The other end of comms stay silent.

The three beings stood before you and your group, your eyes locked on them, their eyes on you.

Darius takes cautious steps towards you. He leans in a bit towards your left ear after reaching you, his gaze still on the three beings.

“Boss... What the fuck am I lookin’ at?” He asks in a hushed and apprehensive tone.

You didn’t know how to answer such a question. You stay silent, your eyes locked on the bizarre entities before you.

Their appearance is striking, overwhelming your visual senses. They reminded you heavily of the equestrian species back on Earth, but with some very key differences.

The one in the center standing directly across from you is the tallest one of the three, meeting you at eye-level.

The first thing you notice is that its eyes are a bit more centered towards the face. The iris of its eyes are light purple, more detailed and pronounced with a large black pupil in the center. You can make out a few shimmers of light in its pupil, mostly from the light of the star. Its eye shape and size share practically no similarities to the common equine, with an exotic but vaguely human-shaped appearance. You can make out thin eyelashes at the top and bottom of its eyes. They look remarkably well-kempt.

Its face and muzzle are extended outwards with two small nostrils on the front end of it with a soft and smooth jawline, completely defying the facial structure of any equine you know of. At the top of its head is an elongated spiral horn, thick at the base, thinning outward along the shaft with a rounded end.

Its body structure is more sleek and streamlined rather than brawny or muscular. Its body length, shorter and more stubby. Its legs, longer but more broad. Its neck is elongated upwards instead of outwards.

Its body is covered in a pure-white thin fur coat. It looks so clean that some of the sunlight glared off of it like light hitting polished metal.

There are markings on both sides of its flank that you cannot distinguish at this angle.

There are two huge white wings with an inner and outer set of white feathers protruding from the top of its back, spread out like a soaring eagle, but pointing upwards. You can make out the individual feathers running down the front and back of the wings. Some of the light from the star gleamed off of them.

It is wearing a large, gold-tinted piece of jewelry with a large diamond-shaped dark purple gemstone in the middle. It is wrapped around the base of its neck, the bottom pointed end of it stopping at the top of the barrel, slightly forward of the forelegs. On the top of its head behind its horn is a medium-sized gold-tinted crown or tiara. In the center of it is another gemstone in the same color and shape as the one that is on the piece of jewelry on its neck. It is wrapped around the top of the head, looping around the side and back of the one ear you can see. At the bottom of all four of its legs, where you assume the hooves to be, are gold-tinted circular pieces of jewelry wrapped around the bottom of them, proceeding upwards, stopping a quarter way to the middle of its legs. If these are some type of horseshoes, they are the most elegantly designed horseshoes you have ever seen.

Despite all of this, its mane and tail had to be the most eye-catching features of this being. Its bright, multicolored mane and tail both steadily flowed through the air like a large flag on a windy day. One of its ears stuck out of the mane with the other hidden behind it. You can easily make out the colors that flowed down them in stripes from the top all the way to the ends of them. Blue, cyan, purple, and pink. Each of these colors flowed majestically against each other, but never overtook one another.

Standing to your right, across from you, parallel to the the white being is another that shares many of the same facial and body structure that the white one does. The only differences being that the legs are shorter and the eyes shaped slightly differently.

The iris of its eyes are a cyan color with the same pupil size and same reflective shimmer. Its eyelashes are slightly larger and more pronounced than the white equine directly across from you, running around the top edges of its eyes.

This being has a dark blue, thin fur coat with a pair of slightly smaller wings, its height only reaching mid-torso level, and is a bit lankier and thinner than its white counterpart. Strangely, the light from the star didn’t shine off of its coat or feathers.

There are markings on both sides of its flank like the other that you cannot distinguish at this angle.

It isn’t wearing vast amounts of jewelry like the white equine being. Instead, it is wearing a very dark, more circular black item around the base of its neck. It is so dark, in fact, that you cannot discern whether it is cloth or jewelry. In the middle of it is a white symbol, almost in the shape of a waxing crescent moon. It has a smaller, very dark purple tiara that rests upon its head behind its slightly shorter horn. On all four of the bottom of its legs are dark, silver-tinted horseshoes with a more angular and pointed design to them, stopping a quarter way to the middle of its legs.

Its mane and tail have the exact same flowing effects that the white equine being has. However, the mane and tail are a dark blue color, with what you can only describe as small stars or sparkles randomly dotted along and around them. There is a thin, dark purple transparent outline flowing around the shape of the mane and tail.

Standing to your left, across from you, parallel to the white equine is the smallest one compared to the other two, only reaching your waist in height. Its legs are smaller and more stumpy.

While the body structure of this being is similar, the facial features are not. The eyes of it are shaped more roundly, with a defining end point at the bottom center of them. The iris is dark purple, with large black pupils in the center with the same shimmering light. Its muzzle is flattened more towards the face, and has a rounded, more circular structure to it. There are a few long, pronounced eyelashes running down the outer edges of the eyes, spaced evenly from each other. Its own horn is smaller, but slightly thicker than the other two equine beings.

It has a thin, purple fur coat that has a moderate shine to it from the star. The wings on the top of its body were closed, feathers snugly and evenly tucked towards its side.

There are markings on both sides of its flank like the other two that you cannot distinguish at this angle.

Unlike the blue and white equines, the mane and tail of this purple being did not flow through the air. They are still, only moving slightly when the wind hit them. They are dark indigo with two stripes of a lighter shade of violet and a dark purple running through the center of the mane near the horn, also running down the center of its tail.

You and your group stared at them with what felt like an eternity.

The white equine in the center trots a few steps closer and then stops a short distance in front of you.

It smiles.

“Greetings. Welcome to Equestria.”

It spoke with an almost motherly tone. A voice that brought peace to its surroundings, almost infusing itself to the ambiance around you.

You hear a few of the people in your group gasp.

“Holy shit... It speaks English!” You hear Peter behind you say with an astonished but hushed tone.

Staring at the white being still, you hear a few footsteps approach from behind you. Sergeant Henderson is now slightly behind you to your right. She leans herself slightly towards you closer to your right ear.

“Well don’t just stand there... Say something!” She whispers to you.

In that moment, you manage to escape your gaze of the entity in front, turning your attention to Sergeant Henderson.

“What the hell do you want me to say? I didn’t receive training for a surprise first contact mission!” You whisper back with intensity.

“Does it look like we have the survey teams with us?” Sergeant Henderson sighs and looks at you. “Look... You couldn’t do any worse than I can. If anything goes south, we’ve got you covered.” She says, now nudging you forward with her left arm.

You look towards the ground with your eyes closed.

“Fuck...” You mutter under your breath.

You look back up at the white equine, hesitation flowing through your entire body.

You take a deep breath, then exhale.

You take several steps forward and stop, only mere feet from the white equine.

It maintains its smile as you stand in front of it, eagerly awaiting your first words.

“H-hello there.” You tentatively say with a small wave of your hand.

The white being appears pleased with your greeting and grins.

It puts a hoof from its right foreleg to the top of its barrel. “My name is Princess Celestia. Current ruler of this region of Equestria.” Princess Celestia takes the same hoof and aims it at the dark blue equine to her left, turning her head to look at it.

The dark blue equine trots forward stopping next to Celestia with a smile on its face.

It stops to the side of Celestia.

“This is my sister, Princess Luna. She also rules this land along with me.”

Princess Luna brings her head downwards, closing her eyes. “Greetings, newcomers.” She brings her head back up, reopening her eyes, maintaining the smile she has.

She spoke with a dignified, almost royal accent, in a softer tone compared to Celestia’s.

Princess Celestia aims her hoof towards the purple equine to her right and looks towards it.

The purple equine trots forward with a nervous looking smile and stops next to Celestia.

“This is my star student, Princess Twilight Sparkle.” Princess Celestia brings her hoof back down to the ground.

“Hello.” Twilight says waving her hoof in a gesture of greeting. “I don’t rule Equestria like Luna and Celestia do, but I do watch over a small village named Ponyville a decent distance from here.” She brings her hoof back down to the ground.

Twilight’s voice is a bit more high-pitched than Celestia’s and Luna’s. It has a young, juvenile tone to it with a mask of maturity flowing through.

At least you can verify that they are all female. Luckily, they didn’t have some wild alien gender that you would have no possibility of knowing.

Princess Celestia brings her attention back towards you, meeting you eye-to-eye once more.

“Are you the leader of your group here? You came down from those giant pillars in the sky, right?” She curiously asks, aiming one of her forelegs towards the colony ships that are visible from the ground.

You look up at them for a moment, then bring your attention back to Celestia.

“Yeah. We’re all from one of those.” You confirm with a nod. “Although, I’m not really the leader here.”

It certainly did feel that way considering the positions you’ve been put in so far.

“Oh? Then who would that be?” She courteously asks.

“Well, it’s-“

As you were about to explain, static begins coming through the earpiece followed by a familiar voice.

“-vision four, do you read? Sergeant Henderson, Doctor Brookes, respond!”

Perfect timing.

“Um... give me a second.” You say raising your left index finger to them.

“Admiral, I read you. Go ahead.” You bring your right index and middle fingers to your earpiece, holding it in more to hear better.

“There’s a lot of inte- nce. What’s your -tuation? Is the -tpost esta- shed?” You can hear his broken speech say through the earpiece, moderately able to make out what he’s saying.

“Negative, Admiral. Our status is green. We’ve experienced a bit of a delay.”

“Admiral, this is Sergeant Henderson. We’ve made first contact. Acknowledge.” You hear Sergeant Henderson say, turning your attention towards her.

“Come -gain, Sergeant... Did you say you -ade first contact?” You hear the Admiral ask.

“Affirmative, sir.” The Sergeant confirms.

There’s silence on the other end for a few seconds.

“-ou confirm non-hostile?”

“Yes, sir. They seem friendly... for the moment.”

Twilight, Celestia, and Luna all raise their brows in unison, eyeing Sergeant Henderson in suspicion.

“Doctor Brookes, do you -ead?”

“Yes, Admiral. I’m here.” You hear Doctor Brookes say a short distance from you.

“Is the air breathable?”

“Yes, Admiral. Rebreathers don’t seem to be required.”

“-erstood. I’m going to take a shuttle craft down t- -our location. For the moment, stall them. ETA -even minutes. Admiral Hen- -on, out.”

The earpiece goes silent.

Sergeant Henderson nods at you, giving you a small gesture to continue the conversation that you were having with the three equines.

You turn your attention back to Princess Celestia. “Our leader is on his way. Shouldn’t be too long.” You say with a nod.

“Oh? You spoke to him already?” Celestia asks in surprise.

“How did you do that without sending any letters?” Twilight asks, curiosity forming on her face.

“Letters?” You reply with a raised brow. “Erm... We don’t send letters to each other. At least, not anymore.” You explain.

“What?!” Twilight exclaims as she leans forward somewhat. “Are you all telepathic or something?” She asks with more intensity in her voice.

You blink a couple times at her, taken a bit off guard by her suggestion. Although, you knew that you maybe should’ve expected this.

You shake your head and you couldn’t help but to crack a small smile. “No, no, no... Nothing like that.”

You turn your body to the left along with your head and place your right hand near your ear and point at your earpiece.

“This device around my ear allows me to communicate instantly with whoever I talk to on the other end at long distances.” You explain.

Celestia, Luna, and Twilight stood there, flabbergasted by what they’re hearing.

After some time, Celestia relaxes the astonished expression she had, taking on a more serious one.

“It seems like your technology is far beyond what I thought was initially possible. When we saw a strange object flying down from one of those huge pillars, we decided to follow and investigate. All of this caused quite a stir back at Canterlot and Ponyville. Many of our citizens are hiding in their homes fearing that it’s the end of the world or something.“ Celestia says.

You take your hand and rub the back of your neck with it. “Yeeaah... Sorry about that.” You put your hand back down to your side.

“You see... We were supposed to... erm...“ You try to think of a word to simplify how your ships station themselves after a jump. “park... next to the star here near your planet, but our ship’s navigation made a bit of an error and put us near your planet instead.” You explain.

“Ahhh... So those are ships then...” Luna looks up at the ships above, studying as many details as she can see with a hoof to her chin. “What a peculiar design...”

“Wait... So... They fly through space?” Twilight inquires with a raised brow.

You look at her and nod. “Yeah. At pretty high speeds too.”

“That’s... That’s incredible!” She exclaims forming a huge grin on her face, excitement bursting through her voice. “We have our own flying machines but nowhere near the level you all have!”

You laugh under your breath, forming a grin on your own face.

You suddenly hear footsteps come up behind you and you turn to see Jordan approaching your left side.

He stops next to you, his attention focused on Celestia.

“Hey, I don’t mean to interrupt your pleasant conversation here, but we still haven’t addressed the enormous elephant in the room.” He remarks.

Celestia, Luna, and Twilight switch their attention to Jordan.

“Forgive me Princess... but...“ He stops for a moment, collecting himself.

“What are you?” He cautiously asks.

“I’ve been wonderin’ the same damn thing this whole time.” Darius says.

“I second that.” You hear Peter says as he approaches closer behind you. “They kinda remind me of that one mythological ancient Greek creature, Pegasus. But a lot less... um... animalistic.” He adds.

Silence filled the air again.

Celestia stares down your group with a blank expression on her face.

You hope that Jordan didn’t just offend her somehow.

After a few moments, Celestia closes her eyes and smiles.

She opens them again, her attention locked on you.

“We are Equestrians. We have existed on this world for thousands upon thousands of years. But to be more specific... We are Alicorns. My kind are the main ruling body in multiple different parts of our world. However, many of our kind are concentrated here in Equestria. It is our home of origin. We are capable of greater things compared to our other counterparts; the Pegasi, Unicorns, and Earth Ponies. We excel at flight, and are highly gifted in magic.” She explains to your group.

‘Wait... Magic?’ You think to yourself. But before you could ask about it, you hear a loud, mechanical roar approaching from the sky.

You, your group, and the three Equestrians all turn their attention towards the object that is now looming overhead close to your position.

The four side thrusters on it turn vertically, flames spewing out of the bottom.

It’s one of the shuttles from the New Dawn. The sound emitting from its thrusters as it begun landing was piercingly loud. Way louder than what you were used to hearing from it.

Celestia, Luna, and Twilight trot backwards from the landing shuttle, fearful expressions beginning to form on their faces.

The shuttle proceeds downwards, the grass and trees around it blowing around violently from the powerful force of the thrusters.

You put one of your hands up towards your face, and squint a little to protect your eyes.

The shuttle lands near your group’s location with its rear facing towards you. The thrusters begin to calm with the flames dying down, and the engine wanes.

The engine of the shuttle falls silent, flames no longer bursting from its thrusters.

You, your group, and the three Equestrians lock eyes on the rear hatch of the shuttle.

The rear hatch door-pumps hiss as the door begins unsealing itself.

It lowers, and slowly makes its way towards the ground, forming a ramp when it stops.

Standing in the center of the shuttle above the hatch is Admiral Henderson with his arms behind his back. He takes a few steps forward out of the shuttle proceeding down the ramp, looking around him as he does so. He takes his feet and cautiously steps down onto the grass below him.

Two security guards follow behind him, both taking positions to the left and right of the Admiral as they step off the shuttle.

After he finishes absorbing the sights around him, he stops and looks towards Celestia, Luna, and Twilight.

His eyes widen and he raises a brow. “Well I’ll be damned...” He says quietly, completely awestruck by the three equines before him.

He proceeds towards the three walking through your group, and after taking a few steps, stops a short distance from them with his security detail close behind.

He turns his head to you slowly, appearing to have some difficulty taking his eyes off of Celestia, Luna, and Twilight.

“Do they speak English?” He asks you.

“Yes, sir.” You answer with a quick nod.

“Oh, good... That makes things a lot easier.” He says giving a quick sigh of relief. He turns his head back towards the three then clears his throat.

“Greetings. My name is Admiral Clifford Henderson. I am acting captain of the C.S.S. New Dawn, leader of the Corsair colony fleet, and commander of the crew you see before you. Let me be the first to say that it is an absolute pleasure to encounter another species here in the vast expanses of space. I am looking forward to a close relationship between both of our species.” He stops for a moment, then takes another breath. “I would also like to formally apologize if our ships coming here caused any disruption or disturbance to your people. We were supposed to jump in next to the star, but our ships made an error. We hope you can forgive the intrusion.” He proclaims with a pronounced voice to the three.

Celestia smiles and trots forward towards the Admiral. She stops only a few feet from him.

“While your ships did cause some disturbance, it is something that can be completely overlooked in due time.” She bows her head towards the Admiral and closes her eyes. She reopens them and lifts her head back up.

“My name is Princess Celestia. The land you now stand in is part of the region of Equestria that me, my sister, Princess Luna, and my pupil, Princess Twilight Sparkle rule over. As I explained to your crew here, we are Equestrians. More specifically, we are Alicorns. One of the main species of ponies that reside here in these lands and beyond.” She explains.

“Now... Since I’ve explained what we are to you and your crew twice now, I believe it only to be fair that we ask the same of you.” She brings a hoof to her chin. “Is that alright?” She tentatively asks.

“Absolutely. I’d be more than happy to.” Admiral Henderson says with a nod.

“We are Humans. We originate from the planet, Earth. Like you, we have existed on our own world for thousands of years. Perhaps longer. Our origin is... muddy, to say the least. A lot of our history has been lost to time, and many theories as to where we come from are unconfirmed. Regardless of that, we are a highly adaptive and technologically-based species.” He proudly explains.

“Humans then... How fascinating.” Luna says, trotting towards you and your group.

She stops a few feet from you, and looks up at you.

You look down at her.

You both lock eyes with each other, her appearance magnified by her close proximity to you.

As she looks at you, it almost felt like her gaze was piercing your very soul. Despite this, you couldn’t bring yourself to look away. You curiously tilt your head a bit to the side, your brain familiarizing itself with her visage.

There is a feeling building in your chest you couldn’t explain, but before it could overtake you...

She smiles at you, blinks, then turns, trotting back towards her sister, Celestia.

That feeling in your chest recedes and you scratch the back of your head, wondering about what you just experienced.

Your head and eyes follow her as she trots off, bringing herself into full view of her proportions. At this angle, your eyes brought their attention to the marking on her flank.

There is a big black marking on it with a white moon-shaped crescent, almost exactly the same as the shape that’s on the center of her neck piece with some black splotches around the marking.

You wonder what it means, if anything.

Twilight trots forward, and upon reaching the side of Celestia, she stops.

“So... Now that we’ve got all that out of the way... Now what?” She asks Celestia, looking up at her.

Celestia looks down at her and sighs. “Well... Now comes the fun part, Twilight.”

She looks back at Admiral Henderson. “Diplomatic discussions... As fun as that is...” She sarcastically says, rolling her eyes to the very notion of discussing politics.

“Although...” Looking at the Admiral, she grins. “On the bright side, this should be a lot more interesting speaking about politics and diplomacy with a species not from our world.”

“I agree. I’m excited myself for future discussions.” The Admiral concurs, nodding his head.

He looks around for a moment, then back at Celestia, raising a brow. “Where should we conduct these discussions, Princess?”

“Oh! Right! Silly me...” Celestia says, laughing to herself. “There is a sizable city named Canterlot not far from here. Located there is Canterlot Castle, where Luna and myself reside. There is a courtyard large enough for your smaller ships to land. You may follow our chariot there.”

“Our shuttles... Yes, we can follow you there.” Admiral Henderson turns his attention towards you and your group, including his security detail. “You’re with me.” He commands pointing at you. “Sergeant Henderson. You are coming along as well.” He says bringing his attention to the Sergeant.

“Yes, sir.” She replies with a stand to attention.

“The rest of you are to stay here and guard this area. It seems quiet, so there shouldn’t be any trouble.” The Admiral says looking at the security detail.

“Yes, sir. Nothing’s getting through us.” Malcolm says with a nod.

He looks towards your crew. “Engineers of the fourth. I want you to continue prepping your equipment. Set up signal and comms boosters and make sure they are functioning properly.”

Jordan, Darius, and Peter nod at the Admiral in acknowledgement.

He looks at Doctor Brookes. “Doctor. I want you to continue your studies of the area. Gather data and pull all the info you can about this planet. A survey team will be down with you shortly to conduct reconnaissance of the area.”

“Of course, Admiral.” She nods.

“Sir. Shouldn’t I be overseeing construction of the base?“ You question.

Admiral Henderson looks back at you. “Not right now, no. Like you said over comms, we’ve ran into a delay.” He looks at Celestia for a moment then looks back towards you. “A very unexpected delay... We need to be sure that it’s acceptable to build here by them before we construct the outpost. We don’t need to be putting human structures on already owned territories. We’ve been intrusive enough.”

You nod, but another question comes to mind. “With respect, sir, but... Why do I have to go with you?”

“I have a special request of you once we get to this ‘Canterlot Castle.’ We can discuss it there. Just play along for now, son.”

You nod your head. “Yes, Admiral.”

Celestia turns her head down to Twilight, looking at her. “Twilight. Once our chariot nears Ponyville, I’d like you to fly down and assure everypony there that everything is alright. Tell them Luna and I are taking care of it.” She says with a smile.

Twilight nods her head back at Celestia and smiles herself. “Ok. It’ll be a bit difficult to convince everypony, but I’ll manage.”

“Very good.” Celestia turns her head to Luna. “Luna. Shall we?”

Luna nods her head with a smile. “Yes. Let’s depart.”

Celestia, Luna, and Twilight turn themselves and trot towards the chariot. The white, winged Equestrians at the front of it steel themselves for another flight.

Admiral Henderson and Sergeant Henderson turn and proceed towards the shuttle that the Admiral took.

Before you go, you turn to look at your crew.

Jordan, Darius, and Peter all look at you with obvious concern and worry on their faces.

“Hey... Be careful out there, man. I know those Equestrians seem friendly but we still don’t entirely know what they’re capable of yet.” Jordan cautions.

“They do seem really nice, yeah. But Jordan’s right. Just in case, keep your sidearm ready.” Peter adds in a hushed tone.

“Radio the Doctor if any trouble comes your way and we’ll gather the security detail here and come and get you and the Hendersons.” Darius says.

You nod at them. “I’ll be careful.”

“Come back to us safe, boss.”

You nod at them once more and turn to make your way towards the shuttle that the Admiral and Sergeant are in.

You step up the ramp leading inside, and after climbing it, enter through the hatch frame.

Standing in the center, you see a female in the left pilot seat of the cockpit along with Sergeant Henderson who is sitting in the right pilot seat. Admiral Henderson is standing in the cockpit, in between and behind the pilot and the Sergeant.

You approach the innermost area of the shuttle, taking a seat closest to the cockpit. From here, you have a good view outside the cockpit’s front window.

The hatch begins closing itself, sealing shut after a few seconds.

“Alright Zeta 2. Take it away. Follow the flying chariot.” Admiral Henderson orders.

The pilot, Zeta 2, looks back towards the Admiral. “Pardon me, sir... But did you say follow a flying chariot?” Zeta 2 asks raising her brow.

Admiral Henderson nods. “I did. There’s a chariot we’ll be following. I want you to stay on its six, but keep a respectable distance. It’s going to lead us to another area we can land.”

Zeta 2 turns around and flips some switches. “Um... understood, sir. Pre-flight checks complete. We’re prepared for takeoff.”

The engine of the shuttle stirs, and you hear the thrusters from it begin to fire up.

Flying and talking horses, flying chariots, castles, villages, and Princesses. This is all turning out to be like some kind of fantasy out of a children’s book.

Is this actually happening?

Is any of this real?

Or are you still dreaming, sleeping soundly in your cryo pod?

You certainly felt awake. As futile as it would be, you even pinched yourself once to be absolutely certain.

Nope. This is happening. You and your companions have proceeded down a path that cannot be turned back from.

You had no idea what to expect at this ‘Canterlot Castle.’ Anything could be waiting for you there.

You turn your head to look out the front cockpit window of the shuttle. You can see the chariot moving through the sky as your shuttle follows from a distance. It’s going a pretty surprising speed.

The structures that you pointed out to your group earlier come into view, and you can see what appears to be a moderately sized village as your shuttle approaches.

The shuttle passes over them, and you can make out some more details. The structures almost looked like small shacks from this height, their roofs covered in a light brown material you cannot identify from here. There were quite a lot of them, each a different shape, size, or color. You can make out some vegetation around them.

In another direction is what appears to be some kind of farm in the distance. You can vaguely make out a red barn-shaped structure there, with a large landscape around it dotted with heavily concentrated trees. You swear that you can make out some familiar looking animals standing around the barn.

Coming next into view is a tall, tree-like structure that towers over all else. Most of the top of this structure is vaguely in the shape of a castle, seeming to be supported by an immense tree trunk below it with roots sprouting from the top of it, holding the castle-shaped structure in place.

’This must be that village called Ponyville that Twilight mentioned earlier.’ You think to yourself.

Eyeing the ground, you didn’t see a single body or soul in sight, but you expected this.

Suddenly, you see Twilight leap from the chariot she was on and fly towards the large tree castle. She enters through one of the open windows on it and exits your view.

Your shuttle flies over the tree castle, exiting from view underneath it.

After a bit more time, your shuttle gets some distance from the village, still tailing the chariot in front.

After flying through some very dense cloud coverage you see something in the distance that forced you to stand. You carefully walk into the cockpit through the door frame and stand to the right of Admiral Henderson. Your eyes widen, and your jaw drops some, your mouth partially open.

“Oh my god...” The Admiral says with astonishment, removing the naval command cap from his head, holding it in his right hand by his side.

Before you is a huge valley, dotted with hills and mountains in the distance. Etched into the side of one of these mountains is a number of large white structures, each with exotic shapes and designs with colors of dark purple and gold engraved into them. There is an enormous visible waterfall leading down from the mountain into the side of the city. There is a long, paved path leading to what looks like the gates to the city. The light from the star gleamed off of these remarkable structures.

There are some other smaller structures dotting the landscape, but they are dwarfed in comparison to the main city.

Sergeant Henderson leans forward in her seat, eyes fixated on the bright metropolis before her. “It’s beautiful...” She says in awe.

“Well... That’s certainly something I’d never thought I’d see...” Zeta 2 remarks eyeing the city along with you and the other two.

'So this is Canterlot... I’ve never seen anything like this.’ You think.

Your shuttle finally reaches the shining city, flying over numerous rectangular or circular-shaped buildings. Like Ponyville, the streets of the city seem to be completely empty. The only things you can make out from the air are a few large statues dotting the area. It looks like there are a few running fountains down there as well, along with a few rivers running through and around some of the streets.

After passing over most of Canterlot, the chariot in front approaches an immense castle-like building with a few spires protruding from the top of it. At the top of a few of the spires, there appear to be porches or balconies built into the sides or around them. The building was designed elegantly, with a mix of smooth and angular shapes built into its very form with a huge number of other interconnected structures built around it. It mirrored much of the design philosophy of many of the buildings you saw back in the main city.

Canterlot Castle is far more akin to a citadel than an actual castle.

You see the chariot begin to land in a sizable area, close to what looks like a large double door at the front of the main castle.

Admiral Henderson puts his naval cap back on his head, adjusting it to fit him. He puts his arms and hands behind his back.

“Zeta 2. Land over there, a few meters from them.” He commands, pointing to an open area directly across from the landed chariot.

“Yes, sir. Initiating landing procedure.” Zeta 2 acknowledges, flipping switches and pressing a few buttons on the control panel in front of her.

The shuttle comes to a slow stop in the air, hovering only a few meters from the ground. It begins descending, and after a few seconds, it comes into contact with the ground and stops, the rear hatch pointed towards the large doors that are out of view. You hear the engine and the thrusters die down, falling silent after a few seconds.

“Zeta 2. Stay here with the shuttle. We’ll return as soon as we can. Keep it warm though, in case there’s trouble.” The Admiral says.

“Yes, sir. It’ll be ready as soon as you come back.” Zeta 2 replies.

He turns himself towards you.

Sergeant Henderson gets out of her seat and looks at both of you.

“Alright... Let’s see what they can tell or show us about this place. Keep a proper etiquette in there. We need to make a good impression. Speak only when spoken to and let me do the talking. Understood?” The Admiral instructs to you and the Sergeant.

“Yes, sir.” You and Sergeant Henderson respond in unison.

Sergeant Henderson uses the harness of her PEAR-2 rifle to flip it around to her back, tightening and fastening it.

“Alright... Zeta 2. Open her up.” The Admiral says, turning to Zeta 2.

“Yes, sir. Opening the hatch.” Zeta 2 replies, pressing a couple buttons on the control panel.

The rear hatch of the shuttle opens, lowering itself to the ground. Admiral Henderson walks out of the cockpit down the center of the shuttle, you and the Sergeant close behind. You all step out of the shuttle, and proceed down the ramp, soon bringing yourselves back down to the grassy surface.

You see Princess Celestia and Luna step down from their chariot and trot themselves onto a paved path close to the large doors to the castle. They stop in front after reaching it, looking in your direction.

Near the doors appear to be two other smaller Equestrians posted at the left and right sides of the door. These two are armored from head to hoof in golden armor plating, only leaving their faces exposed. Their helmets have blue plumes running down the center of them. They stare forward in a stand to attention, holding a sizable pike weapon in one of their hooves, using them to block the door entrance in an X shape.

You, the Admiral, and the Sergeant make your way towards the two, examining the tall structures from the ground and after walking a short distance, you all stop close to them.

Princess Celestia looks at one of the guards. “Grant them entry. They are with us.” She commands.

“Yes, Princess.” The guard replies as the two raise their pikes vertically to their sides, freeing the door that leads inside.

Princess Celestia and Luna approach the door, the two of them taking opposite sides of it.

Princess Celestia turns towards your group and smiles. “I humbly welcome you to our home, Canterlot Castle.” As she says this, she brings a hoof up to the door, pushing it forwards with Luna doing the same.

The large polished hardwood doors steadily open, revealing an immense, grand hallway.

You, the Admiral, and the Sergeant take a few slow steps inside, then stop.

“Whoa...” You quietly say, eyeing the beauty of the room in astonishment.

Sergeant Henderson whistles in amusement, glancing at detail after detail inside the elegant interior.

Admiral Henderson stood there, speechless to the magnificence before him.

You begin to absorb the details of your environment.

In this hallway, there is a large number of elegant and regal designs carved and engraved into the walls. Down the left and right sides of the hallway, there is a number of large cylindrical stone or marble pillars that appear to be holding up or supporting the large curved ceiling above. In between each of the pillars are stained glass windows with shades of white, cyan, blue, and dark blue flowing in and around each other.

In the center of the hall, there is a long, rectangular, and thin red carpet running from the door all the way to the end of it. Towards the back of the hall, there is several levels of white circular stone or marble podiums. The red carpet in the center run through the middle of these podiums, with ramps leading up each level.

In the middle podium, there is running water leaking out of the left and right sides of it, leading down into several water basins below. In the lowest basin on both sides, water runs down into two deep crevices in the floor. The crevices reach from the sides of the two basins, making an elongated trail through the floor in a mirrored wave-shaped pattern all the way towards the left and right sides of the front of the hall.

Sitting at the top podium, there are two large red seats on the left and right, the carpet running between the two. The back of the seat is a sizable oval-shape proceeding upwards, with a large circular red cushion underneath. The seat on the right appears to be slightly taller than the one on the left.

On the outline of the seat on the right is a gold-tinted material running along the outer edges of it, with leaf-shaped dark gold-tinted ornaments facing horizontally on both the bottom left and right sides. On the top of this seat, there is a small sun or star-shaped ornament in the same color or material as the outline and ornamentation.

The seat on the left has a similar design, but the outline of this one is a dark silver color with dark silver ornamentation. At the top of this seat is a crescent moon-shaped ornament, mimicking the material of the outline and ornamentation around the seat.

There is an elevated area built into the back of the hall with two curved ramps on each side, leading around the podiums with red carpet running along them.

On the back wall of the hall behind the top podium and two seats are three large, circular stained glass windows. These windows are located to the left and right of the two seats, with one very large window above them in the center.

The window on the right is designed with the symbol of a yellow sun around the glass with a dark orange background. There is a capsule-shaped doorway running through the center of the glass, cutting through some of the design. There are two long red curtains hanging from the top frame of the doorway, marginally splitting open towards the bottom.

The window on the left bears a light blue crescent moon-shaped design with a dark blue color filling the rest of it. There is another doorway exactly the same as the one on the right, cutting through the center of the glass.

Above and between the other two windows is one that surpasses the size of the others. This window bears a number of circular designs. From what you can see, there are seven yellow circles each distributed randomly across the glass. In the center of the circle, there is a sun or star-shaped engraving. Surrounding them are a large number of crescent shapes with various shades of blue in a floral or spiral-shaped design. Towards the bottom right of the glass, there are three yellow streaks or trails across it, with faint thin black circles inside them towards the front. On the rest of the glass is a sizable black space with white dots randomly distributed across it.

From what you can interpret about the center window, its entire design is very indicative of the stars and comets of outer space.

There are two lengthy red curtains draped around the sides of the center window, hung by a curved stone or marble structure towards the top of the ceiling. They reach all the way down to the other two windows on opposite ends, held in place by two holdbacks located on the center of the two cylindrical pillars closest to the back wall, eventually reaching the floor.

Above the curved structure holding the drapery, there are elegant engravings and designs. In the center of them is a half-sun half-moon hybrid stone or marble engraving accompanying them.

Down the hall in between each of the cylindrical pillars are Equestrian guardsmen donning the same armor and weapons that the other two from the front door had. They stood to attention, eyes faced forward, unmoving from their positions.

“If I had something like this back on Earth, I probably wouldn’t have left.” Sergeant Henderson comments.

Princess Celestia and Luna trot forward stepping around your group. Celestia brings her attention to you.

“This is our throne room. It is here that we oversee to the needs of our citizens on a daily basis no matter how big or small. We also provide guidance to those who request it or need it most.” She states with a courteous smile. “You may follow us this way.”

Princess Celestia and Luna proceed forward. You, the Admiral, and Sergeant follow them from behind.

As you pass the guards, you can practically feel their gaze upon you, eyeing you with paranoia and mistrust.

You all proceed up the right curved ramp of the throne room and make your way through the right doorway. Going through the drapery, you see that the doorway leads into another hallway of similar construction, but without all the elements that would make a throne room a throne room. There didn’t seem to be any guards present here.

After walking down the hall, your group approach a door that is located on the right towards the back of the hall. Celestia uses her hoof to open the door, and upon opening it, you see a staircase leading upwards along the walls of a tall square-shaped room.

Your group proceeds up the stairwell, climbing step after step ascending multiple levels of the room, passing by a door that showed every two levels.

After ascending a few flights of stairs, Celestia stops on the sixth level above the ground floor. She opens the door on this level and proceeds through it, your group still following close behind.

Through the door is yet another hallway, but nowhere near as large as the others you have seen previously. There are guards posted along the walls of this hall facing towards the center. It is just spacious enough for your group to comfortably walk through.

"Apologies for the lengthy trot. The Royal Meeting Hall is not far now." Celestia assures.

"That's quite alright. I suppose these old bones needed to be dusted off with exercise anyway." The Admiral jokes, his breathing more heavy than normal after the ascent up the stairs.

Down the hall is another door and upon reaching it, your group goes through.

It leads into a much larger hall, similar to the ones on the ground floor. On the cylindrical pillars, there is uniquely shaped pottery hanging from the top end from where the pillar meets the ceiling. In them, there are plants and flowers and other unique bits of vegetation. On the walls between these pillars are a number of stained glass murals, spaced evenly from each other, each one having a completely different design.

Proceeding down this hallway, Admiral Henderson walks to the right side of Celestia between her and Luna. You walk to the left behind Celestia and Sergeant Henderson walks parallel to you behind Luna.

As you walk, your eyes divert their attention to Celestia’s flank. You stare down the marking on it examining its details.

There is a yellow circle in the center, with a thin orange outer circle enveloping it. On the edges of the outer circle are a number of orange smooth exotic shapes proceeding outwards in a spiral around it. The marking is highly reminiscent of a sun or star.

There certainly seems to be a huge emphasis on celestial or lunar bodies here. So much, in fact, that it’s plastered or tattooed on their bodies. You figure that all of this may hold immense symbolic value to them, more than likely embedded into their culture or beliefs.

That is, if they have any beliefs at all.

“Something interesting you back there?” Celestia remarks, smiling as she looks slightly back at you as she trots.

“Huh?” You suddenly come to the realization that you’ve been staring at her rear this whole time. You look at her with a red blush on both of your cheeks, hotness flowing through the entirety of your face.

You stop, raising your hands in front of you and begin waving them quickly from side to side. “Nononono... I-I didn’t mean to s-stare or cause any offense I...” You quickly try to explain with the best of your ability.

Celestia stops and turns to you, the rest of your group doing the same.

“It’s alright. I’m only joking.” She says giggling into one of her hooves, interrupting your imminent explanation.

She puts her hoof back down. “I bet you’re wondering about the mark on my rear. Don’t worry. That will be explained in due time. I promise. Please, keep following. We’re almost there.” She reassures, turning around and trotting her previous direction.

Princess Luna giggles quietly to herself as she turns. Admiral Henderson rolls his eyes turning with Luna and Celestia.

“Smooth...” Sergeant Henderson mockingly says quietly, turning with a smirk.

You drop your hands down to your side and stand there. You bring one of your hands to rub the back of your neck, looking down towards the floor. You sigh, feeling the cool air come back to your face, the blush removing itself from it.

After your group gets some distance from you down the hall you look back up, then slowly towards your left. You bring your attention to one of the murals on the wall. This particular mural caught your attention. You turn to it, analyzing its details.

In the center, you see the etchings and carvings of an Equestrian that look strikingly similar to Twilight Sparkle, the pony that you met earlier with Celestia and Luna. In the image, she faces forward with her eyes closed and her wings spread out with her left leg raised upwards and a smile on her face. On her head, it looks like she is wearing some kind of tiara. On it is a six-pointed red gemstone sitting on the center. Above her horn is a light purple eight-pointed star shape. Directly behind the star is a light yellow circular sun or star with light blue angular shapes surrounding it. Behind her is a light cyan shape similar to a cloud. The cloud is in between the light purple star and the light yellow one.

Around her are a number of red circles that randomly dot the mural. Below her are what appears to be green hills or mountains below her. On the bottom left and right sides of the mural are two dark brown books that are partially open facing towards her. On the covers, there are star shaped symbols or decals. The book on the left looks like it has a white quill embedded into one of the pages.

’To get herself on one of these murals, she’s got to have more significance here than what she told us the first time we met. I just don’t see how-‘

“Hey! You coming or are you not done sightseeing?” Sergeant Henderson shouts from down the hall, interrupting your train of thought.

You look towards her. “Y-yeah! I’m coming.” You respond with an elevated voice.

You take one final look at the mural then jog down the hall to catch up with the others.

After walking through a few more halls and corridors, you all step through a door that leads into a large rectangular room. Inside this room is a large, circular, white marble table surrounded by a number of white stone chairs. There is a sizable rectangular red rug that covers the vast majority of the room’s floor.

Directly across from the doorway that you entered from, there is a rectangular wooden double door with two windows on each door. On the walls near the doors, there are four vertical slit windows on both the left and right sides. You can vaguely make out a balcony or porch just outside the double doors and windows.

On the rest of the walls of the room are a few large, abstract paintings with gold etchings and carvings around their frames.

At the corner of the room is a large grandfather clock ticking away while a silver pendulum swings side to side behind the glass encasing of the clock.

“So here we finally are.” Celestia says trotting further inside, stepping around the table and chairs. “This is our Royal Meeting Room. This is where we conduct internal or external matters with the nobles and politicians both in and out of Equestria.” She stops for a moment, catching her breath. “But today, this is the first time it will be used for discussions with a species that’s not from our world!” She excitedly exclaims with a large grin.

You, the Admiral, and the Sergeant all stand near the table.

“You are the first non-human species we have contacted outside of Earth. We’re very eager to learn more about you.” Admiral Henderson says courteously with a smile.

Princess Luna trots around the table and while doing so, she brings her attention to the grandfather clock.

She gasps. “Sister! Look!” She exclaims, aiming her hoof towards the clock.

Princess Celestia turns her head to the clock and as soon as she does, her pupils shrink.

“BY THE FLAMES OF TARTARUS! IT’S WAY PAST THE TIME!” She shouts, forming a panicked expression on her face.

You, the Admiral, and Sergeant all raise your brows in unison.

“What time?” You inquire with hesitation.

Princess Celestia and Luna turn to you and the others. “We are very sorry, but we must take care of something extremely urgent. Please, excuse us a moment.” She says, now hurriedly trotting towards the double doors along with Luna.

You, the Admiral, and the Sergeant eye them with some suspicion, keeping track of their every move.

Princess Celestia and Luna reach the double doors and open them, revealing a large rectangular balcony outside. They step outdoors onto it and trot until they reach a railing close to the edge.

You couldn’t help but to try to see what they’re doing. You quickly walk around the table and reach the doors that Celestia and Luna previously exited. You place your right hand on the door frame, keeping half of your body covered by the wall. You watch them intently, waiting for their next move.

Admiral and Sergeant Henderson take a few steps around the table, keeping the two Equestrians in their view from the inside not far behind you.

Princess Celestia and Luna bow their heads, closing their eyes. Celestia’s horn begins lighting up with a gold transparent aura around it. Luna’s horn lights up with a dark blue aura around her own.

What you see shakes you to your core.

The star here... it started moving downwards.

It slowly makes its way down the sky approaching the horizon. The outdoors become darker and darker and the city of Canterlot that is visible from the balcony begins lighting up.

Admiral and Sergeant Henderson stare at the spectacle in shock and horror, their eyes widened as far as they could go.

“Admiral Henderson! Admiral Henderson! Do you read?!” You can hear command over comms yell. You almost didn’t hear what they said you were so enthralled with what was happening.

“I... I... I read you... Lieutenant... Go ahead...” The Admiral struggled to find the words as the impossible happened before him.

“Sir! The star and moon here... They’re actually moving! And at a pretty tremendous speed too! Can you confirm?!” The Lieutenant on the other end asks with worry.

“We see it, Lieutenant... We see it...”

The star exits out of view below the horizon, and the moon begins to peek itself out of it. It slowly ascends the sky, bringing rays of moonlight out over the landscapes and the city. It eventually stops a decent way up the sky, bringing itself to a halt an adequate distance away from where the star was initially positioned.

Princess Celestia and Luna bring their heads back up and open their eyes, the auras and lights from their horns fading away.

After doing this, they both turn around to you and trot back towards where you and the Admiral and Sergeant are.

They stop in front of the door, you still staring them down in complete disbelief.

Princess Celestia clears her throat.

“Now that that’s out of the way... Where shall we begin?”

Author's Note

And here it is. Chapter 2. I gotta say... describing Canterlot Castle in detail was incredibly challenging. There are only so many references you can find online about the actual construction of the castle, and many of the references are left up to an artists interpretation.

If you made it through chapter 2, then you're awesome. Any feedback or criticism is highly appreciated as always. Stick around, because chapter 3 is coming up and we'll finally get to visit a familiar village in it.