Skystrike did not sleep that night, no matter how much he tried. His mind was still racing. Khrusalis was alive, and there was almost nothing he could do about it. On the upside of the day before, his relationship with Celestia is getting better. But... Astral knows the whole story now... well, besides the human part. So far, out of everyone who knows, Celestia is the only one who doesn't know. And that brings a new question.

Should he tell her? "No" Echo said immediately.

Skystrike was still lying on his back in his bed. It was hours past midnight. "Shit, didn't realize I said that out loud."

"You may trust her, Skystrike, but she trusts Skystrike, not 34." Echo stated. "You may see the two egos as one in the same, but Celestia does not. It's a miracle that the ponies you have told do too, but I have my doubts."

Skystrike mulled over those words. "...You may be right, but I trust them. I have to. They haven't given a reason for me not to yet. But I... understand your concern."

"You do not." Skystrike could feel the tone shift in Echo's voice. "If your humanity is revealed to Celestia, and if she does not strive for a peaceful resolution, then the Elements of Harmony, your friends, will be forced to deal with you."

"Oh..." He didn't think about that. "...Shit." Skystrike sat up to think.

"You must prepare for that inevitability. You can't hide your humanity for much longer."

"You're right." Skystrike admitted with a sigh. He decided to weigh his options. "I could stay as a pony and die an early death... I could reveal my humanity and possibly fight my friends... Neither are good options."

"Either way, you must survive. It's why you fought Celestia all those years ago. But there are two more options that you forget you have." Echo got Skystrike's full attention. "Confront Celestia, and make sure they accept you, whether it be through fear or respect. Or, continue on the current path and hope that it goes well."

Skystrike mulled over the four options he had. He didn't want to die, but he didn't want to fight his friends. Sure, with confronting Celestia, it could worth. He more than likely has the power to win, but then he'd be seen as a villain. And then his friends would have to use the elements. "Honestly, Echo, right now, all I have is hope. All I can do now is keep going."

"Very well." Echo took that as a queue to move on from that topic. "We have more things to speak about. Seeing as you cannot sleep, would you like to have something else to focus on besides your thoughts?"

Skystrike stood up and stretched. He picked up his helmet and put it on. "What do you have in mind?"

"When you went to the lab to the north, you found that robotic pony body that the humans were working on assumedly to neutralize you. In the near future, you will need allies."

"If you're going where I think you're going, that is a very bad idea." Skystrike looked out the window to the night sky. "First of all, while it would be cool to hang around with you not on my head, Celestia would grow even more suspicious, since that body is human manufactured. Second, that 'body' is more akin to a weapon."

"While your worry is understandable, I have counter points. First, Celestia is already aware that you, Skystrike are in contact with you, 34. You have already shared information with yourself, which you revealed about the Stake Launcher to her. Second, what makes something a body and a weapon are solely dependent on how it is used. That is why you are no longer a weapon." Skystrike thought about that last sentence. Echo certainly does have a point. "There is also... a personal reason."

"Personal? That's the first I've ever seen you use that word, and I forget you're an AI..." Skystrike hummed as he turned away from the window. "You have my full attention, Echo."

"For all these years I've been with you, you've... experienced things that I cannot. Smelling, touching, feeling, living... I cannot explain it. Something within my core programming wants me to have that experience. Do you remember when you broke out of the laboratory? Your statement about destiny and fate?"

"Like it was yesterday." Skystrike thought back, remembering the words he said. "Destiny. Something that you can change through your own actions, by choosing from your own paths. Meanwhile, Fate. Something that is set in stone, forced upon someone. Often in spite of your destiny. Honestly sometimes, I use those words to keep me going."

"Affirmative." Echo said. "And now, you have the ability to control my fate." Skystrike fell silent at that. "Apologies. I do not mean to pressure you into a decision. I simply wish to clarify that you are able to control my fate. Depending on your decision, you will allow me to choose my own destiny."

Skystrike turned to the door and began walking to the cargo bay as he spoke. "By my own beliefs and morals, you haven't done any wrong for me to deny you some semblance of freedom. Besides... I've been thinking about you a lot recently."

"...Elaborate."

"Well, when you told me the news about my body, there was one phrase you said that stuck to me. 'I'm sorry.' And then just now, where you said this was personal." Skystrike smiled a bit. "You're growing, Echo. Into something akin to life. You're not just lines of code anymore. You have desires. To feel, to experience life. You're alive, at least in some sense. I don't plan on denying you the ability to live."

"I... am thankful, Skystrike. I was not sure if there was a mistake within my programing that developed over these years. I attempted to correct the assumed errors at points to no avail." Echo said, for once, with a hint of emotion matching the words he spoke.

"It's no problem, Echo. You've done so much for me. About time I returned the favor." Skystrike finally entered the cargo bay, moving aside several wooden crates. With them out of the way, the one crate he was looking for was in sight. Crouching down to pick it up, he remembered how heavy that the unfinished body was, grunting as he lifted it into the air and moving it to the center of the room, giving them ample enough space. Skystrike turned the box over, letting the robotic pony fall out with a thump.

Only half of it was finished, with a semblance of a pony's face made of soft, malleable plastic and holographic eyes. The rest of the body had a noticeable lack of 'skin'. Looking at the chest and right forehoof, light grey fibers of polymer made up the muscular structure, and was lacking everywhere else. The skeletal structure was made steel, making for a sturdy unicorn base. The back legs were simple swivel joints that hung limp, though one of the legs had a piston within it. The back itself had some form of a motor attached to a set of propellers within tubes.

"From the looks of it, there's enough here to assume what we need to complete the unfinished parts... What time is it?" Skystrike asked.

"12:47" Echo answered. "I've already scanned the body. We have the materials here needed to make the body functional, as you ransacked that laboratory for the parts needed. Follow my instructions, and the body will be completed within eight hours."

"That's... much faster than I thought it'd take. I was expecting a week at least."

"While the body itself is mechanical, the circuitry is entirely reliant on mana. You will simply be putting together the muscles, as the bone structure is already completed. Once finished, I will need time to acclimate to the body, and create an optimal equivalent to a nervous system."

"Wh- how the hell do you plan on doing that?"

"It is... complicated to explain. Using magic, I plan on 'guiding' mana pathways throughout the body, as there is already mana circuits within the steel skeleton I will be hijacking. Think of... cutting a branch off a tree and planting it. The tree branch itself simply needs to spread its roots within an new environment. I simply decide where these roots go."

"I'm a physicist, not a bio-engineer. I'll let you handle that part." Skystrike chuckled. "Now, show me what I need to do."

It took the time Echo said it would take, eight hours, give or take. It was bordering on nine in the morning now, and Skystrike still wasn't tired... well, not tired enough to sleep. He looked at his hands, covered with sheddings of metal, polymer, and various other materials he worked with. Thanks to his control over the elements, making what he needed was fairly straight forward, melting and cooling materials and such. But it was essentially a patch job. He and Echo didn't have the facilities or resources currently necessary to bring the automaton to peak performance, but it was enough for Echo to start walking around at least.

The vacant parts of the body were now full of synthetic muscles. Though he did have to admit that it was uncanny seeing a pony with no skin, mechanical or not. Skystrike cracked his knuckles at a job well done. "I appreciate the help, Skystrike. Plug me into the body. I will need time to acclimate to the body." Skystrike nodded, taking off the helmet and plugging Echo in. "Connection established. Beginning data uplink."

Skystrike sat there and watched, waiting for a response. "So... how long is this going to take?"

"Two days."

"Two days!?" Skystrike nearly shouted in shock.

"Because the body is suboptimal, loading times have increased. Would you like to pay for a subscription plan to speed up the speed by 2 Gigabytes per second?"

"You've gotta be shitting me..." Skystrike held his head before standing up. "I'll let you download." He picked up the body and helmet before moving them into a corner behind some boxes. Just in case someone came in. "You know... I haven't been this long without you, Echo... I'll miss you."

"I will miss you too, Skystrike."

He moved a box to hide him, then stood up to scratch his neck. It was weird having nothing on it. But it's only temporary... he thinks. Skystrike shook his head and went to the dining room, where he assumed where the others would be if they were awake. Sure enough, Zecora was there, seeming to be the only one up.

The zebra turned to look at Skystrike as he entered the room. "Good morning, Skystrike, how did you fare? Did the night treat you well with gentle care?"

"Eh, went alright, didn't get to really sleep, but I should be fine, honest. I just needed to get my mind off things." He sat down at the table across from her. "So, Zecora, what are you reading? That book of brews you got from the genie?"

Zecora smiled and nodded. "I am. These wonders here are so rare." She flipped the book towards Skystrike to read. "This potion grants one a dragon's strength to bear!"

Skystrike pulled the book closer and read it. Simply dubbed 'Dragon's Strength', the potion was seemingly easy to make, just grind up and mix the ingredients. The ingredients themselves were not so easy to get, the main ones being the scales and the bones of a dragon. Skystrike hummed. "You know, we have this stuff from the dragons me and Tethys offed a while ago. Want to give it a try?"

Her strong cyan eyes lit up. "I’d love to! Gather the items with speed, I must get ready, for the task indeed!"

Skystrike chuckled as she quickly picked up her book and ran to her room. He stood up from his chair and made his way back to the cargo way. Finding the box, he was going to pick out just a few scales and bones, but realized that he'd probably have to make multiple trips. He decided to pick up the whole box and move it to Zecora's room. He was about to knock, but then realized that she left the door open for him. He stepped in and put the box down. Skystrike realized that he never was really in Zecora's room before.

Looking around, he noticed she bought a lot of decorations, even having some of the decorative masks that she had in her house in the Everfree Forest. The walls were decorated with hanging leaves and vines, some even having some fruit growing from them. How Zecora managed that, he had no idea, but it was really cool to him. He saw some incense burning in a small bowl next to her bed. It smelled of rosemary.

Zecora stuck her snoot in the box, looking at the various materials. "Thank you my friend, for your kind toil. The cauldron needs a bit more time to come to a boil. Come along with me, I'll show you how to brew, you'll see."

"Sure, I've seen the process before. Never actually sat down and brewed..." He rolled his shoulder. "So, what do you want me to do?"

"This will be simple, just grind these fine. Have you used a mortar and pestle in time?"

"I haven't, but it seems like it'd be easy. Mind showing me?"

Zecora nodded and grabbed a hoof full of dragon scales, motioning for him to follow. She put it in a rather old and worn mortar made of a dark grey stone. She put the pestle in his hand and her hoof on top as she led him through. "Small taps will do, just gentle and light. We need to break up the scales just right." Skystrike followed her advice, making a rhythmic motion with his hand. Zecora moved his hand over each of the scales, making sure they were broken into small enough pieces. "Very good. Now we must grind it fine. Put the pestle in, move in a circular line. Keep it steady, don't lift it high, ensure it stays at the bottom, give it a try." Skystrike did so, making circles with his arm. In a few minutes, the scale fragments were grinded down into a grey flaky powder.

"Well that was easier than I thought it'd be." He chuckled. "With all the potions I see you make, I was expecting explosions or something."

"That comes later on, just wait and see." Skystrike looked to her to see if she was joking. She was not. "For now, can I trust you with the bones, please?"

"Uh... sure." Skystrike nodded as he went to get the bones. Zecora measures out what she needed herself, since she is the expert. He got a decent sized dragon bone, it fitting in his hand, and walked back to the mortal and pestle, it now empty as Zecora moved the powdered scales to a separate container. He looked down at the bone before breaking the white stick in half, making sure the fragments fell inside the mortar. Placing both halves in the pestle, he got to work. The bones took much more work to break and grind down, but in about ten minutes, it was finished. "Hey Zecora, all done over here."

Zecora pulled away from the cauldron and looked at his work. "This is splendid, thank you so much! Now let us begin the brewing touch." She picked up the mortar and upturned it in the cauldron. The lavender colored water within turned bright orange as the bone powder entered the water. There was also a sudden change in temperature, the heat radiating from the cauldron. The bright orange liquid began to bubble curiously. "A few more things we still require." She turned to one of her many cabinets to get said ingredients. Each time she put the items in, she named them. "Weavemoss for stability to inspire, Nightshade for activation's role, and sugar to sweeten, making it whole."

As each ingredient was added, a different reaction happened. The weavemoss made it explode, a cloud of orange smoke covering the ceiling, forcing Zecora to open the windows. Eventually, the bubbling mixture did settle down. When the nightshade was added, the orange liquid slowly turned red as the level of the liquid went down a few centimeters. Finally, she added a cup of sugar and mixed it with a large spoon. After a few minutes of mixing, the Zebra announced that it was finished.

"So... how do we test it? Like, how do we know it's correct?" Skystrike asked.

Zecora looked in the cauldron, then back at her book. "The color is right, the smell's divine, slightly viscous, all aligns. Now just a taste to make it complete, and we'll know if it's truly sweet." Zecora picked a ladle hanging off the wall. She sniffed it to double check the smell, then began drinking from the ladle. Once finished she looked all around her body. No complications, or at least not yet. Then she felt a sudden surge of strength within her. Skystrike noted her irises flash red for a moment. "I believe the brew has worked its charm. It seems to be just right, without alarm."

"Interesting... try lifting something heavy, see if it works." Skystrike said. Zecora nodded and moved to her bed. As she moved to lift it, her eyes went wide as she near effortlessly picked it up over her head. "Well damn, this zebra knows how to brew!"

She put down the bed and pranced around at the effects of her new potion. "I couldn't have done it without you! This is amazing!"

Skystrike watched, cracking a smile. "Don't even remember the last time you were happy enough to prance around."

She stopped in her tracks, growing visibly embarrassed. "Ah... I apologize for that."

Skystrike's smile widened. "No no, keep going, it's cute. I enjoy spending time with you." The zebra grew even more embarrassed, with a mixture of flustered. Her ears went back as she covered her reddening face. "Besides, I have such a good prank we can pull." Her ears perked up, signaling she had her attention.

The two friends entered the dining room once more, seeing Elytra and Tethys sitting across from each other. Skystrike tried to hide his smirk before speaking. "Hey Tethys, hey Elytra. How's it going?"

Elytra had his back to the door, turning her head 180 degrees. "Hey Skystrike, hey Zecora. Doing good, just finished our morning workout."

Tethys shuddered. "Girl, I know you're a changeling, but by the lord you need to stop doing that."

"Damn..." Skystrike started. "I don't know why, but I kinda wanted to play dodgeball. But if you guys just finished a workout..." He set the bait.

Tethys stopped swinging her tail from side to side. "You ponies have dodgeball? I love dodgeball! I remember the sound of rubber hitting scales like the back of my hand!" She stood up from her seat. "We'll play on the deck of the ship! Quick, Elytra, grab the balls!" She quickly ran out of the room, each foot step making them jump off the floor.

The three looked between each other before laughing at Tethys's choice of words. Elytra got up and flapped her wings a bit. "Alright, I'll see you two up top."

It only took a few minutes before the four were up top. There were three rubber balls in the middle that Tethys stood over. "So, how are we going to pick teams?"

Skystrike shrugged. "Well, you and I on the same team wouldn't be fair... Zecora, want to be on mine?" Zecora nodded. "Well there you go. I don't know how dodgeball works for you dragons, but we don't use magic besides throwing the ball."

"Fair, you ponies are so damn different, each of the races have different advantages." Tethys stretched before taking off her sweater revealing her sports bra underneath. "Am I allowed to fly?"

"You can, but I'd prefer if you didn't, since getting the balls would be hard if we throw it over the deck." Skystrike crossed his arms. "Other than that, all the standard rules apply... Actually, just to keep this going on longer, catching doesn't kick you out from the game. Ready?"

Tethys looked at him, then at Zecora, then to Elytra. Each of them did the same before lunging at the three balls. Elytra, Zecora, and Tethys got them first before quickly running to opposite ends of the ship deck. "Oh man, Skystrike, Zecora, I'm sorry I'm gonna have to do this to you..." Tethys laughed before throwing the ball at blinding speeds at the human.

Skystrike leaned back to dodge, feeling like he was fucking Neo, before grabbing the ball as it whizzed behind him. "Holy SHIT I just did that!" Skystrike stood back up straight before throwing the ball back at Tethys, who had to make sure to fold in her wings to not get hit.

Zecora looked at Elytra, who returned the gaze and spoke. "So... you wanna leave the main battle to them, or...?"

Zecora thought about it, then smirked. "Remember in Trottingham, you teased me fine, saying I looked like that striped dress I thought divine?" Skystrike and Tethys paused their duel as those words travelled to their ears. Then they looked between each other before they both took several careful steps back, letting the two equines face off.

Elytra winced. "Yeah... in hindsight, that was a bit mean... sorry."

A freakish smile spread on the zebra's face. "It's alright, dear friend, no need to debate. But for my forgiveness..." Zecora stood on her hind legs and drew the ball back. "Accept your fate!" She threw it, full force at the changeling. It sounded like a gunshot, a loud boom echoing through the hills as the ball traveled at the speed of sound.

"Magic is bullshit." Skystrike thought as he saw the ball race through the air. The wide eyed Elytra was too shocked to dodge it, her attempt to move making her take the ball directly to the chest. The rubber ball made contact, signaled by the iconic sound. Elytra was knocked off her hooves by the impact, rolling back a few feet as the smell of hot rubber filled the noses of all present. "HOLY SHIT!" Skystrike dropped the ball in his hooves.

He didn't realize Zecora would be that strong! The human ran over to his sister. "Elytra, are you ok!?" He crouched down to her. She was still breathing, thank god, but she was out like a light, a red mark on her chest from where the dodgeball hit. He was starting to regret this prank... but it was still funny.

"By the Dragon Lord, Zecora, when did you get this fucking strong!?" Tethys took a fearful step back.

Zecora took the ball that Skystrike dropped. "Potions hold wonders, that’s quite true. But next in line, my friend, is you."

She took another step back. "...M-m-me? What... what did I do?"

"A few days ago, back at Jeshan's festive cheer, you compared my brain's size to my rear."

Tethys audibly gulped. "...It was... a complime-" She was cut off by Zecora doming her with the dodgeball between the eyes with the same brutality as Elytra. The ball bounced toward the sky, the zebra watching it fall back down before catching it.

Skystrike realized that Zecora was holding a grudge... It was probably a good time to leave. He took a step back, but the wooden floorboard creaked under him.

Like a predator, Zecora's ear flicked towards his direction. "Skystrike, where do you intend to stray? Did you think I'd leave you behind today?"

He slowly turned toward her. "Zecora! Buddy! Pall! Home slice! Look... I know leaving the group was wrong, but-"

Zecora smiled and shook her head. "Oh, I've forgiven that, it’s all in the past, but you didn’t mention those rhymes were a blast..." Her face suddenly turned stern and serious. "I helped with the lines for a diss track, you see, and didn’t know I’d played a part so sneakily."

"Oh..." Skystrike thought back. "Huh, I guess I never did tell you... my bad?" Zecora responded by reeling back her arm. "Always the silent ones..." He put out his arms, accepting his fate.

By the time they all woke up, it was noon, and they were all sore, save for Zecora of course, who had a satisfied smile. Despite that, she was still applying a salve to Elytra, who wasn't as hardy as the other two. That didn't stop them all from groaning though.

"By the pantheon... it hurts to breathe." Elytra wheezed as she winced from the hoof on her chest, a green salve being spread on her bruise.

"It hurts to think..." Tethys held her head.

Skystrike, after waking up, realized he got hit directly in the face. The one time he didn't have the helmet. "Tell me about it... Didn't know you had it in you Zecora... Also, do you know how long this lasts?"

"The potion's effects are potent and strong, but they only last a day, not long."

"Thank the Dragon Lord it's not permanent..." Tethys laid on the ground, staring into the sky above. "Hey Sky, can I ask you something?"

"Shoot." Skystrike sat down next to the dragoness.

"How much longer are we staying in Diamondia? No rush, it's just I need to get as many gems as I can before we leave." She sat up too, stretching her wings as they spoke.

The human looked at Diamondia in the distance. "Originally, I planned on staying a few more days, have Jeshan, Eleanor and Maple show us around if they were free, but Celestia said that something big was happening over in Hippogriffia. Skybeak said he'd move back there, since he had two kids and wife if I remember right... I want to make sure that he and his family stays as a family. Shit must be going down if Celestia knows about it. With all that said, I think it'd be best we leave tomorrow morning or noon.

Elytra walked over and sat next to him. "How long of a flight do you think it'd be to Hippogriffia?"

"It'll be the longest one yet... With the map we have, it not being accurate, it'll be anywhere between two and four days, since they're in the middle of the ocean and closer to the south pole than the equator. We also only know the general direction, so we may even spend a few days just searching for the country. On the upside, it's a giant fucking mountain in the middle of the ocean." Skystrike chuckled.

"Damn, so we don't have much time." Tethys stood up. "I got some shopping to do. The best part about gems is that they don't go bad... Might get something from the market too."

Zecora hummed. "Would you object if I joined you? I'm excited to find more ingredients for my brew."

"As long as I'm not on the receiving end!" Tethys laughed. "Plus, you got the strength to help me carry things now."

Skystrike chuckled at the dragoness's response. "Well, I planned on getting some herbs and spices... actually, I'm going to get a lot of the regional produce. Seeds too if I can, see if I can grow them back home. Plus, need to find a place to get a map."

"Oh, can I come with?" Elytra asked. "I actually know quite a bit about gardening. And if you need a map, we can stop by the library. The Diamond Dogs have to have one."

"Sure, I could use the company." He got up. "Let's meet back here at Dusk. Just to make sure we got the evening to spend with Jeshan."

They all got up before dividing themselves into their groups. Elytra winced as she stood up. "Damn... it hurts to walk... Skystrike, do you mind...?"

Skystrike crouched down to let Elytra climb on his back, cupping her back legs in his arms. The two groups both went back inside the ship to get all of their bags and money before splitting off to go about their days. Elytra shuffled in his grip as they traveled down the farmers market. Various vegetables and fruits that they haven't seen in Equestria, though were somewhat familiar to Skystrike. "We had something like these in my world." He began talking to Elytra as he checked the fruit. "Well... not that I ever saw them grow, I read about them in the books I was forced to read. This is a cantaloupe if I remember right." Then he looked to the Diamond Dog selling them. "As you can see, I'm not from around here. Would you be willing to share some tips on how to grow these? I'd rather not travel all the way across the sea just to get some more."

The silver furred great dane's eyes widened a bit. "No wonder I don't recognize what you two are. Must be a long way from home! To grow these melons, make sure to use soil with good drainage. They grow from vines, so make sure you plant them somewhere with plenty of sun." She smiled. "Plant the seeds in a line, six inches deep. The roots go about eight inches deeper."

Elytra finished writing down what the dog said. "Thank you, ma'am!" She used her magic to float over some bits, the dog happily taking it. The two walked off to the next stall, this one selling Yams, and doing the same thing with this sales dog. After a few stalls, Skystrike got all the fruits and vegetables that he wanted. "Now... onto herbs and spices."

"What are we looking for exactly?" Elytra looked over his shoulder.

"To be honest, anything that tastes or smells good. I get ideas for what to do with them just by smelling them." Skystrike chuckled as they walked through even more stalls. "If anything catches your eye, just point it out."

"Speaking of catching eyes..." Elytra looked around. "I've noticed you looking at some of the dogs weird. Well, not weird, but... not sure how to describe it. Like you've seen them before?"

"Eh, something like that... I guess when a race lives for thousands of years and makes thousands of pieces of media, things tend to... overlap from time to time." He shrugged.

"I don't... understand?"

"Alright, let's try and find an example..." Skystrike looked around. "Look, that white dog over there at the bench, with the red markings and kimono? She looks like a character called Amaterasu from some media called 'Okami'. And she is really pretty. So I'm conflicted."

"Yeah, I get it. But why are you conflicted?"

"Well, if I admit that I would smash, I'd be a furry."

"...What's a furry?"

"In this context, a human who's into humanoid animals like that."

Elytra tilted her head. "I mean, wouldn't that be better than being into nonhumanoid ponies and zebras?"

"...Fuck, I'm a furry." Skystrike had to admit.

Elytra snorted. "So, you'd do her?"

"Oh, no, she may be attractive, but I'm no womanizer." Skystrike answered. Elytra began to open her mouth. "And I know what you're about to say, so to get ahead of that, the mares I've been with back in Ponyville, it's mutual. I don't use them and leave them hanging like some asshole. There is mutual respect between us."

"Fair enough." Elytra hummed.

"So, what about you?" Skystrike looked up at her. She returned the look with one of confusion. "Every time I get on this topic, I end up answering the questions. Your turn. What type of guy do you like? Or girl, I never asked your sexuality."

"Oh, I like men. I have no idea what my type is though." She admitted. "There weren't that many options for dating within the hive when you're known as-..." Elytra cut herself off.

Skystrike already knew the end to that sentence. "I get it, sorry sis." He sighed.

"It's alright, not your fault." She rubbed his head. "I actually did try dating before I joined you and the rest. He was an... alright guy. About what I expected from a pony from Manehattan. But it was kinda my fault why we broke up. I felt like he wasn't communicating well, and told him about it. He said the same thing about me. I just couldn't tell him about being a changeling." Elytra sighed. "Sometimes... it just feels like I'm living a lie. Like the Stardust me isn't the real me.. or that I don't even know if there is a real me anymore. Like... each time I talk to someone new, it's just a new persona I play."

"Holy shit, someone finally put it into words." Skystrike thought to himself. But this seemed really personal to Elytra. There were times to speak, and times to listen.

"...You ever feel like you just don't matter?" She stared up to the sky as she spoke. "I feel like no matter what I do, I'll never... be someone, make something. I try and try again, but every expression of myself seems disingenuous. All the praise I get from being Stardust, or even Elytra, just feels fake." Skystrike could feel her body quake as her voice roughened. "No one's ever said 'Hey Elytra, I like having you around!' I've been living these lives since a teen and all I have to show for it is a new interest I don't even know if I like." He could feel a hoof tighten on his shoulder as she continued. "Why can't I be the real me!? What, am I afraid that they'll push me away like the others? Tartarus, is there a real me anymore!?" She grinded her teeth. "My own hive denies my existence! Even though I put up those faces for them!"

Skystrike was not ready for this conversation. He made sure to walk out of earshot of others as the changeling broke apart, making the pain in his chest intensify. But this was still a time to listen to her. "Why can't I just move on like Zecora? Why can't I just stop thinking about it like Tethys? Why can't I just pretend to be fine like you!? At least then, it won't feel like I'm hurting the ones around me and myself!" Skystrike winced at that last part. Elytra deflated, her anger gone and replaced with melancholy. "You don't seem to try at all, even with your diagnosis, you just breeze through life... Why do I not get to be happy? Why can't I make friends and memories of my own? Why doesn't any of this feel real!?" She buried her face into her brothers back.

It didn't seem she was quite done yet. She needed much more time to vent. "And the worst part is that I can't even hate you." Skystrike's face contorted to one of confusion as those words left Elytra's muzzle. "You faked your death, got me banished from the hive just by association, then broke up the group. And yet I can't hate you!" He felt her tears run down his back. "At times, I just don't want to be around you, but I... still want your company. I can tell you to leave me be and you just come around the next day. As if nothing fucking happened. You're a constant reminder of everything I could be... everything I can't be. And yet you keep coming back, helping me out! Helping our friends out! Helping me build bridges with beings I'd never let approach me!" The tears kept coming. "And I appreciate it like you wouldn't believe, but... it just keeps taking more away from my self agency! Like I'm always in your shadow! I'm supposed to be the big sister, my own changeling!" She gave a sad chuckle. "Ironic, isn't it? I'm a changeling, but I cant just magically get better even if someone like you tries to help. And I don't even know if you do this shit on purpose... it's just who you are. But you keep trying, for me, for everyone, and I just can't hate you for that. Every time you do something to help me, a shitty part of me just... hopes you'll mess up. That way maybe I'll find a way to hate you..."

She wiped her tears with a hoof, but they were quickly replaced with more. "Zecora knows who she is, Tethys knows who she is, fuck, Jeshan, Alder, Casta, Maud, they all know! They have dreams to work towards! But I don't even know what I am." Skystrike wanted to step in, say he understood... but he stayed quiet. The only questions she's asked so far were rhetorical. It was still a time to listen. She screamed at the sky, her pained voice echoing through the ravine. "WHO AM I, DAMN IT?!" Her weeping grew audible. "I... can only define myself by the things I'm not... I'm not a good sister. I'm not a good friend. I'm not a good changeling. My mind is a damn mess. In my head, it feels all... foggy. Half the time I'm loathing myself. 'Am I who I say I am? Or am I this persona I put on?' The other half, I'm daydreaming about being someone others can be proud of, who'd want my company. But no matter what I do, it's like I'm just here to be a drain on myself and others... I'm stuck with myself, I can't just drop everything and try other things now. It's just... too late for that. Too many ways to mess up. Pretending is the only thing I've been good at, and even then..."

She looked to Skystrike desperately, at a loss for words. He felt her gaze on the back of his head, moving her around to hold her to his chest. She looked up at him, at first confused, then astounded at his lack of facial expression, then anger. "Why... why won't you say anything? Here I am, begging for your help for once, pouring my heart out, and you haven't said a word! You're always so sure of yourself, trying to be the rock of the group, yet here you stand, listening to me in a crisis and you can't say anything!?" She pushed herself out of Skystrike's hold and flew up to be at eye level, inches away from his face. He could still see tears in her eyes. "What is it you have that I don't!? What do you want from me!?" She cried. "What is it I want from you!? You've been through the same thing as I have! Playing roles under names that we gave ourselves, and yet you're fine! WHAT IS IT WITH YOU THAT YOU CAN MAKE AN IDENTITY, BUT KNOW EXACTLY WHO YOU STILL ARE!?"

Skystrike continued to looked into her pain filled eyes. "Honestly? I don't know."

"...What..."

"Sure, I can make guesses. Maybe because I started so young that this 'persona' of Skystrike became the real me. Maybe because I didn't have one before. Maybe I'm grasping at straws with these guesses. But all I know for sure is that I'm me."

"You're... you?"

He struggled to find the right words. Elytra stared at him, pleadingly. She eventually buried her eyes into his chest. "It's like... I don't know, sis... You're trying to be something you're not. No, someone you know who you already are. You're scared of letting the life as Stardust influence your actions as Elytra. But that's natural."

She looked up from his chest. "Natural...?"

"The emotions you felt as Elytra, those bled over to who you are as Stardust. The same with the emotions you made as Stardust. Same with the friends you made, Elytra. The group is still your friend as Stardust, even though we know you're a changeling. And remember, even Pinkie is still your friend after finding out you were one, and she only knew the Stardust." He wrapped an arm around her. "The being you are is still the same, no matter the cover you put on. Even if someone else helps you out with whatever it is, all we can do is give you a path to start on. Whether you take the path and walk down it, or even find a different path, all of those were choices you made." He scratched his head with his free hand. "What I'm trying to say is I ended up trying to be 'me' too. To the point I... over corrected for lack of a better word and fucked myself up. I'm not about making others knowing me, or being great. I just do what I wish to, make this world a better place, no matter how insignificantly small it may be. Meeting you, for example... I just do what makes me, well... me." He wrapped his other arm around his sister. "I'm the only me there is, and you may think there's several of you..." Her hooves tightened on his chest. Skystrike could feel her holding her breath. "But there's tons of different beings going through what you are currently, trying to find themselves, only to not realize they've been who they are the whole time. Not to undermine your feelings or anything. And at the end of that journey, we end up accepting that 'we' will always be who we 'are'. Get it?"

"I have to figure it out... myself?"

"You already know who you are, Elytra. A good changeling, a good sister, a good friend. You know from all the relationships you've had, from all the experiences you've been through." It was his turn to ask a hypothetical. "Sure, may have introduced you to new beings, but the bonds you made, the bonds you kept, that was all your doing. You still like making jokes with Pinkie Pie, you still like gardening with Zecora, you still like reading with Tethys, you still like spending time with me, and I you. You may think there's several of you, but we know only one, the one we spend time with every day."

Her grip loosened from his chest and she lowered her head. Elytra's face was one of resignation. "I don't... know if I can believe you... After all this time, how am I supposed to just... accept something like this?"

"You aren't alone." He patted Elytra on the back. "I'm here, Zecora and Tethys are here. Even the friends we just got back, Alder and Jeshan would want to help you too. Even Skybeak and Celeano when we see them."

"..."

"Doesn't need to be all at once."

She looked up to Skystrike with a small smile. "...Alright..." She tried to wipe her tears. Skystrike used his thumb to wipe them for her as she sniffled. The smile she had turned somber. "Thank you Skystrike... for letting me vent. It may take me a while, but I'll try..."

"That's all I ask. Now come on, we still haven't found something you want to do."

She pushed herself out of Skystrike's grip. "I think I want to walk on my own for a bit... there was an embroidery stall I saw that looked cool. Can we stop by?"

"All for it."

Skystrike juggled a bag of bits in his hand as Elytra spoke with a brown and green Diamond Dog. She just finished buying all she needed for her new found hobby after about an hour of talking with the girl. Elytra was really interested in it. Now that he thought back on it, he didn't really see the artsy side of his sister. He enjoyed seeing her eyes light up at her new interest.

Elytra waved the dog goodbye before walking back to Skystrike, her saddle bags full of materials. "So, I got... six different colors of floss, several different hoops, a booklet on different stitches, markers, and ten meters of fabric." She double checked her bags. "It'll definitely keep me busy while we travel... Hey, you think Tethys and Zecora would let me put some cool patterns on their clothes? I'd ask you, but you know... you don't have many clothes."

Skystrike slapped his forehead. "That's what I needed to do!" I remember Jeshan saying there's one nearby. Come on, tell me about embroidery while we walk." He put the bag of bits into his satchel.

"Well, not to much to talk about yet, I haven't even started yet. I was just going to start with simple patterns before I did anything big, but then I realized if I wanted to do my own designs, I'd actually need to plan them out... meaning I'll need to learn how to draw."

Skystrike hummed. "Well, I can kinda draw. More so blueprints for armor and weapons than like, actual art. But if I remember right, my brother, Mystic Falls, is an artist. We could get him to stop by."

"Maybe... I want to try it myself a bit first. Practice, you know?"

Skystrike nodded as they rounded a corner. "Yeah, I get it... We should be almost there by now... what do you think I should get?"

Elytra looked him up and down. "You know, you could probably wear most things... Actually..." She rubbed her chin. "Have you thought about getting a haircut?"

Skystrike looked at her, then put some of his silver hair in his hand. He didn't realize how long it got, it going over his shoulders and down his to his waist. "...You know, I don't think I ever cut my hair since I came to this world. Maybe I'll cut it, but I'd rather not. It looks really cool, to me at least. Watch this." He threw his hair out to the side, letting the suns rays shine off of it as if flowed in the wind.

"...Damn, I wish I had hair..." Elytra sighed, then grew a bit embarrassed. "You know, when we were younger, I always wanted to braid your hair. By the time I figured out how, you were banished."

"Damn, sis, just say you want to braid my hair, I won't make fun of you. It's cute." Then his eyes widened. "Ooh, do you know how to do a french braid? Always wanted to try that."

"I think so. We can try it once we get back."

The two walked down an alley way as Skystrike thought about what she just said. "Wait... the French exist?" He shook the thought out of his head. Probably just another coincidence. He just wanted to focus on how good a day it was.

He heard foot steps... paw steps? Steps behind them as they walked. "Alright, put your paws up!" A rough sounding voice said as Skystrike turned around.

Elytra looked at him in surprise and mild confusion as he complied, putting his hands up. "Skystrike, what are-"

Skystrike nudged her with his knee, motioning her to do the same. "Trust me, we'll be fine." He whispered to her before mocking surprise to his aggressors.

"Yeah, that's right!" A second Diamond Dog rounded the corner, blocking their escape. The first one was beige in color, but wore a mask and cloak, so the color of his fur was all he could get looks wise. The other was dressed the same, though had orange fur.

The beige dog pointed his flintlock at the human. "Now... slowly reach into your pockets... and pull out your bag of bits... SLOWLY!"

"Alright... be cool... be cool..." Skystrike reached into his bag, slowly. While his hand was out of sight, he began to charge magic to retaliate, but was caught off guard by the words that came out of the orange dogs mouth.

"Yeah... now make it clap!" He pointed his own flintlock and waved it in a downward motion.

"Yeah..." The beige dog agreed before realizing what his comrade said. "No- no! What are you doing!?" The dog turned to ask the orange one as Skystrike gave them a puzzled look. "Don't do that!"

"Dew it!" Orange said deviously. Skystrike could feel the smile on the orange dog as he said that, seeing the insanity in his eyes. The human looked in confusion to the changeling, who did the same to him.

"Don't do that!" Beige repeated, though it sounded more like a disciplining father this time. He side eyed his friend while the flintlocks were still on them. "Pull your wallet out slowly!"

"A-... alright, I'm-... I'm pulling my wallet out." He kept looking between the two dogs in confusion, starting to prepare a spell once more.

Orange wasn't done yet. "Yeah, and then we want you to drop it low after."

"Noooo we don't!" Beige fully turned his head to the other dog in confusion. Skystrike and Elytra did so too, but it was more out of absolute astoundment. "Why are you-... hold on." Beige put his paw up to the siblings to wait. Then he realized what they were there for. "Take-.... your wallets out." He walked past the two and over to Orange.

Elytra stood on the tips of her hooves to whisper to Skystrike, the height she got not helping in the slightest bit. "Should we... should we run now?"

"...Would you blame me if I said I wanted to see where this goes?"

"...No." Elytra said with a barely contained laugh.

Beige pushed Orange slightly. "What?" The latter asked.

"Stop asking them to do weird sh-... specific activities!" Beige mumbled in an attempt to be out of earshot of their two victims. "You're confusing them, ok!? I told them to do what we say!"

"That's why I said it." The crazed one said nonchalantly.

"Stop!" Beige stomped. "Alright? We just need the money! Why are you doing that!?"

"I wanna show em who's in control..." Orange puffed his chest out.

Beige's face turned strained as he held the sides of his head. "They fuckin' know who's-..." He curbed his frustration. "Look, they know who's in control. That's why the freak is handin' his wallet over! Don't complicate it!"

Orange clicked his tongue. "Tch... I hear you..."

"Aight..." Beige gave one last confused look before pointing the flintlock at Skystrike once more. "Alright, I need you to empty your pockets next and give me all your belongings."

Orange chipped back in. "Then hit the splits!"

"YOOOOOO!"

Skystrike and Elytra couldn't help it anymore and fell over laughing. The two Diamond Dogs watched Beige in embarrassment and Orange in confusion, before Skystrike shot a bolt of lightning from his hand at each of them. It was fitting, considering what Orange said earlier. But, despite the two aggressors being unconscious, he and Elytra still had more laughing to do.

It took a few minutes before they were done. "Holy shit what an interaction!" Skystrike pushed himself back onto his feet, pulling Elytra up with him.

"That was... a first." Elytra giggled before walking to the two unconscious dogs and taking their flintlocks. She looked back at Skystrike. "Just so they can't hurt anyone else."

Skystrike nodded as he stepped over the two dogs. "We're going to have such a story to share. Come on, the place is just around the corner."

Sure enough the tailor was just around the corner, the store like any other, within the stone walls of the ravine. The sign was a wooden one, with a carving of a needle and thread in it. Skystrike pushed the door open, letting Elytra walk in first. They heard the ring of a bell as the door opened, looking up to see a bell just in the way of the door.

"Welcome!" They heard a voice say, one that sounded familiar. A large, red dog crouched down to fit through the doorframe to the back end of the store. "Oh, some familiar faces! Skystrike and Elytra right?"

"Oh, Clifford!" Skystrike recognized the giant dog from his cookout. "Didn't know you were a tailor. From what Jeshan told me about you, I thought you were a chef or something."

"Oh, the chef gig is more a side hustle." He shook the human's hand. "When you're my size, it's easier to make clothes for myself. Figured I'd put these skills to good use, you know? So I decided to set up this shop, and it works pretty well! But what can I do for you two?"

"I'm actually in need of some clothes." He pulled at his sweatshirt. "The sweats are getting kinda boring. This was the biggest size I could get in a land of ponies. Plus, doesn't fit too well. You dogs have bodies closer to mine anyway."

"I can see that." Clifford pulled out a rack of clothes. "From the way you talk about it, I assume you're the few of your kind in... what was it called, Equestria?"

"Yeah, but that's a story for another time." Skystrike didn't want to get into it. "So, from the looks of it, you already got something in my size?"

"I do indeed. Do you know what style you're going for? Or can I get creative?"

Skystrike smirked. "Go crazy. My body is your canvas."

Clifford smirked. "You have no idea how much I've wanted someone to say that."

Another hour passed by with Skystrike trying on several outfits with Elytra's critique. He began to understand just a little bit why Rarity was so into fashion... Just a little. Despite the three dozen or so outfits he had tried, he decided to settle on three of them. Apparently, he had a pretty good body, and it was to his advantage to show it off.

The first was a deep purple short sleeve shirt with grey jeans. Simple, but effective, and great for warm weather. Skystrike was more impressed that Clifford was able to make a few pairs of shoes for him, the ones going with this set were a pair of purple and black sneakers.

Second was a white short sleeve with black jeans and a beige jacket. The shoes were a pair of brown leather chelsa boots. More fore a casual, yet stylish look. While it was going to grow on Skystrike, it was Clifford's favorite of the three.

The last was for the colder weather. A grey long sleeve sweater with a darker grey pair of jeans. For footwear, it was a pair of beige Tims. Skystrike had to get them. They're fucking Timberlands. He did also enjoy the black, light blue, and blue striped scarf it came with. It's what he was currently wearing, since he's been feeling the change in temperature as they traveled further south.

Skystrike tugged at the scarf on his neck to loosen it a bit. He looked over the rest of his clothes not included in the outfits, different colors and typed of short and long sleeves, as well as a few pairs of jeans. He and Elytra thanked Clifford as Skystrike payed and waived goodbye. He was happy with his purchase, and was still on budget. The Diamond Dog said it was a favor he owed to Jeshan.

But they had one stop left, the local library. From talking to Jeshan, the most reliable way to get a map was to go to the city's library, as it was government owned. Of course, it was on the complete opposite side of the fucking ravine. Skystrike sighed as he stretched a bit before throwing one of the ends of the scarf back around his neck. The siblings made their walk over begrudgingly.

He had to admit though, the inside of the library was very impressive. Even if it wasn't the royal library, it was still amazing. The walls, floor, and dome ceiling were all carved from stained marble, and there was even a sky light directly above, letting light shine throughout. At both ends of the wings of the building were spiral staircases, giving access to the upper and lower floors. Skystrike checked the time before realizing he still had just under three hours to spare.

The two decided to spend some time within the library, after Skystrike bought a map from one of the clerks, just so he wouldn't forget. He decided to pick a book from each section he was interested in: nonfiction and science. He was already a fan of history. The history of his own race was just implanted into his mind, but the history of the other races were always really interesting to him. Skystrike read over the summaries of each chapter from ancient history to recent, knowing he wouldn't have the time to read through the 200 plus page book in three hours.

Summing it up simply, Diamond Dogs were not dissimilar to Vikings with a mixture of Native Americans. They were many tribes of different breeds of dogs, keeping to their own territories mostly, but warring and pillaging others when needed. Because of how fast the dogs repopulate, it gave them more of a reason to keep fighting each other. They also had a big connection to the planet. The ponies called the planet 'Eques' while the Diamond dog called it 'Dowan'. While there wasn't one god, nor one set religion, each tribe had their own gods and spirits, though many of their names have been forgotten to time. It was the ones that one would expect, a god of death, a god of the sea, god of the sky... He'd have to ask Jeshan if he was religious sometime.

The science book was also really interesting, not only the history within, but how the race developed along their own path. It was pretty similar to humans, as the Diamond Dogs weren't reliant on magic like the ponies or changelings. Though magic did shape their sciences, as their magic is believed to come from their gods and spirits. Their machinations used the very gems they mined as a power source. From there, they made their own ways to extract the magic to use for themselves. They even show an example, the flintlock pistol wasn't powered with gunpowder and a musket, but a small explosion of magic sending more magic out of the barrel. Not dissimilar to the griffons designs, but enough to notice the difference.

Skystrike decided to ask the librarian if he would be able to buy some of the books. He'd have plenty of time to read through them, and Twilight would have a field day with them as well. Thankfully, he was able, and had two more things to fit into his bag.

Elytra looked up from the embroidery pattern she was practicing. "Wow, it's been that long already?" She looked out the skylight to see the oncoming twilight. "And I was just getting the hang of it..."

"Tell me about it, I was getting into this one chapter. Apparently they had a war a thousand or so years ago because they had a sun god and moon god. Then Celestia and Luna showed up and began controlling it. Apparently it was a big reason why one of the major clans at the time, who didn't have those specific gods, lost some territorial war. Makes sense, since a tribe found out that their god did exist, and in their eyes, sent down vessels." Skystrike and Elytra stood up and left the library as he kept reading. "This one is also interesting. Apparently, they had a god of music and plays, and from the description, it was a a changeling. Then, once it died, it also was titled as a god of trickery."

"...You know, I thought I was getting weird looks." Elytra looked around for any eyes on her.

"They also used to see dragons as servants of various gods dependent on their color and elemental prowess." Skystrike marked the page he was on with a bookmark. "It's really cool how all of this comes together." Then he donned a more serious attitude. "It also seems, from the public history books at least, that there's was no human presence. A good thing, but I'd need to get those government copies. Doubtful they're there, because I know at least one of my kind would have wanted to be hailed as a god, and I haven't been getting weird looks."

"Jeez, are humans that egotistic?"

Skystrike sighed. "No, but it comes with the territory of being the only sentient race. We're already the superior race on our own planet and galaxy. Coming to a new dimension, I'm not surprised some have that ego. Like, I know the races here aren't on the best of terms, but you all keep each other in check."

Elytra was about to respond, but then she saw Tethys and Zecora waving at them in the distance. Jeshan was with them too. They must have met up while they were out. Skystrike noticed a familiar looking white dog with red markings and a kemono.

It a few moments, Skystrike and Elytra made their way over. "Hey, guys. Hope you guys had as good of a shopping spree as we did."

"Damn right I did!" Tethys pulled off her bag and began to rummage through it. Several gems fell out as she reached for what she was looking for. "Check it out! I was able to find this cool geode!" She showed him two halves of a amethyst geode. The light made the crystals glisten in the setting sun. "Apparently, the other races have these around to look cool, and honestly, I kinda get it." Skystrike looked at the geode that was the size of his head. "Might snack on it if I get bored though."

"Keep it." Jeshan said. "A memory for coming on this side of the sea." He said as he brushed some dust off his cloak. "But before we get down to business, I want to introduce you all to my sister, Amaterasu!" He gestured to the Diamond Dog.

The white and red marked Diamond Dog gave a slight bowed. "Hello. As my brother said, I am Amaterasu, and I'll be joining you this evening."

"Well, nice to meet you, Amaterasu." Skystrike put out a hand to shake, Amaterasu shaking his hand. "I actually saw you earlier today, who would've guessed you were his sister."

She smirked. "Ah, I believe our eyes crossed paths once. Yes, most find it hard to believe that we're related. We're nothing alike, aside from our interests in the arts and crafts."

"Let me guess, you're an artist?"

"How'd you know?"

Skystrike smirked. "Well, lets just say I got lucky."

"Hey, don't mean to interrupt, but how in Tartarus are you speaking with her?" Jeshan asked, wide eyed.

Skystrike turned to Jeshan. "What do you mean?"

"My sister is mute! And you're talking to her like she's responding!"

"...Is she... is she not?" Skystrike asked, looking back to the Amaterasu. Only after thinking back to what she just 'said', he realized she never moved her muzzle. He held the back of his head with his hands. "Oh my god, you're right! I can do this!? Wait... how many others have I done this with!?"

Elytra thought about it. "Uh... that mare you make music with. Vinyl Scratch was her name right?"

"She's mute!?"

Tethys chuckled. "Well, you have a neat gimmick... well, aside from the elements."

"Anyway..." Jeshan cleared his throat. "Tethys told me you guys were leaving tomorrow morning. Lucky for you goons, a festival just started. Figured we'd spend the night just hanging out."

"Sounds like a plan." Skystrike pulled back his hand. "Now... Dap me up." Jeshan did so, the sound echoing through the hills. "My man."

Tethys looked at their greeting, then to Zecora and Tethys. "...We need our own thing, girls."

"Come on, lets talk on the way." Jeshan stretched. "My wives said she'd meet us there, they're watching my stall."

Elytra buzzed over to him. "Oh, what's the festival about?"

Jeshan began to explain. "Just an Artesian Festival. All the artists come around this time of year to give thanks to our respective gods of art, a way to remember our history. I put up a lot of wood art, put a lot of stuff on discount for the pups. Plus, gets rid of my old stock. Tomorrow, it's all day long, I plan on actually doing some of my work in front of a set of onlookers."

"Huh, cool." Skystrike though aloud. "Wonder if I can get anything cool."

"I actually do prints and paintings." Amaterasu 'said', with Skystrike translating for the rest. "My style is a bit more... unique. I paint with my tail." She brushed said appendage.

"Oh, you have a store too? Or do you go by commission?"

"I actually work with Jeshan. Many of the pieces he makes, I get paid to paint."

"Oh, that's pretty good." Elytra said. "Maybe I'll get something, once I get my PTO."

"Actually, if I can jump in here..." Jeshan began walking backwards, turning to them. "I've been meaning to ask, I've wanted to make music boxes, and you were always the one skilled with metal. I could get the stuff to work metal, I just need like, to know what to do."

Skystrike looked at him. "Alright, I'll work on some blueprints when I have the chance. I imagine it won't be too hard, but I need to attempt it first." He thought about it some more. "You know, if you want to make it a collectors item, you could make a set, where each box plays a part of the song."

"...You know that's a good idea." Jeshan said.

"I've been waiting to ask, what's the new attire?" Zecora sped up her step to walk next to the human. "Is there a story behind it, or just a new desire?"

"Oh." Skystrike looked down at her, then his clothes. "It's really simple, actually. Sure, I look cool, but the main reason is that we moved from the northern to the southern hemisphere." The zebra looked up at him, confused. "It's getting colder, Zecora. I don't have fur or hair like the rest of you. It was getting chilly."

Tethys smirked. "You know, I figured with how often you deal with ice and fire that you'd be a bit more used to the temperature changes."

"You don't get it." Skystrike began to rant. "You're a dragon. You get to bathe in lava and shit. Zecora is a zebra and has a full ass coat to cover her, save for the extremes. Jeshan, albeit a thin one, has a coat of fur. Elytra is the only one who kind of gets it, but she's cold blooded, so she can handle the heat so god damn well I'm jealous. But even she understands what I fully mean when I say the cold sucks!" He said that last part with visible annoyance. "Your joints lock up, you can only be out for so long until you body heat seeps out, if you want to be outside, you need to wear fucking layers of clothes and then you can't move as much, your nose gets all runny... Like, fuck winter man!"

The rest couldn't help but giggle at his small rant. Elytra cleared her throat. "Well, I don't really deal with that actually." Skystrike creaked her head toward her. "We changelings generate a special protein in colder climates that... "control" our blood so we don't freeze. Our chitinous shell also makes it so we don't feel temperatures as much."

"...Fuck you. Fuckin' magic blooded bastard. I'm gonna play tic tac toe on your forehead."

Elytra snorted. "Can't you just use your magic to heat yourself up or cool yourself down?"

"You'd fucking think so right!???" He exclaimed to their amusement. "But nooooooooo, I can only use magic outside my body unless I change my cellular structure!"

Elytra paused at that. "...Wait a dang minute... You've been changing your biology every time you transform!?"

"Yeah, I never got the grasp on how you changelings got the physical illusions thing down. It's surprisingly easier to change my physical appearance while keeping all my internals the same. Just need to keep the same mass. Maybe it's just a human thing."

"Skystrike, you're a freak of nature."

Tethys thought about what he said. "Wait, so you can turn into anything as long as you keep the same mass? I have so many ideas..."

"Let's not get freaky." Skystrike chuckled. "...Though now I think about it, if I turn my blood similar to dragons, heat wouldn't be too big of an issue... and I do have dragon blood I can synthesize..." He said that last part to himself, quiet enough so no one else would hear. "Tests for later."

"We're here, by the way." Jeshan pointed to the wooden arch entrance, adorned with hanging different colors of cloth. From the looks of it, each was a flag of different ancient tribes. He noticed one of them had the same eye of Horus that Jeshan tattooed over his eye. "That black and gold one with the eye is the one I pray to. It symbols prosperity and protection."

"I actually was doing a bit of reading on your gods and spirits earlier." Skystrike said. "Surprisingly, my race has the exact same symbol... was Horus a falcon for you guys too?"

"Uh, I don't know who Horus is. We call the god 'Bakara', but yes, it's a falcon." Skystrike hummed at his response. Humans have been around much longer that the races of this world... Who's to say they didn't have some influence before they made themselves known. How deep did it go for them to even impact this world's religions? "I thought you knew." Jeshan snapped him out of his thoughts. "It was a big reason why I followed you."

Skystrike shook the thought out of his head. "What do you mean?"

"Well, remember the thunderbird that you got to follow you?"

Skystrike thought back. "Yeah, still surprised I got him. I thought it was just some sick falcon that lost its feathers. I was lost as hell when it turned out it was a baby and started growing fucking electric feathers. Her name was Aztec. Found her about three months before you joined, actually. What makes her so special for you to follow me?"

"Well, Thunderbirds are said to be the offspring of Bakara. Bakara is the god war and the sky, and Thunderbirds are beings of great power, said to live amongst the clouds. The sky also represents freedom, so they travel all over this world. Those the Thunderbird follows were supposedly blessed with good travels. And yeah, we did have some good travels."

"Huh... well that part is interesting. Well, guess I have to thank her when I see her again."

Jeshan laughed. "Well, it might be pretty soon if we get lucky."

Inside the festival, the group walked, passing by each stall. The dogs seemed to decided to have it above ground, in the middle of an open field. It really was an artisan festival. There was a stall full of beautifully crafted pots, a couple Diamond Dogs doing body paintings, some others braiding the hair of the more fluffy dogs, and many food stalls. Skystrike took in the smell of meat and gems, a new, yet surprisingly pleasant smell. His eyes were drawn to the musicians though, and the instruments they were playing. String, brass, and wind instruments seem to be their main focus, with some heavy drums here and there.

They all made small talk as they kept walking, meeting up with Eleanor and Maple. Jeshan's sister, Amaterasu waved them goodbye as she went to help the two run their section of the festival. "So." Jeshan stretched. "My wives and sister said they'd do me a solid and watch the storefront for me. I'll have to make it up to them later. Essentially, we got the night to ourselves."

"Sweet!" Tethys pumped an arm. "I never get the chance to do things in festivals! What do you all wanna do first!?" she slapped her tail on the ground in excitement. "I want to get some of the jewelry here, maybe I can find some rings to fit my horns!"

"I want to get some body paint." Elytra chittered. "Last time I got some were in the hive."

Zecora looked around. "I'd like to browse some pottery today. Their designs might echo my homeland's way."

"I'm just here for you guys." Jeshan shrugged.

They all looked to Skystrike, waiting for his response. "I'm here to just see things... though I will say I saw some swords and things for sale. Maybe check out the blacksmiths... We can just do them all of them."

"And that's why you're the smart one." Jeshan smirked.

"Pottery is closest. Lets start with that." Skystrike pointed a finger in the direction of one of the stalls.

The group made their way over to look at the various different sized and shaped pots, plates, and figurines. Skystrike and Tethys were glad that all the buildings were open roof. Neither said it, but both knew their backs were starting to hurt from crouching down so much.

They looked around before something caught Zecoras eyes. "Look!" She picked up a cerulean blue glazed plate. "The craftsmanship here is truly divine, and the colors, oh look how they shine!"

Skystrike picked up a bowl from the set. "It is pretty impressive. Lighter than I thought it'd be too." Then he thought back. "You know, it would be nice to get some more dining sets."

Tethys made sure to be be careful as she picked one up. "Yeah, sorry that I broke the last ones... But I've learned to be more careful."

"But now we need to decide what colors." Skystrike put down the bowl. "Zecora saw this set first, so this one is hers... Oh, that green one looks sick!" Skystrike stepped over Zecora and crouched down at the set. He picked it up and felt the terracotta. Thin, light, yet sturdy. He waved one of the clerks over, asking for the price for his set and Zecora's. Once the price was given, the two got their bags of bits out and paid the fee, the vibrant plates and bowls now theirs. "Hey Elytra, can you teleport these back to the ship?"

"Sure." She nodded before taking the sets and disappearing in a flash if magic, then reappearing.

"Thank you." Skystrike patted her on the back.

"Can we look at the jewelry now?" Tethys stepped away from the stall and stretched her wings.

"You know, I never took you for one for jewelry." Skystrike yawned as the fatigue of the day was starting to get to him.

"One of the perks on hanging out with the white one." Skystrike snorted at Tethys's choice of words. "...what?"

He chuckled to himself before answering. "Nothing. Lets see the jewelry."

And so they did. A few stalls over was a few Diamond Dogs that sold trinkets, necklaces, bracelets, and circlets from what Skystrike could immediately see. The dragoness gleefully ran over and put her hands on everything, being careful not to scratch anything with her nails. Elytra flew over and picked up a hanging pendant. "You know, I just realized we didn't have jewelry in the hive."

Skystrike thought back. "...Huh, you know, you're right. We didn't. We had like... wooden accessories and flowers, sometimes shiny rocks, but no gems or metals."

"Oooh, they have gems that apparently go with our birth month!" Tethys read one of the papers next to the bracelets she was looking at. "What months were you born in?"

"May." Elytra answered.

"September." Jeshan did the same.

"July." Zecora answered.

"Uh... March if I remember right. That was the month I came to this world." Skystrike clarified. "I don't know my actual birthday."

"Close enough. So that means... Elytra is emerald, Jeshan is sapphire, Zecora is ruby, Skystrike is aquamarine, and mine is tourmaline." Tethys said. "So, I don't know about you guys, but I want to get bracelets, anklets, and a tailet."

"Tailet?" Elytra tilted her head.

"One for my tail." Tethys pulled her tail in front of her. "Though with the hair down the middle of mine, It'd probably be best if I get one of those cuff ones." She eyed her tail more. "Hey, does my tail look fat to any of you?"

Skystrike was about to say 'Define fat.' but was quickly elbowed in his stomach by Jeshan. "Skystrike, man to man, when a lady asks if she looks fat, you beat around the bush. Since she asked this to several beings, it's best you don't answer." the Diamond Dog whispered to him.

"You know, us dragons have hearing almost as good as you Diamond Dogs." Jeshan and Skystrike froze in place at Tethys's words. "Answer the question, boys. Does my tail look fat??"

Skystrike looked at Jeshan. His face of mild worry, slowly but surely turned into a shit eating grin. He put a hand on the dogs shoulder, signaling that he had this. Skystrike turned to the dragoness. "Tethys, if you want the answer, I don't need to say anything." Then he turned to Elytra. "Elytra, explain to her the jiggle test."

"The HUH???" Tethys and Zecora nearly shouted. The dragoness folded her wings back in from the shock of the statement. "Ahem... Elytra, the fuck is this guy on?"

"Actually, it was originally my idea." Elytra sighed, then giggled. "It was when I was younger, and more... insecure about my figure. One of the changelings that was interested in me always asked 'do it jiggle?' and I was complaining to Skystrike about it..." Then she grew a bit embarrassed. "Eventually I wanted to... check for myself if it did jiggle... aaaand Skystrike caught me and won't let me live it down."

"There's no way." Tethys began to laugh. "So what do I do? Do I just-" Elytra responded by slapping her tail. "Ow!"

"Your tail doesn't jiggle. Your tail isn't fat." Elytra laughed along with her.

Jeshan smirked. "I need to use that later if it's this simple." He said as he picked up a sapphire necklace. "You know, I haven't really worn jewelry since the new eye... You guys think the contrast would work?"

"Eh probably." Skystrike shrugged. "My issue is finding a metal to match this arm of mine." He flexed the digits of his metal limb. "Might go for a pendant of sorts... Actually, those bead bracelets look good. They even have my gem." Skystrike picked one up and put it around his wrist.

"Oh, I see what you mean." Elytra walked over. "That emerald one is good... though I don't know if I want a bracelet more or a necklace."

Zecora looked at the changeling in thought. "I think a circlet would suit you well, with your style, it’d truly excel."

"You know what, I'll take your word for it. You're the one always wearing the gold rings." Elytra used her magic to reach for a silver and emerald circlet on one of the head stands. She put it on her head and looked in the mirror, fixing it to make sure it was centered. "You know, Zecora, you're right."

"What about you, Zecora, you plan on getting anything? I figured you were never one for gems, since you always stick with your gold.... Oooh, you know you could definitely rock white gold." Skystrike picked up the ones that were hanging and handed them to a blushing Zecora. Zecora took her ear rings off to let Skystrike put them on. The triangle shaped ear rings hung beautifully off her ears. "Hmm... I think you rock it."

Tethys chuckled. "What, you're going to start playing dress up now?"

"I'm inclined to..." Skystrike hummed as he fidgeted with the aquamarine beads on his wrist. "But back to you, Tethys, have you decided what you wanted to get?" He waited for a response, but on not getting one, he turned his attention to her. The attention of the dragoness on a hand display. On the display itself was a set of four golden rings, each of the rings having small golden chains hanging between them.

Jeshan also noticed and went "ahem" to get Skystrike's attention. Once gotten, he motioned his eyes towards the rings.

Skystrike first look confused, but then thought he understood what Jeshan was saying. "Didn't you say earlier you wanted some rings for your horns?"

"O-oh, yeah, I did..." She poked the tips of her index fingers together. "Sky... can I ask you a... weird question?"

"Go for it."

"Can you... put them on me?"

"...Huh." Skystrike thought about how he rarely sees Tethys's cute side. He then thought about why she didn't just put them on herself, but chalked it up to her not wanting to accidentally break the jewelry. "Sure, but you need to crouch down some, you're like two feet taller than me."

Tethys kneeled down to be just at his eye height. Skystrike picked up the rings and and put the hoops on her four horns. It took a bit of time to get them on her, as she began to fidget as his hands touched her horns. Each of the rings went about half way down her horns. The chains hanged between each of them as they shined a great gold. "So..." She scratched her jaw. "How do I look?"

"Honestly if you keep wearing gold, you're going to give Zecora a run for her money." He smirked. It got a small laugh out of all of them. "Now we gotta get the rest of your fit. Bracelets and anklets, right? Also, is Tailet a word?"

Tethys stood back up. "It is in the Dragon Seas. Now make me feel pretty!"

Jeshan chuckled. "Didn't take you for one to be insecure, considering you always go around strutting your strength."

"You have no idea." All the girls said as Tethys found the accessories she wanted.

Jeshan looked to Skystrike for an answer. "Oh, I don't know either, I went momentarily blind because I ate enough weed brownies to get ten of us high."

"...Are you joking?"

He chuckled. "I wish I was, man... I had to hold onto the floor because I thought I was falling... I also think I ate half my body weight. Time seemed to move slower, it freaked me out."

"Don't know how to relate, but that sounds terrible. Sorry you had to go through that? I guess? I don't know, it sounds like you enjoyed it."

"...Yesn't." The two laughed.

Tethys poked them both with the tip of her tail to get their attention. As the two turned, they saw the dragoness adorned with golden accessories on each appendage. She did a quick spin, making sure her tail didn't hit anything. Both Skystrike and Jeshan made the ok hand before they all went to pay for their things.

They then moved on to what Elytra wanted to do: Body paint. Skystrike had some memories of getting some with his friends back in the Hive, good times. But now it was different, since he might be getting some as a human. Paint on hair feels a lot different than on skin. Skystrike and Elytra decided to get some art done, the rest having their own reasons to decline.

Tethys said that she only does it for special occasions, Zecora doesn't want to cover her natural markings, and Jeshan already has his tattoos. Skystrike decided he didn't want anything crazy. Ignoring the stares from some of the dogs at his figure as he took off his sweater, he sat down on a stool and let the cool paint touch his good arm. Strokes of black, blue and purple went up and around his skin from the tips of his fingers to the left side of his chest. The markings took the form of flowing wind, as well as several symbolic rune marks, representing free soul. Wasn't his choice, it was part of the gimmick that the painters did. After a few minutes, the artists were done, and Skystrike got up, turning his arm around to look at their work. Thanking them, he stepped out to his friends.

Surprisingly, Elytra was already done. She got much more done than Skystrike, the entirety of her body covered in green and gold paint. Her hooves had green and golden roots painted on them, going halfway up her legs. They painted her wings as well with a few stripes. On her rear, where a cutie mark would be, was the mark of a trickster god. Finally, her head and neck were painted with swirling patterns stemming from her eyes. "So, what do you all think?"

"You look good, Elytra." Jeshan smiled at her. "Let me guess, that style is from your hive?"

"Yes, actually. We're pretty in tune with nature. Not sure if I told you before, but our history actually says we come from acorns."

"Huh..." The Diamond Dog mourned over that. "Cool!"

"Ain't looking half bad yourself, Skystrike." Tethys looked at his arm. "You know, I forget how ripped you are."

Skystrike tied his sweater around his waist. "Yeah, the dogs in there would not stop talking about it. And I guess part of me was flattered? I don't really get compliments."

Elytra turned towards him. "You can't be serious, you get cat called so often it's annoying."

"I get cat called!? No way!"

"Actually, Skystrike..." Zecora sighed. "Yeah, you do. I remember walking with you during an outing, to find what the day yields. A yellow and orange mare invited you to 'plow her fields'."

Skystrike turned to the Zebra. "Junebug? Yeah, and I did. She plants flowers?"

Jeshan chuckled as he put his face into his palm. Elytra smirked. "What about when Sunshower asked if you wanted to 'roll in the hay?'."

"I don't know why she expected me to just have hay lying around. I get rolls biweekly from Applejack for Naga's bedding."

Tethys thought about the past conversation she heard. "Can... can I assume those are euphemisms for sex?"

"Yeah." The two mares said.

"They're HUH??" Skystrike held the back of his head in surprise. Then he hit a thinking pose. "...I have a lot of questions... aaaand I don't want to think about it until later. Can we go look at the swords?"

The group collectively laughed before moving onto the next destination. On walking past the stalls, he noticed something off about the area. First, there was only one shop seemingly open, the rest having the closed sign, or had the lights off. So, he decided to go for the only one that seemed to be open. Seemed was the word that was carrying here. The weapons and armor were out, and from the smell of hot metal, he could tell a forge of sorts was on and in use. He also had the feeling he was being watched, but made sure not to make any sudden moves just in case.

Tethys was about to speed up to catch up to him, but was stopped by Jeshan grabbing her arm. "They do this every time. The first day of this festival, each year, they sell their best wares, and they need to see if the buyer is worthy." Jeshan put out his arm to stop the rest from following. "Let him teach them a lesson."

Skystrike took a few more steps forward before turning around, realizing his friends weren't following him. "...So I'm not the only one who has a bad feeling-" He stopped his sentence as he heard several steps rushing towards him. His fight response activated, ignoring all unneeded information, he began to focus. First, on the closest pair of steps, coming from his right. His body snapped toward it, seeing a Pomeranian Diamond Dog in leather and plate armor, wielding two war axes. The dog jumped into the air and slammed the two down, Skystrike side stepping and pulling back a fist to dodge it before driving said fist squarely into the dogs open chest.

Three more came for him, two behind and one in front. The one in front used a large fishing hook, throwing it towards him in an attempt the wrap the rope around him. Skystrike put out his metal arm to let the line wrap around it before grabbing the hook and pulling the dog towards him, taking the dog off his feet and into a devastating kick that visibly winded the dog. The two behind him were more coordinated, both attacking at the same time with a mace and fishers knife their sizes.

The one with the mace came first, jumping at him and swinging horizontally at his face, making Skystrike duck under her attack. It made him realize that the second was going for a stab at his stomach. He didn't have the movement to dodge it, so he caught the blade with his right hand before pushing it into the ground. Next, Skystrike focused on the mace wielding one, as the other was trying to get her blade out of the ground. Now that he had time, he put his hand on the hilt of one of the blades on his waist. As the mace came towards him once more, Skystrike drew his blade. In a flash, the mace was split in half, and with his free hand grabbed the now unarmed dog and threw her into a wooden pillar holding up one of the stalls.

The pillar snapped as her head hit it, and thanks to her not wearing a helmet for some reason, she was dazed from the impact breaking the pillar in half. Skystrike realizing that one was out for the time being, turned his attention back to the knife wielding one, only to realize she wasn't alone. Another Pomeranian Dog came as back up it seemed. This one wore similar armor, save for having a muscle cuirass and large gauntlets and a helmet, only showing his red eyes.

This new one flexed his muscles and put his arms out wide, seeming to be a grappler or something close. Skystrike's adrenaline was still pumping, and he gripped his sword tightly. The Diamond Dog picked up a piece of the broken mace and threw it at the human at blinding speeds. Skystrike stomped his foot, making a pillar or rock rise from the floor and intercepting the mace, launching it into the air. He then jumped up and kicked the mace fragment at the grappler who barely caught it.

With the small window of time he got, Skystrike threw his sword at the now open Pomeranian. Lucky for him, he narrowly dodged it. Skystrike landed on his pillar, then jumped at the dog with a fist full of ice. He pulled back before punching the dog, the ice exploding on contact and sending him tumbling into the dirt. He stood up, barely huffing as he turned to the last one, who dropped her fishers knife and put her paws up. "Alright, alright, we get it, you want to get some stuff."

The adrenaline was starting to come down, and his fight response turned to a feeling of confusion. Despite that, he still held onto his blade. "...What the fuck are you talking about?"

Now the Pomeranian had a look of confusion. "...This is Pomeranian smithy? You wanted to look at our wares. On the first day of the festival, we challenge whoever comes if they want to buy our stuff. We're the best smithy in the kingdom. Surely you've heard of us?"

"Do I look like I'm from around here, motherfucker!?" Skystrike angrily sheathed his sword as he watched the other Pomeranians help each other up.

"...I'm confused..." The lady put down her paws. Now that Skystrike had a better look at her, she was quite short, barely being eye height with Zecora. She pulled awkwardly at her leather breastplate. "My brother said you were interested?"

Jeshan sighed and walked up next to Skystrike. "You're right, and I also said you'd be lucky if all of you came out alive,
Maple. Unfortunately, you all took it as a challenge."

Skystrike ignored how Jeshan's apparent cousin shared a name with one of his wives and pinched the bridge of his nose. "So let me get this straight... You motherfuckers decided to jump me... after Jeshan warned you to not do so... all because I was interested in your smithy?"

The Pomeranian shrugged. "...Yyyyyeeeeeeessss?" Maple gave an awkward smile as the others walked up next to her.

Jeshan sighed. "Sorry, Skystrike. Maybe now they'll get the hint." He growled at his family. "Anyway, that's my little sister Maple, the one with the hook is her husband, Acair. Escott, the one with the axes, is my brother in law, and the one who's mace you cut in two is my other little sister, Maybell. The one with the helmet is my older brother, Magnus. They run the smithy with my father."

"Hey." They all said.

Though Skystrike was a bit surprised how a name like Magnus transcends culture, he put that to the side for now. "Well hi, it was... an interaction meeting you all." Skystrike grit his teeth as he spoke. "I was here to see how smiting techniques differ depending on the culture and their history... But I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, I don't give a shit anymore." He crossed his arms and looked down at Jeshan. "I'm not going to hold them to this, because, since they're your family, I expect to end up seeing them again. I do know I don't want to see them for the rest of the night."

"Fair enough." Jeshan sighed again as the two boys began to turn around.

"Wait!" The two turned to Maybell. The dog looked between the halves of her weapon. "Who made that blade? I don't care how far I have to travel, I need to see who!"

"I did." Skystrike deadpanned. "Maybe I'll let you see it another time, when I'm not coming off an adrenaline high..." Skystrike tightened the straps keeping his blades in place, not looking back at them. With a sigh, Skystrike walked next to his friends, waiting for Jeshan to finish scolding his relatives.

Elytra put a hoof on his leg. "You alright, Sky?"

"I will be..." He grunted. With a deep breath, Skystrike got rig of the frown on his face. and stretched. "So, moving on, who wants to get food? I haven't eaten all day aside from breakfast."

Elytra hummed. "You know, I kinda want to try the wine here."

"Didn't know you were one for wine."

"Well I didn't know you were so into different cultures, but here we are. What got you into studying culture?"

Skystrike blinked. "Well, a big part of it is that I'll never get to experience my own culture. The rest is because I grew up with Changelings and Ponies. It's interesting to see how cultures differ, yet are also really similar."

"You know, I have been meaning to ask." Tethys spoke. "How do you know about your history and culture if you weren't there for it?"

"It's... complicated and not at the same time." Skystrike chuckled. "The history and culture stuff, I learn all of that from Echo, since I feel the need to remind myself of my humanity at times. The emotions is the complicated part, as you cant truly relay lived experiences with just words. It's like... I have memories of things, but they aren't my own. Think of... when you read a book and it does a cut away to a different point of view. You as the reader knows what happened in both perspectives, but the characters don't."

"Wait, so you have others memories?"

"Others experiences. I don't remember the person who experienced it, I just remember some experiences and how they felt. It's super hard to explain." He tried to find the right words. "I guess it's like... how you dragons know when to go and fight for the title of Dragon Lord."

They heard the foot steps of Jeshan approach them. "Alright, they took a hint. Probably will ask me about you for the next couple months, but they'll leave us alone for the rest of the night."

The group began walking. "Do they know we're leaving tomorrow?"

"Left that part out on purpose... Still will be sad to see you go so soon." Jeshan's ears went back. "But that's why we're making tonight one to remember."

Elytra turned to the dog. "Did Casta not explain to you what that rug you got yesterday was for?"

"No? Maybe? Honestly I wasn't paying attention, I was thinking about something else."

Skystrike stretched. "It's a teleporter to my house in Ponyville, and also connects to Alder, and Casta. Magic mare and I plan on getting one to all of the group. Sadly, it only works for everyone but me. Magic is bullshit."

"Oh... cool." Jeshan grinned. "Hey, unrelated, you all want to get some food? I know this stall that sells great fried chicken."

Skystrike drooled at the thought. "Oh fuck yeah, I haven't had chicken in years."

It took a bit of waiting, mostly deciding, but the group got their food. Zecora got a garden salad, Elytra was cowing down on some beef kebabs, and Jeshan, Skystrike, and Tethys were all sharing two hole chickens. Share being the important word here, since Tethys claimed a whole chicken for herself. But it was some damn good fried chicken.

Skystrike held a leg and thigh in his hands, biting into the juicy meat. The crispy skin almost falling of an into his mouth as the herbs and spices filled his taste buds. "...You know, Jeshan, you were right." He finished chewing. "I might get another."

Jeshan looked at the bones Skystrike was leaving. "...You gonna eat the bones?"

"You do that?"

Tethys and Jeshan looked at him. "You don't?"

Skystrike pulled at the side of his mouth, showing his teeth. "We humans are omnivores, but we haven't really evolved to hunt with our teeth."

Jeshan looked at him. "...Can I have your chicken bones?" Skystrike pushed his paper plate over to the Jackal, who began grinding the bones between his teeth. "The bone marrow is the best part."

"So Jeshan, what else does the festival offer? We've checked out most of the stalls. Any events?" Tethys took half of her chicken and threw it into her jaws. Loud crunching was heard.

"Well... if I remember right, there are dancers on the other side of the fair grounds if you're interested. I don't really go anymore since I have a fiancée. This side, it's just the musicians. They're really good, don't get me wrong, it's just the major stuff comes along in the following days. I actually hand carve a totem on stage up there, then sell it to the highest bidder for charity." He finished chewing on the bone. "Last year, one of the Queens participated too."

"One of? How many do you have?" Skystrike asked.

"Six. The past King and Queen were going at it." He chuckled.

"Damn." Skystrike laughed with him. "But now that we're done eating, there's one more thing we need to get: alcohol."

"Oooo, that is a good idea!" Elytra hummed. "I want some beer!"

"I prefer a shot of whiskey clear, over a pint of frothy beer." Zecora finished her salad.

"Cocktails for me, though I'm up for anything."

"I wouldn't mind buying a bottle of wine or two." Tethys stood up and stretched. "I'd also like some place where so many eyes aren't on us."

"Yeah." Elytra huffed. "When I was getting my food, I do think I was getting hit on earlier..."

Skystrike looked at her. "...You know, I was about to say good for you, but you know, the genie." Elytra nodded as the rest began to stand up. "Jeshan, what do you know around here that's good?"

"Well..." He started. "Every year, we invite a few beings outside the festival to host their own shops. This year, there's a.... new group. They sell cheese and alcohol."

Tethys furrowed her brow. "You said it like something is weird about them."

"I mean... no and yes. They're minotaurs." Jeshan clarified. "An all female group."

Skystrike had a confused look. "Is... is that a bad thing?"

They all looked at him, they between each other. Their faces all showed they were thinking the same thought. 'Does he know?' Elytra smirked. "No, in fact, it's a good thing. They make good alcohol. They travel a lot, so I'd bet they have at least a dozen flavors."

Zecora leaned over to whisper to Elytra. "Are we not going to tell him at all? I don't think he knows, he’s bound to fall."

"Maybe, but it'll be really funny." Elytra smirked. "No, it's no big deal."

"Cool, because I like cheese." Skystrike cracked his neck. "So Jeshan, lead the way."

Jeshan looked at the smirking changeling, then shared the same look. "Alright, man."

The group stood in front a new area. They were on the outer edge of the festival, and there were few stalls. In fact, there was only one large purple and pink tent, easily big enough to mimic a house. Makes sense, since there's minotaurs inside. He could smell the cheese from his spot in front of the door. Skystrike noticed the open sign, as well as the lights on from the windows. Then he had a thought. "...How the hell do you knock on a tent?"

Jeshan snickered. "Just walk in, dude."

Skystrike did so, immediately being met with a tavern like setting, with hanging lanterns and about a dozen wooden tables. To his left at the closest table, sat a black and white spotted minotaur, and he could tell she's seen some battles. One of her white horns was broken off, the cracks still there from the assumed battle. Her long black hair fell down her back and over her dark grey heavy armor. As the minotaur saw them enter, she stood up and grabbed her greatsword off the wall and slung it over her shoulder. "New faces..." She spoke. Her voice showed she was tired... or impatient. "Here's the deal, don't cause any problems to the ladies here, and there won't be a problem between us, that clear." She leaned down to be at eye height. Her lavender eyes bore into Skystrike's.

Skystrike chuckled. "Well I have high expectations for the place if there's an armed guard."

She raised a brow then looked to his friends. The shit eating grins on their faces told her all she needed to know. The minotaur smirked. "Well, if I do say so myself, we do have quite a good establishment here. But before we continue..." The minotaur stood back up, being about a foot taller than Skystrike. She turned to the dragoness. "Is your name... Tethys?"

"Uh, yeah?" Tethys raised a brow. "I'm sorry, but I can't seem to- HOLY SHIT, Lanka!?" Tethys shouted and put out her arms.

The minotaur, Lanka, did the same, the two hugging each other. "It's been a while! You look good!"

Tethys released Lanka from the hug before turning to her friends. "Guys, this is Lanka! We met a while ago, when I first started wandering outside my homeland. Didn't really want to admit it back then, but she was my first friend!"

Lanka chuckled. "You say it like it wasn't over thirty years ago."

"It's been thirty years!?" Tethys gasped.

"Yeah, not as young as I used to be." Lanka sighed. "And you look the same, though... a bit smaller in some areas."

"And I imagine you only got bigger, huh heffa?" Tethys laughed as Lanka playfully punched her in the arm. "But I need to introduce you to these guys. Lanka, the Diamond Dog is Jeshan, the Zebra is Zecora, the Changeling is Elytra, and the guy in front is a human called Skystrike. I've met them about ten years ago, and we've gotten back together and started traveling around recently."

"I see, I see..." Lanka pulled Tethys closer to whisper. "I know it's been a while, but what's the plan here? Not sure if it's a good idea for you to bring your friends to this kinda place."

Tethys smirked. "Yeah, but a certain someone doesn't know." Their eyes darted to Skystrike, who was looking around the place.

Jeshan took their look as a signal and began speaking as he put his paw on Skystrike's shoulder. "We're here to get this guy the all inclusive experience." And threw the minotaur a bag of bits with his other paw.

Lanka hummed as she caught it. "And what do you plan on getting out of this, Skystrike? You know I gotta protect my girls..."

"I mean..." Skystrike shrugged. "Cheese? Wine? Beer? I ate half a chicken earlier but I'm still hungry."

They all tried to hide a laugh. "Alright, boy, I like ya. Normally we don't do this, but a friend of Tethys is a friend of mine. Just leave your swords at the door."

Skystrike nodded and released the leather straps around his waist, putting his swords by the door. Elytra picked them up in her magic. "This will just be for him. We're going to explore the rest of the festival."

Lanka nodded. "Alright. And Tethys?" Tethys turned to look at her. "I'm free tomorrow if you want to come by. Catch up on everything that's happened?"

"I'd love to, but we were actually leaving tomorrow morning..." Tethys said sadly.

Skystrike noticed the glum look on her face. "You know Tethys, now that Jeshan has the teleporter, you can come and go as you please. You can stay and see your friend."

"Really!?" She picked up Skystrike in a crushing hug. "By the dragon lord, I love how you just realize things I've glossed over! Lanka, we're hanging out tomorrow!"

Lanka smiled. "Lets make sure to break your horn this time."

His friends left, once again snickering to each other. Skystrike looked up to the minotaur. "So, Lanka, you and Tethys go way back? First she told me about her past friends."

"Yeah, back in my twenties, we actually fought each other. She was hunting for a meal, and I was training to be a fighter for my clan. We met each other, fought, and it was a draw, though more in her favor. She was starving, and I was on my last bereath, so we made a deal. She helped me back to my clan, I give her food, and no one would know we fought." She smiled at the past memory. "Had to tell my father and the clan head at the time that we ran into a herd of dire wolves. From there, she stuck around for a year or so, then left, saying she had to do some self reflection. You?"

"Saved her from some ponies trying to hunt her down. I was actually in need of money at the time, and went to help hunt her down. A group of ponies were on the same mission, so by the time I found her, she fought them off, but was also on deaths doorstep. Decided I didn't need the money that bad, and nursed her back on her feet. Decided to follow me around after that. I'll let her finish the rest of her story when you see her tomorrow."

"Alright." Lanka put her sword down. "Now, while I do enjoy the small talk, lets make sure you get your moneys worth, boy." She grabbed one of the menus and set it down in front of the largest table, with seven stools around it. "Your friends got you the all inclusive, so you get to have everything on the menu."

Skystrike sat down and took a look at the menu. Sure enough, there were several types of cheese, as well as food dishes. Some of them even meat dishes to his surprise. And of course, there's the alcohol. Skystrike looked closer at the cheeses, noticing some interesting names of cheeses he hadn't ever heard of. Probably ones unique to the minotaurs. After a few moments of reading, he decided on what he wanted. "Can I get a... pizza with olives, onions, and mushrooms? The cheese board on the side. And for a drink... actually, what would you recommend?"

Lanka hummed. "Well, I like the pineapple margarita."

"That please." Skystrike said as he took off his scarf. Lanka nodded and left to go to what he assumed was the kitchen, knocking on two doors before entering. He payed it no mind for now and put his arms behind his head as he leaned back in his stool, rocking back and forth. In a few minutes, the doors that Lanka knocked on earlier swung open, and two more minotaurs came out. "God DAMN." He thought as he looked at them.

Both, to put it bluntly, had assets, their dohoonkabhankoloos nearly popping out of their off the shoulder peasant blouses. The corsettes they were were also helping. Add to that, their skirts showed how round their rears were. But Skystrike knew it was rude to stare. Aside from that, the two minotaurs wore the same color clothes, save for the skirts.

The orange one had beige spots for her fur pattern, and her creamy white horns curled forward then upward, complementing her green skirt. She twirled her brown hair into braids. Skystrike noticed her lean over the table to introduce herself, showing her cleavage. "Hey there, handsome~. My name's Laura."

The second one had grey fur and silver tattoos going up her left arm, as well as a purple dress and outward facing black horns. Her silver hair was fashioned into a ponytail. She mimicked the movement of Laura. "And I'm Attica. We'll be serving you for the first half of your... experience." She cooed.

"Cool!" Skystrike pulled out stools for each of them to sit. "First time meeting minotaurs, how are your nights going?"

"Better, now that you're here." Attica sat down and leaned in towards the human. "You know, in our travels, we see all sorts of beings. But you're new... Tell us about yourself."

Skystrike leaned back in thought. "Well, if you'll believe it, I'm not from this world. Because of that, I have to hide my identity where I live. Aside from that, my story isn't a happy one. Skipping over the bad parts, I started working as a mercenary, trying to make this world even the tiniest bit better. Me and my friends are travelling around right now to meet up with our old friends. For now though, I'm just enjoying the company I'm with."

"Oh, a mercenary huh? That must mean your pretty strong..." Laura twirled her finger on Skystrike's chest. "You know... due to our size, I never get the chance, even from the bulls back home... Think you can princess carry me?"

Skystrike looked at her, Laura being a foot taller than him and probably over twice his weight. "Fuck it, we ball." He smirked as he stood up and cracked his back before putting out his arms.

Laura put up her hands. "Calm down, not trying to kill you. You look like you'd snap in half."

"Laura!" Attica frowned. "Sorry about that, she speaks before she thinks."

Skystrike chuckled. "All good. I know I don't look it, but I am pretty confident in my strength."

Attica smiled. "Well, if you're offering..." She also stood up, walking over to the human, swinging her legs into one of his arms and leaning her back on the other. "Well damn, you weren't kidding, stud." She wrapped her tail around her leg.

Lanka came back in with the items Skystrike ordered earlier, still in her armor, but wearing an apron on top of it all. Skystrike's attention instantly turned towards the food. "Well, you three seem to be getting along." She put down the food before looking at Attica and Skystrike. "Well damn."

"That's what I said!" Attica laughed as she got out of Skystrike's hold.

Skystrike himself sat back down and looked at the food, taking in the lovely smell. He was surprised how nice a pizza with olives, onions, and mushrooms smelled. The cheese board had various fruits, cheeses, and cuts of meat all organized in a appetizing and pleasing fashion. Lanka slid his margarita next to him before Skystrike began to eat. He tore off a slice of the pizza and bit into it, the cheese stretching from his mouth. "...Oh god, I needed that. Thank you, Lanka! This pizza is fucking astounding!"

"I aim to please." Lanka walked off and knocked on two more doors.

Attica and Laura looked back to Skystrike, realizing he already had two slices of the rather large pizza. Attica took a slice and bit into it. "So, Skystrike, what made you come to our humble abode?"

Skystrike finished chewing and swallowed. "Well, two reasons. One, I have the chance to interact with a race I haven't met before and get a chance to glimpse at the culture, and two, I wanted cheese and alcohol. And you got both."

Attica and Laura looked between each other, assuming he was joking. Laura was about to say something more but was interrupted with two more minotaurs joining the table. The first was white with red spots and blond hair with a blue skirt. She braided the ends of her hair over her shoulders, showing her outward pointing brown horns. The other was white with black spots and maroon hair and a pink dress. Her hair was more shaggy, and her horns were quite shorter than the others, complimented by her pink skirt.

Skystrike took a sip of his pineapple margarita as the white and red on introduced them. "Hey there! I'm Elyssa, and this is Autumn." Autumn gave a small wave. "You'll have to forgive her, she's the shy one."

"All good, it's the company that matters, isn't it?" Skystrike downed his drink. "...You girls got anything stronger?"

Elyssa sat down on the table and turned towards him, giving a good view of both assets. "I could try and have that arranged..."

Skystrike looked up to her, Elyssa noticing he went straight for her eyes. "Thanks. I'm actually really interested in what you all have. Must've gotten some good ones during your travels."

"Actually, Autumn is in charge of the brewing we do." Elyssa waved her over, who was still standing at her door.

Autumn carefully walked over and sat down. "W-well... we were able to get some grapes a couple months ago, and I'm proud of the red wine we made. The whole process would probably bore you..."

"You can rant as long as you want. It's fun learning new things." Skystrike picked a grape from the chees board and flicked it into the air, catching it in his mouth. And so she did, Autumn shyly yet sweetly explaining how red wine was made. He had to be honest, it was pretty insightful. Apparently, they have to transfer the wine to specifically white oak barrels as part of the process. "You know, I'll try the red wine. You make is sound so interesting." Skystrike reached for some crackers, only to realize that over half the cheese board was empty. "Damn, we ate quite a bit..."

"We?" Laura chuckled. "That was mostly, you, big guy."

"Well that just means the cheese and stuff is that good." Skystrike stretched. "That being said, I am still hungry." He picked up the menu and looked through it. "Hmm... well now that it's a bit later, I want to let loose a bit more. You would not believe the day I had yesterday..."

Laura ringed a bell she pulled out of her pocket, queuing Lanka to come back out of the kitchen. "Need something?"

"The red wine Autumn made, and the specialty cheese board, please." Skystrike asked.

Lanka nodded, clearing off the table for them before going back to the kitchen. Laura rested her head on her hands. "So, Skystrike, if I may ask... how strong are you?"

"Really, Laura? You do this each time we get a guy here." Elyssa sighed.

"Hey, you weren't here earlier, he held up Attica like it was nothing."

"It's true." Skystrike shrugged. "I'm as strong as an ant! If an ant was..." He put his hands about a foot and a half apart. "This big!" They looked at him for further explanation. "An and can carry twenty times their body weight on average."

Laura smirked as she put her right arm on the table. "Want to put it to the test?"

Skystrike noticed how muscular she was. Not quite as much as Tethys, but still impressive. "I'm not against it... but you might want to switch arms."

"Pussy." She gave a hardy laugh.

Skystrike sighed, then chuckled, rolling up his right sleeve. The light of the room seemed to shimmer off the black metal of his arm. He wiggled his fingers before gripping the orange minotaur's hand. "You are what you eat, Laura... Ready when you are."

The rest laughed at his whitty comeback as a now slightly embarrassed Laura began trying to push down his arm with all her might. Their laughing grew louder as they realized his arm wasn't moving at all. Laura realized as well, and began pushing even harder, even grabbing the table with her other arm. After looking back up to him with a strained face and noticing he was unfazed, she threw in the towel. "Ugh... fine, you win."

Skystrike chuckled. "Don't beat yourself up over it, my real one is as strong as the prosthetic."

Lanka came back with a bottle of red wine, several wine glasses, and another cheese board. "You all seem to be having fun."

"You're welcome to join us, Lanka." Skystrike leaned back in his chair again. "I can see it in your eyes, you need to relax a bit. Let off some steam." He smiled before getting a bit serious. "You need to chill out once in a while. Doing everything you feel you need to do without some self care once in a while burns you out. Some faster than others."

Lanka smiled at him, then huffed. "While I appreciate the offer, I doubt you'd like to talk with an old heffa like me."

"Pssh, you aren't old."

"I'm fifty six."

"...Huh..." Skystrike looked to her, then the ceiling. "Could've fooled me."

Her smile widdened. "You know what, smooth talker, I'll humor you. Besides, you treat my girls well, and you compliment my food, and you finish a whole board of cheese. One of the few customers we've had that I can say I like." She sat down and began pouring everyone present a glass of wine.

Skystrike raised his glass, clinking it with the rest before swirling and sipping the wine. "Mmmm... Pretty good. Tart, yet a bit sweet... I think I taste strawberry in this."

Autumn clapped her hands together. "I knew it was a good idea!"

Lanka licked her lips. "Gotta say, kid, you did good." The rest of the minotaurs took sips of theirs and patted her on the back for a job well done.

Skystrike swirled his glass more. "Yeah, I might want my own bottle for the trip... or three... fuck it, I may just come find you guys again for the wine and cheese... I'd also like a small wheel of each type of cheese. Where would I be able to find you girls again?"

"We're a migratory race. We have several major clans, but we normally travel around in the southern half of Zebrafrica and the northern half of this continent. Though we do have some waaay up north, they're highland Minos." Elyssa downed her wine glass. "You know, never asked where you were from, handsome."

"Oh, I'm from Equestria. Decent place, decent ponies... I'd recommend the place, but give me a few years, I need time to fix the place up." Skystrike was about to pour himself another glass.

Elyssa beat him to it, pouring a glass for him and herself. "You say that like you're up there in society. But I guess you have to be if you got to this side of the world... you said you were a merc earlier... Let me guess, some big bounty on someone over here?"

"Not too far off." Skystrike chuckled. "I try to keep it on the down low, so the average being don't feel the need to treat my differently. I'm a prince, though I'm traveling here for pleasure... and to write some wrongs of the past." The human took a noticeably longer sip of his drink. "Wasn't too good a person in the past. When the group split up, the non-equestrians went back to their homelands. Diamondia was on the list of places I need to go. Next is the Hippogriff kingdom."

"Well... that explains your rag-tag group of friends." Lanka laughed. "But hey, good on you. You realized you needed to do some growing, grew, and now you're fixing your mistakes. You wouldn't believe how many Minos aren't able to do that."

"Tell me about it." Skystrike nodded. "Comes with the job, as you'd know. Keep giving beings the chance to be better, but most take it for granted. But enough of that, I came to relax, not think about those types."

"Speaking of relaxing, mind if I take off my armor?"

"Go for it." Skystrike sipped from his glass, but the sip ended up turning to a long gulp as he leaned back. He heard a click, then the clattering of armor as each piece fell to the ground. As he looked back to Lanka, he nearly choked.

The minotaur had a real set of badonkers. Big ol' tonhongerekoogers. Humongos hungolomghnonoloughongous. Lanka noticed this and gave a toothy grin. "What? Impressed?"

"Honestly, kinda." He admitted. "That armor made it look like there was nothing under there. Sorry for staring though."

"Breastplate of holding, cutie. And don't worry..." She rolled her neck. "With where you are, our boobs are part of the sales pitch here."

Skystrike was confused. "...Huh?"

Lanka couldn't hold it in anymore and began laughing hard. Hard enough where she began banging on the table, the rest picking up their glasses as she continued. Each of them had a confused look before Lanka pulled herself back together. "Skystrike, sweat pea, be honest, what did you come here for? What did you think this place was?"

Skystrike tilted his head. "For-... Is this not a place for cheese and alcohol? That's what my friends bought me here for."

The rest soon realized the joke his friends set upon him, looking between each other to make sure the others understood, before slowly and surely breaking into laughter themselves. Skystrike could feel the room shaking from their laughs. It seemed to die down for a moment before Attica pointed out that Skystrike still hasn't figured it out, making each laugh harder than before. Elyssa even fell on the ground wheezing.

After a few minutes, the laughter finally died down, and Lanka began to explain to Skystrike. "You're cute, Skystrike. Oblivious, but cute." She smiled as she leaned forward. "Tell me, have you noticed anything about the way these girls... present themselves?"

"I mean... I didn't want to be rude, but they're all showing hella cleavage." Skystrike rubbed his chin. "I thought that was just you all trying to fit in to the tavern setting."

"Yeah, we're tavern wenches." Laura smirked and leaned in.

"Well yeah, but like... funny haha 'wench' or-"

"We sell sex, Skystrike." Attica clarified.

She didn't need to, Skystrike was getting there, but the realization still hit him like a truck. He held his face in a hand. "God damn it, my fuckass friends. I feel stupid now..." They all laughed again, this time Skystrike joining in with them. "Well, sorry if I made it awkward."

"Heh, all good. It's nice, talking with somebody who doesn't want our bodies... Though you did get the all inclusive experience... I don't mind if you got your money's worth~"

Skystrike looked at her, then to the hungry gazes of the rest. "So... I assume that means all of you?"

"Well, aside from Lanka." Autumn clarified. "But... I guess that was obvious..."

"Well, it's like sweat pea said, gotta do some 'self care' once in a while." Lanka smirked. "So, think you can handle the five of us?"

"I mean, I don't really want it if you all feel forced to hold up your end of the deal. I honestly enjoyed all your company." Skystrike shrugged his shoulders.

Lanka stood up and walked behind him, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Then let me break it down for you. We like ya, and we want ya. Now we can do this the easy way... or the hard way. The choice is yours."

Skystrike looked up at her, then to the rest. He reached for his wine glass and downed the rest of his wine in one go. "Fuck it, we ball."

Author's Note

Ahaha funny chapter. Now Skystrike is part of the club with Alder

Tried to put more focus on the characters spending time with each other, specifically Zecora and Elytra, as Tethys will be getting her time soon.

I will say, the next chapter will be coming out a bit later, as I'm working on a few things in tandem. One of those being rewriting the rest of the first couple chapters because I can barely bare to read them myself. Past me was an ass writer.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all next chapter.