“Don’t be shy, look ‘em in the eye.”

He sighed into the mirror.

“A tired old mantra.”

It had helped a lot of ponies, true, but for all his speechifying, it had never helped him.

When he wasn’t out on stage, nopony even recognised him. Just another soft spoken Minotaur? He snorted. “No such thing.”

Except... he was.

A knock on the door. “Iron? You’re on in five.”

He took a deep breath and nodded. “I’ll be right out.” He smiled at the mirror after the door closed. He had friends in his co-workers, that was good enough.

190. Life

Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans. And making plans was at the core of the way Twilight went about her day. Every morning she began with a shower, followed by combing her hair, and then worked her way down a checklist which she’d made the evening before.

Today was different.

In her studies of ancient mythology and prophecies, she had stumbled upon something her teacher had to know.

For the first time ever, her teacher ignored her warnings, and sent her off to some distant village.

On this day... Twilight Sparkle had life foisted upon her.

191. Blur

Too quickly. For something so slow, it was over too quickly.

With a sigh, Fancypants put away his monocle and looked at his wife. Fleur still looked as radiant as ever where he was concerned, although the passage of time had not been kinder to her than it had been to him.

“What did you think, love?” He asked softly.

“Your intuition is still razor sharp, husband.” Fleur leaned in to give him a chaste kiss. “Rarity is definitely the right pony to bring our brand into the new age.”

Fancy smiled. “Only if she doesn’t create her own, first.”