Here we are at the beach again. I’m in my bikini, the morning sun’s shining, the six mares are excited, and for whatever reason, I can’t bring myself to even step on the damp sand. I’m staying well away from it.

“Is something wrong, Yang?” Rarity asked. She was standing in water deep enough to just lap at her underside.

“I-I can’t do it” I stammered out. I could feel my heart pounding away inside my chest at the prospect of going closer to the water.

“Hmm” Twilight said. She was only a little further out than Rarity and it looked like she was getting an idea.

That idea was apparently to use her magic to launch a few arcs of water at me. I saw it coming and I ran to the side. The water splashed where I was standing moments after I had moved. “What gives, Twilight?”

“I’m just testing a little theory.” She launched more arcs of water at me and I kept running around the beach to avoid them.

The arcs finally ceased when Fluttershy yelled “Twilight, stop!”

I stopped behind the royal lifeguard’s tower and caught my breath as the arcs ended. I’ve run laps around Ponyville before and didn’t feel this exhausted, nor did I ever shake like an autumn leaf in a tornado.

“I think I know what’s going on” Twilight confidently stated. “Yang is afraid of seawater.”

“What was that?” Rainbow asked as she surfaced. “I couldn’t hear you down there.”

“Yang’s afraid of the ocean and seawater, and I think I know why. It most likely came from the failed transformation a few days ago. She got hurt badly by what the fear center of her brain likely perceived to be just the water and not the magic being unable to complete its work. She has thalassophobia.”

“That’s the big word!” Fluttershy quietly called out.

“I also have other evidence to back this up, namely a nightmare Yang had last night. Luna shared what she saw with me.”

My mind flashed back to the nightmare.

I was outdoors with my swimsuit on, relaxing in a shallow hot tub as if on a submerged lounge chair. The pool, embedded in a wooden deck, was shallow and the water was both clear and reflective of the sunlight coming down on it. The air had a pleasant citrus fragrance to it and a delicious strawberry sunrise smoothie was sitting poolside, ready for me to drink. It even had a little umbrella.

The sky darkened and I suddenly couldn’t feel the hot water on my legs. I looked down and I saw the mermaid tail in their place. My hips and tail began to seep red stuff and a salty scent replaced the citrus in the air. I took a sip of the smoothie and it tasted like a mixture of blood and seawater. After throwing the drink away, glass and all, I tried to pull myself out of the pool, the sky becoming red. I looked at the red water and saw that the shallow pool was now a portal to the deep ocean, and I was chained by my waist to a rocky cliff. The unmistakeable shapes of sharks circled below.

I kept trying to pull myself out of the water as the sharks schooled together and made a single massive shark. I was breathing quickly, tasting the salt in the air with each inhale and exhale. The megashark swam towards me, and in one bite, it ate me, part of the deck, and part of the cliff.

I landed on my front somewhere dark and humid. I still couldn’t feel my legs, and a cursory touch revealed that I still had the tail. I also felt the chain, and then the bit of the cliff it was still attached to. I tried to get up, but when you can’t move anything below your waist, it’s not easy.

A set of hooves approached me. “Welcome to the Sea-Spa, Miss Xiao Long” a stallion’s voice said from over me. “Today, we’re giving you the full treatment.”

“No, please, no” I pleaded. I just wanted this to end.

“First, a massage.” I felt myself get moved from where I’d landed and into a bright kitchen. I looked down and saw the gigantic lettuce leaves under me. “First, we’ll get rid of this thing.” A giant hammer came down on the rock and my back, breaking both, and it hurt like nothing else I’d felt. Whoever was treating me was not treating me well because they dragged the chain and rock out from under me sideways. Then the hammer came down again, and again, and again, and again, beating me until I was tender and bleeding all over. Just how much blood did I have?

“Next, the skin treatment.” Lemons were squeezed over me, their acidic juices making the wounds feel like they were burning. After the lemon juice came a number of powders that smelled like seasoning and hurt me even more. I just wanted it to end.

“Now for the sauna.” My bed of oversized lettuce and I were picked up and I was able to see the oven I was being taken to time seemed to slow down as I came closer. I could hear the second hand’s movement getting louder until, with a loud and definite tock, time around me stopped.

“Hello, Yang” Luna’s calming voice said as everything around me began to fade and vanish. My wounds healed and my tail turned back into my legs. Now I was just floating in a black void, able to see only myself and Luna.

“Luna!” Even though there was nothing around or under me, I was still able to run over to her and hug her. I finally felt safe. “Thanks, Luna. That was scary.”

“It was indeed a terrible nightmare. I had a bit of trouble getting into it to save you, it was so bad.” Luna wrapped her forelegs and wings around me. “Go on and rest. I will keep your nightmares at bay.”

I shuddered as the memory ended. It was a terrifying and illogical nightmare. At least Luna saved me, so it had a good end.

Twilight continued. “Anyways, I came up with a plan B in case of this. I’ll go down there and then we’ll meet up at Schlumpfi’s.”

“Then we’ll freshen up a bit back at the hotel.” Rarity stepped out of the water, along with everyone else who wasn’t Twilight. “There should be enough time, right?”

“Oh, easily. Get us a good spot, Rarity.”

Twilight went back underwater and I went with the rest of the mares back to the hotel. They had to dry off and I had to change clothes. It would also be a good idea to get my bits, just in case.

When we got to Schlumpfi’s, which looked liked a pirate ship on the beach, we had to wait a little bit for a particular spot to open up. While we were waiting, I found a picture with a short story about the place. Apparently, it was a modified full scale replica a ship used by an earth pony pirate called Schlumpfi during the last century, so I wasn’t too far off. At the time Schlumpfi was alive, the ship and its crew were quite feared. Eventually, after many successful raids, old age got to him and he died as the stuff of legends. Then somepony got the idea to build a big boat shaped restaurant and named it after him.

I didn’t learn much about the way the restaurant stayed in place before our spot opened up. I followed the mares and the mare they were following up to the back of the ship’s deck, where we were seated at a table for ten. I took the spot furthest from the rails, which allowed me to see the ocean. “So, what now?”

“We wait” Applejack said.

Rarity cast a shield spell over me just a second before Twilight, as a merpony, rocketed up out of the water and over the back of the boat. I was glad the shield was there because I was not eager to find out how I’d react to seawater on my skin. At the same time, I was wondering just how Twilight got so much upward momentum from such shallow water before I realized the answer was in front of me: magic.

Shortly after Twilight landed on the boat, she began to change back into her alicorn form. “Hi, girls. Princess Skystar and Queen Novo will be joining us soon.”

“How soon?” Rainbow asked.

Two more merponies rocketed out of the surf, the splashed water collecting harmlessly in Rarity’s shield. Once the two landed on either side Twilight, I was able to see that their bodies differed from the merpony form. Their manes and fins were much more. . . aquatic looking than what Twilight had.

“Skystar, Novo, this is Yang” Twilight said as Rarity moved the shield and the water it had collected overboard. “Yang, the seapony-slash-hippogryph on my right is Princess Skystar, and the hippogryph-slash-seapony on my left is Queen Novo.” So they were seaponies. Or were they hippogryphs?

Skystar was clearly trying to reign in her excitement, even as she was changing. “Hi, Yang. I’ve heard so much about you.” It didn’t take long for her excitement to get the better of her and turn her speech into fangirl squees. At least she had enough control to stay fairly still.

“Hello, Ms. Xiao Long” Queen Novo said, clearly calmer than Skystar. “Rainbow told us what happened to you when you crossed the barrier, and I am sorry that it happened. Twilight gave us more details today on your, what was it again?”

“Thalassophobia, fear of the sea and ocean” Twilight supplied.

“Yes, that. I am impressed though that you’re willing to sit here over the water.”

“Well, I’m not in the water and it’s not that close, so I’m fine and are those wings on your head your ears?”

“No, they’re just feathery crests that happen to be near my ears.”

“Oh.” Skystar fell over where she was sitting from her excitement at meeting me. “Is she okay?”

“She’ll be back up in a minute. The same thing happened when we met Celestia and Luna the first time, and the Wonderbolts as well.

“Rainbow told us about your restaurant, the Carne Den, was it?”

“Yep.”

“She had nothing but praise for it, and it didn’t seem to be because you’re a friend of hers either.”

“It’s a one of a kind restaurant in Ponyville. Aside from being the only restaurant that serves meat, it has a darker, more relaxing atmosphere to it. So far, there hasn’t really been any quiet or slow days. We’re either busy or really busy.”

“Normally, a new restaurant’s novelty wears off after a couple weeks, but she’s still as busy as ever” Rarity interjected. “I think it’s the atmosphere she mentioned that’s helped her success.”

“And the fact that we’re also the only place to eat and drink at in Ponyville that’s open until 1 in the morning is also pretty big. And the food’s really good too. Come to think of it, I haven’t really gone out to eat anywhere for a while before coming here.”

“I’ll see about arranging a visit” Queen Novo said. “Have Celestia or Luna visited you? Rainbow made it sound like you were on friendly terms with them.”

“They did visit us pretty early on. And even though they are royalty, they had to wait like anyone else. Not just because they were part of a group of ten, but because nobody gets preferential treatment. There was one time Luna reserved the whole restaurant for one of the Canterlot Nobles’ financial meetings, and let me tell you, the looks on their faces when they saw I was the owner was priceless.” Oh, if only I had that on video.

“Okay, I’m calm now” Skystar said as she collected herself and got back into her chair. “So, Yang, can you tell me something about yourself?”

“Uh, I almost went crazy from a craving that lasted well over a week before Gilda showed up in Ponyville with some meat. I got the idea for the Carne Den shortly after that.”

“So you built a whole restaurant just to have a steady supply of meat?”

If it weren’t for the waves, you could have heard a pin drop. “Well, when you put it that way, it does sound a bit selfish. Gilda and I were kind of just brainstorming after we bonded over our taste in meat and it went from there.”

“How many orders with meat do you get?”

“More than you’d think in an herbivorous place like Ponyville. I think at least half of Ponyville gets something with meat in it at least once per week.”

I continued answering Skystar’s many questions, through the ordering and right up until we got our food. I had an egg and veggie sandwich with diced potatoes on the side, and it was good, not just because of the flavor, but because Skystar was quieted by her own meal.

“Well Yang, it was a pleasure to meet you” Queen Novo said as we finished up the meal. “I am sorry that you can’t visit us, but Seaquestria offers its full hospitality to you anyways.”

“I’ll even share my room at the palace with you” Skystar offered.

“If there’s no objections, I can cover the bill” Fluttershy said.

“Hold up, Fluttershy” Applejack interjected. “Let me cover some of it too. Ah haven’t covered many expenses out here, so it’s only right that Ah help.”

“Okay.”

Well, that went smoothly. “So, what now?” I asked as I finished off my water and stood up. A trip to the restroom was in order for me, but it could wait a bit.

“Well, we still have the rest of the day, so we could wander around again for a few hours” Twilight suggested. “We can also pack up and go to Las Pegasus tonight, spend the day there tomorrow, and be back in Ponyville on Saturday. Sound good?” A round of agreement sounded from the table. “Excellent. I’ll get a ticket for each of us and Rarity’s luggage.”

“Twilight!” Rarity exclaimed. “How dare you think that my luggage needs a ticket.”

“You know, I think Rarity’s right” Rainbow added. “It needs at least three tickets.”

“Eight PM departure it will be then” Twilight affirmed. “Let’s all try to meet up on the platform before 7:45.”

“If there’s nothing else, I think I’ll go ahead and leave.” I wasn’t contributing much anyways.

“You’re good, Yang.”

“I’ll see you later.” I left the table and, after going to the restroom, left Schlumpfi’s. It was a good place, but after walking only a few blocks inland to see what was there, I realized that I was fairly tense the whole time. Sure, I was calm because the water was away from me, but now that I was actually relaxing, I realized the tension that was there.

I put those thoughts behind me and took a moment to look around. A gym, the Iron Weight, caught my attention, and I suddenly felt like my clothes were a bit tighter than when I got here. “Alright, it’s just a little past two, so if I leave there at five, that will give me enough time to find my way back to the hotel, pack up, and arrive early at the train station.” I entered and saw a number of overly muscular stallions, along with some muscular mares at various exercise machines. There was even a wrestling ring. Most of those there were earth ponies, but there were also a few pegasi and two unicorns.

“Welcome to the Iron Weight” a stallion who looked more suited to pushing paper than lifting iron said. “For ten bits, you can use our equipment for an hour. Three hours for 25 bits. Water and warm towels are complimentary.”

“Sounds good.” I got thirty bits out and gave them to the stallion. “Can you tell me when it’s a quarter till five? Here’s a little extra for that.”

The bits were accepted and recounted. “Of course.”

“Thanks.” I went over to an open bench press and started putting weights on the bar. Once I had about 1500 pounds on, I got on the bench, grabbed the bar, took a breath, and lifted the weight. It took a bit of a struggle to get it up, but it was manageable. I began doing reps with the 1500 pound weight, and it got both easier and harder as I went on. Easier because of the momentum from the reps, harder because of the effort involved.

When I stopped and sat up after who knows how many lifts, I could see that I had a small crowd around me. “Uh, can I help you?”

“That was three quarters of a ton, right?” one of the less muscular muscular mares asked.

“Yeah. So?”

“How did you lift that much with so little muscle?”

“I’m just really strong.” I left it at that and went over to a leg weight machine. The compatibility of these equine weight machines with my human form was quite remarkable, to say the least. As I worked my legs, the crowd gathered around me again. “Are you all really so interested in my strength?”

“Yeah, we are” one of the overly muscular stallions admitted. “And how are you not breaking a sweat either?”

“That’s a secret. And could you all please just leave me alone?” None of them left. “Really?”

“We’re just so fascinated.”

“Well stop staring at me before I have to do something regrettable.” They got the meaning behind those words and left. Thank goodness I was able to get them to leave without getting physical.

A different stallion came up to me a few minutes later. “Hey, want to fight for a bit in the ring?”

I paused my leg reps at the top of a lift. It wasn’t quite as hard to hold as the bench press. “Any particular reason?”

“I want to be able to say I fought you for fun.”

I let the weights down. “Well, it probably won’t even last a whole minute, but let’s do it.”

“Just get in the ring when you’re ready.”

As I made my way to the ring, some concerns came to my mind, namely the safety of my opponent, whatever his name was. I had my aura, but he had nothing like that. Still, I jumped into the ring, ready to hold myself back a bit. “Let’s get this over with. Are there any rules?”

“Nope. Let’s do this! And don’t hold back.” A mare did a countdown and then we went at each other.

The fight was very short. I caught the stallion and choke slammed him with one arm and a good amount of force. Once I did, a bell somewhere dinged three times. “Knockout?”

“Yep, he’s knocked out. And if you’re worried about him, don’t be. The ring’s enchanted to help prevent injuries, so getting knocked out is about the worst that can happen.”

“In that case, I’m going back to my weights.” I left the ring and went back to the weights, as I said I would. At least those didn’t challenge me to fights.

“Miss Xiao Long, it’s 4:45” the greeting stallion told me.

“Thanks.” I finished a set of reps with the 400 pound weights in each hand before setting them down. I was feeling pretty good, and I didn’t get into any fights after the one I got talked into. The muscles in my, well, everywhere, were aching, but it was a good kind of ache. The only problem I had was that I didn’t have one of my athletic outfits on, but that was no fault of the Iron Weight’s.

As I left, I saw a crowd of ponies outside the gym, and they were watching me leave. I nodded at them, a few nodded back, and then they slowly descended upon the gym. Celebrity power at work again.

I found my way back to Schlumpfi’s, and from there, I made my way back to the hotel. Thank goodness for the route basically being straight lines. Schlumpfi’s also looked a bit busier than before. Probably just the dinner rush.

In the hotel room, Rarity was busy reorganizing the contents of her suitcases. All kinds of things were floating around in the air. “Maybe I could, no, that won’t work. Hm, this can work. Hi, Yang. Oh, that worked beautifully.”

“Hi, Rarity.” I went over to my small stack of things and my suitcase, and began packing my things up. Fortunately, I kept my clothes organized as I went, though not the souvenirs. I was not about to leave my dragon and other stuff here, so I had some reorganizing to do. At least I had plenty of space available for what I’d gotten.

Rarity was still packing her bags when I finished with mine and Fluttershy entered. “Hi girls. Are you almost ready to go, Rarity?”

“Just a few minutes, dear” Rarity answered.

“I’m ready, but I just realized I don’t know how to get there” I admitted.

“Don’t worry Yang” Pinkie said from the doorway. “We’ll catch that 8:00 train just fine.”

While the seven of us settled in on the softly lit train, it started leaving the station. “Las Pegasus is about ten hours away, so we can spend a bit of time relaxing before going to sleep.”

“Ah think Ah’ll just go to sleep, y’all” Applejack said. “Do we have a sleepin’ car on this train?”

“Unfortunately, no. The one from Las Pegasus to Canterlot will have one though.”

“So, what do we do?” I asked. “Do we just make a pony pile somewhere?”

“Yep.”

“I guess I should get some clothes ready then. Excuse me.” I got my suitcase down from over the seats and went to the restroom with it. After changing to my robe, I put some clean clothes in an easy spot in the suitcase and left. Applejack was already laying down on her side on the floor with her eyes closed when I got back, and she looked like she would make a good pillow.

It turned out that Applejack’s body did make a nice pillow. It also turned out that Applejack started something because the rest of the mares started piling on and around us with Fluttershy softly alighting on top while Twilight used her magic to turn off the lights. I think she cast another spell as well, but I had no idea what it was. It didn’t affect me though, I knew that.

Pinned as I was in this pile of friendship, I soon fell asleep. Pony piles are nice.

Author's Notes:

That's that for the time cards. The next chapter should be out faster.