Author's Note

It's a little hard to believe that it's been almost a year since I posted the first chapter of this story. I apologize for the super long hiatus. Many real-life troubles came my way; school came back to cause problems for me and I had to find work, and a baby brother of mine was born. I just haven't had the time to work on this little story of mine. 'Tis a hobby, after all. But I am back, with new inspirations for where to take this story. Here is chapter three, after so long, and I hope anyone who sees it enjoys it. ^^

3 - Baby Steps

Twilight snapped out of her shocked phase and quickly stood up and galloped out the door, slamming it shut behind her with her magic and looking around wildly.

Diplo was nowhere to be seen on the path leading to her tree castle.

She began to panic, fearing he had wandered into town. If that were the case... oh the disaster that was sure to follow. She galloped all the way down her path and onto the street connecting her front yard to town. The street was flooded with ponies, all going about their usual business. "Oh, Celestia..." she muttered, darting her eyes around, scanning the crowd for Diplo, "Why did he have to look so generic?! This is going to take... a minute." With that, she spread her wings and flew up above the crowds, getting a birds-eye view of everypony in the street. Surely Diplo hadn't gone far...

He hadn't. As she was looking for him, he was strutting down the same street, head held high and a confident grin on his face. "What do you think, princess?" he muttered to himself as he looked at all the other colorful ponies. Some returned his gaze, curiously. "I figured it out!"

He accidentally bumped into a small stand of flowers, it quivered at his knock.

"Hey! Watch it!" A nervous female voice came from behind the stand, causing Diplo to look over at the source. It was a small mare with a tan coat and a scarlet mane and tail, with magenta mixed in. She had a rose on her flank.

"Oh... my bad, miss. I didn't see your flowers there," Diplo said, backing up a bit.

The mare harrumphed and walked around her stand, starting to reorganize her dislocated flowers.

Diplo blinked and watched her for a moment, before shrugging and continuing his confident strut.

Twilight reached the stand a moment later, landing and pausing to catch her breath. She then looked over at the mare behind the stand and smiled. "Ah! Roseluck! Have you seen a white stallion with a black mane and tail... w-with blue and green highlights?"

Roseluck nodded to her. "He bumped into my stand not too long ago. He went that way." She pointed in the direction that Diplo had wandered.

"Oh, thank you!" Twilight breathed, spreading her wings and taking off again, flying in the direction. "So that's how I find him... just follow the trail of destruction and I'll reach him eventually!" As she flew, she saw a mare picking up a bundle of sticks that had been knocked over, a few of the other ponies were helping her. Then she saw Diplo wandering down the street, looking around like he was lost in a daydream. She let out a grunt and flew down, landing behind him and stamping up next to him. "Diplo!" she shouted.

Diplo jumped into the air and landed on his hooves, turning his head to face her. "O-oh! Hey, Twilight! I'm walking!"

"You need to come back to my tree, Diplo! I can't let you walk out here alone yet!" Twilight demanded, frowning.

"Look at all these people, Twilight!" Diplo smiled, looking around. That smile faded just as quickly. "It's crowded here."

"You're messing with other ponies' days, Diplo!" Twilight cried, reaching her hoof out and grabbing his mane, forcing him to turn his head towards her, "Pay attention! If you want to go back home, you shouldn't get arrested here!"

"Hey, lay off your royal grabbiness," Diplo grunted, ducking his head and reaching his hoof up, smacking Twilight's hoof from his mane, "I just want to explore!"

"And you will get to explore, I just need to be WITH you until you understand enough about Equestria, let alone Ponyville! Okay?" Twilight responded, using her magic to stop his walking as she faced him.

Diplo looked off to the side and huffed gently. "Fine, fine... But only because you're a face I can recognize and everybody else looks like an asshole."

Twilight didn't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult. She raised an eyebrow curiously, but then closed her eyes and shook her head. "They're just trying to go about their regular business, Diplo. Just... please remain out of their way for the time being... alright? Is that too hard for you to manage?"

"Well, I guess not. Will they remain out of my way and my personal bubble?" Diplo queried, raising an eyebrow, "I don't like people in my bubble. Makes me feel all weird and invaded... like next, they'll want to get me naked or something."

"Diplo, you are naked," Twilight sighed, looking at him tiredly and releasing him from her magic.

"I'm naked?" Diplo looked down at himself, then between his forelegs. "HOLY SHIT I'M NAKED! Who took my clothes?!" He then grunted, his ears drooping as he squinted, looking around suspiciously. "Somebody's gonna get their ass kicked if I see them with my clothes. I paid good money for that damn t-shirt and pants. A whole ten bucks! And they better not be stained!"

"Diplo!" Twilight snapped, "Nopony took your clothes! Everypony here is naked, including me!"

"Well damn, where are your boobs then?" Diplo asked, looking at her up and down.

"Boobs?" Twilight muttered, tilting her head slightly.

"You know... those big, bulbous things babies suck on to get milk out of. They're also squishy and make good pillows from what I've heard," Diplo said with a smile.

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, raising her right forehoof with a bewildered expression on her face.

"Complete with nipples. No assembly required, treat with care and tenderness," Diplo finished, stamping his hoof and nodding with a grin, tilting his head up into the air.

"Gah... Diplo!" Twilight smacked her hoof over her eyes and bared her teeth slightly, dragging her hoof down her face. "I'll teach you about a mare's anatomy in... time... but first we NEED to get you back to my tree!"

"Hey Twilight," Diplo said.

She sighed. "What is it... Diplo?"

"A couple of these other ponies are looking at us funny," Diplo said, looking around.

"I can only imagine why Diplo..." Twilight muttered.

"Do you think they're attracted to me?" Diplo asked.

"Well, it's a little hard to not be at least curious about you. You're clearly not a normal pony, Diplo..." Twilight sighed, looking at him with an almost pained expression, then looking at the ground and closing her eyes.

"I wasn't a normal human either, Twilight," Diplo smiled, "hey, let's continue walking!" With that, he turned and started walking again. "If you want to be with me when I'm walking my happy fuzzy ass around town, then you might as well tag along so you can!"

"Hmm?" Twilight opened her eyes and looked up, to see Diplo walking away from her. She then jumped to her hooves and trotted towards him. "H-Hey! Diplo!"

"Helloooooo," He sang, looking back at her.

She held a hoof out in front of him when she got close enough, stopping him.

"Hey, what's this all about?" Diplo asked her.

"Diplo... can you just listen for a moment more?" Twilight asked with a soft sigh.

"Sure, but only for a moment," he replied, "I wanna keep going!"

"Filly steps, Diplo... filly steps..." Twilight muttered, "I'm going to be teaching you one little thing at a time so you don't get too overwhelmed."

"Filly steps... filly steps... yeah, filly steps... the hell's a filly?" Diplo asked, looking at her confusedly, "The only Philly I'm familiar with is Philadelphia but I doubt that exists here."

"A filly is a baby pony, Diplo," Twilight explained, lowering her hoof and setting it on the ground.

"So that's Ponese for baby steps, gotcha," Diplo stated, starting to walk again.

Twilight walked up next to him. "Yes, whatever you prefer to call it, just so long as it doesn't hurt anypony and we can go about taking this tour in peace."

"Sure thing, your royal sparkler," Diplo smiled, slowing down and allowing her to catch up.

"Sparkler...?" Twilight tilted her head to the side with a confused expression on her face.

"Yeah... because you go all red and limp after I piss you off," Diplo chuckled.

Twilight simply let out a soft hiss through her teeth, rolling her eyes. She didn't really have a comeback for that. All in all, she was really just glad she had at least gotten Diplo to contain himself enough to listen to her and remain close to her.

"So Twilight... anywhere you're taking me in particular?" Diplo asked.

"The town square. I would like to show it to you, Diplo. Maybe then we can go from there. There's a place where you can get a map and everything, I'll show you the layout of Ponyville," Twilight stated, "That's a good place to start teaching you about life here."

"Sure, sure," Diplo huffed, looking off to the side. He didn't like walking much now. It had gotten boring, "Then can you teach me how to run?"

"Well if you're a good boy, I might," Twilight stuck her tongue out at him teasingly.

Diplo felt his face get a little hot as he looked over at her, then he looked away again and merely grunted.

"Ah, I see how it is. You're one of THOSE kinds of ponies," Twilight smiled.

"Eh? What do you mean by that?" Diplo asked her, facing forward.

"You're willing to put in the effort here now... just so you can go on your happy way later, right?" Twilight smiled.

"Well, that's kind of my goal, actually... I don't belong here," Diplo replied coolly.

"Don't you wanna make friends?" Twilight asked him.

"Technically uh... nah," Diplo smiled, continuing to face forward.

Twilight was shocked. She'd never met somepony who didn't have a desire to make friends before. "D-Diplo! How do you mean? How could you not want to be anypony's friend?"

"It's basic, princess," Diplo pointed out, looking at her, "A... I'm not a friendly guy. And B! I don't like people that much... I do much better on my own."

"Clearly," Twilight raised her eyebrows, indicating sarcasm.

"What's that look for, Twilight?" Diplo paused

Twilight paused as well and smiled snarkily. "In the moments we've been chatting, I can see that you are a very friendly guy. I just had to put a little effort in to get to know you was all. Nyeh." She stuck her tongue out at him again.

Diplo felt himself blush and turned away again. She wasn't completely wrong.

She then paused, they were in the town's center. "Here we are, Diplo, the town square. Everypony conducts business here. Look!" She pointed to an orange-furred mare talking to a filly with a large, hot pink bow in her mane. They ran an apple stand, selling apple-based goods. "There's Applejack, teaching Applebloom how to run her stand!"

Diplo blinked. "Who?"

Twilight smiled. "She's one of my friends, an honest pony too."

"Where are the maps?" Diplo queried, looking at Twilight with a confused expression. This talk about her friends didn't interest him in the least.

Twilight's face fell. She thought for sure that talk of her friend would interest him. But she was discovering that Diplo was actually a lot like her... stubborn and to the point. She then smiled. "Well, there's a stallion here that gives maps to newcomers. Let's go visit him. His stand is right over there. " With that, she pointed at a stallion, sitting behind his stand. He ran what appeared to be a little gift shop, with local souvenirs.

Diplo smiled softly and walks with Twilight over to the stand. When they got there, Twilight explained to the stallion what was going on, and he nodded, holding out a map to them.

Twilight took it into her magical aura and levitated in front of her and Diplo. "Alright, Diplo... so here's the entirety of Ponyville, it's not a very big down as you can see."

"It looks like an eggplant," Diplo said, staring at the map.

"You're... not wrong," Twilight stated, "but this is the place we call home. I live here, you've seen my library... it would be right here." She pointed her hoof at the location of her treehouse on the map. "And that mare, Applejack... her farm is stationed here." She then moved her hoof up and to the left, towards what appeared to be, not surprisingly, an orchard. "It is all quite simple, Diplo," she stated.

"I see, cool," Diplo replied, studying the map with her, "then by that logic, we are here." He then pointed his hoof at the middle of the map, the center of the eggplant.

"Mhm, you are correct, Diplo," Twilight smiled gently, "See, you're getting it! It is honestly fortunate you landed outside of Ponyville... Other towns like Manehattan and Canterlot you would've gotten hopelessly lost in, and most likely killed by the creatures that live around there."

"Really? Damn... for a place that looks like a literal Candyland... that's kind of screwed up," Diplo replied, tilting his head to look at her and setting his hoof back on the ground.

"Unfortunately," Twilight sighed, her ears drooping as she closes her eyes and lowers her head slightly, "Equestria does have its fair share of evil events. The Queen Chrysalis I mentioned happens to be just one of the evildoers. It is difficult to be a princess of this land... sometimes I even wonder how Celestia manages."

"It's just like being a manager at a restaurant, I imagine," Diplo stated, sitting down on his hindquarters and straightening himself, he gazes at her, straight-faced and serious now. "You have your workers... and the customers. Your workers perform the tasks that make the place successful. The customers are the ones that support it all and give you ratings based on how you do... Just replace the workers with whatever friends you have, and the customers with everyone else."

Twilight opens her eyes and looks up at him, giving him a weak smile, "It is far more complex than that, unfortunately."

"Oh right, I forgot. You guys have the jacked-up monarchy thingie going for you," Diplo replied, rubbing the back of his neck and looking off to the side, "Nevermind, that was dumb."

"Dumb? Not in the least, Diplo, you tried. Here. Let's get you back to my place... I bet you are feeling a little hungry," Twilight responded, her horn starting to glow, "I can let you have some of the food I have at my place."

With a flash, the two appear back at her library, where Twilight walks into her kitchen to get the food she had mentioned, as promised. Diplo follows her, curious. Twilight's kitchen was small but rather modern-looking for the time period they seemed to be in, at least to Diplo. There were various gadgets Diplo hadn't seen before... the pantry was quite large, but the table seemed to only be built for a few, four to be exact. It gave the indication that Twilight led a rather quiet and introverted lifestyle.

"Woah, food? What exactly do you hor... ponies EAT? Do you have any ham?" Diplo queried, his ears perked and eyes hopeful.

"Ham?" Twilight responded, having opened up her pantry with her magic, she looks back at him and frowns. "Of course not. We do not eat meat."

"Oh, vegans, huh?" Diplo responded, his ears drooping as he gazed at her dully, flopping down on his hindquarters once again. "Greeeeaaat..."

"Not in the least," Twilight replied, turning back to her pantry, "A pony's digestive system cannot process meat... it makes us sick, Diplo... you still need to get used to your body, but you would get very sick if you tried to eat meat. With your equine taste buds, it would taste disgusting to you. Likewise, hay is much more appealing." She then steps back from the pantry, levitating a bowl of various fruits out of it, with a small sigh. "I forgot that I had Spike reorganize my pantry this morning... my cookies are gone, of course."

"Woah, wait... Spike? Who's that? Your boyfriend?" Diplo asked, waving his forehooves in front of him and shaking his head rapidly, "I... I'm not trying to get involved with all of THAT, but I really should get outta here if that's-"

"Boyfriend? No, not at all..." Twilight responded, setting the fruit on the table and moving the chairs out from it, "He's my assistant. In fact... he should be here anytime now. Hmph, he's never late to supper, that little dragon will eat enough to feed two full-grown stallions if you let him."

"Sounds like my kind of guy," Diplo smiled, getting up and walking over to one of the chairs, staring at it curiously before clumsily climbing up onto it, laying across it on his stomach and kicking his hind hooves behind him, seemingly stuck. "Crap..."

Twilight got up into the other chair with ease, watching him. "You know, this is quite amusing," she smiled, folding her forehooves on the table.

Diplo ignored her, moving back a little bit, before scooting his rear up onto the chair and finally managing to sit up, shaking his head to readjust his mane, some of which had fallen over his face, blinding him, he blinks his eyes and rubs one of them with his hoof. "Geez, everything here is so difficult... can't even sit properly without looking like some sort of circus."

"Baby steps, Diplo, baby steps," Twilight reminded him with an almost smug grin, she levitated an apple and a bunch of grapes over to herself, setting them down on the table in front of her. "I'm curious, Diplo... You did figure out how to open my door, but do you know how to pick something up?"

Diplo simply sat there and stared at her, looking slightly bewildered before speaking up. "Alright, princess, I know I'm new here but there's no need to make me your jester..."

Twilight smiled. "If you drop an apple, I will try not to laugh... I cannot promise that, though." With that, she levitated the apple she held in her magic up to her, taking a bite out of it and chewing it, watching him.

Diplo let out a small sigh, leaning forward as his ears drooped slightly, he reaches his hooves out and takes an apple from the bowl of fruit, lifting it towards him, gazing at it. He then opens his mouth and takes a bite out of it, closing one eye and shaking his head, chewing it as well.

"See? It's not so hard, Diplo," Twilight grinned, going to take another bite.

The two were suddenly interrupted by Spike, who had just arrived back at the library.

"Twiliiiiiight! Where are you?" his voice calls out.

Diplo's ears perk up and he faces the entrance to the kitchen. "Mmph? Is that the Spike you mentioned earlier?" he queried, his mouth full.

"In the kitchen, Spike!" Twilight responded, putting her apple down.

Spike showed up soon after; the short, green and purple dragon tilts his head curiously when he saw what was going on. He had a small, wrapped-up scroll under his arm. "Huh? Who's that, Twilight?" He then sneers. "You finally got a date?"

"Of... Of course not!" Twilight snapped, glancing at Diplo, then back at Spike, "He... he's new here, Spike. His name is Diplo."

Diplo smiled and set his apple down... then he rubbed his chin with one hoof. "You know, I kinda like this lil' guy's thinking."

Twilight let out a small sigh. "Spike, meet Diplo, and Diplo, this is Spike, my assistant."

Spike scooted back one of the other chairs, and climbed up into it, placing the scroll on the table. He had to stand, being a little too short to reach otherwise. "So you're new to Ponyville, huh?" Spike asked Diplo, gazing at him, "I thought Twi finally found a stallionfriend at first." He then chuckles, "I was about ready to ask you guys to kiss."

"I'm about as new as they get," Diplo replied, folding his hooves on the table and grinning at him, "But I don't see why that couldn't be arranged."

"Because we're not here for that," Twilight snapped, a soft blush having come to her face. This was a blush of embarrassment for Spike's manners. "You don't need to be so rude, Spike. He's our guest, have you forgotten your manners?"

"Hey, where I come from and where I work, I'm a little used to it, so don't you worry," Diplo said, facing Twilight. He then motioned over to Spike with a hoof. "This lil' dude's kind of cool though."

"Yeah, see, Twi? He thinks I'm cool!" Spike beamed, tilting his head upward a little bit.

Twilight simply let out a sigh, lowering her head as her ears drooped, she was hoping to change the subject before it got out of hand. "Spike... what is that scroll you brought to the table?"

"Oh! A letter from the princess!" he replied, picking up the scroll and holding it out to her, "It came while I was walking home from Rarity's. Here ya go!"

Twilight levitated the letter, undoing the fine ribbon with her magic and levitating it towards her face... she unrolls it with her magic. "This is probably a response to the letter I sent her a few days back, about my new magic book order," Twilight stated, beginning to read.

Diplo quietly got down from his chair and crept around Twilight's seat, curious. He then stood up on his hind legs, placing his forehooves on the back of Twilight's chair, gazing at the letter as well. This turned out to be fruitless... he could not understand the scribbles on the fine parchment, but he gathered some idea of what was going on, based on Twilight's facial expressions.

"Oh no..." She murmured, her facial expression having gone from curious... to a frown... then to pure worry as her ears fell flat.

"What is it Twi?" Spike queried. He had gotten down from his chair as well and was now trying to see the letter, standing on tiptoe, but still being too short.

"No no no... Not now... this is too inconvenient of a time!" She breathed, quickly closing the scroll, and galloping upstairs with it in her magic.

"Hey! Twilight!" Diplo called after her, trying to follow suit, but falling flat on his face; he still had no idea how to gallop. "Well crap," he muttered, "I can't read and I can't run either. The hell's her problem?"

Spike gazed toward the stairs, taking a few steps forward, before pausing and looking back at Diplo, shrugging. "Maybe she'll tell us. She usually doesn't keep anything from me, at least. You? I'm not so sure."

"Odd," Diplo replied, starting to walk toward the stairs to head up to her room, "We didn't even get to have dessert."

"Uhhh... Dip?" Spike meandered after him, "You... probably shouldn't bother her right now."

"It's the only way either of us will find anything out," Diplo replied, pausing at the foot of the spiraling staircase and looking back at him. "I still don't know enough about this place to be left in the dark... for all I know it's something detrimental to my health."

Spike moved his head from side to side, looking up at the ceiling as if he were pondering for a moment, before crossing his arms. "Mm... fair point."

Twilight reappeared, walking down the stairs before either of them had a chance to head up there, she was writing furiously on a similar piece of parchment. Diplo and Spike both step back to allow her to walk through. Even Diplo remained quiet now; he could feel something serious was going down. Her face was a mix of worry and frustration, and her ears were flat.

"Uhhh... Twilight?" Spike finally spoke up, "Wanna... tell us what's going on?"

"Prince Blueblood is about to make a trip through here," She snapped, rather quickly, "And of course... I have to be the one to deal with this, WHILE we have somepony COMPLETELY new here."

"Blueblood? Like the noble?" Diplo asked, sitting down on the ground and tilting his head, gazing at Twilight.

"He's a prince... Cadance's cousin and Celestia's very distant nephew," she retorted, throwing her quill to the ground and making a ribbon appear... she hastily tied the scroll closed and moved it over to Spike. "Send this, please," she stated quickly.

"Y... You got it, Twi," Spike replied, obeying immediately and taking the letter. He drew in a breath and sent it away with his magical green fire.

"You look upset," Diplo said, "Did someone fart in your cheerios?"

"This is NOT a time to be joking around, Diplo!" Twilight snapped, glaring at him and seating herself on the ground in front of him. Her tone surprised him slightly. "Look... This prince is nopony to be taken lightly, okay? I'm going to have to teach you how to bow down..." she started.

"Hold up, bow down?" Diplo interrupted, shaking his head and raising his hoof. "Hold on, hell no! I'm not bowing to anybody, especially not some whackjob that happens to hold the title of 'prince.' I don't even know this guy! Why does he need to be bowed to?"

Spike took a few baby steps back, watching the two, hoping a fight wouldn't happen, but being eager for one at the same time; he secretly enjoyed arguments.

"Diplo! Just... ugh..." Twilight put a hoof over her eyes, lowering her head, "I was afraid this would happen... look... you could get us BOTH in BIG trouble if we don't! It's a way of showing respect here! It's the only way I won't have to deal with a mess like I did the LAST time we saw him..."

"Well he sounds like an ass and the ass is nothing worth praising," Diplo stated simply, gazing at her with the straightest face he could manage, "It's filled with hot air and it jiggles."

"Diplo, please..." Twilight muttered, her voice cracked... She was dealing with some of the worst strokes of luck today and it was putting her on the verge of tears, she kept her hoof over her eyes. "I really... really need you to listen... Oh Celestia, this day's been awful..."

"Hey, chill out," Diplo replied, his stony expression softening slightly "I'll listen. I'm just not thrilled about bowing down to a guy that probably doesn't even deserve it."

Twilight looked up at him, a dim hope filling her face as she set her hoof on the ground, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly... perhaps not all was lost, after all. "Alright, Diplo... look, you're going to have to trust me because this will benefit all of us. I just sent a letter to Celestia informing her of what was going on here... informing her about you."

"Oh boy, she's gonna have a fun time reading that, I bet," Diplo replied, pursing his lips and looking off to the side.

"Let's not talk about that... the hope here is that she'll convince Blueblood to change his course and go somewhere else... as it stands, I really don't want either of us to have to deal with him right now," Twilight replied, her expression relaxing to a soft, serious frown, she then points a hoof at Diplo. "But either way it goes... I will need to teach you to bow... thank Celestia it's so simple. Not even YOU could mess it up."

"You should know me well enough by now to know I'll mess it up in some way," Diplo smiled softly, standing up, "Alright, so what do I do?

Twilight stands as well, extending her right forehoof forward, and setting it on the ground, she then crouches down, folding her other forehoof under her, and closing her eyes. "Simply this, Diplo," She responded after a moment, holding the position.

"That position looks stupid. You have to throw your butt up into the air for this prince? Is he gay or something?" Diplo asked, tilting his head, slightly amused.

"Just do it, please," Twilight responded, maintaining the position and gazing at him.

"Alright, alright... but this will be the only time I do it... Because it feels like it costs a lot of dignity," Diplo replied, imitating her position. He quickly found that she was correct; it was super easy, so much so that he did it right on the first try this time. "How long would I have to maintain this position?" he asked after a moment.

"Until he passes, which hopefully won't take long," Twilight responded, straightening herself, "I'm glad to see you at least decided to cooperate." She let out a small sigh of relief.

"Hey, uhh... this is kind of starting to hurt. Can I stop now?" Diplo asked her, looking up at her.

"Of course," She responded, giving him a slightly forced grin, "You did well for your first time."

Diplo immediately straightened himself, shaking himself off. "I've never done something so humiliating in my life..." he muttered, cracking his neck and closing his eyes.

"You'll get used to it with time," Twilight responded, looking over at Spike.

Spike had gotten himself some popcorn and was happily munching it, sitting on the floor and watching the two. "Mmrrph?" he muffled, one claw grasping some popcorn and his mouth full of the stuff, as he made eye contact with Twilight.

Twilight sighed, rolling her eyes as her ears remained flat. "Spike... can you please get our guest a pillow and blanket? He will be staying here in one of our guest rooms until he can get a home of his own."

"Mmhmmph!" Spike nodded, quickly picking up his bucket of popcorn and running up the stairs with it.

"Giving me a place to sleep too?" Diplo asked her, gazing at her curiously, "You're awfully generous to a guy that's done nothing but cause trouble."

"You are a challenge to deal with, I will admit," Twilight replied, turning to follow Spike up the stairs. "Follow me, Diplo. I'll show you where you'll be sleeping. According to the princess, Blueblood will be here tomorrow... I want you to get plenty of rest until then."

Diplo proceeded to follow her quietly up the stairs, he was gazing at her curiously. "Say, why are you so concerned about how much I sleep, princess? I've run on two to three hours' worth of such without much of a problem," he stated, tilting his head, a curious squint appearing on his face.

"I'm afraid that won't do at all, Diplo," Twilight replied, glancing back at him as the two reached the top of the stairs.

They began to walk down one of the few hallways in her tree palace. The halls were rather richly decorated with fine embroidery, and a few banners sporting Twilight's cutie mark hung about the walls, the ceilings were littered with decorative, sparkling stars. It was almost magical, the two sets of hooves made soft thumps on the floor beneath them, which was made of a polished stone Diplo didn't recognize. Large windows lined the walls, displaying quite the view of the small town of Ponyville, it was quite well-lit in spite of it having just turned nighttime.

Diplo walked in silence, as he looked around, a few thoughts were running through his mind, as he frowned softly and looked out the windows. First, why did it get dark so quickly? Where he came from, the shift from day to night lasted about an hour at the shortest; here it seemed to only have lasted a few minutes. Did time really go that fast? Second, why was this princess so worried about him? It made him feel awkward because he wasn't used to anyone outside of work being so concerned about him. Third, he began wondering if anyone back at home had noticed he went missing, but he dismissed the thought shortly, being interrupted by Twilight.

"Awfully quiet... are you tired?" She asked him, looking back at him as she approached a door off to their right.

"A little, yeah... hey, you didn't answer my question," he replied, shifting his gaze over to her, perking one ear up in curiosity.

Twilight paused by the door, turning to face him and frowning softly, "I didn't?"

"No... I asked why you were so worried about how much I slept. It's... odd to me," Diplo said, blinking once.

"Don't be silly," Twilight smiled, "You need sleep to be healthy. Plus, haven't you had a long day? After all, you were torn from your home, forced to come here and learn new tricks, almost against your will."

Diplo pursed his lips and nodded, averting his gaze from her. "Fair point... I was just curious is all."

"I do have a question for you, though, Diplo," Twilight said, her smile fading slightly, "If your story is true... do you think anyone from where you're from will show up to take you back home?"

Diplo looked back at her, raising his hoof and opening his mouth to speak, but slowly lowering it and looking off to the side again. He had no answer to that, he recalled Senator Ruth's words about it being possible they might not return. "I... I honestly don't know," he said, setting his hoof on the ground and looking back at her, "I was never given a clear answer..."

"I see. Well, we can only hope, right?" Twilight did her best to give him a reassuring smile, but she was troubled. His answers and story had begun to bother her. Had humans really advanced enough to open gateways into their world? What was their intent? Why send someone like Diplo? Her train of thoughts, she worried, would keep her up for a while.

These thoughts didn't seem to cross Diplo's mind because he opened the door to the room they were standing outside of, walking into it, and looking back at her. "Goodnight, Twilight. Thanks... for letting me stay here," He stated quietly, a little awkwardly, not meeting her gaze and closing the door behind him.

Twilight simply nodded, her smile fading as quickly as she had put it on; her horn started glowing and she teleports herself to her room, marching over to the small desk she had in it, using her magic to open her windows and allow in the pleasant evening breeze. She flopped herself down on her chair, making her notebook appear in front of her and starting to review the notes she had taken that day, a soft frown on her face. Spike lay asleep in his little bed behind him, the empty popcorn bucket beside it, all was quiet as Twilight settled herself in for a long night.