The bracelet had made her light grey body even lighter, changing her into a white pegasus. Her teal mane and tail remained the same, as well as her Cutie Mark. It was a good thing the lily was in front of the moon, otherwise it would look like she was a blank flank. Which she had been, for an abnormally long time. Everyone kept trying to push her into politics. Oh, the irony. When she was younger, she had thrown herself into it, as a distraction from the whispers about her lack of a mark. Her mother had reassured her that she could give up politics at any time. Now that she had a mark that wasn't about politics, she couldn't give it up. Maybe this was the reason she had all that pent up anger. Well, besides being lonely.
Lily lost her train of thought when she crashed into another pegasus.
"Watch where you're going. Some of us are only trying to do a rainboom."
This was excellent. She finally reached the nearest town, where hopefully she would be able to get help, and she had already messed up.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention."
"Just be more careful next time."
The other mare flew off, leaving Lily shaken. If she was this out of it, maybe she had better stick to the ground. The other pony wasn't the only thing she missed. There was a castle sitting in the middle of the town. She would have to send a letter to the others to be more careful, since this other ruler was so close. Who even lived there? If it was Celestia, she would see through Lily's disguise in an instant.
"Excuse me, but who lives in that castle?"
"Why, you must be new in town, this here castle belongs to Twilight."
The pony had a thick southern accent. Lily took note of the lack of a title when refering to this 'Twilight'. Either she was exceptionaly laid back, this pony was highly disrespectful, or they knew each other.
"Yes, I just arrived."
"Well, you can be expecting a visit from Pinkie soon."
"Who's Pinkie?"
"You'll see. I'm Applejack.Visit the farm sometime, okay? Those of us at Sweet Apple Acres wouldn't mind helping a new face settle in. "
"Okay. I'll make sure to do that."
Applejack walked off, and Lily started heading toward the center of town. Maybe if they get to know each other, she could keep the information about the bat ponies contained to just Applejack's family. If one farm could feed an entire country, albeit a small one, and still make enough crops for their usual customers. That idea was bound to fail. She would have to think of a different way to feed everybody. Who she abandoned. By running away. After screaming at her assistant. Who was probably cleaning up her mess. Lily would have to apologize later, after the whole 'imminent starvation in the next two years' thing was fixed.
At the center of town, she started looking for anything that would help her get settled. As luck would have it, there was a bulletin board by the town hall, full of job advertisements. Lily pulled a piece of paper out of her saddlebags and was about to add her own, when she realized it would be hard for others to reach her if she didn't have an address. Shoving the paper back in, she went back to wandering the town. As she opened the door to Ponyville Realistate and Housing, which Lily thought was a little redundant, a bell rang, drawing the attention of the owner of the store.
"Hello, and welcome to Ponyville Realistate and Housing, what type if house are you looking for?"
"I'm not sure yet. Do you have a catalog?"
"Yes we do, take your time looking, I have time to spare."
"Why? Shouldn't business be booming since the princess is here?"
Lily looked through the catolog as she talked. One of the advantages of being in a position of power, you learn how to multitask.
The other pony chuckled dryly before responding.
"I wish. They're either tourist who stay at the hotel for a few days, or nobles who make a big stink about how staying anywhere other in the castle, I'm beneath them. Hey, did you see something you like?"
She pushed the catalog across the counter to the salespony.
"This one."
"Are you sure? It's really close to the Everfree. Heck, it's almost in the Celestia damned forest."
"I'm sure."
"You seem like a nice mare. I'll make a deal with you. You see, this is one the few buildings I own, instead of selling for others. I'll give you a two week free trial, no rent, and if you make it to two weeks before skipping town or having a monster eat you, I'll cut your rent in half."
"Deal."
After going back to the bulletin board and placing her advertisement, Lily made her way to her new home. It had clearly been a while since anyone lived there. At least judging by the state of the lawn. The house itself wasn't the prettiest, but it had all the basic furnishings. She quickly unpacked, and began that night's diary entry before going to sleep.