As they walked, Shiera couldn't help but watch has Spike slept. She still didn't believe his claim of being a dragon, but he did look adorable while sleeping. "Is he always this sleepy?" Shiera asked with a chuckle. Suddenly Spike darted awake, "Huh? Wha...? Who said what now?" In his confusion, he shifted weight a bit too far to the left and promptly slid off of Twilight's back and landed face first on the ground. "I'm okay!" he said in a slightly muffled tone.

Shiera and Twilight couldn't help but giggle a little bit at that. "Are you alright, Spike?" Twilight asked with smile. "Yeah, i just lost my balance from oversleeping is all," Spike replied with a small blush on his face.

"Hey Spike!" called a voice from above. They all turned to see a familiar cyan colored pony take a landing in front of them.

"Hello Rainbow Dash! How is your day going?" Twilight asked. "Oh you know, busy. A few dinguses up in the cloud factory made a few too many clouds, so i've been going around and punching all those unnecessary clouds out of existence," Rainbow said in a confident, almost boastful tone.

Shiera couldn't help but stare at Rainbow Dash's wings. "A horse, er, pony with wings....i know the ones with horns are called unicorns, but what are you?" she asked. She wasn't sure if she had heard any legends of such a thing back in her old world. She heard a tale or two about unicorns, but had never given those myths any thought....at least until she woke up as one that is....

Rainbow Dash gave her a curious look, "Oh yeah, your that pony we found in the forest! You're heavier than you look, ya know. AppleJack and I had to take turns carrying you, ya know. And don't you know what a pegasus is? That's a bit strange..."

"I am the perfect weight for my size and build, thank you very much!" Shiera chided, mildly offended that this pony creature had more or less called her fat. Shiera gave herself another once over just to be sure. Nope, she was no more girthy than either Twilight or Rainbow Dash. She shook her head, that didn't matter right now anyways.

"A pegasus, so that's what a horse, er pony with wings is called?" Shiera asked.

"Well, yeah! What, do they not have those back in your world?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Shiera simply shook her head. "Not that i am aware of, though i couldn't say for certain. The world is awfully big, after all...." Another thought occurred to Shiera as she pondered, "So is that what the princesses are, Pegasuses?"

"Pegasi. And, no they are not. They are Alicorns, and have the magical traits of all three pony tribes. The Strength of the Earth Ponies, The Wings and Flight of the Pegasi, and the Horn and Magic of the Unicorns, all blended together into one. Except better in every way," explained Twilight.

Shiera simply frowned at this. She wasn't sure what to make of this information just yet, but still another question pinged in her brain. "Wait, earlier, you mentioned something called a 'Cloud Factory'? What is that?"

"It's where clouds get made, duh! It's in the name!" Rainbow Dash said with a roll of her eyes.

"Hey! Rainbow Dash, that wasn't very friendly of you. Be nicer, you know she's still new here," Twilight chided. Rainbow Dash sighed, "Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry...." with another sigh, Rainbow Dash began to explain. "It's well, where clouds get made. Lots of ponies work every day to make sure have the right kinds of clouds and the right amount of clouds for the weather we are suppose to be having."

"That is strange, don't clouds form naturally on their own? And isn't the weather meant to be unpredictable?" Shiera asked, slightly intrigued by this information.

"Uh....no....Is that how weather works in your world?" Rainbow asked.

Shiera shrugged, "More or less. Though the sun and moon move ever constant, the weather is will of the gods."

"Ever constant? What does that mean? Do you have princesses that raise and lower the sun and moon too?" asked Twilight.

Shiera stopped cold in her tracks and stared at Twilight. "Raise and lower the Sun and Moon? Only gods have that sort of power. Are you saying your princesses are gods?!"

"Uh, no!! Er, well...maybe? Look it's kind of complicated, okay? But i am pretty sure Princess Luna and Princess Celestia aren't gods..." Twilight replied with a nervous chuckle.

"Princesses with the power of gods. No wonder no other nation dares claim sovereign rights. How can you when your foe has the power of gods?" Shiera said, pondering it. The group fell silent after that, until Rainbow Dash informed them that she still had worked to do, and flew off.

They continued to walk in silence until finally they reached their destination, a shop of sorts. "Here we are, the Carousel Beautique. I think this is the last stop for the day, it'll be getting dark soon," Twilight said a small sigh of relief. "Well, let's hurry and go inside already!" exclaimed Spike.

"Well he sure seems excited to be here...." Shiera noted. Twilight sighed and smiled, "You'll understand soon enough. Come on, let's go!"

A small bell rang as they entered. "Just a minute, darling, i'll be there in just a moment. Just fixing up a few things here. Won't be more than a second!" a voice called from the back, "Stop moving so much, Fluttershy!"

"Sorry..." replied a softer voice. Shiera and Twilight gave each other a glance before finally two ponies walked out from the back, carrying a medium sized flower petal quilt. It was quite beautiful to look at.

"Don't you think it's marvelous Fluttershy?" asked the white pony with purple hair.

"...Yes..." came Fluttershy's response. It was at this point that the two ponies noticed Twilight and Shiera.

"Twilight, my darling! And....the mare we found in the Everfree Forest! Why, hello! how are you?" the white on with purple hair said in a polite and gentle tone. Before Shiera could give a reply, the pony leaned in, inspecting Shiera, then suddenly started shifting through Shiera's hair with her hooves. "Oh my, what wondrous hair, darling! It's so clean and lusterous, its almost as if magic is infused in it's very fiber, my dear! You must tell me your secret!"

Shiera blushed a bit. Not many people complimented her on her hair. Only her husband and a few of her friends ever did. She was used to people always calling her "witch" or "cursed" or simply avoiding any conversation with her at all whenever the subject of her hair came up. It was nice, if not a little embarassing, to be complimented on it. Especially from a stranger she didn't know.

"Hello, Rarity. Rarity this is Shiera An, Shiera An, this is Rarity. She's Ponyville's resident fashionista," Twilight said, introducing the two. "Hi," Shiera said, not sure what the word 'Fashionista' meant. She assumed it was something similar to a clothier. But she wasn't entirely sure.

She then caught a glance at Spike, who seemed to be fawning over Rarity as she moved about. Shiera then understood why he was so eager earlier. A small smile touched her lips.

"Well, It's nice to greet you, Shiera An. I hope you'll forgive me, i was a bit busy helping Fluttershy make this quilt," Rarity said sincerely. Fluttershy blushed, "O-Oh....you didn't have to, really.....Angel Bunny gets cold sometimes, a-and i thought a quilt might help him warm up...."

"Oh....well that's a nice thing to do," Shiera noted, not sure of who this Angel Bunny was, though she was sure she would find out sooner or later. Fluttershy then gave her a nervous look, then buried her face in her hooves, then mumbled something.

"What was that, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked. Fluttershy peeked out from one of her hooves, and said in slightly more audible tone, "I said, 'I'm sorry for what i did at the hospital...' i didn't mean to frighten you like i did, Shiera....."

Shiera gave her a curious look before remembering one of the freak outs she had back at the hospital. "Oh....well you have nothing to be sorry for. In fact, i thank you very much for your kindness. I was just still...in shock is all. I assure you none of it was your fault. As i said, you have nothing to be sorry for," Shiera said in conformed but gentle tone.

"O-Oh....okay." Fluttershy then took a glance at one of the windows, "I better get going, it's starting to get late, and i don't want to keep Angel Bunny waiting....Goodbye!" And with that, she took the quilt and left.

Twilight then spoke up, "Oh, well then, we should get going as well--"
"Wait!" Shiera said, taking a step forward towards Rarity, "I wanted to ask you something. You make clothing, correct?"

Rarity blinked, then nodded, "Well, not just clothing, my dear, I make art," she wrapped vivid purple and black scarf around herself for dramatic effect. It did indeed look nice on her.
"Um, okay....Well, i wanted to ask, do you think you could.....make new sheaths for my swords? It seems they didn't come with me. I need new sheathes to hold them in so that they are easier to carry around when i am not using them...." Shiera explained, motioning Twilight to reveal her swords. Twilight complied by lowering the towel and unwrapping it enough to reveal the swords.

"Oh my. Well, i must say dear, this isn't usually my line of work...."

"Oh, then sorry....i also just realized i have nothing to pay you with either.....forget i mentioned it." Shiera said, letting her ears droop a bit.

Rarity took another look before smiling, "I didn't say i wouldn't do it, my dear! After all, I love a good challenge! I will make the most stunning and amazing sheathes you ever seen! Though i will have to keep your swords here for measurements and such."

Shiera looked at her with her mouth agape, "B-But, i have no money to--" Rarity waved a hoof at her, "Oh don't worry about it dear, we can worry about that some other time. For now, i have work to do!" And with that, she shoved Shiera, Twilight, and Spike out of the shop and closed the door behind them.

"Isn't she amazing?" Spike asked, still daydreaming about Rarity.

"I.....don't know what to say...." Shiera admitted. "Don't worry about it. Here, let's go home. It'll do us good to show you where you'll be staying while your here," Twilight replied, smiling.

Still at a loss of words, Shiera followed as they led her towards a rather large tree with a door on the front.....

Author's Note

And there we are, Shiera has now officially met all of the Mane 6. Now to see where it all goes from here....XP

Hint: the shenanigans are only just beginning.....