Aliens in Equestria, Part II

Chapters

To the Stars
First Contact
Coming to Equestria
Parties, Princesses and Plots

To the Stars

ALIENS IN EQUESTRIA, PART II

A fanfiction by Knightcommander

Chapter One: To the Stars

The air was cool, and the sounds of the night were beginning to emerge from their daytime slumber as the sun dipped below the horizon, bathing the land on a lovely pink glow. The lights of the distant city of Canterlot, nestled into the side of a mountain and still gleaming white amidst the darkening sky, twinkled in the twilight that signaled the approach of night. The last bit of sunlight escaping over the horizon from the setting sun reflected off the golden domes of the towers, giving the city an almost heavenly appearance.

It was one that made the two lonely figures who observed the city from the banks overlooking a dirt road a far distance from Canterlot wish that they could be there to see it in person.

One of the figures, dressed in green forest camouflage accented by long patches meant to resemble local vegetation, shifted around in order to ward off numbness in her legs. She had been sitting there for nearly the whole day, observing the city, and her body was now stiff and her joints screamed in protest whenever she moved, but Lieutenant Da'ri Kil'karin didn't care. This was an important mission, and she was determined to see the whole thing through, no matter how much discomfort it caused her.

A relative newcomer to the Altarian Republic Navy, she was still somewhat green when it came to spaceflight, but she excelled in her chosen field, which was exobiology and planetary survey. She possessed a rigorous attention to detail that served her well on several expeditions, including this one. She made it a point to catalog nearly everything she observed while exploring a new planet, and such was the eager curiosity her species possessed that endeavored to learn everything she could about it. Now she found herself on a planet they was officially called A-14468 by the Navy, but she had taken to calling "Equestria" after the name of the largest apparent country on the planet.

"Hey Lieutenant, how much longer are we gonna be down here?" A male voice off to her right asked. She turned slightly to see her young compatriot, Ensign Jor Da'ri, shifting about uncomfortably. This was his first Discovery Service expedition, having previously served on a starbase in the middle of Republic space before being assigned to the RNS Observer, and as such he was not used to such rigorous fieldwork. But, the captain had insisted he go with her this time, to gain "useful experience" as he called it.

"We're not due back up until 2100." She said. "Keep your pants on." Jor shifted again, trying to get comfortable, which wasn't forthcoming.

"What are we looking for again?" He asked. "All I heard was someone talking about a launch."

"Exactly." Da'ri said. "Our observations have led us to believe that this species has now developed the capacity for spaceflight." She said. "What exactly they plan on shooting up remains to be seen, and we're going to be the ones that see it." She said.

"Wouldn't the high ground be a better option than this?" He asked. She nodded.

"But we're not going there yet." She said. "We're supposed to be looking out someone in particular." She said. "Now keep your eyes peeled and stay quiet." She ordered. He opened his mouth to ask who they were looking for, but stopped himself and turned his attention back to the road. He had a feeling she would know.

They stayed there for what seemed like hours, until Da'ri's sensitive ears picked up something coming up the road. It sounded like laughing and giggling. She turned to see a group of five Equestrians coming up the road. She pressed a small button on the side of what appeared to be thin goggles she wore, activating a device which brought up a holographic display and zoomed in on the group.

They were all female, and consisted of two pegasi, two earth ponies and one unicorn. The two earth ponies were at the front of the group. One was pink with a curly mane and a happy expression on her face as she bounced along, singing some kind of merry song. The other was orange with a straw yellow mane and green eyes that radiated warmth and approachibility. Curiously, she wore what appeared to be a Stetson hat on her head. Perhaps the most striking of them was a the cyan pegasus, who's mane bore all seven colors of the rainbow, along with her tail. She hovered over the group, apparently preferring to fly rather than walk. She was laughing at a yellow pegasus with a long, flowing pink mane, who apparently had said something funny but was completely oblivious to it. Finally, a white unicorn brought up the rear, dressed in a pink cape-like garment with a heart-shaped gem as it's centerpiece, her own purple mane decorated with several gold and jeweled hairpins.

"Stay quiet." She said to her companion. "Let them pass, hit the cloak if you need it." She said. Ensign Las'ri nodded and stayed as still as he possibly could as the collection of Equestrians passed by them, quietly observing them as they headed toward the city, unseen by the happy ponies as they passed by out of sight.

***

Canterlot, as it turned out, was more than just the city in the mountain. It was two cities in one. At the base of the mountain sat a fortified city populated mostly by working ponies, the everyday laborers and small business owners that kept the economy of Equestria running. Most of their homes were simple, and they wouldn't have it any other way. Despite it's large size, the ponies that lived their made it a point to get to know their neighbors and live in peace with each other. Indeed, it's crime rate was the lowest in Equestria, even lower than the upper city. It wasn't unusual to have many ponies from cities like Fillydelphia and Manehattan move to the lower city of Canterlot to escape the crime that often reared it's ugly heads in those cities.

Rarity had never been to the lower city during her various travels to Canterlot, but she had heard of some of her fashions being sold in haberdashers located in the lower city's Old Quarter, something that secretly pleased her. Though she thought of herself as a lady of quality (and indeed many would say she was), she was no elitist, considering such behavior to be uncouth. She had hoped that her designs would catch on with everyone in Equestria, and indeed it appeared that they did. Such a thought filled the generous pony with joy, in addition to being a great boon for her business.

From where they stood, awaiting the gates of the upper city to be opened, the lower city looked even larger than it normally did, it's sprawl normally hidden behind the fortified walls that had protected the city for centuries. The gleaming white stones stood in stark contrast to the simple brick and alabaster buildings that made up the majority of the city, with only a white city hall being made in the same material as the upper city, it's own gold towers gleaming.

And they said such places couldn't be beautiful, she thought.

"Come on, Rarity!" Her friend, the cyan pegasus Rainbow Dash, called. "They're opening the gate, let's go!" She turned to her longtime friend.

"Coming!" She called musically, following the rest of her friends; Applejack, the orange farm mare; Fluttershy, the timid yellow pegasus that cared for animals; and Pinkie Pie, the eternally happy and bouncy earth pony who was not complete without throwing at least one party a week, it seemed. The five of them had been summoned to Canterlot by a letter from the sixth member of their circle of friends, the purple unicorn Twilight Sparkle, who had been in Canterlot for almost a year, working on something, something she called "spectacular", and said simply would "blow all of their minds". The five made the trip all the way from Ponyville to Canterlot, eager to see just what she had been up to for so long.

***

The central palace of the royal sisters was the scene of much hustle and bustle; a casual observer would think that some sort of huge celebration was about to get started, and if you thought that, you'd be half right. There was something big scheduled for today, and it warranted the biggest party Canterlot could put on.

But that could wait. Right now, all that was on the mind of Twilight Sparkle was getting ready for the biggest event of her life. It had taken her over a year of countless days of work, and many hours of frustration, and countless failed attempts, but she had finally made a breakthrough, and now, she wanted to share it with her closest friends.

She paced about the grand entrance hall, eagerly awaiting the arrival of her friends. She had sent the letters out asking them to come two days ago, and they were due to arrive any minute. She could hardly contain her excitement at sharing her breakthrough with them. She was on the verge of exploding when a guard came into view.

"Miss Sparkle." He said. "You have visitors." Twilight squealed.

"Send them in!" She cheered. The guard pony bowed respectively before opening the doors, allowing her chattering friends to enter the hall. Twilight ran over and embraced the first one she could reach, which turned out to be Applejack.

"Off!" She grunted as her vision was suddenly filled with Twilight's purple and pink mane. "Well landsakes, we're happy to see you too, Twi." She said. "But what's got you so happy?"

"And more importantly, what made you disappear from Ponyville for nearly a year?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yeah, it just wasn't the same without you at my parties." Pinkie said. Twilight giggled.

"Sorry girls, I'm just so happy. I've done it!" She squealed, hopping up and down so much it was as though she switched bodies with Pinkie Pie.

"Done what?" Rarity asked. "Don't keep us in suspense, darling, tell us!"

"Better yet, I'll show you!" Twilight squealed. "Follow me." She took off running, with the rest of the gang in hot pursuit, wondering just what it was that Twilight had done that made her so happy.

***

The two Altarians had finally left their hiding spot along the side of the road and moved to some high ground overlooking the city itself. Las'ri began to set up their observation equipment, a device which resembled a high-tech telescope, and linked it with a holocomputer, it's display flashing on in a burst of bluish-green light. The computer contained an archive of everything that had been discovered on their surveys of the planet, which would assist them in identifying flora and fauna that they observed. Las'ri pointed it at some ponies shopping in the lower city to test it out. He peered through the scope's sight and watched as the computer identified what he saw; female unicorn-type Equestrians.

"Gear's working." He said. "What now, ma'am?" He asked Lt. Kil'karin.

"Take a peek at the upper city." She said. "See if you see anything." He turned the scope up the highest tower of the upper city.

"Nothing yet." He said. Then,he saw something emerge from the tower. It was an Equestrian, but unlike any of the other types. This one was taller, more horse-like, and had both wings and a unicorn horn. Her coat was midnight blue, and interestingly, her mane appeared to flow in an unseen wind, and was nearly transparent, as though made of the night sky itself. Though he couldn't quite make it out, she was wearing what appeared to be a small crown made of a dark colored material, which matched her collar-like necklace, which itself was emblazoned with a pearl moon. The computer locked on to the pony and quickly had her identified.

"Princess Luna." He read, from the display. "Pegacorn type."

"And one of two ruling monarchs." Kil'karin said. As she spoke, another pegacorn appeared, this one taller than the other, and colored a brilliant pearl white. Her own flowing mane was colored in a pastel rainbow of pink, blue and what looked like some sort of soft green. Her crown bore a purple gem set in gold, which perfectly matched her own necklace "And that one is her sister, Princess Celestia."

"Nice names." He said, as the taller one approached the other and they began to converse.

***

"Luna?" Princess Celestia said, approaching her sister, who stood looking out across the lower city, watching her subjects go about their business. She turned she heard her sister speaking to her.

"Yes, Tia?" She asked.

"Twilight's friends are here." She answered. "It's almost time." Luna began to smile widely at this.

"Wonderful!" She said. "All our hard work is about to pay off." Celestia smiled as her sister accompanied her back inside to go greet the Elements.

***

The palace staff gawked as a giggling Twilight, doing her best impression of little filly, hopped down the corridors of the sprawling palace complex, her friends in tow. All of them were wondering would could possibly have their friend so excited. Rainbow Dash jokingly suggested that she might have found an awesome new book, but even that couldn't be it. Twilight took reading far too seriously for that to be the cause.

Twilight was so excited and cheerful that she failed to notice that anyone was in front of her, and only realized it when her vision was suddenly filled with midnight blue as she crashed right into them.

"Oof!" The two mares grunted as they collided, sending them both to the floor with the clanging of metal of some kind. Her friend's gasped and rushed over to help as Twilight pulled herself up, to be greeted by a giggling voice, and a familiar one at that.

"Oh my gosh!" She cried. "Princess Celestia!" The sun princess snickered at the sight before her. Luna was shaking her head, trying to get the dizzyness to go away. She picked up her crown and placed it on her head, which would explain the noise.

"Ooops." Twilight said nervously. Luna only smiled as she got up.

"No harm done." She said. "Is everyone here?" She asked. Twilight, excited once more, nodded.

"Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes!" She said, bouncing up and down like.... well, Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash laughed.

"Are you sure you didn't screw up a spell?" She asked. "Cuz I think you and Pinks switched brains." Pinkie Pie giggled and snorted. The princesses grinned.

"Twilight, care to lead the way?" Celestia asked. She squealed.

"This way everypony!" She said, taking off like a rocket. Everyone else laughed at her exuberance and followed her.

***

"Here it is!" She squealed. They had been light into the mountain, into some kind of research laboratory. The setup looked almost like something out of a science fiction novel. Computers and displays lined he entire room, with a few ponies in lab coats working, either checking information or furiously typing on keys, sipping cups of coffee in the process. A large window looked down into what appeared to be a hanger, with a large object covered in tarp sitting in the middle of it. A long metal rail of sorts ran down the length of the hanger, as far as they could see. Rainbow Dash as the first to pick up on it.

"Is that a plane of some kind?" She asked. "Is that what you were working on?"

"Close!" Twilight squealed. She pressed a button on the intercom system. "You can take the tarp off now!" She said cheerfully. At once the tarp was removed, and they all gazed at the craft that emerged. The craft was triangular in shape, but with rounded edges. It was almost like a flying wing in shape. The only visible fins were the tail fins; the wing shape would serve as both a wing and a vertical stabilizer. They couldn't seen any engines or windows from their vantage point, but they could see panels on the side that appeared to contain something. Twilight beamed at them with stars in her eyes.

"Well?" She asked, practically squeeing.

"Oh, it's great." Applejack said, though clearly confused.

"Wonderful." Rarity said, with her best smile.

"It looks like... fun?" Pinkie Pie said, not sure how to comprehend the object in front of her.

"It's... nice." Fluttershy said. Twilight looked a little crestfallen. She thought her friends would like seeing what she had been working on.

"But... don't you like it?" She asked. The others looked at her with looks of confusion, which only made her feel more disappointed, until Rainbow Dash spoke up.

"It's awesome!" She shouted, flying over to the window for a better look. "That's the coolest looking plane I've ever seen. Did you design this?" She asked. Twilight smiled again.

"Well actually, no." She said. "But I did add something to it." She hopped over to a computer and pulled up a blue print of the craft, pointing out what looked like two large engine nacelles hidden in the sides "This is what I've been working on. This things are the key to sending this baby past the speed of... light!" She said, pausing for dramatic effect.

"Faster than the speed of light?" Applejack asked, astounded. "You mean, you actually figure out how to do it?" Twilight nodded, giddy as a school girl.

"But how?" Fluttershy asked. Rarity turned to the princesses.

"Beg pardon, your majesties," she said, "but would it be alright if we talked with Twilight in private for just a bit?" She asked. The princesses were confused for a second, but they nodded and left the room for a bit. Rarity turned to Twilight.

"Twilight my dear." She said. "Is this all... I mean does it have anything to do with... them?" She asked. Twilight looked at her, confused.

"Who?" She asked. Rarity moved in closer.

"Them." She said. "The... guests we recently hosted." She said. It now dawned on Twilight.

"Yes." She said with a smile. "I was intrigued ever since I saw their ship take off from orbit, so I spent the longest time trying to figure out how it worked." She said. "It took me months of research and brainstorming, until I realized the answer was in front of me the whole time." She said.

"Which was?" Rainbow asked.

"Warp." She said. "I remember that they called their device a 'warp drive'. Then it hit me. The device literally warps space itself."

"What in the hay does that mean?" AJ asked.

"It's like this." Twilight said, bringing up something on the computer. "You see, the laws of physics prohibit an object by itself from accelerating to light speed." She explained. A little ship on the monitor began to move. "The closer an object gets to light speed, the more massive it gets." The ship on the screen began to grow. "Until, it becomes infinitely massive." The ship grew to fill the entire screen.

"I think I see what you're getting at." Rainbow Dash said. "Physics says an object can't go that fast, but it doesn't say space itself can't go that fast."

"Correct." Twilight said, grinning, pleased that her friend was able to figure it out. She punched a few keys on the computer, bringing up another image of a ship. "If you can create a bubble of energy around the ship, and it's strong enough, you can bend space around the ship, which acts like a wave, carrying it through space." She said.

"And getting around the laws of physics." Applejack said.

"And you made it work?" Rainbow Dash asked. "How?"

"Guess." Twilight said, her most comical grin on her face. Pinkie Pie was the first to guess.

"Magic!" She squealed, jumping up in the air as if to emphasize her point. Twilight smiled.

"Yep!" She said. "Princess Luna and I have been working on a spell that will allow us to bend space." Shes said. She went back to the blueprint of the ship, pointing out the nacelles. "We discovered a crystal that can channel the magic to these nacelles and generate the bubble." She said. "And zam! We're off." She said, her eyes shining with proud in her accomplishment. The others finally got some of the excitement she felt. This was really an amazing accomplishment; not only was their best friend about to do something amazing that would put Equestria on the map... but they might someday be able to visit those who had come to visit them.

"Who's gonna fly this crazy contraption?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"That's the beauty of it." A voice behind them said. They turned to see Princess Luna had re-entered the room. "I will be piloting the ship." Rarity gasped.

"B-b-but your majesty." She said. "Isn't that a little... dangerous?" She asked. Luna scoffed.

"Nonsense, I'll be perfectly safe." She said. "I have every confidence in this design and it's success. She looked at Twilight, with an expression that looked like a hint of pride to the others. Twilight felt a small measure of pride in herself to know that the princess, indeed both of them, had such high confidence in her. She felt, at that moment, that there was nothing that could possibly go wrong.

***

That evening, once Luna had done her duty in raising the moon, Pinkie Pie insisted on throwing a party to celebrate the upcoming launch and test of Twilight's ship. As much as Rainbow and Applejack tried to convince her that she should wait until after the launch and test were successful, lest everyone experience party burnout, she was quite insistent.

"It's never too early for a party!" She argued, bouncing up and down like a yo-yo. They finally gave up and allowed her to have her fun, though they did manage to convince her to save the big theatrics for the successful launch. True to form, she prepared one of her trademark crazy Pinkie Pie style parties, though noticeably more low key than previous ones. The music was upbeat dance music by several of her favorite artists, and the spread was, well, typical, featuring cupcakes and key lime pie and candy and all other manner of sweets. To their surprise, the princesses offered to join them, and Twilight was surprised to see how good of a dancer Celestia turned out to be. It wasn't often that she had see Celestia acting like just another pony, and it was comforting to know that she was, her title not withstanding.

The party lasted until past midnight, when everyone, stuffed with tasty food and their spirits lifted by the music and dancing, finally shuffled off to bed. Luna had left earlier that evening, since she was due to fly the ship in the morning and needed to be rested and ready to go. Celestia bid Twilight and her friends a fond goodnight and thanked them for a wonderful evening. Slowly, the girls said their goodnights and shuffed tiredly off to bed, with the exception of Pinkie Pie, who seemed to never run out of energy.

Twilight brushed her teeth and flossed before turning in for the night, settling into the bed in the guest room she had been provided, and that had been her second home for nearly an entire year. Despite her excitement, she fell asleep almost immediately, thoughts of the big morning ahead lingering in her mind as she drifted off.

***

"Ensign, wake up." Kil'karin's voice rang out in Da'ri's ears. He groaned.

"What's the rush?" He asked. He regretted that when he felt the lieutenant's boot jab him in the back. "Ow!"

"Wake up." She said sternly. "It's your watch now." He sighed and crawled out of his sleeping bag, looking around the small tent that he had set up. He slipped something on to his finger and thumb and flicked them, bringing up a holographic display. His Personal Input Device, or PID, essentially a mini holocomputer, sure enough told him that it was five in the morning, Altarian time, and it was time for his watch. He quickly dressed himself in his excursion uniform, cleaned himself up as best he could, and then shuffled out of the tent. Despite the early hour, the sun was beginning to poke over the horizon.

"Sunrise is early on this planet." He said.

"Actually, it's almost eight in the morning, local time." Kil'karin said, handing him a cup of ras'jil, a particularly strong Altarian drink similar to coffee. He took it gratefully and took a sip, testing it. Not too hot, just right. He took a big swig and walked back over to the device they had set up the night before. "What have we got?"

"I sent some sparrows flying over the city." She said, referring to small, flying devices packed with sensor equipment that were used to explore populated areas without being detected. "They picked up something interesting."

"An Equestrian making his breakfast?" He asked, with a joking grin. She rolled her eyes.

"Get serious, ensign." She said. "They picked up massive power readings in the mountain itself. And yes, you heard that correctly, in, as in inside.

"Like a base?" He asked. "What for?"

"That's your job to find out." She said. "Keep an eye on the mountainside, and report anything strange." She said. He nodded and continued to sip his ras'jil as the lieutenant slinked off to sleep. Not that she needed it; he swore she could last a week on only an hour's sleep. He trained the device on the mountain and began his long watch, hoping for some kind of action.

***

Twilight, true to her nature, was up bright and early the next morning, just as Princess Celestia was raising the sun to bring about the first light of the new day. Even at this early hour, she could hardly contain her giddiness. It was the big day, the day when all her hard work, and the hard work of so many others, would be put to the test. She could hardly contain herself as she walked the corridors, making sure to greet the palace staff and guards as she passed them.

When she finally reached her friend's quarters, she rapped on each door, being greeted by a sleepy, bleary-eyed pony. A cheerful smile and the promise of hot coffee and delicious breakfast prevented any of them from feeling too bad at being woken up so early, though Rainbow Dash did grumble about not getting the chance to do her morning exercises. Princess Celestia, fresh from raising the sun, offered to join them, an offer which was readily accepted.

"So, what's on the menu." Applejack asked.

"I've instructed the chefs to prepare something to suit each of your tastes." She said. "I hope they did alright." Rainbow Dash took a whiff of the air as they approached the kitchen, the smell of food wafting into her nostrils.

"Sure smells like it." She said with a grin as they entered the main dining room. Luna was already there, levitating a kettle and several mugs.

"Coffee, anyone?" She asked.

"Please." Applejack and Twilight said at the same time.

"Sure." Dash said. "Been a while since I had a good cup of joe."

"With cream and sugar, if you have it." Rarity said.

"I'll have the same, please." Fluttershy said. She wasn't much of a coffee drinker, preferring tea, but she would make exceptions.

"No thanks, makes me jumpy." Pinkie Pie said. Dash looked at her with an utterly incredulous look.

"You mean you're not jumpy now?" She asked. "What would happen if you did drink the stuff?" Pinkie Pie giggled.

"I'd bring the house down, literally." She said. Everyone laughed at that, Luna nearly dropping the coffee. Once everyone settled down, she mixed two cups with cream and sugar after pouring them, and then levitated the mugs over to each of them. Twilight took a sip of hers, reveling in the taste. It had been a while, and she had forgotten just how good the fine coffee served in the palace's kitchens could taste. The coffee revitalized the tired ponies, who quickly got to talking about Luna's upcoming mission. The princess' faith in Twilight's design was apparent in her utter lack of nerves. Indeed, the only thing she seemed concerned about was throwing up in the way into space, which everyone assured would not happen provided she didn't eat too much breakfast.

Breakfast that morning consisted of pancakes, eggs and french toast, along with a large serving of wheat bread toast and zap apple jam straight from Sweet Apple Acres, which pleased Applejack to no end. Fluttershy, ever the one to enjoy a sweet tasting breakfast, took a good helping of the toast, though being sure to leave plenty for everyone else. Luna elected to eat light, opting for toast with the zap apple jam, which she declared to be the delicious jam she had ever tasted. Rarity helped herself to some eggs, accentuating them with parsley and a dash of salt and pepper. Rainbow and Applejack, suddenly famished, took two rather large stacks of pancakes, much to the princesses' amusement.

No sooner was breakfast finished then Luna had to suit up for her mission. The gang joined her in the small preparation room where a pony-shaped spacesuit had been laid out, the various hoses and gear needed to provide her with oxygen during her ascent spread out on a table. Luna herself sat down on a nearby stool, while technicians attached sensors to monitor her vitals while in flight. Twilight was beaming. Not much longer now, and it would be happening, everything she had worked so hard for.

"Feeling rested and ready, sister?" Celestia asked. Luna nodded, her starry mane tied up in a bun to fit inside the suit's helmet.

"Surprisingly good." She said. "Considering I'm about to be hurtled along a metal track and shot into orbit." She said. She smiled. "It'll be nice to see the stars from space, and the moon." She said with an honest smile. Twilight smiled.

"Thank you so much for all you help." She said. "I couldn't have done this without you." Luna smiled at her.

"It was nothing, dear Twilight." She said. Some technicians helped Luna into her space suit, zipping zippers and sealing all the airtight seals, and finally attaching her air supply and pressurizing the suit. Luna looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Do you need more air, your majesty?" A technician asked. She took a couple of breaths to be sure, and being able to breathe just fine, she shook her head, before smiling at them from behind her helmet. Her communication line was switched on, and escorted by her sister, Twilight and her friends, she was led out to the launch area. Not surprisingly, a large number of reporters from media outlets all over Equestria gathered to film her. It wasn't often that their own leader took the big leap into space like this. Come to think of it, it wasn't very often that anyone made the leap into space, with Equestria's space program being as young as it was.

Smile, Luna. She said to herself. Don't let the media attention bother you, just stay focused. She said, taking some deep breaths to help maintain her focus. She smiled at the assembled reporters as flashbulbs went off as pictures were snapped, doing her best to show poise. She was led out into the launch area, where a team of technicians helped her board the spacecraft and then plugged her into the life support system of the ship and strapped her in for launch.

"You're majesty, you're all set." An thickly accented technician said, reaching out and shaking her hoof to wish her luck. She smiled at him and mouthed a thank you behind her helmet before he sealed the craft's hatch. The ship was pressurized, and Luna steeled herself for launch. She was determined to see this through, to vindicate every ounce of doubt that Twilight had experienced from others while she worked.

She would not let her down.

***

Celestia, Twilight and her friends were ushered into the mission control room, where the flight director was running off the list of flight controllers, making sure everything was ready to go for the launch. Twilight, being the one responsible for the whole affair with her design, was given a seat down down the control area itself, along with her friends after some persuading of the flight director. Celestia chose to watch from a box seat above the control room, wanting to allow her student her moment in the spotlight.

CAPCOM, EECOM, FIDO, GUIDO, FAO, all the flight directors reported in that they were go. Twilight felt excitement well up inside her. So close, they were so close. She began to hope with all her might that everything would go off smoothly. A monitor in the center of the room flashed on, showing Luna strapped in to the spacecraft's cockpit. Twilight instinctively waved at her, even though the princess could not see her. The flight director, a tall earth pony stallion, walked over and placed something over her ears; a wireless headset.

"Huh?" She asked.

"Your ship, why should you have to sit on the sidelines?" He said with a grin. Twilight smiled appreciatively and tapped the headset on.

"Luna, can you hear me?" She asked.

"Loud and clear." Luna answered. "Does this mean you'll be giving me a pep talk?" She asked with a smile. Twilight giggled.

"Only if you want one." She said. Luna simply giggled as launch control reported that they were go. Now was the time. The final countdown began as the ship was powered up and fueled.

"This is gonna be so awesome!" Rainbow Dash, squealing as though she had been offered to join the Wonderbolts. Pinkie Pie was hopping up and down so much it seemed like she would make a hole in the floor. Applejack was sipping a second cup of coffee with a huge smile on her face. Rarity was already brainstorming ideas for new dresses to wear to the celebration party, and Fluttershy, though worried for the princess' safety, was also sitting there with a smile on her face, eager to watch Twilight's triumph.

The countdown clicked down; ten minutes, then five, and then one, and finally clicking down to the seconds. The engines of the ship began to roar to life, putting out thousands of pounds of thrust as they prepared to shoot the ship down the track and out into the wild blue yonder. Everyone began to mouth out the final numbers.

"Ten." Twilight said.

"Nine." Rainbow Dash added.

"Eight." Applejack drawled.

"Seven." Pinkie Pie squeaked.

"Six." Rarity said, rubbing her hooves together in anticipation.

"Five." Fluttershy said, bracing herself for the liftoff.

"Four." Celestia said, watching the scene serenely.

"Three...two...one!" Luna said, loud enough to be heard over the radio. With a blast, the spacecraft was released from it's docking clamps and shot down the track. Luna was hit with a sudden shock of G forces as the ship accelerated past liftoff speed as it reached a ramp leading up and out of the mountain, the G forces increasing as the craft accelerated to speed enough to escape the planet's gravity. Luna's photographic memory reminded her of each and every step, every procedure, that she needed to perform during ascent, and she followed them to the letter and with a precision that would leave most in awe.

After two minutes, the boosters that launched the ship out of the launch bay separated, falling back to the planet, where they would be recovered and reused. At this point, the ship's own engines took over, pushing it the rest of the way into space. Unlike previous manned tests of the ship, it did not orient itself for orbit. It just kept on going, since it wouldn't need to be in orbit for what they were about to do. Luna watched in wonder as the blue sky of Equestria gave way to the black, star studded plane of open space. Though Luna had seen plenty of night skies in her long lifetime, the beauty of the stars in open space, and the great green and blue paradise below her, filled her with an awe she simply could not describe. She smiled widely.

"It's so beautiful..." She said in wonder.

"I know, I've been there myself your majesty." The voice of the CAPCOM officer came over the radio.

"How are you feeling?" Twilight's voice sounded in her headset.

"Wonderful." She said. She continued to watch the scene before her until mission control chimed in that it was go time. Time to test Twilight's engines. She pressed a button on the control panel, after taking off her helmet and watching it float for a bit before stowing it. Two panels on the sides of the ship blew out and revealed the nacelles; long metal cylinders with red rounded edges and flanged ends. There was no going back, no aborting now. It was do or die time. "I'm ready." She said.

"Copy that." CAPCOM sounded. "We reading normal. You can begin when you're ready." She took a few deep breaths to focus herself, and then began to concentrate on the spell that would activate the system. Deep in the ship, a purple crystal began glow brighter and brighter, until it began feeding energy into the nacelles. The bubble was formed. Although Luna could not feel it, the ship began to move faster and faster.

***

Kil'karin was awoken by the sudden roar of a rocket ship taking off, that she didn't even bother to wait for Da'ri to fill her in. She immediately got on the line to their own ship.

"Take cover behind the planet." She said. "They just launched something into orbit." She said.

"Copy." Was the reply from her ship. Da'ri was watching the craft take off into the atmosphere and towards space.

"What was that?" He asked.

"We'll find out soon enough." She said.

***

"We're at ten percent speed of light." CAPCOM said. "We're at fifteen... twenty.... thirty.... thirty-five... forty.... fifty percent speed of light."

"You're doing great." Twilight said, happiness and excitement present in her voice. "This is faster than we've ever been able to get it to go." The ship began to waver at fifty-five percent speed of light.

Come on, you can do this. Luna said to herself. You can make this thing fly. Twilight's depending on you. She kept focusing, kept pushing herself to concentrate, to keep the power flowing. Unseen to anyone, the bubble intensified. It was working, she could feel it!

"Seventy percent... eighty... ninety!" CAPCOM's voice was sounding more excited by the moment. With one final groan, Luna willed the bubble to grow stronger. The craft was surrounded by a purple flash, and suddenly the ship shot off, finally breaking the barrier and shooting off at light speed.

***

"Light speed!" The CAPCOM officer shouted at the top of his lungs. Immediately, the control room erupted in a thunderous roar of cheering and shouting. Fluttershy uncharacteristically began jumping up and down, unable to contain herself any longer.

"Light speed! Light speed!" She cheered at the top of her lungs. "She did it! The princess did it! Whooooo!" Rarity was cheering and hopping around in a circle with an ecstatic Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash were whooping, hugging and high hoofing each other. Engineers on the ground and in launch control were hollering and cheering in a spirit of unbridled joy. Twilight, though, was quiet. Tears began to well up and pour down her face as she smiled and sunk into her chair, so overcome with joy that she couldn't say anything, only return hugs that were offered to her.

We did it. She said. We did it. All those long hours of hard work, and we did it. She wiped her eyes. She just couldn't say anything, but what needed to be said? The look of pure joy on her face was all that was needed.

***

"Yaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!" Luna screamed. The stars whizzed by the ship at a seemingly infinite speed, and though she couldn't really feel it, the perception of motion caused her to feel the forces in her stomach, even though they weren't there. She was so caught up in the moment that she almost didn't hear the ping telling her to shut the engine down. She dispelled the bubble and the ship came out of warp. She threw the engines into reverse the bring the ship to a stop, and the computer automatically reoriented it for the return trip, only awaiting Luna's command. Her home planet was now only a small speck in the blackness of space. Luna marveled at how far she had traveled; farther from home than any other pony had been before.

It felt so alone, and yet, she felt as though everyone the planet was there with her, marveling at what had been accomplished. She felt a smile come across her face.

Mission accomplished.

***

"Copy that." Kil'karin said. Da'rin was pacing back and forth. The Observer had taken cover on the other side of the planet, and they had been awaiting word from them as to what was going on orbit. When she came back over, Da'rin ran right up to Kil'karin.

"What's the news?" He asked.

"The whole ship is buzzing." She said. "They just picked up a warp signature from that craft they launched." Dar'in's eyes widened.

"You mean they broke the light barrier?" He asked. "Already?" She nodded.

"Almost as fast as the humans did." She said. "I just got a call, we're being told to come back up." She said. "You know the rules. We're initiating the K'intar Protocol."

"You mean..."

"Yes." She said, looking over at the city of Canterlot. "First contact."

***

When Princess Luna returned to the planet and landed safely in Canterlot, she was greeted by a city that was exploding with excitement. When she got out of her ship, she was immediately engulfed by a crowd of cheering ponies and carried all the way back to mission control. Twilight, tears still in her eyes, was the first to rush over and embrace her, followed by her friends and finally, her sister, who was beaming with pride as she nuzzled her. News reporters immediately hounded her, trying to score an interview, but she was whisked away too fast. The interviews could wait until later. Now, it was time to celebrate.

Despite the lack of an interview, the news media broadcasted the news of the triumph to every city and household across the country, and to a few others that got Equestrian television. Across the country, ponies greeted the news with ecstatic joy, and impromptu parties were held across the country. This was especially true in Ponyville, Twilight's hometown, and Canterlot, were the streets were filled with so many celebrating ponies that the city's police force was practically overwhelmed. Thankfully, there was no rioting, only celebrating. Ticker tape fell freely from the sky, tossed out of windows by joyous ponies, and loud music and dancing in the streets heralded the beginning of a block party that Pinkie Pie could only dream of.

Speaking of Pinkie Pie, Princess Celestia had once again given the pink mare the use of the palace's ballroom later in the evening, and she wasted no time throwing the biggest party she could throw together. Ponies from across the city, having gotten warmed up by the celebration outside, quickly joined in. The palace kitchen staff provided the spread, and both Pinkie herself and Rainbow Dash provided the music. A mix of hip hop, dance music and rock and roll, played courtesy of Vinyl Scratch, aka DJ P0N-3, threatened to bring the stained glass down, but luckily that didn't happen. The only sound was the music and the stomping of hooves as ponies danced. Celestia and Luna mingled about, greeting the party goers, and Pinkie Pie serves as MC, introducing the songs and exhorting her guests to dance the night away. Applejack jazzed up the party with some zap apple products from her home, purchased from a local bakery. Not as fresh as home-made, but still delicious. Twilight and the others danced along to the music. Twilight's dorky dancing from her birthday returned, but it didn't matter. They were all having too much fun to care much about that. Indeed, the entire city and country was.

However, events that were about to unfold would soon eclipse the "party of the century" as the news media was already calling it.

***

Luna sat on the throne of the palace, flanked by two guards from her personal regiment, dressed in full armor. She was still beaming, despite it being nearly three in the morning. Though the city had quieted down some, the celebratory mood was still there, and she could still hear music and singing outside.

"You know, sometimes I do wish my little ponies would sleep more at night." She said, though smiling.

"I dare say this one will last until the sun comes up." One of her guards said. She laughed.

"Probably." She said. "I would be tempted to go tell everyone to go home, but, what right do I have to spoil the fun, especially after something like this." She said. She then snickered. "Though, the sanitation workers and cleaning staff are going to absolutely hate me for allowing such a mess to be made of the streets and the ballroom." Her guards shared at laugh at this. She sat there, enjoying the sound of the celebrations outside. It was night court, and normally some last minute requests by dignitaries and other functions would be occurring. Tonight? Nothing, there was simply too much to celebrate to worry about formalities. For Luna, it was rather welcome. She had taken care of enough courts to welcome a break from the routine. She began to sing along to one of the songs, when another of her guards came into view.

"Your majesty." He said, bowing. "The night chamberlain is here to see you." She was confused. She figured that the chamberlain would be out for the evening, enjoying the celebration, or be trying to get some sleep. What could she want?

"Please, send her in." Luna said. The guard bowed and gestured for the chamberlain to enter. To Luna's surprise, the chamberlain, a young unicorn mare, appeared to be frightened. Even at distance, she could see that she was shaking.

"Is there something wrong, Star Shine?" She asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Y-your maj-jesty?" She said. "Th-there's s-s-someone here t-t-to see y-y-y-y-ou." She said, her speech distorted by her shivering. Luna was doubly confused now. What was going on here?

"Send them in." She said. The chamberlain motioned for someone behind her to come inside. The guard stood out of the way, and to Luna's surprise, his eyes went wide as footsteps approached.

And when her visitors finally came into view, it was her turn for her eyes to go wide. She gasped loudly, clutching her hoof to her chest as she got the shock of her life at the sight of her visitors.

This was going to be an interesting evening.

First Contact

CHAPTER TWO: FIRST CONTACT

Despite the still racous and ongoing street party going on outside, Twilight slept peacefully. The day had been a long one; setting up for the mission and test of her engines had been long and strenuous, and it was only the many cups of coffee that she had downed that morning that kept her going during the work. Now that she knew all her hard work had payed off, she allowed herself the luxury of a good night's sleep.

That is, until about three-thirty that morning, when a sudden knock disturbed her sleep. She groaned, miffed at having been woken up from a pleasant dream involving a date with her now steady coltfriend, Caramel. She fumbled for the light switch and flipped it on, stumbling out of bed, trotting groggily over to the door. She opened it and, to her surprise, one of Luna's guards was standing there. The look on his face was an urgent one. Twilight suddenly got the feeling something was terribly wrong.

"Is there a problem?" She asked.

"Lady Twilight," the guard said, using the formal form of address that they had used back when she lived in Canterlot, "Princess Luna requests your presence immediately." Twilight's heart skipped a beat. Had something happened to Luna, or to Celestia? Heaven forbid that something had.

"Lead the way." Twilight said. The guard motioned for her to follow him, and she was led down the corridor to the main dining hall. "Um, why here?"

"Princess Luna has requested your presence in this room." He said. With that, he knocked on the door. "Your Highness, Twilight Sparkle is here to see you."

"Please, send her in." She said. Her tone sounded very anxious, and it got Twilight immediately worried, thinking there was a terrible emergency. The guard opened the door to reveal the moon princess standing there. Twilight was relieved to see that she was safe.

"Thank goodness." She said. "You're not hurt, Luna."

"No, thank heavens." Luna replied. "But there is... situation." She said. Twilight's worry returned.

"What kind of situation?" She asked.

"Well... see for yourself." She stepped aside so she could get a view of the dining hall table. Twilight gasped loudly at what she saw.

The same uniforms. The same fox-like visages. The same flowing, beautiful language. It was them.

"These....visitors showed up in the throne room this morning." Luna said. "I've never seen such beings in Equestria, or anywhere else in the world for that matter." Luna looked at them. "Twilight, the reason I brought you here is because... that one over there specifically asked for you." She said, pointing at one of them, a female with sea green eyes.

"Twilight Sparkle!" She said happily. Immediately, Twilight recognized her, and her face was split by an impossibly huge grin.

"Bel'aya!" She cried, galloping over and giving her a hug and a friendly nuzzle. Commander Bel'aya Lir smiled at the affectionate display. Luna, however, was wide-eyed with her mouth agape.

"Twilight Sparkle, you... are familiar with this... lady?" She asked. Twilight suddenly became very self-conscience.

"Well..." She sighed. No use keeping it a secret any longer. "Would it be alright if I got my friends and your sister? This sort of involves all of us."

***

Celestia got the shock of her life when she saw who had shown up in the middle of the night. She was the first to arrive after being summoned, and had no idea what to make of their visitors. Twilight simply sat silent, waiting for her friends to show up. Their "guests", probably out of respect, were silent as well, except for one who identified herself as Lieutenant Kil'karin, who was busy taking notes on some kind of device that went across her fingers, like a very high tech, miniature holographic computer. Twilight also took the opportunity to introduce themselves.

Luna busied herself having some coffee prepared for them. Despite their sudden appearance, she was determined to maintain decorum, even if she had no idea who these people were or what their intentions were. The serving staff were almost terrified of their visitors, which was unsurprising, but a reassuring smile from Twilight put them at ease.

"It's alright, everypony." She said. "You don't have anything to fear." The servers nodded, and politely passed out steaming mugs of coffee. Lieutenant Kil'karin took a sip.

"This is home grown." She said with a grin. Her two male compatriots nodded in agreement. Finally, after a seemingly unending wait, the first of her friends showed. Unsurprisingly, Pinkie nearly exploded when she saw them.

"Aaaah!" She said, going into a complete spazz attack. "They came back! Oh wait till I tell all my friends!" She yipped, hopping around circles so much that they were surprised. The princesses watched with growing curiosity, and unease. What was going on here?

"Oh my stars!" They heard the voice of Rarity say behind them. "Look, everypony!"

"Dip me in sugar and call me a candy apple." Applejack piped up.

"I don't believe it!" Rainbow Dash cheered. "This is so awesome!" Fluttershy simply ran up and wrapped her forelegs around their old friend. The other creatures began to talk among themselves in their flowing language. Luna listened to the words they spoke. She found it to be beautiful, almost poetic. Celestia was too busy to notice, as she was watching her subjects greet the... strangers like they were old friends, and her concern was mounting despite the friendliness of said strangers. She was eager to find out what was going on.

"Twilight, now that we are all assembled here," she said, "could you explain what is going on here, and how you apparently know... our visitors?" She said. Twilight flashed her an apologetic smile.

"OK, but I have to warn you that you may find this hard to believe." She said. Celestia simply nodded. "You see, our guests here... they're not from any country around here. In fact... they're not even from our world." She said.

"Not from... our world?" Luna asked. One of the visitors, a young-looking male, brought something up on his hand device. It was a hologram of a star, much like their own sun, but surrounded by four planets. One of them bore a resemblance to Equestria.

"We're from here." The male said. "This, Your Majesties, is the Altair system." He centered on the third planet. "And this is our homeworld, Altair Prime." The princesses looked at each other. They could scarcely believe what they were hearing.

"You're from... another planet?" Luna asked. "But that...that's not possible."

"I didn't think so, either." Twilight said. "But then, out of the blue, they came to us." She passed out some mugs of coffee before continuing. "Do you remember that letter I sent you about three years ago, where I told you about how Ponyville was experiencing strange sightings?" Celestia was the first to put two and two together.

"This is them?" She asked. "The beings you told us about?" Twilight nodded. Pinkie Pie chimed in with her own story.

"It all started after I saw something weird in the sky." Pinkie Pie chirped. "It looked like a spaceship, and it turns out I was right. But more on that later. And then Applejack saw an alien on her farm, and then Fluttershy saw one too, and then we went into the Everfree Forest looking for them."

"Turns out they weren't too hard to find." Applejack interjected. "They had set up camp in the middle of the forest, near abouts where Zecora lives. Long story short, we panicked when one of them turned up and ran for it."

"And while we were running, Scootaloo ended up falling into a ravine and injuring herself." Rainbow Dash added, her expression showing that she still clearly felt a measure of guilt over what happened. "But it turned out to be lucky for us, because that's how we ended up learning these guys are friendly."

"How so?" Celestia inquired. Twilight gave Bel'aya a smile, as if to say "you tell this part". Bel'aya returned the smile.

"One of my shipmates found her in the ravine." She explained. "The poor dear broke her leg in the fall, and we couldn't just leave her there, so we broke protocol and rendered aid."

"Speaking of them, where are they?" Fluttershy asked. "I don't recognize of these people... no offense."

"Excelsior is in drydock for repairs." She explained. "We ran into a particularly nasty group of pirates and ended up taking some damage. The ship that brought me here is HMS Observer. When I learned that they were going to your planet to conduct I survey, I talked them into taking me along as a consultant, since I had prior experience." Pinkie Pie smiled.

"It was my best party ever!" She chirped. The Altarians snickered at the bouncing party pony.

"So... you mean neither us nor our people any harm?" Luna asked. "You come to us in peace?"

"Yes, your majesties." Lieutenant Kil'karin explained. "We've always been a peaceful species. We're not interested in conquest or warfare, but in exploration. Our travels brought us a long way to come and see your world, and now that you've broken the light barrier, we're ready to take the next step." She turned to Bel'aya, allowing her superior officer to make the formal.

"By our laws and traditions," she started, "the time has now come for us to make first contact with your people, to welcome you into the greater interstellar community." She smiled. "Will you accept our friendship?" She asked, looking right into the eyes of Princess Celestia as she said. Both Princesses gazed at their guests. The look in their eyes told them everything they needed to know. In them, they saw not deceit, or trickery, or malice of any kind. All they saw was peacefulness, joy and a desire to make friends. Both princesses felt a warmth begin to arise in their hearts. It was the kind of warmth felt when one had met someone that they would be friend's with forever. How Twilight must have felt the same warmth when she finally realized she had friends. Celestia smiled serenely at Bel'aya.

"On behalf of my people and all peoples in this world," she began, "I accept. I bid you welcome to the Kingdom of Equestria, my friends."

There wasn't a face in the room that was not split widely by a smile.

***

Towering over Equestria's northern provinces were the majestic snow-capped peaks of the famous Iron Horn Mountains. As Celestia's sun rose over the horizon, the ancient glaciers that covered the peaks began to glitter and sparkle like diamonds. The lovely scene was complimented by the lush green forests that covered the face of the mountains. It was like something that could only come out of a Hearths Warming Day card.

The mountains also provided a formidable defense for those who lived on or near the foothills of the mighty mountain range, the world's largest. The hardy earth ponies who tended to the fertile soil around the mountains and labored in its mithril and gold mines were certainly tough, but on the other side was a species that was equally hardy and resilient, and very well suited to living in the rugged mountain terrain.

Nestled atop the highest peak of the Iron Horns was a sprawling fortress, complete with a great stone castle set atop the very tip of the mountain. The castle was draped with brilliant red and gold banners emblazoned with a coat of arms consisting of a gold and red shield capped with a soldier's steel helmet and arching eagle wings. From the battlements of the tallest tower flew an enormous white banner trimmed with gold and bearing the emblem of a lion grasping an axe as though ready to strike down a foe. This marvelous feat of engineering was Icecrown Palace, the ancestral home of the Kings of the Griffons. The great banners indicated that His Majesty himself was at home, where the King Upon the Mountain could gaze out across his entire realm.

And that was just what King Wolfgang XIV was doing at that moment.

A young male barely out of his thirties, who's brilliant gold eyes stood out among his steel gray head feathers, he had inherited the throne upon the untimely death of his father, Conrad VI. The elderly griffin had been ill for some time with the dreaded consumption, and it wasn't long before the disease claimed him despite the best efforts of the finest doctors in the kingdom. Then Prince Wolfgang had barely any time to mourn before the crown was placed on his head and the leadership of an entire country was given to him. Despite this, he fit into the role perfectly, and soon the kingdom was prospering more than ever.

King Wolfgang gripped the battlements of the high tower on the side overlooking the valleys below with his strong talons. His eyes scanned the lush green valley below. Although when most thought of the Griffon Kingdom they first thought of mighty Icecrown or the rich mines beneath the Iron Horns. But, he thought, the real treasure of the land was what lay behind the mountains. What it lacked in riches it more than made for in fertile soil, beautiful forests and fields, and a rich culture what was thousands of years old.

Wolfgang wrapped his warm cloak around himself to keep out the perpetually cold air that was a feature of living high in the mountains. He much preferred to be down in the warm and fertile valleys with his people, but Icecrown was the only permanent residence of the Griffon Kings, and as such he was stuck there for most of the year. It won't keep me from enjoying this beautiful view, he thought as he smiled at his prospering realm from his perch on the high peak. Just he was about to fly up for a better view, a voice down below told him his longtime manservant and majordomo Ulrich Buckbeak had arrived with the morning report.

"Right on schedule, as always." He said, remarking about his old friend's famous punctuality. He turned to face the black-bodied griffin, who's green eyes were framed by brilliant red eye feathers that stood in stark contrast to the pure white ones on the rest of his eagle head. The young griffin bowed as his king approached.

"Your Majesty..." he began, before being cut off by Wolfgang.

"Ulrich, we've been friends for how long? Twenty years?" He asked. "I think we can can the formalities for one day, don't you think?" He asked with a grin. The young majordomo smiled sheepishly.

"Oh yes, I apologize old friend." Wolfgang clapped him on the shoulder.

"Come, you can deliver the morning report on the way to breakfast." He said. The two old friends walked to the palace's dining room, while Ulrich delivered the morning news. There was little of note to report that morning, save for some minor labor disputes in the mines that would most likely be resolved without royal intervention. Though article proved to be quite interesting.

"We also received a peculiar message from Her Royal Highness Princess Celestia." Urlich said, holding up a scroll. "The postmare who delivered it specifically instructed that it be delivered to you immediately." Wolfgang noticed the royal seal of Equestria on the scroll.

"Well then, I best see what she wants." He said, taking the offered scroll. He removed the seal and unrolled the scroll. "What is this? 'Turn on the news, I will be making a very important announcement this morning'. What could this be?" Ulrich shrugged.

"The ways of the ponies are a mystery to me." He remarked. Wolfgang simply rolled the message back up as they entered the grand dining room, and sat down at the elegant oaken table. Despite the limitations of living in the mountains, the modernization programs that Wolfgang and his predecessors had put in place had greatly benefited the Kingdom, bringing it on par with Equestria and beyond. This included being able to receive television signals from said land. Another servant turned on a flatscreen television and tuned it to a local news program in Equestria's northern provinces. The cameras were trained on a balcony overlooking the upper city of Canterlot from which the royal sisters traditionally made their announcements. King Wolfgang sat back and smiled.

"Let's hear what our old friends have to say." He said.

***

Curse this blasted heat wave, thought a lone male zebra as he trekked across the massive Jangwa Desert of the southern nation of Zebrica. A large portion of the country had been hit by a particularly nasty heat wave, and many of the desert communities had begun to suffer a drought. The sitting government was doing it's best to provide relief, but a large portion of the population was still very rural, and as a result it was slow going. Zebrica was advanced, however, and was quite capable handling any crisis that came its way.

Zamun sighed with relief when his destination, a small village on the edge of where the desert met the grasslands, finally came into view. He galloped the rest of the way to the village and made a beeline for the nearest lodgings. He shook some of the desert sand off and stripped the light cloak that had shielded him from the merciless sun during his long journey. A helpful worker took his clothing to be washed for him while he sat down at a small table. Another worker brought him a much needed glass of cool water. It tasted like fine wine after a long and hot journey across the burning sands, and was relished as much. Zamun's attention was soon drawn to the fact that many of the lodgers were tuned into a broadcast from an Equestrian news service. Curious, he flagged down a worker.

"Tell me, what is going on here?" He asked, pointing a forehoof at the television.

"It was announced that Princess Celestia had an important announcement to make." The worker replied, taking his empty glass and replacing it with a full one. Thank goodness the drought hadn't gotten to this village, Zamun thought. His curiosity was magnified. It wasn't often that the Princess made such a global announcement.

"What kind of a announcement?" He asked. The worker simply shrugged and walked off to serve another customer. Zamun sat back and watched, wondering what it was that was going on.

***

Across the nation of Equestria and beyond, eyes turned to their TV sets, eager to hear what their Princess had to say to them. In Canterlot, both the lower and upper cities bustled with activity as the call went out to come and hear what Celestia had to tell her subjects. A crowd began to gather below the balcony where the Royal Sisters stood to speak to their subjects, many of the ponies still bleary eyed from the lack of sleep after the raucous celebration. Murmuring voices echoed throughout the plaza as ponies vigorously discussed whatever it was that their leaders had to say. The murmuring soon died down as a palace worker appeared on the balcony and called for silence.

"Presenting, Their Royal Highnesses Princess Celestia and Luna of Equestria and the bearers of the Elements of Harmony!" He called out, stepping aside as Celestia and Luna stepped out to the balcony, their manes flowing regally in an unseen wind. Beside them trooped the six friends, bleary eyed but smiling. Their eyes sparkled with a happy energy that seemed to radiate from the center of their very being. Celestia cleared her throat before beginning to speak.

"Citizens of Equestria and of all nations across the world, my friends," she said, her voice echoing to reach the ears of all assembled, "it is my great pleasure to announce that a momentous event in the history of our fair country and our fair world has occurred." She smiled, before turning the floor over to her sister. Luna smiled back before speaking to the assembled crowd.

"For time immemorial, we have looked up at my night sky and wondered, is there anything else beyond those twinkling stars?" She began. "Since we first began to look upon the night sky with wonder in our eyes, we have asked ourselves if we are alone out here. We are here to tell you, my friends, that that question has at long last been answered." She said, adding a little flourish to her speech. Immediately the murmuring began again. What could their princess mean?

Sitting at his breakfast table in Icecrown Palace, King Wolfgang turned a confused gaze to his old friend. "Ulrich, has she gone daft?" He asked. Ulrich shook his head.

"No, old friend." He answered. "Princess Luna is perfectly fit. I honestly have no idea what she is talking about."

Zamun of Zebrica was equally perplexed, as were his fellow zebras who all shrugged at each other in confusion. Zamun scratched his head. What was this all about?

Back in Equestria, Luna gestured to silence the crowd. "Our test of our warp ship has attracted attention, and this night my sister and I have been visited... by beings from another world." A huge gasp echoed from the crowd at that announcement. The famous fashion model, Fleur de Lis, even fainted at the announcement. It was only the intervention of her husband that kept her from falling onto the marble. Princess Luna smiled, and then beckoned someone standing behind her to come forward.

"Come." She said to them. "Greet my people." As the mystified crowd watched, the Element bearers parted, grins on their faces. Before the assembled crowd, their new friends emerged. In Icecrown, Wolfgang gaped at the TV, a bit of scrambled egg falling from his beak as his fork clattered to the floor. Zamun, who was sipping his second glass of water, almost did a classic spit take before slamming his hoof over his mouth. Bel'aya gazed out at the assembled ponies, who looked back at them with a mixture of wonder and some fear. However, a brave little pegasus colt fluttered up her and looked her dead in the eye with his own burnt orange ones.

"Are you... our friends?" He asked her, loud enough that some in the crowd could hear him. Bel'aya gave the little colt a smile and nodded, reaching out to touch the little one's cheek, feeling his soft foal coat. The colt, satisfied, immediately embraced her in a warm hug. Bel'aya was taken aback by the sudden gesture, but it didn't last long and she returned the hug with equal warmth. Whatever fear there might have been in the crowd evaporated at this heartwarming gesture by their visitors, replaced only by wonder. Twilight took a look at her mentor and her sister, beaming.

"Success?" She asked. Luna looked at Celestia, who only nodded to her.

"Success." They both said.

Coming to Equestria

CHAPTER THREE: COMING TO EQUESTRIA

The sun rose bright and early over the bustling tarmac of Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia. Planes from both the domestic carriers of the reborn American airline industry and flag carriers from across the world took off and landed in the soft light of the autumn dawn. Airport personnel rushed to service the incoming jets, from small regional airliners to massive wide-bodies capable of crossing oceans in a single trip. The terminals and gate areas filled with arriving and departing passengers, eager to begin their journeys at the early hour.

At gate C18 at C Terminal of the massive airport, a small United Express Embraer ERJ-145 operated by Chautauqua Airlines pulled up and parked next to an enormous Boeing 747 of Lufthansa. The jet bore the classic "battleship" United Airlines livery from 1993 until 2004. A jetbridge was extended and attached the jet's cabin door, allowing passengers to deplane once the all clear was given. The bleary eyed passengers, mostly business people who worked in the Washington, D.C. area, had departed early in the morning from Norfolk International Airport on what was practically a red eye flight. The fact that the plane was small and decidedly not very comfortable didn't help them much. One pair in particular was looking ragged.

A young human male, barely out of his twenties, rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he stepped out of the jetbridge and into the terminal. He shivered, both from the cold unusually chilly autumn morning and from his body protesting the lack of sleep and caffeine from the normal morning coffee he took. He was dressed in simple faded blue jeans and tan t-shirt bearing a design vaguely reminiscent of a medieval coat of arms, along with a black zipper hoodie and navy blue Boston Red Sox baseball cap. He even topped it all off with red and white scarf that had been had knitted by his girlfriend as a gift.

He adjusted the thick glasses he wore and brushed a stray strand of his curly brown hair out of the way. He stared around the airport terminal with deep brown eyes that always seemed to have a spark of life within them, looking for an information panel to get their gate number for the flight they would be taking out of Dulles to Brussels Airport in Belgium. Justin Thompson, a native of Virginia Beach, was exhausted so much he could practically feel it in his bones. But he fought through it and finally located an information panel. Pan American World Airways, a rebirth of the famed airline that revolutionized the Golden Age of Air Travel and the latest and most successful in a line of highly profitable start ups in the reborn American airline industry, Flight 239 to Brussels left Gate A34 at 5:30 that evening. They had plenty of time to travel from C Terminal to the Main Terminal to A Terminal and get something to eat along the way. Which was a good thing, because a sound from behind him told him that his traveling companion for this trip was getting hungry.

"Shall we get breakfast, love?" He asked, turning to his longtime girlfriend, Laramie Winters. She brushed a strand of her long brown hair from her face and looked back at him with bluish green eyes.

"Please?" She asked. She removed the rolling backpack she had been using as her carryon bag and placed it on the ground, adjusting her gray hoodie and fiddling with her bracelet, which bore images of various saints and of Jesus. Justin planted a gentle kiss on her lips.

"We shall, then." He said. She smiled at him, wrapping her arm around his and taking her carryon in the other. He took his own navy blue American Tourister rolling carryon and together they trekked off into the terminal, deciding to visit the greater variety of shops to be found in the airport's A terminal. It was a short hop over to the famous mobile lounges that were a feature of the airport for a long time, for a short trip over to the main terminal where they would catch the underground AeroTrain system to the A and B gates. A trip on the mobile lounge later, taking in the sight of various huge aircraft, and they arrived at the main terminal. From there it was a very short train ride over to the A and B gates. Laramie, who was a first timer to the busy airport, awed at the size of the place when they stepped off the AeroTrain.

"It's huge!" She exclaimed. "How do people find their gates?"

"One of humanity's oldest inventions," Justin replied, "maps." He jokingly pointed over at the map of the terminal. Laramie giggled. They soon found a Dunkin' Donuts, and a few dollars later were munching on tasty breakfast sandwiches and donuts. Laramie had herself a Coke while Justin contented himself with a freshly brewed coffee, which seemed to rejuvenate him.

"So where is this planet we're supposed to be going to?" Laramie asked. The two of them had been fortunate winners of a contest hosted by the Altarian government. The Altarians were making formal contact with a new species, and had invited humanity to join them in the endeavor. The Altarians not only invited several important heads of state, but also one hundred lucky humans to chance to win a trip for them and two guests to come to planet with them to meet this new species and exchange cultures. Justin was one of the lucky winners, and as his guest he invited his beloved Laramie to accompany him. He also tried to get a friend of his to come to, but other obligations prevented it.

"Be'nar says his government hasn't given it a formal name yet, but some of the locals are calling their neck of the woods 'Equestria'." He said. Be'nar Kanobe had won a similar contest on Altair and was taking his family with him; his wife, Seli'itana "Selii" Tu'val, and his fraternal twin children, two month old Curzon and Shastin Kanobe. They would be meeting them at the newly build international star port in Belgium, on the grounds of Brussels Airport. The airline sponsor of the contest, the newly reborn Pan American, would be taking them as a way to celebrate its opening of service to the European market.

"What are the people like?" Laramie asked, taking a bite of a jelly donut. Justin took a swig of coffee before replying.

"Funny, Benny didn't let on." He said. Laramie gave him an incredulous look. "Usually that means he doesn't know himself. Though, he did mention that they were four-legged." Laramie giggled.

"Maybe a dog planet." She said. "Pound Puppy planet." Justin snickered.

"Maybe." He said. They both shared a happy laugh.

***

"Our chariot has arrived." Justin announced as a massive Airbus A380, painted in the classic 1960s livery of Pan American, pulled up to the gate. The huge airliner loomed over the gate workers servicing the plane. Laramie felt a twinge of worry. She still was rather unaccustomed to air travel and large planes made her nervous. Justin put a comforting arm around her, which helped immensely. They snuggled together as they waited for the call to board, which came surprisingly quickly. They were ushered into the first class section of the plane, were they were amazed to see that they had what amounted to private suites. As part of the package, they would be flying first class with complimentary amenities.

"It this an airplane or the Titanic?" Justin asked when he saw their seats. A smiling flight attendant in a Pan American's classic blue uniform of the 1960s giggled at his comment, while others groaned at his mention of the Titanic.

"This is our standard first class seating, sir." She replied. "We sought to recapture the Golden Age of Air Travel, with some improvements." She explained, pointing out each of the features they got in first class; fine food, fine wine, entertainment on demand, free Wi-Fi, and even a complimentary heated blanket. "And for this trip, everything is free for our contest winners." She continued.

"Don't say free. Have you met me before?" Justin said. "I will move in and live on this plane." Laramie laughed as they settled into their seats for takeoff. Justin took a few moments to e-mail his folks before the sign to turn off all electronic devices came on. The massive jet's four massive Engine Alliance GP7000 turbofans powered up as the enormous airliner taxied away from the terminal and out to the runway, stopping to allow a United Boeing 777 bound for Frankfurt to take off. The giant A380 pulled up to the runway after the wash from the triple 7 subsided and began to power up, it's four engines working hard to send the plane down the runway at takeoff speed. Finally the wings bit into the air and the plane lifted off into the sky as gracefully as one would expect from a machine designed to do nothing but fly. The two settled down into their seats for the long eight hour flight ahead of them.

***

Are people in really such a rush to catch planes at this hour of the day, asked the black and white furred bipedal being to himself as he entered the terminal of the star port in Brussels. Be'nar Kanobe, a male Altarian who had spent the last several years of his life living on Earth, scanned the terminal with his jade green eyes. He was a tall young man of twenty-one and possessed an athletic, slightly muscular build. His right ear was scarred from an injury in his younger years, and bore a similiar one on his arm. His outfit of the day consisted of the casual Earth ensemble he had become used to; comfortable blue jeans, a red t-shirt and an pair of black Vans sneakers. In addition, he sported a pair of yellow and black leather fingerless gloves on his hands, something he had picked up and always wore. He considered them something of a "lucky" pair, as he had been wearing them when he got into a car accident due to a senseless speeder without any serious injuries.

Seeing nothing of note, he fished a digital camera out of the carryon bag that he had with him on the Lufthansa flight over from Berlin. He turned around and snapped a photo of the female Altarian coming in behind him. Unlike the more common straw blonde, her hair was bright, almost platinum. She looked at the world through a rounded pair of violet eyes that almost always seemed to have a sparkle in them. Her simple black denim pants and pink tank top accentuated her near perfect features, though still presented an air of modesty. Selii Tu'val-Kanobe could easily pass for a model or actress, instead of the oldest child of the wealthy family she came from.

She instinctively winced a bit at the sudden flash, but recovered. She grinned at her husband as she leaned lightly on the stroller carrying the young couple's twins, boy Curzon and girl Shastin.

"You might want to save room on that thing." She said to him in the light and flowing accent that was typical of those who resided on the colonies of the Republic's mid-zone worlds. "We do have an entire planet to explore, after all." Be'nar cracked a smile. He loved her voice. Even for a mid-zoner it was lovely, almost as though she were singing without even trying to sing. He could listen to it all day.

"Yes dear." He replied, putting the camera away. "Though I should tell you I brought seven extra memory sticks for emergencies." She giggled.

"Mother was right. You do overpack." She said with another giggle. He rolled his eyes. Just then, the announcement came over the PA system in both English and French that the Pan American flight their friends were coming in on was due to arrive. "Shall we?" She asked. He nodded.

"Let's not keep the future Mr. and Mrs. Thompson waiting." He quipped. She laughed musically as they began walking toward the gate area to meet their friends.

***

"Wake up love." Laramie heard the voice of her boyfriend say. "We're getting ready to land." She stirred in her sleep and stretched before putting her lie-flat seat back up into it's proper position. She was amazed at how well she had been able to sleep on the plane. It was though she were flying on a cloud. Course, she was lucky to be in first class, with its comfortable seats and sumptious food and drink, and not trapped back in economy where everyone had to made do with good food put not so good seats. Both of them buckled their seat belts and stowed all their things before the plane began to descend into Brussels airport. Laramie cautiously watched the ground get closer and closer as the huge Airbus closed in for a landing, and finally a tell-tale thump told them the plane successfully touched down. Air brakes and thrust reversers were deployed, which eventually slowed the speeding airliner to a stop on the runway. After a short taxi, they pulled up to the gate and prepared to deplane. Making sure they had their carryons, they departed the plane and entered the airport terminal. Laramie was the first to spot their friends.

"Hello!" She called out to them, waving. Justin smiled as the Kanobe family approached them. Selii enveloped the two of them in a hug and gave them each a kiss on the cheek, as was the custom among their people.

"How are you, old friend." Be'nar asked, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Exhausted." Justin said, with a tired sigh. "Jet lag is not funny." Be'nar reached into the bag they carried on the stroller and produced a pair of travel mugs.

"One's coffee, the other's hot chocolate." He said, handing Justin the one with coffee in it. "I forgot the cream and sugar, unfortunately." Justin drank it anyway. He always relished a cup of coffee in the early morning. Laramie took a sip of hers, then busied herself playing with the twins, who had just woken up. The sounds of their giggles brought a smile to the two young men's faces.

"The star port is this way." Be'nar said, gesturing over toward the entrance. "They want us onboard at least an hour before departure, so we'd better get moving."

"I could use a nap anyway." Justin said. "Lead the way." He took Laramie's hand as they followed them to the star port.

Docked at the gates that normally one would find servicing aircraft, there were parked small shuttle craft known as runabouts. These little ships resembled, to Justin's eyes, the plane mates they had seen at Washington Dulles, with the addition of wings with engine pods and a rounded nose. They were boarded much like aircraft. The sole purpose of these shuttles was to take passengers to star ships in orbit. Thankfully, there wasn't a long rush to get to them, and they were able to board and take off with ease. Laramie was once again nervous, fidgeting in the comfy leather seat as the ship broke the atmosphere and went into orbit. She quickly calmed down, however, when Justin held her. She appreciated that immensely.

When they docked with the star liner they would be taking on their trip through space, they were ushered off by friendly, smiling crew members and directed to the cozy first-class cabins. With luxurious decor resembling designs from Earth cultures, a fine wine and food menu, and palatial rooms, the cabins looked more like something a diplomat would travel on. The Altarians were used to it, but the humans marveled. Never before had they experienced such luxury. It was going to be a wonderful journey, that much they could tell.

***

"So this is it?" Justin asked.

"This is it." Be'nar replied. The two of them were standing in the liner's observation lounge. The window was filled with a picture that could capture the front page of any magazine on Earth, Altair and beyond. They could see nearly every continent with their white-peaked mountains, golden brown deserts and vast, green plains and highlands. The seas were a perfect crystal blue. It was a mesmerizing sight for anyone, much less a human who had never seen it before.

Justin took a sip of the strong ras'jil, the sweet tasting beverage warming him to his very core. He took in the entire sight with a look of wonder on his face. Outside the ship, large Altarian vessels, Republic Navy ships, were circling patrolling around. Evidently their visit was important enough to warrant a Naval escort of some kind. "Navy's out in force today." He remarked.

"The Audacity, the Courageous, and the Longsword." Be'nar replied, pointing out the ships as they passed by. "Vessels of our Seventh Fleet, if I'm not mistaken." He took a sip of his own ras'jil. "If that's the case, Excelsior should be here too." He scanned the scene in front of them for any sign of the great battleship, the lead of her class. She wasn't to be seen. They didn't have too long to wonder why though, as soon the passengers of the ship were called to report too the shuttle bay for a trip over to Republic One. Be'nar had informed them that this was the personal transport of the Praetor of the Republic. Apparently she wanted to address them all before they left for the planet's surface. Their loved ones, who had been busy chatting among themselves, followed them out. Laramie too her boyfriend's arm, yawning. He kissed her cheek.

"Not much longer and we'll be setting foot on an alien planet." She smiled.

"I wonder what we'll find." She said, looking out a window at the planet. He nuzzled her.

"We'll see."

***

The gang was surprised to see just how many nationalities they had managed to fit into this intrepid group of humans. Justin counted at least five different European nationalities, ranging from German to French to even Finnish. And there were of course representatives from Asian nations from South Korea to Thailand, and Latin American countries from Brazil to Mexico. He even noticed a few that were of Middle Eastern descent, Israelis judging by the language. They took seats next to a pair of French university students, and Justin was able to pick up some of their speech due to his knowledge of the language. Apparently, they were wondering if the trip would get them credit for their courses. He rolled his eyes.

"Thank God, those days are behind me." He quipped. The room fell silent almost as soon as they were all seated. A holographic display showing the Seal of the Republic flashed behind a podium. The seal bore the image of a stylized Altarian phoenix bursting forth from a flame, its arching wings holding letters spelling out the Republic's motto; LIBERTY, JUSTICE, PEACE. An apparent Navy captain stepped up and delivered a brief introduction and benediction before introducing Praetor Ki'la Va'ashil. The middle-aged female Altarian stepped out on stage. In place of her normal praetorial robes, she wore an elegant white dress trimmed with gold and inlaid with mother of pearl. The dress was sleeveless except for two pieces that extended from her elbow to her wrist, and were capped off by long flowing pieces that appeared to be made of silk. Her dark blond hair was tied up in a bun and secured with platinum hairpins. A fancy platinum earring with shimmering red jewels hung from her right ear, and matched the platinum chain bracelet she wore. She stepped up to the podium and faced the audience with a pair of burgundy eyes that reminded Justin of red wine. She smiled at the assembled humans before beginning her speech.

"Ta'iga se kebo za'rish, my friends." She said, addressing them in the warm and friendly manner that was a hallmark of the Altarian species, who truly did not have a mean bone in their bodies. "On behalf of the Altarian people, I welcome you and thank you for being able to be here with us today." She seemed to look right at the four friends as she spoke. "Today is a very momentous day in your history. Today, you take your first real steps as an interstellar civilization. Below you is the planet of Equestria. They, like you, have just discovered the secrets of faster-than-light travel and have had the entire galaxy opened to them. The people here have been granted an grand opportunity, that of meeting a people from beyond not only their own borders, but of their own homeworld. It is your turn now, my friends, to meet them. It is an opportunity long in the making, ever since you first slipped the warm embrace of your homeworld to touch the ancient stars. I challenge you, my friends, to make this a moment worth remembering in the annals of history. I challenge you not only to learn, but to teach. But, most important of all, I challenge you to forge a friendship that will last until the end of time. Good luck, and may your endeavors be blessed." The audience applauded after she finished her speech. Praetor Va'ashil bowed before taking her leave. Justin and Laramie were beaming. Both of them were now more excited than ever to get down to the planet and take on her challenge.

It was time to go to Equestria.

***

A light thump indicated that the shuttle which took them down to the surface touched down. Laramie could hardly contain her excitement. Justin couldn't help but snicker with amusement at her staring out the window, practically hopping up and down as a hover transport disembarked and drove off to where they had been assigned to stay for the year they would be on Equestria. Their escort, Master Chief Petty Officer L'or Mal'gan, explained that they would be staying in a small town called Ponyville. Justin snickered again at the high similarity that was developing between this planet and Earth. They had already been briefed on the three different types of beings that inhabited this particular country; the earth ponies, who were master farmers and laborers and were the strongest of all; the unicorns, the intellectual powerhouses of Equestria; and the pegasi, flying ponies with the ability to walk on clouds and manipulate the very weather itself. All of this amazed the humans and Altarians alike. This was definitely a planet worth seeing.

When they finally reached the outskirts of the town, Mal'gan had them stop for lunch. Some tasty Altarian food was distributed, and he allowed them look around for a bit. Laramie accepted her food and savored it, declaring it some of the best cuisine she had ever had.

"I'm think I'm going to stay here." She said. "I still have space lag." She laughed. Justin smiled and kissed her.

"I'm gonna go look around for a bit, and see what I can see." He eskimo kissed her. "I'll be back in a flash." She smiled and kissed him. Selii smiled at them before preparing bottles for her babies. Be'nar took out a pair of high-tech compact binoculars and began looking around. Justin waved to them before going off into a nearby copse of trees. He trekked through the trees until he emerged into a hilly area. A cool autumn breeze waved across the land, shaking loose some leaves. Justin took a deep breath of the clean, sweet-smelling air before taking in the scenery. He could see a forest in the distance that was colored brilliant maroon and orange. It was a sight that could rival the best Earth had to offer.

He tightened the warm sweatshirt he wore around him and walked over to a nearby tree and sat down, deciding to take breather and enjoy the outdoors for a bit. He was just getting comfortable when he heard a noise off to his right. It was coming from a nearby bush. He shrugged, figuring it was an animal. He'd worry about looking at flora and fauna later. Right now he could use a nice relaxing rest in the great outdoors.

Rustle, rustle

He heard the noise again. This time, it was louder. He looked at the bush. Whatever it was, it was fairly good size. And, he could swear he heard a voice.

"Hello?" He said. "Is anyone there?" He asked. No answer. "It's OK, you can come out." He said warmly. The bush began to rustle again, and slowly something began to emerge from behind it. First, he could make out a red bow, which quickly revealed itself to be attached to a smock of apple red hair.

And soon he found himself being looked at by a pair of large, bright gamboge eyes.

"What have we here?" He asked. The creature ducked back down, and it seemed he had scared it off. But, it soon re-emerged from behind the bush, waking cautiously up to him. He now got a clear look at it, and noticed that he was looking at an earth pony filly. Her tail, like her mane, was bright amaranth red. The bow she wore in her mane was pinkish red and seemed to be size too big for it. Her coat was a kind of yellow that reminded him of the inside of a ripe apple. She stopped a few feet away from him, just looking at him with an expression of both wonder and the type of nervousness that children often exhibited when confronted by a stranger. He felt a warm smile creep over his face at the adorable little foal in front of him.

"Hi there." He said warmly. The filly said nothing, just continued to look at him. "It's OK, I won't hurt you, I promise." The filly trotted a bit closer. Justin slowly held his hand up in front of her, a universal gesture of peace. The filly curiously looked at his hand, taking in the gold college ring he wore on his finger, before extending her own foreleg and gently tapping his hand with her hoof. Justin then moved his hand down beneath her hoof. She looked at his hand for a moment, then gave a cute little smile before thunking his hand with her hoof in a "low-five" gesture. Smiling, the human then held his hand up higher. The filly jumped up and thunked it with her hoof, giggling a bit.

"Hi again." Justin said, trying again to talk to the little filly. Now apparently emboldened, the filly smiled back at him.

"Hi." She said, her voice thick with a surprising accent. It reminded Justin of a Texan or Ozark accent. But that didn't matter. He accomplished what he wanted, which was get the little filly talking.

"My name's Justin." He introduced himself. "What's yours, sweetheart?" He asked.

"Apple Bloom." She replied. He smiled.

"Cute." He said. She smiled again. "You're little ways away from home Apple Bloom. Ponyville, I'm told, is back that way." He pointed in the direction of town.

"Actually, ah live a little ways outside town." She answered. "Mah family owns and runs the apple orchard. In fact, we're sittin' on it." Justin looked around.

"Hmm, I don't see many apple trees." He said. "Is this part of the farm not being used?"

"Not at the moment." She replied. "We ain't gotten around to planting new trees, though I heard Applejack say she wanted to put out some new golden delicious trees."

"Well I apologize for stepping on to your property." Justin said apologetically. "I didn't see a sign." Apple Bloom just smiled at him.

"It ain't no trouble." She said. "Mah friends and I actually come out here a lot. There's a crick not far from 'ere that we like to go fishing in. Say, you wanna meet my friends?" She asked with a big grin on her face.

"I'd be honored." Justin said. Apple Bloom beckoned for him to follow her and led him off down toward the creek she had spoken of. It's babbling added to the sound of rustling cattails to create a near perfect atmosphere. Justin took out his camera and snapped a picture while following the little earth pony.

"Huh, that's funny, this here is where I last saw..." Apple Bloom began, but was interrupted by a sudden squeak and the rustling of a nearby patch of cattails. The two of them turned to see a pink and purple tail that curled much like Justin's own hair. Apple Bloom giggled. "Found one of 'em." She grabbed onto the tail with her teeth and gently pulled another filly out of the cattails. The filly's coat was a white with a very slight grayish tint. Her mane matched her tail in both color and curls. She had her hooves over her eyes, but he could see a small horn poking out.

"A real, honest to goodness unicorn." He remarked. Apple Bloom gently poked the filly in the side.

"It's alright, Sweetie Belle." She said soothingly. "This here's mah friend." The white unicorn filly removed her hooves from her eyes, revealing them to be a sap green color. She shivered a bit. She was certainly a lot more nervous around strangers than Apple Bloom.

"Are you sure?" Sweetie Belle asked. "I've never seen a creature like that before." Justin smiled.

"I promise, I'm nice." He said warmly. Sweetie Belle looked at her friend, who smiled reassuringly. Sweetie Belle got up onto her hooves and looked at him. Justin reached out, causing her to recoil a bit, but a smile from both him and Apple Bloom stopped her from running off. Justin finally reached down and began scratching the little unicorn behind the ear.

"Hey!" She yipped, giggling. "That tickles!" Justin smiled at her before withdrawing his hand. The unicorn filly was now smiling at him.

"See?" Apple Bloom said with a grin. "Ah told you 'e was nice." Sweetie Belle smiled.

"What's your name?" She asked him.

"Justin." He said. Sweetie Belle smiled.

"Are you an alien, like the Altarians?" He nodded.

"That's right, ah never asked you where y'all came from." Apple Bloom remarked, realizing she had completely forgotten. Justin reached into another pocket and pulled out a picture of Earth.

"I live here." He said. "This is Earth."

"Hey, like me." Apple Bloom said with happy grin. "Earth pony." Justin laughed.

"Yes..." He began to make a quip, but was interrupted when Sweetie Belle suddenly yelled at him to take cover. He whipped around to see a small orange and purple mass flying straight at him. With no time to dodge the flying intruder, he simply reached out and managed to catch it. He grunted as the little mass slammed into him. The impact bowled him over and briefly knocked the wind out of him. He shook it off and then took a look at the offending creature. It turned out to be a third filly. This one was was a pegasus, who's bright orange coat contrasted with the softer hues of the autumn leaves. Her feather-shaped mane was a brilliant fuschia color, causing him to quip to himself that his mother would love it. Her eyes, comically spinning around in their sockets, were a violet color with just the tiniest hint of gray softening its brightness.

"Oh mah gosh, are y'all OK?" Apple Bloom asked. Justin managed to wriggle his way upright and picked the dazed little pegasus off of his chest. He was surprised at how light she felt.

"Yeah, I'm alright." He said. "I'm not sure about this one, though." He said.

"Urgh... is that you, mama?" The pegasus slurred. "I don't wanna go to school today..." The other two fillies snickered at her, while the poor human was left baffled as to what to do. The snickering seemed to help, though, as the pegasus soon shook her head vigorously to clear it out before looking right at him. In contrast to the others who were nervous when meeting him, the little pony's eyes lit up upon seeing the mysterious creature that now held her.

"Are you alright, little one?" Justin asked. The pegasus filly flapped her wings excitedly.

"Oh wow! Are you an alien!?" She chattered. Justin was taken aback by the sudden outburst. "This is so cool! I've never seen an alien like you, before? Where are you from? What's your planet look like? Do you guys like air shows? We have the most awesome flying team in history called the Wonderbolts, and they..." Apple Bloom suddenly shoved her hoof into her mouth to stop the unending stream of questions from the excited pegasus.

"Calm down, Scoots!" She hissed. "'E just got here." She turned back to Justin. "I'm sorry about that, but she just gets so plum excited sometimes." Justin merely waved it off.

"Don't worry about it." He said.

"Anyway," Apple Bloom continued. "Justin, this 'ere's Scootaloo. Scootaloo, this 'ere's Justin. He's from Earth." She said. Scootaloo just looked up at him with a twinkle in her eye, the kind that kids got when they saw something that really interested them. In this case, wonder at the meeting a new species.

"Howdy." Justin said with a warm smile. "If you don't mind me asking, what exactly where you trying to do?"

"I was practicing flying." Scootaloo replied with a huge grin. "How'd I do?"

"I think my sore ribs testify that you need a bit more practice." He answered her. "No offense meant, of course." Scootaloo hung her head.

"Awww man." She moaned. Justin frowned a bit, then hit on an idea.

"Say, girls." He said. "You introduced me to each other, and I'd like to repay to favor. Would you like to meet my friends?" He asked. That perked Scootaloo right up.

"Realy? Can we?" She asked, smiling brightly. Her tone indicated that she would be hopping up and down if it weren't for the fact that she was still being held. Justin smiled and nodded.

"If you girls will follow me, I'll take you to them." He instructed. The three fillies cheered and followed him away from the river and back down the path he came. When they arrived, the smell of cooking food wafted into their nostrils. MCPO Mal'gan apparently had some hot food cooking for them. The fillies openly marveled at the big transport they saw as they approached. Selii was busy playing a game of peekaboo with Shastin when she saw her friend approach. Her eyes sparkled when she saw the three fillies.

"They followed me home." Justin said with a mischievous grin. "Can I keep them?" Selii paid no attention to his joke, her focus completely on the fillies.

"Awwww." She cooed. "Lu'lu, come and look at this." She called, using a traditional Altarian term of endearment. Be'nar shuffled into view, eating an Altarian meat pastry. He grinned at what he saw.

"I don't believe this." He said. "We're planetside for less than a day and already you're gathering a fan club." He quipped to his friend. Justin rolled his eyes.

"Girls, this my wannabe comedian friend Be'nar Kanobe." He introduced. "The one sitting in the transport is his wife, Selii. Guys this is..."

"Don't tell me." Be'nar interrupted him. "Moe, Larry and Curly." Selii scowled at him for that one, while Justin just laughed.

"Actually, their names are Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo." He replied, gesturing to each of them. "I ran into Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle down by a creek, and Scootaloo, well, she ran into me." He said. Scootaloo grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry about that." She said sheepishly, pawing the ground with her hoof. Justin pat her on the head as if to say "no hard feelings". Apple Bloom smiled up at him. Scootaloo sniffed the air.

"Mmm, that smells good." She said. "What are you guys making?" Selii brought out another pastry, this time filled with cheese a vegetables.

"Try it." He said, breaking into three pieces. "It's delicious." Scootaloo sniffed the piece that was offered to her and took a small bite. She smiled as the taste of sharp cheese and delicious vegetables filled her mouth, and she eagerly devoured the rest of the piece. Her fellow crusaders followed suit.

"Yummy!" They chirped. Their voice got the attention of Laramie, who had been making smash sandwiches for them inside the transport. She came out and spotted the three fillies. She smiled at the three.

"Awww." She cooed. "Who are these?"

"The Three Amigos." Justin said, causing Scootaloo to scowl.

"Nuh uh! We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" She said.

"The whadda whuttin?" Selii asked, confused.

"Why don't you girls tell us all about that on the way to Ponyville." Justin suggested. "You can give us the grand tour." The fillies beamed.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders Tour Guides! Yay!" They cheered, so loud that the humans and Altarians had to cover their ears. Only MCPO Mal'gan was unfazed.

"Heh, cute." He remarked as he came into view. "Reminds me of my own daughters back home. Pile in everyone, we'll have to finish lunch on the way in."

"Can we stop just up ahead?" Apple Bloom asked. "I wanna show y'all Sweet Apple Acres before we get to Ponyville." Mal'gan nodded, and gestured for them to board.

This is going to be an experience. He thought with a silent chuckle.

***

"Here we are!" Apple Bloom announced as they approached a fenced in area near the town. "Sweet Apple Acres! From here, the finest apples in all of Equestria!" She puffed her chest out proudly. Laramie giggled at her.

"All of Equestria?" She asked. Apple Bloom nodded vigorously. Just as she was about to led them inside the orchard, a tree shook as though it had been struck with something, causing several apples to fall from it. Some landed in the road... and one fell on a certain human's head.

"Ow!" Justin yelped as the red delicious apple conked him on the noggin. He picked up the offending apple. "Now I know how Sir Issac Newton felt."

"Oh gosh, did I hit you?" A voice bearing an accent much like Apple Bloom's sounded from behind the tree. "I'm awful sorry." Apple Bloom smiled.

"It's OK, Applejack!" She called. "He's alright!" From behind the tree, another earth pony emerged. This one was clearly an adult, her own orange coat and straw blonde mane contrasting with Apple Bloom's. "Guys, this here's mah sister, Applejack! AJ, this here's Laramie, Justin, Be'nar and Selii. They're gonna be staying in Ponyville with us." Justin was about to introduce himself when Applejack suddenly grabbed his hand and began shaking it so vigorously his teeth chattered.

"Well howdy do!" Applejack said happily. "Welcome to Equestria! Ah'm Applejack, co-owner and chief hand of Sweet Apple Acres. A pleasure makin' your acquaintance!" When she finally stopped shaking his hand, his arm apparently didn't get the message, as it still continued to shake up and down. Laramie giggled and grabbed a hold of it until it stopped twitching.

"Thanks, hon." He said. She kissed him on the cheek, causing Scootaloo to wretch and Applejack to chuckle. Justin smiled. "I'm Justin. It's likewise a pleasure to meet you Applejack. This my lady love, Laramie." Laramie waved as she was introduced. "And this over here are my friends, Be'nar and his wife Selii." Applejack tipped her hat to them.

"We're taking them on a grand tour of Ponyville." Sweetie Belle chirped. "And we thought we'd start here with the farm."

"Well shoot, I'd love to take y'all on a tour of our little orchard, but that'd take all day." She said. "And we're a might busy with a bumper crop of honeycrisp that just came in." Laramie perked up.

"Honeycrisp?" Applejack nodded and bucked a nearby tree, causing a cascade of honeycrisp apples to fall into a barrel. Laramie's mouth began to water. Honeycrisp was her favorite cultivar. Applejack seemed to picked this up, as she sorted out four choice apples and passed them over with a flick of her tail. "These are all yours." She said with a warm smile. "A little 'welcome to Ponyville' present." Laramie beamed and squeaked a thank you before taking a huge bite of the apple. It tasted perfect, just the right amount of sweetness complimented by tartness.

"Mmm mmm." She said dreamily. The others dug into their apples as well, equally impressed by the taste.

"Dang, Apple Bloom wasn't kidding when she called them to best in the land." Be'nar remarked. Selii was too busy savoring hers to say anything. "Thank you very much." He said.

"Aww, weren't nothin'." Applejack replied. After they finished their apples, they left Applejack to continue her work, promising to meet up later to chat with her. The Crusaders boarded the transport and led them on into town.

***

"It's such a lovely day today." Selii said, busying herself with feeding her babies. The gang took in the clear blue and cloudless sky as they entered the quaint little town.

"It certainly is." Be'nar replied.

"The weather teams must have taken extra care to ready the sky for you." Mal'gan remarked.

"I still find it hard to believe that they can control the weather." Justin said. "I just sounds crazy." The fillies were focused entirely on what was ahead, pointing out various landmarks. They were just about to point out a small confectioner's shop when they suddenly spotted something. It looked like a small wagon, richly decorated with party themed images and colors.

"What do we have here? The welcome wagon?" Justin joked. Everyone rolled their eyes at that one. "Eesh, tough crowd." Scootaloo approached the wagon and found a note attached to what appeared to be some kind of trigger mechanism.

Whoever finds this, please do not push the button unless you are an alien!

Love, P.P.

"Huh." She said. "I guess it was meant for you guys?" She wondered, showing them the note. They looked at each other.

"Well, I guess one of us should press the button." Justin said. When no one moved, he chuckled. "Well gee, don't everyone volunteer at once." He said with mock sarcasm. Laramie giggled as he jumped off the transport and walked up to the wagon. "Stand back, kids." He said to the fillies, who dutifully backed up. With a light tap, he pushed the red button that had previously been covered by the note. A few clicks and whistles, and the top of the wagon opened causing a multitude of flags and even what appeared to be a fully functional oven. Justin leaped back as a bright and cheery song began to play. His surprised was doubled when seemingly out of nowhere, a bright pink earth pony with curly mane and bright blue eyes suddenly popped into view. The pony began to hop around and dance, all the while singing along to the music.

Welcome welcome welcome
A fine welcome to you
Welcome welcome welcome I say how do you do?
Welcome welcome welcome
I say hip hip hurray
Welcome welcome welcome to Ponyville today!

She capped off her song by sliding on her "knees" toward them in the manner of a big show stopping number. She came to rest right in front of them, her cyan eyes shining with sheer excitement and joy.

"Wait for it!" She chirped. The oven on the wagon suddenly shot open with a boom, causing a freshly baked and frosted cake to shoot out and land in front of them. Another loud boom followed as some candy striped pipes shot an explosion of colorful confetti into the air. "Yay! I got the cake and the confetti in the right places for the first time!" She yipped happily, jumping up and down for joy. The four of them were left baffled by the sudden appearance of the pink intruder, but the three fillies seemed completely unfazed.

"Hi, Pinkie." Sweetie Belle said, grinning.

"Oooh, right! I never introduced myself." The pink mare immediately began hopping up and down around the small group of aliens. "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! Are you the guys who are going to be staying with us? Are ya? Are ya? Huh? Huh? Huh?" She jabbered on at seemingly impossible speeds and getting right into Laramie's face as she spoke. Laramie backed away, a bit put off at her seemingly lack of respect for personal space.

"Um, hello." She said, backing up behind Justin a bit. "I'm Laramie, this is my boyfriend Justin and my friends Be'nar and Selii Kanobe." She said. "Oh, and their little ones, Curzon and Shastin." She said, pointing at the little bundles the couple carried. If it were possible, Pinkie's eyes would have had shooting stars flying from them with the sudden onrush of sparkles that appeared at the mention of the babies.

"Ooh! Ooh! Can I see? I wanna see the babies! Lemme see 'em!" She chirped, bouncing up and down at a seemingly impossible rate. By now the shock of her sudden appearance had left the couple and they found themselves amused at the mare's excited antics. Be'nar chuckled as he unlatched Curzon from his carrier and held him up for the mare to see, Selii doing the same for Shastin. Pinkie Pie let out a high pitched "squee" when she saw them.

"Awwwww!" She squealed. The twins looked at her with a mix of wonder and confusion. Pinkie began to make funny faces at them. Despite being a strange being they had never seen before, the two of them began to giggle and coo at Pinkie. Pinkie giggled and laughed right along with them. The adorable display got the two humans immediately warming up to her.

"So, Pinkie Pie, if you don't mind me asking, what is you do around here?" Justin asked, wanting to start a conversation. If he was here to learn, a good place to start would be getting to know the locals. Pinkie Pie just grinned and pointed at her rump, which was emblazoned with three party balloons. "Um, how does a tattoo on your butt answer my question?" He asked, and then immediately shoved his fist in his mouth and began mentally kicking himself for saying something so potentially insulting. To his relief, Pinkie just laughed.

"That's not a tattoo, silly!" She remarked. "That's my cutie mark!"

"Well it's certainly cute." Selii said. "But what exactly is it?"

"Our cutie marks tell us what our special talent is." Apple Bloom answered. "Every pony gits one." Justin made a mental note to pay attention to these cutie marks. They seemed to be pretty important.

"Let me guess, when that happens, the appear in a puff of smoke?" Justin asked, miming a "poof".

"Actually, it's a flash of light." Pinkie said off to one corner.

"No two cutie marks are exactly alike." Scootaloo said, remembering the last lesson she had about them. She then looked at her blank rump and sighed. "We still haven't figured ours out yet. That's why we're the Cutie Mark Crusaders." The others nodded. Not wanting to see the fillies upset, Be'nar turned to Pinkie.

"Say, Ms. Pie, care to join us? These three were giving us a tour of the town." Pinkie beamed.

"Yaaay!" She chirped. "I can introduce you to all my friends while we plan your 'welcome to Ponyville' party! Follow us, everypony!" She cheered, allowing the Crusaders to take the lead. Shaking their heads and smiling at the mare's boundless energy and silliness, they followed them, eager to see what else they had in store.

***

"This is where my sister works." Sweetie Belle said, leading them to an elegantly designed building that almost looked like a carousel. Fitting look too, Justin thougth, when he read the sign on the front of the shop.

"Carousel Boutique." He read out loud. "Fancy." Sweetie Belle led them inside. A small shop bell rang over head as they entered the richly decorated shop. The mannequins, bolts of fabric stashed in cubby holes, and various other items led them to deduce that this was a high end fashion designer's shop. Judging by the looks of some of the half-complete items in the store, the place looked like it catered to the more fashion conscience of Ponyville, especially those who had money to burn. Justin spied a pair of silk top hats. Grinning, he put one on and mimed holding a monocle.

"I say old boy!" He said, turning to Be'nar and affecting his best "rich British guy" accent. "This day is a perfect for a stroll about the park, is it not?" Be'nar put the other hat on and mimicked his friends mimes.

"Indubitably, my good sir." He said, mimicking Justin's accent. The girls were overcome with giggling fits, especially Pinkie Pie, who rolled around on the floor laughing.

"Sweetie Belle?" A light and high class sounding voice suddenly called out. "Is that you? Do we have customers?" Justin and Be'nar quickly put the hats back, not wanting to get in trouble or cause a bad impression.

"We're in here, sis!" Sweetie Belle called. They watched as a white unicorn mare emerged from a back room, her azure blue eyes complimenting her indigo mane and ivory white coat. A cursory glance revealed her cutie mark to consist of three diamonds. The white mare was about to say something to her sister when she suddenly gasped at their visitors.

"Oh my stars!" She cried. "Sweetie Belle, why didn't you tell me we were going to have guests!?" The immediately began cleaning up some of the minor messes that she had left about during work and brewing a pot of what smelled like an herbal tea. Her horn glowed as she manipulated objects with her telekinesis. The humans were slightly taken aback by this, until reassured that there was nothing spooky about it by both Be'nar and Sweetie Belle. When Rarity was finally finished, she was panting heavily.

"Are you alright?" Selii asked. Rarity managed a smile at her.

"Yes, I'm fine." She said. "I'm so terribly sorry, but I seem to have forgotten that you were coming." She grinned sheepishly.

"We're taking them on a tour of Ponyville, sis." Sweetie Belle said, before introducing them. Rarity oohed at Selii's name. "This my sister Rarity, best fashionista in all of Equestria." Sweetie Belle said with her seemingly characteristic voice crack. Rarity blushed at her sister's compliments.

"You're a designer?" Laramie asked. Rarity nodded and accepted Laramie's handshake offer, as well as Selii's and Justin's. When Be'nar was offered a hoof, he instead held it and kissed the palm of his hand and placed it on top. Rarity blushed at this gesture. Selii giggled.

"Still the perfect gentleman, eh?" She remarked. He nodded. The others snickered. A whistle indicated the tea was finished, which Rarity fetched for them. Surprisingly, despite not being big tea fans, the humans enjoyed it. While they drank, Rarity took the time to talk to her guests while the Crusaders waited to continue the tour. Justin was busying himself discussing the intricacies of something called "baseball" when Rarity had a sudden flash of inspiration.

"Ideaaaa!" She said in a sing song voice, suddenly jumping and almost spilled her tea.

"What is iiiit!" Laramie replied in a copycat voice, eliciting giggles and chuckles.

"In honor of your visit, I'm going to design an outfit for each of you, free of charge, and I already know what I want to do." She said, hopping up and down. "I've been so anxious to design an outfit for our visitors ever since those sailors first came here." The poor aliens were taken aback.

"Uh, well, miss, you see..." Justin began.

"We'd hate to impose..." Selii tried to get in. Rarity shushed them.

"It's not imposition at all, darlings." She said. "It would be my esteemed pleasure." Justin was about to say something else when Scootaloo tugged his hand.

"Don't bother arguing." She said. "It's impossible to get her to change her mind when she wants to make something for you." He looked back at Rarity, who was wearing a hopeful smile. Now none of them felt they could say no, especially to such a generous offer from someone who had just met them.

"Well in that case, we'd be happy to." He said. Rarity gave a happy squeal and fetched a measuring tape, whipping it about between them and carefully taking down their measurements. When she was done, she bid them farewell, promising to have some designs for them by the next morning. They thanked as they left, Be'nar giving her another gentlemanly kiss on the hoof before he left.

"So, where to next girls?" Laramie asked the Crusaders.

"I'm kind of anxious to find out more about that power Rarity had." Justin said. "If I'm not mistaken, only unicorns have it, right?" He asked.

"Mmmhmm!" Sweetie Belle said. "It comes from inside our bodies. Say, I know someone who can teach you all about unicorns."

"You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" Apple Bloom asked. Sweetie Belle nodded.

"Come on, guys!" Scootaloo said. "This way."

***

"Oh, Saints preserve us." Justin said. "They led us to the Keebler elves." They had been led by the Crusaders to a big tree in the middle of the town that had somehow been furnished into a functional house.

"Maybe they'll give us free samples." Laramie joked.

"Ooooh, free samples of what?" Pinkie Pie asked, popping out from behind a nearby bush. They jumped.

"Whoa!" Be'nar said. "We thought we lost you back there. Where did you come from?"

"That's Pinkie Pie for you." Scootaloo said. "Trust me when I say it's better if you don't think about it."

"I'll keep that in mind." Justin said. "I'm getting a headache already." Sweetie Belle knocked on the door of the tree building.

"This here's the Ponyville Library." She explained. "It's not used very often, but it's a cozy place to relax if you want to read a book." The sound of clopping hooves soon sounded from inside the building before the door glowed purple and opened to reveal another unicorn mare. This one was lavender with a dark purple mane streaked with pink. Her eyes were a moderate violet. Justin took note of her cutie mark, which looked like some sort of fancy starburst pattern. I bet this one turns out to be a wizard, he thought.

"Oooh goody! You're here!" The unicorn chirped. "Please come in!" They hesistated, surprised at how inviting she was, indeed the whole town was. They entered the library and were greeted by the smell of both old and new books. A pile of them lay cluttered on a nearby reading desk. The lavender unicorn picked several of them up and handed them to her visitors. Justin was surprised at one of the titles.

"The Summa Theologica?" He asked. "You're reading Aquinas?" She nodded.

"Aquinas, Kierkegaard, Voltaire, Augustine, nearly every major philosopher in your history." She said, showing them more texts. "I've read treatises from theologians, political theorists, economists, everything I could get my hands on. Your history and society are so fascinating." She said with a smile on her face and a sparkle in her eye. The humans were surprised at how much the unicorn had absorbed.

"We're... we're flattered Miss... uh..." Laramie stammered.

"Oh, how silly of me." The unicorn said. "I'm Twilight Sparkle." She said, extending her hoof, which everyone took the chance to shake.

"Twilight's the Ponyville librarian." Apple Bloom explained. "She's also the personal student of the princess!"

"Huh ho, fancy." Be'nar said in a good-natured way. Twilight blushed a bit, then perked up as she remembered something.

"Spike! Where are you?" She called. "Don't tell me he's napping. I told to be ready when you all arrived." As if in response, a purple and green form came rushing the stairs and tumbling to a stop in front of Laramie. She was surprised to see that it wasn't another pony, but;

"A dragon?" She asked. "A real dragon?" Spike looked up at her with a curious expression.

"What were you expecting?" He asked. Twilight scowled at him.

"Spike, behave yourself!" She chastised him. "I'm very sorry about that. Spike is a great friend and assistant, but he forgets his manners sometimes." The aliens just shared a laugh.

"It's no trouble at all." Justin said. "My younger brother is like that. Why, he never fails to be walking around the house with no shirt and his hand down his pants whenever we have company."

"Oh my, that does sound embarassing." Twilight said. Shastin cooed, which got Twilight's attention. The ever proud Kanobes held their babies up for her to view. "Awwww!" She cooed, trotting over and tickling them on the tummy. The little ones giggled up a storm.

"Yes, they are adorable, aren't they?" Laramie said. "You know they named us their godparents?" Twilight smiled.

"Aww." She said with warmth. "Oh, I'm distracting myself." She began arranging the books she had read, along with some papers which they guessed where reports. "Ever since I learned you were coming, I've been anxious to talk to you."

"Uh, Twilight, before you go gettin' ahead a' yourself, we were kinda takin' 'em on a tour." Apple Bloom said. "Sorry." Twilight looked a bit crestfallen. Clearly she had really wanted to talk about what she had learned with them. Be'nar felt sorry for her.

"Say, Pinkie Pie was going to host a party for us." He said. "There will be plenty of time to talk then. In fact, we'd welcome that." Twilight's expression brightened.

"In the meanwhile, may we take a look around?" Laramie asked.

"Please do!" Twilight said happily. "Spike, could you fix us some tea?" Spike saluted and ran off to the kitchen. The gang began looking around, mostly checking out the books. Justin himself headed upstairs. He noticed a collection of pictures along the wall of various ponies.

"Say, Twilight." He asked. "Who are these?" He held up one of the pictures, a photo of two unicorns. One was midnight blue, the other white with a purple striped mane.

"Oh, those are my parents, Nightlight and Twilight Starshine." She explained. She proceeded to point out the other pictures; a white unicorn with an electric blue mane who she indentified as her brother, Shining Armor, alonside a hot pink unicorn with a multicolored mane, who she said was her sister-in-law, Princess Cadence; two regal looking winged unicorns who she indentified as Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, her mentor and her younger sister; and finally an orange earth pony with a mane the same color as Justin's hair, who she said was her "coltfriend", Caramel. This one she also said was a relative of the Apple family, which included her friend Applejack. He grinned at the dreamy look on her face, reminded of his own relationship with Laramie.

***

After their brief tour of the library and a drink of hot tea, it was time to leave. Twilight agreed to meet them later at Sugarcube Corner, and Pinkie Pie left with her to finish planning the party. The Crusaders next led them off toward a nearby lake. Scootaloo in particular appeared to be very excited about taking them here.

The first thing that greeted their eyes was a huge house made entirely out of cloud. It took their breath away to look at it, especially when they also noticed that it had waterfalls of what appeared to be rainbow falling from it. Justin snickered.

"Will Cheech and or Chong please report to the customer service desk." He joked. Laramie, Be'nar and Selii howled with laughter. The Crusaders did not get it in the slightest, but they just shrugged their shoulders while Scootaloo took off and fluttered up to the cloud house. They waited for her down below, the aliens wondering how such a thing could even be built, until they heard Scootaloo shout "aww man" and she fluttered back down to them.

"What's wrong?" Laramie asked.

"I wanted to introduce you to Rainbow Dash." Scootaloo said, clearly crestfallen. "She's not home." Justin pet her.

"Hey,maybe she'll be at the party." He said. "You can introduce us then." He gave her a winning smile. Scootaloo smiled a bit, though still clearly disappointed. They rounded out the tour by showing them the lake.

"This here's Lake Dressage." Apple Bloom said. "It's great for swimming."

"And there's lots of fish." Sweetie Belle said. As if on cue, a fish jumped up in front of them.

"Big ones, too." Laramie said. "Reminds of back home in North Carolina. Say, mind if we explore around a bit?" The Crusaders nodded. Justin and Laramie took off together on a walk around the lake. They took note of the beautiful wildflowers where bees and butterflies flitted about in abundance. Justin even managed to catch a friendly turtle that wandered over near them.

"Heyyyy, it's Franklinnn!" He sang. Laramie giggled at him, which brought a smile to his face as he let the turtle go... until he felt something pull on his hand. "Whoa." He said.

"Um, Mr. Human, sir?" A soft voice, so soft they almost didn't hear it, spoke from behind him. They turned around and were confronted by a full grown pegasus. Her flowing mane was a bright pink color, which matched her tail and complimented her cream yellow coat and cyan eyes. What especially stood out was how much more feminine she looked, even in relation to Rarity, than the other ponies they had encountered so far. It was almost as though she was designed to be cute. Laramie in particular thought she was the most adorable thing she had ever seen, and she said so, which caused the pegasus to blush. This only caused them to think she was even cuter.

"Hi." Laramie said cheerfully. "I'm Laramie and this is my boyfriend Justin. What's your name?" The pegasus shyly looked up at them.

"I'm... I'm Fluttershy." She said. The name very much fit her, as painfully shy as she was. "Um, I was wondering, if you don't mind that is, well... when they told us you were coming I, I put something together for you." She said. "Um, would it be alright if I showed you? I mean, I can show you later if you're busy..." Justin stopped her from rambling on.

"We'd love to see it, Fluttershy." He said with a warm smile. Fluttershy smiled and led them past the lake to a nearby tree. As with the others, they took note of her cutie mark; three cute pink butterflies. Perched on the tree was a flock of colorful birds. Laramie smiled at the sight.

"Are we going birdwatching?" She asked.

"Oh, no, even better." Fluttershy said. She flew up to the birds. "OK everyone, just like we practiced." She held up her hoof like a conductor's baton. "A one, a two, a one two three." She counted down. To the humans' great surprise, the birds began to sing a tune as though in a choir. And, it was a tune they recognized. Smiling, they began to sing along.

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!

America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassion'd stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness

America! America!
God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for heroes prov'd
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country lov'd,
And mercy more than life.

America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine.

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.

America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.

Fluttershy was surprised at their singing. When the song wrapped up, she turned to face them.

"Oh my goodness, you sing beautifully." She said. "But I didn't know there were words. I thought it was just a pretty song, and Twilight said that was a traditional one for humans." Justin smiled.

"Yes, there are words to it." He said. "It's an old American patriotic song. It's called 'America the Beautiful'. I haven't heard that tune in a long time. Thank you so much." Fluttershy gave a soft "squee" at the appreciation.

"Both of us used to sing it in school during music class." Laramie said. She frowned. "Sadly, they don't sing it anymore, at least I haven't heard my niece singing it in school..." Justin hugged her. Laramie smiled though. "Thank you for this, Fluttershy. It brought back a lot of good memories."

"I did?" Fluttershy asked. "Oh, that's so incredibly wonderful." She fluttered in air happily, despite her perpetually quiet voice. The Crusaders, wondering where their friends were, trotted over to them.

"Hi, Fluttershy!" Sweetie Belle said. "You met our friends?"

"Oh yes. They're wonderful." Fluttershy said. Seemingly having opened up despite her obviously shy nature, she fluttered over and gave the humans a hug. Each of them warmly returned the gesture. Both of their faces were plastered with warm smiles. They had never expected this. First being welcomed with song by Pinkie, then Rarity offered to make them a gift to celebrate their visit, and now Fluttershy performed a song for them.

This was going to be a year to remember.

A/N: I respectfully ask for no debates in the comment box, plox.

Parties, Princesses and Plots

CHAPTER TWO: PARTIES, PRINCESSES AND PLOTS

Travel Journal, Equestria, October 27, 2009

We arrived planetside around 2:30 in the afternoon after a three day warp flight from Earth. I'm surprised that it took us such a little while to make it here, with the distance between our two planets, but it matters little at this point. What really surprises is how little difference there is between Earth and here. Heck, even some of the food is the same. While we were being taken on a tour of the town we'll be staying in, I saw vendors selling carrots, sweet corn and even strawberries, and one of my "tour guides" lives on an honest-to-goodness apple orchard. Be'nar calls it "Kushar's Theory of Parallel Planetary Developement". I guess it's not a theory anymore.

I'm very surprised, and pleased, with the warm reception that we have received so far. Not only from our "tour guides", three very adorable little ones, but also from the adults we have met thus far. It's apparent that our arrival has been anxiously awaited. The unicorn Twilight Sparkle, in particular, was quite anxious to talk about everything she had learned from studying our history and culture. That'll have to wait until we get settled in, though. The pink one, appropriately enough named Pinkie Pie, is throwing us a huge party to celebrate our coming. I feel like a celebrity already.

I'm really looking forward to spending the year here. It's an opportunity of a lifetime. So much has happened for humanity over the last few years. First the Altarians pay us a visit in 2003, now we have the opportunity to visit someone else. I won't be wasting it, that's for sure.

Finishing off the entry with a flourishing script, Justin put the small black leather journal away in his sweater pocket as the three fillies led them to the inn where they would be staying at. In all appearances it resembled one of the cozy looking country inns that dotted the countryside back home. The building bore the resemblance to a log cabin, prompting Justin to remark that the pony equivalent of Abraham Lincoln must have been born there. The fillies were confused, but giggled, figuring it was a joke and not wanting their guests to feel awkward.

Upon entering, a kindly looking elderly unicorn stallion offered to take their jackets for them and show them up to their rooms, which they gratefully accepted. The Crusaders followed them up. Justin was pleased to see that his bags had already arrived in the room, and he wasted no time in thanking the innkeeper for his hospitality before unpacking his belongings and placing them in the room's drawers.

The room itself was very comfortable looking. The beds were queen-sized and done up with pleasant floral pattern down comforters and down pillows, the headboards and bedposts made of stained oak. On each oak nightstand was a classic oil lamp lit up, bathing the room with a peaceful light. There was even a TV in the room, currently turned off, which caused Justin to hope that they got cable. On one side of the room stood a wardrobe mirror framed with an elegant brass frame formed in a vine pattern and even inlaid with pearl.

"Must be the best suites." Justin remarked to himself as he finished unpacking. To his pleasant surprise, the Crusaders helped him put away his clothes. "Aww, thanks girls." He said. The Crusaders beamed at his praise.

***

"This is Sugarcube Corner?" Justin asked. They had met their friends in front of the bakery when it came time for the party. The call wasn't hard to miss, as it involved a certain pink pony stopping by their hotel room dressed in a fancy suit and singing another one of her trademark jingles. How she figured out where they were staying he didn't even bother to try and guess.

"This is it." Twilight replied. Laramie giggled.

"Fitting design." She said.

"Perhaps if this was Candy Land." Be'nar quipped.

"Candy Land?" The Crusaders asked, their eyes brightening up.

"That's actually a board game," Justin said, "and a kiddy one at that. I use to play it when I was about six."

"Oh, so Pinkie would like it?" Scootaloo quipped. The other Crusaders snickered while Twilight rolled her eyes. She knocked on the door.

"We're here!" She called out. No answer. "Be careful, I think Pinkie has a surprise planned for you." She said. They simply nodded and readied themselves for whatever awaited them on the other side of the door. To their surprise, the entire bakery was dark. Justin and Be'nar began to whistle the Twilight Zone theme song as Twilight led them inside. The dead quiet on the inside of the bakery unnerved Laramie a bit, but she shoved that aside and went in with the others.

"Hello, we're here," Twilight called. "I've brought our guests!" Almost at once the lights flipped on and a cacaphony of party horns and champagne poppers sounded. The aliens practically jumped out of their skin and fur, respectively.

"Surprise!" A huge crowd of ponies appeared from hiding places across the main floor of the bakery. Justin was floored, literally.

"Ow!" He hissed as his backside made contact with the floor. His vision was immediately filled with pink.

"Surprise!" Pinkie Pie cheered. "Welcome to Ponyville!" She blew a party horn that somehow also managed to shoot confetti all over him. "Are you surprised, are you, huh huh huh?" She chirped. Justin chuckled.

"Very," He said. "I'm also a bit deaf in my right ear." He joked. Pinkie, ever the oblivious pony, just laughed. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle ran up to their sisters and gave them a huge hug, babbling on about how cool their guests were. The humans found themselves blushing at the attention. Scootaloo, for her part, began to scan the crowd that soon gathered around the guests of honor.

"Looking for someone, sport?" Applejack asked her. She nodded, but before she could open her mouth to answer she was suddenly scooped up by a speeding cyan blur that caught poor Be'nar by surprise when it nearly clipped the end of his nose. He reeled back in surprise as the figure came to a stop in the air. Scootaloo was now being held in midair in the grasp of a cyan pegasus with brilliant magenta eyes, who proceeded to give her a noogie. Scootaloo laughed and flailed as the pony grinned down at her. Her cutie mark, the first thing the guests noticed, was a tri-colored lightning bolt bursting from a cloud. But the pegasus' most striking feature was her mane; in a crazy display of super-powered equestrian genetics, her mane bore all seven colors of the spectrum.

"That mare is wearing a wig," Justin quipped. "It's ridiculous."

"That's no wig," Twilight said. "She's a 100% natural rainbow-head." She laughed at her own joke, but stopped when she noticed that no one seemed to think it was funny. "Anyway, this is..." She began before being cut off by Be'nar.

"Don't tell me, Roy G. Biv." Pinkie and Applejack were sent into giggle fits. The cyan mare apparently didn't notice as she landed in front of Justin, Scootaloo now perched on her back. He didn't need to be introduced to know who this one was.

"No, I bet this is the famous Rainbow Dash." Rainbow puffed her chest out at this.

"The one and only." She said. She gestured at Scootaloo. "And this is my number one, biggest fan and the most awesome filly in Equestria, Scootaloo." Scootaloo beamed at this praise from her idol.

"Yes, we uh, bumped into each other... literally." He said. Rainbow snickered. Twilight took care of introducing them to Rainbow, who high-fived all of them. Pinkie Pie gave a squee.

"Alright, now that you have lots and lots of friends, it's time to parrrtayyy!" She said, taking position at a nearby sound system and turning on the music. The humans looked at their alien friends.

"Say Benny, whaddya say we show these guys how us otherworlders get down?" He suggested. Be'nar grinned.

"Loth tok'ar." He said, with a fist bump.

***

The party proved to be a blast for everyone involved. Justin would never have guessed that ponies would make such great dancers, as him getting caught in no less than six conga line dances showed him. Laramie had a blast teaching the CMCs how to do the Party Rock Anthem shuffle dance. Scootaloo proved a surprisingly quick learner, quickly adapting the dance to four hooves and prompting Rainbow to speculate that dancing might be her special talent. Scootaloo scoffed, saying that she was no "tutu-wearing goofball".

Pinkie had provided an excellent spread containing now only the typical fare she served at her parties, but also some things that their human guests would enjoy. In addition to cupcakes, cookies, punch and candy of all kinds, there was chips and dip of all kinds, chicken wings, pizza, burgers and hot dogs, and even pulled pork barbecue that Pinkie said was done in every style she had read about from Twilight's studies. All of it was homemade and very delicious, as Justin was pleased to find when he sampled some.

"Whoa!" He said after taking a bite from something Pinkie called "Super Special Spicy Hot Wings". "What did you put in these things, ghost chilies?" Pinkie giggled.

"Nope! Just my special secret hot sauce!" She chirped. "You like it?" Justin got himself a glass of milk, conveniently from the jug located next to the cookie platters, and guzzled it down to sooth the burn.

"Yeah, they're great," He said. "Make sure you've got plenty of milk though." He said.

"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie said, taking off to the kitchen, presumably to get more milk jugs. Justin was about to go over and join Laramie when he felt something tug on his hand. It turned out to be a mint green unicorn with bright yellow eyes and a two-toned green mane and tail that matched her coat perfectly, a mare judging by her look. He took note of her cutie mark; a golden lyre.

"Hello." He said. She looked back at him with huge grin and a shimmer in her eyes. A soft squee was heard from her.

"Hi!" She squeaked. "Oh my gosh you're really a human! Twilight told me all about you guys! You have no idea how awesome it is to finally meet you!" She started dancing on her tippy hooves like a teenage girl who had just met Justin Bieber and Robert Pattinson at the same time. Justin laughed sheepishly at the excited mare in front of him. Laramie, who had by now exhausted herself teaching the fillies how to do the electric slide, came over with cups of punch for both of them. She was surprised to see the spazzing unicorn.

"Who is this?" She asked with a giggle. Justin shrugged.

"I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess her name is 'Spazzy Happy-Pants'." He suggested. Lyra just continued to giggle and bounce up and down so much that a few ponies began to joke that she must be Pinkie's long-lost sibling. The unicorn began bouncing around them, remarking about how cool they looked and bombarding them with questions; where were they from, what was their home like, could they teach her how to stand upright like they could... the poor humans just didn't know what to do with the excited mare. Fortunately they were rescued from this predicament by the timely intervention of another pony.

"Lyra!" A cream-colored earth pony with a tone-toned pink and blue mane and tail, sharply called out to the happy unicorn. Lyra stopped in midair and fell down on her rump, looking over in the other pony's direction.

"Uh, hi Bon Bon?" She said sheepishly, trying to put on her best "I wasn't doing anything" face. Bon Bon wasn't buying it, however.

"Do you think you could possibly give these poor people some time to breathe before you start acting like a crazed fangirl?" She scolded. Lyra frowned, and Justin swore she started to get a little teary-eyed. "I'm so sorry, she's been like this ever since Twilight loaned her the books on humans that the Altarians gave us." Laramie smiled warmly at Lyra.

"Hey, it's perfectly alright," Laramie said. "Say, Justin, Twilight said she wanted to talk to you, and you should meet her 'coltfriend' as she called him. He's a riot, he is. I'll take care of this one." Justin nodded and went off in search of the purple unicorn while Laramie busied herself with Lyra and Bon Bon.

The party lasted long into the evening, courtesy of Pinkie's insistence on making the human's welcome to Equestria as joyous as possible. The four of them were introduced to many ponies from across town, including Twilight's love Caramel and Fluttershy's husband Hailstorm Tempest. Their story in particular warmed all of their hearts and provided a point of conversation for them and the Kanobes -- who regaled them with the story of how they had met, fell in love and later were reunited.

All in all, an evening that the four of them would be carrying for a long time to come.

***

Celestia's sun rose and cast its light over the land, warming the planet and signaling the start of a new day. Despite the crisp, cool air, many were already out and about getting their businesses ready or going to work. At the town inn, Justin awoke as the light of then crept through the window and alerted him that it was time to awaken from a peaceful night's sleep. His vision was blurry and his head was cloudy with sleep. His muscles were stiff and screamed in protest when he dragged himself out of bed. A pleasant smell, which turned out to be a plate of freshly baked muffins left there apparently by the owner, helped to distract from some of that discomfort. He rubbed his eyes to clear the blurriness so he could see the clock next to his bed; eight o' clock on the button, just as Twilight said it would be. Celestia was never late.

His mind wandered to just who this princess of theirs was and what she was like. Despite his American nationality, Justin was a longtime student of Earth's past and had a great love of the Middle Ages that gave him a deep respect for the royal houses of his homeworld. It proved to be a point of connection between him and Twilight as they both had a shared interest in history. But what kind of monarch was Celestia? He knew that she was a pegacorn and had ruled the country for nearly two thousand years and had the power to raise the sun. Beyond that, absolutely nothing, and for some reason it had never occurred to him to ask Twilight. He would have to rectify that this morning, after morning prayers that was.

Throwing on a gray Boston Red Sox t-shirt, he took out a green book with five colored ribbons sprouting from between its pages. Gold text on the spine read The Liturgy of the Hours, Volume IV. Opening it to a place marked with a green ribbon, he was about to begin the first part of his morning prayers when a sudden crash made him jump and drop the book.

"What in the world was that?" He exclaimed. Grunting a bit at the intrusion, he wandered over to the door to see who was slamming around at this time of the morning. His expression softened when he saw that it was a gray-furred pegasus mare with a straw yellow mane and a cutie mark of bubbles. He had no idea what that could mean.

The mare shook her head vigorously as if to clear it. The source of the noise was now explained as her slamming into the door of his room. They had now been there for three days, which was apparently long enough for the mail service to start delivering to them, mostly coupons for local stores and assorted junk mail. This was the first he had seen of this pony, though.

"Are you alright, miss?" He asked, offering his hand to help her up. She opened her eyes to reveal something unusual; her eyes were crossed in a familiar "derp face" pattern that he had seen in countless Internet memes. He had to suppress a giggle at how silly it looked out of respect. The mare smiled and wrapped her hoof around his hand, allowing him to help her up.

"Oh, I'm fine," She said, her voice light and almost child-like despite her being an adult mare. "I crash into things all the time." Turning to the green saddlebags she carried, she somehow managed to open it with her wingtips and extracted a stack of envelopes. "I brought you a letter!" She chirped.

Justin felt his smile fade. The last thing he wanted to deal with was more junk mail, but he took it anyway. He was pleasantly surprised to see not a junk letter or advertisement, but a scroll held shut by a red ribbon and a gold seal marked by a large "C". It gave it a sense of importance, as though the pony who sent it was of high status. He broke the seal and threw on a pair of reading glasses. The letter was written in black ink in a fancy calligraphic script.

Dear Mr. Thompson,

Let me begin by saying that it is a great pleasure to welcome you and all your compatriots to my world. All of Equestria and beyond is very excited to be able to learn from your species, and we hope that you are excited as well.

I'm sure by now you have met my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. No one is more excited by your coming than her. Learning was always one of her strongest points and something she has always taken great pride in. She reminds me of myself in my younger years in that regard. She took the time to write me about meeting and talking with you, and having read her letter I'm more than anxious to meet you myself.

For that reason, I would like to extend a personal invitation to you and your friends to visit Canterlot for a luncheon with myself and the Element bearers tomorrow afternoon. I have many things that I would like to discuss with you. Can you RSVP as soon as possible?

With Warmest Greetings,
Celestia Solaris, High Princess of All Equestria, Queen of Everfree, Duchess of Canterlot, Sovereign of the Sun

"Well, I must be pretty popular around these parts, if I'm getting invites from royalty," He said to himself, then turned to the mare. "Thank you Miss... uh, what's your name?" He asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I totally forgot to introduce myself," She exclaimed. "My name's Ditzy Doo, but you can call me Derpy. Everyone else does." He wasn't sure if he should find it fitting because of her eyes, or be mad at an apparent degrading nickname. He decided that since he didn't know any better, he should give them the benefit of the doubt and assume it was a friendly one. Ditzy Doo sniffed the air, homing in on the scent of the muffins. "Why do I smell muffins? Were you baking in here?" She asked. He laughed.

"No, the owner must have left them for me," He said. "Would you like one? I'm not going to eat them all." Ditzy's eyes lit up at this. She emitted a soft squee.

"Really?" She squeaked. Justin snickered as he watched Ditzy begin to flutter her wings and dance on her top hooves.

"Here," He said, taking one. "It's the biggest one." Ditzy squealed.

"Blueberry! My favorite!" She took a great big bite. "Mmmmmm! Thank you so much mister!" Justin got a surprise when she wrapped him in a squeeze hug and then hopped out of the room giggling while balancing her muffin on her nose. He shook his head and laughed.

"Out of all the ponies I've met so far, I think she's the best," He said, chuckling before turning back to his prayerbook. "Now, where was I? Oh yeah, that's right." He picked up the book and reset the ribbons before starting over again, taking his time so as to relax himself as he recited.

***

"So, you got one, too?" Be'nar asked, taking a bite of the breakfast burrito he had ordered. The four of them had met at the local diner for coffee and a chat to discuss the latest developments. Like Justin, Laramie, Be'nar and his family had likewise received invitations. Needless to say, it was as much a surprise for them as it was for him.

"Yep," Justin answered. "An invitation to meet the Princess herself. I wasn't aware that I was a celebrity." Laramie giggled.

"Twilight sure thinks so." Selii replied, shifting herself so that she could cradle Curzon for his feeding. Soft coos told them the little boy was heartily enjoying his breakfast. A few ponies stopped to gander at the adorable baby, thoroughly distracted from whatever their business was at the time.

"I'm curious though," Laramie interjected, savoring the pancake she had just taken a bite of. "Why would she want to meet with only us? Surely there's people here who are more important." She took another bite, smiling as the taste of cinnamon filled her mouth. "Mmm, tasty."

"Apparently, Twilight's endorsement is all we need." Be'nar said, likewise savoring his own breakfast, homemade fruit crepes.

"And I don't plan on disappointing her," Justin said, his voice carrying and air of determination. "God help me make a good impression, though." He looked off in the distance, toward the cliff on which perched the magnificent upper city of Canterlot. "God help me indeed.

***

Normally a flying carriage ride, the primary mode of transportation for high class ponies around the kingdom, from Ponyville to Canterlot took less than two hours, especially at the high altitudes pegasi normally flew at. But when you're passengers are humans and Altarians who cannot possibly survive at such high altitudes, you have to select an alternative form of transportation that suits them better.

Enter the Friendship Express, one of numerous railroads around the country that provided passenger service around the country. All of the visitors were forced to try and surpress a giggle at the look of the thing; it looked like something that one would find in a play set made for little girls to carry their favorite princess dolls on a whirlwind tour of candyland, or whatever imaginary realm they conjured up during playtime. A pink, frilly heart decorated steam locomotive, looking like it rolled out of a cartoon western, pulled cars that looked they were ripped from a Saturday morning cartoon show that were produced for the very young, or at least young girls.

Despite the appearances, the train was loaded, as Justin and his friends discovered, with just about every luxury they could think of. The cars were spacious and though seemingly designed primarily for ponies, were quite comfortable. Laramie especially appreciated the down quilts and soft mattresses that had been supplied in their staterooms. For the young gentleman there was a fully stocked bar car, complete with every kind of drink they could possibly want. The scent of food could be sensed wafting from the dining car, and some of the rooms had even been recently equipped with small televisions and radios for the entertainment of passengers.

"Amtrak, eat your heats out." Justin remarked as he settled into his fully equipped cabin. The train was already on the way to Canterlot, the capital, and it was nearly suppertime, as Rarity did not fail to inform him. Hoping the train would have something that would appeal to humans as well as ponies, he threw on a collared shirt and a pair of khaki pants for the occasion and slipped out the door.

"Ready love?" Laramie asked, slipping her arm under his and resting her head on his shoulders. He leaned down and gave her an eskimo kiss.

"Yes, ma'am. Lead the way." He replied with a romantic look in his eyes. She pecked him on the cheek and walked with her boyfriend down the train toward the dining car at the front, near the engine. Ponies going about their business gave sweet looks at the couple, a few mouthing about how "adorable" they looked. Laramie blushed at the compliments, and both were quite surprised that they were still receiving such a positive reception. Being guests definitely had it's perks, they both thought.

"Ah, wonderful! You're here," Twilight said as they entered the spacious dining car. She was seated beside her friends at a table that appeared to have been set up especially for them, as indicated by the special menus that had been created to cater to human and Altarian tastes. "We saved you seats." She said, gesturing to them where to sit down

"Gosh, they didn't have to go this far," Laramie remarked, scooching in to let Justin sit on the outside. "We're quite content eating anything that you eat." She glanced at the menu. "Oh my, there's a lot of fish on this one."

"Fish is easier to get." Applejack explained. Justin nodded. Raising livestock for meat was something that the ponies didn't practice, unless they were trading them with their neighbors, the griffons. Fish, on the other hand, could be caught right out of any lake, river or even the ocean, and many ponies did fish for sport or leisure.

"I have to say, though, we're really surprised that everyone seems so happy to have us." He said, opening the menu. The Chliean sea bass looks good, he thought.

"Didn't you guys react the same way when the Altarians showed up?" Rainbow Dash asked, her expression and tone expression confusion. Justin shook his head.

"Well, we didn't go crazy, but more than a few people were nervous," He explained. "Our popular culture tended to view alien contact through two lenses; one, I call the 'Star Trek' lens, where the aliens came in peace and everything went smoothly. The other I call the 'War of the Worlds' lens, where they didn't come in peace and actually tried to conquer the planet. You can probably guess where I'm going with that." He smiled nervously.

"I take it 'alien invasion' was the more common theme?" Twilight said, recalling some of the works she had read on human popular culture and film. At Justin's nod, she continued. "I take it when people got the inkling there were aliens in their midst, they feared an invasion."

"You could say that again," Justin said, rubbing his forehead as he remembered some of the silly things that his fellow humans assumed when the Altarians were discovered trying to communicate with Earth following the test of the warp ship Alcubierre. "Conspiracy theory blogs exploded, people starting fleeing into the countryside to escape, and even a prominent astronomer came on TV and basically told everyone to make their peace with the Almighty that very day, because we were all going to be dead the next day when the lasers started bombarding us." He sighed. "My species embarrasses me sometimes."

"Whoa, that sounds intense." Rainbow Dash gaped. Fluttershy meeped.

"It must have been scary seeing all that," She remarked. "I mean, all those scared people, wondering what was going to happen..." Her face bore an expression betraying a combination of sympathy and fear, the same fear that she imagined the poor people of Earth at that time must have been drowning in. She started to shiver, causing Rarity to pat her on the back to help calm her down, which she quietly thanked her for.

"It certainly was," Laramie replied, putting the drink menu down. "I live in a large city in North Carolina, Charlotte. There were a lot of people who were fleeing their homes. I remember seeing people in my neighborhood literally throwing things out of windows into the back of their pickups, or boarding up their windows. There was even a huge riot in another part of town and the police had to be called out in force to stop it," She shuddered. "I can't even bear to think about it now."

"But everything's all hunky dory, now," Applejack chimed in. "How did you all figure it out without going crazy?"

"A few intrepid teenagers with technological skills and some guile managed to build an ad-hoc communication program that somehow managed to translate their signals and talk to them via radio." Justin remarked, with a grin that everyone in the room immediately recognized.

"It was you!" Twilight remarked. "But how?"

"It's a long story, but to try and make it short, I got curious," He explained. "I noticed, amidst all the confusion, that SETI... that's 'Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence' kept picking up signals from orbit that could only have been coming from the Altarian ship, spoiler alert." He joked, eliciting a giggle from his audience. "They ended up getting something in the neighborhood of a thousand transmissions in a day. The rational side of my brain told me that there was no way they would be trying to contact us repeatedly if they were hostile, so I gathered up a few friends and... you can probably guess the rest." He finished.

"That sounds like an incredible story." Twilight remarked. "I'll have to go back and study the news reports I've gathered."

"Just don't read the New York Times, you'll have to wade through a lot of crap to get the good parts, and I mean a lot." Justin said. A porter came by and took their meal and drink orders.

"So, how did you and Benny meet?" Rainbow asked, fiddling with her silverware, to Rarity's consternation. Justin grinned at her having picked up on the nickname he had given his friend.

"That one would probably take us until we reached the city," Be'nar said. "But I'm told I have a knack for telling stories, so I'll fill you in." And tell stories he did, from meeting his friend to tales from his homeworld, he regaled the ponies, who hung upon every word he said.

Twilight smiled as she listened. It was still so amazing to her, even though she knew for a while that they were not alone, it didn't cease to surprise her how much she was learning, and probably had yet to learn.

"You know, someone has to write a book about this someday." She said to herself.

***

The first thing that Selii noticed after she woke up from the previous night's sleep was the gleaming coming through the window that couldn't have been from the sun. Rubbing her still tired eyes and trying to shake the sudden pain from the light, she held her hand over her brow as she squinted out the cabin window toward the mountain in the distance to see that the gleam indeed wasn't coming from the sun; it was coming from the gold that covered the domes on top of the spires of a gleaming alabaster city that could only be the fabled Canterlot they had heard so much about. The sight of the great city put a look of complete awe on her face. She felt her heart begin to soar gazing on it. It was no wonder so many spoke with such reverence toward the city; it seemed almost to be a temple, one dedicated to the ingenious spirit of the ponies that had build it so many centuries ago.

The feeling left her as soon as she heard a conductor announce that they were approaching the Canterlot train station. It would soon be time to disembark. Tearing her gaze away from the sight of the city, she gently shook her sleeping husband, who stuttered at the sudden interruption of his slumber.

"Huhwhu? What's this all about?" He asked, rubbing his eyes. "Oh, morning love." She rolled her eyes at him.

"We're almost there," She said. "We'd better wake the babies up and get them breakfast." Be'nar yawned widely, causing her to wince a bit at his rather noxious morning breath. "And no offense, but your breath smells like pad'ruk. He snickered, having gotten used to others complaining about his morning breath, something that had plagued him for years.

"Sorry, love. I'll be sure to swallow a few mint leaves for good measure after I've taken care of my teeth. I don't want to cause my children any brain damage from exposure to harmful gas." Selii giggled at this one. Be'nar popped his back before getting up to check on his babies, who were still sleeping soundly. He gently rubbed their heads to awaken them. Yawning, they began to coo and babble as their father's visage came into view. He smiled as Shastin began to reach to be picked up. Obliging her, he tickled her gently, causing the little baby girl to giggle up a storm.

"Are you hungry?" She cooed loudly. "Right then, let's go see mommy."

When the others finally woke up, the train had already arrived at the station. A few uniformed railroad police patrolled the station as passengers milled about waiting for trains or loved ones and friends who would be arriving. Deciding to eat breakfast when they had gotten off the train, the group disembarked and waited for their luggage while Twilight filled them in with some stories of her fillyhood while growing up with her parents in the famed upper city.

"You seriously turned your brother orange?" Justin asked, cackling at Twilight's tale of a botched spell when she was still learning magic. Twilight giggled.

"Yep, but you should hear what I did to my mom's drapes the next day." She snickered at the thought of gaudy tie-dye pattern she somehow managed to conjure up. Just as she was about to launch into the story, however, the sound of somepony calling her snapped her out of storytelling mode. She whirled around to see an amber-coated Royal Guard, wearing the characteristic golden armor of the Day Regiment, throwing her a salute. She smiled at him in recognition.

"Flash!" She trotted over and embraced him like an old friend. "Good to see you again."

"Likewise, Your Grace." He said. Twilight blushed a bit at the formal introduction, always the humble pony.

"Oh stop it, you know I'm not one for titles." Flash laughed. "Oh, introductions, of course. These are my new friends, Justin, Laramie, Be'nar and Selii. They're staying in Ponyville with us for the whole year." She added a "squee" at the end, her excitement bursting through despite her tone. "You know the rest of them already."

"Only from your brother." He said. He shook "hands" with each of them. "Princess Celestia has asked me to escort you to the palace. If you'll follow me please." He said, gesturing for them to follow to a waiting carriage that would take them through the upper city.

"Limousine service? We really are VIPs aren't we?" Be'nar quipped.

"It's not a proper limousine without cold champagne and nubile young starlets," Justin joked. "What do you think, ladies, could you play the role of the starlets while I scrounge up the bubbly?" He smiled at them six mares with a cheeky grin. Pinkie and Rainbow laughed, while the others, Selii and Laramie included, simply rolled their eyes. Flash snickered.

"This is going to be interesting." He though.

***

"Of all the things the Princess has me doing, this has to be the absolute lowest." The grey unicorn stallion, his black mane slicked back and his piercing orange eyes locked on the ground as he paced back and forth, grunting in frustration. "Why did she have to select me to take charge of a bunch of stinking aliens? And not even high ranking ones at that." He spat and hissed as he waited for his charges to arrive. Lord Vizier was tired; his duties as Princess Celestia's Chief of Staff had consumed most of his energy, what with keeping the staff running a tight ship while the Princess met with multiple dignitaries from both Altair and Earth, and a few from their own world for good measure. It was enough to drive most insane, but he had somehow managed to keep a cool head despite the seemingly endless tasks that the Princess had set before him.

Now she expected him to babysit not only her student and her five friends, but yet more aliens. If he hadn't wanted to run to the nearest bar and down the entire contents of both the liquor bottles and the beer kegs before, he definitely wanted to now!

The sound of marching hooves alerted him to the sound of the approaching guard before he saw him round the corner and throw a salute, his characteristic green helmet crest revealing him to be a member of Third Battalion of the Day Regiment. Vizier glared at him. He couldn't stand the Guard. To him, they always had this haughty air of superiority, especially when compared to the other branches of the military, whom he equally detested. He huffed as the guard lowered his salute and stood at attention. "Yes, Sergeant?" The irritation was plain in his voice.

"Lord Vizier, sir, the Princess' guests have arrived." The guard quickly stated.

Finally! The sooner I can get them in, the sooner I can get rid of them. He thought. "Yes, please send them in immediately." He said. The guard saluted before opening the door to reveal the six mares and four alien beings, plus two infants that he guessed were the children of the two fox-like aliens. He sighed at the look of them. None of the males carried themselves with any ounce of dignity or poise that he expected from someone coming to visit the Princess; they chatted and joked with the six element bearers like they were on a school field trip. It made him sick to his stomach to watch. He felt his lips curl into a sneer at the sight of the uncouth barbarians.

But what made him sicker was the fact that the element bearers seemed to not only be accepting of such behavior, but actively encouraged it by joking back! Disgusting! And the fact that Twilight Sparkle was from Canterlot, was of noble birth and the Princess' personal protégée made him even sicker. What he would give for the opportunity to just hurl them out the front door, or better yet, into prison for their disgusting insolence!

He shook his head as they approached. No time for that now. The Princess had entrusted him to show them around the palace before their meeting, and he intended to fulfill his duty. He did his best to smile as they approached him, still chatting like idiots. He cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Greetings, and welcome to the Royal Palace of Canterlot," He said in the stiff, practiced polite tones that characterized the upper class. "My name is Lord Vizier, and I will be your escort around the palace. Her Majesty has asked you that I give you a brief tour before your meeting with her. If you will follow me please." Well, that covers that, at least. He said to himself.

Justin smiled and gave a brief bow. "Thank you, Sir. Lead the way." Vizier was surprised that he had somehow managed to show some manners. Perhaps there was hope for at least some of them. He turned and beckoned them to follow him. Justin, Be'nar and Twilight hung back, looking at Vizier with hardened eyes.

"I don't know what it is, but there's something about that stallion that I don't like." Twilight said. Justin nodded.

"You're not the only one. The guy is giving off real arsehole vibes."

"Between the three of us, I say we avoid the holiday rush and start hating him now." Be'nar said. The others just nodded as they took off to catch up with the others.

***

"The room you see before you know is the main entrance hall to the palace." Vizier explained. He had led them into a massive hall, surrounded on all sides by beautiful stained glass windows, marble columns inlaid with gold and jewels running the length of the room. Laramie's eyes were widened at the sight. Stained glass was something she loved, and to see such windows before her, like the windows of a great cathedral on Earth, filled her with awe.

"Excuse me, but what do these windows represent?" She asked.

"These ones in particular show scenes from the history of our fair country," Vizier replied, pointing out a few of them. "It begins here with the founding of the Equestrian Commonwealth by Princess Platinum, Commander Hurricane and Chancellor Puddinghead." The window showed three ponies; a unicorn mare wearing royal regalia, an armored pegasus stallion carrying a spear in one hoof, and an Earth Pony stallion wearing a garish outfit with a goblet in one hoof.

"I like that guy already." Justin remarked. Laramie giggled.

"Yes, the Chancellor did love his wine." Vizier replied, rolling his eyes slightly at the rather crude joke. He next pointed out a rather grim looking stained glass window. The top portion portrayed a terrible battle, with the ponies being forced into retreat by an army of pony-sized dragons led by a demonic looking unicorn stallion. The bottom portion portrayed a burning Equestrian flag carried by a bizarre looking creature, which Vizier identified as Discord, a being of pure chaos. Ponies in various stages of suffering and misery surrounded him. Laramie and Selii shuddered.

"What happened here?" Selii asked, a slight mist appearing in her violet eyes. Selii hated suffering, and even images of past suffering filled her with grief.

"The first scene is the Battle of Foaltava, also known as the Disaster at Foaltava, where an army led by King Sombra, the evil looking unicorn you see in the picture, defeated an army of the Commonwealth led by Chancellor Puddinghead thanks to Discord's help. In an exchange for helping him take over Equestria, he gave Sombra the ancient throne of the Crystal Empire. The scene you see below is the result of that unholy partnership. Discord ruled our land in a constant state of chaos and suffering for over thirty years and decimated any attempt to take it back thanks to his powers of chaos. Thirty years of nonstop chaos and destruction. And to make it worse, he put a curse on the land that made everyone immortal. He wanted us to suffer for eternity."

"Sounds like hell." Justin remarked. "Scratch that, that IS hell." Be'nar nodded.

"I certainly must have felt like it to them." He said, looking at the image of the suffering ponies. Vizier nodded and then pointed out another stained glass window.

"But then we fast forward thirty years in history and we come here." The window showed three scenes; two pegacorn ponies being crowned, the same two leading armies into battle, and finally holding a flag, together, before a cheering crowd of ponies. "You'll see here Princess Celestia and her sister, Princess Luna, being crowned as Queens of Everfree and Princesses of All Equestria, defeating Discord in battle, and finally proclaiming the new nation of Equestria. We've been free ever since." He said. Justin noticed something in his tone when he said "free"; it wasn't anything really about the tone other than it seemed empty, like it was devoid of any affection or emotion. He shook his head. It was probably just him.

"Moving on, I'll show you the meeting chamber of Their Majesties' Privy Council." He said, not bothering to point out any of the other stained glass windows. Laramie, although curious as to the others, was beaming.

"Y'all liked that, eh?" Applejack asked. She nodded.

"Oooh, do you have pretty glass back home?" Pinkie asked.

"Yes, we do." Laramie said. She explained how stained glass was popular among humans as art, especially with churches and other religious buildings. The other ponies were intrigued, but Vizier couldn't care less. He just led them along to the next chamber.

"I can't wait until this is over." He muttered.

***

"The room you see here is the old throne room." He said, pointing to a simpler room made of carved marble, bearing the symbols of both Princesses and capped off by two carved marble thrones etched in gold. It was hard to believe they were over a thousand years old. Both looked as though they had just been carved and polished that very day. Each throne was set with a jewel; a massive golden topaz representing the sun on one, and a bright white pearl representing the moon on the other. A window just above the thrones allowed the sun to bath the thrones in light, causing a dazzle to erupt from the gems and the gold etching and giving the thrones a glow that almost seemed to brim with an ancient, mystical energy.

Both Justin and Be'nar were history buffs, the type who saw going to a museum as a more exciting weekend activity than visiting a dance club or bar. To see such a piece of history before them, such an ancient symbol of royal power and authority, in such pristine condition filled them with a sense of awe. The only time Justin himself had felt a greater sense of awe was when beheld a holy relic back home. He reached out to touch one of the thrones, but before he could Vizier's voice rang out.

"I wouldn't do that, sir," Justin whipped around to face him. "Both thrones carried an enchantment that prevented anyone besides the royal sisters from sitting in them or touching them. I don't know if it's still active, but it's better to be safe than sorry. The enchantment isn't fatal, but I heard it would give you a rather nasty shock, and I'm sure that no one of you would like to spend your time among us in the hospital."

"Oh come on now, you know that those enchantments were removed." A female voice said behind them. They turned to see a periwinkle colored mare wearing what appeared to be business attire trotting over.

Finally, someone to hopefully relieve of this damned burden, Vizier thought. He flashed his best winning smile. "Good afternoon, Miss Courier," He said to her. "What brings you here?

"The Princess asked me to escort our guests to the throne room," She replied, gesturing toward them. "I trust that won't be a problem?" He shook his head, barely concealing his eagerness to be rid of them. The others took notice of this.

"I don't like the way he's acting." Laramie whispered to Justin, pointing at Vizier. He nodded.

"I know, he seems like he's happy to be relieved. Rude much?" He asked rhetorically. She nodded, though something else was lingering that she couldn't quite put her finger on. By now Vizier, who had been conversing with Courier, turned to face them again.

"I must depart now. Courier here will be your host for the remainder of this visit. Please, enjoy your stay with us and we thank you for coming." He managed his best polite tone as he gave a flourishing boy before leaving the old throne room. The others sized Courier up. Her jade eyes were bright and cheerful, and her smile was genuine, with no evidence of being forced like Vizier's was. It was a relief to know that she at least seemed to be genuinely happy to guide them.

"If you'll follow me, we'll..." She was stopped by the sight of Be'nar sitting in the sun throne, grinning like an idiot and scanning them like he was sitting for an audience. Courier couldn't suppress a giggle at the sight of him, even though she should probably have been telling him to get off. Even the other ponies were snickering at his antics.

"I feel the power!" He said, grinning even more stupidly while delivering a fist bump.

"Be'nar, I must challenge your claim to the throne," Justin said with a smirk. "You're lack of intelligence and severe drinking habit make you unfit to be the ruler of this fair land." Be'nar gave him a look of mock outrage.

"Insolence! Off with his head!" All present were sent into stitches, especially Pinkie, who was rolling on the floor giggling up a typhoon. Courier somehow managed to pull out of the giggle fit and compose herself.

"As I was saying, if you'll follow me, the Princess is ready to see you now." The four aliens froze at hearing that. So the time had finally come, and it was time to meet what Twilight and others had told them was the most powerful figure on the entire planet. Despite they're earlier excitement, the knowledge of what they were about to walk into started to weigh on their nerves. Even Justin, normally stoic in such situations, was started to feel a slight case of the shakes. He felt a hoof touch his side.

"Are you OK?" Rarity, who had been standing next to him and Laramie, asked.

"Nerves." He replied.

"I can't blame you darling, but you'll be fine, you all will." She smiled at them. "Princess Celestia is really as wonderful as we make her out to be."

"Biggest heart in Equestria... well, if ya'll don't count Fluttershy's." Applejack, who had been listening in, added. Fluttershy blushed at the compliment, still often flustered at receiving so much praise.

"Trust us, you don't have to worry about making a good impression. You already have." Twilight said, smiling measuredly. The fact that their newfound friends had such confidence in them helped to ease most of the tension that had been building up in them.

"Alright, let's do this." Justin said, gesturing for Courier to lead the way.

***

Even though they had known that he would be meeting a powerful monarch, it was still quite a shock when they first laid eyes on the first of two High Princesses of All Equestria.

For starters, she was freakin' huge! Most ponies were slightly shorter than most humans, coming up to just about chest level. Princess Celestia? She towered over them. The two humans had never been very good at estimates, but they both guessed she had to be at least seven feet tall from the top of her head to the bottom of her hoof.

Second, her mane. By now, they had grown used to Rainbow Dash's technicolor look, so the fact that Celestia had a pastel rainbow color scheme didn't surprise them. What did surprise them was the fact that it appeared to be waving in a breeze in spite of the fact that they were indoors and there wasn't a single open window anywhere in the opulent throne room. The same was true for her tail, which was currently curled around her front.

Third, the instant they walked into the room, they felt the hairs on the backs of their neck stand up. What surprised them was that none of them felt anything like fear. It was as though there was an electricity in the room, a charge that they could feel tingling through their bodies. The tingling was combined with a warmth that penetrated, it seemed, to their very souls. It was a strange sensation, unlike anything they had every experienced before. It was an overwhelming sense of great power being radiated by the grand looking pony that sat before them.

Courier was the first to speak, gracefully bowing before her sovereign.

"Your Majesty, may I present to you Messrs. Justin Thompson of Earth and Be'nar Kanobe of Altair." She beckoned them to come forward. Unsure what to do, having never met a monarch before, both of them did what they thought was the right thing to do. Justin went first with a flourished bow that was complete with a hand over his heart. He heard Dash snickering behind him. He must have looked ridiculous, but he didn't mind. When in Rome and all that.

"Your Majesty, is is an honor that you have invited us here." He said, trying to sound as formal as he could. I must sound even worse than I look. He thought. However he sounded, it didn't seem to faze the Princess one bit, who to his surprise returned the bow.

"The honor is mine," She replied regally. "Twilight told me all about how excited she was to meet you, and I just had to meet you."

"Likewise, Your Majesty. If you don't mind me asking, aren't there two of you? I've been told you have a sister." Celestia nodded.

"It is true. I apologize, but my sister is currently away on a diplomatic function and will be able to be present with us today. However, I am told she will be attending the annual Nightmare Night festival in Ponyville." She replied.

"We look forward to it," Justin replied politely. "May I introduce my girlfriend, Laramie Winters and my friend Be'nar Kanobe, his wife Selii Tu'val-Kanobe and their children." He beckoned them to come forward and meet the princess. Laramie gingerly extended a hand, which the princess shook.

'Ta'iga kolas tu, Kelesh'mai Celestia," Selii greeted gracefully, bowing with her hands clasped in front of her. Her babies babbled from their stroller. Selii giggled. "And they said likewise." Celestia took a closer look.

"Oh, what darlings," She cooed, gently tickling Shastin with the tip of her hoof. Shastin's heartwarming giggles filled the room. "You have beautiful children, Mr. Kanobe." She said.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. We are both honored." He replied.

"The honor is mine. New life is the most precious gift in the universe, and it brings me great joy to share in it," She smiled at the babies. "Welcome to my world, little ones. We're so excited to have you." Curzon reached up and touched Celestia's nose.

"Awwww!" Was the chorus that echoed through the room. Celestia beamed. This was turning out even better than she thought. After giving the babies one last nuzzle, she turned to her assembled guests.

"If you will follow me, the dining room is this way," She beckoned them to follow. "My staff have been researching some human and Altarian culinary traditions. It is my understanding that for some humans, is it proper to eat fish on Fridays, so my chefs have prepared 'Chilean sea bass' for you, and a dish of sel'mat stew and le'sara bread for the Kanobes. I hope that you will find it to you satisfaction." Her voice sounded honestly hopeful.

"Well Your Majesty, the 'fish on Friday' custom isn't universally followed anymore, but your desire to cater to our traditions is appreciated," Justin said. "I'm sure that your chefs have done a marvelous job, and my friends here feel likewise."

"I'm glad to hear that," Celestia said. "I can see now why my student has spoken so well of you." He blushed slightly as they followed her. Twilight smiled.

"So? What do you think?" She asked.

"Honestly? Meeting her is making me almost want to become a monarchist." He joked. The ponies chuckled.

***

He felt as though he had been traveling for hours, what with the crowds that had suddenly decided to invade Canterlot for the upcoming ceremony to officially welcome the visitors to Equestria the next day, but Lord Vizier eventually reached his destination; a tiny, hole-in-the-wall tavern located in the Lower City. When he entered, most of the patrons, either too engrossed in gambling or too drunk to care about anything going on around them. He liked it that way, though.

It meant it was easier to go in unnoticed to carry out his business.

Approaching the bar, while dodging a drunken griffon spouting broken gibberish in his native tongue, he gave the bartender a cold, emotionless glance. The poor stallion was clearly intimidated, and Vizier could see a slight shake begin to overtake him. Vizier like it that way too; it made it clear that no questions were to be asked.

"Is everything ready?" Vizier asked, giving the bartender his hardest stare. He had better have everything ready, if he know's what's good for him, he thought.

"Yes, mi'lord," The barkeep replied, his words coming out in a nervous sputter. "They're waiting for you in the back room. I make sure no one sees anything." Vizier nodded.

"Good, see to it." He said in a low voice. The barkeep stepped aside to allow him access to the storeroom. A flick of magic and the door was open. Vizier looked back one last time to see if anyone had seen him. Satisfied that they hadn't, he entered the dank storeroom and closed the door behind him quietly.

"It's about time you showed up, Vizzy!" A mare's voice yelled out from somewhere in the back. "We've about gone through all the beer and snacks and we're getting antsy! It's damned hot in here." Vizier trotted past barrels of Equestrian ale to see several ponies seated around a table, on the wall behind which a dark blue flag with a white inverted crescent moon with flared wings crowning it sitting in the middle of the field was hung. The Old Equestrian words "Respublica Luna Nova" were spelled out along the top of the crescent moon.

Vizier took his seat next to an elderly looking stallion wearing a blue military uniform, looking like he was about to list to port under the number of medals and badges that he wore, most of which he had made and awarded to himself in his arrogance. Vizier was not fond of this stallion, the self-styled "Marshal" Pike Square of the New Lunar Republic Army, and one of the most wanted men in Equestria. Vizier knew that his organization was responsible for numerous bombings and other terrorist atrocities, but that hadn't stopped him from aligning himself with them. They would be useful, at least, for his plans.

"I apologize for my tardiness, but it would seem the arrival of the... visitors has caused the whole kingdom to show up in Canterlot." He looked around the room at the assembled ponies. In addition to "Marshal" Pike Square, there was his "aide to camp" Sabre Rattler, a harsh stallion, slightly younger than Vizier, who Vizier suspected was a ticking time bomb waiting to go off and who bore dark red on his legs that Vizier honestly suspected were permanent blood stains; Square's personal assassin and bodyguard Katar, a black stallion with piercing red eyes well known for his sadism. And finally there was the impetuous young mare Blasting Cap, who's specialty was bomb-making and detonating, a mare who took pride in destroying schools as much as she did Royal Equestrian Army tanks.

"I do hope you have news for us?" Pike Square asked. "We are growing weary of waiting." Vizier nodded.

"The alien dignitaries will be present at the palace tomorrow afternoon for the ceremony," He explained. "I have arranged for them to be sitting in the perfect place for our plan. I trust that you have accomplished your tasks?" He addressed to the other ponies.

"I've already staked out my sniper's nest," Katar replied, sharpening his namesake weapon. "Any survivors won't be alive for very long. It'll be the biggest job we've pulled since the Fillydelphia Barracks attack."

"The bombs are in ready, exactly how you ordered them," Blasting Cap followed. "It was tricky getting the enchantments on them, but we managed. When Princess Sunny Arse gets done with her stupid speech, we'll be ready to play a tune in the key of B for Boom, baby." Vizier rolled his eyes at her immaturity.

"My men will be in place on the hour. We wil finally overthrow this horrendous diarchy and seize the liberty we have earned through our blood and tears." The "marshal" pompously said. Vizier scowled.

"Just you wait." He said under his breath.

"Just think, guys," He heard Blasting Cap chime in. "If this goes off right, we'll all be free at least. It'll be totally worth the war to finally have Sunny Arse's head on a pike right next to her traitorous sister's." The others began to cheer and holler, forcing Vizier to cover his ears and silently beg for them to stop acting like petulant children.

"Celebrate later."

Everyone paused at the icy voice that hissed from the shadows. It sent a cold chill down Vizier's spine to hear such a voice. All the assembled ponies turned to look where the hideous voice had originated from. A bipedal creature, dressed in black with a hooded cowl covering his head, stepped from behind some of the barrels into the light of the meeting place. It was then that his green reptilian skin, piercing yellow reptilian eyes and snake like mouth could be discerned. He clenched a small staff in his gloved hands, like a baton used by military officers, only black and capped with a reptilian skull. He seemed to exude an aura of death itself.

He gazed back at them with a look, helped by his viper-like features, that caused all of their hearts to turn cold with fear. The next words came out in a hiss that sent shivers down their spines and turned their blood to ice water.

"I would not count your friends out yet," He said. "They are Altarian, and Altarians have a way of showing up when you least expect them.

Author's Note

Finally got this done. A severe lack of motivation has slowed me down considerably. I don't know what's causing it, but it hasn't been, and I hope that finishing this chapter finally will help.

And so we meet the Big Bad of the story. Things are about to get very interesting for our heroes.

Please enjoy.