Secure Containment for Ponies

Chapters

Prologue: A Whole New World
Chapter 1: First Contact
Chapter 3: The Tour
Chapter 4: The Calm
Chapter 2: Meeting Royalty

Prologue: A Whole New World

It worked. It actually worked! The anomaly that had occurred a decade and a half ago had been successfully reverse-engineered! All of the equipment that he and others had carefully set up now indicated that there was a portal out of reality open in the test chamber. From the observation chamber, Dr. ███████ looked into the test chamber to see the portal and where it led. “Huh. A desert. Definitely not what I expected.” he said, as one of his colleagues (also in the observation chamber) piloted an unmanned rover, loaded with thermometers (both digital and analog), Kant counters, mass spectrometers, and various other pieces of scientific equipment through the portal.

Shortly thereafter, once the rover had been moved through the portal and all of its equipment had been set up, Dr. ███████ began looking at the data from the rover. 30.1 degrees Celsius: hot, but definitely within the temperature ranges of deserts on Earth; atmospheric composition of 77.5% nitrogen, 20.8% oxygen, 0.9% argon, 0.7% water vapor, 0.1% other: a bit dry, but otherwise the same as Earth; air pressure at 101.3 kilopascals: same as sea level on Earth; Hume field at 99.87 Humes: a bit low, but within natural variance.

Wait a minute.

100 Humes?

The portal should lead outside of reality, and therefore there should not be a Hume field…

He decided to ask. “Hey, are the Kant counters calibrated correctly?”

“They should be, why do you ask?”

“They’re giving a reading of a hundred Humes. The portal should lead out of reality, so the Hume field should be zero, by definition.”

“Maybe we found a different reality? Haven’t the Bailey brothers been exploring alternate realities?”

“No, you’re thinking of parallel universes, which are part of this reality. No other realities have ever been discovered, much less explored.”

“Maybe the portal just leads somewhere on Earth, then.”

“That would not explain why all of our instruments are telling us that this portal is leading out of reality, as well as why there are no radio signals. If the rover is on Earth, there should be at least some detectable radio signals; from the GPS satellites, if nothing else.”

“Maybe the portal leads to a different time, then.”

“Maybe. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

The two scientists resumed studying the data that the rover was collecting. Then, the rover started to receive a radio signal.

On a standard Foundation frequency.

With standard Foundation encryption.

Dr. ███████ asked, “You getting this?”

“Yup. Who do you think it’s from?”

“Don’t know. The identification code is not one that I recognize, and besides, it’s coming from the other side of the portal.”

“Are you sure it isn’t just some signal from Earth leaking through the portal?”

“Yes! You helped me set up the Faraday cage, remember?”

“Yeah. So, what does the message say?”

“I don’t know. There seems to some further encryption, so I just have the message header. You know, the identification code, timestamp, and all that stuff?”

“Yeah. So, who’s it from?”

“I just told you, I don’t know. I don’t recognize the identification code, and a search of the database comes up with no results.”

“Maybe it’s some secret project someone came up with. God knows, we have enough of those.”

“Maybe. I’ll send it to the O5 Council just to make sure. But what does SCP-343 have to do with anything?”

“Nevermind.”

The next day, the O5 Council convened in an emergency meeting.

O5-1 started the meeting. “I assume that you have all read the briefing for this meeting.”

O5-8 replied, “Yes, yes. But how do we know that this… ‘portal’ does not just lead somewhere on Earth? Maybe not sometime today, but maybe in the distant past or distant future?”

O5-5 sighed. “If you actually read the briefing, you would have read that the rover observed the constellations of the other world, which do not match any known location, either before or after Event 2047-A”

“Event 2047-A?” O5-9 queried.

“An event back in ’73 when Earth switched places with an exoplanet. But that is not what we are here to discuss,” replied O5-10

“Yes. And I have yet to be convinced that the portal leads to another reality,” stated O5-8.

“Nevertheless, we still have to decide what to do with the portal,” replied O5-2.

“We could contact whatever civilization exists on the other side and set up an exchange of some sort,” suggested O5-4.

“That seemed to work well with the Third Antarctic Empire,” agreed O5-3.

“The plan that our mysterious friend sent us seems like a good one, and everything that we have discovered about this new world supports it,” recommended O5-6.

“I agree, though we should go ahead with the plan even if the other civilization refuses to help,” added O5-7

“I think that we should just close the portal and forget this whole thing,” grumbled O5-8.

“What? And lose all of the hard work that our scientists put into this?” O5-5 exclaimed.

“Well, why did we have our scientists create this portal in the first place?” countered O5-8.

“Fifteen years ago, a portal opened up near Philadelphia. It stayed open for less than a minute, so we were unable to locate it, though we did receive part of a Foundation-encrypted radio transmission from the other side. Using the data that we collected about the portal back then, our scientists managed to create this portal,” O5-2 answered.

“If we aren’t going to close the portal, then we should explore whatever’s on the other side as much as possible. I propose that we…” began O5-8

“I’m going to stop you right there. The message specifically stated that the country on the other side is an absolute diarchy, and the rulers have been covering up the existence of humans for thousands of years, so manned exploration is out. Unless you want to risk angering them…” interrupted O5-1.

“In that case, I propose that we go ahead with our mysterious friend’s plan for now, begin extensive unmanned exploration while we collect the necessary resources to enact the plan, and make a final decision when we have more information than what our mysterious friend has given us,” proposed O5-6.

“And what are the benefits of this plan, exactly?” countered O5-8.

“There seem to be three main benefits to this plan. One: we will have a place to put high-threat anomalies so that they will not destroy our world if they breach containment; two: if everything goes well, the citizens of this new land will eventually be the ones maintaining the containment of these anomalies, thus freeing up valuable resources that can then be used in other ways; and three: we won’t have to worry as much about the Chaos Insurgency or the Serpent’s Hand stealing these anomalies,” replied O5-7.

“Is there any other discussion? …No? Then let us vote,” said O5-1.

The Council voted.

Support: O5-2, O5-6, O5-7, O5-9, O5-10

Oppose: O5-3, O5-5, O5-8, O5-12

Abstain: O5-1, O5-4, O5-11, O5-13

O5-8 brought up some issues with the plan. “Now that we have decided to do this – not that I think that it is a good idea – how are we going to do it? The plan specifically mentions using HL-49 and an AIC to initiate contact. Are we sure that HL-49 is up to the task? After all, Dr. Glass diagnosed it with post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic stress. And which AIC are we going to send?”

“First of all, HL-49 is the old designation. Now that it is in containment, it has been assigned the preliminary designation SCP-5746 until proper containment procedures have been approved. Second of all, our mysterious friend claims that this plan will help SCP-5746’s mental issues. Third of all, the plan specifically says to have SCP-5746 use one of its… puppets, I think it calls them? to visit this new world. Fourth of all, since we are planning to construct a containment site for Keter-class anomalies in this new world, we should send PROJECT: SCEPTER, as it will be designed to run a Keter-class site,” O5-6 stated.

“Puppets? I didn’t read anything in the preliminary containment document about puppets,” O5-10 said, confused.

“SCP-5746 can create new bodies for itself to use, though it would still die if its original body were killed. Hence, it refers to the additional bodies as puppets,” O5-4 explained.

“Okay, so we send SCP-5746 and PROJECT: SCPETER to this new world, but what robot should we use for PROJECT: SCEPTER?” asked O5-9.

“Well, the plan suggests that we contract Anderson Robotics to create a robotic body for PROJECT: SCEPTER,” observed O5-2.

“Anderson Robotics? Haven’t we been trying to find them and eliminate them for years?” asked O5-5.

“Yes, so we will need to do this slowly and carefully, so Anderson doesn’t get frightened,” O5-4.

“I could have Salt go try to set up a meeting with an Anderson Robotics representative,” offered O5-10.

“Agreed,” said O5-4.

“If nobody else has anything to discuss, I call this meeting over,” declared O5-1.

Months later, Salt was waiting in an abandoned warehouse. The person that she was there to meet was surveying the surroundings for… something. Salt wasn’t sure exactly what. There wasn’t much around that she could be looking for, anyways, just a couple of objects hidden under black sheets near one of the walls.

“Sorry for the delay, Ms. Salt,” the middle-aged woman said, as she completed her search, “and for the location. My employer values secrecy, so I had to check for... observers.”

The woman reached out a hand for a handshake. Salt accepted, after a brief pause.

“I am Mrs. Saker,” the lady said kindly. “Shall we begin?”

“Yes,” Salt replied.

The fact that you were able to set up this meeting indicates that you both are trustworthy and have the money necessary to buy our products. May I ask what you are looking for in particular?” Saker asked.

“My employer wants a custom robot made, and Anderson Robotics is the best in the field. I have the specifications right here,” Salt said, pulling a roll of paper out of her bag and handing it to Saker.

Saker looked at the document. “Looks very complicated. When would you be needing this? And who is your employer?”

“My employer would prefer to have their identity kept secret. As for when they need it, my employer would like to put it to use as soon as possible, but other… materials required for that endeavor will not be ready for an estimated nine months to a year,” Salt answered.

Saker looked thoughtful. “That should be enough time, but it will be expensive. Much more expensive than a normal unit. How much money does your employer have?”

“More than enough,” Salt responded.

“Hmm… I see that your employer’s contact information is in this document, as well as the address to deliver the finished product to. We will contact them if we have any more questions,” Saker said, ending the meeting.

Eight months later, the custom-made robot was delivered to the provided address, and was picked up by the Foundation.

One month later, a year after the portal was first opened, everything was ready.

The AI (newly installed on the robot made by Anderson Robotics) and the reality bender’s puppet stood at the portal, waiting for the technicians around them to finish the final checks on the stability of the portal.

“Everything ready, SCP-5746?” queried the AI.

“Yes, but please call me Josephine. It will attract less attention in this new world. Come to think of it, you should go by something other than PROJECT: SCEPTER,” the reality bender replied through her puppet.

“PROJECT: SCEPTER was my codename during development. My name is Saber now that I have been completed. You should change into something less conspicuous before we go through the portal,” the AI stated flatly.

“Yes. I probably should,” Josephine said thoughtfully.

Josephine waved her puppet’s hand, and it transformed into a form that would not draw attention in the world that they would explore.

“Everything checks out. We are go for travel,” stated one of the technicians.

“Shall we begin?” Josephine asked.

Wordlessly, Saber stepped through the portal. Josephine followed shortly after.

Author's Note

I know that this chapter has nothing to do with the show. Don't worry, the next one will have more ponies.

Chapter 1: First Contact

After passing through the portal, Saber and Josephine found themselves in a desert at the base of a mountain range.

Josephine looks at her hoof. “Well, at least now we know that I can control my puppets in other realities.”

Both explorers heard a voice over the radio. “Exploration Team, this is Command. Do you copy?”

Before she could react, Josephine heard Saber’s voice over the radio. “Saber copies.”

Josephine reached a hoof up to her earpiece. “This is Josephine. I copy. Where should we go?”

“There are only two settlements close enough for our drones to find. One seems to be a farm of some sort, about a hundred klicks away at 68 degrees west of magnetic north.” Command said.

“‘Seems like’ a farm? What do you mean?” Josephine interrupted.

“It looks like a farm, but our drones have never observed the residents planting or harvesting crops. In fact, the only thing that the residents have been observed collecting is rocks,” Command answered.

“Okay, that’s weird. But what is the other settlement?” Josephine asked.

“A small town, a couple klicks farther away at 27 degrees east of magnetic north,” Command replied.

“What is the name of this town?” Josephine inquired.

“According to the translation software that I was provided, it is called Appleloosa,” Saber responded.

Josephine snorted in amusement. “A pun. Of course it’s a pun. Anyways, we should get going.”

“Yes. I suggest you head to Appleloosa, as it has a larger population and is not much farther. But be careful, the radio only has a range of fifty kilometers,” Command recommended.

“Roger that. If we need anything, I can just use one of my other puppets to tell you,” Josephine said wearily.

“Let’s move. The sooner we get to Appleloosa, the sooner we can get some answers,” Saber stated.

“Agreed.”

The next day…

“Hey, Cousin Braeburn, d’ ya know those two ponies off in the distance there?” Applejack wondered.

“Ah don’ see anypo-oh, them? Ah don’ recognize them, but they’re too far to be certain,” Braeburn responded, squinting.

“Shouldn’t we go see if they need help?” Applejack asked.

“Eeyup,” Braeburn replied, before the two ponies began walking towards the two mysterious figures.

As they drew closer, they got their first good look at the new arrivals. One was a kind-looking unicorn mare with pinkish-beige fur and a long, straight, brown mane with thin streaks of gray. Her cutie mark was a weird triangle. The other mystery pony was a serious-looking pegasus stallion with dark red fur and a short, black mane. His cutie mark was a symbol that neither Applejack nor Braeburn recognized, comprised of an inner circle with three arrows pointing inward and an outer circle with three outward bumps, one over each arrow.

“Hey, you two need any help?” Applejack called.

The two new ponies, surprised, turned to face the earth pony.

“Yes, though I am not sure how much help you could provide. We come from a far-off land, and were sent here to seek the aid of the rulers of this nation. Because we come from so far away, my companion here does not speak your language yet, and I am not sure how well I speak it,” the stallion stated.

“Woah there, that’s a lot of information right there. Fortunately, Ah think Ah have a friend who can help ya,” Applejack said, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the sudden burst of information.

“Excellent. Where can we find this friend of yours?” the stallion asked.

“Well, Ah’ll be headin’ back t’ Ponyville early tomorrow, so you two can come with me then,” Applejack offered. “Ah just realized, Ah never got your names.”

“My name is Saber,” the stallion replied, “and my companion’s name is Josephine.”

Braeburn, who had been standing a ways away in case the newcomers were not as friendly as they looked, came over. “You two could stay with us tonight if you want.”

The two foreigners looked at each other and began talking to each other in a language that neither Applejack nor Braeburn could understand.

After some of discussion, Saber turned back to the two Apples. “Josephine trusts you, and she is better at reading people than I am. We accept your offer.”

As the four ponies trekked back to town, Braeburn whispered to Applejack. “The way that Saber responded to m’ offer seemed a bit... rude and untrusting.”

Applejack thought about that for a moment. “Well, they come from far away, so it’s probably just cultural differences.”

Braeburn seemed skeptical, but, before he could reply, they heard Josephine snickering.

Applejack slowed down so she could talk to the two foreigners. “What’re you laughing about?”

Saber spoke to Josephine in their language, and Josephine replied in the same.

“Your hairstyle. Where we come from, it is called a ‘ponytail’, and you are a pony,” Saber explained to Applejack.

Applejack wasn’t sure how to respond to that, and remained silent for the rest of the trip back to Appleloosa.

The rest of the day and the following night passed without incident. The foreigners had dinner with the Apples, and slept in the guest room.

The next day, Applejack got up early so that she could wake the visitors with enough time for them to get ready for the train ride to Ponyville. When she reached the door to the guest room, she found it sealed shut. Confused, she knocked on the door. There was a delay of several seconds, and then Saber opened the door.

“Here to wake us up in time to make the train?” Saber stated.

“Eeyup. But why did you seal the door? And how did you seal it so well?” Applejack asked.

“Our culture values privacy more than yours seems to. Entering someone else’s room without at least knocking is considered rude. As for how, I asked Josephine to seal the door,” Saber replied.

“Okay… Anyhow, we should leave for the train station soon,” Applejack said, slightly confused, before heading back to finish packing.

The three ponies finished getting ready to leave, and made it to the train station just in time. The train was mostly empty this early in the morning, allowing Applejack and the two foreigners to have an entire car for just the three of them.

“All Aboard for Ponyville!” the conductor called.

Shortly afterwards, the train left the station.

Chapter 3: The Tour

In the morning, Twilight decided to wake up her guests while Spike made breakfast. Remembering what Saber had said yesterday, she knocked on the door to Josephine's room. After waiting several seconds and getting no response, Twilight got worried and decided to go in.

What she saw was not what she expected. She had expected to find Josephine still asleep in the bed. What she saw was Josephine floating in the middle of the room in a meditative pose facing away from the door, self-levitating.

"Josephine?" Twilight called, trying to get her attention.

No response.

"Josephine?" Twilight called again, stepping closer.

No response.

Twilight walked over to see if Josephine was awake. Josephine's eyes were open, staring into the distance. Twilight flew up to Josephine and waved a hoof in front of her face.

No response.

Now very worried, Twilight reached her hoof out in front of Josephine's muzzle to tell if she was still breathing. Fortunately, she felt the unicorn's breath on her hoof. She was still breathing, though slower than she should be. Not as slow as if she was asleep, but slower than she should if she was awake. Still worried, Twilight decided to check Josephine's pulse. As soon as her hoof touched the unicorn's fur, Josephine finally reacted. This reaction consisted of a startled yelp, losing concentration, and falling to the floor in an uncoordinated heap.

"I guess I scared you a bit there, Twilight. Sorry about that," Josephine said, struggling to get up.

"Do you need help?" Twilight said worriedly, landing next to the unicorn.

"I'm fine. It just takes a moment for me to regain my coordination after meditating that deeply, especially if I was interrupted," Josephine replied.

"Sorry..." Twilight started.

"Don't be. You didn't know what was going on. In fact, if I was in your position, I probably have done the same thing. In any case, I'm the one who lost track of time," Josephine interrupted.

"Oh... Okay. Anyways, Spike is making breakfast, if you want to come." Twilight said.

"I think I will, though you should probably get Saber while I get ready," Josephine replied.

"Sounds good!" Twilight said, before exiting the room.

Twilight then knocked on the door to Saber's room.

"Come in," Saber answered.

Twilight entered the room, finding Saber to be facing away from the door, fiddling with something she couldn't see.

"Ah. Princess Twilight. I was wondering when you would come to speak with us. Have you sent the letter to Princess Celestia yet?" Saber said, turning to face the alicorn.

"I sent the letter last night, and I am surprised that I have not received a reply yet," Twilight answered. "Also, how did you know it was me?"

"I have my ways. And you said that you expected a reply? I have not seen anything to indicate any form of communication that quick," Saber replied.

"Yes, though dragonfire is not very common. I can only use it to send letters to Princess Celestia. I take it from your surprise that you land does not have anything that quick?" Twilight said.

"How fast is dragonfire, anyway?" Saber asked.

"I don't know exactly, but I have received replies in as short as a few minutes," Twilight answered.

Saber snorted. "Anyways, why did you come here?"

"Oh! Yes. Spike is making breakfast, if you want to come," Twilight said, embarrassed at having forgotten.

"That sounds good. We should probably get Josephine first, though," Saber said.

"Did I hear my name?" Josephine asked, peering in the doorway.

"Looks like everypony is ready. Let's go!" Twilight said.

Several minutes later, four ponies and a baby dragon were eating breakfast, with the ponies discussing Equestrian society. Twilight and Starlight were stunned by how little Saber and Josephine knew, being ignorant on topics as basic as weather control and the Royal Sisters' control over the Sun and the Moon.

"How does your land survive without weather!?" Twilight exclaimed, on the verge of a breakdown.

"There is weather, it's just that it happens naturally, without any need for intervention," Saber answered.

"So, like the Everfree Forest?" Spike asked.

"I do not know what the Everfree Forest is like," Saber replied.

"An entire nation existing without any way to control the weather? Next you'll tell me that plants grow on their own and that the seasons change on their own," Starlight scoffed.

"They do," Saber said.

"Which part? The plants, or the seasons?" Twilight asked.

"Both." was Saber's reply.

"How!?" Starlight exclaimed.

"As for the plants, plants predate civilization by a large margin, so any species of plants that didn't grow on their own would have died out hundreds of millions of years ago. As for the seasons, that is closely related to the day/night cycle, which I will let Josephine explain," Saber said.

"The short version is that the Moon orbits around Earth, while Earth orbits around the Sun," Josephine began, using her telekinesis to create a simple model out of some of the few remaining uneaten pancakes. "The rotation of the Earth means that the side facing the Sun is constantly changing, returning to the starting position every 24 hours or so. This is where day and night come from, with the side of the planet facing the sun being 'day' and the other side being 'night'.

"Now, the axis that Earth rotates around is not perfectly 'vertical' with respect to the orbital plane, so one hemisphere is pointing towards the Sun, while the other is pointing away. The hemisphere that is pointed towards the Sun is in summer, while the one that is pointed away is in winter. Of course, due to the orbit of the Earth, which one is pointed towards and which one is pointed away changes twice a year, at the spring and fall equinoxes."

"You must be lucky to have the time it takes to orbit the Sun be almost exactly one year," Twilight said.

"Not really. Ever since ancient times, the length of a year has been defined by the passing of the seasons, and therefore the orbit of the Earth around the Sun," Josephine replied.

Spike, getting bored with the science-y talk, decided to change the subject. "So... what do your cutie marks mean?"

Saber looked like he was about to ask a question, but Josephine said something to him in their language before he could. He seemed to understand, before asking a question in the same tongue. Josephine seemed to answer his question, but the three Equestrians could not understand, due to the language barrier.

"I am not entirely sure what my cutie mark means, but it is the logo of the organization that we both work for, so I am pretty sure that I am in the right career track," Saber said.

"My cutie mark represents my special talent, which is doing the impossible," Josephine added.

"The impossible? I'll believe it when I see it," Starlight scoffed, walking to leave the room.

"Twilight, you'll want to pay close attention to the magic Josephine uses here," Saber said, having a good idea of what would happen next.

Starlight opened one of the room's doors to leave, but instead discovered that the door just lead to the other side of the room. Confused, Starlight threw the door open all the way, letting all four ponies (and baby dragon) see the room repeated infinitely in both directions, complete with infinite versions of themselves.

Twilight's, Spike's, and Starlight's jaws dropped in shock. Josephine, however, had a sad look on her face, as if she had been reminded of a great tragedy, while Saber seemed to not be paying any attention.

"How did you do that!? Creating a copy of a room takes a finite amount of mana, so making infinite copies of a room should cost an infinite amount of mana! And even if you created just the rooms that we can see, that would still consume more mana than any unicorn in history has been able to use! Not just use safely, but use at all! And that's not even getting into the amount of mana it would consume to get all of the copies of us to mirror our actions!" Starlight ranted, her voice seeming to echo as her infinite doppelgangers all said the same thing.

"I didn't create any copies of the room. I just bent space so that that door," Josephine said, indicating the door that Starlight had opened, "and that door," pointing to the door on the opposite side of the room, through which the other side of the infinite line of rooms could be seen, "are the same door."

Starlight did some quick mental calculations. "Well, that seems possible. It would still take a lot of mana, but it is within the realm of possibility. Twilight, did you get a good read on the spell she used?"

Twilight finally unfroze from her stunned stupor. "She didn't use any magic."

"What? But that's not possible..." Starlight said, stunned.

"Maybe she did the spell before we were paying attention, so we didn't notice it," Spike suggested.

"Maybe, but I think that I would have still noticed such a large spell being cast so close by," Twilight thought aloud.

"Are you still paying attention to my magic?" Josephine asked.

"Yes... why?" Twilight replied.

Josephine waved a hoof, and space was unbent, causing both doors to resume leading to where the normally lead to.

"Wha... But... You didn't use any magic!" Twilight sputtered.

"Maybe the spell she used earlier had a trigger or a time delay to undo the effect?" Starlight suggested.

"Even if it did, I would have noticed! I was monitoring all the magic in this room!" Twilight replied.

"But that's impossible! Un-bending space should have taken the same amount of mana as bending space in the first place!" Starlight said.

"And what did I say my special talent is?" Josephine asked rhetorically.

"You really walked into that one," Spike laughed.

"I guess I'll just have to treat the stuff you do in the same way I treat Pinkie's actions," Twilight muttered.

"Pinkie? Pink earth pony mare? Puffy mane, cutie mark of three balloons?" Saber queried.

"Yes... how did you know?" Twilight said, surprised.

"Saber noticed her as we were walking here from the train station. She is also Type Green. Nowhere near as powerful as I am, but a Type Green nonetheless. Though she is also a Type Blue, which I am not... It seems like just about every living thing in these lands is a Type Blue," Josephine replied.

"Type Green? Type Blue? What do those mean?" Starlight asked.

Before replying, Saber and Josephine had a brief discussion in their native language.

"To put it simply, a Type Blue is a being that can use magic," Josephine answered.

"Does this mean that you do not have any magic?" Twilight wondered.

"Yes," Josephine replied simply.

"Okay... but why do you have a special term for magic users? Can't just about everypony use magic? And what is a Type Green?" Starlight persisted.

"Type Blues are not common where we come from. It is estimated that between one-thousandth of one percent and one-hundredth of one percent of the population are Type Blues. As for what a Type Green is, we aren't going to tell you, because our superiors don't want us sharing that kind of information. We only told you what a Type Blue is because they are so common here," Saber said coldly.

"Oh..." was Starlight's only response.

"So, what is the plan for today?" Saber asked, abruptly changing the subject.

"Well, Starlight and I still have some paperwork that we need to do, so we were thinking that Spike could show you around town," Twilight answered.

"Sounds good!" Josephine said.

Spike, Josephine, and Saber were just leaving the Castle of Friendship, walking into Ponyville.

"Okay, so the first stop on our tour of Ponyville is Carousel Boutique. This is the home and business and Rarity, one of Twilight's friends, one of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, and the best pony in all of Equestria! ...Except for Twilight, of course," Spike said.

"Aww, it sound like somebody has a crush," Josephine said sweetly.

"The Elements of Harmony? What are those?" Saber queried.

Spike stopped walking, a stunned and confused look on his face, before remembering the conversation they had over breakfast. "The Elements of Harmony are a set of six magical artifacts that are used to protect Equestria. Twilight is the Element of Magic, Rarity is the Element of Generosity, Applejack is the Element of Honesty, Rainbow Dash is the Element of Loyalty, Fluttershy is the Element of Kindness, and Pinkie Pie is the Element of Laughter," Spike said, counting on his fingers. "Well, technically, they are the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, but everypony just calls them the Elements of Harmony."

"But what are the Elements? What do they do? And how do they work?" Saber persisted.

"Well, the Element of Magic is a pink six-pointed star, the Element of Generosity is a purple diamond, the Element of Honesty is an orange apple, the Element of Loyalty is a red lightning bolt, the Element of Kindness is a pink butterfly, and the Element of Laughter is a light blue balloon. What they do is, when used together by the Bearers, create a friendship-rainbow-magic-beam-thing that defeats the bad guy. As for how they work, I don't know. You'll have to ask Twilight," Spike replied. "Anyways, we're here."

True to its name, the Carousel Boutique did resemble a carousel. It was largely cylindrical, narrowing between the first and second floors, with several decorative pillars and sculptures of ponies around the outside. Spike pushed the front door open, the bell above ringing as he did so.

"Just a moment!~" called a female voice from the back of the store.

A moment later, a beautiful white unicorn mare gracefully trotted into view from the back of the store. Spike's expression immediately changed, making it very obvious who this unicorn was.

"Miss Rarity, I presume?" Josephine said.

"Yes, though I don't recognize you. Are you new here?" Rarity asked.

"Yes, we come from far away to establish relations with Equestria and just got here yesterday evening. Spike is giving us a tour of the town," Josephine replied.

"Aww, that's a nice thing to do, Spiky-Wiky," Rarity said.

Josephine whispered something to Saber, who snorted in response.

"Anyway I didn't get your names," Rarity said.

"My name is Josephine, and this is Saber," Josephine replied.

"Those are certainly... unique names," Rarity said. "Anyways, you said that you are from far away, and I could definitely use some inspiration for my next fashion line."

"Sorry, but we packed light, so neither of us brought any clothes, and neither of us are knowledgeable about fashion," Josephine said, answering Rarity's implicit question.

Rarity looked disappointed at the news, but not too surprised. "I suppose that's what I should have expected. After all, it wouldn't make much sense to send a fashion person to make first contact with a new kingdom. Anyways, if you need clothes, I'll give you a discount, since you are so new here."

"I will consider it, after I have taken a look at all of the clothing stores in town," Saber replied.

"Don't bother looking elsewhere, the Carousel Boutique is the only place that sells clothes in Ponyville. Besides, Rarity also has stores in Manehattan and Canterlot," Spike said somewhat angrily.

"Interesting... It seems that this land... how should I say this?... places far less value on clothing than ours does," Josephine noted.

"'Places less value on clothing'? Whatever do you mean, darling?" Rarity asked.

Josephine thought for a moment. "Let me put it this way: Where we come from, there are some public places where it is legal to not wear clothes."

Rarity was stunned, but before she could reply, Saber spoke.

"I don't know how many stops we have on this tour, so we should probably head to the next location."

Spike looked at the clock and yelped. "Yes, we definitely should!"

As the three of them left, an unanswered question popped into Rarity's mind.

If clothes were so important where they came from, why didn't they bring any?

"The next stop on the tour is Rainbow Dash's house," Spike said.

"You mentioned that she is the Bearer of the Element of Loyalty earlier," Saber noted. "Is this tour just 'meet the other Bearers of the Elements of Harmony'?"

Spike thought for a moment. "Yeah, pretty much. With some other stuff in between."

"So, where is Rainbow's house?" Josephine asked.

"Right there," Spike said, pointing.

"That is a cloud," Saber stated flatly.

"Yes, and it is also Rainbow's home," Spike replied.

"So Rainbow lives on a cloud?" Josephine asked.

Spike paused momentarily. "Not quite. Her house is made out of clouds."

Saber started to say something, but stopped when he remembered the amount of magic available to the citizens of Equestria.

"So, what can you tell us about Rainbow?" Josephine asked.

"Well, she is loyal, (duh), competitive, and has high self-confidence. Arguably too high, but that's besides the point," Spike explained.

The three of them continued walking for several seconds before Spike realized something. "How are we going to get up there? I mean, I know that I can fly, but I don't know about either of you."

Saber snorted. "As far as I am aware, every pegasus, including myself, can fly."

Josephine's only response was to begin inexplicably hovering several inches above the ground.

"Well, I guess that answers that question," Spike said. "Let's go!"

And so, three beings flew to Rainbow Dash's house. Well, two flew, and one sort of inexplicably levitated there.

Once they had arrived, Spike knocked on the door. Saber was surprised that it made a sound, as the door was made out of clouds, but Spike didn't notice.

After about a minute of no response, Spike tried again, louder.

Another minute of no response.

"She should be awake by now," Spike grumbled.

"Maybe she already left for her job?" Josephine suggested.

"No, she doesn't leave this early," Spike retorted.

"I could wake her up, but it wouldn't be... pleasant for her," Josephine offered.

"Serves her right for not being awake for this," Spike said.

"Alright then, but if she's angry, I'll say it was approved by you," Josephine replied. "For your sake, I'll put a silence sphere around you."

After hearing that, Spike nodded. Josephine turned back towards the door and seemed to yell. Due to the silence sphere, Spike didn't hear anything.

Inside, Rainbow Dash was indeed fast asleep. When Spike knocked, she barely responded, just rolling in her sleep.

When Josephine yelled, it was different, despite being quieter (from Rainbow's perspective) than Spike's knocking.

When Josephine yelled, Rainbow felt a deep, stabbing pain in her chest, waking her up instantly, yelping in pain.

"What the hay was that!?" the blue pegasus exclaimed, still panting from the pain and sudden awakening.

Then she heard knocking at her door.

"Ugh... I'm coming! I'm coming!" she called.

When she opened the door, she found Spike and two ponies she didn't recognize.

"Spike... what are you doing here?" Rainbow asked drowsily.

"I'm giving these two a tour of the town," Spike answered.

"And who are these two? Why are they so important that they meet me so early? I mean, I am awesome, but why so early?" Rainbow asked, still grumpy from waking up.

Josephine looked at Saber and made a gesture with her hoof, indicating for him to speak.

"My name is Saber, and this is Josephine," Saber said. "We come from very far away to seek the aid of the Princesses."

"Okay... so that's who you are, but why visit me this early?" Rainbow persisted.

"It was Twilight's idea! I don't think she was considering how early we would get here," Spike blurted.

"That sounds like something Twilight would do," Rainbow grumbled.

"It seems like Rainbow is a bit... grumpy, so I think we should leave her alone and properly meet her later, when she is more awake," Josephine suggested.

"I think I have to agree with you there," Spike said. "See you later, Rainbow!"

Rainbow Dash just grumbled tiredly and closed the door.

"So, where to next, fearless guide?" Josephine asked.

"Next is Fluttershy's cottage," Spike said, reading from a scroll.

"She's the Element of Kindness, right?" Saber said. "What can you tell us about her?"

"Well, she can talk with animals, she lives on the edge of the Everfree Forest, and she takes care of wild animals," Spike said.

"The Everfree Forest? Is that the forest we just entered?" Saber asked.

"Yes. It's the most dangerous place in all of Equestria! Except for maybe Tartarus..." Spike answered.

"What makes it so dangerous?" Josephine wondered.

"There are a bunch of monsters that live in there!" Spike said, starting to shiver in fear at just the thought of the monsters. "Like timberwolves, hydras, and manticores!"

"Don't worry, Spike. We'll protect you from the scary monsters," Josephine said, comforting the young dragon.

"It can't be that bad," Saber said.

As if on cue, a pack of timberwolves burst from the surrounding underbrush.

"Aaaaahhh! Timberwolves! We're doomed! Doomed!" Spike wailed.

"They don't look that dangerous... But I know that appearances can be deceiving. I'll keep them away from us." Josephine said, creating a bubble of force to do so.

"What can you tell us about timberwolves?" Saber asked.

"Well, they are wolves made of wood, are hostile to all animals, can re-form themselves from the wood they are made of if..." Spike paused, looking for the right word, "disassembled, and are weak to sound,"

"They don't sound that dangerous," Josephine said, thinking, "they aren't any stronger than I would expect for a normal wolf of that size, the wood that they are made of doesn't seem to be any more durable or fire-resistant than normal wood, the magic animating them is easy to disrupt, and the only thing that might possibly make them dangerous is the re-forming ability that they have, and that is only if you are unprepared."

"In short, Euclid-Yellow," Saber summarized.

"Euclid-Yellow? What do you mean? And did you forget that we still have a bunch of timberwolves around us!?" Spike said, starting to panic.

"They can't get through my bubble," Josephine reminded him.

"Do you think that we could get a live specimen for research purposes?" Saber wondered.

"Probably not. It's a very long way back to Site-19," Josephine replied.

"...Agreed," Saber said.

"So... are you going to take care of the timberwolves, or not?" Spike panicked.

"Oh, right," Josephine said, as if only just remembering that they were surrounded. "How do you propose we do so?"

"I don't know! Just do something!" Spike exclaimed.

"Just teleport them deeper into the forest," Saber recommended.

Josephine thought for a moment, before waving a hoof. The timberwolves disappeared with a slight pop, as air rushed to fill the space that the beasts had previously occupied.

"Come on! We're almost to Fluttershy's!" Spike said, running along the path.

Moments later, the trio arrived at a small cottage in the woods. It had a tall, grass-covered roof in a shape somewhere between a cone and a dome, many birdhouses, and a two-part door.

Spike rapidly knocked on the door, still somewhat panicked from the encounter with the timberwolves.

There was a muffled 'eep!' from inside, and a buttery-yellow pegasus opened the door.

"Oh... hello there... did you have any trouble getting here?" she asked softly.

Spike said "Timberwolves!" at the same time Josephine said "Oh, nothing we couldn't handle."

"Timberwolves? Oh my... they usually don't come this close to town," Fluttershy said.

"Well, they did, and Josephine here managed to fend them off all by herself!" Spike exclaimed.

"It was nothing," Josephine replied humbly.

"Nothing!? There were, like, a hundred of them!" Spike almost yelled, incredulous.

"There were only seven," Saber calmly replied. "Can we get on with what we actually came here for?"

"Oh, right. Saber, Josephine, this is Fluttershy. Fluttershy, this is Saber and Josephine," Spike said, indicating each pony as he introduced them. "They have come a long way seeking the aid of the Princesses, and I am currently giving them a tour of the town."

"Oh... Okay. What do you need from the Princesses? Maybe I can help," Fluttershy said.

Josephine and Saber looked at each other for a moment, before Josephine spoke. "Sorry, but I don't think you can. The organisation that we work for deals with threats far beyond anything that lives in this forest on a daily basis."

"Hold on. How do you know that? You've only encountered timberwolves, which are far from the deadliest creatures of the Everfree," Spike argued.

"Twilight has a book about the denizens of this forest. And besides, I highly doubt that any being that lives in the forest, known or not, is powerful enough to vaporize a city in the blink of an eye," Saber replied.

"V-v-v-vaporize a-a-a c-c-c-city? Th-th-there i-i-i-is s-s-s-something th-th-that c-c-can d-d-d-do th-th-that?" Fluttershy stuttered, hiding under her mane.

"Several things, actually. Most of which are actively hostile or otherwise 'attempting' to destroy the world," Saber corrected.

"I noticed you used air quotes around 'attempting'. Why is that?" Spike asked.

"Not all of them are sentient, and therefore do not have goals and cannot be said to be 'attempting' something, but will still end the world if they are not stopped," Saber clarified.

Upon hearing this exchange, Fluttershy began whimpering in terror and hid under her table.

When he noticed this, Spike called out to her. "Oh, come on, Fluttershy! Those mean things are nowhere near here!"

Fluttershy didn't move.

"I think we should probably leave," Josephine suggested.

"Yeah, probably," Spike agreed.

"Okay, the next stop is Sweet Apple Acres, which is the farm that Applejack and her family own and run," Spike said.

"I'm guessing that it's the farm over there," Josephine said, pointing.

"Yep. Oh, and I asked this earlier, but you didn't reply. What did you mean by Euclid-Yellow?" Spike asked.

"Medium containment difficulty, low threat," Saber replied.

Spike was about to express incredulity at timberwolves being considered 'low threat', but then he remembered what Saber had said about some of the threats that their organization faces.

"So... what's something that would be considered 'high threat'?" Spike asked.

"There aren't any that we are allowed to tell you about," Saber replied, "but anything capable of ending the world as we know it would qualify."

"Can you give me an example?" Spike persisted.

"We aren't allowed to tell you about any real ones," Josephine started, "but we can imagine a fictional one."

She thought for a moment before continuing. "Sorry, I can't seem to come up with any fictional examples."

"That' okay," Spike said, disappointed. "Anyway, we're here."

Before them stood a large house, styled to look like a barn. To their left were some small fields of carrots and corn, while most of the property seemed to be a large apple orchard.

Looking back towards the farmhouse, the trio noticed a familiar orange mare approaching them.

"Howdy, sugahcubes!" Applejack called. "What're y'all doin' here?"

"Spike was just giving us a tour of the town," Josephine replied.

"Well, y'all're just 'n time for lunch," Applejack said, leading the trio to an outdoor dining area.

When they arrived, they found a wide variety of apple-based food products waiting for them, as well as the two ponies that had been waiting for Applejack at the train station the previous day.

"I don't believe we have been properly introduced before. My name is Josephine," Josephine said.

"My name is Saber," Saber added coldly.

"Ah'm Granny Smith, and this here's Big Macintosh," the elderly, light-green mare said.

"Eeyup," the large, red stallion stated.

Applejack picked up a pair of apple fritters. "Well, Ah'd like tah stay an' talk some, but Ah promised Ah'd help Pinkie with somethin' this afternoon."

"That's fine, Applejack," Josephine said. "I'm sure we can survive without you here."

"Alrighty. See y'all later," Applejack said, before walking away.

There was a moment of awkward silence.

"So... judging by the surroundings, you grow apples?" Josephine asked.

"Eeyup," Big Mac replied.

"All the food on this here table was made here usin' our very own, Sweet Apple Acres apples," Granny Smith added.

And so, the four ponies (and baby dragon) ate and talked (not at the same time, of course - that would be rude).

After they were all done, Spike looked at his scroll and the position of the sun, and decided that it was time for him and the two foreigners to head on to the next location.

"Okay, this is the last stop on the tour, Sugarcube Corner. It is a bakery owned by the Cakes, and is where Pinkie Pie lives and works," Spike said, opening the front door.

"Surprise!"

Author's Note

College has started up again, so my writing may slow down, depending on how heavy the workload turns out to be. It might not make a difference, or it might mean you don't get another chapter until the semester ends in December.

Also, guess who said that last (unattributed) line of dialogue!

Chapter 4: The Calm

Despite her best efforts, neither Josephine nor Saber were surprised. They were trying to make it look like they were, and they were doing a very good job of it, but not good enough to fool Pinkie.

"Hello, new ponies! What are you names?" she said excitedly, not letting the fact that her surprise party apparently wasn't a surprise get her down. "Ooh! Let me guess! Is your name Mary Sue?" she added pointing at Josephine.

"No, my name is Josephine," Josephine laughed.

"Okay! This is your 'Welcome to Ponyville party!' Have fun!" Pinkie said.

As they entered the building, the extent of the party became evident. It seemed like half of he town was present, with a table full of cakes, cupcakes, and other pastries, as well as punch in the back of the building. There was an off-white unicorn with an electric-blue mane acting as the party's DJ. A pair of large, purple glasses covered her eyes, while the turntable she was using prevented Saber and Josephine from seeing her cutie mark.

"Who's that?" Saber asked, using a wing to point to the DJ.

"Who? Oh, that's DJ Pon-3!" Pinkie replied.

Seeing that the object of his curiosity was busy and probably wouldn't appreciate being disturbed, he mentally filed the information away for later use and joined the party.

Elsewhere in the party, Josephine was making small talk with some of the other ponies present.

"So, how is your family doing?" Rarity asked her.

Instead of responding, Josephine looked down sadly, beginning to cry.

Before the conversation could progress any farther, Saber noticed what was happening and intervened.

"What's going on here?" he asked.

"I just asked her about her family, and she started crying!" Rarity answered.

"Let's just say that she has had some very traumatic experiences involving her family," Saber replied, wrapping a wing around the crying unicorn and leading her away.

"That's no good!" Pinkie exclaimed, obviously upset that somepony was unhappy at one of her parties.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened?" Rarity asked, once Saber returned.

"Only she knows exactly what happened, but I know that both of her sons were killed in front of her," Saber replied.

"Oh, that's just terrible! How old were they?," Rarity said.

"They were both between eight and fifteen years of age," Saber answered.

"That's about Sweetie Belle's age... That's too horrible to think about, especially at a party," Rarity replied.

"Agreed."

After Josephine had recovered enough, she returned to the party, and everypony was wise enough to not ask about her family. However, they still asked about other topics.

"Are there any humans where you come from?" Lyra asked.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Josephine laughed.

"Well, you come from far away, and everypony knows that humans have existed in the past, so they might still exist somewhere else?" Lyra replied.

"Are you bothering ponies about humans again, Lyra?" Bon Bon said, walking up.

"No..." Lyra replied, somewhat embarrassed. Bon Bon raised an eyebrow. "...maybe."

"It's fine. I'm interested in what the ponies of this land believe, and that includes humans," Josephine replied.

"Okay!" Lyra said, perking up. "Here's what I've learned about humans..."

"Oh great, here we go again..." Bon Bon grumped.

Later...

"Aw, come on, Josephine! Just try it!" Rainbow said.

"Ah know you'll love it. Mah family made it," Applejack added.

"I don't think this is a good idea..." Josephine hesitated.

"What are you worried about?" Rainbow asked

"Loss of control," Josephine answered simply.

"Twi drinks this stuff and doesn't lose too much control," Rainbow replied.

"'Too much' control?" Josephine questioned.

"Her magic becomes less... precise, less... refined," Rainbow answered.

Josephine seemed to become lost in thought. "I remember the last time I lost control..."

"What happened?" Applejack asked.

"I was angry at myself. I lost control to my anger. Then... everything exploded. The fireball was large enough to be seen from hundreds of kilometers up." Josephine replied, a sad look on her face.

"That's... a large fireball," Rainbow said, shocked.

"And that's why I am hesitant to do anything that might cause me to lose control," Josephine said.

"So, alcohol would be a bad idea?" Applejack stated.

"Yes," Josephine replied.

The party was great (as all of Pinkie Pie's parties are), and lasted well into the evening. Eventually, though, it had to end, as all thing do. Twilight and her friends volunteered to help clean up, while Saber used the opportunity to talk to DJ Pon-3 and Josephine helped clean up, not willing to inconvenience the others by leaving.

About half an hour later, everything was cleaned up.

"Many hooves make light work!" Pinkie exclaimed out of the blue.

"Indeed," Josephine agreed.

"Well, I'm heading home now, I need my beauty sleep," Rarity said.

"Ah suppose Ah should head home too," Applejack added.

"Yeah, we should all head home. Good night everypony!" Twilight said.

After that, everypony went home, with Saber and Josephine returning to the Castle of Friendship with Twilight and Spike.

Once they returned to their rooms, Saber and Josephine began talking through their communicators, as they did the previous night.

"Let's go over what we learned today," Josephine said.

"Agreed. Applejack is a Type Yellow in addition to being a Type Blue. Specific classification unknown, situation indicated K," Saber started

"I was able to get a bit more on her. She's a BKP. Whether she's a BKPX, BKPY, or BKPZ, I don't know, but she's definitely a BKP. Why did you not detect this earlier?"

"Type Yellows only show up as Yellow when they use their power."

"Hmm..."

"Both Fluttershy and DJ Pon-3 (real name Vinyl Scratch) are both Type Grays and Type Reds in addition to being powerful Type Blues, but in different ratios. DJ Pon-3's Type Blue and Type Red abilities are being suppressed by something. I tried to talk to her about it after the party, but I was unable to learn anything about it."

"Interesting..."

"I have formed a theory about Pinkie Pie. It seems like her soul is a fragment of a much larger soul, and has fragmented into three itself."

"Very interesting... So where is this 'larger soul'?"

"Unknown."

"That's slightly worrying... Anything else?"

"Not that you shouldn't know already."

The next morning went much the same as the previous one had. Twilight went up to get Saber and Josephine while Spike made pancakes, and the four of them were joined by Starlight for breakfast. They mostly talked about the differences between their societies, though there was much that Saber and Josephine weren't allowed to talk about, much to Twilight's frustration.

"So, what would you like to do today, now that all of our paperwork is done?" Starlight asked.

"I would like to visit a library, if possible," Saber replied.

"I would like to just walk around town, maybe talk to some of the townsponies," Josephine added.

"Sounds great! After we clean up breakfast, I can show you my library!" Twilight exclaimed, her love of books overcoming her earlier frustration.

"I can escort Josephine around town," Spike said, secretly hoping that Josephine would give him more sapphires.

Josephine smiled. "Don't worry, Spike, I'll give you some sapphires..."

"Yeah!" Spike said excitedly.

"...if Twilight approves." Josephine finished.

"Aww..." Spike said, disappointed.

"He can have a couple, but not too many," Twilight said.

Josephine nodded in response, and Spike cheered up.

After breakfast was cleaned up, Twilight and Saber went to the castle's library.

"So, what type of book would you like to read?" Twilight asked.

"I would like to learn about Equestria," Saber replied.

"What about Equestria? History, culture... what?"

"A bit of everything, though I would like to focus on capabilities, culture, and history, in descending order."

"Capabilities? What do you mean by that?"

"Technology, practical applications of magic, that sort of thing. In general, both what Equestria, as a nation, is capable of and what the citizens of Equestria are capable of individually."

"Okay... that's a very broad topic. Are you sure that's what you want to focus on for your first research project in Equestria?"

"Yes."

"If that's your choice... Culture books are on racks C3 through C7, history is all of D and E1, magic is all of A and B, technology is C1 and C2. Fiction is on racks G and H, so you'll probably want to avoid those."

"Understood."

With that, Saber entered the library racks in search of knowledge.

Meanwhile, Josephine and Spike were wandering the town.

"Anywhere in particular you want to go?" Spike asked.

"Not really. Anyway, you know the town better than I."

"Okay... then let's go see Rarity!" Spike decided.

Josephine snorted in amusement. "Of course..."

"How are you reading so fast?" Twilight asked.

"I have photographic memory," Saber answered, not looking up from the book he was reading and flipping to the next page.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I take a mental photograph of each page and read them later," Saber replied, flipping to the next page.

"I'm pretty sure that's not how photographic memory works."

"It's how my memory works," Saber said, turning to the next page in the book for the third time in the brief conversation.

Upon entering the Carousel Boutique, Spike and Josephine noticed that the bell above the door rang, as it had previously.

"Welcome to the Carousel Boutique! I'll be with you in a moment," Rarity called out from the back of the store.

After a moment, Rarity returned to the front of the store. "How may I help... Oh! Spike! Josephine! What brings you here?"

"I wanted to take a stroll around town, and Spike knows the town better than I do, so I let him choose where we go," Josephine explained.

"And he chose to come here first? That's..." Rarity said, trying to find the right word.

"Not surprising?" Josephine supplied.

"Not what I was thinking, but yes," Rarity replied.

"I'm having trouble believing you can remember what you're reading, with how fast you're reading," Twilight said.

"A Brief History of Equestria, Vol. 5, page 173, line 8: '682 CR, the griffin warlord Gerulf began his sixth invasion of Equestria, resulting in'." Saber replied, not looking up from his book.

Twilight picked up the book Saber referenced from the pile of books he had read, finding it near the bottom. She turned to page 173, and found the eighth line to be exactly what he said. "I guess you weren't lying."

Saber just snorted dismissively in response.

"So, where should we go next?" Josephine asked as she and Spike left the Carousel Boutique.

Before he could reply, Spike belched out a scroll. "Looks like Princess Celestia finally replied."

"That's an... interesting method of communication," Josephine said. "What does the message say?"

Spike opened the scroll and began to read it. "It says... the Elements are needed! Josephine could you tell Twilight that we're meeting at Fluttershy's?"

Josephine nodded before vanishing with a slight pop.

Spike barged back into the Carousel Boutique. "Rarity! The Elements are needed!"

"What should I do?"

"You get Pinkie and Applejack. I'll get Rainbow. Josephine is getting Twilight. Meet at Fluttershy's."

"Okay," Rarity said, before the two of them rushed out to complete their assigned tasks.

Twilight and Saber's reading was interrupted by Josephine suddenly appearing with a pop.

"Spike got a letter from the Princess. Apparently the Elements are needed, and Spike said to tell you to meet at Fluttershy's," Josephine said.

"Okay. You two stay in the castle," Twilight said before teleporting away.

"Well, what do we do now?" Josephine asked after a brief pause.

"You do stuff in the castle. I'll just continue reading," Saber replied.

"Okay... guess I'll just meditate in my room, then..." Josephine said sadly.

Twilight appeared out of her teleport outside Fluttershy's house. Seeing as she was the first there, she knocked on the door.

After a brief wait, Fluttershy opened the door. "Oh... hello Twilight. Would you like to come in?"

"Yeah, but I'm afraid this isn't just a friendly visit. Apparently Spike got a letter from Celestia and the Elements are needed, so we are meeting here."

"That doesn't sound good... What's the problem?"

"I don't know... I haven't seen the letter yet."

At this point, Rainbow Dash (carrying Spike) flew in at high speed and did not quite stop in time, crashing into the house. Rarity, Pinkie, and Applejack came galloping not far behind.

Spike jumped off of Rainbow's back and handed Twilight the scroll he had received from Celestia.

Author's Note

Happy Holidays, Merry (belated) Christmas, Happy New Year's and all that stuff!

Can anyone guess what'll happen in the next chapter?
There is a hint somewhere in this chapter...

Also, had two of my wisdom teeth removed on December 20th, so that was fun.

Also also, I made a blog post about future story plans.

Also also also, I made some small changes to chapters 2 and 3. I wonder if they will be found...

Based on how things went last semester, I'll put the story on hiatus until summer break.

Chapter 2: Meeting Royalty

On the train ride (which took most of the day), Josephine started to learn Ponish, and progressed far quicker than Applejack had expected. By the time the train crossed the Ghastly Gorge (about halfway to Ponyville), she had learned enough to hold a simple conversation, though she frequently mispronounced words.

"Perhaps her special talent was something to do with language, and the weird triangle was a letter in their tongue? In any case, they should probably be left alone so that she can learn as much of the language as possible," Applejack thought to herself.

As such, Applejack spent most of the train ride just watching the two foreigners talk. They mostly spoke in Ponish, but they occasionally switched to their language, presumably to explain what a word means.

The train arrived at the Ponyville station. As she got off of the train, Applejack noticed that Granny Smith and Big Mac were there to meet her.

"Ready to get back to work, Applejack?" Granny Smith asked.

"Not quite. While Ah was in Appleloosa, Ah met two ponies who have come a mighty long way to talk to the princesses, so Ah figured that Ah could at least introduce them to Twilight," Applejack replied.

Saber, with a confused look on his face, started to say something, but was interrupted by Josephine saying something in their language. Saber seemed to understand, but quickly became confused again, asking Josephine a question in the same language. Josephine thought for a moment before replying, continuing to use the foreign language. Saber seemed content with this answer. Both foreigners turned their heads back to the Apple family, where they saw both Granny Smith and Big Mac (as well as several bystanders) looking at them with an expression of confusion and shock.

After a brief silence, Granny Smith said what the stunned ponies were all thinking. "What in tarnation was that?"

"Ah've heard them talk in that language before. Ah think it is their native language. Ah told you they came from far away," Applejack replied.

"Well, Ah would definitely take them to Twilight, even if she wasn't a princess," Granny Smith stated.

"Eeyup," Big Mac agreed.

Twilight and Starlight were in the library of Twilight's castle, working on paperwork (with Spike assisting where he could) when somepony knocked on the front door.

"I'll get it!" Spike exclaimed, eager to be free of the boredom that is paperwork.

When Spike opened the door, he found Applejack and two ponies that he did not recognize waiting there.

"Howdy, Spike! Is Twilight around? These two have come a mighty long way to speak with the princesses," Applejack said.

"Twilight is working on paperwork with Starlight in the castle library. You three can wait in the main hall while go get her," Spike replied, wary of the mysterious foreigners.

Applejack started to follow Spike before noticing how low the sun was in the sky. "Sorry, sugahcubes, but Ah have to get back to mah farm now. You two think you can handle this on your own?"

"Of course we can handle this. We were hoof-picked for this task, and our superiors did not plan on us encountering somepony as helpful as you have been, Applejack," Josephine replied kindly.

Saber gave Josephine a questioning look, but did not say anything.

"Well, alright then. See y'all later," Applejack said, turning and trotting off towards Sweet Apple Acres.

Saber and Josephine watched her leave for a moment, then turned and followed Spike to the main hall.

Once all three of them had reached the main hall, Spike told Saber and Josephine to wait there.

As they waited for Spike to return with Twilight, Saber began analyzing the data that he had collected, while Josephine took a meditative pose and allowed her mind to wander elsewhere.

Both ponies were interrupted sooner than they had anticipated when a purple, winged unicorn wearing a golden tiara entered the room.

"Greetings and welcome! I am Princess Twilight Sparkle. I hear that you have come a very long way to talk to the rulers of this land. Who are you and what do you seek?" the purple pony princess said, obviously trying (with questionable success) to sound regal and formal.

"Agent Josephine Herrero, Foundation Mobile Task Force Alpha-Nine," Josephine replied.

"Saber, Foundation Artificial Intelligence Applications Division," Saber stated flatly.

"As for why we are here: well, the short version is that the land that we come from is in terrible danger, and our superiors believe that Equestria can help us," Josephine added.

Before Twilight could reply, Spike whispered something in her ear.

"Would either of you like some tea?" Twilight asked, her expression making it clear that she was mentally kicking herself for forgetting such basic courtesy.

"I would love some tea," Josephine responded.

Saber thought for a moment. "Tea would be fine."

"Great! Please follow me to the dining room. Spike, could you make the tea?" Twilight said.

"Of course, Twilight!" Spike said, running off to do just that.

As the three ponies walked to the dining room, Saber spoke. "I have never even heard of a real winged unicorn."

"Well, alicorns are pretty rare," Twilight replied.

"Interesting. Where we come from, the word 'alicorn' refers to a unicorn horn, frequently separate from the rest of the body," Saber thought aloud.

Twilight stopped walking and looked at Saber, horrified. "Why would anypony do such a thing!?"

"First of all, historically, most 'unicorn horns' were actually narwhal tusks. Second of all, many magical properties have been ascribed to unicorn horns, some of which are actually true. Third of all, unicorns can regrow their horn, at least where we come from," Saber said.

"But still, isn't there another way? Maybe have the unicorns cast a spell to the same effect?" Twilight said, almost pleading.

"As far as I am aware, there is no known method of communicating with the unicorns. And besides, judging by the actions of the unicorns, they can't do anything to achieve the same effects that the horn can. There have been attempts to artificially create the same effects, but none have been successful so far, though not for lack of trying," Saber replied.

"Maybe I can talk to them and find a solution!" Twilight suggested, clearly desperate to find a better solution.

"The organisation that we work for does not have any unicorns, and... does not have the best relationship with the ones that do. Almost everything we know about unicorns comes from some documents we... collected from one such organisation," Saber replied.

Twilight's expression became even more horrified, but before she could say anything, Josephine decided to change the topic. "Sorry about my associate's actions. He does not have much experience in social situations. So, Twilight, what were you doing when we came?"

Twilight froze for a moment as her mind struggled to change gears from the horror that they had been talking about to the mundane question that Josephine asked. "Uhh..." Twilight's brain finally resumed working "... I was working on paperwork. I am both a princess and the principal of the School of Friendship, and both of those generate a lot of paperwork."

"Are the people living in this land so hostile that they need to be taught how to make friends?" Saber asked, his voice and expression showing genuine curiosity rather than scorn.

"No, no! Of course not! My school is just to teach the students how to be better friends," Twilight replied.

"Sorry to interrupt, but weren't we going to the dining room?" Josephine remarked.

"Oh... Uh.. Yes," Twilight replied, embarrassed, before turning and leading the others to the dining room. Shortly after the three of them got seated, Spike entered the room with freshly-made tea. Twilight used her magic to grab a cup, and Josephine followed suit.

"Thanks, Spike," Twilight said.

"No problem, Twilight," Spike replied, walking over to Saber to allow him to grab a cup of tea before sitting down himself.

"Anyways, Applejack said that you came to see the princesses?" Twilight inquired.

"Yes, though we would prefer to discuss it with all of the princesses, not just one," Josephine answered.

"How did you figure out that there are multiple princesses?" Spike asked, somewhat surprised.

"You mean besides the fact that both Applejack and Twilight referred to them in plural terms?" Saber replied, deadpan.

"Getting back on topic, the short version of why we were sent here is that the land that we come from is in great danger, and our superiors wish to relocate some of that danger here," Josephine said.

"'Great danger?' How great of a danger are you talking about?" Twilight inquired.

Saber and Josephine talked for a moment in a language that Twilight did not recognize, before Saber decided to tell the truth. "The wrong person making a single mistake at the wrong time could cause the end of the world as we know it; though, due to the distances involved, Equestria would almost certainly remain unaffected."

Twilight was unsure about how to respond to that statement, so she decided to ask a question about the strange language. "That language that you were both talking in. Is it..."

"Yes, Twilight," Josephine interrupted, "that was our native language."

"Wow! I've never heard any language like that! You must come from very far away to have a language that is linguistically unrelated to any that exist in or near Equestria! Just imagine how much our societies could learn from each other!" Twilight exclaimed, obviously excited about the discovery.

"We could teach you at least some of our language..." Josephine offered, "... after we meet with all of the Princesses and hopefully get what we came here for."

"I'll write a letter to Princess Celestia to get that set up," Twilight said, disappointed about the delay. "In the meantime, you can stay in my castle."

"In that case, there is something that you should know about our culture. In our culture, when you enter somepony else's room, knock first. If you want to be polite, or you think that they are asleep, knock and wait for them to say you can enter before entering. I think that's everything that you need to know about our culture for now, though I'm sure we can share more between now and the meeting," Josephine said.

"Oh... um... okay. Why is that such a big deal?" Spike asked.

"Spike!" Twilight hissed, obviously worried about offending the two foreigners.

"No, no. It's fine," Josephine laughed. "But to answer your question, Spike, well... let's just say that our culture is more concerned about privacy than yours seems to be."

Just then, one of the room's doors opened and Starlight entered the room. "Spike mentioned 'important guests', but there wasn't anything about that on the calendar, so... who are they?"

"Saber, Josephine," Twilight said, "this is Starlight Glimmer, a friend and former student of mine, as well as the guidance counselor of my School of Friendship.

"Starlight, this is Josephine," Twilight continued, "and this is Saber. They have come a very long way because the land they come from is in great danger, and they think that Equestria can help."

"Oh, okay. Well, what is your land in danger from?" Starlight asked.

"Anomalies. The Foundation currently has approximately 4,000 SCP-level anomalies in containment, as well as tens of thousands of lesser anomalies. Analyses have shown that approximately 5-10% of known SCP-level anomalies could end the world as we know it, with one analysis putting the fraction as high as 95%, though most required very specific circumstances. A meta-analysis of those analyses revealed that approximately 150 anomalies appeared in almost every list of potential world-enders," Saber replied.

Twilight, Starlight, and Spike all had their mouths wide open in shock by the time Saber finished talking.

"How is Equestria supposed to help with a problem like that!?" Starlight exclaimed.

"As I mentioned before, Equestria is far enough away that a containment breach of one of the world-enders in our land would have little or no effect on Equestria, and vice-versa," Saber answered.

"But you said that that would destroy the world," Spike objected.

"No. I said that it would end the world as WE know it, and WE did not know Equestria even existed until recently," Saber replied.

"You must come from very far away, then," Starlight said.

"What do you mean?" Saber asked.

"Equestria is the largest nation that we know of, so it is known far and wide," Starlight explained.

"How large is Equestria?" Josephine inquired.

"About a million square kilometers, with a population of around fifty million ponies," Twilight responded.

Saber snorted, but decided not to say anything.

"Well, today has been a long day. I think that we would both appreciate being shown our rooms. Besides, we wouldn't want to get in the way of working on exciting paperwork," Josephine said with a wry smile.

"In that case, follow me to your rooms," Spike said, hopping off of his chair and walking out of the room. Saber and Josephine follow behind him.

"Well, I guess we should get back to paperwork," Twilight said with a sigh.

"Don't remind me," Starlight replied.

"Well, here are your rooms, sir and madam," Spike said, bowing while using his arm to gesture to two of the castle's guest rooms. Saber entered one of the rooms and closed the door behind him without commenting.

"Again, sorry for my associate's actions. He is inexperienced in social situations," Josephine said.

"Again? What do you mean 'again'?" Spike replied, confused.

"Oh, right. You weren't there the first time. Silly me. Well, in any case, see you in the morning, and thank you for what you have done today," Josephine said, giving Spike a large sapphire before entering the other guest room and closing the door behind her.

"Wait..." Spike said to himself. "She didn't have any saddlebags... so where was she keeping the sapphire? And how did she know that sapphires are my favorite? Well, in any case, it looks like I'll have to wait until morning to figure it out."

Spike decided not to worry about it until morning, so he started walking to the library, happily licking his new sapphire.

In her room, Josephine raised her hoof to her near-invisible earpiece. "Saber, do you copy?"

"Yes. Anything new?"

"Something feels a bit... off about this place. Not in a bad way, just in a weird way. I just can't quite place it..."

"I have noticed that the inside of this castle is non-standard. Several of the hallways and rooms that we passed should have intersected, but didn't, the interior of the castle is larger than the exterior, and the position of my room's window on the outside of the castle is inconsistent with the path that we took to get here."

"That would be it. Now that I know what it is, I can filter it's effects out, and there don't seem to be any more significant anomalies around here, other than the 'magic' that everybody seems to have. You got anything on that?"

"Yes. All observed animal life, including the ponies, have shown up as Type Blues on my VERITAS system. No other classifications have been detected, other than a pink Earth Pony who showed up as both a Type Blue and a low-level Type Green, and yourself, or course. Though she did seem to have three barely-distinguishable souls, though that might just be how her soul looks."

"Now, don't go all GOC on me now," Josephine replied in a playful tone.

"Anything else you want to say?"

"Nothing that can't wait until the report."

With that, Saber ceased communication for the night.

Author's Note

The plot thickens...
Also, I have updated the story's tags to better reflect the direction I want the story to go in the future.
Next step, partial rewrite of Chapter 1.