As Camille and Nemo ran out of the building, they saw the assembly of soldiers standing guard over the balloon, all of them pointing their bows and arrows at the occupants. Stopping shortly, Nemo rubbed his eyes for a second, wondering if they could be tricking them. While he had known what he was going to see, it was still amazing.
They were ponies...
He had seen a lot of strange things the last time he had come here, but the vibrant and colorful ponies were nothing short of peculiar. He was at a lost for words, but Camille walked right up, telling the soldiers to lower their weapons. As he came to stand next to her, he looked at the colors the ponies held on their manes. Giving a smile, Camille gave a bow to them, hoping that the soldiers weren't about to start a fight.
"I am Princess Camille, daughter to King Morpheus of Slumberland. I'm sorry about your balloon being attacked, since I asked for my soldiers not to attack anyone and simply watch." This time, Camille looked over the Captain and gave him a frown, which he merely looked down, flustered. "May I ask who you are?"
Nemo watched the ponies, not understanding why Camille would speak to them. The animals in this world didn't speak, and even Icarus could only chatter in squirrel, though, to his shock, the purple pony who had what looked like a star on her flank spoke, her voice quivering a for a few seconds before becoming resolute.
"My name is Twilight Sparkle. These are my friends Spike," a little purple dragon looked up, smiling and nodded, "Rainbow Dash," a blue pony with a rainbow and a cloud smiled and waved, "Rarity," a white pony with purple diamonds bowed courteously, her purple mane flowing, "Applejack," the brown pony with apples, tipped her hat, smiling, "Fluttershy," this pony was yellow and had butterfly's on her flank, but she merely nodded before moving to the back of the group, nervous, "and this is Pinkie Pie," she said, completing the introductions.
Out of all of the ponies, the pink pony seemed to be the most energetic. Gasping in delight, she ran over looking at Nemo and Camille.
"This... is... EXCITING! I mean, look at you and then you look at me, and we're SO different, but you seem so nice! I can't believe I'm actually meeting new friends! This has got to be one of the most joyous, greatest, AWESOMEST DAYS I HAVE EVER-"
The blue pony, Rainbow Dash, flew over and put her hoof over Pinkie's mouth. Chuckling, she brought her back to the group. Nemo was still unsure of what to say. Though, the dragon piqued his interest, and as he came over, he looked at the green spikes on his back, and as he pointed a finger out, ready to touch one, Spike laughed nervously, fumbling behind the purple pony who seemed to be the leader.
"I'm a bit ticklish there..."
As Nemo stood up straight, he spoke wondrously as he kept his eyes on the new visitors.
"Talking ponies, and I thought I saw everything the last time I came to Slumberland..."
The white pony squealed in delight. "Slumberland? What a beautiful name, and I must say, princess, your dress is absolutely gorgeous, darling. The elegance is simply divine, and your suit, what a perfect match!"
Camille smiled appreciatively, though Nemo knew she loved her dresses. Camille bowed again, turning to Nemo. "This is the prince and protector of Slumberland, Nemo. We have so many questions for you and I probably believe you hold the same. So, please, if you'd like to come inside and we'll-"
"Hahahahaha!"
The voice that laughed out was unmistakeable. As the large black shape appeared in the sky, Flip landed on the ground. Nemo had forgotten that he had left. The clown looked around at the ponies who seemed shock at Flip's style, but he only smiled widely, his mind going off like a minefield as he surveyed the new visitors.
"Well, what do we have here! A gaggle of ponies, and I must say, colorfully vibrant! Flip's the name and tricks are my game!" Pulling off his hat and bowing, Flap screeched loudly before the yellow pony, Fluttershy, ran over to it.
"Oh my, she's so beautiful! What's her name?" Flip seemed genuinely surprised, seeing most people normally were chasing them off. "Oh, that's Flap, my old girl. We've been through thick and thin, battling nightmares and saving Slumberland!"
Nemo and Camille both sighed before looking at him. "FLIP!"
Chuckling weakly, he pulled out his cigar as Twilight came forward. "Nightmares? Maybe that was what we saw. Your highness, before we came into the crystal cloud, we saw a dark shape that had glowing red eyes."
Camille nodded, her eyes becoming worried. "Yes, that's a nightmare. They're not from here, but from a dreaded dark world called Nightmare Land, which represents all the fear and darkness of the world's nightmares. It was far worse, though, when the Nightmare King was still alive, but please, I can explain more inside."
As everyone headed inside, Nemo saw Fluttershy bringing Flap in with her, and Rarity was grabbing a bunch of suitcases that she had seemed to wanted. Even Flip was interested in the discussion that was about to go on. As everyone was talking and laughing, Nemo ran a hand through his hair, not knowing what to think. Everything had happened so fast, but something felt strange...
Perhaps by seeing who the ponies were, things would make a little more sense.