Stuck in the cloud which Rainbow Dash had slept on last night was a folded piece of paper. Once she was awake enough to read, she took it out.

“Dear main character,

We’ve signed a deal with Lyra and Octavia. You will acquaint with them at 50 Peachtree Avenue in Sparkstown at 15:00 or else.

With an intense, focussed lust consuming all other emotions,

Red Velvet.”

“Ugh....”

A dirt road six metres wide, lined with shops of various types and the occasional parked bicycle of a pony in one of the shops. It was a common type of place in Equestria. It was cool, but not cold, and the sky was pretty much clear, but there were a few small clouds visible. It was a common type of weather in Equestria. Lyra and Octavia were on a bench by the side of the road, giving anyone inside Gumdrop Junction a very good view of their manes, if they wanted that for some reason. Lyra waved to Twilight as she came up to them.

“Hi,” Twilight said.

“Hello,” Lyra said. “You’re early.”

“Not by much.”

“The clock only the chosen can see says you’re an hour early.” There was no public clock visible from where they were.

“Exactly.”

“Don’t you think you’re a bit... too early?”

“What?”

“Too early.”

“‘Too early’?”

“Yeah. What are you going to do for an hour?”

“Wait.”

“Okay... so, you’re Twilight?”

“Yes.”

“I can’t believe you’re standing right in front of me. Can you believe it, Octavia?”

“You know what I do. I see important ponies all the time.”

“But it’s Twilight!”

“Yes, I’ve seen her at the occasional gala.”

“But now you’re meeting her!”

“As I said, I’m sort of desensitised to this sort of thing.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. It’s literally Twilight Sparkle and you aren’t even reacting.”

“If that’s how you feel, then keep talking to her.”

She got off the bench. “I can’t believe I’m meeting you! You’re Twilight!”

“I’m already aware of both of those things.”

Twilight answered many, many questions she had answered many, many times, something which hadn’t ended by the time the other three showed up.

“Come on, ‘Tavia. Half the world-saviours.”

“Yes, I’ve seen them before.”

She forced a sigh. “Anyway, hello to all of you.”

“Hello.” Applejack came up and shook hooves with them both. “So how’d you manage to get this part?”

“Octavia has rich friends who wanted to see her on the show.”

“Whah not them? And what about you?”

“Because none of them were found to be interesting by the company, and putting her on was the best they could do. Well, putting only her on, because they wanted her in the first place, she wasn’t a backup. And as for me, I’m her girlfriend, and she insisted they add me to the list if she was going to be on it.”

“So now we’re just gonna meet any old pony with enough money?”

“No. They made it clear that they liked that we were in the original show.”

“Barely.”

“Well, it counted for them, don’t ask me.”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash answered many, many questions they had answered many, many times, then something interesting came up.

“Big secrets we keep from ponies who don’t get on television...” Rainbow Dash said, “There is one just for the main characters.”

“So do we get to hear it?” Lyra said.

“Of course. Who wants to do it?”

“You can do it,” Applejack said.

“Okay. Well, the first of two is that Applejack and I are together.”

“Are you even serious. Applejack and Rainbow Dash have a romantic relationship. Tell me something that’s not obvious.”

“I also have a lesser relationship with Twilight.”

“Oh.”

“That’s the one that gets ya?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, have fun adjusting.”

Lyra fell on the bench as if she had fainted, but her eyes remained open.

“Will she be all right?” Octavia said.

“Give her a few minutes,” Twilight said.

A few minutes later, Lyra got up. “What happened?”

“You learned about my relationships,” Rainbow said.

“Right, I remember that. That reminds me, Octavia?”

“Yes?”

“You are fine with me sexually assaulting you once a week so we can keep our jobs, right?”

“We’ve been over this.”

“I know, I just... I’m not sure I believe you as much as you believe yourself.”

“I’ll be ok—”

Lyra pulled her in and, despite being pushed multiple times, forced her into a tongue kiss for a good ten seconds. “You don’t look okay.”

“I’ll need to get used to it. That’s what I said, isn’t it?”

“We really should’ve worked on this before....”

“I’ll be okay. Don’t worry.”

She looked back forward. “Where did they all go?”

“I don’t know.”

She looked at the clock, apparently. “Oh, it’s five o’clock. There you go.”

“I suppose we should go, then.”

“I guess.” Next Chapter: Chapter 63: Important Estimated time remaining: 13 Hours