After getting ready for yet another day of work, I went outside to check the mail. It was a beautiful spring day, with only a few sparse clouds in the sky. The weather was even nice enough to go running, and if I wasn’t already dressed for work, I would have. It felt like there was absolutely, positively, certainly, and assuredly nothing that could possibly go wrong.

*KRAKOOOMM*

And then I was suddenly caught in an intense thunderstorm ten seconds later, dampening my mood, my hair, and my clothes. I figured that the mail could wait it out in the mailbox as I walked back inside, where the sound of the intense rain slightly echoed. With the storm as intense as it was, and with no sign of letting up, it wouldn’t be worth opening for the day. The pegasi were busy with the storm, and those on the ground would have to trudge through mud and rain to get anywhere.

After making and posting a sign on the door saying that the Carne Den was closed due to the weather, I went into my bathroom and wrung out my hair over the tub. That golden stuff held a lot of water, which made drying it a consistent pain. At the same time, I wasn’t about to cut it either due to some Yang aspect that kept me from cutting it.

Before I started undressing to dry off my work clothes, I grabbed the white, blue, and orange athletic outfit from my dresser and decided to call it a lazy day. Once I was dry and dressed, I went into my room, grabbed a book, and plopped down on the bed with it.

I wasn’t really reading the book, despite it being a fascinating collection of speculations on what Equestria was like between an event called Unification and the start of Luna’s thousand year banishment. My thoughts instead drifted towards my choice of clothes. “This is comfy” I thought to myself. “Is this why girls on Earth like to relax in lighter clothes like this?” It did feel nice wearing the smaller athletic clothes in bed. As my thoughts on the matter started drifting around, I set the book down and gazed up at the ceiling.

I could feel THE TRANQUILITY set in as I relaxed there. Everything was peaceful in those kinds of moments.

“Hello, Yang.”

I looked over to the side of my bed. “Luna? When did you get here?”

“On the contrary, you fell asleep. This is a dream, and at the same time, an opportunity for a checkup on your mental wellbeing. Likely long overdue, considering your unique situation.”

“Okay then.” I wasn’t thrilled at the idea, but it still sounded good. Besides, Luna was trustworthy in my book.

“Firstly, how have you been spending your days?”

“Working in the kitchen or running laps around Ponyville. Running feels good. The smoker’s got us really busy again. Sometimes, I’m doing paperwork in the office.” Thankfully, the paperwork was easy and simple. “Oh, and grilling on Fridays! I love doing that.”

“Mhm, mhm, I see. And how would you describe your interactions with others?”

“Pretty good, usually professional, sometimes casual.”

“Anyone you would consider a good friend? There can be more than one.”

“Well, there’s everyone who works at the Carne Den. Then there’s Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack in town. They’ve been really nice and helpful. Oh, Fancy and Fleur too! They visit once in a while to chat with me and eat. Usually on a Friday. Say, how are the other nobles doing?”

“Still conniving to get revenge on you.”

“Talk about petty.” At least they were consistent.

Luna and I fell into a moment of silence, filled only by the faint echoes of rain. Finally, Luna broke it. “Yang, are you aware that a lack of variety in one’s daily routine could potentially cause a variety of problems?”

“What?”

“Mental stagnation, for one thing. Yes, restaurants are often busy, but with how often you simply sequester yourself in the kitchen and focus on the cooking, you’re not doing much. How many days per week do you work?”

“Five or six.”

“And how many of those are from preparing for the day to cleaning up after closing?”

“Five or six.”

“How long does it take to prepare and clean up?”

“Around an hour, sometimes more.”

“I can’t imagine how it would take that long to clean up the restaurant.”

“No, no, no. That’s the total for both. We’ve gotten really good at those.”

“Oh, I see. Now then.” Luna’s horn glowed and silvery numbers started appearing in front of me. “So you’re working eleven to twelve hours per day for five to six days per week. That puts you at fifty-five to seventy-two hours of work per week, excluding breaks.”

“Wow. I didn’t realize I was working so much.”

“As a business owner, it makes sense you would work more often and for longer than your employees. However, you’re working more than a lot of business owners do, even the more passionate ones. Tell me, do you have any hobbies?”

“Uh, no. Not really. I mean, I occasionally play games on the Gamer Driver, but not very often.”

Luna did some more thinking. “I guess I can’t tell you to get out and make friends, since you already have friends. That being said though, you should still get out of the kitchen and go to town more often. Tell me, is there any particular reason you like to stay in the kitchen?”

I thought it over for a bit. “Since I’m immune to heat, and things tend to get really busy in there, I often go in to help things run a bit better. You know, take some of the burden off everyone else. And I was in there for a lot of winter, so there’s that too.”

“A noble reason indeed, but tell me, do you doubt that they can handle a rush without you?”

“Well, no, I think they can do just fine without me.”

“So you’re just overly concerned then?”

I thought that over for a bit. “Yeah, I guess so. And I hate just sitting around, especially when the paperwork is so simple. Even before Brew took over the money stuff, it wasn’t very difficult. Just a little tedious.” A comfortable silence took over for a few minutes with neither Luna or myself saying anything. Eventually, I broke the silence. “So, there was a sudden downpour today.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I was just about to get the mail and then Boom! It’s suddenly raining and I’m drenched in seconds. Closed shop for the day. Dried off, changed clothes, and then I apparently dozed off from THE TRANQUILITY while reading a book.”

“And here we are. Tell me, is there anything you want to do outside the Carne Den?”

I said the first thing that came to mind. “I guess some combat training would be good, but there isn’t really anyone who could teach me.”

“There are some very skilled hoof to hoof combatants in the guard, and I’m sure they would be happy to teach you if asked.”

“Yeah, but that would be me learning how to fight ponies, not other things.”

“And that is an excuse. Skills you pick up while fighting one species can be used when fighting another. You are smart, as your fights have shown. All you have to do is adapt to your opponent’s species and fighting style.”

I sat up and faced the Princess. “Luna, I’m not really a fighter. I’ve only fought because I’ve had to, and while I’m getting better about and at it, I still don’t like it.”

“Is there any particular reason you don’t like fighting?”

“I don’t like violence. That’s all.”

“Then how did you handle it on your homeworld? Even such a peaceful land as Equestria has its darker areas, after all.”

“Well, when I got picked on or beaten up by bullies, I either ran to or got saved by the girls. I started hanging out with them as a safety measure, and it helped.”

“And when you saw others getting picked on or bullied?”

“I didn’t get involved because I didn’t want to get hurt.”

“That’s understandable.”

“Yeah. So, are we going to do anything else aside from sitting around and talking?”

“In a bit. First, I want you to promise me, as a concerned friend, that you will take time off from work to relax. Maybe close the Carne Den for a day or two every week so you and your staff can relax.” I thought the idea over for a few seconds before Luna continued. “I know you’re thinking that there would be angry mobs with torches and pitchforks demanding that you open the Carne Den, but trust me, there won’t be any of that.”

“How did you know I was thinking that?” Luna pointed a forehoof to the wall over the head of the bed. I looked there and saw my mental image of an angry crowd of regulars with torches, pitchforks, and torches tied to pitchforks. “Oh. Right, dream.

“I’ll talk it over with everyone.”

“That’s a good start. I think you have a guest in the waking world. You should go talk with him.”

I opened my eyes, seeing the ceiling of my room. I looked over to where Luna was, and saw nobody there. There was still a heavy downpour outside.

After getting up and setting the book aside, I went downstairs to see who could possibly be visiting me. “Aegir? What are you doing here?”

The gray minotaur was casually leaning against the wall near the entrance. “Hi, Yang. I was bored at home, so I decided to come here and see if you wanted to play a game.”

“How are you not soaking wet?” A flash of green fire later, and he was a changeling. After another flash of green fire, he was a minotaur again. “Ah. I often forget you’re a changeling.”

Aegir shrugged. “It happens. Here’s the game.” He tossed a gray gashat to me.

“Iron Ring?” Based on the picture, it looked like a boxing game.

“Yep. Considering your fighting style, I think it would be a good way for you to train on rainy days, like today.”

“Really?”

“SUBTLETY!”

“I think I got the hint the first time. I’ll get the Driver on and look into it.” I turned to go back upstairs, and the sound of hooves following me told me Aegir was following. “I’m guessing you want to play it with me?”

“As your coach. I’ll be better than the ones in the game. They’re good, but nothing beats having someone there with you.”

“Alright. Wait, how are you going to play without a Driver?” I turned around at the top of the stairs and saw Aegir do a partial shapeshift, dropping his Driver out of his arm, along with the Daily Planner and Iron Ring gashats, before turning his arm back to normal. “Okay, that was just weird. How did you come up with that idea?”

“A colt showed me an alicorn ascension toy of his that did something similar a few days ago. I’m still working out a few kinks, but it works good enough for now.”

“Riiiight. You can take the guest room.”

Aegir started towards the room, then stopped. “By the way, where’s Asada?”

“I think she wandered over to Fluttershy’s place this morning. She’ll be fine there.” I went into my room, got the Driver, put it on, and inserted the Iron Ring and Daily Planner gashats. I didn’t actually use the latter one very much since my routine was very, well, routine. Once I was back in bed, I opened the Driver and went into the Iron Ring game.

Author's Notes:

Welcome to the Iron Ring arc. Stuff. Will. Happen.