We landed near the castle maybe half an hour later. Twilight and the others were let through, but I was stopped.

"State your business." One of the guards ordered. I stayed silent, and Twilight turned around and came back, noticing my absence.

"Don't worry about him, he's with us. Come on, Altaïr." She said. The guards returned to their original posts, and I followed Twilight into the castle. The castle itself was quite impressive, at least, compared to the simple buildings there were back on Earth. The floor was marble, along with the columns shooting up from it. There were many branching paths, but we continued on a straight path. My sightseeing was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder.

"This is the door to the throne room." Twilight explained. I nodded, and followed the six mares inside. There sat the two princesses on the far side of the room, the walls adorned with stained glass images, depicting scenes I did not understand. I couldn't help but notice a couple of the guards steal a glance at me. We walked up to the princesses, and my companions bowed. I did not, causing a few guards to glare at me, before Celestia stopped them by raising her hoof. She stood, as did her sister.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice, everypony. Please, follow us to the meeting hall. There are a couple ponies you need to become acquainted with, Altaïr." I nodded, and followed the princesses out of the throne room, and into a large hall with a table in the center, surrounded by fancy chairs. In one chair sat a white stallion, with two shades of blue in his mane and tail. His mark was oddly similar to Twilight's, only his had a shield behind it. In another sat a pink alicorn, with a tricolor purple, pink, and white mane and tail. Her cutie mark was a heart made of blue crystal, and she wore a tiara and royal regalia. They turned, and Twilight shot forward.

"Shiny! Cadence!" She caught him in an embrace, almost toppling him. He returned the hug in full force.

"Twily!" He replied, just as enthusiastic as Twilight. Twilight hopped to the floor, and her and the pink alicorn did a strange dance, saying lyrics I didn't quite get the meaning of. 'Sunshine? Ladybugs... what? Well, it's obvious they know each other...' I turned to Celestia, who wore a knowing smile.

"The white one is her brother, Shining Armor. They always shared a special bond. As for the alicorn..." She said to me, as said alicorn strode over.

"I don't believe we've met. My name is Princess Cadence, ruler of the Crystal Empire, along with my husband, Shining Armor." The stallion is question was busy laughing as Twilight bounced around him.

"I see. Thank you for enlightening me." I replied. She nodded. Soon after, the stallion took notice of me, and began to stare suspiciously. I returned the stare.

"Princess... who might this be?" He asked Celestia quizzically, slowly walking up to me. The room had a tense air to it, and Celestia soon broke the Silence.

"This is Altaïr, a... traveler, in a sense. I reasoned his, unique, skill set could be a valuable asset against the threat. He's staying with Twilight in the library for the time being." She explained.

"Hm... alright then. My name is Shining Armor, I'm the captain of the royal guard, Twilight's brother, and husband of Princess Cadence." Skepticism dripped from his voice during his introduction.

"Aww, why did you mention me last?" Cadence pouted playfully.

"Sorry dear..." Shining replied in the same playful manner, before returning to his more serious attitude. We all took our seats, Celestia stood from her seat at the end of the table to begin.

"Alright, Luna, you and Captain Armor already know this, but I still need to explain the situation to our guests. For the past couple of months, we've been noticing a startling rise in changeling activity, as well as reports of a few ponies going missing on the border. We believe they are building power for another invasion." Celestia told us. The mares, sans the princesses, gasped at the revelation.

"However," Celestia continued, "We do not expect the invasion to come for another four to six months. This is where you come in, Altaïr. I want you to-"

"Train an elite group of soldiers to fight the way I can, in order to repel the attack easier?" Celestia looked surprised at my outburst, but nodded. "As you wish." At my answer, Celestia smiled.

"Thank you very much, Altaïr."

The rest of the meeting was uneventful. Most of the rest was an explanation of the changelings, and a diagram of their structure was given to me so I could derive the most effective way to kill them. Needless to say, I was more than a little shocked at their ability to shape-shift.

'Alright, my job is to take a group of guards, and train them into Assassins? I have my work cut out for me. I'll have to talk to a smith about the hidden blades, too...' My thoughts were interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. I turned and saw Rainbow Dash standing there.

"Well, we have some down time. Why don't we head down to the gardens or somewhere to train?" She asked. I nodded.

"Sounds good. Meet me there in an hour or so, I have some things to do in town." I replied. She smiled and nodded back, before turning and walking away. I began walking towards the city, in hopes of finding a skilled blacksmith.

Author's Note

Alrighty then, I got number seven out! I'll try to-

Why haven't you been working on the story?

S-sis?! Well, erm...

And...

You're kidding, right? Ugh...

Alright, alright, I'm sorry, ok? Anyway, I'm going to try and work a bit faster, but school starts VERY soon, so I'll have to change my schedule. Thanks for understanding.

Like I always say, constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated, and thank you for reading!

(Also, I need to ask you something. Someone keep a cliche counter. Give me to total number of cliches in the chapter, and in the story as a whole. I'd do it myself, but I'm TOO LAZY. Also also, I BROKE TEN THOUSAND WORDS!!! WOOO!!!)