Lemon Hearts sat in a sharp business suit, much as Twilight and Starlight had worn. She had actually borrowed it from Starlight, truth told. Not like Starlight needed it at that moment, and a tailored pony suit only needed some adjustments to fit another pony nicely.

She was not facing a full court. Just one judge. She had a display next to her, and a smile. All she needed, she hoped. "Thank you for seeing me today, Your Honor."

"I am informed that you are lacking documentation, but you claim 14th amendment rules favorably for you. If this is the case, and it wouldn't be the first time someone in your... condition has had it ruled, why didn't you bring your parents, or their testimony?"

That would have been an open and shut situation, but... "These are my parents." She gestured at the monitor as her horn glowed, flicking it on and working the controls to get an image of two mice in a cage curiously looking around. "They are, unfortunately, unable to draft any legal documents."

The judge squinted at the rats on the screen. "Rats are not American citizens. You are aware of this?" He hadn't argued them being the parents, that could wait for the more pressing legal matter.

"That is true," allowed Lemon all the same. "But they are my parents, and they never left America. These are two facts that can be verified." She raised a hoof to point at her mouse-brown eye. "I still have their genes right here. The location of my parents was meticulously tracked from the day they were born. If they never left the USA, and I am their child, I was born in the USA."

"But they are not citizens," he repeated softly.

Lemon was quiet a moment, getting her thoughts in order. Human laws were not her laws, but she had been coached. "I am a person, Your Honor, am I not?"

A little smile there. "Legal precedent has been laid that this is the case." A fairly new thing, that, but, yes, unicorns were people. That was on the books. Poor Lemon would not have made it that far if that wasn't the case.

"I am a person, who was verifiably born in the USA. That my parents were not citizens of this grand country doesn't actually matter."

And, well, that is, as they say, that. Legally, she was in the clear. She, a person, was born in the USA. She is, thusly, American. That her parents were not people was, technically, irrelevant.

I heard at least one distant voice asking how we opened up. That is, how we got the place upgraded from 'nice hotel' to 'luxury resort' in terms of space. For one, some of it was still 'nice hotel', a nice hotel with enough other benefits can draw a lot of people and take a lot of their cash.

We were already setup for that, why not lean into our strengths?

But we didn't need any of my magic to open up for some next level. We moved ponies around, and rooms with them. Didn't I mention we had some flexibility there? We can move rooms, connect them, pull them down, shuffle them about. It's all very handy for the original purpose of science the building had. So one floor became the penthouse! Big, open, for just a person or two that was ready to fork over quite the sum for the privilege.

Funny thing there. Our ponies, or griffon or kirin, often got to stay there. The guests came to see and live with them. They were free to invite them up into the penthouse suites, and many did just that. So long as we were super clear that these were people and not escorts. Even if you happen to like the curve of a mare's flank, she owes you nothing larger than a smile and polite words.

And the smile was just because they technically worked in a theme park of sorts. We pay for those smiles with room and board and pay on top of that. They were all employees the moment they finished getting naturalized.

But, you ask, why? What inspired this, of me that is. To which I'm a little confused. This place was already built like a hotel. I noticed it when I first got here, and it kept right on being that. It felt like a natural step to take: What if actually hotel? With ponid scrubbed off of everything, we were safe to visit, and could treat people, employees and guests and everyone, like people, which they were.

Side note, but the people who had worked here before and still worked here are all pretty happy to ditch their haz mats. Not having to be in a full air-tight suit to have to wear all day long is a pretty big plus in the comfort department. It was a big of a mind bender to not really be watching the magical critters anymore. They were staff too! It was the perfectly human guests that needed watching.

On that note, I feel, opening up as a resort meant we got more than just vacationers. As word spread, pushed by us in part, people got curious, as Starlight mentioned. And what happens when a new curious thing appears?

Hello, press! We had to set rules real quick. Harassing our staff was not allowed, and since they lived here, they could hide away from the press if they wanted to.

But some of them were just fine chatting with them.

"Best thing that ever happened ta me," crooned Apple Bloom with a big smile, one arm around either of her equally young friends.

"You were a decorated member of the armed forces." An image of Apple Bloom's old form, a military man in a proper armed suit, badges and medals glistening. Not that Apple Bloom could see them. "This is quite the departure."

"I served my country with pride." She dipped her head faintly. "Served mah time, protected our ideals, and left it better than ah came. I don't regret that, not even a second, but ah'm also done with that. Ah finished my tours, and, considering how some of us retire, ah don't even think ah'm doing so bad."

Scootaloo peered sidelong at her military friend. "You were in the army?"

"Navy," countered Apple Bloom.

"Whatever." Scootaloo waved it away. "That's awesome!"

The reporter was happy to transition to Scootaloo a moment. "You were a child before this... incident. Aren't you upset that you aren't getting proper education?"

"Huh?" Scootaloo tilted her head, then pointed to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. "These two keep teaching me things. They won't let me skip class neither, lemme tell you. Reading, writing, math." Her face fell. "Social Studies... They cover it all, even when I don't want to." She crossed her arms in a mighty pout.

Sweetie nuzzled in against Scootaloo's side and soon had her in a warm one-armed hug. "We do it because we care about you a lot, Scoots. We want you to be able to do what you want to do as a grownup. Having an education is a part of that." Her eyes turned to the reporter. "We've been home schooling her. I'd consider sending her to an actual school, but I don't think the world's quite ready for that yet."

Though Scootaloo grumbled, she did not further resist. The reporter turned their attention back on Apple Bloom. "Did you have transexual thoughts before this? During your service?"

Apple Bloom colored, but it wasn't embarrassment exactly. It was anger. "Does it matter if I did? I served with pride and honor." She shook a hoof at the reporter. "They really should stop making a big deal about it. People with honor are what we need, whatever they identify otherwise as. We need Americans and soldiers and sailors. What they got in their pants doesn't matter when the bullets begin to fly."

She fixed the cameraman, and the camera, with a look. "If yer ready ta fight for this country and ta defend her, ya sign up. The rest of that is just noise." And she thumped to her haunches, the rough equivalent of a mic drop.

The reporter nodded softly. "The most patriotic of the ponies we've met so far. It's been a pleasure and an honor to get a chance to talk to you." She turned on to Sweetie. "You were in your retirement days." An image appeared that none of them could see, showing a nice smiling elderly woman. "With this new lease on life, what do you plan to do?"

Sweetie colored, but it was good old embarrassment. "If we're being completely honest..." She tapped at her chin softly, eyes off to the side. "I was ready to go. I did all the things I thought I could, and wanted... I was... ready for the end... But then this." She waved over her young filly self. "Suddenly I had a new choice. It wasn't 'live on in pain', it was 'live on in joy.' I... felt silly after that, after I felt so lost." She waved her free arm and soon had Apple Bloom under it.

"I found a new family, and a new purpose and... a new life. I'm starting over again, and I couldn't be happier. I didn't forget the lessons I learned, the people I met, the children I raised... I'm so proud of all of that... But, for me... I will take this up and make the best of it."

"About that." The reporter wagged their microphone at Sweetie lightly. "Are you going to share this fountain of youth with us? Our viewers want to know."

Sweetie waved that right away. "They don't do that, and it comes with all sorts of side effects." She waved at herself, pulling free her arm that was around Apple Bloom to instead call attention to her horn, snout, and other inhuman parts. "I'm not complaining, but you don't even get to pick what you end up with. You could even end up an old thing, that happened once, poor person..."

"A chilling thought," agreed the reporter. "But we heard there were other things in the line?"

A moment of confusion. But it did click. "Oh! Yes! The research department." She pointed down at the floor. "They said they'd be able to help with that, but only if you desperately want to be a pony, like me. It won't make you younger, or older. You'd need to talk to them for details. Magic never came naturally to me." She reached up and tapped her horn. "This is the best I can do." She snatched the microphone from the startled reporter's hand, hovering it in front of herself. "Hello everycreature!"

The reporter reclaimed their microphone without resistance. "Thank you all for taking the time to talk with us."

Author's Note

Episode 2/4 of the wrapup! I did not expect the interview to go as it did, but it all felt natural and it just kinda consumed the chapter. Got questions? Running out of time to ask them! Only 2 chapters left of the conclusion.

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