I went to sleep troubled, still pondering what I’d done in Fluttershy’s kitchen. I figured I was dreaming because I was watching an exaggerated version of what happened. I saw myself telling Fluttershy that I would take care of the pizza slicing after pulling the pizza cutter from her mouth, and almost shooing her out of her own kitchen.

Come to think of it, I don’t think there was any of her saliva on the grip of the cutter. Strange.

One of the replays got interrupted by Princess Luna swooping in. “You appear to be troubled, Yang.”

“Yeah, I am” I admitted. “After I told Fluttershy I would take care of the pizzas, and that I was helping her because she didn’t have any levitation skills like Rarity does, it felt like I had done something wrong on a cosmic scale. It looked like I almost made her cry.”

“Yes, she does have this air of fragility to her, though she’s truly far from it. If I’m reading this memory correctly, then you did what you did so that she wouldn’t risk her hurting her muzzle, yes?”

“Exactly. Hot cookware and sharp instruments should not be held or used with the mouth. You run the risk of hurting yourself and others with that. Besides, using a pizza cutter with your mouth just seems awkward.”

“Practically every piece of cookware that an earth pony or pegasus would move and use with their mouth has enchantments to make them safe to move short distances that way, even when hot.”

I was silent as I processed what she had told me. “And how, exactly, was I supposed to have known that? And what about sharp objects?”

“Despite their flexibility and soft texture, pony lips and the tongue are actually quite tough, both with and without magic going through them. The current theory on why that is is because, before civilization, ponies had to eat whatever they could, and sometimes, that was a prickly plant. The tough parts of the mouth are useful remnants from that time.”

I sighed at Luna. “Once again, how was I supposed to know that? Or the other thing?”

Luna thought for a moment. “I suppose there was no way you could have known those things.” She briefly looked deep into my eyes, or so it felt. “That bit of knowledge didn’t help you at all, did it?”

“No, it didn’t.”

“What if I told you Fluttershy was beating herself up over the incident like you were?”

“Huh?” Luna now had my interest and attention.

“I’m visiting her now as well, and she had a similar dream to yours. She saw herself as trying to intrude on your good intentions and benevolent actions. Both of you feel bad about it.”

“Really? And here I thought I’d brought her close to crying.”

“You actually did do that, but she’s willing to forgive and forget the incident, even if you aren’t.”

“What? Well, now that I know she was acting with good intentions and that we both had a forgivable lack of information, there no way I can’t forgive her. Can you tell her that?”

“I already have. I’m in multiple dreams at once, so I can convey messages quite easily, granted that I’m visiting the appropriate dreamers.”

“That’s actually kind of cool. Oh, I’ll be going to Canterlot tomorrow morning. I’m kind of nervous and excited. Are you going to be there?”

“Of course. Would you like to have lunch with Celestia and me? We’d both enjoy a chance to talk with you.”

“Sounds good to me. Oh, will I have to dress nicely or something?”

“Many of the petitioners arrive with nothing on. In your case, just looking decent by your standards will work.”

I sighed in relief. “Thank goodness for that.”

“Does one have to dress up when visiting officials where you’re from?”

“If I wanted to visit the President of my country, I’d dress and clean up to look at least businesslike. A dress, like one for a big dance, wouldn’t work though, even if it did look nice.”

“You have different types of clothes for looking nice? Interesting.”

“Would you wear the same thing in a meeting with another leader that you would at a formal dance?”

“No, but if you flip that around, the answer becomes yes.”

It took me a bit to figure out what she meant. “And you can get away with that?”

“When the diplomacy dresses look as good as they do, yes.

“It seems you are no longer troubled. Sleep well, Yang.”

The dream faded away to darkness, and I think I felt THE TRANQUILITY encroaching upon me.

Author's Notes:

Celestia is a good princess because of her record.

Twilight is a good princess because she understands connections.

Cadance is a good princess because she loves her subjects, and they love her.

Luna is best princess because she will hug the nightmare right out of you in your dreams if she has to, and is willing to talk with you about anything.