It was the next morning and even though Rarity said for me to be at the train station at eight in the morning that didn’t stop her from requesting my help earlier. She had made a grand, and rather loud, entrance into the library two hours early. And that was to say I was now supposed to help her with her luggage. Well, it was now a few minutes before eight in the morning, and we were just now walking into the station. “I know you’re supposed to work smarter and not harder, but even with this cart, these bags are heavy. What do you have in here Rarity? Rocks?”

“No, of course not,” she dismissed that with a wave of her hand through her hair, scoffing at the idea. “They’re gems of course.”

Naturally, the rest of the girls were already at the station and was just waiting for us to arrive. And that included Philomena as well. I had, stupidly, wanted her to go on ahead because I had thought, again stupidly, that surely Rarity wouldn’t bring the entire boutique with her. “Gems?” I cried out in shock while pushing the cart into the station through the front door. The cart and the wooden floor of the station were groaning under the strain. “Why the hell are you bringing gems for? I know this is a fashion competition. I can understand wanting to bring supplies, I can understand wanting to bring your tools and materials but not gems that are heavier than my aunt’s moon.”

“Oh calm yourself, my dear human,” Rarity scoffed at me again before holding up a garment bag filled with her precious contest entries, “at least you aren’t carrying everything.”

“That’s like saying we’ll clean the house together only I clean out the whole house while you just pick up a single sheet of paper saying that you did your part,” my voice was as dry as a desert when I said that too. The trip hasn’t even started yet and she was already getting on my nerves.

The cart gave out a loud thunk when it traversed from the higher floor of the station building to the lower floor of the station platform. Which, got the attention of everypony, and everyone, that was on the platform. Which up until then they were ignoring me, thinking that I was just another slave helping their pony master.

“Careful, those are priceless gems. I can’t afford to get a scratch on them.” Rarity turned around quickly and nearly shouted at me with a look of shock on her face. Of course, Rarity’s little outburst didn’t help how the others looked at me either.

“Rarity, there’s no need to bring them,” I huffed out as sweat poured down my face, “you already have your entry clothes there in your hand.”

She stopped and turned around to face me with narrowed eyes and with a tone of voice that told me I said something sacrilege. “Of course I have to bring them. You never know when I’ll need to spruce one of them up if inspiration strikes. Now stop all this complaining.” She stomped her hoof at me before turning around again and walking off in a huff with her nose in the air. “You don’t see me complaining.”

“I also don’t see you pushing this heavy cart and sweating up a storm either,” I puffed out trying my best to follow her down the platform toward the rest of the girls. By this time my knuckles were bone white, sweat was falling off of me in sheets, and was panting so hard I felt my lungs would burst open.

“So that’s what that thud was,” came AJ’s shocked voice when they saw Rarity walk up with me behind her breathing harder than the steam engine.

“Rarity, what are you doing to him?” Twilight asked as she used her magic to grab the cart from me, rolling it toward her.

I let it go with a deep sigh of relief before looking down at my abused hands. On them was a clear impression of where the bar was.

“Good grief Rarity,” Twilight complained as her magic pulled the cart up to her, “what do you have in here?”

Even with my slightly shaking body, due to the amount of stress that the amount of work did to me, I was able to take off my shirt and use it as a towel. At least my face would be clear of the sweat.

“Fred,” Philomena’s worried voice hit my ears as she jogged up to me, immediately checking on me.

“Oh dear,” Fluttershy echoed Philomena’s worry to come up to me also.

“Oh just the essentials darling,” Rarity waved Twilight’s question off.

“Yeah,” I scoffed at her while nearly using both of the girls for support, “Just you’re whole boutique. Which includes all your equipment. Your heavy equipment. And all your rocks too.” I gave both of them a smile as they used their wings to blow air on me, attempting to cool my body off.

“GEMS!”

I watched as AJ gave it an experimental push. “Tarnation Rarity,” AJ’s shocked face turned around to look at her friend first before giving me an apologetic one, “this is heavier than our cart at harvest time. I don’t even make my own humans push that much on their own.”

“I can attest to that,” I raised my hand and smiled to AJ when she said it.

“It’s fashion week and with the competition going on I must be prepared for any and all inspirations,” Rarity said in a dismissal tone of voice that the other girls weren’t buying in the least.

“Wow Rarity, even with me carrying my party cannon with me all the time it’s not that heavy,” Pinkie even tried pushing it.

Rainbow had taken off somewhere after the conversation started. And now after she flew back, landing in front of me, I understood why. In her hands held sweet salvation in the form of an ice-cold bottle of water. “Here’s some water,” she said with a wince after taking a good look at me.

“Thank you so much, Rainbow,” I thanked her gratefully before taking the bottle in both hands. Now I knew enough from her counterpart and all the grief she’s given more over the years that I knew to sip it. Because if I gulped that ice-cold water into a hot stomach it wouldn’t be good for me.

She nodded to me before going up to Rarity, “Come on Rarity, are you going to make him haul those gems everywhere you go in Manehattan?”

Rarity snorted, almost like a bull, but shook her head, “Of course not, that would be torture.” And this isn’t? “Just until we get to the hotel room.”

“All the way through Manehattan?” To say I was shocked was an understatement. She wanted me to push this heavy cart all the way through Manehattan from the train station, through the city, and not only to the hotel but to the room?

“Relax,” she waved off my concern with a smile while blinking her eyes at me. As if that made it all better. “You’ll be seeing the musical with the rest of us. And besides, we’ll be staying at the Main Fair Hotel and it’s just a block from the train station. So, you won’t be pushing that far.” Right, and I bet a block in Manehattan is just about as far as I pushed it this morning.

“What musical?” AJ asked while Philomena and Fluttershy stopped flapping now that I wasn’t shaking anymore.

“Only the hottest show on Bridleway,” Rarity all but squealed in excitement as she magically produced the tickets.

Twilight gasped in surprise as her wide eyes locked onto the ticket, “You don’t mean “Hinny of the Hills” do you? Because that show has been sold out for months.”

“Oh but I do darlings,” Rarity batted her eyes again while waving the tickets.

“Wow, Rarity,” Rainbow looked at the tickets with surprise as well. “How’d you get those anyway? I may not read that much, but I like this musical though. It’s the best for a good reason.”

“Indeed it is Rainbow,” Rarity smirked, putting the tickets away. “Yes, the show has been sold out for months. But not when a certain fashionista can pull a view strings with the director.”

“Wowee Rarity, I can’t wait to see it,” Pinkie bounced happily.

“Yeah, thanks Rares,” Rainbow agreed.

After thanking Rarity, Twilight walked up to me. Her eyes looked at me in pity with a wince, “Why don’t you go ahead and cool off inside the car? I’ll use my magic to put away her bags.”

“Yeah, dude,” Rainbow agreed, stepping up to me, “you look like you could pass out at any moment.”

“I think I will, thanks.” Philomena and Fluttershy followed me inside while I drank some more of the water. The cool air of the car hit me like a ton of bricks after I opened the door. “Oh that feels soo good,” my voice was like a dying man getting a cool drink of water as the cool air washed over me.

“I bet it does,” Fluttershy agreed softly, taking her place beside me. “Why don’t you lay down and stretch out.”

“That does sound good actually,” I agreed and watched Philomena walked head to sit on one of the couches along the wall. Then with a smile, she looked over at me and patted her lap. When my brain comprehended what Philomena wanted, I grinned at her. Now that is an even better idea.

“Why don’t I get another cold water and a rag,” Fluttershy said while pulling me over to Philomena.

“Thanks, Fluttershy,” I told her gratefully before laying down on the couch, with my head resting comfortably in Philomena’s lap. “Oh, now this is heaven,” I whispered up to her with a grin.

She giggled back down at me and lowered a hand to gently rub my head. The other rested on my hands, which were on my bare stomach. With a little slice of heaven achieved, I closed my eyes, relaxed into her lap, and let the cool air of the car wash over me.

A minute or so later Fluttershy returned with the water and a small washrag. Wet the rag with the cold water before resting on my head. “There now,” she spoke softly down to me as I looked up to her, “Is that better?”

“Oh yeah,” I whispered back, “thanks.” And closed my eyes again while wearing a wide smile on my face.

A few minutes later my ears picked up hoofsteps, which told me that the rest of the girls were boarding.

“Aww, looks like someone is happy right now,” Pinkie cooed at me as I heard her approach. Then felt her lift my legs, sit down, and put my legs in her lap. “I know, I’ll massage your legs.” At first, I was worried, but then my worries were proven false the more Pinkie continued.

“Yeah, he’s happy alright,” Rainbow giggled at me from somewhere across the car. “I’ve seen that same look on stallions sometimes. He’s in heaven right now.”

Yep, and I don’t care if the world was coming to an end I wasn’t moving. There were some giggles at my expense as they settled into the car for the ride. I didn’t care. Maybe pushing the cart down Manehattan wouldn’t be so bad if I got the same treatment in the hotel room.

^_^

“If you insist on pushing that heavy cart, then at least let me load it for you,” Twilight whispered her intention into my ear right after the conductor announced we were pulling into Manehattan.

“Thanks, Twilight,” with a smile I thanked her as the train pulled into the station, stopping with a loud hiss of steam.

“Manehattan,” Rarity cried with excitement as everyone got up from their seats, gathering up their belongings. “Come, let us be off.”

After getting off the train, Twilight was kind enough to get a cart and loaded it with Rarity’s luggage. But what surprised me is who joined me in pushing the cart. Rarity didn’t even look back once she was off the train and inside the train station. Philomena stood by my side with Fluttershy nearby with water for me. However, it was AJ that joined my side and helped me push the cart. And did so with a small apologetic smile before doing so. I smiled gratefully at her as we began pushing the cart through the station.

“So what’s on the schedule for today Rarity?” Twilight asked as we left the station and onto the city streets. It was a beautiful, and yet cliché, day. Sun shining, birds singing, with a thankfully cool breeze blowing against AJ and I as we pushed the cart together.

“Today at two o’clock I need to be at the Fashion Runway Plaza to check in with the rest of the contestants.” Twilight, Pinkie, and Rainbow were walking with Rarity as she started telling us about her schedule. Meanwhile, Philomena and Fluttershy were with AJ and I as we pushed the cart. “After we check-in, and store our clothes, Prim Hemline will start making run through appointments for us for late afternoon. Then tomorrow morning will be the runway show itself.” Rarity was practically dancing while she walked. “I’m so excited about the contest. I’ve been making this special fabric for months in preparation for it.”

“You made the...fabric?” I asked through grunts of effort.

“Why yes, of course, I did,” she dismissed my question with a wave of her hand. “I wanted something that was totally unique that best suited my talents.”

“Oh lookie,” Pinkie bounced, pointing out a building across the street. “That’s the theater where “Hinny of the Hills” is showing.”

“So it is,” Twilight agreed as everyone stopped to look.

“Oh thank heaven,” I whispered after taking a relaxing sigh as we stopped. “Thanks for helping, AJ.”

“You’re welcome, Fred,” she whispered back as we both looked at the theater.

“Actually, that reminds me of the Broadway Theater in mid-town Manhattan, New York City back in the human world,” I told them after catching my breath again. “Looks exactly like it. Never ceases to amaze me the similarities between worlds.”

“Manhattan,” Pinkie giggled, giving me a silly face.

“Really, Pinkie?” I chuckled back, sticking my tongue out at her. “Manehattan? Mane?” I pointed out while wiggling AJ’s mane in my hand.

Luckily AJ took it in good humor and playfully batted my hand away, although giving me a slight glare mixed with a smirk. It got some giggles from the girls though just the same.

“Good point actually,” Twilight acknowledged with a nod.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough of that,” Rarity complained through a strained voice and started walking again. “Let’s check-in at the hotel just a couple of buildings down. Then we can see some of the sights, this wonderful city has to offer.”

It only took us a few more minutes to walk up to the door of the hotel. Where the hotel’s porter, a rather average looking stallion dressed in a red uniform with golden buttons with a red hat to match. Classic porter’s uniform. “Welcome to the Main Fair Hotel. Can I take your bags?”

AJ and I looked at each other with a grin. “As a matter of fact you can,” AJ spoke up for me. “You can take these here bags inside for us.”

“Certainly,” he nodded to the group and walked over to the cart, which I gladly let him have.

“And this is where I come in,” a grin spread across my face when I said it. “I want to get you a better deal here at the hotel, my dear Rarity.”

“Fred, I’ve already got rooms for us,” she protested and with a dismissing scoff headed on inside.

“Which I can get a better deal for you,” I told her, following her in. “Because I’ll, at the very least, pay for it. Or rather the royal treasury will.”

“You’ll do that?” Rainbow asked quickly walking in and up to me.

“Sure,” with a wink I stepped in front of Rarity before she reached the counter.

“I’m sorry but we don’t book rooms for humans,” the concierge told me with a straight face.

“Well, it’s a good thing that I’m no ordinary human then.” Philomena stepped up to stand beside me as did Fluttershy as I held up a hand and ignited it. “I’m Princess Celestia’s son and Princess Luna’s nephew. And I would like to know how many of the best rooms you currently have available for me and my friends.”

The stallion, in the typical concierge suit, looked between my hand, my face, and the two girls beside me with an unsure look on his face.

“He really is her son,” Fluttershy told him softly while hiding behind her mane.

“You really want to be the one responsible when my mother asks why I was refused?” I asked with a knowing smirk on my face. I didn’t have to look behind me to know that the other girls were either shocked at my move or holding Rarity back from talking me out of it.

Luckily for me, the door opened behind the stallion and a business looking older mare stepped out wearing a very nice full-length business dress. Long light blue hair and tail with an off white coat. Older, but still pretty in her own rights. “Mister Pen,” she began, not seeing me at first, “I would like for you t-” She stopped dead in her tracks, so to speak when she saw me. Blinked once before bowing to me. “My prince,” she said with a strong calm voice that hid her nervousness well, “welcome to the Main Fair Hotel. How can we help you?”

I put out my hand and eyed the stallion, which now was starting to sweat underneath that uniform of his. “I’m so glad you asked madam,” bowed my head to her slightly in my show of respect. “This gentlepony was about to show me how many of the best rooms you have available to me and my friends.” A wave of my hand behind me showed her who my friends were.

“Yes, yes, of course, my prince right away,” his voice showed told me he was about to pass out from sheer terror while he quickly checked the books.

The manager looked over his shoulder, “It appears that there are two princess rooms available, my prince.”

“Princess rooms?” Rarity’s soft shocked voice told me that I had scored with this. “Are those the ones with the king-sized beds and small kitchens with a door connecting the rooms?”

“The Elements of Harmony madam,” I told her with a smile, waving to them. “Miss Rarity Belle. She’s in town to compete in the fashion competition.”

“You are correct Miss Belle,” the manager beamed at her.

“Those are the best rooms in all of Manehattan,” Rarity whispered in awe with her eyes as big as old Buick hubcaps.

“Please book both rooms to myself and the Elements of Harmony,” I asked pleasantly with a wide smile on my face. “You can charge the royal treasury. Just make a note on that it was I that requested it for the girls here.”

“Of course, my prince,” she bowed gleefully as the stallion started to fitfully do his assigned duty.

Remembering the poor porter I leaned in to speak to the manager softly. “You might want to give the porter some extra help. My friend Miss Belle has some pretty heavy bags.”

“Right away, my prince,” she said then took two keys from the wall behind her, handing them over. “Here they are, rooms five ten and five-eleven on the fifth floor. Thank you for choosing the Main Fair Hotel and we hope you have a wonderful stay.”

“Of that, I have no doubt madam, thank you,” I politely bowed my head to her before turning to Rarity’s still shocked face. The other girls were positively beaming at me.

“Shall we?” my hand swept to the side, offering them the opportunity to go first up the elevator. Which wasn’t that far from us. Unfortunately, though, the porter had to take another elevator up. “Now then where is...” I wondered aloud as the elevator door opened and right before us were the rooms. “Here we are,” happily I used a key opening the door to number ten. “Let’s see what’s behind door number ten.”

“The rooms should be identical, so it wouldn’t matter which room either one of us take,” Twilight said aloud as we entered the room.

“Looks similar to a regular hotel room, but expanded to hold a small kitchen,” I voiced my thoughts aloud as everyone looked around. The kitchen was to my left with a connecting door on the wall near the front door of the room. To my right was the bathroom. Two king-sized beds stood proudly on my right with a small bedside table between them. On the far wall were two large windows looking down at the street below with a table and two chairs underneath it.

“Land sakes,” AJ whistled softly as her eyes roamed around the room. “This room alone is larger than the living room back home.”

“This is really great, thanks Fred,” Twilight beamed at me before turning to Rarity. “Now, aren’t you glad Fred tagged along?”

Rarity crossed her arms under her chest with a slight huff, “Yes, thank you.” But she said it with a short curt voice that told me she was anything but thankful.

“Alright then,” I got their attention as Pinkie bounced on one of the beds, “who’s sleeping with whom?”

“Oh that’s right,” Fluttershy softly commented. “There are two beds in each of the two rooms. So, each room will hold four each.”

“Oh I know,” Pinkie raised her hand, still bouncing on the bed closest to the window. “I’ll be in Fred’s room.”

“I will too if you don’t mind,” Fluttershy smiled up to me.

“No, I don’t mind. It looks like it’s Philomena, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and I in one with Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow, and AJ in the other. So, who wants this one?”

“Does it really matter?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow and a shrug of her shoulders.

Twilight shook her head, “No, not really sense both are the same.”

“Alright, then,” I tossed the key over to Twilight. “Here you go, you can have this one.”

“Your bags are here,” one of the porters said while trying to catch his breath.

“Ah good, thank you, sir,” I nodded my appreciation to him, walked over, and took my own bag from the pile while fishing out the key to number eleven.

“Here sir,” I heard Rarity walk up to the two porters with a couple of small gems in her hands. Turning my head to her, while standing at the other room door, I watched her give the porters the two gems. “For all your trouble.”

“Wow, thank you, ma’am,” the second stallion porter thanked her before both of them turned back toward the elevator to continue their day. And what thanks do I get from her?

Unlocking the door and stepping inside I took a moment to look at the room. It was an exact mirror of the other one. The kitchen and connecting door to my right with the rest of the room on the left. I put my bag on the closest bed. After shutting the front door, I unlocked the other one and stuck my head through. “Philomena, Fluttershy, Pinkie? Do you want to take a look at ours? This door will remain open so anyone can come and go. Just in case. You never know.”

“Oh yes, let me get my things,” Fluttershy said, heading toward the door.

“Me too,” Pinkie echoed following her.

Philomena just walked up to me, rubbed her head against mine, and walked into the other room.

“Yeah, better settle in,” AJ agreed as she, Twilight, and Rainbow went to get their own bags.

I watched as Rarity brought her garment bag to the closet by the door and hung it up. While the girls were getting settled in, I watched Rarity carefully. Her whole mood toward me was passive-aggressive. She may have said that it was good that I came along, but she clearly didn’t want me here or wanted my help. My only hope was that in time she would change as AJ did.

“So, what’s on the schedule until you need to check in Rarity?” Twilight asked as she levitated her bag into the room following AJ and Rainbow.

“To see the great Libertneigh statue in the harbor,” Rarity’s voice might have sounded excited, but it was a false excitement thought. She hid it well though. The other girls didn’t see what was hidden underneath it all.

“Aw yeah,” Rainbow threw a fist up in the air after she tossed her bag onto a bed.

“Really?” I smirked, raising an eyebrow while looking at Rainbow. “Now that is just downright plagiarism.”

Rarity scoffed in horror, “Whatever do you mean?”

“Let me guess,” I chuckled, crossing my arms over my chest with a smirk. “There’s a statue in your harbor that holds up a torch and stands for freedom right?”

“Yeah, why?” AJ asked with curiosity on her face.

“In the human world we have the same thing,” I said waving a hand toward the harbor. “And it means that same thing. Called ‘The Statue of Liberty.’”

“Really? That’s fascinating,” Twilight had figurative stars in her eyes when she heard that. She stepped over to me asking, “You mind telling us its story when we visit ours?”

“Sure, I’d be happy to.”

Twilight squealed in delight and clapped her hands excitedly when I agreed with a smile on my face. “Great, so let’s go.”

^_^

“In order to explain the history of our ‘Statue of Liberty’ I’ll have to tell you about two events first.” I began telling them the history as we stepped off the ferry boat and onto the island. There was a longing in my heart as I looked up to the mare version. “In the year seventeen seventy-six in the human world, our nation was founded upon the principles of liberty and freedom for every man. That drew the ire of the king at the time. He was an oppressive and tyrannical ruler who refused to listen to his own subjects, wanting nothing more than total suppression of the people. And that included slavery.” The girls seemed to listen to me as we stood at the base of the statue.

“To make a long story short, we won. Our nation was born. However, the southern states wouldn’t let the northern state abolish slavery. And said that if they tried they would join the king during our struggle for independence. So, they didn’t have a choice but to accept slavery temporarily until our new nation was strong enough to handle a civil war. The base of the civil war began in that very room. But you couldn’t fight a war on two fronts and win.” The cool wind of the harbor blew through my long hair as I stared up at the statue.

“About eighty years later, give or take a few years, the civil war to end slavery began. The south wanted slavery and the north didn’t, wanting to keep the people free from that evil practice. It was a long and bloody war that pitted friend against friend and brother against brother.” I took a deep sigh before continuing. “But the north won and abolished slavery within the nation.” I turned to them with a sorrowful but firm expression. With my hands clasped behind me, I felt like a general addressing his troops or a teacher speaking to the students. “Now what does that have to do with our version of this statue?”

I also noticed that there was a small crowd gathering behind the girls that they didn’t see just yet. And they were paying attention to me. Of course Twilight wouldn’t notice because she was too busy writing everything I said down on parchment. “Our world is filled with other nations. One of those nations is called “France.” And our statue was a gift from France in honor of those two events. In her hand, held high, is a torch. Which stands for freedom. In her arm is holding a book with the date July forth seventeen seventy-six. The date freedom was born. A broken shackle and chain lay at her feet as she walks forward, commemorating the recent national abolition of slavery. France gave us this statue in hopes that it would inspire them to take up that very same call to freedom from their own oppressive monarch.”

“Ok, I’ll admit it, that’s cool,” Rainbow whistled.

“Oh please,” Rarity scoffed, blowing her lips at me, “Our statue stands for freedom as well.”

Stepping up to Rarity, I looked down at her with sorrow in my eyes and pity for her. “But not for all...does it?”

“But it can, though. One day,” Fluttershy spoke softly in a hopeful voice.

I agreed with a nod and smiled at her. “Perhaps one day, Fluttershy.”

A brown coated older stallion stepped up next to Rarity and raised his hand. That amused me. Because it made me feel like a teacher and I really wasn’t one. “Yes, sir?” The poor guy was shivering slightly due to the colder air blowing across the small island.

“Oh you poor dear,” Rarity said after taking notice of him and took off the scarf she was wearing and handed it over. “Here, have mine.”

“Thank you, miss,” he said to her before turning to address me again. “So that story isn’t about this statue, but another one?”

“Correct, sir. I was born here in Equestria to my mother, Princess Celestia. But I was raised in the human world, where the statue of my story resides.” A few gasps came from the small crowd gathered around us and some murmuring. “I don’t know the story of this one, but in time I hope that it stands for freedom for all, including humans. That is the wish of myself and my mother.”

From there, the girls and I went up to the top of the statue to take in the sights. It was colder up there naturally, but oddly enough I was fine. It wasn’t all that bad to me. We stayed as I talked with the rest of the girls while taking in the sights. Unfortunately, Rarity would hardly speak to me and still kept up that passive-aggressive mood of hers.

Around one in the afternoon, I pointed out the time and that Rarity might think about going back to the hotel to get her things for the contest. Which she agreed and we all headed back to the hotel to make sure she got all her things necessary. Rarity spent her time in her room gathering what she needed to on a small cart. Luckily she didn’t take her gems, but she did take her fabric and some sewing material just in case. And because it was light, relatively speaking, I volunteered to haul it downstairs for her to put into one of the cabs. Which she got after a little waiting in line of course. And she was off to the Fashion Runway Plaza after we bid her good luck, including me.

Before Rarity left, she told us to have this afternoon and would see us just before dinnertime. So, we had the rest of the afternoon ahead of us. First, we chose Manehattan Central Park. Which I noted to the others was similar to the human world’s Central Park. This world, however, was better because of the paddle swan boats that you could take up and down the river that ran through it. Naturally after Rainbow saw that she got the idea for a three swan race all the way through the park. And thus it was on. Three boats were gathered at one end of the park.

AJ, Rainbow, and I sat in our boats waiting for Twilight to give the signal. “Alright, at the sound of the flash the race begins,” Twilight called out from the shoreline. She ignited her horn as a magical flare went up about twenty feet then exploded. Water went everywhere behind our boats as we paddled for all we were worth. The boats held two seats. And while AJ and Rainbow chose to sit on one side or the other, I chose to sit in the center for better balance. Only one side held the steering, so it was easy to sit in the middle and still steer. Besides, there wasn’t going to be any sharp cornering anyway.

The crowd cheered as we took off down the waterway with competitive grins, and water, on our faces. Twilight had to teleport the other girls in one hundred yard increments all the way down. Fluttershy and Philomena were cheering me on while Pinkie narrated the race. From where she got the microphone and speaker I’ll never know. And probably don’t want to know either. The race was head to head all the way to the finish, which happened to be the last bridge in the park. It was neck and neck with AJ on my right and Rainbow on my left. AJ was sitting on the outside of her boat making it lean to the right. Rainbow’s boat was leaning to the left for the same reason.

I was starting to pull away and get ahead when it happened. They conspired together to try and stop me by impacting their boats with mine. Only one problem. As they did, physics took over. Because the side of their boats was higher than mine, both of theirs tipped completely over when it hit mine.

^_^

“I don’t understand what happened,” AJ asked as we started up the elevator toward our rooms to clean up for later. She was still somewhat wet, as was Rainbow, but not dripping anymore.

“Actually, it’s simple physics,” Twilight spoke up getting in her usual lecture tone of voice. “Because the sides of your boats, that impacted his, were higher, instead of impact, as you had planned, your boats tried to ride on top of his. Thus causing your boats to flip due to being off balance.”

I didn’t have to say anything. I simply rode the elevator with a smile on my face.

“Yeah, yeah we get it, Twilight,” Rainbow blew raspberries at me playfully. “He won the race.”

AJ chuckled, “It was still fun though.” Then eyed me with a competitive look in her eyes, “I’m game for a rematch sometime.”

“Not a bad idea, AJ.” Thoughts churned in my head before I looked down at her with a smile, “We could always build our own boats back in Ponyville and have our own race?”

“Now that’s a cool idea,” Rainbow agreed fist-bumping AJ as the elevator door opened. “I got dibs on the shower in our room.”

“Dagnabbit,” AJ cursed softly, watching her friend grab the key and unlock the door to head inside.

“You can use our shower, AJ,” I told her, opening the door to our room and waving my hand inside.

“Thanks, Fred.” AJ headed on inside to take her own shower. Meanwhile, I opened the door between our rooms while closing the front doors.

“That was a great afternoon,” Twilight said, sitting down on the edge of the bed closer to the front door. “It was almost too much fun. Not to mention educational.”

I had to roll my eyes a little at that as I sat down on the edge of the other bed.

“It was almost like the running of the leaves, only on boats,” Pinkie giggled, bouncing a little on the bed next to Twilight.

“I’m looking forward to getting our mane’s done and then dinner at Far Field Tavern,” Fluttershy’s voice, though soft, was excited about it. “I’m so glad we all packed our dresses.”

“And typical black suit for me,” I nodded as Philomena sat down beside me putting her wing around me in a sideways hug. “Which by the way, thanks to Fluttershy, I’m told that Philomena here will look simply beautiful tonight.”

“Yes, Fred,” Philomena blushed at me before rubbing her cheek against mine.

“And then it’s Hinny of the Hills,” Pinkie squealed in delight, suddenly hugging Twilight.

“I’m so glad we all get to see it tonight,” Twilight giggled with Pinkie as she hugged her back.

That all stopped when we heard the door open, hooves stomping into the adjacent room, and then the door slamming shut. And Rarity’s voice crying out in sobs, “I’m ruined. Ruined!”

Pinkie was the first one through the connecting door followed by Twilight, Fluttershy, and Philomena. I knocked on AJ’s bathroom door, “Rarity’s back and she doesn’t sound happy.”

“Thanks, I’ll be right out,” she called out.

Once I got into the other room, Rarity was lying face down on the nearest bed crying her eyes out. Fluttershy on one side of her and Pinkie on the other. “Rarity, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked while standing at the foot of the bed.

I stepped up to Philomena and waited, putting an arm around her. A second later, and before Rarity could say anything, Rainbow’s bathroom door opened and she stepped out with a large towel wrapped around her. “What’s all the...oh,” she blinked in confusion at Rarity. “What’s wrong Rares?”

“It was Suri Polomare,” Rarity wailed with a hand over her face. “I let her borrow my fabric for accents. ACCENTS! And what does she do?” She kept wailing and bawling. “She used my fabric and copied my whole line of clothes for tomorrow. And she goes first before me.”

“Ok, I get that she’s a thief,” AJ commented, also wearing a large towel wrapped around her, as she walked into the room, “but how does that hurt you in the competition.”

“Because,” I interrupted, now feeling sorry for Rarity and all her hard work. “With Suri going first it will look like Rarity copied her, instead of the other way around.”

“And that was the whole point of why she wanted to borrow my fabric in the first place,” Rarity glared at us with righteous fire in her eyes over what that mare did to her. “My generosity ruined me. Ruined me!”

“You still have some fabric right?” Twilight asked. And even though I bet Rarity did, there was also one problem with it.

“Yes, but it’s all that special fabric that I spent months making. I can’t even use the fabric, much less my designs,” Rarity cried out in anguish, hugging the pillow to her.

“Come on, Rarity. Don’t give up,” Pinkie tried to comfort her. “There’s got to be something that you can do.”

“I don’t know if she can design and make a whole new line overnight,” Fluttershy commented before looking down at Rarity, now curious. “Can you?”

Rarity sat up in bed, still with the pillow in her arms, and started looking around. Slowly I saw the gears in her head started turning faster and faster as she came up with a plan. Her eyes landed on Rainbow and AJ as they stood there in their towels before brightening instantly. “I got it,” Rarity’s eyes dried and her fingers snapped together as she got a plan in her head, “and it might be even better than the one she stole from me.”

And with that, I had a feeling that our night of food and fun was over. And our night of labor had just begun.

^_^

It was about five hours, and a lot of hard work later, and the room had been turned into a makeshift shop. AJ, Philomena, and I had been designated as the ones in charge of cutting out the large swaths that were needed from the hotels' fabrics. Which so happened to include nearly anything. Although I was thoroughly confused about the larger picture, I trusted that Rarity knew what she was doing. She had been flying through the room checking up on everyone and everything.

Anyone with any bit of sewing capability was sewing away at her new designs. And that was Twilight and Fluttershy. Poor AJ, Rainbow, and Pinkie were the ones cutting out the designs that Rarity was making.

Meanwhile, Rarity had made some pretty strange requests. Soap bars, extra keys, bed sheets, and curtains were just the start of it. The extra keys took some explaining to the manager. Not to mention the story I would have to tell my mother why there was such a large bill. However, Rarity needed my help and therefore I was going to help.

“Rarity, I got the keys you wanted,” I raised my voice a little to get above the noise in the room as I entered. “And they are blank keys. No numbers or patterns on them.”

“Good,” Rarity yanked the keys from me without any word of thanks.

“You’re welcome,” I whispered in annoyance at her lack of courtesy while taking a moment to stretch, hearing my back pop a couple of times.

“Twilight, I need to sew these pieces together according to those patterns there,” Rarity said setting down some fabric onto her table.

Before Twilight could say anything, her stomach rumbled. Loudly. She smiled with some embarrassment. “Sorry, but we did skip dinner, so I was wondering-”

“Don’t fret, Twilight,” Rarity interrupted as she adjusted her special glasses on her head. “It will be here within the hour,” she said while looking around. “That’s not going to be a problem is it?” Although she asked, I got the feeling it was rather rhetorical.

“Well we are supposed to be seeing Hinny of the Hills by then,” Rainbow chuckled nervously, fiddling with some of the fabric.

“Oh, I see,” Rarity picked up a piece of fabric and wrapped it around a mannequin, which she also requested of me earlier. “I go out of my way to get you tickets to a show and this is how you repay me? By abandoning me in my time of need?”

“Now hold on Rarity,” I held up a hand, taking a deep breath steeling my need for patience. “You know very good and well we’re not abandoning you. Just look around you, that’s why we’re here. Just calm down.”

“Calm down,” she whispered before nearly shouting. “Calm down?! It’s obvious that you all have figured out that it’s every mare for herself in this town.” She stomped her hoof against the floor. Hard, making it resonate slightly. “Fine, go and see the show tonight, so you can see me go down in flames tomorrow morning!” Each word seemed to rise in volume before she ran out of the room bawling her eyes out again, slamming the door behind her.

The girls looked over toward the door all with figurative question marks over their heads.

And with another patient sigh, I looked over to them, “I got her. I’ll go see if I can bring her back down to earth.”

“Thanks, Fred,” Twilight’s eyes met mine in relief. “We’ll keep working here.”

And I was out the door ringing for the next elevator. Once I got downstairs all I had to do was following the sound of wailing and it would lead me right to her. And about a few minutes later it did. Outside, while the sun was setting and painting a lovely picture against the city, Rarity was sitting down on the sidewalk crying her eyes out. So, I sat down beside her. “Rarity, will you calm down, please? No one is abandoning you.”

While I was paying attention to Rarity, what I didn’t see was the two constables walking up the sidewalk just down the street from us.

“Of course you all are,” she turned and wailed at me, throwing her hands up in the air. “They would rather go see a show, that I got tickets for just for them than help me in my time of need.” Standing up she started backing away from me while pointing at me, “And look at you. You’re out here instead of doing your assigned duties.”

“I’m out here trying to calm you down from your hysterics,” I stood up glaring at her, now losing my patience with her.

“Is this human bothering you ma’am?” an earth pony stallion constable asked quickly walking up to us with his baton out and ready.

I rolled my eyes at him and was fixing to talk to him about his cliché greeting, but Rarity beat me to it.

“Yes, he is,” Rarity’s eyes danced with fury. “He is so bothering me and I wish he never came here.” And before I or the two constables could say anything else, Rarity turned and started running down the street wailing and sobbing.

“Alright human,” the unicorn mare constable took my arm in her hand while igniting her horn, “come this way peacefully.”

“Damn it all,” I whispered, and while I had the intention of either going after Rarity or walking back inside. But it was clear that either of those wasn’t an option. Not with Tweedledee and Tweedledum with me. “Look you two, I know you think you’re just doing your duty. But I either need to go after her before she does something stupid, or go back inside and get her friends.”

And that’s when it went from bad to worse.

“Oh, you’re not going anywhere human,” the stallion constable said with hatred in his voice. What happened next will continue to surprise me in my memories. He took a knife out.

“I think this guy’s resisting,” a grin slowly crept up on the mare’s face. This was going south really quickly. “I think we’ll need to use force.”

“Think about what you’re about to do,” I warned them quietly. “I am Fred Justice, Princess Celestia’s son an-” I got the shock of my life when the stallion growled at me plunging his knife into my stomach. It wasn’t as large as a Bowie knife, but a good four-inch knife will do a lot of damage. I screamed in pain as the knife plunged into me. A second later I was laying on my back on the ground when the mare swept my feet from under me.

“Stinking human,” the mare’s voice was filled with malice as she stood over me. I had little choice at this point with blood starting to flow from the wound.

I built up enough power to use a magic push against them sending them flying away from me. With what little strength there was in me, I tried backing up away from them. It didn’t take them long to stand back up again. The stallion glared at me with pure hatred before making his way back over to me. I tried keeping him away with a few small fireballs, but with the blood loss, my aim was off. I was starting to get dizzy.

“We need backup,” the mare yelled into a communication orb. “I don’t know how but we have a human that can do magic.” She wasn’t that far from me and with me losing blood quickly my aim was just enough to keep them back about ten yards or so. Thus I could hear the conversation.

“What?!” came the reply. “That’s impossible. The only human today that can use magic is the Prince himself.”

I smirked and fired off a large ball in direction of the orb knowing the pony would be able to see it. “I AM PRINCE FRED JUSTICE!”

“Let me see constable,” I heard the panicked urgent voice from the orb, “quickly.” The mare turned the orb toward me. I didn’t see who it was but if the sound of his voice was any indication, he had a look of pure horror and sheer panic on his face. “YOU IDIOTS. THAT’S PRINCESS CELESTIA’S SON. GET HIM MEDICAL HELP IMMEDIATELY. YOU TWO WILL BE LUCKY IF YOU SURVIVE CELESTIA’S WRATH!”

After that, it was lights out for me. At least I got to see the look on the mare constable’s face when she dropped the orb onto the street. She knew that she fucked up.

^_^

To my surprise, I found myself in Luna’s dreamscape. Not the look of heaven I was expecting. Luna’s happy greeting flowed into my ears, “Good eve nephew.”

I spun around, walked up to her, and quickly took her arms. “Listen quickly Luna,” I said to her as she looked at me with a startled concerning look. “I don’t know how much time I have. But because I’m here that means I’m still alive. Two Manehattan constables attacked me. The stallion stabbed me, so contact the Manehattan authority. I don’t know where I am.”

I saw the look of panic in her eyes before everything faded away.

^_^

A part of me was surprised that I woke up at all. However, I wasn’t surprised at who I saw when my eyes opened. And after one quick look around the hospital room, I pretty much put together some of what happened while I was out. It was definitely a hospital room. And Philomena was leaning over me having just used her tears to heal me. Twilight, Pinkie, Fluttershy, AJ, and Rainbow were there as well looking worried. Which quickly changed after my quick trip back to consciousness. And there was somepony else here with me.

The overhead light above my bed shined upon a tall earth pony stallion that was dressed up in a uniform similar to the regular constable on the street. Odds are he was the head, Constable.

“Fred,” Philomena cried out at the same time as the rest of the girls before trying to hug the stuffing out of me. And after I returned the hug, the other girls did the same. Though taking turns naturally.

“We’re so glad you’re alright now,” Twilight sniffed as tears threatened to fall again.

“We got here as soon as we could,” Fluttershy’s soft voice hit my ears. Just wish I could look at her but after Philomena climbed up into the hospital bed with me that wasn’t possible. Not with her clinging to my head like a vice.

“Thanks, everyone,” I said quietly while just holding Philomena know that she would need a good few minutes, at the very least, before she would even think about letting me go. “What time is it and did you all finish her dresses?”

“It’s just after sunrise, we were worried sick about you, and the first thing you want to know is whether or not we finished the dresses?” Twilight’s tired and strained voice hit my ears.

I was finally able to turn my head to face them. And the look on their faces said it all. “You finally finished the dresses at about...two in the morning or so? Only got a few hours sleep before woken up and told to come here, and this is a guess, by that guy.” My head turned to look over at the stallion in uniform.

“Ooh, he’s good,” Pinkie whispered in awe, thought did it in a silly way in order to break the tension.

“So don’t leave us in suspense dude, tell us what happened,” Rainbow nearly demanded. That got Philomena to let up enough for me to sit up in the bed.

I nodded to them, knowing that they wanted to know. Plus there was a nagging feeling that the burly stallion in uniform wanted to know as well. “Before I tell you, I just have one question.”

Twilight rolled her eyes at me, “What is it?”

“Have you seen Rarity since last night?” I asked. And once more the look said it all. Each one of them lowered their heads before shaking them looking like they just lost their best friend. Which they kind of did actually. “Damn,” cursing softly my own head shook with a deep sigh. “I followed Rarity outside to find her sitting on the curb crying. She was still hysterical and continued to be that way even after my multiple attempts to calm her down and bring her back inside.” I raised my head and looked directly at the stallion. “And that’s when the two constables showed up with the stallion asking her that old cliché question, ‘Is this human bothering you?’ Rarity said yes that I was bothering her and then wished that I never came along in the first place. That’s when she ran off and the mare constable grabbed my arm.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the shocked look on their faces after telling them what Rarity had said. The uniform was stoic and silent, so I sent him a firm stare of my own.

“Now I understood that they had jobs to do. So I politely told them that I needed to go after Rarity before she does something stupid. He pulled a knife on me. Telling me that I wasn’t going anywhere. And the mare agreed, gleefully I might add, saying that I had become violent and they needed to use force. Now up until that point, I was being nice. This time I informed them of who I was and to think carefully about their actions. That’s when they decided to try and kill me. And they did so with full knowledge and malice for the express reason that I was a human. Which leads me to believe that there might be a problem with the constables in this town regarding how they treat humans.”

I saw the recognition in his eyes after he heard that. And that’s all I needed to know.

“There will be sweeping changes within my department, my prince,” he said softly with a slow nod of his head.

“Good, and the two constables that attacked me will be terminated from the force, be barred from working in any leadership position, and stay away from Philomena if they want to live.” The last part I added to emphasize just how pissed off a phoenix can get, not to mention the rest of the girls.

He nodded slowly to me, “It shall be done, my prince.”

“Good, now if you’ll excuse us, there’s an Element of Generosity we need to go find.” He acknowledged with a curt nod and left the room. Now if I could only get Philomena to let go, so I can stand up and walk.

“I can’t believe she would say something like that,” Fluttershy spoke up softly in surprise.

“I can’t either,” AJ shook her head.

“Well she was extremely stressed out and in a hyper-emotional state of mind,” Twilight commented logically. “So, she wasn’t exactly at her best last night.”

“You can say that again, but what do we do now?” Rainbow shrugged as she looked around at everyone as if they had the answers.

“We go looking for her,” I told them simply and patted Philomena on her back to let me up. She did. And after I stood up it was obvious that she wouldn’t leave my side for anything or no one. “Question is where?”

“Oh I know,” Pinkie raised her hand as if in class. “Wouldn’t she be at the contest? We did finish the dresses after all.”

Twilight looked over at the clock on the wall. “Well, it wouldn’t hurt to check at least. And by the clock, the contest should be nearly over with.”

“Alright, then let’s head over to the fashion plaza to see if she’s there.” And as we all started filing out of the room I commented softly, “Hopefully she came back to the room to get her things and attend the contest. Either that or she went plumb loco on us.”

^_^

Naturally, I couldn’t leave without the nurse and doctor checking me over. That I can understand and accept. When the doctor asked for some phoenix tears, however. No. We finally got away from the hospital, thank goodness, and was able to get a couple of taxis to the Fashion Plaza. Hopefully, Rarity would be there, because I had some choice words for her.

The Fashion Plaza had a pretty fancy entrance I’ll give it that. And even though there weren’t that many out this early, there were two mares standing out in front. The shorter of the two mares had an off white coat with a light turquoise mane and tail. And she looked to be the timid type. The other one had a light pink coat and purple mane and tail. She looked like she was the boss of the other one. And as we walked up to the doors, it was the taller mare that rubbed me the wrong way.

They didn’t say anything as we walked in, but that didn’t stop the chill I got from her. A few seconds after we entered the lobby, so did the two mares by the front door. Rarity was at the front counter speaking to a mare with glasses.

“I need to see Miss Hemline for a moment,” Rarity’s voice sounded urgent as she leaned forward to emphasize her point. “I know she’s busy, but I just need a moment to thank her before I rush back to Ponyville.”

“Oh I wouldn’t do that Rarity,” the taller mare spoke up before we could. Rarity spun around and her face brightened when she saw us, then frowned after hearing what this mare had to say. “She’s really upset with you for running out on her. Super embarrassing. You lost,” she chuckled lightly, “ok.”

“I lost?” her eyes widened when she asked aloud. Then her eyes looked at us, including me, and shook her head with a frown. “You know what? I don’t even care,” her voice was firm with resolve. It was in her eyes as she stepped up to us. Philomena was latched onto my arm on one side of me. Fluttershy was on the other when Rarity stepped up. “I haven’t been a friend to any of you these past few days.”

“Fred?” Philomena spoke up to Rarity with a voice that demanded an answer.

Rarity’s eyes met mine. And I searched them for a moment. I did see regret in them before she spoke. “Including, Fred. All you wanted to do was to support me and did so. I returned that with disgust and hate.”

“Yeah you were pretty rotten to us, but you almost got Fred killed,” AJ nodded curtly.

“Wow, AJ,” Rainbow shook her head. “I know your thing is honesty but damn.”

Rarity was shocked, to say the least. “Killed? But…”

“After you left,” I tried keeping my voice, and myself, calm, “the two constables attacked me with the intent to kill. They used your distress as an excuse to hurt me.”

“I…I…” Rarity’s ears splayed back against her head, her eyes wide with shock and horror, and if it was possible she even paled. In short, she looked like she was going to pass out.

“So what if he could’ve died?” the taller mare scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “All humans are trash. Kill them all I say.”

“You’re wrong, Suri,” Rarity shook her head as tears started to fall. “I don’t know about all humans, but not Fred.” She glared at Suri when she said it, then looked up to me. “Fred isn’t trash at all, but a true Prince in every sense of the word. He’s more generous and forgiving than I am.” And she surprised me by hugging me. She cried softly into my chest, wrapping her arms around me and apologizing softly.

Even though I hadn’t said “I forgive you” yet, I put my arms around her anyway before whispering those words to her. And honestly, that was only because Philomena was there to heal me. That’s when the other girls joined in to make a group hug. And when we separated a couple of minutes later, the two mares were gone. And then so were we. We left to attend a special showing of Hinny of the Hills because Rarity was able to pull some strings as her way of apologizing to us.

^-^

“That was great,” Rainbow cheered as we all applauded after the show had finished.

“Nice to see you enjoying it considering you normally don’t like musicals,” AJ chuckled at Rainbow’s near over-excited applause.

“Normally no,” Rainbow agreed, with a nod. “I mean ponies suddenly starting songs at the drop of a hat? Come on.” Then she motioned toward the stage, “But this one was good, I’m mare enough to admit it.”

“It was good, I agree,” I spoke up as Philomena and Fluttershy were sitting next to me. “In the human world, musicals such as this is a dying art form. Because of technology, most see it as archaic in lieu of modern big-screen movies.”

“It was a wonderful musical, but how did you get them to agree to do a private show Rarity?” Twilight asked.

Rarity’s mood dipped as well as her body, dipped in the chair. “I talked with the director and told him everything,” Rarity began explaining as we got a bad feeling about what she was going to say. “I offered to make the costumes for his shows if he would put on a show for all of you.”

“But wouldn’t that mean you’d be away a while?” Rainbow asked first what everyone was thinking.

“Yes, that would mean I’d be away for a while, but it would be worth it. To have all of you see the show finally after everything I’ve put you through.” And that’s when our mood tanked.

However, that’s also when the door opened. After looking back, my eyes spotted the timid mare that was with Suri. We all looked over at her, wondering why she was here.

“Excuse me, but can I join you?” she asked in a soft timid tone similar to Fluttershy.

“Sure,” Rarity invited and stood up to meet her after she came down the aisle.

“I’m Coco Pommel,” she told us, stopping in front of Rarity and pulling a trophy out of her bag. “And I have something for you.”

Rarity took it in her hands then we all heard her gasp, “This is the first place trophy for fashion week. And with my name on it. But I thought I lost.”

“You didn’t,” Coco explains with a smile. “You see, Suri wanted you to think that so you wouldn’t go see Prim. She had hoped that if you didn’t show up to claim the trophy then they would consider it a forfeit and she would get first place. That’s why she lied. And I’ve been working for her for so long that I lied too, thinking that it really was every mare for herself in this town.” Coco smiled at all of us before her eyes stopped on Rarity, “But then I saw how you acted toward your friends, Suri, and even the human. And it got me thinking. I wanted to change, so I quit.”

Rarity gave her a sad smile, “Thank you Miss Pommel, really. But my friends deserve this trophy more than me for what I put them through when they were making my dresses.” There was a pause before it looked like Rarity got an idea. “I guess you’ll be needing a job then?”

Coco nodded while also looking a little confused.

“Then how about working for the director of Hinny of the Hills?” Rarity asked her and for the first time in days she had that sparkle in her eyes again.

“You mean it?” Coco asked in awe.

“I would still need to talk to him, but I’m confident we can work something out.”

“Thank you, and I want you to have something to remember this by,” Coco said, pulling out a spool of multicolored thread. “Special thread that I made myself. And just call me Coco.”

“Why thank you, Coco. Really,” Rarity leaned over hugging her which she got in return. “This will be a wonderful opportunity for you after your horrible experience with Suri.”

“And wonderful for us because you’ll be coming back home,” Pinkie happily announced while bouncing in place. “I can put on a party once we get back.”

Turns out I was able to help Rarity with dealing with the director. The director agreed to take Coco on as the dressmaker for the show. Which left Rarity free to come back home to Ponyville. The train didn’t leave until almost dinner so, we had time to spend some more sightseeing while we waited. I hung my head and groaned as I caught the name of “The Crystaller Building.” You have no idea of the conversation that one started. And the trip back to Ponyville was rather pleasant with me napping, once again, in Philomena’s lap with a grin on my face.

Next Chapter: Chapter Eighteen: Back to Canterlot Estimated time remaining: 14 Hours, 48 Minutes