Twice an Alien

Ch. 9 Why I’m Here Pt.1

Ahhhhhhh. What an excellent rest. I don’t think I’ve slept that well in years. Which is strange considering I don’t even fit on this bed. I suppose Twilight’s words last night helped calm my mind more than I realized. Even though I’m pleased with the outcome I am rather annoyed that her words were brought on by my outburst in the kitchen. I need to maintain better control of my emotions in the future. Protectors must always be in control of themselves.

I reached upwards and stretched out my body. Looking up past my hands I was informed that it was daybreak by the skylight. A small amount of sunlight was trickling into the room and warming my legs. As a lot happened yesterday I feel some meditation this morning might behoove me. I’ll need to have mental clarity during my continued conversation with Celestia and Luna today. Dropping my hands I curled my body into a meditative stance I began my morning introspection session.

I hadn’t planned on revealing as much as I did to the princesses yesterday. Of course I also hadn’t planned on one of them seeing me train. I’m a bit frustrated that after finding a training spot miles away from Ponyville she still found me. Seems like a strange coincidence. I’d like to ask her how she found me all the way out there the other day. Although I suppose It doesn’t really matter now. What’s done is done.

I’m deeply saddened that they chose to receive that vision yesterday. I didn’t want anyone from this world to have to see things like that. Though I am surprised they handled the vision so well. Considering that they’ve been rulers for thousands of years I’m sure they’ve seen their fair share of death. On that note even with as calm and peaceful as Equestria seems I wonder if they’ve ever had to lead it through a war. If I’m to protect these lands I’ll need to know the status of Equestria’s military. That is if they have one.

Perhaps I can convince them to talk about it with me today. If not then i’ll just have to find out what I can from Twilight’s library. No matter what they choose to tell me about their military I’m going to have to find out everything that’s recently happened in these lands. If I’ve been sent here I’ll need to rapidly seek out any oddities around Equestria as of late. Strange occurrences are usually a tell tale sign of what protectors are here to stop.

After that I’ll need to figure out if Celestia and Luna can actually send objects across universes as we discussed. If they can then that will greatly aid me in any fight I might have against potential threats to these lands. As long as I can get in contact with mother I know that she’ll do everything she can to help me with my duty.

Before I can do any of this I’ll need to get to Canterlot castle. The princesses mentioned that’s where I would find their court. I remember them telling Twilight to lead me and the elements of harmony to their castle. They also mentioned they’d pay for the tickets. But what were the tickets for? They hadn’t mentioned what mode of transportation we’d be taking to get to there. Hmmmmm. Well I suppose I’m not going to figure it out by sitting here on my bed. Time to get the girls and start our trip.

Opening my eyes I uncurled my body and stood up. Looking to my dresser I saw the pile of Rarity’s clothing and reached down to grab one. I figured I’d wear Fluttershy’s clothing today. I’m not sure how serious today's talks are going to be but if they’re anything like yesterday then there might be some unpleasant parts again. Maybe if I wore her set of clothing it would help keep her calm if any nasty topics should come up again. Familiar things, such as her cutie mark, should help her feel safe.

I quickly stripped yesterday's outfit and put on Fluttershy’s. Reaching down into my dresser drawer I also grabbed my powerless phone and slipped it into my right pocket. I would need it to contact mother if Celestia and Luna’s claims proved to be true. Of course even if they failed I was hoping that they might be able to set me up with a way to charge my phone again. Even though I wouldn’t have an internet connection my phone still had a lot of useful information in it that I was hoping to gain access too.

Mother always told me that smartphones were one of the humans greatest inventions. Smartphones were a perfect counterpart to the knowledge protectors had been given by our visions. While our visions granted us expansive knowledge of fighting and other valuable lessons it did not help us remember other intellectual things. How to craft weapons, create buildings, and recreate technology from blueprints were all things A protector might need to know. So mother created a technological repository of critical information that we should have at all times.

As protectors never knew when they might be whisked away she wisely told me to carry two things on me at all times. My smartphone and a small foldable solar energy panel. *sigh* Unfortunately I hadn’t listened to mother the night I’d been sent here to Equestria. I’d gone to a bar with my friends to get drunk and hadn’t wanted to carry the solar panel. A decision that I deeply regretted now. Raising my hands I slapped my cheeks and nodded. No use lamenting my lackadaisical ways now. I need to hope for the best and stay positive today.

Walking out of my room's door I made my way down the stairs to the second floor where Twilight and Spike slept. Reaching the bottom step I heard a, “Heeerrrrrr,” and looked over to see where it was coming from. Twilight had apparently just awaken from her sleep and was doing her morning stretch routine. As with everything else these ponies do, it was ridiculously adorable. Twilight was rolling around and stretching out her little legs on the bed.

I watched as she took time to bend and flex all of her leg muscles. The little jumps she did in between each leg were almost too much for me. I knew we had things to do today but I was loathe to interrupt this adorable scene. Next she decided to twist herself into the pony equivalent of the downward dog position. The rational part of my mind told me it was time to say something when she started shaking her hips and swishing her tail around. If she turned around now she’d assume that while stretching I’d been given quite the eyeful and done nothing but stare. I’d hate for her to think ill of me.

“As much as I’m enjoying the show Twilight, I need to inform you of my presence before your stretch routine becomes too risque.”

“Ahh! Cicero!” Twilight cried as she spun around.

“Morning Twilight!” I said as cheerily as possible. “Sorry for startling you but I caught your stretch routine on the way down from my room and I didn’t want to interrupt before you’d finished. Although I figured you’d rather I interrupt when you started showing of the goods.” I wiggled my eyebrows up and down suggestively.

Twilight blushed and said, “Yes…. Well…. What was it that you needed Cicero?”

“Just wanted to tell you that I’m going to take a shower before we leave today. Your bathrooms in this land don’t have locks and I wanted to warn you before I went it.” I ran my hands up and down my body while saying, “I know how much you enjoy sneaking peeks at my sexy alien body after our last incident.”

“Cicero!” Said a flustered Twilight. “That was an accident!”

I laughed and stopped rubbing my body. “*heh* Sorry Twilight. You know i’m just playing around with you.” Walking towards the bathroom I said, “I’ll see you when I finish.”

Entering the bathroom I disrobed and went through my awkward cleansing routine in Twilight’s tiny shower. I took longer than normal to shower this morning when I realized I would be visiting royalty today. Celestia and Luna might have visited me by surprise yesterday but I wanted to be clean and respectful for our meeting today. After a good long scrubbing session I stepped out of the shower and dried myself off. Throwing Fluttershy’s clothing set on again I hung up my towel and walked out of the bathroom.

As I didn’t see Twilight on the second floor anymore I walked down the stairs to try and find her. On my way down I was surprised to not only find her but all of the other girls as well. My eyes were drawn past the girls to a large pile of luggage behind them. Wait, luggage? How far away was Canterlot castle from Ponyville? Was it going to take multiple days of travel to get there?

“Morning girls!” I called to everyone in the library. “I’m surprised you’re all here so early.”

“Mornin Cicero.” Applejack replied. “Ah course we’d be here early. When tha princess’s call ya to Canterlot castle ya come right away!”

“I see.” I replied simply. “Well you being here early makes sense then. What confuses me is the rather large pile of baggage you girls have behind you. Am I to assume that this means the trip will require multiple days of travel before we reach Canterlot Castle?”

Twilight spoke up with, “The trip to Canterlot castle only takes a few hours by train. We should arrive there around midday. The baggage behind us is so we can stay in Canterlot for a few days. Princess Celestia sent a message through Spike this morning asking us to stay a few days. Applejack noticed the letter and brought it to me while you were in the shower. Since I didn’t want to miss the train this morning I duplicated it and sent it out to all the girls. As for why there’s so so much luggage it’s bec-”

“It’s because Rarity always packs her entire house before we go on any trip!” Rainbow Dash interrupted, sounding rather annoyed.

“I do not Rainbow Dash!” Retorted Rarity. “Unlike you I prefer to be prepared for any situation. A lady must always be ready for whatever occasion might arise. Also since we’re going to canterlot I considered it prudent to bring along some of my more expensive clothing for the well dressed wealthy ponies there. If anyone can appreciate my fabulous designs it’s them!”

“Whatever you say Rarity. You make the same excuse every single time we travel.”

I saw Rarity’s eyes flash and she opened her mouth to yell at Rainbow Dash. I intervened before she had a chance. “You have to admit she’s got a point Dash. As a seamstress if you’d want anyone as a client it would be the rich who live in the town surrounding the castle of royalty. I haven’t seen Canterlot but I can only imagine a lot of wealthy or famous ponies live there.” I saw Rarity smirk in victory while Rainbow Dash glared back at her.

Turning to Rarity I said, “Now even though that’s true, judging from all the purple and white baggage here, you did pack an obscenely large amount of luggage in comparison to everyone else Rarity. You might want to consider packing a few less things next time. What if we were to get robbed? You’d lose all of the valuables you brought with you.”

“Robbed!” She shouted. “In Canterlot? Never. I can’t imagine such heinous things happening in the same city the princesses live in.”

“HA!” I barked out a laugh. “You’d be surprised how often that’s the case Rarity. Money breeds greed while power creates corruption. Royalty, and those surrounding them, usually have both. It’s a lessons I’ve learned many times over through a plethora of different protectors visions. It was the exact same way on Earth as well. I’m not saying this because I want to be mean Rarity. I simply want you and all the other girls to be safe.”

Rarity closed her mouth and closed her eyes for a few moments. Opening them back up again she said, “I understand your concern and I thank you for it Cicero. I will try to be more aware of any dangerous possibilities in the future if it will assuage your worries. However I will say that even though some of the nobles in Canterlot have displayed rather uncouth characteristics at times, I’ve never had any go so far as to assault or rob me.”

I walked over to Rarity and put my hand on her back. “Then let’s hope it always stays that way. Perhaps Canterlot is different from all the other places that I’ve seen. Maybe I’m worried over nothing. All I know is that as this planet's protector my arrival means harsh times will soon befall these lands. The first step to defeating any adversary is awareness. If you’re aware of any possible dangers then it makes it much harder for anything to take you by surprise.”

Once I’d finished I could see a hint of fear in Rarity’s eyes. I appears she’d taken my warning seriously. Looking over I could see the other girls also looked a little fearful now that i’d finished speaking. Damn. I hadn’t mean to frighten them. I only wanted them to be aware.

Standing up I sighed and said, “Look girls I didn’t mean to scare you. My intention wasn’t to frighten you before we left on our trip. I only wanted you to be wary when we traveled to canterlot. As this city contains the seat of your nation's power it’s an obvious choice for any would be usurpers or troublemakers to attack.” I laughed. “Though considering how incredibly powerful Celestia and Luna seem to be I suppose I should actually be more concerned for any who are foolhardy enough to attack them.”

I could see my final words had brightened their moods again. Now I need to wipe their fears away. Putting on a serious face I stood up and looked at the group. “No matter what happens, through times of trials and tribulations, you girls only need remember one thing. I may not be the strongest or even the wisest creature to walk this planet but I can promise you that no matter what happens I will always be by your side when you need me. I will do my absolute utmost to ensure that you are all safe from danger. I am this world's protector.”

“But more than that I am your protector. You girls are special, I can feel it. Whether it’s your status as the elements of harmony or something else I know that you girls have an important role to play in the future.” I felt my face soften and curve into a small smile. “You’re also important to me. I’ve grown very fond of you girls in the time I’ve known you. If you’re with me I will never allow any harm to ever befall you. This I swear.”

I was pleased to see six beaming faces looking back at me, just as they had yesterday.

“Alright enough of this mushy feeling stuff Cicero.” Rainbow Dash said. “I might have to rethink your coolness level if you keep acting so sensitive all the time.”

“But Dashie! If you don’t like all this mushy stuff then why are you so happy right now?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“I’m just excited to go on an adventure to Canterlot Pinkie. Maybe I can meet the wonderbolts if I’m lucky!”

“But Dashie! If you don’t like Cicero being so sensitive then why are you smiling so hard?”

“Because It’s such a nice day outside Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash said, obviously getting annoyed.

“But Dashie! If you don’t like what Cicero has to say then how come when he said ‘I am your protector’ your wings got all twitchy and you made a fa-”

“PINKIE PIE!” Dash yelled cutting her off. I saw a tinge of red creep into her cheeks.

Pinkie Pie’s smile covered her whole face as she obliviously stared back at a now glaring Rainbow Dash.

“Now now Rainbow Dash.” Said Rarity. “There's nothing wrong with enjoying a gentlecolt’s chivalry.” I heard a weak ‘hey’ from Rainbow Dash as she quietly protested Rarity’s words. Waving Rainbow Dash's complains off with a hoof Rarity turned to me and said, “Moving on now. Cicero I have something for you before we leave.” Rarity used her magic to grab and levitate a bag from the massive luggage pile over to me. Opening it she said, “Tada!”, and I saw a matching set of underwear and socks just as she’d promised me.

Ahhhhhhhh shit. I forgot to ask Rarity to make basic colored clothing this time. The socks were actually a rather nice plain black color. They looked as comfy as any of the other clothing Rarity had made me so far. But the underwear…. When she said she would make my underwear match the sets of clothing I already had she wasn’t kidding. White, blue, yellow, orange, purple, and pink pairs were all presented to me.

Now I’m rather confident in my sexuality as a male. I’ve never really had a problem with wearing colors that other males on Earth deemed feminine. The one difference was that all of those time I’d worn these colors for shirts or pants. But underwear….. I’m not sure I could wear the pink ones and not feel my masculinity being slightly threatened. *sigh* Although I will begrudgingly admit they do look rather comfortable. I reached out and grabbed the pink pair. I could feel that Rarity had chosen a nice stretchy, breathable material for it. I looked up from the underwear to see that Rarity was obviously waiting for my opinion on them.

“They feel wonderful Rarity. I’m very excited to try them on.” I said strategically dodging their color.

*snicker*

“I’m glad you like them Cicero. I finished them yesterday after our talk with the Princesses. I wanted you to look your absolute best for our meeting with them today. What do you think of their matching color scheme to your other clothing sets?”

*snort*

“Well they’re very….. Vibrant. I’m sure they’ll work great with my other clothing sets.”

*hehehehe*

“I’m glad you like them darling! It’s so hard to get other males to try out my clothing. They seem to be rather put off by some of my fabulous color schemes. I’m glad you’re willing to give them a chance.”

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!”

I looked over to see Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack rolling on the ground laughing. Apparently they couldn’t contain their quiet giggling any longer and had finally lost it.

“OH. MY. CELESTIA! Did you see the pink ones?” Laughed Rainbow Dash.

“Feller’s gotta be pretty confident to wear clothes like that.” Giggled AJ.

“Yeah yeah laugh it up you three.” I said unhappily. “Stupid bright pony colors.” I muttered. Ignoring the three mares still rolling around and laughing on the ground I turned to Twilight and asked, “Since we’re going to be staying in Canterlot for a few days do you have a bag I can use to put my clothes in?”

Twilight lit up her horn and levitated a bag from the second floor down into my hands. It looked like a small duffel bag designed to be strapped to a pony's back. I grasped the bag as Twilight said, “Don’t listen to those three Cicero. I think you’re new clothing will look nice. Although from what Rarity told us, as they go under your pants, we probably won’t really see them anyways.”

“*sigh* Thanks Twilight. I’m just going to hop upstairs to quickly pack my bad with the rest of my clothing. It will give those three,” I said pointing to the still giggling trio from earlier, “time to calm down.” Walking over to Rarity's floating trunk I pulled the socks and underwear out and placed them in the bag. I made my way over to and up the stairs as the cacophony of mixed laughter continued to ring out behind me.

As I neared the top floor I heard Rarity chastising Dash, Pinkie, and Applejack. She was giving them a speech about ‘Stallions’ and ‘there’s nothing wrong with bright colors’. I smiled as I entered my room. Walking over to my dresser I quickly packed my other clothing sets into the bag. I lamented the fact that I didn’t have any other belongings to pack into my bag. While I didn’t have much of a materialistic personality it was still rather disconcerting that I owned almost nothing more than the clothing on my back.

I shook my head to rid myself of such thoughts. Now that I knew I was stuck here in Equestria I could simply make another home here. I would have more things to call my own eventually. I smiled when I realized that if nothing else I was now rich in good friendships. Letting out a small chuckle I fished the yellow pair of underwear out of my bag and slid them on after taking off my pants. Happy with how they felt I put my pants back on, slung the bag over my shoulder, and walked back down the stairs.

Making it back to the bottom floor I heard Rarity finish her lecture from before with, “And that’s why you shouldn’t make fun of my designs or human clothes.”

“Ahh lighten up Rarity. It was just ah joke.” Applejack said. Spotting me she asked, “You don’t mind, do ya Cicero?”

“Meh.” I said shrugging. “I guess it doesn’t really matter. Besides I’ll get you girls back later when you least expect it.”

“See Rarity he doesn’t mi- wait what did you say Cicero?” Applejack said, sounding concerned.

“Nothing really.” I said shooing her concerns away with my hand. Turning to Twilight I said, “So now that we’re all ready, how do we get to the train bound for Canterlot?”

“Well normally we’d just walk there but since we’re on a tight schedule I was going to practice my group teleportation.”

“Excellent! I’ve wanted to study your magic, especially teleportation, since the first time you did it. You don’t mind if I observe you while you transport us do you? I promise I won’t touch or distract you.”

“Of course not Cicero. Go ahead. It’s actually rather refreshing to have someone who’s so interested in learning about my magic.” Twilight turned to look at all the girls. “Everypony please stay still while I concentrate.” Closing her eyes Twilight’s horn started to glow bright.

Looking closely at her horn I could just barely make out a very small faint stream of her magic flowing away from it. Shifting my sight I saw the magic slowly splitting off and making it’s way towards each girl. As soon as the stream got within a feet or so of each girl it quickly spread out and enveloped them in the same aura that was flowing around Twilight’s horn. One tendril came over to me and also enveloped my body. As soon as the auro had completely circled me, I noticed a faint lack of noise and airflow. Neither had been great before so I would never have perceived the changes if I hadn’t been actively watching for them.

Looking over at the luggage pile I saw Twilight’s magic had also created the same circle around it as it had each of us. Twilight’s horn suddenly glowed much brighter and I saw a small string of magic rocket off of her in some random direction through the walls. I raised my eyebrows at this but didn’t have long to think as the scene before me flashed away and I instantly found myself standing on a train platform. Looking back to Twilight I saw the faint tendrils rapidly receding from all of and us back into her.

My god she really did it again. A living being capable of teleportation! Out of all the wonders i’ve witnessed in Equestria so far, teleportation was by far the most unbelievably amazing. I wonder what those tendrils that came out of her were. They appeared to make some type of barrier around each person upon reaching them. I’m guessing the tendrils were creating some type of solid link between all of us so that we could form one point of connection.

But what was the last stream that shot off at the end? Some marker for the direction we’re going? But why would she need a marker to teleport? Doesn’t her magic just require a picture of the location? Unless…. Maybe it’s less magical than I though. Maybe there’s actually a semi scientific explanation here. What if the stream wasn’t actually a stream. What if it was a microscopic continuation of the barrier she formed around us.

“So what do you think Cicero?” Twilight asked with a smile. “Your facial expression looks exactly like mine does when I’m trying to figure out something hard.”

“I’ll admit that your teleportation ability is baffling me. I was hoping to figure out how you did it by observing you closely.” I sighed. “Sadly I have more questions now than before I watched you.” Looking up I took in my new surroundings. The train station Twilight had teleported us to was a small wooden platform with a tiny building attached to its side. I assumed the small building was where they sold the train tickets. To the right of the station was a grey building with a thatched roof. It’s purpose so near the station escaped me.

Looking towards the tracks I saw the train we would be taking to Canterlot and couldn’t help but let out a snort. Like most other things in Ponyville, the compartments were all a combination of random pastel colors. They appeared rather small from the outside but I was still hoping I’d be able to comfortably fit inside them. Hooked to the front railroad car, and by far the most interesting part of the train, was the engine compartment. Extremely tiny and designed with strange boxlike angles, I had absolutely no idea how this thing was supposed to get us to Canterlot. I doubt its engine even has the necessary horsepower to pull one compartment, let alone the six hooked to it.

“Well if you want maybe I can answer some of your questions about teleportation.” Twilight said. My attention was pulled away from my observations as I focused back in on her. “As princess Celestia’s protege I don’t just study the magic of friendship. I actually study all forms of magic.” I was easy to see that Twilight was thrilled to have someone else to talk about her magic with. And as it would benefit both of us I was more than happy to take her up on the offer.

“I’d be delighted to Twilight. Although I think it might be best if we get everyone and their belongings on the train first before we start.”

“Oh! I completely forgot about that. I’m just so excited to finally have someone willing to talk about magic with again.”

“Again?” I said raising an eyebrow. Twilight was shifting around on her hooves obviously uncomfortable about something.

“W-well. You see…. There was a little uhhhhh…. incident a while back. Ever since that one time all of my friends have been hesitant to help me with anything magic related again.” She finished.

“And that incident was….” I said spreading my hands and raising my shoulders in a questioning gesture. I could tell she was hesitant to continue.

“I’ll tell ya what it was.” Said an agitated sounding Applejack. “Twilight called all of us over ta her library saying that she was studying the magical bonds of friendship between us or some other hootenanny like that. Something went wrong when she cast ah spell and we all ended up switchin in ta each others bodies!”

I snorted. “Hahahaha that sounds amazing! You all switched bodies? I won’t even begin to try and reason out how that’s scientifically feasible in any way. The ability to transfer souls between bodies, let alone six simultaneously, is completely beyond my understanding.” I smiled. “Although I have to ask. Who got changed into whose body?”

“Fluttershy switched with Pinkie, Rarity switched with Dash, and ah switched with Twilight.” Applejack finished, while giving Twilight a glare.

“We all went back to normal in the end!” Twilight said trying to defend herself.

“I darn near almost burned down tha apple orchard that day Twi! Every time ah bucked an apple tree mah horn shot off some different bolt of magic. Big Mac made me stop for tha day when one of ma random bolts hit him in the backside and turned his coat bright pink!”

“Pink and red aren’t that different from each other.” Twilight quietly sulked. I couldn’t help but guffaw at the whole situation.

“Hahahahah! You guys get into the most hilarious situations. I hope i’m around next time something crazy like that happens.”

“Keep hanging around Twi when she does her magic and you will be.” Applejack said, walking over to her bag.

“Honestly. It was only for a day.” Twilight said exasperated. I put my hand on Twilight’s shoulder to try and commiserate with her.

“Well don’t worry about it Twilight. As I have no magic I find anything involving it absolutely fascinating. I’ll help you with any magical endeavors you want to pursue in the future. Assuming i’m around to help.”

“Aren’t you afraid of getting hurt if I mess up?” She asked hesitantly.

“Naw.” I said nonchalantly. “We protectors are rather hardy. I doubt I could survive everything that you might throw at me but most things shouldn’t be a problem. Plus as a self proclaimed scholar I have to admit that the possibility of studying things, like magic, is very exciting to me.” Twilight gave me the smile i’d been hoping to coax out of her. “Now let’s get these bags on the train so we can get on with our teleportation talks.”

For the next minute or so Twilight and Rarity both used their magic to levitate all the pieces of our groups combined baggage pile into the trains back compartment. I offered to help move luggage but it was obvious that their levitation system was more efficient without me getting in the way. Afterwards we all made our way into the train's front compartment and settled in for our ride to Canterlot.

Once I was inside I found myself surprised at how spacious these train compartments actually were. From the outside it had seemed like it would be rather cramped inside. However the long couch like seats proved that initial theory wrong. Not to mention, the couches looked quite comfortable. I sat down on a light green one to confirm my suspicions. I was pleased to find out that the couches were as plush and soft as i’d hoped.

“Ahhhhh.” I sighed out. I let my body slink it’s way down into the couch's cushions. Looking around the cabin I saw that aside from the girls and me, this compartment was bare of any other residents. That’s strange. Considering how many people this compartment can hold you’d think someone else would be here. Twilight trotted over to my couch and seated herself to my left.

“Hey Twilight. Why is there no one else in this train compartment besides our group? It seems odd that the first compartment would be so bare.”

“Most likely the princess sent a message to the train company informing them that’d we’d be boarding today. That’s probably why no one asked us for our tickets when we boarded the train. My guess is that she asked them to reserve the first train compartment for our group.”

“Well that was rather kind of them. I’ll have to thank them when I get there.” I said giving Twilight a smile. However even as outwardly nice a gesture that this may seem it could also point to a few other alternatives. Even though the princesses have confirmed my identity it’s possible that they still want my interactions with other ponies to be limited until they trust me more. That or maybe they thought I would be stopped or questioned by someone. If this train is truly bound for this nation's capital then it’s stands to reason that there would be a few guards at some point along the way.

I looked over at the girls. As the elements of harmony this bunch can probably get anywhere they want. Not to mention Twilight is Celestia’s protege. However I’m an unknown element and to any guard or soldier that means I’m a potential danger. *sigh* I hope the princess planned ahead and warned whoever we’re going to interact with about me. I’ve had visions of other protectors who’ve died simply because they’d interacted with the wrong guards. Most creatures on other planets weren’t as receptive and friendly to strange aliens as these ponies were.

“All aboard!” I heard a pony from outside the train yell. His words snapped me out of my thoughts and helped me clear my head. Thinking about these things won’t help me. I’ll just have to deal with whatever situation might arise. Looking out the window I was shocked to see our cart start to move. I raised my eyebrows in shock.

“Well i’ll be….” I murmured to myself.

“What is it?” Twilight asked.

“To be honest i’m surprised that our carts are moving at all.” Twilight cocked her head to the side and gave me a questioning look that seemed to scream, ‘are you retarded?’ “Oh come now. Don’t give me that look. You saw that engine compartment. That thing was half the size of any of these carts. There’s no way any engine that size could provide enough force to pull these carts.” Turning to look out the window I finished with, “Then again I suppose I’m watching it do as much right now.”

“Oh that.” Twilight said. It was my turn to look back at her with questioningly raised eyebrows. “Well the cart doesn’t just run on natural energy sources. It’s augmented by a magical engine.”

“Really? Fascinating. Is this another use of one of those crystals that contain magic within them that we talked about the other day?”

“Good guess Cicero. Yes this trains engine is slowly draining the magic energy from a crystal within it and then feeding that energy into the train to make it move.”

I looked up at the ceiling to think. These magic crystals prove their usefulness once again. I wonder what their limitations are. I bet I could find a lot of ways to augment my abilities to better protect these lands if I could arm myself with some of them. Twilight said that magic has the casters intent within it. Perhaps it’s possible to put combat and healing spells within these crystals. Hmmmm. This is something that needs to be researched after I meet with the princesses today.

“Twilight I’d love to talk more about these magic crystals with you sometime in the future. If possible I’d like to experiment around with what types of magic can be stored within them.”

“Ya actually want ta take part in a magic experiment with Twi? Even after what ah told ya?” Asked a disbelieving Applejack. “And worse yet, ya suggested it in tha first place?” Applejack shook her head and turned back to Fluttershy. “It’s your funeral partner.”

“Don’t listen to her Cicero. Ohhhh this is going to be so exciting! I’ve never had someone else suggest a magical experiment before! I can’t wait to get back! I’ll start making a checklist for potential spells right after our meeting with the princesses.”

I shook my head and smiled. “Whatever makes you happy Twilight. For now do you mind if I ask you some questions about your teleportation spell from earlier?”

Twilight nodded enthusiastically. “Go ahead Cicero.”

“Right. Well first I noticed that when you began your spell a couple of very small tendrils snaked out from your horn towards any people or objects you wanted to transport. Second, I saw the tendrils envelop that person or object in a small bubble once it reached them. The small bubbles still had a very tiny path connected from them to you as well. Last I watched as a very tiny arrow of magic shot out of your horn right before you teleported. I can’t be sure but it appeared to be going in the direction you mentioned that the train station was earlier. I suppose what I’m getting at is, does your magic require some type of continuous connection from your current location to wherever you wish to teleport?”

Twilight had a huge grin. “Well spotted Cicero! That’s exactly how our teleportation works. Most ponies are under the incorrect assumption that we only need to visualize the location we wish to teleport in our minds and then we’re there. If that were the case then teleportation would most likely be much easier. Because unicorns have to form a magical connection between two extremely distant points only a few have the power required to do so.”

“Hmmmmm I wonder if that type of magic could be applied to and released from crystals as well. Teleportation would be an amazing power for a protector. Even if I was only short distances. We’re definitely going to have experiment with that when we get back.” I raised my hand to my chin and thought for a moment.

“Alright I suppose I understand that it’s necessary to form a connection between the two points but how do you actually shift things through that connection to the other point? There’s only one human theory of teleportation I can think of that might work in this scenario and that’s using massive amounts of combustion to launch yourself forward.”

“Teleportation using only combustion?” Said a befuddled Twilight. “How on Equis would you do that?”

“Well the basic theory that the humans developed was that if you could combine matter and antimatter you could use the resulting combustion to launch yourself forward. As energy is always conserved when you combine the two you can create an insane amount of energy that suddenly needs to disperse rapidly. If you could angle that energy away from yourself then it should be possible to ‘teleport’”, I used air quotes, “yourself. In reality it’s just a way to move so fast that seems like teleportation.

“What an intriguing idea! I don’t think i’ve ever heard any pony theories like that before.”

“Well as intriguing as it is, it still has a lot of holes in the theory. First off how do you store antimatter to create the combustion? By its very definition any matter anything antimatter touches instantly becomes energy. Some rudimentary ideas were to store antimatter using advanced electromagnetic containment systems.”

I shrugged. “Even if that worked you still have a lot of other problems to deal with. How do you stop yourself after transit? How do you angle yourself in the perfect direction? How do you force yourself through that small magic line to your destination? How can anything travel that fast without friction tearing it apart?” I looked over to Rainbow Dash and glared at her. “Not that that question matters to some physical law breaking pegasi around here.”

“What was that Cicero?” Said a confused Rainbow Dash.

*sigh* “Nothing Dash. Just talking to Twilight.” She seemed to accept my answer and went back to whatever she’d been doing before. “In the end I might be completely wrong about your teleportation. I’m only working off of theories that the humans could develop. They never successfully accomplished teleportation so… oh god damnit.” I looked back to Twilight and groaned. In her hooves was that damned massive list of questions she was determined to ask me at some point. “That list will be the end of me.” I said with a huff.

Not looking up from her scribbling Twilight responded with, “It’s your fault you know. You asking me questions always raises even more questions of my own.” I saw a small grin spread spread her face. “You know we’re going to be on this train for a while. You could answer a few of these and help shrink the list.”

*sigh* “Fine. I suppose you did answer my questions.”

“YES! Alright first question, what is that antimatter you talked about?”

Time Skip

Three hours of thorough questioning later I finally couldn’t take any more.

“Twilight I consider myself a scholarly and studious man but your thirst for knowledge is truly otherworldly. As much as I’m sure you wish to continue, I need a break from your never ending list of questions.”

Twilight frowned and looked disappointed at this revelation. Looking out the window she said, “Well I guess we have been at it a while. We’re almost at Canterlot anyways. I suppose I’ll just review my notes before we arrive. Thanks for all the help Cicero!”

As Twilight walked away with her floating scrolls I let myself slump down into the couch. Good lord I can’t believe anyone has an attention span that intense. It’s like she has a constant stream of adderall flowing through her veins. Sinking even further into the couch I felt mental exhaustion beginning to fill my mind. That, combined with the comfy bumping motions that the train was making, were quickly easing me into a napping state.

A few moments later, right before I was about to fall asleep, I heard a quite, “E-excuse me Cicero. Do you mind if I sit next to you.”

Rousing myself enough to respond I looked over and saw Fluttershy standing to the left of my legs. Having no reason to deny her wish I said, “Of course I don’t mind. Go ahead Fluttershy.” Hopping onto the couch fluttershy did a quick 360 and then laid herself down on the couch next to me. My god it’s like everything she does is purposely as cute as possible. I let out a little chuckle and returned to my previous activity of dozing off.

“I…. I don’t mean to assume…. but are you wearing clothing that matches my coat’s colors?” She asked hesitantly.

Rousing myself once more I raised up from my slouched position and said, “You betcha I am. As Rarity made a clothing set for each of her friends I figured i’d try out your set today.” I devious idea floated into my head and I smiled. Leaning over to Fluttershy’s ear I whispered, “Guess what color underwear I’m wearing today.” With and, “EEEP!”, Fluttershy flailed from her sitting position and fell onto the floor.

“HAHAHAHAHA! Oh man you are the best Fluttershy! I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of messing with you.” Giggling a few more times I reached my hand down to her and said, “Here let me help.” Blushing, Fluttershy grabbed my hand as I pulled her up and deposited her back into her position next to me on the couch.

“Sorry Fluttershy. Considering your reserved personality I really shouldn’t mess with you so much.”

“I-It’s ok Cicero. Rainbow Dash keeps telling me that I need to ‘stallion up’ and stop being so bashful all the time.”

“HA! That does sound like something she would stay. I wouldn’t worry though Fluttershy. While you may be a bit more bashful and reserved than others i’ve met, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, if anything, it’s rather refreshing.” I gave her a smile. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being the quiet kind Fluttershy. I may not know you as well as the others girls but I do know that gentle souls like yours are rare. For all we know that could be quite the boon to you in the future.”

Fluttershy let her wings twitch and acted like she wanted to move but was hesitantly shifting back and forth from me. Eventually she made up her mind and lunged forward to give me a hug. “Thank you Cicero. While I know all my friends appreciate me, it’s nice to hear someone openly praise me for my shy personality.”

Well I wasn’t expecting that. Fluttershy has never actively decided to initiate contact before. At least not without me being injured in some way. “Any time Fluttershy. I may be your newest friend but i’m still here for you just like the others.” Leaning down I returned the hug.

“Yipee we’re here!”

Pulling back from my hug with Fluttershy I looked over and saw Pinkie Pie bouncing around on her seat. Glancing past her I saw a massive city that our train was rapidly approaching.

“What….” Getting up I walked over towards the other side of the train and beheld Canterlot in it’s full glory. The castle was absolutely amazing. A shimmering beacon to represent the lands of Equis. The white buildings and gold roofs gave the place a royal feel while the waterfall and multiple tiers of flowing ponds hanging to it’s side gave it a natural beauty. Whatever place I had imagined that the rulers of equestria would live in completely paled in comparison to this reality. It was a magical castle.

Unfortunately as a protector the second thing I noticed was that this beauty made the castle not only a target but structurally weak. The castle was hanging off of the ledge of a cliff and was obviously being held up by either a structural engineering method the humans didn’t know or magic. Based off of what I’d learned of the ponies so far I was leaning towards magic. That means it could possibly be cancelled out and put the castles integrity in danger. Ignoring the structural problems the castle itself still had a whole other list of security issues that made wholly inadequate to defend against any type of siege or attack.

Then again I was thinking like a human. If I adopted the thought process, personality, and strength of Celestia or Luna I suppose I could understand building a castle like this. Not only did it show the power of the princesses but it also put forth a strong message to any would be attackers. Thanks to Twilight I knew this castle had been around for a very long time. Anything that could protect such an obvious target for so long was undeniably powerful.

I smiled and nodded my head. The princesses had created this castle to show their peaceful personalities and love of their lands natural beauty to their people. But they had also created it to show their strength and power to any enemies. A smart move. I already knew that Celestia and Luna were powerful but this castle now shows me their abilities as wise leaders. I really need to make sure I stay on their good side. Being in their good favor will greatly help me defend this land. Assuming of course that they’re not secretly my enemy and simply putting up a very convincing facade.

“Amazing isn’t it?” I looked over to see Rarity standing next to me. She was looking out the window at Canterlot. “It’s no surprise that such a city holds one of the most thriving fashion industries in the land.”

“Indeed. The city is quite the marvel to behold. I’m rather excited to see Celestia and Luna so that I may tell them so.” Rarity and I stood in silence as the train began to slow. We continued to observe the city while the train station grew closer. Eventually the train finally came to a full stop and our vision of the city was cut off by a large two story train station platform.

“We have arrived at Canterlot! Please disembark if this is your stop!” A loud voice called over an intercom. I couldn’t see any speakers in the train but I was assuming magic was in play. The ponies voice had sounded like it was coming from within our cabin. Turning around I looked back to see the girls had all gotten up and were either stretching or milling about.

“Alright then, I guess this is our stop. So how do we get to the castle from here Twilight?”

“I’ll lead us there. The castle isn’t too terribly far from the station. I thought that it would be nice to walk there so that you could observe the city and learn more about the ponies of Canterlot.” Twilight walked off towards the cabins now ajar door and exited the train.

Following her I said, “Well that would be nice. I was hoping to learn more about Equestria and its society at some point. I will admit that I’m slightly hesitant about walking through your nation's capital though. The residents of Ponyville seemed to accept my presence among them as they’ve had previous experience with strange visitors. I’m not sure if the ponies here are going to be as accepting of me.”

“Don’t worry Cicero.” Pinkie Pie said. Hopping onto my back she used one hoof to steady herself and held the other above her eyes while looking around. “I’ll keep an eye out for any mean ponies. No one will get past your impenetrable Pinkie Pie shield!”

Snorting I reached up and ruffled her mane, which caused her to giggle. “Thanks Pinkie Pie. With you guarding me I won’t have to worry about anything.” Smiling and shaking my head I looked at Twilight and said, “How are we going to get all the luggage to the castle? I can’t imagine levitating that massive pile of luggage while we walk would be easy for an extended period of time.”

“Actually we’ve already taken care of that.” Said a distinctly male sounding voice. “The castle’s maid’s are already hauling the luggage off to each of your assigned rooms.”

“Shiny!” Exclaimed a happy Twilight. Turning rapidly she bounded towards a previously unseen white unicorn. The male unicorn was all white with a tail and main that were both various shades of blue. His cutie mark appeared to be a blue shield with a six pointed purple star in it’s middle. Strange. That star looks almost exactly the same as Twilight’s. As Twilight reached the white unicorn she proceeded to hug and nuzzle him relentlessly.

Oh, perhaps it is the same star. Based on Twilight’s loving reception of this unicorn my guess would be that they’re lovers.

“Twighly you're embarrassing me.” The white unicorn laughed.

Looking sideways I noticed Rarity smiling while watching the two. If anyone knew about relationships it was going to be Rarity. Leaning in close I whispered into Rarity’s ear, “Are those two dating?” To my surprise, Rarity led out a loud snort of surprise and then started laughing.

“Ya’ll alright there Rarity?” Applejack asked curiously.

“Oh my. Excuse me for losing my composure like that.” She let out a few more quiet chuckles. Turning to Applejack she said, “Cicero simply asked a question I’ve teased Twilight about many times. I couldn’t help but laugh hearing somepony else say it.”

“And that is?”

“He asked if Twilight and Shining Armor are lovers.” It was Applejacks turn to snort and laugh.

“Hahaha I can see how ya’d think that sugarcube *snort* but no they’re not lovers. As far as ah know Twilight hasn’t even had a coltfriend yet. Shining Armor is Twilight’s brother.”

“Ahhhh that would explain the affection.” I said understanding. “I’ve never had any siblings so I find recognizing interactions between them to be much harder than other social interactions.”

“I want to introduce you to Cicero Shiny.” I heard Twilight say. Walking over to our group she say the girls giggle and said, “What are you girls laughing about?”

“Nothing.” I said quickly. I didn’t want to embarrass Twilight with my previous question. “Just asking Rarity some simple questions about Canterlot while you were greeting your brother.”

“What? I thought you were asking Rarity whether or not Twilight and Shining Armor were lovers?” Said a confused Pinkie Pie, who was still still resting on top of my head.

Damnit Pinkie Pie, talk about missing social cue’s. Looking up to scold her I saw that she was looking down at me with a wide smile. Oh you little devil. She know’s exactly what she did.

“W-WHAT!?” Yelled a blushing Twilight.

“Hold on there Twilight.” I said raising raising my hand into a stopping gesture. “As I was just explaining to Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie, I’ve never had any siblings and as such i’ve always have trouble identifying other people's siblings. I didn’t mean to offend or imply anything.”

“Don’t worry Cicero, I don’t get it either.” Dash said as she hovered over. “Twilight has always been all touchy feely with Shining Armor. I’ll never understand sibling affection.”

“I think it’s nice how she dotes on him.” Fluttershy added quietly. “I wish I had a brother or sister who loved me as much as Twilight loves her brother.”

Twilight, who was slowly turning as red as a tomato, seemed unable to respond to all her friends.

“Everything alright over here Twilight?” Asked a mildly concerned Shining Armor.

Pinkie opened her mouth to say something but I wasn’t going to give her a chance to derail the conversation again. Throwing my right hand up I covered her mouth and said, “Everything’s fine. The girls were just having fun teasing each other.” Walking over to Shining Armor I said, “Nice to meet you Shining Armor. My name is Cicero.”

“I figured as much. Nice to meet you Cicero. My name is Shining Armor. Twilight’s letters to me have been about almost nothing but you since your arrival in Equestria. With the insane amount of details Twilight has been sending my wife and I about you I feel as though I already knew exactly what you looked like before we even met.”

“Yeah that sounds like Twilight. Your sister is a great mare but she seriously never runs out of questions to ask. The list of questions she still needs to ask me is at least nine feet long.”
“HAHAHA! Yep that sounds like Twighly.” Shining Armor said, while ruffling Twilight’s hair.

“Ahhhh!” I yelped pulling my hand off of Pinkie’s mouth. Pinkie had apparently decided she was tired of being muffled and had licked my hand to force me to remove it.

“Hiya Shining Armor! How are things with Cadence in the Crystal Kingdom?”

“Very good.” he said smiling. “Order is being restored to the kingdom and Cadence is settling in as the ruler. The Crystal ponies all seem to adore her just as much as I do.” Bowing slightly he said, “Thank you again for your help with the crystal heart girls.”

“Crystal heart? Cadence? What’s going on here? Do you girls know that other alicorn that runs the Crystal Kingdom?” I asked confused.

“Know her? I should hope so.” Said Shining Armor. “These girls not only helped save the Crystal kingdom from the evil cursed king Sombra a few months ago but they also helped save Cadence and my wedding from a changeling attack a few weeks before that.”

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Damn, maybe I’ve been underestimating these girls. They seem so innocent and gentle but the more I learn about them the more Impressed I become with what they’ve accomplished. Wait… he said wedding… to Cadence. Thats means he’s the husband of that third alicorn. That makes Twilight the sister in law of the queen.

“It appears you’re an extremely well connected mare Twilight. Element of Harmony, protege to princess Celestia, and now I learn you’re the sister in law to queen Cadence.”

Twilight looked down in thought. After a few seconds she said, “I suppose I never thought of it like that. Is that a problem?” she asked hesitantly.

“Goodness no. I’m just impressed to learn of all you and the girls have done. I don’t think I’ve ever heard any of you boasting or bragging about what you’ve done or who you know. It’s reassuring to know I’ve become friends with ponies of such outstanding character.” I saw their smiles as I turned back to Shining Armor and asked, “So I suppose that makes you king Shining Armor.” He grimaced. “I didn’t realize I was in the presence of foreign royalty. I’m surprised that Celestia and Luna would let another nation's king casually walk around the capital without guards.”

“Please never call me king. I hate titles and believe my name itself should be the only thing I ever need during introductions. My good name represents me. Not my titles.”

I nodded and smiled at him. “I think you and I are going to get along just fine.”

He extended a hoof, “Likewise.” After we shook he said, “Princess Celestia and Luna let me wander the city because Cadence and I used to be from here originally. I was the captain of the royal guard before I married Cadence. The Crystal Empire went missing one thousand years ago and has only recently been rediscovered. We became king and queen of the Crystal Empire when we were sent there to re-establish it’s dominion and sovereignty. The Crystal Empire lies to the north of Equestria and isn’t technically part of its lands. However we’ve now re-established our old political ties to Equestria and have become closely allied empires once more.

“The captain of the guard marries the princess and they both become the king and queen of their own country.” I grinned and shook my head. “The more I learn about this world the more it seems like some child's fairytale story that came to life. I would like to hear more about the changeling invasion that the girls helped thwart during your wedding. However I believe it would be rude to delay our arrival to castle any longer. Do you think we could talk about this as we walked?”

“Oh no!” Said a slightly panicked Twilight. “Cicero is absolutely right! I got sidetracked and forgot about our meeting with the princesses. We need to get going right away!”

“Twighly relax!” Shining armor said, putting his hoof on her shoulder. “The princesses aren’t going to mind if we’re a little late. They didn’t make an official meeting time because they knew that calling everyone to Canterlot was going to take some time. Cadence and I only arrived an hour ago ourselves.”

Those words seemed to jar twilight out of her panic. “Now that I think about it, why are you here Shiny? Not only that but how did you get here from the Crystal Kingdom so fast? It’s at least a three day train ride from Canterlot.”

“With Cadence’s magic of course. Cadence and I received a letter from princess Celestia and Luna last night asking us to come to Canterlot as soon as possible tomorrow. They didn’t tell us exactly why we needed to come but they did mention that it was important. They also said that the alien you’d been telling us about would be there. Cadence then used her magic to teleport us as many times towards Canterlot as she could. Eventually when she was too tired to teleport anymore we boarded the train and she slept the rest of the way here.”

Amazing. A whole three day trip by train shortened down to just half a day with the help of teleportation. Now I realize that not only could that type of ability help me in combat but it could also let me reach areas that might need my protection even faster. I’m now more determined than ever to get back to Ponyville and experiment with storing magic in gems. Maybe once Twilight and I discuss the logistics of it we might be able to find even more ways to store magic for later use.

“Cadence is here too!?” Twilight happily cried. “I haven’t seen her we left the Crystal kingdom. What is sh-

“Yes yes, we can play 20 questions all day long but first we really need to stop dilly dallying and get to the castle Twilight.” Rarity huffed out. “A lady shouldn’t stand out in the sun too long. It dries out and ruins ones mane.”

Looking back to Twilight, Shining Armor said, “Sorry Twighly but I believe Rarity is correct.” Twilight looked a little put off by his words and pursed her lips in response. Seeing this he added, “Don’t worry though. Cadence and I will have plenty of time to catch up with you at the castle. We missed you just as much Twighly.” Smiling again she looked at him and nodded towards the castle. Taking the hint Shining Armor turned around as we all followed behind him.

Quickening my pace I caught up to Shining Armor and fell in stride next to him. “So about that changeling invasion. I realize it’s a bit tactless of me to ask about an incident like that, especially when it happened on your wedding day, and for that I apologize. But as I’m an alien to your world I have to say those changelings you mentioned really peaked my curiosity.”

“Think nothing of it Cicero. That was a few months ago anyways.” Grinning he said, “Even though the invasion was rather unpleasant I didn’t focus on it for long. Marrying the most beautiful mare in Equestria helped me forget that incident quickly.” The grin was quickly replaced by a grim expression as he continued talking. “Even though I say that, it’s still rather hard to accept the fact that those wretched creatures got past the defenses I set up for the castle. Worse still since it was on my wedding day when I’d personally overseen setting up the events security.”

It’s one of my greatest failures and a constant reminder to myself that I must always strive to do better. *sigh* But you wished to know of the changelings not of my failures as captain of the guard.” He grimaced in distaste. “The changlines are one of the more dangerous species that inhabit the lands of Equestria. They are black pony-esque creatures that are covered in thick layer of chitinous armor. Most of them have spiky ears and horns along with thin bug like wings.”
“But even with their intimidating looking appearance the most dangerous part of changlines are actually their other three main abilities. First, the changelings work as a hive mind with their queen as the main brains. They can communicate with her instantaneously from anywhere. Second, changelings feed on emotions. They have the ability to drain love or other strong emotions from their victims. Third, they have the ability to shapeshift and disguise themselves physically as any other creature they want. These combined factors make the changelings a dangerous enemy to Equestria and her ponies.”

“They can physically disguise themselves as anything?!” I yelled in surprise. “Does this include creatures like dragons? How long can they stay in these forms?”

“Yes. If they wanted too they could disguise themselves as dragons. However they wouldn’t have the same power as a dragon. Physical looks and abilities for these creatures are completely different. They wouldn’t be as strong as a dragon, nor could they do something like breath fire. As for how long they can stay in these forms we’ve found that it’s pretty much indefinite as long as they can feed and stay strong.”

Fuck, now that’s a dangerous creature. I must admit that the ability of changlines to shapeshift into anything is an impressive ability. However this fact is completely dwarfed by their ability to stay in that state indefinitely. Not to mention the fact that they can communicate with their queen from anywhere. That effectively makes changelings the perfect spies, down to a biological level. The queen could aggregate the knowledge of multiple spies and perfectly command any infiltration.

While part of my mind was going a mile a minute thinking of ways to combat these creatures another part of it was sending a much simpler message. These changelings could be an extremely powerful ally.

“I’m going to take a guess and say that relations with these changelings have been strained since your wedding to Cadence, correct?”

Shining Armor stopped and simply blinked for few seconds. I halted once i’d noticed his strange actions. The whole group ceased their individual conversations and looked over at Shining Armor. Shaking his head he turned around and said, “Sorry everyone I got lost in my thoughts for a moment.” Starting up his old pace again I fell back in stride with him.

“Apologies Cicero. I forgot that you’re not from around here a moment ago. Relationships between the changelings and equestrians are more along the lines of bitter hatred then strained. For as long as I’ve lived the changelings and equestrians have been enemies. It’s hard to form diplomatic relations with creatures who are commanded by their queen to impersonate ponies and steal their emotions.”

“Steal emotions? As a non magic user you can understand that i’m a bit confused by how the changelings can steal emotions. But an even more interesting question is that if they can steal emotions how do they feed off of them? I don’t understand how emotions could possibly be used as a source of nourishment.”

“I understand that emotions are simultaneous stimulations of certain neuron groups within the brain. What I don’t understand is how this creature could somehow take that process as it occurs within a pony and use it to power itself. Humans haven’t progressed far enough in the field of neuroscience to understand exactly how emotions are stored in the brain as memories. So the concept of powering something off of stored memories also escapes me. Perhaps something to do with stealing the bio-electricity used to stimulate the neurons? How could they take that energy and siphon it from the brain into themselves?”

A few moments of walking passed in silence while I thought further on this. Eventually I realized that Shining armor was being unnaturally quiet. I looked over to see him shaking his head. “Uhh did I say something wrong Shining Armor?”

“No, nothing like that. I just didn’t understand most of what you asked me just now.”

I facepalmed. “Shoot I’m sorry Shining Armor. When I hear something interesting I tend to forget my surroundings so that I can concentrate on it. The first thing I do when I encounter supposedly impossible things is attempt to logically reason out plausible theories. Half of those questions were just me thinking out loud accidentally.”

I suppose I should put off thoughts about these changelings until another time. I’d hate to offend him by not focusing on the present conversation.

“Ha! I can see why you get along with Twilight now. She acts just like you when she first learns something new. I’m not offended, i’m used to it after living with Twilight for so long.”

“No wonder Twilight and Cicero are such good roommates,” exclaimed Pinkie, who had somehow found her way back on top of my head without me realizing.

*sigh* God damnit Pinkie Pie. If there’s one way to make enemies with someone’s brother it’s to activate their protective instinct. I didn’t even have to look up to know she had done it one purpose once again. I could feel her barely contained laughter as she quietly chuckled into my back. Oh I am so getting revenge later.

“Roommates huh?” I heard Shining Armour say frigidly. Looking over his shoulder he glared at Twilight and said, “Twighly strategically failed to mention that Cicero was now living in her house.”

Twilight froze like a deer in headlights. She collected herself enough to stutter out, “I-I…. Uhhhhh…..”

“Hold on there Shining Armor.” I said coming to her aid. “I understand that you may be feeling protective of your sister but please think about this logically. You know that I was randomly transported to Equestria recently. I didn’t have anything but the clothing on my back when I arrived. Realizing this, Twilight took pity on me and offered to let me stay with her while I tried to find a way back home or at least until I could get my own home here. If anything you should be proud of her, not angry.”

“*sigh* I am proud of her Cicero,” He said turning back to me, “I just worry. Twilight has a very big heart and sometimes I worry that she’s too trusting. I’ve seen how powerful her magic is and what she can do with it. But as her brother a part of me is always going to worry about her.” Looking over at me he finished with, “Also even though you’re an alien I know you’re still a male. Twilight was very descriptive in her written depiction of your body.”

I shook my head at that news. “Well if it makes you feel any better I had the exact same reaction when she offered to let me stay with her. I was surprised that she’d trust someone whom she barely knew to live with her. She really does have a big heart. I promise that as long as I’m living near her I will protect her from those who’d use that against her. As to your other point I can assure you that I have no intentions of taking advantage of your sister.”

Shining Armor grinned. “While you’re words reassure me I’m actually more worried about Twilight taking advantage of you.”

“What?” I said confused. “Weren’t you just saying how big hearted and kind she was? I can’t imagine Twilight doing anything like that to anyone.”

“Under normal situations I’d completely agree with you. What i’m worried about is when Ponyville’s heat cycle sets in. The gender ratio in Equestria can lead to some mares getting a little bit…. aggressive when their are viable stallions around.”

“Well first off, I’m not a stallion. I know you ponies are a lot more open to interspecies relationships but that fact alone would likely dissuade most. Second, while I did recognize that heat cycles were a possibility for your species, surely it won’t be that bad. We had creatures with similar physiology on Earth and they were mostly in control of themselves even without the sapience that your species has.”

Shining Armor smiled. “Every stallion has to learn the same lesson the first time. You’ll see what I mean in time. But for now, welcome to Canterlot Cicero.” He said sweeping his hoof out in front of him.

As I hadn’t been paying much attention to my surroundings during our walk I was rather surprised to find that we’d left the train station far behind. I now found myself in front of a massive town of white and gold. It appears as though all of the buildings in this area were trying to follow the same color scheme as the castle. However instead of being gaudy, as one might assume, the colors gave the city a feeling of cleanliness and prestige.

The one difference that stood out between the towns and castles themes was the absence of nature. The castle had attempted to blend the land's natural beauty into itself designs. Contrarily it appears as though the town had gone for a more high society look. Even though I was personally more of a nature man myself I had to admit that the regal look the town was giving off, was very impressive. I could definitely see why Rarity had wanted to sell her high fashion in this town during our visit.

“What do you think of the town up close darling? Even more splendid than from afar isn’t it?” Rarity said.

“It’s definitely very befitting for it’s of position as Equestria’s capital, although I have to admit the castle we saw earlier was more to my taste. While the city is undeniably beautiful I prefer the theme of nature the castle wove into its design.”

“Oh me too!” Fluttershy said. She made her her way over to my right side. “Canterlot town always seemed too big and flashy for me but the castle has a bunch of lovely gardens inside of it.” She looked down a little sadly. “Although the last time I was in the castle gardens I scared all the animals away.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You scared all the animals away? You, the element of kindness, who takes care of animals for a living, scared them away? How did that happen?”

“Oh man now THAT is a good story!” Rainbow Dash said laughing.

“Yes that whole evening was rather… crazy.” Rarity said hesitantly. “But we’ll have to tell you the story of our groups first Grand Galloping Gala another time. We should focus on the city as it’s your first time here. Shining Armor do you mind if I take the lead from here? I know we’re on a tight schedule but I’d like to pass by some of Canterlot's finer sights while we head to the castle.”

“Oh course Rarity. Go ahead. I’m not here as a military escort but instead as a friend and brother who wants to catch up with his sister.” Rarity smiled and took the lead towards the town. I followed behind her, curious to see what this town had to offer. I saw Shining Armor fall back to playfully bump into his sister and start a conversation with her. It was easy to see that Twilight was really happy to see her brother again. Smiling, I turned around to pay attention to Rarity.

“So based off of what you just said to Shining Armor I’m going to assume you come to Canterlot more than the other girls.”

“Oh yes of course. As I mentioned before, Canterlot has a thriving fashion market. I come here occasionally via the train so that I can sell my clothing. Of course I do frequently get orders by mail but there’s just something special about personally helping a client find that perfect outfit for them. I do so love to help others find and bring out their beauty.”

I shifted my mouth back and forth in thought. “You know Rarity you might be the first pers- I mean pony, who's made me see fashion in a positive light. On Earth fashion was often used to differentiate and highlight the differences between those with and without wealth.Those who had wealth would buy expensive clothing and use it to flaunt their wealth to those without. This created a growing social divide between the rich and poor which in turn lead to violent verbal and physical altercations between the two.

But you... you only seem to use fashion as a tool to help others. You want everyone to feel like they’re beautiful all the time. Even though you always dress well and constantly maintain your beautiful appearance i’ve never seen you taunt anyone who doesn’t. Your attitude towards, and use of, fashion creates a refreshing take on something I had originally assumed could only be used of in a negative way. Thank you for opening my eyes and showing me that there’s a positive side to fashion.”

“Oh you flatterer you.” She said lightly pushing me with her hoof. I looked over and saw a patch of red on her cheeks was easily noticeable against her white coat. However since Rarity liked to maintain her ladylike appearance I decided to forgo any taunting and instead just smile as we continued walking into town. It wasn’t too long after that I met my first Canterlot pony.

“AHHHHHH! What in Celestia’s name is that thing?!” I winced as the loud scream assaulted my eardrums. Looking over towards the source of noise I saw a blue-ish green unicorn wearing expensive looking bangles on her hooves.

“Good lord lady this thing has ears.” Rubbing the side of my head I said, “Although maybe not for long as I’m pretty sure you just burst one of my eardrums.” Having heard the scream of the unicorn mare a few other ponies had come running to aid her. Amongst them were two guard ponies. They were easy to identify by their golden armor and the spears that they were toting.

“What’s going on here?” a white Earth pony guard asked. Looking over towards our group I saw his eyes focus in on me. Brandishing his spear he yelled, “Halt creature! What are you and what are you doing in Canterlot?”
*Sigh* I guess Celestia and Luna didn’t warn the guards of my arrival as i’d hoped. I suppose it could be worse though. No one has thrown a spear or threatened to kill me yet.

“Hello there Canterlot guard. My name is Cicero and I’m an alien from a planet called Earth. Your princesses Celestia and Luna summoned me here today to have a friendly chat. I mean you, or anyone else for that matter, no harm.” I made a sweeping motion to the side to show the girls and Shining Armor, “I was following my escorts here as they showed me around Canterlot before my meeting with the princesses.”

“The element bearers and… Shining Armor! Why didn’t you tell us you were back in town sir?” Said a light pink Unicorn guard standing next to the other.

Stepping forward Shining Armor said, “Because I only just arrived an hour or so ago. The princesses summoned queen Cadence and I to Equestria just yesterday. Now i’d appreciate it if you could stop pointing those spears towards my sister and her friends.”

The guards both fidgeted uncomfortably in place. “We’re not pointing our spears at the element bearers sir.” The guard shifted his gaze towards me and said, “Just whatever that thing is.”

“Well just to reiterate what I said earlier, my name is Cicero and I’m an alien from a planet called Ear-”

“We heard you the first time alien.”

Shining Armor spoke up again, “Stand down soldiers I can verify his claims. Cicero was called here, along with the element bearers, to speak with the princesses.”

“Actually we’re here to continue a conversation from yesterday.” I said. “Celestia and Luna came to Ponyville last afternoon but they had to return to Canterlot before we were done speaking.”

The two guards looked to each other and then lowered their spears. “We were told that the princesses visited Ponyville yesterday. With Shining Armor vouching for you we’ll believe your story.”

They both nodded their heads before the unicorn said, “We apologize for pointing our spears at you but you can never be too careful.”

“Especially after the changeling attack a few months ago. Everyone has been on edge ever since then.” The other guard said.

“Ahh yes, Shining Armor was just telling me about that incident earlier. I can understand your apprehension upon seeing me after having to go through that.” Thinking about what I had just said I realized that our group could use these guards. With their help maybe we could avoid this situation again during our stroll through the town. “In an effort to avoid this happening again do you two think you could escort us through town today? I’d rather not be stopped by every pair of guards who sees me.”

The two guards looked at each other and shrugged. “I don’t see why not. We’re just patrolling the town for our shift anyways.” The Earth pony guard said.

“We’d also like a chance to catch up with Shining Armor now that he’s back in town.” The unicorn guard tacked on.

“And I you” replied Shining Armor. “I’ve been out of Canterlot for a few months now and I’d like to know how the guard is getting along. Thank you for joining us Steel Spirit and Moon Petal.”

Both ponies shook their heads in shock at his words. “You remember our names sir?” Said the surprised, and newly christened, Moon Petal.

Shining Armor laughed. “I would’ve been much of a guard captain if I didn’t know the names of my soldiers.” Both guards smiled in delight at this news.

“Well that takes care of that potential problem. Just to reinforce what Shining Armor said, thank you for coming along with us.” I said to our new escorts. They nodded at me and I turned around to try and find the unicorn mare whose scream had started this whole incident. I found that she, as well as most of the ponies who’d come running towards her scream, had already dispersed. The only ponies that remained seemed to be observing me with either mild curiosity or contemptuous sneers.

I wasn’t exactly thrilled with some of the reactions I was getting but as I’d said before, it could be worse. Ignoring the remaining ponies I turned to Rarity and said, “Now that that’s over with are you ready to lead on?”

“Certainly. We’re already close to our first destination.” Rarity started walking and our group followed behind her once more. I noticed that the guards and Shining Armor had fallen to the back of the group and were engrossed in conversation with each other. I would need to make a point to talk to Shining Armor later about the situation around Canterlot. As he’s been gone for a few months I’m sure those two will fill him in on all that’s happened in Canterlot. That information could definitely help me find any potential threats around here.

“And here we are!” Rarity exclaimed happily.

“Now that’s a fountain.” Before me was one of the biggest fountains I had ever seen. It had to be at least 100 feet in diameter. In the fountain were two massive stone sculptures of Celestia and Luna. The two were depicted standing side by side facing in opposite directions. Their wings were flared out and they both had their necks arched back with their horns reaching up. Water was spraying out of their horns and each tip of their wings.

“How is it we’ve been ta Canterlot at least 3 times and ah’ve never seen this fountain before?” Applejack said in awe.

I heard Rarity huff. “Because every time i’ve tried to take you girls to see some of canterlot's finer sights you always tell me no.”

“That’s because the last time we agreed to go into canterlot with you all we did was walk around and try on clothing all day.” Dash retorted.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing Rainbow Darling.” Dash groaned while Applejack let out a guffaw at the two.

“This used to be on of my favorite places to visit when I lived in Canterlot.” Twilight said. She walked over to the fountain's edge. “I used to love sitting on the fountain's ledge while reading books.” She ran a hoof over it’s curved white edges. “There’s something about this place that always makes me feel relaxed and protected.”

I looked up at the water soaked marble face of celestia. Considering that Celestia and Luna were supposedly benevolent demi gods I guess I could understand why’d she’d feel safe in their shadow. Unfortunately the fountain was only evoking a great sense of uncertainty in me. It was only natural for a protector to worry about beings that held such great power. Even so, I can at least admit that the fountain is beautiful. Someone obviously put great care into crafting this marvel.

*SPLASH* I quickly jumped away from the fountains edge. I barely dodged a large wave of water. Looking back towards the group I saw that only Rainbow Dash and Twilight had reacted fast enough to avoid the wave as I had. The rest of the group hadn’t been as lucky.

“What was th-”

“PINKIE PIE!” shreaked Rarity. I followed her gaze towards the fountain and saw Pinkie lazily floating around the water. I let out a snort at her casual display. Rarity snapped her head towards me. I saw her nostrils flare dangerously. I quickly held up my hands and shook my head to show I wasn’t laughing at her.

“Mam swimming in the princess sisters fountain isn’t allowed.” said a disgruntled looking Moon Petal. “Please get out.”

Using her magic Twilight enveloped Pinkie in her purple aura and floated her out of the fountain. Twilight set Pinkie down in front of her and gave her a very motherlike ‘you know better’ look. Pinkie either didn’t notice or chose to ignore the look Twilight was giving her. She just smiled and happily returned her gaze. A short staring contest later Twilight huffed and shook her head in defeat. Sensing victory, Pinkie suddenly disappeared and then reappeared on my back. She took the same spot on my shoulders that she’d been at earlier.

“Awwwwww man. I jumped out of the way of your wave because I didn’t want to get wet pinkie.” The water on her wet fur was starting to soak into my shirt. Twilight’s horn lit up and I suddenly felt myself become a lot dryer than I had just been. I ran my hands across my shirt and too my surprise, found it completely dry. Reaching behind myself I ruffled Pinkie’s fur around. To my amazement I found that it was also dry. Twilight then applied the spell to everyone else and I watched as the water magically evaporated from their bodies as well.

“Now that’s some useful magic. Thanks Twilight.”

Since Twilight was concentrating on drying everyone else off she simply nodded to acknowledge my thanks. I scanned the area around our group and noticed a lot of ponies had stopped to stare at the distraction we’d made. I looked past Twilight to see Rarity glaring very unhappily at the pink menace now on my back. Shoot. I need to distract Rarity. She looks like she’s about to murder Pinkie and I don’t want to bring any more attention to our group.

“If this fountain is the first area on the list of places you’re taking us Rarity, then I’m pretty excited to see where we’ll go next.” Apparently my words were enough to snap Rarity out of her angry stupor as she shook her head and looked at me.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it. Even if the atmosphere was ruined by a certain pink annoyance.” She frowned at Pinkie. Turning around she said, “The next destination on our list is the canterlot bazaar. It’s unfortunate but we won’t have enough time to actually browse the wares. Even so it’s an interesting enough destination that I still figured we should go.”

The bazaar? That’s definitely not someplace I should be going. Even with our new guard escort I really don’t think the ponies there will react calmly towards me. If the reaction of that screeching unicorn mare from earlier is any indication, then things will probably end badly. Even though I wanted to see the bazaar I should tell Rarity we’ll have to go another time.

“Rarity I think -”

“-That the bazaar sounds like a wonderful next destination.” Shining armor said cutting me off. “It will give Cicero a good picture of Canterlot’s pony society and all of the other creatures that live here.” Looking back at Shining Armor I raised my eyebrow at him. He gave me a come here motion with his hoof. I was confused but I simply shrugged and walked over to him.

“Well thank you for your vote of support Shining Armor,” Rarity said happily. “Come along everyone, it won’t take us but a few minutes to get there.” While Rarity walked off I lagged behind the group to talk with Shining Armor.

“I know you’re the ex captain of the guard but are you sure this is a good idea?” I asked a little worried. “My first interaction with a pony in this town hasn’t exactly filled me with confidence for any future interactions.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it too much.” Shining Armor said calmly. “Most ponies in Canterlot are actually used to seeing difference species in town. A few different ones live here after all. Not to mention we now have a guard escort. While most ponies may not recognize me as a the previous guard captain it’s hard to miss the distinctive gold of their armor.”

“He’s right you know.” Moon Petal added. “Canterlot is the capital of Equestria and thus known to be very safe place. Most ponies won’t question or fear anything as long as we guards are around.”

“Hmmmmm. Well if you all think so then i’m sure it will be fine. Thank you again for coming with us Steel Spirit and Moon Petal.” I said gratefully.

“Ehhh, it’s no problem.” Steel Spirit said. “As we said before we were already doing our rounds.”

“Worrying is no fun Cicero.” Pinkie Pie added from my back. I jumped slightly. I had almost completely forgotten she was back there. “So quit thinking about what ifs and have fun exploring Canterlot with all of us. There’s no point in living if you’re not going to live.”

I shook my head in surprise. That’s a surprisingly insightful and rational thing coming from Pinkie Pie. It appears she can be serious when she wants to be. Nonetheless she is correct.

“Well said Pinkie. It’s hard to enjoy life if you go through it always worrying about how things could go wrong.” Reaching up I bopped Pinkie on the nose and heard her giggle in response. “Let’s go have a good time then.” Waving to Shining Armor and the guards I jogged forward to catch up to the group of girls at the front.

As I caught up I noticed Fluttershy slinking very closely behind AppleJack with her head down. Ah shoot. I didn’t even think about how Fluttershy would feel if we went to a place with a bunch of new ponies.

Slowing my pace I fell into stride beside her and said, “You alright there Fluttershy?” Fluttershy jumped at the sound of my voice.

Looking over towards me she said, “You startled me Cicero.” I gave her an apologetic smile. Facing forward, she led out a sigh. “I’m alright I think. I just… don’t really like crowded areas like markets very much. All the ponies and noise seem so overwhelming. *sigh*. I’d much rather just avoid Canterlot's bazaar but I don’t want to ruin everyone's fun.” Fluttershy didn’t say anything else but the nervous look on her face told me how she was feeling.

“Ah ya always get too nervous about stuff like this shy,” Applejack called back from the front. “Ya really gotta learn to relax girl. All that stressing don’t help nothin in tha end.”

“I know Applejack. It’s just…. Hard I suppose. I’m sorry.” She finished quietly.

“None ah that apologizing now, ya hear? I ain’t mad or nothing, ahm just tryna help is all. Ah just don’t want ya to be so tense all tha time. Granny always says the secret to her long life is working hard, eatin apples, and relaxin.”

“Not to mention it’s hard to enjoy life if you’re always worrying.” I added helpfully. “As Pinkie just told me a few moments ago, ‘There’s no point in living if you’re not going to live.”

Applejack looked back over her shoulder at me and asked, “Pinkie actually said that?”

I shrugged. “I was just as surprised as you. If you don’t believe me you can ask her yourself. She’s right on my…… what the hell?” Reevaluating the weight on my shoulders I found them to be missing the few extra pounds of Pinkie Pie. I swear I’d felt them not a moment before. Looking over my shoulder I saw that Pinkie Pie was indeed no longer on my back.

“She was just here 5 seconds ago. How on Equis did she manage to disappear that quickly?”

“Ha! That’s Pinkie for ya.” Applejack laughed. “Still, no matter who said it tha words are still tha same. I don’t want ya to miss out on the fun things in life because yer always worrying about everything Fluttershy. Plus If ya ever do get into a tricky situation ya know ya always got yer friends to back ya up.”

*whump* Faster than I thought possible Fluttershy had dashed forward and engulfed Applejack in a hug. I heard a quiet, “Thank you,” from fluttershy as she squeezed Applejack.

“Oh hugs! I love hugs!” Said an excited Pinkie Pie who’d suddenly reappeared next to me. “The only thing better than normal hugs are group hugs!” Grabbing my hands with her hooves Pinkie quickly bounded over to other two and together we engulfed them in another layer of hugs.

After a few moments of silent hugging I heard a voice say, “As adorable as this is we really must be on our way again.” I looked up from our group hug to see Rarity and the other girls. They’d stopped walking to smile at our small hug pile.

Removing my arms from the hug I said, “Sorry about the delay Rarity. Sometimes you just need a good hug and it can’t wait.” I saw the rest of the group extricate themselves from each other and look up towards me. “But now that’s over I think we’re ready to get going again.” Once i’d finished talking I heard a decently loud chatter I hadn’t noticed before now. “Although if the group of voices I’m hearing is any indication, I’d say we’re rather close.”

“It’s right around the corner actually.” Rarity replied. “I suggest we stay in a tight group while we go through the market everyone. I can get rather hectic with so many ponies so close together.” Adhering to Rarities words our group squished closer together and we followed her as she walked off again.

As we walked down the block towards the source of noise I began observing an increasing amount of ponies. Even though I’d already seen a lot of different ponies during my stay in Ponyville I found myself again impressed by the sheer variability of colors these ponies sported. I still didn’t know much about pony history but their hair and body colors were telling me a lot. I’m assuming the pony species didn’t evolve in as harsh an environment as the ponies on our planet. As herbivores, anything with that kind of color would be easily spotted and taken down by a predators. I should probably look into pony history later with Twilight. Understanding how their species evolved could help me one day.

“I give you Canterlot’s bazaar!” exclaimed and excited Rarity.

Now that’s a lot of ponies. Canterlot's market made Ponyville’s look like a pitiful collection of roadside stands. The bazaar was a massive collection of long rows made up of various stands jampacked side by side. It was almost hard to see the ends of the rows from the side we had entered the market from. At first glance I’d estimate the whole open market area was about the size of two football fields packed together. Hundreds of ponies were scurrying about between the rows going from stand to stand. But they weren’t the only thing I saw moving about.

“What the hell? Is that a minotaur?” Towering over the ponies I saw what appeared to be a massive furred minotaur walking through the crowds.

“Yes actually.” Twilight replied. “Most minotaurs usually live in the forests far west of Canterlot. However it’s not as if they’re banned from living wherever they want in Equestria. Their species just usually doesn’t like to venture out of the forests. But they aren’t the only new species you haven’t been introduced to yet. Take a look in the next row over.”

Shifting my gaze over one row I saw a large male buffalo attempting to navigate his way haphazardly around the crowd of ponies surrounding him. I could see his large stature was making this task into quite the endeavor for him. Although considering his size I was impressed that he’d managed to avoid trampling anyone yet.

“The buffalo tribes, like the minotaurs, usually prefer to live in their own lands. These are generally in the plains of south equestria.” Twilight helpfully informed me. “Although judging by this buffaloes difficulty in navigating through the crowd I’d say he’s most likely just here delivering something to one of the stalls. There are many different species that live in Equestria that i’d love to tell you about. Sadly we don’t have the time to go through them all right now. Although if you look over one more row again you’ll see a diamond dog.”

Looking over one row I said, “Please tell me I’m not about to see a dog made of actual crystals.” However before Twilight could respond I caught site of the dog like creature she was obviously referring too and said, “Oh. Nevermind.” Like the dogs from Earth this creature had a layer of fur over it’s body and large ears. However unlike the dogs on Earth it stood on two legs and had abnormally long arms. Based on It’s body structure I’m guessing diamond dogs originally walked on four legs and then later evolved to walk on only two.

“Diamond dogs are usually found living in underground locations across Equestria. They prefer caves, mountains, and especially underground caverns. Their exceptionally sharp claws and physiology make them extremely adept at mining or digging in general. Most precious gems in equestria are generally excavated and sold by diamond dogs.”

Damn. Equestria has a much a more diverse collection of species than I originally assumed. Judging by the way Twilight talked about them I’d say all of the species i’ve just learned about are sapient like the ponies. If there are a lot of other sapient species like this living throughout Equestria then I’d say my job just got a lot harder. Managing relations between myself and one alien species in difficult enough. But the ponies have incorporated multiple other intelligent groups within their society. That makes things much more complex.

“Twilight does every sapient species within Equestria have a government of their own?”

“Well I wouldn’t say every species has a government but most do have a leader at the very least. For example, the diamond dogs don’t have any formal governing body. But they do tend to follow and respect the words off the Diamond Dog with the most wealth. However the buffalo and minotaurs have a tribe like system. In it, a single chief or leader is elected as the public face for their people. While they don’t have any direct control over Equestria and how it’s run they are generally consulted by the princesses in matters that affect them.”

“That seems a bit…. Unfair.” I said gently. I know that Twilight is Celestia’s pupil and I’d hate to insult her teacher in front of her but I definitely don’t agree with this policy.

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked defensively.

“Listen, I know you absolutely adore Celestia and Luna but you have to admit that this policy seems a bit skewed in favor of ponies. Obviously Celestia and Luna are going to run this country in whatever way is best for the pony species. You said that they consult the other species for input but they don’t give them any power regarding Equestria sovereignty. That means their input could easily be ignored.”

“What!? Celestia and Luna would never ignore the other species! They always act for the good of all!”

I held up my hands to show I hadn’t meant any insult with my words.

“From what I’ve seen Celestia and Luna are very compassionate leaders. Based on their age I also know they have millennia of experience ruling multiple species and, I’m guessing, keeping them content. For all I know that might be enough here in Equestria. However based off of personal knowledge and visions passed down to me I know it’s also a potentially dangerous situation.”

I could tell from her face that Twilight hadn’t understood what I was trying to say. I raised my hand to stroke my chin. How can I explain my thoughts without making her think I’m insulting Celestia and Luna.

“Ok think of it like this. Imagine that the other species of Equestria are young fillies while Luna and Celestia are their mothers. As we adults all know children tend to have a rebellious side to them when it comes to obeying their parents wishes. Now obviously Celestia and Luna as their mothers are going to do everything in their power to make decisions for the fillies that will keep them safe. They’ve been mothers for millennia and they’re positive they know what’s best for their children.”

“Now let’s say the fillies want to go outside at night and play around. Celestia and Luna tell them no because it might not be safe after dark. Maybe Celestia and Luna are right. Or maybe they’re just being overprotective mothers. Either way it doesn’t matter. Now imagine this goes on for a few years with the Fillies always wanting to stay out late while Celestia and Luna always say no. What do you think is eventually going to happen?”

“The little rascals are gonna bust out at night, that’s what.” Said Applejack, who’d apparently started listening in.

“Exactly.” I said. “Now the fillies have gone outside and their mothers neither know their whereabouts or status. The introduction of these unknowns is where the danger begins. It’s possible the fillies might just sneak out and have a good time. However it’s also possible something might happen that ends up with them getting hurt. Either way Celestia and Luna don’t know and thus can’t help them.”

“You have to let children make mistakes.” Rarity added wisely. “Sometimes it’s better to knowingly let them experience these mistakes so they learn themselves. This way you’re there to help them when it happens. It’s impossible to always be around to shield them.”

I smiled. “Speaking from experience are we Rarity?”

“*sigh* Yes Sweetie Bell and her Cutie Mark Crusaders group always manage to get into so much trouble. The only thing that keeps me sane is the knowledge that everyone in town knows what they’re up to and are constantly watching over them.”

“I think I see your point.” Twilight said. I could practically see the cogs in her head working to shift my analogy to fit Equestria’s current situation. “I suppose I never thought of it like that. I’ve always trusted that if Celestia and Luna were ruling then nothing could go wrong.” Twilight stood still and closed her eyes for a few moments. She was obviously thinking about what i’d said. Eventually she spoke up. “Perhaps I should talk to Celestia about this. As her pupil she’s always encouraged me to think for myself and question everything that I learn.”

“I’m not really in a position to tell them how to run their country nor would I dream of coercing you to tell them in my stead. However if you think my theories hold merit then I would urge you to at least speak with Celestia about it.”

Twilight opened her eyes and turned to me to say something. Unfortunately I never got to hear what she was going to say as something to her left caught my attention. A flying bird like quadruped was rapidly approaching a hovering Rainbow Dash. The bird appeared to have a large cart attached to it’s back and in it’s obvious hurry was about to slam into Rainbow Dash. I rapidly forced my cores energy throughout my body. Dashing over to Rainbow Dash I plucked her from the sky and into my arms at the last second.

“Hey! What’s the big-” *WHOOSH*” Rainbow Dash’s words were cut off as the cart flew inches over our heads. The bird creature didn’t seem to realize what it had nearly done. It simple continued to flap its wings and carry on in a rush.

“Alright I take back what I said about helping other species. Those things don’t deserve a say in shit.”

“That was a griffin.” Steel Spirit said angrily. “One that was flying way to low to be following regulations.”

“Any species flying with a weight load that heavy has to be at least 50 feet above the ground.” Moon Petal added on just as angrily. “Those regulations were created to avoid dangerous situations exactly like this.”

“You guys go on ahead to the castle we’re going to- *WHOOSH*” Steel Spirit was interrupted by a pissed off looking Rainbow Dash shooting out of my arms. Rainbow Dash streaked off towards the retreating griffin as if she was being propelled by a rocket.

“She’s not slowing down?” Shining Armor said. “You don’t think she’s going to-” *WHUMP* *CRASH*.

“Looks like it.” I said smiling. Rainbow Dash had decided that waiting for the guards would be too slow and had taken it upon herself to apprehend the griffin. Or I suppose debilitate is a more accurate term considering that she tackled the griffin and it’s cart into the ground.

“*sigh* Well that’s going to be a lot of paperwork we’re going to have to fill out.” Said a disgruntled Steel Spirit. “As I was saying before, Moon Petal and I will take care of this. Since you’re going to lose us as your guard escort I suggest you head to the castle now.”

“But what about Rainbow Dash?” asked a concerned Fluttershy.

“Well judging by how she tackled that griffin i’d say she’s going to be fine.” Said an impressed sounding Moon Petal. “We’re going to need to ask her some question before she can go anywhere. If you all head to the castle we’ll send her up there when we’re done with this mess.” Snapping a crisp salute to Shining Armor, Moon Petal and Steel Spirit both trotted off towards the crash site.

“Your friends are always a riot.” Shining Armor said with a smile. “Although I must admit that it’s much more fun to watch them when I don’t have to clean up the mess.”

“*sigh* Rainbow Dash has always had a rather hot temper.” Twilight said disapprovingly. “I suppose we have no choice but to continue to the castle for now though. I’m sorry Rarity but we’ll have to cut the tour short for now.”

“Yes I understand.” Rarity said disappointed. “It’s just a shame. There were some other places of Canterlot I thought Cicero might really enjoy visiting.”

“Don’t worry about it Rarity.” I said. “If Celestia and Luna agree to help me with the request I made of them yesterday then my guess is I’ll be in Canterlot for a least a few days. Maybe we can go visit the other places on your list one of those days.”

“Yes of course! That would be wonderful.”

“If everyone is ok with it I’m going to teleport us to the castle now.” Twilight said. “I still need to practice group teleportation and my magical reserves have recovered enough from this morning that I’m pretty sure I can get us all of the way there in one attempt.” I nodded my head and saw everyone else in the group also silently voice their approval in the same way. “Alright then. Just as before, everypony please stay still.”

Watching Twilight closely again, I saw the same chain of events occur just as they had this morning. The small tendrils from her horn enveloped our group. Once more they cut out all noise and wind flow. As we were in the market the change from noisy to quiet was much more pronounced now than it had been this morning. Looking in the direction of the castle I could barely make out it’s top spires in the distance. Shortly after I saw the magical line shoot out of twilight and in their direction. It only took a second before Twilight’s horn flashed and I found myself looking at a large golden gate.