My peaceful sleep, well earned from a good day’s work, was cut short by two things: the sunlight landing straight on my closed eyes and some pressure in the bladder. At the same time. There was less than zero chance of me getting back to sleep now. Might as well take care of business. Breakfast should be cooking by now as well.

After I took care of the hygienic business, I went down the stairs and I could smell cinnamon rolls baking. Delicious, delicious cinnamon rolls.

“Morning, Rarity” I said.

“Good morning, Yang” Rarity responded from her workroom. “The cinnamon rolls should be done soon, but I’m in the zone, so I can’t get them out of the oven. Could you?”

“Sure.” I looked around the kitchen for potholders or something similar. “Uh, Rarity? I can’t find any potholders.”

There was a bit of silence. “We don’t have any here. Just use your hands and I’ll heal them to the best of my ability. There’s also some icing ready for when the rolls are out.”

I sighed. “If I must.” A timer went ‘ding!’ and I opened the oven. Inside was a stone dish with the cinnamon rolls neatly together in it. I took a breath and cautiously poked the stone dish with a finger. I didn’t feel anything like a burn, so I gave it a few more pokes, each longer than the one before until I had a hand fully on the stoneware. It did not hurt, and my hand wasn’t burnt.

I set the rolls on a prepped area of the counter and inspected my hands. I had handled something that was probably upwards of 300 degrees and they weren’t even slightly burnt.

I found the icing Rarity had mentioned and started spreading it on the rolls. Already, I could feel my mouth watering. They smelled great.

“Rolls are ready, Rarity!” I called out. “And I’m unburnt!”

“Excellent” she replied. “Set a couple on a plate for me, would you?”

“Sure thing.” I was about to just reach in and grab a couple of them when I realized that would be a bad idea. The rolls would get messed up and my hand would take some of the icing with it. I got a couple knives and used them to extract the rolls. I placed two of them on a plate for Rarity and three on a plate for me. “Hey, where’s Sweetie Belle?”

“She’s having breakfast with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo in town today.”

“Okay.” I decided to leave the three remainders in the dish. I took my plate and set it on the table. Before I sat down, I poured myself a glass of orange juice. I don’t know if it’s my new body or how it’s made here, but this stuff is amazing. It’s smoother than the low acid stuff back home, perfectly balanced between sweet and flavorful, and doesn’t have even the slightest traces of that pulp-like stuff that accumulates at the bottom. I’m leaning towards how it’s made.

My breakfast, being only some cinnamon rolls and orange juice, was eaten fairly quickly. Rarity did not come out at all while I ate. I licked the icing off my fingers once I was done with the rolls, drank my glass of orange juice, poured and drank another glass of orange juice, and went upstairs to change.

As usual, I chose a white shirt, black pants, the boots, and the Ember Celica. As much as I would like something different to wear, I don’t want to ask Rarity for it. She’s doing enough for me as it is, and I don’t want to work her even more and drain precious time, money, and energy.

I did catch a glimpse of her sales records though. After that glimpse, I got my cheat sheet so I could more easily decipher it. Apparently, the simple black and white pattern dresses are selling at hotcake levels. Some ponies were even paying upwards of 300 bits for a single one, so money didn’t really seem like a concern, but I was concerned anyways.

Huh, dresses. I’ve never worn one before, since I used to be a guy. Sure, I can kind of simulate one with the skirt and robe, but that’s a different thing entirely. Mostly. I am not looking forward to when Rarity has me put one on. Rainbow’s told me that she will do it, too.

I cast those thoughts aside as I went back down the stairs. Rarity was just leaving her workroom as well. What timing.

“I’m heading back to Sweet Apple Acres, Rarity” I said. “There is a barn that needs to be finished up.”

“Of course, dear” Rarity said. “Have a good day. I would say something about not getting sunburnt out there since you have no fur, but that’s apparently not an issue with you, so, tata!”

I remembered the way I had come from when I left Sweet Apple Acres yesterday, but there was a trace of doubt, so I jumped up onto the top of the boutique and looked around. Turns out I had no reason to doubt myself. I was right all along.

As I was walking through town, I felt and heard something metallic land on my head. It didn’t fall off, so I reached up and picked it off. It was a silver necklace with a rose design on it. The rose looked familiar. It took me a moment to realize it was the one associated with Ruby Rose.

“Thus kindly, I scatter” I heard as a whisper in my head while I looked at the necklace.

“Thus kindly, I scatter?” I repeated out loud. “Like mozzarella over tomato sauce and dough? Like Legos on the floor?”

“Like rose petals on the wind?” a male voice said from behind me.

“Yeah, that works too.” A few seconds passed by before I realized someone had spoke. I almost jumped out of my skin as I looked back. I saw someone there, a person dressed as Ruby Rose in her Slayer outfit. Skirt included. “When did you get here?”

“You summoned me here just now” he said. I gave him a quizzical look. “Oh, you must be new to this. You are what’s called a Displaced. Someone who got pulled from Earth and brought to another world by some force.

“I was cosplaying as Ruby Rose and I bought this Crescent Rose from a merchant. I suppose you were cosplaying as Yang?”

“Actually, it was a friend of mine who was cosplaying as her. I was just tagging along with her and some other friends. She gave me the Ember Celica, suggested I put them on, I activated them, and got turned into Yang.”

“Huh. That doesn’t sound too bad.”

“I used to be a guy and my personality is quite a contrast to Yang’s. I’ve had to get used to a lot of things aside from being dropped into ponyland.”

“Ponyland?” He looked around and saw the ponies walking in town. “This is not the kind of Equestria I landed in.”

“Hm? What kind of Equestria did you wind up in?”

He looked around for a bit. The ponies were giving us a polite amount of space. “I see some ponies here with fur colors and mane styles that match up with some people I’ve seen back where I’m from.”

I heard a rush of wind and a pegasus landing next to me. “Yang, who’s this?” Rainbow asked.

“Apparently someone kind of like me. He’s from another Equestria where everyone’s human.” I answered.

“Wait, what?” Rainbow looked him over. “You’re sure that’s not a, um, what’s a female human called?”

“Girl if young, woman if mature.”

“Yeah, one of those. How can you be sure?”

“Rainbow Dash, right?” He asked the pegasus.

The pegasus in question scratched her head with a forehoof. “Okay, so he’s a guy dressed as a girl and he somehow knows my name already.” There was a pregnant pause. “I deal with Pinkie Pie on a regular basis and I’m finding him weird. No offense.”

“None taken. Say, we never introduced ourselves. Call me Ross.” Ross held out a hand.

“Call me Yang.” I took his hand and shook it. Rainbow decided it was time to politely leave, so she did.

“Was that your real name before you came here?”

“No. I forgot my name on the way here, so I took up Yang’s own.

“So, what now, Mr. Ruby Ross?”

Ross facepalmed at the pun before answering. “Is there anything you need me to help you with or do for you?”

“Hmm. I’m on my way to Sweet Apple Acres to help Applejack finish building a barn, and we could use the help.”

“Sounds good. Do you want to walk or fly there?”

“I say we walk. It’s too beautiful of a day for flying.”

“Hey!” I heard Rainbow shout.

“Unless you’re a pegasus” I added. I got my bearings again and lead the way to Sweet Apple Acres.

During the walk to the farm, Ross enlightened me on the Displaced multiverse. People were brought from Earth to some version of Equestria and turned into various characters or granted their abilities, as was his case. I understood what he was talking about, but couldn’t quite wrap my head around it either.

If it hadn’t happened to me, I’d think it was some weird fanfiction thing someone started and others expanded on with their own stories.

Eventually, we came to the Apple Farm gate. “Alright Ross, over there is the barn we’ll be working on.” I pointed out the framed walls that were just visible in the distance. “Go on over and we’ll meet you there.”

“Alright.” Ross gave a salute and sped off to the barn. He was really fast. In what had to be less than fifteen seconds, he made it to the barn, something which took Applejack and I a few minutes to walk to. He also left behind a trail of rose petals, which quickly dissolved.

After getting over my surprise, I walked up to the front door and knocked. A moment later, it opened up, revealing Applejack, hatless. “Howdy, Yang” she greeted. “Ready to finish that barn?”

“Yep” I responded. “I even brought some extra hands.”

“Hooves, Yang.”

“Whatever. Let’s go.”

Before Applejack came out, she went back inside. A moment later, she came out hatted and with an empty basket on her back. We went out and started the minutes long walk to the barn, stopping only for her to kick a few apples out of a tree and into the basket. We were quick to resume our walk since it took only a few seconds for her to make the small harvest.

When we got there, Applejack noticed something sitting on the lumber. Or rather, someone. “Uh, Yang? Do you know who that is?”

“The extra hands” I answered. “Applejack, meet Ross. He’s someone kind of like me.”

“So he crashed through a castle too?”

“Wait, what?” Ross asked.

“I kind of fell into Twilight’s crystal castle after I fell from the sky” I sheepishly answered. “At least the only thing hurt was the castle itself.”

Ross was quiet for a bit. “And all I did was stumble onto some pavement when I came through to my Equestria.

“So, are we going to build this barn or what?”

Building the fourth wall of the barn wasn’t like building the first wall, despite their similar shapes. The door had to be factored in, after all. And I thought I saw Pinkie with a sledgehammer a few times, as if she wanted to break the fourth wall, but was holding back.

Ross was in charge of cutting the thick lumber, by his choice, and his scythe skills were quite apparent. He was able to make very precise cuts with his Crescent Rose, and faster than me with the saw. I held a beam over my shoulder, Ross cut it appropriately, and Applejack was put into the role of overseer, directing us more than actually working. She didn’t seem to like that very much, despite being very good at it.

The wall frame was built in what was probably half an hour, but likely more. Once it was done, Applejack and I raised it into position and held it there while Ross drove in the nails that would hold it together. He wanted to use Crescent Rose to literally shoot the nails in, but he couldn’t because he didn’t have the right munitions. Come to think of it, with the right ammo, I could use the Ember Celica as a pair of nail guns. And to make it better, there would be no need for locating and picking up an air powered tool, since the rounds could have only enough power to drive in a nail.

Egads, where did that, admittedly rather clever, line of thinking come from? Eh, I’ll figure it out later.

Once the fourth wall was up, I asked Applejack a question. “So, how are we going to get the roof on this thing?”

Applejack answered my question. “We’re going to build up the inside first, then we’ll get to the roof from there.”

“Why not get some pegasi to lift the pieces and build it up there?” Ross suggested. It did sound smart.”

“Because you would need at least four pegasi to even lift these beams up there, and if one of them falls, we’d have to take extra time to repair anything it hit.”

“So building the inside now will give us both the interior structures for it and the scaffolding to put the roof up?” I answered.

“You got it, Yang. Now let’s get to work!”

The first thing we had to do before building the interior was get all the 6x6 posts out from the giant pile. We used way less than half of them for the frame, and they were taking up space we needed to move around in.

Applejack had the easiest job, since she was just marking where things would go. Ross and I were tasked with taking the giant posts out. With both of us working at it, it was easy enough. As we neared the end of the pile, it was becoming evident Ross was getting tired.

“You okay there?” I asked him.

“Yeah, yeah” Ross said between breaths. “I’m just tired and reconsidering my choice of long sleeves, since I’m getting a little warm.”

“AJ, what’s today’s temperatures?”

“Ain’t going below 70 today” she informed me.

“And I feel fine.” I really did. Thinking about it, I could feel the heat, but it simply didn’t affect me. I liked that. I could probably wear a black suit in the middle of the day in the middle of the desert and be just fine. Now I wanted a suit. “Maybe you should go rest for a bit, Ross. There’s plenty of shady trees around.”

“That sounds good” he agreed as he started going towards the nearest tree. “I can fight Roidmudes and Grimm with Crescent Rose, but a bit of construction work wears me out.”

“Fights and construction are like Roidmudes and Grimm: two totally different beasts.” Yes, that sounded like a good analogy. One was an intelligent mechanical humanoid thing that could slow things in an area down and the other was a shadowy beast.

“Good point.” Ross decided to jump up in the tree, but he soon fell back down. “Wait, you know what a Roidmude is?”

“000 is best Roidmude.”

“What?” Ross asked before dismissing the thought and jumping back up into the tree. I kept on moving the posts, though with much less efficiency than when Ross was helping. I did manage to get it done within an hour, so that was good.

After I got the last post moved, I went to the tree to check on Ross. Seems he had fallen asleep. I had to do something about that, and I knew just how to do it. I whispered “Red like Ross’s” into his ear. The reaction wasn’t immediate, but the facepalm certainly did its job of waking him up, along with knocking him off balance enough to fall out of the tree. “Feel better?”

“Yeah” Ross answered. “What’s next? Are we moving more lumber?”

“Yes, but not in the same way. We’re making stuff for the inside. AJ’s getting some water for us, so I can rest a bit now.” I landed next to him and sat in the shade.

For a while, we just sat there, waiting for Applejack to return. “Do you think she’s okay?” Ross asked. “It’s been a while since she left us here.”

“Maybe she just got caught up in something.”

A few seconds later, we faintly heard Applejack. “Ah’m tellin` ya Mac, the three of us got this. We don’t need your help.”

“Eenope” a male voice said.

“So if you agree, why are you insisting on helping us?” Applejack sounded a little upset.

“It sounds interesting.” This stallion was certainly one of few words. Come to think of it, I hadn’t heard a word out of him when I was at the feast yesterday.

“It’s just us building a barn. What’s so interesting about it?”

“It hasn’t fallen yet. It’s usually the fourth one that stays up.”

Applejack didn’t have any kind of response to that. She and her brother showed up a few moments after their conversation ended, each with a cart with water barrels in it.

“So, what’s up?” I asked Applejack.

“We got some water here and-” Applejack sighed. “-Big Mac’s going to help us finish the barn.”

Ross and I looked at the stallion. “Eeyup” was all he said on the matter.

“Drink up, everyone. It’s warming up, and I want everyone alive and well. We don’t want what happened to Apple Fritter last year to happen to us.”

We got the water barrels out of the carts and drank some of the water. It was refreshing, just like yesterday.

“So, what happened to Apple Fritter?” Ross asked.

“You don’t want to know” Applejack said. “Off to work, everyone!”

“But I do want to know” Ross said as he followed us back to the work site.

On the ground floor, we started by building what looked like stable walls, but were actually for tool and crop storage. At least, that’s what Applejack said that she and I were working on. Ross and Big Mac were making what looked like a workshop area by the opposite wall. Speaking of walls, we really needed to get some actual walls up on the frames.

The rest of the ground floor went at a good pace. Once we had everything made, we started on the next part of the interior: stairs to go up to a second level. A level we needed to also build the floor for.

I would do almost anything right now for a crane truck or two.

We somehow managed to build the second floor without any supports connecting it to the ground. It still would have been easier with a crane truck. All of us, except for me, were feeling the effects of the heat once we were done. AJ, Big Mac, and Ross were resting in the shade. Since I wasn’t worn out from the heat, I got volunteered to take an empty basket and harvest some apples. A whole dozen of them.

I tried kicking a tree like Applejack did, but I got nothing from the few tries. I didn’t want to punch the tree, remembering what those did in the Diamond Dogs’ cave. That left going up there to pick the apples myself. My initial thought was to get a ladder, but that idea fell under the next one, which was just to jump up there.

The only other times I’ve jumped have been when Rainbow scared me by accident and the times I’ve jumped onto the boutique’s roof. In both cases, I’ve not had to mind the power in my jumps, since the former was me being startled and the latter has nothing I could accidentally hit with a bit of caution.

I started with some small jumps, and gradually increased the strength I put in them, going a bit higher each time. My sixth jump got me close to the lowest branches, and the seventh got me close enough to grab a branch. Between the bark of the branch and my strength, I was able to hold myself up with ease. I got my free hand on another branch and pulled myself up. I clumsily got my legs up and made my way to an opening in the branches where I could stand.

There were lots of apples within reach. Multiple dozens, and this wasn’t a very large tree either. Fortunately, I only needed the one dozen, so I carefully selected and grabbed twelve very good ones. I put them in the basket, then decided to grab a few extra. If Applejack minded that, I could pay for them.

Getting down was much easier than getting up, since I did not need to use any strength. Moments after landing, I made my way back to the barn, basket of apples in tow.

When I got back, everyone was laying down on their backs, still in the shade under the second floor. “I have apples!” I called out. “How many do each of you want?”

“Two” Ross said.

“Three” Applejack answered.

“Four” Big Mac said.

I delivered to them the requested quantities of apples. I sat down next to Ross, grabbed an apple for myself, and bit into it.

If I do make it back home somehow, I am never going to truly enjoy apples there again. These were crisp, fresh, juicy, and just sweet enough. Overall, they were perfectly delicious.

“These are good” Ross said. “Really good.”

“Of course they are” Applejack said. “We grow the best apples in Equestria here.”

“I don’t doubt it.” Ross took another bite. “I’d like to take some back with me, to be honest.”

“I did pick a few extra apples” I admitted. “Sorry, AJ.”

“It’s alright, Yang” Applejack assured. “Ross can just take some of the extras you picked. Ah don’t mind. In fact, you can take some yourself, Yang.”

“Thanks.”

For a few minutes, we just stayed there, enjoying the apples, shade, and relative silence. I did get a kick out of seeing Ross’s face when Applejack picked up an apple with a single hoof, even though it perplexed me just as much how she could do that.

“Well, break’s over, everyone” Applejack decided. “let’s get to work on the roof frames and third floor.”

“Third floor?” Ross and I asked at the same time.

“Eeyup” Big Mac said.

Apparently, the logic behind making the third floor before making the roof framing was so you could stand on the floors and build the frame right there without all the risk of falling to the ground. I would have been fine from a fall to the ground at this height, and Ross probably would be alright too, but a pony might not.

Really, it was a fairly smart design. I know some machines would have made getting everything up a lot easier, but there was also a sense of pride and satisfaction in getting everything up by hand.

Once the roof frames were in place, all that was left to do was attaching the real walls. Ross was the one to give voice to my thoughts. “So, how are we going to put all these walls in place?”

“A lot of rope and the top of the barn” Applejack answered. “And Ah reckon you two will be perfect for this.”

Ross and I exchanged worried looks.

We were right to be worried. Applejack’s plan was to lasso us by our ankles, and have us upside down against one framed wall while she and Big Mac moved us around with the ropes from the opposite side.

Before we got tied up, we had moved a substantial amount of wall panels to the bases of the walls we were building, along with a lot of nails. Once that was done, Ross and I barely had any time to react before we were roped and pulled up and against the wall. Thanks to his speed, Ross was able to brace himself before impact. Me? I slammed into a fame post face and chest first. It stung a bit.

After we had a minute to acclimate to our new orientation, I realized we both had things on us that were a bit more gravity sensitive than anything else. For me, it was my chest and hair, both of which I could withstand. For Ross, it was his dress. Even though he was a guy, he treated it like he would if he were a girl.

It was both amusing and hard for me to look at. I blame societal norms and such.

Applejack offered a solution in the form of an extra bit of rope. It made things easier for us all since Ross wasn’t as occupied with the skirt.

We started putting up the wall panels after that. It wasn’t easy, and we could have done well with some hooks or something to help hold onto the panels. We’d take a piece, place it against the frames, then take turns nailing it in place. For a few hours, we just hung out like that, going around the barn until everything but the doors and roof were made.

When we were done, Ross took Crescent Rose and cut the ropes holding us up, starting with mine. I had only a moment to be amazed at his precision before falling to the ground. Face first. Because of course that’s how I would land.

“That doesn’t look like a good landing” Ross commented.

I got to my feet and responded. “I have no idea why, but the world seems to be after my face.” Both of us were a little dizzy. The ground was starting to look good again.

“Go ahead and take a break, you two” Applejack said. “In fact, you can go home if you want. Mac and I can finish the barn from here.”

“You sure?”

“Eeyup” Big Mac said.

“I think I’ll do that after some time laying down.” I let myself fall backwards onto the ground. Ross had a similar idea, but he fell forwards. Over a period of minutes, I started feeling better as my body reoriented itself.

Once I was sure I was able to stand without getting dizzy, I stood up, and to my pleasure, I was not dizzy. I counted that as a small victory. Yay!

“So, what now?” Ross asked as he stood up.

“I suppose we head off” I answered. Ross evidently thought it was a good idea too since he started walking off. I had to stop him though, as he was going the wrong way.

Once we were on the right path, bid Applejack and Big Mac our farewells, and snagged a couple more apples (with their permission), Ross started talking. “So, what kind of token are you going to have?”

“Token?”

“Something for other Displaced to use to call for your aid. That necklace you picked up earlier is my token.”

“Oh. Uh, do you want it back?”

“No, I have the original with me. A token is something related to you that you infuse with part of your soul and send out into the void. Think of it as a business card of sorts.”

I thought about everything I had, which wasn’t all that much. “I’ve got nothing I could use.”

“You could use your Ember Celica.”

I thought about that for a bit. “I’d rather not, considering what they did to me. I don’t want the chance of that happening to anyone else.”

“Fair enough. You don’t have to do it right now either.

“I should get going now. Pull out the necklace you used to summon me with.” As Ross said to, I pulled out the necklace. “Now just say that I’m done here and ready to go back.”

“Thanks for your help today” I said. “You can go back to your world now.” A portal opened behind Ross, and I took a few involuntary steps back, but there was no pull from it on either of us.

“I’ll probably be a bit sore later, but today was good. And I got some delicious apples out of it. Maybe I could give one to Kelly.” Before I could say anything, he dashed into the portal, which closed right behind him.

With a determined sigh, I resumed my walk back to the boutique, enjoying an apple along the way. It was another good apple. One thing I noticed was that the skin of the apple didn’t get caught in my teeth. Whether it was just my luck that the apple skins haven’t gotten stuck in my teeth or that the apples simply are that way, that was cool.

I was feeling quite good when I got back to the boutique. Another day of work, some knowledge gained, and I’m not all that tired either. I was feeling rather awesome.

“Hi, Rarity” I said as I came in. “How was your day?”

“Hello, Yang” Rarity responded. She was opening a box by her wall of fabric. Inside the box, though not for long, was a bolt of light blue fabric. “My day has gone quite well. I got three dresses made, sold two others, and set some clients up for measurements later this week. I also got some fabric in that I ordered a few days before you showed up.”

I did some mental math. “So, about two weeks ago?”

“Hm, yes. For an order like this, all the way from Vanhoover, two weeks is impressive speed.”

The council of Me, Myself, and I, despite not knowing where Vanhoover was, unanimously chose not to tell Rarity about Amazon or Ebay. Or shopping on the internet in general. “Cool. As for me, I made a friend, though I probably won’t see him for a while, and we helped with Applejack’s barn. We didn’t finish, but Applejack let us leave after we got the walls finished. She also said she and her brother could finish it.”

“That’s quite nice, dear. I’m not one for farming, or agriculture in general, but I can appreciate the work that went into it.

“Oh, I made something for you during a moment of inspiration.” Rarity set her fabric bolt down and went to her inspiration room. A moment later, she came back out and floated a thin brown and yellow thing. The sections were the same shape, a trapezoid with a narrow center and long angles. The brown section had a yellow outline of Yang’s burning heart emblem on it, which indicated that the longer side of the brown part was on top and the yellow was on the bottom, which would make an upward slant at the sides.

“What is it?” I asked as I picked it out of her magic and looked more closely at it.

“A choker. It’s like a necklace, but it’s tight enough to go anywhere on your neck. And despite the name, it won’t actually choke you. I got the idea for it from a client just today.”

“Hm. Well, it’s nice, but getting it on and off with all this hair won’t exactly be all that easy.”

“I’ve already thought of that. You can slide it open where the brown and yellow meet, then put them back together with ease.”

I looked at it again, not seeing whatever mechanism Rarity had installed. After a moment, I tried it and found that it slid apart with only a little effort. “How?”

“An enchantment, dear.”

“Oh.” Magic. No wonder I couldn’t see how it opened. With a mental shrug, I set to work putting it on. It was very easy, since the choker closed with ease, going right into position just a little bit above the base of my neck. It fit perfectly.

“It looks even better on you than I imagined” Rarity said.

“It feels good too. Consider it perfect.”

“Thanks, dear. I have a few more bolts of fabric to go through before dinner.”

“Alright.” I went upstairs to my room, an idea already in mind.

Once I was in my room, I sat down by the window and took the choker off, though with some reluctance. This could be a token. I held it and realized I had no idea how to do it. I still had some time though, so I pulled out Ross’s necklace. “Thus kindly, I scatter.”

I kept an eye out for Ross’s appearance through the window, but didn’t see him for a bit. I turned around and saw him standing at the foot of the bed.

“Need me again?” Ross asked.

“I have no idea how to make the token” I admitted. I was also wondering why he appeared behind me again. Maybe his token was faulty?

“Concentrate on it, have a message in mind, and when it’s done, you’ll see a small portal. Throw it in, and it will be out there. You’ll get to keep the original as well.”

“Alright.” I held the choker, closed my eyes, and focused on it. I think I went into a zen-like state. “If you need me, preferably not for fighting, call me over. The phrase is Come forth, calm flame.”

I felt something flowing from me to the choker for a fraction of a second, pulling me out of my possible zen state. I opened my eyes and saw a small swirling vortex in front of me.

“Just drop it in” Ross said. With a bit of trepidation, I tossed the choker in. A moment later, it came back out through another vortex, no worse for wear. After getting it, I put it back on. “Now anyone who finds a copy of it can call for your aid. And it looks nice on you.”

It felt nice to be complimented on how I looked. I never gave my appearance much thought before, but now that the seed of that idea was planted in my head, it was likely not to leave. “Thanks. You can go back to your world again.” Once again, a vortex opened up near Ross. He gave a quick salute and dashed into it, and soon there was no sign that he was there at all.

I looked to the bookshelf and its books. I grabbed a random magenta one and looked at the title. It took me a bit to decipher the title ‘Fashions Through the Decade’. There was also a tiny note written at the bottom to apologize for all the bad photos. Sounds like somebody probably travelled a lot for this book, especially considering just how thick it was.

I worked at my reading and learning of the ponies’ written characters until supper, which turned out to be Sweetie Belle offering to buy stuff for us from the Olive Branch Cafe and bring it back. I went with a salad like the one I had before and didn’t bother paying attention to Rarity’s detailed order.

As Rarity and I sat at the dinner table, we kept to ourselves. I read my book, admittedly rather slowly, and Rarity was looking at me like I was a blank canvas or something. I didn’t do anything to stop her, and she didn’t bother me.

After I finished page two and saw the horribly distorted picture on page three, Sweetie Belle came in, four containers floating next to her in her magic. I saw that each of them had a different letter on it. After closing the door, she came over to the table and set them down at my spot.

“Uh?” I eloquently asked.

“Go ahead and hoof them out, Yang” Sweetie said. “It shouldn’t be too hard to figure out which one is for which of us.”

“Did Twilight talk you into this?” Rarity asked. “It seems like something she would do.”

I spread the four containers out. All of them had a different letter on them.

“Yes, she did. She happened to be at Olive Branch suggested it.”

The letters were E, R, S, and Y. I kept the Y container for myself, gave the R to Rarity, gave the S to Sweetie Belle, and put the E container in the middle. “Whose is this one?” I asked.

“That one’s for everypony. It’s just some breadsticks and olive oil.”

We all opened our containers, and I saw my salad, perfectly made and waiting to be eaten. It was a slightly smaller portion than before, but if I remembered correctly, Rarity said they made the proportions relative to who ordered them. They couldn’t see me when Sweetie made the order, so they couldn’t make it the appropriate size. Oh well, nothing I can do about that.

Supper went quietly with each of us enjoying our food. Once we were done, we thanked Sweetie and we all left to do our own things. Well, I would have, had Opal not decided that she wanted to sit on my lap and pin me to the chair. I also found myself scratching her, further increasing her effectiveness with keeping me down. Outside, I was smiling. Inside, I was also smiling, but there was also a small part of my brain, just behind my left ear and about an inch in, that was wondering why I was helping Opal pin me in place.

“Yang?” Sweetie asked me.

“Yeah?” I asked back.

“I forgot to tell you this earlier, but Twilight wants to see you at her castle tomorrow morning. She wants to see what your limits are.”

“A fitness test?” For having nothing to really do, I sure was busy.

“I guess so. Good night, Yang.”

“Good night, Sweetie.” Shortly after she went upstairs, I began the monumental task of picking Opal up off my lap. With overly exaggerated effort, I successfully picked her up and set her on the floor, much to her apparent displeasure. “Sorry Opal, but I have to get ready for bed. Tomorrow is another busy day for me.”

I went upstairs and into my room. I grabbed my robe and its corresponding skirt, then over to the unoccupied bathroom. I took care of my personal cleansing routine, as I have less than twenty times before. I think it’s fair to say that I’ve fully adjusted to the new. . . waste excretion process. It wasn’t learning the motions that was tough, but rather accepting them as normal. For now.

After that was the familiar action of brushing my teeth. Amazingly, toothbrushes here are about the same size as the ones back home. I picked up my brush, put a bit of toothpaste on it, took a deep breath, and then started the fast brushing process. I had to be fast since the toothpaste was honey and grass flavored, and the latter flavor made me gag a bit.

Once I was done brushing and had rinsed my mouth with a mint mouthwash to get the grassy flavor out, I changed to my robe and its corresponding skirt. I had a feeling the ensemble wouldn’t win any awards, but it was comfortable, I liked it, and that was all that mattered.

Before I went to sleep, I looked over the clothes I had just taken off. There was a bit of dirt on them, but not much. I could wear them again tomorrow if I wanted to. I thought on the matter for a moment before deciding to put them in the basket of my dirty clothes. I still had a few extra changes available. I then turned off the lights and crawled into bed, lying on my back as I preferred to.

Apparently, I didn’t close my door all the way. Normally, this would not be a problem. Tonight though, Opal decided to come in and jump up onto the foot of my bed. I could tell it was her by the barely visible white cat shape.

“Oh, hi Opal” I greeted. “Are you here to sleep with me?”

Opal did not answer. Instead, she made her way up to my midsection, kneaded the blanket a bit, curled up, and started going to sleep. I followed suit soon thereafter.

Author's Notes:

It only took me thirteen chapters to get to a Displaced crossover. I hope I did well.

The visitor in this one is Ross fromA Golden Drive Through Equestria by the one, the only, I think there's only one, Psyga315. This should prove to be an interesting event for him in his world.

I do have another crossover/collab written, but that will be for after something that will happen soon. Things will start to change after the next chapter.