A little bell rang as he opened the door of the bookshop. As he entered and looked around, the first thing he noticed was that it was way bigger than it looked from the outside. He had thought it was just a small bookshop, but there were several rows of bookcases, leaving barely enough space between them for a pony, or in this case, a human, to walk through.

"Welcome!" greeted a unicorn mare. She was standing at the cashier's counter, which faced the entrance. She had a light green coat and a two-toned orange mane and tail. Other than her, he could only see one other pony in the shop browsing through the books on a shelf, but it was possible that other customers were present, just behind the bookcases.

Since he had no idea where to look for the books he wanted to buy, he chose to approach the shopkeeper mare and ask her.

"Hello!" he greeted and pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket. "Do you have 'How to Optimize Transfiguration Volume Six' and 'Make Your Spells Failsafe Volume Four' both by the author Lit Horn? " he asked, reading the first two books from the list written on his paper.

This was his gift idea for Twilight's birthday. He had asked Spike and found out that she keeps a list of books she plans to add to her personal collection. During one of their sessions, while they took a break and Twilight went to the bathroom, he had asked the dragon to give him a copy of this list.

"Of course!" the shopkeeper mare said, walking around the counter, then moving to a bookcase and taking out two books from different shelves. She levitated them to the counter and placed them down next to each other. Lazlo looked at both and confirmed the titles. "Are they for you or for a gift?" she asked.

"For a gift," Lazlo stated. He guessed this question was part of her script, as this book was obviously written for unicorns.

"In that case, would you like me to wrap them for two bits?" she asked.

"Sure," Lazlo nodded. He was actually hoping to find a place where they could wrap the books, but it was even easier when he didn't need to go to a different place for it.

After selecting the colors of the wrap, which matched Twilight's coloration, he paid for them and left. Then, he went to another shop, where he picked up some comics for Spike's birthday, as he learned that it would come soon after Twilight's. When he bought everything he needed, he went back to the castle to put down the items he purchased so he wouldn't have to carry his stuff around all day. Since he was already there and it was close to lunchtime, he waited for it and joined Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

"I forgot to mention earlier, but Rarity is here too," Celestia started a conversation while having lunch. 'Twilight asked me to accommodate her, as she was coming to Canterlot. I don't know where she is currently, but I wanted to let you know that she will stay here for a few days.'

Beside that, most of the conversation was between Celestia and Luna as they talked about some of their duties they needed to attend to in the afternoon.

After lunch, he was again walking around the city. He was happy that ponies didn't pay too much attention to him. It seemed that they could look at him when he arrived and was taken to the castle, and they were done with it. It was preferable to him. Then again, they probably had seen many creatures, as this is the capital and foreign dignitaries, also tourists tend to visit Canterlot, though he's yet to see one that isn't a pony. Though since it was the start of winter, it wasn't the peak of tourism.

"Lazlo Kis! So good to see you again!" a female voice behind him made him stop. Looking back he saw Fancy Pants and Fleur de Lis walking up to him. "I heard you're in Canterlot. What brings you here?" she asked.

"Hi," Lazlo greeted them. "I was asked to give a presentation to the students at Princess Celestia's school, and also have a talk with her about that big international meeting, but there were a few days between them and the Princess offered me a room to stay at the castle, so I can explore Canterlot," he explained.

"Makes sense, that you would be invited to the Grand Summit," Fancy spoke. "And also a presentation at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns? Sounds like you're really getting around here," he laughed. "When is this event? Do you think me and Fleur could join?"

"On the fifth," he answered. "As for joining, I don't know, Celestia said that ponies from the Canterlot Academy will come too, so the place will be packed. I think you should discuss this with Celestia or someone at the school who's responsible for these events."

"Well, despite one would believe the opposite, we nobles don't have easier access to just speak with the princess, than any other pony. But I will reach out to the event organizer. What is this presentation about?"

"How we live our life without magic. Basically about human technology."

"Sounds interesting," Fleur spoke again. "I hope we can hear it."

"Me too," Fancy said. Then changed the subject. "Say, are you free this afternoon? I have reserved the VIP box for the Wonderbolt Derby. Would you like to join?" he offered.

"The Wonderbolts? I thought that they're some kind of aerial stunt group," he asked.

"That they are, but they also have a derby now and then," Fancy Pants explained.

"Alright, sure, I can join. Thank you for the invitation," Lazlo accepted the offer.

Since they had plenty of time until the ascot, Fancy invited him to have tea at a café. While he was not a big tea drinker, he figured that there will be other options as well, so he accepted. On their way, he mainly conversed with Fleur de Lis. He asked about her modeling career, as it was among the occupations he was the furthest away from. If he would have needed to rank every occupation by the probability of him trying it, being a model would be around the bottom."

Their chat was cut short when a pony ran into Fancy Pants. Lazlo saw many bags falling on the ground and looked at Fancy, who was covered by the content of one bag. Fleur was already next to him, helping him up.

"Fancy Pants!" he heard a familiar voice and turned to the mare who ran into the stallion. It was none other than Rarity.

"Well... That's one way to meet somepony," Fancy said, not sounding happy about the collision.

"Hey, Rarity!" Lazlo decided to try and ease things up a little. "The princess said you were here, but I thought we would meet at the castle, not in the city."

"You know her?" Fancy asked, seeing the human on friendly terms with this pony.

"Of course!" Lazlo answered, while Rarity was still in shock. "She's a good friend, and she made all the clothes I have, except those that I arrived with."

"In that case, I'm glad we ran into each other," Fancy smiled at Rarity. "And my human friend here mentioned that the princess told him you're here. You know her?" he asked. Rarity nodded. "Say, I reserved the VIP box for the Wonderbolt Derby this afternoon, would you like to join us?"

"I would love to, but I also have to take all these bags back to my suite," Rarity said, looking a little desperate, as she seemingly wanted nothing more than to drop her stuff and join.

"You have plenty of time," Fancy calmed her down. "We will wait for your return at that nearby café." He pointed to a building not far from them that had some tables and chairs in front of it.

While Rarity ran back to the castle, they sat down to enjoy a cup of tea, or in Lazlo's case, coffee.

"I remember her now!" Fancy spoke. "She was one of the mares who got the Pink Heart of Courage. She and the others got rid of that Discord creature."

"Ah, yes," Fleur joined. "I'm glad they could turn back all the chaos he caused." She then turned to Lazlo. "And she made your clothes?" The human nodded. "She must be very talented."

"That she is," Lazlo agreed. "She and her friends helped me a lot when I got here. Twilight was the one who got in contact with you, well if I remember, we didn't know it was you at that time." He laughed and the others joined.

"And I'm very glad for it," Fancy Pants said. "Not only did you help to save the company, but also gave many happy moments to thousands of foals. But I guess it is very different from your previous occupations."

"You could say that. If you come to the presentation, I'll talk about that too. But it's not the weirdest change in my life..."

"Yes, I'd imagine." Fancy nodded.

"Let's not ruin the mood," Fleur spoke up. "But I hope that you're doing better now. You seems like you do," the man nodded and Fleur smiled before going back to the previous topic. "So, this Rarity mare lives in Ponyville?" Lazlo nodded. "Well, she seems like she would fit well into Canterlot."

"She loves this place." Lazlo said. "I remember, when I was at her boutique while she was measuring me, and stuff, she talked about how she always wanted to visit Canterlot, or even move here."

"And what about you?" Fancy inquired. "What do you think of our capital city?"

"It's breathtaking, I admit. It's like a city straight out of some kind of fairy tale," Lazlo elaborated. "I always liked those parts of the city, I used to live in, that had those older buildings and designs. Canterlot resembles that, even if it has a 'fantasy skin'." that earned some confused looks from the two. "Sorry, I don't really know how to explain it in less than a three thousand word essay, but I guess we can stick to that it's a wonderful city."

Soon, Rarity came back and joined them, and together they walked to the arena. It was at the edge of Canterlot. The track itself was made of clouds and were in the air, right next to the ground where the spectator area was built. They entered at the bottom of the viewing area. Luckily there was fence at the edge, to avoid accidental fall off the mountain, though Lazlo was sure there were some kind of handling for a situation, where one would somehow fell.

They walked up to the top of the staircase, walking past the many ponies who filled the regular spectator area. Since the Derby didn't start yet, many attention was on their group, and he could even see ponies taking pictures. Upon reaching the top, there was another set of stairs that lead a little higher and seemed enclosed with a unicorn standing there. When they got close, the unicorn bowed his head and with his magic opened the tape gate that was in front of the staircase.

They reached the VIP section, which had a ceiling and provided the best view of the arena. Several tables were around, on them fruit baskets and drinks. There were already several ponies there, all wearing some kind of clothing, which were probably following some kind of high class fashion. Upon seeing the new arrivals, they all looked at them. They instantly recognized Fancy Pants and Fleur de Lis. Since Lazlo was a one of a kind, it was hard to not get recognized, if they heard about the human before. But Rarity was an unknown to them. The ponies walked up to Fancy Pants and Fleur.

"Good afternoon, everypony!" Fancy greeted them. "Allow me to present my companions. I'm sure you all know Lazlo Kis." he gestured to the human. The ponies around him nodded, but didn't otherwise ignored him. "And this is Rarity." Fancy then looked Rarity. "She's a friend of Lazlo and both are guests of the Princess." now this grabbed their attention.

But while they whispered among themselves, the start of the derby was announced. They all walked to the window that granted the perfect view to the track.

"I'll be rooting for Rapidfire, of course," Fancy stated. "He's sure to take home the grand prize." the other ponies nodded. Since Lazlo had no idea which Wonderbolt was which, and how fast they were, he had no idea.

Meanwhile the race started and the five pegasi started to fly the rounds at their maximum speed. Lazlo had to admit that they were fast. He saw Rainbow flying and that seemed impossible, but this course contained some sharp turns and they didn't slow down much in those. They had talent, that was clear.

"I don't think he has a chance against Fleetfoot." Rarity spoke, shocking the other ponies.

But before they could say anything the race was over and Fleetfoot was the first to cross the finish line. That earned another round of surprise among the ponies.

"How did you know Fleetfoot would be victorious?" Fancy asked.

"My friend, Rainbow Dash knows a lot about the Wonderbolts. She said, that Fleetfoot is probably the fastest of the current Wonderbolts." Rarity explained.

"And who is this Rainbow Dash?" asked one of the ponies.

Rarity started shuttering for a moment, as if she had difficulty to answer such a simple question.

"She's probably the only one, who is faster than the Wonderbolts." Lazlo spoke up. "I mean, she did that Sonic Rainboom back at the... what was it called? Young Flyer Competition, or something like that." that made come ponies voice their amazement. The Sonic Rainboom was the thing that most likely got their attention, as it was pretty big so they must've seen it back then.

"Yes, she's a good friend of ours." Rarity said, looking at the human.

After that there were some other races too by Wonderbolt reserve and trainee groups, but it seemed like that the ponies in the VIP box weren't really interested in them. The atmosphere shifted back to some light conversation. They asked Lazlo about his species and what was his life like, and he could tell that some of them were genuinely interested in him, and did not judge him when he said that he lived in an apartment in a panel building, nor that he was a regular eight-hour shift worker, a member of the middle class basically. Some seemed to try hard not to look unimpressed by his common and simple life, most likely because he was Fancy Pants guest and he already knew that that stallion was among the most respected ponies in the 'elite'.

Despite having some prejudice against these kind of high-class gatherings, and a few less pleasant ponies, he actually enjoyed himself, and was truly regretting turning down some invitations, because he already had that time booked by Princess Cadance, or the presentation at Celestia's school. 'Big surprise', throwing in the name of any princess in the excuse granted immediate acceptance.

Rarity also seemed to enjoy herself, she really looked like she belonged here. She also got invited to many other events, that were hosted by one of these ponies. She didn't give them concrete answers, but her smile, thought somewhat strained, gave the impression to the ponies that she will attend at all of them. Lazlo, however, didn't know why was she troubled, well, he didn't know what she was doing in Canterlot to begin with, the most likely answer was that since she always wanted to come here, and now she had opportunity for it, she just used it. But that brought up the question: Why did she looked troubled?

After the event, it was starting to get late, and since there were no other events for them, Lazlo and Rarity walked back to the castle together.

"Today was wonderful." Rarity started the conversation. "I admit, I'm a little envious at you that you already knew Fancy Pants, but now I got to know him and his friends. I love this city! So much culture, so much sophistication, and you can find something beautiful everywhere!" she went on.

"Well, I really like this kind of architecture. It looks way better than our modern style." he stated. "So, what are you doing here? In Canterlot, I mean." he asked.

"I just had a few free days and decided to spent them here. Twilight was a darling to ask the princess to provide a room for me. And I simply have to thank her for that, so I decided to make her a beautiful dress for her birthday. I just hope, I will have time for it now with all the invites" she said, it also explained why did she seemed concerned earlier with all the invitations. "By the way, what will you gift her?"

"Some books I bought in the morning, today." he said.

"Is there any books that she hadn't read yet or can't be found in her library?"

"Well, it's not the biggest library... Besides she does have a list of books that she wants to own. Spike told me that those are usually releases or rare editions that she adds to that list. She usually orders some from time to time, others she gets as gifts for occasions, like birthday." he explained.

"Sounds like a perfect gift for her then."

"I'm sure she will like the dress you'll make for her too. Those dresses for the gala looked great, and that's coming from me, who has negative knowledge on female fashion."

They arrived back to the castle, and decided to have dinner together. It was relatively early, the princesses were still busy with their duties so it was only the two of them. After that they went back to their rooms. Soon the Sun disappeared from the sky and the Moon took it's place and role for providing light but giving the stars the chance to shine.

He was reading that guide book about Canterlot, when a knock on the door interrupted him. Getting up, he opened the door to find a royal guard. Not just a regular guard, but the captain himself, Shining Armor. He remembered him, when they first met during his first visit of Canterlot.

"Hello, Lazlo." he greeted him. "I heard, that you were in Canterlot, and I was wondering if you want to join me to some drinking at a local bar?" he offered.

"Sure, sounds good. Haven't drank much alcohol since coming here, but I'm curious." he accepted the invitation.

"Great! And I hope to hear some stories from your world, if you don't mind. If I remember correctly, you said that your grandpa served and had some good stories." Lazlo nodded. "Nice! I have to take care a few things before that so how about I come back in thirty minutes and we can go."

"Ok, I'll wait here then."

And with that his night was booked.

Author's Note

Another day in Canterlot, another invitation by somepony. Coming next is some drinking and storytelling.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!