“Well, let’s eat,” Sunset commented hungrily before entering. Her friend grumbled, but then followed suit.
When they entered the two mares had to admit that the interior was far friendlier than somepony would expect from a race of warriors and hunters, no trophies or weapons anywhere. The wooden walls were instead decorated with paintings of places only heard of or read about by most ponies. There were for example the famous Chalk Cliffs of Tamon. Or the wide steppes of the Sun Plains.
Though Twilight judged the paintings of the Goldhorn Archipelago south of the mainland as the most breathtaking with its multiple islands of varied sizes, white beaches, the clearest blue water and a mysterious looking jungle. One could only guess what unknown sights and creatures awaited the unprepared.
It awoke her inner explorer.
Ornate vases and urns, small and large palms along with vines running across the ceiling gave the restaurant a foreign vibe. But the tables and chairs were luckily traditional Equestrian style, suitable for its inhabitants, so they didn’t need to sit on oversized or oddly shaped furniture.
“Wow, I feel like we are on holiday,” Sunset whispered quietly.
Twilight acknowledged the statement with a short nod. “And look at all these ponies here, I honestly didn’t expect so many visitors. Canterlot’s citizens normally tend to eat at overly fancy places with exorbitant prices.” She glanced around, “Are those goats in waiter uniforms?”
Indeed, the entire staff seemed to consist out of white and black goats, and while perhaps not very intelligent looking, their uniforms made them look professional. Sunset snorted in mild amusement, but she could have sworn that they looked familiar.
“Welcome, Princess Twilight Sparkle! It’s an honor that you would grace the Iron Gut with your presence! Iron Will sees that the reputation of his restaurant is well known by now if even royalty comes to dine in his house!” a very loud, prideful and powerful voice boomed through the room.
They both found themselves quickly in the center of attention.
A heavily muscled giant of a minotaur came out of the kitchen, wearing a black tie around his neck which lay against the grayish cobalt blue fur of his chest, and a tall white toque sat atop his head marking him as the chef de cuisine. He had black eyes with yellow sclera, a small patch of dark cobalt blue hair peeking from under his hat with two thick silver horns framing them. His tail switch and carefully groomed goatee matched his hair. In a nod to his heritage, a thick silver ring hung from his nose, something that many ponies saw as barbaric and caused Twilight to cringe, though she did her best to keep that from showing.
It was the exact same face that adored the sign outside. The Princess of Friendship gasped, wasn’t this the one responsible for turning Fluttershy into a short-time bully!?
Sunset in the meantime finally realized what she was missing, “You are a bull of the Silver Ring Clan! And these are island goats!” The unicorn cleared her throat, blushing from her outburst of emotions. “Please excuse Sunset Shimmer’s reaction, she is pleased to meet Iron Will. Sunset simply didn’t expect to see a son of Nuron beyond his isle. Sunset must say that she is impressed by the decorations of your restaurant.”
He laughed loudly, “Ha! An Equestrian who knows about Iron Will’s culture! But he guesses that is to be expected by the seneschal of a princess.”
The unicorn chuckled in good humor. “No, Sunset Shimmer is sorry to disappoint. She came as her friend, nothing else. But she knows the customs of the minotaurs well. We heard rumors about this newly opened establishment and decided to dine here in peace and quiet, if you understand what she means.”
He noticed the stares of some of the other customers closest to them and gave a thumbs up, “Iron Will gives a guarantee for all of his clients to be comfortable dining in his home, satisfied after their visit.”
The poor lavender alicorn said nothing, lost in her own world. What was wrong with Sunset? Maybe it was normal for Iron Will to speak of himself in the third person, just like Trixie, but Sunset? It couldn’t be contagious, but maybe there was some kind of artifact here, and this was a trap.
In the outside world, Sunset and Iron Will looked at each other in concern, then back at the youngest monarch, who hadn’t said anything for the last several minutes.
“Is she alright? Iron Will is concerned what a frozen ruler might mean for his business,” the owner of the Iron Gut stated worriedly.
The amber mare shrugged with her shoulders, “Sunset thinks so. That seems to happen sometimes from what she has heard.”
Rather than snapping out of it like a normal pony, Twilight jumped and backed up a little, nodding nervously, “Sure, yep, just fine. Are you feeling alright Sunset?” Even as she said this, her eyes roamed the restaurant, her horn giving off the faintest of glows as she searched for traps.
Sunset tilted her head at the strange behaviour, not seeing the glow but feeling the very small draw of mana. Unable to resist, “Sunset can only guess, but could it be that you never visited the more isolated areas of the minotaur kingdom before?”
The lavender alicorn’s lips formed a silent ‘no’ as her horn fizzled.
Iron Will came to the rescue and cleared his throat, “Iron Will thinks that further discussions should wait until you are seated. Please, follow him to the VIP lounge.”
Twilight wanted to outright refuse out of reflex, as she always did when somepony offered her a special treatment because of her title as a princess. No matter what. But Sunset’s words came to her mind.
Smile and be the soothing presence they need. Try to take into consideration what others might assume or expect before you speak.
She didn’t need to look around to know that everypony was waiting for her decision. Iron Will attempted to look as friendly and welcoming as possible, but the tension was plainly written over his face.
Twilight sighed internally, “My life was so much easier before I got wings. How can my opinion be taken in such high regards? I certainly didn’t feel more intelligent or wiser after my ascension.”
“Twilight would appreciate it. Please, lead the way,” she said with forced politeness.
She noticed that while Iron Will didn’t say anything, he seemed to be ecstatic and led them to a more separated area where clearly the more important customers were gathered. They crossed a miniature river over a stony bridge on their way. The calming sounds of water and cushioned chairs awaited them.
On the way Sunset explained shortly that the minotaur clan of the Silver Rings, recognizable thanks to the carved rings on the base of each of their silver colored horns and the silver nose ring, had the quirk to speak of themselves in the third person. As did 10 clans in total, foremost the relatively unknown island tribes as well as many nomads.
It served as a means to be recognized by the spirits of their ancestors while they lived so that they would earn the privilege to pass the White Gate, what their culture described as the door to the realm of the dead. In other words he would deserve the right to be reunited with his brethren after living an honorable life once more. The second reason was that mentioning your own name in your speech would ensure that all deeds would be connected to the right family and by extension its clan.
And it was considered incredibly rude and disrespectful not to speak in the same way if you were a guest of a clan member and in her or his domain. Of course Iron Will didn’t care how they spoke in his restaurant as he didn’t expect that his traditions were known so far from home.
He tried to speak more or less in the first person when he arrived in Equestria to be more approachable for the locals, it felt just wrong. Nonetheless he was sincerely thankful for their attempt to honor such an ancient custom.
Although most citizens of Tauredonien didn’t practice it anymore, they still worshipped Azan, the Goddess of Hunt and believed in the White Gate. But they distanced themselves from many of the older traditions.
It was fascinating for the lavender scholar, the finer details of minotaur culture and their religion was never a subject of her curriculum during her studies.
Their bulky host poured them cooled water from a pitcher that had already been prepared into small glasses and gave them a menu each, “Iron Will hopes you will enjoy yourself. He will send one of his waiters to take your orders as soon as possible. Is there anything else Iron Will can do for you?”
The Princess of Friendship smiled sheepishly, “Yes, but first Twilight owes Iron Will an apology. She overreacted over something a small talk could have resolved before causing a scene.” She thought that this was a good moment as any to speak her mind, "Then there is indeed something Twilight is curious about. She heard of you thanks to her friends, specially a pegasus with the name Fluttershy, you may remember her.”
Iron Will scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. “How could he not? Iron Will has to admit that he came to Equestria to teach you ponies how to be more assertive, because Iron Will heard that you are terrible when it comes to conflicts.” He ignored their blank looks like it was nothing. “But he has to admit that Iron Will might have gotten carried away by the opportunity to start a big business in another kingdom. He didn’t expect that this timid mare would find her solace in Iron Will’s teachings to such an… excessive degree.”
Sunset snorted at his statement. The growing greed of a minotaur, if riches were a possible reward, could only be outmatched by gryphons and dragons. Though plenty of Equestrian nobles and merchants weren’t much better in that regard either.
“Well, Sunset is glad to hear that you found another way to make a living,” the unicorn started. “It’s pretty rare to find a minotaur who doesn’t try to sell something related to military or hunting equipment.”
Their host smirked, “Iron Will doesn’t want to brag, but he was always a good cook.” His smile faded a little. “Just not the greatest warrior or hunter in comparison. So Iron Will decided to make the Iron Gut to his second chance when he ran out of business with his coaching courses.”
Twilight was satisfied and let him go. Then she turned her head and looked at her friend, “How?”
A somber, but nostalgic smile graced Sunset’s lips, “I took to every lesson but the most important ones. I grew self-centered and arrogant, seeing others as objects which only served as a means to an end for me in order to achieve my goals, politics. She brought me with her to various diplomatic business trips beyond Equestria, Tauredonien as one of them. All the things she did for me, and I interpreted them as her plan to groom me for princesshood. I convinced myself that I would one day rule alongside the Princess of the Sun, that I didn’t need anything else to be happy in life.”
The Princess of Friendship pouted, “She never took me somewhere else. I was only taught about everything regarding politics during our lessons or when I read about it.”
Beet red cheeks were the answer. “I guess that is another thing I messed up. She probably took that as a lesson for herself after my self-exile. Maybe she feared that you would develop similar traits like me if you were too involved in these kind of affairs.”
Twilight could guess from where the amber mare was coming from. Blueblood was tossed into the world of the silver word at an early age, same as Sunset. And both became… hard to deal with when they were older.
Cadence wasn’t really involved until much later for other reasons. Her ascension meant she needed a more complete education than a simple farming village had given her. And then there was her new horn and the magic it gave her access to. She had a lot of catching up to do with unicorns of her age, lots and lots of it, starting with magical kindergarten.
“Don’t worry, I’m not mad. I was just surprised to hear that the princess took you with her on her trips,” the alicorn assured calmly. “She let me sit with her during court, but only to observe.”
Whenever a noble would approach her younger self, her foalsitter or her family would intervene quickly. They tried to protect Twilight from ponies that saw the personal student of Princess Celestia as an opportunity to boost their reputation.
The next moment one of the amusingly dressed goats was approaching them to take their orders. Both didn’t know if their waiter understood them correctly, but... he? She? Whatever, the goat wrote something down and left again.
“Did you see the casserole in the menu? It looked to die for,” Sunset said in anticipation.
They enjoyed their meals, the atmosphere was wonderful and they told each other about silly things they did as foals to impress Celestia as her newly announced personal students. The duo laughed wholeheartedly when it came out that both of them built a book fort in front of the princess’ chamber in order to protect her.
Camp Sunshine and Fort Knowledge.
“It was delicious,” Twilight commented, sincerely surprised by the good quality, and very satisfied. The hay fries were excellent.
Before the unicorn could voice her own opinion a familiar snooty voice destroyed the atmosphere completely. “You call this disgusting slop food!? Admit it, you were trying to harm me! I will make sure that this insult of architecture will be shut down for good! This, I can promise you!”
They jumped out of their seats to see what the commotion was all about, then the duo saw its source.
Sunset was angry in a blink of an eye, “Those two again?” she whispered venomously.
The youngest monarch didn’t like where this was going at all. “Stay here, I think it is better when we try to talk this out like reasonable adults.”
She was glad that Rainbow Dash wasn’t here.
Her friend grinned slyly, “I didn’t plan to punch them, I would have glared those snobs into the ground until they were crying.” Bowing submissively, “But you have a point, forgive my forwardness. What does a common mare as me know about the finer aspects of society anyway? I am but a simple escort after all. Please do hurry, Your Highness, I will keep the bed warm for you in the meantime.”
Twilight could literally feel how her ears were burning from the remark. And here she thought that Cadence was bad enough, now there were two of them!
“I am Lord Grayhoof and this is my wife, Lady Lightmane. We are close friends of the Blueblood Family and you will show us the respect we deserve, beast,” the older stallion reprimanded coldly.
Iron Will wanted to curse Azan for his bad luck, but that would be blasphemy. Of course it was destined to happen that he had to run into xenophobes. It was obviously only a matter of time until some higher noble was bored out of his mind and needed someone new to take it out on.
He really didn’t want to lose this place. Iron Will had used the last of his money to open it, and he would have to return home without something to show for. Iron Will could already hear the mocking laughter of the other minotaurs his age who made fun of him for wanting to come to Equestria in the first place.
The owner of the Iron Gut wondered how much effort and time he would have to put into the necessary courses to acquire his licenses and when his airship could be bought or built, maybe both. His very last project.
Probably years...
And then there was the problem to keep afloat. In this case he would have to look for a unhibated piece of forest to hunt and search for his food without wasting too much bits. His teachings would finally be put to a test.
But being a cruise director wasn’t really high on his list, more a last straw option. Already keeping the goats happy until they could start with the next project would devour all of the income he earned since the opening.
A last try it was, “Sir, Iron Will can assure you that there is nothing wrong with the soup. He made it personally, none of his assistants could have over salted it.”
Grayhoof looked genuinely mad. “Are you calling me a liar?! You should learn your place beneath your better! And learn to speak Equish properly for Celestia’s Sake!”
“Enough!” called a voice familiar to all that were involved.
The Princess of Friendship was slowly walking towards them, trying to look as regal as possible. It was a worthy attempt, if one ignored the awkwardness in her step. Iron Will could have sworn that she glared at the couple like she knew them somehow.
“What seems to be the problem?” Twilight Sparkle demanded to know. The lavender mare winced as if she hadn’t planned to sound this harsh.
Lightmane pointed accusingly at the minotaur, “Your Highness, we are most fortunate that you are here. This thing tried to poison my husband with an overdose of salt!”
The young ruler sighed lightly before she responded, giving the older mare a dry look, “Then I guess you won’t mind if I taste the soup for myself to verify your claims, right?”
It was Grayhoof who suddenly appeared to be very nervous, “Princess, you shouldn’t put yourself in danger like this. Let one of the guards-”
Twilight ignored him and took a sip, and as she expected, nothing. “It tastes like a normal carrot soup to me. But you made a good point Lord Grayhoof, we should call for the guards. And then you will both answer for disruption of harmony, threatening Mr. Will, blatant racism and the poor attempt to frame him for a crime that never occurred. I heard what you said,” smiling sweetly, “and I am certain that somepony as important as you will understand that such an incident can’t go unpunished.”
Lightmane took a much more defensive stance, in fact she seemed sincerely scandalized, “Your Highness, you can’t be serious! Why would you side with this brute!? His kind promotes barbarism and violence, somepony as him shouldn’t be allowed in our great nation!”
Iron Will was near ready to explode into this mare’s face. She was lucky that his trusty meat cleaver was still in the kitchen. He might accidently let it slip from his hand. Of course he couldn’t say that out loud, ponies didn’t understand such humor at all from what he gathered.
In his culture such a dispute would have been solved by an honorable duel. You didn’t just insult another minotaur’s pride and could expect to walk away unchallenged.
Iron Will imagined that the young princess was most likely grinding her teeth if her expression was anything to go by.
“A nation that is supposed to be built upon tolerance, something you clearly lack, Lady Lightmane.” Most of the curious onlookers gasped in shock, the older pair included. A lone amber colored mare in the background tried to muffle her choking laughter with both hooves in front of her muzzle. “Please follow me outside, we will look for a nearby guard and settle this.” She closed the distance and whispered only for Grayhoof and Lightmane to hear, “And don’t think I forgot what you said earlier. You lacked the context and basically accused one of my best friends of being a harlot.” Her eyes told stories about an approaching storm of fury. And its targets were already chosen.
The two unicorns gulped nervously.
Everypony was mesmerized as the Princess of Friendship led the fearful couple and an amused Iron Will outside. Sunset wasn’t sure if she should be proud or scared.
“I think I just corrupted Twilight’s innocence. I am such an evil mare,” she said to nopony in particular.
“Then in this case I need to express my deepest gratitude, Lady Shimmer. You succeeded where everypony else failed,” a to her unknown female voice said from the side in a slightly sophisticated tone.
Sunset was surprised by the fact that this earth pony seemed to know her. She was middle-aged and wore a white high color with a fancy turquoise cravat at the front. On her nose sat semi-circular blue tinted glasses with golden frames on the upper side. Her coat was a pale light grayish amber, the mane and tail were both wavy and light cornflower bluish gray, with a lighter streak in the middle. Her moderate phthalo blue eyes and a Cutie Mark that showed her clear talent for politics completed the appearance, a tan scroll with a blue ribbon around it.
The mysterious Pony chuckled coyly at her confused face, “May I sit?”
She gestured carefully for the unknown mare to take her friend’s former chair.
Now the protégé of magic received a calming smile. “Princess Twilight should have her hooves full for the time being and I couldn’t resist but notice that it was, well, interesting to see our local monarch and librarian in a place like this. Usually you wouldn’t catch her dead in areas where special treatment was provided for the rich and powerful.”
Sunset put on a neutral expression, “I fear you have me at a disadvantage, madam. Should I know you? I am Sunset Shimmer, but I’m certain you knew that already.”
The earth pony laughed softly, “Where are my manners? My name is Mayor Mare, I’m the mayor of Ponyville.”
Sunset had to keep herself from snorting.
Amusement could be heard in the mayor’s voice, “I must admit it never gets old to see the reaction of somepony who hears my name and occupation for the first time.”
She decided to be friendly instead of hostile, for now. Nothing indicated on some sort of scheme. “What circumstances do I owe the pleasure of meeting you, Mayor? Not that I don’t value this unexpected meeting, but I didn’t know that my name reached the ears of politicians beyond Canterlot. Especially if one considers that I was indisposed for a very long time and took a more inactive role in the last years.”
Understatement of the century.
“Fair enough. For the last two days I participated in an annual meeting that Ponyville wasn’t included in before Princess Twilight ascended. I thought this restaurant would be a good end to my trip before I return to my never ending battle against paperwork.” They both grinned at the small jab against Equestrian bureaucracy. “But I think you know what I am talking about,” Mayor Mare explained, remaining polite and friendly during their entire conversation.
The amber mare remembered her lessons well, “Yes, it makes sense to invite you.”
The Canterlot Conference was a get-together only between mayors of the most influential cities Equestria's, and Ponyville, a mere farmer’s village, was anything but. That was until it had its own princess.
Her mother once told her that it served as a means to improve the relationships between her subjects and hoped that fruitful results would come from this, benefiting the country as a whole.
Sunset never heard of any real breakthroughs. Perhaps something interesting occurred during her absence?
“And concerning your reputation, a pony can’t be the elected mayor of Ponyville for 22 years if one hasn’t a few tricks up her hooves or when you can’t keep yourself up-to-date concerning all relevant developments in and around your jurisdiction. I heard a lot about the infamous Sunset Shimmer, star student extraordinary, debated as a second Clover the Clever, but calculating and cold-hearted to everypony who tries get to know her. I can’t really say that what I heard is true,” the older mare said in a more critical tone.
“Ahh, the titles and homages to my person. Another reason I thought of myself as superior,” the unicorn thought regretfully. “You are not wrong, I really was an awful pony and I paid the price for my arrogance, believe me. I really hope you can see it in yourself to judge me by the present and not the past.”
The mayor’s signature smile came back in an instant, “You must have underwent a rough process of change, indeed. I shall give you the benefit of a doubt. The Sunset Shimmer I heard many unflattering stories about wouldn’t be so… humble and accepting of criticism. No offense.”
A relieved sigh escaped Sunset, but some things never changed it seemed, “None taken. And I’m glad to hear that.” Then curiosity dominated her, “You said that you wanted to thank me. For what exactly?”
“For your positive influence on Princess Twilight of course. I meant what I said earlier, she is more stubborn than a mule when it comes to her new life as a supposed-to-be ruler, no offense to our distant cousins of course. She doesn’t like it in the slightest when you call her by her title and sadly none have managed to convince Miss Sparkle that her princesshood isn’t something we can just ignore only to please her feelings. That is not how it works and stands against everything our decorum dictates.” A joyful twinkle shined in her eyes. “So you can imagine my surprise to see her in action like that.”
Sunset blushed from the unexpected compliment. “I merely gave her a few pointers. Twilight saved me from committing the greatest mistake in my life and we became friends afterwards. I just want to repay her for everything she did for me.”
“Oh? No title this time?” She silenced a possibly panicked response. “I jest, Lady Shimmer. It is good to know that she finally found a pony who managed to make her see reason. I think you are the right mare we waited for.”
The unicorn took another sip of her water. “Waited for?”
“Oh yes. The other Element Bearers are too close to her. If they try to show her status the respect it deserved it would damage their friendship irreversibly and the rest of Ponyville’s citizens, myself included, are not close enough. At least she never accepted our reasoning for addressing her like we do since her ascension.” The mayor enjoyed her own drink that she had brought with her from her original table. “But you seem to be a close friend to her and still have the needed connection with each other and personal upbringing to speak facts Her Highness needs to hear. Your words will be taken to heart without sounding like the product of somepony who only sees her crown, but not the mare behind it.” She chuckled dryly, “Not everypony is suitable for the unique circumstances of our small town and earned her position like Ms. Sparkle did.”
Mayor Mare lost count in how many situations they were saved by the leadership of their newest ruler, metaphorically and literally. The last Winter Wrap Up and the Ursa Minor incident came to mind. Of course the situation with the parasprites could have been solved much better in the end, but nopony was perfect.
Now Sunset understood why her friend always winced strongly like she was hit during the Battle of the Bands whenever one the other girls called her a princess. Her mood soured significantly when she only thought about them, but pushed it into the back of her mind.
“You make it sound like ruling over Ponyville might be a big challenge,” Sunset commented curiously.
“We got better. But I can assure you that she couldn’t have saved herself from work 20 to 30 years ago,” Mayor Mare said with a distant look.
“Hmm, from what she told me Ponyville is relatively safe except the occasional animal attack from the Everfree Forest…” the amber mare added thoughtfully.
“Yes, nowadays. Thanks to newly added magic wards which convince most animals and monsters that there is nothing to hunt, only the more intelligent specimen see through them,” came the further explanation.
Sunset wanted to know more, “And why weren’t they used earlier? A ward or a protection rune aren’t the most difficult things to create if somepony knows how.”
The Mayor looked uncertain, “I don’t know much about the mechanisms of magic, only what I was told. It seems that the natural energy of the Everfree Forest is much more, well, ‘wild’ and ‘untamed’ were the terms. The scholars didn’t know how to deal with it, the entire forest acts completely different from what they are used to. Two years ago a zebra hermit with the name Zecora presented a solution. She lives in the Everfree near Ponyville and somehow understands how it works.”
Sunset wasn’t sure if she imagined it, but for a moment she had the impression that the mayor sounded ashamed.
“But I never heard about any incidents involving huge numbers of animals.” The unicorn was slightly confused. She was certain that the Canterlot Times would have written about it. Especially when a village so close to the capitol was the victim.
Mayor Mare glared grimly at the table. “Our peace is a product of sweat and blood, Lady Shimmer. After its founding, Ponyville was like a free buffet in the eyes of the local predators. The Royal Guard had to fight them off for a very long time. But slowly they understood that we wouldn’t go down without a fight until the attacks nearly ceased completely.”
Sunset felt a story behind the earth pony’s change of attitude, “What happened?”
It shocked her that the mayor had suddenly a snarl on her face, voice filled with contempt, “Poachers. Did you know that a cragadile egg is worth a fortune on the black market because of its exotic appearance?” She snorted angrily. “They stole the eggs of the local population from the Hayseed Swamps and chose to take a break in Ponyville as a stopover. I think you were a filly when it happened if I judge your age correctly.”
The protégé of magic didn’t feel anything else than fury. Even during her worst, poaching always disgusted her greatly. There was a big difference between a hunt to survive from the spoils of nature and the thrill to kill for sports and fortune.
“What nopony expected was that they were unforgiving when it came to their offsprings. They pursued them mercilessly and the poachers hoped that they were safe in our, to this time, small village. An error of judgement that cost many innocent citizens their lives before Princess Celestia herself came to deal with the situation.” Mayor Mare shook her head in resignation. “21 earth ponies and seven pegasi, 28 souls were lost to us. It was without saying the most horrible day in the history of our community.”
Sunset gasped quietly and looked down in sorrow before she locked eyes again. She knew the expression of the mayor well. Loss. Was it a family member? A good friend? She wasn’t sure, but didn’t feel like poking around either. It was clearly a sensitive matter.
She grimaced. Cragadiles were gigantic reptiles that could reach a length of 13 meter, if she translated the measurement of ‘hooves’ into a better scale. Their jaws could bite a pony in two if the victim was unlucky enough. And instead of scales, like most reptiles, the whole body was covered by thick masses of stone and crystal, what made it even harder to penetrate their defense. Not that it would stop them from being much more agile than somepony would expect from a creature of this size.
“I see. Well, thanks for the kind words, Mayor, but there is one thing I would like to know after all. Why are you calling me a ‘lady’?” Sunset asked with a little annoyance in her voice. Was there something the amber mare wasn’t aware of?
The depressing atmosphere vanished and a mysterious smile graced Mayor Mare’s features, “Do you remember the former royal head physician?”
The Unicorn giggled fondly, “Of course. He was an earth pony, the best of his line and one of the stallions I liked the most when I was younger because of his entire name, Head Check Mare. We joked about it when I was sick and always called him Doctor… Mare…” Sunset gave the now grinning mayor a sheepish look. “Seriously?”
The older earth pony chuckled amusedly, “What can I say? Father had a fun night with his colleagues and was very talkative when he came back. But don’t worry, he didn’t say anything he shouldn’t in the company of his friends from what I heard and I promised him not to tell anything. I mean who could claim to be the personal doctor of Princess Celestia’s unofficial daughter?” She bowed slightly, being completely serious. “Your secret is safe with me, Milady.”
Sunset didn’t really know what to say to that, “Thanks, I would appreciate that. But the thing with Twilight was no big deal, really.”
“Oh, but I disagree. You both taught each other lessons you needed to learn. Don’t underestimate the role you played in Princess Twilight’s recent development.” Mayor Mare stood up. “Perhaps we shall meet each other again. Have a good day, Lady Shimmer.”
The amber unicorn followed the mayor silently with her eyes, when a scroll suddenly appeared in front of her. It had the seal of her mother.
The owner of the restaurant looked visibly pleased and happy, “Iron Will wants to thank you from the depth of his well-trained heart. He would have lost everything today because of these two if not for your help. Princess Twilight, you and your friend are welcome to dine in the Iron Gut at any time. Your next meal will obviously be on Iron Will.”
Sunset answered quickly before Twilight could ruin it, “Princess Twilight and Sunset Shimmer will gladly accept your generous offer. Sunset understands completely how hard it must be for you and we will make sure your generosity will be rewarded accordingly.” She smiled worriedly at him, “Be more careful in the future. Iron Will was lucky that we decided to come by today, but there are more who might try to shut down your restaurant.”
Their former host nodded firmly. “He will. Iron Will is relieved to know that you understand the sacrifice Iron Will just made. Wasting possible income is very frowned upon in his homeland, but after how his last business ended, Iron Will decided to remain assertive as always. Only this time with a pony friendlier touch.”
The unicorn decided to humor him, “Oh?”
He pushed his muscled chest out and tensed his impressive biceps. “Iron Will came up with a new slogan to show how much he changed!” The minotaur bull gave a thumbs up and took the same pose, with the same cocky smile, they saw on the sign, “Iron Will’s my name, cooking for ponies is my game!”
An abridged version of his former motto when he was still a self help guru.
Iron Will entered the Iron Gut when he was satisfied with their reactions, leaving the royal duo behind.
Twilight wasn’t amused and glared at the older mare, “Sunset…”
Her amber friend played the clueless one, “What? I couldn’t let you commit a terrible mistake!”
“B-but accepting a discount of such magnitude is-”
“The right thing to do.” She coughed at the received look. “Honestly? Rewards come with being a princess, and you just accept without discussion in most cases. Not only did we make him happy, and gained yourself a supporter from another country I might add, but we can save bits this way. It’s a win-win for everypony, especially when word gets out that Princess Twilight enjoys dining at the Iron Gut.”
Twilight lips formed a thin line, “That isn’t necessarily a compelling argument. I admit that you point out positive effects from the political and economical side, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
Sunset sighed in reluctant acceptance of the other mare’s opinion. “There is no pleasing you, is there?” Another thought came to her mind, it made her grin, “Though what can I say? I am maybe a reformed bully, but not stupid enough to toss something like nearly free food away. Twilight, you still have so much to learn before you can graduate from Sunset’s School for gifted Crown Aspirants.” She sounded like a disappointed teacher.
The Princess of Friendship couldn’t believe how this mare always seemed to have a comeback for everything she said and shook her head. But now to more pressing matters, “And Princess Celestia really didn’t write anything else? Maybe a hidden code or invisible ink?” She read the letter herself at least four times already, but couldn’t make any sense from the message.
Sunset didn’t understand it either, but the unicorn expected a prank at some point. There was no other explanation when her mother acted cryptically. “Well, I guess we have to bite the bullet.” Twilight looked at her like she said something stupid. “Human expression. But there is really nothing else written on both sides.”
Next destination, the Military District.