When we finally made our way to Twilight's castle, the kids were no doubt excited. Sweetie Belle had finally let go of my arm, and I was now simply watching and waiting for the door to open.

She had already knocked on the door, so that saved us a couple of minutes of having to decide how loud to knock, and a lot of wondering whether or not this Twilight person was asleep.

To be honest I couldn't wait to see what this person looked like. Was she a real, honest to goodness Princess, or was it just a nickname? was she regal and sophisticated, graceful and well mannered? The anticipation was killing me.

After about another two minutes we heard groaning on the other end, followed by a rather annoyed sounding, "I'm coming, I'm coming!"

'Well, that was unexpected.' I thought. Her voice, while girly and cute, was hidden behind a tone that spoke of extreme irritation and frustration. What could she possibly be so upset about?

My question was quickly answered, however, when I saw the door slowly open to reveal a girl in a white lab coat.

Her purple and pink hair was a complete mess, she had quills sticking out of tangles in her locks at odd angles (I'm pretty sure the feather on one of those quills is broken, too), and there was an extremely long piece of parchment hanging by a roll on top of her head, which chose now to unroll itself and fall right into her face.

She lifted it up to reveal tired, bloodshot eyes, complete with bags and all, drool hanging from her lower lip and ink marks on her face from having likely slept on her pen.

Needless to say, this was not what I expected.

When she saw the three teenagers, her mood brightened considerably. "Oh! It's you three! Hi girls!" She waved a gloved hand to them, and they waved back.

"What brings you to the castle today? You girls rarely ever visit me now that you have your cutie marks."

As I listened to the conversation, I took note of the phrase 'Cutie Mark', and stored it for later. Does this word have something to do with thesse strange tattoos I keep seeing on everyone?

"Yeah..." Sweetie Belle confirmed Twilight's statement. "Sorry about that. Helping people find their special talent is a lot of work."

"I would imagine so." Twilight said, smiling down at the three of them. "Now why don't you three come on inside. I'll make tea, and we can catch up!"

I now understood what the loud noise was that woke me up. I was getting a front row seat to it as the trio said, in unison,

"YAY, TEA AT TWILIGHT'S!"

I wish I had covered my ears when I had the chance.

"Can our friend come, too?" Scootaloo asked.

"Sure they can! Your friend is welcome to join us at any time!" Twilight looked around for moment, then back to the girls with a confused look on her face.

"Uh...where are they?"

"He's right here, Twilight!" Apple Bloom called out, gesturing to me.

When Twilight saw me, her eyes widened. The only possible reason I can see for this being the case is that i'm easily a head taller than her, if not more.

At 6'2" I did stand taller than some people I knew back in high school, so this wasn't a big deal.

Apparently it was for Twilight however, as she started to stumble over her words a bit. "Oookay, sure, let's let him in."

With that, Twilight turned around and opened the door, letting our little group of four come inside. I was immediately floored by how beautiful the whole thing was. The crystal decor, the marble flooring, the high ceiling. It was almost like I was in a-

Oh, wait, I am in a castle.

This...was...great!

While I was marveling at the whole setup, however, Twilight took the opportunity to go and make herself look decent. When she came back and saw that I was still in a state pf perpetual shock, she said,

"You like it? I've lived here for so long the grandiose nature of this place just flies right over my head most days."

To say I liked it was an understatement. My inner kid was screaming at the top of it's lungs for me to run around and explore this place. But my outer adult kept me for making a fool of myself in front of strangers. Thank god.

"Yeah, it's great! Everything is so bright and colorful and shiny, it's like i'm inside a treasure chest or something." I said, grinning wide.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far." Twilight said, waving away my question with a light blush to her cheeks. "Come on, I'll give you a tour."

"Sounds great to me!" I said, placing my fists on my hips in a superman pose before continuing forward, following after Twilight.

"To start our tour off, we have the library. It's my favorite place in the whole castle." Twilight said to me as we stood just inside the door of what had to be the largest library i'd ever seen. This place would put most public libraries on my world to shame.

Rows upon rows upon rows of bookcases holding hundreds upon hundreds of books lined the walls of the place. There were inner rows as well, creating isles so narrow that we had to walk in a straight line just to pass through them.

The only sign of a librarian's desk was a small corner section on the far left stationed right next to a set of spiraling stairs that led up to the second floor bookcases which reached all the way to the ceiling.

I was in awe.

All it needed now was a few magical sparkling lights and spirits for occupants and it would be straight out of a fantasy land.

I was so engrossed in my reverie that I hadn't noticed Twilight standing in front of me. I looked down to see her twiddling her thumbs and blushing from embarrassment.

"I'm a bit of a...bookworm." She said with a smile as she looked up at me. It was the most adorable thing i'd ever seen.

"I see." I said with a grin and an air of excitement. The awe from the library hadn't quite worn off yet, and if the rest of the castle was as amazing as this, I doubted it ever would.

We made our way further down the halls of the castle. Along the way, Twilight pointed in the direction of several bedrooms, telling us to whom they belonged.

"Let's see...That's Rarity's room, that's Fluttershy's...oh, and That's Rainbow Dash's, and that's Starlight Glimmer's room." She said as we passed a room with an odd swirl design on it.

I don't know why, but something about this Starlight Glimmer caught my attention. "Who's Starlight Glimmer?"

"She's a former student of mine." Twilight said, the tone in her voice telling me that something bad must've happened.

The fact that Twilight was not only a Princess, but a teacher as well, was intriguing to me. I resolved to ask about it. "So, what? Did she flunk out?"

"What?! No!" Twilight suddenly rounded on me. "Perhaps I made it seem like we're on bad terms, but that's not it at all. She's actually already graduated her friendship lessons. She's a guidance counselor at my school."

Something Twilight said caught my attention again. 'I suppose now would be as good a time as any.' "Hey, Twilight. I've been meaning to ask but, how are you a princess, and a teacher? You said something about Friendship lessons just now, but..."

"Oh, that? Yes, that's right. I'm a princess, and a teacher. I suppose I should explain myself. You see, I'm not just any princess. I'm the princess of Friendship, and my school, the School of Friendship, is where I teach the lessons that I've learned throughout my life with my friends, who you'll meet soon enough."

"And is this Starlight Glimmer also one of your friends?" I asked, genuinely wondering what their relationship could be.

"Yes, she is. One of my best friends actually." Twilght said with a smile of her own.

"I see. I look forward to meeting her, along with the rest of your friends as well." I said, returning her smile. "I hope we get along."

Twilight waved away my worry. "I'm sure you'll do just fine!"

And with that, the five of us made our way down the hallways even further. As I watched Twilight walk, I couldn't help but feel just the slightest bit nervous.

'I hope so. I really do hope so.'

Author's Note

Hi guys! Sorry about this. I took a day off to get my thoughts together on this. But I have it now so here's another chapter for you all to read. Enjoy!