The smells were almost set to make Lyra drool herself to dehydration. The restaurant was a heady mix of spices, and she wanted to taste all of them. Taking her seat, she looked first at Sweetie, who also looked excited, then she turned to Coriander.

"Our menu is divided into two styles. The first is a meal recommended for ponies who would like to experience some dishes from my homeland with a more Equestrian palate as the focus. It has several mains to choose from, as well as your choice of appetizers and desserts. The second is more traditional, and caters more to an authentic experience. For the latter, it is a prix fixe menu—a fixed list." Coriander graced the couple with his most sincere of smiles. Watching ponies enjoy their food was always the best part of running a restaurant for him.

"Much as my wife would love to order one of everything, I think we'd like the second option." Looking pointedly at Lyra, Sweetie raised an eyebrow.

"R-Right." One of everything sounded exactly like what Lyra wanted, though she was willing to admit that trying everything, going home, and sleeping off a food coma for a week was a very good plan. "Oh, do you do to-go orders too? I had to bribe my boss with the offer of a take-home banquet."

Coriander was no fool. He'd learned the joy of friendship from two wonderful ponies who'd saved his daughter's restaurant. Right now, though, he had an alicorn talking about her "boss", and Coriander could think that there was a short list of ponies that could be—and all of them would be excellent to have as clientele. "Not normally, but I am sure we can make accommodations. How many will this banquet be serving?"

"Two alicorns with big appetites. Could I request that it be half portions of many meals? That way, more flavors can be sampled."

That ruled out one potential "boss" for Coriander. He calculated that it was either Twilight Sparkle and a plus-one, or the two alicorns were Celestia and Luna. "Of course. And can I get you two any drinks?"

"I'll take a—" Sweetie paused. "You know, I bet you'd know exactly what drinks would go with the meal, so I'll have whatever you'd recommend."

When he looked at her, Lyra nodded. "That sounds like an excellent idea."

"I'll be back with those." Turning, Coriander felt a new buzz of excitement. Ever since Rarity and Pinkie Pie had visited, The Tasty Treat’s popularity had grown in leaps and bounds. He parted the doors into the back of house and used a bulldog clip to attach the order to his daughter's order board. "Saffron, these are VIP guests. You'll never believe it. An alicorn and her wife had booked ahead!"

"A princess?!" Saffron felt stunned. She wanted to go peek at her customers, cook the best meal she could, and go out and bow to them—all at the same time.

"She said she isn't, but what else can an alicorn be? She and her wife want the prix fixe menu, but she had an odd request. She wants some extra half dishes to go. That won't be a problem?" Coriander was sure he hadn't overstepped, but his daughter also had the temper of a chef, and that sometimes flared when she was pressed.

"That won't be a problem. Half portions?" Saffron read the ticket. "Ah, I see. A half portion of everything off tonight's menu, then, and we can send that with them. Father?"

Relieved she was so calm about it, Coriander asked, "Yes, Saffron?"

"Keep being wonderful." Giving her father a hug, Saffron checked the orders on her board. "Start them with some mango lassi. I'll have their roti, samosa, and dal prepared by the time you come back."

"You're amazing, Saffron." It made his heart burst with pride to see his daughter so driven in her love for cooking. Turning to the drinks section, Coriander prepared a pair of creamy and sweet mango lassi for their customers.

Levitating the drinks out, Coriander set them down on the table before each mare. "Our chef said she can easily accommodate your request. These are mango lassi. I'll be back with your appetizers."

"I hope that wasn't too much of an imposition." Lyra turned her drink's straw toward her and sipped, watching as Sweetie did the same. "Oh wow. Mom and Tufts would love this."

"Well, get them a reservation. I thin—" Sweetie cut herself off as Coriander returned with two trays. Each had three pointed samosas, two flatbread roti, a small portion of a lentil dish. "Thank you."

"This appetizer has a mild dal, which you can eat with the roti bread. The samosas have their own range of dips. Please, enjoy." It was the standard thing Coriander always said and he never got tired of seeing people drooling at the sight of his daughter's cooking.

Lyra used her hoof to hold a samosa and dipped it into a creamy sauce, and tried it. The explosion of flavor almost floored Lyra. The richness of the samosa and the vibrant sauce were both a step above anything she'd made before. "Shoo goof."

Sweetie, who'd opted to try her dal and roti first, was in her own slice of heaven. The lentil stew was thick and, moments before it could escape the half of a piece of roti she'd used to pick some up, she got it in her mouth.

Both were without ability to talk more as they reveled in gastronomical delight. Every sense worked together to build an atmosphere that existed solely to support the dining experience into a crescendo of perfection. But the appetizer wasn't to last forever. The last samosa swallowed, and the last piece of roti used to scoop the dal from its bowl, and both were left staring at each other in shock.

"That was so good I can barely think of words to describe it. How was that so amazing?" Lyra asked.

"I don't know, but we need to eat here again." Sweetie looked down at her platter to make sure she hadn't left anything uneaten. "Am I allowed to invite myself to whatever you and Twilight are planning to do with the to-go order?"

Coriander, serving entrées at a nearby table, smiled a little more at having been able to hit the nail on the head.

"Oh, did you get to the bottom of the towns not accepting Guard outposts?" Lyra asked, not particularly liking the idea of talking shop, but still trying to come to terms with how scrumptious her meal was and needing a distraction.

"Pharynx cleared that up for me when I was at the changeling hive removing the throne. It was part of Chrysalis' big plan to destabilize our forces as she took over the leadership of Equestria. He helped me track down every town involved. Surprisingly, most of the infiltrators were doing a great job, otherwise, of running things." Taking a long sip of her drink, Sweetie sighed. "I have talked with Stiff about opening recruiting to changelings."

Likewise, enjoying her drink, Lyra waited for the taste to start to fade before she asked, "He had any thoughts?"

"Go slow. Offer amnesty to any changelings who are or were already in the Guard. Then talk to Pharynx and Thorax about opening talks." Spotting Coriander approaching their table, Sweetie cut short the conversation. He was carrying two trays, each had a bowl with a little lid on it, a second bowl sans lid, as well as another pair of drinks. "Thank you," she said as he took away their platters and empty glasses then replaced them.

"We have here a fragrant biryani featuring locally grown vegetables originally from the north of my homeland, steamed under a layered bed of seasoned rice. Accompanying that is a korma of braised vegetables cooked with dahi sauce of yogurt. The biryani is a touch on the hot side for local palates, but the dahi will cool you down if you need it." At the knowing smile on Lyra's face, Coriander couldn't help but ask, "Your palate enjoys a little more spice than is common?"

"My darling would eat liquid fire if I told her she could. Last I saw, she was consulting with a Zebrican about growing some nightmare from her home country called a bonnet. If you plan to challenge her on this, I want no part of it."

Poking her tongue out at Sweetie, Lyra chuckled and said, "I may enjoy spicier things, but in the interest of peace and tranquility, I'll forsake anything hotter than my darling can tolerate tonight."

Nodding, with nothing more to say, Coriander nonetheless wished them enjoyment on their meal and departed to the kitchen. He knew exactly what he would find, but his daughter's worry was plain to see. "They loved your cooking."

It took those four words to let Saffron breathe again. "I called a friend and they called around too. Those are not simply two mares, even if one is an alicorn. Both are captains in the E.U.P. Guard." At the look of surprise on her father's face, Saffron nodded. "But there's more. Lyra Heartstrings, so a cousin said, is part of the reason why the Guard serve curries regularly. She really liked it?"

Seeing tears at the corners of his daughter's eyes, Coriander pulled her into a hug. "They loved it, I swear. I found out who her boss is, too. She's taking the extra food back to Princess Twilight Sparkle." The gasp of recognition from Saffron made him laugh. "The friend of Miss Pinkie Pie and Miss Rarity."

Nodding, reaching out for a clean cloth with her magic to wipe at her eyes, Saffron breathed a heavy sigh out. "Please tell me how they like the— No. I will come out and ask them myself."

Nodding his head, Coriander said, "And offer them another reservation. I overheard one say they wanted to invite others."

"We should definitely hold a table for such guests," Coriander said. "Have you considered a chef's table?"

"In here?" Shaking her head, Saffron added, "Where would we put it?" She gestured around the cramped kitchen that seemed tiny with just the two of them there.

"Let's talk it over after service is finished. There is plenty of time to plan later." Coriander peeked out the slats in the kitchen door and saw the two ponies in question eating with every evidence of joy. "How is Horse D'oeuvre working? Is she taking good orders?"

"There was a moment where she brought me the orders from three tables at once, but I spoke to her about it. Everything else has been fine. She writes legibly, too." Saffron walked back to her tandoori oven and tossed some fresh bread into it. "Now, who is next?"

The main meal, for Lyra, was another fantastic eating experience. The flavor of the biryani wasn't overpowered by its heat, and when she sampled the korma she found it a surprising new favorite. "I wonder if they have anything with fish in it?" she asked Sweetie.

"Perhaps. How great is this korma? It's so creamy. I could eat this every day of my life and never get tired of it."

"I need to find the recipes for these, but I don't want to ask the chef here." Another mouthful of the saffron-spiced basmati rice had Lyra's hooves tapping the floor in bliss.

Neither could bring themselves back to their work discussion, too deep down the rabbit hole of cultural cuisine to pause after savoring one bite to interrupt it before the next.

When the two bowls on both sides were empty, and Lyra and Sweetie slumped back in their chairs, both looked at each other with silly-happy grins. Words weren't needed, just the companionship and bonds that each felt for the other.

Waiting for the two to fidget a little, Coriander made his way over to Lyra and Sweetie's table and removed their trays and (now empty) glasses. "Will you be staying for dessert?"

Lyra's eyes bulged at the very idea of more food, but before she could say anything, Sweetie cut her off.

"Absolutely. After such a great meal, we need a capstone. Please, give the chef our best." Sweetie watched as a mare left the kitchen and walked toward their table. She could read ponies reasonably well, trained as she was by years of leading them to places they probably didn't want to be, and the mare in front of her looked nervous.

"This is my daughter, Saffron Marsala. She's the owner and chef of The Tasty Treat." Coriander gestured to Saffron. "These are the two patrons who so enjoyed your meals, they want to take some home with them."

"Thank you so much," Lyra said. "We don't often get a chance to enjoy each other's company like this, so having a great meal in a cozy restaurant made it extra special."

"She says, like she planned this." Sweetie rolled her eyes, trying to help Saffron relax a little. "But she's right, this food is the best I've had in years."

Finally able to speak, Saffron bowed her head. "Thank you for the compliments. I came out because I'd heard that—that you both enjoy cuisine from our homeland."

"We do, and we both heard about your restaurant from different sources, and both were full of praise," Lyra said, nodding to Sweetie.

Wondering how the chef had gotten any information on her at all, Sweetie decided not to dig. "I was eating with my lieutenants a month ago and was surprised to learn that several of them had been to your restaurant and spoke highly of it. Knowing my wife's delight in all things food, I made an appointment and issued a letter of demands to several princesses stating my intention to be here tonight with her." She turned her eyes from Saffron to Lyra and, catching her wife's gaze, smiled with everything she had.

"Getting my marching orders from the only power in my life with more authority than a princess, I wound up talking to a friend about Canterlot restaurants, and she mentioned two of her friends stopped in here a while ago. She made me promise to get her something when I came." Looking up at Saffron, Lyra was almost proud to see so much joy on her face. "Next time I'm here, I'll bring her."

"You both— I mean, neither of you, need to book a reservation. Please, just call a day in advance and I will ensure there is a table free." Saffron was already on the lookout for larger premises. Between her bookings running out to weeks of wait time and now this—she made the decision that it would become a higher priority.

While they'd been talking, Sweetie had nodded to Coriander when he cleared off their dishes, but now he returned with two large glasses of fruit and ice cream that each had a little red substance in the bottom of them. There were some sliced nuts on top, also.

"This is your dessert tonight, falooda. It is a mix of silky noodles, vanilla bean ice cream, sabja seeds, with a rose-flavored gelatin. It is covered with chilled milk and pistachios." Sliding the drinks before the two, Coriander looked at his daughter with pride threatening to explode from him.

Her appetite returning, Lyra presented her best smile to Saffron and Coriander. "If you don't mind, I might take you up on that offer. Would it be okay if I bring some other friends along?"

With no idea who she'd be saying yes to, Saffron realized it didn't matter. Ponies coming in and enjoying her cooking was all that mattered. "It would be a pleasure to cook for them. You'll have to excuse me now, I need to finish off your other order."

Sweetie took a moment to look at Coriander. "Your daughter is a talented chef. Have you considered bigger premises and more staff?"

"When we came to Canterlot, it was her dream to have a cozy little restaurant where ponies could come and enjoy her food. At first, we had no customers because nopony would try her cooking. Now we have the opposite problem. If we don't move somewhere bigger, I fear this is how things will always be. Or, worse, customers will become tired of waiting for their tables and go elsewhere." It was a depressing thought, to be left behind like that, but Coriander pushed on. "We are looking for somewhere larger, but there's only so much room in Canterlot. Then there's also the cost." He hated mentioning that, but it was the truth.

"I guess you'd have to either close down for the time to change over, or rent both premises and pay ponies to prepare the new one while still operating here." Logistics and planning were one of the skills Sweetie had been forced to learn during her time working up the ranks in the Guard. "Have you considered taking on investors?"

Lyra could see where the conversation was leading, and she approved of it wholeheartedly. Years in the Guard had seen them both accrue sizable savings, and neither had a tendency to spend it on anything but the occasional meal together or gifts for friends.

"You have an offer?" Coriander asked.

"We'll pay for the rental, construction work, and license fees at the new place. You keep working here and move when you are ready. Pay back the money with a tab for us in the new premises." It did occur to Sweetie that they could probably eat Saffron's cooking every week for the rest of their lives and it wouldn't erase the debt, but she was fine with that. "I think we'd be getting the better part of the deal."

Taking a deep breath, Coriander said, "You make that a hard offer to refuse. I will talk to my daughter and we will have your answer tomorrow afternoon." He turned and walked off to serve another table, mind working in a million directions at once.

Nodding, Sweetie turned back to Lyra and smirked at her.

"Do we have that much money?" Lyra asked.

"I don't know. We could always ask our superiors for a raise to cover it. Maybe we could even ask an alicorn or two." Drinking her dessert, Sweetie got some of the noodles and ice cream and let out a happy little trill of delight.

"Oh, that reminds me. I need to make a note. Coriander recognized my horn and wings when he first saw me. It's an outlier for now, but it is an interesting one. So we get some free meals? I was thinking of bringing a few other friends here, but now it would be a better idea to bring them on the opening night at their new venue." Using her magic to summon some paper and a pencil, Lyra scribbled down some names as she drank.

"I'd have never thought to make a dessert with noodles, but this is delicious. They have soaked up the sweet cream and—" Closing her eyes, Sweetie decided to simply savor the dessert without further words. The final surprise was the red gelatin at the bottom, which was flavored like roses.

"I have to go back to work tomorrow. I managed to get the night and morning off." Lyra nodded toward the kitchen. "That's what the extras are going to do—bribe Twilight."

"Then, while I don't want to tell you to rush your dessert, Lyra, but please rush your dessert. We have business to attend when we get home." Staring at Lyra, hoping that her gaze backed up her words, Sweetie saw startled hunger looking back. "I'll get the check, you eat."

Trixie Lulamoon looked from Lyra Heartstrings to Tree Hugger, then back. "Are you sure?" She didn't want to seem ungrateful, but learning magic-deficient tricks from an earth pony seemed a little strange.

"I, like, totally get that our chakra don't vibe, but like, I can help with that." Tree held up her hoof and closed her eyes. "Relax, and let the peace flow through you."

Opening her mouth to complain again, Trixie froze where she stood. There was definitely magic being worked, but she couldn't sense a source. A calm and relaxing feeling flowed through her body, and a moment later she realized that Tree was making strange breathing noises.

"There. Our chakra are now in sublime synchronization and, like, with really mellow undertones. You dig?"

Trixie nodded slowly, not wanting to break the peaceful moment that had come over her. But, when Tree raised an eyebrow her way, she replied, "I feel a lot of magic, but I can't feel where you're getting it from."

"She's not, Trixie. That's why I thought she'd be the best trainer for this." Walking around Tree, Lyra widened her senses and clearly felt—nothing. "She is using the magic from within herself. It's subtle, it's delicate, and it doesn't require the world around you to have mana to work."

"Oh." Eyes wide in realization, Trixie nodded her head. "I'm willing to admit that you knew what you were talking about," she said to Lyra, and then turned to look Tree in the eyes. "Can you teach me how to do this?"

Fond of cool sounding sayings, Tree replied, "I can teach it, but can you learn it?"

Taking the lesson outside and finding a lovely oak tree to sit under, Tree Hugger arranged herself in a meditative pose. "There are three parts to chakra magic," she said, using Twilight's term for it only because it sounded better than her own gut magic. "The first is identifying your chakra. Sit down, close your eyes, and focus on your own body."

Dubious, despite the proof, Trixie nonetheless did as instructed. She closed her eyes and felt around her body, which mostly amounted to trying to feel what she could physically.

"No. Not that way. Like, use your inner eye," Tree said, not needing to look to tell what was going wrong. She reached out with her energy again and touched each of Trixie's chakra in sequence.

Struggling not to open her eyes in surprise, Trixie nodded slowly. She strained and reached, until finally she saw something within herself.

"That's your heart chakra. It's, like, the nexus of all your energy points. Can you see the big channels leading away from it?" Not needing to see Trixie's head bob with her eyes, Tree smiled. "Follow them. Tell me what you think each is for."

Drifting around, Trixie followed the first chakra connection upward, and found a new point of energy. This one, unlike the first, seemed far more structured and looked like it was designed more than had grown. "This is— This is my mind?"

"You don't need me to answer that. Prove it to yourself and, like, try to think of something difficult."

That wasn't a hard request. Trixie had been working on some new card tricks that she wanted to use in her show, and two of them weren't ironed out fully. The moment she pondered the first—that chakra glowed like the sun.

"Now, scooch back down to your heart chakra, and focus on a strong emotion." Tree didn't need to finish talking before she heard Trixie's gasp, and saw her heart chakra light up. "Now go down, tell me what you think that chakra is."

Following the path again, Trixie found a chakra that was already humming with activity. She looked at it from as many angles as she could, but it didn't change—until she opened her mouth to say she didn't know. It twitched, and more, it shifted a little as she closed and opened her mouth a few times. Testing more muscles, it flickered and danced like a flame as she flexed. "My body?"

"Righteous. Got it in one. You're a unicorn, so you have one chakra I don't. Try to find it."

That, Trixie thought, would have to be magic. As gently as she could, she summoned a little hint of light to her horn, focused on making it flash, then went looking.

She didn't find her magic chakra on her first pass, because Trixie realized she'd been thinking wrong. So far she had gone up and down and side to side (though she didn't know what the side chakra were), but apart from those core five, she didn't see anything new.

It was pure luck that made her think forward when examining her mind chakra. "My magic."

"You're a natural at this, trust me."

For Trixie, it would have been so easy to dismiss the comment if everything Tree Hugger had shown her was fake—but so far she was finding out new things about her body, mind, and magic. "What's next?"

"Next, I show you how to draw more magic in through your chakra, store it there, and use it." Tree didn't want to say it directly, but Trixie had picked up in only two hours what had taken Twilight months to do. "So…"

What surprised Trixie most, then, was how far the sun had moved across the sky. So much, she mused, for her card tricks.

"Uh, hello? Is anypony home?" Rolling Thunder had taken a chance. After being told by the Wonderbolts that she was too reckless, she'd done a lot of angry shouting, left Cloudsdale, then done some more angry shouting. Now, though, she'd gotten a letter from an old friend and had been curious enough to follow up on it.

"Yeah." Short Fuse, who'd been practicing his wing stretches in the living room, stood up and walked to the front door, opening it. "You got my letter?"

"Sure did. No clue why I'm here, but there was nothing else to do. How are ya?"

Getting hugged by a mare so much larger than him should have felt more condescending, but Short had gotten used to a lot of things, and his time in the Guard so far had showed him better ways to work out his anger. "Better. A lot better. Come inside."

Walking in and looking around, Rolling was more than a little surprised. "Whoa. This place is swank as shit. This really yours, mate?"

"Nope. This place is a friend's. She's kinda the reason I sent you the letter. After I heard you got kicked from the 'Bolts, I'd figure I'd try." Short led the way into the kitchen where he put the kettle on to make coffee.

"Oh no. Get drummed out by Spitfire 'erself?" Sitting down, Rolling thunder felt a twitch from the direction of the kettle, which made her aware of it being electric-driven instead of magic.

"That's the thing. I had an alicorn come and tell me. She offered me a job, with a caveat. I had to graduate from E.U.P. Guard training, and she'd let me do all the fancy flying I wanted—even teach me some Wonderbolt tricks." Having gotten used to making coffee doing daily KP in the Guard, because of his fighting, Short knew the routine well enough to prepare the machine that Lyra and Sweetie had in their home.

Staring at her friend for a moment, Rolling broke into gales of laughter. She couldn't stop herself, thinking of the likes of Celestia slumming it with the Wonderbolts. What stopped her, though, was Short didn't laugh with her. "You're shitting me?"

"So, the deal was, Princess Twilight Sparkle has herself her own guards. They're called the Friendship Guard, and their commander is Captain Lyra Heartstrings. That captain is an alicorn. She even tricked her way into the Wonderbolts for six months of training." Shaking his head as he remembered the story that he'd heard, Short heard the kettle start to whistle and turned it off. "Right now, there's two of them. Her and her daughter's coltfriend. She wants more ponies, particularly pegasi, so she made the deal with me and anyone else I could find."

"And you trust her? Hey, don't get your anger on with me, buddy, but you seemed to dive head-first into this." Taking her cup from Short, when he passed it over, Rolling added some sugar before sipping it, then adding a bunch more.

"Remember when I told you something did this to me? Stole my size, stole my color and future?" Short waited for Rolling to nod. "And I said there was a greenish pony with gold magic that saved me from worse?" Another nod. "She's a greenish pony with gold magic."

Settling back in the seat, Rolling sipped at her coffee. "This is pretty good, short stuff. Not your house, you said?"

"I would never spend as much as this stuff probably costs, but Lyra said I could use whatever I wanted. Well, you have a month of downtime to think about the offer. She said you can stay here, too. The Guard aren't waiting long before their next training, but it'll mostly be reservists getting certified." Sipping his own coffee, Short paused and looked at the cup. "This is excellent coffee."

"Gotten used to drinking the stuff, have ya?"

"The Guard runs on coffee," Short said, realizing a moment later that it was more of an in-joke than he thought. "That is, it gets ponies up and active, and the one thing everyone in the Guard does, is run. Oh! That reminds me, did you know there are other ponies that talk like you do—but with more swearing?"

"Pfft, yeah, right. Where are they from?"

"Another world. A place called Batstralia. Bat ponies, all of 'em, and they fight like monsters. It's great!" They had, in Short's estimation, fought about as hard as griffons, and he only knew that from personal experience. "Anyway, since you have a month, you can come and talk to Lyra yourself, if you want?"

"And let her use weird alicorn powers on me?" Rolling waved her hooves in the air as if using mind-magic needed that. "Sure, sounds like something to do, y'know?"

Laughing, Short nodded. "Okay then. I'll have to go put my gear on. Now you know this place, and I've introduced you, you get to stay here until your training starts." He downed his coffee in a swing, stood up, and walked down the hall to the armory room.

Carrying her coffee with her, not wanting to waste a good drink by gulping it down, Rolling stood in the doorway and raised an eyebrow. "Armor?"

"It's light stuff, and using any pegasus magic makes it basically weightless. You should see the stuff Lyra's wife wears. It weighs more than I do." His armor had been custom-made, as all Guard armor was, and even with his short and wide stature, it strapped in place and fit him like a glove. "You get used to it. One of the trainers said that after a few years, you'll notice more that you're not wearing it."

"I'm not sure my kind of flying would work with that." Holding her mug in her hoof, Rolling brought both her wings forward and played her primary feathers against each other like an instrument. Crackling electricity danced between them. "Seems like metal armor would be less than useful."

"Remember when I talked about the commander of this being an alicorn, and our boss being a princess? Come on, one of them can solve the problem. Probably make something that lets you do even more sparky-sparky stuff." Checking each strap, Short was satisfied his armor was on and fitted. He hadn't been joking, a touch of his magic and the armor weighed no more than a Wonderbolts' uniform. "Come on, let's race!"

Rushing back to wash her mug and set it in the drying rack beside the sink, Rolling met her friend at the front door and felt a buzzing energy building inside. She loved to race—and nothing brought out her competitive spirit more than having an old friend by her side. "C'mon! Let's go!"

Short let out a laugh and, together, they ran out and took to the sky. Pegasi, bat ponies, and griffons were all fun to fly with, but nothing compared to challenging himself and a good friend with stupid stunts and challenging shouts.

The choices, flying out of Canterlot, were to either go over the mountain or around it. There was no way they wouldn't do it the hard way. Pointing with a hoof, Short used a hint of his magic and shot up toward the peak of the mountain.

"That all ya got?" Rolling didn't want to admit that she was struggling to keep her speed up while they ascended. Part of her was already wondering if he was using stuff he'd learned in the Guard. With only the pair of them in the sky, though, she set her wingtips ablaze with witchfire and felt it shove her forward in a blast of speed that outpaced Short. "Come on! Give it some guts!"

Used to Rolling's weird turns of phrase, Short poured more and more magic on and shot forward to be neck-and-neck with her. "Like this?"

It was new to have Short keeping up. Normally, with her plasma boosting her speed, Rolling left him literally cursing her out in her dust. "Nice one, mate, but I'm just getting fired up!"

He knew it was coming. Part of him, though, thought the Wonderbolts were idiots for kicking her out of training. The dancing electric fire on Rolling's wings lit up brighter than the sun and she practically exploded up and over the mountain peak.

". . ." Giving chase as best he could, Short made it to the peak to find Rolling circling there, her wings crackling with electricity by lacking the plasma glow. "Showoff! You're still the fastest thing I've ever seen in the air."

"You know it. So what's the deal with this alicorn? She fast? You said she trained with the 'Bolts?" Gliding now, and with her superiority in straight line flying cemented still, Rolling was happy enough to relax and chat more.

"She's fast, yeah, but get this, she could fly before she got her wings. Crazy-good at teleporting. One of the unicorns I was friends with told me the training manual for them was written by her." It had been a shock to him to find that out too, and it had made him excited to meet up with her again.

"You"—Rolling did a lazy inversion before settling back into her glide—"are sweet on her!"

"What?!"

"It's bloody obvious. Just admit it, mate, you have it in for this mare. So, what'cha gonna do about it?" When she'd started ribbing him properly, though, Rolling noticed her friend looked tense. "Crap. She's taken?" He nodded. "Well, fuck."

"Don't worry about it. I figured out something that I was too stupid before to understand."

It was such an easy swerve that it had Rolling's curiosity piqued. "Yeah? Who is she?"

That got a laugh from Short. They were getting close to Ponyville now, and he adjusted their glide toward the front of the castle. "Well, here I was thinking about an old friend who I'd tried dating once, but let my ego ruin it.

"I'd been trying to shove all sorts of things in place of that, even thinking I had it for an alicorn. Then, out of the blue, that friend shows up and I see her and think, 'Damn, she's so amazing. I had to be an idiot to let anything get in the way of showing her how much she meant to me.'"

Rolling's jaw dropped open and she turned her head to stare at Short. "You—" Which is when she plowed into the ground in front of the Castle of Friendship.

"Are you okay? I think she's waking up now. Hey, you hit your head pretty hard, does it hurt anywhere?"

The female voice stirred Rolling Thunder from her happy nap she'd decided was needed instead of a safe landing. She let out a string of curses that she was sure would blister paint and possibly cause Short Fuse's armor to peel back.

With her mind turning to Short, something was tapping on the back of her head, demanding she needed to pay attention to it. Right now, though, her eyes opened. A mint green unicorn looked down at her. She looked over the mare some more and saw armor on her. "What happened?" The mare was grinning like an idiot at her. "The bloody Tartarus are you lookin' at?"

"A drongo who couldn't be arsed dodging the fuckin' ground." For Lyra, using the language of her original home—though in the pony tongue—was a delight. She grinned even wider at the shocked look on the mare's face. "Ya gettin' up, or you gonna lay there like a stunned mullet?"

It took Rolling a moment to process what she heard, then she laughed and took the offered wing. "Never thought I'd hear someone speakin' like that up this way. I'm—" Rolling's brain was trying to get her attention and she finally got at least one of the notes it was waving. "Shit. He's into me."

"Short? I figured he was. Was a bit worried he would follow me around like a puppy, but then I saw how much he was panicking about you after your crash." Hauling Rolling to her hooves from the bed, Lyra made sure she wasn't wobbling before gesturing to the door. "He's waiting outside."

"Thanks, uh… Where are we?"

"Castle of friendship, Ponyville. Were you hoping to be somewhere else?" The sigh from Rolling spoke volumes to Lyra. "You don't like him?"

"We dated for a while. He's sweet, but he gets angry and says stuff he doesn't mean. I—I know he can't help that, after that thing attacked him, but he wouldn't let himself get over it." Slumping her butt to the floor, Rolling closed her eyes a moment to take a deep breath. When she opened her eyes again, Lyra had gotten closer. "Are you—?"

The other thing finally clicked. Rolling Thunder remembered waking up and looking at Lyra's horn, but Lyra had used a wing to help pull her upright. "Fuck. Should I bow or something?"

"Nah. He's only a corporal. Even a captain doesn't deserve a bow. Celestia? Salute her—when you learn how to salute correctly—and if you ever screw something up, you'll want to learn to bake." Watching Rolling get more and more annoyed, while the pegasus tried her best not to laugh, was worth the tangent. "Me?" A nod. "Nah. I haven't managed to work my head up my ass that far yet."

"What am I meant to say to him?"

"You still like him?" Lyra asked. Another nod. "Don't say anything. Walk out there and kiss him."

"What? I can't just—" Blinking in surprise, Rolling smirked. "I mean, I guess I can." That finally led to her standing up and snorting. "I will."

Stepping aside, Lyra managed to contain her glee only with the greatest effort of willpower. She watched as Rolling grabbed the door handle with a wing, tossed it open, and walked forward to where Short stood. He was staring at her, like a deer in headlights, unable to move before she got into his personal space and leaned down to him.

Watching Short's wings spring up in shock was too much for Lyra. She didn't want to break into a giggle lest it interrupt them, so she teleported into the next room and did it instead.

"Wha—? Lyra, what are you doing in here?" Spike asked. "Are you going to help me pack Twilight's things?"

"Oh, right. Sorry, Spike. I guess I can. What do you need packed?" Lyra still wanted to prance and laugh and giggle at how well her advice had worked. The last she'd seen of Short was his eyes closing.

"Books. I don't know why anyone would take books to a friendship retreat, but…" At present, Spike was trying to smoosh down the side of a huge suitcase that, when he didn't manage to, popped open to reveal it was literally full of books about friendship.

"Spike," Lyra said using her magic to levitate the books out. "The secret here is to pack it with something just as heavy with books, but that she'll actually need."

Tapping his chin in thought, Spike asked, "Snacks?"

"Snacks and bricks," Lyra replied, nodding.

Giggling, Spike looked around the room, which was one of the many studies in the castle, and frowned. "But where are snacks?"

"This is study Three A. That means…" Walking over to the bookshelf that lined one wall, Lyra found what she was looking for and tilted a book forward with her magic. A grinding sound caused her to fold her ears back as a whole bookshelf first pushed out toward her, then turned to one side and out of the way. "Okay, nothing that requires chilling, so we want cookies, cupcakes— When did Twilight get Tim Tams?! Doesn't matter; all of those. Chips. More cookies. Baklava. I think that will do, what about you, Spike? Spike?"

Staring at the cavernous insides of the magical stasis-fridge, Spike's eyes had widened to saucers at the bounty on display. "Wow."

Tapping the dragon on the shoulder, Lyra said, "Equestria to Spike. Equestria to Spike. Come in, Spike."

"How many of these—these treasure troves are there? Does every study have one?" Taking one step toward paradise, Spike reached out a hand to a fully iced cake that sat on a lower shelf.

"I'll tell you what. We're going to be gone for a bit. When I come home, I will restock this one for you, and it will be our little secret." Levitating the cake out, Lyra set it on the table nearby and summoned a plate for it. Next, she cut it into slices. "So ration yourself."

Holding his hand up in a fist, Spike got a hoof planted firmly on it. "You're awesome, Lyra. Thanks."

"No sweat. Just don't let Starlight or Trixie find it, okay?" Summoning a few bricks for the bottom of the case, Lyra zipped it up and carefully lifted it with her magic. "I need to sort out some pegasi that I hope have finished making up and out."

Stepping out of the study, Lyra saw that the first was definitely the case, though the latter was still in progress. Clearing her throat, she had the delight to see two blushing ponies snap apart and stare at her like she'd caught two foals necking for the first time. "Corporal, you are ready for the excursion to Manehatten?"

"Today?!" Trying his best not to look at Rolling, Short stared ahead like he'd been trained to, focusing all his attention on Lyra. "Sir, I am ready."

"Great to hear. You want to come too, Rolling? Get a feel for the job and how we work?"

Rolling was conflicted and confused. The former was her wanting to spend a little more time with Short. The latter was why she, specifically, was invited. "Won't you two be busy?"

"Twilight has already planned the itinerary to include four hours to escape from an Escape Room thing. I looked it up, and while she will be able to teleport everypony out, I think she would be upset by that. So, we'll have plenty of time to stand in front of a door and be absolutely bored out of our minds." Holding the case up, she resisted the urge to shake it. "I brought snacks."

"Holy shit, you can cook too?" Rolling stared at Lyra long enough to get a nod from her, then turned to Short. "And you picked me over her?!"

"Her horn's too long," Short said, relieved to see Lyra grinning at the gag. "And besides, she's spoken for. Still interested in the job?"

"It's becoming more tempting."

"So," Lyra said, turning in the hallway and making a follow me gesture with a wing, "What did the Wonderbolts bounce you for?"

It was a knot in Rolling's stomach she hadn't realized she still harbored. She grunted and slumped her shoulders. "I can't fly fast without using my talent."

"And with your talent?" Lyra asked.

"She's faster than me, faster than you, and probably faster than half the Wonderbolts." Short fell in beside Lyra, his shorter legs widening his gait a little to match her pace.

"Really? You know I gotta see this. I don't care if you need to burn your magic up, if you can do your one thing better than anypony else." Trotting down the long hall, Lyra carefully set the case down at the doorway and opened the front doors.

Fluttershy was sitting by the door. She'd been waiting for somepony to open it, mostly because she didn't want to intrude and, since they would all be going to the train station anyway, was content to wait. "Oh, um, hello Lyra. I-Is Twilight in?"

"She is, Fluttershy, but she's Twilighting about the trip. Don't tell her, but I replaced a whole suitcase full of books she wanted to bring with cakes." Nodding back to the case, Lyra saw as her new recruit and potential recruit followed her. "You'll have to excuse us, I'm getting a flight demonstration."

Hearing that Twilight wouldn't be able to bring enough books to make a librarian blush helped Fluttershy to relax a little. She barely picked up on the idea of a demonstration, but asked, "Oh?" for some clarification.

"Rolling Thunder has shown an interest in joining the Friendship Guard, and though she's already shown the first two requirements in good quantity, I want to see what her special talent can do." Nodding to Rolling, Lyra moved herself to half shield Fluttershy from whatever crazy takeoff she expected Rolling to do.

The moment Rolling shot into the sky—leaving a crackling fizz of electricity behind in her wake—Fluttershy realized and greatly appreciated why Lyra had moved to stand before her. It made her blush, but she also felt a swelling in her heart to know that Lyra thought of her. "Th-Thanks," she said, softly.

Head tilted up, Lyra watched the lightning show as Rolling sped across the sky. She focused on not just the visible effects but also on the magic that thrummed around each feather. "You're welcome. I figured she was going to do something impressive to show off and, given her name and cutie mark, it was going to be dangerous to anypony who can't deal with electricity."

"I can deal with it, if I have a little warning first." Able to feel herself getting flustered, Fluttershy turned her head up and watched Rolling speed across the sky like a literal bolt of lightning. "That's not the normal use for lightning…"

"It sure isn't." Short was already love-struck by the forward way that Rolling had acted, but now he was in full announcer mode. "She was kicked out of the Wonderbolts training for a 'flagrant disregard for hazardous weather'. What she was actually doing was this—flying faster than any pony I've ever seen."

Lyra couldn't help it, she whistled in impressed surprise. Rolling wasn't, though, the fastest pegasus she'd ever seen. Rainbow Dash was something else again, but for the life of her she couldn't think of another that would have as much straight-line speed as Rolling Thunder showed. "I can see why she wouldn't fit in the 'Bolts. Their formation flying has no room for this. How long can she keep it up?"

"On a clear day? She can manage this for about twenty minutes. If there's a chance to cook up some stormy weather first, though, she can go faster and never tire. Give her something truly nasty, and I doubt there's a creature alive that can keep up with her." Short Fuse was comfortable saying that because he had seen her dancing in a storm. "The only problem with her is, she can't wear metal. Or, at least, she can't wear metal that isn't magically made to not interfere with her electricity."

"If she can get through Guard training, I'll make sure she gets whatever armor she needs." Watching Rolling zip around the sky, Lyra identified the exact moment when the mare lost a little of her stamina. "She's slowing. Is she going to—"

Rolling, after the race earlier against Short, didn't realize how low on energy she was until her everything felt heavy—too heavy to stay in the sky. She faltered, but her wings felt like lead. Falling, she noticed a flash of gold on the ground and then somepony was falling beside her.

Reaching out and grabbing Rolling with her hooves, Lyra hugged her tight and then judged her teleport for her next, parabolic upward flight. At the moment of apogee, she did her third and set Rolling on the ground beside where she'd started. "Are you okay?"

A little dizzy from the teleportations and magic drain, Rolling nodded. "I race Short against my guess me out took of more thought I than." As soon as she said it, she shook her head and tried again. "I raced Short to the top of the mountain earlier. He's faster than he used to be."

"Hope he is. Otherwise, all that training wasn't as useful as I'd hoped." Making sure Rolling could stand on her own hooves, Lyra could feel a looming, angry pony approaching.

"What the heck was that?!" Short asked. "Why didn't you fly up and catch her?!"

"For a lot of reasons, but mostly because the way I did it meant I could match our velocity and then slow her down without hurting her or me." Hearing Twilight approaching the front door of the castle, Lyra nodded to Short. "Attention, corporal. Our reason for being here is arriving."

Stumbling out the castle doors, her hair frazzled and one eye twitching, Twilight noticed she had a timid pegasus, a wobbly pegasus, and an armored pegasus more than she expected to be present. Using her magic to smooth her mane as best she could, Twilight centered herself using one of Tree Hugger's calming rituals, and then gave Lyra a nod and approached Fluttershy. "Hi, Fluttershy."

"Are you okay, Twilight? If you've got something you need to attend to, we can go another time." Torn between making sure Rolling and Twilight were okay, Fluttershy could see that the former was standing and moving fine, and settled on Twilight as the target of her worry.

"Lyra, if you don't stop saluting I'm going to leave you in Trixie's care until we return." Focusing on Fluttershy, Twilight lifted the case at the doorway, judged that it had a good supply of books within, and gave her friend her biggest smile. "What's say we go and wait at the station?"

Leaving off her ribbing of Twilight, Lyra made sure Rolling was okay. "You can come with us or hang around here until you feel up to flying back to Canterlot. I can even suggest training to build your magic stamina." Lyra collected the suitcase with her magic, giving Twilight time to chat with Fluttershy.

"But I'm a pegasus," Rolling said.

"That doesn't mean you can't build that part of you that carries your magic into something stronger. The source of your magic is like any other muscle. You can get exercises to build it up in both strength and stamina. And don't worry, Short is going to be doing the same thing." Lyra didn't say that she had only been working on the training methods herself for several weeks. "You up for it?"

"Is this some special Wonderbolts training that you are going to share?"

Lyra snorted and shook her head. "Nah. This is something I came up with about three weeks ago when I realized I was leaning too much on my unicorn magic and not enough on pegasi."

Rolling, feeling better about walking now, asked, "So we're your first tests of it?"

"I tried it myself, first. It works, but how well it works for other ponies is what I need to find out. Also, I'd like to refine it and write it into a training manual for the Guard."

"When Short said you wrote the book on unicorn training, I thought he was being figurative—not that you had written a book on training unicorns." Shrugging her wings, though, Rolling figured that it couldn't hurt to try whatever Lyra had planned before going into the Guard training. "Nah, yeah. I'll give it a shot."

"Five," Lyra said. At Rolling's raised eyebrow, Lyra added, "I've written five training guides for the Guard. One for general, spell-casting unicorn types. One for advanced, learn to modify their spells on the fly, ponies. A third one is for unicorns who cannot cast any but the most basic of spells—but have a powerful ability that can be used to make up for it. I rewrote the book on mana training, and have a guide on memorizing spells using simpler techniques."

Alarm bells sounded at that. Rolling wasn't an idiot by any stretch, but she knew that academics wasn't her strong point. "I don't have to read those, do I?"

"Nope. I'll probably get you to read through the pegasus one I'm working on, but I promise it won't be technical. I write them so Guard sergeants can read them, after all." When her joke didn't land, Lyra groaned. "You'll see what I mean. I served my term as a Sergeant, got to do a lot of quality shouting, but cadets tend to see them as a bossy know-it-all."

"That's my only worry about joining. All that commands stuff is a bit…" Holding out her wing, Rolling wobbled it a bit. "… Yeah. But, I would have said Short wouldn't have been able to put up with that, either."

"Second thoughts?" Lyra asked. She'd noticed Short was hanging back at Twilight's side. Given the report she'd read on his (eventually) sanctioned brawling in training, she judged him perfectly placed to deal with any actual threats to her person. "It's okay if you do. It'd be a shame to lose you, but I understand it's not something everypony wants."

Almost at the train station, Rolling shook her head. "Nah. I'll give anything a shot once. You never know what works until you try, right?"

Setting the case down, Lyra nodded and rolled her shoulders. "That's a good attitude. Train should be here in a few minutes."

Author's Note

Pharynx: now that the anti-magical throne is no longer cancelling magic, have you found any "confiscated" relics that are doing weird things?

"We're keeping our own ones but"—scuffing the ground with a hoof, Pharynx didn't look happy—"we have returned items to the ponies and griffons. There was also a stone that belonged to the dragons, but it has gone missing."

So I do this "Ask X" thing. X can be any character within the story. You can ask them anything and they will definitely, hopefully reply. Keep the questions appropriate to the age-rating of the stories, and they will answer the best question in the author notes of the next chapter. The more votes a comment has the more likely I will get it to the right character to answer. Try to keep it to one question per post!

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