Another day, another job for some random person in town. This job was for the town's own DJ, Sofía Aquino and her roommate Carole Langstone. At the moment I was under the sink finishing up the last bit of work when I heard a knocking sound.

“Knock knock my friend.” The voice of the female DJ said in a laid back tone. “How goes with the plumbing?”

“You people need to clean up your dishes before putting them in the sink, innards of the pipe here is filled junk.” I said informatively, it wasn't my first rodeo in plumbing. It didn't mean I was an expert by any means but I know the basics. “Unless you want me to come by every three months to unclog your sink, you need to think on getting a trash disposal unit.” I said to her, still working on whatever the hell is clogging the pipe up this time. The sink was already dry, so I didn't have to worry about being covered in sludge.

“Hey! That’s what Carole said the other day!” Sofía said with a laugh. I rolled my eyes as I continue to work. Carole Langstone is also a well known person in town to be one of the best cello players, even one that goes up to Canterlot for shows. Between the two I don’t understand why they are living together since Carole is more dignified and polite while Sofía is… well, not. She can be summed up as a party animal. She’s nice sure but she can have a little too much fun. It wasn’t a surprise to see scattered clothing of hers in the house after her DJ shows, which also shows that I’ve been here a few times to do a fix up for them. I shouldn’t be complaining since they pay good.

“I think I've nearly got the problem and…” I said before successful unclogging the drain pipe, the cause… well, a used condom that I immediately tossed out in disgust. “And like that, it'll cost you double than usual.” I said to her. I saw the Sofía standing there in some pajamas and her electric blue hair and red eyes looking at the condom.

“Oh yeah… I remember that night… whoops.” she said before taking it and throwing it out. Sofía was pretty laid back but I saw her eyes dart around. “So uhh… pay you double?... can you keep the reason for the clogging a secret to Carole? I can make it triple.”

“Deal.” I said nonchalantly before going back under to put the pipes back together and in working order, it didn't take long and once I was finished, I pulled out from under sink and cleaned up my tools. “That…” I said, pointing at the trash bin but Sofía knew what I was really gesturing at. “Can't happen again and if it does, I expect a raise cause seriously… that's just fucking disgusting.” I said to her. She simple shrugs and smiled as she pulled out triple of my pay.

“Hey, you going to the fair later this week with your kid? Heard there’s going to be some good food.” Sofía said as she handed me my pay. I shrugged before saying.

“Yeah, Skyler and I have been looking forward to it for a while now.” I said, pocketing the cash and packing up. Sofía grinned at this.

“Cool, I believe it's going to be sweet.” Sofía said with a laugh. I smiled slightly as I packed up the last of my stuff and stood up to see the DJ with a phone in hand. “Take care man and thanks again, you're the best.” I nodded at her and left, walking out the door and into the street. I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with clean air after having been down under the sink for almost an hour. I looked down at the town to see everyone setting up for the event later in the week. I walk down the street back home, greeted by everyone and I greeted them back. Just as I was about to turn into my street I caught sight of a poster that was up on one of the building walls. I looked at it and saw it was for a cooking competition with the Princess herself being a judge as well as some big shot cook. Humming at the poster with interest, I decided to take along with the intent to Blake. I rolled up the poster and headed home to drop off my tools and get changed. Soon enough I got home and changed clothes, Skyler was out and about with some of her friends so the house was empty when I got there and when I left for Blake's shop. I made my way to the coffee shop and found there was more people in it than normal, though the reason is that out front there's a sign saying she's having a sale and her shop is a rest stop for anyone working on the festival. While it wasn't bad, it definitely an odd sight having gotten used to the shop being a quiet place. I finally got to the counter, seeing Blake working the register of hers.

“Hey Isaac, the normal order today?” Blake asked with a smile as she put a slip up in her kitchen.

“Nah, just the coffee. I ate at home before I left.” I said to her before taking the rolled up poster from my back pocket. “Oh and on the way home from a job, I came across this. Thought it might tickle your fancy.” I said, handing over the poster to her. She took the poster from me and took a look at it as the coffee was brewing.

“A cooking companion? Neat.” Blake said as she looked at it. I arched a brow at her curiously.

“I thought you'd be a little more enthusiastic about it.” I said, almost muttering it to myself. Blake shrugged a bit as she rolled the poster up.

“Sorry, I'm just not really interested in a cooking contest… contest even if there's some high up cook coming.” Blake said frowning a little. “Besides you and all of the town say I'm a damn good cook and that's fine with me.” With that said I heard someone yell ‘here here!’ warning a laugh from the others. This made Blake smile.

“Yeah but you got to think about the publicity, think about it, if you win over the judges with your cooking, this place would be booming with people.” I said to her. Blake stared at me for a few moments before humming about it.

“I’ll think about it.” She said before handing me my coffee. “Here you are, it’s fresh so careful.” I nodded and sat by the counter, taking slow sips of my coffee as I watched many of the patrons here eat and converse with one another, all with smiles on their faces and their occasional round of laughter. Blake smiled at this as she brought out food for everyone. It was until a few minutes later and I already drank half of my coffee that the patrons headed out of the shop to get back to work. Blake sighed happily. “That was fun.” she looked over at me and arch a brow. “So… going to ask Ange out for the fair?” The sudden question nearly made me choke on my coffee which earned a laugh from Blake. After a few coughs here and there, I thought about the question and it only made me more nervous as I thought about it.

“I don't know… should I?” I asked, unsure of my own decision.

“Yes.” Blake said without missing a beat. “Ever since the Poison Joke event you two became close, she doesn’t talk all nervous like she used to whenever you two hang out.” She said. Right… the poison joke incident which happened roughly about a month ago and while I was brought back to my normal dude self, the others had been left with some quirks such as Rachael actually taking the time to jog across town instead of flying, Dianne being less of a nuisance than she normally would be which if I were to guess that through the brief moments she was normal that she had found herself annoying. Sophia had started setting up wigs for sale in her shop and.I've even seen Lydia use less of her magic after being proven that she relies on it too much. Ange was the oddest one though, not bad by any means but it was definitely odd, whenever we hung out there would be times she would ask me if I could gently scratch the spot where her cat ears used to be. People have even seen us in some occasion which led them to believe that we were a couple, of course we blushed red as tomatoes but… it felt right. I looked back at Blake and saw she was smirking at me. “You’re thinking about Ange huh.”

“Can you blame me though.” I said to her with arched brow. “I like her, like a lot and it's not that fake shit like with those floozies from before.” I said, reminding her of the current streak I had of fake relationships. Some of them even ended up with me drinking myself to sleep, cursing my stupidity for falling for their allure.

“Okay, I get you there.” Blake said, remembering the others. She looked away from me before adding. “Tell you what, you go ask Ange out, and I’ll take part in this cooking contest. Deal?”

“How does me asking Ange out benefit you in all this?” I asked her, a little confused over her proposition. Blake blinked at this before sighing.

“It was a cool moment Isaac! Now you’ve ruined it!” Blake said, crossing her arms and scowling. I raised my hands up defensively before saying.

“Alright alright, deal.” I said quickly in hopes she didn't get angry, no one in town likes it when she's angry. She smiled a little before letting out a breath.

“Well, better get to practicing.” Blake said as she turned and walked into the back and I started to hear some sounds of stuff getting moved around. “Leave the money on the counter!” She called out to me. I did just that, leaving the payment for the coffee safely on the counter before heading outside. Upon exiting, my mind went overdrive when I realized I was going to ask Ange out to the fair with me. Walking down the street I was too busy in my own head that I bumped into someone. I soon saw it was an old man with a cane. He turned to me and spoke.

“Oh dear… are you alright?” He asked me, which was odd since I was the one who bumped into him.

“Yeah, sorry about that I wasn't paying to where I was going.” I said to him, apologising to the man for having bumped into him. The man chuckled at me.

“It’s fine, though it’s nice to see the young have some kindness to say sorry… unlike some kids.” he said with a laugh. “What’s your name if you don’t mind me asking.” Not seeing anything wrong with telling him, I spoke.

“Isaac Parker, I'm the work for hire of the town.” I said to him, introducing myself along with my line of work.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Lucius Gideon Granger, just an old fellow.” He said with a laugh. “Now I believe I took you away from your dutes long enough. I hope you have a nice day.” Lucius said before shuffling off. I smiled at this, seeing him as a nice old man though I could've sworn I've heard of that name before, I just couldn't put my finger on it. Shaking my head at the thought, I resumed my trek though it wasn't towards home, it was towards Ange’s place. I swore it felt like an eternity before I finally got there, I had to take a few deep breaths just to walk up to the cottage. When I stood just in front of the door, a large part my thoughts yelled at me to bail out before I screw up horribly while another much smaller part of my mind yelled to do it, to swallow my fear and ask her out. I raised my hand up to knock and right as I was about to the door opened. Ange was there in an outfit that I rarely see her in; a tight white tank top with a few brown spots on it that looks like dirt, some jeans with a few rips in it and her pink hair dun up in a ponytail. She blinked in surprise as she saw me.

“O-Oh… hi Isaac.” She greeted with a little stutter. “What can I d-do for you?” I could feel my left eye twitch as so did my hand before I lowered and faked clearing my throat.

“H-hey Ange… I ju-just came by to ask if…” I struggled greatly just to speak. My nerves just wanted things more difficult. “I-if you’d like to go with me... to the fair?” I was finally able to finish the question, much to my own relief though now was the worse part, the decision. It could go either way and I'm expecting the worst.

“Yes.” she said bluntly which took be by surprise and I saw her blush hard. “I-I-I-I mean yes I would love to go… er I mean like to go, with you.. Uhh oh dear I mean… You uh, understand what I’m saying… right?” I was quick to nod at her question and this brought a blushing smile to Ange.

“I-I'll come by to pick um.. to pick you at noon, if that's fine with you.” I said to her nervously, which gained me a nod from her.

“Yes… that’s fine with me… if that’s fine with you… I mean it should since you asked and umm… I’m rambling aren’t I?” she asked me with a little laugh.

“It's-it's okay, so I guess I'll see then.” I said, managing to keep my stutter to a minimum though my blush has yet to fade.

“Yes! Uh yes… I’ll see you then…” She said with her own blush. The two of us stood there… smiling… not moving… at all. “Uhh… so… I uh.. I have stuff… I have some things to do...You want to stay and… help?” she asked me, not sure how to move on. Not having anything else planned today I nodded before she stepped aside, letting me in. The time I spent there was mostly us working with her animals that live or come around. During that time I notice that there's was a little happy spring in her step as she worked… which held to me staring since there was a lot of… umm… jiggle. She notice and said sorry a million times and went red for doing that though I said it wasn’t all that bad since I kinda knew how that was when I was Ise.

When it was getting dark Angelina said goodbye to me and she’ll see me on the day of the fair. I said my goodbyes and left, a very noticeable spring in my step before stopping just far enough away.

“Yes!” I yelled with my arms up high and fire shooting out from my fists. I quickly stopped when I noticed the flames fell down to the ground and a familiar flaming feline walked forward.

“Someone looks happy.” Wisp said simply at me. “I have to say, it’s about time you asked the woman out.” I blushed and grumbled a bit, though whatever I attempted to say was incoherent even for me.

“I couldn't work the nerve before, okay!” I exclaimed truthfully. Many times before I have thought of asking Ange out but my nerves always got the best of me but not this time! This time it was my win!

“Yes yes, asking a girl out that you actually like is a great step, better than the others you went out with…” Wisp said before adding. “Though, did you have to stare at her as she worked?”

“I didn't mean to, it just kinda happened.” I said before my shoulders sagged. “I hope she doesn't think I'm a weirdo because of it.” I said with a frown. If a fire cat could Wisp arch a brow at me.

“You’re asking a woman who turned into a cat Beastkin over a month ago who now asks you to scratch behind her ears and still make purring sounds think you’re a weirdo…” She stopped there for me to figure it out. I only frowned and said.

“Hey, it's not weird… it's cute.” I said admitting that I always found how Ange would purr cute. The way I said it made sound like I was on the defensive, which is a rarity for me as I'm usually more laid back than anything. Wisp came over and put a paw on my leg.

“I understand.” She said before hopping up onto me and draping herself around my neck. “I do want to ask you treat her with the utmost respect as you always do, since you know, Ise.” I groaned at this since Wisp, for a number of times, keep bringing up the fact I was a girl for a few hours. I frowned at her, she knew full well that I would rather forget about the awkward experience of being the opposite gender.

“I told you to stop bringing that up!” I yelled at Wisp a little angrily. Wisp chuckled at this before the two of us headed off back home. Now the question is, what am I going to wear?

Next Day

I was up in bright and early than normal as the night before I gotten a call to help someone with some electrical work which didn’t take that long, a few wires misplaced. I walked down the street with my thoughts, which mostly were about Ange and the fair. I had a goofy grin on my face for a bit before I ran into someone, I really need to watch were I was going. Right as I was about to say sorry the man with short blonde hair and blue eyes stared angrily at me.

“Watch where you’re walking!” he said with a snarl. I blinked a few times and saw how fancy his clothes were and how… rich he was. I frowned as I realized this was one of the nobles from Canterlot.

“Geez, sorry.” I said sarcastically, it would've been a genuine sorry if it weren't for his attitude. The man scoffed at me before he and another person who seemed to be carrying a lot of stuff followed behind him. The sight of this annoyed me when I notice I wasn’t alone as I saw Lucius coming up to me.

“It seems fate let's us meet again Isaac Parker. I have to say sorry for that man's… well attitude.” Lucius said sadly but with a warm smile.

“You don't need to apologize for some asshole.” I said, it really is people like that guy that fuels my hate for nobles. “So how's your stay in town going?” I asked him.

“Oh it’s going nicely! I just came out of a nice coffee shop that made me feel so homely.” he said as he shows that he did have a cup from Blake’s store. He looked back at where the noble went off. “And I do need to apologize for that, not to the person no but for my family name you see.” It took me a few moments to click in that the noble and Lucius are in the same family. “If it helps his name is Milburn Grangerm, one of the top chefs at Granger school of Culinary arts.” He explained.

Now it made sense, Lucius was one of the owners of the school that Blake wanted to get into but can’t due to the headmaster being an ass, though I doubt that this old man would be him since… well… he’s really nice.

“So that guy… he's your son?” I asked him, gesturing towards the asshat not far behind already yelling at another person for bumping into him.

“No no, more like my grandson.” He turned to Milburn and sighed. “Like father, like son… anyway! I was hoping I could run into you Isaac, if you don’t mind me asking for a favor from you.”

“Alright, shoot.” I said, interested in what he had to say.

“Well you know that the cooking contest is coming up and, well, one of the judges, a snooty food critic, called in sick and can’t come. I worry that we have to cancel it because of it… but I asked around and was told that you have been a judge in the past in a few events. If it’s not an issue but mind subbing in as a judge?” Lucius asked me. He came a little closer before adding. “It’s mostly due to your… blunt answers as I have a feeling that my grandson might try to bribe you to get his vote.”

“I mean… I would but I have a date planned.” I said, a little scared that it might interfere with my date with Ange. Lucius chuckles at this.

“Ah, I understand that, but let me explain a bit more on how the competition works, it might work for you benefit.” He said before putting up two fingers. “The whole thing starts before the fair even starts, more like preliminary rounds. The first round will cut down each contestant by the vote of the people in the fair, the next will be just the critics and foodies, then the final round, which we, Me, The Princess, and you, would judge the last group of four, but that’s way late in the fair, right before dusk. You can go and have your date, with the benefits of being a judge on top of it which is free food, and free reign to do whatever and come back for the finals. The preliminary rounds are judged by critics and foodies that the Royal elite has chosen with the aid of the two Princesses.” Lucius shifted a bit with a smile. “But if you still can’t do it then there’s no harm done. I’ll just go find someone else that I can trust to be a sub.”

“Alright, I'll do it just as long as it doesn't mess with my date.” I said to him, agreeing to judge the final round of the contest but on the condition that it doesn't interfere with me and Ange in anyway beforehand. The old man’s smile grew a bit at my answer.

“Perfect!” He said before pulling something out of his pocket and handed it to me. I saw it was a gold royal seal. “This is your badge that says you’re one of the three final judges for the cook off… which I have to ask, how many cooking competitions have you judged?” he asked me.

“Enough to know good tastes.” I said to him with a simple shrug. “And to lay absolute waste to the half assed ones.” I added with a chuckle of my own.. Lucius smiled but this time there was something… sinister about it.

“Well, you’ll fit right in.” he said. The way he said it made a chill run up my spine as he turned to leave. “Well, see you on fair day!” he said with a warm laugh. I blinked at this, not really too sure in what I got myself into but I have this goldenseal now so… cool, I guess. I pocket the seal and continue on down the street, seeing more and more decorations getting set up and now seeing some stalls being set up, only a lot of them had stoves and other cooking equipment. Those must be the places where the contestants will cook.

Continuing on down the street I headed back home to get ready for the crazy day that is the Fair.

Fair Day

I took a big breath and let it out slowly, trying to calm my nerves as I stood in front of Ange’s place. I was a little early but I was really nervous about this. I wore a pale brown shirt with a black jacket over it with some clean jeans. It was getting colder out since it was close to fall so I bundle up for it. The gold seal was out on display so anyone can see it.

I took another deep breath and walked up to the door and gave it a knock. After a few minutes the door opened and I saw Ange walk out in a white shirt that clinged to her bust with a brown jacket over top and a dark blue skirt on. She was blushing a little bit as she looked up to me.

“H-Hello Isaac…” Ange greeted me shyly. “I...I hope I didn’t make you wait…”

“No no, it's fine.” I said before giving her another look over. “You look… wow.” I said and while her attire wasn't so dazzling for others, to me she just looks absolutely stunning. She smiled at me with a slight blush.

“Thank you… you look… well… wow.” she said with a smile. I smiled back, blushing as well before offering my arm for her. She saw this and no sooner hooked her arm in mine before we began our trek to the fair. The fair was a buzz with people from town and outside of town. Laughter and yells filled the air as we walked through it. We stopped by some games and right as the person running it was going to ask for pay before he looked at me and simply said go ahead. It puzzled Ange that we were playing for free for an unknown reason for her. I looked down and saw the gold seal on my jacket and remembering something that Lucius saying that, as a judge, I have some benefits to the fair.

“Sorry, I guess I forgot to tell you that I've been asked to judge the last round of the cook off, which explains this thing and apparently I get benefits for being the judge.” I said to her, a nervous chuckle leaving my lips after I did. Ange didn’t say anything about this but as we left she was holding a stuff angel bunny which she was smiling happily for. The rest of the day we wondered around the fair, I even saw the cooks that were competing, some looked focused, others… not so much. I soon saw Dianne in a chef apron and working as well, guessing she’s a part of it as well.

“Well hey there Isaac, Ange.” I heard Jacqueline's voice to my left. I turned to see her cooking as well.

“Oh… hey Jacqueline.” Ange greeted with a smile. I smiled at the farmer girl as well before greeting her.

“Hey Jacqui, I'm guessing you're competing as well?” I asked her with an arched brow and a chuckle.

“Yes sir!” she said with a smile before serving someone some food. “But if ya ask me… ah don’t think ah’ll move on to the next round.” She a laugh at this.

“What do you mean?” Ange asked sadly. Jacqueline smiled as she looked around.

“Ah maybe a farmer and grew up with some good old fashion food but there are others that are way better than me. Like that guy over there.” Jacqueline pointed over to a stand which had a mountain of a beastkin man with a long line up for him. “Hear he came up from one of the fishing cities and brought his A game. Had a little of his dish and ohh we! It almost knock my boots off!” this made the farmer laugh which made Ange smile a little. “Beside, ah wasn’t really aiming for the prize, just happy to give folks some good food.”

“Well be that as it may, I'm still going to wish you good luck.” I said to her, giving her some morale support.

“Thanks Isaac.” Jacqueline said before the two of us walked off with a plate of her food: an apple fritter. I hummed happily as I ate mine and Ange nibbled on hers. It was going good today.

“Oh Isaac~!” Until I head Sophie yell out my name. I groaned a little as I saw her coming up to me with a big smile. “Hello Isaac, I hope you are having a fabulous day.” Internally groaning a little, I spoke.

“Hey Sophie, didn't think to find you here.” I said to her, putting on a fake smile which was convincing enough for her. Ange turned to her and waved which made Sophie blink in surprise.

“Oh uhh, well of course I would be, so many people and ideas for the fall line up is just flowing out! So many ideas!” She said with a laugh before pointing at the two of us. “So… you two walking together?”

“Yeah, she's my date.” I said, answering the fashionista’s question. A part of me hoped that by saying this she would stop trying to win me over, the other part me was basically praying. She stood there with a smile on her face.

“I… see…” She said and from the sound of her tone it must’ve hit her harder than I thought. “I… uh… need to get going… sorry to bother you.” With that she walked off into the crowd.

“I hope she not too upset about this.” Angelina whisper to me.

“I kinda feel bad as well, maybe we can talk to her about it.” I said to Ange. I never meant to hurt Sophie, I just wanted her to know I wasn't interested in her in the way she wants me to. Angelina nodded as we continue on to the fair. Before long I stopped and moved us away from a different path when I saw the Asshole Milburn. I didn’t want to run into him until later, but this did lead me to see… Blake? I found her working in her stand and she looked almost unrecognizable. Instead of her normal casual clothing she wore a black chef coat and pants as she was chopping something quickly. She was focused on what she was doing as there was a beeping sound and she turned to pull something out of the oven which looked like quiches.

“Wow… that’s Blake?” Ange asked me in awe.

“Yup and by the looks of it, she's killing it.” I said with a little laugh as we watched Blake do her thing. There was a large group of people just standing around her area and watching her speed through cutting and slicing.

“Ahh, Isaac.” Lucius’ voice called out as he came over to me. “Good to see you here, and I’m guessing this is your date.”

“H-hello.” Ange greeted with a smile. I turned to look at Lucius as he nodded to Ange.

“Yeah, this is Angelina Calliope. Ange this is the guy that asked me to sub in as a judge.” I said, wanting to somewhat introduce one another.

“Angelina, that’s a lovely name.” Lucius said before looking over at where Blake was. “I see you have seen our late entry, have to say she’s determined.”

“Yeah, Blake is a really good cook here.” Ange said with a smile, this got an arch brow from the old man.

“Hmm, I’m guessing that the three of you are friends?” He asked me.

“Yes, I've known since my school days. She's like the sister I never had.” I said to him with a smile, this earned me a smile from Ange when I said this.

“Well that’s nice but Isaac, please tell me you won’t show any favortisem to your friend in the contest.” Luclus asked me with a slight frown. I thought for a moment and imagine Blake finding out if I did. It wasn’t pretty. Finally I shook my head.

“No sir, I wasn't thinking of doing so. I'd be a dead man if I did and I don't know about you but I enjoy living.” I said him half jokingly and half truthfully. This earns a laugh from him as well.

“Really now? Well that’s good to hear.” He turned to Ange and then back to me. “Well I hope you both have a good rest of the day, and Isaac Finals will be starting in seven hours. I have to tell you to come by the the main grounds thirty minutes before hand to hold a little meeting with the Princess, if that’s alright.”

“Alright, I'll keep that in mind, sir.” I said in a polite tone. He nodded before walking off as the two of us continue on. A few hours passed and I began to see some people looking a bit upset and they were also the ones wearing chef coats, meaning that the first round was done. I saw Blake walking a little a ways away and she saw me. She smiled and gave me a thumbs up, saying she’s on to the second round. Ange smiled at this as she hugged my arm a bit more. I gave a thumbs up back at her, wishing her luck in the contest.

As we walked we came up to some people from out of town, one that made Ange excited was an animal handler and had a few birds of prey with them. Ange was basically in heaven as she saw the large birds that were there. I smiled at this before me and an owl stared at each other, having a staring contest to see who win. In the end I won only to the fact he turned his head all the way around to look away. We also found a group of people that work with metal and I learned some neat tricks for my next project… that I need to figure out what it will be.

It was a little while until I notice the sun was going down and a voice on the intercoms says that the final round was going to start in forty five minutes. “I guess you have to go be a judge huh?” Ange asked me. I smiled sadly at her.

“Yeah… sorry if this is cutting our date short.” I said to her, my voice taking a saddened tone. Ange smiled and shook her head.

“It’s fine, this was… amazing.” The two of us stared at each other before Ange spoke. “I’m… going to go back to the animals in the fair.” With that she skipped off, making me chuckle a bit. I was about to go when I felt some arms grabbed me and Ange kissed me on the cheek. “Thanks Isaac.”

My brain immediately fried, I didn’t know what just happened. My mind was all over the place but I placed a hand on the cheek she kissed, a bright smile curling my lips and I held back the urge to do a little dance. After a few minutes of getting my thoughts together, I finally began heading towards the supposed meeting point.

It took me a bit but I found where we should meet and I saw Lucius there as well as the Princess. She turned and smiled at me before she spoke. “Ahh, Isaac. Fancy meeting you again.”

“Hello Princess.” I said with a formal bow. “It's good to see you again as well.” I said to her. She smiled at me as I straighten.

“I believe you already met Lucius here.” The Princess said as Lucius bowed a bit.

“We have Celestia.” He said with a smile. I was a little put off when he called the Princess by name but this simply made the Princess smile a little more… fake.

“Lucius, we discussed this before hand that you don’t call me by name out in public.” The Princess informed him to which the old man laughed.

“Oh don’t be such a stick in the mud.” Lucius said with a laugh. I blinked at this as the Princess sighed and looked at me.

“Don’t mind him, his kind are… mad.” The Princess said, making Lucius smile more.

“You say that to all Cooks, Celestia.” The old man said with a laugh. I just stood in silence as this went on, I was honestly a little confused but managed to keep it to myself though I'm not sure if it's my mind playing tricks on me but I swore I caught the princess giving me an odd glance. Before long it calmed down enough that we moved on to the meeting part. I was told that the final round would be a secret ingredient round, a round that the four cooks should use in their dish. We were allowed to go down to see how the cooks are cooking and chat with them for a few moments. At the end they each will come up one by one for us to taste and write down a number from zero to five for presentation, taste, and use of ingredient.

“Thank you Lucius for that, the winner would be able to attend your family’s school correct?” The Princess asked the old man, who nodded.

“Yes, I do hope we get some new bright students in that school.” Lucius said with a smile. Both the Princess and I smiled at this. “And for the rest of them… you did say that they will get a gold ticket?” I blinked at this as the Princess nodded.

“For them to get this far I would love to see them at the Gala.” The Princess said happily. I groaned a little, being reminded of the ticket incident a few months back. The old man nodded and pulled out a pocket watch.

“Ah, it’s almost time. We should head up to our seats.” Lucius said before putting his watch away. The three of us headed up to a table and I sat down next to the right while Lucius sat at the left, meaning the Princess was right in the middle. We waited for a few moments before some music came on and a voice spoke.

“Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to the Before Fall Fair!” The voice of the DJ rang out which everyone let out a cheer. I soon saw her standing nearby wearing a blue top that showed off her belly and some short shorts. There were some catcalls and whistles at her as she smiled. “Tonight! We have an excellent group of people for our annual cook off! So let them hear it!” Another round of cheering before Sofía went down to one of four groups of kitchens. “First up! She’s one hyper gal, and one hell of a party planner! She makes your teeth rot with her cupcakes! Give it up for… Dianne Pye!”

There was a loud explosion and something crashed into the one kitchen. We all jumped at this as Dianne came out of the smoke, smiling and cheering as if nothing has happened. This made everyone let out a roar of cheering.

“Well… that one sure is… hyper.” The old man said which the Princess chuckled to herself. Sofía walked to the next kitchen, a little bigger than normal.

“Neeeext up! He comes from the sea and one hell of a giant! He could fish up a whale of flavor. Give it up for… Guvir- ah!” Sofía yelped as in the kitchen was the giant Beastkin. How did he get in there so fast?! “Holy heck man, how you get here so fast?” Guvir simply shrugs and I saw Dianne waving at him, too which he waved back. “Okay… Next up! She runs a little coffee shop and nice, but don’t make her angry or she’ll throw you to next week! Come on out...Blake Oíche!”

I saw Blake walk out with a smile on her face, everyone cheered for her as she took her place. She saw me and gave me a wave, which I waved back.

“Alright! The Final Cook, he’s the top chef in the Granger school of Culinary arts, heck he’s the son of the Headmaster, give a big hand for Milburn Granger!” the DJ announce which all the spotlights turned to show the snobby noble come out with a big smile and waving. I frowned at this as Sofía came hopping up to where we are. “Okay! Now that we now who they are, let's go to the judges table and see who the judges are! In the left seat, the last Headmaster of Granger school of Culinary arts, Lucius Granger!” Lucius waved at everyone before the DJ came over to me.

“So, I was told that the second judge was feeling ill for some reason, but luckily we have a replacement. He’s the guy who does odd jobs, and a good friend of mine… Isaac Parker!” Sofía announced as everyone cheered for me. I waved at the cheering people, I even spotted Ange amongst the crowd which got me to smile a little more. “And Finally! The last Judge who really doesn’t need any introduction, give it up for Princess Celestia!”

This made everyone cheer, the Princess smiling at them and giving a wave to them all. I chuckled a bit as the DJ was going over the rules of the final round where I was soon drawn away by Lucius. He came over and whispered into my ear.

“I don’t know your style of judging, but here’s a tip; these are cooks, people that seen the worse and turned into something amazing. Be blunt as possible but give it room for them to grow.” I looked over at the Old man who simple smiled at me, a man who most of his life was behind a stove and uses a knife.

“I'll keep that in mind, thanks.” I said to him with a nod. He nodded back before moving back to his seat just as the Princess stood up.

“Now then, for this final round dish must contain this ingredient.” She started as the large table in the middle of the room filled up with a water tank, soon different kinds of fish appeared. “Fish!”

“Ohh, Fish will be interesting.” Lucius said as I saw Dianne smiling around and Blake had her thinking look on. My eyes went over to the other two, the giant Beastkin was busy getting his tools ready as Milburn was smirking to himself with his arms crossed.

“ALL RIGHT! There’ two hours on the clock… start now!” The DJ yelled as the timer went off and the four went to the tank, the noble simply walked over all smug like. Dianne jumped into the tank and swam around before somehow grabbing a fish that the scales were like a rainbow.

“Oh my, that’s a Rainbow trout!” Lucius said as Dianne jumped out like a dolphin into her kitchen, to which the old man looked at me. “Is she… always like that?”

“Believe or not that's tame by her standards.” I said which was said through the microphones. I heard a round of laughter as I saw some of the townsfolk nodded at this, knowing Dianne well. I turned to see Blake with a net out and looking in the water. Soon she put it in and after a minute or so she pulled it out and some darker gray fish flopped around.

“Oh, that’s sea bass.” The Princess said with a smile before looking at the old man. “You know which one?”

“Hmm, from the image over head…” he said as we both looked up at the large screen with the sea bass on it. “It’s a Potato Bass.”

“I will name it… Spuds.” I said in a joking manner, using my fake serious voice when saying the name. This gotten a laugh from some of the crowd as well as Lucius.

“Really, I would have named it… Spudnick.” The Princess said with a chuckle. This also got a laugh from the crowned as I just heard the Princess make a joke. The snobby chef walked up and snapped his fingers as two people came out and caught his fish. This gotten some frowns from some people.

“This just in, renowned chef can't catch fish without aid. More on this at eleven.” I said after seeing it happen. This gotten a few laughs as Milburn glared at me as his grandfather shook his head. Guvir walked over to the tank and stared at it before with a quick thrust of his hand he grabbed and pulled out the biggest fish that was in there. “Big man gives zero fucks!” I said, having found his way of fishing a little more amusing but still not Dianne amusing.

“Isaac, language please.” The Princess said with a stern tone, like a mother would for their child. “But I do have to agree, that was pretty impressive.”

“Well it makes sense.” Lucius said as he turned to us. “Guvir comes from a small fishing port in the north, this was a challenge made for him. And the fish he used it known as a Titan Halibut, a pretty large fish if I do say so.”

“Exciting.” I said with a little chuckle as I watched. The contest continued as the four were going at it. The DJ asked us if we wanted to go down and take a closer look at the contestants.

“I would love a closer look.” The Princess said as Lucius shook his head.

“I can see all I need to see from here.” He said as the two of them as well as the DJ looked at me.

“I would but that require me getting from this comfy seat.” I said to her truthfully before shifting a little in my seat and adding. “I'm seeing how well can it do against a butt print.” I said. There was a few chuckles from from the crowd, even the Princess was cracking up.

“Oi! Get off you lazy ass!” I heard Blake yell out from where she was, shooting me the stink eye. With a roll of my eyes I stood up but not before looking down at the seat, seeing no print left behind.

“Huh, I should buy one of these.” I said to myself before shaking my head and heading up the stage. Dianne was engrossed in what she was doing, humming an odd tune to herself as she did before I moved on.

“Hello there Blake.” The Princess said to Blake as she looked up.

“Hey there.” she greeted before looking at me. “Hey you’re walking, the seat not able to keep you sitting?”

“I'm actually thinking of buying a chair like that, I wasn't kidding when I said they were comfy.” I told her jokingly, gaining a laugh from her as she worked.

“So tell me, what are you making?” The Princess asked her. Blake looked up and smiled.

“Noodles.” She answered, which confused the both of us.

“Noo...dles?” the Princess said before Blake started laughing, mostly at me.

“Ha! You look funny when you look confused!” Blake said, giggling to herself.

“Haha very funny.” I said sarcastically with a roll of my eyes. We left Blake to go to the Snobby chef as he was cutting the fish he chose.

“Hello Milburn.” The Princess greeted. This got the guy to stop and bow.

“Princess…” he said before glaring at me. I rolled my eyes as the Princess continue.

“Can you tell me what fish you are using and what are you using it for?” She asked him.

“Yes, I’m using a fresh Snapper.” Milburn explained as I looked at the the fish. It was decent size, but compared to the Titan fish from the giant, it’s tiny. “And I’m making Fish stakes out of it.”

“I see, what do you have to say about it Isaac?” the Princess asked me. With a shrug and a nonchalant meh I said.

“It's sound alright I guess, though what matters is how it looks, feels and tastes.” I said, sounding professional as I did which got an odd look from both the princess and Milburn. Milburn scoffs a bit and returned to chopping as we headed to the last place.

“My my, I didn’t know that you have a bit of culinary skill under your belt.” The Princess said to me.

“I hang out with Blake a lot, I picked up a thing or two so I know what I'm doing. It comes in handy in my line of work.” I said to her with a little shrug. The Princess smiled as we came to the large man station. He seemed to be finishing up his work on the large fish. I notice that everything was cut up and portion to perfection, even the little bones were picked out.

“Wow… you must’ve taken great pride at your skill of deboning the fish.” The Princess said, earning a nod from the giant as he moved on to working with flour. “Hmmm, I guess he’s not much of a talker.”

“What he lacks in speech, he makes up for in cooking. Seriously everything is looking amazing.” I said to her, giving out my thoughts. Guvir nodded at this as I saw him cleaning some potatoes right as we left and returned to the judge table. With everything I saw I was getting hungry.

Time waste away as the three of us commatate through the whole thing before a loud buzzer went off.

“That’s TIME!” Sofía announce as the four stopped cooking. Some knives and forks were given to us as Sofía continue, “Now then, the chefs will come up one by one and the judges will judge their food and give their thoughts. At the end they will discuss the winner! Remember folks, win or lose these four will be given a gold ticket to the Gala which is held at the end of the year!”

After she said that the first person that came up was Dianne, who rolled up a large covered platter. “Hiya!” She greeted with her trademark smile.

“Hello Dianne, good to see you.” The Princess said with a smile. “What did you make for us today?”

“Fish cake!” Dianne said as she pulled back the cover… it was literally a cake… with fish heads on it. It was rainbow design and had the trote on it in the icing but… it’s a cake.

“You made… a literally fish cake.” Lucius said before adding. “You know that you have to add the fish to your dish, right?”

“Yes, it was hard to make it into a floury powder.” Dianne said as she began to cut some slices. Lucius slowly turned to look at me, a questioning look was on his face.

“I mean… props for actually doing it and all but… Why a cake?” I asked her, curious to know myself. Dianne turned with three plates of the cake.

“Well, it’s right there in the name ‘Fish cake’.” She stated as she handed us a slice.

“No… that’s not… I shouldn’t be questioning it am I?” the Old chef asked which made me chuckle as I took a look of the plate. It was quite simple, a round white plate with the colourful blue and rainbow coloured cake on top. I took a fork and put a little of the cake into my mouth.

… It was sweet, really sweet and… salty? This was a really good cake! It was like I was sitting out watching the ocean with a cake in hand. Lucius hummed at this before saying. “I have to say, you are one heck of a pastry chef, mixing both sweet and salty tastes so seemingly is no laughing matter, but I don’t taste the trout in this dish at all. What to you think Isaac?” he asked me.

“If I'm being honest sir, this is a pretty weird but awesome cake.” I said to him with a chuckle before saying. “You really do like surprising people huh, Dianne.” I said to the pink haired party planner and baker. She smiled brightly and nodded.

“Alright, now Princess, what are your- uh.” The Old man stopped as I turned to see the Princess. She looked like she was in absolute bliss.

“It’s so good~” she said happily. Lucius laughed at this oddly as the Princess spoke again. “Dianne, you mind if I take this cake back with me to Canterlot?”

“Sure!” Dianne said before skipping off happily and the cake was pushed away. I shook my head and took a drink of water as Milburn came up with his dishes. He set them down in front of us and I saw it was a fish stake. The colour of it was a beautiful golden brown and it was paired with a white and green sauce and some veg. The plate itself looked like it had gold rings around it and, over all it looked expensive… there's was once issue though… the fish was the size of my palm, it was tiny!

“Uhh, is this… it?” Lucius asked, poking at the fish.

“Yes sir, this is my fish stake of your dreams!” Milburn said with a flourish. I stared at it for a few moments more.

“Holy hell man, are trying to make us starve!?” I exclaimed in shock, the proportion was ludicrously small. The noble frowned at me.

“You wouldn’t understand the art of fine cuisine.” He said as he turned up his nose at me. It really pissed me off when he did that.

“Now now, let’s not just beat around the bush, the plating is… well extravagant but let us see of the taste.” The Princess said. I took my fork and took a piece of ‘steak’ and ate it. It was a light sweet flavor with some freshness to it. I hate to say it was good. The sauce tasted like a basil sauce balanced out the sweetness of of the steak with it’s own taste. The veg was good too, simple bright and crispy from what I guess steaming it. Over all it was good but I wanted more… just to see there wasn’t enough.

“This was an excellent dish Milburn, the fresh tasting fish paired with the basil seemed to brighten the flavores greatly.” The Princess stated, earning a smug look from the noble. “But… I have to agree with Isaac here, while it’s a great dish, it’s far too small for one person.” This made the nobles smile drop.

“Yeah, while it's good and all I wouldn't pay money if the portion was that tiny.” I said with a nod of agreement. Milburn grew angry at my statement before looking at his grandfather.

“Out of all the dishes you made… this is my least favorite.” Lucius said, getting a shock looked from his grandson.

“But… but…” Milburn started only to stop with a glance.

“Let me start from the top, you made a fish stake, while a good dish it was a poor choice for the snapper, the taste was more delicate and mild, steaks are more meaty than that. It was also a bit bland, mostly riding on the basil sauce which was a little overpowering for me. Also snapper is a white meat fish which blends in with the sauce. If you would’ve picked the salmon the pink colour would have brighten everything. The only good thing here was the steamed vegetables which was the only thing that didn’t have any fish in it…” Lucius leaned forward and stared at Milburn. “You say you’re the top cook in school but a child would know better.”

Milburn was speechless as he walked away from us. I turned to the Old chef as he poured himself some water. Just… wow. I could never expected a brutal way to tear someone's dish up. He did give pointers on the dish but… damn.

“Same old Lucius…” The Princess said as I gave her a odd look. She turned her mic off before speaking. “Some chefs have a nickname of sorts, it sometimes gives a little insight of the chef. His nickname was ‘Lucius, The Demon who Smiles.’.” she explained. I blinked at her before looking at the Old chef. His face was harden and dark and as he turned to look at me I felt the same shiver from before, only to be replaced with a warm feeling as he smiled at me, looking like an old happy person.

I looked away as I saw Blake came up with three bowls. She put them in front of us and I saw a few chunks of bass in a clear broth with some green onion, some veg, and most of all purple noodles.

“This here is a new dish I tweaked a bit; Potato bass Purple sweet potato noodles!” Blake said with a smile. There was some ohhing from the three of us as I stirred it with my fork.

“I have to ask, why sweet potato noodles?” The Princess asked. “And Why the Purple kind?”

“Well, if I get this right, Sea Bass has a meaty texture with a fishy buttery taste to it, which I believe it be more savory, sweet potato has a much sweeter taste but I didn’t want to over power the fish with it, and purple sweet potatoes are, while still sweet, not as powerful. I used the rest of it to make the broth that should give a nice heavy filling taste to it.” Blake explained with a smile. Taking a fork full of the noodles and fish I started to eat and… oof! It was heavy, but so good! It had a nice filling flavor to it and I gotten full from a few bites. Maybe too full as I put it down. I think Blake made it a little too heavy for me. Though from the looks of it the Princess can eat it no problem.

“You are trying to kill me.” I said to her jokingly as I put the plate down. “I'm full and I only took a few bites but it was so good.” I said to her with a little laugh. Blake arch a brow at me as her smile wavered a bit.

“I have to agree, while good it was very filling.” Lucius stated. “I believe you had the right idea but it was a little off. Maybe use rice instead and make the broth to a lighter sauce would’ve made it much better.”

“Oooo, a rice dish! Why didn’t I think of that!” Blake said before pulling a pen out and writing something on her hand. “I should try that later!” This earned a laugh from the Old man.

“I will say you get full marks on creativity, it’s really good!” he said with a laugh.

“I don’t know about you two but I think this dish was a very good and hardy meal.” The Princess said, pointing out that she ate all of it.

“Yeah… but you could eat all of Dianne’s cake and still be hungry.” Lucius said, earning a glare from the Princess.

“Did you just called me fat?” she asked him.

“Well no, just that your metabolism is so high that you could eat a cake the size of your palace and still be hungry!” Lucius stated, earning a blush look from the Princess and a laugh from him. This made the rest of us laugh as Blake headed back, I have to say Blakes food was something, able to make people have fun while eating it. Lastly was the Beastkin who walked up to us and put down some plates of… Fish and Chips.

The fish looked like it was crispy and flaky and the fries were the same golden brown. And just looking at it they were home made. Just staring at it I already got hungry.

“Hmm, this dish looked much more… mundane than the others.” the old chef stated.

“I don’t know, there’s a rustic feel of it that I like.” The Princess said as she cut a bit of the fish off and looked at it. “The batter is thin! I haven’t had thin batter fish for some time now.”

I nodded, this looked really good right before I put it in my mouth and… whoa. It was crunch, flaky, light and just… delicious! This a simple dish but it works so… so well! I saw there was a dip and dipped a bit into it and took another bite. It just made the taste more amazing! I couldn’t put it into words other than delicious.

“Oh my, this is something else!” The Princess stated as she ate. “It’s light and heavy, I never tasted something like this before!”

“Yes, I knew that we were in for a treat.” Lucius said as he ate. “As soon ingredient was called you knew what you wanted to make, how you wanted to make it and present. By far this is the best fish and chips I have ever had.” I nodded at this and said.

“There really aren't any words for me to describe how good this is.” I said, humming as I ate the last bit of my piece. Guvir nodded at this before turning and heading back to his station.

“And that’s everyone! Now the judges will go and tally up the points for each contestant and debate who wins!” The DJ announced. As She said that I stood up with the other two and we walked back to the place where we had the meeting.

“Now then, for the task of picking which one is the winner and who came close?” The Princess said as she passed around a clipboard to the two of us and we went through it. I wrote down what I believe was was the fair points to each of them and when we were finished we saw that the others put down, started to debate a bit before coming to the final answer. We headed back to the judge table and the DJ saw us sit.

“All right! Has the Judges come to a decision?” she asked us which we answered with a nod. “Great! So, who’s in last place?!” For that I stood up to answer.

“After giving it a few moments of thought, we've come to unanimous desicion of…” I stopped just to add tension. “Milburn.” I finally revealed the one in last place.

“Now hold on!” Milburn yelled at us, making me frown. “I understand I wouldn't get first place but Last! Are you crazy!” He turned to Dianne and pointed. “She just made a cake! With nothing about it had fish in it!”

“Well I say that the cake was perfect.” The Princess said with a smile. Both me and Lucius looked at her, remembering she gave Dianne full points but it was mostly out of her love of cake.

“This isn’t fair!” Milburn yelled. “I demand a recount!”

“Fuck off with your recount, our vote was unanimous.” I said to him with a roll of my eyes as I crossed my arms. Milburn glared at me before storming off, earning a sigh from Lucius. I pulled up the sheet to say the third place winner.

“For third place, Dianne Pye with her fish cake.” I said, laughing a little at the name fish cake. I didn't know why but I just found it somewhat funny.

“Woohoo!” Dianne yelled, some fireworks went off that surprised everyone.

“I have a feeling that even if Dianne was in last she would do the same thing.” The old man said to me. This made me chuckle and nod as he stood up. “Now for the second place dish… Blake Oích with her fish noodles!”

I saw Blake looked shocked at this, I bet that she didn’t expect to come second. Everyone cheered for her and I saw a blush form on her face. I gave her a cheeky thumbs up. The two of us sat down and the Princess stood up.

“And the Winner of the cook off is...Guvir!” The Princess announced, earning a cheer from everyone as the giant himself smiled a little. There was more talking but I pushed myself off and headed down to Blake and Dianne. The both of them were packing up their stuff as Blake sighed a bit.

“Well that was something…” I heard her say before seeing me walk up. “Hey man.”

“Congrats on second place.” I congratulated her with a smile as I came up to her.

“Yeah… I was aiming for first but… man! How could I beat Guvir?!” Blake said with a shake of her head. “I seen him work and man, it was like he did everything in one clean motion!” I laughed a little at this, helping her clean up.

“I still can't believe Dianne made a cake.” I said, unable to keep myself from chuckling after I said this.

“What?! I’m a Pastry chef! I know how to make a cake like the back of my hand!” Dianne proclaimed as she showed us the back of her hand. I blinked as I did she a recipe for cake there. I shook my head as Blake finishes.

“Yeah… but that Milburn guy can hold a grudge.” Blake said with a frown.

“Honestly, hearing him speak nearly gave me a migraine.” I said with a groan. Blake shook her head as she helped Dianne clean up. Just as she went over Ange came up to me with a smile.

“Hey.” She greeted me.

“Hey, I didn't think you’d stick around for the show.” I said with a smile of my own.

“I did, I saw the whole thing.” She said with a blush. “You see me in the crowd?” With a nervous chuckle, I nodded.

“Yeah… yeah I did.” I said, my smile never leaving though a blush formed on my cheeks. The two of us smiled at each other before I realized that the other two were staring at us.

“Don’t mind us, keep going.” Blake said with a smile. Ange saw this and hid behind me, blushing a bit more.

“Can we… have some time alone?” I asked the two of them, earning a whine from Dianne.

“But I want to watch!~” she whined. Blake sighed before grabbing the party planner by the scruff.

“Come on…” She said as she started to drag Dianne away. For the whole time Dianne complained until we were left alone. I looked back at Ange who was straightening her skirt up.

“That was… something.” She said.

“Yeah but you known them… they like poke some fun at people.” I said with a sigh as I rubbed the back of my head. Ange smiled at me before pulling my arm close.

“So… what do you want to do now?” she asked, looking up at me. My cheeks lit up brighter than a tomato when she did this and it sent my thoughts in a loop before finally they stopped mumbling about and I was reminded of the statue I built.

“Well… there's this thing I worked on almost a few months and only finished about a month and a half ago, it's meant to be a gift but… I'm kinda nervous about it, it's my first life like project and I didn't know if you'd like it or not and… you get my point.” I said nearly rambling off into oblivion which gained a sweet giggle from Angelina, music to my ears.

“Can we go see it?” She asked me. I briefly thought on it before nodding and guiding Ange back to my home, more specifically my garage. It wasn't a long walk back home, the fairgrounds was close by to my home and before long we finally arrived. I opened the door and lead Ange into my workroom, which was my garage. Inside I turned on the lights and sure enough the Metal Hawk was sitting on my workbench. Ange was in awe at this, seeing a lifelike hawk made out of metal.

“Yeah, I've had to go through several sleepless nights doing this.” I said, rubbing the back of my head with a chuckle. Ange looked over at me with a slight frown.

“You shouldn't push yourself so hard like that.” She stated before going red. “N-n-not that you shouldn't! The craftsmanship is really nice and… and… oh…” she stuttered.

“It's fine really… I just wanted to make it a perfect gift.” I said to her softly, admitting that those sleepless nights were my own decision. “I wanted to make it special.” I said. Ange smiled and blushed at this.

“It is special…” She whispered before continuing. “Today was amazing Isaac, really. It feels like a dream.”

“Yeah… a dream come true.” I said to her, smiling as we gazed at one another with loving gazes. As the two of us stared I notice that Ange was getting a bit closer to me until she was right in front of me.

“Isaac… do you… have a crush on me?” She asked me. I blinked at this before Ange added. “I heard Dianne say something some time ago when she and Rachael were drinking cider… a lot of it…” I mentally groan at this, hearing the two drink.

“Y-yeah, I've had uh… I've had a crush on you for a while.” I said to her, blushing as I admitted it.

“Yeah well… I uh… also had a crush on… um you.” She admitted to me, her hair fallen in front of her left eye, covering it as she fidget nervously. We stayed silent for the longest time, the both of us not knowing what do. We didn't even notice that we were slowly closing the gap between us and before my mind to process what was happening, our lips met one another sharing what I would hope to be one of many passionate kisses. My mind exploded in fireworks when that happened, time slowed to a crawl until sooner or later we parted. I smiled at this, looking at Ange slowly fall back… wait.

I quickly grabbed her as she fainted with a smile on her face and a red blush. Maybe it was a little too much for the shy Skyborn. I blinked in surprise when I caught the fainted skyborn, her blushing face had a goofy smile plastered on her face. I was on the brink of doing the same myself but that would mean letting her fall onto the ground. I picked her up with a deep breath, taking her up in my arms bridal style before heading inside and gently placing her on the recliner, pulling chair back so she's laying down. She curled up on the chair with a smile on her face. I had a smile of my own, holding back my urge to celebrate the first kiss. I went into the kitchen to get a glass of water and set one up for Ange as well, placing it by the table next to the chair. With that, I sat down and was dumbfounded that it happened, it really happened.

I looked over at the time and saw it was getting late and Skyler said she was having a sleepover at her friends house, so it's just me and a sleeping Ange in the house tonight. I ultimately decided to sleep on the couch for the night, not wanting to leave Ange alone.

I decided to let her sleep here for the night after getting a pillow and blanket for her. After that I went to bed as well, smiling at all what has happened today.

End of Chapter IX

Author's Note

List of Names

Twilight Sparkle: Lydia Aurora
Spike: Drake
Pinkie Pie: Dianne Pye
Rarity: Sophia Belmont
Fluttershy: Angelina Calliope
Rainbow Dash: Rachael Dawn Wind (Wind is a real surname, it's Finnish)
Applejack: Jacqueline Smith
Applebloom: Samantha Smith
Big Macintosh: James Smith II (junior)
Scootaloo: Skyler Hawk
Trixie: Selina Crescent
Snip: Titus
Snails: Ralph
Zecora: Kamkhwala (Kam for short)
Vinal Scratch: Sofía Aquino
Octavia Melody: Carole Langstone