The rest of the walk through the grove was uneventful.
Ranma spent most of that time wondering about Cadence, since he didn't think there was anything really crucial that he needed to know about Equestria that was left to ask — before making any kind of commitment to stick around, at least. It wasn't solely because he was warming up to her, but also due to rarely finding himself in a situation where he could get to know someone better and not need to worry too much about what he asked or shared.
When they left the grove, he could see a large arrangement of sculptures a fair distance ahead, and what appeared to be a very large hedge maze beyond them. Not wanting to spend the entire trek there in silence, he used their last conversation as a quick means of figuring out something worth asking her.
"Cadence?" When she looked over her shoulder, he asked, "Since you were adopted by royalty, and related to royalty, did you still get a choice on what kind of life you wanted to live?"
Smiling, Cadence replied, "Mm-hm. And I chose to be a princess because I can fulfill my life's calling on a scale that I can be satisfied with."
Wondering what she could be referring to, since the meaning behind her cutie mark wasn't apparent to him, Ranma tilted his head and queried, "What's your life's calling?"
"Family," Cadence replied easily. "I'll marry and have children, of course, but as a princess I can connect with, protect and foster everypony."
She had said it so naturally and unabashedly that Ranma was rendered speechless.
That wasn't the only reason for his silence, however, because he had also felt himself resonate with a part of it. He couldn't say which part it was, though: not only due to him being reluctant to consider most of it, but the part that he was open to was something that he'd done often enough and had never truly felt fulfilled by it; protecting others had often felt like a moral obligation and little more, and frequently didn't seem worth the trouble it brought.
He ended up spending the rest of the walk to the sculptures wondering what had appealed to him, and feeling uncomfortable throughout the process. Being vulnerable with someone and trusting that they would never take advantage of it, physical intimacy, having children, being responsible for said children... That wasn't a Ranma that he could envision yet — especially as a female. He didn't even understand why he wanted a family, between a father he neither respected or trusted, and a mother he'd been just fine living without until she entered his life.
It wasn't long before Cadence was introducing him to the sculptures as they passed them by, and he was glad for the distraction. What she told him about them was brief enough to not necessitate a pause in their walk, in part because most sculptures had no significance attached to them beyond what they represented and who made them. Apparently, sculptures of historical importance, or based on notable figures, were displayed at more respectable or appropriate locations.
The last sculpture was one that he couldn't help stopping for, however. It stood out from the rest because it bore the shape of a dragon instead of a pony, with its serpentine body and tail. Not only that, but each of its four limbs belonged to a different animal, its two wings were also mismatched, and its head appeared to be some combination of goat, donkey and deer instead of a dragon. Furthermore, unlike the basic and understated poses of the others, here the subject seemed to be dancing. Said dance was one he was familiar with, involving a squat position, crossed arms, and kicking out one leg.
"What's with this one?"
Unsurprised by his interest, Cadence readily replied, "This is Discord, spirit of chaos and disharmony. A long time ago he conquered Equestria and made life miserable for everypony during his rule."
"Why'd he do that?" Ranma asked, looking mildly confused.
Cadence cocked her head. "What do you mean?"
Gesturing toward the sculpture, Ranma said, "I mean, if it's in his nature to be chaotic, why do the whole conquer and rule thing? Just seems like a very typical thing for someone to do with their power, y'know? Especially if he stuck with it instead of changing things up."
Cadence scrutinized the sculpture for a few seconds before she shrugged her shoulders and opined, "Perhaps the 'chaos' part was just a claim."
With that said, she began to lead him back toward the castle. After taking a few steps she said, "Judging by your reaction, am I right to assume you have spirits where you come from?"
"Yup," Ranma confirmed, who saw that they were heading toward a different entrance from the one they had used before. "We have all kinds of 'em."
Curious, Cadence asked, "Are there any like Discord?"
"In terms of power?" Ranma began, considering the kind required to conquer and control a nation. "Yeah, plenty. They aren't all that active, though."
"How come?" Cadence queried.
Ranma took a few seconds to gather his thoughts before replying. "Well, apart from the yōkai who fear us in general and avoid our attention, the stronger ones are typically old and spend a lot of their time sleeping. As for kami, they're usually passive or reactive, and we tend to respect and pray to them."
Cadence proceeded to ask him questions about the spirits of his world. Considering how many he had encountered during his life, especially recently, he had more information than most that didn't rely on myth or superstition alone, and he used the differences with reality to make his answers more interesting and entertaining. By the time they entered the castle, he forgot that he was on a tour, and she was too invested in her inquiries to properly provide one.
Their conversation went uninterrupted until they saw a pony enter the hall ahead of them, because they stumbled to a stop as soon as they caught sight of them before hurriedly turning around and dashing back the way they had come.
Ranma stopped and turned his head to regard Cadence before asking, "What was that about?"
"That looked like Prince Blueblood," Cadence replied, sounding unconcerned. "Don't mind him: he can be odd and bad-mannered at times, but it's usually for a good reason."
Ranma raised an eyebrow and pointed out, "It looked like he was running for his life."
Cadence merely shrugged her shoulders. "If it were any other pony I'd suggest asking him about it, but he has a talent for being elusive when he doesn't want to be found."
Pointing at his hindquarters, Ranma queried, "By talent, do you mean...?"
"Yup," Cadence confirmed, with a nod of her head. "The compass star is his cutie mark. If his goal is to avoid somepony, he'll probably find a way to do so."
Since he already had an adequate distraction while he waited for Celestia, Ranma disregarded the incident with Blueblood and started walking again. Cadence, with her curiosity in regard to foreign spirits adequately sated, followed suit and assumed her role as tour guide once more.
With his attention directed toward his surroundings, and being in a more populated area of the castle, he began to notice the stares, furtive glances, and whispers. He ignored them at first, assuming it was simply caused by an unknown pony being seen associating with one of the princesses. However, while Cadence was explaining their presence in the kitchen to a chef, said chef had stared at him with wide eyes and stammered a reply, which suggested to him that something more was going on.
So, as they were leaving the kitchen, he sidled up beside Cadence and quietly asked, "Say, what's with all the looks and whispering?"
Cadence kept her gaze focused ahead of them as she replied, "That's because it's been a long time since something this interesting has happened in the castle."
"People from other universes don't come out of mirrors all that often, I take it?" Ranma quipped.
With a chuckle, Cadence said, "No, they don't." More seriously, she added, "That said, I did tap into the rumor mill before breakfast, so I have a good idea of what everypony's probably talking about."
"You do?" Ranma responded, curious.
Cadence nodded her head. "Coming from the universe that Sunset Shimmer fled to was mentioned; as was a lack of cutie mark, which is understandable since it's very rare for a pony of your age. However, what was brought up most often was your hair, appearance, and... Mistmane."
Ranma gave her a sidelong glance. "Mistmane? That's not a hair thing?"
"She's a pony who lived a long time ago," Cadence informed him, sounding slightly amused. "And the reason why ponies are referencing her is because — among other things — she's known for her beauty and sublime hair."
The thought of being a good-looking female pony evoked a host of mixed feelings for Ranma, so he opted to steer around that part by saying, "That's what they call the kind of hair I have? Celestia said we're the only ones who have it, so I guess it makes sense that it's interesting."
"You're the fourth to have sublime hair in all of recorded history," Cadence pointed out, to emphasis how rare it was.
Ranma considered the significance of that before asking, "Who's the fourth one?"
Cadence silently regarded him for a moment before returning her gaze to the fore and saying, "It's not my place to say."
Although intrigued by her response, he didn't press her on it. Not just from not having enough interest, but to avoid spoiling the mood. Thus, the tour continued, although he mostly saw it as an opportunity to converse with her instead of familiarize himself with the castle. He suspected that she was aware of that, too, because she was always ready to engage with him even if it meant a new area of the castle would be disregarded.
After touring the castle they returned to the privacy of the guest room to have lunch, and following that they spent the afternoon exploring a variety of topics. Most of them were about the world beyond the castle walls and the one on the other side of the mirror, including their differences and similarities. Of course, given the circumstances, Ranma was the only one who got the benefit of seeing pictures of a foreign world.
At one point Cadence was reminded that he practiced martial arts and requested a demonstration, and he had been keen to accept: not just to show off what his life had been dedicated to, but find out how well his skills translated to a quadruped that had notable differences in dimensions and movement range. Despite some embarrassing moments during the adjustment period, he was able to impress his audience. In addition to that, he was pleasantly surprised by how much he could still accomplish with a pony body, and felt confident that he could condition his body to endure functioning on two legs for a longer period of time if he wanted to.
Shortly after dinner, with the room bathed in the rays of the evening sun, Ranma found himself feeling completely at ease while being in Cadence's company. He also couldn't help being intrigued by her and the idea of having a girl as a friend. Especially if he ended up sticking around for a while, because he'd never had the opportunity to talk with anyone for so long, or so freely, and he'd enjoyed it.
He was so comfortable that he was startled when he heard someone knock on the door. A second later he heard Celestia ask, "May I come in?"
Upon giving a positive answer, the door opened and the princess stepped into the room. She closed the door while she approached him and Cadence at the table, her horn alight and a book floating beside her head. When she reached them, she sat down across from him and set the book down on the table, its cover bearing the princess' cutie mark.
"How are you faring?" She kindly asked him.
"Good," he found himself replying, and surprised that it was true. He glanced at Cadence, who was sitting nearby, before looking the other way and self-consciously admitted, "I lost track of time, honestly."
Celestia smiled. "I'm glad to hear that."
Turning to Cadence, she asked, "Out of curiosity, did you happen to take Ranma to the sculpture garden?"
Cadence's brow scrunched slightly. "I did." Then her face lit up with realization. "Oh, do you mean...?"
Celestia nodded her head. "I got word that Discord adjusted his position. He's now grasping his head and shouting up at the sky. Honestly, I can't tell if he's angry or in distress."
"Wait," Ranma interjected, "that's actually Discord and not a sculpture?"
Switching her attention to him, Celestia replied, "That's right; he was sealed in stone."
More curious than confused, Ranma asked, "But he can move?"
"Due to circumstances," Celestia soberly began, "the seal is not strong enough to completely immobilize him when he has energy."
Ranma blinked his eyes, nonplussed.
"He likely fed on your inner turmoil," Cadence helpfully explained. Seeing the look on his face, she tried to reassure him by adding, "Don't worry about it: it's been that way for a very long time."
Ranma hadn't been worried about that. Rather, it was the mention of his "inner turmoil" that had gotten his attention and worry. Intellectually, he knew that it probably wouldn't be hard to guess how he might think or feel, given his situation, but it was very personal to him and it felt like his privacy had been infringed upon.
His attention was brought back to Celestia when she pushed the book toward him, who said, "If you decide to stay here for any length of time, you can use this to communicate with Sunset Shimmer and stay up-to-date with events in your universe. At least, it's my hope that she will be accommodating after she was willing to send you to me for help."
After opening the book and seeing nothing but ordinary, mostly-blank pages, he regarded her with a questioning look.
In response, Celestia explained, "What you write in it will appear in its sister book, and vice versa."
Ranma silently considered the book, struggling to make headway on what course of action he wanted to take, when the princess said, "Ranma?" When he looked up to regard her, she compassionately told him, "I just want you to know: even if you decide to return home between now and tomorrow evening, we'll do our best to provide whatever counsel you might need."
Cadence reached over and placed her hoof upon his, and didn't speak until he met her tender gaze. "We'll understand if you are unwilling to share something with us, but our help will only be as good as our knowledge of the situation."
Unable to handle how much they seemed to care, and how they were able to discern that there was more to his situation than he had elected to share, he stood up and walked away from the table. Having a choice between looking at a wall, a wardrobe, or a mirror, he soon found himself staring at his reflection without knowing why.
No answers or insight came from the pony in the mirror, although it did make him realize how quickly he had become comfortable with his equine body. He'd thought that a week had been alarmingly fast for him to become comfortable with a new body, when he had switched from male to female and hadn't realized it had happened, but barely a day had passed and he didn't have to think about any of his movements or noticed how different they felt.
It raised familiar doubts that he usually tried to ignore, because he'd never been able to resolve them himself and had never felt confident that he could trust someone else with them.
He looked over his shoulder and saw the two princesses with their gazes directed elsewhere, giving him what privacy they could while awaiting his decision. His mind conjured up a phantom of Akane sitting at his vacant seat, then the princesses faded away as her circle of friends took their place. As he watched Akane receiving commiseration from her supportive friends, a scene that he had seen many times, he felt something clench within his breast.
He shook his head to banish the vision, then he turned back to his reflection and examined it from hoof to horn tip. There wasn't any doubt that he could live nine months as a pony, so the question was: should he? He could rationalize that he would be using the fast break technique to buy himself more time to figure out what to do, but he couldn't deny that he was now tempted by the idea of staying... and how conflicted that made him feel.
His frustration mounting, he glared at his reflection and impulsively decided to give the princesses a chance and open up to them. No one had a problem when girls did that, and no one was around to expose his birth sex — not that it would matter — or attack his manhood, so what was stopping him? It wasn't like he'd never utilized his female body for things that he wouldn't want others to see him do as a guy.
Despite how anxious he felt, he steeled himself and rejoined the princesses at the table, who regarded him with concern. After allowing himself a few measured breathes, he stared down at the tabletop and admitted, "I don't know what to do. If I go back as a girl, there's a good chance that I'll be expected to behave traditionally, or have to commit seppuku if I'm willing to live as a girl."
"What is seppuku?" Celestia cautiously asked.
Ranma hesitated, to consider giving a simple or detailed answer, and opted for the former. "It's ritual suicide."
Cadence gasped in horror. Celestia, however, schooled her features and asked, "Is that... normal?"
"Not really?" Ranma replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's more a case of having a mother who takes tradition and the honoring of vows very seriously, and a father willing to stake our lives on raising me to be a man among men so he could get my mother's approval for a ten-plus year training journey that required having no contact with her."
"Why would your father want to separate you from your mother?" Celestia calmly inquired, while Cadence silently gaped at him.
Ranma shrugged his shoulders. "Apparently he'd told my mother that her love would make me soft."
A long silence followed his response, with Cadence staring at him in disbelief and Celestia's eyes losing their warmth. The reactions worried him, and he didn't know whether to be more worried or relieved when Celestia closed her eyes for a breath before moving on.
She queried, "Would any other issues arise if you chose to live as a female back home?"
Ranma looked down at his forehoof, which he began to rock back and forth on the tabletop. "Well... Where I'm from there are certain expectations and disadvantages to being female, and some would apply to me if I do what's considered normal." His expression became one of disgust, and his tone reflected the same sentiment when he continued. "I wouldn't be surprised if either one of my parents arranged for me to marry a guy, whether I knew him or not."
Then he hesitated, not feeling comfortable with sharing the last issue that he could think of. Upon seeing the looks of concern that his pause had inspired, from two strangers who had been nothing but friendly and accommodating, he found the nerve to say, "Also, there's this girl that I'm engaged to." He bowed his head. "And I don't think she's interested in other girls."
Cadence leaned over the table and clasped his hoof between her own, her voice laden with sympathy as she said, "That's awful."
"It truly is," Celestia somberly agreed. "Because a year could be more than enough time for his twin to marry her."
Hearing his fear spoken by someone else, Ranma deflated and glumly mumbled, "Even if he doesn't, one of us will have to give her up."
Cadence moved over to his side, gently pulled him into a hug, and softly asked, "Can you?"
Ranma blushed and looked away, feeling uncomfortable from the contact but touched by the gesture, and the distraction made it easier to answer the question. "I don't know."
All he knew, for sure, was that he didn't want to be like the other guys and start fighting over Akane, either by competing for her affection or taking out his competition. Also, although he didn't want to admit it, his position made giving up Akane more practical for him than his other self.
Once a few seconds had passed in silence, partially to allow Cadence to comfort Ranma without interruption, Celestia inquired, "Is there anything else that concerns you?"
Ranma raised his head, to regard the elder princess, and admitted, "Well, thanks to my father, I have a second fiancée. My parents could force me to marry her, even though I don't like her like that."
After waiting to see if he would say anything more, Celestia asked, "Which set of circumstances do you dislike the least?"
"The one where I'm a guy," Ranma answered without hesitation, before releasing a heavy sigh. "It's just... It already feels like someone's trying to steal my life, and having no control over that for one or two years..."
While Cadence gave him a tender squeeze, Celestia regretfully said, "I wish there was more I could do for you. The only suggestion I can offer, is to go back home and try to make the best out of the situation. If — after a month — the best isn't good enough, you can come back here and plan your next step."
Ranma's brow furrowed with confusion. "What about trying this place out?"
"It's apparent that you want your life to change as little as possible," Celestia softly pointed out, looking sympathetic, "and I said I'd help you. Unless I have a reason to believe that you forgot about my offer, I won't remind you."
Ranma was struck speechless by the response and stared at her in disbelief. It was difficult to believe that someone could be so nice to him, to the point where it seemed too good to be true. For all that he knew, it could very well be a ploy to convince him that staying would be the best choice for him, when it was actually in their best interest.
Regardless of the motive, he acknowledged that staying might be the best of his options. No matter if he returned home as a girl or a guy, the most likely outcomes seemed so bleak. Starting over certainly wouldn't be painless, but perhaps nine months would be enough to convince him that — in comparison — it would be better to move on and leave his old life to his other self.
When he lowered his gaze, to contemplate what to say next, the bright cutie mark on the book's cover caught his eye. After considering what it was purported to do, an idea occurred to him, which seemed like a better alternative to going back as a girl and trying to work several miracles.
Once he fully committed himself to the idea, he looked back up at Celestia and resolutely said, "I'll stay here and see if I like it before making my final decision."
"Are you certain?" Celestia asked with concern. "Once the portal between our two universes closes, it won't reopen on this end for another nine months."
Ranma nodded his head, his expression grim. "I can't dismiss the option to start over out of hand, so I gotta know if it's something I can live with if things back home don't work out." He glanced at the book. "And I'm hoping Sunset can keep me updated on what my other self is doing while I'm gone."
"I understand," Celestia evenly replied, before levitating a quill and inkwell over to the table. "Would you like to send a message to Sunset Shimmer right now, to enlist her aid?"
"If you don't mind?" Ranma answered hopefully, before eying the quill doubtfully. "My English is kinda, well..."
Celestia smiled softly. "Of course."