Chapter 5 Dinnertime Chatterbox.

Autumn blaze and Silverstream walked into a spacious dining room. Silverstream looked around in awe at the sight of the crimson carpet and mahogany trappings. She was broken out of her marveling by Autumn tapping her on the shoulder.

“Oh my gosh look at that!” She pointed up at a massive chandelier hanging above the dining hall. 

Silverstream felt her eyes widen into dinner plates. “Oh my gosh it's so beautiful and glittery.”

Autumn shuffled her hoof. “I feel kind of out of place in a place so fancy.”

“I assure you miss, you're both most welcome here.” The two of them turned to see a waiter standing right next to them. “Anything to make our guests feel at home. So are you ladies eating together?”

Autumn nodded with a grin. “Yep, table for two.”

The waiter scribbled something on a notepad he had in his pocket. “Alright then, follow me ladies and I'll take you to a your table.”

Autumn and Silverstream followed the waiter through the room until he escorted them to a table next to a porthole set up for two ponies. “Here you are ladies. I'll be back in a minute to take your orders.” The waiter departed leaving Autumn and Silverstream to look over the menu. The variety of food available took Silverstream off guard, but she ultimately decided to try something new.

“So, what are you getting Autumn? I'm having the whole grain cassaroll special” Silverstream set her menu down.

Autumn set her menu down. “Oh I'm going to try the kelp salad.”

“Oooooo.” Silverstream smiled. “I used to eat that all the time back in Seaquestria.”

Autumn's eyes widened.“Seaquestria? Wow, I've never heard of that place before. What else did you do in there?”

“Oh not much, I made seashell necklaces with my cousin mostly.”

“Seaquestria sounds like so much fun.” Autumn grinned.

Silverstream nodded. “Yeah, Seaquestria was a lot of fun but being above the water is even more fun.”

Autumn gasped, “You lived underwater? Oh my gosh that sounds so cool. Did everyone learn to hold their breath underwater for like a real long time?”

Silverstream jerked her head. “No silly we all turned into seaponies.”

“A seapony. That sounds so cool I wanna see how you did it sometime.”

Silverstream grinned and activated her amulet and shifted herself into her seapony form.

Autumn grinned and clapped her hooves together. “Oh... my... Gosh, you look so cool. How did you do that?”

Silverstream touched her necklace. “With this little pendant. One squeeze and some focus on changing and.” Silverstream shifted back into a hippogryph. “And I shift.”

“That's impressive, I wish I had a pendant like that.”

Silverstream nodded. “If I get time, I can shift you next time we're at the pool. As long as I'm holding onto somepony else I can transform them too.”

Autumn clapped. “That sounds great.” 

Silverstream nodded, “yeah being a seapony can be good but I really love being out of water. I love how there's real gravity above water. I know it sounds craaazy but falling can be fun.”

Autumn grinned. “I love gravity too. It's such an attractive force.”

Silverstream was so busy laughing she almost didn't notice the waiter return to their table. “Are you ready to order ladies?”

Both of them empathically nodded before telling the waiter what they wanted. Eventually, he left the table leaving Autumn and Silverstream to go back to their conversation.

“Hey, do hippogryphs lay eggs? Your birds and ponies so I'm not really sure” Autumn asked.

Silverstream scratched her chin. “I think so. I've seen mothers with nests but the only eggs I've ever seen are chicken eggs. What about kirins do they lay eggs?”

Autumn shook her head, “nah we give birth like ponies do. Oh, do you like baths? I like hot baths especially since I was allowed to return to my village.”

Silverstream nodded. “Yeah I love a good bubble bath. What more could I ask for: bubbles, water, and even some toys to play with in the tub.” Silverstream paused. “Wait, return to your village? Did you leave on a trip?”

“Oh, not really. I got myself banished from the village for being too chatty, like that could ever be true am I right?"

"Where did you go?"

"Oh I spent the last eight or so years alone in the woods before being allowed to return."

Silverstream frowned, “Oh no. That must have been terrible. Nopony should have to be all by themselves for so long.”

Autumn smiled. “Aww you're so sweet, thank you.”

“Hey Autumn have you heard of discord? He's like totally crazy. I even heard once he brought a green slime to the grand galloping gala.”

Autumn smiled. “That sounds like such a fun night I'd love to see that. Have you ever had those oat loops before? I tried them when I was in Dodge junction and mmm hmm they were delicious.”

“Yeah. I have a bowl of frosted oat loops every morning for breakfast.”

Autumn leaned forwards and grabbed Silverstream by the cheeks. “Oh my gosh you know what this means?”

Autumn let go and Silverstream cocked her head. “What?”

“That there's something even better than oat loops!” Autumn clapped her hooves.

“I must apologize to you ladies I forgot to bring you something to drink.” The waiter interrupted to give Silverstream and Autumn some water with drinking straws. “Your food will be prepared in a few minutes.” The waiter wandered elsewhere.

Silverstream meanwhile stared at the straw in awe, “Oh my gosh what is this?!”

“It's a straw you use it to drink things.” Autumn sucked on her straw. “Like this.”

Silverstream's eyes just lit up as she used her straw. “Wow, this is totally amazing!” She sipped on her drink for a few minutes before resuming the conversation. “So, you were alone for like eight years? Did you have any friends before then?” Silverstream asked.

Autumn nodded. “Yeah Cinder glow and Wildfire. They were my besties.”

Silverstream's eyes went wide. “Oh my gosh you know Wildfire too?”

Autumn's eyes widened and jaw dropped. “Wait... she's alive?”

Silverstream nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, I met her a few months ago at a water park in Manehatten. It's a bit of a bizarre story to be honest.”

Autumn just sat there. “I... I can't believe she's alive. I just assumed she died when she left the village ten years ago.”

Silverstream cocked an eyebrow. “What happened?”

Autumn looked down at the table. “About ten years ago a fire broke out in the village. Our leader decided every kirin was to enter the stream of silence, so we couldn't ever get angry at each other again. Wildfire flat out refused to enter the stream so our leader banished her. I searched the wilds for ages to try and find her when I got banished too, but I never found any trace of her aside from a campfire. So, where did she end up I really wanna know?"

“Well... I only saw her for a short time at the water park after her potion turned my friend Gallus into a girl. My penpal Misty feather knows her. Maybe I can ask her if she can get you in touch with Wildfire?”

Autumn's face lit up. “You'd do that for me?” Silverstream nodded, and Autumn roped Silverstream into a hug. “Thank you so much we'd love for her to come back to the village now that the vow of silence has been lifted.”

“No problem Autumn. She's your friend after all.”

Autumn returned to her chair and frowned. “err sorry I spilled our water.”

Silverstream shrugged. “eh no harm no fowl you were excited after all.”

“Now I'm kinda wondering. What's all this about this Gallus and turning into a girl? Can you even do that?”

“Yeah, Gallus took Wildfire's drink, and he changed into a girl gryphon and my god Gallus was hot in that feminine body.”

“Still kinda confused really. Why would Wildfire have a potion to turn guys into girls?”

“Apparently it was a potion to enhance a woman's beauty. It has weird effects when a guy drinks it.”

Autumn brought a hoof to her chin. “Never figured she'd be the type to have a potion like that. I must say I can't help but notice how enthused you are about this Gallus being turned female... are you into girls?”

Silverstream nodded. “Yeah I'm into girls. Since we're talking about that what about you?”

Autumn smiled. “I'm actually kinda attracted to both.”

Silverstream grinned. “oooo you're bisexual. Wow, you're just like Misty; she's bi too.”

The waiter butted into the conversation to give them their food and the two of them continued talking over their meal. Eventually, they found themselves at the end of the hallway outside Silverstream's bunk.

“That was lots fun Autumn. We should hang out some more sometime.” Silverstream smiled.

“Yeah totally. So what room are you bunking in?”

“I'm in number three hundred and forty-nine.”

Autumn looked at her own room key and her eyes went wide. “Oh my gosh Silverstream I'm in room number three hundred and forty-nine too! You know what this means.”

Silverstream lit up. “Yeah! We're totally roomies.” The two of them giggled before giddily walking to their room. Once there Giselle and Smolder were already present playing some kind of card game.

“Hey Silver, Giselle and I were just playing a game before bed.” Smolder's eyes turned to Autumn blaze. “Who's the kirin?”

“I'm Autumn blaze I'm your fourth roomie. Who are you?”

“Name's Smolder.” Smolder chimed in.

“Giselle, nice to meet you.” Giselle added with a grin.

“So,” Smolder grinned. “Wanna continue our game?”

Giselle shook her head. “Buck no, if we keep this up I'll be penniless.”

Smolder snorted. “Sore loser.”

“Hey Smolder, I've gotta write Misty again.” Silverstream took out her pen and a blank sheet of paper.

Smolder nodded, “You bet Silver”

Silverstream started writing Dear Misty feather. I'd like to ask you a bit about Wildfire. I meet a kirin today named Autumn blaze who says she knows her. If you could contact Wildfire and tell her that she'd like to talk I'd appreciate that very much. With many hugs Silverstream. PS is it possible that Autumn blaze is who the Amulet is drawing me to? Just wondering 

Silverstream prepared the letter and Smolder sent it off.

“Wow, That's so cool, mail by smoke.” Autumn grinned. 

“Yeah it's pretty cool. Hey, Giselle showed me this cool game she plays back in Griffinstone you two wanna play?”

Silverstream and Autumn both emphatically nodded and sat down to join Smolder.