Bellosh

Wait... are the two mares... caroling? Filthy Rich probably should have seen it coming; both Rarity and Fluttershy were members of the Ponytones, after all. But as far as dinnertime interruptions went, a visit from carolers was by far one of the most pleasant among then. Filthy was in fact about to call over the rest of the family over when the stallion noticed his sweet angel had already come up to the front door too. As for the wife..... she could be honestly harder to herd than a cat. Once the Ponytone duo finished their heartwarming carol, Mr. Rich was left with a case of eye wateriness that required prompt drying out. As he did so, his daughter surprisingly asked if she could come along caroling with the other mares! After a moment of processing the filly’s question, the daddy beamed; “Well of course, Diamond Tiara! Just make sure you put on some warm clothes before going outside..." Maybe a year ago or earlier, Filthy would have insisted on tagging along like the involved father he wanted to be. But Diamond Tiara was growing up fast these days, and she needed space to be her own pony. Besides, with the daughter gone for a couple of hours, maybe Filthy and Spoiled could do their special little thing to bring warmth to the season... although knowing the wife, the husband will probably have to do some caroling of his own first.....

Filthy Rich was in the middle of a pleasant dinner with his family when he heard knocking at their front door. “I’ll get the door,” he got up from his seat; “I promise not to take long.” Filthy couldn’t imagine somepony wanting to hang around outside in the cold this late in the evening, what with the first scheduled snows of winter falling down upon Ponyville tonight. Opening the door, Mr. Rich found Fluttershy and Rarity dressed up in winter accouterments. “Oh, hello there ladies,” the stallion politely greeted the two, his voice betraying only a tiny hint of perplexion; “How may I help you?”

Two fatigued, bruised-up unicorns stumbled through the chilly evening-time streets of Canterlot towards the snow-covered castle which towered over the city, raising eyebrows as they passed by. One of these unicorns — the one coated in amber — wore saddlebags absolutely filled to the brim. Her taller, darker-hued partner worked even worse for wear, although that was mostly up to old visible wounds. Still, they were a most odd sight in a city in the throes of celebrating Hearth’s Warming Eve; the first one spearheaded by Princess Celestia’s successor, Twilight Sparkle. As Hearth’s Warming was a time meant to be spent with family, Princess Twilight was of course occupied with family matters in the castle’s solar... that is to say, eating pudding and singing Hearth’s Warming carols with Mom, Dad, the BBBFF, Sis-in-Law, Niece, and even the BBBFF’s in-law. Unlike last year, this time there would be nothing standing in the way between Twilight and the perfect Hearth’s Warming. Right up until a visibly distressed Twilight guardpony slammed open the door into the solar, admitting our two unicorns from earlier inside. Thankfully for the amber mare — Sunset Shimmer — the Twilight Guard had very explicit orders from their monarch to never deny Sunset entry to anyplace on the castle grounds. Tonight, the weakened, saddlebag-laden Sunset came bringing an important message for the Princess: “.....Happy... Hearth’s Warming... Twi…..” That was all a barely-smiling Sunset managed to choke out before her exhausted body collapsed onto the floor.....

Sugar Apple reflected on Earthy’s musings as she finished breakfast and waited to be delivered her bill. As she started counting the bits for both her and her ex’s meals (as if she was going to insist that a down on his luck stallion foot up his half), Mr. Writer proposed another meeting this evening. The mare replied without hesitation; “Sure thing, hun! Ah may run a lil’ late, and ah’ll definitely be pooped as heck, but meet me back hyar at ‘round six or so.” Leaving her money on the table, the pegasus mare got up along with Earth Writer. “Ah suppose ah gotta head off now,” Sugar announced as she put a hoof on one of the stallion’s scruffy cheeks; “Take care, Earthy.” The mare stood there for a moment or so as if unsure what to do, before ultimately giving Earthy a quick peck on his other cheek; “.....Ah missed ya, hun.” With all the changes to her life, Sugar Apple was glad to indulge herself with at least one little bit of happy nostalgia. With nothing else left to do, Sugar started to trot out of Feather Jon’s, but not before giving her former coltfriend one last grin; “Don't be a stranger now, you hear!” *EXIT SUGAR APPLE*

Shining Armor went on at some length about the value of fairy tales and chivalry, and how those were connected to the issue General Pummel raised of maintaining nation-wide solidarity. Although Pummel’s accent didn’t reflect it, he had been born and raised in Stalliongrad, and how the Crystal Prince described the regional culture definitely gelled with Pummel’s own foalhood memories. The question was then how to forge a shared national identity for Equestria; from Pummel’s perspective, Armor’s answer... made for sound crisis response policy, but did not actually address the fundamental problem they were trying to solve. Gen. Pummel quickly nodded at Admiral Chaser as he entered the room, then he wasted no additional time in answering Prince Shining’s question; “Although I remain a firm believer in a clear divide between military and civilian institutions, I also see the value of cooperation between the military branches and civilian administrative officials in coordinating a shared national defense policy. I am aware that this school year, the School of Friendship initiated a pilot program geared at instructing students in defensive techniques against corrupted beings. Should that course be deemed successful enough to be expanded and permanently incorporated into Friendship curriculum, I advise working with Archchancellor Blueblood and the Friendship Ministry on expanding that course’s scope towards teaching students how to organize... civil defense squads as proposed by Prince Shining Armor.” There; that was a much better name than “Friendship Militia”, which evoked images of militant bands not bound by any law. It's no accident that bigger cities tended to refer to their military reserve forces as a “Municipal Guard”; a more formalized designation. With Shining Armor’s proposal given the due acknowledgement entitled to it, Pummel could now get into the real hay and potatoes... and the grizzled pegasus had the perfect segway into his pivot. “In addition, the EEA should be consulted on the matter of drafting a policy for providing every colt and filly in Equestria with an expanded, standardized knowledge of history and civics. As the Prince reminds us, it’s the stories we tell our kids that ultimately define the nation we live in... and the sad truth is that we can’t rely on parents to do the job! And how can they? Kingdom-wide, we only expect ponies to complete one year’s worth of compulsory kindergarten instruction, and then that’s it!!! You’re either off to a specialized school, or getting a job!” Pummel questioned incredulously; “How do we expect schoolteachers to make each pony from Stalliongrad to Manehattan feel deep in their hearts that they belong to one country in less than a year? On top of everything else we mandate them to teach???” The general calmly shook his head; “I spent much of my adolescence living in Aquellia as an exchange student — as a guest of House Razorclaw — and those griffons certainly didn’t believe in leaving matters like building national identity to chance! Heh..... there’s a reason why they address family matriarch Morianna Razorclaw as “Professor”: because she breathes down the neck of any Aquellian legislator foolish enough to suggest making cutbacks to compulsory education programs! So it’s no wonder that despite rampant cynicism across all levels of Aquellian society, they still manage to somehow find plenty of willing and able recruits for their armed forces every year. .....Based on studies of foreign education systems compiled by our thinktank, we conservatively estimate that at bare minimum, it takes SEVEN years of compulsory education for a student to incorporate their country of residence as a core component of his or her self-identity. The trends indicate is that the greater background an adolescent creature has in social studies, the more they will engage in civic activities upon reaching adulthood... including military service.” This policy conference was shaping up to be a very long meeting, indeed.....

“Awww,” Sugar Apple reassured Earthy; “Thar's nothin' t' apologize for. Ah ain’t done anythin’ all thet heroic anyway; th’ real heroes... well, y’all know what they say ‘bout real heroes.....” On that downlifting note, Sugar finally got around to munching a bit on her meal. However, a minor thing Earth Writer mentioned a minute ago triggered an old memory of hers. “Ya’ know Earthy, back when ah was growin’ up, mah childhood dream was t’ be one of them dustpunchers.....” *OOC Commentary*:

Sunset Shimmer’s cheeks reddened at Trixie’s jest; the amber unicorn had a bad habit of forgetting that even ponies from a magical world had limits on what they found credulous. Backing away from the desk, Sunset meekly replied to Sunburst; “T-that’s fine... just don’t break it or anything.” Right as she said that, the huge grandfather rang the time. “Aww shoot,” Miss Shimmer awkwardly smiled at the Vice Headstallion, rubbing the back of her head. “I should probably get going; gotta meetup with friends in an hour. So yeah, thanks for taking the time to check our stuff out, Sunburst. Feel free to hit me up if you ever need my help with anything, and I’ll be glad to return the favor!” After giving Sunburst a friendly wink, Sunset turned to Trixie, planting a reassuring hoof on the other unicorn’s shoulder; “Sorry your collection turned out to mostly be a bust Trixie, but we should definitely hang out again sometime when I’m done with my class for the day. We still have to reorganize the rest of your stuff, remember?” And with that, Sunset headed out the door, but not before waving at the other two unicorns; “Take care, you two!” *EXIT SUNSET*

By now, Sunset Shimmer was starting to sense that the Pillars of Old Equestria never took a break from their day jobs. Even when they were ostensibly “speaking guests” at an exhibit honoring their achievements, each Pillar that Sunset had seen so far pretty much neck-deep in the things they did for their day-to-day occupations. Then again, maybe this was the Museum’s way of incorporating a living history program, but somehow the unicorn mare doubted it. Whatever the case may be, Sunset found herself getting roped into another “hooves-on learning activity”. Lacking the heart to turn Meadowbrook down, the unicorn swiftly replied; “Nonono, not at all! We’ll be glad to help!! Just show us what to do, Mage Meadowbrook.....”

Magic... collection? That eyebrow-raising revelation certainly brought back some unpleasant memories for Sunset Shimmer. “Whatever you do,” she sternly advised; “DO NOT try to release the magic that’s stored inside. I’ve seen a magic collection device similar to this before..." Sunset leaned over Sunburst’s desk to get in his face, conveying the gravity of the situation. “The last person who unleashed magic from it got overwhelmed by its power, and nearly destroyed the fabric of reality in the process!” It was at this point that a chilling thought dawned on the Equestrian girl. She gave the orb a good, hard look; “How much magic do you estimate that artifact is designed to contain, anyway?”

“Oh,” Sunset commented to Feng and Yanhua; “I’m sure Twilight will have secretaries on staff for minor bureaucratic stuff... she likes being the Organizer-in-Chief, after all.” A faint blush appeared on the unicorn’s cheeks. “I suppose I may have been a little melodramatic about the whole ruling alone bit, eh heh heh. But who knows? Maybe I’ll just ask Twi to mail a blank journal to the Imperial Palace. There’s not gonna’ be any problems with doing that, right?” Sunset quickly remembered to add; “Oh by the way, Tempest’s doing fine. She had things she wanted to do this morning, but wanted me to tell you guys she said ‘hi’.” As the unicorn mare spoke those words, she noticed out of the corner of her eye — oddly enough — yet another qilin walking towards the back of the line. Unlike Sunset’s newest friends however, this stallion wore a fancy robe, and seemed to project an air of regalness about him that reminded Miss Shimmer of the likes of Prince Blueblood and Fancy Pants. Sure enough, when the regal qilin got the attention of Feng and Yanhua, the other two’s body language stiffened significantly and took on a more deferential tone. Just from what she’d observed so far, Sunset Shimmer surmised that the newcomer must have been a bigwig over at the Imperial Palace. Maybe one of those pretenders to the throne that Feng talked about earlier. For now, Sunset stood silently and gave the denizens of Long Guo their conversational space.....

Grubber was left speechless as Professor Applejack grabbed the hedgehog, put him up on the stand, and whispered words of encouragement. It was an odd feeling really; the last time any creature ever expressed earnest faith in Grubber was, who knows... back when the hippogriff rooted for him several minutes ago? But BEFORE then, such instances were few, assuming they even happened. Stormlanders by and large were a reserved, cynical lot. But a result of that sort of upbringing was that with nobody putting real trust into Grubber, he never felt that failure and laziness led to genuine consequences. Sure, you could have tried being super successful in the Storm King’s regime instead... just go ask Strife and Tempest Shadow how “success” worked out for them! On the other hand, only putting minimal effort into tasks might not have won Grubber acclaim... but he got his grub regardless, and getting grub was the only thing that mattered in life anyway. .....Or did it? As Applejack’s kiss sent blood rushing to Grubber’s cheeks, the hedgehog strangely felt much more was on the line than at any point in his life. The runt disliked hard work, no doubt about that... but would he have the heart to let his professor down after she spoke those inspiring heartfelt words? The hedgehog would have to answer the important questions of life on his own time. At the moment, Grubber needed to jump down and fetch his bushel of apples... which looked rather heavy for a runt like him to carry. But the diminutively-sized hedgehog would see it through! “Jutht you wait and thee, Profethor!!!” Grubber eagerly boasted as he walked off with his new fruit cache; “I’m TOTALLY going to have the betht homework grade next clath....!” *EXIT GRUBBER*

Give thanks to the all-mighty Dio:

Looks awesome! I'm guessing those are phoenix feathers in the background? :)

Fire ponies are trending this season, dontcha know?

Ah, glad to see you back in the banner game! For starters, here's my current main WoE character..... Character Name: Sunset Shimmer Background Colors + Font Style: Something..... fiery/sunny? I'll trust your judgement on this one. Special Effects: Yes Character Image: https://i.imgur.com/opSFkAx.png Cutie Mark Image: https://i.imgur.com/CdHikYl.png

Shining Armor took a more pragmatic approach to his introductory remarks. Yes, General Pummel recognized the value of recognizing limitations where they existed, but it was also true that without a bold statement of purpose, the effort needed to address said limits would never materialize. Even in the face of impossible odds, the belief that a glimmer of victory can be snatched from the jaws of defeat was the essential ingredient for producing miracles, both tactical and strategic. A herculean task laid before Princess Twilight and the military commanders assembled here today, but Pummel was bent on ensuring that everypony walked out with ambitious purpose and the will to see it though. It was what any true leader would do. After silently nodding to the Twilight Guard representative Captain Walker sent in her stead, General Pummel got down to the first of his nitty gritty details; “As most of you are aware, I was appointed chairstallion of the Suntrot Commission, which was first set up to devise strategies and policies for REA reform in the wake of the First Changeling Invasion. The commission’s work is ongoing, but each of you has been provided a dossier that lays out our latest findings. You may now open these up..." Pummel waited a moment for thick folders in front of each pony to be opened. “To begin, I would like to direct your attention to the report on recruitment levels and budgets across all services made by Mane’s Information Institute. While we are all keenly aware that Equestrian enlistment levels are rather low for a nation of our size and GDP, there are some... worrisome trends that merit further scrutiny. Chief among these is the observation of where most of our recruits are actually coming from. To summarize, about 55% of our horsepower comes from areas designated as part of Equestria’s heartland... that is to say, the interior region between the Allacor and Eponnie Ranges. Another 25% hail from the Greater Stalliongrad region, which leaves just 20% for everywhere else COMBINED. Places which include most of our country’s most heavily populated urban centers, I should remind you. This report — in conjunction with studies conducted by the Suntrot Commission and other think tanks — suggests that even if recruitment budgets are significantly increased, issues of systemic cultural disunity will persist. A nation is only as strong as the creatures willing to sacrifice for it... and Equestria cannot live up to its fullest potential if most of its citizens refuse to even contemplate the idea of giving back to the country that gives them freedom and harmony.....”

Sunburst largely agreed with Sunset Shimmer’s suspicions; that few of these shoddy artifacts (if any) could have been the work of somepony as great a sorcerer as Star Swirl the Bearded. That orb though seemed to be a different story, as Sunburst got a bit too careless with probing the item. “All I know is that I could detect how that orb has by far the strongest magical signature of anything else in Trixie’s collection.” It would have to be up to the stage magician to provide any other details.....

Aw dang, Grubber got hogtied into having the spotlight shined on him! “No prob, Profethor!” Although he was sweating from nervousness, the hedgehog hoped his fake enthusiasm would encourage Professor Applejack to move on to a more pleasant subject. Unfortunately, Applejack’s rejection of storm bucks as a viable currency left Grubber in somewhat of a bind. “You gotta underthand,” he tried explaining; “I wath thoppothed to overthee the tranthition from bitth to thorm buckth, tho the Thorm King ordered a whole bunch of money to be delivered to Canterlot. All thothe buckth arrived, but then you guyth happened, there wath that big windthorm and the cake with the creepy parrot eye in it... long thory thort, at the end of the day, I wath left with a thhip load of thorm buckth! Next thing I know, all my old homieth were mailing me their thorm buckth too!!! But everytime I try uthing buckth, nopony acceptth them! Like, I managed to corner thith banker dude one time, and he wath telling me all about exchange rateth and how thoppethedly one bit ith worth a quadrillion thorm buckth, which he then explained ith what happenth when countrieth abandon the gold thandard for fiat currency, or thomething like that. Point ith, everybody around here thinkth thorm buckth thuck, and I don’t know how to get rid of them..." Grubber sighed dejectedly. “But I thoppothe if I really mutht.....” Five shiny bits now appeared in Grubber’s grubby paw, ripe for the taking.

“Uhh yeah, thure thure,” Grubber addressed his professor’s inquiry with an answer that some might have found vague and unconvincing. Those who knew the hedgehog best won’t find a more infamous procrastinator than he. Payment was a far less awkward subject for Grubber. “OH OH OH,” he boasted; “I can do better than five bitth! I’ve got...” on cue, he suddenly produced a huge wad of numbered grey-colored notes adorned with an official portrait of the Storm King; “THTORM BUCKTH!!!” Ah… storm bucks; as far as Grubber knew, they still remained the official currency of the Stormlands and all overseas territories that were once incorporated into the Storm Armada’s jurisdiction. And unlike everypony else in Ponyville, a true believer of love and tolerance like Professor Applejack will surely accept this official currency as legit payment.....

Sunset Shimmer nodded attentively at Feng’s description of Empress Yù Yuè, which sounded like it was plucked right from the introduction of those princess fantasy novels where the author went a little too out of their way to make the main heroine sound as beautifully flowery as possible. Hey, that could be a second career for Feng if he ever retired from the Watchers; just something he should think about. Now then, Sunset didn’t need to be a love princess to understand how a bodyguard like her longma friend would naturally be drawn towards the qilin mare he was duty-bound to protect, even when- Oh, look who showed up! “Glad you could make it, Yanhua!” Sunset greeted the newcomer; something seemed just the tiniest bit off with the chef’s voice, but Sunset wasn’t given much time to dwell on it before having to answer a question from Feng; “Uhhhh... I’ll have to check if she’d be down for that. Don’t forget, the Transition’s coming up soon, so Princess Twilight will be busy ruling over this whole kingdom...” Sunset made a sweeping gesture to place emphasis on all the land around them, land destined to very shortly become the domain of one Twilight Sparkle. “By herself, I must point out!”

With the possible exception of Professor Pie’s pastry-filled classes, Grubber was by and large a mediocre Friendship student whose biggest issue was not applying himself to put in the academic work. And nowhere was that glaring flaw more apparent than the classes taught by Professor Applejack, a notorious proponent for value of hard, honest work. You know, the one thing a slacker like Grubber tended to avoid at all costs. But all of that was back in the classroom. Out here, Grubber was just another customer hoping to score some tasty treats! “Hi there Profethor Applejack,” the peppy hedgehog began his sweet-talking routine, hungrily eying the delicious fruits that for the moment were the apples of his eye; “You thure have a lovely apple orchard here! It'th got everything, like appleth... and more appleth!!”

Welp, so much for passing as a mere acquaintance. From here on out, Sunset Shimmer would have to assume that Twilight told all the Pillars about who she was. It was a thought both flattering and scary at the same time. What would Star Swirl the Bearded think of the one-time magic student? Did he know the story of how she dropped out of Celestia’s School? ...Was Sunset getting ahead of herself thinking about what’ll happen when she encounters the Father of Modern Spellcasting? .....Yeah, she probably was. Time to get back to the here and now with Mage Meadowbrook! “Well over there,” Sunset started explaining; “Nobody who works in healthcare brews their own medicines anymore. The gist of it is that you’ve got these giant pharmaceutical companies who mass-produce thousands upon thousands of clinically-tested drugs per day, and they charge whatever price they want due to their absolute control of supply and demand, and of course intellectual property law allows these conglomerates to do whatever the heck they want. So to actually get the pharmaceuticals you need, first you have to go to a primary care physician who is covered by your health insurance plan, because if you don’t, you incur a hefty bill after a trip to the office. And the health insurance company has to sign off on your prescription too, because the thing is that the health care providers can’t actually make any money if they approve every prescription, meaning oftentimes you’ll end up footing at least half the bill, and did I mention how expensive prescription medication can be? Oh and if you’re a human with chronic health issues or other pre-existing conditions, you can forget entirely about having a health insurance plan, because the insurance companies will lose too much money on you, and did I also mention how hideously expensive a trip to the ER is over there? This is why we need to-” It was only now that Sunset noticed the ill ponies in every direction. “Uhhhh,” she quietly asked Meadowbrook, nervously glancing towards the sickly crowd; “Should we be concerned right now? Is Canterlot suffering some sort of freak viral outbreak today?”

Although Sunset Shimmer still didn’t speak a word to the rugged earth pony, her stare significantly softened when he apologized. As much as Sunset quickly got mad at folks who antagonized her, she was also relatively quick to adopt a forgiving attitude when warranted. After all, it wasn’t as if the Equestrian girl’s own past was entirely spotless. …..Yeeesh! If Feng’s word was anything to go by, the whole imperial system of rule was a byzantine nightmare in of itself. Being an empress sounded more like being a hostage to competing interests. Since Sunset was not an expert in political science however, she stayed quiet on the subject for the time being. But she reciprocated Feng’s beaming smile upon his formal offer of friendship. “Oh, ABSOLUTELY!” Sunset euthestically replied, before a realization made her cheeks redden with embarrassment; “...Except now I wish I’d thought of asking Twilight for another set of magic journals for the two of us. It might be hard keeping in touch, otherwise.” Sunset’s self-consciousness didn’t take long though to morph into mischievousness as the unicorn grinned wickedly. “...So NOW that our friendship is official..... time to spill the beans. Come on, Feng,” she elbowed the longma; “Tell me how your loooovely Empress is like! Who’s her name, anyway....?”

Sunset Shimmer would have used this opportunity to explain to Feng that speaking from her personal experience, first kisses weren’t the earth-shattering milestones there were cracked up to be. However, the stallion in front of Feng beat Sunset to the punch, which the unicorn mare wouldn’t have minded... if not for the rude unsolicited compliment the stranger felt entitled to send Sunset’s way! UGGGGGH, the sheer nerve!!! Miss Shimmer had to put up with that crud from boys every week during her part-time gig at the Mall’s sushi joint. Thankfully no guy she knew from Canterlot High harassed her while on the clock; while she will always be immensely grateful that her classmates by and large no longer treated her with the uttermost fear, the Equestrian girl also appreciated how everyone there respected the one clear personal boundary of Sunset’s to never cross. But with other unpleasant customers... Sunset basically had no choice but to smile and put up with catcalls and lame unoriginal “are you on fire?” pickup-lines or else lose her job and source of income. .....But we’re in her world now, not that world, and no little stallion was going to disrespect Sunset Shimmer and walk-off scot free! Well, if he persisted further, that is. Not wanting to cause a scene just yet, Sunset merely shot the rude pony an unamused glare; her nonverbal way of telling him that if he wanted to brag about being a pig, he can go bug somepony else! Once Sunset was reasonably satisfied that she and Feng wouldn’t be bothered further by the interloper, she continued their conversation from before, except speaking in a quieter tone to discourage the stranger from jutting in. “Take it from me,” offered the mare; “Forget any nonsense you’ve ever heard about the so-called “magic” of first kisses and true love. I’ve dated before, and I’m just going to tell you now that your first kiss WILL be all awkward and, when it comes down to it, unmemorable. My ex-boyfriend... he couldn’t put passion in a smooch to save his life!” There were things Feng said earlier however that sparked a philosophical discontent within Sunset. “If you don’t mind me backtracking a bit though,” the unicorn’s voice became even more hushed than before; “This just may be culture-shock talking Feng, so please try not to take this too personally or anything... but speaking as somepony who went mad with a lust for revenge and power during a dark time in my life, I know insecurity when I see it. Your Empress telling you that being a loyal Watcher means not being allowed to love ANYBODY ELSE? That has the stench of insecurity written all over it.” “Look, I admit that I don’t actually know the Empress like you do... but I can’t help but think back to when I was Princess Celestia’s bratty apprentice. I remember always getting mad at her because it seemed like not a day went by without Celestia bugging me about how I needed to make new friends, or encouraging me to write a letter to my family back home that I disowned... or strongly hinting I should invite the new girl at school to the Saddle Hawkins dance.....” That last one came with a quick blush; “The point being that while I failed to appreciate it at the time, I can’t imagine AT ALL a Princess Celestia who didn’t encourage her subjects to find ponies to love and cherish. Just think about it: if our royal guard ponies weren’t allowed to be in relationships, then Princess Cadence wouldn’t have been able to marry Princess Twilight’s brother, and everything I’ve ever heard about him makes me believe he’s actually a stand-up guy!” The mare rubbed the back of the neck as she apologetically smiled; “Sorry about the rant, but it’s just that hearing you’re not allowed to have family or relationships rubs me the wrong way.....”

Not one day after Iron Pony ended, and Sunset Shimmer had already gotten herself into another unplanned side-journey. It was only supposed to be a quick trip to Equestria to pick up a new magical journal so Sunset could keep in touch with her new unicorn pen-pal from anywhere within the Multiverse. But before leaving, the unicorn mare also decided to touch base with some of her other newfound acquaintances from half a world away. One thing led to another, and Sunset Shimmer found herself showing Feng Yinhaitao the way to Sweet Apple Acres. On the way, the unicorn decided it would be interesting to compare the apples here to the ones her good friend grew back on her farm Over There. Although mildly annoyed at the long line today, Sunset decided to stick it out and keep her longma chum company in the meantime. The mare looked at the fliers that seemed to fill Feng with dred... and dismissively snorted. “Really?” Sunset chided, rolling her eyes; “Does your Empress actually forbid her warriors from kissing ANYBODY?” This crush of Feng’s was starting to sound quite strange... and perhaps even misplaced. What sort of mare was this Empress truly, anyway?