A Change of Pace

*Cut, Cut, Cut, Cut,*

*Cling,*

*Fold, slide, fold, fold, fold,*

*Plop*

“Drop me more peps please!”

“On it,”

*Clamp, slide, plop, CLANG!*

*Clamp, slide, plop, CLANG!*

*Cling,*

*Cut, Cut, Cut, Cut,*

*Cut, Cut, Cut, Cut,*

*Cling*

*Fold, slide, fold, fold, fold,*

*Plop*

*Fold, slide, fold, fold, fold,*

*Plop*

“Which car does this Deep Dish go to?”

“White car, two door,”

*Bell ring*

These are the typical sounds you can find yourself hearing inside a Little Caesars, all of that folding cutting and plopping is my job, I box and cut pizza straight out of the oven. Hi, I’m Anthony, and this is my 9 to 5 Monday through Friday. I’ve just graduated high school not a month ago and they started me full time not to long after, I started working here in late January but only part time until May. I originally didn’t mean to get this job, I went to a friend’s house and when I showed up he was just leaving to apply here, having nothing to do I tagged along with him. Once we arrived they asked if I wanted to apply, figuring it wouldn’t matter I did and they hired us on the spot. That friend quit a few weeks ago, along with most of the trainees I started with, we started on a new batch of trainees about a week ago and they’re doing good so far. None slacking much, the girl on drive thru is new and is doing an amazing job, she’s a natural. I’m on ovens and have mastered the art of cutting and boxing the pizza very fast, I’m good at most of the jobs but ovens are my favorite.

I look up at the clock to see it’s a few minutes from five, ‘Come on, let this rush end before five so I can leave on time,” I look over to the drive thru camera and see it empty, I then glance to the reflection of the remaining drive thru in the glass door of the soda machine to see only two cars. I look in the lobby and see no customers, and finally into the oven to see only four pizzas on the top conveyer way at the beginning. I look back at the clock to see it’s now five.

“Alright Jen, don’t work too hard tonight,” I say setting down my pan grabber and spatula.

“Oh, don’t work too hard on a Friday, I’d be lucky if we didn’t have one of those 6 till 10 rushes again,”

“That sucked, but for a trainee you did good, kept percentages up better than I’ve ever been able to,”

“Don’t you hate working drive thru?”

I nod, “I despise it, but we all have to do our part,”

“Well whenever I’m on shift I always do drive thru, and I love it,”

“Alright, hey look another drive thru,”

“Shit, really,” she says looking around the warmer at the camera to see, no-one, “You’re such an ass sometimes,”

“Clear that drive thru of yours, and you have a few pizzas in the oven, later,” I say leaving to the back.

I go to the computer, sign into my work account, and clock out before heading to the back of the store. As I make my way back, I see the General Manager the night shift leader and the morning shift leader making pizzas on the pizza line, I then look to the racks behind them and see only half of one cart full out of the three total carts (48 to a cart)

“Come on Alan, slacking,” I say to the General Manager jokingly, him along with the night shift leader Isaac are both Hispanic and laugh before uttering some words in Spanish, talking shit about me I imagine.

“At least I didn’t drop any pizzas yesterday Gringo,” says Isaac.

“Drop anymore pizzas and I’m gonna have to drop your hours,” says Alan with a laugh

The three of us share a laugh, I give them all a fist bumps before making my way to the back, my friend Antonio is doing dishes and listening to the soft beats of Johnny Cash.

“Why does Alan give you the most fucked up hours out of us all?” I ask

The typical shift is either morning from 9 to 5 or night from 4 till 11, Antonio works after noon, from 12 to 8.

“I don’t know man; he gave me less days on next week’s schedule, only three days man, I can’t pay for shit with these hours,” he says

“It’ll be alright, hell maybe someone will quit or get fired and more hours will be there for you,”

He nods, “True, alright I’ll see you later, take care,”

I share a fist bump with him before grabbing my bag and heading out the door to my car.

Yes, a 1997 Honda Prelude, base model it may be this car still gets wheel spin shifting from first to second. Five speed dual overhead cam with Vtec (Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control), bought it used as a graduation present to myself, still haven’t regretted the purchase I made last month and probably never will. I hop in the two door and push the clutch in before starting it, I take the hair net off of my medium length beard and remove my hat before throwing them both into the passenger seat. Finally I roll both windows and sunroof down before backing out of my spot and looping around the store.

I turn right onto the main road, shifting first to second then second to fourth hitting 40 mph, cruising in the left lane passing people only going the speed limit of 35. And wouldn’t you know I’m stuck behind a slow driver not knowing which lane is meant for what.

“Come on cock suck, move,”

I ride his ass to no result; I look right to see a car right next to me going the same speed I am, god damn it. I’m a sitting duck, no down shifting and going around, no Vtec loudness; we aren’t even going the speed limit anymore. I have to shift into third so I don’t bog down my car, then it happens, the car to my right merges into the far right lane. I down shift into second and blast around the truck, Vtec kicking in at 5600 rpm helping me rocket around the truck. I then put her back in forth and cruise again before merging onto the high way.

Minutes later . . .

I’ve come to realize that there are a few down sides to owning a sports car, one of which is people always trying to race you. Only a few minutes on the high way and a car wants to race, a Miata to be exact, fuck it.

Honk

Honk

Honk

I down shift to third and am immediately greeted by the beautiful sound of Vtec; I shift to fourth as I hit 90, the Miata trying to keep up. I’m looking at him in the rear-view and hear Vtec once again, I look down to see my speedometer at 115, I then look up and-

“SHIT!!” I scream locking up my breaks, but to no avail as I’m met with the rear end of a semi-truck, I close my eyes and,

SCREECH!!!

CRASH!!!

Unknown Location, Unknown Time

I wake up, my head is pounding with a head-ache and my vision blurry, it’s very cold and dark where I’m at. I try and stand but stumble into a puddle of very cold water. I roll onto my back and car see a candle light on one of the walls, odd, thought we were more advance than that. After a few minutes I regain my vision and come to the conclusion that I’m in a cell or prison of sorts, I run a hand through my beard and give a gruff scratch before sighing. I soon here what I can assume is a horse trotting closer and closer before,

“Prisoner, you’re awake, the Princess’ wish to see you at once,”

I turn my head towards the cell door to see not a human, but a horse with wings?

“I, you’re, what are you?” I ask

“A Pegasus, now please, it’s not suggested to keep the Princess’ waiting. But mark my words; if you try and attack me I will put you down, understood creature,”

I nod, very confused and worried at the same time; I stand and stumble to the cell door as the horse opens the door.

“We don’t have shackles big enough for you, so don’t try any funny business,”

All I do is nod, as we make our way up a flight of stairs the lighting becomes more natural and the walls turn from stone to crystal, as we get to ground level we turn into another corridor and to say the least it’s very long. After what felt like forever we finally turned to a short corridor with a huge set of double doors.

“Wait here a moment,” says the guard before entering and shutting the door behind him.

I’m finally left alone for a moment, and take this opportunity to take a look around, not much on the walls aside from a few pictures of what I can assume to be diplomates. The one that strikes me as different is a picture of a pink alicorn with a smaller pink alicorn.

Probably a mother and her daughter but, no father though, wonder what happened to him. My thoughts are interrupted by the door opening once more, the same guard gestures for me to come in, I nod and follow along.

“Your highness, the creature you requested,”

As I enter the first thing I notice is a shocked group of alicorns, one of which is the pink alicorn from the picture.

I hear the door behind me shut, the three princess and I share a moment of staring before we hear someone, or somepony, break the silence with a cough. I look to my right to see a much taller white alicorn. She’s not too worried but has a concerned look instead.

“The guards said they found an ape, but, you’re definitely not an ape,” the white Alicorn says.

I can hear sniffing near me as I look back I notice the purple one has come close to me and is sniffing my uniform

“You smell like old pizza,” she says confused

Right, forgot about my work uniform, I reach into my pocket and don’t feel my phone. I sigh as she continue use to sniff me before asking, “Do you work at a pizza place or something?”

I’m still in shock about what’s going on, I look up and see the two princesses at the table laughing a little, the white princess still had the same look.

“Twilight, dear, would you give the creature some space; he appears to be in shock,”

The one who I can assume is Twilight says, “Sorry Princess, I’m just curious about, um, what are you?”

“I’m a human, my name is Anthony, and to answer your question yes I do work at a pizza place; or I did at least,”

“What happened?” asks the pink alicorn

I sigh before saying, “I died, back in my world,”

A gasp is shared through the room, the darker alicorn asks, “And how did thou die,”

“I was being stupid and decided to race someone else on the highway, next thing I knew I met the back of a semi-truck and woke up here,”

Obviously confused by this, I sigh not being able to explain the situation any better.

“Would you allow me to tap into your memory and project it on the table for us to see?” asks the white princess.

“You can do that?”

She nods, I then say, “Sure, why not.”

I see her horn light up as she taps into my memory, I see a picture appear on the table as my memory from the past few minutes are displayed on the table. Mind blowing, the princesses are impressed with my world to say the least; restaurants, gas stations, highway system. Never realized how beautiful my world is, the sound of Vtec kicking in can be heard as I blast around the truck.

“Very advanced world,” says Twilight amazed.

A few minutes of watching and we’re at the point when the Miata pulled up next to me, he honks then I shift into third and start pulling on him.

“What’s that display behind the wheel?” the pink alicorn asks.

“Speedometer, tells me how fast I’m going, that’s in miles per hours,”

Another gasp is gained from the four, “110 miles per hour, the Equestrian speed record in a carriage is only 40 miles per hours,” says the white alicorn

Then it happens, I look up and see the semi-truck, the brakes lock up but the car doesn’t slow and I slam into the back of it. The last thing seen before the video ends is a steel bar heading towards the screen before black.

“Y-you died?” asks the dark alicorn.

I nod; a sad sigh is shared amongst us, the dark and white one looking at each other sad. Twilight is still looking at the table while the pink one is looking at me sad.

“What are your names?” I ask.

“Princess Luna,” says the dark one.

“Princess Celestia,” says the white one.

The pink one, still looking at me says, “C-Cadence, princess Cadence,”

“And what might your name be?” asks Luna

“Anthony,” I reply not breaking eye contact with Cadence

“Well, seeing as how you have no-where to go I imagine you’ll need a place to stay,” says Celestia.

“He can stay here, I wouldn’t mind sparing a guest room for him,” Cadence says suddenly

The other three look at her, she gives off a blush before saying, “That is if he wants to,”

The four of them look at me, I shrug my shoulders before saying, “Sure, whatever’s clever,”

She smiles and nods before saying, “Good, I can’t wait for you to-

“Mom!!” we hear a voice say, “I’m home from school!”

The doors open and another alicorn enters the room, this one much younger than the others, about 13 or 14. She looks at me and is terrified, jumping in the air with the help of her wings.

“W-What is that thing!! Mom make it go away,” she then flies over to Cadence and hides under her wing.

“It’s alright Flurry, he’s friendly, Mr. Anthony is going to be staying here in the castle for a while,”

“But mom,”

“No but’s young mare, now apologize to Anthony form calling him a thing,”

She gives off the expected teenage sigh before saying, “I’m sorry for calling you a thing, I’m going to my room to do my homework now,”

Flurry leaves the room, “Don’t mind her, teenagers, am I right,”

“I’m 19 actually,” I say to Cadence, she blushes and says, “My bad, you seemed older,”

“Well, I think we’ll be off now, we’ve got a long flight ahead of us; it was good staying here for the last few days but I think our royal leave is up,” Celestia says.

“We couldn’t agree more sister, it was great being here Cadence dear,” says Luna.

“Hope to see you again, even if you’re no longer married to my brother you know you’ll always be like a sister to me,” Twilight says

Cadence gives off a sigh before saying, “And you to me as well Twily, take care you three,”

After they exchange hugs, Celestia, Luna, and Twilight leave the castle to where I’m not sure. One detail I managed to catch was Cadence used to be married to Twilight’s brother.

“Hey, Cadence, you were married to Twilight’s brother?”

She nods as I got to the table and set across from her, “Yea, we were married 14 years and dated for another 4 years before that. He’s Flurry’s father and I loved him so much,”

“What happened?” I ask.

She gives off a sad sign, her eyes seem to become glassy before she says, “I’d notice he’d been getting home from work later and later, he was captain of the royal guard and commanded the guards here while taking a four day trip to Canterlot once a month to cheek on the rest of his guards. However, one night he didn’t come home, I went to bed at my usual time of 10 pm and he’d usually come home and join me around a half hour later. But, when I woke up at 6 am, the covers weren’t different and the guards for my chambers said he hadn’t come back during the night,”

“Really, then what happened,” I say nodding.

She seemed to get choked up but continued, “I asked around and was told by one of the guards he’d been training the night before that he was staying at a hotel in the crystal empire, and that he went with one of the mare trainees. I didn’t want to hunt him down so I waited for him to come back, asked him where he was and when he lied I told him what I was told. He didn’t lie and told me the truth, he’s since been banned from my empire and I haven’t seen him since. That was a year ago, and I can’t say that I miss him but it’s been hard raising a kid and taking care of an empire alone,”

At this point she had tears running down her face, I sigh before saying, “I wish I could say I know how it feels, but I really don’t honestly. The hardest thing I’ve ever done was run the store I work at alone for a couple of hours, but I can’t imagine that happening with my girlfr-“

I then stopped and thought about her, the love of my life back in my world, my friends my family all left behind.

“What’s wrong Anthony?” Cadence asks.

“M-My girlfriend, my family, it’s all gone. I-I’m here and don’t know of a way to get back, I, can you help me get home, you’re powerful right?”

“We’ve only come as far as time travel, and that was when Twilight went back in time a week to try and fix a problem but that spell was long forgotten. The closest thing to dimensional travel we have is the an alternate version of Equestria with more humans like you, the only reason we didn’t know what you were was because Twilight was never able to find the name of your species,”

I sigh, my eyes getting glassy at the thought of losing everything, especially her. . .

“You said you had a girlfriend, or special somepony I presume, what’s her name,”

“Annabelle, or Anna for short. She was the nicest girl, always knew the right things to say, to do. She was the best thing that’d ever happened to me, and now I’ve left her all on her own. She helped me overcome my depression, she’d always bring me up when I’d come down, she helped me with my first major break up and now I sort of feel the same,”

At this point tears where spilling down my cheeks, Cadence reaches a hoof over and wipes one of the tears away. She has a sympathetic look, she seems to really care.

“It’ll be alright, there’s plenty of love to find her in Equestria, and even more friends to support you,”

“W-Why are you being so nice to me, we’ve only met a half hour ago and you’re trying to make me feel better,”

“Well, I am the princess of love after all, it’s my job to keep ponies, or humans, like you happy when heart broken,” she says, with a smile.

“Well, you’re doing a good job; I’ve stopped crying I guess,”

She looks at me, still concerned for me, “You sure you’re alright?”

I nod, “I’m better, thank you for being so nice to me,”

“It’s nothing, now come one, let me show you your room then we can have dinner,”

I nod getting up and following her, “And, we can have my tailor hem you some new clothes to on the way,” I nod before we exit the room.

Tailoring Room

As we enter, we both see a unicorn finishing up a dress that looks, holy shit that’s beautiful.

“Excuse me, Flawless Hem, could I bother you for a moment?” Cadence asks

Flawless Hem is a mare with White fur and a Blonde mane; she’s about the same height as Twilight and needless to say is beautiful.

“Oh Princess, you’re not a bother to me, whatever can I do for you?” Flawless Hem says before soon noticing me and is shocked for a moment before asking, “And who might this be, or what might this be?”

“This is Anthony, and he’s a human,”

She nods before saying, “Well, nice to meet you, and I presume you’ll need me to make clothes for this Anthony?”

“Exactly,” Cadence says.

“No problem, let me just get some measurements, I’ll need you to remove your clothes and step onto the platform over there,” Flawless Hem says gesturing to a platform to our right.

“Um, I, um,” I utter blushing.

“What’s wrong Anthony?” asks Cadence.

“It’s sorta considered indecent for human to not wear clothes in our culture,”

“Oh come on, what could be so bad about you not wearing clothes?” Cadence asks

I sigh before saying, “Alright, one moment,”

I remove my shoes, belt and pants before taking my shirt off revealing a not ripped body but fairly toned, sure I worked at a pizza place but I couldn’t stand to eat fast food. The only thing I have on is my boxers.

“I need those to come off to if you want me to make some of those,” Flawless Hem says referring to my boxers.

I sigh, “Ok,”

I remove them and am greeted with surprised gasps, “Y-You don’t have a sheath?”

I shake my head, “Can we just get this over with before it becomes more awkward than it already is,”

Flawless Hem nods quickly before taking quick measurements around my waist and thighs, “Same length as the ones you already have?” she asks.

I nod, putting them back on; after she measures their length, my length from waist to ankle, around the ankle, neck to waist, around the stomach, neck to wrist, neck to elbow and around the bicep.

“Alright now for height, wow 6 feet tall, same height as Cadence. It’s like you two were meant for each other or something,” she says scribbling numbers on her paper.

I look at Cadence who’s blushing furiously at the comment, “Flawless!!” Cadence says embarrassed.

“What; he’s your height, definitely taller than Shining Armor, and his forehooves are more muscular than Shining Armor’s,”

“FLAWLESS!!!” Cadence yells, blushing a dark crimson.

“Alright; seven short and long sleeved shirts, seven pairs of undergarments, seven pairs of denim pants, anything else?” Flawless asks.

“Socks, and a zip up sweat shirt,” I say with a blush on my face as well, I look at Cadence and she only smiles nervously at me.

“Alright, let me just measure your hooves and we’ll be done,”

“They’re feet,”

“Feet, got it,”

She measures around my foot and the length before writing more down on her paper. She nods and says, “Alright, I’ll have those done by the morning, if you ever need anything consider it down, even repairs,”

“Thanks, I appreciate the generosity,”

“It’s what my mentor Rarity taught me, generosity is my number one policy,”

I nod before putting my clothes back on, I walk to a now blushing Cadence.

“H-How much will that be?” Cadence asks.

“Oh, your highness, it’s no charge. I always love a new challenge and if anything I owe you both, so no worries,”

“Thank you so much, well shall I show you to your room?”

I nod as we take our leave out of the room.

Guest room chambers

“Alright, so before you enter I need to change a few things, give me one sec,”

I nod, she enters and I can hear sound of magic and a few things moving around before the door opens again.

“Alright, come on in,” she says letting me in.

I walk in and it seems to be a normal room to me, “What did you do, seems like a normal room to me,”

She lights up her horn and the room poofs into a smaller more cluttered room, “This is what it looked like, just to give you a sense of perspective,” she then turns the room back to the way it was.

“I mean, it looks amazing, you spoil me,” I say jokingly

She gives me a playful shove before saying, “Haha, so here’s the bed and it has two night stands, and you have a dresser for your clothes,”

She leads me to the bathroom, “And here you have a shower with glass walls and door, single sink and mirror along with an array of toiletries,”

As we make our way back into the bedroom she asks, “Anything I missed?”

I look around before asking, “Television,”

“Tele what?”

“Never mind, oh, did I have anything in my pockets when I was found?”

“Yes, allow me to fetch those for you, you take a shower and do any cleaning you feel you need. I’ll have a set of clothes and your things on the bed, when you’re ready I’ll have an assistant waiting outside of your door, he or she will take you to dinner with my daughter and I,”

I nod, “Awesome,”

As she heads toward the door I say, “And Cadence,”

She turns her head toward me with a look of question.

“Thank you, for the hospitality,”

She blushes and smiles, “It’s my pleasure, don’t be afraid to ask my guards for anything either, see you at dinner,”

I nod before making my way to the bath room; I take off my boots finally and stretch out my toes and legs, my joints giving off pops and cracks. I take off my shirt and pants before throwing my boxers aside, as I make my way into the shower I catch a glimpse of my ugly mug.

I sigh and make my way to the mirror and open it to find a razor and shaving cream, I start with the typical beard trim and a smoothing of the edges. But after some thinking I fill my hand with shaving cream and run it through my beard before shaving it all off, it’s taken me all of two years to grow this. I hesitate to cut before I sigh and make my first stroke down my left cheek, most of the hair falling into the sink, after many strokes across my face I’m left with half of the hair I had. I give my face a quick wash and apply another layer of shaving cream before repeating the razor strokes, leaving me with stubble that I removed with a few up strokes. After finally washing my face I look up into the mirror and see what I haven’t seen in years, clean shave Anthony.

“Alright, shower and to dinner,”

10 minutes later

After a long hot shower and a much needed brushing of the teeth, I exit the bathroom towel around my waist to see a set of beautifully made clothes and a small wooden box. I get dressed and lace up my boots before opening the box; inside is my cell-phone (An HTC M7), a wallet with card and about 28 dollars cash, and a curve blade knife (Similar to the Karambit). After putting my items in my pockets I stand and make my way out the door.

“Excuse me, anyone there?” I ask.

“Yes sir, Anthony right,” the stallion says.

I nod, he then says, “Right this way,”

I exit the room and follow him to the dining hall.

Dining hall

The door is opened for me and the guard lets me in closing the door behind me, I walk over to a seat next to Cadence and across from Flurry.

“Anthony, what happened to your beard?” Cadence asks

“Ehh, I felt like I didn’t need it so I shaved it off, that and it was annoying now that I think of it,”

Cadence says, “Hmmm, your jaw line is well defined, what made you grow a beard in the first place?”

“To be honest I don’t remember anymore, started to long ago,”

“Mom, what’s for dinner?” Flurry asks.

“Salad, mashed potatoes and gravy, with a hay burger,”

“Hay burger, oh right ponies eat hay not meat,” I say

Cadence asks, “Humans eat meat?”

I nod, “And vegetables, but we do need a source of protein,”

“I’ll keep that in mind when I talk to the chef about meals for next week,”

I nod, Cadence then asks, “So Flurry, how was school today,”

“Good, nothing new, have some homework for math,”

“Meet any colts?” Cadence asks jokingly.

“No mom, gosh, I don’t talk to colts,” Flurry says.

“Wait to you hit high school, that’ll change quick,” I say

Cadence and I share a laugh, Flurry then asks, “What, what’s so funny,”

“You still have a couple weeks of 8th grade; you’ll understand your second year of high school,”

A pony in a waiters uniform comes through one of the side doors and goes around the table taking drink orders.

Flurry says, “Apple juice, and an ice water,”

Cadence says, “Glass of wine, and ice water,”

“And for you sir,” says the waiter

“Um, what do you have to offer?”

“Here you are, take your time,” he says handing me a drink menu.

After taking a quick glance I see the mention of a drinking age, 18?

“The drinking age in Equestria is 18?”

Cadence nods, “Why, what’s the problem?”

“It’s 21 in my country, but I’ll gladly take an apple cider with an ice water,” I say handing the menu back.

The waiter nods and takes off, Cadence asks, “Really, 21, why’s that,”

“I’m not sure honestly, in some countries it is 18 but in the one I lived its 21,”

“That’s the way it was in Zebrica, I took a diplomatic trip with Luna and Celestia when I was just 20. We were at a restaurant and I wanted to have a glass of wine, only to be turned down because of the drinking age, sure I didn’t mind not having wine with dinner but it sure is a nice way to wind down the day,”

“I’ve had it a few times; my dad didn’t mind it if I drank so long as I never left the house. The only time I ever drank too was about a month ago; I started off with a few beers, but soon moved into mixed drinks and shots, I ended the night leaning out of bed and vomiting on the floor before falling asleep with a head ache,”

“And I imagine you had a really bad hang over?” Cadence asks

I nod, she then says, “I’ve never drank that much, but I remember Twilight did once before she got her princess title, I had to hold her mane for her while she vomited into bushes at the castle gardens in Canterlot. Needless to say she hasn’t drank much since.”

We share a laugh, after a few more minutes of conversation out dinner and drinks emerge from the kitchen. The smells hit my nostrils and oh boy they are amazing, after receiving my plate my eyes go wide at the size of my drink.

“Sir, how big is this?”

“Two and a half pints sir, enjoy,”

Fuck me, that’s a lot of beer. I nod taking a sip only to be met by, next to no taste in alcohol. I then take a large swig before setting the glass back down.

“Tastes almost like apple juice, this is amazing,”

Cadence nods, giving a sweet laugh before saying, “Try some of this,”

She levitates the wine into my hand, after taking a sip I’m greeted by, next to no taste in alcohol, once again. I finish the glass and say, “Tastes like grape juice, do you have anything harsher,”

She’s shocked by this, “The alcohol in your world must be way stronger than here, that or you can handle your drinks very well,”

I shrug my shoulders; I then look down at the amazing food in front of me. I grab a fork and dig into the amazing meal.

One hour later

It’s been about an hour and I’ve not only finished my dinner, but have had four of these tall glasses of cider and have barely even a buzz, meanwhile cadence is on her third glass of wine and appears to be a little more buzzed than me. She’s not terribly drunk, but she’s laughing at stuff that isn’t too funny. Flurry had left the table about a half hour ago after she finished, but Cadence and I kept drinking and talking. After finishing my fourth glass I set the mug down and sigh, “I’m just about full,”

Cadence nods, “Yea, I probably should head to my study and do some paper work, anything you need?”

I shake my head, “I think I’ll head to my room and do some reading, unless you don’t mind me joining you,”

She shakes her head, “Not at all, come along,”

I follow along, Cadence kind of wobbly while trotting but balanced mostly.

Cadence’s study

As we enter, I take a look around and notice many out of place but interesting objects; such as a silver and gold chess set, a bottle of a cloudy and purple liquid, and a set of newton balls.

“You can sit in the chair right in front of my desk; I’ll be a bit with my paper work though,”

I nod taking a seat, I look up at her as she goes about her work, signing papers and looking over what I can assume are reports. I look around the room, seeing the many books and pictures of family, but also noticing an acoustic guitar on a guitar stand.

I think to myself, “Mental note, ask Cadence about that when she’s not busy,”

Suddenly, my thoughts are broken by the sound of sniffling; I turn to Cadence and see that she has a picture frame in her magical grasp and her face in her hooves as she’s crying. She drops the frame, glass shattering on the desk, and breaks down balling into her wings. I reach over and pick up the picture to see her with hooves around the neck of a white stallion with a blue mane, she’s kissing him on the cheek and he has a smile on his face.

“I think this is Shining Armor, god damn it why do beings like you exist,”

I give off a huff before setting the picture; I stand and walk around the desk to the crying Cadence. I crouch down and start petting her, running my hands through her mane trying to calm her. She looks up at me, confused.

“Wh-what’re you doing?” she says sniffling.

“Sh, calm down,”

I pet her more, scratching behind the ear; I then wrap my arms around her and hug her. She wraps her wings around me and starts crying again, her face in my shoulder.

“I’m such a wreck Anthony; I feel so alone, I have an empire to run, a child to raise and I just can’t take it. I-I don’t know what to do anymore.”

I tighten my hug around her, resting my head on her shoulder, I then say, “I will never leave your side, I can be your personal assistant and help your through this,”

“You would do that, at what cost?”

“Let me live in the castle and be part of your family, sort of like today,”

She thinks for a moment before hugging me again and saying, “I’d love that Anthony, thank you,”

She then gives me a soft kiss on the cheek; I stop for a moment and blush.

“Sorry, too soon?” she asks.

I shake my head and kiss her cheek back, “Nope,”

We both share a laugh, both comfortable and trusting of one another, I’m glad I can call this beautiful place home. Maybe not being able to go back home won’t be as bad as I thought it would.