//------------------------------//
// 7 - Encounters at the Pony End of the World 
// Story: So, You Want to be a Princess? 
// by Meep the Changeling 
//------------------------------//



Princess Cadence - 4/28/2018

Eventide Hall - Canterlot Suburbs, Equestria

The afternoon sun cast long shadows across Eventide’s courtyard. The garden-like courtyard had been specifically built lower than the ground outside, creating the illusion of higher walls, and earlier sunsets. An aesthetic choice on the part of the Hall’s ancient designers which Cadence was most certainly not a fan of.

Cadence looked up at the rooftops and set down the ten plates she had been levitating during her meditations. She turned her head to look over to Shining, who was laying down on her left in the same pose she had taken.

“Shining? Do you think I’ll be able to do anything significant with three weeks of training?”

Shining’s ears perked at the sound of Cadence’s voice. He slowly opened his eyes, revealing he had been napping instead of meditating. “Mmm?”

Carla’s brow and ears drooped down. “Really? You went to sleep? We were supposed to be meditating together!”

Shining yawned, nodded, and stretched exactly like a cat. Cadence’s cheeks bulged as an involuntary smile wiped away her annoyance. “Yaam… Sorry, hon. It’s just that I am so far past this stage it’s excruciatingly boring for me. I haven't done meditative focusing since primary school.”

Cadence snorted and rolled her eyes. “Foal stuff. She has me doing foal stuff. There is no way I’ll master even a single major spell in three weeks doing foal stuff.”

Shining sat on his hindquarters and shrugged. “Maybe you will, maybe you won't. But you have to start somewhere. We showed you how to use your magic, you learned the basic spells needed to control your magic. Now you need to learn how to access your magic and maintain it for extended periods. That takes time. Some unicorns never master it and are limited to basic spells their whole lives. Then there’s my sister, who mastered it in twenty minutes…”

Cadence’s wings opened up as her jaw dropped. “Twenty minutes? Why the buck aren't we having her tutor me?!”

Shining giggled. “Random aside: You’ve switched over to using pony curses. It’s cute.”

Cadence closed her eyes tightly. “Yes. I remember swearing like that for decades. It’s a bit hard to swear properly now… But seriously, I know the cover has me as having foal sat for Twily, but there’s no reason we can’t ask her to tutor me.”

Shining snorted and opened his mouth to speak. He paused, an amused gleam twinkling in his eyes. He closed his eyes, focusing on his shapechanging gem and quickly copied Cadence’s appearance.

Cadence raised an eyebrow as Shining transformed, but before she could ask him why Shining turned stage left and cleared his throat. “Ahem! Tiny purple terror who has known me all her life. Despite me being an alicorn, and decades older than you, I never learned the spellcraft you learned before your parents let you ride a bike more than a block away from home.”

Cadence sighed and rolled her eyes. “I get it, Shining.”

Shining closed his eyes and shape changed again. He assumed the shape of a short, young, lavender unicorn mare and turned stage left. “That sounds highly suspicious. I, Book Horse, have read of every monster on Equus, including the ones that imitate people you know to eat you. I think you’re actually a monster. Adabra-ka-houseplant!”

Shining focused his magic on a nearby decorative rock, and with a massive burst of pink energy transmuted the stone into a small aloe vera plant complete with terracotta jar. Cadence yelped and jumped back from the display of arcane might.

“Aaa! Didn’t you say taking her form was a terrible idea? As in, city-killing?” Cadence said, her eyes wide in terror.

Shining rolled his eyes and transformed back into his normal self. “Relax, hon. I turned into a mare who looked like my sister, not my sister. But seriously, the you know whats are not the only monster here that can be anyone. The problem is they are the only intelligent ones.”

Cadence nodded slowly. The transformed plants began to turn gray, transforming into a rock shaped like a potted aloe plant. Cadence tilted her head as she watched the plant change back to stone. “Huh… Why didn’t it turn back into a disk shape?”

Shining picked the plant-rock up with his magic and held it in front of Cadence for her to inspect. “The nature of magic is… complicated. Magic always takes the shortest path to the goal you give it. I told the spell to change this rock into a plant. I didn’t say to change it forever, or for a certain period of time, or to return to the original shape. The magic followed my instructions exactly while abiding by natural law.. It turned the rock into a plant for a little bit, then back into a rock, because there’s a natural order to things and that rock was meant to be a rock.”

Cadence sputtered and threw up her hooves. “That sounds like something I should have bucking known days ago! Magic has rules it follows. There’s a natural law. You need to instruct spells to go against that law or they won't. Magic uses the shortest path. Why am I not being told these things? Don’t I have god-like power? Seriously, what the actual buck?”

Shining set the plant-rock down and sat next to Cadence, leaning up against her right side lovingly. “Sweetie, you are. These laws are known to ponykind through meditation and reflection. Magic tells you its rules over time. You don't memorize them, you feel them.”

Cadence moaned and folded her wings in before letting herself drop backwards onto the ground. “Again, that’s something you should have told me!”

Shining blinked. “Uh, no? Everypony knows that.”

Cadence slowly turned towards Shining, giving him the best deadpan glare a pink pony could.

Shining's ears dropped down. “Oh. Right… Heh heh… Sorry?” The stallion shrugged and offered his mare an apologetic smile.

Cadence rolled over and stood up, flicking her tail in irritation. “I’m done for now. We can get back to meditating later. I’m going to do literally anything else.”

Shining frowned for a moment, then his eyes twinkled mischievously. “Aaannnything?” He asked, twitching his eyebrows.

Cadence thought about it for a moment then shook her head. “Nah… Still a bit sore from yesterday. Also, I think we’ve driven poor Cherry to drink.”

Shining snickered. “Ah, she’s fine! Ponies haven’t invented any alcohol over three percent. The best we have is hard cider that’s not even that hard. Half-chub cider, if you will.”

Cadence pursed her lips. “Really? How on— Nevermind. That’s beside the point. The point is, I think my bits are bruised and we should hold off until we can hire a maid who's at least okay with cleaning up after us. Or happy to. Preferably happy.”

Shining rolled his eyes. “Heh. Royals. We could just clean it ourselves you know.”

Cadence’s tail swished behind her. “Yeah… But it’s kinkier when someone else does it.”

Shining sputtered, biting his lip to hold back a laugh. “Heh, alright. If that’s one of your things I’m okay with it.”

Cadence’s cheeks flushed. “It wasn’t… But I guess it’s like alcohol. Once you have the good stuff you don’t go back to the cheap stuff.” Cadence’s blushed cleared quickly. Her eyes shrank to pinpricks. “Wait, you have NOTHING over three percent?”

Shining shook his head. “Nope. Frankly how high your drinks are freaked me out a little. I’m not sure how you can drink that and not die. I tried Vodka once, like, as a pony. I thought I did die.”

Cadence paused, a whole sea of health questions plunged through her brain at once. “Okay… But you were fine? Nothing bad happened?”

Shining squirmed in place and shook his head. “W— Well… Uh…”

Cadence’s wings spread in alarm. “Shining, please… I like my drinks. If I have to stick to the percent or less I need a good reason for it.”

Shining coughed into his hoof. “I’ve got a friend who's gay. I flirt with him as a joke. He flirts back. It’s fun because people give us confused looks. He kinda looks like my dad if you squint really hard…”

Cadence snickered, managing to let her laugh out as merely a giggle instead of a chortle. She trotted over to Shining and gave him a quick hug. “Shiny, Vodka is forty percent. How much did you have?”

“Oh…” Shining pursed his lips. “So, it’s not a thing to have a pint of?”

“No. You have a shot. Or mix it with some other drink. That was on YOU not the alcohol,” Cadence hummed as an idea occurred to her. “Hey, do you have homebrewing here? Is it legal?”

Shining nodded. “Yeah, totally. We don’t require a license or anything to make or even sell the stuff. There’s a family in Ponyville that sells a hard cider once a year as like a famous regional treat. Why? Oh! Do you want to make your own so you have stuff like you did on Earth? I think I could talk Celestia into letting us pop over for shopping trips.”

Cadence put her hoof to her chin in thought, then shook her head. “As nice as that sounds, I don’t want to go home. Not right now. I’ve got a job to do here… But I should see the people I’m here to protect and eventually rule over, shouldn’t I? I may be pink and super-ultra-overly-fem, but the kind of people who like to make their own drinks, tinker with their bikes, and go shooting on the weekend are my kind of people. I’d like to see if there are any ponies out there that Id’ fit in with.”

Shining’s ears perked. “Oh totally! We can go to Canterlot and take a walk. Princess Celestia wanted us to make public appearances anyways. We can get whatever you need to brew your paint-thinner, and I can stop by the Equoid’s Dungeon and pick up this week’s comics!”

Cadence blinked in surprise, only for her implanted memories to inform her that Shining had been a regular comic book fan since they had met. Among other things. “That’s where you play Oubliettes and Ogres with your friends, right?”

Shining nodded. “Yeah! It’s a nice place. I don’t think you’ve been there…” Shining closed his eyes as he traced back through all of their fictional history. “Nope. Not even in pretend. Weird! I would have taken you for cert— Wait! You haven't ever met my friends aside from school things! That’s not okay!”

Cadence’s eyes widened, she nodded firmly. “Abso-bucking-lutely not! The wedding’s been announced already. Your friends should have been my friends too a long time ago. Let’s swing by… I think you mentioned one of your friends owned it.”

Shining nodded twice. “Mhm! Gaffer took it over from his dad after High School.”

Cadence rolled her lips thoughtfully. “He’s the one who looks like a jock, right? Orangish-and-cream bi-color fur. Short blond mane. Cutiemark in the shape of a weird die? I don’t remember seeing any of them for the last… eight years. What the hay? I thought you programmed these memories! How could you leave this big of a hole?”

Shining nodded and began to trot for the Courtyard’s exit. “Yep! I sure did vaguely direct them which is all you can do. Come on, we’ve got to patch this hole.”

The two made their way through the estate to the gateway. In addition to being a normal gate with a lovely wrought iron gate for keeping nosy ground-bound ponies out, the gate had been designed to serve as a portal. Not everypony could teleport long-distances and oftentimes foreign dignitaries were offered rooms at the Hall for the duration of their stay in Equestria. These ponies used the portal to reach the Hall from the Palace.


The trip from the Hall to the Palace was interesting for Cadence. Her mind remembered making this trip every day to attend school. By the time she and Shining had left the palace grounds Cadence had finished sulking about not getting to see Canterlot for the first time. Then she saw it for real for the first time.

Gleaming ivory towers. Cobblestone streets made from a shiny-yellow rock to give the illusion of golden roads. Genuine gold roofs. Expensive crystal windows. Hundreds of ponies everywhere dressed in finery to display their wealth or status. Everyone you could look, the Streets of Canterlot showed the might, wealth, and flavor of Equestrian culture. Just as it had been designed to.

Cadence followed along after Shining, silently angry that the city appeared entirely normal and even familiar to her. “It would have been nice to really see this for the first time.”

Shining’s ears drooped back. “Oh… Right… Well, don’t worry. I’m sure the Crystal Empire will put this to shame.”

The two continued traveling, eventually reaching a small two story shop on the outskirts of the city. A carved wooden sign in the shape of a foaming mug hung over the street, advertising “The greatest brewing supplies in all Equestria” rather than bearing the store’s name.

Shining trotted forwards and opened the door for Cadence, bowing playfully. “Your highness.”

Cadence took a step forward. Someone inside the store gasped and hissed. “ACK! It’s the Princess! Hide the commoner stuff!”

Cadence’s eyes narrowed. She sped up, zipping up tho the counter in an instant and looking the oddly frightened extra tall creamy-tan and orange Earth-pony clerk directly in his mauve eyes. “I heard that! You put that stuff right back where it was and give me a bottle!”

The clerk sputtered, backing away from Cadence as far as the narrow space behind him permitted. Bottles clinking as his plot pushed them into wooden shelves. “N— Now, P— Princess! I’m sorry. I— I don’t want to offend your royal palate! We sell products which are nothing like the wines provided to your kitchens and—”

Cadence leaned over the counter and grabbed the nearly-hysterical stallion by his shoulders. “Yes! That’s why I want it. Have you had Château Maregaux? It tastes like the wimpiest grapes in the world peed in your mouth!”

The clerk's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “Y— Your Majesty prefers commoner drinks?”

Cadence nodded and let go of the now thoroughly confused Clerk. “Yes. Now. Do you have any porter?”

The clerk tilted his head. “I’m not familiar with that one. Is it a malt?”

Cadence shook her head. “No, it’s a type of beer. What about stouts? Do you have any of those?”

The Clerk shook his head again and Cadence’s ears drooped sadly. “Aww… Ponyfeathers,” She grumbled to herself. “I’ll have to make some.”

The clerk behind the counter’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. “You, a Princess, homebrew?”

A white furred, orange maned pegasus mare who had been unboxing bottles of Cider took to the air to look over the shelves she had been filling. “Princess Cadence, is in our store, to get brewing supplies?!”

Cadence turned her head to look over towards the pegasus. “Yes. I am. I haven't brewed anything in years. I found— Well, there used to be a store that carried what I like. I can’t visit it anymore.”

The clerk cleared his throat. “Um, may I ask why?”

Cadence’s implanted memories supplied her with the perfect answer. She rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. “Politics.”

The Clerk frowned, his eyes looking into Cadence’s with a sympathetic understanding. “I understand… I also don’t believe more, shall we say, traditional nobles would like it if they found your chambers stinking of cooking malt and hopps. It would be my pleasure to brew a batch of your favorite drink for you, your highness. I’ll even have Bootleg deliver it for you… As long as you don’t mind me selling your brew as an exclusive product for my store, and market it as your favorite drink. All of which you can deny, of course.”

Carla raised an eyebrow at the now smiling and calculating clerk. “Three things. First, I wont say okay till you’ve seen the recipe. Second, who in their right mind named a pony after a criminal act? Third, why would I deny it? I’m an adult, I like what I like, and I’ll endorse any drink I like if I like it.”

The pegasus mare flew over to the counter and hovered above it. She cleared her throat. “I’m Bootleg, Ma’am. It’s a nickname, because I do the deliveries and um, most noble look down on anypony who drinks anything other than wine.”

Cadence nodded slowly. “Yeah. They’re dicks. What do you expect them to do? Buck them, I want to drink something that doesn't taste like nearly frozen gnat’s urine. You know, anything that’s not a wine or BudLight Lime.”

Bootleg and the clerk shared a quick look between them. Bootleg looked over to Cadence, then back to her boss and nodded. “Yeah, you ask her, Malt.”

Cadence raised an eyebrow. “Ask me what?”

Malt cleared his throat. “There’s a rumor… That you were born in a remote village, and Princess Celestia adopted you. Is that true?”

Cadence frowned, her mind searching for the correct answer. She couldn’t find one. Fortunately, she knew how to make up her own.

Cadence nodded and offered him a friendly wink. “Something like that. I am closer to you guys than the rest of these high-society jerks. Look, all I want is something good to drink with dinners I’m not forced to spend smiling at politicians. Can you stop panicking?”

The two ponies nodded instantly. “Yes, Ma’am!” Bootleg said, landing atop the counter.

Mault gave her a sidelong look of disapproval. “Boot, she’s still a Princess. Manners.”

Cadence snorted and waved a hoof dismissively as her memories provided her with some basic information about pegasi. “She’s a Pegasus. They perch. It’s fine. Got a pen and paper?”

Cadence did her best to recall the recipe for Gale's Prize Old Ale she had made years and years ago. Her memory was fuzzy in a few places, but Mault’s expertise was able to fill in the gaps when Cadence had to describe a certain flavor or aroma rather than name an ingredient or a quantity.

As the three ponies puzzled out the recipe, Shining stood still in the doorway. He spent the fifteen minutes mostly awestruck, not wanting to interrupt, but quite certain that Princess Celestia wouldn’t approve of his mare’s decisions on how to act as a princess. Although Shining himself certainly approved.

Malt nodded to himself as he read through the recipe one final time. “Yes… This will most certainly be an ale. You described stouts as more rich than an ale, are you certain you want me to brew this for you?”

Cadence nodded. “Yes I am.”

Bootleg hummed and hovered overhead, reading through several times. “I’m not a brewmaster, but this stuff should be pretty strong… Shouldn’t we kill the fermentation after a day or so instead of a week?”

Mault shrugged. “Well, normally yes. But this is her Highness’s recipe. This is a concentrate, right? You mix it at the table with water, as it will lose flavor rapidly at proper hydration levels.”

Cadence giggled and only just barely stopped herself from ruffling the pony’s mane. “No, you drink it straight.”

Mault’s eyes popped out of his head. “At that strength? It’s going to be nearly twelve percent by volume.”

Cadence nodded. “Yes.”

Boot’s jaw dropped. “Where are you from where alcohol is a flavor and not a preservative?”

Cadence couldn't help herself. “New Hampshire. Average person drinks something like fifteen liters of ethanol in a year.”

Bootleg licked her lips. “So… You’re saying there’s a place out there somewhere where the average person drinks stuff like this, and like, once a day? You've got to have so many recipes we don’t! Can you share more sometime? Uh, ones a bit lighter? I like bitter drinks, not burning drinks. Oh! But I’ll try this one for sure!”

Malt gently elbowed Boot in the ribs. “Princess! Manners!”

Cadence rolled her eyes. “I’m off the clock. We’re all ponies here. Which is why I’ll stop in after a week so we can try this together, take notes, work out what to do differently.”

Malt coughed, his eyes widening. “Like, um… Like a Beerfest? But with you?”

Cadence’s ears lay flat. “Yes.”

It was Boot’s turn to elbow Malt in the ribs. “She said treat her like a normal person, Malt.”

Cadence nodded. “Right. At least when I’m not working. I get enough hoof-licking from Parliament… But not enough from Shining over there.” Cadence tipped her head towards Shining. “Hon? Why are you standing over there? The fun is over here.”

Malt nodded. “Oh yes! The wedding. Congratulations!”

Shining cleared his throat. “I— uh, sorry! I’m just a little surprised you like this kind of thing. Not that there’s anything wrong with it.”

Boot raised an eyebrow. “You’re getting married and he doesn't even know what you like to drink?”

Cadence giggled and nodded. “Yeah. Though I don’t know his friends very well either. We’re fixing the gaps in each other’s knowledge today.”

Mault smiled. “Wise decision, that. Well, I suppose I’ll see you in a week. Thank you for stopping by, your highness.”

“Cadence,” Cadence corrected as she turned to leave. “It was nice meeting you two… Oh!”

Cadene turned her head to look over her shoulder. “I need to replace a bike chain soon. I don’t get out to this side of town that often. Is there a good mechanc’s shop in town?”

Malt tilted his head. “Why would you go to a mechanic’s for a bicycle chain?”

Cadence shook her head. “Motorcycle. Not Bicycle.”

Boot pursed her lips. “You ride?”

Cadence nodded. “Mhm.”

“But you don’t know motor vehicles are banned in Canterlot?”

Cadence blinked. “They are? Huh… Well, no one person can be aware of every law on the books.”

Boot shrugged and landed on the counter once more. “Fair enough… But yeah, it’s part of the “Historic Preserve” thing your mom’s got going. You won't find a mechanics in Canterlot. Try Ponyville. It’s a half hour ride on the express— Pff, what am I saying? You can teleport! But yeah, Ponyville should have something.”

Cadence flashed both ponies a smile. “Thanks! Come on, Shining. Let’s go to your comic shop now.”

Cadence and Shining left the Brewer’s shop behind, unaware that within fifteen minutes word would begin to spread among Canterlot’s working class that Princess Cadence was the kind of mare to down extra-hard cider and race bikes. In short, she was one of them.

By the time Cadence and Shining arrived at the Equoid’s Dungeon Comic Shop, the Hay’s Angels biker gang had decided to accept the public invitation to the Princess’s wedding. After all, somepony had to bring party favors the Princess would actually like.

The Equoid’s Dungeon sat on the opposite side of town, right on the edge of the city’s mountainside platform. Such locations were to die for due to how inexpensive they made delivering products to Canterlot. Celestia’s vehicle ban meant ponies had to carry goods to storefronts by cart, and generally early in the morning to avoid hoof traffic. Wallside businesses simply had a few pegasi back up an airship and push crates inside.

As a direct result of their easy access to their product the wallside businesses flourished.

Cadence starred in a mixture of awe and shock at the comic shop’s storefront. The building had been described to her as “small” and yet it had to have at least six hundred square meters of space with each floor taken into consideration. The bottom floor’s front wall was all glass, and showed off costumes, props from popular fiction, advertisements for new comic titles, and even a few older limited edition RPG rulebooks.

Cadence’s wings flicked against her back. “I thought you said this place was small!”

Shining blinked. “It is. It’s a quarter the size you’d see anywhere else. Manehatten, Fillydelphia, Trottingham…”

Shining Trailed off as Cadence’s incredulous look only deepened. He smiled sheepishly and leaned in close to Cadence to whisper at a level the crowd around them wouldn’t hear. “It's a talent thing, okay? More nerds, because more specialized roles in society.”

Cadence nodded slowly, wanting to ask more being very much aware of the dozens of pairs of eyes on her at all times. “Okay, well, let’s just say hi to your friends.”

Shining nodded and trotted up to the door, opening it for Cadence with a hoof. Cadence walked forwards, worrying about how they would get around inside the store once the huge crowd of ponies that had started following her around earlier entered too. Much to Cadence’s surprise, the majority of them stayed outside as Shining walked in behind her.

Cadence nodded to herself happily. Huh. I guess Ponies are more polite groupies than humans. Good!

Shining took the lead this time and trotted between the narrow isles formed by hoof carved wooden shelves towards the counter. Despite doing his best to ignore the newest issues of the best selling stories the selves displayed, it still took Shining almost a full minute’s worth of nerdy gawking to get to the counter.

Cadence followed along, scanning the room as she walked. The news a princess had arrived at the shop seemingly spread at the speed of light and dozens of mares and stallions of all kinds were suddenly peeking out from behind shelves, displays, and out of gamerooms to get a look at Princess Cadence. As well as quietly argue over what she would buy and whether she thought Dragon Wars or Dragon Flight was better.

Odd… The ratio of mares to stallions here is about even. Do ponies lack some of the stigma over girls being nerds? Come to think of it, I see more mares overall than stallions. Is that a work thing where males are expected to work more and are therefore indoors right now, or is it like how Earth horses just have more girls than boys?

Shining at last reached the counter and did his best not to debate buying the limited edition Fausticorn statuette on display in a case behind the counter. After successfully rejecting the urge to spend a week’s pay on nerd merch for a second time this month, Shining reached out with a hoof and tapped the bell to call a worker.

No sooner did the bell ring than a stallion’s voice call out from a curtained off area behind the counter. “Be right with you!”

Shining smiled happily at the sound of his old friend’s voice. “Gaffer! It’s me. I brought my mare to say hello.”

The onlooking nerds collectively moaned. Somepony even calling out “No fair! How come he gets to date somepony that could pass as an elvenmare?”

“Dude, not cool!” Someone chastised. “Besides, she’s clearly at least as attractive as a demi-god.”

Cadence blinked and stared at the two mares as they begun to passionately argue their cases for her level of attractiveness in terms of mythological species. After a few moments Cadence turned to Shining, a puzzled look stamped on her face. “Is that an okay thing for them to say?”

Shining looked over at the two mares and narrowed his eyes. “No. Excuse me.”

Cadence watched as Shining marched towards the arguing mares. Her heart swelled at the thought of someone being willing to defend her honor. Even though Cadence could and would do so herself. She simply had not wished to cause a scene at—

Shining reached the arguing mares and cleared his throat. “Excuse me, but that’s my fiancee you’re talking about!”

Cadence nodded in approval. It’s great that people think I look nice. But arguing over me like that, in public, and in front of me, is just bizarre.

Shining gestured with a leg towards Cadence. “That makes me more qualified to classify her hotness than you, guys! She’s got the tri-color hair. That’s not an elven or a god thing. That’s a sylven trait, thank you very much!”

Cadence fachooved and moaned loudly. “Seriously, Shining?”

Shining looked over his shoulder and nodded firmly. “Yes!”

One of the two mares shook her head. “Not exclusively! Ethereal Step the Powerful had tri-color hair after absorbing the power of the Seven Sacred Stones. Given her pink coat, that makes her closest to an elf mare priestess.”

“Nonsense!” The other protested with a stamp of her hoof. “She’s an Alicorn. You can’t compare them to something like a unicorn that happens to be extra magical!”

Shining nodded in agreement. “Yeah! That’s why you need to go with a pony from the Plane of Beauty.”

“That makes no sense! Her eyes are not gold,” both mare protested.

Shing’s irises shrank until his pupil’s nearly vanished. He spun around, flashing Cadence bambi eyes. “Hon! Quick! Make your eyes glow gold.”

Cadence’s face went slack. “No.”

Shining’s ears fell sadly. He turned back around and sighed. “Fine… You girls win this round. But uh… Well…” He winked. “I get to hug her every night.”

Cadence fachooved again as Shining happily pranced back to her side. “There!” He proclaimed. “That showed them.”

Cadence kept her hoof pressed firmly against her face. “Are you going to get into nerd-wars over me frequently?”

“All of the time,” Shining said with a sage nod.

Cadence groaned and put her hoof down. “Alright… But please, not in front of me. That was embarrassing.”

“Not as embarrassing as him forgetting sylph eyes glow gold!” somepony called as a few ponies laughed.

Shining’s ears drooped sadly. “I can feel my nerdcard getting revoked!”

Cadence shook her head, but wrapped a leg around Shining’s shoulder in a hug anyways.

“Thanks,” Shining said, nuzzling into her side.

“You’re welcome, Shiny.”

The comic shop collectively dawed, making Cadence jump. The curtain behind the countered pulled away right as Cadence’s hooves touched back down. A tall Stallion Cadence somewhat remembered walked up to the counter, his blond mane practically flowing as he turned his walk into an immediate bow upon seeing Cadence.

“Hey, G— WOAH! Uh, Your Highness, welcome! What can I do for you?”

Shining flashed his friend a smile. “I brought her over to hang out for a bit. We realized she hasn’t been around the guys much.”

Cadence nodded and offered Gaffer a smile. “Right! What kind of wife would I be if I didn’t hang out with my stallion’s friends too?”

Gaffer’s jaw dropped. “You, a princess, want to hang out in the backroom of my shop, and play board games?”

Cadence paused for a moment, then nodded. “Well, yes. If you’ve got beer.”

Gaffer stared blankly at Cadence for several seconds then turned to look at Shining. “She likes peasant food?”

Shining nodded. “Yeah. Prefers it even.”

Gaffer shook his head incredulously. “Sheesh! Okay, yeah, Princess, you need to hang out with us more. How do we barely know the pony our Paladin is marrying?”

As Gaffer trotted over to open the door in the counter, Cadence offered him a friendly smile. “I’m off the clock, please, call me Cadence.”

“Sure, if you want,” Gaffer said with a polite smile nodding towards the curtain. “The guys are back there. We were playing some Hocuspocus… Kinda figured Gl— Uh, Shining wouldn’t show tonight. What with the wedding being in a few weeks and all.”

Cadence tilted her head curiously but remained silent until the three entered the backroom.

The small room built behind the counter was very cozy. The floor was covered with a thick dark green carpet so soft it could have been magic. The walls were paneled with dark oak boards from the floor halfway up, with the rest being a cheerful painted blue plaster. Shelves of rulebooks, knickknacks, and fantasy novels lined the walls, and a suit of armor stood in each corner.

The room was dominated by a large oval shaped dark-oak table and chairs. At least eight ponies could comfortably sit at the table, with plenty of room for maps, character sheets, and dice rolling. The noisy sound from the shop was completely negated by the magic curtain, allowing everything to feel very much like a home. Or at the very least, a Cassa de Geek.

Cadence smiled, approving of the decor instantly. The other two stallions in the room yelped, dropping a hoof of cards apiece as she entered.

The scrawny white earthpony on her left Cadence vaguely remembered being named Poindexter. She felt a pang of sorrow for anypony given that name and a small fleck of anger towards his parents.

Cadence was quite certain of the other’s name. The short, but muscular gray and silver earth pony was 8-Bit. The fact half his name was a numeral was what made the name stick for her.

“P— Princess! Hi!” The two stallions stammered in unison.

Gaffer nodded Towards Cadence. “Guys, you know Cadence. She’s here to hang out. As a normal pony. Let’s try not to go too fancolt, okay?”

8-Bit nodded. “Y— Yeah! Okay. Uh, Hi… Cadence? Can I call you that?”

Cadence nodded, trotted over to a chair, pulled it out with her magic and plopped down in it. “Please do. I’m not on the clock, there’s no sense treating me like anypony special. Especially since I’ll probably have to knight you guys or something soon.”

Shining, Gaffer, 8-Bit, and Poindexter starred at Cadence for a long quiet moment.

Cadence smiled. “What? Didn’t you guys realize that once Shining marries me he’ll be royalty? I don’t think they let just anypony walk to the palace to visit.”

Shining frowned. “Well ponyfeathers. I actually didn’t think about that… Good call, sweetie.”

Poindexter raised a hoof slowly. “You mean the title-only-no-real-responsibilities-knight, right?”

Cadence wasn’t sure if there was such a thing, but nodded anyways. “Mhm. I don’t want Shiny to lose friends because of me. That’s why we dropped by. I’d like to hang out too… If this isn’t a colt’s club, I mean.”

8-bit snorted. “Pfff, nah! Not for the last three years.”

Shining’s eyes shrank. “Uh, guys?”

Cadence tilted her head. “You have a mare in your group? Can we get her over here so i can meet everyone?”

Gaffer’s ears perked. His lips pulled into a slow smile. He looked up, sharing a knowing look with 8-Bit and Poindexter. The three stallions turned to look at Shining. “I don’t know…” Gaffer said slowly. “Shining? Can you get her over here?”

Shining tapped his hooves together. “Guys… Like, she’s— I could be fired!”

Cadence’s eyes narrowed. “Shining, what are you not telling me?”

Shining squirmed in place for several minutes before looking down at the floor, head hanging. “I— I’ve been using agency property for personal gain…”

Cadence tilted her head. “Did you bring someone from— You know, there, here to play games with? If so I am genuinely insulted you didn’t invite me!”

Shining cleared his throat and wrung his hooves. “N— No. I uh, my gemstone. I’ve been using it to save money. See, I’ve always liked to be other people. I uh… I got my wizard’s license so I could buy certain potions. I did a LOT of cosplay, and LARP and um… Normally, I would get potions to change myself to better fit with a character.”

Carla tilted her head the other way. “And the oh so wrong fireable offense involved with that is… What?”

Gaffer laughed. “Dude, you think you’d have shown her by now. If only to shake things up in bed.”

Shining rolled his eyes. “She doesn't like mares.”

Cadence’s eyes widened. “Shining! Are you trans?”

Shining shook his head. “No! It’s not that at all. I like being lots of different things. I don’t feel like I’m wrong or anything. I enjoy changing. It’s fun! So uh, well… Poindexter dared me to play a mare when we started out last campaign. So I did. But speaking as a female character with a male's voice felt weird for everyone.”

8-Bit nodded and cracked a grin. “Yeah, so this dork ditches the game to run off to some wizard shop and came back with a potion to swap his sex and finishes the game session as a mare.”

Shining blushed. “I had too! It was awkward, and we established her character already. Silver is awesome! I didn’t want to change her. Not when I could change me for a while.”

Carla snickered. “Wait, so you’ve been showing up here as a mare for years now, just to roleplay better?”

Shining nodded. “Yeah. It’s nothing like, I feel wrong like this. I’m totally happy with myself no matter what I am at the moment… It’s uh, it’s probably some kind of disorder. But at least it makes me good at my job. And roleplaying.. I uh… After I got hired on with you know what, and got my gemstone as per standard issue, I um… Those potions are EXPENSIVE! You know?”

Carla nodded, fully understanding. After all, Shining’s casual transformation around her made that aspect of his personality clear. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Shining’s ears drooped. He stared down at the table. “Because, you know… I could get in trouble. Also I was worried you would think I was weird.”

Cadence rolled her eyes and looked over at the other stallions before nodding towards Shining. “He’s always been weird, right?”

Gaffer nodded. “Yep.”

8-Bit smiled. “The weirdest.”

Poindexter smiled. “He wouldn’t be one of us if he wasn't’ weird.”

Cadence extended a wing and tipped Shining’s head up with the tip. “Hon, I like you because you’re weird. Oh and, did you forget I’m a princess?”

Shining blushed happily and squirmed in his seat. “Thanks… And kinda? I mean, i don’t think of you that way. Why do you—”

Cadence winked at Shining. “Shining Armor, you hereby have permission to use your transformation gemstone at your discretion. Boom! Problem solved! So, what do you normally look like while hanging with these guys?”

Shining coughed into his hoof. “You uh, already know… Princess Celestia thinks I made Gleaming up for work purposes.”

Cadence blinked. “You named that mare-form?”

Gaffer shook his head. “No, we did. He thought a mare sounding like a stallion was immersion breaking, but calling a mare by a stallions name is what was really immersion breaking.”

8-Bit nodded and leaned back in his chair. “Gleaming is Shining’s secret O&O identity.”

Cadence giggled. “I get it, because he’s an intelligence agent.”

The three stallion’s sputtered. Gaffer’s head spun to face Shining. “Is THAT what you do?!”

Shining facedesked. “My job was CLASSIFIED, Cadence!”

Cadence rolled her eyes and sighed. “You're getting married to a a royal, hon. Do you think you’ll get to still be a field agent after that? No. You’ll be a highly public person soon. Transformation or not, you won't be the sort of person who can be risked on assignments anymore. You’re going to get retired. Though uh… I probably should have expected your job to be classified…”

Shining groaned into the table. “Yes you should have… And I know I was going to be retired…” Shining sighed and sat up straight. “So uh, yeah guys. That’s why I’ve got the gemstone. I’m a soon-to-retire spy.”

8-Bit looked awkwardly up to the ceiling. “That uh… That’s better than what I thought…”

Shining’s eyes narrowed. “What did you think?”

Gaffer blushed. “We um… We thought you were an actor. You know, of the kind who gets paid a lot for making certain videos of uh, popular individuals, doing certain things…”

Cadence giggled and broke out into a grin. “I would have had a problem with him being in porn. Trust me, that would have stopped. He’s all mine.”

Poindexter cleared his throat to prevent Shining from exploding by redirecting the conversation. “Annnyways! Gleaming is the one identity Shining’s made that’s taken on a life of her own. “She” has won several O&O tournaments over the last year, has a few friends, and other things like that.”

Shining nodded and rubbed the back of his head while smiling awkwardly. “Y— Yeah… That sort of is a thing that happens if you come to the same place as the same person every week at the same time…”

Cadence hummed. “Wait, you came here as her? Why not just change in the backgroom?”

Shining smiled, his chest puffing out with pride. “That’s actually because of my smartest idea ever! My forms are persistent. If I lost an ear, changing back to that form later would have me still being earless. But my real form wouldn’t be missing an ear. Likewise, if Gleaming gains weight, I don’t gain weight. So I’d change into her after leaving home and get snacks I can eat totally guilt free!”

Cadence smirked, looking at Shining through playfully narrowed eyes. “I’ll bet she hates you for that.”

8-Bit shook her head and laughed. “Hay no! It made her like ten times more adorable. If she were a real mare and not you know, my shape changed best friend I’d have asked her out.”

Shining looked off the the side and cleared his throat. “Uh… dude… I thought we discussed that. And agreed you just.. Wouldn’t.”

8-bits ears fell. He coughed into his hoof. “Oh, yeah. Sorry, dude. Gleaming's just hot is all...”

Gaffer cleared his throat and took his seat at behind the table’s built-in DM’s screen. “Well… Shining, we kinda figured with it being so close to the wedding that Gleaming wouldn't make tonight’s game. But since everyone is here, and Cadence wants to hang out, how about you get changed and we roll Cadence up a fighter?”

Cadence raised an eyebrow and looked Gaffer in the eye. “Why a fighter?”

“Well it’s the easiest class to learn the game with. I uh, wait, have you played before?”

Cadence shook her head. “No. Sorry, I thought you were assuming I’d want to play something because of mechanics without knowing what I like to play.”

Gaffer smiled wide. “You like RPGs?”

Cadence nodded. “Yes. I used to play them a lot in college. But I’ve fallen out of practice.”

Gaffer nodded twice and reached for a Player’s Hoofbook on the shelf behind him. A flash of light lit up the room as Shining shape changed.

Gleaming cleared her throat. “So um, I didn’t think I’d be playing tonight. Is everypony okay if I remember my stats?”

Cadence turned at the voice of “Tutorial Mare”, instinctively worried she would fall off a disappearing platform for entirely too long. She took a few moments to take the mare’s cutely plump appearance in, able to really appreciate the details now that she was not being grilled by an ancient wizard.

“Huh,” Cadence said slowly.

Gleaming blinked and frowned worriedly. “W— what?”

“You are literally the same looking, except for sexually dimorphic traits. How does anyone think you’re not well, you know, you?” Cadence said with a frown.

Poindexter giggled and pointed to the backroom’s entrance. “Most of those guys think Shining has a twin sister.”

8-Bit nodded. “A few think he likes to crosstransmute. Which is true, so we don’t correct it. It’s not like anyone’s a dick to him over it.”

Gaffer nodded. "Yeah, I'd throw them out if they were. I'm sure plenty of others who go here have transformed for costume purposes too."

Gleaming nodded once. “Yeah… Though we should probably make up a term for ponies who like to shapechange into many different people just for fun. There’s quite a few of us. Enough for a print magazine to exist. Anyways, let’s get Cadence rolled up! I want to take a stab at breaking into Ironhoof fortress again.”

The five ponies gamed late into the night. Cadence became engrossed in the game in a way she never had before. This was thanks to Gaffer, and his special talent being running RPGs.

Gaffer’s storytelling made the game come alive in a way she’d never thought possible. The Land of Ilvory was such a real place when Gaffer breathed life into it that suddenly Shining wanting to better play his character made perfect sense.

Cadence left the game desperately wishing she was able to swing a sword around and do more than risk cutting off one of her legs. On the way back to the Palace to take the portal to Eventide’s gates Cadence had decided she would learn how to use a sword properly after the current crisis was over.

It wasn’t until Cadence and Gleaming were walking out of the portal towards the Hall that Cadence realized Shining hadn’t changed back yet.

Cadence cleared her throat politely as possible. “Sweetie?”

Gleaming look up at Cadence with the same adoring expression. “Yes?”

“You’re still a mare,” Cadence said with a wink.

Gleaming eeped and closed her eyes, returning to Shining with a flash of magic. “Sorry!” he apologized with a smile and a blush. “I REALLY like that one. She’s like Jake. Both of them feel natural for me to be.”

Cadence’s ears drooped. A thought occurred to her. One that was especially uncomfortable. “Oh… Uh… Hon?”

Shining hummed and looked back up at Cadence. “Mmm?”

Cadence stopped walking and bent down tot look Shining in the eye. “I um… Telling you to change back like that was very rude of me. I don’t want to be a hypocrite. You loved me as both Carter and Carla, and now as Cadence. It will take some getting used to, and I don't foresee myself wanting to sleep with you as Gleaming, but please be whoever you want to be around me. Okay?”

Shining’s eye slit up as he smile. He reached up and hugged Cadence around her neck as hard as he could. “Thanks sweetie! You have no idea how happy that makes me. Oh! Would you be interested in helping me experiment with new forms sometime?”

Cadence nodded and smiled. “Of course. Cosplay is a fun hobby.”

Shining swished his tail happily. “And you won't be weirded out if I for example, wake up and decide to cook us breakfast as Gleaming?”

Cadence hummed and tapped her chin with a hoof. “Well, a little. But you’re clearly the same person, so i wont wonder who broke in. I’m serious. Go ahead, do what you want to do and be happy. I’ll get used to it.”

Shining leaned up and kissed Cadence on her nose. “Thanks love. I didn’t expect you to be this onboard with me… I uh, I kinda thought I’d have to give up my hobby.”

Cadence shook her head rapidly. “Nononono! I like YOU. I like the fun loving dork in front of me. I don’t want you to change. You’ll never have to give up anything you like for me, not without good reason.”

“Soooo, I can walk home with you as Gleaming?” Shining asked hopefully.

Carla raised an eyebrow. “Are you just fantasizing about me having lesbian sex?”

“Yes.” Shining admitted with a shy shuffle of his hooves. “With me.”

Carla paused for a few long moments then sighed. “Maybe one day when I’m used to people not having one static form I’ll love you too much to care about that, and we can try it. But for now, Gleaming and I are besties, Shining and I are engaged.”

Shining snorted and grinned like a dork. “You know it’s just dressup with extra steps, right?”

Carla frowned. “Well, yes… But when I did dressup it was to change my mental state and self-perception.”

Shining nodded rapidly. “I know. When I do it, it’s because I feel like looking a little different for a while. My mind never changes. Well, much. Jake and Gleaming have their unique quirks and—”

The Hall’s front doors burst open with a thunderous bang. Three gold-armored guards burst out from the hall, hot on the hooves of a black-pony-like creature.

The creature only barely resembled a changeling. Its left eye was the blue compound structure Carla remembered Copy having, but the right eye was very clearly a headlight, complete with chrome light-fixture making up the socket. The creature’s wing-covers with leather instead of chitin, and other random parts of its body were made from bits of black and red painted metal instead of insect-armor.

Whats more Carla swore the thing had a gas cap protruding from its back, and a pair of turn signals were a pony’s cutie marks would be.

The guards caught up with the running creature in a matter of seconds, tackling it to the ground amid shouted orders and worried yelps.

“BUCK! There’s civilians! Don’t let it get away again.”

“Got it! Someone get cuff son this thing!”

“Oh, geez! That’s— Princess! Stay back! This thing is really fast!”

Cadence’s eyes widened, half amazed, half horrified.

The pseudo-changeling looked up at the word princess. It’s eye and headlight fell upon Cadence, and the poor deformed thing began to thrash wildly until it got one hoof free. It held that tire-tread covered hoof out towards Cadence and called out to her.

“Mom! Mom, help! I was hungry! I didn’t hurt anyone!” The creature pleaded, genuine fear, hope, and affection all wrapped up in four short breaths.

Cadence’s jaw dropped. The creature cries to her were genuine, and awakened feeling in Cadence she never believed she would get to experience. The guards wrenched the creature’s leg behind its back once more.

“If this thing hurts the Princess it’s both your plots!” The head guard said.

Cadence ran towards the struggling creature. Shining sprinted alongside her. “What are you doing?”

Cadence ignored Shining’s question and turned her attention to the guards. The alicorn’s eyes hardened, taking on the same expression Carter had worn when executing a warlord in Cambodia. “You three! Unhoof my bike!”