Word Count: 1,413

Azrith knocked on the door nervously. She felt a little bit bad about lying to this pony about who she was, but it was for the sake of Queen Chrysalis. Surely, when the time came that she revealed herself, the mare would understand. She was doing it to save millions of Changelings, plus her Queen. That was understandable, right?

The door opened to reveal a bleary-eyed, white mare. "Lyra," she said tiredly. "What kept you at the café? Doesn't your shift end at seven?"

"My… shift?"

"Yeah, and then Octavia takes over with her cello from then until midnight," she said, eyebrows furrowing suspiciously. "Did Octavia not show or something? That's not like her. Huh. Well, come on in."

Azrith followed her into the apartment, a little amazed about how the pony made up the lie for her. "Yeah, O-Octavia," she tested out the name. "She didn't show up. Sorry about being home so late. What time is it?"

"It's one in the morning," she yawned. "You go ahead and eat if you haven't already. I'm going back to bed."

Azrith watched her until she went back through a door, and she finally relaxed. She pulled out the file, needing to be prepared for the next time she talked to one of these ponies.

"Hmm…" she said quietly, flipping through the pages of her bio. "I work as live… music? What in Chrysalis's name is that? A lyre…"

Hours passed as she went over her biography and how ponies acted. Apparently, they didn't have a queen, but two princesses, their names being Celestia and Luna. They ate some really strange things, Azrith thought to herself. Ugh. They ate hay. Things that came out of the dirt. That is disgusting, she thought. What's wrong with aura?

She fell asleep over the folder; the last thing she remembered was that she really wanted to go home.

In the morning, she was awoken by a tap on the shoulder. She jumped about five feet in the air, expecting to be pulled back up by her wings, only to fall flat on her face. She quickly put all the files back into the folder with her magic so that the mare (Bon Bon, she'd learned) couldn't see it.

Bon Bon laughed. "Jumpy, much?" she said. "I was just waking you up to tell you that your boss sent a scroll. You don't have to go to work today!"

Azrith let out a sigh of relief. No having to attempt to play that 'lyre' thing that apparently she did beautifully. "So what are we doing instead?" she asked shakily.

"Well, I was thinking we could go to a movie, and then get ice cream!" she said happily. "To our usual place."

"And… where would that be?" Azrith asked, confused about what a 'movie' was but not questioning it.

Bon Bon chuckled. "Oh, Lyra, you're a laugh," she said. "Come on, though. If we don't leave soon we'll miss the matinee. We're going to see Guardians of Equestria. Ponies have been saying that it was really cheesy, but I don't believe them. It was adapted from one of my favorite comics! It has to be good."

"…comics, right," Azrith said. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go."

The two walked outside and down the stairs. Azrith looked around in wonder. It looked beautiful in the bright daylight, sun glinting off metal structures and ponies running and flying everywhere. A small shop that had sweet scents exuding from it was to their right, and to their left was a store with what looked like clothing. A wide smile spread across her face as she walked with her new roommate. How had she missed out on this all her life? It was all so amazing; unlike any place she'd ever been to before.

Bon Bon noticed her excitement and smiled as well. "What's got you so happy this morning?" she asked, the happiness seemingly contagious.

"I just… I just never noticed how beautiful our city is before," she said softly. "With everyone running around, and all the shops and everything, it's amazing. It all works so perfectly."

Bon Bon looked pleasantly surprised. "I guess you're right," she replied, glancing around. "You've never been that deep before."

"I… I guess those extra hours were good for me," Azrith said, still in awe.

"Maybe you're right," Bon Bon said. She blinked, snapping out of whatever thoughts she was having as they reached the cinema. "Okay, we're early, good! That means we'll get the best seats."

Bon Bon bought the tickets at the front desk, and the two walked inside together. "Do you want any popcorn?" she asked. "My treat, since you haven't been to the movies in so long. If you ask me, that boss of yours works you half to death."

Azrith gasped. "What? He does?" she asked incredulously. "T-to… death? What kind of person is- do you think I work for?"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, relax. It's only an expression. The point is, popcorn!" she exclaimed. They bought the popcorn and headed to the theater.

The movie turned out… okay. Azrith didn't understand most of it, but Bon Bon dismissed it as just 'not being a fan' (even though she didn't like it herself). The popcorn, on the other hand, was the highlight of the whole thing. Azrith ended up eating most of it in the previews, much to Bon Bon's irritation.

"Come on, Bon Bon, I really want to try out this ice cream stuff!" Azrith said, and then promptly winced. Lyra had obviously had it before. "You know what I mean."

"Duh, I know what you mean!" Bon Bon said. "You've been wanting to try out their new birthday cake ice cream for weeks now. I still think you're crazy. Cake plus ice cream? Gross, if you ask me."

"Well… I think it could be delicious!" Azrith said enthusiastically. "Never judge something on how it looks, that's what I always say." She chuckled wryly at the double meaning of the sentence.

"You do?" Bon Bon asked in disbelief. "Wow. You've learned well from me!"

"What do you mean?" Azrith asked, pleased that she had seemed to earn her roommate's approval.

"It's just that I've always been trying to get you to be a little nicer to ponies. Not that you're rude or anything," she added hastily. "It's just you tend to… oh, how do I say this… blurt things out, without thinking of anypony's feelings."

Azrith nodded. "Well, you've helped me a lot with that," she said, feeling out of place. She shouldn't be making changes to Lyra's personality. It was wrong.

"Well, yeah," Bon Bon said awkwardly. "Hey, look. There's the ice cream shop."

Azrith bounced into the shop excitedly. "So, birthday cake ice cream!" she said. "Where does it come from?"

Bon Bon looked at her strangely. "Lyra, are you feeling okay?" she asked. "I know you've had a rough couple days at work, but… ice cream. Ordering ice cream."

Azrith shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry."

Bon Bon blinked, shaking her head. "No, I'm sorry. I know you've been having a hard time since… since your coltfriend left you, but…" She hesitated. "I'm just worried, Lyra."

"Yeah," Azrith said, though she didn't know what a 'coltfriend' was. "Ice cream, then?"

The pony and Changeling ordered their ice cream and sat down. Azrith licked the cone thoughtfully. It wasn't half bad. Actually, it almost compared with aura. It seemed that in the form she was in, she didn't crave aura as much. She had never stayed in any form for this long, and she found that she was even hungry for the food that the ponies ate.

"So how's the birthday cake ice cream?" Bon Bon asked, breaking Azrith out of her thoughts. "Was I right once again? It's horrible, right?"

Azrith chuckled. "On the contrary, it's rather delicious," she said. "Thank you, Bon Bon."

Bon Bon rolled her eyes. "For what? For giving you a great day?" she asked, grinning. "Don't think anything of it. It's what friends are for."

Even though she knew that the mare didn't know her true identity, Azrith was touched. No one had ever called her a friend before. The Changeling Kingdom was her home; nothing could ever replace that. However, she could tell that she was going to enjoy her time undercover in this new, mad, and wonderful place. Yes, Equestria would likely be her favorite land in all her travels.