I stood at the train station, wearing Victory and the Ember Celica, not wanting to sit down as I waited for Shamrock. Since the time he’d visited and we arranged the date, I’d learned via the letters we’d exchanged that he was staying at an inn, via the return address. More importantly, we’d set up a time to meet at the train station, and he’d mapped out the way from the train station to Grill 32, so we wouldn’t get lost.

Before I came to the train station, I’d made a stop at Rarity’s place and asked for a very light application of makeup for the date. She wanted to go full out, but I had somehow managed to talk her down to just a bit of blush, albeit at the cost of a promise to come back for a full makeup session later in the week. The Pinkie Promise I made sealed the deal, and I knew there would be hell to pay if I missed out on it. After that, Rarity gave me a soft gold colored clutch, big enough to hold only about 40 bits and a small amount of paper without becoming distended.

While waiting, I held the clutch, loaded with the bits and gift certificate, in one hand. In the other, I experimented with my fire magic. The fabric portion of the Ember Celica, like the gauntlet portion, was fully magicproof, keeping me from producing any fire through it. The parts of my fingers that were exposed could produce flames though, and I even figured out how to make a small stream of fire flow from my fingertips. How I hadn’t realized the fabric was magicproof before was beyond me.

I was messing around with a little bird shaped flame, making it fly between my hands when I was made aware of a spectator. “Woah. That’s amazing.”

I turned and saw Shamrock standing there, wearing a sharp suit and his feathers tidied up. “Yeah, it’s a pretty cool little trick. Nothing more than some fire magic. I have no idea how it works, but it’s fun.” I gave him a knowing look as I dispelled the flames. “Or is it me you’re amazed by?”

“Umm. . . Can I say ‘yes’ instead of choosing? Because it’s a really tough choice when you put it that way.”

I lightly shrugged. “I think it’s safe to say you were looking at some hot stuff either way.” Immediately after saying that, I realized what I’d said about myself. “I know it’s accurate, but why would I say that about myself? It’s terrible.”

Shamrock, unaware of my inner conflict, simply agreed. “That does sound right.” He looked over to the empty tracks and asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, have you gotten any tickets yet?”

I pulled two tickets out of the clutch. “Right here. Round trip. Since you’re staying at the inn, I figured I should help you where I can.” “I mean, I could help him more by letting him move in with me, but I’m not ready for that step. Yet.”

“You just got bored while you were waiting, then?”

“That too.” After a moment, we shared a giggle at the exchange, cut off by the convenient arrival of the train. “Ah, here we go.” We waited as the train unloaded its passengers. As soon as we could, we got on, claiming a spot on a car fitting for the tickets.

“You got us a first class car?” Shamrock asked as we made our way to a booth with a table in the middle of it.

“Yeah,” I admitted as we sat down across from each other. “I mean, we’re going to a fancy place, so we should have a nice ride there, right? Well, that, and I have more bits than I know what to do with, so I can afford it.”

“You’re rich, too?”

“Well, I guess?” I answered with a shrug. “I mean, my business kind of is my hobby, so I’m not spending much outside of that?”

Shamrock nodded in understanding. “That makes sense. Do you-”

“No, I don’t take the Carne Den’s profit for myself. I’m paid hourly, just like everyone else. The profits are reserved for emergency maintenance, and not much else. I’ll probably renovate something with the bits. Or just give them out to the staff based on performance.”

Shamrock blinked a bit. “Well, that sounds very nice, but I was going to ask if I could get a job at the Carne Den.”

“Oh. Well. . . Not now.” I quickly held up my hands defensively. “N-nothing against you, it’s just. . . Thinking about you distracts me, and I don’t want that to get in the way of work.”

“I understand. Honestly, thinking about you distracts me too.” We soon fell into silence as we got lost in each others’ eyes for a few minutes. We probably could have done that until we got to Canterlot, but the train started moving, and that jostled us back to our senses. We avoided eye contact as the train picked up speed.

Finally, I broke the silence again. “So, how’s Ponyville treating you?”

“Much better than Gaston did, though that’s not saying much. Most of the castle staff only put up with him only because it assured them that they would have a bed and food, even if their pay and treatment was terrible. But Ironbeak should be able to turn things around.

“By the way, you said you had a gift certificate for the place we’re going to?”

“Grill 32, yes. I don’t know why I got it, just that the mailmare gave it to me while I was in town a few months ago.” I pulled the minty certificate out of the clutch and handed it over for Shamrock to look at. “Two meals, two wines, and two desserts or appetizers.”

Shamrock looked over the certificate before handing it back to me. “It’s very well made. I hope it’s a good place.”

“So do I.” I set the certificate back in the clutch. “Personally, I never really cared much for fancy places. Most of the time, they’re more about the presentation, quality, and environment than actually filling you up. That being said, maybe Grill 32 is different.” Unbidden, Shamrock’s backstory came to mind and I found myself focusing on some numbers. As I did that, I turned my gaze to the moving landscape outside.

“Yang?”

I held up a hand in response as I thought. “Shamrock was on a voyage with his grandfather for eight years. Two years later, his grandfather passed away. After that, three years serving Gaston, which just ended. That’s thirteen years.” I brought my hand down as I looked back at Shamrock. “Random question: How old were you when you went on that eight year voyage?”

“Ah, fifteen. Why do you ask?” I let my face fall onto the table as I came to a realization. “Yang?”

“He’s ten years older than me. Physically. Considering how old I was before Displacement, that would make us close to the same age mentally. This is weird.” I sat back up and started talking. “Shamrock, I’m 18 years old.”

A look of realization came across his face. “O~kay then. That’s an age gap.”

“Yeah, it is.” I took a moment to collect my thoughts. “Look, where I’m from, this would be all kinds of weird, wrong, and would probably land you in jail while I get off scot-free.”

“So, does that mean-”

“And if you flip it around, it has a totally different interpretation, even if the actions are the same. I mean, just use one standard for everyone and. . . I almost started rambling there.” One calming breath later, I got back on track. “This is all just very weird for me. I don’t really have anyone I can turn to either, so I’m just trying to figure this out on my own.”

“I see.” Once again, the ghast of silence hung between us, broken by Shamrock after the train started moving. “Does that mean the date’s off?”

“No, it doesn’t,” I answered without a thought. “I set myself up for this, and, well, you seem like a really nice guy, too. I don’t want to throw away all that work, either, so. . . Let’s just try to forget the age gap for now.”

“That sounds like a good idea.”

As the train slowed down close to Canterlot, I finished a short tale. “-and after he ran off to a hill on the horizon, I just made a flicking motion and he fell down the far side of the hill. It sounded like there were stairs and pottery there with how many crashes I heard.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. And that’s one of the tamer crazy things that’s happened to me.” Before the train had come to a complete stop, Shamrock was already up and offering a talon. I accepted it, stood up, and a moment later, we were at the exit. As soon as it opened, we made our way out, and almost immediately, everyone on the platform was looking at us. “I did not think this through all the way,” I said as some camera flashes went off.

Shamrock wrapped a wing around my shoulders. “Would you like me to scare them off?”

“No, no. Let’s just go to our date.” It was faint, but I heard a number of quills and pencils scribbling down words, likely what I had just said.

As we made our way through Canterlot, I found myself moving closer to Shamrock, using his wing as a bit of a shield to hide behind. Thankfully, nobody came close to ask us anything, though the perpetual gazes just wouldn’t stop.

Just before we got to Grill 32, with its fancy white and red exterior and tastefully placed and chosen decorative plants, one mare with a notepad was brave enough to come up. “Miss Xiao Long, may I have a moment of your time?”

“No,” I simply stated without missing a beat as Shamrock and I passed her.

“But-”

“No means no.”

Shamrock and I made our way across the marble patio and inside, him opening the doors for me. The interior was very fancy, with relaxing colors all about, along with a number of glass statues and decorations spread about, depicting majestic animals, gems, or abstract shapes. It was all very sparkly, thanks to the refractions from numerous lanterns along the walls, candles on the tables, and sunlight coming in through the windows. The tables themselves were all round and covered in white tablecloths while the chairs appeared very plush and soft. The ponies sitting at the occupied tables were all very fancily dressed, especially the mares.

After my brief glance over the dining area, I left Shamrock’s wing and went up to the suited unicorn stallion at the pedestal. “Welcome to Grill 32, Sir and Madam. Do you have any reservations with us today?”

“No, we don’t,” I admitted.

“That’s quite alright.” He looked over a notepad before asking, “Is it just the two of you today?”

“Yes.”

“Then I have a table for you. This way, please.” He levitated two book style menus up and lead Shamrock and I through the dining area, stopping at a table for two in a sunbeam. “Is this table to your liking?”

“It’s good.” I sat down and enjoyed the sunlight as Shamrock took his seat across from me.

“Please, take a moment to look over our drink menu while I get a waiter for you.” With that, the stallion left us to do as he said.

We opened our menus and the drinks were on the first page, while the appetizers were on the second. Almost immediately, I saw a problem with most of the appetizers: grass. I quickly decided to go back to the drink menu, which had coffee, a variety of teas, and a number of wines.

It didn’t take long for a unicorn waiter to come over. “Good afternoon, sir and madam.” Before he continued, he set two glasses of water down on the table. “Have you made any drink selections yet?”

“I’ll have a glass of cherry wine, please,” I said.

“Call me lazy, but I’ll just do the same thing,” Shamrock said.

“It is a good, sweet wine,” the waiter commented before heading off to take care of it.

“Any of the appetizers look good to you?” I asked Shamrock. “I can’t have anything with grass in it.”

“That rules out a lot of them.” He flipped through the menu and started looking over something else while I moved onto the main courses. “The certificate said appetizer or dessert, right?”

“Yeah.”

“How about we skip on the appetizer and go with dessert instead? I know I said I would cover dessert, but if we can’t both enjoy an appetizer, it just wouldn’t be right.”

I mulled over his words for a bit before looking over the desserts. There were more options there that I could have, and they looked good too. “That sounds like a good idea.” Our wine arrived moments later, the waiter only setting the glasses on the table as we looked over the menu. “Can griffons eat grass? I haven’t asked any of the ones that work for me.”

“We can, but we don’t get much out of it, so we usually don’t. If you don’t mind me asking, what happens when you eat grass?”

“Well. . . Simply put, it makes me sick. Very sick. This isn’t the place for more details.” Just thinking about it made me a bit queasy, but I was able to get over it very quickly and go back to looking over the main courses. Soon, something caught me by surprise. “Huh.”

“Something catch your eye?”

“They have meat here. I never expected that.”

“Really?” Shamrock went quiet for a moment as he looked over the menu. “Huh. They do.”

After a minute or two, the waiter came back, setting down a plate with two warm cinnamon rolls on it. “Courtesy of the owners,” he succinctly explained. “Have we made any decisions yet?”

I looked over to Shamrock and he motioned for me to go first, so I did. “I’d like the carbonara penne dish, light on the sauce, please.”

“And your meat in that dish?”

“Chicken, please.”

The waiter wrote down my order as he turned to Shamrock. “And for you, sir?”

“I’ll have a medium well peppercorn steak with garlic mashed potatoes,” Shamrock answered.

Shamrock’s order, like mine, was recorded. “I will get our chefs on that immediately.”

“So, um. . .” Shamrock started, his loss of words clearly evident.

I started to say something, but I had no clue what to say, so I said nothing. It didn’t take long for us to start looking in each other’s eyes again, losing track of time.

“Miss Xiao Long?” a unicorn mare in a simple black business dress asked, breaking us out of our stupor.

“Yes?” Something about the mare seemed familiar, though I couldn’t figure out from where.

“My name is Cinnamon Roll, and Window Frame and I want to thank you for showing us a better option after that H.O.M.E. incident.” As she finished her bit, she made a polite bow.

It took a moment for me to remember them, but when I did, I was pleasantly surprised. “Ah, now I remember you. This is your place, then?”

“Nobody lives here, but yes, Grill 32 is mine and Window Frame’s, but he’s off today.” The mare turned to look at Shamrock for a few seconds. “So, who’s this handsome bird?”

Before Shamrock could defer to me, I motioned for him to introduce himself, so he did. “I’m Shamrock Blackbeak, and I served under the late King Gaston for a few years. I left after his death.”

“And here you are with Yang Xiao Long herself.” Cinnamon roll looked at me for a few seconds before turning back to him. “I can see why you left for her.” I felt a bit proud of myself at her remark, then embarrassed that I did feel proud of that. “So, Yang, how’s the Carne Den doing?”

“Busy as usual,” I said. “How are things here?”

“It’s not as busy as your place most of the time, but we still turn a decent profit. Anyways, I have to get back to work, but I’ll have the chefs put some bacon on your orders, if you’d like.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“When does it not?” Cinnamon Roll left us to go take care of what she needed to.

A few seconds later, Shamrock turned back to me. “Soooo. . .”

I sighed before giving him a short version of the story. “They were part of a short-lived government group made by a noble, they made my hot water frigid, and I came close to having to go to the hospital with hypothermia. I’ve forgiven them, and the noble, Sir Safehouse, I think it was, got some kind of punishment.”

“Ah.”

Some time, some talk, and two delicious cinnamon rolls later, our meals arrived, and they were not what I was expecting. Instead of some smaller, more artistic serving, we got decently sized, but still rather artistic servings. A glance around showed that it wasn’t any kind of preferential treatment because of who I was, which relieved me.

Even though we each had our own meals, Shamrock and I probably shared about a third of each of ours with the other. His steak and mashed potatoes were really good, especially when mixed together. My carbonara penne was really good too, the bits of chicken were cooked perfectly, and went well with the rest of the dish.

After we finished, the waiter came by to collect the used dishes, including the empty wine glasses. “I take it everything was satisfactory?”

“It was good,” I said with a nod to the waiter. “I especially appreciate the serving size. I was afraid it was going to be some small, artistic dish with more style than substance.”

“We do aim to strike a balance between the two here. Have you thought about dessert?”

“I have. Could I get a slice of Manehattan style cheesecake?”

The waiter started writing down the order. “Would you like anything on it? We have blueberry sauce, orange marmalade, strawberry sauce, and a roasted honey glaze.”

“Ooh, that’s a tough one.” I turned from the waiter to my date. “How about you go ahead with yours?”

“If you say so.” Shamrock turned to the waiter. “I’d like a slice of the cheesecake as well. Can I have both the strawberry and blueberry sauces?”

As the waiter said, “Of course, sir,” I had an idea. “It looks like you’re ready now.”

“Strawberry sauce and the honey glaze,” I answered.

“I will have that out momentarily.” With that, the waiter took his leave to retrieve the cheesecakes. While Shamrock and I were waiting, we talked about the excellent decorations, picking out little things here and there to talk about for a few seconds at a time. It didn’t take long for the waiter to return with the desserts. “And here you go.”

“Thank you,” Shamrock and I said at the same time. Before I started eating, I looked over at Shamrock’s slice. It was on its side, and the exposed face had sections curled back, the fruit sauces and the fruit in it neatly placed in and around the opening. Mine looked more like a golden cheesecake flower with a strawberry center. Neither slice was big, but it still looked like a decent size.

We tried ours at the same time and we got matching smiles on our faces. From there, not a word was spoken between us as we savored our desserts, nor when the check was delivered.

When I snagged the check, Shamrock looked a little disappointed that he didn’t get it. “Hmm.” I opened the booklet the check was in and my eyes widened at the total. “145 bits!? Well, I’m not coming back without some way to carry more bits. Or at least 5 bit pieces.” I pulled out the gift certificate and put it in the booklet. “There we go.”

Just as I set the check and certificate down, I saw Shamrock put a number of bits on the table. “Do you think this is enough for the tip?”

I stacked the bits up and counted them, getting 30 total. “Yeah, that looks good to me. Shall we go?”

“Of course, my love.” He held out a talon and I accepted it. Soon, we were on our way out of Grill 32. “That was a good meal, I must admit.”

“It is a good place.” Off to the side, I heard some scribbling, and I presumed it was someone writing down my short comment on Grill 32. “I think your plan of going for somewhere for dessert is a bust, though.”

“Shall we head back to Ponyville, then?”

I quickly tried to think of any reasons not to, and came up with nothing. “That sounds good to me.”

The walk to the train station was quiet, at least on the outside. As I held Shamrock’s wing around me, my mind was all over the place, trying to figure out what to do and say next. With the easy pace we were taking, I had plenty of time to think.

After we got on the train and sat down in a booth, I took the initiative with the conversation. “Shamrock, I. . . I have something important to tell you.”

“Yes?”

“Come on, out with it, Yang! He told you about his charade, you can tell him your past.” With a calming breath, I began. “Before I appeared here in Equestria, I didn’t look like this. I wasn’t the tall, strong, and good looking woman you see here. I used to be. . . I used to be a guy. And I had an eye for girls back then.” Shamrock blinked for a bit at the revelation, but before he could respond, I continued. “I also happened to be rather scrawny, weak, and pacifistic. I also hung out with girls all the time, mostly because they felt sorry for me or something. I think it became a defense mechanism, being with girls so the guys who would bully and harrass me wouldn’t. Then I started getting feelings for you and I have them and now I’m just really confused about it all and. . . I don’t know.”

Shortly after my little rant ended, the train took off. A minute later, Shamrock responded. “Well, that’s. . . Quite a lot for me to take in. I still love you, I think, but now I’m getting confused too.”

For a while, we just sat there in confused silence, only the sounds of the rails coming between us. Eventually, I decided to break the silence and try to lift the mood. “Hey, want to know something else about me?”

Shamrock warily looked at me. “Is it anything as big as your past?”

“No, no, it’s smaller than that.” I took Shamrock’s silence as a cue to continue. “Sometimes, when I see myself in the mirror, I wonder how all my organs and such fit inside me.”

The griffon blinked a few times at my answer. “What?”

“I mean, I have a thin waist, and there’s a whole bunch of stuff in there, and I just wonder how it all fits inside me.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I took an anatomy class in school and learned about the body, but I didn’t think about it very much. Now, I think about it occasionally. And now that I’m talking about it, I’m thinking about it.” I really was amazed at how so many things were packed inside my body, and at how much power I had as well.

“So, you’re saying your body’s amazing?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Well, I’m inclined to agree.” A brief moment of spontaneous laughter came from both of us at the double meaning of his sentence before Shamrock stopped. “Uh, I hope that wasn’t-”

I pointed a finger at him to stop the apology. “Now stop that right there. Telling a girl like me that she has a great body is nothing to apologize for, especially when it’s true.” I took a moment to cool myself down and prevent another brief rant. “So, going back to my past, well, I’m pretty much over my male body. When I think about my future, it’s with this body. Maybe I should just. . . Let go of my past a bit. Go forward not as a guy in a girl’s body, but just as a girl. What do you think?”

After some time thinking it over, Shamrock answered. “I’m willing to forget about your past as well. Knowing it is still weird, but I think we can go forward together.”

“Yeah, going forward is nice.” Without another word, I went over to his side of the booth. He immediately opened his wing and I sat up against him. Soon after he closed his wing around me, I felt myself start to drift off to sleep. “Yeah. This is nice.”

Author's Notes:

I post this chapter with trepidation, and prepare for more negative comments. My sole defense, as before, is that this is still a new genre for me to write.

The romance will start winding down and the story will return to its regularly scheduled programming shortly.