Unexpected Changes

As they finished their frozen yogurt and disposed of their cups and spoons (or in Lily's case, her stick and napkins), a question came up. "So, whose house are we going to, today?"

They all turned to look at Lily. They'd been to Daisy's place twice, then Snapdragon's and Glory's. Did they even want to go to Lily's place? They'd be stuck with the sitter, who would probably be more strict than their parents. Sitters usually were.

"What are you all staring at?" Lily asked. "Did I not clean my face well enough?"

As she ran off to the washroom to wash her face in the sink, Daisy sighed. "We can't just avoid her house forever."

"We're not going to," eased Snapdragon. "Just for a few months until her dad returns. Once he's back, we'll be fine with going over there."

"I'd be fine with going over there now," waved Glory. "I'm only against it because you two have suggested not going over there."

"Glory!" scolded Snapdragon. "You're not supposed to say it out loud like that!"

"I never said anything against it," clarified Daisy. "I've just been making sure that all of our options are laid out."

"All of our options except going over to Lily's house..." scolded Snapdragon.

"Shut up. You were actively saying we should go to your place. I was just not mentioning hers."

"What's the matter, Daisy? Scared of the sitter?"

"What's the matter with you, Snapdragon? Selfish?"

"What's the matter with both of you?" scowled Lily. "Why are you both being so mean today? I'm perfectly fine going to either of your places. Celestia knows I don't want to bring you home to meet my sitter right now. She'd write her update to my dad and say "Oh, Lily's doing fine, but her friends are so rude! Does she have no better options?""

Daisy and Snapdragon eased back, lowering their gaze to the ground.

"Now, if you can promise me that you'll be nice, I'll have no problem bringing you over to my house. The only one that's been to see it since we left for summer is Daisy, and she's only seen it once. But if you're going to be mean, let's go to your house, where your parents can hear."

"Your house will be fine, dear," sulked Snapdragon, lowering her head and flattening her ears.

Daisy lowered her head, as well, but remained silent. She felt shame, but would make no promises as to her behaviour.

"Okay, then," answered Lily. "Let's go to my place."

The first few minutes of the walk was spent in relative silence, with the only sound either being their hooffalls on the pavement or Glory's humming. As they rounded a corner, Daisy finally worked up the courage to speak up. "Can ya tell us about this sitter before we arrive?"

"She's a very nice old lady," answered Lily. "She's been very polite to me, and she's good at cooking. Like, really good at cooking."

"Oh? What does she cook?"

"Well, the pickled eggs, for one. If that weren't enough, she also has some dishes that, apparently, I'm not pronouncing correctly, so I'm not going to say, here."

"Like what?" asked Snapdragon.

"I just said I always pronounce it wrong..."

"Well, what's your best try?"

Lily sighed. "Borshd."

They all had a chuckle at that. To be fair, it was a funny word, despite Lily insisting that it was a real word; the real name of a real dish that was being mispronounced by her. Even if she'd said it right, which wasn't too far off, it would still have sounded funny.

They arrived, and Lily walked in first. "Granny, we have guests!" she called out.

Daisy turned to look at Lily. "She's your grandmother?"

"No," scoffed Lily. "She just prefers to be called that because I remind her of her granddaughter back home."

"But with biiig appetite!" laughed a yak as she walked into the room. "You must be friends of Lily! I am Granny. You are staying to dinner, yes?"

The three of them said nothing. Despite Princess Twilight incorporating other tribes into Equestria, they'd never seen a yak in real life before.

After a solid minute of awkward silence, Lily turned to Granny. "Yes, they'll be staying for dinner."

"Yes," answered Granny. "Good. I make Borscht."

As she turned around and disappeared into the kitchen, everypony began to unfreeze from their shock.

"That was a yak," noted Daisy.

"Yeah," nodded Lily. "Yaks can be sitters. Why couldn't they be? What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, I'm just..."

"Upset? I can send you home. It's very rude to not answer her when she asked you a question, and you promised me that you weren't going to be rude."

"No! No, I was just... It surprised me, is all."

"It surprised me, too," admitted Snapdragon. "I've never seen a yak before, and I thought you were just making up a funny-sounding word when you said she had a meal called "Borjd.""

"Borscht," corrected Granny from the kitchen. "Is soup."

"It's really good, too," nodded Lily emphatically. "I wish I could figure out how to pronounce it right, but it ties my tongue all up in knots." She turned to Granny. "We'll be up in my room. We have a little bit of homework, but it's not that much."

"Hokay!"

They made their way up to Lily's room, and unlike the last time Daisy was here, it was clean again. The crystals and charms still hung from the bedposts, ceiling and window, but the candles were brand new, having not been lit yet, the box of tea was set off to the side, with a fresh box right beneath it, still sealed shut by a sticker. The bed was made, the carpet was free of any and all stains, and everything was put back in its proper place.

"You cleaned up," noted Daisy.

"She always does," scoffed Snapdragon.

"No, it was a huge mess the last time I was up here."

"Yeah, that was the heat," explained Lily. "My dad was in here all the time, constantly coming in and going out, and I was always exhausted, and he kept telling me to take stuff that made my body calm down, and I was a wreck. There were times that I could barely walk because my legs just didn't want to work. Can't clean your room if you can't stand up."