You Called For Me

I can see a Rainboooow in your tears as they fall on down. I can see your soul grow through the pain as they hit the ground—

Celestia could still hear Songbird Serenade’s amplified voice even from her personal chambers. She imagined it a quirk of the lower balconies of the redesigned palace.

The song was nice, and when the colorful explosion of fireworks lit up the night sky, she couldn’t help but step near the window and watch the show. She idly wondered if Luna appreciated the nightly crowd, Celestia hadn’t seen so many ponies out and about at this hour in quite some time.

It gladdened her that her little ponies could still sing and dance. It softened the trauma of how close it had all been.

“Perhaps I’ll give them a few extra hours before morning,” Celestia murmured quietly to herself.

“Before or after you give some hours to yourself?”

Celestia splayed her wings and spun in place. Reflex had her light her horn, though she winced as her aura sputtered.

A moment later, she relaxed when she saw who it was. “Novo! You startled me.”

The ruler of the hippogriffs strolled the rest of the way into the room proper. A tall creature with elaborate plumage made her one of the few creatures that could match Celestia’s own stature. Perhaps even more so when one took the wings and broad tail.

It’s like she’s wearing a dress. How did she get in here? Celestia mused, and her eyes fell on the large pearl hanging from Novo’s neck. Did she u—

“Claws,” Novo said, catching Celestia’s glance and answering the unspoken question. She raised one for a showy finger wave. “Ponies listen for hooves, but not clawtips.”

“And the guards?”

Novo cocked her head in a very avian way. “You left them in the courtyard.”

“Ah… so I did,” admitted Celestia. She allowed herself a nose scrunch for that. A small one.

Novo rolled her foreclaw, gesturing with the digits as she spoke. “Why do you have this habit of leaving without a word? One hello and you’re gone?”

“A courtesy to the revelers. If I announce that I am retiring for the night, then the party is over. You of all creatures should know that social currents follow the biggest fish.”

There was a clacking noise as Novo flexed her beak, something that Celestia guessed was a sign of annoyance.

“It’s not that late,” Novo retorted.

“The Storm King drained my magic, it comes back slowly at night. I need a little while to rest.”

“You don’t need magic to talk to me!” Novo shot back.

Celestia noticed how Novo’s crest had lifted along with the neck fluff around the throat. It lent the hippogriff an appearance akin to that of a shaken up chicken.

Forcing herself, Celestia pressed her lips in a line, and answered slowly without inflection. “I am sorry to have… ruffled your feathers.”

Novo blinked, looking more part-owl than eagle before her feathers settled and she indulged her pony side with a hard snort. “You’re such a pain in the flank.”

The smile Celestia kept at bay, climbed her muzzle now. “Twilight won this war, but there’s the aftermath to deal with. It’s those kinds of questions I am putting off tonight.” She gestured with her head towards the balcony. “I wouldn’t mind spending time with you, though. Watching the party instead of being in it.”

Outside on the balcony, the fireworks seemed to have stopped, but there were plenty of lights from the crystal-powered spotlights illuminating ponies dancing to the steady beat. A good swath of the crowd had hippogriffs from Novo’s army drafted as dance partners, along with some curious match ups from the remnants of the Storm King’s own forces.

The newfound harmony amongst every creature cheered Celestia’s heart. Novo sounded similarly affected as she leaned on the balcony, claws on the railing.

“I’m glad I brought the soldiers to a dance instead of a fight. My griffs are sick of war.”

“I am glad you brought them at all, needed or not,” Celestia replied. “Twilight mentioned some disagreement?”

“If you can disagree with a thief on what to do with your property,” muttered Novo. Her head turned. “Why did you send her?”

“Twilight is the Princess of Friendship. She’s usually a better diplo—” Celestia began before she was cut off by Novo’s firm headshake.

“No, why did you send her at all?” Novo pressed. “Of all the creatures in the world, you call for hippogriffs? You called for me?”

Celestia idly noted that hippogriffs didn’t seem to blink as much as ponies. It made Novo’s trained stare unavoidable. Especially on the balcony with them nearly shoulder to shoulder.

“Hippogriffs are nearly the only decent creatures outside Equestria that don’t practice slavery or a form of cannibalism. And… we’re friends, Novo. I knew you would help.”

Novo’s beak lifted at the flexible corner, and Celestia felt the danger in the smile.

“Are we?” Novo asked in an airy and innocent tone.

Celestia steeled herself for the trap from such a question. “Yes… of course we are.”

“It’s been years since your last visit.”

“You are a queen. You must understand that royals can’t ju—”

“Thirty years, Celeste.”

It was Celestia’s turn to stare. “Thirty? No, that can’t be right. You would be...” She trailed as she took a second round of appraisal. Novo looked exactly as she did in Celestia’s memory of when they first met.

A little too exact, actually.

“You look… good?” Celestia intended it as a statement, but it came out as a question instead.

Novo raised a claw finger and lightly flicked the pearl around her neck. “Think I would show up wrinkled and with graying feathers? Let you beat me with good looks?” Her smile returned, playful in its challenge. “You won’t ever win this contest. Not in thirty years or three hundred.”

“Very well, I concede. You will always be the pretty one. I’ll have to make do with being the smart one,” Celestia said with an exaggerated sigh.

Novo preened her wing, keeping her smile at Celestia’s jest. But said nothing more. Waiting.

“—or maybe the absent-minded one,” Celestia continued. “Sorry that it has been so long. I should have done more to avoid falling out of contact. Have the years treated you well?”

Novo’s smile turned wane. “Since your last letter? I married a prince. Had a daughter. Had a divorce.”

“Oh, I am so sorry.”

“Don’t be. Happy couples don’t divorce. Skystar is the only good that came of that.”

“It sounds like it was a messy separation.”

“It started a civil war.”

Celestia blinked and stared, but Novo was drumming her talons on the railing while she looked at her soldiers partying below.

“I would have not ignored a call for aid. I would have helped you!” Celestia insisted. “You never wrote to me about that.”

Novo shook her head. “Civil wars you have to win yourself. You’ll never have legitimacy otherwise.” She made a derisive snort. “Or maybe that was just pride. It left us weak and unable to stand up to the Storm King when they attacked. I wish I sent a message then, but we had to keep hidden.”

There was a tension in the queen’s shoulders that Celestia recognized well. The weight any leader carried. Hesitantly, she raised a hoof and placed it on Novo’s claw. “You did your best with what fate dealt you.”

Novo looked at the hoof touching her claw but didn’t pull away. “Easy to say. Your ponies are happy. You’ve never let a relationship endanger...” She stopped when Celestia let out a whickering laugh. “What?”

“My dear friend. When was the last time you looked at the moon?”

Celestia waited for Novo to look upward. She did so, first in confusion, then thoughtfully. When the hippogriff’s eyes widened in realization, Celestia added, “I am afraid I have you beat on family squabbles.”

“She’s real?”

“Oh yes. I could even introduce you two later.”

Novo squinted, then cocked her head. “Do I need… candy?”

Celestia grinned. “If you want to get on her good side.”

“I think you’re pulling my wing, pony.”

“Only a little,” Celestia said and drew her hoof back. “But having that thousand-year problem solved made me realize how much it had consumed my thoughts and drew me away from what’s important. It taught me a lesson that being more forward-looking instead of endlessly raking over the past is a healthier way to live.”

“An interesting pep talk,” Novo commented. “Still have a flair for the inspirational life lessons, hmm?”

“It’s also a promise. I won’t forget you, not again. Not now. Not ever.”

That statement had Novo focus those eagle eyes on Celestia’s once again. After a long moment, she relaxed and smirked. “Did you plan on staying up here the whole night? If we’re going to toast a new start. It sounds like we shouldn’t let everycreature else have all the fun.”

Celestia shook her head. “I’ll be hounded the moment I show my face out there.”

Novo smiled as she flicked the pearl around her neck. “There are ways to avoid a crowd.”

Celestia tumbled head over tail, slowly falling. All her instincts seemed wrong and she kicked her forehooves while she twisted and tried to flap to no avail.

The end came with a soft, anti-climatic thump against the Canterhorn’s sandy riverbed.

A few moments of lingering let her marshal control over the disorientation. Despite her senses telling her to panic over every inhaled breath, no pain of drowning came to her. Just the curious tingle around her throat as she breathed in water and the excess left the newly formed gills.

In the dark, a light moved near. It was Novo’s familiar face illuminated by her glowing head bobber. Her transformation made it easier to read her expressions now that she was a seapony, though it meant Celestia had to suffer that superior grin.

“My, my. I had to double check I didn’t turn you into a brick with how fast you sank.”

“This is a new experience and form for me. You can’t expect me to be a master,” protested Celestia.

Novo circled Celestia, swimming with annoying ease to lean on her opposite shoulder. “I thought the Eternal Princess in all her many, many years would have at least learned how to pony-paddle.” Novo pursed her lips and blew a stream of bubbles past Celestia’s earfin.

“I can fly, teleport, and evaporate a lake with magic. Treading water never seemed that pressing of a skill.” At the tickling bubbles, Celestia swiped at Novo with her now-frilled hoof.

Novo easily dodged the slow swing and pirouetted in front of Celestia. “Well, it looks like the Queen of Ocean and Tides will just have to be a swim instructor. I suppose I ought to. You’re a guest in my domain.”

“Your domain? We’re twenty paces from my palace.”

“If it’s underwater, it’s mine.”

“And I own everything under the sun. Do you really want to play this game?”

Novo stuck her tongue out at Celestia. “Depends on if you want to learn how to do more than flop on your belly.”

Celestia set herself to do just that. First, she tried imitating the pegasi method of pumping her wings-turned-fins, and when that didn’t get her anywhere, she tried a circular paddle with her forehooves. After dragging along the riverbed like this for a meter, she bubbled out a sigh in resignation. “Fine. Teach me.”

“Hmm, what was that?” Novo asked. She’d adopted a lounging posture in the middle of the water, studying her hoof.

“Teach me… please?”

Novo put the hoof on her chin and looked speculative.

Celestia rolled her eyes. “Teach me please, Queen of all the oceans, tides, and water of the world.” With a snort she added, “You can even have this river if you like it so much.”

With a victorious smirk, Novo swam in close again and touched forehooves with Celestia. “These are for steering. Same with your backfins. The power is below your waist, to your tail. Watch me.”

After a few demonstrative swishes, Celestia tried to mirror Novo’s motions. They rose together from the river floor, bit by bit. Though as the rhythm increased, they grew out of sync. Celestia started to lag behind Novo, causing them to tip one way and necessitating a pull at the hooves to correct.

“Too much… no...no… now too little,” Novo shook her head, making her head bobber bounce. “It’s like a hind hoof waltz. Think of it like that?”

“I avoid dances that put my flank out there. Ponies talk over any indiscretion,” Celestia muttered as she missed another stroke.

“Pity, it’s a nice flank.”

Celestia looked up sharply at that, to Novo’s grinning muzzle.

“Let’s try something different. You need to feel the rhythm.”

All at once, Novo drew Celestia in close, and curled their tails together. The erratic strokes Celestia had been making smoothed out as it muscled her into a regular swishing.

“Swimming is like flying. Use instincts and what feels right. Stop thinking so much and try to relax,” Novo continued.

Celestia tamped down on the reflex to break free and tried to not think. Eventually, her mind wandered.

A seapony’s hide differed from a pony’s coat, with places for scales to mingle with the furred portions. The waterproofed fur itself had a silky quality that was... nice. With the surrounding water being chilly, Celestia felt a natural inclination to huddle towards a source of warmth in it. It wasn’t until her muzzle was right beside Novo’s that she caught herself.

Novo’s grin had softened into a smile. “You’re doing better, Celeste.” Her tail withdrew, and she floated back a hoof length away.

Celestia could feel the right rhythm to use in the water now, though her tail still tingled at the departed contact. She opened her mouth, then closed it before changing the topic. “Why do you use that old name? I doubt most even remember.”

“Sailors still do, and it’s written that way on nautical maps. We love naval tradition where I come from,” Novo’s grin returned. “If you want me to be really stodgy, I could call you ‘Sun and Stars’ instead.”

“I have enough ponies kissing my hooves and trying to worship me. Celeste… is fine.” She tried to sound nonchalant, but Celestia couldn’t help her own smile.

Novo appraised her for a long moment before chuckling and gesturing with a forehoof. “One more lesson for you now. See that bridge downstream?”

Celestia followed that hoof to see the distant bridge. It was one of the larger ones in Canterlot city that cut across the Canterhorn river with support pillars. “Yes?”

“Race me there,” Novo said before taking off, quick as a dart.

“W-Wha—wait!” Celestia floundered in place before she kicked her tail and followed. “It’s more fair to count before starting,” she complained once she’d caught up.

“No thinking about swimming, remember?” Novo replied, looking smug. “You’re keeping pace already. How about we raise the stakes? I win and you can give me something… oh… Vanhoover, maybe?”

“Vanhoover?” Celestia frowned. “Take Appaloosa instead, it’s closer to you.”

“What am I going to do with a city next to a desert?”

“I thought a world-class swimmer could learn to swim through sand.”

That earned Celestia a faceful of tail flukes when Novo swam ahead, blowing a bubbly raspberry over her shoulder.

For a few tense moments they both sped along the river, following the current as much as each other. Celestia focused all of her attention on Novo’s glowing head bobber and fell into the trance of cutting through the water. It was like galloping; she told herself. Destination mattered more than any single step, and she was making progress.

Progress enough to have her right alongside Novo and even making a creeping gain. Something that brought a look of indignation on the queen’s face that Celestia found delicious.

That expression changed from nose-scrunch to one of surprise. Novo suddenly crossed lanes and barreled right into Celestia, sending them both surfaceward.

Breaking into the open had Celestia sputtering as she coughed out water and breathed in air instead. As soon as she had her breath, she groused, “Cheating? I hope you know you’ve forfeited any bet.”

Novo snorted. “You win the prize of not bashing your head.” She clopped a hoof on the support beside her. “Too busy looking at me. Though I can’t blame you for that.”

Celestia blinked and looked at the bridge overhead. Had they really swam that far so fast? She was about to respond when a very familiar voice came into hearing.

“—castle, too. Though it’s not here. It’s in Ponyville.”

“You own land? I thought ‘Princess of Friendship’ was just a title.”

“Well... I used to live in a tree that was a library before it got blown up in a fight. My castle isn’t exactly a castle, it’s a magical tree. That turned into a castle.” A pause. “It’s still a tree, just… made of crystal and now... also a castle.”

“Uhh… huh.”

Celestia peeked upward, and sure enough, it was Twilight walking alongside Tempest Shadow of all ponies.

Novo followed Celestia’s gaze, and her eyes narrowed at the sight of Tempest.

Before she could touch her pearl, Celestia caught Novo’s hoof and pulled her back into the shadow of the support.

Above, Twilight halted by the railing. “Okay, it’s probably easier to see my castle first hoof than hear somepony talk about it.”

Tempest glanced sidelong at Twilight. “Are you inviting me over?”

“Sure! It’s really late to be hunting for any inns or hotels to stable up in any case.” Twilight laughed. “And you’ve been in your armor this whole time. That can’t be fun. I’m not even wearing any, and I just want to sprawl out in bed after all the stuff we’ve been through today.”

“That’s what you want to do? Umm... okay.”

Twilight’s smile became beaming. “And if you’re not too tired, we can get you started on your very first friendship lesson.”

Tempest chuckled. “What do you have in mind for this ‘lesson’?”

“I still have some starter work written down. I had to do this already for Starlight and Sunset, so it won’t take me long to get you going. Hope you don’t mind some light reading before bed.”

Novo blinked and opened her mouth, but Celestia put a hoof over it to shush her.

Tempest’s smile had faded, and her ears splayed at hearing the other names. “What? You lost me there. I thought…” she trailed.

“Mmm? You thought what?”

“I... ah... err,” Tempest’s expression became pained as she sought for the words. Finally, she stomped a hoof in frustration and sent a minor flicker of jagged magic from her broken horn. “Argh! You invite me over, want me to get naked, and then get in bed. Sorry for misreading you there.”

Twilight blinked and became as dark of a purple as Tempest when a blush covered her entire face. “O… oh… OH! No, no, no, no, that’s not what I meant at all!”

“Yeah, figures.” Tempest shook her head. “I’m just going to head back to the airship. Sorry again for being stupid about this.” She turned away from Twilight and crossed the bridge.

From underneath, Celestia and Novo leaned back in unison to watch.

“Wait, Fizzle!” Twilight cried.

The word seemed to have some effect on Tempest for she stopped in place, ears perked.

“If that’s what you… I mean… I wouldn’t mind…” Twilight took a long breath, held it before letting it out. “If you want to go around Ponyville, together and see stuff, together. Maybe afterward we could go to my castle... together?”

Tempest eyed Twilight for a long, silent moment before she blew out a laugh. “Is this how you ask somepony out on a date?”

“I am really curious to see you without your armor...”

“You wouldn’t be the first mare eager to get a look at my flank.”

Their voices dwindled as Tempest and Twilight crossed the bridge and continued their way down the road.

“Okay, what in the Great Abyss was that?” Novo asked once they were out of earshot.

“That,” Celestia said with a smile. “Was Twilight doing what she does best: making friends.”

“So she steals hearts as well as pearls?” Novo scoffed.

“Poke fun all you want, but Twilight has managed to turn more foes to allies in the last seven years than I have in the last hundred.” Celestia shook her head and chuckled. “I hope she manages well with Tempest. I desperately need a new captain of the guard.”

Novo stared at Celestia in shock. “What?! You would make her a captain? She’s a monster!”

“She was a misguided soldier under the orders of a now dead king.”

“She assaulted Mount Aris with airships!”

Celestia arched a brow. “A unicorn incapable of spell craft defeated a nation of hippogriffs in the air. She captured this very city, in the heart of Equestria, in a day. I would be a fool if I wasted her talents in prison when she could be turned into a protector. Redemption comes in many forms. I can forgive her this war if she spares me any that might come after.”

Novo crossed her forehooves and fumed. “How can you be so sure? So very sure that a pony like her won’t stab you in the back?”

“If there is one thing that links every living thing in Equestria, it’s harmony. I am sorry to say that I haven’t always acted in its interest. But I am a believer in it now. I believe in love. Do you?”

“What a question,” Novo muttered, and after a flustered silence, she made an exaggerated shrug. “But what do I know? I’m just a queen.” She frowned. “If this blows up on you, don’t expect me to come to save you from your own mess.”

“There’s only one thing I desire from you, and it’s not soldiers.”

That made Novo raise a brow. “Oh? What’s that?”

“Your friendship, of course,” said Celestia, smiling again.

Novo looked like she was doing her best to keep the dour expression on her face before her lip twitched and she gave in to a laugh. “Oh, you… you… pony. What am I to do with you?”

Celestia looked down the road where Tempest and Twilight had gone. “Ponyville has a tradition of hosting celebrations after attacks. It’s also far enough away from the city to be discreet for us.”

Novo oriented herself in the water to point herself downriver. A grin passed over her muzzle. “Sounds like we have another race on our frills. Let’s see how your endurance holds up, Celeste.”

At first blush, Celestia would have imagined flying to be the quickest way from the city to Ponyville, after that, she’d have said taking the train to be the most leisurely. Swimming the Canterhorn river by moonlight, however, was by far the most thrilling method of travel.

From the changing currents at the small waterfalls while winding along the curves at speed, to the brief breaks where they skipped along the surface like dolphins, the journey was exhilarating in ways she never thought before.

Eventually, they came to the part of the river which split between Ponyville and the edge of the Everfree Forest. Novo sprinted the last quarter mile and beached herself on the soft silt.

“I’m going to enjoy owning Horseshoe Bay. Maybe I’ll build a nice waterfront property there.”

After just gotten so used to swimming, Celestia now waddled like a seal once on land again. “You never let me set my bet first. Also, the first wager was a draw. Shouldn’t it be best of three?”

Novo wagged her flukes in the water. “What would you want? Please don’t say friendship again.”

“How about legs? We’ll need them to mingle.”

“And I miss my wings, let’s see now.” Novo reached for the pearl around her neck and raised it. The golden magic swirled around the artifact and traveled down the hoof holding the pearl. The changes spread along the limb and then jumped over to Celestia.

The effect brought disorientation again, but Celestia found it superior to typical transmogrify spells. The pearl’s magic seemed to work at a deeper level and nearly instantly. At least this time when she opened her eyes, she felt more normal than she did as a seapony.

She looked back at herself and nearly thought that Novo had simply reverted her shape, but a second glance at her reflection in the river water showed her the full change. She was missing her horn and was shorter in stature. A pegasus. Her mane had also lost its ethereal edge and fallen to its natural shade of pink. It still had the habit of falling over her eye, and there was plenty of it to nearly touch ground in front of her. Celestia laughed then. She resembled Fluttershy with a white coat and purple eyes.

“Anything missing?” Novo asked as she joined Celestia by the water's edge. If Celestia was a Fluttershy lookalike, then Novo, with her fanciful purple mane streaked with blue, looked like a pegasus version of Rarity.

“Did you copy Twilight’s friends for these forms?”

“No,” Novo said all too quickly, then added defensively, “A pony is a pony, isn’t it? Most of you look alike.”

“There are plenty of differences,” replied Celestia patiently before she waggled her hindquarter. “But the main one is that you’ve kept my cutie mark and you don’t even have one yourself.”

Novo glanced between Celestia’s sun stamped haunch and her own blank flank. “Those are important?”

Celestia waited for the punchline before she blinked and let out a giggle. “Oh, dear… are you serious?”

“Laugh it up, but let’s see how well you do at sorting my kind by what seashells we wear.”

“Fair point,” admitted Celestia. “But my cutie mark is on every flag and government building in Equestria. It’s also unheard of for a pony to reach adult age without one. In Ponyville you’ll draw the attention of the Cutie Mark Crusaders for sure.”

Novo stared. “You have some kind of police for these?”

Celestia grinned. “They only seek to help.”

“Hrmph. What makes a good mark?”

“A Cutie Mark is an expression of a pony’s innate talent.” Celestia adopted her teacher’s voice as she went on. “While cuties can be similar, no two are quite the same. Usually, they are very personal to a ponies’ interest, their identity or profession. For instance, pegasi often manifest weather, flight or speed marks.”

Novo looked thoughtful before she broke into a broad smile as she lifted the pearl again. “I think I get the concept.”

Magic swirled around them both, and Celestia felt the tingle in her flanks as the transformation changed her coat in a superficial way.

“Ah ha! It wasn’t hard to get the shape or colors right,” Novo commented as she studied her hoofwork on her own rear.

Celestia saw Novo had given herself a bright, iconic heart and in that heart was a…

“Oh!” Celestia exclaimed and felt a blush rising to her cheeks. “Is that a heart around a sun?”

“Can’t you tell? I tried to make it look like the one you have as an alicorn.”

“I… it looks quite nice, but ah… what do you mean by it?”

Novo scratched her head with the corner of a hoof. “You said pegasi like the weather. So… ‘I love sunny skies’ ?”

Celestia smiled. “That’s one interpretation, I suppose.”

“Tell me what you think of yours?” asked Novo with a sidelong glance.

Celestia checked herself and saw that she also sported a large heart on her flanks. Though inside the heart wasn’t a sun it was…

“A CAKE?!” she cried. “You gave me a cake?!” She turned on Novo, but they were already flapping off. “Get back here and change it this instant!” Celestia shouted.

“They’re some very sweet flanks!” Novo called and cackled like a madmare when Celestia chased after her.

Despite the evening hours, Ponyville was lively. The town’s streets were well lit and decorated with some holdovers from the Friendship Festival. Even though that holiday was a new one and the main celebration was in Canterlot, Ponyville never missed a chance to join in on a party.

Novo reached the town first and declared herself a winner again. Celestia offered the prize of not kicking her in the freshly made cuties, heart or no heart.

“Don’t be such a sour loser, Sweet Flanks,” Novo teased.

“That’s NOT going to be my name,” Celestia grumbled.

Novo grinned at Celestia in a way that suggested that she was going to say it to the first pony she came across. “What’s this place famous for, anyway?”

Relieved to be talking about anything else, Celestia looked down Ponyville’s main street and pointed to the landmarks she saw. “Well, there’s the town hall. That’s Twilight’s castle in the distance. The spa...and oh! Sugarcube Corner! Ponyville makes fantastic cak— ”

“Mmm?” Novo looked at her after the sudden stop.

“Cider,” Celestia mumbled around her bitten tongue. “They make cider here.”

“I could go for a drink. I’m thirsty after all that swimming,” Novo said, brightening.

Celestia furrowed her brow and opened her mouth to ask, but thought better of it. Instead, she took the lead in walking toward the town’s pub.

Like the town, the pub on main street was bustling. A combination of the festival atmosphere and Ponyville’s spot as a travel stop between anycreature going to and fro from Canterlot. A fact that became evident when she saw a few non-ponies mixed in the crowd.

Funnily enough, Ponyville’s pub was a building Celestia hadn’t ever visited, though she was certain the town folk would have been aghast at seeing their princess enter a bar. She found the anonymity refreshing, though a problem reared its head when she observed a pony trading coins for a pint.

“Novo, do you happen to have any bits?”

“Where would I keep them? We were fish a minute ago.”

“Might you use the pearl?”

“Not unless you want me to turn your mane into gold, Sweet Flanks.”

Celestia mused, “Perhaps I could start a tab and pay it back later. If they believe I would.”

“I have a better idea,” Novo said, and Celestia turned to follow her gaze.

At a table sat the unmistakable sight of Rainbow Dash opposite of a large avian. Rainbow helpfully provided a reminder to their name with a cry of ‘gotcha now, Celaeno!’ as she went rounds with the parrot.

“They’re playing a game, I can beat them,” murmured Novo with an expression that was oddly fitting on her Rarity-alike muzzle.

“Are you sure you could? That’s a Wonderbolt and a Pirate Captain, mind.”

“Oh please, you ponies put more water in your liquor than we do,” Novo scoffed, “and I’m not going to lose to an upright, imitation hippogriff.”

“Just don’t make a fool of yourself. We’re trying to be low key.”

“Don’t worry, I know how to talk to pirates.”

Celestia watched as Novo fluffed her wings, cocked her hip, and swayed up to the table in a showy canter. She then called out, “Ahoy, mates! Room fer one more at this table I be goin’ t’ drinkin’ ye under?”

Rainbow sputtered mid-gulp and coughed. “R-Rarity?! What in the ha—oh you’re not her. Who the buck are you?”

“Ye can call me Lovely Sunshine ‘n I’m goin’ to bet that pile o’ bits, that there pitcher on the table ‘en the one aft it that I can see ye two to the floor.” After a moment of consideration, Novo added, “Yarr.”

“Heh. This somepony you know, Rainbow?” Celaeno asked in what Celestia noticed to be perfectly unaccented Ponish.

“Nope! But I get what she’s saying,” Rainbow said and disappeared in a multicolored streak that went from the table to the bar, to the taps before returning to the table. Suddenly there were several more mugs and a refilled pitcher. “You’re totally on!”

Novo sat down pony-style at the opposite end of the table and raised her mug in cup clacking toast.

“So, who’s your friend there? Are we going to make this two on two?” Celaeno asked.

“This here be Sweet Fla—” Novo paused at Celestia’s glare. “Frosting. Sweet Frosting. But I be the one to bet ye, so I’ll be the one to take the plunge. She’s more...she be my first mate on this trip, yup.”

“Hah! That like a wingmare?” Rainbow asked. After a swallow of cider, she added. “She’s cute.”

“Pleased to meet you too, Rainbow,” Celestia said with a smile.

“Yeah? You’ve heard of me?”

“Of course. I never miss a Wonderbolt show when you perform in Canterlot.”

Rainbow’s grin grew, and she leaned a hoof on the table. “Want my autograph, later?”

Celestia noted that Novo had lost some of her pirate-y cheer and was taking more determined gulps from the second round of mugs. “Let’s see who is still standing by the end of this, first.”

“Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for meeee,” sing-songed Novo as she swung her nearly empty mug with one hoof and adjusted Celaeno’s hat on her head with the other. It clashed with the pair of Wonderbolt goggles strung around the neck, but she didn’t seem to care.

She then ruffled through the rest of the ‘treasure’ on the table and used her wings to stretch out a garment in-between pinching feather tips. “What do you think this was for? She only had feathers on her chest.”

“A better question would be what you are going to do with a bra,” replied Celestia, watching the now naked Celaeno and Rainbow stumble their way towards the tavern’s second floor. “There’s such a thing as being a gallant winner.”

“If they were in distress, they just had to signal ess oh esssss,” Novo sang with a slurring to her words. She raised her cup and blew bubbles into it. “Shoop bee doooo.”

“I am glad you’re still feeling jolly,” Celestia said and settled herself on the opposite stool where Celaeno sat before.

Novo squinted at her over the rim of the cup. “What are you doing?”

Celestia filled the mug from the pitcher and raised it to her lips. “Challenging the winner.”