Author's Note

((I have a bit more time than I originally thought. Might be able to get a few more chapters up real quick))

The Introduction

I waited for the sun to go down before moving out. Covered by the shadows of the night should make me very difficult to spot. I made my way toward the large castle just spitting distance from this Ponyville place while avoiding the town itself for obvious reasons. When I made it to my destination I crouched down beside a bush to make sure nothing was around. I carefully scanned the area to find no sign of life and went for the door. Luckily it was unlocked, saves me the lock-pick. After creeping in I slowly closed the door, trying to make as little noise as possible. This place was ridiculous, the entire exterior and interior looked like it was made entirely of crystals. Not only that, but the hallways seemed to stretch for miles; how am I supposed to navigate my way through this place without getting lost?

After a bit of wandering I found myself in a large room with a table and six large throne-like chairs, not including the one small chair resting beside one of them. My body jerked as I heard something moving in my direction and I ducked behind one of the chairs. The sound of multiple footsteps came close to my area and I immediately reached for my knife. No! The boss said no killing, not yet. I am to find the alicorn princess that lives here and play nice until I can gain their trust. I peeked out from behind the chair and saw a white unicorn with a purple mane slowly walking with a glass of water levitating in front of her. Wait, only one? But he said six ponies lived here and it sounded like...right, horses have four feet. I mentally slapped myself for not realizing that in the first place. If I'm to get away with stuff like this I need to remember these details. The unicorn looked drowsy, she was likely grabbing a drink and heading straight back to bed, maybe if I follow her I can find out where the bedrooms are.

After a bit of stalking and hiding behind curtains and crystals she walked into a room that I could see was extravagantly designed with colorful and flashy materials. She's a high-end kind of pony, enjoys the finer things in life, expensive tastes run in her blood which likely makes her a bit of a snob. I made sure to commit that to memory, if I'm going to try to make friends I have to learn how to appeal to their personalities. She closed the door to her room and that was that. If her room was there then the others shouldn't be too far, they were friends after all. I opened the door to another room and found it filled with a bunch of party supplies and things that could easily make a small child smile, on the bed was a pink pony with a very poofy pink mane snoring very loudly. This one was too easy; This one was a party animal, likely does things that are a bit unpredictable, probably does anything to make their friends happy despite being slightly annoying from time to time. However, this was not the pony I was looking for. Master told me the one I wanted was purple and had wings and a horn. I closed the door softly and moved on to the next. This one was relatively plain despite all of the books in it. So this one's a heavy reader, probably well educated, but those with book smarts tend not to read people accurately, this is good for me. Typically smart people like to do things by-the-book and this can make them a bit ignorant. Moving on to the bed...

"Jackpot..." Hours later the sun rose and the alicorn princess woke up with a yawn and stretched as she sat up before letting out a yelp.

Twlight woke up feeling very refreshed and ready to take on the day. She yawned a bit as she got up and stretched before seeing something rather odd. It's appearance startled her and she yelped out of fear. She lost balance and fell out of bed, landing on the floor next to spike with a thud. Spike woke up and saw her.

"Twilight? What are you doing on the floor?" She stared at the creature sitting on the end of her bed who was silently staring at them. Spike turned around and screamed the moment he saw it. He jumped and took refuge behind her. Twilight got up and straightened herself to assess the situation, despite still being a bit disturbed by this hooded thing. I mean, how couldn't She? It was just sitting there staring at her through a what looked like a mask. It had one eye blacked out and the other circled and X'ed out, it had a weird smile on it too. The creature was dressed in all black from the head down. It was now or never. She cleared her throat and took her royal posture as she addressed him.

"Greetings, uh...sir? Um, my name is Twilight Sparkle. I don't mean to be rude or anything, but what are you doing in my castle?" She asked, a bit more shaky than she'd like to admit.

"I was looking for you, I guess." It said calmly.

"Oh, heh heh. What for?" She did her best to not appear fearful, but even Spike could see how terrified she was.

"Well, to be honest I'm a little lost." It didn't sound threatening, but she couldn't be too sure.

"Lost? How so?" She's got to find out as much about it as she can. It reached up and removed its hood, running what appears to be claws through a patch of short black hair. It's claws don't seem to have nails, well, none that were sharp.

"Well I'm not exactly sure where I am. I woke up in a forest just outside of town and after I got out I saw this castle. I assumed it belonged to royalty and who better to answer my questions than the ruler?" He seems genuine...

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call myself the ruler, I just help out really, but I am the princess of friendship." Being honest is probably the best way to go about this, especially if she's giving him her royal title. The creature stepped off of the bed and stood on two legs. It got down on one knee and bowed. Her plan worked!

This is disgusting, bowing before something that isn't my master, but she believed the story. I just have to role with it and show respect until they formally welcome me.

"It's an honor to meet you Princess Sparkle. I apologize for intruding on your property without consent." I looked up and saw a blush forming on her face...really?

"Oh, please, don't bow. It's fine. You just startled me is all." I stood up and looked over her, she seemed to calm down, but the purple lizard was still cowering behind her hind leg.

"So, about where I am?" I asked, still going with the whole 'lost traveler' bit my master and I came up with.

"Oh, right! You're in Ponyville." Fascinating...sometimes my sarcasm is a bit too convincing, even for me.

"Umm..." I fell silent for a moment, still playing the role.

"Is something wrong?" She had a concerned look on her face, she's still buying it.

"No, I'm just wondering...why are you a pony?" Her eyes widened and her ears fell flat. I've already won.