Her Royal Highness, Queen Haven of Zephyr Heights,

I apologise for the means through which this message has reached you, but Princess Storm assured me that sending a message through your secretary would be the best means to get this request across your desk. I, Anonymous Flicker, am engaging in something of a public works project to connect the communities of Maretime Bay, Zephyr Heights, and Bridlewood in a way never before imagined. Through the use of certain arcane arts, and a blending of technology and magic, any pony can quickly travel to and from your city in the blink of an eye: the Equestrian Fast Travel Network. This would be a massive boon to tourism and commerce, and trips to visit your daughters or the best tea shop in all of Equestria would be fast and easy.

It is for this reason that I am requesting permission to erect a small edifice in a public space of your choosing. Enclosed in this e-mail are designs for the transportation platform, the crystal battery, and the crystal charger, as well as documentation for the maintenance and operation of each. With your permission, it would take only a few hours to set up, bring up to operational status, and demonstrate.

I hope to hear back soon on this matter.

Regards,

Anonymous Flicker

Attached Files:
[EFTN-Design.pdf] | [EFTN-Documentation.pdf]

~ Carried on Black Wings ~

Honestly, I thought that getting Hitch and the Maretime Bay town council to allow me to erect my little transporter platform would be much more of a chore. Then again, I think that when I told Izzy and Pipp about my idea, not even a day after my dinner with Misty and Opaline, the two went out and told every pegasus and unicorn in town about it. From there, I pretty much had to. There wasn't an empty seat at the council meeting the night I put forth my proposal. Although the earth ponies weren't as enthralled, since this was their home and they never felt homesick about it, even they were cheering at the idea of not having to scale a mountain to visit Zephyr Heights.

The request was approved pending review of designs, and they'd permitted me to erect the platform near the public gardens, so that the first thing visitors to the bay would see would be the beautiful city vista. Not more than a few days later, my requests to Bridlewood and Zephyr Heights were met with approval. In the sky city, I'd be erecting the platform on an empty lot on Mane Boulevard, so that one of the first things ponies saw when they exited their portal was the massive billboard screen that often showed the news and ads. Meanwhile, the Bridlewood location would be set outside the Crystal Tea Room.

The original design draft was an old Canterlot-style pavilion—something that was already derived from Pegasopolan architecture—made of marble conjured from the Plane of Earth, open on all sides. There would be two pedestals, each with a big button that would trigger an embedded spell slate. I'd included five specific anchor stones—one maintenance access connection point, two inbound connections, and two outbound connections. Finally, at the back, just behind where the maintenance access portal would open, was the battery slot, and the charger with the back-up.

There were, of course, some hiccups along the way. For context, each location wanted some sort of changes to the platform. Maretime Bay wanted natural stone pillars and no roof, since they wanted to put a pergola roof atop it and add cobblestone garden walls on all but one side. Meanwhile, the unicorns were apparently planning on erecting a wooden Neighponese style pavilion around the platform, meaning there I only needed to put in the base and the connections. The only change Zephyr Heights wanted was glass walls between the pillars. Still, I had to construct three different arrays for the earth conjuration and transmutation.

This wasn't exactly a solo trip, mind you. Although I could easily do most of the construction work myself, I still needed the help of the best tinkerer and craftsmare in Maretime Bay, Izzy, to install the charging stations, battery slots, buttons, and wiring. She actually had this super cool epoxy stuff that could be used to seal the wiring into grooves in the floor and plinths for the buttons. I mean, it had glitter in it, but at this point, I'm pretty sure there was glitter in me, so what was the problem? That shit gets everywhere, so you might as well put it somewhere purposely.

Unfortunately, it takes a while to walk to Bridlewood from Maretime Bay, and time to walk from Bridlewood to Zephyr Heights. So how does one changeling quickly get a unicorn to multiple places in one day? Ideally, I'd just fly there myself and just open a portal to the Brighthouse and have her come through, or have her follow me out on her mobile crafting station. Ms. Moonbow, on the other hoof, had a different idea.

As were finishing up the first platform, with me depositing the final anchor stone—labelled MareBridle-Outbound01—into its recess, I watched as she sealed in Maretime-Unbound01. Although most ponies likely wouldn't be able to use them for some time, I intended to eventually release tablets that could open portals from anywhere and bring them to that specific node. The architecture would eventually have to be expanded for that though. Still, it's a great excuse for me to have fast-travel points in three cities.

"Say, Anon," she commented, trying to fill the dead air. "Remember how you turned into a dragon that time when you moved in and talked to Hitch about taking care of Sparky?" I glanced at her and gave a nod. "How big of a dragon could you turn into?"

I shrugged and levitated over her epoxy resin. As I started sealing in the node I'd just set down, I voiced my answer. "Pretty big." That got a big grin from her, and I couldn't help but wonder what was going on in her head. "Why?"

"I was thinking..." That's never a good sign. She rushed over with what looked to be a drywall taping knife and started smoothing out the glitter-infested epoxy resin. "What if you transformed into a dragon big enough for me to ride! That'd be so much faster than driving!"

Fixing her with a stare, I gave the idea pretty serious consideration. I technically had enough stored biomass that I could transform into a fully-grown dragon several times before we saw any diminishing returns in mass conversion. "Ask a mare to dinner before you go asking to ride her," I teased, earning a blush and a nervous look. If push came to shove, I could always find a dead tree and eat that. "It's doable, but I hope you realise that I'd scare the piss out of ponies. Then again, with an ancient enemy on the loose, maybe a little scare would keep everyone aware."

The way her eyes were sparkling made it hard to say no to her. Shaking my head, I took a look at all our work. Everything here was done save for inserting the glowpaz, which was currently seated on the charging plinth, into the power nook. It'd be a problem if someone tried to actually use the system before it was ready, after all. "Look, if you go put everything by the door to my room, I'll go around back of the Brighthouse and transform," I conceded, rolling my neck. "If you're going to be riding me, you might wanna get your driving helmet, a parachute, and a blanket to sit on." Just before I trotted off to become a fearsome predator, I remembered an important fact. "Could you shoot a text to Pipp and Hitch to put the word out that we're not under attack, and that it's just me?"

"You betcha!" she exclaimed, grabbing up everything we'd brought out with her shiny rainbow magic. "This is gonna be so cool!"

I didn't watch her go. Instead, I started centring myself as I walked around back of the building. From here, nopony would see me until I took flight. That was good, because Starlight once told me that it was kinda spooky looking while I transformed into something several times my size. The shade of a tree back here kept the sun off my black chitin, and made it far easier to clear my mind.

My first thought was to go with your standard adult dragon build, with brighter colourations. Most had stocky bodies, long necks, bat-like wings, and their claws were much thicker than those of younger, bipedal dragons. Then again, I felt like I should honour my monstrous, changeling side with this new form. I was something exotic here in Maretime Bay, so my draconic transformation should reflect that. Mmm, yes... That will do nicely.

Once upon a time, I visited the dragon lands with Spike and Mom. There, I saw one of the most unique creatures I'd ever laid eyes upon. According to Mom, the dragoness I'd seen was from the same far-off lands as a night pony guard I'd known hailed from. Her body was slender, more serpentine than the rest, with the colouration of the sunset. What really set her apart from the other dragons I'd met was her wings, which were large and feathered, like that of a phoenix, with similar feathered tufts where you'd expect spines or frills.

I'd never gotten her name, but she was easily the most beautiful dragon I'd ever seen. It was that beauty I would channel into my new draconic form, and then let my magic fill in the blanks. As the blue flames of my magic washed over my body, my chitinous 'hooves' transformed into flexible, razor-sharp claws. As everything about me elongated, a pair of massive wings sprouted from my back, and two antler-like horns burst from the top of my head.

Interestingly, as I swivelled my long neck about to scope out my body, I found that although my scales and feathers were as black as my glossy chitin, the green of my mane played well into my appearance. All of the feathers transitioned from black to green toward the tips, and there was an iridescent green sheen to my scales. There was even a feathered ruff where my neck met my body.

"Huh, I wasn't expecting that." Stretching my muscles and standing to my full height, I found that I may have overshot the desired size just a bit. My head could almost reach the bright-house gallery, and I actually could peer right in the windows to the area everypony else slept. In fact, there was Pipp and Izzy staring at me right now. Then it occurred to me that I was probably accidentally louder than I intended due to my size. "Hey, Pipp. Could you come out and take a pic of me and send it to your Mom's guards so they don't freak out when I go flying up to the city?"

~ The Black Dragon Flight ~

Somehow, we managed to take off without causing a mass panic. Then again, it might've helped that I had a unicorn riding atop my head, using my horns to hang on for dear life. The first several minutes were kinda tense and quiet while I took us just below the lowest cloud layer. It was probably the highest my friend had ever been without touching ground of some sort, and her emotional aura certainly reflected that.

Once she got over that bit of fear, she let out an excited whoop. "Whoa! Is this what the world always looks like to you, Zipp, and Pipp when you all fly?" It was almost hard to hear her over the drag force, but there was several talents that Izzy had, and being loud was definitely one of them. "I mean, Sunny could totally see this too, but she never seems to fly very high when she goes all alicorny. Do you think she's scared of heights?"

I couldn't help but let out a rumbling chuckle. "Pretty sure it's an earth pony thing," I reasoned, yawing to the north-east a bit to catch a bit more of the tailwind coming in off the sea. "The only earth pony I ever knew that had any interest in flying was very eccentric." I quickly pushed down on the melancholic bubble working its way up inside me. Why'd I have to go thinking about ponies I'll never see again? "Heck, I was an earth pony before I became a changeling, and I hated heights. Now I love the feel of a headwind tugging at my mane."

The only downside to her sitting on a blanket draped between my horns and using them as hoofholds was that it was quite impossible to look her in the eye while talking. Her facial expressions were a mystery, and all I could really do to gauge how she was handling it was to open myself up to her emotions. It was always hard not to rely on that sense, even if I'd learned long ago how to turn it off. That said, almost all of her fear had gone, instead there was admiration, excitement, and... inspiration? Oh no... I'm not sure I wanna know what's going on in that head of hers.

"I can totally see why! Look at all the ground we're covering!" She cried out with glee as she lifted a hoof to try and touch one of the clouds. "This gave me a really cool idea that I can't wait to get started on, but it's gonna be a surprise for everypony, so no snooping!"

Now I know I should be worried. As I've noted many times in the past, I could say with some degree of certainty that Izzy was likely a distant descendant of Pinkie Pie. What this meant was that her ideas could vary from cool, to random, to "Oh Celestia, why?" Not only that, but sometimes the mare defied logic. For example, she's the only pony I knew that took to dumpster diving like a sport.

Rather than try and guess at what she was thinking, I wisely redirected the topic of discussion. Nightmare Night was upcoming, and so I probed to see what she had in mind for her costume. I knew that Sunny was planning on doing a Nightmare Moon costume, and I already had plans for a combination of the illusion and enchantment schools of magic that I could cast on her to make the look more authentic. Pipp was doing some kind of fashion... thing. Zipp was some kind of hooded masked archer pony that felt like could have been from a comic in my old world.

I really needed to convince Hitch to come up with a better costume than just himself with a moustache, though. Just as much as Nightmare Night costumes were about choosing something goofy or fun, it was also expressing other sides of you, like things you find scary, or things others don't otherwise get to see from you. A moustache was just a feature that any stallion could grow given time and care. I wonder if I still have those notes on transformation magic for Cadance and Shining Armour's second honeymoon gift. Even if just temporary, I bet I could convince him to temporarily become Harness Pathfinder.

Izzy wasn't forthcoming with her plan, though. Knowing her, it was sure to be goofy. She was, after all, the 'fun' friend of the group, somewhere between Pinkie and Dash. If I knew her, it was probably gonna be something like some Frankenstein pony or something.

"What about you?" she finally asked as I started our descent. "Have you decided on a costume?"

I couldn't help but chuckle. "As a changeling, I do have quite the advantage at Nightmare Night, don't I?" She couldn't see it from her spot atop my head, but I was grinning mischievously. "I was thinking about theme matching with Sunny, but I can't decide if I want to do an evil Celestia, an evil Mom, or an evil Cadance."

The unicorn riding atop my head let out an excited squeak. "Oooh! I'm doing Sunny's horseshoes, peytral, and helmet. Did you want me to help you out too?"

I bobbed my head before entering a dive that would take me just outside the forest border. "Sure," I agreed. "Now, before we go too far into the forest, are there any dead trees that nopony would miss too much? If I use this form with any frequency, I'm gonna need a lot more biomass than mere food can provide."

"... how many trees are we talking about?"

~ Zephyr Heights ~

A few hours, several eaten trees, and a lot of hard work later, we were once again in the air. Since the unicorns were gonna erect their own little gazebo or pavilion over the site, we only had to construct the bare minimum of a platform. At least Alphabittle was kind enough to bring us some tea while we worked. Turns out the Masala Chai was a hit, and he wanted to thank me. Well, that, and because he'd probably get a lot more traffic in the future.

Pulling into Zephyr Heights airspace, we were met by a pair of lightly armoured pegasi. I say lightly because all their armour consisted of a steel Galea with gilded trim, and a matching peytral that didn't provide much coverage. It was almost as though they were more ceremonial than functional.

From atop my head, Izzy greeted the guard pair excitedly. "Hey, Thunder, Zoom! Can you belizzle my new ride?" If I 'd been a real dragon, the disgruntled snort I let out in response to that probably would have shot smoke into the faces of our escorts. "Have you met Anon yet?"

The sky-blue mare of the pair inclined her head in a short nod, but didn't give in to Izzy's conversational tone. "I'm Zoom Zephyrwing, and this is Thunder Flap, ma'am," the mare greeted, even as she and her partner assumed positions in front of me to either my left or right. "We'll be your escorts while in Zephyr Heights."

The spring green stallion waved a hoof in a universal follow us gesture. "We'll guide you in to the castle sky-dock, and then lead you down to your worksite," he added.

It appeared that they'd cleared the air ahead of our arrival not a single unarmoured pegasus was in the sky. There was a public address announcement on a huge billboard TV screen declaring me not to be a threat. It even showed a profile picture from that vlog with Pipp alongside the picture of my draconic form. I guess Pipp's word went for a lot here as both a princess and a celebrity, because there was not the slightest bit of panic when we flew in.

Instead, we had a clear shot up to the highest district, upon which the castle was built. I had to wonder if the castle hadn't been built upon the airship depot they were guiding me to, because from everything I'd been able to glean, the royal bloodline of Zephyr Heights hadn't been established until after the tribes had separated, and the communities had initially been set up to rely upon one another.

The actual opening I was given to land in was actually a bit on the small side for the size of my disguise, and as such i had to resort to risky manoeuvres. Namely, I had to build up a bit of speed, and then dismiss my transformation mid-flight. Oh, sure... Izzy thought the whole thing was great, especially given that she remained on my back as I slid across the floor on my hooves. if I hadn't been so good at transformation, I might've accidentally reverted right out from under her, and then I'd have had to go catch her.

I honestly expected to be led down into the main city, as had been originally agreed upon. It seemed like the most logical place to set up the city's first fast-travel station. Queen Haven must have had a change of heart, however, because we were led up through the castle and over to the bridge that spanned between the the keep and the city proper. There were plenty of large paved spaces that were probably used for celebrations or receptions. There was one spot that was cordoned off that had both a good view of the castle gardens, and the city below. Evidently, this was where we would be setting up.

Even as I sent Izzy through a portal to fetch the goods, I conjured up all the spell slates I needed. "Glowin' up, kinda love. Dip and slide through the cut." I started to sing one of Pipp's many hits. I still don't know when I picked up the tendency to sing along with music while I worked, but it definitely made thing more fun. "Glowin' up, kinda love. We say 'Hi'; you say 'What?'"

Izzy was still in the process of bringing out all the goods when I started creating the marble platform. "Used to care what they'd say, let 'em into my brain, But I found a new way,' I sang in Pipp's voice, mimicking the song perfectly from memory, after-effects and all. "Every time I fall down, I pick it up like rebound. Gotta get through somehow."

Although we'd already drawn a bit of a crowd when we were escorted to our worksite, the moment I whipped out the music, we had a huge crowd. More than one pony seemed to have a phone out recording as a marble platform with old Pegasopolan-style pillars grew up out of nothing. "We don't fly like we used to... We take what we've been though, and we can feel brand new." I actually wondered if Pipp had written this before or after the reunification of the tribes. Depending on when it'd been written, that line alone could've had different meanings. "I know I'm a fighter; I feel the fire... I'm shinin' brighter!"

To my surprise, Izzy joined in on the pre-chorus. "We got the light. We're comin' in stronger," we sang together as the marble roof grew up from the pillars. Why do I feel like she probably heard this song live? "We're in it together. If you want it, it's all inside your mind." Even the guards who were supposed to be—you know—guarding were bobbing their heads with the music as the three glass panes grew in. "We got the light. Won't wait any longer, we'll get it together. If you want it, you can paint the sky."

Even as I started using magic to etch in the grooves for the portal plinths, singing the chorus as I went, Izzy was using spray paint and stencils to put down 'Maretime Bay', 'Bridlewood', 'Inbound', 'Outbound', 'Maintenance' and lines to keep behind while portals were opening or closing. Girl was seriously talented to just bang all that out with her magic. Once that was all done, I started laying out the gem-infused copper wiring, and then putting down the anchor stones, making sure they were aligned just right before grabbing some of her epoxy. She wasn't far behind getting all the plinths wired up and then I inserted the relevant tablets. Up until the glowpaz batteries were fully charged, the only way we could even test the network was if I channelled magic directly into the spell tablets, and I wasn't gonna do that until we had the epoxy down and dry.

See, I went with the glowpaz for the batteries for the networks after discovering that they had the best capacity for energy storage where folding reality was involved. Normally, it'd take a normal pony a long time to fully charge a good three-by-three cube of the stuff, but I'd been doing a bit of experimentation with them, and found that was the best size-capacity uniformity. I'd not done a lot of work with the Positive Energy plane in the past, but I'd found that it could be used to magically charge stones over a period of time. As such, I created a spell that would detect the glowpaz stone in the charger and feed energy into it over the day, either cutting off when the battery is moved from the charger, or when it is fully charged. Ideally, they'd only need a change-over at midday.

By the time we finished the song, we were mostly done, and the crowd eventually dispersed. I was in the process of activating the glowpaz charger, just as I had before leaving Maretime Bay and Bridlewood, when a slinky pegasus in a maid uniform approached to extend an invitation. I guess as friends of both Princesses of the Heights, we were more than welcome to stay the night at the castle and join the queen at dinner. Izzy turned down the offer, citing that she had to get back to Maretime Bay in order to get ready for some dragon-sitting—Hitch has to get some daddy downtime to slut it up, I suppose—but I was more than happy to accept.

After sending my friend home by casting Fuck It, I'm Out underneath her, I followed the maid back to the castle, flanked by Thunder and Zoom. They set me up in a pretty snazzy guest room with a huge TV and a bed that was almost as comfy as one of those cloud beds you could only really get from Cloudsdale. A maid, maybe even the same one that delivered the invitation, would come to fetch me when it was time to eat. In the meantime, I decided I was gonna recuperate after all the magic and transforming, and get a nap in.

~ A Queen of Hearts and a Queen of Feathers ~

Upon being led into the royal dining room a few hours later, wearing my glasses and pegasus visage. The queen was already seated, and I wondered if I hadn't kept her waiting, but it didn't look like she was upset. If anything, it was apparently a pretty casual dinner, based on how she was dressed—or rather how she was not dressed. It was kind of surprising not to see Haven without her any of her royal vestments.

"Anonymous, darling, it's so good to see you again," she crooned as I sat at the place that had been set for me. A smile crossed my face as a servant poured a glass of wine for her, and then one for me as well. "I love the new look. The staff at Mane Melody does exquisite work, don't they?"

I nodded, waiting for her to take the first sip of wine. I still remember the etiquette classes Mom made me take, even if this is an informal meal. "Yes, Your Highness," I responded after taking a dainty sip. Wonder where they grow their grapes. Has to be local if this is a ten year old pinot noir. "Although I'm still somewhat miffed at both Rocky and Jazz for their part in that little farce a while back, they did an excellent job helping to make my image—both masked and unmasked—more modern and approachable."

Not long after we began to talk, a servant brought out bread, French onion soup, and brie. Again I waited until Haven tucked into her food, but this time she noticed. "You needn't stand on ceremony with me, dear," was her friendly admonishment. "You're a friend of my daughters, and you've done my ponies a great service with your fast-travel network. As much as I appreciate a pony with good table manners, stop being so silly and just settle."

I chuckled, immediately forgoing manners and committing the cardinal sin of sopping up some of the soup with my bread. "Settle, huh?" It was hard to restrain a smirk as I popped some brie into my mouth and followed it up with more wine. I finished off my bread and soup before finally saying, "How about you and Alphabittle? When will you two make it official?"

Was it mean of me to wait until Haven took a sip of her wine to ask that? Probably. Given the way she let out a startled squeak and tried to keep from choking, she definitely wasn't expecting me to pop that question. Maybe she was under the mistaken belief that just because I wasn't the Alicorn of Love like Aunt Cadence, I couldn't see her love for him as clear as day.

Her emotional reaction was just as cute as her physical one. Even as her cheeks flushed, she began to radiate embarrassment, affection, and a teensy but of lust. "I, uh, don't know what you're talking about." When I just cocked an eyebrow, she just sighed. Rather than a depressed one, it was a dreamy sigh. "Is it that obvious that we fancy one another?"

A pair of servants came by, swapping out our empty soup bowls with salads. I patiently waited until they were gone before answering. "For most ponies, probably not. If I had to guess, Zipp and Pipp probably won't notice until some time next year, but that's because they are so far away and don't get to see you two interact often." I shrugged and tucked into my salad. "Don't forget that I can sense emotions, and even to whom they're directed. You both like one another, so why not get together at Hearth's Warming and break the news to the girls?"

That drew a confused look from the queen. "Hearth's Warming? I don't believe I'm familiar with anything by that name."

I was about to ask how everyone could remember Nightmare Night, yet not know of Hearth's Warming. It was, after all, one of the most important holidays in Equestrian history. How can you not remember the Founding of Equestria and the first unification of the tribes? Oh... Wait... That tracks with the whole redivision of the tribes.

"Hearth's Warming was a holiday celebrating the Founding of Equestria, and the Unification of the Tribes," I offered, hoping to ring some sort of bell. That just got another confused look. "The holiday celebrated around the winter solstice?"

It almost seemed as though there was some sort of recognition in her eyes. "Pegasi have Wishentine around that time of year. I believe the earth ponies have Winter Wishday on the same night," she explained. "As for unicorns, I think I heard Alphabittle mentioning something called Wishiehoof occurring over several days in that same time-frame."

I fell into a sombre silence as the main course—fettuccine alfredo—was served. It was kinda sad just how much of Equestrian history had been forgotten since the separation. These ponies today don't even live in what has historically been called Equestria, and hang on to but a few lingering threads of the old world's Legacy. Even Mom and her friends were little more than stories for foals passed down through generations, known as the Guardians of Friendship.

Once all of this is over, I'm gonna go dig out that book on the Founding of Equestria and start translating it... Might have to include the traditional Hearth's Warming Play, too. "Looks like I've got my work cut out for me if I wanna translate a play and a history book just in time for the holidays," I finally said just as the servants came to swap out the main course for dessert. As much as I enjoy using an ink well and stylus, I can't deny that I'm gonna need to buy a type-writer... or a computer. "It's tragic that ponies don't even know of the Fire of Friendship."

As the servants placed a slice of cheesecake in front of both of us, as well as topping off our wine, a familiar tune started going off. "I know you're feelin' like there's somethin' wrong," came Pipp's voice from somewhere at Haven's side of the table. "But don't you worry, I have just the song for you—just for you-ooh-ooh." Haven nearly spilt her wine trying to take a phone out from underneath her wing.

"Terribly sorry, Anon; I need to take this," she apologised as she held her phone up to reveal that it was Pipp calling. Turning her phone back to herself, she slid her hoof across the screen to answer the call. "Pipp, sweetie, it's so nice to—" Her expression fell slightly as the pony on the other end of the line spoke up. "Zipp, why are you calling on your sister's phone?"

As Zipp said something too quiet for me to hear over the phone from where I was sitting, Haven's eyes flicked over to me and she let out a sigh. "And you're sure the sheriff won't let you bail your sister out?" A moment later, she asked, "Where are you now?" Again she glanced at me, so I paused the eating of my cheesecake. "If I have Anonymous open the portal to the Maretime Bay Platform, how long would it take for me to meet you at the house?"

Whatever response Zipp was gonna give her went unnoticed as I reverted to my natural form, conjured up the spell that would take us straight to the door to my room on my foreleg, and opened the portal beside me. Without even getting up, I reached through, opened up the door, and revealed a stunned white pegasus standing by the front door.

"Hey there," I called out, taking a swig of wine. "What's all this about Pipp getting arrested?"

Even as the queen rose from her seat and moved over to the portal, Zipp turned and met my gaze. "She, uh, had a bit of a mental breakdown, got incredibly drunk, and got into a shouting match with..." She paused, as if trying to remember. "I'm not actually sure why, but she was yelling at a lamp post like it was you. Hitch showed up not long after. You, uh, might want to steer clear of her for a few days..."

What the fuck did I do?

"I'm sorry to cut this meal short, Anon," Haven said as she passed through, "but I have a distraught princess to bail out."

I nodded. "Alright, it was a pleasure, Queen Haven." My gaze flicked over to her untouched slice of cheesecake, and then my inner hunger-fae spoke through me. "You, uh... you gonna eat that?"

Author's Note

At this, I've fallen behind on my writing. Been a bit caught up in Project Zomboid tomfoolery, as well as working on another little project. Because of the impending holiday season and Sevmas, I may or may not end up not releasing anything over the next few weeks, or perhaps maybe I will. It's a mystery.