//------------------------------// // Chapter 28: Dinner and a Show // Story: Pearlwort, Unintentional Villain // by Halira //------------------------------// I woke up after a brief two hour nap, with Mera still sound asleep. Her old bedroom was actually fairly large, but the bed was really meant for only one pony. We had nuzzled close together to make it work. I had been so tired when we had gotten into the room I hadn't even bothered to actually examine the room my wife had spent most of her life in. Looking around the room now I tried to get a feel for what her life had been like. The room didn't provide much for clues. There was the bed, a simple dresser, a small desk with a chair, and a little table by her bed for furniture. Her bedding had simple white sheets and a plain pink quilt. On the dresser sat a few stuffed animals and dolls with smiling faces. There were a few drawings plastered up on the wall, but they looked to be pictures of her family for the most part, and not particularly well drawn ones. There was a single framed picture, and it was of balloons that matched Pinkie Pie's cutie mark. I saw a few books by the dresser as well, with titles that made me think they might be trashy romance novels. A neglected delivery bag and uniform sat crumpled in a corner. On one wall was painted a simple smiling face. Mera seemed to have had a simple but pleasant life here. But nothing in the room indicated she had much in the way of direction with her life, just simple enjoyment. There was an innocence to the room. A call back to the mare she had been when I first met her. I was not sure it matched her any longer though. Mera had done away with her innocence when she had seen me raped. It was sad to think that this room was a testament to a mare who no longer existed. "Taking in the sights?" Mera was awake after all. She nuzzled herself closer to me. "I know it isn't much to look at, but I always liked it. I wouldn't mind moving back in, we can claim my paren...Diamond and Tibia are renting the room to us to earn some extra bits. We need to buy a bigger bed though. This one is great for nuzzling close together, but it we tried to have sex in this thing we would end up on the floor." "Just trying to get a feel for what your life was like before you left here," I replied, still looking around the room. "I was wondering if the room still suited you or not." She opened her eyes up and sat up next to me. She looked around the room herself then, trying to get a feel for it. "There would definitely need to be some changes," she said after looking around. "I like my old stuffed animals and dolls, but think I could stand some new additions. I think I wouldn't mind a stuffed spider, and my dolls are all Crystal Ponies, I think I would like a Thestral or two in there. Pinkie Pie's cutie mark would need to go, that pony is crazy. I think I am done worshiping Alicorns, consider me an atheist, or at least an agnostic. I am not sure pink is my color anymore either. We would definitely need some thick curtains for the window to keep the daylight out while we sleep. I am not sure romance novels are my thing anymore either, maybe something a bit more academic. The drawings I would like to keep, but are pretty questionable if any pony ever saw them hanging up, I am not supposed to be family after all." "So pretty much everything would need to change to match you now," I said flatly. "I guess so," she said with her ears lowered in sadness. "Home might still be the same, but I am not. It doesn't mean we can't make this a place that represents who we are now. Our family is in this house, and I want to keep close to them. They are going through changes too. Peridot is taking her first steps from being a filly to becoming a mare. My parents are dealing with having to completely change what they thought about both their daughters." "You are supposed to be using their names," I reminded her. "But I get what you are saying. No pony stays the same forever." "Not even you, my precious Pearl. You are far stronger than you were before, emotionally I mean. I was so proud of you when you accepted what you are back with that chimera. I also appreciate you dealing with so much with my..with Diamond and Tibia today. You weren't afraid at all. You used to be so scared of what every pony thought of you. Lately it has been you supporting me, instead of me supporting you." That caused me to pause and think. Had I really changed that much without me realizing it? Had it been gradual or all at once? And if it was all at once what had brought it on? Mera listened to my feelings as I thought, but let me continue thinking in quiet, simply making happy contented sounds as she rested her head back down on me. When was the last time I really worried about what a pony thought of me? The trial day seemed to be the last I could remember, that was also the day I had those memories removed. Not only did I have those memories removed, I had those extra feelings put into my head. Were they why I was so much less concerned about what other ponies thought of me? Was this something I hadn't come to on my own, but was given to me? If it was given to me why didn't Mera show the same certainty in all situations as I did? She had been the source after all. "You know," Mera said, " nuzzled up close to you like this I can almost hear exactly what you are thinking and not just the feelings. Maybe it is just familiarity with you filling in the gaps, but I can swear I can hear your thoughts." "And what do you think about what I am thinking?" I asked her. "I think you might be on to something. That's if I am reading what I think you are thinking right anyway," she said with a sigh. "Are you thinking it was that mind altering?" I nodded the affirmative. "It could be I suppose. It wasn't just sex drive that I got from that nurse, it was confidence. If you got what I got, then you would have gained confidence too. If you are confident you are less concerned with what ponies think of you." "So why are you having more trouble lately?" I asked, following up on that. "Most of what we have had to deal with the last few days is not new to you. A lot of these stresses are completely new to me. It takes time to adjust." She nibbled at my neck now. "And I have had you here to help me with that." "We should go back downstairs," I said, causing Mera to pout that I hadn't given in to her physical flirting. It was tempting, but she was right about the bed. "Time to gather up the family and go see Sunset, I know you are eager to get back to being Thestral." "Definitely," she replied, as she hoped down from the bed. We exited her old room and made our way back downstairs. Diamond, Tibia, and Peridot were all waiting patiently for us. Peridot gave Mera a strange look. "Did you really train with the Medical Guard, Sis?" The filly questioned. "Remember you can't call me that, you should call me Mera," Mera reminded her sister. "But yes, I did. I am a pretty accomplished fighter." "That is putting it lightly," I added in. "You beat the flanks of eight guard ponies in quick succession, five of those at once, and they couldn't land a blow on you. It took an Alicorn getting into the dueling grounds with you to get a pony that you couldn't beat." "Hold on," Diamond interjected. "You didn't tell us that earlier. That is elite level fighting. I served twenty years in the guard and never came close to that." "We gave you the brief summary," Mera replied. "A lot of details we kind of skipped over." "How did you get that good, that fast though?" Diamond asked with disbelief. "I am not entirely sure," Mera said with a sigh. "Learning new things just comes easy to me, I am guessing it has something to do with my absorbing talent. We are still trying to figure out all the details of how it works. That is part of why we are here, as I said, I need to figure out what I can do and how to control it." "Do you think you could help train me?" Peridot said excitedly. "I am not sure if I could, as I am not sure how I learned it all in the first place," Mera told her sister. Peridot's ears lowered sadly. "When you get better with the hoof blades I would love to have a duel with you, just to see what you can do. Mind you, I will likely leave your flank covered in welts, but that's just something that comes from stepping into the dueling area. Since you actually have a talent in that kind of thing, maybe you will get better than me eventually." "Just wait and see, I am going to be the best fighter the Crystal Guard has ever seen!" Peridot said proudly. "And someday I will be able to beat you in a duel with ease." "I look forward to seeing that," Mera said with a warm smile. Diamond seemed to take pride in their exchange. Tibia seemed uncomfortable with it, but tried to look supportive. "Is there anything else any of you wanted to ask about before we go meet Sunset?" Mera asked. "Nothing pressing," Tibia said. "There are plenty of things we want to know about still, but they can wait. We know this is important to you Mera, and that you have a friend waiting for you to arrive." "Thank you Mommy, and yes I know I shouldn't have called you that, but I wanted one last time, before I have to do a lifetime of Tibia," Mera said with her eyes tearing up. "You too Daddy, and you Sis. This is my final time, and I don't want to say I missed my last chance." They gathered around her and hugged her. I stood slightly away. This was their moment. "You'll always be our little filly," Tibia cried onto Mera's shoulder. "Our little Biblo who would make us laugh, and always wanted every pony around her to be happy." "It feels like a goodbye," Peridot said. "Like Biblo is going away forever and I have to get to know this new pony named Mera." "I'll be getting to know who Peridot is too," Mera reminded her. "You are just starting to turn into a mare, and you aren't the same filly I left here two months ago. I am still your sister, even if we can't say it. Some pony has to make sure these other two don't go crazy with you on your estrus cycle next time, I intend on that being me." "I don't think they were that bad," Peridot replied. "They gave me this thing.." "We are not discussing what they did, they made a boo-boo," Mera cut her off. "But it helped a lot," Peridot insisted. "It is where they got it that was the problem," Mera said with a low growl. Peridot was silent a moment and I could see her trying to reason this out. Her parents looked extremely nervous. After a few seconds realization and horror dawned on Peridot's face. "That is so gross!" Peridot yelled. "That's what I told them! They just don't get it. Don't worry, I'll get you a replacement that hasn't been in some other mare's slit already," Mera confirmed. "I feel the need to wash my coochy now," Peridot whined. The most amazing thing about this entire exchange was the family was still in a tight group hug through the entire thing. I couldn't help but laugh out loud at it. It was just too absurd a conversation to be having during a touching family moment. Mera gave me a non-threatening glare, it was actually somehow warm despite being a glare. "We are never going to get moving if we keep getting all sentimental," Diamond said, though he didn't break from the embrace. "Yes, we do," Mera said, as she finally broke from her family's embrace. "We need to go to the Heart's Desire Hotel, she is staying there." We all made our way out of the house and back into the streets. It was now after sunset, but the streets still had a fair number of ponies moving about on them. I did get a few odd looks from ponies, but nothing that showed any hostility. These ponies were just not used to seeing a Thestral, they didn't seem to have any animosity. The Crystal Ponies seemed to live up to the reputation of being extremely tolerant of others. It seemed like it could be a nice place to live. Getting to the center of city took us about half an hour of walking, nothing compared to the hours we would have spent walking in Harmony. The Heart's Desire Hotel was one of the larger buildings I had seen in the city, standing four stories high and taking up a great deal of ground space. Balconies seemed to be a rarity in most buildings, but the top floor of this building was lined with them. The entire building was made of a pink crystal and had a heart shape carved above the entrance way. When we entered we found that it was a clearly a very expensive place, though I was likely the only pony not aware of it beforehoof. There were crystal chandeliers, and the furniture looked like it was made out of gold. A very well to do looking violet Crystal Pony mare sitting at the front desk greeted us as we entered. "Welcome to the Heart's Desire, the most luxurious, and most exclusive, hotel in all of Ocid. Pearl Bottom, Chimera Wort, Diamond Glow, Tibia, and Peridot Glow I presume?" She listed off our names in quick succession, causing us all to nod back in surprise. "Very good! Her Holiness Sunset Shimmer has been awaiting your arrival. I will have a bellhop ready to escort you to her suite in just a moment. If I may inquire, her Holiness was uncertain if you would be spending the night with us when she checked in. Would you happen to be ready to tell us that at this time?" We were all still in shock at the greeting. Mera looked to me for an answer. It was up to me to make the decision it seemed. "I think we will be spending the night with family, but thank you for the consideration," I replied, hoping I was being properly polite. "We understand completely," she replied back with the same happy tone. "Just be aware that we have taken the liberty of adding both you and your wife to our list of very important ponies should you ever choose to stay with us at a future date. This hotel prides itself on its exceptionally exclusive clientele and are always here to serve." We could only nod back. This was a little mind-boggling. Exceptionally exclusive clientele? There was only one thing she could mean by that from what clues she had given. This place served only immortals and the most important ponies of the realm. They knew who Sunset Shimmer was, and they knew who we were, it made me wonder who else was currently staying in this hotel. The bellhop appeared soon after, a young light yellow unicorn mare, who also was smiling happily at us as she arrived. "Please follow me your graces, and family," she said with a bow. "We have already informed her Holiness of your arrival and she has ordered dinner for you all in her suite. If you have any requests whatsoever feel free to but ask and we shall see that you are accommodated with the utmost haste." "Mera," Tibia said to her daughter. "I am feeling really under-dressed suddenly. I knew this place was really unbelievably high class, but I had no idea it was like this." "If you would like we could have a dress made for you and ready in time for dinner if you like ma'am," our bellhop told Tibia happily. "We made sure to learn all your measurements upon arrival and could quickly have something ready for you post haste if you wish it. You need only ask." "Um, that won't be necessary dear," Tibia said, her eyes getting even wider than before. She led us to an elevator near the end of one of the hallways. It was already standing open with an elevator operator standing at the ready. The size of the elevator could have been a small room into itself. We all boarded the elevator and the operator put it into motion, not bothering to ask where we needed to go, he simply knew. After leaving the elevator we were walked down another hall to a large set of double doors. Our bellhop opened them wide with her magic and bowed to us all, motioning us to enter. Inside was a large dinning table, and seated at the head of the table was Sunset herself, in her Alicorn form again. Sitting next to her was Hot Sticks. "Hello," Sunset said with a smile to all of us. "Has the staff worn you out yet? I know I can only take so many times being addressed as Holiness before I am ready to go run and hide. They tend to be a bit much for me when I come here, but I do have to admit they definitely make a strong impression and know their stuff. Pinkie Pie technically owns this place, so a staff that knows too much about you isn't really that shocking, given it is her hotel." "It is a lot to take in," Mera said as she looked around the dining hall. "I can definitely agree with that," Sunset laughed back. "Come on and sit so they can get to serving food. I know they are all waiting to descend on us with the dinner, but are just waiting to see who sits where." Mera and I decided to sit to the opposite side of Hot Sticks near Sunset, with me being the closer to Sunset. Diamond took up a seat next to the unicorn, and Tibia next to Mera. Peridot took the remaining seat next to her father. Almost immediately upon Peridot taking her seat the staff came briskly out from a side entrance, one staff member for each of us, each carrying only a single drink which they deposited in front of their respective owners. And quickly again they all hurried back out of the room again. We all eyes our drinks, every pony seemed to be given something separate. Peridot broke the short silence with a squeal of glee. "This is apple cider!" Peridot announced happily as she tried her drink. "Mommy, I know I am not normally allowed to have this, but it is alright? The one time you let me have some it was the best thing I ever had." "I think it is okay this time," Tibia replied as she looked her own drink over. "This definitely counts as a special occasion, but no refills. I will not have my filly getting drunk, you are far too young to be having more than one of those. So take your time drinking that." "Yes Mommy," Peridot said happily, taking another tiny sip of the cider. "If I know the staff they have somehow already determined what your favorite drinks and foods are, and will be serving those to you," Sunset explained. "Don't ask me how they do that, I have no clue." As she finished speaking the wait staff came out again, each with a covered dish. They quickly set each dish in front of their respective owners, uncovered the dish, and hurried out again. They did this all with incredible speed, and they were all on and out within twenty seconds. Before me sat a baked trout, with sardines and caramelized bananas on the side. It looked extremely good, and my mouth watered just looking at it. In front of Mera sat a pork chop, with banana slices and a honey sauce. Each of the others were brought specially made salads, with the lone exception of Tibia who had a large vase shaped flower placed in front of her. "I haven't had one of these in ages!" Tibia exclaimed as she looked at her meal. "Not since I lived at the Hive. I didn't know ponies ever served this." "They can accommodate just about anything here," Sunset said, as she lifted what I noticed to be her sushi wraps up to look at. "What in the world is that?" Peridot asked Mera as she gazed at Mera's plate. "Pork chops and bananas," Mera said happily. The staff had already cut the pork chops into small pieces to aid in her chewing with non-Thestral teeth. "What are pork chops?" Peridot said with confusion, still looking at it. "Pig meat," Mera said, as she happily began munching on a piece. Peridot turned a slightly different shade of green at this bit of information, and Diamond looked a little ill as well. Tibia seemed unconcerned Mera was eating pigs. Perhaps changelings were more open to carnivorous diets? "Oh don't look at me like that," Mera chided her sister and father. "There is nothing wrong with eating meat, and Thestrals eat meat all the time. You should try one of Pearl's sardines, they are really good too." "You seemed to have no problem with them, but it might be best if we didn't risk getting any pony a stomach ache trying to digest things they shouldn't," I told my wife. I looked at my new family and gave an apologetic smile, hoping this wasn't leaving a bad impression. "We do eat a lot of meat though, whenever we can. It is just in our nature. Bananas though, are like candy to Thestrals." Mera happily took a chomp of one of her banana slices as I said it. "And even though Sunset hasn't given Mera her Thestral form again, she does think and act just like a Thestral. So don't be too worried about what she is eating." "I definitely enjoyed eating that chimera when we were traveling here," Mera said wistfully. "I wonder if the rest of it is still rotting out on the woods where we killed it." "You killed a chimera? To eat it?" Diamond asked in disbelief. "No," Mera said with a saddened tone, but with steel in her voice. "We killed a chimera because it killed a foal, and we ate it to give warning to any other chimera that entered that area that ponies are not easy food. If we had come upon the monster a day or two sooner we would have done the same, and we would not have had to listen to some poor mother crying because her foal was never going to come home." Tibia gasped in horror at what Mera said. And looked at Peridot and Mera each in turn, as if imagining the same fate happening to one of them. She then turned in her chair and reached around to hug Mera tightly. "When we were traveled up through the woods to the south together, I was able to smell it in the woods," Sunset said sadly. "When I told Mera and Pearl what it was, and what it had done, they wanted to rush into the woods immediately to go hunt it down. I made them rest to be in peak condition, the chimera had already killed, and I didn't want to add two Thestrals to its kill list. After they had their rest they quickly found it and slaughtered it, with no trouble. It likely would have killed again in a few days if they hadn't. Be proud of them, they saved pony lives." Peridot and Diamond looked at Mera with an odd expression. They had no presumptions about me, so me going and killing a chimera quickly wasn't something to shock them. With Mera they knew the happy bubbly version of her from before, and she could still be like that at times, but she was also now a pony that could and did kill when needed. That was an alien version of her that was likely hard for them to fathom. Biblo of old was too innocent and sweet to do that, but Mera was capable of pure blood lust. Tibia seemed to be unconcerned about the fact her daughter was now capable of doing such things, she just knew her daughter was safe and living, and that her daughter was hurt that she had failed to be there in time to save another. "You may not be the mare I raised you to be, but that's good because you are better than that," Tibia said softly to Mera. "No matter how different you seem now, I am proud of you." Mera barely restrained tears as she hugged her mother back. We ate the remainder of the meal in silence. When we were all done the staff came in without being called and took away all the dishes from the table, and came and refilled all the drinks. They even refilled Peridot's drink, but no pony raised an objection to it. "Alright, Mera, are you ready to do this again? Be sure, I am not going to just keep changing you back in forth. I don't intend to do any more transformations for you until your sister has grandfoals." Sunset looked down at Mera. "You know I am sure," Mera stated firmly. "Just making my position clear," Sunset replied. "Please stand a few pony lengths away from the table. Pearl and Hot Sticks know this drill, but for the rest of you please keep your distance from her as I do this. I hate dealing with magical mishaps. This happens extremely quickly, so don't expect much of a show." Mera took up a position where directed as every pony watched. Sunset once again lit up her horn in a golden aura which quickly enveloped Mera, again came the bright flash, and again when my vision cleared sat Mera the Thestral. Mera immediately stretched her wings and gave them a brief flap, letting off a happy giggle as she did. Did a quick inventory of herself to make sure everything was the same as the last time, and sighed with contentment when she realized it was. "You aren't pink," Peridot said accusingly. "Thestrals don't come in pink, Peridot," Mera told her matter-of-factly. "I happen to like the grey." "You look so different," Diamond said as he stared at her. "If I didn't know it was you I wouldn't have a clue. It's hard to line up what I know with what I see." "Well, this is how I see myself, and think of myself," Mera assured him. Her face softened, and there was a slight pleading look. "You are still okay with this, right? I know it is a shock, but I want you to accept me like this. I might look more conscious, and I admit I can be, but I am no monster." "I know I am not supposed to say it, but I am saying it one last time just so you know. You are still my little filly Mera, and still my daughter, and I accept you in any form," Tibia said as she smiled at Mera. "Whatever makes you happy dear." Diamond and Peridot nodded agreement seconds later. "Pearl and I were wondering we could rent my...I mean Biblo's old room..okay referring to things that way is going to really take some getting used to," Mera said with frustration. "You don't have to pay us to stay there Mera, you know you are welcome," Diamond told her. "We can afford to pay, you could use the extra bits, and it would look strange if you were just letting out a room to a pair of Thestrals for free," Mera insisted. "Even then it only gets less weird because Pearl is going to try to apprentice at the flower shop. We plan on moving out eventually, but for right now it is where we want to be, but we have to keep up our act." "We will work something out," Tibia said. "I have a condition for you two staying though." "What is that?" Mera asked with a tilt of her head. "You are going to install a sound dampening crystal on your room. Peridot's room is right next to yours and I don't want her listening to you two having sex, the walls aren't that thick! She is at far too an impressionable age to be listening to that in her sleep." Hot Sticks and Sunset broke out laughing at that. Diamond gave off a light chuckle for his own part. Mera and I both blushed brightly. Peridot had a very different reaction. "Really Mommy? You do realize I am already used to the sound of her in her room when she is on estrus, right? What do you think she sounded like through all those times?" Peridot told her mother with annoyance. Mera blushed even brighter, and I joined in the chorus of laughter. Family was a wonderful thing.