"'The few products or services that lend themselves to easy forecasting generally enjoy an absolute level or a fairly constant trend, and competition'," Yin Ying read aloud out of her text book, pausing as she opened her muzzle wide to let loose a long, loud yawn, smacking her lips together as she fought off the drowsiness. It was late in the evening, and her family had all called it a night quite a few hours ago. The Ying clan enjoyed waking early to the break of dawn so as to enjoy every moment of sunlight the day had to offer, but the young mare who basked in the candle light of her traditional Chineighse personal chamber could really only find time in the wee hours to dedicate to her secondary studies. She was laying on her bedspread on the floor, her textbook floating in front of her with a small can of beer for refreshment to the side, though she was coming realize it was providing more fatigue than calm.
 
She looks outside of an open window, setting down the book from her magical levitation field as her horn's light dissipates. She gets up to her hooves and walks over to her window to bask in the cold air for a few moments, looking up at the moon as she watches the clouds pass over it. The pale glow illuminates her pure white coat and lengthy black mane, captivating her interest as she drearily gazes at it for much longer than she had originally intended. She knew 'Marketing Management' was calling for her, but the hours were wearing on and the unicorn was beginning to lose her focus.
 
Times like these, when she truly had nothing but her own shadow to speak with, the deafening silence prompted her to converse with herself, asking herself aloud, "What the hell are they going to say?"
 
A knock at the sliding door shocked Yin out of her stupor, looking back at the entrance to her chamber to see the shaded silhouette of another unicorn, smaller than herself. "Sister? Are you still awake?"
 
"Uh..." Yin stammered to herself, trying to bide some time. "One moment, Lin!" She rushed to her book and her drink, pushing the book under her blanket and downing the rest of the beer can in a few brief gulps, gasping for breath afterwards. She tossed the can out the window before sliding back underneath the covers of her bedspread, taking out a small scroll from behind the pillow and unraveling it as she bellowed, "Yes, come in."
 
The door slid to reveal Yin's younger sister, Lin Ying, a smaller unicorn with shorter hair but identical colors to herself, holding a small candle in her horn's magic as she entered the room. "Yin, why are you still up? Didn't father have that new spell to teach you in the morning?"
 
Yin nodded as she referred to the scroll she pulled out. "Yeah, that's why I'm studying."
 
Lin shakes her head, but with a smile gracing her face. "Yin, you're being silly. You're going to be so tired tomorrow you won't be able to stand up straight, much less cast."
 
She huffs, rolling the scroll up and placing it back under the pillow. "Yeah, fair point." She rests her head down, asking, "What's your excuse? You have a lesson tomorrow too."
 
"I was just getting a glass of water, and we both know it's more important that you learn it than me, sister." She sighs. "Well, I'll let you get to bed. Goodnight, Yin."
 
Yin smiles wide as she replies. "Goodnight Li-*BURRRRRRP*!" Yin quickly covered her mouth with her hooves as her white face turned red as a tomato, Lin suddenly turning in shock at hearing such indecency.
 
"Yin!"
 
"Hehe, woah, where did that come from?" Yin chuckles as she tries to underplay the gesture. "Guess that's been simmering down there for a while. Alright, well, goodnight, Lin, see you in the morning."
 
Lin, however, steps into the room, her little nose twitching and ears flattening as she perceives a very distinct scent in the air. "Is that... Yin, you haven't!"
 
Yin picks her head back up. "No, I haven't. Go to bed."
 
"You're drinking again?!" Lin almost screams as Yin makes several shushing noise to try and calm her down. "After father caught you last time?!"
 
"Alright, fine, you win. I had A beer. One. Don't make such a big fit, you're going to wake up the whole damn house."
 
"It wasn't just one last time." Lin replies as she starts investigating the room, opening drawers and overturning mats to see if she could find any of Yin's hidden stash.
 
Yin's annoyance grew exponentially as she stood up to her hooves. "You're not going to find anything, Lin, so just go to bed. You can tattle on me in the morning if it makes you feel better, you little brat."
 
"Just as soon as I find out where you're keeping them." She responds as she starts searching the bed sheets. "You're aware you're still a few years underage, aren't you?"
 
"No, really?" Yin suddenly gives a small gasp as Lin checks the sheets, working her way up towards the pillow. "Alright, enough, get out!"
 
"Aha!" Lin cries. "They're in the sheets then? Let me see!" Lin struggles with the older mare as she reaches for the pillow. "Give it up, Yin!"
 
"Mind your own business!" Yin attempts to push Lin away with her hooves, forcing the younger horse off the bed. However, Lin had made one last ditch grab with her teeth underneath the pillow, biting the text book she had hidden as she lands on her back a few feet away. Yin grits her teeth in shock at Lin's retrieval of the book, though Lin can only look down in confusion at the heavy text between her teeth.
 
She spits it out onto the ground next to her, reading the title aloud. "'Marketing Management'." She shakes her head a few times, giving a bewildered, "Huh?" as Yin sighs and walks over to lift up Lin off the ground.
 
"I was trying to keep it a secret."
 
Lin looks down at the book, both relieved and confused. "Why would you try and hide it? I didn't even know you had an interest in," she holds up the book in a levitation spell. "What is this, business stuff?"
 
Yin takes the book in her own magic and places it back under the pillow. "It's just some required reading."
 
Lin lowers her voice as her brow unfurrows. "Required? Required for what, exactly?"
 
"A class, Lin. There's a school I learned about the last time we made a trip down to the city. An Equestrian student exchange program, it offers a few courses in business, economics, etc." She folds her ears down and gives Lin a sad glance. "I'm planning on applying."
 
Lin looks down, shifting weight on her two front hooves. "But, how can you go to Equestria and perform your duties here at the same time?"
 
Yin shakes her head. "I can't. I'm leaving the valley, Lin."
 
The younger mare's lip begins to quiver. "But, you can't. Y-You're the eldest child, you have the entire clan to think of. Father has planned so much for you."
 
"I don't want to be the head of the clan. I'm starting to wonder if I ever did." She looks away from Lin to gaze once more at the moon out the window. "I'm sick of living here. We leave this valley maybe once, twice a year, and it's always to the same city. The people I know who aren't a family member I can count on my hooves. Day in, and day out, it's nothing but lessons, traditions, tempering to be exact same sort of pony father was."
 
Lin puts a hoof on Yin's shoulder as she retorts, "Shadow magic is a rare, beautiful art form. One that our family has perfected and preserved for generations! You're saying you're sick of that?!"
 
"I'm not saying that I regret learning it." She takes the hoof of. "I'm honored to be a Ying, and this..." she pauses as she sends a small arc of violet energy from the tip of her horn to the floor. The beam dances along the edges of her shadow's outline, as the shadow begins to sway side to side. It tears itself from the ground and from Yin's hooves, flying into the air as a paper-thin shade. It rises above their heads and flies about the chamber, making its way to each candle lighting the room, and with every pass snuffs one out with its darkness. As the last candle is extinguished by the shade, it slinks to the ground before returning to Yin's side, returning to its natural state as though nothing had happened. "I wouldn't trade this for anything," she smiles as the two mares stand in the light of the moon from the window.
 
"Then why?"
 
"Because I feel like I've never been given a choice." Yin moves away from her sister and sits her rear down on the bed. "Sometimes I feel like I'm in a prison. Locked down by everyone's expectations, doomed to spend the rest of my life living here while the rest of the world leaves us in the dust." She lifts the pillow and grabs at the book again, showing it to Lin. "Did you know? There are Earth ponies living in Manehatten, magic-less Earth ponies, richer than the most famous magicians in the world? Don't you think that's something worth learning too? Because I do!"
 
Yin holds a hoof to Lin's muzzle as she continues. "And, no, it's not just about money. It's about the rest of the world, Lin." She holds the book tight to her chest as she lays down. "Think of how much we're missing out on out there. Think of what we're missing out there, stuck in the past like this." She casts a spell of movement on the closet, sliding it open to reveal a collection of traditional robes and outfits whose styles date back centuries. "No one outside this valley even wears these anymore, would it kill us to have one modern piece of clothing?" She closes her eyes. "I want to live my own life."
 
Lin drags her hoof along the floor, looking straight at Yin as she asks, "And what about your family while you're 'living your life'? What about the clan?"
 
"I'm not the only heir."
 
"But you ARE the oldest. It's supposed to be your responsibility, sister, not mine."
 
She turns on her side, facing away from Lin. "Not if I don't want it to be."
 
Lin fights back a few tears, her voice cracking as she mutters, "I always knew you were selfish, but this..." She rubs her eyes and turns away, starting to slide the door.
 
Yin speaks up, "Please keep this a secret, for now? I still don't know how to tell them."
 
She sniff, slamming the door shut as she quietly replies, "I'm still telling him about the alcohol."
 
With the resolving clops of her trotting down the hall back to her room, Yin closes her eyes and lays in her bed, mumbling, "Brat," one last time before drifting off to sleep.