The train ride from Ponyville to Fillydelphia was certainly a long one, but with all the big city had to offer, it was often worth the travel time.

As the train whistle blew and the wheels started to grind to a halt, Spike gently nudged a sleeping Sandbar on the shoulder. “Hey, get up.”

“Nnnuh? Wha?” Sandbar yawned as he slowly opened his eyes, still groggy from the hour-long nap he took. His eyes fluttered open as some of the other train passengers were already grabbing their belongings.

“We’re here,” Spike pointed his thumb to the window, showing the station they were pulling into.

“Oh! Yeah, alright…!” Sandbar rapidly shook his head trying to wake himself up.

The two departed into Fillydelphia’s train station and were immediately met with the high hoof-traffic of the city. All the hustle and bustle of an unfamiliar big city made Sandbar feel a little uneasy, but thankfully Spike was there to guide him through.

“Stick with me, Sandbar. We gotta meet up with him first before we get going.”

“Yeah, but how are you supposed to find anyone in this crowd?”

Almost immediately, and conveniently so, Spike pointed out to a random spot amidst the constantly moving flow of ponies. “Oh, there he is.”

Sandbar whipped his head around, squinting to see a blurry bit of white in the crowd of bright technicolor. “How the f-”

Spike grabbed onto Sandbar’s hoof, dragging him through the sea of ponies at the station.

Sandbar tried not to slow Spike down, but he was wowed by just how smooth Spike was navigating through. There were occasional jolts and jostles, but it was mostly due to Sandbar lagging behind as they weaved through.

They met up with their pony, Shining Armor.

With Spike’s much taller size, it was fairly easy for Shining to spot him out in a crowd and meet him halfway. “Hey! Glad to see you made it! The trip wasn’t too bad for you two?”

“Heh, I should be asking you that!” Spike laughed. “It’s not like The Crystal Empire’s farther away than Ponyville or anything.”

“Yeah, but I’m used to it!” Shining turned to Sandbar, still visibly shaken up and groggy. “Hey Sandbar, you good?”

“Oh, yeah!” Sandbar nodded, blinking a few times to keep himself awake. “Still waking up and stuff.”

“Do you guys wanna get lunch first before we get going?” Shining suggested.

“Nah, let’s just get right to it,” Spike said. “Pretty sure she’d want to recommend a place to eat once we got there anyway.”

Shining shrugged in agreement. “Alright then, we’ve got a lot of walking to do, so let’s move!”

They started their walk through Fillydelphia, with Spike taking the lead. With the other two walking fast and making conversation, it was hard for Sandbar to take in the sights of this new city.

“Almost hard to believe it’s November again…” Spike muttered as he passed by some pedestrians.

“No kidding,” Shining chuckled. “Life’s usually so calm and peaceful the rest of the year, but this month just makes everyone busy.”

“It’s not like there isn’t a reason for it. November’s right in between Nightmare Night and Hearth’s Warming.” Sandbar added in. “And all the other holidays that come around that time, too.”

“True,” Shining nodded. “Sometimes I wish No Clop was in a month where we could all relax, like in June or something…”

“Well, I guess there wouldn’t be much of a challenge to No Clop if we could just sit around and do nothing for a full month!”

“No Jerking June…” Spike thought aloud, amused by the possibility.

“Spike, c’mon, one month’s already enough,” Shining laughed.

“I know, I know. Not that it’d be a problem for you, Mr. Chastity Shield. Why don’t you share your magic with the rest of the team?”

“Yeah, about that…”

Sandbar kept looking around through the city, taking in as many of the sights as he could. He kept craning his neck back to see the dizzying heights of the skyscrapers, still in awe at the sheer scale.

And speaking of scales, though Sandbar was still affixed on the sights, he did look around to make sure he was still following Spike and Shining, and noticed that Fillydelphia was gradually changing. He noticed a few dragons around when they started their walk, but they were becoming more and more frequent. The buildings became more stony and jagged in their structure, almost like it was an entirely different city.

“We’re here!” Spike declared, pointing his thumb to the aptly named “Dragon Comics” store.

As soon as Spike walked through the door, there was a loud gasp of excitement.

“Spike! You made it!” Mina excitedly vaulted over the counter to give her friend a hug.

“Hey, Mina!” Spike said, welcoming the hug with open arms. “Brought some of my comic-loving friends along!” he pointed towards the door as Sandbar and Shining walked in.

“Red rubies!” Mina said as she greeted the two stallions with a friendly wave. “I recognize you two from yesterday! I’m Mina, it’s great to meet you!”

“It’s nice to meet you too. I’m Shining Armor, Spike’s…older brother, in a sense,” Shining said in a half-joking manner.

Mina looked back and forth between the two. “Oh yeah, I can definitely see the family resemblance!” she said, matching Shining’s playful energy.

“Hey, Mina! I’m Sandbar. Spike said that there was this cool comic shop all the way out in Fillydelphia and…yeah! This whole place is super cool!”

Mina chuckled, leaning against the store’s window. “Yeah, I think Dragon Town’s pretty great, too.”

“Slow day today, huh?” Spike noted, looking around and seeing that they were the only ones currently in the store.

“Yeah, but it’s fine, would love to just chill with you guys for a bit!” Mina said, flipping the ‘Open’ sign on the door to ‘Closed’. “Go on, look around!”

Shining and Sandbar indulged a bit of their inner colt, looking through all the comics on the racks.

“Are all the Power Ponies spinoffs in here?”

“No way, you have the convention-exclusive cover of the first Protectors issue?!”

“Wow, you even have the Fleetneigh run?”

“Oh cool, the latest issue of Impervious!”

After grabbing stacks of their favorites, the quartet sat down to read and relax.

“Not a bad start to the month, huh?” Shining smirked.

Spike clicked his tongue as he turned the page. “Yep, nice and peaceful until the craziness really kicks off…”

Mina was gripping her comic book, her hands trembled with excitement. “Ooh, I can’t wait! This might finally be the year I get to join Princess Luna in the orgy!”

“You’re really set on wanting to last the whole month with Luna, huh?” Shining said, amused by Mina’s enthusiasm.

“Uh, yeah! I mean, last time I tried she didn’t make it. Yeah, I still had fun at the orgy, but it just wasn’t the same! Not that I think all the sex with everyone else was a waste.” Mina’s pupils shrank as her excitement started to take over. “Like, Discord transformed into Nightmare Moon just for me. Me! That’s like, definitely one for the bucket list and all, but this would be one of the few chances I get to have sex with the actual Princess Luna! Like can you imagine with all the wet dreams she goes through each night, she’d probably be the best princess to have sex with! Who wouldn’t want a chance to try that out?!”

Mina paused, noticing her friends were giving her looks. She brought herself back down and cleared her throat. “But y’know, it’d just be cool, I guess.”

“Best princess to have sex with, huh?” Sandbar chuckled, repeating Mina’s words. “I dunno, competition’s pretty stacked.”

Mina gasped loudly as a realization hit her. “Oh. My. Gosh. You guys probably had sex with Princess Luna before, right? Y-You gotta tell me her turn-ons and stuff!”

Sandbar scratched his chin. “Well, I mean, I’d actually say Princess Celestia is the better princess to fuck.” The stallion started to gush. “She’s just so big and gentle, goes along with your pace perfectly, but still helps you push your limits, she has the most wonderful voice and some of the biggest flanks…”

Mina groaned and rolled her eyes. “What? C’mon, Luna should definitely be better! She has that graceful air of elegance backed by a rebellious streak! She has some MOVES!”

“Princess Celestia’s a better lovemaker because there’s just so much more of her to love!

“Luna sees all the wet dreams so she knows your exact fantasy!”

“Maybe, but this is coming from somepony who’s actually had sex with a princess. Multiple times. In reality.” Sandbar stuck his tongue out in defiance.

“Tch, we’ll see once we make it. Spike, can I get a second opinion?”

Spike looked up from his comic. “Well, I mean, Celestia definitely has that playful MILF energy and Luna’s got a lot of kink experience through the dreams, but…I dunno, Twilight’s pretty thorough when she has an idea for some sexy stuff…Let me tell ya, she puts in some practice and it shows!”

Spike was immediately hit with Mina and Sandbar getting argumentative on him instead.

“That’s not what I asked! And you act like Princess Luna hasn’t seen-”

“You think Celestia didn’t have time to practice-”

Shining quietly looked up from his comic book and glanced at the three as their discussion gradually got more and more intense. “Am I expected to enter Cadence into this ‘my princess is better than yours’-apalooza?...”

Author's Note

The amount of tip jars I've seen at conventions trying to poll who best princess is...