You've Come To The Right Neighborhood

It took a few minutes for the group to get on board, mostly due to more than a few other ponies staring at Spike in surprise and holding up the ticket line. A couple were pretty quick to ask the others what he was.

And judging from the slightly exasperated look on Twilight's face, she'd experienced moments like this more then she really wanted to. "He is a human. No, we don't know how he got here, and neither does he. We're simply escorting to Canterlot because I informed Princess Celestia and Luna about him and they are curious as well."

Thankfully, that was the worst they dealt with, and soon they were all seated and the conductor gave the all clear.

"So, anything about Canterlot I should know?" Spike as asked they left Ponyville behind.

"Well, Moondancer already told you that's where she lives." Startlight answered. "And Twilight and Barb are from there too."

"Donut Joe's is there too. I used to go there a lot when me and Twilight were little." Barb added.

"Unfortunately, it's also got a lot of snooty, high-falootin', so-called 'nobles' that live there too." Applejack muttered.

Rarity sighed. "Come now, AJ. I will admit certain ones like Jet Set and Upper Crust..." She ignored the derisive snorts from Applejack, Rainbow, and even Twilight. "But there are a few good ones. Remember how Fancy Pants literally begged for the recipe for your cider?"

"Ok, Ah'll gave you that one, Rares." The farmgirl admitted. "But there's still a lot of polecats there. Princess Bluebelle ring a bell?"

"Oh..." Rarity grimaced.

"Do...do I wanna know?"

"Princess Bluebelle is Celestia and Luna's niece." Twilight said. "She's also one of the most spoiled ponies around. Rarity learned the hard way when she tried making friends at the Grand Galloping Gala. It's an annual royal ball to celebrate Canterlot's completion."

"Ah." He started to wonder just what he was getting into.

"YOU'RE REAL!"

Unfortunately...or luckily, depending on who was asked, he was quickly broken from his thoughts by an excited squeal, followed by a mint green unicorn mare jumping into his lap.

"You're real! You're really real!" She cried out, bouncing in his lap, much to his embarrassment, and the girls' annoyance.

"Um...Hi?" He said, trying not to react to just what her bare backside was bouncing on.

"Hi, I'm Lyra Heartstrings! You're a human, right!?" She chirped. "I KNEW you guys existed! I told you, Bon Bon, ha!"

Spike, later on, would ask himself more than once why he did it. But, for some inexplicable reason, he couldn't stop himself; "So, do you taste as minty as you look?"

Lyra looked at him in surprise for a second before giving a coy look. "Why not have a taste and find OW!" She yelped when another mare got hold of her ear, pulling her off him. Spike noted this one was beige with a cobalt blue, pink streaked mane a tat-cutie marks that looked like candy.

"Uh...Bon Bon, I presume?"

"Sorry about that." She blushed, pulling on Lyra's ear. "She's always been hoping your kind were real. And when she saw you..." The blush brightened and she dragged the unicorn off. "I can't believe you!" He heard her chastise Lyra a little ways off. "We agreed to share....!"

"Heh, sorry about that." He said, looking back at the others. "Not real sure what possessed me to say...that..." Instead of the somewhat offended/shocked looks he though he was going to see, instead nearly all of them were blushing. Ones like Scootaloo and Moondancer were biting their lips.

"Ooh, wanna see if I taste like cotton candy?" Pinkie spoke up, shaking her breasts before Applejack shoved her into the seat.

"Um..." Spike remained silent, not real sure how to react to Pinkie aside from the growing blush.

The next half hour was more or less in silence on his part, half-listening to the brief pieces of conversation he managed to catch from the girls. Mentally, though, he was wondering how the other two princesses would react when they saw him; given how the letter was worded, she seemed genuinely curious, but when he got there could be a whole other story.

"Talk to him, Tavi. That is a 'he', right?" A voice from the opposite seat roused him from his mental rambling. He looked over to see two new mares setting there, one was a lithe-looking while unicorn with a shaggy blue mane and dark sunglasses, wearing sneakers, fishnet leggings, gloves, and a studded collar with a reversed eighth note cutie mark.

Beside her was a more buxom, light grey earth pony with black hair down to her waist, wearing heels, thigh-high stockings that showed off her violet treble clef cutie mark, and a bow tie.

He couldn't help but grin a little; she really was rather pretty. Apparently she might've been thinking similar, because she was glancing his way with a smile and blush of her own. Every so often, her friend seemed to nudge her and gesture towards him.

Another glance his way caused her blush deeper and look away. The unicorn snorted, and from the angle he was at, seemed to roll her eyes behind her glasses before getting up...

And heading straight towards him, ignoring the other's protesting motions. "Hey there, big guy." She said, lifting her shades to look at him, a pair of cerise eyes glittered in amusement when he tried not to glance past her neck. "I'm just gonna pull a captain obvious and say you definitely aren't a local boy."

"That's putting it really mildly." He replied. "One minute I'm at a practice dig for my archaeology class, the next I'm bouncing down a hillside." He open his shirt to show the bandages. "Think I smacked most of the rocks on the way down."

"Ouch." She winced. "Um, anyway, name's Vinyl Scratch, AKA DJ Pone3, Ponyville's premiere DJ." She motioned to the other. "And is my bud, Octavia Melody."

"H-hello." She said softly, a noticeable British accent in her voice.

"Spike. Spike Draksen, I guess the only thing I am at the moment is the extraterrestrial."

"An alien? That's...actually kinda cool. Hey, listen, let us know next time you're in Ponyvill and the two of us'll look you up...and down." She winked before heading back to her seat, where the two engaged in a quiet, but frantic, conversation.

"Uh, s-sure." He mumbled. 'Did...did she just come on to me?'.

"You guys weren't kidding when you said it was a trip!" Spike looked out from the Canterlot train station. The sun was already starting to set by the time they arrive. "Hey, I can see your town from here!" He though he could almost see the little dot that was Fluttershy's place, and what they called the Everfree just past it.

"Yeah, it's a heck of a view." Barb said, looking out with him. "If you squint right in the morning you can spot Appleloosa."

"Come on Barb, we can all show him around after we introduce him to the princesses." Twilight called out.

As they made their way through town, he noticed the ponies here dressed almost the same as in Ponyville; naked excepr for an accessory like scarves, shawls, belts, ect..though a few went a bit more daring with garter belts or body harnesses made of gold chain. However, he noticed something odd.

Out of all the ponies there, he'd seen only one male; the stallion they'd introduced as Donut Joe. And for some reason, he seemed intent on wearing something akin to a kilt. Given that no one commented, he took it as normal. Though, he did find the look of sympathetic pity Joe gave him as they left a little disconcerting. 'Now that I think about it, I didn't see any guys while pinkie was dragging me to the station...' He quietly made a point to ask the Princesses about this.

A few minutes later they were entering the front gate on the palace. Impressive gardens flanked either side of them with a large set of steps leading to the entranced. If he was honest with himself, Spike felt a little intimidated.

"Something wrong, Stud?" Trixie asked, sidling up beside him and setting a hand on his thigh.

"Never been this close to an actual palace before...especially one with a country's rulers living in it. I'm feeling just a little bit nervous.

"Ah, nothing to worry about, Stretch!" Rainbow hovered up in front of him, swatting Trixie's hand off him with her tail. "Celestia and Luna are fine. As long as you don't attack him or other ponies...or try and steal their favorite desserts, they're harmless."

"Their desserts?" He couldn't help but laugh a little at how random that sounded.

"Trust me, you're safer not knowing." She shivered. "It's not pretty...that poor griffon."

Spike started to say something, stopped, tried again, faltered, tried one more time, then gave up, realizing nothing he could say would make any more sense out of it. "Okay...I...I guess we better go in." He followed them inside.

Oddly enough, the interior felt...well, welcoming. It was bright, airy, and decorated with a sense of comfort in mind. It was also where he made another discovery: as they passed guards - who either saluted the girls and/or gave him oddly appraising looks (he could've sworn a couple licked their lips) - they were all female again. Unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies, but every one of them, save for a stallion stationed in a guard alcove, it was a completely female regiment.

And to add another odd aspect, their uniforms. Granted it had the standard; sabatons, greaves, gauntlets, pauldrons, helms...the rest was little more than a metal bikini...or speedo in the stallion's case. He really, reeeealy wanted to just ask 'why'. but decided against it. It was probably another cultural aspect, and not really his place to critique, especially since he wasn't an armorer.

"We're here." Twilight said, as the group entered a large chamber. Elaborate stained glass windows and banners decorated the walls and the two large pillars supporting the ceiling. "The throne room and audience chamber."

He let out a low whistle at the sight. "Well, I'm impressed."

"I believe we can take that as a compliment, huh, Sister?" A melodic voice from nearby caused him to whirl around for the source. His jaw dropped when he saw them. Two more alicorns, the other navy blue. The white one stood as tall as him, her horn adding an extra foot of height. Her mane was almost a cloak of pink, blight blue and green that nearly touched the floor and seemed to constantly be moving.

"I 'm a little surprised all of you came along, to be honest." She was wearing a gold crown and shimmering full-length silver-colored dress that hugged her hourglass figure with two holes in the sides to let her cutie marks, a golden sun, be visible. The plunging neckline offering a substantial peek at her E-cup breasts.

"Indeed." The navy blue one took over. While she was noticeably shorter, possibly only reaching his shoulder, she was no less jaw-dropping. Her mane was floor-length and always moving as well, but her's was dark blue, and decorated with countless glittering dots that made it almost twinkle. She wore a crown that looked like it was made of onyx, and a dark blue, almost black, strapless and backless dress, descending down to almost the curve of her pert-looking backside. The front, while not as deep as the taller alicorn, had no less an easy task showing off her own DD-cup chest. Her's also had holes to show off her cutie mark: a crescent moon on a black background. "We had expected just Twilight and Barb to volunteer to escort our new visitor here. It's not unwelcome, just unexpected."

Spike gulped, praying he wasn't about to pop a boner in the presence of these two as they both focused their gaze on him.

"So, you're our new guest." The white alicorn nodded slightly. "I'm Princess Celestia."

"I am Princess Luna." The blue one added, offering a small smile.

"Welcome to Equestria." They said in unison.