SteelEagle

Twilight looked at her cup and dice as it appeared, studying it passively. The cup and the table did not match the ship well. Of course not, how could they? The cup was of western Anduilian make and the table was...the wood felt more like it came from the Velvet Strand, while the shop was made mostly from the forests of the Seaddle region. While Rose spoke about the game and her experience with it, Twilight decided to correct the situation. If they were going to play a pirate's game, then they could play it the way pirates could. In a flash of her horn, the two mares found themselves transported to the port city of Puerto Aguila, in a small, seedy bar on that island of pirates. She took a drink out of her mug and tipped her feathered pirate's cap, loosening the buttons on her blue and gold jacket. There were a number of pirates and ne'er-do wells abound and around them, yet at the moment they attracted no great attention. They had been there for a bit. She looked down at her cup and smiled. "Ayy, I know me a fair number of variants of the Liar's Dice, my fair Rose," Twilight drawled, clearly liking her pirate persona. "So, you ill-mannered scallywag, what variant be in play, yarr?!"

The door opened and the trio were met by a friendly face. A younger pegasus stallion with bright green eyes and a soft smile greeted them. "Oh, the Apples! What a pleasure to see you again, Applejack. Please, come on in. I have everything ready for little Ambrosia," he said with a smile as Applejack nodded happily. "Zap Apple, y'all go ahead and play a bit in the playground. Ah'll come and get ya when it's time, okay?" She said as she gave her son a peck on the forehead and scooted him off. "How's tha husband, Well Read?" She asked as she unhooked the cart and pulled her daughter up and out of it. Well Read and his husband Paperback were the two new teachers at the school, having been around now for just one class season. They were good teachers and loved their jobs. Well Read handled the youngest ponies, Cheerilee the meat of the middle classes, and Paperback the last few years heading out. It certainly made it a lot easier than it would have been with just poor ol' Cheerilee! "Oh, Paperback's doing great. He has his hoof full handling the older crowd but at least he has somepony to read his books to," Well Read laughed as he took his seat. "And might this be little Ambrosia Apple? You know, your brother has talked a lot about you!" *************************** A few ponies mingled about the playground. Six foals played and laughed around and one more sat near the tetherball pole, using it as a backboard as he relaxed against it. His eyes caught Zap Apple's. "Hey there, Zap," Topaz said, the crystal colt getting up and wiping the dirt from his backside. "Your mom here or are you just playing?"

Twilight received the report and filed it away mentally. The truth of the matter was that she was very well aware of the great and small health concerns of her crew. How could she not? She obsessed over details small and large when she dealt with ponies and for all of her seeming indifference she knew each one of them well enough to know what she should not do. Namely, that she would not want to interfere with their lives. She could probably simply remove their ailments, but she knew that path would lead to madness. There were always more ponies to help; why not them and not others, and why allow the natural order of things to be interfered? Besides, death was not the end. She knew that more than most. Why be so worried about it? "Well, I don't think I need to see where that would have led. This is a family ship, you know," she mockingly chided as she made room for the transformed Rose on her, gently sliding the wing to allow room for the raccoon. "I was thinking something a bit less exciting than diving to the bottom of the world. Did you have perhaps a game in mind? Come to think of it, I've never seen you play a game. Hard to read somecreature like you without applying a bit of game theory in the most literal of senses, no?"

She thought about it, shuffling in place as she tried to run it through her mind some more. She leaned on her forehooves as pillows, getting closer to him. "Hmm..I think maybe, like, a masquerade ball 'cause, like, everypony had masks on. Even you! Your mask was pretty cute, though," she giggled. "Oh, and I think we were in, like, a ship and it had a totally groddy crash. Oh, and there was a sport with...I think, like, sticks and balls? You swung the stick at the balls? Ball?" She furrowed her brow, then stood up. "Hey, I said you were trying to kill me and, wow, you totally didn't even care!" She looked horrified and shocked. Especially horrified! "Like, uggh. As if I could like like like somepony who wants to kill me! Gross!"

High Bar raised her now empty glass to the Mayor. "I'll see you then," she said as she bade the Mayor goodbye. It had been a good meeting and now she had an activity lined up. A good day. Soon she could shake off this façade and go home and be herself. For now though, a bit more of the mask. "Well, we'll have to see Miss Rose. I'll have my people take in the first test order at your earliest convenience and we'll see how this shakes out, alright?" She said as she finished her food. The Mayor was covering the bill which was awfully nice of her and High Bar would cover the tip, liberally splashing the table with shiny gold bits. "Good day, the both of you," she said politely. In a few moments she was out of their manes and soon was out of the restaurant. Once home she still had work to day. Encrypted messages were sent to some, coded messages to others. Routes were planned, capable end state facilitators identified, and handlers selected. A lot of it, High Bar just nodded along to. She always did have trouble grasping some of the more confusing logistical challenges of her father's job and despite being alongside him in sound and spirit if not hearth and home, she still had trouble grasping it. All that mattered was when the meeting was ended and she could finally allow the liquid spell to dissipate. When it finally did so she leaned backed and stretched, cracking her back and yawning. She was excited to still have time to explore the town and unwind a little without all the pressure being on her. Except, of course, when she looked out her window and noticed it was pitch black outside. With a heavy sigh she banished the thoughts of fun away and slid into her bed, burying herself where no one could see her. (EXIT)

It was good to hear everything was operating as close to normal as it could be. She didn't know why it would have taken that long to find a leak with business being the way it was, no doubt. A lot of small details could get lost in the shuffle, especially when so much else was going on in your personal life. Luckily for the Spa, Lotus proudly didn't have much of a personal life that wasn't tied up in her activities at the spa. Huzzah for small miracles! "I will have to get to work fast, then," she said with a giggle. "I will be more than happy to work some massuese schedules. Later tonight I can show off the stuff I brought in, if we're ready to go today. A lot of it requires some work to implement but it will be worth, Maybe at the start of a business week, so we can work the kinks out," she gave it some thought. "Yes, that would work. In any case, I hope our normal clientelle still shows up. I think Rarity would love to hear about some of the shops in Saddle Arabia," she said with a contented smile as she finished her busy-hooves setting up. The subject of the little ones came up and her face lit up. "Oh, I would love it! I brought some candies I can share with them. Probably. Maybe?" She looked at both of them. "But yes, after work. I'm not a quarter of the mare I am when I'm not working," she laughed as she stretched out her front legs. As she did so, something odd happened. This voice in her head came in and said...something she already knew? Ahh, yes. This happened all the time! She had a habit of repackaging her own thoughts in the voices of others. She always blamed Bon Bon. She scratched at her ear and continued on. "Time to work, fillies!"

She would scan the crew and find nothing all that remarkable about their health. For the most part, they were all in excellent physical condition. As sailors and members of the various branches of the REA and Guard, they were expected to be so. Most were younger as befit the military, vigorous and strong. A few had some small, non-vital conditions that didn't hamper their work. One had a broken hoof wall that was healing. One mare had recently given birth and her body hadn't fully recovered, though her position required the least work of them all. A few had more serious conditions, underlying and part of family histories. One had a congenial heart condition that he wouldn't discover until he was older. Another, the oldest stallion on the boat, was a cancer survivor whose mortal foe was due to return. But for the most part, it was a crew in excellent shape. Twilight knew that as well. "i think you'll find them as expected, if you don't mind," Twilight said playfully as she looked around. "Now stop side ogling my crew. The younger stallions are getting excited," she finished with a smile as on cue some of the stallions looked every which way but them, crossing their legs strategically. "Thank you for the show, Rose," Twilight said out loud as she started trotting deeper on. "Come now. I'm sure you have other activities planned, right?"

Somewhere somehow somecreature was laughing lightly. The hope had been that the two would insist the other take the gift, their happiness at seeing their sibling getting what they want overshadowing the pale forces of desire. It had mostly worked, and somepony scored a point somewhere for something. A giant ding was heard! The other boxes vanished and in a sweep of snow flurries everything else in the clearing save the two and the gift vanish. In a swirl of leaves and sneaky lightning did the Great Gift Giver appear at the edge of the clearing. "A handsome colt and a filly with a beautiful heart, and what a brilliant start! Maybe now you catch me, and behold further works of art!" "The game is ahoof you quick little ponies, now come and catch me," it said with glee before pronking off with a high, mirthful laugh.

Saturday it was. Her weekend was normally very busy as she was supposed to use spell-song to report to her father, but she knew that he would be pleased with the reasons for her slight derailment. Making friends and influencing ponies was part of the job after all, and making the right friends and influencing the right type of pony would be why she would become great at it. She would need to unpack her swimsuit. She hadn't seen much need for it so far and even back in Manehattan it wasn't as if she was swimming around some sunny beaches. The most swimming she had done was floundering around some pools. That would be repeated again, this time with some warm country air making the swim more honest than it would otherwise be. Plus. she could force her bodyguard to come around. Make him make small talk with the parents. Awkward! "It's a date then. I'll bring...cookies?" She offered with less confidence than she gave off, which wasn't a lot considering how minor it was. As she went ahead to finish her meal, the filly couldn't help but be charmed by the changing flavors of her drink. She wasn't going to be upset as she had been before. After all, she wasn't being caught off guard! It just made her wonder why this mare wasn't selling herself at a high price for just about any purpose. That was what really talented ponies did, right? The search for profit, the search for power, these were universal. Everypony sought them out even as they claimed otherwise. That was a fact of life. So why limit herself to the works she had committed now? It would need to be understood further. For now, she smiled. "Thanks for that. I'm pretty partial to grape juice myself!" She said as she started to finish up her meal. It had been a good time but now she had plans for friends and profits and that was enough to tell her pappa that today had been more than a little successful.

Why it was that Rarity hadn't found her special somepony was a cause for debate among many townsfolk. She had her suitors, of course. Almost too many to count from one end of Equestria to the other, from all species and any gender. Yet she hadn't found herself that special somepony that made her heart rise and fall with the fury of the storm and the gentle calm of the plains. Applejack had her suspicions. Rarity was a mare who never settled for less than the best and she had her heart set on somepony, and that somepony was taken. Rather than allow herself to wallow and become bitter, she had simply become comfortable with the only other pony capable of loving her the way she deserved to be loved- herself. It was a romantic thought and Applejack was pretty well certain that Rarity loved herself some romantic thoughts. "If AH knew why, Ah could probably win a raffle," Applejack started with a laugh, "but Ah'd reckon she is happy enough being her 'ol fabulous self and havin' somepony else would just get in tha way," she ended with a gainful trot back into the innards of town. As she did so she found herself once more having to take into account her son's souring mood. She knew what he wanted and she wanted to give it to him but he needed to have patience. If he did, everything would be okay. But he was a colt and colts weren't known for their good manners nor patience. "Zap, yer visit should be quick an' then you can play in the schoolyard. Ah reckon there has to be at least some of yer pals hanging around, right?" She offered with a smile before turning her attention back to Ambrosia. Fillies of course had their own ball of wax you needed to settle but for the life of her she wasn't sure that she could handle seeing that beaming smile go away just yet. "Well, that seems like an awfully good question ta ask yer teacher. Ah know Ah couldn't on account of mah prettiest dress being a potato sack with four legs cut into it, but maybe when he sees jus' how pretty that dress is he'll change his mind mighty fast!" She said with a chortle as she made quick for the school. It had been renovated rather recently to accommodate the increasing size of the town. Instead of one teacher teaching three classes a day they had three teachers doing so. Maybe now Cheerilee could get out and have herself something approaching a life! Two new classrooms, one larger general purpose room and a few extra specialist shops in the basement had turned Ponyville Elementary into something resembling an appropriate school for the town's growth. It was still very small and wouldn't have registered in any city, but for Ponyville it was a big deal and a great change. With three quick raps on the front door she announced their presence and stood back, unhitching the cart and rolling her shoulders.

Lotus had to roll her eyes at the sauciness so freely on display between the three of them. It was no shock that it would happen, especially since the two sisters had been more than close for many years. It did sadden Lotus to think that she had managed to miss so much, but she readily and easily settled herself into the notion that the past was the past. She would have nieces and nephews and nephews and nieces for days. She would have to work hard to ensure that each and every one of them learned just who the best aunt in the world was, even if she wasn't the most talkative in the world. "Well, it seems like we won't have to worry about our parents anymore. Now that one of us is going to have foals, there exists no pressure on the second!" She said with a laugh as she started looking around the spa. As she did so, she started rearranging small details here and there- sign facing, the placement of ointments and supplies, nothing major. Just small adjustments back to the way it should be! "Additional help? Hmm. I suppose it would have made sense! I mean, I am- what they say- a dynamo when it comes to the spa and spa related activities. And don't worry, Aloe. My adventures may have been longer than anticipated, but my rewards are also greater than hoped!" She nodded. "Very much worth it. Except for the trip," she said as she sighed, this time addressing Rose. "Better to go with the vacation packages, even on business. Too many areas are...ehhhh..." she waved her around in a waffling fashion, "less than good, yes?" She turned back to her work. "Very happy to be back home! Better you did not come visit. Had too much to do here, it seems!"

Lotus embraced her sister warmly, not sharing the sheer extremity of her sister's emotion but in tune with the spirit. It had been a while. Longer than intended, really, but she hadn't expected her sister to be this emotional over it. Hopefully she would be just as emotional about the new heating coals! They were fantastic! All joking aside, she held the hug as best she could- more like was held- for a while, giving her sister a sweet hug in return. "It is very good to be back, Aloe," she said as the two eventually separated. "I saw many great things and it was very good, but I am so much happier to be back here with my sister!" She said, beaming despite how tired she was. Indeed, she had looked forward to this day for a long while. Sailing from the Fillyphines took forever and it felt like a lifetime had passed between Neighpon and Manehattan, but the whole time she knew she was returning home and that was enough for her. She returned to a different situation than the one she had left. She had been kept appraised as best she could of the happenings of Ponyville by Bon Bon, her best friend and one of the chief town gossips. Through her friend's letters she had learned as best she could of what had happened between Aloe and this 'Rose Compass'. Lotus wasn't a letter writer herself but had composed a few that she had planned to deliver during a layover. Sadly, the ship had other ideas- nearly sinking on her during a storm and sending her letters to some watery grave. The nerve of the ocean! Still, she was excited to finally see her very pregnant sister. "I have heard many things on my travels! You are very lucky mare, Aloe. Very special children!" She said as she studied her sister. That...was one pregnant Aloe, yes. And the Changeling who had done it was next. Rose Compass, alchemist, part-time massues, friend of Princess Sparkle, and a strange but interesting creature to be found about town. "Nice to meet you, Rose!" she said, shaking the hoof. "I have heard many things," she said with an even expression as she pulled close to her sister and held her with one arm in mock defensiveness. She arched her eyebrows, trying her best to hide her grin. "You are who deflowered her?"

Now that everything was back in its proper place, she waved her hoof dismissively. "Eh, it isn't a big deal. We all get enthusiastic from time to time. I mean, heh, I went full tilt earlier, right?" She said as she continued to eat and drink. It was good to move on from something awkward. You didn't want to dwell on it, but you could make light of it. "I guess now we just need the Mayor to do something a little tilted, right?" She said with a smile, hiding behind her drink. She was doing the math. There was a lot of work that would be needed to make the arrangement work. She didn't have to do most of it, but her father always told her about the necessity of understanding the logistics of business. If you rushed her she may not be able to spell the word when frazzled, but she tried to understand the importance of it. Who needed what and when, how, why, and what she needed to be doing when all that was happening to make sure she wasn't linked to it. It was a little sad to think that her mind was sharpened like a dagger for this sort of skullduggery yet she couldn't tell you one thing about that rugby game she was forced to attend recently. Funny how sponge-like the brain could be when forced to absorb absurdity! She burped. "Oh!" She brought a hoof to her mouth, "excuse me," she said with a catch in her throat. "So, Mayor Rich. When am I coming over?"

Lotus had worked her tail off of at the Spa for years, and it showed in what the sisters had made. What had started as simply two sisters trying to make it work in some podunk little town had flourished considerably into being the premiere spa in one of Equestria's most up and coming cities. The demand had changed alongside it, of course. Now they employed a small team of spa workers who kept it working. That had done wonders for Lotus. She loved getting hooves on but not having to be so uptight about her scheduling fit her more free-wheeling attitude towards time. Most importantly it meant she could handle a lot of the back-end for the business. While still involved in the front facing aspect of the spa, Lotus did develop into some manner of background pony, always there and working but somewhere off in the distance. It had eventually evolved to the point where she could take some time to try and make big improvements to the spa. And so she had embarked on a quality, expensive trip abroad to find the right tools to make the spa the best spa it could be. She spent several weeks in Manehattan awaiting shipments and presentations of several items of interes. Saddle Arabian heating coals that burned faster, hotter, and longer. New mineral developments from the Crystal Empire being demo'd at an expo. New techniques from Neighpon? Well, that meant she had to go to Neghpon. And what was this she heard about sonic enrichment from Long Guo? Well, she had to experience. What had started off as a short trip to gather a few new tools had developed into a near worldwide saunter in search of new and unique ways of making the spa better. She had gone far over her allotted time, but that was Lotus. She was never very punctual. She had arrived back in town early in the morning, her suitcase bulging with what she could bring. The rest was either being delivered to the spa or would be over the coming days. The town despite growing as it had was still silent enough for her tastes in the early morning. She was stopped a few times by friends who were happy to see her return and she likewise was happy to hear about all the goings ons of Ponyville while she had been gone. In time and with great effort she had slowly matriculated her way to the spa as the sun rose and the town's markets startled to hustle and bustle. She went to the back, opening the door there and taking a step inside to take in all the smells of home. "Aloe! Aloe I am back!"

Rarity fell in line with her friends, assuming the position. For most of the time she wasn't the leader of the group when it came to these adventures. That was Twilight's position. usually she was flanked by Rainbow and Applejack. Not today- Applejack was behind Rarity. A bit odd, but she had to focus on the problem at that. Some sort of villain? As Twilight explained it, Rarity tried to follow. The Time Turner was a villain who wanted to turn back time to before ponies grew sentient, so she could 'save' them from themselves. How dreadful! Imagine not being able to work on the latest fashions from Prance into something more befitting the ponies of Ponyville! The sacrilege. Of course, maybe Applejack liked it. She wouldn't say. "How do we stop her, Twilight?" "I've created a counter-spell using pages from an ancient tome that was lost to time- well, I guess now it is! Anyway, we need to..." Rarity listened as intently as she could, even as she felt a small sliver of herself start to fade as the magic of the Time Turner took hold of the area. Not all that awful- Twilight's shield was keeping them safe, but her knowledge of the latest trends in Neighpon nobility was starting to get sketchy as the ponies moved into position and went to battle with the Time Turner! ****ONE EPIC BATTLE LATER**** The heroines of Ponyville walked into Sugarcube Corner, each one looking worse for wear. Worse? No, just weirder. Twilight had an eyepatch on and wore a tight-fitting skinsuit as if she were a spy. Fluttershy had some manner of mechanical doohicky on her back, smoking barrels cooling off. Not even she understood what it was for. Rarity for her part wasn't too far off from normal in her well-made victorian battle dress. What they all were, however, was tired. Twilight collapsed at the counter while Rarity struggled to get herself up there. "That...got out of control." "Yes. Yes it did, Twilight." "Are we back in our own time? I don't know what time is it. Am I Viking?" "Hmm, I believe so. Oh, I mean in terms of being in our own time, not you being a Viking. I'm not being decapitated by angry villagers. Those pontish brands did not flow well with your mane, by the by. Applejack darling, are we all right?"

If there was anything more delightful in this world than watching Rainbow Dash squirm, Applejack didn't know of it. Especially when it was because of affection. She gave it and received it with a sort of tender awkwardness that helped explain why she used to be terrified of being seen getting hooficures. Filly was besides herself trying to impress everypony all the time. Sadly for her and thankfully for Applejack, it almost always failed in a charming fashion. It helped Applejack keep control once they were at the top. It wasn't very cold. Pegasi feathers acted like temperature sinks in hot or cold weather, keeping the pegasi body more even-keeled than others. That was with proper wing-care, of course. If you overheated or overfroze the feather it could actually 'leech' into the bone. That was the leading cause of pegasi wing ailments, especially among the older folk. Applejack didn't have much to worry about when it came to that since the wings are temporary on her, but she did read a lot about it. For Zap's care, ya know. And also to distract her from the fact that she realized she was so very, very high up. She wasn't scared of heights, but she wasn't a fan either. So she distracted herself. Rainbow Dash had found the first crystal and that seemed to get her all the attention in the world. Then Applejack was challenged. A fight broke out. On one hoof, if she failed as bad as she could then she could see Rainbow crumble under the onslaught of her affections. On the other hoof, if she won, then she'd be a winner. And Applejack liked to be a winner. "Yer on, snowflake," she said teasingly as she started pawing at the falls. Her hooves were bigger than Dash's which meant she could dig pretty well and pretty fast. Of course, she was used to being an Earth Pony and having the peculiar sixth sense when it came to such earthy tasks. Instead, she was just an unusually muscular pegasus clumsily digging holes in the sky!

Ahh, so the champion was her dad. That was nice, maybe? Possibly? Wait, had he now met both of her parents? Was this a trick? He didn't think he was easy to trick but he was being tricked alot lately, disproving through action a belief held in passing. He could only hope that over time he could regain that street sense of his. It was all over the place and he was failing pretty hard at being smooth, cool, or all together all that attractive. He would have to step it up...after ribs felt better. "Oh, hey there Mr. Beak Sir," he said awkwardly as he dusted himself off. "You know, Silverstream talked a lot about you but she never said you were a great jouster," Gallus said as he looked around. With Sky Beak's urging a lot of the hippogriffs were crowding around him, firing off hyper-active greetings while he did his best to respond. He wasn't as uncomfortable with crowds as he was when he first arrived at school- hard to save the world when you were, Fluttershy notwithstanding- but still, he was happy enough when he heard Silverstream speak. The crowd died down a little out of respect. "Yeah. Thought this would be an...interesting adventure. And I am happy to say that, so far, it has been everything I hoped it would be," Gallus said as he looked around. "And from what I have heard, there is a lot left to go."

Nocreature could deny that Rose had a penchant for dramatics. Entrances, often dramatic. Rare were the occasions when she walked up to somepony and greeted them without unusual conditions. Her exits, almost always dramatic- she had powers, was always busy, and was never shy about tying needs and desire together. And she was very good at making the mundane very exciting. Even more importantly, none of this was mundane. Twilight just allowed herself to go along for the ride. Her crew, on the other hoof, had been taken aback by the Princess' absence in the first place. Not panicked mind you, they were used to it. But what they weren't used to was the sight of Twilight flying out of a blowhole and doing an unassisted summersault before coming back down, caught like a bridesmaid by a retransformed Rose. The crew clapped in appreciation for the theatrics. "How long have you been trying to practice that with Aloe?" Twilight laughed as she got herself out of Rose's hold and landed on the deck. Her horn lit and her coat cleaned from the fairly awful juices that she had been slathered in.

Yeah, she knew the friendship trails among the rich and famous. She didn't pay attention at all whatsoever to the friendships of the normal trotting herd because her purpose was high in the sky. She couldn't afford the dirt on her hooves as is, let alone whatever was going on with the simple ponies of town. She would be more than happy to get to know the Mayor better, personally and otherwise. That meant better business. "I'll have to take you up on that soon enough, Miss Mayor. If your daughter is a fifth as smart as you then I am sure we'll get along really well," she said with a raise of her glass, finishing it off as she went to start her soup. And saw what Rose did. She held the last bit of milk in her mouth for a bit and gave Rose quite the bug-eyed look. What in the wide wide world of Equestria was she capable of and why was she wasting her time on stupid potions? It asked a lot of questions and the majority of answers were quite terrible. Still, she finished her milk in a gulp and then started to work on the soup, laughing nervously as she began. "Uhh. Maybe in the future, Miss Compass, but I think for now we'll keep this relationship very friendly but focused on business. Don't want to about mussing up that side of things before the first bit rolls across the counter, right?"

Sunny wished she could say she was shocked by the fact that the unicorns didn't treat the subject of the separation of the ponies with any gravitas. That seemed to be a recurring theme among all three species. The separation was handled almost as a matter of course with all 'real' education on the subject focusing on the terrors of the other species as they existed now. "That doesn't surprise me. I mean, our schools taught us only that one day there was a big battle and that the Earth Ponies won and forced the other ponies to leave. Doesn't seem likely that would have happened- about as likely as the pegasi stealing or hexing anything," she laughed at the thought. It was hard now to be angry about any of it. "I can't wait to check out Bridlewood's libraries. Do they cross out the cursed words? I think it would be kind of funny if we could pinpoint just when it all went down based on the age of somepony crossing out the word mayonnaise from ancient cook books!" She said, imagining the process and the pure hatred of something so random and throwing her head back and holding hers in laughter. "Oh no! Watch out for MUSTARD!" She yelled playfully and pointed at a nearby mustard bottle and shirked away from it, keeping her balance just barely. The ponies working gave her a look and she regained her composure as she thought about herds and Roam and roaming, all of which interested her. She shook her head, but liked the idea. "Well, we have all the time in the world to roam around in herds now. I've heard it is a very liberating experience!" She said excitedly before dialing back down. "Roam was a very old province back in ancient Equestria. My dad thought that a lot of pasta type foods, like pizza, came from there based on a lot of linguistics stuff. I never understood that part as well. He was a genius when it came to language," she said wistfully before trying to pull the emotion back. She didn't want to dwell. She wanted to learn, and she wanted to move past it.

How dare he tell her not to worry about the mess. She was very worried about the mess. What type of colt wanted to live in smelly, icky squalor? Mind you nothing was smelly or icky just yet but it was the thought that counts. Allow just a few cans of this or that to lay about like they paid tuition and you were bound to grow up a slob. And she did not want to be dating a slob! Or maybe she just did all that because she wasn't much fancying the idea of some dream psychoanalyzing. Emphasis on the psycho. She didn't buy into that stuff all that much. Sure, sometimes you remembered dreams well enough to make the effort worthwhile but wasn't it otherwise just some vain project at trying to find meaning from as little as possible? Luckily for him, she liked horoscopes. "Okay, I'll try," she said as she took the offered utensils in her magic and trotted over to the guest bed, laying down on it and closing her eyes. As she did so, she pulled him closer and into position. If he wanted to be a psychoanalyzer doctor pony, he would have to assume the position. "We need to get you different glasses though. Ones that are only half covering the eyes, or round," she said as she snuggled her way into position fully. She took a deep breath and tried to match it with his. Okay, time to try to remember the fading parts of her dream. "Hmm...I remember trying to find you. I think you had tried to leave me at a waterfall. I was looking around, and, like, a lot of ponies just yelling a lot. And...I think we danced and ponies were angry, and then there was angry models, and I think angry stickballs. I also think you were trying to kill me? Or...maybe you were just singing a lot. Lots of angry yelling. Oh! Masks! There were masks, I think at a ball?"

Did she have friends? That was hard to say. She certainly thought she did but she knew better than to trust other ponies, and trust was important so did she actually have any friends? She had many ponies who hung around her. She had ponies she liked hanging around with. Her parties were never empty. But she knew that she was rich and important and plenty of ponies were attracted to that more than they ever could be to her. She was fine with that. She knew her role. She knew what that entailed. More than anything else she knew better than to put voice to the fear that she didn't want to feel as alone as she sometimes could feel, as cold as she often felt. How afraid she was of the reasons behind it all. "Connections? Friends?" She said as she started eating her food, her brows furrowed. "In town? Ponyville? Eh, a few I guess. I prefer business partners. I'm new and I keep my cards close to the barrel most of the time. There's some nice ponies in town. Some older ponies- Silver Spoon I think was the name of one of them- tried to show me around town but I was too busy. Have to take them up on it soon, I think. I still have trouble finding Sugarcube Corner and I must have gained a few pounds the first week I was here just from that place."

Twilight concurred. They had done well enough down here and that was good enough for her. The deep was endlessly entertaining but she had responsibilities above the waves and she needed to get back to it. They were used to her wanders and travails but rarely did she spend this long out. Time had passed slowly enough for them but she could tell more than a small amount of time had passed for those above. So much so that when her friend changed and opened her mouth, she didn't much consider the weird implications. She was just more enticed by whatever unusual entrance she had in mind for the crew of the ship more than anything else. "I am interested in seeing where this goes," she replied in kind before she grew smaller and teleported into the mouth.

As Applejack went ahead and got herself dressed, Rara went ahead with her own wardrobe. She would start off with a simple number, one that any fan of hers would be well acquainted with by now. A veil covered her flank as a black high-shirt terminated around the middle of her neck, the last few inches opened and veiled itself. It was comfortable and had become the more or less official uniform of Rara rather than the Countess. Simple, elegant. Comes equipped with a piano. For this performance she would have to wear many hats and hooves, from piano to guitar to bass and dance all in between. When that was done she made sure the instrumentation was ready. To start with it would be just a piano and a guitar and the stands they would need. In front of the stage some stagehounds would be milling about and some audio-visual engineers, Azure leaning against the far wall and overlooking the process. Right before Applejack came out they had finished, and a red circle appeared off of a reflection on a crystal mirror above the stage, near the front. That would prove important for staging reasons. For now, Rara would just have to be content with- Oh no she's hot. Applejack looked very very very good. A few small hitches around the legs and thighs, not that Rara was looking or anything, but she otherwise looked absolutely killer. Just as Rara had imagined it to be. Rara rolled her shoulders to hide the shudder and blush. "You are looking amazing. I think we're gonna be on the covers of magazines for the next few months," she said as she stuck her tongue out. Fact was, she was losing it by the moment. She needed to go ahead and get back to focusing on her work and do so fast. She coughed her voice clear. "Red feather, yellow feather, Red feather, yellow feather..." she spoke in a sing-song fashion as she looked about the stage. "Okay, so here is the start of it. See that red dot? I mean, well of course you do. Hard to miss. That red dot signifies the audience's center of focus. It isn't something to hyper focus on, but rather something to just keep in mind. The closer you are to that, the more easily you can be seen by the whole audience. With two of us, the spacing will be important- don't want to clutter their view during simple songs. Speaking of, we'll work in trios as a set. The first song will be the simplest and we ramp up. After each set we can step back and see where we are," she said as she trotted over to her piano and took a seat. She started playing some keys to warm her hooves up. "First up we'll do 'I Overlooked An Orchard'. Pretend as if we're live and have an audience," she said as she started to repeat the opening keys to the song. "No big dance here, just a nice simple rendition of the song. You can take the lead and I'll come in with the chorus. After that we can hit something a bit faster passed but still maintain the lack of a dance, to keep it simple. We'll wrap this set up with something a bit more high energy. Ready?" She asked rhetorically as she winked. The lights changed ever slightly and she started playing the song.