Princess Luna: They say that Tokyoites live a refined, elegant life, while the ponies of Osaka eat and eat until they collapse. It is not hard to see where this comes from: Osaka is the nation's "kitchen", with more food choices than stars visible in the night sky, whereas Tokyo (or Edo, 江戸) has been and still is the centre of power in Japan.

Parcly Taxel: I woke up with a singed eyebrow, head still spinning from my flight and numerous train rides the previous day. The bedroom's mattress felt hard to the touch and there were two tall curtains, one veiling a door leading to a balcony and the other leading straight into the living room. Even though I slept in my genie bottle, it had rolled around a fair bit from eddy currents and vortices arising from my own motion inside, so I was endlessly scrambling over a rocky landscape in my dreams.

Spindle: Twisting her stiff neck, my pony companion found some phoenix feathers and a note.

To Parcly, the Wish Princess
It's going to be very cold these last few days of your holiday. Put these in your wings.
—Celestia

"Philomena's feathers", I whispered.

Parcly: I did as I was told, and watched in awe as the orange feathers fused into gaps between my own feathers, warming my wings and from there my whole body with the heat of summer.

Thus prepped for an outside journey, I went down to the Osaka Metro at an interchange for the Tanimachi and Chūō (中央線) lines. Its operating company has been recently privatised, but still maintains that natural, beat-down aura around its stations and trains. Floor tiles are slightly dirty and ridged with simple patterns; trains are cuboid and there are no platform screen doors. I got a day pass for ¥600, as it was a weekend.

Spindle: One stop to Tenmanbashi (天満橋) and we got off for the Keihan Railway to Tanbabashi (丹波橋) in Kyoto. Having seen a train pull into the platform, Parcly got hasty and boarded it, only realising her mistake at the next stop of Kyōbashi – a faster (fewer stops) and comfier limited express train would immediately follow. Switching trains mid-route is not a problem since only the starting station and fare zone are encoded on a ticket.

Princess Cadance: The limited express train had double-decker sections, with stairs leading up and down a short distance. This arrangement is also used on some Shinkansen cars, including the one Parcly took from Niigata to Tokyo. However, midway through the ride she was ordered off the train for a short cleaning, then sat in a different seat for the rest of the way.

Parcly: Still we could not get out, for a third Kintetsu (近鉄) train was needed to reach Tōji (東寺). I encountered massive crowds from its exit to the temple of the same name, larger than I had expected based on reports that exploding tourist counts had annoyed local residents and businesses alike to the point of banning photography.

Spindle: The real reason behind those crowds was the Kōbō-san (弘法さん) flea market held every 21st of the month, with this particular day (21 December) the largest of them all. Parcly didn't like the loud clattering of hooves, so she entered the inner grounds with an admission fee, where she basked in the serenity of Tōji's five-layer pagoda and surrounding gardens.

After fighting her way through yet more crowds on the way out, Parcly flagged a taxi to take her to a very thin standing-only shop in Ōmiya (大宮), an analogue of the Toya izakaya with more food options like fried oysters and tofu. It is known to be a favourite of the elderly, so we waited a very long time; even after enough space was vacated, I had to stay in her heart to avoid overlapping nearby customers.

Parcly: Horse racing played out on the television inside. After having my fill, I went off on my own race through Nishiki (錦) and connected shopping streets – among tourists, Kyoto is most loved for these. Nishiki specialises in food and I bought a bag of sesame seeds there, all under a lighted ceiling not unlike those in Las Pegasus's casinos.

Spindle: As soon as she darted into the next perpendicular alley, however, Philomena's feathers began overwhelming Parcly with their unwavering, eternal heat, drawing out beads of sweat like dew drops. It was still bearable, but she dashed back on the shortest path from Kyoto-kawaramachi (京都河原町) to the Osaka-Umeda complex to her accommodation. Once there, she plucked out the searing thin feathers, then collapsed onto the floor.

Parcly: I asked Spindle to get whatever food I would like from outside while I recovered, seeing her phase through the front door. I had faltered in accepting Celestia's gift: what had I done wrong? Face in the ground, I mused for a while before mustering strength to turn on the television, whereupon it showed the live broadcast of the opening ceremony for the New National Stadium in Tokyo.

"I shrugged the magical feathers off when walking," I inferred. "They were really asking me to be more daring, more involved in the place I am in now."

Spindle: I returned with a Shake Shack burger for Parcly to chomp on. She ate it with starry eyes, grateful for Celestia's lesson in disguise.