I woke up, not from a sunbeam to my eyes, but of my own volition for once. It felt kind of strange after waking up because of that sunbeam every day. It had become a bit of a routine to ever so slightly rage at the sun. A very tiny rage, like, small enough to make a lavish mansion and a vast 18 hole golf course on a trimmed pinky toenail with room to spare, but still a bit of rage at the sun.

I also woke up with the fillies around me, Rarity by my side, and Opal in a nest in my hair. I was the center of a sleeping pony pile. It felt very good, but there was a question in my mind.

“Did I not drink enough water yesterday?” I remembered bringing the fillies in here, but not Rarity or Opal. Unless they came in after I went to sleep, which made sense. It would also explain why I didn’t have to use the bathroom, either now or last night. “It’s too early to think.” Besides, the sheer amount of tranquility, no, THE TRANQUILITY, made thinking difficult.

For a few minutes, THE TRANQUILITY reigned supreme in it’s peaceful benevolence. Then Rarity shifted beside me and broke THE TRANQUILITY. Her horn poked my jaw in an uncomfortable way, which made me move my head, which moved Opal in her little nest, waking her up and further dispelling THE TRANQUILITY. After yawning, she looked around.

Opal seems to be a fairly smart cat, because it looked like she figured out that Rarity had caused me to move. Opal also seems to be a bit of a mean cat because she started stretching on Rarity’s flank and it looked like she was deliberately keeping her claws out.

Shortly thereafter, Rarity began to stir, her THE TRANQUILITY breaking down as Opal clawed at her flank. With THE TRANQUILITY being clawed away from her, both literally and metaphorically at the same time, Rarity woke up with a scream that would make a banshee in training after her first lesson sigh in disappointment.

Rarity’s scream did wake up the remaining three sleepers though, startling them into both awakeness and jumping off the bed, landing with three muffled thuds on the floor. It was a nicely carpeted floor, so it probably didn’t hurt that much.

Once we were all up, Opal smugly walked off in that way only cats can get away with. All of us were awake now, and THE TRANQUILITY was gone. The single moment I spent mourning for the loss of THE TRANQUILITY seemed to last a few minutes, then the need to use the bathroom slowly made itself known.

The urge came slowly enough that I was able to sit up and stretch in bed for a bit before having to get out. As far as I was concerned, getting to the bathroom took priority over greeting the ponies here with a “good morning”, since that was often followed by lots of talking, which was time I didn’t want to spend trying to hold it in. I may know how to do that and have some experience, but I didn’t feel like testing my limits there quite yet.

After taking care of business in the bathroom, I opened the door and Rarity rushed in as I left. In fact, she rushed in and closed the door so fast, a good amount of my hair got stuck in it. With the door locked, I had no choice but to stand there and listen as Rarity took her turn in there.

I found myself wondering why there was only the one bathroom in this house. Certainly, a second one could have been installed downstairs for customers or other guests? Unless I wasn’t aware of it after a month here, which was highly unlikely.

While my hair was still in the door and with the sound of running water coming from the bathroom, indicative of a shower, I saw the fillies coming out of Rarity’s room. “Girls, why do you all look a little wet?”

“We used the bath in Rarity’s bathroom to wash together” Sweetie said. “We always do that when we stay here. Besides, it’s what friends do, right?”

Friends bathing together, huh? I’ve only really seen that in some Japanese stuff back home. It wasn’t something done in my part of the world, and I found my thoughts to be similar to rain on a roof: sliding towards the gutter. I did not like that.

“Yang!” Sweetie forcefully said.

“Huh, what?” I responded. “Sorry, I was a bit distracted with some thoughts.”

“I was asking why you’re just standing there.”

“My hair’s stuck in the door. If you can somehow undo the lock on the other side without seeing it, I’d appreciate that.”

“Sorry Yang. I’m not that skilled with my levitation spell yet. We have to take care of some things downstairs, so we’ll see you when you’re free.” With that, the trio left me as they found me: with my hair stuck in a locked door.

I wound up standing there for the better part of what had to be an hour before Rarity left the bathroom. “Oh, good morning Yang. How long have you been standing there?”

“How long have you been in there?” I asked back.

A look of understanding was quick to come across Rarity’s face. “Oh. My most sincere apologies, Yang. However, I simply had to get in there. A mare can’t hold it in as long or as well as a stallion can.”

As I was aware. “And you didn’t notice my hair stuck in the door?”

“Your hair was stuck?” Now she looked a bit puzzled.

“How could you not notice?”

“I’m not sure. How about I treat you to a hair treatment at the spa today as an apology?”

“Just my hair?”

“Yes. It was caught in the door, and I want to see it fixed by somepony who knows what they’re doing. Besides, I have to save some bits back for a trip there with Fluttershy. It’s been ages since we last went to the spa together.” More friendship stuff. It was at once strange and something I wanted, but I didn’t feel like I could really enjoy that. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was a human in a land of ponies or formerly male. “Yang, I can see you’re starting on one of those downward spirals of thought, so stop that. But if I may ask, what are you thinking about? You can be honest with me.”

“I started thinking about my old body. All the different sensations and behaviors I’d grown up with and how they're different from the ones I’m experiencing now. It’s very strange.”

“Well, you’ve lasted this long, so I’m sure you’ll be fine. What do you want for breakfast?”

“Scrambled eggs with cheese between toast.” As nice as that sounded, it felt like something was missing, but I didn’t know what. I didn’t mention that something was bugging me as I went downstairs with Rarity.

“Good morning again, girls” Rarity said as we entered the dining area. “How does cheesy eggs and toast sound for breakfast?”

Exactly, and I mean exactly zero objections came from the girls at the table. I joined them. “Sleep well last night?” I asked them.

“Oh yeah” Scootaloo said. “That was almost as good as when I’ve slept with Rainbow in her cloud home.”

“That’s her way of saying she slept really well” Apple Bloom said. “As for me, Ah loved how warm it was.”

“I suppose we could say it was very tranquil” Sweetie Belle said.

“No” I said, surprising the fillies. “We were under the effect of THE TRANQUILITY.” For some reason, when I mentioned THE TRANQUILITY, I imagined a bit of an echo effect occurring with my voice. Weird, but I guess it fit.

“I liked THE TRANQUILITY. How can we get it again?”

I closed my eyes and held up a finger. “It is impossible to seek out THE TRANQUILITY. Instead, THE TRANQUILITY will come of its own accord when the time is right. The more you seek it, the more it will evade you.”

“Did someone mention my name?” A voice suddenly said from behind me. I leapt up out of my chair, hit my head on the ceiling, and fell back down into the chair, where I put my hands over the impact site and groaned. It didn’t hurt much, but it did sting a bit.

“Discord!” Rarity called out, identifying the one who spoke from behind me so suddenly. “Apologize to Yang this instant.” She was giving him a sharp glare.

“Let me think it over.” I felt him lean what was probably his lion arm on my head.

“Discord” the fillies said, adding their sharp glares to Rarity’s.

“Hmm. I see your argument, but can you make it any better?”

Opal jumped up on the table and gave Discord a look that said a lot. It said “I have not had my breakfast yet and you are delaying that. Also, I am a cat. Praise be to the felines.”

Discord broke down and wailed out what he said next. “I’m sorry, Yang! I’m sorry I startled you into hitting your head on the ceiling! Can you forgive me?”

I looked towards the mismatched thing that was Discord. He had ‘a very apologetic look’ written over his face, and his antlers were drooping a bit too. “Oh, fine. But I want to know why you did it too.”

“When someone in Ponyville says something that sounds kind of like my name, I have a random chance of appearing. I’ve been doing it for over a year, and everyone in town’s gotten used to it. I’m used to everyone being used to it too.”

Okay, that, kind of made sense? I was still trying to collect myself a bit after he startled me. “Okay. Can you not do that to me?”

Discord reached into the fluff at the end of his tail. When he was somehow about elbow deep into it, he pulled his arm back out, and he was holding a spray bottle filled with water. I got spritzed in the face with the water a few times before he put the bottle back in his tail fluff. “There you go. I will no longer appear randomly around you. Only when you call for me.”

“Thank you, Discord” Rarity said. “Now, if you don’t mind, I would like to get back to making breakfast.”

“Alright. TOODLES!” Discord stood up and, quite literally, walked out through a wall like he was a ghost. He is strange.

I was silent until Rarity served up breakfast. I got my egg and cheese sandwich, Opal got some cat food, and the ponies decided to have similar sandwiches to mine, though with green stuff in theirs.

“So, do you have anything planned for today, Yang?” Rarity asked me.

“Aside from going over to Twilight’s this evening, not much” I answered. “I just have to pack some clothes for a couple nights. If all goes according to schedule, and I see no reason it shouldn’t, I should be back on Monday evening.”

“Can we come?” Sweetie asked.

“To Canterlot, no. Staying the night at the castle, you’d have to ask Twilight. Anyways, I’m going to go ahead and take my shower. Rarity, the breakfast sandwich was excellent.” I excused myself from the table and went upstairs.

The shower was a steamy one, as usual. The heat always felt nice and the fogged mirrors added a degree of comfort once I was out, obscuring my body from my sight in them.

One thing I found to be interesting after a bit of thought was how, despite the high volume of steam, my clothes weren’t even slightly damp. I don’t know how or why that worked, but that was pretty cool.

Once I was out and my sleepwear was folded up on the bed, I realized something: I had no way to carry my things. I mean, I still had the box the other exercise outfits were still in, but that was no way to travel.

Maybe Rarity had something. A backpack would probably be best. Big enough to hold two days of clothes and small enough for the trip. But there probably wasn’t enough time for that to be made, so I’d have to settle with a small suitcase. If Rarity had any.

“Hey Rarity!” I shouted.

“Yes, Yang?” Rarity said when she showed up at my door. “Also, we don’t shout here. Much. It’s unladylike. Unless it’s an emergency.”

Duly noted. “Do you have a backpack or small suitcase I could borrow?”

“I do have a suitcase you could borrow. Come with me.” I followed Rarity to her room, and she began looking around the clean floor for something, her horn lit up. “Oh, where is it? Hmmmm, ah, here we go.” She pulled off a large circular section of carpet, rolled it up, and set it in a corner, revealing the hardwood floor underneath, along with what looked like an embedded dial lock in the middle. With a few turns of the lock, it clicked open and a triangular panel, which I couldn’t even tell was there, popped up. Then another one, and another, and another, until Rarity was kind of walled in by a dozen upright panels. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t invite you over here.”

“It’s alright.” I jumped over the panels with ease and landed next to Rarity. “What’s this?”

“It’s where I store my suitcases. For lighter travel, I usually take these three.” Rarity floated three suitcases off their stands. Two of them were fairly large for my purposes, but the third one looked to be the right size. My only issue was that it, like all the other suitcases here, was purple and pink. Not my colors of choice.

“I’ll just need this one” I said as I grabbed the small suitcase. At the same time, I wondered just why Rarity needed three suitcases of such sizes. Surely, for a species that doesn’t wear clothes very often, one wouldn’t need that much.

“Are you sure that’s going to be enough?”

I pointed to one of the other two Rarity had mentioned. “I could pack a week’s worth of my clothes into one of those suitcases back home. A fresh change for every day.”

“A whole week’s worth? How?”

“Proper folding, smart placement, and having a warm destination that requires lighter, thus thinner and smaller clothes. There was even room for souvenirs.”

“What about any other things you might have wanted to bring along? Surely, you’d need a suitcase for those effects?” She looked like she had a ‘gotcha’ face on.

“That’s what the backpack or a messenger bag would be for, assuming it wouldn’t be able to fit in the suitcase.” The look on her face disappeared. “How about we just say that you would understand if you were there? I’ve got things to pack, a walk to make, and time to kill, in that order.” I picked up the small suitcase and jumped back out of the suitcase storage circle with ease.

It’s awesome being this strong, I’ll admit. What once was heavy is now light, and being able to jump all over the place opens up quite a few options for getting from place to place.

As I packed up some clean clothes and my sleepwear, it occurred to me that I was actually going to be visiting royalty and not just more ponies. Then again, Luna and, Celestia, I believe, didn’t wear much aside from their regalia. There was a culture clash going on in my mind, casualties were high, and I needed answers. Twilight would know what to do.

After looking at all my packed clothes, I realized there was still a good amount of empty space in the suitcase. After a bit of thought, I put my combat outfit in as well, along with the buckle I got from Ita. I still needed to use it. After a bit more thought, I put in the caution stripe exercise outfit. If I was going to be bored, I may as well burn some energy. I also snagged the ticket for the train ride there. As much money as I’m sure Twilight had, if I could save her some bits, I would.

Looking at everything, I realized I had practically no variety of daily outfits. White T-shirt, black jeans, basic undergarments, and only my boots for footwear. At once, I was and was not okay with that. I’d have to talk with Rarity about that later.

After I closed the suitcase, I noticed that it had wheels. Just two fixed wheels, but still, it had wheels. Maybe I could find someone that made suitcases and see what they’d think of a four wheel design. If it works here, I could make some money that way.

The suitcase also had a telescoping handle built in, for whatever reason a quadruped would need one. Unfortunately, even with the handle fully extended, this suitcase wouldn’t roll with me. Fortunately, my strength came in handy, as it was still lightweight to me. I probably wouldn’t notice a much of a weight change unless someone put a few bricks in there, but even then, that didn’t sound too bad.

With the suitcase in hand like a briefcase, I went downstairs and beheld an odd sight. The fillies were singing a song of some kind I couldn’t follow. They were in sync and I could faintly hear some music coming from somewhere I couldn’t identify, like the whole room was a speaker.

When they finished, they were standing side by side in a row looking expectantly up at me. The last line they sang had something to do with wondering what I’d say.

“What was that song just now?” I asked.

All three of them sat down hard when I asked that question. Scootaloo answered first. “It was a song about what we’d do with you in Canterlot. I wanted to challenge you to a hoof race through the snobby noble neighborhood.” Well, I can’t do that since I lack hooves. Wouldn’t want to do that anyways.

Apple Bloom spoke next. “Ah wanted to show you some of the workshops there.” That didn’t sound too bad.

Sweetie spoke last. “And I wanted to show you the art district.” I have no idea whether to feel intrigued or uninterested about that.

“Maybe some other time” I answered. “If you three can schedule about, oh, five days for a trip there, figure out where we’d stay, and make a budget for the trip, then I’d probably go with you and do all those things, but this trip is more for business on my end than anything else.” All three of them deflated a bit.

“Can we at least go to Twilight’s castle with you?”

“I never said not to follow me there.”

I was just about to walk out the door when Rarity called after me. “Yang, wait!”

“Yes, Rarity?”

“Do you really have to leave so soon? It’s not even ten yet.”

“My train leaves very early tomorrow morning. I’d rather have some time to settle in before going to sleep at Twilight’s than coming later in the day.”

“Alright. Just, stay safe, alright?”

I spared a glance to the Ember Celica on my wrists. I really hope I didn’t have to use them. “I’ll be fine, Rarity. Hey, how about you tell the girls here where your sudden abundance of concern for me came from?”

The fillies looked towards Rarity, and she looked at them. While Rarity began awkwardly starting the story, I gave Opal a quick chin scratch and left.

Once I was a good distance from the boutique, I paused to give a sigh of relief. As nice as the company was, it was also nice to be alone for a bit. Alone, walking towards a friend’s giant crystalline castle in the fresh air of a town that hadn’t been industrialized yet. Or maybe it had been cleanly industrialized. Ponies did have magic, so maybe they managed to do it that way?

By the time I reached Twilight’s castle, I was thinking about what I would do to kill time. I was pulled from my thoughts shortly after I entered when a gray unicorn guard pony stopped me. “Yang Xiao Long?”

“Yes?” Why was there a guard here?

“I have been instructed by Princess Twilight to bring anything you may be taking on your trip to the room set aside for you in the east wing of the castle.”

My grip on the suitcase tightened a bit. “I appreciate the offer, but I’ve never seen any guards here before.”

“There are a few guards here every weekend for the extra hoof traffic that happens. We’re here to maintain order.”

I looked around and saw no movement, save for an imaginary tumbleweed. “Yeah, sure. How about this: you show me to my room and tell Twilight that I’d like her to meet me there.”

“I can do that, ma’am. Follow me.” The guard started walking down a hall and up some stairs.

After at least fifteen minutes of walking around and going up and down some stairs, I got the distinct impression that the guard did not know his way around the castle. “Wait a minute” I said at an intersection. He stopped and watched as I pulled up the map on the wall of the intersection. I think Twilight updated it a bit, since it now showed which sides were north, east, south, and west. It also had each floor on its own window, which could also be moved around on their own.

We were in the west wing of the castle, and a floor above the one with guest rooms. The one that had been set aside for me was even marked with the burning heart logo and my name. I was also able to map out a route in my head within seconds.

I gave the guard a deadpan look. “We’re done here. I still want you to tell Twilight to meet me in my room.” I walked off without another word. I was glad I didn’t give him my suitcase now.

I took the nearest stairwell down and followed my mental route to my room. The door was even marked with the burning heart logo, removing any doubt that there may have been as to whose room that was.

I walked inside to find the room to be a good one. It wasn’t as nice as Twilight’s, but it was still good. The bed even appeared to be big enough for me. A quick test showed that I would have no problem sleeping tonight, spacious as the bed was. “Maybe I could change to my combat outfit and put on the buckle Ita gave me. But Twilight could come in at any moment, and I don’t want to be caught changing. Better not to. I could change in the bathroom, but then I might miss her if I can’t hear her knocking.”

I have no idea how long my thoughts were churning in my mind, or why they eventually turned to fruit, but I was drawn out of them by knocking on the door. “Who’s there?” I asked as I sat up.

“It’s Twilight, and I brought lunch” Twilight’s voice said from the opposite side of the door.

I went to the door and opened it, allowing Twilight and Spike entry into the room, along with a large domed platter on a trolley. “What’s for lunch?”

“Since I couldn’t decide what I wanted to get for you or me, Spike made the call, but he didn’t tell me what he ordered.”

“Not just ordered, but helped prepare” Spike boasted. He opened the trolley and pulled out a small folding table. He set it up, along with three cushions. Twilight sat on the lavender one, I sat on the yellow one, and the green one was unoccupied. After he set the platter on the table, leaving almost no room for anything else, he handed out some napkins. “Ladies, I present to you our lunch.” Spike removed the domed cover, revealing a ring shaped pile of pasta with vegetables, melted cheese, and some alfredo sauce. In the middle of the ring was a stack of bowls, a pair of wooden tongs, and some chopsticks.

“Wow, Spike” I said. “This is just, wow. How much of this was your work?”

“The chefs did all the cooking. I prepared the trolley and set up the platter before they put the food on it as I asked them to. I also chose ingredients that I knew Yang would be able to eat and would satisfy all of us.”

I looked back at the platter of plentiful pasta. If I wasn’t already sitting down, I’d have fallen down already. “So, do we serve ourselves or. . . ?”

“Grab a bowl and help yourself.”

I did as he said, taking the top bowl and the tongs. As I loaded my bowl, a question came to mind. “What time is it?”

“Just past one” Twilight said as she grabbed a bowl and I let her have the tongs.

“Really?” I grabbed a pair of chopsticks. “I was thinking for quite a while then.”

“Thinking?” Spike said as he took his turn loading up his bowl.

“Yeah. I must have zoned out a bit. Felt a bit like a nap, really.” I took a bite of the pasta dish. “This is good” I said around a mouthful of the stuff. “Please tell me you wrote the recipe down.”

“Twilight would pull her mane out if I didn’t” Spike said before taking a bite of his serving. “I mean it. It was funny the first few times she did it, but it became kind of scary, so I started recording recipes.”

“Hey!” Twilight said. “It wasn’t that bad. Besides, it’s good to record what you do when you cook so you can make it again, or figure out what made something go wrong.”

Spike turned back to me. “Just ask Celestia about Twilight’s maneless moments. It happened back while she was in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.”

“I’ll be sure to do that.” I turned back to my delicious meal. Once again, the sense of something missing came to mind, but it wasn’t as strong this time as before. I was able to keep it at bay with the food and idle chatter with Twilight and Spike.

Even with all three of us going at it, there was still a lot of leftover pasta. “I hereby proclaim this to be our supper” Spike said.

“Spike, we should have something other than leftover lunch for supper” Twilight said.

“I hereby proclaim this to be a midnight snack.”

“This is not a midnight snack.”

“Breakfast?”

“It’s not breakfast food.”

“What if we put it in containers to snack on during the train ride?” I suggested.

“The train will have its own free food.”

“Then when are these leftovers going to be eaten?”

That made Twilight pause. She looked like she was trying to figure out an answer to the somewhat rhetorical question.

“I like the train snack idea” Spike said. “In fact, we could have a very light breakfast here, just enough to tide us over until we get on the train, and then have the leftovers as our breakfast on the train. The lighter breakfast would also allow us more time to do anything else we have to.”

“Fist.” I held out my fist in Spike’s direction, and he fist bumped back. “You are awesome, Spike.”

“Shh. I’m trying to keep that a secret” he stage whispered to me, though his smile said he wasn’t being serious. It didn’t take long for the two of us to start laughing. It was a very good laugh, though it seemed to baffle Twilight. “Anyways, Twilight has to get back to court, so I’ll take care of packing up today’s lunch for tomorrow morning. I’ve got the day off from line duty since we have guards here on the weekend, so I can do just about anything I want.”

“And I have nobles to deal with” Twilight said. “I’ll see you later tonight, Spike.” She gave him a hug and teleported out of the room to who knows where.

“So, do you have anything planned or?” I asked.

“After putting lunch away for tomorrow, I don’t have anything planned” Spike said. “Do you mind if I hang with you today?”

“Not at all, Spike. How long will it take you to put everything away?”

“Probably about 30 minutes. Why?”

“I have something to do, and I’d rather do it in private. That should be enough time for what I have in mind. I’ll be in the bathroom here. You can come in the room without knocking, but please don’t come in there without knocking.”

“Yang, it’s the bathroom. You don’t just walk into a bathroom someone else is in. It’s rude. And kind of gross.”

“Yeah. But I haven’t seen many ponies here wearing clothes, and I come from a place where clothes were the norm, so, yeah.”

“Culture differences. I get it. Reminds me of when the yaks visited. I’ll knock if it’s urgent.”

“Thanks.” As Spike left the room, closing the door behind him, I grabbed my suitcase and went into the bathroom.

I changed out of my regular outfit and into the combat outfit. I still didn’t like how much of me it exposed, but there was no way anyone would be able to look into this bathroom, so I was okay with it for now.

Once I was sure everything was on, I pulled out the buckle I got from Ita and put it in front of the one I had on now. For a second, it was quiet, then I heard a click from it, almost like a camera shutter. I held it in my palm like a phone and it displayed a 3D hologram of me in a neutral stance wearing the combat outfit, from scarf to boots. It also had a button on the side that seemed to act like a power button, since pressing it turned off the hologram.

As I started taking off the combat outfit, I wondered why I didn’t get my regular outfit into the buckle first. Since I had plenty of time for this, I didn’t bother pondering it for long. It took me less time to get my combat outfit off than it did to get it on, and it took less time still to put my regular outfit on.

After getting the regular outfit into the buckle, I held it out again and saw the new regular outfit option, along with a scrollbar under it. I poked the hologram with a finger and felt a slight tingle. I guess that was how I could tell I was doing something. I was able to easily swipe between the outfits.

For a bit, I simply played with the transparent hologram. I was even able to change the pose of the hologram, from the individual fingers to the hair. Helping with the finer points of posing it was the ability to resize the hologram up to life size. It wouldn’t let me go any bigger than that, which I was okay with.

I put the combat outfit into what could easily be described as a “BRING IT ON!” pose. Just after finishing my work, I heard knocking at the door. “Yes?”

“Is everything okay, Yang?” Spike asked. “I’ve been waiting out here for fifteen minutes already.”

“Sorry!” I turned off the hologram and quickly opened the door. “I got a bit distracted with something.”

Spike raised the equivalent of an eyebrow. “Were you distracted with yourself?”

“Yes. No. Kind of?”

Spike was quiet for a moment. “I don’t think you would have done anything weird, so I won’t ask.”

“Thanks. So, what should we do?” I had no idea myself.

“How about we just go for a walk and talk?”

“I’ve got nothing better to do.” After convincing Spike to take the open window exit strategy with me, we left the room that way and began walking around town.

“And that’s why I’m not going to join any dragon clans for at least a few decades” Spike said as he finished his story.

“I had no idea dragons could be that mean” I said as we walked. We’d been walking aimlessly for at least a few hours, based on the clock shop we’ve passed a few times. “Or that it took so long for them to grow up.”

“For my age, I’m probably the smartest dragon in the world. I think Twilight hatching me with her magic is a big part of that.”

That was news to me. I had no idea that was even possible.

I was about to ask for details when a mint green unicorn slammed into me and pinned me to a wall. “I JUST HAVE TO TALK WITH YOU!” she shouted in my face. “I’VE BEEN HOLDING MYSELF BACK FOR TOO LONG AND I JUST HAVE TO ASK YOU ALL THE QUESTIONS!”

“Lyra, cut it out” a tan earth pony mare forcefully said. “Calm yourself down.”

“BON-BON, I’VE DONE THAT FOR A MONTH NOW. IT WON’T WORK ANYMORE!”

“If you won’t calm down for me, then maybe you’d calm down for Yang? You’re scaring her.”

“Hm?” Lyra turned to look at me again. Bon-Bon was right about me being scared. I was breathing hard and I hadn’t blinked once. “Sorry. It’s just, I’ve been fascinated with humans for a long time, long before you came here, and now that I have a chance to talk with one, I’m just brimming with questions. Like-”

Lyra was suddenly cut very short in her questioning when Bon-Bon pulled her away by her tail. I took advantage of the opening and ran to a large tree nearby, jumping and climbing up it towards the top, safely concealed by the thick cover of leaves. As I caught my breath, I sat down on the branch I stopped on. On a nearby branch was a nest of birds, which didn’t run from me, but instead started singing. It was calming.

That unicorn was crazy. And maybe a tad obsessed. I didn’t really like her.

One thing that can be said for the thick foliage on this tree is that it did a good job of keeping anyone from seeing me. It also did a good job of keeping me from seeing anyone outside the tree, which prompted me to stay right where I was. At least the birds kept singing. One of them even perched on my shoulder for a bit before going back to the nest. That was nice.

“Spike, where’s Yang? I heard from my animal friends that she was here and that she was scared.” That was Fluttershy’s voice. Yay!

“Up there” Spike answered. “She’s been quiet, so I don’t know how she’s doing.”

“I’ll help her.” I looked down and I saw Fluttershy weaving her way up through the branches. She didn’t have the speed I had when I was coming up here, but she also wasn’t scared by an obsessed unicorn. “Yang, are you alright?” she asked as she landed next to me.

“Yeah” I said. I’d had some time to catch my breath since I’d run up here, and the birds had helped. “Is Lyra gone? I can’t tell from here.”

“She’s gone. Do you need a hug?”

I thought about it. Lyra being gone was good enough for me, but on the other hand, Fluttershy hug. “No, but I’d like one anyways.”

I stood up and Fluttershy gave me a hug, which felt nice. These hugs were better than any drug. Maybe. I never even tried drugs before. Hugs were still better anyways.

It also occurred to me that, in addition the fact that Fluttershy could be an amazing therapist or interrogator, she might also be able to spy on anyone with how she understood the animals.

This kind, timid pegasus could potentially be the scariest thing ever, she was giving me a hug, and I felt alright. What a world.

Eventually the hug broke. “Thanks, Fluttershy. Those hugs are always nice.”

“It’s no problem, Yang” she assured me. “Any time you want a hug, I’m willing give you one.”

“Thanks again, Fluttershy.” I turned to walk off, and only when my foot didn’t land on anything did I remember that I was high up in a tree. I fell, hit a number of branches on the way down, and then landed face first on the ground.

“Are you alright, Yang?” Spike asked as he rushed to my side.

“Yeah, yeah I’m good.” I stood up, unharmed and slightly disoriented and wondering why my face kept getting punished like this, but otherwise quite unharmed. Aura is awesome.

“If you say so. Yang’s okay, Fluttershy!”

“Oh thank goodness” Fluttershy said as she landed next to me. “That was a nasty looking fall.”

“And the landing wasn’t much better” I added.

“No, it wasn’t. Oh, would you two like to join me for supper?”

“That sounds nice. Can Twilight come too?”

“Of course, if she wants to. Let’s walk and talk.”

While we walked with Fluttershy, I told her about what I couldn’t eat here. She considered other ingredients and asked me about some she wasn’t sure about. She also told me about the animals that lived with her and how the citizens of Ponyville often came to her for pets and pet help. The idea of having a pet of my own did sound nice. I’d have to see what Rarity would think of the idea though.

I also found out, much to my mild displeasure, that Discord would also be there. He apparently lived with Fluttershy, though was in the process of moving out. I had no idea what to make of that bit of news.

On the way there, we made a stop at the post office. “You two go ahead” Spike said. “I just need to stop in here for a few minutes.”

“Okay, Spike” Fluttershy said. “Would you like us to walk slowly so you can catch up to us?”

“It’s alright. Go on without me.”

“Can do, good buddy” I said. “Don’t have too much fun, alright?”

“No promises there, Yang.” A moment passed before all three of us laughed. “But seriously, get going or we’ll be standing here until dawn.”

“Alright. See ya in a bit.”

Fluttershy and I left Spike to whatever it was he needed to do at the post office and resumed our walk. Fluttershy broke the silence pretty quickly. “You and Spike get along very well.”

“Hey, he’s awesome and he does things awesomely. Besides, he’s one of the few guys I’ve even seen here. In fact, why is it that I’m seeing mostly mares here? It’s kind of weird.”

“Lots of mares move here in the hopes of starting a family, but seem to forget that they need a stallion too. When a stallion does moves here, things can get a bit strange.”

“How do they get strange?”

“I actually don’t know. I usually stay in my cottage, away from town when that happens.”

I decided not to press any further. “So, is there anything else to talk about?”

“I actually have some questions for you, if you don’t mind.”

“Go ahead.”

“Well, um, since you were male before and are female now, can you tell me anything about the differences between being male and female?”

Wow. Tough one. “Well, the main differences I’m noticing are my chest and hips” and something down there I’d rather not even allude to. “Then there’s my more slender form kind of everywhere, which isn’t something I notice as much anymore. There’s also my voice, that’s different. And to top it off is how I have hair only on my head now, and just how much of it there is.”

“So you only have skin? No fur, feathers, or scales?”

“Nope.”

“Hmm.” Fluttershy looked to be in thought. She even had a wing on her chin.

“What’s it like to have wings?”

“Oh, it’s great. I can help animals that are stuck in trees, I can feed them faster, and I can shelter them too, all with the help of my wings. Preening can be a bit difficult sometimes, but it’s worth it.” That sounded like it would indeed be worth it.

As we made our way towards Fluttershy’s cottage, we talked about animals. Well, Fluttershy did most of the talking. I did tell her about a cat I had when I was younger, until it died. I was really sad on that day.

Eventually, we arrived and walked in. “Discord, we’re having guests for supper tonight.”

“Guests?” Discord asked. He was rolling around in a pile of green stuff.

“Discord, get out of the catnip. It’s not for you.”

“Oh, alright.” Discord stood up, leaving the bits of nip that were on him floating where he had been laying down. “I’ll clean it up too, I suppose.”

“Thanks. Yang, feel free to make yourself at home. The animals are friendly, so feel free to visit them. Most of them are out back. I’ll get supper started.”

“Thanks, Fluttershy” I said. I walked past Discord sweeping up the catnip with a cat themed broom and dustpan that happily meowed with every sweep.

I opened the back door and saw a wasp looking in my direction, just hovering at my eye level. For a few seconds, I just looked at it and it looked at me. “Nope” I thought as I closed the door. I was not going to go past a wasp just to visit a bunch of animals.

I turned around and went out the front door. I had no problem with walking around a few more steps to get to the animals out back. Even with my aura, I still did not want to face a wasp.

As I went around the cottage, I saw a lot of animals. I also noticed that the grass was surprisingly clear of anything that would stink up my boots, despite the huge number of animals. I was inclined to believe that these animals were either smart enough to take that business elsewhere or Fluttershy taught them that.

The animal that first caught my eye was a large bald eagle. I felt my chest swell with pride at the sight of the majestic bird that was the symbol of my home country. It probably noticed that because it turned to face me in that moment. For some reason, I held my left arm out and motioned for it to come over with my right hand.

I honestly wasn’t expecting the bird to understand me, but it did and moved from its perch to my forearm. “Hey there” I said. “Do you have a name?”

“She responds to ‘Meri’” Fluttershy said from the open kitchen window.

“Meri, huh?” It was a nice name for an eagle.

“Yes. She doesn’t take to strangers very well, but she seems to like you already. Maybe she could be a pet for you?”

I gave it a bit of thought. “Maybe later. Hey, how do you pet a bird anyways?”

“They often prefer the chest. It is a bit awkward, I’ll admit. But maybe Meri will let you pet her back?”

“Hey, Fluttershy, I just got a response from Twilight” Spike said as he walked into the cottage. “She regrets not being able to join us.”

“Oh. Did she say why she couldn’t make it?”

“She has an N.E.F. meeting to attend at the castle.”

“N.E.F.?” I asked.

“Nobles’ Economic Fantasy. We came up with the term after a meeting with them where Twilight was bored and frustrated out of her mind with how the nobles in the meeting were using recent short term gains to project long term success.”

“Well, that sounds stupid.”

“Unfortunately, that does describe a lot of the nobles” Fluttershy said. “There was one time I met some that were animal lovers like me, though none of them even had a single pet. I invited them here to have a meeting as fellow animal lovers, but they ran off after they saw all my animal friends that were indoors. I’ve met dragonflies with more of a backbone than them.” Now that was a burn. “Anyways, I’m about to start making supper. I’ll have some salads made for us shortly.”

“Cool. Just say when they’re ready and I’ll come in.” I spent the time waiting on supper with Meri perched on my arm since I didn’t really know what to do with an eagle that seemed to like me for no apparent reason.

I idly noted how, despite Meri being a huge bald eagle, and that she’d been on my arm for a few minutes already, I wasn’t feeling any exhaustion or strain in the arm she was on. Her talons weren’t digging into my arm either. She was either lighter than I thought or I was stronger than I knew.

I also noted that she wouldn’t be able to roost on my shoulders, partially because she was a large bird and partially because my shoulders were a bit smaller now. Why was I just noticing that change now? Probably because my hair covered my shoulders most of the time.

Eventually, the salads were done and I had to get Meri off of my arm. It should have been easy, but she did not want to leave me for some reason. “Come on, Meri, could you get off my arm? Please?”

My response was a low pitch screech and the bird shaking her head ‘no’.

“Come on, please? I have to go in for supper, and I’m pretty sure you’re not invited.” No response from her. “Fine. I guess I’ll just lower my arm with you still on it.” As I began lowering my arm, Meri fought back, using one wing to push herself and pull my arm up. I was even able to totally relax my arm and she was able to hold it in place. Once I was actually holding my arm out under my own power, Meri calmed down. “Fluttershy, a bit of help please?”

“Just turn around and close your eyes” Fluttershy said. I turned towards her and closed my eyes. I have no idea what happened, but Fluttershy somehow, without a sound, got Meri to leave my arm. “Okay, you can open your eyes now.”

I lowered my freed arm and opened my eyes. “How did you do whatever it was you did?”

“I have a technique called The Stare. I only use it after gentler methods have failed.”

“Ah. So, supper?”

“I have your salad at the table. I’ve got the main course in the oven.”

“I can help get it out for you, whatever it is.”

“Oh, it’s alright. I can get it.”

“I’m immune to burns, and I’d hate to see you get hurt because of hot stuff before you could enjoy it. Please?”

Fluttershy Fluttersighed. “I suppose I can let you help me there.”

Inside the cottage, Discord looked at his lion paw before a small palm tree came out of it and struck his face. A moment later, the tree turned into bubbles that looked like coconuts, floating around the room, popping at random and releasing a scentless fragrance into the air.

“What was that about, Discord?” Spike asked.

“A terrible pun has been made somewhere” Discord said. “I’ll leave it at that.”

“Sorry for the wait, everyone” Fluttershy said as she set small salads out for all of us. I took a spot at the table, which had two folded towels on it, and started on my salad. It had a variety of things in it, all of which were familiar to me.

I’ve had a lot of salads in my time here, and apart from the grasses in some of the ones I’ve seen, they’re a lot like salads back home: kind of boring. This one, though made with care and love, was no different to me. While it wasn’t bad, I also had a bit of a hard time liking it. How ponies lived with these so often was beyond me.

For a few minutes after the salads were finished, the four of us talked. We got a bit of a laugh when Spike did an impression of when a noble proposed a way to spend projected income before it was actually in.

The talking ended when a timer dinged. “The main course is ready, everyone” Fluttershy said. “It will be out shortly.”

“Alright!” I got up and followed Fluttershy into the kitchen. “Where should I set it once it’s out?”

“The stovetop will do.”

I opened the oven and pulled out a very beautiful pair of cheese pizzas on metal trays, one in each hand. Both of them were able to rest on the stovetop with ease. “Oh, this looks nice. You got a pizza cutter somewhere?”

“Right here. I’ll cut it” Fluttershy said around the handle of the cutting implement.

“Oh no, you don’t” I gently forced it out of Fluttershy’s mouth. No way I was going to let her do that.

“Why not?”

I started cutting the pizzas while I answered. “Because I don’t want you to get hurt preparing food like that. Sharp things around the mouth are a problem waiting to happen.”

“Do you do that with Rarity?”

“Hm, no. She has levitation abilities, so I’m not really worried about her getting hurt in the kitchen.”

“Oh. I see. Just bring the pizzas to the table when they’re ready.” Fluttershy slowly walked out to the table.

I suddenly felt really bad. The pizzas still looked and smelled good, but my enthusiasm for them was gone. My appetite for them was also watered down.

Why do I feel like I came really close to committing some kind of cosmic crime?

I put those dark thoughts aside as I finished cutting the pizzas into eight slices each. A pegasus, a dragon, and a whatever Discord was were waiting for me. As I wondered how I was going to serve these, I remembered the folded towels on the table. It made sense why they were there now.

I carried the pizzas out and set them on the table. “They’re still hot, everyone” I said as I sat down. Everyone went for a slice, myself included. I couldn’t help but feel that, even though everyone else, Fluttershy included, was enjoying the meal, I was under some kind of scrutiny. I retreated into my hair a bit during the meal and didn’t talk much. It didn’t feel quite right for me to do so right now.

Still, the pizza was good. Fluttershy had the fewest pieces, at two slices. Spike and I had four each, and Discord had six slices.

“So, who wants dessert?” Fluttershy asked in a happy tone once the mealtime discussions had died down.

“I do!” Spike and Discord said at the same time.

“I think I’ll pass” I said. “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll head back to the castle.”

“That’s alright” Fluttershy said.

“Thank you. The pizza was really good.” I left the table, wished Fluttershy a good evening, since the sun was already going down outside, and left the cottage. My pace was a slow one.

My mind was stuck in a rut the whole way to the castle. I couldn’t focus on anything except what had happened in the kitchen with Fluttershy. I made her feel bad, and I don’t like doing that to anyone, though this seemed to be on another level entirely.

I couldn’t even bring myself to try and go up the outside of the castle to get to my room. I walked through the castle to get to my room. I passed by a large conference room with an open door, Twilight and the other ponies inside talking about stuff.

I suddenly heard Twilight’s voice in my head. “Yang, could you come in here?”

I stopped where I was, shrugged to nobody, and walked into the conference room. “Hello.”

All the talking stopped the moment I spoke. I looked at the ponies that weren’t Twilight. They had what looked like fancy clothes on them. They were probably nobles. Was this the N.E.F. Spike spoke of? Twilight looked kind of tired too.

“Yang, could you take my place for a couple minutes?” Twilight asked.

I think I knew what she needed to take care of. “Sure thing.” I walked around the likely noble ponies up to Twilight.

“Everyone, this is Yang” Twilight said to the crowd. “While I’m gone, she’s in charge of this meeting. Treat her like you would treat me.” With a bit more speed than was necessary, Twilight left the big conference room. I heard her voice in my head again. “Use sarcasm and snark. I’m watching the room with a spell right now and I want to see the nobles get befuddled.”

“Okay, where were you before Twilight left me in charge with her power?” A subtle pun.

One of the noble stallions spoke up. “We were about to have her sign a Future Income Spending bill.” A piece of paper was floated over to me. I looked it over, and it was exactly like what Spike told me about back at supper.

“So this bill allows companies and the ponies in them to spend money they don’t yet have?” I had an idea brewing.

“And to not be taxed on that spending” the noble said.

“Sounds interesting. Who all likes this bill? Show of hooves.” All the ponies, except for one mare and one stallion to my immediate right, raised a forehoof. “Alright. I’m going to go buy some milkshakes with the five million bits I haven’t made yet. Who wants one?”

“You’re not buying those for a company, so you can’t do that.”

“But I’m in the company of ponies right now.” The two who didn’t show their favor for the bill put a forehoof on their muzzle to stifle their laughter. “Oh wait, it says here that ponies can do that. I’m not a pony, so I guess I can’t do that after all. Well, there goes the milkshakes I couldn’t afford in the first place.”

The laughter finally broke out from the two next to me. All the other nobles looked at the laughing ponies, then at me.

“So, did I follow the bill correctly?” I asked over the laughter.

The noble who gave me the bill took it back. “I’ll revise it for the next meeting.”

“Anything else?” As I looked for reactions among the assembled ponies, I noticed that the only one in the room without a horn was me. “Is this everyone?”

“Yes, all thirty of us are here” a mare said. “Why do you ask?”

“I’m just curious. I couldn’t help but notice that I’m the only one here that’s not a unicorn. What’s next?”

Another stallion spoke up. “We want to increase funding for all the schools in Canterlot so the students there can learn more.”

“Learn more what? Finish the sentence.” The laughter that had been dying down picked back up a bit.

“More of everything. We’ve seen studies that show the more a student learns, the more they will succeed when they leave.”

“Well, that’s obvious. Hey, I’ve been wondering something for a few seconds now.”

“Yes?” Was that a bit of caution in his voice?

“How would a farmer make use of anything in marine biology?”

“I’m not a farmer or a marine biologist, so I don’t know that.”

“Wow. Me neither! We should start a club for those who aren’t farmers or marine biologists! But to be serious for a moment, the answer is that a typical farmer has no use for anything in the field of marine biology.

“Tell you what: if you can convince the local Apple family that knowledge of marine biology will help them grow more and better crops here, then I’ll take your funding increase a bit more seriously.”

The laughing ponies fell backwards, trying to breathe and laugh at the same time. I liked those two. I turned to them. “Do you two have anything you’d like to say?”

“No” was all either could get out between giggles.

“Does anyone else have anything they’d like me to see?”

A different stallion spoke up. “Can we leave now?”

“I won’t stop any of you from walking out of here. The door is right there.” Almost immediately, after a bit of paper collecting, almost all of the nobles in attendance left the meeting. I turned to the two that hadn’t left. “So, what keeps you in here with me?”

The stallion answered once he managed to collect himself. “Miss Yang, the way you handled those two nonsensical bills was simply absurd, and in the best way possible.”

“I’ve heard of some crazy laws and ideas back where I’m from. I remember something about a company doing that whole ‘spending money we will have soon’ thing in one of my classes. One of my friends, she used a line about getting milkshakes for everyone using the five million dollars she was going to make eventually.

“So, if I may ask, what are your names?”

“My name is Fancy Pants and this is my wife, Fleur Dis Lee.”

“Hello, Yang” Fleur said. She had a bit of a french accent. “It’s an honor to meet you.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

“I’ll be honest for a moment. I’ve really been hoping to meet you at some point. You put a permanent end to Tirek and saved the world from him. You have my respect for that.”

“Unfortunately, our peers are not so informed” Fancy said. “Perhaps they will find out just who you are when they have their ponies look into your brief history here.

“Say, would you like to go for a milkshake? I’ll buy.”

Twilight responded in my head before I could respond to him. “Tell him to wait for me!”

“Let’s wait for Twilight before we go.”

“Very well. What do you think of Equestria compared to where you’re from?”

“It’s a lot simpler, but I’ve only seen Ponyville so far. I will be going to Canterlot for a business trip tomorrow though.”

“Is it a good or bad thing that things are simpler here?” Fleur asked.

“Yes.”

“A bit of both, I take it?”

“Right.”

“What’s something you miss from your home?”

“The internet.” Their faces told me that they didn’t know what that was. “Imagine a bunch of machines connected to each other over very long distances to share information.”

“Like a telegram!” Fancy exclaimed. “What kind of information?”

“Cat videos, pictures, how-to guides, music, games, pretty much anything you could imagine.”

“Those sound like big machines.”

I made a rectangle with my thumbs and index fingers. “I had a device about this big that could do all that and more. A lot of people did.”

Twilight entered the room. “Trust me Fancy, those devices are amazing. Addictive, though. I heard something about milkshakes that you’re going to buy?”

“Of course, Twilight” Fancy said. “After the way Yang handled this meeting, I say we end the day on a sweet note.”

“Then let’s get going.” We left the room and began the walk to Sugarcube Corner.

During the walk, Fancy Pants asked us what flavors we wanted. Fleur and I both wanted strawberry, while Twilight and Fancy went for peanut butter.

When we arrived, Twilight, Fleur, and I found a booth to sit at while Fancy got us our shakes. Pinkie was at the counter, and after she took the order and payment for the shakes, went into the kitchen to make them.

“I say, I do like her energy” Fancy said as he sat down next to Fleur. “Quite the change of pace from what the rest of the nobles go at.”

“And what about me?” Fleur tauntingly asked him.

“Absolutely perfect, as usual.

“So, Yang, what do you want to do while you’re in Equestria?”

Now that was a question. “I don’t know. If I really have no way home, I guess I’ll just learn to live here. Once that’s settled, well, I think I’ll work on it as things come.”

“Fair enough. I know that thirty years ago, I couldn’t have seen myself as the noble I am now. I was merely a successful tailor at the time, and I simply worked my way up from there. I like to think the reason I’m the noble most contacted by the commoners is because I’m the one who’s worked into my station, while all the other nobles seemingly inherited their wealth and a system that sustains it.”

Fleur jumped into the conversation. “The way he caught my eye was when my parents had arranged seven noble stallions, of which he was none, for me to choose from as my husband. I come from a lower noble family, and I found modelling to be a fun hobby. I was about to have my picture taken with me in a suit, you know, like stallions wear?”

“Yes, I do know” I said. Our milkshakes arrived, and Fleur continued after a sip of hers.

“Out of the blue, this random stallion comes up to me and says that he can make a better suit for me than the one I had on. I had one of my professionals give him my numbers, and the very next day, he presents the suit to me in a gift box. I put it on, and it fit me perfectly. I looked amazing. I looked in the mirror and I fell in love right there.”

Fancy picked the story back up. “She ran forward right into the mirror to try and hug me. She got it right on the second try.”

“I decided to follow him for a bit, which he didn’t mind at all. I saw how he dealt not only with the nobles, including the ones that had been lined up for me, but also the commoners. He knew of all these little restaurants that made food to be more satisfying than artistic, and they were amazing.”

“A far cry from the fancier restaurants you usually went to?”

“And I loved them. Every other day, I would spend time with one of the seven my parents had chosen. There was one point where all of them, without talking to each other, took me to dinner at the exact same restaurant. The day after those were all done, I found Fancy in his workshop, making a scarf. I told him about the seven dinner dates while he worked, and he listened to me. I finished my story when he finished the scarf and he took me to lunch.”

“Where at?”

“His place. He actually made lunch for us himself.”

“Was it love at first bite?”

“You bet your golden hair it was.

“Anyways, the day finally comes for me to choose my husband. The seven are lined up in front of me, and I-”

“Took the third option?”

“What? No. Bachelor number three was a hayball, he was so boring. I went with the eighth option. We had set up a little plan beforehoof, where I said “I’ll go with number eight” and Fancy opened the door behind the chosen ones and introduced himself. The only other one in the room who wasn’t surprised was the photographer, who was in on it. We still look back at the photos of everypony’s faces and laugh at them sometimes.”

“How did your parents take it?” I’d been sipping at my shake during the story. Both were quite good.

“Oh, they were so upset at me. Fancy, in his brilliance, actually thought this would happen, and I told my parents that I thought it was a secret test of my character, to see just how I chose somepony outside my given choices.”

“She was playing dumb and playing smart at the same time” Fancy explained. “It was beautiful to watch. We practiced that bit for over a month after she had definitely chosen me.”

“Anyways, my father was outraged at my choice and mom was flabbergasted. With a bit of help from the photographer, we escaped the room laughing. By that same time the very next week, we were happily married.”

“And we still are.”

“Sounds like you two had fun in the end” I said.

“And to this day, we still have fun.

“Nobles are known for abuse of their nobility to get what they want, and we’re no different there. Where we’re different is that we only use it against the other nobles for fun.”

“They’re the best nobles I know, and they’ll have your back, Yang” Twilight said. Her shake was already gone. “Say, why don’t you two stay at the castle tonight and catch a ride to Canterlot tomorrow morning with us?”

“As delightful as that sounds, I’m afraid I must pass on your generous offer” Fancy said before looking at the clock. “In fact, our train leaves in half an hour. Yang, you should come visit us in Canterlot at some point. We would be happy to have you as a guest.”

“Thanks, Fancy” I said. “I guess this is where we part ways?”

“Just for now” Fleur said as she and Fancy left their side of the booth. “It was an honor to meet you, Yang.”

“You too. Bye!” As they left, Twilight and I waved at them, and they waved back. “I like them.”

“Most of those who don’t like them are other nobles, mainly because they actually interact with the commoners and talk with them.”

“Fancy and Fleur are the best nobles.”

“That’s what all of us princesses think too.”

After I finished my delicious shake, Twilight took the empty glasses to Pinkie and we left the bakery just as the sun was setting. In the growing twilight, Twilight used her magic to provide a bit of light for us to walk back to the castle by.

I realized once again that this would be the first time I was staying somewhere away from the boutique. At least everything was packed and ready for tomorrow’s train ride.

Author's Notes:

I had no idea this chapter would be 11,447 words long. I was ready for 11,445, or possibly even 11,446, but not 11,447. It's madness, I tell you.