Friday, July 10th. That was everyone’s first payday, including mine, and everyone was excited. Brew Binary had been back in town and on board for a few days, wearing his green and purple Carne Den uniform. With him back, I was able to take my attention away from the taxing task of managing all the money. I had no idea what everyone else was going to do with their money, but a proper bed was still the first thing in my sight.

Friday also meant that the patio would be open, and the weather was perfect out there for me to be cooking food behind the grill. The temperature was nice, the sky was beautiful, and there was even a gentle breeze blowing from the grill towards the tables.

I had double checked everything at the grill, from the condiment and topping supplies to the tools at hand and even how quickly I could cycle out the dirty dishes for clean ones, and I had done pretty well on my time and supplies.

It was two hours until opening and I was making lunch outside for everyone. The ponies, griffons, and Aegir who were here to open with me were at the tables and I had steaks of various sizes on the grill, along with some kebabs of varying ingredients. It all looked and smelled really good.

The first week has been really profitable. We haven’t even opened for our seventh day and already we’ve cleared 55,000 bits of income, helped in part by the glowing reviews in the newspapers. Business was great, and there were a good number of tourists visiting as well.

As I finished everyone’s lunches, I rushed them out to those who ordered them. The last ones I cooked up were for those of us with purple on our uniforms, my own being the last of them all to be made. I took all of them at once to a table in the middle of the patio, where us higher ups were sitting. “Here’s our lunches, everyone.”

“Thanks” was my reply from everyone, though not in sync.

“So, how are things in our areas? We’ll go in chromatic order.”

Gavan was first, since he had red on. “I’ve got no problems in the kitchen. I’ve started sending some of the cooks to go out and get the local ingredients we need and use over the past couple days instead of doing it all myself. As for keeping the meat in stock, well, let’s just say Yang showed me the secret at the post office everyone in Ponyville knows about.

“As for the kitchen staff, they’re doing well. Everyone’s doing well. Silver in particular is getting better about meat. I had him stand by me as I cooked a steak for Gilda’s dinner a couple days ago. He’s still standing firm on not eating the stuff, and he’s still not ready to touch it, but he’s no longer flinching at it.”

“It will be a good day when he can take that white armband off. Sylvia?”

“All’s good on my end” Sylvia reported. “Though Honey Suckle acts a bit too sweet for my tastes, she does manage to get more bits per guest. Ají, somehow, still gets all the big orders. She’s able to handle herself just fine on the regular and small orders, but we still end up helping her regularly. Cloverleaf helps her the most since he’s able to levitate things, so that’s good.

“The guests themselves are generally pretty good. I think the calm darkness of the interior helps with that. And maybe the cider. That stuff is really good. Have you had any before?”

“I had to try it before I decided to have it here, and it was good. Brew, how are things looking on your side?”

“We’ve got all of our expenses covered for the week” Brew said through a grilled veggie and cheese sandwich. “In fact, we’ve got about 15,000 bits in profit, thanks in part to all those who’ve paid extra. I also did a bit of research while I was in Canterlot and learned something.”

“Really?”

“Your decision to pay your wait staff at a rate close to that of the other types of employees is unique. Most of the time, they have to rely on tips and are paid less per hour than employees doing just about anything else. Your wait staff is going to be the best paid among those at restaurants like the Carne Den, especially if business keeps going as it has. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that you weren’t aware of that practice when you made that choice.”

“Wait, restaurants do that?”

“Many of them do, but don’t change how you do things because of how others do things. Switching from a system that works for you and your employees to one that everyone else is using simply because that’s what they’re using is not a good reason to switch.”

That was a very good point he made. “And that brings us back around to Gilda and me. Gilda?”

“Hm?” Gilda took a moment to collect her thoughts. “Oh. Ah, the griffons that came back with me are looking forward to seeing how much they’re going to get today. Most of them came with their families, almost all the others are sending money back to their families in the Griffon Empire, and Gavan is the only exception to that, aside from me.”

“Because we’re using his family’s slaughterhouse back in the Griffon Empire for our meat. How are they doing, anyways?”

“Just this week, they’ve finally made enough money to buy a new set of knives and sharpening stones” Gavan said. “And not just any knives. They’re Minotaurian steel knives. Those are quality, and we should start seeing that investment of theirs pay off soon. Believe me, sharper and stronger knives mean cleaner cuts.”

“I’ll believe it. Anything else?” A whole lot of silence and eating sounds came from everyone else at the table. “I’ll take that as a No then.” I picked up one of the small steaks I made for me, small enough to hold in my hand, and took a bite. No fork, no knife, I just grabbed it and bit into it.

After everyone had finished and the dishes were washed, it was five minutes until opening, and there was a crowd outside that was mostly griffons, partially other species. I could definitely say that yesterday’s crowd was the smallest so far, and that was still a very profitable day. I was willing to bet that lots of those waiting were going to go for the patio. Before I left the main area to go to the grill, I caught a glimpse of a rainbow mane in the crowd.

“Get in place, everyone” Gilda said. Since I was going to be out at the grill, she would be the one running things inside, and in the past week, she’s given me no reason to doubt her abilities with helping the guests and staff.

“Brew, you’re on outdoor drink serving duty” I said as I went out to the grill.

“Are you sure about that?” Brew asked as he followed me. “I don’t have any experience waiting on tables.”

“Trust me, you’ve got the easier job between us.” As we arrived at the warmed up grill, I thought about getting a chair or stool of some kind for me to sit on between orders when I was out here. “I’ve got to keep a bunch of orders straight, cook, and serve them, along with getting ingredients from the kitchen. In fact, I’m starting to have a few second thoughts about this myself.”

“Worried you won’t be able to keep everything in order?”

“No, I’m thinking that I’ve got myself in a bit over my head. Maybe everything will be okay though and I’m just nervous.”

“You’ll be fine. At least until it’s time for me to dole out everyone’s pay. What prompted you to make seven bits per hour the base pay?”

I thought about it, even as a bunch of guests came out and to the tables. “Probably just something from where I come from. Anyways, get a notepad, and start on those drinks. You may also have to get desserts too. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

As Brew got a pencil and notepad, Rainbow Dash came up to me from the nearest table. “Hey, Yang, I’ve got a question for you.”

“Yes?” I responded.

“Have you ever heard of the sonic rainboom?”

“No, I haven’t. Should I have?”

“The sonic rainboom is what happens when I break the speed of sound. Want to see it?”

“Yes, but I can’t leave the grill. Do you want something?”

“I’m thinking of trying something new to try. Got any suggestions?”

Hmm. “How about a kebab?” I held up an eighteen inch long wooden skewer. I was worried about using them since they would be over an open flame, but I was assured that the wood wouldn’t burn because it came from a type of tree that was fireproof. Cinderoak, I think it was.

“A what?” A crowd was already gathering behind Rainbow, and they were listening.

“A skewer grilled with various ingredients on it. There are some things I can’t put on them though. Also, anything made at the grill is paid for at the grill.”

“Then I think I’ll have a veggie one with a hunk of steak in the middle of it.” Her order drew a few curious gazes from the mostly griffon crowd around her.

“Three bits.” I pointed to a jar on the corner of the counter and started on Rainbow’s order. As I skewered the vegetables, I heard her put her bits in the jar. The jar itself was actually attached to the counter and had a sloped bottom that turned into a small chute that went to a bit chest under the grill. It’s a bit of clever engineering, if I do think so myself. It functioned more like a funnel, really.

While Rainbow’s kebab was grilling, more orders were made. Rainbow apparently started something with the kebabs because a lot of the crowd ordered them. If I hadn’t already eaten earlier, I’d have been tempted to make one for myself. And none of the skewers showed even a hint of the fire affecting them in any way.

While everyone was eating, I ducked into the kitchen to order a restock on the ingredients I’d used. Gavan himself delivered the ingredients and helped put them in their places. I was thankful for his help, and a small part of me was also glad I didn’t have to go into the meat storage. My uniform did make the cold space more tolerable, but it still sucked.

Rainbow eventually came back and asked and paid for another kebab like the first one. While I prepared it, Rainbow asked me “Are you sure you can’t see me do a Sonic Rainboom right now?”

“Yep” was my short response. “Dare I ask why you’re asking?”

“You do dare to ask.”

“Why are you asking me if I want to see a Sonic Rainboom?”

“Glad you asked. I got a letter about an hour ago from Celestia. She has something for you and she wants me to bring it to you. It’s not urgent, but I’d rather get it done sooner than later.”

A princessly parcel for me? “Well, you know where I’ll be for the rest of the day.”

“I’ll be going there fast enough to create a Sonic Rainboom. I’ll also be coming back fast enough to create one. Hey, can I order and pay for something here and get it when I return?”

I looked at my grill setup. Short of stacking a couple plates on the grill, there was no way to keep anything warm here, and that was the best way to enjoy the food here. “Sorry, but no. Here’s your kebab.” I handed Rainbow her kebab, which she accepted.

“Thanks. And I’m cool to leave at anytime, right?”

“As long as you’ve paid for everything you ordered.” I think Rainbow had a drink.

“Alright. Can I pay for my mug of cider here?” She did have a drink.

Another bug in the operations to iron out. Fortunately, Brew came out at that time. “Hey, Brew. It shouldn’t be too hard for me to process tickets and payments here, right?”

Brew thought a bit. “It shouldn’t be difficult. You already have a setup for payments here, so all you have to do is find a place to keep the tickets. If you just sign off that they’ve been paid, I can put them inside.”

The ironing was done. “Then that’s how we’ll do it.” As Brew went back inside, probably to get me a pencil or four, Rainbow showed me her ticket, which only had a two bit mug of cider on it. “Two bits, please.”

Rainbow dropped two bits into the jar for her cider before dropping an extra one in it. It wasn’t much extra that she gave, but every bit helped. She quickly polished off her kebab. “Well, now that that’s done, it’s time to fly to Canterlot. You mind if I take off from here?”

“Go ahead.” As long as it was a peaceful takeoff, it would be fine.

“Cool. See you in thirty.” Rainbow practically rocketed upwards and I lost sight of her immediately.

Thirty minutes later, Rainbow landed on the patio, which was still full of guests. “I’m back, Yang.”

“Hello.” It wasn’t hard to miss her landing, especially when she landed in front of me. It was just now that I also noticed the saddlebags on her sides.

“As I promised, I have a package for you. It’s got your name all over it.” Rainbow walked up to the grill while she used a wing to grab the package from her bag. “Here you go. And can I have a veggie sandwich?”

I accepted the box from Rainbow. It had my name on every side. Hmm. “Do you want the buns grilled?” The box went on the counter with the ingredients.

“Ooh, that sounds really nice. Can I have cheese too?”

“Four bits.” I skewered some vegetables for the sandwich and set the bun halves on the grill. At the same time, another order finished cooking. After putting on the condiments, I called it out. “One well done bacon cheeseburger with lettuce and ketchup!” A griffon came and got his burger before returning to his table.

Rainbow’s order was the only one on the grill now, and it had a bit of time. “I got to see what’s in that box. I’m sure you’ll like it.”

I grabbed the box and opened it up. As I suspected, there was two bands of shells in there. Unlike last time, they weren’t spent white shells. Instead, these shells were loaded and colored with a spiral rainbow. I could almost feel the energy contained in them. “I’ll have to find out what these do later.”

Rainbow looked at the shells. “No no no no no. They were supposed to be white and open. Not rainbowed and closed.”

“Calm down, Rainbow, calm down.” I checked on her food. It was done. I picked up the bottom bun and the skewered vegetables. I had a sandwich to build. “Here, I’ve almost got your meal done.”

“Why would they change like that?”

I put Rainbow’s sandwich on a plate and gave it to her. “Because something was put in them. I don’t know what, but they are pretty. And it saves me the trouble of figuring out what to put in them. I just have to figure out what they fire.”

“You could try them out tomorrow.” Rainbow took a bite of her sandwich.

“No can do. We’ve got a big group tomorrow, and I must be here for that. I could try them out on Sunday though.” Besides, I could use a break from the Carne Den. It felt like my brain was on the grill.

“Sounds good. I want to see what they do too.”

I was busy at the grill for the rest of the day, stopping only once to use the restroom.

Saturday, June 11th. I’d talked with everyone present and we decided to make it a short day. Since it was a short day, I decided Gilda could have the day off. Aegir stood in front of the door, acting as a bouncer. The whole restaurant was reserved, and we were going to honor that. And the fact that we would be making 10,000 bits at the minimum was good too.

Last night, Luna pulled myself and everyone else who worked at the Carne Den together in the dreamscape. We had planned out how things would go. It felt like we were planning a big prank, which it really was.

Finally, at 3 PM, the thirty nobles and Luna arrived. I was watching them from the far side of the roof, and only Luna noticed me. With an exchange of winks, we knew everything was going as planned. I was unnoticed.

Inside, tables and chairs had been arranged for the meeting. Everyone took their usual spots with Luna sitting down last. All the equine wait staff, selected for the reason that they were equines, came out and began handing out the menus.

Sylvia gave Luna her menu. “Waitress” Luna said when she got hers.

“Yes, Princess?” Sylvia asked.

“I heard there were two menus here. Why do we only have one? I wish to speak to the owner immediately.” A murmur of confused agreements came from the assembled nobles.

“I’m very sorry, Princess. I’ll get the owner right now.”

With a telepathic cue and a silence spell over the front door, both courtesy of Luna, I jumped off the roof and walked inside to Sylvia. I picked up the stashed stack of red menus and followed her back. The nobles, as Luna had predicted, were engrossed in their green menus, so they didn’t notice me.

“Princess, here’s the owner.”

“I’m very sorry you didn’t get both menus immediately.” I had to practice this part quite a bit in the dreamscape to get the apologetic tone I needed. “I’ve got the second menus here. Sylvia, please help me hand them out.”

“Of course, Yang.” At this point, Sylvia could have probably said the most blasphemous thing about the nobility in the history of ever (truly a daunting task) and gotten away with it as far as the assembled nobles were concerned. They were all looking at me, and I could almost feel the malice directed at me. They really hated me. Except for Fancy and Fleur. They were still cool.

“How do we keep seeing you?” Blueblood asked as Sylvia and I distributed the menus. “Princess Luna, I ask again why we’re here instead of Princess Twilight’s castle.”

“As I told you on the train ride here, it’s for a change of pace” Luna explained. “Besides, I’ve heard good things about this establishment, new as it is. We also had a representative reserve the whole restaurant for this meeting, and I’m sure you’d hate to see a 10,000 bit reservation go to waste.” After the last of the red menus were passed out, Luna picked hers up. “Oh, this menu looks good.”

Lady Primrose was the first to vocalize the question clear on their faces. “What is this menu? Beef? Pork? Chicken? What are these things?”

Inside, I was shaking my head at how these nobles running the nation could be so dumb. If I could, I’d have them go live and work on farms for three years. “Gavan, could you bring out the steak samples?”

“Of course” Gavan said. A moment later, the griffon came out of the kitchen pushing a cart with the steak samples on it, all well done. Another griffon followed with a cart loaded with glasses of water. With the help of Sylvia, Cloverleaf, and myself, we gave everyone a sample and a glass of water. There were four extra samples, which went to the four of us who served them. Since Sylvia and Cloverleaf ate the steak with no problem, the assembled nobles probably decided it was safe for them to eat it too. Luna, clearly enjoying and savoring her sample probably helped them decide it was okay too.

Most of their reactions of disgust were predicted, though a couple of them asked “why do I like this vile stuff?” Maybe they were a bit disgusted that they weren’t really disgusted? That’s the best I could come up with.

“Yang Xiao Long, are you trying to poison us?” Blueblood asked as soon as he recovered from trying his sample.

“Me?” I asked. “Poison you? I’d never try to do that.”

“You used a poison that you’re immune to then.”

“Hey, Sylvia, Cloverleaf you two feeling okay?”

“We’re good” they said at the same time.

“Slow acting.”

“I had the same thing a week ago, though bigger than the sample you got” Cloverleaf said as he gathered the sample plates. Luna, Fancy and Fleur’s were clear. “I’m still here.”

“Blueblood, drop your accusations of Yang attempting to poison you” Luna said. “If that stuff bothers you so much, then stick to the green menu.” “I swear Yang, these nobles are like a bunch of foals sometimes.” I nodded in agreement, though I did want to ask if ‘sometimes’ was really an accurate word choice.

Eventually, it was time for everyone to make their orders. Gavan had already gone back to the kitchen and two of the griffon servers came out to take their places. I took seven orders while the other waiters took six. I got the three best ponies in the group of 31, and they were also the only ones who ordered off the meat menu.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think that those other 28 were in a very secure lockstep with each other on almost everything, as if they were a single entity with multiple bodies.

Once we took the orders up, the financial meeting began with Luna stating what their topics of the day were. Most of them seemed to be focused on laws regulating businesses. I actually got a preview of sorts in the dreamscape last night, so Luna and I had planned a few things out.

“Let us begin with Lady Tight Purse’s proposal” Luna started. “Lady Tight Purse?”

The addressed unicorn mare spoke. “I propose we instate a minimum wage law to ensure that anyone who has a job makes enough to live on. I suggest we start at five bits per hour minimum.”

“That sounds very benevolent. We don’t have a minimum wage law yet. Let’s ask a business owner what they think of it.” That was my cue to walk up next to Luna. I could see the groans on their faces already. “Yang, what do you think of this proposal?”

I thought for a bit. “Well, it wouldn’t affect me very much, since I’m already paying everyone more than that.” Blueblood sank a bit when I said that. Accidental victory? “But a small business that’s just scraping by? They might not be able to afford those wages. As much as that would help drive down my competition, it might also drive some of my suppliers out of business, and less competition means fewer advancements. Besides, would you want to pay someone five bits for a two bit job?” Tight Purse looked a bit distraught at how I broke down her proposal. I had one more bit to add. “Besides, if you do have that minimum wage, then that means prices on everything will go up so that those wages can be afforded by the employers, and then that would kinda defeat the spirit and purpose of the minimum wage, right?”

“Is that all, Yang?”

“Yes.”

“You’re dismissed.”

“Thank you for letting me speak.” I went off to where I was before.

“How did you come up with all that?” Cloverleaf asked. “I was inclined towards supporting her bill myself, but then you made all those counterpoints and I don’t know what to think.”

“Here’s how I see it: the more the government, on any level, stays out of everyone’s lives, the better. I talked with Gilda a bit and found out that the previous king had imposed a number of laws that affected business and had a time lock of sorts on them.”

One of the griffon waiters piped in. I really needed to start recognizing them. “I’ve made more money here in a week than what I was making in a month back there. And that’s before the tips I’ve been getting.”

“Maybe we could ask a business owner what they think about that?” Luna asked.

“There’s my cue” I said. I had a bill to break down.

By the time their meals, mostly salads, were done and ready to be served all together, I’d gone through my dance of deconstruction. Sylvia actually got to do a deconstruction herself on something that would ultimately just add more paperwork and hassle to everyone’s jobs, and she even topped it off with a gem of a line: “Do you really think we’re too stupid to know how to run our own lives?”

I had to heavily restrain my laughter when one of the noble stallions actually said “yes”. Fortunately, I had composed myself enough by the time the food was ready to be able to help serve everyone’s meals. Once that was done, I had to step outside behind the building for a bit just to release the laughter that was threatening to break out.

My laughter attracted the attention of none other than Rainbow Dash herself. “What’s up, Yang?”

I had to catch my breath between laugh infused words. “There’s. . . The nobles inside. . . They. . . They think we’re. . . Ah, too stupid to know. . . To know how to run our lives.”

“What? I ought to go in there and give them a piece of my mind.”

Serious mode engaged. “No, don’t do that, Rainbow. We’ve already got it handled. Please, trust me.”

“Really? Well, if you say so. So, what’s going on in there?”

“Demolition of proposals that sound good, but actually aren’t. They’re taking a meal break right now. Anyways, I should get back inside. I’ll see you tomorrow, Rainbow.”

“Here at noon?”

“Sure.” I went back inside, calmer and more collected now that I’d had some time to get the laughter out. “Anything happen while I was out?”

“Nope” Gavan answered. “They’re still eating and kind of fussing about how they’re eating at such a lowly place as ours.”

“Did you prepare Luna, Fancy, and Fleur’s last? Those three are actually good, so they deserve more freshly prepared meals.”

“Of course. I mean, well, theirs were the last ones we happened to get to, so it’s just a coincidence, right?”

“Of course it is. Any observed patterns of those three passively getting treated better by us is merely speculation at what isn’t there.”

“It wouldn’t be anything else. Obviously.”

Everyone in the kitchen was smiling. Of course, the big finale was yet to come, but as the name suggested, the finale came at the end, and there were still more matters for them to discuss. It looked like it would be a lazy work day after they finished eating.

“And that concludes this meeting” Luna stated. “Nothing got passed, nothing got changed, and all is the same as before.”

That was our cue to move out. Before any of the nobles could stand up, we were already giving them their tickets. “What is this?” Tight Purse asked.

“It’s a check” Sylvia said. “It shows how much you owe us for your meal.”

“But the restaurant was reserved!”

“That was the 10,000 bit reservation, yes” Luna said. “But that’s all the 10,000 covered. Did your secretary not tell you that the letter I sent you said to bring some money?”

“That was in the letter?”

“I was sure the red underlined section would have spelled it out for you.”

The snootier nobles began to panic a bit. All that money in their names, and they couldn’t pay off a simple restaurant check. They were caught in quite a predicament and I couldn’t help but feel a dark joy filling my chest at that. I had a lot of chest, so there was a lot of dark joy there.

“Fleur and I will each cover half of you” Fancy said.

“And if Princess Luna wishes it, we can cover her meal too” Fleur added.

“I can cover my own ticket, but thanks for the offer” Luna said. “In fact, would you allow me to cover the tips to the kind staff here?”

“As long as you let us take care of the extra bits for the restaurant itself.”

“That sounds fair.”

Fancy, Fleur, and Luna produced their bit pouches and collected all the tickets. All of them pulled out some paper to do the math for the total they would be paying and started on it. It took a few minutes, but they figured it all out, and we got 1,500 bits from them. Luna gave everyone a 25 bit tip. I made a note for Brew to give everyone who wasn’t here for this meeting 25 bits each as well. I didn’t have to do the math to know that we had enough profit from today to easily cover it. Meat was our biggest food expense, and we used very little of it today.

After the payments were taken care of, the nobles began to file out of the building, eventually leaving the three best ponies. “May we speak with you, Yang?” Luna asked. “Preferably in private.”

“Sure thing” I answered. “Sylvia, Gavan, standard closing procedures for your areas. I’ll be in my office.”

“You got it” they both said at the same time.

“Excellent.” I lead Luna, Fancy, and Fleur to my office, closing the door behind us before I took my seat. “So, how can I help you?”

“We had a great time tonight” Fancy said. “I must say that the steak fries were quite filling. A bit of melted cheese and you could make a meal out of a slightly larger portion. Fill a large bowl, and you could make a meal for a whole group.

“And if I may ask the more blunt question, how’s the return on my investment looking?”

“With what we made today, we’ve probably got an easy 10,000 bits for you already. I’ll let Brew figure out the exact numbers tomorrow, but if things go as they have, we should have the full 30,000 by the end of the month.”

“How is Brew doing, by the way?” Fleur asked.

“He’s doing well. I had him serving drinks and desserts outside yesterday. He caught on pretty quickly. He also made well over a hundred bits in tips as well.”

“If I may add my two bits?” Luna said. “Yang, I would like to extend a royal offer to you. A favor for anything you want that is within my or my sister’s power.”

“Anything?”

“Of course. If you want your taxes waived forever, we can do that. You want a law instated? We’ll do it. Just remember that it’s only one favor though, so use it wisely.”

“I’ll make a note of that in my bedroom.” It would go right next to the note of Rarity’s spa trip. I didn’t have quite enough bits to afford the bed I needed, even with today’s tip, but I knew I’d get it. Of course, I’d have to wait until Friday to get my money, but it wasn’t the worst thing ever. At least I didn’t have to worry about groceries.

“I make this offer out of the sheer amusement I had today. Many a jester and troupe have tried to entertain us, but this was truly magnificent. Not even I could have foresaw that only Fancy and Fleur would bring their bits, but hindsight says that I shouldn’t be surprised. So now the rest of the council owes them. If they had just walked out of here without paying, it would have made headlines and they would have looked really bad.”

That made sense. “So from the outside, it looks like all was well, but inside, we know they either forgot or neglected to bring their bits.”

“Coincidentally, I do believe the two of us are the only ones without personal assistants or secretaries for our personal lives” Fancy said. “Just an observation.”

“Of course. So, is there anything else I can help with?”

“I believe we’ve got everything covered, so we’ll be heading to the train station.”

“I’d like to talk with Yang a bit longer” Luna said. “Go on without me.” Fancy and Fleur left my office. “I haven’t asked this for a while, but how are you doing with your body? Have you adjusted to it?”

“Yeah, I’m used to it” I answered. “I’d say the only problems I really have are having to bend over to look straight down and making sure my hair doesn’t get damaged so my temper doesn’t go off.”

“I don’t think I need to ask this, but how’s life treating you here?”

“Well, I’m not getting sick due to my temperature, I’ve got lots of friends, and the laws are certainly a lot less intrusive here than they are where I’m from.”

“How much less intrusive, if I may ask?”

“Back there, if we were to build the Carne Den, we’d have needed a number of permits and licenses to build the place at all, then some more to run it. We’d have also needed to follow various safety regulations, get insurance just to protect us from any legal issues that might arise, taxes from every direction, and a lot of other stuff I don’t even know about.”

“That sounds like a lot of paperwork would be involved.”

“Yeah. At least it was easy enough for my employees that needed it to get citizenship here. They were all done in a matter of days.”

“How long would it have taken to go through the proper channels where you’re from?”

“Weeks. Months. Maybe over a year. Things were incredibly messed up when I left.”

“Is it possible we could hire you for a bit of work at the castle?”

“Depends on when and what it is.”

“Oh, we’d just forward anyone complaining about how unfair our laws might be to you so you can tell them about what it was like for your people.”

“I’ll pass. Sorry.”

“Very well. If you’re ever in Canterlot, feel free to take up that offer. I must go now. The train should be arriving soon, so I must go to the station. Have a good evening, Yang.”

“Thanks, Luna.” I escorted Luna out of the Carne Den and wound up holding the door open for all my employees. I wished them a good evening, went back in, made a note for Brew to give everyone who wasn’t here 25 free bits.

I went upstairs, changed to my caution stripe athletic outfit, and went out for a run. I had enough time for a lap around Ponyville.

Sunday, July 12th. I was wearing my combat outfit and relaxing on the roof in the sun. The Ember Celica were in their usual places on my arms and the spiral rainbow shells were in a pouch. I could really use a pair of sunglasses. It was also my first day off since the Carne Den opened, and I was glad for the break.

“What do you think you’re doing, taking a page out of my book?” Rainbow was hovering in front of me, blocking the sun.

“I did not take a page out of your book, Rainbow” I said as the pegasus lay down next to me. “I simply copied it into my book.”

“Eh, fair enough. So, how did yesterday end up?”

“Made lots of money, closed early, and I found out that Luna thinks most of the nobility act like foals. I’d have to disagree with her though.”

“But most of the nobility do act like foals.”

“On the contrary. I saw a group of four foals, no cutie marks and no adults with them, come here on Thursday. They only had enough bits for two meals. No tip, no extra, no drinks aside from water. They got their two meals, shared them, and were really well behaved. I was expecting them to be loud, annoying, and messy, but they weren’t. Well, their table was a bit messier than most, so I heard, but they were so well behaved, we didn’t really care.”

“Really? That actually sounds pretty nice. Do you think I could get a position here?”

“Right now, we’re doing fine, so no.”

“Eh, alright. So, do you want to go try out those new shells? I’ll give you a ride to a good spot to test them out.”

“I think I’d rather walk.”

Rainbow went back to casually hovering in front of me. “Don’t worry, I won’t let you fall off my back. I mean, you’re tough enough to survive just about any fall, but I won’t let that happen.”

“It’s not that.”

“Then why would you rather walk?”

“It just seems weird to me, riding on the back of someone I can hold a conversation with.”

“Trust me, it’s alright. I’ve given AJ lots of rides to the train station on my back when she was working in her orchard and lost track of time. It’s no big deal.”

I took a deep breath. “Alright, I’ll take the Rainbow Dash Express to wherever you’re thinking of.”

“That’s the spirit! Just make sure your legs don’t get in the way of my wings.” Rainbow landed on the ridge of the roof. Even though she was on two different slopes, she was standing there as if she’d done it a thousand times before.

I made my way up the roof to her and cautiously got on her back, making sure I was up far enough to not be in the way of her wings. “I think I’m ready.”

“Hold onto my neck.” Rainbow gave a few experimental flaps of her wings before getting serious and going up a few feet and beginning our flight.

“Why your neck?”

“Because it’s a lot less painful for me than if you grabbed my ears.” When Rainbow didn’t get a response from me, she continued. “Look if you’re worried about strangling me, don’t be. Pony necks are really strong, so unless you use excessive force, I won’t be affected.”

I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around Rainbow’s neck, which turned really awkward for me as my chest was also against her neck. I knew I was blushing, and I’m pretty sure Rainbow was too. At least I think she was. I couldn’t really see her face.

Finally, we landed next to a canyon. “Here we are: Ghastly Gorge” Rainbow said after we’d landed and I was happily off her back. I was walking back for sure. “There’s a bunch of trees on the other side. Fire at them.”

“If you say so.” I took a look at the spiral rainbow shells before putting them in my gauntlets. I could still feel the energy within them, which is not something I’ve felt with the other shells. “Here goes.” I punched to fire a round, and it flew over the canyon. As soon as it hit something on the other side, it created a huge explosion and a rainbow colored mushroom cloud. Rainbow and I had to shield our eyes from the prismatic ring that came from the explosion.

Eventually, the multicolored smoke cleared, revealing not only a bunch of wrecked trees, but a crater in the ground as well. “That. Was. AWESOME! Do it again!”

“No, I think that’s enough destruction for today.” I pulled the shells out of the Ember Celica and put them away. “What was that anyways?”

“Pinkie calls it an Atomic Rainnuke. I pulled one off when I was helping Applejack destroy an old shed once. It was the finishing blow.” So I was basically carrying radiation free mini-nukes in these new shells. That scared me a little bit, but knowing that they couldn’t do anything until I actually fired them was a big comfort.

Author's Notes:

It's been nearly a year since I posted the first chapter of I Burn. This is probably the longest single project I've ever had, and I think a big part of the reason I've been able to put out an average of three chapters per month is my tablet. Being able to write anywhere is awesome.