Four Corners

"Remember," Twilight said. "She might seem a bit tall and intimidating, but trust me, she's like a mother to me."

Twilight used her hoof to slowly crack open the door to Celestia's bedroom. The door made a quiet creaking sound as it slid open on its hinges, followed soon by Luna poking her snout into the room.

"Tia?" Luna asked.

"Yes, my dear sister?" Celestia answered back.

"I have the ones that were sent here, as you requested."

"Send them in, please." Celestia was quiet for a moment, before speaking again. "Now."

Twilight was quick to turn around and motion her two companions to follow her. Their thoughts of Celestia being kind and helpful like Twilight immediately vanished when they heard the sternness of Celestia's voice. Plodding quietly and carefully behind Twilight, they entered the room slowly. Luna followed behind them.

The first thing they noticed was that the room was absolutely gorgeous. Pictures of suns, royal symbols and a fancy fireplace sat next to a bookshelf and a comfy-looking bed. The bed was occupied by who the pair assumed to be Celestia; a huge, white horse with a fancy hairdo that swirled in the air. The two took notice that both Luna and Celestia had similar hairdos. Milvar swallowed and held his hands behind his back, missing the familiar weight of his battleaxe. Naughty was less affected by Celestia's tone, however, and simply strutted in like he owned the place. The door thudded shut as Luna sealed it behind herself.

"Alright, first thing's first," Celestia spoke, leaning on one elbow to glare at the two aliens in her bedroom. "What have you two got to say for yourselves?"

Naughty and Milvar stayed silent. Celestia chuckled a bit before continuing.

"I'm just joking! Sheesh."

Milvar and Naughty peered up to meet Celestia's gaze once again, this time one of amusement.

"I'm Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria. I see you've met my sister, Luna."

"Milvar, your majesty," Milvar replied. "It's a great honor."

"The name's Naughty Bear," said bear announced. "Nice to meet ya."

"I appreciate your enthusiasm, Mr. Bear," Celestia spoke, raising an eyebrow. "I'm assuming something akin to this has happened before?"

"Ehhh..." Naughty trailed off.

Celestia shrugged away Naughty's awkwardness and continued. "I want to personally welcome you to Equestria."

Milvar and Naughty silently thanked the princess.

"Oh, come on!" Celestia joked. "Loosen up, it's not like I'm going to send you to the m-"

Luna's evil glare stole Celestia's words.

"The dungeons," Celestia began again. "I was going to say dungeons."

An awkward silence followed.

Several minutes later, the ensemble were joking around casually, not even caring about being in the presence of royalty. Much like Fox, they were treated to funny stories and jokes galore from the two princesses, who were a lot softer on the inside than they looked. They had eased up nicely.

A knock on the door followed one of Naughty's jokes, jerking the group out of their conversation.

"Who is it?" Celestia called.

"Fox, your highness," A male voice replied. "May I come in?"

"Certainly. Come meet our new guests!"

The door to the bedroom opened, revealing a short, stocky fox. He walked on two legs, unlike many of the species Twilight had seen, but he seemed friendly nonetheless. His smile warmed up to her nicely.

"Hello, everyone," Fox said. "Name's Fox McCloud."

"Milvar," The Stormcloak announced, "It's an honor."

"And I'm Naughty Bear," The teddy replied, offering a paw which was shaken politely. "Pleasure."

"Now that we're all acquainted, I believe we have some matters to discuss," Luna said in her somewhat outdoor voice. "Have a seat, everypony."

Now that Fox, Naughty and Milvar were seated across the room from Celestia, Luna and Twilight, Celestia began her explanation of the rules of their stay in Equestria.

"As you can tell, I'm not exactly fit to send you all home," Celestia said solemnly. "And yet I'm the only pony in Equestria strong enough to do so. As such, it looks like you'll be staying here a week."

The group of aliens nodded slowly. They already knew this.

"Now, we don't mind granting you access to the many facilities around Canterlot." Celestia shifted awkwardly under her bedsheets.

"Yet our subjects may be alarmed to see such towering creatures prowling the streets," Luna finished. "No doubt some will be afraid of you. We cannot help that."

"However, we've rented each of you a room for a week and some bits to use as spending money."

"You'd go that far for little ol' me?" Naughty asked.

"Of course!" Celestia smiled happily. "We love having guests. Even if they are a bit... otherworldly."

The trio of visitors turned to eachother, nodding contentedly.

"Your highness, I think this is going to be a wonderful stay," Fox smiled. "I hope to see you and your sister soon."

The rest of the group said their goodbyes and left the room. Luna stayed with her sister while Twilight followed the entourage of aliens. Even if they were friendly, somepony would run away screaming.

Why do they run away screaming?

Horatio stood in a dark alleyway, sadly watching hundreds of ponies trotting by, minding their own business.

I only want to be friends.

Horatio was shrouded in darkness. Despite his stark-white space suit, he was a ghost in this alleyway. He'd arrived on an alien world, and the first alien he'd met had run away screaming when Horatio tried to give it a hug. All the aliens he'd met later on also ran away in fear, screaming for help.

So he was stranded on an alien world with English-speaking rainbow horses with no food, water or air to sustain him. And on top of all this, his voice receptor was damaged when he splashed down in the fountain. Now whenever he tried to speak, random words spewed out instead of regular English. That sure didn't help him when he tried to reason with the armed guards that galloped up to him when he tried to walk through anywhere. So now, he was skulking through the shadows like some stalker.

Now, Horatio was well-educated. He had to be in order to be blasted into space and land on the moon. He'd studied what to do if he ever ran out of food, oxygen or the like. The manuals and schools never taught him anything about meeting aliens on a foreign world.

Horatio sighed and huddled in his alleyway, thinking of what to do next.

Twilight and her entourage sat happily at a table at Pony Joe's Donut shop. Or was it Donut Joe? Nopony knew. Oh well. Once again, Milvar was showing no mercy to the donuts that arrived on his plate occasionally. How much could this guy eat?

Naughty and Fox sat on either side of Milvar, silently snacking on their lunches. Fox was eating a Manehattan-style cheesecake while Naughty was finishing up his second chocolate fudge sundae. Twilight ate her daisy sandwich as she watched Milvar tear every donut in sight into a pile of crumbs and sprinkles. Even those didn't stand a chance as Milvar tilted the plate skyward, spilling the sprinkles into his mouth.

"Alright," Milvar said, patting his stomach. "I think I've had enough."

The group shared a quick laugh at this.

The ponies of Canterlot had become somewhat accustomed to the aliens walking the streets. Some even worked up the courage to talk to Fox, whose sharp teeth still warded many away. Other found it much easier to talk to Milvar when they saw how gentle he was around other ponies. And everyone wanted to talk to Naughty. After all, who wouldn't want to talk to a giant walking teddy bear?

"So there I was," Naughty said, standing atop his chair. "Surrounded by evil zombears! I thought I was a goner, but thankfully, I had Mr. Sharpie on me. Zoom, pow!" Naughty imitated slashing motions with his paw. Foals and younger ponies looked on in astonishment.

"Buh mistew Notty," A young foal mumbled, "Whewe did da zombie come fwom?"

"That's just it, little fella," Naughty said, leaning down. He was loving this. "I didn't know! I woke up, saw them surrounding my house, and grabbed my sword and sent them back to wherever it was they came from!"

Fox, Milvar and Twilight looked on in amusement as Naughty kept telling more heroic stories about him fighting off evil hordes of zombies and aliens. Pony (Donut?) Joe appeared behind Twilight, tapping her on the shoulder.

"Heya, kid!" Joe smiled. "I just wanna thank ya for bringing your pals here; I'm getting lotsa business thanks to you!"

"Erm, no problem." Twilight turned back to her sandwich and finished it with a gulp.

Now it was Fox's turn to tell stories.

By the end of the day, the unlikely trio, tailed by several curious ponies, made their way back to the castle and to their respective rooms. Naughty slowly laid down on his bed. Fox practically flew into his. Milvar almost made the floor cave in when his 250-pound body crashed onto his bed. Even Twilight felt it, and she was 3 rooms away from him. They all fell asleep within minutes.

And somewhere in the distance, a tall, white monster was skulking up to the Canterlot Castle gates.