The Exchange Student

An hour later Connor was sitting at the edge of his bed.

Was he finished?

Really?

He had to make sure; he thought he was done somewhere around the 20-minute mark, but it had turned out he wasn't. Normally Connor was a more calm and collected person, but this was such an alien experience that he decided that it would be ok to go a little out of character, since there was nobody else he knew around here.

Now that he had finally gotten his shit together, he wanted to talk to the pony who as apparently the Queen or something. He had decided "pony" was a more accurate description of what he had seen so far; horses were taller. And generally not as colorful.

How did one go about getting an audience with a Queen, Was that a thing here? Maybe he had to wait for her to summon him. Foreign customs, and all that.

Then he remembered the guard standing outside the door. Well, clearly, if he worked here, he might know how to find her. Wherever "here" was. A plan formed in Connor's mind. He'd ask the guard. If the guard didn't know, he was first off very terrible at his job, and Connor would simply wait. If he did know, however, then he'd be able to get a few answers.

Or he could just wander the halls. That wasn't a good idea altogether. He had no idea how big this castle (he assumed it was a castle of some kind, given he was just visited by royalty) really was, and therefore could get lost easily. The guard probably wouldn't like it either. So Connor opened the door and looked out. The guard stood next to the door, wearing some kind of armor. Made for ponies, of course, he thought. The guard was an almost pure white pony, who pretty much stood about half a head or so shorter than Connor. He wore a stoic expression, and barely moved at all. There was almost no indication that he was alive at all. Clearly this was a well-trained soldier.

Should I?

I really shouldn't.

Connor proceeded to slowly wave his hand in front of the pony in front of him. This would have outright annoyed anyone else, but the guard didn't seem to notice. Deciding that pissing off a soldier was not the best idea, he asked, "Could you tell me how I can speak with Luna?"

The guard, who was previously looking straight forward, now turned and looked at him. He began speaking, but not in any language Connor could identify as english. "Oh good... yeah... great..." Connor sighed. Well, plan B it was then.

"Kay nigga, Im'ma jus roam fo a li'l bit. You cool wit' dat?" said Connor, summoning the best "black voice" he could manage. The guard responded with what also seemed to be a very sarcastic, overstressed accent which sounded like it was intended to produce a similar effect.

"Alrigh, I'll catch yeh later breddah," responded Connor, now switching over to Jamaican. He started to saunter off.

As he suspected the guard had other plans. He quickly blocked Connor's path and proceeded to escort him back into the room. He could only imagine the guard saying something stupid like "Resistance is useless!"

Of course, even if he did, Connor would not be able to understand it.

He did not venture outside the room again. He instead turned his attention to the door that lead out into what appeared to be a balcony. He opened it and walked out.

Twilight was on the train to Canterlot. For once she would not be accompanied by the rest of the elements of harmony. This wasn't a magical emergency, apocalyptic situation, alien attack, or even a royal party/event. No, accompanying her this time was the unicorn named Lyra Heartstrings.

"Ok Twilight, all that role playing was really fun, but we're kind of going past weird here if we're actually going to Canterlot to talk with someone who claims to be a human." said Lyra.

Twilight sighed. "No, this is a legitimate situaiton here, Lyra. Apparently there really is going to be a human exchange student."

Lyra laughed. "No, seriously. Even I know that humans aren't real, and I'm probably the weirdest fan of the mythology. It was fun translating that form, even if it wasn't a love letter or something. But we can't really be going to meet a human!"

Twilight gave up convincing her. She actually wasn't very convinced herself; sure, she was a fan of the mythology too, but was it even plausible or believable that a creature from a species that apparently existed thousands and thousands of years ago suddenly showed up and asked to learn the Equestrian language?

They arrived at the station, and trotted toward the castle. As they came up to it there were guards in front of it, who allowed Twilight through but not Lyra.

"State your business."

"Oh, well, uhm, I'm with her..."

"Yes, she's with me. Let her through," said Twilight. The guards obeyed, and Lyra caught up to her. "Wow, you can just order them around like that?" she said, awed by her apparent power.

"Yes, but it's not much really," said Twilight, a little embarrassed that she could do such a thing. She still acted modest, even after showing up Trixie; she knew that she wouldn't be boasting, but she didn't want to go near that anyway.

Lyra nodded. "If you say so." She wasn't one of Twilight's closest friends, but she knew enough to at least try not embarrassing her.

They got in the castle as Twilight led her through the long and complicated series of hallways, until they finally arrived at their destination. Lyra was impressed here too; she would have definitely gotten lost somewhere along the way if she were to do this alone. There were guards stationed here too; who opened the giant doors to a spacious room with two thrones in it. Only one of these thrones was occupied at this moment though; by Princess Celestia. The two unicorns bowed. "Rise, my little ponies," said Celsetia. "How is my favorite student doing?" "Wonderful, Princess." repiled Twilight.

The alicorn turned to Lyra. "And you, Lyra. How are you?" "Fine, P-Princess," said Lyra, a little nervously. What if she said the wrong thing? What if she accidentally spoke out of turn? Celestia know what she'd do to poor Lyra!

It then occurred to her that Celestia DID, in fact, know exactly what she was doing, because she WAS Celestia.

Well, when you put it that way...

"There's no need to be worried, Lyra. This isn't a test," said Celestia, attempting to comfort her. "Now, I suppose you know this, but you are here to translate for our guest during this meeting."

"...so you weren't joking then? There is an actual human here?"

"Yes."

"In the castle?"

"Yes."

Lyra wasn't sure whether to squee in delight or panic in fear.