Six ponies opened their eyes to gnarled and twisted trees surrounding them completely. Twilight jumped as she felt a slight vibration around her neck. She looked down and noticed that the mirrors that Celestia had given them were now small and on thin silver chains. Each mirror was a locket, the front of which contained a small, clear stone that suddenly projected an image of Princess Celestia. “Hello, my little ponies.” She smiled, and Spike jumped into the picture to wave. “I just wanted to test the mirrors. From now on, whenever the mirror vibrates, just tap it with your hoof and I will be projected. Tap the back if you can’t answer where you are at the time. To call me or each other, open and imagine the cutie mark of whomever you wish to call.” She explained easily. I won’t keep you any longer now, good luck and goodbye.” With that, Celestia was gone.

“Well now which way do we go?” asked Rarity.

“Uh…” Twilight spun in a circle looking for an exit. “Dash, can you fly above the tree line?” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.
“Who do you think you’re talking to? Of course I can fly above the tree line. I’ll be back in ten seconds flat.” They all watched as she darted between branches, making her way to the treeline. She disappeared from view for a few moments before Pinkie Pie started bouncing around.
“What do you see up there Dashie?” She asked eagerly. Rainbow Dash slowly returned to the ground.
“If we go right, the trees become orange trees.” She answered. “I can’t be sure, but it looked like there was a town a little further.”
“Right it is then.” Twilight said as the six started their trek.
Soon they came across the orange orchard, where they saw an earth pony. He didn’t notice the six so Applejack spoke up.
“Excuse me?” The earth pony was blue with an orange mane, similar to the color of the orange slice he had as a cutie mark.
“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie!” Pinkie said bouncing around the group.
The earth pony turned with a smile on his face. “What can I do ya fer?” he asked. His happy expression quickly became puzzled. “You’re not from around here are ya?”
“Nope!” replied Pinkie, “ How can you tell?”
The earth pony chuckled, “First off it’s been almost 15 years since Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth ponies have been seen together. The Queen even has separate Galas for each race. Second you don’t have these.” He motioned to the brown ring around his hoof.
‘Sorry, I don’t believe I caught your name. I, am Rarity. What exactly are those… things?” Rarity questioned with disdain evident in her tone of voice.
“The name is Orange Julius, and these are tracking bracelets. The Queen uses them to make sure everypony is in their place. For example, mine is brown, so during work hours I should be in the Orchards. It also has my ID number, so if somepony is in the wrong place, they know who, and can provide the correct disciplinary action.”
There was a gasp followed by, “That’s not right! How do you take your cupcake breaks? Or visit your friends?”
“We don’t really get many chances to make friends. The Queen feels it encourages rebellion.” Julius explained.
“I am Twilight Sparkle. Do you think there is a way you can get us all inside?”
“Pinkie Pie and… I am sorry I didn’t catch your name,” he said looking at Applejack
“Uh, sorry, the name’s Applejack. This here is Fluttershy.”
“And I am Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in all of Equestria!” Rainbow said proudly, puffing out her chest.
“Nice to meet ya’ll. As I said it will be pretty easy to sneak in Applejack and Pinkie Pie. You’ll just need a fake tracking bracelet. As for the rest of ya’ll, the horns and wings will be a dead giveaway that you aren’t earth ponies.”
“They can be hidden. Twilight and I can wear hats, and Dash, Twilight, and Fluttershy can wear a dress to cover their wings.” Stated Rarity. “Although I have to admit that hiding my glorious horn is simply a crime against fabulousity!”
“It won’t be comfortable, but that should work.” Added Rainbow Dash, giving a downcast look at her wings.
Orange Julius thought for a moment. “Let me see what I can find.” He turned and took off at a gallop.
“Do you think we can trust him?” Applejack asked her friends.
“Of course we can. Don’t be so paranoid.” Answered Rainbow Dash.
“Um, you guys,” Fluttershy spoke up.
“What’s wrong Sugarcube?”
“Orange Julius is almost back.” She answered.
They turned to see him running down a row of trees. One straw hat on his head, another in his mouth. He had two plain dresses draped over his back. He deposited the clothes in front of the girls.
“I know they aren’t anything fancy, but fancy would make you stand out, and that’s the last thing we want.”
Rarity looked at the hat with disgust. “Let me see,” she muttered pensively. She used her magic to snatch a few orange blossoms off a nearby tree, and arranged them on the straw hat. “Much better.” She said before promptly placing the hat in a way that it wouldn’t ruin her perfectly styled mane.
Once they all were finished dressing, Orange Julius pulled six brown bracelets out of a backpack that had been hidden by the dresses. “These are real tracking bracelets., well, they are, just not activated.” Julius explained with a small smile. “Until they have been activated for tracking, you can remove them.” He began to hand them out to the six. “If you don’t mind me asking, why would you ever want to enter Mountreal? The people here have been trying to get out for more than a decade.”
“This town is Mountreal?” Julius nodded and Twilight began to explain, “We are from Equestria to the south, just past the Everfree forest. Our Princess asked us to investigate a possible attack on Equestria in the near future.”
“Well, one of our princesses.” Rarity smiled slyly. “Twilight here is a princess as well.”
“Riiiight... Well, Queen Gardenia needs to be stopped. She wants to fit the world into neat little boxes. She decides who is wealthy and who is poor, and then showers the wealthy with benefits for their loyalty. Ah’ll do what I can to help you.” Julius nodded seriously
Six wide eyed ponies looked at Julius. “We would be simply delighted to have your help darling.” Rarity answered after a brief pause.
“The first thing we need is to get inside unnoticed,” stated Twilight.
“No problem. Follow me.”

Author's Note

And the first original character has entered the scene! I hope you like him as much as we do!