A chaotic mess of hoofsteps on stone fills the air as I trot through the street, the heat from the morning sun behind me permeating through the thin fabric of the cloak over my body. I cringe as my mane bristles across my back and neck, where Lyra had haphazardly stuffed the bundled hair in order to get the cloak over my body.

She and Twilight follow loosely behind, flanked by both of the guards. While she didn't have one earlier, Twilight now dons a saddlebag on her back quite similar to Lyra's, though colored a similar shade of purple as her fur. It's also filled to the brim, the straps on both bags barely able to contain the contents within.

The two of them chat with each other, as if catching up with the other for the first time in a while. They've been keeping their voices pretty low though, and they're a ways behind me and Luna. Not to mention the hood covering my ears, so I can barely hear what they're saying. Or tell if they're saying anything about me. I do manage to catch a few words, like 'library', 'spike'.

I'm tempted to turn around to see what they're up to, just out of curiosity, but I'm still barely used to walking with these four legs. It seems like some form of muscle memory is starting to kick in, saving me from that cumbersome struggle after waking here for the first time. I'm not really confident enough though to trust it to hold up if I were to look behind me. The last thing I want is to fall flat on my face on hard rock and, even worse, potentially losing the cloak and exposing the nation's ruler walking about. Or whatever the reason is for the discretion. Luna didn't seem too eager to explain pretty much anything until we were back at the castle.

So, this is Ponyville? It's very... cute.

Many of the buildings surrounding me are of old, possibly medieval architecture. I had spotted the same style all over even the exterior of Lyra's house as soon as I walked outside, despite the interior looking more modern. The word 'village' immediately comes to mind.

As pastel colorful as all the structures appear, everything around me appears... desaturated. A faint, gray haze coats virtually everything in sight, making it seem like the color of the world around me look dull and drained. It worried me at first, but Luna assured me it was an expected side effect of the 'invisibility enchantment' on the cloak.

But the buildings aren't what catches my attention the most, not at all, no no no.

It's the ponies. All of them.

Everywhere.

Ponies trot along the streets to my left and right, entering and exiting buildings, chatting with each other, laughing, eating at tables. I quickly recognize a distinct height difference between the ones that look female and those that are male. That would be mare and stallion, right? Like on Earth? Or maybe they've got different words too. Anyway, the two guard ponies are clearly male, and they're both visibly taller than Twilight and Lyra, and I can tell most the ponies seem to be either on the taller or shorter side. Plus there's something about the shape of their faces too. At least that'll make it easier to know who's what.

A few ponies look up from their activities to stare curiously in our direction, but their eyes only catch onto Twilight, Lyra, or the guards behind me.

Woah... this cloak is so cool. So none of them can see me at all?

Once again, I glance downwards to my forelegs, obscured by the cloak's fabric. The cloak, normally black, appears like a dark gray, translucent haze. While I can't see any of me behind it, a faint, golden outline covers every limb and curve of my body. I turn my eyes beside me, where a similar, light blue outline in the shape of Luna walks briskly, silently. According to her, these cloaks were made as a pair, so whoever was wearing one could always see the outline of the wearer of the other. I tried asking Luna how that works as soon as I got the 'enchantment' to work earlier, but she just shushed me and told me to wait until we reached the train.

My eyes shift to the ground, but I quickly regret it and turn my gaze back to the town around me. Looking down can get rather disorienting walking in the bright of day when you don't cast a shadow.

Wow... minus the fact that everyone is a damn talking pony, all of this looks pretty... normal. Upon closer inspection, however, a lot of oddities begin to pop out to me.

Back in the castle, most of the ponies I came across were the guards, and all of them had identical white fur. Luna was the first to have a different color, but dark blue and white seemed pretty realistic fur colors among what few horses I remember seeing back home. Now with a lot more ponies in sight, it's like a damn rainbow vomited on everyone's fur. Orange, yellow, purple, green all of the most unnatural, pastel colors.

And that was just the fur.

The manes often have swirls and stripes of all sorts of colors too, along with matching tails. Most the time, though, they seem to be something that fit nicely with whatever color the pony's fur was.

Wow, everything looks like a whole children's play set. Maybe there's a castle that comes with it. Oh wait.

Just like I'd seen back in the castle, several ponies are unicorns, donning the familiar short and stubby horn on the forehead. A few of them appear to be using their horn to float things like grocery bags or books alongside them, with a matching, glistening aura around the horn and items. No one seems to take any notice of this, save for an occasional pony ducking around one of these floating objects in annoyance.

There are also quite a few pegasus ponies trotting around as well. Most of them have their wings folded tightly to their sides. After peering around though, I spot a grey pegasus mare with a short, golden mane, donning a semblance of a mailman's outfit. Her wings are spread wide to her sides, two stacks of envelopes somehow balancing on the tips of her feathers. She trots from mailbox to mailbox in front of each house, each time grabbing an envelope in her mouth and slipping it into the open container. Occasionally a letter slips from her wing to the ground, left unnoticed by her.

I shake my head in disbelief. So all this is just normal? I mean, I guess if I evolved with all four of my legs are confined to the ground, using those wings or horn would be the only way to more or carry any—

A shadow whisks over me, followed by a gust of wind. I duck my head instinctively. What the heck?! I glance upwards to the sky, partially in annoyance, but my jaw falls open in shock.

Several dozen pegasus ponies soar throughout the air above. Some lazily float along the stone street close to the height of the surrounding buildings, their wings maintaining a steady beat. Others soar wayyyyy higher up in the sky where the clouds sit, their wings spread far to their sides and hooves stretched in front of them in a Superman pose. I spot a pair of light bluish-purple pegasus ponies, one with a pink bow on her head, hovering what has to be a hundred feet above the ground, just casually chatting as if there wasn't a lethal fall directly below them. Closer, another creme-colored pegasus with a green and pink striped mane similar to Twilight's floats between several potted plants hanging from the windows of what looks like a storefront.

I quickly narrow in on the pegasus that swooped above earlier, a cyan-colored pegasus with the most obnoxiously bright, rainbow mane I have ever seen, even with the colors dulled by the cloak. Okay, is that a wig or what? She's got all six colors on her head, there's no way that's natural.

I watch as she zips higher and higher, approaching a group hovering near a small cluster of clouds, to the point I have to really squint my eyes to spot them.

Somehow, it had slipped my mind entirely that having wings would imply the capability of flight. I mean, sure, I'd already seen Luna fly when she was trying to fry my ass, but that was in a pretty enclosed space. Plus, she's a princess and was the only one close to my height, it would kinda make sense if she were the only one with the ability to fly.

But to see sooo many flying around like it's completely normal, and all across the domain of the sky itself? It takes me back to that sense of awe I remember feeling the first time I looked out the window of an airplane, seeing the world for how big it truly was. My wings twitch against my sides. Can I... do that too? I should be able to, right?

After a second or two, the cyan pegasus appears to take notice of the pair behind me, and quickly dives straight at us at an worryingly quick pace. I freeze up in alarm. Wait, shit, um, should I move? I should move, right? She's headed right for me, is something wrong with the cloak? Can she see m—

"Oof!" Twilight cries out from behind me, shoving me forward slightly as she bumps into my back leg. I stumble a bit, but thankfully the cloak doesn't slip off. "Sorry, Princess!"

I cringe in embarrassment. "Oh, uh, no that was my fault, sorry."

"What are you doing?!" Luna hisses impatiently from in front of me. "I told you, just keep pace beside me an— oh." Her voice drops to a whisper. "Keep quiet!"

Annoyed, I match her volume. "Hey, that was the first thing I said since we—"

"Hey, Twilight!"

A somewhat raspy voice calls out from behind me. My eyes widen and I quickly scooch away from Twilight and closer to Luna as quietly as I can. I turn around and spot the same cyan pegasus mare right beside Twilight, who sits on her haunches on the ground. How did she get all the way here so fast?! She was just at the cloud level!

"Oh! Uh, hey Rainbow!" She briefly glances in my direction nervously before climbing to her hooves. "Are you doing alright?"

Her name is Rainbow? Why am I not surprised?

Rainbow raises an eyebrow. "Really, you're asking me that? You're the one who just tripped on literally nothing. Actually, it looked more like you walked into something." She lands smoothly on the ground, her wings folding against her sides, and starts waving her hoof around where I had just been standing. I don't dare make a sound.

Twilight visibly panics and waves her hooves. "No!"

Rainbow spins to look at her, tilting her head in confusion.

"I mean... nope! I just, uh, got lost in my thoughts and tripped on my own hooves." She laughs nervously, then trots forward and puts a hoof on Rainbow's back. "I'm fine, there's nothing to worry about, really." She offers her a wide grin. Rainbow scoots back a bit, clearly not buying it.

"Uh, Twi, you're really weirding me out here. First, the sun comes up over a whole hour late, messing up our schedule for preparing this afternoon's cloudy sky. Then, Princess Luna summons you to Canterlot by yourself. And now I see you back here, with Lyra of all ponies, being escorted to Celestia knows where by the Royal Guard?"

Lyra rolls her eyes. "Hello to you too, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow... Dash? Wha— these names, I swear. Is it reserved for only royalty to have actual names and not be named after something else?

Rainbow sticks her tongue out playfully at Lyra before turning back to Twilight. "Come on, I know something's happening." Her eyes widen. "Is Discord back? Do I need to get the girls together again or what?"

'Get the girls together'? What are they, the Avengers?

"I, uh..." Twilight hesitates, as if genuinely considering it. She glances again momentarily in our direction. "Not yet. I don't really know what's going on either, but..." She lets out a sigh. "No, Discord's still trapped in stone, I saw his statue myself when I was at the castle. And no, we don't need the Elements. Not yet, at least. I'll tell you more when I get back, but right now, everything is kind of need-to-know."

"Need to know?"

"You... don't need to know it right now."

"Then why is it called 'need to know'?"

I barely stifle a chuckle. Well, she's certainly fun. I hear Luna grumble impatiently beside me.

Twilight deadpans. "I— just— just don't worry about it. Princess Luna only wants me and Lyra involved in this for now. I can't say why yet."

"Well, what about Spike?!" Rainbow questions with a hint of annoyance. "You took him with you when you went to Canterlot. I was just at the library earlier, and I didn't see him there, so he's still over there, right? Why does he get to know?"

Spike? Finally, something that sounds like a somewhat plausible name.

"He doesn't! I just, uh, he wanted to visit Pony Joe's again, so I dropped him off there while I came back here to pick up some things from the library." She shuffles around, emphasizing the nearly bursting saddlebag resting on her back.

"Oh..." Rainbow replies, looking a little disappointed. "So there really isn't some big thing happening?"

"I didn't say that." Twilight responds quickly. "But whatever it is, it... it's just best that nopony else knows about this for now, and that includes you too, Rainbow, sorry."

Rainbow pauses, then waves a hoof dismissively, cracking a wide grin. "Ah, don't worry about it, Twi. You better tell us all about it when you get back!"

That was a... really sudden change of mind.

"Wait, what?" Apparently Twilight has the same thought as me. She blinks, then raises an eyebrow. "Are you... sure?"

Rainbow nods rapidly, like a bobble head. "Yep!"

Twilight narrows her eyes in suspicion. "And you're not gonna try following me and Lyra to Canterlot, right?"

"Wha— I would never!" Rainbow smiles even wider, her wings twitching on her sides. Yeah, that's some bullshit.

Twilight stares at her a little longer before rolling her eyes. "Well... alright then."

What, come on, there's no way you bought that, Twilight!

"Just tell the girls that I'll be back in a few days. Or a week. And tell them I'll write as well!"

"Will do!" Rainbow lifts a hoof to her forehead in what looks like a salute. She bends down again, but before she can take off, a crash from her left grabs her attention. I turn and see that grey pegasus mare from earlier sitting on her haunches next to a splintered mailbox, rubbing her head and groaning in pain. "Ugh, Derpy! Not again, come on!" Rainbow rushes over to her to help her up.

"Come on, let's make haste." Luna's voice whispers tiredly from beside my ear. It takes all of my willpower not to shriek in terror.

"Um, yeah, sure." I respond, still eying the pair of pegasi curiously. Luna lightly taps a hoof against the ground twice. Both guard ponies seem to perk up and begin trotting forward. Twilight and Lyra quickly regain their bearings and keep up pace, resuming their chatter. I trot a little faster to catch up to Luna to avoid getting ran into again, sparing a final glance behind me.

So they can fly, shoot laser beams, use telekinesis, wear literal invisibility cloaks. Everything that I'd expect to see in some futuristic sci-fi movie. And yet their buildings look old, at least on the outside. Mail is still manually delivered. They light up hallways with torches like some Minecraft base. And, wait a minute... is that pony fetching water out of a well?? I always thought an alien civilization would be a lot more advanced than us, but this isn't at all what I would've imagined. Without the crazy powers of the wings and horns, these ponies seem just about... or actually a little less as advanced than us.

I scan my eyes around what little of the town I can see. There don't seem to be any vehicles other than the occasional wagon, towed by ponies that look way smaller than they should given the weight they're pulling. No power lines or street lights line the sides of the street. In fact, there doesn't seem to be anything electrical in sight.

Now that I think about it, all the light sources I've seen so far seemed to use an actual flame. Not just in the castle, but even in Lyra's house, except where she had that one lamp that looked like it totally should be electrical, just without any cables or visible power source of any kind. Gah, this is making my head hurt, I need to think about something else.

I look around some more for anything interesting. Passing by the side is an abnormally large, red stallion with an orange mane, missing a horn and wings. He pulls a large wagon filled with barrels of apples behind him. He spares a glance at Twilight, raises an eyebrow, then continues along. Some of these ponies aren't unicorns or pegasi. Are they just... ponies? But aren't all of them ponies?

I glance to my side at Luna's outline, and something she told me earlier strikes my mind once again. "Hey, uh... Luna?" I whisper awkwardly.

Luna exhales rather audibly. "What is it now?"

I wince at the impatience in her tone. "Can I ask you something?"

"If it regards either the nature of these cloaks, or what occurred back at the castle, or who you really are, I already told you to wait until we are—"

"Until we're somewhere private. Yeah, I know, this is about something else, I promise."

Luna remains silent for a moment. "...fine. What is it?"

"You said we're wearing these for... discretion?"

"...yes."

"But aren't we both the rulers of this country? Why are—"

"We?"

Ugh. "Fine, yes, you're one of the rulers of the country. I only look like the other one, but nobody else knows that. Why do we need to stay hidden? It's not like we have any paparazzi to worry about, right?"

Luna huffs in annoyance. "There rarely seems to be paparazzi in Ponyville, but that is not the reason anyway. You are right, you are not Celestia, and yet you bear her appearance. Anypony who sees you will fall under the impression that you are her. If that impression were to shatter, and rumors were to spread that Princess Celestia was not of right mind, the consequences could be dire. Especially if such rumors reached beyond Equestria to our enemies."

"E— enemies, Princess?" Twilight coughs from behind us. "But... I thought the other nations are our allies! We haven't had an international incident since over a thousand years ago, and I read that—"

"What you have read, dear Twilight, is merely what was written." Luna interrupts, pausing to turn around. She taps her hoof against the ground twice, causing the guards ponies to halt. Twilight and Lyra take notice and freeze as well to avoid walking into us. "My sister and I worked day and night for years to ensure the ponies of Equestria need not ever worry of an attack from our neighbors, and to assure our neighbors that in return, there would never be one from us.

"It was to my great relief to learn that, upon my return, that era of peace thrived and was not jeopardized by my... mistake." Luna's voice shakes faintly, but she regains her composure immediately. "But that is all it was, an era of peace. While some of them may truly be our allies, others have simply never made a move to avoid retaliation, others who might see the... weakened state of the Princess of the Sun to be an opportunity."

I gulp nervously. Oh shit, no wonder she described this as being a national security thing earlier. "So does that mea—"

"No." Luna interrupts me, raising her glowing outline of a hoof to my face. "No more questions. Not until we're on the train." She taps it on the ground twice again and turns back around. Our four companions follow suit, and I hurry on forward to keep pace with Luna.

"Alright, alright." I mutter under my breath. "Looks like someone didn't have her coffee this morning."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Nothing."

Author's Note

So, uh, once again, this was meant to be earlier this week instead of actually hitting 2 weeks. Um. Oops. But hey! I still am 1-2 weeks, I didn't lie! :D
Hoping to bring this down lmao.
In fact, Chapter 9 may be next week
4:35 for my own reference