I woke up at the crack of dawn, sat up, and briefly stretched before deciding to lay back down and get some more sleep. The new sleepwear was very warm, very comfortable, and it was my day off, anyways.

I wasn't asleep for long before I was up again, the call of nature being felt loud and clear. "May as well make the most of it, I guess." After grabbing the boxed outfit and the Ember Celica, I made my way to the restroom. "Let's see, today's. . . Ah, Friday. Grill day. And I'm stuck here. I hope they. . . No, I know they'll figure something out. Worst case scenario, there's no grill today."

After taking care of business, I started putting on the new outfit, keeping the picture out for reference to the various layers and bits of the ensemble. Between double checking that things were in place and making sure it all fit, it took a little while to put it all on. The boots were the most tedious part, as the laces and straps all had to be properly tightened. The heels on them barely bothered me, especially considering the ones I'd been wearing behind the bar.

Once I'd put the hat and Ember Celica on, I gathered up the sleepwear and took it back to my room, where my stomach decided to speak up. "May as well make some breakfast."

I went downstairs and got a few raised eyebrows from the rest of the staff that was there for breakfast. Silk was the first to speak up. "So, that's the new look Rarity made for ya? Gotta say, she did a fine job."

"She always does," I said as I went to the kitchen, pausing and turning back to the gathered staff. "Who wants something?"

Silk was the first to answer. "Can ya make omelettes?"

"I can try." I went behind the bar and picked up a notepad and pencil, sliding into waitress mode. "What do you want in yours?"

"Tomato, onion, and pepper. No cheese. Oh, and an apple on the side."

I wrote down Silk's order and turned to the rest of the staff that was there. "Anyone else?"

I wound up making breakfast for nearly everyone there, including Mr. Tender when he showed up. His was the last order, so I made my breakfast at the same time as his. Once they were done, I set mine at the bar and took Mr. Tender's to him. "Scrambled eggs with peppers and beans, and a side of breakfast potatoes, sir."

He sniffed it for a moment before picking his fork up in that weird way earth ponies hold things with their hooves and took a bite. "Mmm, that's good," he said after the bite. "And you made breakfast for everypony?"

"Not quite everyone, but most of them."

"Well then, please let me pay you for that." Before I could object, he held up a hoof and continued. "Ah saw smilin' faces out there over the breakfast you made, and that means a lot to me in these trying times." A smile started showing on his muzzle as well. "Besides, it's your day off, and what's a day off without a few bits to spend?" After taking another bite and setting down his silverware, Mr. Tender grabbed a pouch and slid some money into it. "50 bits ought to be enough, right?"

"Well, I could do with less, maybe."

"Don't bet on maybe. Take 'em." After it was closed, he tossed the bag to my side of the desk. "Before you go, mind if Ah ask you a favor?"

"Sure."

"If you could wear that getup on your last day here, Ah'd appreciate it."

I thought about the request for a bit. "You just want to build up some hype, right?"

"Got it in one. What do you say?"

"Hmm, I guess I'd better change to something else, then. Don't want to spoil the surprise, after all." I picked up the bag of bits and left the office to get my breakfast and go up to my room with it.

I was somewhat disappointed with my meatless breakfast, but it was still filling and tasted pretty good. "I am so making myself a bacon cheeseburger when I get home," I decided as I started changing clothes again, each piece of Sunflower going back in the box.

I wound up choosing plain black pants and what I initially thought was a white tank top, which actually turned out to be a dress that went down to just above the middle of my thighs and had the burning heart emblem displayed over my left hip. Both of those, together with my combat boots, didn't look bad, though the Ember Celica did throw the colors off quite a bit.

After taking my plate and fork to the kitchen, where there were already a couple ponies washing dishes, I left the saloon to go for a walk and figure out my plans. "Let's see. . . I'll stop at the ice cream place at some point, at least after I get lunch somewhere. And. . . I can't think of anything else." I paused and looked around, my gaze settling on a blacksmith's shop. "Oh, what the heck. Tourist mode on! But within budget, of course."

It didn't take long for me to decide there was nothing of interest for me at the blacksmith's shop. Most of the stuff there was just horseshoes, farming tools, and a few construction items. There were a few decorative items, but they didn't strike my fancy.

After leaving the blacksmith, I decided to go walking around in the orchard I'd passed through. I would have gone for a run, but the dress wasn't designed for that kind of motion, and I didn't want to damage it.

The walk through the trees was quite nice, and I was amazed at how they managed to get the trees to grow out in the middle of the desert. "Then again, weather teams exist, so they might just ship some rain out here." The thought of weather brought my attention out to the horizon, where the weather machine still stood. I could make out little dots of gold and white flying around it as well. "Looks like the guard's already out there. I wonder what they're going to do with it?" After a few minutes of watching, I decided to go back to my walk, find the owner of the orchard, and buy an apple for a snack.

After a few hours of walking around and talking with some ponies that came up to me, I made it to the one flavor ice cream parlor, which, despite the name, was also a diner. It was a bit chilly inside, but it wasn't anything a little internalized fire magic couldn't help with. There were a few ponies having lunch inside, but it was still slow.

I sat down at a small table by the front window and a waiter with a menu was with me in seconds. "Howdy, Miss Xiao Long. Can I get you anything to drink?"

"Just some water would be nice." I accepted the menu and started looking it over. "Any recommendations? No grass, please."

"We have the hearty farmer sandwich with lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese, mushrooms, and an egg on it. For an extra two bits, we can even put hash browns on it.”

I gently slammed the menu down on the table. “Yes. All of it.”

“How do you want the egg?”

“Fried. Considering what day it is, it’s only appropriate.”

“Friday?”

“Fried egg Friday.” A big smile came over my face as I cracked the pun.

Silence fell over the diner for a few seconds before numerous heads met various tables. The waiter took a breath and sighed. “I’ll have it out soon.” With that, he left to take care of it.

While I was waiting, I turned my attention outside to the dusty road. There wasn’t much to watch, just ponies going about their business. “Earth, earth, earth, earth, earth, pegasus, earth, pegasus, earth, earth. . . Is Silk the only. . . Nope, there’s a unicorn that’s not her. Lots of Earth ponies here.”

I was drawn out of my musings by the sound of a plate being set on my table. “One hearty farmer sandwich, Miss Xiao Long.” The sandwich was big, and I’d apparently missed the water being put on the table while I was pony watching. “Need anything else?”

“No, I’m good.” As he left, I picked up the sandwich and got a better look at it. There were only two mushrooms on it, the crispy hash browns sandwiched between them, and both the size of a burger patty. All the other toppings were on top of those, and it looked delicious. “Well, I wasn’t expecting that. Time to dig in!” The first bite was flavorful, but a bit dry and a bit salty. Still, it was good, and I had nothing to complain about.

I took my time to enjoy the sandwich while watching the ponies on the street again. About halfway through my meal, the ponies started huddling together and pressing themselves against the buildings as something moved through town. I couldn’t see what it was, but it looked like it was moving towards the diner/ice cream parlor.

The doors to the diner slammed open and everything went silent, save for some hooves on the wooden floor. “Alright, y’all! Hoof over yer bits, and nopony gets hurt!” The pony was a unicorn stallion, dressed like a Western outlaw, and his horn was glowing.

“Where have I. . .” I was reminded of where I’d seen him before when he fired off a rapid salvo of shots from his horn. “Speedy Slinger, right?” I boredly asked.

“Who dares?” He looked at me and narrowed his eyes. “Yang Xiao Long.” He slowly walked over to me, sizing me up as he did. Finally, he was standing at my table. “Seems I’ve struck gold! I could get so many bits with you as my hostage!”

Just as his horn lit up again, I reached out and slapped him across his face, stunning him. “No, the gold’s struck you.” I slapped his face again from the other direction and he was looking like he’d had a few too many drinks. One carefully placed swing down on his head later, and he was down like a sack of potatoes. “Waiter?” I called out.

“Miss Xiao Long?” the waiter asked from behind the main counter.

“Can you hold onto my meal for a bit? I’ll be back for it.” I picked up the knocked out stallion and slung him over my shoulder. “Which way to the sheriff’s?”

“To the right, down the street. Knowing Silver Star though, he should be here-”

The doors slammed open again, a mustached pony dressed up like a wild west sheriff, star shaped badge included, coming in. “Alright, Speedy! Ah’ve. . . got you now. . . Miss Xiao Long, I wasn’t expecting. . . Well. . .”

I cut off his stammering. “Yes, you’re welcome. Where do you want me to take him?”

He collected himself quickly and cleared his throat. “Just follow me, and we’ll get him locked up.”

“Can do.”

As we walked down the street, numerous ponies looked at us. “So, how’d you knock him out?”

“Two slaps to the face and a tap to the head. I was thinking of throwing my bag of bits at his head after he demanded money, but it didn’t work out that way. He thought I would be a good hostage. I wasn’t.”

“Ah see.” The rest of the short walk was made in silence. Finally, we came across a humble sheriff’s office and went inside. “Just toss him in one o’ those cells. Don’t matter which one.” There were three cells, all empty and looking like they hadn’t seen much use. I set Speedy on the cot in the middle one and closed the door behind me, the sheriff locking it in quick order. “Let’s get you your reward, then.”

I followed him over to the desk, a placard on it reading ‘Sheriff Silver Star’. “600 bits, right?”

“700, actually. It went up yesterday after he zapped a cider barrel and set a few of them on fire.” He opened a drawer and hefted out a bag of bits, soon followed by a piece of paper. “Just to make it official for anypony that comes and checks, Ah need you to sign this to say that you did help get Speedy Slinger and got your reward bits.”

I quickly put my signature on the paper. “Sounds like you don’t care for the legal stuff.”

“Not a bit. Ah just want to keep Appleloosa safe, and Ah see no need for all these paper gobbledygook forms saying that somepony did something around here, and nopony’s actually come down to check them, either. Not since the first day that they had me start with them.”

“Yeah, I don’t like legal paperwork either. Anyways, it’s been good doing business here, so I’ll just be on my way, then.” I picked up the bag of bits, bid the sheriff a good day, and went back to the diner to finish my lunch.

My meal was exactly where I’d left it, and my water was refilled. Seconds after I sat back down to finish it, a mare who looked like she was the owner came up to me. “Miss Xiao Long, as my way of saying ‘thanks’ for stoppin’ Speedy Slinger, your meal and a bowl of our ice cream are on the house today.”

“Huh. thanks.” I didn’t feel like insisting on paying, so I accepted it. “What flavor ice cream is it?”

“Corn flakes.”

I did a double take when she said that. “Corn flakes? As in the breakfast cereal corn flakes?”

“The same. We make one flavor every week, and that’s this week’s flavor.”

“Hm. Yeah, I’ll try some.”

“I’ll have it right out for you.” It was during my second bite into the remaining half that she came back with a hefty bowl of ice cream. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.”

The rest of my meal was peaceful, and it turned out that the corn flake ice cream actually tasted pretty good. It was very creamy, smooth, and the corn flake flavor was perfectly done. It took a while to finish it all, but I managed it.

When I attempted to leave some bits as a tip, the owner was quick to come out and insist against it. As with the meal being free, I decided not to argue over it. My full stomach also helped convince me not to worry about it.

With lunch and dessert done, I decided to just go back to the Rusty Horseshoe and take a nap. During the brief walk there, I looked over the bags of bits again. "Yeah, definitely giving the reward money to Mr. Tender. Actually, nah. I'll just say he doesn't have to pay me anymore and can keep all the tips."

Sheriff Silver Star came up to the entrance of the Rusty Horseshoe before I did, and he pulled down the Wanted poster, replacing it with a Got Him poster. The poster simply said that Speedy Slinger was arrested after a civilian briefly fought him. "Thanks again, Miss Xiao Long," he said with a tip of his hat. "Would you like one of these posters?"

I shrugged. "Sure. I'll get it framed later." The sheriff pulled one of the posters out of his saddlebags and gave it to me before heading on to his next destination. As he left, I went inside. Mr. Tender was behind the bar, looking much happier than when I showed up mere days earlier.

He paused in his glass cleaning to look at my big bag of bits. “Ah’m not even going to ask.”

I stopped at the bar and answered him anyways. “I got Speedy Slinger and turned him in. That’s what happened. And I couldn’t even spend a bit on my lunch either. I guess I just have trouble spending money, and it was really bad today. Anyways, I think I’ll go work off my lunch. It was not small.” I resumed the walk upstairs to my room, where I set down my bits before figuring out what kinds of exercises to do.

Later that night, I found a towel waiting for me after I finished my shower, exactly where I’d seen it when I went in, and for the first time since I arrived, I was able to properly dry off. There was something about the motions of it that really just felt right. The heat blasts were effective, but just weren’t the same.

All in all, the day was a good one, if a bit dull. The combination of a good, long workout, shower, and warm sleepwear made getting to sleep a simple task.

Luna was there when I started dreaming. “Hello, Yang.”

“Hello, Luna,” I greeted from my uncomfortable golden throne made of bits. “Turns out I failed at spending money in town today. Spectacularly. I spent one bit on an apple, then got a free meal and dessert after I stopped an outlaw who had 700 bits on his head.”

“If only fixing all our problems were that profitable and easy,” Luna lamented. “Still, maybe it’s better that way. Bits are useful, but they can’t solve everything. Anyways, that is not what I wanted to tell you. I found something while going through Celestia’s memories recently.”

“Related to the evils?”

“It was faint, and seemed like it had been magically altered, but one thing in it was clear: a tall armored being with four glowing swords that could cut through even the strongest of metals with ease. The colors of the blades were shifting in the memory, along with glowing parts of the armor, but none of them stayed consistent.”

“Anything else?”

“Yes. The magic that altered the memory is older than the memory itself, but isn’t any kind of curse or enchantment, which is very puzzling. I’ll see what I can do to clear it up and get back to you later.”

“Thanks, Luna. Good night.”

“Sweet dreams, Yang.” After Luna left, I found myself in a place that was made of all kinds of desserts, and I was holding a plate with a slice of cheesecake on it. I looked between the cheesecake and the other colorful pastries packing the place, shrugged, and had a bite of the dessert in front of me.

Author's Notes:

That's one heck of a day off.