Author's Note

Posting more chapters might slow down after chapter 10. See my blog for more information.

8 - Interviews and the unexpected guest

Day 90, Jun 8th, Friday - Stalwart entry

Hey diary, Stalwart here. Talked with Dawn this morning about writing in her journal and she said to go for it, so here I am!

Dawn’s covered a lot of things that she’s been training in, and I know I could do the same thing, but I think she will look back at this and not care about the things she went through to be a princess, but looking at us and her family. (if I'm wrong future Dawn, I’m sorry! … but I doubt it) So, here’s a little more about us and our family, and when we’re older we’re going to wish our foals were this little again!

The foals are five months old and I couldn’t be prouder to be your husband and their father. I look at them, how happy they are when we’re in the room, or how soundly they sleep. It’s worth the long nights or mornings when they’re lonely. You are a good mother, even if you do worry you’re not around for your foals enough. There might come the point where they reach an age when they might not understand why you can’t be with them always, but if they really can sense or ‘taste’ our emotions like it seems, they will know just how much we love them and all we can do is hope we understand.

So, I will say I have to chuckle often (and get punched in the shoulder. You have a hard jab now, better be careful or I’ll start bruising!) when I hear you complain about training. I know you push yourself hard, but training can be just as tough on us trainers too. Not only do we often do the exercises with our recruits, but we even have to hide our own fatigue as we do the routines so you and our other trainees keep working toward that goal of what we act like we are, the inexhaustible guards and soldiers we are meant to look like. Still, I see how exhausted you are afterward and you still make the time now that you’re not completely burned out afterward to greet our foals, playing with them for a little bit before you go to your lessons.

Please know love, that I am really proud of you and your hard work both at home and in your training. I always did like a mare that was fit, but you are an amazing mare in your own right, and now I get to see a bit of muscle on you! You were adorable as a slightly rounded mare before, but now you’re downright sexy now that you’re fit!

Anyway, Stomper often dropped by while he was on lunch to give his report on you. Now Dawn, when you see this, please don’t cheat and definitely don’t tell him I told you this at all. Try to wait until after your exams are over to read this.

~~~**~~~

Stomper has been pretty impressed with you Dawn. He can tell that you were horribly out of shape, and yet your willingness to push yourself under supervision and follow instructions despite your station was exemplary. He is tough on you only when he needs to be, as any trainer is, and he feels you’ll do well if you keep up the work. Having said that, I know you’re excited at your games and movies and stuff, but don’t let all your exercise go to waste! After all, you can’t keep up with the EDF or wonderbolt trainers the commander wants you to eventually work under if you don’t!

I’m really glad to have you Dawn, and you’d be special to me even if you had stayed a unicorn or just a princess and not part-changeling too. The royalty status and the foals are definite plusses, but I’ll be by your side for as long as I can. No matter what comes our way, I’m happy you are who you are.

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Day 92, Jun 10th, Sunday

Okay Stalwart, I made sure not to read below where you warned me, no matter how tempting it was. I skipped a couple pages for that exact reason, to prevent myself from cheating! (I did spot your last bit about the games. I definitely don’t want to go back to being my weaker, out of shape self. Don’t worry… though I would game a lot if I could get away with it… but I can’t so don’t worry!)

So, I finally got the responses from the newspapers, and of course I handled that first. They finally agreed to work together and all asked when I would like to have the interview. I debated having it at a restaurant, but the background noise would be an issue, even in a party room, and I know they would appreciate a clean recording session. After checking with the link, I gave the idea of us borrowing a sound studio in Ponyville and having the meal catered. I informed them my Monday to Saturday was almost completely booked, but we could record on Sundays, maybe have an hour or two for the group interview, and then rotate through to ensure everyone had some time for a one on one, an hour each.

Chrysalis said I’m going to be very busy and overextending myself, that I’m needing to be ready for anything to come up, but I didn’t want any of them to feel shortchanged. She says I’m being too generous in the amount of time I’m giving, but I think this makes sense. There’s danger in giving them too much to work with, but in the same sense, the more they know, the less afraid they might be of me and my potential influence, right?

Now, I need to go to bed. As much as I want to game or watch a movie, I have an early day ahead of me like usual and I need to rest.

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Day 98, Jun 16th, Saturday

Good news. The different newspapers all agreed to the idea of sharing time and the proposed schedule. The event would be catered so everypony could enjoy some downtime between the main event and the one on one interviews. They apparently have worked together for the release timing, since they all agreed to do their interview the Sunday after the summer sun celebration next week and would release the papers the following week.

I’m nervous about the interviews, but this next week is full of tests. Everypony wants to be done in time for the Summer Sun Celebration, where I’ll get a summer vacation week of sorts before going right back to work the following week. Apparently once I pass my physical exams, I’ll move on to tougher training by the flight crews with less supervision needed, and the EDF BT for physical training and some weapons and self-defense training. I didn’t think I would be trained by the military, and I have conflicting thoughts on being trained by a foreign nation’s military, even if it is for my benefit and apparently without any strings attached that I can detect.

At least once everything is over, I will be resting for the week. Mothers know I will need it! Hopefully I can visit Tulip tomorrow, or sometime soon. I know she’s liked starting up our letters but has been asking when my next visit might be and how my gardening is going. I’ve looked up more on the subject to have more to talk about, but I still don’t know what else I could talk about safely. At least an orderly will be in the room with me to stave any negative outcomes off when I do visit.

Nymph has been adorable, acting just as much like our foals as she does a foalsitter. She’s my first drone, so I can’t help but look at her as my adopted daughter, but I’m worried about her development. She’s smaller than she should be for her age, weaker overall, and just underdeveloped. I know she and Violet love to play together, not wanting to deprive my sister of a playmate and friend, but Nymph will be better off if she can possibly regain some of what she would have had. Worst case scenario, cocooning her won’t change anything and she’ll come out with the only thing taken away is a little time without her friend.

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Day 100, Jun 18th - Monday

Spent the day resting. I’m more writing to clear my nerves than anything, though Nymph has been an absolute dear, trying to make sure I was well looked after or just stayed near to keep me company like she is now.

I’ve made sure to eat plenty of food that will give energy tomorrow and over a longer period. No lessons today, and since my mind wouldn’t settle down and focus, I tried to play some of my games to calm down some. I was in the middle of showing Stalwart a space shooter when our foals began crying. Stalwart grabbed them and brought them in as I saved my game and switched to something more friendly, one of my builder games.

Apparently, my foals were far more interested in me than the game for the first while. I can’t blame them, their mom was no longer just a four legged pony! I tried to keep as much of my form the same as possible for this shapeshifting exercise. I enjoyed having fur to keep warm and just wanted good hands and wrists and stuff, but those two were climbing all over my lap and poking me with their hooves and muzzles.

After a bunch of prodding, I finally realized what they were after from prolonged stomach nuzzling. I had to laugh a little bit, because in my using what limited shapeshifting my changeling side allowed, I moved what they were looking for without realizing it! So, I had to set the game aside and lifted them onto my lap so they could feed. Much to my surprise, no sooner than they latched on, they imitated what I had done and were bipedal as well!

Stalwart laughed quietly, and of course, he took pictures. I’m positive mom was taking pictures too, all things considered. I’ve known for a while she had cameras hidden almost everywhere so they wouldn’t miss another moment like her grandfoals’ first transformation. Doesn’t bother me, though I had a wave of self-consciousness as I fed the foals again, wings still on my back and horn on my head and I was tempted to spread my wings out to cover us, but I decided against it. It was calming though, having my foals nearby while sitting upright, almost as much as when I was half curled around them.

Stalwart didn’t seem as put off about this humanized pony form as I thought he might have been. I figured slow steps is the key to success here, but it turns out he was curious about trying a few things with me like this later anyway!

Stalwart said he didn’t have the game reflexes that would make him do well in the shooters, but he was willing to give them a try once we go shopping to get a controller meant for pony hooves. I guess that’s one thing I both took for granted about gaming, yet also didn’t… I would want my hands for gaming almost any day of the week because I grew up gaming that way, yet I somehow didn’t think anything of having Stalwart play without that advantage. It makes me wonder how some of the ponies here would play some of my games, but I won’t push beyond looking at the controllers myself. Who knows? Maybe I can make a way for him to shapeshift some or we can find a way to help ponies shift too… and now I wonder what Stalwart would be like as a human. Now I can’t get rid of the idea that he’d still have blue hair with that purplish streak in it. Definitely will be tempted to name him Dekar when we go to the human world if that happens, except he wouldn’t get the reference for a while, if ever!

… Three months… we’ve already been here three months. I’m told we’re still working on a way to finish the mirror project, though I’m being heavily pushed to making a gate for more control. I still think making a mirror is preferred, especially if we have the lever or switch to otherwise turn it on/off as needed, but I understand that’s really insecure. Just because I want to make yet another obscure reference doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea! … Then again, for all I know, that world is real and my making a mirror rather than a gate would teach that world how to make travelling mirrors and cause the whole ‘10th Kingdom’ thing to happen for real… I hate multiverse theory sometimes…

Well, here we go. I’m off to bed, back as my pony princess self and hoping I am good enough…

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Day 101, Jun 19th – Tuesday

So flipping sore… I’m utterly glad I don’t have any other classes this week. I’m needing to make use of my husband’s massaging skills after that. I barely managed to finish the five minute gallop test, resulting in just shy of three miles ran at full speed. I wasn’t collapsing at least, and I know we had been working on a combination of long distance exercises and speed while remembering how to properly breathe during the run, but this was really intense. I didn’t want to give any less than my best, no matter what for this test.

On the plus side, I finished all thirty minutes of non-stop testing that followed after a brief break. I was breathing deep, but not the gasping, rasping breath that I used to have three months ago. I had long since lost track of how many laps I made, the entire course I was taken to was new and long. No idea what posts were which distance markers either. Once the time was up and I heard his whistle to stop, I knelt down, getting my breath back as he measured where we were compared to the last marker.

Turns out I have come a damn long way, though four legs helps with the speed, not the endurance. As a human, even in my prime as a mid-teen, I only managed a single mile in eight minutes. Here? I got a rating of frigging 28 miles an hour overall. My trot is an 11, and my full on gallop is 34! Apparently I’m now at the point where I have slightly above an average pony’s speed and endurance too. (probably because I’m an alicorn though.)

With that news, I then got the next bit of news that I’m in the acceptable range for moving up to military level physical training. YAY! … I really need a damn sarcasm font or language or something. I remember when I nearly joined the military as a human with that measly best time for a single mile at nearly 8 minutes, but two miles was twenty, and I changed my mind right before I would have been given the chance to swear in... and here I am now, about to sign up for that training as a pony... oh the irony. At least it’s without the requirement for allegiance to CTS’ lands as a foreign dignitary.

Of course my foals are almost insufferably active and constantly needy of my attention while I’m tired today. That’s how it goes right? The more exhausted you are, the more they want you to spoil them and the more ready you are for what they want, the less interested they are in what you’ve prepared. I’m trying to look at this as a big lesson on what they might be like as teenagers… … Maybe I should have had Twilight keep them for a decade or two like she offered. I love them to pieces, but it might be literal pieces if I don’t get some peace and quiet somewhere when they drive me nuts eventually…

Well, Stalwart probably wouldn’t let me give them to Twilight anyway. At least now they are fed and tucked in and I can relax. I loaded up a game, only to stare at it and turn it back off when I realized I wasn’t in the mood a couple minutes later. One day I *will* play something for more than half an hour … probably, and I don’t just mean my showing Stalwart either. That didn’t count.

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Day 102, Jun 20th - Wednesday

Well, I can’t say my fears of heights is completely gone, but I apparently am a natural flier. I wasn’t the fastest one, nor the most dexterous or stunt crazy, but it was nice performing the course and landing in the upper third of the class.

I had a straight sprint from takeoff, then had to loop around into the other courses to fly through obstacles, over others, under the rest or through hoops. Came close to clipping the rings, but I only get penalized if they hit! I almost didn’t make it out of the dive near the end, but after picturing myself like in one of the fighter sims before, I took a slightly wider approach to keep my speed at the cost of flying a little farther overall, tackling the next stretch faster than most of the others before me. It was a half kind of compliment to see some of the rest after me imitate what I did to speed up.

My sides still hurt from all the exertion and my legs hurt from keeping them tucked in or held up, but now I can move on to the next set of courses for more severe cases, like flying through headwinds and in the rain and things like that. It still messes with my head to stand on some clouds. My mind still wants to think of them as masses of water vapor instead of whatever ‘f you’ to logic these things are.

I have the rest of the week off, outside of the Summer Sun Celebration. I’m going to enjoy it. Hopefully the worst is over.

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Day 104 Jun 22nd – Friday

Today was a surprisingly normal celebration. Outside of everyone following tradition and only putting up decorations the day of, and various shop owners had to get to their stores early to prepare for the rush of sales as well as free food covered by the state.

I took the whole family out and walked through town, and of course the foals were excited at all the hustle and bustle. I’m just glad that as far as Zera, Nymph, and I could tell, they didn’t seem to shift at all while out and about. That could make a field day for any reporter who catches wind of this, let alone for the ones attending the interview in two days!

The food was amazing, and where my pony family celebrated with the others for the sake of celebrating, I made sure each thanks that was given for the holiday internally went to thanks for the reuniting of the two sisters, and the hopes that their mistake will never be repeated by anypony.

I also spent some time with the hive, borrowing random drones to celebrate the strength of the sisters, their knowledge of how hard the world is. While the hive didn’t do much in terms of celebration, something I wouldn’t mind changing if I ever had one of my own – tho that’s unlikely, they were more than happy to spend time with me in the link as I spent time with my family.

I have no idea if the two sisters used an illusion spell to chat with me like some of the population did, but regardless of if they did or not, it was a fun time that I’m glad I attended.

By the time we got back home, the foals were exhausted and resting. They still hurt some when they nurse, but I will live. There’s a certain kind of pleasure that a mother can feel from it, though I’m sure not all of them do, and I am fortunate that it is something I get to feel. Tomorrow we look after the foals some more and then Sunday is interview day… I hope I’m ready.

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Day 106, June 24th, Sunday

I am utterly mentally exhausted. This wasn’t a physically demanding day, but I did not realize just how long of a day this was going to be just from discussions and answering questions! I still am still not sure what the turnout is going to be like, but all I can do now is hope for the best.

Dawn had gotten up at her usual sleep-in time for Sundays, and felt the pressure weighing in on her. She did not look forward to this, despite all her letters saying to the contrary, but it was more the weight of the expectations of what she was meant to be in her own eyes that she knew was her biggest obstacle. She tried to remind herself as she got up that they simply wanted to find out more about her, what kind of princess she is, and what her sphere of influence will be.

She took twice as much time to clean up, taking an extra shower despite having done so last night, just to make sure everything about her appearance would be as clean and presentable as possible.

After fussing over herself long enough that her mother had to instruct her to stop, she left Castle Friendship to go to the recording studio.

She arrived an hour early, and expected that the newspaper reporters might be just arriving, doing some sound tests. Sure enough, three different groups were present from the different news groups just inside the building. There were about fifteen ponies present, not counting herself. It surprised her because in her world there were only two or three that might have been present on site, an interviewer, the cameraperson and maybe a microphone holder with those really strong arms. For three groups to bring five ponies each was unusual in her eyes. At most they needed their reporter, sound engineer, and someone for driving and other errands. She hoped she would see the reason for the number of ponies shortly.

“Ah, Dawn, you’re here. Excellent!” A brown pegasus with blonde mane said as he began approaching her, causing the others to turn and notice her approach.

“Good morning everyone.” Dawn greeted with a smile, “With how everyone else is here, I was half afraid I had the time wrong and was late!”

“Oh no, nothing of the sort.” the first pony said, a few others joining his main group of the welcoming committee. “We have to make sure all the equipment is up to snuff, do some tests and make sure everything is balanced right. If you’re up to it, we can get started on getting you set up and balanced and we can start earlier.”

“I’m game for that.” Dawn nodded again, “I remember some of the fiddling my dad had to do with that for his band, and while I’ve barely dabbled in sound engineering, I can respect the amount of work and testing needed for it. Lead the way!”

“Interesting.” he answered, though with a friendly smile, “Your dad was a musician?”

“Well, for a local band while I was growing up. Nothing professional beyond a few cassettes as far as I knew.”

“Interesting.’ He repeated with a chuckle, “Well, I look forward to asking you more later. I’m Juniper Gates of The Daily Trotter.”

“Nice to meet you Juniper.” Dawn nodded as she acknowledged the name of the newspaper, turning to the other three as they walked toward the sound room. She knew the Trotter as the paper that leaned toward Celestia and Traditionalists, partly because of their longer standing in the news industries.

“I’m Brown Cap from The Second Opinion. Nice to finally meet you.” a light blue unicorn said, wearing the hat she was named after. Dawn recognized this as the Twilight Modernist leaning newspaper, though they just as often played devil’s advocate, having more controversial items covered on both sides as a back and forth article.

“I’m Gumin Shoe from Just the Facts.” the third pony, a lighter brown earth pony said. He represented the newspaper that said it how it was and only showed the facts. It was less popular, but made the least number of inferences and only gave information it could confirm is true from multiple credible sources. Even so, it was rated as leaning slightly toward Traditionalists and Luna.

"I see.” Dawn smiled, greeting them both, “Makes me think of an alternate name for detectives I heard growing up, a ‘gumshoe.’”

“Apparently that was the point according to my parents.” He nodded. “Wouldn’t leave any question I had alone.”

“Sounds fitting.” Dawn nodded, noting the final pony who seemed content to just hover.

They entered the sound room and Dawn had to smile at the foam-covered sides, a few semi-comfortable seats in place around the table where they would be doing their recording.

The four of them put their headphones on like they were instructed and one by one, the sound engineers from each group worked together to get everyone sounding just right. They recorded a test phrase from everyone to make sure the raw audio from each line was recording correctly as well as another copy that kept all the balance changes. They made notes of every setting so the different raw audio recordings could be re-filtered again should the main copy fail, and then they gave the signal that they could start.

While the sound crews were preparing, the group in the sound room had already discussed how they wanted to start, who was going to start, and the others that had come with for other levels of support to the staff went into the listening room. Dawn had been filled in on their plan and made sure she was on board with their approach before starting their recording. They would record it as if it were a live broadcast to match their preferred styles, and edit afterward as needed for their papers while leaving the full broadcast on the websites they maintained.

“Good evening ladies and gentlecolts,” Juniper Gates started, “today we’re bringing you a very special interview. With me, also reporting, is Brown Cap from Second Opinion and Gumin Shoe of Just the Facts.”

The pair of them gave their hellos, knowing that they traded the ‘host’ position in exchange for getting their exclusives done ahead of the reporter who is acting as host.

“Hello from Just the Facts! Gumin Shoe reporting.” Gumin said.

“That’s right, what a special interview this is.” Brown Cap said, acting as co-host. “Today all three of us are sharing a recent newcomer, both to the political scene and to Equestria. The three of us would like to introduce Meadow Dawn, declared as the Alicorn of Hope. Welcome aboard.”

“It’s good to be here with all of you.” Dawn nodded, speaking into the microphone through the filter like she was taught.

“So, Princess Meadow Dawn,” Juniper explained, “was a pony who came with the Commander and others who were rescued from the last displacement. She and her family, along with a couple others, chose to come back with those who returned as a first in our history of displacements. Let’s start with that subject. What led you to join the Commander, leaving your home, and coming here?”

“A good question to start. The simple answer is I enjoyed working together with the Commander, and my royal sisters hoped to make travel between our worlds possible. We already have a few examples of this magical application on our side, and while it’s kept a secret out of concerns for safety over there, we hope to maintain good relations with this Equestria and its denizens.”

“That’s intriguing news already.” Juniper said with a genuine smile.

“I’m still imagining the possible implications if it succeeds beyond sending me back home.” Dawn chuckled, her stage nerves starting to settle down. “The project itself is in good hooves and I’m pleased to work with them.”

“I think we can work with that.” Brown Cap said, giving their own smile. “I think we’re all curious about your origins as well as your goals here in our Equestria.”

“That’s quite a large subject.” Dawn chuckled lightly.

“It is.” Brown cap said, joining the chuckling. “So, let’s start with your origins. Where did you grow up and what events led you to your becoming a princess?”

“Well, I grew up in another world before Equestria. Where I grew up, if I had to compare it to Equestria since the continent is rather similar in size and shape, would be a mid-sized town roughly three hundred miles to the northeast of where Canterlot is. After the purchase of a specific artifact, I landed in the Equestria I now call home three years ago. I adjusted to being a pony much more easily than most expected, and worked on learning magic since it was absent in my old world before settling close to Van Hoover.

“As for how I became a princess, it has a lot more history to it so I have to keep it brief and not take up the rest of the interview. In my change into a pony form, a pony named Svikopi planted a seed in my horn before I went into the world, meant to siphon my magical power to become his own and help make it easier to take over my body. His goal was to wreak vengeance on the ‘Students of Starswirl,’ our royal sisters, since Starswirl was no longer around. Once he got strong enough, he began to try taking me over, and the only option I saw to beat him, once he bragged about the seed in my horn, was to shatter it.”

The three reporters gasped in surprise, blinking as they registered what was said.

“Yeah, I get that a lot.” Dawn said with a nervous chuckle, “I know it’s a huge part of unicorns’ abilities and what makes them special, and I wouldn’t want to give it up after having spent two years to learn how to use magic that wasn’t available in my old world, but it was either me losing my agency and possibly giving rise to a new foe to Equestria or me giving up magic and living without magic like I had most of my life prior. The answer was painfully easy, no pun intended. I would far sooner choose to give up magic and shatter my horn so others could be safe since I had already spent much of my life without magic.”

“Wait, living without?” Brown Cap asked, “Why would you live without?”

“Because in our Equestria, horns don’t grow back.” Dawn said grimly. “Unlike things like nails, it does not grow back. When it is broken, it is gone for life. I don’t know about yours, but I’m guessing by your reaction that’s not true for ponies here.”

“No… It’s not. Princess Dawn,” Brown Cap spoke first after a few seconds to compose themselves, “speaking as the only unicorn present of the three of us, you have my respect for being willing to do such a thing willingly. Nearly every unicorn knows how painful it is to have a spell fail to the point where it causes some pain, or even the feedback given when a shield is shattered and the force goes right down your horn to your head. Very few unicorns would willingly do what you said you did, even without that news of the horn not growing back because the feedback you went through can kill a pony. So even though it wasn’t for anyone here in this Equestria we reach out to today, thank you for what you were willing to do. It says a great deal about you.”

“Agreed.” Gumin said with a nod.

“Hear, hear.” Juniper agreed.

“Thank you.” Dawn said quietly. “I must confess I would not be so likely to try shattering my horn again, but I am now better equipped to avoid that outcome if it were to happen again. I passed out from the pain and the next thing I knew, some strange sensation covered my body. I only later learned this was my becoming the Alicorn of Hope, and… It was a unique experience. I’m still not sure what things were dream or not until the ascension completed and I was lifted to my hooves.”

“I think that leads us to the next topic we can go ahead and discuss.” Juniper answered with a small amount of solemnness. “You mentioned earlier that you grew up without any magic. What was it like growing up? What led you to become the pony you are now?”

Dawn began relaying her history over the next while, giving general information about what her family was like, day to day routines, various struggles that might be acceptable to share while glossing over some of the others. When asked, she tried to explain a day to day life while trying to keep out the heavy religious references that dominated her life and simply stated such belief systems had a great deal of sway in her land. The group then only asked a few other questions about her family or relationships with them, and she made it plain that the household she grew up in was not a family in her eyes, despite how much she wished it was to the contrary.

“Now that we have a better understanding of your history, and half our shared interview time is over, we will begin our scheduled break and we’ll move on from the history of Meadow Dawn as presented by her and on to some of her goals for the future. I’ve been Juniper Gates-”

“I’m Gumin Shoe-”

“And I’m Brown Cap”

“And we will all return right after this break.” Juniper finished. They all heard an editing beep through their headsets that indicated that recording had finished for the moment.

The four of them went to the front room, which was now acting as their refreshment center for all the staff and relaxed.

“Halfway done.” Dawn said with a chuckle, “It both is feeling like it’s lasting a while and flew by in a flash.”

“Time often does that when you enjoy what you do.” Juniper agreed.

“Some ponies say we just like hearing ourselves talk.” Brown Cap added.

“And they’re not wrong.” Gumin smirked.

“Yeah... I think we’ve gotten a lot of things covered in such a short amount of time though, I’m starting to wonder what else each of you are going to ask!”

“Oh trust me, we could keep you all day if you’d let us.” Juniper said mischievously.

Dawn approached some of the refreshments during their break, grabbing a lemon-water with ice and sipping it as she cooled down from the warm recording room. As she did, the sound engineers were looking over their equipment and talking in low voices as they played back the recordings. She flicked her ears and tasted a mote of concern wafting from the group.

“Is everything ok?” Dawn asked, approaching them casually.

"Not sure… it seems like shortly after the interview started we picked up a bit of interference.” One engineer answered, hesitating very briefly before shoring up his confidence and saying, “The recording is still usable, so don't worry."

"Possibly something wrong with a cable?" Dawn asked. "Not sure if I can joke that someone left their cell phone on or not."

The head engineer shrugged as one of the others started inspecting the console at Dawn’s suggestion just in case. Dawn simply shrugged slightly before turning away to attempt more conversation with the reporters while the audio engineers figured it out.

"What the hay is this?" A voice asked from under the console.

Dawn flicked her ears toward them, curious what they found so quickly after her suggestion. She soon turned at the sound of shuffling and the reporters joined her in approaching the console.

The engineer scooted themselves out from under the console, holding a small black box with some wires on it.

Dawn hummed, "this is the source of the interference then?"

"It was spliced into the microphone lines." He said.

"That looks like a transmitter." One of the other engineers said.

"So we have someone who got the jump on the interview, or was told about it from the beginning then. Any way to tell how far the range is on the thing?" Dawn hummed.

"Something this small?” one of the engineers thought out loud, then nodded, “Not far, a couple dozen yards at most.”

"Then they are still here." Dawn said.

"Most likely.” They agreed, “I don't think it's transmitting now, so I don't think they realize we found it."

"What do you want us to do Princess?” the head engineer asked.

"I think we should find this person if they are nearby and find out how they knew about this and what they hoped to accomplish. My agreement for unveiling more about myself was extended to you three alone so far and while I can't blame curiosity, requests or access to these things should be done properly." Dawn said.

The group nodded and went to go search the studio building. Dawn joined them in looking, trying to think of creative places a pony might hide.

The studio wasn't that big. It had the recording booth, sound engineer room, a small break room, a service closet, as well as a bathroom.

Dawn began in the break room and engineer's room due to being in the vicinity, looking around. The engineering room held no places a pony could easily hide, even in the ceiling. The break room only had a small fridge too small for drinks, a few cabinets, a sink, and a table. A check of the cabinets only revealed the supplies everyone had brought for the upcoming meal that they’d share.

Dawn hummed and moved to the restroom, and then the closet on the off chance somepony was there. The mare’s room didn’t have anyone in it beyond one who was with the newsponies. Dawn checked the closet, feeling doubtful that somepony would hide in so obvious a place.

As the door opened, she found a dark gray pegasus mare who jumped at the sound of the door opening, staring her in the eyes like a deer in the headlights. In her hoof was a small receiver hooked up to a tape recorder into the microphone jack and headphones in her ears to hear a copy of it.

The two looked at each other for a few seconds before they bolted, taking to the air to zip over Dawn’s head. The others were startled but yelling, some trying to jump and reach her to capture their intruder.

Dawn quickly tried to use her magic to hold them, having gained a large amount of control in her magic lessons so far and hoping it would be enough. She was mildly pleased when she managed to hold the mare in her green and golden magical grip. They flapped their wings frantically as she tried to keep moving.

"Let me go! You can't do this to me I'm a member of the press!"

Dawn set her down gently in the middle of the group, though still trying to keep them in place in case they would try to bolt. "Could have fooled me the way you were acting."

She still struggled some against Dawn’s grip, but eventually managed to reach into her jumpsuit and pulled out a laminated card on a landed and began thrusting it out toward Dawn, looking annoyed.

Brown Cap took it and looked it over, then frowned as her emotions turned very sour.

"Oh gods, she's from the Manehattan Gazette." She spat

"As I said," Dawn repeated, "you were not acting like a member of the press just then. Now, please explain why you were in the janitor’s closet."

"Isn't it obvious?" The unicorn reporter said. "She's a bottom feeder trying to get the story before we do."

One to the other reported grabbed the mare’s saddlebags off her much to the Pegasus protest, and proceeded to dump it upside down, spilling its contents onto the floor. Dawn felt a great deal of aggravation at how they treated her and was about to protest when she noticed the items that were dropped.

Among the items in the saddlebags were long range listening microphone, a camera with a telescopic lens, a notebook, and dozens of photos of Dawn taken from a distance. Dawn hummed, gathering the saddlebags and putting the items back into the saddlebag other than the pictures, and began inspecting them. She weighed how they had managed to get here without being privy to the emails that Dawn had sent and decided they were very attentive.

"Is that what you were trying to do? To capitalize on the lack of information about me?" Dawn asked politely, testing them.

"No! … Yes… Kinda…" She waffled.

"There. At least she admits she's a bottom feeder." The unicorn Brown Cap said, looking to the Princess. "I do apologize for this Princess, papers like the Manehattan Gazette give all of us a bad name."

"Hey!" the grey pony protested.

Dawn reviewed the pictures, seeing each of them with interest. The first picture showed Dawn walking to Sugarcube Corner, likely when Dawn was asking if she could learn how to cook from them. The second was a picture of her doing her runs with Sgt Stomper. A third picture showed her with the rest of the family out and about during the Summer Sun Celebration. A fourth picture showed Stalwart and her foals playing in various places, and other pictures were of all of them, showing Dawn and her family over the course of weeks.

"With your permission,” Brown Cap said as if they weren’t interrupted, “I'll alert the guard to her trespassing and with luck she will spend the night in jail where she can't bother us."

"Hold." Dawn said, annoyed at their constant insults and mistreatment of her while being very intrigued at this reporter. "What do you mean ‘kinda?’"

"Literally no one knows a thing about you." The mare said, her emotions full of annoyance and disdain at the other three reporters.

"Right, and that’s what this interview session was about." Dawn said, floating the pictures up to inspect what they were. "So, what leads you to lend more than these reporters I had invited precisely for diverse approaches to who I am as a pony and princess? I had thought three different views would be quite effective at seeing different parts of me."

"Oh please, these three couldn't find their own flanks with a map and a flashlight ‘cause their too busy with their little circle jerks in their ivory towers." She said, earning a glare and indignance from the three reporters.

“Princess, you cannot seriously be wanting to entertain this tabloid reporter fantasy that she is even close to a real reporter." One of them protested. "We could easily tell you the types of stories her rag prints."

"My agreements were with you three at the moment, and I will honor our arrangement." Dawn said to them, setting the pictures aside before putting the pictures back into the rogue reporter’s bags and faced them in the meantime. "You, I find your methods inappropriate. I can commend persistence and a clear level of patience, but I don't believe I'm liking the methods employed so far."

"That's because her and her ilk at that poor excuse of a paper aren't real reporters." Brown cap explained. "I mean, honestly the garbage they put to paper is ridiculous. ‘Monsters of the Old Lands,’ ‘How a 350 member Expeditionary Force was Wiped out in an Hour.’ Please. We know what happened with that there is not unkillable monsters roaming The Old Lands."

"Don't forget ‘Ancient Weapons of the Unicornian Empire, a threat from the past.’" One of the others said.

"Killer Plant Clones" the third chimed in, all of them answering as if they were hammering a nail into a coffin.

"Those are all true!" The mare insisted.

Dawn hummed, sensing no deception from any party. "If there is one tool I heavily encourage the use of, it is a combination of skepticism and rationed thought. Occasionally, we should place a question mark on things we long since hold to be true, and might find answers that surprise us. That’s not to say our perceptions will change every time, but it is worth looking at such things from time to time to challenge what we think we know." Dawn answered, mostly to her three reporters before she turned to the gray reporter. "For now, I will have to make my own assessment after some research and will find out for myself on the accuracy of their claims."

"Princess really? It's a tabloid, far beneath something you should worry yourself about." one reporter asked with a raised brow.

The gray mare humphed as she glared the unicorn, crossing her forelegs like arms before she looked away. Dawn was curious about this motion, but decided not to pursue it.

"And yet I choose to exercise skepticism. If nothing else, I will learn what this world's tabloids are like for myself." Dawn said. "I have a great deal I am learning. Why should I skimp on this detail when it has come to my attention?"

"Because a tabloid isn't worth your time to learn about." Brown Cap protested with a frown. "Your time would be far better spent conversing with real reporters."

"Then I repeat the lesson learned will be the difference between them." Dawn said, standing her ground.

They sighed in barely hidden aggravation, emotions clearly not liking her even entertaining the idea of talking to the mare. The gray mare in turn simply said nothing, just sat there, glaring at a wall with her arms crossed, reminding Dawn of a pouting teenager or child with that attitude. Even so, Dawn couldn’t fault them for being defiant if this is how they were treated.

"Now then, what to do with you…” Dawn said, thinking out loud. “In fairness, you were trespassing and now their joint exclusives are in jeopardy. What would you do to make amends for this breach of agreement?" Dawn asked.

"I did nothing wrong." She said looking at Dawn challengingly, her emotions in the air reflecting the determination she was showing in her response.

"Then why were you hiding in a closet?" Dawn raised a brow.

"You think they’d let me anywhere near you?" She gestured to the other three.

"And yet you were quick to use your notice of being press to get us to stop." Dawn noted.

"Just because I have press access doesn’t mean there are those who will respect it." She countered. "It’s not something I exactly advertise as there are also those who do not look kindly on reporters."

"I see…” Dawn said, noting their choice of answers. “and you are otherwise not going to wait on reporting on me until they have had their chance I suppose?"

"Are you asking me to delay the truth till it gets butchered and mired by the Ivory Towers to the point knowing what is fact and fiction becomes impossible?"

"Interesting question, which indirectly answers mine. Tell me then, what truth have you discovered thus far?" Dawn asked, intending to treat this as a quiz.

The mare didnt answer just stared down Dawn.

"You have no defense? I rather like hearing truth, even if I don’t like it at first." Dawn said.

The mare simply recrossed her arms, making it clear she wasn’t going to give up what she had, if anything.

Dawn sighed, disappointed. She gave the appearance of thinking hard as she pinged her mother for advice, filling her in on the situation

'Oh,’ Chrysalis replied, ‘I did find it odd they hadn’t shown up yet.’

'Wait, what?!' Dawn asked.

'What is it?' Her mother asked, surprised at Dawn’s surprise.

'What do you mean ‘odd they haven’t shown up yet!’’

'They are some of the finest investigative reporters in Equestria. I found it odd they weren’t digging into you yet, seems they have been.'

'… Okay… So what should I do here?' Dawn replied. 'I’m at a loss on the best option.'

'Well, they don't exactly know they are on the government’s radar and used as a backup, off site records keeper.' Chrysalis explained. ‘But this one in particular won’t tell you much, especially not what she knows. She is particularly tight lipped till she’s good and ready.'

'What should I do with her?' Dawn asked for advice again.

'Depends what you want done.' Chrysalis answered.

'The best possible outcome for everyone with the least social repercussions.'

'Then toss her out. If you keep her around, the other papers will take note of it and it will affect things.'

'Thanks mom.' Dawn said, packing their things, putting the saddlebag back onto the uninvited guest, and began using her magic to lift them, calmly moving them to the door.

The other three reporters of the event seemed to be pleased with this, even as Brown Cap’s confiscated badge was put back into the pocket of the squirming gray mare. Two of them then turned back to the sound engineer’s room, one staying behind to watch.

"Hey! What’re you doing! Where are you taking me!" She protested.

"I am escorting you out. You are trespassing on a private event on this property. I gave you a chance to explain yourself, even waited for an apology to perhaps let you listen in and still have something to report since they are to have a full copy of the event available and you can verify it yourself. Instead, you responded with silence so you are being taken outside."

She struggled. "You can’t do this! I am a member of the press!

"You are attending a private meeting without an invitation, are you not? Do you barge into other events like private parties at a guest room in a restaurant too?" Dawn asked as she continued to walk to the door.

"If I have too."

"Tell me," she paused, turning to the remaining reporter still watching, "in case I am making too many assumptions about the freedom of the press and related items for this world and my general experience elsewhere, can anyone cite for me how much access the press otherwise has?"

"We have a lot of freedom; however, that doesn’t allow us to do whatever we want.” The remaining watcher. "You are correct in removing her."

"That is not a citation. May I ask what article or legal document I can review to ensure if I do this incorrectly, I can make an apology?" Dawn asked.

"The courts issued a royal decree, I want to say 126-something, about how the press has the right to request information and have access if not sensitive." An aide mentioned. "It also grants us access to public events. It does not grant rights to private ones, and this meeting is private and sensitive since it will affect our business and income if others put out information about you or this interview ahead of us."

"That is very similar to what I am familiar with." Dawn nodded, "and is close enough that I can begin research. Thank you."

Dawn resumed her leading the unwanted guest away.

"That’s a load of elephant dung and you know it!" The report said accusingly as Dawn took her away, glaring.

"You know very well what the law is." The Reporter countered. "And I am sure your rag doesn’t want another court case brought against it again about your behavior."

With that, the mare growled but stopped struggling as her emotions changed to quiet anger.

"So no, I don’t know that this is elephant dung, as it is practically identical to laws from the land I was born in.” Dawn said with mild annoyance at the accusation, deciding to give her one final chance. “Sadly my education has not covered this subject for this land yet, but I will operate by the best available information I have. Do you have the full decree mentioned so I can review it for myself?"

She said nothing and just looked at the floor. The other reporter’s citation and Dawn’s support of their information had finally subdued the mare's fight and she had resigned herself to fate.

"I would recommend if you are right to keep such a copy for your defense moving forward. If I act in error, I will make sure I apologize directly and provide you your own interview." Dawn said, setting her outside. "Please have a good day."

The gray pegasus said nothing as she just picked up her saddlebag and started to walk away.

Dawn internally sighed, 'I hope she doesn’t think ill of me. I tried to be as respectful as I could.'

'Most likely she does, but that is because you sided with the other papers. I'll find out where she is staying.' Her mother said.

'Odd, what other outcome could there have been if she didn’t prepare for this? If she was that good, she should have the relevant laws memorized, or close to it, right?'

'Manehattan Gazette has been… sued several times due to their tactics, and because of their reputation, they lose more often than not.’ Chrysalis answered, hesitating briefly before she continued, ‘What she did constitutes a gray area in the law, and when you go against far larger papers, you are going to lose. In short, it doesn't matter what she knows or said. She's lost already.'

'Almost makes me regret my choice.' Dawn replied. 'She sounds like she just has been oppressed and is doing what she can with what she has.'

'When your paper is right most of the time but because what you report on cannot be verified for various reasons, it does make it hard for you to be taken seriously. Honestly, what got us all to actually look into them was they were the only paper to correctly deduce me and Twilight were an item when she got pregnant. No other paper even entertained the idea. Since then, Twilight reads every issue, having one of my drones pick them up for her. It’d cause issues if word got out a princess read what was perceived as a tabloid.'

'Hm. I may want a copy and keep tabs. Requesting permission to send a drone to investigate what they know of me already.' Dawn announced.

'Do you want the drone to find out that info or do you want to just know where they are staying?'

'The drone to find that info and possibly what I should do to entertain her with an interview.' Dawn answered.

A drone immediately obeyed and went to find out while Chrysalis answered, ‘You want to give her an interview? She won’t just take an outright invitation.’

‘No, but she might take a huge fan’s email and offer of insider information about how they think the foreign princess has changeling ties, giving proof that only they can give.’

‘Oh?’ Chrysalis asked, intrigued at what scheme her daughter was hatching.

‘Yep, I know the type, the conspiracy theorists who take skepticism mixed with paranoia to bias their thoughts, and will take not so clear videos or pictures. This ‘fan’ might manage to get pictures of the foals being different tribes of pony or imitating our commander from perspectives that would show insider access, gradually getting to the more juicy bits and perhaps later on, when the princess lets her guard down, a picture from in her home and showing her chitin can be given just before the interview.’ Dawn relayed with a wry smile mentally.

‘Ohhhh!’ Chrysalis nearly squee’d in excitement, clapping her hooves together in the link, ‘My daughter is finally trying her hooves at a form of infiltration! I’m so proud!’

‘Mooom… it’s just a little misdirection.’ Dawn countered.

‘What do you think infiltration is?’ Chrysalis countered.

Dawn simply chuckled internally, making sure the investigating drone prioritized not being caught over more information, but returned her attention to the reporters as she walked into the room, "So, I apologize if I acted out of place, but hopefully we can continue uninterrupted."

I finished the rest of the day as best I could, covering all kinds of details that I made openly available, from family life and my father being a musician briefly before cancer, as well as similarities and differences between the worlds that I’ve noticed so far. There were questions of goals I had while I stayed in this Equestria and for after I had returned, and I answered as best I could, hoping they wouldn’t be too critical of my willingness to say ‘I don’t know yet.’ Only time will tell, but I’m looking forward to seeing what interactions I can have with this… let’s see how soon I can get her on my side. At least Chrysalis is excited at this.