When Platinum finally returned from the spa she was pissed. Well, at least I think she wanted to be pissed, but just couldn't bother to make the effort. I guess that spa treatment put her in a much more agreeable mood.

Didn't stop her from shouting at me when she got back, though. Granted I was enjoying my nap and she needed to wake me up, but it was still rude of her. At least she showed some sign of approval once I showed her I could access my magic. It was just a small, barely perceptible nod, but it was something. At least during lunch I got a chanceto surprise her in our next lesson; table etiquette.

Long story short, I didn't need that lesson. I had already mastered it back on Earth, and it wasn't much different in Equestria. Yes, I knew the difference between a salad fork and a dinner fork. Granted there was a bit of overlap between the two in an herbivorous society, but it only thew me off for a second or two. Rainbow, who had crashed lunch, was having much more difficulty much to my amusement.

The next lesson, however, was a bit of a pain in the ass.

... And step step step step pause, I thought to myself, trying to keep rhythm. Who knew walking lessons would be so hard, right? It didn't help that everyone was staring at my ass. After lunch, we all adjourned upstairs to one of the largest rooms in Twilight's castle. It almost looked like an actual ballroom, but for a lack of its intended function it seemed that Twilight just used the place for extra storage. Needless to say, a few crates had to be pushed aside to make room.

Cadence and Gleaming didn't join us, though. Cadence said she had something important to take care of and left without another word. She must've passed Rainbow Dash in the doorway, because my favorite Pegasus joined us a few seconds later. Gleaming simply slipped out without saying a word.

"No no no," Platinum said. "You're far too stiff. your hips need to sway when you walk, this isn't Boot Camp! Turn around and try again."

I grumbled a bit, but complied. I turned around and began walking back to my starting point. Every step I took care to move my hips in an exaggerated fashion that was completely lien to me. I almost lost my balance at one point, but managed to catch myself and made it to the end of the room. Turning around, I saw Platinum give me an appraising look.

"Better," she said after a moment's deliberation. "It needs to look more natural, though. Once more."

"Oh come on!" Rainbow complained. "You've been at this for hours!"

"It hasn't been twenty minutes, Rainbow," Twilight said, not even looking up from her book. "Honestly, you should show some patience. Princess Platinum is doing everything in her power to help Ben along, and complaining won't make a difference."

"Considering this is the mare that ruined the Gala for two of our friends, I find her help dubious at best," Dash grumbled.

I snickered while making another round. "Really, Rainbow? Dubious?" I asked. "Since when did you pick up a dictionary?"

"Hey!" Rainbow exclaimed. "I may not be an egghead, but I'm not a complete dummy."

"If you are quite finished," Platinum interjected, "we still have quite a bit of work ahead of us. Now, your posture while standing still is fine and your gait is... almost acceptable. A little practice and you'll have the grace of a true Princess. A few more rounds and we'll take a short break."

Shrugging, I turned around and continued walking. At least P. P. hadn't broken out the old book-on-head cliche. I might've actually rioted if she had.

Hell, ever since showing her that I could make my horn glow on command, Platinum had been a lot more tolerable. Oh sure, she was snippy, and made few rude comments, but she wasn't yelling anymore so, hey, bonus.

Anyways, I continued practicing my walking skills for the next ten minutes or so. God, that was boring as shit. Back and forth and back and forth over and over again with no change in decor, at least the Grunts going through basic marched outside! They had scenery, damn it! The only change was Spike coming down and taking a seat by the wall, comic book in hand.

Rainbow, despite her earlier complaints, was enjoying it more than me by a long shot. Every now and then, out of the corner of my eye, I'd catch her staring at my ass with a line of drool hanging from her mouth. That actually made me feel a bit of pride. Sure, everypony had been telling me how sexy I was, but there was just something about Dash's reaction that stoked my ego. Dunno why.

Finally, after I was starting to go completely bonkers, Platinum called for a break. I had plopped down in the nearest chair when Gleaming came into the room. She was carrying a clipboard, oddly enough, and was scribbling on it.

"Princess Shield," Platinum greeted. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your presence?"

"Just going over a few things," Gleaming answered, not taking her eyes off her clipboard. "Guard rotations mostly. Not too much of a problem, really. Since our newest Princess is living with Twilight, we can pretty much add a couple more squads to Twily's retinue and they can pretty much share."

I blinked. "Twilight has Guards?" I asked.

"I have guards?" Twilight echoed.

"Yes, Twiley, you have guards," Gleaming answered. "After you became a Princess we had to assign some protection, after all."

"Then where are they?" I asked. "The only times I've seen anypony wearing armor is when Princess Celestia visits."

"Non-uniformed personnel," Gleaming answered, not missing a beat. "It was Princess Celestia's idea, really. While a Princess needs to have a retinue, she didn't want to cause too much upheaval in Twily's life. So, she had me put together a list of the best of the best mares serving and discreetly assigned them to Ponyville. It wasn't perfect; things always got a little hairy every time you and your friends left town, after all. Now that there's two Princesses in Ponyville, well, that just complicates matters.

"We'll need to assign a few squads of honest to goodness mares-at-arms. Logistics are gonna be a right bitch for a while. I'm just glad I managed to find a suitable barracks in the basement or we'd have to add construction costs to my headaches."

"Wait, really?" Dash cut in. "Just how big is this place, Twi?"

Twilight just shrugged. "It's quite sizeable. We really have more room than we need in this castle."

"And that's going to change, too," Platinum said. "With two Princesses and a guard detail, you're going to need a full staff, too."

"That's really not necessary," Twilight replied, a little subdued.

Gleaming wasn't buying any of it. "I'm afraid it is, Twiley," she said. "Unless you think Spike's up to cooking and cleaning for over twenty ponies on a daily basis."

"Yeah, no." Spike's disdainful look could've melted steel beams.

"It's a moot point, anyways," Gleaming continued. "As a Princess, even if the title is ceremonial in nature, it still comes with a number of minor responsibilities. You're both going to need a dedicated staff just to keep up. Twiley had her 'Friendship Council' as an excuse to keep some of them at bay. Unfortunately, Ben, you're going to be dropped into the deep end."

"Gee, thanks," I said.

Gleaming's look then turned sympathetic. "Look, it's really not that bad. At least you're not going to have to deal with Celestia's mountains of paperwork. The most you'll be doing is entertaining a few diplomats"

"Yeah, but that means I gotta be all... diplomatic." That last word left a bad taste in my mouth.

"Oh, come on!" Platinum groaned. "All you have to do is smile politely and laugh at their bad jokes. It's not like we're asking you to fuck them."

I bristled at that remark. No, really, with all this fur I have now that was a literal statement. I was about to shoot back a scathing retort, but Twilight beat me to it.

"P. P." she said, annoyance practically dripping from her tongue. "Could you please not be so crude. I get that you're annoyed but that was completely unnecessary. She's having a hard enough time with these changes without you throwing them in her face."

"She seems to have adjusted well in my eyes," Platinum retorted.

A sudden snap assaulted my ears. It seems that Rainbow was fiddling with a pencil and managed to break it in half. That's my girl, always sticking up for the little guy... er, girl in this case.

Luckily for Platinum, she was saved from intense mare-on-mare violence by a sudden interruption from an unexpected source.. "Yoo-hoo! Darlings! Where is everypony?"

"We're upstairs, Rarity," Twilight replied, barely raising her voice. "Fifth floor ballroom."

"Thank you, Twilight," Rarity replied, "I'll be up in a minute."

I blinked. "Where was-"

"Front door," Twilight interrupted.

That just raised further questions. "How?"

"Little enchantment that Sunset and I cooked up the other day," Twilight boasted. "Anyone that uses the doorknocker and calls my name out can speak to me, even if I'm on the completely opposite side of the castle. She says her apartment building has something similar."

Before I could say anything else, I caught a peculiar sight out of the corner of my eye. It was Rainbow Dash about to bust a gut. She was trying to hide it, but her poker face was atrocious, as usual. She was biting her lip and shuddering with suppressed laughter.

Note to self, never take Rainbow to Vegas. Scratch that, take her to Vegas, just don't give her any of my money.

"What's so funny?" I stage-whispered to her.

"Ya know how I said Platinum ruined the Gala for two of our friends?" she asked. I nodded in response. "One of them was Rarity, and she got it bad."

That piqued my curiosity. "How bad?"

"Used as a pony shield against projectile cake bad."

I blinked. "Pinkie Pie?"

"Pinkie Pie," Rainbow confirmed. "Point is, when the night was over, Rares was mad. And when she sees little miss stick-up-her-plot..."

I felt the beginnings of an evil grin of my own. "She's gonna go ballistic."

"Oh, yeah!" Rainbow replied, rubbing her hands together like a supervillain.

I was on the edge of my seat when Rarity sauntered into the room. She was her usual prim and proper self, although laden with several bags that were embroidered with expensive-looking labels. "Hello everypony. I hope I'm not interrupting."

"Not at all, Lady Rarity," Platinum answered. "Your mere presence brightens the room."

Rarity was most definitely surprised by P.P.'s presence, though not in the way either Rainbow or I imagined. "Oh, Princess Platinum," Rarity gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. "I had no idea you would be here." With that, Rarity dropped her luggage and casually strode over to the Princess and wrapped her up in a friendly embrace. "It's so good to see you again."

Rainbow Dash promptly fell out of her chair. "Oh come on"

"Rainbow, please!" Rarity exclaimed. "It's rude to stare."

"Rude nothing! I thought you hated her!" Rainbow "I mean, she ruined the Grand Galloping Gala for you!"

"For which she has already apologized, Rainbow Dash," Rarity admonished. "As it turns out, I was the unfortunate victim of a misunderstanding."

"Yes, you see," Platinum interjected without missing a beat, "Lady Rarity had the unfortunate luck to closely resemble a notorious... social climber, shall we say. One that I have had the misfortune to have dealt with in the past."

Rarity tittered "To be fair, I was acting like one myself, that night."

"Yes, quite," Platinum. "Anyways, long story short, once I spotted what I thought was a nuisance mare approaching me, I did everything in my power to dissuade her from pursuing me that night. I will admit that I acted rather uncouthly, myself. But, once I realized my mistake I immediately approached Rarity, in private, and offered my most sincere of apologies."

"Yes," Rarity said, a smirk tugging at her lips. "It was a most... vigorous apology."

Oh boy, good thing Spike didn't catch the subtext on that one. He had a certain image of Rarity that should never be broken. I prayed for a quick change of subject. Or at least a misdirection. Twilight, bless her heart, delivered.

"While I'm glad you did apologize, that was still very immature of you, Platinum," she admonished

Princess Platinum rolled her eyes and sighed. "Yes yes, I know. Auntie already read me the riot act for my behavior. Can we please move on."

"Yeah, like, what're you doing here Rares?" Rainbow asked. "I mean, not that it's not nice to have you, but..."

"Oh, I understand what you mean, dear Rainbow," Rarity replied. "I wasn't expecting to come over today, but Cadence stopped by my boutique and put in a rush order for a new dress."

That... didn't make a lick of sense. "But Cadence isn't here."

The other shoe dropped when I saw Rarity's evil grin. "Oh, the dress isn't for her."

I shot up and immediately put some distance between the two of us. "Oh hell no!" I shouted. "No way in hell are you putting me in a dress!"

"But it's for your coronation," Rarity pleaded as she took a step towards me. "You can't just show up skyclad, now can you?"

"I can and I will," I replied. I took another step, only to find out that I had not been paying attention to my surroundings. Rarity had backed me into a corner. Literally.

"I'm sorry, Ben, but she's right," Gleaming said, the traitor. "Even Princess Celestia has to dress up for a coronation, and that mare never dresses for anything. Not even the Grand Galloping Gala."

I emphatically shook my head. "Still not gonna. Look at it this way, it makes me a trendsetter!" I pleaded.

Rainbow Dash, the traitor, wasn't any help either. "C'mon, dude!" she said. "Don't you want to see how pretty you look all dressed up?"

New plan, try to crab-walk my way up the wall and make my escape that way. "Uh-uh, not happening!" One problem with that plan. I am not Spiderman.

"Must you make this difficult?" Twilight sighed.

"Yes, I'm contractually obligated." Okay, teleporting won't work either, due to the fact that I don't know how yet.

Platinum sighed. "Is all this drama over one little dress really necessary?"

There. I had just spotted an opening. A gap had just opened up between Rainbow and Rarity. All I needed to do was time it just right.

"Trust me, dear," Rarity said as she stepped closer, unknowingly giving me an opportunity to escape. "All I need are your measurements, and then-"

On cue, I shot off like a bullet. I had been conditioned to my new body over the past few days, and I was pactically flying to the open door. I could practically taste freedom. Victory was mine!

CLANG!

With an enormous racket, a pink barrier slammed down over the doorway. I was going too fast to slow down on my own. A crash was inevitable. Thinking quickly, I went into a baseball slide, giving my thighs a nasty case of rug burn. An impressive feat, considering the room's lack of a rug.

Problem was, I was still going to crash into the barrier. Luckily for me, whoever cast it shaped it so that the bit touching the ground curved upwards.. My hoof slid up the slick pink field and sent me ass over teakettle. I ended up with the back of my head on the ground and my hooves planted right beside my ears. This had the comical side effect of me flashing the entire room.

Twilight was looking at me, wide-eyed and concerned. Platinum and Rarity had her hand covering her mouth, but I could still tell they were holding back laughter. Rainbow Dash had no such reservations. She was doubled over and laughing the blue off her ass. Spike was on the floor right beside her, laughing just as hard.

Gleaming Shield, on the other hand, was not laughing. She did, however, have the biggest shit-eating grin I had ever seen.

She just made my list.

"Really, dear, you brought this down upon yourself," Rarity tittered as Twilight applied liniment to my bruises.

I just grumbled to myself while Rarity took the opportunity to get my measurements. It wasn't quite my Yosemite Sam impression, but I was working myself up to it. All that effort, gone to waste.

At least Twilight shooed everybody except Rarity out after I embarrassed myself. Small mercies.

Really though, was it worth it? I mean, it was just a dress. Just a bunch of dyed cloth arranged in a way to make me look pretty. That shouldn't have been so bad. Sure, Equestrian fashion didn't leave anything to the imagination, but a dress could've made me look good. All pretty and feminine and girly...

Maybe that's why I put up such a struggle. A part of me was latching on to the last shreds of manhood, silly as it may have been.

"Something wrong?" Rarity asked out of the blue.

"No, just... brooding," I replied. That... was probably the best way to describe my mood at the time. Let's face it, I'd been putting on a mask ever since this whole mess started. It's kinda my thing. Even as a kid I never let anything really get to me. I'd just take whatever lumps life threw at me, and that's exactly what this was. Just a weird, big lump.

And hell, not like there weren't advantages. I mean, I was in the best shape of my life. I had freakin' magic! I had the potential to fly under my own power, for crying out loud. Plus, the sex was amazing. Dear god, was it.

But the dress... Something about that caused me to snap.

Twilight finished her doctoring, and sighed. "This is just a mess. Cadence really should've consulted us before going to you, Rarity."

Rarity looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, she really should have. For what it's worth, Ben, I am sorry."

I grunted noncommittally. "It's fine," I said, lying through my teeth. I was glad Applejack wasn't there. She'd have walloped me but good.

Twilight still wasn't fooled. "No, it is not fine. We should've taken your feelings into account. There is no need to force a crown on you,"

"I said it's fine," I repeated.

Twilight looked puzzled. "Is this a human thing? This is a human thing, isn't it."

"What?"

"This obstinate refusal to talk about your feelings," Twilight added.

"Ah, that," I replied. "Not specifically."

Twilight snorted. "And yet you're the only pony I've ever met that acts like this."

I winced. Was I really that much of an odd duck? I mean, it's not like there weren't ponies that kept their emotions to themselves. Hell, to get Rainbow Dash to talk about her feelings, you almost had to drag it out of her with a winch.

No, that wasn't quite true. Rainbow wore her heart on her metaphorical sleeve. She just didn't admit it when things got her down.

"I just... I don't know," I finally said. "I guess I'm worried about losing myself."

Twilight quirked an eyebrow at me. "Go on."

"I'm worried that this," I waved my free arm over my body, "is more than skin deep, What if I start forgetting who I am? What if, one day, Ben just goes away? What if it's already happening? I tried hay bacon this morning and liked it! What if that's a sign? What if I like the dress and-"

"Ah," Twilight said, interrupting me before I could go on. "I think I see where you're going with this. Let me assure you that it won't happen."

I frowned. "How can you be certain of that?"

"Because that's not how the change works. Trust me, I've checked," she said, with a certainty only a learned expert could have. "I've studied the transformation effect in detail. I've even developed a method to block it in the future. I've also studied the personal writings of several former humans that had undergone the process, and everything shows that mental changes are not the result of the metamorphosis. Trust me, you'll be fine.

My jaw almost dropped. "You've... found a way to stop it? And it works?"

Twilight looked off into the distance. "Well, I'm ninety percent sure it'll work. I won't know for certain until I test it, and suitable test subjects are... kinda scarce right now." She paused for a moment to let those words sink in. "But that's not important right now. Please, just trust me when I say that everything's going to be alright."

I opened my mouth to retort bitterly, but a rare moment of wisdom made me rethink it. I had no reason to not trust Twilight. She had never done me wrong before. When I arrived in this world, alone and confused, she was one of the first ponies to give me a chance. Hell, I trusted Rainbow Dash with my life, and the first words out of her mouth at that fateful meeting were hostile beyond belief. Some of her threats didn't even seem physically possible.

In the end, I just sighed. "You almost done down there, Rarity?"

"One must not rush perfection," she replied testily, "but yes. I just need one last measurement. Hold still, please." With that, she wrapped her tape measure around my sheathe. There was nothing exciting about it. Just down, around, and done. It only took a couple seconds. Finished, she hovered a notepad over towards her and jotted something down. "Yes, I can most definitely work with this. I'll have a preview ready in a couple of days. Do you have any color requests?"

"You know what I like," I grunted. She should've, damnit! She had been my tailor since day one, after all. "Just... nothing too flashy."

Rarity nodded. "But of course. Oh, I almost forgot. I have a present for you." As she said that, her horn glowed and one of her bags over to me and dropped it at my hooves.

I bent down to pick it up. It was a rather unremarkable package. Plain brown, with an odd symbol, what looked like a chili pepper surrounded by a stylized heart, discreetly embroidered on the side in thread only a shade or two lighter than the bag itself. It would appear almost invisible if you were looking at it from further away than arm length. Even up close it was hard to see unless you knew it was there already.

"What's in it?"

Rarity tittered as she headed for the door. "A few things every mare needs. Ta ta, darlings!" With that, she closed the door behind her.

With a sense of trepidation, I slowly opened the bag and peered inside. My cheeks darkened at record speed.

"Well, what is it?" Twilight asked, butting her head in to look as well. "Oh, she went to Pepper's!

"Pepper's?" I asked, still staring at my gift.

"It's only the most famous adult boutique in all of Equestria!" Twilight answered. "They cater almost exclusively to the rich and famous; celebrities, nobles, businessmares... you get the picture. Heck, they even have an endorsement from Princess Cadence herself!"

Gingerly, I reached in and pulled out one of the... items. It was an elongated, royal-purple box proudly bearing the store's logo; a red chili pepper within a hot-pink outline of a heart. There was a clear plastic window showcasing the product along one side. It was a standard issue vibrator, a smooth cylinder with a tapered end, all in a glossy black finish. No excessive frills or anything of the like.

Hell, it wasn't even all that big. Maybe five inches, six tops. All in all, not too threatening.

Item number two was a corked glass bottle filled with a clear liquid. Lube, I guessed, judging by the viscosity. There was no label, not even the store's logo. It was fairly hefty, as well. That one bottle would last a long time.

Lastly was... well, it was a fleshlight. That was the only way to describe it. Yet another instance of convergent development to add to the already long list. Not quite believing what I was seeing, I pulled it out and popped the top off. Yup, that was a silicone pussy, alright. A robin-egg blue one, to be specific.

I poked it. It even felt real.

"Necessities," I intoned.

"Well, yeah," Twilight replied. "Every mare needs to take care of their own needs from time to time. Do humans not give each other sexual aides?"

"No, not that I'm aware of."

Twilight frowned. "I forget sometimes just how prudish humans are."

I let out an un-princesslike snort. "You'd change your tune once you see the Internet."

"I have," Twilight replied. "The Mirror World has internet. I don't see what the big deal is."

"No, you've seen the internet's tourist zones," I shot back. "Trust me, Twi, I've seen some shit."

And yes, the Mirror World's internet is just like Earth's. Trust me, I checked.

But, I digress. "So... giving 'toys' as gifts is perfectly normal?"

"Amongst close friends and family," Twilight confirmed. "Most fillies receive their first dildo from their mothers when they hit puberty."

That nearly broke my brain. The idea of my mother buying me a sex toy... god, I'd be mortified beyond belief.

Luckily Twilight noticed my embarrassment. "So... have you put any thought into a Royal Name?"

I leapt at the subject change like it was a lifeline. "A few."

A Royal Name. I had some trouble understanding the concept until Twilight gave me the five-year old explanation. It was essentially the official title for a noble in Government beyond their rank. It could come in many forms. For most land-holding nobility, they took the name of their demesne. For others it could take the name of their household.

Alicorns, however, have a lot more freedom when choosing their Name. I am told that Celestia and Luna are not the Diarchs' birth names. Their true names had been lost to history, and the cheeky fuckers weren't telling.

Cadence, being of ignoble birth, simply fancied up her own name to Mi Amore Cadenza. Twilight Sparkle took the easy way out and Named herself... Twilight Sparkle. Since she came from a noble family, she could get away with that.

For me, it had to be special. "Princess Benjamin" just didn't sound right to me. My Name had to be something powerful, something grand, something uniquely me.

Naturally, I spent all of five minutes thinking about it.

"Terra?"

I nodded. "Yes. Whaddya think?"

Twilight pursed her lips, thinking. "It's... got a certain ring to it," she said. "Yes, it could work. Why, though?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Why that name in particular," Twilight clarified. "Is there any special meaning to it, or did you just pull it out of a hat?"

My face twisted in a sour expression. "I resent that remark, Twi. Of course I have my reasons."

"Okay, let me hear them, then." Twilight then puled up a chair and took a seat in front of me.

I just smiled pleasantly. "Well, first off, it sounds appropriately pony-ish to me, so that's a point in its favor. Plus it's feminine enough."

Twilight frowned. "Ben, I keep telling you, you don't have to have a feminine name. You can-"

"Twi," I interrupted. "Just... just bear with me on this, okay? It's for my peace of mind." Twilight's frown didn't let up, but she nodded for me to continue. "Okay, secondly, unlike most pony names, it's not an unusual one back home. Not exactly common, but I could introduce myself to anyone in an English-speaking country as Terra and they wouldn't bat an eye."

Nodding, Twilight said, "I see. What else?"

"It has a certain meaning in an ancient language," I replied cryptically.

Twilight's face scrunched up as she looked at me, unamused. "Really? The ancient Roamin word for dirt?"

"Dirt," I replied with a cheshire grin, "or Earth?"

It took her a few seconds to get it, but the look on her face was worth the price of admission. "Ooooh, that's clever," Twilight said.

I shrugged. "Eh, I'll take the compliment."

Twilight nodded. "Princess Terra... I'll admit, it does sound nice. But are you absolutely sure about this? I know it's been impressed upon you how important it is we keep to tradition, but if you really want to keep your old name-"

"Twilight," I interjected, "trust me, it's fine. Besides..."

"What?"

I looked off to the side. I needed a moment to gather my thoughts before I explained this to Twilight. "Terra... could have been my birth name."

"What?" Twilight asked.

"Terra was my Great-Grandmother's name. She was a highly respected schoolteacher back in my hometown. Heck, my old high school was named after her. Mom told me one time that if she ever had a daughter that she'd be named after her."

"Aww," Twilight cooed. "Were you two close?"

I shook my head. "Nah, she died about five years before I was born. Didn't even know that much about her until ninth grade when I had do do a report my family history. Got an A plus!"

"That sounds nice," Twilight said as she summoned a sheet of paper and a quill. "Alright. Before I get the paperwork started, are you absolutely sure about this? Once you sign the form and I send it off to Canterlot there's no going back."

"I'm sure, Twi," I replied a little too quickly. There were still a few lingering doubts, but it was best to just get it over with.

"Okay. "It'll take me some time to draw up the proper document," Twilight said as she stepped towards a nearby desk "Remember, you can change your mind at any point before you sign it."

"Terra, huh?" Rainbow Dash asked.

It was mid evening, just after dinner time and I had retired to my room. Rainbow Dash decided to come andkeep me company. At that moment we were both just lazing about my bed. Nothing untoward was happening. Neither of us were particularly in the mood at the moment. So we just laid there, talking.

For those wondering, Rarity's little goodie bag was tossed in the corner.

"Yeah. Got a problem with it?" I asked. I genuinely wanted to know, too. Rainbow may be a little crass but I still valued her opinion. More so than Platinum, anyways. When I told her my decision, she just frowned and grunted. Absolutely zero feedback. Not like she would've changed my mind.

"I dunno," Rainbow replied. "It's just weird, ya know?"

"I guess," I sighed. "You don't have to call me that if you don't want to."

"Meh," Rainbow grunted, noncommittally. "I'd have gone with Princess McAwesome, myself."

That alone spoke volumes. I thanked my lucky stars that I wasn't dumb enough to go to Rainbow Dash for serious advice on my new name. I love her to death and she's great for emotional support, but she's next to useless when it comes to politics. Applejack at least knows when she's out of her league and would've deferred to someone else's knowledge.

Not that either of them are stupid. Ask either of them about something they're knowledgeable about (farming and rodeo for AJ, flying and weather for Rainbow) and they could give a Master's dissertation with zero prep work. Ask them about anything else and you'd get mixed results at best.

"So... when do you gotta go back to the Wonderbolts?" I asked in an attempt to change the subject.

"Not too soon," Rainbow replied. "It's still our off season, and training camp doesn't start back up for a couple months. There is a team meeting in a couple weeks, but that's only for a few days, and it's in Canterlot."

"Are the rumors I'd heard about those meetings true?" I asked.

Rainbow smirked. "Oh yeah!"

By "rumors" I meant the oft-quoted gossip of just how rowdy those "meetings" got. Details varied, as gossip tends to do, but the description "drunken orgy" was thrown around quite often. When a bunch of young, fit, healthy mares that constantly work in close proximity get together for some team building it's only natural that nature takes its course.

And Rainbow Dash just confirmed the story. The tabloids would pay a fortune for a scoop like that.

"So... speaking of those rumors..." Rainbow said, giving me a sly look.

I just shook my head. "Not tonight Rainbow. I've had a long day and I really just want to turn in early."

"Alright," Rainbow sighed as she got off the bed and stepped towards the door. It might've been my imagination, but it looked like her ass was swaying more than usual. "If you change your mind, you know where my room is."

After Rainbow closed the door behind her, I drew my bed covers up and rolled over to get some sleep.

Author's Notes:

Well, this took a bit longer to get out than I wanted, but I've been busy. Just haven't had much time to write lately. Technically, it was ready a couple days ago, but I let it sit for a bit and come at it again with fresh eyeballs.

I've also gotten started on the next chapter. It's a short one, more of an intermission , really, and if it looks like I'm channeling Yahtzee then that's because I've been watching a lot of Zero Punctuation lately.