"You're sure about this?" I asked Searing with a bit of concern. It was early in the morning of reopening after the holidays, and we were laying in bed with each other.

"Absolutely," she assured me with a dismissive wave. "And if I'm being honest, it's been in the back of my mind for a while now."

"I can understand that, but-"

"I'm going to do it and there's nothing you will do to stop me."

"Well. . . You're not wrong. . ."

"All I need to do is go get the stuff from Rarity. I'll be back later."

I watched Searing get up and leave, then sighed. "Well, if she wants to do that, who am I to say no?"

A couple hours later, Searing, still a unicorn, came back. She looked very unamused. "Yang."

"Yes, Searing?"

"Why did nobody tell me about Lyra?"

"Why, what did she. . . She saw you in your human form, didn't she?"

"I had no idea a unicorn could move so fast without magic!" She changed to her human form, clad in a brand new black and blue bartender uniform, as she’d wanted to do, and sat down in a booth. "And why is she so obsessed with humans?"

I shrugged. "Beats me. I remember when she tackled me some time after I arrived here. Bon Bon had to drag her off of me, and offered an apology in candy business deal form. It's why we sell Bon Bon's bon bons."

"I thought it was just because they were good."

"That certainly helps, but it's not how we started selling them. Still, they're a staple dessert here. Oh, we got our meat shipment while you were busy. I've already sorted it out. All we need is-" A trio of knocks sounded from the front door. "Maybe that's it right now. I'll get it."

"I'll double check the bar."

As Searing checked the bar, I answered the door. "Hi, Applejack," I said. "Caramel apples?"

"Bunches of 'em!" Applejack happily responded before she brought her cart in. "Hey, can Ah ask you for a small favor?"

"What's up?"

"Could you whip up somethin' for me? Ah kinda skipped breakfast." The farmer's stomach loudly rumbled. "Ah can pay for it."

"Hmmmm. . ." I looked over to the dessert display and came up with an idea. "If you put the caramel apples away and set some on display in the case for me, that'll be payment enough."

"How many do you want in there?"

"Four wide, six deep. How does an omelette, hash browns, and toast sound?"

"That sounds good." Applejack promptly got to work on her end of the deal.

"Me too!" Searing excitedly agreed.

I smiled as I grabbed a notepad and got the orders, putting mine down after theirs.

Once I'd finished the breakfasts, I brought the food out to what had become the usual booth Searing and I sat at. Searing brought three glasses of orange juice over, along with silverware. Applejack brought herself and her loud stomach.

"I'm kind of surprised you wanted bacon bits, Applejack," I said as we started on our breakfast.

"Ah do come by occasionally for dinner," the farmer said around a mouthful of omelette. "Ah haven't tried many of the meats here, but Ah know what Ah like, and Ah stick to it."

"Fair enough. Besides, how can anyone not like bacon?"

Searing sat up straight, held up her right hand, and began preaching. "Bacon, blessed be thy savory form, oh holiest and most delicious of meats. Let thy grease bless other foods with thine flavor, so none shall be hungry. Let thy fragrance bring wakefulness to the tired, and. . ." She looked down at her plate in contemplation. "Screw the sermon, I've got bacon in front of me!" She took a big bite of her omelette and put on as serious of an expression as she could while making exaggerated chewing motions.

Applejack and I couldn't help but heartily laugh at the performance. All in all, it was a good breakfast, and it gave me an idea: breakfast with the local suppliers.

After a short nap, Searing and I went back downstairs to start the workday. A crowd was forming outside the front door, just waiting for us to open. The opening staff came in through the back, and once 3 PM rolled around, I opened the front door.

It felt great to work with everyone again. I'd missed the sounds of cooking, the happy guests, and the consistent heat an active kitchen produced. I did not miss the complainers. Thankfully, Gilda and Sylvia took care of the three that did crop up.

Searing, as she had been doing since her return, stayed from open to close. She handled the bar very well, and, from the glances I was able to catch through the serving window, she was happy to be working there.

I didn't miss the closing paperwork. The profits, as always, were very good, and that was always nice to see.

It was just as I was finishing up the paperwork that Searing entered. "Hey, Yang? You have a computer, right?"

"Yeah, but I folded it up and put it away," I answered. "I couldn’t really do much with it for the place. Do you need it for something?"

"Umm. . . I think Discord may have visited us and. . . It's, umm. . . How about I just show you?"

"Let me finish up here and I'll come look." The last of the paperwork, thankfully, took less than a minute to finish and file away.

Searing led me to her storage area and the full computer setup was sitting there on the desk, ready for use. The fact that it was there wasn't what drew my attention. That went to the left of the desk, where a strange machine stood, a single cable connecting it to the computer. "What is that thing?"

"That. . . That's a latex printer." Searing shrunk away from me as she told me about it. "It lets you. . . Itletsyouprintlatexthings."

"Latex things?" I looked over the machine again. "Is that from-"

"It is from the fetish world. I didn't like that part of my trip."

"So why do you have it?"

"Discord grabbed it before we left. It was the only thing I liked from there, if only because I could make my own stuff with it."

I turned to Searing. "Were there any normal clothes there?"

"It was all latex. Underwear, shirts, leggings, dresses, swimwear, footwear, gloves, you name it, it was made of tight, shiny latex, and everyone there was a fit woman. There were even enchantresses that could make things like centaur legs work with ease."

"For real?" I couldn’t keep the curiosity from my voice.

"For real."

Someone knocking on the window caught our attention. It was Discord wearing a postman's hat. He opened the window and leaned on the sill like it was a counter. "Delivery for one Searing Victory. If you'll just sign this form, I'll bring the package in."

She warily approached him. "What's in the package?"

"A little something something made of latex."

"Alright, I'll sign." Searing pulled an arm back and gave him a mighty backhand to his face. "That's for breaking in and setting this up."

"Okay, that'll do." He brought a crate through the wall like a ghost and set it in the middle of the room. "Don't have too much fun~" With that, he closed the window and left.

After taking a moment to reheat and collect myself from the sudden events, I looked at the crate. "So, what's in there?"

"Probably my centaur legs." Searing, with a bit of help from me, opened the crate. "Yep."

I looked at the sleek set of crouching bright red legs, the flanks boldly emblazoned with Searing's cutie mark. "So, how does it work?"

"You just slip them on." She caught my curious gaze at the legs. "Do you want me to show you?"

"Well. . . I do, but I also don't want to get too caught up in this. We have work tomorrow. Today. Whichever." I glanced back at the computer. "It's just so tempting, you know?"

Searing looked a little conflicted as she thought for a bit. "How about this: I'll put the legs on for a bit tonight. We can save the other stuff until Saturday is done so we have all of Sunday to look it over."

"That sounds good. So, the legs?"

"Alright." Searing moved the legs over to the bedside, got on the bed, and slid herself into what would be the base of the neck if it were a full equine. Shortly after she was in, the legs came to life, lifting up to their full height, then she slowly walked around. Before, we were eye to eye, but with the legs, eye level for me was around the middle of her waist.

"Woah," I got out after a minute of just looking at her. "You got taller."

"Yeah. This is better as an outdoor thing. Or a castle thing." The top of Searing's head was only inches from the ceiling. "I spent almost a whole week in some of these legs on a nature hike. Aside from a surprise bear, talking with Discord, a random storm, beating down a complainer, more rain, and some. . . Friendly comments that got under my skin, being a centaur was actually pretty fun."

"Cool. Hey, maybe we could go for a walk with these at some point! You with the legs and me on your back. Let's try that now." I went up to Searing's side and made the short leap upwards.

"Hey. Hey!" After a few moments of me on her back, she changed her tone. The hug I gave her human half from behind probably helped. "Well. . . I suppose this isn't bad."

"Because it's me?"

"Yeah, because it's you. And you make good barbecue."

"You know it! Hey, can I try the legs?"

"I suppose. Look out." I got off as Searing leaned back, planted her hands on the barrel of the lower half, and pulled herself out of the legs. As soon as she did, the legs went to their crouching position again. "All yours."

I leapt back onto the back and was just about to slide into the opening when a thought crossed my mind. A glance down told me that Searing hadn't taken her shoes off, so I dismissed the concern and slid in. It was an odd, but not unpleasant feeling as the legs came to life and lifted me up. "Okay, this is. . ." I carefully moved a red foreleg around. "This is tricky." With caution and boldness, I tried walking forward.

Success, even a small success, just one proper step would have been nice. It would have been a good starting point. Unfortunately, it didn't happen because I forgot about the rear legs and I did the flop. "How long did it take you to get used to these?" I asked as I tried to get the four legs to work properly.

"I spent most of my life on four legs," Searing casually responded. "You know, because I'm really a unicorn."

"You make it easy to forget that sometimes." Just as I finally got the legs to stabilize under me, I felt Searing jump onto my back. "Hey. Hey!" After a few moments of her on my back, I changed my tone. The hug she gave my human half from behind probably helped. "Well. . . I suppose this isn't bad."

"Because it's me?"

"Yeah, because it's you." A moment later, we broke down in laughter. The laughter came to an end when I did the flop again. "Maybe I should figure these things out in a more open environment. With padded floors."

Searing rolled off my back. "That sounds like a good idea."

Once I was back on all four hooves again, I did what Searing did to get out, and the legs did nothing to stop me from leaving them. "I think that's enough for tonight. Let's go to bed."

"Alright."

Later, in the dreamscape

Luna and Cadence watched Yang and Searing's dreams. They dreamt of each other, having innocent fun together. Running, dining, sharing a bench, discussing clothes, sparring in full armor, all perfectly normal stuff.

"Auntie Luna?"

"Yes, niece?"

"Is there anything you can do to make them kiss? It's obvious they love each other, and they know it. They're even sharing a bed and cuddling."

"Isn't love your thing. . ." Luna briefly turned into Chrysalis. "Princess of food?" Luna turned back into Luna.

Cadence switched to her mom voice. "Quiet, you."

"Distance aside, what's stopping you from working your magic to make them kiss?"

"It would be like trying to fill a bucket full of water with more water. Those two are too close for me to do anything short of telekinetically pushing them together, and that would only make them mad at me. I can do nothing."

"I see. Still, it would be nice for them to take that step."

The princesses turned their focus back to the dreams for a moment. "COME ON, KISS ALREADY!"

Author's Note

Why was this chapter so long in getting published? I got sidetracked by another story of mine.