The flight in the carriage towards Canterlot took about three hours After one and a half hours Luna teleported away for fifteen minutes only to reappear inside again soon after. Wondering what had happened Alex looked out of the window to being amazed as now night had fallen over Equestria.

"Wow.....so it is true. You two truly wield the power over sun and moon, I did not believe it when a friend told me of it"

"Why of course it is true...uhh Alex right?" Luna asked to which he nodded his head. "But do tell, how come you did not believe her? That sounds most unusual to us."

"Oh yeah, i remember that for you ponies and all of you, magic is a normal occurrence but believe me when i tell you, I am from a world that has no magic." Luna stared at him wide eyed, Celestia even looked over while Blueblood's jaw seemed to be crashing into the floor.

"What nonsense, there is no possible way your world would be without magic, how would your kind even survive. Stop fooling us!" Celestia huffed annoyed.

"I am not fooling you, I swear. The world I come from holds no magic what so ever. And just so you know, the way my kind survived is by their ingenuity our creativity and our will to prevail. And as i like to say, i am sure we just are too stupid to die out." He chuckled at that.

Blueblood had picked up his jaw from the floor by now and rubbed his chin. "How interesting, so do i assume right that your species prevailed mostly by using science? "

"That is correct, you practice science here too?" To that Blueblood nodded.

"Yes we do, however it is a really weak branch cause of the things the things we research on. It is seen as not really needed. " Blueblood sighed softly."Too bad, I myself am a big advocate of it to be honest."

"I guess that makes sense, a world in which magic does exists has no need to use science to understand it. Or need science at all." The human nodded and looked out the window in thought.

Far in the distance the tips of the towers of Canterlot came into sight. "Wow....this is where you guys live at?"

"Not fully, we live up at the tip of the city in the big castle. Each one of us has a small suite in it. You will get a own room in my suite while you stay at Canterlot. That way you can get to know all my servants and with that all the different races that do roam the lands of Equestria." Blueblood had leaned over to Alex, looking out of the window with him.

"Just so I know, how many races are there?" Alex turned towards the stallion.

"Well going from the ones most close to us we have around 8 races, however one of those is divided into two different factions with each their own looks and skills. At least that's what I know. Those races are us the ponies, griffons,changelings,dragons, more far off are the minotours,yaks, zebras and lastly of which i know of are the diamond dogs who live underground, however we don't know where their cities are." Blueblood explained.

"I see, that are a lot and you really have servants from every one of these races? Even the one that is divided in two?" Alex inquired.

"Sadly no, also from most of these races I only have one servant, pony servants I have multiple but they all share my views so you don't need to fear anything. You have my word for that." Alex nodded and looked out the window again.
"I wonder how you will interact with my servants but also these townsponies...." The last part Blueblood spoke with disdain.

"Huh, is it really that bad?" Alex asked with a worried voice.

"Well I bet Ponyville was bad already, i know how they are with other races or ponies they don't know. Juts the thing with Canterlot is....it is pretty much the same just eleven times worse." The stallion looked to the side.

"Welp....ain't that just great." Groaned Alex as they flew more close to Canterlot.

Surprisingly it was a rather smooth ride, thanks to the weather ponies having created one of the most calm and clear nights for the princesses to give them a safe passage through the air. When the carriage set down onto one of the landing zones located on one of the sides of Canterlot castle, not even a single sound was made. The door was opened by a pony in dark armor. What surprised Alex was that this pony seemed to be a different kind than which he had seen before, going by the bat wings, fangs, ears and fluffier fur.

"Welcome back princesses, I hope you two and your nephew had a good flight?" She then noticed the human and crooked her head to the side cutely, her ears standing up and turning towards him. "I see we have a guest?" She shuffled a bit closer making Alex back away a bit. She had a curious look on her face and looked him over with her bright almost glowing eye.

"Yes we did enjoy our flight and yes this is a guest. He will reside with Blueblood in his suite." Luna nodded as the batpony looked at her.

Blueblood noticed the surprised but also scared look on Alex face and chuckled. "There is no need to be afraid, then again I forgot to inform you, there are also batponies, a special breed of ponies with each their unique skills. You really do not have to be afraid, especially not of this one. Sweet Slumber poses no threat at all, she is one of the nicest guards we have around the castle. "

"I-is that so...?" Alex looked back to Sweet Slumber to see that the batpony had stepped a bit closer unknown to him and now was sniffing on his hand. "Uhhm....hello there?" Alex wanted to pull his hand back but didn't do so.

"Hello, you must be new around Equestria if you do not know what a bat pony is." She giggled slightly and kept smelling his hand.

"Why are you smelling me?" Alex noticed that she crept closer and closer, freaking him out a bit.

"Because you smell good, like really good. " She now was almost touching his hand with her muzzle. She then gasped and jumped back a bit, blushing madly. "I am so sorry, I did not mean to....I....." She looked at the ground in shame and began berating herself. "Way to go Sweet Slumber, here you have a visitor from far away obviously and you go ahead and creep him out by being weird, especially weird since you are the first batpony he has ever met....you are so stupid, getting distracted by such a sweet and enticing smell."

She went on like that till Alex took a deep breath and walked over to her, softly poking her shoulder, making her jump a bit and hover in the air with her wings. "Calm down, yes you are the first batpony i have seen but if most of them are like you, I bet i will die of a cuteness overload." He smiled softly while she blushed brightly again.

"Y-you think the way i acted was cute?" She looked up at him, her ears splayed against her head.

"Yeah i do, sure the hand smelling was a bit weird but still had a cuteness to it but say, why did you smell my hand?" He looked down at his hand. "Does it smell that good?"

She shook her head but giggled. "No it is not just your hand, you, your whole body smells so sweet. It is really hard for me to keep my professionalism up being around you." At that Blueblood raised a eyebrow. "But since I am the first batpony you meet, how about I help you get used to my kind? " She giggled softly. "Then again that smell...." With that she stared at his hand again.

"Ummm Sweet Slumber are you agh...!" Before he could finish his sentence Sweet Slumber had jumped close to him and seemed to bite down on his hand, bringing a gasp of shock from both Luna and Blueblood.

Blueblood got ready to charge a bolt of energy at the batmare. "She is attacking him, we need to do....something?" All of the others now looked in complete confusion as Alex instead of screaming and fighting for his life all he did was chuckling and laughing like mad.

"Bwahahah stahahahaph please, stop her. She is tickling me!!" Upon further inspection it was clear she had not bitten him but instead was nibbling on his hand softly, making cute squeaking sounds as well. "Pahahahalease help me!!"

The three others watched for a second, then Luna broke out into loud laughter, almost falling over. Soon Blueblood had joined her in the laughter while Celestia looked on with a stern look. "Sweet Slumber! Look at yourself! Regain your composure!" The sun matriarch shouted, making the batpony squeak and look up at Alex, clear fear in her eyes.

Slowly she pulled away from him, making his hand leave her mouth. "I-I....I am so sorry....I did not mean....I don't know what came over me....I" She then held her head up high and closed her eyes. "G-go ahead.....do it...."

To that Alex looked at her in utter confusion."Do what?"

"H-hit me! Punch me!" She yelled as she began to shake in fear.

"Wh-what? Why should i do that? Come on, I could never hit you." He touched her shoulder making her gasp in slight shock.

"I-it is normal for us guards and servants to get hit if we mess up. I mean, somehow we need to learn to not do it again right?" This made Alex whirl around towards the three ponies behind him, anger very clear on his face. Blueblood was looking at the ground.

"Is that true.....you hit your guards and servants when they mess anything up? " He then glared specifically at Blueblood. "You too Blue?"

Blue was going to object but Slumber flew up and infront of Blueblood, like to shield him. "No no, please do not misunderstand, Prince Blueblood never hit me, or anyone for that matter, he is the only one who refuses to harm us, no matter how much we mess up." She now was looking up at Alex with begging eyes. "If you wanna be mad at anyone be mad at me for messing up...."

This made Alex heart ache and his anger to subside. "Like I said, I could never hurt you for something like messing up. Especially when it is something like that, you were being cute again so why should I hurt you." He brought her hand over her head making her shake slightly, only to begin softly scratching behind her ears making her gasp. She then leaned into his hand, letting out a sound that could be called a soft purr while closing her eyes. "See, there is no reason to be afraid of me. Also Sweet Slumber, you never got to know my name, it is Alex Terris. " She opened her eyes and nodded, a small smile on her lips.

He then looked at Luna and Celestia. "But you two....why do you hit your servants? Your guards? The ones ordered to tend for your well being and safety?"

Luna was stuttering trying to come up with a response but Celestia smirked. "Of course a lowly being like you would not understand that, if we do not punish them accordingly to their mistakes they will never learn to better themselves. Sometimes that does mean that a bit of blood and tears are needed." This made Alex eyes widen in shock while Luna stared at the ground. "And let me tell you one thing straight away, creature, you may be our guest but do not overstep your boundaries. If you do I will love to punish you myself...."

This made Alex shut up but look down at Slumber who was softly cooing as he still was petting her ear. "Princess Luna, i have a question." Luna looked up and nodded for him to go on. "In my stay at Canterlot castle, there is the chance that someone may try to attack me for several reasons. Will a guard be assigned to keep an eye on me?"

"You are correct, there is the chance you may get attacked. So.....yes you should get a guard, why do you ask?" She rose a eyebrow at him questioningly "May I request then that Sweet Slumber gets assigned to be my guard,she is the first guard I met here and I think we can work together greatly." He stopped petting her, making her whine slightly before she looked at Luna, took on a professional stance and saluted at her.

"My princess, it would be a honor to me to guard the visitor, I will make sure no one harms him and that he abides by the rules of the castle. If you will allow me to of course."

Luna thought for a moment then nodded. "Yes, we think that is the best course of action. We assign you Sweet Slumber to guard and assist the visitor Alex Terris while he is staying at Canterlot castle. Now please accompany him and our nephew to their suite."

Sweet Slumber saluted and began flying close to Alex, being at the same height as his head. Blueblood smiled and looked at Alex. "Well then, follow me Alex, I will lead you to our rooms." Alex nodded and with that they went on their way to Blueblood's suite.

On their way to the suite Sweet Slumber always stayed close to Alex who in turn kept petting her ears as he clearly enjoyed her purring. Then he turned to Blueblood as a question had formed in his head. "Say, of the races that are there, which ones do you have as servants and how many of each race?"

Blueblood nodded. "Yeah I have left you in the blue about that for quite a while haven't I? Well, i have several ponies as you know, a Zebra,a griffon, a diamond dog, one dragon and about two changelings. "

Alex whistled. "Wow, but why two changelings. ?"

"Oh yeah right, have not explained that one to you either." Blueblood smiled. "One of each side. Only bad thing is the two sides apparently do not mix well. They tolerate each other but if they get into fights it can get nasty. Other than that all of my servants are very kind beings." With that they arrived at a set of very big doors. Blueblood layed his hooves on the doors and smirked. "Welcome to my suite, enjoy your stay while being here."

Alex eyes widened at what he saw. The suite seemed to be huge as there was the main room which was already very big. From that room many hallways led deeper into the suite. "Blue, how big is your suite?"

"Well, with how many servants i have and all other rooms. A good chunk of the castle. Come on, come in and look at the main room. I am sure you will love it here." Blueblood led the human and Sweet Slumber into the room. Slumber gasped while Alex watched on with a open mouth.

The ceiling of the main room was in a beautiful midnight blue but upon further inspection one would notice that there were small plates of shining silver worked into it, copying the night sky outside. There was a big fireplace in which a cozy fire was burning. Multiple couches and comfy armchairs stood all around the fireplace and the room. Multiple shelves filled with all kinds of books stood around, further in the back there was a dining table with chairs and a door behind that which, so Alex assumed, the kitchen would be. It was a overall beautiful room.

"Blue....what the....I mean." Alex was at a loss for words, making the prince chuckle.

"Amazing isn't it? I hoped that you would like it. Come along, if i correct one of my....special servants should always be on one of the couches." He walked towards the couches as the two of them followed. The more they walked towards the fire place the more a distinct soft breathing sound could be heard. They made their way around the couch and looked at the being sleeping on it. Slumber letting out a quite gasp while Alex inspected the being.

What lied there before him had a vibrant bright blue with some color variations to it, however it did not seem to have any fur like ponies had, instead the color was of the skin which Alex thought had a insect like feel to it. Furthermore it had a horn and slightly long ears. On his back seemed to be some wings held under a protective outside chitin skin.Around his chest and abdomen the skin seemed to be a bit more strong and off a darker color. The beings face had soft lines as it breathed in and out.

While Alex was inspecting the being Blue walked up to the couch and softly touched the face of the heavy sleeper. "Come on, wake up, we have a visitor who may need a warm welcome." This emitted a soft chuckle form the being who was clearly male but with a softer tone to the voice. The unknown male turned away as if trying to sleep more. " Neoptera, get up this instant you silly bug, or do you want to give our guest a bad impression of the changeling kind?" This made the changeling jump up and look at them.

Neoptera's look fell from Blueblood over Sweet Slumber and finally landed on Alex. His eyes were of a beautiful violet color.Once he had noticed Alex, the changeling backed away a bit. "Well, hello there, my name is Neoptera or Neo for short, I am one of the numerous servants under Prince Blueblood. May i know your name?" It was very obvious the changeling was uncertain how to act around Alex and clearly nervous.

"Pleased to meet you Neo, the name is Alex Terris. My, you are a colorful fellow,if i may ask, are all changelings this colorful?" Alex smiled to relax Neo who shook his head softly.

"No,this colorfulness does not apply to all changelings, although most are like me though. The ones who are not as colorful as me....they are also less nice but you will see that for yourself as we have one of those here as well, I still don't understand why the prince keeps the guy as some sort of guard." He huffed and then looked at the human . "What are you if i may ask, I never saw anything like you? You are so tall, almost as tall as some minotours." Neo smiled.

"My race is called human, although I am afraid you will not find out if all of my kind are as tall as me since I am the only one of my kind on this planet I am afraid." He chuckled softly, but felt some sadness on the inside.

"Oh? That sounds so sad, do you want to go home? If you had the chance I mean, would you?" Neo had walked a bit closer and softly pushed a hoof against Alex's arm looking up into the humans eyes.

"Well....no to be honest, although I will miss some things from my world,Equestria is much more interesting and....it feels like a new chance for me. I would stay here. I made some friends here that I want to see happy as well, so I will stay for them as well. " He smiled softly and nodded.

"I still feel sadness from you, is there something I could do to make you smile again?" Neo looked at him with a hopeful smile.

"Oh i am not that sad,I promise, I am just a bit tired and all from what happened over the last few weeks. But there is one thing you can do to take my mind of things, what are the differences besides looks between your breed of changelings and the other ones? From how you talk about the other changeling that works here I sense some sort of difference in your world views or such?" Alex face showed a small smile as he asked.

"Well yeah, pretty much but it is more than that. It also is about how we choose to eat or feast or however you want to call it. Do you know what us changelings feast on?" To that Alex shook his head. "Oh, well we feed on emotions basically, plus my kind can feast of plants as well but to both species love is the most nutritious and delicious. However here comes the way we differentiate in the department on how we get that food. While my kind only feed off the love that ponies or whoever offers us willingly, they try to feed off of ponies or whoever by either force or deception. They think our ways are way too docile but to us they are pure brutes, maybe even monsters. How could anyone steal love?"

"Is that all or is there even more and....how does that work, if that other changeling that lives here lives of stealing or taking love, how can he be a guard and servant?" Alex wondered openly.

"Well his name is Noxious so you know but in any case, he does not need to hunt here but still sometimes acts like he still does, being all brash and rude. I really can't stand being around him, still I do understand that it is his culture so, there is little I can do about it, especially since he is stronger than me but that is to be expected from him, being a guard and all. Then there are some problems concerning whose leader each one of us liked most and followed before going into Prince Bluebloods services but besides that, that's it." He then smiled and chuckled. "Now it is your turn, what does your kind eat?"

"Well humans are omnivores, so we can eat a lot of things which sometimes really comes in handy." Alex smirked and rubbed the back of his head.

"Huh, another question, what are your stances on cuddles and all that?" The changeling looked to the side shyly.

"Well, I am all for them to be honest, didn't have much chances to do that although back in my world, so I bet I am a terrible cuddler. Why you ask, planning on tasting my love?" Alex chuckled softly.

"Well....I...umm...." The changelings face became beet read as he had been caught in the act. "Y-yeah....kinda....but is that really okay with you, snuggling up with another dude? I heard a lot of stallions do not like that so.....it would be okay if you declined." Neo looked at that ground, only to stare up when he heard the humans chuckles.

"Oh don't worry, i do not mind cuddling up with guys at all. I mean you may as well call me a pendulum." To that Blueblood as well as Sweet Slumber chuckled while Neo blushed once again.

"W-w-w-why a pendulum?" The changeling asked quietly.

"Because i swing both ways! Thank you, thank you, I know my puns are terrible." Alex smirked as more giggling and chuckling from the other two could be heard.

"Oh I can already see, you will have a fun stay here Alex. Especially now since you dropped that bomb." Blueblood teased softly.

"Well in any case Neo, what did you say about wanting to taste my emotions by cuddling?" Alex smiled softly at the changeling.

"W-w-w-well....could you hug me for a short while? Please, I had no food yet today." Neo looked up at Alex only to let out a small squeak, as he was picked up by the human into a hug but hugged back happily after a second. Alex felt like something was drained from him but not in a bad way, it felt okay.Meanwhile Neo seemed to be completely lost in the hug, eyes closed and completely relaxed. Alex also noticed that the skin of the changeling did not feel bad, very soft it felt to him. After a few seconds the two parted and Neo chuckled. "Thanks a lot, your love is really something else, may I please come back to you sometimes to get a bit more?"

"Sure anytime, really. It was one of the few hugs i had in recent years, all of which I only had in Equestria so far. So whenever you want to cuddle come to me." He smirked but suddenly a small growl could be heard. "But now....I could use some food as well. I am starving, had no food for almost the entire day..." The growls of his stomach became louder.

"Say no more." Neo smirked. "Just let me handle that, since I am the head-chef of the kitchen in this suite. Just wait a bit and i will make you some food that will make your mouth water in no time!" With that and a laugh the changeling flew through the door behind the dining table into the kitchen.

"Well seems like you made a friend here and you swing both ways as well, that's convenient as well." Blueblood mused.

"Convenient in what way? Does this have to do with that thing you whispered about with Berry? You said I did not need to worry." Alex raised a eyebrow.

"Oh you do not need to worry, it is in no way harmful to you. Still I will not tell what we talked about. Not yet." Blueblood chuckled.

"Well I will get myself some food too, I will be back in about a hour." Spoke Sweet Slumber and after waving towards the two she flew out of one of the windows into the night sky.

"Now since I have met one of your servants, when will i meet the other ones, like the griffon?" Alex turned to Blueblood.

"Both the dragon and the griffon are on the day shift so you will probably meet them tomorrow morning, also I would watch my back for a while if I were you, not only around the day guard and Celestia but also in here. I bet Noxious listened to your talk with Neoptera and now will try to get some of your love as well.And he will try any way he sees fit I fear. So you may see another one of my servants very soon. The zebra is also asleep already i think but the diamond dog is on guard duty today. So yeah you will meet them all as time goes on."

To that Alex simply chuckled. "Oh come on, he can't be that bad, if you employed him, he must be nice in some way right?"

"He is, very friendly once you get to know him, maybe even a bit too friendly . Still, be careful, at least do not let him jump you." Blueblood chuckled.

"Stop trying to scare me...but if he is so friendly why does Neo make it seem like there is such hatred between them?"Alex wondered, rubbing his chin in thought.

"I guess it has to do with the way that they hold loyalty in some way to their leaders." Blueblood sighed.

"What do you mean by that, are there like two clans of changelings or something?" Alex rose a eyebrow.

"Yes and no, you see, the old queen of the changelings was dethroned not long ago. Most of the changelings followed the new king and his more kind and soft methods, while a small group of changelings still held loyalty to their queen, which I think Noxious is part of. That's why these two seem to clash all the time. "

Alex nodded and asked. "Anything else I should know about the changelings?"

Blueblood nodded. "Yes, how they are treated around here. Many ponies see them either as dirt or insects, still they....use them..."

"What do you mean by that?" Anger slowly rose in Alex voice.

"Well since changelings need love to get full nutrition, they often resort to prostitution. I mean it is their only chance to get at least some speck of love to feast on. Then there are some changelings that get sold as sex slaves, those may get food often but also abused in most cases. "

"That is horrible, is no one standing up to it?" Alex now was partially furious.

"There are some, those who still treat the other races with respect and care, but there is no open group who try to change anything, cause how would they able to change anything when they have so many against them?" Blueblood shook his head. "All I for example can do is take poor or outcasted ponies and other race members and make them my servants, to save them partially from the public hatred."

"I see.....at least that is a start, maybe there can grow more from it....hopefully."Alex then sniffed the air, a smell of delicious food filled the entire room by now, making his stomach scream in protest to finally get some food. "Mhhm this smells good, Neo must really know what he does. I can't wait to try his food." Alex smiled halfheartedly as he sat down to wait for his food.

After a short while Alex food was served, it was a delicious dish. What surprised him even more that the changeling had used some sea food in the dish, making it all the more delicious to him. After the feast Alex decided that it would be best to head to bed now, as it was deep into the night by now. Saying goodnight to everyone and giving Neo a surprise goodnight hug he made his way to the bedroom. In front of the bedroom Sweet Slumber stood, saluting to him and wishing him a good night as he entered.

It was a simple but very cozy bedroom, making the human smile before he took off his clothes, except for his boxers and lied down under the covers. Soon he had entered the land of the dreams, snoozing away.

All the time while he had took off his clothes and lied down he however had not noticed the dark silhouette, that had hidden itself in the shadow of the corner. The silhouette then opened it's eyes, looking at the sleeping human with bright glowing turquoise eyes. Two fangs showed and a long tongue flicked through the air in the room, as if to taste it and a very silent chuckle escaped the beings mouth as it kept watching Alex, preparing and planning it's plans for the sleeping human.

Author's Note

And another chapter down and boy it is a long one. I hope you like where the story is going and what I am bringing in. Also little warning, next chapters may have some lemons in them but I don't know yet.

Like always comments and such are more than liked and appreciated and i hope to see you all after the next chapter!