Inside safe walls

I first want to start with that, except for the main ponies in the MLP series (Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Rainbow Dash and the common names of the other known characters.) I have just given the ponies I come up with myself, like the two Scouts in the beginning, normal names like Eric, Adam and names like that, why? because i am too non-creative, plus having elaborate pony names for ponies that will only be mentioned one or two times in this fic ( which is kinda long) is in my opinion just unnecessary.

Also, to make the story more believable, I've put Canterlot on the top on some hills instead of up on a cliff in the mountains, and I've tried to match the ponies personalities as best as I could but I think it'll be more of a mix of my own version of them and their real personalities but I hope this wont kill your boner too much.
And since English isn't my first language there WILL be some grammatical errors in it and please dont get too upset if there's some typos too.
Later in the story it will become clop/ship (most-likely clop) and words like "cock" and "pussy" will appear, often in the same sentence and very close to eachother.
Last but not least, just so that you don't pronounce his name wrong in your head, Milon (at least THIS Milon) is pronounced My-lon, and NOT Millon or Me-lon.

Thank you.

Please enjoy~

_________

Inside safe walls

Prologue: The Discovery

Eric looked around, it was hot outside and he was sweaty and annoyed. The Captain of the Royal Guard had gotten orders to send scouts out to explore the regions around Equestria, why they didn't know but there were many possibilites to why, and as always he and Daniel were the lucky ones.

"What is the point of this? I just don't seem to get it!" He heard Daniel's voice beside him, he swallowed the mouthful of water he had just been drinking from the water flask he has at his hip, along with his saddlebag.

"I don't know, beats me. I mean, ponies have already explored the regions around Equestria many times. At least I think so." Daniel chuckled and sat down on a log that laid across the grass next to them. It hadn't been cut and it was mossy, so it had been laying there for a while, maybe it had fallen in the big storm that crossed Equestria the month before?

"At least we don't have to wear all that fancy armour that the soldiers have, I think I would have boiled to death in one of those in this weather." Daniel said as took off the leather cowl he was wearing, letting his short brown mane flow out in the breeze. "Sweet Celestia, finally some wind."

Eric nodded. "Yeah, the heat is unbearable. Still, it's better than if it were in the middle of winter, and we were freezing our behinds off." He huffed as he too took off his leather cowl, letting out his bright blond mane aswell."I wonder what Celestia want us to find out here, if there is anything to find."

Daniel opened his saddlebag and took out an apple, taking a bite out of it as he answered Eric's question. "Maybe she's just looking to expand the borders? Or maybe she's looking for a good location to build a new town or city? Or maybe even a fort, if our armies ever needed to be reinforced somewhere? After all, Appleoosa was founded for one reason, which was to supply the major cities in the area with food from all the apples. Maybe she is planning something similar this time?"

Eric nodded, that sounded logical, but he still couldn't shake the feeling of something being amiss. "Still we HAVE explored here before, and if we have, there should be maps. Which in turn can tell her everything about the area, its location and how far it is from Canterlot, or whatever town she has in mind."

This statement earned a smile from Daniel. "I think you're looking too much into this, I think she just wants to do a check-up so to speak. Just to see if anything has changed." Once again Eric thought that this was logical, if she had a reason for being interested in these parts it's best to send out people to look at the current state of a location, rather than descriptions and maps that were made years ago.

"We better get moving." Daniel said, and stood up, strapping his saddlebag back into place.

"There's still some land to the east we have to explore." Eric sighed, he was so tired of having to run around doing other ponies errands. He gave up the whining approach he was about to take about their situation, the quicker they got done the faster they could get home and be with their friends, get some rest and cool down.

They had been walking for a few days now, Eric liked sleeping in the open, it made him feel more free than he was, taking orders and having to run around like a crazed colt, he thought back to all the memories he had of him and Daniel exploring. All the times they had been in danger, running away in a comical manner from creatures, screaming their heads off. He smiled, there had been many wonderful nights under the starts, sitting by the campfire, just enjoying themselves.

Daniel had stopped, which took Eric from his thoughts, he turned around and looked at his friend who was standing completely still.

"Daniel, what is it?"

"Shh... be quiet!" He answered in a whisper " I heard something."

They slowly started to move forward through the woods, heading towards the sound Daniel heard.

As they did this they took out small helmet looking straps with a blade shaped horn on it, which would be placed on the forehead and used for impaling enemies, just as the unicorns in the army does during battles.
These helmets were a standard in the equestrian army and every type of pony enlisted had one.
Though the Pegasi also used these helmets they normally fly up and land on their enemies, pummeling and trampling them, attempting to break bones and armour to render their enemies unable to counter-attack before they use the blades on their helmets to finish them off.

The undergrowth was thick here, and through them, they could hear sounds that were familiar. Sounds of hammers on steel and nails being hammered into wood. They stepped forward and carefully looked through the leaves, gasping as they saw what was making the noises.

The creatures they were looking at were as nothing they had seen before. They had no coat from what they could see, and they were walking on their hind legs instead of all four legs. A group of them, about five, were pulling a rope to bring up a palisade wall, which was also held together by tied ropes. but they didn't pull with magic or with their mouths as ponies would. They had some sort of outgrowth were their hooves would have been on their front legs, the only thing that Eric and Daniel could compare it to was brances on a tree that branched out from the main log, but of course much smaller.

Eric looked to Daniel and whispered.
"Sweet Celestia... We have definately found something that wasn't here before..."

Chapter 1: Cultural Exchange

"TWILIIIIGHT!" Spike came running into the library where Twilight was living, the volume of his voice causing the whole tree to shake, a few books falling from their place in the bookshelves.

Twilight sighed, never a quiet moment to enjoy her books, it seemed that she spent more time rearranging and putting them back in place than actually reading them." Yes Spike, what is it?" the little dragon stopped in front of her and panted.

"I have..haah... haah... A message from.. haah... Princess Celestia." His body heaved as he caught his breath, he must have ran very far until he got home. Suddenly his cheeks grew and he let out a big burp, followed by green flames and a rolled up parchment that slowly floated down to the floor.

" I get letters from the Princess all the time Spike, why are you so excited about this one, anything special? Any new books i have to read, or maybe a test?" She asked, with a smile on her lips. Spike's excitement level had always been at maximum and he got thrilled over every single thing that happened, unless it was something boring, which also was everything that did not include Rarity and jewels.

"Oh I promise you, you will be excited too, Twilight! This IS a special letter." He cleared his throat and started to read from the letter:

"Ahem. My dear and faithful student Twilight, there has been a huge discovery in the lands east of Equestria! without knowing it, we have been neighbours with a different kind of people. They call themselves "Humans" after the name of their land, Holems. Personally I can't really see the connection, but I guess that many of our questions can be answered by studying their history. Apparently they are very different from us, they walk on two legs and have neither wings or horns, instead of hooves they have something called "hands", instead of using their mouths or magic to interact with object they use their hands to pick them up. I've also been told that they have no connection to magic at all, or at least there are very few that possess magic powers. All of this must sound very exciting to you and i understand that you might want to know more, therefore you and your friends are to invited my castle this evening. A representative from the country of Holems will arrive with an escort, and learning about other cultures and cultural knowledge is important. I expect you and your fiend as soon as possible. Best wishes, from your teacher, Princess Celestia."

Spike looked up at Twilight as he rolled up the parchment. "How cool is that? New people, that aren't ponies! This is going to be so awesome!" He rubbed his cheek and his expression changed from excited to slightly concerned. "Unless they happen to be aggressive and dangerous."

"Ohh this is so exciting!" Twilight jumped up and down and had a wide smile on her face. "New people! This is going to be wonderful! I will have new things to study! Human history, cultural and social norms, how exciting!" She noticed Spike's concerned look and stopped jumping around to assure him that everything would be allright. "I'm sure that they are neither aggressive nor dangerous Spike, they did agree to send a representative after all. If they had any intentions of being aggressive, Equestria would be preparing its defences and frankly the only thing out of the ordinary today actually, is this discovery."

Spike nodded and put away the parchment into one of the shelves. "We have to find the others don't we?" He asked and jumped up on Twilight's back. "I know where Pinkie Pie and Applejack are at least, Applejack is at Sweet Apple Acres and I think Pinkie is in Mr. and Mrs. Cake's Café, sugarcube corner."

Twilight walked out the door into the sunny day and smiled. "That's the best place to start then."

...

Little fillies and colts were out playing in the nice weather, the sight of them all playing and laughing filled Twilight with a warm feeling of happiness, Ponyville was such a nice town, and she were happy that she moved there after she met all her friends. First they headed towards the café since that was closest to Twilight's home, Spike looked around and waved at the young ponies playing.

They arrived at the café and went towards the door, but before Twilight could open it, it burst wide open and Pinkie Pie stood in front of them.

"Hi Twilight!"

The commotion startled both Twilight and Spike and caused Spike to fall off her back. "Waah!" He landed with a thud and groaned "Urrrgh..."

Pinkie pie giggled at this and apologized "Oh I'm sorry, Spike."

"It's all right, Pinkie " He answered and stood up while dusting himself off.

"Have you come for a cupcake? Or maybe a muffin? We have both actually, and some apple soda! How does that sound?" Pinkie asked all this very fast, making Spike give Twilight a confused look.

"No thank you Pinkie, I'm actually here to tell you that Princess Celestia wants us all to gather in Canterlot Castle and speak with her. Could you help me find Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy and make them come to the Library?"

Pinkie pie smiled and made a salute with her hoof. "Aye aye captain!" And she to trotted away, humming a happy tune. Twilight shook her head slightly and turned around."Come on Spike, let's head to Sweet Apples Acres"

Spike jogged after her and jumped up on her back again. "I don't think I'll ever get completely used to how Pinkie are, always energetic and... Well, weird."

...

Sweet Apples Acres were as busy as always, Big Mac kicking trees to make them drop apples, Apple Bloom trying to help him out and Granny Smith is sitting in her rocking-chair on the porch.

"Hello Apple bloom, hello Granny Smith!"

"Hiya, Twilight!" Apple Bloom waved at them.

"How's everything going?" Twilight asked and looked at Grandma Smith. The rocking-chair creaked and Granny Smith shaked slightly.

"Mah old hip has been fightin' with me all day, so I sat down for a while, Twahlaht dear." Twilight smiled slightly. Poor Granny Smith, she is very old, her hip must be causing her a lot of grief.

"Is Applejack around here?"

"Yeah" Apple bloom walked over to them, her red bow bouncing as she went. "She is in the cider cellar."

"Oh..." Twilight shifted where she stood, clearly uncomfortable. "Can you get her?"

"Sure thing, just hold on a minute." The little filly ran away toward the barn, toward the open door in the ground.

"Are you still afraid of that place?" Spike asked her. The mere sight of the cellar reminded her of the day she had fallen into it, the day Pinkie Pie had all her twitching, it had opened right in front of her and she hurt herself really bad when she fell down the stairs. It wasn't really that bad, but she didn't like rooms that were opened by hatches in the ground and floor after that.

"Well, yeah I... I get a bit uneasy when I think about it." She answered and cleared her throat. Spike thought it was best not to push the subject, so he nodded and walked around, waiting for Apple Bloom and Applejack's return.

"Hiya, sugarcubes!" The happy and warm voice that Applejack had always made Twilight feel happy. "Why if it isn't Spike and Twilight, what brings you two all the way here? Ran out of cider?" Spike's face lit up, he absolutely loved the Sweet Apple Acres cider.

"Maybe some other day, today we come with an invitation from Princess Celestia! We are to be at Canterlot Castle tonight! Pinkie Pie is gathering Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Rarity right now! If you have anything to pack, then I guess now should be the time."

"Well, I guess we will come back home in a day or so, right? I don't need to bring anything but my hat if that's the case." she smiled and looked up at her hat. "So what are we going to Canterlot for anyways?" Spike jumped back up onto Twilight's back and began to explain to Applejack, with excitement in his voice.

"Explorers have discovered a country next to Equestria! Filled with people called 'Humans', and Celestia want us to meet with one of their representatives!"

Applejack had a mixed expression of excitement and shock on her face. "Another sort of people? sound mighty interesting. Maybe if Equestria and them start some trading, me and the family might earn some extra money selling apples and cider!" Her excitement successfully spread onto Twilight. "Hopefully both of our countries can prosper from this!"

Now, Twilight remembered that she had asked Pinkie to make the others meet them at the library, she gave out a small sigh, walking back and forth like this was really tiring.

...

The carriage Twilight and her friends were sitting in, heading towards Canterlot, was pulled by four strong stallions and shook on the bumpy road. This caused Spike to be slightly sick, making him sit with his head outside the carriage window to get some fresh air while the other ponies chatted away inside.

"Oh I'm sure that they will be MESMERIZED by the dress I will be wearing during the ceremony!" Rarity claimed with a confident tone.

"I just don't want them to be mean and scary..." Fluttershy sounded very nervous but when you looked at her you could see that she only were her normal, shy self.

"How are you, Spikey dear? " Rarity asked and rubbed her cheek against Spikes.

"I don't like when it bounces this much..." He burped and began to take heavy breaths of the outside air again. Luckily the carriage wasn't far from Canterlot now, his torture would end soon.

Applejack looked out the side of the carriage and gave a gasp at what she saw.

"What in tarnation!? Girls, throw a look at this!" All of the ponies, including Spike, looked out the carriage's windows, and they too gasped.

More tents than they had ever seen before at once, stood almost a mile or two away upon the slopes outside of Canterlot.

"Are those the Humans that are going to represent 'Holems', was it? " Rarity asked, her eyes as large as dinner plates.

Twilight, with just as much shock in her voice answered. "I think so, but... If I'm right, that must be enough tents for more than a few hundred individuals! Why do they send that many people here?"

"Maybe to have a big party!" Came from Pinkie Pie, who was smiling wide, this thought allone making her very excited, and very hungry for cake.

"Maybe..." they could hear Fluttershy's voice, "Maybe it is to intimidate us?"

That seemed to be the most logical explanation at the moment and the thought of all the people that could fit all those tents actually send a slight chill down Twilights spine.

In the distance they could see a large pole being raised, and at the top a flag was waving in the wind. It was red with a picture of a plumed black helmet, portrayed with a side view in the middle.

Almost immediately Twilight started to think about what it stood for or symbolized and compared it with Equestrias own flag, with Celestia and Luna circling the sun and the moon.

"If they try anything, I'll show them REAL Pegasus material!" Rainbow Dash had her competition face on, or as we modern humans would say, a 'Come At Me Bro' face.

"Calm down, Rainbow Dash! Being a Ruffian sure won't make you popular with them!" Rarity put her hoof on Rainbow Dash's chest, to make her sit down again.

"I'm just saying... If they try anything..." She murmured and looked out the carriage window again.

...

Celestia welcomed the seven friends with a warm smile and a greeting.

"Girls, Spike, this is a wonderful day! The Human Representative will arrive with a parade this evening and we will exchange cultural gifts, to show eachother mutual respect."

"The parade will be on the Canterlot Main Road, right? Will we have good seats, right?" As always, Pinkie was skipping around, getting her party cannon ready.

"You will actually be here in the Castle to meet the Humans personally." Celestia smiled at them as the tapping of hooves came into the throne room, a guards that held a roll of parchment in his mouth walked over to Celestia. He bowed, and put it on the floor in front of Her.

"A message from the human general 'Milon', Princess!" He said and turned around, walking back out from the room.

"Hmm, what could this be?" Celestia opened it up with her magic, looked at it and then handed it to Spike.

"Spike, if you would." Spike cleared his voice and began to read.

"I, Milon, General of the Royal Army of Holems and leader of the Myrmidon army, wants to wish you good health and prosperity. It is with a happy heart I write this letter, the ponies of Canterlot who has had the chance to meet us already has been most polite and honourable towards us and we wish to be the same towards you. I look forward to the audience with your Royal Highness this evening and I feel that we will all be happy with the outcome. For the banquet, me and my followers will bring with us food from Holems for you to taste and we will also bring with us some beverages for us all to drink. I will also happily tell you my family history, as this is tradition when getting the honour to meet royalty. My family is highly respected in Holems and I wish to earn the same respect in Equestria. May health and prosperity come to all of Equestria!"

Spike closed the parchment. "Well, he sure seemed to be a nice guy." He commented and looked around at the others.

"Food and drinks!" Pinkie shouted out, her eyes gleaming. "CAKE!"

"We don't know if they will actually bring a cake, Pinkie." Applejack put her hat back on her head after taking it off the fix her mane. "They might not even know what cake is."

Pinkie pouted at this. "That would be a bummer, but I know!" Her face lit up again and says "WE can bring a cake!"

This made Celestia giggle. "Oh of course dear, I'll make sure that the Castle's cooks add a cake to the banquet."

"He definitely sounds like he has some status." Rainbow Dash grinned "General of the ROYAL army AND leader of the MYRMIDON Forces!"

"What does 'Myrmidon' mean?" Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash, interested in how much she knew.

Rainbow Dash blushed "I... Don't really know, but it sounded cool..."

"Now then, girls, I have some very important errands to run and a lot of things to prepare before the humans arrive in a few hours. The tower room is at your disposal and you are as always free to do whatever you feel like."

"Don't forget the cake!" Pinkie pie smiled at her.

"I won't, Pinkie. Goodbye~" They all said goodbye to the Princess and headed up to towards the tower.

On the way, they met Princess Luna and they chatted with her for a while about the coming event and she said that she was exalted about all of it.

They finally got up to the tower and started to do their own things, Fluttershy was talking with Applejack and Twilight, Rarity was trying out different dresses to wear at the evening whilst chatting happily with Spike, and Rainbow Dash was just resting in the bed, reading a book about 'Daring Do' and her adventures.

A knock was heard on the door and Princess Cadence and Shining Armour walked in. Everyone was so excited about this day and what it could bring.

...

From the Tower you could see all of Canterlot and the hills and plains around it.

In the Human Camp you could see people walking and running around, some armour clad and some seeming to wear regular leather clothes. Everyone was preparing for the coming parade, all over Canterlot people were getting ready, standing by the side of the road, behind the royal guards. The Equestrian flag and banners was being hung up wherever they could be, waving proud in the wind.

Suddenly a fanfare signalled that the parade was about to start. This caused the streets to fill with ponies and Twilight and her friends went down to the Main Castle Hall. The gates to Canterlot Castle was wide open so that you could see the main road which led from the town gates all the way to the castle. They all waited patiently and exited, the sound of ponies talking and laughing filled Canterlot, more so that it ever done before. Suddenly they could hear the sound of marching and the louder it got the more they could feel the ground under their hooves shake.

There! The first row of armour clad soldiers came through the city gates and was met with roaring cheers and waving flags. The soldiers wore leather clothing with armour upon it and their shields were of rectangular shape and their helmets had plumes in them. The person first in the whole parade, which was the general Milon, had the biggest plume of them all, and he was holding a banner with the red and black flag in his right hand.

If the reader is wondering, the closest comparison to how they looked would be the ancient roman soldiers in our world, go on, google is your friend.

They all had smiles on their faces at their welcome, and at the orders of the General in the front they performed some sort of show, using their shields to form different formations.

"TURTLE FORMATION!" The general shouted and the soldiers at the edges of the each group lifted their shields close to their sides and the ones in the middle lifted their shields above their heads, making themselves look like a big armoured worm. Between the groups of soldiers there were humans juggling with burning torches, making the small fillies and colts in the crowd gasp in excitement, and right after them were musicians, playing on drums and bagpipes.

Slowly but surely the long trail of humans came closer and closer towards the Castle. Twilight shook a bit, nervous as she was, so was Fluttershy, but Rarity was patting her on the back in a comforting manner.

Rarity was wearing a white and purple dress, with many frills on it and truth be told, she looked astounding. Princess Cadance smiled at Twilight as she stood next to her.

"Everything will be alright." Twilight nodded, feeling more at ease now, but still nervous.

Shining Armour, fully dressed in his own gear took his place at the side of Celestia's Throne. The parade had now reached the foot of the stairs leading up to the Castle. The humans stopped and only the General holding the banner and two soldiers holding two boxes walked up the stairs. They walked up the stairs and into the main hall, they stopped in front of Princess Celestia and Luna, their backs straight and their heads held up proud.

"I, Milon, general and representative of the royal empire of Holems, salute you, ruler of Equestria!" Milon and his two companions knelt and he took off his helmet, revealing his face. He was a young man, not older much than twenty-five years.

His face had a few scars but it did not look like it was shaped by battles, instead it looked like it had been shaped by smiles.

He stood up again, his helmet under his left arm and the banner still held in his right hand. Now Celestia and Luna bowed at him.

"I, Celestia, and my sister Princess Luna, rulers of Equestria Salute you, Milon and wish you welcome to our home."

Shining armor stepped forward, speaking as he walked towards Milon."And I am Shining Armour, the captain of Celestias personal guard, I too welcome you." He stopped in front of Milon and gave a short bow with his head.

Milon smiled widely. "Holems and the Myrmidon forces comes in peace, and we come as brothers!" He let the banner lean against his side and held out his right hand, Shining Armour held out his hoof and they shook them.

"Holems wish to give you a few gifts!" Milon motioned his guards to step forward and place the boxes they held on the castle floor, after doing so they opened them up, revealing the objects inside.

One as a sword, sharp, shining and its handle was decorated with gold and jewels, the other was a silver tiara decorated with rubies.

"The sword, i smithed myself, and it's made of the hardest steel, lined with gold and decorated with the most valuable jewels!" Milon started to describe the gifts, and as he said 'valuable' Rarity let out a low squeal.

He pointed at the tiara and continued. "This is a silver tiara decorated with rubies. It symbolizes health and prosperity!" As he spoke his last sentence he bowed his head and smiled.

"Milon, your gifts are both generous and beautiful. we thank you greatly. I suspect that your soldiers are tired, hungry and thirsty from travelling here and as a gift of my own, I will make sure to give you supplements to feed all of you." Celestia said to him, her voice itself showing how grateful she was of the gifts.

"Thank you princess, my men will appreciate it greatly!"

"And I," Applejack suddenly said and stepped forward "I will make sure that you will get some of Sweet Apple Acres finest cider" Milon looked at her and smiled.

"That sounds very good, thank you for your kindness, miss...?"

"My name is Applejack, sugarcube." She blushed slightly at her own words.

"Thank you Applejack. Who are your companions here, princess?"

Celestia walked down to Twilight and the others. "This is my student, Twilight Sparkle, and these are her friends, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and her assistant Spike." They all bowed when their names were said, except for pinkie pie, who said "HI!" and waved her hoof, making Milon chuckle.

"Now, I want my men to salute you too Princess, if we may?" Celestia nodded and all of them headed out the castle gate and to the top of the staircase.

The human soldiers still stood there, looking up towards them.

"Men!" Milon shouted with a loud, strong voice. "Hail Princess Celestia and Princess Luna! The rulers of Equestria!" and with one synchronized voice that seemed to make everything vibrate, they answered.

"AOOH! AOOH! AOOH!" This made all the ponies outside cheer again, their roar almost over-voicing Milon.

"You may go back to camp or stay in Canterlot for tonight, but if you get in trouble the guards will deal with you in the manner everyone else is dealt with and you will take the punishment! If you do not, i will punish you myself!"

"YES SIR!" The soldiers answered and started to scatter, some heading back outside towards their camp and some headed into town, many of the ponies had already started to speak with some of them. Milon turned back around.

"If you give me a while the food we brought with us will soon arrive."