//------------------------------// // 5 - Home // Story: The Chambermaid // by Meep the Changeling //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer - 19th of Megan, 1000 Solar Era (16 years ago) Calmare Manner - Equestria Twenty six minutes. That’s how long I had to ask questions while Cadence and I looked through the lab. That’s not a lot of time to cover anything in detail. I thought it would take longer to find two books in this mess, but no. She used to work there or something. Fortunately I started with the basic questions. What basic questions? Well last year in science class we had to do an assignment where we wrote a paper about what questions we would ask an alien species to learn the most useful things about their species and culture. Who knew a random paper assigned by a lazy paycheck casher would come in handy? Regardless, I now knew that: • This species was called ‘Ponies’. They are polymorphic with three subtypes, Unicorn, Pegasi, and Earth. Each type has innate unique magical abilities. (I also learned what the fuck to call my new body parts.) • There are many other sapient species on this planet other than ponies. Ponies are the most common lifeforms. • Ponies spook easily because they are not the top of the food chain. • Ponies live for around three hundred years! • I was in an Empire called Equestria that ruled a third of the known world via protectorates and territories. And I should call it a Kingdom because the immortal sun goddess in charge dislikes the term ‘Empire’. • Despite the immortal sun goddess in charge, this was not a theocracy. • There were small religions here and there, but it was mostly secular. • Despite Cadence’s objections, Princess Celestia physically moved the sun at will, and therefore is a sun god à la Greek mythology. • Unlike Greek gods, Celestia was nice, and didn’t fuck with mortals for fun. Good. • Pony culture was focused on community to an insane degree. Their economy was a sort of socialist-capitalist patchwork that would never work for humans, but most ponies genuinely want to help others they live near. • Probably due to being descended from a herd based species. • Ponies are insanely egalitarian. • While a town is a community that cares for each other, different towns come into conflict easily. They had lots of city versus city wars untill sports came along to help with rivalries. • Do not refer to a town as a herd! Herds are a term for polyamorous families. The most interesting thing I learned is that ponies freak the fuck out at the thought of having a normal length life span. Cadence had asked me how long humans live when I flipped out about her just being like ‘oh by the way, our old people are older than your country is’, and then proceeded to have a mini panic attack when I answered ‘Eh, about eighty years.’ Apparently she couldn’t conceive of how to get anything done or make anything of yourself in that little time. I would have laughed, but well, neither did I. Of course the most interesting thing about their long lives was well… If I had been born a pony, I would just now have stopped being a little kid. Cadence had flipped out when I said I was sixteen, since she flirted with me and all. Apparently the pony body I was in looked around thirty. I had a good laugh at that, which made her mad until I said back home I was two years away from being an adult. With that fun little misconception cleared up, I now knew I could pretend to be twenty eight! At least so ponies would treat me like an adult. Unfortunately, right now, I wasn’t going to be interacting with anyone. Er, anypony… Oh, yes: • Equestrian Ponies speak Equish. It has weird linguistic mechanisms. Like designating species of a group you refer to. • Magic portals apparently teach you languages. (Or they speak our language… Or it changes language. Note: Investigate portal mechanics.) I regretted pressing for the details when Cadence said no one could know I was an alicorn. Apparently a big threat from a long time ago was returning soon, and despite not knowing any magic, I had a TON of ‘capacity’. So if Celestia found out I existed, she would put me through a fast track program to teach me as much combat magic as possible and press me into military service. She wasn’t normally like that at all, but yeah… Nation ending threat. Apparently there was a pretty solid plan B with a good chance of working, but well, when I played civilization, I used every resource I had together at once. Because you don’t just make a checklist of plans and execute them in order when you can guarantee victory through sheer firepower. But I also played a lot of RPGs. Functionality wise, right now I was an NPC. And you don't send someone without class levels to fight the big bad guy at the top of Mount Pain. I was not qualified for that. I also really really didn’t want to become a part of an alien war. Fortunately, Cadence was here to help and had a plan. The first part of the plan had worked flawlessly. Get me a mask that would help me stay hidden from arcane senses and scrying that happened to be in the lab, turn me invisible, and smuggle me back to Cadence’s estate. Smuggling me back had been hell. I’d spent about thirty hours invisible from then until now. It’s extremely hard to not brush up against someone when you can’t see where your shoulder, side, leg, or well, anything is. It’s also a pain in the ass to walk anywhere. Are you going to bang your knee into that suitcase on the train? You don’t know! Invisibility: The game of stepping in gross stuff and hitting shit with your shins. On another note: • Ponies are technologically advanced. Roughly as much as we were. Without taking into account magic. • Despite this, they didn’t seem to have personal computers. • They did have some electronics, like radios, and apparently magnetic tape mainframes. • Ponies didn’t do cars, or personal transports. Anypony can pull a large wagon, and run for hours at about forty kilometers per hour. They didn’t need anything other than mass/long range transit. Especially pegasi. • Taking magical items into account, they were decades ahead of us. Oh, and their trains were AWESOME. I’d never ridden on a train that wasn’t loud, uncomfortable, and smelly. Pony trains were literal works of art. Each one decorated differently, hoof built to be comfortable, smooth riding, and fast. They also had kick ass looking dining services! Which I didn’t get to eat because I was invisible… And technically not a passenger but a stowaway. Also eating would give away my presence. And Calmare was over a day’s train ride away… Fortunately, Cadence had booked a sleeper car which meant she could sneak something from a restaurant car back for me at night (Apparently even Princesses are not allowed to take food out of a dining car…). While Cadence had gotten me something to eat for dinner, and I was just too hungry to even look at it. Or taste it. My first experience with alien food, and I couldn’t remember it at all. Except that it had NOT been enough food for me. Just enough to get rid of the hunger pangs. By the time we had arrived at Calmare, I was starving again. But the hellish trip of starvation still wasn’t over! Her estate was a full hour’s walk out of town… At least the countryside was pretty to look at. The city was right on the shore of a huge inland sea, everything to the west was shining waters. Everything else rolling fields, meadows, and lots of nice trees. The perfect place to go camping at. I had plenty of time to grow bored looking at the scenery though. I may like the outdoors. But I also like FOOD. With the long walk into the countryside, I sort of expected Cadence’s house to be an elaborate estate. You know, a place you would look at and go, ‘Yeah, that’s a princess’s house’. Cadence lived in a gray stone manor style house with a small lawn. It was square, and had flat features with only decorative stonework on the corner bits as any real sort of decoration. Also it was kind of boxy, had three floors, some very nice windows, and a small detached workshop or garage. Honestly, it looked just like a larger house you might own if you made a hundred grand a year. Less ‘my toilet is solid gold’, more ‘I make a good living and turned an old fort into a house, but I don't know what paint is’. I had not expected that. Thankfully, the inside was WAY better. Her home was decorated like a kick ass hotel that you’d see in a movie. Light hardwood flooring polished to a shine and matched with dark wood paneling which ran up half the wall, and was topped with smooth paint. Nice rugs everywhere, forming paths with their really cool woven patterns. Paintings everywhere as well, not overdone, but enough to make each room look nicer by breaking up the flatness of the walls and adding in color. To tell the truth though, I liked her lamps best. I’m a sucker for fucking awesome floating chunks of magically glowing rock. Put one in a little brass wall sconce and well… I wanted some. A lot. Another thing I didn’t expect was how friendly her servants were. I mean, I expected her to have servants. Just not for them to give her a friendly wave when they saw her along with a genuinely happy smile and say, ‘Welcome back, Cadie!’. Like, all fifteen of the ponies we passed on the way to her bedroom did. Except one who said mistress and gave her a playful wink. But that was even less expected. “Okay… I need to know,” I whispered softly. “Why do all of them like you so much? Do you have zoloft as part of your payroll or something?” Cadence smiled and shook her head, waiting for a few seconds before replying. During those seconds she stopped walking and opened a door with a spell. A bedroom door. A BIG bedroom door. It had to be her room, I knew even before she trotted inside and took off her saddlebags. It was large, spacious, decorated unlike the rest of the house with a super plush pink carpet which dipped and bent like it had a full six inches of foam beneath it. The walls were painted black, and highlighted with a sort of airbrushed very dark blue and a little glitter. It made her room look sort of like the night sky, and contrasted very nicely with her white furniture and the bright sky blue blanket on her bed. I really liked her bed. I’d never seen a circular poster bed before. Much less a bed that looked like it was designed to fit eight… People… With… Sixteen posts with hardware mounts... She totaly had a sexy dungon for a bedroom. Shoving my envy down into the back of my mind, I followed Cadence into her bedroom just before she shut the door. “Did you get in before I closed the door?” Cadence asked hopefully. “Wait, you can’t see me? But you made me invisible!” I protested. She giggled, “Nope! I can’t. Now, to answer your question… I’m omniamorous. I love everyone who treats me kindly. Most of my servants have been with me for a hundred years, we’re all one big family here. I’ve probably taken half of them out on a date, and even the one’s I haven’t we do game nights as a group, sometimes I take everypony on a trip someplace. I booked a cruise for us last year, that was nice. “The whole dedicated coltfriend thing is new for me. I’ve never been like that. But Shining Armor is a very special stallion. He- Well, if you ever meet somepony who loves you as much as you love them, and you love others like I do, well, they are worth any sacrifice for. Fortunately everypony here I was with has been okay for the last seven years. They still have each other.” “Oh… You guys are very different from humans. We kinda do just one partner, and it’s sort of illegal to have more than one spouse,” I said mostly to fill the air while I processed just how different his was from what I was used to. Cadence frowned and nodded. “Yes… Herds are uncommon for us too. But only because of social pressures dating back about three thousand years. Historically they were the norm, and I’ve found that very few ponies who try to be a part of one dislike it. I’m pretty sure it’s what our natural way of living is. But times change. Hopefully one day they change again so ponies like me don’t get shunned… “If you don’t like our arrangement, please keep quiet about it while you are here. My house is a welcoming place, Understand?” I nodded, realized she couldn’t see me, and answered. “I’m okay with it. I’m not going to tell other people how to enjoy themselves. But I don't think I would like to do that kind of thing myself. That’s all.” Cadence nodded, smiling with relief. “Good! Good… We can get you used to my family’s lifestyle later. Right now, it’s time we work out your cover identity.” I raised an eyebrow. “Cover identity?” “Right! You don’t want to be invisible forever, do you?” Cadence asked trotting over to her desk to look through some papers. “We’ll get you a name, work out an illusion spell for you to wear around, throw in a dash of transformation magic to hide your wings, and everypony will think you’re a normal unicorn.” “Um, that seems illegal,” I pointed out nervously. Cadence snorted. “This is a port town with a ship dock and an airfield. We process plenty of immigrants. Guess what my official duty is? Assess and approve unusual individuals seeking to immigrate. Extra powerful unicorns, griffons, suncats, dragons, anything that is naturally dangerous, I have to make sure isn’t a threat to anypony before they are allowed in. “You’re a very powerful unicorn, and you’re from another nation. I know you don’t have any intentions of say, lighting an entire city on fire at once, so I hereby officially approve your verbal application for citizenship. Boom! Legal.” I smirked for a moment, shaking my head side to side. “I kind of forgot that you’re a princess.” Cadence giggled. “I know, I don’t act like it, do I? Right… I don't seem to have any of the ID paperwork here. I’ll have to get some from my office downstairs. But before I go, just real quick, what do you think of this idea? “Sunset is a common enough name, even internationally, so we can keep it as your given name. I’m thinking we’ll say you're from Mareland, it’s a distant country, they speak Equish, and your accent sounds close enough. It’s also culturally similar to what you’ve told me humans are like. Sound good?” “I know absolutely nothing about your world. So I’ll just go with your opinion,” I answered flatly. “Right… Well, don’t worry! You share our Sunset’s memory, and I have a library here. A regular one, my mage’s library is in the workshop. As soon as we get you an identity and I introduce you to my staff as a new hire, somone who can be close to me a lot. Say...a bodyguard, I’ll get you a key and you can read all you like!” Cadence informed cheerfully. “Wait here just a minute. I need to get the paperwork.” “Alright,” I said with a sigh as Cadence turned and opened her doors to leave. “Don’t worry, you’ll be visible again soon!” She promised as she slipped out into the hall and closed the door behind her. Ah well, I could put up with being like this for a few more minutes. The fun had worn off but at least Cadence’s bedroom was a safe place to be. Nopony would come in here. FUCK! I should have asked her to bring food! Sooo hungry... A minute of silence later, the bedroom’s dark maple double doors creaked open, a metal clinking sound accompanying their opening. I turned my head, expecting Cadence to have returned. Instead a pony I’d never seen before entered, dragging a small metal cart loaded up with a bunch of breakfast baked goods and some bottles of probably wine through the doors via her mouth. I froze, not wanting to make a sound, and simply watched the mare enter. I knew she was a mare, because I really still wasn’t over the fact that ponies were a sapient people who had clothing as optional. She also had piercings that held her bits closed, which meant watching her back up combined with the silver sparkles of her barbells kind of made not noticing her gender impossible. It was going to take a LOT of time to get used to this... Since I couldn’t look away from her incase she moved and bumped or brushed against me, I decided to look at any other part of her. She was easily the most, umm, plump pony I had seen so far. She looked like someone had wrapped her in soft foam, but also sculpted it to look well, good. She was chubby, bordering on fat, but in a pretty way. I’d never really seen a body built like that before and it was just a little weird. The mare didn’t have a horn or wings, which meant she was an Earth Pony. Cadence said they did have magic, but it was usually subtle and passive, enhancing the world around them in some way, with dozens of different categories of ‘things’ their magic could potentially do. From enhancing nearby plant life, to charming animals, to even causing specific minerals to form in the ground really fast. I wondered what she could do. She had light gray fur, which wasn't too clean, patches of what I think was flouer, a few soot smudges peppering her coat, and also her light peach colored hair. Er, mane. Her mane made me extremely jealous, even if I could ever get back my old hair, her’s was silky, flowing, and just sort of dropped into a graceful style which I could tell needed no maintenance. She just got to have lovely long flowing locks in that old movie starlet style. The next thing I noticed as she closed the doors was her cutie mark. I guessed the magic which formed the picture scaled the mark if the body grew, because the image of a round loaf of bread covered with a shimmery gray topping didn’t seem stretched or distorted by her plush curvy flank. I also noticed she had rather large… Teats? Whatever they were properly called, I knew that horses only got them just after having babies. She was a new mom! That was so cool! I wonder if pony babies look adorable? The adults have a lot of cat-like qualities after all. Oh my gosh what if baby ponies play inboxes!? As she returned to her cart I got a look at her eyes. They were a nice shade of sky blue, but she had the eyes of a retail employee. Dulled and downcast. What was wrong? Working here couldn’t be that bad… Could it? The mare pushed her cart to the small table situated in the bay window and began to set a small but fancy looking breakfast plate. I couldn’t identify half of the various baked goods, but I did see several crescents, a few buns, and some hash browns. Each of the meals eight parts looked completely delicious, the cook’s skill definitely showed here. My mouth watering from the mixture of aromas which had slowly but steadily filled the room, I briefly considered sneaking to the cart and sealing a roll or something, but was distracted by the mare speaking. “W-well… I am trying to impress her,” she said softly to herself. Intrigued, I watched as she trotted to her cart, retrieved a small silver pitcher of milk and set it beside the beautifully plated bread-only breakfast which I was certain couldn’t be all that healthy for a pony, but in that good way which makes the food even more appealing. She took a moment to adjust the pitcher’s position, nodded in satisfaction, then reached up into her mane and slipped a small circular silver box from a little pouch woven into her mane. AH HA! That’s where everypony had been keeping their little coin purses! I couldn’t help but notice the box was labeled ‘moon dust’ as she popped open the container and sprinkled a tiny amount of a gray powder over the almost reflective shiny puffy rolls, giving each a very light dusting. Shit. Cadence had suggested a body guard as my cover identity. I had no idea what had just been put onto her food. I should probably start doing that whole guarding thing now. “Excuse me,” I said making the poor mare yelp and jump a full meter into the air, tail raising in alarm. In her fright she dropped the silver box. I dove forwards on instinct, managing to land on my belly and catch the falling box before it flipped. Holy crap! Hooves did work just like hands! The mare landed and spun around, looking all around the room. “W-who's there!? I’m j-just delivering her highness’s breakfast.” “Down here, you dropped your tin,” I said. “What is it?” The mare looked down, seeing from her perspective what must have been the tin box floating in the air. The poor thing would think I was a ghost or some- “Oh! D-do all the guards use invisibility charms?” She asked curiously, the fear leaving her voice in one long happy sigh. Right! Magic. A common thing here. “I don’t know, I’m not a guard,” I said, eyes widening in alarm as I just blurted out the truth to the cute pudgy mare. “Oh, um… Then why are you invisible in the Princess’s bedroom?” She asked, eyes narrowing accusingly. “I’m a guest, she didn’t want anypony to see me come in,” I said equally as honest. “Why can’t I lie to you?! Is that magic? Also seriously, you didn’t just poison her food, did you?” Her eyes widened in surprise. “Poison!? Oh no! No! Absolutely not! I’d never hurt anypony with food internationally. I know that gray isn’t a very appealing color for a seasoning, or even a common one. This is moon dust, it’s a rare spice, I might be the only pony in this city who can make it. “The recipe is very old, wasn’t written down very often, and it takes a lot of skill to bake it. My parents changed my name to Moon Dust after I got my cutiemark for making it… We’re a family of bakers so it was a big deal.” “Bake it? How do you bake a spice?” I asked, one eyebrow raising with intrigue. “Well, technically it’s a dried sourdough bread ground into very fine powder,” Dust elaborated. “The bacteria culture that flavors the sourdough is nothing special, it’s rather bland in fact. But once the loaf of bread dries out, the evaporating water leaves behind a very very tasty bit of stale bread which you can grind up into a spice.” “That’s pretty cool,” I admitted. “But the whole I can’t lie to you thing… Why?” She frowned grumpily. “Why did you try to lie?” “Because Cadence doesn't want anypony knowing I’m here…” I sighed, ears drooping dejectedly. Not that she could see them. Her ears perked slightly before a blush crossed her cheeks somehow showing through her fur. “O-Oh! That's right Princess Cadence has a special somepony. I’m so sorry, I understand being discrete. I-I had problems from ponies knowing certain things,” she admitted tapping her hooves together nervously. “Oh, um, the lying thing. It’s a charm I had cast on me. It makes a bubble of Truth Telling arround me for a few meters. I um, I wanted to confront a pony about s-stealing my diary and to know for sure if he took it or not. “The charm should wear off in a day or two. S-sorry.” Moon reached out and took the box of spice as she finished speaking. Taking a second to return it to the pouch concealed in her mane. Oh. Well, that was different I guess. I mean, it sucked being forced to have to tell the truth like this, but if I was living in a world where you could just buy a ‘force people to tell the truth’ spell, I was going to have to learn to live with it. I could limit myself to half truths if I had to. “It’s okay. Just, not too many questions about me please,” I asked, pausing for a moment to think it over before apprehensively asking, “Why did some jerk steal your diary?” Moon Dust flinched at the question, taking a step back before stopping, taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out. “No, no… The Princess said her staff is supposed to be open and welcoming. Y-you won’t judge me, right?” She asked, looking almost into my face. Would I? Well frankly, no. Who the fuck was I to judge a society I knew nothing about, made up of a species I only just barely new even the basics about? Besides, I definitely did things they would find weird. I was the alien here. I shook my head no. Moon blinked, then smiled a little, her eyes shining for a brief moment that banished the down and depressed look they held. “I heard rustling, you just shook your head while invisible didn’t you?” I blinked, and then slapped a hoof against my forehead, the sound of brass clicking against ceramic ringing loudly through the room. Immediately after the clink, a sharp jolt of pain down my horn as my shod hoof clipped the base of my horn. “OW! Yes…” “Oh my goodness! Are you okay?” Moon asked immediately dropping to her knees and actually managing to find my head to gently hold it and feel along my face. Or rather my mask. Moon winced and stopped moving her hoof over the mask, but left it on me. “Is this a mask or are you um, well, badly-” I sighed. I didn’t want to talk about it, but that charm was there. And she said she would be open with me in return, and I did want to know about her diary. “Yes and yes… I… I got burned yesterday. Really bad. Magical healing didn’t fix it right. Kinda hoping fur grows back.” “Oh you poor dear,” moon exclaimed with legitimate concern. “I’m so sorry. D-do you need someone to talk to?” “Yeah, But I’d rather not talk about it… What’s the deal with your diary?” I asked again. Moon let go of my mask and sat down properly, looking at my face now that she knew where I was properly. “W-well,” she began. “I keep a diary like a lot of ponies do, but I sort of record much more in mine that others. I like to sort out my thoughts, not just write about the day's’ events. I’ve kept the same diary since I was fifteen, getting more pages added to it when needed. So my whole life and all my um, personal feelings are in the book. “I used to have a rival baker, his name was Whole Wheat. Canterlot is a big city all about impressing people. It makes competition way to fierce and I was stupid for moving there to try and make a name for myself… So um, yes. Whole Wheat had a bakery across the street from me, and while I thought we would have a friendly competition like the baker's back home… He set out to destroy my life.” “That’s awful,” I interrupted. “Guys like that give the rest of them a bad name.” “I don’t think so. His family, yes, but not all stallions,” Moon disagreed. “He was just a bully, but a really effective one. At first he only undercut my prices, worked out special deals with suppliers so I got worse ingredients, and ran negative ads against my bakery… I could deal with that… But them um, he started to realize that he could use some things I love against me.” I cringed, teeth scraping on one another. “Oh no! He didn’t hurt your kids did he?” Moon shook her head. “N-no… I um- I don’t have any foals. I almost did but, she died. Birth complications,” she said slowly, staring sadly into the floor for a moment. My eyes widened in horror as I realized what I must have made the poor girl relive. I reached out and pulled her into a close hug, marveling at how soft she was before letting her go. “I’m so sorry! That has to hurt a lot… Uh, if it helps you feel better, you feel exactly like a plush toy,” I said, hoping that would not be insulting. She smiled happily at me, blushing lightly as she definitely took it as a compliment. “Thank you, It’s always nice when somepony likes the padding besides me. Um, as for the other thing, it’s alright. That was twenty years ago. I’m over her death, but I-I don’t want to relive those memories… I think about things in detail when I talk about them,” she lamented, ears drooping even more. “See, since I’d carried her to term, I had started making milk. Have you ever had a foal? You sound old enough to have had one, maybe. Um, it’s kind of annoying at first when you start producing. You have to drain yourself, or you get very sore and start to drip. “A-as it happens… I- I like being milked. It feels nice, and it made me feel a little happy even with the loss of my little filly. It helped me get through that dark time in my life, and I started to really like it, so I decided to keep doing it. I bought potions to keep me lactating, and donated my milk to a program to help new mothers who can’t make their own. I still do, if I don’t use it for something myself. But um, yeah… That’s sort of a fetish of mine. And it is recorded in my diary. Which Whole Wheat stole. “He’d gotten suspicious about me, wondering why I was still making milk after three years. He figured it was a sex thing, semi correctly, and started to spread rumors. Canterlot ponies aren't accepting of any deviations from proper behavior, as it happens. So um, I had to deny his claims. Because my business dried up within days. “But then he stole my diary, and suddenly had proof. And also knew everything else about me that’s not normal. Then went on a full marketing campaign with all of that. Making the entire city think I’m a psychotic fetishist who wants to encase herself permanently in latex and uses her own dairy produce exclusively…” “Do you?” I asked, slightly curious. She shook her head. “No. I um, I have for a few ponies... But they knew! Because we were friends and they knew I make very good cream. Better than a cow’s according to them, which I choose to take as a compliment. I’d never force anypony to eat something like that unknowingly! All my baked goods use the normal ingredients, unless the menu says otherwise.” I had been a little grossed out until Moon mentioned cows. Cadence had said that there were more sapient species here than just ponies. If cows were also people here, (and if ponies, deer, buffalo, and elk were people, I had to assume cows were too) then all dairy products came from a person. Which meant she was just doing something her ‘race’ normally didn’t do and getting demonized for it. Fucking racist pricks are everywhere apparently! “Well, that guy was a fucking asshole,” I decided, narrowing my eyes bitterly. “I’m sorry that happened to you. But you’re working here now, right? So things have to have gotten better.” “Oh yes!” Moon exclaimed happily, smiling again. “I-I really hope I can keep this job. Cadence just walked up out of nowhere and asked me if I felt welcome in Canterlot and well… After telling her everything I told you she gave me a job here. I think I just used up all my luck for the year. “So um, how about you tell me a little about yourself? It’s only fair, that was very personal. Oh! But you don’t have to tell me your name or anything!” I thought for a few minutes about what I could say. She was right, it was only fair. She’d told me a deeply personal story. “W-well, alright. I don’t have any tragic backstory though,” I said in an attempt to be playful only to droop down in despair at the sudden realization. “Oh, no, never mind. I do now.” “You don’t have to talk about the you know what,” Moon said kindly. “Yeah… Still, kind of filling up brain space at the moment. It’s hard to think of something I like right now. Everything’s gone to hell for me. I’ve lost my family, friends, and they could be in danger, and I have no way of going back home!” I said, exploding into a tidal wave of despair. Moon’s ears drooped sympathetically as she wrapped her forelegs around me in a tight hug. “There there, It will be alright you have- Wings?” Moon exclaimed in surprise. “Uh, yes,” I answered worriedly. It’s not like I could deny having them! She had her hooves on them… “But you have a horn,” she objected, moving one hoof up to gently feel for my horn. Her hoof brushed against my horn a moment later. To my surprise, that felt a little nice, sort of like the feeling of a silk shirt. Oh! It had nerve endings. So THAT'S why it hurt like hell to fall face first on the floor yesterday. Noted! “You’re an alicorn!” Moon Dust yelped in stunned surprise while I was distracted by my realization. Fuck! I couldn’t say no, she knew, and also she had that dumb spell go- The doors creaked open again, Cadence trotting through them, some papers held in her magical grip. “Okay, I have the immigration forms, and-” Cadence paused, looking at Moon with an odd puzzled expression. “There’s an invisible alicorn in your room!” Moon exclaimed urgently. Cadence groaned, reaching up to rub a hoof over her eyes and nose in distress. “Ten minutes, Sunset. I was gone for ten minutes!” “I um- I thought she poisoned your food. So I confronted her,” I mumbled awkwardly, realizing just how badly I fucked up. “Did you?” Cadence asked seriously. “N-no ma’am! It was seasoning. But it’s not a common looking seasoning! Anypony could make a mistake even- Oh my gosh! Are you like, Princess Celestia’s daughter?” Moon asked me, still too stunned to let go. “No,” I answered immediately. “Uh, she also kind of has an anti-lieing charm on her.” Cadence slapped a hoof to her forehead again. Her long slender horn flashed bright blue, an equal flash flaring across Moon Dust’s body for a brief instant. “And now she doesn't,” Cadence grumbled. “No offense meant, Dust. But not every pony appreciates that sort of magic in casual use. Additionally, selling that charm is illegal. Using it is too unless you are an officer of the law, but using it is a very minor crime. I’ll pardon you this once, but only because most ponies assume spells being sold are legal and you have a good heart.” “I didn’t know! I’m sorry, uh, Three Ten Lance Lane, that’s the shop…” Dust mumbled awkwardly. “I- I’ll go!” “Oh no you won’t!” Cadence said, shaking her head firmly. “This is Sunset, no, not Celestia’s student, they just share a name. She’s here from Marelund, there was a problem and she can’t go home. She’s going to be living here now. “But since she’s an alicorn, and that’s a very big deal for us in Equestria, I’m helping her hide that part of her identity so she can be treated normally. She’s not royalty, she’s a normal pony. But you know how you’re acting right now? Do you want everypony reacting like that to you?” “Um, n-no,” Dust stammered. “Then you know why you can’t tell anypony at all about this, right? I know for a fact you know what it’s like to have your own secrets revealed. You won’t do that to Sunset, will you?” Cadence asked while giving her a serious and very ‘leaderly’ staredown. “N-no! Of course not, ma’am!” Dust agreed with a squeak. I felt the need to stand up for the poor mare, it wasn’t her fault I’d been an idiot. “Um, Cadence. It’s my fault she found me. You don’t need to be this hard on her,” I said defensively. “And you shouldn’t punish her for something I did.” Moon Dust gave me an appreciative squeeze then let go, standing up and morosely walking to her cart. Presumably to pack it up to leave. Cadence’s face softened immediately. “Did I come across like I was going to do that?” Cadence asked with a frown. “Moon, I’m not going to punish you, or fire you. You did nothing wrong. It’s just very important that nopony else know about Sunset as anything other than a unicorn.” Moon stopped her morose walk and turned to stare at Cadence in relief. “R-really? I’m not fired?” She asked incredulously. “No, you’re not. I told you that you are welcome here. A single incident on your first day isn’t going to change that. But since you know about Sunset, I’m adding something to your job description,” Cadence informed with a firm voice. Moon’s ears fell. “Please don’t-” I began. “You’ll be helping Sunset get used to Equestria, as her friend,” Cadence said teasingly. “I can’t always be here for her after all. We may as well make you knowing about her into a good thing.” Dust and I sighed in relief. “I think I can handle that duty, Ma’am,” Dust giggled, a smile coming to her face as she understood she wasn’t in trouble. Thank god for that! I would have felt even worse if my getting banished here fucked up someone else's life too. And I could definitely use a friend. And also her secrets for having an epic mane of win. “Um, if she’s going to be my friend, can she help work out an illusion for me to use?” I asked hopefully. Dust tilted her head to the left, a frown parting her lips. “Illusion? Can’t you just hide your wings and horn with a transformation spell?” Then her eyes widened. “Oh no! You mentioned you got burned, I thought it was just your face… how bad is it?” I bit my lip, tail swishing nervously. “I- I fell into a vat of lye. Like, all the way in…” I stammered. “The only natural color left on her is her horn,” Cadence added sadly. “She’ll be needing a full body illusion spell as a prosthesis.” Moon’s ears fell so far down they vanished into her mane. “That’s horrible! You shouldn’t be just laying on the floor like that! You need cuddles, and cocoa, and, and, other nice things!” She exclaimed. “Cocoa does sound nice, I’m starving,” I admitted. “When did you last eat?” Moon asked instantly. “I had something on the train but that was a snack, not a meal so… More than a day,” I replied irritably. Moon shot Cadence an accusatory look. “She has a proper meal before we do anything about her looks! I’ll be right back with another place setting for you, and some cocoa. Sun, would you like fresh cream with the cocoa, or plain?” Mmmm… Whipped cream and cocoa! “Can it be whipped cream?” I asked hopefully. Moon nodded, “Yes. Easily. This place’s kitchen is amazing! I’ve been hoping for an excuse to use the flash cooler. Hehe! Back in a few!” She said happily before zipping out the door. Cadence coughed lightly after the doors banged shut. “Um, Sunset. I sort of hire… Interesting ponies. You are aware that by ‘fresh’ she probably means ‘hers’, right?” OH! I grimaced, realizing she was probably right. But then again. “Well, I mean, cows can talk here, right?” I asked. “Sure, a few can write too,” Cadence informed. Okay, so cows were people then. Which meant I’d have to get used to dairy being a thing people produced, or give up dairy… Fuck giving up dairy. I’d have to give up beef while I was here, because I wasn’t going to eat a person. I wasn’t going to give up both my favorite food groups. Which meant it would be racist to not try Moon’s milk… Fuck. Right, well, I’d do it. If I didn’t like it I could just say so and that would be that. “So her’s is not that different then, right?” I asked. “I mean, there’s going to be weirder things I’ll have to get used to eating. Like um- Grass I guess.” Cadence's eyes dilated slightly. “Grass? Bleh! Not unless it's a survival situation you won’t. But well, you are right. I am sure we will have some foods that are strange to you. Ever try fried hay?” “Um, no…” I said slowly, my stomach turning at the mere thought of eating that. “But yeah… If it tastes bad I’ll just ask her to not do it again. I don't want to make a big deal about everything that’s weird to me now.” “That’s very mature of you,” Cadence commended. “I think you’ll fit in here well.” “Yeah, I guess so,” I said simply. As I waited for Moon to return, I wondered if that would be a good thing. While we waited, Cadence and I went through the paperwork. I would be Sunset Breeze, a 28 year old mare from Heartstrings, Marelund. Why the fuck there was a city there named after my Ex I will never know, but it was a name I wouldn’t forget. The rest of my identity was simple as possible. Unicorn, female, student, immigrating for political reasons, here on a work visa. That’s where we got to a small change from the original plan. “I don’t think a bodyguard will work,” Cadence mused as we stared at the paperwork. I snorted. “You don’t say…” “Yeah. That was just my first thought,” she admitted with a smile. “There are not many household jobs you could have which would authorise you to be with me at anytime and anyplace. Which we need so I can keep an eye on you as needed. Hmm… How are you with remembering the details of a-” Cadence paused, blinked and she remembered who she was talking too, and then laughed. “Sorry! Um, my point is that you could be my Chambermaid as well.” “What like, clean stuff?” I asked hesitantly. “Yes, sometimes,” Cadence replied with a nod. “But the position is more along the lines of keeping my personal quarters tidy, working as an assistant by keeping my schedule for me, and being my companion. That’s not a sexual companion, that’s the old definition. A confidant, advisor, a friend. It would allow you to go wherever I happened to be, and also to act in my name in certain cases. Such as getting into the Canterlot Library for me, or picking up my mail from a post office.” “Oh. So like, a general life assistant? That doesn't sound too bad. But shouldn’t you already have one?” I asked curiously. Cadence nodded. “I did. The last one died several decades ago. He was a very sweet old stallion… I’ve missed him too much to replace him but well, now’s the time.” “Oh, well then I’ll take the job,” I decided after a moment’s thought. Only then asking, “Wait, do I get paid?” “Yes, you do. It’s a salary, fixed by Royal Decree. I’ll explain money to you later. You should have enough to pursue any hobby you may like, and your room and board will be provided. Naturaly. It’s a live in job. Welcome aboard!” Cadence said with a smile, holding out one hoof. Ah, right. They don’t have hands, so they would likely bump hooves to seal a deal. “Thanks for the job!” I said, reaching out to give her a hoof bump. Cadence blinked as a smile parted her lips. “I expected you to shake. I think I like you as a friend already.” “I thought you like, liked me,” I questioned, frowning uncertainly. “I do. But like I mentioned, I find everypony I like attractive, and on top of that you are pretty. But as previously discussed, I’m not going to make any advances. That's up to you. And also, Shining would have to agree… Darn. Ah well. Would you like an overview of my house rules? You’re underage, but the emancipated minor status I’m giving you so you can take the job means you are legally allowed to give consent. Which may be relevant for you.” I felt my eyes widen slightly. “Um, why?” “Because you might like somepony here and decide to have some fun. Duh,” Cadence said with an eye roll. “The rules are as follows: No matter what, finish your daily chores, but you may take a break when you wish for whatever you wish. So long as you finish I don’t care what else you do ‘on shift’. Never belittle or insult somepony for their passions and tastes. “Consent must be given for everything, if you do anything to anyone without them saying it’s okay, you’re going to the dungeon, and not the fun one. That said, if you have permission, go nuts. “Other than that, house resources are for everyone, house facilities are for everyone. Clean up after yourself and restock if you use the last of something. “Oh! Fair warning, Tradewind and Garden Grove are the gardeners. If they invite you to use the ‘garden shower’, say no unless you are into the bathroom related kinks.” “Ew!” I exclaimed with a wince. I made a note to avoid those two for as long as humanly possible. “Agreed,” Cadence said with a shudder. “But even if I don’t like something, I do have a whole ‘welcome everyone’ thing. They do have to ask permission, but I feel compelled to give newcomers a heads up on their particular tastes. So it’s not a surprise.” The creaking doors interrupted Cadence, prompting us to both look over to see Moon return with a small tray balanced on her back. “On a less gross note, absolutely DO say yes if my librarian Spring Breeze asks if you’d like to relax. She gets off on giving others massages, and she’s THE BEST at it, ever! I don’t know how they aren't her special talent,” Cadence finished. “Um, does that go for me too?” Moon asked hopefully. “Of course!” Cadence said with a happy grin. “Don’t you remember from when I told you about the house rules?” Moon blushed and looked down. “Um, no… You just said that Miss Brook will want to use me as a pillow. Hehe.” I giggled. “To be fair, with how soft you are, I kind of want to use you as a pillow,” I agreed. “R-really?! Sure! Any time you want!” Moon exclaimed eagerly as she slid the tray she had been carrying onto the table. Oh, um… Well, okay then. While I remained baffled by her enthusiasm, Moon cleared her throat and pointed to the two mugs she had just set down along with the tray. “I um, I made one with my own milk, just incase you want to try it. The one on the left is cows. I’ll have which ever you don’t want,” Moon offered before taking the plate from the serving tray and moving to the cart she had pushed in earlier to fill it up. I bit my lip, unsure which one I should take. On one hoof, there was cow’s milk based cream. On the other, hers. She’d trusted me a lot by telling me she liked to do this kind of thing, but said she served it to her friends, meaning neither she nor they saw it as a sexual thing. Meaning it would be rude to refuse a friendly gesture. And again, either way it came from a person. “I- I’ll try yours. You won't be offended if I don’t like it will you?” I asked hesitantly. Moon shook her head. “Of course not. Not everypony likes sweet milk.” Steeling myself, I stepped over to the table, took a short breath, picked up the mug, and tentatively licked the dollop of whipped cream atop the cocoa. I felt my eyes dilate immediately as the delicious creamy, sugary flavor immediately made me forget everything weighing me down. “Oh my god!” I gasped, almost dropping the mug in shocked delight. “This is amazing!” Cows. Screw them! This was like the milk left after eating cornflakes, if both the milk and the cornflakes came from heaven. “Can I try?” Cadence asked, licking her lips greedily, my reverent tone having caught her interest. “That’s hers, I can make you some later. It’s no trouble,” Moon promised, setting a full plate in front of me. The next three minutes vanished in a blur of food. I honestly couldn’t recall a single thing except for the details of all the delicious bready and hashbrowny goodness on the three plates I managed to eat. One moment there was food, the next I snapped out of my stupor to hear Moon Dust scolding Cadence for not sneaking more food- “Even if they would have thrown you off the train!” “I can’t teleport two ponies…” Cadence admitted, kicking the floor in embarrassment. “I’m back,” I announced. “And full. I needed that. A lot.” Cadence cleared her throat. “Good! Let’s get started on your appearance… Do you mind if I make you visible with Moon here?” I nodded, blushed at the fact I didn’t verbally replay AGAIN, and then said. “Yes. I mean, go ahead… Moon, you won’t-” “I promise I won't,” she replied immediately. Cadence’s horn shimmered for a few moments. I felt myself tingle, and looking down I could see myself ‘fade in’ so to speak. I heard Moon gasp, and looked back up to see her covering her mouth with a hoof wide eyed and horrified. I felt my ears droop. I should l have expected her to see me as a mon- Moon darted across the room and wrapped me in a tight hug. “Let’s fix this. How about a nice pastel color? Maybe a purple for your fur?” She suggested. We spent a half hour working on weaving a series of illusions, seeing what I liked. I expected Cadence to get tired of trying all of the little diffrent variations. Trying out all of our ideas didn’t seem to even make her blink. Even when I jokingly said we should try giving me some pale blue fire for fur to match what my magic naturally did. In the end we settled on Moon’s original idea of Pastel colors. I had a pale washed out purple coat, a medium length straight pearl colored mane, and we kept my eyes unchanged, because the cyane went very well with the other colors. We kept my cutiemark the same, but changed the colors to light blue and a pale yellow. Cadence assured me that was different enough to work as a disguise and if my mark was unrelated to my talent that would be, well, in human terms, like walking around with an AK-fourty-seven on your back. A sign of being a threat. The illusion itself was very appealing. I expected it to just fool vision. It also provided a sense of touch, and smell. I was normal again… Well, aside from being a short horse. “I’ll need to learn how to do this so I don’t have to make you do it every morning, or whatever,” I said to Cadence as I checked myself out in the mirror. “Illusion’s a fun school of magic. I’ll be happy to teach you,” Cadence agreed happily. “That will last for a week though.” “Since we’re doing illusions, can we see how I would look shiny and hot pink?” Moon asked hopefully. Cadence snickered. “Not right now. I have to file these papers. Are you sure you like this look, Sunset?” I nodded. “Yeah. This looks good. I can see Sunset Breeze going far looking like this,” I said with a satisfied nod.