All was quiet in the castle, besides the slow, muted steps of Ignatius as he walked the grounds. The gentle echoes of each step only emphasized how enormous the castle was, further enticing his curiosity. Sunset Shimmer had helped the team find rooms to rest in before going to sleep herself, but Ignatius was uninterested in sitting still and waiting for morning. He had found himself wandering the castle, examining the strange, magical crystal that made its composition, as well as learning the layout. Starting from the living area, he made a mental note of the rooms that his team, Sunset, and Spike were staying in, as well as a room that he was warned against intruding into. He assumed it must be the private chambers of someone he has not yet met, but the lack of sound inside implied they were not yet home. Moving down the hall, he found a rather well-stocked library, and decided he would come back for it later, interested in reading more about Equestrian history and culture, but not wanting to attempt to learn their written language just yet. He found the kitchen, dining room, and what appeared to be the remnants of a laboratory, albeit mostly gutted of its equipment. Many rooms were empty and unkept, with dust lining every surface. He came to the conclusion that the original owner must have moved out, and while the castle was still lived in, it certainly no longer received the care it might have once gotten.

What caught his attention in particular was a pair of large doors that were left ajar, with a large amount of light seeping through. Peering inside, Ignatius found that the room was by far one of the largest in the castle, sporting a wide, circular shape and a massive wooden chandelier hanging from the ceiling. It looked to be made of tree roots, and from each root hung a series of multi-coloured crystals, finely polished and reflecting light around the chamber. In the center of the room was a large table, surrounded with seven thrones, although one was smaller than the rest. Most interestingly, was what was on the table. He stepped inside to get a closer look and affirm his suspicions. In the center of the room was a table, and atop the table was a holographic map. Using the landmarks he had seen earlier, he was able to determine that the map was centered on the castle, and that the map itself likely depicted the entirety of Equestria. Taking photos of the map with his oculars, Ignatius began to study it to get a better bearing of what this world was like. He decided that he would definitely spend the rest of the night studying in the library, using this map as reference material.

After being sure that he had it memorized and archived, Ignatius made his way back towards the library. Quietly closing the doors to the map room, he moved down the halls brimming with curiosity. It would be the first time he ever held a real, physical, paper book, and he found himself longing for a nose to properly experience the "book smell" that he had read about in his studies. Apparently it was once considered a euphoric scent for avid readers such as himself. The soft clicking of his bootheels on the crystal floor felt like a ticking clock to his destination, his anticipation growing. A wealth of knowledge at his fingertips, free for him to grasp if he so wishes. After making a few wrong turns, he eventually found his way through the castle and back to where the library was. Pushing open one of the large doors, he took an additional few moments at the threshold to drink in the sight. Hundreds of books lined the shelves, though not even enough to properly fill them, with many empty gaps where dozens more books could be shelved. His helmet slid open as he made his way past the small tables and up to the large wall of literature. Pulling a random hardcover down, he opened it to the first page. Predictably, it was written in a language completely foreign to him. Putting it back, he began to make his way through the books, one-by-one, looking for two books in particular. The first of the books was a cartography book. Using that as a basis, he found a map of Equestria and Ponyville, using the fact that Equestrians spoke Common Terran to determine if the written language had the same alphabet, but merely with different symbols. His hunch was correct, as the titles of the two maps had nine letters each, reflecting on his hypothesis. Taking a note of the letters he now knew, he went in search of his next book, a dictionary. With the fourteen letters he knew, it was simple enough to find a book that had those letters in the correct order on the spine. Armed with those fourteen letters, he quickly determined the final twelve letters that he needed to know by skipping across the book to each . With this new data in mind, his electronic mind was quickly and easily able to translate the Equestrian written language into Terran in real-time, and a quick skimming through the dictionary proved his procedure to be effective, as it was all completely legible now.

With that out of the way, he excitedly dove headfirst into the history section, wanting to know everything he could learn from this humble collection. Being able to read at a cool six-thousand words per minute, Ignatius tore through the books with a rabid ferocity that he had not shown since he was a newly-built youngling. Hours passed as he devoured the literature of ages, everything he could want to know and more. The information filled his mind to bursting, and yet he couldn’t stop his search for more knowledge of this new and infinitely fascinating land. The two sisters of Equestria, their battle, and reunion. The Elements of Harmony, and their predecessors, the Pillars of Equestria. The founding of the country, and the many monstrous creatures that inhabited the land, and those beyond its borders. Magic, agriculture, architecture, biology, mythology, military, and sociology. The “Magic of Friendship” in particular he found fascinating, and struggled to grasp the fundamentals of it. He found a book called the “Friendship Journal,” and poured through it, drinking in the wisdom of the Elements of Harmony over their journey together that they shared across years. For hours, Ignatius continued reading dozens of books in all but complete silence, the only sound was that of the pages being rapidly flipped as his eyes subsumed every word with an enthralled enthusiasm. The only way it could have gone faster is if they had a computer archive for him to interface with, but he learned in his reading that they had only just recently developed the semiconductor in this world, and its power had not yet been realized, meaning that their current level of computing amounted to glorified calculators. Besides, he was having far too much fun with the paper books to possibly care to use a computer right now. He was in fact so absorbed in the books, that he wouldn’t ever even realize that he was smiling for the first time in twenty years.

—

Somewhere in town, a tail twitched. A certain mare awoke suddenly in the middle of the night. Her tail twitched again, and she knew what that meant. She got out of bed, and got to work.

—

Starlight Glimmer stumbled across town at the break of dawn, head throbbing from the previous night’s debauchery. She should have known better than to go out drinking with Trixie, but couldn’t help herself. Sleeping in that cramped wagon didn’t help her situation, but Starlight was ultimately thankful that today was not a school day. It meant that she could spend the day relaxing and nursing her hangover in her home, away from all of her many responsibilities as headmare, if only for a day. Using her magic, she pushed open the massive doors in front of her, happily stepping inside and out of the sun’s painfully bright light. “Gonna go to the kitchen, make some coffee, a bagel, and then sleep this off,” Starlight mumbled to herself as she slowly plodded her way across the foyer of the crystalline castle. The clip-clop of her hooves echoed through the building, announcing her approach to Sunset Shimmer who came around the corner with a large and somewhat strained smile, but Starlight was far too hungover to notice. She did however, recognize her friend who she hadn’t seen in several years, bringing a much more genuine smile to her own face.

“Sunset! Wow, this is a surprise. You’re the last pony I expected to see this morning. What brings you to Equestria?” Starlight tried and failed to pep herself up, but she was far too tired to look anything but tired. Sunset looked over her shoulder nervously, which drew Starlight’s attention to the faint sounds of music and kitchenware clanging. Starlight raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Wait, is there someone else here? Is that… electro swing music I hear?” Sunset blocked her view by stepping in front of her, trying and failing to act natural.

“Oh, that? That’s nothing. That’s just Spike making breakfast! I’m visiting with Twilight from the human realm for our anniversary! It’s a little vacation, and I just happened to be in town. Princess Twilight let us into the castle, and I stayed the night.” Starlight scrunched her face in thought, putting a hoof to her head as she strained to think clearly.

“Hold on, so you’re here visiting with other Twilight? And Princess Twilight let you in? Where are they now?” A bead of sweat formed on Sunset’s brow which she quickly flicked away, which Starlight did notice.

“Oh, they’re both in Canterlot! Princess Twilight wanted to show her the sights while I did an errand here in Ponyville. Turns out, I got called by the map to solve a friendship problem, and Spike stuck around to help. I sorta… crashed here for the night, I hope you don’t mind.” Starlight waved her friend off with a considerate smile, pushing past her as she made her way to the kitchen. Sunset tried to stop her, but decided that trying to prevent Starlight from entering her own home would be even more suspicious than she was already being.

“That’s no problem, Sunset. Celestia knows that this place is too big for me. I’m happy to have a guest. How’d the problem go? I’m guessing you got it done and are headed back to Canterlot after breakfast, right?” Sunset was walking beside Glimmer now, trying to think of how to handle this new problem.

“Well no, actually. Turns out the folks I had to help were from out of town, and their problem is a lot more complicated than I thought. This was really the only place I could think of to bring them to, so we all stayed the night here. I figured it wouldn’t be a big deal, considering how many spare rooms there are here in the castle, right?” Once again, Starlight dismissed her friend’s concerns with a wave of her hoof.

“Of course, Sunset. A friend of yours is a friend of mine. I guess these mystery ponies are the ones making all that noise in the kitchen? I hope you made some coffee, because I definitely need some. Trixie kept me up way later than I should have been last night, and I barely got any sleep.” It was only when Starlight looked at the puzzled expression on Sunset’s face that she realized she might have given away more than she intended to in her stupor. Now it was her turn to deflect. “You know, because of her snoring! I stayed the night with her because I couldn’t make it home and she’s a pretty loud snorer so I had a hard time getting to bed…” Sunset shot her a knowing smirk, and Glimmer blushed, deciding to change the subject before she made more of a fool of herself. As the pair approached the Kitchen, Sunset was actually the first to do so by blocking the door with her body, sighing in defeat.

“Alright, Starlight. Before you walk through that door, I need you to promise that you won’t panic, ok? Because the ‘visitors’ I’ve been talking about are anything but normal ponies. It’s super complicated, and I’m going to need to explain, but I just need you to not freak out ok?” Starlight Glimmer gave Sunset a sideways look, smiling confidently.

“Come on, Sunset. I’m close friends with a Changeling King, a Dragon Lord, and Discord. I’ve travelled through time, and I’ve been to the human realm. I’m pretty sure I’m immune to shock by now, because I have seen it all.” Sunset shrugged, stepping aside to allow her friend through. Starlight pushed open the doors, eager to see what all the fuss was about, and came face-to-face with a metal man making pancakes in her kitchen. He stood in the center of the room at the isle countertop, flipping a flapjack in a pan with one hand and holding a cookbook in his other. At first, she was shocked, as it certainly defied expectations. That feeling quickly dissipated into barely-suppressed laughter however, as she realized that he was wearing a frilly pink apron that blatantly clashed with the rest of his ensemble. Black boots, slacks, and a button-up shirt with rolled up sleeves definitely did not go well with bright pink. He turned to look at her, curious as to who stepped into his workspace. When he saw the unfamiliar pony, he turned and bowed as he introduced himself.

“Hello there, and good morning, madame. I am Knight Lieutenant Ignatius. I assume you are the owner of this castle?” The fact that he was still holding the pan and book as he introduced himself only made the gesture look sillier, but Starlight managed to swallow her giggles. She put on her best headmare face, which was a mixture of professional and welcoming.

“Why yes, I am. I am Starlight Glimmer, headmistress of the School of Friendship. I am happy to officially welcome you to my home, Ignatius. Sunset says she brought you here, and any friend of hers is a friend of mine.” She paused, surveying the room and seeing that there was not just pancakes ready, but also eggs, sausage, toast, juice, milk, and most importantly, coffee. Pointing at the steaming press, she asked him sheepishly, “Mind if I help myself to some of that coffee? I’m still waking up and would love a cup or two.” Ignatius rose from his bow, nodding as he set down the book and flipped the final pancake gracefully out of the pan and onto the waiting stack.

“But of course, Starlight Glimmer. It is, after all, your kitchen. I hope you don’t mind that I raided your stores for supplies, but I wanted to try these fascinating recipes that I read in this ‘cookbook.’ I may not need to eat, but my team does, and I thought that making breakfast for everyone would be… Fun.” He turned off the stove and put the book down on the counter, circling around the center isle to get to the numerous trays and jugs on the other side of the room. “Before that, however, would you care to help me bring this all to the next room? Everyone is waiting and I am sure they would like to meet you as well.” Lifting up the huge platters of pancakes and eggs, he shouldered his way through the swinging doors into the dining room. Sunset and Starlight both took the rest of the food and drinks in their telekinesis as they followed him through, and Starlight was once again surprised to find three other strangers in her home, along with the source of the music.

At her dinner table was a human man, a dog woman, and what she could only describe as an actual demon. The man wore a white and blue coverall that looked to be made of plastics and rubberized textiles. It covered his whole body from the neck-down, and was clearly an advanced piece of technology if the various glowing lights and sockets were to tell. It reminded Starlight of the ‘plugsuits’ from the weird comic that Fluttershy liked so much, the one with the giant monsters and religious iconography. The dog woman was standing beside the table in much more familiar clothing, dressed in blue pants, white boots, and a t-shirt of both colours. Her clothes were tailored in a similar sci-fi style, but not as immediately obvious as the man beside her. What was more obvious, was that her right arm was mechanical. It was clearly some sort of prosthesis, but it was much more advanced than anything in Equestria. She was dancing with Spike, using a portable stereo system playing the electro swing music that Starlight had heard before in the hallway. Lastly, the frightening demon-thing sat far from everyone else, and was dressed in a jet-black suit of armor uniform. They weren't wearing a helmet, and their annoyed frown was clearly visible. Starlight could immediately tell that whatever friendship problem was going on here, it revolved around that one. Before she could ask for names, Ignatius quickly introduced everyone as he put down his two platters.

“This human is Rook Captain Rhys, the canid is Knight Lieutenant Colette, and the daemonkin is Bishop Captain Claire. Everyone, this is Starlight Glimmer, our unwitting hostess. With that, breakfast is served, so eat up.” The Rhys and Colette both gave their greetings as they sat down, with Spike joining them at the table. Claire remained silent, brooding by herself at the other end of the table. Starlight took her seat between Sunset and Spike, as the other three sat across from them. The upbeat and bouncy music helped to wake her up, but she still poured herself a hot cup of coffee for good measure. While Rhys and Colette began to eat, Ignatius folded up his apron and set it aside, sitting down and resting his head on his hands. The most unsettling thing was how he did not have eyelids and did not blink, but it still wasn’t the most disturbing sight Starlight had encountered. She decided to focus on her breakfast instead of worrying about the details.

With his first bite, Rhys looked like he was about to faint with ecstasy from the flavour of pancakes. Never before had he eaten such a thing, and the experience left him reeling. The sweetness of the syrup, the fluffiness of the pancakes, the spongy consistency of the two mixing in his mouth was unlike anything he had ever had the pleasure of eating on Earth. Such confections had been lost to time, as many of their ingredients had gone either completely extinct over the last several thousand years. Beside him, Colette began to inhale the eggs and sausages at a frightening pace, reveling in the joy of eating non-synthesized animal products. Having only ever subsisted on various foodstuffs made of plant-based proteins and the occasional meal of “meat” synthesized from insect colonies, the real thing felt like heaven on her taste buds. For once in her life, she felt like a true predator, and the thought of eating ponies to see what they tasted like even crossed her mind for a moment, only to be dismissed as rude.

“These pancakes… are by far the most delicious thing I have ever eaten in my life. I cannot believe that such food could exist in this world.” Sunset gave him a wry smile, chewing her own mouthful of the stuff.

“Oh, trust me. It gets way better than this. I bet you don’t have pastries or candy where you come from, do you?” Colette practically jumped out of her seat, leaning across the table with wide eyes.

“It gets even better than this? Can you show us?” The three Equestrians shared a laugh as the canid settled back into her seat, with Sunset assuring them that they will make time for it later.

—

The visitors were generally friendly and relatively good company, despite their bizarre physiology. While everyone ate, Sunset and Ignatius helped catch Starlight up to speed with the current situation, telling her about the portal, the team’s mission, and a little bit about their Earth. Ignatius seemed perfectly happy to re-explain all of the same questions that Sunset had earlier about the team, and helped reassure Starlight that they were not going to be a problem. Sunset also regaled the story of the team violently dispatching a pack of timberwolves, which the visitors were quick to disregard as nothing special. Sunset was thankful that Starlight was taking the whole ordeal much better than she was, especially while hungover. She decided that she had underestimated Starlight Glimmer, and was impressed with her cool head in stressful situations like this. Then again, she likely had a lot of practice dealing with strange creatures at the school of Friendship.

“So Spike, I’m guessing you already sent a letter to Twilight about this situation? I’m sure she would love to meet some real aliens.” Starlight punctuated her question with another long sip from her cup of coffee, which was now her third this morning. Sunset was beginning to worry that this was a little too much, even for Starlight. Spike rolled his eyes and answered through a mouthful of pancakes.

“Of courth I tid, it wath the firth thing I did thith mornin.” He swallowed the food, clearing his voice before continuing, “I spoke with Colette and Rhys, and I passed the info onto Twilight. She says she’s going to be here later today after day court is over. I also asked her to bring back other Twilight, because I know how much Sunset misses her girlfriend.” He emphasized the last word with a mocking tone, sneering at Sunset mischievously. Sunset sneered back, and they shared a quick laugh. Rhys sat up in his seat, a look of surprise and excitement.

“Oh-ho! Sunset, you never mentioned that you’ve got a lover! You must tell us about her!” Colette joined in, her eyes sparkling with youthful exuberation.

“You’ve got a girlfriend? What’s she like? Is she pretty? How long have you two been together? Will you introduce us?” Sunset put up her hooves, defensively, trying to actually answer some of the questions currently barraging her.

“Woah, woah. Slow down there, you two. She’s a unicorn like me, and yes she’s pretty. We’ve been together for a year now, and yeah, I guess you’ll all meet her later today.” Not wanting to pry any more than was socially acceptable, the pair of Solars finished their meals, both looking quite giddy at the prospect of young love. On the far end of the table, Sunset caught a glimpse of Claire devouring another tube of meat and averted her gaze. “At least Colette has the decency to eat cooked meat. I don’t want to think about what that red goop in there is.” Starlight stared at Claire in morbid curiosity, her fork hanging in front of her slack mouth. Spike on the other hand, was wide-eyed with horror. Ignatius saw this, and followed her gaze over to his captain, nodding knowingly.

“Yes, I suppose that is a shocking sight to prey-creatures such as yourselves. Claire is a daemonkin. Her biology is unique in that she can only properly digest the raw flesh of creatures with a soul, much like her daemonic ancestors. Thankfully, daemonkin are extremely tolerant to disease and poison, allowing them to consume any flesh from any creature at nearly any stage of decay. Cooking the meat purges it of any residual life, making it no better than eating clay for them. Therefore, all daemonkin carry mealtubes full of meat harvested from slain beasts and enemies.” He spoke very calmly and matter-of-factly, as if all of that didn’t sound completely insane. Starlight put her fork down, and looked at the Solars, who nodded in agreement with Ignatius’ assessment. Spike was practically shivering in his seat, thoroughly unsettled now. He raised a claw, scared of the answer to his question.

“So you’re saying that she eats… souls?” The synth shrugged nonchalantly before nodding as well.

“In layman’s terms, yes. The daemon race, and by extension, daemonkin, is very different from humans or canids. Their biology is in theory much more efficient than others, as long as they have a proper means of sustaining themselves. It was not uncommon for daemons to domesticate and farm beasts for their souls, consuming the hapless creatures for their lifeforce while they still lived. Though many modern daemonkin instead rely on hunted or butchered meat. It is less filling due to the soul having left, but still serves the purpose.” Rhys leaned in, whispering to the ponies with a hand covering his mouth. Sunset, Starlight, and Spike looked back and forth at each other apprehensively, now significantly more uncomfortable with Claire’s presence.

Rhys smiled at them, warily. “Don’t worry, she won’t eat you. As moody as she can be, she’s no murderer. We’re here peacefully. Other than ‘Captain Ever-Vigilant’ over there, we’ve all even disarmed. No threats here in town, so we decided to get more comfortable.” To emphasize the point, he leaned back in his seat, placing his hands behind his head. He made an expression of realization, looking back at the large chair that he sat in. “Huh. I just now realized that your chairs are big enough for us. How convenient.” Starlight didn’t pay attention to his musing, and instead raised an eyebrow at him at the word ‘disarmed.’

“Wait, you all came here peacefully, but brought weapons? Where are they now?” Starlight pushed aside her plate of half-finished pancakes, having all but forgotten them by now. Spike, seeing the opportunity, happily began to claim them for himself. Colette got up out of her seat and started pacing around, belly full of delicious fish sausage and intending to digest on her feet.

“Sunset asked the same thing, so I’ll tell you the same thing I told her. All the equipment is coded to our Soul-Signature, so literally no one could ever use it besides us. Back in the day, stuff like this was coded to genes or prints, but those could be pretty easily spoofed. Soul-Signatures are totally one-hundred-percent infallibly secure. So… we just dropped it off in our rooms. It’s all just dead weight without an authorized user, and in storage mode it’s basically just a lump of metal. So don’t worry about a random thief making off with our guns or anything like that.”

Starlight breathed a sigh of relief, and then furrowed her brow again. “Wait, what’s a gun?” Sunset put a hoof on her shoulder, giving her an understanding smile.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll explain later.” Starlight looked at her friend for a moment, trying to get a read on her. As cool headed as she had been, Starlight felt completely out of her depth. She knew that Sunset had spent a long time in the human realm, and was likely the only pony in Equestria who could understand a fraction of the culture and technology that these aliens had brought with them. If anyone was going to help them, it was her. Suddenly, she turned around and started making her way out of the room.

“Alright! That’s enough excitement for one day. I’m still hungover, and I need to pass out now. Nice meeting you all. If you need me, I’ll be in my room trying not to die.” Sunset and Spike watched her leave, and then turned to each other to exchange unamused expressions. Spike turned back to the table, collecting the dishes and platters. Impressively, all the food was eaten, with nothing to waste.

“I’m gonna take care of this mess while Starlight sleeps. Maybe Sunset can take you all out to town or something, I don’t know. Twilight and Twilight won’t be here until later today, so you’ve got some hours to kill.” Sunset looked across the room, surveying the four guests at the table. She still didn’t think that bringing them outside was a good idea just yet. The Solars were friendly enough, but the pair of Lunars were just plain scary. Starlight gave Sunset some hope, but not much. Starlight had seen some pretty crazy stuff in her time, and was pretty desensitized. The average pony definitely wouldn’t be able to handle a shock like this. Then again, more and more non-ponies were hanging around Ponyville these days. Sunset knew that Discord was practically attached to the hip with Fluttershy these days, so maybe it wouldn’t be that bad. She shook her head, unable to decide how to approach the situation.

It was at that moment that she could hear a faint knocking sound. Perking up her ears to the direction, she realized that it was coming from the front door. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one who heard it. Colette and Claire asked simultaneously “Who’s at the door?” They shot each other annoyed glances as Sunset turned away to figure out the answer to that question before anything else. It wasn’t a school day, so it probably wasn’t a student coming to see Glimmer. That also meant that it wasn’t going to be the mail pony, because she has today off as well. Sunset couldn’t think of who it possibly could be, and was both surprised and relieved when she finally opened the door. Waiting on the other side was Pinkie Pie, who had a massive smile and was practically vibrating in place with excitement. For a second, Sunset wondered what she was doing here. Then, as the realization dawned on her, she opened her mouth to stop Pinkie, but it was too late. The pink mare was already a quickly dissipating cloud of dust, with the real one speeding past faster than the eye could follow. Back in the dining room, Sunset could hear a party cannon go off, accompanied by mixed shouts of surprise and anger. Sunset took a deep breath, and started making her way back to the team in a sprint, hoping no one mistakenly killed Pinkie Pie.

Author's Note

Now I know what you're thinking. "Why in Equestria would Starlight have animal products in her home?" Well for one, eggs are used in baking all the time, so nothing weird there. And two, we have confirmation from EG that ponies have some kind of history of eating meat, or at least an understanding of it. That, paired with the fact that we've seen Fluttershy feed her animals fish before, in addition to the fact that seemingly carnivorous (or at least omnivorous) species like Griffins, Dragons, and Hippogriffs are living in Equestria, I believed it's certainly possible that such foodstuffs would be available, if not increasingly so.

On a completely different note, I was considering commissioning some art for the story. Let me know if you think this story is worth it or not. As always, thanks for reading!