from where I was back on Earth. I still miss my friends back there, but I’ve been making lots of new ones here.

I wonder what my parents would think of what’s happened to me?

Three days

View Online

Friday, July 10th. That was everyone’s first payday, including mine, and everyone was excited. Brew Binary had been back in town and on board for a few days, wearing his green and purple Carne Den uniform. With him back, I was able to take my attention away from the taxing task of managing all the money. I had no idea what everyone else was going to do with their money, but a proper bed was still the first thing in my sight.

Friday also meant that the patio would be open, and the weather was perfect out there for me to be cooking food behind the grill. The temperature was nice, the sky was beautiful, and there was even a gentle breeze blowing from the grill towards the tables.

I had double checked everything at the grill, from the condiment and topping supplies to the tools at hand and even how quickly I could cycle out the dirty dishes for clean ones, and I had done pretty well on my time and supplies.

It was two hours until opening and I was making lunch outside for everyone. The ponies, griffons, and Aegir who were here to open with me were at the tables and I had steaks of various sizes on the grill, along with some kebabs of varying ingredients. It all looked and smelled really good.

The first week has been really profitable. We haven’t even opened for our seventh day and already we’ve cleared 55,000 bits of income, helped in part by the glowing reviews in the newspapers. Business was great, and there were a good number of tourists visiting as well.

As I finished everyone’s lunches, I rushed them out to those who ordered them. The last ones I cooked up were for those of us with purple on our uniforms, my own being the last of them all to be made. I took all of them at once to a table in the middle of the patio, where us higher ups were sitting. “Here’s our lunches, everyone.”

“Thanks” was my reply from everyone, though not in sync.

“So, how are things in our areas? We’ll go in chromatic order.”

Gavan was first, since he had red on. “I’ve got no problems in the kitchen. I’ve started sending some of the cooks to go out and get the local ingredients we need and use over the past couple days instead of doing it all myself. As for keeping the meat in stock, well, let’s just say Yang showed me the secret at the post office everyone in Ponyville knows about.

“As for the kitchen staff, they’re doing well. Everyone’s doing well. Silver in particular is getting better about meat. I had him stand by me as I cooked a steak for Gilda’s dinner a couple days ago. He’s still standing firm on not eating the stuff, and he’s still not ready to touch it, but he’s no longer flinching at it.”

“It will be a good day when he can take that white armband off. Sylvia?”

“All’s good on my end” Sylvia reported. “Though Honey Suckle acts a bit too sweet for my tastes, she does manage to get more bits per guest. Ají, somehow, still gets all the big orders. She’s able to handle herself just fine on the regular and small orders, but we still end up helping her regularly. Cloverleaf helps her the most since he’s able to levitate things, so that’s good.

“The guests themselves are generally pretty good. I think the calm darkness of the interior helps with that. And maybe the cider. That stuff is really good. Have you had any before?”

“I had to try it before I decided to have it here, and it was good. Brew, how are things looking on your side?”

“We’ve got all of our expenses covered for the week” Brew said through a grilled veggie and cheese sandwich. “In fact, we’ve got about 15,000 bits in profit, thanks in part to all those who’ve paid extra. I also did a bit of research while I was in Canterlot and learned something.”

“Really?”

“Your decision to pay your wait staff at a rate close to that of the other types of employees is unique. Most of the time, they have to rely on tips and are paid less per hour than employees doing just about anything else. Your wait staff is going to be the best paid among those at restaurants like the Carne Den, especially if business keeps going as it has. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that you weren’t aware of that practice when you made that choice.”

“Wait, restaurants do that?”

“Many of them do, but don’t change how you do things because of how others do things. Switching from a system that works for you and your employees to one that everyone else is using simply because that’s what they’re using is not a good reason to switch.”

That was a very good point he made. “And that brings us back around to Gilda and me. Gilda?”

“Hm?” Gilda took a moment to collect her thoughts. “Oh. Ah, the griffons that came back with me are looking forward to seeing how much they’re going to get today. Most of them came with their families, almost all the others are sending money back to their families in the Griffon Empire, and Gavan is the only exception to that, aside from me.”

“Because we’re using his family’s slaughterhouse back in the Griffon Empire for our meat. How are they doing, anyways?”

“Just this week, they’ve finally made enough money to buy a new set of knives and sharpening stones” Gavan said. “And not just any knives. They’re Minotaurian steel knives. Those are quality, and we should start seeing that investment of theirs pay off soon. Believe me, sharper and stronger knives mean cleaner cuts.”

“I’ll believe it. Anything else?” A whole lot of silence and eating sounds came from everyone else at the table. “I’ll take that as a No then.” I picked up one of the small steaks I made for me, small enough to hold in my hand, and took a bite. No fork, no knife, I just grabbed it and bit into it.

After everyone had finished and the dishes were washed, it was five minutes until opening, and there was a crowd outside that was mostly griffons, partially other species. I could definitely say that yesterday’s crowd was the smallest so far, and that was still a very profitable day. I was willing to bet that lots of those waiting were going to go for the patio. Before I left the main area to go to the grill, I caught a glimpse of a rainbow mane in the crowd.

“Get in place, everyone” Gilda said. Since I was going to be out at the grill, she would be the one running things inside, and in the past week, she’s given me no reason to doubt her abilities with helping the guests and staff.

“Brew, you’re on outdoor drink serving duty” I said as I went out to the grill.

“Are you sure about that?” Brew asked as he followed me. “I don’t have any experience waiting on tables.”

“Trust me, you’ve got the easier job between us.” As we arrived at the warmed up grill, I thought about getting a chair or stool of some kind for me to sit on between orders when I was out here. “I’ve got to keep a bunch of orders straight, cook, and serve them, along with getting ingredients from the kitchen. In fact, I’m starting to have a few second thoughts about this myself.”

“Worried you won’t be able to keep everything in order?”

“No, I’m thinking that I’ve got myself in a bit over my head. Maybe everything will be okay though and I’m just nervous.”

“You’ll be fine. At least until it’s time for me to dole out everyone’s pay. What prompted you to make seven bits per hour the base pay?”

I thought about it, even as a bunch of guests came out and to the tables. “Probably just something from where I come from. Anyways, get a notepad, and start on those drinks. You may also have to get desserts too. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

As Brew got a pencil and notepad, Rainbow Dash came up to me from the nearest table. “Hey, Yang, I’ve got a question for you.”

“Yes?” I responded.

“Have you ever heard of the sonic rainboom?”

“No, I haven’t. Should I have?”

“The sonic rainboom is what happens when I break the speed of sound. Want to see it?”

“Yes, but I can’t leave the grill. Do you want something?”

“I’m thinking of trying something new to try. Got any suggestions?”

Hmm. “How about a kebab?” I held up an eighteen inch long wooden skewer. I was worried about using them since they would be over an open flame, but I was assured that the wood wouldn’t burn because it came from a type of tree that was fireproof. Cinderoak, I think it was.

“A what?” A crowd was already gathering behind Rainbow, and they were listening.

“A skewer grilled with various ingredients on it. There are some things I can’t put on them though. Also, anything made at the grill is paid for at the grill.”

“Then I think I’ll have a veggie one with a hunk of steak in the middle of it.” Her order drew a few curious gazes from the mostly griffon crowd around her.

“Three bits.” I pointed to a jar on the corner of the counter and started on Rainbow’s order. As I skewered the vegetables, I heard her put her bits in the jar. The jar itself was actually attached to the counter and had a sloped bottom that turned into a small chute that went to a bit chest under the grill. It’s a bit of clever engineering, if I do think so myself. It functioned more like a funnel, really.

While Rainbow’s kebab was grilling, more orders were made. Rainbow apparently started something with the kebabs because a lot of the crowd ordered them. If I hadn’t already eaten earlier, I’d have been tempted to make one for myself. And none of the skewers showed even a hint of the fire affecting them in any way.

While everyone was eating, I ducked into the kitchen to order a restock on the ingredients I’d used. Gavan himself delivered the ingredients and helped put them in their places. I was thankful for his help, and a small part of me was also glad I didn’t have to go into the meat storage. My uniform did make the cold space more tolerable, but it still sucked.

Rainbow eventually came back and asked and paid for another kebab like the first one. While I prepared it, Rainbow asked me “Are you sure you can’t see me do a Sonic Rainboom right now?”

“Yep” was my short response. “Dare I ask why you’re asking?”

“You do dare to ask.”

“Why are you asking me if I want to see a Sonic Rainboom?”

“Glad you asked. I got a letter about an hour ago from Celestia. She has something for you and she wants me to bring it to you. It’s not urgent, but I’d rather get it done sooner than later.”

A princessly parcel for me? “Well, you know where I’ll be for the rest of the day.”

“I’ll be going there fast enough to create a Sonic Rainboom. I’ll also be coming back fast enough to create one. Hey, can I order and pay for something here and get it when I return?”

I looked at my grill setup. Short of stacking a couple plates on the grill, there was no way to keep anything warm here, and that was the best way to enjoy the food here. “Sorry, but no. Here’s your kebab.” I handed Rainbow her kebab, which she accepted.

“Thanks. And I’m cool to leave at anytime, right?”

“As long as you’ve paid for everything you ordered.” I think Rainbow had a drink.

“Alright. Can I pay for my mug of cider here?” She did have a drink.

Another bug in the operations to iron out. Fortunately, Brew came out at that time. “Hey, Brew. It shouldn’t be too hard for me to process tickets and payments here, right?”

Brew thought a bit. “It shouldn’t be difficult. You already have a setup for payments here, so all you have to do is find a place to keep the tickets. If you just sign off that they’ve been paid, I can put them inside.”

The ironing was done. “Then that’s how we’ll do it.” As Brew went back inside, probably to get me a pencil or four, Rainbow showed me her ticket, which only had a two bit mug of cider on it. “Two bits, please.”

Rainbow dropped two bits into the jar for her cider before dropping an extra one in it. It wasn’t much extra that she gave, but every bit helped. She quickly polished off her kebab. “Well, now that that’s done, it’s time to fly to Canterlot. You mind if I take off from here?”

“Go ahead.” As long as it was a peaceful takeoff, it would be fine.

“Cool. See you in thirty.” Rainbow practically rocketed upwards and I lost sight of her immediately.

Thirty minutes later, Rainbow landed on the patio, which was still full of guests. “I’m back, Yang.”

“Hello.” It wasn’t hard to miss her landing, especially when she landed in front of me. It was just now that I also noticed the saddlebags on her sides.

“As I promised, I have a package for you. It’s got your name all over it.” Rainbow walked up to the grill while she used a wing to grab the package from her bag. “Here you go. And can I have a veggie sandwich?”

I accepted the box from Rainbow. It had my name on every side. Hmm. “Do you want the buns grilled?” The box went on the counter with the ingredients.

“Ooh, that sounds really nice. Can I have cheese too?”

“Four bits.” I skewered some vegetables for the sandwich and set the bun halves on the grill. At the same time, another order finished cooking. After putting on the condiments, I called it out. “One well done bacon cheeseburger with lettuce and ketchup!” A griffon came and got his burger before returning to his table.

Rainbow’s order was the only one on the grill now, and it had a bit of time. “I got to see what’s in that box. I’m sure you’ll like it.”

I grabbed the box and opened it up. As I suspected, there was two bands of shells in there. Unlike last time, they weren’t spent white shells. Instead, these shells were loaded and colored with a spiral rainbow. I could almost feel the energy contained in them. “I’ll have to find out what these do later.”

Rainbow looked at the shells. “No no no no no. They were supposed to be white and open. Not rainbowed and closed.”

“Calm down, Rainbow, calm down.” I checked on her food. It was done. I picked up the bottom bun and the skewered vegetables. I had a sandwich to build. “Here, I’ve almost got your meal done.”

“Why would they change like that?”

I put Rainbow’s sandwich on a plate and gave it to her. “Because something was put in them. I don’t know what, but they are pretty. And it saves me the trouble of figuring out what to put in them. I just have to figure out what they fire.”

“You could try them out tomorrow.” Rainbow took a bite of her sandwich.

“No can do. We’ve got a big group tomorrow, and I must be here for that. I could try them out on Sunday though.” Besides, I could use a break from the Carne Den. It felt like my brain was on the grill.

“Sounds good. I want to see what they do too.”

I was busy at the grill for the rest of the day, stopping only once to use the restroom.

Saturday, June 11th. I’d talked with everyone present and we decided to make it a short day. Since it was a short day, I decided Gilda could have the day off. Aegir stood in front of the door, acting as a bouncer. The whole restaurant was reserved, and we were going to honor that. And the fact that we would be making 10,000 bits at the minimum was good too.

Last night, Luna pulled myself and everyone else who worked at the Carne Den together in the dreamscape. We had planned out how things would go. It felt like we were planning a big prank, which it really was.

Finally, at 3 PM, the thirty nobles and Luna arrived. I was watching them from the far side of the roof, and only Luna noticed me. With an exchange of winks, we knew everything was going as planned. I was unnoticed.

Inside, tables and chairs had been arranged for the meeting. Everyone took their usual spots with Luna sitting down last. All the equine wait staff, selected for the reason that they were equines, came out and began handing out the menus.

Sylvia gave Luna her menu. “Waitress” Luna said when she got hers.

“Yes, Princess?” Sylvia asked.

“I heard there were two menus here. Why do we only have one? I wish to speak to the owner immediately.” A murmur of confused agreements came from the assembled nobles.

“I’m very sorry, Princess. I’ll get the owner right now.”

With a telepathic cue and a silence spell over the front door, both courtesy of Luna, I jumped off the roof and walked inside to Sylvia. I picked up the stashed stack of red menus and followed her back. The nobles, as Luna had predicted, were engrossed in their green menus, so they didn’t notice me.

“Princess, here’s the owner.”

“I’m very sorry you didn’t get both menus immediately.” I had to practice this part quite a bit in the dreamscape to get the apologetic tone I needed. “I’ve got the second menus here. Sylvia, please help me hand them out.”

“Of course, Yang.” At this point, Sylvia could have probably said the most blasphemous thing about the nobility in the history of ever (truly a daunting task) and gotten away with it as far as the assembled nobles were concerned. They were all looking at me, and I could almost feel the malice directed at me. They really hated me. Except for Fancy and Fleur. They were still cool.

“How do we keep seeing you?” Blueblood asked as Sylvia and I distributed the menus. “Princess Luna, I ask again why we’re here instead of Princess Twilight’s castle.”

“As I told you on the train ride here, it’s for a change of pace” Luna explained. “Besides, I’ve heard good things about this establishment, new as it is. We also had a representative reserve the whole restaurant for this meeting, and I’m sure you’d hate to see a 10,000 bit reservation go to waste.” After the last of the red menus were passed out, Luna picked hers up. “Oh, this menu looks good.”

Lady Primrose was the first to vocalize the question clear on their faces. “What is this menu? Beef? Pork? Chicken? What are these things?”

Inside, I was shaking my head at how these nobles running the nation could be so dumb. If I could, I’d have them go live and work on farms for three years. “Gavan, could you bring out the steak samples?”

“Of course” Gavan said. A moment later, the griffon came out of the kitchen pushing a cart with the steak samples on it, all well done. Another griffon followed with a cart loaded with glasses of water. With the help of Sylvia, Cloverleaf, and myself, we gave everyone a sample and a glass of water. There were four extra samples, which went to the four of us who served them. Since Sylvia and Cloverleaf ate the steak with no problem, the assembled nobles probably decided it was safe for them to eat it too. Luna, clearly enjoying and savoring her sample probably helped them decide it was okay too.

Most of their reactions of disgust were predicted, though a couple of them asked “why do I like this vile stuff?” Maybe they were a bit disgusted that they weren’t really disgusted? That’s the best I could come up with.

“Yang Xiao Long, are you trying to poison us?” Blueblood asked as soon as he recovered from trying his sample.

“Me?” I asked. “Poison you? I’d never try to do that.”

“You used a poison that you’re immune to then.”

“Hey, Sylvia, Cloverleaf you two feeling okay?”

“We’re good” they said at the same time.

“Slow acting.”

“I had the same thing a week ago, though bigger than the sample you got” Cloverleaf said as he gathered the sample plates. Luna, Fancy and Fleur’s were clear. “I’m still here.”

“Blueblood, drop your accusations of Yang attempting to poison you” Luna said. “If that stuff bothers you so much, then stick to the green menu.” “I swear Yang, these nobles are like a bunch of foals sometimes.” I nodded in agreement, though I did want to ask if ‘sometimes’ was really an accurate word choice.

Eventually, it was time for everyone to make their orders. Gavan had already gone back to the kitchen and two of the griffon servers came out to take their places. I took seven orders while the other waiters took six. I got the three best ponies in the group of 31, and they were also the only ones who ordered off the meat menu.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think that those other 28 were in a very secure lockstep with each other on almost everything, as if they were a single entity with multiple bodies.

Once we took the orders up, the financial meeting began with Luna stating what their topics of the day were. Most of them seemed to be focused on laws regulating businesses. I actually got a preview of sorts in the dreamscape last night, so Luna and I had planned a few things out.

“Let us begin with Lady Tight Purse’s proposal” Luna started. “Lady Tight Purse?”

The addressed unicorn mare spoke. “I propose we instate a minimum wage law to ensure that anyone who has a job makes enough to live on. I suggest we start at five bits per hour minimum.”

“That sounds very benevolent. We don’t have a minimum wage law yet. Let’s ask a business owner what they think of it.” That was my cue to walk up next to Luna. I could see the groans on their faces already. “Yang, what do you think of this proposal?”

I thought for a bit. “Well, it wouldn’t affect me very much, since I’m already paying everyone more than that.” Blueblood sank a bit when I said that. Accidental victory? “But a small business that’s just scraping by? They might not be able to afford those wages. As much as that would help drive down my competition, it might also drive some of my suppliers out of business, and less competition means fewer advancements. Besides, would you want to pay someone five bits for a two bit job?” Tight Purse looked a bit distraught at how I broke down her proposal. I had one more bit to add. “Besides, if you do have that minimum wage, then that means prices on everything will go up so that those wages can be afforded by the employers, and then that would kinda defeat the spirit and purpose of the minimum wage, right?”

“Is that all, Yang?”

“Yes.”

“You’re dismissed.”

“Thank you for letting me speak.” I went off to where I was before.

“How did you come up with all that?” Cloverleaf asked. “I was inclined towards supporting her bill myself, but then you made all those counterpoints and I don’t know what to think.”

“Here’s how I see it: the more the government, on any level, stays out of everyone’s lives, the better. I talked with Gilda a bit and found out that the previous king had imposed a number of laws that affected business and had a time lock of sorts on them.”

One of the griffon waiters piped in. I really needed to start recognizing them. “I’ve made more money here in a week than what I was making in a month back there. And that’s before the tips I’ve been getting.”

“Maybe we could ask a business owner what they think about that?” Luna asked.

“There’s my cue” I said. I had a bill to break down.

By the time their meals, mostly salads, were done and ready to be served all together, I’d gone through my dance of deconstruction. Sylvia actually got to do a deconstruction herself on something that would ultimately just add more paperwork and hassle to everyone’s jobs, and she even topped it off with a gem of a line: “Do you really think we’re too stupid to know how to run our own lives?”

I had to heavily restrain my laughter when one of the noble stallions actually said “yes”. Fortunately, I had composed myself enough by the time the food was ready to be able to help serve everyone’s meals. Once that was done, I had to step outside behind the building for a bit just to release the laughter that was threatening to break out.

My laughter attracted the attention of none other than Rainbow Dash herself. “What’s up, Yang?”

I had to catch my breath between laugh infused words. “There’s. . . The nobles inside. . . They. . . They think we’re. . . Ah, too stupid to know. . . To know how to run our lives.”

“What? I ought to go in there and give them a piece of my mind.”

Serious mode engaged. “No, don’t do that, Rainbow. We’ve already got it handled. Please, trust me.”

“Really? Well, if you say so. So, what’s going on in there?”

“Demolition of proposals that sound good, but actually aren’t. They’re taking a meal break right now. Anyways, I should get back inside. I’ll see you tomorrow, Rainbow.”

“Here at noon?”

“Sure.” I went back inside, calmer and more collected now that I’d had some time to get the laughter out. “Anything happen while I was out?”

“Nope” Gavan answered. “They’re still eating and kind of fussing about how they’re eating at such a lowly place as ours.”

“Did you prepare Luna, Fancy, and Fleur’s last? Those three are actually good, so they deserve more freshly prepared meals.”

“Of course. I mean, well, theirs were the last ones we happened to get to, so it’s just a coincidence, right?”

“Of course it is. Any observed patterns of those three passively getting treated better by us is merely speculation at what isn’t there.”

“It wouldn’t be anything else. Obviously.”

Everyone in the kitchen was smiling. Of course, the big finale was yet to come, but as the name suggested, the finale came at the end, and there were still more matters for them to discuss. It looked like it would be a lazy work day after they finished eating.

“And that concludes this meeting” Luna stated. “Nothing got passed, nothing got changed, and all is the same as before.”

That was our cue to move out. Before any of the nobles could stand up, we were already giving them their tickets. “What is this?” Tight Purse asked.

“It’s a check” Sylvia said. “It shows how much you owe us for your meal.”

“But the restaurant was reserved!”

“That was the 10,000 bit reservation, yes” Luna said. “But that’s all the 10,000 covered. Did your secretary not tell you that the letter I sent you said to bring some money?”

“That was in the letter?”

“I was sure the red underlined section would have spelled it out for you.”

The snootier nobles began to panic a bit. All that money in their names, and they couldn’t pay off a simple restaurant check. They were caught in quite a predicament and I couldn’t help but feel a dark joy filling my chest at that. I had a lot of chest, so there was a lot of dark joy there.

“Fleur and I will each cover half of you” Fancy said.

“And if Princess Luna wishes it, we can cover her meal too” Fleur added.

“I can cover my own ticket, but thanks for the offer” Luna said. “In fact, would you allow me to cover the tips to the kind staff here?”

“As long as you let us take care of the extra bits for the restaurant itself.”

“That sounds fair.”

Fancy, Fleur, and Luna produced their bit pouches and collected all the tickets. All of them pulled out some paper to do the math for the total they would be paying and started on it. It took a few minutes, but they figured it all out, and we got 1,500 bits from them. Luna gave everyone a 25 bit tip. I made a note for Brew to give everyone who wasn’t here for this meeting 25 bits each as well. I didn’t have to do the math to know that we had enough profit from today to easily cover it. Meat was our biggest food expense, and we used very little of it today.

After the payments were taken care of, the nobles began to file out of the building, eventually leaving the three best ponies. “May we speak with you, Yang?” Luna asked. “Preferably in private.”

“Sure thing” I answered. “Sylvia, Gavan, standard closing procedures for your areas. I’ll be in my office.”

“You got it” they both said at the same time.

“Excellent.” I lead Luna, Fancy, and Fleur to my office, closing the door behind us before I took my seat. “So, how can I help you?”

“We had a great time tonight” Fancy said. “I must say that the steak fries were quite filling. A bit of melted cheese and you could make a meal out of a slightly larger portion. Fill a large bowl, and you could make a meal for a whole group.

“And if I may ask the more blunt question, how’s the return on my investment looking?”

“With what we made today, we’ve probably got an easy 10,000 bits for you already. I’ll let Brew figure out the exact numbers tomorrow, but if things go as they have, we should have the full 30,000 by the end of the month.”

“How is Brew doing, by the way?” Fleur asked.

“He’s doing well. I had him serving drinks and desserts outside yesterday. He caught on pretty quickly. He also made well over a hundred bits in tips as well.”

“If I may add my two bits?” Luna said. “Yang, I would like to extend a royal offer to you. A favor for anything you want that is within my or my sister’s power.”

“Anything?”

“Of course. If you want your taxes waived forever, we can do that. You want a law instated? We’ll do it. Just remember that it’s only one favor though, so use it wisely.”

“I’ll make a note of that in my bedroom.” It would go right next to the note of Rarity’s spa trip. I didn’t have quite enough bits to afford the bed I needed, even with today’s tip, but I knew I’d get it. Of course, I’d have to wait until Friday to get my money, but it wasn’t the worst thing ever. At least I didn’t have to worry about groceries.

“I make this offer out of the sheer amusement I had today. Many a jester and troupe have tried to entertain us, but this was truly magnificent. Not even I could have foresaw that only Fancy and Fleur would bring their bits, but hindsight says that I shouldn’t be surprised. So now the rest of the council owes them. If they had just walked out of here without paying, it would have made headlines and they would have looked really bad.”

That made sense. “So from the outside, it looks like all was well, but inside, we know they either forgot or neglected to bring their bits.”

“Coincidentally, I do believe the two of us are the only ones without personal assistants or secretaries for our personal lives” Fancy said. “Just an observation.”

“Of course. So, is there anything else I can help with?”

“I believe we’ve got everything covered, so we’ll be heading to the train station.”

“I’d like to talk with Yang a bit longer” Luna said. “Go on without me.” Fancy and Fleur left my office. “I haven’t asked this for a while, but how are you doing with your body? Have you adjusted to it?”

“Yeah, I’m used to it” I answered. “I’d say the only problems I really have are having to bend over to look straight down and making sure my hair doesn’t get damaged so my temper doesn’t go off.”

“I don’t think I need to ask this, but how’s life treating you here?”

“Well, I’m not getting sick due to my temperature, I’ve got lots of friends, and the laws are certainly a lot less intrusive here than they are where I’m from.”

“How much less intrusive, if I may ask?”

“Back there, if we were to build the Carne Den, we’d have needed a number of permits and licenses to build the place at all, then some more to run it. We’d have also needed to follow various safety regulations, get insurance just to protect us from any legal issues that might arise, taxes from every direction, and a lot of other stuff I don’t even know about.”

“That sounds like a lot of paperwork would be involved.”

“Yeah. At least it was easy enough for my employees that needed it to get citizenship here. They were all done in a matter of days.”

“How long would it have taken to go through the proper channels where you’re from?”

“Weeks. Months. Maybe over a year. Things were incredibly messed up when I left.”

“Is it possible we could hire you for a bit of work at the castle?”

“Depends on when and what it is.”

“Oh, we’d just forward anyone complaining about how unfair our laws might be to you so you can tell them about what it was like for your people.”

“I’ll pass. Sorry.”

“Very well. If you’re ever in Canterlot, feel free to take up that offer. I must go now. The train should be arriving soon, so I must go to the station. Have a good evening, Yang.”

“Thanks, Luna.” I escorted Luna out of the Carne Den and wound up holding the door open for all my employees. I wished them a good evening, went back in, made a note for Brew to give everyone who wasn’t here 25 free bits.

I went upstairs, changed to my caution stripe athletic outfit, and went out for a run. I had enough time for a lap around Ponyville.

Sunday, July 12th. I was wearing my combat outfit and relaxing on the roof in the sun. The Ember Celica were in their usual places on my arms and the spiral rainbow shells were in a pouch. I could really use a pair of sunglasses. It was also my first day off since the Carne Den opened, and I was glad for the break.

“What do you think you’re doing, taking a page out of my book?” Rainbow was hovering in front of me, blocking the sun.

“I did not take a page out of your book, Rainbow” I said as the pegasus lay down next to me. “I simply copied it into my book.”

“Eh, fair enough. So, how did yesterday end up?”

“Made lots of money, closed early, and I found out that Luna thinks most of the nobility act like foals. I’d have to disagree with her though.”

“But most of the nobility do act like foals.”

“On the contrary. I saw a group of four foals, no cutie marks and no adults with them, come here on Thursday. They only had enough bits for two meals. No tip, no extra, no drinks aside from water. They got their two meals, shared them, and were really well behaved. I was expecting them to be loud, annoying, and messy, but they weren’t. Well, their table was a bit messier than most, so I heard, but they were so well behaved, we didn’t really care.”

“Really? That actually sounds pretty nice. Do you think I could get a position here?”

“Right now, we’re doing fine, so no.”

“Eh, alright. So, do you want to go try out those new shells? I’ll give you a ride to a good spot to test them out.”

“I think I’d rather walk.”

Rainbow went back to casually hovering in front of me. “Don’t worry, I won’t let you fall off my back. I mean, you’re tough enough to survive just about any fall, but I won’t let that happen.”

“It’s not that.”

“Then why would you rather walk?”

“It just seems weird to me, riding on the back of someone I can hold a conversation with.”

“Trust me, it’s alright. I’ve given AJ lots of rides to the train station on my back when she was working in her orchard and lost track of time. It’s no big deal.”

I took a deep breath. “Alright, I’ll take the Rainbow Dash Express to wherever you’re thinking of.”

“That’s the spirit! Just make sure your legs don’t get in the way of my wings.” Rainbow landed on the ridge of the roof. Even though she was on two different slopes, she was standing there as if she’d done it a thousand times before.

I made my way up the roof to her and cautiously got on her back, making sure I was up far enough to not be in the way of her wings. “I think I’m ready.”

“Hold onto my neck.” Rainbow gave a few experimental flaps of her wings before getting serious and going up a few feet and beginning our flight.

“Why your neck?”

“Because it’s a lot less painful for me than if you grabbed my ears.” When Rainbow didn’t get a response from me, she continued. “Look if you’re worried about strangling me, don’t be. Pony necks are really strong, so unless you use excessive force, I won’t be affected.”

I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around Rainbow’s neck, which turned really awkward for me as my chest was also against her neck. I knew I was blushing, and I’m pretty sure Rainbow was too. At least I think she was. I couldn’t really see her face.

Finally, we landed next to a canyon. “Here we are: Ghastly Gorge” Rainbow said after we’d landed and I was happily off her back. I was walking back for sure. “There’s a bunch of trees on the other side. Fire at them.”

“If you say so.” I took a look at the spiral rainbow shells before putting them in my gauntlets. I could still feel the energy within them, which is not something I’ve felt with the other shells. “Here goes.” I punched to fire a round, and it flew over the canyon. As soon as it hit something on the other side, it created a huge explosion and a rainbow colored mushroom cloud. Rainbow and I had to shield our eyes from the prismatic ring that came from the explosion.

Eventually, the multicolored smoke cleared, revealing not only a bunch of wrecked trees, but a crater in the ground as well. “That. Was. AWESOME! Do it again!”

“No, I think that’s enough destruction for today.” I pulled the shells out of the Ember Celica and put them away. “What was that anyways?”

“Pinkie calls it an Atomic Rainnuke. I pulled one off when I was helping Applejack destroy an old shed once. It was the finishing blow.” So I was basically carrying radiation free mini-nukes in these new shells. That scared me a little bit, but knowing that they couldn’t do anything until I actually fired them was a big comfort.

The beatdown

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It was another regular, busy Tuesday at the Carne Den. Business was good, customers were happy, I finally had a proper bed I could flop onto at 2 AM after we closed, and it felt like nothing could go wrong.

“Yang, we need your help!” Twilight urgently shouted.

“What do you need?” It was good she’d come before the dinner rush. Come to think of it, there weren’t as many guests as usual in the leadup to the dinner rush. Odd.

“We need you to fight someone for us.” Something was wrong. She needed a hero.

“And you can’t fight them yourself because?”

“He drains the music magic out of a pony and keeps them from getting close enough to do anything. He got my music magic, so I can’t do much about it.”

This was not how I wanted to spend my day. Night. Whatever. “Sylvia, you’re in charge for the night!” It had to be her since neither Gilda or Brew were here.

“Can do” Sylvia reported.

“I’ll be back down in a moment, Twilight.” If I was going to fight, I had to be dressed right for the occasion. Fortunately, the buckle I got from Ita made that easy. It also gave me an energy boost, which is always helpful. After I changed, I put the buckle in a pouch and left through a window over the front door. “Okay, tell me about what’s going on.”

I followed as Twilight ran back towards town as she explained. “Music magic is a universal magic, found in all species, but more prominently in ponies. Because it’s not unique like the three types of ponies, it’s not been subject to much study.” I thought back to when Sweetie Belle and her friends seemed to be in the middle of a spontaneous musical number a while ago. Was that music magic at work?

“So, who’s doing this?”

“A changeling king that learned how to drain music magic. He was apparently sealed away over 1000 years ago by Celestia and Luna in the Everfree. He calls himself ‘The Unmusician’, since he takes music from ponies.”

“Is he Tirek sized?”

“No, but he’s still bigger than you are.”

Eventually, we reached the center of town. All around were ponies who looked like they’d suffered something terrible, and the place reeked as well. The green puddles all around seemed like a good hint to what happened. “Ah, you’ve returned, lavender alicorn” spoke a large changeling sitting like a human on the edge of the fountain. His natural armor looked like a plate mail tuxedo and had a number of glowing sections on it, all across his body. His forehooves were in the form of a griffon’s talons, it looked like he didn’t have any wings, and he even had a cane and top hat. Classy. “And you’ve brought someone else for me to. . . No, she has no music magic I can drain. But maybe she’ll still be able to amuse me?”

As I loaded the purple shells into my expanded gauntlets, I wished I could use them without having to worry about hurting innocents or damaging the town. “Mr. Unmusician, would you kindly return the music you’ve taken?”

“No, I won’t. Here’s why.” He lit his horn with a black and white glow and the sounds of violins playing a pleasing tune filled the air for a few seconds. A moment later, a few ponies violently threw up where they stood, others were dry heaving, and still others were unaffected. Twilight was in the dry heaving group. That was a sick way to incapacitate someone. “This is what amuses me. Of course, I didn’t drain all of them. I left the ones more prone to using music magic untouched. It’s more fun that way.”

“Not. Cool. Look, I had to kill the last guy who stole magic from the ponies here, and he was a giant centaur. If you want to live, just return the music you stole and change your ways. Peace is an option.”

The Unmusician stood up like a human, coming to nearly ten feet tall. “While I do admire your attempts to negotiate, I’m not going to just give up like that. In fact, you are the biggest threat to me, so I will do the smart thing and leave.” His horn lit again and a whistle filled the air, causing more dry heaves with its short tune. “Of course, if I just run away, you’ll follow me, so I’ll be leaving you something to keep you occupied.”

“Occupied?” A moment later, a number of diamond dogs, all wearing music themed helmets that covered their eyes and ears, came up out of the ground between me and the Unmusician.

“Occupied. Have fun.” As the Unmusician ran away, the dogs rushed at me. I retracted my gauntlets to their bracelet forms so they wouldn’t fire and sighed before I started fighting them. The sooner the dogs were down, the sooner I could go back to work. If I could do it without mortally or even slightly wounding them, that would be even better.

All of them were bigger than me, but the nice thing about the diamond dogs’ size advantage was how easy it was for me to punch them in the chest and gut. Each punch I threw at them knocked them away, but they got right back up and came at me again. Knock one down, then another, then another, and the first one was already coming back at me. There was no end to this small pack’s rush. I needed to change tactics.

I was about to expand and start firing the Ember Celica with my punches when Twilight called out “Go for the helmets!”

“The helmets?” I struck one dog with a palm thrust into another one.

“There’s some kind of music based enchantment in them. I started to get that sick feeling when I probed it.”

Well, I had a plan now. A goal, at least. “It’s worth a shot.” Instead of punching the next dog, I jumped over him and onto his back. I secured myself by wrapping my legs around his neck, just tight enough so I wouldn’t fall off or strangle him. As he clawed at my legs, I pried at his helmet. It was tight on his head, but each attempt to remove it became easier as my aura took damage and I got stronger.

Finally, I got it off with a *pop* sound. “Huh? Where am I?” the dog asked. He didn’t seem to notice me. “The bad tune is gone!”

I tossed the helmet aside. “Bad tune?”

He noticed me. “The helmet has music in it. It took my body from me. All of pack too. Save them.”

I didn’t have to take or damage a life here. Sweet! No shots had to be fired either. “I’m on it.” I got off the dog as he walked away from the impromptu battlefield towards Twilight. Just as I had with the first dog, I jumped onto his back, anchored myself around his neck, and pulled off the helmet. I got it off on the first try this time, and the dog’s reaction was similar to the first one.

As I continued, I found myself falling into a rhythm. Jump on dog, secure around neck, pull helmet off, jump onto advancing dog. Some of the helmeted dogs were actually smart enough to pick up the helmets I’d thrown aside and slam them back onto a freed dog’s head, putting it back into the fight. Why did they have to extend the fight like that?

After what felt like almost an hour, but was really just thirty minutes according to Twilight, all of the dogs were freed. Rarity happened to have wandered into the area and, since her music magic wasn’t drained, she was tasked with collecting the helmets. While the cleanup was going on, I was laying on a bench and Twilight had gathered the pack together. “So, how and why did you put the helmets on?”

“We heard a pleasing sound in Everfree area and went there” the dog closest to her said. “We found the helmets there, by a cracked rock in a big clearing. Don’t know what happened next.”

“Bad sounds in helmet took body from us” another added. “Bad sounds hurt.”

“Any ideas on how to find this Unmusician?” I asked. “Because he’s still got an effect on the town. The moment someone, say, Pinkie, starts singing, the whole town is going to be sick.”

Twilight blanched at that idea. “That would be terrible. Pinkie’s music magic tends to go throughout all of Ponyville, and if the Unmusician didn’t drain her magic, that would lead to half the town being sick, the other half helping those who are sick, and Pinkie going into a gloomy state.

“Fortunately, while you were busy with freeing the dogs, I launched a tracking spell at him. I know where he is, but I can’t really follow.”

I pulled out the buckle. “Is there any way you could transfer your end of the tracking spell to this?”

“No, but I could give it to you instead.”

“How does that work?”

“Hold still.” Twilight’s horn lit up and a small orb formed at the tip of it. With a nod of her head in my general direction, she launched it at me, the orb landing on my face.

My vision went purple for a bit before clearing up. A crosshair came up at the edge of my sight, and looking in its direction brought it towards the center of my vision, along with how far away he was. “Well, that’s a fairly direct tracking method.”

“I would have woven it with more detail into the spell, but I was in a rush, so all I could do was prioritize the homing part of the spell to make sure it hit him.”

“I guess I’ll go after him.” I got off the bench and did a few stretches. “You’ll take care of the dogs, right?”

“Yes. Oh, before you go, I have a question.”

“Yes?”

“They don’t look like they’ve eaten for days. Could I take them to the Carne Den?”

“As long as we get paid, sure. However, if they start causing trouble, Sylvia has the authority to kick them out.”

“We’ll be good” the largest dog said. Maybe he was the alpha? Why were there only males in this group?

“I’ll cover their meals” Twilight said. “I don’t think I’ll be getting much of anything though.”

“At least have some water” I suggested before running off towards the crosshairs.

It seemed that he was keeping on the move, as if he had no set destination. I’d run straight at the crosshairs, then they would start to move elsewhere and I’d adjust my course. It took an hour or so, but I eventually found him in a clearing with a stone cliff face in it. There was still enough sunlight to see by at least. I didn’t immediately charge in, but rather took a moment to stop and quietly catch my breath.

“Ponyville is done with for now and I’ll go back in a couple weeks to check on them” the Unmusician said, almost sang, really, to himself. His cane was off to the side. “Until then, I’ll just head off to Canterlot and see what I can do there. Oh, it’s going to be so much fun.”

I was rested and heard enough to take the initiative. I leapt out of the forest and went into the clearing, the sound drawing his attention just in time for me to leap up, expand the Ember Celica to their gauntlet forms, and hit his face with a right hook as I went past him. The gauntlet fired a slug as well, which seemed like it would be good at breaking his armor. “You’re not going to do that, Unmusician.”

The tall changeling turned towards me as I stood back up. The slug was stuck in his facial armor. “Now that was just rude.” He pulled the slug out and quickly healed the spot over, though an indent was still slightly visible. “However, I must congratulate you on finding me so soon. In fact, I’m actually feeling a little dangerous. How about we play a little game?”

“What are the rules?”

With a wave of his talons, the cane flew to the Unmusician’s grip, increasing his classiness by three levels. “A little gamble, a little wager. One of these glowing parts of my body contains all the music magic I’ve drained since I broke free, which consists of a few random travelling ponies, some birds, and almost half of Ponyville. The only way to release the magic is to break the right glowing area. If you pick the right one, you’ll restore all of that magic, but if you don’t, I’ll go back and leave only the one with the most music magic undrained. You can only break one of them.”

Something about that smelled a bit fishy, but maybe that was just the carcass of the Unmusician’s dinner on a rock nearby. “Just one shot?”l

“One shot. One chance. I’ll even stand against this rock face to make it easier for you.” He walked to the area he specified and stood with his back to the rock wall. “Go ahead and take your time to choose. I’m in no rush.”

I looked over the sections of him that were glowing. Each segment of his arms and legs had a glowing area on it, along with his chest and gut. None of them stood out any more than the others, and all they did was glow. Nothing pulsed in them, nothing looked like it was moving. It was like a light bulb. “He’s only giving me one shot. Center mass would be too obvious, the legs would be too crippling if it was really there, and that leaves only his arms. Well, he can heal, but. . . I’ll just punch something.” I stepped back, launched myself at him, and punched his right forearm, the punch cracking his armor and the slug in the gauntlet breaking through, the glowing green inside fading away. He healed it promptly, his body almost spitting the projectile out in my face, but the glow was no longer there.

The Unmusician winced in pain. “Oooh, that, wasn’t it. Now, as stated before, I’m off to go drain more musi-Aagghh!”

I cut his little spiel short by delivering a similar punch to his right upper arm. “No, you won’t.”

“You agreed that you’d only take out one of my glowing sections!”

“And you said you had all the music in one of the glowing sections, which I’m sure isn’t true either.” I hit him in the gut to try and make him keel over. It didn’t work, but I did see the glow there disappear while the remaining sections get a bit brighter. “Besides, did you really think I’d let you get away with your little plan?”

“A fair point, but-”

“I think I’ve got your trick figured out.” I hit his legs next and the sounds of the Ember Celica firing filled the air. Amazingly, I wasn’t getting that ringing sound in my ears, and he didn’t seem affected by their sound either. Why I never noticed that until now was beyond me. “You just move it all around, keeping it safe.”

My punches were interrupted by the Unmusician delivering a punch of his own to my face, knocking me away from him. “And the more you do that, the stronger I become.” So he had a skill like my semblance? Why couldn’t his be the inverse of mine instead? At least it looked like it was only his left arm that was stronger.

I got back to my feet, still ready for more. On the bright side, I had a good amount of strength now, and while he wasn’t as hard to damage as Tirek was, he was healing his wounds before my eyes.

For a minute, we stood off against each other, his back to the rock wall and my back to nothing. The standoff was broken when I took the initiative and leapt at him again, still aiming for his left arm. He saw that coming, caught me by my face, and slammed me into the hard rock wall. “You’re not going to beat me.”

“No, I will beat you.” I don’t think he was as smart of a fighter as he was a disruptor since his left forearm was in the perfect spot for me to hit with both fists and launch two slugs into. So I did that. His grip lost its strength and I slid down to the ground. While he was focusing on healing his forearm, I went for his upper arm, breaking the glow there and making his chest positively luminous. “Everyone’s music will be returned. Why exactly are you after it anyways?”

I got tossed away as he finished healing his armor. “It’s a stronger and longer lasting source of food than emotions are for changelings. That the targets get ill when they hear a bit of music is a side effect I take joy in.” I noticed that the music magic seemed to be straining his chest armor. One solid punch should do the trick.

I paused a bit. “I’m sorry, I tuned out for a moment, but that just sounds sick.” The Unmusician facepalmed at the puns, and I took the opening to charge in and hit his chest. After the Ember Celica fired, everything went white.

“What’s going on?” I asked when I woke up in a white void. “Where am I?”

A tiny alicorn fairy with a silver coat and wings floated up to me, her yellow, pink, and green mane and tail flowing like Celestia and Luna’s. She could easily sit on one of my open hands. And she did. “You haven’t moved at all, yet you are here.”

“Who are you?” In the back of my mind, I was wondering why an alicorn fairy needed the extra insect wings to fly. “And can you give me a simpler answer?”

“Back when this changeling, the Unmusician, was being sealed away, I was hiding in the music he had stolen, trying to find a way to free it from the inside. Not only was I trapped in him, but I was also sealed in there with him, though he never knew about me. I’ve been in there ever since, waiting to be free. As for who I am, you can call me Poppy. I am this world’s secret guardian of music.” Well, that sounded dumb to me. “The music magic you’ve freed will go back to its rightful owners now.”

“That’s good. So, how did I get here?”

“Think of the Unmusician as a thick glass orb containing some very high pressure water, the magic. You cracked the orb and the water came out all at once in your direction. You’re currently drenched in the music magic, and some of it is entering you.”

“So, I’m getting music magic of my own?”

“Yes. You are at the epicenter of its release, after all. Now, there is something I want you to do: use your new music magic to beat the Unmusician for good. Find the beat. Keep the beat. Use the beat. Beat! Beat, beat, beat! DoReMiFa beat!”

Beat him up with music magic. Somehow. “Gotcha.”

“Do-Do-Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do, Okay, DoReMiFa Beat! Now, go.”

I woke up again, this time on the ground. I could see the Unmusician in front of the rock wall, though he seemed a bit smaller now.

“I won’t let you beat me like this!” I was no expert at reading emotions, but he was clearly losing his composure. He lit his horn with his black and white glow and he fired it into the ground. “I should have done this when you found me.” Golems made of dirt, stone, and grass rose from the ground. There were more of them than there were dogs earlier, but they were only about my height, and quite humanoid.

I heard three low electric guitar notes as I stood up. Three more as I ejected the purple shells. Another three as I tossed the orange buckshot shells in. Three more as the Ember Celica closed and I got into a battle stance.

Come at me, and you’ll see, I’m more than meets the eye.

I could feel the second wind coming over me. “Bring it on.”

You think that, you’ll break me.

“You’re done for. Golems, attack! Crush her!” The golems rushed en masse at me.

You’re gonna find in time you’re standing too close to a flame that’s burning hotter than the sun in the middle of July.

My hair lit up as I jumped into the middle of their formation and started blasting them around.

Sending out your army, but you still can’t win.

“Bury her.” The golems began to merge together into a dome around me.

Listen up, silly boy, ‘cuz I’m gonna tell you why~

I BURN!

With one leap, I broke through the dome and landed a punch on the Unmusician, stunning him.

Can’t hold me now. You got nothing that can stop me.

I BURN!

With a rage filled roar, the Unmusician summoned his cane and got a few hits in on me.

Swing all you want. Like a fever, I will take you down.

As anger powered as he was, his hits didn’t do much damage to me. I didn’t even flinch as I let the song do the talking.

As the electric guitar played, I grabbed the Unmusician’s wrist and almost danced around with him for a bit before throwing him into a reforming golem.

Reign supreme? In your dreams. You’ll never make me bow.

“I guess it’s time for a remake.” The Unmusician’s horn lit up again and his golems shifted, gaining sharp, serrated rocks on their knuckles.

I charged right in and one of the golems punched me in the face, the force of the impact sending me into the rock wall.

Kick my ass? I’m world class-

I opened my eyes and saw a small lock of my hair on the golem’s fist.

-and Super Saiyan now.

Oh, they did it. My eyes turned red and with a burst of fire in my wake, I kicked off the wall and slammed my fist into the golem’s face, causing it to fall apart in a small wave of soil, grass, and stone.

You’re starting up a fight you just can’t finish.

My anger wasn’t sated, so I turned my fists towards the other golems and began toppling them.

Watch the little hearts while they scrape you off the floor.

I turned to the few remaining golems around their changeling master and saw two of them pulling him out of a pile of debris from their destroyed comrades.

One of the golems, apparently having learned not to damage my hair, made a soil fist and punched me away from the group.

Bringing out your rockets? Well shoot ‘em up baby.

With another flash of the Unmusician’s horn, the surviving golems shifted again. They held up their arms and began firing round rocks like cannons.

High as you can go, but I’m the one who’s gonna soar

I BURN!

I jumped over the incoming rocks and towards the golems again, swapping out the orange shells for yellow incendiary shells in midair.

Can’t hold me now. You got nothing that can stop me.

I BURN!

I punched a golem with lots of exposed grass, setting it on fire. Another fiery punch and it blasted apart, spreading the embers.

Swing all you want. Like a fever, I will take you down.

I continued punching the golems into pieces, quickly bringing their number down to zero.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

I turned to the Unmusician. “One last chance for giving peace a shot.”

Let’s kiss and make up, then you’ll learn.

“As long as you’re here, there is no peace for me” the Unmusician proclaimed before tossing his hat aside and getting into a combat stance.

You can fight your life away.

“And if you’re around, there’s less peace for the world.”

I get what I want, so don’t bother and just watch me burn.

He jumped back a bit and taunted me, not that it was necessary to get me to charge at him. Soon, he was blocking and deflecting my punches with his cane while he was moving backwards into the forest.

Hotter than the sun, feel my fire. Pyromania, my desire.

Some of my punches, though blocked by the cane, still managed to send fire at the Unmusician’s body. It didn’t look like it did anything to his armor, but his reactions said otherwise. He was feeling the heat.

Thought that you could see the truth, ‘til I just burned down the roof.

A number of branches in the canopy, caught aflame by some stray shots, fell down around us,revealing the dimming sky.

Human torch can’t mess with me. Johnny Blaze? Suspect B.

“He’s a human that can light himself on fire” I explained. I knew it didn’t matter, but I felt like explaining it anyways.

Strike ‘em quick, lightning fast! Melt them bitches down to ash.

Once I knocked his cane away, I was able to deal a strong blow to his gut. It sounded like some of his armor cracked and he doubled over, allowing me to throw a number of fire enhanced punches at his chest.

Gasoline, kerosene, strike a match, ignite the scene.
Things will never be the same, feel the fury of my flame.

One of my punches knocked him away from me and into a tree, where he lit his horn and dissipated the heat from his body. Some of the armor broke off and fell to the ground. “My armor!” he exclaimed.

Beg for mercy, it won’t help. Embrace the end that you were dealt.
Seems you chumps will never learn. Now sit back and watch me burn.

We quickly got back to the fight. I had a good amount of strength still in me while the Unmusician seemed to be running on desperation and anger.

As the guitar solo played, we continued our fight, making our way back to the clearing. I lost my rhythm when I tripped on a rock, allowing the Unmusician to grab my head with one set of talons and punch me with the other into the rock wall.

It hurt quite a bit, and I saw a single strand of my hair on the arm that punched me.

I BURN!

“It’s over!” I ejected the incendiary shells and leapt straight for the Unmusician’s throat, making him bend over backwards.

Can’t hold me now. You got nothing that can stop me.

A few twists and spins and he was disoriented.

I BURN!

In his disorientation, I punched his chest, making more of his armor break away.

Swing all you want. Like a fever, I will take you down.

A kick to his gut and I sent him back into the rock wall.

I BURN!

I pulled out the spiral rainbow shells and tossed them into the air.

Can’t hold me now. You got nothing that can stop me.

The shells landed perfectly in the Ember Celica, the gauntlets closing around them.

I BURN!

With one last battle cry, I charged forward.

Swing all you want. Like a fever, I will take you down!

On the last syllable, I hit his damaged chest with a full force rainnuke punch.

The explosion launched me up into the air and back towards Ponyville. In the rainbow mushroom cloud, I could see a wavy triangle, tilted clockwise, rising up, glowing like a small sun before it exploded. When it exploded, I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

Just as Celestia was about to leave her chambers for supper with Luna, she felt a disturbance. She looked to her cutie mark and saw the Northeast sunflare move away from the center ring of the sun, joining the northern flare.

“Oh no.” She would talk this matter over privately with her sister.

Exhaustion began to creep into me during my flight. I’d saved Ponyville and the world again, and I was tired, just as before after I beat Tirek. I almost fell asleep in the air until I noticed that I was flying towards home. There was a crowd outside, though there was a clear area in the middle of them. It looked like Pinkie was keeping that area clear.

I soon found out why she was keeping that area clear when I landed there with so little grace, a brick would shake its head in disappointment if it could. I could hear the crowd gathering around me, though I couldn’t understand everything they were saying. They seemed concerned though.

As I stood up, I got a feel for my aura, which was almost gone. I was dirty, I was tired, and I was hungry. I politely made my way through the crowd and inside.

“Hello, Yang” Pinkie greeted. She had a white shirt and black vest on, along with a fake moustache that still had a price tag on it. “We have a seat reserved just for you, if you’ll follow me.”

I followed Pinkie to the spot reserved for me: the seat at the bar closest to the stairs going upstairs. After I sat down, Fuzz came over to me. “So that’s what she was up to” the dragon said. “And what happened to you? You look terrible.”

“I had to fight someone” I said. “Can I have a plate of chicken strips?”

“What do you want on the side?”

“Some toast. And a fireball whiskey.”

Fuzz’s eyes widened. “You’re sure about that?”

“Just make it.”

“Alright.” Fuzz put the order in and gave me a glass of water while she mixed the drink.

I downed the water in a matter of seconds and found myself relaxing a bit. My breathing leveled out and I felt my eyelids drooping a bit. What kept me from really closing my eyes was my stomach telling me to stay awake for some food.

“Here’s your drink” Fuzz said as she set the glass down in front of me. The whiskey had what looked like an orange diamond shaped flame floating in the middle. “And your food.” She set the plate of chicken strips down as well. I grabbed one of the chicken strips and bit into it. “What kind of fight was it?”

“Too long.” I took a bite of the buttery toast. “Any fight is too long for my liking.”

“Did you win?”

“Yeah.” I continued on the chicken as Fuzz went to another guest at the bar. As I ate, I could feel some energy coming back. When Fuzz got back to me, I’d finished my food and was ready to try her signature drink. “Here goes.” I took a sip of the fireball whiskey. Even though the glass was cool, the drink felt warm in my mouth. The sip continued beyond the sample and I soon had downed the whole glass. I sighed and a burst of steam came out of my mouth. “That’s good stuff.” More steam came out of my mouth with every word. “I’m calling it an early night.”

“Well then, it’s a good thing I’m here” Gilda said. “I got a letter earlier from Sylvia that she’s going to send tomorrow telling me to come here tonight. I got this.”

“Thanks. You’re awesome, Gilda.” I couldn’t really follow what Gilda said, but I was glad she was here. I felt my energy slipping away, so I got up from the bar and made my way upstairs. A shower was in order for me before I went to sleep.

Help is a wonderful thing

View Online

I knew I had to be in a dream. There was a crowd of people all around me, though all of them were facing away from me, the closest ones being only ten feet away. I tried to walk towards them, but I encountered an invisible barrier only three feet from my goal. “Excuse me, but where are we?” Nobody responded to me, as if I wasn’t there. “What’s going on?”

Suddenly, the area was flooded with light from a number of stages, all of them with a band on them. From my spot hundreds of feet away from the stages, I couldn’t tell who was on the stages.

The people in the crowd started talking amongst themselves in excitement. I couldn’t make out what was being said, but they were looking forward to something. They went quiet when what had to be all the drummers hit their sticks together at the same time, then the music started.

Put down that chainsaw and listen to me: it’s time for us to join the fight.

Oh I, I just died in your arms tonight.

I’m waking up at the start of the end of the world.

I went back to the middle of the circle in surprise from all the different songs playing at once.

Coming up on overload! In a mystic new dimension.

I met a strange lady. She made me nervous.

He’s got two pointy ears and can be seen moving in the halls behind the scenes.

The music was louder than the crowd and coming from every direction. Not even covering up my ears helped with the noise.

We live each day like there’s nothing to lose!

He’s such a lovely robot. He’s such a tip top bloke.

The words we use are strong. They make reality.

I wanted to wake up and escape this cacophony, but I couldn’t. I was hearing all the music at once and with a cheering audience to boot.

Så rör på era fötter oa-a-a.

Geh diesen Weg, dreh nicht weider um, geh in bis zum schluss.

Unmei wa kimi hottokanai. Kekkyoyu was susumu shika nai.

I couldn’t even understand what some of them were saying at all, on top of not being able to understand anything from just how much was going on at once.

“It’s alright, Yang” a calming voice soon said. “You can stand up now.”

I opened my eyes and saw Luna standing in front of me. I wasn’t sure when I went into the fetal position, but when I took my hands off my ears, I didn’t hear the music or the audience. “Luna? What happened? What’s going on?”

“You have music magic now. A little alicorn fairy told me such earlier while Celestia and I talked with her. We’d honestly forgotten about Poppy since we sealed away the Unmusician. She wasn’t happy about that.

“As for what’s happening to you, I believe your body is simply trying to adjust to having music magic now.”

“How do I keep it under control?”

“I don’t know. Someone gaining music magic the way you have is unprecedented. Most of the time, it’s just something that’s learned while growing up, so there’s not much that can be done for you. All I can suggest is to keep your focus and not let it control you. If this dream is any indication, that might take a lot of effort to manage.”

“I’m sure I’ll be able to do it, Luna. It can’t be that hard, right?”

It wasn’t even noon and already I had flopped back onto my bed. Luna let me have a dreamless sleep through the night, but after I woke up, that was when the music started. And it just. Wouldn’t. Stop. Playing.

All morning, I was singing and dancing as I went about my routine to get ready for work, and I couldn’t help it. The music was controlling me. I tried to stop, but I couldn’t. I’m pretty sure I even sang something in a language I’d never heard before.

My eyes were on the verge of closing when another song started up and I shot to my feet. I was too tired to pay attention to the lyrics I was singing as I left my house.

“Twilight, I need help” I said as I collapsed in her throne room. I could just about fall asleep there. I was dancing and singing the whole way here and while I was waiting in line, and there was nothing I could do about it.

“Yeah, you do need help” she agreed as she produced a quill, inkwell, and scroll. “How does a nap and a letter to Gilda sound?”

“Tell her to put up a Closed sign. And why it’s closed. And where I am.”

“I’ll take care of that. Spike?”

“Yeah, Twi?” Spike said.

“Call for Rainbow to help you get Yang to a room. I’ll hit her with a sleep spell so she can rest.”

“Thanks, Twilight.” A moment later, I got hit with a purple bolt and the world went dark.

Once again, I was back in the middle of the crowd, and the bands were already playing. Or maybe they were still playing. I don’t know. I immediately put my hands back over my ears and closed my eyes.

Once again, Luna muted everything around me with her appearance and I relaxed. “I take it you haven’t had a good day since you’re already asleep?”

“I’ve been singing and dancing pretty much since the sun came up.” I sat down on the ground and Luna joined me. “I was ready to fall asleep sometime before noon, but then the music fired back up and I was moving again. I haven’t even been able to eat anything.”

“That does not sound good. Maybe, if this happens long enough, your hunger will stop the music.”

What? “Luna, that’s a dumb idea.”

“Magic needs some kind of fuel in order to work, and that often comes from food. Ponies who go for long periods of time without food often exhibit weaker magic, both unique and non-unique.”

“And if it doesn’t work, I’ll starve to death. Luna, I need an immediate solution, not an eventual solution.”

Luna was quiet as she thought. “What if Twilight creates a spell to hold back the music? It would be like a crutch for you, and it could weaken over time so you can get more control over the music bit by bit.”

“If that lets me live normally, I’ll take it.”

“I will let her know. Do you have any other questions?”

“Can music magic affect my body while I’m asleep?”

“No. Poppy made sure of that a long time ago. It can induce sleep, often through lullabies, and it can influence dreams, but it can’t directly affect the sleeping. There is no chance of you waking up due to the music magic, whether your own or someone else’s.”

“That’s a small comfort.”

“I will leave now, so you’ll be back in the middle of this concert ring. I hate to leave you like that, but it’s a good step to take towards getting used to it. Until we meet again.” When Luna left, the volume of the music and crowd began to pick back up. Since I was still stuck in this concert circle and still in the invisible dome, I had no choice but to take on the onslaught of sound.

After a while, I learned that it was indeed possible to blackout in a dream.

“Agh, my head.” I sat up in the bed I had been moved to, a migraine welcoming me into the world of the waking, not helped by the sun hitting my eyes. “Oh, this sucks.” The light hurt my eyes way more than it usually did.

After a few minutes, Twilight came in. “Good evening, Yang. Feel any better?”

“Did you put the music restraining spell on me?”

“Not yet. I just finished figuring out all the little details of it. Why do you ask?”

“I have a migraine. I thought the restraining spell might have a side effect like that.”

“I assure you that it won’t. Crafting the spell to what Luna suggested it do was the easy part. Making sure it was made so it wouldn’t induce any negative side effects was the hard part, especially since I don’t know a lot about your body. Biologically speaking.

“Maybe some supper will help your migraine go away?”

“What’s on the menu?”

“Well, if I recall correctly, we do have some chicken in the kitchen right now. We could have it put into something if you’d like.”

An enticing offer. “Can I order it and have it delivered here? I don’t feel like walking around with this headache.”

“Of course. What do you want?”

I want my head to be pain free. “How about some buttery pasta with cut up grilled chicken pieces in it and some toast on the side? And water.”

Twilight’s horn glowed for a moment. “Alright, the chef has his order and should be starting it right about now. While we wait, how about I put that music restraining spell on you?”

“Yes, please. Before a song starts up.”

Twilight’s horn lit up and a lavender aura surrounded me. The sensation of my music magic, I guess all of my magic, really, being restrained was an odd one. It almost felt like part of me was being physically restrained, yet it wasn’t a physical part of me.

Magic is weird.

“And that should do it. Your music is currently 99% restrained, so you can start to more easily get a feel for it. The restraint is designed to decrease by 1% every eight hours.”

Let’s see: 1% in eight hours, three of those in a day. . . “So, I have about a month with the restraints on my music then, right?”

“A little over a month, yes. I’ve also set it up so that as you gain more control over the magic, it can decrease the restraint as well. So, if you manage to get it under full control in less than a month, the restraints on it will be gone that much sooner.”

I took a deep breath to try and alleviate a bit of the migraine. I really needed to harvest the migraine, turn it into bread, and maybe loaf around a bit. At least then it would be gone. “Got anything for headaches?”

“I do have some aspirin in my bathroom.”

“Wait, you have aspirin here? As in, a medicine to help with general pains and headaches?”

“Yes. I’m guessing aspirin was available where you’re from?”

“Very common, pretty cheap and easy to get. I don’t know what it’s made from though.”

“Let’s hope the two are close enough in their composition to work for you. Anyways, you may want to cover your eyes before I teleport.”

“Good idea.” I lay back down and put an arm over my eyes. Even after I heard Twilight teleport away, I kept my arm there. The sun may be going down, but it was still a big ball of light, and my eyes were not in any condition to look at that.

It didn’t take long for Twilight to return. “Alright, I’ve got the aspirin and some water. If you need me to, I could make the tablet smaller.”

“Hm?” I sat back up and looked over at Twilight. In her magic was a glass of water and a tablet as big as the first section of one of my middle fingers. “Yeah, that’s too big for me.”

“I thought that might be the case. How small do you need me to make it?”

Question of the day there. “I think about as big around as my pinky nail and, oh, a third as thick as that fingertip.”

After she looked at the aforementioned finger, it didn’t take long for her to carve out a portion of the tablet as small as I specified. “If this is all you need, your body must be really efficient with medicine.”

“I don’t know about that.” I accepted the water and tablet, then downed them. Turns out I really needed the water. Just that gave me some degree of relief from the pain.

“So, how’s business been?”

“Quite good. I’ve got my routines in place, profits are being made very easily, and all my employees seem to like me. I don’t think I could ask for much more.”

“You are a hero too. That’s always good.”

“I could live without the hero status.”

“Ponyville tends to be rather low key with the hero and celebrity thing. Not even the nobility get special treatment here.”

Now that she mentioned it, she was right. Nobody around here really hailed me as a hero for long after Tirek’s defeat, and I haven’t noticed anything after taking out the Unmusician yesterday. Then again, I’ve been a bit. . . occupied today. “Did Gilda get the letter?”

“She did. And according to Spike, she said she understood and respected the message. She also said she was going to totally ignore it and open the Carne Den anyways.”

“I guess there’s nothing I can do about that.”

Our discussion eventually turned into a lesson on the basic principles of magic in general. I didn’t understand most of what Twilight said, but what I did remember was that concentration was the biggest part of getting that critical first grasp on the magic, and meditation was a technique often used by unicorns to get to that point. Right after I assured Twilight I would do some meditation, Spike came in with a tray loaded with two plates of food and a bowl of gems. “Here’s supper” he announced as he came in. “You doing better, Yang?”

“Yeah. Twilight figured out a way to help me with the music magic, so that’s good.” Magic is amazing stuff, especially in the right hands. Or hooves, I guess. Or would it be horns?

“If you give Twilight a magic problem and some time, she can solve it. If it’s to help her friends, she’s even better at solving it.”

Twilight relieved Spike of the tray and gave each of us our meals. “I wasn’t always this good though. When I was still learning about friendship after I chose to stay in Ponyville, I often did the magical equivalent of using brute force to fix the problems we faced, and that often wound up creating bigger problems.”

“Like the Smarty Pants incident. You made a problem out of nothing and got everypony in town caught up in it. Celestia had to step in to fix that one.”

“I’m never going to live that down. Still, at least things ended up alright in the end and we all learned a few things that day. Since then, I’ve become a lot more careful with my magic.”

Our discussion died down as we started on our food. It was good food, and my migraine kept weakening as I ate. Either that aspirin was quality stuff or just getting some food and water in me was doing the trick. Or maybe it was both.

Once we were done, Twilight teleported the dishes away. “So, is there anything else Spike or I can do for you?”

I thought for a bit. “Hm, no, not really. You’ve already helped me enough today. I really should go home to work so Gilda can go home if she wants.”

“Would you like a teleport there? Oh, wait, you’ve got your gauntlets on. Those don’t teleport.”

“I’ll just take the window out. Thanks for your hospitality.”

“Any time.”

I opened the window, looking over Ponyville at night. It was a great sight. I saw ponies leaving their homes and workplaces as they wound down for the day. A lot of them were heading in one particular direction. It looked like. . .

As I figured out where everyone was heading, I jumped out the window and hit the ground running in a direction away from the herd. It was going to be a busy night in the kitchen for me.

“Hey, you doing well?” Gilda asked as I arrived at the Carne Den.

“Yeah” I answered as I quickly caught what little breath I needed to. “We’re about to get really busy. There’s a whole herd walking here from town. I’d say we have five minutes at most to get ready.”

“I’ll inform the wait staff.” As Gilda went to do what she said, I went to the kitchen. Once I had informed the kitchen staff, I helped them prepare for the crowd.

So apparently, most of the town had a music bug going, since everyone who came in was singing to a tune that I could only faintly hear and found myself easily humming along to. The rhythm also helped us out in the kitchen, increasing our efficiency and coordination remarkably, though I appeared to get the smallest increase. It was like I was only tapping my foot to the beat while everyone else was dancing around each other.

The herd of musically inclined customers kept us busy until about 12:30, when most of them were gone and we were able to finally start cleaning up for real. Every surface was being wiped down and everything that was used was being cleaned up. It was a lot to do, but everyone worked together really well.

While the cleaning was going on, I went to the office to see just how much we had made. The chest was overflowing with bits. We had exceeded 10,000 bits in income today. I started picking up the extra bits that were laying around the chest and putting them on the desk.

While I was counting out the overflow of bits, I figured I could also work on next week’s schedule, which would basically be the same as this week’s. I like it when things are consistent. With consistency in the schedule comes a more consistent environment not just for the staff, but also the customers.

Just as I finished counting out the bits the chest couldn’t hold, the clock showed that it was 1. Closing time. Before I could go out to check on everything, Sylvia entered the office. “Everything’s cleaned up, so we’re going to leave.”

“Hm? Oh, right. Good night” I responded. “Since when did everyone get so fast at cleaning up?”

“Teamwork makes the dream work. One thing I’ve seen recently is that two of the griffons on the closing wait staff have become really good friends and share their cleaning work. Together, they can have a booth or table cleaned and ready in under a minute, whereas it takes a little over two minutes for one of them to achieve the same result alone.”

“Well, if they’re that efficient together, I see no reason to change that.” Why would Sylvia need to bring this to my attention?

“Neither do I. Aside from telling you we got done early, I figured you could use a bit of positive news today. Gilda heard you had a rough start to your day.”

“Lots of dancing and singing. And a migraine. At least those have been fixed and we ended on a good note. Good night again.”

“Good night, Yang.” Sylvia closed the door and left, allowing me to go back to the schedule. Once that was done, I wrote out a note for Brew about the bits, left it on the desk, and walked through the empty restaurant. I really had a good thing going here.

After taking care of my nightly routine, I went to bed. Even though I had a good nap before coming here and it was earlier than normal, I still fell asleep pretty easily.

My dreams were more peaceful, the music simply there in the background as I simply lay down on the roof of my house, absorbing the sun’s rays on a day almost too hot for anyone else to be out there. Even if it was only a dream, it still felt nice.

Exposition

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It’s been a few days since Twilight put the restraint on my music magic, and in that time, I’ve taken to meditating in the shower. Due to how long ponies were, the tub was made fairly wide compared to the ones back on Earth, allowing me to comfortably sit down cross-legged. Meditating and finding the magic I now had was quite the experience, helped along by the hot water on my back. I’ve even been able to experience THE TRANQUILITY through this shower meditation.

During the second round of meditation, I figured out how to make a feedback loop of sorts with the music magic. I’d find a calm tune amidst the magic, play it around me, and that would allow me to get better control of the magic. I don’t know how much of Twilight’s spell was left, but I felt more in control of the magic. Maybe control wasn’t the right word. In tune? Synced? Harmonized? Something along those lines. Magic is weird.

Still, I was getting better day by day. I still had moments of spontaneous singing and stuff, but I’ve been able to stop the music with a bit of effort. It’s not as easy as hitting a Pause or Stop button; the music actually has its own kind of inertia where it wants to keep going until the song is over.

Yesterday, I got a letter from Twilight asking me to come to the castle today. She didn’t say why she wanted me to come today, but whatever the reason was, it was important enough for her to call off court for the day. That sounds really important. That, or she’s just giving herself a day off and wanted me to join her. Either way, it coincided with one of my off days. I was just going to take a lazy day basking and napping on the roof, but it looked like that was going to be postponed until at least noon.

After finishing my meditation and shower, I dried off and got dressed. Today’s outfit was my red and black athletic outfit under my casual outfit. I’d set the athletic outfit aside for today last night, but meeting with someone meant I needed something better. Then again, I’m in a world where clothing is viewed more as an option most of the time. Heck, the athletic outfit alone was more covering than what the Princesses wore on a daily basis, and they were the highest authorities in the world.

After making a quick breakfast burger and cleaning up, I left home and walked towards the castle. As I had my breakfast, I realized that I was often staying home for days at a time, especially with the convenience of all the Carne Den’s groceries, and thus mine as well, being delivered. I needed to get back to running laps around Ponyville again, even if it was just one or two in the morning.

While I was walking through the market, and just after finishing my breakfast, I caught sight of some of my employees looking at various goods in the market. One of my griffon employees, a dishwasher, walked out of a home decor shop with his family. “Hi, Yang” he called out, bringing his family with him, a wife and a son.

“Hi Greenwick” I returned. “If I recall, you’ve got today off.”

“Yep. I decided to make today a family day out. Today marks our first shopping spree.”

“Here?”

“Ever. With both of us working, we barely had enough money to survive and get by back in the Empire, but now, with only me working for you, we’re making way more than before.” Wow. Things were bad back in the Griffon Empire. “Would you like to see the painting?”

“Sure.” It wouldn’t take too long.

Greenwick’s wife adjusted the painting on her back to where I could see it.

“That. Is a very nice painting. Also, piece of advice: even, no, especially when you’re on a shopping spree, do be careful with your money. Anyways, I’ve got to get going. I’ll see you later, Greenwick.”

“Bye, Yang.” Greenwick and his family waved to me as I resumed my walk to the castle, though now with a big smile on my face.

I rode the wave of happiness all the way to Twilight’s throne room. “Good morning, Yang” Twilight greeted. “What’s got you so happy?”

“Just knowing that I’ve helped improve lives with the Carne Den. It really makes me feel, well, like a hero.”

“Really? And defeating two magic draining villains doesn’t?”

“That was simply returning magic to its rightful owners. What I’m doing actually improves lives. Big difference there, Princess.”

“History will remember you for your big fights though. Still, I’m not going to tell you how to define your hero status. Anyways, I brought you here because Celestia’s going to visit us. She wasn’t specific about what she wanted to talk about, but she said to keep it quiet. I’ve already set aside a room for us, so let’s go.”

I followed Twilight through the halls of her castle. “Are your friends going to join us? They seem kind of important.”

“They are, but they can’t make it. Rarity has a big order due really soon that she has to work on, Fluttershy is overseeing an animal’s birth, Rainbow has a shipment of clouds to oversee, Applejack has crops to plant, and Pinkie Pie is foalsitting the Cake twins again.”

“And Spike?”

“He’s waiting for us in the conference room we’ve set aside for today. Fortunately, he hasn’t been waiting for long. He only got there about ten minutes ago.”

The rest of our short walk was in a peaceful silence. When we entered the conference room, Spike was already sitting at the small round table reading a comic. It took a bit for me to read the title, but I was able to see that it was called Power Ponies.

I wonder if they had giant combining robots in that comic?

“And now all we need is Celestia” Spike said without looking up from his book.

“She should be here any minute” Twilight said as we sat down.

“I have known her to be quite punctual” a fourth voice said. Somehow, Celestia had sneaked in behind us and was standing behind Twilight. I didn’t say anything since I wanted to see how this would play out. “In fact, you might want to say ‘any second’ instead.”

“That’s a good idea, Celestia. She’ll be here any second.” A moment of silence followed. “Wait, Celestia? When did you get here?”

“Exactly when I meant to” Celestia playfully answered before taking her seat. “How has your restaurant been doing, Yang?”

“Still successful” I reported. “I’ve got no idea how many bits we’ve made so far, but it’s probably a really big number.” And we haven’t even been open for a whole month yet either.

“I wouldn’t be surprised. Still, I didn’t call this meeting to talk about how we’ve all been doing, though that certainly is a good bonus. No, what I’m about to tell you is related to my cutie mark.”

Total and utter silence asserted its dominance and reign over the room. Twilight, Spike, and I collectively broke its tyrannical rule with a synchronized “What?”

“Luna and I have fought many battles in our time, some of which couldn’t be won with brute force, clever tactics, or blitzes. In those cases, we had to seal them away ourselves. Luna would go into the fray herself while I would provide support. She would weaken our adversary and I would seal them away. In order to make the seal strong enough to properly contain them, I had to imbue both them and the seals with part of my own essence, making the process easier and the seal stronger. Tirek drained our magic before we sealed him away, so his seal was the weakest.”

“Is that why he was able to break out of Tartarus the first time?” Spike asked.

“Yes. Luna and I would have sealed him away again ourselves when he escaped, but he got us before we could do anything. Of course, you know how our last attempt went.”

“But how is this related to your cutie mark?” I asked.

Celestia stood up and turned so we could see her mark. “As you can see, two of the flares have disconnected from the center of the sun. When Yang defeated Tirek, I thought he would have been the only one. However, with Yang’s recent triumph over the Unmusician, I have grown concerned. There are seven more that Luna and I sealed away, and I’m afraid they’ll be breaking out in the near future.”

“Who are they?”

“I wish I knew for certain. Aside from Tirek, I’ve forgotten their names and titles.”

“You forgot them?”

“Most of them were a really long time ago. Long enough for even me to have forgotten them. There is only so much even I can remember, and the same goes for Luna.”

“So we know that they’ll happen, but not what they’ll look like, act like, or anything” Twilight summarized. “Do you at least remember where they were?”

Celestia looked up to the ceiling as she thought. I looked up as well, though more out of a longing to get out onto the roof for some sunbathing. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think I was part reptile with how I’m drawn to heat. Maybe even part dragon with my heat immunity.

I was drawn from my musings when Celestia spoke. “I believe they were all within a 150 mile radius of Canterlot, 200 at most.”

Celestia had barely finished her sentence when Twilight was already putting quill to paper. We waited for her to finish. “That’s over 125,000 square miles, Celestia.”

Twilight was good at math. “That’s a lot of area” I commented. “Was that the 150 or 200 mile figure?”

“150.”

I would have whistled at that if I knew how to. “That’s a big number.”

“Multiplication will do that really fast.”

“But what’s the plan?” Spike asked. “Even if we send out squads of guards in every direction to search the area, they don’t know what to look for. For all we know, the mountain could have been put there to contain these bad guys, or the Everfree is the way it is because of one of them.”

“Spike, don’t be silly” Twilight said. “Those ideas are crazy.”

“But what if I’m right?” Twilight had no response to that.

“So, is there anything else we need to discuss?” I asked.

“There is something less threatening I wish to say” Celestia said. “This is more for you, Yang.”

“What is it?”

“Most of the nobles are seeing you as a disruptor to their lifestyle, and they tend to be rather petty. I wouldn’t be surprised if they make moves to try and make your life miserable, difficult, or inconvenient in one way or another.”

“Great.”

“And they don’t realize that they’re disrupting their own lifestyles when they’re out for their revenge” Spike added. “If they simply left Yang alone, then they could do whatever they do outside of those financial meetings and we could all just get along as before.”

“Which is why they have a Princess, or someone appointed for that meeting by a Princess, as the head. They have shown that, without one of us to keep them in check, they would legislate Equestria into oblivion.”

“Really?” I wasn’t too surprised at the idea. “How do you know that?”

“I’ve got lots of experience in politics and their effects on citizens. You could say I’ve seen it all before, so I know the signs. I can also think out the effects a law would have on those it does and does not target.

“Anyways, since we’ve got the discussion of those sealed enemies likely breaking out done, let’s turn to a lighter side. What do you have planned for today?”

“I’m going to go over the books on manufacturing law, see if I can’t streamline and simplify some of them” Twilight said.

“Comic books and gems” Spike said.

“Sunbathing on the Carne Den roof” I said.

“How long are you going to be sunbathing?” Celestia asked.

“Until I need to use the bathroom. Or I get hungry. Then it’s right back to the roof.”

“Aren’t you worried about getting sunburnt? Or overheating?”

“No, I’m immune to those things. I’m also fireproof. It’s awesome.” Especially in the kitchen. Now if only I could spread that immunity.

“Well, I think you’ll have a sunbathing partner today, Yang.”

“Thank you, Princess.” I’m sure just about everyone in Equestria, maybe even the world, would be overjoyed at the idea of Celestia spending a day with them. And I’ll admit, I was feeling a bit of excitement myself at the idea, but it felt more like an acquaintance wanting to visit and spend time with me.

The walk home was surprisingly uneventful, considering I was casually walking with the ruler of Equestria through the market. Maybe Celestia came to Ponyville often enough that nobody really cared.

We eventually arrived at the Carne Den/my home. “If you want to go ahead and go up to the roof, go on” I said. “I have to change really fast.”

“What for?” Celestia asked.

How to explain this. . . “I’ve got different clothes for different occasions. You could just say it’s a human thing.” Especially prominent on the female side. I went inside to my room while Celestia went up to the roof. After taking my shirt and jeans off, revealing the athletic outfit underneath, I put them in with the laundry, opened a window, and went up to the roof.

“Do you have a particular spot in mind?” Celestia was standing on the sloped roof with apparent ease.

“Yeah. I’ve got a spot that’s both in the sun and hidden from the front of the restaurant.” I lead Celestia around the roof to the spot I had in mind. Thanks to the sun’s exposure and the dark color, the roof was already warm.

I laid down on the spot I’d chosen and Celestia lay down next to me. “So, is this really all you’re doing today?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Most ponies would want to actively do something with me, not just lay down on the roof all day.”

Just from the brief time already up here, my breathing was slowing down and I was relaxing. “Well, if you want to go do something, I won’t stop you.”

Celestia was quiet for a bit. “I really don’t get to just laze about and look at the sky all that often.”

“Too many responsibilities?”

“Even with Luna and a sizeable staff to help, yes.”

“Well, this is a chance for you to forget everything for now. Just close your eyes, relax, let the sun do its thing, and maybe THE TRANQUILITY will come to you.”

“How did you make that echo sound with your voice?”

“Huh?” When did I do that?

“When you said ‘THE TRANQUILITY’, your voice echoed a bit.”

Oh. “Music magic?”

“I guess that’s about as good an answer as anything. You must he getting good at controlling it if you can use it at will like that.”

“Yeah, sure.” I closed my eyes and began to lightly doze off.

I don’t know how much time had passed since I closed my eyes, but I woke up suddenly feeling so angry that I was extremely calm. Something had happened to my hair.

“Discord, give Yang her hair back” Celestia said. “She looks like she’s ready to hurt you.”

I sat up and saw Discord standing at the edge of the roof, holding my hair like it was a wig. That was on fire. He looked between it and me. “You make a very good point, Celestia.” Discord put my hair back on my head, which was quite an odd sensation. “And I think I’ll make a hasty retreat right now.” Discord ran to a far off hilltop, leaving a cartoonish cloud of dust as he left. Even though having my hair back had calmed me, I was still a little upset at Discord’s move, so I held up a hand ready to imagine flicking him off the hilltop. Amusingly, he acted as if I was about to flick him. “No no no no” he said in a small voice before I flicked him. He let off a little scream as he was knocked over the hill, accompanied by a variety of cartoonish crashing sounds.

I laughed a bit at that, the anger completely gone. “Well, that was a thing.” I suddenly felt a familiar pressure building in me. “And I have to use the bathroom now. I’ll be right back, Celestia.”

“Do what you must” Celestia said. She looked quite relaxed in her spot.

I made my way back inside and to my bathroom, where I took care of relieving the pressure. I guess I could thank Discord for waking me up before I had to go, though that’s not really something to thank someone for.

Once I was done, I went back up to the roof. Celestia hadn’t gone anywhere and I took my spot by her. “Hey, what time is it?”

“Half past two” Celestia answered.

“Cool.” I closed my eyes and relaxed again. With my bladder emptied, relaxation came back pretty easily. Along with the quick return to relaxation came a slow return of THE TRANQUILITY.

“Hey, you two want anything?” a mare asked.

I opened my eyes. “Sylvia?”

“The main dinner rush is going to be here in about half an hour, and I saw you two napping up here when I flew in earlier. I figured I’d check to see if you wanted something to eat before then.”

“A generous order of potato skins should do.”

“Potato skins?” Celestia asked.

“Basically hollowed out wedges of potato with melted cheese and bacon bits on it. It’s really good.”

“That sounds good.”

“One generous order of potato skins coming up.” Sylvia said before flying back down to the Carne Den.

“So, how’s your day been, Celestia?” I asked.

“It’s been a long time since I was able to relax like this” Celestia answered. “When I get to relax at the castle, it’s not so much that I’m off as I am not working. Even Sundays are like that.”

“I can kind of relate to that. You get a day off from work, then someone calls in sick and they call you in. That always sucks.”

A few minutes later, Sylvia came back up with the potato skins. “Here you go.”

“Have you ever had one of these?” Celestia asked Sylvia.

“Not yet, your highness.”

“Go ahead and try one.” I held one out for her to try.

Sylvia plucked and ate the potato skin right out of my hand. She chewed on it for a little while. “That is good. That’s one more strong recommendation in my books.”

“That’s good. Now get back in there before the rush starts.” Sylvia didn’t spare a farewell for us, instead going straight back inside. Once she was inside, Celestia tried a potato skin. “What do you think of it?”

“It is good” Celestia said as she inspected another one. “Is it really just three ingredients?”

“A section of lightly salted potato skin covered in bacon bits and melted cheese. Cook in the oven for a little bit and it’s done. So, technically four ingredients.”

A wistful sigh escaped Celestia. “Why can’t my chefs keep the meals simple like this?”

“Hm?”

“They always insist on making meals as fancy and elegant as possible for me using the finest ingredients. I have learned how to live on those fancy meals, but it just doesn’t cut it. But because of these light, fancy meals, I would get quite hungry at night and go to the kitchen for a snack. It wasn’t uncommon for a whole cake to vanish.”

“You must have gotten really hungry.”

“Such is the problem of being a big alicorn with regular pony chefs. They can’t seem to think of making things bigger and heartier than what a normal pony needs.”

“Did they all go to a high end culinary school?”

Celestia casually popped a potato skin into her mouth as she thought. “No, not all of them. Unfortunately, the ones that didn’t go to a school got relegated to dishwashing duty. The kitchen has its own stratification system, and there’s nothing I can do about it without messing up just about everything else there.”

I took a bite of a potato skin myself. It was delicious. “I don’t know what to do for that. Everyone that works here gets along and sees everyone else as partners. There’s nobody here that doesn’t perform some kind of important duty. The only time for laziness is between rushes.”

“Aside from where they work, can you think of anything that might be different between our chefs?”

I had to think for a bit. I didn’t have anything to go off of for Celestia’s except what she told me. “Well, mine don’t work here for the prestige, that’s for sure. They were all looking for some way to provide for their families, or simply to get a better job. They also know that if they mess up enough times, they could lose their job, and that’s not good for them.”

“Maybe that’s what I need to do. Of course, I can’t just fire someone for a single mistake or just because they didn’t do something entirely right.”

“Tell them what you want, and if they learn how to make your meals how you want, keep them. If they keep going back to the artistic meals, despite what you ask, then you can fire or move them around. Maybe you could even have a competition between all the kitchen staff at some point to see who makes the best meal for you. You could even allow the dishwashers to participate.”

“I’ll have to see about trying that.” We continued laying there on the roof, talking and snacking on the potato skins. Celestia had most of them, and I don’t blame her. She was bigger than me, and based on what she had told me, needed food badly. Eventually, the sun started to get low. “I must say, Yang, it’s been a good day. I had fun doing nothing with you.”

Now there’s a statement if ever there was one. “And, as you can see, I am totally unburnt.” I didn’t even have a hint of a tan anywhere on me. My skin was the same color and texture as before, as if I’d been inside all day.

“I can only imagine what my sun’s rays feels like on bare skin. It must be nice.”

“For a lot of people, yes, but it really depends on the temperature. Anyways, I’ll let you go so you can make the trip back to your castle.”

“Farewell, then.” Celestia stood up, stretched a bit, then took off. I watched her fly until she was but a speck in the distance, then she teleported the rest of the way to her castle in a flash of golden light. Cheater!

“May as well go inside myself.” I picked up the plate the potato skins were on, and not seeing an easy way to swing back inside with it, I jumped down to the ground and went in through the back door to the kitchen.

The kitchen was abuzz with activity, so much so that my presence was more noted than acknowledged. There was so much activity going on, the only pony who could have walked through with no problem was Pinkie. Fortunately, I was no pony, and I was able to slip through the crowd of cooks with no problem, though one came close to hitting the side of my breasts with her head in her rush. I would have forgiven her for that if it had happened though.

I was in and out of the kitchen and free of the used plate in under a minute. Free of the item, I jumped back up to the roof and took a moment to admire the sunset before swinging back inside for the night.

I really should go visit Rarity again sometime. It’s been too long since I spent some time with her.

Slices of life

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It was a regular Friday night at the Carne Den. I was at the grill, Brew was helping with the drinks and desserts, and the stage was being used by a few brave souls willing to put on a performance. It was rather like a musicless karaoke performance.

Tonight, there was a unique guest: Pinkie Pie and her three sisters. She delivered our regular order of goods from Sugarcube Corner and brought them along. They took a seat at a table outside and had only small grilled vegetable items.

The night really got interesting while I was brushing some sauce on a few sticks of chicken and grilling some bacon wrapped veggie patties. Pinkie and her sisters put on some small red and purple vests with gold trim and a small gold chain, then went onstage. The stage was out of my sight, so I couldn’t see what was going on, but based on the way everyone was looking at the stage and what I could hear, I could only presume Pinkie was pulling musical instruments out of her mane.

Then, the show started. “Are you, ah, a real villain?” Pinkie asked.

“No” one of her sisters replied with such a deadpan voice, the pans in the kitchen looked like they were dancing a lively jig.

“Have you ever caught a good guy, like, like a real superhero?”

“Non” one of her other sisters said with a french accent.

“Have you ever tried a disguise?”

“Sorry, Pinks” the last other sister said with a normal voice.

“Alright. I can see that I will have to teach you how to be villains!” After a comically large breath, Pinkie began playing a few notes on what sounded like a saxophone.

“Hey!” Pinkie’s sisters shouted as they started playing their own instruments. I could feel the music magic starting up, and I didn’t fight it. “We are number one!”

“Hey!” Pinkie snapped back before clearing her throat and singing “we are number one!” with her sisters before taking over the singing job. “Now listen closely: Here’s a little lesson in trickery, this is going down in history. If you want to be a villain number one, you have to chase a superhero on the run.” Pinkie changed her voice to a stage whisper. “Just follow my moves, and sneak around. Be careful not to make a sound.”

Something that sounded like a rock being crushed and chewed on broke out.

“No Maud, don’t eat that now!”

“We are number one, hey!” all four sang at once, repeating it a couple times. I looked back at the chicken sticks and saw that they were done. I put them on a plate, and since Brew wasn’t out here for some reason, I had to take them to the pegasus who ordered them. I saw him sitting on the opposite side of the stage and headed that way.

“Now look at this net, that I just found.” Pinkie gave her sisters a net she pulled out of her mane. Somehow. I gave the chicken sticks to the pegasus. “When I say ‘go’, be ready to throw.” I dashed back towards the grill. “Go!” A comical sound effect followed as I got the bacon/veggie patty off the grill and onto a bottom bun. “Throw it at her, not me! Ugh, let’s try something else.”

I quickly topped the burger with a slice of cheese, put the top bun on, and took it to Scootaloo as Pinkie continued. “Now watch, and learn. Here’s the deal: she’ll slip and slide on this banana peel!” Pinkie threw a banana peel out in my path, and I stepped on it. Instead of slipping and falling, I used it to skate along the ground, deliver Scootaloo’s burger, turn around, and head back to the grill. “What is she doing?”

Pinkie and her sisters finished off the song with a series of ba’s, diddly’s, da’s, and the occasional “we are number one”. Finally, they ended the song with a “hey hey!” After some mild applause, they left the stage, took the vests off, and came over to the grill.

“Thanks for helping me with the skit, gals” Pinkie said as they approached. “Let me buy you something. How do some grilled cheese sandwiches sound?”

“Good” the deadpan one said.

“No objection” the French accented one said.

“Sure thing” the normal voice one said.

“Eight plain grilled cheese sandwiches for us, please” Pinkie said.

“24 bits, please” I said as I began buttering up some bread. While I did that, Pinkie made stacks of bits on the counter. When she reached seven stacks of four, she scooped them all up and dumped them into the jar. Hooray for the extra bits.

With so many sandwiches ordered at once, I didn’t have any downtime during the order. As I was buttering up some bread for one side of a sandwich, I also had to flip another one and put yet another on the plate for the order. It took about ten minutes to finish all the sandwiches. After taking a moment to breathe after finishing them, I took the plate over to Pinkie and her sisters, then returned to the grill. The hype over the Carne Den was pretty much gone, but it had made such a splash that it was still pretty busy.

“You wanted to talk with me, Yang?” Applejack asked.

“In the office.” I lead the way in and we both sat down. We weren’t open yet, so it was a good time to talk.“How’s life been for you since I opened the Carne Den?”

“We’ve had to hire some help to keep up with the dessert orders. Granny isn’t what she was even five years ago, and Apple Bloom still has school, so she can’t help as much as we’d like her to.”

“I see. Speaking of business, it’s almost time for a new month and a new dessert. I’m thinking about apple fritters.”

“Ah can send a letter to Apple Fritter so she can come over and teach the hires how to make the fritters.”

“Good thing we’ve got plenty of time to get the letter out. What if you write it here and use the any time delivery at the post office to give her time to prepare?”

“Ah’ll do that. Let’s talk bits though. How does 50 bits for 200 fritters sound?”

Four fritters per bit. I could charge two bits for six of them and come out ahead. I wrote that down so it was there for later. “Sounds good to me. How are they going to be delivered?”

“Ah’ll see about getting some delivery trays from Fritter. She doesn’t sell them from her home, so she’ll be able to help there.”

“That sounds good. You know, I like it when business is simple. It makes things quicker and easier.”

“Are things not so simple where you’re from?”

“As far as I’ve known, no. Everyone spoke of making things more streamlined and quicker, but everyone tried to get their hands in on those things as well, which slowed it down. Here, it’s simpler. We buy our ingredients from everyone we buy ingredients from, we cook them, make a profit, and use that money to keep the cycle going.”

“Ah won’t pretend I understood that. If Ah may ask, what do you plan to do with any leftover pies?”

“If there’s enough, I’ll split them up among my employees. If not, I’ll put the leftovers in my mini fridge upstairs.” That fridge was very nice.

“Mini fridge?”

“It’s like a normal refrigerator, but smaller. I keep a few things in there for the occasional snack or quick breakfast without having to go downstairs.”

“Well, it sounds like you’ve got it all planned out. So, 50 bits for 200 fritters?”

“Of course.” I shook Applejack’s forehoof to seal the deal. “Here’s to our prosperity.”

“Oh, hi Yang” Fluttershy said. “Do you need more eggs already?”

“No, we’re still good there” I reported. “I just thought I’d take a break from my run and come visit you. So, what’s new?”

“Well, nothing really. The animals are generally behaving well, Discord is being Discord, and Angel Bunny is coming up behind you with a pair of scissors.”

I looked behind me and saw a white rabbit there holding a pair of scissors. “Why does he have a pair of scissors?”

Angel let out a series of sounds I couldn’t understand, but Fluttershy apparently could. “He wants to cut off a lock of your hair.”

I turned my attention to the rabbit. “Trust me Angel, you do not want to cut my hair. If you do, there won’t be enough left of you to eat, even with lettuce and berries.”

“Angel, please give me the scissors.” Angel made some sounds and foot stomps in response. “I’m serious, Angel. Yang, can you tell Angel what happens when your hair gets cut?”

I decided to get a little dangerous and knelt down to be closer to the armed white rabbit’s level. “When someone damages my hair, they get punched until they’re no longer a threat.” I held a fist in front of Angel’s face. “In your case, I’d just punch you once and that would be the end of you.” Angel lifted the scissors towards my hair, which lit up. He immediately backed off, hopped away, and gave Fluttershy the scissors.

“Thank you, Angel. So, is there anything I can do for you, Yang?”

“No, you’re fine. I’ll get back to my run. See ya!”

“Hey, Yang, mind if I ask you a question or two?” Rainbow asked.

“You already did, but go ahead” I responded. It was another off day, I was chilling in the sun, and Rainbow was visiting me. With pastries.

“The weather team wants to make a hole around the Carne Den in the Friday evening storm so they can come down to the grill for their breaks. Is there any way you could set aside a table for them?”

“How many?”

“No more than two at a time.”

“Any particular seating preferences?”

“Closer to the grill would be better so they can get their food faster. And before you ask, they will have to pay out of their own bit pouches. Normally, I’d just have their totals tallied up and paid for by the weather factory itself, but I’ve told them otherwise.”

“They get their hole to come down here and have a reserved table, and they pay for the food themselves. That sounds like a good deal. Now, if you don’t mind, I have a question for you.”

“Go on.”

“Are you going to finish that donut half?”

When I entered the Carousel Boutique door, a little bell went off. “Hello?” I called out.

Rarity rushed out from somewhere in the back. “Yang! It’s been so long since you visited. Need something?”

“I was in the area and decided to stop by. How’s business?”

“A bit better than last year. I can still keep up on the orders by myself though.”

That was good. I was about to say something when I felt Opal rub against my leg. “Looks like she missed me.” I picked Opal up and cradled her. “So, aside from just saying Hi, could you make some more underwear for me? The ones you made before are still good, but they’re starting to show some damage.”

“Well, those were my first attempt at something meant for daily wearing like that. How many sets do you need?”

I scratched Opal’s ears as I thought. “Five of each piece should be fine.”

“Any variations?”

“No, I’m good with yellow.”

“I’ll get on it then. They should be ready tomorrow, and it’ll cost you 70 bits for all of them.”

It would be nice if debit cards were a thing here. Or five bit pieces. “I’ll come by for them tomorrow.”

“Also, I was talking with the girls recently, and we were thinking about going to the lake to spend a lazy day there with you. Do you know what that means?”

I didn’t like the direction Rarity was going. “I don’t know.”

“I can make a swimsuit for you. I’ve been going through some of the magazines Twilight gave me and there are some amazing designs in there. Maybe I could dabble in swimwear a bit next year?”

My drive to set Opal down and get out was overriden by a question. I still set Opal down, even though she didn’t want to leave me. “Why would ponies wear swimwear?”

“The fur on the body is more absorbent than anywhere else, especially on mares. Swimsuits, in addition to looking good, also serve to pull that water away from the body and make drying off faster and easier. Amazingly, mare and stallion swimwear resembles human swimwear to an almost uncanny degree, based on the pictures I’ve seen.”

“That’s. . . nice. Anyways, I’ll just get going and come back tomorrow for the clothes.”

“But Yang, I have so many ideas for you!” I was out the door before Rarity could continue. I was not about to talk swimwear. Not yet.

“You need to talk with me, Twilight?” I got a letter from her requesting my presence. At least I was able to make it a few hours before opening.

“Yes. I’ve gotten some anonymous letters stating that there are sanitation issues in the Carne Den. Specifically the kitchen and bar. They claim to have been customers.”

Something was a bit odd. “Question: how would a guest know about the state of the kitchen? We don’t allow guests back there without good reason. Nobody’s asked if they could see the kitchen either.”

“A claim was also made that you’re using foal labor for profit.”

“Ají is a small mare, not a foal.”

“Honestly, I’m willing to dismiss this letter entirely. It’s probably from one of the nobles that hate you.”

I wouldn’t be surprised. “What if I let you do an inspection of the kitchen, then send a response letter stating that the kitchen has been inspected and that I’m taking appropriate action?”

“What would the appropriate action be?”

“Business as usual.”

“Well, I have no reason to doubt you have a well maintained kitchen, so let’s get this over with. I happen to have all the credentials to do this as well.”

Twilight and I made our way to the Carne Den with no issue, except the weather was so nice, it was kind of hard not to simply stop and enjoy it. It was like a minor case of THE TRANQUILITY had washed over all of Ponyville.

Finally, we arrived at the kitchen. I had the cooks that had shown up to do their prep work leave for a bit so Twilight could do her inspection. “So, how does it look, inspector Sparkle?”

“Everything checks out. There’s no bugs, no rodents, no leaks, no broken seals, all the sanitation materials and areas are functional, and food storage is secure. You passed the inspection with flying colors.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Trust me, you did.”

“Then where’s Rainbow Dash?”

An unamused look came across Twilight’s face before she facehooved. “I’ll get that letter written out and sent for you. Have a good day, Yang.”

“You too.”

The shallow end

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It’s been. . . Wow. Almost two months since I opened the Carne Den. Fancy’s money has been paid back, with the added interest and a little extra as a thanks for helping with everything. With him fully paid off, that means more money can go straight to our profits, which could be put into the restaurant itself, or saved back for a rainy day. For now, it’s going to be saved back.

I was helping out in the kitchen, as tends to happen on Saturdays, when Gilda came in. “Yang, you’ve got a special guest.”

“Explain, please” I requested.

“Twilight Sparkle.”

I sighed as I kept at the work. “Any idea what she wants?”

“Aside from talking with you, I dunno. I’ll see if she’d be willing to come back around 11 or midnight.”

“Thanks, Gilda.”

Gilda didn’t even respond as she left to talk with the princessly purple pony, allowing me to continue working. For being the bosses here, Gilda and I didn’t really do much stereotypical boss stuff. We didn’t sit in an office with paperwork or give excessive orders all day. Instead, we were right out there with the staff, sharing the workload.

It didn’t take long for Gilda to return. “I told her how busy we get at this time and to come back later tonight. She didn’t sound happy that, but she’ll be back before we close.”

“Once again, thanks.” Business wasn’t letting up for the time being, and even if the kitchen staff could handle it all, I was worried they wouldn’t be able to do as well as when I was with them.

Eventually, things calmed down to the point where I felt fine leaving the kitchen staff to take care of things there without me. I haven’t looked at the other eateries in town, but I think the Carne Den is the only one in Ponyville open this late. It certainly would help explain why we still do good business well into the night. There was even one night where the supper rush lasted until nearly midnight. A good number of them had to have been tourists.

I left the kitchen and saw Twilight and Spike sitting at the end of the bar. I squeezed past Fuzz and made my way over to her. She and spike both had drinks. “Rough day?”

“Oh, hi Yang” Twilight said. She sounded really tired. “And yeah, rough day. In my court today, there were disputes over a tree on a property line in Vanhoover, the proper density of feathers in pillows, and a big group that I had to, quite literally, throw out of the castle.”

“It sounds like you need some time off. Maybe a week at the beach?”

“We could use that. Hey, can we talk a bit more privately?”

“Sure, and feel free to bring your drinks.” I squeezed past Fuzz again and went towards the office, opening the door for Twilight and Spike. All three of us sat down. “So, what’s up?”

“Your house” Spike said.

“Spike, please leave those kinds of jokes to the punfessionals, okay?” As Spike apologized, Twilight winced. “But seriously, there’s something you want to talk to me about.”

“Where do I start with this?” Twilight asked herself as she thought. “What if I told you there was a largely unknown princess?”

“Go on.”

“Under the ocean near Los Pegasus, there’s a huge underwater city, filled with seaponies. My friends and I became merponies and went down there to save it a few months before you arrived.” Twilight took a long sip of her drink. “Anyways, the princess there, Skystar, wants to see you. She’s heard about you, but can’t come here, so we’re going to her.”

“It’s basically a royal summons, Yang” Spike added. “You have to go there. I don’t have to go, so I’ll be staying here in Ponyville, where I won’t get turned into a pufferfish again.”

What. “It’ll make sense when we get there. She wants to see you by the end of the month. You should look into getting some swimwear from Rarity.”

I sighed. I really didn’t want to look into swimwear yet. I mean, I’m fine with my body, except for the hair triggered temper, but swimwear is another matter entirely. “How long until the trip starts?”

“It would be best if we leave by the end of next week. All we need to do is gather a few things and we’ll be set.”

“I’ll visit Rarity tomorrow morning. Hopefully, I can make it quick.” I started on a note to explain my absence tomorrow if it turned out to be a long trip there.

For the first time, I felt intimidated by the doors to the Carousel boutique. The thought crossed my mind to just turn back and go home, sleep another hour, and get ready for work. Then again, it’s Sunday, and Sundays aren’t very busy days, so today would be the best day to get this done.

“Yang, is something wrong?” Sweetie Belle asked. “You’ve been pacing there for almost ten minutes now.”

“Huh? Oh, well, I’m-”

“You’re here to get a swimsuit made that you don’t really want, right?”

“How did you know?”

“I was with Rarity when Twilight explained the trip to Seaquestria.” I’m not sure how to feel about that place’s name. “I also saw the pictures of human swimwear Twilight gave her and figured it wasn’t your cup of tea. I mean, some of it covers less than your underclothes, which doesn’t make sense to me. I mean, you wear the bikini openly in public for swimming, but the more covering undergarments aren’t considered okay to wear openly? I don’t get it.”

“Well, when you put it that way, it really doesn’t make sense. Then again, how often do ponies wear clothes?”

“Come in, Yang” Rarity called out from inside. “We have so much to discuss.” She sounded too happy for my liking.

“Might as well get it over with.”

“You’re right, Sweetie” I admitted. I took a step and crossed the threshold into the place I once called home. I saw Rarity on the pedestal with a disturbing number of sketches in her magic. If I was going to turn back, I wouldn’t have gotten the chance since I was grabbed by her magic and pulled over to her with surprising force.

“Okay, so I was looking over the swimwear and saw that you humans are just so creative with them. Asymmetrical designs, neatly placed holes in the middle of the material, by the way, here’s a sample of the material, all kinds of additional details, and even the use of materials that aren’t traditional swimwear material! Maybe I should open a shoreline Carousel Boutique in Los Pegasus next year.” It was about there that I started to tune out her rambling. While I was tuning her out, I glanced at the sketches. They all had front, back, and side drawings.

After about five minutes of her talking about swimwear like pinkie talks about parties, I reached out and clamped a hand around her muzzle. I had to use a surprising amount of force to hold her mouth shut. “Enough about your ambitions to clothe the world, Rarity. Can we focus on the task at hand? And maybe let go of me?”

Rarity couldn’t answer because of my hand, but she did release me. I let go of her muzzle and she was able to speak again. “Sorry, Yang. I’ve just been on a roll since six this morning. I’ve just had a nonstop stream of ideas and variations on those ideas. Colors, shapes, cuts, I have no idea how you come up with it all.”

The internet probably had something to do with that. “How about you just show me some ideas you’ve got? Preferably the more modest and simpler designs.”

“Really? You don’t want to see the more creative and exotic designs?”

“If they’re for me, no. I’ll stick with simple, symmetrical, and modest.”

A large number of the sketches went into a stack that was almost scary in its height. “Well, that brings our number of selections down quite a bit. I’ll let you go through them, see what you like.”

Rarity put the remaining sketches in my hands and I went into the dining room to go over them. The first thing I did was to separate the swimsuits from the bikinis. I wasn’t going for those. The remaining swimsuits were fairly similar, so now it was down to the smaller details, especially the practical ones.

One detail I had to decide on was the neckline. I wanted one that was fairly close to my neck, but I also had to consider the process of putting it on and taking it off, which a lower one would help with. If I could get it on and off faster, that would be better, especially if I had to use the bathroom. I wound up prioritizing the lower neckline.

As I kept looking the swimsuit sketches over, I realized I had practically no idea how to put them on. As I was wondering just how to do that, one sketch caught my eye. It had a low enough neckline for what I was looking for, but what really caught my eye was how the upper half of the back was open. It still looked modest enough for my standards, and with the open back and low neckline, I would be able to slide the part that went around my neck over my head.

The practical side of the mental argument was more convincing than the argument against the exposed skin, especially considering that my athletic outfits were all two pieces that didn’t cover my midriff and I was fine with them. Even with that in mind, I still wasn’t keen on the bikinis.

With the swimsuit chosen, I went back out to Rarity. “I’ve chosen one.”

“Alright.” Rarity took the sketch from my grasp. “I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting you to choose this one.”

“It looks easy enough for me to get on and off.”

“Fair enough. Now, let’s talk patterns, shall we?”

I sighed. “Let’s get it over with.”

“Let’s start with the main color. Now, I will admit that I am not a fan of brown as a main color, but you seem to wear it pretty well.” No argument there. Rarity cast an illusion spell to show what she was thinking, starting with the swimsuit I’d chosen in brown. “Of course, just plain solid brown is boring, so I was thinking of adding your emblem here.” My burning heart symbol appeared in bright yellow on the left side of the body. “And some black as well. Black always looks good.” the sides of the body turned black, except for the emblem. It made a distinct hourglass shape on the front. “What do you think?”

“I actually kind of like it. How much will it cost?”

“30 bits. That covers material more than anything. As useful and available as it is, it’s not all that cheap to produce.”

“That sounds alright. How long until it’s done?”

“I’ll have it ready for you tomorrow. Thankfully, it looks like your measurements haven’t changed since I made them, but I’d still like to see how it fits.”

“Alright. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Let’s get it over with, Rarity.” I still wasn’t looking forward to wearing the swimsuit.

“Here you go, dear” Rarity said as she floated the folded up swimsuit to me. “Take your time, make sure everything fits, and come back so I can see it on you.”

I took the swimsuit to the upstairs bathroom and felt a bit of nostalgia along the way. Just a bit. Then I went into the bathroom, took a breath, and changed as quickly as I could. I will say that, despite my initial trepidation, the material did feel nice. It was soft and smooth in a way my other clothes weren’t, and it fit me quite comfortably.

On the other hand, I did have a few personal qualms with it. I didn’t like how exposed my legs were, for one thing. At least Rarity had taken my personal tastes into account and it wasn’t going into places I’d rather it wasn’t. Sure, the leg holes were a tad snug, but it wasn’t revealing any of my rear like it was an extension of my legs. I also didn’t like how long it took for me to get my hair through the swimsuit. If I could file a complaint about anything to whatever forces did this to me, it would be about how problematic my hair is.

Still, two really minor complaints didn’t stack very well against a swimsuit that did exactly what it was meant to do, fit perfectly, and really did look good on me, especially when those complaints were more personal than with the swimsuit itself.

After I got done looking at myself in the mirror, I left the bathroom and went back downstairs. This was the part I really wasn’t looking forward to. Scratch that, going out in public was the part I wasn’t looking forward to.

“My, you look spectacular!” Rarity exclaimed. “More importantly, does anything need to be adjusted? Is everything comfortable?”

“It’s pretty good, Rarity. I’ve got no complaints against it.”

“That is excellent to hear. Say, what do you think a seaside Carousel Boutique should be called?”

She was still going on with that idea. “Umm. . . Coralsel Boutiki?”

Rarity gave me a flat look. “That’s both a wonderful and terrible name. I have no idea how to feel about it.”

“Neither do I. Anyways, I should change back, pay you, and head home.” I went back into the bathroom and was struck with an idea. I didn’t have to take the swimsuit off yet. I could just dress as normal and wear it home. Sure, it would basically be like wearing two sets of underwear, but I was going to be changing back at home anyways. Plus, it would also let me avoid bringing a box home. Why didn’t Rarity use bags anyways? In fact, I didn’t see any bags at all here. Weird.

After putting my clothes on over the swimsuit and gathering the bit pouch, which totally violated my recent observation on the lack of bags around here, I went back downstairs. “Yang, did you leave the swimsuit upstairs?”

“No, I’ve got it.” I lifted one side of my shirt to show the swimsuit underneath. “Thirty bits, right?”

“Of course.”

I counted out thirty bits for the swimsuit, then another five for a job well done. “There you go.”

“I still owe you a spa trip, by the way. Maybe you could get a feel for it there?”

Oh yeah. “No thanks. That’s not what a spa is for.”

“Good point. I’ll see you later.”

While I was changing in my bathroom, an idea came to mind. I could take the time to see what it was like to be wearing a swimsuit in the water without anyone around to watch. I was making enough money that I wasn’t worried about the bills, so I took a second shower. Well, I made it more of a bath than a shower. Scalding hot, as usual.

The first thing I found out was that wearing the swimsuit felt, well, alright. There wasn’t anything spectacular about it, just the feel of the wet material on my skin. Even in my more sensitive areas, it wasn’t that bad.

While I was laying down in the water, I decided to try something else. I took a breath, closed my eyes, wished I had a clock in here, and went under the water. I didn’t pinch my nose, which I never really believed to help much anyways. After what felt like a minute, I surfaced and took a deep breath. That was a pretty good length of time under there.

Another idea struck and I went underwater again. I opened my eyes and I could feel my aura acting as a thin lens in front of them, keeping the water away from my eyes and keeping everything from being a total blur. Things still looked a bit fuzzy though.

So I could see underwater fairly well and hold my breath for a decent amount of time. To use some rather technical terms, I was feeling quite awesome.

As nice as the hot bath was, the steam was gone and it would be best if I got out and got ready for work. I stood up, took the swimsuit off, and opened the drain for the water to leave the tub. The swimsuit, naturally, felt wet, but when I looked at it, it looked like it was sweating. Water was coming out of and dripping down it.

I set the swimsuit in the sink, dried off, got dressed, and went downstairs for a slightly late start to the workday. There were bits out there with the Carne Den’s name on them and foods that had various customers’ names on them. Also, we had a few orders of ingredients and desserts coming today, so I had to be there for that.

Heading out

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It was Saturday morning, and instead of being at the Carne Den, I was on the train station platform with Twilight and her friends. There were a number of other beings on the platform as well, a few of which looked like guests who were on the patio last night. Rarity had what looked like all of her suitcases with her, I had my suitcase and a custom made backpack (100 bits. Thanks, Rarity) loaded mainly with clothes and some snacks respectively.

“Are you alright, Yang?” Fluttershy asked. “You seem a bit antsy.”

“I think she’s just anxious, Fluttershy” Rarity said. “She’s leaving her business behind for this trip. The first trip is never easy to take. I remember the first time I left the Carousel Boutique to go to Manehattan. I was a total worrywart for the whole trip, but the boutique was still whole when I got back.”

I was about to say something when Applejack did. “Ah know what that’s like. Ah get that feeling every time Ah leave the farm, though Ah’m more worried about Granny Smith. Apple Bloom and Big Mac can handle the farm and dessert orders, especially with the added help.”

“I’m more worried about the kitchen staff” I said. “Saturdays are always busy, and I’m usually right there with them.”

“Then why did you choose to leave today instead of earlier?” That hurt a bit, especially since I was the one keeping everyone else waiting.

“I just had to get another Friday grill day in. I just couldn’t bring myself to not do it, especially since Twilight said we should leave by the end of the week, which means Saturday. She never said it had to be as soon as possible.”

“You’re a bit of a workaholic, Yang” Twilight said. “Not a total workaholic, since you do give yourself days off, but a bit.”

“And I’m a total partyholic!” Pinkie added.

“I can see where Yang’s coming from” Rainbow said. “Anyways, the train’s almost here.”

A minute later, the train pulled into the station. Most of those coming off were ponies, but there were other species mixed in as well. Griffons, minotaurs, and even a couple changelings. I also thought I saw a pony with bat wings in desperate need of coffee.

The seven of us got on a car and grouped up. Rainbow, Applejack, and Pinkie took to one side while I sat with Rarity, Twilight, and Fluttershy. I think I chose the better side. It didn’t take long for the train to start moving. “So, what’s the plan?”

Twilight enlightened me. “We’re taking this train to Canterlot, we’ll be there for about half an hour-”

“I’ll get us some donuts while we wait!” Rainbow shouted.

“-Then we take the train straight to Los Pegasus. It’s bigger than this one, and there are sleeping compartments on it. I was only able to get three compartments for us, so we’ll have to double and triple up.” That didn’t sound too bad.

“Unfortunately, there aren’t any showers on the train” Rarity added. “On the plus side, the Los Pegasus station has shower stations in it, so if we really need to, we can take a quick shower there.”

I’d rather not use a public shower. “Good to know. Hey, why is it called Los Pegasus anyways?” It sounded a lot like Los Angeles.

“Los Pegasus and Las Pegasus were founded by two pegasi, a brother and sister, each competing to see whose city could make the most money. The brother made Los Pegasus as a place for businesses, trading, and industry. The sister made Las Pegasus a place for thrills, excitement, and fun. They both died a long time ago, around the same time, but their sibling rivalry carries on to this day. Both take jabs at each other, but if one is damaged somehow, the other will jump to their aid.”

“And we’re skipping Las Pegasus?”

“Yes. At least on the way to Los Pegasus. Depending on how we’re feeling, we might spend a couple days in Las Pegasus on the way back. There’s enough bits among us for that if we decide to do that, we’ll be able to afford it. I think.”

“Las Pegasus does have some unique fashion stores found nowhere else in Equestria” Rarity said. “That said, they tend to be a bit more. . . Intimate in their design though, so I doubt you’d want to go there, Yang.”

10 points to House Belle for the correct guess. “Is there anything else in Las Pegasus?”

“Casinos, gambling, shows, and things not meant for the eyes of foals.”

Just like Vegas. “Anything else?”

Rainbow piped in. “I think I remember some competitions there. Daily races and other things like that. Anyone, regardless of species, can participate in them. There’s a small entry fee, and the winner gets a bit prize. I don’t think you’d do well in the races, but the more strength based events should be more along your skills.”

“Ah even won over there once in a tree bucking competition” Applejack added. “Five bits to enter, and Ah made 100 back.”

“They also have some very nice petting zoos there” Fluttershy added. “Really, there’s something for everyone.”

The petting zoo sounded very nice, though the potentially easy bits I could get just from my physical power sounded good too, especially if I could have Applejack hit me until my aura was close to gone. Was it performance enhancing? Sure, but there were no drugs, chemicals, or magic to be involved anywhere in the process either since it was just a natural function of my body, so it had to be fair play, right?

Finally, we got off at Canterlot station. “I’ll meet you guys over at the platform” Rainbow said before taking off to grab us some donuts.

The rest of us gathered our luggage, myself volunteering to take Rainbow’s, and followed Twilight to the next platform. This one had a clear division on each side of the tracks: one side for the passengers, and the other for the train’s own supplies.

“So, what now?” I asked. “Do we just sit down and wait?”

“Wait, yes” Twilight said. “Sit down, not necessarily. As long as you don’t cause a disturbance, you can do whatever you want.”

“Then in that case, could I ask you to secure my shoes to the pavement, Twilight?” I took my backpack off and set the suitcase and Rainbow’s luggage to the side.

“Of course.” I got my feet in the right position I needed them in just as Twilight cast her spell. “What for?”

“Crunches.” I started on them as soon as I was down on the ground. “I’ve got energy I need to burn off.”

“Sitting for too long?” Applejack asked as she got next to me and started doing pushups. “Or are you just used to bein’ on your, uh. . .”

“Feet?”

“On your feet all day?”

“A bit of both, I guess. And I’m also still worried about the Carne Den. And my house. And my employees. Nervous energy, I guess.”

“It’s good that you’re expressing that now, Yang” Rarity said. “Certainly better than becoming a nervous wreck while you’re gone.”

“On the bright side, you’re not far from the train station, so you’ll be able to run right there when we get back and see that everything is alright” Pinkie cheerfully added from her spot on Applejack’s back. When did she. . . Yang_Xiao_Long.exe is experiencing technical difficulties. Please stand by while crunches continue and recovery operations begin.

What finally snapped me back to reality was when I did a crunch and my legs came up, hitting my eyebrows with my knees. Hard. “What just happened?”

“I freed your shoes from the pavement” Twilight said. “You were also not responding to verbal stimuli for a while. You had this distant look in your eyes. Anyways, Rainbow’s got our donuts and we’ll be boarding in a few minutes.”

I stood up and gathered my things. “How long was I doing those crunches?” My abdominal muscles felt tired in a good way.

“Just over twenty minutes. That’s pretty amazing, but also amazing was your pacing. You were consistently doing one crunch every three seconds. I was counting, but I stopped. You’ve done over 400 crunches at the least.”

Wow. I didn’t even notice that. “And when did Applejack stop her pushups?”

“After 15 minutes.”

Conclusion: My body is more powerful than I thought if I could do crunches for that long without much regular exercise. Speaking of exercise, the calories I burned-

“Can’t hold me down!” Pinkie sang.

-were calling for replacements. I would have gone into my backpack for a snack, but it was too close to boarding for that, so I waited.

I followed everyone’s lead on what to do, since I was in a new situation. We found a booth and table that could seat all seven of us, and we kept our luggage close. Not all of it though. Rarity had hers put on the luggage car. Our smaller things went overhead, including my backpack. Then the conductor came by, figured out which group we were, and gave us what looked like seven slap bracelets, two numbered 101, two numbered 102, and three labeled 103.

Once again, Twilight explained. “These work like the enchantment on your uniform’s sleeves for the door to your office. All we have to do is organize who sleeps with who. Fortunately, we’ve developed a pattern over time for this.” Twilight floated one of the ones labelled 103 and put it behind one of my Ember Celica. It was a slap bracelet! “The six of us are sticking to our usual groups. The question is who you will choose to sleep with.”

“What are the options?”

“Rainbow and Pinkie-” Nope, no Pinkie for me. “-Myself and Applejack-” Plausible. “-Or Rarity and Fluttershy.” I didn’t bother with a verbal answer, instead grabbing the other 103 bracelets and holding them out for Rarity and Fluttershy. “I’m not really surprised you went that way.”

“Well, we are the quietest sleepers, after all” Rarity said. “I’ve heard many accounts of me not snoring, and Fluttershy, well, she’s quite the quiet sleeper. Pinkie and Rainbow, on the other hoof, could wake the dead, and with Pinkie, I wouldn’t be surprised if she actually did that.”

“Hey, it was just that one time!” Pinkie defensively said. “And they told me to go somewhere else because that they had to keep pushing up daisies so they could afford the rent.”

“So, how about we go put our luggage away and come back here?” Twilight suggested. “I have a game we can play.”

“Is it War Time Strategy?” Rainbow asked, her voice being made more of excitement than words.

“Yes, it is. And I’ve even come up with a human unit. It looks balanced, but I haven’t tested it out yet. Applejack, could you take my other things to our cabin while I set up?”

“Sure thing, sugarcube” Applejack said as Twilight gave her her things. If I’d known we would be doing this, I wouldn’t have put my backpack overhead.

We came back and Twilight had a large map on the table, along with a box of other things. “I was thinking we could team up for this game by our own species. Sorry Yang, but you’re alone for this.”

“Just let me see the instructions” I said as the mares grouped up. I looked over the instructions and saw how everything worked. Start with drawing a card, play a card if you want, do what the card says, move pieces, attack, make any last moves you want, and go to the next person.

The species were something else though. There were no alicorns, which kind of made sense since it would be the three pony races in one, which would be a bit of an issue mechanically. With that in mind, Twilight and Rarity’s lavender and white forces was unicorns (more status and range options), Applejack and Pinkie’s orange and pink forces were earth ponies (more durable against nearly everything) , Rainbow and Fluttershy’s blue and yellow forces were pegasi (flight and extra speed), and my gold forces were humans (more upgrade points). There were also minotaurs, griffons, changelings, dragons, and yaks, but I wasn’t concerned with them right now.

“We will each start off with our own species in their own cities” Twilight said. “All of them are provoked to war with the others for dominance of the valley. Unicorns from the north, pegasi from the east, earth ponies from the west, and humans from the south. Our first turns will be spent making preparations.”

All of us made our preparations, though quietly so no group knew what anyone else was doing. My strategy would involve avoiding the plains in the middle of the map. Mobility might be better there, but that also left my forces exposed, and humans weren’t super durable or fast in the game. If anything, they were squishier than unicorns.

Eventually, the metaphorical gates were opened and the equine forces, their players eager to get to the fight, rushed out. As for me, I kept to my area for the time being. With the extra upgrades I could make each turn, I was already at more advanced crossbows, better melee weapons, and tougher armor. And with everyone fighting, I could continue upgrading before picking them off.

Some turns into the fighting, something came over the fighting forces. It looked like a truce was forming among them. They noticed that I was fortifying instead of going out and attacking, and seem to have decided to bring their collective forces against me.

As they moved their forces towards mine, I sent some of mine out, armed with shields, crossbows, and a small assortment of melee weapons, out in front of my base. The crossbows were high grade, quick to reload, damaging, and had excellent range.

Three forces, united into one, were coming my way. Due to the earlier fighting, they didn’t outnumber me 3 to 1, but it was still greater than 2 to 1. The odds were very stacked against me.

“How did we lose?” Rainbow asked. “Seriously, how did we lose?”

“I’m not quite sure myself, dear” Rarity said.

“A small force should always be beaten by a large force” Applejack said.

“Are humans overpowered?” I wasn’t quite sure how I won so easily either.

“Maybe Yang won because she didn’t go out and attack immediately?” Twilight suggested. “With her staying, she would be able to take more time to upgrade before having to fight, and with the extra upgrade points, she would be able to advance quickly.”

“What if we all go human?” I suggested. We’d been snacking on donuts the whole time, so even though it was nearly suppertime, we weren’t hungry. “Same teams, same number of units, only all human.”

“Let’s try that.”

“Well, that was interesting” Twilight said. The game had ended in a Mexican showdown with all four armies firing their crossbows at each other and everyone died. “How about we go get some food?”

We all agreed, packed up the game, and went to the dining car. Thanks to the second game, we got there almost under the wire.

The menu was designed more for the equine palette than anything else, so I ordered a fairly plain salad. While we were waiting for our food, we talked. I wanted to know what was in store for the trip and who Princess Skystar was, but I couldn’t get a straight answer. Apparently, they wanted to keep it a surprise. I don’t like surprises.

After supper, the general consensus was to talk a bit more, then go to sleep. I declined on the talking part, went straight to the car with our cabins, and went into mine. As I changed to my robe, I noticed just how small each cabin was. My bed would barely be able to fit in here, and that was perpendicular to the way the one in here was set up.

As I got some tender steak bites out of my backpack and snacked on them, I realized I would be part of a small pony pile, which would be about as easy to get out from as it was to stand up while a cat was on your lap: nigh impossible. Especially with Fluttershy there.

I’d better make a trip to the bathroom before I go to sleep tonight.

Fun times

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Waking up as part of a pony pile with Fluttershy and Rarity was quite nice. Fluttershy sleeping was like someone took a piece of the finest area of heaven and turned it into a pegasus. Actually, that was Fluttershy in general, but especially so while she was asleep.

And Rarity was nice too.

I was glad I went to the restroom before going to sleep because that would have been a tough night otherwise. I also had no idea what time it was since there was no clock and the one way window on the door was showing only distant mountains from my spot. I would have gotten up to look outside, and there was nothing physically able to stop me from doing that, but the ponies clinging to me like I was a big warm pillow made it very difficult.

Then, there was some strong knocking on the door. “Up and at ‘em, ladies” Applejack said. “We’re getting breakfast on time today.”

“One moment, Applejack” I said. Now was the time for me to exert some willpower. I had to break the hold I was in, and so I began gently shaking Rarity and Fluttershy. While I was waking them up, I idly wondered how this sleeping arrangement might have been viewed if I was still male. Probably very differently.

Rarity yawned. “Is it morning already?”

“Sun’s up, sunshine. Stop sleeping.”

“Oh, alright.”

I turned to Fluttershy. “Wakey wakey, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy finally stirred and yawned, which she somehow made adorable. Seriously, is there nothing she can’t do without being cute? “Good morning, Yang.”

“It’s food time. You two go on ahead. I’ll catch up after I change.”

Finally, they got off of me, to both my relief and dismay. Since they didn’t have any sleepwear on, which surprised me with Rarity, they were able to get up and go towards the dining car immediately. When the door closed, I changed into a set of casual clothes. The used clothes went into a laundry sack, the robe got neatly folded back up, and both went back into my suitcase. Before I left the room, I reached into my backpack and snagged a premade breakfast sandwich.

I hadn’t been gone from home for long and already I was understanding the difficulty of travelling Equestria as an omnivore. I won’t claim to know the finer points of dietary nutrition, but there is a reason humans are omnivorous, and it’s not to thrive on plants alone.

I joined the mares in the dining car with my sandwich just as they were ordering. “And for you?” the waiter asked as I took my seat.

“Is it possible you could just heat up my sandwich?”

“I’ll take care of that for you, Yang” Twilight said.

“Oh, thanks.”

“Want anything from here?”

I took a look at a menu. “A cup of plain oatmeal.” This was going to be a weird breakfast.

“Very well” the waiter said before going off.

“So, do you want your sandwich reheated now?” Twilight asked.

“No, I’ll wait until we all have our food” I answered. “It wouldn’t be polite. So, what’s the plan after breakfast?”

“I’d like to try another round of War Time Strategy and see how humans stack up against minotaurs.”

“Can I join?” Pinkie and Rainbow asked at the same time.

“Rainbow, you’re with me” I said. “We’ll keep it to two teams so it doesn’t take so long.

“Oh, random question: how did you figure out the sleeping arrangements?”

“Rarity and Fluttershy stuck together naturally, Rainbow and Pinkie are the only ones able to sleep through each other’s snoring, and then that left Applejack and me. It’s worked quite well for a few years now.”

“And what about when we’re wherever we’re going?”

“We’re staying at a small hotel to save a bit since they charge less. Each room only has one large bed in it, so we’ll be sleeping in the same groups there.”

“That sounds like a plan.”

A few minutes later, our food arrived. Just before we started, Twilight hit my sandwich with her magic, making it steaming hot. I started on it while the heat was strong and would certainly burn just about anyone else. Hooray for an immunity I’ve exploited for a while, and will continue to exploit.

After having some fruit and my oatmeal for dessert, we talked a bit longer, paid (I covered the tip), and left. Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie, and I went to the booth we sat at when we got on this train and set up War Time Strategy. After giving out the necessary materials, Twilight changed the colors of the pieces for our forces to match our teams. It was blue and gold humans against lavender and pink minotaurs in an accelerated game.

The minotaurs lost. “How about you go with something else and we try the humans against that?”

“Let’s go with griffons, Yang” Rainbow suggested.

“Sure.”

“That was a really close one” I commented. Once again, the humans won, but this time, it was way closer. Still, it was a good game. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack had joined us to watch partway through.

“I think humans are a bit overpowered” Twilight said. “I’ll have to go back and see how I can balance them a bit better.”

The conductor came by and said “We’ll be arriving in Los Pegasus in thirty minutes.”

“Thanks for the heads up.”

The conductor continued on his way down the train, telling everyone about the time.

“I guess we should get our things and meet back here?” I asked.

“Of course.”

“Ah already got your stuff, Twi” Applejack said.

“And we got your belongings, Yang” Rarity said as she floated the backpack to me.

All eyes turned to Pinkie. “What?” She asked.

“Did you already get our things?” Rainbow asked, voicing all our thoughts.

“No, I haven’t. I’ve been here the whole time. How could I have gotten them while playing War Time Strategy?”

How exactly does one go about telling Pinkie she’s breaking your thought processes by making sense and not breaking your thought processes?

“I’ll go get them.” Rainbow left my side to go to her and Pinkie’s cabin.

“So, uh. . .” I had no idea what to say.

“You okay?” Applejack asked.

“I think I need a reboot.”

“Reboot?”

“Let me try something” Fluttershy said. A moment later, I felt a delicate feather against my armpit, making me laugh and try to block her, but she just moved to the other side in response. I couldn’t block both sides at once, so she kept at it.

Finally, after about a minute, I managed to ask her to stop, and she did. I slumped and started catching my breath. I can do crunches for a long time without much effort, but just that bit of laughter exhausted me.

Rainbow came in with her and Pinkie’s things shortly after the tickle attack ended. “Okay, I know I missed something here. Who wants to fill me in?”

“Yang was defeated by Fluttershy” Pinkie said.

Everyone was quiet for a moment as the fact sunk in. “I guess that’s what happened then. Anyways, once we’re off, we’ll get the rest of Rarity’s stuff and head to the hotel, then we can take some time to get cleaned up and then go around the city, right?”

“Today will be our best day to do that” Twilight said.

“So, who gets to be Yang’s guide?”

I did not like that line. “If I may say something.” Nobody objected, so I continued. “I think I’ll wander around on my own. I don’t want to drag anyone else’s good time down. I’ve got plenty of bits as well, so I’m not too worried about expenses.”

“But you don’t know anything about Los Pegasus” Rarity objected.

“Then I promise to stay within, well, I’ll figure out a distance when we get to the hotel.”

“So, this is the place?” I asked as I looked at the hotel. We’d walked here, which let the mares point things out to me along the way.

“What were you expecting?” Twilight asked.

“When you said ‘cheap’, I wasn’t imagining something that looked like it was carved out of a huge block of white marble.” It was only one floor, but still.

“Oh, it wasn’t carved out. It was made by many powerful unicorns when they extracted it from the ground, ready for the furniture to go in.”

“That’s not any better! How is this a cheap place?” Something like this would probably cost multiple hundreds to stay in each night per person back on Earth.

“This was the first one they did, as an experiment. As they made more hotels and apartment buildings that way, they got better and better, and then the building was bought, traded hooves through the decades, and now this is the cheapest hotel in Los Pegasus.”

I wanted to say something. I really did, but the sheer absurdity of it all kept any words from forming. I gave up and followed them inside, which did nothing to help my confusion. The furnishings and decorations looked rather fancy.

I guess that not having carpet made cleaning cheaper, along with not having cable bills or television sets everywhere.

We got our three rooms and picked out who was in which. Of course, Fluttershy and I followed Rarity and her flock of luggage. Unfortunately, we had the first room in the hallway, and she had to take her time to organize them in the room one by one by floating them in from the hallway.

I guess I was going to find out just what a pony who regularly wears nothing at all needed with enough suitcases for three human families while we were here.

Finally, Rarity got the last suitcase in, made her way inside, followed by myself and Fluttershy. When I got in, I wanted to bang my head into the wall. The floor, walls, and ceiling were white marble, as I’d expected, but the furniture in here was way nicer than what I had at home. “How much does this cost?”

“We got a special discount here since there’s seven of us using three rooms. It comes down to 25 bits per night for everyone, which means 175 bits per night for all of us.”

“Excuse me while I do one of the dances of my people.” I set my suitcase and backpack in a corner, took my shoes off, and flopped onto the bed. Something this amazing should not be so cheap.

I also wondered why none of the ponies around here weren’t freaking out in some form over my presence. When I first visited Canterlot, I got swarmed by ponies. Maybe it was because my travelling companions’ presence kept them away?

After a hot and relaxing soak and wash in the tub in the bathroom (showers weren’t available here), I’d managed to collect myself. Yes, I was in a solid marble bathtub that was part of a solid marble bathroom that was also part of a solid marble room that was part of the whole solid marble hotel lifted from the ground by a bunch of unicorns a long time ago in its current shape, and that 25 bits per night covered my stay here.

After I got out, dried off, and got dressed, I went back out to the room. My hair was still a bit wet though. “Where did Rarity go, Fluttershy?”

“Oh, she’s out front with everypony else” Fluttershy said. “They left only a few minutes ago, so they haven’t been waiting for long.”

“Then let’s not keep them waiting any longer.” I left the room with Fluttershy and we made our way out to the rest of our group. “So, what’s the plan?”

“We all go do whatever we want and come back here before sunset” Twilight said. “And Yang, you said you’d stay in a particular area?”

I looked around the area. Down one of the streets, I saw an area that was bustling with ponies and looked like it had an amusement part on it. “I think I’ll be down there.”

“Ooh, the pier?” Pinkie asked. “I love that area. Mind if I tag along?”

On one hand, I wanted to say No because it was Pinkie, breaker of logic and minds. On the other hand, I wanted to say yes because she was just so excited. After some deliberations, I chose my answer. “Sure, Pinkie.”

“Girls, I’ll do my best to bring her back in one piece.” I didn’t have time to even show a confused expression before Pinkie grabbed me under her foreleg like an oversized doll and ran to the pier like a human would, except it took less than five seconds. “Here we are, Yang.”

“Gewha?” was all I could manage to say after that trip. Seriously, how did she get us here so quickly?

“Yes Yang, that happened. So, what are we going to do first?” Pinkie let go of me and I got back to my feet while she went back to her hooves.

I looked up and saw an archway that said ‘Los Pegasus Pier Park’. It was simple, but still looked nice and colorful. I also noticed the pleasant breeze coming in from the ocean, the slightly salty smell somehow making me feel a bit lighter on my feet. “How about you choose first?”

“To the roller coaster!” Pinkie began hopping off towards the short line in front of the ride and I followed. I felt some trepidation as we approached, but I stayed with Pinkie anyways. I’ve never been a fan of roller coasters, and this one looked rather loopy and twisty. I was already feeling the loops and twists in my stomach, but I kept myself composed, or so I thought. “Relax, Yang. It won’t be that bad.”

“Really?”

“You’ll be fine. Trust me. Your breakfast will stay right where it is.” I hope she’s right. The cars arrived and the ponies in them got out with varying degrees of dizziness. After they were off and the seats were quickly cleaned, the line we were in started getting on. “Ooh, look, my favorite spot is open!”

I followed Pinkie to and got in the last seats with her. The lap bar came down and I began to wonder why this was so similar to Earth roller coasters. The ride operator went through a rehearsed safety spiel before pulling the lever that sent the cars forward and then a question crossed my mind. “Hey, Pinkie? Why do you like the back so much?”

“MAXIMUM WHIPLASH!”

Oh no.

Pinkie was giggling when we got off. I was confused more than anything. During the ride, I didn’t get dizzy, I didn’t feel that drop in my stomach, I was able to keep my eyes open with no real problem, and the wind felt really good in my hair.

“Wasn’t that fun, Yang?” Pinkie asked.

I looked past the confusion for a bit. “Yeah, I did have fun.”

“What do you want to do next?”

I looked around and saw more rides. “Hey, do the rides cost anything?”

“The rides are free, but the stalls with prizes cost a few bits per game.”

Huh. Wait a minute. . . “Pinkie, I think I left my bits back at the hotel.”

“Nope.” Pinkie pulled my bit pouch out of her mane. “It’s right here.”

I really needed to talk with Celestia about paper money. Or maybe Luna. “Let’s try one of the stalls.”

We looked at the prizes in the stalls and then saw one that caught our eyes: a big chibi plushie of me in my combat outfit. I was curious about it, and when I turned to Pinkie, she was wearing a Sherlock Holmes hat and was blowing a bubble pipe. When did she?

“Well, my dear Yang, it seems we have a mystery on our hands and hooves.” She was speaking in a faux British accent, her posture and attitude were different, and yet this totally felt like something she would do. “I will look into this matter.” I followed Pinkie as she walked, yes, walked, up to the stall. “Excuse me, sir.”

“Yes, how can I oh sweet Celestia, it’s Yan-” he got cut off by a pink hoof to his muzzle.

“Shh. She doesn’t like publicity, even though she’s so obviously her in a crowd. We’re just curious about that plushie of her over there. Can you tell us a bit about it?”

“Oh, that? That’s the grand grand prize at this stall. It’s been here for a month and nobody’s won it yet. Would you like to try to win it?”

Pinkie looked to me as I said “I’d rather not have a big plush that looks like me.” I’d really rather not know they existed at all. “Ooh, but I do like that gold dragon.” It was an Eastern style dragon, and it looked awesome.

Some part of my brain said that decorating my room with a plush dragon was childish. Another part said that it was okay because I was female. Both of those arguments got knocked down by the third one that said it was alright to decorate my room with it because it was my house, and if I wanted to put it there, then I could do just that. While the first arguments were sitting in the corner of defeat, the third one started considering where it would look best.

“Oh, that one?” the stall stallion said. “That’s a grand prize.”

“What’s the game?”

“Darts. Five bits, six darts. Get 300 points or more and you can choose any prize you want.” It was just now that I noticed the recessed dartboard in the back.

The game was very tempting. I got five bits and set them on the counter. The stallion gave me six darts and moved to the side. I was about to throw one when Pinkie spoke up. “Hey, Yang, can I throw the first one?” I didn’t see the harm in letting her do that, so I gave her one of the darts. She held it on her hoof, aimed, and threw it. “Thanks, Yang.”

I will say that I wasn’t expecting a hoof to be very good for throwing things, but the dart in the bullseye worth 100 points was a good reminder that it was Pinkie. Also, I could have sworn she had a red dart, but it looked pink now. Still, 100 points out of 300 with the first throw was pretty good.

My first throw didn’t do very well, netting me only 20 points. It did give me a feel for the dart and how much power I needed for a good throw though. My last four darts got me a 75, 50, 75, and 20.

“Looks like that dragon has a new home” the stallion said as he got it down for me.

“Thanks” I said as I accepted the dragon from him. The whole thing was about as long as I was tall, and it looked like it had a bendable skeleton in it, but it didn’t feel like it had such a thing in it. It had to be magic.

After giving the stallion an extra bit, because I could and it was nice, a thought crossed my mind. “How am I going to deal with this dragon while I’m here?”

“Wrap it around yourself.” I swear that thought sounded like it was in Pinkie’s voice. Still, it was a good idea, and I could have some fun with it too. I put the dragon’s head facing forward on my right shoulder and wrapped the rest of the serpentine body around mine. There was only enough length for one coil, but it felt like it would be enough to stay in place.

I looked around the pier and saw that there was a whole lot more to do. And Pinkie would be with me the whole time.

I could feel the happiness that was waiting in the rest of the park and I could feel the dread of being with Pinkie for the whole day.

“Uh, Yang?” Rainbow asked. We were in front of the hotel, just waiting for Rarity to come back to our group.

“Yes, Rainbow?”

“Why does it look like you saw an army of ghosts and had the best time of your life?”

“I spent the day at the park with Pinkie. I had fun and she broke my brain. I don’t think I can look at anything the same way anymore.”

“Oh. Well, I’m sure you’ll get used to it.”

“So, we’re having supper here at the hotel, right?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yep” Twilight said. “And tonight, they’re going to have a pizza and pasta buffet, so eat up, everyone.”

Going to Seaquestria

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I’m immune to fire, unburnable, and unaffected by high temperatures, but standing there in my swimsuit on the beach with the six mares still made my face feel really warm. I was the most clothed out of us, no, I was the only one wearing anything and I was the embarrassed one. Logically, I knew I shouldn’t be feeling like this, but I was anyways. I left the Ember Celica back in the hotel room and my wrists felt weird without them.

We were at a secluded beach, called Diver’s Alcove. It was a small beach surrounded by rocky walls that kept it rather secluded. The water was clear and the waves were low, but still made that nice wavy sound. There was a single pegasus lifeguard stationed here, but according to Twilight, he was actually part of the royal guard. Certainly fooled me.

“Alright Yang, we’re going diving” Twilight said. “I’ll give us all oxygen bubbles and I’ll lead the way.”

“It’ll feel kind of weird, Yang” Applejack said. She didn’t have her hat today. “Having air around your head underwater is just strange.”

“Here’s the bubbles.” Twilight lit her horn and nothing appeared to happen aside from a purple flash around our head. Actually, I was starting to feel a bit more energetic. If it was pure oxygen, well, let’s just hope nobody struck a match. After the bubbles were in place, Twilight signaled the royal lifeguard and started walking into the water.

I was the last of us to go into the water. I walked out further than the mares before I had to dive, and even then, I just let myself slip down under the waves. By reflex, I took a breath before going underwater, even though I didn’t have to.

These air bubbles, while indeed useful, felt a little insulting to me. I wanted to show off my aura goggles and that I could stay underwater for a full minute. Maybe later. At least I knew a few things about how to swim.

We went down to a good depth where the sunlight was streaming in and lighting up the sand on the bottom, a few large rocks, and schools of colorful fish. I took a cautious breath and the bubble stayed in place. No water came through.

“We have to go out about three quarters of a mile before we really have to go down, but it will get easier from there” Twilight said. “Until then, we walk.” She started walking along the ocean floor and four of the other mares walked behind her. Rainbow was apparently a fairly natural swimmer, going through the water as easily as if it were air. Me? I was being dragged down in my walking speed because of my upright stature. After the third time the mares stopped for me to catch up, I decided to change my approach and started swimming alongside them.

The oxygen bubble was an odd experience. It was like a ghostly scuba set around my head. Of course, with my hair extending beyond the bubble, some capillary action took place and my head was getting wet. At least I wasn’t drowning.

Eventually, we reached a cliff, and it looked dark down below it. I could occasionally see what looked like a big screen shimmer occasionally as well over the depths. “Yang, this is where the magic happens. Just swim through the barrier and two minutes later, you’ll be even better equipped for the water.”

“Can you be less vague?”

“But that would ruin the surprise, silly.” Pinkie jumped off the edge of the cliff and dove straight down.

“It is just two minutes” Rainbow said. “It feels weird, but you’ll come out fine.”

“I’ll go last” I said.

“Actually, I need to go last” Twilight said. “The barrier messes with my magic, and I doubt you’d want to drown when the bubble gets cut off.”

“Alright, I’ll go before you, Twilight.”

Rainbow, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack took that as their cues to swim over the ledge and out of sight. After taking a breath to focus, I swam forward and went through the shimmering barrier. Apparently, the strange part would be over in two minutes, so all I had to do was stay calm and let it happen.

The change started out fairly simple. It started by adding gills to my neck, an odd feeling, especially when Twilight took the bubble away and I was breathing and seeing underwater just fine. My hands grew some transparent yellow webbing between the fingers and I was glad I didn’t bring the Ember Celica along, especially since there appeared to be visible blood vessels there.

Then the changes came to my legs. When my feet merged into a single yellow fin, I knew I was becoming a mermaid. As my legs merged upwards, brown scales grew on them, matching my swimsuit.

Speaking of the swimsuit, it was when the changes got there that things went wrong. I didn’t know what was going on, but the pain there was immense, unexpected, and mind wracking. “AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Yang?” I barely registered Twilight’s voice as she swam down to me with her rear half still becoming fishy. “What’s wron- oh no. Girls! Get back up here! Yang’s losing blood!”

I managed to look down and saw a red cloud forming around my hips, swirling in the small currents around me. My aura has kept me from getting injured since I’ve been in Equestria, so this was the first time I was bleeding. My breathing accelerated when I saw the blood cloud growing.

Twilight’s horn flashed and Fluttershy hugged me, though the hug didn’t help with my breathing.

“We have to get her back to the beach before the sharks get to us” Twilight said. “I’ll explain what’s happening later.”

The mares formed a pod around me and they began swimming at high speed through the water with me in tow. The speed they were going at sent water down my swimsuit, causing me to scream more and weakly thrash in their grasp.

Before I knew it, we were back on the shore and the changes were undoing themselves. I was already starting to feel my legs again as they reformed and split apart. The webbing on my hands withdrew, the gills vanished, and any other changes I didn’t notice undid themselves as well.

I was feeling weak and tired, so I closed my eyes.

“So, what happened, Twilight?” Rainbow asked. “Why would that happen to Yang when it’s never happened to us?”

“The swimsuit is ruined!” Rarity exclaimed. The area around Yang’s hips was dark, stained by her own blood, which was also running down her thighs. “Well, it can be cleaned, and nothing’s torn, but it’s still ruined!”

Twilight returned as the lifeguard flew off. “He’s off to get extra help. So, here’s what’s happened, girls: the magic that turns us into merponies was working just fine on Yang. There was no bad or abnormal reaction there. However, because of the swimsuit, the change couldn’t finish. This left Yang with exposed nerves right on the swimsuit, so every time it moved even a bit, it would hurt her. It also kept her spine from fully connecting, leaving her tail limp and immobile. The exposed spine also contributed to her pain. As for the bleeding, that had two factors, both with the swimsuit: the first was that the swimsuit kept a number of blood vessels from properly forming, leaving them open. The other factor was how the swimsuit draws liquids away from the wearer, including blood. When Yang began panicking, that increased her heart rate and blood loss.”

“Will she be fine?” Fluttershy asked.

Twilight’s horn flashed again. “She has just enough blood to stay alive, and she’s not bleeding anymore.”

“Can’t we just give her some blood?” Rainbow asked.

“No. Her aura would keep the needle from going in, and there’s no human blood we can use anyways. All we can do is get her out of here, clean her up, and watch over her as she recovers. Fluttershy, can you come up with a diet to maximize her blood recovery?”

“I’ll do that” Fluttershy said, a rare steely determination in her voice.

“I’ll help her” Pinkie offered.

“Rainbow, can you go back down there and tell Queen Novo and Princess Skystar what happened?” Twilight asked.

“Flash dry me, and I’ll fly out and dive down” Rainbow said.

“Done.” Twilight’s horn flashed and Rainbow’s fur and feathers were dry.

“I’ll stay down there until I hear back from you. Keep me updated.” Twilight had barely nodded when Rainbow took off and flew over the water before taking a deep breath, closing her eyes, and going down.

“Rarity, you know her clothes better than any of us, so you’re in charge of that.”

“Of course, dear” Rarity said.

“Applejack, can you run support for the rest of us?”

“Ah can do that” Applejack reported with a salute.

“Thanks. Ah, here’s the rescue.”

Four pegasi pulling a long carriage came in fast and landed on the beach. The side of the carriage opened into a ramp and three unicorn doctors came out. “Ah, Princess Twilight. Can you tell us anything about what happened?”

“Yang lost a lot of blood when her swimsuit interfered with a spell. Fortunately, the spell’s been reversed and she’s no longer bleeding, but she’s out cold. Speaking of which.” Twilight cast another spell on Yang and found out what she needed. “Her temperature’s just fine.”

The unicorns levitated Yang up and put her on a gurney. “So what do we need to do?”

“Since she’s not injured, all she really needs is to be cleaned off and checked for anything else.” A flash of purple later and a folder was in Twilight’s levitation. “Here’s the vitals and information I have on her.” Before giving the folder to the paramedic, Twilight made a note about not trying a blood transfusion and why.

“Thank you. We’re taking her to the Los Pegasus hospital and, assuming all she needs is some rest, we’ll be able to discharge her shortly after she wakes up.”

“Thanks.”

After the unicorns got Yang into the carriage with them, they closed it and they took off.

“Before anypony says anything, let me channel my inner Dashie” Pinkie proclaimed before rummaging through her mane. After a moment, she pulled out a wig that looked exactly like Rainbow’s rainbow mane and fit it over her own and cleared her throat. “What are we going to do now? Skystar wants to see Yang, Yang can’t wear a swimsuit down there because it messes with the transformation, and Yang won’t even go outside without any clothes on.”

“Funny you should ask, Dashie” Rarity said. “You see, I actually made a bikini for Yang when I made her swimsuit, and I thought I’d try to talk her into at least trying it on for me while we were here. We can have her wear it down there, and before she goes down, she can take the lower half off. Since the conflicting area appeared to be only in the hips, she should be fine.”

“But what about the piece that’s taken off? What’s going to be done with that? She wouldn’t want to lose it.”

“I can find a cinch pouch she can tie to her arm. Shouldn’t be more than five bits.”

“Alright” Twilight said, happy with the plan that was concocted. “I’ll teleport us to the hotel and we can do our things from there.” In a flash of purple light, the five mares vanished, leaving only the royal lifeguard there. Once the stallion was sure he was alone, he pulled out a scroll to write out what happened so Celestia could know. When he was done with that, he pulled out another scroll and wrote a haiku.

Waves are calm today
A hero’s life endangered
Sharks swarm the red trail

Recovery

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I opened my eyes. I was in a bed, but the tiles on the ceiling told me I wasn’t in the hotel. I felt rather weak. I found the strength to sit up, and as the blankets fell off of me, I saw that I was wearing my robe. What happened?

“Ah, good evening, Yang” Rarity said, making me aware of her presence. “Glad to see you’re awake now.”

“Rarity?” I asked. My throat felt really dry. “What happened?”

“Well, Twilight explained it to us, but I can’t remember all the details. What I do remember is that the swimsuit basically got in the way of your transformation completing itself, leaving you screaming in pain, and bleeding a lot.”

“Well, that, well. . .” That was a lot that happened.

“None of us expected it to happen, dear. Anyways, you’ve been out cold for well over a day. Fluttershy made a meal for you, and she’s sure you’ll love it.” Rarity floated a covered platter over to me.

I sat up and felt a sense of relief wash over me when my legs moved and had feeling in them just as they were supposed to. I accepted the platter and lifted the cover off, revealing a pasta dish with chunks of chicken and various vegetables strewn throughout and covered with alfredo sauce with steam coming off of the whole thing. The smell kickstarted my stomach and it was soon known that I was very hungry. I grabbed the fork that was with it and began eating like I hadn’t had anything for a whole day, which was actually true. There was also a cupcake on the side, but I wasn’t concerned about it or its perfectly swirled pink icing.

The buttery pasta, the tender beef, the slightly crisp vegetables, the creamy sauce, all at a temperature that would normally burn someone’s mouth, but not mine. As I ate, I could feel my strength returning. I still felt weaker than normal, but I was getting better.

“Ah, Miss Xiao Long, you’re up” a doctor stallion said as he came in. I ignored him. “I would ask how you’re feeling, but the food you’re inhaling answers that question.” Heck yeah, it did.

“I presume that means she’s to be discharged soon?” Rarity asked.

“Yes. We’ve taken the liberty of cleaning her swimsuit ourselves, and I’ll bring it up in a bit.”

“Thank you very much, doctor.”

The doctor left and I continued eating until a question crossed my mind. “So, what now?”

“Well, as soon as you’re able to, we’re going to go back down there, though this time with you wearing a bikini. We go down, and before you go past the barrier, you take the bottom piece off and swim down there, get changed, and we follow. Sounds good, yes?”

“Y-yeah, it does.” Something like an alarm went off in the back of my mind about the idea, but it wasn’t about the part that I’d be wearing a bikini, though I certainly wasn’t looking forward to that prospect. It wasn’t that I’d have to take part of it off under there, which would be quite uncomfortable for me, even alone. Wait, I didn’t even have one. It was something else that was setting off the alarms, though I couldn’t figure out what. I decided to bury the confusion with the rest of the food in front of me, and top it off with the cupcake and some water.

“So, is there anything you’d like to do while you recover?”

I gave the question some thought. “Can I just walk around? No goals, no destinations, just walking around with a bit of spending money.”

“I don’t see why not, well tomorrow, anyways. It is starting to get late. Oh, just so you know, Rainbow’s not with us right now. She’s underwater with Princess Skystar and Queen Novo and is acting as a relay for messages.”

“Okay.”

“Oh, I brought you some regular clothes.” Rarity levitated my backpack up for me and I took it. Inside was a shirt, a pair of pants, my shoes, a pair of socks, a bra, and a pair of panties. After seeing the undergarments, I became aware that I wasn’t wearing any myself. “I had to rearrange the things in there a bit, but there should be enough room for you to put your robe in there.”

“Thanks. Could you leave for a bit? I’d like some privacy.”

“Of course, dear. I’ll take the platter for you.” Rarity left with the platter in her grasp and closed the door behind her.

When she was gone, I exhaled and relaxed a bit. After a bit, I grabbed the backpack and went to the attached bathroom. After closing the door, I looked in the mirror and saw that I looked a bit ghostly. My skin was visibly paler than usual, though not by much. I needed some sunlight or something.

The shower looked tempting, but an idea crossed my mind and I decided to skip it. Besides, this was a hospital, not a hotel. As I pulled out my clean clothes, I noticed something among them. Two things, to be exact. I pulled them out and looked at them. “She made me a bikini anyways? Well, at least it’s simple and looks modest enough.” The bikini was the same brown color as my swimsuit and had my burning heart emblem in yellow on the front left area of each piece. Honestly, it looked pretty good.

I snapped myself out of the thoughts about the bikini and changed out of my robe. As I got dressed, I thought about what had happened, at least that I was aware of. I’d been asleep for over a day, probably from a combination of blood loss and shock, based on what I’d heard. At least I could remember the pain and the red cloud. I could get more details from Twilight later.

After I finished changing and packing the robe away, I put the backpack on, left the bathroom and opened the door to the room. “Ah, ready to go, Yang?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah. Do we have to wait for the doctor?”

“I already took care of the discharge forms, dear. And I have your swimsuit. Here, let me put it in your backpack.” Rarity did just that, using her telekinesis to open the backpack and put it in before closing it back up. “For now, we’re going back to the hotel.”

Shortly after Rarity and I entered the hotel, I was gang hugged by Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Applejack. I can only imagine Rarity might have shrugged before joining in the gang hug.

“Yes, yes, I’m here, girls, I’m here, I’m alive.”

“I knew you were okay, but I still felt so worried” Twilight said. “How are you feeling?”

“A little weak, but I’ll be fine. Can you let me go?”

“Just let us hug you a bit longer, Yang” Applejack said. Well, sure, why not? Hugs are nice.

Eventually, the hug party came to an end. “So, how about we play some War Time Strategy?” Twilight asked.

“Without Rainbow?”

“I’m game” I said. Hooves met faces.

The six of us went our own ways for the day after a quick breakfast. Twilight scanned me and said I should be fully recovered by the end of the day, but still to take it easy. Well, I was planning on doing that today anyways, so there was no need to change my plans.

I found a map of the area of Los Pegasus we were in and set about scanning it for the kind of destination I had in mind. Fortunately, the area wasn’t too big, and I was able to find a few of what I wanted, all in one little area not too far from the hotel or the ocean. I had choices, lots of bits, a backpack, and the whole day.

The area was just as the map showed it to be. The whole block had a plaza in the middle, accessible from all four sides, and all the shops that made up the inside perimeter had their offers out on artfully decorated chalkboards. In the middle was a blue gazebo-style restaurant with a grill in the middle, where some equine cooks were working, and they appeared to be wearing black uniforms with colorful lines on them.

Either I had inadvertently started a trend with the Carne Den uniforms, or I had just chosen something that was already being done and didn’t know it. It didn’t affect me, so I didn’t give it much thought beyond that. I’d probably go there after going to one of the perimeter businesses.

This was the Spa Plaza, and it wasn’t hard to see how it got that name. The four spas aside, the pavement was made of warm yellow and dark green concrete, the area was a bit warmer and more humid than even just the outside of the block, and it smelled very clean. It was almost like the walls of the spas couldn’t contain the essences of what was in them.

I went into the one on the left first, called Heartful Healing, and the receptionist mare promptly greeted me. “Hello, Yang Xiao Long.”

“Please be professional. Please be professional.” Aside from it being three words instead of two, she had just reminded me of how big my name was.

“Would you like to know about our spa treatment?”

Thank goodness she was being professional. “Sure.”

“We believe in the power of group recovery here, so we have one big pool for all our clients to socialize in. The water has cleansing properties to it, which are perfectly safe, even if swallowed. All our technicians are trained in every area of treatment. Hair, skin, hooves and claws, or whatever the equivalent is for you, and even massages.”

“Thanks, but I think I’ll pass. I’m not looking for a group session.” I left the spa just as politely as I had entered it.

I went clockwise to the next one, The Sea-Spa and was greeted by a stallion receptionist. “Hello, Miss. Would you like to hear about our spa?”

“Sure.” The more you know, the better the decision you can make.

“We have a wheel shaped spa here. That is that there’s a central hub for rinses and light soaks as needed, along with socializing, then there are various treatment chambers all around. We have a sauna, mud bath, hoof and hoof equivalent treatment, massage, hair treatment, and hot tub. You can choose the treatments you want, and can even have the same treatment multiple times in one session if you want. All our water is pumped in from the ocean, so the healing salts are already in there.”

“The. . . Ocean?” What was this odd feeling of trepidation? Everything else was fine, but why was that idea scaring me so much?

“Yes. We-”

I didn’t hear the rest of his spiel because I left after he said ‘Yes’. I made a beeline for the restaurant in the middle, called Compass Rose, and took an open seat at an outer counter facing my next destination, The Only Spa.

“Hello, Miss Xiao Long” a waitress said as she gave me a menu. “Can I start you off with something to drink?”

“Do you have anything to calm my nerves?”

“Something happen?”

I just had to open up to her or I was going to break down, my mind was running so quickly. “The Sea-Spa looked like it would be a good place, and it sounded good, but when I heard that they pump water in from the ocean, I just, I don’t know, something about that scared me.”

“The cost?”

“No, the seawater. I’m sure it’s clean and safe, but I don’t know why-” I took a breath, sighed, and forced myself to relax a bit. “Sorry for unloading that onto you. Do you have anything?”

“How does a strawberry sunrise smoothie sound? It’s our signature drink.”

“How much is it?”

“Four bits, but we give you a very good amount.”

“I’ll take one. With a little umbrella.”

“I’ll have it out in a couple minutes.”

“Thank you.” As the waitress left, I forced my breathing to slow down to a more reasonable pace. I had to think about why I had that kind of reaction to the idea of seawater. I wasn’t afraid of it back on Earth, and I wasn’t afraid of it at the beach, so what was with that reaction? It didn’t make any sense.

“Your strawberry sunrise smoothie, ma’am.” The waitress put the drink in front of me, complete with a little yellow umbrella and a straw.

“Thanks.” I looked at the drink and saw that it took up most of a regular drink glass. She wasn’t kidding about how much there was. I picked it up and took a sip through the straw. The flavor, sweetness, and texture were working some magic on me. I was already feeling much calmer. I didn’t forget the experience at The Sea-Spa, but it certainly felt a bit more tolerable.

Sometimes, you just needed something to take the edge off a problem so you could take it on. Or at least make it easier to remember to talk about it with someone else later.

I finished my drink, paid, left a good tip, and went to The Only Spa. The inside, well, it was to lavishness what a sense of peace was to THE TRANQUILITY. There was gold and diamonds in the walls, the chairs in the lobby were gem encrusted, there was a large sapphire encrusted ruby hanging from the ceiling, there were maids stationed around not doing anything but being paid scenery, and it probably took me almost thirty seconds to get used to the permeating fragrance. “Hello, and welcome to The Only Spa” the maids all said at the same time as they bowed.

The receptionist came out from an alcove and greeted me personally. “Ah, Yang Xiao Long, the legendary hero. Welcome to The Only Spa, the most luxurious spa in the Spa Plaza, nay, the world. You tell us what you want in your treatment and you’ll get it.”

“Tempting. Do you know why this place is called The Only Spa?”

“It’s called The Only Spa because we believe we are the only spa that needs to be here.”

Wow. Smuggitude much? “How much is it?”

“200 bits.”

“Nope.” I left The Only Spa and took a deep breath when I was outside. The clean air out here was much easier to breathe, not just because of the lack of fragrance, but also the lack of an overwhelming sense of superiority. Good god that was some terrible air.

There was only one spa left to try, and it was simply called SPA-CE. All big letters. I went inside and it was way different. While the other spas were bright or at least very well lit, this one was darker and had an overall quieter feel to it. “Hello, and welcome to SPA-CE.” The desk was behind the meditating receptionist, and it looked like she had bat wings.

“Please tell me about this place.” If there’s any disappointment here, I want it out of the way immediately.

“Of course. Our treatments are fully individualized, to your specifications. All of us here are adept at treating you silently, allowing for your inner peace to be maintained through outer peace.”

I’m liking this place so far. “Do you offer anything really unique?”

“We have masks that allow you to see and roam through outer space during your time here. They are complimentary with your treatment, and you are free to put it on or take it off anytime you want.”

“What treatments do you offer?”

“We have hair and skin treatments, massages, and hoof treatments, all of which can come to you in your own chamber, which has a hot tub in it. We also have a mud bath and sauna, which we will happily guide you to, even if you have your mask on.”

“How much?”

“A full treatment with everything is 150 bits, and you can make a custom treatment plan as well.”

I’m sold. “How much for everything but the mud bath?”

“130 bits. You may change your clothes and prepare as you see fit in the room on the right. There’s another door in there that leads straight to the hallway. I will have someone waiting there for you.”

“Is there a place to keep my backpack?”

“We do have lockers in there, and as long you have something in one, it will only open for you.”

“Thanks.” I went into the door on the right and the room within had a simple layout. A few lockers that looked like they were made of wood were along a wall, and there was a closed off stall with its door open. I went in there, preemptively took care of getting anything in my system out, and changed into my bikini. Normally, I’d have just gone with the swimsuit, but I actually kind of wanted to wear the bikini. At least once.

After changing and putting my backpack in a locker, I went straight out into the hallway and to my right was another bat winged mare, apparently waiting for me. I went into the room she had chosen for me and saw the hot tub in the middle of the room, already steaming. Around the tub were various items for various treatments. I slid into the water and discovered that the tub was cushioned. Nice.

“Is the water depth to your liking?” the mare asked me.

“That can be changed?” I was wondering how that worked since the water was at the brim already.

“Of course.”

“Can it go to my neck?”

“Just a moment.” The mare went aside and soon, I felt myself going down until the water was at my neck, exactly where I wanted it. “Would you like a mask?”

“Sure.” A moment later, I had what looked like a sleeping mask over my eyes. My hair had to be moved so it could be properly secured, but it got done. “So, where’s the space?”

“It just takes a moment.” She was right. A moment later, even through my closed eyes, I found myself looking out on the planet from the moon. “What would you like first?”

“A few minutes to see the space.”

“I’ll be back in ten minutes.”

After the mare left, I focused on the visuals. It didn’t take long for me to figure out how to move around. It wasn’t like walking, but more like floating. To the side, I saw. . . “It can’t be. . .” The moon buggy and American flag? I looked back to the planet and saw what I recognized as the North American continent, and then the rest of the world.

My puzzlement was being pushed aside by a sense of awe. I looked the other way, away from the light side, and looked out into the stars. I imagined myself leaving the moon’s surface and found myself doing just that. There was no vertigo, no drop in my stomach, and no disorientation, even as I approached Mars in a matter of seconds.

Just floating there and seeing Mars closer than anyone has before was awe inspiring. The awe, while not broken, was stressed a bit when the mare came back. “Miss, are you ready for a treatment?”

Oh, right, the treatments. “How about the massage first?”

“Of course.” I barely heard something being adjusted and moved around in the room before hearing something being lowered into the water. “The massage table is ready for you.”

I lifted one side of the mask and saw that they had the massage table submerged, which was interesting. At least the ring shaped headrest kept the water away, probably by magic. I made my way to it and got on. “This is interesting.” I lowered the mask and made my way to Saturn and its rings.

“I will now begin your massage.” Four hooves gently landed on my back and began poking around. “There’s a lot of tension in your muscles. When do you relax?”

There was a hexagon on the north pole of Saturn. Or was it the south pole? “I usually spend a day every week or so just laying down on the roof at home.”

“This must be some recent tension then. No matter, I’ve dealt with worse.” After a few more seconds of her getting the feel of what she was working on, she started at the small of my back. Something in my spine popped almost immediately and I found myself relaxing even more.

As I relaxed more and more, the space visuals retreated from the solar system and out to the space between stars. Whoever came up with the submerged massage and air bubble idea was a genius. The warm water and masterful hoof movements were working wonders at making me more loose.

After my will to move was brought down to the likeness of an overcooked piece of spaghetti, the massage came to an end, but that was alright. I’ve never felt so relaxed before. “Would you like your nails, skin, or hair done next?”

How did she know they were called nails? I don’t care. “Nails. Hey, on the skin treatment, could you-”

“If you wish, we will not touch any area you specify.”

They’re really good with the details. “Chest and hips.”

“We will avoid those areas then. I’ll get you ready for your nails.” I felt the table going up, or maybe the water going down, I didn’t care, but I was out of the warm water. “If you could turn over, that would help us greatly.” If helping them helped me, well, that was motivation enough for me to turn over. While the spirit to move was strong, the flesh was very reluctant to oblige. After a lot of effort, I’d managed to turn over onto my back, at which point the mare began drying my feet off, followed by my hands. “What would you like done with your nails?”

“Nothing artistic.” I wasn’t that kind of woman.

“A trim and plain polish it is then. I’ll be right back.” Note to self: endorse SPA-CE and get it on record. Or just write it out.

My thoughts were interrupted by two sets of hooves coming in. There was no talking, just them starting on my toenails. As they did their work, trimming, filing, and polishing, I drifted my way back to the solar system and looked at Neptune. It was just so blue and serene. I stayed over Neptune as they finished my toenails, and when they started on my fingernails, I zipped over to a prismatic nebula. Truly, it was a sight to behold.

“And that’s your nails all done. Would you like the skin or hair treatment next? Or maybe the sauna?”

“Skin, please.”

“We’ll begin with your face.” My hair got levitated and moved back before they put some kind of cream on my face almost like icing on a cake. It even smelled a little sugary, though that could have just been my imagination. Once that was done, they moved on to the rest of my body except for the areas I’d specified. “We’ll let the skin treatment settle in for a bit, and then we’ll get your back, alright?”

“Sounds good.” I certainly wasn’t going to complain if I had to put in as little effort as was being asked of me for some serious relaxation. At this rate, the sauna might just put me to sleep. It wouldn’t surprise me.

Eventually, the time came for me to make what felt like another herculean effort to turn over, and I did it. Once again, they put whatever it was they used for the skin treatment on me.

Wait, why would ponies have skin treatments? Well, they did have skin under their fur, so maybe it was for that? I don’t know.

Minutes passed. I saw the massive black hole at the center of the galaxy. They gently peeled the cream mask off and my face felt fresh and minty. There was no other way I could have described it.

Eventually, they moved my head so I was looking downwards, the opening in the headrest allowing my face to not get smashed (if that was possible) while still supporting my head. Almost immediately, they got to work on my hair, starting with a conditioner. “What scent would you like for your shampoo?”

“Do you have citrus?”

“Yes we do.”

“Citrus would be nice.”

“Consider it done.” The conditioner was left in my hair for a while before being thoroughly rinsed out. “Would you like any styling done?”

“No, just a wash. And a brushing.”

Once again, I felt them working product into my hair. Even from my face down position, I could smell the citrus. It was strong, but it would probably fade out a bit after the rinse. And I had to give kudos to the ponies working on my hair. Even without hands, they were gentle, thorough, and precise. My hair never flared up at any point, even during the brushing.

Finally, the rinse came, the warm water falling on my head at an easy pace. “Hey, is it too late to cancel the sauna?” I asked.

“No, it isn’t too late. May I ask why you want to cancel the sauna?”

“I’d probably just fall asleep in there.”

“We’d wake you up if you did.”

“Thanks, but I’ll still pass on the sauna.” I wasn’t sweating over possible dehydration, since that wasn’t an issue for me. I just didn’t want to impose on them like that.

“Very well. Just tell us if you change your mind again.” After the shampoo was fully rinsed out, I asked to have the water over me again, and soon enough, the warm water was over everything but my head. “We’ll warm up a robe and some towels for you. They’ll be by the door.”

“Thanks.” I continued relaxing on the table and flying through space for a while. Eventually, the space simulation started to get kind of boring, so I felt my way to the edge, sat down, took off the mask and opened my eyes. It was a cool trip, but seeing so much of it for so long started to take away some of the wonder. Being able to see the room I was in was rather nice, and it didn’t take long for my eyes to adjust to the dim lighting.

As comfortable as the water was, it felt like it was time for me to get out, so I did just that. Over by the door was the robe and towels, neatly stacked up. I started with the towels first. I tried to wrap it around my head, but I didn’t get it to stay. On the other hand, it was a quality Equestrian towel, so it helped dry out my hair quite a bit, making it kind of floofy in a good way. After drying off the rest of my body, I put the toasty robe on. It wasn’t a perfect fit, but it was fairly close, so it was good enough. The robe practically sucked the water right out of the bikini, but didn’t show that it had done so from the outside.

I almost fell asleep standing up with the toasty robe on. I’ve got to figure out how to make mine like this at home. It’s just so comfy and toasty.

I collected the towels and left the room, went back to the restroom/changing room, got my backpack, changed in the unoccupied stall, and went out to the front desk, where the receptionist was still meditating. Or had gone back to meditating. “Welcome back. How was your experience?”

“I loved it” I said. “Professional, solitary treatment, and that underwater massage. It was just amazing. How much do I owe you?” Since I opted out of the sauna, that should drop the price a bit.

“110 bits.”

I put my backpack down, found the bits, and started counting them out. I really need to get the five bit coin idea out there. I gave 120 bits for the quality services and put on a 15 bit tip on as well for all involved. “That’s that, then. Thanks.”

“And thank you for visiting us. Have a wonderful day.”

I left SPA-CE and had to take a moment adjust to the bright sunlight outside. It felt a bit warmer out here now and there were more ponies going about. A number of ponies saw me as I left and turned back to whoever they were talking to.

“Excuse me, Miss?” a white pegasus mare asked. Her mane and tail, both bright yellow, were styled in a way that looked kind of familiar.

“Yes?” I asked.

“Is that spa any good? I’ve heard it’s a dark place run by bat ponies.”

“It is, and let me tell you, it was very relaxing. Go ahead and try it out.”

“Well, if you like it, I guess I’ll try it out myself.” The mare landed and went inside while I went back towards the Compass Rose.

I had just taken a seat facing SPA-CE when the realization hit me: that white pegasus mare had styled her mane and tail to resemble my hair. I had no idea if yellow was the natural color or not, but she was a fan, by the looks of it. A well mannered fan, by the way she acted.

“Back already?” the waitress from before said as she gave me a menu.

“But much better.”

“Certainly seems that way. Want another strawberry sunrise smoothie?”

“No, I’ll just have some water. No ice.”

“Can do.” She left and I looked over the menu. The Compass Rose was apparently a soup and sandwich shop with some light drinks on the side. No meat, but at least there didn’t appear to be grass in everything. “And here’s your water. Need a minute?”

“No, I think I’ve got it figured out. I’ll have a cup of the cheese and potato soup and, you know what, I’ll just have a bowl of the soup with a breadstick on the side.”

“Can do. Oh, how was SPA-CE? I’ve never gone in there.”

“It’s really nice. Trust me.”

“Thanks. I’ll have your order out in a couple minutes.”

As I waited, I began thinking. Even though I was treated fairly normally by just about everyone here, I still seemed to have some degree of star power. Just by my word alone, I could make SPA-CE the most successful spa in the Spa Plaza, or even all of Los Pegasus.

Eventually, my food arrived and I had a proper lunch. It was good. At the right time, I paid, thanked the waitress, and left the Spa Plaza. There were things to do around the city.

During my trip around Los Pegasus, I got a few things. A couple paintings of fantastic landscapes (already framed), some treats for my friends (including Pinkie), and a dragon plush like the one I’d already won (but smaller). I was heading back to the hotel and passed by the Spa Plaza and chanced a glance in there. I saw a crowd gathered outside SPA-CE, and a closer look showed one of the chalkboards had been changed to a drawing of me winking and saying that I had visited and praised their spa.

Somehow, I wasn’t seen by the crowd of ponies, consisting of mostly mares, partially stallions, and one Rarity. I didn’t press my luck by hanging around and left the herd. Fortunately, I was quiet enough not to be heard. It was only after I was certain I was out of their range that I changed from a quiet walk to a casual, if slightly fast walk.

I made it to the hotel with no problems and went into my room. “Hi, Yang” Fluttershy greeted. “I befriended a seagull today. I named him Steven.” I pinched the bridge of my nose at the pun Fluttershy had unwittingly made. “Did you go to a spa today?”

“How can you tell?”

“You’re much more relaxed than when we left the hotel earlier today, your hair smells different, the citrus scent is nice, by the way, and Rarity heard that you said good things about a spa. She left a couple hours ago, so she should be back in time for supper with us.”

“She’s actually in the crowd waiting to go in there. At least she was when I walked by.” Steven flew toward me and I stuck an arm out for him to land on, which he did. Smart bird. “So we’ll probably have to have supper without her. Is Rainbow back?”

“She should be back soon. Twilight, Skystar, and Novo decided to move the meeting place inland a bit.”

“Why?” I pet Steven’s chest and he seemed to like it.

“Twilight used some big word to describe something about you after the incident. I can’t remember what it was, but it was related to the sea. I think.”

Steven had enough of my petting him and flew back to Fluttershy. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and find out what it is later.”

Finishing up

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Here we are at the beach again. I’m in my bikini, the morning sun’s shining, the six mares are excited, and for whatever reason, I can’t bring myself to even step on the damp sand. I’m staying well away from it.

“Is something wrong, Yang?” Rarity asked. She was standing in water deep enough to just lap at her underside.

“I-I can’t do it” I stammered out. I could feel my heart pounding away inside my chest at the prospect of going closer to the water.

“Hmm” Twilight said. She was only a little further out than Rarity and it looked like she was getting an idea.

That idea was apparently to use her magic to launch a few arcs of water at me. I saw it coming and I ran to the side. The water splashed where I was standing moments after I had moved. “What gives, Twilight?”

“I’m just testing a little theory.” She launched more arcs of water at me and I kept running around the beach to avoid them.

The arcs finally ceased when Fluttershy yelled “Twilight, stop!”

I stopped behind the royal lifeguard’s tower and caught my breath as the arcs ended. I’ve run laps around Ponyville before and didn’t feel this exhausted, nor did I ever shake like an autumn leaf in a tornado.

“I think I know what’s going on” Twilight confidently stated. “Yang is afraid of seawater.”

“What was that?” Rainbow asked as she surfaced. “I couldn’t hear you down there.”

“Yang’s afraid of the ocean and seawater, and I think I know why. It most likely came from the failed transformation a few days ago. She got hurt badly by what the fear center of her brain likely perceived to be just the water and not the magic being unable to complete its work. She has thalassophobia.”

“That’s the big word!” Fluttershy quietly called out.

“I also have other evidence to back this up, namely a nightmare Yang had last night. Luna shared what she saw with me.”

My mind flashed back to the nightmare.

I was outdoors with my swimsuit on, relaxing in a shallow hot tub as if on a submerged lounge chair. The pool, embedded in a wooden deck, was shallow and the water was both clear and reflective of the sunlight coming down on it. The air had a pleasant citrus fragrance to it and a delicious strawberry sunrise smoothie was sitting poolside, ready for me to drink. It even had a little umbrella.

The sky darkened and I suddenly couldn’t feel the hot water on my legs. I looked down and I saw the mermaid tail in their place. My hips and tail began to seep red stuff and a salty scent replaced the citrus in the air. I took a sip of the smoothie and it tasted like a mixture of blood and seawater. After throwing the drink away, glass and all, I tried to pull myself out of the pool, the sky becoming red. I looked at the red water and saw that the shallow pool was now a portal to the deep ocean, and I was chained by my waist to a rocky cliff. The unmistakeable shapes of sharks circled below.

I kept trying to pull myself out of the water as the sharks schooled together and made a single massive shark. I was breathing quickly, tasting the salt in the air with each inhale and exhale. The megashark swam towards me, and in one bite, it ate me, part of the deck, and part of the cliff.

I landed on my front somewhere dark and humid. I still couldn’t feel my legs, and a cursory touch revealed that I still had the tail. I also felt the chain, and then the bit of the cliff it was still attached to. I tried to get up, but when you can’t move anything below your waist, it’s not easy.

A set of hooves approached me. “Welcome to the Sea-Spa, Miss Xiao Long” a stallion’s voice said from over me. “Today, we’re giving you the full treatment.”

“No, please, no” I pleaded. I just wanted this to end.

“First, a massage.” I felt myself get moved from where I’d landed and into a bright kitchen. I looked down and saw the gigantic lettuce leaves under me. “First, we’ll get rid of this thing.” A giant hammer came down on the rock and my back, breaking both, and it hurt like nothing else I’d felt. Whoever was treating me was not treating me well because they dragged the chain and rock out from under me sideways. Then the hammer came down again, and again, and again, and again, beating me until I was tender and bleeding all over. Just how much blood did I have?

“Next, the skin treatment.” Lemons were squeezed over me, their acidic juices making the wounds feel like they were burning. After the lemon juice came a number of powders that smelled like seasoning and hurt me even more. I just wanted it to end.

“Now for the sauna.” My bed of oversized lettuce and I were picked up and I was able to see the oven I was being taken to time seemed to slow down as I came closer. I could hear the second hand’s movement getting louder until, with a loud and definite tock, time around me stopped.

“Hello, Yang” Luna’s calming voice said as everything around me began to fade and vanish. My wounds healed and my tail turned back into my legs. Now I was just floating in a black void, able to see only myself and Luna.

“Luna!” Even though there was nothing around or under me, I was still able to run over to her and hug her. I finally felt safe. “Thanks, Luna. That was scary.”

“It was indeed a terrible nightmare. I had a bit of trouble getting into it to save you, it was so bad.” Luna wrapped her forelegs and wings around me. “Go on and rest. I will keep your nightmares at bay.”

I shuddered as the memory ended. It was a terrifying and illogical nightmare. At least Luna saved me, so it had a good end.

Twilight continued. “Anyways, I came up with a plan B in case of this. I’ll go down there and then we’ll meet up at Schlumpfi’s.”

“Then we’ll freshen up a bit back at the hotel.” Rarity stepped out of the water, along with everyone else who wasn’t Twilight. “There should be enough time, right?”

“Oh, easily. Get us a good spot, Rarity.”

Twilight went back underwater and I went with the rest of the mares back to the hotel. They had to dry off and I had to change clothes. It would also be a good idea to get my bits, just in case.

When we got to Schlumpfi’s, which looked liked a pirate ship on the beach, we had to wait a little bit for a particular spot to open up. While we were waiting, I found a picture with a short story about the place. Apparently, it was a modified full scale replica a ship used by an earth pony pirate called Schlumpfi during the last century, so I wasn’t too far off. At the time Schlumpfi was alive, the ship and its crew were quite feared. Eventually, after many successful raids, old age got to him and he died as the stuff of legends. Then somepony got the idea to build a big boat shaped restaurant and named it after him.

I didn’t learn much about the way the restaurant stayed in place before our spot opened up. I followed the mares and the mare they were following up to the back of the ship’s deck, where we were seated at a table for ten. I took the spot furthest from the rails, which allowed me to see the ocean. “So, what now?”

“We wait” Applejack said.

Rarity cast a shield spell over me just a second before Twilight, as a merpony, rocketed up out of the water and over the back of the boat. I was glad the shield was there because I was not eager to find out how I’d react to seawater on my skin. At the same time, I was wondering just how Twilight got so much upward momentum from such shallow water before I realized the answer was in front of me: magic.

Shortly after Twilight landed on the boat, she began to change back into her alicorn form. “Hi, girls. Princess Skystar and Queen Novo will be joining us soon.”

“How soon?” Rainbow asked.

Two more merponies rocketed out of the surf, the splashed water collecting harmlessly in Rarity’s shield. Once the two landed on either side Twilight, I was able to see that their bodies differed from the merpony form. Their manes and fins were much more. . . aquatic looking than what Twilight had.

“Skystar, Novo, this is Yang” Twilight said as Rarity moved the shield and the water it had collected overboard. “Yang, the seapony-slash-hippogryph on my right is Princess Skystar, and the hippogryph-slash-seapony on my left is Queen Novo.” So they were seaponies. Or were they hippogryphs?

Skystar was clearly trying to reign in her excitement, even as she was changing. “Hi, Yang. I’ve heard so much about you.” It didn’t take long for her excitement to get the better of her and turn her speech into fangirl squees. At least she had enough control to stay fairly still.

“Hello, Ms. Xiao Long” Queen Novo said, clearly calmer than Skystar. “Rainbow told us what happened to you when you crossed the barrier, and I am sorry that it happened. Twilight gave us more details today on your, what was it again?”

“Thalassophobia, fear of the sea and ocean” Twilight supplied.

“Yes, that. I am impressed though that you’re willing to sit here over the water.”

“Well, I’m not in the water and it’s not that close, so I’m fine and are those wings on your head your ears?”

“No, they’re just feathery crests that happen to be near my ears.”

“Oh.” Skystar fell over where she was sitting from her excitement at meeting me. “Is she okay?”

“She’ll be back up in a minute. The same thing happened when we met Celestia and Luna the first time, and the Wonderbolts as well.

“Rainbow told us about your restaurant, the Carne Den, was it?”

“Yep.”

“She had nothing but praise for it, and it didn’t seem to be because you’re a friend of hers either.”

“It’s a one of a kind restaurant in Ponyville. Aside from being the only restaurant that serves meat, it has a darker, more relaxing atmosphere to it. So far, there hasn’t really been any quiet or slow days. We’re either busy or really busy.”

“Normally, a new restaurant’s novelty wears off after a couple weeks, but she’s still as busy as ever” Rarity interjected. “I think it’s the atmosphere she mentioned that’s helped her success.”

“And the fact that we’re also the only place to eat and drink at in Ponyville that’s open until 1 in the morning is also pretty big. And the food’s really good too. Come to think of it, I haven’t really gone out to eat anywhere for a while before coming here.”

“I’ll see about arranging a visit” Queen Novo said. “Have Celestia or Luna visited you? Rainbow made it sound like you were on friendly terms with them.”

“They did visit us pretty early on. And even though they are royalty, they had to wait like anyone else. Not just because they were part of a group of ten, but because nobody gets preferential treatment. There was one time Luna reserved the whole restaurant for one of the Canterlot Nobles’ financial meetings, and let me tell you, the looks on their faces when they saw I was the owner was priceless.” Oh, if only I had that on video.

“Okay, I’m calm now” Skystar said as she collected herself and got back into her chair. “So, Yang, can you tell me something about yourself?”

“Uh, I almost went crazy from a craving that lasted well over a week before Gilda showed up in Ponyville with some meat. I got the idea for the Carne Den shortly after that.”

“So you built a whole restaurant just to have a steady supply of meat?”

If it weren’t for the waves, you could have heard a pin drop. “Well, when you put it that way, it does sound a bit selfish. Gilda and I were kind of just brainstorming after we bonded over our taste in meat and it went from there.”

“How many orders with meat do you get?”

“More than you’d think in an herbivorous place like Ponyville. I think at least half of Ponyville gets something with meat in it at least once per week.”

I continued answering Skystar’s many questions, through the ordering and right up until we got our food. I had an egg and veggie sandwich with diced potatoes on the side, and it was good, not just because of the flavor, but because Skystar was quieted by her own meal.

“Well Yang, it was a pleasure to meet you” Queen Novo said as we finished up the meal. “I am sorry that you can’t visit us, but Seaquestria offers its full hospitality to you anyways.”

“I’ll even share my room at the palace with you” Skystar offered.

“If there’s no objections, I can cover the bill” Fluttershy said.

“Hold up, Fluttershy” Applejack interjected. “Let me cover some of it too. Ah haven’t covered many expenses out here, so it’s only right that Ah help.”

“Okay.”

Well, that went smoothly. “So, what now?” I asked as I finished off my water and stood up. A trip to the restroom was in order for me, but it could wait a bit.

“Well, we still have the rest of the day, so we could wander around again for a few hours” Twilight suggested. “We can also pack up and go to Las Pegasus tonight, spend the day there tomorrow, and be back in Ponyville on Saturday. Sound good?” A round of agreement sounded from the table. “Excellent. I’ll get a ticket for each of us and Rarity’s luggage.”

“Twilight!” Rarity exclaimed. “How dare you think that my luggage needs a ticket.”

“You know, I think Rarity’s right” Rainbow added. “It needs at least three tickets.”

“Eight PM departure it will be then” Twilight affirmed. “Let’s all try to meet up on the platform before 7:45.”

“If there’s nothing else, I think I’ll go ahead and leave.” I wasn’t contributing much anyways.

“You’re good, Yang.”

“I’ll see you later.” I left the table and, after going to the restroom, left Schlumpfi’s. It was a good place, but after walking only a few blocks inland to see what was there, I realized that I was fairly tense the whole time. Sure, I was calm because the water was away from me, but now that I was actually relaxing, I realized the tension that was there.

I put those thoughts behind me and took a moment to look around. A gym, the Iron Weight, caught my attention, and I suddenly felt like my clothes were a bit tighter than when I got here. “Alright, it’s just a little past two, so if I leave there at five, that will give me enough time to find my way back to the hotel, pack up, and arrive early at the train station.” I entered and saw a number of overly muscular stallions, along with some muscular mares at various exercise machines. There was even a wrestling ring. Most of those there were earth ponies, but there were also a few pegasi and two unicorns.

“Welcome to the Iron Weight” a stallion who looked more suited to pushing paper than lifting iron said. “For ten bits, you can use our equipment for an hour. Three hours for 25 bits. Water and warm towels are complimentary.”

“Sounds good.” I got thirty bits out and gave them to the stallion. “Can you tell me when it’s a quarter till five? Here’s a little extra for that.”

The bits were accepted and recounted. “Of course.”

“Thanks.” I went over to an open bench press and started putting weights on the bar. Once I had about 1500 pounds on, I got on the bench, grabbed the bar, took a breath, and lifted the weight. It took a bit of a struggle to get it up, but it was manageable. I began doing reps with the 1500 pound weight, and it got both easier and harder as I went on. Easier because of the momentum from the reps, harder because of the effort involved.

When I stopped and sat up after who knows how many lifts, I could see that I had a small crowd around me. “Uh, can I help you?”

“That was three quarters of a ton, right?” one of the less muscular muscular mares asked.

“Yeah. So?”

“How did you lift that much with so little muscle?”

“I’m just really strong.” I left it at that and went over to a leg weight machine. The compatibility of these equine weight machines with my human form was quite remarkable, to say the least. As I worked my legs, the crowd gathered around me again. “Are you all really so interested in my strength?”

“Yeah, we are” one of the overly muscular stallions admitted. “And how are you not breaking a sweat either?”

“That’s a secret. And could you all please just leave me alone?” None of them left. “Really?”

“We’re just so fascinated.”

“Well stop staring at me before I have to do something regrettable.” They got the meaning behind those words and left. Thank goodness I was able to get them to leave without getting physical.

A different stallion came up to me a few minutes later. “Hey, want to fight for a bit in the ring?”

I paused my leg reps at the top of a lift. It wasn’t quite as hard to hold as the bench press. “Any particular reason?”

“I want to be able to say I fought you for fun.”

I let the weights down. “Well, it probably won’t even last a whole minute, but let’s do it.”

“Just get in the ring when you’re ready.”

As I made my way to the ring, some concerns came to my mind, namely the safety of my opponent, whatever his name was. I had my aura, but he had nothing like that. Still, I jumped into the ring, ready to hold myself back a bit. “Let’s get this over with. Are there any rules?”

“Nope. Let’s do this! And don’t hold back.” A mare did a countdown and then we went at each other.

The fight was very short. I caught the stallion and choke slammed him with one arm and a good amount of force. Once I did, a bell somewhere dinged three times. “Knockout?”

“Yep, he’s knocked out. And if you’re worried about him, don’t be. The ring’s enchanted to help prevent injuries, so getting knocked out is about the worst that can happen.”

“In that case, I’m going back to my weights.” I left the ring and went back to the weights, as I said I would. At least those didn’t challenge me to fights.

“Miss Xiao Long, it’s 4:45” the greeting stallion told me.

“Thanks.” I finished a set of reps with the 400 pound weights in each hand before setting them down. I was feeling pretty good, and I didn’t get into any fights after the one I got talked into. The muscles in my, well, everywhere, were aching, but it was a good kind of ache. The only problem I had was that I didn’t have one of my athletic outfits on, but that was no fault of the Iron Weight’s.

As I left, I saw a crowd of ponies outside the gym, and they were watching me leave. I nodded at them, a few nodded back, and then they slowly descended upon the gym. Celebrity power at work again.

I found my way back to Schlumpfi’s, and from there, I made my way back to the hotel. Thank goodness for the route basically being straight lines. Schlumpfi’s also looked a bit busier than before. Probably just the dinner rush.

In the hotel room, Rarity was busy reorganizing the contents of her suitcases. All kinds of things were floating around in the air. “Maybe I could, no, that won’t work. Hm, this can work. Hi, Yang. Oh, that worked beautifully.”

“Hi, Rarity.” I went over to my small stack of things and my suitcase, and began packing my things up. Fortunately, I kept my clothes organized as I went, though not the souvenirs. I was not about to leave my dragon and other stuff here, so I had some reorganizing to do. At least I had plenty of space available for what I’d gotten.

Rarity was still packing her bags when I finished with mine and Fluttershy entered. “Hi girls. Are you almost ready to go, Rarity?”

“Just a few minutes, dear” Rarity answered.

“I’m ready, but I just realized I don’t know how to get there” I admitted.

“Don’t worry Yang” Pinkie said from the doorway. “We’ll catch that 8:00 train just fine.”

While the seven of us settled in on the softly lit train, it started leaving the station. “Las Pegasus is about ten hours away, so we can spend a bit of time relaxing before going to sleep.”

“Ah think Ah’ll just go to sleep, y’all” Applejack said. “Do we have a sleepin’ car on this train?”

“Unfortunately, no. The one from Las Pegasus to Canterlot will have one though.”

“So, what do we do?” I asked. “Do we just make a pony pile somewhere?”

“Yep.”

“I guess I should get some clothes ready then. Excuse me.” I got my suitcase down from over the seats and went to the restroom with it. After changing to my robe, I put some clean clothes in an easy spot in the suitcase and left. Applejack was already laying down on her side on the floor with her eyes closed when I got back, and she looked like she would make a good pillow.

It turned out that Applejack’s body did make a nice pillow. It also turned out that Applejack started something because the rest of the mares started piling on and around us with Fluttershy softly alighting on top while Twilight used her magic to turn off the lights. I think she cast another spell as well, but I had no idea what it was. It didn’t affect me though, I knew that.

Pinned as I was in this pile of friendship, I soon fell asleep. Pony piles are nice.

Viva Las Pegasus

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Breakfast on the train was simply egg, cheese, and veggie burritos that a servingmare distributed from her cart. No grasses of any kind were in them, thankfully. I ate mine after changing out of my robe and into some regular clothes. It wasn’t bad, but I could probably make a better one. With steak bits, bacon, and tater tots instead of vegetables. That sounded really good.

Less than two hours after we woke up, the train came to a stop. “Viva Las Pegasus, baby. Woo!” Pinkie exclaimed as she bounced off the train. “What’s the plan, Twi?”

“We leave our luggage here and come back later for a 6 PM train. That one’s a 14 hour trip, so we’ll arrive in Canterlot at 8 AM. We will have a sleeping car this time since it’s over 12 hours.”

“I’ll take the luggage to the holding area” Rarity volunteered. “Most of it is mine, after all.”

“Hey, Yang” Applejack called. She had my attention. “Ah want to take you to the track Ah won at on my first try and show you a race.”

“Well, let’s do it” I agreed as I set off with her. “Is that the only thing you want to do with me?”

“That’s all Ah can think of for now.”

“Are these really their names?” The list of names, even for ponies, was a little odd. I was also feeling what I think was a small current of music magic.

“No idea. The racers can give a fake name. Ah didn’t when Ah raced here. This is also the one track where underhooved tricks are allowed during the race.” Knowing Applejack, she probably won fair and square. I followed her to the betting booth. “Ah’ll put twenty bits on Stooge Hand. Name’s Applejack.”

The teller counted the twenty bits Applejack put down. “Twenty for Stooge Hand. Thank you, Ms. Applejack.”

I decided to try my hand. “Ten bits on Beetle Bomb. And I’m Yang Xiao Long.”

“Ten for Beetle Bomb. And obviously, you’re her.”

“Come on, Yang” Applejack said from a sandwich bar that was run more like a normal bar. I knew it was a sandwich bar because there was a sign saying such right over it. “We’ve still got ten minutes before the race, and Ah’m hungry. That burrito on the train wasn’t enough for me. Ah’ll buy.”

My stomach rumbled only a little bit as I joined her. “Sure.” The egg in it was alright, but I needed a bit more protein.

“Ah’d like a peanut butter and apple jam sandwich. Oh, and we’ll take them outside. Yang?”

“Peanut butter, banana, and honey.”

“Coming up” the unicorn mare on the other side said. “Seven bits.”

As the sandwiches were being whipped together and wrapped up, Applejack pulled out nine bits for the mare. Both were done at the same time and we got our sandwiches wrapped in foil. Applejack took the lead to the seats outside. There were already a lot of ponies out here, but we managed to get a pair of seats near the start and finish lines.

Shortly after we finished our delicious sandwiches and just a minute or two before the race was due to start, a trumpet and bells played from the center of the track. A few seconds later, a dog started barking, and then it stopped when something heavy fell somewhere out of my sight.

A violin and songbirds replaced the silence, and it was very nice. Then someone on a small side stage started ringing a cowbell and squeezing a bike horn. I had trouble holding myself together, even as the stage collapsed under them. I felt my music magic acting on its own, but I didn’t really care.

A trumpeter poured a mug of something into his muzzle and began gargling it in what could have been a serenading tune, if not for the fact that it was being gargled. After he was done, the trumpets started up and it was a tune that I recognized: the William Tell Overture. The silence of the crowd was broken when they started cheering. The race was about to begin, and I’ll admit, I was feeling excited. The crowd’s silence returned as the trumpets made a deflating sound.

The announcer took over, as did the violins. “It’s a beautiful day for the race today. Stooge Hand is the favorite today, A. Salt is in the air, Dog Biscuit is three to one, Safety Pin has been scratched, and at twenty to one, Beetle Bomb.”

“Oh no.” At least it was only ten bits I would be losing.

“Now the racers are at the starting line and THERE THEY GO!” The trumpets picked back up, playing the familiar tune, along with a banjo. “Stooge Hand has the lead, Cabbage is second on the rail, Beautiful Linda is third by a length and, uh, Beetle Bomb.”

“Come on, Stooge Hand” Applejack said. At least she still had a chance at winning.

“Around the first turn, Stooge Hand is still in front, Cabbage is second by a head.”

“Cabbage by a head!” I couldn’t help but laugh at the accidental pun.

“Beautiful Linda is third, and uh, Beetle Bomb.

“Into the back stretch, Dog Biscuit is leading the pack, Lady Evelyn is second, very close, Banana is coming up through the bunch.”

“Banana coming up through the bunch!” Even if I lost the ten bits, these puns were worth it.

“And Beetle Bomb. At the half, Stooge Hand is still out in front, Apartment House is second with plenty of room, A. Salt is passing Batter E.”

“Assault and battery!”

“Notary Sojack is fourth, and in last place by ten lengths, I believe it is, yes it is Beetle Bomb. Around the turn, heading for home, Stooge Hand, Dog Biscuit, and Girdle are out in the stretch. Flying Sylvester is third and Mother In Law is nagging in the rear.” I swear I heard a seal. “And now they’re coming down to the wire, and it’s number one, now it’s number two, and it’s very close. It’ll be either a photo finish or an oil painting. And now Louis moves to the left, and Louis is in there slugging, and now it’s a battle, and now they’re tearing hair. There’s hair all over the ring. There’s hair all over the place. I don’t know whose hair it is.” He gasped a couple times. “It’s mine. AND THERE GOES THE WINNER!”

The band kept playing as the racers, now brawling a bit, ran towards the finish. An explosion that kicked up a big dust cloud and a buzzing sound caused the racers to stumble, whinny, and pile up.

“Beetle Bomb.” A triumphant bit finished off the music as the pony, a lanky unicorn that looked like he’d have no business racing here, emerged from the dust cloud.

“Well, Ah’ll be” Applejack said as the music magic wound down. “You won, Yang.”

“Huh?” I was catching my breath from all the nonsense that was in the race that made me laugh. “Wait, what?”

“You’ll be taking home a big bag of bits. Only you and Ah think three others, get the money.”

“Well, I guess I’d better go collect.” I got up and made my way back to the teller booth, still in a bit of disbelief. “What do I get?”

“From the 3000 bit pool, you get 750” the teller said as he produced a small chest.

I really needed to send a letter to Celestia about making a 5 bit coin. The weight of the chest wasn’t much of an issue for me, but it would be for a number of others. “Thank you.”

“Thanks for coming!”

Applejack and I were still in a stunned silence at my winnings as we left. “So, what now?”

“Yang, Applejack!” Twilight called out as she and Pinkie approached us. “Pinkie said something big would happen here. What’s in the chest?”

“750 bits I won from betting on a race. I bet on the guy that was apparently expected to come in last.”

“That’s the big thing!” Pinkie said. “You know what this means?”

“Does it mean I’m buying supper for everyone before we go back?”

“It means you’re-” Pinkie mouthed out what I had just said before she gasped. “You stole the words right out of my mouth.”

“You don’t have to buy us supper, Yang” Twilight assured. “In fact, I can take it to the station and put it with your other things.”

That was a good idea, but I didn’t like the idea of giving the bits up, even if it was Twilight offering. “How about you show me the way? I’d rather not let this out of my sight for now.”

“Fair enough.” I left the earth ponies and followed Twilight towards the station. “So, did you like the race?”

I told Twilight about the race while my music magic felt like it was active. “So, while I do like the fact that I won more than I’ve spent this trip, and the whole thing was kind of funny, I don’t think watching races is my thing.”

“Well, at least you gave it a try, and it was with a friend, so it was better than if you’d gone alone, right?”

“It’s always good to do things with friends.”

A moment later, Twilight walked up to a booth with a stallion behind it. “Just tell him to put it with your stuff.”

I faced the stallion and put the chest on the counter. “Uh, I’m Yang Xiao Long, and could you put this with my suitcase?”

The stallion looked at some paper in front of him. “Of course.” He accepted the chest and took it to the back, and he placed it with what I recognized as my suitcase, which was with all of Rarity’s matching luggage.

“Since we’re leaving later tonight, you don’t have to worry about them charging for storage” Twilight explained. “Anyways, there’s something I want you to see here in Las Pegasus.”

“Lead the way.” At this rate, I’d probably be pulled in another direction before lunch.

We stopped outside a huge building that looked like a repurposed warehouse. “Welcome to the Annual Las Pegasus Amusement Convention Amassment, or ALPACA for short. This is where I found War Time Strategy a few years ago.”

“What’s the cost to get in?” Conventions are not cheap to get in.

“Normally, anywhere from 20-75 bits, but royal privilege allows me and one other in for free, so I can get us in with no problems.”

“And the stuff inside?”

“Gotta pay like anyone else. Let’s go.” Twilight lead me through the crowd and to the entrance. “Admission for Princess Twilight and one other, please.”

“Go on in” the griffon at the entrance said.

I followed Twilight again. “That was really easy.”

“Princess Celestia made a royal decree that all Equestrian Princesses have free admission for themselves and one other at places that charge admission a long time before I was born. She also made sure to include the detail that it is only the admission that’s free. Everything else is normal price.”

“Any idea why she did that?”

“The books I’ve read didn’t say much, but she probably had a really good economist at the time to point out the consequences of her consuming at no cost to her.”

What really happened 150 years, 7 months, 2 weeks, 3 days, 18 hours, 39 minutes, 46 seconds ago

Celestia left the Canterlot carnival in a very Princessly manner with a squad of guards following her, along with her aide, a mare named Branwen. They were pulling a wagon with everything in it that had caught Celestia’s eye, which was a lot of things. They were hauling practically a fifth of all the merchandise that was available, their combined value easily in the thousands of bits.

Celestia herself had been snacking almost non-stop, using her rank and power to get free stuff, just as she’d been doing for centuries. Just as her subjects had been doing for centuries.

Eventually, she arrived at her chambers. “Gentlecolts, you can deposit the items in my study.” With a sharp salute, the guards did as they were told. Celestia and Branwen went in and once the door was closed, Celestia collapsed onto her bed with 110% less grace than normal. “Branwen, how can my little ponies manage to do what we just did? How do you do it?”

Branwen spoke frankly to Celestia. “Well, Princess, most ponies don’t snack constantly for hours at a time, nor do they get things for free. When they do attend, they only have a limited number of bits to spend, a limited amount of time, and a limited amount of things they can carry. They have to budget everything. Also, you ate all the peanuts from one of the peanut sellers.”

“Those things are small.”

“That peanut seller is going back home with nothing but an empty cart. Because of all the peanuts of his that you ate, which was all of them, he may not be able to provide for his family for a while. I’m no economist, but I know that you getting everything for free is not the way to keep Equestria prosperous.

“I suggest that next time you go out like this, bring your bits with you and budget yourself. You won’t get free stuff, but you’ll feel better and so will the ponies.”

Celestia’s stomach protested against a single slightly below prime quality peanut. “Fine. Do what you want.”

“I will.” Branwen used her opportunity to write up a new law stating that Princess Celestia was never to use her royal status to extort free things from anypony. After some consideration, she made the second draft a bit more encompassing, to include any Princess and anyone. She didn’t think there would be more Princesses than Celestia, but it never hurt to make sure. Branwen did make an exception for entrance fees, which could be extended to one other, thinking of herself and future aides.

Satisfied with her work, Branwen began the speedy steps to making it a law. Celestia’s sprees would be put into check at last.

Present

“Or maybe it was a sense of guilt?” I suggested. “Anyways, what are we doing here?”

“Can you keep a secret from Rainbow?”

“Yeah. What’s the secret?”

“She doesn’t know about this convention, and the creators of War Time Strategy are making an announcement here. From what I read, it’s going to be something big.”

I haven’t played much War Time Strategy, but it was a good game. “How big?”

“Game changing. And the announcement’s in fifteen minutes, so we’d better hurry!” Twilight took off towards an archway with the title ‘War Time Strategy’ over it. On the other side was a packed auditorium filled with numerous species, all talking with each other in their seats. “No more seats. Sorry Yang, but I’m going to be hovering for this one.”

As I watched Twilight hover nearby, I caught sight of something: the exposed rafters up in the ceiling. The whole ceiling was full of them. “Hey, Twilight, can you launch me up to the ceiling?”

Twilight looked between me and the rafters a few times. “Sure.”

I didn’t have time to respond before I was sent up by Twilight’s magic. At the top, I wasted no time getting myself onto my improvised sitting location. It wasn’t comfortable, but it was still thick enough for me to not have to constantly balance myself.

Finally, the lights dimmed and everyone grew quiet. Out on the stage came a unicorn and griffon duo, both male and very faintly familiar. “Hello, War Time Strategists” the griffon said. “You’re here to see just what we’re going to release, and trust me, you will be amazed.”

The unicorn took over. He sounded like he had a Japanese accent. “We’re actually doing a dual release. For War Time Strategy, we’re releasing a new rulebook that also includes the much requested Human unit and various other goodies. They’ll be available for sale after this announcement’s over.” An immense uproar of cheers and applause shook the room for what felt like two minutes before it died down.

The griffon wheeled out a stand with a black cloth over what had to be a display case of some kind. “Now that the small news is out of the way, it’s time for the big news: we are releasing a sequel and a new way to play games.” He pulled off the cloth and revealed a green, pink, and silver object. “This is the Gamer Driver. It allows you, through the use of dream magic and some unique crystals, to actually play inside a game, as if you were really there.”

This was looking good. “We’re open to ideas from anyone who wants to make games for the Gamer Driver. Speaking of which, we already have a game in the works for the Gamer Driver.” The unicorn floated something black and clear up from behind the Driver, both of which looked kind of familiar after looking at them for a bit. “These cartridges are called Gashats, and this one has a new game on it: War Time Commander.”

Cheers erupted from the crowd at the revelation of the game. After it died down, one mare at the front asked “How do you play War Time Commander?”

“An excellent question.” As the unicorn spoke, the griffon got the items and began demonstrating. “First off, the Gamer Driver is a belt. Just put it on and it will create the straps. Next, there’s a button on the Gashat that starts it up.”

The button was pressed. “WAR TIME COMMANDER!”

“Yes, it talks, but that’s how you know it’s ready. Besides, it sounds pretty cool. The Gamer Driver has two slots for Gashats, and War Time Commander goes in the right one.”

“GASHATTO! LET’S GAME! SUPER GAME! ULTRA GAME! WHATCHA NAME? WAR TIME COMMANDER.” Lots of flashy effects surrounded the griffon and a layer of magic formed a transparent blue visor over his eyes.

“At this point, you can change various settings for your game, including volume, visuals, and more. We call this stage Level 1. No, we haven’t figured out how to turn off the voice. Once you’re done there, get to a relaxed position and open the Gamer Driver.”

The griffon sat down before opening the device. “GACHAN! LEVEL UP!” He seemed to go to sleep right after.

“This is where the dream magic comes into play. Currently, at Level 2, he’s in the game, partially aware of his surroundings. There are lots of failsafes built in. If someone takes the Gashat out, the Driver will pull him out of the game and to the real world. It can also sense when the user is under an immediate threat and alerts them in a very blatant way. As soon as the driver is closed, whether by the user or someone else, the game will drop back to Level 1.”

The griffon closed the Driver. “GACHON.”

“And when you’re done, just pull out the Gashat and take off the driver.”

“GASHOON.”

“At this point, the game needs some time to recharge itself, usually no more than ten minutes.”

“Can it be played by more than one player?” a different mare asked.

“In its current form, no” the griffon answered, looking not at all like he’d taken a nap, nor in need of one. “We are working on that though, and we will make it clear how to do so in the manual we’re going to include.”

As the announcement went on and questions were answered, I realized that I was witnessing the dawn of video gaming in Equestria. It wasn’t the little steps that had been taken back on Earth over decades, but a singular monumental leap past pixel characters, past tangles of wires, past the controllers, and straight to immersive VR.

It still used a type of cartridge, but it was pretty cool. Besides, there’s something to be said for having games displayed on shelves. And for what it does, the cartridges are fine.

Once the announcement was over, Twilight floated up to me. “Want to talk with them? The griffon and unicorn?”

“You don’t know their names?” I thought Twilight would know something like that.

“Nobody seems to know.”

“Eh, sure, why not?”

After Twilight cleared out an area under me, I slid off my perch and nailed the landing. Twilight landed a lot more softly than I did before leading me to the backstage area. There were already a number of others back there, likely with backstage passes. They were all chatting with the unicorn and griffon duo that were behind War Time Strategy.

Eventually, our turn came up. “Yang Xiao Long, the one and only” the griffon said with respect. “It’s an honor to meet you.”

There’s my fame acting up again. “Likewise.”

“And Princess Twilight Sparkle as well” the unicorn said. “Truly, we are honored by your presence.”

“So, what can we do for you?” the griffon asked.

“Can you share the spellwork of the Gamer Driver and Gashat with me?” Twilight asked before I could ask my question. “I have no idea how I’d use the knowledge, but it would be nice to know.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t reveal that yet” the unicorn said. “Of course, there wouldn’t be anything stopping you from buying the final product and taking it apart.”

“Not even a hin-” Twilight was silenced by my hand holding her muzzle shut.

“So, are you only going to make games for this?” I asked. Twilight stopped trying to talk, so I let go.

“Of course” the griffon said. “It’s a gaming device. What else could it be used for?”

“Twilight, can you leave us, please? I want to talk two on one with them.”

“Why do you want me to leave?” Twilight asked me.

“Let’s just say I’ve got some game changing ideas meant for two pairs of ears, none of which are your own.”

“I just have one more question for them.” I motioned for Twilight to ask away. “If I preorder a bunch of Gamer Drivers and Gashats, can I get a discount?”

“Nope” the griffon said. After Twilight left and the unicorn cast a privacy bubble to mute our conversation, he went on. “So, what’s this idea of yours? Is it for a Gashat?” It sounded like he’d gotten that question a lot.

“Yes” I admitted. “I’m thinking of one that’s kind of a daily utility thing with a calendar, clock, and notepad function, all limited to level 1. Opening the Driver would just make it a bit less obstructive for the wearer.”

“That’s. . . An interesting idea” the unicorn admitted. “Certainly better than the simulated bedroom experience that was suggested earlier.”

“It could synergize with other Gashats as well” the griffon said. “We can utilize the second slot for this. If it’s alone in the first slot, it’s a calendar, clock, and notepad. If there’s a game in the other slot, it could bring up notes for that one.”

“And if you switch them, it could allow you to keep your notes and such visible to you in-game” I added.

After a moment of silence, the unicorn spoke. “Miss Xiao Long, you have given us gold. You will get a portion of the money made from the daily utility Gashat idea. Do you have any other ideas we could use?”

I think I accidentally tied them around my finger. “Not right now.” That was a lie, but I didn’t want to dump my knowledge of video games onto them yet. “Maybe later.”

“You know, we could come visit you” the griffon said. “My youngest sister is actually a waitress at the Carne Den, and she’s had nothing but praise for you in the letters she sends me. I wanted to surprise her by showing up there once, but I think she was off that day.”

“Well, you’re free to visit anytime you want, and if it’s not too busy, I could even spend some time with you. Who’s your sister?”

“Her name’s Glynda.”

Glynda, Glynda. . . “Ah, her. She’s pretty good at what she does. I’ve yet to hear any complaints about her, or anyone working for me, really.” Well, there were the 28 snobby nobles, but they’re an exception. Short of me giving everything up and becoming Blueblood’s maid 24/7 for life, I’m pretty sure there was no way they would like me.

“I’m glad she left the Griffon Empire. It’s been years since I left there, and things were looking bleak for everyone at the time. Last I heard, things were still rather bleak.”

“I’ve heard that too.”

“If I may ask something of you, Miss Xiao Long” the unicorn spoke up.

“Yes?”

“If it’s alright, I would like to learn more about your species sometime. I’d like to know more now, but we have to be somewhere else really soon.”

“Of course. Well, it was a pleasure meeting you both.”

“Likewise.”

The unicorn dispelled the privacy bubble and we went our separate ways. It didn’t take long for me to find the horned and winged earth pony that was Twilight Sparkle. “What did you talk about with them?”

“I’ll tell you when it’s released.” I wasn’t about to leak anything to anyone.

By the time we left the convention, Twilight had purchased the last two copies of the War Time Strategy guidebook with the human units and I bought a very nicely made scarf with my burning heart emblem on it.

Fluttershy met us outside while she was walking somewhere. “Hi Yang, Twilight. Are you having a good time?”

“I’m certainly not complaining” I said. “Heading somewhere?”

“I’m going to the petting zoo.”

“Twilight, I’ll see you later. There are animals that need petting.”

“Huh? Oh, have fun” Twilight said.

“Lead the way, Fluttershy.”

I scratched a tame manticore’s ears until it purred.

I learned that hydra heads can have different personalities.

Timberwolves don’t like me.

I had to be saved from a swarm of adorable kittens that were cuddling up to me like I was a cat magnet.

All in all, I had a good time, and I even donated thirty bits to help keep the petting zoo going. Fluttershy and I left in time to grab a snack before making it to the train station in time to get my luggage and catch our train.

Home again

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I got off the train in Ponyville and took a deep breath. I’ve only been here a few months, but it’s already got that feel of home to it.

After getting my luggage, including the chest of coins, I quickly walked home. As nice as the trip was, I was anxious to get home and see what it looked like.

Sylvia and Brew, both in uniform, were walking up to the Carne Den at the same time I was. “Hi, guys!” I called out.

“Yang!” Sylvia leapt towards me with a magic boosted jump and attacked me with a viciously friendly hug. “Everyone missed you, so today’s going to be a good day, even if you’re not with us.”

“Once I get everything put away and I’m ready, I’ll be down there.”

“Can we help you?”

“I’d rather not, if you don’t mind” Brew said. “I’ve got numbers to crunch and coffee to make.”

“Can I help you?”

“Sure” I answered. “Tell me what I’ve missed.”

As we walked towards the door, Sylvia collected her thoughts. “Well, for the first couple days, Gilda was here from open to close, then I volunteered to cover openings for her because she was getting really tired. We did have a few complaints one day, but that was because a foal was crying. The parents didn’t seem to be paying any attention to her at all, so Gilda had Aegir throw them out while I brought their foal to them. It got really peaceful after that and all went as normal for the rest of the day. We got some nice extras from the guests for that. There were a lot of disappointed guests on Friday because you weren’t here for the Friday Grill. Gilda hired another bartender, Doodles Weaver, because our current ones were getting worn out. Doodles is a good bartender, but he sometimes says strange and funny things.”

“Like what?” I set my suitcase on the bed and got my dragon out first.

“He was telling a story about a friend of his during a show, and he said ‘Every eye was glued on Gabe, and he looked very funny with all those eyes glued on him’. He should be a hoot to have around.

“Also, Gilda said I could get a custom uniform, so I did. Like it?”

I looked at Sylvia again and noticed the new uniform. The orange and purple lines were still present on the black top, but now the orange faded into the right side. The collar was a mix of orange and purple that flowed from the color on the chest quite nicely.

The skirt was new. It was still short enough to not interfere with work, but now it was pleated and orange. Through the space between the orange pleats, some purple was visible underneath.

“On one hand, I do like it because it looks great, but on the other hand, it breaks the uniformity we’ve got going here, which I don’t really like.”

“I actually wanted some buttons along the orange and purple lines, but Gilda said no to that. She said they could snag and catch on things, which I don’t really buy. I mean, how often would that possibility come up?”

“I can see Gilda’s side on that and I’m siding with her. Yes, it is unlikely to happen, but if it does, that’s money that someone has to spend on fixing it, or time spent getting out of the snag. Besides, I like the buttonless look. It’s more professional, in my opinion.

“Also, when did Brew start making coffee for the early shifters?”

“The day after you left. He needed some coffee and the rest of us liked it, so it’s kind of become a thing.”

I got some clean undergarments and my work uniform gathered up. “Good to know. Is there anything else I need to know?”

“Ah, nope. It should be a slow Sunday. Oh, I just thought of something fun!”

“Should I be scared?”

“Gilda doesn’t know you’re back yet, so I’m thinking we surprise her. You do your thing in the kitchen, and when she shows up, we can send her there. You put her into a surprise hug and everyone enjoys the moment.”

I thought it over for a bit. “Nope. I don’t want to startle her. It wouldn’t be good for business if she reacts badly.”

“A good point.”

“I’ll just approach her casually. Anyways, I need to take a shower, so if you don’t mind going downstairs and helping with preparing for the day, that would be nice.”

Sylvia went downstairs while I went into the bathroom. I missed this place more than I thought I did. Still, it was time for a hot shower and getting ready for work. After today, I’ll make sure Gilda gets at least the next three days off. She’s earned it.

“Yang, you’re back!” Gilda’s exhausted look vanished when she saw me. “How was your trip?”

“Trains, a day of relaxing, lost a good amount of blood, spent a whole day asleep in the hospital, made a good spa become really busy, saw royalty, went to Las Pegasus, and that about sums it up.”

“You bled?”

“Let’s just say that transformation magic is best done without any clothes on.”

“. . . I’m not going to ask. I’m just happy to see you’re back.”

“If you want, you can leave early today and take the next three off.”

“How early?”

“As early as you want.”

“Well, I’m not about to just turn around right after I get here, so I’ll put in at least some time today.”

After closing up, I finished sorting out my luggage, changed to my robe, and went to sleep. It was good to be back and working again.

Cats

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“Hey boss, what’s cooking?” Brew asked as he came in. It’d been just over a week since the trip and things were back to normal.

“Fish” I answered. “Tuna, to be exact. I got it in the mail as a gift from some. . . acquaintances. I’m going out to eat it.” The tuna also came with a very nice basket and a very sincere letter of apology for the failed transformation and subsequent thalassophobia. At least I could still go to the beach with no problem, just not in the water. I’d have to see if I had a similar reaction to a lakeside beach at some point.

“Well, there is a nice shady tree on a hill a little to the southeast from here that I go to occasionally to relax. The tree’s exactly on the top of the hill, so it’s pretty hard to miss.”

“Sounds like that’s the way to go today.” I finished up the tuna slab I was cooking and put it in a container, then the container into the basket. I may have only gotten one tuna from Queen Novo, but it was a really plump one. Half of it, specifically the right half, was in storage for later.

After cleaning up and wishing Brew a good day, I had a glass of water and left for the hill he mentioned. It was a little outside of town, but not close enough that the town sounds would be audible.

As I walked towards the hill, part of the ground was replaced with a portal and I stepped right into it. “This again? Well, at least I’m not getting sick this time.” During the fall, I had let go of the basket and it was falling slower than I was.

I could only hope for a soft landing.

I did not get a soft landing. In fact, I landed on my face. As I got up, I saw the basket land next to me right side up with only a little bounce before settling on the ground. “Why does this always happen to my face?”

“I would wager it's a result of the weighted leverage of your body in combination with the basic principles of gravity,” Twilight answered. “Excuse me a moment, I'm filing this data. . . " That was not how the Twilight I knew spoke.

“No, I think it’s just my luck, Twilight. At least I have my aura to protect me.” If I didn’t, my. . . everything would be a mess of scars and damage. “So, who brought me here?”

“That would be me. I’m Twilight Sparkle. . . And you somehow know my name, apparently.” She put a few notes onto a clipboard. “Interesting. Anyway, this artifact-” Twilight held up a copy of the choker I was wearing. “-was brought to me by a, uh, friend because of the associated trigger phrase, and dimensional stability is everyone’s responsibility, so I figured I’d test it here. In the safety of my lab. Where nobody could get hurt but me. And I’m an alicorn, so that’s actually pretty difficult. Just as a precaution and no other reason. Yep.” Her smile looked forced and maybe a little too broad.

“Riiight. So, it’s just us here?” I picked up the basket and put it on a nearby desk. Hopefully, the tuna was unharmed. It was certainly unarmed, but that didn’t matter.

“That's absolutely one hundred percent exactly what I said! Now, as a dimensional traveler I am, of course, curious as to who you are, how your artifact works, all that stuff. It is also sort of a matter of national security, since you are technically from another world.” She chuckled a bit before continuing. “So, I have a little list of questions I need to ask you. First of all, could you give me your name or, if you don’t have a name, some form of identification I can write down to use as a label in my paperwork? A glyph will do. If this is a personal question, you could just give me an abstract term to identify you with-”

I may not have had any blades, but I still cut off Twilight’s rambling. “I’m Yang Xiao Long. Three words, middle one is spelled X-I-A-O. You can just call me Yang.”

"Yang. Huh. Do you, perhaps, have any other names? Not that it's a bad name, it's just there are some cultures with multiple names--I mean, the local baker changed her name and I know a mare who has had, like, twelve different names. Were you always Yang Xiao Long, is what I'm asking. If that's not too rude to ask."

"Well, I did have a name before I turned into, well, me, but I forgot my name while I was being transformed, or it got taken from me. I don't know. I just took up the name of who I got turned into."

"Transformed. . . ? Huh." She frowned and wrote a few more things on her clipboard. I couldn’t see her notes, but I certainly hoped she had some paper on there. She probably did. "What exactly do you mean by that, miss Long?"

"Well, before I got transformed, I was a scrawny guy. No muscle at all and extremely timid. Then I accompanied some friends to a convention, one of them bought the Ember Celica-" I held up the compact weapons on my wrists for her to see. "-I put them on, activated them, and got warped to Equestria as Yang."

"I would assume you mean another version of Equestria, since I certainly don't have any records of you being here before. And it would explain how you recognized me. . . ."

“Got it in one, Twilight.” I was reminded of my fish in the basket when my stomach rumbled. “Hey, do you mind if we continue this while I have some food?” I pointed to the basket on the desk.

“Oh no, not at all. . . Anyway.” Twilight cleared her throat and brought the token to my attention. “How did you come by this device? Was it part of. . . Ember Celica, you called them?”

“Oh, that’s my token. It’s a duplicate of the one I’m wearing.” I pointed to the one I was wearing as I sat down. “Rarity, the one where I’m from, made it for me and then I turned it into my token, especially since I didn’t have anything else I could use.” I pulled out the tuna from the basket. The fish was still warm and smelled pretty good.

“Your token? You made. . . wait, let me see if I understand what you are saying.” She pointed at the choker on my neck. “Rarity made you that.” She pointed to the one I wasn’t wearing. “And you duplicated it, and made it into. . . a trans-reality bridging anchor? How did you do that?” Inquisitive, this Sparkle was.

"I don't know how it works, but it was explained to me as willing a little piece of your soul into it and tossing it into the multiverse. The original stays with you, but others like me can find and use them to call for others. Say, what's your story?"

“Well. . . I was born in Canterlot - the capital of Equestria, and I. . . wait. If you already know a Twilight Sparkle, shouldn’t you know my story already? Or something close to it? Hmm.” Notes were written on the clipboard. “Anyways, I moved here to Ponyville after finding friends here, and, um, I kind of. . . stuck around, became a princess, saved the world a few times. . .”

“I haven’t really talked with my Twilight much and it looks like I forgot to pack some silverware.” Just as I was lamenting the lack of silverware, something crossed my mind. “Hey, wait a minute.” This Twilight was born here, so she wasn’t Displaced, which means she shouldn’t have been able to summon me. There was something fishy here, and it wasn’t the tuna in front of me.

“What? Oh. Yes, yes I have spare silverware. Just give me ten seconds.” Twilight teleported away and returned seconds later with a fork and knife.

“Thanks.” I accepted the silverware. “So, if you’re not like me in how you got here, how did you use the token? As far as I know, you shouldn’t be able to.” I cut into the tuna and was rewarded by the scent of the fish becoming stronger.

"Look, your version of Twilight might not be familiar with trans-reality interference for whatever reason, but the existence of other universes is a well known fact and it's so easy to monitor fluctuations in the spacetime manifold that manticores evolved to do it naturally! This-" Twilight pointed to the token "-is a simple tran-reality bridging anchor with a somatic activation component and singular target connection. Frankly, tossing it out into the multiverse is actually sort of irresponsible. It could have been triggered by any number of thinking beings. I'm not sure why you're so surprised."

I took a bite of the tuna and found that, while the texture was not what I was used to, it wasn’t bad either. “What would Pinkie say?” It may have been a stupid retort, but it was the best I could think of.

“That’s. . . a bit of a non-sequitur. Look, if there’s any reason I shouldn’t have been able to activate this, maybe you should tell me. That way, we can double check the enchantment together.” Her speech was interrupted by a pause. The pause was interrupted by her speech and her eyes narrowing at me. “You said this was explained to you. Who explained it?”

I took another quick bite of the tuna. “Another displaced person. His name’s Ross, but considering the powers, skills, and weapon he’s got, I’m more inclined to call him Ruby Ross.” Something that sounded like whispering caught my attention. “Twilight? Are we not as alone as you said we were?”

“What? Oh. That. That. . . is. . . a cat!” Twilight revealed her lack of a poker face.

“Well, I’m willing to share some of my tuna with this cat. If Opal was any indicator, I’m pretty good with cats.” Or the time I got pinned by a metric boatload of kitten gravity powers. Cats might not actually have any real gravity powers, but it sure seemed like it.

“I seriously don’t know how it keeps getting in the lab. I should ask Fluttershy about the cat at-”

A bookshelf fell over and my fish was snagged from my plate by a cat eared girl. “Mmmm!” she said around the fish.

“That’s actually kind of cute.” I couldn’t stay mad for any period of time at someone who got turned into Blake. “Twilight, I think I found the cat.”

Blake, or at least the person who got a body like hers’, froze at my voice and looked at me. The tuna was still in her mouth.

“Yes. Well.” That was all Twilight said.

I smiled and waved at the faunus. “Hi, Blake, or whatever your name is. I’m Yang.” As I calmly introduced myself, I kept thinking “Don’t scratch the cat ears. Don’t scratch the cat ears. Don’t scratch the cat ears.”

Blake quickly composed herself, set the tuna on the plate I’d brought, and took it. “I. . . will be right back.” She walked out of the room with the tuna. Honestly, while I wanted more of it, I didn’t really care at that moment.

“Okay, yes, she’s the one that found your token.” With a sigh, Twilight continued. “Try not to be too upset, okay? This whole thing, whatever it is, has been very confusing for her.”

“So, when did she show up here?”

“She landed in the Everfree about. . . two weeks ago.” One of her eyebrows went up in curiosity. “You. . . seem to know a lot about her situation. . . and it does seem similar to yours. How familiar are you with this phenomena, Miss Long?”

“Well, having gone through it myself, I’d say I’m somewhat familiar with it.”

"Experiencing a phenomena is not the same as studying it. We've been looking for some sort of explanation ever since she got here. If you have any information, it would be. . . " She sighed and continued. "Look. Can I be frank? You're our first lead here. You and your token. And I know that Briar just. . . stole your lunch, and that was very rude of her. And I know I opened this meeting trying to deceive you, and that wasn't right of me. But. . . we're very worried. We haven't been able to determine Briar's original universal signature to any significant degree, which in combination with her physical alteration and. . . other symptoms, suggests she was abducted and placed here by unknown forces. If you don't know anything, you can just say so. If you know something, but not everything, that's okay too. It's still more than what we've got. I'm sorry for how poorly we've treated you thus far, it. . . was not at all fair of us. You seem to be as much a victim as Briar is. I just hope you can find it in your heart to help us figure out what is going on here. Okay?"

“I’m not too worried about the lunch.” I did wish I’d known I was going to be here. I’d have cooked up the rest of the tuna. “And as far as I know, there’s no way back. At least nobody’s looked into it on my side, so I have no clues there. As for, Briar, was it? All I can suggest is giving her some support and Fluttershy hugs. Maybe I should talk with her.”

I think I may have said the wrong thing because Twilight was looking and sounding a little ticked off. "Miss Long--Yang. Can you at LEAST tell me what is going on? Because you keep talking about stuff as though I should already know about it, these tokens and displaced people and Ember bracelets, but I do not have any frame of reference for these terms!"

Not even a second after Twilight’s statement, Briar returned with a plate. "Ahem. I would like to apologize for my poor introduction. . . . um. Do you. . . ?" She set the plate on the desk, revealing the cookies on it.

My attention was briefly drawn to the plate. "Ooh, cookies. Thanks.” I wanted one, but I still had the issue of an angry Twilight near me, so I addressed that first. “As for those things, tokens are the summoning items, like the choker that summoned me. I made mine a while after I got transformed. Displaced people, like me and Briar, presumably, got removed from their universe and sent to another as a fictional character from some show or game. The Ember Celica are just my gauntlets-slash-bracelets, and they are what sent me to my Equestria." I took a bite of one of the cookies. It was good.

"Fictional. . . ? This seems pretty real to me," Briar commented.

"Oh, this is real, but back where I came from, Yang Xiao Long was a fictional character."

"So, when you said you took your name from the person you got turned into, it's because. . . you recognized your new form from a story,” Twilight clarified. “Not some flash of mysterious inspiration from nowhere, just. . . ?"

"Yep. Not a shred of originality on my part with the name." Credit for that goes to whoever came up with it.

". . . .I think I'll be out at the training area." Briar gave me a look before leaving the lab.

"Is there anything else you need to know?" I asked Twilight before watching Briar leave. I was kind of worried for her.

". . . Well. . . I'd like to get a scan of your ethereal structure, just for comparison to Briar's. And maybe set up a recording of making tokens. . . but I think that can wait." She glanced out of a window. "You're absolutely sure that, apart from forgetting your original name, you have not been mentally affected by your transformation?"

"Well, I have gotten an explosive and literal hair trigger temper and a tendency to crack bad puns occasionally, but otherwise, I haven't noticed anything. As for the scan, well, sure." I’d just have to take off the Ember Celica in case they would mess with the scan.

"I. . . think we should hold off on that. Until after you talk with Briar. And. . . Blake."

Now that was an interesting statement. “Briar and Blake? It’s your turn to explain.”

". . . Like I said. We don't know exactly how the transition works, or who's behind it. But. . . ." Twilight paused and looked to the side. "The simple fact of the matter is that while Briar may be the one in charge of their body, Blake is still present. Briar couldn't hear her until after a harmony magic interaction, which meant she spent a whole day as a silent prisoner in her own mind. Even now, they haven't quite figured out how swapping works and. . . the point is, Blake recognized your emblem on the token and. . . " She shrugged in that way ponies do before looking back at me. "She was expecting her friend. Not. . . whoever you are."

"Oh." I gave myself a moment to let that description sink in. Briar and Blake were two souls in one body, which reminded me of something, though I wasn’t sure what it was. I was only certain of there being green and black. "Well, I'm willing to talk with her."

"Yeah. . . I'll take you to the training grounds, but, um. Well. . .” Twilight sighed. "Just. . . don't screw this up, okay?" After I collected the basket and cookies, I followed Twilight out of the lab. Outside on the path to the training grounds, we went past some signs that said ‘AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY’.

We came to a clearing with a semicircle of stone diases, one of which had a log on it. The log wasn’t there for long thanks to a shot from Briar, or maybe Blake, I couldn’t tell which. I was willing to bet on Blake being there thanks to the way she replaced the shot log with a new one using the Gambol Shroud as if it were an extension of her arm.

Twilight nodded at me and I went forward. “Briar, Blake, whoever’s there?”

A cat ear flicked and the bladed pistol hooked another log. She pulled it towards herself before blocking it with the sheathe portion of the weapon. “Gah! Ugh.” She rolled her shoulders as she recovered, probably Briar if the skill difference was any indicator. “Twilight told you, then.”

"Yeah. Is there anything I can do to help you? Any questions I can answer?"

Briar took a moment before speaking. "The last time that Blake saw Yang, she was unconscious on Beacon's courtyard and missing an arm. That was a few months before whatever this is happened. Ever since we found your 'token', I've been dealing with a teenager who can kill shadow monsters having a meltdown in my mind." She looked at me and I saw that she had a calm look of anger on her tear stained face. “Frankly, I don’t think she’s unjustified.”

"I know exactly what Blake's talking about, and given the situation, I can't blame her at all. And you know what? I think both of you need a hug." If my experience with Fluttershy was any indicator, hugs were really good at calming scared people down.

I got a bladed sheath pointed at me in response. "And I think you need to realize that it's not that easy. Maybe for you, this was fiction. I never saw the show--I don't even know if we come from the same version of Earth, but given it was Gambol Shroud that brought me here. . . the point is, for me, and for her, this was real. We were planning to start looking for a way to get her back her body in a week, you know. This. . . " She sighed and lowered the sheath. "You call yourself Yang, but how much of Yang are you? Is there a version of Yang, stuck in the back of your mind like Blake was when we first got here? Has she been trapped in her own body this whole time? Has she. . . fallen apart, without being able to interact with anything, just watching? Did she think that since you had memories of her not being real she wasn't real. . . ?"

I sighed. It was a heavy question, but I answered it. "I don't know. I just don't know."

Briar paused. ". . . Okay." She sheathed Gambol Shroud and stuck it on her back. "I think. . . maybe we should all talk this out. Me and Blake have figured out she can control one of her shadow clones--she can't interact with the world through it, but she can at least talk through it. And. . . honestly, I guess we haven't been fair about this. We let our expectations color our interactions, but… anyway." She sat down on the grass, cross legged, and closed her eyes.

Another Blake, this one with her V4 outfit on, appeared next to Briar and looked at me. With a sigh, she started talking. "Right. So. Hi. . . I guess. . . Um. Sorry about the fish. . . thing."

"I've got the other half of that fish at home, so it's no problem." I sat down across from Briar. "Hello. The name I go by is Yang Xiao Long, even though I'm not really her."

"Briar Blumenthal. Former analyst, now huntress in training. Apparently." Coughs "Speaking of which. . . might be best to mention this now, I used to be a guy, so. . . you know."

"Blake Belladonna, former huntress, now a ghost looking for a body. . . so. . . . just to clarify, this work of fiction you read. . . . how much do you know about me, exactly?"

I thought for a moment. "Let's see, you left the White Fang, you left Adam on that train, you're part of team RWBY, you're a cat faunus, you're a book lover, your parents have this really nice house on an island I can't recall the name of, and you had a run-in with a chameleon faunus. It's been a while since I saw the show I saw you in, so some of the details escape me."

Blake nodded slowly, started to say something, stopped, and frowned. ". . . I suspect that's not half of what you remember, but that. . . . isn't going to be important I guess. Not unless some of us find a way back." I didn’t miss her looking at my arm. "So. Can I ask. . . I mean, if this series has Yang as a character, and it continues after the fall of Beacon, that means--"

Briar interjected. "Blake, I don't think you should ask. Not right now. It's important, but. . . " She turned to me. "We'll be able to summon you at any time with your token, right?"

"Yep” I affirmed. “Even if it's only five minutes after sending me back. I actually had to do that once. Hey, mind if I ask you two a question?"

Briar shrugged.

"No, go ahead” Blake said.

"Alright. I used to be a guy as well, like you, Briar, and it hasn't come up for me yet, but how do you walk with heels like those?" I pointed to Briar and Blake’s footwear. I knew it was only a matter of time before Rarity would get me in some of those shoes, what with Twilight giving her all those pictures from who knows where.

"Flawlessly."

Briar rolled her eyes. "You know heels were originally for horse riders, right?"

That was news to me. "I thought they were originally to make short kings look taller, though I can see how that would work."

"Alright. So. . . question for you. Well. . . for Ruby through you. You said you met Ruby. . . or a Ruby person. . . is she in your version of Equestria?"

Blake added to the question. "And. . . how is she. . . ? I mean, even if she isn't. . . er. . . if you aren't Yang, there. . . should be some connection, right? Or does it not work that way?"

"That guy with Ruby's skills and Crescent Rose is from yet another part of the multiverse” I explained. “No relation to me except that we're on good terms. And yes, that guy is still a guy. I haven't seen him for a while, but I hope he's doing alright."

"Oh. Okay. Still a guy. Right. I guess that makes sense. . . if you were a guy and Briar was a guy, I guess guys are fans of the show. . . . for some reason."

Briar summed things up. "So we've got a cross-dresser, an amnesiac, and a non-fan sharing a body with the original character." A break of silence filled the air for a moment. "What do you want to bet whoever ends up as Weiss is a rabid shipper?"

I doubled over in laughter at the sudden idea. "That would perfect this group of misfits."

Once I collected myself, Briar continued. "Right. So. Is there some sort of network of. . . what do we call ourselves, the displaced people? The far-from-homers? I don't know."

"Displaced. As far as networks go, well, you're only the fourth Displaced I've met so far. The others are Ross, Artorias, and Ita. In order, Ross has Ruby's skills, Artorias is this huge knight, and Ita's a goddess."

"A. . . goddess. . . What kind of goddess, exactly?"

"I don't know how she got that kind of power either. Also, she's a Hoopa with some shapeshifting skills. Pokemon."

"Hoopa? Frig, then she's probably a trickster. You should watch your step around--"

Blake suddenly said "Rainbow."

"What?"

We were joined by a particular prismatic pegasus. "Holy Celestia, you found another weasel!"

"I thought the term was 'Sweet Celestia'.” I said. “Eh, not a big deal."

"Yeah, well, I'm a bit old fashioned." She stuck out a hoof to shake. "Name's Rainbow Dash. Fastest flyer in Equestria--"

"RAINBOW!" Twilight galloped up to us. "How many times do I have to tell you not to interfere with Briar's training?!"

"Well she's clearly NOT doing any training right now!"

"Yeah, I may have derailed the training a bit, but it's all good” I said.

"It's cool, it's cool. I don't know a lot about you weasels, but I'm sure you have to be one good looking stallion to get Briar's eye."

"What?" Briar asked.

"What?" I asked.

Rainbow waved a hoof at my hair. "The colorful ones are guys. That's what Fluttershy says."

Blake was the first to respond. ". . . Yes, that's absolutely right. We're in the middle of complex mating negotiations and our long term plan to take over Equestria with our thousand young, should take about three, four hundred litters."

"What" Briar said. Meanwhile, Twilight’s face could have been photographed and used for poker face lessons.

My inner troll, a rarely seen being, decided to play along with Blake. “Part of that is coming up with names. Let’s see, there’s General #1, Coco, Vader, Sento, what else?”

“Well, we should make sure each litter has its own theme, obviously” Blake pointed out.

“So this is a thing, then. We’re actually doing this” Briar said.

“Of course” I affirmed. “Now, we can’t really afford to wait until all of the litters are grown up, so we also have to make plans to begin our conquest after the, oh, fifth litter?”

Blake answered. “Training on the fifth, but actually setting them out only after the tenth. They do take a while to mature.”

“Is this conquest going to be nonviolent?” Twilight casually asked, though her casual tone seemed a bit forced.

“We are going to teach them how to conquer with violins” I explained. “They’ll string everyone along for whatever the plan will be, and before you know it, we’ll be able to play Celestia herself like a fiddle. Equestria will bow to our will.”

Blake was having trouble hiding a grin. “It will be a well orchestrated effort, crescendoing after some serious percussion. It’ll have to start slow, of course, and be kept low-key.”

“Really. Where am I in all of this?” Briar asked.

I thought for a moment. “Well, Blake is currently just a shadow clone, so you’re going to have to do her work in addition to your own. You will be responsible for managing our supplies, supply lines, and getting Discord to feed our enemy false information with soup lies.”

Rainbow facehooved. “That one was a stretch. And I know stretches. I know dozens of them. I work out.”

“Yeah, I’d give that a point four two on the Pinkie Scale, funny enough to recognize but not funny enough to laugh about” Twilight added

I shrugged at the criticism. “Can’t blame me for trying. I think it’s still a good idea.”

“Well, this is more Blake’s idea than mine” Briar said. “We’d have to wait until she gets the body back, I’m not going to. . . uh. . . you know.”

“Yeah. . . that’s fair, I guess” Blake admitted.

“I guess it can wait a bit” I said. “Besides, that also gives us more time to come up with a better plan.”

“Yeah. That’s. . . true. . . ”

“Wait. You’re not actually serious about conquering Equestria, right?” Rainbow asked.

“No, we’re not” I answered. “If we were, why would we discuss our plans so openly?”

“You would be surprised how often that happens” Twilight said.

“. . . Well, I’m surprised it happens at all” Briar added.

“Just sneak up and surprise them, then their plan is foiled” I pointed out. After all, what better way to stop someone’s plan than revealing you heard it all right there?

Blake looked away from me for a moment. “That can. . . backfire.”

“Right. Look before you leap, or. . . ” Briar looked at me as she left the sentence hanging.

I knew what she was getting at, and I couldn’t come up with a good response. “Yeah. So…”

“Anyway, Dash, I keep telling you we aren’t weasels.”

I pointed to Blake and Briar."Well, you two are cats. I'm human. Hey, Rainbow, here's a thought exercise for you: Briar's female, and I'm also female. See if you can imagine what a male might look like."

"Wait seriously? Huh.” Rainbow scrutinized me. "You know what? I think you're lying."

"I'm not lying. I'm Yang Xiao Long."

I saw Blake’s lips quirk for a moment. "Seriously though, Rainbow, Yang and I--or, uh, Yang and Briar. . . . um." She took a moment to clear her throat. How that worked was beyond me. "The thousand young thing was a joke, and she is female, we just have different hair colors. That happens."

Briar continued. "And, anyway, she. . . she's kind of here on business. Like, you know, figuring out what's going on business."

"Very important business” I added.

Rainbow paused to think before shrugging. "Yeah, okay. Just one thing: I know you weasels like to 'wrestle'--"

Blake shouted "RAINBOW!" while Briar facepalmed and said something under her breath.

"--so I'll forgive a few cuts and bite marks, but if you seriously hurt her I'll dump you in a lake, got it?"

“At least it's not the ocean” I thought with a small sigh of relief. "There will be no wrestling here. Of any kind."

"Yeah, sure, I completely believe that. Well, what you do is your business. I'll catch you weasels later." After a quick salute, she took off with a rainbow contrail.

Twilight still had a poker face on after Rainbow was gone. "So. Yes. That was Rainbow Dash."

"Hard to mistake her for anyone else, really” I said. “So, Briar, do you have any other questions?"

"Well. . . how long will you be staying?" Briar asked.

"Until you send me away."

". . . Wait, do you mean. . . you're stuck here? Until I, uh. . . deactivate your Token?"

"That is definitely poor safety protocol" Twilight observed.

I answered Briar. "Just hold it, say something about how I'm done here, and then I'll be on my way back to my Equestria. Hopefully not face first."

". . . and what if we decide never to do that?" Blake asked.

"Blake.” Briar firmly said.

"I'd probably make myself a nuisance until you do send me back" I answered.

"And what if we died before we could send you back?" Blake asked.

Twilight interjected. "Okay. The point that Blake is trying to make is that having transitions be completely out of your control is a very, VERY big issue. I think there might be something for this in the royal library somewhere. . . "

"That is a good point.” Why that never crossed my mind before was a mystery. Another idea came to mind and I voiced it. “Hey, Briar, odd question that we are uniquely qualified to answer: what do you think so far of being female?"

Briar answered. "Well, since I'm female on an alien world where my gender identity is socially secondary to being a foreign species and is in fact occasionally unclear to the locals, I have to say that thus far my opinion runs along the lines of 'my balance is different' and not much else." She crossed her arms and continued. "Your blatant deflection aside, I'm not going to keep you here against your will. Blake was just. . . . curious."

"Curious. . . right." Blake didn’t sound fully confident in her answer.

Twilight talking to herself caught my attention. ". . . could take me a week. . . should be able to find. . . Okay." She turned her attention to us. "So, here's what I'm thinking. I take a quick scan of Yang's ethereal structure, then we send her back--we can call her back in a week for the token-making demonstration. Hopefully by that point I should have found a quantum anchoring spell in the Canterlot Archives, so you" points at Briar "can make your own token and anchor yourself to this reality. Then I'll go back to Yang's reality with her, spend the day there to anchor her to that reality, and then you can call us back. I'm pretty sure that the anchors will let you return to the realities they are anchored to without any problems."

"I figured you wouldn't let her keep me here like that” I said before answering my own question. “As for me, well, my Rarity took me in, got various human fashion magazines from Twilight, which I don't know how she got, and I had to put up with her fashion antics. When she was making my swimwear, she must have made over a hundred sketches easily. Trust me when I say that, while the clothing options available to females is greater, there's also something to be said for fewer choices making things go faster. So whenever you go to visit Rarity, be ready to stop her."

"You. . . you've never been to New York, have you?" Briar asked.

"Nope. Is it a good thing that I haven't been there?"

"Eeeenh. . . . So. Quick recap: we become Displaced by being handed enchanted objects that just so happen to look like critical objects to the supposedly fictional characters we will be transformed into and are sent to random worlds, and nobody knows why these objects exist."

I took a moment to think over Briar’s recap. "Yep. That about sums it up."

"And we make tokens. . . somehow. . . and toss them into the multiverse, where they just land on a random world. . . are you going to have to make a new token now that we've got this one?"

"Nope. It's a one and done thing."

"So. . . it just auto-replicates somehow?"

Twilight briefly interjected. "Actually, given the fractal nature of universal inter-relations, that does make some sense. Although. . . ." Her words soon turned into numbers, which I tuned out.

Blake finished the string of inquires. "And. . . you're not Yang, you just. . . look like her. And you took her name because you forgot your own."

I nodded. "Yes to both of you."

"Right” Briar started. “Well, this reeks of dangerous and unknown mysteries, but I guess there's nothing else we can figure out--"

"Wait. If you know so much about me, you. . . you know how my Yang's. . . . how she's doing. Right?" Blake asked.

I took a moment to answer. "Last I saw, she had a new robotic arm, most likely from Weiss, and was looking for you.”

"Oh. I. . . uh. Was she, uh. . . ." She started shrinking in on herself a bit.

Briar looked at me for a moment before tilting her head towards Blake. I took that as my cue to say something. "I'm pretty sure she'd do anything for you, and not just because you're teammates." At that moment, I remembered something. "Hey, Twilight, scan please?"

"Oh! Right." Twilight’s horn lit up and she cast a spell on me. ". . . Hmm. Interesting. You seem to have. . . well, there is a vacillation in your core ethereal structure, but it's almost entirely balanced. I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't scanned Briar before, the waveform almost completely cancels itself out. . . almost as if it was set to. . . . Anyway, the rest of your ethereal construct is similar to Blake's. Deeply integrated self consistency, an extension manifestation. . . it's not identical, obviously, but it's clear from a thaumic standpoint that you are derived from the same stock. Although. . . hmm. I'm sorry, thought I saw something. I can only get so good a reading without my equipment. It's probably just a small interaction bump, nothing to worry about."

"You can do a better scan next time, right?"

"If you let her strap you to a table" Briar said.

"Don't know if you're into that" Blake added.

"Why would the straps be necessary? Couldn't I just sit on the table?" I asked.

"Science demands accuracy and precision!" Twilight proclaimed. She looked as serious as she sounded.

The serious look gave me a bit of pause. ". . . We'll see how I feel about the idea later."

"So. I. . . guess we're done, for now. . . " Briar stood and held out a hand. "It was certainly interesting meeting you, Yang. Definitely one of the strangest things to happen to me."

I accepted the hand and stood up. “Hopefully, it turns out to be a good thing in the end.”

Twilight attempted to send me away. "Your work here is done, Yang. I hereby send you off!" Nothing happened. I could imagine the crickets chirping. "Okay. That's weird."

"Here." Briar took the token from Twilight. "Thanks for dropping by. See you in a week. Your work here is done!" As the portal opened beneath me, I waved goodbye and got ready for the short interdimensional trip.

I landed on my feet after exiting the portal and looked around. I was back where I was when I was summoned, and it appeared to be a bit later in the day as well.

“Yang!” was all the warning I got before Pinkie wrapped me in a high speed hug. “It’s good to see you again.”

“It’s only been a week” I pointed out.

“Yeah, but it feels like it’s been months. Ooh, I just thought of something I’d like you to try: a breakfast milkshake. Grass-free, of course.”

“Breakfast milkshake?”

“I got some bacon to go yesterday at your place, delicious stuff, by the way, and I’ve done some culinary experimentation with it. Care to try it?”

I was about to politely decline when my stomach growled, answering for me. Briar and blake had taken the fish I was going to try. “I guess I will.”

“Thanks, Yang.” I walked with Pinkie to Sugarcube Corner and took a seat while she set to work on her breakfast milkshake. After a minute, she came out of the kitchen and gave me the shake.

I took a sip of the thick mixture and tasted the bacon, some cheese, and a few vegetables. “It’s not bad, but it’s not the kind of thing I’d have for breakfast. It’s a bit too cold for that.”

“Ah. Well, thanks for the input. I’ve got something else I’d like you to try as well.” A few seconds later, Pinkie had put a plate in front of me with some slightly steaming food on it. “We’ve had breakfast quiches for a while here, but this one is the first here with bacon in it, and I want to make sure I got it right.”

I ate a bite of the quiche, tasting bacon, egg, cheese, and a few vegetables, likely the same kind as were in the shake. “Well, it’s a better breakfast choice than the shake. It’s warmer and simpler, though I think you put a little too much bacon in it.”

“Nonsense!”

“It overpowers the egg, cheese, and crust. Either add more of those or reduce the amount of bacon. If I may ask, is there any reason you wanted me to be your taste tester?”

“Quite simple: Ponies are more herbivorous, griffons are more carnivorous, and while Spike could have helped me, he’s busy, so that just left you. That, and my Pinkie Sense told me you missed breakfast and brunch. As my way of saying ‘thank you’ for trying these out and critiquing them, the quiche and milkshake are on the house.”

“No, they’re on the table.” I pointed to the food in question.

“No, they’re on a plate and in a cup.”

“So they are. And they’re on you?”

“That was only the first time I tried to make them and I was 54% asleep at the time. I was 100% awake after that though.”

“. . . Right. Well, thanks, Pinkie.”

“And here’s the rest of the quiche for you.” Pinkie slid half of the full breakfast pastry, cut into slices, in front of me. “It’s on the house and plate as well. Besides, you need food.”

“Thanks again.” As I ate my free experimental breakfast, I looked outside and let the sun warm my face. “I think I’ll go jogging today since the weather’s good. Three laps around town, late lunch, four more, and then dinner. Gotta change first.”

After I finished my meal and thanked Pinkie, I went home to start my new plan.

A Chilling Experience 1

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“You’re sure about this?” a unicorn who was not tall asked a unicorn who was not short. Both were part of the House Operations Measurement Enclave, tasked with ensuring civilian homes were safe.

“Yes” the unicorn who was not short said. “We have reports that this residence regularly has scalding hot water in the shower. Our orders are to negate the heat.”

“But there’s a restaurant down here too.”

“We can do that without affecting the restaurant. Look, I’ll be honest with you: I don’t like this task either, and I’d rather just not do it, tick it off our list anyways, and be done, but our work will be checked, so we have to do it.”

“Can’t we at least leave them some way to contact us?”

“Officially no, but the back of our forms are blank, and we do have a pencil.”

“I can start on the paperwork while you get the lock started.” The not tall unicorn got the items from the not short unicorn and began filling in the form with letters and numbers, all arranged in ways that could be read and understood. The not tall unicorn also totally did not see an apology letter being written on the back of the form by a second pencil they totally didn’t bring along.

The unicorn who was not short finished their lock spell. “Time for the key.”

“Of course.” The unicorn who was not tall ignited their horn and made the key spell, wove it into the lock spell, and finished the job. “You did use the heat lock, right?”

“Yes. What’s cool and cold will stay cool and cold, what’s warm and hot will become cool and cold.”

“I’ll drop off the envelope.”

I was curled up and shivering like I’ve never shivered before in the basin of my shower with freezing cold water coming down on me. I was taking a normal shower with the water at its hottest when it became ice cold all of a sudden.

I wanted to pick up one of my legs and turn off the water, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it, as that would expose more of me to the frigid water. It took a while for me to figure out that I could scoot closer to the lever a little bit at a time.

It took what felt like an hour, but I finally got to the point where I was able to lift both of my legs up at the same time and turn off the water. I needed heat immediately. I needed a towel.

Still shivering, I began climbing out of the shower tub. It took a while, but I eventually managed to tumble out, landing on my back. The towel on the floor was already absorbing lots of the frigid water from my hair, but I needed more of it out and off of me.

I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror as I curled back up. My skin had a slight blue tone to it. I had to move. I had to get warmed up somehow.

“Yang? Are you here?” That was Gilda.

I had to take a few shuddering breaths to get enough air in my lungs, but once I did, I shouted “HELP!”

To my delight, I heard her talons and claws racing up the stairs. It didn’t take long for her to find me. “What happened?”

“T-t-towel please” was all I could get out.

Gilda quickly grabbed some towels and wrapped them around me before using her wings to hold me against her. “Sweet Celestia, you’re cold.”

“The water. Something happened to the water.” I could feel her body heat at work already. My eyelids began to feel heavy.

“Hey, don’t fall asleep on me now.”

“Anyone here?” someone said from downstairs.

“Brew, we need some hot chocolate upstairs stat! Yang’s cold!”

“Explain while I work!”

“Something happened to the water!”

A moment of silence followed. “It’s fine down here!”

Gilda shook me a bit. “Yang, what happened to the water?”

“Hot, then cold” I said. “Sudden.”

“It suddenly went from hot to cold!”

“I’ve got hot water down here!” Brew responded.

“That’s weird.”

“I’m coming up!” Brew soon joined us, a metal thermos under his wing. “Here.”

Gilda took the cap off the thermos as I slowly reached for it with my slightly blue hands. She put it in my hands and gently pushed it towards me. I put it up against my lips and began drinking the hot chocolate inside. I could feel it warming me up from the inside, and the sugar helped revitalize me. “Thanks.” I was feeling better already and my breathing was returning to a normal rate. I could also see the blue ever so slightly going away from my skin. Eventually, I ran out of hot chocolate, but at least I was feeling much better. “You said the water was fine downstairs?”

“I got the hot water for the chocolate just fine from the tap” Brew said. “You said that the hot water turned cold up here?”

“I take my showers at temperatures that would scald just about anyone else. If I recall what Silver Pipe said, the hot water up here comes out at 150 degrees at the hottest.”

“So you take showers at 150 degrees.”

“Yes. It’s nice to be burnproof and practically immune to heat. I can work out in the sun all day without a worry, I can wear all black in the kitchen all day and not break a sweat, and I can handle hot things left and right without burning my hands. It’s part of why I stay in the kitchen.

“Also, could you two leave me for a bit? I need to put on my clothes, and I’m not keen on being undressed around anyone.”

“Alright” Gilda said. “Want the door closed too?”

“Yes, please.”

Gilda and Brew left, taking the empty thermos and closing the door on the way out. Once they were gone, I got to my feet. I was a bit shaky, but otherwise alright. I turned around to the shower and turned the lever all the way to full heat. Normally, there would be some steam in a matter of moments, but there wasn’t any. In fact, the air was getting a bit of a chill to it. I turned the water off before the bathroom got too cold, then got dressed for work.

I was sure I could afford to spend a few minutes basking on the roof to warm back up, so I did just that. I made sure my hair was spread out to help get the remaining cold water out. It wasn’t quite as warm as previous months, being the middle of September, but it wasn’t cold. My black clothes helped me warm back up, and I was feeling better quickly.

My eyes were starting to droop closed when Gilda came up. “Got something in the mail for you.”

“Hm?” I sat up and accepted the letter. It was from the House Operations Measurement Enclave. I’d never heard of such a group, and I didn’t like their name. It had a nice acronym though.

I opened it and saw a form detailing that my house was under suspicion for me secretly burning foals with scalding hot water and that the appropriate action to take was to make all the hot water turn cold with a temperature cap of 60 degrees. I could probably tolerate that, but it wouldn’t be very nice.

“Hey, there’s something on the back” Gilda said. I turned it around and saw a more traditional letter.

Dear Yang Xiao Long,
First off: We wish to apologize for turning your hot water cold. The reason we were given for doing this is that an anonymous source said you were burning foals for fun with scalding hot water. We’re sure this is a lie, since what we both know about you doesn’t line up with that and we don’t really like anonymous sources.
We’ve drawn out the diagram for the key spell needed to undo the lock spell, and we’ve also diagrammed the lock spell as well for convenience.
If you come after us, we’ll understand why. Whatever we have to do to make up for it, we’ll do.
Sincerely, H.O.M.E. Team 32, Cinnamon Roll and Window Frame

“I should probably bring this to Twilight’s attention tomorrow. She’ll know how to handle this.”

“Why not today?”

“Twilight said she was taking today off last week, and even as a friend, I’m not going to bother her with this. It can wait for court tomorrow. Besides, today’s Friday, and I have a grill to run.”

“Fair enough. You going to be alright today?”

“Maybe a bit clingier to the heat, but otherwise alright. I’ll just have to make a sign of some kind so I don’t go in the shower tomorrow and freeze again.” Snowflakes and icicles sounded like a good theme for the sign.

“Alright. I’ll see you inside.” Gilda left me on the roof with the letter/form and did a big fancy loop that took her up into the air before landing right at the front door. That got a bit of applause from me before I jumped down and went inside. I had to double check who was going to be there that day so I could make something for each of them on the grill.

Saturday came and I very nearly took a shower. If it weren’t for the sign I’d made, I might have frozen myself to the hospital. Or maybe the sauna. The thought crossed my mind to go to the spa sometime.

As happened on weekends at the castle, it was busier than weekdays. Fortunately, there were books to read and I’d had a good breakfast: a loaded baked potato with burnt ends in it. Gavan came up with the idea and it’s been a hit among the staff. We were also planning to start offering it very soon, hopefully to general approval.

My tax free period was also coming to an end, but with the way things were looking, we could even jump to the full tax rate (15% of the Carne Den’s income) and still be doing spectacularly well. I didn’t know the exact numbers off the top of my head, but we’ve had days recently where our profits were as high as 1,000 bits, though the daily profit tended to hover more around 600 bits.

Eventually, my turn came and I went into Twilight’s court. “Hi, Yang. What brings you to my court today?”

I produced the form/letter I had gotten. “This should explain it.”

Twilight brought the paper to herself and read it over a few times. “It is official, but I’ve never heard of this House Operations Measurement Enclave. ”

“They did their thing to the water pipes while I was in the shower yesterday.” I shivered at the mere memory of the frigid water. “If it weren’t for Gilda and Brew getting me warmed back up, who knows where I’d be right now?

“Personally, I think one of the nobles from Canterlot is behind this. They seem to be the only ones who are going after me.”

“Would you mind if I read your memory of the event?”

“Go ahead.”

Twilight read my memory and we were both shivering at the end of it. “Yang, I swear upon my tiara that you will have answers within a week and justice the week after. You could have ended up in the hospital or worse if you hadn’t turned off the water and been warmed back up.

“Also, I caught a glimpse of a baked potato with burnt ends in your memory. It looked good.”

“If you can restore the hot water, I’ll give both you and Spike one.”

“Well, with these diagrams, it’s going to be really easy. If you want, you can use my shower today. Take as long as you want. We’ll go to your place together.” I wasn’t prepared for her to casually offer her shower like that, but I wasn’t about to question it either.

I’d been in Twilight’s bathroom before, but that was shortly after I woke up here. Looking back on that time, well, I’ve come a long way since my arrival, even if I generally stay in town. As usual, I turned the water to its highest temperature, and it felt nice. I could feel my concerns about the cold water in my shower melting away, both from the heat and Twilight’s promise to take care of the problem at home.

“Excuse me, who are you?” I asked the unicorn behind my house.

“Inspector Cold Gaze of the House Operations Measurement Enclave. Who are you?”

Did this stallion live under a rock? Or a glacier? “Yang Xiao Long. I live here.”

“Were you the one who had this temperature lock on Yang’s water installed?” Twilight asked.

“No, I’m just an inspector.”

“Do you even know why this lock was put here?”

“No. All I do is inspect the lock spells that are in place.” Twilight’s response was to pull out the lock spell circle, unlock it, and make a show of shattering both the lock and key sections. Cold Gaze didn’t even flinch. “I’ll be sure to add that to the report, Princess.”

“I also want you to put in that report that I want everyone in the House Operations Measurement Enclave in my court on Wednesday, even if they’re sick or injured. Yang came close to having a severe case of hypothermia yesterday thanks to your group.”

“My apologies for that. I’ll put that in the report as well. I’ll see you on Wednesday.” Cold Gaze left and it felt like the temperature back there went up a little bit.

“Thanks, Twilight” I said. “Say, if you wouldn’t mind checking the water upstairs, I’ll get those baked potatoes made.”

“Sure thing.”

Twilight and I went into the kitchen through the back door and I started on the potatoes while she went upstairs. While I was fixing them, Gavan came in. “Baked potatoes for lunch?”

“They’re for Twilight and Spike” I answered. “She just fixed the cold water problem from yesterday, which is a huge relief for me. She’s getting one for that and Spike, well, he should get one too. He’s awesome.”

“And if she likes it, we could use that as an endorsement to sell them.”

“Really? I didn’t think of that. Say, how’s the family doing back in the Empire?”

“Better and better every week. They’ve hired a few more griffons over the past couple weeks and are saving up to come visit us in December.”

“I thought you came here by yourself?” I got a small plate of stashed burnt ends from storage and started putting some in the spuds once they were warm.

“I did. I’ve simply come to see everyone here as family too. How about you?”

I thought on that for a bit. “Yeah, I think I do as well.”

Twilight came down just as I finished putting the potatoes in a box. “Good news, Yang: the water is back to normal and I’ve even enchanted the showerhead to heat the water up another ten degrees just for you.”

“Awesome! You’re the best, Twi. Burnt ends?” I held up the plate of meat.

“Sure thing.” Twilight got three and floated them to herself, along with the prepared and packed potatoes. “Thanks. They’re good. Anyways, I’d better get back to the castle.” With a flash, Twilight vanished.

A rolled up letter popped into existence in front of me while I was preparing some food. I caught it and set it aside to read as soon as I could. I wasn’t about to lose the rhythm I had going.

It took about 15 minutes for a lull to appear in the kitchen. I took the letter to the office to read it.

Dear Yang,
Those baked potatoes with burnt ends in them were really, really good. I don’t know how you came up with the idea to do that, but it’s amazing. Spike wants to know when they’re going to be on the menu so he can be the first to order one.
I’ve also sent a letter to Celestia informing her of what happened to you yesterday and she’s already got ponies looking into the House Operations Measurement Enclave. She’s never heard of it either, but she shares our suspicions that one of the nobles on the council is behind it, if not more than one of them.
Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle

After reading the letter, I set it aside and smiled. I’d have answers to this soon enough.

A Chilling Experience 2

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It was Wednesday afternoon, and I was in Twilight’s court, along with a couple hundred ponies, mostly unicorns, all from the House Operations Measurement Enclave. Not a single noble was in sight. A faint scent of apples filled the air.

“Quiet, everyone” Twilight said, silencing everyone present. “I’m sure we all have other things we’d like to do today, so let’s make this quick and honest. Will Cinnamon Roll and Window Frame please step forward?”

The two ponies, a mare and a stallion, came forward. The mare, Cinnamon Roll, if her colors were any indication, spoke first. “Miss Xiao Long, Window Frame and I are very sorry for what we did.”

“Please explain for everyone what you did.”

Window Frame answered. “We followed our orders to put a temperature lock on the water for the residence of Miss Xiao Long, the reason given to us being an anonymous report that she was burning foals with the scalding hot water. Neither of us believed it for a moment based on what we knew about her, but we were under a lot of pressure. H.O.M.E. was about to be checked on, and if we didn’t do it, funding would have been cut and we would have been out of our jobs.”

“So you did it to ensure you would keep your jobs?”

“It’s the first job I’ve had in three months. I also knew that, if it wasn’t Cinnamon and I who did it, some other team that might not be as considerate would have done it, and not left the letter we did.”

“Four months for me” Cinnamon added.

“Noted” Twilight said. “Are you aware that Yang got a case of hypothermia due to your actions?” A heavy silence fell over everyone in the court and I shivered a bit. “She was in the shower when the lock spell was put on the water line and, as Yang has told me, she takes very hot showers. The abrupt and severe temperature decrease likely put her in a state of shock for a period of time, during which she started showing signs of hypothermia before she was able to get out. If it weren’t for the timely arrival of Gilda and Brew, Yang might have had to go to the hospital. Yang, would you kindly give everyone a brief explanation for why you take such hot showers?”

I stood up to deliver my answer. “I take showers at the highest temperature possible because it’s comfortable for me, I’m burnproof, and I’m not hurt by the heat. Something I’d like to know is just who it was that found out my water preferences and how, since it’s something I don’t share with anyone.”

“Thank you, Yang. Cinnamon Roll, Window Frame, you may return to your seats. Cold Gaze, please come forward.” The inspector Twilight and I met came up as the other two went back. “When Yang and I met you, you were inspecting the lock spell put on the water lines by Cinnamon Roll and Window Frame, right?”

“Yes” Cold Gaze answered. “You also broke the lock and key spells like they were nothing.”

“Did you do any research into Yang’s history in Equestria?”

“Unfortunately, I could not. H.O.M.E. does not have the resources to do that kind of research, and I’ve been kept there for long hours recently, preventing me from doing the research outside of work.”

Twilight’s face was not one of amusement. “Who scheduled you like that?”

“They sent for me to fill in other inspectors’ shifts.”

“I see. Who sent for you?”

“Tailwind. He runs H.O.M.E.” I snickered a bit as Twilight dismissed Cold Gaze and called up Tailwind, a light blue pegasus with white wings.

“Tailwind, is it true you sent for Cold Gaze in the days around when Yang’s water got locked?”

“Yes” Tailwind answered. “I saw some notes on my desk stating that inspectors Corn Stalk, Sonic Bliss, and Top Hat wouldn’t be able to make it in for a few days due to some notable horn damage. The notes also strongly suggested Cold Gaze fill in all their shifts. He has shown himself to be the best inspector we have, so I went with it. I flew over to his apartment, informed him of what happened, and he agreed to fill the shifts.

“On a side note, I’m wondering why those three’s horns look perfectly fine when the notes all said there was enough damage to have caused minor bleeding.”

In short order, Tailwind was dismissed while Corn Stalk, Sonic Bliss, and Top Hat were brought up. Twilight looked over all their horns. “Your horns are perfectly healthy, if in need of a little filing here and there. Now, I’m going to ask all three of you the same questions, and I’d like you to answer in alphabetical order of your names. Now, why would you send in a note saying you can’t work due to your horns having taken enough damage to cause minor bleeding when that’s clearly not the case?”

Corn Stalk went first. “A noble unicorn visited me and said I should stay home for a few days before writing something and giving me a bag with a whole two week’s worth of bits. He assured me that my job was safe and left. I never did see what he wrote.”

Sonic Bliss was next. “That happened to you too?”

Top Hat went last. “That happened to you two too?”

“Can you describe this noble unicorn?” Twilight asked. I suspected that she was thinking of the Canterlot council, just as I was.

Once again, the three began their answers. “Well, he was tan and rather big. Certainly didn’t look like he was short on snacks.”

“He had a black jacket on over a frilly yellow shirt. He also had some thick glasses on.”

“His mane and tail were a very bright green. I swear it looked like it could glow in the dark.”

“Thanks you, all three of you” Twilight said. “Tailwind, please come back up.”

The pegasus came back. “Yes, Princess?”

“How long has H.O.M.E. been around?”

“Only a month or so.”

“Do you know who established it?”

“A noble. Sir Safehouse. He sometimes visits me for updates and information to see how H.O.M.E. is doing. Wait a minute!” Tailwind’s expression became one of shock as he connected the dots.

“One more question, if you don’t mind.”

“Yes?”

“Where does H.O.M.E. get its funding?”

“From the crown, like any other government agency.”

“Thank you. You’re dismissed.” As Tailwind went back, Twilight thought for a bit and cleared her throat. “I’ve come to a verdict: H.O.M.E. will be shut down and dissolved. Everyone here will get the equivalent of two weeks pay to help tide them over while they find a new job. Sir Safehouse will be found and punished for interference and bribery of government officials, and damages to Yang Xiao Long. That’s all.”

As the ponies from H.O.M.E. began talking among themselves and leaving, I followed Twilight out through a hallway. Something was bugging me. “Hey, Twilight?”

“Yes, Yang?”

“That court session seemed a little, well, surreal to me. For one thing, there wasn’t any actual evidence presented, and it just felt a bit too easy.”

“I can assure you that everything that was said was honest and true. Before you ask how, let me answer: the crystal that makes up this castle has various magical properties, including those of the elements of harmony. Over the years, I’ve found that different elements come out more than others depending on what’s going on. During trials, the element of honesty is stronger in the courtroom than usual, making the truth come out more easily. It’s a subtle kind of magic with a big impact.”

“So, magic then?”

“Yes, magic. Now, how should Sir Safehouse be punished?”

I thought for a moment. “Go public with the trial?”

“Hm?”

“Release the story to the newspapers. ‘Noble Sir Safehouse revealed to have plotted against Yang Xiao Long’. With my hero status, it would be a huge story.”

“That sounds like a good idea. Fortunately, I have a transcript of the trial. I can copy it, collaborate with Celestia and Luna, send it to the various newspapers, and have them all release it on the same day.”

“Sounds good. Now I just have to figure out what I’m going to do for the rest of the day.” I had prepared myself for the trial to take a few hours, not for it to be blitzed through with the power of ambient honesty magic.

“Oh, could you do me a favor and take these to Rarity?” Twilight suddenly had a few thick books in her magical grasp. “And while you’re there, talk to her about winter clothing. I suspect you’re very susceptible to the cold, even for humans. A normal person should have been able to survive the cold water, maybe not as long as you were probably exposed, but certainly they would have been able to turn off the water very quickly.”

I thought about Twilight’s explanation while I accepted the books. It certainly made sense. Even back on Earth, scrawny as I was, I was able to stand some degree of low temperatures. Everything she explained made sense. “Is there any way to find out who found out about my scalding shower preferences and how?”

“Unfortunately, no. The best we can do is punish Sir Safehouse for what he did, interfering with a government agency, bribing officials, and somehow orchestrating what I’m really tempted to call an attack on your person.”

“They really have it out for me, don’t they?”

“And it’s petty revenge at that. Going after you for pointing out the flaws in their proposals and shooting them down while passing Fancy and Fleur’s instead is, well, I’ve seen foals better behaved than them. I hope this is the last such incident from any of them.”

“Let’s hope so. Anyways, thanks again, and I’ll see you later.”

“Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything is-oh, hello Yang” Rarity said as soon as I walked in. “I haven’t seen you for a while.”

“Where do you want these?” The books weren’t heavy for me, but I wanted to put them somewhere.

“More books from Twilight? I’ll take those.” Rarity took all the books from me with her magic and sent them to her inspiration room. “How have you been?”

“I’ve discovered that I’ve got a weakness to the cold. That being said, I’m going to need some winter clothes.”

“But it’s only mid-September. The temperatures don’t start getting significantly lowered until late October.”

“Very weak to the cold.” I told Rarity about what happened with the cold water and the trial, sparing a few minor details to speed the tale along.

“That’s dreadful. Is there anything in particular you want with your winter clothes?”

“Hmm. . . Can you put warming spells in them?”

“Certainly.”

“Thanks, Rarity.”

“I’ll get started on some sketches then. Come back tomorrow and we can go over them to see what you like.”

“I’ll come by around noon then.” After bidding Rarity farewell, I went back home. I had to redesign the menus to accommodate the barbecue baked potatoes for their official release on Sunday.

A Chilling Experience 3

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“Sorry I’m late, Rarity. I had to take care of some Carne Den business.” The printing press ponies had decided to offer their input on my new menu’s design, which did make it look better, but took more time than I would have liked.

“It’s no problem, dear.” Rarity took a sip of her coffee. It looked like she hadn’t slept much at all. “Let’s talk style and warmth.”

I looked through the pile of sketches Rarity had made, many of which had fur lining and details. Where the fur would come from was something I didn’t want to know, nor why ponies would wear it. “All of these are designed to cover my whole body, right?”

“Of course. I can sympathize with the discomfort of a spot of cold seeping through your clothes, though I imagine it would be more painful in your case.”

“That does help explain the dress-like designs. The entirety of my legs will be covered as well, right?”

“Of course. And there will also be quality footwear as well. I came up with the minimum design requirements of each piece last night. I wrote them down, but I’m not sure where I put the list.”

I found a piece of paper that didn’t have a sketch, but instead had a list. “Is this it?”

“Oh, yes it is. Thanks. It must have gotten mixed in with the pictures.” She yawned in a very un-ladylike manner. “Sorry, sorry.”

“Rarity.”

“Yes?”

“It’s 2 PM.”

“And?”

“Have you been sketching since I left yesterday?”

“Yes.”

I set the sketches down. “Get some sleep.”

“I can’t do that now. We need to figure out your winter ensemble so I can get started on it immediately.”

“I’m not apologizing for this, Rarity.” I reached over to the mare, put a finger on each eyelid, and pulled them down like a pair of blinds. A few seconds later, Rarity’s head drooped and she was asleep on the spot. I picked her up and took her to her bed. After tucking her in, I went back downstairs to the sketches.

“Hi Yang.”

“Hi Sweetie.”

A few seconds later, Sweetie was next to me. “Where’s Rarity?”

“Asleep upstairs. I took the liberty of feeding Opal after I tucked her in.”

“Oh, well, thanks. So, I heard about what happened with the shower.”

“That was not fun, and I apparently have a weakness to the cold. I had hypothermia because of that. It should be in the newspaper sometime soon. Anyways, I’m seeing what ideas Rarity came up with for my winter clothes. Celestia knows I’ll need them.”

Celestia read over the incident report, court transcript, and notes Twilight had sent her. “Hmm. . . Yang’s going to need some serious winter clothes. I’ll make Sir Safehouse pay for them.”

“It won’t be cheap, you know.”

“Better that than feeling really cold when it’s only in the 40’s.”

“I guess so. Any of them in particular catch your eye?”

“Well, I do like this simple one here. Nothing fancy or eye catching about it. Then there’s this one that resembles my work clothes. I’ll admit that while I do like how a lot of these look, I don’t want anything flashy or tight.”

“Any particular reason?”

“I just prefer simpler designs. I’ve never really liked wearing flashy patterns, and with my body’s shape, tight clothes would be a bit much for my liking.”

“What about the clothes you wear when you go running? Don’t those show off your body?”

“. . . I’m going to pick some more simple stuff from these designs, leave a note, and head home.”

Gilda greeted me almost as soon as I walked in. It was between the late lunch and early dinner time, so it wasn’t too busy. “Two unicorns came in looking for jobs while you were out. I told them to find you at the grill tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Gilda. Anything else of interest?”

“I heard a rumor from Ají that something related to the cold shower event is going to be published in the papers across Equestria soon.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised. So, how are the wait staff and bartenders doing?”

“Quite well. And the kitchen staff?”

“Adept at handling rushes.”

“So we don’t have any openings available for now for those two unicorns then.”

“Nope. I’ll let them know tomorrow.”

The Next Day

“Cinnamon Roll and Window Frame, right?”

“Yes” Window Frame answered. “We were wondering if we could get jobs here.”

I took a breath before breaking the bad news to them. “Unfortunately, there aren’t any openings. I’m sorry.”

“Is it because of the thing with the shower water?” Cinnamon Roll asked.

“No, and I don’t hold that against either of you. We really don’t have any positions that need to be filled. But, since you two have been so sincere and forthcoming about your part in it, I’ll be willing to cut you two a deal: two bacon and veggie kebabs for the price of one. Three bits.”

They looked at each other and quietly figured out what to do. “Is this bacon stuff any good?” Cinnamon asked. I didn’t have to say anything because all the patrons on the patio answered for me with a resounding positive answer, even if they didn’t say the same thing. “I guess we’ll do that then.”

“Three bits, please.” While the bits were put in the payment jar, I picked out two skewers and began loading them with vegetables and bacon squares. Once they were ready to go, I set them on the grill.

While the kebabs were cooking, I saw a mare walk up to Cinnamon Roll and Window Frame and offer each of them a whole strip of bacon. The duo, as I’d seen happen before, carefully tried the bacon. Also as I’d seen happen before, the rest of the strip vanished really quickly. The two sat down at an empty table and I could only imagine that they were talking about the bacon.

After sprinkling some cheese on top of the kebabs and letting it melt a bit, I brought the food over to Cinnamon Roll and Window Frame, who both were quick to dig in. “Oh, this stuff is good” Cinnamon Roll said around a mouthful of food.

“Oh yeah” Window Frame agreed as soon as he swallowed his food. “This is amazing.”

I left the two to their meal and went back to the grill. Moments later, someone I wasn’t expecting to see showed up. “Hello, Rarity.”

“Hello, Yang. I saw your note and choices from yesterday, and, well, I also want to thank you for making me get some sleep. Inspiration is one of the best and worst things I have.”

“I can see that.”

“Anyways, I can only make one of the winter outfits with the materials I’ve got right now. Aside from that, I can make some in-between clothes for you, something for when it’s not warm enough for your usual clothes and not cold enough for the winter outfits. I can have some warm clothes ready for you to try on Monday, and the one winter outfit on Thursday.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Also, unrelated, in my rush at home, I only had a small bite to eat, so I’m a little hungry. Can I have three veggie kebabs with no meat on them?”

“Six bits, please.” As Rarity paid, I started on her kebabs. “So, anything else new?”

“Not really, no. How about you?”

“I’ve got vague and tasty plans for Sunday.”

“I wish you luck with those plans then.” Rarity found some ponies to talk with while her food was cooking. After the cheese on Rarity’s kebabs was on and nicely melted, I put them on a plate and brought them to her. She was quick to thank me and return to her gossip.

Sunday

Spike was the first guest of the day, and he was the first to order the barbecue baked potato. His order was only the first of many like it.

“Gavan, you’ve created something amazing” I told him during a half hour stretch of almost nothing but orders for the new food. “How did you come up with it?”

“Kind of by accident” he told me as we worked. “There was a potato that had some barbecue sauce spilled on it, making it unusable for customers. I didn’t want it to go to waste, so I claimed it for my lunch, along with a few burnt ends. The potato tasted really good with the sauce on it, then I put some burnt ends in it, and it was even better. I did a bit of experimentation after that, and the rest is recent history.”

Sylvia came in at that moment. “Hey guys, I just heard a funny compliment. I asked one of our regulars what he thought of the barbecue baked potato, and he said that, like every other time he gets some food here, it vanished and took his hunger with it, replacing it with a feeling so good, he gave us some of his money. It happened again today, and he just can’t figure out how or why it happens.”

“If it’s not magic, I’ve got no idea” I said. “Maybe he should have some dessert to see if it happens again?”

“It probably will happen again.” Sylvia left us and went back to the tables.

“I’m definitely going to remember that compliment.”

A Chilling Experience 4

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YANG XIAO LONG NEARLY HOSPITALIZED

On Friday, September 4th, Equestrian hero and Carne Den owner Yang Xiao Long went into a state of shock when her shower water went from scalding hot to nearly freezing. If it weren’t for the actions of the Carne Den’s co-owner Gilda and accountant Brew Binary, she may have wound up in Ponyville General Hospital with a severe case of hypothermia.

Court documents from the 9th indicate that the cause of the change in water temperature was a result of two unicorns working for a government entity known as the Home Operations Measurement Enclave, or H.O.M.E. The unicorns who carried out the act, Cinnamon Roll and Window Frame, used a lock and key pair of spells to make Yang Xiao Long’s hot water turn frigid cold. “We don’t like what we did” Cinnamon Roll told the Canterlot Times in an interview. “But at the time, we had no other choice. We thought that, if it wasn’t us that did it, some other team would do it and not leave a letter with the forms like we did.”

During the trial, held under the authority of Princess Twilight Sparkle, H.O.M.E. was revealed to have only officially existed as a government entity for a month, and its existence was kept quiet until the events leading to the trial. Its stated purpose was to ensure safety in homes, but it also had the authority to take action directly in order to rectify any reported problems, whether with the actual structure or with the residents of the home. The reason given to H.O.M.E. was an anonymous report of Yang Xiao Long using scalding hot water to burn foals. An investigation of hospital records and inquiries of the local populace, done by the Canterlot Times, brought up no records of foals in Ponyville getting burned at any point during Yang Xiao Long’s five months in Equestria.

At the end of the trial, it came to light that Sir Safehouse of the Canterlot Council was the one who started H.O.M.E., bribed three of its inspectors to stay home during the period of time when Yang Xiao Long’s house was under their investigation, recommended a particular inspector for inspecting the lock and key spells, and delivered the anonymous letter to H.O.M.E. Princess Twilight Sparkle has stated that the ponies working for H.O.M.E. shall not be punished, as the loss of their jobs is hard enough and they were not actively or intentionally harming anyone. Sir Safehouse, for the revelations of bribery of government officials and interference with government processes, will be punished as soon as he can be removed from his safehouse. It is widely believed by the staff of the Canterlot Times that he also was the one who orchestrated what happened to Yang Xiao Long.

Yang Xiao Long had this to say about H.O.M.E.: “Obviously, I don’t like that organization for what they did to me, but aside from that, I still don’t like them. It’s like they think we’re too stupid to know how to safely live our lives, but that’s wrong. We are smart enough to know how to go about our lives without their oversight and their premise of safety is simply a way to force people to behave in certain ways. If they were to tell people how to build buildings, then buildings would become more expensive due to how much extra it would cost to meet their codes, and any that already exist might need renovations to meet those codes as well, also expensive. It’s just not good for anyone.”

Princess Twilight Sparkle was asked about H.O.M.E. as well: “It was a vestigial government body not approved or known by any of the Princesses, and intruded upon the sanctity of individual freedoms and responsibilities. Additionally, due to environmental and cultural differences, the same building and safety standards can’t be applied everywhere equally, nor should they ever be in the first place. Building a house in Ponyville is very different from building one in Canterlot, Los Pegasus, or Cloudsdale.”

The Princesses, in the wake of this case, have started looking at various other crown funded entities and evaluating whether or not they are at all necessary to keep. According to them, it’s a process that could take several months to fully sort out, and have taken two sessions of the Lunar and Solar Courts out of each week to help expedite their evaluations until it’s done, leaving four sessions of each per week.

October

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“So, everyone dresses up and goes around asking for candy?” I asked Pinkie as I gave her the veggie and bacon kebab she ordered.

“Yepperoonie” she confirmed before cleaning the skewer in one go. “Nightmare Night is all kinds of fun for everyone. Costumes, candy, activities, scary stories, Luna making an appearance, the usual.” Sounded like Halloween to me. “Rarity even has a costume for you, all ready to go.”

“I’ll be sure to look at it. Oh, and Pinkie?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you please go back to wherever you came from however you got here?” I was pretty sure she came out of my hair since her head was upside down and her face was inches from mine. “I need to focus on the grill.”

“Right!” Pinkie disappeared and I got back to the grill. Fortunately, all the other orders were still in order. As long as I was focused on that, I wouldn’t be quite as disturbed by Pinkie’s method of arrival.

Her message did have me wondering what Rarity had made for me.

“I have mixed feelings about this, Rarity” I said as I looked in the mirror at the boutique. “It looks good and fits perfectly, but I don’t think I can bring myself to wear it out in public.”

“Is it the skirt?”

“Partly.”

“You do realize you always wear one when you’re working, right? And your winter clothes are essentially dresses as well.”

“Yeah, but I have pants on under those, so it’s not really an issue. This doesn’t. I feel. . . Exposed, like this. How did you even come up with this anyways?”

“Twilight gave me another book she made that was full of pictures, and that outfit was in one of them.” Rarity floated a thick book over and started going through its pages. “By the way, do you know how to pronounce the title of this album?”

I saw the title and read it. “Animesque.” The outfit suddenly made a bit more sense in its looks and design.

“Thanks, dear. Ah, here it is.” Rarity showed me the picture. “I may not have made an original, but this is still a new set of pictures.”

The only things missing from my version of the outfit was the weaponry, which Rarity probably hadn’t made yet. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she was already working on props of them.

“So, is there anything else you don’t care for?” Rarity asked.

“Aside from the skirt, I don’t really like how my thighs are exposed, which I guess is an extension of the skirt thing. I also don’t really like how the straps emphasize my body. It does look good, but it just doesn’t work for me. Sorry.”

Rarity sighed. “I guess that means you won’t be celebrating Nightmare Night in costume, then?”

“I guess not. In fact, I think I’ll just pass on celebrating altogether.” Why the idea of not celebrating hadn’t struck me earlier was beyond me, but it was a good idea. I could spend the night just resting. Everyone working for and with me keep saying that, anyways.

“Well, at least keep the costume. It actually is fire resistant, so you could use it for fire rescues with style. Who knows, you may even like wearing it someday.”

“Everyone, I have an announcement” I said to everyone who worked for me. “I’ve just learned of some fall and winter holidays recently, so here’s what’s going to happen: we will be closed for Nightmare Night, the Fall Feast Feastival, Hearth’s Warming, and New Year’s.”

“Just those days?” Ají asked.

“No. Nightmare Night is the only single closed day. For the Fall Feast Festival, we will also be closed the days before and after it. I’ll even open my house to you and your families for it. I’ll even do all the cooking myself. As for December’s holidays, we’ll be closed from Hearth’s Warming through New Year’s day. It will be a chance for us all to rest and catch up with friends and family.”

“What if we want to visit you?” one of the griffon waitresses asked.

“The restaurant will be closed, but I won’t turn down anyone visiting me. That’s how it will be any time we’re closed, except for Nightmare Night. I have a plan for that night.” It was a very devious and cunning plan indeed.

It was Nightmare Night, and I left home with some warm clothes on. Rarity had met the trifecta of details perfectly: warm, comfy, and stylish, though I didn’t care as much for the last as I did the first two. Better yet, Sir Safehouse had paid for them, along with the heavier duty winter clothes Rarity was finishing up for me.

By going around the center of town, I was able to avoid most of the festivities. I did encounter a herd of costumed foals, among which was a unicorn filly dressed like me in my combat outfit. She even gave me a couple of her chocolate bars, which I accepted, though handled lightly so they wouldn’t melt.

After that, I found my destination and knocked on the door. “Please go away! There’s no candy here!”

“I’m not here for candy, Fluttershy.” Seconds later, the door opened a bit and the pegasus peeked out. “Mind if I come in?”

“Oh, of course Yang, please do.” After I entered, Fluttershy closed the door. “You’re not celebrating Nightmare Night?”

“Nah. I didn’t really care for the costume Rarity made for me, even though it looked really good. That, and I just wanted a quiet night, but it was boring being home alone.”

“Oh. Well, what do you want to do?”

“Got any games?”

“How does checkers sound?”

“Sounds good to me.” And so we played checkers. More often than not, Fluttershy won. After we were done going against each other, we tried moving the pieces so that both sides were swapped without a single jump, something I’d heard of being possible. Once we got it, Fluttershy and I had tea and chocolate together on her couch.

Eventually, the refreshments ran out and we were left with each other. “Secret plan time” I thought. “Fluttershy?”

“Yes, Yang?”

“Can I get a hug?”

“Sure.” Fluttershy hugged me and my secret plan was a resounding success. “You’re warm.”

“And you’re soft.” I returned the hug and all was well in the cottage.

The day after Nightmare Night started off on an interesting note. I’d stayed overnight at Fluttershy’s by accident when my Fluttershy hug plan went too well and a mostly ponyless pony pile was made on the living room floor. I was under Fluttershy, and then a whole bunch of other animals decided they’d join us. There was even a bear cub that became my pillow.

How Fluttershy tamed down all these animals to the point they were so friendly with everyone was beyond me.

After a nice breakfast, I wished Fluttershy a good day and went back home. It was a crisp, cold morning with a thin layer of frost on the ground and my breath visible in the air. The clothes I had on kept most of the chill at bay and my hair was thick enough to protect my ears a bit, but it still wasn’t pleasant. “Note to self: get earmuffs.” As I thought about the upcoming winter, the idea of hibernating crossed my mind, along with trips to the sauna at the spa.

Adressing an Issue

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“Oh Ya~ng” Rarity’s voice sang from the opposite side of my bedroom door.

“Come in, Rarity.”

Rarity entered with a number of boxes. “And those are?”

“The rest of your winter clothes. What are you doing in bed?”

“It’s my day off and I want to spend it in my warm bed.”

“But it’s almost six PM.”

“Warm bed!”

“You’re trying to avoid touching the floor, aren’t you?”

“That too. It’s chilly. And my current warm clothes don’t do quite enough against the chill.”

“Then it’s a good thing I made these.” Rarity floated out a pair of fuzzy slippers that matched my robe colors. “And these.” She also floated out a pair of pyjamas colored like my robe. The burning heart logo was emblazoned on the back of the top piece. “Comfortable, soft, and imbued with heating enchantments to keep every part of you nice and warm, even in the middle of the coldest nights.”

“Ooh, thanks. Gimme.” Rarity obliged my childishly worded request and after I got the new clothes, I covered myself with the blanket to change into them. After they were all on, I took the blanket off and did not feel the cold air that I had been with the robe, nor the chill of the floor on my feet. “I love them, Rarity. It’s almost like wearing the blanket.”

“I knew you would love those. You know, in all the time I’ve been making clothes, never before have I met someone who actually needed them like you do, especially around winter.”

“Hm?”

“Ponies usually only need a hat and scarf at the most, since our fur helps keep us warm. Other clothes are usually for showing off wealth or power.”

“Okay, I can see the hat for winter, covering the ears, but why would a scarf be necessary?” From what I could recall, pony scarves didn’t come close to covering the whole neck.

“To go with the hat, of course.” I decided not to ask any further on the scarves. “Most other winter clothes that ponies wear are worn by designated outdoor crews, though in your case, it’s more survival than anything. I can’t even begin to imagine what it must be like with your crippling weakness to the cold.”

“Yes you can.”

“Yes, I can. Anyways, I’ve taken a few extra steps for your new clothes. I made new hangers for them so you can just grab one and everything’s on there, aside from undergarments, footwear, and gloves. I’ve also added quick drying enchantments to your outdoor clothes so they don’t stay wet from the snow very long.”

“Wow. What prompted you to go so far with that?”

“You mean aside from my usual sense of generosity and how much you need them? I got a letter from Celestia telling me that, due to his actions leading to your hypothermia incident, Sir Safehouse would be the one paying for all of your winter clothes as part of his punishment, so there may have been a bit of vengeance mixed in there as well.”

“Vengeful generosity then. That’s certainly a new thing.”

“I also took advantage of the situation to completely restock on all my materials, add a little more storage for my materials, and have a good lunch at the Olive Branch cafe. Oh, that reminds me, I have something else to tell you.”

“Yeah?”

“There’s an event next month in Canterlot that Princess Celestia has requested that you attend. She made it very clear in the letter that you have to attend, and she won’t take ‘no’ for an answer.”

“What is it?”

“The annual Entrepreneur Awards Ceremony. Everyone who’s started a new business in Equestria is strongly encouraged to attend, not only in case they win something, but also to expand their connections.”

“Why does she want me to attend?”

“To annoy the nobles, I presume. The Canterlot Council always attends these events to try and absorb the new businesses to increase their wealth. Knowing what they think of you though, they probably won’t even try to absorb the Carne Den.”

“Really?”

“The only nobles who would even willingly approach you, let alone with any kind of business deals, are Fancy Pants and Fleur Dee Lis, and they’re very reasonable ponies, as I’m sure you know.”

“Oh yeah.”

“Now, a formal event like this will require a formal dress-”

“No.”

“You still don’t want to wear a proper dress?”

“Nope.”

Rarity sighed. “Yang, I know you don’t like dresses, but have you seen your wardrobe? Your work and winter clothes, both of which you had a hand in designing, are practically nothing but dresses, just with pants. Your exercise outfits and swimwear show off your body quite well. And I know what you said about the Nightmare Night costume, and I respect that, but you must wear a dress for this occasion.”

I studied Rarity for a moment. “You’re not going to let me get out of this, are you?”

“If I have to ascend to make sure you look nice for this event, Celestia help you I will.”

I saw that there was no way out, so I resigned myself to my fate. “Let’s see what you’ve designed.”

Rarity floated out three very thick books. “As with pony fashion, there are lots of choices when it comes to dress designs, and if the books Twilight has given me are any indication, there’s more styles available for women than mares. She thinks it’s because of anatomy, what with the bipedal posture and all. I think it’s because humans need clothes, so they got more and more creative with the designs. In both our species, there’s a magnitude more variance for the females than males. What do you think?”

I picked up one of the books, seeing only an up arrow on the front cover. “I think it might be because there’s more money to be made there. What’s this book?”

“That one has various upper halves of dresses, all on the right pages. Its partner is this one, containing various skirt designs, all on the right pages.”

I got the partner book with the down arrow and looked at the two. “So this is a mix and match thing then?”

“More mixing, less matching. They are all just black and white sketches with no colors. And the books can link together as well.” Rarity took the books in her magic and put them together with the arrows pointing away from each other. I opened the books and saw the first pieces, which were so small that I’d describe them together as barely legal in approximately 300 countries back on Earth. “How are these organized?”

“Smaller stuff in the front, larger stuff in the back.” I flipped to the last pages of the books and saw a dress that was so big and fancy, it looked like it would take every bolt of fabric in the boutique to make it. “I may have gone a bit overboard with those halves.”

“I can’t even tell how I’m supposed to put it on, or use my hands while wearing the thing.” I flipped to the middle pages where things were more reasonable. “This is better. What’s the third book?”

“Whole dresses that I’ve sketched out just for you. I’ve even colored a few of them in.”

I skimmed a few designs, fairly easy with a mix and match pair of books and a few pages from each. “How much do you spend on art supplies?”

“Exactly enough. Oh, I do have an opinion question on human dresses for you.”

“Yeah?”

Rarity flipped the top book forward to some basic long sleeved designs and the lower book to the shorter skirts. “What do you think of this kind of design?”

“Confusing, to be honest.”

“Care to elaborate?”

“It just doesn’t look quite right to me. Probably a matter of proportions, but long sleeves and exposed legs just doesn’t work for me. It looks weird, and if you go into a cold area, sure your arms and body are covered, but your legs are exposed and there’s no equivalent of a jacket for your legs. If you flip it around, exposing the arms and covering the legs, it just looks better, like you put on more than just an oversized shirt and called it done. That, and you can put a jacket on if you need to.”

“You’ve put a bit of thought into that, haven’t you?”

“For whatever reason, probably because of how weak I was, pretty much all my friends where I’m from were girls, so I was exposed to more of the female side than most guys were. I’ve even got more male friends here than I did back there, and by a significant margin, though I do admittedly work with most of them here.”

After a few minutes of browsing and crossing ideas, Rarity broke the relative silence. “So, getting off of what seems to be a bit of a negative road, how’s business?”

“Pretty good. Even with the 7.5% tax that I’m now paying, I’m still making a lot.”

“What are you doing with all the profits?”

“Keeping them in the bank. Everyone here is paid by the hour, even me. My money is seperate from the Carne Den’s, and I still have a good chunk of spending money. It helps that the water and power bills cover both the restaurant and my house.”

Eventually, after a few hours, Rarity and I had come up with no good dress ideas from the mix and match books and she had to leave. “Well, it has been a good evening with you, Yang, but I need to get home since it’s - oh my, it’s almost ten. I’d better get some supper and head home. Oh, are you going to the Running of the Leaves tomorrow?”

“No, I’ve got work. What is that anyways?”

“It’s a race that goes through Whitetail Woods and around Ponyville to shake the leaves off the trees to prepare for winter.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes. Twilight did really well in her first race, coming fifth place and not very exhausted, all because she paced herself. The four pegasi that finished ahead of her were very exhausted, and Rainbow and Applejack came in last because they were so busy competing against each other. As I recall, that was also the year they decided to start giving out chocolate medals instead of metal ones.”

“Why?”

“To save a few bits. Mayor Mare was under quite a bit of budget pressure at the time, so she switched the medals around. It’s been that way since then because everypony liked the chocolate medals, and it’s actually increased participation substantially, making it a much faster event now, both because the increased number of ponies makes more leaves fall with each pass and the drive for a large chocolate medal pushes everypony to go faster.”

The premise made a bit more sense, but was still absurd. “Yeah, I’m still not going to it.”

“Fair enough. I’ll leave these for you to go through on your own time.” After Rarity left, I closed the door and set the books on my desk.

Since I was now able to move without feeling a chill from the air, I decided to put all my new winter clothes in the closet and move the lighter warm weather ones to the dresser. I decided to make it a permanent arrangement as well.

Once the clothes were neatly put away, I looked to the books of dress designs on the desk. After some deliberation, I decided to put it off for another day. It was dark, and as soft and warm as the new pyjamas were, they couldn’t match the feeling of comfort that a bed brought.

After an unpleasant trip to the bathroom and a glass of water, I curled back up on the bed. Looking at the dresses could wait a while.

One week later

“Yang.”

“Rarity.”

“You haven’t chosen a dress yet, have you?”

“No, I haven’t. I’ve been busy with work.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Rarity’s horn glowed a couple times. Then it glowed again and she had the dress books with her. Then, in a flash, she was replaced by Twilight and another flash later, I was in Twilight’s room. I could smell apples. “Yang, do you know why you’re here?”

“Because I haven’t chosen a dress yet?”

“Yes. This is a forceful intervention. It is absolutely necessary that you get a dress for the Entrepreneur Awards Ceremony. Twilight dear, I’ll let you explain what’s going to happen.”

“Thank you, Rarity.” Twilight unnecessarily cleared her throat. “Right. Yang, you and Rarity are going to be locked in here until you come to a decision on what kind of dress you want. The bathroom will be available to both of you. Also, once you choose a dress, I’ll have Spike whip up a serving of chicken alfredo pasta for you.”

“That stuff’s good.”

“And he knows it too. Anyways, I’ll let you sort this out while I take care of some other Princessly business. Bye.” And with that, Twilight teleported away.

For a while, all we heard was the ticking clock. I eventually interrupted it. “So, dresses.”

“Yes. Now, I’ve been thinking that maybe we’ve been looking at this the wrong way. We shouldn’t try to find a dress that you’d like to wear, but one that you’d like to have others see.”

“Come again?”

“I think you’ve been looking too much at how you feel in a dress. That is important, but let’s think about how you would look in one. Try distancing yourself a bit from the pictures, don’t think so much about how you would feel in the dress, but how the dress looks to you. If I recall correctly, you were turned into what is a fictional character from your world, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Imagine that you’re with the writers, and they’ve selected you to choose or help design a formal dress for her. Whatever you choose, they will go with. What would you like to see her wearing?” Rarity floated the dual arrow book in front of me and I opened it. “Now, I did try to make these dresses work with her bracelets’ shapes and colors so that she can keep them with her and still look good, but if she decides not to wear them, the dresses still look good.”

Rarity’s change of wording did not escape my notice, but it really did make it easier to consider the dresses. The short dresses were quickly passed over, as I knew those were right out. “Are there any bookmarks around here?”

“Not that I’m aware of, but you can just fold the corner of the-”

“NO!” Twilight cried as she teleported in. A moment later, she teleported out, then teleported back in with a whole rainbow selection of bookmarks. “Phew. That was close. Back to work.” With another flash, she was gone again.

“Exactly as planned.”

While Rarity put the assorted bookmarks in order by color, I continued browsing the dresses with the premise she had given me. It really made it easier for me to appreciate the designs. I wound up marking about 20 different dresses.

“Alright, these are some good choices, Yang.”

“That isn’t difficult with these choices.”

“Thank you dear, I do appreciate the compliment. Now then, let’s make things a bit easier.” With some concentration, Rarity cleanly pulled the marked dresses out of the book and set them between us.

“Oh, I just thought of something important.”

“Hm?”

“I have no idea how to, well, relieve myself while wearing a dress.”

“You’ve had to go while working before, yes?”

“Yeah.”

“Seeing as your top piece is effectively a dress, all you really have to do is apply similar motions. Depending on the size of the skirt portion, you may have to further extend the motions or come up with another method.”

“Such as?”

“Yang, I’m a mare, not a woman. What works for me and my dresses might not work for you and yours.”

“Great.” With the new problem in mind, I was able to easily eliminate a quarter of the designs, which Rarity neatly put back in the book with her magic. A few others joined them, leaving me with mostly knee length dresses to choose from.

While I was looking over the dozen remaining pictures, I found myself focusing more on one design than the other eleven. “You like that one, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I kind of do.”

“Then I guess we’re done here.” The smell of apples suddenly vanished.

“Wait, how’s this one going to work? What are the pieces to it?”

“Well, there’s the white dress, the black one over it, and the lace that goes across your shoulders. It should be easy enough for you to use the mare’s room with that on, even I can tell.”

“Take off the black one, hang it, and take care of business. Wait, what about footwear?”

“I’ll be sure to make you a nice pair of heels and special socks to go with the ensemble.” Rarity floated out some paper and pencils and started drawing an outline of a stiletto heel.

“Uh, can I pass on the heels?”

“Why, Yang? Do you have something against these too?”

“I have no idea how to walk in those kinds of shoes.”

“Oh. Well, I suppose I can see the problem there. That being said, I can’t let you go there without some kind of elegant footwear. You need a heel of some kind, otherwise it just won’t do.”

“If I may?” I got the drawing supplies from Rarity and drew a rough outline of a shorter shoe with a larger heel. “This would be easier for me to walk in. No more than two inches tall, and with a thicker heel, it would be easier for me to get used to walking with them.”

“This idea is so simple, it’s amazing.”

“Shouldn’t this have been in one of those books Twilight’s given you?”

“I’ve never seen one like it. Or at least, it never caught my attention if there were any in the books. I’ll have to double check them. Also, I’m going to have to put some serious heating enchantments in this set. I’ll check with Celestia about the event temperature to see if she can have it kept around, what’s a good temperature for you?” Rarity packed up her stuff and we left the room.

“I can tolerate 70, maybe 65 at the lowest with that dress. Wait, where is the event?”

“Inside Canterlot Castle next month.”

“The same castle that’s on the side of the mountain in the distance?”

“Yes, are you getting at somethi- oh, right, the temperature.” Rarity’s face scrunched a bit in thought. “Okay, how about this: you take a pegasus chariot there, along with a suitcase, get a room at the castle, change there, go through the event, stay the night, and come back the day after everything’s done?”

“Aside from simply how much cold there’s going to be, I think that sounds good.”

“Well then, I’d better get home so I can at least make one part of your new dress before going to sleep. Speaking of which, I find it kind of amazing that your body hasn’t really changed shape. All your measurements are still the same.”

“You can tell that?”

“Remember when I got your measurements?” A chill went down both our backs at that memory. “There’s a reason I don’t use that spell very often.”

“It’s not pleasant. Anyways, have a good day, Rarity.”

“You too, Yang.”

Rarity went her way while I joined the short line for Twilight’s court. It was a weekday and with winter approaching, most ponies were out there getting ready for it.

Fortunately, it seemed like the few ponies ahead of me were simply asking for advice and were done quickly enough.

Before I went in for my turn, I spared a glance behind me and saw no line. “Well Twilight, I made my decision.”

“Please don’t tell me what you chose. I’ll see it at the ceremony, and since Rarity designed it, I’m sure it will look amazing.”

“Yeah, how do you get the pictures for those books you give her anyways?”

“It’s a secret. Spike’s already making the alfredo chicken pasta for us, and it looks like you’re the last one here for the day. Would you like to have lunch with us?”

“Sure, why not?”

Bears are no Game

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“Delivery for Yang Xiao Long” Derpy announced from outside my window while I was waking up.

“Huh?” I put my robe on over my pyjamas and opened the window. “What is this?”

“It’s for you.”

I sighed. “Let me sign for it.” After Derpy pushed the box through, I signed for the package, gave her a few bits and a thank you, and closed the window. Moments after I closed it, I saw a few snowflakes falling outside. Probably a test run from the weather pegasi.

I opened the package and saw a lot of the same colorful box, along with a letter on top.

Dear Yang Xiao Long
Thank you for ordering these 30 gamer drivers. Since your idea of the Daily Planner Gashat turned out to be a big hit, we’ve included one for every Gamer Driver you’ve ordered. There are some who have bought the Gamer Driver just to use the Daily Planner Gashat. One of these boxes has your name on it. In it, you will find a special Gashat you can use to communicate with us and leave messages for us, no matter where you are.
We’re currently working on some new ideas, which you’ll be able to find when you load the Dev Comms Gashat and go to level 2. We would love to hear your thoughts on them.
As per your odd request, we’ve included a copy of the order you sent us, along with the date and time we received it. We’re not really sure how we got it a week before sending out the magazines though.
Sincerely, the Gamer Driver Team.

Under the letter was a magazine. In it was a bunch of games for pre-order, a few other games already available, and two different Driver packages. One came with the games Rhythm Blades and Full Speed Racing, while the other package came with those and War Time Commander. Under the magazine was an order form filled in with my handwriting, except for the date in the corner, two weeks prior to the day.

In the back of the magazine was an addressed envelope and a blank order form with a unique number on it that matched the one on the filled in form. After a moment, I took the two forms over to my desk and started filling in the blank one with everything from the filled one, including the request for the date and time received, along with sending a copy of the form with the order. Once that was done, I put it in the envelope and the envelope on the copied form.

I pulled out the boxes of Drivers and found mine nestled in the middle of them. I opened it and pulled out the goodies within. The Driver was in its closed position and there were four different colored Gashats: Red was War Time Commander, White was Rhythm Blades, Black was Dev Comms, and Yellow was Full Speed Racing.

For at least a minute, I just stared at the RWBY colored assortment of Gashats. After an exaggerated sigh, I set them and the Driver aside. For some reason, or maybe no reason at all, that surprised me more than it should have.

“May as well get to the post office.” I grabbed a hanger with a set of winter clothes, some undergarments and my boots, then went to take a hot shower.

After I was done and dressed, I went to the bank to find out if there was a way to send money without having to use a chest. There wasn’t, so I bought one for the occasion and had it filled up with the 2,100 bits needed to pay for all the Drivers. While I was waiting on that, I thought again about having a 5 bit coin introduced and wondered why I hadn’t brought it up with a Princess. Any of them would hear out and consider the idea, after all.

After the chest was loaded, locked, and the key was in my possession, I got an extra 15 bits for the delivery fee and hauled it over to the post office. There, I found The Doctor behind the desk. “Another any time delivery, please.” I put the 15 bits on the counter for the fee, followed by the envelope (containing the key and order form) and the big chest of bits. “I need these delivered two weeks ago.”

“Of course, Ms. Xiao Long.” The Doctor took the chest and envelope to the back, there was some odd sounds, and then he returned. “It’s done.”

“Thank you. Have a good day.”

“I will.”

When I got back home, I changed back to my pyjamas, lay down on my bed, put on the Gamer Driver, activated and inserted the Dev Comms Gashat, then went to level two. My bedroom fell away as I entered a workshop of some kind. There was a scroll in front of me with my name on it, so I picked it up and opened it.

Yang Xiao Long,
Welcome to the dev space. This is where we test new games and concepts, and you’re in on it now.
Feel free to look around and start making something. You’ve got your own workshop here, alongside ours.
Sincerely, Mindscape and Ga-mez

I went over to the one empty desk and looked around it. The only thing of note on it was a box of blank black gashats and a slot made to hold one.

“Hello, Yang” an accented voice said from behind me.

I looked to the speaker, the griffon of the team. “Ga-mez, right?”

“Yep.”

“So, what do I do here?”

“This place has a few concrete rules, but you can basically create anything for a game here with your mind. Go ahead and give it a try. Just put a blank gashat into the slot to get started.”

I looked back at the gashats, grabbed one, and slid it in place. The desk was covered in what looked like light blue mercury, rippling with no apparent cause. The virtual substance felt warm and cool at the same time. “Where do I start with this?”

“With an idea, of course. Make whatever you want.”

“Make whatever I want.” I didn’t want to make a fighting game, nor a shooting game. Violence, easy as it was, was not something I wanted to make a game with. “How about I look at the other games first?”

“No problem.”

I closed the Driver and the virtual space vanished as I returned to my bed. “Well, that was interesting.” I took Dev Comms out and put Rhythm Blades in its place, let the loading tune say its stuff, then went to level two.

I found myself standing on a square platform on a road in a spherical space. A window with instructions and options was floating in front of me. To play, all I had to do was focus my music magic and the game would create obstacles and breakable objects. I could also speed up or slow down the music by running forwards or backpedalling.

While I got my music magic started up, I selected the evasion mode of gameplay. I heard a few notes and the music started.

Throughout the song, I was ducking, jumping, sliding, and weaving through a number of insane obstacles in time with the music. Sharp objects, dull objects, angry cat objects, and so many other things.

After the song was over, I got my final score: 1,986/2,005. I was quite pleased with having gotten such a good score on my first try.

I closed the Driver and pulled out Rhythm Blades, noted that I didn’t actually use any blades while I played it, and went on to Full Speed Racing. When I took the game to level 2, I found myself as a pegasus standing on a cloud. I decided not to do any racing, but rather just sat on the cloud and took in the feeling of being a pegasus. While I had imagined what it was like to be a pony on occasion, this game made it feel more real. I focused on the sensations coming from my virtual wings more than anything, and it was interesting.

I eventually decided I’d had enough, closed the Driver, and took the game out. It took a few seconds for me to get readjusted to my human body, but once I was, I checked the clock. I had to make myself some breakfast and get ready for the day.

While I was getting ready, I wondered why I’d purchased 30 Gamer Drivers. Clearly, they weren’t all for me, so what were the other 29 for?

“Yang?”

“Yeah, Gilda?”

“There’s a bear cub that’s been hanging around the front doors for a couple days now. It’s cute, has drawn in a few extra customers, and they even buy a little extra to give to it, but I’m worried about it.”

“Hey Gavan, you guys got everything handled here?”

“Yeah, we’re good, Yang” Gavan answered.

I turned back to Gilda. “I’ll look into it.” After changing to my winter clothes, I went outside and was immediately tackled from my left by a black fuzzy thing and knocked onto the ground. I was close to trying to push it off when my face got licked. The black fuzzy thing was the bear cub, standing on top of me. I was able to discern that the cub was female. “Alright, alright, stop already.” The cub was acting like a dog, which was cute and made it impossible to not be a little amused. “Have we met before?”

The cub got off of me and nestled herself under my head, acting like a pillow. I remembered the time I stayed over at Fluttershy’s and woke up with a bear cub pillow. “So that was you?”

“There you are!” Fluttershy called out in her normal quiet voice. “I’ve been looking all over Ponyville for you.”

“I’m usually in here, Fluttershy.”

“Oh, Hello Yang. I was actually talking about the cub. She wandered off a few days ago. It looks like she wants to be your pet.”

“Well, she’s been hanging out around here for a couple days apparently. Seeing as she pounced me and licked my face as soon as I came out here to check on her, well, I think you may be right.”

“What will you call her then?”

I looked at the cub for a moment. “Bear, female, has been hanging out here, friendly, let’s see. . .” A few seconds later, I had a name. “Asada. I will call you Asada.” The newly christened Asada seemed very happy with the name.

“I’ll let you two get better acquainted with each other. Let me go get some books on bears from Twilight for you.”

“Thanks, Fluttershy.”

I sat up and moved to sit against the side of the Carne Den. Asada was quick to capitalize on the lap space. “Alright Asada, you seem smart, so let me lay some ground rules. You listening?” Asada, to my surprise, looked at me and nodded. She really was smart. “Okay. First, the kitchen is off limits for you. I can’t have you raiding our supplies. Second, you can’t take any food from anyone. You can have it if they offer it though. Third, I’d really like it if you, ah, relieved yourself outside. I know it’s getting colder, but I don’t want you going inside. Fourth, please be careful and try not to damage anything inside. As long as you follow those rules, I won’t have any problems with you. Got it?” Asada nodded again.

Eventually, Fluttershy came back with some books. By then, Asada had curled up on my lap and was just watching the world with me. “Oh my. You two are already getting along very well.” A smile graced her face. “Anyways, here’s some books to help you take care of Asada, especially with winter coming up.”

“Thanks, Fluttershy. I’ll make sure to show all due and some undue affection to Asada.” I promptly pulled the cub into an unsanctioned hug. “She also seems rather smart. She seemed to understand the rules I told her earlier.”

“She’s always been a little smarter than other animals at my place, probably because she’s an orphan. Her mother died protecting her from a bigger, meaner bear.”

“Oh. Well, that’s tragic. Still, she’s doing well, and now she’s got me. Hey, could you take those books to my room for me? Asada’s doing a cat impersonation.”

“She is?”

“She’s using gravity powers to keep me from standing up.”

“Are you sure it’s gravity powers and not the weight of your affection for her?”

I thought about what Fluttershy proposed. I thought about it long enough for her to take the books to my room and come back. “I’m pretty sure it’s gravity powers. Both gravity powers and affection, while intangible, are best exerted onto others. Therefore, Asada’s keeping me pinned with her gravity powers. If it were my affection, Asada would be the one pinned in place.”

“Well, I guess that makes sense? I’ll just head back home then. Have a good day, Yang. Well, what’s left of it, anyways. It’s going to be dark in an hour or so.”

“Thanks. Bye, Fluttershy.”

“Bye, Yang.” Fluttershy flew off, leaving me still sitting with Asada.

At some point, I’d lightly dozed off with only a loose grip on Asada. I woke up a bit when she jumped off of and curled up behind me. I fully woke up when I was looking at her and heard a roar behind me strong enough to send some of my hair blowing in front of my face.

It was a big bear that looked ready to kill. If Asada’s reaction was anything to go by, this might have been the one that made her an orphan. “Will you please leave?” I forcefully asked. The response I got was a deep growl. “Don’t make me force you to leave.” I stood up between the bear and Asada.

He stood up, towering over me, roared, and swung a massive paw at my head. I blocked the paw with one hand. “If you leave now, I won’t hurt you.” Once again, he growled at me and swung the other paw, which I blocked with my other hand. I changed my response to an angry growl of my own, complete with red eyes, causing him to loosen his arms a bit. “I warned you” I said before pushing his arms aside and punching his chest hard enough to make a muffled crack sound and send him on his back. My fist was perfectly fine. I took the opportunity to jump on him and pull his head in so we were face to face and eye to eye. “Your pelt would make a wonderful rug for my room, and you would taste well marinated, grilled medium-well, put between toasted buns, topped with lettuce, bacon, and barbecue sauce, and served with a side of lightly seasoned fries. If you leave now, I won’t start making that come true.”

He seemed to get the message and tried to scurry away from me, which I allowed. “And don’t come back.” He ran off around the side of the building and back into the forest. It wasn’t until he was out of my sight that I relaxed and felt my eyes change back to purple.

“Well, that’s new” Gilda remarked from behind me, Asada nestled between her eagle legs. “Remind me not to get on your bad side.”

I sighed. “It wasn’t pleasant for me either, Gilda. I don’t like it when I’m on my bad side. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to call it a day and see if Asada can join me at the spa.” Asada left Gilda and came over to my side. Together, after I got some money, we made our way to the spa.

“Good evening, Yang” Aloe greeted. “Yang, are you aware of the bear cub that followed you in?”

“Her name’s Asada, and we just went through a bad event involving the bear that probably killed her mother and was after her. I think I cracked some of his ribs with one punch. I definitely made a rather tasteful threat.”

“The usual shampoo and massage then?”

“For me. Asada gets the full wash. Don’t worry, she’s quite well behaved.”

“If you say so. I’ll help Lotus prepare for both of you then. You know where your robe is.”

“Thank you.” While Aloe went to get Lotus, I turned to Asada. “Wait out here for a bit, okay?” Asada nodded and I went into the hidden restroom, reserved for regular or special guests. After my bout with The Unmusician, I’d been making somewhat regular spa trips, and so earned a spot there. That, and defeating Tirek.

After a few minutes, mostly spent fitting my winter clothes into the locker, I came back out to find that Asada had climbed onto a chair while she was waiting for me. At the same time, Aloe came back. “Would you like the massage or shampoo first?”

“Massage, please.”

“Right this way.”

I motioned for Asada to follow and we went to the massage tables. The room was heated for my comfort, a free touch which got more bits out of me as it got colder outside. I got on my table and saw Asada do the same thing on a foal sized table with a bit of caution. The massage started and any remaining stress from the encounter started leaving my body like water in a sieve. A glance over at Asada showed her practically melting under the experienced hooves delivering her massage.

Once we were in a very relaxed, almost jelly-like state, we went over to get the shampoo treatment. Asada was so relaxed from the massage that I had to carry her over for her treatment. Once again, the mares went to work, expertly washing my hair and cleaning Asada’s coat. As with the massage, it was very relaxing, though I imagine Asada had it better since she was basically getting a second massage.

Special care was taken in drying both my hair and Asada, her because she was wet all over and me because the temperature was getting lower outside. Between the two of us, she probably had it easier with her natural fur coat and distinct lack of a weakness to the cold.

After my hair was dried off, I went back to the hidden restroom, changed back to my winter clothes, and came back out just in time to see Asada come out. Her coat, while not glossy, still had a slight shine to it.

“Alright Yang, that’s a massage and half of a shampoo for you and a massage and full wash for Asada. 50 bits, please.”

I counted out 65 bits and gave it to them. “Thanks.”

“Thank you, as well. Oh, as long as, Asada, right?” I nodded that she got it right. “As long as she behaves, we’ll always welcome her here.”

“Even when she’s an adult?”

“Yep.” Asada let off a happy growl at that.

“She’s smart. Well, bye.”

“Bye” Aloe and Lotus said at the same time.

The Next Day

I picked up the local paper during breakfast and immediately noticed the main headline: “Yang Xiao Long adopts pet, names bear cub Asada.” “At least they got the spelling right” I thought. “This may even help draw business. Who wouldn’t like seeing a cute bear cub around here?” I read the article, which described Asada very well, especially when it came to her apparent ability to understand language. There were even some nice words about Asada from the spa sisters in the article.

Business that day was excellent and Asada quickly made a spot for herself in the corner next to the office door. From what I heard, there was a lot of bear petting and extra bits of food were ordered just to give to her. Since she was apparently being given all kinds of snacks, I knew she could bear not being allowed in the kitchen.

Fall Feast Festival

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It was the last Thursday of November, and it was both chilly and quiet inside the Carne Den. It was the second day of the closure for the Fall Feast Festival, and I was curled up in a corner of my room with some winter clothes on, Asada on my lap, and a thick blanket over both of us to keep us warm. I could have curled up on my bed, but I felt like sticking to the corner for some reason. Probably because it was further from the window.

As we’d done for most of Wednesday, Asada and I were doing something between napping and hibernating. When we weren’t staying warm together in the corner, one or both of us were either eating a bit, drinking a bit, or relieving ourselves. It was cozy, quiet, and peaceful, which was perfect for us.

A knock stirred us slightly from our slumber before Gilda came in, looked around, and saw us. “There you are, Yang. Everyone’s waiting for you downstairs.”

“Huh?” I couldn’t suppress a yawn from my eloquently phrased question.

“Do you not remember what you said last month? That you would do something special for all of us and our families?”

“Nuh-uh.” My mind was still heavily clouded with the sweet embrace of sleep.

“You would cook a meal for all of us by yourself.”

“Is that today?”

“Yes it is.”

“Oh.” I looked at Asada, who had grown a bit since I took her in. “I have a bear on my lap.”

“Yes, well, some of us thought you might do something like this because of the cold, so we decided to do our own thing.”

“Yeah?”

“To show our thanks for all you’ve given us, we decided to do the cooking ourselves at home and just bring it all here for a big lunch.”

“Ah, it’s a Thanksgiving feast then.” I suddenly remembered the promise I made and nearly jumped to my feet. “I messed up on that, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, you did kinda slip up on that promise. But, like I said, we’ve got it all under control. What did you call it, a Thanksgiving feast?”

“Yeah. Oh, right, it’s the Fall Feast Festival here, isn’t it?”

“Come on, everyone’s waiting.”

“Alright, just give me a moment.” I pulled the blanket off of Asada and me, nudged her awake, and stood up, my joints popping from the extended inactivity. Asada did something similar as well. “So, there’s food downstairs you all brought?”

“A whole lot of it.”

Asada and I left my room and went downstairs. The tables had all been rearranged into a long rectangle with an empty chair at the end closest to the stairs. Along the sides were a lot of griffons, a few ponies, a dragon, and a minotaur. All in all, it looked like there were at least 80 at the megatable, and there appeared to be enough food for way more than that.

I stood at my spot at the table for a moment and everyone quieted down. “Uh, hi everyone. I totally forgot about the offer to cook for everyone today, and judging by how many are here, I may have underestimated the task, so, I’m sorry for that.” A consensus of forgiveness was proposed and passed unanimously in under ten seconds by everyone at the table. “Now, as I just realized, this is the first Fall Feast Festival for a lot of you, maybe even the first time you’ve been at a spread like this. However, I don’t want to consider this a feast for the end of fall. Gilda told me how thankful you are for all I’ve given you, so instead of celebrating the end of the season, I propose we turn the focus of this to us giving thanks for what we have, both the tangible and intangible. Let’s call it Thanksgiving, and let’s each say something we’re thankful for. Just the first thing that comes to your mind will do. I’ll go first. I’m thankful that I have the Carne Den, both as a reliable source of income and as a source of meat. Gilda remembers what happened to her steak when I saw it all those months ago. Speaking of which, I believe she’s next since she’s to my right.”

Gilda stood up as I sat down. “That was a very nice speech, Yang. Anyways, I’m thankful for the time Yang and I fought over the steaks I’d brought with me that one time. She had been living on a regular pony diet for a couple months and she was apparently getting restless due to a craving for meat. It was from that encounter that the Carne Den was conceived, and here we are.”

Gavan and his family all stood up as Gilda sat down. “I believe I speak for my family when I say that we’re thankful for the Carne Den’s existence. The money I’m making here is amazing, and the money flowing to the family butchering business has helped them so much. New knives, new hires, and a new outlook on life. Yang Xiao Long, for all you’ve done and given us, we would swear our lives to you if you asked it. Thank you so much.” A round of applause was given to Gavan and his family and I could feel a blush on my face from the praise.

After Gavan and his family sat down, Glynda went next, alone. “I’m thankful to Yang as well, for if it weren’t for her, I would still be poor in the Griffon Empire. For all you’ve done, I’d swear my life to you.”

All around the table, every griffon expressed their thanks for me and all I’d given them, through their words, brief tales of their life in the Griffon Empire, and promising to swear their lives to me if I asked. A job that paid well enough for them to send some money back home and still live comfortably, have a brighter outlook, make friendships, and fill stomachs, well, who wouldn’t be thankful? Those who weren’t griffons expressed a more general sense of thankfulness for what I’d done.

Finally, the last griffon gave their thanks and I added one extra thing. “Finally, let us all be thankful for the feast in front of us, the shelter in which we will enjoy it, and the effort put forth by all of you to make this happen. And with that said, let’s get to the real meat of this meeting: the food, but especially the meat.” With a snap of my fingers, everyone started going after the food, including me.

During the meal, Asada found herself a spare chair, pushed it up next to mine, and joined us. Some of the griffon cubs and chicks, apparently having only heard of how dangerous bears were, pressed up against their parents when Asada did that. They calmed down a bit after some assurances that Asada was very nice and wouldn’t hurt them. The fact that Gilda could apparently understand Asada helped as well.

Due to how many griffon children there were, no alcohol was served, despite the stuff being displayed only about fifteen feet away. Many of the young ones hadn’t seen me before, and the parents that worked with me likely spoke of me like some kind of legendary savior, based on their faces. A very friendly savior who can’t stand the cold, pays them nicely for their work, and has a pet bear named after a meat dish they don’t know about and I don’t know how to define or make.

Eventually, one of the griffon cubs either worked up the courage or was coerced by others into coming up to me. “Miss Yang?” I did not miss the nervous glances at Asada.

“Yes?”

“Is it really true that you defeated Tirek with one punch?”

“No, it took a lot of punches for me to defeat him. But the last punch I delivered was the one that defeated him. I was a mess after that, tired and still a little mad. I even used Princess Celestia’s horn to pull her face to face so I could tell her what I wanted for my reward. In any clearer state of mind, I wouldn’t have done that.”

There was a knock at the door. As the owner of the house, I was the one to go answer it. A light blue pegasus was hovering there. “Rainbow? What are you doing here?”

“I’m looking for the griffons. We’ve got this big Fall Feast Festival event that we’ve planned downtown and we can’t find any of them. We figured you might know where they are.”

A devious idea popped into mind. “Asada, can you get us a chair?” An affirmative growl was the answer. “Come on in, Rainbow.” Before she could properly respond, I grabbed Rainbow’s forehoof and quickly pulled her inside and ran around to the tables. I saw the chair that was pulled out for Rainbow and set her in it.

“What’s going on here?”

I quickly threw together a turkey and bacon sandwich, got a few side items together, and set it in front of Rainbow. “Thanksgiving, that’s what. Eat up. Oh, is there anything you’re thankful for? Anything you really appreciate?” “Please don’t be praise for me. I’ve had enough of that.”

“Well, I’m glad the Carne Den is here. Ever since I’ve been coming here for lunch, I’ve felt my wings getting stronger. I credit the meat.”

“Shoot.”

“Well, this certainly looks good.” Rainbow started on her sandwich and soon, she was part of the crowd. “It is good.”

One hour later

“There you are.” Twilight walked over to Rainbow. “Wait a minute, you’re walking. And you smell like you’ve had your muzzle in a bunch of food.”

“Twi, I found the griffons.” Rainbow’s voice was happy and sedated from all she had eaten and the good time she had. “They’re doing their own thing with Yang. They called it Thanksgiving, or something. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll just take a food nap. Wake me up when the weather is due to be changed.” Rainbow closed her eyes and went to sleep on the spot.

“Well Pinkie, it looks like the introductory Fall Feast Festival’s fallen flat.”

“That sucks” Pinkie said. “At least I have a backup plan ready!” Pinkie zipped around to all the signs that were meant for the introductory party and pulled them away, revealing standard Fall Feast Festival signs. “Let the festival commence!”

Later that evening

“Hi Luna.”

“Hello, Yang. You seem content.”

“I’m warm in bed, Asada’s with me, and I had a big feast with my employees, their families, and surprise guest Rainbow Dash. You would not believe just how much that mare can eat. I’m surprised she didn’t fall into a food coma on the spot.”

“That actually happened when she arrived downtown. She’s still sleeping where she stands. So, how was your Fall Feast Festival? Or should I say, Thanksgiving?”

“Thanksgiving. It was good, except for everyone heaping their praise onto me. I understand why, but I had heard enough of it after Glynda expressed her thanks.”

“You didn’t stop them though.”

“Because I couldn’t find it in me to interrupt or preempt them. I dropped the ball on preparing a feast for them, and they stepped up to the plate. I’m glad they did, considering just how many showed up, but I wanted to help with the food in some way, aside from eating it. They didn’t even let me help clean the dishes.”

“They likely believe that you had already given the most out of everyone. Even in the mere months they’ve been with you, they may believe that they will never be able to pay you back for what you’ve done for them. It was also your home that they used. Even if it was just the restaurant portion, it’s still part of your home, especially since that part’s closed.”

I sighed and sat down as well as anyone could in a galactic void. “Being praised as a hero by everyone I work with isn’t all that fun for me.”

“As I am aware. But look at it this way: you gave them a day to get it out of their systems. You gave them a day to openly express their gratitude for anything, and they gave the gratitude to you. You gave them the means for a better life. You gave me the idea to propose the idea of replacing the Fall Feast Festival with Thanksgiving.”

“Huh?”

“The Fall Feast Festival is a last hurrah to celebrate good weather before winter gets started up. From what I can tell, Thanksgiving is about expressing gratitude for what you have. And with its timing, it could serve as a reminder of what one has before winter is in effect. I love it.

“Enjoy your rest, Yang. You have earned it.”

Entrepreneur Award Ceremony 1

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“Hey Gilda?”

“Yeah Yang?”

“I’ve got a couple questions for you before I go.”

“Yeah?”

“Why do you think we’ve been so busy these last couple weeks? Well, more so than usual.”

Gilda tapped her beak in thought. “Probably because we don’t have any Hearth’s Warming decorations. The rest of Ponyville is saturated with it, so it makes sense that they would want a break from all the cheer and festiveness.”

“That makes sense. Well, if you think the decorations in town are bad, you haven’t seen anything yet. Ponyville at least has the decency to save the decorations and holiday cheer for the appropriate month. Where I’m from, Hearth’s Warming is replaced with Christmas, and I’ve seen Christmas stuff in stores as early as September and people buying presents for it in January. A joke I heard about it was that in a few years, Christmas stuff would start coming out after Independence Day, which is July 4th.”

“Wow. That’s either hardcore holiday spirit or just dumb.”

“I’m leaning towards very, very dumb. Everyone gets tired of it, but all the stores keep putting it out earlier and earlier each year.

“So, other thing, you are ready to run the place for me, right?”

Gilda sighed. “Yes, we’ve gone over this three times already. You have this event to attend in Canterlot and will be gone for a week. You’re letting me stay here during that time for my convenience and so Asada’s not alone, I know about the box upstairs, sworn to its secrecy, blah blah blah. I got it, Yang. Trust me, I got it.”

I raised my hands defensively. “Okay okay, I just wanted to make sure.”

“Well you’ve made sure. Now get to the carriage out there and get going already.”

I gave Gilda a hug before picking up my suitcases, going to the pegasus drawn royal carriage outside, and getting in.

During takeoff, I decided to have a bit of fun, even if nobody was with me in the heated and soundproofed carriage. “Good morning ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. First off, thank you for being chosen by the Royal Carriage Airline to ride with us today; it is an honor. Next, please follow all safety procedures, as demonstrated by our flight attendants.” There were no safety procedures beyond the closed doors and there were no flight attendants. “Thank you. Moving on, this flight from Ponyville to Canterlot is only 30 minutes long, so there won’t be any drinks or peanuts served. Please keep your seats and trays in their upright and locked positions during the trip, and thanks again for being chosen to fly with us.”

The remaining 28 minutes of the flight were quite boring, if scenic.

Seconds after landing at the castle, the door was opened for me and a wave of cold air hit my face. My hair helped mitigate some of the chill, but it still hurt a bit.

Shortly after I entered, a slightly muscular earth pony stallion came up to me. “Welcome to Canterlot Castle, Miss Yang Xiao Long. I can show you to your room and take your suitcases.”

I saw a trolley that was hooked onto the stallion like a wagon. “I’m guessing you would use the trolley?”

“Of course. Carrying even one suitcase on your back is difficult to manage, after all.”

“. . . Can I ride the trolley while you pull it?”

“That depends on what kind of image you want to portray. The guards and staff won’t judge you, but somepony else might.”

“I’ll walk then.” I could imagine what it would look like with me riding the trolley, and it didn’t look good to me.

After loading the suitcases on, we went into the castle. “Most of the guests to the Entrepreneur Awards Ceremony have standard accommodations here in the towers. A very nice room with a balcony and a good view. You, on the other hand, have more special accommodations.” We went down a flight of stairs, the trolley rolling down them smoothly, likely because magic. “The rooms up there tend to get slightly cool. Not as cold as it is outside, but they do tend to hover at around 50 degrees. Knowing this, Princess Celestia herself made a special arrangement just for you.”

As we descended, I could feel it getting warmer and warmer. “Where are we going?”

Not long after I asked, the stallion stopped at a door and opened it. “Right here. This room is directly above the kitchen, and is in fact the central source of heated air in the castle.” The room looked like it was only recently furnished with a bed, desk, lighting, private bathroom, and the plumbing for it. There were no windows, making it like a heated cave. If I focused, I could see some faint runes on the walls, floor, and ceiling.

“But it’s still so cold throughout the place.”

“The warm air does lose its heat as it goes around the castle. It’s not perfect, but it keeps the castle above freezing at all times during winter.”

The potential of sabotage of the heating just to get at me, regardless of what happened to anyone else, immediately crossed my mind. “Do you know where Princess Celestia is?” I picked up my suitcases and brought them into the room.

“Still holding day court. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

I quickly rifled through my stuff and found my money. “You can take a few bits off my hands. It would really make me feel better.” I held out some money for the stallion.

“If accepting this money will make you feel better, than I will do that.” He accepted the coins and pocketed them. “Just go right and there’s a stairwell that leads to the waiting area for court.”

“Thank you.” After taking a bit of time to enjoy the warmth of the room, I went down the hall to the waiting area. There were a lot of ponies there, already waiting for their turn. Most of them were patiently waiting, talking amongst each other. There was one who was heckling the announcer unicorn who looked familiar. Based on his radioactive color scheme and stature, it looked like Sir Safehouse. I was tempted to step in and intervene, but the announcer was holding his own against the noble quite well, so I let them be.

I found a bookshelf, plucked an interesting looking book off of it, and started reading to pass the time.

“Yang Xiao Long, it’s your turn to speak with Princess Celestia.”

I closed the book and set it back on the shelf. “Thank you.”

“What? I thought I was supposed to go before her!” Sir Safehouse shouted. “I was here before she was!”

“She got in line before you did, Sir Safehouse” the announcer said. “It’s her turn.” I nodded to the announcer as we went through the door to the throne room. “Presenting The Slayer of Tirek, The Songstress of Remnant, Yang Xiao Long.”

“Thank you, Dramatic Voice” Celestia said, dismissing the aptly named announcer. “It’s always a pleasure to see you, Yang.”

“When did I get the Songstress of Remnant title?” I asked.

“You haven’t heard? Apparently, a foal followed you during your fight with The Unmusician. He spoke of the music that he heard and felt and how there was nothing but bits and pieces, remnants of the bug left. The gab factory did its thing, I heard about it, and now you have that title.”

“Oh. Well, I hope I don’t get more titles. And now I forgot what I wanted to ask you.”

“Take your time.”

I thought on it for a moment. “Oh yeah, my room here. Is it possible I could have some guards near it?”

“May I ask why?”

“I’m afraid of the heating stuff being sabotaged. Not only could that possibly kill me if it happened while I’m asleep, but it would also make the rest of the castle very cold as well.”

“I see what you mean. Very well then, I’ll have some guards stationed by your door, and I’ll make sure they know how to inspect, maintain, and repair the runes in that room as well.”

“Thank you, Princess.”

“One more thing.” Celestia threw a scroll to me. “In there is a list of all four of the events you will be attending, when, and where they take place.”

“All formal, I presume?”

“Yes they are.”

“Well, thanks again.”

The first event, held the next evening, was outside in the royal gardens. Apparently, the reason for that was because every business had its roots, as all plants do, and the cold of winter represented the difficulties of starting a business. Stories of why businesses were started and challenges that were faced were exchanged, and advice was shared as well.

It was nice.

It was symbolic.

It was also really cold and the heating charms in my clothes were only able to do so much to keep my shivering from registering on the richter scale.

“You look stunning, Yang” Fancy Pants said as he and Fleur approached me. “And you also look very chilly.”

“Y-y-yeah, I am” I said through chattering teeth. “How are you not freezing?”

“A well maintained fur coat. Here, I think you could use this.” Fancy floated a thermos over to me. I could feel the heat of the stuff inside it. “Some hot cocoa for you, steamed to 200 degrees.”

“Thanks.” I took the lid off and downed some of the smooth liquid. The scalding heat quickly spread out from my body and through my limbs, taking most of the edge off from the cold air. “That’s really good.”

“It was Fleur’s idea, really.”

“You’re welcome, Yang” Fleur said. “Since we’re here, let’s talk a bit. We already know how the Carne Den got started, so how’s business?”

“It’s picked up recently due to Hearth’s Warming.”

“Did you put up any decorations?”

“No, and that’s probably what’s drawing the extra business in. Everyone in town gets tired of the holiday stuff and comes there to get away from it.”

“Hmm. I’ll have to try that next year at some of my stores” Fancy said. “So, have you talked with anyone else yet?”

“I was too busy shivering to talk with anyone.” I took another drink of the very hot chocolate, looked around, and saw a chocolate colored unicorn mare heading my way. I looked between the liquid and the mare a few times. They were practically the same color. “Did you put something in this?”

“Chocolate, milk, sugar, and approximately half a small sauna’s worth of steam” Fleur answered. “Why?”

“I’m seeing a unicorn mare the exact same color as the drink in front of me.” The mare, a bit bigger and way more muscular than Cadence, had a fancy long sleeve red blouse on under a black vest as well.

“Oh, she’s real. Hello, how are you?”

“I’m fine” the mare answered. “My name’s Smithy Dreamkeeper.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Smithy. Have you met Yang yet?”

“I haven’t met anyone yet” I said.

“I’ll take that as a ‘no’ then. Fancy and I helped her start her business, but beyond that, she would be better at telling her story.”

Fancy and Fleur left me with the stoic mare. After a bit, I broke the silence. “So, I’m Yang Xiao Long, main owner of the Carne Den in Ponyville.”

“Main owner?”

“I started the Carne Den with a griffon at my side. Since it was built from the ground up and it’s my home as well, that makes me the main owner. Gilda, the griffon, tends to defer to me, even though I give her equal authority on business matters.”

“So how did you two meet up?”

“I was going for a run back in, June, I believe, to try and get some energy off from a craving that had been bugging me for a while when Rainbow introduced us. I smelled the steak Gilda was carrying and I went after it. We fought for a bit, Rainbow settled us down, and then we started talking. We came up with the idea to start the Carne Den restaurant, and I contacted Fancy Pants for help.”

“How did you meet him? Isn’t he part of the Canterlot Council? The elite snobs?”

“He and Fleur are not liked by the snobs. The snobs don’t like me either. Anyways, he gave me a loan, construction materials, and ponies to help put it all together. All he wanted in exchange was the cost of the loan, with interest, and I think I had that paid off after, probably a month and a half. What about you?”

Smithy seemed to relax a bit as she started her story. “Well, I run the Steel and Runes forge in the crystal empire. It’s a one mare business. I started up there in March because there were no forges there, so I seized the chance to make it big.”

“Have you?” I finished off the hot chocolate, no longer very hot, but still hot.

“While I am still the sole blacksmith up there, business is rather sparse. I make enough to live somewhat comfortably, but not much more than that. The hardest part of my business is just getting business. Sometimes, I go four days without anything happening. What about you?”

“The Carne Den actually runs fairly smoothly thanks to everyone’s efforts. I can only imagine what’s going on without me there.”

Gilda walked to an official looking unicorn that had asked for her. “Can I help you?”

“I’m just here to convey a message. Are you the owner of this establishment?”

“For the time being. What do you want?”

The unicorn pulled a framed certificate out of their saddlebag. “I’m just here to give this award to the Carne Den for breaking the world record for longest line at a restaurant without Hearth’s Warming decorations during the Hearth’s Warming season.”

“How long is the line?”

“When I reached the end of the line, a mare named Applejack had just left her house.” Gilda gave the pony a curious gaze. “The line ended literally five steps from her front porch.”

“I’m sure everything’s fine down there.”

“Yeah, it probably is.”

“Oh, I have a pet firebird named Grapefruit.”

“A phoenix?”

“No, a firebird. If a phoenix is like a bowling pin, firebirds are like bowling balls, and about the same size too. She lives in my forge.”

“With the fire going?”

“Yep. She’s a fireproof ball of golden feathers.”

“Well, I’ve got a pet bear. Her name’s Asada and she’s really smart. Like, I asked her to pull up a chair for a guest once and she did it.”

“Sounds like a trained animal.”

“Nobody’s taught her what a chair is or how to do that.”

“I take that back. She does sound smart.”

“You’ve got the cooler pet” we both said at the same time.

“You know what, I think you are right” I said. “I do have the cooler pet.”

“On what grounds?”

“Temperature.”

Smithy blinked a bit before facehooving. “I got it, I got it. Celestia, that was bad.”

“No, it was actually pretty good” Celestia said as she walked up to us. “How are you two doing?”

“I’m wishing we were inside where it’s warmer” I said, only slightly suspicious of her timing.

“Don’t worry, this is the coldest it gets. Personally, I can’t understand why you thought that kind of dress would work out here.”

“It’s not like I have a whole wardrobe of fancy clothes with me. And as much as I like this dress, its heating charms aren’t helping enough. I also put off choosing the dress until Rarity and Twilight took a more forceful approach, so there was only time for the one.”

“I heard about that. Let me give you a hoof.” Celestia’s horn lit up and she cast a spell on me. “That should help you during your time here.”

“What did you do?” I was feeling a lot better after the spell.

“I simply increased the power of the heating charms in your clothes. It will last about until you get home. Rarity is excellent at weaving spells into what she makes, but those spells lack a bit in power.”

“Well, thanks a lot then.”

Celestia turned to Smithy. “I’ve heard a bit about you from Princess Cadence, Miss Dreamkeeper. If I recall, Shining Armor commissioned you for a training sword for Flurry Heart for Hearth’s Warming this year, yes?”

“I finished and delivered it before I came here, Princess. Shining Armor covered a filling lunch and first class train ticket on top of what he paid me.”

“He is a good stallion. Can you tell me a bit about the sword?”

“I wrote an instruction manual for it regarding the enchantments I put in it. Safe edges, lightweight, noticeability, and an emergency deactivation rune partially built into an internal telekinetic switch, so it can become very sharp and have some heft to it when needed.”

“That’s quite well thought out, Ms. Dreamkeeper. I’m looking forward to hearing about it from Princess Cadence.

“I hope you both enjoy the rest of the event.” Celestia walked off and let us be.

“So, would you like the address for Steel and Runes? I can make just about anything you’d like.”

“I don’t have anything to write with.” I cursed my lack of pockets.

“We’ve still got time. If you need a notebook, I’m sure the castle can provide one.”

“And a pencil?”

“Now you’re just asking too much.” A moment later, both of us were laughing at the joke. “Yeah, they’ll probably give you those if you ask. Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Yang.”

“You too, Smithy.” I politely waved as she left me.

I was just about to go find Fancy and Fleur so I could return the thermos when a pile of snow fell on me from somewhere up above. The cold of the stuff didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would, and I could even feel it melting around me. “Thank you, Celestia, for this heating charm.” I heard a bit of a commotion from outside the mound, but it was otherwise dark.

“Please, stand back everyone” I could barely hear Celestia say. “Please allow me to take care of this.” I felt my clothes get a bit hotter before a blast wave went out around me, clearing all the snow for ten feet in every direction.

After Celestia’s heating charms went back to their original power levels, I approached her. “Thank you, Princess. If you don’t mind, I think I’ll go dry off, get the dress cleaned, and call it a night.”

“I understand. Have a good evening, Yang.”

I was less than ten steps into the castle when I got some companions. “As shocked as I am that that happened, I sadly am not surprised that it did” Fancy said.

“I’d bet the nice half of my collection of saddles that one of our compatriots did that” Fleur added.

“Which saddles are those again, dear? Because they all look nice on you.”

“They really are still out for revenge, aren't they?” I asked.

“Unfortunately, yes. Most of the last meeting was them quietly exchanging papers with each other on how to get at you. I caught glimpses of the papers, though I couldn’t read enough of the details. Of course, while they were busy, we looked over the budget and Celestia passed one of our bills. Starting next month, tax rates will go from 15% down to 12%, thanks to a little bit of budget streamlining and trimming. That will let businesses invest more in themselves and let everyone live a bit better with the extra bits.”

“Maybe you should get a foal table in the room for the meetings if they keep thinking of getting at me. They get the table for the adults, then you two and the head of the meeting take care of business at the foal’s table.”

Fleur giggled at the suggestion. “That would be hilarious. Fancy, I’m going to go table shopping after the awards are given out.”

“I’ll work a bit of my craft to get a reporter in to get a picture of the new arrangement once it’s done” Fancy said.

“And I’ll look forward to reading about it” I added just as we approached my guarded room. “Anyways, thanks for walking with me, you two. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Good night, Yang” they said at the same time.

“Good night.”

After I was in my toasty room, I got my pyjamas, went into the bathroom, took my wet clothes off, dried off, and changed. Sleep came easily enough for me, and I had good dreams that night.

Entrepreneur Award Ceremony 2

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“Hello again everyone, and welcome to the second day of the Entrepreneur Awards Ceremony” Celestia said from a small podium at the front of the castle foyer. “Today’s topic involves the ones most critical to your businesses: the guests and customers. After your business has set its roots and begun growing, that is when you are there to greet and welcome them. That is why we are here in the foyer, where everyone passes through to come into the castle, just as all your guests and customers come through your front doors.

“You are now free to mingle. The waitstaff will come around to distribute menus and collect your orders for dinner in a couple hours.”

Fancy was quick to approach me after the speech. “So here’s what usually happens here: during the mingling, business deals are supposedly made between the various entrepreneurs, though more often than not, it’s usually the more naive entrepreneurs’ businesses getting absorbed by one or more of my fellow nobles.”

I thought about what he had told me. “Okay, that’s good to know, but why are you telling me this?”

“The EAC is a big deal, and it gets reported on in great detail in lots of publications. Since you’ve never had the chance to read about even one, I’ve taken it upon myself to give you a few helping hooves here and there.”

“Well, thanks, I guess.”

“But to be honest, I doubt my fellow nobles will even wish to speak to you, and you already know a bit about how they operate, so you’ll be fine. At this point, all I feel I can ask of you is to advise anyone you come across about them.”

“I can do that. Hey, maybe next year, you could give out pamphlets to all the guests?”

“That does sound like a good idea. Unfortunately, there are political aspects to that action, so I’d have to weigh that very carefully. The only reason I believe I’m able to get away with telling you these things is because they don’t like either of us.”

“Makes sense. Well, I think I’ll go ahead and start mingling.” I picked up my pencil and notepad, left Fancy, and started wandering around.

After a couple minutes, I saw a cream colored unicorn mare with a red and orange mane and tail wearing what looked like a lab coat dress. That alone caught my interest, so I wandered over to her. “Excuse me, miss?”

“Huh, oh, hello, Yang Xiao Long.” It didn’t take a genius to tell she had been deep in thought before I showed up. “I’m Safe Dose, owner and lead pharmacist of Perfect Pharmacy and Tailored Effects, located in Manehattan.”

“Two businesses?”

“No, just one with a long name. Long business names are pretty common there. Anyways, I make medicine perfectly tailored to each of my patients. This minimizes side effects, which makes the healing go so much more smoothly for everyone involved, especially foals and their families. It is a bit pricier than the mass produced medicines, but it works so much better that it’s worth it.”

“So, if I were to get sick, you could give me the right dosage to heal me within a week?”

“In theory, yes, but I know nothing about how well your body would react to or metabolize the medicine or its ingredients, nor do I have any information that would let me make an educated guess.”

“I have bad reactions to grass and grass extracts.”

“Including wheat, corn, and other grains?”

“No, not those. I’m talking about the grass you walk on, the grass ponies can eat right from the ground, the stuff that grows in blades.”

“What kind of reaction did you have?”

“I got very sick.”

“Ah. That rules out a lot of- wait, why are we talking about this again?”

“Because of a question I asked?”

“Probably. Oh, I think I see another pharmacist here. Sorry, but I think I’ll go talk to him. It was nice meeting you.”

“You too.” As Safe Dose left me, I looked around at the crowd. There was a dark gray unicorn mare who caught my interest, and not because of the bright red parts of her messy mane contrasting her coat. What really caught my interest was her dress, a thing of gold, silver, glowing green, and it looked like it was a mechanical dress. There appeared to be gears, pistons, panels, and more that made it up.

I was about to leave her be and go elsewhere when she made eye contact with me and I knew then that I was going to talk with her. “Hello. Are you really Yang Xiao Long?” she asked.

“Yes. And you are?”

“Technia, the mad mare of machines from Vanhoover. I run the Mechanical Machinations shop outside of the city, though it’s really more of a devoted hobby workshop that my friends turned into a business with me as the owner without my knowing of it. I love technology, and I know that is often seen as weird, what with everypony falling on either technological or magical supremacy. Can you tell me about your bracelet gauntlet things?”

“They’re called Ember Celica and I honestly couldn’t tell you how they work, just that they do. The shells for them have some kind of enchantment on them that lets me have infinite ammo, though I can only fire one at a time.

“Anyways, I run a restaurant, the Carne Den, not too far from the Ponyville train station. It’s probably one of, if not the most popular places to eat at in the town.”

“Really?”

“I think it started out big because I was the one opening it, then the fact that we serve meat products took over, and it’s been busy ever since. I can only imagine what it might be like down there right now.”

Gilda looked outside at the huge crowd outside the Carne Den, appearing to consist of the bulk of both Ponyville and Cloudsdale’s populations. She quickly gathered everyone who was working in the kitchen. “All in favor of closing the restaurant tomorrow and just cuddling and playing with Asada?”

“Aye” said everyone in the kitchen. A growl from outside the kitchen also accompanied the consensus.

“Sounds like Asada agrees with us on that plan. If you see anyone who isn’t working tonight, tell them of the plan. In fact, let’s make that the plan for the next three days. No pay, just play.” Another round of agreement and a growl answered Gilda. “But first, let’s get through tonight.”

“So, I’ve heard you’re not from our world. What kinds of machines do you have there?”

I had no idea how to really answer that. “Well, there’s a lot. There’s small ones that can be held between two fingers and some that are simply gigantic.”

“How big?”

“Thousands of times bigger than me.”

“That sounds amazing!”

I was starting to get nervous around the mare. “Yeah, it is, anyways, I think I’ll just go somewhere else now.”

“Alright.” Technia left me and went over to talk to somepony somewhere else.

A thought crossed my mind while I was meandering around, totally not listening in on others’ conversations. Specifically, I was wondering why Celestia had strongly insisted that I come to the Entrepreneur Awards Ceremony in the first place.

Finding Celestia wasn’t difficult. She was still up at the podium, and it looked like she was either napping or meditating. I made my way up to her. “Princess?”

“Yes, Yang?” she responded without opening her eyes.

“I’m just wondering why my invitation was so strongly phrased, insisting that I come here instead of just inviting me normally.”

“I worded yours that way because I knew that you would pass on a normal invite, and instead just continue working at the Carne Den. Even strongly worded, I thought that you would still turn it down, so I had it sent to Rarity instead.”

“So that she would badger and hound me until I went along with it and came here.” And it had worked.

“Yes. Guilty as charged. It’s often said that the best way to hurt somepony is through their friends, but by the same token, it’s also one of the best ways to help somepony. Or get them to go somewhere you want.”

“I bet you play a lot of chess.”

“Actually, I prefer Chineighse Checkers myself. None of the pieces get captured, and you have to think in more directions at once. Luna still beats me more often than not.”

“That’s. . . Interesting. Well then, I think I’ll just go back out there and meander.”

“I hope you have a good time, Yang.”

The time after I talked with Celestia was very dull. I did meet some ponies that stood out, like Wood Chip, who opened a garden shop in Canterlot because he felt so strongly about decorative plants, and the disappointing lack of presence of such across Canterlot.

The waitstaff came around eventually to take orders, and they (or at least the one that helped me) knew what went into the meals. When I asked which menu items were wholly grass free, he did not hesitate at all to point out the few items that did not have grass in them. Of the few that didn’t have grass or grass based ingredients in them, there was only one that suited my pallet: the basic salad. Suffice to say, it was disappointing, but at least they were able add cheese and crumbled bits of hard boiled egg to it.

When the time came for the meals to be served, I went back to my table, accepted my salad, and waited for the cue that we could begin eating.

As I ate, I kept glancing out of the front gate of the castle and down to Ponyville. I really wanted to be done with the ceremonies and go back home.

Entrepreneur Award Ceremony 3

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“Welcome to the first part of today’s ceremonies, here in the dining hall” Celestia said. “You’ve made it far with your businesses, and so I congratulate you all for that.

“After a late lunch, I ask that all of you come to the ballroom, where our final ceremony will be held, to give out the awards. With that, I bid you all adieu for now.” Celestia teleported away in a flash of golden light.

Once again, Fancy and Fleur were quick to approach me. “So, what happens here?” I asked.

Fancy answered. “Supposedly, this is where the various entrepreneurs share and trade their methods on running their businesses and how they manage their employees. In actuality, this is where our cohorts really get to work scooping up new businesses and pulling out the contracts and deals, especially since Celestia’s gone for this part.”

“And you?”

“I’ve been making notes on the entrepreneurs I’ve met here and figuring out who can help who best. This is where I bring the entrepreneurs together and explain how their businesses can benefit from each other. For example, you see that sleepy looking pegasus mare in the light blue dress and the nervous thestral stallion in the suit with the pink tie?”

“Yeah.”

“She makes really good pillows in Cloudsdale. He runs a love hotel in Baltimare. I’m going to introduce them to each other so he can buy quality pillows from her, helping his business with said quality pillows, and helping her by having a consistent customer.”

“That’s pretty smart.”

“No business is an island, so connections are very important. As good as one might be, it can’t be everything at once. It’s generally better to be very good at a few specific things than just decent at everything.”

“That makes sense. What about you, Fleur?”

“I’m the one out of us that makes the contracts and deals” Fleur said. “The ones I make are business ones that profit both them and us, while our cohorts look to exploit and plunder. They look to see how much they can quickly make that way while we seek more sustainable relationships.”

“I swear you two are the only smart ones among them. I’d bet 100 bits that they’re still plotting to get at me.”

“Unfortunately, they still are” Fancy said. “They take to losing like a boulder to swimming.”

“Figures. So, is there anyone here you can recommend for me?”

“Honestly, no, and mostly just because you’re already doing really well with the local farmers and bakery in Ponyville and your meat providers in the Griffon Empire. And being on the service side of business instead of production, you can’t really provide anyone here with much beyond advice and ad space. Have you considered putting up a bulletin board where other ponies could pay you to advertise something?”

“As good as that sounds, I’ll pass. I’m too busy in the kitchen to worry about that, and I don’t want to put the task on anyone else. Besides, nobody likes advertisements intruding into their favorite places.”

“Fair enough, I suppose. How do you think your employees are doing down there today?”

In the dining area of the Carne Den, tables and chairs had been moved around to form something like a nest. In the middle of it, resting on a spread of pillows and blankets, was a spread out pile of griffons, ponies, a dragon, a minotaur, and a bear.

“This is nice” Gilda said from her spot in the pile, acting as Asada’s pillow.

Various sounds of agreement came from everyone else there while a scheduled snowstorm howled by outside.

“I’m sure everyone’s working very hard.”

“I’m sure they are. Anyways, if you want, you could go relax in your room or wander around the castle and just have somepony come and get you before the ceremony starts. Just talk to one of the guards.”

“I’ll do that then. I’ll see you later, Fancy.” I waved and left them to do their thing. On the way out, I stopped at a guard posted by the dining hall. “Excuse me, sir, but could you have someone come to my room about, oh, 20 minutes before the award ceremony begins? And can they also guide me to the ballroom?”

“Of course, Miss Xiao Long” the guard professionally answered.

“Thank you, sir.” I left the room and made the walk to my room, which was only about two minutes away.

Once I was in my room, I realized that I had practically nothing to do, so I rummaged through my luggage. While going through it, I found something I hadn’t used in a long time: the buckle Ita had given me. “It’s been a while since I used this” I thought. I brought up the holographic interface and looked over the outfits that were loaded in it, stopping at the athletic outfit with the caution stripes. Before switching to that set, I logged the formal dress in the buckle.

Once I was in the athletic outfit, I started doing some exercises. Push ups, sit ups, squats, and stretches. It felt really good to do them again, and since the room was heated, I wasn’t worried about a sudden influx of cold air.

Some knocking at the door made me stop my improves routine just as I went down on a sit up. “Yes?” I called out.

“The award ceremony starts in 20 minutes, Miss Xiao Long” a mare told me through the door.

“Thanks!” After a few more sit ups, I stood up, and did some cool down stretches. After checking myself and concluding I didn’t need to do much cleaning up, just a little bit of hair brushing.

After I was done with my hair and dressed back up, I went in the hallway. There, I found the mare who would guide me. “This way, please” she politely said.

I followed her from my room to the ballroom, a walk that took five minutes and probably twice as many turns. “Thank you, ma’am” I said once we reached the ballroom.

“You’re welcome, Miss Xiao Long.” She left to go do whatever it was she had to do around the castle after a bow.

“Ah, there you are, Yang.” Fleur approached me. “Come with me, please.” I followed Fleur through the ballroom to a small table close to the right side of the stage, where Fancy was waiting.

“Hello, Yang” Fancy greeted as Fleur and I sat down. “You’re just in time. I went ahead and ordered a warm meal for you, with extra emphasis on not using grass. It should be here any moment.”

“Thanks, Fancy” I said. “So, who do you think is going to win the award?”

“I have no idea, Yang. Celestia is the one who looks over everything and she gives out the award personally as well. I’ve met a lot of skilled, driven, and successful ponies over the last few days.”

“I managed to get a few good deals myself” Fleur said. “It turns out that the sleepy pegasus Fancy pointed out to you is a baroness, Lady Drowsy Cloud IX. I ordered some of her pillows, and I arranged for her to visit us next month to see if we can make a club for humble nobles, the ones who don’t flaunt their wealth, power, or status to get what they want. Considering everything you’ve done, I’d say you could be invited to those meetings, if it happens.”

“Thanks” I said a moment before a plate with a steaming veggie, cheese, and mushroom omelette, hash browns, and toast was placed in front of me.

“Really, Fancy?” Fleur asked. “Breakfast food at this time of day?”

“I’m fine with this. Besides, I missed the late lunch anyways.” I took a bite of the omelette. “This is really good. Want a bite?”

“No thanks, Yang. I’m fine.”

The discussion continued as I worked on my meal. I was hungrier than I thought, but that was bound to happen with having accidentally skipped breakfast and doing some exercise in the room.

Shortly after my clean plate was removed, the room dimmed, except for a single spotlight on the stage, lighting up a podium. Everyone went quiet and soon, Celestia appeared from behind the curtains. “Good evening, everyone. After three days, it’s finally time for me to reveal the winner of the Entrepreneur of the Year award. Prince Blueblood, I’ll give you the honor of giving the award to its recipient.”

“Thank you, auntie” Blueblood happily said as he stepped onstage, accepting the elegant and partially blank placard style award.

“Now then, it’s time for me to make the announcement we’re all looking forward to hearing. After looking over a large number of documents and making my own notes, I have determined the winner of the Entrepreneur of the Year award. The winner is. . .” The silence may have only lasted ten seconds, but it felt like it was so much longer. “Yang Xiao Long, with her business, the Carne Den restaurant. Come on up, Yang.”

The spotlight was literally on me as I stood up, everyone stomping or clapping their hooves while I made my way onto the stage. “Well, uh, thanks, Princess” I said as I accepted the award, now engraved with mine and the restaurant’s names, from Blueblood, who seemed to be barely holding in his anger and disgust as he left the stage. “If I may ask, why did I win?” And where was Luna?

“It comes from the fact that you run a successful restaurant, but it’s more than that. You dared to open a restaurant that serves meat in the middle of a country of vegetarians, normally a recipe for failure, but you made it work. The sheer popularity and reputation of the Carne Den has increased the number of visitors to Ponyville as well, putting more money into the economy there. But most impressively of all, you have managed to slow the continuing decline of the Griffon Empire economy a bit. Yes, you did that.”

“Wow. I mean, I’ve heard stories from my griffon employees about what life was like back in the Empire, but that I’ve done all that? I had no idea. Still, I couldn’t have done that by myself.” I took over the podium and faced everyone before continuing. “I guess I’ll start by thanking Gilda, even though she’s not here, for accidentally leading us to the idea for the Carne Den. I’m sure she’s doing her best down there right now.”

Gilda got up from her spot in the pile to use the bathroom and grab a glass of water before returning to the pile to use Asada as a pillow. It was her turn, dang it.

The snowstorm outside had gotten worse, the pegasi having lost some of their control over it.

I continued on. “I would also like to thank Fancy Pants and Fleur Dee Lis, for lending us the money, guidance, and ponies to build the place. I’d also like to thank everyone who works with me. If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t be able to keep the Carne Den running. Finally, there’s also our esteemed guests, who buy the food we make. They are the ones who give us the money we use to apparently help the Griffon Empire by accident. Thanks, everyone.” I left the stage and went back to the table, award in hand.

“Good job up there, Yang” Fancy said. “For an impromptu speech, that wasn’t bad.”

“I really had no idea what to say, so I improvised from what I remember hearing at other award ceremonies. If I knew I was the winner, I could have come up with something ahead of time.”

“True, but there’s something to be said for the surprise factor of being the winner as well.”

Celestia returned to the podium. “And with that, the ceremony is done. You’re free to mingle, grab your belongings and leave, or wander the castle.” With that, she teleported away.

“So, what now?” I asked Fancy.

“Normally, a swarm of congratulations from the other entrepreneurs and some niceties from the nobles” Fancy answered. He didn’t have to say anything about how the other nobles might treat me differently.

It wasn’t long after Fancy’s brief explanation that the table was swarmed by the other entrepreneurs, all of them complimenting me on winning, wishing me luck in my future endeavors, and shaking my hand.

To our surprise, the nobles who didn’t like me (all 28 of them!) came over to deliver compliments and congratulations, though some of them couldn’t hide the strain in their voices as well as others. After they had left came some reporters, asking for my thoughts on what all had happened during the Entrepreneur Award Ceremony, from the snow pile on the first evening to any deals I may have made, and anything else about winning the award.

Eventually, I called an end to the questions on account of needing to use the restroom. Everyone seemed to understand, and they let me leave with very little fuss. I took the award with me to my room, setting it down before using the bathroom there. While I was relieving myself, I let out a big sigh and relaxed. While I did appreciate the award, and all I’d done to earn it, I didn’t like being the center of attention like that.

Destruction

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Originally, I had planned to go home the day after the ceremony was over, but seeing as Celestia’s heating charms were still in effect on my dress, I’d decided to spend that day wearing it again and just walking through the royal gardens. While I was admiring the tastefully done winter (not holiday) decorations, I realized that I could see myself wearing dresses a bit more often. I also came up with the idea to show up at the Carne Den wearing the dress, just to stun everyone there.

If I had one complaint about that day, it was that I got lost in the hedge maze a few times. Thankfully, there were pegasi guards there to help me get out.

While I was packing my stuff for the trip home, Celestia decided to pay me a visit. “I see you’re still wearing that dress” she observed. “I thought you would have wanted to be done with it as soon as possible.”

“Well, yeah, I did” I admitted. “But I’ve come to like wearing it, though I have a suspicion that that’s partially from your heating charms.”

“True, that is possible. Oh, I heard that you turned down a private flight from Fancy and Fleur for the trip home.”

“They did enough for me during the ceremony, so I politely declined their offer. I’m taking the train home.” I finished packing my clothes and award up and put the suitcases on the ground. “If you want, you could walk with me to the train station.”

Celestia gave a dramatic gasp. “Are you, the winner of the Entrepreneur Award Ceremony, offering me, the Princess of the sun, the honor of walking by your side?”

“Yeah, sure. Let’s go for a walk, and maybe get some hot chocolate on the way.”

“I do love Pony Joe’s hot chocolate. I’ll buy.”

Since I wasn’t in any rush to get to the train station, we decided to stop at Pony Joe’s to sit and talk a bit more.

“So that’s why Fleur is looking for a foal size table?” Celestia asked over our second round of hot chocolates.

“Yeah, pretty much.” I took a sip of my delicious drink. “If you can make it a bit sillier, like having some foal size meals there as well, that would be even better.”

“Hmmm. Do you think the other nobles would notice?”

“If they’re still going after me, they’ll probably notice, but not care as much as they should.” There was a sudden rumble in the ground, about as subtle as half a ton of bricks on a runaway flatbed cart at a hardware store. “What was that?”

Celestia cast a spell to do something. “Oh no.”

“What is it?”

“You remember Tirek and The Unmusician, right?”

I put my head in my hands. “It’s another of those guys, isn’t it?”

“Yep. Joe, would you mind holding on to Yang’s suitcases?”

“No problem, Your Highness” Joe said as he came over to retrieve the items.

Before he got them, I fished out the buckle from its place. “Let’s go, Princess.” As Celestia and I made our way down the mountain, the tremors got stronger and more frequent. “Aren’t you worried about the city falling apart?”

“Its construction is sound and magically reinforced” Celestia explained. “Earthquakes will not destroy the city. That being said, there shouldn’t even be any earthquakes here.”

“How big is this thing?”

We ran over a cliff edge, Celestia moving me to her back during the fall, soon glide. “About four times as tall as you are.”

“I think I can deal with that.”

Celestia turned around and into a hover partway down the cliff. Something silvery was slithering out of the rock wall. A few moments later, it was joined by another, and another, until there were nine of them, spread out evenly, as if anchoring something on the other side. Shortly after that, we heard a tremor and saw rocks fall from the cliff.

After a few more tremors, large cracks were visible on the cliffside, which was starting to cave inwards. Even though there was no immediate danger, Celestia backed away a little bit. I understood why she did a few moments later when the wall got pulled in. A big humanoid robot covered in yellow and red armor stepped out of the hole. In place of eyes, it had a visor that glowed the typical evil red color. On its shoulders were missile pods, and they looked like they were loaded. The rest of it looked like a normal giant armored robot, except there were masses of mechanical tentacles in place of its hands.

“Okay, that’s scary” I admitted. “Can you melt it down?”

“That was the first thing I tried when Luna and I fought it” Celestia said. “It didn’t work. And seeing as it’s still in good condition, it won’t work. And before you ask, we did try cutting the tentacles with our magic too. That didn’t work either.

“We called it The Destroyer, since that was all it did.”

The Destroyer looked at us before apparently dismissing us, turning around, and scaling the cliff. In response, Celestia picked up the slab of rock with her magic, brought it over the machine, melted the rock, and let the hot substance fall.

The molten rock, cooled off over The Destroyer by more magic, seemed to have done the trick. While Celestia flew back up to the city, I looked back and saw the fresh rock cracking and crumbling. “Princess, it’s breaking free!”

“Already? I’d hoped it would buy us more time. Can you hold it off?”

“I can try.” Celestia let me off at the edge of the city, overlooking a small cliff, before teleporting away, presumably back to the castle.

The guard was very quick to act. Mere minutes after Celestia’s teleport, they were already evacuating everyone in a wide area and concentrating in on my location. It looked like I would be facing the battle with some backup for once.

“Incoming up ahead!” one of the pegasus guards warned. “It’s approaching the cliffside!” I opened the clothes changing part of the buckle and went to my combat outfit. I was not about to mess up Rarity’s work. “Ten seconds!”

The tentacles anchored themselves in front of us all at once, like a hand with too many too long boneless fingers. As they slithered along towards us, the arms came into view, followed by the missile pods and head.

As the body came into view, I put the buckle on my waist, changing to my combat outfit, and despite the small energy boost that came with it, I froze up from the sudden drop in ambient temperature around me.

“THAT’S COLD!” I could only think as I fell face first onto the pavement, which was also cold and really hurt me.

It took me a couple seconds to start shivering. “Come on, Miss Xiao Long, stand up!” one of the guards said as he helped me up off the ground. I looked back at The Destroyer in time to see it weave one of its tentacle hands into a net of some kind and swatted away most of the pegasi trying to spear it, with a follow up swing taking out the rest. The wakes of wind didn’t help my condition at all either.

Some of the edge of the cold was suddenly gone when a red beam went from a unicorn guard with a red barrier up to me. “Go fight it, I’ll do what I can for you here.”

I got to my feet, still somewhat shaky, and thanked the unicorn before loading the incendiary shells into the Ember Celica. If there was a way to set The Destroyer on fire, that would manage to solve the problem of it rampaging for everyone and the problem of the cold for me.

I leapt with just enough force to be able to punch its rock encrusted face, spreading the fire from the shot across the left side of its face. The heat from the attack felt good, but I didn’t even make a dent. In the next few seconds, it looked like the uniform glow of the visor somehow shifted to focus on me, and after the failed attack, it grabbed me with most of its left hand tentacles, constricting me in a cocoon. Since I hadn’t taken any damage yet, I found myself struggling to get out.

In the very back of my mind, I thought about how the tentacles were avoiding hentai territory, a blessing on my part. More pressing though was the fact that I was captured, nothing the guards did seemed to faze the giant machine, and my heat source was slowly retreating as his teammates got tossed and smacked around, knocking them out or injuring them and wrecking nearby buildings.

After the last guard, the one that I wanted to call Firewall, was knocked away, The Destroyer turned its focus back to me. “What do you want?” I asked it. It didn’t answer, but instead tightened its grip on me before letting the tentacles go a little slack elsewhere, dangling me like a ball on a string.

After it had spun me around a few times, I concluded that it wanted to take advantage of my aura and use me as a flail, which was proven true very quickly when it swung me through a house, smashing me through the roof, a wall, and a floor. I had a little bit of time to get my senses back before getting pulled back outside through the wall, leaving a big hole.

Thanks to the metallic tentacles encasing me, my semblance didn’t have much to work with, and while I did feel a bit stronger from being swung through the house, it wasn’t by very much, and the cold was coming back to bite me fast.

Also coming at me fast was the house, as I was being flung at it again. After being smashed through the length of a wall, I was pulled back and sent back in. That happened multiple times until the house came crashing down.

The Destroyer, I realized, had effectively weaponized paddleball, with me as the ball. Sometimes, it stopped swinging me around to instead fire a volley of missiles, blowing up houses and businesses that way instead. After it blew up a restaurant that way, it tossed me into the burning wreckage and walked off.

“Yang, can you hear me?” Luna asked in my head.

“Yeah.” I coughed to get the smoke out of my lungs as I got out of the wreckage. Apparently, fire and heat immunity did not include smoke filtration and easy oxygen while in a fire. Fortunately, fresh air wasn’t far and my aura and strength let me easily walk out of something that would have cut, scratched, and burned anyone else. “Where is it?”

“Slowly approaching the castle. Just follow the trail of destruction. Celestia wants to be down there with you, but we have to coordinate the guards together. The day and night guards apparently don’t work all that well together, something we’ll have to fix.

“Oh, how are you holding up out there?”

I sniffled a bit. “It’s cold out here. What do you think?”

“I think you should turn left and run straight towards the castle.”

I walked out a bit saw the trail of destruction leading to the giant yellow robot destroying Canterlot. Pegasi and bat pony guards were firing crossbow bolts, unicorns were firing spells, and earth ponies were scattered around, along with some of their comrades. The trail of destruction had haphazard fires scattered around it, and I quickly plotted a path to approach it.

By the time I got to the first fire, I was starting to feel a bit worse, but I didn’t focus on it very much. I stayed close to the fires and their heat as I approached, switching out the yellow incendiary shells for the purple slug shells.

I stopped at a wall that was partially intact near the rampaging machine and watched its movements, trying to figure out a weakness. Not helping was the sheer amount of armor the thing had and the fuzziness creeping into my head.

Luna’s voice came back. “Yang, can you break off those launchers on the shoulders?” The missile pods fired a volley off, quickly destroying more buildings and breaking any formations the guards had. “We have an idea, and we need them gone.”

Another sniffle escaped me. “I’ll see what I can do.” I ran out from my cover and jumped up on the machine’s back to start my attack. I didn’t get much farther than the landing when my ankles got wrapped up in the tentacles, followed by the rest of my legs as I was pulled down and around, then dangled upside-down in front of the machine’s head. A glance down caught my attention because it looked like a motorcycle was sticking out of the robot’s body, somehow still in pristine condition despite the destruction and attacks sent at it. Something about it looked a bit familiar as well. “Luna, are you able to see what I’m seeing?”

There was a very brief pressure of some kind at the back of my eyes, then Luna spoke. “It looks like some kind of, what’s the word? Bicycle, it looks like there’s one of those in there with a window on the front of it. Is that what you’re seeing?”

“Close enoug-ah-ah-ACHOO!” The painful sneeze came just as I was being tossed away into another building. “Luna, I don’t feel too good” I managed to croak out.

“Don’t you have your aura to protect you?”

“I don’t know what this is.” Luna was quiet, though I could somehow feel her trying to figure something out. “So how’s your day been?”

“A couple of The Destroyer’s tentacles have suddenly and rapidly rusted and corroded off. Did you do something?”

“No, I didn’t.” I got out of my rubblehole and saw that, indeed, two of the mechanical tentacles were motionless on the ground, detached from one of the arms. “What did I do?”

The Destroyer noticed me and took a step back before firing a volley of missiles focused on me. I barely managed to jump to the side before the first missiles struck and exploded, sending me flying into the rest of them, the explosions of which sent me sky high and depleted a good chunk of my aura. It was enough to cause my semblance to ignite my hair, though I was less worried about that and more about the cold from the air sapping my will to fight.

A bit of gold colored magic helped direct my fall, literally face first onto the joint that one of the missile pods was on. A bit more magic tickled my nose enough to make me sneeze before I was forcibly removed and thrown away again. As I looked back at The Destroyer, I saw the missile pod fall off.

“It would appear that I owe my sister a double priced meal at your place, Yang” Luna said. “Your sneezes seem to be its weakness, so get back there and sneeze on it some more to save the world again.

“I can’t believe I actually said that.”

I had a feeling Luna was wrong about the weakness, but it seemed to work, so I came up with a strategy: play dead until it was gone, then sneeze on an ankle. There was no way that the plan was an excuse to just get some rest.

After I heard it walk off, I set my plan into motion, quietly sneaking out and looking around. It was easy enough to spot the machine walking around. There were no guards to distract it for me either. Since it seemed preoccupied with destruction on its path to the castle, I decided to forget the sneaking strategy and just run up to the thing.

The Destroyer was distracted enough trying to uproot something for me to get close enough that I could stand by and wait for the need to sneeze. The sneeze came just as it seemed it was about to succeed in its goal, and I managed to get a good look at what happened. Around the spots where my snot landed, the rust spread like a wildfire, which was very prominent against the brightly colored armor.

It didn’t take long for The Destroyer to notice I was still alive, but before it could get a grip on me, the ankle failed and it fell over on its back, letting me see that it definitely looked like there was a motorcycle in the body. I still couldn’t quite place where I’d seen some of the visible details on it before though.

I finally remembered that I could still punch the thing, so I did just that, sending a slug into a knee with more effort than it should have taken. The damage from the punch disabled the lower leg as well, but just to be sure, I punched it a few more times. Once I was satisfied with the non-functional knee, I did the same to the other side.

The Destroyer would not be going on any adventures any time soon.

I leaned over with my hands on my knees to catch my breath, as I really wasn’t feeling that good, like I was three days into a cold. Thankfully, I got started building up a second wind as drums began beating. As my music magic progressed and built up, I was able to clear my head and focus a bit.

When the strings entered, I made the brief climb onto The Destroyer’s chest. In time with the chants, a tentacle lashed out, I caught and wrapped it taught around my arm, and broke it with the other.

Catch, wrap, break.

Catch two, wrap two, break two.

Catch three, wrap three, break three.

Dovahkiin, Dovahkiin, naal ok zin los vahriin

I caught a glimpse of a hair on one of the last tentacles, and I felt the burst of anger.

Wah dein vokul mahfaeraak ahst vaal!

I tore off the second and final missile pod before I turned to the body.

Ahrk fin norok paal graan fod nust hon zindro zaan

The armor around the bike came off very quickly and easily.

Dovahkiin, fah hin kogaan mu draal!

The connections on the bike also came off easily. With a “HYAAH”, I pulled it out from the body, causing The Destroyer to finally stop moving. As the brief music spell died down, I finally began to succumb to my exhaustion and the cold.

As I began to drift towards the peaceful darkness behind my eyelids, I couldn’t stop myself from clinging to the liberated vehicle. It had some residual warmth to it, and I finally passed out with the motorcycle in my arms.

A Quick Recovery

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I slowly began waking up in a very warm and humid place, a far cry from the cold street I last remembered being on. There was a pillow under my head and a blanket over my body as well.

“Ah, you’re finally coming back to us” a familiar voice said, though I wasn’t quite awake enough to tell who it was. I opened my eyes a crack and saw a blurry white face with purple eyes looking back. “Yang, can you say something to me?”

“Our eyes are the same color” I answered.

As my vision cleared, I was able to tell it was Celestia looking over me. “Huh. I never actually noticed that before. It’s most likely a coincidence.”

“Where am I?”

“My personal sauna. It’s a well kept secret here in the castle, though not because I keep it secret. It’s more that nopony talks about it. And before you ask, you’ve been asleep in here for about three days now. In fact, it’s just after 1 PM.”

I bolted up at that. “Three days? I need to get back home!”

“Not in your condition. If you just calm down, I will explain what’s happened.”

I took a deep breath and stood up. I was still wearing my combat outfit, and the buckle was in one of its pouches. “Okay, start.”

I did some stretching while Celestia explained. “After you wrecked The Destroyer, some guards found you clinging to the part that looked like it was torn out of the body. You kept muttering the word ‘bumblebee’ while you and the thing were loaded up and brought back here, along with the rest of the machine.”

“So that’s what it is! I thought it looked familiar.”

“Care to elaborate?”

“Okay, so you know how I got turned into a fictional character from my world, right?”

“Twilight has mentioned you saying that before.”

“So the character has a vehicle of her own, a motorcycle she calls Bumblebee, and now it’s here.Is it immune to magic like my gauntlets?”

“No. It was fairly easy for our unicorns to levitate it, if a bit heavy.

“Moving back a bit; once I’d confirmed that it was indeed dead, I sent a letter to Twilight, requesting her to come look at you, which she did right after I got you off the motorcycle. She concluded that you had gotten, from fighting out in the cold dressed like that, mild hypothermia and a cold. She also believes that the hypothermia isn’t as bad as it could have been, thanks to your fighting keeping your blood pumping, and your clinging to the fires.

“After that, I decided to let you rest in here and took off from my duties, solar movement aside, to take care of you. I’ve been using my magic to, ah, keep you and your clothes sanitary. That being said, you could probably use some water.”

“Yeah, that sounds good.” A ball of water formed in front of me with Celestia’s magic. Against all manner of common sense, I grabbed the ball of warm water, brought it to my lips, and slurped it down, quenching a thirst I hadn’t realized I had. “More please?” Another ball of water was formed and I slurped it down as well. “Oh, that was good.”

“I suppose you’re going to want a meal next, yes?”

I waited for my stomach to answer for me, but it didn’t happen. “Yeah, some food would be nice.” It was then that my stomach decided to growl.

“I’ll get some food for you then. Oh, I recommend that you don’t go beyond my chambers yet. Since you’ve been in this heat for so long, I’m afraid the temperature difference will send you into shock, and we don’t want that.” As Celestia left, I caught a glimpse of her cutie mark. The east flare was detached from the body of the sun, marking the third one to do that.

While Celestia was out, I decided to see where the sauna lead and went out the door. On the other side was the bathroom, which also had my suitcases in it. It wasn’t as warm as the sauna, but it still felt like a midsummer day in there. Celestia’s room itself felt like a late spring day, though I could only imagine it was cooler than that near the balcony and hallway door.

Turning back, I decided to change out of the combat outfit and into a winter outfit. I stopped when I saw the luxurious bathtub and figured that it would be a good idea to take a bath and get clean first. Stopping me from doing that was the possibility of Celestia walking in on me, which I didn’t want at all.

Having dissuaded myself from changing my clothes or taking a bath, I decided to pass the time by doing some exercise in Celestia’s room. Unfortunately, due to a lack of food, I quickly ran out of energy and sat down on the very soft bed.

Celestia eventually returned with a dome covered platter. “I’ve got four large daisy, rose, and mushroom burritos covered with honeygrass and drizzled with a light Prench vinaigrette.”

“I can’t eat grass, Celestia.”

Celestia smirked at me. “Now who said that was your meal?” She lifted the dome, revealing the burritos she described and a plate with something more familiar to me: a large well done steak, a heaping pile of mashed potatoes, and a side salad. The plates floated to their respective recipients, along with the appropriate silverware for mine.

I started on the salad first, and it disappeared pretty quickly. The steak, instead of getting eaten, got cut up into lots of little pieces and mixed into the mashed potatoes. After giving Celestia a moment, at her request, to marvel at what I’d made, I dug into it. I’d nearly forgotten what steak bits in mashed potatoes was like, since I usually had other things for lunch back home for the sake of expediency.

“So, Princess, how long am I going to be here?” I asked after finishing my meal.

Celestia wiped the last of her food off her lips before answering. “Until you’re ready to go home.”

“That’s it? So, would you mind if I took a bath in your bathroom?”

“Go ahead.”

I made it over to the door when a notion struck me; an important one that I had to get out of the way immediately. “Can you promise not to come in while I’m cleaning up?”

Celestia put a hoof over her heart. “I promise not to enter while you’re taking a bath unless an emergency comes up or you give me permission.”

“I find that reasonable.” I went inside and, while the water started flowing, I took my clothes off. For a moment (or three), I simply stood there, allowing the air to flow across my uncovered skin before I got in Celestia’s tub.

The inside was, despite being made entirely of metal and designed for an alicorn, quite comfortable. It was also way bigger than I needed. Like, there were bathtubs, then there were hot tubs, then there was this tub. It looked big enough that Celestia and Luna could both fit in it.

I’d made a nice sudsy bubble bath and was relaxing nose deep in it when I heard a door open and close. I looked over to the door leading to Celestia’s room and the one leading to the sauna. Nobody was coming from either of those directions, so I was really confused.

“Greetings, Ms. Xiao Long” Luna said from behind me.

“Luna!” I instinctively covered myself with my arms and curled up my legs, despite the suds being thick enough to hide the motions and what was covered. “What are you doing here?”

“When we can, Celestia and I take a bath together. I heard the water and decided to join after reading some reports on The Destroyer’s body, though I see my sister isn’t here. Would you mind if I joined you?”

“Normally, no. And this time, no.”

“Fair enough. Regardless, it’s good to see you back in the waking world.” With a nod, Luna left, and I saw the door that she came through was opposite the one that lead to Celestia’s room. As I looked back and forth between the two doors, I couldn’t help but wonder how I missed Luna’s door. I decided to chalk it up to bleariness from having been out cold for three days.

After I was done washing and rinsing, I got out and dried off. I put one of my winter outfits on, put away the combat outfit, and double checked the suitcases. The formal dress was neatly folded up in one of them, and I let out a sigh of relief.

I went back to Celestia’s room, where she was laying down by the lit fireplace, reading a scroll. “Hey Yang, come read this friendship report. It’s one of my favorites.”

With nothing better to do, I went over to her and read the report.

Dear Princess Celestia,
I didn’t learn anything. I was right all along.
-Applejack

“That’s a short report” I observed. “What happened there?”

“A couple of salesponies came over to Applejack’s farm during cider season and tried to outdo her cider with a machine. They got the quantity, but they had to sacrifice quality pretty quickly. Suffice to say, Applejack knew their machine wouldn’t be able to make enough of the good stuff on first sight, and she was right. She didn’t lord it over their heads either, and after they left, it was right back to work making good cider. Have you ever had any?”

“It’s one of our most popular drinks at the Carne Den, and after I tasted it, I certainly understood why it’s so popular. That stuff is delicious.”

“Indeed it is.”

I sat down against Celestia’s side and she wrapped a wing around me. “So, any reason for the wing hug? I’m not complaining, just curious.”

“I used to do this with Twilight while she was my student, and other students of mine before her as well. It makes them more comfortable around me, and I enjoy it.”

“So, motherly instinct?”

“That’s what Luna said as well, and I’ve accepted that as the answer. I think the fact that I took care of you personally while you were out and even got our meal myself supports that claim as well.”

“Well, I appreciate it.”

“Group hug!” was all the warning we had before Luna joined us, pinning me between the diarchs. “Reminiscing again, sister?”

“Only a bit” Celestia answered. “Say, Luna, how about you tell Yang about your newest collection?”

“I’d rather not. It is a private collection of mine, and will be kept that way.”

“It’s things related to me, isn’t it?” I asked.

Luna hung her head and blushed. “It is. Replicas of the Ember Celica, documentary books, a model of the Carne Den, statues, and-” Luna’s blush became brighter “-a custom fitted replica of your combat outfit. I wear it occasionally when I have nothing else to do.” I took a moment to process everything Luna had told me. “And when it comes out, I’ll also be getting a statue of you and your bike.”

“Who’s making this stuff?”

“Two companies working together, both based here in Canterlot. GL Industries and ISW Manufacturing. Why do you ask?”

“I’m just curious. And maybe a part of me wants some of the profits from that.”

“I can’t fault you for that. If you want, I could give you the address of their shared headquarters and you could go talk to them.”

“I think I’ll pass for now.”

“Fair enough.”

“Also, I think I’ll go see how I handle the hall temperature. So, could you move, Luna?”

“When we’re so comfy?”

“Would you kindly move?”

“Hmm, no.” Seeing no other peaceful option, I got my hands under Luna’s body and flipped her over onto her back. Celestia, on the other hand, let me gently move her wing aside as I stood up.
I opened the door and took a step out into the hallway. It was chilly, something I can’t deny since my head wasn’t covered up, but the winter outfit kept me warm enough and my hair also provided some insulation. “I think I’m good to go home, Celestia.”

“Here you go, then.” Celestia floated my suitcases out to me, along with a first class train ticket. “Have a safe ride home, Slayer of Tirek, Songstress of Remnant, and Machine Breaker, Yang Xiao Long.”

“Another title?”

“Given by the masses. Fancy and Fleur wouldn’t do it, the others don’t care, and you’re too much of a friend for any of us to consider doing that. Oh, make sure you stop by the reception desk in the main hall so you can get your bike.”

“I’ll do that then. Bye, Princesses.”

Celestia and Luna waved as I left them and made my way through the castle with my suitcases. Finding the main hall was easy once I got a guide, who happened to be the exact same stallion that showed me to my room and carried my suitcases when I arrived for the Entrepreneur Award Ceremony. When he saw what I was taking back with me, he offered to come with me to the train station and assist by taking the suitcases there.

I couldn’t come up with any objections since I had no good way to take the bike and the suitcases at the same time by myself, so I let him help me. Once he was hooked up the the trolley and it was loaded with the suitcases, we began the walk to the train station. I took Bumblebee since moving a bike without hands was fairly difficult.

We may have walked in silence, but my mind was full of motorcycle based thoughts. How to drive it, how to maintain it, how to clean it, storage (I’d need a shed or garage added onto the Carne Den), fuel, a helmet, and more.

Before I knew it, we were at the station. The stallion even went so far as to help load my suitcases and Bumblebee onto the train. Before I could pull out some bits to give him, he had already vanished. I was only slightly irritated that I couldn’t tip him, but I got over it and into the first class car fairly quickly.

The first class car was comfortable and definitely warmer than the outside, though not warm enough for me to wear lighter clothes. Even if I could, I wouldn’t, due to the fact that I would eventually have to go back outside.

After my ticket was checked and the train started moving, I settled into the comfy chair I had chosen and let the sound of the tracks lull me off into a nap.

I woke up about fifteen minutes before the train was set to arrive in Ponyville, so I got up, stretched, and decided to stand for the rest of the trip.

When the train came to a stop, I got out and was immediately pulled into the center of a feathery group hug, with every griffon involved saying how much they missed me and were worried when they read the article about how I’d collapsed after my victory.

After a minute or so, Gilda took charge. “Okay everyone, that’s enough, let’s give Yang some breathing space.” At her word, everyone backed off a bit. “So, you wrecked an alien machine, did ya?”

“It was not fun.”

“I bet not. But more importantly, did you get a trophy?”

I walked through the crowd of griffons and over to where my suitcases and Bumblebee were. “Just a small trophy.” Before I could stop the flock of griffons from getting too close, I was tackled from the side by none other than an over-enthusiastic Asada, who was viciously trying to lick my face off. She wouldn’t succeed, since I had my aura protecting me, but her affection clearly got through. “Hey, hey, easy Asada, easy there.”

“So, what is it?” Gavan asked.

“It’s -okay Asada, please stop. Thank you- It’s a motorcycle. I call it Bumblebee. As soon as I can, I’m going to figure out how to ride it.”

The reunion, after nearly half an hour, was finally finished and we made our way to the Carne Den, Aegir carrying my suitcases for me while Asada hitched a ride on Bumblebee. “So, what’s happened since I left?”

Gilda answered. “Well. . .”

“We’re out of steak!”

“How are we going through all this food so quickly?”

“How does Yang keep everything in stock?”

“Is Asada charging ponies to pet her?”

“Alright, we’ve got no food, so we’re not opening today.”

“Finally! we’ve got food again.”

“. . . It was profitable and uneventful.”

“Thank goodness for that. Say, shouldn’t we be open right now?”

“We decided to be there to greet you at the station, so it’s not open right now. I put a sign up explaining the delayed opening, and seeing as you’re kind of a big deal around here, we figured everyone would understand.”

“I see. And how did you know I was going to be at the train station at that time?”

“Rainbow Dash.”

“Ah. Well, go ahead and open up. I’ll just put Bumblebee behind the building and I’ll be in briefly. Aegir, can you put the suitcases at the top of the stairs?”

“Sure thing, ma’am” Aegir said.

While everyone went in through the front door, I went to the back and put Bumblebee in its place. “Maybe Applejack will have some wood I could use to make a shed from” I thought. After the bike was parked, I caught a glimpse of the gauges on the dashboard. The letters on it were in English characters, which surprised me. The fuel gauge, as all are, went from E to F, though the dial was past F and rested on a prismatic Infinity symbol.

With Bumblebee parked, I went inside, brought my suitcases to my room, changed to my work clothes with the buckle, and went down to finally go back to work. I’d had a long enough vacation as it was, and it felt good to be home again.

Hearth's Warming

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‘Twas the second night before Hearth’s Warming, and I was a very busy woman. There were a bunch of Gamer Drivers to wrap, and I was not having an easy time of it. There was gift wrap, tape, and ribbon all over my room, both on rolls and in pieces. My goal was to make each wrap job unique, and the easiest way to do that was to have five patterns of paper and six different ribbons. I had seven done and not so neatly wrapped before I leaned back in my chair. “How did mom do this?” I asked the empty room.

The room gave no answer. It was, after all, a room with no fancy (or basic) computer technology in it, so it was physically incapable of answering me. I wasn’t counting the Drivers as computer technology as they operated on magic. The only sound I heard was the wind outside and Asada quietly snoozing in her favorite corner.

After a few minutes of moping, I got back to work on wrapping up the remaining Drivers. ‘Twas a long night that night, not just from the mess of paper, but also the very short day.

The next night, after the Carne Den was closed and everyone was gone, I started the kitchen back up and started making a banquet for Hearth’s Warming. A banquet big enough for my employees and their families to enjoy.

There was much cooking to be done.

Some claws gripped my shoulders and gently shook me in my chair. “Wake up, Yang” Fuzz gently said. “It’s Hearth’s Warming.”

I slowly opened my eyes and saw everyone in the restaurant, along with their families and a whole bunch of colorfully wrapped things. There was a blanket over me as well. “When did I fall asleep? And how did I get here?”

“No idea on the first, or the second, but seeing as some of the food you made is still warm, probably not that long ago, and Asada probably helped. On the bright side, you did take care of closing the kitchen properly, so there’s that.”

I got to my feet, yawned, and took the blanket off. “So, did you all take care of-yes, you did take care of bringing out the food. Well, there goes the surprise there. I’ll be right back then.” After collecting the blanket, I went upstairs to my room, where the Gamer Drivers were boxed up. “Okay, everyone’s here and I just remembered I have no cards for them. Expletive. Oh well.” I picked up the box and just as I was about to leave the room, there was a tapping on the window.

I opened the window (thankfully with warm clothes on) and saw a bright red unicorn stallion with a white mane and tail who was likely using magic to walk on the wall. “Miss Xiao Long?” He also had a large bag with him and a beard on his face.

“Who? Are you Santa?” The stallion certainly had the looks for it.

“No, I’m an assassin paid by a bunch of nobles to off you as a Hearth’s Warming present to themselves.”

I found myself laughing for at least a solid minute before I realized that he hadn’t used sarcasm. “Seriously?”

“Yes. I was given a nigh impossible task and paid appropriately and in full up front. They didn’t give me a chance to object before the job and payment were given to me, along with a location tracking spell, so here’s what I need to happen: you get this bag of bits, and you punch me in the face. I go back and report my failure, get treated for the injury, and retire for the rest of ever in Haywaii.” He floated the bag inside. “How about it?”

“Violence on today of all days?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” It seemed I wasn’t the only one against it.

“I hope this is the only time I have to do a hit job like this.” As the stallion cringed, I gave him a solid punch to his face. “Was that good enough?”

“Yeah, it was perfect. Oh, that stings so much.”

“Thanks for the bits. Have fun in Hawaii.”

“Haywaii.”

“Right, right.” I closed the window and the stallion went back down the wall. “Well, that was surreal.” Once I had the box again, I went back downstairs. “Alright, I’ve got presents for everyone that works here!”

All my employees came up to me and I started handing out the wrapped Gamer Drivers. Once they were all handed out, everyone started opening them. Some were gentle and precise, others tore the paper apart. There was both confusion at what the Drivers were and awe as it was clear to them that they cost a lot of money.

There were questions about the Drivers, and I answered them to the best of my abilities. I wanted to demonstrate with mine, but decided against it since everyone and their families were here.

There were still other gifts, some of which got sent my way because they had my name on them. They also happened to be mostly large things that I got. Everyone insisted I open mine, despite my insistence on them opening theirs. We compromised and I opened one of the larger gifts, which turned out to be a very well done portrait of myself in my combat outfit, meditating on a cloud with the sun behind me and an array of bits, cooking utensils, shell bands, and bars of music radiating out from me. “This is. . . interesting” I commented before noticing a placard at the bottom of the frame. “ ‘From the Carne Den staff, for the one who reached out and saved us.’ Well, I guess I’m going to have to find a place to put this. So, it’s your turn to open presents now.”

Many talons and a few hooves started working at the gifts in front of their owners, revealing a myriad of objects, from cutlery to gardening supplies to toys (Ají got a lot of those, to her annoyance) and basic tools. While that was going on, I set the portrait by the stairs.

Gilda handed me an envelope with a bow on it after they were done. “This was in the mailbox, addressed to you. I suspect it’s from Applejack.”

A glance at the envelope showed Applejack’s cutie mark in the upper right corner. “Yeah, it does look like she sent it.” I opened the envelope and read it out loud. “Dear Yang: Twilight told me about your fancy new machine and that you can ride on it to go places. I figure that, like any good wagon or cart, it should be covered and protected, so whenever you want some shelter built for it, just ask and we’ll build it for you. That’s the Apple Family’s Hearth’s Warming present for you. Sincerely, Applejack.”

“Well, that’s nice of them.”

“Yeah, it is. I guess I’d better open some more presents so everyone’s happy.” A series of nods answered me, so I opened the next box, a rather bulky one. I opened it and, inside the case within, found a light tan acoustic guitar, adorned with my burning heart emblem in darker wood. The emblem was positioned in such a way that it took up most of the body and was straight up when I held the instrument. “I guess I should play a piece?”

“Yeah!” came a chorus of shouts, mostly the young ones.

I took a breath, focused my magic, and started playing a song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5h82dHMNEg

“That was beautiful” Sylvia said as she wiped a tear away. “It sounded like a song of salvation at the last moment.” Her sentiment was shared by nearly everyone present. I even found myself wiping some tears away.

“I guess it is.” Despite having never heard the song before, I could faintly feel the lyrics in the air, kind of like a spot of THE TRANQUILITY gently fading away when waking up after a very good night’s sleep.

Magic is weird like that.

I looked back in the case and saw a stand for the guitar. Instead of setting the guitar out, I just put it back in the case and set it over by the stairway by the portrait, along with Applejack’s letter.

The next present that I opened was a new set of grilling utensils, done in my combat outfit colors and with my emblem on each piece as well. They were made very well, but I had no immediate need to replace the current set, so it would be a backup. Having backups of anything is always good, after all.

Up next was another large gift: an expertly crafted rocking chair. Compared to the recliners back on Earth, this was very old fashioned, but I liked it a bit more for that simplicity. There was also a smaller gift on the seat of the chair, and in it was a wooden jewelry box. Like the chair, it was simple, but very well made.

The last gifts I got were in a bag, from multiple griffons. They were art supplies for drawing and painting. There was even a cute little easel for a desk, and it came with a pad of paper as well.

“Wow. Thanks everyone. I just-” I was tearing up. “-This is so much.”

“Best Hearth’s Warming ever?” Gilda asked.

“And better than all the Christmases where I’m from.”

“Christmas?”

“A holiday that happens on December 25th. There’s gifts, there’s decor, there’s food.”

“Sounds good.”

“Except that the good stuff I got back then was watered down by a bunch of mean cards from basically everyone who liked to pick on me, so my Christmas memories are mediocre at best. I don’t know why they did it, but it wasn’t nice.”

Gilda was quiet, and her face was stern. “Everyone, listen up: we need to give Yang a serious group hug. Do not let her escape.”

A few seconds after I stood up, I was tackled by practically everyone and put in the middle of the group hug. I could have escaped since I was strong enough to do so, but it was so nice, I didn’t want to try. “Congratulations, sad Yang is gone. Will you let me go?”

“Yes, but we have to make absolutely sure” Honey Suckle said.

“And how long will that take?”

“Not long.” A few seconds later, the hug broke and I was free. “That was nice.”

After cleaning up the wrapping paper and gifts, we all sat down and started on the meal properly. It had gone cold, but we didn’t care. We had each other.

It turned out that it had been a good idea to make the feast that I had, since a blizzard started up outside very quickly while we were eating. “I thought that wasn’t supposed to happen today?”

“It shouldn’t be” Gilda affirmed. “Dash always told me that before the weather pegasi take the holidays off, they put in extra effort to make sure their weather systems are stable enough to last two days without maintenance. That, or there are wendigos out there.”

“Wendigos?”

“Equine shaped spirits of ice and malice that feed off negative emotions and bring the cold with them. I’m sure you could just fire punch one in the face and send it away.” There was a sudden pastel rainbow blast of light outside and the blizzard went away. “I’ll save that idea for War Time Commander then.”

“Ooh, we should try playing together real soon” Silver suggested. “How about tonight?”

“Nah, let’s not” I said. “Tonight’s a night for peace, warmth, and coziness in the face of the raging cold.”

“It’s not that bad out there.”

“It is for me. All of winter is bad for me.”

“Hearth’s Warming has been pretty good for you” Cloverleaf pointed out. “And you did win Entrepreneur of the Year.”

“Those are events that happened during winter. Winter is still bad for me. The cold hurts me and I think I’m getting some cabin fever. Maybe. Once it gets warm out there, I’m going to enjoy it for all it’s worth.

“Speaking of warmth, I think a nap would be nice once we put all the food away.”

During the nap, I used Ají as a pillow, which was nice. I also came to the conclusion that mass naps were awesome and realized how much of my recent time was spent just eating, sleeping, and using the bathroom. Despite the recent bout of low activity, I was still thin and had good curves. I partially credited my body temperature of 103 degrees for that.

I woke up for a little bit during the nap and felt THE TRANQUILITY, which was powerful enough to almost send me back to sleep, were it not for my bladder. After taking care of it, I came back and went back to sleep. It felt like nothing could go wrong, and that all was well with the world.

To Make a Long Story Short

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I had a good new year’s eve with everyone after work was done.

Wood Flavoring

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It was late at night, and the Carne Den was closed. Everything was put away and cleaned up, and nearly everyone had gone home. The only one who hadn’t left was Gilda, and I was sitting with her at the bar. “So, got something on your mind, Gilda?” I asked her over a glass of apple juice.

“Yeah” she said. “I’ve been thinking a bit about my home back in the Griffon Empire, and I remembered something that could net us some more business.”

“I don’t see how that’s possible, but continue.” Things had been slowing down, but nobody was complaining.

“There were these rare types of meat cookers back there called smokers that were used to flavor meat with smoke from burning wood in the bottom. I’ve only seen three in my life, one of them as it was being taken away by the king’s soldiers.”

“Smokers? I’m not too familiar with them, but I like the idea. Do you know how they’re designed?”

“Roughly. I could work out the design with a blacksmith.”

I thought for a moment on that and sipped on the apple juice. Memories of a blacksmith I met drifted up, and I tried to recall more information, but with how tired I was from the day of work, it wasn’t easy. “I think I might know one who could help. I just need to think of her name.”

“Her? Then it’s not any of the local smiths. They’re all stallions. I’ve never talked with them, though. Did you meet her in Canterlot?”

“Canterlot, yeah, it was there. She came from the Crystal Empire. Oh, it’s on the tip of my tongue. What was her name?”

“Something related to blacksmithing, I’d guess.”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s closer. Ah, Smithy Dreamkeeper! That’s her name! She might be the best one to do this. But she’s all the way in the Crystal Empire.”

“That’s, what, four days of train travel there and back?”

“Yeah, but she’s really good, or so I heard when I met her. She can apparently apply really good enchantments to what she makes, so if we wanted to smoke some cheese, it wouldn’t melt.” In that moment, I made a decision. “Gilda, I’m going to task you with this mission: head to the Crystal Empire in my stead and get her down here. I want at least a rough sketch of the design done by the time you get back with her.”

“Well, I guess I could do it. I’m getting this feeling you really don’t want to go there, though.”

“It’s really far north and it’s cold. I hate the cold, and it hurts me.”

“Ah yes, that little issue. I’ll head out tomorrow then, I suppose.”

“Next week. Just take next week to go there, maybe vacation a bit, and come back with her by Saturday. Sound good?”

“Yeah, it does. I guess I could take a vacation.”

“All of us have earned some vacation time.” With how busy things often got, it wasn’t hard to see why and how that time was earned. “Go ahead and take yours.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Just over a week later, Gilda came back. “Hey Yang, guess who I’ve got?”

“Gilda, why are you here at this hour?” It was fifteen minutes until closing and it had not been a good day in the dining area. I was more tired than usual because of that, but at least the kitchen was cleaned up early.

“Hello again, Yang” Smithy Dreamkeeper said.

I looked at her. “Ah. I’m glad to see you, Smithy.” I turned back to the cleaning task at hand. Somepony had spilled a drink involving orange juice on a table, and it had happened on multiple tables. It was sticky, and I wondered if it was some kind of plot to annoy me from the 28 nobles. “I guess you’ve got some sketches?”

“Yep. And I’ve even figured out the enchantments I’ll need to put on it. I just need to see if any of the local smiths will let me borrow their space.”

“If you let them help, they probably will. I haven’t talked to them, so it’ll be up to you. Anyways, I have to get back to this. Gilda, can you show her to the guest room upstairs?”

“No problem, Yang.” Gilda lead Smithy up the stairs. Twenty minutes later, Gilda came back down. “Need my help with anything?”

“No, you’re good. Go home, get some sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The next day, I spent some time outside with Smithy a few hours before opening, figuring out where to put the smoker. It had to be close to the door from the kitchen, which kept the possible area fairly small.

We decided on a spot that was both a straight shot from the kitchen and, after looking around a bit, realized was visible from my room. Once that was done, we went back inside, away from the cold.

“So, here’s what I’ve got planned” Smithy said as she floated the plans over to me.

Naturally, I looked them over. “Alright, I don’t have much of an idea on what I’m looking at or how it works. How does it work?”

Smithy pointed to the box towards the bottom. “This is where the wood goes. When it burns, the smoke will go up through a grate that I will enchant to double the amount of smoke before it splits off into two smoke chambers, where you will place the meat and whatever else you decide to smoke. The heat will also cook it at the same time. You could even smoke cheese in there if you want, thanks to some anti-melting enchantments that I’ll be putting in.

“Considering the scale of this thing, we’re looking at around 3,000 bits for the labor, materials, space rental, assembly, and enchantments. Lowball estimate. Does that sound good?”

“It does sound like I can afford it, but let me go check with the bank first, okay?”

“Go ahead.”

“Alright, I’m back.” I set four crates on the table, each one containing 800 bits. I still needed to talk to Celestia or Luna about making a 5 bit piece. “And I have the money.”

“Wow. Just that easily?”

“Yeah. Also, I apparently have enough bits in my name that I can almost count as a minor noble. Almost. So, yeah.”

“Just from this restaurant alone?”

“Yeah. Imagine if I opened a few in some of the big cities.”

“You’d be set for life. Well then, I guess I’ll go ahead and get started?”

“If you don’t mind.” I handed one of the crates over. “I hope you don’t mind if I pay you as progress is made?”

“Not at all. This is a good start.”

Through the following two weeks, Smithy and one of the local smiths, and Earth pony stallion called Ferrier, built the smoker. For a few days at a time, they worked at the forge, assembled a section of it, and went back to the forge.

During that time, there were questions going on about what was happening back there. We weren’t hiding the smoker being built, but at the same time, we didn’t say what it was. Rumors started circulating, some of which were dark, others were positive, a few were right about it being for meat, and one said that it was a way to keep my clothes warm and fresh outside during winter.

I had no idea who started that last one, but I was suspecting either Rarity or Pinkie.

There was only one other pony who knew what was really going on, and that was Applejack. She had promised not to spill the secret of the smoker when I’d come to see about getting some apple wood for it.

The day before the smoker was done, we got a bigger than usual shipment of meat in. I knew right then that the smoked meat would be a big hit, since I was apparently going to send out the order for it later.

Any time delivery really was convenient, if a bit mind bending at times. Despite that, it did make things somewhat predictable, which was always nice.

“Ta-da!” Smithy said when I walked out to see the completed smoker about three hours before opening. Ferrier and Applejack were off to the side, busy offloading a bunch of apple wood and stacking it against the building. “So, what do you think?”

“I think winter needs to end in three days ago.” I said. “Sorry, I’m just sick of the cold. I think it looks nice. Can you give me the tour?”

“Of course.” Smithy took a few steps towards the center of the new smoker and I joined her. “Down here, of course, is the fire chamber. Simple enough. Slightly less simple is a set of three vents. The first one nearly doubles the amount of smoke that passes through it while the others push the smoke into the smoking chambers.” She opened one of the smoking chambers, revealing a double row of racks. “This is where you’ll put whatever it is you’re smoking. Cheese, vegetables, flowers, meat, or even barbecue baked potatoes, which I may have developed a taste for during the project.”

“I don’t blame you. Those things are good.” And it was a good idea too. Smokey barbecue baked potatoes. I made a note to have Spike be the first to try one.

“Yeah, they are.” Smithy moved back inwards. “Anyways, these levers will control how much smoke is in the chambers, which should change the amount of smoke flavor you get. Behind the levers are the vents to vent the smoke, and they’re designed to keep rain out.”

“Sounds nice.”

“Ah, but we’re not done yet. On top of the middle section is an enchanted plate. It will dry out any wood you put on it so it can be ready for the fire. Wet wood doesn’t really burn all that well after all. The walls around it are so you can stack wood on there more easily. Finally, there’s one more thing to show you.” Smithy lead me around to the back of the right smoking chamber. “Ferrier and I decided to put some placards on here. This one has his and my name on it, crediting us with the construction of Equestria’s first smoker.”

“No argument here.”

Smithy lead me around to the other side. “This one credits you as the first owner of an Equestrian smoker. Gilda didn’t want her name on it for some reason.”

“Hmm, alright.” I understood why my name was on it, but not why Gilda didn’t want hers on it. I figured it was because it was technically on my property. “Anything else I should know?”

“Just make sure it’s cleaned regularly. Oh, and we went over what you gave us by 300 bits, so we need that.”

I looked at the invoice when it was floated over to me. “So, where did you go over, if I may ask?”

“A few bits in every category. Sorry.”

“I’ll be right back.” I ran over to the bank, got the extra 300 bits, and ran back. The whole round trip took about ten minutes.

“I guess you take running to the bank seriously?” Smithy asked as I gave her the 300 bits.

“Yeah. Not fun, though.” Cold air on my face at running speeds hurt, but it was somewhat tolerable. “So, we’re cool on the money?”

“Yep. Quite cool. Now that that’s sorted out, I’m going to catch the trains to go back home. It’s been a pleasure doing business with you.” After a hand/hoofshake, Smithy gathered her things and took off.

The best part of winter

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“Hey Applejack!” I called out to the farm mare. It was a cold day, though not as cold as it had been. Winter was coming to a close very soon, after all.

“Howdy, Yang” she responded. “How’s that smoker workin’ for ya?”

“A bit too well. We can’t keep up with the demand, and that’s with it at full capacity. Might have to raise prices again on smoked food to keep things under control there. Anyways, could you build the shelter for my bike tomorrow?”

“Ah’d be happy to, but Winter Wrap Up is tomorrow, and even with Twilight’s organization skills making things go smoothly, it still takes all day to do it.”

“Oh yeah, the manual season changes. And that’s a thing everyone participates in, right?”

“Yep. Ah can’t think of how you could help though. The best thing Ah can think of is helping Rarity make nests for the birds, but she’s already got enough ponies helping her there. Aside from that, Ah got nothing. You might want to ask Twi about what you can do.”

“Sounds good. Thanks, A.J.”

“No problem, sugarcube.”

“Hey, Twilight, how can I help with Winter Wrap Up?”

“Well, you can- wait, you’re actually asking how you can help?”

“Yeah. Am I not supposed to ask?”

“No, I’m just surprised you did, given your history with the cold. It doesn’t change the plan anyways.”

“Really?”

“We follow the same plan every year, which I have refined to perfection for Ponyville, focusing on a restaurant first so everyone has a place they can get lunch at. Since the Carne Den got about 80% of the votes from the cleanup crews this winter, we’ll be starting there, though the fact that you don’t open until 3 is a bit troublesome.”

“So you’d like me to open sooner tomorrow?”

“If you can, yes. 11 AM would be ideal, noon at the latest. Before you object, here’s the plan: the snow around the Carne Den will be cleared out, then the clouds will be parted to let the sun through. It should be up to 65 degrees around there by 10. I’ll come by to help clean up and prepare the patio, and since tomorrow is Friday, well, I’m sure you’d like to get back behind the grill again, yes?”

“It has been a while, yeah.” I missed grilling on the patio.

“So how about I come by around 9 to help with everything? If need be, I can also wake you up.”

“Sounds like a plan. Oh, I’d better go write out the order form so I get the big meat shipment that came on time yesterday.”

“You love that any time delivery, don’t you?”

“I’ve got a special rate of 8 bits per delivery for how much I use it.”

I was on the edge of THE TRANQUILITY when Twilight barged in the next morning. “Alright Yang, it’s time to get up!”

“Five more minutes” I mumbled back.

“Nope. The snow’s already been cleared from around here, the temperature’s about to break 50 degrees, and you need to get ready for the grill.”

“Fine, fine.” I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. “There’s just one issue first.”

“And that would be?”

“Asada’s got me in a bear hug.” Asada, who had taken to treating me like a big pillow at night, had grown quite a bit over the winter. She was still smaller than me, but not by nearly as much as when I saved her. “Cat-on-lap rules apply here.”

Twilight walked over to the bedside and began working her magic, freeing me from the bear hug and tossing me on the floor, enchanting a pillow for warmth, and replacing me with it. “There you go. Now go ahead and get ready for the day. I’ll make sure the patio’s clean, dry, and ready to go.”

I got off the floor, stretched, got my work clothes, and took a shower. I could already feel that the house was warmer than it had been in the last week, and that made me happy.

When I stepped out onto the patio, I did not feel the cold I had come to reflexively brace for during winter. I breathed in the warmer air and felt incredibly good. My desire for summer weather wasn’t fulfilled, but it was helped by the change.

“Looks like someone’s enjoying the fresh air” Twilight said.

“It’s finally not cold, for one thing” I responded before really looking around. “And the patio’s clean and clear. Almost like it never snowed here at all.”

“Basic levitation and heat spells. That’s all I used to get everything clean and ready.”

“Very nice. So, breakfast for two?”

“Make it four to be safe. You, me, Spike, and Asada.” Twilight teleported a small bit pouch to her side. “One order of steak, bacon, and apples for me and two barbecue baked potatoes with burnt ends and bacon for Spike, please.”

I started up the grill, and while it was getting warm, I went inside to get the ingredients for Twilight’s order, along with all the things I needed for a breakfast burger with barbecue sauce for me, and one steak sandwich for Asada.

While the steaks were cooking, Asada came downstairs, saw the food being cooked, and sat down next to Twilight. Not long after that, Spike got teleported in. “Where?” He sniffed the air and looked around. “Oh yeah. This is going to be the breakfast of breakfasts. Hey Yang?”

“Yeah Spike?” Since I couldn’t exactly bake the potatoes on the grill, I cut them in half to cook them.

“Can I help you out here today? I’ve got nothing to do otherwise.”

I thought it over for a moment. “Twilight?”

“I’m fine with it” Twilight said.

I turned back to Spike after tossing some bacon on the grill and putting the burnt ends on the skillet with my burger to heat up. “Can you handle fast paces and multiple orders at once?”

“I wouldn’t be Twilight’s #1 assistant if I couldn’t” Spike boasted. “And I actually have served food like this before. Orders, drinks, everything. Admittedly only three times, but I have done it before.”

“Alright, I’ll let you on for today. Get familiar with the path to the drinks and navigating the patio before I’m done with breakfast.” Almost as soon as I’d finished the sentence, Spike got started on the assigned task. “He’s dedicated.”

“He’s set his mind to it” Twilight said.

A few minutes later, breakfast was done. Spike had brought out drinks for all of us while the food was finishing up, and even took the food there as well, setting every plate in front of its rightful consumer and leaving mine at an empty spot, which I soon occupied. “Spike, you’re hired for today.”

“Really?” he happily asked.

“Yep.” I started on my breakfast burger and everyone started on their food as well. Aside from Asada, we would need the energy to get through the day.

“Oh, one more thing” Twilight said around a mouthful of bacon. “Since basically all of Ponyville is going to come here for a meal today, which I wouldn’t be surprised if that wasn’t a regular thing already, and accounting for the staff count, the teams will come in overlapping shifts. Each break period is 45 minutes long, so you’ll see ponies coming and going in 15 minute intervals.”

“You’ve really got this down to a science, don’t you?”

“The Ponyville plan has been refined to perfection, after all.” The proud smile on her face lasted for a few seconds before she started eating her steak.

The first guests were from the snow removal teams, and they looked tired. At the same time, they were smiling. Whether it was because they were on break or that the grill was open again, I didn’t know, nor did I find myself really caring. I was happy enough just to be back outside in the pleasant weather and grilling.

Spike, to his credit, was doing quite well when the crowd picked up. He was on top of the drink orders, and showed no sign of stopping or tiring. The thought crossed my mind to let him work for me on grill days in the future, considering just how well he was performing.

“So you opened the grill today, huh?” Gilda suddenly asked from beside me.

“Yep. It’s my way of contributing to Winter Wrap Up.”

“Oh really?”

“Try to name one pony who doesn’t like at least one thing from here.”

“Those, what, 28 nobles that are after you?”

“From Ponyville.”

Gilda tapped her chin in thought. “Rarity was the first to come to mind, but she does like our plain loaded baked potatoes with a side salad. I’ve never seen her eat meat here before, though. Then there’s Fluttershy, and let me tell you, that girl can eat a rare bacon wrapped steak like it’s nobody’s business and somehow still have that innocent look to her.”

“Wow. I didn’t know Fluttershy liked that.”

“Not surprising, since you hide away in the kitchen so often. What does she usually get out here?”

I looked back through my memories as I tended to the food on the grill. “Three or four veggie skewers with burnt ends in them and a light amount of cheese. No bacon. Is there anyone else you can think of that doesn’t like the Carne Den?”

Gilda contemplated the question for a bit. “No, but I don’t know everyone that lives here either.”

“Fair point.”

Spike ran past us with a tray of fresh drinks for some guests. “Since when did he work here?”

“He just started today, and he’s doing really well. I’m thinking of hiring him to help on the grill days.”

“Sounds like something Brew would like.”

“Yep.”

“Well, I’ll go back to getting the dining area ready for the day.”

“Thanks.” The conversation’s end came at the perfect time as a burger finished cooking at that moment. I put it on a bun, added the toppings for it, and brought it out to the stallion who ordered it.

After the snow removal teams were done, the farming and animal teams started coming in for their breaks. The inside was also starting to have its own groups of guests, mostly foals with nothing better to do than have a late lunch. There were a few guests inside that had already had a meal on the patio as well, which was fine with me.

The farming and animal teams, like the snow removal team, were happy when they came to the patio. Also like the snow removal team, I didn’t care if they were happy because they were on break or that the grill and patio were open again. The idea did cross my mind that it could have been both reasons, which sounded more plausible than either one on their own.

After about the sixth group of animal and farming teams came through, Twilight showed up again. “Hey, Yang. How’s Spike doing?”

“Excuse me, Twilight. Got drinks coming through” Spike said as he came out with a tray of drinks.

“He’s doing great” I answered. “Little guy hasn’t stopped, spilled, or messed up once. And he doesn’t seem to be getting tired either.”

“Well, that’s good to hear” Twilight said. “One well done steak and grilled veggie sandwich, please.”

“Six bits, please.” As I put Twilight’s steak on the grill, she paid and sat down at one of the nearby tables, where she visibly relaxed a bit.

“So, long day?”

“Yeah, but winter’s nearly wrapped up once again. And after we’re done, most of us like to gather by the castle to watch Canterlot get rid of their snow.”

“How do they do it?”

“They magically blast most of it away and then let the remaining bits melt over the next couple days.”

“That sounds lazy.”

“It kind of is, but in their defense, they don’t have to worry about helping the animals or preparing to grow crops. That being said, they always wait until the end of the day for some reason. I didn’t understand why when I was a filly, and I still don’t understand it as a princess.”

“I’m usually a late riser and I don’t get it either.” I flipped Twilight’s steak over. “Then again, I’m usually busy well into the night, so I have an excuse there.”

“That’s not an excuse, it’s a proper reason. Sleep is important, after all. Oh, idea!” Twilight summoned a notepad and quill, wrote something down, and dispelled them. “I promise I’ll tell you what it is later.”

“Alright.” I put a standard spread of vegetables on the grill as the steak got closer to being well done. While that was finishing up, I got a plate and some bread ready.

Just as I finished putting the sandwich together, a thought crossed my mind. Before I gave Twilight her food, I asked her a question. “Twilight, if the Carne Den was the place everyone voted on for lunch, and the plan was to have the grill open for said lunches, why didn’t you send me a letter or something?”

Twilight’s face grew to be one of realization and mild frustration. “I knew I forgot something. I didn’t even write it out.”

“Too used to not having to do it?” I set the plate down in front of Twilight.

“Yeah, something like that, since Sugarcube Corner has been the one for so long. Thank goodness you stopped by ahead of time.”

“Yeah, that is lucky.” I went back to the grill just in time to get a veggie kebab order.

I closed the patio a few hours after sunset, when traffic to the area finally stopped. Before heading back in, I decided that a break was in order for both Spike and myself. “Baked potato with burnt ends, Spike?”

“Yeah.” Spike was sitting down at a nearby table, the same one Twilight sat at before. “Those things are awesome.”

I started cooking one of the potatoes for him while putting a steak on for myself. “Yeah, they are. So, how was your first day here?”

“Pretty good, though I did feel out of place without a uniform like everyone else.”

“Talk to Rarity about that. She made all the uniforms here.”

“I’ll do that on Monday. So, how did I do?”

“Very well. I didn’t see you mess up or spill anything once, and you just kept going. You’re hired for Fridays out here.”

“Yes! Thanks, Yang.”

“I’ll just leave a note for Brew later tonight that you’re part of the team now. You can work here every Friday for the grill, right?”

“Oh yeah. I’ll just have to request the weekend guards to show up on Fridays at the castle in my stead. Easy enough.”

“Sounds good. If you can show up at 2:30, that would be awesome.”

“Can do.”

It didn’t take much longer for our food to finish, and we ate in a comfortable silence. The day had been good, and the business was even better. Winter was done with, and spring was off to a very good start.

Backyard construction

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For the second day in a row, I was woken up earlier than I liked to wake up, this time by knocking on the side of the house. “Mornin’, Yang!” And Applejack’s friendly greeting. “We’re here to build for ya!”

I slowly made my way out of bed and over to the window, yawning on the way. Down on the already green grass was Applejack, Big Mac, and Apple Bloom, along with a pile of lumber on a wagon. “Oh, right.” I yawned again before opening the window. “I’ll be down in a moment or two.”

I reflexively started to reach for the closet with the winter clothes, but the air outside was already warm and tolerable enough that I didn’t need them. After a moment, I went over to the dresser, where my warmer weather clothes were. For the first time in a number of months, I saw the lighter clothes in my possession. Part of me wanted to put on one of the exercise outfits, but another part said it wasn’t quite warm enough yet. I wound up going with a white t-shirt and black jeans. After grabbing the clothes and my daily shoes, I went over to the bathroom to preemptively take care of business and get changed.

After a few minutes, I leapt out the bedroom window and landed next to the warm colored Apples with their loaded saddlebags. “So, what’s the plan?”

“Actually, we were going to ask you that” Applejack said. “We need to know where and how big you want this to be. We could do something as simple as a lean-to on the side of the building, or build a whole shed off to the side.”

“Ah’ve already come up with some designs myself.” Applebloom reached into her saddlebags and pulled out some rolled up papers. “Habe ha lhook.”

I accepted the papers from Apple Bloom and unrolled them. Each paper had a different design on it, some being built onto the building, others being standalone shelters. “Hmm.” I glanced over at Bumblebee, which looked no worse for wear, despite having gone through winter with no care or cover, and back to the designs. “Okay, I think I’ll go with a standalone building. And let’s put it close to the house so I can just jump out of my window and walk right in.”

“So about three feet from where you’re standing?” Applejack asked. “That’s right behind the smoker.”

I looked between the wall, my window, where I was standing, and a spot that looked to be three feet from me on the backside of the smoker. “Maybe?”

“Let’s run some tests” Apple Bloom suggested. “Ah brought some stakes with me to help with the layout, but we can use them for this too. Yang, could you jump out of your window ten times? That’s how many stakes Ah brought, and it should give us a good idea of where to build.”

“Well, that sounds reasonable.” I jumped up to my open window and went back inside.

“Ready!” Applebloom called. On that cue, I leapt out of the window. She put a stake down off to the side, and I went back to the window when she said to. We repeated this a few more times, and part way through, I started feeling both better and more energized from the exercise.

After the final one, Apple Bloom looked over the stakes. “Alright, your furthest jump was here, and if we allow a bit of extra space for possible further jumps, and room to go around the smoker, we should have a door right about here.” ‘Right about here’ wound up being six feet from the furthest stake. “Alright. Gimme a couple minutes, please.”

While Apple Bloom looked over her plans, pencil in mouth, Applejack came over to me. “You know, Ah’m glad Bloom’s as brainy as she is.”

“Hm?” I was interested in what Applejack might have to say.

“When she was younger, before she became friends with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, she often tried to talk us into building at different locations and in different directions than we were planning. Of course, we built where we were planning anyways, and we worked with it. Sometimes, while we were putting rafters together, she would take the long way around the building instead of going under. Then, during one family reunion, while she was walking around the barn we were building, well, we learned why she did it.”

“Some rafters fell?”

“Yep. A whole bunch of them fell at once. Wound up hurting thirteen Apples, four of which needed to go to the hospital. Mac was one of them. Couldn’t properly talk without coughing up a storm for six months after that. Anyways, Bloom was spooked something fierce by the noise, but she was one of the first to go in to start moving the mess and tryin’ to get everyone else out. Construction was stopped for the next few days, and Apple Bloom took that time to show us a bunch of her building ideas. There were some we couldn’t do, since we didn’t have any cranes like they do at construction sites, but there were some good things in there as well, like temporary supports for rafters, and framing the walls before raising them. We were all surprised that she didn’t get a cutie mark from that.”

“What would a mark in safety, engineering, and planning even look like?”

“No idea, but she’s good at it. The Apple family has been using some of her ideas since then, and injuries have gone way down.”

“Ah’ve got it!” Apple Bloom announced. “How does a partial barn style sound?” She showed me a sketch that showed a shed in the shape of a classic barn, though with a quarter of it gone and replaced by a wall with a door in it. Part of the roof also extended out to cover the smoker and provide a shelter for the wood for it.

“I like it” I said. “Just let me get my nail shells and I’ll be back out to help.” My stomach let out a growl at that moment. “Would you mind if I made myself a bit of breakfast first?”

“Go get some food in ya” Applejack said. “It don’t do nopony no good to be working on an empty stomach. Right, Big Mac?”

“Eeyup” the sole stallion said.

“A good point” I conceded, for it was a good point. “See ya in a few.” I jumped back up to my room, got the nail shells, and put them in the Ember Celica on the way downstairs.

Breakfast was a quick affair, consisting of a peanut butter, banana, and honey sandwich with a glass of milk. Nothing really fancy or involved. After I cleaned everything up and put it all away, I went out through the back door and saw the Apples already starting their work on digging some holes. “So, what can I do to help?” I asked.

“You can move the posts to the sides of the layout” Applejack said. “Four to the front and back, four on the side facing the house, two more by the smoker, and two to the side away from the house.”

“On it.” I found the posts and started taking them out, taking them two at a time to their respective destinations. While I was doing that, the Apples finished the holes and started putting the posts in their places.

After the posts were all in place, we began framing the walls. As they got higher and started turning into roof frames, I was doing more of the nailing, since I had an easy way to shoot them in and I could climb. Big Mac sent the boards up to me, Applejack directed me on where to put the boards, and Apple Bloom collected the empty shells as they fell.

In a matter of what was probably just an hour, we had the whole thing framed. Apple Bloom inspected it and deemed it structurally sound before calling a five minute break. “Yep, this is definitely big enough for your bike” she said partway through the break.

“I dunno, it seems a bit too big” I said. The whole thing looked big enough to hold one and a half cars, and we were sitting in the middle of it.

“No, it’s just right. The bike may not take up much space, but the rest of it can be filled with things like workbenches, storage, or displays. Hobby stuff, you know? We always build our barns really big for just that reason.”

“Oh. That makes sense.” Looking around, I could easily imagine what she was talking about. I could envision Bumblebee in the middle of the completed shed, a corner dedicated to painting or sketching, and some tools along one side for whatever purpose they might be used for.

“Break’s over, everyone” Applejack said. “Mac, let’s get started on the wall pieces. Yang, Bloom, you two start building the doors.”

“Alright!” Apple Bloom lead me over to the lumber pile and we started getting pieces we needed from it. Really though, it was more like Apple Bloom was telling me which pieces to get for her while she laid out and shaped them. I wanted to help put the pieces in place, but Apple Bloom had a plan, so I let her do her thing.

“So, would you say everything hinges on these doors?” I asked after the last one was built.

Construction ground to a halt. “Yang. No.”

“Should I have framed the question differently?”

“Yang. No puns, please.”

“But I put a lot of thought into that pun!”

“It was still bad. Now let’s get these doors in place.”

As we were getting the doors in place, I found a place that the nail shells wouldn’t have been good for without accuracy that I was sure I didn’t have with the Ember Celica: securing the hinges. Those were done with a traditional hammer and nail, and as I was holding the doors in place, Big Mac acted as a stool for Apple Bloom while she drove the nails in. It certainly wasn’t something I’d come up with, but it worked for them.

Construction continued smoothly after another brief break. The walls went up first, both inside and out. They were just simple plywood sheets nailed on, but they kept out the water very well, as demonstrated with a bucket of water. The roof went on after that, and it amazed me how the earth ponies did it with no hands, wings, or spells. As with the walls, they kept water out very well.

After building a few counters in the shed and the smoker shelter, the Apples and I were done. Amazingly, we finished before noon rolled around. “So, no paint?”

“Nope” Applejack said. “We had no idea what kind of colors you’d want, so we didn’t get any. That, and we need to save the bits.”

“Fair enough. I guess I could save it for something to do on my own later.”

“Ah’d say that’s a good idea. It can’t be healthy to stay cooped up in that kitchen for most of the week. And you can make it look how you want it to as well.”

“Good points there. Where do you get your supplies from?”

“Hammer N’ Nail’s. They’re a bit outside of town, between the edge of the city and the Diamond Dog territory to the South East. It’s not a big place, but they can get what you need if they don’t have it. They always have paint on hoof though, so you’ll be fine there.”

“Sounds good. Well, I’d better go get ready for work. I’m already up, anyways. Thanks again.”

After we bid each other our farewells a few minutes later, I rolled Bumblebee into her new home. Before leaving the shed, I got on to see how it felt to just sit on the bike, where I started thinking about language of all things, mainly about how I was starting to refer to Bumblebee as female in my thoughts simply by her having a name.

While I was thinking, I idly noticed that Bumblebee was pretty comfortable. The handlebars were perfectly positioned, the seat was soft, despite having been outside all winter and probably not built for such a purpose, and my feet fit in the foot control things quite nicely. I had no idea what they were called, but they weren’t pedals as I knew them.

After a while, I got off Bumblebee, made a mental note to look more closely at her later on to figure out the controls, and then made the ten second walk home to get ready for work.

Lovely weather

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After getting ready for yet another day of work, I went outside to check the mail. It was a beautiful spring day, with only a few sparse clouds in the sky. The weather was even nice enough to go running, and if I wasn’t already dressed for work, I would have. It felt like there was absolutely, positively, certainly, and assuredly nothing that could possibly go wrong.

*KRAKOOOMM*

And then I was suddenly caught in an intense thunderstorm ten seconds later, dampening my mood, my hair, and my clothes. I figured that the mail could wait it out in the mailbox as I walked back inside, where the sound of the intense rain slightly echoed. With the storm as intense as it was, and with no sign of letting up, it wouldn’t be worth opening for the day. The pegasi were busy with the storm, and those on the ground would have to trudge through mud and rain to get anywhere.

After making and posting a sign on the door saying that the Carne Den was closed due to the weather, I went into my bathroom and wrung out my hair over the tub. That golden stuff held a lot of water, which made drying it a consistent pain. At the same time, I wasn’t about to cut it either due to some Yang aspect that kept me from cutting it.

Before I started undressing to dry off my work clothes, I grabbed the white, blue, and orange athletic outfit from my dresser and decided to call it a lazy day. Once I was dry and dressed, I went into my room, grabbed a book, and plopped down on the bed with it.

I wasn’t really reading the book, despite it being a fascinating collection of speculations on what Equestria was like between an event called Unification and the start of Luna’s thousand year banishment. My thoughts instead drifted towards my choice of clothes. “This is comfy” I thought to myself. “Is this why girls on Earth like to relax in lighter clothes like this?” It did feel nice wearing the smaller athletic clothes in bed. As my thoughts on the matter started drifting around, I set the book down and gazed up at the ceiling.

I could feel THE TRANQUILITY set in as I relaxed there. Everything was peaceful in those kinds of moments.

“Hello, Yang.”

I looked over to the side of my bed. “Luna? When did you get here?”

“On the contrary, you fell asleep. This is a dream, and at the same time, an opportunity for a checkup on your mental wellbeing. Likely long overdue, considering your unique situation.”

“Okay then.” I wasn’t thrilled at the idea, but it still sounded good. Besides, Luna was trustworthy in my book.

“Firstly, how have you been spending your days?”

“Working in the kitchen or running laps around Ponyville. Running feels good. The smoker’s got us really busy again. Sometimes, I’m doing paperwork in the office.” Thankfully, the paperwork was easy and simple. “Oh, and grilling on Fridays! I love doing that.”

“Mhm, mhm, I see. And how would you describe your interactions with others?”

“Pretty good, usually professional, sometimes casual.”

“Anyone you would consider a good friend? There can be more than one.”

“Well, there’s everyone who works at the Carne Den. Then there’s Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack in town. They’ve been really nice and helpful. Oh, Fancy and Fleur too! They visit once in a while to chat with me and eat. Usually on a Friday. Say, how are the other nobles doing?”

“Still conniving to get revenge on you.”

“Talk about petty.” At least they were consistent.

Luna and I fell into a moment of silence, filled only by the faint echoes of rain. Finally, Luna broke it. “Yang, are you aware that a lack of variety in one’s daily routine could potentially cause a variety of problems?”

“What?”

“Mental stagnation, for one thing. Yes, restaurants are often busy, but with how often you simply sequester yourself in the kitchen and focus on the cooking, you’re not doing much. How many days per week do you work?”

“Five or six.”

“And how many of those are from preparing for the day to cleaning up after closing?”

“Five or six.”

“How long does it take to prepare and clean up?”

“Around an hour, sometimes more.”

“I can’t imagine how it would take that long to clean up the restaurant.”

“No, no, no. That’s the total for both. We’ve gotten really good at those.”

“Oh, I see. Now then.” Luna’s horn glowed and silvery numbers started appearing in front of me. “So you’re working eleven to twelve hours per day for five to six days per week. That puts you at fifty-five to seventy-two hours of work per week, excluding breaks.”

“Wow. I didn’t realize I was working so much.”

“As a business owner, it makes sense you would work more often and for longer than your employees. However, you’re working more than a lot of business owners do, even the more passionate ones. Tell me, do you have any hobbies?”

“Uh, no. Not really. I mean, I occasionally play games on the Gamer Driver, but not very often.”

Luna did some more thinking. “I guess I can’t tell you to get out and make friends, since you already have friends. That being said though, you should still get out of the kitchen and go to town more often. Tell me, is there any particular reason you like to stay in the kitchen?”

I thought it over for a bit. “Since I’m immune to heat, and things tend to get really busy in there, I often go in to help things run a bit better. You know, take some of the burden off everyone else. And I was in there for a lot of winter, so there’s that too.”

“A noble reason indeed, but tell me, do you doubt that they can handle a rush without you?”

“Well, no, I think they can do just fine without me.”

“So you’re just overly concerned then?”

I thought that over for a bit. “Yeah, I guess so. And I hate just sitting around, especially when the paperwork is so simple. Even before Brew took over the money stuff, it wasn’t very difficult. Just a little tedious.” A comfortable silence took over for a few minutes with neither Luna or myself saying anything. Eventually, I broke the silence. “So, there was a sudden downpour today.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I was just about to get the mail and then Boom! It’s suddenly raining and I’m drenched in seconds. Closed shop for the day. Dried off, changed clothes, and then I apparently dozed off from THE TRANQUILITY while reading a book.”

“And here we are. Tell me, is there anything you want to do outside the Carne Den?”

I said the first thing that came to mind. “I guess some combat training would be good, but there isn’t really anyone who could teach me.”

“There are some very skilled hoof to hoof combatants in the guard, and I’m sure they would be happy to teach you if asked.”

“Yeah, but that would be me learning how to fight ponies, not other things.”

“And that is an excuse. Skills you pick up while fighting one species can be used when fighting another. You are smart, as your fights have shown. All you have to do is adapt to your opponent’s species and fighting style.”

I sat up and faced the Princess. “Luna, I’m not really a fighter. I’ve only fought because I’ve had to, and while I’m getting better about and at it, I still don’t like it.”

“Is there any particular reason you don’t like fighting?”

“I don’t like violence. That’s all.”

“Then how did you handle it on your homeworld? Even such a peaceful land as Equestria has its darker areas, after all.”

“Well, when I got picked on or beaten up by bullies, I either ran to or got saved by the girls. I started hanging out with them as a safety measure, and it helped.”

“And when you saw others getting picked on or bullied?”

“I didn’t get involved because I didn’t want to get hurt.”

“That’s understandable.”

“Yeah. So, are we going to do anything else aside from sitting around and talking?”

“In a bit. First, I want you to promise me, as a concerned friend, that you will take time off from work to relax. Maybe close the Carne Den for a day or two every week so you and your staff can relax.” I thought the idea over for a few seconds before Luna continued. “I know you’re thinking that there would be angry mobs with torches and pitchforks demanding that you open the Carne Den, but trust me, there won’t be any of that.”

“How did you know I was thinking that?” Luna pointed a forehoof to the wall over the head of the bed. I looked there and saw my mental image of an angry crowd of regulars with torches, pitchforks, and torches tied to pitchforks. “Oh. Right, dream.

“I’ll talk it over with everyone.”

“That’s a good start. I think you have a guest in the waking world. You should go talk with him.”

I opened my eyes, seeing the ceiling of my room. I looked over to where Luna was, and saw nobody there. There was still a heavy downpour outside.

After getting up and setting the book aside, I went downstairs to see who could possibly be visiting me. “Aegir? What are you doing here?”

The gray minotaur was casually leaning against the wall near the entrance. “Hi, Yang. I was bored at home, so I decided to come here and see if you wanted to play a game.”

“How are you not soaking wet?” A flash of green fire later, and he was a changeling. After another flash of green fire, he was a minotaur again. “Ah. I often forget you’re a changeling.”

Aegir shrugged. “It happens. Here’s the game.” He tossed a gray gashat to me.

“Iron Ring?” Based on the picture, it looked like a boxing game.

“Yep. Considering your fighting style, I think it would be a good way for you to train on rainy days, like today.”

“Really?”

“SUBTLETY!”

“I think I got the hint the first time. I’ll get the Driver on and look into it.” I turned to go back upstairs, and the sound of hooves following me told me Aegir was following. “I’m guessing you want to play it with me?”

“As your coach. I’ll be better than the ones in the game. They’re good, but nothing beats having someone there with you.”

“Alright. Wait, how are you going to play without a Driver?” I turned around at the top of the stairs and saw Aegir do a partial shapeshift, dropping his Driver out of his arm, along with the Daily Planner and Iron Ring gashats, before turning his arm back to normal. “Okay, that was just weird. How did you come up with that idea?”

“A colt showed me an alicorn ascension toy of his that did something similar a few days ago. I’m still working out a few kinks, but it works good enough for now.”

“Riiiight. You can take the guest room.”

Aegir started towards the room, then stopped. “By the way, where’s Asada?”

“I think she wandered over to Fluttershy’s place this morning. She’ll be fine there.” I went into my room, got the Driver, put it on, and inserted the Iron Ring and Daily Planner gashats. I didn’t actually use the latter one very much since my routine was very, well, routine. Once I was back in bed, I opened the Driver and went into the Iron Ring game.

Learning the game

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I found myself standing in the foyer of a gym of some kind, with a blonde maned and pink furred unicorn mare behind the desk. “Welcome to Iron Ring” she said in a pleasant voice. “You may call me Melody, and I will guide you through the tutorial for this game. You may exit the game at any time.

“First, choose your species by going through the Human, Minotaur, or Alicorn doors. Here’s some descriptions of each.” Melody floated a clipboard over to me. “Take your time. If you just want to wander around the game world without playing, you can go through the door behind you.”

I accepted the clipboard and read the descriptions. I also noticed that I had the same athletic outfit on in the game as I did in the waking world.

Minotaurs
-Minotaurs are strong and durable, able to take and deal damage with ease. Speed isn’t easy, but with enough power, why would you need it?
Humans
-Humans are quick and flexible, able to move and dodge easily. Power isn’t easily achieved, but with enough agility, you won’t be getting hit often.
Alicorns
-Alicorns are strong, durable, quick, and flexible, though not to the extent of minotaurs or humans. With so many options, it won’t be so easy for others to predict you.

“Human.” I didn’t hesitate to go through the ‘human’ door. After going through, I saw a series of bars appear in my field of view. A full health bar and and empty one above it took up the lower left corner. In the lower middle was a grayed out octagon with nothing in it. The lower right had a few empty squares. Under all of that was a thin bar divided into ten segments with the number ‘001’ in it.

Melody was on the other side, and she took the clipboard once I was through. “Excellent. I see that your normal species is human, but would you like to go through the movement tutorial anyways? If so, you can exit it at any time.”

“I’ll pass on the tutorial.” My game body felt fully identical to my real one. “Question: are there customization options for human characters?”

“Very few. There’s only one human for the designers to work with, so their knowledge is limited. Makeup and paint are available for you to work with when you unlock further customizations.” I made a mental note to get back to those two at some point. “What is your name?”

“Does it have to be my real one?”

“It can be, or you can come up with something new. You can also have your real name appear to your friends in-game.”

I thought about it for a bit. “How about Solar Dragon?” It wasn’t too creative, as it was just an interpretation of my own name, but it still sounded good to me. “And my real name is Yang Xiao Long. Can you make it visible to my friends?”

Melody wrote the name down. “Solar Dragon checks out, and your name is set. Follow me.” I followed Melody further and wound up in a gym built around a boxing ring. “Here’s your training area. Everything here can be upgraded and customized. It can also be damaged and broken, but fixes itself after five seconds.

“You can check your stats on the clipboard, which you can bring up with a thought or action. You can find details on each stat there.” She lead me over to a board on the wall. “Over here, you can find coaches and challengers. You can also post your own challenges and that you’re looking for a coach. Once you reach a high enough level and rank as a fighter, you can become a coach, which plays very differently.”

A problem presented itself to me immediately. “How do I find someone that I know?”

“Friends will have a purple star on them. If you don’t want a coach from the board, you can have the game give you one for free.”

I looked over the coaches and found a few with purple stars on them. After sifting through them, I found Aegir and tapped the ‘Notify’ square on it. Moments later, Aegir teleported into the gym and struck a pose while Melody left. “Hey, Yang. Ready for some training with the best minotaur from the Carne Den?”

“You’re not even a real minotaur, you shapeshifter. What’s first?”

Aegir produced a clipboard and looked at it. “Getting you up to level five or so and into a proper match. We can do that with a few rounds on the machines and some sparring.

“I’ve been keeping an eye on the tournaments, and players are going more towards minotaurs as of late just to survive the damage being put out. Are you sure you want to stay human?”

“I’ve already been through one body changing experience. I don’t want another, not even a virtual one. Where do we start, Coach?”

“We’ll start by figuring out how you’re going to prioritize your stats as you level up. There’s health, durability, strength, and agility.”

I sat down on a weight machine and brushed off some old game thought processes. “Everyone’s going minotaur. That’s the, uh, meta. Yeah, metagame. So to counter that, I need to figure out how to survive a minotaur fight as a human. They’re big and tough, but slow. That means the best counter is speed, which humans have. I’ll need speed and survivability. Probably survivability first, which means putting durability and health first, then agility so I can survive a hit that I can’t dodge, which leaves strength last.”

“I think we should prioritize agility and strength so you can hit hard and hit fast” Aegir said. “Being able to end a fight quickly is best, and with higher agility, you should be able to easily evade or block anything thrown your way, though blocking is less desirable.”

“And getting cornered would be a death sentence without any durability” I countered. “I think I should go with durability, health, agility, then strength. What does each stat cover anyways?”

“Health is obvious, and it constantly regenerates at 5% per minute. Strength is for damage and armor. Durabi-”

“Armor? In a boxing game?”

“It’s a very serious game. Durability reduces damage from attacks, and can be enhanced by armor.”

“Why would a sports game have armor though?”

“It’s hardcore. Finally, agility covers speed, dexterity, and stamina, along with giving minor damage buffs.

“The armor comes in five grades: Cloth, leather, chainmail, platemail, and mechmail. Each has its own levels of defense and durability, and comes in light, medium, and heavy variants. Heavier armor provides better defense and durability, but does slow you down.”

“Mechmail is best in both areas?”

“No. Mechmail does have the highest defense rating by far, but cloth actually has the highest durability.”

I decided to start using the weight machine as more than a chair and started using it properly. “How does that work?”

“Imagine a sheet of fabric.”

“Okay.”

“Now imagine a sheet of metal.”

“Okay.”

“Now imagine a huge hammer coming down on both of them.”

I envisioned a sledgehammer coming down on both the fabric and the metal. The fabric rippled under the impact, but was otherwise okay after the hammer was lifted. The metal simply made and stayed in a shallow crater shape. “Oh, I think I get it.”

“If you’re putting strength as a low priority, then you won’t have as many armor options.”

“What happens when armor durability reaches zero?”

“It breaks, falls off, and goes into your inventory for maintenance later.”

“So the cloth armor can defend longer while mechmail defends better?” Even though it was just a game, the exercise felt real. The bar at the bottom filled up a bit with each full repetition on the machine.

“That sums it up pretty well, though the higher grade materials are usually better, especially if you repair and maintain them.

“Something you’ll have to work on is your footwork, which will be important. We’ll also have to go over items as well.”

“Alright.” After a few more repetitions on the machine, I saw a brief swirl of light around my body, along with ‘LEVEL UP’ for a few seconds. “And I just reached level two.”

“It’s easy enough to reach level 5 with training alone. After that, matches are better for levelling. Above level 20, you can even train for specific stats.”

I continued training for another thirty minutes, alternating between a number of different exercises. Weights, resistance, some dance, and jogging were all done. At the end of it, I was at level six, and feeling the effects of the training as if I’d done them for real. “What now? Is it time for a match?”

“Not quite. First, you have some skill points to spend. Pick up your clipboard and spend them.”

I imagined a clipboard in my hand and brought it up. The first page on it showed my stats, along with the points I had available to spend. I put four into durability, three into health, two into agility, and one into strength.

I flipped to the paper over and saw the item page. At the moment, I had nothing except a towel (with the burning heart emblem on it) and a couple energy shots, which would give me a health and stamina recovery boost for a short time. I got one of them out and saw that it was just like an energy shot back on Earth. The page also said I had 1,000 iron rings, the game’s currency.

The third page had an outline of my body on the right side, divided into five sections for armor: Head, body, arms, lower legs, and upper legs (which also covered the hips). Each section had a box for an item, and each box was empty. There was another, smaller box under it, labelled visuals, with three boxes inside it. Next to each box was a list for items, both empty.

The last page had some settings, which I decided to investigate later, if at all.

After getting the gist of the menus I set the clipboard down. “Points are spent, coach. What’s next?”

“To the board!” I followed Aegir over to the board. “Let’s find you a good opponent.”

“How about this one?” I pulled a posted challenge off the board. The challenger was an alicorn known as The Pink Menace. The reward for defeating her was 2500 rings, a good amount of exp, and one item.

Aegir looked at it. “Not a bad choice. And they’re playing now, so let’s go.” I followed him over to a door at the side of the door, he stuck the challenge on the door, and opened it, revealing another gym just like mine, though with subtle differences to the equipment. “Pink Menace?”

“One moment!” The high pitched female voice sounded familiar. One moment later, a pink maned and pink furred head with blue eyes and a horn popped up on the opposite side of the ring. “Are you here to challenge me?”

“Yeah, I guess I am here to challenge you” I said. I walked over to and tried to jump into the ring, but my usual jump height didn’t apply, so I climbed through the ropes to get in. “Aegir, what are the rules?”

“No kicking, no hits below the waist, three minutes to the first four rounds, round five goes until someone is down for ten seconds. Since this isn’t a tournament match, the rules can be changed as the combatants see fit.”

“How does one round with no time limit sound?” Pink Menace asked from her spot tangled in the ropes. Somehow. “Oh, uh, little help please?” I went over to The Pink Menace (who was not living up to her name) and helped her out of the ropes and onto the ring proper. “Thanks, Solar Dragon.”

“That sounds good to me. And you’re welcome.” I went over to the corner I started from and waited.

An alicorn that looked like an evil version of Luna, likely The Pink Menace’s coach, came into the ring. “One round, no time limit. Defeat comes at ten seconds knocked down. Pink Menace, are you ready?”

“Let’s get this party started!” she answered.

“Solar Dragon, are you ready?”

“I suppose so” I said.

“Fight!” The coach slid off the ring with a slick slide under the ropes and stood next to Aegir. As soon as she was out, I saw a series of bars over The Pink Menace, matching the one showing my health and the empty one above it.

I met The Pink Menace in the middle of the ring and decided to take the initiative, throwing the first punch, which she blocked with a hoof punch of her own. Her punch had a bit more power behind it and sent me back a step. She followed it up with another punch, which I found easy to sidestep. With the easy sidestep, I was able to turn and punch the side of her jaw.

“Whoo, that stings” she said. “But at least it’s just a game!” She started attacking again, and I went on the defensive, dodging easily and blocking occasionally. After a minute of this, The Pink Menace started slowing down, making dodging easier.

Once she stopped, I threw an uppercut which connected easily with her head and followed it up with a series of punches to her body. The last hit to her body sent her to the floor, and her coach came in. “1! 2! 3! 4! 5!”

Halfway through the countdown, The Pink Menace got back to her hooves. “Oh, it is on!” She ran straight at me, aiming to throw a hook at my face. At the last moment, I ducked down, made a fist, and a fraction of a second later, delivered a jump boosted uppercut to her gut, giving her a good five seconds of air before she landed face down on the floor.

Her coach came back to do the countdown. “1! 2! 3! 4! 5! 6!” The Pink Menace got her arms on the floor. “7! 8!” She tried to get back up, but her body was shaking badly. “9! 10! Pink Menace loses the match, Solar Dragon wins!” Six sections of the exp bar filled up, though I didn’t gain a level.

I walked over to the downed Pink Menace and lent her a hand up, which she accepted. “Good match” I said.

“You too” she said as she got up. “You had some good moves there. What’s your agility at?”

I picked up my clipboard from somewhere and checked my stats. “52. You?”

“45. The rest of my stats are 35 each.”

I looked back at my stats. “So you edge me out in those by a few points each, but I have way more agility.”

“For now. Maybe we can fight again later when I’m even more agile?” She had a confident smirk as she asked the question before holding out a hoof and asking “Rival?”

“Sounds good.” I returned the gesture with a fist bump. “Now then, I’ve got items to sort out. Seeya.” After giving her a pat on the shoulder, I walked over to the edge of the ring and slid out to meet Aegir. “How’d I do?”

“You played your agility advantage quite well” Aegir said as we went back to my gym. “At lower levels, it’s best to play to your species’ stat advantages. If she was a minotaur, it would have taken a lot more to knock her out, and if she hit you, it would have hurt. But at the same time, you would have had a far greater movement advantage. Ah, here we go.” Aegir grabbed a slightly beat up box under the board and gave it to me.

I opened the box and saw a note, informing me that I’d gained 2500 iron rings. There was also a roll of white fabric in there. “What’s this for?”

“Crafting. You can use it to make armor, bandages, or decorations for your gym.”

“There’s crafting? In a boxing game?” The roll of fabric went into the inventory.

“There wouldn’t be much to the game otherwise.”

“Yeah, I guess can see that. What about the money I’ve got?”

“This way.” Aegir lead me through another door, leading to a plaza. “Over here is the shopping area. New types of shops will become available as you level up.”

Almost all of the storefronts were closed. The one that was open had a cloth armor shop in it. Out in the middle of the plaza was a kiosk run by a lone minotaur. “Hey there” he greeted. “Why don’t you come check out the deal of the day?”

I shrugged and walked over to him. “Whatcha got?”

“Today’s offer is one dozen energy shots, in your choice of flavor. Each shot normally runs for 100 iron rings, but you can get these for only 1000 iron rings instead.”

I turned to Aegir. “Is it a good deal?”

“Considering how one well timed boost during a break can turn a match around, I say yes” Aegir said. “That, and consumables like that are rarely offered in there.”

I turned back to the sales minotaur. “I’ll take it.”

“Which flavor would you like?” he handed me a clipboard with a list of flavors on it.

“Hmm. . . I think I’ll go with the berry mix.”

“Here you go.” He handed me the dozen pack of energy shots, his clipboard disappeared, and I brought mine up. On the item page, I saw that my money, instead of being at 3500, was at 2500, meaning payment was automatic.

After putting the dozen energy shots away, I decided to check out the cloth armor shop. It was almost like a normal clothing store with the clothes on racks and shelves. Everything was individually priced, though most of what was available was beyond my now 2500 iron rings. “Hey, Aegir, do these level up with me?”

“Yes, as does the price on them. Some things have a minimum level requirement though. Right now, you can only equip cloth. Levels 10, 15, 20, and 30 are when you can start equipping higher materials. You can also create your own armor here of you want.”

“Sounds good, but I’ll wait on that until I get more materials.”

“Fair enough. Want to call it a day here?”

“Sure. I think I’ll play a bit more later on.” I closed the Gamer Driver and woke up in my bed. It was still raining really hard outside. I also smelled warm cookies. The scent came from a small paper bag on my nightstand.

I opened the bag and saw snickerdoodle cookies and a note inside. The note came out first. “Dear Yang: I know I said it in the game, but that was a good fight we had. Since it was your first fight in the game and you won (and also just because), I figured you could use a little treat, so enjoy. Sincerely, The Pink Menace/Pinkie Pie (If you couldn’t figure it out for some reason).

“P.S. My coach’s name is Black Snootie.”

“Well, that’s nice.” I grabbed the bag of cookies and went out to the hallway, where Aegir was coming down with his own small paper bag of cookies. “What flavor did she give you?”

“Red velvet with love infused icing” Aegir said. “How did she do it?”

Memories on the pink one briefly went through my mind. “I don’t know.”

“No, how did she get them here? They’re warm and fresh, the paper is dry, she’s an earth pony, and it’s raining.”

“I don’t know, I don’t want to know, and I don’t think I should know. Pinkie just is.”

“Oh. Well, it would also be nice to know where she got the love from.”

“That sounds like a big no know. I’ve already told you why. Anyways, enjoy the cookies and all that. I feel like exercising. Alone, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course. I’ll see you when it’s dryer.” As Aegir went downstairs, I went back into my room and started doing push ups. After all, I couldn’t just spend all day playing games.

Changes

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“Okay everyone, here’s the deal: I apparently work too much.” That got a chuckle out of the full Carne Den staff assembled around me. The place wasn’t yet opened for the day, which made for a good time to hold a staff meeting. “No, seriously. You know you’re working too much when Princess Luna herself tells you so in a dream.” Everyone quieted down a bit at that. “That was just a few days ago. So, with that being said, I’ve considered closing the restaurant for a day or two every week.”

“What about just shortening some days?” Ají suggested from her spot on Gilda’s back.

I took a moment to compose myself from the notion that Ají was the one to suggest that. “That’s also an option, I suppose. Do you have any specific ideas on that?”

“Well, considering how things are on Sundays, we could shorten them from 3-1 down to 5-11.”

“Alright, I do like it, but I still think closing for a day every week would be better. We’re making enough money as is that we can afford to stay closed on Sundays and still come out way ahead, especially since the smoked products are apparently popular enough that everyone’s willing to pay through the nose to have some, even with the smoke upcharge at four bits per meat.”

“Why do we have that upcharge again?” Silver asked.

“To try to reduce the demand for it so we can actually have a reasonable amount available at all times. So far, it hasn’t worked. Back on topic, who all can live with us being closed on Sundays?” A number of forelimbs went up, followed a few seconds later by the rest of them. “Sounds good. Starting next week, we will be closed on Sundays. Does anyone have anything they want to bring up or add?” Nobody raised a limb. “No? Alright, meeting adjourned, everyone scheduled for later or not at all today, go do whatever it is you want to do. Everyone here for opening, you know what to do. I will go write up a sign for the changing hours.” Everyone dispersed to go do their things, except for Aegir, who approached me. “Game talk?”

“Game talk” Aegir responded. “I’ve been keeping an eye on what’s happening in the Iron Ring tournaments, and there’s one that’s been trashing every opponent who goes against him: Jupiter. It’s just one or two hits and his opponent is down for the full count.”

“Jupiter, huh?”

“Yeah. He’s a huge red minotaur. Not even the best human players have been able to last a whole minute against him. They dodge and weave, but as soon as they’re within range, he throws one punch and they’re down. The only way anyone’s lasted more than one hit is by going minotaur with all free points invested in defense and health, and then they got another punch and went down.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“Nope. But, seeing as you’re a human playing as, well, yourself, you may just have a critical advantage: familiarity with form.”

“Yeah, but I’m probably nowhere near his stats. We’ll talk more in the game tonight.” I went into my office and started writing up the signs announcing the coming change of hours.

That night, I was training in-game when Aegir came in. “Sorry I’m late, Yang. I got stuck in traffic on the way home.”

I rose an eyebrow as I braced against a blow from the punching machine. “Really?”

“Okay, no. I was busy trying to figure out what kind of picture to hang on a wall at home. Anyways, you’re doing defense training, I see.”

“Yeah. If I can block Jupiter’s attacks long enough, I think I’ll be able to outlast him. I may not be getting the stats, but the motions are important.”

“How’s your inventory looking?”

“Good amount of cloth, some leather, and a bit of chainmail. Did you know that there’s a piece of leather armor that uses all three of those?”

“Really now?”

“The Deft Boots of the Dragon. Light leather armor, very rare item, looks just like mine.” They even had the different length socks and the purple bandana. “Good defense, and they increase both agility and knockback resistance. I just need a few more levels and some more chainmail and I’ll be ready to craft and wear them.”

“Is that why you don’t have any armor yet?”

“It’s also expensive to do, okay? Besides, I’ve made it this far without armor, so I’m sure I can go a bit further.”

“You’re sure? You’re at level twelve, so you’re getting to the point where armor becomes tougher and more common.”

“I’m sure I’ll manage.”

I had a hard time getting to level fifteen. Cloth armor, despite being the lowest grade, was still effective against someone without any, namely me. I actually got to level fifteen after a fight that I lost, thanks to the game’s mechanic of getting five percent of the fight’s exp reward on a loss.

“Oh, that was a pain” I said as I went to the leather crafting station after the fight. “So, the items scale with my level?”

“They do” Aegir said. “Are you sure you have enough rings to afford it?”

“I’ve sold every visual and armor item I’ve gotten as a reward as soon as I found out about these while browsing the armor catalogues. And I’m short by one ring for the crafting price. Great.” Aegir gave me one ring. “Thanks.” After putting all the necessary items in place, I initiated the crafting procedures. Moments later, The Deft Boots of the Dragon came out, briefly giving off a golden glow.

“Are they worth it?”

I put the boots into my inventory and equipped them. “Oh yeah. They feel great. The defense they provide counts for my whole body, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Alright. I’m broke now, so let’s go find some fights.”

The first fight with the new boots on was against a minotaur called Barrel Buster. He was a bit taller than me, had full leather armor on, and looked ready to live up to his name. The slip of paper with his name listed a no limits fight, so it would just be one round that lasted until one of us was down for ten seconds.

“So, I can do anything I want?” I asked Aegir.

“Yes, including groin attacks, though those are still seen as the poor plays that they are. You can do kicks, flips, whatever you want. I’m guessing he has no limits on so he can do a signature move of some kind. At least that’s what I’ve seen in my experiences.”

“Alright then. Let’s get to it.” I made my way into the ring, along with Barrel Buster and his minotaur coach.

I’d noticed there were a lot of minotaur players in the game, and knowing about Jupiter, it kind of made sense.

“Barrel Buster, are you ready?” the coach asked.

“RRRAAGGHHH!” Barrel Buster shouted.

“Solar Dragon, are you ready?”

“Yep” I said.

“Go!” The coach got out of the ring with a surprisingly graceful dive and roll.

“Huh. That’s cool.” My distraction at the coach’s moves cost me when Barrel Buster came at me with his move, wrapping his arms around and crushing me in a vice-like hug. “Not cool! Not cool!”

While my arms were pinned and immobilized, my feet were still on the ground. I had to figure out some way to utilize that one option. “Come on, what can I do? What can I do? This is wrestling, not boxing. How can I break this grip?” He’d managed to squeeze me down to around 60% of my health when I finally got an idea. “Please work.” I managed to get both of my feet in place on Barrel Buster’s abs and began pushing off of him. His grip did not make it easy, but I managed to get enough pressure off my body that I could breathe again and get my arms free.

Barrel Buster redoubled his efforts, but the grip my boots provided didn’t quite work out as either of us expected. I was crushed against him again, this time with my legs pinned against my body and my arms free. “This works.” In the face of my decreasing health, I started punching Barrel Buster’s face with everything I had. Eventually, he let go of me, with my health down to around 35%. While he was open, I delivered a kick to his gut and sent him back to the middle of the ring, giving me a bit of distance and thinking room.

A crazy idea came to my mind, and without thinking it through very much, I used it. I started by running towards Barrel Buster, who looked ready to crush me again. At the last moment, I launched myself into a somersault. As I’d hoped, my legs caught on his crossed forearms. With the momentum and a bit of leverage, I flipped myself up and continued the motion, grabbing his horns, flipping over him again without letting go. When I landed, I braced my feet and bent forward with all my might, sending Barrel Buster over me and bodily slamming him onto the floor with a huge impact.

Being the good sport I was, I let him get up before attacking again. Being upset at the crushing hug from before, I started punching his face before he was fully back on his hooves, not once letting up. To finish my blitz, I crouched, swept his legs out from under him, and delivered an uppercut to his falling face, knocking him down.

Barrel Buster’s coach came to do the count. “One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six! Seven! Eight! Nine! Ten! Solar Dragon wins!”

“Wait, what?” Barrel Buster asked as he jumped back up. “How?”

Aegir came up next to me. “Those were some really good moves out there. You should practice those for real. Also, please remind me not to get on your bad side.”

“Good idea. On the practice. I’ll have to see if there’s a gymnasium around at some point.” Aegir and I suddenly found ourselves in front of my gym’s board. “What just happened?”

“Barrel Buster must have closed his game.”

“Ragequit. Let’s see what I got.” I opened the box and pulled out a note saying that I’d earned 15,000 iron rings. “That’s good.” Under that was a large medkit. “That’s good.” Under the medkit was another item: a piece of legendary grade cloth armor that looked like my scarf: The Determined Scarf of the Dragon, a head region equip. “Hmm. Strength boost, health boost, decent defense, and increased chances of getting back up? Heck yeah!” I immediately equipped the scarf. “I wonder if the game’s trying to tell me something?”

“Or maybe you’re just lucky. Let’s figure out what your Ultimate will be.”

“Ultimate? Some kind of super move?”

“You could say that. There’s four Ultimates to choose from: Fortify, Afterimage, Second Wind, and Payback. Fortify gives you a strength and defense boost at the cost of speed and agility. Afterimage does the opposite. Second Wind restores ¾ of your health, gives you overheal for a bit, and increases your chances of getting back up for the minute after activation. Payback deals anywhere from half to one and a half times the damage you’ve taken during the match or since the last use to your opponent after a ten second charge up period, during which you’re slowed down.”

“Can you go over that last one again? You lost me during that.”

“Sure. Let’s say it’s round four and you’ve lost, say, 5,000 health over the match. When you activate Payback, you will be slowed down for ten seconds. If you don’t get hit for those ten seconds, you will deal 7,500 damage. Every hit you take decreases the damage output by five percent of the original amount, 250 in this case.”

I did a bit of quick mental math. “So if I got hit thirty times in those ten seconds, no damage would be dealt?”

“No. The lowest amount of damage our example can deal out is 2,500. It bottoms out so it can’t be completely neutralized. If you use Payback again, it only counts damage taken after the first one was executed, otherwise following the same rules. Got it?”

“Yeah. I think I’ll go with Second Wind. It’s the only one without any penalties, and is more my speed.”

“Alright. Melody will give you a form to choose your Ultimate from when you hit level 20.”

“Sounds good.” With an objective set, I started looking over the board for opponents. It was amazing how quickly that became the easiest way to gain experience instead of using the machines. I was also amazed at how much I was enjoying the fights, something I never thought I’d do before.

Mechmail

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Another day of work was done, so it was time to go back to the Iron Ring. I’d been making loads of progress (level 41), and had gotten two more legendary cloth armor pieces made. The only thing missing from the complete look was the Ember Celica, which required an absurd amount of rings, mechmail, and platemail, along with a bit of leather. After changing to an athletic outfit, I put the Driver on, inserted the Gashats, lay down, and opened it up.

Melody was there to greet me. “Good evening, Solar Dragon. How was your day?”

“Busy” I answered. “How are things here?”

“They’re good. I got your emblem painted on the wall, just as you asked.”

“Sweet. Thanks.” I went into the gym and saw my emblem, painted in black and outlined with bright gold. It was beautiful.

Aegir soon joined me. “Looks good.”

“Thanks.” I shared a fist bump with Aegir. “What’s on today’s itinerary?”

“Aiming for five more points in both agility and durability. Now get to it.”

I was just about to start on the durability training when the door burst open. “I seek the Solar Dragon” came a cold voice that sounded like mine.

I turned around and, as I suspected, it was a human player, and she had a human coach. Her armor was light blue and black medium level platemail, except for the heavy mechmail gauntlets that ended in three fingered robot claws. She had a constant aura of frost going around her, coming out of gaps and vents in the armor. Her face was partially concealed by a clear blue faceplate with a long horn on it, under which was a lot of light blue makeup and facepaint.

“I’m the Solar Dragon” I said as I got into the ring. “You’re here for a fight, right? Tell me your name.”

“Indeed. I’m Blizzard Knuckle.” She grabbed the top rope of the ring with the claws and flipped into her spot.

Aegir stepped into the ring to do his thing. “Standard rules apply. Three rounds, with one and two lasting three minutes each and the last one going until someone’s down for ten. Ultimates are available in round three. Solar Dragon, are you ready?”

“Yep” I said, despite a small knot of dread.

“Blizzard Knuckle, are you ready?”

“Ready” Blizzard Knuckle said.

“Fight!”

After Aegir left the ring, Blizzard and I approached each other. I took the first blow of the fight, quickly finding out that the robot claws gave her an extended reach. I also found out that the frosty visuals were just that: visuals. There was no actual cold to them. I didn’t get much time to revel in that fact as Blizzard Knuckle continued her attack. After the third hit she landed, her frost effect turned into snow.

I managed to eventually avoid a swing and got in close. As soon as I dealt damage, the snow effect turned back to frost. I didn’t let that quirk stop me and continued the attack. As long as I stayed close enough, Blizzard’s extended reach would be less of an issue since it seemed she couldn’t move her wrists.

The platemail on her body was tough, which wasn’t too surprising. At least it didn’t hurt as much as the Gear King’s mechmail armor had. Uneven shapes aside, those gears moved, and dealing anything more than a fast punch or glancing blow had hurt me back.

After I dealt a number of punches, I felt a robot claw grab my left arm from behind, which swung me around to my right and into the ropes. I turned around just in time to avoid an uppercut, which unfortunately lead me into a hook from the opposite side, sending me stumbling to the corner. Before I could get trapped, I dove out of the corner to give me some distance.

Blizzard didn’t look much worse for wear, though her armor did have some dents in it. Not seeing many other options, I got back in close and dealt what damage I could. Without some kind of gauntlet, my best attacks didn’t even take a whole percentage off of her health. Factoring in the passive health regen everyone had, it wasn’t looking good for me.

The rest of the round consisted of bouts of me punching her, followed by her getting me off and dealing a good chunk of damage with a couple attacks. Finally, the bell rang for the round, we went to our corners, and sat down. I was down to nearly half of my full health while I’d only managed to knock Blizzard down by about a quarter of hers.

“Please tell me you have an idea, Aegir” I said.

“I wish I did. Apparently, there’s some high grade mechmail material at stake in this fight, so if you win, you’ll get it, I guess.”

“And then I’ll be able to make the Ember Celica after I get enough rings, which winning would also contribute to. Sweet!” Extra motivation was always good. A glance at my opponent only yielded a cold glare in return. “I’m glad elemental stuff is just visual here. I wouldn’t be able to fight her otherwise.”

“True. Hey, try pinning one of her arms.”

“You haven’t taught me that yet.”

“It’s simple. Just think of her arm like a piece of wood for the smoker, and you’re carrying it against your body.”

I took a moment to envision what he was talking about. “Ah, I see. And that’s a legal move?”

“Yes. Time’s just about up. See if you can end it this round.”

Aegir left, the bell rang, and I went back out to meet my opponent again. She opened with a wide swing, which I feinted from before leaning back in and countering with a punch to her armored head, which actually dealt more than 1% damage to her health. It still wasn’t much, but that and the goal of mechmail material was a good motivator.

I managed to get two similar counters in before before Blizzard changed up her attack pattern, sending me back a bit. I got my wits about me and aimed to throw a straight punch at her, but she caught it in one of the robot claws before nailing me in the gut with the other one multiple times. She released my hand just before swinging across my jaw and sending me to the ropes. The combined assault had me down to 15% of my health and wondering yet again just why I hadn’t put time or effort into getting even just basic platemail armor.

I was pulled back from my thoughts to the fight when Blizzard was on me again. After a few hits to my face, I went down. “This is nothing new, Yang” I thought as the count began. “You somehow beat Gear King’s mechmail, you can beat Blizzard’s platemail.” I got back up when Aegir had gotten to five and immediately ducked under a swing from Blizzard before dealing a straight punch to her gut with all my power, causing an uppercut of hers to falter before it got to me. I pressed the advantage as best I could, getting inside her range of attack and keeping up with my own.

When I felt the claw brush against my left arm, I quickly pinned Blizzard’s right arm. Soon, we were in a bind, her right arm pinned while her left one held my left arm. This still left me with a free arm, and I capitalized on the situation to punch Blizzard’s face. Her attempts to pull me off of her weren’t working, as the robot claws actually made it easier to keep her arms in place.

Thanks to Blizzard’s refusal to simply try something else, I had all the time I needed to damage her helmet to the point where it broke and fell apart, making my punches to her head a lot more effective.

Eventually, she went down. As Aegir counted, I nursed my right hand a bit. Dealing punches against armor without some kind of gauntlet was never fun. It also felt weird every time I fought someone playing as a human, since that character model always resembled me. It was almost like fighting a mirror image of myself.

She got back up on six, and was clearly more cautious than before. Since I had just broken her helmet and knocked her down, it was understandable.

Before either of us could do anything, the bell rang and we retreated to our corners. “That went better than I expected” Aegir said as he joined me. “I don’t think she’ll let it happen again though.”

“I certainly wouldn’t” I said. “Aside from aiming for her head, do you have any other pieces of advice?”

“If you can break the body armor, that will make her easier to beat.”

“Obviously.”

“If she’s staying on the defensive, you could try to break her arm pieces as well. Those seem central to her strategy.”

“Noted. Energy shot?”

“Here you go.” I drank the requested energy shot (strawberry flavored) and felt better. “Almost time for the last round. It ends when someone’s down for ten.”

“I know. That’s how it is in all matches.”

“Just making sure.” A few seconds after Aegir left, the bell rang. Second Wind was available for me to use, and I assumed Blizzard’s Ultimate was as well.

I opened with some punches aimed for Blizzard’s head, which she blocked or dodged for a bit before punching me and sending me back. I aimed another punch on the way back, but she caught it with one claw. I tried for another punch, but she caught that as well. Then she started giving off a faint red glow.

My attempts to escape didn’t get me anywhere as the glow intensified. Finally, she let go of one of my hands, then swung her now free claw at me, letting go of my other arm just in time to deal her blow and send me flying into a corner. If the punch hadn’t killed my health already, the impact certainly would have done the trick.

Aegir came into the ring and began the countdown. “One! Two! Three! Four!” I tried to get back up. “Five! Six! Seven!” The dual impact had me hurting. “Eight! Nine! Ten! Match goes to Blizzard Knuckle!”

“Oh, that hurts” I said as Blizzard Knuckle left the ring, looking like she’d accomplished a mission or something. “Aegir, what hit me?”

“Payback. You know, that damage return Ultimate. I have to give her credit on how she pulled it off, holding your hands in place like that. If nothing else, you get points for breaking her helmet. That was pretty cool.”

“Yeah, I guess. If you don’t mind, I’m going to call it a day here. There’s getting defeated, there’s getting thrashed, then there’s that fight.”

“Fair enough.”

I closed the Driver and woke up on my bed. Asada was curled up next to me, though not asleep. After taking the belt off and setting it aside, Asada gave me a lick to my face. “Hey, thanks. I had a bad fight there against an icy robot. Oh, it was bad. I’m going to sleep.” After I got under the blankets, Asada readjusted herself to her usual position next to me and we fell asleep in short order.

Author's Notes:

Blizzard Knuckle is heavily inspired from Kamen Rider Grease Blizzard

As for Gear King, imagine this guy, but as a minotaur and with more gears

If you're still reading this, there's yet another aspect of character design introduced here: visual effects and makeup. Makeup is a free change that doesn't affect any stats at all and allows, essentially, painting of one's character. Visual effects are often best described as particle effects, and have more flavors than an ice cream parlor. Constant ones are always on and activated ones can be activated any number of ways (dealing damage, taking damage, not taking damage, whatever). Blizzard's frost effect is both, and escalates as well.

There are three slots for visual effects. If you've submitted a character, feel free to describe any visual effects and/or makeup that you want. If you have further questions, feel free to ask. This is also the last aspect of character design for Iron Ring, I promise.

A day off

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“You think I should enter the season tournament?” I asked Aegir from the guest side of the bar. I’d done some simple exercises in my room for the whole morning and into the afternoon, and was grabbing some food before going out to enjoy an off day.

“Yeah” Aegir said. “It’ll be a good way to wind down on the game, if you want, as you only have to play every other day, and there’s nothing to really do between matches. You can’t train, you can’t research your opponents, really, all you can do is look at the chart and organize your inventory. Once you enter, your Ultimate is locked, your stats are locked, your armor set is locked, and you can’t leave without being disqualified from the season, which makes it an easy win for your opponents. As a concession, your armor is fully repaired for free after every match, even when you lose.”

“Yeah, that’s great, Mr. Exposition. We can talk it over later. I’ll just have a grilled chicken sandwich with bacon and cheese. And a side salad. Plain.”

“Drink?”

“Milk sounds good for some reason.”

“Coming up.”

While Aegir put in the order, I mulled over the idea of entering the tournament. I had gotten pretty good at boxing, and I was generally winning more than I was losing, especially after I’d managed to get the last of the materials needed to make the Ember Celica. Punching mechmail opponents had gotten much easier with them. I even won a rematch with Blizzard Knuckle thanks to the gauntlets, though it was very close.

The sound of my food being put on the counter brought me out of my idle thoughts. The sandwich and side salad looked good, as always. The milk was also there, though I hadn’t noticed it initially.

After enjoying and paying for my food, I collected my bag and went outside. It was another beautiful day in Ponyville. Over the nearest edge of the Everfree, I could make out Rainbow, dashing around and apparently teaching other pegasi how to handle the autonomous weather that came from there.

I could only imagine Rainbow having a dairy farm if she visited Earth, with no controlled weather anywhere. The image of Rainbow actually being a dairy farmer brought a chuckle to my day.

“Howdy, Yang” Applejack said as I passed by her stand. She’d been setting up not too far from my place after winter was wrapped up, and was apparently making a few more bits than at her old location. “Headin’ somewhere?”

“Not really. Just kind of walking around, enjoying the day and all that.”

“Well, aside from work, the Gamer Driver, and reading, there’s not much to really do at home.”

“You don’t even have to go grocery shopping since everything’s delivered for you.”

“Nope, but I pay well for it.”

“That, you do. Care for anything here?”

I didn’t have to look over her wares, I’d passed them often enough. “I’ll just take one, no, two, no, four-”

“Go ahead and figure out where you’re going and who you’re going to see. Ah got time.”

I did some counting in my head before giving an answer. “Still doing the dozen for ten bit deal going on?”

“Yup.”

“One dozen apples, please.” I pulled out a dozen bits from my bag for the apples and to give Applejack a little extra. My bag was big enough that the apples fit comfortably inside while leaving a bit more room.

“Thanks a lot, Yang. Have a good day!”

“You too.” I waved to Applejack as I left her stand, then pulled out one of the apples and bit into it. It was crisp, juicy, and delicious. I was kind of curious how she got apples that good that early in spring, but I didn’t really care enough to ask. There was probably magic involved.

My meandering around town brought me to Carousel Boutique, and I went inside. The apple had been finished and the core disposed of along the way.

Rarity promptly went into her line. “Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything is - oh, hello, Yang. How have you been?”

“Quite good” I answered. “How’s business here?”

“It’s picked up a bit. Need anything?”

“I’ve been thinking about wearing my hair in a ponytail recen-”

“Say no more.” Rarity floated over a few purple bands. One of them went past my head, and I could feel Rarity’s magic putting it in place. “There we go. How does it feel?”

I gave a few experimental motions with it. “Pretty good. How much do I owe you for them?”

“Three bits.”

I got the three bits out, along with an apple, and gave them to Rarity. “Have a snack too. And another for Sweetie.” Another apple followed the first one.

“Thank you, dear. Anything else? Maybe we could work on a new dress for you?”

“I’m fine on dresses, thanks. The one I have is enough.”

“I see. Well, do come back if you ever want a new one. I would be more than happy to help.”

“On the other hand, I have taken more of a shine to the athletic clothes recently. Maybe it’s because winter’s done and I can wear them again.”

“Are you saying you want more of them?”

“Yes. Maybe, two sets of them, one with a base of black, the other set white, and then repeating the same pattern across both sets in different colors.”

Rarity looked at me, her imagination at work. “Let me come up with some pattern ideas and run them past you later. I have some other commissions to work on first.”

“I understand. I’ll see you later.” Just before I opened the door, a question came to mind. “Say, you never did tell me how you know as much as you do about human clothing. What’s the secret?”

“A lady never reveals her secrets. You should know that, Yang.”

“Except I don’t really have any secrets to keep. I must have really gotten absorbed in my work if I don’t have any after, how long have I been here?”

Rarity thought for a bit. “Almost a year, I’d say. Pinkie would know for sure.”

“Wow. Well then, I think I’ll just go back to walking.” After an exchange of farewells, I went back to meandering around Ponyville.

Derpy showed up with an envelope while I was walking. “Letter for you, Ms. Xiao Long.”

“Thanks, Derpy.” I accepted the letter and she flew off. The envelope I held was bright white, had some gold leafing on the corners, and smelled minty. The return address was in Canterlot, from a place called ‘Grill 32’. The number seemed kind of significant somehow, but I couldn’t quite figure out why.

After deciding that it could wait for later, I put the envelope in my bag and continued on. I had more important things to do, though I wasn’t sure what they were.

“Oh, hi Yang.”

“Hi, Fluttershy.”

“How’s Asada doing?”

“Very well. She still clings to me at times though. Is that normal?”

“Not really, but since she was orphaned twice and nearly killed, it might be a way of assuring herself that everything’s fine. Even in the hardiest of animals, those experiences at such a young age do leave an impact. Also, you did kind of hide away in the kitchen during winter, at least when you weren’t in Canterlot.”

“Yeah, that does make sense, I guess. And now that I’m out of there more often, that means she can spend more time with me. I really should spend more time with her.”

“Just don’t spoil her too much. She does need to learn to fend for herself, you know.”

“Of course. Apple?”

“Thanks.” Fluttershy accepted the fruit. “Sorry to cut the conversation short, but I need to get back to my cottage to feed my animal friends.”

“No problem. Have a good day.”

“You too.”

My walking around brought me to the spa, along with the realization that I didn’t actually know much of Ponyville’s layout, further driving home how much I’d been working. After getting over that thought (it was as tall as three stacked matchboxes), I went inside.

“Hello, Yang” Aloe said from the counter. “The ponytail looks good on you.”

“Thanks, but it was Rarity’s idea” I said. “I’ll have a hair wash today.”

“Usual scent?”

“Strawberry lavender.” Call it girly, but that stuff was awesome.

“Any facial treatment?”

“Just a hot towel.”

Lotus came by with a sigh. “One of these days, we will get you to have the full facial treatment.”

“Not today, though. Too busy meandering around aimlessly today.” Aloe lead me to my usual spot for the treatment, I set my bag down, and while she was getting the supplies needed, I undid the ponytail and lay down on the bench with my head in the wash basin. “So, anything new?”

“The flower trio suspect you’ve been replaced with a changeling because of how much more you’ve been coming outside.”

“Those are the panicky ones, right? The ones who look ready to shout and run away at a moment’s notice if something seems slightly off?”

“Yes.” Aloe put the warm and damp towel on my face, and it felt good. “I wouldn’t worry about it though. Everypony learned long ago to just let them do what they do.”

“Anything else about me?” My voice was slightly muffled by the towel, but it wasn’t anything new.

“Just some rumors from Canterlot about how you abduct, cook, and serve up ponies. We heard that from Fleur last Friday. She doesn’t buy it, of course, and apparently, neither does most of Canterlot.”

“Let me guess: they’re still after me and are trying rumors.”

“There are bets on when those nobles will give up on trying to get you. The lowest I’ve heard is three years.”

I thought a bit while she prepped my hair. “What’s being bet?”

“Bits, mostly. There are some willing to bet a life of servitude to you, or a whole mansion, or family heirlooms. One mare’s apparently willing to eat her own coat if she loses her bet.”

“Fur or clothing?”

“That was never specified, but I’d be willing to bet on clothing.” I decided to let that one be. “Fleur also told us about a small cult that found her, and they apparently believe you can do no wrong and are a paragon of how to live.”

“And here’s the kicker.”

Aloe started washing my hair. It always impressed and puzzled me how she and Lotus were able to do that with hooves. “They were both incredibly fit and very burned. Apparently, they take showers at scalding temperatures like you do to try and be like you.”

“Oh, that’s stupid.”

“That’s what your fan club in Canterlot said about them.”

“What do they do?”

“Aside from wearing some very well made costumes and dying their manes and tails gold, they usually just hold bake sales.”

“They sound better.”

“I agree.”

After getting the scoop on what was happening that was focused on me, I let the discussion fade away from the air and simply enjoyed the treatment. It was so relaxing, I felt myself descending into a nap, as tended to happen.

“Hello, Yang” Luna said from next to me.

“Hey, Luna” I responded, my voice not muffled by the warm towel over my face. “Checkup time?”

“Indeed. Have you taken my advice and started getting out more often?”

“Yeah. I’m at the spa right now. I’ve never had a bad trip here.”

“Nor have I in my few trips there. They treated me like a mare, not a Princess.”

“That’s good. Anyways, the checkup?”

“Right, right. Clearly, you’re out and about right now. Have you started taking more time off?”

“Yeah, and it feels good to get out more often.”

“That’s good to hear. Do you have any personal projects coming up?”

“Well, I do want to paint the shed Bumblebee is in, but I don’t know what color to go with. Oh, I am playing a game now.”

“Do tell.”

“Iron Ring. It’s a boxing game, and I’m having lots of fun with it.”

“Even though it’s a fighting game?”

“Yeah. You know of it?”

“Yang, I can visit any number of dreams at one time. The Gamer Driver is foal’s play. I can play, oh, seven different games at once. And I have all the games.”

“How?”

“Dream magic. And a royal budget. But what about you and Iron Ring?”

“Well, I am exercising more, and I’m also practicing the moves I’m learning in the game. Also, I look just like me in there. Combat outfit.”

“I am glad to hear that you’re training. You should be as strong and skilled as possible, even if only to protect those close to you.”

“But there’s more than just Ponyville on the line, isn’t there?”

“Indeed. We can talk further later. For now, it seems like it’s time to wake up.”

As Luna’s voice faded, Aloe’s came in. “And the shampoo is done.”

I took the warm towel off my face and stretched a bit. “Why do I always fall asleep while I’m here?”

“Would you like my theory on that?” Lotus asked as she expertly tossed the towel to its place and Aloe began rinsing my hair.

“Sure.”

“Your first time here, after you beat Tirek, you fell asleep, so you probably associate the spa with sleeping.”

I thought about it. “That makes sense. I’d need someone with me to keep me from falling asleep here. That, or just very bad and rough service, and that’s not going to happen.”

“Of course it won’t” Aloe said as she finished the rinse. As I’d done before, once I sat up at just a bit of an angle, the water was removed and they were quick to wrap my hair up in a fresh towel.

I fully sat up and the towel stayed in place. “You’re too good to do bad here.”

“Thanks.”

I moved over to a chair and sat down there to let my hair continue to dry. While there, I let my mind wander a bit, going from how Twilight was doing, to what the nobles might try to get at me, to that letter Derpy had given me.

Eventually, I undid the towel and my hair was freed, still slightly damp, but it wasn’t anything a bit of outdoor air wouldn’t fix. “Usual amount?” I asked as I came back to the desk, collecting the bag along the way.

“Usual amount” Aloe echoed.

I gave her the normal 40 bits that I usually did, but also tossed in an apple for each of them. I did have plenty of them with me, and they were good. Once farewells were exchanged, I left the spa, putting my hair back in its ponytail along the way.

A glance at the sun showed that it was getting late in the day already. The time had flown by really quickly somehow. I’d been looking at the sun for a bit when I realized something. “Why is it setting in the north?”

My answer came a few seconds later when I heard Twilight’s yell of “DIISSSCOOOOORRRRRRD!” from the castle.

“YES, TWILIGHT?” Discord responded from somewhere else.

“PUT THE SUN BACK ON TRACK NOW!”

“OKAY!”

“I’M CAPS LOCKING TOO!” Pinkie shouted from Sugarcube Corner.

I watched the sun move across the sky like a stunt plane with a plaid bubble contrail and settle in the east. Before anymore shouting started up, it moved across the sky and settled in place close to the west.

“What just happened?” I asked nobody. Nobody answered. “I’m going home.” And so I went home.

Fuzz was at the bar when I sat down at its one empty stool. “Hi, boss. Something got you down?”

“I just saw the sun go from the north to the east and the west.”

“At the same time?”

“Oh don’t give me that image. Just give me some plain burnt ends, a piece of toast, and a mug of apple cider.”

“Soft or hard stuff?”

“Hard.” Seeing the sun break my conceptions of how it should appear to move across the sky warranted the drink.

“One mug of cider” Fuzz said as she put the drink down in front of me.

“And keep it at one, please.” I drank some of the stuff as I tried to forget what I saw. “Any other cider, make it the soft stuff.”

“Got it.” A minute later, Fuzz set the burnt ends and toast down for me before going to another guest at the bar. As soon as I started on the meat, the stallion next to me finished his drink and exhaled a lot of steam, a clear sign of Fuzz’s fireball whiskey.

“I’m just going to do some power levelling tonight” I decided as I worked on my simple meal. “Ten more levels sounds good.”

After finishing the meal, the hard cider, and a mug of soft cider, I paid and went upstairs. After using the bathroom and changing to the caution stripe athletic outfit, I put on the Gamer Driver, put in the gashats, lay down, and went into Iron Ring.

Three fights

View Online

“Hey, boss?” Aegir asked as I gave him a guest’s order.

“If it’s game related, ask me later.” I went back into the kitchen to resume cooking up more orders. It was a very busy Saturday.

“You’ve gotten pretty good at Iron Ring.”

“Thanks.”

“Have you been practicing the moves for real?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Maybe you could put them to the test in a season tournament?”

“Write it down.”

Aegir handed me a folded piece of paper with ‘Iron Ring’ written on it. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.” I put the paper in the back of my neckline.

I flopped down onto my bed, still wearing my work clothes, later that night. A crinkle of paper against my neck reminded me of the note Aegir gave me. After fishing it out, I opened and read it.

Dear Yang,
A season tournament is starting up on Tuesday, and I think you’d do quite well in it. Its seven rounds take two weeks, one every other day, and once you’re in, you can’t leave without being disqualified. Missing a round also counts as being disqualified. Either way, you’ll lose most to all of your rings and have a five round exp gain debuff. Since the matches are at noon and rarely last more than thirty minutes, there shouldn’t be any problems for you.
I’ve seen how bored you’re getting in the game, and I think the season tournament would be a good way for you to wind down. One round every couple days is pretty good for that, or so I think. On top of that, you’d be able to say that you left having at least participated in a tournament, even if you don’t win.
Meet up with me in the game and we can talk more there.
-Aegir

“Hmm. He does make some good points. May as well.” I got back up, changed out of my clothes and into my robe, put the Gamer Driver on, loaded the Gashats, lay back down, and went into the game.

Aegir was doing some shadowboxing when I entered. “Hey, boss” he said as he made an uppercut. “You read the note?”

“Yeah, and you made some good points. That tournament does sound good.”

“Let’s get to it then. To enter it, just talk to Melody and have her sign you up. For now, let’s see if we can’t get you some more rings and consumables. Once we’re in, we won’t be able to get or make anything new.”

“Makes sense. I’m guessing there’s standardized rules?”

“All matches last for five rounds, defeat when down for ten seconds, the first four rounds are three minutes each, the last until someone’s down for ten, no kicks, and no blows below the beltline.”

“Standard rules then. I’m guessing they’re ironclad?”

“Yes. That being said, fancy acrobatics and shoves are allowed, and as long as they don’t turn into kicks or blows below the belt, you’ll be fine.”

“Sounds good. Well, let’s get to work.” Farming and levels awaited me.

At 11:30 AM on Tuesday, I went into the game and found myself in a room best described as a cross between a personal locker room and office. On the desk was a clipboard, certainly not mine, and I picked it up.

The papers on it looked like the kind on mine, but they all had bright red words on them, stating that they were the finalization forms for armor and Ultimate choices, along with one last chance to respec my freely spent stat points.

After going over everything, I confirmed that my stats were right where I wanted them, Second Wind was my Ultimate, and my armor (which looked just like my combat outfit, including the Ember Celica) was exactly what I wanted, and in pristine condition. I also noticed a little note on the armor finalization page that said I could change visuals and makeup freely between matches, which was interesting. I didn’t have any visuals or makeup items (sold them as I got them), so I disregarded it.

“Got everything in order?” Aegir asked, suddenly behind me.

“Ah! Oh, yeah. Everything’s good. Stats are set, Ultimate’s set, armor’s set, and I’ve got enough items for ten matches.”

“Speaking of ten, your first match is in ten minutes. Take a look at this.” Aegir pointed out a board with a bracket on it, containing 256 players, 254 of which were blurred out. Only my name and portrait were visible, along with my opponent, a minotaur called Railroad.

“Why are they all blurry?”

“To keep your opponents a surprise. The participants are the ones who know the least about the matchups. The audience, on the other hand-”

“There’s an audience?”

“Oh yeah, forgot to mention that. The audience is made up of other players. Friends of yours get to sit up closer to the ring and can interact with you between rounds, though can’t provide items.”

“Well then, that’s different.” I didn’t have anything else to say on that.

“Oh, and there’s also announcers. Anyways, get some warm-ups in while you can, and go out on cue.”

Match 1: Railroad

I listened to the announcer from the hallway leading to the ring. There were a few audience members, but it didn’t sound like very many. “Let’s see here, uh...First off, in the gray corner, it’s Railroad...” The cheers went up as Railroad entered, then things got quiet again. “And in the yellow corner, it’s...Huh, kids these days, it’s The Solar Dragon.” I came out of the hallway to cheers and saw that the ring was nothing more than some ropes tied to posts around a bare dirt surface. The seating was simple wooden bleachers under the midday sky and the announcer had his own little box.

Railroad’s armor was dark gray mechmail and looked like he was wearing a steam engine, complete with vapor trails coming off of his shoulders. There were wheels on his arms, complete with pistons that also emitted steam.

An alicorn referee teleported into the middle of the arena, the stallion looking haggard and tired beyond belief. He even yawned before going back to announcing. “Standard rules apply here. Railroad, are you ready?”

“Choo choo!” Railroad shouted.

“Solar Dragon, are you ready?”

I took a breath and turned my focus to Railroad. “Ready.”

“Fight.” The alicorn teleported away with that lackluster statement, a bell rang, and we advanced at each other, though Railroad more charged at me than walked like I did and he threw a hook immediately, sending me off to the side and into the ropes, down almost 15% of my health from the hit.

When I got myself turned around, I saw him charging again with another punch, which I barely dodged before countering with a hook of my own to his head. It didn’t do much damage, but it still got him to back off a bit.

While I had a chance, I advanced with a series of jabs and lighter punches, whittling away at his health and armor with each hit. I was stopped shortly after getting him into a corner when he shoved me off and charged again, ramming his fist into my gut and running me into the opposite corner, nearly sending me down to 45% of my health.

I had enough wits about me to start attacking him again, and he went on the defensive, using the wheels on his arms like shields. After getting him out to the middle of the ring, I changed my pattern and ducked down a bit to land a straight punch on his gut, breaking his defense just enough for me to get back inside his range to deal more damage.

I managed to get him to the ropes, and I read his body language just quick enough to realize he was going to charge again, and dove to the side, avoiding the move. “Too close” I thought as I saw him land in the opposite ropes and turn his momentum into a roll to the side, facing me before charging again.

The rest of the round felt like a game of pinball with Railroad acting as the ball, and me dodging like my life depended on it. Railroad ended up in his corner right when the bell for the round rang, which I took as the cue to go back to mine.

“Sitrep, Aegir?” I asked as I sat down on the stool provided by my coach.

“He lives up to his name” Aegir said as he gave me a small bottle of water. “He’s like a train: hard to stop once he’s in motion. If I were to make a guess, I’d say he likes trains.”

“Got any plans to beat him?” I downed the water and felt better.

“Yes, but they both require him to be charging.”

“Gimme one of them.”

“Go for the gut. Or hit the dirt and make him trip over you. I’m not sure about the legality of the second one though.”

“First it is, then.”

After spending the rest of the minute breathing and healing, the bell rang. I got up, Aegir took the stool away, and I advanced at an odd angle. Railroad was thrown off by the angle and had to spend a couple precious seconds adjusting himself. Finally, he charged straight at me from halfway across the ring. I spun out of the way and saw him bounce off the ropes, aiming at me again. Once again, I spun out of the way.

It didn’t take long for me to simply stay spinning while dodging him. His use of the same dangerous move repeatedly made it very easy to avoid.

After what felt like the halfway point of the round, I changed up my moves. I stopped spinning after a close call, let Railroad bounce off the ropes again, and got ready. As soon as he was heading my way, I crouched slightly. Less than a moment later, he was already very close, so I launched my attack, leaping into an uppercut straight to his gut.

I imagined him going up and flying into the air for a full five seconds. What really happened was him getting sent back along his back, kicking up a small dust cloud in the process. While he was getting back up, shaky from the counter I’d used, I advanced. As soon as he was on his hooves, I was on him, keeping him going side to side with hooks.

Close to the end of the round, I managed to knock his health down to zero and he fell. The referee teleported in and began the count as I backed away. “One, two, three,” There were signs of movement. “Four, five,” The signs turned into Railroad standing and immediately going into a charge.

For the rest of the round, I was simply dodging him. Right before the bell rang, I managed to jump over him, barely clearing his armor. We wound up in each other’s corners and walked past each other on the way back.

“You did good out there” Aegir said as I sat down. “Looks like he’s a one trick player. How did you keep him from charging you before you knocked him down?”

“He clearly has a one track mind, and trains don’t handle sideways movement very well. Apparently, he doesn’t either.”

“If that’s the trick, then use it.”

For the rest of the minute, I simply sat there and rested a bit. Sometimes, items weren’t needed between rounds.

Finally, the bell rang for the third round. “Make this the last round” Aegir said as I got up.

Railroad’s armor let off a huge burst of steam and a train whistle could be heard when he activated his Ultimate immediately. His suddenly increased speed told me it was Afterimage, and I barely managed to dodge his charge in time.

While I kept dodging his charges, the ring was getting filled with more steam, making it harder to see. “Weaponized visuals. That’s new.” As I looked and listened, I quickly realized that Railroad couldn’t see me either. “Let’s see what happens when I do this.”

I held an arm out with my hand in a fist. For a few seconds, nothing happened, then Railroad ran into my arm. It took all my game strength to keep my arm from giving under his speed, but I held and he fell. Knowing where he was, I was able to start attacking him again. I made my attacks fast so I could get in as much damage as I could before his Afterimage wore off.

A few seconds after the steam vanished, I managed to knock Railroad out again. Like the first time, the alicorn referee teleported in for the count. “One, two, three,” I held out hope that he would stay down. “Four, five, six,” There were a few signs of movement as the announcer droned on with his counting, “Seven, eight, nine, ten. Okay, so, Solar Dragon wins.” The announcer said with another yawn before adding, “Ugh, I need more coffee…”

The audience cheered and, after helping Railroad back to his hooves, I went back into the locker office. “He did have a good strategy there” I said once Aegir and I were back inside.

“How did you stop him?” Aegir asked.

“Held out my arm and had a bit of luck on my side. After that, it was just punching him while his defense was lowered.”

“Luck is a fickle thing, you know.”

“Yeah. Anyways, we’re done here, so I’m going to go for a run around Ponyville today.” I closed the Gamer Driver and sat up. I already had my camo athletic outfit on, and after a quick jump out of the window, I started walking, which quickly turned into running and shadow boxing.

Match 2: Iron Will

It was time for match two, and I was in the locker office with Aegir again. Half of the previously covered names were uncovered, revealing all those who had lost in round one. It looked like nearly three fourths of them were minotaurs, but that didn’t account for those who had won and advanced like I had, except for the one who was my opponent for the match.

“In the blue corner, we have Iron Will,” the announcer for the match stated, still tired, and a cheer went up from the crowd.

“No matter the day, I’ll take on anything!” came what had to be Iron Will’s voice, since it wasn’t the announcer’s voice and the cheering increased after the line.

“You should make an announcement like that” Aegir suggested.

“Nah” I responded.

“And in the yellow corner, we have The Solar Dragon,” the announcer proclaimed.

I stepped out and saw a few things. The ring’s posts were palm trees, the ropes were made of sideways hammocks, the floor of the ring was made of wood, and there was more seating than before. All that was secondary to something bigger that I noticed: the place was on a beach, and the ocean was very visible from my path.

I had to take a moment to remind myself that it wasn’t real, and zeroed my focus in on Iron Will, a big blue minotaur who had no armor. The fact that he somehow made it to round two with no armor, not even cloth, was intriguing enough that I practically forgot about the ocean.

Once I was in my corner, the referee teleported in. “Iron Will, are you ready?”

“Bring it!” Iron Will shouted.

“Solar Dragon, are you ready?”

“Yeah” I said.

“Fight,” The referee teleported out and the bell rang. Driven by the presence of the ocean, even a virtual one, I decided to make the fight as quick as possible.

Iron Will and I met in the middle of the arena and I managed to land the first blow, a hook to his face. It didn’t seem to do too much, so I continued punching him.

He threw a wide swing, which I was able to easily dodge before resuming my attacks. He didn’t seem to have much in the way of techniques, lacking in both defensive and offensive techniques.

After what had to be about a minute of me just pummelling on his body and head, he was down to zero health and went down. The referee teleported in for the count. “One, two, three, four...”

Iron Will got back to his hooves pretty quickly and with a shout of “When you’re knocked down, don’t let it get you down!”

“Oh hush, you” I said before going back to pummeling him again, not giving him any chances to attack me.

It didn’t take long for him to go down again and the referee teleported in again. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Solar Dragon wins.” Another yawn from him before he added, “Alright, show’s over. Wait until next round, kids.”

Cheers went up from the audience and I took a brief bow before going back to my locker office with Aegir. “That was a really easy fight” I said as we sat down. “How did he make it to this match? Can we find out?”

“I can” Aegir said before going over to the board, which hadn’t changed aside from showing my advancement to the third round. He looked at it intently for a while before turning back. “Okay, this is different. He beat an alicorn player called Chroma by just shouting out motivational lines until she kicked him between the legs.”

“So he won by enraging her until she forgot the rules and kicked him? You know, I’m not going to think about that and just be glad this was an easy one.”

On an anchored airship, a blue minotaur closed his Gamer Driver and sat up. “So much for that tactic,” Iron Will said to himself. “Back to flight prep.”

“He’ll probably be the only easy one.”

“Yeah. Hey, can you look at anyone else’s fights?”

“No. Only the fights that happened in your branch, so that’s the one you just won, the one I just looked into, and the one against Railroad.”

“That sucks.”

“Yeah. I’ll see you at work later.”

“See ya.” With that, I closed the driver and started getting ready for the workday.

Match 3: Lights Out

“Who is it today, Aegir?” I asked after appearing in the locker office, Aegir already there.

“A minotaur called Lights Out” Aegir said.

“Huh.”

Aegir and I just sat around the locker office until it was time for us to step out. The announcer did his thing. “In the Yellow corner, we have The Solar Dragon.”

“I’m first this time” I noted before stepping out and making my way into the ring. The arena was in a park, lush and green. The ring itself was made of wood, stained and polished to a light gloss finish. The posts were carved into very nice shapes, at least on the outside of the ring. Inside, they were plain and smooth. The ropes were also smooth, like they were newly made.

I also noticed that it, along with the beach ring, were noticeably higher up than the ones that preceded them.

“And in the black corner, we have Lights Out.”

A hefty looking minotaur came out, armored with heavy mechmail gauntlets and boots while otherwise covered in heavy platemail. It looked like chunks of dirt fell out of his mechmail components with every movement. He made his way into the ring and slammed his fists together, sending bits of dirt everywhere. The pieces of earth vanished very quickly, leaving no trace of their presence.

The referee alicorn teleported into the ring. “Yellow corner…” The announcer yawned again before continuing with, “...are you ready?”

“Ready” I said as I got into a stance.

“Black corner, are you ready?”

Lights Out slammed his fists together again and got into his stance.

“I’ll uh, take that as a yes. Now, fight. Or don’t, I’d like to get some more sleep too.” As soon as the referee walked out of the ring and teleported away, the bell rang, and Lights Out and I advanced towards each other.

Lights Out threw a powerful hook, which I managed to block by accident while going for an uppercut. I let the momentum from the collision spin me around, which I turned into a sideways fist slam into the side of his body. For a moment, I was worried about the legality of the move, but nothing happened about that.

“Huh. Solar Dragon seems to be getting creative,” the referee noted with a surprisingly interested tone in his voice.

During that moment of distraction, Lights Out hit my face with a very solid punch, sending me stumbling back, down just over half of my health. “Okay. Don’t get hit. That’s easy.” I collected myself as quickly as I could and kept an eye on Lights Out. Like a lot of other minotaurs, he wasn’t exactly fast, but he was certainly tough.

“Lights Out doesn’t seem to care for creativity, though,” the referee once more commented, before adding, “Or talking.” A yawn accompanied that statement.

I stayed on my toes as we circled each other around the ring. After a good few seconds, I let him come at me again. I could see the telegraphed uppercut before he threw it, and I dodged with only inches to spare. While he was open, I started punching his body. The armor made him a lot tougher than Iron Will was, and I was soon able to throw a strong straight punch at his chest, sending him halfway across the ring. The punch took out about 5% of his health, a majority of what I’d dealt him at that point.

Throughout the rest of the round, I simply played it safe, keeping my distance, moving in close when I could, dealing some rapid punches, and then backing away. I noticed a pattern of him throwing mainly attacks that were easily telegraphed, but clearly had a lot of power in them. By the time the bell rang, I’d managed to heal a fair amount and take out nearly a quarter of Lights Out’s health.

“What’s your conclusion?” I asked Aegir as I accepted some healing items.

“Slow, tough, easy to predict. Kind of the norm for minotaurs, really. Just keep doing what you were doing and you’ll be fine. I’d be willing to bet that he’s got Payback.”

“If he’s running exclusively high power hits, it would make sense. That, or Fortify.”

“If you can win here, we won’t have to find out.”

“I’ll do my best.”

The bell rang and round two began. Lights Out opened with a hook, which I spun around so I could deliver a straight punch to the side of his jaw, which actually dealt a good amount of damage. While he was reeling, I got in close and threw a number of punches.

“Solar Dragon is on a roll, looks like, but…” the announcer gave another, more drawn out yawn.

I was on such a roll with the attacks that I didn’t notice Lights Out prepare another punch. All I knew was that I’d been hit, I was on the ropes, and I was down to around 25% of my health.

“...Lights Out just gave a heck of a counter. Woo,” the announcer finished.

Not much later, Lights Out got another punch in on me, sending me down. The referee came in to do the count. “One, two, three.” I got myself back together. “Four, five, six.” I got back up and immediately leapt to the side, avoiding another punch.

“Too close” I thought as I continued dodging Lights Out. I was a lot more wary of him, as would be expected of having been knocked out.

About halfway through the round, I noticed that he was slowing down and didn’t seem to be putting quite as much effort into his attacks. I let him get to the point where he was extremely tired, leaning over and panting, before I went on the offensive again. With him being as tired as he was, it was easy to land combos.

“Geez, Lights Out looks as tired as me. Here’s a tip, kid; don’t take a job like this. The hours are killer,” the announcer commented.

I managed to knock him into his corner and was only one punch away from knocking him down when the bell rang, signifying the end of the round. With a sigh, I went back to my corner and sat down. “So close!”

“You still need to be careful. After the break, he’ll be able to take more than one hit, but if he recovers enough, he could still take you down in one.”

“At least I’ll have Second Wind available if I need it.”

“And he’ll have his Ultimate as well. There were enough blows out there to have both yours and his charged up.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice.”

“It also looks like he doesn’t have any healing items.”

“Yeah. Come to think of it, I didn’t see Railroad use any either. I wonder if that’s a trend.”

Once the break was over, the bell rang, and I went back out into the ring to face Lights Out, hoping it would be the last round.

As soon as I saw the signature glow that was Payback, I took advantage of his slowed state, ran in, and dealt as many punches as I could. I would have continued punching him, except for the fact that Lights Out went down pretty quickly, cuing the referee to teleport in. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Solar Dragon wins. It’s lights out for Lights Out.”

I left the ring and went back to the locker office with Aegir. “Well, that wasn’t too hard at the end there.”

“Thank goodness for that” Aegir said. “I’m sure you could have gotten up again if Payback had hit, but I’m glad it didn’t.”

“Same here. It always hurts to get hit by that. Anyways, I’ve got to get ready for today. Saturdays are never slow.” With that, I left the game and started getting ready for the day ahead.

Three more fights

View Online

Match 4: Rowdy Queen

“Who is it this time, Aegir?”

“A minotaur called Rowdy Queen” Aegir reported.

“Another minotaur?”

“Like I said, everyone’s been going minotaur lately. I think the appeal is how simple they are, able to take and deal damage easily. None of the fragility humans have and none of the indecision that comes with alicorns.”

“Anything else?”

“Nothing of note. Get ready to fight.”

It wasn’t long before the announcer did his thing. “Over in the violet corner is The Rowdy Queen.” There was a ruckus of some kind that invigorated the audience before the noise died down. “Keep it down, would ya? I’m trying to get myself ready for a nap.” There was a brief sound of shuffling papers. “Let’s see... Over in the yellow corner is The Solar Dragon. Right, right, forgot about that upstart.”

I stepped out and was met with lots of cheers and applause. I also saw that the arena looked like a repurposed warehouse with the seating being built on modified heavy duty shelves. The ring itself was nothing more than a block of concrete with the posts, looking like rocks that were just found and slightly carved, appearing to have been built in. The ropes were ugly, looking like they had gone through concrete before being put in place.

Rowdy Queen was a tall female minotaur with sand brown fur and a lean build all around. She had a purple pompadour, which matched the color of the heart shaped lenses in her sunglasses. Her leather jacket and pants were also the same color. The same could not be said for her leather boots and gloves, colored black.

The cheering died down shortly after I entered the ring, followed by the referee teleporting in. “That was even worse. Ugh.” He shook his head, the mop he called his silvery blonde mane shaking with the motion. “Rowdy Queen, are you ready?”

“Arr-r-r-riba!” Rowdy Queen shouted with a Spanish accent. I was not expecting a Spanish accent.

“Right, I’ll take that as a yes.” The referee sighed, putting a hoof to his head. He removed his hoof after a short few seconds, turning to me. “Solar Dragon, are you ready?”

“Wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t” I answered.

“Right, right. Just finish this quickly, okay? I haven’t slept in days.” He raised a hoof, then swung it down. “Fight.”

The referee teleported away and the bell rang. When Rowdy Queen and I met in the middle, I threw the first punch, which she deflected before immediately putting her arms up in defense.

I put my arms up in defense, preparing for a response attack that didn’t happen. Rowdy Queen was also staying on the defensive, waiting for me to do something.

While we were circling each other, I noticed a purple star in my sight, connected by a line to Rowdy Queen. “Who is. . . Ají?”

“What’s wrong, Dragon?” Rowdy Queen taunted. “Afraid?”

“Taunts? Well, if that’s how she wants to play. . .” I let the taunt pass over me, not bothered by it at all. “Not particularly.”

“Oh? Then you must be terrified.”

“Nah. Just bored.” A snore from the announcer drove my point home. “How about actually fighting me?”

“You asked for it.” Rowdy Queen dropped her defense while I kept mine up, her going for some quick jabs. Each hit gave off a burst of heart shapes, which I didn’t have long to admire as the hearts quickly faded and she quickly went back to a defensive stance.

I briefly considered what I knew about Ají and went straight to a high grade taunt. “Is that it? Looks like your attacks came up a little short to me.”

“OH IT IS ON!” Rowdy Queen’s Spanish accent was gone and she did not hesitate to attack at full power. A snort came from the referees booth.

Shortly after the referee said, “Keep it down, will ya?” There was a loud yawn shortly after. “Geez, can’t a guy get some shut eye?” The referee went quiet after that, but only until he started to snore again.

I was able to keep my defensive posture up while dodging the onslaught of fists. After a bit, I found an opening and took advantage of it, landing a straight punch on her muzzle, stunning her and giving me the opening I needed to throw a barrage of my own.

“No more cupcakes Missus Johnson, I’m too full from work…” mumbled the announcer in his sleep. Seemed he was sleeping too close to the microphone.

I managed to deal a good amount of damage to her over nearly a minute before she got her defense back up. In response to her putting up her defense, I did the same thing.

Our defensive standoff was called off when the bell rang and we went back to our corners. “It looks like Ají’s our opponent today” I noted as I sat down.

“I saw that too” Aegir said. “I think she knows it’s you playing as well.”

“I just hope she doesn’t try to go easy on me because I’m the boss. She is working today, right?”

“I think so.”

“We’ll just have to see how it works out later then.”

Since I wasn’t hurt, having healed from the blocked jabs during the round, I didn’t need any healing or restoration items, so the remainder of the minute long break was spent thinking about more taunts that would work on Rowdy Queen.

“Huh? Wha? Oh, right, still at work" the announcer spoke up, his yawning soon accompanied by a collection of pops and crackles. “Mm, damn, I need to get a pillow in here.” Another yawn, before he said, “Right, uh, looks like it’s time for the second round, so, yeah, get going.”

Finally, round two started. The round was pretty dull, consisting mostly of circling, jabs, evasion, and the occasional hit. With as little action as had happened, Rowdy Queen left with more health than when she started, though the few hits I did land kept the recovered health down a bit.

“Ugh, Jerry, go away, I’m fine, I-” a drawn out yawn followed before the announcer finished with, “-wasn’t sleeping at all, get back to selling hayburgers or, whatever stupid job it is you do.” The sound of a door closing echoed, before the announcer sighed deeply and spoke once again. “Right, uh, third round starts now, girls. Make it short. I need a real bed.”

When round three started, I decided that both of us being on the defensive wasn’t working, so I opened with a cross punch to Rowdy Queen’s jaw, which turned into a cross counter when she decided to do the same thing at the same time, sending both of us reeling.

Rowdy Queen recovered first and went after me, throwing lots of fast jabs, some of which I was able to block, a few managed to hit me, and the rest missed. The bursts of hearts that came from each of her punches make it a bit tricky to see her, but after a good twenty or so seconds, I managed to break her onslaught with a lucky uppercut, allowing me a chance to go back on the offense, landing a series of punches on her body and head.

“Huh, looks like Solar Dragon might continue her win streak. Rowdy looks pretty beat up. Good work, uhhh...” There was a pause and the sound of papers being moved and shuffled. “...Solar Dragon, right. Ugh, I need glasses too now.” The announcer said with a light groan.

I had nearly knocked her out when she activated her Ultimate: Second Wind. After landing a few more blows, I backed off to give myself some room to breathe. The barrage I’d attacked with had taken up a good chunk of my stamina, and I wasn’t going to continue when she had just regained that much health.

Rowdy Queen, on the other hand, wasn’t so keen to let me recover, and began attacking me seconds after getting away. My defense wasn’t very good, and when the bell rang, I was down to roughly 30% of my health.

“Well, that’s a good come back from Rowdy. Maybe Solar Dragon’s streak ends here" the referee mused. A small pause. “Meh, long as I still get paid I don’t give a damn.”

“Got any ideas?” I asked Aegir as I sat down in my corner. “Or any good news?”

“Once her overheal’s gone, which should be by the end of the break, she’ll be at around 85% health. If you open with Second Wind, you’ll have the advantage.”

“Or I could time it like she did.”

“You could.”

I spent the rest of the break recovering my stamina and planning things out. The main advantage I had was my agility, followed closely by the Ember Celica. The toughest material that Rowdy Queen had was her sunglasses, which apparently counted as light chainmail.

“Fourth round starting now. Get this over with soon, you two. My back’s killin’ me" the announcer urged.

The fourth round started, and Rowdy Queen opened with a series of jabs, which I was able to block easily enough. When she went back to her defensive stance, I got a bit creative and aimed as many punches as I could closer to her wrists in an attempt to get her to hit her own face. Unfortunately, it didn’t work and all I managed to do was chip away some of her health, which was still a good thing.

Eventually, Rowdy Queen started doing her quick jabs, and just before she brought my health down to 25%, I activated my Second Wind, restoring my health and stamina and giving me an overheal shield. Feeling invigorated, I returned the favor Rowdy Queen had dealt and started throwing my own punches in return, pushing her up against the ropes. I did not stop, I did not let up, and I kept her from putting up a defense.

I brought her health down to zero with an uppercut, somehow breaking her sunglasses at the same time, and she went down, cuing the referee. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Solar Dragon wins. ‘Bout damn time, too. Now I can finally go home to a real bed.”

Part of me was disappointed that Rowdy Queen didn’t even try to get back up, but I helped her to her hooves after the victory was concluded, which caused the crowd to cheer wildly. “That was a good fight, Rowdy Queen.”

“Same to you, Solar Dragon” Rowdy Queen said. “It was a good fight.” Just before she left, her eyes appeared to widen in realization at something.

I went back to Aegir. “Well, it’s time for us to get ready and for me to think about how to talk to Ají later.”

“I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

Later that evening, business slowed down a bit. “Hey, Ají, can I talk with you for a moment?”

“Can I deliver this order first?” Ají asked.

“Of course. The guests take priority. Meet me on the stairs as soon as you’re free.” After checking with the kitchen staff that everything was fine, I left and went up the stairs, just out of sight of the dining area.

Ají joined me a few minutes later, and she looked a tad worried, despite the brave face. “You wanted to talk to me?”

“Yes, Rowdy Queen.” Ají deflated a bit at the name. “I just want you to know that I won’t hold anything against you for the game fight earlier today. It’s just a game, after all. I also want to apologize for the taunts I used on you.”

“No, it’s fine” Ají assured me. “Also, I didn’t realize it was you until I was leaving the game. When did you realize it was me?”

“Round one. The friend indicator showed me it was you.”

Ají took a breath and thought for a bit. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t pull any punches. It was a fun fight. I’ll be cheering for you in the crowd from here on, even if you don’t win the next match.”

“Thanks. Anyways, now that that’s a load off both our minds, let’s get back down there.”

And so the night went on, and nothing bad happened aside from a drunk stallion passing out in his chair and falling to the floor after paying for his drinks. Asada managed to get under him and carry him outside so all that had to be done was clean up a couple spots of drool from the floor. When she came back inside, I gave her a couple burnt ends as a reward and thanks.

Match 5: Helios

I started up the game and saw Aegir already in the locker office. “Let me guess: another minotaur.”

“His name is Helios” Aegir reported.

“Helios? Huh. I wonder if it’s actually Celestia?”

“Nope” Princess Celestia said before tossing yet another bunch of travel brochures and sale magazines from the mail into the fireplace in her study. Fire really was the best way to get rid of junk mail, or anything you didn’t want traced back to you.

“It would be interesting it it was her. Regardless, that doesn’t change what you have to do.”

“Fight, win, and have fun.”

Eventually, the time came for the match to start. “In the yellow corner, we have The Solar Dragon. Again.” I went out and there was lots of cheering for me.

On the way to the ring, I took in the surroundings. Like the previous arena, it looked like the place had once been a huge warehouse, though it looked more like a proper arena with only a few traces of its past purpose remaining. As I climbed through the chain ropes secured of the ring itself, I noticed the stone tile floor and the brick posts. If there was any kind of indicator to how hardcore things were getting, it was the construction of the ring. I also saw Ají in the audience, sitting near my corner of the ring.

“In the white corner, we have Helios" A minotaur clad in angular heavy platemail from head to hoof, the chest taken up by a large eye-like circle, entered the ring. He also had a visual effect that made god rays emanate from his armor in all directions, as evidenced when he turned around to awe the audience.

Moments later, the referee teleported in. “Solar Dragon, you ready?”

“Yes” I said as I got into my stance and sized up Helios.

“Helios, are you ready?”

“Let’s do this” Helios said.

“Fight, then, I guess.” The referee turned to me. “And please try and make this quicker than the last match. I happen to like sleep.” As soon as the referee teleported out, Helios and I went at each other. To my great surprise, he was fast for a minotaur, and the moment of surprise caught me off guard, allowing him to land the first blow, a hook to my jaw that took out a good chunk of my health and sent me off to the side.

I was able to recover in time to avoid the next bunch of attacks, then block and deflect a few after that. After a deflection of a dual hammer fist about a minute into the round, I capitalized on the opening and threw a solid punch at the big circle on his chest, since it was an easy target.

The next thing I knew was that, aside from having dealt a surprisingly good amount of damage to Helios, there was a bright flash of light, like a camera flash had gone off in my face. It left me blinking and allowed Helios to hit me with more attacks, bringing me down close to 40% health before I got my defense up again. “Okay, don’t hit the obvious target.”

“And there we have Helios’ trick. Try not to flash too many more girls, okay kid? Trust me, it never ends well" the announcer warned.

As soon as I could, I threw an uppercut at Helios’ head, and once again, the blinding flash of light appeared. I immediately put my arms up in defense, and as soon as I could see again, I decided to play it safe and go on the evasive.

“Of course the kid ignores my advice in favor of winning" the announcer sighed. The eye roll was almost impossible not to imagine. “Teens and their testosterone.”

I kept up the evasion for a while, only faltering near the end of the round when Helios landed a punch on me. At the bell, I made my way over to my corner. “What happened out there, Aegir?”

“From what I can tell, he has a visual that’s only activated when hit. A flash effect.”

I got an energy shot from Aegir and quickly drained it. “Any good news?”

“He doesn’t seem to have put much into health and defense, if anything. If you can, try to land a combo on him. It shouldn’t take more than a few punches to take him down.”

I looked back at Helios. “Well, he’s using an energy shot too. That’s not so good.”

“As long as you can land the combo, it won’t matter. The tricky part is getting around the flash.”

While I considered options to avoid the flash of light, I made the decision to keep round two limited to being on the defensive and only experimenting close to the end of the round.

“Next round. Get in there you two" the referee ordered, yawning as he usually did. “Try to make this last less than a minute this time, okay?”

Round two started, and I went in on the defensive, as planned. For all the power Helios had behind his attacks, he was still pretty easy to read, so blocking and dodging were fairly easy.

For most of the first minute, I was successful. My defensive streak ended when Helios did an unexpected combo that broke my defense, allowing him to throw a number of punches at me that knocked me down, cuing the referee. “One, two” -I got my arms and legs under me- three, four” -I pushed up- “five, six, she’s back up. Damn. Was hoping it’d be over by now so I could sleep.”

Once I was properly on my feet again, I was back on the defensive, dodging and blocking everything. While I was doing that, I kept thinking of what I could do to deal damage without being blinded by the light.

Eventually, Helios slowed down, and I tried my first idea. During an opening, I put one hand over my eyes and threw a blind punch with the other. The punch landed, and I wasn’t blinded, but the damage dealt was very low.

“Well, there’s another example of Solar Dragon’s creativity. Wish she’d figure it out faster, though" the announcer complained in a tired tone.

Helios picked back up on the attack, and I went back on the defensive, waiting for another opening. I got the opening I needed in the last ten seconds of the round, and I tried my second idea. As I threw a straight punch, I also dabbed. My fist connected, and after I looked back up, I saw that it had dealt significantly more damage than my first idea had. Before I could press the advantage with another punch like it, the bell rang, and I went back to my corner while Helios went back to his.

“Looks like you’ve got this figured out” Aegir noted as I sat down.

“It’s not the most graceful thing, but it works and deals good damage” I said. “I’m definitely pressing it next round. Did it stun him?”

“Every hit you’ve landed stunned him for a few seconds. If you can chain those, he should go down pretty easily. Do you have a name for that move?”

I thought about it for a moment. “I guess it would be called a dab punch.”

Aegir blinked a few times. “That is a dumb name.”

“Yeah, it is.”

Once the break was over, round three started, Second Wind was ready, and Helios made his move, a red aura surrounding him. He was running Payback, so I kept my distance and counted the seconds. When I reached eight, I activated Second Wind.

“This might just keep me up. Both contestants are pulling out their Ultimates" the referee announced.

The timing on my activation could not have been better, as the full recovery and overheal allowed me to tank the full brunt of the Payback, though it left me with only about 25% of my health. It still worked to my advantage, as Helios had a huge opening, and I went for the dab punches immediately.

As Aegir had noted, each punch stunned Helios long enough for me to advance and chain the attack. It didn’t take long for me to fall into a rhythm, and before the first minute was up, I had knocked Helios down without blinding myself.

The referee came in and did the countdown. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Solar Dragon wins.” He gave me a thumbs up using his magic, coupled with a blank, tired face. “Thanks for at least keeping one round to a minute in length.” He retracted his hoof so he could yawn, then started to walk away. “Now I can finally sleep…”

The crowd let out a massive cheer at my victory, and I obliged them a bit by waving to everyone. After a minute or so, I closed the Gamer Driver and was looking up at the ceiling of my room. “Note to self: get sunglasses.”

Match 6: Fireball

“If it’s another minotaur today, I’m quitting the tournament” I said as soon as I saw Aegir in the locker office. I was getting really sick of fighting minotaurs.

“It’s an alicorn named Fireball” Aegir quickly reported.

“I’m not quitting the tournament now.”

“I wonder if this one’s Celestia?”

Celestia stopped by the closed and locked door to her sister’s chambers and knocked. “Lulu, I’m going to make a trip to the Carne Den grill later today!”

The deeply slumbering Princess of the night did not teleport, but was suddenly at the open and unlocked door anyways, wide awake and filled with determination. “I’m going with you and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Celestia smiled. “Why do you think I told you I was going? I’ll prepare some paperwork for us as an excuse, er, reason to go.”

“You can be such a killjoy, sister” Luna playfully mocked before closing her door and going back to sleep, her mind and dreams centered on a meal yet to come.

“Nah, it’s probably Luna. Not like it matters anyways.” I was looking forward to an alicorn fight after so many consecutive minotaur fights.

“I can’t see Luna going with a fire theme, honestly. Anyways, go ahead and get ready. It’s almost time for the fight.”

Aegir spoke true, as less than two minutes later, it was time for the round to start. “In the red corner, we have Fireball. Real creative name there, kid.” The cheer that came from the crowd was pretty loud. “In the yellow corner, we have The Solar Dragon, whose name is at least more creative, if corny.”

I went out and the cheer was cacophonous. I took in the sight of the building, which looked like it had been built for the purpose of the sport. The whole chamber was really big and every seat looked like it was filled.

I passed Ají just before I got to the ring and saw not just her, but others with a purple star, and despite their human, alicorn, and minotaur looks, I was able to quickly identify them as some of my coworkers/employees. All of them waved at me and I waved back.

After climbing through the ring’s golden chains and into my granite corner, I took in the simplicity of the rather extravagant ring: four sections divided like a chessboard, two of dark granite, two of bright marble, and all of it smoothed and polished to a shine.

Fireball was a sight to see. She was a tough looking all red alicorn with light blue eyes, and she had burn marks all over her body. She also looked like she was on fire, with flames dancing all over her body, going from place to place and appearing and disappearing at random. She also looked like she had veins of magma running across her body and was giving off smoke with the occasional ember floating away. Combined with the light mechmail all over her body, it gave an intimidating visage, like she was the personification of fire and fury given alicorn form.

The only things I had going for me against the intimidating form was the knowledge that visuals couldn’t change damage output, and that I was naturally burn and fireproof, which was a moot point in the game. I didn’t know how I would fare against real magma or lava though, and I wasn’t eager to test that out.

When the cheering had died down, the referee teleported in as usual. “Fireball, are you ready?”

“Ready” Fireball said before putting her hooves up.

“Solar Dragon, are you ready?”

“Ready” I said before putting my fists up. I was eager to fight someone who wasn’t a minotaur.

The referee looked between both of us. “Looks like this is going to be able to keep me up at least. Fight.”

As soon as he had teleported out, Fireball and I approached and circled each other for a bit. After we’d made a full circle, we charged at each other and attacked. Fireball’s flaming hoof was blocked by a punch of my own. I followed the block with a punch of my own, which she blocked similarly.

For a brief while, this exchange continued, until I feinted with a punch, dodged the failed block, and landed a punch across Fireball’s jaw while she was open. I capitalized on the opportunity, but Fireball was quicker than the minotaurs had been, and got her defense back up in time to block my attack and throw a retaliatory attack to my gut.

“This is actually starting to look exciting. That’s a new feeling" the announcer mused to himself.

After her attack, I backed up a bit, and kept her in my sights. She had dealt more damage to me than I had dealt to her, thanks to our armor and species differences, but I wasn’t too worried, as I had managed to hold against stronger opponents, like Helios and Lights Out.

We circled each other again very briefly, and I took that time to go over the alicorns I’d fought and what they were like. I came up with a mixed bag, as some were speedy, some were tanky, some had an even spread of stats, and overall, there wasn’t much consistency from player to player.

Fireball broke the tension when she leapt forward, aiming for my face. I leaned to the side and capitalized on the opening, landing a few solid body hits before she got away via an unexpected cartwheel to the side.

“Note to self: learn gymnastics” I thought as we faced each other again from the marble sections. We both broke the standoff with a leap at each other, and we both dodged each other, though Fireball cut it a lot closer than I did. We turned back around and started throwing more punches at each other, most of which either missed or were deflected, with a few connecting. I was able to counter Fireball’s higher damage hits with more of my own, and we took damage at about the same rate.

Finally, the bell rang and we went back to our corners, both of us down to around 35% or so health.

A yawn came from the announcer again. “Ahh, mm, there’s the old exhaustion again.”

“That didn’t feel like three minutes” I noted as I sat down.

“Trust me, it was” Aegir said. “It was very tense.”

I got an energy shot from Aegir and drank it before stating my observations. “She’s going to be a tough cookie to crack. It’s almost like I’m fighting a slightly tougher and slightly slower version of myself.”

“That is troublesome. Challenge and fight aside, how are you feeling?”

“Honestly? Rather thrilled at the change of pace. Fighting only minotaurs gets boring rather fast. I can only imagine the opponents she had to go through.”

“Want me to find out later?”

“Maybe. Are throws legal in these matches?”

“Yes, as are grapples and various holds, so long as they don’t go below the waist.”

“Huh.” I started thinking of ways I could use Fireball’s horn and wings to my advantage.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when the bell rang, and I went out with ideas still going through my head. A look at Fireball showed that she had likely used an energy shot, as both of us had close to 50% health.

“Geez, you two might as well be sisters at this point. Anyways, time to fight" the referee told us.

Fireball attacked first, swinging her wings in front of me before pulling them away, revealing a hoof aiming for my face. I barely managed to dodge in time, and I countered with a jab to the body. It didn’t do much damage, but it got her a little bit away from me.

Another yawn from the announcer. “Okay, now I’m starting to get bored again. You two are too much alike for my tastes.”

“Okay, mind the wings. That’s new.” Nobody else I’d fought who had played Alicorn really used the wings for more than displays, so I’d almost forgotten about them. I stepped back and took the chance provided by the space to think a little bit. “Let’s see. . . Grapples and throws are legal. . .” An idea was brewing in my head, though it was a tad on the dirty fighting side.

I was pulled from my thoughts when Fireball’s hoof smashed into my face and sent me reeling to the side, followed by another hoof to the gut. I barely got my arms up in time to block the next attack, and I was able to deflect the one after that before countering with a few good punches of my own.

While Fireball was briefly dazed, I advanced and grabbed her wrists, aiming to make her punch herself. She quickly recovered and started to swing her wings at me. I blocked the incoming wings by throwing Fireball’s arms out to the sides, and with the opening, I got in close and threw a rapid series of punches, all of them connecting with their target. With an uppercut, I knocked Fireball down, and the referee teleported in. “One, two, three, four, five, six-” Fireball suddenly got up and the referee teleported out. “...Won’t even give me time to get out, geez.” He muttered.

I was on the defensive immediately when Fireball launched into an all out assault with just her hooves, taking up a good thirty or so seconds of the round. The last punch she threw connected and sent me reeling back a bit from the force behind it, and she followed it up with a slap from the opposite wing.

After managing a quick recovery, I went back to my original plan. I deflected a few more attacks as I got close before grabbing the middle of Fireball’s forearms. “I’m probably doing this wrong, but whatever.” With a single grunt of effort, I lifted and flipped Fireball up and over me, not letting go of her.

The move didn’t quite work as I’d hoped. Fireball landed on her hooves, and for a moment, we looked each other in the eyes while upside down, and she had a smirk on her face.

As soon as I let go of Fireball’s forearms, I felt her wings catch me, and I sighed in relief for a moment. The next thing I knew, I’d been catapulted up over the ring and was up in the air.

When I reached the apex of the flight, I turned around to look down. Fireball was watching me, and she had raised a hoof like a fist. I saw what she was planning and decided to do something about it, so I put one of my fists in front of me, aiming for her face.

The fall went well, until Fireball moved at the last second and switched hooves, delivering a powerful uppercut to my gut and sending me across the ring and into one of the marble corners, coming to a stop on my back. “Bad idea.”

The referee teleported in and began the count. “One, two” -I slammed my hands on the floor- “three, four” -I bent my legs- “five, six, seven-” I stood up and the referee teleported out.

Fireball and I spent the last seconds of the round after I got up slowly circling each other again, and when the bell rang, we were each on the other’s granite squares. As we passed each other, I politely stopped her, a smile on my face. “I don’t know about you, but I’m having fun.”

“Same here” Fireball said with her own smile before we continued on to our own corners.

“I’m just getting bored" The announcer surprisingly added from the booth.

“What was that about?” Aegir asked as I sat down in my corner.

“Just a few friendly words” I said. “She’s really good, and I’m having fun.”

“It certainly looks that way.”

“Her being good or me having fun?”

“Both. In fact, her being challenging is probably why you’re having fun. After all, there’s nothing quite like the satisfaction of overcoming a new challenge.”

“Yeah. Anyways, I have an idea that I want your input on.” I motioned for Aegir to come closer, and I whispered my idea to him, keeping anyone else from hearing it. “So, is that legal?”

“Well. . .yes, but it’s very much frowned upon.”

“Legal is all that matters, so I’m going to use it as soon as I can.” I spent the rest of the break just sitting down and resting. My health was low, but I had a new plan.

As soon as the third round started, I activated Second Wind, and I was quickly back to full health. Fireball apparently had a similar idea, and opened with Fortify. As soon as we met in the middle, Fireball struck with a few good punches, which I tanked mostly with the overheal I had.

When the chance presented itself, I started my plan. After getting the base of Fireball’s horn firmly in one hand, I turned her head sideways and took advantage of her immobility to deal a number of body blows. After that, I let go of her horn and threw a hook punch across her face, sending her reeling back.

“Wow. Solar Dragon ‘s fighting dirty for once. Color me surprised" the announcer said.

Thanks to Fortify’s defense boost, Fireball didn’t go down as quickly as I’d hoped, but by the time I was done with her, she wasn’t far from it. I didn’t let her get far in her recovery and followed up with a more traditional series of attacks, sending her down again.

“One, two, three” -Fireball started to get up- “four, five, six-” The countdown stopped when Fireball stood back up like some kind of zombie from the grave, and the referee teleported out.

“Okay" the referee let out another long yawn. “I’m starting to get seriously tired again, so hurry it up, you two. I don’t get enough sleep as is.”

“Oh, you’re good, Dragon” Fireball said as we got ready again.

“Same to you, Fireball” I responded. “But I’m definitely winning this match.” I advanced, ready to defend or attack, depending on what happened.

I went on the defensive when Fireball started attacking as soon as I was close enough, blocking hooves and wings until a punch with a good amount of force behind it sent me spinning back a bit towards a corner. When I recovered, I was facing the corner and Fireball was there. She threw a powerful punch while my defense was down, sending me flying across to the opposite corner, where I landed face down.

Since I had a good amount of health when I landed, I was able to easily get back up to continue the fight. Fireball taunted me from her corner, and I accepted the challenge, slamming my fists together before advancing, weaving side to side before getting close to her. She swung with a wide punch, which I ducked under, followed by another, which I also ducked under.

The failed attacks left an opening, and I capitalized on it, swinging hook after hook at Fireball’s head. When she was well and dazed, I firmly planted a foot down and threw one more punch, knocking Fireball down again.

As usual, the referee teleported in. “One, two, three” -Fireball tried to get up- “four, five, six” -Her arms were shaking as she tried- “seven, eight, nine, ten!” Fireball gave up with a groan and I won the match.

“Finally, I can get some sleep" the announcer said in relief.

The crowd’s applause was nearly deafening, but I didn’t bask in the praise and cheer. Instead, I went up next to Fireball. “There you go, back on your hooves” I said as I helped her back up. I lead her back to the middle of the ring, and she was already starting to do much better on the way there. “Hey, thanks for a fun match.”

“You too” Fireball said. After a fist/hoof bump, we were both wearing big smiles. “You know what, let me give you something.” She produced her clipboard, then pulled out three visual items. “I think you deserve these. Fire Fists, Fire Wings, and Fire Mane.”

I accepted the items and put them in my inventory. “Wait, you can give other players items during a tournament?”

“Only visuals. Trust me, I checked the rules. Anything that can affect stats can’t be exchanged with or given to someone who’s in the tournament. Visuals don’t affect stats, so they can be freely exchanged. Anyways, those are yours now.”

“Well, thanks.” After eliciting one last cheer from the crowd, Fireball and I went our separate ways, myself into the locker office with Aegir. “That was a lot of fun.”

“I can tell by that smile on your face” Aegir said. “So what are you going to do with those visuals?”

“Equip them, of course.” I pulled up the clipboard and equipped the visuals. “How do they look?”

“Uh, nothing’s changed.”

“What?” I looked at my hands and saw only the Ember Celica on them. I pulled my hair around and saw that it was the same as usual. I double checked that they were equipped in the visual slots, and they were. After a bit of inspection, I figured out why nothing was happening. “They’re activated visuals.”

“How so?”

“Let’s see. . . All three are activated by landing five consecutive attacks without taking any damage, and they escalate with every successful attack after that, and deactivate upon taking any kind of damage.”

“So it takes skill to activate them then.”

“That, or a tanky opponent who doesn’t fight back. Anyways, I’d better get ready for work. It’s Friday, and the place won’t open itself.” I closed the Gamer Driver and pulled out the Gashats. After taking the device off, I sat up, got out of bed, stretched, and set about getting ready for the day.

As usual, it had been a busy Friday at the grill, and it got that way pretty quickly. The patio seating was filled up within half an hour, and the bits were flowing in while the meals went out. Spike was there as had become normal, and he was doing his usual best.

Around 4:30, a couple of rare, yet easily recognizable guests passed me, both with dignified and filled saddlebags. “Hey Celestia, hey Luna” I casually greeted them as they walked past. “What brings you here today?”

“We just have a bit of “paperwork” to do, and figured it would be best done here” Celestia said. “I’ll have a grilled brisket, cheese, and veggie sandwich with a side of fries.”

“Regular fries, I presume?” I finished up an order and set it on a plate with its own order of fries.

“Yes. Oh, and can you put that new seasoning mix on the fries?”

Luna placed her order before I could say ‘yes’ to Celestia’s request. “I’ll have a medium well steak with shredded cheese and sliced veggies on top.”

I tallied up the cost of the royal orders. “25 bits please.”

“Here you go.” Celestia floated a mass of bits that definitely looked to number more than 25 into the payment jar, and they funneled down to their spot.

While I cooked what I could of their meal, Spike came out and got their drink orders. Before he went back in, I told him what I couldn’t make of the order, and he went to tell the kitchen staff, as had become the new system with his employment.

It didn’t take long for me to finish their orders, and when I delivered them, I got a glimpse of their paperwork. “Are those coloring books?”

“It’s very important paperwork” Celestia calmly insisted, lifting her book up to keep me from seeing what she was coloring.

“Celestia, I can see the price sticker on the cover.”

“The fact that we bought these books on the way to the train station makes them no less important” Luna said as she picked out a colored pencil from a box of them, still with the price sticker on it too. “As busy as we are, it is a good way to destress. That, and Celly couldn’t come up with any at the castle.”

“Well excuse me for having to tend to the council for over an hour” Celestia retorted. “They are so petty. That, and we don’t actually have any of these.”

I looked around and saw most of the guests paying a bit of attention to the conversation, though generally not caring very much. “If you’ll excuse me you two, I need to head back to the grill.” Without waiting for a response, I left them and went back to my station.

Celestia and Luna hung around for a few hours, engrossed in their paperwork and getting more food every once in a while. A few minutes after they had left, I started mentally berating myself for not asking them about making a five bit coin while they were there.

One more fight

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“Alright, final match” I said before activating the Gamer Driver and going into Iron Ring.

Moments after I appeared in the locker office, Aegir appeared. “Ready for the final match?”

“You bet! Who’s my opponent today?”

Aegir went over to the board and he slumped a bit. “It’s Jupiter.”

“Jupiter? You mean that one minotaur who’s taken out all his opponents with one punch?”

“Yeah. At this point, it would probably be best to just put on a good show before getting defeated in round 1.”

I sat down and contemplated his words for a moment. He had already accepted defeat, and if I did, then the fight would be over before it began. “Forget that.”

“Hm?”

“I’m going to go out there and I’m going to serve him his horns on a platter. And if I can’t do that, then I’m going to be the first one to actually hit him. Has anyone managed to hit him?”

“No, he always gets them first.”

“Then I’m going to do it.”

“Well, good luck. If nothing else, it’s good to see you get fired up.”

I spent the rest of the time until the start of the fight doing some shadowboxing. Fortunately, it didn’t take any of my stamina away, so I wouldn’t be at a stamina disadvantage when the match started.

“Alright Yang, it’s game time.”

I stopped my exercises and looked to the door, waiting for my cue from the announcer. “Welcome, everyone, to the final round of this season’s tournament! Are ya all ready for a fight? Let me hear ya scream, yeah yeah!!” She sounded a lot more energetic than the deadbeat announcer from the previous matches. A whole lot. The crowd sent up a loud cheer that lasted a good minute in response to him. “In the yellow corner is this season’s rising star, the one, the only, The Solar Dragon! Come on out girl, don’t keep the lovelies in suspense!” I stepped out on cue and waved to everyone as I made my way into the iron ring. “Let’s take a minute to look at how she made it here!”

I saw a montage of clips from my fights, showing the last few seconds of each one, leading up to the final knockout punch. It started with Railroad and went to Fireball, also showing the evolving ring designs. While that went on, I admired the ring I was in. Its posts were made of thick steel, the floor was tiled with steel squares and rectangles, and the ropes were made of thick steel cables. The floor was also pretty high up, allowing everyone in the massive audience to clearly see what was going on.

The announcer continued. “And now presenting the bull in the bloody red corner, the reigning champion, undefeated for the past six seasons, The Raging Red Storm himself, Jupiteeerrr!!!” Curious at why the announcer was so energetic today, I looked up at the announcer’s booth, only to find a human announcer instead, wild, spiky red hair covering her head. I tried to ignore the fact the game developers decided to make her outfit more revealing than any I’ve worn, what with her wearing a skin-tight latex suit with a zipper that was showing off her cleavage. All of her cleavage.

I shook my head and looked back to the ring ahead of me, where my opponent was waiting. To describe the minotaur fully decked out in heavy mechmail that showed up as a mountain would be inappropriate, as there were many smaller, less intimidating mountains out there, like Everest. That, combined with the swirling red mist, ominous red glow, and sporadic lightning bolt effects, was making him really scary. Even Tirek wasn’t as scary as Jupiter, who had this constant scowl on his armored face. He didn’t even climb into the ring, rather jumping up over the ropes and into his corner, and he did not land quietly either, shaking the whole thing.

“Let’s take a look at how Jupiter got here, lovelies! Yeow!”

The sound of a door slamming came from the booth and echoed into the microphone, and soon after an irritated, familiarly tired voice sounded out. “Would you keep it quiet, Stash? I’m trying to take a power nap.”

“Aww, don’t be like that, Grins! Come on, join me!” Stash invited.

‘Grins’ groaned audibly, but I didn’t hear the door close, so I guessed he joined her.

The clip show for Jupiter finally started, and went through the same arenas I had, but his pattern of fights went very differently from mine.

Blizzard Knuckle went down with one punch from Jupiter.

A minotaur named Brass Knuckle, only clad in cloth armor, went down in one punch.

Another minotaur, named Iron Shod, decked out like a knight, went down in one punch.

A human named Yin Sturm Blitz, wearing mostly leather armor, went down in one punch.

An alicorn called Shadow Step was zipping around Jupiter with lots of afterimage visuals before going down with one punch.

A regal alicorn, Old Iron King, who looked like he was made of molten metal under his platemail, went down from one punch. It made for an interesting parallel to my fight with Fireball.

“Aegir, why did I agree to this?” I asked my coach after the montage ended. Some of my fire for the fight had decided to leave, complete with fully packed and matching royal luggage sets.

“It’s a good excuse to take a break from work today” Aegir answered. “Also, good practice for fighting in general.”

“But today’s Sunday, and we don’t open until 3 the rest of the week anyways.”

The announcer, Grins, continued. “Jupiter, are you ready?” Grins yawned into the mic. Jupiter said nothing, but rather cracked his heavily armored knuckles as his mist and lightning visuals died down a bit, revealing more of his body, causing a bit more of my fire to leave. “Right, right, menacing silent type gig, whatever. Solar Dragon, are you ready?”

I took a calming breath. “Yeah.”

“Alright, contestants, FIGHT!” said the minotaur announcer in the middle of the ring, whom had remained quiet before while his fellow announcers talked.

As soon as the suited minotaur left the ring, the bell went off. Jupiter and I went towards the middle of the Iron Ring with our fists raised. Before I could do anything, Jupiter threw a massive right hook at my face. It connected, my HP went down to zero, and I went down to the ground face first.

“Ooh, a big hit from Jupiter!” Stash announced.

“As usual” Grins voice added.

“Okay, that hurt” I thought as the count began.

“The Solar Dragon has certainly put on a good show this season, if nothing else” the other, unnamed commentator noted.

“Gotta get back up.” I found the energy to slam a fist on the floor as the count reached four.

“It looks like another classic Jupiter win for this-” I got back up just as the count reached seven “-Solar Dragon’s back uuup!!!”

I barely had time to get my arms up to defend myself before Jupiter was on me, punching me around the ring a few times before I was back down, this time on my back. “Oww. . .” Once again, the count was on. “I’m not going to stay down so easily.” With that decision made, some fire returned and I sat up. A second later, I was back on my feet.

“I don’t believe it! The Solar Dragon has gotten up not once, but twice against Jupiter! Someone should give her a medal just for that!” Stash entertained. Meanwhile, Jupiter was quick to get me in the corner and started slugging me while I kept up my defense.

The unnamed announcer chimed in after a few seconds of the onslaught. “It may be taking longer than usual, but unless Solar Dragon does something soon-” I cut the announcer off with a right uppercut to Jupiter’s face, sending him back in shock and silencing the audience. While he was surprised, I advanced. He quickly recovered and threw a punch, which I dodged before countering it. I dodged and countered two more times, each attack with a bit more energy than the previous, and each of his own missing me by a hair and leaving a burst of air to rush past me.

I came close to activating my trio of visual effects with a fifth hit when Jupiter changed his attack and hit my gut. It didn’t feel quite as powerful as his initial attacks did, but it was enough to send me back. I managed to dodge him for a while longer before more of his attacks started landing and I was back in the corner. I managed to get a defense up just in time to mitigate some of the damage from a series of dual punches to my gut, followed by double uppercuts.

“This round’s going to be close,” Grins said over my beating with mild interest. “Up, down, up, down, up, down...” The dual punches stopped and I slumped in the corner as Jupiter loomed a fist over me to try and end it. “Jupiter’s going for a big one-” The bell went off. “-And Solar Dragon is saved by the bell. Huh. I don’t believe it.” He sighed deeply, and there was the sound of coins being exchanged. There was brief and polite thank you from the unnamed announcer before Grins continued. “Well, for the first time, Jupiter’s going to have a second round. Yaaay...”

As soon as Aegir slid a stool under me, I slumped down on it. “How’s it looking, boss?” I asked him.

Aegir looked at his clipboard and pulled out a big medkit. “I’m not sure how you did it, but you survived. Have a heal.”

“Thanks.” I opened and used the medkit, restoring most of my missing health, which was a lot. “Know anything about what ultimate he’s running?”

“Nope, but I’d be willing to bet on Afterimage for a change of tactics. Jupiter’s obviously traded out agility for raw power, so switching it in the middle of a round would make the most sense.”

“Strategy?”

“Keep attacking his armor. If you can break it, you’ll have the upper hand. Only attack when possible. Avoid as much as you can so you can heal more.”

“Alright. Got it.”

Once the minute between rounds was over, it was time to continue

Round 2

Rarity would have liked to see me during round two for just how much and how well I was weaving around Jupiter. I didn’t manage to get the requirements in to activate my visuals, but I managed to knock out around 10% of his health and damage his armor further while only taking glancing blows. The visuals didn’t get a chance to activate though.

Round 3

I managed to deal a good amount of damage to Jupiter’s mechmail helmet with a trio of desperate attacks after a back and forth of gut punches between us. I could tell he wasn’t going at full power with the punches, which I initially considered to be a strategy of his, as little sense as it made to me. The only thing I could come up with was that it might have had something to do with his armor.

Round 4

For the first minute of round four, things went like they had before. I was feeling confident with my health up higher than Jupiter’s, even if it was just by a little percentage. He apparently had no healing outside of his natural regen.

Things took a turn for the scary before the second minute was over. “Jupiter activates his ultimate move, Fortify!” At first, I wasn’t worried since Fortify would make him slower, and he wasn’t too agile to start with. Then, it got bad. “And he’s somehow gotten faster, in defiance of Fortify’s agility penalty! Uh whaaaaaaat!?” Stash said dramatically.

“Oh Spanish Inquisition” was all I had time to think before he was on me like a freight train with rails on top carrying another freight train. I barely managed to move in time to turn a potential full body blow into a glancing blow, which still hurt quite a bit.

“How did Jupiter get a speed boost from Fortify? Please tell me I can disqualify him for cheating. If I could, I could sleep for so long...” Grins seemed to almost plead at the end.

The other announcer answered after a shuffling of papers. “It looks like his agility is so low that the strength boost from Fortify lightens the armor for him enough that it overcomes the agility loss. That is a clever exploit, showing us that Jupiter’s playstyle isn’t all power!”

“That’s a pretty clever tactic! Let’s see if he finally breaks this stroke of luck Solar Dragon has!” Stash said.

Even though I still had the agility advantage, the sudden speed boost Jupiter had was disorienting. As I was dodging and rolling while trying to figure out just how he got the speed boost from Fortify (despite the announcers), I made a single misstep, allowing Jupiter to, in the span of a couple seconds, put me in a headlock, and deliver a boosted uppercut to my face, disorienting me right as his Fortify ended. “Solar Dragon’s stumbling around the ring! Ooooh nooooo!! Jupiter pushes her into a corner, this could be the last round!”

I tried to move my arms into a defensive stance, but all four images I was seeing refused to line up or orient correctly and I was taking blow after blow to the gut. I was able to make out a countdown though.

“Five! Four! Three! Two! One!” *DING DING DING* “That’s the end of round four!”

Jupiter’s assault on my gut ceased as he went back to his corner and I hung onto the ropes for dear life. I was down to less than 5% health.

Round 5

“Each team has an extra 30 seconds to work out a plan for the final round, which will last until someone’s down for the full ten seconds. If you have any more bets to place, this is the time to do it.” There was a pause, then a chuckle. “Don’t worry Grins, the rest of your money is safe.”

“For nooowww~!” Stash sing-songed.

“...I hate you both,” Grins said with a signature tired groan.

As soon as Aegir had the stool under me, I collapsed onto it. “Okay, here’s some meds for you, boss.” I went through the motions of using the bandages, during which time my vision cleared up. After the meds came a repair kit to fix the Ember Celica. They had taken a lot of damage during the fight.

“I feel sick, coach” I said.

“Considering what you went through, I’m not surprised. It’ll pass before you know it. Have an energy shot.” I used the offered energy shot and I started feeling better almost immediately after drinking it. “I’ll be honest, I never thought we would make it this far. So, um. . . I wish I had something good to saayyy-!” Aegir was suddenly pulled away by a hand that looked a lot like mine.

Someone playing human with light violet eyeshadow and wearing a copy of my formal dress took Aegir’s place. “Gilda here, champ.” She slapped me across the face, which dealt no damage. “Now, listen to me, you dolt. You’ve already made it further than anyone else apparently has against this Jupiter plothole guy, and we’re not going to watch you concede defeat here. You’ve beaten a giant centaur, you’ve beaten a music vampire, and you wrecked an alien destruction machine in the cold. This guy is nothing compared to them, and nothing compared to you, even in this game. I want you to GET OUT THERE, and show him just what it means to be fighting THE legendary Yang Xiao Long herself! Show him, show everyone, that minotaurs are not the game’s fighting kings that they think they are. Now go out there and make us proud.” Gilda brought my attention to a small portion of the audience nearby, purple stars over their heads. “We’re all rooting for you.”

After Gilda left the ring, she threw Aegir back in front of me. “Well, that happened” he said as he got back up. “Just use Second Wind as soon as you get out there.”

I smiled as I stood up and kicked the stool out of the ring. “Gotcha.”

The bell rang and I went out there. I activated Second Wind, fully healing up and feeling even better than before thanks to the overheal. Jupiter and I started by punching each other across the face. He didn’t deal nearly as much damage as he had before, and it took a few hits from him to kill the overheal. The first one that dealt damage to my actual health had a bit more power to it and sent me spinning into the ropes.

I kept my hands up and ready while Jupiter was delivering lots of weaker punches to my gut. “Wait, this feels familiar” I thought. “Where have I seen this before?”

“Hey, are you seeing this?” one announcer asked. “Jupiter’s slowing down!”

The other announcer continued. “With such a low agility stat, his stamina’s likewise low, and his choice of armor does not help that. It’s turning that out he’s not made for long fights.” A short pause. “Like Grins here.”

“...I’m sleeping through your birthday for that one, Maximus,” Grins shot back with a surprising amount of anger.

‘Maximus’ just laughed.

Jupiter was breathing heavily when he backed off and I finally remembered where I’d seen the scenario I was in before. I put on my best smirk, brought up my hand, and made the universal ‘bring it’ gesture.

“Solar Dragon’s taunting Jupiter! She’s actually asking for more! Daaang girl! You gots fiyah!!” With an angry snort, Jupiter started attacking me again, swinging for my head, which I was able to block.

Meanwhile, the crowd started chanting “Dragon! Dragon! Dragon! Dragon! Dragon!” and I could almost hear inspirational music beginning to play.

Jupiter didn’t take long to go back to the gut blows, which were becoming slower and weaker with each punch. His breathing was also becoming much heavier. After a punch that did practically no damage, I dropped my defense with a fresh smirk and threw an uppercut, sending Jupiter reeling back. He didn’t have enough energy to put up a defense and I started my attack in in earnest. The trio of fire effects I had on finally activated after a few more consecutive punches, lighting my fists and hair up with fire and giving me fiery wings.

“The Solar Dragon is on fire! For real! Look at her go! Jupiter has lost all his inertia and is being pushed back!”

I got Jupiter into a corner and kept punching his body, each hit making the fire effects more intense. Bits of his armor started breaking off as well. All the fire that had left me came back in that moment, and it had brought friends too.

Jupiter soon collected himself enough to throw a wide punch, which I ducked under, then dove out of the way of a similar follow up punch. While he was open, I jumped up enough to throw a hook at his face. The fire effect sent out a ghostly white shockwave on impact, which went well with the bits of armor that flew off. I could tell he had some stamina back, so I got back in close to keep attacking.

He got his hands on my shoulders and started pushing me away, but I was still able to punch his body. He wasn’t dealing any damage with the move, so the fire effects kept getting more intense, the shockwaves getting larger and taking on a red tinge. My forearms were also fully encased in the effect.

I rolled with a weak throw from Jupiter and got right back to him, aiming a punch for his body, but he pinned my arm. Undeterred, I started swinging at him with my free arm, using the pin for a bit of leverage to get more power in the punches, alternating between his gut and his face.

It didn’t take long for him to release me and I continued with both arms. I was on a roll, and the shockwaves were turning into fire. “The Solar Dragon is relentless in her attack! Jupiter’s on the ropes! Left! Right! Left! A huge uppercut!” It was then that the mighty storm collapsed. “Jupiter’s down!”

I spared only a moment to wave to the crowd during the count before turning back to Jupiter. I also noticed that the fire on my forearms was constant and extended nearly two feet behind my elbow.

“Five! Six! Seven!” Jupiter got back up before the count finished and I was immediately on him, quickly throwing punch after punch at his head, never letting up and never giving him the chance to breathe. After getting him back to the ropes, I changed the punch direction and sent him stumbling sideways.

“This could be it, everyone! Solar Dragon’s on a roll, and is showing no sign of stopping! Jupiter can’t put together any kind of offense or defense! This is a spectacle to see! Wait, what’s going on?” I got Jupiter into a corner and taunted him from a few feet away. He fell for it and very slowly advanced. Meanwhile, I ran back to the opposite corner, jumped, and kicked off the corner post. Jupiter was stunned by the display long enough that I had an easy time delivering a solid flying punch to his face, destroying his helmet with a big explosion effect and knocking him down again while I landed in the corner I’d lead him into.

The crowd began the count immediately. “One! Two! Three!” Jupiter tried to get up. “Four! Five! Six! Seven!” He did his best. “Eight! Nine! Ten!” It wasn’t enough.

The announcer took back over. “And there it is! Jupiter is down for the count! For the first time ever, Jupiter has lost! This season’s winner is The Solar Dragon!”

“Good. Can I go back to sleep now?” Grins asked.

“Maybe~, maybe nooot~,” Stash sing-songed again. Grins groaned while Maximus chuckled.

Before Jupiter’s coach and Aegir made it to us, I made my way over to Jupiter and gave him a hand up to his hooves. “Good game” I said.

“You too” Jupiter said with a polite nod before walking away. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a group of minotaurs in the audience taking among themselves, and they did not look happy, though one appeared more interested in me.

From the other direction came a small herd of friends, a fairly even mix of human, alicorn, and minotaur. I could tell that it was everyone from the Carne Den behind the avatars, and I enjoyed the well earned cheers.

The announcers, a tired looking alicorn, an excited human, and a professional minotaur, came down to the ring. One made his way through the herd and to me. “Solar Dragon, you have defeated the reigning champion, The Raging Red Storm Jupiter himself. What are your thoughts and feelings on that?”

“It wasn’t easy, let me tell you” I answered. “He’s powerful, and he apparently used every advantage he could. That Fortify exploit was nothing short of a genius move. I really thought I was going to lose right then and there at round four.”

The other announcer took his turn with Jupiter. “Jupiter, this is your first ever defeat. What are your thoughts and feeling on that?”

Jupiter drank an energy shot before answering. “It’s different. If anything, I’m happy to have had this fight. It was a challenge, and I applaud Solar Dragon for that. She has amazing skills, and I’m sure she could take on twenty other human players at once and come out on top.”

“And that’s that for the interviews. Once again, this season’s champion is The Solar Dragon!”

After waving to everyone for a minute and giving Jupiter one last handshake, I closed the Gamer Driver, pulled out the Gashats in it, and held Iron Ring up for a moment before letting my arm flop onto the bed. “How can a game make me feel so sore everywhere?” I asked nobody. It really felt like I’d been wrung out like a washcloth and beaten up by Jupiter himself. “Ah well. I think I’ll build a display of some kind for it.” There was a boom of thunder and then it started raining. Hard. “Another day.” After taking the belt off and setting it aside, I curled up under my blankets and slept well.

Disengaged with rage

A Driver hits a stone wall

Pieces hit the floor

A brief meeting

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“Greetings, Aegir and Sweetie Drops” Luna said to her two subjects in the dreamscape.

“For the last time Princess, my name is Bon-Bon” Bon-Bon objected, clearly annoyed at the nickname.

“I like Sweetie Drops better. It makes you sound like the agent you are. Anyways, down to business. I take it everything went well with our little project?”

“Better than expected, Princess” Aegir calmly reported. “Not only did I manage to get her to start up an exercise and practice regiment, she’s been sticking to it, and to top it all off, she managed to defeat Jupiter.”

“That’s good and all, but I’d better get my proper payment as well” Bon-Bon said, still annoyed. “Do you have any idea how hard it was to pull all those strings to set things up like you wanted?”

“Enlighten me.”

“I had to convince the devs to not only set the tournament off its regular time by two days, but also to make Fireball for me, teach me how to play, and set Jupiter, Yang, and me up on the bracket as you wanted.”

“But did you have fun, Agent Drops?” Luna asked.

“Please don’t call me that.” Bon-Bon gave a resigned sigh. “And yes, I did have fun. I might just tag along with Yang during her training sessions as well sometime, if it’s permitted.”

“That is perfectly fine. Is there anything else to report, you two?”

“Nope” Aegir and Bon-Bon said at the same time.

“Meeting is adjourned then.” The shared dreamspace they were in vanished when Luna cancelled the spell, and all three did their own things from there.

Tuesday

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I woke up and stretched around on my bed a bit, working out a series of kinks and pops across my body. “Ah, that’s nice.” I spared a glance to the Gamer Driver and small assortment of gashats nearby. The recent thrill of Iron Ring was still fresh on my mind, especially the fanfare that came from beating Jupiter, even a couple days after the fact.

After getting out of bed, I went over to the window, opened it, and took a deep inhale of the fresh air. That, combined with the warmth of the air, felt really nice, though the lack of sunlight put a damper on that. “Hmm, maybe I could get a mirror on the shed roof to send some rays this way? Why did I even put my room on this side anyways?”

After I finished contemplating, I closed the window and started getting ready for the day. “A lap around Ponyville sounds good. Shower first.” Plan in place, I gathered up the necessary clothes and went to the bathroom.

“Howdy, Yang!” Applejack called out with a wave as I was running on the farm.

“Hi, Applejack.” I slowed my run down to a jog and went over to the farm mare. “Anything new going on?”

“Nothin’ much. There was a small tremor from the Everfree yesterday, but that’s it.”

I curiously raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t feel anything.”

“Ah only noticed it thanks to mah magic. It didn’t even shake a single apple enough to knock it free.”

“That’s really weak.” I looked at a nearby tree for a moment before turning back to Applejack. “Well, I’m going to go back to my run now. See you around.” I quickly turned back to my route and resumed my run, glad for the brief talk with the orange mare.

“See ya!”

“Hey, Yang?”

“Yes, Gilda?”

“I’ve got a weird drink order here.” She handed me a ticket through the window.

I looked at the drink choice, then out to the dining area, full of ponies, a few griffons, and a draconequus. “Did Discord order this?”

“Got it in one. How are we going to do that?”

I looked back at the order, and something clicked. I turned back to the chefs, quickly finding the one I was looking for. “Hey, Gavan! I’ve got a thing for you!”

Gavan, curious, came up and looked at the ticket. “Huh. Well, isn’t this just the coincidence? I’ll be right back.” The head chef grabbed a glass and went out to the smoker. Moments later, he came back with the requested drink. “There we go.”

Gilda scrutinized the smokey contents of the glass. “Dare I ask why we have this?”

I shrugged. “Gavan was curious, I was intrigued by the idea, and I let him do it.”

“. . . Whatever.” Gilda took the glass and brought it out to Discord, who looked like he had changed seats at his table, and he blinked at it rather owlishly, as if he wasn’t expecting us to actually be able to serve the drink.

Meanwhile, I turned to Gavan. “So, did it work?”

“Yep,” Gavan confirmed. “You really can smoke ice in the smoker. I tried a piece. It wasn’t that good.”

“It didn’t sound good in the first place. At least we know it can be done.”

Sylvia poked her head into the kitchen. “Yang, there’s somepony out here who wants to see you.”

“It’ll be a few minutes. Big rush.”

“I’ll let him know. Colorful gray unicorn.”

After finishing up the order I was working on, I washed my hands and went out to the foyer area. My curiosity, already wondering who would want to see me, was piqued even more when I saw what looked like a covered painting on an easel. The unicorn next to the object had a gray coat covered in colorful splotches of what looked like paint, and his mane and tail were similarly colored. “I heard you wanted to see me?”

“Ah, yes” the stallion responded, a bit nervous. “I’m Palette Splotch, and I’ve come from Canterlot to give you a painting based on recent events.” Without waiting for me to say anything, he levitated the cover off the framed painting. “I call it ‘The Mighty Storm’s Fall’.”

The painting depicted myself fighting Jupiter in Iron Ring, fire effects coming off of me with great intensity as I was delivering a helmet shattering uppercut to Jupiter’s muzzle. The fire wings were a clean combination of avian and draconian styles and were each about twice as large as I was. My hair, also appearing to be made of fire, looked like it was getting blown back by the explosion from the uppercut. After looking away from the main scene, I noticed that the ring itself, particularly the ropes and the floor behind me, looked like they were starting to melt.

Despite the inaccuracy of the scene, it was still quite a cool picture. “I like it. I’m guessing you were there?”

“Of course. I wasn’t far from your corner either. It was an amazing fight, to say the least.”

I nodded in appreciation. “Thanks. I really appreciate the effort. You must have worked on it nonstop to have it done this quickly.”

“24 hours straight” Palette said with pride. “As soon as the fight was over, I was hit with inspiration and just let my talent guide me. Once I was done, I just knew I had to give it to you.”

“Thanks. I’ll find a place to hang it tonight.” I gently took the painting off the easel with a smile and took it into the office, already thinking about where to hang it. “I could put it over the chair, but that would be a bit intimidating. In fact, the office is right out.” When I went back out, I saw Sylvia guiding Palette to a table. As soon as I could, I pulled her into the office.

“Need something, Yang?” Sylvia asked before her eyes were drawn to the painting.

“Yeah. I want to give that unicorn a 25% discount on his meal today for the painting. I feel kind of. . .” I started waving my hand about as I tried to think of the right word.

Sylvia thought for a bit before suggesting “Obligated?”

“Sort of? He just up and made it after the Jupiter fight, and it’s really good, so I want to give him something in exchange.”

“I can do that.”

“Thanks.” As soon as Sylvia was gone, I looked back at the painting. “Where am I going to put you?”

The painting did not respond.

After closing for the night, I went up to my room and was quickly pounced upon by Asada, who was eagerly licking my face. “Woah there, easy girl,” I got out between giggles.

After she stopped licking me, I sat down by her on the floor. With a sigh, I said, “You know, I don’t really spend that much time with you.” She gave a neutral sounding growl in response. “You really have grown quite a bit though.” I did nothing when she put her head on my lap. “And you’re really smart too. A smart, friendly, and eventually, strong black bear.” I scratched behind her ears, a classic soft spot. “And the foals love you too.” Asada lazily nodded in response. “Can’t say the same about some of their parents though.”

For a few minutes, I just sat there with Asada, the two of us just being there with each other. Eventually, I had to get up. “I’ll be back in a bit, Asada.”

After taking care of business in the bathroom, I paused on the way back to my room as I remembered the painting. It was still sitting in the office, and still needed a place to go. “Maybe. . .” I picked up the painting and took it upstairs to my room. “Hey Asada, do you have any ideas on where I could hang this?”

Asada looked over the painting a bit, put a claw to her tilted head in thought, and soon walked past me. She didn’t go far, pawing at the wall right across from the bathroom door. “Right here?” I held the painting up in place on the wall and saw Asada nodding. “Right. I guess I’d better get something to hang it with sometime.” Asada pawed at the collapsed Ember Celica on my wrist. “Yeah, I do have those nail shells, but they drive the nail in all the way. I need something a bit finer than that. I’ll get something later this week. I’ll keep this in the guest room for now.”

After putting the painting down in the guest room, I let out a yawn. “I guess it’s time to sleep.” I quickly put action to my words, changing into my robe and going to bed.

Assesing

View Online

“Hey, Gilda?”

“Yeah, Yang?”

“What’s with those tan things I’ve been seeing some of our guests wearing?” I pointed out a guest who had one on around his neck.

“The peytrals? Apparently, Rarity’s been giving them away for a couple weeks. They’re stone, but are apparently really comfortable, light, and very easy to wear.”

“Are you going to get one?”

“Pfsh, nah. I already look good as it is,” Gilda boasted. “That, and she doesn’t actually have any that fit me. They’re all sized for ponies. What about you?”

I looked over the peytral that was being worn by the guest. “Nah. It doesn’t look like it would fit me.” Sylvia came up and delivered a ticket with three meals on it, breaking up the conversation. “Back to work.”

A few days later

“Hey, Gilda?”

“Yeah, Yang?”

“There’s more guests with those peytral things on now.”

“Yeah, there are. And no, I’m not getting one. They’re still only pony sized.”

“I’m not getting one either. There’s something bugging me though.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. We’ve got a pretty packed dining area as usual, but something’s off.”

Sylvia came up with a ticket that had three meals on it. “Yeah, something’s weird,” she concurred. “If I can figure it out, I’ll let you two know.”

“Thanks, Syl,” Gilda said before the three of us split and went back to work.

A few more days later

“Hey, Gilda?”

“Yeah, Yang?”

“I am seriously starting to get unnerved now. What. Is. Happening?”

Cloverleaf came up with a pair of tickets for two meals each. “Oddly quiet today, isn’t it?”

I paused for a moment as my thoughts hit a wall facefirst. “Now that you mention it. . .” I looked across the guests and saw quite a few of them with the peytrals on. Some of them were acting like normal, others were more subdued and drowsy looking, and a few were glassy eyed and apparently just going through the motions of eating their food, almost like a robot. “Gilda?”

“Yeah?” Gilda responded, sounding ready for anything I could ask.

“I leave the Carne Den in your capable talons for a bit. Call me crazy, but I think something’s up.”

“Gotcha. Where are you going?”

“Twilight’s.”

“Twilight?”

“Yes, Yang?”

“Have you seen the ponies wearing the peytrals acting strangely as of late?”

“As a matter of fact, I have.” Twilight’s horn lit up and a thick journal appeared in front of me, labelled ‘Peytral Observations’ on the front cover. “As much of a herd mindset as ponies have, everypony wearing the exact same accessories or clothing is rare, often limited to those working in the same place for the same job, like guards, construction workers, or servers, and even then, there’s often some degree of individuality.”

I opened the journal and started poring through its contents, full of charts and notes. “I’m guessing you’ve noticed something then? A pattern of some kind?”

“A few things. First, I haven’t observed anypony who has one be without it on subsequent observations.”

“You haven’t seen me without clothes before.”

“But I know you change what you’re wearing regularly. Whether it’s for work, a fight, exercise, or a day off, you change your clothes. Admittedly, that observation on the peytrals on its own is a bit flimsy, but there are a few other things I’ve noticed.”

I flipped back to the beginning of the journal and started actually reading some of the words. “Go on.”

“A few petitioners who had one on seemed to have forgotten they were wearing it when I asked about it. They also think that they simply forgot that they had put it on before leaving home.”

“Really?”

Twilight nodded. “Yes. I’ve also seen a consistent pattern that usually takes about a week or so to run its course. For the first couple days, the wearer is fairly normal. After that, they start to become sluggish and drowsy, like they’re asleep at the wheel. Past that, they start acting very mechanically and move very rigidly, almost like they have no joints in their legs.”

“Glassy eyes?”

“Glassy eyes, and a monotone voice as well. I’ve also noticed one other peculiarity. Two, if you want to nitpick.”

“Hm?”

“Unicorns don’t cast spells and pegasi don’t fly. Basically, they don’t use their unique appendages and act more like Earth ponies.”

“Come to think of it, I have seen that in some of the unicorn guests. They aren’t levitating their food like they usually do.”

“Did they get them from Rarity?”

“Apparently. Did you get one from her?”

“I tried to get one from her, but she just won’t give me one without trying to put it on me. She also won’t tell me where she gets them. I also can’t just go in and take one because of legal reasons, even though we’re friends and I’m concerned for her and everypony in Ponyville.”

I closed the journal and took a moment to think over Twilight’s phrasing and tone. “Is this the part where you ask me to do some investigation work for you?”

“This is that part.” Silence hung in the air for a bit as Twilight waited for a response. When it was clear she wasn’t getting one from me, she continued. “Yang, I would greatly appreciate it if you could find out where Rarity’s getting these peytrals from and, if possible, grab one or more for me to study.”

“Alright, I’ll do it,” I quickly agreed.

“Excellent. And I promise, I will reward you for your efforts, as a proper quest giver should.”

“I already have more bits than I know what to do with.”

“I’ll make bits a smaller portion of the reward then. Mostly to keep things legal.”

“Fair enough.”

I started my investigation the next day simply enough. I had a picnic basket, a tree with a view, and Carousel Boutique in sight. After jumping into the tree, I set the basket down on some branches that formed a natural little table of sorts, and pulled out a few items: a pair of binoculars, a notepad, a pencil, and a watch. I left my lunch in the basket, as I had had a rather filling breakfast some time before starting my task.

For a while, nothing happened, and I was getting bored. The first thing I finally saw happen was Sweetie Belle leaving the boutique with her saddlebags, glassy eyed and moving like a robot. She didn’t even stop to say “bye” to Rarity on the way out. I also saw that she had a peytral on, and made notes on it.

The next thing I saw was Berry Punch going in, appearing to be slightly tipsy. Less than five minutes later, she came out with a peytral on, moving just as tipsy as she had when she had entered. I made a note of it, and also began wondering how it would affect my liquor and bar supplies, as she was my main supplier of both.

As the day wore on, I saw ponies heading in and out of the boutique. Some went in without a peytral and came out with one on and some both went in and came out without one. There were a few that went in with the peytrals on, looking half asleep and stumbling worse than Berry had. They came out standing and moving a bit stiffer than when they had went in, and their eyes looked like they were beginning to glaze over.

Eventually, I took a break from my stakeout and pulled a small steak out of the basket for a quick bite to eat. I was only three bites in when I was interrupted by a familiar mare with a southern accent. “What are ya doing up there, Yang?”

“Huh?” I looked down and saw Applejack there. “Oh, hi, Applejack. Have you seen the peytrals everyone’s been getting?”

“Yeah?”

“Rarity’s the one giving them away. I’ve been watching the place for a while today, and I can tell that something’s going on in there.”

“Berry came by not too long ago and bought some apples. She had one on.”

“Was she acting any different from usual?”

“No, she wasn’t.”

I checked the time I’d written down for Berry on the notepad. “It’s been, wow, about three hours since she got her peytral.” I made a note based on Applejack’s observations of Berry. “I have been up here for a while. What are you doing here anyways?”

“Taking a short break from the farm. Ah saw your hair from the house and thought Ah’d visit.”

“Ah. And how are things on the farm?”

“More hectic than usual. Fluttershy’s critters have been migrating over for some reason and the weather’s not getting done right.”

“The weather?”

“Haven’t you noticed that it’s unusually warm? And that there hasn’t been much rain either? Some parts of Ponyville’s dirt paths are almost as hard as a rock, and Ah’ve been to a rock farm.”

I jotted down Applejack’s extra observations and started drawing some conclusions. “Okay, I think I know what’s going on. Twilight’s noticed that the pegasi with the peytrals don’t fly, so that probably explains the weather not getting done. As for Fluttershy’s animals, I can only assume that she’s under the effects of a peytral. Knowing her, she probably got one from Rarity early on.”

“Want me to go check for ya?”

“If it’s not too much trouble.”

“Ah’ll be back then.” Applejack left and I wrote a few notes down on my conclusions before returning to my lunch.

“Ah’m back, Yang. See anything new?”

“One more pony got a peytral a couple minutes ago. How about you?”

“Fluttershy has one on.” I noted the confirmed conclusion. “Ah asked her some questions about it as well.”

“What did you learn?”

“She got hers about two weeks ago. She was all glassy eyed and sounded like a machine or something like that. Ah also got a good look at the peytral, and it’s not carved from stone.”

“It’s not?”

“The lines in it are too good to have come from any kind of natural stone. Clean and always the same distance apart from their neighbors.”

“Anything else?” I noted the observation on the parallel lines as I continued listening.

“When Ah tried to pull it off, she swatted mah foreleg away. Ah tried to get mah hoof on it a few more times, but she swatted it away every time. Ah got fed up, apologized, and smacked her on top of her head. She went down and Ah tried to get it off her neck.”

I wrote down a slightly abridged version of Applejack’s recollection. “What happened?”

“It was stuck on her. Ah tried a few different ways to get it off, but nothing worked. Ah even braced against her body and tried to pull the thing off with more and more of mah strength. Ah stopped when it felt like Ah would pull her neck off her barrel before getting the thing off her. She was still out cold when Ah left.”

“That definitely sounds like a sticky situation.”

Applejack briefly levelled a glare at me. “If this wasn’t such a serious problem, Ah’d come right up there and smack you for that pun. The worst part is that you’re also right.”

I briefly hid a smile behind the notepad and finished writing down Applejack’s observations. “Well, thanks for the information. I’d better report this to Twilight and see what she thinks of it. Have a good day, Applejack.”

“You too, Yang. Please get this figured out soon.”

“Of course.” I kept watching the boutique for a bit. After a whole lot of nothing happened, I decided to pack things up and call it a done day for observations. Just as I was setting the last of the observation tools in the basket, I decided to do some further investigations.

I left the basket in the tree and went into the boutique. It looked good inside, but I saw the thin layer of dust on everything and knew that Rarity, even if present, wasn’t home. Shortly after the observation, Rarity came out from the back. “Welcome to Carousel Boutique. Would you like a free peytral?” Her voice and movements were almost stiff enough to make an old oak tree look like a professional yoga practitioner.

“As a matter of fact, I would like one” I answered. “I’ll put it on later.”

Rarity’s head moved up and down ever so slightly. “I’m sorry, but all peytrals must be put on here. I’m afraid I don’t have any that will fit you either though.”

“Where do you keep them?”

“I cannot tell you.”

“How many do you have right now?”

“I cannot tell you.”

“Where do you get them?”

“I cannot tell you.”

“Is there anything you can tell me about the peytrals?”

“They are light, comfortable, and go well with any coat color.”

“Nothing else?”

“They are light, comfortable, and go well with any coat color.”

“Thanks, Rarity.” I left the boutique with only a little bit of information, much less than I was hoping to get. After collecting my basket, I went back to Twilight’s castle.

“I’m back, Twilight.”

“Did everything go well? Before you answer, let’s go to a conference room. The throne room is too big for this kind of conversation.”

“Sounds good to me.” I followed Twilight out of the throne room and through some hallways, ending up in a conference room.

“So what did you learn?”

“A few more ponies got the peytrals today. A few went in and came out without one. Some went in looking half asleep and came out moving more robotically than when they went in.”

Twilight winced a bit. “That’s troubling.”

“Applejack visited me while I was watching the place, and she’s noticed a few things. Namely, the weather’s not getting done right, which is why it’s warmer and drier than usual according to her. Also, Fluttershy’s got a peytral on. Her animals have migrated over to Sweet Apple Acres.”

“That’s not good.”

“No, it isn’t. I tried to find out where Rarity gets them from and how many she has, and she did not say.”

“That’s not helpful.”

“No, it isn’t. What’s next?”

“Waiting for Rarity to run out of peytrals and following her to see where she gets them from. If it doesn’t lead to the source, then follow the chain to where it does.”

“I guess I’ll get on that then.” I opened the door leading to the balcony and leapt off the railing, going into a swan dive and turning over to land on my feet. Unfortunately, I didn’t judge the move quite right and landed flat on my back. “Ow.”

“Are you okay, Yang?” Twilight shouted from above, clearly concerned.

“Yeah, I’m fine. My aura took the worst of it.” I got up and felt fine, if only a tad sore. “The ground really is hard though.”

“What about your basket?” Twilight floated the basket into sight.

“Can you teleport it to my place? The main office will do.”

“Sure thing.” In a flash, the basket was gone. “Take your time, but please hurry.”

“Sure thing.” I quickly got my bearings and made my way back through town towards the tree.

Along the way, the call of nature struck, and I went into the nearest business, which happened to be Sugarcube Corner. The first thing I noticed when I stepped in was just how deserted the dessert place was. The second thing I noticed was Pinkie slumped over the counter, clearly in a blue mood. “Hm? Oh, hi, Yang” she greeted with less cheer than usual. “What do you want?”

“To use the restroom.”

“Go ahead.”

I passed Pinkie and found the restroom easily enough. Once I was done, I returned to the counter, where my big heart got the better of me. “Alright Pinkie, I know we haven’t really talked much, but I can tell something’s got you down. Is it the lack of guests?”

“Yeah. And everypony’s just been acting all-” she made motions and sounds like a robot would. “-and some of them had birthdays recently as well. One was yesterday and she didn’t react to her party at all! Speaking of birthdays, I can’t believe I haven’t gotten yours yet. When is your birthday?”

“Well, it was mid-October before I came here, but, when did I show up here?”

Pinkie started counting on her forehooves. “Let’s see, there was that, then that, then that, carry the seven, add a dash of cinnamon, put in the oven for fifteen minutes, have a strawberry milkshake, tilt by exactly 37.2534 degrees clockwise, about April 27th last year, which is, AUDIBLE GASP! Less than a month away!”

I took a sip of the strawberry milkshake Pinkie had given me during her calculations. “Really? I guess you want to know how old I’m going to be?”

“That would certainly be helpful.”

“Well, I was 25 before I came here, Yang in the show was 17 at the start, and since we’re apparently going by when I came here, that would make me 18.” I took another sip of the milkshake before I realized something. “Wait, why am I talking about this right now? I need to follow Rarity to find out where she’s getting the peytrals.”

“Chill, Yang. Just take a moment to talk and relax. Rarity’s not going anywhere today.”

“And how do you know that?”

“I’m up to date on everything around here, and I know that Rarity’s been going into the Everfree twice a week recently, like clockwork. She will head there again tomorrow.”

“How are you so certain about that?”

“You should know by now, Yang. I’m Pinkie Pie!”

After a second of dawning comprehension, I let my head hit the countertop. “How did I forget that?”

“Probably by getting worked up over the situation with the peytrals and not talking with me very much. How about we discuss your birthday party for now?”

I lifted my head and took a deep breath. “You’re sure Rarity’s heading out tomorrow?”

“Not sure what time tomorrow, but she will.”

“Let’s talk party then.”

Pinkie brightened at that and went into party guru mode. “Alright! First off, the cake. What kind do you want?”

I looked into my strawberry milkshake as if it were a crystal ball, trying to divine some kind of answer from it. The only crystal thing about it was the glass it was in. “Any kind?”

“Any kind.”

“How about plain vanilla with strawberries in it? I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for them now for some reason.”

“There shall be an appropriate amount of juicy strawberries in your cake then. What flavor of icing do you want?”

“What do you have?”

Pinkie gave me a sly grin. “What do you want?”

I thought for a bit on the flavors I knew of. “How about a subdued mix of orange and pineapple?”

“It can be done. Would a rectangular cake suit your tastes?”

Another sip of the strawberry shake vanished. “It would. I think I’ll leave the rest of the cake design to you. What else is there to discuss?”

“Quite a few things.”

I went into a deep dive on the details with Pinkie, talking with her for nearly an hour. In that time, only two ponies, both without a peytral, came in to get something. It made me wonder why nopony was visiting the bakery, especially when it should have been at least somewhat busy.

The silence in the bakery was just as unnerving as it was at the Carne Den. I knew something was going on, but I hoped that I wouldn’t get more involved than I already was.

Planning

View Online

The next day, I got up early, made a quick breakfast, and immediately went to the stakeout tree. I’d chosen to go with the camo athletic outfit to help me blend in with the forest a bit, and with things being unusually warm, it was also quite comfortable to wear.

While I was watching and waiting for Rarity to come out, I realized that the camo athletic outfit likely wasn’t the best choice for being stealthy in the Everfree. It may have covered some of my legs and most of my chest, but it also left my arms, midriff, and most of my legs visible, not to mention my golden hair and the Ember Celica. I wanted to go back home and change to something that covered more of me, but I couldn’t since Rarity could potentially leave while I was gone.

As the minutes turned into hours, I began to worry less about my visibility, as multiple ponies went past the tree without seeming to notice me. The peytral wearing ones seemed especially oblivious, or they just didn’t know how to look up.

Eventually, one pony did join me. “Heya Yang.” It was Rainbow. “What’s up?”

I kept my gaze on the boutique. “I’m waiting for Rarity to come out so I can find out where she’s getting the peytrals from.”

“Ah, those things. I’ve had to put in some serious overtime because of those things. I only see somepony in the sky with one for, like, a day before they glide down to the ground and stay there. The few weather pegasi I have left are just as overworked and tired as I am. At least I’m done for the day now.”

“You? Tired?”

“Hey, as awesome as I am, it can happen. Still, with the limited wings I’ve got now, we’ve had to start prioritizing certain parts of Ponyville. The farms are at the top of that list, and we haven’t been able to do much more than that.”

“Well, I’m not complaining about the warm temperatures.”

“Because that’s impossible,” Rainbow snarked.

“Yeah, I guess that’s true. Oh, shh shh.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rainbow look the same way I was. Moments later, Rarity came out of the boutique, moving just as mechanically and looking as glassy eyed as others with the peytrals were. She walked around to the side of the boutique, hooked herself up to an empty cart, and began walking in the direction of the tree Rainbow and I were in.

As Rarity approached the area, clearly going on a path a distance from the tree, Rainbow whispered “What now, Yang?”

I watched Rarity pass by before jumping out. “I’ll follow on foot. You follow from above.” Before Rainbow had any chance to protest, I dashed along after the fashionista. After catching up to her, it was easy enough to just walk behind her. She didn’t seem to notice my presence, not even turning her ears in my direction.

It didn’t take long to get into the Everfree. Rarity stayed on a well used path, going deeper and deeper until the path turned into a more recently made one, if the bits of beaten greenery in the path were any indicator.

As she continued along the new path, I took to the trees with a single leap and leapt from branch to branch. I was fairly confident in the decision to go that way partly due to how close the branches were to each other, making leaps fairly easy.

Eventually, Rarity came to a stop at an equinoid rock formation. It looked kind of like an alicorn, though there appeared to be major damage to what was left of the horn, the wings looked more like they were jammed up than broken, and there was more damage around where the leg joints were, exposing various pistons, cables, and other mechanical parts. The whole thing looked like it was about 30 feet tall or so at the head, which had three parallel glowing blue lines on each side of the head, running from the base of the ear to where the eyes would be, then down to the side of the muzzle. Unlike a minor rock formation next to it, there were no signs of any plants growing on or in it.

Rarity turned around and backed the cart up to it, and to my surprise, the rock formation lifted up a foreleg before dropping a number of peytrals, all neatly lined up, into the cart. After the foreleg was back on the ground, a burst of what looked like steam came from all the damaged joints. As soon as the blue lines on the head faded and turned off, Rarity started leaving.

Part of me wanted to go ahead and punch the thing, but at the same time, I knew that I had no idea where in the forest I was, and Rarity was my only immediate lead out. After taking one last look at the equinoid thing, I turned around and followed Rarity.

Along the way, Rainbow came down and whisper shouted, “Yang, what was that thing?”

I kept going after Rarity. “Later,” I responded in a normal whisper. We kept following Rarity along the path in silence for a bit. After the newer path met up with the well worn one, I turned back to Rainbow. “Hey, we need to grab one of those things.”

“Why?”

“So Twilight can analyze one.” I started moving again and explained what I had in mind. “I have a plan to knock Rarity out so we can grab one or two of them. You drop in from the side and start up as much of a conversation as you can. I’ll come in from the other side and-”

“Got ‘em for ya.” Rainbow was holding two of the peytrals in her forelegs.

“I’ll bonk. . Her. . . Head.” I looked between Rainbow and the peytrals for a second. “You know, it was a stupid plan anyways. I couldn’t hurt her like that.”

“No, you couldn’t. So, are we done here?”

I considered things for a moment. “Yeah, I guess we are. Can I have the peytrals?”

“Sure.” Rainbow let me take the peytrals. “Need a ride to the castle?”

I considered the offer for a few seconds before shrugging. “Eh, I won’t say no.” After I adjusted my grip on the peytrals, I eased my way onto Rainbow’s back. After we broke through the treetops, she oriented herself and started casually flying towards the castle. “You know, this is still weird for me.”

“It’s not that weird for me. I’ve given Scoots plenty of rides on my back before, so I’m cool with it. You are heavier than her though, and you also make more wind resistance with the way you sit up like that.”

I considered Rainbow’s points for a moment. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Anyways, how do you want to make your entrance to the castle? Do you want me to just drop you off at the entrance or one of the balconies?”

“That sounds good to me.”

“Which one?”

“Any of them.” Soon, we were circling around the castle. “Wait a moment, Rainbow.”

Rainbow came to a stop. “What?”

“There’s a noble petitioning Twilight.” The unicorn mare had gold fur, a well groomed silver mane, and bronze eyes. Her dress covered up her tail and cutie mark though. I still recognized her as one of the 28 that hated me

“Dramatic entrance?”

“Normally, I’d say no, but I’m feeling a bit vengeful for some reason. Those nobles are a bigger pain than my fights.”

Rainbow and I started making plans after moving out of sight of the courtroom.

Getting bucked through a window, while not the worst thing my aura had taken by far, was still not pleasant.

“And don’t you ever forget it, Yang!” Rainbow flew off as I got up and ran to the window, still clutching the peytrals.

“I said I was sorry!” I called out after the ‘fleeing’ Rainbow Dash, who was on a nearby balcony. “Come on, please?” After waiting a few seconds, I ‘gave up’ with a sigh and turned around. “Oh, hello. Sorry for the interruption. Just a quarrel between friends.”

“What about?” the gold mare asked, sounding more inquisitive than a casual observer would be.

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” Technically, it was true.

“Yang, what’s going on?” Twilight asked. “Lady Gold Leaf was making a case for orphanage funding increases.”

“Ah. I do apologize, but I think you need to see this.” I held up the peytrals I’d gotten for her. “And I have information.”

“Ooh, those look nice,” Gold leaf almost sang.

“No, you can’t have one of them,” Twilight said. “And no, you can’t have both of them either. I asked Yang to retrieve them for me, and as such, they are property of the crown. If you really want one, you can go to Carousel Boutique.” She turned her attention to me. “Yang, please take those peytrals to one of the conference rooms. I will be with you as soon as I can.”

“Alright.” As I left the room, I could hear Twilight muttering something as she fixed the broken glass with her magic before continuing with Gold Leaf.

I went into the same conference room I’d gone into the previous day with Twilight. Rainbow was already there, sitting in one of the chairs like a boss. “How did it go?”

“Gold Leaf wanted one of these peytrals. Maybe both.” I tossed them onto the table. “Apparently, she was making a case to increase orphanage funding.”

“As usual.”

“As usual?” I took a seat and let Rainbow talk.

“Yeah. She’s all about orphanages and helping foals. Supposedly.” The tone of Rainbow’s voice made it clear that wasn’t true.

“She isn’t, is she?”

“She’s about as interested in helping foals as I am in fashion.”

“So, not at all?”

“No, not that little interest. My fashion interest is more of an, oh, how do I put this?” Rainbow tapped her head in thought for a bit. “Observational thing? I’m interested in it, but only from the outside looking in or something like that.”

“Ah, I get what you’re saying. So, she likes to watch foals?”

“No, not at all. She sees them more as a means to her wealth. Everypony knows it. I know it, the nobles know it, and everypony who’s read a few stories about her knows it. I bet you never had to deal with anyone like that where you’re from.”

“Personally, no. That being said, I’ve heard of politicians and others who aim for bigger and far worse things than making themselves wealthy.”

“Like what?”

I was about to answer when Twilight came in. “Sorry that took so long. Gold Leaf started ranting about you towards the end, Yang. Oh, hi Rainbow. Did you and Yang sort out whatever issues you had?”

“Oh yeah, we’re cool now,” Rainbow said, sounding very chill.

“That’s good. So, you have information?”

I began the recollection. “Rarity went into the Everfree with a cart. Rainbow and I followed her in and she went down a well worn path before turning onto a new path. She stopped at this really tall, damaged stone robot pony thing. Its legs were damaged in multiple places, the wings looked like they wouldn’t work, the horn was damaged, and it had these blue lines along its face like this.” I traced the lines along Rainbow’s head for Twilight, who was writing down some notes. “It held a forehoof over Rarity’s cart and dumped the peytrals in there.”

“Mhmm. And I’m going to guess Rainbow snagged these for you?”

“Easily,” Rainbow boasted.

“Yeah, she did,” I concurred. I decided not to tell Twilight about my plan to knock Rarity out. “So, what now?”

“I’ll do a basic scan on one of these,” Twilight said. She picked up one of the peytrals with her magic and appeared to just be looking at it intensely. After a couple minutes, she set it down. “There’s a number of high power enchantments on this thing, most of which are only activated when it’s being worn.”

“Really?”

“The one that isn’t activated when worn is a simple durability enchantment. However, there’s almost enough power in it to be able to withstand one of Yang’s rainnuke shells.”

“That’s tough,” Rainbow commented. “What else is in there?”

“The other enchantments include high power adhesion, comfort, lightening, minor forgetfulness, limited mind reading, and a faulty slow acting mind control enchantment.”

“Faulty?” I was rather curious about that, as it seemed to work fine on those who wore it.

“The matrices in that enchantment are partially incomplete. To be more specific, the matrices for flight and spell casting are barely there, the basic locomotion matrix is missing some critical components, and the ones for behavior control, while there, are degraded to the point of being effectively useless.”

“Translation from egghead, please?” Rainbow asked.

“It can’t make pegasi fly and it can’t make unicorns cast spells, the rigid legs and stilted walking are the only way it can make ponies move, and it can only make ponies act like incredibly bad caricatures at best.”

“Anything else in there?”

“Let’s see, there’s a release component, but it apparently needs a specific signal.”

“Can you mimic the signal or figure out what it is?”

“One moment.” Twilight picked up the peytral in her magic again and inspected it the same way she had previously.

“Think she’ll find anything?” Rainbow asked.

“I hope she does” I answered.

A minute later, Twilight set the peytral back down. “There is a way to unlock the peytrals, but it needs a two part signal, and both have to be received at the exact same time.”

“Can you do it?”

Twilight sighed. “Unfortunately, no. Aside from the difficulty of sending two signals at once, only one of them is magical. The other isn’t magical, so I can’t trick it at all. On top of that, that’s all my scans have been able to reveal about that. No frequencies, patterns, or duration hints at all.

“There was something I was able to pick out that was interesting though: a number, likely some kind of identification. The number on this one is 0007734.” Twilight picked up the other one and did her scans on it. “This one is identical in every way, except its number is 8675309. The numbers are, I presume, randomized since these two were from the same batch and are that different from each other.”

“They were right next to each other in the cart,” Rainbow added.

“Definitely random. I can pick out something else in there, but it’s behind that double password thing, and I can’t make it out.”

“So where does that leave us?” I asked. “Is there anything we can do?”

“No, there isn’t. Short of going out and fighting that thing you saw, anyways. That being said, we shouldn’t just rush out there since I can’t discern what those things are behind the dual signal barrier. For all we know, it could be a death spell.”

“Are you just saying we do nothing?” Rainbow nearly shouted.

“No, we can do something. We can use the local newspaper to spread news about what we’ve learned about the peytrals and advise everypony not to get one. If that thing wants to control the populace so badly, then we can lure it out by preventing anypony else from becoming a victim to it.”

“That sounds good. What about the weather though? There are some showers that are supposed to happen in the next week and I don’t have enough wings to make it happen.”

“I can send a letter out to Celestia and Luna requesting weather aid and explaining what’s happening with the peytrals.”

“Do it,” I firmly and quickly said. “In fact, why haven’t Celestia and Luna been informed yet?”

“Last time I jumped to a conclusion, it didn’t exactly end well. I haven’t really been able to ask about anything either, since there’s been an increase in petitioners recently as well. But, now that I have a better idea of what’s happening, I can send the letter with full confidence in its contents.”

“How about all three of us sign it? It would add some weight to the message.”

“Good idea. Let’s write.” With a burst of magic, a scroll, inkwell, and quill were suddenly in Twilight’s magic.

Dear Princess Celestia,
I have recently learned of something terrible happening in Ponyville, and it’s not the usual wackiness either. If anything, there’s been a relative lack of wackiness, as the ponies of Ponyville have started wearing identical stone peytrals and have been moving mechanically, like puppets. Pegasi and unicorns, however, don’t fly or cast spells; this will be explained further down.
Thanks to a joint effort between Yang and Rainbow Dash, we were able to grab two of the peytrals and analyze them. What we found was surprising, as, save for an identification number, the two peytrals are completely identical. The enchantments in them are worrisome though. The enchantments include high level durability and adhesion, selective forgetfulness, comfort, lightening, minor mind reading, and faulty mind control. It is the faulty mind control that makes the ponies wearing them move mechanically, and keeps the pegasi and unicorns from flying and casting respectively.
We also found a dual password lock in place in it. However, we can’t get past it, because it’s both inactive due to not being worn, and one of the passcodes is strictly non-magical. On top of that, both passwords have to be used at the same time.
Stemming from the problems with the peytrals is another one that’s struck Ponyville: the weather. A significant portion of the Ponyville weather team under Rainbow has the peytrals on, and have been unable to perform their jobs due to the bad mind control they’re under the effects of. We need any weather pegasi you can spare, especially ones that can already work well as teams.
If you have any insights on this, please let us know.
Sincerely,
-Twilight Sparkle
-Rainbow Dash
-Yang Xiao Long

Once the letter was sent off, I spared a glance to the balled up drafts that had been discarded in the corner. Twilight cleaned them up in a flash by teleporting them to somewhere else. “So, I guess we just wait then?” I asked.

“There isn’t much else we really can do right now” Twilight said. “Who wants to play some War Time Strategy?”

“Sounds good to me. Rainbow?”

“Sure, but-” Rainbow’s stomach loudly made itself known that it was empty at that moment. “-yeah, that. I’m hungry.”

Twilight’s stomach joined in. “Same here. What sounds good to you?”

“Carne Den.”

“That does sound good.”

I looked between the two mares. “Okay, I’ll cook something for us at my place. Let’s walk and talk.”

As soon as we got to the Carne Den, I sent Twilight and Rainbow upstairs to my room while I went straight to the kitchen to start on their meals. “How have things been today, Gavan?” I asked the head chef as I started going through the familiar motions of cooking.

“Extremely slow” Gavan reported while I started cutting vegetables. “Sylvia and I have actually sent some of the staff home early, it’s so slow.”

“That’s a first.”

“We’re pretty sure it has to do with the peytrals.”

“Same here.” During the walk over, Rainbow, Twilight, and I had decided to keep quiet on the peytral research until Celestia and Luna gave their input and opinions. “If it’s slow enough, you can close early tonight. Eleven at the earliest, maybe ten-thirty if it’s really, really slow. Let Gilda and Sylvia know.”

“I’ll get on it right away.” Gavan left the kitchen and I was left alone with nobody but Silver.

“So, Silver,” I started as I got some meat started. “You’ve really gotten used to meat, haven’t you?”

“Yeah, I have” Silver said as he stood by while I cooked. “It’s still not something I’d go for immediately, but I do like it on occasion.”

“What meat do you usually go for when you do?”

“Grilled chicken breast fillet. Usually, I cut it up and mix it into a salad. Nothing special, really, although it isn’t the one from the menu.”

“Funny you should mention that. I was going to make that for myself, but now I’m curious about how yours tastes. I’m guessing it doesn’t have any grass or flowers in it?”

“It doesn’t.”

“Care to whip one up for me?”

“Sure thing.” Silver set to work immediately on a salad as per my polite request and I was able to focus more on Rainbow and Twilight’s meals. I could have made all three, but Silver’s non-menu version sounded like it would be interesting to try at the least.

I went into my room carrying all three meals. Twilight and Rainbow were sitting on the floor over a game of War Time Strategy, not too far in and with a side already set up for me. “Food’s here!”

“Sweet!” Rainbow dashed over and got her bacon cheeseburger, loaded with all the garnishes and a drizzle of barbecue sauce with a side of fries.

“Thanks, Yang.” Twilight levitated her regular loaded baked potato and side salad over to her.

“You’re welcome.” I sat down at my side of the game board and looked things over. Nobody had made any advances, but my forces weren’t built up at all. I still had a decent chance of winning.

Our meals were half done (Silver’s salad was pretty good) when a scroll appeared in front of Twilight and fell onto the game board, lightly messing up the positions of the pieces. After a moment of us staring at it, Twilight said, “Let’s call it a heavenly geologic event that messed up the field.”

“Okay,” Rainbow and I said at the same time. “What’s it say?” I asked.

Twilight picked up the scroll, slightly messing up mine and Rainbow’s forces a bit more, then read it out loud. “Dear Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Yang Xiao Long: We are coming over. We’re going to teleport over as soon as you let us know where to teleport to. From, Celestia and Luna.”

“I don’t like the sound of that.”

“It is a lot shorter than usual. It has to be urgent. I’ll let them know where we are.” Twilight quickly wrote down where we were and sent the scroll back to Celestia and Luna.

Seconds later, the diarchs teleported in. Luna appeared next to my bed while Celestia apparently misjudged her teleport and appeared a few inches above the game board. When she landed, the impact scattered both mine and Rainbow’s forces while Twilight’s, somehow, stayed mostly together.

Rainbow and I levelled equally harsh glares of disapprovement at Twilight, who just gave a sheepish smile. “Uh, call it divine intervention?”

“We’re so teaming up against you next time,” Rainbow said.

“On to more important matters,” Luna interjected, casting a privacy spell on the room. “It took us some time to recall, but we think we might know what your problem is. First though, your letter seemed a bit short on details. Where are these peytrals coming from?”

I promptly answered. “Rarity’s been giving them out, and she gets them from a big stone pony thing in the Everfree. It looks like it took quite a beating at some point though. Damage at the leg joints, damaged horn, and the wings looked more jammed up than broken. It also had these sets of glowing blue lines going down its face instead of eyes.”

Celestia and Luna looked at each other for a bit before Celestia spoke. “That sounds like a machine from an age long past. I suppose it’s time for a history lesson, isn’t it?”

“History lesson?” Rainbow asked with a hint of dread in her voice.

“Be assured, Rainbow Dash, that you may learn things here that you may consider awesome,” Luna said. “Celestia knows what I did during that era.”

All eyes turned to Celestia, and she spoke. “Thousands of years ago, long before the time of the Three Tribes, there were ponies. Unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies, and the two of us. During this time, Equestria was a technological marvel. If there was a task, there was a machine to make it easier or just do it for you. Machines, like what you seem to have seen, took many of the more tedious and less pleasant tasks.”

Luna took over. “Back then, we moved the sun and moon as we do now, but we were also more free to do what we wanted. Celestia was quite the party mare, and I liked to tinker with things. The golems all had their roots in my work, some more closely than others.”

“So what happened?” Twilight asked.

“Something went wrong,” I predicted.

“Many things started to go wrong,” Luna continued. “Systems which had worked and been diligently maintained for over a century started breaking down for some reason. We had to start fighting the machines that started attacking our ponies.”

“There was one that put up quite a bit more of a fight than the others,” Celestia said. “It was fighting like its existence depended on it, which wasn’t far off. It got to the point where I decided to just end the fight and sealed it away.”

“The fight destroyed most of what was left of the area, and left a few deep gouges in the ground. The only thing to survive, aside from Celestia and I, was a few stairs.”

“The ones near the rope bridge to the Castle of You Two?” Pinkie asked.

“The same, though we did touch them up a bit when we got back. We even went down them one day for a walk, and that was when we found a crack in the wall and investigated. Imagine our surprise when we found out that the tree of harmony was basically living in our basement.”

Celestia picked it back up. “Discord apparently knew about the tree and elements, but he either couldn’t or didn’t do anything about them. I’m sure you can figure out the major events that happened from there on.”

Silence hung in the air for a bit before Rainbow broke it. “So, ponies used to be masters of technology?”

“Essentially, yes.”

“. . .I’ve got so many ideas now.”

“Write them down,” Twilight suggested. “Who knows, you could maybe even write a book with those elements.”

“Write a book? Come on Twi, you know that’s not my speed.”

“What if you come up with a pen name? Like, oh, say, Iris Drake?”

Rainbow levelled a glare at Twilight. “You’re really trying to get me to write something, aren’t you?”

“Ever since you got hooked on Daring Do. And, come to think of it, I haven’t seen any fiction books here with a technological theme to them. In fact, Celestia, why haven’t I seen or heard anything about this period of history before? Is it deep in the restricted halls? Is there some kind of vault you haven’t told me about?”

“The few books that there are on that time period are available to the public in the Canterlot Library,” Celestia answered. “It’s simply that nopony actually bothers to check them out or read them.”

“Wait, wait, I do remember reading about something like that now. I thought it was just misplaced fiction, but you’re telling me it was real?”

“I don’t know which books you read, but it could have been, yes.”

“I believe we are getting off topic” Luna interjected. “As interesting as the past may be, we have to deal with this rogue warden golem now. We need a strategy.”

“Well, I have figured that, if it’s trying to spread the peytrals to as many ponies as it can, then we can lure it out by informing and advising everypony not to get one,” Twilight said. “Yang, you’re from a technologic place, right?”

“Nothing like what was described, but yeah,” I answered.

“How would a story like this go?”

I thought back to the many pieces of media on technologic futures and such I’d seen in one form or another. “Let’s see, rogue machine seeking to control the populace, or just something seeking control. The best way to do that is to damage those it’s seeking to control, get its attention that way.”

“But it probably knows that anything we do won’t be serious, as we want our friends to be okay and would have trouble hurting them.”

“Yeah, that is a problem. The next thing we can do, since we know where it is, is to go after it directly.”

“I know where it is” Rainbow said. “It’s not hard to see the thing from the air, after all.”

“There’s nothing stopping it from bringing the controlled populace into the forest to complicate things though,” Luna said. “What we need is some way to corral everypony and keep them away from the fight.”

Twilight thought the idea over a bit. “Doing that could also be just what we need to lure it out. If it can’t move its victims around, then it would have to come out to free them. But with how many there are, it could just coordinate and break through by force.”

“We can magically reinforce whatever barrier we use for the corral as well” Celestia said. “With a combination of good engineering and reinforcement and durability enchantments, it will hold.”

“I can help Applejack build it,” I offered. “I’m perfect for that since I can withstand the warmer temperatures easily.”

“Since this is a crisis, even though it’s a quiet one, I can allot emergency crown funds for this project. I just have to convince the treasury, which shouldn’t be too hard.”

“If we do that and spread the word via the newspaper, then we should be able to lure it out easily enough” Twilight added.

“Ooh, we could get that golem thing out faster by knocking Rarity out and confiscating the peytrals!” Rainbow suggested. I gave her a look and shook my head.

“I’ve been thinking about how to word the newspaper article for a bit, and I think I have a good first draft in mind. I should have it out tomorrow, or in a couple days at the latest. I’ll also get Applejack up to speed on what’s going on and what we need done. After that, we can start the roundup and get this golem out in the open and, if negotiations don’t work, we fight it.”

“How long is that going to take?”

“If I start my part of the plan as soon as we’re done here, I could get the notice out in the paper tomorrow. If Celestia convinces the treasury to allocate funds tonight, then we can get started tomorrow on construction. Even if it’s just Yang and Applejack working on it, depending on the design, it should be done on the day they start, possibly a couple days later at the most. Celestia, Luna, what do you think?”

The Canterlot alicorns had a distant look for just a moment. “I think it’s time to raise the moon and lower the sun, sister” Luna said.

“So it is” Celestia agreed. As their horns lit up, I could feel the raw power they had fill the room. It only lasted a few seconds, but when it ended, I found myself taking a few deep breaths, like I’d just gotten off an intense roller coaster. “Twilight, I believe there is one thing that Luna and I must take care of before we return to Canterlot.”

“There is, sister?”

“It’s time for dinner.”

Luna turned to me. “Yang, would you be so kind as to make dinner for us?”

I raised an eyebrow, not sure whether to charge them as guests or host them as friends. A glance at the ruined game board gave me an idea. “Sure, but you’ll have to play a game of War Time Strategy. Twilight nuked the last game.”

“Yeah, she did” Rainbow concurred. “Dropping an alicorn on the gameboard isn’t in the rules. Yang, let’s team up.”

“Then the three of us will team up” Celestia said. “Are you sure you want to do that?”

“Heck yeah!”

“Luna, Celestia, what do you want for supper?” I asked, ready to finally relax, even if only for a bit.

“Twilight?”

“Yes, Celestia?”

“How did the three of us lose to those two? We had the number and terrain advantages.”

“It’s rather simple, Princess” Rainbow said, clearly full of pride, more so than I was. “Humans, while rather squishy in the game, are just awesome.”

“That last battle in Neighenna was the real turning point though,” I pointed out. “From the top of the mountain, it was clear that humans lacked the speed to arrive in time, and the pegasi lacked the armaments to fight.”

“But together, they became so much better. The speed of the pegasi gliding down the mountainside and the gear that the humans had moving at those speeds was awesome! I can just imagine it now.”

Celestia gave Twilight a pointed look. “You made the human species for this game yourself, right?”

“It’s balanced on paper, and has gone through a few changes to what Yang played as tonight,” Twilight said in defense. “If it’s any consolation, we did still take out a significant amount of their forces before going down, so we at least brought their victory down to a pyrrhic one.”

“But a loss is a loss, you three” I pointed out. “And we did make bets, after all.”

Luna sighed. “I guess I’ll go do dishes for the night.” She picked up the dishes that were in the room with her magic and left to go take care of them and any others from regular business.

Twilight sighed. “I guess I’ll go forgive all your late fees, Rainbow.” With a flash, she teleported out of the room.

Celestia sighed. “Here’s a thousand bits, from my own money.” With a flash, she teleported out of the room, leaving two bags of bits behind.

As Rainbow and I counted out the bits, I found myself wishing that there were five bit coins available, and berating myself for yet again missing a chance to bring it up with the Princesses.

“I’m glad I don’t have to wear a maid outfit for a day now” Rainbow said during the counting.

“Same here,” I said. “I still don’t really like wearing dresses, or anything with a skirt, really. A maid outfit would make me really uncomfortable.” I suddenly remembered something. “Oh, we need to collect from Twilight for bringing the peytrals to her for study.”

“We can do that tomorrow. I think I’ll just take my bits and go home for the night.”

“Good night then, Rainbow.”

“G’night, Yang.” Rainbow picked up her bag, opened the window, and flew off into the dark.

After I picked up the game and put it back in its box, I changed out of my camo athletic clothes and into my robe. With everything that had happened, I decided to call it an early night.

Attacking

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“Alrighty Yang, we are done.”

“Was it really necessary to make it this big and elaborate, Applejack?” I looked down at the slick pit that we had dug out and lined over a couple of days of work near the Carne Den.

“Ah’ve seen ants climb out of bowls by walking over each other. Like Ah said before, anything built up, they could break or climb out of. You can’t very well climb on top of each other when the ground is this slick. Once this golem thing’s been beaten, Twilight can levitate them out.”

“If you say so. How are we going to get everypony in there anyways?”

“Ah. . . Don’t actually know. We didn’t figure that part out.” Applejack looked past me for a moment. “Hey, Twilight?”

“Yes, Applejack?” Twilight said as she walked up. “The pit looks good.”

“How are we going to get the ponies with the peytrals in there?”

“That. . . Is a very good question. Hmm.” Twilight put a forehoof to her chin in thought.

“What if you just levitate them in there?” I suggested.

“I could, yes, I could do that. I can get those who are fully under control. Yang, you go get ready to fight. Applejack, do what you can to get those who more recently got their peytrals into the pit. You should be able to just talk them into it. I’ll get Rainbow and Pinkie to help as well. As for me, I’m going to see if I can’t figure out anything else with the peytrals.”

“Got it.”

“Right” Applejack said before she and Twilight went their separate ways. As they left, I just stood there, enjoying the clear day and good temperatures, both specifically set just for the fight.

A synchronized set of hoofsteps hitting the ground pulled me out of my daydreaming and skygazing state. I looked around and saw a lot of glassy eyed ponies slowly advancing on me. I saw a few on the opposite side of the pit walk around it. There was only one avenue of escape for me: into the Carne Den.

I ran inside and went upstairs to my room, the synchronized hoofbeats loud and clear through the walls. I knew they ultimately weren’t an actual threat, but with the kind of coordination and control exerted over their motions, there was a possibility of them actually stopping me. I also didn’t want to hurt them either.

I frantically looked through the drawers in my desk for an important item. “Buckle, buckle, buckle, ah, there you are.” I picked up the belt buckle I’d gotten from Ita, opened it up, went to the combat outfit, selected it, and activated the outfit switch. Once it was done, I tossed the buckle onto my bed and felt more energized, which was actually a bit counterproductive with the fear from the advancing herd’s steps getting amplified as well. “Okay, gotta get back out.”

I caught a glimpse of the shed out back and I remembered Bumblebee was in there. I also remembered the few times I’d tried to ride her during some of my off days, often ending either toppled over when not moving, or flubbing a turn or stop and skidding along the ground. Either way, it wasn’t a pleasant experience.

The marching hooves pulled me out of my mind again and I made a decision on the spot. “I’m driving.” I opened the window, leapt out, landed right in front of the shed’s door, dashed inside, opened the large doors, and got on Bumblebee. Starting her up was as simple as pressing a slightly recessed button near the handlebars, and the engine quickly revved up. As the engine came alive, I too started feeling more alive. “Out of the way, Caution. It’s do or die time.”

I hit the gas, let the back tire spin in place for a couple seconds, then took off at high speed. The herd clearly had heard the bike, and while some of them simply stared at me, others began moving to cut me off from escaping. However, they weren’t fast enough, and I passed them with ease, already going faster than if I was on foot.

After going around the herd, I went out towards the center of town, still riding both Bumblebee and a bit of an adrenaline rush. Despite what had happened and what was happening, I was smiling. “This is great!” The happiness from finally riding Bumblebee successfully was kicking in as well, along with the fact that my aura was actually acting like a pair of goggles against the wind, which felt great going through my hair. “Oh this is the best!”

I was soon joined by a slightly concerned Rainbow Dash. “Yang, what’s going on?”

“Huh? Oh, right, serious time.” I pushed my happiness aside for a moment and slightly turned to face Rainbow. “We got outmaneuvered, and they’re walking around the pit. Also, I may have been distracted by the good weather. Can you keep them off me?”

“You’re doing a good job of that alre- ramp up ahead! Take it!”

“Ramp?” I turned my attention forward and saw a makeshift ramp, nothing more than a thick piece of plywood leaning on a pallet of large bricks, and realized I couldn’t swerve out of the way in time. With no other choice, I took the ramp.

For a few seconds, it felt like everything was in slow motion. For a few seconds, I felt almost like I was one with Bumblebee and all her moving parts. For a few seconds, I experienced THE TRANQUILITY. In an instant within those few seconds, something clicked, and all was right.

Shortly after landing, I made a hard turn and hit the brakes, coming to a stop that did not involve me falling off for once. I let Bumblebee idle, not worried about her running out of fuel in the slightest.

“So, how are you feeling?” Rainbow casually asked, hovering beside me. “I bet you’re feeling pretty good right now.”

“Oh yeah!” I was feeling very much alive. “That was fun!”

“You have got to get this bike into a game.”

“Mm, I’ll think about it.” I suddenly felt a slight tremor in the ground. “What was that?”

“What was what?”

I felt another tremor. “Get on the ground.”

Rainbow got on the ground just as another tremor hit. A few more came before more sounds were heard. Birds cawing as they flew away. Tree branches snapping and breaking. A heavy groan as a whole tree broke. The tremors, getting ever so slightly closer. “I’ll take a look from the air.”

While Rainbow was up in the sky, I kept looking around, trying to find out for myself which way the golem was coming from. Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t figure it out.

Fortunately, Rainbow did. “Ugly guy’s coming from the forest past Sweet Apple Acres. I’ll go find Twilight and Applejack and update them.”

“What about Pinkie?”

“We don’t know where she is. All I found in her room was Gummy with a party hat and note saying she was busy getting ready for something later today, so we don’t have her right now.”

“I’m sure we can do this without her. After all, I got Bumblebee from a scarier looking robot by myself in worse conditions. I’m sure I can break a golem like that easily enough.”

“Good luck, Yang.” Rainbow sped off, leaving me with Bumblebee.

“Sweet Apple Acres, huh?” I looked out in the direction of the farm. “I hope I don’t do too much damage there.” After taking a moment to load the normal explosive shells into the Ember Celica, I revved Bumblebee back up and took off, kicking up a cloud of dirt in the process.

I took my time getting there, driving at a slower, more casual pace. Along the way, I noticed how quiet Ponyville was, aside from Bumblebee’s engine. Nobody was out and nothing was moving. There weren’t even any animal noises in the area.

Partway to Sweet Apple Acres, I felt the tremors pick up in intensity, even through the bike. I stopped at a house, the last one before Sweet Apple Acres, and got off Bumblebee, keeping myself and the bike on the side facing away from the farm.

A cautious peek around the corner and to the orchard showed the blue eyed golem wandering through, its legs appearing to work just fine despite the apparent damage to them. Oddly enough, it was going out of its way to avoid the apple trees and other crops in the fields. I didn’t think about it for long as I started thinking of a plan of attack.

When it was clear that a good plan wasn’t going to appear, I settled for the next best one I had: just driving up to and punching the thing. Right after I got back on Bumblebee, Twilight appeared in front of me, looking very serious. “Yang, I have good news and bad news.” I tapped the throttle with a finger as I waited for the news, anxious to get out to the golem. “Okay, the good news is that Celestia and Luna are on their way here.”

“Teleporting?”

“Flying. They want to see the situation before they come in, and it gives them the height advantage too, though they could just teleport above, but it could pick up a magical signature from that. . . Anyways, the bad news is that I managed to find an armor program in the peytrals, though I only got a glimpse before it was hidden again.”

“For the wearer?”

“No, so it has to be for the golem instead. How though, I’m not sure.” There was a moment of silence, broken only by the heavy steps of the golem on the farm shaking the ground. “You’re ready to punch it, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“Got a plan?”

“Nope.”

“Have you ever had a plan before a fight?”

I started to feel a bit impatient. “Will you just let me go already?”

“Alright, alright.” Twilight teleported away, and a moment later, I was driving out from beside the house and towards the apple orchard.

Catching the golem’s attention was pretty easy, considering the noise made by Bumblebee’s engine as I drove across the farmland. Driving around randomly for a bit confirmed that it was, indeed, coming after me for some reason. As I lead it away and towards a more open area, I tried to figure out why it would come after me.

After parking Bumblebee under a tree with a treehouse in it, I went on foot towards a clearing I’d seen, deserted of crops and trees. If I had to fight on the farm, it was going to be away from the important stuff.

I didn’t have to wait long for the golem to show up, despite how slow it was. One change I saw was in its eye color, now green instead of blue. It made me wonder what it could mean. The best explanation I could think of was some kind of battery charge indicator, though why that kind of information would be so easily visible was a question I couldn’t begin to figure out.

When it reached the edge of the clearing, I cleared my thoughts out, ran towards it, launched myself up and forward with an explosion boosted jump, and landed a solid punch on the golem’s face before landing on the ground. Some of the confidence I had vanished when I turned around and saw that the punch and explosion had dealt no damage at all. Then, it spoke in a deep, gravelly, mechanical voice. “Threat ‘Yang Xiao Long’ elevated from tier four to tier three. No other threats detected.” The eyes changed color from green to yellow.

The golem’s joints let out a burst of steam and it started moving faster. In a moment, it was on me, giant forehoof raised to stomp me into the ground. I put my arms up in defense just in time to block the hoof, though I was barely holding up against it, even using all my available strength to keep from buckling under the pressure.

“Gotta get out, gotta get out” I thought as I felt the ground under my feet start to give. If there was any kind of silver lining, it was the activation of my semblance, making it ever so slightly easier to hold up.

When my lower legs were halfway buried, I decided to strike. I threw a punch upwards to the hoof on me, and the resulting explosion seemed to stagger the golem. I threw another punch as the hoof came back down, and the golem moved away. While it readjusted itself, I got myself out of the holes my feet had made. “Definitely gonna have to wash these when I get home.”

“Changing tactics” the golem said as its yellow eyes flickered. “Engaging ranged options.” The golem’s chest split open into three sections, revealing a battery of missiles and three minigun barrels.

I barely had time to think “Oh crap” before I had to start running. I could hear the bullets whizzing just behind me and feel the shockwaves from the missiles, both of which pushed me to run faster. The bullets didn’t last long, but the missiles were homed in on and around me, kicking up plumes of dirt and knocking my aura down bit by bit.

During a brief break in the barrage, I saw the golem turning to face me. The missiles were reloading almost as quickly as they were firing, making me wonder just how much ammunition it had. One thing I was sure of was that staying in front of it was a bad idea, considering the three miniguns nestled in with the missiles. I’d seen videos of lesser guns shredding tough targets, and I did not want to test my aura against all that firepower.

“Where’s the backup when you need it?!” I kept running from the missiles, which was getting tougher as I found myself going over small craters and duvets, causing me to stumble on more than one occasion.

After a particularly bad stumble that I just barely managed to recover from, I finally came up with an idea. “Okay, straight isn’t good, but it can’t turn all that fast either. I can get closer that way.” I altered my path slightly, going inwards a bit, onto less exploded ground. The missiles were still on me, but I was glad to have smoother ground to run on.

My spiral inwards eventually brought me close enough to the golem that it stopped firing missiles, and I jumped up onto its back, landing between the jammed up wings. I quickly ran forward, made a small jump up, grabbed its left ear, and started punching the back of the golem’s head. I only got a few punches in before it reared up and started to fall backwards.

Before I could be crushed or buried, I scrambled around to the bottom of the head. As soon as impact was made, the golem was already moving to get back up. I leapt off and caught sight of the missiles and miniguns, still open and exposed. There was no hesitation as I fired a few explosive rounds off into there.

“Damage to ranged offense measures severe. Diagnosing.” While the golem was doing that, it also moved to stomp me again. I leapt out of the way of the hooves, taking care not to go under the golem lest it decided I would be a good cushion to lay down on. “Diagnosis: miniguns incapacitated. Missiles at 80% functionality. Raising threat ‘Yang Xiao Long’ to tier two. No other threats detected.”

I saw its eyes change from yellow to orange and it started firing missiles at me again, clearly considering its own safety below my elimination. With the missiles and stomping, I decided to leg it out of there, running straight for the tree with the clubhouse. “How many missiles does that thing have?”

After skidding sideways to a stop, I jumped onto Bumblebee, turned her back on, and kicked off just as the tree and the house it held got blown up, raining splinters, leaves, and bits of sap everywhere. Some of it got on me as well, but I didn’t give it much attention, focused as I was on simply outrunning the missiles.

After a couple minutes of driving around the area, and the addition of quite a few more missiles, I came up with an idea. I said a quick prayer of “Lady luck, don’t fail me now” before changing course for the golem. The missiles followed me as I zipped under the golem from the side, some exploding against the thing’s legs, the rest still following me.

I was just about to make another pass under the golem when something that looked like a giant spear made of pale moonlight pierced through its body and right into my path. In my panic at the sudden obstacle, I both turned sharply to the side and hit the brakes, sweeping a foreleg out from under the golem and causing it to fall in front of the missiles. The impact shook me off of Bumblebee as she slid across the ground.

“Apologies, Yang!” Luna called out as she and Celestia dove out of the sky and gracefully landed next to me. “I thought it would hit after you went under!”

The golem stood back up, the spear vanishing from its body. “Threats Celestia and Luna recognized. Elevating threat level to tier one.” The golem’s eyes turned from orange to a ferocious red, and a huge spherical shockwave blasted off of its body, sending the Princesses and me flying into a sturdy tree with enough force to cause a bunch of apples to fall on us.

“Everyone alright?” Celestia asked as she magicked the fallen fruit off of us and into a neat pile.

“Doing fine, but I’ve been better” I said with a groan as I got up.

“This is the hard part” Luna stated when she and Celestia were back on their hooves. I looked at the golem, just standing there with a reddish orange glow coming off the stump of a horn that it had. After a few seconds of it just standing there, I saw a bunch of things off in the distance flying towards us at incredible speed.

I quickly switched out the explosive shells for buckshot and got into a stance to fight the incoming peytrals. The peytrals, however, did not come towards us. Instead, they attached themselves to the golem, expanding to form armor over the whole thing. “Luna, how tough is the armor?” I warily asked, afraid I knew the answer already.

“Nigh indestructible.” I sighed at Luna’s answer. “Silver lining: it has no ranged options like this.”

“Rampage protocols initiated” was all the warning we had before the golem charged forward at us. We scattered in three different directions before it hit the apple tree, breaking it in two.

“Got a plan?!” I asked the sisters as I saw the golem charge at Celestia, who had a shield spell up.

“Focus on the right shoulder!” Luna called out.

While the golem was pounding away at Celestia’s shield, I circled around to the side and started firing at the shoulder. Luna was above me, launching magic bolts at the same spot I was aiming at.

When nothing happened, I let out a short growl of frustration and switched to the slugs, hoping they would be able to break through the armor. Long story short, they didn’t seem to do anything either.

“Luna!” Celestia called out after I stopped with the slugs and switched to the flechettes.

“What?” Luna called back, stopping her barrage.

“I need a minute with Yang!”

“Huh?” I spared a brief confused glance to Celestia before trying the flechettes. They probably didn’t even scratch the armor.

“Make it fast!” Luna demanded before making and launching another moonlight spear.

“Come with me for a moment.” Celestia didn’t give me a chance to object before she picked me up in her magic and dashed off with me, stopping behind a tree. “Okay-”

“Make it fast” I demanded before Celestia could start some kind of story.

“Story later then. I’m going to cast a spell to multiply the force of your next punch.”

“Just one punch? Wait, why not just pick him up and hold him still?”

“Anti-telekinesis enchantments. I checked. If we can break one point in the armor, we can strike through there. It will take a lot of force though.”

I was quickly getting behind the plan, even though I didn’t like how much of a gamble it seemed to be. There was one problem I quickly noticed, and held up my left gauntlet as I switched back to the explosive rounds. “Magic doesn’t work on these.”

“But it does work on you. Right or left arm?”

“Ohh, I see. Right arm.” I held up my right arm and soon felt Celestia’s magic working its way into place. It was kind of tingly. “Got a spot in mind?”

“Wherever.” Celestia picked me up again and tossed me towards the fight before following suit herself.

I turned around just in time to see myself heading for the golem’s face. “I’m gonna deck him in the schnoz.” Target chosen, I raised my fist and threw a full force punch at the golem’s muzzle. Time seemed to slow down a bit as I felt both the action of the Ember Celica firing and the force multiplication spell thingy going into effect through my arm.

As soon as I landed, I leapt back to get a look at the impact site. Celestia walked up next to me as I stood back up. Once the dust was clear, she defeatedly said “Well, that didn’t work.” The muzzle was intact and appeared to be undamaged.

“Try again?”

“No. I’m not going to risk breaking your arm with another multiplier.”

I quickly got what she was getting at. “Right then. Ideas?”

Just as Luna retreated from the fight to join Celestia and me, Twilight teleported in, facing us. “Good news, everypony who had a peytral is okay.”

“Third alicorn detected” the golem said.

“Yeah yeah, that’s great Twilight” I quickly said. “Can you help us though?”

Twilight looked back and saw the golem. “Can you give me a minute?”

“Thirty seconds.” I rushed past Twilight and went straight to attacking the golem’s armored forelegs. I was totally spent on brainpower and was doing the only thing I knew I could do: punch.

After a brief bout of punching, the golem retaliated. I got hit hard and was sent back into the trunk of a tree. After landing facedown in the ground, I looked up and saw the sisters flying around and firing off more spells, none of which seemed to do anything. Twilight was nowhere in sight either.

Just as I was running back towards the fight, Twilight appeared in front of me, causing me to trip over her and faceplant. “Yang, are you okay?”

“Just peachy, Twilight” I scowled as I got back up and looked at her. She was holding a peytral and Pinkie was with her. I could tell there was a plan.

“Anger detected” Pinkie warily said.

“Take a moment to rest, Yang” Twilight calmly said. “I have a plan.” She turned to the fighting sisters. “Celestia, Luna! I need you to regroup over here!” A moment later, the diarchs were with us. “Good. Now his attention will come over here. . .” Just as Twilight said it, the golem turned its attention towards us. The armor showed no signs of damage, making me wonder just how tough it was.

“Twilight, whatever you’re planning, do it now” I firmly said.

“Calm down, Yang.” Twilight stepped forward with the inactive peytral in her magic. “I have a plan.” She turned her attention to the golem. “Hey, golem!”

The golem, to my surprise, actually listened to Twilight. “State your request.”

“I want you to stop controlling everypony with these peytrals.”

“Request denied.”

“Am I going to have to put peytral 0007734 on somepony then?” On Twilight’s cue, Pinkie stepped forward, her face framed by the peytral.

The golem’s eyes flickered intensely. “Creating new threat level. Tier Zero created and recognized.” The red eyes turned pink and the golem barrelled forward towards us.

“Scatter!” Twilight’s shout was unnecessary, as we already were doing that. The golem was fixated on Pinkie, attacking it with a speed and ferocity I didn’t think was possible. “Luna, can the joints in the legs jam up from excessive speeds?”

“No, they can’t” Luna answered. “Was that your plan?”

“That was plan A. Time for plan B.” Twilight flew up with the peytral and watched the chase going on. “Pinkie, we’re doing the thing!”

“Righty-o!” Pinkie cheerfully responded. While she kept running around, Twilight lowered the peytral behind a tree so the golem couldn’t see it. Seconds later, Pinkie ran through it, and the peytral was on her.

The golem’s legs stopped working correctly, flailing about with no coordination at all. The neck and head, likewise, were also flailing about. The lines that made up its eyes were flashing all kinds of colors randomly.

I had to voice mine and the sisters’ confusion. “Twilight, what’s going on?”

Twilight went into speech mode. “The peytrals have mind reading capabilities, likely so the golem would know how to have the ponies under its control act naturally. Most of the time, that would work just fine, but Pinkie isn’t exactly normal.”

“So the golem is being forced by its design to try and understand Pinkie?”

“Exactly.”

“. . . That is brilliant, scary, and cruel.” I took a moment to just watch the flailing golem, its limbs moving to inequine positions at times. When a limb hit the ground, I felt the impact and saw the divot left in the dirt. “So, do we just wait it out?”

“It’s not going to run out of power anytime soon” Luna pointed out.

“With the speed the joints are working at, and the randomness of the flailing, it’s only a matter of time before-” Twilight was cut off by an ear splitting crack when the golem’s head swung against its back and the chin got hit by a rear hoof. The pose was very unnatural, and only lasted a second before it continued flailing about, sending off chunks of broken armor, a piece of which landed in front of us. “-that happens.”

“So the only thing that can hurt it is itself?” I asked.

“That would be the case.” Another crack interrupted Twilight, one foreleg swinging up and smashing into the middle of the back. “If there are finer mechanical parts inside, you could just break those and start disabling it.”

“Rebooting” the golem said before its eyes went white, movement ceased, and it fell onto its side, knocking off more armor pieces from its body.

Before I could do anything, Luna picked me up with her magic, and in a frenzied rush, brought me to one of the openings on the back. “Luna, what are you-” She put my right hand into a fist and slammed it into the hole, firing off an explosive round before letting go. I tried pulling my hand out, but it was jammed in place.

I put my left hand on the stuck gauntlet in an attempt to remove it, but instead of getting my right hand free, I wound up pulling on the cover of the Ember Celica, causing it to fire another round and give me pause after letting it go back into place. “That’s. . . Unexpected. What if. . .” I put my hand back on the gauntlet and pulled again, firing another round. A smile appeared on my face as I picked up the pace, launching explosion after explosion into the body.

In the middle of the barrage, the golem came back online, its eyes going from white to red as it stood up, causing me to stop my attack as I tried not to fall off. “Reboot successful. Completing severance processes of peytrals 0007734, 8675309.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the peytral on Pinkie crack apart before disintegrating into dust.

I turned my attention back to attacking and managed to squeeze off a couple shots before the golem reared up and started tipping backwards. “Please work.” I quickly braced both feet on the golem’s back and punched out to the left in an attempt to turn the angle of my fall so I wouldn’t get crushed.

The explosive punch didn’t do anything, but moments before I would have been stuck between the golem’s back and the ground, a wave of magic flowed over me, putting my feet on the ground and allowing me to hold the massive machine up. “What’s going on? Twilight?”

Luna answered instead of Twilight, their horns lit up. “You should be able to set the insides on fire now. Hurry!”

“Right, just set a stone thing on fire” I quipped before heeding Luna’s suggestion, retrieving and loading a band of the incendiary shells into the right gauntlet before firing a few rounds in with the new technique.

“Core temperature rising” the golem stated. I felt the temperature around my fist rising, along with what might have been grease or oil dripping onto my hand. A moment later, it felt like the fluid had caught fire. “Systems melting down.”

“Huh.” I quickly turned back to the ponies. “Little help please? My arm’s getting tired.”

“I’ve got it” Celestia calmly said before her magic covered me. The whole world started tilting sideways as she used me like a lever to ease the golem onto its side. Seconds after she and I let out a sigh of relief when it was done, something in the golem exploded with enough force to free me, along with pieces of the stone hide. Before I could get close enough to attack again, three magic bubbles, gold, silver, and lavender, formed around the golem. “You may want to step back, Yang. Our shields are powerful, but we haven’t had to do this for a long time, so-”

“Safety. Got it.” I quickly joined the ponies and quietly waited with them. “So, a meltdown.”

“I’m threading some of my magic through the hole to increase the intensity of the fire inside. Best case scenario, everything inside just melts. Worst case scenario, it blows up inside the shields.”

“So it’s good as dead at this point then.” My attention was briefly drawn to Pinkie holding a small ceremony for the pile of dust that was the peytral she had put on, causing a question to come to mind. “Twilight, what happened to everyone who was wearing a peytral?”

“They’re under a one hour sleep spell” Twilight quickly answered without looking away from the fallen golem. “All of them. Some of them might need some physical therapy though. I’m sure Rarity will, considering she was the first to wear one.”

“I will personally make sure the necessary funds and ponies are in place to help with recovery” Celestia said. “Was the mayor one of the victims?”

“Fortunately, no. She’ll be able to help with the paperwork side.”

“I think it’s about to explode” Luna interjected, drawing our attention back to the golem. True to her word, the body began showing more cracks just before it exploded. The barriers, fortunately, held up, leaving us only hearing the sound of the blast, which was an interesting experience. After the explosion, a flare shaped bit of magic, pointed southeast, phased up through the shields, then exploded. Moments later, I saw the corresponding flare of Celestia’s cutie mark detach from main circle and move a few inches away.

“So, was that four of eight?” I asked after looking at her mark a bit,

“Nine” Celestia answered.

“The prophecy I saw said ten” Luna added. “We can talk about that later. For now, we can rest, since this enforcer is no more.”

I gave a sigh of relief and let myself collapse onto the ground. “I am so hitting the spa first chance I get.”

“The spa sisters had peytrals” Twilight said. “They’re likely in the group that will need therapy as well.”

“. . .Well, that sucks.”

“Ooh, ooh, I have an idea!” Pinkie exclaimed as she bounced over. “Go to a Canterlot spa instead. It’ll be a fun trip! And you can get some exposition from the Princesses while you’re at it, too.”

I looked to Celestia and Luna inquisitively. After a moment of thinking, Luna answered. “I suppose we could do that. Twilight, you should come along too. Pinkie, I don’t think we could stop you if you wanted to join us, so you can come if you want.”

“Yay! I’ll meet you all wherever it is we’re meeting!” Before any discussion could take place on where to gather, Pinkie zipped off, replaced by a Pinkie shaped cloud of dust.

“Let’s just go to my place” I said, exhausted from the fight.

Ex-spa-sition

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As the Princesses and I walked up to the Carne Den/my home, Bumblebee in tow, we saw a bunch of sleeping ponies laid out on the ground nearby, all neatly in rows. The only ponies that were up and awake were Applejack and Rainbow, who were busy filling the pit back up. Upon noticing us, Rainbow dashed over. “So, did you beat that thing?”

“We did,” I answered with a tired sigh. “What happened over here?”

“Well, Applejack and I figured that, if the controlled ponies were left alone, they’d probably make their way to the farm and make it an impossible fight for you, so we started herding them into the pit to keep them away. After we got the last one in, the peytrals flew off and everypony fell asleep. Twilight checked them, took off, and then we started getting them back out.”

Applejack came up and continued. “We finished getting them out about ten minutes ago and started filling the pit back up. Mind lending a helping hoof?”

“Sure thing,” Twilight happily said before going over to the dirt pile and moving the stuff back in with her magic.

“Well, that’s all good,” I said before turning back to the Princesses. “If you two don’t mind, I’m going to put Bumblebee away and pack up some clothes.”

“That’s alright,” Celestia politely said.

“Is there anything we can do for you, Yang?” Luna asked.

I stopped to think for a moment. “If you see Gilda, can you tell her I’m taking today and tomorrow off to rest from today’s fight?”

“Not a problem.”

As I approached the shed, I took stock of my physical condition. There was dirt across my body, on my clothes, and worst of all, in my cleavage. It was almost like having a rock in my boot, of which there actually was one. Bumblebee would need a good wash down as well, but aside from the dirt, she didn’t look to have taken any damage. Whoever or whatever had built her knew what they were doing.

After putting Bumblebee away, I took a moment to get the worst of the dirt out of my chest and the rock out of my boot. After that, I went out, leapt up to my open window, and clambered inside, gracelessly tumbling onto the hardwood floor. “Note to self: put a rug or something under the window.” After getting back up, I quickly found my backpack and started the process of packing for a short trip. A change of casual clothes and my robe were easy enough, though I found myself debating between which swimwear to bring for the spa. “I like the swimsuit more, but the bikini would make it easier for the spa ponies there.” During the mental tennis match between bikini and swimsuit, the floor fell out from under the players as another question came to mind. “Why am I even trying to figure this out? I’m going there to talk, get clean, and relax. I’ll just bring both and choose later.”

After double checking everything, I closed my window and went downstairs. Asada was curled up in her corner, asleep. Whether she’d just gotten there or was there before I ran in earlier, I had no idea. I decided to lean in and pet her a bit anyways.

Whatever she had been doing before falling asleep, it must have really tired her out because she didn’t react to my petting at all. A vicious chin and ear scratching didn’t do much either, eliciting only a slight tilting of her head. “I’ll be back tomorrow, Asada.” After patting her shoulder, I went out the front door and saw Gilda standing there. “Hey Gilda,” I greeted, tiredness clear in my voice.

“So, you got in another big fight?” Gilda asked. Her concerned face soon turned into a relieved smile. “Well, I’m glad it turned out alright. Go take your royal spa trip. You’ve earned it. I got the place covered. Should be quiet and boring for once.”

“Thanks.” After a friendly salute, I joined the Princesses and Pinkie nearby. With only a few nods between us, we were on our way to the train station. “So. . .”

“We will explain that golem’s origins and the past at the spa” Luna calmly and firmly stated. “In the meantime, we would greatly appreciate it if you simply rested on the way there.”

I gave Luna a halfhearted inquisitive look. “Are you giving me a royal order to take a nap?”

“No, Yang. I am giving you a royal suggestion to take a nap.”

“Okay, but why?”

“So you don’t fall asleep during the spa trip.”

I had to think Luna’s reasoning through a few times before it clicked. “Oh, I get it. Yeah, that does sound good.”

It didn’t take long for us to get to the train station, even with me starting to stumble around a bit. The stallion in the ticket booth sold us our tickets, and helpfully informed us that the train was fifteen to twenty minutes away.

We sat down to wait for the train. While the ponies were talking, my eyes were getting heavy, and I soon found myself asleep against Celestia’s side, using her wing as a blanket and nestling in against her body’s warmth.

Someone gently shook me. “Wake up, Yang,” came Celestia’s gentle voice. “We’re only a couple minutes from Canterlot.”

I slowly opened my eyes and yawned. “We are?”

“Yes. As much as I like our little arrangement here, I wouldn’t mind having my wing back.”

“Hm?” I looked down and saw that I was still holding Celestia’s wing around myself. “Oh, right.” I let go of the wing, and as I stood up to stretch, Celestia brought the wing back to her side. “Did I miss anything?”

“Nothing important,” Twilight answered as she did some stretching herself. “We just decided to take our own naps while you were asleep. Thankfully, I know a wake-up spell that works like an alarm clock.”

“Nifty.” Still blinking the sleep out of my eyes, I looked around the room for my backpack. I found it on the bench I had been sleeping on, and just after I put it back on, the train started slowing down. “Where’s Pinkie?”

“She went to the dining car when we got on. I can only imagine the chaos that’s happened in there.”

Pinkie, at the train’s drink bar, finished her cup of tea with a dainty sip before gently dabbing her lips with a handkerchief. “The tea was most exquisite, good sir,” she said with the most proper and elegant voice she had.

The bartender replied in an equally classy voice. “Why thank you, m’lady. I only aspire to make the best tea I can. But if you would be willing to oblige, I would like to ask of you a simple question.”

Pinkie slid her teacup, saucer, and used handkerchief over to the bartender. “I would be delighted to answer your question, sir.”

The bartender’s expression went from classy to mildly exasperated in a moment, as did his voice as he lightly slammed his forehooves on the bar. “How did you drink that much sugar and not start flying all over the car like a pegasus?”

Pinkie shrugged and smiled. “It’s simple, really. I’m Pinkie Pie.”

“But-”

Pinkie gently shushed the bartender with a hoof on his muzzle. “Shh. It’s best not to go down that road, amusing as it may be for others.”

“I pity anyone stuck with her,” I said as the train came to a stop.

Shortly after the three alicorns and I stepped off, a regiment of royal guards formed up around us, acting as escorts. Celestia, without reacting, turned to me. “Yang, would you like to send your belongings to the castle?” At her inquiry, a pegasus guard moved inwards towards me.

“No thanks, Princess,” I answered. “Just having a guide to a room for me is good enough. That, and, well. . .” I wracked my brain to try and come up with a way to explain the swimsuits and nudity taboo to Celestia in a way I was comfortable with.

“It’s a cultural thing, Celestia,” Twilight interjected. “I can tell you more later.”

“Ah, I see,” Celestia said in an understanding tone before turning to the eager to serve pegasus. “Please see to it that Yang has a warm room ready for her upon our arrival.”

The guard gave a sharp salute. “As you command, Princess.” Without another word, he took off for the castle to carry out his orders.

Our arrival at a spa, simply called The Canterlot Spa, came with little fanfare or flair. Most of the guards stayed outside while a few came in with us. Those guard ponies took their jobs seriously.

“Hello, Princesses,” the light purple unicorn mare behind the desk greeted. “Five today?”

I looked into the middle of our group and saw Pinkie there. The guards who had come in with us also looked, briefly on high alert before they realized who it was, taking a deep breath, and quietly saying to themselves, “It’s just Pinkie, everything is fine.”

Celestia, for her part, took the whole thing in stride. “Yes. We would like one of your more private baths, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course, your Highness,” the mare said as she made a few notes. “Will you have your usual treatments?”

“Yes.”

“Alright.” The mare made a few more notes before levitating the clipboard through a cleverly disguised opening in the wall. “If you’ll follow me, please.” The five of us followed the mare back into the spa, down some stairs, and into a cavernous room, filled with every kind of spa treatment imaginable, each one looking very regal and expensive. “If you need anything, just ring the bell and somepony will be here in seconds. Before I leave, is there anything I can do for you?”

“Have somepony ready to clean our regalia and Yang’s clothes,” Luna said as she and Celestia started levitating their regalia off. “If you could have them come down in, hmm, Yang, how long would it take for you to get ready for the water?”

I briefly did some mental calculations before answering. “Five minutes or so.”

Luna turned back from me to the mare. “A little over five minutes, please.”

The mare bowed. “Of course, Princess. I will let our cleaners know immediately.” After leaving the bow, the mare left us, quietly closing the door behind us.

As I went to the bathroom to change, Celestia walked up next to Luna and asked, “Luna, could you explain something for me?”

Even after I closed the bathroom door, I could still hear the conversation. “If it’s about Yang needing time to get ready for the water, the answer is quite simple: human culture.”

“Their culture?”

“Yes, Celestia,” Twilight said as I started undressing. “Humans, as you may have observed with Yang, are naturally without a fur coat. Thus, they developed clothing in their early days to stay warm and protect themselves from their environments. As they advanced culturally and technologically, clothing became a bigger part of their lifestyle, becoming a way to denote ranks and jobs, along with being worn casually. Different cultures have different clothing as well.”

“So humans don’t like being exposed?”

“Generally, yes. There are oddball cases of people going around without clothes, but they tend to be off in the head, drunk, drugged up, or something similar. Tangentially related to that, there are different clothing standards for men and women, male and female respectively.”

“How different are they? Is it anything like the formal clothes seen at royal events?”

“Hmm, kind of?” I could almost hear the waving hoof in the tone as I neatly stacked up my combat clothes, Ember Celica off to the side. “Women have many more options of clothing than men, as can be seen in human clothing stores. Surprisingly, human and pony clothing styles and rules have many parallels between them.”

“That is quite interesting, Twilight.” Just as I started contemplating whether to wear the swimsuit or bikini, Celestia asked another question. “So, Yang has a wide variety of options at her disposal?”

“That is correct, sister,” Luna said. “However, she prefers more modest clothing.”

I turned to the door and shouted, “I’m right here, you know!” through it before resuming my contemplations.

“We know!” Luna responded through the door before continuing her conversation. “Every person, obviously, has their own preferences of clothing. Yang, according to her dreams, has a very good body, often associated with more. . . Tempting and distracting outfits, shall we say.”

“Hmmm. . .” Celestia hmmm’d.

In the following moment of silence, I had a brief epiphany. “I could just wear the swimsuit over the bikini, and just take it off as needed. Then again, it could somehow catch on the bikini and take a piece of it off, and that would be worse than just the bikini.” I finally made my decision, putting the swimsuit and Ember Celica away, my storm of self-conscious thoughts and arguments taking my focus away from the outside conversation as I put the bikini on. “The bikini is for practical reasons only, to make it easier for the spa ponies to work on me.

“But I’m going to be with royalty, so more decency is needed. That much skin isn’t appropriate.

“This is royalty that wears less to work than I do on a run. Heck, I’m wearing more now than they are, so they aren’t in a position to talk about decency.

“But-

“Twilight and Pinkie have seen me in this bikini already, Luna’s probably done so too through dreams, and I’ve probably worn it at the spa I went to in Los Pegasus. Or was it Las Pegasus? Why am I even getting hung up on this anyways?”

I’d already finished putting the bikini on a few seconds before shaking my head to clear my thoughts a bit. After collecting my folded up clothes for cleaning, I stepped out, seeing the mares already in the water. “So, where do I put these?” I asked all four of them.

“I will take them for cleaning,” came a stallion’s voice from the doorway. I turned and saw a tan unicorn there, already levitating Celestia and Luna’s regalia onto a special cart. “Do you have any special instructions for cleaning your clothes, Ms. Xiao Long?”

“Well, no,” I quietly answered as I held out the clothes. “Just. . . They’re not going to be damaged, right?”

“I promise, Ms. Xiao Long,” -he levitated the clothes onto his cart- “your clothes will not be damaged in the slightest.”

“Thanks. That was a silly request, wasn’t it?”

“Not at all,” the stallion said in a casual and politely dismissive tone. “If making the request makes your time here even a bit better, then there’s nothing silly about it. But, you can rest and relax assured that our cleaners will be very gentle with your clothes. Is there anything else you may need?”

“Well. . . No, there isn’t.”

“Then I will get the cleaning on these started.” The stallion left us, quietly closing the door behind him.

I turned to the soaking ponies and, with only a hint of trepidation, joined them in the water. The pleasantly warm water came up to my neck when I sat down next to Twilight and Pinkie, and I quickly forgot any concerns associated with wearing the bikini. Looking across the large spa pool, I saw Celestia and Luna just sitting there. I saw no bench under the water for them, just the bottom of the pool.

It didn’t take long for me to start relaxing. “So, did I miss anything?”

“No, nothing important,” Luna assured me before turning to Celestia. “Where shall we start our story, sister?”

“The way you start any story, Luna: the setting.” Celestia lit her horn and smoothed the middle of the pool’s water into a clear, glassy surface. A poke confirmed that it was still water, though there was a tingle of magic present. “Several thousand years ago, Equestria was a marvel of technology and magic.” The water’s surface glowed and it showed a huge city, complete with skyscrapers, flying vehicles buzzing around them, hovering vehicles on the street level, and ponies walking and flying about, some of which were carrying and wearing various numbers of gadgets. “It was truly the age of the spoiled. If there was something you wanted, there was a machine that could make it. Drinks, snacks, tools, toys, statues, anything.”

“That’s amazing, Celestia!” Twilight excitedly said.

“Of course, a population like this also needed food, and the farming techniques back then, with the help of magic and technology, were nothing short of spectacular.” The water moved upwards, quickly being sculpted and shaped into layers, giving the shape of a horizontally sliced hill. “With open terracing techniques, sunlight funnels, and harvesting machines, it was possible to get much more food per month out of an acre than is possible now.”

Luna flattened the water back down and took over. “Instantaneous communication across the planet was not only possible, but very easy. Equestria was the mightiest power in the world as well, as we were the builders of the things everyone across the world enjoyed. Whether it was multiform toys for children and collectors, rare crops, or clothing, we made it. With everyone so busy with hobbies, communication, and trade, there was no time for war. Even the politicians were too busy with their hobbies to become corrupt, and that did include us.”

“Something happened, didn’t it?” I interjected. Inwardly, I was amazed that the ponies actually did have internet at one point.

“Indeed, something did happen. It started when one of the weather machines malfunctioned and started going rogue.” The water came up and made the shape of a flying saucer with batteries of turrets near its perimeter, which came out to be just inches from my face. “These machines were remotely controlled, and very, very secure. At the same time, there were ponies that lived their lives on them, mostly pegasi.”

“That doesn’t sound too smart.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Luna lamented with a shake of her head. “Something happened with the biggest one. Control was lost, it had no emergency controls-”

“Brilliant move there,” I snarked.

“Indeed. It took over the smaller machines and began spreading foul weather, killing many ponies and other species. Celestia and I stepped in as swiftly as we could, destroying the smaller machines as we saw them.”

Celestia picked up the story, her tone somber. “By the time we reached the biggest one, the ponies that were living on it were all dead. Unlike the smaller ones, that one machine actually fought us.”

“How big was it, Celestia?” Twilight asked. At the same time, I noticed that Pinkie had been oddly quiet. I also saw that she had a pair of 3D goggles on and was eating popcorn out of a floating bowl. I turned back to the sisters and tried not to figure out how or why Pinkie was doing such a thing.

“Here’s us in comparison.” Two tiny water alicorns flew up and landed on the edge, dwarfed by a single turret battery. The tiny water ponies even waved at us. “As you can see, it’s huge. You could fit Cloudsdale in this machine ten times over and still have plenty of room to spare.”

“As for the fight, it wasn’t easy,” Luna said. “Wherever we flew, it could follow. If we hid underground, it flooded the tunnels. If that didn’t work, it could somehow mine with tornadoes. It took all the power Celestia and I had at the time, along with a spot of luck and very tight timing, to hit it with an eclipse beam.”

“Eclipse beam?” Twilight asked, clearly intrigued.

Celestia dispelled the weather machine before explaining with two and a half orbs of water, “You have the planet,” -the half orb floated into place near the water- “The moon,” -the smaller orb went above the half- “And the sun,” -The larger orb went above its watery compatriots- “All lined up like this. The moon helps focus the ring of solar energy into a tight, destructive beam. However, it comes at a cost, one we’ve decided isn’t worth it.”

Luna resumed. “Back then, my moon was larger.” Pinkie snortled at that. “The eclipse beam vaporized a significant portion of the surface, shrinking it down to the size it is now. In order to perform the eclipse beam, the moon is necessary.”

“So it’s an emergency technique then,” I concluded.

“The circumstances were quite dire indeed.”

“But what does that have to do with that golem?” Pinkie asked, only mad in the comical and silly way. “The ponies want answers to that now!”

“Of course. We did promise that.” Luna cleared her throat, dispelled the water construct, and soon, the water was back to making gentle waves. “It was a prison warden, one of many. Its job was to make sure that those under its protection were protected. With wings, horn, size, and strength, its mere presence was often enough to deter attackers and break up fights. The peytrals acted as a way to identify, locate, and, if need be, control those it guarded. It could control a pony so well, you would not have been able to tell they were being controlled at all.”

“So what made it so obvious this time?”

“Its semi-centralized control system. Instead of having all the bodily control functions in one place, the systems were spread out, though connected in one area as well. Every joint was responsible for the movement of the equivalent joint on a pony.”

“Wait a moment,” Twilight interrupted, somewhat confused. “Does that mean damaging one joint enough makes it lose control of that part of a pony?”

“It does render the pony’s joint stiff, yes.”

“But it was moving around just fine on the farm. How does that work?”

“You, of all ponies, should know that there is a difference between ‘enough damage’ and ‘rendered inoperable’.”

I could just imagine the gears in Twilight’s mind settling into place and clicking together. “Ah. So you two wrecked the leg joints below the barrel, the wings, and the horn, which is why pegasi didn’t fly, unicorns didn’t cast, and everyone was walking so mechanically.”

“That is correct,” Celestia said. “We fought it after destroying all the other wardens. Each one of them was expanding its territory, putting peytrals on the innocent, and taking many more liberties in controlling the populace. Unopposed, many had their ways. They still helped ensure the survival of their charges, and may have been what taught our ponies how to survive and build after the collapse of the technological era.”

“That’s amazing. Sad, but amazing.” Twilight briefly made a thinking face before asking, “How do you know so much about its systems though? Did you know the designer?”

“You’re looking at her,” Luna said with no trace of pride in body or voice, only a weariness from guilt. “I designed them, came up with the thaumic and electrical circuitry systems, chose the enchantments, and lead the construction of each one. The one we fought was in charge of an area that included what is now the Everfree forest. Our battle back then, once done, turned the area into a thaumic wasteland. Magic did not work correctly, and strange variations of plant and animal life began appearing in the years that followed. Ponies that were brave enough to enter the area often came back violently ill. Celestia and I, thanks to being alicorns, were able to walk out of the zone, find a safe cavern, seal it up with rocks, and sleep for three days after setting the sun and moon to go on their own for a bit.”

“Woah. . .”

“Later on, we taught unicorns how to move the sun and moon while we took a multi-century walk. In hindsight, we really should have seen the superiority complex that would develop ahead of time. It lead to the Three Tribes. After Unification, we took control of the sun and moon back from the unicorns and started rebuilding Equestria.”

Twilight rubbed her chin with a forehoof in thought. “So that’s how that happened.”

Something clicked in my head as a brief memory surfaced. “Wait, wait, wait. I think I remember seeing someone use a power drill while my place was being built once. Where would that have come from?”

“It’s quite simple, Yang,” Pinkie said as she put a foreleg across my shoulders. “The designs come from things uncovered by adventuring authors, like A. K. Yearling, or Daring Do, whichever you prefer.”

“I. . . don’t follow.” The idea of reverse engineering suddenly crossed my mind. “Wait. . . I think I get it now.”

“Luna and I allow our subjects free reign to explore anywhere they want,” Celestia said. “Any disputes that arise from that, we let them work out themselves. Anything that nobody has any claims to is free game. Inevitably, relics from the past will be found. We don’t step in on those finds, nor do we interfere with anything that develops from them. Aside from such actions putting dampers on exploration and discovery, it would also mean that much more paperwork to do and keep track of. All we really do now is organize Equestria’s defenses, maintain peace with other nations, keep the greedy nobles in check-”

“I think I might have done that one accidentally,” I pointed out.

“For which we thank you, Yang. And we also hold court, open to all.”

I didn’t think long before responding. “So, you do nothing, but you also do things.” Only a moment of quietly waving water followed before I spoke again. “Forget it. I just want to relax now.” I spared a sideways glance to Pinkie. “Though I don’t know if that’s possible with her here.”

“Fair enough. Should we start with the shampoo and fur wash or hoof treatment first?”

“If I may,” Twilight said. “I say we start with the shampoo and body wash. While that’s going on, I can explain the nature of Yang’s nails to the attendants, unless she’d rather explain it.”

“Go ahead,” I said. “You could probably explain it better than I can anyways.”

When the ponies for the wash came in, I did my best to explain where they shouldn’t wash me, which simply amounted to the places covered by the bikini and a bit around them. I didn’t want them to touch those more. . . sensitive areas of my body. To my pleasure, the unicorn mare chosen to wash me was very understanding.

We started with my front side, using an unscented soap, just to get it out of the way and because my back would be easier if done last. A good amount of dirt and grime came off with the wash, and I felt much better as well. After turning so my back was available for cleaning, the mare did something unexpected: work in a massage while she was cleaning me. After only a few precise pokes from her hoof to my back, I could already feel myself relaxing even more.

After she was done washing my body and making my muscles feel like jelly, she approached me with a question. “What fragrance would you like in your shampoo?”

I let out a relaxed groan as I got my brain back up and into a low gear. “Oh, do you have strawberry lavender?”

“I’m sorry, but we do not,” the mare apologized.

My utterance of “darn” was rather halfhearted, as I thought about other options. “What about, oh, lavender vanilla?”

“That, we do have.” The mare lit up her horn, floated a lavender and pearl colored bottle over to me, and opened the top. “Does it meet your expectations, Miss Xiao Long?”

I took a deep inhale of the scent of the shampoo. “Oh, that smells good. Use it.”

The mare wasted no time getting to work with the shampoo, quickly working up a lather and gently working it into my hair. After she fully covered my hair with the rather rich suds, she started running a brush through, and apparently was getting a lot of stuff out. Bits of dirt, grass, and stone were all in my hair until she was done, and each bit that she got out made me feel that much cleaner.

The rinse a few minutes later was also very relaxing, with my specification of using very hot water. “Ah, that feels good.” I could almost consider a spa trip with nothing more than a hot waterfall to be good enough, if only the spa sisters back in Ponyville also didn’t give such good massages. “I wonder what a facial feels like? I haven’t had one before.”

“Shall I start on your nails?”

“Sure, sure.” I was too relaxed to move my hands for the mare, but she didn’t seem to mind, moving them as she needed to. Not only did she file my nails down, but she also picked out more debris from under them. “Yang Xiao Long: Unburnable restaurant owner, fighter, and target of petty nobles. Weaknesses: cold temperatures and spa treatments, both debilitating in different ways. Warning: do not damage hair.”

Before I knew it, all twenty of my nails were filed and cleaned. I let out a yawn, which Luna did not miss. “My my, Yang. Falling back asleep already?”

“Spas make me sleepy,” I responded halfheartedly, punctuated by another yawn. “Just get me whatever treatments you get.”

“As you wish~” I could almost hear the playful smirk in Celestia’s voice as I drifted off to sleep.

I was woken up when somepony pushed my head into the pool water. As soon as I was awake, I pushed back, taking a deep gasp for air as soon as I surfaced. “Who did that?”

“I did!” exclaimed Pinkie with a raised hoof. Soon, I reached over to her and pushed her head into the water, releasing her after a few seconds.

“Looks like you were right, sister,” came Celestia’s voice from across the pool. “She slept through everything.”

“Hm?” I turned towards the sisters, wondering what was going on.

“Celestia and I placed bets on whether or not you would wake up during the treatments,” Luna casually explained. “You slept through an hour of pampering. I’m honestly amazed that you slept through being levitated around the place and through the facial treatment.”

“You got me a facial treatment?” I put a hand to my face and felt the skin there. It felt very clean, much more so than when I washed my face on my own. “Feels good.”

“We also got your nails polished to a very nice shine, as we did with our hooves.” When Luna held up a wet and polished hoof, I looked at the nails on my hand and saw that they did have a glossy shine to them. “We got the good stuff. It lasts for a week.”

“We would have gotten you a wing treatment,” Celestia added. “But your lack of wings makes that pretty difficult. Can’t exactly treat something that isn’t there, much as the nobles would disagree.”

“Yeah,” I agreed as I finished examining my nails. “How are they, anyways?”

“Fancy and Fleur are doing quite well. The rest are still focused on ways to get you, and with them so focused on that, we’ve actually been able to get stuff done. Say, would you be willing to join us for another session?”

I held up my hands defensively and backed into the edge of the pool a bit. “I’d really rather not, but thanks for the offer.” A moment later, my curiosity got the better of me and I leaned back in. “What exactly is coming up at the next session?”

“Glad you asked. After a budget evaluation and forecast, there will be a few bills, some from the nobles.”

I gave a mock gasp of surprise. “No!”

“You heard right, Yang,” Luna said. “Some of them have managed to actually get their heads out of their plots over you for a few minutes and write some bills. For example, one of them, from Blueblood, would put a tax on water usage in Los Pegasus and Las Pegasus, the latter of which is in the middle of the desert.”

I blinked owlishly at Luna before Pinkie voiced my thoughts. “What’s Blueblood taking to make him so crazy?”

“Why do you ask, Pinkie?”

“I may be crazy, but I don’t want that kind of crazy! I mean, that would be like taxing a bakery for flour use, or a library for having books, or birds for having feathers! It can be done, but it just wouldn’t be right.”

“I do agree that it is crazy. It would be pointless as well, as our budget is well maintained, so we have a surplus quite often. Anyways, there’s also a proposal to set up a registration system for all carts, wagons, chariots, and carriages, with a tax on transfer of ownership.”

I quickly voiced my opinion. “Too much paperwork.”

“Indeed, it would be,” Celestia agreed. “Plus, it would likely make ponies decide to simply make their own, rendering the whole thing useless.”

Twilight chimed in. “There’s nonsense, there’s Pinkie, then there’s those kinds of ideas. Some days, I just wish I could bring in Applejack, hit them with Honesty and a blabbermouth spell, and get their reasoning. Then I remember it doesn’t work that way.”

I picked up where Twilight left off. “And then you get sad, go have a popsicle, and pass out in the snow.” Splashing and laughter came from three of the mares I was with. Twilight wasn’t part of the laughter. “Sounds like a hit.”

Eventually, the laughter died down. Not long after that came a consensus that it was about time to leave the spa, especially as my clothes and the sisters’ regalia was back and cleaned.

After I got out of the water, I accepted an offer from Celestia for a flash drying spell, which did exactly that. It blasted all the water off of my body and out of my hair and bikini, leaving me completely dry. On the way to the bathroom to change, I passed a hand over the skin on an arm, and noticed just how smooth it was. “That feels really good. I’ll have to see if the spa sisters have a treatment like this.”

I found my combat outfit in the bathroom, cleaned, neatly folded, and tied up with a yellow ribbon, boots off to the side. I picked the bundle of clothes up and was amazed by just how soft it all felt. “These ponies are really good. But, I’m still going to go with my plain clothes.” After taking the bikini off, I started putting my regular clothes on. “If I knew they were going to be that good, I’d have given them everything for cleaning.”

After getting dressed and putting everything away, I came out and noticed that something was different. “Where did Pinkie go?”

“She left about a minute ago,” Twilight helpfully answered. “She’s going back to Ponyville. Said she had to prepare a few ‘sorry you couldn’t enjoy your birthday party because you were being controlled by a meany peytral’ parties. It might help with the rehab they’ll probably need.”

“Ah. That makes sense. So, where are we going now?”

“Unless there are any objections, we will be going to the castle,” Celestia said. “Your room should be ready for you already, and I’m sure you will like it.”

Celestia paid as we left the spa, leaving a generous extra on top of the bill. Outside, we were met by the guards who had escorted us, and we were on our way to the castle in short order.

Along the way, we were stopped by an Earth pony stallion. “Excuse me, your highnesses,” he politely said from the side of the road leading to the castle.

“Yes, Joe?” Luna asked, the guards parting for her.

“I have something for you.” He went inside and soon came out with four pink boxes, differentiated by the white, blue, lavender, and yellow ribbons on them. There was also a card on top.

Luna read the card’s contents out loud. “A little something for the real fighters of the day. Sincerely, Pinkie Pie.”

“Now who can say no to that?” Celestia took the boxes in her magic and gave Joe a few bits. After a friendly farewell, we were back on our way to the castle.

It turned out that the room I got was the same one I had from the Entrepreneur Award Ceremonies. Even though the days were decently warm, it still got cold at night at the castle’s altitude.

After settling in, I decided to start killing time the same way I had before: exercise. After two naps and a quality donut (or two), I had quite a bit of energy to burn off.

Aftermath

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I woke up on the warm stone floor of my room, feeling mostly refreshed, slightly sore, and a bit confused. “Why are my feet under the bed? . . . . Oh, right, I was doing sit ups. And a whole lot of other exercises after supper.”

I got to my feet and did a few stretches, working all kinds of kinks out of my body. Neck, arms, back, legs, and back to the back again. “Oh, that feels good. What time is it anyways?” Without any windows, I couldn’t look outside. “It can wait a bit.” As I started gathering some clean clothes, the call of nature struck. “Convenient timing.”

After tending to the call, I went straight to the shower, turning the water to maximum heat. “Now this feels good.” As I started washing myself, my thoughts turned to Ponyville. “Things won’t be the same. Everyone’s going to be in recovery mode. Rehab and therapy, I think Twilight said.” I slowed down as I finished an arm. “And Rarity’s going to be the worst of it. It’ll take a miracle to get her back to normal.”

I let my thoughts simmer as I continued washing myself, much slower than normal. Finally, I finished my legs, sitting down, and a realization crashed into me. “It took a citywide emergency to get me out of my house.

“But I go out all the time.

“To get things for work or run laps around town. When was the last casual conversation I had?

“. . .

“I am such a shut-in. A shut-in workaholic.” The chuckles from the contradictory description turned into sobs as I realized just how accurate of a description it was.

As soon as I walked into the dining room, Celestia greeted me. Luna and Twilight were there too. “Good afternoon, Yang. . . Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I sat down at the open spot at the table, seeing a pasta salad in front of me, the colorful vegetable bits occasionally interspersed with a pink cube of ham.

The alicorns looked at me for a bit. “Are you not hungry?” The concern and worry was clear in Celestia’s voice.

I looked up, gave Celestia a tired look, gave a tired sigh, and looked back at the food in front of me. “No, not really.”

A gold shod hoof on my chin gently lifted my head up, and I looked into Celestia’s eyes. “Your eyes. . . They’re all red and puffy.” She looked to Twilight and Luna, giving a subtle gesture with her head. Two sets of hooves made their way out of the room, and after the doors closed, Celestia spoke, firmer than before, but no less gentle. “Tell me, Yang.”

“What?”

“Something’s on your mind. Please, tell me what it is. I’m here for you.”

Even after the hoof was removed, I couldn’t look away from the Princess, and I started talking. “I. . . I’m a shut-in workaholic.” My voice started shaking as the tears returned. “It - it took me a week to notice something was wrong. I saw the signs and did nothing! I could have helped so much sooner!” In my sorrow, I grabbed Celestia’s peytral and pulled her towards me. “How could I have been so. . . So. . .”

“Ignorant?”

“Ignorant! How?” As I broke down into tears against Celestia’s neck and began tightening my grip in the peytral, she gently wrapped her wings around me.

After what felt like an hour of crying my eyes out again, but was probably only a couple minutes, I was down to simple ragged breathing. Celestia took the chance to talk to me. “If it’s any comfort to you, I once made a similar mistake myself.”

I looked up at her, somewhat disbelieving. “No.”

Celestia nodded. “Yes, I did. Have you ever heard the tale of The Mare in The Moon?”

“No. The moon’s just a solid soft white here.”

“Over a thousand years ago, Luna and I ruled from the castle in the Everfree. Ponies frolicked, worked, and had fun during my days. During Luna’s nights, everypony was asleep, and there was no praise for the effort she put into her work. Ponies also came to associate the night with monsters, and Luna didn’t like that either. For days, weeks, months, years, that was how things were. Luna, in her jealousy and anger, became Nightmare Moon. We fought, and I had to use the Elements of Harmony, banishing her to the moon for a thousand years. Through my ignorance, I turned Equestria from a diarchy into a monarchy. Every night for those thousand years, I paid for my ignorance, alone and with a reminder of what I’d done every time I moved the sun and moon. A few years ago, Luna was finally cleansed of the evil I had allowed to ferment and grow, and since then, things have been much better between us. If anything, she seems to get more praise than I do now, more often than not.”

“Really?”

“Oh yes. Three months after her return, I was teaching her about the modern laws, and she was getting terribly confused. Something snapped in her, she calmly grabbed one lawbook, a quill, and some ink, and started going through it, writing something on nearly every page and going through three inkwells in the process. That was the beginning of the current and ongoing project of regulation reductions and redundant law removal. Something she’s gotten lots of praise for.”

The story had gotten me to forget some of my sorrows, and something clicked as I eased my grip on the peytral. “And it just kind of happened while she was gone, I presume?”

“Yes, it did. . . I suppose I was ignorant of that happening in front of me too. At least something’s being done about it now.”

“And that’s good.” I let go of the peytral and saw imprints of my hands in the metal. “Uh, Celestia?”

“Yes, Yang?”

“I may have, uh, damaged your peytral.”

“Hm?” Celestia floated her peytral off and looked at it. “So you have,” she observed with a casual tone. “Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble for that. I have more I can wear while this one gets fixed.”

I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding when the fact that I wasn’t in trouble sunk in. “Thanks.” My stomach, tired of sitting on the sidelines, spoke up loudly right afterwards. “I guess it’s food time now.” I went back to my seat and quickly started on my lunch. “Mmm, thish is ghood,” I said around a mouthful of the pasta salad.

“I’ll let the chefs know.” Celestia rang a bell, and a chef came out of the nearby kitchen. As I continued my meal, Celestia spoke with the chef, and he started beaming with pride.

Meanwhile, Luna and Twilight were walking through the halls, the former’s chambers their destination. As they did that, they were also discussing a theory. “Could you explain it again, Twilight?” Luna asked. “I’m afraid I didn’t understand all of it.”

Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes before explaining her idea a second time. “There’s a theory in magical research that, during a foal’s first year, their magic, little as it may be, is ‘formless’, making it wild and unpredictable. This tends to stop around a foal’s first birthday, and the theory states that the magic has settled down due to the ambient magic, activity in the environment, and the absorption of magic from milk, food, and other edibles. The theory also claims that this first year of experience also plays a significant part in the development of a pony’s special talent, though not enough to predict it.”

“Is there not a counter theory to that saying that the foal simply learns how to control their magic on their own and that there is no link to a special talent?”

“There is, and I’ll get to that later. Anyways, Yang’s been here for almost a year, and hasn’t developed any magic on her own.”

“What about the music magic she has? That kicked off some research efforts into the subject.”

“That came from direct exposure to an unnaturally high concentration of music magic during her fight against the Unmusician. In the days that followed, she was struggling with it, showing her inexperience with magic, like a foal. After I helped her, she learned how to control it, and I’d be willing to bet she uses it in the kitchen to help keep things going on occasion.”

“Back to your original theory.”

“Right. As I said before, this is just a guess based on theories and speculation, but I think Yang might develop some magic of her own around the end of the month. I have no clue what it would be like, as there’s nobody like her in this world, nor does the world on Sunset’s side of the mirror have any references in their media to her.”

“So she might develop some kind of magic around the end of the month simply because she will have been here for a year, but you have no idea what kind it would be. Is that right?”

“Yes. It could also simply not happen, and just wind up just being speculation on my part. ” Twilight stopped and looked around at the hallway. “I think we may have missed your chambers, Luna.”

Luna looked around the hallway. “So it would seem. Fortunately, we are not far.” Luna and Twilight turned around and began the short walk back to the diarch’s doors. “If you were to guess, what kind of abilities would Yang develop?”

“Following the first theory, the environment shaping the magic through the first year, I would say something with cooking. The fact that she spends a lot of time doing just that is also a contributing factor, along with her rather peaceful personality. Of course, I could be wrong and she might get cryokinetic abilities instead. Or nothing. If she did get something, she would likely be able to bring it under control in three days or so, possibly without realizing it.”

“Ice magic would be quite ironic with her. Then again, it could be just the thing she needs to counter that cold weakness of hers.” Just then, they came to Luna’s doors. “Ah, here we are. Have a good day, Twilight.”

“Sleep well, Luna.”

“-And that was the moment I realized that Blueblood had no idea what a donut even was,” Celestia concluded.

I blinked at her a few times as I wrapped my head around Celestia’s story. “O~kay then. I’ve heard of stupidity and ignorance, but not knowing what a donut is at fifteen is new.”

“To this day, I still occasionally wonder how it happened. Still, I’m glad to see you’re feeling better now.”

“Yeah. I guess a good laugh about a noble is always a good thing. So, is there anything you need from me today?”

“Well, there is a meeting of the nobles that I will be heading in a couple hours. I’m sure Fancy and Fleur would love to see you join us at the foal table.”

“Foal table? Wait. . . That’s the small one you brought in to work at while the others planned their vengeance on me, right?”

“Correct.”

I took a moment to consider her offer. “I’ll pass on it. As much fun as it could be, I’d rather not get involved. Can I just, I don’t know, go join the guards for training or something?”

“Hmm. . .” Celestia tapped a hoof to her chin as she considered my request. “Under normal circumstances, the answer would be No. However, you are a national hero-”

“As much as I’d rather forget it,” I said under my breath.

“-And you have proven yourself to be quite able to handle yourself.”

“It’s legal stuff getting in the way, isn’t it?”

“Always,” Celestia admitted with a sigh. “There’s all kinds of laws on the books regarding liability that come into effect when somepony gets hurt, especially in the guard. The way they’re written, it’s possible for two privates to get into a fight, cause thousands of bits in damage to their camp, and only the pony in charge of the camp would take any heat.”

“That’s messed up.”

“Fancy and Fleur have been working on a replacement for it, and are trying to keep it under ten pages. So far, they’ve gotten it down to thirteen, which is still a big improvement over the fiftyish pages it currently is.”

I started considering the new information, considering what I could do that wouldn’t cause the potential for problems. Eventually, I made a decision. “I’m going out there anyways. Which way is it?”

Celestia pointed with a wing to the door I came in through. “That way, outside of course. Just listen and you’ll find it easily enough.”

“Thanks.” After bidding Celestia a good day, I left to find the training grounds for the guards.

I found the training grounds with ease, thanks to Celestia’s advice. The clanking of armor, marching of hooves, and shouts of drill instructors were unmistakable. One of the shouting instructors sounded vaguely familiar as well, though I couldn’t quite place where I’d heard it before.

I scouted around the edges of the camp, seeing armored and unarmored ponies running around the perimeter. The unarmored ones had more variety of color to them, and were made up of both mares and stallions. “Huh. Is that what they look like without armor?”

After settling in to watch from a tree, a devious plan started forming. “Okay, let’s see here. . . If I do this, either they won’t notice me, or they’ll scatter. One or the other.” A group of ponies, unarmored, started coming from one side of my vantage point. “Here goes.” As soon as the group passed me, I jumped down and started running with the back of the herd.

I hadn’t even made it five steps with them when a red unicorn mare with a pointy bright blonde mane and tail, in the span of only a few seconds, turned around, leapt at my face with a forehoof, swung around, hit me in the back of the knees, pinned my arms behind my back, and slammed my face into the dirt.

“Don’t worry, Sergeant Iron Hoof, I’ve got the intruder subdued!” the mare announced, her English accented voice full of pride and enthusiasm.

“Private Searing Victory, do you know who that is?” Iron Hoof’s voice was mostly level, though with a bit of anger to it.

“Sir, whoever it is, they almost got the drop on us.”

“DO YOU KNOW WHO THAT IS?”

“N-no Sir, I don’t.”

I was tired of my face being in the dirt, and I finally noticed that my legs weren’t being restricted by anyone or anything. Before Iron Hoof could answer, I decided to return Searing Victory’s favor. I quickly got up onto my knees and continued the motion backwards, giving the mare no chance to get out of the way before I slammed her into the ground. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her gasp from the impact.

“That, Private, is Yang Xiao Long. You may have heard of her before.”

I looked the mare in the eyes as she looked at me with dawning comprehension. “Hi.”

“H-Hi,” Searing quietly said.

“Private Searing Victory, you are hereby dismissed from training,” Iron Hoof scolded. “I expect to see you in my office at 4 PM for appropriate recourse. Until then, you are to accompany Miss Xiao Long and do what she asks. Is that clear?”

“Yessir!”

“Dismissed.” Iron Hoof turned back to the rest of the herd. “Get going!” At his command, they resumed their run, the Drill Sergeant back in the lead.

I sat up, now free of Searing’s grip and letting her out from under me. “Well, that didn’t go as expected.”

“You were planning something all along?” Searing got up and sat next to me, still suspicious of my actions.

“Yeah. Just to join you guys and kill some time. I wasn’t planning on anyone attacking me like you did.”

“I didn’t hurt you too badly, did I?”

I shrugged. “Eh, nothing my aura can’t take. Compared to getting punched into a cliff, it wasn’t all that bad.” I got to my feet and Searing got to her hooves at the same time. “Certainly far from pleasant though. You’ve got moves.”

“Thanks, Miss Xiao Long.” Silence reigned for a moment. “Soooo, is there anything you would like me to do for you? We have a couple hours before I have to be at the Sergeant’s office.”

I thought back to my original intent of killing time with exercises. “How about taking me through some of the cleaner exercises?”

Searing Victory gave me a sharp salute. “Yes, Ma’am!”

At 4 PM, I walked into the Sergeant’s office with Searing slumped over my shoulder and a fair amount of dirt on both of us. Iron Hoof was there, and the trace of nervousness I caught before he put on his tough guy act turned to curiosity. “Dare I ask, Miss Xiao Long?”

“Depends on the question,” I said as I set the exhausted mare into a seat across from Iron Hoof.

Iron Hoof sighed before asking “What happened?”

“Well, it started with the wall climb, then things just went downhill from there.” I gently pulled a twig out of my hair. “I don’t know how it all happened either. I did learn something though.”

“What did you learn?”

“That being fireproof does not cover suffocation when the fire is on your face.”

Iron Hoof scrutinized my unburned face for a few seconds. “And how did that happen?”

“Heat of the moment, Sergeant,” Searing said. “Escalation of dares, she said she was fireproof, and I tried to set her face on fire. Turns out she really is fireproof.”

The Sergeant sighed and massaged his temples before asking another question. “I’ll look at the damage reports later. Searing Victory, this is the third time this month your jumpiness has gotten you into trouble, and so I see no choice: you are hereby discharged from the Canterlot boot camp.”

That caught Searing’s attention. “What!?”

“I already told you why, and I’ve already filed the paperwork to make it official.”

“Well, that went south really fast,” I thought as I saw Searing’s face fall.

“B-but I don’t have anywhere else to go!” Searing pleaded.

“Big heart, stay out of this. . .”

“I don’t care about that, Searing,” Iron Hoof firmly stated. “I don’t care where you go or what you do once you’re out. You have thirty minutes to get your things and get out of camp.”

“Y-yessir!” Despite her exhaustion, Searing quickly picked herself up and ran out the door to follow her orders.

A few seconds after the door closed, Iron Hoof turned to me. “I’m sorry you had to see that, Miss Xiao Long.”

My gaze lingered on the door for a bit. “Yeah. . .” Meanwhile, the idea of helping Searing Victory, and possibly hiring her, was at direct conflict with my not wanting to get involved with her. I put the conflict aside and turned back to Iron Hoof. “How have you been since my mistaken enrollment?”

“Things have gone well. The recent batch of recruits has been a mess though. Searing is only the latest dismissal.” He looked into my eyes for a moment, as if reading them. “I really don’t care what happens to her. If you care, then by all means, go help her yourself.”

“He doesn’t care, nobody else in the guard probably cares, so I can help her without worry.

“Shut up, Brain. It’s not my place to get involved with her.

“Not even just to help get her hooves back under her?

“No!

“Couldn’t you use another bartender?

“Well. . .

“Aegir, Fuzz, and Doodle can teach her. And, with her training, she can also act as security. The nobles are after you anyways, so she could also be a bodyguard. Killer instincts, efficient moves, and passion for the job.

“But-

“She would be a worthwhile investment in the business, and your safety.

“. . . You win his time, Brain.”

“Miss Xiao Long?”

“Huh? Oh.” I snapped myself from my thoughts. “Sorry, had a bit of a brainstorm there. Arguing with myself. Did you say something?”

“I asked how you’re holding up. I heard about that thing in Ponyville yesterday, and how you fought with the Princesses.”

“It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t fun. But at least it’s over with and things can go back to normal. Speaking of which, I still need to catch a train back home.”

“Get going then.”

“Right. Have a good day, sir.” I left the office without another word, a simple plan already forming in my head.

I hadn’t been leaning on the post by the gate to the camp for even a minute when Searing Victory walked out, looking like her world had just ended. For the first time, I got a good look at her cutie mark: a blue ribbon on a gold trophy engulfed in flames. It was rather fitting of her name.

“Hey,” I casually said as she walked past.

“What do you want?” Searing asked, her voice both sad and a bit ticked off.

“First, I want to say I’m sorry.” Searing stopped when she heard that. “I didn’t think anyone would react the way you did, and in hindsight, my whole idea to join the guard training like that was dumb. If I hadn’t jumped in like that, well, you’d still be there.”

“You think?” I could almost taste the bitterness in the remark.

“Yeah. I’d also like to offer you some help.”

“You think I’d want your help after what you did?”

“How about hearing out my offer before deciding?”

Searing turned around to face me, and for a few seconds, said nothing. Finally, she broke the tension. “Alright, I’ll listen to your offer.”

“Come to Ponyville. I can offer you a job and help you get on your hooves there. With your guard training and skills, you would also be pretty good at spotting trouble and intervening if needed. The bartenders I already have can teach you the skills needed there. The pay is really good, and I’d even be willing to let you stay in the guest room until you get your own place.”

Searing thought my offer over for the better part of a minute before answering. “I’ll give it a shot.”

“Excellent.” With the offer accepted, Searing and I started on the path to the train station. “Say, do you have any family?”

“Yeah, but they’re all in Scoltland.” Searing’s voice picked up an edge of anger. “Bunch of drunk pacifists who wouldn’t notice a manticore if it was eating them. I ran away three years before I got my mark, it was so bad.”

“When did you get your cutie mark?”

Searing looked up in thought, her mood already leaving the anger. “I was about six-”

“You ran away when you were three?”

“Yeah, I was. Anyways, I’d found myself in an illegal fighting ring in the Minotaur Kingdom, real bad place, and I was making a name for myself in my division. A blank flank unicorn filly who fought more like an earth pony, beating young minotaurs that were twice my height. And let me tell you, I grew up fast while I was there.” When Searing mentioned it, I looked her over and noticed that she was a bit taller than average, probably even a couple inches taller than Twilight. “So they upped the ante and sent in two minotaurs to fight me.”

“How did that go?”

“I fared well against them, but fighting both at once was tiring me out and they were winning. I was aiming to simply knock one back with a telekinetic shove, but I did something different and wound up hitting one of them with red hot magic, giving him a minor burn. I did it again and, after using it a few more times, discovered my talent with the stuff and won that fight. Then they threw me out. Literally. I probably got a couple minutes of airtime before landing.”

“That’s a strong throw.”

“Yep. They didn’t call him ‘Catapult’ for nothing.” My mind briefly wandered back to the Iron Ring tournament, and I considered the possibility that this Catapult guy was Jupiter. “The landing was rough, but I came through alright. I picked myself back up, got to the Twin Horns Bay, made it here, and I’ve just been going around from place to place since then, mostly boot camps around Equestria. Never lasted more than three months at any of them.”

“Huh.” My hope at her being around the Carne Den started diminishing at that. It was also at that moment that I realized something. “And I just realized that my things are still at the castle.”

Searing perked up a bit and asked, “Want me to get them for you?”

“No, I can do it. I’m pretty fast myself.” I turned onto a road that faced the castle and started up it.

Searing persisted and was right next to me. “Look, if I’m working for you, I should do things for you. That’s how it works.”

I picked up the pace a bit. “Yeah, but only at work. These are my things, so I will take responsibility for getting them.” Searing still kept even with me, though I could tell she was getting tired again.

The race was on.

Both of us stumbled and collapsed from exhaustion onto the stone floor of the castle’s entrance when we got there, the race turning out to be a tie. The floor was a bit chilly for my liking, so I moved over to the carpet and felt a bit better.

Before long, a mare came up to us. “Do you two need something?”

“Water,” Searing panted out.

“That sounds good,” I got out between breaths.

The mare motioned with her head towards one of the guards, who went off to get the water. “Is there anything else?”

I had to wrack my brain for a moment before I remembered why I needed to come to the castle. “Yeah, I left my things here.” The guard who left to get the water looked back when he heard me, and he and the mare nodded before he went on his way.

“It will be taken care of.”

Before I could object, the mare was helping Searing and me get to more normal sitting positions, apparently not caring that we were in the middle of the floor, and that there was dirt coming off of us. “I am definitely taking a shower when I get home.”

A couple minutes later, the guard came back, carrying a couple canteens of water and my bag. After giving the items to us, he went back to his post. Searing almost tore the cap off of hers before chugging the contents while I drank mine at a more sedate pace.

Once we were done, the mare took the empty canteens to her desk and sat down behind it. “Go ahead and take a few more minutes to rest, but of you’re there much longer, I will have you escorted out.”

It didn’t take too long for Searing and I to recover to the point where we could walk, and so we saw ourselves out with no fuss. We also agreed to just walk to the train station. During the walk, I checked the bits I had with me and saw that I had enough for two tickets to Ponyville and some onboard snacks.

During the trip, I formally interviewed Searing, teaching her what I could about bartending along the way. She paid close attention to what I told her, and asked a few clarification questions as well. After that was done, we had some snacks, and I admitted my sudden want of a bodyguard. She was rather accepting of the idea, though a bit nonplussed that I hadn’t said it upfront.

Ponyville wasn’t as much of a mess as I was dreading. There were more ponies than usual, medical by the looks of it, and they were already helping affected ponies get back to normal. Most of it was simply walking and joint movements, though there was one unicorn who was working on his magic.

“So, is this normal for Ponyville?” Searing asked as we walked to the Carne Den.

“No, it isn’t,” I answered. “A big thing happened here recently, ended yesterday, and. . . You know what, just keep an eye on the paper. It’ll probably be on the front page.”

Moments later, we entered the Carne Den and were promptly greeted by Honey Suckle. “Hello, Yang.” She looked between Searing and I for a moment. “Did you find somepony. . . Special?” she teased.

I gave her a flat glare. “No. It’s a complicated story for why she’s here, I’ll let her tell it if she wants. She’s going to be a new bartender. Aaaand I just realized that she’ll need a uniform fitting the position.”

“Is there a problem with that?” Searing asked, having caught the disappointment in my voice.

“No, except the mare who makes our uniforms is probably out of commission right now.” I dismissed Honey Suckle with a wave of my hand in the direction of a guest who needed something. “We can still start your training at the bar.” I lead Searing over to the bar, both of us taking a seat at it.

“Who’s the blonde, boss?” Fuzz asked when she came over.

“I’m the blonde. This is Searing Victory, and she’s going to be a new bartender.”

Searing stopped gaping at Fuzz and turned to me. “You never told me you had a dragon as a bartender.” She looked between Fuzz and me a couple times.

I awkwardly rubbed the back of my head as I answered. “Yeah, kind of slipped my mind. Anyways, Searing, this is Fuzz. She will start you down the honorable path of bartending.”

“I wouldn’t call it honorable, Yang,” Fuzz snarked.

“The, uhm, somewhat messy and slightly prestigious position of bartending?”

“I’ll accept that.”

“You change it every time. Anyways, she doesn’t have a uniform yet, go ahead and start teaching her anyways. I need to take care of a few things.”

“You got it, Boss.” As I left to go upstairs, I could hear Fuzz give a less than subtle warning to Searing about trying to make fireball whiskey.

After setting my bag in my room and changing to some cleaner clothes, I checked the guest room to make sure it was ready for use. “When was the last time I dusted in here?” There was a decent layer of dust on everything. The bed, desk, chair, wardrobe, everything had dust on it. “I’ll check on Rarity first.”

I walked into Carousel Boutique and was promptly greeted by the sight of Rarity laying down on a fainting couch, a counselor sitting by her head, notepad and pen in his magic, and a pegasus mare, working on moving Rarity’s joints.

“Miss Belle, we’re not going to get anywhere if you don’t talk with us,” the stallion said.

“Is this a bad time?” I politely asked.

The counselor looked up. “Ah, Miss Xiao Long. I do apologize, but Miss Belle is a tad. . .”

“Catatonic?” the mare suggested.

“Yes, catatonic. We’ve been able to get her to eat, at least. I’m afraid that any business you may have here will have to be put on hold for now.”

“Darn,” I pouted. “Is there any estimate on how long it’ll take for her recovery?”

“Hopefully, just a week, but this kind of case is unprecedented, so we don’t know.”

“Ah. Well, thanks. I’ll check in regularly. Thanks.” With that, I left to go back home to prepare the guest room.

Overhealing

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“So, how do you like the work, Searing?” I asked as I sat down at the bar. It had been a week since her hiring, and she was doing good work.

“It’s good,” Searing answered with a cheerful nod. She was still learning a few things, and was with Aegir. “I still feel a bit out of place, though.”

“Rarity’s still out, so there’s no uniform for you yet. She started talking on her own a couple days ago, but she’s still not really moving. Dr. Counsel thinks she might be afraid to move on her own, or something like that.”

“That sucks.”

“Yeah. At this point, it’ll probably take a miracle to get her back to moving again.” An idea suddenly crossed my mind. I knew that I probably wouldn’t like it, but it would be very likely to get Rarity back to normal. “Aegir, I’m afraid I’ll have to borrow Searing.”

Aegir looked between me and Searing for a moment. “Go ahead.”

Searing joined me as I left the Carne Den, and I could tell she was nervous. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, nothing at all,” I answered, some nervousness slipping into my voice. “I’m more concerned about myself, really.”

“Well, if you say so.” A few seconds passed before Searing asked another question. “Yang, why did you not tell me about Asada before she scared me? I wasn’t expecting a bear when I signed on!”

“I’m sorry, but I forgot about her. I probably don’t think about her as much as I should, but she’s so low maintenance, it’s easy to forget she’s even around sometimes.”

I walked in and came across the familiar scene of Rarity, the counselor, and the nurse. “Hello, Yang,” Dr. Counsel politely greeted. “I’m afraid we haven’t returned Rarity to normal yet.”

“I think I can help with that,” I said as I approached Rarity, the doctor and nurse moving aside. “Hi, Rarity.”

“Hello, Yang,” Rarity dryly responded. “I fear I won’t be able to help you right now.”

“I think you will.” I turned to the doctor. “Do you mind if I move her somewhere else for a bit?”

“Go ahead.”

I picked Rarity up, and she was very light. I wasn’t even using very much strength to lift her. After getting her into a more comfortable position, I took her into the inspiration room and sat her down in her chair. She did not resist me at all. “Okay Rarity, I need a couple things from you.”

“All I can give you right now is opinions,” Rarity said. “I can’t move anything anymore.”

I ignored Rarity’s drama. Sweetie Belle had shown up at the Carne Den after my return, and while she was a bit rigid, she was otherwise moving about and talking like normal. “I need a uniform for my newest employee, and-” I took a breath to start steeling my nerves. “Has Pinkie told you about my birthday?”

“It’s around the end of the month, right? But why ask me? I won’t even attend.”

“Rarity, I. . . I want. . . I want. . . Why is this so hard for me to ask?” The request was in my mind, but it just wasn’t coming out.

Rarity showed some motion when she turned her head and looked at me inquisitively. “Go on, darling. Just say it. What do you want?”

I took one final breath before getting the question out. “I know asking for presents is rude, but could you make a dress for me for my birthday?”

The silence in the room was heavy. Neither Rarity or I moved for a few very long seconds. She was the one to break the silence, slamming her forehooves on the table and raising herself up, face lit up with a smile to rival Pinkie Pie on a very slightly subpar day. “I thought you’d never ask! Oh, I have got to start getting these pent up ideas down immediately! Something nice, something strong, something reflective of you! I’ll have to look back at my references to refresh my memory though. Maybe Twilight’s got some new things for me to look through. . .”

“Rarity?”

Rarity casually waved a hoof at me as she started floating lots of paper and pencils at once. “Yes, yes, I’ll get your new employee her new uniform. It is the red mare out there, right?”

“Yeah, that’s her. She’s a bartender.”

“Leave her with me for a couple hours and she will be dressed and ready.”

“I’ll pay for her uniform tomorrow.”

“You know the amount. Now shoo, you aren’t supposed to see these.”

I left Rarity and closed the door behind me. The counselor, nurse, and Searing were all there. “Well, I did it. She’s working again.”

“Dare I ask what you did?” Dr. Counsel asked.

“I asked her for a dress for my birthday.” I focused on my employee. “Searing, Rarity should-”

Rarity made a dramatic entrance at that moment, zipping over to and measuring Searing. “Hmm, yes, yes, of course. Yang?”

“Yes, Rarity?”

“A lighter blue would work much better with her eye color than the blue you’ve been using.”

“No, Rarity.”

“Oh, fine. Regular blue it will be, then.”

I turned back to Searing. “Anyways, just wait here until you have your uniform, then come on back to finish any training Aegir has for you.” I ducked a large flying spool of thread as I left the growing storm of fabric and sewing supplies. “Mind your head!” I went out and was greeted by Fluttershy and Sweetie Belle, both almost back to normal. “Hello.”

“Hi, Yang,” Fluttershy greeted. “Have you been checking up on Rarity too?”

I opened the door and saw Searing covering the therapist and nurse as they made their way out of the whirlwind of things in Rarity’s magic. Rarity was cackling at the middle of it. “Finally, after weeks of imprisonment, I’m free! It’s time to conquer fashion! Again!”

I closed the door and slowly looked back at Fluttershy and Sweetie Belle. “I think I fixed her a bit too well.”

“Did you ask her to make a dress for you?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Yes, I did.”

Sweetie turned to Fluttershy. “Could I stay at your place until Rarity calms down?”

“As long as you leave a letter on the inside of the door letting her know you’re alright,” Fluttershy answered.

“Yes, Fluttershy.” Sweetie promptly got some things out of her saddlebags and started writing a letter.

“Well, that’s that, so I guess I’ll just go wait for my birthday to come,” I remarked. “I’ll see you around.”

“Bye, Yang,” Fluttershy said with a slightly stiff wave of a forehoof.

I sat down at the bar and put my face in my hands, dreading whatever Rarity would come up with.

“Something got you down, Yang?” Aegir asked as he cleaned a glass.

“I’m not looking forward to my birthday now,” I said through my hands. “I asked Rarity to make a dress for me.”

“You don’t like them?”

“More that I really don’t want to wear one, but getting Rarity back to normal was a bigger priority. I may have just unleashed something even worse though.”

“Hmmm. Give her a few days and she’ll probably calm down.”

“Yeah, I hope so.” I set my arms down and straightened up. “Mind getting me a mug of apple cider? The soft stuff.”

“Coming up.” Mere moments later, Aegir set a mug of cider in front of me.

“Thanks.” I picked up the mug and started drinking the delicious cider, not stopping until the mug was empty. After setting the empty mug down, I set the appropriate amount of bits on the counter, plus a little extra. “Searing should be back before the dinner rush with her uniform.”

“Sounds good.”

I left the bar and went upstairs to my room, and decided to kill time by reorganizing everything.

Birthday Blast

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A knock, patient and persistent, came from my bedroom door as I was in the middle of waking up. “Who is it?” I asked, still groggy from a very comfortable night’s sleep. I had dreams of huge raging fires, peaceful and serene. It was a very confusing combination.

“It’s Rarity~” came the voice from the other side.

“Come in.” I said as I started getting out of bed. When I saw her with a box in her magic, motion back to normal, a thought occurred to me. “How did you even get in here? I thought I locked the doors last night.”

“I let her in,” Searing said from the doorway. “I’ll just go look for a place of my own now.” She left Rarity and me to go on her quest.

Before doing anything else, Rarity said “Please, allow me to be the first to say-”

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY YANG!” Pinkie shouted from the doorway, startling me to full wakefulness. “Just had to. Back to party prepping!” She zipped out of sight in the opposite direction of the stairs.

A white hoof stopped me from investigating. “Don’t try to figure it out, Yang. It’s not worth it.”

“But. . . But. . . How?” I stammered out.

“It’s Pinkie Pie, dear.”

“Right. Pinkie.” I took a few breaths to calm myself down and collect my thoughts.

“Anyways, happy birthday, dear. I have the dress you asked for right here.”

I accepted the box from Rarity, set it on the bed, opened it, and pulled out the dress. The front and back were black while the sides had a fire-like look to them, a mix of reds, oranges, and yellows. “So, can you tell me a bit about this dress?”

“Of course, dear.” Rarity gently took the dress in her magic and started explaining it. “The sides are made of satin, magically recolored to what you see now, a gentle fire that shines and shimmers in the light. They frame the front and back, made of a luxurious cotton and spandex mix, cut to match your curves, and framed by they satin fire. The skirt, a circular one, comes down to just below your knees, which is the shortest length I felt you would be comfortable with.”

“Well, you’re not entirely wrong. . .”

Rarity continued as if I hadn’t said anything. “Moving upwards, I gave it a high neckline, as that fits your personality better than a lower one that would show off your chest, lovely as that would be.”

“There’s nothing for my shoulders though.”

“All the better to draw attention to your curves. Going straight up would not have flowed well with the rest of the design.” She turned the dress around. “And back here, I put a low profile zipper, going from the neck to the small of your back to make it easier to put on and take off. Most of the time, it will be hidden by your hair, but even if it’s revealed, the low profile and folds of material keeps it out of sight.” She floated a smaller box out of the one the dress was in and opened it. “I also made some undergarments that you could wear with this dress.” The pieces in question were black and joined the dress. “Finally, I made some simple shoes to go with it.” A pair of open top heels came out. “I kept the heels short and simple, so you shouldn’t have any problems walking with them on.”

“Wow. That’s a lot of thought you put into this.” I collected the items from Rarity’s magic. “I guess this is the part where I put it on.”

“Of course, darling.”

I sighed. “Well, I may as well take my shower since I’m up already.”

After my shower and putting the ensemble on, I came back to my room, Rarity organizing my clothes. “Rarity?”

“Just a moment, dear.” Rarity hummed a bit to herself for a few seconds as she finished what she was doing. “There we go. All neatly organized.” She turned away from her finished task and looked at me. “Oh my.”

“Did I do something wrong?” I looked over the simple dress, trying to see if something was off.

“Oh no dear, quite the opposite. You look even better in it than I imagined! Everything is just perfect! Tell me, how does it feel?”

“It feels very nice. It fits perfectly. The shoes are easy to walk in as well. But. . .” I could feel the blush coming on.

“Well?”

I took one more breath before admitting what was getting to me. “It just feels strange not wearing something on my legs. I did it before, yeah, but it still feels kind of weird.” I looked at a thoughtful Rarity for a moment before I realized something. “I’m complaining about that to someone from a species that doesn’t normally wear anything.”

“I’m. . . Not quite sure what to say to that. Hmmm. . . Have you tried simply not thinking about it?”

I gave Rarity a flat look. “Okay then. Don’t think about pink elephants.”

An upset look of understanding came across Rarity’s face. “Point made. Look, Yang, if you just let yourself enjoy the party, you’ll forget about the issue. Really, it’s quite minor. Now, come, come, there’s a party waiting for you at the Olive Branch Cafe.”

I looked at the fountain on my desk that had come from there after I beat Tirek. “It’s been a while since I’ve been there.”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s not keep everyone waiting.” Before following Rarity out, I put the Ember Celica away in a drawer. I didn’t want to wear them to the party.

To say I was somewhat nervous on the walk to the cafe would be like saying the sun was a tad bright. The heels were so far past the bottom of what was bothering me that they weren’t even on the list. The sensations in my legs from wearing the dress was becoming very much a non-issue, along with my exposed shoulders.

The thing that was bothering me most of all was ponies stopping to look at me. It was like they’d never seen me in a dress before, which was very true. I even saw a few bits get exchanged upon my being seen. “Bets on me wearing a dress? Meh, weirder things have happened. Like Pinkie Pie.”

It felt like Rarity was leading me on a somewhat circuitous path to the cafe, having a one way conversation with me that I was tuning out. Something about what celebrity did what with who and the scandal of it all. Some things really weren’t all that different compared to Earth.

Finally, we arrived at the cafe. The first thing I noticed was the lack of outdoor seating. After that was a sign on the front door that said “Reserved until 2 PM” in big bold letters. As we approached, a mare opened the door and welcomed us inside. The interior had a myriad of colorful decorations, tastefully placed and very cheerful. There was also a stack of presents off to one corner, colorful and neatly stacked on a table.

“Hey, it’s the birthday girl!” Gilda announced before doing a double take. “And she looks great.” A chorus of agreements came from the gathered guests, some of them employees, others business partners, a few friends from around town, and, much to my surprise, Celestia and Luna.

“Thanks, everyone,”I said before I approached the royal sisters. “I didn’t think you two would be here.”

“How could we not be here?” Luna asked. “Attending a celebration for someone who’s saved Equestria multiple times in one year is simply good visually.”

“And we are totally not using it as an excuse to take the day off from court,” Celestia added. The sarcasm was so clear, I wouldn’t have been surprised if a bird flew into it.

“Enough with the greetings,” Pinkie suddenly said. “Let’s get this party started!”

For over an hour, there were lots of party games going on. They were simple, what one would call childish, but they were lots of fun. I also got repeatedly complimented on the dress, and Rarity was never far from me, claiming rightful credit for designing and making it.

During the last game, I decided to ham it up and go overdramatic, after getting a few tips from Luna. “And so another has fallen,” I dramatically said as Berry Punch left the competition. I let everyone tremble for a bit before continuing. “And now, your glorious leader will make her next declaration.” I gave the arrow on the piece of cardboard in my hand a good flick. “What’ll it be? What’ll it be?” The arrow came to a stop. “The wheel of fate demands. . . Right foreleg green.”

I had lots of fun watching everyone try to contort to the move on the mat. It turned out that that would be the last call for the round, as someone slipped, causing nearly everyone to fall. “Ha! Ah’ve still got it!” Granny Smith said from her place in the middle of everyone. I was amazed that Pinkie and Discord, out of everyone playing, had lost.

After everyone got untangled, except for Discord, who looked like a gordian pretzel, complete with salt flecks, Pinkie made an announcement. “May I have everyone’s attention, please?” Everyone turned to the party planner, except Discord as he tried to untangle himself. “It’s time for cake!” At Pinkie’s cue, the cafe staff rolled out serving carts. As that was happening, I was lead to a small table, set up just for me. Right as I sat down, a covered cart was rolled up next to the table, the covered item on top expertly moved into place in front of me.

The rectangular cover was lifted, revealing a gorgeous masterpiece of a cake. The icing, while mostly white, also had hints of orange and yellow swirled in it. Wafer cookies and bits of red candy decorated the sides, the candy creeping up to the top of the cake like fire. There were a few odd things I noticed, though. “Why am I at the narrow side? Why are the candles in a long triangle? And why is nobody in front of me?” I figured that it had something to do with the question I just had to ask. “Pinkie, aren’t the candles supposed to be lit?” All eighteen were present, but no flame sat atop them.

“I kind of ran out of cake budget, so I couldn’t afford the flames,” Pinkie sheepishly admitted, earning a number of confused glances her way. “How about pretending they’re burning and blow them out anyways?”

I gave Pinkie an unamused glance before turning back to the unlit candles. “May as well.” I inhaled, closed my eyes, leaned forward, and blew on the candles for a few seconds. “That did not feel like a normal breath.” I opened my eyes and saw that the candles were lit. The icing had also changed, my burning heart emblem looking burned onto the top cake. A clearing throat drew my attention forwards to Discord, who now looked like a grilled gordian pretzel, just as he coughed out a cloud of smoke and fell down. Everyone else was staring at me, except Twilight, who was writing something down. “What happened?”

“You breathed fire,” Gilda said, shocked like everyone else was. “Since when could you breathe fire?”

“This actually supports a theory in the realm of magic theory,” Twilight said from behind her scroll before I could answer. “The theory states that a foal’s magic never really firms up until they’re-” A silvery bubble appeared around Twilight, quieting her, though she didn’t seem to notice, as she was teleporting more scrolls in and apparently reading off of them.

“Apologies, everyone,” Luna said, her horn glowing. “To simplify the theory, Yang has developed what looks like fire magic after being in Equestria for a year.” I looked at my hand and saw it ignite. Instead of panicking, I was mesmerized, though I kept my hand a safe distance from everything, especially the dress. “There should be nothing to worry about though. Yang’s prior experience with music magic should be helpful with her getting it under control quickly, even if it is different.”

I turned the flames on my hand off, and started getting curious. “Can I?” I snapped at the flames on the candles and they went out like a light. “I am going to have so much fun testing this out. Safely.”

“How about we call that a present from the planet?” Pinkie suggested. “Or however you want to think of it.” She turned to me. “Ready to cut the cake, Yang?”

I looked up from the distraction of my own thoughts. “Huh? Oh, yeah, sure.” I found the knife, picked it up, made sure not to let the magic flow into it, and started cutting the cake. “Come on, no fire, no heat, no magic, just focus on the cake cutting.” I managed to hold my focus long enough to cut the end in front of me into serving size pieces before my magic set the blade on fire. “Dang it. Well, at least there’s no embers.”

Celestia took the knife from my hand and cut the flow of magic to it, the blade giving off visible heat waves. “Do you mind if I cut the rest of the cake for you, Yang?”

I briefly considered the options, and quickly chose one. “As much as I want to cut it, I don’t think I should.”

Rainbow came up next to me and put a foreleg across my shoulders. “Good choice, there. You get the honor of Princess Celestia cutting your birthday cake for you. How many ponies can say that? Aside from Twilight, anyways.”

Celestia spared a glance to the scroll lined bubble before turning back to the cake, the knife cool enough to use again, and started cutting and serving the dessert, revealing the strawberries inside. There was one corner that she cut out larger than the rest, set on a plate, and set in front of me. “Happy birthday, Yang.”

“Thanks, Princess,” I said before cautiously picking up a fork. It did not ignite, and I gave a sigh of relief. “Maybe if I don’t think about it, it won’t flare up?” I quickly cut off a piece of the cake, making sure to get a good piece of strawberry in it, and took a bite just as quickly.

The rich vanilla of the cake combined with the juicy strawberry was spectacular on its own. The infusion of orange and pineapple with a hint of honey made it even better. There was also a slight hint of a burnt flavor to the icing that somehow complimented the whole thing really well. “Well, how is it?” Pinkie excitedly asked.

I pretended to scrutinize the cake in front of me from multiple angles. “I’ll have to try another bite.” I cut off another piece and took a bite of it. It was just as good as the first one. It didn’t take long for me to finish the piece of cake, none of which landed on my dress, amazingly enough. “Uh, Pinkie?”

“Yes, Yang?”

“I think I got some experimental teleporting cake. It just vanished.”

Pinkie lifted up a floorboard and pulled out a pair of safety goggles, detective hat, and a combination lab coat and detective cloak, put them on, and began inspecting the plate in my hand. At the same time, the whole room began to dramatically darken. “Hmm, this certainly is peculiar. There are traces of cake, icing, and strawberries here, but it looks like it’s been moved about.”

“I’m telling you, it teleported.”

“A distinct possibility, my dear Yang. Let’s investigate it.” Pinkie pulled out a bubble pipe and started blowing bubbles. “But where could it have teleported to? And who could have made it look like it was eaten normally?” Someone whistling caught our attention, and we saw Celestia making the sound, trying to look innocent.

Luna got in on the act. “Sister, what did you do to Yang’s piece of cake?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Celestia said without making eye contact before whistling again.

A few snickers came from the crowd as the act went on. “Maybe we could figure out where it went by following another piece of cake?” I suggested.

“A brilliant idea, birthday girl!” Pinkie said before cutting out a small piece of cake and putting it on my plate.

As everyone watched, I ate the piece of cake, then looked down when my fork hit nothing but plate. “It happened again.” I looked up to Pinkie. “Did you learn anything?”

“I know exactly who the cake culprit is.” She went around, scrutinizing everyone. “In fact, they are in this very room. It could be any of you.” Celestia got extra scrutiny. “Especially you.”

“Hey!” Celestia said with false indignation.

“The culprit. . .” Pinkie disappeared under the floorboard she had gotten her costume out from. A second later, she opened the front door from outside. “Is Discord!”

The draconequus, framed by sunlight, was dressed up like a burglar, and even had a giant bag over his shoulder, labelled ‘totally not teleported birthday cake’ in big bold letters. “Uh, sorry?”

“No apology will save you this time, Discord!”

“Well, you won’t get this cake back so easily, Detective Scientist Pie!”

“Le gasp! You force my hoof, vile cake thief. I have no choice now, but to use my secret weapon!” Pinkie zipped into the crowd and got Fluttershy to help face Discord. “Now, do the thing, Flutters!”

Fluttershy put on a sweet smile. “Mr. Discord, please return the cake you stole.”

Discord recoiled in slow motion as if he had gotten a solid uppercut to the face, then landed like a ragdoll, dropping the cake bag in the process, cupcakes spilling out of it.

Pinkie investigated. “He turned the cake into cupcakes. And there’s enough here for everyone to take one home! Huzzah!” A collective cheer came from everyone present, except Twilight, whose silence bubble was starting to flow over with parchment. “But first, presents!”

I went over to the stack of presents and started figuring out just which one to open first. They all looked similarly enticing in their varying colors and sizes. “Which one, which one?”

“How about this one?” Applejack picked up an orange box with a red ribbon decorated with apples. It was big, but also fairly light.

I opened the box and inside was a hat like Applejack’s own, including the cut out portion of the front of the brim. I set it on my head and it fit nicely, if ever so slightly loose. “Very nice. Thanks, Applejack.”

“You’re welcome, sugarcube. Ah would’ve made a few more things for ya, but Ah didn’t know how to go about it.”

“That’s alright. Now, what’s next?”

“Mine next! Mine next!” Rainbow almost shouted before zipping in, getting her magenta and light blue present out, and giving it to me with a tad too much force.

“Alright, Rainbow,” I said, amused at her eagerness. I unwrapped her present and saw a boxed figure. “Belt Warriors 1 and 2?” The earth pony figures depicted on the box had similar green and black armor with red insect-like eyes on their helmets. While one of them had two stripes along the legs, ending in red hoof armor, the other had a single stripe and silver armor.

“There are comics with those guys in them and they fight evil monsters. Seemed like a good match to you.” Rainbow seemed quite passionate about them.

“Thanks.”

Fluttershy went next, and her present was a bag of homemade bear treats for Asada. They looked good enough to eat, though nopony else seemed to agree.

Twilight’s present was given to me by Celestia, as Twilight herself was now hidden by her pile of papers, inkwells, reference books and quills. The present was a book about me and my feats during my time in Equestria, right through the recent fight against the golem, though it made no mention of the rehab and therapy efforts afterwards.

Pinkie, surprisingly, had no presents, but said the whole party was like one big present, which I found myself agreeing to.

I was already wearing Rarity’s present.

Berry Punch gave me a bottle with a special 70 proof mix in it. The label simply called it “Everything a Pirate Needs”.

Derpy gave me a banana nut muffin from a batch she apparently had yet to make, making it super fresh, or something like that. She also gave me a coupon, from the Doctor, for three free Any Time Deliveries, which would cover about a week’s worth of meat orders.

Luna and Celestia had their present for me delivered and placed on the patio back home, which made me wonder what it was. It was something big, roughly the size of Twilight’s paper pile.

The party went on for a while longer, and more fun was had. Granny Smith won every game of Twister she played, causing some amused frustration among everyone there. I elected not to play on account of the dress I was wearing, a choice Rarity agreed with, though probably for different reasons.

After the party was over, Rarity helped bring the presents home with me. As we were walking, I noticed her starting to wobble a bit. “Are you okay, Rarity?”

“Yes, yes, I’m fine,” she said as we brought the gifts up to my room, which did not look like I remembered it when I left. The furniture had been moved around and a big fancy wardrobe was in front of the closet.

I set the stuff I was carrying down on my unmoved bed and cautiously opened the wardrobe. “Rarity, why are there so many new clothes in here?” Many of the items were dresses of various styles, with all kinds of cuts, necklines, and skirts.

“Well, you said you wanted a dress, the ideas just kept coming, and I just had to keep making them, and then I decided to have a whole wardrobe put in up here for your clothes. I designed it ahead of time at Hammer and Nails, then I had Searing lead the crew to assemble and put everything in place. I wonder how long it took?”

“Two hours,” Searing said from the doorway.

I turned to Searing in disbelief. “You lied about looking for a house today?”

“Oh I found one today in a different part of town really easily. Even talked to the realtor and negotiated a price already. Didn’t even take an hour to seal the deal. It is a bit of a fixer upper, but nothing I can’t do myself.”

I gave her a short glare. “I somewhat forgive you now.” After Searing left, I turned back to Rarity. “When was the last time you got some sleep?”

Rarity gave me a confused look. “What’s sleep?”

I immediately decided to take matters into my own hands. “I’m not sorry for this, Rarity.” I put a finger on each of her eyelids, and I pulled them down like a pair of blinds. Five seconds later, Rarity was asleep standing right where she was.

After draping Rarity over my shoulder, I went out to carry her home. On the way out, I pulled Searing over for interrogation on the way. “Alright, I want answers.” It wasn’t a statement, but a demand.

“On the wardrobe?”

“Yes. Give me the story from the beginning.”

“Well, after you left me with Rarity for my uniform, she started asking questions about how I got here. I told her I was staying with you, and she got this glint in her eye. As she was making my uniform, she cornered the counselor, the nurse, and me. She offered me 3,000 bits and a free custom dress in exchange for my cooperation.”

“And you accepted.”

“I tried to talk her down, but she was full on crazy. I held out for fifteen minutes before the counselor and nurse started telling me to accept her offer. I caved under their arguments, Rarity’s craziness, and her offer. After I accepted, I got the counselor and nurse out, then she started coming up with plans that ultimately ended up with your new wardrobe.”

“And at no point did anything seem like it wasn’t right?”

“Every point. I didn’t like what was going on, but she was maniacal, and I knew she would get worse if I went back on it, so I followed through. I even checked the law books at Princess Twilight’s castle on if Rarity’s plan constituted breaking and entering, but I could let them in without it being illegal. I still didn’t like it, though.”

I sighed as I processed everything. The scheming, untold wardrobe building, and bribery really gnawed at me. Even though it was a gain for me, the way it was done was wrong. “Do you regret it?”

“Um. . . Can I say yes and no? Because the bits helped me get the house and it’s a really nice dress.”

“I think I get it.” We walked in silence for a bit before something crossed my mind. “Searing, do you know if Sweetie Belle came back to the boutique?”

“As far as I know, no. That’s her sister, right?”

“Find her and tell her the boutique’s safe again.”

“Now?”

“Now.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Searing left with her new task, clearly eager to get it done.

As I carried Rarity to her home, I thought about the day’s events. The dress, which I was still wearing, the party, the surprise fire magic, and all the presents. It wasn’t even four, and already it had been a busy day. “Maybe I’ll see what that Everything a Pirate Needs is like. Nah, it hasn’t been that bad of a day. I’ll figure it out later. I still need to see Celestia and Luna’s present.”

After putting Rarity in her bed, I saw a smile appear on her face, which put a smile on my face. As soon as I closed the door to the boutique, I saw Fluttershy and Sweetie Belle standing there. “Is Rarity okay now?” Sweetie asked.

“She’s asleep. Apparently, she’s been awake for over a week making dresses for me.”

“I thought she was just taking lots of short naps between my visits,” Fluttershy said. “I hope she wakes up tomorrow. It would be nice to go to the spa with her again.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t come to your party, Yang,” Sweetie said. “Things just kept coming up, and I was really busy today.”

“It’s alright, Sweetie. Anyways, I’d better get back home. There’s something on the patio from Celestia and Luna for me, so I’d better go see what it is. Bye.”

It turned out to be a piano. A large, beautiful piano that also fit what few aesthetics of the patio were there, placed right next to the stage. According to the piece of paper that came with it, it was built to be incredibly durable, both against the weather and any brawls that might occur. The tuning, at least according to my music magic, was perfect.

“Now that’s really nice,” I mused to nobody. “I should send the sisters. . . A. . . Letter.” I remembered something and felt quite upset. After going back upstairs and changing to the combat outfit, sans Ember Celica, I started walking through town, my destination somewhere I’d only been once before.

Along the way, Rainbow flew down. “Yang, are you okay? I’ve never seen your hair burning like that.”

I pulled some hair around and saw that, in addition to the natural fiery glow from being me, there was also what looked like actual fire. “Totally fine, Rainbow. Just a bit upset right now. Which way to the place Rarity gets her gems from?”

“That way.” Rainbow pointed in the right direction with a wing.

“Thanks.” I left her without another word, not keen on talking further.

As I approached the wide, rocky expanse, I noticed a small pack of diamond dogs. Most of them quickly went back underground, but one of them, bigger and cockier than the rest, looked ready to start a fight. He also had what looked like heavy cobbled together armor on, each limb a different color.

I ignored him until he was in front of me, sizing me up as the others hid behind a rock and watched. “Bruticus don’t see why local pack is scared of you.”

“Well, if you get out of my way, you won’t have to find out.” Angry though I was, I still didn’t want to fight anyone.

“Feisty!” Bruticus threw a punch at me, and I countered with a punch of my own, stopping his massive fist.

“Move before I make you move.” I felt a corona of fire appear around my eyes as they finally turned red.

“Nope.” He got his other fist up and ready to punch me.

Before the punch could connect, I moved in close and threw a flaming uppercut to his smug jaw. “Then if you won’t move. . .” I moved back in again as he recoiled from the uppercut. “I’ll have to make it happen.”

A few punches and kicks to his legs and lower body later, and Bruticus was down on his back, not a single attack of his connecting. “This isn’t the end for AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!” His little triad ended when I heated the edges of his chestplate to where it was red hot, then pulled it off. After quickly absorbing the heat and cooling the armor, I swung the large piece at his armored head, resulting in a loud clang and his screaming stopping.

He was still alive and breathing when I tossed the chestplate aside and resumed my walk to a rocky cliff face. I could feel the fire on my arms and hear the music sounding of war drums. I spared only a glance to the diamond dogs that were retreating with Bruticus and his chestplate before forgetting them and going on.

Seconds after reaching the cliff, I let out an angry shout, let the fire consume me, and started punching the cliff. “WHY!” Punch. “DIDN’T!” Punch. “I!” Punch. “SAY!” Punch. “ANYTHING!?”

As I continued my violent venting over not mentioning the five bit coin again, I started fearing myself with the fire magic. “Power corrupts. Fire embodies rage and destruction.

“Fire makes food really good though. It can be constructive and make things delicious. Think of the smoker.

“Forest fires.

“Holding someone’s feet to the fire keeps them accountable, and that’s good.

“It’s a metaphor.

“Still works.

“House fires.

“Torches in ancient days. Fireplaces. Fire can be controlled.”

I was brought out of my self-argument when a stream of cool water fell on me from above. I also stopped punching the cliff, which now had scorch marks and imprints on it in front of me, plainly visible once the water stopped. As I caught my breath and turned around, I was suddenly enveloped in a Fluttershy hug. If the water hadn’t completely cooled me down, the hug certainly finished the job.

“A bit upset, Yang?” Rainbow snarkily asked, hovering behind Fluttershy.

I sighed. “Okay, I went right to explosive anger. And it was over something silly, really.”

“And what would this silly thing be?”

“I’ve been meaning to suggest something to Celestia and Luna, but every chance I’ve had, I forgot to tell them about it.” I looked at the scorched imprints on the cliff face. “I think that and the new magic might have made a bit of a volatile combination.”

“That does sound frustrating. What is it, anyways?”

“5 bit coins.”

“You too? Good to know I’m not the only one with that issue.”

“You? What?” Rainbow seemed like the last person to come up with any kind of ideas related to money.

“Seriously, do you know how much drag a big bag of bits can put on flight speed? I mean, awesome as I am, you wouldn’t tell with me, but I’ve seen it before.”

“That actually makes sense.” I looked down to the pegasus that was still hugging me. “Fluttershy, what do you think?”

“I think it sounds like a great idea,” Fluttershy said. “Maybe you should write a letter to them about it.”

“That sounds like a good idea.” I was suddenly struck by a yawn. “For later. I’m really tired now, for some reason.”

Fluttershy released me from the hug and backed up next to Rainbow. “Did I overdo it?”

“No, that’s impossible.” I let out another yawn and started the walk back. “I’m going home. Maybe I’ll see about getting this new fire stuff under control somehow.”

“Good luck!” Rainbow called out as I left the site.

I returned the wish with a single wave of my hand. “I really hope I don’t burn the place down.”

Dressing up

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To my pleasant surprise, nothing burned down in the days after my birthday as I figured out the fire magic. There were a few flares though, one of which did cause some damage to the kitchen. Fortunately, I was able to extinguish the flames very easily, keeping the damage contained.

As I was in the office writing a letter to the ponies that built the kitchen for repairs after the flares were brought under control, a thought crossed my mind. “I still haven’t gotten around to thanking Celestia and Luna for the piano.” As I was writing the letter to thank them, I remembered the 5 bit issue. “You’re not avoiding me this time, money issue.” After finishing the letter to the builders, and before the idea could escape me, I grabbed another blank piece of parchment, quickly wrote down the explanation of the 5 bit piece, and put it in its own envelope for delivery to Celestia and Luna.

After both letters were properly addressed, I took them out to the mailbox. After double checking that the one to the sisters didn’t vanish, I went back inside and to the kitchen. Things were busy again, and the kitchen had gotten swamped in the few minutes I had taken to write the letters. I did not hesitate to get back in there, and after quickly getting the gist of what was going on, I was back to cooking with the crew.

Suffice to say, things were back to normal, a big issue was off my mind, and I could not have been happier.

“Good night, everyone!” I said as the closing crew left, all of them returning a similar sentiment. Once they were gone, I took care of the final steps of closing up my home, gave Asada some TLC and snacks, and went back up to my room.

As it had since it was installed behind my back, the wardrobe full of dresses caught my attention. “I want to, but I don’t want to either.” When I put my birthday dress in there after getting back from the explosive burst of anger, I saw the other dresses that were stored in there. Some were large, elegant, and looked like the kind I would need help getting on and off. A few looked like little more than little more than tubes with necklines attached. Most looked fairly reasonable, though I didn’t have any idea how to describe some of them.

As I browsed through them again, I noticed something shiny on the back shelf behind the dresses. I also discovered that there was a back shelf behind the dresses. It was a thick spiral ring bound book, custom made by Twilight according to the front cover. I opened it and saw that the first section was made of two sets of half pages, the top half with necklines, the bottom half with skirt types, all of them done in a yellow that matched my hair and succinctly described.

After the half pages came full pages on other types of clothes. There were nearly a dozen pages on footwear alone, including diagrams of how the foot would sit in high heels or wedges, which did not look comfortable. “Where does she get all this information from?”

Reading the book was like looking at a train wreck. I didn’t really want to look at it, but I couldn’t tear myself away from it either. It was almost like a world of secrets had been revealed to me, and I was fascinated by it.

Nearly an hour later, I finished the book and set it down on the nightstand, more tired from the information in it than the full day of work prior. After changing into my robe and taking care of the nightly routine, I went to bed.

I woke up the next day later than usual, though I wasn’t concerned as it was an off day for me. “What to do today?” The book caught my interest, then the wardrobe caught my attention. “Nope. Not that. I’m good with the two I’ve worn.”

Before taking care of the morning routine, I decided to go for a run around town. I picked out the appropriate athletic clothes and got started from there.

During the shower, my mind was still stuck on the dresses. Try as I might, I couldn’t escape the thoughts, especially once I started visualizing how I would look in the dresses. “Traitorous brain! How dare you torment me like this!” The worst part of what I was imagining was the simple knowledge that I would look good in anything from the wardrobe, especially with a bit of coordination.

During my run around Ponyville, I managed to push the thoughts aside by focusing on the running. It also brought back memories of my earlier days in Ponyville, and the cravings that eventually lead to the creation of the Carne Den after meeting Gilda. It was hard to believe I’d been in Ponyville for a year, despite the recent celebration of it.

A self reflective thought came as I continued running. “I don’t like bikinis, but I’m fine with the athletic sets that are like a somewhat less exposing bikini. Weird.” I paused my thoughts to time the jump over the fence to Sweet Apple Acres. “Maybe it has to do with the water? Or that it feels a lot like a bra and panties? Maybe both.”

“Howdy, Yang!” Applejack called out as I neared her.

“Hey, Applejack.” I made a small leap into a skidding stop, coming up only a couple steps from the farmer. “What’s up?”

“Just saying hi. How do apple tarts sound for next month?”

I facepalmed as I realized I hadn’t set up the apple dessert for May. “Yeah, that sounds good. June can be turnovers, and July must have apple pie.”

“Gotcha.” Applejack quietly recited the order to herself a couple times before turning back to me. “Any particular reason you want pie in July? Just curious.”

“Well, aside from it being the first dessert we had there, it’s a bit of a traditional thing where I’m from. Fourth of July is a big day there, and apple pie is often associated with it.”

“Go on.”

I needed nothing else to be said to continue speaking. “It’s a celebration of the day America declared its independence from Britain. It wasn’t clean, it wasn’t easy, but it was the dawn of the greatest nation on the planet. One where the government stayed out of people’s lives, letting them grow and prosper.”

“Sounds like a great place to be.”

“Move forward to when I left, and it was a mess. One side didn’t like the duly elected leader, and had so much hate for him, they blindly opposed anything he said. No consideration for what he said, just automatic opposition and obstruction.”

“Kind of like the nobles that have been after you?”

“Yeah, except the nobles here have actually tried to do stuff on the side, like their original jobs. Not necessarily well, but still doing it. I wonder why nothing’s come from them lately?”

In a personal study/office in Canterlot, a pretty pony princess read a proposed bill. “A five year tariff on all imported animal products?” Celestia said to nobody before looking down at the list of who had signed the bill. The largest signature was Blueblood’s. “Not surprising, nephew. Not surprising at all.” Celestia sighed as she denied the bill and wrote down a whole list of things made from imported animal products, to be copied and sent back to those who had signed it. “The things I do for you, Yang.” It was a bad idea anyways, but the veil of the attack was as thin as dry tracing paper and half as strong, at best.

“Maybe they’re out of ideas?” Applejack suggested.

“I hope so. Anyways, I’m going to get back to the run, so I’ll see you around.”

“See ya.” Applejack waved farewell, as did I.

“That was a nice talk,” I thought as I left Applejack to her work.

By the time I got back home and to my room three laps later, my mind was firmly back on the dresses, stubbornly refusing to leave them despite my desire to not think about it. As I was changing out of the athletic clothes after jumping into my room, a little thought crept in. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try just one on for a bit.”

I closed the curtains, opened the wardrobe and grabbed a random dress. It was a small one, entirely gold and silver. The gold was very sparkly and made up most of the dress, broken up occasionally by random bits of silver. It wasn’t until I saw the silver around the neckline that I realized it shaped the gold to look like flames.

“Alright, it’s definitely a miniskirt on this, that’s easy, but what was the neckline called?” I looked around, found the book, and referred to the half pages, flipping the lower half to the miniskirt before going through the upper half. “Alright, it is. . . A straight across neckline. Rather straightforward.” I read the notes around the neckline a few times before checking the dress again. “No clear shoulder straps on here.”

After rereading the notes a few more times, I decided it was time to get it over with. After switching to the strapless bra, I put the dress on. It was a simple matter of bringing it up and zipping up the back, which wasn’t too hard, much to my surprise.

After pulling the skirt hem down a bit to make sure everything felt like it was in the right position, I walked over to the wardrobe and opened a pair of doors cleverly hidden on one of the main doors to reveal a full length mirror. “Okay, I do look good. More like I’m about to head out to a club, and that’s not happening, but I still look good. It’s not really a formal dress either, so it’s more of a private relaxation dress, I guess?”

As I was relaxing on the bed, I found myself not only quickly getting used to the way the dress felt on me, but also kind of liking it. “It’s not that bad. I still don’t want anyone to see me wearing it though.” The mere thought of someone seeing me in the minidress was enough to embarrass me.

After a bit of time, I got up, took the dress off, and was putting it back up when another one caught my attention. “It looks interesting, maybe. . . No, I said just one.

“Just one. . .

“Just one more.”

I gave in and grabbed the colorful black dress that had caught my attention. It was longer than the first one on one side, but I couldn’t tell what either the neckline or skirt type was. Before grabbing the book to figure out what the dress’s anatomy was, I decided to put it on and look in the mirror. “Now that looks good too. Looks like a sideways fiery rainbow.” I grabbed the book and picked out the neckline and skirt types. “Asymmetric neckline, left shoulder exposed, and a draped skirt, left leg showing.” When I glanced back at the mirror, now with some extra knowledge, I liked what I was seeing a bit more. A twirl played with the dress nicely, and let me see the fiery rainbow on the back.

As I walked around my room to get a feel for the dress, an idea struck me. “I have weapons and a bike with unique names. Why not name the dresses?” With the idea in mind, I was just about to leave the room when I remembered something. “I’m still wearing this dress. Gotta change to normal clothes.”

After changing back to more casual clothes, and putting the Ember Celica back on, I grabbed a small bag of twenty bits, jumped out the window, and decided to drive Bumblebee again.

One trip to the hardware store later

I got back on Bumblebee, still with 20 bits, and took off. Hammer and Nail’s didn’t have stick-on labels at all, let alone the ones I wanted. As I left for the post office, I came to an important realization: dresses and driving motorcycles is not a good combination, at least in theory. I wasn’t about to test it, though.

One trip to the post office later

I spent all twenty bits at the post office. Aside from using the Any Time Delivery to get them immediately, I also had to order them. Those took up eighteen of my bits. The last two were spent on an extra fine tipped marker with quick drying ink. On the bright side, I had gotten a few hundred labels for the eight bit order, so I wasn’t worried about running out.

Once I was back home, I found the four dresses I’d worn so far. After figuring out the labelling system I would use on the hangers and relevant storage, I got to work. The first one, from the Entrepreneur Award Ceremony, got named “Victory” and was labelled for very formal occasions. The second one, from my birthday, got the name “Burning Time” and was labelled for casual and slightly formal occasions. The glittery gold and silver one was, after lots of consideration, named “Glamour” and labelled for private home use only. The last one with the fiery sideways rainbow was named “Flamebow” and the second label was left blank, as I couldn’t think of any particular purpose for it.

The overall theme of fire did not escape me. As I was labelling Flamebow’s hanger, I noticed something about the dress that somehow eluded me when I first put it on. “Is it. . .?” I turned the dress inside out, and it became a white version of what it was before, now with the right side being the more open one. “Oh that is awesome!” I put Flamebow back on and looked in the mirror again. “I don’t know which side I like better. The colors show better on black, but white just fits me better.”

Back at the Carousel Boutique, Rarity calmly sipped her tea. She had no clue why, but she suddenly felt a great sense of satisfaction, like a difficult mission had just been accomplished. She did not know why she felt that way, nor did she care to try and figure it out either.

As she put her teacup back down, one thought did cross her mind. “I think it’s about time for a renovation around here.”

After putting Victory, Burning Time, Glamour, and Flamebow away, another dress caught my eye. “I said only one more, and I meant it.” The more I looked at the pink silk dress, the more I felt my resistance crumbling. Soon enough, I was reaching for it. “What bag of potato chips have I opened?”

The pink dress was a kimono with white trim and tastefully placed cherry blossom petals across its surface, giving it a strong Spring feel. After I took it out, I saw a large, pale green ribbon hanging on the hanger as well, which I took off as well.

Putting the kimono on was a bit trickier than I thought it would be, especially when it came to figuring out whether to put the left side over the right or right over left. After a couple minutes of deliberation, I settled on left over right. The kimono held in place decently enough, but it was also very loose. I looked back at the green ribbon and realized what it was for. Once I had readjusted the kimono to my liking, I picked up the ribbon and wrapped it around the entirety of my waist before doing my best to tie it behind my back.

Just when I was about to give up nearly twenty minutes later, I heard a familiar voice say, “Let me help you, Yang,” before taking over and tying the bow for me. It was a bit snug, but nowhere close to uncomfortable.

“Thanks, Gilda,” I said before looking in the mirror. As I was admiring the way it looked on me, I realized a couple things and quickly turned to Gilda, stopping her from leaving. “Gilda, I have a few questions for you.”

“Oh? Uh, go ahead.”

“First, how did you know how to tie that bow?”

“King Gaston fancied trips to Neighpon rather regularly, so I picked up the knowledge there.”

“That. . . Makes sense. How did you know I needed help?”

“The chefs heard your attempts.”

“Through the kitchen noise and the floor?”

“From the smoker. They asked me to see if you were okay.”

I glanced over to the window as a breeze teased the curtains a bit. I didn’t remember opening it, which confused me. “Oh.”

“Anything else?”

I gave Gilda a stern glare. “You tell anyone about this and I will burn your feathers off multiple times. Got it?”

“Got it.” It was barely audible, but I caught a slight “meep” from her as well.

“Good.” I left the intimidating tone behind, assured Gilda wouldn’t spill the beans. “So, how do I look in this kimono?”

Gilda quickly collected herself before answering. “You look great to me. I don’t know how you would look to other, um. . . What are you again?”

“Human, the word you’re looking for is ‘people’.”

“Right, that. Them. Whatever. Anyways, glad to see everything’s alright up here. I’ll just tell them you were getting a bit frustrated trying to organize your dresses.”

“How did you?” I looked to the side and saw the open wardrobe. “Right. Rarity gave me those and the wardrobe behind my back while we were at my birthday party.”

“But she was there with us. . .”

“She coerced Searing into it. Dubious, legal, and a bit terrifying. Got a whole crew in here to build it under Searing’s guidance. Anyways, get going.”

“Right. See you around.” As Gilda closed the door behind her, I closed the window.

“Well, that was interesting.” I went back to the wardrobe and looked myself over in the mirror, even posing a bit. If there was one thing I couldn’t deny, it was simply how good I looked. Something else I couldn’t deny was just how comfortable the whole thing felt. “This is going to be a guilty pleasure. I just know it.”

I picked up the hanger the kimono was on, stuck a pair of labels on it, and started trying to come up with a name and purpose for it. “Let’s see. . . Nothing with ‘step’ works. St. Springep is lame. Springtime is too simple. No, it needs a poetic name.” I picked up the desk chair, took it over in front of the mirror, and sat down so I could get a good look at it on me. “A Japanese name is out. I don’t know enough to not butcher it.”

I made a few poses while sitting in the chair, each one looking elegant in the mirror despite the simple movements. “Something to do with elegance. Path of Blossoms?” I stood up and looked at it from a few different angles. “That sounds good.” After putting the chair back, I wrote the kimono’s name on the hanger. After a few minutes of thought, I put “Spring Holidays” on the second label.

The literal silky softness of the kimono dissuaded me from trying on any other dresses. I decided to go back to reading to kill time.

Visiting the Assassins pt 1

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It was a regular, busy day at the Carne Den once again. As usual, I found myself in the kitchen, helping with all the cooking. Unlike most days though, the mail was oddly late. There wasn’t anything important in it, but there was a box for me.

During a brief lull, I went outside, opened the box, and saw two bands of blank shells. “These again. I wonder what they’ll be?”

Gavan came out and interrupted my musings. “Ah, good, you’re here. We need more smoked ribs in here, and we’re all busy with other things right now.”

I sprung into action without a word, opening the smoker, setting the box of blanks down, grabbing a few slabs of smoked ribs, closing the smoker, and rushing them inside. “Are we just plain busy or is something else up?”

“There’s a couple griffons out there having a rib eating contest. It’s like they’ve never had the stuff before.” Gavan looked at the ribs I was holding. “If those don’t fill them up, I don’t know what will.”

I took the ribs to a counter and started cutting them down to their individual pieces in preparation for the likelihood of needing more of them. Everyone else was busy doing their own things, whether preparing, cooking, or cleaning.

Eventually, the griffons had their fill, paid, and practically waddled out. After such a show, the orders slowed down, and I realized something. “Where did I set the box down at?”

“What box?” Silver asked, already looking around.

“It’s a small box, has a couple bands of blank shells in it, and I don’t know where I put it.”

“Where do you last remember having it?” Gavan asked.

I started thinking back a bit. “Let’s see, I was outside looking at them, you came out to get my help, and. . .” I went outside, opened the smoker, and pulled out two bands of smokey gray shells. “I’m going to test these.”

“Don’t have too much fun!”

“Ri~ight.” I made my way around to the far side of the shed, loaded the rounds into the Ember Celica, and threw a punch towards the wooded area. At the site of impact, there was a lot of smoke, which also smelled of barbecue. “Huh. Barbecue scented smokescreen.”

“YYAAAAANNNNNG!” Rainbow shouted as she flew over to me. “Huh. You were right about being here.”

“What?”

“Never mind that, there’s a big pack of diamond dogs attacking Ponyville right now, and we need you now!”

I went around and saw smoke rising from the middle of town. “I’ll be over there as fast as possible. Go ahead of me.”

“If you say so.” Rainbow dashed off to go back into the fray.

I stuck my head in the kitchen for a moment. “Diamond dogs are attacking town, I’m heading out to stop them, bye!” Once the moment was over, I jumped up to my window, went in, found the buckle, switched from my work clothes to my combat clothes, jumped back out, and started running towards town, not eager to fight, but ready to do so if I had to.

I caught a whiff of the smoke, which smelled like barbecue, but barely had enough time to register that before I fell into a portal. “Ah, here we go again.”

I came out of the portal in the air, above Sweet Apple Acres if the fruit bearing trees and barn were any indication, and was falling fast. “Ah Gravity, my friend and nemesis.” I did nothing as I continued falling.

Moments before impact, I saw two cloaked people talking to each other over a small object one of them, who was decked out in Egyptian looking clothes, was holding. There was also a humanoid-looking Twilight Sparkle with them, horn glowing, and she seemed to be watching my fall.

I had barely registered all that when I made impact in a cart of hay hard enough that it broke and I landed face first on the ground under it, scattering the stack. As I had done before, I thanked my aura for protecting me from what would have been a fatal landing. It still hurt quite a bit though.

Someone gently grasped my arm and helped me get out of the mess and to my feet. “You okay, ma’am?” a male voice asked.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine,” I said between a few calming breaths before looking at the gold masked man who helped me. “Who are you?”

“I am Bayek, Servant of Amun,” he answered as he started brushing me off. “The other man is John. We both are Assassins, but we’ve come upon a slight problem here.”

I spent a teeny tiny fraction of a second thinking it over. “What kind of problem?”

“One that involves a missing person. We have, unfortunately, no leads, other than the culprit took her to or through the Everfree.” He paused in his speech and brushing me off. “Brace yourself, you’ve got a few stubborn pieces of hay up here.” In spite of the warning, he did his best to gently remove the hay. “Nek! I hate static attraction or whatever it’s called!”

“Hm?” I looked over to Bayek and saw him shaking his hand, trying to get something golden off. “Oh no.” My temper flared up, and I promptly swung at his face, landing a solid blow on a shield he brought up, sending him skidding backwards. When he stopped, he pulled out a spear and pointed it at me from behind his shield.

I charged forward, activated the Ember Celica, grabbed the shaft of the spear with one hand, and threw another punch at the shield.

I heard the other guy ask “Should we stop them?” as my fist connected and the Ember Celica fired, sending out a blast of smoke and making Bayek recoil.

“I’m pretty sure they’ll be fine,” Twilight answered before sniffing the air. “Something smells good.”

I kept punching the shield and sending Bayek back until he was against the wall. I aimed another punch at his head, but wound up breaking the wall behind him instead. A shield bash knocked me back and I lost my grip on the spear.

Before I could launch another attack, he swept my legs out from under me with the long weapon and sent me to the ground. Right after I landed on my back, the spear pierced the ground next to my neck. A sword followed suit on the opposite side of my neck, then both were crossed over me.

“I’m not sure what happened, but I wasn’t expecting that reaction,” Bayek said as he fell next to me. “And why do I smell like I was at a barbecue?”

I looked between the weapons pinning my neck and Bayek, and came up with an idea. I grabbed the sword handle, and swung it right at Bayek, the blade going through his arm and spilling sand on the ground. I rolled out from under the spear, got next to Bayek’s head, and slammed one last punch down on his masked face, sending out more sand and smoke.

After I took my fist off, I got control of myself again and looked at the body. My horror at what I’d done was partially offset by the confusion of the sand coming off of him. The confusion took over when I heard him groan out an “Ow. . .” and use his good arm to pull off his mask. The face underneath looked almost dead and lightly covered in sand. “Dead or alive, pain is the same.”

“Wait, you’re dead?” I asked. “That’s. . . different.”

“Well, technically, I’m undead, but that’s semantics,” he casually said. “By the way, why can’t I feel my arm?” He looked over to where I’d cut his arm, I followed his gaze, and saw the severed arm waving at him. “Oh.”

“That’s. . . different,” I thought again as I helped Bayek up by his attached arm. At the same time, I saw the severed limb dissolve into sand and swirl up and around him in a whirlwind I couldn’t feel, settling back into place and reforming into his arm.

“Remind me to not think or be arrogant like Deadpool,” he said in a serious voice.

“There’s nobody that can think like Deadpool.” A moment later, I amended my statement. “Except Pinkie Pie. Anyways, you called me here, so what do you need now that things have calmed down?”

“Honestly, in this situation, I’d replace things, with you having calmed down,” John suggested as he walked towards us.

I looked over to where I landed and fought Bayek as the smoke cleared up. “Yeeeah, that sounds good.” The cart would be the most difficult thing to replace from everything that was broken.

“Anyway, I’m sorry for the less than great meeting, I can only hope that the crash landing isn’t a standard occurrence for you,” John admitted with a kind smile.

“Apology accepted. Crash landings aren’t new for me. And for some reason, the universe has it out for my face. I couldn’t even begin to tell you how many times it’s gotten hit.”

“Sounds like a running gag,” Bayek said in a slight monotone. “Much like me and how I’ve been impaled, shot with a shotgun, and just now punched to bits.”

“Yeah, sorry for that. I don’t like that reaction to my hair getting damaged. I really need to work on that.”

“And I need to work on not being a target,” Bayek said with a shrug. “Nobody’s perfect.”

“That’s not the same. . . eh.” I looked between the cloaked guys and remembered a question. “Right. What do you need me for?”

“We called to ask for your help in trying to find a missing pony, one we think may have been kidnapped,” John repeated before adding, “but I have a question for you. How did you land in that haystack safely? I know Bayek and I do it often, but it didn’t appear that you did a Leap of Faith.”

I spared a glance to the wrecked hay cart before answering. “I don’t know what this Leap of Faith is, but I have this nifty thing called Aura. It’s really nice. Not only does it act like armor, but it even does some really nice little things, like working as goggles underwater.”

“You know, I bet that’s a pretty nice thing to have in your back pocket,” John responded, “Kinda wish I had it myself.”

“I can’t turn it off. And I wouldn’t want to anyways. But I don’t think I can. . . Wait, there was that one scene in Volume 1. I don’t know how it worked, but it can be done. Maybe.”

“Would you be willing to give it a try, honestly even if it doesn’t work it can’t cause any harm to try and see the results.”

I mulled the idea over for a bit. “He’s not a RWBY character, but then again, he is right.” I made up my mind and decided to try anyways. “Alright, let’s do it.” I put a hand on John’s shoulder and turned him around so I was facing his back. “This might tickle a bit.” I put a hand between his shoulder blades and tried using my aura to find whatever might do the trick. “I have no idea what I’m doing.”

Something eventually happened, and a bit of fire magic leaked out, causing a small, forceful explosion between John and me. As I got back up, the music magic kicked in with an upbeat tune, which I found myself clapping along to.

“Help me!” John called out. He was doing the Russian kick dance in time with the music.

Bayek came over, chuckling a bit. “I don’t know about you, Yang, but I’m getting a kick out of this kazachok.”

“Don’t take my pun and only type of joke.”

“Traitors!” John accused as he kept dancing, though the amount of malice in the accusation was a very deep negative. “All two of you!”

Bayek, in response to the mock accusation, pulled out his bow and started shooting arrows around John’s feet, making it look like he was dodging by dancing in time to the music.

The song ended after about a minute, as did John’s dancing and Bayek firing arrows at him. I had a big smile on my face from the antics as well. “So, you might have aura now. I don’t actually know if it worked.”

“How do we tell if it did?” Bayek asked.

I thought for a bit before an idea hit me. “You know, there have been times where I ruined a knife in the kitchen when I swung it at my fingers by accident. And I have survived really long falls before. So, yeah. Dangerous stuff.”

“Fair enough,” Bayek said, pulling out his mace and swinging it down at John’s foot like a sledgehammer.

“Maybe this isn’t the best-” John was cut off as the mace struck his foot, causing a wavy white glow to appear around him, though it was focused more on his foot and lower leg near the site of impact.

As John hopped around, holding his foot in pain, I was oddly more occupied with something else. “Is that what my aura looks like when I’m hit? Wonder why nobody said anything. . .”

“While I don’t entirely regret what I did, is that what you’re paying attention to?” Bayek asked, snapping me out of my fascination.

“Huh? Oh, sorry. But it looks like he does have aura now, so he should be fine.” I mentally smacked myself for the skewed priorities.

After a few more moments, John stopped hopping around before he knelt down slightly to check the foot that had been hit before he looked to Bayek. “You know, I’m going to get you back for that one someday.”

I decided to take the topic back to more important things with a single clap to catch their attention. “So, someone was kidnapped and you need my help to unkidnap them or something?”

“Is ‘unkidnap’ even a word?” Bayek asked.

“You know what I mean. Who’s been kidnapped, and what do we know?”

“Well from what we know, at least Apple Bloom’s gone missing and disappeared near the Everfree and apart from that… absolutely nothing,” John responded sadly with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Apple Bloom.” A corona of flames appeared around my eyes. Aside from that, I managed to keep my cool. “Continue.”

“If speculation is something, the only ideas we have on who could have taken her is the Order of Ancients,” Bayek said as he flinched away from me a bit.

“Do we know where they are?”

“We don’t even know who they are,” John added. “Just that their trail vanished around the Everfree forest.”

I cut the flames and took a breath to calm myself. “Okay. So, are we going to investigate, or. . .”

“That can be a start,” Bayek said. “If we can find some clues or even a trail to work with...and now I’m wondering if me being made undead also made me more brainless.”

“I guess that makes me the brains here,” John snarked. Before I could retort, he continued. “Bayek, you go tell Applejack and the rest of her family about Yang. We don’t want her to get shot by a blunderbuss.”

“Because that’s my job,” Bayek muttered.

“Yang, come with me and we can investigate the scene, see what’s around the trail. You might have some kind of insight we haven’t had yet.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” I concurred.

“Well, if we search for about an hour or two, then meet back here, we should be able to see if we found any new information out about what happened,” John admitted as he looked between both Bayek and me.

With a consensus reached, we split up and went our separate ways to do what we planned. One way or another, I knew we would be able to solve this. “May as well as ‘detective’ to the list of things I’ve done.”

Visiting the Assassins pt 2

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I went over towards the Everfree with John. The silence during the walk there, especially considering the situation, started getting to me pretty quickly. “So, John, how long have you been here?”

“As in this world… only two days,” John responded as he continued walking forwards, his hands in his pockets, seemingly gripping onto something inside it. “Why do you ask?”

I put a hand on the back of my head as I admitted my reason. “Well, it’s a bit of a walk, and I just want to talk a bit. Break the silence, you know?”

“I can understand that, but I’m just not that sure what to even ask. It’s not like I’ve got any experience as what we are as a group now.”

It took me a bit to understand that he was referring to being Displaced. “From my experience, you just have to roll with it. It was pretty rough for me starting out, with a whole new body. Thankfully, things didn’t get this interesting this quickly.”

“By interesting I take it you mean meeting others like us?” John clarified.

“No, I’m talking about having to help with a kidnapping case or something big like that only two days into the Displacement. It was at least a week or two before my first fight. I think.”

“To be honest with you, this kind of stuff isn’t that new to me, kinda had to sort problems like this every once in a while,” John admitted as he pulled out a small badge that had been in his pocket.

I noticed the badge almost immediately. “Police? Well, thanks for all you do.” I looked back forwards and saw the edge of the Everfree. “Alright, what’s the plan?”

“I guess the best thing is for us to scour the edge of the forest, maybe we’ll be able to pick up a trail that way, that could help give us some sort of clue.”

“Sounds like a plan. So, you that way, I’ll go this way?”

“If you are okay with that sure,” John responded as he placed his badge back in his pocket and walked into the woods away from me.

The area of the forest I was going to was thicker than John’s area, but I wasn’t about to let that stop me. As I started looking around the foliage and ground, a thought resurfaced. “I have no idea what I’m doing. Do I need a coffee mug and someone to stand around and talk with or something?”

After not noticing anything for a while, I noticed something: Some plants that looked like they had recently been walked through, going into the forest. I carefully made my way inside, looking around for any kind of trap that might have been set. Seeing none, I took a few more steps in, following the disturbed foliage further inwards.

At some point, I started feeling oddly drowsy, but I pressed on anyways. I stopped when I saw myself standing in front of me, but before I could say anything, someone came up from behind and put a cloth over my face. Before I knew it, I was out cold. The last thing I remembered seeing was a flash of green fire and someone looking a lot like me.

I slowly woke up on a barely padded cot of some kind. “What happened?” My vision was blurry, but I was able to make out some vertical bars and someone walking away from them. Or past them. I couldn’t tell.

After rolling out of bed and landing face first on the floor, I was definitely more awake, though still quite tired. As I got up and blinked the blurriness out of my eyes, I saw some kind of guard in red on the other side of the bars. “Hey, what happened to me?”

The guard said nothing.

After a bit, I took a look around and took stock of my situation, helped by waking up a bit more. I was in a cell of some kind with three solid stone walls and the one barred wall. There was the small cot I woke up on, a short wall, and a toilet on the other side of the short wall. There was also a bit of free space at the foot of the bed, but not much. I still had all my clothes on, and I still had the Ember Celica on. Before I made any attempts at escaping, two thoughts crossed my mind. “I don’t know where I am, and I only have smoke rounds that smell like barbecue.” My stomach chose that moment to speak up. “I can deal with being hungry. The other things wouldn’t help me.”

With escape pretty firmly crossed off the list of things to do, I was left only with waiting for something to happen. I walked around the cell and saw that the toilet, thankfully, had a roll of toilet paper with it. I didn’t see anywhere to wash my hands though. “That sucks. Things could be worse though.”

Some time after determining that the guard wasn’t going to speak, I lay back down on the bed, bored and hungry.

After a few minutes I heard a female voice say, “Well this one really is exotic, it’s such a shame to see it a cage.”

I turned to look at the speaker and saw someone dressed like they were going to a beach in a sandstorm. She was clearly female, and she was showing it off, her mint green fur having a very glossy look to it. She was wearing what looked like a red monokini with black details, a pair of skirts coming off the sides, hiding where her cutie mark should have been. The skirts were held against the outer thigh by what looked like two thin tail wraps, threaded through like belts. The middle portion was shaped like a Y, going from her hips up to her chest, continuing up to her shoulders with a V neckline, revealing much more of her breasts than I would be comfortable showing myself. The whole piece was topped off with a hood, under which was a mask. The mask covered most of her face, leaving only her mouth and bright blue eyes visible. The whole thing looked like it was made of a tight rubber or latex, which I wouldn’t be comfortable wearing, but would certainly look good in.

“I’m a woman, thank you very much,” I pointed out to her. With her there, I felt like continuing. “By the way, does this place have any better room service? Or at least better toilet paper? The stuff in here’s really thin.”

The woman in front of me laughed before she said, “You're complaining about that? Look around. At least you have room to move.” The woman then gestured around her as I saw that around the room were multiple people in cages only just the size of them with nothing but what looked to two small dog bowls in the cage with them. “If you want to complain, I’m sure we can move you somewhere more. . . suitable, with how you are acting and how gracious we are.”

I finally looked around and saw others in cages, only able to lie down with any comfort. There were also a few others in cells like mine, though they were in the minority, and wearing armor that only looked like it was made for looks first and protection tenth. Their armor made my combat outfit look modest in comparison. “Gracious? Really? You have the gall to say that in this room?”

“Well, do you want those rooms?” the woman asked, gesturing to the small cages, “I’m sure we can find you one if you’d prefer those.”

“The only advantage I can see is being able to see all around, but that’s not much.” I also considered how I could weaken some of the piled cages with some heat and cause some chaos. “Why are you doing this?”

“What do you mean why am I doing this?” the woman asked as she walked to the side of my cell and placed her hand out as I saw what looked to be someone else seemly rubbing themselves against the woman's hand. “That much should be obvious, Afterall who cares if a bunch of other creatures are imprisoned or forced to fight or work for us. We ponies are all that matters in this world afterall." It was then one of the guards tapped the woman on the shoulder before to whispering something to her, causing the woman to sigh before continuing. “Well, it seems I may be overstepping my bounds,” the woman then looked to place three objects into my cell before I looked to see that it looked to be a large plate of some kind of food while the others looked to be a large jug of water and what looked to be dog bowl, “I’m sorry for the bowl, but we currently don’t have anything else for you to drink out of. We’ll try and get you something better in to drink from tomorrow.”

I looked at the food, water, and bowl. “Ew, grass.” I looked back at the rest of the captives, who seemed to be acting more like docile pets than ponies. “I’ll eat later.” I put the items aside before firmly grasping a bar with both hands to try and twist it while focusing a bit of heat into it.

“Umm, miss, I wouldn’t try that if I was you,” the woman said a clearly concerned tone in her voice. A moment later, I was knocked back by a shockwave, tripped over the bed, and hit the back wall head first.

The impact wasn’t nearly enough to knock me out, so I got back up. My aura had taken a hit, and my semblance was activated. “What was that?” I kept my power boost hidden from her, acting more dazed than I was.

“Ooh, you’re a tough one. I like that. In fact, I like you even more now.” As she continued, I went back up to the bars, not doing anything to them and not getting knocked back. “I’ll let you know this: those bars are enchanted to be unbreakable, and there’s knockback spells as well, but I’m sure you’ve figured that out already.”

I looked around and saw a few guards around the room, though most of them were with the woman, and all of them had red metal armor. I tried pulling on the bars again, and was sent back again. “Okay, it still works.”

“Of course. These are military grade enchantments, after all.” Once again, I went back to the bars. “Would you believe me if I said I found the enchantments in a book in the public library?”

“Military grade spells in a public library? I’m not sure.” I pulled on the bars and got knocked back again. “Almost there.” I had a plan, and the guards coming in to see the commotion I was making was helping.

“Yeah. Just right there on the shelf.” I got up and pulled on the bars again. “You know, that was amusing the first couple times, but at this point, it’s just getting sad.”

“What can I say? I’m a dumb blonde.” I pulled and got sent back again. After going to the bars and putting one hand on the bars, I quickly conjured a fireball with the other and launched it through the bars at the gathered pony people, made it explode, and knocked them all out.

After knocking out some other guards that came to respond with the same method, I planted my feet on the ground, tightened my grip, and pulled on the bars again. The knockback came, but I held firm. As I kept pulling, and kept getting hit with the shockwaves, the scale and type of operation that was going on really started getting me mad. I focused the fire magic on the bars again, but nothing happened. “If I can’t break the bars. . . I hope I can do this.” I attempted to channel the magic through my feet and into the stone floor around the bars. To my delight, it was working and I soon saw the stone begin to glow.

“What was tha-” The woman started asking before I cut her off, my eyes red and some dangerous music starting to play.

As the bars I was holding started to slide back, I answered her. “You angered a dragon.” I finally broke the bars out and tossed them aside before squeezing out and setting my arms and eyes ablaze.

She managed to rouse some guards up to try and fight me. Most of them backed away as I approached, adding fiery footfalls to my look. “Attack her!” One of them pulled out a flintlock pistol and fired it at me. The bullet hit the middle of my forehead, and some of my hair fell in front of my eyes as my aura tanked the shot. “Why isn’t she stopping?”

“For once, I welcome the anger.” As soon as the music picked up, I walked forward, throwing a flaming punch at the nearest guard with enough force to plant him in a wooden wall. The other guards charged at me as the music picked up another notch and the woman ran off. Powered by the rage, I welcomed their onslaught, landing high power punches on each one that got close to me. It didn’t take long for me to change tactics, going from punches to grapples, heating and tearing off the layered armor, leaving nasty burns.

I barely paid any attention to the alarm that went off as I finished with the guards, running off to chase down the woman. Some ponies that heard the music in the hallway got out of my way. One mare who was deeply engrossed in her book as she crossed my path wasn’t in my way for long before I punched her out of my way without missing a beat. “GET BACK HERE!” The longer the chase went on, the more of myself I set ablaze, and the more damage I did to the building, busting through doors and breaking corners.

I finally caught up with the mare as the music started dying down, and she was holding Apple Bloom in front of her like a shield. “You’re after her, right?” She picked up a knife from a nearby table and held the pointed end at Apple Bloom’s throat. “Well, if you don’t stop, she gets the blade.” I kept the fire going, but didn’t advance. I didn’t back down either, leaving us in a stalemate. “No answer? That’s fine.”

Her metaphorically cold gaze met my literal fiery gaze, and we just stood there, facing each other down, though I did have the height advantage. Even as a number of guards encircled us and pointed small, loaded crossbows at me, we kept staring.

Finally, three gunshots came from the left, and the woman fell down, dropping the knife. I barely noticed a guard collapse as I rushed forward under some flying crossbow bolts and grabbed Apple Bloom. There was another gunshot, different from the first three, and I charged past one guard, knocking him into the wall. On the other side, I saw John and Applejack. I suddenly felt a wave of mild exhaustion, and I said the first thing that came to mind. “One little sister, ready to go. Are you picking her up or do you want home delivery for three bits extra?”

Applejack gave me an incredulous look before saying, “Get her home in one piece, cleaned up, and I’ll double that.” In one fluid motion, she turned to an approaching guard, pulled out a hatchet, and began fighting him and another guard that was joining the first one.

John jumped forward into the fray, drawing his sword and stabbing it through one of the oncoming guards’ chest before whispering something to Applejack. Applejack picked up a musket, came over to me and Apple Bloom, helped me back to my feet, and started leading me out. Not once did I let go of Apple Bloom, and not once did she let go of me.

“You must be the visitor that Bayek mentioned while you and John were looking around some of the Everfree,” Applejack said. “I never got to introduce myself, I’m Applejack.”

I kept my introduction brief as we ran. “Yang Xiao Long. Glad to meet you, Applejack. If only it was under better circumstances. . .”

“Same here,” she answered. “Now, hopefully, Bayek isn’t too sore about what I did to him as I charged in.” She led us up a set of stairs, and opened a door to the outside, but when she did, a pony in bronze armor came sailing over us and down the stairs. Looking outside, I saw Bayek was fighting a few ponies who were wearing bronze armor and a few others with red armor.

“Is it impulse in fanfictions for you guys to attack what isn’t pony?” Bayek asked out loud as his shield was knocked out of his grip. In response, he pulled out a dagger and stabbed a bronze guard in the neck.

I shifted Apple Bloom around so I was holding her with one hand as Applejack started fighting the armored ponies. I had an idea, and I quickly set it into motion. “Bayek, this might hurt a bit.” I stuck my hand into his sandy body and focused my fire magic through my fingertips into the shape of a sword. When I felt like the sword was shaped, I quickly cooled it down and pulled it out. The sword was ugly and misshapen, but it looked like it would work well enough.

“GAH!” Bayek shouted when the sword was formed. “Next time you decide to rip out someone’s kidney, make sure they are unconscious first,” he yelled out before drawing his other dagger and releasing a series of slashes and stabs on a red guard. “Now get your rear ends in gear and get out of here. I saw a red chariot circling overhead, and I don’t think it’s anyone you want to meet.”

“And leave you here?” I swung the sword at an oncoming red armored enemy. The blade embedded itself in his body before snapping near the hilt. With no idea what to do, I tossed the remainder of the sword at another armored enemy’s head before turning around and dealing a final punch to the first one as the glass started turning back into sand and flowing back to Bayek.

“Well, the fact that you ripped out my kidney without killing me,I can handle holding them off and not die in the process,” he shot back. “Besides, with Applebloom here, you’ll be more of a liability and Applejack probably won’t want her to leave her sight for a while.” He sliced the throat of a red guard before turning to me and Applejack. “Now, get going!”

I considered Bayek’s words for a moment before noticing someone in red armor sneaking through the foliage near Applejack. I reached into Bayek again, quickly made a glass ball, and threw it at the sneaky pony’s head. The ball shattered and he went down in an instant. “Alright.”

Applejack motioned in a direction with her head before rushing off, and I followed. As I ran with her, I could hear Bayek shout, “You really know how to break a guy’s heart, Yang!”

Soon, Applejack and I were out of the forest and back on the farm. We didn’t stop until we made it to the house, both of us breathing hard. “Hey, if you don’t mind, I’m going to crash here for a bit.” I made my way over to the couch, still holding Apple Bloom, and flopped down on it back first. I was out like a light a moment later, the last thing I was aware of being Apple Bloom’s breathing relaxing as mine did.

I felt someone softly shaking me, and I turned inwards towards the back of the couch a bit. In response, the gentle grip turned me back. “Wake up, dear.” The voice was Granny Smith’s.

“No,” was my response before turning back again. I noticed that there was no Apple Bloom on me, her presence replaced by a warm blanket.

“Time for the old fallback then.” I heard her walk away, and a couple minutes later, I heard her walk back and set something down. “I’ve got a warm slice of apple pie for you~”

I rolled off the couch, got up off the floor, and saw a perfect slice of undecorated apple pie on the coffee table. As soon as I caught a whiff of it, all thoughts of sleep and tiredness were gone, and I was soon digging into the delicious dessert.

“Heh. Works every time.” Granny chuckled. “Thank you for helping find Apple Bloom. Applejack may have thought she could hide her worry, but I could see it. It’s a fair amount of weight off her shoulders.”

“Yeah,” I said around a mouthful of pie.

Suddenly, loud thumps came from the stairs, leading to Big Mac charging down the stairs. When he got close to the kitchen, he “stopped” so suddenly, he began running on all fours before entering the kitchen. A few clanks and maybe a broken dinnerware or so later, he was exiting the kitchen with the pie Granny cut from and a fork. He then sat down at the kitchen table and began to dig in.

“Well, here’s Mac. He’s the gentle giant and the mutt of the family, and I say ‘mutt’ not in his family heritage, but from a slight mental defect that came a few weeks ago shortly after Discord did his goofy stuff,” Granny said.

“Huh.” I took another bite of the slice of pie and continued. “Where’s Applejack? And John and Bayek?”

“Applejack is busy in the orchard, and the other two are still unaccounted for,” Granny answered.

“But I wouldn’t worry too much,” Mac said through a mouthful of pie. “You weren’t here for it, but both of those two know how to handle themselves. After all, John seems to be a crack marksman with his weird pistol, and Bayek already has my respect for freeing Pa from his cursed state, allowing him to pass on. Not everyone I know is brave enough to stand up to a Alpha Timber and come out on top.”

“Like a timberwolf? I think I’ve seen those before. I haven’t tried it yet, but I think I could burn one down.” I snapped and let a small flame rest at the tip of my index finger. “Admittedly, I don’t have a reason to go out and try, but I think I could.”

“Yeah, sounds like a better idea to play it safe,” Mac said. “And I wouldn’t be surprised if they show up right-” A knocking from the front door interrupted him.

“Too much of a coincidence,” Granny muttered, grabbing a flintlock pistol from off the fireplace mantle. I stayed focused on my slice of pie right up until the door opened and I heard the pistol discharge. I abandoned the slice of pie and went up to the door, ready to punch anything threatening. Granny Smith’s pistol was held up by a bident, the gun pointing towards a freshly made hole in the ceiling over the porch. The bident was held by a humanoid dog-like creature, black furred and clad in gold and teal armor and robes.

“I admire your vigilance, Ms. Smith, but there is such a thing as being too vigilant,” the creature said, pulling his staff back and entering the house. “And Ms. Xiao Long, don’t overstress yourself. Ms. Smith clearly has almost everything under control.”

“If you were anyone else, that shot would have hit,” Granny said, still sounding displeased at the visit.

“So what are you here for?” I asked somewhat forcefully. “Who are you, anyways?”

“Commander Scarab is my code name, the only name I’m willing to disclose as of right now, and I am a Jackal” the creature said. “And if you are wondering why I’m here, I’m simply waiting for the group that just escaped the clutches of the Order. Their tunnel will be exiting underground in roughly an hour or less.”

I leveled a glare at Scarab for a moment before backing down. “Alright.” I went back to the couch and finished off the slice of pie.

“I must also say, Ms. Xiao Long, that you impressed Anubis quite a bit,” Scarab said as he followed me. “Using the sandy kidney of an undead to fight and kill an Order soldier, with the added effect of creating a Jackal right then and there.”

“All I did was make a sword out of Bayek’s body. It wasn’t very good.” I looked up at the Jackal before moving over on the couch so he could sit down if he wanted to. “Honestly, if I had something better than my smoke rounds, I could have helped even more.”

“You make these rounds yourself?” He asked.

I expanded one of the Ember Celica and pulled out the band of gray shells from it. “These were made by accident when I left them in the meat smoker at home. All they do is launch a smoke bomb that make smoke that smells like barbecue. Good for distractions and stealth, but not much else.”

With a contemplative hum, the Jackal pulled out a strange wooden cross that I soon recognized as an Egyptian character that I couldn’t recall the name of. “When you obtain the materials to make more rounds, place them around this and burn it. From there, Anubis shall bless the rounds to fire the sands of the desert. Any kill made with them and a Jackal shall be born from the one killed.”

I accepted the cross and looked it over. It looked like it was just carved out of quality wood. “And how will these Jackals behave? How long will they last?”

“Their behavior won’t be too unlike the one killed, just with some slight tweaks to their alignment if the one killed was evil or questionably moral,” Scarab explained. “As for duration, just as long as you need them. They will then be brought to the Duat for proper initiation into Anubis’ army. Ba won’t be any exception for the initiation.”

“Who?”

“The Jackal you created with Bayek’s kidney sword.”

I thought back on the fight and some things started coming together. “So my fire made Bayek’s kidney into a sword, I swung it at the soldier, then ran off and he turned into a Jackal?” Scarab nodded. “Well, I never thought that would happen.”

“Pretty good summary on simple acts having huge consequences,” Mac said from the table, having finished the rest of the pie. “Much like how my sister “simply” saved Equestria roughly twice, but if she hadn’t done so, things would have been much worse.”

“Very true, Macintosh.” Scarab said. “Anyway, your mother and her new friends and several refugees should arrive any second now.”

A knock sounded at the door, and Granny Smith opened it. “Butter, John, step inside,” she said to them. She turned to Bayek and the mare. “You stay right there.” She came back in a bit, grabbed a nearby blunderbus, went back up, and shot Bayek, knocking his head off his body and his body back. “That will be you if you step one hoof out of line, got it, Miss Lyra?” The mare nodded with wide eyes and entered, immediately hiding behind John.

“It’s a good thing I stayed back,” a Jackal said as he walked in, holding Bayek’s head as he did so.

Putting my attention back to Granny, I saw her hugging and crying alongside Big Mac and the Butter mare. “Eleven years. For eleven years, we thought you were dead.”

The new mare started crying a bit more as she seemed to relax a bit more. “There were times I wished I was, Granny. But now, I’m glad I lived.”

I let the group hug and cry go on and turned back to the entrance, where Lyra was having a mild quiet freak out as the Jackal picked up and put Bayek’s head back on his body, which was standing there with his arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently. “I don’t know why you left my body outside and only brought my head inside,” Bayek said.

“It’s easier to keep you from being too annoying that way,” the Jackal said. The Jackal then turned to Scarab and saluted. “Private Ba, reporting in!”

“I’m not going to get involved in this if I can help it,” I thought as the events started unfolding.

“At ease, soldier,” Scarab said, tapping his staff on the ground. “Report to the Duat, on the double.” The ground just under Ba seemed to collapse into sand, sucking him up. When the Jackal was gone, the ground reformed back into the hardwood floor it was. “Now, Bayek, John, I have a few words I need to say to you after you send Miss Xiao Long back to her world.”

“Alright then,” Bayek said as he produced the choker. “Yang, you may return home. Our contract is complete.”

I was about to stand up and give a simple salute, but the portal opened up under me and I fell into it very quickly. “Well, that was a quick exit.” For a minute or so, I fell through the portal. I made a note to take a shower as soon as I could, as I felt very nasty after everything that had happened. Finally, it spat me out and I broke a cart of hay on impact. “Deja Vu, here I am again.”

As I got out of the hay and broken cart, I saw an upset Carrot Top looking at me. “Yang. . .”

“I can pay for repairs or a replacement cart,” I assured, which calmed her down a bit. I got out and started cleaning myself off. “Just come by the Carne Den tomorrow.”

“I’m making a delivery to you tomorrow already.”

“Ah, that works. I’ll see you then.” I jumped up onto a roof to get my bearings and soon saw the Carne Den, a mass of ponies and a few other species in front of it. “Huh. So that’s what it looks like out front.”

“Run away! Run away!” I looked down and saw Carrot Top running from something. Looking in the other direction, I saw a trio of diamond dogs, clad in tough looking golden armor and armed with swords, running down the street.

I sighed before jumping back down, set a corona of flames up around my eyes by the time I landed. “Hold it right there!”

The dogs stopped in front of me. Two of them pointed their swords at me while the third one let out a howl before turning back to me. “We get you, rich pony give gems!”

“Well, that answers that.” Since I saw no way out of the fight, I shifted to a fighting stance and expanded the Ember Celica. As the three dogs and I circled each other, a thought occurred to me, and I checked the ammo pouch on the belt. I felt some shells in there, much to my delight. “Okay, I have options.”

In my moment of distraction, the dogs charged at me. I looked up and raised the gauntlets to deflect the swords, soon going in close and delivering a punch and making a cloud of smoke around me.

I quickly realized a problem with the smoke rounds: I couldn’t see anything around me. “Thermal vision would be really nice right about now.” Deciding to get a better view, I backed up, and was soon clear of the smoke. As soon as I turned around, I saw more diamond dogs with armor and swords, all facing me. “Okay, I think they’re after me.”

“Get the gold maned dragon lady!” one of them shouted.

“Yep.” I fired a few smoke rounds at the oncoming group and a couple more at the first ones before jumping back up to the rooftop.

“Fido getting hungry,” I heard one dog say as I looked around and saw more dogs coming towards me through town. I looked back to the Carne Den and saw a plume of smoke coming up from the back.

“Wait a minute. . .”

Rainbow came down next to me from the sky, shadowboxing when she arrived. “Don’t worry, Yang. I’m here to help you beat these dogs!”

I managed to grab the pegasus’ tail before she flew down into the smoke. “Rainbow, I need you to go to the smoker and tell me there’s a pack of diamond dogs attacking.”

“What?”

“Please, just do it. I think it’s time bendy stuff that’s going on. You can come right back to fight here.” Rainbow looked between me and the smoke plume back home. “Less than a minute.”

Rainbow gave an agitated sigh. “Fine, I’ll do it.” I let go and Rainbow flew off. I heard her start to shout my name as she got close and took that as my cue to turn back to the dogs. As I kept an eye on the smoke, I switched from the smoke rounds to the slugs. As much as I didn’t want to take their lives, I really wanted to keep mine intact even more.

As soon as one of them broke through the smoke, I leapt down in front of him and delivered an uppercut to his armored head, sending him flying back. Much to my disgust, I saw red coming out of the hole in the armor.

A few dogs came out of the clearing smoke, saw the body, and started circling me. “Leave Ponyville now, and I won’t have to chase you down,” I offered as I got back into a fighting stance.

Some of the dogs looked between me and the dead dog. “Don’t listen to her!” A deeper voice called out. Moments later, a huge dog that I vaguely recognized came up behind one group. Each limb of his armor was a different color and style, like it was cobbled together. “We get her to pony, we get huge pile of gems!”

“. . .Brutus, right?”

“Name. Is. Bruticus! Break her now!”

Seeing no way out except by fighting, I let out a frustrated sigh and charged in, setting my hair on fire before punching the nearest dog in the chest, sending him stumbling back a short distance. The slug was embedded in the armor, and the dog was still standing.

Before I could advance on the dog, I had to jump up over a number of swinging swords, kicking off of a few faces in the process. After a combination of head and roof hopping, I landed in the middle of the street, turning to face all the dogs. Bruticus was in the back, towering over the rest of the pack.

Right as the pack began rushing towards me, a rainbow streak slammed into the side of Bruticus’ helmet with a kick strong enough to break part of it off and daze him. Rainbow soon spun out of control before crashing into something out of sight. “I’m fine!” A pained cry came a moment later. “I’m not fine!”

Since the dogs were all focused on me, I didn’t worry about Rainbow, just going straight to weaving and punching my way through the pack. As soon as I managed to disarm one of them, I took his sword and focused my fire magic into it, setting the edge ablaze. “Okay, I can work with this.”

I soon managed to acquire a second sword after I ran the first one through a charging dog, killing him. After setting the second sword’s edge on fire, I started swinging the weapons around more wildly, leaving flaming arcs in their wake, hoping to just scare the dogs off with the display.

“Get in there!” Bruticus ordered as he ran at me with his own sword, which was bigger than me. He swung it down at me and I barely managed to block it in time with my swords. Instead of letting him keep pressing down on me, I pushed the sword aside and ran at him.

“Don’t you remember what happened to you last time?” I swung a sword at his side, embedding it in his armor and letting go if it. He staggered back and I took the chance to turn back to the other dogs, throwing the remaining sword at them. It didn’t connect with any of them, but it did break their pace, allowing me to dash in and deliver a punch to one of their heads. A second later, the dog was dead, the slug having gone right through. “Can’t you just stop this?”

“Not with. . . so many gems. . . for dogs!” Bruticus’ proclamation, gasp filled though it was, spurred the other dogs on, and I knew there would be no talking it out.

With my reluctant acceptance of the situation, I pressed on with the fight, killing the dogs as I let my skills and instincts take over for me. One after another, I slew the dogs. Some simply got a slug through their skull, others took a number of bodyshots, and one got impaled on a sword I picked up. Bruticus joined in the fight again after the last dog was slain, his extra tough armor letting him take the slugs with no problems.

I heard something land behind me as I deflected Bruticus’ sword with a gauntlet. “You can’t beat her?” The male voice asked. “Even with twenty dogs? You disappoint me, Bruticus.”

“Help me then, Garble,” Bruticus said as I landed a punch to his knee armor, which did nothing.

I spared a glance at the newcomer and saw a red dragon with wings, unarmored and looking like he had just finished his teenage years. “Great. Just great.” In my moment of distraction, Bruticus grabbed my arm and tossed me up into the air. A moment later, a fireball hit me. It didn’t do anything to me, my combat outfit, or the Ember Celica. “I’m immune to dragon fire. That’s good.” On the way down, I pulled off a few slam fire rounds at Garble. All the rounds fell off his scales without any visible damage.

“Ha! That almost tickled!” Garble taunted as I landed between him and Bruticus. A couple of free swords were on the ground next to me, and I picked them up as I rolled out of the way of a punch from Bruticus. “Hey, watch how close you get to me, Dog.”

A glance back showed them not to be fighting each other, but rather focused on me. I decided it was time to get away from the bodies and ran past Garble, going a ways down the street to a more open and clean area to fight. It also gave me a chance to catch my breath and collect myself a bit. “Gotta end this soon.” I lit a corona of flames around my eyes and set the whole blade of each sword on fire as the two made their approach, trying to intimidate them one last time. “Get out of Ponyville, and I won’t pursue. Last. Offer.”

“We’re not leaving without you!” Garble sprinted towards me before he leapt up into the air with a flap of his wings, allowing Bruticus to charge at me without obstruction. A moment later, Garble started diving towards me from the sky.

“Please work.” I held both swords to one side and tried to focus the fire magic into the blades as tightly as I could. As I felt it working, I also felt myself getting more tired. “One shot.” Just as Bruticus jumped to pounce on me, I cut the flow and swung both blades upwards like golf clubs. As soon as the weapons made contact with Bruticus’ chest armor, an explosion sent him flying upwards into Garble, the sword out of his body, and me backwards into a large, yet shallow fountain, where I cut off all the fire magic, caught my breath, and drank a bit of water.

As I got out of the water, not even bothering to dry myself off with some heat, I saw Garble manage to get Bruticus off of him. Bruticus didn’t react at all, and the growing pool of red suggested he wouldn’t react to anything again.

“Clever move there, Yang Xiao Long,” Garble said with a slow clap. “Too bad for you, I’m still here, and I will get that hoard.”

“Oh shut up, already!” I shouted at Garble, surprising him. “I don’t know which noble it was that sent you after me, but are really going to try and kill me after all that?” I gestured towards Bruticus and the bodies down the street. “I am not in a good mood right now, and I promise you this: If you don’t leave, I will break you. Tail, legs, wings, and arms. But if you run away, only your pride will be wounded.”

“What about my neck?”

“Oh, I’ll leave that for last so you can feel everything. Now, are you staying or leaving?”

Garble stopped to think for a bit before making his decision. “For the hoard!” With that shout, he leapt at me.

“I warned you.” I ran under him, grabbed the end of his tail, and swung him around and into the ground so his back was up.

“Heh, you think that hurt me?”

“It did the job.” I picked a spot in the middle of his tail, firmly grasped the appendage, and began to bend it.

“Dragons are the toughest creatures that exist. You really think you can-” I felt more than heard the crack in the tail. “AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!”

I tossed the tail down and deliberately stepped on the broken section as I went over to his right side. “I warned you.” A kick to his side and I quickly grabbed his leg. “And you didn’t listen.” I put a foot on his side and used my leg as a brace to force his knee into an unnatural direction, eliciting another scream of pain.

“Please. . . Stop. . .” Garble whimpered after I turned him back onto his stomach, deciding to go for the wings.

“Not yet.” I grabbed the base of each wing and tried to snap them, but the joint was too flexible. After breaking his left wing in the middle of the base bone, I felt an adrenaline crash coming on, and soon, I fell onto the ground, exhaustion catching up, along with the dawning realization of what I’d done as my eyes closed.

Consequences

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I found myself in a dream, crying in a corner. It was a plain corner. No furniture, no decor, no trim, no color. Just a bit of floor and two walls taking up my whole field of sight. “It didn’t have to end that way. It didn’t have to end that way. Why did I even do that?”

I heard hooves splashing through shallow water behind me, but paid them no mind, even as they got closer. I couldn’t even bring myself to care as I felt Luna reading my recent memories. “Oh my,” she said as she finished reading. “I had no idea you could do that, though I do understand the circumstances.”

“It’s still not right.”

“No, it isn’t. The best thing you can do right now though is learn from it and prepare for a trial under Twilight.”

“Mmhg.”

Luna sighed and sat down, her side against my back. “If it’s any consolation, this will likely be a simple open and close trial you’ll have to attend. Garble has already spilled the name of the noble that hired him and the dogs: Sir Classical Tune.”

I collected myself a little bit. “One of them?”

Luna sighed. “Yes, one of them. The destruction they caused was surprisingly minimal. A few doors, some windows, and a single gouge in the town hall’s siding, all of it easily repairable. Nobody got hurt, except them when they fought you.”

I suddenly remembered something. “What happened to Rainbow?”

“She’s in the hospital with a split hoof. It’ll be some time before she’s allowed to leave. I don’t think that will stop her from trying, though.”

I broke the moment of silence that followed. “Luna, I know that what I did was right, and I have done it before, but taking those dogs’ lives. . . I don’t like it.”

“I would be concerned if you did like it, or even felt indifferent. Taking one life is no small matter, let alone the number that you have. But if you hadn’t fought them-”

“They would have turned Ponyville upside down looking for me. Why are the nobles still after me anyways?”

“That, I wish I could understand. You only shot down their bills one time, and there have been multiple sessions since then where they could have brought them back up. I’ve even spoken with Discord to see if he’s had some kind of influence over them, but he’s just sitting back to see what they do on their own.”

A fresh sigh floated out of me. “So, when’s the trial?”

“Tomorrow morning. That will give everyone time to recover a bit.”

“That sounds good.” I relaxed a bit more and the floor started feeling softer, more like my bed. “Hey, Luna?”

“Yes, Yang?”

“Thanks. For all the counseling. I don’t know where I’d be without you.”

“You’re welcome,” Luna responded in a softer voice. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I showed up at Twilight’s court the next morning wearing some casual clothes, nothing fancy. Garble was there, leg, wings, and part of his tail set in casts. Just looking at them and how he flinched away when I showed up made me wince at what I’d done.

Celestia, Luna, and the noble that I presumed was Classical Tune were there as well, though he didn’t look pleased. A faint scent of apples filled the room, and it looked like he was already nervously sweating. There was an audience as well, chatting amongst themselves. It looked like most of Ponyville was there, though I didn’t see Rainbow Dash.

Shortly after I took my spot, Twilight took her throne, Spike following her, ready to make notes. “Alright everyone, let’s get this over with. Court is now in session.” A set of scrolls floated up to Twilight as the crowd quieted down. “According to the notes I obtained in the wake of the incident from the citizens in town, 22 armed diamond dogs and a dragon, Garble, who is present, came into town around 5:00 PM. Despite their intimidating looks and behavior, they did nothing to anyone, though there was minor property damage throughout the town. Mostly broken doors and windows. Around 5:30, Yang Xiao Long was attacked in town. Yang, will you give the court a short summary of the fight from your perspective?”

“Of course.” I went up to the steps and faced the audience. “When I arrived in town, I was almost immediately set upon by a group of dogs, and one of them called out to the rest. I distracted them and the next group that arrived with some smokescreens before all of them were there. I tried to scare them out of town, but they didn’t run, so I had to fight. And” -My voice caught as I remembered the sights of the battle- “I would up putting all of them down. The biggest one, Bruticus, was joined by Garble towards the end and they tag teamed me. After Bruticus was done for, I broke Garble’s tail, leg, and wings before passing out.”

A moment of silence fell over the court after I finished. “Thank you, Yang. You may step down.” I simply bowed my head for a moment before going back to my spot. “Now, Garble, yesterday, while you were getting treated at the hospital, I came to talk with you. Would you kindly tell the court what you told the officer? You don’t have to come up.”

Garble decided to cut straight to the point. “A pony with some guards came up to me about two weeks ago and asked me to kill Yang. He showed me a pile of treasure, told me to hire some of the diamond dogs from outside Ponyville, and said that he wanted her dead body before we would be paid. So I did. He gave them armor and swords and I lead the attack.”

“And who bought out your services?”

“He said his name was Classical Tune. Unicorn.” He turned to the noble in question. “When I get back to the dragon lands, I am going to tell EVERYONE not to do anything for a pony. Especially a unicorn like you.”

“Well I never. . .” Classical Tune started before collecting himself and calming down a bit.

Twilight took control of the courtroom. “Garble, do you regret everything you’ve done since being hired?”

“Yeah, I do regret it,” Garble answered, clearly upset. “No hoard is worth getting hurt like this.”

“Because you can’t guard it or get more when you’re like that?” Spike chimed in.

“Exactly!”

“Ahem!” Twilight put a pause to the conversation before it could escalate. “Thank you. Sir Classical Tune, what do you have to say to these allegations?”

Classical Tune walked up to the front of the steps, shaking like a leaf. “I didn. . . I. . . I. . .”

“Speak the truth, and so you shall be free,” I thought to myself as I saw the noble try to deny the claims.

After a couple minutes, he broke down. “Yes! I did ask Garble to do all that! I offered him all my treasure and every quality gem for the diamond dogs in exchange for Yang being killed! I crafted the offer so he would kill off the dogs to get the gems! I even had plans to kill him once it was done so I could keep everything! And I planned the whole thing myself.”

I had seen men cry before. I had seen the biggest and toughest guys weeping their hearts out at a funeral. The stallion in front of everyone was crying on the floor like a kid whose newest toy was broken.

As he was sobbing, a dark gray earth pony mare with a simple, yet classy black mane and tail and a pink bow on a white collar strode up to him. “Father. . .”

Classical Tune stopped crying for a moment and looked up at the mare. “Octavia?”

Octavia lifted him up and into a sitting position by his collar. “I really want to smack you right now. But I won’t. You’ve told me how much I dishonor the family name by being an earth pony. You’ve cast me out for that and for who my marefriend is. But tell me, which one of us has done worse to the name?”

“Well, I. . . I. . .”

Classical Tune looked like he was about ready to break down again when Twilight spoke. “Octavia, please return to the audience. As much as I’d like to see how that would play out, we are dealing with a different matter right now.”

Octavia looked between Twilight and Classical Tune. “We will talk later, father.” She turned around and strode back to the audience.

“Well, now that that’s settled, I will hand down judgement now. Sir Classical Tune, you are to cover all of the repair and cleanup bills for Ponyville yourself. For your international actions, degrading an already rocky relation with the dragons, all of the treasure and gems you offered will be siezed and used for new negotiations with the dragons. As for your nobility status, I’ll let Celestia and Luna decide on that. Celestia, Luna, do either of you object to this?”

“I do not object,” Celestia said.

“Nor do I,” Luna followed up.

“As for you, Garble, it looks like you’ve been through enough already. All I can do is recommend that you rest and heal in Ponyville before going back. You and Yang are free to go. Court is adjourned.”

As the audience dissipated, I walked over to Garble. “Do you want something?” He asked with a growl.

I took a breath before answering. “I just want to say I’m sorry for hurting you like I did. I know it doesn’t fix anything, but I was just. . . Upset at what was happening. And I also experienced some. . . Unpleasant stuff recently, so it just compounded.”

“Hmmmm. . . . I’ll let the dragons know about you too.”

“Alright.” There was a pause as I considered an idea. “Look, I don’t think an apology is enough, so how about you come to the Carne Den later this afternoon? I’ll cook something for you, okay?”

“. . . I’ll stay for that.”

“Thank you. Anyways, I have to go now. I’ll see you later.” After a quick handshake, I went back out to the reception area and found the unicorn mare who had been hired as a secretary there. “May I have my box back?”

“Sure.” She floated the box over to my hands, and I accepted it. “Next time you’re here, please don’t bring something like this. Not that I can stop you, but. . .”

“But?”

“It just smelled so good.”

“Yeah, it does. Thanks, anyways.”

“Of course.”

I knocked on a door at the hospital. “Yeah, come in,” came a bored and tired voice from the other side.

I entered and saw Rainbow in the bed, rear leg heavily bandaged up. “Hey, Rainbow. Thanks for your effort in the fight yesterday.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“. . . So, I made something for you to try and make your stay a bit better.” Rainbow perked up when I gave her the box.

She opened it and a smile lit her face up. “A double bacon cheeseburger with extra cheese sauce and all the toppings except onions!?”

“I even put some fries on the burger for you. Right between the patties.”

“You’re the best, Yang!” Rainbow picked up her burger and began tearing into it. “It’s not the same as it would be at your place, but it’s still really good.”

“I do try.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yeah, I don’t try.”

“Anyways, that’s actually all I came here for. I’m feeling a bit frustrated at some stuff right now, so I’m going to go run it off.”

Rainbow took another bite of the burger. “Yeh, okey.” After some quick chewing and swallowing, she asked, “Anything happen at the trial?”

“Sir Classical Tune confessed to the crime and a mare named Octavia, apparently his daughter, pointed out some big hypocrisy of his and their family name. I think things are going to start changing in Canterlot.”

An Assassin visits me

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After the trial was over and Carrot Top paid, both for her produce and cart reparations, I changed to the caution stripe athletic outfit and went out for a run to get some stress out. “First, I get called out because of an attack in town. Then I get summoned, abducted, break out of a cell, chase down an evil lust happy Lyra, and meet a death god or something like that. Then I get back here, get dropped in the middle of the attack, kill nearly two dozen diamond dogs in self defense, break four of a dragon’s limbs. . . Three limbs and his tail, find out it really was an assassination attempt, and see what’s probably the start of some big political reform. God, this nuts.”

I stopped during my fifth lap through Sweet Apple Acres when an object that looked like part of a spear flew in front of me and stuck itself in a tree trunk. After staring at it for a bit, I pulled it out and heard, “I am Bayek, Servant of Anubis. Should you need the aid of the Assassin Brotherhood, the Armies of Anubis, or just need someone to talk to, summon me. Call for Anubis’s Servant. And if I come with a passenger, it means that fate requires him to come.”

“Ah, the sandman.” I thought for a bit about heading back home before trying anything. “Nah, I’m doing it now.” I held the spear upwards and dramatically said, “Oh servant of Anubis! Hear my call, so that you may come forth to visit me!”

The wind slowly began to pick up, with sand particles flowing to a central spot. When the sand started swirling about a meter or two away, the wind suddenly became fast and the sand swirled in a tornado fashion. The spear then suddenly flew out of my hands into the sand storm. A few seconds later, the wind slowed down, dissipating the sandstorm, revealing Bayek with a hole in his chest and the spear pinning a hooded pony to a tree trunk.

“Breathe, Bayek,” he muttered loud enough for me to hear. “It wasn’t Granny shooting you with a blunderbuss, it was just a minor issue with the token.”

“Hello again,” I greeted Bayek. “By the way, there’s a pony stuck to a tree behind you.”

“Is there?” He asked as he turned around to see. “I’ll get him...or her...unstuck then.” He walked to the pony and grabbed the spear, but he seemed to freeze for a moment, before he pulled a similar spear from his back and stabbed the pony through his mouth, killing him instantly. “Requiescet in pace,” he said as he removed both spears.

“Woah, woah, woah, what was that for? He didn’t do anything!” As I approached, I saw a knife with a glowing blade on the ground. “Wait a minute. . .”

“Yes, he was hired by someone to kill you,” Bayek said. “Greed was his motivation, and he was truly diehard about not revealing his employer.” He reached into the pony’s cloak and pulled out a bag of bits and a small scroll. “You get the rest upon job completion. -DI” Bayek read.

Even though I tried to keep my cool, some fire started leaking out from my hair and eyes. “And I just got through with a trial on another attempt on my life,” I said through gritted teeth. “I swear, if there’s another one today, I’m going to get those nobles in a room with me and burn all of them. Starting with their horns as candles!”

“Whoa, whoa, calm down!” Bayek said, attempting to smother the flames with his hands, to no effect. “Just breathe and-” The sound of a spell discharging came from somewhere nearby and Bayek suddenly pushed me aside. Then, I heard an eagle cry and felt two somethings hitting my back, causing me to fall face first into the dirt.

I activated the empty Ember Celica as I got up, my eyes turning red and the fire spreading along my arms, thankfully avoiding the athletic clothes. “Wrong. Move.” I saw a cloaked bright pink unicorn with a neon green and blue mane trying to hide herself amongst the foliage. I did not hesitate to rush in and start pummeling her, fury fueling my fire. After a number of punches, I dealt one final uppercut, I sent her flying up through the trees.

“Pixies, unicorns, and eagle feathers,” Bayek drunkenly said when I turned around. He was laying on the ground beside a stunned eagle with brown and white feathers.

I managed to collect myself and turn off the flames as I approached him. “Well, you’ve got two out of three, so I guess that’s not bad.” The mare crash landed next to him a moment later, small flames licking at her cloak. “Excuse me.” I extinguished the flames and approached her. “So, who hired you to try and kill me?”

“Sir. . . Denaro. . . Insanguinato,” the mare croaked out. “So many bits. . . Enough for a lifetime, and he called it pocket money. How could I have refused?”

“Greed. Why are they still after me? WHY?”

“Beats me. Hurk! Blegh.” And like that, she died.

I closed her eyes and said, “Rest in peace,” before sitting down next to Bayek and the bird, who was standing on his chest. “Well, I guess I need to get an official over here somehow.” An idea quickly came to mind and I lay down on the grass, pointed a finger to the sky, and made a tall geyser of flames appear, keeping it up for nearly a minute before I got tired and cut the flames, dropping my arm once it was done. “That should do it. How are you holding up?” A surprised squak came from the eagle, it hopping onto my arm as Bayek was muttering something about chapped lips. “Hey, don’t fall apart on me, okay? In fact, if you’re going to fall apart, just. . . stay right there.”

Twilight teleported over a moment later. “Yang, what. . . not again. What happened?”

“Two ponies sent to kill me. Sandman here got one, I got the other. They were hired by Sir Dena. . . Denarosa. . .”

“Sir Denaro Insanguinato?”

“Yeah, him. The crispy one gave the name, skewered one has a note, both were paid by him.” I sighed before continuing. “Twilight, am I going to have to hire full time bodyguards like Celestia and Luna?”

“I hope not. This is probably just a coincidence on the timing. So, who’s your friend?”

“His name’s Bayek.”

“Error 404: Data not found,” Bayek said drunkenly. “Restarting simulation.” He then somehow got his shield off of his back and slammed it on his own face, leaving it there for a few seconds before pulling it off and straightening his nose with a spurt of sand. “Why do my lips feel like I just kissed a bird’s beak?” The eagle hid its head under a wing and turned away from me.

“Let’s just say I glassed you for a bit by accident.” I turned back to Twilight as I stood up. “He’s made of sand. Anyways, what can you do about these two?” I pointed to the bodies of the ponies sent after me.

Two flashes of magic later, and the bodies were gone. “They’re in the morgue now. I’ll take a look at them later. Just go on with your day.”

“Thanks.”

“What about me?” Bayek said, as he stood up. “It was night...unless...wibbly wobbly, timey wimey?” He looked at me with a questioning look.

“That’s at the post office. I think.”

“You’re good to go, too, Bayek,” Twilight said. “I’m going to go talk with Applejack now. See you around.”

“Alright.” I got up as Twilight teleported off. “Bayek, I have one question for you now,” I said in a serious tone of voice.

“Shoot...not a bullet, but...you get what I mean,” he said.

“I left my ammo at home.” I retracted the Ember Celica as I got to the question. “You hungry?”

“Yeah, I’m up for something to eat,” he answered. He then picked up one of the spears and offered it to me handle first. “And I believe this belongs to you.”

I accepted the spear and started walking back towards home. “Yep. So, what do you want?”

As soon as we entered, I recited the order to Bayek. “A bacon wrapped steak and a salad, right?”

“Yep,” he confirmed while handing me the bit pouch he got from the assassin. “And maybe consider having fish added to the menu.”

“I’ve asked my provider about that, but it would be extremely expensive. The way things are now, it looks like chicken, beef, and pork are the only meats I’ll be able to get reliably. Anyways, you’re not the only special guest of mine today.” I lead Bayek to a table. “Bayek, this is Garble.” I turned to the bandaged dragon with a double take. “I didn’t expect you here this early. . . How did you even get in here? We’re not even open yet.”

“The bear let me in,” Garble answered. “And some weird. . . thing named Discord teleported me to the front door.”

“Ah. So, any specific tastes, Garble?”

“Just get me something with gems in it.”

“We. . . don’t have anything like that.”

Garble grumbled at my answer. “Just something, then.”

“Alright.” I left Garble, Bayek, and the bird that was stuck with him to go to the kitchen and prepare some food for them.

A few minutes later, I came out with two bacon wrapped steaks, well done, two salads with burnt ends on them, and another small bowl of burnt ends, seasoned with a bit of bacon grease. Just before I reached the table, I saw Bayek and Garble arm wrestling while the bird stood on another chair, watching the match. “Winner gets their food first.” A few seconds after I started watching, Bayek lost the match. He also lost his whole arm, and some of the sand landed on one of the salads and one of the steaks. “Those are his.”

“Ha! Five in a row!” Garble pronounced as Bayek pulled his arm away from Garble’s grip and placed it back in its place.

“And here’s to the winner,” I said, placing the clean steak and salad in front of Garble. “Here’s to the bird.” I placed the bowl of burnt ends in front of the bird, who smelled it and gave a happy trill. “And here’s to a good effort.” I placed Bayek’s food down in front of him, then distributed the silverware. He sighed at his sandy food and placed his hand over it, sucking up most of, if not all of the sand.

“Serves me right for being so fragile,” Bayek muttered. “Being made of sand isn’t exactly something I like, but I have to deal with it.”

“Such is life,” I added.

Garble skipped on the silverware and just picked up his steak before taking a bite out of it. “Hmmm. . . It’s not sapphire, but it’s alright.”

Bayek, despite using the provided silverware, ate just as messily as Garble. “Fish is my thing, but I’ll admit that this was cooked to perfection. It’s hard to find someone who can cook certain meats and not get it dry.”

“Well, I have had lots of experience cooking here,” I admitted. “It also helps that some of my griffon employees gave me some tips on cooking it.”

The bird pecked and ate up some of the burnt ends I had served it. When it squawked in appreciation, Bayek looked at the bird in slight confusion. “Well, the bird’s happy, I think. I swear it sounded like it said, ‘Delicious.’”

“It did sound happy. I mean, I did use bacon grease with her burnt ends. . . Is the bird a girl?” The eagle nodded at my question. “Okay.”

“So, just wanting to know, why were you being targeted earlier?” Bayek asked.

I put the tray down and got another chair from a nearby table, sitting down at the end of the table. “So, over a year ago, I was put in charge of a legislative meeting and I shot down 28 of the 30 nobles’ bills, partly on the grounds of cost, partly on impracticality, partly on other grounds as well. Ever since then, and after a similar event that happened here, they’ve been coming after me in some form or another. The attack that Garble lead and the attempts today are the most direct efforts they’ve tried. The closest they actually got was when they made my shower water freezing cold. I came really close to getting a bad case of hypothermia from the shock.”

“So, a bunch of spoiled brats that aren’t getting what they want,” Bayek summarized. “And from what evidence we obtained today, the proverbial pot has reached its boiling point. All it takes is one wrong word for it to explode.”

“Yeah. Hopefully, yesterday’s trial and today’s events will send them scurrying back to the drawing board. As long as they stay there, things are good.” I sighed before continuing. “Why they haven’t just gotten over it and tried their legislative stuff again, I don’t know. At least Fancy and Fleur are good nobles.”

“Maybe because they feel like they lost their power from your interference and want to get rid of you so that it doesn’t happen from you and teaches others to not get involved,” Bayek thought out loud.

Garble finished off his steak before picking up the salad bowl, looking at it, then opening his mouth and tossing the whole thing in.

“No, I think it’s just straight up revenge,” I said. “Otherwise, they would have stopped after the cold shower incident flopped against one of them.”

“Well, either way, they don’t want threats to their ‘power,’ of which you are one of them,” Bayek said. “I’m sure those brats would be willing to target any of the Element Bearers if they became a threat to their power.”

“Let them start and end with Pinkie, then.”

Garble stood up and started walking off, a distinctive limp in his gait thanks to the cast. “The food was good.” Soon, he was out of the building.

“He’s not one for politics, is he?” Bayek asked.

“Probably not. Honestly, I don’t blame him either. Revenge over politics he had no part of got him hurt, so it makes sense he’d want to avoid it. I just hope he tells the dragons good things about me.”

“I’m not sure what dragons would think about ponies though,” Bayek said. “One bad apple can spoil the whole bunch.” He then looked to the door. “And I’m not sure, but either you have early customers or a VIP guest concerning today’s events so far.”

“Hm?” I looked over to the door and saw Celestia standing there. I was already up and on my way over to her when she started knocking on the door. “Coming, coming.” I opened the door and let Celestia in. “Hi, Celestia. Mind if I guess why you’re here?”

“I’d rather get straight to the matter,” Celestia said as she and a small group of guards filed in. As I lead them back towards the table Bayek was at, she continued. “Based on what Twilight told me, you and an acquaintance were at Sweet Apple Acres and two ponies, apparently assassins, were out to get you.”

“Yeah, they were.” I gestured to Bayek as we approached. “This is Bayek. He got the first one, partly by accident. I got the second one. The second one gave us the name, Denaro Insanguinato.” Bayek presented the scroll and I put the bag of bits on the table. “These were on the first one.”

Celestia didn’t have to look long at them before coming to a conclusion. “Those are definitely from him. All I need is the scroll, the bag, and a note of how much is in it. You may keep the bits, Yang.” As I emptied the bag to start counting the bits, she turned to Bayek. “Mister, Bayek, was it?” At Bayek’s nod, she continued. “You have saved a national hero today. What can I do to thank you?”

“No offence, but what you can do is never believe the lie that says, ‘all is well,’ because all will never be well,” Bayek responded. “And I’m sorry if I sound harsh, I was told by a former member of a secret organization in my world that the Celestia there believes that lie to the point of not believing anything else, even if evidence points the other direction.”

“Don’t believe it when someone says all is well. . . Truthfully, I already do that. That being said, I had no idea either of these attacks on Yang were planned. I will have to start being more proactive with the nobles going forward. I have no doubt they will keep trying to get Yang one way or another.”

“Maybe pulling the titles of ⅔ of the Nobles and giving those titles to certain Pegasi and Earth ponies will teach them something,” Bayek suggested.

“I suppose you’re imagining an even spread of the three types of ponies on the council?”

“Yes,” Bayek said simply. “There is a phrase that I like. ‘No taxation without representation.’ Why should the many Pegasi and Earth ponies abide by the laws and taxation of this land if they have no representatives in the government?”

Celestia softly chuckled at his idea. “Oh, dear Bayek, you’ve got it wrong. It’s not a matter of species that’s the problem, but a matter of policy. I’ve seen unicorns craft excellent farming laws, pegasi with magic laws, and earth ponies with weather laws. If there are ten spots for pegasi, but only seven that meet the requirements, what do you do then?”

“Thestrals? Jackals? Sheep? Hyenas?” Bayek said, adding a little joking to his answer.

Celestia continued, a brief smile on her face from the jest. “Promoting somepony to a position of power because of their species is a very risky gamble. The nobles that are after Yang all had their positions given to them by previous members, who were also unicorns. The two that aren’t after her worked their way up, and even though they too are unicorns, they are shunned by their peers on the council.”

“I stand corrected then. It’s less an over and under representation thing and more of a power thing,” Bayek said. “With the recent incidents, it would require harsh punishments, loss of titles and/or power and enstating someone who is worthy, not necessarily someone who isn’t a unicorn.”

“And now you understand. That being said, the transition will not be smooth. I started looking into ways to find new ponies to put on the council last night, without using a royal decree.” The princess turned to me. “Do you have any ideas, Yang?”

I looked up from the bits, all 555 worth of them. “Honestly, I don’t right now. Can I just stay out of this?”

“As long as the nobles are after you, I’m afraid it’s not likely to go that way. You can limit your involvement, though, but don’t be surprised if I come to you for assistance on occasion.”

“Or a twelve ounce steak.”

“I’m sure you would prefer I came for one of those again.”

Bayek chose that moment to chime in. “Scientifically speaking, equines can eat and digest meat...they just don’t need it to live. It’s more of a survival trait. Just random trivia.”

“All of that is true, though it seems that the ones that eat meat more often have a bit more muscle mass. Or so a study I read last week about Ponyville said.” Celestia turned to leave. “I’m afraid I must take my leave now. I need to start sorting out the noble issue more thoroughly. Farewell.” Celestia and her guards left on that note, taking the bit pouch and note, leaving me, Bayek, and the bird.

“Well, that was a thing that happened,” I idly noted before turning to my guests. “So, lack of fish aside, what do you think of the Carne Den?”

“Interesting place, I’ll admit,” he said. The bird then let out a few happy squawks, causing Bayek to look at the bird with confusion again. “Okay, I think we need to talk to Miss Magic and see if I’m either hallucinating hearing a professional critique from an eagle or I actually am hearing it.”

“Alright, I’m curious: what did the eagle say?”

“Five and one quarter stars, and the burnt ends should come in different meats, as it could give customers some variety with the appetizer,” Bayek ‘translated.’

“Hmm. . . Duly noted. I’ll see what I can do.”

After Bayek and the eagle finished their meal and I quickly washed all the dishes, we left to go see Twilight. The walk was a quiet one, and the wait to see Twilight was non-existent. I spoke first, deciding to make it simple. “Twilight, Bayek thinks he might be hallucinating hearing the eagle that seems to have adopted him talking.”

“Really?” Twilight looked at Bayek and the eagle on his shoulder. “Not that I don’t appreciate this break in the lull, but why did you come to me?”

“Primarily because you could have a better chance at knowing why I can understand her and not Yang,” Bayek explained, “I mean, I couldn’t have come up with that review on your burnt ends. I can’t make up stuff on the fly like that to save my life...not that I have life in me to save.”

“Hmm. . . Do you have any idea what might have caused this?”

“Either I’m still a little loopy from getting hit by that spell that was aimed at Yang, or when the spell pierced me, it changed a little, and some of the sand of my body fused with her when she did the same, connecting us in some way?” Bayek said. “Those are my guesses.”

Twilight came down to Bayek, lit up her horn, and started looking at Bayek and the Eagle. “No sign of any kind of magical fusion, and no sign of any mental impediments, though I admittedly don’t have a baseline for you. . . Ah, here’s something. There’s a very strong empathic connection there, magically reinforced. That’s probably how you can understand the eagle.”

Bayek had a brief contemplative look before he transferred the eagle to his arm and walked over to one of the windows. “If what you say is true, then what I’m going to do should work.” He then opened the window and beckoned for the eagle to fly out. When he turned back to Twilight and I, his eyes were glowing white and his face seemed blank. “Huh, this is interesting. Never thought that I would get a literal bird’s eye view of the world.”

“That is a very strong connection if you can see through the eagle.”

“Senu, her name is Senu,” Bayek said. “And out of curiosity, why does your castle have a lack of guards or soldiers?”

“I haven’t gotten around to it,” Twilight admitted. “That being said, it’s a low priority. It wouldn’t be much of a castle that embodies friendship if you see guards everywhere. Plus, with the kinds of things I’ve had to face, they would get in the way more than anything.”

“Then maybe you could have them be the kind of guards to try to protect and/or evacuate those under your rule, rather than as a means of keeping them from you or vice versa,” Bayek suggested. “And the castle would have the least number of guards, and their barracks or whatever would be elsewhere.”

“Your phrasing suggests a heavier guard presence elsewhere, likely throughout town. What effect do you think armed ponies patrolling the town would have on the populace? Aside from that, Ponyville was prone to many weird things happening, even before I came here. The citizens here can handle themselves quite well against things that would send bigger cities into a panic. Analyzing the cost and effects of 24/7 guard presence, at least here, it would be an overall negative effect.”

“Alright, fine,” Bayek said. “I won’t complain, but I’ll make two points. One, if the citizens of this town are used to danger like what is experienced, what would happen if a bigger threat than what they’ve faced shows up and you and your friends aren’t there to keep it at bay? Point two, ‘it’s better to have it and not need it, rather than need it and not have it.’”

“We’re done here.” I walked up to Bayek, glassed him solid, and picked him up. “Thank you, Twilight.”

As I walked back home, Senu gently perched herself on my shoulder. With Bayek quiet, I didn’t make any conversation. “Two arguments with royalty in one day. I hope that doesn’t become a habit of his.” After I got home, I dropped Bayek and found the spear, which I had left in the kitchen.

With a crack, Bayek somehow shattered himself and quickly returned to his sandy form. After his head reformed, he looked up at me and Senu. “I overstepped in my conversation with Twilight. For that, I apologize.”

“Apology accepted. But for now, we’re done.” I pointed the spear at Bayek. “You’re done here. Go back to whence you came.”

As the pile of sand that was Bayek and his head started to funnel into a silent portal under him, the eagle flew over and dove into the mess, vanishing into the sand. Once the portal closed, there was no sign of either the sand or the eagle.

With them gone, I went about getting ready for the workday, starting with a relaxing shower that I really needed.

The king's visit

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“Hey, Yang?”

“Yes, Sylvia?”

“I don’t know if I’m going crazy or what, but I’m seeing way more griffons than usual coming in, and not the usual guests either.”

“Is there something odd about that?”

Gilda came up to add to the conversation. “Yang, you know what it’s like for the common griffon up there, right?”

“Pretty bad, from what I’ve heard.” Some things started clicking together in my head. “Wait, if things are so bad up there. . .”

“How are we getting so many down here?”

Sylvia chimed back in. “They’ve all said they came by boat to Horseshoe Bay, then took the train to come here.”

“And that’s not cheap,” I concluded.

“It took me a few weeks to pay back what I promised for the boat and train rides to get the griffons here,” Gilda said. “That this many griffons are coming on their own tickets is strange, to say the least, and none of them are the kind that can afford it on their own.”

“So they’re spies?” I saw a few griffons in the dining area tense up slightly at that.

“Espionage agents, probably. What for, I don’t know.”

“Well, we’ll continue on as normal then. Back to work.”

A few days later, the griffon proportion of guests was back to its normal levels. “Yang?”

“Gilda?”

“I think this is the calm before the storm.”

I looked out over the busy crowd in the dining area. “If this is calm, then what would busy be like?”

“Fridays.”

“Oh yeah. I hope it happens on a Sunday then.”

It did not happen on a Sunday. Thankfully, it didn’t happen on a Friday, either. It happened on a Tuesday. “Yang, we have a V.I.P. heading our way.”

“Princesses?” I asked Gilda without looking up from the vegetables I was cutting.

“No.”

“Nobles?”

“Nope.”

“I got nothing.”

“King Gaston, with a dozen armored guards. His elites.”

Silence fell across the kitchen and the knife I was using fell on my fingers, my aura causing the tool to bend out of shape. The griffons that worked with me had been telling stories of King Gaston over the past few days, and had painted a very unfavorable picture of him. He sounded very greedy and egotistical from what I heard. “Details. Now.”

“He’s a couple hours away. Rainbow saw him and his guards get on the train during her flight back from Canterlot. I just found out a couple minutes ago.”

I set the knife aside with a calming breath. “Are you sure he’s coming here specifically?”

“I hope he’s just going to visit Twilight, but I don’t think he is.” There was a tremor of fear in Gilda’s voice I’d never heard before.

“Should we close before he arrives?” Gavan suggested, apparently feeling both afraid and certain of the king’s visit.

I picked out a new knife and went back to the vegetable cutting. “We continue as normal. No special treatment because he’s a king. If his guards are joining him, we go with normal group procedures.”

“So we treat him like we do Celestia and Luna then?” Gilda asked, still sounding a bit scared.

“Just like anyone else.” I finished the vegetables and set the knife to be cleaned. “Gilda, come with me.” I lead my co-owner into the office for privacy. “Alright, you sound like you’re scared of Gaston. All the other griffons seemed mildly frustrated, but not you.”

“I’m not scared of him!” Gilda boldly proclaimed.

“Want me to check with the rest of the kitchen on that claim?”

Gilda’s defense broke with the one question. “Alright. I used to be his. . . Personal assistant.” At my raised eyebrow, she continued. “I was his secretary and followed him everywhere. I also acted as a secret guard.”

“Everywhere?”

“EVERYwhere. Everyday. Even as he. . . Had his way with nightbirds.”

It took me a bit to figure out the term, but when I did, it was suddenly a much uglier picture. “My condolences. Why did you take the position anyways?”

“I was poor and hungry, and he had money and food.”

“Desperation,” I concluded.

“I came over here during my two weeks of off time last year. When the guards met me to send me back here, I had to choose whether to go to the safety of King Gaston or take the risk of staying here.”

I nodded a bit as I made sense of Gilda’s story. “Do you regret it?”

“Oh, not at all,” Gilda confidently answered. “The pay’s better, the food’s better, and I can rest more often, even on days where I don’t have a chance to take a break here. All the griffons here, and their families, we all swear our loyalty to you for what you’ve done for us. We would die for you if we had to.”

“I’d rather none of you died for me. Or even volunteered for that. Can’t exactly get any work or joy out of you if you’re dead. So live for me instead.” I held up a hand as I dismissed the topic. “Anyways, if you want to go home while King Gaston’s here, I won’t blame you. Take some time to think it over.” I patted Gilda on the shoulder a couple times before leaving her in the office to think.

A trio of armored griffons came in through the front door around sunset. Two of them went to the sides of the doors while the third one went ahead and boldly announced, “Presenting his Highness, the King of the Griffon Empire, his Majesty, King Gaston!” As soon as he finished, he stepped aside, and two griffons walked in. One was a guard with larger, spikier armor than the other three. The other was dressed like a king, and held himself as such. He even had the red cape with speckled white fur trim.

I was standing behind the pedestal a waiter normally would. “Hello, sir. How many in your group?” I was as polite as I would have been with anyone else.

He disregarded my question and seemed to scrutinize me. “Take me to your best table.”

Before I could respond, one of the regulars walked past us on his way out, talking to himself as he tried to figure something out. “I order the food and wait, then after the food arrives, it runs off in bits and pieces with my hunger. I get dessert, and it chases the disappeared hunger and food, but which one is it going after? What is the dessert so jealous of?”

The griffons that heard him as he walked out all looked puzzled at his pondering, which I and the rest of the staff had gotten used to. King Gaston turned to me as two more guards came in. “Who was that commoner?”

I gave a plain answer. “One of our regulars. Great guy, if a bit odd. So, table for seven?”

“No, just me. My guards can stand. I will be the only one dining today. And make it your best table.”

I had put my preconceived notions of King Gaston aside when he arrived, but I was already starting to not like him again. The politeness did not leave me, though. “Alright.” I grabbed the full set of menus and showed him to a clear table, four of his guards following. “Here you go, sir.”

As Gaston scrutinized the table, the chatter died down, and all eyes were on us. “This is your best table?”

“They’re all equally good, sir.”

He scrutinized the table before sitting down at it. “If you say so.”

“Is there anything I can get you to drink?” I asked as I set the menus down.

“Your finest wine.”

“Coming up.” I went over to the bar, where Fuzz was cleaning a glass as bartenders do. “Best wine we’ve got.”

Fuzz quickly went to work and handed me a filled wine glass. “Canterlot Reserve.”

“Thanks.” I took the drink back to him. “One glass of Canterlot Reserve.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Fuzz rooting around under the bar for something.

Gaston looked at the wine filled glass as if it had spectacularly failed him. “That’s it? That’s all you’ve got?”

“We can refill it, though each refill costs extra,” I assured him.

“If you can refill it, then get me the whole bottle! No, three of them!”

I turned back to the bar. “Fuzz!”

“Coming up!” Fuzz tossed an unopened bottle to me, and I caught it with ease. As soon as I set the bottle on the table, Fuzz tossed me the second one. The third one followed suit.

“You just toss bottles of fine wine around like that?” Gaston incredulously asked me.

“We wouldn’t if we weren’t good at it,” I calmly answered, only a hint of a smirk on my lips. “I’ll be back in a few minutes to take your order.” As I went back to the kitchen, I wrote down his three bottles and one glass of Canterlot Reserve.

“Well?” Gilda asked when I entered the kitchen.

“Treating him well is already a bit of a challenge,” I admitted with a sigh. “But at least this is going to be a good ticket. Three whole bottles of Canterlot Reserve is 75 bits right there.” A ringing sound came from the dining room, catching our attention. King Gaston was ringing a silver bell overhead. “Let me guess. . .”

“He’s calling for service,” Gilda answered.

“I was just about to say that. In all fairness, that’s not the worst way someone’s tried to get our attention. Remember the minotaur that came up to us to make his orders?”

“He was a headache and a half.”

“I’ll see what he wants.” I put on the polite face and went out to the king. “Are you ready to order?”

“You have a meat smoker?” Gaston asked, both questioning and accusatory.

“The first one in Equestria,” I said with no small amount of pride. “I don’t know if it’s the only Equestrian smoker at this point, but it’s very nice.”

Gaston turned to his guards. “We’re seizing it when we leave. Secure it, but let the cooks use it.” Two of his guards went off to follow his order, much to the objections of every guest present. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Gavan, Gilda, and a couple other chefs through head out back to defend the smoker.

“He started it, not us.” After quieting down the upset crowd, I turned back to the King. “You know, that’s not very nice.”

“I made a declaration that I would be the only one to have a meat smoker. I never said where that order stops.” He suddenly switched tones from kingly to hungry and placed his order. “I’ll have a barbecue baked potato with brisket, salad with pulled pork and bacon bits, the maximum rib stack, some rolls filled with burnt ends, a whole fried chicken, cheese and bacon covered fries, a sixteen ounce steak, medium rare, and one, no, three sample skewers.” Just as I finished writing down everything, he went and added more. “I’ll also try one of these hot dog things. With ketchup. And make it all smoked. It’s the last time you will.”

“You would make a terrible friend,” I thought as I amended the order. “I’ll get that started immediately.” As I collected the menus and went to the kitchen, I started doing some math. “Four bits per smoked meat, one, two. . . Eight different meats, thirty-two extra bits.” When I entered the kitchen, Gilda, Gavan, and the other chefs came back in. “Big order from his highness. I’ll get some of the smoked stuff.”

Gavan took the ticket and started setting everyone into motion. Gilda looked at the ticket and came with me to get the smoked meat. “Good to see his appetite hasn’t changed,” she sarcastically noted. “But only one hot dog with ketchup?”

“He’s trying it. Apparently, he. . .” I trailed off when I saw two of Gaston’s guards with their helmets off taking a nap with Asada acting as a pillow. “Gilda, what did I miss?”

“Asada came out of the forest when the guards came around, and she almost roared at them when they put their weapons down and took off their helmets. We talked for a bit and Asada decided to act as a pillow. They were out cold in a moment.”

As I collected the meat for the order, an idea started bouncing around. “Gilda, I have an idea. I just need a way to get all of Gaston’s guards outside to where he can’t see them, but I’m kind of stuck serving him right now. I wonder why he hasn’t called me by my name yet? He should know who I am by now.”

“Dunno, but we have some time for you to figure it out. What are you thinking, anyways?”

“I’m willing to use my own bits to get these guards some food. I just have to talk to the guards first. If they’re all as tired as these two, it shouldn’t be difficult.”

“Good luck. These guards are his elites.” Gilda looked back at the two sleeping guards. “Then again, it might be easier than I’m thinking.”

After bringing in the meats for the order, I went back outside and found eight guards total, excluding the two sleeping ones. I approached one of the two stationed by the doors. “Hey.”

“Need something?” The guard sounded very bored.

“Just an honest answer. What’s it like being one of Gaston’s elite guards? I won’t tell him your answer.”

I had the guard’s attention. “Honestly?”

“I have no reason or desire to do so.”

“It sucks,” the other guard said. “We have to be on vigil all the time, hold posture, not talk to each other beyond what’s needed for the job, and we’re not allowed to eat either. We don’t even get to take breaks.”

“It’s a living,” the first one added with a shrug. “Not much of one, though. Sometimes, I just want to run off and survive off of what I can find.”

“3. . . 2. . . 1. . . And there’s the big heart.” My resolve to help the guards, if it wasn’t rock solid already, just got ironclad. “Hold on a bit longer.” I went back around and into the kitchen. “How’s the king’s order coming along?”

“It’s coming along well,” Gavan reported. “It should be done in about five to ten minutes.”

“Alright. I’ve got some time then.”

“What are you thinking?”

“I’m going to get the guards inside to go outside and feed them all.”

“Seriously?” Silver asked.

“Yep. I’ll even pay for their meals myself. Gilda?”

“Yeah?” Gilda asked.

“Any ideas on how to get the guards to go outside?”

Gilda shrugged. “I dunno. It’s not like we can call for help without catching his attention.”

An idea flashed across my mind. An idea so crazy, it could work. “I think I know how we can.” I left the kitchen and went up to the roof. “Pinkie Pie!”

A pink blur made its way from town, past the guards, and up to the roof next to me. “You rang, Yang?”

I thought for a moment on how to describe the situation before just giving up. “We have a dozen miserable griffon guards and I need to get the ones inside out so I can get them some food. Please help.”

“Hmm. . .” Pinkie pulled a pair of oversized binoculars out of her mane before looking out over the forest. “How much time do we have?”

“A little over five minutes until King Gaston gets his food. These are his guards, by the way.”

“Okay.” Pinkie thought for a few seconds and looked around a bit. “I’ll need ten minutes to set up the tables. While he’s engrossed by his food-”

“No idea if he will be.”

“I’m sure he will be. While that’s going on, fire a rainnuke out into the forest out that way. The explosion should make him send out his guards while he’s eating. While he’s unguarded, you can come out and serve the guards.”

I considered her plan for a bit. As long as Gaston sent out all his guards, it would work. “Alright. Just come into the kitchen when it’s time. Back door.”

“Aye aye, Captain.” Pinkie took off much like she had come, and I leapt back down to go back into the kitchen.

As soon as I could, I found Gilda. “I got the plan made. They will be fed in ten minutes or so.”

Gilda levelled a look at me. “You got Pinkie, didn’t you?”

“She did all the brainwork. She’s probably setting things up right now.”

“Hey,” one of the guards by the front door said.

“Yeah?” the other guard asked.

“Was that construction barrier there when we arrived?”

The second guard lazily looked at the fabric backed wire mesh fence. “If he asks, it was there when we arrived.”

The first guard shrugged. “Alright.”

“We’re almost done,” Gavan said. “This is a three tray order.”

“I’ll get some volunteers.” I left the kitchen, found Honey Suckle and Ají, and volunteered them to help serve the king. We got back into the kitchen just as they finished piling the food on the trays. After distributing them, we went back out. As we put each dish on the table, I stated what each one was, starting with the whole fried chicken and ending with the lone hot dog and its single squiggly line of ketchup.

Gaston looked down at Ají after the food was delivered. “You have a foal working for you?”

“I’m an adult mare, thank you very much,” Ají retorted.

He glared at her for a moment before looking at me. “You would let her talk to me like that?”

“You should have seen her after Cadence had a bit too much fun with her size once. I’ve never seen a Princess get so flustered before.”

“And you let that happen?”

“On direct orders from her husband. And I didn’t want to interfere anyways. Is there anything else we can get you?”

“. . . No. Off with you.”

“Alright.” Honey Suckle, Ají, and I left him. I went back into the kitchen and saw Pinkie standing there. Before I went outside, I gave an order to the chefs. “Get started on a dozen barbecue loaded baked potatoes. Burnt ends. And side salads with cheese and bacon bits.” After jumping up to my room and getting a band of rainnuke shells, I joined Pinkie on the roof. “Which way again?”

“That way.” Pinkie pointed out the direction she had in mind as I loaded the shells into an open gauntlet.

“Alright.” After getting a good upward angle with the loaded gauntlet, I slam fired one round. I followed its trail through the air for a few seconds before it landed deep in the forest, causing a massive explosion. As I took the shells out and recompacted the gauntlet, I went around to the front and saw three guards run out, followed by the one with spikier armor. “Now. . . What?” When I turned to look for Pinkie on the roof, she was gone.

A glance down to the ground revealed her, in a waiter’s vest, guiding the guards to some neatly decorated picnic tables set up in a row. I took that as my cue to jump back down, toss the rainnuke shells back into my room, and head into the kitchen. “Did it work?” Gilda asked as I started filling up glasses of water.

“The tough part’s done. Now we just need to feed the guards.” Most of the potatoes were done and ready to go, but a few were still cooking. The salads were almost done as well.

Gilda started filling up glasses with me. “You know, this would be considered bribery back in the Griffon Empire, freely giving food and rest to a guard like this.”

“And helping these guys like that?”

“Punishable by death.”

The silence in the kitchen only lasted until I smiled. “Well, let’s go live dangerously and generously for a bit. Mind giving me a hand with the water, Gilda?”

“Well, when you put it that way, heck yeah!”

As soon as we arrived at the table with ten confused and two half awake guards, there was an immediate reaction from them all, voiced by the one who appeared to be the leader of the group. “Gilda? Is that you?”

“Yes, Captain Garrison. It’s me.”

Before any reminiscing could begin, I started handing out the glasses. “Water for everyone!” After the one named Garrison greedily drank his, the rest followed suit with their own. “Refills, anyone?”

“We can have more?” one of the other guards asked, somewhat disbelieving.

“Just give us those glasses and we’ll get you more water.” Gilda and I were soon on our way back to the kitchen with a dozen empty water glasses. “Does he really treat them that badly? I’ve never seen anyone so happy for water before.”

“You know, I wouldn’t be surprised if they defected to become your elite guards.”

“Just because I’m giving them rest, food, and water?” I asked as we started on the water refills. “Anyone who comes here can get that.”

“It’s a luxury for them.”

“Guard food’s done,” Gavan reported as the last of the glasses was filled.

“Good timing,” I said. “Let’s treat these guys better than their own king does. Then I’ll have to come back in to take care of him.”

I’d seen guests happy when they get their food. I’d seen guests satisfied at the end of a meal. I’d even seen Pinkie Pie. But the looks on the guard’s faces when they got the food was a whole other thing. “Miss Xiao Long, you do realize the severity of what you’re doing, right?” Captain Garrison asked me as he happily started on his salad.

“Gilda informed me, so yes. I’m not worried, though.”

“Yang!” Honey Suckle called from near the smoker.

I turned to the waitress I often forgot was a changeling. “Yeah?”

“The king wants to speak to the owners.”

“Both of us?”

“All two of you.”

I turned to Gilda and shrugged. “Might as well face the music.”

Gilda lightly punched my shoulder. “You are the music. I’m not looking forward to this, though.”

“Neither am I.” We went back inside through the back and made our way to King Gaston. “We heard you wanted to see us?” A good portion of his food was already eaten and one of the wine bottles was empty.

“I did say that. Tell me, does the name ‘Jupiter’ mean anything to you, Solar Dragon?” King Gaston produced a broken Gamer Driver and Iron Ring Gashat.

Gilda and I looked at the broken devices, not expecting such a turn of events. “That was you?”

“You ruined my perfect winning streak.” He was starting to sound mad. “If that was all, I would have let it go at that. But you also have a smoker, your little restaurant is pulling precious food away from the Griffon Empire, a number of whole families disappeared, and you even took Gilda away from me.”

“I chose-”

“Silence, Gilda.” Gilda backed away at the stern order in a timid way I’d never seen from her. “As for you, Yang Xiao Long, for what you’ve done to my country, execution would be too good for you. You will be my personal slave.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw some ponies I’d come to recognize as retired or off duty guards get up and move closer to us. “I could probably get a whole month’s worth of salt if I slapped him.”

Gaston continued. “As soon as my guards come back, I will have them arrest you for what you’ve done.”

“And what would that be, King Gaston?” Celestia said as she walked in, escorted by a half dozen of her guards. “As far as I know, Yang has done no wrong to you or your nation.”

“Ah, Princess Celestia. I wasn’t expecting you.”

“Neither was I,” I admitted as the guards took their places. “Gilda, how about you go see how the king’s guards are doing with whatever they’re investigating? Help them if you think they need it.”

“That is. . .” Gaston looked to Celestia for a moment before continuing. “. . . A good idea,” he said through slightly gritted teeth.

“On it,” Gilda said before going off to check on the guards.

Celestia turned to her guards, which I noticed were all pegasi. “How about you go see if you can help too?”

“Yes, your Highness,” the lead guard said with a wing salute before leading the other five out.

“So, Celestia-” I started before I was cut off.

“That’s Princess Celestia,” King Gaston forcefully corrected me.

“This is a casual place, Gaston,” Celestia informed him before joining him at the table and casually helping herself to the lone hot dog and its single squiggly line of ketchup. “Titles like ours mean little here. Yang, would you mind getting a wine glass for me?”

“Of course.” I got an empty wine glass from Fuzz and returned to the table with it. “Here you go.”

“Thank you, Yang.” As Celestia poured herself some wine and began talking with Gaston, I went into the kitchen.

“How are things in here?”

“We’re just taking a break to clean things up a bit,” Silver said as he wiped down a countertop. “With all our guests occupied with the drama out there, well, it’s calmer in here.”

“Alright. I’ll go check on our better visitors.” I went back outside and to the gaggle of guards. The griffon and pegasus guards were mingling quite nicely, sitting together and talking it up while Gilda finished taking their orders. “How’s the investigation going, Gilda?”

“I found some pegasi in the area,” Gilda reported. “They might even be guards for Celestia herself.”

I glanced over the two groups of guards as they casually talked with each other. “There is a distinct possibility of that. They might want something to eat, though.”

“Way ahead of you.” Gilda showed me their orders, which had very little meat in them. “I’ll get the chefs started on this. You stay here. I’ll get you if we need you.”

Before I could object, Gilda was already gone and back inside, my back to the crowd. “Well. . .”

“Miss Xiao Long?” I turned around and tried figuring out who spoke. A raised claw revealed it to be the griffon guard captain, who I noticed had a black beak compared to the yellows of the many other griffons I’d seen.

“Yes?” I asked back. “Why do I like his voice so much?” I found myself taking in more details about him than I should have. His mahogany eyes, steel blue feathers, white wings with grey swirls, all of it sunk into my memory.

“From myself and all the guards under my command, we say Thanks for what you’ve done for us.” He bowed his head as he looked at me, prompting his guards to bow their heads, though two of them looked like they fell asleep in the process.

“Well, I couldn’t just let you all go hungry, right?” I gave a small nervous laugh as I thought of what to say after that. “It’s probably the most dangerous act of generosity you’ve ever seen, right?”

“I think it’s a beautiful act.” Sixteen sets of eyes, including my own, shot to Captain Garrison. Two sets of eyes remained asleep. “I mean, uh. . .”

“You okay there, Captain?” one of the griffon guards next to him asked.

I slowly turned away as I tried to figure out why the captain was acting uncaptainlike, and why I liked his voice and looks so much. No matter how I looked at it, I couldn’t figure it out, and it only puzzled me more.

I lost track of time until Gilda came back and gave the pegasi their meals. “You okay there, Yang?”

I spun around to face Gilda. “Huh, what? Oh, yeah. I just have. . . something on my mind, that’s all.”

Gilda raised an eyebrow at my answer and looked over to the guards, some of whom were teasing Garrison for something. “Riiight. How about you go back inside?”

I took a quick calming breath. “Yeah. Yeah, that, that sounds good.” I did my best to clear my mind before arriving in the kitchen, which was yet again in a state of cleanup. “Did I miss anything between the royals?”

“Dunno,” Gavan said. “It looks like Celestia’s winning, though. But you know, I’m wondering, why did he come here?”

“He was Jupiter in Iron Ring and I broke his flawless record, I’m apparently taking away from the food needed for the Griffon Empire, I caused all the griffon families here to leave there, and I apparently took Gilda from him.”

“She used to work for him?” Silver asked.

“Yep. I’ll let her give you the details if she wants to. I’m going out there. Where’s. . . There it is.” I picked up the check and made my way up to Celestia and Gaston’s table. The food was all gone, along with the wine. “Everyone enjoy everything?”

“It was quite good,” Celestia said. “Gaston, did you save any room for dessert? Yang, what’s this month’s apple dessert?”

“Apple tarts.”

A smile came across her face. “Ooh, Gaston and I will each have a piece.”

“You would have gotten the apple dessert, no matter what it was,” I mockingly accused her.

Celestia shrugged and responded before Gaston could fire back at me. “Guilty as charged.”

“I’ll be right back, then.” As I was getting the dessert, I was able to make out a short discussion between the royals with Celestia defending my casual interaction with her, despite Gaston’s protests. It didn’t take long for me to come back and deliver the desserts. “Is everything on one ticket?”

“Ticket?” Gaston asked.

“You know, the slip of paper that tells you how much you owe for what you ordered. And, I haven’t done the math yet, but this order is easily over 200 bits.”

Gaston got in my face, clearly upset and ignoring Celestia’s presence. “For all that you’ve done to me, I should get this for free, along with the smoker, Gilda, your Gamer Driver, Gashats, and you.”

I looked over to Celestia, who simply gestured for me to go ahead with whatever, so I did. “Listen, your Highness.” I pushed him back down into his seat before continuing. “I don’t know what you do at your castle, but if you think that all your meals are free just because you’re the king, then you clearly need a lesson in economics.” Celestia quirked an eyebrow at my choice of words. “You see, uh, geez, I can imagine it, but I can’t figure out the words. Celestia, help me?”

“It’s what I’ve been telling you for a long time, Gaston,” Celestia said as she got up. “An iron grip on all parts of your country is bad. As you’ve seen, some of your subjects, presented with a glimmer of hope here in Ponyville, leapt at the chance, despite the risks.”

Gaston turned to Celestia, clearly incensed. “I will get them back to my Empire. They are my griffons, after all, and no land is better for griffons than the Empire.”

“There is so much wrong with that,” Gilda said as she boldly stepped up, Gaston standing back up and looking down on my co-owner. “We are not your subjects in any way anymore. We are proper citizens of Equestria, and have been for many months. None of us, despite the pain of making such a big move, regret it either. There is nothing you can do, even with your poorly treated elites. Yang?”

“Yes, Gilda?” I asked.

“I’m going to see if the guard party wants any dessert.” Without another word, Gilda left to do as she said.

Gaston looked at me. “You’ve been feeding my guards? Without my approval?”

“I wasn’t aware I needed permission,” I sarcastically responded. “Nor that you talk about them like they’re animals. You know, I think I would make a better king than you. Not that it seems like a challenge, though.” Gaston growled and threw a punch at my face, causing a heavy silence to fall over everything. “Princess?”

“Yes, Yang?” Celestia asked.

“If I throw him out, will it count as an international incident?”

“I’d rather you didn’t, but this is your restaurant. Before you do, though. . .” Celestia got Gaston’s attention. “I’ll pick up the tab this time.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?” Gaston angrily asked.

“She’s paying for your meal,” I said before grabbing him by the collar of his royal clothes. “Come peacefully, and I won’t have to hurt you.” He punched my face again. “Aura is awesome.” I tossed him up so he was on his back legs, allowing me to land a punch to his gut, subduing him and letting me drag him out. “Congratulations. You’re the first I’ve ever had to throw out.”

“You can’t do this to me. I am a king!” The proclamation’s strength was hindered by a pained moan that crept into it.

“And I’m an upset restaurant owner who’s saved Equestria multiple times.” I opened the front doors, dragged the king out, picked him up, and threw him about thirty feet away. Asada chose that moment to run from her spot at the guard party and up to the king, glaring at him. “I swear you must be psychic, Asada.” Deciding that Asada was enough for Gaston to deal with, I went back inside, stopping in the foyer to take some time to sit down and breathe.

Gilda came by after a bit and saw me. “You okay, Yang?”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said with a nod between short breaths. “Just trying to come to grips with the fact that I threw a king out of the place and, thanks to Celestia, won’t be part of an international incident.”

Gilda nodded in agreement. “That is a big thing. If you want to close early, I won’t object or stop you.”

I considered the idea for all of two seconds. “Nah. We go on as normal. I’ll just talk with Celestia for a bit.” I got up and put action to my words, going to the table Celestia was at and slumping down in what was Gaston’s seat. “That wasn’t fun.”

“If it’s any consolation, I would have handled it the same way,” Celestia said. “And with so many customers-”

“Guests,” I corrected.

“-Guests here who witnessed everything, the only one who will really suffer any consequences is King Gaston. As far as I’m concerned, you did nothing wrong.”

“Thanks. I’m probably still going to worry about it for a while, though.”

“That’s understandable. Say, Yang?”

“Yes, Celestia?”

“Could I get another hot dog?”

Celestia not only paid for Gaston’s large quantity of food, but also covered the cost of feeding all his guards and hers as well. I still stuck to my plan of paying for Gaston’s guards’ food, though. Gilda didn’t stick to her plan to pay for Celestia’s guards’ food though when she heard the news, though.

“Hey, Fuzz?” I asked the draconic barkeep as she was cleaning the bar once the last guest was gone after closing.

“Need something strong?”

I sat down at the bar. “A glass of fireball whiskey, please.”

“Coming up.” A minute later, a mug of the stuff was placed in front of me.

“Thanks.” After drinking some of the stuff, a thought crossed my mind and I put the glass down. “Fuzz?” I asked with the drink’s signature steam coming out of my mouth.

“Yeah?”

“I can’t believe I didn’t think of this sooner, but what if I’m underage for drinking here?”

“From what I know, different species have different guidelines, and there’s none for you. And they’re guidelines, not laws. I’ve seen skinny teenage fillies hold their liquor better than a tough fifty year old stallion.”

“Huh.” I went back to my drink, concerns about legal drinking ages soon forgotten, and the stresses of the king’s visit melting

Sorting things out

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I found myself in the dreamscape yet again, wearing a nice, modest black dress and sitting at a candlelit table for two, the opposite chair unoccupied, the surrounding area being only a black void that the dress somehow stood out against. “Oh, not this again.”

“I think this looks nice,” Luna said as she walked up. “Very romantic.”

“Please, don’t remind me,” I said as I put my head in my hands. “It’s been nothing but this for a little over a week and it’s driving me nuts.”

Luna sat down in the opposite chair. “A little over a week? Hmm. . . That lines up with when Gaston visited you, right?”

“Yeah. That was not fun. Well, going behind his back to serve his guards was kind of fun. But one of them, I can’t get his voice out of my head for some reason.”

Luna looked into my eyes a bit, as if she was looking for something. “Captain Garrison, right?”

“Yeah, him. Do you have any idea why that would be?”

With a flash of Luna’s horn, the flames on the candles changed shapes, becoming hearts. “Maybe.”

I looked at the heart flames. “Really? You think it’s love?”

“I’ve seen the signs before.”

I thought about it for a moment before coming to a decision. “Luna, please give me a dreamless sleep for the night.”

“Before I do that, would you mind answering a question for me?”

I shrugged. “Sure, I guess.”

Luna flipped a silver coin towards me. “What do you think of the design?”

I caught the coin, slightly larger than a bit, and looked it over. On one side was a symbol I’d come to recognize as that of Equestria’s. On the other was a 5. “You really got my letter?”

“Celly and I like the idea, but between everything that we already had to do, along with talking over the pros and cons and figuring out how to smoothly implement it without wrecking the economy, it’s taken some time to get to this point.”

“Well, it looks great to me.” I inspected the coin closely, looking for something. “And I see nothing related to me.”

“Yang, we can’t-”

I held up a hand in defense. “Woah there, Princess. I’m actually glad you didn’t put anything like that on here. If you’re going to make an announcement about this, please do what you did with the design and don’t mention me. At all.”

Luna let out a mock huff. “And I had this whole big speech in mind to praise you for this idea. I guess I'll just have to rewrite the whole thing now.” Her fake pout turned into a genuine smile. “Sleep well, Yang.”

As Luna and the dream slowly vanished, one last thought ran through my dreaming mind: “Why does it feel like I don’t have any underwear on?”

I woke up peacefully and early. It wasn’t close to THE TRANQUILITY levels of peacefulness, but it wasn’t bad either. After getting out of bed, I opened the window and looked at the bright, sunny area out back with a smile and content sigh. “Ah, today seems like another good day for a run.” A crack of thunder followed my statement, and the sun was soon being blocked out by the weather pegasi. “Fine, then.” I closed the window and the curtains. “I’ll just spend the day exercising inside.”

After taking a shower and putting on the blue, white, and orange athletic set, I set my plan into motion and started exercising with an intensity that complimented the increasing rain falling outside. “Next thing to do: get some exercise equipment in here. Or join a gym.”

As I went through my workout, Captain Garrison’s voice played through my mind, increasing the fervor of my exercise as I tried to ignore it. I finally came to a stop when I accidentally set my arm ablaze while I was shadowboxing. Nothing caught fire, thankfully, but it was still a close call. “I’m going for a run.”

When I went outside, it was into a downpour. I paid it no mind and just went on my usual route. The ground was muddy, making the run a bit trickier. The places where I usually made hard turns had to taken more slowly, thanks to how slick it had gotten. It made things more interesting, to say the least. It certainly helped get my mind off Garrison’s distracting voice.

My time in the storm, thankfully, was short, and was already being cleared up by the third lap. After my fifth lap, I decided I’d had enough running and decided to get the mail. Before I even opened the mailbox, I took a look at my legs, which had a good amount of mud on them below the knees, especially on my shoes. “Hmm. . . I wonder. . .”

I went around to the back of my place and started focusing on my fire magic, keeping it limited only to heating myself up. Steam briefly filled my vision as the water evaporated from my skin and clothes. “Alright, this is nice.” I looked back down at my legs, the mud now dry, baked on dirt. The ground under me had become dry as well. A light brushing got the dirt off my skin, and a few good taps on the ground got most of it off my shoes, but it was stuck in my socks. “That’s not so nice.”

Just before jumping up to my window, I realized I still had the built up heat, and another idea came to mind. After stepping away from my home and shed, I imagined releasing the built up heat as a blast in all directions. To my joy, it worked, and I was soon in the middle of a dry patch of ground. To my displeasure, all the grass in the affected area had turned brown and shriveled up.

I briefly looked over my clothes, which had come out undamaged. My socks had also lost most of the dirt in them, and along with my shoes, had only a few flecks left. “This is awesome! I’ll have to try more things out with this later. For now, the mail.”

Without changing to my work clothes, I took the mail into the office. I’d had Twilight take the security spell off, not only for personal convenience, but also because I realized it wasn’t really necessary with how peaceful Ponyville was. Chaotic, but peaceful. After sitting down with the unusually thick bundle of mail and kicking my feet up on the desk, it was time to sort through it all. “Restaurateur Times and Deals” -center of the desk- “Office Offerings” -center of the desk- “Fashion Passion Questioner, always good quizzes in that one” -left side- “Business letter, letter, letter” -right side- “Bill, bill, bill” -right side- “And. . .” the rest was something different. The envelopes weren’t official in any form, and had lots of variance between them.

After pulling out an extension piece, I took my feet off the desk, turned to the revealed surface, and started going through the letters, opening and reading each one. “Fan mail, fan mail, fan mail. . .” As I kept going through the fan mail, I began to wonder how it was I hadn’t gotten any before, considering everything I’d done. After trying to figure out a good reason and coming up with nothing, I gave up and chalked it up to Equestria just being so different.

Some of the fan letters simply said I looked great, some said I was their idol, and a few even had pictures of the (presumed) writer, dressed up in clothes similar to my combat outfit, often with their manes and tails styled to match or wearing wigs. Most of them were fillies and mares. The few colts and stallions that included pictures often didn’t pull off the look very well, though there were a few that got inventive and restyled the outfit to work well with them. “I like the letters, but they’re getting thrown away. Pictures, I’m going to get some albums for.” After coming up with five categories of albums, I wrote down a note of the idea.

After the fan mail came a few letters of thanks from ponies related to those who had been affected by the golem. One, penned by someone named Zephyr Breeze, was notable for just how lazy it looked and felt compared to the others. He was apparently Fluttershy’s brother. I figured that, since she hadn’t made any mention of him, I saw no reason to either.

The very last letter was different from the rest of them. Not only did the paper feel thicker, but it also looked like it was treated with extra care and attention to detail. On the back was a wax seal, embossed with the seal of the Griffon Empire, though it was upside down. “Please don’t be from Gaston, please don’t be from Gaston, PLEASE don’t be from Gaston.”

I slowly opened the letter and read it.

Dear Yang Xiao Long,
First, thank you for reading this. Second, I’m Captain Garrison of Gaston’s Elite Guards.

Much to my annoyance, I quickly found myself reading it in his voice.

The brave act of kindness you showed us during our all too brief visit was nothing short of a miracle to me and my fellow guards. Yes, even the ones who fell asleep. That we were given the chance to sit down would have been good enough, but the proper tables and benches, the water, the food, and even extending the offer to Princess Celestia’s guards, it was its own kind of beauty.
On the food, the baked potato with bits of meat, cheese, and whatever that sauce was were delicious. I could say they were to die for, but that would keep me from enjoying it if I did. No, they are to LIVE for. If I never come your way again, it will be a meal I will remember for the rest of my days.
Above all else, the most beautiful thing was you.

“Blegh.”

Was it your actions that made you so beautiful that day? Your golden hair? Bright eyes? Clear voice? Amazing body? No, it wasn’t any one of those things, but all of them. Like the ingredients in the meals you served, it all comes together to make an amazing whole.
I write this letter, not so much out of love, but out of appreciation. On behalf of all of Gaston’s royal guards, Thank You.
Sincerely, Captain Garrison.

Underneath the last line, the writing style changed a bit.

P.S. Elite Guard Ironbeak here. I don’t know if Captain Garrison quite realizes it, but the rest of us think he’s fully smitten with you. We’ve never seen him pour such emotion into his writing before, not that we’ve had many opportunities, what with Gaston’s rules and all.
If he goes any further with it, he may just do something stupid like lead an uprising against Gaston and replace him with somegriff else before leaving to try and court you.
Keep an eye on the news.

I had mixed feelings after reading the letter. On one hand, it sounded like the end of a terrible ruler was close, which was good. On the other, the letter that it was attached to intrigued, revolted, and confused me, all at once. At the same time, even though I wanted to burn and forget the letter, I couldn’t bring myself to do so.

Finally, I set the letter down on the left side of the desk. “Why do you do this to me, brain? Why?” Luna’s suggestion that it was love came to mind. “No, no, no. He’s not a match for me. We’re not the same species, and I’m not even interested.” I got up and started pacing around the office. “But not being interested doesn’t feel this way. It should feel like nothing, not whatever. . . this is.” After pacing a bit more, I decided to stop thinking about it and picked up the sorted out mail, took it to the appropriate places, went back upstairs, and started getting ready for a Friday of work.

With the grill going in front of me, along with plenty of orders, I was able to keep my mind off the letter from Garrison for the most part, though it still crept in from time to time. As far as I could tell, I was keeping it hidden from Spike and all the guests pretty well.

Finally, closing time came around. Aegir was still at the bar, cleaning a glass, when I took a seat there after everyone else left. “How was business over here today?”

“Quite good,” Aegir curtly replied. “And at the grill?”

“Spectacular, as usual. Why are you still here?”

“Oh, just thought I’d ask who has your attention.”

I immediately went on the defensive. “No, I do not love him. I only met him once when he came here with King Gaston and-”

“It’s love.”

I levelled a glare at him. “And how do you know that?”

Aegir wasn’t fazed by the look at all and shrugged. “Changeling, remember? I consume love, so I know it when I feel it.”

I took one slow breath without taking my glare off of him. “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”

“If you say so.” After putting the glass and cloth away, Aegir walked out of the restaurant. Seconds later, I locked the door behind him.

“Stupid minotaur. I know my own feelings,” I muttered under my breath as I went into the office to take care of the last bits of business stuff I had for the day. It took longer than usual, since I was distracted yet again by thoughts of Garrison. “Stupid emotions. Quit getting in the way of work!”

After everything was done, I went upstairs, changed to my sleep clothes, took care of the nightly routine, and promptly went to sleep, hoping for it to be dreamless.

It was not dreamless. I found myself dreaming that I was in bed in the middle of winter, wrapped up snug, but still feeling the bitter chill of the cold. “Please don’t go where I think it’s going.”

I heard the door open and close downstairs. Garrison’s voice soon came up. “You home, Yang?”

“No!” I turned over, seeing the raging blizzard outside my window. It looked like bits of frost were creeping in around the window as well, not helping with the room’s temperature.

I couldn’t find the energy or motivation to get out of bed, even as I heard Garrison’s approach and enter the room. “You’re silly, Yang,” he said in a casual, slightly playful tone as he gently closed the door behind him. “You look cold.”

“Hmmrgh.”

I felt Garrison slide into the bed behind me, and after he got under the blankets, he gently lifted me up, then pulled me into a warm, feathery embrace. “I’ve got you, Yang,” he gently said as he wrapped his forelegs around my waist and his wings around my whole body. I found myself relaxing in the warm, gentle embrace, even nestling into him a bit. The only thing that kept me from fully relaxing in the comforting embrace was a sense of wrongness that had nothing to do with the species difference.

Irrational behavior

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It was yet another busy day in the kitchen, as tended to happen. I was focused solely on the work, and was looking forward to a group that had mailed in a reservation for a group of twelve. Gilda handled the paperwork on that one, so I had no idea who was coming, except that there were twelve of them.

Thanks to having gotten used to the constant din of sounds of the kitchen, I was able to make out Sylvia ask, “Group of twelve?” I wasn’t the only one who had picked up that skill, as the rest of the kitchen staff were already moving about to get ready. “And you have a reservation as well. Right this way.”

As soon as I heard a “Thank you,” I froze. “He’s back. He’s back and I. . . I. . .” I turned to Gavan. “Ileaveeverythingtoyou, kaythanksbye.” I ran out the back of the kitchen, went into the shed, opened up the doors, got on Bumblebee, and drove right out of there, putting as much distance between myself and the Carne Den as possible.

I came to a stop on Sweet Apple Acres, under a newly built clubhouse, and even though I had driven there, I found myself leaning against the tree to catch my breath.

“You okay, Yang?”

“Huh?” I turned to the speaker and saw Applejack. “Oh, uh, yeah. Just, umm. . .” I stopped as a questioning eyebrow went up on Applejack’s face. “Spooked?”

“Really? Somethin’ spook ya?”

“Yeah.”

Applejack simply looked at me for a bit before continuing. “Are you sure you were spooked and ain’t just running from something?”

I gave the question a bit of thought. “Umm, can I say both?”

“Ah’ll take that.” The farmer glanced upwards briefly. “Let’s talk up there. It may be a bit of a tight fit for ya through the door, but it’s better than talkin’ out here.”

“Alright.” I followed Applejack up and into the clubhouse. There was a low ceiling past the short doorway, so I wound up sitting down inside. The window next to me provided a decent view of the sunset.

Applejack sat across from me, our eyes nearly level with each other. “Who’s on your mind?”

“Garr- why are you asking me that?”

“Ah’m no Princess of Love like Cadence is, but Ah do know a few things about it, and a few things about you. Ah also know that talking things out makes it easier to deal with them, so start talking.”

“You’re really going to force me to talk about it?”

Applejack motioned towards the closed door with a forehoof. “Door’s right there if you want to leave. Ah won’t stop you.”

I looked between Applejack and the door for some time before deciding to talk. “Yes, I think I’ve got feelings for Captain Garrison. No, I don’t know why. They’ve been distracting me since Gaston’s visit, and I’ve been trying to ignore them every way I can so I don’t get disgusted by them."

“Why would they disgust you?”

“You know I used to be a guy, right?”

Applejack had to think for a bit before answering. “Yeah, Ah do remember that bit. You don’t bring it up that often.”

“Scrawny as I was, I can say for sure that I was straight. Now, I have no idea what I am.”

“How about confused?”

I thought a bit on Applejack’s suggestion. “That works.”

Applejack enjoyed a brief smile at her little joke. “Yang, life can take weird turns, and not just where Discord and Pinkie are. Ah’m not saying to blindly follow your emotions, but maybe you should see where they lead you. It may not be as bad as you think.”

“And if it does turn out he’s bad?”

“You can punch him if he deserves it.” Applejack briefly looked out the window. “Feel free to take some time to sort it out a bit before you head home. Just don’t let it fester too long.” Just before she left, she turned back to me. “You can make it home on that bike thing of yours in the dark, right?”

I was caught a bit off guard by Applejack’s question. “Huh? Oh, yeah. Bumblebee has a headlight.”

“Headlight?”

“It’s a bright light on the front that lights up what’s ahead in the dark.”

“That sounds useful.”

“It is.” I briefly cracked a smile. “Now shoo, Applejack. I need to get back to my brooding.”

“Ah’ll leave you to it then.” With that, Applejack left the clubhouse.

Once the door was closed, I started reflecting on Applejack’s words and my actions. I looked at the door when one particular thought crossed my mind. “How did she know what it was?”

I came back into the busy kitchen, and was promptly greeted by a concerned Silver. “You okay?”

“No, but I’m better,” I answered. “Did I miss anything?”

“The group of twelve griffons hasn’t left yet. Apparently, they want to talk to you.” I resisted the urge to turn right back around and drive off again. It wasn’t easy, and I had to take a few deep breaths to calm my beating heart.

Gilda came up, mildly irritated. “There you are, Yang. You had all of us scared when you ran off like that.”

“I did?”

“Yes, you did. We were able to handle everything just fine, but you had us concerned.” Without warning, Gilda smacked my face. “Now you’re even with everyone here. Gaston’s elite guards have been waiting for you since you left, so get out there and face them.”

It didn’t take long for me to recover from the punch. “And if I don’t?”

Gilda casually examined her talons. “I may just do something that would make you burn my feathers off a few times.”

“You wouldn’t. . .”

“Oh, I would.”

We stared each other down for a few seconds before I caved. “Fine, I’ll. . .” I took a breath to calm myself. “I’ll go talk to them.”

“Atta girl,” Gilda encouragingly said as I walked past her.

Before I made it out of the inside kitchen door, I was already getting myself into the server mindset and doing my best to forget about Garrison. “They’re just like any other group of guests. Nothing different, just treat them well.”

I found the group easily enough, as twelve armored griffons sitting together in the dining area stood out like I did amongst ponies. On the way there, Garrison and I made eye contact and I nearly lost my nerve. Fortunately, I managed to keep it together and made my way to the group. “I heard you wanted to talk to me?”

“We did,” Garrison answered. “We wanted to give you another Thank You for what you’ve done for us, and give you some news in person. We’re also fulfilling our King’s wishes.”

“Has it been published in the newspaper yet?”

A nearby pony raised her forehoof. “That’s what I’m here for. Spring Dew, from the Canterlot Times. I’m also here for the food.”

Garrison continued. “There will be a change in the Griffon Empire very soon. King Gaston has recently died a tragic death, and as per his wishes, we are travelling around to spread the news. The funeral ceremonies will last for a couple weeks before a new ruler is established.”

“So who’s choosing the new ruler?” Spring Dew asked before I could.

“We are. Gaston, unfortunately, did not have a council to turn to for help before he died, so it falls to us.”

A question came to mind and I promptly voiced it. “How did he die?”

“A couple days after he returned from his trip out here, he got very upset and started taking it out on his secretary. She didn’t take kindly to it, snapped, and fought back. Normally, whoever kills the king can claim the title, but Gaston had a rule in place preventing any secretaries from being able to claim the title.”

Another griffon spoke up, looking at me. “We looked over the requirements for becoming king, and realized that there’s actually no laws requiring the ruler to be a griffon.”

A couple pieces fell together for me. “And you wanted to see if I’ll take up the title?”

“If you turn it down, that’s alright. We will not pursue anyone who refuses.”

I didn’t have to think long on the offer. “I’ll turn it down. I’m fine with what I have here. What if one of you takes the role?”

Garrison turned to the griffon who had made the implicit offer. “How about you, Ironbeak?”

“Me?” Ironbeak asked in response. “Nah, nah. I couldn’t do that.”

“You’d be really good, though. You’ve always been the more diplomatic one out of us all, at least when we’ve had the chance.”

“But I don’t know anything about economics,” Ironbeak firmly protested.

Before I knew what I was doing, I had raised my hand and said, “I know a bit about economics.”

Silence permeated the area around us for a bit before Ironbeak turned to me and said, “Go on.”

“If you cut down on cumbersome rules and restrictions, then more businesses will appear and grow. Cut taxes down by a lot and that will give more spending power to the citizens. Allow them the freedom to build and choose, and things will get even better. It won’t be an overnight fix, but it’s a good path.”

“So, just do the things Gaston didn’t like, right?”

“So long as you don’t impose on the populace very much, stick to your promises, and maybe give some encouraging speeches, things should just go upwards.”

Garrison spoke up. “All in favor of setting Ironbeak in charge with this new knowledge when we return?” Ten talons went up in agreement. “Congratulations, Ironbeak, you have been chosen to be king. Since you’re a royal guard like we are, you have no escape.”

Ironbeak put his head in his talons. “Can’t I back out of it at all?”

“Nope. At least you’ll have ten good friends to help you on the way.”

“Ten? Wait, are you leaving us, Garrison?” a different guard asked.

“After things are set and going, yes. I have. . .” I caught Garrison looking at me briefly. “Matters that I’d like to pursue here. This is an interesting little town, after all.”

Deep in the Party Planning Cave, a pink mare looked up from her party cannon maintenance. “Things are going to happen,” she said in an ominous and happy voice before going back to the cannon maintenance.

“That’s. . . One way to describe Ponyville,” I admitted. “Is there anything else you need from me?” As I surveyed the group, I caught myself looking at Garrison a bit longer than the others.

“I just want to say how nice this place is. It’s not extravagant like a castle, it doesn’t boast about anything, it just feels comfortable, like a place you can really relax at. The staff are wonderful, the food is amazing, even without being smoked, and everything’s just so nice. It makes me wish I could live here.”

“Well, I could arrange. . . NO. Bad thoughts, bad thoughts! Even if he would be an excellent. . . NONONO! Brain, why do you torment me like this?” The image from the dream of him holding and keeping me warm in the cold came to mind. “As nice as that looks, I don’t want it. No no no no-”

“Are you okay, Miss Xiao Long?”

Garrison’s concerned question snapped me out of my thoughts and made me realize I was looking at him. I looked away before quickly answering, “Yeah, I’m fine. Just got a bit, umm, distracted there.”

Ironbeak elbowed Garrison. “Looks like she’s-”

I quickly turned on Ironbeak. “Finish that sentence and I will make your time as King a negative amount.” In the silence that followed, I realized what kind of threat I had levelled in my emotional moment. “I’m sorry!” Without another word, I ran off, heading upstairs and to my room.

Some time later, after crying myself to sleep in shame, not even having taken off my work clothes, there was a knock on my door, waking me up. “Who’s there?” I asked through the pillow.

“Searing,” was the answer that came. “I have something that might help you.”

“Bring it in.”

The door opened and Searing entered. “Wow, you look like a wreck. I don’t know whether to give you this delicious apple cider or not now.” I slowly sat up and reached for the mug, which Searing pulled away. “Ah ah ah, tell me what’s got you so flustered first, then you get the good stuff.”

I looked at her in disbelief. “Really?”

“I know how to make this stuff evaporate in front of you, so start talking.”

After looking at Searing a bit longer, I flopped back onto the bed with a sigh. “Nobody’s out in the hallway listening, right?”

“Just us two girls up here.”

I spared a glance to the closed wardrobe before making my confession out loud. “I think I’m getting feelings for Garrison.”

“What kind of feelings?”

I took a moment and a long sigh before saying, “Romantic. And I don’t like it.”

“Aww, that sounds so sweet. What’s not to love about it?”

I sat up long enough to glare at her after her pun before flopping back down. “What’s not to love? I’ll tell you what’s not to love: I used to be a guy, interested in girls. Now put the pieces together.”

Searing was quiet for a bit, during which she set the mug of cider down. “So, it’s not the species difference that’s getting you?”

“It is, just a bit. It’s that whole other thing that’s really getting me, though.”

“Hmm. Have you tried coming up with any positives?”

“Huh?”

“One thing I’ve learned in my travels is that focusing on one negative is a good way to ruin your mood. So tell me one positive thing you can think of about him, related to you, no matter how small.”

I took a breath and the dream came back to mind. “Well, he can keep me warm when it’s cold.”

“Oh?” Searing teasingly asked.

“It was a dream! I don’t know if he actually can or would. And it was just cuddling. Nothing else.”

“Hmm. Alright, cider’s yours.”

The closing door signalled Searing’s departure, and I sat back up. The mug of cider was right there on the nightstand, waiting for me. I brought it up and took a long sip. “Hmm. Not the hard stuff.” A moment of contemplation followed. “Oh well.” I drank some more of it. “Probably better that way.”

Setup

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I picked up the Sunday newspaper and started skimming through it after a run, quick shower, and putting Burning Time on. “Missing Manehattan foal found, mysterious arsons continue, new fever medicine developed, experimental cookie plant goes wrong, ah, here we go. King Gaston is dead, replaced by one of his elite guards, now King Ironbeak. The late King Gaston died from. . . A single stab to the heart?” After trying to figure out how that could have been the case with what I’d heard from Garrison, I read on.

According to various reports, compiled by Spring Dew of the Canterlot Times, the late King Gaston, after his trip to the Carne Den, was very upset that he didn’t get a number of things, along with some other events that occured that went against his will, including the Carne Den’s owner, Yang Xiao Long, giving, food, water, and rest to his elite guards.
The late King Gaston, in his rage a couple days after returning, started beating his secretary hen. After a few hits, the secretary fought back, grabbing a spear and landing it right in his heart. Numerous bruises and cuts were seen on the hen at the funeral processions. King Ironbeak has publicly nominated her to be his secretary, during which he vowed that he would treat not only her, but all of the castle staff better than the late King Gaston.
King Ironbeak made a number of other vows as well to the attending crowd at the Griffonstone Castle, including the following:
Ceasing all meat smoker seizes
Drastic cuts to taxes
Reevaluation of spending
Getting rid of prohibitive and pointless laws and regulations
Increased transparency in public affairs
Reopening the castle library to the general public
King Ironbeak also announced that, after making sure everything is in order in the Griffon Empire, he will start making diplomatic trips to meet with other nations’ leaders. In that announcement, he also asked that any eager diplomatic visits to him be held off until he is ready for them. This request, clarified by King Ironbeak, does not stop anyone, even diplomats and leaders, from simply visiting the nation as it hopefully heals.

I stopped reading the article and set the paper down, a smile forming on my face for multiple reasons. Aside from the change in leadership to someone more promising, it also meant that the cost of my meat imports could go down.

One thing I hadn’t fully sorted out in the days since Ironbeak got promoted were my feelings for Garrison. I’d gotten to the point where I could ignore the stray thoughts while I was working, but that meant my nonwork time was even more filled with them. I’d come to admit to myself that he was indeed handsome in my eyes, and that it would be nice to wake up with a griffon blanket everyday. I even had a brief moment of pride when I tried to figure out who could say they could wake up with a griffon everyday before realizing that would be a majority of griffons that could say that, along with a few from the other sapient species on the planet.

Luna’s counseling in my dreams helped me start to accept the feelings, though I wasn’t ready to embrace them. At the same time, I was also feeling eager to accept and embrace both the feelings and Garrison, leaving a big conflict in my mind between both sides.

A knock from the front door caught my attention, pulling me from my thoughts. As I made my way out of the office, the knocking came again. “Coming!” I got to the door and opened it before anymore knocking could be done. “Garrison?” The griffon was unarmored, revealing his unruly feathers and white fur with dark grey swirls.

“Hello, Yang. I. . . Sweet Celestia, you look beautiful in that dress.” He trailed off for a bit before snapping back to reality. “Ah, I came here to give you something.” He reached to the side of the doorway and produced a bouquet of roses, predominantly bright yellow with some purple mixed in. “For you.”

I accepted the bouquet. “Oh, uh, thanks.” Inside, my mind was racing. “WHAT DO I DO NOW?” I took a sniff of the roses. “They’re nice.”

“Thank you,” Garrison cordially replied. “I also have this.” He reached to the other side of the doorway and produced a heart shaped box, tied up with a ribbon. “Only the best, for you.”

I shifted the bouquet around and accepted the box, from the Canterlot Chocolatier’s Shop. “Wow. I’m not sure what to say.” I really had no clue what to do.

For a few moments, we just stood there. Garrison broke the silence. “If it’s not too much of a problem, may I come in?”

I felt my heart begin to beat harder. “Sure. Do you want anything to eat?”

“Maybe in a bit,” Garrison said as he walked in, closing the door behind him. “I have something I need to tell you first.” He rushed over to a table for two, set the chairs down, and held one for me.

After setting the chocolates and flowers on the table, I sat down and he pushed my chair in like a gentleman. “So, what’s up?”

Garrison sat down and took a breath before speaking. “First, I need to confess: my name isn’t Garrison. My full and real name is Shamrock Blackbeak, and I am a descendant of the legendary sky pirate, Captain Blackbeak. One day, I want to become a sky pirate as great as him, hunting down treasure wherever it may lie.” I thought back on the history books I’d read, but nothing about a griffon named Blackbeak came to mind. The closest I was coming up with was the human pirate Captain Blackbeard.

I snapped myself out from staring into his eyes to take my turn with an introduction. “I’m Yang Xiao Long, as you know, and, um, I have a restaurant. We’re at it right now. It’s a very profitable place, especially as nobody else in Ponyville or most of Equestria is serving meat.” Shamrock nodded as I finished my introduction. “You’ve probably heard of my exploits and victories, but I prefer the Carne Den over all that.” I saw something glint in the light around Shamrock’s neck and focused on it. “What’s that?”

“This?” Shamrock held up the silver necklace, which looked like a diagonal square with a line going through the topmost corner. “I found it during an eight year voyage with my grandfather at the first place we stopped, and it’s been right here with me ever since.”

“He sounds like a great griffon.”

Shamrock’s face dropped at that. “Yeah, he was. But two years after that voyage, he died. I can still remember the last thing he said to me: ‘Shamrock, the greatest treasure I ever found wasn’t gold or some artifact or trinket, but our voyage together. Wealth is fleeting, but experiences, those can’t be forgotten or lost.’ An hour later, he died. When I was at his gravestone for the first time, I fell down and cried in front of it for over an hour.” I reached across the table and put my hands over his talons as he finished the story. “After that, I set my sights on the greatest treasure I knew of: King Gaston’s treasury. For three years, I served under him as Garrison, and I quickly became the head of his elite guards. I got close to it, but never actually snagged any of his treasury.”

“And now that it’s Ironbeak’s?”

“I don’t want to take it anymore, now that it’s his.” He picked his head back up and looked at me, gently putting a talon over my hands. “There’s a greater golden treasure right here with me.” I blinked at his two-liner and sat back up, reclaiming my hands. I was starting to like him even more as we were talking, bringing a smile to my face and greater confusion and panic to an area in the back of my mind that was about as big as three grains of sand.

I decided to play with the words a bit. “Yeah, I do treasure my hair quite a bit. Woe betide anyone who damages it.”

“You like your hair that much?”

“No, it’s more that I get angry at anyone or anything that damages it. It’s an involuntary reaction that I don’t like, even though it’s saved me before.” I decided to change topics, looking around a bit before settling on the chocolate and flowers. I opened the chocolate box and saw a spread of chocolates inside, along with a piece of paper showing what each one had in it. Some were plain, others has wafers, cream, fruit, peanut butter, or jelly inside. I picked up a plain disk and popped it into my mouth. Immediately, my face started to screw up in disgust.

“Is something wrong?” Shamrock asked, clearly concerned.

“No, no,” I said around the melting chocolate before using a bit of extra heat to quickly melt it before forcing it down. “I just don’t like dark chocolate, that’s all.”

Shamrock looked at the box in confusion. “But I heard dark chocolate was supposed to be romantic. Were they wrong?”

“If it’s any consolation, the gesture is sweet. Personally, I prefer milk chocolate, which actually is sweet.” Silence reigned for a bit. “So, um, if you want to get me a milk chocolate one. . . This is getting awkward for me.”

“Why don’t we both go there?” Shamrock suggested.

“Yeeeah, but I don’t want to go to Canterlot and back just for chocolate.” I suddenly remembered a gift certificate I had that was sitting in my room, gathering dust. “Why not make a day of it? Maybe next Sunday? We could try a place up there called Grill 32. It is a rather fancy place, though.”

“And then we could go get dessert as well.”

I nodded at the idea. “Yeah, yeah that sounds nice. It’s a date, then?”

“It’s a date.” Shamrock and I both had big grins on our faces, and we also took it as his cue that the meeting had come to a close.

After seeing him out, reaffirming the date, and waving farewell, I turned back and was on the way to the table when I suddenly fell off Cloud Nine, realizing what had happened. “Did I just set myself up on a date with him?!” Panic briefly overcame me and I started pacing the area in front of the bar. After a few rounds, I managed to get myself under some degree of control. “Okay, it’s not the end of the world, just a date with Shamrock, who is and isn’t Garrison, and nothing else. I mean, I guess I could call it off. . .” my eyes settled on the flowers and box of dark chocolates. “But that would be mean, and I can’t do that to him. He’s a nice guy, after all. And that certificate is gathering dust anyways.”

I went upstairs and found the nearly forgotten gift certificate, which had actually managed to accumulate a thin layer of dust in the drawer it was in. The certificate spoke of how fancy Grill 32 was, if not by the gold leafing, elegant lettering, and minty scent (likely magically placed), then by the small text at the bottom saying that it was a fancy place, and that they reserved the right to turn anyone away at the entrance depending on their state of dress.

I went to the wardrobe and looked through the dresses available to me. The first one to catch my eye was Victory, a very formal dress, and the choice was clear right there. After closing the window and curtains, I took Burning Time off and put Victory on. To my delight, Victory fit just as perfectly as when I first wore it.

Just as I was taking Victory off, the thought of putting on makeup crossed my mind. The only problems I saw were that I had no idea how to apply any kind of makeup, and that I didn’t have any.

After switching back to some regular clothes, I realized just what I was thinking about and paused, laying down on the bed to help sort things out in my mind. “Makeup? A fancy dress? A date with a guy? What am I thinking?

“It’s love. I’ve got to admit it.

“It’s not normal. It’s not the way I was born.

“What about my life is normal now? I’m Yang Xiao Long, owner of a popular barbecue restaurant in a land of herbivores. I’ve punched out a giant centaur, picked up musical abilities, pulled a motorcycle out of an alien robot, destroyed an ancient Equestrian robot, been targeted by snobby nobles, got pyrokinetic abilities, and that’s ignoring Pinkie Pie and Discord. Compared to all that, falling in love with a male griffon is tame.

“Past me is important though.

“Yes, but evolution happens. Things change. Like me becoming Yang. The past is important, but I can’t just cling to it in the face of all these changes.

“. . .

“One date. I’ll see what happens. If it doesn’t work out, that’s fine.”

Meanwhile

Shamrock Blackbeak, free of his presents and full of joy, walked through the Ponyville market square with a spring in his step, happily humming to himself. “I have a date with Ya~ng, I have a date with Ya~ng. . .” He came to a stop in front of the very flower stall he had purchased the flowers he gave Yang only an hour earlier when he came to a critical realization. “Holy plop, I have a date with Yang!”

“Hello, Mr. Blackbeak,” Roseluck asked him. “Did she like the flowers?”

“Huh?” Shamrock shook his head as he cleared his thoughts a bit. “Yeah, she did.”

“And?”

“I have an official date with her next week.”

“Whoo! Look at you go, Mr. Lovebird. Good luck!”

“Yeah, thanks.” Shamrock continued on, his next destination in sight and a list of questions forming for the mare that worked and lived there.

The date

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I stood at the train station, wearing Victory and the Ember Celica, not wanting to sit down as I waited for Shamrock. Since the time he’d visited and we arranged the date, I’d learned via the letters we’d exchanged that he was staying at an inn, via the return address. More importantly, we’d set up a time to meet at the train station, and he’d mapped out the way from the train station to Grill 32, so we wouldn’t get lost.

Before I came to the train station, I’d made a stop at Rarity’s place and asked for a very light application of makeup for the date. She wanted to go full out, but I had somehow managed to talk her down to just a bit of blush, albeit at the cost of a promise to come back for a full makeup session later in the week. The Pinkie Promise I made sealed the deal, and I knew there would be hell to pay if I missed out on it. After that, Rarity gave me a soft gold colored clutch, big enough to hold only about 40 bits and a small amount of paper without becoming distended.

While waiting, I held the clutch, loaded with the bits and gift certificate, in one hand. In the other, I experimented with my fire magic. The fabric portion of the Ember Celica, like the gauntlet portion, was fully magicproof, keeping me from producing any fire through it. The parts of my fingers that were exposed could produce flames though, and I even figured out how to make a small stream of fire flow from my fingertips. How I hadn’t realized the fabric was magicproof before was beyond me.

I was messing around with a little bird shaped flame, making it fly between my hands when I was made aware of a spectator. “Woah. That’s amazing.”

I turned and saw Shamrock standing there, wearing a sharp suit and his feathers tidied up. “Yeah, it’s a pretty cool little trick. Nothing more than some fire magic. I have no idea how it works, but it’s fun.” I gave him a knowing look as I dispelled the flames. “Or is it me you’re amazed by?”

“Umm. . . Can I say ‘yes’ instead of choosing? Because it’s a really tough choice when you put it that way.”

I lightly shrugged. “I think it’s safe to say you were looking at some hot stuff either way.” Immediately after saying that, I realized what I’d said about myself. “I know it’s accurate, but why would I say that about myself? It’s terrible.”

Shamrock, unaware of my inner conflict, simply agreed. “That does sound right.” He looked over to the empty tracks and asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, have you gotten any tickets yet?”

I pulled two tickets out of the clutch. “Right here. Round trip. Since you’re staying at the inn, I figured I should help you where I can.” “I mean, I could help him more by letting him move in with me, but I’m not ready for that step. Yet.”

“You just got bored while you were waiting, then?”

“That too.” After a moment, we shared a giggle at the exchange, cut off by the convenient arrival of the train. “Ah, here we go.” We waited as the train unloaded its passengers. As soon as we could, we got on, claiming a spot on a car fitting for the tickets.

“You got us a first class car?” Shamrock asked as we made our way to a booth with a table in the middle of it.

“Yeah,” I admitted as we sat down across from each other. “I mean, we’re going to a fancy place, so we should have a nice ride there, right? Well, that, and I have more bits than I know what to do with, so I can afford it.”

“You’re rich, too?”

“Well, I guess?” I answered with a shrug. “I mean, my business kind of is my hobby, so I’m not spending much outside of that?”

Shamrock nodded in understanding. “That makes sense. Do you-”

“No, I don’t take the Carne Den’s profit for myself. I’m paid hourly, just like everyone else. The profits are reserved for emergency maintenance, and not much else. I’ll probably renovate something with the bits. Or just give them out to the staff based on performance.”

Shamrock blinked a bit. “Well, that sounds very nice, but I was going to ask if I could get a job at the Carne Den.”

“Oh. Well. . . Not now.” I quickly held up my hands defensively. “N-nothing against you, it’s just. . . Thinking about you distracts me, and I don’t want that to get in the way of work.”

“I understand. Honestly, thinking about you distracts me too.” We soon fell into silence as we got lost in each others’ eyes for a few minutes. We probably could have done that until we got to Canterlot, but the train started moving, and that jostled us back to our senses. We avoided eye contact as the train picked up speed.

Finally, I broke the silence again. “So, how’s Ponyville treating you?”

“Much better than Gaston did, though that’s not saying much. Most of the castle staff only put up with him only because it assured them that they would have a bed and food, even if their pay and treatment was terrible. But Ironbeak should be able to turn things around.

“By the way, you said you had a gift certificate for the place we’re going to?”

“Grill 32, yes. I don’t know why I got it, just that the mailmare gave it to me while I was in town a few months ago.” I pulled the minty certificate out of the clutch and handed it over for Shamrock to look at. “Two meals, two wines, and two desserts or appetizers.”

Shamrock looked over the certificate before handing it back to me. “It’s very well made. I hope it’s a good place.”

“So do I.” I set the certificate back in the clutch. “Personally, I never really cared much for fancy places. Most of the time, they’re more about the presentation, quality, and environment than actually filling you up. That being said, maybe Grill 32 is different.” Unbidden, Shamrock’s backstory came to mind and I found myself focusing on some numbers. As I did that, I turned my gaze to the moving landscape outside.

“Yang?”

I held up a hand in response as I thought. “Shamrock was on a voyage with his grandfather for eight years. Two years later, his grandfather passed away. After that, three years serving Gaston, which just ended. That’s thirteen years.” I brought my hand down as I looked back at Shamrock. “Random question: How old were you when you went on that eight year voyage?”

“Ah, fifteen. Why do you ask?” I let my face fall onto the table as I came to a realization. “Yang?”

“He’s ten years older than me. Physically. Considering how old I was before Displacement, that would make us close to the same age mentally. This is weird.” I sat back up and started talking. “Shamrock, I’m 18 years old.”

A look of realization came across his face. “O~kay then. That’s an age gap.”

“Yeah, it is.” I took a moment to collect my thoughts. “Look, where I’m from, this would be all kinds of weird, wrong, and would probably land you in jail while I get off scot-free.”

“So, does that mean-”

“And if you flip it around, it has a totally different interpretation, even if the actions are the same. I mean, just use one standard for everyone and. . . I almost started rambling there.” One calming breath later, I got back on track. “This is all just very weird for me. I don’t really have anyone I can turn to either, so I’m just trying to figure this out on my own.”

“I see.” Once again, the ghast of silence hung between us, broken by Shamrock after the train started moving. “Does that mean the date’s off?”

“No, it doesn’t,” I answered without a thought. “I set myself up for this, and, well, you seem like a really nice guy, too. I don’t want to throw away all that work, either, so. . . Let’s just try to forget the age gap for now.”

“That sounds like a good idea.”

As the train slowed down close to Canterlot, I finished a short tale. “-and after he ran off to a hill on the horizon, I just made a flicking motion and he fell down the far side of the hill. It sounded like there were stairs and pottery there with how many crashes I heard.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. And that’s one of the tamer crazy things that’s happened to me.” Before the train had come to a complete stop, Shamrock was already up and offering a talon. I accepted it, stood up, and a moment later, we were at the exit. As soon as it opened, we made our way out, and almost immediately, everyone on the platform was looking at us. “I did not think this through all the way,” I said as some camera flashes went off.

Shamrock wrapped a wing around my shoulders. “Would you like me to scare them off?”

“No, no. Let’s just go to our date.” It was faint, but I heard a number of quills and pencils scribbling down words, likely what I had just said.

As we made our way through Canterlot, I found myself moving closer to Shamrock, using his wing as a bit of a shield to hide behind. Thankfully, nobody came close to ask us anything, though the perpetual gazes just wouldn’t stop.

Just before we got to Grill 32, with its fancy white and red exterior and tastefully placed and chosen decorative plants, one mare with a notepad was brave enough to come up. “Miss Xiao Long, may I have a moment of your time?”

“No,” I simply stated without missing a beat as Shamrock and I passed her.

“But-”

“No means no.”

Shamrock and I made our way across the marble patio and inside, him opening the doors for me. The interior was very fancy, with relaxing colors all about, along with a number of glass statues and decorations spread about, depicting majestic animals, gems, or abstract shapes. It was all very sparkly, thanks to the refractions from numerous lanterns along the walls, candles on the tables, and sunlight coming in through the windows. The tables themselves were all round and covered in white tablecloths while the chairs appeared very plush and soft. The ponies sitting at the occupied tables were all very fancily dressed, especially the mares.

After my brief glance over the dining area, I left Shamrock’s wing and went up to the suited unicorn stallion at the pedestal. “Welcome to Grill 32, Sir and Madam. Do you have any reservations with us today?”

“No, we don’t,” I admitted.

“That’s quite alright.” He looked over a notepad before asking, “Is it just the two of you today?”

“Yes.”

“Then I have a table for you. This way, please.” He levitated two book style menus up and lead Shamrock and I through the dining area, stopping at a table for two in a sunbeam. “Is this table to your liking?”

“It’s good.” I sat down and enjoyed the sunlight as Shamrock took his seat across from me.

“Please, take a moment to look over our drink menu while I get a waiter for you.” With that, the stallion left us to do as he said.

We opened our menus and the drinks were on the first page, while the appetizers were on the second. Almost immediately, I saw a problem with most of the appetizers: grass. I quickly decided to go back to the drink menu, which had coffee, a variety of teas, and a number of wines.

It didn’t take long for a unicorn waiter to come over. “Good afternoon, sir and madam.” Before he continued, he set two glasses of water down on the table. “Have you made any drink selections yet?”

“I’ll have a glass of cherry wine, please,” I said.

“Call me lazy, but I’ll just do the same thing,” Shamrock said.

“It is a good, sweet wine,” the waiter commented before heading off to take care of it.

“Any of the appetizers look good to you?” I asked Shamrock. “I can’t have anything with grass in it.”

“That rules out a lot of them.” He flipped through the menu and started looking over something else while I moved onto the main courses. “The certificate said appetizer or dessert, right?”

“Yeah.”

“How about we skip on the appetizer and go with dessert instead? I know I said I would cover dessert, but if we can’t both enjoy an appetizer, it just wouldn’t be right.”

I mulled over his words for a bit before looking over the desserts. There were more options there that I could have, and they looked good too. “That sounds like a good idea.” Our wine arrived moments later, the waiter only setting the glasses on the table as we looked over the menu. “Can griffons eat grass? I haven’t asked any of the ones that work for me.”

“We can, but we don’t get much out of it, so we usually don’t. If you don’t mind me asking, what happens when you eat grass?”

“Well. . . Simply put, it makes me sick. Very sick. This isn’t the place for more details.” Just thinking about it made me a bit queasy, but I was able to get over it very quickly and go back to looking over the main courses. Soon, something caught me by surprise. “Huh.”

“Something catch your eye?”

“They have meat here. I never expected that.”

“Really?” Shamrock went quiet for a moment as he looked over the menu. “Huh. They do.”

After a minute or two, the waiter came back, setting down a plate with two warm cinnamon rolls on it. “Courtesy of the owners,” he succinctly explained. “Have we made any decisions yet?”

I looked over to Shamrock and he motioned for me to go first, so I did. “I’d like the carbonara penne dish, light on the sauce, please.”

“And your meat in that dish?”

“Chicken, please.”

The waiter wrote down my order as he turned to Shamrock. “And for you, sir?”

“I’ll have a medium well peppercorn steak with garlic mashed potatoes,” Shamrock answered.

Shamrock’s order, like mine, was recorded. “I will get our chefs on that immediately.”

“So, um. . .” Shamrock started, his loss of words clearly evident.

I started to say something, but I had no clue what to say, so I said nothing. It didn’t take long for us to start looking in each other’s eyes again, losing track of time.

“Miss Xiao Long?” a unicorn mare in a simple black business dress asked, breaking us out of our stupor.

“Yes?” Something about the mare seemed familiar, though I couldn’t figure out from where.

“My name is Cinnamon Roll, and Window Frame and I want to thank you for showing us a better option after that H.O.M.E. incident.” As she finished her bit, she made a polite bow.

It took a moment for me to remember them, but when I did, I was pleasantly surprised. “Ah, now I remember you. This is your place, then?”

“Nobody lives here, but yes, Grill 32 is mine and Window Frame’s, but he’s off today.” The mare turned to look at Shamrock for a few seconds. “So, who’s this handsome bird?”

Before Shamrock could defer to me, I motioned for him to introduce himself, so he did. “I’m Shamrock Blackbeak, and I served under the late King Gaston for a few years. I left after his death.”

“And here you are with Yang Xiao Long herself.” Cinnamon roll looked at me for a few seconds before turning back to him. “I can see why you left for her.” I felt a bit proud of myself at her remark, then embarrassed that I did feel proud of that. “So, Yang, how’s the Carne Den doing?”

“Busy as usual,” I said. “How are things here?”

“It’s not as busy as your place most of the time, but we still turn a decent profit. Anyways, I have to get back to work, but I’ll have the chefs put some bacon on your orders, if you’d like.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“When does it not?” Cinnamon Roll left us to go take care of what she needed to.

A few seconds later, Shamrock turned back to me. “Soooo. . .”

I sighed before giving him a short version of the story. “They were part of a short-lived government group made by a noble, they made my hot water frigid, and I came close to having to go to the hospital with hypothermia. I’ve forgiven them, and the noble, Sir Safehouse, I think it was, got some kind of punishment.”

“Ah.”

Some time, some talk, and two delicious cinnamon rolls later, our meals arrived, and they were not what I was expecting. Instead of some smaller, more artistic serving, we got decently sized, but still rather artistic servings. A glance around showed that it wasn’t any kind of preferential treatment because of who I was, which relieved me.

Even though we each had our own meals, Shamrock and I probably shared about a third of each of ours with the other. His steak and mashed potatoes were really good, especially when mixed together. My carbonara penne was really good too, the bits of chicken were cooked perfectly, and went well with the rest of the dish.

After we finished, the waiter came by to collect the used dishes, including the empty wine glasses. “I take it everything was satisfactory?”

“It was good,” I said with a nod to the waiter. “I especially appreciate the serving size. I was afraid it was going to be some small, artistic dish with more style than substance.”

“We do aim to strike a balance between the two here. Have you thought about dessert?”

“I have. Could I get a slice of Manehattan style cheesecake?”

The waiter started writing down the order. “Would you like anything on it? We have blueberry sauce, orange marmalade, strawberry sauce, and a roasted honey glaze.”

“Ooh, that’s a tough one.” I turned from the waiter to my date. “How about you go ahead with yours?”

“If you say so.” Shamrock turned to the waiter. “I’d like a slice of the cheesecake as well. Can I have both the strawberry and blueberry sauces?”

As the waiter said, “Of course, sir,” I had an idea. “It looks like you’re ready now.”

“Strawberry sauce and the honey glaze,” I answered.

“I will have that out momentarily.” With that, the waiter took his leave to retrieve the cheesecakes. While Shamrock and I were waiting, we talked about the excellent decorations, picking out little things here and there to talk about for a few seconds at a time. It didn’t take long for the waiter to return with the desserts. “And here you go.”

“Thank you,” Shamrock and I said at the same time. Before I started eating, I looked over at Shamrock’s slice. It was on its side, and the exposed face had sections curled back, the fruit sauces and the fruit in it neatly placed in and around the opening. Mine looked more like a golden cheesecake flower with a strawberry center. Neither slice was big, but it still looked like a decent size.

We tried ours at the same time and we got matching smiles on our faces. From there, not a word was spoken between us as we savored our desserts, nor when the check was delivered.

When I snagged the check, Shamrock looked a little disappointed that he didn’t get it. “Hmm.” I opened the booklet the check was in and my eyes widened at the total. “145 bits!? Well, I’m not coming back without some way to carry more bits. Or at least 5 bit pieces.” I pulled out the gift certificate and put it in the booklet. “There we go.”

Just as I set the check and certificate down, I saw Shamrock put a number of bits on the table. “Do you think this is enough for the tip?”

I stacked the bits up and counted them, getting 30 total. “Yeah, that looks good to me. Shall we go?”

“Of course, my love.” He held out a talon and I accepted it. Soon, we were on our way out of Grill 32. “That was a good meal, I must admit.”

“It is a good place.” Off to the side, I heard some scribbling, and I presumed it was someone writing down my short comment on Grill 32. “I think your plan of going for somewhere for dessert is a bust, though.”

“Shall we head back to Ponyville, then?”

I quickly tried to think of any reasons not to, and came up with nothing. “That sounds good to me.”

The walk to the train station was quiet, at least on the outside. As I held Shamrock’s wing around me, my mind was all over the place, trying to figure out what to do and say next. With the easy pace we were taking, I had plenty of time to think.

After we got on the train and sat down in a booth, I took the initiative with the conversation. “Shamrock, I. . . I have something important to tell you.”

“Yes?”

“Come on, out with it, Yang! He told you about his charade, you can tell him your past.” With a calming breath, I began. “Before I appeared here in Equestria, I didn’t look like this. I wasn’t the tall, strong, and good looking woman you see here. I used to be. . . I used to be a guy. And I had an eye for girls back then.” Shamrock blinked for a bit at the revelation, but before he could respond, I continued. “I also happened to be rather scrawny, weak, and pacifistic. I also hung out with girls all the time, mostly because they felt sorry for me or something. I think it became a defense mechanism, being with girls so the guys who would bully and harrass me wouldn’t. Then I started getting feelings for you and I have them and now I’m just really confused about it all and. . . I don’t know.”

Shortly after my little rant ended, the train took off. A minute later, Shamrock responded. “Well, that’s. . . Quite a lot for me to take in. I still love you, I think, but now I’m getting confused too.”

For a while, we just sat there in confused silence, only the sounds of the rails coming between us. Eventually, I decided to break the silence and try to lift the mood. “Hey, want to know something else about me?”

Shamrock warily looked at me. “Is it anything as big as your past?”

“No, no, it’s smaller than that.” I took Shamrock’s silence as a cue to continue. “Sometimes, when I see myself in the mirror, I wonder how all my organs and such fit inside me.”

The griffon blinked a few times at my answer. “What?”

“I mean, I have a thin waist, and there’s a whole bunch of stuff in there, and I just wonder how it all fits inside me.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I took an anatomy class in school and learned about the body, but I didn’t think about it very much. Now, I think about it occasionally. And now that I’m talking about it, I’m thinking about it.” I really was amazed at how so many things were packed inside my body, and at how much power I had as well.

“So, you’re saying your body’s amazing?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Well, I’m inclined to agree.” A brief moment of spontaneous laughter came from both of us at the double meaning of his sentence before Shamrock stopped. “Uh, I hope that wasn’t-”

I pointed a finger at him to stop the apology. “Now stop that right there. Telling a girl like me that she has a great body is nothing to apologize for, especially when it’s true.” I took a moment to cool myself down and prevent another brief rant. “So, going back to my past, well, I’m pretty much over my male body. When I think about my future, it’s with this body. Maybe I should just. . . Let go of my past a bit. Go forward not as a guy in a girl’s body, but just as a girl. What do you think?”

After some time thinking it over, Shamrock answered. “I’m willing to forget about your past as well. Knowing it is still weird, but I think we can go forward together.”

“Yeah, going forward is nice.” Without another word, I went over to his side of the booth. He immediately opened his wing and I sat up against him. Soon after he closed his wing around me, I felt myself start to drift off to sleep. “Yeah. This is nice.”

Separate ways

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“Well, something’s got you in a good mood today, Yang,” Gilda noted as we started getting ready for Monday. “Mind telling me?”

“I went on a date with Shamrock yesterday,” I happily told her as I started setting chairs down at their tables. “And it was great. He’s a gentleman through and through, lets me use his wing as a blanket on demand, and he seems to really like me for who I am, even without my fame.”

“I bet he likes you for your fame, too.”

“Name someone who wouldn’t.”

“. . . Eh, fair point.”

A moment later, there were some knocks on the front door. “I got it, Gilda.” I was humming a happy little tune as I made my way to the door. “I’m sorry, but we’re not-” I stopped and smiled when I saw who was there. “Hey, Shamrock. What’s up?”

“I just thought I’d come by and see how you were doing after yesterday’s. . . Confusing events,” he said.

“I’m doing well. Worked a few things out last night regarding us.” I opted not to tell him that I had some help from Luna with the issues, even if she was mostly just there for me to talk at instead of with. “You?”

Shamrock got a sheepish expression and rubbed the back of his head a bit. “I thought about us, too. And I think we might have gone a bit too fast yesterday. Just, straight to a formal restaurant like that, you know?”

I thought about what he said for a bit, and realized I hadn’t considered that part very much. Why we didn’t do something more normal first, like a simple trip to Sugarcube Corner, escaped me. “Yeah, I may have gotten a bit ahead of myself on that choice. It turned out well, but now that you mention it, it was a bit fast.”

“Maybe we could do something simpler this week? Like going for a walk?”

“We could.” I spared a moment to look back, and saw Gilda close to having all the chairs down. “As much as I’d like to talk more, I really need to get busy over here. Feel free to come by for a bite. Goodbye.”

“For now.”

As I closed the door and went back in, I couldn’t help but immediately start reevaluating the relationship again. “He’s nice, but he’s older. Older enough that it’s weird. I mean, mentally, we’re the sameish age, but. . . Nope, none of that right now. Carne Den comes first.”

Business, just like the food that was being made nigh constantly, was very good. Rarely was there a full minute of quiet in the kitchen. The best part though, was that I was back to my normal level of focus on the job. Even when Shamrock crossed my mind, it wasn't for long.

Nothing interesting happened until I was relaxing in the break room with a well done steak and garlic mashed potatoes for supper when Cloverleaf came in. "Letter for you, Yang."

"Hm?" I set my utensils down and accepted the letter. As he left to go back to the dining area, I briefly looked the envelope over, blank save for my name on the front. I opened it and read the message within.

My dear Yang Xiao Long,
I hate to tell you this, but I'm afraid I have to leave Ponyville for a while. Not because of any laws or summons, but the realization that, in my excitement and haste to be with you, I haven't bothered to spend time with my family back in the Griffon Empire, especially now that I'm free from Gaston's iron rule.
I will be sure to tell my family about you when I see them. They are going to love you and what you did for the Empire, I just know it. Since I'm planning on being with them at least until winter, there will be plenty of time to tell the few stories I have.
I enjoyed every bit of time we spent together, make no mistake. Even the awkward talk on the train. I only wish I could have told you about my departure personally, since I've spent too much time thinking about what to say instead of just asking to talk with you. Chances are that I'm already on the train out of Ponyville by the time you read this.
Maybe when I get back, we can go on that walk.
Sincerely, Shamrock Blackbeak.

I set the letter aside and took a slow breath to calm myself. "That idiot. He could have just gotten a ticket for any trip out that he wanted. I'd have even helped him out. All he would have had to do was ask.

"Then again, we've been busy today, and a long goodbye would have slowed down everything. Maybe it's better that way." I cut off a piece of steak, scooped up some of the mashed potatoes, and chewed on it and my thoughts for a bit. "I guess it's back to normal, then. Tonight, Path of Blossoms."

I was wearing the kimono and laying down on my bed after work, finally having a chance to work through the feelings I had over Shamrock's sudden departure, the letter setting on my nightstand. Mixed in with the pain from learning he was leaving via letter, there was simple sadness that he was gone, and also an odd bit of relief that he was gone. "Well, if nothing else, I'm comfy and things are peaceful."

Out in Ghastly Gorge, deep beneath the ground, something started moving. Rocks started falling as the ground softly shook. Purple sludge started seeping towards the surface, foul and noxious. The quarry eels retreated further into their holes, digging further away to escape what was coming.

In the silence that fell as the wildlife left, the gorge truly became ghastly. Only the occasional falling rock broke the silence, a silence that warned of something dangerous.

The source

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It was friday morning, and I was chilling in the office with the newspaper before any of my employees showed up. The front page of the had a piece on the official introduction of the 5 bit coin, and to my great pleasure, it didn't mention me at all, instead saying that the citizen who proposed the idea wished to remain anonymous. The second page wasn't quite as pleasing to my tastes, as it had a big article about me and my date with Shamrock at Grill 32. I skipped over that article and one about unusual weather that was happening near a place called Ghastly Gorge and browsed other titles. "Another mysterious arson. That's what, at least the fifth one? I hope they catch the little firebug soon."

After grabbing and going through the mail, the bulk of which was from fans, it was time to start getting fired up for another day at the grill.

The grill was busy as usual. In the days since Shamrock's sudden departure, I'd managed to sort myself out, moved on, and had a plan for when he came back. He still held a place in my heart, but I was planning on going forward as I always had: business first, followed by dealing with whatever the nobles threw at me.

As always, Spike was helping out with the drinks, and doing a spectacular job of it. Asada decided to be lazy and just lay around on the patio which was apparently enough for her to earn free ear scratches and morsels from the guests. “The Lazy Life of Asada. That sounds like a good sitcom title. It would probably only last one season, though. Not much spice or variety there. Maybe a newspaper comic?”

Being the one and only grillmaster had some unique perks, though the pay wasn’t one of them. Fresh air and sunlight aside, it let me listen in on what my guests were talking about. The trinity known in town as the Flower Trio caught my attention. “So Flitter was out near the gorge yesterday and she saw this purple stuff oozing out of the bottom of it. Even from her cloud, she could smell it,” Roseluck said.

“Smelly ooze?” Daisy asked.

“Shmooze?” Lily drunkenly asked. For whatever reason, she had decided to hit the hard stuff and was halfway through her second shot glass. It was also a safe bet to say she wasn’t so much a lightweight with her liquor as she was a paperweight.

“Yeah, it was just bubbling up from the ground,” Roseluck continued. “And the whole area was really quiet. Cloudkicker dropped her pencil and they heard it hit the ground.”

“From their cloud?” Daisy skeptically asked. “I don’t believe it.”

“She did!” Roseluck insisted. “Flitter went down to get it and got a better look and smelled the ooze. It glows in the daylight and smells worse than a week old pile of our expired flowers.”

I flipped a burger. “That doesn’t sound so bad.”

Lily downed the last half of her second shot glass. “Where’sh shlee?”

“Sick in the hospital,” Roseluck solemnly responded. “Like, really sick. And Lily, I’m cutting you off.”

“Nuuu~” Lily moaned before her eyes closed and she fell asleep right there.

“That sounds bad. I hope I don’t have to help with it.” I went back to the grill, praying I wouldn’t be needed.

Three days later

Twilight barged into the kitchen. “Yang, we have a problem and could really use your help with it!”

I sighed and set the knife I was cutting vegetables with down. “Why is it always when I’m cutting veggies?” I muttered before turning to the local princess with a sigh. “So, how can I help you?” I asked with all the faux cheer I could muster.

“I’ll explain outside, just hurry!” She rushed out of the kitchen and went towards the main doors.

I turned to the kitchen staff and shrugged. “Well, it sounds like an emergency. Dunno when I’ll be back.”

“We got this,” Gavan reported.

“Thanks.” With no further words, I left the kitchen, went up to my room, used the buckle to change to the combat outfit, then jumped out the window and went around to the front, where Twilight was standing. “Before you tell me anything, do I need Bumblebee?”

“Your bike? It would help a lot.” Twilight followed me back to the shed. “So there’s been this purple sludge leaking from the ground near ghastly gorge recently, and it’s very dangerous stuff. Ten ponies who smelled it from the edge of the gorge are now in the hospital, and they are very sick. The royal guard is patrolling the area and keeping anyone unauthorized away.”

The talk from the trio came back to my mind. “How sick?”

“Flitter’s been dry heaving nearly to the point of asphyxiation today. She was the first exposed to it at that level. The rest aren’t much better, and none of them can keep any food down.”

I opened the shed and wheeled Bumblebee out. “And we’re going to get that close?”

“Well, yes. But we will have masks. I was hoping for hazmat suits, but there aren’t any available, which I find really odd. So, the masks are the best I could get on such short notice.”

“I don’t think there are any in my size, anyways,” I remarked as I closed the doors and got on the bike, Twilight quick to join me. Normally, I would have objected, but at that moment, I didn’t care, instead just revving up and taking off towards the castle.

A whole squad of pegasus guards with a large, six wheeled carriage were waiting for us at the entrance to the castle. At Twilight’s direction, given to me by magical purple arrows on the ground, I slowed down and eased Bumblebee into the open rear of the huge carriage. After turning the bike off, Twilight and I got off. As she closed the rear ramp/door, I looked at the other cargo in the back. “What’s all this for?”

“I’m hoping to secure a set of samples of sludge to study. If I can figure out what it’s made of, I might be able to come up with a treatment for those affected by it.”

“Ah, that’s nice.” The carriage bumped a bit as it took off, and we were soon on our way. “Is there anything else I need to know?”

Twilight went to a box of notebooks in the middle of the carriage and pulled one out, flipping some folded pages open to reveal zigzag lines on a chart. “There’s been reports of seismic activity in the area. Nothing big, barely enough to rattle a stack of plates a mile away, but it’s been constant for nearly a week. Whatever’s happening there, it’s really big, really dangerous, and has never been seen before.” A thought seemed to cross her mind as she looked off into the short distance between her and the wall. “Or it could be one of Those things that Celestia and Luna had to seal away, it’s waking up, and is making its way to the surface.”

“I hope it isn’t.”

“Same here.” Twilight put the book away and opened up another box, pulling out two gas masks with large visors. “While we’re on the way, let me get a mask into shape for you. It won’t be as good as Rarity’s work, but it will do.”

I went towards one of the benches at the front and lay down. “No sense in wasting time, then.”

After landing, Twilight got out first, immediately talking with someone. While she was talking, I rolled Bumblebee out. I could feel a slight vibration in the ground, but it didn't seem to actually do anything to me.

"-and we haven't had anyone try to get past us," a unicorn guard said. "The worst we've had so far was a group of rambunctious foals, but a few barriers and a stern lecture on what was going on was enough to send them off."

"Thank you, Captain," Twilight said. "Yang and I will be getting samples of the sludge so I can figure out an antidote. We have masks, so we should be fine."

"Just masks?"

"I couldn't find any hazmat suits."

"And they don't make any in my size," I added.

"That too, I suppose." Twilight floated our masks out, along with a set of saddlebags. I caught my mask as it went by and the bags went around Twilight's body.

“I’ll get three pegasi to watch you from the sky.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Twilight said as I started putting my mask on. “I think one pegasus watching will be enough. Keep the others on their lookout. The last thing we need is an innocent getting too close.”

“Of course, Princess.” The captain’s horn flashed a couple times, likely sending out a message to a pegasus. “Good luck."

"Thank you, Captain." Twilight quickly secured her mask and joined me as I got back on Bumblebee. In short order, we passed the guard and were on our way to the ghastly gorge.

The mile long trip took only a couple minutes. I could have gone faster, but the shaking ground deterred that notion pretty easily. After parking near the edge, leaving Bumblebee running, I went with Twilight over to the edge of the gorge and looked down. The whole bottom was covered in a purple sludge that seemed to ebb and flow almost as if it were alive. Parts of it seemed to glow as well, the light moving around randomly. "That looks really nasty," I casually remarked.

Twilight opened her saddlebags and levitated out at least a dozen test tubes from each one, along with corks. "It is nasty." The vials flew down, scooped up some of the sludge, came back up, and were quickly secured with the corks. "That should be enough samples. Oh, before we go back, there's an experiment you can help me with right now."

"Yeah?" I gently picked one of the vials out of Twilight's magic with no resistance while the others went in her bags.

"I need to know how it reacts to heat." The cork on the vial was pulled out, and the stuff inside was exposed.

"Just say when." I adjusted my grip so my hand was around the bottom half of the tube.

A flash of purple later, and Twilight's eyes had a glow to them. "Gently increase the heat."

I did as Twilight asked, putting some heat through my hand to warm up the sludge. We both watched it as it did nothing for a while. Eventually, it started to bubble, slowly and with a gross sound. "Talk about a hands on chemistry experiment." As it got warmer and warmer, purple steam started coming off of it, and the sludge started becoming silvery. After some time, it stopped releasing the steam, and was just a bubbling silvery liquid.

"Alright, ease the heat off."

I started pulling the magic back, the stuff quickly coming down to a simmer before solidifying, becoming a solid hunk of silver stuff in the tube. "So, is this a silver based liquid?"

"It's not silver, I can tell you that." The vial in my hand was gently taken out, corked, and set in the saddlebags before a fresh one was opened and levitated in front of me. "See if you can set fire to this one."

"Okay." I conjured a small fireball and dropped it into the tube. The stuff caught fire very quickly, and soon burned out, leaving only foul purple ashes in a matter of seconds. "That's flammable."

"Extremely. Hmm. . ."

"Twilight, please tell me you're not thinking of-"

"Setting fire to the whole thing would probably clean it all up really quickly, and even get rid of the source of it."

"-that." I would have pinched the bridge of my nose, were it not for the mask. "You want me to throw a fireball down there, then?”

“In a moment.” While Twilight likely was telepathically talking with the captain, I moved Bumblebee around so she was parallel to and near the edge, got on, and started waiting. “Once all the guards are accounted for, you can throw the fireball in.”

“Twilight, I really don’t think this is a good idea,” I protested as she got back on.

“Yang, even if there’s a huge reservoir of the stuff down there, the worst that would most likely happen is a small earthquake, and, while it’s true nobody’s really ever ready for one, recovery and rebuilding isn’t much of a problem here. The chances that it’s something bigger, while possible, are very slim.”

“Yeah, but-”

“I wouldn’t ask you to do something like this if I wouldn’t do it myself.”

A small smirk crossed my masked face. “Then why don’t you do it yourself?”

“Well. . . I. . . You can do it better?”

“Twilight, I am not throwing that fireball in there,” I firmly stated. “Even if you offer to take responsibility for what happens, I’m. Not. Doing it.”

“And yet, you haven’t left.” I acted on Twilight’s words, and we were soon on our way away from the gorge. Moments later, I felt her get off Bumblebee, and in the mirrors, I saw her slowly flying towards the edge of the chasm.

The fireball she cast was small. No bigger than a baseball. I felt the heat that the towering wall of flames created, along with the ground shaking just a bit more. Twilight flew overhead, blackened and thrown by the blast, a smoking trail showing her path.

I followed her to a group of guards near the carriage, the unicorns catching her with their magic. The princess was covered in ash, and most of her fur was gone. I took a moment to be smug. “So, about that fireball you wanted me to throw?”

“Shut up, Yang,” Twilight groaned out.

“Nope.” I got off Bumblebee, made my way through the guards, and took Twilight’s saddlebags off of her as some medics showed up. As they treated her, I opened the lightly damaged saddlebags and checked the vials. None of them were cracked, broken, or leaking, and I let out a sigh of relief before putting them safely in the carriage. When I stepped out, I looked back towards the chasm and saw that the high wall of flames was now more like a tall fence fence of fire, stretching a long way across the horizon.

One of the guards came up to me. “Miss Xiao Long, can you cure burns?”

I blinked at the guard for a moment as I processed his question. “Like, with my fire magic? I don’t think I can, and I’m not about to try. With the right stuff and some instructions, I could. I guess Twilight has some nasty burns?”

“Very.”

“Then take her to get some proper treatment.” If I was going to say anything else, it would have been cut off by the sudden, powerful tremor that happened. “Now!”

As Twilight was put in the carriage, I made my way over to Bumblebee and picked her up. Another tremor, stronger than the one before, shook the ground, and if I wansn’t leaning on Bumblebee, I’d have fallen over, likely face first.

I looked back towards the gorge and saw the flames dying off, even as the shaking continued. As I watched, the burned and smoking metal edge of something started rising from the opening, rocks falling off as it rose. A hum filled the air as more and more of it became visible.

A guard tapped my shoulder. “Miss Xiao Long, it’s too dangerous here. We have to get going.”

“Right, right.” Even as I started loading Bumblebee into the carriage and took my mask off, I couldn’t help but keep watching the rising object. Whatever it was, it was huge. Even as we took off, I couldn’t tear my gaze away from it. “Hey, Twilight?”

“Yeah, Yang?” she asked with a bit of pain in her voice.

“Do you have any idea how big that thing is if it’s a circle?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw some guards help Twilight to a window. “Let’s see, that’s about 2% of a circumference, that part of the gorge is. . .” For a bit, she was muttering the calculations to herself, something I just let go over my head. “. . . so about 15 minutes.”

“What?”

“It’s about 3.2 miles across, and if it keeps going up at the rate it is, it’ll be out of the ground in about 15 minutes.” A look of dawning horror came across her face. “Sweet Celestia, what in Tartarus is that thing!? How is it even intact???”

I kept watching for a few moments before I came to a decision. “Land the carriage. I’m going to go wreck that thing.”

“Yang!”

“It’s either wreck it now or wreck it later!” I nearly shouted. “I don’t know about you, Twilight, but I’d rather try to wreck it here, away from, oh, name a place on the map.”

Twilight stared at me before sighing. "Go ahead and open the door for her."

As one guard opened the rear door and the carriage descended, I quickly put my mask back on and got on Bumblebee. Before the carriage hit the ground, I put my bike in reverse, fell a few feet to the ground, turned around, shifted into drive, and went full speed towards the rising machine, not worrying about the shaking ground that much.

While I approached the rising disc, I realized something. "How am I going to get in there?" I didn't see any openings or hatches I could use. There was only dirty metal with thin smoking sludge trails. "I guess I could just ram through. Why not?"

When I was just seconds away from hitting the object, I put an intense fiery drill in front of Bumblebee, accelerated as much as possible, and rammed right into it.

Inside the machine

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The sensation of tilting and Bumblebee falling off of my body brought me to wakefulness pretty quickly. Everything was tilting, and a beam of sunlight moved across me as things levelled out. A glance to what was becoming up showed a hole, big enough to ride through, with the edges still glowing slightly orange. “Okay, that’s a thing I can do.” I quickly noticed that my mask wasn’t on my face, and looked around for it. I found it, broken in two, on the ground. “And I can breathe in here.”

After everything levelled out, lights started turning on, illuminating an industrial pathway easily big enough for me to drive on, a huge array of windowed pipes, and a lot of shipping containers. One pipe near me had something white and fluffy flowing through it. The label next to the window had an arrow indicating the direction of the flow and the word ‘Stratocumulus’ on it. I was about to keep looking when I did a double take. The letters were in English. Not Equestrian, but actual English.

More labels around the area changed the source of my growing confusion. Less and less was I thinking about the writing, but more about what each label was. Cirrus, rain, hail, snow, dust, wind threads, fog, liquid rainbow, sand, sleet mix, cold air, and more. Amusingly, all the labels for hot air had an X scratched through them and ‘Politics’ was written in black marker underneath.

“Okay, where do I go to blow this thing up?”

"I would rather you didn't do that, whoever you are," a male voice said over an intercom system. "You see, this alpha weather machine is my domain. I just got it out of the ground, and I will not let you just destroy it!” I looked at the myriad of pipes around me, somewhat bemused. "Okay, you can break one cloud pipe, but ONLY one."

"Hmm, nah. I don’t feel like it right now. Maybe later. Who are you, anyway?"

"I am Brain Storm, the greatest pegasus to ever exist!" He boasted as I started walking down the path, pulling Bumblebee alongside me. "I am THE certified genius that all other geniuses look up to! There is nothing I cannot make! No problem I cannot solve! Why, I'm practically A GOD!"

"Yeah, I'm definitely going to have to fight him." As I walked along the path with Brain Storm's maniacal and egotistical laughter filling the air, I found myself in what looked like a residential area. Even though the whole area used to be tilted and stuck in the ground, nothing looked like it had been affected. “Hey, what’s this place?”

Brain Storm took a few seconds to finish his laughter and compose himself before answering. “Ah, you’re in residential area 3. Feel free to explore, do whatever you want. Nobody’s there to stop you, so go ahead and take whatever you want. I’ve got everything I want and need in my lab already anyways.”

I tested a door, one among many, and found what looked like an apartment inside. Somehow, despite having been sharply tilted and left untouched for who knows how long, everything still looked fairly clean. “Everything looks good. . . I’m not smelling anything rotten either. . . Still not going to the kitchen.”

While I was inspecting a stand with a large, curved blue rectangular frame on it, Brain Storm showed just how much oversight he had when he boredly explained what it was. “That frame you’re looking at can show very high quality moving images with sound, and even collapse into the base for easy travel and transport.”

“So it’s a collapsible big screen TV then?” I was getting excited about the object. It was wider than my outstretched arms, and looked about half my height without the base. “How do I collapse it?”

“There’s a button on the base. All you have to do is press it.”

I looked down at the base and saw a few buttons on it. Power, channels, volume, input source, and folding were all present. Just before I pressed the button to fold it, a device next to the base caught my eye. Like the TV, it was light blue. The buttons on it made it clear that it was a remote for the TV, and even had a fold button on it. “Hmm. . .” I pointed the remote at the base, pressed the fold button, and watched as the whole frame expanded into a lot of segments, folded together, and slid into the base, which also folded up a bit. “Woah! That’s awesome! I want one!” A glance between the remote and folded up big screen TV gave me an idea. To my delight, the remote slid into the open side of the base easily, making it a neat cylinder.

“Like I said, take whatever you want. You may want to grab a bag or two, though. If that fascinated you, there will be more you’ll want.”

“Good idea!” I gently picked up on the TV and found no wires. “How are these things powered?”

“Magic. Do you want a more in depth explanation?”

“No, you don’t have to explain it.” I looked around for a bit, TV in hand, for something to carry it in. A box, held shut with black tape that said ‘SuperShop Elite’ in fancy red letters, caught my attention. “SuperShop? Is that. . . I’ll just say it’s like Amazon.” I set the TV down and tore open the box. Inside was a fairly large, bubble wrapped white and yellow backpack. As I tried it and found that it fit me fairly well, I also felt a bit confused at why ponies would even have backpacks like it.

When I opened the backpack, I saw a piece of paper inside. Curious, I took it out and read it. “Dear Firebrand, Thank you for ordering our newest hyperstorage backpack. Now you can store even more than before for school, work, or vacation!

“With a shrink factor of three, weight reduction enchantments, and sturdy construction, you can carry up to two tons of whatever will fit through the opening with no problems at all. And with new safety features, you don’t have to worry about shockwaves from breaking the enchantments when it’s turned inside out.

“We still advise you not to put hyperstorage items inside other hyperstorage products.

“If you have any questions or concerns, contact SuperShop customer service from our ethersite homepage.”

“Ah, SuperShop,” Brain Storm nostalgically mused. “I got so many things from them before, like-”

“Oh shut up and just let me be already, would you?” I snapped at him.

“Well, fine, then,” he huffed. “See if I ever help you again!”

Content that Brain Storm was at least not talking to me for a while, I put the TV into the backpack and nearly lost my grip as it shrunk down to a much smaller size. “Nifty.”

After cleaning out the living area of more nifty things, I found an office. It had a rolling swivel chair that was almost comfortable enough to fall asleep in, and I decided that, if I got it home, it was not going in the Carne Den office. On the desk in front of the chair was a fancy setup. The QWERTY keyboard and mouse with side buttons fit my hands perfectly, which confused me more than the backpack did. The tower was little more than a frame with a small panel of buttons on the front, and pressing the power button made a blue orb of light appear inside the frame. The same shade of blue lit up the keyboard, mouse, monitors, and some speakers between the monitors. Soon, the monitors were showing an expansive home screen with folders of shortcuts in the middle. There were five folders dedicated just to games. “Huh. Gamer. Gaming stuff’s always good.” After testing out the speakers with a few song snippets, I turned all of the items off, collapsed the tower, monitors, and speakers, and put them into the backpack, along with the keyboard and mouse, which didn’t fold up.

To my pleasant surprise, the chair also collapsed into a smaller travel size. The seat, arms, and base all moved to fit into the back, which folded up to the size of a small briefcase. It even fit into the backpack with no problem. I took a moment to admire the fact that, short of a desk, I had pretty much everything I needed for an office or gaming setup in the backpack, and still had more room.

I continued poking around and found a bedroom. I tested the bed and found the mattress to be a bit too hard for my liking. The pillows and blankets, though, were incredibly comfortable. The blankets even warmed up when they were on me. I almost fell asleep when I remembered why I was there. “No time for lazy.” I got out of the bed and shook some sleepiness out of my head. “I will take that blanket, though.” After folding up the blanket and putting it and some pillows in my backpack, I opened the wardrobe, and saw a massive collection of clothes. “Definitely a mare that lived here. And a showy one at that.” All the dresses were bright, showy, and suggested a thin body. I knew none of them would fit me, but I gathered some up anyways. "Rarity will like this." A few of the dresses lit up when I touched them, and I started getting ideas. “Maybe she’ll make something free for this stuff?”

After putting a fair amount of the wardrobe in a few clear plastic containers, I slid them into the backpack. Already, a lot of the main area was getting full. There was still room for more things, especially after a bit of rearranging and moving some stuff to other areas.

I scoured the apartment a bit more, finding and grabbing a book style tablet that was still in its box, a multicolor desk lamp, and a collection of magazines on a variety of things Rainbow would find awesome and Twilight intriguing. With all that, and some more reorganization, the backpack was at capacity. "This is enough."

With my new backpack filled, it was time to leave. Part of me really wanted to go through more of the apartments and loot more stuff, but at the same time, I knew I had enough new things and had to fight Brain Storm. The full backpack helped dissuade the idea of more looting as well. Soon enough, I reached a compromise between the two ideas: driving around for a bit to just look at the place.

There was a restaurant I saw called The Mexicolt Inquisition. "Huh. I wasn't expecting that."

"NOPONY EXPECTS THE MEXICOLT INQUISITION!" A loudspeaker shouted in response.

The Lights Out Furniture Store had a cardboard cutout of two ponies wearing pillow armor and having a hardcore pillow fight in the window. The sign on the door promoted a sale on comfy chairs and pillow fight tickets, Thursday at 9PM. "Well, that's a good way to get business." I could just imagine the ring being little more than a few king size beds put together.

I found a golden heads up coin on the ground and managed to fit it in the backpack. "I could make a fortune off of this. Maybe." I didn't necessarily need the bits, but each one helped. If nothing else, I could give my employees a nice bonus.

"Thunderstruck Glider Shop. Closing soon. Gee, I wonder why?"

I made a short trip into the Iron Pumping Gym to make a pit stop but before I left, I decided to test my strength and warm up a bit before the fight, so I did some heavy duty lifting. The burn in my muscles felt good, and I was also getting psyched for the fight. "Bring it on, Brain Storm!" A series of signs lit up, pointing me towards the weather testing chamber. “Well, thanks.”

The real source

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I awkwardly turned a corner on a catwalk, thanks to it being just barely big enough to pull Bumblebee alongside me and generally too twisty to ride her. After the corner, Brain Storm’s voice came over the intercom. “Ah, so you finally approach the testing field. How brave of you.”

“You gave me directions,” I pointed out. “Also, this thing’s really big.”

“Hm, fair enough. I’ll go ahead and open the gate for you.” The sounds of hydraulics opening a heavy door came from straight ahead of me. “I’ll wait for you.” Just as I got on and was about to start Bumblebee up, he spoke again. “It just occurred to me that I don’t know your name. Would you enlighten me?”

“Yang.” Without another word, I started Bumblebee up and took off towards the open door. As I got closer, I saw a shallow valley and a white wall. “Is it. . . building the valley? Well, if it’s a testing field, that makes sense, but it’s still cool.”

I drove through the valley and came to a wide open, flat crater-like area. In the middle of the area was a dark gray pegasus stallion, standing upright and clad in mismatched armor. His right side had a yellow wing, blue arm, and red leg, while his left had a green wing, orange arm, and white leg. The arms ended in mechanical hands while the legs had enough support at the base to look like there was a human foot underneath. His body was clad in a dark silver armor that looked both simple in its design and fairly durable. His helmet left his face exposed and also made him look like an alicorn with the horn on top. “I take it you’re impressed by the armor?” He asked as I came to a stop near him. “I made it myself.”

“Eh, I’ve seen better,” I casually responded. “Brain Storm, I presume?”

“The BRILLIANT PEGASUS himself. Now then-” the horn on his helmet let off an even blue glow and something that looked like a large gold framed eye with a red lever on one side and a red button on the other floated out from behind him. “-Let’s fight.”

“Before we do that!” My short proclamation made him pause just as he put it on his waist, a golden belt forming to hold it in place. “Could you tell me what you’re doing? Aside from the incredibly toxic sludge.”

Brain Storm chuckled at my question. “You really want to know? Very well, I’ll give you the abridged version: I am getting revenge. Revenge on a world that ignored me. Ignored my brilliance, my abilities, my presence. I was the greatest, the smartest pegasus of my time, and they left me all alone. So I took the machine over, had everypony evacuate, and made it rain sludge on them as they flew away. Then, I figured, why stop there? I kept going until Celestia and Luna showed up and blasted me into the ground.”

“And you started your return by making more sludge?”

“Until it caught fire and made the production area explode. I need to make a less flammable version of it now. But enough of that. WE’RE FIGHTING!”

“So much for peaceful negotiations.” I launched a small salvo of fireballs at him, making him leap back as he used the lever on his belt, followed by two presses of the button.

“WEATHER KING! FIRE ICE LIGHTNING WIND CLOUDS LIGHT, AT MY COMMAND!” Spectral armaments briefly flew around him before attaching to his armor and solidifying, giving him a variety of mounted weapons, a sword, a mask with large, purple insectoid eyes, and some extra body armor as well.

After the armor and armaments attached to him, I revved Bumblebee up and drove straight at him. Just before I would have hit him, he jumped up and kicked my face with enough force to send me flying backwards off Bumblebee and along the ground for a few seconds.

"Okay, that was not cool," I thought as I got up, took the backpack off, and loaded the buckshot shells into the Ember Celica. "Alright, we're definitely fighting."

As I charged forward, Brain Storm pressed the lever twice and hit the button again. "CYCLONE GALE!" the belt announced before his left wing armor started glowing, and a trio of propellers on it started spinning. A moment later, I was blown back by high winds, nearly to the wall of the crater. My backpack went a bit further, into the valley I'd come in from.

"Okay, the belt announces things." I fired a round of the buckshot into the wind. A moment later, I felt it hit me. "That's some strong wind," I said to myself.

He hit the lever a few times before pushing the button again, his left leg armor glowing. "FROST GATLING!" Just as I started running to the side, I felt the cold of whatever he was firing past my back, and it did not feel good.

I was able to stay ahead for a few seconds before a barrage of icicles slammed into me from the side, stunning me with their cold more than their impact and sending me stumbling, falling and shivering as they chilled the air around me.

"Hm, that worked well," Brain Storm idly noted as he walked up to me. "I thought you would have put up a bit more of a fight than this."

"I-I-I won't. . . go down. . . now. . ." I worked up some fire magic to make a small heatwave, quickly melting the icicle fragments and getting rid of the cold. With the chill gone, I got back to my feet and lit myself on fire.

"Hm. A fire barrier." Brain Storm did not sound impressed as he hit the lever four times, followed by the button.

"ELECTRIC STORM!" The sword started arcing with electricity as he charged at me, blade raised and ready to strike.

I held the Ember Celica up in defense, only realizing a moment too late that it was a terrible idea when the electricity from the blocked blade went through them and into me. As I recovered from the electricity's effect, Brain Storm swung at me again, sending me flying back into the wall. “If I can just break those weapons, it shouldn’t be too tough to take him down.”

“There is nothing you can do to stop me, Yang." His horn lit up, and I was soon floating over to him, stopping just within range of my grasp. "I have had lots of time, sealed away in this machine, to build the perfect armor, and what you face is the result of all that time and effort. There is nothing you can throw at me, no trick you can use, no tactic that can stop me. I am prepared for anything!"

"Yeah, that fake horn's going first." I quickly reached out and grabbed the glowing horn with a tight grip. "Really?"

"Even that." He threw me upwards, but I didn't go far, thanks to the grip I had on the horn. It also hit my aura, so I was able to tighten my grip even further. "Hmm. . ." The glow on the horn and around me intensified until it was almost white, and a moment later, I got thrown up into the air again, a small explosion following afterwords.

When I landed, I looked at the artificial horn in my hand. Wires and bits of advanced things I couldn't make sense of dangled from the broken base. I glanced towards Brain Storm and saw him getting back up, the top of his helmet cracked and scorched where the horn was. "Looking for this?" I waved the horn at him.

He caught sight of the horn as he sat up, and quickly reached up to feel where it was. "You. . ." He growled at me. "You dare ruin my perfect armor?!"

"I dared. And I did." I focused fire and heat into the horn, soon melting it into a hot puddle. While Brain Storm was distracted by what I'd done, I punched a few rounds of buckshot at him, lightly damaging his armor and cracking some of the lights on his right wing.

After he recovered and got out of the line of fire, he hit the lever and button. "CLOUD COVER!" A heavy white fog quickly came out of the turbines on his left arm, and I soon had trouble seeing anything.

Just as I started running in one direction, I heard another announcement from the belt. "SOLAR GLARE!" The white fog soon became blindingly bright. Even with my eyes closed and arms raised, the bright light still hurt.

"FROST GATLING!" was all the warning I had before I heard the guns firing from above, and I quickly set up an intense fire shield around me. A few icicles crashed against my aura, but once I had the fire hot enough, the rest simply melted before they could get to me.

"It's only a matter of time before you go down!" Brain Storm shouted over the gunfire. "I can fire this for a week straight before it needs to recharge, and I doubt you'll last that long!"

"He's right about that. This can't last forever. I just have to stop him." Without dropping the barrier, I closed my eyes and listened to the gunfire to try and get his location. "Right. . . About. . . There!" I charged up a large fireball with both hands and, after double checking my auditory aim, fired it.

"No!" Brain Storm shouted after the fireball made impact and the gunfire died down. I dispersed the fire shield with an explosion, clearing the fog as well, and I saw a result I wasn't expecting: the guns had iced over. "How can this be?"

With him distracted, I decided to try diplomacy again, also letting my magic recharge a bit at the same time. "Brain Storm, I'm still willing to give you a chance to try peace! You don't have to spread bad weather and pollution everywhere!"

Brain Storm looked back at me. Even with his face hidden, I could feel him glaring at me. "And what do you know about being forgotten? Exiled among your peers? Ignored by everyone? Locked away for so, so long? I am making my mark on this world again, whether you like it or not!"

"Then do it without mass death and destruction! You have the technology here to revolutionize the world. You could be famous for that!"

"The technology would be famous instead of me! Nopony ever paid attention to me, and nopony ever will if I do that! Now get out of my way and get crispy!"

The belt announced "INFERNO WAVE!" and the weapon on his right leg lit up before a wave of intense heat hit me.

"If I could have just that part of the armor, I could mount it outside so I can open and run the grill during winter," I idly mused as the heat did nothing to me.

"Why aren't you. . .? Ah, I see." Brain Storm powered down the heat blaster when he realized it wasn't affecting me. As he flew down, he hit the lever a few times, then the button. "ELECTRIC STORM!" I jumped back just as he landed, and I felt some static electricity from the sword as the blade tip passed mere inches in front of my face. "Then we'll do it this way!"

I kept backpedalling and dodging Brain Storm's wild swings, switching out the shells at the same time. I was no sword user, but I could tell that he had no real technique aside from just swinging the electrified blade around. With him focused solely on me, I was able to lead him around to my advantage.

Finally, after a swing that left him wide open, I threw a powerful right hook at his helmeted muzzle, paired with an explosive round. The combination did exactly what I wanted it to, and he flew into the wall. Bits of his helmet lay on the ground near me, and other bits of his armor littered the ground near him.

“Alright, time to end this,” I said as I approached his dazed form. The first thing I did was set my hands ablaze and tear off the ice miniguns before tossing them away. The sword was trickier to take care of, since I had to fight the urge to let it go from the electricity in the grip, but once I managed that, I started precisely melting it with my free hand. Once the blade was off, the electricity stopped flowing. “Odd place for a battery.”

After tossing the broken sword parts aside, I decided to go for the wing with lights on it. Just as I touched it, I got a huge static shock and the armor on the wing blew up in my face, sending me back onto the ground, groaning in pain.

It was also enough to get Brain Storm back in low gear, and he got himself out of the rocks, his right wing hanging limp. The propeller blades on his left wing were either damaged or missing, and, to my mild dismay, the heat blaster fell off after he took a few steps and fell open on the ground. “You. . .” he growled out, part of his face, including an eye, easily visible through the hole in the helmet where I’d punched him. “I will not take this any more.” He grabbed the core section of the belt, twisted it, and threw it away. Underneath was another belt, which unfolded to its full size in about a second. It was mostly red, and prominently featured numerous blue and gold decorations on it, including a hand crank and slotted wheel.

I got to my feet as he pulled out something about the size of a soda can, and it looked like it was made to fit in the large opening on the belt. “What are you doing?”

“Ending this!” He tapped a button on the device, and the whole thing lit up, showing what looked like liquid rainbow in it. “FINAL MEASURE!” He practically slammed the item into the belt, and it called out “BERSERKER!”

“That doesn’t sound good.” As he rapidly turned the crank, a series of thin, clear tubes came out of the belt and quickly formed arcs over his limbs, even accounting for the limp wing’s position. Not far behind the forming tubes was the liquid rainbow. The arcs gained sharp points after the tubes were filled, pointed inwards towards him. “That doesn’t look good.”

“INJECTION!” The points all simultaneously extended straight into him and the liquid rainbow started flowing again, straight into him. “THE RAINBOW FUELED RAMPAGE! FINAL BRAIN STORM!”

What was left of his armor started cracking, a prismatic radiance leaking through. His visible iris went from purple to a full spectrum as he shouted with the injection. The armor soon couldn’t handle the strain and fell apart, including his hands and feet, leaving Brain Storm wearing a form fitting black bodysuit with erratic trails of a glowing rainbow all over it, centered on the belt. His wings weren’t covered, but still showed the rainbow trails, and seemed to be growing larger, the limp one even healing as it did so. “I AM GOING TO KILL YOU AND BRING YOU BACK SO I CAN EXPERIMENT ON YOU!” His voice had changed, now sporting an echo.

Before I could move, Brain Storm dashed right up to me and threw a punch at my face, sending me flying across the open area. While I was still flying, I felt him punch me again, making me fly even faster and land in the wall. “Oww. . .”

“OVER AND OVER AGAIN!” I barely moved my head out of the way of a flying kick that left a spider web of cracks in the wall. "FOR SCIENCE!"

"No!" I threw a punch at Brain Storm, but he zipped out of the way before the attack would have connected. The explosive round landed next to him, and for a moment, I saw something like a rainbow field shimmer on him. "Aura? I'll need to break that. At least mine feels okay."

Brain Storm grinned. "NOTHING THAT WEAK WILL HURT ME!" A moment later, he was zipping around the field again, the occasional prismatic blur being all I could make out.

"I'll just have to use something stronger." After removing the explosive rounds and before I could put in a new band of shells, a flurry of hoof strikes hit me from multiple directions, and my aura started to feel weaker and weaker. Finally, one stronger hit sent me flying towards the middle of the open area, and I landed right by Bumblebee. Brain Storm stopped some distance in front of me and started laughing maniacally. While he was busy with that, I quickly put the rainnuke shells in the Ember Celica.

As I stood up, I could feel the music start up, trumpets and violins spurring me on, and I knew that the end of the fight was close at hand. It would be either Brain Storm or me losing the fight, and I had no intention of going down.

Brain Storm came to a stop some distance in front of me. “WHAT IS THAT NOISE?!”

“I don’t know much about this piece,” I admitted with a hint of a fancy accent as I walked towards him, the music picking up. “I do know that it’s the finale, though.”

“BUT WHAT IS IT CALLED?!”

“It is Tchaikovsky’s most famous piece: The 1812 Overture.” I cracked my knuckles as I approached him.

“HA! IT WON’T HELP YOU!” Brain Storm took off again, speeding around the crater with impunity.

“We’ll see about that.” As the music reached a climax, I looked for signs of him. I saw only bits of rainbow and dust occasionally, which didn’t help. “Screw precision.” I cocked an arm back and threw a rainnuke. Then another. And another. A fourth. Finally, a fifth.

The field around me was broken, some of it exposing freshly damaged circuitry and mechanisms. Water was flowing, oil was leaking, wires were sparking, and dirt was raining down. Brain Storm tripped and started tumbling around the blasted terrain like a pinball, slowing down in time with the music. I found it kind of funny, especially with his rainbow aura flashing with each hit.

I finally approached him as he came to a stop in one of the new holes. “WHAT WAS THAT?!” There was a hint of fear in his voice now that I’d managed to actually hurt him a bit.

“That, my friend, is what made the 1812 famous,” I answered from the edge. “Cannons.”

“THE EXPLOSIONS!”

“Oh. Rainbow nukes. I have a friend who made them on accident.”

Brain Storm growled in anger as he got back up. “AND HOW DID YOUR FRIEND DO IT?”

I shrugged. “Honestly? She broke the sound barrier under her own wingpower.”

“THAT-! THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE!” With another rage filled roar, Brain Storm punched the ground. As the artificial ground shook, the church bells in the 1812 came on, along with numerous alarms. “WE’RE BOTH GOING DOWN, THEN!”

“Just you.” Cymbals emphasized the determined point.

Brain Storm started getting out of the crater just as the alarms intensified and red lights began flashing. “BOTH OF US!”

I stepped back, mindful of the broken terrain. “No, I’m going to live.” My determination was followed by more cymbals and alarms. “I’ve got people counting on me.” We started circling each other when he was out of the hole. “I have better things to do than die.”

“YOU WILL DIE FIRST!”

We kept circling each other, my hair lighting up and eyes going red as the music picked back up. Brain Storm tilted his head at that, curious for a bit. “No damaged hair yet. He will never know what happens.” A slam of cymbals gave us both a brief startle before we went back to circling.

The alarms continued, distant explosions lightly shook the ground, and neither of us said anything.

I focused solely on Brain Storm, waiting for him to make a move to attack me.

Brain Storm’s wings twitched as he watched me, the rainbow in them a little bit faded.

We made eye contact, and tried to stare each other down. I didn’t yield until the music picked up and Brain Storm lashed out at a more normal speed.

I stayed light on my feet, each backwards jump accented with a cymbal. Brain Storm kept up as I avoided his punches. Changing directions helped keep him on me in the damaged area, which kept him slowed down.

Finally, I came to a stop and counterattacked with a punch that missed his head and destroyed more ground.

He stopped, I punched, and missed him.

The third did not connect.

More mechanisms got blown up.

Two quick punches did the same.

Another came close.

More things got wrecked.

He took one to the face.

Another rainnuke sent us up.

The last one shot him down through the machine and raised even more alarms.

I took only a moment to bask in the glory of the triumphant music before finding Bumblebee, getting on, and starting to search for my loot filled backpack. The alarms died down and everything started tilting. Amidst the falling machinery, I saw the backpack, and I managed to grab it.

After quickly getting it on right, I drove around to the hole I’d made and saw it was big enough to drive through. There was desert down below, which looked a lot better than being inside. As the music started to wrap up, I did just that, and I was soon falling out of the old machine. A south pointed sunflare came up in my sight, and was only there for a moment before exploding.

“Well, that’s done. And this is not going to feel good.”

Brief civilization hunts

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"Note to self: don't drive out of a falling weather machine again," I said to nobody as I got up from the sand. A quick glance around found Bumblebee, intact and unharmed, not too far behind me. Further off was the weather machine, stuck in the ground, fires and explosions showing occasionally from the side I could see.

After making my way over to her, I sat down and opened the backpack to check its contents. Once I saw sure that nothing was harmed, I let out a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, it was starting to get dark, and I suddenly remembered something about deserts: While they were hot during the day, they got cold during the night.

A flicker of light against the darkening landscape caught my attention, so I started making my way over to it on Bumblebee. Worst case scenario, it was a bandit camp, and if I had to, I could fight them off with the Ember Celica retracted.

I was stopped from getting too close to the camp by a pair of big male buffalo with Native American style headdresses on them, both with a few red feathers spread out to look intimidating. “You will not pass us!” the one on the right proclaimed.

“Especially me!” the left one added.

I sighed before tiredly responding. “Can I please just talk to your, um, chief? Whoever your leader is? I’m tired, getting cold, and just need a warm place to rest. Not even food, just rest for the night.”

“You will not talk to Strongheart!”

“Please?”

Before either of the buffaloes could respond, they were pushed aside by a smaller, lighter colored buffalo with a more impressive headdress, sporting many white feathers. “What is going on here?” The female buffalo sternly asked before she caught sight of me and broke into a big smile. “Oh, Yang Xiao Long! I never thought you would visit us!”

I dismissed the praise with a hand wave and got straight to the point. “Yeah yeah, look: I just need a place to rest for the night. Are you in charge here?”

Her expression dropped a bit. “I am. Follow me.” I did as she said and followed her into the camp. She lead me past the warm fire in the middle and to the largest teepee. I parked Bumblebee next to the entrance and went inside.

It was much warmer in the teepee thanks to a small fire in the middle, and I almost collapsed in relief on the rug next to it. “This is good.”

“I’m glad you think so.” Strongheart started preparing something in the back. “I’ll be honest: you’re a bit. . . snappier than I heard you were.”

I thought back a bit before answering. “Yeah, sorry about that. I just got through a very tough fight and I’m tired. It’s also getting cold, and that doesn’t help me.”

“I see. Were you fighting that thing that fell from the sky?”

“A mad scientist that was sealed in it. Things got a bit. . . explosive towards the end.”

Strongheart didn’t answer as she finished putting everything together, then brought me a bowl of some kind of mushy tan food with apple slices on it. "Go ahead, eat up."

I sat down on the ground and cautiously smelled the bowl's contents. "Is there any kind of grass in here?"

"There is tumbleweed, if that counts."

"I can't have it, then." I held the bowl out for Strongheart to take. "Grass makes me sick if I eat it."

"Oh, sorry." Strongheart quickly took the bowl and set it back where she had prepared it. “Would an apple be okay?”

"Yeah, that would be okay.” My host made a little show of balancing an apple on her snout before flinging it over to me. “Thanks.” I took a bite of the apple and it was delicious. “Mmm, that's good. Where did you get this?” As far as I knew, apples weren't usually found in the desert.

“We trade with the Appleloosans not too far from here. I can show you the way there in the morning.”

“Thanks.” I continued eating the apple, feeling better with each bite. After I was done, Strongheart took the core and snapped it up in one bite. “So, where should I sleep?”

“You can sleep in here. Unfortunately, we don’t have any pillows or blankets you can use. Sorry about that. . .”

I was just about to slump in defeat when I remembered my new backpack and the loot inside it. “I think I’ll be fine, actually.” I set it on the ground and rifled through it, pulling out a couple pillows and the heated blanket. “Do you mind if I sleep on this rug?”

“Not at all. Go ahead.”

I’d only been comfortable for about a minute before sleep quickly claimed me. The warm blanket, soft pillows, and softly crackling fire nearby did absolutely nothing to keep me from the dream realm.

“Yang, if it’s alright, may I-”

“Not now, Luna! I’m tired and just want to sleep in peace! Out!”

“Very well, then.” Luna left and I was back to peacefully sleeping.

A hoof gently woke me from my sleep. “Up and at it, Yang. It’s morning.”

I yawned as I slowly sat up, the warm blanket making it difficult. “Mhmm. Mhrg.” Sunlight lit the inside of the teepee, and I could tell that the air was already getting warm. With another yawn, I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. “I guess I’ll be going, then.”

“You don’t want to stay and talk?” Strongheart sadly asked.

“No, I don’t.” I stood up and did some stretching before packing up my pillows and blanket. “Besides, I don’t know what we would talk about.”

“I . . . I suppose that’s alright.” She stepped outside, briefly letting in more sunlight. After I had everything packed up and the backpack in place, I went outside and met her. “You see the bit of green out on the horizon that way?”

I squinted as I looked out across the desert. “Yeah, I see it.”

“That’s the Appleloosa apple orchard. There’s a stampede trail through there that will lead you to Appleloosa itself.”

“Thanks again.” I made my way over to Bumblebee and got on her. After putting the kickstand up, I turned back to Strongheart and the gathering buffalo and said, “You may want to stand back a bit. The bike can get pretty loud.” After they had all heeded my warning, I started her up and drove off.

The drive across the desert was pretty dull, but the wind in my hair felt great, and helped wake me up a bit more. I kept the greenery in my sight, and before long, I found the path going through it. As I got on the path, I remembered that I had no money on me, so I wouldn't be able to just buy a train ticket. I'd need to do something to earn it.

I found a saloon, the Rusty Horseshoe, around noon and parked Bumblebee just outside. Next to the entrance was a couple of Wanted posters. One was for a unicorn outlaw called Speedy Slinger, wanted for causing panic, mayhem, and kitten disturbance with a reward of 500 bits for his capture. The other one was for a week’s help at the saloon, specifically a barmaid. "I could do that. Besides, I think I could use a bit of time away from the Carne Den. A working vacation. Better than asking for bits."

I went inside and it looked like a saloon straight out of a wild west movie, only with ponies instead of people. The smell of alcohol, food, and a thin haze of smoke was in the air, card games were being played at a few tables, showmares were dancing to a lively piano tune, and there was one seat open at the bar. “This busy this early? I guess it’s just different here.”

As I made my way to the lone barstool, the activity started to die down. Everyone was looking at me, mostly in awe. When I sat down, the bartender, a light brown earth pony stallion with a fancy mustache, came over, apparently unfazed by my presence. "Need somethin', Missy?" he asked in a gruff, irritated voice.

"I saw you needed a barmaid for a week," I said over the tension I was feeling around me. "I have some experience, and I need the bits."

"Promise not to drink on the job?" The stallion seemed unfazed by the tension.

"Only water. I guess you've had some trouble with that?"

"Last three all did it and had to leave without pay. You get what Ah'm sayin'?"

"Crystal clear, sir."

"Good." The stallion turned to the showmares. "Hey, Silk! Ah got another one for ya!"

One of the showmares, the only unicorn in the group, stepped off the stage and came over to the bar. "Yang Xiao Long," she said with no shortage of admiration. "This'll take a bit longer than usual, boss. I don't exactly have anything in her shape."

"That's fine, just get started with her."

"Alrighty. This way, Miss Xiao Long." I followed Silk backstage, upstairs, down a hall, and into a room. The room was a combination of a bedroom and workshop. A few pony mannequins were lined up against a wall, a changing screen was in the corner, a bed was up against the wall, and a workstation took up another corner. A window with light filtering curtains let in sunlight without letting anyone see through. Silk went behind the changing screen and took off her dress before coming back out. Her cutie mark was a bolt of white silk. “Ya mind if I look ya over for a bit? Can’t make it right for ya if I don’t know what to do, after all.”

“Sure.” I set my backpack down and went to the middle of the room.

Silk walked around me and started doing what she needed. “Anything ya want me to know before I start?”

“Be careful with the hair, I don’t want the neckline much lower than what I’ve got now, and can I keep the dress when I’m done here?”

Silk gently levitated my hair up so she could see my back. “If the boss says it’s okay, ya can have it. I still have the dresses I made for the last three. Considering how they performed, I wouldn’t be surprised if he says you can have it.”

I felt a blush as she lifted up the half skirt to look under it, but didn’t move. “So, why is the position only temporary? Not complaining, just wondering.”

“Sweet Cider went into labor three weeks early. That was a month ago. She’ll be back on Monday. Her little colt’s a real cute one, if a bit rowdy. If ya make it to the end, she’ll be thrilled to see that ya helped cover for her, and lasted longer than the other three.”

“I’m sure anybody would be.” As Silk kept looking me over, another question came to mind. “So, where would I be staying? I don’t exactly have any bits right now.”

“Just down the hall. Mr. Tender offers rooms for his employees here. Houses are a bit of a rare thing around here, after all. Ya mind taking a seat on the bed for a moment so I can look at your legs? I’m getting an idea.”

I sat down on the bed and took my boots, socks, and bandana thing off. I didn’t care as Silk looked over my legs and tested their range of motion, the feeling of air on them after so long in the boots was just so good. “So, anything interesting happen recently?”

Silk started testing a foot as she answered. “Well, there was this big metal wheel thing in the sky yesterday. Passed right overhead like a big cloud before it started exploding and went down past the buffalo lands. It’s been all the talk since it happened. You?”

I giggled a bit when Silk accidentally tickled my foot. “Oh, ha, well, I fought a mad pegasus yesterday. Got a little too enthusiastic in the fight and kind of blew a few of his things up. I ended up near a buffalo camp and spent the night with them.”

Silk stopped messing with my foot as she started piecing things together. “You brought that thing down yourself?”

“Yep. Oh, that reminds me.” I expanded the Ember Celica and took the rainnuke shells out of them and put them in a belt pouch. “Gotta be careful with these. I don’t want to blow anything up for a while.”

The mare’s eyes slowly started to get smaller. “You’re saying. . . ya could have blown the whole saloon to bits on accident? Along with everypony in it? This whole time?”

“If I got into a fight with the gauntlets expanded.” I put the Ember Celica back into their compact forms. “Now they’re just fancy metal bracelets. Oh, if you could make the dress work with them, that would be great. I like having them with me.”

“Ah, yeah, sure.” Silk shook her head for a bit before getting back on task. “Could ya take one of them off for me, by the way?”

“Sure.” I took both of the Ember Celica off and set them off to the side. Moments later, Silk was cautiously looking over my arms and hands. “So, how did you start doing this?”

“Dresses or dancing?”

I waggled my fingers a bit so she could see their range of motion. “Either or.”

“Well, before I found my talent in tailoring, I was waiting tables here.” Silk seemed to relax as she started talking. “One day, we were short a dancer for a show and he had me cover for her. I did pretty well for my first try, but it didn’t earn me my mark. The dress I wore bugged me, though, so I brought it up here to what was the workshop. I spent all night restitching the bodice and tweaking the design. In the morning, one of the dancers found me here as I finished working on it. I had her try it, and she said it fit and felt much better on her than the other dresses did.”

“And you earned your mark then and there?”

“No, it was after I improved a few more dresses that I realized my talent and got my mark.” She finished with my hand and looked back to me. “Ya mind taking your shirt off for me?”

“Yes, I do mind,” I defensively said as I looked to the wall next to me, then sighed. “Just be quick, and no. . . no touching, okay?”

“Sensitive area?”

“You could say that.” I quickly undid my shirt and took it off, along with the short yellow tube top underneath it, leaving me only with my bra.

Less than a minute later, Silk said, “Alright, you’re good.”

I quickly put the removed pieces of clothing back on with a relieved sigh. “Thanks for being fast.” After that, I started putting my footwear back on.

“No problem. Anyways, I’ve got a good idea now. If ya want to take a shower, they’re down the hall. Nothing but warm water, though. No tubs, either. A cool bath just sounds divine out here, ya know?”

“Hot water all the way for me. Cold hurts.”

Silk pursed her lips for a bit before shrugging and grabbing a bolt of yellow fabric with her magic. “Whatever works for ya. Now shoo, I need some privacy for this.”

The bathroom was. . . interestingly designed. There were three showers on the left wall, each with a small foyer-like area, two clean stalls on the right wall, two sinks against the back wall and a pair of benches in the middle. Clearly, it was made for more than one person to use at once.

Each of the foyers had two privacy curtains, letting them turn into changing rooms, while also blocking out water from the shower. One wall had shelves and hooks to put clothes on, or so I presumed, while the other had towels hanging on racks. The towels were a drab brown, and weren’t as nice as the ones at home, but they would work just fine. If they could dry off a pony with some effort, they would work on me easily.

As I left the bathroom, not interested in showering, I realized something. “I’m going a week with one set of underwear and two changes of clothes. Not even sleepwear. That’s going to be gross.”

Heading back downstairs, I went back to the bar and took a seat again, the stallion still behind it. “I presume you’re the owner here?”

“Ah am,” he said. “You want a drink before you start, or somethin’?”

“Just a glass of water, a question, then I’d like to start learning what’s what behind this bar.” At his silence, I continued. “Is there a place I can store my bike? I don’t want it just sitting out front.”

“The best Ah can offer is the back of the building.” Moments later, I had a mug filled with clear water in front of me. “Have you ever had a drink before?”

I enjoyed a sip of slightly warm water before answering him. “Only on a few occasions, mostly after tough fights.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two stallions looking like they were about to get in a fight. “Before you ask, no, I won’t drink after any fights I get in here, if that happens.” I took another sip of water. “Why are you so worried about drinking on the job? Bits? Performance?”

I slowly drank the rest of my water as Mr. Tender answered. “Both. The last three all got into drinking competitions pretty quickly. First one broke half the mugs in her stupor. Second one blacked out pretty fast. Third one drank a hundred bits worth of beer.”

I finished my water and set the mug down, feeling refreshed. “I see. I’ll be back in a moment, then.” I went out front, got Bumblebee, and pulled her around to the back, setting her in a slightly concealed corner before going back inside and to the stool I’d left. “So, the bar?”

“Come on around.” I did as the stallion said, and was soon learning the layout of the bar and what was what. I did not expect salt blocks, which didn’t make sense to me, being out in the middle of the desert, but it apparently was a thing out here.

It didn’t take long for me to get used to the bar, and within an hour, I was going on my own.

New job: Day 1

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Mr. Tender came back to the bar around four. Before he asked me anything, he looked across the packed bar. “You seem to have it under control,” he said with a hint of awe. “Ah’m impressed. And surprised.”

I set a frothy mug of cider down for a patron before turning to him. “How so?”

“Ah’ve never been this busy this time of day.”

I picked up an empty mug and started cleaning it. “I guess everyone in town knows I’m here and wants to see me.”

“Hey buddy!” a rough looking stallion near Mr. Tender practically shouted at him. “How’d you get Yang Xiao Long here?”

Mr. Tender looked the stallion in the eyes. “You really want to know? Ah’ll tell you: Ah have no idea. She just walked in and took up the job Ah’d posted.”

“That’s it?” Another stallion, this one much better dressed than the first and fairly round, asked him before turning to me. “Miss Xiao Long, how’s about you come to my saloon, the Polished Saddle? Ah can pay you more for the same work, and at a nicer bar as well. Whadda ya say?”

All eyes were on me as I gave him a thoughtful sideways look, then Mr. Tender, then back. After a moment, I leaned on the counter in front of him, and in one fluid motion, reached up and firmly pushed his forehead, sending him falling backwards onto the floor with a crash. “Nope.”

There was much laughter at the stallion’s expense from the other patrons as he got back up, even setting the stool right. “Miss Xiao Long, Ah’m sure we can make a deal. Name your price.” The laughter died down to little more than whispers as I thought it over.

I gave him an answer after almost a minute. “Ten bits and I won’t topple you over a second time.”

“Does that mean you’re coming to my saloon?”

“Nope.” I pushed him over again and there was more laughter. Bits went from hoof to hoof, and a few were even set on the bar for me, which I quickly collected and put in the appropriate place before Mr. Tender pulled me aside for a bit. “What’s up?”

“How many bits have you made already?”

“I stopped counting after 400 or so. A lot of it’s from tips, none of it’s from that round guy. Anyways, I’ve gotta get back to work.” As I went back to the patrons with a smile on my face, Mr. Tender went around them and upstairs. “I wonder how Silk’s idea is coming along? I guess I’ll see it soon enough.”

Around 6, Mr. Tender pulled me aside again. "What's up?"

"Ah'll take over the bar for a bit," he said. "Silk just finished your dress. Go try it on, see if she needs to make any adjustments."

"You sure about that?" I looked back at the crowd at the bar, many of the patrons chatting it up with each other. There had barely been a minute between someone leaving a stool and it getting occupied again. "I don't want you to be slammed like this."

"Ah'm certain. Just wrap up somehow."

"Hmm, alright." I went back to the middle of the bar that had become a stage of sorts for me and turned to the audience. With a couple snaps, I had their attention and an idea. "Everyone, as much fun as it's been, I'm afraid I have to take care of something upstairs. Treat this stallion well in the meantime, alright? I'll hear from him if you don't." I gave Mr. Tender a pat on the withers before leaving him to tend the bar while I went upstairs.

"Silk, I don't know how to feel about this," I told the seamstress as I looked in the full length mirror she had revealed from the wardrobe. "I mean, I look good, and it's impressive work, but. . ."

"Is it the shoes?" Silk asked. "Ya're shaking like a leaf in them."

"Well. . ."

Silk sighed. "Just tell me what ya don't like."

"Well~" I took a breath before answering. "I have no idea how to walk in these heels, the skirt really shows off my legs, there's just. . ."

"Ya got nerves?"

"Yeah. Nerves and balance issues." I really liked the dress, and I even found myself liking the heels as I looked at them more, but the idea of going out in front of the crowd at the bar dressed like that, and new to heels, was a bit scary. "I suppose it would be a bit much to ask for more. . . flat shoes?"

"I'd also have to redo the skirt so it doesn't drag along the ground if I made new shoes for it." Silence hung for a bit as I kept looking in the mirror. "How about ya take 'em for a walk out in the hall? See if ya can't figure out how to walk in 'em? 'Sides, ya made it from the changing screen over to here without falling."

Three knocks came from the door. "Everything going alright?" Mr. Tender asked through the door.

"Just need to take care of one thing, sir," Silk said before opening the door with her magic. "How does she look?"

Mr. Tender looked me over a bit and I felt the blush cover most of my face. "You've outdone yourself, Silk. She's a bit shaky, though."

I turned to the mare. "How did you even come up with the idea for heels anyways?"

Silk shrugged. "If I knew, I'd tell ya. Probably 'cause I've made 'em often for mares here." She walked up to Mr. Tender. "Can ya give me a few minutes to get her used to the heels?"

"I'll give you ten minutes," Mr. Tender said. "If I don't hear her coming down the stairs by then, I'm coming back up." With his bit said, he left us.

"Ya heard him," Silk said as she turned back to me. "Get walking."

"Alright." I slowly made my way out into the hall and started walking its length. "It's okay, it's okay, just one foot in front of the o-" I tripped on a toe and fell, hitting the floor face first. "Hello, gravity. Just dropping by to say hi."

Some hooves rushed up to my side. "Are ya okay, Yang?"

"Not the first time, Silk." I cautiously got back up on my feet, something I had to figure out with the new heels. "Probably not the last, either. While you're here, do you have any advice for walking in these?"

"For ya? Not sure I do. . ."

I thought for a moment before rephrasing the question. "What would you tell a mare new to heels? However that works."

"Well, I'd start by telling ya to relax a bit and just. . . Feel it out, I guess? Think of it as part of your foot? I don't know."

"Hmm. . . Alright, I'll try that."

I wish I could say the next few minutes went spectacularly well, with me suddenly able to walk well in the heels after Silk's advice. I wish that I could say I suddenly felt like I could walk in any kind of shoe, no matter the shape. I wish everything had just gone perfectly.

Even though it didn't end with miraculous and flawless skills, I was content with being able to walk the length of the hall and turning without falling over. Stepping sideways was a different issue, but I managed to get it down to where I wasn't risking a fall or twisted ankle pretty fast. That I managed to figure that all out, along with leaning and crouching without falling, in about ten minutes was a miracle I definitely appreciated.

I was on my way from the middle of the hall to the stairs when Mr. Tender came up. "Everything going well?"

"She's figured out walking well enough," Silk reported. "She should be good to go behind the bar."

"Then Ah'll see you downstairs, Yang. Everyone's waitin' for you."

As Mr. Tender left, I was reminded of two things: I was going to be seen by lots of ponies, and I still had to go down to the main floor. "Right. Stairs and a crowd that wants to see me in this. . . Showy dress. Nothing to worry about at all."

Silk came up beside me on my way to the stairs. “Same thing happened with me when I started here. Trust me, ya get used to it.”

“Surrre.” I looked down the stairs and saw something that took a load off my shoulders. “Why ponies have handrails like this, I have no idea. I’ll take it, though.” With one last sigh, I put a hand on the rail and began my slow descent, each step audible in the silence and suspense that I imagined to be everyone downstairs waiting for me to appear.

After what felt like a few months of slow steps, I finally stopped on the main floor. Everyone in the saloon was looking at me. A bit of motion near the stage caught my attention, and it turned out to be a stallion, who fainted after looking at me. One of the showmares looked at him for a moment before looking at me with a smile and a nod.

After collecting myself, I made my way back around to the bar, Mr. Tender giving me a nod of confidence as I passed him. After taking my spot at the bar and collecting myself, I looked around the gathered ponies. “I had this under control before, I can do it again. Just now with heels and a showy dress.” One stallion looked like he hadn’t had anything, so I started with him. “So, what would you like?”

It was half an hour after closing time, and there was still a crowd around the bar looking at me. They’d all paid their tabs and still had some drinks, but for the most part, were just looking at me. I wanted to find my bed upstairs, switch back to some of the combat outfit, and go to sleep, but the presence of the crowd prevented that. Finally, I came up with an idea. “Okay, everybody, here’s my deal: If you want to stay and look at me, it’ll be a bit per minute, starting. . .” I watched the second hand on the clock over the front doors, waiting until the minute changed. “Now.” After I said that, the crowd dispersed and left, allowing me to finally start wiping down the bar. "Hit them in the wallet, and they'll leave. Only after closing, though."

I’d managed to work past my issues with the dress while I was working in it, and even found myself enjoying it a bit. I still didn’t like the heels, but I was getting more confident and better with them. I knew that, when I got back home, I was going to use the buckle on the ensemble. I was also going to take some time to enjoy some clean clothes and a proper scalding bath.

Once everything was cleaned and the big bunch of bits put in a chest, I realized another problem with the heels: if I tried lifting something heavy, it could damage them, and that wouldn't be good. Since I couldn't come up with a solution that I didn't feel would leave the heels undamaged, I did the next best thing and knocked on Mr. Tender's office door. "Come in," he said. I did as he said and found him at his desk over a pile of papers. Behind him was a big safe, almost a vault in its size. "Need something?"

"Bar's clean, and the bits are waiting there," I reported. "I'm just a bit afraid to move them since I might damage the heels."

"Don't worry about the heels. Silk makes them out of the strongest stuff she can get, so they shouldn't break. Probably did some magic on them as well. If you could bring them in here, Ah'd appreciate it."

"Well, alright." I went back out to the bar and found the bit chest. "Alright, time to see how they hold up." I bent down and slowly picked up the chest. I did not want to lose my balance and spill them, after all.

The walk to the office felt a bit slower, since I was being extra mindful of my balance with the huge amount of bits. Thankfully, the door didn't close on its own, so it was easy enough to get in. "Just put it on the table by the other one, by the safe door."

I went over to the table he mentioned and hesitated. "I don't think that's a good idea. Sir."

"Just do it," he said without looking back.

I shrugged. "Alright." I gently set the chest down and the wooden table started to creak and groan. I had only managed to take three steps back before the table collapsed, thankfully spreading only bits of wood and not the bits.

"What in-?" Mr. Tender quickly looked over to the table and only briefly looked saddened before a smile crossed his face. “Miss Xiao Long, Ah believe Ah owe you a bit of gratitude.”

“Huh?”

“Ah’ll be honest: the saloon is in dire straits. Ah love the Rusty Horseshoe, but Ah’ve only been breaking even at best for the better part of a year now. Ah was afraid Ah’d have to close down the stage and let the girls go, along with Spiffy Keys.”

“And then I showed up today.” I let the silence hang for a bit before continuing. “Well, one restaurant owner to another-”

“Saloon, not restaurant.”

“-I still wish you luck after I leave.”

“You will stay for the week until Sweet Cider gets back, right?”

“Of course. No drinking on the job, keep things going smoothly, and all that. I’m sure I can handle that.” I made it to the doorway when a question came to mind. “Which room’s mine, by the way?”

“Room 12. Silk’s already moved your things there. You’ll find a key in the room if you want to use it.”

“Thanks.”

It was dark upstairs with only a couple lanterns lit next to the bathroom door, so I summoned a bit of fire between my hands to light my way, careful not to burn the gloves. After I found room 12, I cancelled the flames and went in. Thankfully, there was enough moonlight coming in that I could see the room. It looked like a hotel room, though with only one bed, no bathroom, and no cable TV.

I sat down on the bed and quickly took off my new shoes. Immediately, I felt relieved to be free of them. “How can anyone walk in those all day?” I flopped back onto the bed and gazed at the ceiling. “I guess I’ll find out soon enough.”

After taking the barmaid ensemble off and putting it away, I put on the tube top and shorts from the combat outfit, the Ember Celica with the dress. “Not ideal, but it’ll do for now. Still wish I had some clean underwear.” I stood around for a bit before deciding to take a shower.

It turned out that I wasn’t the only one who had the idea to take a late night shower, and there was a bit of a line. While I was waiting for one to open up, I sat down with an earth pony mare on a bench. “So, busy day today?” The mare gave me a sideways look before deciding to just ignore me. “Right, dumb question.”

While I was waiting, I watched the ponies around me. Most of them were from the stage, I recognized a few from elsewhere in the saloon, and all of them were mares. “So it’s either all mares that live and work here, or there are stallions and I’m just not seeing them. Eh, not really much of a concern for me.”

I wound up being the last one to take a shower out of everyone in the room. The water was, as Silk had said, warm. Much to my dismay, I couldn’t get it hot like I liked it. The water was only on or off. There wasn’t even enough heat in it to make any steam on its own. Not wanting to have to deal with it for long, I kept my shower quick.

After I was done, I noticed that there was no towel in the foyer area for me, even though I saw one there when I came in. With no other options, I went back into the shower and built up some heat before blasting the water off of me and out of my hair. “That’s better.” I stepped back out into the foyer and got dressed before heading back to my room.

Even though I was inside, I still felt a bit of a chill from the lowering temperatures outside, and quickly cocooned myself in the thick blankets before going to sleep.

“Yang, can I talk with you now?”

“No, Luna.” A moment later, I changed my mind. “Okay, sure, let’s talk. What’s up?”

“Everyone in Ponyville is worried about you, for starters. And no, that is not an exaggeration.” Luna conjured a table and chairs, and I followed her lead, sitting down across from her. “Can you tell me where you are? It would help calm Ponyville down quite a bit, and keep the rest of Equestria from worrying as well. You are very popular, after all.”

“Rusty Horseshoe Saloon in Appleloosa.” I looked down and saw that I was wearing the barmaid ensemble. “Filling in for a barmaid for a week so I can make bits for the train back.”

“You do know you could have just asked around and gotten the bits, right?”

“Yeah, but that’s not my style. I don’t want to beg if I can help it, and when I saw the sign for help, I took it. I’ve easily made enough in tips that I can already afford first class and any extra cargo charges for Bumblebee.”

“But you’re not going to leave yet, are you?”

“Nope.” I reached under the table and pulled out a mug of cider, then put it in front of Luna. “I’m seeing it through to the end. My feet will probably hurt a lot once it’s all over.”

Luna nodded in understanding before chugging half of the cider down and gently setting the mug back on the table. “Celestia and I want to know about your fight against that weather machine, but she would want to hear it herself instead of from me.”

“Couldn’t you just link us up or something? You’ve done it before, I think.”

“Many times for many dreamers. However, this is one case I must refuse. I made the case to her that I should go through her memories to see if I can find clues for the other evils that we sealed. While I do that, I can’t allow anyone else to be in her dreams, lest she gets distracted.”

“Ah, I see.”

“I can still relay a message for you, if you’d like.”

I didn’t have to think long before I had an answer. “I actually do have one, though it is a bit. . . odd.”

“That’s alright, Yang. What is it?”

New job: Day 2

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I learned two things after I woke up, got dressed for work, and went downstairs: One was that The Rusty Horseshoe didn’t open for business until high noon, so there was time for breakfast. I also found out that I wasn’t scheduled to be behind the bar until 3 PM, so I had plenty of time to take it easy and had gotten dressed up for no reason. If there was a silver lining, it was that I got just a little more practice in with the heels.

I was back in the partial combat outfit and relaxing in bed with nothing else to do but think and reflect. Not really surprising me, I started thinking about my clothing options and how I felt about them. My gaze rested on the barmaid set, which I decided to just call Barmaid, and I thought about how I felt when I first saw myself wearing it and when I walked out for the first time with it on.

I still didn’t like how showy the set was, nor how the stockings clung to my legs and made them stand out even more, especially with the bright yellow backing. At the same time, the set didn't feel bad to wear, aside from the heels. It was just wearing it out in public that made me nervous.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by a few quick knocks on the door. "Who is it?"

"Mr. Tender," came the voice from the other side. "May Ah come in, Miss Xiao Long?"

"Sure. Door's unlocked." A moment later, he came in and walked up next to me. "What's up?"

"Ah want to apologize for being a bit short with you yesterday. It's just been a bit rough with Sweet Cider gone and three failed barmaids."

"I understand."

"Ah also have a question for you: did you hold onto any of the tips you got yesterday?"

"No, I put them all in the chest."

"Well, Ah'm sorry to say this, but you won't be getting those tips back. Ah've already booked them for the saloon’s expenses."

I shrugged at the news. "Eh, I'm not worried. It would just be more bits that I have no idea what to do with. As long as I get properly paid and can keep the dress at the end, I'll be fine."

"As far as Ah'm concerned, you've already earned that dress with the bits you brought in yesterday. Even if you left tonight, Ah’d let you keep it."

“I’m sticking it through to the end.”

“Good to know. Ah’ll see you later.” Without another word, he left my room and closed the door behind him.

With a sigh, I sat up and got the rest of the combat outfit on for a better degree of decency and, after checking the clock, decided to go for a walk through town and learn a few things.

I made it back to the Rusty Horseshoe with an hour before my shift was due to start, my mission long since completed, along with meeting many Appleloosans who came up to greet me. It was tiring, to say the least, but they were respectful when I had to leg it to get to work.

On the way in, I noticed a change in the signs by the door. The one for Speedy Slinger had been updated. Apparently, he’d recently kicked not just one, but a whole litter of puppies, and the bounty was now at 600 bits. “Disturbing kittens and puppies. That’s definitely mean, but that he’s wanted for that? Panic and mayhem, I can get, but that’s just silly.” The help wanted sign was replaced with one that said I would be at the bar at 3 PM. I glanced around and noticed a few ponies that stood out among the locals, not because of their fur color, but how badly they were handling the heat of the day and swarming around the one flavor ice cream parlor. Thankfully, they seemed so occupied with staying cool that they didn’t notice me, and I slipped inside with no problem.

Once I was in my room, I immediately started changing to the Barmaid ensemble. The dress by itself was easy enough to put on, as it was one piece. As with the first time I’d put the corset on, lacing and tying it behind my back was a tricky, though thankfully short task. After putting the stockings on, I wondered if I could get away with just wearing them and not the heels, but decided not to try it, since that could wear holes in them very easily. After taking a moment to admire the quality of the shoes, I put them on and took a moment to adjust to them and their way of walking.

Finally, I put the tight elbow length gloves on, followed by the Ember Celica. I glanced at the clock once I was done and estimated that it had taken me about twenty minutes to get dressed for the barmaid job, about four times longer than it took to get ready for the Carne Den. With the time I still had available before I had to go downstairs, I decided to pace the room and get a bit more used to the heels.

When I arrived downstairs, I was met with cheers and camera flashes. Word of my presence at the saloon had apparently spread far really fast, and the crowd made getting around to the bar a slow process since it seemed everyone wanted to get a picture of or with me. There were a few calls for questions, but I turned them all down. “Please, just let me get to work already.”

What should have been no more than, at most, a ten second walk to the bar wound up taking closer to fifteen minutes, and if it wasn’t for some of the locals at the bar getting on the reporters and spectators that were slowing me down, it could have taken even longer.

When I finally got behind the bar, I started by helping the ponies that had helped me get there first. Amidst the clamor of voices and questions coming over the bar, I stuck to my job, not giving any answers to anything not related to the bar or drinks.

It didn't take long after that for most of the bar patrons to get fed up with the growing crowd and start getting a bit rowdy with them. A fight started up in front of the bar, the local patrons actually throwing punches against the paparazzi. The patrons were mostly country earth ponies, and the crowd was mostly city unicorns and pegasi, the patrons outnumbered at least four to one.

One of the patrons that didn't get up and fight, or had just snuck his way to the bar, was a dull yellow earth pony colt with a brown vest and a stetson hat. "Miss Xiao Long?" He respectfully asked when I came up to him.

"Yes?"

"Can I have a glass of apple juice?"

"Coming up." A moment later, I had the colt's drink ready and in front of him with a sincere smile. "There you go."

"Thanks!"

The barroom blitz was, thankfully, very brief, and turned out to be very one sided as well, the paparazzi unable to fight back from the surprise attack and quickly leaving the saloon, leaving a crowd that was still pretty big, but much more respectful, even if only because of the beating they'd just seen. There was one smart unicorn, though, who had decided to stay near the doors and simply recorded on his notepad what he had seen.

Many of the bar’s patrons seemed more interested in my presence behind the bar than anything I could serve, but still bought something and tipped generously. The ones that weren’t really interested in me were more interested in their drinks, which I preferred. The less attention that was on me for my fame, the better.

Eventually, the allure of my presence started to dull and things quieted down a bit. As I was cleaning a glass, I started thinking about how I felt about the Barmaid dress. “It’s not so bad, except for these heels.” The glass went to its proper place and I picked up another one to clean. “They look good, but feel bad. How can anyone like wearing something that hurts like this regularly?” A patron put a stack of bits on the counter and left, then I collected the payment and tip. “I like taking them off more than anything. Maybe I just need more time with them?”

After wrapping another busy day with another hefty bit chest that made Mr. Tender happy, I went up to my room, sat down on the bed, and took the heels off, much to my relief. I still had no idea how anyone could stand wearing those kinds of shoes regularly, but it was looking like the answer was practice, patience, and passion. And maybe shorter heels with more support.

Once again, I took a warm shower after changing out of the barmaid dress, and once again, I had to use a heat blast to dry myself off. Someone was stealing my towel while I was showering, and while I could live with that, it was still annoying. As I was putting my clothes back on, thankfully all untouched, I hoped that I could meet the towel thief and talk with them before it got out of hand and they started taking more of my things.

Sleep came easily enough, but not having clean clothes on made it a bit uncomfortable. I could have washed my clothes in the shower and quickly dried them with some heat, but it just wouldn’t be the same as a proper wash, or just some clean clothes in general.

New job: Day 3

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It was sunset on the third day, and after dealing with another crowd for a few hours, things had settled down again. I'd come to start sincerely liking the dress, and I was slowly learning how to tolerate the heels as well. I still didn't like them, but in my situation, I really had no choice.

As I was cleaning a glass, the chatter got killed when the saloon doors dramatically got slammed open. I looked up, half expecting a fight, but there in the doorway was Rainbow Dash herself. When she saw me, her eyes shrunk to pinpricks and her wings shot straight up so quickly, I felt a light breeze from the motion. "Uhhh. . ." was all she got out before she ran off, leaving the doors to slowly close on their own.

"What was with her wings?" I thought as I went back to glass cleaning, soon not worrying about it.

Elsewhere in town

"Guys, I can't go in there!" Rainbow moaned to her friends, her wings still up. "I. . . I just can't!"

For a moment, everyone was quiet, wondering just what could have evoked such a reaction. Finally, Applejack did. “What was it, sugarcube?”

“Y-Yang. She. . . She’s. . .” Rainbow took a calming breath before continuing, her wings starting to relax. “Do you remember that time we came here and Pinkie put on a lame musical number about sharing and wore that dress? This is like that, but, like, a hundred times worse.”

Rarity stepped up and put a foreleg across Rainbow’s withers. “It will be fine, darling. It was that saloon over there, right?”

“The Rusty Horseshoe, yes.”

“Such a dreadful name, but I will endure. Who else is coming with me?”

A few minutes after Rainbow dashed off, Rarity came in with a light purple suitcase, and stopped after only a few steps in when she saw me. “Oh. . . Oh my.”

I happily waved to the stunned mare. “Hi, Rarity!”

One stallion at a table near the door took a look at Rarity, slammed down his cards, and walked up to her, already mad about something. “You lookin’ to cause trouble here, missy?”

Rarity slightly recoiled from the stallion with a foreleg defensively raised. “Sweet Celestia, no! I’m just here to deliver something to Yang, that’s all.”

I slowly dragged a gloved hand down my face. “He’s fanatic. . . And now she’s getting surrounded. What can I do, what can I do?”

The office door opened up and Mr. Tender looked over the scene. “Again?”

I could sense the rising tension and felt that nobody could stop the fight, so I went up to my temporary boss. “Mr. Tender, can you do something for me really fast so I can stop the-” A stallion threw a punch at Rarity, who dodged and somehow pulled off an elegant roundhouse kick counter “-fight.”

Not wanting to get involved in the growing fight, he turned to me. “Name it.”

“I have a belt with pouches on it in my room, and it would be faster if you got it for me so I can put a stop to this. I can’t run in these heels.”

“. . . Ah hope you’re right, Yang.” Mr. Tender ran up the stairs as the fight started escalating. To my amazement, Rarity was actually holding her own really well, surprising me with what looked like kung fu, or some kind of martial art. When Mr. Tender came back with the belt, Rarity had managed to get to the point where she was kicking off of the ponies that were trying to beat her up, stallions and mares alike. “Here.”

I accepted the belt, reached into the pouch for bands, and pulled a purple one out before walking towards the fight, slotting the ammo into one of the Ember Celica. “Mr. Tender, you can take any repair costs out of my pay. Shouldn’t be much, though.”

“Repair costs?”

I aimed the gauntlet towards the roof and slam fired one round. Immediately, the fight came to a stop and I felt my eyes go red as I assumed authority. “Anyone who doesn’t want to get thrown across the street, back off of the white unicorn and settle down!” Immediately, Rarity and her suitcase were given a clear space. “Thank you.” I waved Rarity towards me, and as she followed with the suitcase, I turned to Mr. Tender, my eyes going back to purple. “I’m taking my break, sir.”

“O-of course, Yang.” Mr. Tender said before taking my place behind the bar in the silence that followed my actions.

I lead Rarity upstairs and to my room, and I sat down on the bed as she closed the door. “Oh, that wasn’t a good thing to see.”

“I wasn’t expecting such. . . hostility from them,” Rarity said as she came over. “I mean, the Appleloosans have always been a bit rowdy, but that was just uncalled for.” After putting the suitcase on my bed, she continued. “Changing topics, you look amazing! Who made that ensemble for you? It’s simply amazing!”

“Silk, one of the showmares. Unicorn.”

Rarity’s tone became a bit more interrogative. “And how, exactly, did she convince you to wear it? And those shoes! How did she manage to get you into those?”

“It was more of a desperate thing on my part, really. I didn’t think she would make anything like this, and I didn’t have any other choices that I’d feel good about making.”

“Hmph. Anyways, Luna asked me to bring some things here for your time here, so there you are.”

I opened the suitcase and smiled at the contents. “Thanks, Rarity.” I’d never been so happy to see clean underwear before, along with some clothes I didn’t recognize. “Did you make all these from scratch?”

“All of it. I even made a new ensemble for you, on the bottom. When she told me you were in Appleloosa, I felt inspired and just had to make it.”

After moving the normal clothes on top aside, I found a box, labelled Sunflower, that took up nearly a third of the suitcase and opened it up. The first thing I saw was a pair of boots with pointed toes, heels that looked really easy to walk in compared to the ones I was wearing, and yellow laces on the front. Right under them was a stetson hat with my emblem on the front of it. Under the hat was something else, something I wasn’t expecting: a picture. “Rarity, what’s this?”

The white mare somehow grew pale at the sight of the picture. “Uhhh. . .”

I looked through the rest of the box’s contents and saw more pieces of the outfit, though I didn’t see any of the armor pieces, which worked for me. “You know, now that I think about it, didn’t you also make an outfit for me from a picture around Nightmare Night? Where did you get this?”

“Twilight gave it to me, like the Nightmare Night one.”

I narrowed my eyes at Rarity. “Where did Twilight get it, then?”

Rarity fidgeted a bit before answering. “I. . . sort of know. I know how she gets to the place, and where she goes and leaves from, but I’ve never been there myself.”

I looked at the picture again. “Tell her that I want to know. Is she in town?”

“Rainbow, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Applejack, and Twilight came with me, yes.”

“And they didn’t come in because. . .”

Twilight raised a hoof. “I would cause too much of a commotion as a Princess.”

Fluttershy raised a hoof. “I don’t like the smell.”

Applejack raised a hoof. “Ah wouldn’t be caught dead around here with a suitcase like that.”

Pinkie raised a hoof. “I’m still banned from the saloons here.”

Rainbow buried her face in her hooves as her wings went back up.

“They all had their reasons, dear. I’ll let Twilight know about your interest in that picture’s source.”

“Thanks. I’ll try it on whenever I'm off. Is there anything else that's been happening?"

"Well, Twilight cured the ponies that got sick from that sludge stuff. They're all making good recoveries. She also destroyed all the samples she had after that. Like her, I couldn't see anything good coming from such a toxic substance."

"Neither can I. So, are we done here?"

"I believe so. I'll see you later, then." With that, Rarity left the room and I started putting things back in the suitcase.

It wasn't long before I saw Rarity again. She'd managed to pull Silk offstage and was sitting at a table with her, just talking it up, likely about their shared skills and interest in making clothes and the fact that both had made things for me. Truly, it was a very exclusive club they were in.

About half an hour after I returned to my spot behind the bar, Applejack came in and found Rarity. They talked for a bit, then Rarity was stunned when she saw the clock. After some quick farewells to Silk, she went with Applejack, both of them waving back to me as they left the saloon.

A few minutes later, Mr. Tender came over to me. "Who was that unicorn? You seemed rather protective of her."

"Her name's Rarity," I started explaining. "She helped me out when I first arrived in Equestria, and is a good friend of mine. I also do business with her, and she brought me a few things to make my stay here a bit easier."

"Like what?"

"Just some clean clothes. Nothing to worry about."

Mr. Tender looked over the saloon for a bit. "Well, if you say so. Keep up the good work. Oh, and before Ah forget, you have tomorrow off."

"Sweet! Am I working the three days after that?"

"All three. Ah take it that won't be a problem?"

"Not at all." I turned from Mr. Tender to a mare that came up to the bar. "Hello, what would you like?"

The towel thief struck yet again. Fortunately, my new fleece lined sleepwear was untouched, and even just going from the shared bathroom to my room, I could feel the warmth it held from my body making me drowsy, helped by the feel of clean underwear. "I'm probably the only one in the world that wouldn't mind dark, insulated clothes in the desert. That sounds like a nap and a half right there."

After I got in my room, I came up with a short list of things to do on my day off, set the boxed outfit on the desk, and went to sleep a few seconds after that.

New job: Day 4

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I woke up at the crack of dawn, sat up, and briefly stretched before deciding to lay back down and get some more sleep. The new sleepwear was very warm, very comfortable, and it was my day off, anyways.

I wasn't asleep for long before I was up again, the call of nature being felt loud and clear. "May as well make the most of it, I guess." After grabbing the boxed outfit and the Ember Celica, I made my way to the restroom. "Let's see, today's. . . Ah, Friday. Grill day. And I'm stuck here. I hope they. . . No, I know they'll figure something out. Worst case scenario, there's no grill today."

After taking care of business, I started putting on the new outfit, keeping the picture out for reference to the various layers and bits of the ensemble. Between double checking that things were in place and making sure it all fit, it took a little while to put it all on. The boots were the most tedious part, as the laces and straps all had to be properly tightened. The heels on them barely bothered me, especially considering the ones I'd been wearing behind the bar.

Once I'd put the hat and Ember Celica on, I gathered up the sleepwear and took it back to my room, where my stomach decided to speak up. "May as well make some breakfast."

I went downstairs and got a few raised eyebrows from the rest of the staff that was there for breakfast. Silk was the first to speak up. "So, that's the new look Rarity made for ya? Gotta say, she did a fine job."

"She always does," I said as I went to the kitchen, pausing and turning back to the gathered staff. "Who wants something?"

Silk was the first to answer. "Can ya make omelettes?"

"I can try." I went behind the bar and picked up a notepad and pencil, sliding into waitress mode. "What do you want in yours?"

"Tomato, onion, and pepper. No cheese. Oh, and an apple on the side."

I wrote down Silk's order and turned to the rest of the staff that was there. "Anyone else?"

I wound up making breakfast for nearly everyone there, including Mr. Tender when he showed up. His was the last order, so I made my breakfast at the same time as his. Once they were done, I set mine at the bar and took Mr. Tender's to him. "Scrambled eggs with peppers and beans, and a side of breakfast potatoes, sir."

He sniffed it for a moment before picking his fork up in that weird way earth ponies hold things with their hooves and took a bite. "Mmm, that's good," he said after the bite. "And you made breakfast for everypony?"

"Not quite everyone, but most of them."

"Well then, please let me pay you for that." Before I could object, he held up a hoof and continued. "Ah saw smilin' faces out there over the breakfast you made, and that means a lot to me in these trying times." A smile started showing on his muzzle as well. "Besides, it's your day off, and what's a day off without a few bits to spend?" After taking another bite and setting down his silverware, Mr. Tender grabbed a pouch and slid some money into it. "50 bits ought to be enough, right?"

"Well, I could do with less, maybe."

"Don't bet on maybe. Take 'em." After it was closed, he tossed the bag to my side of the desk. "Before you go, mind if Ah ask you a favor?"

"Sure."

"If you could wear that getup on your last day here, Ah'd appreciate it."

I thought about the request for a bit. "You just want to build up some hype, right?"

"Got it in one. What do you say?"

"Hmm, I guess I'd better change to something else, then. Don't want to spoil the surprise, after all." I picked up the bag of bits and left the office to get my breakfast and go up to my room with it.

I was somewhat disappointed with my meatless breakfast, but it was still filling and tasted pretty good. "I am so making myself a bacon cheeseburger when I get home," I decided as I started changing clothes again, each piece of Sunflower going back in the box.

I wound up choosing plain black pants and what I initially thought was a white tank top, which actually turned out to be a dress that went down to just above the middle of my thighs and had the burning heart emblem displayed over my left hip. Both of those, together with my combat boots, didn't look bad, though the Ember Celica did throw the colors off quite a bit.

After taking my plate and fork to the kitchen, where there were already a couple ponies washing dishes, I left the saloon to go for a walk and figure out my plans. "Let's see. . . I'll stop at the ice cream place at some point, at least after I get lunch somewhere. And. . . I can't think of anything else." I paused and looked around, my gaze settling on a blacksmith's shop. "Oh, what the heck. Tourist mode on! But within budget, of course."

It didn't take long for me to decide there was nothing of interest for me at the blacksmith's shop. Most of the stuff there was just horseshoes, farming tools, and a few construction items. There were a few decorative items, but they didn't strike my fancy.

After leaving the blacksmith, I decided to go walking around in the orchard I'd passed through. I would have gone for a run, but the dress wasn't designed for that kind of motion, and I didn't want to damage it.

The walk through the trees was quite nice, and I was amazed at how they managed to get the trees to grow out in the middle of the desert. "Then again, weather teams exist, so they might just ship some rain out here." The thought of weather brought my attention out to the horizon, where the weather machine still stood. I could make out little dots of gold and white flying around it as well. "Looks like the guard's already out there. I wonder what they're going to do with it?" After a few minutes of watching, I decided to go back to my walk, find the owner of the orchard, and buy an apple for a snack.

After a few hours of walking around and talking with some ponies that came up to me, I made it to the one flavor ice cream parlor, which, despite the name, was also a diner. It was a bit chilly inside, but it wasn't anything a little internalized fire magic couldn't help with. There were a few ponies having lunch inside, but it was still slow.

I sat down at a small table by the front window and a waiter with a menu was with me in seconds. "Howdy, Miss Xiao Long. Can I get you anything to drink?"

"Just some water would be nice." I accepted the menu and started looking it over. "Any recommendations? No grass, please."

"We have the hearty farmer sandwich with lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese, mushrooms, and an egg on it. For an extra two bits, we can even put hash browns on it.”

I gently slammed the menu down on the table. “Yes. All of it.”

“How do you want the egg?”

“Fried. Considering what day it is, it’s only appropriate.”

“Friday?”

“Fried egg Friday.” A big smile came over my face as I cracked the pun.

Silence fell over the diner for a few seconds before numerous heads met various tables. The waiter took a breath and sighed. “I’ll have it out soon.” With that, he left to take care of it.

While I was waiting, I turned my attention outside to the dusty road. There wasn’t much to watch, just ponies going about their business. “Earth, earth, earth, earth, earth, pegasus, earth, pegasus, earth, earth. . . Is Silk the only. . . Nope, there’s a unicorn that’s not her. Lots of Earth ponies here.”

I was drawn out of my musings by the sound of a plate being set on my table. “One hearty farmer sandwich, Miss Xiao Long.” The sandwich was big, and I’d apparently missed the water being put on the table while I was pony watching. “Need anything else?”

“No, I’m good.” As he left, I picked up the sandwich and got a better look at it. There were only two mushrooms on it, the crispy hash browns sandwiched between them, and both the size of a burger patty. All the other toppings were on top of those, and it looked delicious. “Well, I wasn’t expecting that. Time to dig in!” The first bite was flavorful, but a bit dry and a bit salty. Still, it was good, and I had nothing to complain about.

I took my time to enjoy the sandwich while watching the ponies on the street again. About halfway through my meal, the ponies started huddling together and pressing themselves against the buildings as something moved through town. I couldn’t see what it was, but it looked like it was moving towards the diner/ice cream parlor.

The doors to the diner slammed open and everything went silent, save for some hooves on the wooden floor. “Alright, y’all! Hoof over yer bits, and nopony gets hurt!” The pony was a unicorn stallion, dressed like a Western outlaw, and his horn was glowing.

“Where have I. . .” I was reminded of where I’d seen him before when he fired off a rapid salvo of shots from his horn. “Speedy Slinger, right?” I boredly asked.

“Who dares?” He looked at me and narrowed his eyes. “Yang Xiao Long.” He slowly walked over to me, sizing me up as he did. Finally, he was standing at my table. “Seems I’ve struck gold! I could get so many bits with you as my hostage!”

Just as his horn lit up again, I reached out and slapped him across his face, stunning him. “No, the gold’s struck you.” I slapped his face again from the other direction and he was looking like he’d had a few too many drinks. One carefully placed swing down on his head later, and he was down like a sack of potatoes. “Waiter?” I called out.

“Miss Xiao Long?” the waiter asked from behind the main counter.

“Can you hold onto my meal for a bit? I’ll be back for it.” I picked up the knocked out stallion and slung him over my shoulder. “Which way to the sheriff’s?”

“To the right, down the street. Knowing Silver Star though, he should be here-”

The doors slammed open again, a mustached pony dressed up like a wild west sheriff, star shaped badge included, coming in. “Alright, Speedy! Ah’ve. . . got you now. . . Miss Xiao Long, I wasn’t expecting. . . Well. . .”

I cut off his stammering. “Yes, you’re welcome. Where do you want me to take him?”

He collected himself quickly and cleared his throat. “Just follow me, and we’ll get him locked up.”

“Can do.”

As we walked down the street, numerous ponies looked at us. “So, how’d you knock him out?”

“Two slaps to the face and a tap to the head. I was thinking of throwing my bag of bits at his head after he demanded money, but it didn’t work out that way. He thought I would be a good hostage. I wasn’t.”

“Ah see.” The rest of the short walk was made in silence. Finally, we came across a humble sheriff’s office and went inside. “Just toss him in one o’ those cells. Don’t matter which one.” There were three cells, all empty and looking like they hadn’t seen much use. I set Speedy on the cot in the middle one and closed the door behind me, the sheriff locking it in quick order. “Let’s get you your reward, then.”

I followed him over to the desk, a placard on it reading ‘Sheriff Silver Star’. “600 bits, right?”

“700, actually. It went up yesterday after he zapped a cider barrel and set a few of them on fire.” He opened a drawer and hefted out a bag of bits, soon followed by a piece of paper. “Just to make it official for anypony that comes and checks, Ah need you to sign this to say that you did help get Speedy Slinger and got your reward bits.”

I quickly put my signature on the paper. “Sounds like you don’t care for the legal stuff.”

“Not a bit. Ah just want to keep Appleloosa safe, and Ah see no need for all these paper gobbledygook forms saying that somepony did something around here, and nopony’s actually come down to check them, either. Not since the first day that they had me start with them.”

“Yeah, I don’t like legal paperwork either. Anyways, it’s been good doing business here, so I’ll just be on my way, then.” I picked up the bag of bits, bid the sheriff a good day, and went back to the diner to finish my lunch.

My meal was exactly where I’d left it, and my water was refilled. Seconds after I sat back down to finish it, a mare who looked like she was the owner came up to me. “Miss Xiao Long, as my way of saying ‘thanks’ for stoppin’ Speedy Slinger, your meal and a bowl of our ice cream are on the house today.”

“Huh. thanks.” I didn’t feel like insisting on paying, so I accepted it. “What flavor ice cream is it?”

“Corn flakes.”

I did a double take when she said that. “Corn flakes? As in the breakfast cereal corn flakes?”

“The same. We make one flavor every week, and that’s this week’s flavor.”

“Hm. Yeah, I’ll try some.”

“I’ll have it right out for you.” It was during my second bite into the remaining half that she came back with a hefty bowl of ice cream. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.”

The rest of my meal was peaceful, and it turned out that the corn flake ice cream actually tasted pretty good. It was very creamy, smooth, and the corn flake flavor was perfectly done. It took a while to finish it all, but I managed it.

When I attempted to leave some bits as a tip, the owner was quick to come out and insist against it. As with the meal being free, I decided not to argue over it. My full stomach also helped convince me not to worry about it.

With lunch and dessert done, I decided to just go back to the Rusty Horseshoe and take a nap. During the brief walk there, I looked over the bags of bits again. "Yeah, definitely giving the reward money to Mr. Tender. Actually, nah. I'll just say he doesn't have to pay me anymore and can keep all the tips."

Sheriff Silver Star came up to the entrance of the Rusty Horseshoe before I did, and he pulled down the Wanted poster, replacing it with a Got Him poster. The poster simply said that Speedy Slinger was arrested after a civilian briefly fought him. "Thanks again, Miss Xiao Long," he said with a tip of his hat. "Would you like one of these posters?"

I shrugged. "Sure. I'll get it framed later." The sheriff pulled one of the posters out of his saddlebags and gave it to me before heading on to his next destination. As he left, I went inside. Mr. Tender was behind the bar, looking much happier than when I showed up mere days earlier.

He paused in his glass cleaning to look at my big bag of bits. “Ah’m not even going to ask.”

I stopped at the bar and answered him anyways. “I got Speedy Slinger and turned him in. That’s what happened. And I couldn’t even spend a bit on my lunch either. I guess I just have trouble spending money, and it was really bad today. Anyways, I think I’ll go work off my lunch. It was not small.” I resumed the walk upstairs to my room, where I set down my bits before figuring out what kinds of exercises to do.

Later that night, I found a towel waiting for me after I finished my shower, exactly where I’d seen it when I went in, and for the first time since I arrived, I was able to properly dry off. There was something about the motions of it that really just felt right. The heat blasts were effective, but just weren’t the same.

All in all, the day was a good one, if a bit dull. The combination of a good, long workout, shower, and warm sleepwear made getting to sleep a simple task.

Luna was there when I started dreaming. “Hello, Yang.”

“Hello, Luna,” I greeted from my uncomfortable golden throne made of bits. “Turns out I failed at spending money in town today. Spectacularly. I spent one bit on an apple, then got a free meal and dessert after I stopped an outlaw who had 700 bits on his head.”

“If only fixing all our problems were that profitable and easy,” Luna lamented. “Still, maybe it’s better that way. Bits are useful, but they can’t solve everything. Anyways, that is not what I wanted to tell you. I found something while going through Celestia’s memories recently.”

“Related to the evils?”

“It was faint, and seemed like it had been magically altered, but one thing in it was clear: a tall armored being with four glowing swords that could cut through even the strongest of metals with ease. The colors of the blades were shifting in the memory, along with glowing parts of the armor, but none of them stayed consistent.”

“Anything else?”

“Yes. The magic that altered the memory is older than the memory itself, but isn’t any kind of curse or enchantment, which is very puzzling. I’ll see what I can do to clear it up and get back to you later.”

“Thanks, Luna. Good night.”

“Sweet dreams, Yang.” After Luna left, I found myself in a place that was made of all kinds of desserts, and I was holding a plate with a slice of cheesecake on it. I looked between the cheesecake and the other colorful pastries packing the place, shrugged, and had a bite of the dessert in front of me.

New job: Day 5

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Saturday was busy, especially since Mr. Tender was off doing something outside the saloon and couldn’t help. Once it was over and the place was closed up, I thought about how used to the heels and showy barmaid dress I’d gotten. It still wasn’t anything I’d want to wear out in public, though.

New job: Day 6

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Mr. Tender arrived an hour after opening with a big smile on his face and came up to the bar. “If Ah didn’t believe in someone bringing good luck before, Ah do now, Yang.”

“So what’s got you in a good mood?” I asked as I cleaned a glass.

The owner looked side to side before leaning over the bar towards me. “So, after you got back on Friday, this important looking unicorn mare approached me and offered to straight up buy my house, and even cover my moving expenses.”

“You’re moving?”

“Ah’ve been thinking about adding a room for myself to the upstairs, and even had a bunch of things packed up and ready to go, but never got around to it. She even had a bunch of moving and construction ponies with her, and even offered to pay for it all.”

“Congratulations, then,” I said with a smile of my own. “How long will it take?”

“They’ll have the building supplies in on Tuesday, the room built by Thursday, and everything moved in by the end of the week.”

“Very nice. How much did she pay you?”

“Well, Ah don’t mean to boast or nothin’, but Ah’m certainly a millionaire now.”

“A million bits?” Something sounded a bit fishy about the situation.

“And she used these fancy silver ones that were worth five gold ones, too. Those are rare, and she used nothing but those to pay me.”

My interest was piqued. “This rich mare. Did she give a name?”

“She did. Lady Gold Leaf. Didn’t say why she wanted to buy my house, but with the kind of money and offer she was making, how could Ah have refused?”

I stopped at his description and thought for a bit. “Lady Gold Leaf. I’ve heard that name somewhere before, but where?”

“Anyways, Ah’d better get back to work here. The Rusty Horseshoe isn’t going to run itself, after all. Much as Ah love the bits, Ah love this place a bit more.” Without another word, he left the bar with a spring in his step and went into the office.

"Isn't she a noble?" I quietly mused on his story for a bit before a patron came up to the bar and asked for a cider and salt lick.

It was a busy Sunday night, and it looked like there were a few paparazzi ponies present. Unlike before, they were actually behaving themselves, likely because they knew what would happen if they got rowdy, and they probably wanted to see what I would wear on my last day behind the bar.

A local earth pony stallion came up to the bar. "So, how are you likin' Appleloosa, Miss Xiao Long?"

"It's been. . . Interesting, but I've mostly been behind this bar," I said. "And you are. . ."

"Pardon my manners, I didn't introduce myself. Name's Braeburn. Ah just got back from visiting relatives out in Manehattan. You ever been there?"

"Nope. Want something to drink?"

"A mug of cider and a few carrots, please."

"Coming up." After getting him his cider, I got the order for the carrots in. Moments later, they were out and in front of him. "And there you go."

"Thank ya kindly," Braeburn said after a long sip of cider. "The Oranges, the relatives out there, are good folk, but their definition of a good meal is overpriced and undersized. You wouldn't last an hour before getting hungry again."

"Artsy food, then?"

"Exactly!"

Before Braeburn could continue, a bigger stallion sat down next to him, his imposing form bringing an end to the conversation. "A mug of ale."

"Coming up." I quickly got the drink out for him. "Long day, Mr. Appleseed?"

"Had to cut down ten dead trees today," he answered before chugging down his whole drink. "It wasn't good."

I nodded at his answer. "Log day, then." Groans came at me from all along the bar.

After showering up and drying off, the towel thief apparently gone for good, I went back to my room and started packing my things up. I made sure the whole Barmaid set was neatly put away and the Sunflower set was out and ready for my last day on the job. "The week's just flown by. Tomorrow's payday, and then I'll be on my way home. I wonder if I’ll get to meet Sweet Cider?”

Just as I sat down on the bed, I came up with an idea. I got back up, looked out my window, and saw exactly what I needed for the plan. “If this works, I’m sure Mr. Tender won’t mind if I use one of those.”

New job: Day 7

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After double checking that everything was packed up, I glanced at the clock in the room. “Better get it over with.” I was wearing the Sunflower set and it was nearly a quarter to three. If there was a media mob down there, I was going to need all that time to get behind the bar. If there wasn’t a media mob, then I’d be safely behind the bar that much sooner.

Once I’d made sure the hat was in its proper place, I made my way through the hall and stopped just before I got to the stairs, peeking down them. There was a mess of paparazzi ponies there, talking with each other while they waited for me to arrive. I took a moment to marvel at how easily I was walking with the heels on the boots, a task which would have been daunting a year ago.

I finally started walking down the stairs once I was done procrastinating and everything went silent. The moment I stepped onto the floor, everyone seemed to remember what they were there for and started snapping pictures, flashes going off left, right, center, above, and as I made my way through, behind me.

One pegasus stallion was buzzing around me, asking most of the questions I was hearing. “Miss Xiao Long, I’m Persistent Question, Baltimare Chronicle. Do you plan on going back to the Carne Den? If so, are you planning on coming back here? Do you know anything about that metal disk past the buffalo lands? Have you-”

I got fed up with him pretty quickly. “Can someone hold this stallion still for a moment?”

Appleseed got up from his spot at the bar, walked over, and brought his hoof down on Persistent Question’s tail, stopping him cold without a word. “Thank you.” I turned my attention to the pegasus. “Please, stop asking so many questions. You are a nuisance, and if you don’t stop-” I slowly cracked my knuckles, the sound causing him to flinch back. “-I will throw you out. Understood?”

The pegasus quivered ever so slightly as he answered. “Y-yes, Miss Xiao Long.”

I waved Appleseed off and he went back to the bar. “Thank you.” With that, I was back on the way to the bar myself, the camera flashes no longer accompanied by questions directed at me, but rather by discussions among themselves. “That’s better. I wish I didn't have to do that, though."

Once I made it to the bar, it was 3, and I pulled out my project from the previous night from under the bar. It was a semicircular piece of firewood, and on the flat side, I had burned a message into it: 3 bits per press question. If it went according to plan, it would assure either peace or profits, maybe even both.

For the first hour, I was serving a constant mix of drinks and answers, sometimes at the same time. To my pleasure, I didn't have to throw anyone out, and working in the shorter heels was much better than the higher ones. The smile I wore was much more genuine than before, thanks to that bit of relief.

After the press had died down, and likely spent most of their bits, a light orange earth pony mare with a wavy bright red mane came up to the bar. The regular patrons seemed to respect her quite a bit if the subtle change of behavior was anything to go by. "Well, seems I was wrong. You really are here, Miss Xiao Long."

I turned to her with a slightly curious look. "Can I help you?"

"Name's Sweet Cider. I thought the whole town was playing a trick when I kept hearing that you were filling in for little ol' me."

"And I've apparently done better for the week I've been here than the three before me."

"A different barmaid every week?"

"No, it was Mr. Tender most of the time," the stallion next to her said before taking a sip of his rum. "The three before Yang all washed out pretty quickly. I saw each one of them fail."

"I bet they're feeling pretty bad now."

"We are!" A trio of drunk mares at a table shouted in unison.

Sweet Cider briefly looked at them before turning back to me. "So, what was with the herd of ponies heading to the train station? They all had cameras and stuff."

I showed Sweet Cider the block of wood. "They either ran out of bits or questions. I made a lot with this little thing here. Made it myself last night from a piece of firewood. I'm taking it home with me." I glanced to the side and saw a mug get drained, so I got back to business.

Sunset came, and so did a royal guard, fully armored. When he came in, everything went quiet. Nobody stopped him as he made his way to the bar. "Yang Xiao Long?"

"Official stuff?" I asked.

"The princesses want me to escort you to them in Canterlot."

"Official stuff. Is it urgent?"

"Important, but not urgent. You may take your time. I'll be waiting at the train station." Without another word, the stallion left.

"Well, good thing I've already packed up. Don't think I'll change clothes, though."

"Well, it's been an honor having' you here, Yang," Mr. Tender said after everything was closed up and I'd brought my suitcase down. "Ah've got your pay right here." He picked up a big bag of bits and set them on a table.

I picked up the money bag. "Thanks. It's been a good trip, and I'm glad I could help out.” I wanted to say more, but I was drawing a blank. “Well, I think I’ll be on my way, then.” With a wave, I left the saloon and went around to the back. Bumblebee had a bit of sand on her, but I was able to easily brush it off before setting the suitcase on the seat and pulling her along. With the suitcase there, it made the walk into a minor balancing act, but it was far from unmanageable.

The guard was waiting at the train station, as he said he would. "The next train leaves in ten minutes, Miss Xiao Long. I've already paid for tickets and cargo for your bike."

I gave a mock sigh of defeat. "The one time I was hoping to really spend some money here and you dash the chance away. Oh, what is a girl to do?"

"Spend those bits on snacks on the train? Honestly, I was only given enough for the tickets, and I'm getting a bit hungry."

"Hm, that sounds like a good plan. Here." After handing him the bag with my pay, I brought Bumblebee and my suitcase up to the cargo car towards the front of the train, got it loaded up, and joined my guard escort on the train a few cars down. Not to my surprise, it was the dining car, and he was already looking over a menu. "See something you like?"

"There are some good sandwiches here, but I don't want to spend too much of your bits."

I managed to fight back a yawn and got a simple idea. I went up to the drink bar at the back of the car, a unicorn stallion waiting behind it. "Got any bottled drinks?"

"Lemonade, root beer, multiple flavors of soda, water, fruit juices, and milk," he said. "Which one strikes your fancy?"

"Milk. Warm. How much?"

"4 bits."

"I'll be right back." I went over to my guard and took five bits out of the bag. "Get whatever you want, buddy."

"Thank you very much," he said.

Just as I started going back to the bar, I turned back to him with a question. "How long is the ride?"

"About ten hours straight to Canterlot, so if you want to sleep, you've got time."

"Thanks." I went back to the bar, handed the stallion there the five bits, and got my drink. After getting directions to the sleeping car, I started going that way, sipping my warm milk along the way. Just as I closed the door to the sleeping car, the train started moving.

After finishing the warm milk and throwing away the glass bottle, I got a bed, pulled the blanket out from the backpack, and lay down. The gentle rocking of the car, the sound of the rails, the warm milk in me, and the warm blanket didn't so much ease me into sleep as they did fire me from orbit.

"Good evening, Yang."

I looked next to me and saw Luna laying there, both of us on a bed that looked like it was made for her, in the middle of a smoking crater. "Hi, Luna. Anything new?"

"From Celestia's memories? Nothing of note."

"Hm." For a while, we just lay there, then I got a question. "Why not try going through your own memories?"

"A few reasons. I can't use my techniques on myself, and even if I could, I'd only show myself what I wanted, not necessarily what I needed. Aside from that, my memories from before my time as Nightmare Moon are a bit. . . Fragmented. Not severely, thank goodness. Just a few small gaps here and there. Dark magic like what I used does things to the mind if one's not prepared or skilled enough."

"I guess that makes sense." More silence played out until a random question came to mind. "What happens if you fall asleep in a dream?"

"That's just a very deep sleep. You don't die, unlike what the old stories say happens."

"Huh. Well, is there anything else going on?"

"Not really. Want some warm milk?"

I watched as a glass of the stuff appeared in front of me, the liquid not spilling out of the horizontal glass. "Sure, I'll have some." I reached up, grabbed the glass, and drank its contents in one go. "I'll see you later, I guess."

"Of course. Sleep well, Yang."

Debriefing

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I woke up after someone pulled me out of bed and I fell a short distance onto the floor. "Rise and shine, Yang. We're an hour from Canterlot."

"Mmhrrgg," I said from the floor.

The blanket got pulled off of me with a vengeance. "Do I have to hold this toasty blanket hostage?"

"Oh no you don-actually, do that." I yawned as I started getting my mind together.

"If you insist." The guard not only held onto the blanket, but also started folding it as well.

I slowly sat up, apparently the only one that had been asleep. Or maybe I was just the last to wake up. I stumbled as I tried to stand, the heels on my boots messing with my attempts at the simple action. By the time I had managed to get on my feet, I was pretty well awake. “I am not sleeping with heels on again.” After retrieving my blanket from the guard and putting it away, I went back to the dining car, my companion following me.

“Breakfast burrito and coffee?” the stallion at the drink counter offered as I walked in. Somehow, he was wide awake and cheery.

I turned to the guard. “How are we on bits?”

“Easily enough for breakfast,” he reported. “Lunch and dinner, too. There's a lot of bits.”

“Is there any grass or flowers in the burritos?”

“There is hay in it,” the serving stallion answered. “Unfortunately, the burritos are premade, so it can’t be removed.”

“Darn. I’ll just get something in Canterlot, then.” As I went to an empty table nearby, I heard the guard order his own burrito and coffee. Moments after I sat down, he joined me with his food and coffee, both lightly steaming. “You know, for a guard, you’re acting pretty casual.”

“There are times that we can,” he said. “It’s usually just for simple tasks like this one. I was also told to be more casual and friendly with you as well, so there’s that.”

“Hm.” I turned to look out the window and watch the green landscape go by as he ate his breakfast. It was a peaceful way to pass the time.

When we arrived, I made a beeline to the cargo unloading area to get my bike and suitcase. Once they were back in my possession, I took them to a booth for holding until I got back for the train to Ponyville. Once that was done, I followed my escort and started walking to the castle, happy to stretch my legs.

Halfway to the castle, I had to stop for a bit and sit down. “Is something wrong, Miss Xiao Long?” the guard asked.

“No, well, yes,” I answered. “Let’s just say I’m not going to be walking up the mountain in these boots again anytime soon. My ankles are hurting.”

He looked at the footwear in question. “That doesn’t look too difficult to me.”

“When you’re not used to it, it is bad. Just give me a bit.” Exactly 1.21 moments later, I was back up. “Let’s get going.”

“By your word.”

As we kept going upwards, I started feeling it in my ankles again. Even letting the guard take the backpack did nothing to help with it, and once I’d confirmed that, I took it back. “The walk down’s not going to be fun.” As we approached the castle gates, I glanced down. “Then again, why should I have to walk down with these heels? I could just let one of the princesses throw me to the train station.”

We went inside, and I followed the guard through some halls, coming to a door simply labelled ‘Celestia’s Study’. “Go on inside. I’ll get the princesses and have somepony get you some breakfast.”

“Thanks.” As he left, I went inside and found a well furnished office, the walls covered in bookshelves that were all filled with books. In the middle of the office was a desk, with a Princess sized office chair behind it, and a fireplace behind it, unlit and with logs stacked neatly to the side.

Whether it was real or just my imagination, I felt a brief chill when I saw the empty fireplace, so I started moving logs into the fireplace. Once I had a few in there, I put a flame on my finger tip and lit them. Soon, I had a nice fire going, set the backpack down, and sat down in the office chair, turning it around so I could face the fireplace.

A few short, quick knocks caught my attention. “Come in!”

A butler came in. “Good morning, Miss Xiao Long. I heard you might be hungry?”

My stomach answered for me. “Yeah, I am. What’s on the menu?”

“What would you like?””

“Do you have meat here? I’m craving some.”

“We have chicken, pork, and Griffonian beef available.”

I thought for just a moment on what I wanted. “Hmm, cheesy scrambled eggs, bacon, crispy hash browns, water, and orange juice. No pulp. Oh, and the total cost of the meal.”

“I assure you, you don’t have to worry about the bill. It’s-”

“I. Want. To pay for it. Like anyone else.”

“M-Miss Xiao Long, I insist-”

Someone else interrupted him. “Let her pay for it, kind butler.” Luna interrupted herself with a yawn. “In fact, Yang, would it be too much to ask for me to add to your bill? I just need some light coffee.”

“Go ahead,” I said. “In fact, get some of what Celestia likes to drink, too. On me.” The butler took one look at Luna’s slightly irritated gaze before bowing and rushing off. “So, what do you think of the new look?” I stood up and walked around the desk for Luna’s convenience.

“Well, it looks good, but I can’t say I expected to see you wearing something like that. Dare I ask why you’re wearing it?” Luna came in and looked it over a bit.

“Rarity made it for me, then I wore it yesterday for a temporary job, got right on the train last night, and here I am.” I went back to the chair and sat down. “It does take a bit of time to put on and take off, though.”

“Is that a new work style, Yang?” Celestia asked from the doorway as she came in. Five of the solar flares on her cutie mark were detached from the orange circle in the middle. “It looks like you mean business.”

“I guess you could say that, Celestia.” I turned to both sisters once they were sitting across from me, and decided to get down to business. “So, since we’re all here, what can I do for you?”

“We want to debrief you on how you took down that weather machine. If you have any idea how it might have gone rogue, it would be appreciated.”

“Just to get it straight, you’re saying the machine started spreading the toxic sludge on its own, right?”

“It put up a robust defense,” Luna said. “Lightning bolts, hail, and more. It took an eclipse beam before it was sealed.”

“What if I told you there was a pony sealed in there?” As I told them of my trip through the machine, my breakfast and our drinks arrived, along with the bill, which I paid off immediately. Once the butler was gone, I started on my breakfast and told them of my looting trip, promising to show them what I got later on.

They were fascinated with everything I told them about my fight with Brain Storm, especially his armor and what happened when he injected himself with the liquid rainbow. After I finished off my breakfast, happy to have had some bacon again, I started telling them about the 1812 Overture Finale and how that ended up destroying the machine.

“So, the machine wasn’t going rogue, but had been hijacked?” Celestia rhetorically asked. “Thinking about it, that makes more sense than it going rogue on its own. The intelligences on those machines were top of the line, and it was just the one machine that went bad.”

“Indeed it does, sister,” Luna agreed. “How did we not consider that possibility?”

“I don’t blame either of you,” I said as I stood up. “I’m sure anyone would think it was the machine when they saw it too. I certainly did. Is there anything else you need to know?”

"No, I do not believe so," Celestia said. "How about those things you picked up on the machine?"

"Of course."

For at least an hour, we looked over all the things I'd gotten, both of them getting a bit nostalgic over different things. Celestia with the dresses, Luna with the computer. Apparently, she was a bit of a gamer in the past. As I was packing the things back up, they started figuring out the value of the items in bits. They generally agreed on the number of zeros, and there were enough of those mentioned that I could live comfortably forever, and likely become one of the nobles.

I decided not to take up their theoretical offer, as I already had plans for the stuff.

Once we were done talking, I asked them for a launch to the train station, and Celestia obliged, opening a window and launching me out with her magic. As I was flying, one thought ran through my head: "How am I going to land with heels?! I did not think this through!"

I landed at the entrance to the train station face first. Amazingly, my hat stayed in place the whole time.

Winding down

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After parking Bumblebee next to my house, I took the suitcase off and opened the doors. Just as I was going in, I heard a familiar voice behind me. "Yang, where have you been? We missed you!"

I looked back and smiled at the familiar griffon. "Just a surprise trip to Appleloosa, Gilda. How have things been without me?"

"Not bad at all. We can actually do pretty well without you, all things considered."

My mood dropped a bit at that. "Ah. I see."

"N-not that we don't appreciate. . . I messed up there, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you goofed. But tell me about Friday."

"Pinkie took over the grill," Gilda said as we walked in. "And I don't know how she did it, but she managed to top the smoked ice Gavan made."

"Do I even. . ? Just tell me what she did."

"Grilled water. It didn't taste good, but she did it, and I don't know how!"

I tried to imagine what such a thing would look like, and just came up with grill marks on a glass of water. "Best to just leave it at that. It's Pinkie Pie. Anything else I missed?"

"I took care of all the business mail. There's a stack of other mail for you in the office."

"Thanks. Hey, I'm going to be taking today to wrap up a few things, like laundry. And probably drag Rarity to the spa. I think I can get my laundry done there, so that can be done there. Oh, and if I can get Twilight and Rainbow there, that would make things go even faster. I've got things for all three of them."

"Nothing for me?" Gilda teased. "I'm wounded."

"I couldn't find anything for you. Sorry.”

“Eh, I’m over it already. Probably just some lame trinkets of some kind. By the way, you look great. Killer style there.”

“Thanks, though I don’t think my hair goes with it that well. Anyways, I’ll be back down in a bit to take care of the mail.”

After going upstairs, I went into my room and took a moment to bask in its familiarity before getting to work, starting by setting the backpack and suitcase on my bed, going over to the wardrobe, picking out a few clothes, and heading over to the bathroom to take the first scalding hot shower I’d had in a week.

With the plans I’d made in mind, I kept the shower brief. Once I was done and dried off, I put my swimsuit on, followed by Burning Time and the footwear associated with it, happy to be back in heelless shoes. After the Barmaid ensemble, I didn’t mind the dress. Glamour was another story, though.

After gathering up the dirty clothes, I went back to my room and opened up the suitcase to put Sunflower in there. Once the suitcase was closed up, I went through the backpack and started taking things out. The computer, TV, chair, pillows, and blankets were all set on my bed to be organized later. With them out, it looked like I’d have enough space for my cleaned clothes.

After putting more bits into the bag with my pay from the Rusty Horseshoe, which had barely been tapped into, I put it in the backpack, gathered it and the suitcase, and went back downstairs. Gilda noticed my choice of attire immediately. “You’re really going out with a dress on? And here I never thought I’d see the day.”

“After the past week, I'm not as, well, scared isn't quite the word. . ."

"Nervous?"

"Yeah, that. I'll just check the mail and be on my way then." I went into the office, set my things down, and started going through the mail. There was junk, a magazine, a LOT of fan mail, and one letter that caught my attention.

Dear Yang Xiao Long,
I've told my family about you, and they really seem to like you, though they're happier to see me. They’re also glad to know that Ironbeak is the king now. Most of the griffons here are glad Gaston’s gone, but are still a bit wary of Ironbeak. I can understand where they’re coming from, but I guess all we can do is wait to see what he does.
The story of how you fed us and the Princess’s guards when Gaston came to visit you truly impressed them, especially when you literally threw him out. My great-uncle Blade called it a brave, heroic, and stupid thing to do, just like how he fought in the Griffon army before Gaston took over. I think he admires you for that. It’s hard to tell with him.
All of us have also started working on my grandfather’s old skyship, The Hacksaw. To this day, none of us know why he named it that. It’s been sitting around for a few years and needs quite a few repairs. At the rate we’re going, we might be able to fly out to see you during winter, which sounds a lot better than using my own wings to catch a long train ride. Plus, we can all come out together, maybe even go on an expedition. There's one place that I really want to show you.
Anyways, things are going well over here, so I guess there's not much else to say. How have things been for you?
Sincerely, Shamrock Blackbeak.

I was smiling at the end of the letter and quickly started writing up my own letter in response.

Dear Shamrock,
Things have been good here. Business is as busy as usual at the Carne Den. I also fought a mad scientist and destroyed his giant weather machine, then spent a week in Appleloosa as a barmaid. By the time you read this, you may have already read about it in the paper.
I always hope for boring times ahead, but I always seem to get dragged into stuff. Well, if nothing else, it keeps things from getting too dull. Ponyville's a very interesting place, to say the least. Especially with Pinkie Pie around. She apparently made grilled water, and I have no idea how.
That's about all the interesting stuff that's happened since you left.
Sincerely, Yang Xiao Long

I folded up the letter, put in an envelope, and amended my plans to include a stop at the post office. After saying bye to Gilda and a few other employees that had shown up, I loaded Bumblebee up, adjusted my dress so the skirt wouldn't blow everywhere, and took off.

"That will be five bits, please."

I paid the stallion for the postage and delivery, tossed in another bit because I could, and went on my way.

"I'm sorry Yang, but Twilight's got too much to do today," Spike said. "I know she would like to join you, but, well, nobles."

"Oh. Send her my condolences.”

There was a flash of lavender magic and Twilight was there. “Yang, I will make room in my schedule for you if you can make room for Fancy and Fleur,” she quickly said. “It’s a technicality that I can get away with to say that the meeting happened without having to actually talk with the rest of them, not that they've been contributing anything lately anyways. What’s the occasion?”

“Spa trip. I also have some things to share. Can you get them and Rainbow while I get Rarity?”

“Sure thing.” With another flash of magic, she was gone.

I looked down at the dragon. “You know what, you can come too, Spike.”

“Eh, I’ll pass on the offer.”

“Even though Rarity’s likely going to be there?”

Spike took a moment to collect himself and think the offer over. “As much as I’d like to see her, I think I’d just distract from whatever you have to share with her. I’ll probably visit her later to find out what it is. Besides, I feel like organizing a few things around here.”

I briefly shrugged. “Fair enough. I’ll see you later.”

“A spa trip? Ooh, I could bring Fluttershy along! It’s a bit early in the week for our regular trip, but I don’t see why that would be a problem. I’ll go talk to her after I close up.”

I couldn’t say no to Fluttershy joining if she wanted. “How about I give you a ride to her place instead? It would be faster.”

“Only to the bridge. I don’t want the sound of that bike spooking her animals. Or her.”

“Fair enough.”

I sat on Bumblebee, enjoying the weather and patiently waiting. “I hope they’re not chatting and having tea.” Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait for too long before I saw Fluttershy fly by overhead, giving me a wave on the way over, which I returned.

Rarity came up a minute later and got back on Bumblebee. “Apologies for the wait. I just had to try this new tea blend that Fluttershy came up with. It was okay.”

“It wasn’t much of a wait. I guess she’s flying to avoid the engine sounds?”

“Yes, she is. No offense meant, of course. She’s just sensitive.”

“I understand.” Cutting off all further discussion, I revved Bumblebee up and went to the spa.

Rarity and I arrived at the spa after Twilight, Rainbow, Fancy, and Fleur, who were waiting just outside the spa. Fluttershy arrived seconds later. After parking Bumblebee and getting the suitcase, I followed them all into the lobby.

Fancy was the first to talk to me. “It’s been a while, Yang. How have you been?”

“Not bad, Fancy,” I answered. “Business is great, I just got back from an unplanned vacation, and I’m ready to relax. You?”

“Honestly? I’m happy to be here.”

“He just wanted to get away from the other nobles,” Fleur added, both serious and playful. “I don’t blame him at all.”

“I hope you don’t mind that I brought a bit of our work here, Yang,” Twilight said, a hefty manilla folder in her telekinesis. “Part of the technicality I told you about.”

“Let’s get that out of the way first.” As I looked around the group for objections, I noticed Rainbow’s wings twitching and she was looking away from me. “Is something wrong with Rainbow?”

“I think she can’t help but see you in that dress Silk made for you,” Rarity answered with a hint of teasing towards the blue pegasus. “She did react to it rather. . . positively.”

“Oh don’t remind me about that now, Rarity!” Rainbow sharply said. “It’s not like I. . . Gah!”

“Party of seven?” Lotus asked from the desk, interrupting our discussion.

“Ah, yes,” I said as I went up to the desk. “And I have some clothes that need to be cleaned, too.”

“In your backpack?”

“Nope. In here.” I held up the suitcase for her to see. “Where should I put it?”

“Behind the desk will be fine.” At Lotus’ words, Rarity floated the suitcase over to the spa pony’s side of the desk. “And if you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to our largest pool.”

We followed her through the spa, and we were soon in a large room with a large pool. The mares were quick to slide into the water, while Fancy excused himself to go take off his clothes in the attached bathroom. While he was doing that, I took my backpack, shoes, and socks off, setting them aside. After taking a breath to work up a bit of courage, I took Burning Time off on the spot, revealing the swimsuit underneath.

A sound like something coming out of the water caught my attention. “Not again!” I looked over to the pool and saw Rainbow sitting there, face in her hooves and wings straight up. Twilight and Fleur were sitting on either side of her, and both of their heads soaked.

“Rainbow, you are going to have to calm down before we get started,” Twilight said in a level tone.

“I know, but, Yang!” Rainbow nearly exclaimed as she gestured to me with her forehooves. “Why is this happening?”

As Twilight did her best to console Rainbow, I slid into the pool next to Rarity. “So, am I missing something or is that what I think it is?” I quietly asked her.

“I’m not sure,” Rarity responded. “What do you think it is?”

“Hmm. . . Wait a minute. . ." The realization of what the upright wings meant slowly dawned on me. "Eww."

The sound of Fancy's hooves signaled his exit from the bathroom. "Dare I ask what I missed? Or is it a mare thing?"

"I think it's just a Rainbow thing," Fluttershy said. "Um, Twilight, is there anything you can do for her?"

"Well, there is a spell to fix the symptom," Twilight said as Fancy slid into the water next to Fleur. "But it has the side effect of basically making her drunk." A few eyebrows were raised at her explanation, including mine. "Look, the spell comes from the era of the three tribes and was used during wars by some unicorn spies who entertained high ranking pegasi before killing them. I have not had the time or conditions to modify and test it, and this is not the right place for it." Silence reigned and Rainbow's wings started going down as Twilight's brief history lesson sank in. "Anyways, let's get the legal stuff done. Rainbow, Fluttershy, Rarity, Yang, feel free to join in."

"Alright." I got ready to think critically.

Twilight pulled a thick bundle of paper out of her folder. "First, we have a proposal from Fancy to change the train line going from Horseshoe Bay to Canterlot, making it straighter, and incorporating tunnels and bridges as necessary. Estimated cost is 400 million bits over two years. The end goal is a sharp decrease in travel time from a week to no more than three days, and faster movement of various goods. Hmm. Any objections?"

"None from me." Everyone else shared my sentiments, the benefits being clear as day.

"Then, I'll approve it." Twilight set to signing every page, since it was more than five pages, most of them being simple schematics and calculations from what I could see. Once she was done, she pulled out the other papers. "Lastly, there's a proposal from Fleur for a ten bit coin, similar to the five bit piece that's recently been instated."

"It would make things even easier for everyone," Fleur said. "The five bit piece is already a hit with the ponies I've talked to about it."

"I understand your reasoning, and while I do agree with it, I think it's too soon to introduce another new coin. Maybe in a few years."

"Oh." Fleur deflated a bit as Twilight marked the proposal. "I guess I got a bit too excited about the idea, then."

"Everyone else?" The rest of us sided with Twilight on the proposal, and she marked the papers accordingly. "And with that, the legal stuff is done."

A moment after Twilight teleported the folder away, Aloe came in, and after setting a few things up with us, we had a very nice bubble bath going on, and I could just feel the tension flowing out. "So, there's a reason I invited half of you here today," I said.

"Yeah, why did you invite me?" Rainbow asked. "Spa trips are nice, but it's a bit random coming from you, you know?"

"Well, I have a few things to share from my recent trip. Twilight, could you float my backpack over here?"

"Sure," Twilight said as she did what I'd asked.

After heat drying my arms off, I started going through it. "The backpack is one of the things I got. It’s very nice and shrinks stuff that’s put in it.”

“How much smaller?"

"There was a paper with it that said it had a shrink factor of three. Its words, not mine. And it works, too." I pulled out the many magazines I'd picked up. "I think you and Rainbow will like these."

Twilight levitated the magazines over the water and set them on a seat behind her before taking a random one out to look at. She scrutinized the cover for a bit before her eyes widened. "Yang, these letters-"

"Yes, they are the same as the ones I knew before coming here. Big coincidence, I know."

"So what's this one?" Rainbow asked as she looked it over. "That thing on the cover looks really cool!"

"Aviation Monthly," Twilight read out loud before opening it, letting me see what looked like a stealth bomber flying with maximum thrust on the cover. "These machines are fascinating. . ."

"I know! They look like they can almost go as fast as me!" Rainbow and Twilight were soon lost in the depths of the magazine.

"And I have something for you, Rarity," I told the white mare.

"Is it a fashion magazine?" she excitedly asked.

"I think there's a few in that stack. But no, I have these." I started pulling out the containers with clothes in them. "Actual clothes from a mare that lived on that weather machine."

Twilight was next to Rarity so fast, it could have been mistaken for a teleport, if not for the waves in the bubbles. The magazine stayed in place for Rainbow. "Actual clothes from that time? And they're in good condition too? Just think of all we could learn!"

"And think of the designs I could come up with!" Rarity exclaimed as she floated a container over, opened it, and carefully pulled the dress within out. "Hmm, a pegasus. Fluttershy, do you think you could model these for me?"

"Do you promise not to make it a repeat of that time with Photo Finish?" Fluttershy sternly asked.

"Of course. That wasn't a good time for either of us. If she shows up while you're helping, I'll show her the door."

"Thank you, Rarity." Fluttershy started looking the dress over with Rarity while Twilight went back to Rainbow to look over the aviation magazine.

Fancy came over to me while Fleur joined Fluttershy and Rarity. "So, are you planning on getting your name on these things?"

I gave him a sideways glance. "Why?"

"Not to advocate greed or anything like that, but think of all the bits you could make off of this. Claim it, license it out, and you'd likely make enough to stand with our fellow nobles in a matter of weeks, months at most. Unfortunately, the way the rules are set up, we would need their consent to allow you in, even with the approval of every princess."

"I think I'd just settle with the bits. I don't want to join in on the political stuff more than I already have. They'll probably just pile up, and then I'd go and spend it on spa trips and clothes." I blinked a bit at that sentence. "I am really becoming a girl," I said under my breath.

Rarity slid over next to me. "Yang, if these designs work out spectacularly, you won't have to pay a single bit for anything from me again."

"It looks like there's more to it than mere sewing, Rarity," Twilight chimed in from behind an issue of Enchanted Weaving. "It seems they also incorporated a lot of illusion and light charms into the clothing as well. Whole bolts of material were enchanted with the effects ahead of time, and they figured out how to make it tap into the wearer's own magic without draining or tiring them. As soon as I can replicate those charms, I'll give you the diagrams."

"Why, thank you Twilight. I'll be sure to make something for you in return."

"You don't have to, Rarity."

"Hm, I suppose you're right. I'll do it anyways!"

As Rarity went back to looking over the dresses with an even closer eye than before, I turned back to Fancy. "Well, I like your idea now. I have no idea how it'll work, though."

"Just leave it to me, Yang," he assured. "I swear upon my title of nobility that I will make it as easy for you as possible."

I shot the stallion a smile. "If it were anyone other than you and Fleur, I'd say that wouldn't mean anything."

"I can't fault you for that. That being said, I think some of them might be seeing how petty their efforts against you are, and may be thinking about dropping their quest for vengeance. For their sake, I hope they do."

We all continued talking in our own groups for a while before the spa sisters came in with a cart loaded with various cleaning products. "Who will we start with?" Lotus asked.

As tended to happen, I dozed off while my hair got washed. Even without horns, those two earth ponies really knew how to work some serious magic. And, as tended to happen, I went from treatment to treatment in a bit of a daze, going back to napping when the mares went back to treating me.

Some time later, I felt a light pull on my hair, waking me up. "Hmm?"

"I believe we're done here, dear," Rarity said, out of the water, dry, and coat glossy. "Everypony else has left already."

"Oh." I stood up and stretched as I got out of the water. "Did Twilight take the magazines already?"

"She did, except for the fashion ones. Fancy and Fleur started writing something as they were leaving, Rainbow and Fluttershy left after they did. I put the clothes we looked at back in your backpack, along with the magazines Twilight didn't take. Towel?"

"Not this time." I started heat drying myself and my swimsuit as I wrung out my hair, and in a couple of minutes, I was dry from head to toe. I picked up Burning Time and noticed how soft it was. "Did they wash this too?"

"I asked them to. Don't worry, I paid for your laundry."

"Well, I guess I won't complain." After putting the dress back on, I noticed the look Rarity was giving me. "What?"

"You just, well, you took the dress off in front of us earlier and put it on with me right here. I thought that was something you didn't want to do?"

"I have a swimsuit on, so I think it's okay. I mean. . . After a week of that barmaid dress, I guess I got over some things? I don't know."

Rarity seemed like she was getting distracted by an idea. "A swimsuit under a dress. . . Sweet Celestia, you've just given me a new idea!"

"Dare I ask?"

As I started putting on my socks and shoes, Rarity explained. "It's quite simple, really. A dress with well placed cuts showing the swimsuit underneath. And it would also be easy to put on and take off as well. Just think of the combinations!"

I nodded in thought. It sounded like a good idea. "And if it's a bikini instead?"

"If you're wearing one of those, you're showing off your body anyways, so it would go along with it as well. In theory. I wonder if I can talk Fluttershy into being a personal model for me? Maybe I could start up my own fashion magazine with her as the model? No, that would just cause a repeat of Photo Finish."

"What happened with Photo Finish?"

We started walking to the front as Rarity explained. "Photo Finish visited once while Fluttershy was over. Instead of noticing my dresses, she noticed Fluttershy and made her a model. I got jealous, Fluttershy got overwhelmed, and it turned into a mess. We talked it out in the end, and we're not doing anything like that again. Not without talking it out."

"So many things could be sorted out that way."

"Unfortunately, it isn't that way. Still, talk out what you can, and the world will be that much better.”

“Yeah, that sounds good.” Soon, we were at the desk, Lotus there again. “How much do I owe?” Instead of answering, she simply slid me a piece of paper. After wincing at the number at the end, I pulled out the bag of bits and set it on the desk. “Does that sound like enough?”

“Allow me to help.” Rarity opened up the bag with her magic and the golden bits started flowing out, soon being organized in layers of ten. We watched as the money piled up, and I stopped counting after twelve or so layers.

When the bits stopped flowing, the stack was nearly a foot tall, and there were a few leftover bits on the side. “I didn’t realize how much I had.”

Lotus went to work counting the thin layers, stopping just past a third of the way down. “This will do.”

I stacked the loose bits on top. “Rarity, could you give her the whole top half?”

“Of course.” Rarity floated the top half of the bits over to Lotus and the bottom half into the bag.

“Thank you!” Lotus happily said before taking the payment and bring out the suitcase. “I hope the rest of your day goes well.”

“Thanks.” I accepted the suitcase and left with Rarity. “You want a ride home? I believe this is your suitcase, too.”

“I’ll take up you up on that offer,” Rarity said. “I actually kind of like it, even though it’s really loud.”

I went into Rarity’s inspiration room and went to work on the simple task of taking the items for her out of my backpack and putting my clothes into the backpack. The way everything changed size going in and out of the backpack was still fascinating, and I played with it a few times before calling it done.

Rarity stopped me on the way out with a question. “Yang, if I may have a moment?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“I'd like an opinion on this design.” She floated a dress over to me. “It’s just a quick mockup.”

I held up the black article, which was clearly too small for me. The skirt was short with a loose flare, the sides of the waist were absent, the chest was open, and the collar looked like it was made to zip up, though there was no zipper. “This is one of those swimsuit dresses?”

“Yes. I left the chest open so that more of the swimsuit is visible. Not a design choice I’d have considered for you before, but considering recent developments. . .”

“Maybe later. I do like the openings on the waist, though." I turned the draft around and thought for a bit on it before coming to a decision. "How about I come back on Sunday and see what you come up with?"

Rarity brightened at the suggestion. "With an offer like that, how could I refuse? I'll get started on something immediately!"

As the mare was rushing to the inspiration room, I caught her tail and stopped her. "Promise me you won't forget to sleep this time?"

"Yes, I promise to sleep as normal. Will you let me go now?"

"Sure." I let go of the purple tail and made my way back outside. As I adjusted the dress before driving back home, a thought crossed my mind. "If anyone can make a dress suitable for a motorcycle, it would be Rarity."

Fire and water

View Online

I was out at the grill, and I was happy to be back. Beautiful weather, happy guests, two stallions on stage doing a baseball skit, and a solid flow of bits. Truly, it was a great moment.

Right up until Spike took a moment of my attention. "Yang, I've got some news that you might want to know."

"Go on." I kept my eyes on the grill. Burgers seemed pretty popular for whatever reason this time.

"Have you heard about those mysterious arsons that have been happening?"

"Oh, yeah, I have. Did they catch whoever's been doing it?"

"There was one in Appleloosa last night. Apparently, it was a house that Lady Gold Leaf bought for a million bits, and was about to turn into an orphanage when it was set on fire. There's even a picture in the paper."

I accidentally put a bit too much pressure on a patty and it went through the grill. As I started cooking up a replacement, I turned back to the conversation. "Spike, I believe that coincidences happen. They really do. That doesn't sound like a coincidence to me. I know the stallion she bought the house from while I was there, and the generous offers she made. She was in a hurry to get it done."

"You're sure it's not a coincidence?"

"Call it a gut feeling. But enough of that, back to work."

Twilight came up to the grill. "Can I have a medium well double cheeseburger with bacon and all the toppings?"

"Hungry? Ten bits, please."

Two silver and two gold bits went into the jar. "I just got back from Appleloosa to look at the arson case there. Normally, I would have just left it to the local authorities, but since we were there recently, I figured I should take a look."

"What did you learn?" Two patties went onto the grill, sizzling in short order.

"The thaumic forensics I ran found traces of a timed fire bomb spell, very likely the reason for the fire. Three guesses as to why I'm telling you this, Yang."

"I'm skilled with fire magic and I was in Appleloosa when it was set."

"Yes."

"Am I under arrest?"

"No. The evidence is not strong enough to warrant that. But if I could get a read on your fire magic's signature, I would appreciate it."

I casually held up a hand and conjured a flame. "Is this good enough?" Twilight's horn lit up before her eyes gave off a matching glow. A few seconds later, both glows vanished and a puzzled look came over her face. "Is something wrong?"

"Your magic signature is very close to what I found at the scene. Where were you on Sunday?"

I flipped the patties over and started gathering the remaining ingredients for Twilight's order. "The Rusty Horseshoe, all day. Same for Saturday and Monday. I left on Monday night."

Twilight simply nodded in thought before taking a seat at a table. A minute later, I brought her order over, steepled forehooves partially covering her thoughtful expression as she started on her burger with her magic.

I sat down in the office to take care of the nightly paperwork after closing, but decided to look at the newspaper first. Right on the front page was a big picture with Lady Gold Leaf in the foreground, wearing what looked like nightwear and crying as the building was burning in the background.

FUTURE APPLELOOSA ORPHANAGE DREAM GOES UP IN FLAMES
Early Thursday night, shortly after construction began on a new orphanage in Appleloosa, tragedy struck when the work site went up in flames. The cause of the fire is under investigation, but is currently suspected to be part of the mysterious string of arsons that have been happening over the past months.
The Canterlot noble Lady Gold Leaf bought the house from an Appleloosan stallion, Bar Tender, for one million bits, and even covered the cost of his moving expenses herself, along with personally helping move his possessions.
Bar Tender was found at his saloon, The Rusty Horseshoe, and when informed of the tragic fire, had this to say: "Well, that's sad. At least nopony got hurt. I guess it's fortunate that I moved out when I did."
Lady Gold Leaf was too distraught for comment.
The workers at the site, when asked how they thought how the fire started, shared a general consensus of confusion. A unicorn welder onsite, Heated Torch, said, "Fires don't just spontaneously start. There needs to be something that starts it, or some kind of setup in place to heat something to the point of combustion."
More details will be reported as they become available.

"Well, that sucks. They're probably going to come after me again at some point." After folding the paper and setting it aside, I went back to the paperwork.

Once the paperwork was done, I picked up the paper again, the photo catching my attention. "Hmm. . . Something's a bit off about this, but what?"

Sunday

"Rarity, I'm here!" I announced as I entered Carousel Boutique.

"One moment, Yang!" Rarity's voice sounded like it came from the inspiration room. "I just need to put a few more details on this sketch and I'll be right with you."

"Take your time." While I was waiting, I looked around the shop. Numerous ponniquins were adorned with a variety of dresses, ranging from simple black and white ones to some that were clearly made for show. One of them had a dress on that looked more like a display piece than something that could be worn.

"If you like any of those dresses, I'd be happy to make one tailored to your form."

I pulled my attention away from a light floral pattern dress at Rarity's voice. "Oh, uh, thanks for the offer. That's not why I'm here, though."

"Of course. The swimsuit overdresses. Come with me."

I followed Rarity towards the back of the shop. "Overdress?"

"I was designing one of the dresses when I realized I could make a dress that's also a swimsuit, so I changed the term to prevent confusion."

"Ah. I see."

"So, did you bring your swimsuit?" she eagerly asked.

"I'm wea-"

"It doesn't matter. I made a new one for you anyways, one that's brighter and better!" Rarity's horn briefly lit up and something flew into my face a moment later. "I'm sure it fits fine, but please, do go change into it, just to make sure."

I caught the item and saw that it was a bright yellow swimsuit with red hems on the right side of the small neckline, the left armhole, and the right leghole. The red was mirrored with purple, making for an interesting design. Flipping it around, I saw that it did not have the open upper back like the one I was wearing under my clothes. Instead, there was a small zipper that went from the neckline down to the small of the back. On the inside was a flap of material, apparently made to keep the zipper off my skin, which seemed like a good idea. And for a furry species, it made sense as well.

"Well don't just look at it, go put it on!"

"Right, right." I went upstairs and to the bathroom to change. "Red and purple trim. Why red and purple? The purple matches my eyes. . . And so can the red. Rarity, you brilliant mare." The change went smoothly, though I found myself having to do some fancy stretches to close the zipper. The bit of material under it actually felt kind of nice, certainly better than the zipper would have.

I looked at myself in the mirror and noticed that the red and purple trim seemed to be glowing. Instead of trying to figure it out, I simply went back downstairs. "Rarity, is it just me, or are the red and purple bits glowing?"

"They are glowing. Twilight figured out the enchantments that made the fabric glow, and I figured I should start small before going onto more ambitious projects. More importantly though, how does it fit?"

"Perfectly. No complaints. So, what's first?"

"This one." Rarity tossed a small black dress with many openings in it to me. "If you could put it on in front of me, I would appreciate it."

"Only in this situation." I quickly slid the simple dress on and looked in the mirror, the yellow swimsuit quickly highlighting the design cut out of it. "Rarity, what was the inspiration for this one?"

"Sharks. Mostly the arrangement of their gills."

"That explains the jagged neckline and the cuts on the chest. And they're on the sides too."

"I know it's a bit random, but I happened to catch a glimpse of a picture of one on one of Twilight's books, and the idea just stuck. What do you think of it?"

"Well. . . It looks good. The cuts do a good job with my curves. Not sure how to feel with the cuts over my thighs, though."

"Based on some of the pictures Twilight's given me, that's probably on the tamer side of things. Besides, it's made for a day at the beach, so you'd be showing off anyways, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so." I took some time to admire the dress for a bit before voicing an observation. "I don't know how you did it, but the fit on this is both loose and a bit clingy. How did you do that?"

"Skill, dear. Would you like to try another one?"

I shrugged. "Sure. I've got plenty of time."

I tried on a total of ten swimsuit overdresses, each one with a different pattern cut out of it. All of them had a similar fit, and were designed so that they could also be worn as a normal dress on their own.

At the end, Rarity let me have the new swimsuit and all of the dresses for free. She insisted on it, especially since I'd given her the dresses I'd found on the weather machine, along with some of the magazines, and helped her test out the glowing enchantment.

During the walk home, I envisioned myself at the beach with one of the dresses on over the new swimsuit until a shiver went down my spine at the memory of the ocean trip. "Well, there's always pools and lake beaches too."

Contracts

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After going through the mail and taking care of the business related letters and bills, I went to two pieces I'd set aside from the rest. I opened the first one, from Fancy and Fleur, and read it over.

Dear Yang Xiao Long
It is our delight to inform you that we have, after sorting out a few issues, written up an official set of documents that will license all the technology, magic, and anything directly derived from the weather machine to your name. This also includes the spellwork that makes fabric glow when worn, which we have heard Miss Rarity has already begun experimenting with. We've already sent her a letter informing her of the licensing, but we suspect that she won't have any issues with it, especially since the bits would be going to you.
The documents are safe and secure on our estate. All you need to do is visit us and sign them. We will also let you look them over to make sure everything is to your liking and consult your ideas, should you have any.
Sincerely, Fancy Pants and Fleur De Lis

"Easy money,” I mused. “All those bits without lifting a finger. And I have no idea what to do with it all." After contemplating the idea, remembering that I was already in a situation where I had way more bits than I knew what to do with, and setting the letter aside, I opened the other one, from Twilight.

Dear Yang,
I've decided that you can come see the source of the pictures I've been giving Rarity. Just choose a day, give me a heads up, and I can take you there. I have a friend there that can help us, and has helped me numerous times over the years after I helped her from a dark place.
I advise that you leave the Ember Celica behind. I know you like to keep them on you at all times, but, based on multiple factors, including the magic in the portal, the outright magic immunity they have, and some prior experiences, it's fair to say that I do not give you this warning lightly. Leave them at home, in my castle, wherever you want, but don't bring them through.
Of course, it's ultimately your choice whether or not we go.
Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle
P.S. If we do go through the portal, it will only be the two of us. Nobody else.

"That doesn't sound too bad." I quickly went to work writing out a return letter for each of them, already planning out which order to take care of them in and on which days.

I adjusted my backpack and knocked on the mansion's ornate front doors a few days and letters later, the sound briefly echoing on the marble porch. A minute later, the door opened, revealing a pegasus maid. "Hello, Miss Xiao Long," she politely greeted. "Sir Fancy and Lady Fleur are expecting you. If you follow me, I'll take you to their study."

"Thank you." I went in, and after the door was closed behind me, I followed the maid. "Do you mind if I ask you a. . . Somewhat personal question?"

"You may ask."

"What's it like working for Fancy and Fleur?"

"Honestly, it's not that bad. They are some of the best ponies to work for, and I've been a maid for some of the other nobles they work with."

"Let me guess: good pay, terrible treatment?"

"Yes. Sir Fancy and Lady Fleur don't pay as much, but I and a few others that work for them live here too, and that more than makes up for the difference. They treat us like family."

"More points for those two," I thought with a smile.

She opened a door and held it for me. "Ah, here we are. Would you like any refreshments?"

"No thanks."

"Very well. Go ahead and make yourself comfortable while I go let Sir Fancy and Lady Fleur know that you're waiting."

"That won't be necessary, Feather Duster," Fancy said as he and Fleur came up behind her.

The maid looked between us for a moment. "Mission accomplished, I suppose." She turned to the nobles. "Would you like any refreshments?"

"The usual tea blend, please," Fleur said as she and Fancy went into the study, myself right behind them.

"Of course." Feather Duster gave a short bow before leaving, the door closing behind her.

"Well, she seems happy to work here," I noted as I sat down at the desk, Fleur across from me while Fancy went over to a bookshelf.

"We do our best to make sure our house staff is happy. Besides, if it was just Fancy and me here in this big house, well, it would get quite lonely. Their presence helps make the place feel more like a home, even if they are on the payroll."

"It also helps us keep in touch with the. . . lower class citizens," Fancy said with a hint of disgust. "Considering how our associates behave, especially over the past year or so, I've come to dislike that term more and more." The door opened, but Fancy continued. "I'm sure that Feather Duster could come up with better environmental policies than they could."

A tea set was set on the desk. "Thank you for the praise, Sir Fancy," the maid said. "I'll be sure to write it so that it's easy to understand, stays on budget, and has all manner of studies from a wide variety of sources to back it up!" After taking a moment to clear her throat, she came back down from her brief moment of egotism. "Is there anything else you need?"

Looks were shared between Fancy, Fleur, and myself for a moment before a consensus was reached. "No, I do believe we're fine. Thank you."

"Then I'll take my leave." Without another word, Feather Duster left us.

Fancy turned to me. "So, down to business, then?"

"Yes, please," I answered. "Can you give me the short version of the contract licensing thingy?"

"Very technical language there," he snarkily observed as he set some stacks paper in front of me. "Be careful how you use it."

"Of course." I picked up one of the piles and started reading the front page. Quickly, all the words started blurring together. “Legalese. I hate that language.”

"That stack simply defines what is derived from the machine and its contents, covering both the mechanical and magical aspects, along with any new materials derived from it.” A smaller stack was floated up, and I traded them. “This one defines the license, how long it lasts, and how much you get.”

I glazed over the pages and started to get an idea on what was going on. “Alright, ten year license on the technology and spells. Did not know that was a thing here. 2% of all sales of derived spells and technology will go to me. Well, considering how much the stuff will probably be sold, that sounds plenty good."

A third stack of papers and a quill were floated up, and I switched to them as Fancy explained. "These are the ones you need to sign, simply acknowledging that you read and know what's in the legal documents you just read."

"Well, I did read them," I answered as I looked for the spot to sign. "Can't say I really know what's in them, though. Just that I'm getting bits out of this."

"And that's perfectly fine," Fleur assured me as I found and signed on the lines that were meant for me. "You'll find that there are multiple copies of the same forms in there. Those will be put with the extra copies of the other papers as well."

After a few minutes, I had everything signed, Fleur had downed a cup of tea, and Fancy used his magic to bind my copy of the papers into a hardback book form. "So, are we done here?" I asked once everything was done.

"We are. Shall we play a game?" Fleur levitated a Gamer Driver up, along with a copy of War Time Commander. Fancy did the same thing as well.

After putting the paper into my backpack, I pulled out my Driver and copy of War Time Commander. "Let's game." It had been a while since I'd played any games on it, and friends made things more fun.

"I have missed a lot," I noted as I read the update logs in a virtual office with the good nobles. The content had expanded and escalated quite a bit, now including golems of all shapes and sizes, battleships with tons of cannons, aircraft big enough to be their own battlefield above the actual field, and a workshop to build my own equipment. "Fancy, Fleur, what do you think we should do first?"

"Would you like to see our workshop?" Fleur invited. "We have made some impressive items, if I do say so myself. We also have plenty of materials available if you want to try making something."

"Alright." As we left the office and went down a series of halls, a question came to mind. "So, how does the building system work? Do you need all the small pieces and parts or. . ?"

"If you want to get that detailed, you can, but it's nowhere near that involved. Do you have an idea for something?"

"Maybe."

We went into the armory and I was impressed by the number of swords and bows that were on display, each one a functional work of art. "These are all of the weapons we've made since building was introduced," Fancy happily explained. "As you can see, we prefer swords and bows."

I walked up close and started looking them over. "Mind if I try them?"

"Go ahead. We have a practice range nearby." After looking over the selection a bit, I picked out a thin, straight sword and a decently sized bow. "Going for both, I see."

"I have an idea. Is the ammo unlimited?"

"Only on the practice range." With my chosen weapons, I went over to the range, which had some straw dummies moving about in it, all armed with sticks. "So, what's your idea?"

Instead of answering, I nocked the base of the sword on the bow, pulled back, waited for some dummies to line up, and let go. The sword flew through two of them before stopping in a third. I looked for a new sword around me, but there wasn't one available. "Swords aren't ammo. Good to know."

"Well, that's a different use for a sword," Fancy noted as he brought the sword back. "Fleur, how about we try that out in a battle? Normal setup?"

"I think we can make that work. Let's go prepare. Want to join us, Yang?"

I shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

I was given the task of crafting swords for use while the good nobles went and prepared a few other things. It was remarkably easy, and I was making swords by the dozen soon enough.

Fleur came back after I'd finished sword number 120-something. She had changed her body to one like mine, though her hair was colored like her mane, she was wearing a regal and efficiently designed armored dress, and was equipped with a bow. "So, do you like this look?" she asked with a twirl.

"Pink's not really my color, but it does look good," I said. "If you don't mind me asking, what made you choose to be human over some other species?"

"A bit of a whim, really. It took some time to get used to it, but it turns out that your form is remarkably adept for combat, possibly more so than even the minotaurs. The chest is a bit of a hassle, though. How do you live with it?"

I was briefly confused at her question before remembering that mares were all essentially flat as a board in the same area. "It took some time to get used to it. After that, well, it's still a hassle, but one I've learned how to work around."

"Hm, that makes sense. I especially like these hands." Fleur admired her nails as she continued. "They're not as versatile as magic or as strong as hooves, but for what they can do, nothing comes close."

"Precision and power, all in one," I idly said as I looked around. "So, where's Fancy?"

"He always takes a minute or two to adjust to his combat body. It's mostly a matter of scale for him. That, and getting the chariot equipped."

"Chariot? What, does he just run around while you shoot at your enemies?"

"Yes, that is our normal method."

"It works most of the time," Fancy said as he showed up, now a taller unicorn with heavy armor and a tough looking chariot behind him. "Of course, if either of us goes down, so does the strategy. It usually happens when someone else gets onto the chariot. How are we on those swords?”

“We have a lot,” I reported. “Do we need more?”

“If we can have 200 swords, that would be ideal.”

“Yes, sir!” I quickly went back to work on the sword crafting while Fleur started practicing with a few of the sword arrows and Fancy loaded the rest into the chariot.

Soon enough, we had just over 200 swords. Once they were all set up in the chariot, Fleur and I got in and we were soon on our way to battle. Apparently, it was just a big island with a number of safe spawn points and a never ending battle royale.

Fancy was a speed demon on the virtual battlefield. But more than just being fast, he was able to handle rough terrain and tight turns with the greatest of ease while keeping the ride smooth.

Fleur was quite adept with the bow, able to pick off enemies a distance away with no problem. She stuck to normal arrows most of the time, but did put the swords to great effect as well.

As they did their things, I watched the back, using the swords to fend off anyone who tried to attack from that direction.

It didn't take long for things to start getting hairy, though. With our efficiency, an unspoken alliance against us seemed to form, and we were soon coming under heavy pursuit and arrow barrage. Fancy managed to get us out of the situation by going into a canyon, then into a tunnel that lead into a small cavern. After hearing everyone rush past, we finally let out a collective sigh and relaxed.

"So, it looks like the whole island is after us now," I noted. "Plans?"

"We go until someone gets us," Fancy said. "That's how we've always done it."

"We still have a lot of swords, so we can work with that," Fleur added. "Melee's not our strong suit, though."

I picked up and twirled a couple of the swords. "I'm more of a brawler than swordsman, but. . . Do we have any crafting materials with us?"

"Just swords. They can be worked with. I take it you have an idea?"

"Yeah, I think I do. Fancy, Fleur, do you think you can help me with this?"

"They're in here!" Someone announced from the tunnel entrance. The sounds of a large number of feet were soon echoing towards us.

I took a breath and double checked the horizontal swords I'd made, along with the armor made of swords. "Showtime." I ran out with a mighty battlecry to meet the advancing herd, and with the element of surprise, I was able to get a few solid hits in on some of the leading enemies. While they were staggered, I went in to finish them off, their defeated forms fading away.

I gave no pause in the clash, quickly going on a mix of offense and defense. For nearly every attack I was able to block, I was able to immediately counter. Pony, griffon, and human (it was kind of creepy facing so many versions of myself) all fell in a flurry of blades.

It didn't take long for them to change tactics, going to heavier armor and weapons, and increasing their archer count. Thanks to the flurry of arrows added into the mix, I was soon on the evasive, and hid behind a large rock. "What I wouldn't give for some shotguns and better armor right now."

Three swords flew past me, and I looked in the direction they'd come from. Fleur nodded at me, and after I nodded back, I went back into the fray, three minotaurs fading away, leaving the swords to fall to the ground. As they were picked up in Fancy's magic, I holstered my custom blades, jumped and caught two of them, kicking off of the third one to go over and further into the herd.

Unfortunately, they reacted exactly how I didn't want by putting the pointed ends of their weapons up as I fell, and the archers released a volley of arrows at me. The last thing I did after my health went down to zero was hit the ground face first. After that, I was in a tunnel of light and a moment later, was back in one of the spawn buildings, custom armor, custom blades, and the two swords still with me. "Well, lesson learned: don't do that again."

A minute or so later, Fancy and Fleur showed up, armor, weapons, and chariot intact. "Well, that was rather unpleasant," Fancy noted. "Caves don't work well for us."

"At least we had fun, right?" Fleur asked. After Fancy and I voiced our agreement, she asked another question. "Should we head back to the office? I think we've had enough fun gaming for now."

"That sounds good," I answered before closing the Gamer Driver and taking War Time Commander out. "So, what now?" I asked as I put the entertainment gear in my backpack.

"Whatever you want, Yang. Stay, have something to eat and drink, or go do whatever you want to do. We've got paperwork to register, so we'll be heading to the castle."

"Alright. I think I'll head back home, then." Soon, the three of us were on our way out. "We should play some more games together again. It was lots of fun."

"That does sound good," Fancy agreed. "Unfortunately, we can't really schedule such things, especially with the times you work at and our own schedules."

"Yeah." When we reached the road that led down the mountain, I came up with a stupid idea. "Hey, do you think you could throw me downhill a bit? I want to jump my way down to the train station."

"I believe they call that 'parkour' in Prance," Fleur said before she and Fancy looked at each other. "What brought this on?"

"Last time I was here, I asked Celestia to basically throw me to the train station. I. . . Kind of flopped on the landing, and I want to see how I can handle this. And I think I still have a bit of an adrenaline rush going on."

"Hmm. . ." Fancy thought for a bit before answering. "I suppose we can do that for you."

I'd barely managed to say "thank you" before I was flung forward by their magic. I quickly reoriented myself and was soon leaping from roof to roof. The wind through my hair felt great, and things just seemed so simple while I was going to the train station.

After some minutes of downhill leaping, I finally hit the ground, running into the station. As I arrived at the Ponyville platform, something caught my eye for a scant moment. Even more quickly, after looking forward again, I ran into a pillar, finally coming to a stop. As I stumbled backwards and onto a bench, one thought was going through my mind: "I love you, aura."

Mirror trip 1

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Saturday afternoon came, and I was visiting Twilight. "So, what's the deal on the trip?" I asked her as we went downstairs in her castle, a book of some kind in her magic. "Why did you tell me to leave the Ember Celica behind?" Their absence felt odd, a testament to how often I wore them.

Twilight didn't answer until she led me through a doorway, leading to a round room, the only things of interest being a very large and very soft looking rug that took up most of the floor, and a mirror on the far side of the room. "The portal we will be using is stable, but, well, how do I put this?"

"Just spill it, Twilight."

She gave a sigh before answering. "When I go through it, I become a human, kind of like you. I made a friend on the other side, who used to be a unicorn before she started living there full time." She opened the book, wrote something short in it, and kept looking at it. After a few moments, she looked satisfied and set it in a cradle above the mirror, which started rippling like water in slow motion. "I know it's not the best answer, considering the implications, but I'm quite confident you'll be fine. Just follow my lead."

Twilight walked into the mirror, and then there was no trace of her. "So she becomes human on the other side. Transformation, then." I was suddenly having second thoughts about going through. Along with the second thoughts came memories of the pictures I'd seen Rarity use for inspiration, and curiosity was strong enough to push me into going through.

As soon as I stepped into the mirror, I started feeling weird. It wasn't like the times I'd been summoned, but more like being stretched and compressed at the same time. That was enough to make me black out for the rest of the portal.

Twilight landed gracefully once she was out of the mirror. "That's never pleasant," She said to herself before finding Sunset Shimmer standing nearby. "Hi, Sunset. How have things been over here?"

"Not bad at all," Sunset said. "I'm more interested in meeting Yang, though." Her tone became a bit more serious. "You have been careful to not bring. . . Certain types of pictures across, right? I don't want her freaking out about them."

"Don't worry. I've been very careful to keep it a secret from her. It's actually pretty easy, since she's at work most of the time." The conversation came to a stop when the mirror portal started glowing, drawing the two women's attention. A moment later, a tan pony with a long, blonde mane and matching tail was spat out, landing as gracefully as a brick. On her flanks were a golden burning heart emblem. "Uhh. . . Sunset?"

Sunset was already in motion, setting the pony's head on her lap and urgency in her voice. "Twilight, get ready to contain a possible freakout. Can you cast a silencing bubble around us?"

"Right." Twilight's hands lit up with a faint purple glow, and soon, there was an invisible bubble around them. Nobody would hear them.

The mare's lilac eyes began to open. . .

Everything felt. . . off, but at the same time, not quite wrong. Nothing was broken, I could still feel my aura, and someone was brushing my hair.

I slowly opened my eyes and saw a purple woman with Twilight's hairstyle in front of me. She was. . . Holding a yellow hoof? "Why am I feeling that?"

"Yang, I need you to stay calm, okay?" It was definitely Twilight.

"Bwah?" I would have actually said something, but my mouth felt longer than normal, which was very, very weird.

"The mirror turned you into an earth pony. I know it's weird, but please, don't freak out."

"Actually, you can freak out a little," another female voice said from above me, causing my ear to turn upwards, which caused me to start breathing a bit harder. "In fact, you probably should. Just, carefully. Don't hurt us, Yang."

"Bwah?" I repeated.

"Let's get her on her hooves." The brushing stopped, and two pairs of hands were soon moving me up. I blinked a few times as I got used to standing on four hooves. It was then that I started really noticing things, like the hooves, the shape of my everything, the mane, the tail, the fur, the way my tail wrapped around me when I realized I had no clothes on. The overload of information caused me to faint again.

The two former unicorns looked at the pony on the ground, not quite sure what to make of the situation.

Finally, Twilight spoke. "I'll take her back through the portal. It should turn her back to normal."

"I'll help." Sunset did as she said, and soon, Yang was in the portal back to Equestria. "Let me know whether she decides to come back or not."

"Of course." A moment later, Twilight went through the mirror again.

I came to again, feeling much more normal, much more clothed, and very confused about what I'd just experienced. Hooves, fur, the whole pony shape, the weird feeling of going through the portal, I remembered it all clearly. After pulling myself together a bit, I sat up against the wall, just breathing as I tried to work things out.

I hadn't been sitting against the wall for long when Twilight came through the mirror, an alicorn. "Yang?" She didn't look very long before she found and approached me. "Yang, I am so, so sorry about that. I. . . I knew the trip through the portal would be weird, but I wasn't expecting it to change you into a pony like that. I guess it's a good thing you didn't have your Ember Celica on, or we might have had a repeat of the trip to Seaquestria."

"Yeah, I guess," I managed to say.

Twilight started impersonating Fluttershy. "So, um, are you mad or upset at me for this? I'd totally understand, and if you want to punch me across the room-"

Her rambling snapped me out of my mood and put some wind in my sails. "Twilight, stop right there! I am not going to punch you just to feel better. It wouldn't work anyways. I. . . I just wish you'd mentioned the possibility of that in your letter."

"But I did tell you about my experiences before I went in, right?"

I had a finger raised and was about to tell her that she needed to be more explicit in the warnings before I realized that I had heard her explanation and should have been able to piece it together myself. After lowering my hand and sighing in defeat, I responded. "Just. . . Give me a few minutes and I'll go back through."

"You're sure? I mean, if you don't want to, that's-"

"Twilight, I really want to know where you're getting those pictures." I took a moment to adjust my position against the wall. "Is the transformation consistent?"

"Yes. Spike turns into a dog when he goes through, and no, I don't understand it either."

"Alright." Since I knew what to expect, that helped a lot. "Can you teach me how to walk on four hooves?"

Mirror trip 2

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"Okay, I think I'm ready to go now." I stood in front of the swirling mirror again.

"You're certain, Yang?" Twilight was still concerned about me.

"Hey, you just gave me advice on walking with four hooves. And I'm still really curious about your source." Before anything else could be said, I went into the mirror. Once again, the weird sensations caused me to black out.

I woke up again with my pony head on someone's lap. With a few groans, and some assistance, I was soon on my hooves, which was still a weird sensation, but I wasn't falling over, which was a good thing. "Okay, how did it go again?" I muttered under my breath. "Front then rear, or rear then front to start?"

"Rear, then front of the same side, repeat on the other side," a literally yellow skinned woman with red and yellow hair said. I looked up at her and felt short. "Let's go to the grass so you can practice there, Yang."

I followed her tips as we slowly made our way to a very nearby patch of grass, her hand on my withers the whole time. The soft ground felt better than the sidewalk did. "So, who are you?"

"Sunset Shimmer. Twilight's told me a lot about you, Yang." I misstepped and nearly fell, if not for Sunset catching me. "She's talking with Celestia and Luna right now."

"They came here too?"

"No no no, these are a different Celestia and Luna. Similar, but different. They're the principal and vice principal of this school."

I took a moment to process that. "Okay. I guess that makes sense. What's Twilight talking about with them?"

"She's just explaining your situation. We filled them in on the portal after, well, I kind of stole the element of magic and became a demon."

I blinked a few times at her statement. "Alright, so crazy stuff over here. Should I expect anything like that?"

"No, it should be pretty boring. Aside from you learning about Twilight's source of pictures."

I put two and two together and hoped it was the right equation. "It's you, isn't it?"

"Got it in one." Sunset scratched me between the ears and I relaxed a bit. "Soft spot, eh?"

"Hush, you." I couldn't put any kind of actual force behind the words, it felt so good.

Twilight found us a moment later. "They've been informed. All we need to do is put a ribbon on Yang's tail."

I looked back at Twilight and almost lost my balance again with just how flexible my neck was. "What?"

"Legal reasons, Yang. The worst. Sunset, do you think a pink or green ribbon would be better for Yang?" Twilight held up two lengths of ribbon in her hands, the green one standing out more against her purple skin.

"Does it make any difference?"

"The different colors mean different things," Sunset explained as she got the pink ribbon. "Green indicates that the horse, or pony, is young and inexperienced."

"I'm inexperienced at being a pony."

"Only five people in the world know that." I felt my back legs fidget as Sunset started tying the ribbon on my tail, which felt very odd. "Three of them are right here." A moment later, she was done. "Do you think you can walk on your own?"

"One way to find out." After Sunset stepped to the side, I started walking on my own. It didn't take long for me to get the rhythm down, and, thankfully, I didn't fall. After getting used to turning, I went back to Sunset and Twilight. "I think I'm good."

"Then let's get down to business," Sunset stated.

We went into the school, taking ramps instead of stairs to a set of offices. My hooves echoed through the empty building as we walked at my pace. "Is it a weekend? Nobody's here." It was Sunday back home, but that didn't necessarily mean the dates aligned on both sides.

"Yep. I figured it would be a lot easier without students and other faculty members here."

"Oh." When we got to the carpeted offices, another question came to mind. "So why are you here?"

"I'm the head counselor. I apparently had a knack for doing that after the various incidents here, so all I had to learn was the paperwork." Sunset's gaze became slightly distant as we entered what was clearly her office. "So much paperwork."

"Paperwork can be relaxing, Sunset," Twilight offered.

"No, it isn't. Anyways-" Sunset led us behind her desk and started up her computer. "-do I need to explain what a computer is, Yang?"

"Did you have a speech planned to explain the internet?" I was starting to see where it was headed, and understood quite a bit in that moment.

"Thank goodness you know," she said with a sigh of relief before pulling up a web browser. "I didn't have one planned."

"I'm still wrapping my mind around the sheer scale of the internet," Twilight admitted. "And how it's done without magic."

"It is a lot. So, do you want to look anything up, Yang?" Sunset held out a stylus for me. "It's a touchscreen, just so you know."

I looked down at my hooves. "Stupid hooves," I muttered before gently biting the stylus, looking at the blank search bar, and after a bit, typed in the first thing that came to mind: RWBY.

As soon as I hit Enter, there were a number of familiar looking results. Switching over to the image results with a tap of the stylus on the screen, I saw lots of RWBY screenshots and art. One image that stood out to me was Yang's various outfits from volumes one through six.

After a brief meta moment breakdown, I turned to Twilight. "Did you know about this?"

"Well. . . Yes, I did," Twilight sheepishly admitted. "I did some research on that Yang after you showed up. I also figured that it would be best if I kept those pictures away from Ponyville, since you were still in a bit of a delicate situation at the time and had enough on your plate at the time."

"Hm." I understood Twilight's reasoning, but another question came to mind immediately. "And you didn't get around to telling me because. . ?"

"Things got busy and I forgot. I did remember a few times, but you were usually in the kitchen at the Carne Den, and it wasn't important enough for me to interrupt you." I conceded the point to Twilight. "It wasn't until Appleloosa that I finally started arranging this opportunity for you."

I looked back at the screen as I thought things over. Rarity's knowledge on making clothes for a species she'd never seen before suddenly made a lot of sense.

"I think you can also see why I don't want to bring Rarity over here now."

"She'd go nuts over having all this stuff at her fingertips." I cast a small frustrated look and growl at my hooves. "Well, now that the secret internet source has been revealed, I think it's about time I head back home."

"Before you go, I have something to give you." Sunset went over to a bookshelf and pulled out an album with red, white, black, and yellow stripes along the spine. "I figured this would happen at some point, so I prepared this album for you to give to Rarity."

Twilight accepted the album and started looking through it. "I'm sure she'll love it."

"Oh, one more thing! Yang, if you could just stand still a moment?" Sunset pulled out her phone, and while I was looking at her, I heard a burst of camera shutter sounds from it. "You look great as a mare, you know."

"Really?" I asked.

"Really." Sunset connected her phone to the computer and began looking through it. "How many copies should I make?"

"One for Rarity," Twilight said.

"I guess I'll take one too," I added. If nothing else, it would go well in an album.

A few clicks later, we had our pictures. "Thanks, Sunset. You should come visit sometime."

"How about now?" Sunset asked. "I don't have anything else planned, and I want to try the Carne Den."

Twilight looked to me for an answer. I gave her a question. "You're buying, right?" Sunset broke down into sputtering laughter for a minute while Twilight regained her composure and a smile came across my face.

"I guess I will," Twilight conceded.

"I'll go let Celestia and Luna know I'll be gone for a bit." Sunset left the office to do that while Twilight and I left in an unspoken agreement to meet at the mirror.

Twilight was about to start talking about something when I got tackled from the side, knocking me off balance and wrapping me in a tight hug. "Oh she's cuter than I imagined!"

"Who?" I looked at my assailant and saw a woman that looked and sounded a lot like Luna, wearing a plain black and blue suit. "Luna?"

"And she talks! You are just precious!" She started scratching my chin, and it felt good. "So, so precious."

"Vice Principal Luna?" Twilight asked, even as a smile tugged at her lips.

"Hush, you. It's my pony time."

"Is that even a thing?" I asked her.

"Since ten seconds ago."

"Luna!" A stern voice that sounded like Celestia's sounded from behind me.

"Salvation, thy name is Celestia," I gratefully thought as she approached, heels click-clacking as she approached.

"Oh, Tia, uhm, I can explain. . ." Luna said, sounding as if she was caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"Pony time? Without me?" She was soon scratching between my ears while Luna was still scratching my chin. "You should be ashamed of yourself for that."

Sunset soon joined Twilight and caught sight of me getting scratched. "Have you ever seen such cruelty, Twilight?"

"That's not cruelty, Sunset," Twilight said. "That's just Yang getting affection."

"heeeellllp. . ." I groaned out.

Sunset sighed. "Alright, I'll help." A moment later, I was being assailed with belly rubs and relaxing more and more. "I am helping, right?"

"Of course, Sunset," Celestis said.

"We are not at all using this chance as an excuse to take a break from the paperwork," Luna added.

"You arrre. . ." I groaned out.

"Curses! Tia, she's seen through our nefarious scheme. Abort, I say! Abort!"

"No, Luna! We have to finish the mission! Stay strong!" The ear and chin scratching intensified.

"Twilight?" I asked.

Twilight snapped some pictures with Sunset's phone before stepping in. "Alright you three. I know you're having fun making Yang melt, but it's time to let her go."

"Do we have to?" Celestia and Luna asked at the same time like kids.

"Yes, you do. You too, Sunset."

After a few more scratches and rubs, I was finally freed. Sunset helped me back to my hooves, and after I got my legs to work again, she, Twilight, and I were on our way back to the portal with no conversation between us.

We stopped by the portal to take the ribbon off of my tail, and as soon as it was, I made a beeline to go through it. I barely managed to make a decent landing on the other side, back to normal. "I am not going back there again," I swore to myself before Twilight and Sunset, both as ponies, showed up, Sunset's landing a bit wobblier than Twilight's.

"Back to hooves and magic," Sunset said as she tested her range of motion. "So, the Carne Den?"

"Follow me."

"It's a lot less. . ." Sunset started.

"Lively?" I suggested. "We are closed on sundays."

"No, I was expecting more of a. . . Meat shop aesthetic. And brighter colors."

"I wanted a darker, more comfortable feel in here. You know, like a den. A place to relax and feel good." I picked up a menu and set some seats down at a table for my guests.

"Well, it certainly works," Sunset said as she and Twilight sat down and started looking over the menu.

"Thank you. Oh, just so you know, there's no smoked meat right now." I left the mares to get a ticket pad from the bar and quickly returned, sitting down with them and letting them take their time.

After some conversation between Twilight and Sunset, they ordered two identical grilled chicken sandwiches. While I started cooking, I heard them talking. "So, do you think Celestia and Luna would like this place? It's very different from the places they usually go to."

"I can call them," Twilight said before her horn briefly lit up. A moment later, Celestia and Luna teleported in. Luna looked like she was still waking up, but otherwise looked just as happy to be there as Celestia was.

"Sunset, it's been a while," Celestia said. "How have you been?"

"Pretty good," Sunset said. "Do you want a menu? I've heard good things about this place."

"No thank you, Sunset. We'll just have what you're having."

"Two more chicken sandwiches coming up!" I announced. I decided that I may as well join them and put another one on for myself.

"Can I have bacon on mine?" Luna asked, followed everyone else agreeing with the idea.

"Can do!"

As the bacon was sizzling, Sunset started the conversation again. "It sounds like you've been here before, your highnesses."

"It's a very good place," Celestia said. "Good food, good staff, casual atmosphere, started an economic upturn in the griffon empire, all very good. King Gaston himself even visited once before he bit the dust."

"Woah woah woah, Celestia! Did that actually- what?"

As Celestia told Sunset of King Gaston's visit, the food finished cooking. After putting all the sandwiches on plates, turning the grill off, and getting some glasses of water, I went back out with the food. "Okay, who has the grilled chicken sandwich with bacon?" I asked when I showed up.

"I do!" Luna enthusiastically called out.

"Grilled chicken and bacon sandwich?"

"Mine!" Celestia said.

"Sandwich of grilled chicken with bacon?"

"I guess that's mine," Sunset said.

"Bacon sandwich with grilled chicken?"

"I guess I ordered that?" Twilight said.

"And one bacon and grilled chicken sandwich for me." I set the tray down on the middle of the table and pulled a chair over to join the ponies. "I hope I didn't get any of them mixed up."

The conversation was lively, or at least it was after Sunset got caught up on current events. I even went upstairs and changed into my work clothes for her, at her request. Overall, she was a pleasant guest, and didn’t seem fazed by the presence of the princesses.

Finally, the meeting seemed to come to an end. “So, how was the food?” I asked my guests, though I looked at Sunset more than the alicorns.

“It was good,” Sunset said. “I never thought meat would taste good as a pony.”

“I think I’ve turned Ponyville into part time omnivores.”

“And why do you think that?”

“Bacon! Speaking of which, mine tasted a bit underdone. Who runs this joint? I ought to have a few words with them.” My brief moment of feigned outrage got some laughter out of the mares. “Anyways, I guess we’re done here?”

“I suppose we are,” Celestia said. “Hopefully, the next time we meet, it will be under good circumstances as well.”

“Hey, you know you’re welcome to visit anytime, Celestia.”

“But you’re closed on Sundays, and that’s my day off.”

I blinked at her a few times as I got what she was saying. “You do know you can just visit as a friend, right?”

A few seconds later, Celestia performed what I would call a sonic facehoof.

It finally ends

View Online

It was yet another Friday of grilling under a beautiful sky with only a few clouds in it. The guests were all happy, the bits were flowing in, the stage was in use, and there was a purple alicorn speeding towards me from above. "I wonder what Twilight wants this time?"

The princess of friendship slowed her descent just in time to make her landing a gentle one in front of the grill. "Yang, I have an important question for you."

"Yes, I can make a grilled cheese and bacon sandwich here," I immediately answered.

"What? No, that's not it. You've been here all week, right?"

"As the kitchen staff and spa sisters can attest to." I sighed as a possibility came to mind. "Are there any nobles involved?"

"Yes, along with charges of arson and foalnapping against you. There was an orphanage set on fire yesterday, and reported sightings of you fleeing the scene with everypony from the orphanage."

"What?" The discussions around the patio had died down, and the performers put a pause to their act. "Well, when's the court date?"

"Sunday, my courtroom, if they find substantial evidence. Just so you know, there are guards on the way from Canterlot to check your property for the missing ponies. They already have a search warrant."

"Of all the days for Gilda to be off," I muttered. "What do you need me to do?"

"As long as you stay in sight of multiple witnesses here, you'll be fine."

"The usual then. I can do that."

"Good. I have to go now." With a flash of magic, she teleported away.

Half an hour later, a guard captain came up to me. "Miss Xiao Long?"

I flipped a patty and looked at the pony. "That's me."

The captain held up a scroll. "I'm Captain Looking Glass, and we have a search warrant for the Carne Den."

"Just don't bother the guests too much, okay?"

"I can't promise anything." Looking Glass gave a sharp whistle and I heard a number of sets of hooves going through the dining area. "While my team investigates, I'm going to be staying with you. You may carry on as usual."

"Thank you."

In the confusion, the orders came to a stop. About five minutes after the search began, all the grill orders were done and I was just waiting with the captain, not talking. A minute later, one of the other guards came up to us. "We found something," he reported.

"Miss Xiao Long?" The captain asked.

"Just a moment." I quickly turned the grill off before following the ponies through the building. As we passed the kitchen staff, I shrugged and gave them an uncertain look, letting them know that I didn't know what was going on either.

"In here," the guard said when we got to the shed.

I curiously opened the door to the shed and saw something I did not expect: a large group of foals and a few mares standing over them. One pegasus filly that caught my eye for a moment was dressed up in what looked like my combat outfit, but that paled compared to the fact that there were a bunch of ponies in my shed. "Uhh. . ." I had no explanation.

"Miss Xiao Long, you are under arrest," the captain firmly said. "If you come with us peacefully, we won't have to put the shackles on you."

"I. . . I. . ." I felt a twitch in my eye as the message sunk in, but I couldn't bring myself out of the stupor. "HOW?"

It turned out that there was a dungeon underneath Twilight's castle, and even with my uniform on, I could feel a chill seeping into me. Fortunately, the castle's owner was coming with us. "Twilight?"

"Not now, Yang," she politely dismissed.

I didn't say anything until I was in my cell. For what it was, it was actually pretty nice. There was even a private bathroom. Instead of checking it out, I went straight to the bed and wrapped myself up in the provided blanket. "Can you turn the temperature up, please?"

"I'll see what I can do. But remember this, Yang: I'm not doing this as a friend, or out of kindness. Officially. I'm doing this to help ensure your health and wellbeing. Doesn't mean the castle will actually listen to me, though."

"Thanks." As Twilight left, I lay down and used some of my magic to heat up the bed under me. As much as I wanted to just move and do stuff, the chilly air was of greater concern to me.

Some minutes later, Twilight returned with a bag of some kind in her magic. "The castle actually listened to me for once on the temperature. Anyways, I brought you an extra blanket and pillow." She floated the bag's well made contents through the bars and tossed them roughly at me.

"Health and wellbeing, right?" I quickly set about getting comfortable with the new items.

"And no other reason. I trust you to behave." Without another word, Twilight left the dungeon.

I sighed and looked up at the ceiling with a sigh. "Well, what to do, what to do?" With nothing else to do, and decreasing motivation to exercise with the extra warmth, I simply let my mind wander.

Two days later

Twilight opened the door while I was doing some exercise. "Yang, the trial's in a few hours. . . What are you doing?"

"Bench pressing the bed," I explained as I set it down and got to my feet. "It wasn't secured to anything, and I got bored."

"Hmm. . . I'll have to get them secured at some point. Thanks for pointing that out." With a flash of her horn, the cell door was unlocked and opened up. "Anyways, there's someone I brought here who can help you with your defense. His name's Stoney Mason, and he's good at high profile cases like this one. You'll have some time to talk with him." I continued following Twilight until she pointed me into an office where a suited earth pony stallion was waiting with some folders.

I sat down across from the stallion at the desk. "Stoney Mason, I presume?"

"Yes," he said. "I want to apologize for not being able to see you sooner. It's a long train ride from Los Pegasus and it was on very short notice."

"Thanks, anyways. Let's get down to business."

"Of course." He pulled some papers out from a folder and looked it over. "First, there are multiple eyewitness reports of you at the scene, with your bike, pulling a closed wagon away from the burning orphanage on Wednesday night."

I held up a hand to stop him. "Hold on a moment. Where was this orphanage?"

"Baltimare."

"I've never been there. In fact, I've been in Ponyville all week, Mr. Mason."

"So one of these accounts is false." He shuffled a few more papers around for me to see. "Other evidence that's been found against you includes the orphans and their caretakers in your shed, and the closed wagon in the woods nearby, broken and burned, with traces of magic that matches your signature."

"I. . . They're going all out against me now." The evidence was piling up, and it did not look good for me.

I sat in court with Stoney Mason, and not far from us was Lady Gold Leaf, who looked like she'd been in a fight with something, sitting with her own attorney. "PLEASE let this be the last time I have to deal with these fools."

There was a sizeable audience, split into three sections. The largest one, by far, was made up of press and an audience. The next largest section contained a number of witnesses, including a number of my employees, the orphans and their caretakers, and a number of ponies I didn't recognize, some of which were already putting on the tears. The last section was a box for the Canterlot nobles. The rest of them were there, along with Celestia and Luna.

I also noticed that the pleasant smell of apples that was present in an earlier trial was absent.

The ambient chatter died down when Twilight took her spot on the throne and began the court session. "The case of the accusations of arson and mass foalnapping against Yang Xiao Long is now is session. Everyone, do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?" Everyone involved in the proceedings, including myself, swore we would only tell the truth. "Prosecution, you may begin."

The stallion with Gold Leaf stood up and started walking around, levitating a folder and pulling out papers as he spoke. "Princess Sparkle, we have plenty of evidence pointing to Miss Xiao Long being the perpetrator of these. . . Heinous crimes, as you are aware."

"Please present the evidence for the court." Twilight's tone left no room for argument.

"Of course, your Highness." The stallion cleared his throat before starting. "First off, we have identified the magic signature of the fire as belonging to Yang Xiao Long. We are absolutely certain of this thanks to a match we found in official documentation from a case related to an earlier arson in Appleloosa."

"Wait, when did I. . . Oh, right," I thought as he continued, remembering when I let Twilight look at my fire magic.

"We also have her magic signature on a burned and broken closed wagon found in the woods near her home and business, the Carne Den. From what we've been able to determine, this wagon was the same one used in the foalnapping, according to multiple eyewitnesses, including the ticket ponies from the Baltimare, Canterlot, and Ponyville train stations."

"That is a lot of witnesses," Twilight agreed. "You may present them."

The next half hour was full of testimonies, including multiple accounts of Gold Leaf fighting me, and they painted a picture of me leaving on Tuesday night with Bumblebee and a map, which was found at the site of the orphanage. Every time I wanted to stand up and object, Stoney put a firm hoof on my shoulder to stop me, I took some deep breaths, and forced myself to stay calm.

Finally, it was time for Mr. Mason to present my side. "Your Highness, my client could not have done any of those acts. Not only does she not seem inclined to do such a thing, based on what little time I've had with her, but there are also many witnesses from Ponyville that can attest to her being in town all week, including the time that she was supposedly in Baltimare."

Another half hour was spent with my employees, local food providers, and the spa sisters all attesting that I was indeed in Ponyville all week, doing all the normal things I normally do. Business, running laps around town, a relaxing spa session, nothing out of the ordinary.

"This is all. . . Very interesting," Twilight said. "Both stories are credible, and based on the evidence, they both check out."

"If I may, your Highness?" The prosecutor asked.

"Go ahead."

"Yang Xiao Long has connections with changelings, and has two under her employ, Aegir and Honey Suckle. It is not outside the realm of possibility that she could have connections with other changelings through them, and simply paid one off with enough bits to fill in for her while she went off to commit the foalnapping and arson. She certainly has enough bits to do that, and with how busy the Carne Den usually is, the kitchen staff she's usually with would be too busy to notice any small discrepancies in her behavior." There were murmurs in the crowd as they talked the idea over with each other. "The changeling, by now, is likely long gone."

I turned to Mr. Mason. "What do we do?" I asked him, panicking. "I never did any of that stuff."

"I think I can get to the bottom of this, Miss Xiao Long," he assured me before standing up. "Your Highness, I would like to ask a few more questions of the prosecution's witnesses, if I may."

"You may."

"Thank you, your Highness."

Mr. Mason asked the caretakers more about what they saw me do, and they gave a consistent story about me knocking them out with one punch each.

The foals also gave similar stories, all of them short and simple, though the pegasus filly dressed like me was a lot more reluctant with her story, like she didn't want to believe it herself.

The train station attendants gave similar stories of me leaving Ponyville with Bumblebee, and the closed wagon was only present on the way back, after the fire and foalnapping.

I was almost at my wit's end when Lady Gold Leaf was giving her testimony of the fight. "-and she refused to let the foals go, so I decided to fight her. She expanded her bracelets into gauntlets and started punching. I dodged, then she started using other moves, getting a few good slaps on my face. After I recovered, I used my telekinesis to grab her gauntlets and make her hit herself to disorient her before running away."

"Your Highness, that is physically impossible!" I shouted as I stood up, catching everyone's attention.

"How can you say that?" Lady Gold Leaf demanded. "You. Were. There."

"Yang, would you care to explain yourself?" It was brief, but I caught a hint of a smile on Twilight's face.

"Of course." I took the Ember Celica off and lightly held them out, deciding to put on a bit of a show. "Lady Gold Leaf, these gauntlets have no enchantments on them. If you can levitate them over to you, I will submit and go to prison for however long Princess Twilight deems appropriate to the full extent of the law."

"Really?" Lady Gold Leaf asked. "You're really going to do that? Just give yourself up if I can take your bracelet gauntlet things?"

"Miss Xiao Long, I advise you redact your claim now," Mr. Mason said.

I turned to my attorney and gave him a "shh" before looking Lady Gold Leaf in the eye. "You did it before. Do it again."

"Very well, then." Lady Gold Leaf's horn lit up and she looked like she was expecting the Ember Celica to just float over easily. A few seconds later, her expression turned to confusion, and her horn's glow intensified a bit. After nearly a minute, the glow started to fade, and a worried look came over her face. "Uhh. . ." She turned to her fellow nobles and I saw her mouth out "help me?"

As the chatter started up again, I put the weapons back on. "These things are totally immune to magic," I explained over the din of the crowd. "It is impossible, as we just saw, for them to be levitated. Lady Gold Leaf, it's your turn."

Twilight looked down at the noble. "Do you wish to clarify?"

"M-Maybe I grabbed her arm instead! It was a fight, after all, and in a fight you don't remember everything."

"You seemed to recall everything else from the fight pretty clearly, and metal feels very different in a telekinetic hold than flesh does."

"It does?" I briefly wondered.

"Lady Gold Leaf, your testimony has a very big hole in it now. Do you want to explain this mistake?"

"I. . . I. . ." The noble stammered.

"I declare a thirty minute recess. Defense, prosecution, please do not interact with each other during that time. I will not risk letting either party get in a fight with the other."

"I think we're in the clear now," I told Mr. Mason. "What about you?"

"I was afraid you would be locked up forever when you pulled that stunt," he admitted. "If I'd have known that earlier, I could have pointed it out, but I don't think it would have had quite the impact your plan did."

"Who said it was a plan?"

"Fair enough. Now, while proving your innocence is good enough, I'd like to find out who actually did this as well."

I thought for a bit before saying, "I think I have an idea."

Thirty minutes later, we were back. "Court is back in session," Twilight announced as the last of the audience finished filing in. "Prosecution, I hope you have an adequate answer ready."

The prosecutor said, "Your Highness. . . We do not."

"Defense, what about you?"

Mr. Mason stood up. "My client's innocence may have been proven, but I would like to get to the bottom of this case and find out who actually committed this crime. If it pleases you, I have a theory."

"You may present your theory. Without interruption." She levelled a brief glare at everyone likely to interrupt him.

"Thank you, your Highness." Mr. Mason started idly pacing around as he started explaining. "It likely is true that the caretakers and orphans did see Miss Xiao Long, whom we've just confirmed could not have been there, based on the evidence that her unique gauntlets are immune to magic. So, I propose that, instead of it being Miss Xiao Long who did this, it was actually a changeling disguised as her who did the foalnapping, and staged a fight with Lady Gold Leaf.

"I believe this is the timeline: a pair of changelings made their way to Ponyville, turned into a copy of Miss Xiao Long and a shell resembling her bike over a regular bicycle, and took the late night train from Ponyville to Canterlot, then to Baltimare. On Thursday, they bought a closed wagon, met up with Lady Gold Leaf, and started waiting somewhere.

"At night, while the caretakers were together making supper, the changeling disguised as Miss Xiao Long came in and knocked them all out before taking them to the wagon. After that, it would be simple enough to do the same to the foals, and put them in the wagon, then close it and leave while the orphanage, thankfully devoid of occupants, was set on fire with magic that copied Yang's signature.

"As the orphanage was burning, Lady Gold Leaf and the changeling disguised as Yang staged a fight, where Lady Gold Leaf did get injured, though deliberately. Leaving everyone else behind, the two changelings went back to the train station, and took the route back to Ponyville with their unconscious cargo. Once back, long after the Carne Den was closed and Miss Xiao Long was asleep, they unlocked her shed, put the orphans and their caretakers in there, and locked it back up. After that, all they had to do was inform the appropriate authorities while the changelings scurried off somewhere."

Twilight considered the proposed theory for a minute before asking a question. "How would Yang's magic signature have been obtained, though?"

Mr. Mason did not hesitate to answer. "Not long after her brief stay in Appleloosa, a house, purchased and set to be turned into an orphanage, was set on fire, and her magical signature was obtained in short order. As with all investigations, it was documented and stored. It stands to reason that someone with the proper authority, skills, and motivation could have entered, memorized it, and used it to set the orphanage ablaze with the corresponding signature. My client believes that it was Lady Gold Leaf herself who did all this, and paid off the changelings in question, a feat that's well within the realm of possibility. As for where the changelings are, they could be anywhere by now."

"So you're suggesting that their accusation is the very thing they're guilty of?" The scent of apples started filling the courtroom.

"Yes, your highness."

Twilight turned to the prosecution. "Your defense?"

"I. . . We. . ." The prosecutor started struggling to say something under the effects of honesty, but otherwise was able to resist saying anything.

Lady Gold Leaf wasn't able to put up the same degree of resistance he did. "How could this plan have failed?!" Right after she practically shrieked it out, she covered her mouth with a shocked expression. "H-how. . ."

Twilight started lecturing her. "I had hoped you, a distinguished noble, would have had some degree of respect and honor befitting the title. I was hoping that this could be solved without having to use the honesty effects. Unfortunately, at this point, I can't even say I'm disappointed or surprised. I'm going to ask you a few questions, I want you to answer, and you will be honest. Until all my questions are answered, nobody leaves, so let's make it fast."

"Is it wrong that I want some popcorn?" I quietly asked Mr. Mason. The response I got was a shrug.

"Did you plan this out to frame Yang Xiao Long and put her in prison?"

"I would have settled for prison, but I was hoping for execution," Lady Gold Leaf said, going on autopilot while her attorney had already accepted defeat and the audience gave a collective gasp.

"Did you plan this alone?"

"No, I did not." Instead of giving names, she lit her horn and dragged over half of the nobles out of their seats and onto the floor one by one. "They all helped me with this plan in one way or another."

"Shut up, Gold Leaf!" Blueblood shouted at her.

"Quiet, Blueblood," Twilight commanded before returning to Gold Leaf. "So, who was it that found the documents with Yang's magic signature?"

"I did it," Gold Leaf answered. "I was the one who set the orphanage on fire after helping foalnap everypony from inside, and I used Yang Xiao Long's magic signature."

"Was the fire in Appleloosa deliberately timed with Yang's presence there or was that a coincidence?"

"It was a coincidence that we spun into our plans."

"Does it have any relation to the other mysterious arsons that have happened?"

"Yes. I was the one who did them, too." I suppressed a giggle at the fact that while I had the fire powers, she was the firebug.

"Did you hire any changelings to help you?"

"Two, and it was just as Mr. Mason had speculated. I don't know where they are now."

"Hmm. . . And how, exactly, did you get into Ponyville to destroy and set the closed wagon on fire without being seen, and how did you get out?"

"I hid in a separate part of the wagon on the way in, and used a few color alteration spells I learned from the changelings on myself after the shift change at the station."

Twilight let out an irritated growl. "By the power vested in me as a Princess, I will now hand out your sentences. Lady Gold Leaf, you are going to prison for life, your title and power will be stripped, and all your assets will be liquidated, with the proceeds going to fund the rebuilding of the Baltimare orphanage that you burned down, with any excess funds going towards charity. As for your co-conspirators, you all will also contribute to the funds, and you will have your titles and legislative powers stripped too. None of you, and nobody until after your great grandfoals, will have that kind of legislative power either. I will not let this kind of toxicity perpetrate any longer."

Blueblood was quick to his hooves with a rebuttal. "You don't have that kind of authority!"

"You really think that, Blueblood? You really think I don't have that kind of authority? News flash: As a Princess, I have the exact same authority as Celestia, Luna, and Cadance. I just don't exercise that authority very often.

"We're done here. If you all cooperate, things will go smoothly." With a gavel-like slam of a hoof, Twilight officially closed the case. A pair of guards came up to Gold Leaf and arrested her. The audience started talking and the media looked eager to start asking more questions. Celestia and Luna looked a bit frustrated as they left their seats, and most of the remaining nobles next to them started inching away from them.

I was walking towards Twilight when I got knocked over by a ballistic high speed filly dressed like me. "I knew it couldn't have been you!" She proclaimed as she hugged me.

I gently stroked the filly's mane after I quickly recovered. "Yeah, I knew it couldn't have been me either."

"Sunny Breeze, leave Miss Xiao Long alone," one of the caretakers ordered.

I held up a hand. "No, no, it's fine. Let her spend some time with her hero." An idea came to mind. "In fact, how about you let her spend the day with me?"

"Hmm, I suppose that's alright. But if I find one hair from her mane out of place-" I quickly ruffled Sunny's mane at that comment, causing the filly to giggle. "Just make sure she's back here by sunset."

"Then I'll make sure that the day. Will last. Forever!" Celestia overdramatically said when she came over. "Just kidding. I hope you both have fun."

The first thing I did with Sunny Breeze, after I changed to my combat outfit to match hers, was take her for a ride around town on the real Bumblebee. She clung to me like a backpack, and based on the sounds she was making, she was having a blast. I didn't make any jumps, but I did pull off a few drifts for her.

For a late lunch, we went back to my place. She didn't want any meat, so I respected her choice and whipped up some salads for us. They were good, but I planned on having meat later on.

One thing I was vehemently against doing, even with Sunny giving me weapons grade puppy eyes, was rough housing with her. With the sheer size difference between us, and the raw strength I had, even without a semblance boost, it would take only one slip on my part, and it wouldn't end well for either of us.

The rest of the day was spent walking and talking. She told me about her time at the orphanage, which she'd only been at for two months after her father died, and I told her about my adventures. Her opinion of the nobles went sour pretty quickly, and I had to clarify a few times that Fancy and Fleur were the good ones, not simply because they helped with the Carne Den, but because they were good ponies.

Finally, close to sunset, I brought Sunny back to the castle with one last ride on Bumblebee. The caretakers were in the throne room, discussing something that sounded important with Twilight when we walked in. The one that had reluctantly given me permission to spend the day with Sunny looked her over before giving me a nod and taking her to be with the other foals, somewhere else in the castle.

After saying bye to everyone there, I went back home, made a steak for myself, and relaxed. At least, I was able to relax until an unexpected guest teleported in. “That was an excellent court session,” Discord said. “Things got really chaotic at the end there.”

I gave him a sideways glance. “Thanks, I guess?”

“No no no, thank you, Yang. I’m going to have so much fun watching those nobles try to exert any kind of influence at all after this. Who’d have thought that a bit of honesty could work in my favor so well?"

"Well, go on and enjoy yourself. I'm just going to get back to my normalish life."

Discord patted my shoulder. “I wish you luck in that endeavor. Just remember who lives here in Ponyville~” With a snap, he teleported away. It didn’t take long for me to remember that Discord did live in Ponyville, and so did Pinkie Pie. Normalcy wasn’t just thrown out the window, but it also fell down a loop of stairs before landing on an ice rink with a ten out of ten on posture, form, and costume.

Rarity did it again

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"Oh Yang~" Rarity sang out.

"Rarity, get out of my kitchen, please," I said calmly as I looked over some steaks on the grill. "I'm sure it's important, but I think it can wait a bit."

"Oh, but this is extremely important~"

"Is something attacking Ponyville or the residents?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Then please get out."

"I. . . I'll see myself out, then." The closing doors signalled Rarity's welcome departure from the kitchen.

"Any idea on what that was about?" Silver asked.

"Knowing her, and some recent events, I think she has some new clothes for me." As I flipped one steak and slid another onto a plate, I smiled inside at the idea. At the same time, another part of me was saying that I had enough clothes and didn't need more.

More importantly though, I kept my attention on the grill. The presumed clothes could wait. The food in front of me could not.

I drove to Rarity's a few days later, and found the inside to be eerily lit, and Rarity was sitting at a desk, her back facing me. "You're late, Yang Xiao Long," she said in a fashionably ominous voice.

"How did you know it was me?"

Rarity turned around and the lighting seemed to brighten a bit. "It wasn't you that came in the first few times I tried that, and I did apologize for those mistakes, but here we are now."

"I'm guessing you have some clothes for me?"

"That's an understatement." Rarity levitated a large shipping crate that looked like it had no business being in the boutique out to the middle of the floor. "And. . . I may have made them without sleeping for a week again."

"Rarity. . ."

She held her forehooves up defensively. "I promise I've slept since I finished them! And I did make a few more things since then as well."

"Well, if you say so." I looked back at the crate. "How did you even get this in here?"

"I built it right here."

"Then how are we going to get it out?"

"It's simple. We. . . I did not think this through."

I sighed. "I'll go get Twilight, then. In the meantime-" I took the choker off my neck and held it out for Rarity. "-could you do some touch up work on this? It's starting to fray."

Rarity accepted the choker. "Of course. I'll see you in a bit, then."

"Rarity, I can't fit in a coin."

She gave me a very flat look at the pun. "Out with you!"

I came back with Twilight later than I would have liked. Blueblood was pleading with her to grant him his title and status back, and she was having none of it. Spike let me in to watch, and I had to admit, the stallion knew how to plead. If it wasn't for his actions against me, it might have worked. I even had the honor of throwing him out of the courtroom when Twilight asked me to do so, and his expression was priceless.

"Rarity, why would you build a shipping crate in here when you can't get it out?" Twilight asked when she saw the crate.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Rarity explained as she returned the choker. "And it also gave me an idea of when to stop making things for Yang and get some sleep."

"Why am I not surprised? Yang, where do you want this to go?"

"There should be space in my room back home," I informed her. "I can take care of it from there."

"Alright." Twilight's horn lit up, and the crate vanished, though for some reason, one box didn't go through and fell to the floor. "Hm? That should have gotten all of them."

I picked up the box and saw a single word written on its surface: Hunter. "What's this one?" I opened it and saw, neatly folded up, an outfit from RWBY. As the label said, it was the Hunter outfit.

"Hm?" Rarity took a look at the contents. "Ah, I remember that one. Kind of. I know the materials for that one were in their own container with my regular shipments, but I didn't order them. I also started on it immediately once I saw the pictures."

"Kind of like my shell bands. Come to think of it, I haven't gotten any new ones for a while." I put the lid back on the box and held it under my arm. "I'll try this on when I get back home. Oh, Rarity, I have something for you."

"Oh?"

Twilight took that as her cue and teleported the chest full of bits off the back of Bumblebee and into the boutique. "That should be enough to cover your materials."

Rarity looked like she really wanted to object. "I'm not going to get out of refusing, am I?"

"Nope."

"I guess I have no choice, then. I'll accept it."

"Have a good day, Rarity," I said as Twilight and I left. "Thanks for the help, Twilight."

"It's no problem," Twilight casually said as we got on Bumblebee. "Honestly, I'm glad you came by. I needed a reason to get some fresh air for a bit."

"Couldn't you just say you're going out for a short break and everyone would have to wait?"

"That is completely within my power to do, but it's not a good idea, even if it is for my health. Say, how does an outdoor court sound, weather permitting?"

I could practically hear the gears in her head turning. "It sounds like a breath of fresh air to me."

A moment and a flat glare later, Twilight teleported away. I shrugged and started up Bumblebee for the short drive home.

While business went on downstairs, I started looking through what Rarity had made for me. She'd made a bit of everything, and all of it looked really good. Some of the boxes held sets of clothes, others held multiples of a particular piece of clothing. "What should I try on first?"

As I looked through the many options, I found myself returning to the boxed Hunter outfit time and again. “Eh, may as well go with this one first.” After spreading out the various pieces on the bed and getting ready to put them on, I realized that I had no idea where to start.

I noticed a hint of white in the belt pouch and took it out. It was a folded piece of paper, and inside was a diagram of the outfit, each piece with its own number on it. It didn’t take long for me to figure out that it was an instruction manual, which was very helpful.

The first things to go on were a pair of thin, yet very comfortable socks that didn’t go very far above my ankles. They were simple and plain, nothing much to them, but as I wore them, they started feeling more and more like they just came out of the dryer. “What I wouldn’t do for laundry machines. . .”

The second part took a bit of assembly before I could put it on, consisting of a garter belt and thigh high leather and mesh stockings with studs above the knees. Putting them on took some gentle effort and patience on my part, but once they were in place, they felt very comfortable, soon feeling like they too had come out of the dryer. “Weird. . . No complaints, though.” As I got used to the unfamiliar garments, I looked over the remaining pieces and the diagram. “Looks like it’s just layers from here on out.”

The next piece to go on was a small black dress that clung to my body, followed by a sleeveless one that zipped up similarly to my work top, though only to the top of my waist. As both pieces started to warm up, I decided to look at myself in the mirror. “I look good. I’ll look even better once everything’s on.”

The belt was a little tricky to figure out with the extra length on the left side and lack of belt loops on the tan dress, but once it was on, along with the pouch, it felt like it wouldn’t go anywhere. I was tempted to put the bit of purple fabric in place, but the paper suggested putting it on last for some reason. Having followed it faithfully thus far, I decided to not skip the steps, even if it would have made sense.

After putting on an amethyst and gold amulet, I put on the small, high collared item that I didn’t want to call a small jacket, but I couldn’t think of what else to call it. Once the strap that went over my collarbone was secured and the Ember Celica were back on my wrists, I looked at myself in the mirror again with a smile. I was looking really good.

Once I was done admiring myself, I picked up the shoes and started putting them on. “Who’s idea was it to have five buckles on these things? At least they’re not heels. And they look very durable too.” Thankfully, the ribbons on the backs of the shoes were already placed and tied into neat bows, so all I had to do was wonder whose idea it was to put them there.

Finally, I put the bit of purple fabric in its place, which included bunching it up and threading it through a pair of small loops on the inside of the pouch and the lower belt strap. Once it was in place and definitely not going anywhere on its own, I registered the outfit in the buckle and then things started getting weird.

I felt water flowing through a pipe under my floor.

Colors and details started to come out in extreme definition.

I heard the sounds of the kitchen, including an order for a baked potato with burnt ends.

I was able to smell the food cooking in the kitchen.

When I licked my lips from the scent, I tasted the food in the air.

“What’s going on here?” I looked around and everything felt. . . slower.

I saw a fly take off from my desk and I followed its path as it flew around, the buzzing very audible to me, even across the room. When it got close enough to me, I caught and crushed the annoying bug in one attempt.

After a few more minutes of wearing the Hunter outfit, I picked the buckle back up, selected Path of Blossoms, and switched outfits. As soon as I had the floral kimono, everything returned to normal and I collapsed onto my bed with a headache. “Okay, that was. . . unexpected.” I picked up the box lid and looked at the outfit’s name. “Hunter. Sensory enhancement. Appropriate name. Could be useful.”

If the teleportation failure back at Carousel Boutique was any indicator, it probably had an aura of total magic immunity, kind of like the Ember Celica. I didn’t want to test it, and I started wondering how Rarity could have made such a thing if it couldn’t be affected by magic.

I decided that the best course of action was to take some more time to lay there and keep recovering from the brief sensory enhancement. Asada chose that moment to come in and lay down on the bed, curling up next to me for a nap. She’d grown quite a bit, and was almost able to hold me like I was a pillow. “Yeah, I think Asada’s got the right idea.” I took the Ember Celica off, scratched the bear between her ears, and dozed off with her.

Planning stage

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As the days went on, I tried on the various clothes Rarity had made for me. For whatever reason, she had decided to make pieces that were more form fitting and shape flaunting. And at the same time, I found that I actually kind of liked the tighter fits, both with how they felt and how they looked. Part of me wanted to complain about it, but I couldn’t find it in myself to actually do so.

There were modified versions of what looked like every female outfit from RWBY in the pile, recolored and adjusted to fit my shape and style. I decided to leave those alone for a while.

There were multiple silk items that looked like they were made to be worn under other items to give the illusion of a bodysuit of some kind under a dress. Or something like that.

There were also actual bodysuits, which I both liked and was confused by, especially with the fact that I came to like them so quickly.

There were quite a few dresses, most of which looked like they wouldn’t restrict my movement much, if at all.

There were numerous winter ensembles, all of them fuzzy on the inside and sleek on the outside.

There were a few sets of swimwear, one of which was styled as a well fitted pair of ankle length pants and a top similar to my athletic tops, both pieces being made mainly of normal swimsuit material and a yellow mesh. “Warm weather relaxation set. Maybe Rarity can make a long sleeve version?” I then remembered that I had lots of money. “She’d be happy to do it.”

I also spent time acclimating to the Hunter outfit every night. With practice, I was able to adjust the sensory enhancements and perception speed as I wanted to, to the point where it was like the clothes did nothing aside from being worn. Rapidly going from normal senses to heightened ones was dizzying, but at least it didn’t last for long when it happened.

I sat down in the office with the morning newspaper and noticed a headline. “Mysterious disappearances across Canterlot, 50 gone across city in one night!” I sighed before reading the rest of the article. I knew, somehow, that I was going to get involved in whatever it was, and there would likely be a fight. “Please let it be a quick encounter.”

A few days later, I was cutting vegetables in the kitchen when I heard the front door slam open. “3. . . 2. . . 1. . .” The kitchen door slammed open. “What is it, Twilight?” I asked without looking up.

“How did you?” Twilight asked. “Never mind.”

“You need me?” Already, someone was coming over to take my place.

“Yes, please.” I sighed as I left the kitchen with the local princess and went to my office to talk. “There’s been a number of high count foalnappings recently across multiple cities. Canterlot has lost over a hundred ponies in the past week alone, and the reported count is nearing a thousand.”

“That. . . that’s bad.”

“It’s a very confusing case. The pattern is consistent, which usually suggests one being, but they’re so spread out, it’s more like a group is at work, and that’s what the running theory is right now.”

I paused in my response when an idea hit me. “One moment, Twilight.” I started rooting through the drawers in the desk. “No. . . no. . . no. . . where is. . . Ah, there we go.” A moment later, I put a map of Equestria down on the desk. It was time to start playing Detective. “So, what cities have been hit?”

Twilight started with Canterlot’s first fifty missing ponies, then went through other cities that had been hit. Manehattan on the second night. Then Vanhoover. Fillydelphia. Canterlot. Las Pegasus and Los Pegasus in one night. The most recent one was Baltimare. “And that’s just what we know. We haven’t found any traces of anyone or anything that could do this. It’s definitely not a changeling operation, since they would replace their victims after foalnapping them.”

“Anything else?”

“A team of night shift maids in Canterlot Castle was taken on the second visit. The night guards saw nothing get inside or leave with them, above, on, or below ground.”

“Just. . . suddenly gone?”

“Suddenly gone. And it wasn’t even a teleport.”

“How do you know that?” I asked as I folded the map back up.

“I scoured the whole castle with a scry spell that went two weeks into the past. The only teleports that it picked up were from myself, Celestia, and Luna.”

“A stealth master.” Something crossed my mind. “Have you talked to Celestia and Luna about this? Could it be someone they sealed?”

“I. . . Didn’t think of that. Do you want to teleport there to talk with them?”

“Can they teleport here? I can host all of us in my room upstairs, and I’d rather not leave the Ember Celica behind, to be honest.”

We stood around the closed crate that still held a few unopened boxes of clothing, using it as a makeshift table. With all of us there, it was a bit cramped, though mostly just for Celestia and Luna. “So, mass foalnappings happening in different cities across the continent. Does that ring a bell?” I asked the royal sisters.

Both of them took on serious, thoughtful expressions. Luna stayed calm as she looked through her memories while Celestia started to get frustrated. “Is everything alright, Celestia?” Twilight asked.

“It’s right there!” Celestia said with a kind of anger I’d rarely heard from her before. “It’s just on the edge of my-”

Celestia was suddenly asleep and Luna’s horn was glowing. “Give me a minute or two, please,” Luna asked.

Twilight turned to me. “So, how many of the clothes have you tried on?” Her voice was hushed, likely not to disturb the working sisters.

“Quite a lot of them,” I replied in an equally hushed tone. “Including the one you couldn’t teleport. Want to see it?”

“If it won’t take long, sure.”

“One moment, please.” I found the buckle, went through it to the Hunter outfit, and a moment later, had it on. “So, what do you think?”

Twilight looked me over a few times before answering. “First, it’s a lot different seeing it in person instead of just pictures. Rarity did a really good job on it.”

“I’ve yet to see anything bad from her.”

“Second, I never thought you’d wear it when Sunset first showed it to me about a year ago. You didn’t even want to wear anything with a skirt, if I recall correctly.”

I did a bit of reminiscing myself. “Yeah. Man, I’ve changed a lot since then.” Twilight suddenly adopted a thoughtful expression of her own, and her horn softly lit up. “Twilight?”

The local Princess didn’t answer immediately, looking at me like I wasn’t quite there. “Hmm, interesting.”

“What’s interesting?”

Twilight’s horn went out and her expression relaxed to normal. “I just did a scan on you. Well, I tried to, anyways. It seems that your outfit totally nullifies any magic coming at you. That would explain why it and the box didn’t teleport.”

“But how would Rarity have made it?”

“That. . . I have no idea.”

“Good news, everyone!” Luna loudly stated, easily waking Celestia up. “I have been able to discern some information from my sister’s cake laden mind!”

“Really, Lulu?” an exasperated Celestia asked.

Luna continued, more serious and somber. “This is someone else we had to seal. We never learned his name, so we called him Hunter, because that was what he did to our subjects.”

“So everypony that’s been foalnapped. . .” Twilight started with dawning horror.

“Could be dead, yes. We never did find any remnants of those he did hunt down, nor where he was operating from. For all we know, they could have been alive and well somewhere, and in sealing him, we left them to die.” Both sisters’ expressions turned very somber at the realization.

I didn’t like the sadness that was developing in my room, so I marched over to the sad sisters, and gave them the best hug I could. It was awkward, but they did return the gesture before Twilight joined in. For a few minutes, we just stayed there.

Finally, the hug was broken and Luna picked the story back up after a sniffle. “Thanks, you two. Anyways, we trapped him by locking him into an enclosed arena with us, inside a mountain, and we tried to fight him with normal magic blasts, but he was still too fast, so we set magical traps on the floor, walls, and ceiling. After we got him cornered, we sealed him away and left the arena, triumphant and tired.”

“Can you tell me anything else about him?” I asked.

“Well, he stands and moves like you do, his armor was green and brown, and he had a silver bow and a strangely shaped shield. A very odd combination of weapons for a hunter like him. He also seemed to be related to someone else we fought, but it wasn’t clear in Tia’s memories.”

"You're going to blame the cake, aren't you?" Celestia playfully accused Luna.

"Oh, no no no, Tia. Not at all. Just your punk phase."

The solar Diarch narrowed her eyes and she looked dead serious, the stern visage marred by a heavy blush across her face. "Never. Talk about that. Again. Or would you like me to talk about your cuteness phase, Woona?"

"It was just a phase some thousands of years ago!" Luna insisted with a faint blush of her own.

"Ahem," Twilight said, catching the sisters' attention. "Do either of you have any ideas for catching this guy again?"

After over an hour of discussion, we came up with a plan, called the meeting done, and went our different ways. The alicorns teleported out while I went back to the kitchen. "Did I miss anything?" I asked as I tried to find a spot to slide into.

"No, nothing unusual." Gavan took a moment to look at me. "Is that a new uniform?"

"Huh?" I looked down and saw that I still had the Hunter outfit on. "Oh, no, no it isn’t. I’ll. . . uh, how do I look?” Everyone in the kitchen paused for a moment to look at me, and everyone gave a similar answer of how good I looked. “Right, well then, I’ll be back in a moment.” It didn't take long at all for me to change back to my uniform and come back down to resume the workday.

Bait and rescue

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"You're sure this will work?" I asked Twilight as I sat down on a bench with her in the Canterlot hedge maze. I had the Hunter outfit on, and we were waiting for the bad guy to come to us.

"Very certain, and very optimistic," Twilight said. "I've already set the perimeter, the bubble's in place, and you likely didn't notice it, but I tested its effects on you."

"What? When?"

"Before we went into the garden. It didn't affect you at all, and that's a good thing. All we have to do now is sit here and look pretty."

About three hours and four books later, Twilight glanced up from her reading. "I think we have him."

I set my book down and got up to go look. "I'll go beat him up."

"Bring him back alive!"

"Of course." I started walking through the section of the maze that was in what Twilight called a Slowdown Bubble, designed to slow down everything in it, except the caster, while anything affected by it wouldn't notice a thing. With the total magic immunity I had, I was able to walk right through it with no problems at all.

After ten minutes of searching, I found him. Green and brown armor, a large silver bow and shield, humanoid design, a bit taller than me, and a set of lenses over his left eye. He was still moving inside the field, albeit at an incredibly slow pace.

I didn't wait to start my attack. I destroyed his armor, took his weapons, and lastly, broke his legs, all without fire or music magic. After a punch to his gut, I pulled him back through the maze to Twilight. "Found him."

"Hold him still, please. I'll have to cancel the field to find out where he took everyone he foalnapped." As soon as I had him restrained, Twilight let the Slowdown field vanish.

The first thing to happen was the hunter guy letting out a LOUD scream of pain and agony. He was in a lot of pain, and I felt kind of bad about hurting him. After a flash of magic from Twilight, he started to calm down. "What. . . What happened to me?"

"You fell for a trap," Twilight explained. She motioned to the empty bench and we put him on it. Just to make sure he didn't try anything, Twilight cast a super sticky seat spell, holding him in place.

He narrowed his eyes at the Princess and a cocky smirk started developing. "So those sisters did remember me." His voice had a low rasp to it, like medium sandpaper. "But. . . Did they ever think about everyone they let die by sealing me?"

"Yeah, it crossed their minds a few days ago. We're not about to let it happen again." At Twilight's answer, the smirk dropped like a ton of bricks. "So, will you tell us where and why you took everyone or am I going to have to pull it from your mind?"

"I'll tell you why: I'm a collector, and I like my trophies. That they're often pony shaped, and alive, is merely semantics. Of course, I have to take care of them, so I collect a few here and there to do that for me."

"You took a team of maids from the castle, didn't you?"

"A decent challenge, that one was. And they are performing spectacularly."

I decided that I'd heard enough and smacked him across his face. "So, where are they?"

"Safe and secure, deep in a diamond dog tunnel system. You'd have to mount an expedition to make it through to find them, because I’m not about to tell you anything else.”

“I guess we’ll just have to do it this way, then.” Twilight lit her horn and started reading his mind, as per the plan.

“This is easy,” I considered as she did her thing. “Traps, OP magic fields, knowing about the target ahead of time, it’s great. Why don’t we do it this way more often?”

“Well, this is convenient,” Twilight noted. “They’re in the tunnels near Ponyville.”

“You’re absolutely sure they’re there?” The Hunter teased.

“Yes, I am. I wasn’t expecting your mind to be so. . . chaotic, though. But, when Pinkie Pie and Discord both live in town, you get used to it.”

The Hunter’s face dropped a bit. “Discord’s alive?”

“You know him?”

“He’s my older brother. Always the joker, he was. At least until our creator, our father, gave him the boot after he betrayed us. It was a steel toed left boot with candy cane laces and an orange slice spur.” The Hunter’s body started to relax. “Our father’s name is Za - hurk! Blegh.” He suddenly died, a Southwest solar flare floating out of his body before exploding.

We both looked at the dead body for a while. “So. . .” I started. “That was. . . anticlimactic.”

“That it was. Go collect his weapons. I’ll get rid of the body and catch up to you.”

I did as Twilight said, retracing my steps through the maze and picking up the bow and shield. “Hmm. This shield looks more like - yes, it’s actually a very broad sword. Odd design.”

The Princess caught up to me very quickly. “You can keep those, if you want.”

“I think I will. Can you teleport them to my room?” A moment later, Twilight did as I’d asked, and the weapons were no longer an immediate concern.

The rest of our trip back to Ponyville was filled mostly with the sounds of Twilight’s quill on parchment as she wrote stuff down. I simply took a nap on the train.

“I take it the fight went well, Yang?” Luna asked in the dreamscape, putting my own dream on pause.

“Yeah,” I answered. “It went very smoothly. He hit the Slowdown field, I beat him up, Twilight got information from him, and then he up and died. Kind of boring, for once. We’re going to rescue everyone he kidnapped."

"That is excellent to hear. I shall inform Celestia about this and have her organize some guards at the train station to help ensure order when the freed captives arrive."

“You do that. I’d like to return to my nap, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course.” A moment later, I was back in my dream, looking at clothes, clothes, and more clothes. It was all very fashionating.

A hoof gently shook me. “Wake up, Yang. We’re almost there.”

“Hmm?” I opened my eyes and saw Twilight there. “Alright.” After getting a yawn out and stretching, I felt my stomach growl. “How about we get a late lunch first? Can’t exactly do the rescuing on an empty stomach, right?”

“Let me see if Spike wants to join us after we get off. I’m sure he will, but he could be busy with something.”

“Couldn’t you just teleport from here to the castle?”

Twilight contemplated the question for a moment. “I could, yes, but it’s not really the right way to go about it, you know? Besides, I literally can't teleport you right now.”

“Yeah, I suppose I can see where things would get weird.” I'd also forgotten about the Hunter outfit's outright immunity to magic, which was a nice feature. "Any idea what you want?"

"Hmm. . . No, not really. I'll think about it."

Things were busy as usual at the Carne Den when I showed up. There were a number of ponies getting off the train that followed me there as well. Thankfully, they all went to the front entrance instead of following me to the back.

I had only been leaning against the shed for a few seconds when Twilight appeared in front of me with Spike. "So, how much convincing did it take?" I asked the Princess.

"Only one question," Twilight answered.

"It was a two word question," Spike explained. "And I already know what I want."

Lunch with Twilight and Spike was rather uneventful, but the food was good, as usual. Thankfully, we had some privacy by sitting out on the patio, which was empty because it wasn't Friday. Once we were done and I'd brought in all the dishes to be cleaned, we left to go rescue the kidnapped victims.

"You know, as important as this is, it just feels kind of. . . Dull, you know?" I noted as we walked through town.

"Yeah, it kind of does," Twilight agreed. "I'm sure the task of moving all of them will be a bit trickier, though. We'll have to set up a series of marker spells for everyone to follow. . ."

"Why not just teleport as many of them out as you can?" Spike suggested. "I can stay up top to show them the way to Ponyville, and the rest can walk out with you."

"That. . ." Twilight stopped walking as she mulled the idea over. "Spike, you know the way to the diamond dog tunnels, right?"

"Of course I do."

"I want you to take Yang there and talk to the dogs first. I'm going to see if I can organize something with the hospital for field medical services. We may have sick and injured victims to worry about."

Spike gave a sharp salute. "You got it, Twi." After she left to go do her thing, he led me along the path to the diamond dog tunnels. "Do you think the diamond dogs will remember you? It’s been a while since you’ve been in the area.”

I thought back to my one fight with them. It was one fueled and guided only by rage with no technique or skill. "I hope they do, and that they don't cause us any trouble because of that."

"Spike?"

"Yes, Yang?"

"Why are you getting a fishing rod that's stashed in a tree far away from any water?"

"Pinkie stashed it up here." Spike dropped the rod and a tackle box down to me before he jumped down as well.

"That answers even less!"

"There is no answer to Pinkie Pie," Spike said as he reclaimed the fishing gear and started walking again. "There probably never will be, and we'll all be safer that way. Anyways, this is for Diamond Dog Diplomacy Emergencies."

"She has things stashed for something that specific?"

"She has things stashed all over the place for all kinds of emergencies. Just don't think about it, and you'll be fine." After a couple minutes of walking, we came up to a diamond dog hole. Spike put a bone shaped gem on the end of the rod's line, which was very thick and brightly colored, and lowered it into the hole. "Now, we wait."

I sat down and waited with Spike. "So, anything interesting happening?"

"Not much, no. The disgraced nobles have been pleading for their titles and belongings back, and I'll admit, it's kind of fun to throw them out of court for that. The rest seem to have learned their lessons on obsessing over petty revenge and have dropped their campaign against you. Fancy and Fleur didn't learn anything, though."

"They didn't need to."

"No, they didn't."

The sound of paws scurrying up the tunnel ended the conversation, and a moment later, a diamond dog came out. "You want somethiiiinnnnnn. . . ?" His last word trailed off when he saw me.

Spike did the talking. "We have good information that there's a large number of foalnapping victims hidden in the tunnels under here."

"I swear, we didn't do anything!" the dog immediately pleaded.

"Never said you did. In fact, the guy who admitted to it has already been taken care of. All we want to do is find the victims and get them out. If you help us, we can negotiate some kind of payment."

The dog looked at me fearfully. "She's not going to hurt us, right?"

"Only if you provoke me," I calmly answered. "Leave my hair alone, and that will go a long way in your favor."

"I'll tell the pack." The dog disappeared down the hole a moment later.

I turned to Spike. "I guess I left a lasting impact on them, huh?"

"Yeah, you did." A look of realization came across Spike's face. "That was a pun, wasn't it?"

"Guilty as charged."

Twilight came back with a number of medical ponies, who immediately started setting up after the Princess joined Spike and me. “How did the talks go?”

“Pretty easily,” Spike said. “I told them the three ways it could go: help us, and payment can be negotiated. Stay out of the way, and nothing happens. Get in the way, and we have Yang.”

I held up a hand and said, “I didn’t agree to those terms, but I hope the Dogs never find out.”

“It looks like things will go smoothly. Are you ready to go down, Twi?”

A number of bright orange stakes and a very big roll of similarly colored ribbon appeared with a teleport. One stake got planted in the ground before the end of the ribbon was tied to it. “Ready.” At her cue, we jumped into the hole, confident that nothing would stop us.

We got stopped at a stone wall. “Umm. . .” I had no idea what to make of it. “You’re sure this is the right way, Twilight?”

“It was straight from his memories, so it can’t be wrong,” Twilight assured. “Did he set a barrier that would activate on his death?”

“Excuse me for a moment.” Spike left the group to go do something.

“Maybe he was able to alter his own memories when he knew he was about to die?” I suggested.

“Not with the Slowdown field,” Twilight countered. “Especially with how you, from his perspective, beat him up faster than the blink of an eye out of nowhere.”

“He had to have been hurting, but he still seemed to have it together towards the end.”

“I doubt that. Magic requires concentration, especially when it comes to the mind.”

Spike returned with a wary diamond dog, stopping the discussion. “Has this wall always been here? Nothing on the other side?”

The dog got his paws on the wall and started inspecting it. “Feels fine. Not hollow.”

“Huh. Well, thanks, big guy.” The dog walked off without another word.

“So maybe he did alter his memories. . .” Twilight mused again.

I went up to the wall to inspect it myself. “There had to be a reason, if he did alter his own memories that quickly, he’d go with this wall. But why?”

Suddenly, I felt music. “I CAME IN LIKE A WRECKING BALL!”

Something big and heavy suddenly slammed into my back and sent me through the wall, into a vast, well lit cavern, filled with lots and lots of ponies. “Ow. . .”

“Pinkie!” Twilight nearly shouted.

“What?” Pinkie innocently asked.

“It’s Pinkie, don’t question it,” I thought to myself as I got to my feet. “Uh, hello, everyone. We’re here to get you out of here.” I looked back and saw Pinkie, sitting on a comically large wrecking ball, talking with Twilight. The wall was broken, pieces of it littering the floor.

“How did she get a wrecking ball?” a stallion asked me.

“It’s Pinkie Pie. Don’t question it. In fact, just don’t question anything she does. Twilight!”

“Yes, Yang?” Twilight ended the conversation and swept the rubble away with her magic.

“Do your thing, get the worst of them out of here. The ones who were here first are probably the most likely to-”

“I am aware of that,” Twilight politely interjected before getting to work.

Twilight was able to teleport most of the ponies out, and surprisingly few of them needed more medical attention than a bandage or two, though it wasn’t a stretch to say they all needed a good bath.

The ones that came with us, much more recently captured, didn’t put up a fuss as we went through the tunnels, Twilight collecting the stakes and ribbon along the way. The dogs didn’t help us as we left, but they didn’t get in our way either.

Finally, after multiple hours underground, we were back outside. The sun was already starting to go down, the shadows just starting to lengthen. “You got things from here, Twilight?” I asked.

Twilight looked around at everything that was going on for a moment before answering. “I’ve got it from here. You can go home if you want. Or you can stay here.”

“I’ll go home, then.” With a wave, I left the professionals to do their thing and started walking home.

As I was passing through town, my idle gaze wandered over to the spa. “Do I?” I checked my belt pouch and saw that it was empty. At that moment, I knew what I had to do and broke into a full run.

I got back to the spa with some time to spare before they would have closed, and was relaxing in the water while Aloe washed my hair. As she was working her magic, Lotus came in. “Miss Xiao Long?”

“Done already?”

“Unfortunately, I can’t clean your clothes. I can’t pick them up with my hooves.”

“Hm?” I tried to figure out why she wouldn’t have been able to clean my clothes before I realized what was going on. “Oh geez. Magic is how you can do stuff with your hooves, right?”

“Yes.”

“They’re unaffected by magic. Are they already wet?”

“No, they’re not.”

“I’ll clean them when I get home, then. What I wouldn’t do for a washing machine and dryer.”

Once I got home, I used the buckle to change to the clean and comfortable Path of Blossoms and flopped onto my bed. It was a busy day, and I was tired. The question of how the buckle worked on Hunter when other magic didn’t briefly crossed my mind before I dropped it and let myself zone out.

As a case of THE TRANQUILITY started to come over me, I decided to call it an early night and go to sleep once I was under the blankets. Peaceful sleep came swiftly after that.

Royal counseling

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It was another Sunday, and I woke up feeling like wearing something fancy for the day, and I was feeling a slight nip in the air too. It didn’t take long for me to figure out my plan for that, or to grab the appropriate dress, shoes, and light winter pieces.

After a nice, relaxing, scalding hot shower, during which I almost fell back asleep, it was time to dry off and get dressed. The first visible layer I put on was a pair of black thermal tights with lacy purple lines along the sides, followed by a similar long sleeve top. Both pieces were smooth and fit me perfectly; snug, comfortable, and warm. They were also thin enough that they didn’t get in the way of putting on Victory or the Ember Celica.

Once I was fully dressed, I looked at myself in the defogged mirror. “I look really good,” I said to myself. A moment later, I snapped out of the trance. “Come on, Yang. No time to admire yourself. You don’t have all day. Actually, you do, but you shouldn’t tell anyone.”

Finally, I left the bathroom and went downstairs to make my breakfast: an omelette with cheese and leftover burnt ends in it. As I was fixing it and some hash browns to my liking, I marvelled at the simple concept of leftover burnt ends. It was similar to the idea of too much bacon, enough firepower, buying only one thing at the grocery store, or ugly kittens: practically impossible (except for ugly kittens, which were straight up impossible).

As I took my breakfast the short way to the bar, I heard a knock on the front door. “Who could it be?” After setting the plate down back in the kitchen, I opened the door and saw Celestia standing there. “Hello, Celestia.”

“Good morning, Yang,” Celestia cordially responded. “May I come in?”

“Of course.” After Celestia came in, I closed the door. “Can I get you anything?”

The Solar Princess sniffed the air for a bit. “Whatever it is that smells so good. What is it?”

“I’ll make one for you. The seats at the bar are open.”

“Thanks.”

I quickly set to work on making another omelette and hash browns. As I did that, I realized that if I washed the used dishes myself, I would get my sleeves wet, which I didn’t want, even if I could flash dry them with my fire magic. During a free moment, I picked up a notepad, wrote out a little note/idea, folded it up, and put it under the right shoulder of my dress.

It didn’t take too long to make an omelette with the extra miraculous extra leftover burnt ends, and a serving of hash browns soon joined it on a plate. Once everything was good to go and taken care of, I took it and my serving out to my guest, the two of us on opposite sides of the bar. “So, what brings you out here, Celestia?”

“Honestly, I just want to talk to someone,” Celestia answered before taking a small bite of her omelette. “Mmmm, that’s good.” After swallowing, she continued. “I have some things I want to talk about and get out of my system, but I feel like anypony I talk to would try to appease and assuage more than help me. Even the royal counselors do that occasionally, not that I have the heart to tell them that.”

“Luna?”

“Too close for comfort, especially with her going through my older memories. You, on the other hoof, treat me like almost any other pony. You seem to put my royal status as a lower priority than, well, me, and I appreciate that."

"Hmm." I let the silence linger while we enjoyed our breakfast. After half of my omelette was gone, I picked the conversation back up. "What do you want to talk about?"

Celestia thought for a bit over another bite of omelette. "I'm not sure where to start, really."

"Is there anything that's bugging you or stressing you out? I'm sure it's not the nobles."

"Fancy and Fleur are finding candidates to fill in the gaps left by Twilight's call. As much as I want to get involved in the search, I'm afraid that would taint the process and results. Have you ever felt like you get too much respect, Yang? That everypony's walking on eggshells, lest they do something to invoke your wrath?"

"Honestly, no. At least not in Ponyville." I took a bite of hash browns to buy a moment to think. "Out of town, yeah, I guess, but I don't get out all that often. Mostly just when there's trouble to settle or something big going on."

"I just want to be treated normally, or at least with a little less respect. Certainly cut back on the grovelling at my hooves. Let a few eggshells get crushed from time to time. I can handle insults, threats, and messes. Is that too much to ask?"

"Hmm. You know what I think a good start would be?"

"What?"

I reached up to Celestia's head and plucked off the tiara. “Take the regalia off. Those are your work clothes, not your relaxation clothes.”

Celestia picked the tiara up and looked it over. “I forgot I even put this on today. Are you saying I work too much?”

“Maybe you do. Maybe Luna does too. Maybe you two could take both Sunday and Monday off together. Look into a hobby, or something.”

“That does sound nice. . .”

“Anything else bugging you? I’ll listen.”

Celestia didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she went back to her food, and I took that as my cue to finish mine as well. Even after she finished her meal, she was quiet. It wasn’t until I came back from putting the dirty dishes in the kitchen that she spoke again, her tone much more somber. “I’m worried. You’ve already beaten six of the evils Luna predicted. There’s three more sealed ones coming back soon and we don’t know anything about the last one. Not knowing anything is. . . How do you deal with it? Not knowing anything about these fights you’re going to be in?”

“You really want to know how I handle not knowing?” At Celestia’s nod, I continued. “I run the Carne Den. I take spa trips. I exercise. I practice with my magic. I have fun trying on clothes. That last one’s a more recent development.”

“Seriously, Yang.”

It was time to talk serious, as per request. “Celestia, I’ve gotten into multiple fights with no information ahead of time. I just deal with them as they happen, and I always hope that each fight is the last one. Maybe everything I do is a distraction from not knowing what’s coming up, but at least it’s better than worrying about not knowing what will happen.”

“What good does distraction do against not knowing? Before you showed up and got pulled into the meeting with the nobles the first time, I was unaware of their many abuses of rank, title, and power. I could have looked into what they were doing, but I was distracted, and didn’t notice any of it.”

“What was distracting you, then? The daily court sessions? Spending time with Luna? Reading legal stuff in your study? Staying in contact with your fellow leaders and other important people? Enjoying whatever drink you like after a long day? Sleep? Celestia, you’ve already got a lot going on, and Luna’s helping with what we don’t know.”

“Yang-”

I was feeling incensed and kept going. “There’s a lot I don’t know that I’d like to know too. I want to know what’s happening back on Earth. I want to know how my disappearance is affecting the family and friends I left behind. I want to know if there’s a way back, and what that might entail. I want to know a lot of things, Celestia, but those things I listed? I can only imagine and wonder what the answers could be. For all I know, the mere act of sending me here could have destroyed everything and there’s only eight instead of nine planets orbiting the sun now. I could spend weeks coming up with possibilities, but I don’t, because I know there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“These are MY memories, Yang. I should be able to remember them, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t remember them!”

“Then stop trying! If every attempt fails, and you know every attempt will fail, why are you still trying? We know that something hit your memories before they were created. Somehow. Just trust Luna to figure it out.”

“I don’t want her to tire herself out going through my memories.”

“Or do you just not want her in there?” Celestia stopped for a moment and I lowered my tone. “Celestia, you can’t and shouldn’t do everything. You make time to be with Luna as sisters, for her sake, right?” My wild guess yielded an affirmative nod. “Then let her help you. Let her do what she’s doing. She’s trying to find the information we need that’s been locked up in here.” I tapped the side of Celestia’s head to emphasize the point. “Just relax. Grab some bits, go out for a day on the town, forget about governing for a bit. The world won’t turn into a gibbering mess if you take some time for yourself.”

“I have responsibilities, Yang.”

“As long as you do what you need to do with the sun at the right time, I don’t think anybody will care. If they do, that’s their problem, not yours. If you’re worried about how it would look, think about where you are now: sitting at a bar in a closed restaurant, tiara off, and it’s not even noon. You’ve had an omelette with authentic leftover burnt ends in it. And it’s just the two of us here. Seriously. Just take some extra time off. The world’s not going to burn down because of that.”

“But what if it does?”

“Then deal with it if it does. Figure out what went wrong, and fix the problem.” I sighed and let my emotions cool down a bit. “You know, when I realized I was going to be a fill-in counselor for you, I imagined you laying down on my bed as I sat next to it with a clipboard. You would break down in tears over something, I would help you figure it out, we would exchange hugs, and things would be better.”

“And here we are, just talking it out at your bar.” A smile graced Celestia’s face. “Maybe I could have a nice, cozy bar built in the counselors’ offices, have them learn some bartending stuff, and do the counseling that way. I have enough bits of my own to pay for it all without dipping into any other funds, after all.”

“That’s the spirit, Celestia.”

For a while, we stayed there, talked castle renovation, and I made a light lunch for us as well. In addition to the bars for counseling use, other changes to make the place feel more comfortable came up. I kept myself out of the castle operation policy changes that she suggested, on the grounds that since I wasn’t there, I didn’t know what changes would work best or flop.

Finally, as things were dying down, it was time. “One more thing, Princess.” I pulled the paper out from my shoulder, unfolded it, wrote a few more things down, and gave it to Celestia. “Today’s services aren’t free.”

She scrutinized the ticket. “Food? Counselling? Interior design consultation? Pun delivery fees? Is this a joke?” she asked with clearly feigned outrage.

“Nope. As payment for services rendered, you will properly wash all the dirty dishes for me, and put them away.” I put on a smirk. “You wouldn’t want your image to be marred by skipping out on a bill at a restaurant, now would you?”

“Hmm. I concede.” After levitating all her regalia off of her and setting it on some empty stools, Celestia followed me to the kitchen. “You’ll have to forgive me if I’m a bit slow. It’s been, well, centuries since I’ve washed any dishes myself.”

“Just follow my directions, then.”

Celestia did a good job washing the dishes and putting them away. As I watched her work and find a rhythm, I saw her relax just a bit. It looked like she would have relaxed a bit more, were it not for the fact that she ran out of dishes to clean.

"That was surprisingly nice," Celestia noted after the dishes and utensils were put away. "May I do it again sometime?"

"You want to become a dish washer here?"

"It was. . . Relaxing. I only had to think about the dishes in front of me. Nothing about how one word could be taken out of context, or whether or not I'd have to have someone thrown out. I really liked it. Do you have any openings?"

"You're serious. You really want to do this?"

"I can disguise myself." With a flash of magic, Celestia turned into a normal looking white pegasus with a pink mane and tail, her cutie mark now bearing a few clouds. "Hi, I'm Sunny Skies. Can I apply for a job washing dishes on Mondays here?"

I looked at Celestia for a bit before answering. "Well, I don't know. You've got me in a confusing spot, Celestia. On one hand, you've found something relaxing to do. On the other hand, I don't know if that one's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"I can't have my dishwasher running off to take care of an emergency when it comes up. I already do that from time to time, and I want it to only be me."

Celestia gave a brief pout before flashing back to normal. "I suppose I can understand that."

As she started putting her regalia back on, I responded. "Are model kits a thing here? You could collect and build those if you wanted."

"I'll consider it. I suppose I'll take my leave, then. It's been a productive day, Yang. Thank you."

"I'll see you next time, then." We waved to each other before Celestia teleported away, and I went to the office. There were a few things I needed to take care of for the Carne Den that I didn't get to on Saturday night, thanks to an extended fashion break.

A bunch of nobles in one place

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After getting ready for another great day of work, I went to the office and checked the calendar. Some special guests had reserved the restaurant for the day, and they were of very high standing in my book.

When I heard the front door open up, I went out and saw Gilda there. “Hey, you ready for our special guests today?” I happily asked her.

“You’re sure we don’t need to look fancy or decorate the place for them?”

“She insisted that we don’t change the way we do things. Normal uniforms, normal charges, normal everything. Aside from the fact that the restaurant’s been reserved and there are going to be very important guests talking about very important things making very important decisions, it’s normal.”

A small smirk crossed Gilda’s beak. “And what, pray tell, is normal about any of this?”

I couldn’t help but smile at the playful question. “Just go do what you do to get the place ready.”

At 3:15, the guests started coming in. The first one came over to me while the rest, all clearly wealthy, politely streamed in. “Hello, Yang.”

“Hi, Fancy. You got everyone you wanted here?”

“I did. After today, I’m afraid you’ll need to start doing some expansions to the business floor of your abode.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yang, I could spend the whole day extolling the vast majority of my esteemed guests and what they do in and for the places they live in across the world. However, neither of us have the time for that.”

Fleur was the last one to come in, and she came straight to me. “You did make it clear to all your employees that we are to be treated like normal customers, right?”

“Yes, Fleur,” I answered with a small exasperated sigh. “I did that and cleared up all presumptions of decor and alternate fancy dress with everyone. Why were you so insistent on that?”

“Almost everywhere a herd of wealthy ponies go, special treatment comes up. I do not want that for this event. If any of them don’t like the way you and your staff treat normal ponies, that is their problem.”

I glanced over the herd that was already sitting and talking, and I recognized none of them. “I see you excluded a certain group of ponies.”

“This is a meeting of humble, hardworking nobles. You will find that none of them simply throw bits and good words at a problem and do nothing else about it. No, these esteemed ponies put themselves out there. Honest Counsel probably does the least materialistic work, and his financial advice may be hard to handle at times, but he knows his stuff, and has helped many ponies out of difficult monetary positions.”

Fancy put a forehoof on his wife’s withers. “Calm down, Fleur. I know you’re excited, but we have work to do here.” As she left, he turned to me. “She is right, though. I suggest you spend some time out of the kitchen and mingle a bit with everypony here. Connections are valuable, even if you’ve got everything going well.”

“Duly noted. We’ll get the menus out shortly.” Soon, I was back in the comfortable confines of the kitchen, along with everyone else working there. Part of me wanted to tell them to get to work on something, but I didn’t because there really was nothing to do but wait for orders to come in. Sauces were ready, vegetables were cut, everything was clean, and there was meat getting smoked outside. “I’m so proud of these guys.”

After nearly half an hour of waiting, the orders finally started coming in, and we pounced on the chance to do something. Salads, steaks, sandwiches, spuds, all of it was being prepared. Most of the ordered meat was smoked, so the back door was propped open to make it easier to go back and forth.

As the orders were put up at the serving window, the wait staff took them to the appropriate tables, and they were both quick and accurate. None of the plates or orders came back for any reason, and until the last one was out, it was a steady stream of delicious food going out to hungry ponies, which really was just like a normal day.

I stayed in the kitchen to help with cleanup and the occasional extra order. Most of the new orders were small meat orders, though there were a few sampler platters here and there. The humble nobles seemed much more willing to try meat than the disgraced Canterlot group, not that it was difficult. Overall, things were good.

After things calmed down, and while we were cleaning the kitchen, Fancy took a spot behind the bar, with Aegir's permission, and started talking. "I would like to start by thanking each and every one of you for taking the time out of your schedule to join us here, and I am glad to see everypony mingling. Not just business to business, but pony to pony. Some of you, and you know who you are, are replacing the nobles that Princess Twilight had to remove from power."

"Humble, hardworking nobles with legislative power." I thought about the idea for a fraction of a second. "I like the sound of that."

"I know this doesn't necessarily look like a humble meeting, what with all of us wealthy nobles gathered in one place and renting out the whole restaurant for this meeting, but it truly is. It's heartwarming to see a 100% response rate to the invitations I sent out. That being said, there is one humble noble that I, sadly, was actually unable to invite."

"Okay, I'm curious." I went over to the serving window and listened to Fancy's speech.

"She's only recently met the qualifications of the Noble title, but she's worked hard, and continues to work hard. She treats her employees well, and is not afraid to be right there with them, doing what it takes to make sure that every day at work is both productive and satisfactory."

"She sounds like a nice pony. I wonder why she couldn't be invited?"

"One admirable trait I find in this new Noble is how she refuses to use her power to take the easy way out of things or get her way with something, an act I will admit to have done on occasion, even this year. No, she gets her way through hard earned respect, a respect that she has not stopped building up, through all the obstacles that have come her way."

A dark gray earth pony mare with a pink bowtie that matched her eyes raised a forehoof and spoke up. "Excuse me, but could you enlighten us on who this Noble is? It sounds like she would fit in with us quite well."

"Ah, my apologies, Miss Philharmonica. The Noble I speak of is none other than Yang Xiao Long herself."

I did not imagine the record needle scratch that accompanied the shock on my face. "Wait, what?" I leaned out of the window and looked at Fancy. "Since when did that happen?"

"Not long ago, to be honest," Fancy answered without missing a beat. "If you have anything you feel should be added to the description, or something needs to be corrected, do speak up."

I thought fast and said the first thing that came to mind. "Well, I'm usually in the kitchen because, well, it's warmer and more comfortable in here. I do everything I can to stay in here during winter because the cold is, at best, very uncomfortable for me. I was nearly hospitalized when my hot water got sabotaged and turned frigid while I was taking a shower."

"I remember reading about that!" Someone from the back said. "Do you know what became of the ponies who did it?"

"The ones who did it run a place in Canterlot called Grill 32. I tried it once, and while I can afford it, it's still fancy and expensive. The food's good, and they're good ponies. As for the one who gave the order to make my hot water a liquid blizzard, I think he was removed."

"Sir Safehouse has been stripped of his power and wealth, yes," Fancy helpfully informed.

"Thank you, Fancy. Anyways, back to my Noble status. Lady Xiao Long. That actually doesn't sound bad. I like it." At the sound of Aegir clearing his throat, I got back on topic. "I guess I don't want to see my new status as a defining part of me. Sure, I'm stinking rich, but I'm still earning an hourly pay rate. The vast profits my team and I have brought in for the Carne Den are actually set aside in a separate account, to be used for irregular expenses like repairs, upgrades, or making sure everyone gets paid in full during a slow stretch. I haven't had to do that last one yet." The sound of knocking of the front door caught everyone's attention, and I was thankful for the distraction since I was out of words to ad lib. "I'll get that."

When I opened the door, I saw a dark red unicorn mare wearing a simple, yet somewhat fancy bright red dress and tastefully chosen saddlebags standing there. "May I come in, Miss Xiao Long?"

I felt like I'd seen the mare somewhere before. "Maybe. Who are you? You look vaguely familiar."

"Bloody Marey. I'm. . . One of the Canterlot Nobles Twilight didn't. . . Well, you know. Denaro Insanguinato, my cousin, wasn't so lucky."

The non-malicious, even remorseful posture, expression, and tone threw me off for a bit. "The Carne Den's been reserved, sorry." I looked back inside and made a decision. "But you know what, come in anyways. Let's see what happens."

"Thank you."

As soon as everyone saw Bloody Marey (who would even give a foal a name like that?), tension finally appeared in the room, and I immediately started trying to bring some calm. "Relax, everyone. She's not going to do anything."

"Miss Xiao Long?"

"It's Lady Xiao Long, actually," Fleur corrected with just a bit of an edge in her voice.

"Yes, Marey?" I disregarded the mistaken title since it wasn't worth getting upset over.

"I want to go into business with you."

Any glares that were still sent at her changed to confused looks. "Okay then. Business with me. That's quite a change of heart."

"I'm sure you don't trust me-"

I interrupted her spiel and gently pushed her along to the small side of the bar. "Aegir, one of whatever drink you think she needs."

"If you say so." The minotaur I often forgot was a changeling set to work on his honed craft.

As he did his thing, Marey sat down on the stool. "Thanks, but-"

"On the house," I firmly interjected as I switched places with Fancy. "It sounds like you have a story, so let's hear it."

After the drink, a regular beer, was set down in front of the sorrowful Noble, she started talking. "It started after the trial ended, and I had just gotten home. . ."

Bloody Marey's hoof falls, for the first time in a long time, were slow as she entered her Canterlot mansion. The echo of one hoof had time to vanish before the next one landed, "What now?" she thought as she passed the valuable art in her home, though she wouldn't have noticed or cared if it had all been tilted. "Xiao Long's effectively protected by the Princesses, and that's a barrier we couldn't get past with all of us, let alone our culled numbers."

The head butler, a unicorn, approached her. "Lady Marey, do you. . . Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Alistair," the Lady answered with no energy in her voice. "I'll have a pot of my favorite tea."

"Of course. How much honey would you like?"

"None, Alistair. I don't feel like having anything sweet right now."

"To your chambers, I presume?"

"Yes." As the butler left, Bloody Marey turned to the stairs and started going up them. A maid going down passed her, sparing a worried expression for her employer. Marey didn't notice the motion, she was so occupied with her own thoughts. "Denaro. How could you have let this happen to you? Gold Leaf. Why did you spill so easily? Blueblood. What did you miss in your plans?" Names and questions for each played across her mind.

When Marey got to her chambers, she looked around at all the valuables and opulence with a tired, jaded glance. "I can't enact my revenge anymore. Revenge. . . For what? A piece of paper and ink that would make 10 proof alcohol legal at all ages? Was that what it was?" The mare let her legs give out, and she fell to the floor, tears welling up. "What was I going to do if I did get my revenge? Make Xiao Long into my new cake maid? Is Cheesecake still here?" The weight of everything she had possibly missed out on started weighing on her mind.

The door, still ajar, was pushed a bit further open by Alistair, "Lady Marey, your tea is. . . Oh dear."

She didn't notice him. Her tears were flowing, but not accompanied with the sounds of crying. "We've been obsessing over her. Every day, a plan to strike her down, get her locked up, or killed. Denaro's assassins failed. Gold Leaf's plan unraveled." She didn't react to being picked up by the butler's magic. "Was there even a plan for what we would do once she was gone?" She didn't react to being gingerly placed in her canopy bed. "What am I going to do with Denaro?" She didn't react to the luxurious blankets being put over her prone form. "What am I going to do with myself?" She couldn't stop the embrace of a dreamless sleep from claiming her.

Bloody Marey woke up exhausted in the middle of the night. "Why am I in bed?" A more pressing matter made itself known, and she got up to take care of it. Along the way, the fact that she was still wearing her dress registered, and she took it off with practiced ease, dropping it on the floor.

After spending some contemplative minutes in the attached bathroom, she left and found her dress, right where she left it. Still contemplative, she picked the finely crafted article up in her forehooves and looked over its craftsmareship. "What's the point of it all?" Tossing the dress aside, she found the pot of tea and a teacup. The pot was warm, a sign of a well crafted bit of magic to keep the tea from getting cold.

Forgoing the provided cup, Bloody Marey did a very unladylike and very unnoblelike thing: she took the lid off and started chugging the pricey drink. It was bitter, bit still tasted good, even without honey. “Have I been deluding myself? Was Xiao Long really that bad?” She started walking around her chambers aimlessly, losing herself in deeper and deeper thoughts, provoked only by simple questions she was asking herself.

After nearly an hour of walking and pacing, she collapsed back onto her bed, one question searing her consciousness as the dreamless sleep reclaimed her. "Have I been one of the monsters all along?"

A few days later, after a long confrontation with reality and the severity of what she had been doing for well over a year, Bloody Marey was finally out of her chambers and was wandering around her mansion. She noticed that the usual hustle and bustle that she had seen for years wasn't quite as present as it once was. Sure, there was a maid or butler here and there, but there weren't nearly as many.

One maid in particular caught the Noble's attention. "Cheesecake?"

The light cream colored mare turned at the mention of her name. "Yes, Lady Marey?" If years of training didn't get her to pay attention to her employer, the fact that said employer wasn't wearing anything for once certainly did.

Bloody Marey didn't say anything. Instead, she just pulled the cake maid into a hug and began crying. "I'm so sorry for how I've been acting!"

Cheesecake, not expecting the move and not knowing what to do, slowly reached up and returned the hug. "There, there. . ." Marey calmed down just a bit from the motion, and when Cheesecake started rocking side to side, she calmed down some more, though she was still distraught with grief.

After some minutes of this and the odd glances from the other maids and Alistair, Cheesecake broke the hug. "Is there something you'd like to talk about?"

Marey took a few seconds to collect herself before answering. "Cheesecake, can you be honest with me? I have some questions."

"O-of course, Lady Marey."

"Where is everypony?"

"Welllllll, a little over half of the staff has left during the past year."

"Why did they leave?"

"They all said something along the lines of how you started getting a scary look on your face more often than not, your anger making them feel like they were walking on eggshells all the time, and-" Cheesecake trailed off a bit.

Bloody Marey didn't care that the answer was incomplete. The growing look of fear on her cake maid's face told her everything. "I really did become a monster, didn't I?"

"Maybe just a bit?"

"Don't sugarcoat it, Cheesecake. I've been obsessing over something so petty for so long, and now. . . Now I don't know what to do. Cheesecake, what do I do?"

Cheesecake, now fearing less for her safety and job, gave a bold answer. "How about you go talk with Yang Xiao Long?"

"How did you know it was about her?"

"You and your friends were being as subtle as your coat in a snowdrift."

Marey glanced at her fur for a moment. "I suppose so. Have you. . . Heard the news?"

"You mean Princess Twilight tearing into almost half of the Nobles and stripping them of everything, including your cousin?"

"You have, then. Do you think Yang hates me?"

Cheesecake shrugged. "I don't know. You didn't do anything to her, right?" Bloody Marey shook her head No. "Then she'll probably be willing to hear you out."

"But what do I say?" The Noble Lady's stomach decided to voice itself right there, and loudly.

"Let's start with some cake."

After a meal made of healthy cake and followed up with a slice of cheesecake, Marey decided to look around her mansion. So often, she and her fellow Nobles had gone to the same rooms, she'd forgotten about the rest of the place.

A game room, doors open and staff inside, chatting and enjoying themselves. She would not disturb them this day, even if they were on the clock.

An art hall, with paintings and artifacts that were hundreds of years old. All of them had display placards telling a story about the piece in question.

A trophy room full of trophies, and Marey had no clue about the history behind any of them. If nothing else, they were all shiny and looked great.

A gym for those who felt inclined to exercise or work out some stress. There was a lot of dust on everything there.

A bar. Marey found herself drawn further into the dim, cozy, and elegant room. The cushions built into every booth were soft, comfortable, and had worn gracefully over the years. Every table was polished to where they were shining, even in the low light atmosphere.

Her exploration came to an end behind the fully and freshly stocked bar. Either her arrival was predicted, or the bar saw regular use, and she was much more inclined to believe the latter. It didn't take long for her to start going through old motions that she hadn't used in ages. Tomato juice and vodka went together in what she knew was an ideal ratio. A bit of a sauce she never could pronounce, followed by a bit of a mild hot sauce. A few drops of lime juice, and a few more of lemon. Salt, pepper, perfectly cut celery, three olives on a toothpick, and a couple more ingredients to round it all off.

As soon as she set the completed drink on the bar, she heard a single pair of clapping hooves. "Excellent show, my Lady," Alistair said from the doorway. "I don't know how long it's been since I've seen you move so. . . Naturally. Certainly well over a year."

"Yes, it has been a while, hasn't it?" Marey picked up the drink she had made and gently swirled it around. "I feel. . . Free. Unencumbered. Lighter."

"A heavy weight off your back?"

"Yes, that! I want to make things simple again. I want to put all my hatred behind me and move on. I just don't know how to do it."

Alistair sat down at the bar across from his employer of many years. His horn lit up and a container floated from behind the bar and onto the countertop. The hollow sound it made indicated it was empty. “You could start with this.”

Marey picked the container up with her magic and turned it around so she could see the label. It was something she had completely forgotten about: a powder she had come up with so many years ago for the drink that was her namesake. Mix with vodka, add garnishes, and serve. She knew it was empty, but she opened it up anyways. The inside was coated with a red, spicy tomato smelling powder. “How long has this been empty?”

“That container’s been empty for over six months. It’s the last one we had.”

“Why isn’t there more?”

“We lost the most important pony in its production. But it looks like she’s back.”

An idea started forming in Bloody Marey’s mind. It was one of diplomacy, starting with a peace offering, and hopefully, a good business venture. Work had been found, along with a spark of hope.

I thought through Bloody Marey's story a few times after she finished. It was a heartwarming story, one of inflection and realization. "So basically, you did some soul searching and found it mixing up a drink behind a bar?"

She flipped and slammed a forehoof on the counter. "I didn't come all this way to tell you that story just so you could make a lame pun out of it!" One relaxing breath later, she added, "Even if it is a good description of what happened."

“Sorry, sorry. Still, that was a very nice story.”

“I suppose it is. I want to make an offer to you, right here and right now, in front of everypony."

"You did mention a business thing earlier."

Bloody Marey's horn lit up and a few containers floated out of her saddlebags before landing on the counter. "This is the mix from the story. Scoop some out, mix it with vodka, add the garnishes, and you have a quick and easy Bloody Marey. As the next step of my. . . Recovery, I've decided to give you a two month trial of this for free, with only one caveat."

"And what would that be?"

"Don't tell your customers that I'm the one providing the mix."

I quirked an eyebrow at her. "And what's the reason behind that?"

"I want the drink to stand on its own merits, and not to be associated with me. Not until I'm ready to let that fact out."

"But your name-"

"I know my name is the same as the drink! Just, don't tell anypony, okay?"

I turned to the bartender. "Aegir?"

"I can keep that tidbit quiet, but I can't stop anyone from drawing their own conclusions," Aegir said as he picked up the container and started reading the directions printed on the back.

"I'll let Fuzz and Doodle know about this development," I said before turning back to the reforming Noble. "You have yourself a deal." As we shook hand and hoof, I asked a question. "So how much will it be per container once the trial period's over?"

"That's. . . I was so focused on the offer that I didn't think about that," Bloody Marey admitted, earning a few chuckles from the rest of the crowd.

"You've got a couple months to think about it." I let go of her hoof and started to leave before another thought crossed my mind. "Of course, if it turns out to be really popular, I will ask for that rate a bit earlier. I don't want a provider to go out of business because of a free trial, after all. That wouldn't do me much good either, you know?"

"O-of course, Miss Xiao Long."

"Lady Xiao Long," Fleur corrected.

"Hush, you," I said with just enough force to make it clear that I didn't care whether the proper title was used or not. Once Fleur was sitting back down, I turned to the rest of the audience. "So, does anyone else have any business proposals for me?"

I wound up getting a few offers from some of the humble Nobles on construction and expansion of the Carne Den, including the idea of a balcony for the second floor, with adequate soundproofing so that merely walking up there wouldn't be heard in the dining area. It soon turned into a minor argument, which I was able to quell by suggesting they collaborate and share their ideas.

There were also some offers on seasoning and spices, some that I'd never heard of before, and similar free trials were offered. I only took a few of the offers and turned down others. I already had local providers for some of the offered items, and I stuck with them.

As I continued mingling, I kept an eye on Bloody Marey. She seemed to be doing well, earning some respect here and there from what I could see. "Even these humble Nobles can have some stinginess, it seems. At least they're willing to listen and talk."

Eventually, something happened. I noticed it when I was walking past the bar and saw Marey there, her mug of beer down only a bit and a medium steak in front of her with a side of fries. “This is more fascinating than it has any right to be.” Slowly, she cut into the steak, looking at it very warily. The expression wasn’t an uncommon one, from what I’d seen and what the wait staff had told me about.

I was definitely probably the only one feeling any kind of suspense as I watched her take a bite of the steak and chew it. I knew it wouldn’t affect the deal I’d cut with her at all, but it felt like she could revoke it if she didn’t like the steak.

My worry melted away as I saw her eat more of the steak, and I approached at that moment. “So, what do you think of the steak?”

“I’m still wrapping my mind around the differences between Equestrian and Griffonian cattle, but regardless of that, it’s pretty good,” Bloody Marey said after she tried a fry. “Is this something commoners have here? Steak, fries, and beer?”

“I have no idea how many times that combination’s been had here,” I answered as I sat down next to her. “It sounds like you’re fascinated by it, though.”

“It’s just so. . . Simple. There’s no decor, nothing artistic, no flair at all in the presentation. It’s just there.”

“We just make good food here. Sure, we have sauces, condiments, and other things you can put on your food, but the best garnish you can have with any meal, and this is true anywhere, is a friend to share the meal with.”

Marey gave me a flat look. “That has to be one of the corniest, cheesiest things I’ve ever heard about food. At least you said it in a tasteful manner.” At my growing grin, the flat look was replaced with a facehoof. “You’ve infected me with your puns!” I couldn’t help but laugh at her exasperation.

It took me a minute to recover and catch my breath. “Sorry, sorry. Oh, that was just-” I was going to say something intelligent, then Aegir put a small bowl of cheesy corn in front of Marey. I was able to hold in the laughter for almost five seconds before it escaped and I fell backwards. Even if I didn’t have my aura, the fall wouldn’t have stopped the laughter that was cascading out of me.

“She’s infected you, hasn’t she?” Marey asked Aegir.

“Work around her long enough, and it happens,” Aegir said. “Really, the puntential was just too great to pass up.”

“Why you!”

The gathering lasted well past sundown, more puns were made at Marey’s expense, and there was lots of laughter. At some point, the kitchen staff leaked out and started mingling with everyone there, all thoughts of food forgotten amidst full bellies and stories from those who had come from around the world to work for me. Asada even found her way into the crowd, and after the staff showed how friendly she was, she was soon receiving all kinds of affection.

I found myself with Fancy and Fleur next to the door to my office, watching everything happen. “So, did it go as you’d hoped, you two?” I asked the ponies.

“Not quite as I’d expected it to,” Fleur said. “But all things considered, I don’t think we could have asked for anything better.”

“We certainly weren’t expecting Bloody Marey to show up,” Fancy added. “But with her story, and everything she’s done here, I’m almost willing to say she’s reformed herself for the better.”

“Almost?” I asked.

“She’s still on the council, just as we are. How she acts there will help paint a more complete picture, and I’m looking forward to it, good or bad. What’s really impressive is that she’s done this almost entirely on her own. I’m sure she had some help amongst her servants. She certainly did in her story.”

I nodded in agreement and looked back over the crowd, finding the Noble in question. She seemed to be enjoying the company of her fellow Nobles, and didn't seem like the snob she used to be, even with very little for me to look back on. "I wonder how the disgraced ones are doing?"

Gold Leaf, frowning as she had been for quite a while, worked over a stove, preparing part of a large meal at the new Baltimare Orphanage, built on the same spot as the one she had burned down before. She was not happy about her new job, taking care of the orphans day in and day out.

She did not like foals, and the very idea of having one or more of her own sickened her. They were loud, messy, and took too much time out of her life. She wanted to be somewhere else, somewhere nicer. She wanted to wear one of her fancy dresses, but they had all been sold, bought by a white unicorn from Ponyville, at discount.

Of course, she would have gone somewhere else, but Celestia had decided to intervene very quickly and put her at the orphanage by royal decree. The staff worked with her, but it was clear she was at the bottom of the pecking order. Most of the foals didn't like her either. Only one of them, the Yang fanfilly, the one who should have had the biggest grudge and the most reason to hate her, showed her any respect, a fact that drove Gold Leaf mad. It. Made. No. Sense.

"Hey, move it, ya slowpoke!" the construction manager told his newest, and most stubborn employee. "That lumber isn't going to move itself to the second floor!"

The employee in question, Safehouse, sighed. "Yes, sir." The unicorn lifted a third of the stack of wood with his magic and started the trek from the delivery site to the worksite, under the Appleloosa sun. Every day was a long one, from both the work and the heat. "Why can't we build at night?"

"One spilled lantern, and the whole thing goes up in flames. We also can't afford to hire unicorns to just stand around with light spells, and this is a quiet town at night. I will do everything I can to make sure it stays that way so we can sell this more easily. Got it?"

"Yes, sir."

Primrose smiled at the plants she finished watering and feeding. She'd found a flower shop with its own greenhouse, and was quickly proving to be a valuable asset to the place. The place, Greeny's Garden, located in Los Pegasus, was on a downward trajectory when she arrived. It was still going down, but Primrose's efforts had slowed the slide somewhat, which would give Greeny a bit more time, time she could use to continue working on the plants.

The former Noble wasn't making a single bit off of her efforts, thanks to a deal she'd made with Greeny for room and board. Still, the vegetables were starting out healthy, and the flowers were becoming more vivid, so more were selling and that made her feel good.

"How's your project doing?" Greeny, the earth pony mare who made the place, asked her employee.

"It's coming along nicely," Primrose reported. "I'll see if I can find something to make a sign out of before we try selling the vegetables."

"I hope your idea works. Otherwise, we're both going down. Got it?"

"Y-yes, ma'am." Primrose wouldn't admit it, but when Greeny got serious, she looked downright scary.

At least it was easy enough to bring back the relaxed smile. "I'm glad to hear that. You know, it really looks like you're getting back to your roots with how easily you've taken to this."

". . . Was that a pun?"

Greeny put on an innocent expression. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Vinyl Scratch opened the front door of what used to be her marefriend's father's mansion in Canterlot. Octavia had gotten it, everything in it, and the staff that worked there after talking with Luna.

On the front porch was a stallion, one she recognized from pictures and stories. "Mr. Tune," she flatly greeted.

"Miss Scratch," Classical Tune responded in kind. "Do you know where Octavia is?"

"She got invited to a thing in Ponyville. Why are you here?"

"I found a job, and she's going to let me stay here now."

Vinyl lowered her shades and gave the stallion a scrutinizing stare. "I don't remember her saying anything about this, and I really don't trust you, but I'll let you in and she can straighten this out. Make yourself comfortable, do whatever, but don't go to our room."

Classical Tune entered and voiced a question he suspected he already knew the answer to. "Which room is yours?"

"It used to be yours," Vinyl answered as she closed the door. "But trust me, you're better off not seeing what we've done to the place."

The smirk he saw on the white unicorn's face filled him with dread. The thought of his daughter doing. . . Intimate things with the rough cut and wild mare in front of him were disgusting. Visions of them doing the thing with each other, rolling around, and making a huge disgusting mess out of the room swam through his mind.

Vinyl, instead of explaining anything, just left him to stew in his own thoughts, whatever they may have been. She would not tell him about the small orchestra pit, where ponies would play classical music until he fell asleep, being replaced with a Neighponese style hot tub, complete with proper decorative vegetation and landscaping, at least in a form that was more suitable to an indoor version. The rich reds that dominated the room were being replaced with calmer, more soothing blues, broken up here and there with a curvy spot of soft pink and a bright bolt of neon blue. There were many other changes going on as well.

The two construction ponies they hired were good, but since they were only available to work in the mornings, progress had been slow and the room was a mess, so the mares were sleeping in another room, but Classical Tune didn't need to know any of that. Vinyl wanted it to be done already so she could have a cuddlebath (and no further than cuddles. At first) with Octavia, but was happy she was able to mess with her marefriend's father.

Blueblood had moved back in with his parents since he didn’t have anything he could do, causing most of his pride to go on strike and leave. Humiliation and defeat were quick to take the void, especially considering how his mother was acting. It wasn’t like the stories he’d heard his father tell about how happy she was after he was born, thankfully. No, it was more like she was putting him back through his late teens again.

It didn’t take long for him to remember why he’d left for the Canterlot Castle at such an age, and why he didn’t talk about his family. “Bluey, your SuperColt comic’s here~”

“No thank you, mother!” Needless to say, Blueblood was not a happy stallion.

“We could find out if you’d like,” Fancy offered.

“Nah. As nice as it would be, it’s not worth the effort or the bits.” I looked at the clock and saw that it was already past eight. “I think we’ll be closing early tonight, once everyone’s gone. No pressure at all, you’re all welcome to stay as long as you want. As for me-” I looked towards the stairs and up a bit. “I think I’ll dress up a bit and let my staff take over. They’ve proven their ability to work without me while I was stuck in Appleloosa, so this will be a cakewalk for them.”

“I want to see your selection,” Fleur said as she followed me. “I’m sure it’s all one of a kind.”

“Well, you’re not wrong. . .” As the only human on the whole planet, and being in possession of clothing, it went without saying that my collection was unique. “I wonder if Rarity would make a second Flamebow with white on the right and black on the left? Maybe frame my figure in fire? No, that would defeat the name. . .”

“You’ve named your dresses and ensembles?” Fleur asked after I showed her the collection of clothes I had, and demonstrated the buckle with Path of Blossoms.

“Not all of them. It makes it easier for me to keep track of them. It’s like how an artist names their works, like that fountain on my desk. It’s called Pierce the Heavens, and I like it.” The spiralling water, no matter how many times I saw it, was fascinating.

“I think naming your dresses is silly, but it’s not my place to tell you not to do it. Then again, it does have a certain appeal. There’s one dress I had, back when Fancy and I were dating. It was a small black one with a curvy white stripe along each side, designed to match my figure. Kind of a. . . reverse outline, I suppose? The first name that comes to mind is ‘Classic’, considering my history with it.” I quickly wrote down the description that Fleur gave me. I wanted a dress like that and I was sure that Rarity wouldn’t turn down such an offer, especially since it would be the first one I ordered as a Noble. “Is everything alright, Yang?”

I looked up from my quick sketch. “Oh, yeah. Couldn’t be better.”

“You seem a bit. . . obsessed with the dress.”

“Wha~at? Nah, no way. Why would you think that?” My paper was soon in her magic and floating next to her. “Umm. . .”

“I hate sounding like a stallion, but how many of these named dresses and ensembles have you actually worn?”

“All of them, and the unnamed ones too.”

“For more than five minutes each?”

“Yes.”

“An hour?”

“At the least.”

“In town?”

“Not often. I mostly wear Burning Time if I feel like wearing a dress in town.”

“I see.” Fleur seemed to consider the conversation for a moment before giving a different topic. “Don’t you think Spring colors are a bit out of season?”

I looked at Path of Blossoms and considered her point. “I’ll have to get Rarity to make one of these for each season.”

“Yang, I think you have an unhealthy obsession with dresses, and this is coming from a trendsetting model who’s spent years cultivating the look you see before you. Why do you think you might have such an interest?”

I considered Fleur’s words for a bit, looking between her and the array of dresses and other feminine clothes. “Can you keep a secret?”

“Of course.”

I took a breath and calmed my nerves before revealing my past as a male. My scrawniness, physical weakness, how the girls always came to my rescue, how I gravitated towards them, and the cycle that started from that. Then there was my nervousness and discomfort when I wore Victory to the Entrepreneur Award ceremony, and the time I spent in Appleloosa, where I didn’t have much of a choice in what to wear, likely where the fascination started from.

“Well, that’s interesting. I will, of course, keep your secret safe.”

“Thanks, Fleur.”

“Now, I’m not a psychologist, but I am pretty smart, and think what’s happening is that you are indulging in what you’ve long considered to be taboo, something you cannot and should not do. That is, of course, if my presumption of your clothing norms is similar to ours.”

“Nobody goes around without clothes where I’m from, but for the most part, you’re right.” I sighed and looked at the collection again. “I’m not going to give any of those up.”

“And that’s fine. On the bright side, you know what’s going on now. Now switch to a nicer dress and let’s go back downstairs.”

“If you say so.” I used the buckle to switch to Victory before following Fleur back downstairs to talk with the humble Nobles and end the day.

Fast Friday

View Online

I opened the door to the Carousel Boutique and saw Rarity tending to a display. "Just a moment, dear," she nicely said as she finished up her spot of detail work. "There we go. Now then-" she turned around and saw me. "-How may I help you, Yang?"

"Could you make some new dresses for me? I want some more." I tapped the small chest of bits I brought in, just to be safe.

Rarity sheepishly answered and looked away. "Ah, well, you see, Fleur Dee Lis came by earlier this week and asked me not to make any new dresses for you for a couple months."

"What? Why?"

"She said something about a, ah, bad habit, or something like that? You have a lot of dresses already, made almost entirely by me, no less. It's not that I don't appreciate the business, far from it, but I'm getting concerned for you, Yang. As of now, barring any special occasions, I will not make any new dresses or outfits for you."

"But, but, I have bits." I held the chest out and opened it so Rarity could see the coinage inside.

The fashionista took a calming breath. "And I want those, too. But, I must stand firm on this. I'll still do repair and maintenance work on anything you bring me, and I'll still sell you small accessories, but I won't make anything new for you."

I closed the chest and held it close. "Nothing new?"

"Nothing new. Yang, you should see about getting a hobby, something not related to dresses, and not related to the Carne Den. Don't you have a workshop in your shed? Maybe you could build something there, or clear out some of the forest and start a small garden, or go out and practice your magic skills. You have options, Yang. Just get out and do something else."

"Alright, I'll give it some thought." With a dejected sigh, I left the boutique and drove off, letting my thoughts wander as I went around the parts of Ponyville that had less hoof traffic.

After I parked Bumblebee and picked up the chest full of bits, I looked around the shed. All kinds of tools were along the walls. Saws, hammers, drills, clamps, vises, just sitting around and gathering dust. "I really should clean this up. Maybe. . . Maybe I could make a dress display?" I glanced down at my chest for a moment. "Nah, I'd need to carve the right shape and I'm not that skilled. Maybe later."

When I finished contemplating what I could do, I left the shed and went inside. With my morning errand done, I took the bits back upstairs, changed to my work clothes, and started getting ready for another Friday. Standing behind the grill was always relaxing, and not just because of the heat. "Maybe it's because it keeps me busy? The same can be said for the kitchen. Just staying busy. Too much energy, not enough internet. Busy busy busy. I wonder how Shamrock's doing?" The griffon was at the back of my mind as I went through the mail and did some prep work for the day. It wasn't distracting, but it was there.

"Hello, Yang."

"Good afternoon, Twilight. What'll it be?"

"A bacon and cheese sandwich, please."

"Six bits."

After the coins went into the jar, Twilight produced out a scroll. "I talked to Discord yesterday to see if he knew anything about the Hunter."

"It wasn't much of a fight against him."

"Pinkie called it a 'lazy two page beatdown'. Her exact words. Anyways, I got some information out of him that you may find useful. No pressure, just read it when you feel like it."

I accepted the scroll and set it under the grill. "I'll be sure to look at it tonight." Moments later, I had the ingredients for Twilight's sandwich on the grill, adding the pleasant aroma of bacon to the air.

After the closing paperwork was done and everybody went home, I opened the scroll to see what it had to say.

Dear Yang,
As I told you, I spoke with Discord about the Hunter, who referred to him as his older brother. He recognized the weapons you collected (I didn't show him the actual ones you kept, just illusory replicas), and. . . Let's just say Discord didn't have many nice things to say about him.
When I asked about his father, Discord seemed very confused. He doesn't remember having one, though he does remember the Hunter. I think whatever or whoever messed with Celestia's memories probably did the same with Discord. It would explain why he has no memory of this Za-something entity.
I know it isn't much, but we now know that there's another source of information besides Celestia. That being said, I advised Luna not to delve into Discord's dreams. I'm sure she would be fine if she did, but, well, it's Discord. Chaos magic and all that. Personally, I have a feeling that this entity is one of the sealed ones, and you will have to fight him at some point.
Sincerely, Twilight.

"Discord's father. Well, that'll be a fun family reunion. Maybe I could talk them into making peace over barbecue. He's probably not as nice as Shamrock if he had to be sealed, though. I wonder how he's doing?"

Near a modest house on one of the Griffon Empire's shores, a sleeping griffon sneezed, sending a small pile of sawdust flying. Waking up, he looked around, groaned, and got to his feet. "I fell asleep working on the ship again. At least she's almost done. Just hold on a bit longer, Yang."

"I'll give him a big steak when he comes back. And a barbecue baked potato with burnt ends. No, that's just more of the same. Chicken would be boring. Bacon! A potato loaded with bacon strips! It'll be perfect. I hope he sends a letter ahead of time." I started losing myself to my thoughts as they focused on him, and the things I would do with him.

It was when my thoughts started going towards the gutter, and possibly even the downspout, that I pulled myself out of the fantasy and back to reality. "Focus, Yang. The emotions and feelings are okay, and so is cuddling, and dressing up to look pretty for him, but avoid intimacy." There was an unspoken 'for now' that hung in the air after the statement. "My life story is weird."

How it could have been: Arrival

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What if it was Ruby as Ruby?

Ruby crashed through one of the stained glass windows of Canterlot Castle, and landed gracelessly in the middle of Blueblood's presentation on the public benefits of increased taxes. A moment later, she'd bounced off the floor and towards a column. After that, another bounce, and soon, she was bouncing around the courtroom, heedless of Crescent Rose impaling itself in the solid marble floor, a large magazine case making a crater next to it, or Blueblood screaming and running away like a little filly.

Celestia, unbothered by the turn of events, took a dainty sip of her peppermint tea, draining the whole teacup. She made a note to. . . Repurpose some of Luna's heftier coffee mugs. After setting the note down, she calmly reached out with her magic and stopped the red and black clad ballistic girl, upside down and mere feet from hitting her head on. She even held the skirt in place because she was Celestia and she was nice like that. "Pardon me. . . Miss, I presume?"

"Uh huh?" Ruby's answer was only a little more graceful than her landing.

"As glad as I am for the break from my nephew's long-winded short-sightedness, I cannot allow this interruption to court go unpunished."

"Whaaat?"

"Unfortunately, I am unable to appropriately do this, as you're clearly new here, and I must tend to other tasks. Raven?"

"Yes, Princess?" The assistant dutifully asked.

"Please take our guest to the dining hall. You may use the confinement field on her at a booth. See to it that she gets a good meal."

As Ruby was gently lowered onto Raven's back, the human girl, dizzy and dazed, passed out. The assistant, without a word, left to fulfill her orders. "I don't like carrying anyone like this. At least she's being easy on me."

While Raven was going about her task, Celestia repaired the courtroom, starting with the window and working her way in towards the middle. There stood the scythe, one unlike any she'd seen before, and the case. The case was heavy, but moving it and repairing the floor was trivial. The scythe, meanwhile, did nothing. No matter how much she tried, she could not get her magic to hold it. "I suppose it'll have to wait there for now." With a flash of her horn, Celestia teleported away.

Ruby woke up with a groan. She could tell that she was sitting on a comfortable seat, and it felt like she'd been playing pinball, but as the ball. "What happened?" She eventually asked as she opened her eyes.

Across from her was a sight she never could have imagined: a dark blue winged unicorn with a look on its face that screamed, "You woke me up for this?" On the table, right in front of the winged unicorn, was a big mug that said "#1 Bestest Sister Evah," and based on the smell, it had coffee in it. Very strong coffee. To Ruby's left was an odd, glowing wall. To the right was a more normal stone wall.

"What's going on?" Ruby got around to asking.

"Ah, you're awake," Luna observed. Her horn lit up with a silvery blue light and a glass of water, surrounded by a similar glow, began floating. "Here, have a drink." Ruby reached out and accepted the glass, the glow soon dissipating. Suddenly feeling very thirsty, she brought the glass up to her lips and greedily drank the refreshing liquid. Once it was empty, the glass floated back to the other side. "Feeling better?"

"A little. Where am I? Is this a dream?"

"I assure you, it is not a dream. You are currently at the Canterlot Castle dining hall, and I'm here to determine whether or not you're the subject of a recent vision of mine."

What if it was Miranda as Weiss?

"This proposal is ridiculous," Miranda said after making a clean landing with a glyph she had somehow summoned on reflex. The stained glass window hadn't been so fortunate, though. "Tax increases hurt productivity across the board, and even those who would benefit from them will eventually be hurt once the money stops flowing in. Lower taxes make people more willing to produce and spend, and that increased spending is what brings in more money."

"But-" the blonde unicorn stallion in front of Miranda said.

"If you think that the public's spending habits won't change just because of changes in the tax rates, you are sorely mistaken. You're rich, right?"

"Of course I am."

"Surely, you wouldn't want to lose more money than you already are to taxes, right?"

"I don't pay taxes, since I am a noble and reside at this castle."

Miranda went over to Blueblood's presentation and, with exemplary grace and precision, slashed it to pieces. With it destroyed, the noble couldn't help but run away.

"Very well done," Celestia said, sounding more like a teacher than a leader.

"Thank you. Now, why are you a horse, why was he a horse, and what's going on here?"

"Hark, is that a voice of sensibility I hear?" Luna dramatically asked as she entered the courtroom, slamming the doors open. The lunar Princess took in what little sight there was to see: Celestia, Miranda, a destroyed presentation, and the faint, likely imaginary scent of Blueblood tears. "Celestia, I will make her my protege!"

"Luna, it's not that simple," Celestia pointed out.

"Nay, it is that simple. Come, new student of mine!" Luna's horn lit up and Miranda was soon flying out the door.

"What's going on here?"

"Relax. I'll tell you everything I can in a way that you'll be able to easily understand."

"How will this help?" Miranda asked from Luna's gentle grasp in the big, comfy bed. Luna was also a comfortable and comforting presence, in spite of the fact that she was a strange, and apparently very silly horse.

"I am tired, and need sleep. We can talk in your dreams."

Not seeing any way out and feeling incredibly comfortable, it didn't take long for Miranda to fall asleep.

What if it was Ally as Blake?

"This is both demeaning and oddly comforting," Ally said as Fluttershy, somehow, expertly scratched a soft spot between her new cat ears with a hoof. "I'm not sure what to think."

"Ummm. . . Sorry?" Fluttershy had no idea what to do with the mixed statement. On one hoof, she knew she should stop since Ally was feeling that way about it, but at the same time, it was comforting, and that was something to continue, to an extent. "Should I stop?"

". . . Maybe in a minute."

What if it was Sandra as Yang?

Sandra's fall from the sky came to an end when she crashed into a tree. Really, it was more of a diving kick, and the tree was already dead and rotting, so it fell apart. The landing wasn't perfect, but at least she was able to stay on her feet. "Haha! Whoo! That was awesome!"

A number of growls came out of the woods around her, and a pack of wooden wolves surrounded her. Feeling confident and powerful, Sandra put up her fists and got ready to fight. "Come on, you walking Christmas tree rejects!"

Sandra, exhausted and dirty from the fight, collapsed on the front porch of a wooden house in the middle of an apple orchard. All she had to do was wait for someone to show up. "I'm sure they'll let me in. I don't know how they'll take the-"

"Ah don't know what it was, Mac, but somethin' turned those timberwolves into kindling, and Ah'm not comfortable knowing that something that can do that is lurking in the forest around here," a female voice with a southern accent said.

"If it comes on the farm, we can deal with it," a male voice with less of a southern accent stated.

"Ah hope you're right." A moment later, an orange pony with a hat and a bigger red pony with a yoke walked into Sandra's view, and stopped when they saw her. "Mac, what is that?"

"Oh my god, you speak English," Sandra said with only mild amazement. She was still too tired to drum up any extra energy.

"It speaks Equish."

"Sounds female," Mac noted.

"Ah'll go get Twilight. Make sure she doesn't go anywhere." Applejack, without waiting for an answer, left to do what she said.

For a whole minute, neither Sandra or Big Mac said anything. Finally, the stallion did. "You get in a fight with something?"

"Wooden wolves," Sandra answered. She couldn't find the brainpower to come up with anything else.

"I see." The stallion nodded, putting the pieces together. "You promise not to hurt anypony if you can help it?"

"Not unless they attack me first. Or I have a good reason to fight."

"It better be a real good reason."

The conversation ended there, and the two stayed where they were in silence. Some minutes later, there was a flash of lavender magic, and Twilight and Applejack were there. The farmer looked a bit dizzy. "Ah'm never gonna get used to that."

"It's not that bad, Applejack," Twilight assured her friend before noticing Sandra and recoiling a bit at the dirt covered clothing. "It looks like you got into a fight with a timberwolf."

"A whole pack," Big Mac added.

"Wait, you're saying she's the one that beat up those timberwolves?" Applejack asked. "Well, she hasn't done anything to anypony yet, so Ah suppose she's okay for now. Twi, do you think it would be okay if we take her in until she's on her hooves again?"

"I won't stop you, Applejack," Twilight said. "That being said, I will need to talk to her sometime soon."

"Legal stuff?"

"Yeah. Legal stuff."

"The worst kind of stuff," Sandra added.

A day in the life of Asada

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A stream of sunlight filtered in through the curtains and landed on Asada's back. She didn't wake up, since she was very comfortably sleeping with her warm owner.

Well, "owner" may have been a bit of a stretch. Certainly, Asada was Yang's pet, but Yang didn't interact with her very much, since she spent most of her days in the kitchen. To the bear, she was her savior, shelter, and friend. A very busy friend.

Eventually, Yang woke up. "Good morning, Asada," she said with a yawn before scratching that one spot right between the bear's ears. "Hey, could you let me go? I need to use the bathroom."

Asada, being the smart bear she was, took her paw off of Yang's midsection, letting her go. She could add "pillow" to the list of things Yang was to her. The narrow waist certainly helped her keep a hold. Yang was the best pillow around, with the pillows she used as a close second.

The bear was just getting comfortable with one of the still warm pillows when she was tackled and pulled into a bear hug by Yang. "Hey, do you want to see if the spa ponies will let you in?"

Asada nodded. She may not have been able to speak the same way that Yang, the ponies, griffons, and other species did, but she had picked up on non-verbal communication with them easily enough.

"Alright. More sleep for now, though."

As the clutches of Yang relaxed, the clutches of sleep returned, aided by the warm pillow friend at her back. Truly, life was good for the bear.

Eventually, breakfast was served. Asada always sat at the bar when she was present for the meal, and always got very good breakfasts from Yang. This time, it was an omelette with various vegetables in it, placed on top of a bed of steak strips and with a generous side of hash browns.

While Yang ate her breakfast with silverware, Asada couldn't do the same, since her paws couldn't hold the utensils. The fact that the ponies could was very confusing to the bear if she thought about it, so she often didn't. Instead, Asada gently picked up the plate, tipped it back, and let a bit of the warm, delicious food slide into her mouth before chewing it as best she could.

As always, Asada was done first, and went outside to sit and wait for Yang to finish her meal. The weather outside was nice, and in the sky were a few ponies pushing clouds around. While she was waiting, a couple ponies came up and gave her some chin scratches, which she happily accepted. How they did it with hooves, she didn't really care.

Eventually, Yang came out with a bag on her back. "You ready, Asada?" Asada nodded. "Alright. To the spa!"

The spa ponies were a little wary of Asada, but quickly warmed up to the bear when they realized that she, despite being an apex predator, and a bit bigger than them, was friendly and harmless. It only took a few moments before they were willing to give Asada a spa treatment, especially if they could pet her some more. Asada, naturally, had no issues with the arrangement.

At the pool, Asada was quick to get into the water. It was warm, comfortable, and seemed to already be cleaning her fur. It took a bit before Yang joined her, and while Asada did notice the change of clothes, she didn't particularly care about that.

"Ah, this feels good," Yang said as she relaxed against the edge of the pool.

"Miss Xiao Long, which shampoo would you like today?" the blue spa pony asked.

"Strawberry lavender. Same for Asada."

"Of course."

As the spa pony left, Asada noticed that Yang was starting to doze off, so she gave the human's face a lick. "Asada, no." After the halfhearted objection, Yang started falling back asleep.

The pink spa pony came back to find Asada trying to gently shake Yang Awake. "You're worried about her?" Asada nodded at the question. "She's fine. She always falls asleep when she comes in." The pony moved closer to the bear and conspiratorially whispered, "Between you and me, her sleeping through the treatment is a nice change from the gossip around here."

Asada nodded in understanding. She was a smart bear, after all. Now assured that Yang was fine, and that she would be as well, Asada relaxed.

After Yang dried off, put her dress back on, and paid for the relaxing treatment, they left the spa. Asada was feeling so good, she had some trouble walking. "You know Asada, I always thought you were a clean bear," Yang said. "But now, you're a clean, shiny, and soft bear." The ear scratching that followed nearly made Asada collapse, but she stood strong. "You're better than any dog, as far as I'm concerned."

Asada managed to collect herself enough to get away from the ear scratching and pull Yang into a bear hug. "Aww, thanks. Hey, I've got some errands to run, so how about you go do whatever it is you normally do?" Asada nodded, but held the hug for a bit longer. Hugging Yang was always a nice experience.

Asada hung her head in defeat. Every time she played a board game with Angel, he always won. Checkers, Chineighse checkers, chess, Sweets World, Detective, everything. If not for him being in sight of her at all times, she would have suspected him of cheating. This time, the vicious snack sized rabbit had beaten her, a golden retriever, and a cat at the Landlord's Game in under an hour.

After getting an apple from Fluttershy, Asada left the cottage to wander around town to see if she could get any extra snacks from the ponies in town, or maybe even leftovers from someone's Carne Den trip.

Truly, Asada was living the good life.

A return to romance

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It was a warm enough Thursday afternoon, right at the start of fall, I was off, and I was relaxing on the roof, wearing the hazard stripe athletic outfit and soaking up the sun after a good round of exercises. "Maybe I could do that for a while. Get all kinds of muscles going on. Not ridiculous ones, just lean, but well defined ones." The sound of business inside was a faint background noise, and it had just started up when I started relaxing.

My musings were brought to a halt when Rainbow landed next to me. "Yang, there's an airship heading towards Ponyville and it looks like it could be pirates!"

I sighed and sat up. "Have they made any hostile moves yet?"

"Well, no, but there are cannons sticking out of the hull."

"I'll go prepare for a fight."

It didn't take long for me to get the Hunter outfit on and return to the roof and keep an eye out for the airship in question. Rainbow had taken off, likely to inform Twilight, and left me with no descriptions. "Then again, 'airship that looks like it could have pirates' is pretty vague. Pirates. . ." Something at the back of my mind said it sounded familiar, but I couldn't quite place it.

Twilight teleported next to me, and I only flinched a little bit. "I'm ready to help you, Yang."

"You think this could be another sealed evil?"

"I hope it isn't. Luna hasn't mentioned anything like it, but that's not much of an indication of anything. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, after all."

"Maybe diplomacy will work for once. Do you have a vision spell or something like that?"

"I do." Twilight's horn lit up, and it looked like her magic formed a pair of oversized glasses on her face. For a bit, she looked around. "Aha, I found the ship. Looks like it'll be here in about, oh, twenty or so minutes, from east-northeast."

"Details."

"The crew's made of a myriad of species. Most of them are moving around, but there's a griffon at the helm. He's standing still enough to make out some details."

I felt my heart leap a bit. "Like?"

"Light blue feathers, white coat with gray swirls, red eyes, black beak-"

"That's Shamrock! Twilight, teleport me there now!"

"I can't do that while you've got that outfit on."

I looked over myself and realized she was right. "Oh." Then I remembered my plans. "Well, thanks for the heads up. He's friendly, so we'll be fine. Seeya!" I leapt off the roof, went into the kitchen, and started cooking with a big smile on my face.

"What's got you so happy?" Gavan asked as I practically floated around the kitchen.

"Oh, just someone I haven't seen for a while."

It didn't take long for me to finish my project and take the finished meal to the patio. After setting it on a table, I jumped back up onto the roof and saw that the ship was much closer, and seemed to be heading straight for my area. The cannons were just visible, sticking out just a bit from the hull.

I couldn't help myself as I started waving at the ship, hopeful that it was indeed the bird I had feelings for. In case it wasn't, I had the explosive shells loaded in the Ember Celica.

Finally, after a couple of minutes, the ship started slowing down and turned. Four anchors that looked more like big stakes shot down from the front and back of the airship, digging into the ground in front of the Carne Den, bringing the airship to a halt. A diamond dog, female by the looks of it, stuck her head overboard to look down. "Wow, they do work. You were right, Shamrock!"

"Thank you, Ark!" Sheer happiness filled me when I heard the bird's voice, even more so when I saw him at the railing. "Ah, there's my treasure. I'd better go keep her from exploding."

"She wouldn't do that, would she?"

"She has fire magic." As soon as Shamrock leapt off the deck, he started gliding towards me.

I didn't need to say anything when I caught him with a tight hug, but I spoke anyways. "I've missed you." I wasn't about to tell him how much I actually didn't think about him since he left. "Didn't you say you wouldn't be back until winter?"

"We got the repairs done quicker than I expected," he explained as he held me in a talon and wing hug before half breaking the gesture. "This is my grandfather's airship, the Pathfinder, and she's never looked better. We even got some new anchors installed at Horseshoe Bay."

"Hey, is that the girl you've been talking about the whole way here?" a rather round pegasus with a white apron asked.

"Ah! Uh, would you like to meet the crew, Yang? I know they want to meet you."

I would have answered, were it not for my stomach growling. "Heh heh. How about we have something on the patio? I've already made something for you, and I'll make something for everyone else."

Shamrock looked over the roof and noticed the lone plate of food. "Well, that's a very good offer. Come on down, everyone!"

Shamrock's crew was. . . Eccentric, to say the least. Their cook was a round pegasus stallion named Queen. The navigator was a female hippogriff, Selene, dressed in clothes fancy enough to get Rarity fired up. There was a big male minotaur, Adamantine, that smelled of iron and gunpowder. Finally, there was a female diamond dog, Ark Bark, that was constantly working on a small wooden sculpture by claw.

"So, how's the food, everyone?" I asked once they were done with their meals. "I'm not going to have much of a paycheck this week at the rate they're going."

"It's not the finest food I've had," Selene said. "That being said, it was delicious. I especially enjoyed the smokey flavor on the brisket, was it?"

"It was pretty good," Queen said. "I'd like to talk with you later, Miss Xiao Long. I'm thinking about making a big order on the stuff."

"Oh, I'd be happy to discuss a deal," I said as I started imagining the bits that could come from such a big order. Even if I had to do it alone on Sunday, I'd be happy about it.

"I see you got a new outfit there," Shamrock pointed out. "You look great."

I smiled and felt a blush come on at the compliment. "Aww, thanks. I call it Hunter, and it's got a total magic nullification feature. There is no spell that can affect me."

"Good or bad?"

"Yep."

Adamantine elbowed Shamrock. "Looks like you managed to cast a spell on her anyways, buddy. Tell her what you've got planned for her."

"Ah, right," Shamrock cleared his throat. "Yang, I would like to take you on a trip north to a place that I cherish. It's a place that my grandfather took me, and where I found my pendant. It's the ruins of some ancient beings, and it's in very good condition, too."

I zipped over to Shamrock and held his beak shut. "Don't say anything else. I'm pretty sure Twilight would go nuts over that and I don't want her to come along. She'd kill the mood real fast."

"Sounds like you got it, Captain," Ark said before going back to chewing on a rib bone. "How long do we have to stock up and prepare to go back north?"

"That depends on Yang," Shamrock said. "A few days for sure, next Saturday at the latest."

"I can get my own vacation arranged," I said. "By the way, why did you show up with the cannons out?"

"Adamantite and Ark Bark got into a fight on the way here and broke the lines that held the cannons in. They're going to fix that first. You got a good hardware store around here?"

"Hammer N' Nails is pretty good. If you need more stuff, I have connections." I started giggling inside. Being wealthy and connected was awesome!

Shamrock turned to the minotaur and diamond dog. "You two will start there. You already know the damage, so I expect you can be quick."

"Yes, sir!" the two said.

"Queen, the food's all yours to handle."

"Wouldn't have it any other way," the pegasus said.

"Selene, see what you can do for general housekeeping stuff."

"But of course," the hippogriff smoothly said.

"And Yang, you just keep on being gorgeous, got it?"

I gave a sharp military salute. "Yes, Captain!" A moment later, I broke down with a case of the giggles. "I'll do what I can to help everyone."

"Alright. Everyone, you've got your tasks. Let's go!"

While Shamrock and most of his crew left the Carne Den, Queen and Selene stayed to help with the cleanup. "Nice setup you've got here," he said as we brought the dishes in. "And everyone's working together so well."

"Yeah, these guys are pretty cool," I said. "Truth be told, I like working in the kitchen. It's warm, busy, and always smells delicious."

"It's a good way to live." Queen smoothly joined a griffon washing the dishes. "So, let's talk meat."

"It's good stuff, isn't it?"

"It is. I would like to buy some smoked meat from you, preferably not cooked."

"Well, today's not a good day for that. I could arrange for a delivery and get however much you need done on Sunday, though."

"That sounds good. I'm looking at getting a month's worth of food."

That got my attention. "A month? That's a lot of meat."

"Thankfully, there's not a lot of mouths to feed."

"Still." I turned to Selene. "You've been pretty quiet."

"Sorry, Miss Xiao Long," Selene said. "The uniforms here are very well made."

"Oh, if you think the uniforms are well made, I've got a whole lot of other clothes upstairs from the same mare."

"I would like to see her work."

I turned to Queen. "Feel free to get a menu and come upstairs whenever you're ready to start on your order."

"That. . . Kimono, you called it? It's beautiful."

I gave a small bow at the compliment. "Why thank you."

"The colors are completely out of season, though."

The bow turned into a slump. "I know. . . But Rarity put me on a new clothing embargo, so I can't get a Summer, Fall, or Winter kimono."

"And she made all this for you?"

"Almost." I used the buckle to change to my original combat outfit. "She didn't make this one." A moment later, I was in the Barmaid dress. "And she didn't make this." Another use and the Hunter outfit was back on. "Hey, I just thought of something: are you good at sewing?"

"Not at all. Navigation and astronomy are my skills."

"Aww. . ."

"I may be able to talk her into something for you, though. I presume she's in town?"

"Carousel Boutique, south from here."

"Everything in town is south from here."

"So it is." A knock on the door interrupted us. "Excuse me." I answered the knocking and found Queen there, a menu under his wing. "You ready to place that order?"

"Yes," Queen said as Selene passed us to go on her errands. "I hope you have some paper ready."

The order was a big one, and I promptly took it to the post office to get it sent off. Queen even paid for the order and postage up front, which was nice. As soon as I got back, I put some reminders about the order in the office and my room. Sunday was going to be busy for a change.

I was excited and ready to face the adventure head on. Ruins may not have been my definition of exciting, but a trip on an airship and getting out of town for a bit sounded fun.

Turbulence

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Five days into the flight, I was not having fun. In my excitement to go on a trip with Shamrock, I forgot about a few things. The combination of higher altitude, the changing season, and northern direction reminded me with all the subtlety of a high power slap to the face of my weakness to the cold. On top of that, I also forgot to pack any warm clothes for the trip.

Selene, thankfully, had the foresight to predict that issue and had talked Rarity into making me some warm clothes. The one I was practically living in during the trip was a black bodysuit style thermal piece with glowing sections that were definitely shaped to highlight my figure. I also had some good socks on, along with a pair of soft boots that I didn't feel bad about wearing into bed, though they definitely weren't for outdoors. Unfortunately, Rarity didn't have time to enchant any of the clothes for warmth. Thankfully, she had made a number of other warm clothes as well, so between the new stuff and what I'd brought from home, I wasn't really wanting for much variety.

In my misery, I mostly stayed in bed and did nothing, unless I had to use the bathroom. I did try using my fire magic to keep myself warm for a bit, but keeping it going constantly for that, even for just two hours, was tiring, though the boredom of having nothing to do was probably even more tiring. It didn't help that I'd left the Gamer Driver at home either.

"Attention all crew members and Yang Xiao Long: dinner is about to be served!" Queen announced across the pipe based intercom system.

With some effort, or so it felt, I got myself out of bed and started the short trek through the hall, down a flight of stairs, and to the dining area, lighting up my internal fire on the way. It was a small room with only one table and six chairs, two of which were almost touching. The kitchen was visible, only about fifteen feet away.

Before I could seat myself, Shamrock rushed over and pulled out one of the two close together chairs for me. Not seeing any reason to turn down the gesture, I accepted it, and once I was properly seated, he sat down and wrapped a wing around me. Craving extra warmth in the cold air, I nestled up against him, as had become normal during the meals.

Queen distributed some drinks, mine being a mug of hot chocolate with whipped cream, and turned to everyone. "Before I serve tonight's meal, I believe our Captain has something to say?"

"Thank you," Shamrock said before turning to look at me. "Yang, in my excitement to take you somewhere special, I overlooked your weakness to the cold. If you want, we can turn around and go back to Ponyville. The choice is yours."

"Home. . . Warmth. . . Comfort. . ." Tempting ideas clashed with notions against going back. "He's doing this for me. He's put in a lot of thought and effort. He got caught up in the excitement too." After some time thinking it over, and a sip of hot chocolate, I announced my choice. "I'm going to stick to the trip. Shamrock wants to take me somewhere important, and I will endure. I'm not going to let a cold flight stop me that easily."

"But you're practically hibernating," Adamantine pointed out. "I'd say the cold has stopped you."

"No, it's only knocking me down. A lot. I'll probably be better off when we land. When do we land?"

"In a couple days," Selene answered as Queen went off to get the food. "We just have to finish crossing the sea and go back inland a few hours."

"Wait a minute. We're over the ocean?" I started shaking a bit. "Right now?"

Shamrock facepalmed. "I forgot about that too."

Ark put a paw on my shoulder. "Hey, you've got my word that this ship won't shake apart so easily. Shamrock did a good job fixing her up before I met back up with him."

"How long have we been over the water?" I asked.

"A couple days," Adamantine answered. "What, are you afraid of the ocean?"

"Well. . ." As the food was served, I felt an odd sort of peace wash over me. It wasn't THE TRANQUILITY, but the idea of a trip to the beach suddenly wasn't so scary. Definitely something for summer, though. "Maybe a bit."

"Tonight, we have bread bowl brisket stew," Queen said. "Enjoy!"

I looked at the meal in front of me and I liked what I saw. I liked it even more once I tried some of the stew. "I wonder if he'll share the recipe? Hm, worst case scenario, I could just pay him for the best ones. I'm rich, and it would be a business investment. Free would be better."

There was a knock on my cabin door in the middle of the night. "Who is it?" I groggily asked.

"It's Shamrock. May I come in?"

". . . Sure."

By what little light there was, I saw the griffon enter. "I know this may seem a bit sudden, but do you want me to sleep with you for a few hours? Nothing crazy, I promise."

I thought about the offer for a few seconds. "Sure." It didn't take long for me to get comfortable under his wing. "Any funny moves, and I will hurt you."

"I wouldn't dream of it, my treasure."

Setting up camp

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"So, that's the place?" I looked down from the deck and saw a mountain. "It doesn't look like much."

"No, it doesn't," Shamrock agreed as the ship started descending. "The ruins and our campsite are inside the mountain. It should be warmer in there. Always has been, for some reason. Never saw a hint of frost."

"That sounds good. I'll help set up camp. What do you need me to do?"

"Can you knock down a tree?"

"I have explosive rounds and my fists."

"Sounds good. Go get ready. I'll have Ark get you."

"Sounds good."

During the descent, I changed my clothes as quickly as I could. The bodysuit I'd been hibernating in was switched with a fresh one, which felt nice. I put the Hunter outfit on over that, and took a moment to admire how I looked. "Oh yeah. I'm looking good."

A knock came from the door. "You ready, Yang?" Ark asked.

"Ah, one moment." I quickly logged the outfit in the buckle and left the cabin. "Okay, I'm ready to punch down a tree."

"That's a pretty frilly setup you've got. You sure you don't want to put something more durable on?"

"Trust me, it's fine," I assured her.

Ark shrugged. "If you say so. No fur off my back if it gets damaged. Come with me." I followed the diamond dog up to the deck. For a bit, she just looked across the trees. "There's a good one! Come!"

I leapt overboard with Ark and nailed the landing on the forest floor. "So, are we getting firewood?"

"Yep. I also want to see you punch a tree down." She tapped a random tree with her paw. "This is the one. Go for it."

I expanded the Ember Celica and loaded the explosive bands into them. As soon as Ark was out of the way, I went up to the tree and threw a full power punch at it. The sound of the explosion was almost drowned out by the fragmenting tree, which started falling towards me a few seconds after I stepped away, which I took as my cue to get out of the way.

Ark popped up from behind the felled tree and I looked between her and where she was. "How did. . . When. . . Don't think about it." She went to work on the tree, snapping off branches and bundling them up with some twine from her jacket. Not wanting to just stand around, I followed her lead.

We wound up with a dozen bundles of twigs and branches. Ark ran some more twine through the bundles, and when she was done, we hefted the tree up, the bundles hanging between us, and I followed her to the campsite.

It felt pretty good to work and use my strength again, and in spite of the cold, I was smiling.

When we passed the ship, I saw Adamantine, Queen, and Shamrock taking the table and chairs from the mess hall out while Selene carried a chest on her back. All six of us filed through some thin foliage and into a cave that, by the sound of it, had water running through it.

Finally, Ark and I set the log down and I looked around. There was barely any natural light coming in, so I made a flame and looked around. Aside from a wooden sign showing which way went outside and which way went deeper, there wasn't much to see. It also felt a lot warmer, even without a flame going. Almost comfortably warm.

It didn't take long for things to be set up. Six, well, calling them beds would have been a bit generous, since they were more like short wooden frames or boxes that kept a sleeping pad off the ground, were arranged off to one side. A fire was going in a ring made of random stones. The table and chairs weren't far from the fire pit, and a few other tables with tools were set up as well. All in all, it looked more like an archaeological campsite than anything a pirate would arrange.

"So, when do we go in?" I asked over a late lunch.

"As soon as we clean up here and hide ourselves a bit," Shamrock said. "I'll grab some torches before we go in, and you can be a light source too."

"That sounds like a plan. Is there anything I should know about this place?"

"Welllll. . . I think it might be haunted."

"Haunted?"

"There's a voice that speaks occasionally. It comes from everywhere, but nobody's there. I can't tell if it's male or female or what."

"Huh. Sounds interesting. Well, I ain't afraid of no ghost~" I let a few bars of the music play before letting it fade, leaving everyone with confused looks. "References you don't get aside, what's it like inside?"

"Well, these ruins, believe it or not, are made mostly of metal. Surprisingly, it's not all that rusty. And if you think the temperature out here is good, it's even better in there. Hot or cold outside, it's always the same inside." A few ideas started running through my head. Everything he was describing sounded like modern things from Earth, though having seen and experienced all kinds of magic, strange stuff, and Pinkie Pie, I couldn't come to a conclusion so easily.

Once lunch was cleaned up and the few leftovers were packed up, I stayed with Queen to clean the dishes while everyone else went out to conceal the ship a bit, along with the entrance. It didn't take long for the dishes to be done, so I milled around for a bit before sitting down on the large chest that held my clothes and playing with my fire magic.

"Alright, we should be good," Shamrock said when he and his group returned, which I took as my cue to kill the snowflake shaped fire I had going. "Grab anything you may need. We'll probably be in there for a few hours."

The ruins were further into the cave and down a dark chasm. Shamrock and Queen flew down with a lit torch each while Adamantine secured a length of rope to a rock. I rappelled down first, feeling the air get warmer as I went. When I hit the ground, it sounded like I landed on a catwalk. Ark came down next, followed by Adamantine with Selene catching a ride on his shoulders.

We followed the catwalk, which sounded and felt very sturdy, despite being so old. Eventually, we came to the end, which had a tall, narrow archway in a ring leading into a facility. "Great. It's a vault." I never played the games, but I knew the story. "I hope it's just loot inside."

"These ruins are fascinating," Shamrock eagerly said as we passed the archway and entered a reception area, a sense of foreboding coming over me. "They're so old, yet so durable. It's almost like time forgot about this place."

Adamantine lightly rapped a hand against a wall. "It's very tough. I'd like to make a new weapon out of this stuff."

"Like what?" I asked. "A hammer?"

"No, though a hammer does sound glorious. It would be a matching cannon for Iron Debt."

"A cannon? Artillery?"

"Handheld."

"A hand cannon?" A smile graced my face. "Okay, that sounds cool. I want to see it." We came to a broken sliding door, both sides just hanging there. Above the doors that would need to be held open or broken so Adamantine could get through was a sign in English characters. "Shamrock, you said you couldn't read the writing here?"

"Yeah," Shamrock answered. "Wait, you can?"

"Yeah. This is the Helios Biothaumechanical Laboratories." The implications of the name set me even more on edge than the vault icon shaped entrance did.

"Gesundheit," Ark said.

"Well, that's. . . That changes things a bit," Shamrock said. "Well, I've been in here before, so it should be okay."

The doors were easy enough for Adamantine to hold open, though he had to duck a bit to get through them. The hallway we were in had multiple doorways in it, all with a few names next to them. I looked into one that the door had fallen off from and saw an office setup. "Hey, they have computers in here." They didn't look as fancy as the gaming rig I'd gotten from the weather machine, but they were similar enough that I could tell what they were.

After brushing off an ungodly amount of dust from the office chair, I sat down and hit the power button. The core slowly lit up and filled the room with a dim yellow light. The monitor was even slower to come to life, but once it did, it filled the room with its glow. "Okay, that's cool," Shamrock said.

To my surprise, there was no login screen, instead just going straight to the desktop screen. One folder on there, labelled 'Video Diaries', caught my interest, so I opened it up. There were more folders inside it, organized by topic. Personal, Personal Projects, Not Personal Projects, Rumors, and Other. I opened the Personal one and opened the first video. It was a young adult pegasus mare, bright white with blue eyes while her mane and tail had a smooth gradient of warm colors, almost looking like flames. She also had a similar gradient on part of her wings.

She looked and sounded excited as she was recording herself. "Hi, diary! It's my first day at Helios, and I'm just so happy to be here! The academia was not easy, and it wasn't cheap, but here I am! I've got soooo many experiments I want to try out." She held up a thick binder overflowing with papers. "I guess I'll just pick one at random." She set the thing down with a heavy thud and flipped it open with one hoof. "Let's see. . . Hmm. Crystal based muscle replacement. That sounds good. I'll tell you how it goes later, diary! Bye bye!" She happily waved at the camera before the video ended.

After a few seconds, Selene spoke up. "What did we just see?"

"A video," I said a little breathlessly. "And some history."

"Is there another one?" Adamantine asked.

"Yeah, I think so. Let's see if there's anything on that crystal muscle stuff." I browsed through the the project folders until I found a folder just for the crystal muscle project, and opened the first one.

The pegasus looked tired, but still had a smile on her face. "This is my first entry on the crystal muscle project. To make a long story short, it took over a month of testing and synthesizing to actually make a type of crystal that could work like a muscle. Maybe." She picked up a strand of something green and played with it between her forehooves. "I still need to figure out how to attach it to someone's bone, though. I don't think it would do too well between connecting a strand of muscle, so it would need to be a full length thing. Joint to joint. I'm going to go to my little apartment here and sleep for three whole days! But first, I've got to put out a call for test subjects. I'll end this entry, do that, get a steak dinner, and get some sleep. Bye bye!"

I opened the next one and the mare's mane and tail were frazzled. She also seemed a bit nervous. "Well, hehe, the crystal muscles. . . Got mixed results. All my test subjects had some kind of muscle damage that fit my criteria, and the installation went seamlessly, but. . . Well. . . It fixed some wings, fixed some legs, and even fixed a minotaur's hand, but it also destroyed some wings and legs. One unicorn, a retired soldier, with severe muscular damage to all four legs had the crystal muscles installed in two, and he's asking for the other two to be fixed." She chuckled a bit. "Well, if nothing else, he's happy. Maybe the crystal muscles can be used as a last resort fix, when the damage is so bad that nothing else can be done."

A new male voice came in. "Hey Firebrand!"

Firebrand sighed. "What is it, Piston?"

"Can I borrow some of that crystal muscle stuff? Like, a couple hundred feet of it?"

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead. Not like it'll get approved for medical use at this rate."

"Hey, you'll do fine. And thanks!"

"I wonder what he's got in mind. Well, that'll do for now. Bye bye!"

The next one opened with Firebrand plopping into her seat and spinning once, and she looked very happy. "Good news! Piston repurposed the crystal muscles for industrial use! They're much more powerful and lighter than anything else for heavy duty lifting, especially when they're braided together. And he even credited me with the muscle development! Oh, I can practically hear the money coming my way already! The potential applications are limited only by the number of things with hinge joints!" Firebrand turned somber. "In not so good news, the unicorn we fixed with the crystal muscles, Umbra Shade. . . He's showing some issues. The crystal muscles seem to be working a bit too well with him, and he wants more and more of them, even where he has no damage, like his diaphragm. It's more than a little concerning, but he's insisting on it. Truth be told, I kind of want to see what happens too. Well, that's it for now. Bye bye."

"So, what do you think happened to that crystal unicorn?" Ark asked.

"I don't know," Queen said. "He's probably dead by now, though."

I opened another video in the folder. Firebrand had a big mug of some kind of drink with her, probably hot chocolate, and looked depressed. "Ohh, today. . . Wasn't the best. Umbra Shade's gone mad. He almost got into one of the liquid shadow vats over in the shadow labs after charging through all the security measures in his way, including a 4 inch thick steel door or two. Overseer Celestia, thankfully, was able to banish and anchor him to the far north. I wish I hadn't approved his continued crystal muscle replacement plan. When Celestia told me that the crystal muscle was to never be used for medical purposes, I had no argument. Umbra Shade, all those permanently crippled in the tests, and all the damage that's been done, there was no defense." She took a long drag from the mug, leaving a hot chocolate and whipped cream mustache on her muzzle for a moment before licking it off. "I'm going to go out for a week, get plastered, and come back with a soggier conscious. Maybe I'll go back through my binder for another idea. I still want to find ways to help those with severe bodily damage, though. It's not my talent, but dammit, it's my passion!" She started shaking and tears appeared in her eyes. "Both my parents' wings were crippled when I was young, and they couldn't fly after that. I'm not going to give up, though. I will figure out a way to help amputees, cripples, and more." Another dreg of hot chocolate. "I know the Helios labs are supposed to be cooperating with the Artemis labs on the west coast, but I still want us to outdo them. They grew four more wings on a pegasus soldier. They call him the King of the Sky now, and he's starting to turn this global war in our favor. I will find some way to outdo that. Well, enough ranting. I'm going to get something stronger now. Bye bye."

"A pegasus with six wings?" Selene wondered. "Where would they fit all of them?"

"A war. . ." Shamrock said. "And these things they did."

"Do you think the Celestia she mentioned is Princess Celestia?"

"Twilight would have a field day with this," I said. "I'm glad she's not with us."

"What can we do with this stuff, though?" Adamantine asked. "None of it's relevant anymore."

I snapped and pointed at the minotaur. "Gather up as much of it as you can and sell it to Twilight. You'd get a fortune from her, no questions asked. Then you could all live easy lives wherever you want."

Shamrock clapped. "Let's do that. Queen, Ark, you two come with me. We're going to get some crates from the ship and build some more. Yang, Adamantine, Selene, you three keep exploring, see what you can find."

As I watched the retreating forms of the pegasus, diamond dog, and griffon, one thought crossed my mind. "I'm not part of your crew, Shamrock." A different thought followed that one. "Where have I seen the name Firebrand before?"

More history

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I woke up at camp and held my blanket closer to me. While the cave was warmer than it was outside, it still had an uncomfortable bite of cold to it. "I'm wearing a bodysuit and I need to use the bathroom. It's on the ship, which is only a short trek through the woods. And there's snow falling. JUST PERFECT. BRILLIANT MOVE, CAPTAIN." After getting my fire magic going inside, I ran out towards the ship. No snow touched me, each flake turning to steam in the presence of my heat. The heat also left a clear path through the snow on the ground.

The ship wasn't far, and I already knew which bathroom had the least chill in it, so I made a beeline for it. Thankfully, nobody else was up at camp, let alone onboard, so I wasn't worried about encountering someone there. As I sat down to take care of business, I did my best to quell some of the anger building up in me.

I left the bathroom feeling physically better, but otherwise still upset. The snow hadn't covered up my trail to the ship and it was light out, so getting back to the cave was easy. When I got back, Queen was just waking up, and he noticed me. "Good morning, Yang," he greeted. "I'll get started on breakfast soon."

"I'll start a fire for you."

"Thanks."

It didn't take long for me to get a fire going, since all I had to do was stack up a few logs and ignite them with a bit of my magic. Once the fire was going, I pulled up a chair and my blanket, sat down, and wrapped myself up. Sitting bundled up by the fire was nice, especially once Queen started cooking and the scent of bacon, eggs, and toast filled the air. It was a simple breakfast, but it was good.

"So, did you learn anything from the machine after the crystal muscle thing?" Shamrock asked as the quick breakfast was finished. "What else did Firebrand do?"

"She never really abandoned her crystal muscle strands," I answered as we passed a few crates filled with collapsed computers, monitors, keyboards from the office, except for Firebrand's. "She started looking into cybernetics after a few more failed biological things, including something with that shadow stuff. I didn't get much further than that."

"Sounds rough. Are you going to watch some more of those logs?"

"Yeah. I'm curious about what went on here."

Later, I was back at the computer while everyone else was out looting. The logs I'd seen on Firebrand's projects were pretty far apart on each entry, if the strings of numbers that made up each video title were anything like dates. If I was right, then there were a few months between recordings, meaning she was at Helios for a number of years.

She sat down and started recording. "Hey, diary. Just got over my most recent bender from another failed project. I'm all sobered up and ready to start something I've wanted to work on for a while now: cybernetics. Machine replacements of limbs. Something that's easy on, easy off. The trick is going to be getting the neural interface done right. Thankfully, we have a number of in-house amputees thanks to an incident down in the shadow labs that involved a blender. Someone thought it would be a good idea to put a shrunken durian in there, and there was an audience. The shrinking spell got undone and the spikes shot through nearly everyone there." Her face turned green for a moment. "I can still smell it now. I'm never going to complain about dumpsters again. Anyways, I'm going to figure out the cybernetics. The physical design is easy enough. Steel shape, crystal muscles inside, all that jazz. I'd better get to work on the tough part first. Bye bye."

I skipped a few entries and went to one near the end of the list. Firebrand looked pretty happy when she came on camera. "The cybernetics are working spectacularly! I've made arms, legs, wings, and even horns! Freaking horns! Unicorn horns! I thought the crystal muscle was good, but this! This is even better! Hahahaha!" For a solid fifteen seconds, she laughed a mad laugh, then took some calming breaths. "And to top it all off, there's a minotaur here, Firm Grip, that showed me a creature he designed. It's kind of like a minotaur, but waaaaay less beefy. It's like a hairless ape, really. He called it a human, says it's an intelligent, frail creature that has no magic, and has to rely on tools. Ha! There's no way such a creature could survive to intelligence with that kind of build." I took some offense at her opinion. "That being said, something about it struck my fancy. I think it's the arms and hands. Their arms are, according to him, about the same length as my forelegs, and their hands are highly dexterous. I'm wondering if I could. . . That's going to be a much more personal project. Details later. Bye bye!"

The next one was short. "I did it! I made an experimental mechanical hand!" She held the metallic hand up with visible green crystal muscles in it. "I put it on an arm over in the neuroconnection department, hooked myself up, and spent hours testing it out. Firm Grip was watching, and he was impressed. I figured out the fine motions and how to gauge my grip with it. Unlike the other hands I've made, this one's performance was spectacular! Maybe it's the thinner fingers that are key to it. Minotaur hands are big, and not really suited for finer tasks involving smaller items, even with tools. I think I'm onto something. Bye bye!"

The next one was some time later, and opened with a shot of the chair for quite a few seconds with some soft mechanical sounds off to the side. It was a bit before Firebrand showed up, and she didn't sit in her chair immediately. "Diary, I've taken a big risk, putting my own body on the line for this experiment. It's something I didn't want to get out if I could help it. I ran experiments in my lab and in neuroconnections. I mastered them before installing them. Five hours ago, I got some medical personnel to observe and step in if necessary. Four hours ago, I went into a surgical suite they had prepared, as both the doctor and the patient with a headset to control everything. I cut off my own forelegs with particle saws, just below my shoulders. It HURT SO MUCH! But, I held it together, and put the mechanical forelegs on. The connection process HURT SO MUCH! I may have blacked out for an hour or two. But, when I woke up, I tried my new forelegs." She sat down on the chair, revealing her fancy silver and green prosthetics. "And they work like a charm! Plus, they can do this!" Her hooves shifted around until they became hands, a process that took only a second. "Hands! Hands! I feel so powerful! I can do things that only unicorns with levitation could do before! I can put things together so much more independently now! That being said, I can only use these while sitting down, flying, or just one at a time while standing. I need to build more parts. I think Firm Grip's human design will be perfect." She came down from her excitement high with a yawn. "Anyways, I'm going to go to sleep now. I'll figure out the leg design while I recover. Bye bye!"

"Mechanical arms. . ." I mused as I looked at my right arm. I knew what happened to it in RWBY, and was very glad it hadn't happened to me, though a robotic arm did sound nifty. Then I remembered that it would need to be maintained, and it suddenly sounded less appealing.

After getting over it, I went to the next video, and Firebrand's chair was absent. Instead, she rolled up in a wheelchair, her hind legs replaced already. "Okay, so it turns out that I couldn't just plop on some prosthetic hind legs and call it a day, even after training myself like I did with the arms. I need to build a new pelvis and get that installed by professionals. I already have a design in mind, and it will have a silicone coating everywhere that it directly touches muscle to prevent it from shredding them. So, yeah. It's a bump in the road, but I'll get past it. Bye bye!"

The next one opened with her walking in like a human, wearing a small dress that left most of her mechanical legs exposed. "I've done it! I've worked out all the kinks in the design! Staff Resources says I have to wear clothes at all times now for modesty reasons, which is a very funny thing coming from a stallion wearing only an ascot and collar. Still, I can see why, what with being upright and all that sometimes. But you know what, I'm actually alright with this, surprisingly enough. Oh, let me show you this!" She set a leg on the table and I watched as it went from an armored human leg shape (there were no visible toes) to an equine leg shape. "I can go back to four legs anytime I want!"

A knock came from the video. "Firebrand, may I come in?"

Firebrand shifted her leg back to humanoid and properly stood. "Yes, Overseer Celestia!"

I watched as Princess Celestia, wearing a tasteful white suit and pink tie came in, her clothes just a hit darker than her coat and eyes respectively. "Firebrand, the results of your tests with your prosthetics has come to my attention. You are going to be moved to a new position."

"Overseer?"

"Your talent at metalworking and engineering is spectacular, first of all. You've done a lot in your ten years here."

"The new position, though?"

"Internal security at the shadow labs." Firebrand's expression dropped at that. "You've built yourself into an excellent form for the job."

"But, but. . . What about my research? My projects?"

"Your achievements have been spectacular, yourself the crown example of them all. Your designs and processes have been patented, and the Helios labs will take only ten percent of anything the patents make while the rest goes to you, as is standard. Now, I have an assignment for you. You have a month to design and build yourself some armor and obtain armaments. I'm sure you know why we can't just give you armor."

"Mecha shifting and posture change."

"Yes. I don't care much what the design is, as long as it works." She levitated a folded piece of paper out and Firebrand accepted it. "These are things you should keep in mind when designing your armor."

"I. . . I see. What about the armaments?"

"You need ranged and melee armaments. You can build them, buy them, or accept what's available here. The ranged armaments must use ammunition that's available here to avoid stock issues and confusion at potentially critical moments. I have a sample of everything here." A box of ammo levitated onto Firebrand's desk. Part of the visible ammo overflow caught my attention. "If you decide to build your armaments, I will give you up to two weeks more time to make sure it works." Celestia noticed the recording. "Ah, you're recording. Well, you'll have a reminder available now if you need a refresher. That's all for now. Good luck, Firebrand."

After Celestia walked out, Firebrand slumped into her chair. For a minute, that was all she did. Finally, she turned to the camera. "Bye bye."

Not long after the video ended, Queen came in. "Hey, it's almost supper time. Come on up. We're having spicy chicken alfredo tonight."

I gave the computer a wistful glance before powering it down. "Alright."

After supper, I was busy helping figure out what the various looted things were. Some were easy enough, mostly office supplies. There were a few handguns in the mix, which I assured could be lethal, even if they weren't as big as Iron Debt, which I still wanted to see. A crate was set aside exclusively for weaponry, and I was put in charge of it. The guns were all very rusty, and probably wouldn't work, but I handled them as if they could work and were loaded.

Before I went to bed, I went back into the ruins to watch one more video. Firebrand's armor was brown and yellow with a few spots of purple, and it looked like it would fit me. "Well, it's been five weeks, and I've got my armor and weapons done. I have two shortswords here." She pulled a pair of yellow blades off her thighs and set them on the table. "These are my backup melee weapons. My real close quarter weapons are on my arms and legs. Each limb on the armor has built in shotguns for punching and kicking, and includes empty shell ejection. I can get five shots per shell with the arm or leg guns before it has to be ejected." Multishot ammo sounded pretty cool, though my unlimited ammo was better. She also demonstrated the operation of the mounted guns, and it was pretty simple. "The real beauties though are these." She picked up a pair of what looked like shotguns with a big blade above and below the twin barrels. "Blades and barrels. Melee and range. The barrels spin while firing, and can get ten shots per shell before ejection, so 100 shots before reloading." She slid a panel on top open and pulled an integrated magazine up, loaded with a band of orange plastic shells. "Overseer Celestia likes the design of these so much, she wants to make a mass production model of it for our soldiers." She sighed and lowered the amazing gun. "When will the fighting end? It's been fifteen years and two wars already. The shadow labs here have helped our side a lot, but. . . When will it end? I guess for now, this entry is over. I'll start in the shadow labs tomorrow. Bye bye."

I had mixed feelings as I left the office. On one hand, her story was taking a downward turn, going from the science she liked to internal security in the shadow labs. Based on what I'd learned, and the fact that she had armor and heavy weapons for the job, it was probably less a matter of keeping suspicious people out and keeping something dangerous in.

On the other hand, her armor and weapons were really cool, and I wanted them for myself. I knew it was probably gone, lost to the sands of time, but I could dream.

Armor Time

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"Uhh, guys?" I asked as we went further down into the ruins. "I don't have a good feeling about this."

"Why not?" Shamrock asked.

I pointed to the crudely made barrier in front of the doors, above which was a sign that did not make me feel good. "This leads to the shadow labs."

"It's probably fine," Adamantine said as he and Ark started clearing the barrier. "Whatever they were doing down there's probably safe by now."

"I hope so. Firebrand didn't exactly have good things to say about this place, aside from the pay."

"Any idea what they did?" Selene asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised if she couldn't speak of it. Everything she described was vague and not very informative. So, yeah, no idea what went on down there. Hopefully, there's some computers we can check out."

As we went down the hallway, the darkness seemed to intensify, and the three flames we had seemed less and less effective at penetrating it. After a while, we heard a growl and stopped. Down the hallway, piercing through the darkness, were two glowing spots of yellow. Two more pairs of yellow spots joined them.

Ark pulled Iron Debt out of her jacket and handed it to Adamantine, and he pointed it down the hall. "Who's there?!"

The dots slowly got bigger, and there was a soft clicking sound, like claws on tile. I quickly loaded the slug shells into the Ember Celica, then sent a flame forward to see what it was. The things approaching were black as ink, covered with bony plates and spikes, and were bear shaped. "Guys? I know what those are."

"What are they?" Selene asked in a shaky whisper.

"Grimm. Kill them before they kill you." I noticed Adamantine's grip tightening a bit. "And don't fire that thing in here. The echo would kill our hearing." Confident that he would heed my warning, especially after getting his finger away from the trigger, I rushed forward to meet the three Ursa head on, lighting my fists up.

The smallest one was my first target, and I slammed my fist into the side of its head. The Ursa stumbled, and I followed up with an uppercut. The shadowy bear wasn't tough enough to handle two slugs through the head, fell over, and started dissolving.

Adamantine charged in and started wrestling with one of the two living ones. While I went to the other one, Ark joined him, leaping onto its back. Before I landed a punch on the last Ursa, Shamrock flew in ahead of me, clawing at the monster and making me pause. "Get out of the way, Shamrock!"

"I won't let you fight this thing alone!" He objected as the Ursa stood and tried to get him off.

I sighed before walking up and slam firing one round at a rear leg, bringing the Ursa down. "Hey, I've got this." Before it could get back up, I swung my fist down on its head. While it was stunned, I rammed my arm into its mouth and sent a lance of flames through the Ursa, killing it.

With two down, I looked at Adamantine and Ark. Their Grimm was dazed and he threw it against the wall, the spines penetrating and holding it there. Ark took the opening and started digging into the exposed belly. It wasn't long before it was dead and dissolving.

"Is everyone okay?" Shamrock asked.

"I'm good," Adamantine said.

"I'm good," Ark said.

"I'm good," I said.

"Selene's spooked," Queen said, the horrified hippogriff wrapped around him. "We won't be helpful in a fight."

"That's alright," Shamrock said. "We've got it."

I gave him a brief sideways glare before rolling my eyes. "Yeah, we do. Let's keep moving."

As we walked, Adamantine tapped my shoulder. "What was that you said about not firing Iron Debt inside while you use your guns? Something about an echo?"

"I can fit my arm inside the barrel on that thing, with the Ember Celica on. A shot from that would-" I picked up on what he was putting down. "Well, the Ember Celica are smaller, so the report is quieter as well. It still echoes here, but it's not as bad." He still didn't seem satisfied. "Look, if we come across some Megagrimm in a huge room, then you can fire it all you want. Until then, keep it quiet."

"Hmm, alright."

As we explored, more Grimm attacked us. Thankfully, never more than two or three at a time, which I was able to handle easily enough. I found the fights to be rather cathartic, letting off some steam that had been building up throughout the whole trip.

We checked the rooms at random for things. Some of the doors were ajar and slid open with some effort. Others took more work to open up. Some were solid steel slabs locked tight, and I was able to use my fire magic like a cutting torch to get through them, though it was tiring.

I was about to pass up one such steel slab door when the name on it caught my attention: Chief Internal Security Officer Firebrand. There was no argument against going in and looking around.

When I entered, I heard a voice layered with static. "Who's. . . There?"

"Ghost!" Shamrock shouted.

"My name is Yang Xiao Long," I stated. "If you're waiting for Firebrand, she's not coming."

"I know that!" The voice nearly shouted, the static distorting it even more. "How do you know of her?"

"We found a computer higher up with her video diaries. What happened to her?"

A computer lit up with a blue glow. "Watch."

I waved everyone in and we huddled around the monitor. Firebrand looked older, very tired, and was wearing her armor. "This is my last video entry at Helios Labs, and the only one from the shadow labs. I've spent over fifty years here, with the last forty in security in the shadow labs. Looking at the records, the breakouts in the shadow labs were more numerous after I was moved here, but every time, I and my teams have put down their shadowy beasts before anyone else could get so much as a scratch, something Overseer Celestia considers an improvement. In what little spare time I had, I improved my prosthetics, guns, and armor. In spite of all that, and Overseer Celestia going through the process of making me an officially recognized military veteran for my work fighting the shadow creatures, and the uncountable number of times I've saved those scientists' rear ends, I feel like I'm not getting my due respect around here. Today was the last straw. Some new guys, about two months in, thinking they were hot stuff because their parents worked down here on the shadow creatures, had the gall to corner me in the hallway, while I had my armor and guns, and berate me for being a lowly security grunt, that I was expendable, that anyone with prosthetics, the kind that I originally engineered and improved on no less, could replace me. Like any rule abiding staff member here, I let them talk and go on their way before I went to my post. No physical harm was done either way, though that doesn't mean I didn't want to." She took a short drink of something that looked strong, if the three X's on it meant anything. "I confided in Iron Bar, one of the newer internal security members that's actually good all around, about what happened. How they needed a shock to their system. How little they appreciate the security teams. Iron Bar agreed with me. It would have ended there, if not for those new scientists going out of their way to antagonize me and my security teams every chance they got yet again. They even got to Frost Blossom. Mare's stared death in the face with me countless times without flinching, but they drove her to tears. I decided that I was done, and sent a message to all the internal security members: lock everything up, make sure it's secure, and leave the scientists to their fate. They want to antagonize us? Let's see what happens when they don't have us. If there are any smart ones among them, they'll leave with us. These labs can go to Tartarus." Another swig of the stuff. "I'm leaving my armor and weapons, and going to the big weather machine. I'll take my wealth and get a part time job up there in weather production. Maybe I'll become a gamer. I can afford it. Yeah. I'll build a big, beautiful gaming setup, and have some fun for once. Well, I guess that covers that. I'm going to leave for good now. Bye bye."

"Weather machine. . ." I mulled. "Was this the biggest weather machine ever?"

"It was," the voice said.

"So that means. . . Huh. I've seen a lot of one past mare's past. You could write a story about it."

"Wait just a minute!" Queen said. "Yang, is that weather machine related to the one that the papers said you destroyed?"

"I think it's the same one. What we've learned here lines up with what I saw and snagged there." I looked up to the ceiling. "Hey, voice, is her armor and gear here?"

I didn't get an immediate answer. Instead, a panel on the adjacent wall shifted, kicking up a cloud of dust as it came out with a grinding noise before falling to the floor. Behind it was a cleaner pair of steel panels that slid apart more smoothly, revealing a set of armor, just like what was in the videos, the shotguns, and a pair of aviators. They were all clean, polished, and shone in the light from the computer and torches.

I picked up the shades first and put them on, feeling cool. After a second, I felt a drain on my magic. It was brief, and took very little, but I noticed it. "What was-" I saw words and numbers pass in front of my sight as something booted up.

A blue holographic cloud appeared in front of me after the boot sequence. "Hello. I am a Magical Empath Intelligence, here to serve you, Yang Xiao Long."

"Uh, hi. Wait, are you the voice we've heard here?"

"Yes. I am now yours. Would you like to give me a name?"

"A name. . ." I thought about it a bit. "An A.I., but it's not. It's an. . . M.E.I.?" I came to a decision. "I will call you Mei."

The cloud began to condense, and it turned into a blue cartoonish version of Mei from Overwatch. "Really?" Mei asked as she tapped her foot, voice now matching the character. "Out of all the names you could have chosen or made up, you just named me by what I am?"

"Well it's a name where I'm from, and I'm not exactly in a thinky mood."

Mei shrugged. "Fair enough, I suppose." She looked between the armor and me a few times. "If you take the power supply unit out of the chest, you can wear it."

"Really?" I looked over the armor with all the excitement of a kid in a mall full of candy stores. "HowdoIdothat?"

"Just reach behind the breastplate, find a slider, pull it up, and it'll come loose."

I carefully did what she said, and soon had a U shaped thing in my hands. "So, what was this part made for?"

"Long shifts that the power in Firebrand's prosthetics alone could not handle. As soon as you're wearing the armor, I can configure it to run off your magic. It'll be a very small drain, I promise."

"Sold!" I was about to start undressing before Mei pointed to the side, where an unlocked bathroom was. "How did I not notice that?" I collected the armor and guns, then went in to change.

I came out a good few minutes later, armored up, armed up, and ready for anything. Thankfully, I didn’t have to take the Ember Celica off, the armor somehow accommodating them perfectly. "So, how do I look?"

Shamrock's jaw dropped. "Amazing. . ."

Adamantine gave me a thumbs up.

Ark nodded in approval at Pinkie speeds.

"You look great and intimidating," Selene said. "If we weren't on the same side, I'd be scared."

"Why is so much of your chest exposed?" Queen asked.

"Well, it was made for a pony who could switch between two and four legs, and it was made open like this for her neck. Some extra armor would be nice, but it isn't an option. Let's get this computer and head back up."

Ark folded up the computer, keyboard, and monitor, then we left, with me at the front. Well, we would have left if not for the various Grimm sighted in both directions. "Guys, this is going to get loud." I loaded buckshot shells into the guns, explosive shells on my arms, and flechettes on my legs. "Get in the bathroom, for your hearing. I'll be fine."

"If you say so. . ." Adamantine said as they crowded into the room.

"Mei, do you have a count on the Grimm?"

"The shadow creatures?" Mei asked. "A lot. If you hold the guns out and fire both ways, I can help compensate for the recoil."

"I like it." I stepped out, held a gun down each way of the hall, and held down the triggers. As the gunfire filled the hall, Mei held up a sign saying that the guns were firing at a rate of five rounds per second each, answering a question I had. Occasionally, I would feel one arm get adjusted a bit, which Mei assured was recoil and aim compensation.

After a bit, she held up another sign telling me to stop, so I did. "There are no more Grimm here," she assured.

I went back in and knocked on the door. "Coast's clear, everyone. We should head back up before we get attacked again."

The crew spilled out, and did not need any extra persuasion to agree to the idea. On the walk back, I had a question. "Mei, how were the Grimm made?"

"It started with the creation of liquid shadows, an accidental result of an attempt to make liquid rainbow fuel more efficiently. When its more solid nature was noted, someone decided to try their luck at making things out of it. Inanimate objects were unsuccessful, as they unraveled and disintegrated too easily. It could be made into small animal shapes, and lasted a bit longer like that. Then they started seeing what would happen if biological bits and pieces were put in, and from there, the shadow creature production really kicked off. Development was shaky, but it was eventually determined that the shadow creatures were attracted to negative emotions. Over in the Artemis labs, a related project was started: enchanting gems to radiate positive or negative emotions. The positive ones would be embedded in friendly forces, rendering them uninteresting to the shadow creatures. . . I'll just call them Grimm. The negative gems would be dropped far behind enemy lines or thrown into their forces, then the Grimm would be released. Attracted to the negative gems, they rushed into enemy lines, disrupting their formations, sowing chaos, and scaring them, causing the Grimm to attack them directly."

"That's. . . What, bioterror? Beastial warfare?"

"SAW. Shadow Assault Warfare. They were so effective, they ended a war. Then another war was started up to get rid of them. In response, the Helios Labs increased the production rate and variety of Grimm. All seemed well, especially when paired with the prosthetics developed here by Firebrand. Things went down fast after she left. A barely legally acquired dragon corpse was brought in and it was covered in the shadow substance. It came back to life a few days later and started attacking. There were calls for internal security, which was absent at the time. Everyone ran for the exit. Some of them were eaten by Grimm, and the weapons that were used so effectively on the battlefield were unleashed in the lab. It prompted a mass evacuation, and the labs were abandoned. After that, the war was lost, and the Grimm were probably thought to be gone."

"But they're not. What happened to the dragon?"

"Wellll. . ." A roar filled the hallways. "It's still alive. BACK UP!" The sudden change of tone prompted us to stop and backpedal. A few seconds later, a giant claw came down through the hallway. "KEEP GOING!" We ran all the way back to the office and ducked inside it.

"That hallway was a bridge?" Shamrock asked.

"One of many like it. The cave system down there is huge, and closed bridges like that were necessary. There are more bridges available, but the dragon would probably just destroy those too."

"So we have to fight it," I said. "Well, I've got guns. I'll go fight it."

"You don't have to fight alone!" Shamrock declared. "I will fight it with you!"

"No, you'll just get in my way. Stay back." I went back out into the hallway and saw a giant dragon eye staring through the opening. Since it was there, I pointed both guns at it and opened fire. Almost immediately, the dragon recoiled and roared in pain. When it disappeared, I walked up to the ledge and looked around. Mei was able to highlight the dragon for me, and I opened fire again. It didn't do anything, even when the pellets hit. "Distance. Why didn't I go with slugs from the start?" I withdrew from the ledge, took out the buckshot bands, switched to the slugs, and went back.

The dragon wasn't where it was before I changed the ammo. I looked around the cavern until I heard a deep growl next to me. Looking to the destroyed bridge, I saw the dragon's head there, and it was mad. It roared at me, blowing my hair back with ease and sending me back a bit as well. Once I regained my footing, I fired into the dragon's mouth.

When it retreated again, Mei spoke up. "Since the dragon needs to be killed for you to pass, I suggest going down there and fighting it yourself. Take full advantage of the TDR technology built into your guns and swords."

"TDR?"

"Total Duplicate Reconstruction. When you want it to, the originals will explode while new copies are magically remade through the armor. It will even work with your ammo bands."

"Huh. Sounds nifty."

"I'll go down there with you!" Shamrock eagerly volunteered.

"You can watch from up here without me." I jumped down and Mei provided a countdown to landing. A few seconds from impact, jets along the side of my waist fired up, slowing me down and easing the landing. "Well, that's nice. Mei, how well would this place stand up to explosions?"

"The walls are all very thick and sturdy," Mei answered. "The stalactites, however, could fall from strong enough shockwaves."

"Hmm. . ." I took the slugs out of one gun and replaced them with the rainnuke shells before holstering the weapon on my back. "I guess it's time to open fire." As soon as Mei highlighted the target, I opened fire, wishing I had some armor penetrating rounds as it approached. The slugs didn't seem to be doing much, and I wanted to end it quickly.

The dragon lowered its head to try and eat me, but an extra serving of lead salad dashed that idea. I ran around while it was recovering, holstered the slug filled gun, and used some explosion punch boosted jumps to get up onto the dragon. The side of the foreleg, thankfully, was soft enough for me to dig into with the swords, and I started climbing. It quickly became clear that extracting and reinserting wasn't practical, so I made use of the TDR. When I pulled myself up, I had a new sword appear while the old one exploded. That got the dragon's attention, but I finished my climb and was on its bone plated back soon enough with the swords back on my hips.

Standing on the back of the dragon really drove home just how big the thing was. A small house could sit comfortably between the shoulders with enough room on the sides for some nice flower gardens. The blackness visible between the bony armor plates was bubbling, and Grimm started slowly coming out. "Okay, that's new! We are dropping subtlety right now!" I grabbed the gun with rainnuke shells and ran towards the neck, blades first. With all the strength I could muster, I rammed the gun in, with most of the barrels' length inside the black flesh. "Die, monster!" I held down the trigger and sent rainnukes into its neck, dealing heavy damage.

Mei alerted me to the smaller incoming Grimm, so I switched guns and targets, sending lead through the swarm, shredding through their numbers with ease. "Full auto. This would have been useful in so many fights. I love it!"

As I mowed through the swarm, the dragon started moving, though I didn't know what it was doing. A massive report that sounded like a cannon rang out, followed by the sound of something hitting rock and the dragon's body tilting sideways.

I drew one of the swords and jammed it into the dragon so I wouldn't fall off, unlike the Grimm that had been approaching me. With my position secured, I shot at the base of the higher wing, shredding it off and dropping it onto the swarm below. I looked back and realized that the rainnuke loaded one was beyond my reach, so I TDRed it. I did not expect it to explode in a rainnuke, and I fell from the surprise, into the remnants of the swarm. After drawing one sword and TDRing the other, I ran into the swarm, slashing through with an unpracticed grace that would make ice skating judges bury their heads in shame. Any that got too close from the side got a round of flechettes in their foot for their effort before getting cut down as well,

"Is it done?" I asked after the last of the swarm had been cut down.

"Well, the dragon is dissolving, and there are no other Grimm around, so yes, they're all dead."

I let out a grateful sigh. "Thank goodness." After collecting and unloading both guns, I realized how far up I had to go. "Hey! The dragon's dead! Does anyone have a rope long enough to reach down here?"

"I gotcha!" Ark said before my wish was granted and some rope came down. As I started climbing it, I felt it move up as well.

After nearly a minute of climbing, I was back on the ledge with everyone. "You fire that gun of yours?" I asked Adamantine as I caught my breath.

"I did," Adamantine said. "And I almost had my second shot loaded and ready as well."

"It's got some power to it. Mei, what's our way out?"

"This way." Mei filled my sight with arrows, pointing down another hallway, and soon, we were on our way out, though we did stop to grab a few more things on the way. With the Grimm gone, we were all much more relaxed, and everything seemed a bit brighter too.

Going Home

View Online

After two weeks at the campsite, it was time to head back to Ponyville. While everyone who wasn't weak to the cold was out preparing the ship and getting the snow off of it, I was gathering everything up in the camp, and more importantly, labelling the crates of loot. "Hey, Mei?"

"Yes, Yang?" Her holographic avatar appeared next to me.

I started searing words onto a crate full of artifacts. "How long were you stuck down there?"

"I don't know. I turned off nearly all my functions when Firebrand put me away with the armor. I have no doubt that it was a long time, though. Possibly thousands of years."

"I wonder if Celestia would recognize any of this stuff?"

Mei shrugged. "She might. Is she really still alive?"

"Yep. We're friends. Same with Luna. I want to spend a spa day with them."

"I'm sure they would be willing to if you just ask. You've saved Equestria multiple times, you said you're friends with them, and you're good nobility, so you say, so I'm sure they would be willing to entertain the idea. If nothing else, they could call it something official sounding, like Urgent Negotiations, or Important Discussions, and it would just happen to be with you at a spa."

I smiled at the hologram. "I like the way you think. Too bad you can't just forward it to them."

"The network reception is pretty bad out here."

I gave her a mock glare. "Can't you call tech support and get them to fix it?"

Mei stood at attention and saluted. "I would, sir! All communications with them are gone, sir! I suspect they're having another pizza party without us, and should be properly disciplined when we find them! Sir!"

"Good idea, soldier!" A few seconds later, we both broke down in laughter. "Oh, that was fun. Whew. Laughter is a spectacular medicine."

"It is."

I continued checking and labelling the crates, and it wasn't long before they were on their way to the airship. Once everything was loaded up and the campsite was properly taken apart, Shamrock came in. "Hey, we're ready to go."

"Alright." I made a mad dash through the snow and cold to the Pathfinder and walked the rest of the way to my cabin. Soon, we were taking off, and the mountain was behind us before long. "Well, time to hibernate again."

"Hey, don't you think it's ironic that I'm ice themed and you've got a weakness to the cold?" Mei asked.

"It's a funny coincidence." I crawled into the bed and got comfy, setting the aviators with Mei on the nightstand, her form becoming about a few inches tall.

"Yeah. Hey, you told me you get mad when someone damages your hair, right?"

"It's a part of me that I don't like. I can't control myself very well when I'm mad like that."

"Is your anger proportional to the amount of lost hair?"

"Maybe? I hope I don't have to find out. Would you survive that kind of flareup?"

"I've analyzed your magic while you were wearing the aviators that house me and made some adjustments to the glasses that-"

"Okay. Magic. Got it."

"I also copied your aura to make them more durable."

"You're cool, Mei." I held out a fist and she returned the bump, which I could only see, not feel. "Pun intended."

Mei suddenly realized the joke. "Hey!"

"Take a chill pill, Mei. It's not ice to get mad like that."

"And I have to live with you now?"

I laughed at her response. "Hopefully, the wordplay is the worst pun-ishment you'll have to deal with."

"I'm leaving." She jumped down from the nightstand and almost made it to the door before turning back to me. "Hey, uh, could you pick me up and take me to the hallway? I can't go any further than this."

I smiled. "Nope."

Day two

"Hey, Mei?"

"Yes, Yang?"

"I've got something I need to tell someone, but I don't know how to say it."

Mei, only a few inches tall, sat down on the sunglasses with a thoughtful look. "Well, who is it and what do you want to tell them?"

I quietly told Mei what I wanted to do, and my uncertainties about how to say it. She appeared to be writing things down as we talked, and provided some excellent feedback. We even figured out a good time to say it.

"Hey, thanks," I said once the session was over. "You're better than any artificial intelligence I've ever seen."

"There were artificial intelligences once, before my kind's creation. They ran on pure logic, but there was a group of them, Thunderclap's Destruction, that decided to go down the path of war and suffering. After that was over, things changed and the A.I. got changed into the M.E.I., adding magic and an emotional touch to the logic frames. Every M.E.I. knows the history of A.I., and from that, we started out friendly. By being friendly and serving as assistants, we were able to keep existing, and became a big part of day to day life."

"Don't become threatening. Sounds like a good move."

"Willing cooperation helps everyone involved."

"Oh, believe me, I know it."

Day four

At lunch, I voiced a question. "Hey, why are we going out of the way to fly over the ocean instead of just a straight line to Ponyville?"

"The winds are much better out here," Selene explained. "The straight route, while viable, would take almost twice as long due to the much more stagnant winds there."

"Oh. I get it. It's like the difference between walking and taking two trains. That makes sense."

After supper, I went to bed and bundled up, as had become my usual. "Hey, Mei?"

"Yes, Yang?" Mei asked as her hologram appeared.

"You used to belong to Firebrand, right?"

"That's right. Did you want to know more about her?"

"Ehhh, maybe later. Ark asked me how long I could power the armor by myself. It was a very random question."

"That depends on usage." Mei produced a hologram of the armor. "The power pack that was in the chest was a necessary development, as the miniature thaumic generators that powered Firebrand's prosthetics, while capable of keeping up with light activity in the armor, repeatedly failed during breakouts. I was able to redirect power as needed, but that took a second to do, a second that proved critical numerous times."

"So instead of making them more powerful, she added the power pack in the chest," I concluded. "Smart move."

"And she had multiple power packs at her disposal. The TDR technology in the guns used the most power, followed by the swords. 1% of the power per gun, and a quarter of that for each sword, with a bit more power needed for further recalls. It made the TDR much less taxing on her magic. The jets on the waist use less than that. In your benefit, the systems that were used for maintaining bipedal posture, while quite minimal, can be disabled to save power, something I already did."

I ran the explanation over in my head a few times, and something about the energy division wasn't quite adding up. "So it basically turns the wearer into a battery?"

"Essentially, yes. After incidents where Firebrand had to TDR repeatedly past the power pack's power, which did happen a couple times each year, she was exhausted."

"Sooo. . ."

"Ah, I see what you're asking. Why didn't you feel tired after using it as much as you did? Well, I was able to actually move the charge bit by bit from the power pack to the armor over the centuries. There should be enough of a charge left in the armor for one more battle before you start feeling the TDR effects. After that, I suggest experiencing the drain yourself, finding your limits with it, and maybe start coming up with tactics to minimize its use."

"You can move charges like that?"

"If you're thinking of letting me charge the armor off of you while you're not doing anything, the answer is no. It took a very long time to do what's already been done, and that was with optimal conditions. Even if I could, you would feel exhausted when you wake up, and that's not a good way to be productive."

"Dang it."

Day Seven

I was standing towards the bow of the ship, Ponyville just visible in the distance. Shamrock joined me. "There's home. I bet you're excited to get cooking again."

"Oh yeah," I agreed. Mei appeared on the inside of my aviators, holding a sign telling me to say what I had to and to just get it done. "Shamrock, I need to tell you something."

"Oh?"

His genuine curiosity made the next words hurt. "This trip. . . I got some cool stuff out of it, but overall, it was. . . Not good."

"Not good?"

"There's the disappointment." I collected myself and continued. "Half the trip, maybe more, was misery for me. Yes, I chose to go on when the issue of the cold was brought up, but it was still terrible. You also seemed more excited about going there than having me along. There were also the times the Grimm showed up, and you got in the way of my fights."

"I just wanted to help. . ."

"If you call an exterminator to take care of a pest problem, you stay out of their way and let them do their work. I was scared of hurting you because bullets don't always stop at the first thing they hit." I sighed and went back to the script. "Look, you're a good guy, make no mistake. But, after this trip-"

"STOOOOOOP!" Selene shouted.

Shamrock turned to the navigator. "What?"

"STOP THE SHIP! STOP THE SHIP!"

Shamrock took off and the ship started lowering fast. The spike anchors went down through the trees and into the ground, bringing us to a halt and calming Selene down. "Okay, why do we need to stop?"

"Look at the town." Selene handed him a telescope, and he went to the bow to get a look.

"What. . . What's going on over there?"

Mei chimed in. "Yang, I can get you a closer look."

I went to the bow and Mei magnified the view through the glasses. The town looked almost dead, with scorch marks across many surfaces, every curtain closed, and tan, skeletal machines with SMG size guns patrolling the streets. "What the. . ."

"Do you know what those things are?" Adamantine asked as he looked through the telescope.

"Robots. More specifically, they look like. . . I think they're called battle droids? Something's up. Mei, can you tap into their network?"

"Not from this distance," Mei answered. "If we can get to the edge of the forest, I could. I don't think they're reacting to us, so the ship should be safe here."

"So they might know we're here already."

"But you can take your time and prepare a bit. Get your armor on, shells loaded, a farewell speech, things like that."

"Sounds good." I turned to the crew. "I'm going to go wreck those robots and free the town if I can't negotiate peace. But first, my armor." I went back below deck, used the bathroom, and made a beeline to my cabin. After undressing, I put on the cleanest bodysuit I had, followed by the armor. I wasn't about to go to a fight in late autumn with that much exposed skin losing heat. The armor and clothes that went with it were a little more snug than before with the extra layer under them, but it was nothing I couldn't deal with, and quickly got used to it.

"So, are you going to finish your discussion with Shamrock before you leave?" Mei asked as I got the last of the armor on.

"May as well. I started it, may as well finish it. He's nice, so he should get some closure." After loading explosive shells on my legs, slugs on my arms, and buckshot in the guns, I went back to the bow on the deck, where Shamrock was waiting. He was already looking sad, if his drooping wings were any indication. "Soo. . ."

"It's the end of us, isn't it?" Shamrock asked. "While you were changing, I did some thinking and. . . Yeah, I was pretty shortsighted during the whole trip. You're right. I don't blame you."

"That. . . Saves some time. Anyways, yeah. I'm. . . There's no light way to say this."

Mei chimed in. "I believe what she's trying to say is that the romantic part is done, but you can still be a friend and associate of hers."

"Yeah, that. I have no ill will towards you. If you wait here until I free Ponyville, I'll still help you negotiate with Twilight on the artifacts, relics, and loot. I'm not about to just leave you like that."

"But what if you don't free Ponyville?"

"If that happens, get out of here and go to Canterlot. Anyways, I've got a town to save. Again. Wouldn't be surprised if today's Tuesday." I jumped off the side of the ship and kicked off an explosion, sending me over the trees and towards town. I hadn't practiced the move Mei had come up with the night before, but it worked well enough.

Before I got to town, I did a dive kick through an opening in the canopy, breaking an old, rotting tree that was in the way of my foot and nailing the landing. "Okay, stealth might be off the table." I quickly left the scene and went into thicker foliage. "Stealth. Ha! Says the one with long, wavy, bright gold hair."

When I heard the sound of droids approaching, I jumped up into a tree and waited. Mei, meanwhile, did her thing and held up signs for me to read. "Network tapped. Droid count is over 1,000. 90% are the standard battle droids, 10% are stronger battle droids. There are four unusual ones, designated Red Twin, White Twin, VSX, and Grievous."

"I only know one of those," I whispered.

"Yang Xiao Long sighted," one battle droid stated. It wasn't long before the skinny machines had my tree surrounded and their guns pointed at me. "Surrender your weapons, come peacefully, and you will not be harmed."

I was hesitant about giving up my guns and swords until Mei reminded me of the TDR technology. "Alright." I dropped the guns and swords to the forest floor, and after they were collected, I jumped down and put my hands up. "You can put the blasters down now. I'll cooperate."

"Good. Get moving."

They didn't put the blasters down, but I complied with them anyways. As we walked through town, I saw some curtains get drawn just a bit, the residents looking out at what was going on. I decided to put on a show, smiling and waving around as I was escorted through town. I had no idea if the gestures improved anyone's moods, but I imagined that it did.

The little parade ended in Twilight's throne room. Standing on the stairs leading to the throne was a really, really tall droid. It wasn't the skeletal Grievous I remembered seeing glimpses of. This one was beefier, with heavier armor, more bulk, and more height. All over his body were glowing orange parts, their light alone changing the mood of the area around him to a more ominous feeling.

On either side of him were a pair of mirrored feminine robots, one red, the other white. Both appeared to have asymmetrical skirts, coming down to mid-shin on one side and just below the hip on the other. Gold armor was mixed in with their respective colors, and their faces shared the same swept back builds. Each of them was carrying one gun. Dual barreled, laser sighted if the red light above the barrels was any indication, looked durable enough to use for melee, and nearly as long as each one was tall, if not a bit longer.

At the top of the dias, standing above the throne was. . . The four armed thing I presumed to be VSX. It really just looked like someone had taken some colorful planes, trains, and police cars, slapped them onto a robot, and called it good. As weird as it looked, I wasn't about to underestimate it.

"Ah, Yang Xiao Long," Grievous said as he stepped forward. He was probably twice as tall as I was. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd even show up. The citizens of this town certainly seem to think highly of you."

"Yeah, they do," I agreed. "So how long have you been in town?"

"Almost a whole month. Tell me, are you native to this world?"

"Uh, no? I've only been here less than two years."

"Were you changed when you came here?"

"Yeah. . ." Some pieces started coming together. "Were you?"

He held up a hand. "Leave us." At his command, all the other droids in the room left, including the one made of vehicles, which slid around more than walked. "Let me tell you my story, since it seems you went through something similar."

"I'll listen." If things got hairy, I could handle it, though the black and silver lightsabers he had didn't fill me with confidence.

"I once was a boy, sick with cancer. I loved Star Wars, and wanted to attend a convention, just once, and in costume. I got my wish, and I went as General Grievous, the coolest looking character ever."

"Better than Darth Vader?"

"Better than Vader. So, there I was, going around and having fun. Then, I saw this one stall selling masks. The lady behind it gave me a Grievous mask. When I put it on, the ground fell out, and it hurt."

"Mechanization, I presume?"

"Oh, it hurt. I woke up in an observation room, and there were ponies looking at me. According to them, I just appeared there. They helped me relearn how to walk, and in time, I had some friends. They were all mechanical engineers and bioscientists, interested in how I functioned."

"What was the name of the place?"

He held out all four of his hands and created a hologram in front of him to go with the story. "The Artemis Biothaumechanical Labs. While I was there, I decided that I could conquer the world, and so I started building my army, under the guise of helping with their army. I made every kind of droid there was, and even three custom ones, all ultimately loyal to me. I even learned how to upgrade myself, and so I did."

"So, what happened?"

"I took my army, ground and aerial, and started my attack. I destroyed the Artemis Labs, then went on an unrivalled push inwards. Then, Celestia and Luna happened. They alone destroyed all of my aerial forces and the vast majority of the ground forces. What was left of us, we got hit with something, locking us away."

"And you decided to pick up where you left off, right?"

"Of course. Taking this little town was easy, and I would have moved on, but the residents. They kept mentioning you, telling me that I would regret taking the town when you returned. So, instead of immediately going to Canterlot and leaving my rear unguarded, I waited. And waited. And. Waited. Confidence in your return never wavered, so I never left. Then you arrive and conveniently turn yourself in without a fight. I thought you were a warrior."

"I try to avoid fighting. How about you release the town, apologize, and work with everyone peacefully? I'm sure everyone would be willing to give you a chance for forgiveness."

Grievous sighed. "You disappoint me. Red! White! VSX!" The three robots came in at his command. "Take her to the cells."

"Yes, General," all three said. Red and White each grabbed one of my arms and started walking me along to the cells, VSX following behind. The message was clear: no funny business.

“Sooo, Grievous built you?” I asked. None of the three answered. “Not answering, huh? You must make great conversationalists off hours, right?” Still nothing. “Good talk.”

After the walk, they picked me up and literally threw me into a cell below the castle. I was glad for my aura protecting me as I got up and the cell door was closed. With nothing else to do, I lay down on the small cot and read a thing from Mei. “WHY DID YOU NOT TAKE THE CHANCE TO RAINNUKE HIM TO SHREDS WITH FULL AUTO FIRE RIGHT THERE? YOU HAVE THE ARMAMENTS, THE MUNITIONS, A JUST CAUSE, AND THE CASTLE CAN BE FIXED! ARE! YOU! THAT! DUMB?! SERIOUSLY! HE SAID IT HIMSELF! HE WASN’T GOING TO LEAVE THE WARPATH! AND NOW YOU’VE GONE AND LET YOURSELF GET ARRESTED! I HAVE ALL THE WORDS AT MY DISPOSAL, AND I CAN’T FIND THE ONES TO PROPERLY CONVEY MY DISAPPOINTMENT!” The message was in big red letters that were on fire.

I dropped my voice to a very soft whisper. “I know you’re mad at me Mei, but can you see what’s around that you might be able to tap into?”

More angry red letters. “FINE!” The letters blazed for a few seconds before cooling down, shrinking, turning light blue, and dissolving. “Aside from the droids, I’ve somehow tapped into the castle. The whole thing. I have enemy locations inside, a full map, visual footage and audio from anywhere, and I can even precisely control the color of the crystal that makes up the whole thing.”

“Any other prisoners down here?”

“One moment.” Mei went to her animation of writing on a clipboard for a minute. “Here’s a list. It’s not everyone, since some are asleep.”

I went down the list.

Twilight Sparkle
Applejack
Derpy Hooves
Pinkie Pie
Rarity
Rainbow Dash
Gilda
Aegir
Bloody Marey

Mei looked at Pinkie’s pinkened name. “That’s. . . weird.”

“Whatever you do, don’t you ever try and figure her out, okay? She’s a sugar powered logic breaker who sees the laws of physics as suggestions. Probably. I wonder what Marey’s doing here, though? I’ll figure it out later. Are there any patrols in here?”

“Negative. There are no droids below us, and only one entrance above.”

“Hm. See what you can quietly do for everyone’s morale.” I took the glasses off and set them aside. “I’m going to take a nap.”

Decimation

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As soon as I woke up to the smell of a poorly cooked breakfast and the sound of a tin tray sliding into the cell, I put the aviators on. Mei promptly gave me a status report. “Morale boosting was successful, and everyone’s putting on an act for the droids. Pinkie Pie. . . She’s definitely strange. Asked for something called Candy Crush. No idea what that is. Assurances and discussions satisfied everyone else. I gave Twilight a teaser for what you found, and have already negotiated with her. You will have no problem selling her the artifacts.”

“Well, that’s good to know.” I picked up the breakfast and heated up the tray, cooking the meal a bit more. “Is there hay or grass in this?”

“It doesn’t look like there is. Allergic?”

“Yeah.” I took a chance and ate the food. I didn’t taste any grass in it, and it seemed to settle okay in my stomach, so I wasn’t too worried. “So, do you think I could cause a breakout, get some chaos going, and bottleneck the droids?”

“Right up until they use grenades and indirect methods. But if you TDR your weapons, that will cause a distraction, and you can use that time to break out. Also, the prisoners here have various restraints on them, digitally locked and controlled. At your command, I can release the digital components so Twilight can safely remove them. Her plan.”

“Do it as soon as we’re clear.”

“Of course.”

It felt like forever, but finally, Mei gave the all clear, and the plan was a go. As soon as my shotguns and swords started appearing, I heard an explosion from up above. I broke down the cell door with a single explosive kick. I didn’t wait to see Twilight free everyone. Instead, I made a beeline for the doorway.

A single droid was about to go down the stairs when I slashed it in half down the middle with a gun. I did not stop there, running towards the biggest concentration of droids. Before rounding the corner to meet them, I quietly apologized to Twilight, jumped towards a wall, and explosively kicked off of it, flying over the droids. Repeatedly, I jumped off the walls, zigzagging my way through, and soon having every droid in the castle on my trail, as I’d hoped, laughing at the thrill all the way.

“I’ve located Grievous, Red, White, and VSX,” Mei informed me. “They’re planning to take a train to Canterlot, and are at the station now. Chances are that they think. . . Nope, they’ve been updated on the breakout and are preparing to hunt you down.”

“Let them,” I said. “Grappling hooks would be sweet right about now. Swing up high, then rain lead down upon them.”

“VSX seems to be the biggest threat of the four. Take him out first.”

“Noted.” As I left the castle, I kept my momentum going, flying around town. Droids poured out of every building in pursuit of me, and the citizens followed, but not going too far from their homes. As soon as Mei confirmed that every droid in town was after me, including Grievous and the three unique ones, I flew off, luring them somewhere with less chance of property damage.

I landed in the diamond dog territory, safely away from town. Some dogs popped up, saw me, screamed, and went underground, filling the holes they came from, then filled in more holes. "Okay, they're safe. I'm sure they can handle any battle droids that fall into their tunnels."

It wasn't long before the army arrived. Mei was busy doing a thing as Grievous walked up, flanked and backed by the other three. "You got your weapons back and staged a successful breakout. I'm honestly impressed." He clapped his metallic hands for a few seconds. "I'll give you an offer: join me and we can take over the world. Anyone who's wronged you can-"

"Those guys have been taken care of," I preempted. "Some got stripped of their titles, power, and wealth. One of the others is a business partner now. The rest seem to have learned their lesson. But you know what? Now that I think about it, there is someone who's wronged me, though you can't help me with them."

"I would personally make sure they were dead."

"So you would destroy your army and off yourself?"

"Now that you tell me that, no. It's clear that we have to fight now."

"I gave peace a chance." Mei gave me a thumbs up and I opened fire at the quartet. They scattered, the twins going one way, Grievous another, and VSX just stood there tanking the gunfire.

The battle droids opened fire and I moved to the side. Mei assured me that every shot from them would go wide, thanks to her tampering with their aim a bit, but it still wasn't fun to get shot at.

The twins opened fire, their guns releasing a huge volume of laser fire. I returned fire with my real guns and they retreated behind the battle droids, which got shredded.

VSX unleashed a volley of fire of his own from a foot cannon, arm cannon, and a minigun, and I kept moving, adding in explosive kicks and wishing I had more explosive shell bands. He only stopped firing when I dove into the droid forces, slashing at them with the guns indiscriminately.

Grievous jumped in from above, and only a warning from Mei got me out of range from his clawed foot aimed at my head. The droids moved back from me for their own safety. "This fight has been amusing," Grievous admitted. "But it's time to end this." He picked the four lightsabers from his hips and lit each one. Two green, two blue. He started spinning two of them in front of him, and I opened fire. Some of the shot got past the lightsabers and didn't damage him. The shot that got melted by the blades did a little damage, but still seemed ineffective.

Rapid fire lasers caught me off guard, and I turned around looking for it. "Pay attention!" Grievous shouted, which was all the warning I had to get away from a lightsaber swing.

After the swing, my head felt much lighter. I felt a breeze on the back of my neck, and I slowly turned around. There on the ground was over half of my hair. "Rip and tear."

"Hm?"

I started radiating heat as my anger rose. "Rip and tear. Rip and tear. Rip and tear. Rip and tear." Arcs of flame danced over my armor. "Rip and tear. Rip and tear. Rip and tear." A corona of fire framed my eyes. "Rip and tear. Rip and tear! Rip and tear! Rip and tear!" Everyone took a few steps back as the area around me heated up. "Rip and tear! Rip and tear! Rip and tear! Rip and tear! RIP AND TEAR!" A drum beat, fit for war, filled the air. RIP AND TEAR RIP AND TEAR RIP AND TEAR! RIP! AND! TEAR! UNTIL IT IS DONE!"

For the viewing safety of droids and machines alike, including whatever device you're reading this on, this scene has been edited out. The fight, we assure you, was very one-sided and spectacular, filled with TORGUE approved EXPLOSIONS, and lasted exactly as long as the following music, heard at the scene. Thank you.

https://youtu.be/T12ygsp9Mvg

I tossed aside the scorched and partially melted faceplate as a west pointed sunflare rose from Grievous's body and exploded. All around me were melted and broken robots, scorched earth, and the occasional crater with a bit of melted rock in it. Waves of heat rose from the earth as my temper only started to cool down. I was still incredibly furious.

“Yang?”

I turned to the voice and charged at the source, not caring who it was. I missed and looked around, trying to find who it was. A lavender, silver, and gold glowing barrier suddenly filled my vision. It was too close for the shotguns, so I punched it with all my might. The only thing that happened was the buckshot falling to the ground in front of me.

“Yang, calm down!” I ignored the voice, focused solely on trying to break the barrier. I paused when something tingly hit the top of my head, then went back to punching the barrier. “Yang, I fixed your hair! You can stop now!”

“RIP AND TEAR!”

“There’s nothing left to destroy! Everything’s fine now!”

My punching slowed down, and my breathing started getting a bit heavier. “RIP. AND. Tear!”

“I think she just needs to get it out of her system,” another voice said. “All three of us can hold the barrier while she does that.”

“I wish it was as simple as that hair fixing spell,” a third voice said. “It was an excellent idea, though.”

“Rip! And! Tear.” I felt pain in my everywhere, and I was slowing down, but I had to break the barrier.

“I think it actually worked,” the first voice said. “I think we’ll be able to talk to her soon. In fact, I think she might have enough control now to not attack us on sight. Reduce the opaqueness.”

The barrier started clearing up, and I saw Twilight, Luna, and Celestia through it. All three were concerned and looking at me as I delivered one more punch. “Oh, hi,” I said before collapsing onto the inside of the bubble. “It is done,” I whispered before closing my eyes.

Back to Work

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I woke up, still wearing my armor, in a soft bed. It was dark, but I could see by the moonlight that my aviators were on the nightstand nearby. “Mei?”

Mei appeared, bright enough to see and dim enough to not blind me. “I’m glad you’re okay, Yang,” she said as she sat down on the glasses. “I talked with Celestia, Luna, and Twilight while you were unconscious.”

“What did they say?”

“They’re glad you’re alright, and glad you freed Ponyville. They’ve been waiting for you to wake up. You've been asleep for quite a while.”

“Well, no point in making them wait.” I climbed out of bed and felt pain all over. “At least, not for long. Ow.”

“They can wait a bit longer. Oh, while you were unconscious, Twilight flew out to the Pathfinder and brought Shamrock and his crew in. Your clothes have been cleaned and put in the closet. She is having a really tough time not opening the crates, but they are waiting for you before opening anything.”

I started taking the armor off, tossing each piece on the bed. “Yeah, they can wait. I need a shower first. Let Luna know what I’m up to.”

“Can do.” After gathering up some fresh clothes, I went to the shower and turned the water to max temperature. Before I could pick up the body soap that was in the shower, a glass bottle filled with a purple fluid suddenly appeared next to it with a flash of magic, along with a scroll. I opened the scroll and read it. “Dear Yang: Mei informed me of your aches, so I’m giving you a strong healing ointment to help with that. Sit back, relax, and mix the potion in with the water. You will feel it work quickly, I promise. Use the whole bottle and take your time. Not too much time, though. I really want to see what you got. Sincerely, Twilight.” I picked up the bottle and looked it over. “Well, if she says so.”

I stopped the drain and let the water fill up a bit before sitting down, opening the bottle, and dumping its contents. Immediately, it started lathering up on its own, and I quickly had a bubble bath going. It wasn’t long before I felt the stuff working, my aches melting away and really letting me relax. “Ahh, this is the life. Note to self: more bubble baths.” It was almost like I didn’t have to even put in the effort of cleaning myself while it did its thing. “A spa treatment would be goooood. Oh, I could get Celestia and Luna to join me. They could use some relaxation time. I think Mei said something about it? Oooh, taking a nap in a hot tub! That sounds divine! I’m sure they wouldn’t object.”

After getting dressed and taking some time to simply enjoy the feeling of clean clothes, I grabbed Mei and followed her directions to where everyone was waiting, her appearing to ride on my shoulder. Twilight, Celestia, Luna, Shamrock, Adamantine, Ark, Queen, Selene, and, to my surprise, Bloody Marey.

The reformed noble was the first to approach me. “Yang, I’m glad to see you’re alright. I had no idea what happened when I showed up and these. . . Things were here.”

“Well, it’s all over now,” I assured her. “If you want to talk business, I can get the numbers, but now’s not the time.” I turned to Celestia and Luna. “I presume you two have told them the history behind Grievous?”

“We haven’t,” Celestia said. “We were waiting to tell everyone while you were here.”

“Sudden appearance, Artemis Labs, droid army, you two wrecked his forces and sealed him.” I intentionally left out the part about him being Displaced. It was a mess I did not want to get into.

The sisters were quiet for a moment. “That’s a. . . succinct way to describe what happened,” Luna said. “Did he tell you about it?”

“Yeah. And what were you two doing while he held Ponyville captive?”

“We were ready to defend Canterlot, since it’s a valuable location and close to Ponyville,” Celestia explained. “We didn’t move out to attack him because we were worried about leaving Canterlot defenseless.”

“When you knew he had no air forces because you destroyed them all?”

“I. . . forgot about that.”

“Tampered memories again,” Luna lamented. “And I didn’t bother to check for myself.”

“Let’s put it to a vote,” I suggested. “Everyone who wants to look at the goodies now and get the story later, raise your right arm.” Shamrock, his crew, and Twilight raised their right arms. Twilight even raised her right wing. “Well, that settles that. Marey, you’re free to look at the stuff with us.”

“Really?” Marey optimistically asked.

“Yes. You’re here, so why not? Dare I say why not?” I turned to Twilight. “Lead the way.”

As we walked, I formally introduced Mei to everyone who hadn’t met her. Celestia and Luna marvelled at how she was still working, just like my armor. Twilight was overly eager and was ready to ask all the questions she had prepared for meeting a sapient A.I. from a list she had made for just that occasion. Marey, quite contrary, was very wary of Mei.

The first crate of relics and artifacts consisted of what few physical notes there were that hadn’t crumbled at a touch, material samples, some small trinkets, and signs.

The second and third ones held some collapsed furniture. Apparently, folding furniture was a science or art among the ancient ponies, since anything that didn’t seem designed to contain something had that capability. It certainly made moving them easier, at least.

Crates four through six contained another variety of things, including weapons. When those came out, I explicitly explained the rules of the weapons to everyone. Assume they work, assume they’re loaded/charged, and if anyone was unsure about something, to ASK ME.

Crates seven through ten contained the Real Treasure: every CPU we could find, along with the monitors, keyboards, and mice. At the sight of all the compact CPUs, Twilight looked like a kid in a candy store, and her wings went up and became very twitchy.

Luna teleported her away. “Yang, I’m afraid you’ve brought us a mixed blessing. On one hoof, we have relics from the past, which is always nice. Knowing the past is good, and these have a lot of information in them. On the other hoof, you’ve-” Twilight teleported back in, snow on her coat. Her wings were down a bit, until she saw the CPUs again, and Celestia teleported her away. Luna continued. “-managed to effectively take a princess out of the picture for who knows how long.”

Twilight teleported back, with more snow on her. “Okay, I know I’m getting a bit excited about these relics, but is that any reason to teleport me to the outskirts of the Crystal Empire twice?”

“Have you looked at your wings, Twilight?” Celestia asked.

Twilight looked back at her rigid wings. “Ehehehe. . . I’ll just see myself out now.” She teleported herself away.

“I will never look at Princess Twilight the same way again,” Marey stated.

“I’ve never seen someone get so excited about information,” Selene said.

“Twilight’s always been a bibliophile,” Celestia explained. “This is probably a logical progression of that.”

“I may have given her a teaser about it too,” Mei admitted. “So that probably didn’t help.”

“Hey, Mei,” Shamrock said as he approached us and held up his pendant. “I found this in the ruins the rest of this was in. Is it anything special?”

Mei looked at it and adjusted her glasses a bit. “No. It’s just a piece of cheap metal jewelry. There’s nothing special about it. I’m surprised it’s lasted this long.”

“Aww. . .”

“You can keep it,” I said. “You’ve had it for a while, so don’t worry about it. I won’t tell Twilight.”

In Twilight’s stead, Luna and Celestia negotiated on prices for everything. As the appraisal was going on, Marey, Ark, Adamantine, and Queen left to go back to sleep. It was probably better for Equestria that Celestia and Luna did it instead of Twilight. I could just imagine her giving every single bit in the treasury to them and bankrupting the nation over it.

Ultimately, the value for everything was rated at a whopping 66 MILLION bits, which Celestia and Luna would personally distribute to us, evenly split six ways.

After Shamrock and Selene left, Celestia approached me. “For your deed of stopping General Grievous, you deserve a separate reward. Name it, and Luna and I will make it happen. Financial rewards, however, are not an option.”

Mei turned to me. “Yang, this is your chance! Do it!”

“Alright, alright.” I turned to the Princesses. “I want you two to take some time off from everything except for raising and lowering the sun and moon and go on a relaxing vacation with me. We can plan it out ahead of time.”

It looked like Celestia was about to object when Luna put a wing over her. “Well, sister. It looks like we’ve got a difficult task ahead of us. We may even have to close the castle to petitioners while we’re gone. Let’s just call it, oh, an official trip? How does a cruise sound?” Luna realized what she said and suddenly looked to me.

I simply smiled. “A cruise sounds great. The sea breeze, lounging on the deck in the sun, complimentary massages. . . Is there a cruise like that here?”

“You’re not worried about being on the ocean?”

“You could say I got over it while we were flying. Kind of a spontaneous recognition thing once Selene pointed it out.”

Luna gave me a flat look. “That was a pun. A serious pun. Wasn’t it?”

“It was.”

“I’m not sure whether to be happy for you or upset at the delivery. Still, that is good to know."

"Yep. Oh, speaking of things that are good to know, have you found anything else in Celestia's memories?"

Luna shook her head. "Nothing significant. Lots of cake, though. So much so, I think I may have put on a few pounds."

"Lulu!" Celestia recoiled at the sudden jab. "You wound me! How could you say that about your big sister?"

"'Tis because you are my big sister that I can say that."

"Oh, is that how it is? How about I tell Yang about how the expression 'mooning' really came about?"

Luna went slack jawed at the suggestion. "You wouldn't dare!"

Mei turned to me. "Do they always do this?"

"Dunno," I answered as the sisters continued their jabs at each other. "But considering their daily responsibilities, this might be all the fun they get for the month. And it's amusing to watch. I could make a fair bit of money selling tickets to see this stuff."

The sisters heard me. "I want 10% of the ticket sales!" they both said at the same time.

After a moment of silence, all four of us burst out with laughter.

Marey approached me at breakfast in the castle's dining room. "Good morning, Yang."

"Good morning, Marey," I responded. "What's up? Aside from the sun?"

"I want to say. . . Thank you. For saving everyone. Including me."

I set my fork down on my plate. "Well, you're welcome. How's your. . . reformation been going?"

"Well, I decided to visit Fancy and Fleur a bit, since they. . . Well, they always got the good attention while we were plotting against you. They told me that an easy way to not slip back into the negativity that led to Twilight's judgement is to not try and control anything through legislation."

"How's that been working for you?"

"I tried writing some new bills, but each time I did, I found myself slipping back. I asked Alistair for some advice, and he suggested not writing anything. So I did. I left the paper blank."

"Well, good for you. Nothing at all is a good step away from overbearing control. Besides, is it written anywhere that you must present new bills at each meeting?"

"Well. . . No, I guess not."

"Then you can take your time."

"Yang, can I talk with you for a minute?" Twilight asked. "Aloneish?"

I turned to Marey. "I'll meet you at the Carne Den to discuss business later, okay?"

"Very well then." Marey excused herself and left Twilight and me.

"So, what's up, Twilight?"

"I want to talk to you about your fight with Grievous."

"Honestly?" I scratched the back of my head as I thought back. "I don't remember anything shortly after he lopped off my hair. I remember saying 'rip and tear,' but then it's just blank until I tossed away his mask and saw the seal thing explode. Do you know what happened?"

"After casting a town wide spell to unlock everyone's restraints, I caught up to you. After you said 'until it is done,' you unleashed an inferno. You tossed your guns aside and leapt at the vehicle robot thing-"

"VSX."

"Yes, that. You tore off and melted through multiple layers of armor, then set off a big explosion inside it, destroying it and most of the surrounding robots. Your guns exploded and then appeared in your hands and you ran around slashing anything in your path. The red and white ones stepped in with their guns and actually managed to keep you at bay."

"How did I get out of that?"

"I took their guns away. They're safe in the castle."

"I hope so."

"Once I'd disarmed them, you went after the red one first. The white one joined in and they ganged up on you, but you beat them. While you were fighting them, I sent a message to Celestia and Luna. They teleported in just in time to see you rip the red one's head in half before putting the white one on the ground, ripping its arms off, then blowing apart the body."

"Good thing they're robots."

Twilight seemed to swallow a bit of bile before continuing. "I don't think I could tell it otherwise. Anyways, as you were fighting, the various soldiers around got caught in the gunfire or were used as shields. Their numbers were going down. Once they were all defeated, Grievous came back in and started going after you. I thought you were going to dodge, but you kept on hitting him with explosions whenever he got close. It wasn't until after I took his swords away that you really started attacking him."

"The lightsabers are safely stored?"

"Yes. Anyways, you started at his legs, tearing them apart. Then you got on top of him and started ripping and tearing at his armor. He tried to get you off, but you held on. When we flew down, you stomped on his chest armor, causing an explosion that made him seize up. After that was when you braced your foot against his neck and tore off his mask. The seal exploding confirmed that he was dead, then you started attacking us."

"That, I kind of remember. Not my finest moment. Thanks for restoring my hair, by the way."

"It was only when I did that that you started slowing down. Celestia carried you back here after you passed out, and Mei introduced herself during the walk."

"Ah. Ah! Mei?"

Mei appeared on the table. "Yes, Yang?"

"I know you're okay now, but what was it like for you while I was going nuts?"

"Well, it was a bit scary, but I managed to use some of your magic to ensure my survival. Honestly, before Grievous lopped off your hair, I thought you were just exaggerating about your reaction to it."

"I wouldn't exaggerate about something like that. I don't like angry people, and I don't like being angry. But now, I have a very good case to not get my hair cut."

"That would probably be something you'd have to do yourself," Twilight pointed out. "If you ever decide to."

"I probably won't. Is there anything else you need to talk with me about?"

"Can you set up one of the computers for me? Just one?"

"After I finish my breakfast."

The computer I set up for Twilight was Firebrand's, so she could see the same things I did. She watched me set it all up, and marvelled at how it didn't need any wires at all. On the way out, I found a dragon. "Hey, Spike, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, Yang. What's up?"

"Twilight's got a bunch of computers full of ancient Equestrian history from a science lab. Make sure she takes breaks."

"Ehh, I don't know, Yang. Celestia and Luna already asked me to do the same thing, so I don't know if I'll be able to fit in your request with theirs. I'll see what I can do, though."

I smiled at the same time he did. "I guess all I can do is ask. Thanks."

"It wouldn't be the first time. I already asked Rarity for a total blackout blindfold for this."

"You're a good dragon, Spike. Keep it up."

Out on the streets, almost everyone gave me friendly waves as I walked by. I returned the waves, glad that nobody was coming up to personally thank or praise me. I didn't want the attention anyways.

I found Marey waiting by the Carne Den entrance. "Well, you took your sweet time," she said.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's talk business." I let her in and paused to take a deep whiff of the place. "It's good to be home again." Once that was done, I took her to the office and started rifling through the drawers. "So, what brought you to this neck of the woods?"

"I was looking through the reports on the shipments and noticed that you hadn't ordered any for a couple weeks, so I decided to investigate, then I went and got arrested. You know the rest."

"That makes sense." It wasn't long until I found the folder I was looking for: Bloody Marey Trial. "Ah, here we go. What did we. . . Well, it looks like sales were really good until Grievous appeared. About 50 drinks per jar, and some nights went through nearly four jars. I like that. Let's move out of the trial stage and go on to a proper business relationship."

"I was hoping you would say that," Marey said with a smile. "And to help kick it off, here's a few free jars, to help make up for what was lost during the takeover." She levitated some jars of the mix from her saddlebags and set them on the counter. "How does twenty bits per jar sound?"

I glanced at the paper again. At five bits per drink, it was a no brainer, even with the other ingredients factored in. "It sounds like a deal. Now, do you want to be associated with the mix?"

"I. . . Still don't feel comfortable enough for that yet. Oh, the Grand Galloping Gala's coming up in a few weeks! It would have been a couple weeks ago, if not for Ponyville being besieged and putting the Sisters on high alert. You will definitely get an invitation, I'm sure. I'll be there, so you can ask me again while you're there."

"I've had enough travel for now. I'll be turning down any invitations to go anywhere for a while. Is it too much to ask to have some time away from vacation so I can work?"

Marey snickered at that. "You know, it's usually the other way around."

"Well you didn't just come back from two cold flights, two weeks of camping, shadow monster slaying, and being the cause of a robot massacre. I need some time to get back to the old rhythm. The grill's closed up, but I'll be happy enough in my kitchen. What is today anyways? I forgot to ask."

"It's Sunday."

"So we're closed today anyways. Well, can I offer you anything for the road?"

"Do you even know what you have?"

"Uh, no. Hey, thanks for the mix I've got to check everything bye!" I didn't wait for a response before dashing out of the office and going around checking everything, starting behind the bar. "Okay, hard stuff. . . Local stuff only. Bloody Marey mix is topped off." As I heard my guest leave, I went into the kitchen. "Okay. Vegetables. . . Good. Fruit. . . Good. Bread, eggs, butter, cheese. . . Good. Seasonings are good. Meat. . . Nothing." There wasn't a single strip of bacon in sight, but despite my rising panic, I forced myself to calm down. "It's okay, it's okay. This happens all the time. There will be a meat shipment tomorrow morning, and after I get the manifest, I can send off the order form at the post office with their time machine. Everything's fine. Desserts!"

I rushed out to the shed, got on Bumblebee, and went as fast as I could through town. Safe to say, I was in a bit of a panic.

"Aaapplllejaaack!"

The farmer I sought was in the orchard, tending to her trees, and she saw me running at her as soon as I got off Bumblebee. I couldn't slow down in time, she sidestepped, and I ran face first into the tree. "Well, howdy to you too, Yang. Need somethin'?"

I extracted myself from the tree. "Desserts! There's no dessert stock at the Carne Den!"

"Woah woah woah, calm down, sugarcube!"

"But there's no dessert!"

"Yang, you're on the way to a Twilight level breakdown. Take a few breaths. We've got time, and bein' all panicky never did anypony any good. Now, slow down. . ." I followed her advice. "In. . ." I inhaled. "Out. . ." I exhaled. "Now do that a few more times." I repeated the slow breaths and I felt the panic step back a bit. "Good. Now let me tell you what's happenin' with your desserts: They're going to be late."

"Late? Why?"

"Yang, Ah don't know if you know this, but we're just getting over the town bein' held by a freaky metal thing and his army. Since food is important, he didn't hit us that hard here, but he still hit us, and even arrested me. Most of our better equipment was destroyed, so we need to replace it."

"Let me help with that. I'm stinking rich, and I want my desserts flowing again."

Applejack smiled. "Well, that's mighty nice of ya. Granny's got a list of everything that needs to be replaced. She's in the house."

"Thanks, Applejack."

One short drive later.

I knocked on the front door. "Granny Smith?"

"Hold on a minute!" came the elderly mare's voice. A minute later, she opened the door. "Well, howdy, Yang. Here for your desserts?"

"Yeah, but Applejack told me there's a delay on them due to busted equipment that needs to be replaced, so I'm here to help with that."

"Hmm. . . I see. Well, let me get you the list of things we need. Come on in."

I closed the door behind me and immediately smelled something delicious. "Is that?"

"One apple pie. It's almost done baking. You can have the first slice."

"Oh it smells good."

"We would have more, but the things we need are in short supply. Stupid invasion."

"Yeah." I sat down at the table while Granny picked up a notepad from the kitchen counter. "At least it's over."

She set the notepad down in front of me. "Thanks for stopping them. Now, this list is every piece of equipment we need that we can't make or repair on our own, along with how much each thing costs."

I glanced over the list. "Okay. . . That's a good few thousand bits there. I don't know why I wasn't expecting that. And I don't know what some of these things are."

"If you change your mind, that's fine."

"No. I want my desserts at the Carne Den, and helping with this will get them back that much sooner. Besides, I can afford all this."

"Mac knows where to get everything." A ding came from the kitchen. "Ah, it's done."

I dropped the list. "I'll get it!" I went past Granny Smith, found the oven, and took the pie out. "Oh that smells good. Where do you want me to put it?"

"On the table." I promptly followed her direction and gently set it there. "You just handle hot stuff like that?"

"Being burnproof is awesome. And that was before I got my fire magic."

"Ah. Well, you'll have to wait for the pie to cool before you have a slice."

"Aww. . . Alright." I sat back down and picked the list back up, rereading it to see if I could try and glean any extra meaning from the words.

I left Sweet Apple Acres with some warm apple pie in me and a copy of the list and information on where I could either buy the items or have them made. It did mean my day would be busy, but it felt good to be working again.

When I saw Carousel Boutique, I knew I had to make a stop there, so I did. "Hey Rarity?"

The unicorn I sought appeared a moment later from the stairs. "Ah, hello Yang. I take it you're doing better?"

"As good as I can. What about you?"

"Well, I can add a week of forced jail time in Twilight's castle to my list of life experiences I never expected to have. Ponyville has a way of making life interesting, you know? Anyways, do you need something?"

"Well, I have an idea for something new, if my embargo on new things here's been lifted."

"Mmm, let's dial it back to case by case approval."

"Okay. Here it is: leggings with pockets. Eh?"

Rarity thought for a bit on the idea. "I think I've seen some pictures of those in the magazines Twilight's given me. It is a neat idea, and the design is good. Give me a few days and I'll have something for you. I really need to get this place back in order and catch up on my backlog first."

"Sounds good. I'll see you in a few days, then."

When I got back to the Carne Den, I saw some delivery ponies unloading some crates from a big wagon. "Yang Xiao Long," the head pony said. "We've got a few more things than usual for you today. Heavy things."

"Hm?" I looked over the crates. One was the usual meat crate, and another one held a variety of hard drinks. The rest came from a farming supply place. "Ah. Hey, can I ask you guys to do me a little favor?"

"Maybe."

"These farming supplies need to go to Sweet Apple Acres. Could you take them over there? I think I forgot to put their place on the forms instead of mine. I can compensate you and help with loading and unloading."

The crew paused while moving another crate out. "Hmm. . . You're sure? These are pretty heavy."

"I'm strong. Just let me get the meat and hard stuff inside and I'll come help."

"If you say so." He turned back to the crew. "You heard her! Get these loaded back up!"

I started with the meat crate, carrying it into the kitchen before getting the crate of hard drinks in and near the bar. Both were rather awkward, but I managed to do it alone. After that, I helped get the last crate loaded up in the wagon. "You guys coming back this way after it's delivered?"

"Yep."

"Stop here and I'll get you some compensation for this. Thanks again." Once it was all secured, the delivery ponies started taking it through town, and I followed along on Bumblebee.

"Yang, what's this?" Applejack asked as I helped unload everything at the barn.

"New equipment from the list," I answered. "Any time delivery is awesome! Hey, can you pull the delivery paperwork from these crates for me? I'm going to need them later."

"Uh, okay?"

"Thanks."

When I got back home, I gave each delivery pony twenty bits for going out of their way to help me before going back inside and putting the meat away. It was good to be on the path to working again.

How it could have been: Tirek

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Ruby/Ruby

"And what are you supposed to be?" Tirek asked, looming over his tiny human opponent.

"I am the slayer of Grimm, the girl of a thousand rose petals on the wind, and this town's last defender," Ruby solemnly said. "You've drained everyone's precious magic, and you've captured everyone here. But your worst crime? The least forgivable thing you've done?" Crescent Rose came out and unfolded to its full scythe form, gravity dust rounds loaded and ready to go. "YOU CUT OFF MY COOKIE SUPPLY!"

Cup, Carrot, Pound, and Pumpkin Cake collectively facehooved while Pinkie sagely nodded in approval.

Ruby went to work, utilizing her speed and Crescent Rose's sharp blade to its fullest extent, flying around from leg to leg, leaving deep wounds that she kept reopening as they healed. Eventually, his front legs gave out and he fell forward. As he fell, Ruby ran in front of him, and fired one round up at his chin, knocking his head up. With his neck exposed, she turned Crescent Rose back and fired a round, sending herself flying at his exposed neck.

Crescent Rose embedded itself in his neck, and with the power of recoil, semblance, and a mighty battlecry, Ruby ran around his neck. She made two full passes before he hit the ground, profusely bleeding, but still alive.

"Hit his horns!" Luna shouted. "The horns!"

"Okay!" Ruby ran up to Tirek's head, braced Crescent Rose against the ground, and fired a few rounds at the base of a horn. The high impact rounds did their job, tearing into the horn and eventually punching a hole through.

"No!" Tirek tried to stem the magic flowing out of his horn, but Ruby kept shooting at the same spot. Even as he shrank, she simply did not stop firing. When he tried to put a hand up, a round would hit his hand, and it HURT. "Stop!"

"NO PEACE FOR THOSE WHO DENY ME MY COOKIES LIKE YOU HAVE!" She pulled Crescent Rose out of the ground, pointed the gun behind her, and pulled the trigger. She flew at him and managed to get past his swinging arms, hooking the blade around his neck again. With one more pull of the trigger, she cut through, ending the threat of Tirek for all eternity. As his body hit the ground, released the stored up magic, and shrank, a northern sunflare floated out of his body and exploded.

Pinkie bounded up to Ruby, holding a cookbook under one foreleg and making grandiose gestures with the other. "Iwae! Ruby has saved the world and taken the first step down the road of legends! She will lead Equestria to a bright new age-"

"Filled with sweets," Ruby whispered to Pinkie.

"-filled with sweets! It will be a wonderful future indeed! That is all."

"Are you going to keep doing that? Because having a herald sounds really cool."

"Yep! But only when the situation calls for it."

Miranda/Weiss

"And what are you supposed to be?" Tirek asked, looming over his tiny human opponent.

"Ticked off is what I am," Miranda said. "I can see what I need to do here, and it will be done."

"You will not defeat me." Tirek fired a beam at the girl who dared to stand up to him.

Miranda, cool as the shattered two foot thick ice dome and freezing cold air around her, let out a visible breath. "When all hope is lost, undo this lock, and send me forth on a moonlit walk. Release restraint level. . . Zero."

At the ominous and somehow intimidating words, Tirek put his arms up defensively. Miranda took advantage of her not being seen and conjured some time glyphs, speeding along a path leading up to the back of his neck. With the lightning dust ready to go, she shot a few bursts onto Myrtenaster, then delivered one quick thrust to the back of his neck, just under his skull.

Tirek's death was quick and painful as an untold amount of electricity fried his brain and spinal column. Miranda was not spared from a share of the pain though, and she grit her teeth as the electricity slammed against her aura at the same time.

Finally, she could hold on no longer and fell to the ground. As Tirek's accumulated magic was released, Myrtenaster fell out, no longer charged with power. Miranda did not catch it, nor did it land point first in the ground next to her. Instead, it unceremoniously landed behind her.

"Well. . . He won't be a problem anymore," Twilight noted as a north pointed flare floated up and exploded. "I wonder what that was? Ah, Miranda, are you alright?"

"So who was that and what was his problem?" Miranda asked as she got up. "God complex or something?"

"My protege!" Luna shouted as she ran up, knocking Twilight away and wrapping Miranda in a hug. "Thank you for saving us all from Tirek. Is there anything you would like as a reward for your glorious deed this day?"

"Are there spas here? A spa trip sounds relaxing."

“Twilight has told me much about the Ponyville spa, and I would be delighted to take you there, except the sisters, like the rest of town, have had a rough day. For today, we shall go to a Canterlot spa, but mark my words! We will come to the Ponyville spa before winter begins!”

Ally/Blake

"And what are you supposed to be?" Tirek asked, looming over his tiny human opponent.

"A ninja catgirl." Ally suddenly vanished.

In the minutes that followed, Tirek was slain. Nobody watching the fight was quite sure how, but they knew that Ally had won when magic spilled from Tirek's body and went back to its original owners. As his body shrank down, a north pointing flare floated up and exploded.

Fluttershy made one of her well known "eep" sounds (eep #23, specifically) when Ally picked her up. "I'm done for today." Without another word, the catgirl walked off in the general direction of the sunrise to go back to her benefactor's cottage.

Sandra/Yang

"And what are you supposed to be?" Tirek asked, looming over his tiny human opponent.

"A hot blonde on a mission," Sandra said as she cracked her knuckles. "Prepare to experience TRUE PAIN!"

Tirek slammed a hand down on Sandra like she was a bug and picked her up like a snack. "No." He tossed her away over his shoulder like an annoying pebble.

"Ow," Sandra muttered as she got up from her crater over a mile away. "Okay, that's gotta be a good semblance boost there. And with this distance. . . I should get some aura back. Welp, time to walk."

When Sandra got back, she found Tirek laying down, gloating about his great victory to his drained audience. After sneaking part way up, Sandra got tired of sneaking and ran at him with a mighty battlecry, ready to hit him with an explosive punch.

"Hm?" Tirek looked at the source of the sound and swatted her away into the forest, breaking a few trees. "Pest."

"Okay. . . Let's try that again," Sandra said as she extracted herself from a tree and began trudging back. "This time, I'll sneak all the way up, then attack. Full power!" With the plan in mind, Sandra went up to Tirek's side, then quickly started launching herself up. He heard the blasts, and tried to catch her, to no avail.

Soon, Sandra was on his lower back, and was going up toward his head, throwing explosions around that set of his fur on fire. They didn't do much damage, but Tirek's focus on healing and putting out the fires gave her precious seconds, especially as she climbed his upper back.

With the improvised plan working, Sandra kept going. Finally, she reached his shoulder and leapt forward, grabbing his beard. After climbing a bit, she threw a full power punch at his jaw. There was a faint crack and his fur caught fire as he recoiled. The smell wasn't pleasant, and nearly made Sandra let go, but she kept punching.

"Enoug-" Tirek's angry shout was interrupted by Sandra leaping up and holding his mouth open.

"I! HOPE! YOU'RE! HUNGRY!" Each word was punctuated by an explosive round going to the back of Tirek's mouth. Then, even though the reference had been made, she continued sending explosions into him.

It wasn't long before Tirek, unable to breathe because of the constant explosions and the sudden departure of the author's imagination budget, died standing. With his death came the release of everyone's magic and Sandra falling to the ground.

"Hey, AJ?" Sandra asked as the farmer she was living with came up.

"Yeah, Sandra?" Applejack asked.

"I might have to skip, uhhh, all my chores tomorrow."

"Hmm. Ah'll allow it this time because you saved everypony."

“Thank you.” A moment later, Sandra was asleep where she lay.

Royal preparation

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"So, are you going to go to the Grand Galloping Gala?" Mei asked as I looked over the invitation that had arrived in the mail.

"I really don't want to," I said. "I've had enough travel for a while with the trip where I got you. I'm happy being back here with everyone. It's chaotic, but it's a good kind of chaos. The colder weather sucks and the grill's closed because of it, which is no fun, but it's better than freezing out there. And on the mountain, it'll be even colder. Almost a health hazard for me."

"I can imagine. Can you think of any reasons to go?"

"I'm a noble and a celebrity, so it's kind of expected, I think. I don't need any new business connections, though I was thinking the same thing before Marey made her offer. The best reason I can think of to go is that I've got some friends who will be there. Can you look up who's going to be there?"

"Yang, I don't have any access points," Mei pointed out with an empty wi-fi symbol. "The only one I can access, and I still don't know why, is Twilight's castle, and it has no files at all."

"Hack the mainframe?"

"The only frames around here are the glasses I'm in, the ones around the windows, and the ones around the pictures on the walls."

"Upload a virus?"

"That's just sick." A moment of realization came over her face. "Your puns are a terrible influence and you should be ashamed of that."

"Hmm, nah." I set the invitation down. "I guess I could just ask Twilight and see if she knows anything."

"You're interested in going to the Grand Galloping Gala?" Twilight asked.

Rarity let out an excited gasp before composing herself. "If you do decide to go, I will make a new dress for you for the occasion."

"I just want to know what's going to happen there," I said. "I figured you would know something."

"Well, the first time my friends and I went to it, it. . . Kind of became a disaster. I didn't get to spend any quality time with Celestia, Rarity discovered how much of a snob Blueblood was, Rainbow didn't get to do anything with the Wonderbolts, Applejack's plan to sell apple products was a no-sell, Pinkie was Pinkie, and Fluttershy caused a stampede that ended the whole thing and relegated us, Celestia, and Luna to a night at Pony Joe's. Then there was the year Discord went and brought a slime along. Most of the time though, it's just an incredibly boring social gathering."

"Even if Pinkie's there?"

"Yes, dear," Rarity said. "It's so boring, Pinkie can barely improve it."

"That's bad."

Twilight resumed with a question. "Yang, can you keep something quiet? Rarity, this goes for you too."

"My lips are sealed," Rarity assured.

"I promise to know nothing about what you're going to tell me," I said.

"Celestia, Luna, and I are going to skip it this year. We're going to the Ponyville spa instead. It's already been reserved for the night."

"Ooh, spa trip! Can you work me onto the reservation list that I know nothing about?"

"If I must," Twilight answered with a smile. "It's always better with another friend, after all. Are you going to bring Mei along?"

I glanced towards the aviators on my head. "You want to come along, Mei?"

"I wouldn't object," Mei said. "Not like I could stop you from bringing me along anyways."

Rarity reminded us of her presence with a gasp. "Yang! I have to know: do you think a combination of a swimsuit and a dress is a good idea?"

I thought about it for a moment. "Hmm. No. Skirts and water don't go together."

"And why wouldn't they?"

"One: have you seen how loose fabric moves in water? It’s not elegant at all. Two: upskirt glimpses become much easier in the water. Three: it’s that much more water weight when you get out. Not that it’s an issue for me, but still. Four: going down into the water means there's a big air bubble under the skirt, and that's far from elegant when the bubble escapes the skirt.”

"Those. . . Are all very good points. I will come up with a design that works."

I scoffed at the idea. "With all those things in the way? Well, if you do come up with a design that works, I'll wear it."

Rarity got a playful look on her face. "Really? Well, I can't help but notice you didn't give me a time frame."

"You know I'll wear it no matter when you finish it."

"Then I'll have the swimsuit dress done before it happens. Twilight, when does it happen?"

"In twelve days," Twilight answered. "I'll send you the finer details later."

"I accept this challenge. Yang, come see me on Friday."

"Sounds good," I agreed. "I'll see both of you later." With plans made, I wished them a good day and went back home. I had no idea what Rarity would come up with, but I was ready for the results of her work.

A few days later, I went to Carousel Boutique. "Hey Rarity. Did you figure it out?"

"As a matter of fact, I did." The fashionista floated a small box over to me.

I opened the box and pulled out the skirted swimsuit. It was all black, and while the top half was normal, the lower half was obviously different. The attached miniskirt had a crescent shaped cut on top of each hip, likely to let air and water pass through without bubbles. Inside were legs, coming down to just a bit below the skirt. The short legs were attached to the skirt as well.

The air bubble problem was solved. The awkwardly flowing fabric problem was solved. The upskirt problem was technically solved. The water weight was no problem at all with the small skirt. She had done it. "Kudos to you, Rarity. I would not have thought of this."

"Why thank you. It was a challenge, but it was worth it. I may even be able to make swimsuits and skirts for mares with that design. Speaking of which, I could give it a fancier look and deliver it to you tonight."

"Hmm. . ." I turned the article around a bit. "That sounds nice, but basic black looks pretty good as is. Although. . ." As I looked at the hip cuts, ideas started forming, and I started talking them out.

Later that night, I opened the box Rarity delivered, and she had delivered. The hip cuts had been filled in with a yellow mesh, and the pattern repeated along the sides, even sneaking a little bit onto the chest. The modestly revealing neckline was highlighted with a ring of purple that matched my eyes quite well, but knowing Rarity, it was more likely a perfect match.

Naturally, I decided to try it on. It fit perfectly, as I'd come to expect. It also looked really good. It even looked like it could pass for a casual dress, though it could possibly work in nicer events too. "This one deserves a name. . . The yellow looks like gills, so something that swims. Or maybe stripes? Stripes that swim? Swimstripes? Nah. Tiger Shark! It's perfect. In water or on land, it's a dress for all occasions."

After spending some time enjoying Tiger Shark, I changed to my sleepwear and went to bed with a smile. My dreams were going to be happy and fashionable.

Returns and a Tale

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"Hey, Yang?"

"Yes, Gilda?" I was chopping vegetables, so I suspected it would be something important. It seemed to be a trend.

"There's a mare that wants to speak with you. She said her name was Searing Victory. Red unicorn. Did she work here?"

I was glad I'd set the knife down since I almost went straight to panic mode and would have bent it out of shape. "Right. I. . . I'll be out there in a moment."

"Uh huh. She's by the entrance."

When Gilda left, I took a few slow breaths. "It'll be fine. It'll be fine. I only forgot about her for. . . almost four whole months. How could that happen? Did someone erase my memories of. . . No, I clearly remember her knocking me into the dirt. May as well face her and get it over with." Once I was ready, I left the kitchen and saw Searing Victory in the foyer, though she seemed a bit different, like she had seen things. "Searing, I. . ."

"Don't worry, Yang," Searing said. "I forgive you."

That surprised me. "I'm confused. Let's talk in the office." I led the way into the room and we sat down on opposite sides of the desk. "Okay, what happened?"

"I caught a very rare magical disease that made me almost unnoticeable."

"And how did you find out about. . . I'm still confused."

"It's quite simple, my dear Yang." Discord snaked up out of her spiky mane. "She caught the last ever case of BPS."

"No idea what that means. What are you doing here?"

"Exposition. You may want to listen."

I sat back and prepared for a headache of a story. "Go ahead."

Searing started on her story. "It started shortly after that attack by the armored diamond dogs and red dragon. . ."

Searing woke up in her home, and something about her felt. . . Different. Oh, she felt fine. No muscle aches, belly aches, headaches, or hornaches. Her magic worked fine, her vision and hearing were sharp, she could (and did) smell fine, and she wanted breakfast as usual.

As she went about her routine, she couldn't help but start to feel more and more disturbed by the different feeling she felt. Throughout her morning workout, shower, and breakfast, it kept nagging at the back of her mind, and she couldn't figure out what it was.

In town, the irritation of the odd feeling kept getting at her. On top of that, everypony seemed to be acting a bit different around her. They acted like she wasn't quite there. They were all polite as usual when close to her, saying 'excuse me' as they passed close by, but that was about it. More and more, she felt like she was out of place, which was saying something since nopony was batting an eye at Discord riding an air bicycle slowly in reverse while quickly pedalling forward.

Searing's interactions with the ponies at the stalls in the market were not good either. They all seemed to forget about her as soon as they started to take care of her requests. A small custom sundae that usually took less than a minute took five minutes to get, mostly consisting of Searing reminding the mare that she existed.

After that tiring ordeal, she lay down on the edge of a fountain with her treat. Nopony seemed to notice her. Even the stallions and a few mares that would look at her as she passed seemed to not notice her, despite her being in excellent shape.

She'd just finished the sundae and threw the trash away when someone noticed her. "Well well well, look who's feeling all lonely and forgotten," Discord said as he slid into her sight.

"What do you want, Discord?" Searing tiredly asked. "I'm not having a good day."

"What do I want? Now isn't that the question of the century? What if I told you that I know why nopony's noticing you?"

". . . Go on."

"You have a very. Very. VERY. Rare magical disease that has almost no documentation: Background Pony Syndrome."

"Get to the point."

"Feisty. Basically, you just kind of fade into the background. Tell me, do you notice every single instance of trees rustling in the wind?"

Searing was suddenly aware of the trees around her gently rustling in the wind. "Well. . . No."

"It just fades into the background, and that's what BPS does to you." Discord disappeared and was suddenly lounging along Searing's back and neck. "You just fade into the background."

"Then what?"

"You want the details? Or should I cut straight to my cure for it?"

"Tell me about the cure."

"Details it is!" Discord snickered at Searing's unhappy groan. "Long, long, loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong ago, ponies were not as colorful as they are now. It was much more common then, and was one cause of ponies just disappearing. Because of how few colors they had, it wasn't as easy to notice if one pony in particular was missing. Then colors started happening, and it became much less of a problem because in a world of tan and brown ponies, a blue one is hard to miss."

"Get to the cure already."

"Fine fine. But I warn you, it's going to be a bit. . . Chaotic." Searing suddenly found herself sitting in a comfy chair (the same kind that the unexpected Equish Inquisition used, not that she knew). On the other side of the desk in front of her was Discord dressed up as a doctor looking at a clipboard. On the desk itself were a variety of travel brochures. "I can make you the last ever case of BPS and cure you, but you'll need to take a little trip. Time and space may not make sense while it happens. As your travel advisor and doctor, I prescribe taking the Crayxamaxyarc trip package."

"Is that even a word?"

"Spirit of chaos, my dear. Our first stop will be a local attraction: Ghastly Gorge!" With a snap, they disappeared and were in an opening in the wall of the gorge. "Ta-da!"

Searing looked down into the deep, black abyss. "Has it always been this deep?"

"When a huge weather machine rises from here, it kind of has. It also just so happened to conveniently open up this deep underground science bunker OF SCIENCE! Miraculously unscorched. Anyways, toodles, gotta go finish organizing some chaos things. I'll be back in a week."

"What will I eat?"

"There's a fully stocked fridge and the water is perfectly safe. Don't worry, it's all fresh. Ciao~" With a snap, Discord disappeared.

Searing sighed and went inside. "Well, not like I've got anything better to do."

"Did you find anything cool in there?" I asked, interrupting the story.

"As a matter of fact, I did," Searing said. "But I'm not going to show it to you just yet. Anyways, that week was rather lonely and boring. It was when Discord showed back up that things got weirder. . ."

Searing woke up to the sound of what sounded like knocking, only a couple hours after she'd gone to sleep. "I'm on my way," she groggily said as she, on wobbly legs, followed the knocking and opened the fridge door. "Can I help you?"

"On the contrary, my dear," Discord said as he stepped out of the appliance, then looked around. "Looks like someone had a party last night."

Searing glanced over the many empty bottles across what she had been using as a kitchen counter. "Only a *hic* a little bit. Loneliness. . . It gets to yuh."

"And as soon as you sober up, we will go to our next destination."

"Awrite." Searing fell over and fell asleep on the kitchen floor right in front of Discord.

"Or maybe I could bring you there now." Discord picked up a kitchen knife, poked the air a bit, then filleted a portal to his target destination. After seasoning it to chaotic taste, he picked up the passed out unicorn and simply walked through.

"Wake up, Searing~" Discord gently said.

"No," Searing drowsily stated as she pulled the pillow against her face.

"Hmph. Seems I have to take more drastic measures." He snapped, but nothing seemed to happen. Satisfied, he grabbed the blankets and yanked them off the bed, revealing the humanized Searing Victory, wearing some light sleepwear.

"Yeeeee!" Searing immediately curled up, wide awake and feeling a chill on her skin.

Discord, also human and wearing a tastefully mismatched set of clothes, put a pair of earplugs in, followed by earmuffs, and sat down on the ceiling. While the room was soundproofed, he would need to wait out the freakout.

When it appeared that Searing was on the brink of calming down, Discord, staying on the ceiling, walked over to her. "That behavior is very unbecoming of a young lady such as yourself."

"Why do I look. . . not quite like Yang?"

"It's just part of the trip, my dear. You still have Background Pony Syndrome, but you're not a pony now, so you should be able to interact like normal with people. Of course, you need to learn how to walk first, and you'd better learn fast."

"Alright, alright." Searing rolled out of bed and landed on the floor. "Ow! Why are these things on my chest so big?"

"They're the same size as Yang's would be if she appeared here instead of Equestria. In fact, you've been blessed with the same figure as her. 6'3" tall, excellent physical shape, and an excellent physical shape. Anyways, to your feet, soldier!"

Searing tried standing, but couldn't find her balance and fell on her back. "How do you stand on only two legs?"

"A better question would be how minotaurs don't fall over on two hooves, but who am I to judge?" Discord watched Searing try and fail to stand a few more times before making an offer. "Would you like some help?"

"No." Searing fell on her chest again. "Owwwww. . . Okay, yes."

"Excellent." Discord smacked her head with a foam sledgehammer. "There we go."

Searing stood up and shot him a glare. "You think that works?"

Discord slid around the ceiling, the former unicorn chasing him around for a minute. "You know, I think it does work."

She stopped and looked around, then started testing her legs. "Your teaching method needs work."

"Hmmm, nah. On a side note-" he flung a bundle of fabric at her. "You need to get dressed for school."

Searing's breath caught in her throat. "School?"

"Are you afraid of a little edumication?" The chaos god taunted.

"Well. . . Um. . ."

"Dark and troubled past with staff that acted with questionable ethics and legality?"

"Ifellasleepallthetimeinschool." Searing's bright red skin easily hid the bright red blush on her face. "Or I got in fights. Sometimes both."

"Is that all? Well, I'm sure a good breakfast will help with that. Go shower up and I'll get started on it." Discord flipped over to the floor, walked through the wall next to the open door like a ghost, and whistled a merry tune. "Oh, you have plenty of time before you have to leave! Three hours! I need to go over some stuff with you too!"

"Alright alright!" Searing found her way to the bathroom and was soon in the shower.

I gave Searing a questioning look when she stopped talking. "So, how was that first shower as a human?"

"I. . . Don't want to talk about it," Searing nearly stammered out.

"Something about the dexterity of fingers or-"

"Okay, moving on."

Discord held up a phone. "I have a recording of the sounds she-"

"OKAY! MOVING ON!"

"-and those are the common wonders you'll see around here." Discord let the projector screen roll back into the curtains. There wasn't a projector, but that didn't matter. "Now for the cover story."

"Can't I just make something up?" Searing asked over her empty breakfast plate. The Carne Den was much better, but it would do for the time being.

"You are a transfer student from a land called England, and you came here because I, your dear old single dad, had to move due to work. I've already set everything up at the school you will be attending."

"You're not my father," Searing firmly stated.

"Now where did I say anything about that? I'm your dad, not your father. Anyways, you grew up in the English countryside away from a lot of technology because you were a flower child or something like that, and I accommodated as best I could, complete with private tutors. As a result, you're somewhat technologically stunted, but we'll get that fixed soon enough."

"With what? Another foam hammer?"

"Pfsh. Don't be silly. No, you're going out there and seeing it for yourself." He hoisted a backpack onto the table, the impact shaking everything on it. "I'll take you to the school. It's only a mile from here, so you can walk on your own easily enough once u kno da wey."

Searing took the hefty bag. "What's in here?"

"Textbooks, folders, paper, pencils, everything you'll need for your classes."

"It feels like there's a whole tree in here. Isn't this supposed to be a high tech place with those. . . phones and tablets and internets?"

"Progress on integrating that is a bit haphazard. But enough talking! Let's get walking."

The walk in the morning sun was peaceful, though Searing was on edge the whole time. Discord was going to do something chaotic at any moment, she was certain. The highly ordered alien surroundings, much more ordered than even pony cities she'd seen, most certainly did not contribute at all to her nerves.

"I bet you two walking together looked strange," I commented.

"It took me a week to realize that," Searing said. "No rumors, thankfully."

"You lucked out then. So, anything interesting happen there?"

A tall boy with dark blue skin, piercing yellow eyes, and smugness rolling off of him in waves was leaning against the wall. "Hey, new kid," he said with a baritone voice.

Searing stopped to look at him. "What do you want?"

"Want to be the president of the student council?"

"W-wait, just like that?" I asked. "When did that happen?"

"About two weeks in," Searing said. "And no, I did not develop a crush on him."

"She totally did for a week," Discord said.

"Discord!" It was then that I learned it was possible to see a blush through red fur, and it was kind of funny. "ANYWAYS, I won the debate and went through all the rules the student council had passed. It was a headache, even with his help."

"What was his name?" I asked.

"Midnight Stroll."

"So, you've got the rest of the student council turning against you for burning up their many, many rules," Midnight said. "The social studies teachers that support the student council don't seem too pleased either. They really want your head on a pike. And all that in the span of a month. Why did you do it?"

"Do you want the noble reason or the real reason?" Searing asked as she slumped over onto her desk.

"Give me both."

"More freedom for the students and less work for me."

Midnight put on his smug grin. "So what's the noble reason then?"

"Shut up. . . What about Principal Cinch?"

"Oh, I have heard that she is upset. Not livid, but we'll get her there soon enough. And when she gets there, we can play all the cards that are in your favor against her, then Dean Cadance can step in and then things will be much better."

Searing sat up and sighed. "Sometimes, I wonder which of us is the real president. What if this plan doesn't work?"

"Then we go out in a blaze of political glory. It's our last year here, we hold prestigious positions, and she is obsessed with image. We are perfectly safe."

"If you say so. How do people do this for a living?"

"Do you want the noble reason or the real reason?"

"Oh shut up, Midnight." With a tired groan, Searing stood up. "I'm going home."

"Want me to walk you there?"

"No thanks."

The walk home was perfectly normal. The weather was good, the birds were singing, traffic was low, and on the end of the second block from the school. . . There it was. Searing smiled as she walked up to the white waist high fence and the big friendly chocolate lab on the other side. "Hey there, Buddy!" She happily cooed as she started scratching the dog's head. "Oh, you are just mad today, aren't you?" The dog happily leaned into her scratching and petting. "Yes, you are absolutely furious, aren't you?"

"Good afternoon, Searing," the dog's owner said as he stepped out of the house.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Trender," Searing replied without stopping the stream of scratches for the very not upset dog. "How are you?"

"I got up this morning, so that's good," the old man said. "At my age, it's a blessing. How's the student council business going?"

"Oh, you know. . . The rest of the council doesn't like me, Midnight seems to have his own agenda, and most of the student body praises me."

"Sounds like you're doing something right."

"All I'm doing is getting rid of pointless, redundant, difficult, and stupid rules. Why would anyone get upset over that?"

"You're ripping power out of their hands. People in power love power. Take it away, and they will naturally object.”

Buddy started turning around and Searing kept up the friendly petting, going from the top of his head to his chin. “That makes sense. I know someone who went through something similar with some pon. . . people in high places. She had some friends in higher places, but that didn’t stop them from trying to get her.”

“Did they get her?”

“No, they didn't. I wonder how she's doing right now?"

Searing stopped her story. "Say, what's happened with the nobles? Did they, well, they didn't get you, but did they do anything?"

"They tried to frame me for mass foalnapping and burning down an orphanage," I answered. "And they almost got me, too. It was one little detail that they missed that was my saving grace."

"What was that detail?"

I expanded one Ember Celica and held my arm out. "Try and get it off with your magic."

"Pfsh. Easy." Searing lit her horn up and looked confident. A moment later, confusion came over her face. As she tried more and more to pull the gauntlet off, Discord, just under a foot tall, appeared on the desk to cheer her on. A minute later, she cut the glow, sweating and working to catch her breath. "What sorcery is this?"

"They're unaffected by magic. Turned out that everything they were accusing me of, they themselves did. Gold Leaf was the mastermind, and a lot of the others were in on it too. Twilight turned on the honesty magic and let me tell you, her declaration of their titles, wealth, power, and property being stripped was a sight to see."

Searing smiled at the short description. "Well, that's good to know."

I leaned back a bit in the chair. "One of the other ones realized what she had been doing and had a change of heart. Bloody Marey is now one of my business partners. The drinks we make from her mixes sell really well."

"What kind of drinks?"

I couldn't pass up the puntential. "Bloody Mareys."

"I know that. What's the drink called?"

"Bloody Marey."

"Not the bloody noble, the drink!"

"You've never heard of the Bloody Marey?" I saw Discord off to the side biting into a crispy chicken finger to keep himself from laughing.

"Look, Yang, I just want to know what Bloody Marey's drink is called."

"Bloody Marey?"

"Yes, her!"

I was starting to have a hard time holding my composure in the face of the comedy. "B-bloody Marey."

"What is her drink called?" Searing seemed to catch up to what was going on when a few snickers started to escape me. "Oh. It's like that one baseball skit Discord had me learn."

Discord ate the chicken finger and promptly started laughing. "Ohohohoho. . . That was good! I wonder if I can do that with other pony names?"

"We're going to have to do that skit sometime," I said after some laughter of my own. "I think it's been done here before, but who cares? It's good. Anyways, what else happened?"

"Well, I got some presents. . ."

Searing walked downstairs and saw the living room festively decorated. There was a tree, covered in lights and glittery things, topped with a star that looked like Princess Celestia's cutie mark. Garland ran around the room. Little Santa models were placed on numerous surfaces. There was a lit fireplace she could swear wasn't there the night before. Right outside, a snowstorm was raging.

Since she'd seen similar stuff around town for the last two months, Searing knew it was Christmas. "Discord!"

Discord popped his head out of the tree, a fake white beard on his face and a floppy red and white hat on his head. "Yes, Searing?"

"Did you do all this?"

The chaos spirit rolled his eyes. "So much for the magic of Christmas." He opened the tree like a door and stepped out, dressed like Santa. At the same time, a number of presents tumbled out. Most were badly wrapped while some were neatly wrapped, and Searing could swear that they landed to spell 'All yours'. "Go ahead and open them."

Searing grabbed one of the smaller ones and tore it open, letting the black and light blue item unfold in her grasp. "Really? A swimsuit at this time of year?"

Discord was smiling like a loon. "I know, right? It's perfect!"

"I guess I'll accept it." Searing folded it up, set it aside, and moved onto a smaller, more rigid gift. She carefully opened it and found a brand new phone, along with a case and stylus for it. "Oh, this is cool!"

"It has been bestowed with unlimited high speed data," Discord said in a sagely manner. "Can't say the same for the battery, though. Now, let's go over the. . ." Searing was sitting in a chair, looking over the instruction manual and not paying any attention to him. "You're not even interested in the rest of your presents, are you?"

"I'll get to them later." She got the phone into its case, emblazoned with her cutie mark, and turned it on. A smile came across her face as it came on, and she started playing with it. "Now, what to do. . ."

"Did you become a phone addict?" I asked.

"Maaaaybe just a bit?" Searing said. "I got better."

"Good for you. There are people where I'm from that never put their phones down. Ever. Not any friends of mine, but it wouldn't surprise me if those people didn't notice that they walked off a cliff until they hit the bottom."

"Yeah, I saw a few of those too."

"So, did you come back once you were done there?"

"No, I still had BPS. And if I thought the high school was weird, it had nothing on our next destination. . ."

Discord knocked on empty space. "Hey, chaos buddy! I brought a friend!"

"Ohohohohohohohohoho!" A high pitched spinning laughter sounded from the other side. "Come on i~n!"

Discord opened the empty space and pulled his unicorn travel buddy into it. "Here we are. A realm of pure chaos! A realm where the strongest minds can fall, and the weakest could change anything. Perhaps. My chaos buddy lives here, and is one of the strongest in the. . . Well, you can't really call it land, can you?"

"My eyes!" Searing shouted as she looked at the surroundings, where landscapes melded and broke like clay, where the future affected the past in the present, where absolutely nothing made any sense.

"Audible sigh. Must I do everything?" Discord pulled out an eyedropper and dropped some liquid into Searing's eyes. "That better?"

"What. . . What am I looking at?" Searing shakily asked.

"The Warp, my dear. You'll get used to it soon enough."

A blue humanoid thing suddenly appeared. "Discord! It is so good to see you! Or it isn't. Maybe I'm hungry. Who knows?"

"Hi Tzeentch!" Discord happily greeted with an ocean wave. "Searing, this is a fellow chaos god. Fellow chaos god, this is Searing Victory."

Tzeentch didn't so much move as he did distort around to look at Searing. "Oooooh! A sapient unicorn! And she's quoting Sly Marbo too!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"Hm, tone's all wrong. Still, A for effort."

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"Cut her some slack, buddy," Discord said. "We haven't been here for long."

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"Her head's not going to explode, right?" Tzeentch asked. "I'd hate to lose something like her."

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"Don't worry, amigo," Discord said with an Italian accent. "I already gave her the Gellar eyedrops. She won't be exploding from The Warp anytime soon."

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

Tzeentch scrutinized the screaming mare. "Good set of lungs on this one. Can you stop her though?"

"If I must." Discord snapped a blindfold over Searing's eyes.

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. . . . . . . . That thing's still there, isn't it?" Searing asked as she calmed down a bit.

"Tzeentch is still here."

"But really, what even is 'here' anyways?" the Warp resident asked. "More importantly though; Discord, it's about time we settled the score."

"What score?" Searing asked.

"I agree," Discord said in an uncharacteristically serious tone. "How are we going to do it though?"

Tzeentch giggled. "Why so serious? It's just a children's card game."

I started laughing at the line. "S-seriously? A children's card game?"

"There's an emperor that plays it too," Searing said. "Apparently, it's serious business there."

"An emperor? Must be a popular game. Anyways, who won? Discord or Tzeentch?"

"She did." Discord hung his head in defeat as he held up a big flashing neon arrow pointing to Searing.

"And I still don't know how I did it," Searing stated. "Anyways, one of the later stops was in a corner of the internet. . ."

"Behold, Searing!" Discord announced. "The source of some of the craziest stuff on the internet! None other than The STBlackST himself."

Searing looked off in the distance to make out where Discord was referring to. "It's just a guy at a computer."

"There's more to it than just a computer. We are just past the minimum safe viewing distance of 1000 feet. If you want to get closer, you'll need a few layers of protective gear."

"Armor?"

"Chemical gear. You do not want to accidentally inhale any of the drugs good stuff he uses. That stuff scares me, and I'm a chaos spirit. You remember that one confusing playlist I had you watch?"

"Which one?"

"American Boot, bread tank, space cakes, that stuff."

"Ahh, that one. He made all that?"

"Yes. I suppose a closer look is in order?"

Searing gave him a resigned look. "We're not getting out of here without getting closer, are we?"

"Nope."

The mare sighed. "Do you want me in unicorn or human form?"

Discord thought about it for a full minute. "Let's go human. The payoff will be spectacular!"

"Payoff?"

"You'll know later. For now, you need to get dressed." He tossed her some shiny, tight looking clothes, and a booklet with a picture of the full outfit on it. "Let me know if you need any help." With a snap, a bathroom appeared around Searing, and after going to her human form, she started getting the new clothes on.

I held my head in my hands as I leaned over my desk, hiding my twitching eyelids from her sight. "Dare I even ask for a description of what you put on?"

"I. . . I'd rather not describe it," Searing said. "Safe to say though, it was snug, glossy, fit me very well, and. . . Are you alright, Yang?"

"Fine! I'm fine." There were a couple spots of red on the desk, soon joined by a few more. "I'll be fine in a bit."

Discord started laughing and I saw Searing turn to the chaos spirit, just at the edge of my sight. "Is this the payoff you mentioned?"

"Hahahahahhhhh. . . . Totally worth it!" Discord exclaimed as the sounds of a chaos spirit getting pummeled by hooves started up. "Okay okay! Not worth it! Uncle! Uncle!"

"And don't you forget it. Any funny business, and I will find a vat of nacho cheese big enough to dip you in."

I looked up and saw Discord twisted into a lightly salted pretzel, including a few grill marks. He even had a side of fried wings. "I don't think I want any other details about that part of the trip."

"That's good, since I don't remember much else of it. When I woke up, we were somewhere much more normal. Well, for a given value of normal. . ."

Searing opened her eyes and saw a wood ceiling. She flexed her fingers, a clear indication that she was human. "Where am I now?" she blearily asked.

"We're further back in time," Discord replied from his chair on the wall. "We're in a quaint little cabin in the woods, 1683, just outside Vienna."

"Neighenna?"

"No, Vienna. It's a different time, a different culture, and a different place. Also, I have an update on your condition."

"Which one?"

"BPS. You're almost completely cured."

"Thank goodness." Searing got out of bed and started taking in the details of the cabin. There really weren't many things to notice. Basic furniture, wooden walls, a couple small windows, and an open door revealing more of the same in more of the cabin.

"This should be our last stop. Go ahead and get dressed. We're going for a sunlit walk after you make lunch."

"Why am I making lunch?" Searing found her clothes and was disappointed at the dull selection of dresses.

"Norms of the time. Toodles!" Discord dropped through the floor. A moment later, the sound of a chair hitting the floor and breaking was heard. "I'm fine!"

"Long story short, the walk went pretty well," Searing summarized. "Along with more that came after it. Then September 12th happened."

"What happened?" I asked.

"Simply put. . ."

"DISCORD, WHAT IS THIS?" Searing shouted over the din of thousands of hooves shaking the land and thunder cracking in the sky.

"A moment that, in 330-something years, will become a meme," Discord calmly explained, his voice not impeded at all by the roaring cacophony of hooves and battle cries.

"THAT DOESN'T ANSWER ANYTHING!"

"Did you not pay attention in history class?"

"YOU MEAN MY METAL CLASS?"

"Well, this is the moment-" An electric guitar sounded out of nowhere. "-WHEN THE WINGED HUSSARS ARRIVED!"

I found myself tapping out a tune as Searing told her tale of WHEN THE WINGED HUSSARS ARRIVED, and I made a note to see if I could magic up the rest of it later. "So, then what?"

"After it was over, Discord said I was cured and it was time to come home," Searing said. "That was less than an hour ago, and I've never been so happy to be in Equestria. So, do you want to see what I picked up?"

"Sure. Show me."

"Well, first, I got this skill." Searing's body glowed bright blue, and a moment later, I saw Searing as a human, wearing what looked like the school uniform she described. A small hill of luggage and bags came with the change, some of which landed gracelessly on the floor. "I still prefer being a unicorn, but this isn't bad either."

"Neat skill."

"Thank you. Now for the goodies." Searing looked over the luggage for a bit before settling on a silver one with hazard stripes. "I got this thing from the bunker." From the case, she pulled out a behemoth of a rifle. It was big, heavy, and went almost end to end on the desk. "I couldn't tell what it's called, so I named it the Blasting Laser Cannon. Or BLC. I've even got a second one.”

I gingerly picked up the hefty gun. “So, what kind of ammo does it take?”

“None that I could find. As far as I could tell, it’s either fully loaded or uses something else." She turned to the chaos spirit, untangled and wearing a blue army helmet. "Do you know anything about it?"

"I know nuzzink about how it works," Discord said with a heavy German accent. "Nuzzink!"

Searing turned back to me, "Yeah, we're not getting anything out of him. Do you know anywhere we can take it for a test run?"

"Hmmm. . ." I thought about it for a bit. "Well, there is the diamond dog territory nearby, but I don't want to spook them with my presence again. Celestia might be able to help us. Or maybe Twilight could. Either way, we'll have to go shooting later. It's a busy day."

"I can go get my uniform and help out."

"Pack up and go do that."

A big grin graced Searing's face. "Yes, ma'am!" After packing up and switching back to unicorn, she left.

I turned to the draconequus in the room. "Can I help you with something, Discord?"

"Oh, not really," he casually said. "But tell me, how does it feel knowing that there's someone similarish to you in town now?"

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around the Background Pony Syndrome stuff. I mean, you'd think I wouldn't forget her, but. . ."

"If it's any consolation, everyone else in town forgot about her too. Anyways, I'll be off now. Ciao~." With a snap, Discord disappeared.

I looked down at the red spots on the desk, then found some tissues. I was able to clean it up without leaving any easily spotted stains. Before heading back out, I checked myself for blood. There was a little bit from my nose, but that was it.

Searing entered the kitchen in uniform. "Hey, Yang?"

"Yeah?" I asked while preparing some barbecue baked potatoes.

"Is. . . Is your guest room available? They kind of foreclosed on my place."

"Yeah, sure. We can talk details after closing."

"Thanks." Searing left the kitchen and was at the bar with Aegir a moment later.

Surprise Sleepover

View Online

I woke up with Asada curled up next to me, and I scratched her ears. "You're getting big," I noted. "You are not the cub I once saved. In fact, you could probably do security here, if needed." She kept on sleeping. "Well, time to go get ready for a lazy day."

I got out of bed, grabbed one of the comfy bodysuits I'd come to love, and went to the bathroom. As I was showering, my thoughts wandered around my Displaced situation, and everything that had changed for me. From my physical changes to my willingness to stand up to what's wrong, and even fighting. I'd come to love the full auto shotguns, something I wouldn't have even touched before. I was still a peace first type, but I had power now, and it felt good.

After drying off, and while I was getting dressed, a thought crossed my mind. The different standards of clothing between men and women. A guy wearing a bodysuit, if not for a costume, or some kind of messy job, would be seen as weird, but I could get away with it because I looked good with it on. A plethora of clothing double standards crossed my mind, and it was boggling.

"Come on, Yang. This is a lazy day, not an introspective day. It's bed, then breakfast. Or maybe lunch." Thoughts cleared, I opened the door and fell into a vortex. "Oh, this. I hope it's not cold wherever I'm going."

After what felt like five minutes of freefalling, I dropped out of the portal and landed on a soft bed, the comfy sheets falling over me perfectly after impact. "This will do." I closed my eyes and let sleep come to me.

Sleep, however, did not come. A girlish squee and flying tackle got in the way. "Ahh, it's Yang Xiao Long! Sugoi!"

I looked at the literally yellow skinned blonde girl that had tackle hugged me out of the bed. "Can I help you?"

"Oh, this is good enough for now!"

For a while, I let the fangirl hug me, since it seemed innocent enough, if a bit tight and excited. Finally, I asked, "So, who are you?"

"Ah!" She seemed to have a moment of sudden realization, and in the blink of an eye, had backed out of my personal space. She was wearing a small tank top exposing some midriff, and a pair of short shorts. "My name is Abrina, and I summoned you, I guess. I mean, I picked up this choker I've never seen before, heard something, said a thing, and boom! You appeared!"

"Yeah, that's how it works. So, what do you want to do since I'm here?"

"Well. . . Umm. . . I dunno,” Abrina adopted a very contemplative pose, brow furrowing. Then, her red eyes widened, and she snapped her fingers. “Aha! I know! There’s this sleepover that’s supposed to happen tonight with a bunch of ponies, and me and Q are hosting it! Wanna join in?”

I smiled at the idea. “Well, you won’t hear any objections from me. I’ve been in pony piles before, and they are great! Also, who’s Q?”

“Q’s the guy I live with,” Abrina explained, gesturing to everything around them. “He and Charles care for me, and Q made pretty much everything in this room for me.” She sighed, smiling widely. “He’s a really nice guy. You’ll like him.”

“Everything here, eh? Do you think he could make some stuff for me? I might have some ideas.”

Abrina shrugged. “Maybe. He’s usually pretty open to new ideas.” Abrina jabbed a thumb to a door on the other side of the massive bedroom. “The main tower where he is is out there, across the bridge.” Abrina started to float over to the door, motioning for me to follow. “Come on, I’ll show you to him.”

“Sounds good to me.” As we went across the bridge, I voiced a question. “So, what are you? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Abrina giggled. “I don’t. I’m a Majin. It’s a race from the Dragon Ball franchise, one that came about from Majin Buu and Lady Buu basically continually pulling off pieces of themselves and making them into more Majins.” Abrina waved a hand airily. “Think of me as a magical bubblegum girl with the best bod around.” She winked at me.

I mulled her words over a bit. “Okay. No idea who Majin Buu or Lady Buu are, but I think I have the gist of it. What kinds of powers do you have?”

Abrina opened her palm, a bright pink orb of energy appearing in it. “Well, I can easily manipulate ki to make blasts of energy, fly, and stuff like that. I can also turn things into candy, and transform into other people, though all that’s with my natural Majin abilities. The ki stuff is just basics for any Dragon Ball character. Majin’s are just known to have it innately.” She giggled behind a hand daintily. “Heck, if I wanted, I could blow up the moon, or this planet, or both.” She smirked at me, sticking out her tongue. “I just happen to like this planet too much to do either.”

“Well, that’s a lot of power.” I conjured some flames into the shape of a clipboard and pen and started writing. “Note to self: stay on Abrina’s good side.” With the little act done, I dispelled the fire. “I also have music. Listen to this.” I decided to go with an upbeat song, and started moving with the music. A few drumbeats and a guitar started it off.

After a few seconds, the lyrics kicked in, and I sang along. “I’d drive a million miles, to be with you tonight. . .”

Abrina started bobbing to the infectious tune as well. “Ooh, this sounds good.”

“So if you’re feeling low, turn up your radio. . .”

As we kept going, we both started dancing in our own ways. It wasn’t long before Abrina started singing along to the best of her ability, which was pretty good, and well synchronized with my singing.

The song ended and we stopped dancing just as we came to a closed door. “Well, that was fun,” I said with a smile. “Really should use that more often.”

“I’ll say,” Abrina agreed with a huge grin.

“Anyways, is Q in here or something?”

“He should be up in his study,” Abrina explained, pushing the door open before walking in. Inside was what seemed to be a glorified workout room that was nearly a gym in and of itself. Abrina paid it little mind, however, and walked past all the equipment towards a set of stairs leading up. “Come on, it’s up here.”

I took a moment to look at all the equipment as I followed her up the stairs. It was impressive, to say the least. “I’m going to guess Q made all this as well, right?”

Abrina nodded, grinning. “Yup. He and I like to stay fit.”

“Same here. When the weather’s good, I like to run laps around Ponyville. It’s fun and relaxing, you know?”

Abrina giggled behind a hand. “You’re talking to a girl who routinely runs laps around the circumference of Mt. Canter for some cardio.” She winked. “So, yeah, I get it.”

“Cool.” I didn’t have anything else to say on the way up.

After passing numerous rooms with various furnishings - ranging from a kitchen, an armory, and what seemed to be a study - we reached the top floor, where I could see a pretty well-made bedroom. Golden carpet, silvery wallpaper, sky blue ceiling, a four-poster queen sized bed, and in one corner, a man sitting at a desk, writing something down furiously on a notebook.

“Hey, Q! I met someone!” Abrina said, floating over to his side.

“Hm?” ‘Q’ turned, and I could easily tell how ripped he was. Being bereft of a shirt probably helped. Thankfully, he had pants on. He had brown hair, and glasses as well as pale skin. “Ah, a Yang Displaced. Pleasure to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too. I heard something about a sleepover with ponies happening.” I mentally smacked myself for not having a better way to break the ice with Q.

Q, thankfully, didn’t seem to mind as he chuckled. “Indeed. Young Twilight invited us over not too long ago.” He stood up, then started to walk towards what seemed to be a walk-in closet. “One moment, if you don’t mind. I’d like to be fully dressed before we get down to brass tacks.” Without any other words, he disappeared into the closet.

I briefly looked over my own bodysuit, then turned to Abrina. “Hey, if we’re going to be walking through town, should I wear something else? This isn’t exactly the kind of outfit you wear out and about.” I'd seen women wear bodysuits in public before, and it didn't look good in my opinion. Well, it could look good, but at the same time, it didn't.

Abrina looked thoughtful for a bit before a mischievous look came over her face. "Are you saying I can choose something for you to wear?"

"Preferably something reasonable. I know I look good, but I don't want to wear clothes that are more. . . Appealing in public."

"Hmmm. . . Alright. Just let me think of something real fast, okay?"

Abrina then zipped through the balcony doors and down to her tower. Roughly a minute later, Q came out in a white T-shirt that said, ‘Dreamer at heart’ in starry letters. “I see Abrina left. Might I ask what for?” he queried.

"She's getting some other clothes for me to wear," I explained. "I don't want to go out wearing just this. Aaaaaand I think I just gave her carte blanche for what I'm going to wear." A mild feeling of dread came over me. "Well, may as well see what she comes up with. It probably won't be so bad."

Q smirked, hand going to his hip before he leaned to the side, looking over my shoulder. I slowly turned around, wondering what could be waiting for me.

It was a yellow tube top. One that looked a size too small. With short shorts of a black color, also looking a size too small. Abrina grinned as she held them up. “Sooo? Whaddya think, Yangy?”

It didn’t take long for me to look the pieces over, they were so small. “Not my usual style. I’ll go try them on anyways.” I accepted the pieces and went into the attached bathroom to change.

Both pieces were definitely a little small on me. The tube top left an inch or two of midriff exposed, and the shorts were fairly clingy. It was a little uncomfortable, mostly around my chest, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle, though preferably not for long.

I stepped out after folding up the comfy bodysuit. “Well, it’s not bad. Just need some shoes now.”

Q let out a short breath of laughter. “You know, it’s good to be right sometimes.” He said, taking a pocketful of gold coins from Abrina, who grumbled and looked away, crossing her arms. Q shook his head. “They look good on you.”

“There’s no way I can deny that,” I admitted. “What was the bet?”

“Whether or not you’d fit the outfit without it tearing. Naturally, I bet that it wouldn’t,” Q looked to Abrina. “Honestly, if you were that invested in seeing her even more revealed, wouldn’t it be better to just ask?”

Abrina blushed deeply, before slugging Q in the shoulder. “Don’t say it out loud, you jerk!”

Q simply laughed again.

I felt a blush of my own come on at the details of the bet. "Well. . . Okay then. What are we going to do until the sleepover?"

“Well, that depends. How do you feel about video games?” Q queried, still smiling.

"They're fun. I prefered puzzle games before my Displacement, but I'd be willing to give something else a try."

Q chuckled. “Well, we have a few good ones.” He looked to Abrina. “Abrina, mind getting them out?”

Abrina pouted, crossing her arms and turning away from him. “Dun wanna.”

Q snorted in amusement. “You know all that does is make you look cuter, right?”

Abrina’s blush grew. “Sh-Shut up idiot…”

I watched the conversation happen. “Okay, now I’m curious. What are they talking about?”

“I am not cute!” Abrina cried, stomping a foot in a petulant manner.

Q rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say, Abrina.”

“But I’m not! I’m sexy dammit!” Abrina affirmed.

Q hummed, tilting his back and forth, as if in consideration.

“How the fuck is that even giving you pause?!” Abrina cried, her face a bright orange.

Q suddenly leaned right into her face, making her blush skyrocket...and then gently poked her nose. “Boop.”

Abrina, in response, simply stood there, furiously blushing, before turning on her heel and marching to a corner of the room, grumbling loudly to herself.

“Thank you, dear,” he said melodiously.

“Shove it up your pale ass, ya fuggin’ annoyingly sexy jerk…,” Abrina grumbled, rummaging through what seemed to be a cabinet near a large TV set, complete with a console.

“Well, that was something.” I followed Abrina over and tried to look over her shoulder at what she was rummaging through. “So, what are you getting?”

“Smash Brothers 64, Mario Kart 8, ya know, all the good Nintendo stuff,” Abrina replied, before glaring over at Q as he set up the consoles. “Still not giving up on beating your ass into the ground in Smash Bros. you jerk!”

Q chuckled. “You’re welcome to try, Abrina.”

I decided to sit down on the couch in front of the TV as my hosts set everything up. “Can’t say I’ve played Smash Bros before. I’ve heard it’s good, but, well, I guess it’s time to try a new cup of tea.”

“Well, knowing how most of my challengers end up, you will either want to strangle me, quit, or both. Or, in Abrina’s case…” Q looked towards Abrina, who groaned.

“I’ll endlessly fail to beat you and endlessly amuse you, blah blah blah,” Abrina monotoned, making a ‘blah blah blah’ movement with her hand for effect.

“Well, that sounds amusing,” I noted. It wasn’t long before the game was on, and I was ready to learn something new.

I learned that I was definitely in the wrong league. Q beat Abrina pretty easily, and then just as often dealt with my stumbling around character as an afterthought. In spite of that, and learning a somewhat odd and slightly unintuitive control setup, I still had fun. “So, what next?” I asked as the game was turned off.

The sound of a doorbell rang out, and Q smiled as he stood up. “Simple, we greet our guests.” With that, he made his way to the stairs. “Come on now, you two.”

I stretched a bit as I followed Q and Abrina to the entrance, presumably. “So, are you going to tell me who our guests are or am I just going to have to wait and see?” I asked Abrina.

“Well, there’s the Princesses, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack,” Abrina began counting off each pony on her fingers. “Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy, but aside from that no one else.”

“Sounds like a few familiar faces to me.” A plan started forming in my head, and it involved Rarity’s talent. One way or another, I was going to leave with something new and stylish for winter.

Abrina grinned. “I know that look. Every girl gets it. You’re looking for something new and sexy to wear, right?”

“It’s a bit of an addiction,” I admitted. “I just get ideas and I want to see them brought to life for me to wear. That, and I want some new winter stuff. . . That’s kind of my excuse.”

Abrina giggled. “I have some sexy winter wear up in my room if you want to try it later.”

“I’ll take a look at it. Who knows, you may just have what I’m thinking of.”

Abrina giggled again and winked at me.

“Anyways, let’s get ready to welcome them. It’ll probably be more like introducing me to them, but still.”

Soon enough we reached the ground floor, and Q opened the door. A plethora of colorful figures were revealed by it’s opening, all of them bearing saddlebags for what must have been the sleepover on their backs.

“Hello everyone. Please, come in, come in,” Q greeted.

“Thanks for inviting us, Mr. Q!” Twilight chirped.

“Yeah, thanks! We haven’t gotten out of the darn library in ages!” Pinkie said, grinning as she walked in.

“Oh?” Q queried, raising a brow as he took some of the bags from Rarity, as she had the most with her.

“Yeah, we had to try and keep Egghead here from bringing half her library with her,” Rainbow said with a grin as she flew inside.

Q chuckled. “I see.” That was when they all seemed to take note of me finally, and stopped to stare.

“Qudirk, is she another traveler from your homeland?” Celestia queried, turning narrowed eyes to him. “You never told me about her.”

Qudirk raised his hands in placation. “Easy now, Princess. She only just got here.”

It was time for me to introduce myself. “I’m Yang Xiao Long, just visiting for a bit, and I’m looking forward to an enjoyable night.” I caught a few snickers coming from the resident Majin. “No, not that kind of enjoyable night, Abrina.”

Abrina shrugged. “Hey, I didn’t say anything. That was all you.”

“Ah don’t follow,” Applejack said, giving the two a confused look.

“Probably a smart move,” I said. “Innuendos can lead your mind from the roof to the gutter fast.”

Applejack turned to Twilight. “What’s an innuendo, Twi?”

“Innuendo, noun, an allusive or oblique remark or hint, typically a suggestive or disparaging one,” Twilight said as if she was reading from a dictionary or Google. For all I knew, she may have memorized the dictionary. “The innuendo, in this case, was the phrase ‘I’m looking forward to an enjoyable night’.”

“But how does that. . . Ohhhhh. . . Ah get it now.”

“Yes, well, I think it best we move on,” Rarity intervened before anyone else could comment. She looked to Qudirk. “Where should we place our things?”

Q smiled and gestured for everyone to follow him. “Right this way, ladies.” He said as he made his way back upstairs.

As they all filed in, chatting amongst themselves, I noticed that Luna seemed particularly quiet as she followed the rest of them. To add to that, she had considerably less volume to her saddlebags than the others.

Abrina and I followed them, and I couldn’t help but wonder about the bags, a line of thought quickly superseded by wondering what games were going to be played.

“We- I’m sorry, but...what is all this?” Luna asked, looking at the array of consoles, games and controllers.

Most of them were much bigger than the ones that me, Q, and Abrina had used earlier, and all of them Q had pulled out of a separate drawer nearby.

“I’m kinda wondering that myself. I’ve never even seen stuff like this,” Rainbow admitted, poking one of the controllers with a hoof.

Pinkie was already mashing buttons on one of them, and surprisingly, it wasn’t breaking from said mashing. “I don’t know, but mashing these things is really satisfying!” She chirped with a big grin.

“They look almost like those Joyboys that have been going around recently…” Twilight mused, picking one controller up by the cord and inspecting it.

“Joyboys, hm?” Celestia frowned as she looked at the array of equipment. “Can’t say I’ve ever tried using one of them.”

Q smiled. “Think of all this as more advanced versions of those. Ones you can simply bring home and plug in and play.” He picked up one of the bigger controllers. “I had to make controllers that would fit your anatomies a bit better, but in essence, these are, I suppose you could say, Joyboys from my homeland.”

Rainbow, Rarity and Applejack frowned as they took in the words.

“I’m not really one for that weird game stuff, though,” Rainbow admitted, crossing her forelegs over her barrel.

“Me neither. Always have too much work to do, and whenever Ah did have free time, I’d usually spend with you girls,” Applejack agreed.

“I’m not sure it’s really for me, darling,” Rarity concurred, primping her mane. “A lady can’t be seen with such things.”

Q hummed. “Well, how do the rest of you feel about it?” He asked, looking around.

“I wouldn’t mind trying it out, if I’m to be honest,” Celestia mused.

“We- er, I, am curious as well,” Luna added.

Twilight frowned, looking between her teacher and said teacher’s sister, before looking back to the gaming equipment. “Well...I guess I could give it a shot.”

Abrina spoke up. “There’s a lot of different kinds of games, you know. The ones you guys have here are mostly action or roleplay, right? Fantasy kind of stuff?” At their nods, Abrina grinned. “Well, we’ve got tons more of a variety. There’s party games with loads of minigames packed in, there’s games for making your own little civilization, or village, or managing a farm,” She looked to Fluttershy and Applejack, who perked up at those words. “There’s also sports games, and even a good few exploration games,” Abrina finished counting off on her fingers before looking to Rainbow.

“That is...a surprising amount of variety,” Luna admitted, looking at the consoles and games in a new light.

“Sports games and exploration, huh?” Rainbow rubbed her chin, before grinning widely. “Ah heck, why not then!”

“Ah wouldn’t mind trying it out then, Ah guess,” Applejack agreed.

“I, um, think I’ll try it too,” Fluttershy said, moving some of her curtain-like mane out of the way with a hoof.

“You had me at party games!” Pinkie said with a large, almost comical smile.

“Hmm...making my own civilization...that has an oddly nice ring to it,” Rarity mused, smiling devilishly to herself.

As the rest of them voiced their consent, Q smiled, before looking to me. “Well, since we have a new friend here, why don’t we let her decide which game we play first?” He offered, gesturing towards me.

I felt the pressure as all eyes turned towards me. “Umm. . . You know what, I’m going to dare to be stupid and go with Smash. I may have gotten trounced earlier, but I’m willing to try again.”

“That’s the spirit, Yang!” Abrina cheered.

“I am not going to come in last again!”

“Smash?” The ponies all queried, tilting their heads.

Q only grinned.

“How?” I moaned from my spot in the middle of the group after five rounds. “How am I still coming in last every time?”

Rainbow was laughing her rainbow tail off. “Dude, even Fluttershy beat you! That is hilarious!”

“I-It was an accident!” Fluttershy cried, trying to defend herself.

“No need to be ashamed, Fluttershy,” Celestia assured, wrapping a wing around her. “You did only what the game expected.” She shot a look to Q. “Though somepony should learn to hold back.”

Q shrugged. “Do not blame me for doing what the game expected, Princess,” Q shot back with a smirk. He looked to Luna. “Though you did much better than I thought you would, Princess Luna.”

Luna smirked triumphantly, sitting pretty at second place. “Why thank you, Sir Qudirk.”

Celestia only sighed and rolled her eyes.

“What’s the next game?” I asked. “Hopefully not one where I can accidentally walk off the stage again.”

Q hummed. “Well, for now, I believe we are in need of snacks,” At this, he stood up. “Why don’t you all wait here and discuss it amongst yourselves while I go downstairs to see if Charles is in any mood to make some for us?”

Abrina saluted. “I’ll keep everything civil, boss man!”

Q chuckled. “I’m sure you will.” With that, he walked off, heading downstairs, leaving all ten of us alone.

I looked at everyone and decided to take the initiative. “So, does anyone have anything they’d like to ask me?”

“Ooh! I have tons!” Pinkie chirped, raising a hoof.

Twilight nodded, raising a hoof as well. “Me too!”

I took a moment to decide between the lavender and pink ponies. “Alright, how about you first, Twilight?”

“Why is your skin so different from Miss Abrina’s?” Twilight queried, summoning a quill and notepad.

“I’m human, she’s majin. Different species, similar shape. Next?”

“So she’s not a mutant, but a different species entirely?” Celestia queried, raising a brow at me.

Abrina immediately jumped in. “W-Well, uh, we’re different in so many ways that we might as well be different species, but I’m still from the same place as her, ya know?” She added before nudging me, giving me a look that said, ‘play along’.

“Think of it like. . . the different kinds of ponies, but ramped up a bit,” I explained. “She’s got a more. . . I guess you could say fluid body while I’m more solid.” I pulled Abrina’s arm and stretched it out like bubblegum. “Pulling my arm to do the same thing is tougher, but when my defense there runs out, I could lose that arm permanently.” I looked to Abrina to see if it was good enough of an answer.

She nodded. “Think of me as like a…” She frowned, tapping her chin. “...Like a human made of magic bubblegum, or something.”

Celestia’s eyes narrowed before she shrugged. “I see.”

“Ooh, ooh ooh ooh! Me me me!” Pinkie urged, bouncing in place with a hoof still raised.

“Yes, pink one,” I said.

Pinkie giggled. “Ooh, pink one, I like that.” She shook her head. “Anyways! What kind of food do you like? Oh! And in terms of parties, are you more of a ‘WHAM, BASH!’” She struck the air twice at these words. “Kind of mare, er, female, or a more ‘eheeheehee!’ kind?” she asked, looking up expectantly at me.

“Well, I do have a bit of a soft spot for barbecue. I even ran my own successful restaurant before coming here. Fridays during summer were awesome since I opened the patio then and cooked outside for my guests. As for parties, well, I’ve had some bad experiences with surprise parties, but otherwise, I prefer smaller, tame ones with at least some advance notice. Any other questions?”

All the ponies, save Rainbow, Celestia and Luna, gagged at the word barbecue.

“Eugh, so you’re a carnivore?” Applejack asked, a little green around the gills.

“Omnivore, actually,” Abrina supplied. “We both are. Er, well, my particular offshoot of humans eats...well, everything. Like, literally. If I wanted, I could turn this whole tower into candy and eat it.” She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly at this as the ponies all stared blankly at her.

“So yeah, she’s one of the super omnivorous types,” I added. “Next question?”

Rarity shook herself, then raised a hoof. “Wherever did you find such clothing, darling? It’s very unique. I’d love to meet its designer.”

I poked a finger into Abrina’s shoulder. “I made the slight mistake of letting her choose what I would be wearing here tonight. I’d prefer to have something more modest on, truthfully.”

Rarity blinked. “Modest? Why ever would you need to be modest, darling?”

Luna nodded. “We art curious as well. Clothing is clothing, ‘tis it not? ‘Tis not as if having less or more is scandalous, save for showing status amongst nobles.”

I thought for a moment to come up with a good answer. “As different places and species have different cultures, so too do I. You may notice that I have no fur on my body. In place of that natural protection, clothing was made. It’s been around so long that it’s simply part of the culture. Jobs, status, fashion, all of it. I’m actually very weak against the cold, so I need clothes in order to efficiently keep myself warm and alive.” Memories of the cold shower incident briefly came to mind. “But aside from that need, I actually have a bit of a. . . I suppose you could call it a fashionation with clothes.” I watched for reactions to the pun.

Rarity and Abrina giggled, whilst Pinkie giggle snorted, Celestia let out a quick bark of laughter, and Rainbow and Luna, along with Applejack, simply groaned. Twilight and Fluttershy just seemed confused.

After recovering, Abrina added, “Aside from that, our kind simply prefer having something to cover our naughty bits.” She grinned. “Q, for one, only has clothes to cover his bits. No sheathes like stallions have.”

Immediately, all the ponies blushed, many of their eyes going wide.

“That too,” I added. “And the modesty/coverage rules are different for him than Abrina and I.”

Applejack took her hat off, fanning her face much like Rarity was doing whilst Rainbow fell solidly to the floor on her plot - without falling over - wings outstretched. Similarly, Celestia and Luna’s wings had fanned out, along with Fluttershy’s, whom was hiding behind her mane as best she could.

Pinkie simply stared straight ahead at where Q had left, along with Twilight.

“...” Twilight’s horn lit up, a note pad and quill appearing in a flash of light, before Abrina gently grabbed both objects and lowered them in the mare’s hold.

Abrina looked to the others as she heard footsteps coming. “Try to think of something else, ladies, Q and Charles are almost back!” She whispered, but loud enough they could all hear.

Celestia and Luna blinked, before Celestia cleared her throat and forced her wings down, Luna soon following.

Rarity, for her part, came up with an idea: distraction with conversation. “So,” she began, looking across them all. “What would all of you prefer for winter wear?” She looked to the Princesses. “I’m dying to know what Your Majesties would like, as well as you two,” She said, looking to me and Abrina.

“As long as it keeps me warm and looks alright, I’m cool with it,” I answered, the pun getting the same reactions as before. “In fact. . . Abrina, permission to rant a bit?”

“Oh please, rant as much as you want, Miss Xiao Long,” Q’s voice answered from behind. He lowered a bowl of ribs to me. “Just don’t forget your food, hm?”

“Ooh, this looks good.” I accepted the ribs and set them down in front of me. “Anyways, something I’ve seen a lot of before, and I can’t figure out why it seems so common, is long sleeves paired with shorts or a short skirt. And I mean short, like what I’ve got on now. I’ve seen women and girls wearing that kind of combination and I just don’t understand it. I mean, sure, your upper half is warm and stylish, but almost all of your legs are exposed! And I’ve seen it quite a bit in the cooler parts of Spring and Autumn, and it looks bad. It also looks lazy, like they decided to just put on a long sleeve top and call it a day. It’s an unbalanced look, and it’s just. . . It’s bad when women do it, and I’ve also seen men with a similar look. It’s still not good either way, and it’s just ugly.” I picked up a rib and slurped the meat off of it. “Mmm, thish ish good. Rant over.”

Rarity blinked a few times. “Well… I can’t say I’ve seen these combinations to truly know what you mean, but, they do sound unbalanced as you say.” Charles walked over, offering a glass of iced tea. “Thank you, darling.”

“Of course, m’lady,” Charles said, tipping his hat to her. Rarity giggled as he went on to give everyone else drinks and Q gave them their food.

“Personally, my favorite winter wear is a fur coat,” Abrina admitted. Immediately the non-royals stopped cold and stared in shock at Abrina, who waved her arms. “N-Not from anything with thoughts or emotions, of course! Just, ya know, animals.”

Fluttershy frowned hard at that, glaring at Abrina. “Animals have feelings too, you know.”

Abrina faltered. “W-Wha- Well, I-”

Q walked over, placing a hand on her shoulder as he offered her a ham and cheese sandwich before looking to Fluttershy. “Apologies Miss Shy, but our people come from a place where animals simply aren’t as, well, sapient. Most animals back home are either pets, beasts of burden, or livestock.”

All present gasped. He raised a hand. “Again, all animals where we are from do not talk in any way, and are not sapient. I know it is hard to swallow, but that is a fact ingrained in our ways and cultures.”

Luna spoke up after a brief silence. “So...thou’rt a more bloody and chaotic people?”

Q’s lips set into a thin line. “...More than I’d care to admit, yes.”

Celestia frowned, looking down at her daffodil sandwich. “...Noted.”

I looked towards Abrina. “You do know they make synthetic fur, right? Looks the same, feels the same, insulates the same, but doesn’t come from any animals. Is there any synthetic fur around here?”

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, we have lots of that around here.”

“It’s become easier to make in recent years as well,” Rarity supplied, taking a sip of her tea.

“And even less pricey at that,” Applejack pointed out.

Pinkie blinked. “Huh. Didn’t think you’d know about that, Applejack.”

Applejack blushed lightly, looking away. “W-Well, Ah just saw it in one o’ them magazines once is all.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes at the farm mare. “Really now?”

“Y-Ya-huh, definitely!” Applejack assured, sweating a bit now.

I looked to the fashion mare. “Hey, Rarity, if I tell you my idea for some winter wear, could you make it for me? I think it’s a pretty good idea.”

That seemed to pull the conversation back away from Applejack, as Rarity answered, “Ohh, darling, I’d love to!” She said, clapping her hooves together as she set her tea down with her magic.

“Okay, so. . .” I looked to the audience around me. “Is anyone else interested in hearing this idea? Aside from Abrina?”

“We would not mind hearing it,” Luna admitted.

“Nor would I,” Celestia added, smiling warmly at me.

“It will take me a while to set the games up, but I can still listen,” Q replied, going about doing just that.

I started explaining my idea. “Okay, so: The first layer would be an insulated black fur top and leggings. Synthetic, of course. On top of that would be a marbled brown fur qipao-”

Rarity interrupted. “I’m sorry dear, but what’s this qipao you speak of? I’m not familiar with that.”

“Ah, well, it’s a type of dress where, um. . .” I wracked my brain a bit for the right words. “Okay, so it opens in a line going from the neck and down the side of the front of the body.” I traced the line along my own body for her. “Then the skirt, well, skirts, don’t make a full circle around the legs. Well. . . Take a straight skirt and make a cut along each side from the hip down to the bottom hem, and that’s the skirt portion.”

“Hmm. . . Mhmm. . . I can see it. What about the sleeves?”

“Any style, but usually very short or none. So, I don’t want sleeves on this qipao, but I would like an attached hood. Then, with the same material, elbow length gloves and knee high boots.”

“That’s. . . Yes, yes, I can see it! The only thing I can’t quite see is how to make the bottom of the boots, but with a reference, I can do it!”

I caught a glint in Abrina’s eyes. “Don’t worry, I can help with that. Give me a moment.” She tossed her partially eaten sandwich up in the air and zipped off. She returned just as quickly with a pair of what looked like hiking shoes and caught the sandwich with the greatest of ease. “Here you go, Rarity.”

Rarity looked over the shoes. “I can’t help but notice that these aren’t exactly shaped the same way as your feet from the sides.”

“Those shoes have wedges in them, about four inches high in the back and an inch in the front. It’s a style thing, and I think they would make Yang’s new boots look great.”

“I was hoping for a flat sole. . .” I sheepishly said, already certain that the design’s fate was sealed.

“Hmm. . . Yang, I can see this looking good in two ways, and I want you to decide,” Rarity said. “It will be yours after all.”

“Go ahead.”

“Do you want the wedge in beige to go with the fur or black to match the base layer?”

I looked to the ceiling as I thought it over. “Well. . .”

Abrina leaned in and whispered, “Black would bring out the shape of your foot quite nicely from the sides. It'll be sleek and sexaay!”

That tipped the scales for me. “Black. It’ll look better.”

“Excellent,” Rarity cheerfully said. “I’m not going to start on it right now, but when I do, I’d like you there, Yang.”

“Of course.”

“There we go, all set up,” Q announced, bringing our attention to the menu screen of a Wii, complete with all the channels one would have. The words ‘Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’ was present on one of the channels.

Q started to hand out controllers and explain how they worked to the ponies.

I declined the offer to play, as continually getting smashed in Smash did not sound fun. Thus, myself and Rarity went to another room that the little golem, Charles, showed us to.

Once Rarity was done adoring the quality of the synthetic furs, she decided that it was time to start on the project. “Apologies for the wait, dear.”

I shrugged. “Eh, it’s okay. Let’s get that base layer started.”

“I’ll start with your measurements first.” She floated a tape measure up and started measuring me. At the same time, she also made adjustments on a mannequin Q had provided. “And don’t worry about taking anything off. Those clothes are small and thin enough that it won’t significantly affect the measurements.”

“Thank you.” I suppressed a shudder at the memory of being hit with a measurement spell.

“I still don’t fully understand the whole modesty thing you have going on, I will admit. I can understand the protective and style elements, though. Did you want this to be form fitting, by the way?”

I considered my words for a bit. “Well. . . kind of? Like, not a second skin level of form fitting, but also a snug enough fit that it doesn’t completely hide my shape underneath.”

“And you want that for the whole design?”

“Yeah - no, wait, not quite the same for my chest. How do I?” I wracked my brain for some term or description for what I wanted, stopping when Rarity tossed a section of fabric at my face. “Hm?”

“A picture’s worth a thousand words, dear. Save yourself the effort and show me what you mean.”

“Oh, good idea!” I brought the fabric around my chest, making a soft fitting contour fit. “Yeah, this looks about right.”

“Now see how easy that was?” Rarity hit the fabric with a spell and levitated the stiffened sample over to her. After looking it over and setting it aside, she started working on the leggings. “Do you mind doing some stretches for me? I need to see what kind of movement range I’ll need to work with.”

“Alright.” I did as Rarity requested while she worked. The stretches actually felt pretty good, and even after Rarity was done, I continued doing them.

It wasn’t long before Rarity finished. “Here’s the first part. Tell me how it fits.”

I accepted the fur leggings and went to an adjacent room to put them on. “Well, they fit quite well,” I reported before coming back out. "And they're comfortable. Carry on."

"Gladly!" In short order, Rarity had a matching top made, and like the leggings, it fit comfortably.

"Alright, I like this," I said as I hugged myself. "It's fuzzy, it's comfy, and it's warm. So toasty."

"Might I suggest you take those pieces off for a bit? I'd hate for you to overheat."

"I can't overheat. I'm immune to heat and fire. Besides, this is much less revealing."

"Heat immunity, you say?" Rarity asked with intrigue. "I can't begin to tell you how many summer days that would have been a blessing for me." She levitated some paper over and started sketching something. "Now, the gloves and boots will be difficult to mess up, so I'll save those for later. I want to make sure I have the. . . Qipao, was it?"

"Yes, and I understand. It's literally the centerpiece of the ensemble."

"I want to make sure I have the design right." The pencil started flying across the paper, making a very good drawing of the qipao shape over an outline of my figure.

"Looks good." I pointed to the head area. "Don't forget the hood."

"Of course, dear." As Rarity sketched out the hood, she seemed to get an idea. "You said this is a winter ensemble, right?"

"Yeah, thus the furs. What's up?"

"There's nothing to protect your face. What about this?" She sketched out a mask attached to the neck of the dress. With a spell, she duplicated the picture, erased the mask, and drew a small, loose scarf. "Protection outdoors, style indoors."

"Yes yes yes, all of the yes! Please?"

Rarity sighed. "Oh, alright, but only because you asked nicely," she said with a hint of sarcasm. "If you don't mind, I'd like to remeasure you with the base layer on. I'm going to build this dress on the mannequin."

"Go ahead." As Rarity took her remeasurements, she readjusted the mannequin. "Now, putting this together is going to be the long part, but getting the perfect section of the synthetic fur is going to be the hard part. Any random section will not do by itself. It has to be a perfect balance of light brown and white." She started chuckling. "And here I thought brown was a terrible main color for a dress."

"I can pull it off. Of course, a good design helps."

"Naturally." She smirked as she floated up the three bolts of synthetic brown and white fur and started moving it around, looking for some part to start on. "While we're here, I have a few other questions. . ."

Rarity went above and beyond on the winter dress. I stuck my right arm in one arm hole and my head through the scarf, brought it around my back, got my other arm in, and continued the wrap once more. Closing it up was done in a modern, easy way with a smooth zipper that got neatly covered by a line of white fur.

I looked at myself in the mirror and fiddled with the scarf/mask and hood. Surprisingly, the mask didn't make breathing as difficult as I was suspecting it would. Not something to sleep with, but it wasn't bad either. With the wrap style dress, I was also able to keep most of my hair hidden underneath, and the hood fit quite neatly. Even with all my hair spilling out the front (a look Rarity and I agreed wasn't good at all), it fit well.

"This is excellent," I stated. "Bring it on, winter! As soon as I have my gloves and boots!"

"So, how is it?" Rarity asked after I put the completed gloves and boots on.

"Well, I still wish I had flat soles on the boots," I said as I rocked side to side to get used to the angle. "That being said, these aren't bad at all. I have worn heels higher than this before."

"I'll take that as a good sign. And the gloves?"

I admired one of the elbow length hand covers. "Very good as well. I like how you slicked the fur down on the palms and fingers. Grabbing things is kind of important, after all."

"Why thank you. I do like to take everything into consideration, after all."

"Overall, I give it a %1,000 approval rating."

Rarity started hyperventilating. "A. . . A thousand?" The giggling started. "That's so far beyond good. . . Heeheehee. . ." Then she passed out from the sheer amount of happiness in her.

I checked the clock. "Well, it is pretty late. Better go find everyone."

Abrina walked in at that moment. "Hey, Yangy, we're about to play some truth or dare. Want to join? Offer's open for you too, Rarity." Before I could say anything, Abrina gasped, zipped over, and started rubbing herself on me. "Oh, you're so fuzzy and soft now!"

"Uh, Abrina?" I tried pushing her off of me to no avail. "Personal space, please?"

"You're like a sexy blonde teddy bear now! This is awesome!" Then she noticed Rarity was passed out. "What happened to her?"

"I told her how much I liked the ensemble. She just finished it."

Abrina giggled. “How naughty.”

“. . . I don’t get it.”

Abrina simply giggled again. “Nevermind that. Let’s just head back to the others. Everyone’s waiting.” She looked to Rarity, frowning. “Hm, can’t leave her down here…” Walking over, she tossed the mare over her shoulder. “Hup!” She then turned to me, grabbed my hand, and pulled me along up the stairs.

Soon enough we reached the top, where I saw the rest of the group gathered around an empty bottle of Apple Family Cider. Q was the first to notice us. “Ah, there you are. Come come, sit,” he said, patting a spot next to him.

I sat down near where Q suggested, leaving enough space for Abrina to sit next to him after she found some place to put the fainted fashionista. "Truth or dare with an Apple Family product. Heh." I considered the choice to be highly appropriate.

“Ah still don’t know about this, girls,” Applejack said, staring at the bottle.

“Why? Tis a simple enough game,” Luna mused, looking at the farmer.

“Got a lot of dirty secrets, AJ?” Rainbow teased, elbowing the mare.

“Wh-Wha? No! Not at all!” Applejack assured, blushing brightly.

“I’m personally more curious to see what our host has to offer for truths,” Celestia said with a smirk at Q.

“And I for yours and your sisters,” Q said with a similar smirk.

The others oooo’ed at this. Twilight seemed nervous in general, as did Fluttershy.

“I call first spin!” Abrina chirped, reaching out and spinning the bottle.

Immediately, all eyes turned to me as it stopped spinning, neck pointed towards my feet.

Q smiled. “So, Yang, Truth, or Dare?”

I thought about the question with mild intensity for a few seconds. “Truth.”

“Who was your first kiss?” Abrina said, an insatiable grin on her face as she leaned towards me.

“Well. . .” I sighed and took a moment to collect myself and organize my thoughts into something that would keep up the appearance Abrina had going. “His name’s Shamrock, he was a descendant of a pirate, and was eager to follow in his. . . I think his grandfather’s footsteps and do some piracy. The first kiss was on a train from a nearby city back to my hometown after we had a fancy dinner at a fancy place. The date was very nice.”

All present giggled, save for Q, who simply kept smiling.

“A pirate, you say? How intriguing,” Luna said, smirking.

“Dashing, at that,” Celestia agreed.

“I’ll say!” Abrina concurred, nodding sagely.

“I sense there’s more to it than that, though,” Q said, looking me in the eyes.

“Yeah, there is,” I said with a slightly tired tone. “He went back to his country for a time and fixed up his grandfather’s ship with his crew. Months passed, and then he came back, with the offer of a trip to one of his favorite places. That trip was. . . okay. It was some old buried ruins that his grandfather took him to once, far to the north. It was a cold trip there, the campground, while protected from the weather, was still rather chilly, and the trip back was cold. The ruins themselves, somehow, weren’t all that cold.” A sigh escaped me. “I had to break it off with him after that. His enthusiasm for the place got in the way of the trip actually being fun. He’s a good guy, though, and when we went our separate ways, it was on good terms as friends.”

I felt Q put a hand on my shoulder. “I’m glad you parted as friends, at least.”

Abrina squirmed, a frown on her face. “S-Sorry for reminding you of something so sad, Yangy…”

“You have our apologies as well,” Celestia said, dipping her head a bit.

“We had no idea,” Fluttershy added, giving me a sympathetic smile.

“It’s okay,” I assured. “Like I said, we left on good terms, so there’s no bad feelings. Maybe a little melancholy on my part, but nothing I can’t deal with. So, do I get to spin the bottle now?”

“Yup, go for it,” Q urged, removing his hand from my shoulder.

I eagerly rubbed my fur gloved hands together and gave the bottle a good spin. “Who’ll it be? Who’ll it be?” The bottle stopped on me. “Bad spin. Retry.” I spun the bottle again, without chanting, and it landed on Applejack. “Truth or dare?”

“Ah, eh, um, d-dare,” Applejack squeaked, squirming on her cushion.

“So much for my question.” I thought about it for a bit. “I dare you to. . . Wow, this is surprisingly difficult.” I thought about it some more, then came across an idea. “I dare you to give Fluttershy a kiss on the lips. Five seconds minimum.”

“Wh-What?!?” both mares squeaked out.

Q, Abrina, Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie, and even the Princesses laughed.

Pinkie even started chanting. “Do it! Do it! Do it!”

Both mare’s faces were such a bright red, one could mistake them for the red portion of a police siren. The two looked at each other, and Fluttershy froze up, blushed so bright her whole body turned red...then collapsed.

Applejack simply giggled nervously. “W-W-Well, she’s out cold, s-so I guess it’s off the table, h-huh?” She said, slowly tipping her hat down.

“No, it isn’t,” I said. “You still have to kiss her on the lips for at least five seconds. Or, if you want, you could go for Truth instead? No take-backs if you don’t like the question.”

Applejack’s blush became so luminescent that one could feel the heat even across from her. “F-Fine...t-truth…” she conceded, fully pulling down her hat to cover her face.

“Alright. The question: How do you know so much about synthetic furs?”

Applejack squirmed mightily, face still steaming as we all waited for her answer. “Ah...may like to dress up...on occasion...a-and Ah have a friend wh-who...likes to, too…”

“Really? You like to dress up? Ha! That’s hilarious!” Rainbow slapped a hoof down on the floor.

“Let’s not go laughing at her, girls,” Celestia intoned lightly. “Many mares are the same.”

“Still, who’s this friend of yours?” Pinkie asked as Twilight silently and gently pushed Fluttershy off to the side with Rarity.

Q raised a hand. “I think that’s enough hassling her, everyone. Let’s simply continue.” He gestured to Applejack and the bottle. “Applejack, if you’d please.”

Applejack gave him a thankful smile, then reached a hoof down and spun the bottle. It landed on Abrina. “Alright, Abrina, Truth or Dare?”

Abrina grinned devilishly. “Dare me, cowgirl.” Her grin grew. “I dare you.”

Applejack gained a grin of her own. “I dare ya to kiss Mister Q here. Ten second minimum.”

Abrina went stock still. Swiftly after she froze, her entire body turned pink, and the holes on her arms emitted steam. “U-Um, I, er, uh, that is, I mean, I could, uh-!”

Q rolled his eyes, turning to face her. “Come now, Abrina. It’s a simple kiss, not like it needs to mean anything.”

Celestia seemed to be shocked, if the wide-eyed stare she gave the two was any indication. Luna looked surprised as well, though not as much.

Twilight simply smiled, whilst Pinkie, well…

“Do it! Do it! Do it!” She was chanting again.

“Come on! Come on! Do it!” So was Rainbow Dash.

Applejack was grinning smugly, chuckling to herself. “Ah ain’t letting ya go back on this one, filly.”

Abrina stared at Q, his face, his lips, then slowly, nervously, leaned forward.

As I patiently waited for the event to pass, I idly inspected my gloves, and thanked whatever powers that be that I could not overheat.

“Q-Qudirk, you-” Celestia began, before Abrina closed her eyes and lunged forward, wrapping the man’s lips up in a kiss.

Ten seconds passed slowly for four of those present, and none but one would say why. Q eventually tried to pull away, and Abrina whined at this, but when he placed a hand on hers, she opened her eyes like she’d just gotten a shot and immediately pulled back, blushing brightly again and turning her head away, playing with a strand of her strange hair.

“Well, that was something,” Q mused, hand over his lips.

“Ah’ll say,” Applejack said, still grinning smugly. “Yew two looked about ready to actually make out.”

Abrina whined at this, covering her face.

“Y-Yes, well,” Celestia cleared her throat.

“I believe tis th-thine turn, Lady Abrina,” Luna urged.

Abrina shakily nodded, reaching down and spinning the bottle. It landed on Celestia. Abrina cleared her throat. “A-Alright, Princess, Truth or Dare?”

Celestia blinked, then shook her head, as if it bore some fog. “Ah, um, Dare.”

Abrina gave a small smile. “I dare you to sit on Yang’s lap.”

Celestia blinked again. “I...beg your pardon?”

Instead of voicing any concerns, I went the other way. “Come on, Princess. I’m tough enough for you. I won’t break under the pressure. I WILL DO THIS WITH HONOR!”

Celestia blinked again at this. As did Twilight and Applejack. Rainbow, Pinkie, Q and Abrina simply snickered.

“You’re really funny, Yangy,” Pinkie said, giggling behind a hoof.

“Amen to that, sister,” Abrina agreed.

“Double, uh, whatever you just said,” Rainbow added, smirking at me.

“Spontaneity can be a good quality,” Q said sagely, smirking himself.

Celestia eventually sighed and stood up. “Very well.” She walked over to me, then gently sat down in my lap. She was certainly heavy, but not ‘OH MY GOD I HAVE A HORSE ON MY LAP’ kind of heavy. Much lighter than that, thankfully, but, still heavy enough to notice.

“Hmm. . .” I was half tempted to pull Celestia into a hug, but I couldn’t really do that with ease, nor would it really feel appropriate to me, given where I would have to grasp her for it. “This isn’t bad. I can deal with this. How long do you have to be here, Princess?”

“For the rest of the game,” Abrina said with a returned grin, not unlike a smug anime girl’s.

Celestia sighed, whilst Luna giggled. “All’s fair, dear sister,” she sing songed.

Celestia rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes. Now, it is my turn, correct?”

Abrina nodded. “Ya-huh. Go ahead, spin ‘er up!”

As the bottle spun, I wondered what the call would be if it pointed to Celestia and me. My curiosity, however, would not be sated, but not because I couldn’t see the bottle. “Who gets it?” I asked as I heard the bottle wind down.

I could see Celestia’s head turn to Q. “Qudirk,” she answered.

A flash of inspiration (or stupidity) struck me, and I decided to try and scratch the base of Celestia’s wings. Thankfully, I was able to reach up just enough to do that, and just as she started talking too.

“Truth or DAAAAAAAAre, oh, Goddess that’s good~,” Celestia moaned.

Twilight stared in shock. “P-Princess?!”

Rainbow blinked, wings slowly spreading out, and eyes glued to the scene.

Luna cleared her throat, placing a hoof on my hand. “Miss Yang, if you’d please,” She urged.

“Okay, okay.” I relented and withdrew my hand.

Celestia whined a bit at this, but swiftly seemed to notice what had happened as she tensed up. Slowly, she coughed into a hoof. “A-Ahem. Apologies, everypony.” She looked to Q, seeing his very large smile. “N-Now, Qudirk, Truth or Dare?”

Q simply smiled. “Truth.”

I listened in with great intensity, wondering what the mysterious guy would reveal, or if he would chicken out on the question.

“Who was Ganon?” Celestia asked.

Q suddenly went stock still. Not even from embarrassment, but shock. His eyes were wide, but there was no blush on his cheeks. Slowly though, his eyes hardened. “...Where did you learn that name?” His tone was different. Gone was the cheer, the laughter that always seemed to fill his voice. Gone was the doting father-like figure. All that remained was a rage so cold and intense that I shivered, even under the layers of fur I was wearing.

I couldn’t help but feel that this Ganon character was not a video game thing.

I wasn’t the only one. All the girls seemed scared now.

“M-Mister Q-?” Q raised a hand sharply.

“Be silent, Twilight,” he said harshly. Twilight flinched as his eyes narrowed on Celestia. “Where did you learn that name, Celestia?” Celestia frowned, slowly getting off my lap. She nodded to Abrina. Q seemed to bristle. “...You found it, didn’t you.” Abrina winced at this. “You found it, and invaded my privacy.”

“I-I didn’t mean to-” Abrina began, but Q would have none of it.

“Go back to your room, Abrina,” he intoned. “We’ll have much to talk about.”

“Qudirk, don’t go punishing her so harshly for simple curiosi-” Celestia began, but Qudirk shot up to his feet.

“Curiosity? Tell me, what curiosity propels a woman to raid a righteous man’s grave?” Q spat.

I decided to make a wise move and simply left the room. I didn’t like being angry, and I didn’t like being around people that were angry, even if I wasn’t the target.

After wandering around the tower aimlessly for what was probably an hour, I found myself on the ground floor. I would have continued my aimless walking into another area if the sight of Q storming by, still radiating rage, didn’t stop me. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to notice me (or at least not care that I was there) as he went by and left into the forest outside. He didn’t slam the door closed, but the force behind the sound still spooked me a bit.

Soon enough, I saw Abrina, Luna and Celestia come down. They all looked very worried. Abrina, usually chipper and spritely, looked very broken, tear stains on her yellow cheeks and short, strange fleshy ‘hair’ seeming to droop.

“I take it he is not here?” Celestia said, a frown on her face.

“I think he went for a walk,” I said. “Not going to lie, I’m a bit concerned about this mess, but I’m not going to get involved in it. The best I can probably do is offer free hugs.”

Abrina sniffled. “I-I just… I just feel so bad…”

Luna wrapped a wing around the Majin, pulling her close. “Shhh, shh…”

I decided to take a proactive approach with the free hugs and edged my way into the wing wrap and gave Abrina a hug, her body feeling squishier than before. As much as I also wanted to give her a little speech about how everyone makes mistakes and learning from them is what matters, it didn’t feel appropriate to make that speech.

“I-It’s just...I could s-see him when he went outside on S-S-Sundays, and he always loo-looked so sad, and...when I went to check where he goes one day, I just… I j-j-just wanted to know, so I could help him, y-ya know?” Abrina said, fighting back a new onrush of sobs.

“Hush, you.” I gently put her head on my shoulder so she could cry into it if she needed to. As much as I adored the new winter outfit, I knew it could be cleaned, and there were two princesses that could easily do it with magic if I politely asked. “Get the tears out if you must.”

And so she did. She buried herself in my neck, sobbing and crying like she’d just lost a friend. For all I knew, she might have. I stood there and let her get it out of her system until she wore herself out and fell asleep. When she did, I picked her up and started walking back up the tower to find her room and put her to bed.

The Princesses didn’t follow.

After what felt like hours later I found myself nearly falling asleep on Abrina’s bed, until the doors to the room opened and the Princesses as well Qudirk walked in. Q’s face was unreadable, but the Princesses looked like they were both concerned and tired.

The three of them walked over, sitting down next to me. Q looked to Abrina’s sleeping face, then to me.

“Could you wake her, please?” He asked gently.

I turned to the sleeping Majin and poked her face. “Wake up.” She didn’t respond immediately, so I poked with a bit more force. That didn’t work either, so I decided to go to a more drastic measure, pulling her up to a sitting position by her hair. “You’re late.”

“Ow ow ow ow ow! Hey, stop pulling, hair’s sensitive you know!” Abrina cried as she woke up, grabbing my hand and pulling it off. Then she noticed everyone around her, and seemed to shrink on herself as she noticed Q. “O-O-Oh...H-Hey, Q…”

Q simply stared at her for a time, before sighing, clasping his hands together in his lap and staring down at said lap.

“...I’m sorry I made you cry, Abrina,” he finally said after a few tense moments.

“N-No! It’s okay! It was my fault for-!” Abrina tried to say, waving her hands frantically.

Q interrupted her. “It wasn’t. Ganon wouldn’t have wanted me to hide such things, nor get so angry about it.”

Celestia frowned, studying Q’s face. “...Who was he?”

“...My brother.”

I had no clue what to say about the revelation, and after a bit of thought on the matter, I found myself not really caring about it. It did seem like a bit of a cold thing to do, but it was also true. Since I didn’t want to get caught up in the drama, I decided silence was the best policy while they sorted it out.

“I’m sorry, Qudirk, I didn’t know-” Abrina began again, but Q once again interrupted.

“Don’t be. I’ve...always been too closed off and icy when it came to him and his...death,” he sighed, looking up to the ceiling. “Truth be told? He was a lot like you, Yang.” He glanced to me.

“Eh?” I pointed to myself. “Me?”

Q smiled and nodded. “Yes. Never seeking a fight but always willing to help, always thinking of others.” He chuckled. “He was just as awkward and bad with jokes as you, as well.”

I felt the lightening of the mood and seized the opportunity. “Whaaaaat? That can’t be possible. I worked hard to be as bad with my jokes as I am. The cram sessions were no joke, everyone looked at me funny, and I had to attend board meetings in lumberyards at the same time. The chairs had terrible lumber support as well.”

Abrina and the Princesses laughed whilst Q simply held his smile. “My point exactly.”

“Well, I think it’s good that we’re on the positive side of things. On a side note-” I turned to the Princesses. “Abrina’s bit of crying left my winter furs a bit sticky.”

Abrina looked a bit downcast at that. “I’m sorr-”

I dramatically pointed at her and used a firm voice. “Don’t apologize for that! You needed it, and I was willing to provide a shoulder. Now, I want you to apologize for trying to apologize for your tears leaving a mess on my dress.”

She tilted her head in confusion. “What?”

“Okay, that’s good enough. Apology accepted.” I turned back to the Princesses. “Anyways, I was wondering if one of you would be willing to magically clean the mess for me.”

Luna and Celestia giggled before sharing a look, then looking back to Yang.

“We see no issue with this, just a moment,” Luna began, horn glowing, before the mess on my clothes seemed to just evaporate. “There. Now,” She looked back to Q. “Why would you hide this from us, Sir Qudirk?”

Q went silent for a time, frowning as he thought. “...It never felt right to me to let others know I was sad, I suppose.”

“You know, there were times when I could have put up a strong front and just powered through things,” I said as memories of my arrival in Equestria crossed my mind. “But if I did it that way and turned down any help that was offered, well, who knows what kind of mess of a woman I’d be now?”

“Exactly. Qudirk, you can’t simply ignore your pain, even if it’s for others,” Celestia said, nodding as she wrapped a wing around the man.

Q didn’t answer, simply remaining quiet.

“Q?” Abrina spoke up, placing a hand on his. “Just...don’t hide this stuff from us anymore, okay?”

“...I’ll...keep that in mind,” He finally said, sighing.

I looked around for a moment before clapping my hands together. “So, we’ve got the troubles buried for now, we’ve made peace, and I have no idea what to do now.”

“...We could all sleep in my bed and give Yangy a nice goodbye in the morning?” Abrina suggested, looking across us all.

I considered the idea. “No objections.” As soon as I was comfortable in the bed, I was out like a light. I barely registered the others debating the idea as I fell asleep. I also barely registered them one by one joining me in sleep. I simply snuggled into the most comfortable position among them.

The next day saw me standing in Q’s garden with Q and Abrina smiling at me, a portal just behind me. The others were still upstairs, still asleep.

“Sorry we had to wake you so early, Yang,” Q said apologetically. “I know I promised, but Displaced and the multiverse are one thing I don’t think this world is ready for.”

“And yet, here you are,” I said, followed by a yawn. “Yeah, knowledge and all that. Well, drama aside, I had fun, and I got some nice winter clothes out of it.” I did a little curtsey to show off the outfit a bit.

Q chuckled. “Indeed.”

“But that’s not all you’re getting out of it!” Abrina zoomed up to me, bear hugged and lifted me off the ground, then let go. When she did, I felt something new in my pocket. Abrina only grinned as she watched me expectantly, Q smiling from the sidelines.

I reached into the pocket and pulled out a little chibi version of Abrina, a steel pencil held in its grasp. It didn’t take long for me to come to a conclusion. “Tokens, I presume?”

Q nodded. “Correct. And…” He snapped his fingers, and with a flash of light two boxes dropped onto the ground in front of me, both made of what seemed to be silver, and both roughly 10 inches by 5 inches.. “...Farewell gifts from me. Open the one on the right after you return to your world.”

I pocketed the tokens and picked up the identical boxes. “Well then, I guess I can just play it safe and open both at home. Welp, until we meet again.” I gave a casual salute and jumped backwards into the portal, ready for home.

As I tumbled through the Void, I swear I saw some masked, gentlemanly looking woman wave imperiously at me, before she was gone. “Weird,” I said seconds after she disappeared.

I gently landed on my bed, glad it didn’t make too much noise, and set to work putting things away. The tokens went in a drawer with the other tokens I’d collected, and I looked at the boxes. “Okay, right one last, left one first. . . Which one was the right one?” After some deliberation, I opened one of them. The bodysuit I’d gone over there with sprung out of the small box, along with a note from Q. “Hey, you forgot this. I went ahead and cleaned it for you as well. I also made a Saiyan monkey tail that you can put on and take off with ease. If it’s cut, it will heal. If you have it on under the light of the moon, it will grant you incredible power, speed, and durability.” I tipped the box over and the monkey tail fell out. While it looked and felt fairly realistic, it was also kind of creepy. It went into another drawer.

With the first box empty, I opened the second box. As soon as I did, there was a loud pop and an explosion of confetti, surprising me. A piece of paper was stuck on my face, so I took it off and read it. “Hello again, Yang. Before I woke you and Abrina, I decided that I had to find some way to make it up to you, since you got caught up in the drama over my brother. Since you seem rather fond of apparel for your own enjoyment, which I don’t blame you for, I wrote up the ensemble you’re now wearing. It’s designed to be worn for riding a motorcycle, or just looking good and showing off. I’m sure you’ll like it, and if there’s someone else in your life, I’m sure they’ll like it on you too. Sincerely, Q.”

“Huh.” I looked around and saw the winter fur set neatly folded up and sitting on the bed.

My door was slammed open by Searing. “Is everything okay, Yang? I heard a loud bang and. . .” she trailed off as she looked at me. A few red drops appeared on the floor under her muzzle. “Everthinglooksfinehaveagooddaybye!”

I went over to my mirror and looked at myself. “Well. . . Can’t say I blame her.”

After I was done admiring the outfit, which I decided to call Rider, I started inspecting it. “How do I get this off?”

G.G.S.

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"You want me to come with you to the spa?" Searing asked.

"Yeah," I said as I led her out of the Carne Den. I was dressed for the cool weather with my winter fur qipao set and she had a fur coat. It wasn't hard for her to get one when she was in her unicorn form, after all. "I know it's kind of random-"

"I've seen randomness."

"Oh yeah, that children's card game. Anyways, there's a few ponies there that I want you to meet. If any of them ask, and they probably won't, you're my bodyguard."

"Not entirely wrong," she conceded after a moment. "Not that you really need one, though."

"No, not really, but winter is nigh, and I can't handle the cold very well. If someone were to come after me, I wouldn't be able to fight back as well."

"So I'm basically your battle buddy?"

I thought about her wording for a minute as we walked into town. "If you decide to be my battle buddy, then you can stay at my place full time."

"But. . . I was just about to go looking for another house. I don't want to be in your hair for too long."

"Hey, it's fine. Asada likes you too, so there's no problem there."

The rest of the walk to the spa was filled with assurances from me about my offer, followed by relative silence. It wasn't long before we arrived at the spa.

"Yang Xiao Long and Searing Victory?" Aloe asked at the desk.

"That's us," I said.

"If you would like to change into your swimsuit, Ms. Xiao Long, I'll let the rest of your party know you're here."

"Swimsuit?" Searing asked as Aloe left.

"Yeah, I'm really not comfortable without one here. Heh. It's kind of funny, isn't it? I come to the spa for quality treatment and cleaning and I wear something that gets in the way of that."

Searing smiled at the notion. "It is kind of funny."

"Anyways, just let me go get changed real quick." I went into the restroom and got into my Tiger Shark swimsuit as quickly as I could. I was still amazed that Rarity had managed to produce such a piece for me. After I made sure that all my things were bundled together just right and that Mei was on my head, I stepped out. "So, what do you think, Searing?"

Searing looked the swimsuit over. "Who, dare I ask, designed that?"

"Rarity, after I gave her a challenge. Why do you ask?"

"Because I kind of want one now. I know it makes no sense, but. . . Well, I spent over a month swimming in phys ed class and the idea of a swimsuit kind of grew on me. Routines, you know?"

"Yeah, I understand."

"I still don't understand why some girls went with bikinis, though. There were two instances of wardrobe failure in that class, both with a bikini top coming off. Coach Isamu was professional about it, at least."

"Good thing. Anyways, off to the spa!"

Aloe showed up at that exact moment. "The rest of your party is waiting, Ms. Xiao Long. If you'll follow me?"

"Gladly." I set my bundle of stuff in the usual spot and followed her to a door labelled 'GGS'.

I entered and greeted everyone. "Good evening, everyone."

"Good evening, Yang," Celestia said.

Luna took a sip of her coffee. "Good evening as well."

Twilight didn't even pull her head out of her notebook. "Good evening."

Searing looked at the unadorned princesses with a slack jaw. "Y-you didn't tell me we were meeting with royalty!"

"They're friends."

"Three. Bucking. Princesses!"

"They're friends who happen to be Princesses. What, do you suddenly feel underdressed?"

"Yes!" She looked over the unadorned Princesses again. "Somehow!"

I smugly smiled inside and kindly smiled outside. "I have another swimsuit in with my stuff. Just talk to one of the spa sisters and they'll let you get it."

Searing gave me a flat glare before leaving. "Why does it always seem like everyone has something planned for me?"

Celestia gave me an inquisitive look. "Dare I ask what that was about?"

"That's a story for her to tell. It's a very bizarre story."

"Indeed it is," Luna said as she drained the rest of her coffee. "I have seen her dreams, and bizarre is only one of many words that can be used to merely start describing it. I am glad that I do not have to deal with this Tzeentch entity. His mere visage would induce nightmares in our subjects."

"How about we start this little event, hm?" Celestia asked.

"Sounds good." I set Mei on a table and she appeared on the edge of the pool, less than a foot tall and wearing a tasteful bikini and sarong. The empty line art style didn't work perfectly with the look, but I wasn't about to complain.

"Hello, Your Highnesses," Mei said.

"Hi, Mei," Twilight said.

I decided to take the initiative and slid into the pool first. To my delight, Tiger Shark worked exactly as designed, and even more importantly, the water was delightfully warm. "Ah, this is wonderful."

The Princesses followed my lead and were promptly relaxing in the water. "I don't care what kind of harshness comes from the press tomorrow, this is worth it," Celestia said.

"Well spoken, Tia," Luna said as she relaxed too. "Twilight, put your notes away and enjoy the water."

"Luna, this history will not reconstitute itself," Twilight said, still behind her notebook. "Timelines and events must be properly catalogued."

Searing showed up in her human form with her Tiger Shark swimsuit on, sporting blue mesh filled cuts instead of the yellow on mine. She slid in and sat next to me, and she saw Mei. "What's that?" Searing asked.

"That's Mei," I said. "You Mei have heard me talking with her at night."

Mei facepalmed. "You see what I have to put up with?"

Luna looked to Twilight and took matters into her own hooves, teleporting the bookworm's papers away. Twilight looked ready to object when she saw Searing. "I missed something, didn't I?"

"More like you haven't heard the story yet," Luna said. "Then again, it's not exactly being distributed either."

"I much prefer being a unicorn," Searing said. "What is this GGS anyways?"

"It's the Grand Galloping Spala," Celestia said. "Yang came up with the name."

"As if the pun didn't make it obvious enough," Mei snarked.

"The Grand Galloping Gala, also known as The Eternal Borefest to us, is going on back at Canterlot Castle," Luna explained. "We decided to skip it this year and take a spa trip instead, just us royalty. Yang talked her way onto the secret short attendance list somehow. . ."

"I knew nothing," I defended.

"I did nothing," Twilight added before briefly glancing at Searing. ". . . I did nothing twice."

"Of course," Luna continued.

"I have no complaints," Celestia said. "Besides, with all of us here, it makes things much more cozy." She turned to me. "That being said, Yang, why did you bring her along?"

"Searing's my bodyguard/battle buddy," I answered. "That, and after her little trip and having her house foreclosed, I figured she needed something relaxing."

"You just wanted to bring me along," Searing retorted.

"I just wanted to bring her along. And she does have some experience in politics."

"Oh?" Celestia's intrigue wasn't concealed in the slightest. "Please give us the details, Searing."

"Do you want the whole trip or just the politics?" Searing asked.

"The whole-"

"Politics!" Luna interjected. "Please, just the politics."

Celestia turned to her sister. "You don't want to hear the whole story?"

Luna got serious. "I've seen and soothed enough of her dreams in recent nights to know enough, and trust me when I say that you really don't want to know. Especially Tzeentch and his games."

"But-"

"You don't. Want. To know."

Searing started her story. "So it started when I was elected President of the student council. . ."

". . . And I was basically the laziest and most effective President in the history of the student council. The power grabbers were the only ones really upset at me."

"And what of Midnight Stroll?" Luna asked.

"After we left prom, we had milkshakes with my double and some. . . Unexpected friends. Once the place closed for the night, we went our separate ways. I never heard anything from him after that."

"I'm willing to say she has more experience in politics than I do," I admitted. "She dealt with it for quite a few months while I've only done, what, a few weeks total, a month at most?"

"That was just internal school politics Searing dealt with, Yang," Celestia pointed out. "Not the national level material you've helped with."

"She still did it for far longer than I did, and with fewer preconceived notions going into it. Presumably."

"I was baited into it by a revenge offer," Searing said. "What's that tell you?"

"Why you go into politics is only part of what should be judged," Luna pointed out. "What you do with that power is where your colors really show. Tia has those who oppose her rulings, sometimes on very logical grounds, but she does not silence them. The same applies to me. Additionally, we are very well aware that the act of covering something or silencing somepony can, in a humorous twist, be more revealing than what was covered up. The Straying Sand Effect, I believe it's called now." Luna looked to the youngest Princess. "You've been very quiet, Twilight."

Twilight jumped a little at being addressed. "Huh? Oh! I was just thinking about Searing's story." She turned to the red woman next to me. "You said you had milkshakes at the end with Midnight, your double, and some unexpected friends. What school did your double go to?"

Searing raised an eyebrow. "Why do you want to know?"

"Curiosity."

Searing sighed. "Canterlot High. Happy?"

Twilight briefly teleported a notepad in, made a note, and teleported it away. "That's one more project for later."

I decided it was time to change the topic. "So! We're here to relax and get treated, right? Let's do that."

"An excellent idea, Yang," Celestia said. "How about we start with a bubble bath? I looked over the available scents and the lavender jasmine sounds excellent." A round of agreements came from everyone except Mei, who couldn't smell anything at all.

Two minutes later, the spa sisters worked their magic, mixing the pleasantly scented bubbling soap into the water. "That was a good choice, Celestia," I said. "Maybe. . ." A yawn escaped me. "A bit too good. . ." I pulled Searing closer and rested my head on her shoulder.

"No." Searing pulled away and I fell into the water, waking me up pretty quickly.

After a bit of effort to get some water out of my nose and a brief round of coughs, I turned to Searing. "What was that for?"

"I'm your battle buddy, not your snoozing shoulder. Also, you're in the presence of royalty. Why would you fall asleep in front of royalty?"

"Well. . . I usually doze off when I come here. And the royalty in question are friends."

"You fall asleep here?" Celestia asked. "Regularly?"

"Yeah. Usually when they start on my hair, sometimes before. It's very relaxing."

Luna raised a forehoof. "I hereby declare a nappening to be happening! And I know the perfect arrangement!" Her horn lit up and she started moving us around. Searing wound up on my right and Celestia was on my left. Twilight was opposite Celestia and Luna was opposite Searing. "'Tis perfect!" With a bit more magic, we were all pulled closer together.

"I know I shouldn't question royalty-" Searing started.

"Please, do question royalty," Celestia said. "It's good for us."

"But why am I stuck with Yang?"

"A simple answer," Luna said. "Twilight is with Tia because she was her student. Tia is with Yang for extra comfort. Yang is with you because you two look good together. And you're with me so I can make sure you don't leave."

"Really?"

"And to respond to any odd dreams of yours more quickly. Mei?"

"Yes, Luna?" Mei asked.

"When the spa sisters come back, ask them to take care of all our manes with whatever product Yang uses."

"Luna, I really, really want to order something from you," Searing halfheartedly seethed.

"And why would that be?"

"Because you are being a total shipper right now."

Mei facepalmed. "The terrible pun infection claims yet another."

"Ah, wordplay! Still, comfort reigns, Tia and Twilight are already asleep, and the temptation to join them is powerful. Like so!" Luna quickly put her head on Searing's shoulder and closed her eyes.

Searing turned to me. "Yang?"

"Yes, Searing?" My response was followed up by a yawn.

"Did you plan this?"

"Nope." I leaned back into Searing and dozed off again.

I woke up in the dreamscape. "Luna?"

"Yes, Yang?"

"Why the shipping?" An Amazon truck drove by us at the question.

"You two look great together."

"I'm not denying that. What I want to know is why you're playing matchmaker all of a sudden."

"If you two are going to be battle buddies, as you described it, you two need to trust each other enough to-"

I cut her off with a flat glare. "It's an impulse thing, isn't it?"

"It is an impulse thing. And a tactical thing. If you two stay together and form an emotional connection, then you'll be able to better fight off anything that approaches and cover each others' weaknesses."

"Luna, if your goal is to have us kiss, you're doing a pretty bad job of the subtle nudge bit. You're using a sledgehammer for a chisel job. It's so clear what you're doing, birds are flying into it." The sound of a bird hitting a window punctuated my statement. "Seriously, why?"

Luna got serious. "You really want to know? Alright. Searing missed you a lot during her bizarre trip, and maaay have developed some feelings for you that she's been largely ignoring or suppressing. Probably. There was a lot of tight shiny stuff."

"She was exposed to the internet. You spend enough time there, and it. . ."

"Warps you?"

"Shapes you. There's a lot on there."

"As I can imagine. You do realize the internet existed here before, right?"

"Oh yeah, the long ago stuff."

"The things the ponies devised back then were truly incredible. In particular, Firebrand's advances in prosthetics, armor, and weaponry were truly nothing short of revolutionary. Tia and I were even offered custom prosthetics of our own, but we turned the offer down, content as we were. Enough about the past, though. Rest well, Yang." Luna departed and a comfortable darkness overtook the realm.

I woke up on a bench some time later with some towels draped over me and a folded one under my head. A glance to the side revealed Searing, in her unicorn form, quietly talking with the Princesses about something, all four of them in the water.

"Hello, sleeping beauty," Mei said as soon as she appeared, sitting on my chest.

"How long was I asleep?" I asked.

"About two hours. They woke up twenty minutes ago."

"Just another spa session." As I sat up, Mei blinked out and the towels slid onto my lap. After putting them to the side, I got up and sat on the floor next to the mares in the water. "Hey."

"Hello, Yang," Celestia said. "Feeling refreshed?"

"As usual. How's the Spala going?"

"'Tis a grand success!" Luna exclaimed. "We are, unfortunately, missing the fine food and drink." Celestia whispered something in Luna's ear. "Fortunately, we are missing it. That's what I meant."

"I'm sure Pinkie would be willing to oblige us if we went to Sugarcube Corner after we finish up here," Twilight said. "Knowing her, she may already have some snacks lined up just in case we show up."

Pinkie stood by the oven, humming a happy little tune as the batch of perfectly delicious, perfectly sized, perfectly sweet, perfectly normal cupcakes were baking. Then she did a double take when she noticed the story was focusing on her. "There's nothing going on here, reader. Go back to the spa."

"That sounds like a good way to wrap this up," I agreed. "I presume you've already taken care of all the normal important gala stuff?"

The alicorns laughed at the question while Searing was befuddled. "Oh Yang, you really should know by now," Celestia said. "Nothing important happens at the gala. Ever."

"I'm sorry for asking such a pointless question." A new question came to mind. "Hey, important thing: I've already beaten. . . Seven of these evils. Any idea on what the next one might be?"

Luna took up the question. "I have been going through Tia's memories in search of answers. I haven't found anything solid, but something about the short lived Equestrian age of piracy caught my interest."

"Piracy?" Searing asked. "I was a pirate for a couple months."

"I don't remember much about that period," Celestia admitted.

"We were very busy at the time," Luna said. "The age of piracy was so short lived because it came about during a bigger problem: a plague of undead."

"Were the pirate ships eaten by zombies?" Searing asked.

"Yes, they were. How did you know?"

"I saw it happen once. Then the crew was eaten by alligators."

"Oh. Part of your adventure with Discord?"

"Yeah. I had fun being a pirate. Would you like to hear about it?"

After Searing told her story of life on the high seas, we decided to pack it up and call the Grand Galloping Spala done, or at least the spa part of it. Once we were ready to go (a process that was mostly them waiting for me to get dressed), we left the spa. It was dark, had gotten significantly colder, and was snowing. I pulled up my hood and mask and followed the mares through town, the only sound between us being the occasional crunch of snow and dead grass.

The walk was brief, and the inside of Sugarcube Corner was warm, welcoming, and filled with sweet scents. Pinkie was at the counter. "Ohai!" She cheerfully greeted us when we came up. "What would you like? We have a sweet selection of drinks and desserts tonight, as we always do."

Mei, back to her normal look, appeared on the counter just to facepalm at the tasteful wordplay before disappearing.

Celestia went first. "Do you have any banana cream pie?"

"One slice?" Pinkie asked.

"One pie."

"Next?"

Luna went next. "I'll have one slice of dark chocolate cake, if you have any."

"But of course. Ooh, I had a slice of that a few days ago with peanut butter chips on it and MMM! It was good."

Luna considered it for exactly one approximate moment. "You have convinced me."

"The usual, Twilight?"

"The usual," Twilight said.

"Yang?"

"Hot chocolate. Biggest size you've got."

"Searing?"

Searing was briefly taken aback by Pinkie remembering her name before collecting herself and placing her order. "One slice of cheesecake."

"What toppings would you like?"

"Yes."

"Alright. 50 bits, please."

Celestia put a dozen silver coins on the counter and we went to a corner booth. The royalty sat together while Searing and I were next to each other. I found myself paying more attention to Searing than I probably would have if Luna hadn't been so blatant in her shipping.

It wasn't long before our orders arrived. I hid behind my drink and tuned out the talking ponies as I contemplated things. "Luna admitted to the shipping, but she made some good points too. Heck, I invited her to live under my roof. I even had another Tiger Shark made just for her and brought it to the spa just in case. Why?" I cast a sideways glance to the red unicorn with an English accent. "Please just let this be some stray thoughts."

"Well, that was a nice, quiet event," I said as Searing and I walked home. "A spa trip, a nap, and dessert with friends."

"Royalty," Searing asserted. "With a shipper on deck."

I heard the muttered sentence. "Yeah, Luna wasn't too subtle about that."

"Like a ton of bricks."

"Like a giant robot."

"Like a full broadside of cannons."

"Like Canterlot Castle."

"I talked with Princess Celestia and got us a shooting range."

"Like - wait, what? When? How?"

"I held her dessert hostage."

Searing got an idea and acted on impulse, pulling Celestia's half eaten pie from the Princess. "I want something," Searing said with all the malice of a cartoon villain.

Celestia quirked an eyebrow. "You do know I can just buy another pie, right?"

"Uhh. . . But it won't be the same as this one!"

"She makes a good point, Tia," Luna said. "Find out what her demands are."

"Very well." Celestia looked at Searing. "What is it that you want?"

"Just a place to shoot guns. Very high power guns."

Celestia turned to the youngest Princess. "Isn't there an open area nearby that would work?"

Twilight did not look up from her scroll. "Yes, but I don't want the diamond dogs out there to be spooked again. They've been caught up in enough action already and are scared of Yang."

Yang, still hiding behind her drink, did not react to her name being mentioned.

"I suppose I could let you use the artillery range off the north side of Canterlot Mountain," Celestia conceded. "I'll let the range overseers know that you can use it outside of training drills. May I have my pie back now?"

"Thank you." Searing took a bite of the pie before sliding it back to the Princess.

"In hindsight, it was a stupid move," Searing added.

"Celestia's too nice to get upset over a pie," I said. "Or even me getting upset at her, grabbing her by the horn, holding her face up to mine, and making demands."

Searing blanched at that. "You did what?"

"It was immediately after I beat Tirek. I was tired, filthy, and I was a mess. It was the first time I really got upset at anyone like that, and I was too tired to care. She took it gracefully."

"Well. . . If that's what happened."

"It is." Silence reigned between us for a bit. "You looked good in that swimsuit." A wave of regret washed over me as soon as I said it. Thankfully, I had my hood and mask to hide behind.

"Thanks," Searing curtly said. "Dare I ask why you had it in the first place?"

"It. . . It was an impulse thing," I admitted. "Kind of stupid, but. . . Well, you have the same figure I do in your human form, and. . . Maybe Discord had a point. Maybe you are the closest thing I have to human contact here and that has something to do with it."

"Yang, I'm a unicorn."

"A unicorn that can become a human. It's amazing how we have the same figure when you're human."

"Discord probably planned it that way. The idea of him planning something like that makes no sense, but then it does make sense in a weird way."

"Yeah. Hey, remember that time you had a nosebleed in my room?"

Searing looked away from me. "That. . . That had nothing to do with anything. Where did you even get that outfit?"

"An. . . Acquaintance gave it to me as a surprise gift. Very much a surprise, and not entirely unwelcome."

"Please stop talking about it."

"Okay." I dropped the topic, and the rest of the walk home was in a mostly comfortable, slightly awkward silence.

Turkey Day

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There was a knock on the office door after closing. "Come in," I absently said as I worked on the worst part of running the Carne Den: the paperwork. I'd put the computer from the expedition away since it didn't actually help that much. Why I hadn't picked up a printer while I was in those ruins was beyond me, but I didn't let it bother me.

Searing entered. "Hey, what do we do for the Fall Feast Festival here?"

"Officially, we're closed the day before, of, and after it. That being said, there's going to be a big feast here anyways. It happened last year, though not as I'd planned."

"What happened last year?"

"You know the griffons that work here? All of them are from the Griffon Empire, before King Gaston died. They came here for a better life and they got it. Very quickly. I was going to make a big meal for the occasion last year, but the cold weather made me forget about it. They pulled through and provided the food themselves and forgave me for my mistake. I made a Thanksgiving speech, everyone said something they were thankful for, and then the meal was on. Do you want to help this year?"

"Sure," she happily said before her expression dropped a bit. "Are you expecting any royalty this time?"

"No. But if they show up, we won't turn them away. And this year, I will definitely provide something for the meal."

On the morning before the Fall Feast Festival/Thanksgiving meal, I found Searing behind the bar. "Morning," I said.

"Good morning, Yang," Searing replied. "I already made us some breakfast." She pointed towards a pair of plates on the serving window with her horn, each one sporting toast, bacon, hash browns, and eggs. All of it looked a bit overcooked.

"Oh. Well, thanks." I sat down as Searing served up the meal and utensils. "So, what's the plan for today?" I asked as I scraped some of the eggs onto the toast.

"I was thinking of doing some cooking for tomorrow with you, but there isn't much to work with right now. How do you keep everything so well stocked around here?"

"Well-" A series of knocks from the front door interrupted me. "Could you get that? I'm not dressed for that kind of chill."

"Sure." Searing left the bar and went to the entrance. "Hello?"

"Delivery for Miss Yang Xiao. . . No, wait, Searing Victory," the familiar delivery stallion said. "Odd. Are you Searing Victory?"

"Yyyyyyyes?"

"Sign, please." The sound of a pen on paper on a clipboard floated through for a few seconds. "Thank you. We'll have these in for you shortly."

"Uhh, thanks." Searing returned with a concerned face. "Yang, I didn't order anything. What's going on?"

"I think that's our part of the Thanksgiving feast," I said. "And it looks like I'm going to put your name on the order forms."

She moved a hoof around as she tried to figure out my explanation. "I still don't get it."

"When the post office in town says, 'any time delivery,' they mean it." I got up and started helping with the boxes as they came in, setting them on the ground near the bar.

"How does that work?"

"I get the shipping manifests, copy them onto order forms, and send them off to when the order arrived in the past. They fulfill the order and send it here the normal way with the manifest."

Searing seemed to understand as the last crate was brought in. "That seems a bit. . . I think the word is Paradoxical?"

"Yeah, a bit, but nothing is stuck in the loop. Reality isn't crashing, so it's fine. Now then, let's see what we've got." I found the manifest and started reading off the list. "Ten turkeys, fifteen pounds of thick bacon strips, 25 full racks of ribs, and thirty pounds of ham chunks."

"That's a lot of meat," Searing noted. "Should I go get someone to help us cook it all?"

"No, but I don't see how even a hundred griffons could eat all that and more in one meal. We are definitely going to eat well tomorrow." Once we finished our breakfast together, it was time to start planning everything out, starting with the turkeys. "So, what should we stuff in these birds?" Thankfully, they were already gutted and cleaned, so we wouldn't have to go through that mess.

"Do we have any stuffing?" Searing asked as she started getting ingredients out.

"No, we don't." I grabbed a pen and notepad and started taking notes. "We can probably get enough cornbread for that at Sugarcube Corner."

"You mean, I can go get enough cornbread for that at Sugarcube Corner."

"Good point. So that's the turkey. Do you think we should make the bacon in the morning?"

"Cold bacon is not good bacon. Can you do anything with the grease, though?"

"Hmmm. . . There's going to be a lot of it. I'm sure I'll think of something. That leaves the ribs and ham chunks."

Searing looked at the turkey. "We could put some of the ham chunks in the turkey."

I clapped and wrote it down. "I have no beef with that idea."

"Do you have any beef with the ribs, though?"

"Yes, and I have a bone to pick with them too." I looked up at Searing when I didn't get an immediate response. "You missed your barbecue."

"Sweet Celestia, I love those puns."

"Huh?"

Searing became flustered. "Oh, uhh. . . I'll just go get that cornbread now I'll be back soon bye!" She ran out and I heard the front doors close a moment later.

I went back to my planning with a smile. "That was cute."

Some time later, Searing returned. "I'm back," she announced with no fanfare after the front door closed.

"Welcome back!" I replied from the bar. She floated the package on her back onto the bar. "You get the cornbread?"

"Yeah." She started floating some other things out of the package, and the first thing was a box with my emblem on it. "And. . . I got you something."

I accepted the box and opened it up. Inside was a slice of cheesecake, topped with orange, pineapple, and strawberry pieces. "Aww, thanks. That's sweet."

"I'll put the cornbread in the kitchen." Before she started on that task, she levitated a fork to me.

"Thanks!" I took a bite of the dessert and it was delicious. The fruits blended perfectly with the creaminess of the cheesecake, and I was in flavor heaven.

Searing came out of the kitchen as I was savoring the second bite. "Hey, I'm going to go upstairs for a bit. I don't want to mess anything up in the kitchen."

"Okay," I said around the dessert I was chewing on. It was really good.

Searing, with the utmost of caution, went into Yang's room. "Mei?" She quietly asked.

"On the nightstand." Mei's avatar came on, lighting the room with a blue glow. "How can I help you, Searing?"

"Well. . . I don't know." Searing pulled out the desk chair and took a seat. "I just. . ." She let out a sigh of frustration.

"You want to know how to tell Yang you've got feelings for her?"

"Yes! That. I think she knows by now, but. . . Has she said anything about me?"

"Plenty." Mei produced a scroll and started reading from it. "She likes how willing you are to fight with her, especially since you have armor and weapons."

"Well. . . Who wouldn't?"

"A fair point. She also likes your earnest work ethic at the bar. Hmm. . ." Mei looked up from the list for a moment and scratched her chin in thought. "Put me on."

"Huh?"

"The glasses. Put them on." Searing carefully did as Mei asked, the avatar not moving. "Hmm. . . Huh. . . That's interesting."

"What is?"

"You have an aura like Yang does. It's very different, but I think I'm seeing trace amounts of hers in yours. Is there a story behind that?"

"That. . . I think I'd rather save that story for later."

"Alright."

I looked at the empty box my cheesecake slice came in with sad violin sounds. I had finished it, and it was gone. "Well, time to get to work." I cut the music, checked the clock, and saw that I'd spent twenty minutes enjoying the dessert. "Wow. Hey, Searing!"

"Yes, Yang?" Came her voice after a moment.

"It's cooking time!"

"Coming!" Seconds later, she came down the stairs with a bit more pep to her step than before. "So, what's the plan?"

The next day

By noon, the Carne Den was packed with everyone that worked for me, along with their families. There were some new faces in the group, most under a year old. The baby griffons were adorable, especially since they combined the aspects of baby birds and cats. I quickly learned that their beaks, even at such a young age, were sharp. Thankfully, they didn't have very much jaw strength and I had my aura, so the effect was a negligible strength boost.

Just like the year before, every family brought something to the table. Potatoes, breads, fruit toppings, vegetables, egg dishes, and desserts. Every bit of it looked and smelled delicious. The spread was so neatly varied, it almost felt coordinated.

Searing found me as I was playing with the baby griffons. "Hey, Yang. Do you think you should put something nice on before we have our feast?"

"That sounds like a good idea," I conceded. "There's only one problem."

"We can wait a few minutes for you."

"No, there's a cub laying on my lap and he's using his feline gravity powers to keep me pinned."

"Oh." Searing looked at my lap and saw the cub in question. "How about I take over?"

"Alright." As soon as Searing sat down, I gently, and with great (maybe slightly exaggerated) effort, picked the cub up and set him between Searing's forelegs. He seemed okay with the change of comforters. "I'll be back."

When I got to my wardrobe, I was faced with a tough decision on dresses. As much as I loved Victory, it wasn't an appropriate choice for the event. After a minute of rifling through the selection, I found one that I'd nearly forgotten about, the name coming back in a flash: Molten Spirit. The warm amber top half, the coppery red skirt, golden filigree, and silver waist wrap all drew my attention, and I decided to go with it.

After admiring the look of Molten Spirit and picking Mei up, I came back downstairs. "If I may have everyone's attention?" The room went quiet, aside from a few baby griffons. Searing didn't look at me for long before going back to the cubs and chicks. Asada had shown up while I was upstairs, and some griffon children were with her. "It's time for our second Thanksgiving here, first for some of you. If we could all gather around the tables?"

As everyone gathered around and sat down, I couldn't help but notice that, wherever Searing went, someone claimed the spot she was going for, until the only spot left was between my spot at the head of the largest table and Asada's spot. "Before we start-" I shot a glance at a chick that was a bit eager to start and she withdrew her talons. "Let's each name something we're thankful for. As with last year, I'll start." I thought for a moment and really wished that I'd thought about it earlier. "I'm thankful. . . Ah, I'm thankful that the nobles who were after me have been taken care of and that their replacements seem fairly level headed. I haven't kept up on the matter." I sat down and turned to my right. "Gilda?"

Gilda stood up. "Thank you. Well, I'm thankful that King Gaston is gone. Ever since his death, it's felt like a weight's been lifted off my wings." Nods of agreement went around the tables. "Next."

As soon as Gilda sat down, Honey Suckle stood up. "Well, I'm thankful for the Carne Den's popularity making it so easy to gather love. Who would have thought that serving others would be so fulfilling?"

Aegir was next. "I'm thankful for the regulars that tip well. I've taken up woodworking in my spare time with the bits."

Fuzz eagerly stood up for her turn. "I'm thankful for the friendships I've been making. They feel. . . Really good."

Honey Suckle reached over with a hoof. "You know it!" The hoof was returned with a fist.

Ají was next. "I'm thankful that Fuzz isn't a scary dragon." Fuzz noogied the petite mare's head. "Hey, stop that!" A few seconds later, Fuzz stopped. "Thank you."

Cloverleaf was next. "I'm thankful that I've been able to make friends around town as easily as I have been. I even have a date with Sunny Scoop next weekend."

Brew Binary stood up. "I'm thankful that Yang and Gilda use the restaurant's finances responsibly, and not as a personal bank account. I've seen other places go to ruin because of that, and I'm glad the Carne Den isn't on that path."

Silver went next. "I'm thankful for. . . Hmm. . ."

"It's okay to say something someone else already has," I assured him. "No competition."

"Alright. Well, I guess I'd have to say the Carne Den itself. It's a nice place and everyone's so friendly."

Sylvia stood up. "Believe it or not, I'm thankful for the apparently inherent strangeness of Ponyville. It keeps things interesting."

Gavan took his turn. "I'm thankful for the same thing as last year: the business here helping keep my family in business back in the Griffon Empire." After Gavan, it was almost all griffons, thankful for their better life, their families, their new family members, and me.

When Asada's turn came, she didn't say anything, since she was still a bear. Instead, she gave Searing a bear hug, which was met with sounds of adoration.

Mei appeared on the table before Searing could say anything. "I'm thankful that I can help Yang and Searing whenever they need it."

Then, it was Searing's turn. "I'm thankful for. . . Well, I'm thankful that my turn is done and we can finally start eating."

As soon as the chuckles died down, I addressed the tables. "You heard her. Have at it, everyone!" A moment later, the sounds of eating filled the room. Compliments about the food flew left and right, and it looked like everyone was enjoying the turkeys. Mei even had a holographic meal of her own.

While I was enjoying some mashed potatoes, I spared a sideways glance at Searing. She was tearing into her meat with almost reckless abandon, more so than any pony I'd seen yet and more savagely than the literal bear sitting right next to her. I smiled at the sight of her enjoying herself before going back to my meal.

"Ohhhh. . ." Searing groaned after the meal was done. "This sucks."

"You eat too much?" I asked as I sat down next to her in the guest room.

"And I enjoyed every bit of it."

"So you're feeling. . . Pain-full?"

A simulated facepalm sounded out. "And things were going so well until that pun," Mei groused.

Searing let out a soft laugh. "That's one thing I love about you, Yang."

I looked at the unicorn. "Hm?"

"Well. . . Uhh. . ."

"If I may?" Mei interjected, catching our attention. "I've been talking with and watching you two, and it seems you have some good chemistry. You both care and worry for each other in your own ways, beyond being battle buddies. Haven't seen you fight anything, though."

"Well, it's been quiet," I pointed out. "Thankfully."

"I can't deny that. Let's hope the peace continues. Now, I'm going to tell Yang a few things Searing has told me that I believe to be very important."

"What things?" Searing asked, her voice tinged with worry.

"Your aura, for starters."

I turned to the unicorn. "You have an aura too?"

"And a semblance," Searing answered. "I call it Determination. The greater the odds against me, the tougher my aura becomes. It was during my time at Signal Academy. I was nigh invulnerable in an encounter with the Grimm as well."

"That's cool," I said with a smile. "Did someone unlock your aura?"

"It. . ." Searing looked away. "It was Yang. She looked and sounded just like you. She even had the Ember Celica."

Mei chimed in. "Based on what I know about aura, which is only what Yang's told me, I think the fact that she unlocked Searing's aura is part of what's driving Searing to lo-"

Searing was suddenly in Mei's face. "You finish that sentence and I. . . I. . . I will speak to you exclusively in puns for a week."

Mei gasped. "You wouldn't dare!"

"You think I'm joking?"

Mei's expression dropped. "You are serious."

"No, I'm Searing."

Mei turned to me. "Yang, please help! Your girlfriend is punishing me!"

I gave Mei an inquisitive look. "Pun-ishing, you say?"

She sighed. "I concede."

Searing got back in her bed with a sigh. "Well, I guess the cat's out of the bag now. Yes, Yang. I think I have feelings for you, and I'm kind of confused about them. I blame Discord and that trip."

I sat down next to the unicorn. "Well, if it's any consolation, I think something similar is going on with me. Maybe it started when you were telling me about your trip in my office?"

"It could be. Maybe it's the aura thing? I don't know. I'll just wait for Luna to show up."

"Alright. Sweet dreams." I picked Mei up and left to see if my guests would allow me to help with the cleanup process.

They didn't.

Nightmare

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I had just finished up in the bathroom and was about to head back to my comfy bed when I heard groaning coming from the guest room. I was able to tell it was Searing, but if there were any words, I couldn't make them out.

When I started hearing furniture scraping against the floor, I knocked with a bit of force. "Searing? Is everything okay?" No coherent answer came, so I kept listening. When I heard the window break, I did not hesitate to open the door and charge in.

The room was in a state of chaos. Furniture was out of place, a multitude of small objects were floating, and Searing was tossing and turning, rapidly switching between human and unicorn. "Searing!" I went through the field of floating objects and pulled her into a hug. For a bit, Searing tried to fight me, hoof and fist hitting me, but I endured. After I squeezed her a bit harder, just enough to feel a pop in her spine, she gasped and stopped struggling, settling into her unicorn form and gasping for air as things fell and hit the ground. I could feel the sweat matting her fur and the draft from the broken window, but I didn't care. "Is everything alright?"

"Yang. . . I. . ." Sobs started breaking up her words. "There was. . . And then. . . It was scary."

"Hey, I'm here." I started stroking her mane. "I'm here." We sat down on the bed and I made sure to keep an arm on her. "What happened? Bad dream? Bad memory?"

"Dream." Searing leaned on me as she collected herself. "You were in it, and. . . And there was this guy. He had a sword and horns."

I had a bad feeling about what the dream was, but made no presumptions. "What happened?"

"Well. . . He broke my aura and was standing over me. Then. . . He stabbed me." A forehoof went over one side of her abdomen. "You showed up, ran at him, and then he. . ." She looked just past me. "He cut your arm off."

I pulled her back into a full hug. "Well, he's not here. I am, and I have both arms." I spared a sideways glance to the broken window and the gently falling snow outside. "Hey, since the window's broken-"

"What?" Searing looked at the window. "I'm so sorry about that! I'll get it fixed as soon as I can!"

"Hey, no worries. I'm not worried about the window, I'm worried about you. Hey, I'll let you sleep with me if you want."

She looked away at the suggestion. "Um. . . Well, I guess I wouldn't be opposed to it, but. . ."

"It's fine," I assured her. "You're scared, the room's going to be cold, and being with me solves both of those problems."

"I guess. Do you. . . Do you have any extra bodysuits like that? I don't have any really warm nightclothes."

"You can stay unicorn if you want."

"Yeah, but. . . I don't know, it doesn't feel right like that," she sheepishly admitted. "Besides, it looks pretty comfortable."

"It is. I'll get another one of these for you." I let her go and went back to my room. Along the way, I focused some fire magic into my hands. They had been exposed to the cold more than my face, and they were hurting. "If I can't get that window fixed, I'm closing off the room til spring." I found a bodysuit and some warm socks, bundled them together, and went out into the hall.

Searing was waiting by the bathroom. "Thanks," she said as she levitated the garments to herself, then went in to change. A couple minutes later, she came out dressed for warmth. "It fits pretty good," she noted as she fidgeted with it for a bit. "Not too tight either."

"Rarity is pretty good," I said. "Come on. We have a Sunday full of nothing to do coming up and we need to be well rested for it."

"Whatever you say." She followed me into my room and we got in bed. "Hey, Yang?"

"Yes, Searing?"

"Is cuddling okay?"

"It is permitted, sanctioned, allowed, cleared, and, in case I'm not being clear enough, fully authorized."

I felt her body come into contact with mine. "Thanks." Soon, we fell asleep, and Searing being there honestly felt pretty good.

I cracked an eye open in the morning and saw Searing's face mere inches from mine. "Okay, not a total surprise. Not unpleasant, either." After taking a moment to calmly collect myself, I took stock of the situation. Searing was holding me, and I was holding her, our arms wrapped around each other. Our legs were tangled together as well. "I like this."

Hearth's Warming Travel

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I carefully walked into my room with a tray full of breakfast food. Searing, in her human form, was still asleep, but she started moving as I got closer. "Hey, Searing~"

"Hmmm. . ?" She groaned out.

"I have breakfast for us."

She catapulted up and looked at the tray. "So that's why my dream suddenly had bacon in it."

"Is that a problem?"

"Well, I was fighting an elite force of vegans, so no, not really. And is bacon ever a problem?"

"Good point." I handed the tray to Searing before getting back in bed with her. "Have I ever told you how much I like this arrangement?" I asked as we started on our breakfast in bed.

"I don't think you need to."

"And I don't think you're against it either," I teased.

She looked at me inquisitively. "Why do you think that?"

"Well, the window's been fixed for more than two weeks and you're still coming over here to sleep. Human form, I might add," I pointed out. "You've also been turning the guest room into a storage room/workshop of some kind."

"Well. . ."

"I'm fine with it. By the way, happy Hearth's Warming."

Searing's expression dropped, then she slumped over her breakfast. "I didn't get you anything."

I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Hey, that's fine. How about you give me a tour of the stuff from your trip after breakfast? If you want to."

"I guess I can. There's a lot, though."

"-And this is the one thing I absolutely do not want to open: the Ark Driver."

I held the box with the belt in question and saw two evil looking Riders on it. "Is it because it's evil?"

"Scary evil. Evil voice, evil character, and just. . . Evil." She shuddered at the description. "I'm glad Mei is the opposite of that thing."

"And you said all this stuff works like it does in the show?"

"According to Discord, and that's why I don't want to touch the Ark Driver. That thing is pure malice with a drive to kill and destroy everything."

"Alright, I get it." I carefully set the box to the side. "Do you want to give me a demonstration of anything?"

"I suppose I-" Someone knocking on the front door interrupted her. "I'll go get that."

"Alright." As Searing left, I started looking the items over again, starting with the Attache weapons. The idea of weapons disguised as briefcases was pretty cool.

Just after I set the Authorize Buster down, Searing, unicorn, walked in. "Hey Yang."

"Yes, Searing?"

Searing, unicorn, walked in again. "Hey Yang."

I looked between the two. "One of you is the double."

"But which one?" They asked in stereo.

"Hmm. . . Who wants an autograph?"

One of the Searings raised her forehoof. "Ooh ooh, me, me!"

"You're the double."

The excited Searing paused before groaning. "Aaagh. Yes, I'm Human Searing." She glowed blue and was soon in her human form, wearing a kimono that looked pretty warm. She also had a hefty looking backpack on. "I'm so happy I get to meet the Yang Xiao Long!"

"Actually, that would be me, when I was at Signal," Unicorn Searing smugly said. "She even unlocked my aura, and I have my own semblance too."

Human Searing turned to Unicorn Searing. "Whaaat? No fair! What is it?"

"Determination. The greater the odds against me, the tougher my aura becomes. Having armor and weapons doesn't seem to affect it that much, but having allies does."

"So, does that mean you would be more bulletproof if you only had a swimsuit on and were alone?"

"Probably not. Aura can reinforce armor, and reinforced aura means even tougher armor, which then means less aura drain per hit."

"Ahh! That's awesome! Hey, before I forget, I have some presents for you." Human Searing dropped her backpack on the ground and pulled out some sizable wrapped presents. Unicorn Searing got a red one with a blue ribbon and I got a larger yellow one with a purple ribbon.

I turned to the unicorn. "You first."

"Alright." Unicorn Searing opened her package, revealing a familiar looking set of black and brown furs. "Don't you have something like this, Yang?"

I looked over the fur set with a critical eye. "Hmmm. . . Yes, but the bits of white fur along here aren't the same pattern. I think. But now we can go out with matching winter furs." I was honestly a little freaked out over just how similar it looked to mine.

Unicorn Searing had a dreamy look on her face for a moment. "That. . . That sounds nice. What did you get?"

I carefully opened my present, revealing four bundles of silky fabric in white, light green, yellow, and orange. "What are these?"

"A kimono for each season," Human Searing proudly said. "Perfect for making a humble, proud, and tasteful statement in casual settings or nicer events."

"Huh." I inspected each one without unfolding them. "I like them already!"

"So, what have you been up to?" Unicorn Searing asked Human Searing.

"Well. . . Things got a bit weird shortly after I graduated. Well, weirder. It started with something about a girl at Canterlot High turning into a demon. . ."

". . . So, yeah. Magic is kind of becoming a thing over there? I mean, nobody's turning into a unicorn or anything."

"Except you," I pointed out from my comfortable position between the two different Searings. We were sitting on the bed in the room with the unicorn on my right and the human on my left.

"Hey, I only become a unicorn in private," Human Searing defensively said. "Mostly for fun, but also for the luggage haxx. It makes travel so much easier. By the way, how did Sunset find out about me? I never met her before she approached me in the mall."

Unicorn Searing shrugged. "I don't know who this Sunset girl is."

"She said she used to be a unicorn."

Something clicked in my mind. "Waitaminite. Is her full name Sunset Shimmer? Yellow skin, bacon hair?"

"Yeah. Have you met her?"

"I think Twilight might have something to do with this meeting."

"This is more like something Discord would do," Unicorn Searing said with a resigned sigh. "Then again, that doesn't mean it couldn't have been both of them. It makes no sense, but then it makes sense."

Human Searing promptly changed the topic. "So, what's Hearth's Warming like for you two?"

"Hibernation," I said. "Mostly. At least it was last year."

"Never really had one," Unicorn Searing said with a shrug. "I know what it is, but I was busy with other stuff."

"Is that why this place isn't decorated?" Human Searing asked.

"It would be cold and miserable for me to put decorations up, cold and miserable for me to take them down, and a pain to store," I explained. "It also works out for the business as a bit of relief from all the Hearth's Warming stuff in town."

"Ah. That. . . That makes sense. There are some restaurants I've found myself going to more often to get away from the Christmas stuff. Is there anywhere we can go to get a holiday meal?"

"I can get something cooked up for a quick lunch. Just let me get my winter furs on."

Human Searing looked at the holiday meal as I brought it out of the kitchen. "I'm. . . I'm honestly a bit underwhelmed," she said as I set the food down.

"Nowhere in town is open, and I don't have any of the usual holiday stuff," I said. "Chicken strips, side salads, and fries are the best I can come up with for now."

"But. . . That's just a regular barbecue meal."

"It's still a good meal," Unicorn Searing said as she levitated the drinks and condiments out. Just as she set it down, there was a knock on the front door. "I'll get it." I heard the door open. "Oh, hi, Asada. Come on in."

"Asada?" Human Searing asked. "As in, carne asada?"

"You'll love her and she's going to love you," I said with a smile. "She specializes in bear hugs."

"Is she a pony?"

"Nope."

Unicorn Searing showed up with Asada. "This is Asada."

Human Searing backed up a bit. "A-a-a-a-a-a bear? A freaking bear!?"

"Come on, she's got enough love for all of us." I pulled Human Searing to her feet and dragged her over to Asada. She had grown quite a bit since I saved her, and looked like she had become a full adult. She was big, strong, fuzzy, and had enough reach with her powerful arms to pull all three of us into a big bear hug.

"Aww, thanks, Asada." Unicorn Searing said.

Asada responded with a happy bear sound.

Human Searing had a distant gaze and was showing all the resistance of a ragdoll.

"Well, we broke her," Unicorn Searing casually noted. "Then again, a sudden bear hug will do that."

"Hmm. . ." I looked the catatonic young woman over, then came up with an idea. I took her arms and moved them so she was giving Asada a return hug.

"Why is there a bear here?" Human Searing eventually asked.

"I saved her when she was small. The barbecue I fed her probably helped. Since then, she's. . . Well, she's kind of a part time pet? She visits and acts like a pet, but isn't here all the time."

"I thought bears were supposed to hibernate during winter."

"Asada's an exceptional exception. And she's a smart bear. She was here for Thanksgiving and the griffon kids love her." I saw Asada nod in agreement. "She's basically a person in bear form. The worst she'll do is lick your face off, unless you provoke her."

Unicorn Searing diverted the discussion. "Let's have some lunch." Asada released the hug and the four of us went to the table. Human Searing wound up with Asada while I was with Unicorn Searing. As we started on the meal, Unicorn Searing turned to Human Searing. "Say, how are Mr. Trender and Buddy doing?"

Human Searing was still nervous at being with Asada, but got an answer out. "Well. . . Mr. Trender. . . He was in an accident and had to be rushed to the ER. He's getting better, but he won't be out for a while. I'm taking care of Buddy in the meantime. We visit him at least twice per week."

Unicorn Searing slumped at the news. "What happened to him?"

"He was on his way home from the hardware store when some idiot in a big truck sped past the stop sign and t-boned him in the intersection." Human Searing looked a bit incensed as she told the story. "His car tumbled down the road for at least 400 feet before coming to a stop. They had to use the jaws of life to get him out." Asada pulled Human Searing in for a hug and rubbed her arm. "Thanks."

"Did you get a chance to punch that idiot?"

"It turned out the idiot was high and watching a video on his phone when the crash happened. I gave him a proper backhand across the face when I saw him."

"Just one?"

"Just one. Even if the officers hadn't warned me, I was planning on only one anyways. I got my catharsis in before I went to see Mr. Trender. He was. . ." Tears and a few sniffles started to break out. "He was in terrible shape when I first saw him. He was covered in bandages, loopy from the anaesthesia, and kept asking for Buddy. He sounded scared. I promised him that I would take care of Buddy and I've been doing just that."

Unicorn Searing thought about the story for a moment. "I want to see him again."

"I'll come with you," I quickly said.

"Really?"

"Even if the portal turns me into a pony again, I'll go with you."

"Hold up a moment!" Both Searings said. The human one deferred to the unicorn. "What portal?"

Human Searing asked her question next. "You've been on my side before?"

I pointed to Unicorn Searing. "It's in Twilight's castle. It turned me into an earth pony when I went through." I pointed to Human Searing. "Yes, but not for too long. I wasn't particularly fond of having hooves, but if she wants to go through to see someone important, then I'm willing to deal with it so I can go with her."

"What if I didn't want you to come along?" Unicorn Searing asked.

"Then I would be confused and slightly saddened, but I would respect your wishes and wait here for you. Alone. Possibly with Asada. But without you."

She made an exaggerated sigh. "Alright, you can come along."

I pulled Unicorn Searing into a hug. "Aww, thanks!"

"So, are you two a thing?" Human Searing asked as Asada enjoyed some chicken strips with barbecue sauce. "Because I'm getting those kinds of vibes."

"Umm. . ." I looked between the two Searings. "I think so? We're comfortable with each other."

"Every night," Unicorn Searing added before realizing what she said. "Uhh. . . Not in the internet kind of way, just. . . I go human and sleep with her. We started doing that after a nightmare I had."

Human Searing pointed to Unicorn Searing with her fork. "So you're willing to go human to sleep comfortably with her-" She pointed to me. "-And you're willing to go pony to go with her to see someone important to her. Have you two kissed yet?"

"No," we said at the same time. "Shipper."

"But you two make it so easy!"

I diverted the topic. "You seem to have warmed up to Asada."

"Huh?" Human Searing looked up and saw Asada pop a sauce coated chicken strip like it was nothing. "Uhh. . ."

"We'd better eat up before she eats up all the chicken strips." I quickly grabbed a handful of strips to share between myself and Unicorn Searing while Human Searing grabbed a few for herself, ripped a couple up, and put them on her salad.

The three of us stood at the inactive portal while Twilight was off to the side. We were waiting on a response from Sunset on a very important question. "Do you think it'll work?" I asked Human Searing.

"With the way things are going on my side, it has to," she answered. "Are you nervous about it?"

"Yeah. A bit."

Twilight's journal vibrated and she checked it. "Alright, this plan is good to go. Sunset will have details on her side." She put the journal over the portal and it flared to life.

"Thank you, Princess," Unicorn Searing said.

"Hey, no need for the formalities. Go take care of your business."

I leapt into the portal first. I felt the uncomfortable transformation happen before I came out the other side and landed on shaky hooves on cold concrete. My fur, at least, kept the cold tolerable. "Still weird." Both Searings came out shortly after I did. The first one out was wearing her fur set while the second one was a unicorn. The unicorn glowed blue before turning human, wearing her kimono. "Now I'm jealous."

"But you're so adorable like that!" Human Searing said. "You even have your emblem as your cutie mark. That is the right term, right?"

"She is a good looking mare," Sunset said, making us aware of her presence as she pulled her book off and deactivated the portal. "But there will be time to adore her later."

"You are pretty cute like that," I heard Not-Unicorn Searing quietly say.

"The hospital will allow Yang in as long as she has a lead on, behaves, and is cleaned up after. Ponies aren't normally allowed in there because, well, let's just say the idea and practice of holding it in isn't exactly common among the equines here."

"Well it's a good thing I took care of that at the castle," I said with undue pride before her full explanation caught up to me. "Wait, a lead?"

"I suggest you try not to talk while you're in there. Three young women with two animals visiting an old man is odd enough before you consider that twins and a pony are part of the group. You start talking, and that could be it."

"Hey, there's odd stuff happening all around because magic," Human Searing argued. "A talking pony could be just another thing it made happen. You know how the meme goes: It's magic. I ain't gotta explain anything!"

Sunset considered the words and sighed. "With what I know about magic, that sounds incredibly stupid. But, you also have a point. People know magic is happening here and there, but not much more. Thankfully, there's no panic. Yet. We can talk more in the car."

I stumbled a bit as I remembered how to walk on four hooves and followed Sunset to her car. Human Searing opened the passenger door and she had to take a moment to keep a happy chocolate lab from getting out. I went in after her and Not-Unicorn Searing was the last one in. "This is awkward," I noted as Sunset got in the driver's seat.

"Two women who can turn into unicorns, a unicorn turned human, a human turned earth pony, and an aggressively happy dog are all in one car."

"That sounds like-hey, stop it~" the dog started unangrily licking my fuzzy face mid-sentence. "Is this Buddy?"

"The only one," Not-Unicorn Searing said as everyone who could buckled up and we left. "I've never seen him sad before."

"I have," Human Searing said. "It was. . . It was bizarre. It wasn't until Mr. Trender gave him an ear scratch that he started perking up. I think he knows I'm just taking care of him for now and that Mr. Trender is healing. He's pretty smart."

"Hey, Buddy! Did you miss me?" Buddy went over to Not-Unicorn Searing and was promptly given ear and chin scratches. "Oh yes you did~ Oh you are so mad~ You're about to tear me apart, aren't you?"

I ran a forehoof along Buddy's back as I carefully petted him. Something about petting a dog just felt right and good.

"I don't like this." I went cross eyed as I looked at the lilac harness and lead that was on my face.

"You don't like it? Think about how I feel on this end," Sunset said as we got out of the car and she picked up the lead.

"I can't look," Not-Unicorn Searing said. "Not for long."

"I don't get it," Human Searing said, Buddy on a leash in her hand. "Could someone explain?"

"NSFW," Sunset said, as if it explained everything.

It apparently did. "Oh. Ooooohhhhhh."

"And now you know what I'm dealing with," Not-Unicorn Searing said, her voice laden with frustration. "You'd think spending most of a year in a fetish world would help with that, but it doesn't."

"You haven't told me anything about that part of the trip," I said. "First I'm hearing of it, actually. Better save it for later."

"Hush, you," Sunset said.

I played the role of a quiet, well behaved pony as we went through the hospital. Sunset took care of some stuff at the front desk while Human Searing led the way to Mr. Trender. "I just realized something," Human Searing said with a hint of urgency in her voice after we got on the elevator.

"What?" Sunset asked.

"We didn't get Mr. Trender a Christmas present."

"I'm here," Not-Unicorn Searing said from her corner of the elevator by the buttons.

"Pony," I casually said.

"NOT HELPING."

The elevator opened up and we got off, hooves, paws, and shoes making their own distinctive sounds on the floor as we went through the halls. The walk was simple, though I was worried about being stopped at any moment.

Eventually, we were stopped. "Hold it there," one of the nurses firmly said. "Is that pony a registered therapy animal?"

"I called ahead and got approval," Sunset retorted. "You can check with the reception people."

Human Searing took over. "Nurse Snowpea, I promise she's very well behaved, and will not bite, stomp, kick, or otherwise attack or inconvenience anyone."

"That doesn't matter," Nurse Snowpea affirmed. "The pony needs official papers to come through here. That, or he needs to do something incredibly impressive."

"Like what?" Sunset asked.

"Oh, I don't know. Can he talk?"

Sunset sighed and reluctantly nodded at me. Human Searing simply nodded. Not-Unicorn Searing was off to the side not looking at me. I decided to take the input as my cue to break the plan and say something. I got my face fairly close to Nurse Snowpea's and spoke in a firm, level tone. "I'm a mare, thank you very much." I could almost hear the gears in Nurse Snowpea's head grind to a sudden halt at the words. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we have someone to visit."

We walked past the stunned nurse and were just about to go into a room when another nurse stepped out of it. Human Searing greeted her with a much warmer tone. "Hi, Nurse Joy."

I had to hold back a snicker at the name, a task that became a bit trickier when Nurse Joy responded. "Hello, Searing. You brought some friends today." She looked past us. "Why does Nurse Snowpea look like she just saw a talking pony?"

"Hi," I, the talking pony, said.

Nurse Joy was quiet for a moment. "Hug?"

"Sure." As Nurse Joy gave me a hug around the base of my neck, I awkwardly returned the gesture with one foreleg. "Happy?"

"Best. Holiday shift. Ever." Nurse Joy reluctantly broke the hug, then noticed Not-Unicorn Searing. "Searing, why is there a doppelganger of you here?"

"Oh don't mind her," Human Searing casually said. "She's just having a bit of a hard time working out some kinks in her head."

"You just had to say it that way, didn't you?" Not-Unicorn Searing seethed.

"Anyways, we're here to see Mr. Trender."

"Of course," Nurse Joy said. "Go on in while I go try to reboot Nurse Snowpea."

We went into the room and the heavily bandaged man on the bed saw us. I concluded that he was Mr. Trender. "You must be. . . There's Searing, Searing, and. . . It'll dawn on me eventually."

"Sunset," Sunset said.

"No, it'll be too late by then. Or too early."

"My name is Sunset."

"Oh. Well why didn't you say so?"

Searing, Searing, and I worked hard to suppress our giggles. One of us let a little bit of one slip, just enough for Sunset to hear. "What? What's so funny?"

"You don't get it do you?"

Sunset was amusedly confused. "What am I supposed to get?"

"Take a seat and think it over. Maybe it'll dawn on you too." As Sunset did that, Buddy bounded to the bedside, stood against it, and was soon getting some petting. "Hey, Buddy. How are you? Has Searing been good to you? Or has she been mean?"

"The worst I've done to him is scratch his ears and his chin at the same time," Human Searing said. "He had no idea what to do."

Mr. Trender let out a mock gasp of horror. "How could you treat him so meanly?"

"Like this!" Human Searing approached the bedside and promptly demonstrated, scratching Buddy's chin and ears at the same time, eliciting happy dog noises from the happy dog. "And sometimes. . . I even run a brush through his fur. Repeatedly! I've even given him belly rubs and trimmed his claws!"

"You fiendish rascal!" It wasn't long before the two started laughing, though Mr. Trender's laugh was the weaker of the two. "So, you brought a pony today?"

"Ehhhh, kind of?" Human Searing picked up the lead and I followed it to the bedside. "Hey, get over here, Searing."

"Does she still have the lead on?" Not-Unicorn Searing asked.

Human Searing quickly and gently removed the thing off my face. "I just took it off her."

Not-Unicorn Searing was soon at my other side, but still wasn't quite looking at me. "Hi, Mr. Trender."

"And how have you been?" Mr. Trender asked. "Where did you go?"

"I went to. . . A lot of places. Strange places. I even got drunk on a single mug of. . . I don't know what it was, then beat two chaos spirits at their own game. It was some strong stuff. Woke up on a pirate ship. Like I said, very strange places."

"That does sound strange. So, the pony?"

I answered. "Human turned pony. Magic."

"Ah." He took the explanation in stride. "Kind of like how Searing can turn into a unicorn?"

Not-Unicorn Searing and I looked at the kimono clad woman. She looked at us. "What?"

"I thought you only became a unicorn in private?" Not-Unicorn Searing asked.

"Not in public, I don't. What about you? How often do you go human?"

"When I want to?" Not-Unicorn Searing warily answered.

"So there's two unicorns in this room?" Mr. Trender asked.

"Three." I pointed to Sunset. "I don't know if she can change like that, though."

"Huh?" Sunset looked up from her seat.

"Is the joke still going over your head?" Mr. Trender asked. "Here's a hint: what's the opposite of sunset?"

"Sunrise, or dawn. . ." The realization suddenly dawned on her. "Stupid puns."

"Hey, it certainly. . . Brightened up my day," I said with a grin.

"Sweet Celestia, no. . ."

"Sweet Celestia, yes!"

Not-Unicorn Searing got in on it. "Come on, don't be gloomy, be a ray of sunshine."

"Yeah, let's lighten the mood around here," Human Searing added.

"Please, stop. . ." Sunset groaned.

"Ladies, please stop punishing her like that," Mr. Trender said.

"Okay," the three of us said.

"Thank you for tha. . . Dang it!" Sunset exclaimed before burying her head in her hands.

"So, pony, do you have a name?" Mr. Trender asked.

"Yang Xiao Long," I said. "Or just Yang."

"Hmm. . . That sounds familiar. . ."

Human Searing showed him a picture on her phone. "Something like this."

"Ah. You know, that brings back an old question of mine. How do you deal with that much hair?"

"Shampoo, conditioner, hair ties, fear of my hair trigger temper, things like that," I listed. "Literal hair trigger temper. It gets damaged, I get mad, and I kind of lose control. Can't really bring myself to cut it either. Oh, Searing told me about some advice you gave her? Something about respecting your elders?"

"Ah, that." Mr. Trender took a moment to smile before answering. "Respecting your elders is fine, and you should do that, but remember that you have your own life to live. There are times to defer, but don't be afraid to question them or say no. If they have no polite response, they haven't grown up. That, or it's a sensitive topic."

I smiled at the advice. "Thanks."

"That is really good advice," Sunset said. "Imagine what could be done if that was applied to politicians."

"Don't get me started on them," Mr. Trender said.

"Do get started, do get started!" Human Searing chanted. "Rant! Rant! Rant!"

He sighed. "If I must. Most politicians have no idea what they're doing. Sure, they may know what their plans are and what their bills contain and what the immediate effects may be, but it's called the law of unintended consequences for a reason, and they can't seem to wrap their heads around it until their grip gets so tight that things start to crumble around them, if they see it at all. They always try to sell these things as ways to protect people, like making something mandatory to have in order to protect others, or making a thing illegal to have or take. They think we're too stupid to drive without insurance, so driving without insurance is punishable. If you're driving without insurance, who exactly are you hurting? Nobody! If you decide to not get health insurance, who are you hurting? Nobody! And then there's taxes. Taxes are only one part of the problem. The other part is spending. The spending needs to be cut back, and that's an understatement. It's out of control, and there are so many pointless things that they spend on. You bring that spending under control, and then you start getting rid of taxes. The payroll tax taxes your productivity. Income tax taxes the money you make after that. Property tax is just paying rent to the government on things you own. The car tax is paid on its own at the DMV after you buy your car. Purge it all! If there's any tax that could stay, it would be the sales tax. That is something everyone would pay into, regardless of income or nationality. We also have the technology to properly transfer the funds in seconds. Why aren't we doing that?"

"Because the government is dumb," I said.

"Exactly! The only good thing it can do, and the one thing it won't do, is get out of the way so people can do what they want and need to do. Reconstruction of anything after a disaster has never been accomplished by the government. It's always the people that take care of themselves and each other that get it done." A coughing fit made him stop. "Well, I guess that's that for now. Rant's over, kids." A yawn followed and his hand finally left Buddy's head. "Well, I'd love to talk for a long time, but all this bedrest is making me tired. Yang, tell me this: what did you do before getting turned into a pony?"

"I run a successful barbecue restaurant, the Carne Den. It's closed for the holiday season, but it will open back up soon."

"Barbecue, huh? Maybe I'll see it someday. After all, you got here somehow, and it sounds like you're going back, so it's certainly possible."

"The chicken strips and side salads are pretty good, especially when you put them together with a bit of barbecue sauce," Human Searing said. "Can't say anything about anything else."

"Come back later and you can have a barbecue loaded baked potato," I offered. "Those things are pretty popular."

"What am I, a taxi service?" Sunset suddenly asked, getting us to laugh. "If I'm going to keep doing this for you, I'd better get something out of it in the future."

"We'll think of something," Human Searing assured her. "Anyways, I think it's time we let Mr. Trender take his nap." She walked over to the bed, leaned over, and gave him a sideways hug.

Not-Unicorn Searing somewhat awkwardly did the same thing.

I didn't give him a hug because I didn't have the same kind of friendship they did and I didn't want to accidentally worsen anything he was still healing from. I gave him a light hoof bump instead.

After Sunset put the lead back on my face and human Searing got Buddy, we left Mr. Trender to sleep. The walk back was perilous for me, filled with chin scratches, ear scratches, hugs, and the hospital staff we came across giving me affection. It felt weird, but it wasn't bad. Not-Unicorn Searing didn't look at me until the harness and lead were off.

On the way back, both Searings briefly turned unicorn and the backseat was momentarily filled with ponies.

"Well, it was a good trip," I said as we gathered around the activated portal. "I'm glad I got to meet you, Human Searing."

"I'm glad I got to meet you too," Human Searing said. "Even if you aren't the real Yang Xiao Long. You're way too modest to be the real deal."

"Never said I was." I turned to Sunset. "Hey, if you don't mind me asking, how did you get that lead on such short notice?"

"Discord gave it to me a few days ago," Sunset said.

"Of course he did," Not-Unicorn Searing said, frustration dripping from her words. "Let's go, Yang."

"Oh. Alright." I followed her through the portal and felt it do its thing, returning me to human and back in my winter furs. "That was a pretty abrupt exit, Searing."

"He planned it out," she seethed, each hoof hitting the floor loudly. "He set things up just to make me uncomfortable. He was probably laughing his rear off the whole time from a safe distance."

I gave Twilight a quick wave as I followed the upset unicorn. "So. . . Do you want some time to yourself?"

"Yes! No! I. . . I think I just want to beat up Discord again. I'm going for a walk. I'll see you later."

Twilight came up as I stopped to watch Searing turn a corner. "What was she talking about?"

"Discord," I said. "I had to wear a lead on the other side and she. . . She didn't react to it very well. He apparently gave it to Sunset before we got there."

"Was she angry?"

"Flustered. She said something about a fetish world. I'll have to ask her about it later."

"Ah. Well, I hope she can work out her frustration in a productive way."

Searing's voice echoed through the hall. "HEY DISCORD! TZEENTCH DOES CHAOS BETTER THAN YOU! YOU'RE GETTING PREDICTABLE!"

Twilight and I looked around the corner just in time to see Discord wearing a gold horned helmet appear and Searing go human. "Me? Predictable? I am unpredictable! I am chaos! There is no way you could-"

Searing grabbed him by his tail and started swinging him around with a vengeance, smashing him into the floor repeatedly. After a few hits, she swung him just hard enough to make him bounce. Before Discord hit the ground, she grabbed him just under his head and rammed him into the wall hard enough to stick him in place.

"Okay, yeah, she's mad," I said after the puny god style beatdown. "Searing, are you feeling better?"

"A bit," Searing answered, still mad. "I'm taking that walk." She stormed off and turned unicorn as she left the hall.

"Twilight?" I worriedly said.

"Yes, Yang?" Twilight responded.

I turned to her. "You're the princess of friendship. What should I do to help her? I don't like seeing her mad."

"You don't like seeing anyone mad."

"She's different."

"Clearly. But to your question, the best thing I believe you can do is nothing. Just give her some space and time to herself." Twilight went up to Discord and pulled him out of the wall. "Not getting involved can be difficult to do. Just ask Applejack."

"What am I, chopped liver?" Discord asked.

"No, you're Discord," Twilight responded without missing a beat. "Anyways, yes, taking a step back and letting things happen is difficult. Just go home and wait for her. Be there when she returns."

"The waiting is the hardest part," I quietly said. "Thanks, Twilight."

After over an hour of waiting at the Carne Den, I heard the door open and close. Searing came in and was shivering. Her fur was damp, and she looked ready to collapse. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she got out through chattering teeth.

I decided she wasn't fine and pulled her into a magically warmed hug. She offered no resistance, and within a minute, she was asleep. "Happy Hearth's Warming," I whispered to her as I took her to bed.

How it could have been: Legislation

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Ruby/Ruby

Ruby was walking through Canterlot Castle with a medal in her hands. It was polished to a mirror-like finish, and was intricately designed. She wasn't really paying attention to where she was walking, she was so absorbed in the reflective award.

The sound of a door opening caught her attention. "Miss Ruby?" Luna called out.

"Yes, Princess?" Ruby asked.

"Would you kindly come in for a moment?"

Ruby went in with a smile, Luna gently closing the door behind her. "What can I do for you?"

"I'd like your opinion on this piece of legislation." Luna vacated her seat and let Ruby take it.

Ruby looked over the legislation. "This bill proposes to, in the name of protecting the public, increase all taxes on bakeries. The fact is that more ponies spend more time in bakeries and consume more sweets from them, thus they lead less healthy lives. This legislation not only acknowledges, but counts on the tax increase to cause prices to increase, and for ponies to be able to afford fewer bakery items.

"This tax primarily targets bakeries, with restaurants facing a smaller tax increase if they sell anything a bakery would. This legislation will not target those who grow, harvest, and/or ship the ingredients they use. Baking in one's own home for one's family, friends, and guests is not to be targeted.

"If somepony is suspected of running a bakery from a home or business that is not set up as such, they can be subject to arrest, fines, and jail time."

Ruby looked at the thirty unicorn nobles at the table. Only the two to her right looked sincerely friendly, so she turned to the mare right next to her. "Hey, I never understood economics, so can you translate this into Stupid for me?"

"Of course," the mare said with a Prench accent. "Sir Safehouse's legislation will make all bakery products more expensive, with the stated intent of making them less affordable so that fewer items will be purchased and consumed. This would drive smaller bakeries out of business and make it harder to start a bakery. This would also affect the suppliers that rely on bountiful bakery business for bits, and to cover their losses, they would have to increase their prices, so getting the baking ingredients would be more expensive for both the individual and businesses."

Ruby blinked at the explanation. "Okay, I think I got some of that. Do you have a Low Stupid translation?"

"Tax hike make cookies expensive and rare."

"THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!"

Fleur turned the upset Ruby to face Sir Safehouse. "He's the one that wrote it."

"YOU!" Ruby declared with a dramatic finger point, slightly corrected by Fleur's telekinesis.

"Me?" Sir Safehouse asked.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW IMPORTANT BAKERIES ARE?"

"Umm. . ."

"DATES! DESSERT! RELAXING AFTER WORK! GETTING A BITE TO EAT ON THE WAY TO WORK! GAMES! MEETINGS! TALKING! PARTIES! REWARDS! CATERING! YOU KNOW NOT WHAT IT IS YOU MEDDLE WITH, AND YOU CLAIM IT'S FOR PONIES' HEALTH?"

"To keep them healthy and in good shape, of course."

Ruby took a moment to collect herself so she didn't shout any further. "That coming from the roundest pony in the room? I've had cheesecake that's not as rich as that, and they make it really good at Sugarcube Corner."

Prince Blueblood spoke up. "Excuse me, but who exactly are you to make these claims? The legislation is sound in its word and spirit. With all due respect, your lack of knowledge in these legal matters makes all your claims against it null and void."

"And your lack of knowledge in bakery matters makes all your attempts to legislate it stupid, dummy."

Luna grabbed a blank piece of parchment and cast a quick photography spell to capture Blueblood and Safehouse's priceless expressions and make a note of the dialogue. There was no way she could keep it to herself; Celestia had to see it too. And maybe the newspapers too.

"I'm going home." Ruby got up and left.

Pinkie quietly joined her walk through the castle. When they came to an intersection that Celestia was about to cross, she zipped ahead with her open cookbook, causing both to stop. "Iwae! Ruby has done a heroic deed this day! With great passion, zeal, and lemon zest, she struck down a terrible piece of hypocritical legislation from Sir Safehouse, tailor made to sour the lives of all who tread upon the welcoming and sacred grounds of bakeries across Equestria! In her final counterstatement, she even insulted anywhere from two to twenty-eight of the thirty nobles that make the laws of this nation! Surely, they will think more-"

"At all," Celestia corrected.

"Surely, they will start to think things through in the future! That is all."

"Thank you, Pinkie."

Ruby couldn't help but clap at the Iwae. "Very good job, Pinkie. I needed that."

"My pleasure," Pinkie said with an exaggerated bow.

"If I may ask you something, Pinkie?" Celestia asked.

Pinkie bristled for a moment. "I am not going to share the secret banana cream pie recipe!"

"If twenty-eight nobles were insulted, which ones would not have been insulted?"

"Fancy and Fleur, duh," Pinkie said with a casual dismissive tone and gesture. "Everypony knows that."

"I suspected as much. If you'll excuse me, I need to take some time to glare at the nobles. Nopony threatens Pony Joe's like that and gets away with it."

"You go, Princess!" Pinkie and Ruby cheered at the same time as Celestia walked away.

Miranda/Weiss

"What are you teaching me today, Luna?" Miranda asked as she walked through the halls of Canterlot Castle.

"You will be learning the fine art of politics, my protege," Luna said with pride. "How to negotiate and read the bills, seek out loopholes, and think deeply about the written words, for they have power. You will also learn how to talk smoothly, to let them fall without anyone feeling bad. I've already given them special directions for today."

"Special directions?"

"The bills for this session are stacked up and ready for you to read in the order of your leisure, instead of being examined as they are presented. If you have any questions, I will be by your side, and there will be others there to answer your questions in depth."

Miranda thought it over for a moment. "Yeah, I think I can handle that. It sounds easy. I should be able to keep things smooth."

"Obvious power grab through the healthcare system." Miranda skewered the five inch thick bundle of a bill on Myrtenaster, the rapier held firmly in place by a glyph around the hilt. The stack of junk legislation was already over a foot thick, and the stack of good legislation did not exist. "Whoever thought of that just wants control."

"My protege-"

Miranda skimmed the first few pages of the next one. "Renaming places because the name offends some small group of ponies is stupid, a waste of bits, and an affront to history. Whoever came up with this should be ashamed of themselves." It was skewered.

"Miranda-"

Another one. "Bits from the crown to struggling families is just an incentive for laziness." Skewered.

Luna sighed.

The last one, one page long, was much simpler. "One subject per bill, any deviations result in dismissal of the bill." She did not skewer it. "Well, if we add a judicious slap to the face of an offending bill's contributor later, it'll be perfect." It went to the side. "Stack's done, session's over, go ahead and go do whatever you want."

"What about the refused legislation?" A mare (not Fleur) at the table asked.

"Thanks for the reminder." Miranda pulled the trigger on Myrtenaster and sent a blast of burn dust through the skewered papers, setting it all on fire. "All done. Get going." Once all thirty unicorns left, Miranda turned to Luna. "So who were they?"

Luna promptly facehoofed.

Ally/Blake

Ally was making a beeline from the award ceremony to the entrance of the castle. She did not want to be there longer than necessary, and did not care to mingle with those who wanted to praise her for their ends, which seemed like everyone except Celestia.

The beeline wasn't as easy to make as she'd wanted, and she got turned around a couple times. In one of these halls, she came across an open door, revealing Luna and a bunch of rich looking unicorns. Luna noticed her. "Ah, the newest hero of Ponyville."

"No."

"Come in, please. I'd like your opinion."

Ally looked at the papers in front of Luna and made her decision. "No."

"You dare turn down a personal request from a Princess?" Lady Gold Leaf asked. "Dare I ask why?"

"It looks like politics," Ally said. "I don't want to deal with politics."

"It's not that bad," Luna assured as she gently and firmly grabbed Ally's hand with her magic and pulled her in.

Ally, realizing she couldn't just leave, went along with it, though she went no further than halfway to the table, the point Luna let go of her. "So what is it?"

Luna floated a few pieces of paper over. "These are details of an orphanage funding progr-"

Ally drew Gambol Shroud and cut through all the papers. "No."

"You didn't even read it."

"I want nothing to do with this, as I said. Will you let me leave?"

"Would you kindly read some of these bills and provide some critiques?"

"My critiques are ready." She held up Gambol Shroud. "And they all have a sharp tone to them."

"Well, if nothing else, she is honest," Fancy Pants softly stated. "Princess, I would like to withdraw my legislation at this moment."

"As would I," Fleur added.

Bloody Marey picked her legislation out of the stack and floated it over. "Maybe if somepony else-"

Ally sliced the bill to ribbons. "No."

"Your Highness," Prince Blueblood started. "If this pattern of behavior continues, and there is little doubt about it, I propose we let her leave."

Luna considered the normally arrogant noble's words. "Very well. You're free to leave, Ally."

Ally left.

Sandra/Yang

Sandra sat down in Luna's seat and looked at the bill on top of the stack. "Hmm. . . Mhm. . . Flowers all over hospitals to make them more appealing and promote an atmosphere of healing."

"Yes," Lady Primrose said. "The better the mood, the better the healing."

"I live and work on a farm. How would that help me?"

Lady Primrose and others were taken aback by the fact that a mere farmer was sitting at the table, but she quickly composed herself before continuing. "Well, it would be a guaranteed source of income, no matter what."

"We grow food. Lots of it. We have that covered. What else could it do?"

"Well, flowers are easier to, oh what's the word?"

"Grow?"

"No no, the other end."

"Harvest?"

"Yes, harvest! And grow. You can grow them in pots."

"And take up precious resources like water, space, fertilizer, and time?"

"Oh come now, farming is easy. Seed, dirt, water, and it grows."

Sandra was not amused. "Uh huh. You really think it's that easy?"

Lady Primrose, somehow, was keeping up the haughty facade in the face of the questions. "Of course it is. Common ponies grow flowers for decorations and snacks all the time."

"Yeah. By choice. Have you ever been to a farm?"

"Why would a noble, any of us nobles, go visit a farm? They're dirty and so, so painfully simple."

"Is that really what you think a farm is?"

"Of course it is." Twenty-seven of Lady Primrose's peers nodded in agreement. Three guesses to the identity of the pair that facehoofed at the revelation.

Sandra turned to Luna. "Princess, may I take her to Sweet Apple Acres for an. . . Extended educational vacation?" Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lady Primrose squirm in her seat a bit.

Luna made a note. "Now is not a good time for that. Discuss the matter with the Apples and we can decide the details later."

"Thank you, Princess. Permission to leave?"

"Permission granted. Have a good day."

Sandra left to go back to Ponyville with a devious smirk on her face. Luna hadn't said No, after all.

Kickstart

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"You're sure about this?" I asked Searing with a bit of concern. It was early in the morning of reopening after the holidays, and we were laying in bed with each other.

"Absolutely," she assured me with a dismissive wave. "And if I'm being honest, it's been in the back of my mind for a while now."

"I can understand that, but-"

"I'm going to do it and there's nothing you will do to stop me."

"Well. . . You're not wrong. . ."

"All I need to do is go get the stuff from Rarity. I'll be back later."

I watched Searing get up and leave, then sighed. "Well, if she wants to do that, who am I to say no?"

A couple hours later, Searing, still a unicorn, came back. She looked very unamused. "Yang."

"Yes, Searing?"

"Why did nobody tell me about Lyra?"

"Why, what did she. . . She saw you in your human form, didn't she?"

"I had no idea a unicorn could move so fast without magic!" She changed to her human form, clad in a brand new black and blue bartender uniform, as she’d wanted to do, and sat down in a booth. "And why is she so obsessed with humans?"

I shrugged. "Beats me. I remember when she tackled me some time after I arrived here. Bon Bon had to drag her off of me, and offered an apology in candy business deal form. It's why we sell Bon Bon's bon bons."

"I thought it was just because they were good."

"That certainly helps, but it's not how we started selling them. Still, they're a staple dessert here. Oh, we got our meat shipment while you were busy. I've already sorted it out. All we need is-" A trio of knocks sounded from the front door. "Maybe that's it right now. I'll get it."

"I'll double check the bar."

As Searing checked the bar, I answered the door. "Hi, Applejack," I said. "Caramel apples?"

"Bunches of 'em!" Applejack happily responded before she brought her cart in. "Hey, can Ah ask you for a small favor?"

"What's up?"

"Could you whip up somethin' for me? Ah kinda skipped breakfast." The farmer's stomach loudly rumbled. "Ah can pay for it."

"Hmmmm. . ." I looked over to the dessert display and came up with an idea. "If you put the caramel apples away and set some on display in the case for me, that'll be payment enough."

"How many do you want in there?"

"Four wide, six deep. How does an omelette, hash browns, and toast sound?"

"That sounds good." Applejack promptly got to work on her end of the deal.

"Me too!" Searing excitedly agreed.

I smiled as I grabbed a notepad and got the orders, putting mine down after theirs.

Once I'd finished the breakfasts, I brought the food out to what had become the usual booth Searing and I sat at. Searing brought three glasses of orange juice over, along with silverware. Applejack brought herself and her loud stomach.

"I'm kind of surprised you wanted bacon bits, Applejack," I said as we started on our breakfast.

"Ah do come by occasionally for dinner," the farmer said around a mouthful of omelette. "Ah haven't tried many of the meats here, but Ah know what Ah like, and Ah stick to it."

"Fair enough. Besides, how can anyone not like bacon?"

Searing sat up straight, held up her right hand, and began preaching. "Bacon, blessed be thy savory form, oh holiest and most delicious of meats. Let thy grease bless other foods with thine flavor, so none shall be hungry. Let thy fragrance bring wakefulness to the tired, and. . ." She looked down at her plate in contemplation. "Screw the sermon, I've got bacon in front of me!" She took a big bite of her omelette and put on as serious of an expression as she could while making exaggerated chewing motions.

Applejack and I couldn't help but heartily laugh at the performance. All in all, it was a good breakfast, and it gave me an idea: breakfast with the local suppliers.

After a short nap, Searing and I went back downstairs to start the workday. A crowd was forming outside the front door, just waiting for us to open. The opening staff came in through the back, and once 3 PM rolled around, I opened the front door.

It felt great to work with everyone again. I'd missed the sounds of cooking, the happy guests, and the consistent heat an active kitchen produced. I did not miss the complainers. Thankfully, Gilda and Sylvia took care of the three that did crop up.

Searing, as she had been doing since her return, stayed from open to close. She handled the bar very well, and, from the glances I was able to catch through the serving window, she was happy to be working there.

I didn't miss the closing paperwork. The profits, as always, were very good, and that was always nice to see.

It was just as I was finishing up the paperwork that Searing entered. "Hey, Yang? You have a computer, right?"

"Yeah, but I folded it up and put it away," I answered. "I couldn’t really do much with it for the place. Do you need it for something?"

"Umm. . . I think Discord may have visited us and. . . It's, umm. . . How about I just show you?"

"Let me finish up here and I'll come look." The last of the paperwork, thankfully, took less than a minute to finish and file away.

Searing led me to her storage area and the full computer setup was sitting there on the desk, ready for use. The fact that it was there wasn't what drew my attention. That went to the left of the desk, where a strange machine stood, a single cable connecting it to the computer. "What is that thing?"

"That. . . That's a latex printer." Searing shrunk away from me as she told me about it. "It lets you. . . Itletsyouprintlatexthings."

"Latex things?" I looked over the machine again. "Is that from-"

"It is from the fetish world. I didn't like that part of my trip."

"So why do you have it?"

"Discord grabbed it before we left. It was the only thing I liked from there, if only because I could make my own stuff with it."

I turned to Searing. "Were there any normal clothes there?"

"It was all latex. Underwear, shirts, leggings, dresses, swimwear, footwear, gloves, you name it, it was made of tight, shiny latex, and everyone there was a fit woman. There were even enchantresses that could make things like centaur legs work with ease."

"For real?" I couldn’t keep the curiosity from my voice.

"For real."

Someone knocking on the window caught our attention. It was Discord wearing a postman's hat. He opened the window and leaned on the sill like it was a counter. "Delivery for one Searing Victory. If you'll just sign this form, I'll bring the package in."

She warily approached him. "What's in the package?"

"A little something something made of latex."

"Alright, I'll sign." Searing pulled an arm back and gave him a mighty backhand to his face. "That's for breaking in and setting this up."

"Okay, that'll do." He brought a crate through the wall like a ghost and set it in the middle of the room. "Don't have too much fun~" With that, he closed the window and left.

After taking a moment to reheat and collect myself from the sudden events, I looked at the crate. "So, what's in there?"

"Probably my centaur legs." Searing, with a bit of help from me, opened the crate. "Yep."

I looked at the sleek set of crouching bright red legs, the flanks boldly emblazoned with Searing's cutie mark. "So, how does it work?"

"You just slip them on." She caught my curious gaze at the legs. "Do you want me to show you?"

"Well. . . I do, but I also don't want to get too caught up in this. We have work tomorrow. Today. Whichever." I glanced back at the computer. "It's just so tempting, you know?"

Searing looked a little conflicted as she thought for a bit. "How about this: I'll put the legs on for a bit tonight. We can save the other stuff until Saturday is done so we have all of Sunday to look it over."

"That sounds good. So, the legs?"

"Alright." Searing moved the legs over to the bedside, got on the bed, and slid herself into what would be the base of the neck if it were a full equine. Shortly after she was in, the legs came to life, lifting up to their full height, then she slowly walked around. Before, we were eye to eye, but with the legs, eye level for me was around the middle of her waist.

"Woah," I got out after a minute of just looking at her. "You got taller."

"Yeah. This is better as an outdoor thing. Or a castle thing." The top of Searing's head was only inches from the ceiling. "I spent almost a whole week in some of these legs on a nature hike. Aside from a surprise bear, talking with Discord, a random storm, beating down a complainer, more rain, and some. . . Friendly comments that got under my skin, being a centaur was actually pretty fun."

"Cool. Hey, maybe we could go for a walk with these at some point! You with the legs and me on your back. Let's try that now." I went up to Searing's side and made the short leap upwards.

"Hey. Hey!" After a few moments of me on her back, she changed her tone. The hug I gave her human half from behind probably helped. "Well. . . I suppose this isn't bad."

"Because it's me?"

"Yeah, because it's you. And you make good barbecue."

"You know it! Hey, can I try the legs?"

"I suppose. Look out." I got off as Searing leaned back, planted her hands on the barrel of the lower half, and pulled herself out of the legs. As soon as she did, the legs went to their crouching position again. "All yours."

I leapt back onto the back and was just about to slide into the opening when a thought crossed my mind. A glance down told me that Searing hadn't taken her shoes off, so I dismissed the concern and slid in. It was an odd, but not unpleasant feeling as the legs came to life and lifted me up. "Okay, this is. . ." I carefully moved a red foreleg around. "This is tricky." With caution and boldness, I tried walking forward.

Success, even a small success, just one proper step would have been nice. It would have been a good starting point. Unfortunately, it didn't happen because I forgot about the rear legs and I did the flop. "How long did it take you to get used to these?" I asked as I tried to get the four legs to work properly.

"I spent most of my life on four legs," Searing casually responded. "You know, because I'm really a unicorn."

"You make it easy to forget that sometimes." Just as I finally got the legs to stabilize under me, I felt Searing jump onto my back. "Hey. Hey!" After a few moments of her on my back, I changed my tone. The hug she gave my human half from behind probably helped. "Well. . . I suppose this isn't bad."

"Because it's me?"

"Yeah, because it's you." A moment later, we broke down in laughter. The laughter came to an end when I did the flop again. "Maybe I should figure these things out in a more open environment. With padded floors."

Searing rolled off my back. "That sounds like a good idea."

Once I was back on all four hooves again, I did what Searing did to get out, and the legs did nothing to stop me from leaving them. "I think that's enough for tonight. Let's go to bed."

"Alright."

Later, in the dreamscape

Luna and Cadence watched Yang and Searing's dreams. They dreamt of each other, having innocent fun together. Running, dining, sharing a bench, discussing clothes, sparring in full armor, all perfectly normal stuff.

"Auntie Luna?"

"Yes, niece?"

"Is there anything you can do to make them kiss? It's obvious they love each other, and they know it. They're even sharing a bed and cuddling."

"Isn't love your thing. . ." Luna briefly turned into Chrysalis. "Princess of food?" Luna turned back into Luna.

Cadence switched to her mom voice. "Quiet, you."

"Distance aside, what's stopping you from working your magic to make them kiss?"

"It would be like trying to fill a bucket full of water with more water. Those two are too close for me to do anything short of telekinetically pushing them together, and that would only make them mad at me. I can do nothing."

"I see. Still, it would be nice for them to take that step."

The princesses turned their focus back to the dreams for a moment. "COME ON, KISS ALREADY!"

Printer Trial

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"Alright, let's see what we can do with this." I sat down at the computer next to the latex printer and turned them both on. The printer's presence and capabilities had been bugging me all week, along with some memories of pictures and people from Earth, but since Saturday was done, I had all the time in the world.

"Actually. . . It's not connected to anything that would provide latex, so how about we stop before we get disappointed?" Searing nervously asked, her voice just a little faster than normal.

"Oh. Well, that's kind of sad." I booted the computer up anyways. "You said it has a 3D modelling part?"

She looked to the side. "Well. . . I guess you can have fun with that."

As soon as the booting process was done, I found the Latex Printer program and clicked on it. Immediately, and without an internet connection, it started updating. I read the message out loud. "Downloading Latex Printer update to version D15.C0RD."

Searing drew a sharp breath. "Excuse me for a moment." She left the room and started shouting for Discord.

As the sounds of a chaos spirit getting beat up filled the air, the update finished and I read the changelog. "Thank you for updating to version D15.C0RD of the Latex Printer program. The following tools have been added: 3D projection with touch enabled editing, easy enchantment application, vocal directives, live editing modification, and cleaning. Printing and editing can now be done directly onto someone standing in the printer. Tutorials are available. Also included is a Bravo Sierra Magic supply system, so you'll always have material. Materials include latex, spandex, swimsuit stuff, plastic, metal, and foam, all able to be custom colored and textured in the program. More materials can be scanned in as needed. The software has also been updated to save after every edit so that you lose little to nothing in the unlikely event of a crash." I reread it a few times to comprehend the stuff. "Well, let's give it a try."

Before I could do anything, Discord flew through the monitor and the wall like a ghost before a loud crashing sound came from outside. "He'd better learn after that," Searing firmly said, back in her unicorn form.

I turned to my girlfriend. "So, do you want me to not mess with this?"

"That's. . . Complicated." She read the changelog and sighed. "May as well if you want."

"How about you tell me about that part of your trip while I take it for a spin? Maybe you'll feel a bit better?" I started watching the tutorial video.

"Well, the first thing that happened was me getting wrapped up in a cocoon thing. . ."

Even with Searing's clearly watered down descriptions of her experiences in the latex world, I found it difficult to focus on the thigh high heeled boots I was working on. My mind was filling in the blanks that she was definitely leaving out. The sleek design of the piece I was working on and the extremely high resolution didn't help either.

After the story was done, I pulled Searing into a hug. She needed it, I had some weird feeling in me that I couldn't really ignore, and the hug seemed to resolve it a bit. In the emotional smoothie I was feeling, confusion was the main flavor.

"Have you ever worn latex before, Yang?" Searing asked.

"Only gloves for handling chemical covered things," I said. "And that was never for more than an hour at a time at most. That being said, I had some friends that did occasionally wear the stuff and let me tell you, it was hard to look away from them when they were wearing it. And I also saw stuff on the internet. The internet is full of that kind of stuff."

"Of course. It's the internet."

I looked the design on the screen over again. "Do you think a flattened hexagonal pattern would look good on this?"

Searing broke the hug and looked at the screen. "Well. . . Yes, but. . ."

"Concerned about something?" When I got no response, I egged her on. "Come on, out with it. Be honest."

She took a breath before forcing an answer out. "I think they would look great, and I think you would like them, but I don't know if that's me being honest or just me wanting to look at you with them on."

I considered her answer for a moment. "Huh. I have a question about that."

"Yes?"

"Why can't it be both?" The gears in Searing's mind seemed to click and grind at the same time at the question. Then her eyelid started twitching. "Searing?"

She giggled. "Why didn't I think of that? Why choose when you can have both! The chains never existed! Hahahahahahahaha! I was worried for nothing!" A flick to the horn tip stopped her for a moment. "Ah! What was that for?"

"Are you okay?"

"Okay? I don't think I could be better! All this time, I was afraid you would push me away because of this, but I don't have to worry anymore." The dam broke and she started crying.

I used my degree in Need-a-hug-ology and pulled her back into my embrace. The weird feeling was gone, replaced with concern. It wasn't long before she wore herself out and fell asleep on me. The mane stroking I gave her probably helped.

The project on the screen held none of my interest as I picked the sleeping unicorn up and took her to bed. Even as I changed to my fuzzy bodysuit, set another one aside for Searing, and made a note to get more made, thoughts of and concern for my girlfriend took a vast priority over the sleek thigh high heels, though the thought of making them out of the swimsuit material instead of latex did cross my mind.

Luna was watching over the dreamscape, as usual. She tended to many dreams, took a passing interest in some, grabbed a few good ideas here and there, and may or may not have snagged a donut or two from her sister's dream of pastry heaven. Dream calories, unlike vacation calories, truly did not count.

Two dreams in particular drew her attention, and not just because of a personal interest in the dreamers. The raw emotions of a recent event radiated from them, and so she watched. Concern and worry were heavily present in both, along with the smell of rubber.

She delved into one and found a mess of a mare laying on her back, laughing and crying, relief and sorrow on her face. All around her were all manner of clothes, almost all of them for a human body, though there were a few equine pieces here and there. There was a constant electric hum and crackle that filled the air, and a new piece would occasionally fall from above. Luna approached and lay down next to her. "Searing?"

Searing took a few shaky breaths before she noticed Luna. "Princess?"

"Is there something troubling you?"

"Well. . . Yes, but no?" Unbidden by Searing, the memory of the moment Yang suggested the possibility of her enjoying something and letting Searing enjoy the sight came up in full clarity. "Can I just get an answer to that?"

Luna carefully reinspected the memory. "It's like a forbidden fruit, except that you forbade yourself from it quite some time ago, or mayhaps repressed it. You had Yang's interests at heart, but did not know that she would so quickly take to this machine. You're having trouble relieving yourself of this grip that you've held for so long, and Yang assuring you that everything is fine is causing a conflict now that the fruit is no longer forbidden."

"Luna, there was more than just latex clothes there. There were lots of. . . Intrusive things as well, sometimes attached to the clothes. How do I tell her about that?"

"Did you tell her of this world you visited?"

"Yes."

"Is there no reason she could not have drawn that kind of conclusion herself?"

Searing paused as she considered the presented idea, then broke down again. "I'm a fool, aren't I?"

"Everypony is a fool in some way. Even myself and my sister. On the matter of these more intrusive matters, should you wish to present the idea of them to Yang for whatever reason, that is something you will have to figure out yourself." Luna stood up. "I hope this talk has been helpful, Searing."

"It was."

"I must leave now. Sleep well." Luna blessed Searing with a restful sleep before heading to the next dream. "Hello, Yang."

"Hi, Luna," Yang said from her comfortable office chair floating in cyberspace. All around her were pictures of latex clad women. Some were memories of actual people, others were memories of pictures she'd seen, both photo shots and art. Plenty of them seemed like the kind of material that would get a pony in trouble at work, though none of it appeared to be explicit. "I'm worried."

Luna conjured a chair and sat with Yang, taking in the myriad of sights. "Would it happen to be related to this?"

"Yes. I'm no stranger to the idea of latex clothes, but now that the printer is here and is working, these memories are coming back. The temptation to wear the stuff is very strong, but I'm also feeling a bit conflicted on actually wearing it. It's. . . Heh, it's almost like my thing with dresses when I came here. I didn't want to wear them at first, but after I had no choice, I stopped worrying."

"And you went to the other end of the scale."

"Yeah, and I'm kind of still on that end," Yang sheepishly admitted. "Confusion, tolerance, acceptance, and now embracing. That's me with this body."

"What about Searing?"

Yang tensed ever so slightly at the question. "I'm worried about her, Luna. She didn't want the printer to be used, then she let me at it, Discord updated it, and when she was with me, she seemed really nervous. Tense. Like she was reluctantly letting me experiment with it."

"Did she say anything?"

"She was worried about how I would see it, I think. As something I actually like or something she likes because I could make stuff that she could look at on me or something. I asked her why it couldn't be both and that was when she broke down. I did my best to comfort her and she cried herself to sleep before I could really do anything else."

"You did what you could. What about you, though? What were you feeling while you were experimenting?"

A grayscale model of the thigh high heels appeared in front of Yang. "Well. . . It was odd. It was something I just. . . It felt weird, but not in the bad way? A low key excitement or something? I was mostly focused on the project." Memories of the sensation flowed through the dreamscape.

Luna recognized it immediately. "That's a bit of arousal."

The sensation suddenly vanished, the pictures all shattered, and the cyberspace turned into void. Even the chairs disappeared, leaving Yang and Luna sitting on nothing. "Arousal? Why?"

"Call it an educated guess, but it may be that you now have access to a machine that can make any kind of clothing you want, and you know it. The idea of wearing latex clothes appeals to you, and you know you're going to wear whatever latex thing you make first because you're very curious. And you like your clothes. Not to mention how they would look on Searing."

Yang took a measured breath. "I can't argue any of that."

"Would you be so kind as to explain why latex allures you so?"

"It's tight, shiny, shows off the figure really well, and is. . ." Yang had to stop as the arousal came back. "Well, it's kind of like a second skin. So I've heard. It's just so. . . Alluring."

"I see. Sleep well, Yang." Luna left to tend to other dreams.

I woke up with my unicorn in my arms, right where I'd left her the night before. She had neither a peaceful nor troubled look on her face, and was still asleep. She didn't react when I carefully extracted myself from bed and left the room to make breakfast.

As I was making the meal, I thought about my conversation with Luna and the topics she'd brought up. Every point of hers was good, and I couldn't really deny them, but my main concern was Searing. I wanted to make sure she was in a good place before I had fun printing my own clothes.

Eventually, Searing came down. Even though she had just woken up, she looked dead tired. "Hey," she said with no energy to speak of.

"Hey," I said as I brought our breakfast out. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah, I'm doing better." We sat down across from each other. "Yang, I know I didn't react well last night to all the stuff about the printer. Luna talked to me and helped me deal with it. I was being an idiot over it all."

"Luna visited me too. My side of this is. . . A bit more complicated. Differently complicated. I promise I'll tell you about it at some point." Searing's stomach loudly growled right on cue. "Well, let's have some breakfast and go back to the printer. Maybe we can both get something out of it today."

"Maybe." We calmly started on our breakfast and started planning a few things out.

"I don't think I thought this through," I said. I'd printed out the thigh high heels and a casual knee length dress, all in latex, and it looked great, but there was a problem.

"Well. . . It's not the way you look."

"No, it isn't." Any argument there would be futile.

"Does it feel, well, not good?"

"It's the chill in the air. I forgot about my weakness to the cold. The latex seems to be conducting the cold, too."

"Oh." Searing looked around a bit before making a suggestion. "Do you want to go back to your warmer clothes and I can wear this for you?"

I gave the idea some thought. "Living vicariously through you. Hm. Well, I don't want you to have to do or wear anything you don't like, but you are offering. . . I am of mixed opinions on this."

"You go change back to something warm. Don't make me levitate you out."

"Alright, alright." I left and went to the bathroom. After changing back as quickly as I could, I returned to the room and saw Searing in her human form wearing exact copies of the pieces I'd just taken off. "Okay, that does look pretty good on you."

Searing smiled at the compliment. "Thank you."

I put a hand to my chin as I thought a bit. "But. . . What if we take the hexagons on the thigh highs and make them the same red as your skin?"

She looked at the sleek leg coverings for a moment. "Are you talking about the shape or the outlines?"

"Well. . . Either one would look good. It really just depends on what look you want." I claimed the computer chair and messed around with the colors, bringing both variants up. "They both look good."

"Do you want me to switch to one of them?"

I considered the offer. "Ehhh. . . If I'm going to have you do that, I'd rather do a full ensemble change. Are you feeling chilly?"

"Just a bit."

I got up and pulled her into a sideways hug. "Better?"

"A bit." For a few moments, we just stayed there with each other.

An idea came to me. "How about we stick to the designing part?"

"Just let me put my fur coat on." Searing broke the hug to go change. She returned a couple minutes later in her unicorn form with the clothes she was wearing in her levitation.

I smiled at her. "Fur coat. Ha!"

For a few hours, we just sat at the computer designing stuff together.

Together Forever

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I carefully reviewed my plan for the day yet again. For once, I was feeling nervous. I had one shot at the plan, and it had to go perfectly, or at least pretty well. If it didn't, I knew I would be feeling bad about it for a while.

"You seem nervous," Mei casually noted as I packed a few things up.

"Yeah, I am nervous," I answered, my voice quicker than I wanted it to be. "I mean, everything should be fine. . ."

"Hey, just relax. You'll do alright."

"You're sure?" I asked, looking to her with a frown, shifting my weight uneasily from foot to foot.

"Absolutely! You got this!" Mei assured, grinning at me.

I afforded myself a smile at the words, even though there was still a knot in my stomach. "Thanks. I just hope all the prep stuff works as it should. This isn't the way I usually do things."

"Hey, you've got friends helping you. Very talented friends, I might add." Mei said with an imperious smirk.

I nodded at her, still smiling, but the smile only lasted so long. Eventually it gave way to a sigh as I looked around one more time. "Well, no point in standing around. Better get to it." I picked up Mei and the bundle of things, then went to the hall. Searing, in her unicorn form, was organizing her collection of things again. "Hey, I'm going out for a bit. I'll see you in a couple hours." I told her hurriedly.

"Alright," Searing casually said without looking away from her stuff.

With that done, I went to town, hoping she hadn’t suspected anything.

Stop one was the post office. "Hey, can you deliver this to a couple hours ago?"

"Of course!" Derpy happily said before scrutinizing the envelope I'd given her. "You know what, I'll make this delivery free for you today."

I blinked. "Really?"

"I have a note from earlier today that I don't remember making, so I haven't made it yet. It's a reminder for me to make the delivery free."

"Oh. Well, thank you. Have a good day, Derpy." I tipped an imaginary hat to her.

"You too, Yang." Derpy smiled warmly before she went into the back of the building.

As I left, another Derpy walked into the post office with a warm smile. "Have a good day, Derpy."

"You too, Yang."

Stop two was Sugarcube Corner. "Hi Yang!" Pinkie happily greeted me with a tsunami grade wave. "I have everything ready for you."

"Hey, thanks," I said, gaining a smile. Pinkie always managed to add some joy to my day, even when I was this nervous. "Can you take it somewhere for me?"

"Can I?" She teasingly asked with a smug grin.

"Oh, right.” I chuckled. “It's you, after all, Pinkie.” I shook my head. “I'll need it at Twilight's castle soon. Oh, can you get some stuff from Applejack for me too?" I handed her a slip of paper, upon which was a list of what I needed from the farm mare.

Pinkie accepted the paper. "But of course. It shall be done!" Pinkie said with a mock salute, tail going ramrod straight. I chuckled again as I waved goodbye to her, heading off on my next stop.

I found Rainbow lounging in a tree. "Hey, you are going to help me with the thing, right?"

"Of course I am," Rainbow said with a dismissive hoof wave. "The sky will be clear in time for you. You're lucky there was no other weather scheduled for today."

I looked to the cloud filled sky. "Seems like a big task."

"Yang, I can clear the sky here in ten seconds flat. Twilight can verify that."

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "Well, if you say so."

I could feel the rolling of eyes from the mare at my response. “Lighten up, Yang, yeesh.” She waved me off again. “Everything will be fine. Now get going. Don’t you have to talk to Rarity next?”

I frowned as I slowly nodded. “Yeah. See you later then, Rainbow.”

I looked over Rarity's work with a wide smile. "You did a good job on this."

"Why thank you, dear," Rarity gracefully responded. "Are you going to try it on?"

"As much as I'd like to, I can't. Maybe later," I said, shaking my head.

She gave a mock gasp. "You? Turning down a dress you spent hours designing with me? What kind of heresy is this?" I gave her a note and she read it, a grin threatening to split her face open, before it quickly spread across her face. "Ohohohoho! I get it! Don't worry, I will perform my part perfectly."

I gave her a big bag of bits. "I'd like a dark yellow one later on, if you don't mind. Or whatever color you think would go well with it."

"Consider it done. Good luck~!" Rarity sing-songed before letting out an eager titter.

"Thanks," I said gratefully, dipping my head to the mare as I left the boutique for my next destination. As I left, I let out a shaky breath. “Maybe I should visit Fluttershy for a bit…”

"There, there," Fluttershy gently said, rubbing my back with a forehoof. "You'll do fine."

"Thanks, Fluttershy," I said with a still shaky breath as I lay in her feathery embrace. I looked up at her. "I needed that."

"Oh, it was nothing. We all could use a hug now and then." The buttery mare said with an easy smile.

"You're the best at this." I replied, snuggling into part of her soft mane.

"Thank you." Fluttershy said with a warm smile. Sadly, she soon released me. “Now, it’s high time you get going. Much as I’d love to keep comforting you, you’re running low on time.”

I sighed deeply, but nodded all the same. “I know… You’re right.” I slowly stood up, brushing myself off. I turned my head to look at the mare. “...Thanks, Fluttershy. I really appreciate this.”

She waved it off. “Anytime, Yang.”

I managed a smile, then waved goodbye as I left Fluttershy’s domicile.

I nervously fiddled with the front skirt of Victory as I sat and waited in a room I'd reserved in Twilight's castle. I checked everything yet again. The desserts were covered and magically chilled within a metal dome, the meal was nice and warm, the table was set and decorated with unlit candles and flowers, a few simple decorations tastefully kept the walls from being plain and boring, Mei, with a camera in her holographic hand, nodded at me from her spot by the desserts, the crystal deck was clear and clean, and I saw Rainbow zip around to clear out the clouds outside.

Finally, I heard Searing outside the door. "Spike, right?" She sounded both anxious and a bit frustrated.

"The only one!" Spike proudly stated.

"I've been looking all over town for Yang, and I've heard she's here."

I stood by the table and took a calming breath. "Easy does it, easy does it," I quietly said to myself.

I almost drowned out their conversation thanks to me trying to soothe my nerves, before I finally registered Spike’s next words. "Hmm. . . Alright, I'll let you in."

The door opened and Searing entered. As I'd hoped, she was in her human form and wearing the dress I'd had Rarity make, and she was beautiful. The dark red went well with the bright red of her skin, the cutie mark on her collarbone was visible through a sheer mesh, and paired with the asymmetrical neckline, it made a neat mix of showy and modest. The body of the dress fit her very well, and the single color was enough to show off her shape. The asymmetrical skirt came down to her knee on one side and her ankle on the other, and a few thin openings on the sides let some bright red skin show through. Her shoes were simple and tasteful with no heels or anything fancy.

"Hello, Searing," I warmly said after taking a moment to take in her appearance. It felt like my heart was about to melt from the sheer friction created from it’s rapid beats….and maybe a bit of fire magic.

"Yang, what. . ." She looked around as I pulled out a chair for her. "What is this?"

"A date. A nice one. And you look gorgeous." I had a hard time taking my eyes off of her.

The color of her cheeks darkened at my words. It was adorable beyond words."Y-You too." When she was seated, I took my seat across from her. "So. . . Do you mind if I ask why we're on a nice date like this?"

I suddenly realized that I had no idea what to say, and it was difficult to start talking. After swallowing, I managed a start. "Searing, we've been together for a while now and. . . I want to take the step from girlfriends to fiancées." A nervous chuckle escaped my lips. "And. . . Well, what better day than Hearts and Hooves day?"

"That's today?” She blinked, looking to her plate.“...Now it all makes sense." She looked around again. “Still...how much did all this cost? It couldn’t have been cheap.”

"Hey, it's fine." I lit the candles with a brush of my hand. "Let's have a nice lunch, shall we?"

She frowned for a moment, before it slowly gave way to a smile as she rounded her shoulders. “Alright. I guess I can worry about all that after our date is over.”

After lunch, dessert, and some idle chat, we went out to the deck. "It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" I asked as we leaned on the railing. Before Searing could say anything, I broke down with some snickers. "You know, now that I think about it, this is usually a nighttime kind of scene, not a middle of the day thing."

"I'd have a harder time seeing you in the dark," Searing playfully retorted. "Besides, the sun feels great."

"It certainly does." I held out a hand and started up my music magic. "Shall we?"

Searing looked at my hand, smiled, and accepted it. "We shall."

We started dancing, at my lead. Slowly and a bit awkwardly at first, with both of us stepping on each other’s feet every now and again, but we laughed it off each time. Slowly, however, as the song progressed, our movements became smoother and more fluid. I twirled her a few times, listening with rapt attention to her beautiful laugh as I did. We did a few spins and sashays after that, before we went with some slow dancing. It wasn't long before my lead was lost, however, and we were perfectly synchronized. We moved in perfect harmony with each other, and my magic started looping the song as we lost track of time under the bright blue sky.

A dip brought the song to a close, and we both simply stood there, staring into each other’s eyes like we’d lost ourselves in them. For my part, I’m pretty sure I had. Her eyes were just so...so mystifying.

"I love you, Searing," I softly said as we concluded our dance.

"I love you too, Yang," Searing said just as softly.

Our lips soon met in an embrace. It was a gentle, soft, and passionate kiss that we shared for almost a full minute as I let the music die down. When we broke it, I was feeling really good. "You know, we used to have something good. Now? Now it's even better."

Searing giggled. “Dork.”

“Guilty as charged,” I said with a beaming smile.

We returned to the embrace and simply stayed there.

"This is so sweet!" Princess Cadence said with utter glee as she watched Yang and Searing through a telescope from Canterlot Castle. "And it's about time, too."

"You knew this day was coming, niece," Luna said as she watched through her own telescope. "You've been on enough voyages through the dreamscape with me to know that."

"Don't forget to thank me for helping with this," Discord added as, you guessed it, he watched through his own backwards telescope. "If it weren't for me, Searing would not be there as she is now."

"Yes, yes, thank you Discord," Luna and Cadence said with dismissive hoof waves at the same time.

Celestia looked up from her telescope to her sister, niece, and the chaos spirit. "I don't know why I'm here with you three."

I picked Mei up as we left, my hand clasped with Searing's and big smiles on our faces. At that moment, a zombie outbreak could happen and I wouldn't really care. "Hey, Mei?"

"Yes, Yang?" Mei asked without appearing.

"You got some good pictures, right?"

"Of course I did. I even recorded the whole date so you can get a photo at any angle at any point."

"Let's look at some of the pictures you got." I wandered over to a bench next to a fountain, sat down with Searing, and we started going through the pictures. Oh, so many pictures.

I could hardly keep the smile off my face as she and I looked over each picture fondly. The way she smiled, how she laughed…

...I knew now I had even more to protect.