So, the night was interesting. Fenrir and I slept in the guest room, Kara slept in the room I supposedly used the first time I was a filly, and Jade and Swift opted to sleep on the ceiling. Yes, changelings can cling to such surfaces, and even sleep like that. It doesn't matter how often I've been exposed to it over my life, it still creeps me out. However creepy it is for me, it's even more so for my old pony parents. The old mare woke up the entire house, and probably the neighbors, when she walked in to Jade and Swift sleeping on the ceiling of the great hall (I believe they said it's called a living room... strange name in my opinion). Is it bad that I laughed when I found out why she screamed?

While walking through Canterlot, I got a glimspe of just how judgmental these high class ponies can be. It seemed like every one of them were either casting strange looks our way, or were making some kind of ugly comment about Kara. Yes, she's different, but so what? She wanted so badly to stand up for herself, but I kept telling her that to keep to oneself is the better option here. There's only so much I can take, though. Not long before the train station, there was one couple that made me snap. "Honey, look over there at the freak," Is probably one of the best ways to piss me off. It was obvious they were talking about Kara because the stallion was pointing right at her. I even let Kara join me with that attitude of hers. Oh, and the guards were called as well... Made me wish the princesses were with us like yesterday when we walked to my old parents' house. Nobody would dare say a thing about Kara if they knew the princesses were listening.

The train ride was relatively uneventful. Our little group took our seats in the back where nobody else was. I wasn't about to listen to ponies talking bad about Kara the whole ride. When we got off the train, the first place we went was the big crystal tree castle on the other side of town. Hard to believe I used to live in a place this nice. We had to split up to find the throne room, and even then, it took us about an hour. Once inside, I came face to face with the ponies who are apparently good friends of mine. Oh, and let's not forget Spike, the wingless dragon.

As it turns out, my old parents weren't the only ones informed of how I'd spent the last sixteen years of my life. Regardless of that knowledge, these ponies and dragon were still willing to be suppotive. Like my old parents, they don't like changelings (Though, I can't say I blame them), but they're not willing to let that get in the way of our friendship. The old me was really lucky to have friends like them.

Oh, and I think I figured out what happened all those years ago. Apparently I had talked someone named Zecora into letting me run some tests on an artifact known as the "Alicorn amulet". According to my notes from those tests, I had once believed it possible to harness the amulet's power and put it to good use elsewhere. The last thing I wrote was a letter to whoever found the research, saying something had gone terribly wrong and to tell my parents I love them, and behind that was a quickly scribbled apology letter to princess Celestia. Apparently Spike found the research, but didn't have any idea about it being even slightly connected to my disappearance (Don't ask me why, it's his head, not mine). The only mystery now is how I ended up outside the hive in a basket... though I may never solve that one.

I burned the research. Didn't want anyone getting any ideas. When I asked Spike what happened to the amulet, he said the princesses had it. That's good, I guess. You'd have to be dumber than the dumbest idiot to try and take from them.

After that was all taken care of, we all went to a sweets shop known as Sugarcube Corner. The food there is amazing. And milkshakes are something I'm going to be introducing to the hive when I get the chance. I bet they'd even better with some love energy mixed in. No, I don't need love energy, but I do prefer it as a taste enhancer. I actually asked if they could add some for me... and immediately felt like an idiot afterwards... well, nobody ever said I was the brightest one out there.

After Sugarcube corner, Swift challenged the rainbow maned pegasus, who literally has Rainbow as her first name by the way, to a race. Being the fastest thing on land, she claimed she could outRUN the pegasus who claimed to be the fastest flyer in Equestria. At first, it seemed like an odd racing style, and the pegasus turned it down at first. Then Swift asked if she was afraid of losing a flying race to someone who'll run on the ground the whole race. Soon after, both were at the starting line just outside Sugarcube Corner. The finish line was at the castle. I waited at the castle with Kara and Spike while the others waited at the starting line. The whole race took about fifteen seconds, give or take a few microseconds, and Swift won. We don't call her Swift for no reason. And no, she didn't teleport, either. She actually just straight up ran the whole way. The rainbow pegasus claimed to have gone easy on Swift, but nobody actually bought it.

When asked how she can run so damn fast, she explained how she would run with weights strapped to her legs. She will run a mile and a half like that every day. It wore her out at first, and she had been taken to the infirmary I don't even know how many times, but she'd go right back and do it again the next day. They tried everything to keep her from doing that, but nothing ever worked. She's always been determined to leave behind the legacy of being the fastest thing to ever walk on land. After today's performance, I'd say that's not outside the bounds of reality.

That was the last thing we really did. The rest of the day was spent setting up rooms in the castle for me and my hivemates. Pretty eventful day I'd say, and worth the trip down here. I wonder what the rest of this trip will be like.

Author's Note

Ok, so little fun fact about this chapter. After I finished writing about the research on the Alicorn amulet, I saved and went to go get something to eat. When I came back, I saw the chapter had 666 words. Yea... make of that what you will.

So, how did Swift outrun the fastest flyer in Equestria? After all, we've seen Rainbow take off like a rocket on super steroids. Surely she'd have reached the castle first since she could just fly in a straight line... right? Here's the thing: Yes, she's fast as Hell, but she's also lazy as Hell and cocky as Hell. Swift is fast as Hell, but not lazy or cocky. Not only that, but she trains every day. Honestly, how often do we catch Rainbow training compared to how often she's seen sleeping the day away on clouds? Oh, and she's also sixteen years older than she currently would be on the show, and I feel that would also hold her back a bit. Besides, why does Rainbow have to be the only one who can take off like a bullet? Besides, I wanted to have Rainbow lose a race for once.