Chapter 2: Attracting a Crowd

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It wasn't long before Daniel, Crystal, and Jubilee Blossom could see the town was in sight. From what they could see, the town of Ponyville was at least... interesting to them. The town looks like a little country village that could easily come from a child's story book. It seemed like a friendly place too. However, they would soon find out how friendly the town of Ponyville really was a matter of time.

Soon they were about fifty feet from the town when Jubilee suddenly stopped in front of them. "Um… Jubilee, is there a problem?" Crystal looked orange concerned at the brown coated earth pony.

"Oh, I'm fine." Jubilee looked up to her smiling. "We’re here... but I think you should expect a crowd of ponies looking at you weird."

"Eh, I can guess that’s a given.” Daniel proclaimed. “However, as I said earlier, it's only a matter of time before they find out about are existence, sooner or later. So the best thing to do is get it over with, I suppose."

"Yeah, Daniel’s right, it's only a matter of time before someone finds out about our existence. So let's just try to get this over with." Crystal said as she looked towards the town. "The only thing left for us to do now is go into town. Ready you two?" She asked them before walking towards Ponyville. Daniel and Crystal then walked with her, into the town.

As Daniel, Crystal, and Jubilee entered a place known as Ponyville, the two humans started to realize what their pony friend meant when she said about the crowd that they would attract. Not ten steps into the town they had gotten the attention of the citizens. Much to Crystal and Daniel's surprise, there where more of these ponies than what they had originally thought. The ponies themselves had many different coat, mane, and tail colors - with some having wings or horns. Most of them have different marks on their flanks. Crystal made a mental note to ask Jubilee what those marks meant later. She glanced at Jubilee's mark: a single pink rose with two blue raindrops. This seem to work well with her orange coat along with her dark chocolate color mane and tail, along with her orange colored eyes. However, the ponies of this town were unquestionably surprised at their arrival in this town.

Not even twenty steps in, they had gotten the attention of the whole entire town. Almost instantly whispers and murmuring among the ponies about Daniel and Crystal.

"What are they?" One pony asked.

"They look weird." Another pony wondered.

"Why are they here in Ponyville?" A third pony observed with worry. Daniel and Crystal tried to just ignore the ponies as they walked with Jubilee to her house.

After a little bit more walking, Jubilee, Daniel, and Crystal had arrived at the pony’s house. It wasn't much in terms of standing out of among the other houses. The house itself was a two-story building with a light warm cream color exterior with red roof tiles and a few windows with red framing.

"Okay, we’re here. What do you two think?" She asked them while taking notice of the crowd of ponies behind Daniel and Crystal. The two humans looked at the crowd of ponies that were still forming behind them.

“Yeah... let's go right inside, Jubilee," Daniel said as they entered into Jubilee's home.

Once inside, they could still hear the commotion of the other ponies outside, but Daniel and Crystal just tried to ignore them. They looked around the house seeing what the inside looked like. The entrances led directly into the living room and a staircase that led to the second floor. The living room led into the kitchen, with a spare bedroom to the left of the of the living room. The home was all right for first impressions, both humans thought as they walked over to the couch while Jubilee had gone in the kitchen for drinks for her guest. Just before Daniel and Crystal could touch the couch, the two could hear the steps of a second pony coming down from the stairs.

"Hey, Jubilee, honey," the voice of a stallion could be heard, "what's with the commotion outside, did Twilight Sparkle and her friends did... someth-" The stallion stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Daniel and Crystal. The two humans were surprised as they didn't know what to do in this situation.

Jubilee soon realized what was going on and quickly trotted over towards the stallion. Looking directly into his eyes, she said: "Night Hunter, it’s alright. This is Daniel and Crystal. I found them over in Ponyville Meadow."

"Why are they here?" Night Hunter said in a gruff deep voice as he looked at the two humans with an untrusting look. He was about to say something else when a knock on the front door was heard.

"I'll get that honey." Jubilee went over to the door. When she opened it, standing in front of the crowd of ponies was Twilight Sparkle, the alicorn Princess of Friendship. She had on her back several saddle bags filled with scrolls and quills. Jubilee quickly let Twilight in from the crowd of ponies trying to get a good look at the humans inside.

"Thank you, Jubilee Blossom," Twilight said as she unpacked her saddle bags. She then turned to Daniel and Crystal. "I was just about to reach home when I heard that there were two new creatures that nopony knew about. So I hurried back to my home and gathered up as many scrolls and quills as I could and rushed over." Twilight looked over form Daniel and Crystal, then turned back towards Jubilee Blossom and Night Hunter. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"

"Um, no Prin- eh, Twilight, we were just about to have a seat if you want you can join us." Jubilee waved a hoof towards the couch.

"Oh yes thank you! Also, if it's not too much trouble, may I ask these two creatures some questions?" Twilight inquired with eagerness but excitement in her eyes and voice.

"Well uh… sure. That is if that's okay with Daniel and Crystal." Jubilee pointed over towards where the two humans were at.

"Sure I guess," Daniel said as he put a hand behind his neck.

"Yeah! I'm down for it." Crystal smiled with confidence.

Twilight's eyes widened with pure delight as she used her magic to levitate quills and scrolls onto the coffee table in front of Daniel and Crystal. The two humans decided that it would be good for both of them to have a seat so that they could get a better look of Mrs. Blossom's husband, Night Hunter. He had a dark blue coat with a short thick light black mane and tail, however, the thing that drew their attention was the cutie mark. It was of two crossing silver swords. However, the thing that surprised them was that there were three scars that went across the flank and cutie mark, spitting the cutie mark into pieces. After everyone had taken their seats on the couches, Twilight quickly got her first set of quills and her first scroll.

"Okay, let’s start this out with something easy. Where do you come from?"

"Starting off with that one off the bat, eh?" Crystal chuckled to herself, "Well Daniel and I come from the planet Earth. But if you are asking where specifically, we come from a small farming town called Arialville, from the state of Montana." Twilight wrote down the information surprisingly quick as Daniel spoke.

"Alright, can you elaborate on your hometown please, like what is in Arialville?"

Daniel told her with a slightly bitter tone. "What’s to say? There really isn't much to Arialville. There are just tons of farms surrounding a tiny town in a titanic country. Besides that, there’s the elementary, middle, and high schools... There’s also the factory with a few stores that basically make up the microscopic community of Arialville."

Twilight quickly wrote down every word that he said so far. "Okay... So what happened before the both of you ended up here?"

Daniel and Crystal froze a bit after hearing that question. It was still a bit surprising that just under two hours ago, they were still at home in Montana. They’ve hope that they wouldn't be forgotten back there... hopefully. "We were just over at my house, waiting for the big football game that was just a few hours away. We were just out back trying to kill some time." Daniel had a bit of an uneasy feeling as he told the final moments of his lifetime on Earth. "We were just outside on the porch, waiting for the time to leave for the big home game against our main rival team. But sadly... you know that didn't happen. All of a sudden there was this light, neither of us could tell you what it was like because as soon as I opened my eyes, we were in a meadow. It wasn’t long for me and Crystal to see her, Jubilee Blossom over here. So she lead us here and… yeah, that’s how me and Crystal ended up here." Daniel sighed heavily after he finished speaking.

Twilight, Night Hunter, and Jubilee Blossom were completely surprised at what Daniel had said. Twilight wordlessly wrote down what he had said with her magic. After that she rose her head back up, she asked: "Okay, what about your work? Do either of you have any jobs or are you both still in school?"

"Well I'm only sixteen as of last June,” Crystal said faintly smiling at that last part, “and he's seventeen. So not much to do in terms of work per-say, because again, it’s a small town in the middle of nowhere that’s in the center of Montana. We do go to school, since we’re both in twelfth grade, so that means we have just a few months of high school left, so that's something at least."

"I see... Since you have a place to stay, that's one half of the problem solved…” Twilight mused. “But do you have anything else with you besides the clothes that you're currently wearing?" She asked concerned.

"Sadly no, these are the only things we have with us because of the two of us where outside when we were transported," Daniel said as he stretched his arms. "If only I could have taken something like my dad's new gun probably. It was a real beauty, powerful as well.

Twilight was surprised when she heard human technology had something like that. "W-what it? That is something unbelievable!" She exclaimed with excitement her voice as she began to mutter, before Daniel then spoke.

"Hey, you also have to be careful with something like that!” Daniel explained sterling as he continued: "It’s something that tons of humans use back on earth. It’s a weapon meant for self-defense. And not to be frolicked around like some cheep off brand toy.”

"Okay, that's fine. That seems like enough questions for the time being. As I was about to say, since you’re without clothes, I know somepony that can make some more for the two of you. She really nice and I know she will be up for the challenge." Twilight then turns to Jubilee Blossom and Night Hunter, "Is it okay if we get them measured for new clothes?"

"That's fine, however..." Jubilee looked over to Night Hunter. "Night Hunter, honey, can you come with me to get Angle Light and Cyan Streaks? They told me that they had been drafted in so both of them have to leave early tomorrow morning. It’s just that after I got upset and ran towards the meadow.”

“Why there?” Her husband asked.

“Because it was where the three of us first became friends.” She sighed before adding, “That’s also where Daniel and Crystal appeared. Anyway, I need your help to find them because I feel really bad for just running out like that and I wanted to make sure that they’re alright. So can you help please help me, honey?"

Night Hunter thought of a moment and then instantly said, "Of course Jubilee, that's not a problem." He told her as he gave a quick kiss.

"Thank you so much, Night Hunter." The two of them got up from the couch.

"Okay, that settles it.” Twilight as she headed towards the door. “Night, Jubilee, when you’re all done with what you’re doing, come and meet the three of us at the Carousel Boutique. Alright?" Twilight explained as she, Jubilee, Hunter, Daniel, and Crystal exited the house.

After everyone had gotten outside, Jubilee Blossom and Night Hunter had gone off in order to find Angel Light and Cyan Streaks. The walk towards the Carousel Boutique was one that could have been better. There were still a couple of ponies outside at the time, not as many as there was before, due to it almost being seven in the evening. However, the ponies that outside were still a bit hesitant about Daniel and Crystal. What they could actually do, as far as Twilight, Jubilee, and Night Hunter could tell was understandable - that they weren't entirely sure if these humans were bad or dangerous.

After a bit of walking, along with increasing looks and murmuring form the residents of Ponyville, the three of them had arrived at Carousel Boutique. The Boutique, to both of the humans, looked to suite Crystal more than it did with Daniel. "Here we are,” Twilight asked as she looked back to the two humans, “what do the both of you think?"

"Um... it's fancy, that is for sure,” Daniel said as he looked at the bouquet with an uninterested look. “It kinda looks like one of those over-the-top carousels that they had at the state fair or the marry-go-rounds form Elementary school. However, I can’t say I’m interested in this, not a fan of bouquets.”

“Yeah kinda agree with Daniel, we don't have any bouquets where we're from," Crystal explain to Twilight.

"Oh, okay… Well, that’s still fine, I guess. Anyway, let's go inside. There’s a friend I’d like you to meet." Twilight said with a smile - and with her, Daniel and Crystal entered into the Boutique.

As the three entered into the boutique, Daniel and Crystal were a bit surprised at what the shop looked from the inside. The bouquet definitely had the materials and supplies such as mirrors, some weird pony mannequins, rolls of fabrics, spools of thread and needles, movable folding screens, and even a small display stage. Both Daniel and Crystal had to agree: this was impressive in a way.

"Hey Rarity, are you busy right now?” Twilight’s voice echoed throughout the shop.”If you not, then I have two individuals here that are in need of some new clothes."

A few moments later the hoofsteps of another pony could be heard coming from the stairs from the back of the boutique. After a few seconds later a unicorn mare could be seen coming out from the stairs. She was a white-coated unicorn mare with a purple mane and tail with three diamonds as her cutie mark. The mare came round from stairs saying: "Of course Twilight, now who are these two-wha..." The unicorn, who Daniel and Crystal assumed to be Rarity froze from the bottom of the stairs in shock as her eyes laid on the two humans.

"W-what are those, Twilight!" Rarity was, of course, surprised at seeing these two humans for the first time. She was about to say something else, however, Twilight spoke up before she could.

"Rarity, this is Daniel and Crystal. And before you say anything, they’re not dangerous or evil. They just need new clothes because they are currently wearing the one pair they have ok?"

Rarity still has a look of caution, but she reasoned that if Twilight said that they weren't dangerous, perhaps they might be harmless. Rarity sighed. "Well, if you say so darling. Even though I don’t completely understand how to work with humans... I will still try my absolute hardest to make want you needed. Now then, let’s get this started."

She then got out the supplies with her magic, including paper, pins and measuring tape where she began to take their measurements for their new clothes.

Meanwhile across town, Jubilee Blossom and Night Hunter where trotting quickly towards where Angel Light and Cyan Streaks lived at. The two of them lived right next door to each other at the other end of the town from the meadow. Soon enough, the two of them had arrived at Angle Lights’ and Cyan Streaks' houses. The homes were side by side to each other as their houses were the same size as almost every other house in town. Cyan's house was a blue color for the exterior with a red color roof and dark blue windows frames. Angle's house was white from its exterior color with a yellow roof and red window frames. Jubilee and Hunter quickly went up towards Angle Light's doorstep. Jubilee knocked on the door where a few seconds later the door opened to reveal Angel Light.

"Oh, hey Night, Jubilee, how are yo-" He was quickly interrupted as Jubilee hugged him.

"Angel I'm so sorry that I ran out after you and Cyan told me that you’ve been drafted. I was so afraid about what could happen to you two, but I know that's no excuse for what I did. But can you forgive me for doing something so stupid?"

Angel Light was silent for a moment before Jubilee felt him return the hug, "Jubilee, I’ve already forgiven you. I'm just glad that I got to you before being deployed off with Cyan. I wish that we would have been able to go and find you, but we both had to finish up cleaning up the house. Thankfully, we’ve just finished up about five minutes ago. Although Cyan is inside with me helping me with the final touches, so if you and Night want, do you want to come in?"

"Oh thank you, Angel, of course, we’ll come in for a bit." She said as she and her husband went into Angel Light's home. As they entered into the living room from the front door, the two of them were pretty impressed by Angel's work at cleaning. Jubilee could see that Cyan Streaks was in the living room. She quickly went up to him and did what she had done to Angel to explain her actions. After Jubilee had done explaining, he too forgave her before all of them made their way towards the kitchen.

"I made these to mark our last day before we’re off to war." Cyan, with his light blue aura magic, opened the oven door to pull out a fresh batch of cookies all ready for them to be eaten. Jubilee was surprised as it had been months since Cyan had made his peanut butter cookies that she loved so much. "Go on, try one?" He said as he lifted one with his magic over towards Jubilee.

"Oh thank you Cyan." She took a large bite of the cookie. Just like all the other times, she enjoyed the taste of cookie so much.

"Go on, I made these for you and Night to have after I and Angel are off to who-fucking-knows-where. But I'm glad to see you one last time before being drafted. Since, you know, everypony knows that this is going to be a fucking bloody war.”

"Yeah, this will be... Hey Angel, Cyan? Can I ask you two to come with us for a few minutes? There’s something that I want to show you. Something... eh, well yeah, something that I found when I was at the Ponyville Meadow." She was a bit worried when she asked that request, seeing that almost everypony else had seen Daniel and Crystal, they thought they’ve gained suspicions or some might have thought they were even worse than monsters. But she knew what had to be done. "They’re at the Carousel Boutique if you want to know what that thing is."

Angel and Cyan looked at each other of a moment. "You know what? Sure Jubilee, that would be lovely." Angel Light responded without hesitation.

"Yeah, I guess we can take a look, we’ve still got a few hours left before it's time for sleep." Cyan took the rest of the cookies and placed them in a bag for Jubilee and Night to have when they get back. Jubilee and Night Hunter quickly trotted out of the house towards Carousel Boutique with Angel and Cyan following not too far behind them.

At Carousel Boutique, Rarity had finished with all of the measurements and had moved on to making the new clothes. Twilight was laying on the floor reading something close to the stage while Daniel and Crystal were looking at how fast the unicorn mare was working at. They were stunned how quick and agile Rarity’s work was. Since Rarity could see this, she decided to try and talk with them.

"So Daniel, Crystal, what do you do in back in where you're from?"

"Oh, well we're both still in high school, so no jobs yet.” Crystal answered. “Even though there’s not a lot of options for an eleventh grader from where we're from."

"I see, thank you for sharing darling." Rarity gave a warm smile and then thought up of another question. "What is it like at your school? Is it a nice place?"

Daniel thought about how to respond for a moment. "Well, that depends on who you ask really. There are some people who like school and those who hate it. Me personally, it's ok. There are things that are bull crap for sure. Like lunch period can completely screw you over if you get stuck at the very back of the line where you don’t have any time to eat. Or that the period for our class that changes at random is terrible. But there are some good things though, I had friends that I really enjoyed being with. Well... at least before we ‘came’ here that is." Daniel sighed at the last part.

"Oh." Rarity said softly. She was surprised at what Daniel had said, even Twilight who had put down the book that she heard this. "I'm truly sorry Daniel, it must be hard to be forced to leave all your family and friends. I hope that you can find a way to adapt while you two are in Equestria.”

"Thanks, Rarity." Daniel smiles at her. If there are those like Rarity to show empathy for their unforeseen circumstances, maybe this world isn't as bad as they thought.

Then there was a loud rumbling coming from Daniel and Crystal. The two mares were jumpy at this unexpected sound. Crystal then looked at the two mares. "Oh! Sorry, I’ve just realized we haven't eaten anything since noon! I wish that I could get something to eat, like chicken or pork-"

"Oh, I have some chicken breast in the fridge if you want some." Rarity said completely clam.

Daniel and Crystal's eyes widened as they heard this. “W-Wait! Hold on! You have chicken?” Daniel questioned Rarity in which she nodded. “The ponies here are okay with eating meat?!"

It then clicked to Rarity what Daniel was saying. "Well sure, we can eat meat. But it’s not something we do every day, mind you. It’s usually something like three times every week for some, and there are plenty of ponies that think that eating meat is wrong, but the truth is that ponies have been eating meat before Equestria was founded. So this isn't a brand new idea or something."

"Well... if it's okay then... sure I guess. We're still hungry, so can we please have some?"

"Oh not at all Crystal, and you too, Daniel, darling." Rarity smiled gently at them.

"I can get for you if you want," Twilight said as she got up form the floor. Walking over to the kitchen.

"Thank you Twilight for that!" Daniel yelled to her as she went into the kitchen.

Then there was a knock at the front door, and Rarity, who was a bit confused is that there were no other ponies scheduled for an appointment on the account that it was almost 9:30 at night. She knew that her other friends were busy with other things; like Applejack with the farm and Rainbow Dash being busy with Soarin and Spitfire practicing for a show in a few days. So who, she thought to herself, could it be at this hour? She opened the door with her magic to show Jubilee Blossom, Night Hunter, Angel Light, and Cyan Streaks were at the door.

"Oh Angel, Cyan, Jubilee, and Hunter, this is such a nice surprise. What brings the four of you over at this time of the night?"

"Good evening Rarity,” Jubilee said as she, at this pointed a hoof towards the humans. “Well I just wanted to show Angel and Cyan something and that said something was here."

"Oh okay then, make yourselves at home you four." She smiled as she opened the door for the four ponies.

As the four entered in, Angel Light and Cyan Streaks were still wondering about what the something was that their friend wanted them to see. However, when their eyes laid on to Daniel and Crystal, they knew exactly what that Jubilee was talking about.

"So let me guess,” Daniel grunted, “the two of you are going to ask, 'what the Hell are those things,’ right? Sorry, but the whole town has been doing that and it's really getting old. Anyway, the name’s Daniel Dwight, but you can just call me Daniel for short."

Cyan nodded. "It’s uh… That's okay Daniel. I guess that I can only imagine how hard this must be for and your friend to be in a place so… unfamiliar." He said and then turned towards Crystal. "Speaking of which, what's your name anyway?" He asked tilling his head a bit.

"Crystal Smith, but please call me Crystal." She said as she shook Cyan's hoof. “Everybody does.”

"It's nice to meet the both of you. My name is Angel Light and this here is my best bro, Cyan Streaks. Anyway, could you please tell us on how the two of you came to Equestria? We’ve heard that you may not be from around here." He asked them as he and Cyan lied down on the floor.

"Sure, so it all started when..." The two of them began to retell on how they ended up in the world of Equestria, how they meet Jubilee, and what happened while the two stallions were cleaning and putting up things for when they had to go off tomorrow for the war, with a bit of starting and stopping to elaborate on certain things from their world. At the end Crystal finished with: "And so, that’s how Daniel and I came to the world of Equestria.”

When Crystal finished, she and Daniel could tell that both Angel and Cyan were indeed interested in all of this. "Wow, that's a lot going for one day,” Angel commented. “You met Jubilee at the Meadow, and that was just after she ran off crying after we told her that we had to leave tomorrow."

Daniel raised an eyebrow, "Leave for what?"

Angel then said in a depressed tone. "Well… Me and Cyan here have been deployed off to war. We’re actually leaving tomorrow morning, so there’s a chance this is the last time that we’re ever going to see are friends again. We’ve met with our parents, along with my older brother and Cyan’s younger sister and his nephew today to wish them goodbye."

As Angel went silent, Daniel and Crystal were in shock at what they’ve just heard. That was the reason why they found Jubilee crying when they’ve first met her. This new world they’ve come into, Equestria was at war! This was shocking to them. Sure, some of the citizens of Ponyville were suspicious of them - and understandably so. But to them, their first impression of the world of Equestria seemed like a peaceful and happy place.

Then from the kitchen Twilight call out: "Hey Daniel, Crystal, dinner is ready for you, so come and get it!"

"Okay, we’re coming!" Daniel replied back. The two of them got up and went up towards the kitchen to see that Twilight had just finished making the chicken with rice, which looked pretty great.

"Well, wanna come and try it?" Twilight asked as she put the food on the table. The two sat down next to it and began to dig in. To their surprise as well as their silent relief, it teased great, and was something that the two humans would gladly eat again. After they’ve finished and put away the dishes into the sink, they’ve decided to return back to where everyone was at. They could see that Twilight was back to reading her book. Rarity was close to finishing with the new outfits while talking to Night Hunter, Jubilee Blossom, Angle Light, and Cyan Streaks. When Daniel and Crystal returned back to the work area, Rarity turned around smiling. "Oh Daniel, Crystal darlings. I think I’ve just finished." She exclaimed very happily.

With her magic, she lifted up two shopping bags and put them in front of Daniel and Crystal. When the two peaked in what was inside, the were astonished at the clothes that Rarity had made for them from scratch.

"Go on, try them on darlings. The changing room is right over there." She said as she pointed a hoof towards the changing area. Daniel and Crystal, without saying a word walked over to the changing area and when in. Two minutes later, they came out with their new clothes on. Daniel had on a dark blue t-shirt with black shorts while Crystal had on a red t-shirt with bashe color shorts. When they looked in a mirror to see what they looked like, they were amazed to see how good of a job that the unicorn did with the clothing. They even felt the like clothing from their world too! "So what do you to think?"

"Rarity, these are great! There just like clothes from home. Thank you so much for these!" Crystal said in high regard. Rarity blushed a bit when she heard the high praise from the human.

"Why thank you Crystal, and you as well Daniel? And don't worry I should have more made for you tomorrow."

“Well, thanks anyway, but I don’t know if we’ll be able to pay you back for-”

“Oh perish the thought!” Rarity interrupted. “You two were in need of something to wear them just the pair you had on. While I don’t do this sort of thing often, I’m more than willing to give you something presentable to wear for nothing.”

"Thank you, now if you don't mind, I really want to go to bed," Daniel said before he when back to the changing area to put back on his original clothes, Crystal when went with him to do the same.

As they did, Cyan turned to Jubilee and Night, "Well, Angel and I should be heading back home too. It was nice to see you guys again, and Jubilee, don't worry about the cookies, I'll just wrap them up and give them to you before we leave." He and Angle then hugged Jubilee and her husband.

"Aw thanks, and don't worry us.” Jubilee told them, “We’ll see you off at the train station."

Angel Light smiled. "Thanks, Jubilee, that means a lot to us. And goodnight to you and Night." He and Cyan Streaks then went to the front and exited the shop for their homes.

Twilight got up and went to the two earth ponies. "Hey, I got to dash home and get all these notes to Celestia. I’ll see the four of you tomorrow, and tell you what she says." She then gathered her things, waved goodbye to the couple and left the shop. Then the moment that Twilight had left the shop, Daniel and Crystal had returned from the changing area. They were in their original clothes and held their new ones, which they have put them back into the bags.

When they had returned, Jubilee said to the tailor, "Well Rarity, it's time for us to go. It’s good to see you again." She said smiling.

Rarity smiled back. "Well, it was grand to see you and Night. It was interesting to meet Daniel and Crystal."

"Yeah nice meeting you, Rarity." Daniel smiled and waved as he went to the exit.

"Bye Rarity, hope to see again soon." Crystal said they left for the exit.

After they had gotten back, it was twenty minutes ‘till eleven. Jubilee Blossom and Night Hunter told their human guests that since they were going stay with them for the time being, they showed them where they were going to be staying from the guest room in their house.

"This here is where you two will sleep,” said Night, “the beds might be a bit small, but we can try to get a bigger one later. Anyway, you two can work out who gets what bed, but as for now, it’s about time we head off to bed. So goodnight Daniel, goodnight Crystal. We will see you both in the morning." Said Night Hunter as he and Jubilee Blossom went up to there bedroom for the night.

The guest room that the humans were shown was small but in a way familiar. It had two beds, one that was directly across from the other. In the room there was also a nightstand was between the beds and a dresser across from the foot of the bed.

"So I guess that l will take the one by the window?"

"Sure Daniel,” Crystal said claiming the other bed, “anyway, night bro, I’ll see you in the morning.” They went over to their twin beds, dropped their bags next to them and pumped down on them. After a bit of trying to work into it, the two of them got comfortable enough to drift off to sleep.

Chapter 3: So Much to See

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It was early in the morning when Jubilee Blossom came into Daniel and Crystal's new room to wake them up, at around 6:30am or so.

"Daniel, Crystal, it's time to wake up my Dears." She said in a loving but serious tone. The two Humans grumbled a bit as they got up. Jubilee just smiled as she said, "There is breakfast that Night Hunter has made, and we still have it if you want some."

"Yeah, I do want some." Daniel said while yawning a bit.

"Me too." Crystal agreed somewhat sleepily."

Both of them then stood up form the bed, with Daniel stretching a bit before the two of them went off to the kitchen along with Jubilee Blossom.

In the kitchen, Night Hunter was setting up the last of the meal on the table. As he did so, Jubilee, Daniel and Crystal entered into the kitchen. Daniel and Crystal were surprised at what was on the table. There were eggs, hashbrowns, pancakes, and even some strips of bacon, along with some of the peanut butter cookies that Cyan made the day before! The two of them were indeed surprised at all of the food that he had made from them to eat.

"Come on," Night Hunter said smiling, " Try it. I need to know if it's any good." He passed out two forks using his hooves to Daniel and Crystal.

The two Humans took a seat right next to each other. It was a tight fit due to the fact that the chairs were significantly smaller than what they were used to back home. Despite being couched down near the table though, they both picked up their forks, and slowly took a bite of the hash browns. Just like the chicken from yesterday, the hash browns tasted wonderful. Crystal then began to eat quickly, followed quickly by Daniel.

"Wow, you two sure are hungry today." Night Hunter chuckled a bit as she saw both Daniel and Crystal quickly eating breakfast.

After five minutes, Daniel and Crystal had finished eating, Crystal looked up at him. "Thanks Night Hunter. Daniel and I really enjoyed the breakfast. It really beats the stuff at school cafeteria any day!"

Night Hunter was happy that they liked his cooking since he tried so hard. "Thank you. I'm glad that both of you enjoyed it so much."

Then Jubilee then got up from the table. "Ok, so Daniel, Crystal, Night Hunter and I have to go to the train station so that the two of us can go and wish Angel Light and Cyan Streaks off, so if you want, there is the bathroom upstairs, plus there's one in the hallway for you to use to get ready. So which one do you want?"

The two Humans looked at each other for a second, then turned back to her.

"I'll take the upstairs one," Daniel replied.

"And I'll take the one in the hallway." Crystal just shrugged.

"Oh, well ok then. Both of you go get the new clothes that Rarity made for you yesterday, and Daniel, once you get your clothes, then you can come with me and I will show you were the bathrooms is at. Crystal if you need help finding where it's at, then I will help you too."

"Thanks, Jubilee, but I think that I can find it by myself." She said as she went to get her clothes.

Jubilee just blinked, and then she turned to Daniel, "Well Daniel, go get the clothes that Rarity made yesterday, and I will show you to the bathroom." Daniel nodded, and went to gather his clothes.

Once Daniel had gathered his things, Jubilee showed him to the upstairs bathroom. The upstairs consisted of Night Hunter and Jubilee Blossom's room at the start of the hallway, with the bathroom at the center, and another room at the end of the hallway. Daniel took a mental note to ask Jubilee what that other room was for when he got the chance later on.

Jubilee walked over to the where the bathroom was at, and waved to Daniel to come over. "Ok, so this is the upstairs bathroom. If you need anything, just shout out my name, 'kay?"

Daniel just nodded, and then entered the bathroom before locking the door. Jubilee then walked down to the kitchen to check on Night Hunter and Crystal.

Daniel first took a good look at the bathroom. The bathroom was kinda small, and the walls were painted blue. There was of course a toilet (which of sadly a bit small but still be could worked with), and the same was also true for the bathroom vanity, which also had a bathroom vanity mirror, and there was also a bathtub that also had a showerhead, which was good for Daniel. He started the water, and took off his shirt while waiting for the water to warm up.

Meanwhile downstairs, Crystal had found the downstairs bathroom, and entered it. The walls were an ivory-cream color instead of blue, and it had the same bathroom vanity with the vanity mirror and bathtub with the showerhead that the upstairs bathroom had. She then started the water, and waited for the water to be hot.

About 15 minutes later, Daniel came down. He seemed to be in the good mood, and he had the bag in his hands filled with his old clothes. He could see that Jubilee Blossom was waiting next to the front door, while Night Hunter was sitting on a chair in the kitchen waiting for him and Crystal to finish up. He had a look of surprise on his face, and this made Jubilee Blossom curious. "Hey Daniel, what's got you so happy today?"

"Oh, because it's Saturday. Even though I'm in a completely different world, I always get in a good mood when it comes to Saturday. I would always love to hang out with my friends Jubilee, So that's why I'm feeling so good right now.

"Oh, that's good Daniel. It's nice that you have something to be happy about." Night Hunter said as he turned in the direction of the first-floor bathroom. "Where's Crystal? If we don't leave soon, then we're going to be late and won't be able to wish them off." He wondered as he got up from his chair. Then, a moment later, Crystal came out of the bathroom. Like Daniel, she also had her old clothes in the bag that Rarity had put their new ones in.

"So, are we going to the train station now?" She asked Jubilee.

"Oh yes, now we can go to the train station Crystal." Jubilee then opened the front door, and the 4 of them then walked outside, and off towards the train station.

The walk to the Ponyville train station was alright. Like yesterday, the Ponies were trying their best not to talk with the Humans. Most just whispered among themselves, while some just ignored them. Daniel and Crystal just rolled their eyes. They knew that these Ponies thought that they were something bad, however, they could definitely tell that this was going to get old, and old fast.

Before they knew it, all four of them had arrived at the Ponyville train station. Daniel and Crystal were surprised at what they saw. The station was very long, about 250 or so feet. The platform was made of stone and was flat, with the stone being a light grayish color that contrasted against the rest of the station. There was also a building that was square at the back of the station in the middle of the platform. The building was an older looking building that was in great condition, and was made of red brick with a black, partial canopy roof. There were some benches that were under the partial canopy roof with some Ponies that were sitting on the benches. It appeared to be family members saying their final goodbyes to their sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, grandkids, nieces, and nephews for what all they knew was probably the last time that they would ever see them alive.

There were also other Ponies that were at the platform part of the station. Some where saying their goodbyes to their loved ones, while others were standing alone waiting to board their train. The Ponies at the station seemed to be too busy to pay Daniel and Crystal any mind; either that, or more likely they just didn't care about acknowledging them at that time. Then Angel Light and Cyan Streaks came up to them. They had with them the things that they could bring with them, and the two Humans could tell that Angel and Cyan were very sad to say goodbye to Jubilee Blossom and Night Hunter.

"Jubilee, Hunter. I wish that Cyan and I didn't have to go, and that we can stay here with you. However, this has to be done, and besides, we have a chance to come back, and I know that we will return back to Ponyville; I promise." Then he and Cyan Streaks enveloped Jubilee Blossom and Night Hunter into a tight hug. It lasted for a few seconds, and then two released them from their hug. They then turned to Daniel and Crystal, and were surprised when Daniel squatted down to their height and hugged them.

"Thank you for actually being nice to me and Crystal yesterday."

"You're welcome Daniel, I'm glad that I got the chance to meet you as well." Cyan Streaks said as Daniel released them from the hug. Crystal then did the same thing, and once they were released from her hug, they went to go retrieve their things. Daniel and Crystal then turned to see what steam locomotive was pulling their train.

They were shocked that it was a steam locomotive that they were looking at. The steam engine was a black 2-8-2 steam engine that was coupled up to ten passenger cars that were painted a reddish color with yellow lettering that read "Equestrian Railway" on their sides. However, the one thing that made them surprised was the number that was on the engine's tender. The number was painted in yellow spelling out the number 4501.

"No way! That can't be!" Crystal said in shock.

Jubilee turned to her with a raised eyebrow, "Um Crystal, is everything ok?"

Crystal then turned to Jubilee Blossom, and pointed towards the steam locomotive. "Hey Jubilee, that steam locomotive. What is it used for?"

Jubilee just blinked for a second before replying, "What? Equestrian Railway No. 4501? That engine takes passengers and freight trains from Appaloosa to Dodge City, and then to Ponyville, and then finally to Canterlot. However, it's being used by the Royal Guard currently for recruitment trains, and some delivery trains by them." Jubilee then raised an eyebrow. "Why do you ask Crystal?"

"That engine... it can't be. How on Earth is it here in this world?"

"Ok Crystal, what is wrong? What do you mean by 'how is it here?' What do you mean by that?" Jubilee asked in a bit of a worrisome tone.

"That steam locomotive looks exactly like one of the steam locomotives from our world!"

Jubilee's eyes widened as she heard. "What do you mean? How is that... are you completely sure?" She asked Crystal.

"I'm positive. It's at a railway museum in Tennessee, I think, and it's been on static display for a few years. I think that they're going to restore him in a few years maybe."

"Well... I think that we should ask Twilight whenever we get the opportunity to, agreed?"

Crystal nodded her head in agreement as Angel Light and Cyan Streaks returned back with their things.

They then boarded the train without saying a word, and took a set in the second passenger coach on the side that they could see them as they departed. And sure enough, only three minutes later the 4501 blew its whistle, and slowly departed from the station. After a few moments, the Ponies began to disperse. Some of them gave Daniel and Crystal a worried look, while others gave them the same look that most Ponies gave them.

After a moment or so Daniel, Crystal, Jubilee Blossom, and Night Hunter departed from the station, and made their way back home.

The walk back was quiet for a while. The Ponies tried keeping their distance from Daniel and Crystal, while some were still whispering about what they truly were.

Then Crystal spoke up. "Hey Daniel, did you find it weird about that engine's number?"

Daniel paused for a bit before replying with, "Yeah, kinda, I guess. But remember Crystal, we don't know anything about this world, so there has to be a reason why. Plus it isn't like engines from our world don't always have the same numbering. Remember UP 844 when she was renumbered to 8444 for a while?"

Crystal nodded, but then Night Hunter spoke up. "Hey Daniel, can I ask you something? How do you and Crystal know so much about trains?"

"Oh that's easy. I've been a railfan almost my whole life. I loved reading and watching old videos of steam locomotives working and seeing how they work internally." Daniel explained as he recalled his numerous connections with his friend. "I got Crystal into the whole railway stuff about 5 years ago, and it's something that we talk about constantly. Which is nice, since there's so much about trains to talk about."

"Yeah, but that makes me start to wonder how much similar Equestria and your world might be." Night Hunter pondered.

Daniel was about to reply, but then a mare was heard yelling, "THEY'RE REAL!!!"

The whole group then turned around to see a Pony running straight towards them.

"What the-?!" Was all that Daniel could say before the Pony collided with him. The Pony was Hugging him, saying over and over that they were real. Then another Pony, who was a light brown-coated Earth-Pony stallion with a blonde mane and a guitar Cutie-Mark. He looked at the mare with a worried look.

"Lyra, get off of him!" He said to the mare on top of Daniel (presumably Lyra,) who was a mint green-coated Unicorn mare with a green mane with a thin white strip, and a lyre Cutie-Mark. She then quickly got off Daniel, and Crystal helped him up.

"I'm so sorry for what my wife has done Mr. Human." The brown stallion said, his ears a bit folded back.

"It's ok.... Wait what? How do you know that we're Humans?" Daniel asked in surprise as he crossed his arms. How did this stallion know what they were?

"Yes I do. Oh shoot, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Meadow Song, and this here is my lovely wife, Lyra Heartstrings." Meadow lifted a hoof to the mint green Unicorn.

Daniel then walked over to the two Ponies, got down to their level, and extended his hand. "Name's Daniel, and this over here is Crystal." Meadow was a bit confused at first, but he soon realized what Daniel was trying to do and shook his hand with his hoof.

"So um... can either of you explain how you know about us?" Crystal asked with a bit of a raised eyebrow.

"I can!" Lyra broke in. "I believed that Humans have existed since I was a little filly. My mom, Stone Tale, who's a Unicorn historian who studied legends from long ago, would tell me stories of Humans as simple bedtime stories. However, there was this part of me that just knew that Humans were real. Ponies thought that it was just a phase that I was going through, so most of them have never heard of you guys, but I never stopped believing that they were real, and out their somewhere. When I began to date Meadow, I didn't tell him about my love of Humans because I thought that he was going to dump me, or think that I was crazy if I told him. However, when our relationship became serious, I decided that it was time to tell him. Surprisingly, he wasn't freaked out or anything like that. He didn't fully understand it, but he ended up accepting me for who I was. And when I saw you guys were right here in Ponyville, I got so excited to finally meet a Human after all these years!" Lyra then sighed. "Yes, I know that what I did was wrong, and I'm sorry for what I did. I hope that you can forgive me for pouncing on you like that."

"Well, I think one day I will. That day will be someday, but not today Lyra," Daniel sighed for a second. "Anyway, it was nice meeting both of you. I'll be glad to see you again." Daniel smiled as he walked back to Crystal, Jubilee, and Hunter.

"Well it was nice to meet you Daniel, and you too Crystal. I can't wait to see you two again." Meadow Song smiled happily. He waved goodbye to them with his hoof, and then he and Lyra walked away to another part of Ponyville.

Soon the group of four continued on their way back to Night Hunter and Jubilee Blossom's house. Although as they made their way back, Daniel and Crystal began to wonder just how many other Ponies also believed in Humans.

It was around 10 in the morning when there was knock at the front door. Night Hunter trotted over to the door, opening it to reveal Twilight. She had a look that said that she was happy, but at the same time also seemed to have a worried expression.

"Hey Night Hunter, where are Daniel and Crystal? There is something that I need to tell them, along with you and Jubilee", Twilight said calmly. Night Hunter blinked for a second. Whatever it was, it seemed to be pretty important. He then let Twilight into his house.

Inside the living room, Jubilee Blossom was reading one of her favorite books on the living room couch, while Daniel was on the couch deep in thought. When Twilight entered into the house they were surprised that she was here. "Hello Jubilee Blossom, hello Daniel. Where's Crystal?" Twilight asked.

"She is in our room taking a nap. She said that there wasn't anything to do. Why do you ask?" Daniel wondered.

"Oh, there is something important that I need to tell you both, along with Jubilee and Hunter." She replied to Daniel, her expression turning into a warm one.

"Ok, I can get her for you if that is what you want." Daniel offered up.

Twilight smiled saying, "That would be great Daniel."

Daniel then got up, and went over to the extra bedroom where Crystal was sleeping at. While he was waking Crystal up, Twilight took a seat on the couch next to Jubilee. A minute later, Daniel came out with Crystal, who was a little bit confused at why Daniel had woken her up. When she looked at Twilight, she then could tell that whatever the reason that he woke her up was had something to do with her being there.

"Good morning Crystal. I hope that you're having a great day?" She asked Crystal, giving her a slight grin.

"It's fine Twilight. Though why are you here? Is something wrong?" Crystal raised an eyebrow.

Twilight sighed. "The reason why I'm here is to tell you something. Last night after I came home, I decided to write a letter to Princess Celestia telling her about you guys, and what happened last night. This morning, I got her response to my letter." She then made a scroll appear in her hooves with her Magic, and then brought the scroll to Crystal.

"Ok, let's see here." Crystal then unraveled it, and began to read the contents of the scroll out loud.

Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,

I have read the contents of your last letter, and I must say that I'm very interested in these Daniel and Crystal people. I would be more than happy to meets these "Humans" for myself. I will make room for these two tomorrow at 1:00 pm. I will be very interested in meeting them when that time comes.

- Princess Celestia

Crystal then looked back to Twilight, the piece of paper falling to them. "Who's Princess Celestia, Twilight?" she asked.

"She is the co-ruler of our land." She stated. "She, along with her younger sister, Princess Luna, keep harmony and peace in Equestria. They also raise the sun and moon each and every day." As Twilight finished she saw that Daniel and Crystal were in shock at what she said. "Um, is something wrong you two?" She asked, a bit worried.

"How can they raise the sun and moon? That is impossible!" Daniel replied.

"Raising the sun and moon?" She asked confused.

"Yes, that!" He exclaimed, "How on Earth do they do that?!" Daniel asked, surprised at just how calmly Twilight said that.

"Well, I'll tell it to you later, alright Daniel? Our train will be arriving in about 25 minutes. I have to go get my friends right now, and I have told them what is going on. Anyway, I’ll see you guys at the train station." Twilight then got up from the couch, opened the front door with her Magic, and then quickly trotted out of the house to find her friends.

The 2 Humans and 2 Ponies just blinked for a second. Jubilee then spoke up, "Well, I guess that we're going Canterlot."

"Um, Jubilee, Night? What on Earth is Canterlot?" Crystal asked with a confused expression on her face.

"Canterlot is the capital of Equestria. It's where two of the Princesses, Celestia and Luna, reside at. See, unlike most other Ponies who are either Unicorns, Pegasi, or Earth-Ponies like me and Night, they're both Alicorns. They're like Princess Twilight since they have a pair of wings and a horn. They're all extremely powerful, and that's why they are Princesses." She paused for a bit. "Does that answer your question Crystal?"

"Well... I guess it kinda does. I'm really not in the mood for all those Ponies staring at us like we're some sort of monster. I mean, if the Ponies here have some problems with us that we don't know about, I can only imagine what those Princesses are going to think. Honestly, it's not exactly a good thing!" Crystal looked down when she finished.

She then felt the hand of Daniel on her shoulder. "Crystal, I know that this isn't easy. I feel the same way too, but we're going to be fine. We're not alone in this world. We have Jubilee, Night, Twilight, and Rarity, and we also have the Ponies that actually want to talk with us, like that Meadow Song and Lyra. And let's not forget Angel Light and Cyan Streaks too. We're not alone here, so we're going to be ok Crystal." He then pulled her into a hug. They stayed like that for a few seconds until the two released each other from the hug. The two of them then turned to see Jubilee Blossom and Night Hunter, who had a look of happiness.

"What is it?" Daniel asks them, a bit confused at what they were smiling at. "

"Oh, nothing." Night said as he and Jubilee got up from the couch. "I think we should get to the train station. Don't you two agree?"

"Yeah, I guess it's time to go." They then followed Jubilee and Hunter out of the house, and after Jubilee closed the door, they then went off towards the train station.

The walk to the train station was an uneventful one. Though like before, there were a few Ponies that gave them uneasy looks, and a few that whispered among each other about what they really were. The two Humans just tried to ignore them as best they could. Soon enough they arrived at the train station with 16 minutes to spare. There wasn't a train in the station yet, but they knew that it would arrive shortly. They decided to just sit down on the benches and wait for the train, as well as for Twilight, Rarity, and their other friends to arrive.

About 10 minutes later, the train, which turned out to be the PRR K4 2-6-4 3750, rolled on into the station with its five-passenger coaches. As the Ponies got out of the coaches, they looked at Daniel and Crystal with a variety of different expectations. Some looked at them with disgust, some with horror, and some didn't really care. But the most surprising reaction was from a colt and filly that actually wanted to talk with them before their mother got a hold of them, and took them away from the two Humans. One

Soon after the crowd began to die down, Daniel and Crystal could see Twilight and Rarity, and what appeared to be their friends. The six mares and what appeared to be a Dragon riding Twilight came up towards them. The first of the four was an orange colored Earth-Pony mare with a blonde mane and tail, as well as thick orange fetlocks, and three apples as a cutie mark. "So yer Daniel and Crystal. It's a nice pleasure meetin' Y'all!"

The next one was also an Earth-Pony, however she had a pink coat with a curly pink mane and tail, and had a Cutie-Mark of three balloons. "OMG, I'm excited to meet you!"

The third one was blue coated Pegasus mare with a rainbow mane and tail, and a Cutie-Mark of a rainbow lightning bolt coming down from a cloud. "So you're Daniel and Crystal, eh?"

The final one was a yellow colored Pegasus mare with small yellow fetlocks, a long pink mane and tail, and three pink butterflies as her Cutie-Mark. "Um.... hi."

Then the Dragon, who appeared to be a teenager, and had purple and green scales spoke up. "Hello. It's so nice to meet you both."

"Hey there guys. Daniel, Crystal these are my friends. You already know Rarity, and this is my assistant Spike. He lives with me at that castle. And the rest of these girls are my other friends. This is Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy." Twilight raised a hoof up towards her friends.

"Ok hi, it's nice to meet of you." Daniel said in a slight grin.

"Nah, it's nothin' partner. 'Sides, it'll be nice to see the Princess again." Applejack put out a hoof to shake Daniel's hand..

Then Pinkie popped up, "Hi I'm Pinkie Pie! I can't wait to be besties!" She cheered as bounced in place.

Crystal turned to Twilight, who just had a calm and normal expression. "That's Pinkie for you, anyway me and Spike will go get the train tickets." Twilight said as she got in line to get train tickets for the group.

"So... um Crystal, can I ask you some questions?" Fluttershy asked Crystal in a soft voice.

Crystal looked towards the shy Pony. "Ok, what do want to ask Fluttershy?" Crystal and Fluttershy then went over to one of the few unoccupied benches so that Crystal could answer Fluttershy's many questions.

Meanwhile, Twilight was almost at the front of the line. There were maybe three other Ponies in front of her, and there were also 20 or so Ponies that were behind her, all waiting for their chance to get their ticket. There were more Ponies that were accumulating into the line, with other Ponies that were in the coaches from the other stops from the line waiting for the new passengers to board the train so that they could get to Canterlot. Next thing Twilight knew she was at the front of the line facing the ticket mare.

"Hi um... 11 tickets for Canterlot please?" Twilight asked the ticket mare.

The mare was shocked at how may train tickets the Princess of Friendship had asked for. "Oh uh... that will be 44 bits Princess." Spike then lifted up a red coin bag that was filled to the brim with coins towards Twilight, and she then levitated the coin bag towards the ticket mare. The ticket mare then counted the bits with her Magic, and after she was done, she gave back the coin bag back to Twilight and Spike, as well as giving them their train tickets. "Have a nice ride." She said as Twilight and Spike left to give the others their tickets.

Twilight called the others to her, and she handed out the train tickets to each of them. "So we're all in the second passenger car."

"That's fine. It's close to the engine, and that's always a positive in my book." Daniel said as they all went aboard the train.

After boarding the train, they made their way to the second passenger car. Daniel and Crystal were surprised to see the interior of the Equestrian passenger car. The car was half filled with Ponies from other parts of the line. The thing that got Daniel and Crystal's attention the most though was the seats. The seats were similar, but at the same time different from passenger car seats from Earth. The seats were of a white pearlish color with a wooden bottom and back. The seats also didn't have any armrests, which made some sense, as after all these Ponies didn't sit like Humans at all. The seats were facing each other like some passenger cars back in the USA though.

The 11 of them took their seats towards the back of the train so as to avoid the other passengers, though they did have to deal with the same worried, surprised, and untrusting look like the other Ponies gave them on the way back there. Daniel took his seat with Twilight and Spike, while Crystal took her seat with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. A couple of minutes later the train's blew its whistle, and a moment later the 3750 departed from the Ponyville Station bound for Canterlot.

Once the train was moving, Daniel looked towards the purple Dragon. "So Spike, it's nice to meet you."

Spike looked at him. "Yeah, it's nice to meet you as well. I gotta say, it's awesome to meet an actual Human!" Spike said in amazement.

"Thanks. It's nice to meet you as well Spike," Daniel said as he shook his claw. "So you knew about Humans, and actually thought that we were real like Meadow Song and Lyra did?" He asked him, a bit surprised.

Spike nodded. "A bit. I mean, with Twilight being such a huge bookworm, the odd book or two of having an old legend was going to pop up eventually. Old tales and legends about Humans were mentioned a few times, so I guess there was some chance that Humans existed." Spike said as he recalled the old tales.

"Ok, so I'm surprised too that you're a real Dragon," Daniel said amazed that this was an actual Dragon talking and sitting next to him. "So are there any other Dragons in Equestria?" He asked, very curious if there were more of his kind in this magical world.

"Well, there are other Dragons in this world, however, I am the only one in Equestria," Spike explained to Daniel. "See, I was found as an egg by Princess Celestia, and she gave me to Twilight after I was hatched by her when she was a student back in Canterlot. I was adopted and raised by Twilight, along with her parents Night Light and Twilight Velvet, and her older brother Shining Armor. They raised me like one of their own, so I never knew who my real mom and dad were. But it's ok. Anyway, there is the Dragon Lands. That's where the other Dragons are at, but they don't interact with the Ponies much and aren't very friendly. However, a few of them are nice, and do have some interactions with the Ponies."

"Thanks for telling me Spike, and I'm glad that you were adopted." Daniel told him.

Spike then smiled. "Thank you. You know, I'm glad you're nice Daniel."

Daniel chuckled a bit, "Same to you, Spike."

As Daniel and Spike continued to talk among each other, Crystal turned to Jubilee, who was sitting directly across from her. "Hey Jubilee, what is that mark on your flank?" She asked bluntly. "I mean, I have seen you, Night, and those other Ponies in Ponyville have those marks, but what are they?"

Jubilee paused for a moment, thinking of what to say. "Well Crystal, this is a Cutie-Mark. All Ponies have them, but we don't get them at birth; all Ponies have to earn them. We usually earn them around 8 to 13 years old, and our Cutie-Marks are earned when we discover our special talent or purpose in life. For example, since my Cutie-Mark is a pink flower with two raindrops, my special talent is with plants and nature. While say... Night Hunter's Cutie-Mark is of two silver swords, it could mean more than one thing. While swords, spears, and shield cutie marks are common among the Royal Guard, it could also mean that he could be keen on protecting those he cares about."

"Oh, ok. But why is Night's Cutie-Mark scarred?" She asked.

Jubilee Blossom's ears folded back a bit as she thought of something to say. Though before she could, Night Hunter suddenly spoke up. "Well Crystal, I was in the Everfree Forest," He began to explain, though he could see in her face that she didn't know what the Everfree Forest was. "It's that forest next to where you met Jubilee. Anyway, I was deep into the forest, trying to find something of value, and unfortunately, I ran into a Timberwolf. I was able to get away thankfully, however........" He looked down at his scar that went across his flank. "The bastard attacked me, and as you can see, it got me. But thankfully this was all that the thing was able to do to me. Once I got away from the Timberwolf, I came across this Zebra named Zecora. She saw me, and quickly brought into her little home to patch me up the best that she could, and thankfully she was able to fix me up with her herbs and her knowledge of healing. She was able to help, and the only thing that was left was this scar. I returned home while Zecora came with me so that she could explain to my wife what happened. Needless to say that Jubilee was really upset with the scar, but was happy that I was still alive." He then sighed as he finished explaining his scared cutie mark.

Crystal was looking at Night Hunter with wide eyes. Until that moment, she had no idea just how close he'd come to death the day he got that scar. "That's.......that's incredible Night Hunter. I'm glad that you got away from those things. However, what are Timberwolves?" She wondered.

Night Hunter sighed. "Well, Timberwolves do bear a resemblance to real wolves, however, their bodies are comprised entirely of enchanted twigs, sticks, logs, branches, and leaves. As for why they exist, who knows? The Everfree Forest is a place filled with many mysteries, and unfortunately, it ain't telling nopony of its secrets anytime soon."

Just then the conductor, In Time, came up to them. He had a pale coat with a black mane and tail, a black mustache that connected to his sideburns, and had a pocket watch Cutie-Mark. From the blue uniform that he was wearing, Crystal could tell he was the conductor of the train. The stallion was surprised at seeing Daniel and her, but unlike most other Ponies, he kept his composure, and kept calm as he said, "Tickets please everypony", Hiding his surprise pretty well. One by one, the 11 of them gave the conductor their train tickets. He didn't say a word when punching Daniel and Crystal's ticket, and after he punched all 11 of their tickets, he went of to punch the rest of the passenger's tickets.

After In Time left, Daniel turned to Twilight. "Well anyway, what's Canterlot like Twilight?" He asked. "I mean, Spike did say that you're originally from there. So can you please tell me more about it?"

"Sure thing! Let's see, Canterlot, as you already know is the capital of Equestria. It's were I originally lived at for most my life before moving to Ponyville about 2 years ago. Canterlot is about 75% Unicorns, 20% Pegasai, and 5% Earth-Ponies. Anyway, the city is built on the side of a tall mountain that overlooks Ponyville. In fact, it's visible from the outskirts of the town." Twilight explained. Daniel was surprised at hearing that as Twilight continued to explain about Canterlot. "The city features numerous ivory colored towers and buildings, along with many different places to see and visit. There's the Opera House, Cloud Stadium, the Canterlot Theater... Oh! There's Cinnamon Chai's Tea and Cake Shop, which I always went to with my family. And of course there's Canterlot Castle. That's where Princess Celestia and Luna live and rule from. It's a large castle that is quite beautiful. It's the most important place in the city, and that's not even all of the city!" Twilight finished.

Daniel was impressed. "Ok, and Spike said that unlike the others, the both of you are from Canterlot. What was it like growing up in the capital?"

Twilight thought for a second. "Well Daniel, I did like it there ever since I was born. I lived with my mother and father, Twilight Velvet and Night Light, along with my older brother Shining Armor. I attended Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns for many years, which I did excel in with my Magic. I quickly became Celestia's pupil, and was somepony who was obsessed with studying Magic. Throughout this time, I wasn't really interested in, or cared making friends. Until I went to Ponyville for the Summer Sun Celebration anyway."

Daniel raised an eyebrow. "And why did you have to go to Ponyville?".

"Because Celestia sent me there in order to look over the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration." Twilight replied. "However, it was during this trip that I also met my best friends for the first time. Unfortunately though, when the Summer Summer Celebration happened, what I was so worried of the most came true."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, before I was sent to check on the preparations, I told Celestia that I was worried that on that day, Nightmare Moon would come back."

"And who's that?" Daniel asked, confused.

Twilight thought for a moment. "Princess Luna originally ruled Equestria with Celestia. However, as time went on, she started to grow bitter at the Ponies who were 'shunning' her night. Eventually, she turned into Nightmare Moon, and she vowed to bring on eternal night. When this happened, Celestia had no choice but to use the Elements of Harmony to banish Nightmare Moon to the moon, and she was there for 1000 years." Explained Twilight.

Daniel looked at her surprised at what she said. "What the- How old are you guys?!"

Twilight chuckled a bit a that. "I'm not immoral Daniel, or anything like that. I just turned 21 as of last month. And I'm not going to be living that long either. Alicorns have an average lifespan of roughly 340-365 years give or take. In fact, the longest living Alicorn died about 20 years ago at the age of 402."

Daniel was surprised that Alicorns could live that long. However, that didn't answer one question. "Then why has Celestia been alive for over 1000 years?"

Twilight sighed a bit as she began to explain that. "After Luna's.......or rather Nightmare Moon's banishment, she felt like she failed, and needed to correct her mistake so that the Ponies of the future wouldn't have to. This was done by using a very powerful age-slowing spell; one that only she and one other knew about, and would be broken when Luna returned. Only she and Luna knew the spell, and Celestia destroyed it after using it on herself, so whatever was on that spell has long since been lost forever to Time."

"Ok, thanks for the explanation... I guess." As Daniel said this he turned to the window, he spotted something outside. There was a large building that had tracks leading towards it. Twilight could tell that Daniel was interested in whatever that building was.

"That's the Canterlot Roundhouse. It's about a mile away from the Canterlot train station." As soon as she said that, the train's whistle blew as it started puffing into the station, "Ah, we're here guys!" Twilight said with the excitement clear in her voice.

Daniel opened the train car's window to see what the train station looked like. Only one word came through his mind; big. The station was a huge area, and it had 22 tracks that went into it, along with 18 platforms. There were steam engines of different types and wheel configurations coming and going from the big station's many platforms. Unsurprisingly, this had lots of different Ponies bustling throughout the large place. Daniel then closed the window back up, and joined the other passengers to get off the train.

After getting off the train, Daniel, Crystal, and the others made their way out of the train station. Of course, there were unfortunately many Ponies looking at them as if they were something dark and evil, even though they were not.

"You know Daniel and Crystal, even though I've been here so many times since I was a little filly, I always get excited being here. Do you ever feel something like that?" She asked them in an attempt to know a bit more about them.

"Well, if I had to say yes, then it would be the Arialville fields, especially during sunset," Daniel said as he recalled the many different times he went to see the sunsets there.

"Yeah I agree, that was always fun to visit."

As Crystal said that Daniel thought about the Roundhouse. "Yeah um... Twilight, can I ask you something? Is it possible that you can take me and Crystal over to see the Roundhouse? I mean, there aren't any railroads where we're from. I always wanted to see what one looks like in person, so can we please?"

Twilight looked up towards the large clock that was sitting proudly above the station. It read 11:30am. "Sure, I don't see why not, as long as we come with you, and as long as you don't do something stupid then we should be ok. There's a trail that leads straight there, so if we follow it then we should get there with no problems."

Daniel smiled at that. "Thanks a lot Twilight. I'm really excited to see what steam locomotives are there for us to see." With that, the group of 11 made their way towards the Canterlot Roundhouse.

The inside of the Canterlot Train Station was huge, was painted a creamy white, and was beautiful in its architecture with the Equestrian Flag hanging proudly in the main area. The group had left the terminal, and were making their way towards the station exit. Along the way, many Ponies did a double-take at the two Humans. Most were shocked, some tried to walk away quickly, and a handful of them actually looked at them with curiosity. There were also others that just didn't pay them any mind.

After a bit, the group made it out of the train station, and were soon standing on the streets of Canterlot. Imagine Daniel and Crystal's surprise when they were out in the open, and seeing the capital for the first time. It looked exactly like Twilight said it would, however, seeing it up close and in person, their eyes widened. The buildings were an ivory color with gold lining, and the city was filled with many different Ponies. Some even walked around in clothing, something that was very different from the scenes of Ponyville. After they took in the sights, Twilight showed them the way towards where the trail was; a dirt road that was surrounded by a wooded area with vibrant colors of green grass. As they got closer to the roundhouse, the wooded area became thinner and thinner. Eventually, the woods gave way to their destination. The small group had reached the Canterlot Roundhouse.

Canterlot Roundhouse was a large place. The building itself was large in size, red brick in color with a black roof, and of course there was a turntable and a set of tracks that led out of the roundhouse.

"Ok you two, here it is, the Canterlot Roundhouse!” Twilight waved a hoof to the easily impressed Humans. “Now remember, stay near me and the others, and don't do something stupid, alright? Do that and we should be fine." With that, the group of 11 made their way down to the roundhouse.

Daniel and Crystal were in awe at the massive steam locomotives that were there. There were locomotives that the two of them could only dream about seeing back on Earth; from an SP-GS-4, to an American Type 4-4-0, and all those in between, they probably had it. Twilight could tell that Daniel and Crystal were enjoying seeing all these engines. However, there was one locomotive that caught their attention. The engine was outside on a siding near the roundhouse. It was a large, black 4-8-8-4 steam engine, with the number 4014 painted in white on the sides of its cab. Daniel and Crystal both knew exactly what kind of engine this one was.

"I can't believe it! You guys have an actual working Big Boy locomotive!" Daniel exclaimed loudly.

Suddenly, Daniel could see a Pony walking towards him. He was a large and muscular Pegasus stallion with a gray coat, thin gray fetlocks, a jet-black mane and tail, deep blue eyes, and a Cutie-Mark of two crossed wrenches. However, the thing that got their attention was the red maroon scar across his left eye that honestly looked liked it had stopped bleeding moments ago. This intimidatingly large stallion then approached them.

"Hello, mind if I asked what exactly you are?" He said in a deep, yet youthful voice, being that this stallion appeared to be around in his early or mid-twenties.

"Um... my name is Daniel, Sir." Daniel then pointed to where Crystal was standing at. "And that's Crystal. We're both Humans if that's what you’re wondering what we actually are." He said, sighing a bit at that last part.

"Huh. Well then Daniel, the name’s Ash." He then looked over at Crystal. “And hello to you as well, Miss Crystal.”

Daniel and Crystal were somewhat taken aback at how Ash was reacting to that fact compared to most other Ponies. "How come you’re not acting like we're some sort monsters?" Daniel asked.

Ash's eyes widened and his eyebrow arched when he heard that. "Why would I think that? You both seem nice, and hardly dangerous." Ash then pointed towards the other six mares. "Plus, you're with them. So it doesn't take much of a genius to know that if you were not friendly, then you wouldn't be standing here right now!“

“Okay… Anyway, as I said, my name is Daniel, and this is my childhood friend, Crystal.“

“Ah, it’s nice to meet both of you. I always enjoy seeing anypony who’s interested in the railroad. It’s been a passion of mine since I was a young colt, and I love to talk about it to those that’ll lend an ear.”

Daniel then looked back at 4014. “Do you know this Big Boy right here? 4014?”

Ash nodded. “Yep, I do indeed! I know her better than most. I do get to drive her five or six days a week after all!”

“Wait, you’re the engineer?”

Ash smiled proudly. “I am indeed! I’m her engineer, and my good buddies Smut and Kits are her firepony and brakepony respectively. And I would invite you to meet them, however, today’s their day off, as well as mine.”

Crystal then gave Ash a curious look. “Well, then why are you here if it’s your day off?”

“Oh, I’m just here making sure the maintenance of 4014 goes smoothly. The 4014 is my baby after all, and I want to make sure she keeps on going on for as long as she possibly can.”

“That's good Ash. unfortunately, our 4014 hasn’t moved in a few decades. I think it’s in a railroad museum in California now.“

Ash looked at Daniel, confused at that. “And why is that?“

“Because 4014 and the other Big Boys are no longer needed. In our world, steam is no longer used like this anymore. They stopped using mainline steam since our grandparents were around our age, way back in the late 1950's-early 1960's."

Ash's eyes widened as he heard that. "Well damn... that’s definitely a shock for me to hear that. But I'm glad that at least you got to see a working one today."

Crystal then wanted to ask him about his scar, but she wasn’t sure if it would be appropriate or not. However, in the end, it didn’t even matter as Ash noticed her staring at him.

“You curious about my scar, Miss Crystal?” He asked her suddenly. Crystal recoiled ever so much, fearing that she’d offended him. Instead, Ash merely smiled and laughed a bit. “Heh. It’s ok. Everypony I run into always stares at my scar! It’s put quite a few Ponies off, and frankly, I can’t really blame them for it. I keep getting asked constantly if I was in the Royal Guard, or the Navy, but no, this came from a railroad accident.”

“A railroad accident?”

Ash nodded, before touching his scar gently. “Yeah, and a real nasty one too. It happened in my first year as an engineer on the railroad. I’d started as a brakepony, and then worked my way up to firepony before finally reached my dream job of being an engineer. My engine at the time was a Friendship Express-Class 4-4-0 locomotive, number.......107 to be precise.”

Now Daniel was again interested in the story. “Friendship Express-Class 4-4-0 locomotives? I don’t think we’ve seen one of those yet.”

“And you won’t. They were all retired after my accident, and if you ask me, those pieces of shit never should have been built in the first place! There were only twenty of them; nineteen for regular service, and one a prototype. 100 was the prototype, and 101-120 were for regular service. But those things were so poorly designed, and their troubles could be summed up with boiler issues, faulty gauges, and pipes bursting without warning - really scary stuff, but I digress. Sorry, I tend to ramble a bit when I talk about this.”

“It’s ok,” Daniel told him. “I think that it’s interesting. Do any of these engines still exist?”

Ash sighed. “100, the prototype, 102, 107, 111, 113, and 118 are still around. 100 is on display at a technology museum in Canterlot, 102 is in a transportation museum in Manehattan, 113 works as a yard freight engine, with 111 acting as a spare parts engine for her (but if you ask me, it's most likely been scrapped at this point), and 118 is somewhere in Griffin Country. And lastly 107, the engine that nearly killed me, Celestia only knows where that one went. I don’t really know where that thing ended up. Hopefully melting in Tartarus for all I care.”

“But how did you get your scar?”

Ash rubbed his scar a bit again. “One morning, I was steaming up 107 for a passenger run. Unfortunately, one of the damned main pressure gauges was faulty. It kept fluctuating, and I hit at it with my hoof, trying to get it to stop. However, what I didn't know was that the pressure in the boiler was rising off the charts; that faulty gauge failed to detect it. A series of safety valves kept the backhead from exploding right then and there, but at the cost of rupturing the gauge, and sending it directly into my face at nearly 150lbs of steam pressure! The gauge ripped a good chunk of my face wide open, and then knocked me to the floor of 107’s cab. After this, the backhead did indeed explode, but because I was already on the cab floor, most of the steam missed me. Sure, I was still burned, and I blacked out before rescue crews got to me, but I was still alive. I woke up in the hospital in Canterlot a couple of days later. Of course, I did fully recover aside from the scar, and sure, while it still looks raw, red, and angry, and could possibly still bleed at any moment, it’s actually almost five years old now!”

Daniel and Crystal were shocked. “Wait, it’s almost five years old?!”

Ash nodded. “I know. So in a nutshell, after my recovery, I was selected to train with a Challenger-Class locomotive, before being given control of this Big Boy, though there are many Ponies that call these the Big Colts. Still, I do have to give it to Spitfire that I was able to pull through all of that.” Ash then paused a bit. He seemed to be thinking about something. “Come to think of it, where is she anyway?” Ash began to look around the general area that 4014 was in.

“Who’s Spitfire?” Crystal asked him.

“My amazing wife of four, soon to be five years now. She might be scary to some, but that mare loves me to death, and has always been there for me when I needed her most. But where is she anyway?” Ash then put a hoof up to his mouth. “Spitfire? Spitfire! Where’d you go?”

“Yeah Ashley?” A female voice finally answered from somewhere close by.

“Come on out! I got new friends I’d like ya to meet. They’re visitors from far away!”

“Coming!” Soon, from behind 4014, a Pegasus mare appeared. Once she was next to Ash, Daniel and Crystal saw that she was slightly smaller than Ash, and had yellow fur, golden eyes, a mane that resembled fire with a tail to match, and the Cutie-Mark of an orange flame. Her fiery mane was hanging down to her shoulders, and she leaned against her husband a bit.

“Hey Ashley.” She cooed, nuzzling Ash a bit.

Ash blushed a bit, but he did nuzzle his wife back. “Hey Spitsy. Where did you go?”

She sighed. “I had to go to the bathroom, again. But what kind of friends did you...” She looked up at the two Humans. “Huh. Now there’s something you don’t see every day.” Ash then chuckled a bit while his wife’s face brightened up. “Hello there! Name’s Spitfire!” She then held out her hoof, which both of them shook.

“I’m Daniel, and this here is Crystal. And it’s nice to meet you too, Spitfire.”

“Likewise.” She said as she flew in a circle around them.

Crystal then looked at Spitfire a bit closer, stopping her in mid-flight. “Wait a minute, you’re not Captain Spitfire of the Wonderbolts, are you?”

Spitfire nodded. “Yes, the very same, and proud of it!”

Crystal was surprised. “Wow! I heard so much about you from Rainbow Dash talking about the Wonderbolts on the train ride over here."

Spitfire laughed a bit. “Well, thanks for the recognition. Yeah, I’m the official leader for the team, which, I must say, you’re the first to not show shock or surprise that I’m a married mare to a stallion like Ash. Most others are shocked beyond belief when they find out!”

Crystal cocked her head a bit, but she couldn’t quite seem to get what Spitfire was hinting at. She then began to talk to Spitfire a bit more, while Daniel talked to Ash.

“So how did a guy like you manage to score a hottie like that?” Daniel asked Ash jokingly as they stood beside 4014.

Ash laughed a bit. “That’s the most common question I get aside from my scar. And the truth is, Spitfire and I were already a couple even before she was a Wonderbolt.”

“So what are they again?”

“The Wonderbolts? They’re the most famous aerobatic team in all of Equestria. My wife’s the captain of the team (well, more like a drill sergeant if I’m being honest!), and has been for a few years now. Though like I said before, I was already in love with her even before anypony knew her name outside of Cloudsdale High School. We met during Senior Year, and she was on the school’s gymnastics team. We’d been friends for a while, but at the end of high school, it became more than that. Spitfire told me that she was thinking about trying out for the Wonderbolts, and I encouraged her to go for it. I supported her throughout her endeavor, just as she supported me in my job on the railroad. Long story short, she got onto the team, and slowly rose up through the ranks. Eventually, a few years ago, Captain Storm Slicer, the previous Captain of the Wonderbolts retired, and Spitfire was hoofpicked by him to take his place.”

“So you were already an item even before she was famous?”

Ash nodded. “Yes, that’s the solid truth. You wouldn’t believe how many Ponies accuse me of being some sort of sleaze, or only wanting to be with Spitfire because she’s famous. They couldn’t be more wrong. I loved her dearly long before that! From high school until now, from friends, to best friends, to marefriend and coltfriend, to finances, until I was finally holding her hoof at the altar, to the present day, I’ve always loved Spitfire, and I always will.”

Daniel nodded in approval. He could see that Ash was very serious about what he’d said, and meant every word of it. “Love like that is pretty rare, Ash. I can tell by your face that you really do love Spitfire, and would do anything for her. That’s more than I can say for a lot of other couples I’ve seen while in school, and outside my school!”

Ash laughed a bit, though it was a bit of a nervous laugh. He knew all too well what Daniel was referring to, as he’d seen it all too many times himself. He then began to ask Daniel a bit more about Earth, and Humans in general, and Daniel willingly satisfied his curiosity.

Meanwhile, Crystal was talking to Spitfire on the other side of the engine.

“So how did a high-society celebrity like you wind up with a guy like Ash?” Crystal asked her jokingly.

Spitfire laughed too. “By falling in love with him before anypony outside of Cloudsdale High knew my name! You see, that’s what so many Ponies get wrong about us; Ash and I were already in a committed relationship by the time I was even a Wonderbolt Cadet. He supported me, all while I supported him back with his railroad work. I married that stallion I loved not too long after making Captain of the Wonderbolts, and that’s when all of the controversies began. So few knew that Ash had been by my side every step of the way since my induction into the Wonderbolts, and now that he was in the limelight too. Everypony just assumed that he was only in it for the fame - and my body. And although I can see why they would say that, they couldn’t be more wrong.”

Crystal nodded. “I can imagine. Though Ash gives the impression that he’s trying to stay out of the limelight, and just try to make a living.”

“And you’d be right. Ash hides away from the cameras. I work hard to protect him, and the rest of my family from the Paparazzi.”

“The rest of your family?” Crystal asked.

“Uh-huh. My Mom, and of course our two daughters......Ouph!” Spitfire then reached back a hoof and rubbed her belly a bit. “Not to mention our latest family addition on the way right here!”

For the first time, Crystal realized that Spitfire not only had a family, but was also pregnant! “You’re y… you’re pregnant?”

Spitfire nodded. “Yes, and I’m about three months along now. The kicking isn’t too bad yet, but it does start up sometimes. So far, Ash and I have two daughters, Blazie and Skyler, and just last week Ashley and I learned that we’re having a son! We decided to name him Ice.”

“Really? And how old are your daughters?"

"Blazie is four, almost about to be five, while Skyler has just turned three years old."

"Ah, so where are your kids right now Spitfire?”

“They’re with their Grandma; my Mom, Stormy Flare. She’s watching them at our house in Cloudsdale while Ash brought me out here to show me 4014 up close. He was only able to do this because 4014 was down for maintenance in the roundhouse, and my Mom agreed to watch the kids.”

“Wow. I’ll bet that your kids are really proud of their Mom, and their Dad!”

Spitfire nodded. “Oh, they are. Skyler seems to be interested in the Wonderbolts like me, while Blazie's interest seems to be with trains like her Dad. Ash and I love them dearly, and they love us back just as much.”

“Well, I’m happy for you.” Crystal then went on to answer some of the questions that Spitfire had about Earth.

About six minutes later though, Twilight called out, "Ok you two! It's time to head to the castle to meet the Princesses!" She said loudly.

Daniel sighed. "Well Ash, unfortunately, it's time for the 11 of us to head off again towards Canterlot Castle."

"Ah, well I'm glad that I had the chance to meet two genuine Humans like yourself and Crystal Daniel, and I would definitely not mind seeing the two of you again. We live up in Cloudsdale of you want to visit us."

Daniel smiled. "Sure, I would love to visit you guys, and I'm definitely sure Crystal would love to as well."

"Thanks, Daniel." Ash then raised his front hoof, and Daniel shook it instantly. Then the two of them then made their way to the other Ponies.

"Aww, looks like me and the others had to leave, but it was nice talking to you Spitfire." Crystal said as she and Spitfire made their way to the others.

"Yeah, you as well Girl. You know I wouldn’t mind if you and Daniel came over to our house. Me, Ash, and our daughters live up in Cloudsdale. You should really come over when you get the chance, as I know for sure that both Blazie and Skyler would love both you and Daniel."

"Mmm. I'll ask him, and see what he will think of it, though I'm pretty sure that he will happy to come up to Cloudsdale with me to see you guys."

Spitfire smiled at that. "That's nice Crystal."

Soon all four of them meet up with the rest of the group. They said their last words to both Ash and Spitfire before the group of eleven were off again to the Canterlot Castle.

"They seem nice," Ash said to his wife as they waved goodbye to the two Humans. "I hope the whole meeting with the Princesses goes well."

"Yeah, I hope so too Babe." Spitfire agreed. "Anyway, what was the thing that you wanted to show me before I had to go to the bathroom?"

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about it while we were talking to the Humans. It's right over here." Ash led Spitfire back over to the Big Boy.

The two Humans, eight Ponies, and one Dragon were racing quickly towards the Castle. Of course, there were many ponies who looked at them in disgust as the ran by, except for two Unicorns; one male with white fur and a and blue mane and tail, and the female with white fur, and a pink mane and tail who look at them with curiosity as the two Humans dashed by. As far as both Daniel and Crystal could see, the City of Canterlot was beautiful, having many beautiful buildings and homes, although most, if not all were painted in a warm white-cream color. Most of the ponies that Daniel and Crystal saw wore clothing (more than compared to the ponies in Ponyville anyway), as they raced past them.

Soon enough, all of them had arrived at Canterlot Castle. The castle itself could only be described as beautiful and huge. It was a huge white ivory castle with colors of golden yellow and violet purple. It also had four big towers, with one of them appearing to actually be an observatory of some kind. Whatever it was, it seemed to make the castle even more magnificent to the Humans. Then the 11 could see somepony standing at attention in the middle of a drawbridge; a Pony that was a Unicorn stallion. He had an aqua-color coat, with a red mane and tail, and had blue eyes with a small scar near his right one. He also had on shining golden armor. The 11 of them decided to approach him.

"Hello Sir," Twilight said to the guard. The guard then looked at her before giving her the Royal Guard salute.

"Princess Twilight. I was expecting you and the ones known as Daniel and Crystal.”

"That would be us, Sir," Daniel said as he raised his hand, showing who he was.

"My name is Aqua Tail, and I was assigned to escort you and Crystal over to both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. So if you would, please follow me." He said, his expression remaining unchanged as he guided the group towards the throne room. The two Humans said nothing as they followed along with the others.

The walk there was interesting for the Humans. The insides of the castle were definitely a magnificent sight to look at; a place that would be fitting for a ruler. As they followed Aqua Tail through the castle, the two Humans saw more Guard Ponies. Most of them were stallions, though there were a handful of mares here and there. They all had on the same golden armor with some sort of variants between stallions and mares. Daniel noticed that most of these guards had scars of some kind. It made him think for a moment on just what things these guards had to do to receive those types of scars.

The group followed the Unicorn Guard until they reached a large light purplish colored door. Aqua then turned around to Daniel and Crystal. "Ok you two, behind this door is the throne room. Hope you're ready to meet our Princesses." He said as he opened the doors to the room.

The Throne Room was a grand sight to look at. The thing about it that interested the Humans the most was the glass murals that were incorporated into the walls. The strange thing to them was that Twilight and her friends were in basically all of them. But at the end of the enormous room was what looked to be the Pony version of 2 thrones, there were also somepony that was sitting on said thrones.

The two Ponies were mares. They were both taller than any other Ponies that the Humans had meet beforehand, as they about the size of horses. Both were Alicorns like Twilight, and while one had white fur, a tri-colored mane, and a matching tail, and had what appeared to be the sun for a Cutie-Mark, the other one was was slightly smaller, though also an Alicorn. She had a dark blue coat, with a waving mane and tail that was different colors of blue, but sparkled like the night sky, and her Cutie-Mark was of the crescent moon. The two Alicorn mares had on a look of wonder as their eyes landed on the two Humans.

The white mare spoke first. "I presume that you must be the ‘Daniel’ and ‘Crystal’ that Twilight has spoken of." She then looked towards the guard. "Thank you for escorting them here Aqua Tail. You may return to your post."

The guard saluted her, and trotted off back to his post. After Aqua had left, the mare who had spoken then turned to the two Humans.

"Allow us to properly introduce ourselves. My name is Princess Celestia, and to oversimplify the many titles I have, I'm the ruler and protector of this land."

"And I'm Princess Luna. I'm also the ruler of this golden land, among other things."

"I do hope that your time here so far wasn't too bad I hope?" Celestia asked them warmly, with real genuine concern inside her words.

"Eh, well most Ponies view us like we're evil or something.” Crystal answered. “I mean, I can't really blame them if I'm being honest."

Celestia's smile lessened a bit as she heard this. "Oh my. Well, I'm sorry to hear that. I hope that it wasn't too bad."

"Well,” Daniel said slowly, “I see that they’re worried that we might be some bad guys, and I understand that to a degree. That, and there’s a war going on that I heard about."

"Ah yes.... that." She sighed as she carefully thought of what to say next. "I’m afraid that your timing is not good. About a week before the two of you arrived here, a country known as Mort declared war on us. At first, I and my citizens thought that this was a joke, or maybe something else entirely, however, we were wrong, and soon discovered that this nation, and its queen, Queen Shadow Depth, really did want to wage war on us, and they soon attacked."

"And what did they do?" Crystal asked in dread.

"They boomed a ship of ours by using explosive Magic,” Luna answered sadly, shaking her head. “Without so much as a warning or cause to provoke, they blew up the Equestrian naval ship ENS Storm. Too many stallions and mares lost their lives on that unfortunate day."

The Humans's eyes widened as they heard this. "W-what? That's insane! I mean, war by itself is insane, but an unprovoked attack like that?!" They said unison and shocked.

"I agree, but do not worry my friends,” Luna said in a voice growing in confidence that echoed throughout the room. “We are a strong country that is not easy to knock out and be taken over! Equestria is a strong nation, and we'll die if that means protecting it!"

"Wow, that's intense. But changing the topic, I do have a question. Are there other Alicorns that exist, or is it just you three?" Daniel asked, the question being on his mind since the train ride over here.

"One may think that we’re all there is,” Celestia explained to him, “However we're far from that. In Equestria, there is also Princess Cadence and her two foals, a filly named Flurry Heart, and her newborn colt, Royal Blade. They are both Alicorns. Plus, contrary to popular belief, there are others that live in different parts of the world. There are even Thestrals if you want to add them into the list now that I think of it. So Daniel, the answer that, while there aren’t many of us around, no, we are not the only Alicorns in this world."

"Ah... ok. Thank you, Princess Celestia."

"It's not any trouble at all Daniel. Although I do have a question for both of you.” Luna then inquired. “Would you please explain about the place that you both come from?"

"Sure, but where do we start?”

“Simple, you begin at the beginning, go on until you get to the end, and then stop.”

“Well… I guess we can start with the beginning." The two Humans then began to tell them as much as they could about their home back on Earth. The explanation when smoothly for the most part, with the occasional question asked by one of the Princesses. Once they were done talking about Earth, they then shifted to talking about their time in Equestria. The two Princesses were surprised, and had a keen interest at what they were told. "...........And then we all came here." Crystal said, finishing her story.

"So it seems like, for the most part, you guys had a good life back in Montana?" Asked Celestia.

"Yes, we did, and even more so now than I think about it. I guess it’s rather depressing now that I think it’s unlikely that we won't ever be able to return home. I wonder if I'll see Dad and my older sister Violet up in Heaven if we’re not on Earth?" Daniel pondered as he thought about it.

Luna looked at him, understanding what he was going through at this moment. "I can empathize a bit of where you're coming from, young Daniel. Our parents, Thunder Slicer and Moon Magnolia, died during my time on the moon. I was destroyed by this when I found out. I wasn't able to spend the last few years of their lives with them because of my selfishness and hatred towards my older sister. While I might not be able to fully understand what you're feeling, remember that you do have someone that you can talk to about this."

"Um, thanks Luna, I guess. However, I do have another question that has been on my mind since the train ride. How are you both over a thousand years old? Twilight said that it was because of some sort of spell. Is that true?"

"Yes, it was,” Celestia answered. “It is the reason why we’re still here today.”

"Ok, but why are there not more creatures that are as old as the both of you?"

Celestia sighed. "After I had used it on myself, I made the choice to destroy the spell, and then asked my guards to discard the ashes out the sea. The reason why is simple; so nopony else can go through what I and Luna had to go through. Most would think that living for over a thousand years would be glamorous and grand, however, the truth is that it isn't. All those that I made friends with have long since passed away. They’re all gone; every single Pony that I considered a friend over those thousand years are now dead. I will not lie in saying that it was easy. There were times that I just didn't want to watch those I cared for to die; another Pony that I built a friendship with. Having Death taking each one of them was really hard to go through every time. However, I reminded myself that I needed to stay strong, because the citizens needed me, and Luna would as well when she returned from the moon."

"Wow... that's impressive. I'm surprised that you both didn't go crazy from something like that. Lord knows how others would act in your situation."

"I can only imagine, my friend," Luna replied. "Oh and if you are wondering, yes I-er... Nightmare Moon cast the spell too, and it thankfully wore off after my return."

"So wait. Princess Celestia, I have a question for you.” Crystal inquired. “The steam engines, how come everysteam engine that I've seen in this world looks exactly like the ones in our world?"

"I have also been kinda curious about that too since this Crystal told me about that." Added Jubilee.

"Yeah, same." Night Hunter also added.

"Well," Celestia pondered, "Back in 1830, a guardspony by the name Iron Ore came into the Throne Room running like a crashing lightning bolt. He showed me blueprints of something that I'd never seen before, and told me that he had found the blueprints when he was on patrol. The blueprints were of something called a 'Tom Thumb', and showed what appeared to be some sort of rectangular machine on 4 wheels with what looked like another kind of device with a chimney situated in the middle of it all. After a few days, I decided to have the machine built to see what exactly it would be capable of, so I had a good friend of mine in Canterlot build the machine, while I also had some blacksmiths to make the tracks for the machine, as well as a few pieces of rolling stock for the engine to pull. Soon, in about a month, a mile long track was laid on the outskirts of Canterlot. On that day, the first steam locomotive in all the world was fired up for the very first time. After that little 'Tom Thumb' proved that steam engines could be successful for the future, we soon started making more engines, track, and rolling stock."

"Wow, that's very impressive." Said the group.

"After about twenty-five years, the Steam Age truly took off when we discovered another one of those blueprints. This time it was for a machine called a 'General 4-4-0 Tender Locomotive'. After popping out many of those engines, we soon began to improve the machine that we named as the steam locomotive. Over many years, they became faster, bigger, and stronger. Soon other places around the globe began to build steam engines as well. Although the first country to build their own locomotives was the Union Empire. In 1840, after one of their imbasters seeing the potential of steam in Equestria, she quickly when back to the Union Empire. Once she had gotten the approval of then Queen Regal. They when to work making their first locomotives being the Coalbrookdale locomotive, completed not long after."

"Now that’s impressive,” The two Humans said in total unison. Daniel then added, “It seems like what you found were blueprint designs that might have actually come from our world!"

"That's definitely a possibility.” Luna nodded in thought. “Even though I and Celestia are over a thousand years old, there are still many strange things of this world that we do not know of."

"Yes, that is true Luna." Celestia then looked up the large clock that laid atop the front doors. "Oh sorry my friends, but I'm afraid that Luna and I have to go to a meeting with Captain Shining Armor about the status of the war. If you need me, then all you need is to send a letter, and I will try to make room in the schedule for the both of you."

"Well thank you Princess Celestia and Luna, and I hope to see you around." Daniel said as he and the other then made their way back to the train station.

The walk back to the bustling train station was uneventful. Both Daniel and Crystal decided to ignore the stares and talking of the Canterlot Ponies. Soon they began to talk about their talk with the Princesses.

"So Daniel, Crystal, what do you think of the Princesses?" Twilight asked them curiously.

"Well, I do think that they seem nice." Daniel replied as he looked up to the afternoon sky. "I'm glad that they like us."

"Of course they would. Princess Celestia and Luna are some of the nicest Ponies around." Said Fluttershy.

"They care about all there citizens, and would care for you too Darlings." Added Rarity.

"They would never throw you guys out to the curb." Proclaimed Rainbow Dash.

"Yeah, that is nice, although I do wonder what Princess Cadence is like." Crystal said as she placed her hands behind her neck.

"Oh she's a mighty kind mare, Y'all know that she's actually married to Twilight's older brother Shining Armor?" Applejack asked.

Daniel and Crystal Immediately looked to Twilight with amazement on their faces.

"Yes, it’s true.” Twilight replied smiling. “They have been together for over eighteen months now, and are still going strong. And as Celestia said, my brother and Cadence have two foals, both natural-born Alicorns named Flurry Heart and Royal Blade."

"We know.” Crystal told her, “Still, good for them. I do wish that we can see them one day."

"Yeah I can understand that, and she is Celestia's adopted niece." Informed Twilight.

"Wait, what? Does Celestia have another sibling?" Crystal asked Twilight puzzled at what she said.

Twilight blinked for a second, confused at her question before realizing what she was asking about. "No no, I think you misunderstood." She explained. "Celestia adopted her as her niece; she has no other siblings than Luna." She clarified.

"Huh. That's definitely an interesting choice to call someone that you've adopted."

"I never really thought at that. But anyway, I definitely know that Shining and Credence will definitely love to see you whenever they get the chance."

"Yeah, that is nice." Said Daniel, "However, as of now, let's hurry back to the train station before we miss our ride back to Ponyville." He said as they all begun to race back towards the Canterlot Train Station.

Chapter 4: City of Clouds

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It had been two weeks since Daniel and Crystal had talked to the Princesses, and things after that had been uneventful during those few weeks. Jubilee would go to her job as a florist with the Flower Sisters, while Night Hunter worked as a delivery-Pony. Usually, Daniel and Crystal would either go to Twilight's Castle library, or somewhere else in Ponyville to try and find something to do. One early Saturday morning, Jubilee and Hunter were in the kitchen enjoying a simple breakfast and reading the local newspaper. Soon enough, Daniel and Crystal had walked out of their room.

"Morning guys," Jubilee said happily. "How did you two sleep?"

"Like a log", Daniel replied yawning.

"Same here", Added Crystal as she rubbed her eyes.

"Okay, that's great! So any ideas for what you two want to do today?" Questioned Jubilee, putting down her newspaper.

"Yeah, I think we got some ideas." Daniel answered as he let out another yawn. "But before we tell you, we have something to ask, if that's alright."

The brown mare nodded. "Sure, what's on your mind?"

"That room on the second floor, the one at the very end of the hallway, what's in there? It's been on my mind for a bit, so may I ask what's in there?"

"Oh, that? It's just a bit of an extra storage room. See, it's where we keep some things, but it also doubles as an extra room in case we get more visitors. And who knows; it might even be another room for when we start a family of our own."

Crystal nodded. "Oh well, that sounds nice. I know that you'll make an excellent mom, and Night here will be a great dad."

"Aw, thanks, Crystal." Jubilee blushed. "That so sweet of you to say that. Now, what was that idea that you two had for what you were going to do today?"

"Oh yeah, hehe..." Crystal laughed a bit sheepishly. "Well, Daniel and I wanted to try to go see Ash and Spitfire in Cloudsdale."

Jubilee looked at the two, caught off guard. "What the..... Crystal, they live up in the sky! How would you be able to get up there? I thought you told us that you can't walk on clouds."

Daniel nodded. "I thought of that, and I figured that maybe Twilight can cast a Cloud Walking spell on us. She said it herself that it's one of the easiest spells that a Unicorn can cast. Plus, didn't you tell us that you and Night used that spell when you were younger?"

Jubilee blinked for a second. "Oh yeah... sorry, I forgot all about that. It's been a while since either of us have been to Cloudsdale."

"Well, sounds like you two have everything figured out?" Asked Night Hunter as he looked up from his paper.

"Yeah," replied Daniel. "However, right now it's time for breakfast! Got anything to eat Night?"

Night smiled. "Of course. Come on, I'll show you what I've made for today's breakfast." He then got up to show Daniel the food that was in the kitchen.

"Thanks Night", Daniel said as he followed him into the kitchen.

As Daniel did that, Crystal decided to take a morning shower. Over the past two weeks, Rarity had made some more clothes for both of them; so after having a nice shower, she put on a simple blue t-shirt and tan shorts. It wasn't much, but she didn't mind given the current circumstances. After pulling her hair into a ponytail, she made her way back towards the kitchen. When Crystal arrived back in the kitchen, she could see Jubilee starting to clean up the table, while both Daniel and Night were reading the local paper.

"So anything good in there Guys?" She asked as she tried to look over Daniel's newspaper.

"Thankfully yes." He then turned to the front page. Crystal then looked at what made the front page.

The front of the page was headlined "Victory in First Battle of the War!", printed in bold lettering. Crystal then began to read the newspaper quickly. "So the battle was at someplace called Vigron." She then turned towards the two Earth Ponies. "Where's that located at?"

"It's a medium-sized town that's in the Deam Territory. It's roughly about.......eh, 400 miles from the southernmost point in Equestria, I think." Night answered. "And Mort is about 300-350 miles outside of the town."

"Okay," Crystal said as she continued to read. "So the paper says that the Equestrian side has won, but..." There was a long pause before she said, "And has lost over 300 soldiers, while Mort lost about 900 with the death count said to still be rising. And this is only the first battle." She sighed.

"Unfortunately, you're right, Crystal." Night Hunter replied grimly, but quickly added with a smile, "However, remember what Luna said? Equestria is a strong place, and we're not about to just roll over and die. We're going to fight this enemy and win!" He said with a lot of passion before adding gently, "So don't worry about it. You guys are still gonna be safe. The two of you have nothing to worry about."

Crystal then smiled a bit. "Thanks Night. And at least you and all the other Ponies have the spirit of confidence, which is nice to have in a war like this." She then turned towards Daniel. "So anyway, Daniel are you about ready to go and see our Equestrian friends?"

"Sure Crystal, just give me a minute to shower." He explained as he raced towards their room to get some fresh clothes.

About five or so minutes later, Daniel appeared out of the bathroom wearing a Southern-style red flannel shirt and blue jeans. It wasn't anything fancy, however, he didn't mind that. Once they had both said goodbye to Jubilee and Hunter, they left the house to start their day.

The walk across town was nice. Most of the Ponies had stopped giving them stares of mistrust and murmuring. A few still did of course, but the two just ignored it, as most just acted like they were part of the scene. As they walked, Daniel and Crystal could see the Ponies that they saw regularly going along their days. The CMC's were dashing off to do who-knows-what, Lyra (who at this point Daniel had forgiven) and Meadow Song were off to do something as a couple, and Rarity too was coming back from the market with different colors of fabric. They were about halfway to Twilight's Castle when Daniel saw three Ponies; two of them were adults, and one was a colt. While they already knew who the adults were, neither Human recognized who the foal was.

"Hey Crystal, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" He asked.

"What? Going over to say hi? Yep." Replied Crystal. With that, they made their way towards the family.

"Hey Derpy, hey Dr. Whooves." Daniel began. "How are the both of ya been doing?"

"Oh, we have been doing grandly today, Daniel." Dr. Whooves smiled. He was an Earth-Pony stallion that had a light brown coat with light brown fetlocks, a dark brown mane and tail, and a Cutie-Mark of an hourglass.

"We're just taking our son out to the diner. He's earned it after all, for getting a hundred on his big spelling test!" Said Derpy; a gray Pegasus mare with thin gray fetlocks. She also had a blonde mane and tail, and had seven bubbles as her Cutie-Mark.

Crystal tilted her head a little bit, "Your son? But I thought that you and Whooves only had a daughter, Dinky? Speaking of which, where is she anyway?"

"She's helping her friend, Shady Daze with his photography. However, we also have a son." Replied Dr. Whooves as he raised a hoof to the colt. "Since the two of you are here, Daniel, Crystal, I would like to introduce you to our son, Frankie Hooves." He then wrapped a hoof around him, and pulled his son into a hug.

Daniel then looked closer at Frankie. He was a colt, about twelve by his guess. But the thing that interested him was how different he was compared to both of his parents. For one, his coat was a dark maroon color, and he had a sky-blue mane that draped from his head, as well as a tail from behind. They also took notice of an open book for a Cutie-Mark. However, what made Frankie so different was the fact that instead of having fluffy wings like his mom; his wings were dark in color, and bat-like. Frankie also had additional fur at the top of his ears, as well as small fangs, and also had cat-like blue eyes instead of a normal pony's round pupils.

Daniel then looked back at Dr. Whooves. "Um... Whooves, might I ask... what is Frankie exactly? Sorry if that comes off as rude, it's just that I've never seen a Pony like him before."

"It's okay, Mr. Daniel," replied Frankie. "I've asked my Dad about you two earlier."

"Ah, yes," Dr. Whooves cleared his throat. "Frankie is what is commonly known as a Bat-Pony." Seeing that Daniel and Crystal were confused, he added, "Bat-Ponies are one of the four races of what is known as a Night-Pony. You know about the four races of us Ponies, right?"

"Yes." Replied Daniel, listing the names off on his fingers. "Earth-Pony, Unicorn, Pegasus, and Alicorn."

"Yes, and the same goes for the four races of Night-Ponies, you see. There are Dusk-Ponies, Dawn-Ponies, Bat-Ponies, and Thestrals. You can think of them as counterparts to us if you want."

"Okay, and uh... might I ask something personal?" Daniel asked.

The Doctor nodded. "Certainly".

"How is he a Bat-Pony if you're an Earth-Pony, and Derpy is a Pegasus?"

"Oh that's simple. I adopted this little guy when he was just a year old." Dr. Whooves explained. "And before you ask, yes, Frankie does know. See, one Winter night back when I was nineteen, I was walking home when I heard whimpering. When I followed the source, I found Frankie in a back alley, shivering and crying from the coldness. He couldn't have been more than just a year old at least. So being extremely concerned, I immediately brought Frankie to the town's hospital. Once the doctors had informed me that Frankie was being nursed back to health, I was so very happy. Then when they told me that he needed a place to be taken care of, as none of us know who the parents were, I decided to adopt him. He's been living with me for the past twelve years."

"I'm so glad that I have such an amazing Dad." Chirped Frankie as he hugged his dad.

Crystal looked at Dr. Whooves, and was feeling surprised, shocked, and in awe of the compassion from what he had said. "W-wow, that's incredible. I'm glad that you found him. But wait, if you're technically his adopted dad, then does that that mean-"

"That I'm his adopted stepmom?" Derpy asked as she raised her right front hoof. "Well yeah, I am. Also yes, Dr. Whooves is Dinky's stepdad too. I was married to another stallion named Vivid Dreamer, however.....he.....well....he passed away in a fire, just before Dinky was born." Derpy sniffled a bit as she said that.

"Oh my", Crystal said softly, her hands covering her mouth. "God, I'm sorry. I didn't-"

"Oh it's ok," Derpy said softly. "I have Whooves now, and I do have Frankie too. Besides, I know Vivid is in a better place now."

"That's good to hear Derpy." Daniel said. "It sounds that you're doing great." Turning back towards Dr. Whooves, he asked, "So can you tell me about these Night-Pony races you talked about, please?" He asked.

Whooves smiled brightly. "I would be more than honored to." Clearing his throat, he went into his Lecture-Mode. "So first the thing to know is what all Night-Ponies have in common. All Night Ponies have fangs and cat-like irises, regardless of what type they are. Eye colors for a Night Pony tend to range from yellow, to blue, violet, lavender, sapphire, dark green or emerald, red, and smokey gray. They can see in the dark, and also have additional fur on the tips of their ears."

"Interesting. And the difference?"

"Well, first there are the Bat-Ponies. This one is the easiest to explain because they have bat-like wings as you see on Frankie." He rubbed his colt's mane. "Bat-Pony wings are mostly the same color as their coats, however, there is a rare chance that their wings can be darker or lighter than their coat color, although it comes down to genetics. Bat-Ponies have the advantage of being a bit more aerodynamic due to their wings, making them quite fast when it comes to diving. However, they have the disadvantage of their wings not being as resistant to the elements as their normal Pony counterparts."

"Okay, so what about Dawn-Ponies?" asked Crystal.

"Dawn-Ponies are similar to Earth-Ponies. Both have a connection to the earth that the other races don't have. One thing that Dawn-Ponies are great at is sight; that being that they have the best eyesight out of any other the four Night-Pony races. To them, every night is as clear to them as being out here in the sun is for us. They also are very good at running."

"Wow that's incredible," Daniel was amazed. "How do you know all of this?"

"Well, when you have a foal that isn't like most children, it's helpful to understand their wants and needs, as well as what they will grow up into. I've done plenty of research on the subject and beyond for my Frankie. Now, where was I?"

"Dusk-Ponies, Dad," Frankie said.

"Ah! That's right," He patted his son's head. "Dusk Ponies have horns just like Unicorns. Their Magic isn't as powerful as Unicorn Magic, but on the flip side, they can cast Magic from more than just their horns. They are one of the very few creatures in the world who can use Magic with their front hooves! Which hoof they can use Magic with though is based entirely on genetics as well."

"Okay, that right there is very interesting." Daniel thought out loud. "So the last one is... Thestral, right?"

"Yes, Thestrals." The Doctor nodded. "They're the Night Pony counterparts of our Alicorns. They have the wings of a Bat-Pony, the strength of a Dawn-Pony, and the magic of a Dusk-Pony. Their wings and horns are almost always bigger than both Bat and Dusk-Ponies, and they're also the only ones that can have smokey-gray eyes, though that hasn't been seen in over 650 years.....unfortunately." Dr. Whooves added, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"Okay, thanks for the explanation, Doc. So where do Night-Ponies come from? I mean, Frankie here is the first time that we've seen one."

"Mostly from Shadona." Frankie suddenly spoke up. "Night-Ponies have their very own country called Shadona. It's about a half-day's travel by rail from the East Lunar Station to the Capital City. It is one of the oldest of all the Eques countries, and like Equestria, Shadona has their own King and Queen; named Moonlight Blade and Raven Mist."

"Now those are names that command respect," Crystal remarked.

Frankie nodded. "Oh yes. In fact, one of their sons is Princess Luna's coltfriend!" Saying that bit of info with enough pride to spare.

Both Humans's eyes widened immensely as they heard that. "LUNA HAS A COLTFRIEND?!?!" They both exclaimed in unison.

Derpy tilted her head a bit, "Um, yes, she does. Everypony in Equestria knows that. How do you both not know Prince Cosmo?"

"Well, we did go and meet both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna the other day." Replied Crystal, "However, we didn't ever see this Prince Cosmo dude, or anybody mentioning him no less."

"Oh, well I'm guessing he might have been away seeing his family again at the time", Answered Derpy. "Though he's probably back with Luna now."

"Oh okay. Anyway, thanks for the explanation you Guys," said Daniel.

"Yeah. It was nice seeing you two again, and it was nice meeting you too Frankie." Smiled Crystal.

"Thanks Ms. Crystal! Thanks Mr. Daniel!" Frankie said, waving a hoof. "I hope that you two Humans have a good day!"

"We will, thank you." With that, Daniel and Crystal then parted ways with them, and headed towards Twilight's Castle once again.

The rest of the walk went without any problems. In no time at all, the two Humans had arrived at the castle. Both of them could recall the very first time that they saw the crystalized structure. It was when they had gone with Jubilee to the other side of town to get a book on flowers. Both Humans remembered being memorized at seeing this magnificent castle at the time, and Twilight was even kind enough to give them a tour. At one point, both Humans wondered why Twilight and Spike were the only ones who lived inside a castle so massive. Twilight had informed them that there was originally a Unicorn mare named Starlight Glimmer that lived at the castle for a while. However, she said that Starlight had moved out to the Crystal Empire to be with her fiance, Sunburst.

After they had recalled that memory, Daniel knocked on the castle's large front doors. A moment or so later, the doors opened to reveal Twilight.

"Oh, good morning Daniel, Crystal. What brings you over to my castle?" Inquired Twilight.

"Hey Twilight, could we please come in?" Asked Daniel.

She nodded. "Of course. Rainbow Dash is also here too, plus Spike has just brewed a fresh batch of oolong tea."

"Thanks Twilight. We did need to talk with RD too, so it looks like we're getting two birds with one stone."

With that, Twilight led Daniel and Crystal into the dining room. Like they had expected, no one else was there except for Spike and Rainbow Dash. Spike was reading a comic book from a favorite series of his, while Rainbow was tasting a large glass of the oolong tea.

"Morning Spike, Rainbow Dash", Said Crystal.

"Morning Guys. How are you both?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

"Yeah, how have you guys been?" Inquired Spike, looking up from his comic book.

"Nice to see you again. And Daniel and I have been fine" Smiled Crystal. "We just have something ask Twilight."

Twilight titled her head a bit, "Oh? And what's that?"

The two explained to Twilight about how they wanted to go to visit Ash and Spitfire up in Cloudsdale, and they both knew that Humans couldn't walk on clouds. However, they also knew about the Cloud-Walking Spell that would allow them to walk on clouds. They thought that if there was anypony who could help them with this, that it would be her, due to her being an Alicorn after all.

"Well, I can try", Replied Twilight, although a bit doubtful. "I'm worried that something might go wrong. I mean, as far as I know, this is the first time this Magic has ever been used on one Human, let alone two of them who are asking to walk on clouds so high up. Sorry if I sound a bit worried."

"Relax Twilight. Even if on the slim chance something does go wrong, I'm sure you of all Ponies can fix it." Assured Daniel.

"Yes, well there's only one thing left to do then." With that, an amethyst-colored aura began emanating from her horn, and only a few seconds later, the whole room was enveloped in a similar light.

When both Daniel and Crystal opened their eyes again, they quickly searched themselves to see if everything was there, and that nothing major was changed. To their great relief, they found that nothing was altered in any way.

"Phew. See Twilight, nothing went wrong at all." Proclaimed Daniel.

"Yeah, now let's see if it worked." Thought Twilight out loud. She then turned towards Rainbow Dash. "Hey Dash, can you please go and get a small piece of cloud to see if the spell worked?"

"Sure thing Twi. Be back in a quick sec!" With that Rainbow flew quickly out of the room in a dash, leaving only a streak of rainbow color in her wake. Less then ten seconds later, Rainbow flew back in with a large piece of fluffy white cloud. She then looked at Twilight. "Does this work for you Twilight?"

Twilight nodded in agreement. "Yes, this is a perfectly good sized cloud. Please place it in front of us." She did so, and Twilight turned towards Daniel and Crystal. "Can you both please come over here?"

"Sure Twilight." They said as they walked over to her.

"Okay, so what I need you two to do is to try and step on this cloud. If the spell works, then you should be able to walk on it without falling through." She explained with hope in her voice.

Daniel decided to go first. He stepped onto the cloud, almost expecting to fall through, but had no problem standing on it at all. Like walking on a feathery mattress, it was soft and bouncy, yet firm. He even tried jumping up and down on the cloud just to be sure. Crystal then quickly got the cloud, jumping up and down as well.

Twilight clapped her front hooves in delight, "Excellent! The spell worked perfectly. How do you two feel?"

"I'm feeling great." Replied Daniel. "I would be lying if I said that I wasn't excited to be walking on a cloud. This is fantastic; we're gonna get to see Cloudsdale."

"Yeah, same. I'm ready to see what's up there," added Crystal.

"Perfect." Inputted Rainbow Dash. "Getting up to Cloudsdale is one of the easiest things ever! All you'll guys need is a way to get up there. Lucky for you two, Ponyville has hot air balloons that are used for that. All you have to do is walk up, get in, and that is it!"

"Cool. So where are these hot air balloons?"

"I'll show you, and don't worry Crystal, I'll fly slower for you guys, just to show you where it is." Said Rainbow before taking off in a flash. It was very clear that if they would have any chance of following Rainbow Dash, Daniel and Crystal would need to start running right now!

"Thanks Twilight! Now if you don't mind, we need to be catching up to Rainbow!" Daniel yelled as both of them ran off after Rainbow Dash.

"Have fun you two!" She called as the two Humans ran off out of sight, leaving only her and Spike left in the large room.

It soon became clear to them that trying to catch up to Rainbow Dash was going to be hard. However, after about a mile of running, they had finally caught up to the cyan mare. She was waiting, flapping her wings to keep herself in mid-air. Right behind her were two hot air balloons, tethered down by rope. Both were a dark purple, with a black ornate design.

"There you two are. Sorry that I sorta left you in the dust back there. I might have underestimated my fight strength!" She then rubbed her neck.

"It's fine Rainbow, but are all Pegasi as fast as you?" Asked Crystal, a little out of breath.

Rainbow gave a happy smirk "Well there's a reason why I was chosen to take Blaze's spot after she stepped down to teach full time! But hey, if there's anypony that might beat me in a race, it's probably Spitfire and Soarin, but that’s unlikely. At the same time though, they didn't make it to Captain and Co-Captain by fluffing around."

"Okay, I guess. So do we just get in now or what?"

"Oh, ha, sorry, I went on a little ramble there." Rainbow said as she rubbed the back of her neck. "Anyways, all you two need to do is get in, and I will guide you to Cloudsdale."

"Ok."

With that, Daniel and Crystal hopped into one of the hot air balloons. After Rainbow untied the ropes, making the balloon rise into the air, she then flew into the balloon basket to get it to where they needed to go. Both Humans were surprised that she was able to operate a hot air balloon, however, she informed them that she had flown a hot air balloon multiple times to get her friends up to Cloudsdale, as well as to more distant parts of Equestria.

As Rainbow Dash flew the balloon high enough, Daniel and Crystal decided to take the moment to look out and enjoy the view. They could see that they were up in the clear skies, and that Ponyville (along with everything else), was looking smaller by the second. They could also see the Everfree Forest, Canterlot, and even beyond. To both Humans, it did feel nice to be smoothly going upward in the sky, even if it was their very first time.

Soon after a half-hour in the air, the three of them saw something in the distance. It appeared to be a super-sized cloud of some kind, with what at a distance looked like vaguely-shaped buildings that Pegasi were flying in and out of. From the sheer size, it was clear to the Humans that they were reaching their destination.

"Well, we're almost there you two. Hope that you're ready for Cloudsdale!" Rainbow exclaimed as she navigated the balloon towards the cloud city.

Soon, the three of them has arrived at Cloudsdale. Once Rainbow Dash had landed the hot air balloon and tied it down, the two Humans got out. Crystal was the first to get off, though with a bit of hesitation. She sighed a breath of relief when the cloud bounced underneath her feet as she got off. Daniel on the other hand said nothing as he got off the hot air balloon. Once they landed, the two of them then looked at the cloud city.

The city was indeed made of fluffy white clouds that were combined into countless huge clouds, and the clouds were also shaped into various kinds of houses, buildings, and walking spaces. All the ponies were, of course, a variety of multicolored Pegasi, with all of them either flying or walking.

"So, first thoughts of Cloudsdale? I hope they're positive." Inquired Rainbow Dash as she finished up with tying down the balloon.

"It looks amazing. It looks like it came out of fantasy book." Said Crystal. "Reminds me of those drawings of Ancient Greece or Rome in a way."

Rainbow tilted her head. "Greece? Rome?"

"Oh. They used to be places in our world from a long time ago."

"Huh". Rainbow turned to the other Human. "So, is this awesome enough for you or what?"

"Yeah." Daniel agreed. "That, and we're the first Humans in history to be able to walk on clouds."

Rainbow gave them a smirk. "Yeah, that's how Cloudsdale is for ya. Anyway, time to show you where Ash and Spitfire are at."

After this, she began to walk off with the Humans following her.

Walking on clouds was a much different feel than walking on solid earth. In certain places, it felt loose; like walking on a soft fluffy blanket, and at others, their feet slowly sank in like wet sand; at least to the Humans.

Walking through Cloudsdale proved to be interesting; seeing what the Pegasi citizens could make by themselves, and actually being able to see what life up in the sky was like. Walking by the Humans, the Pegasi displayed a variety of emotions, from curious and friendly, to caution and confusion. All of them displayed an emotion something along these lines as they passed by them.

Soon enough though, Rainbow saw the destination that they needed was in sight. They were at the east end of Cloudsdale, in a district where the houses were standing two to three stories tall. Rainbow then took them to a particular house that was in the center of the street that was labeled "Storm Petrel." The house itself was a large two-story home with a medium-sized deck located on the upper floor. The sky-blue mailbox that was outside read "Ash" on the right side, and "Spitfire" on the left. This was without a doubt the place that they were looking for.

"Okay, you two, here it is". Rainbow Dash told them as she lifted a proud front hoof to the place. "Now I have some business to take care of since we're up here with some of the other Wonderbolts, So can I trust you guys to stay here?"

Daniel and Crystal both nodded. "I'll be about an hour and a half or so, but I'll come back."

"Okay, thanks, I guess". Daniel told her. "For being concerned though."

Rainbow smiled. "Of course. What kind of friend would I be if I wasn't? I hope that you and Crystal have a great time hanging out with these guys."

"Thanks Dash." With that said, both Humans approached the front door while Dash flew off elsewhere.

Crystal knocked on the door, and after about a second or so, the door swung open to reveal Ash's face. The gray Pegasus's eyes widened, and he blinked as he saw who was at the front door.

"Daniel? Crystal? What a surprise to see you! What are you two doing up here in Cloudsdale?"

"We were hoping that we could come up here to see you and Spitfire", Chuckled Crystal a bit. "That is if it's okay."

"If that's the case then yeah, come on in. I know that Spitfire will be happy to see both of you again." With that, Ash opened the door fully, allowing both of the Humans to come in.

Walking into Ash's cloud house lead them directly into the living room - and a large one at that. The living room had a large fluffy tan color couch with two smaller couches located on each side. There was a large red carpet in front of the sofas, and nailed to the walls where photos of Ash, Spitfire, their two daughters, and a few others of what looked like their other family members. Also in the living room was a large fireplace, though it was currently unlit.

"So, what do you think of our living room?"

"It's wonderful, Ash." Replied Crystal. She then looked around the area. "But where is Spitfire?"

"I'll call her down. " He then put a hoof up to his mouth. "Hey Spitsy, we have some guests. I think that you'll like to see them."

"Who are they?" came Spitfire's voice from somewhere in the house.

"It's a surprise, and I think you're gonna like it."

"'Kay, coming Hon!"

The sound of hoof steps could be heard as Spitfire walked in from the dining room, carrying two small fillies on her back. Her eyes widened as she saw the two Humans.

"Oh Crystal! Daniel! It's so nice to see you both again. And up in the clouds no less!"

"Yeah, same." Replied Daniel. He then pointed to the two fillies that were on her back. "Who are they?"

"Oh, right. Well, these flying fuzzballs are our daughters, Blazie and Skyler." Said Ash as he went over to them, giving them both a small nuzzle on their foreheads.

Both Humans looked at them. Blazie had a gray coat and blue eyes much like her dad. At the same time, she also had the same yellow-orange mane and tail style like her mom. Skyler on the other hoof had a bright yellow coat color and green eyes like her mom, though she also he had a smooth jet-black mane and tail like her dad. The girls then flew off of their Mom's back as they then looked up at the two Humans with amazement in their eyes.

Spitfire chuckled a bit. "Girls, I would like you to meet two new friends of ours. Blazie, Skyler, this is Daniel and Crystal. They're the ones from far away."

"Wow, you're really Humans!" Exclaimed Skyler.

"Are there more of you?" Asked Blazie.

"Whoa, one at a time!" Ash said as she turned to the Humans. "Sorry, they can get a bit excitable when meeting someone new."

"Oh, that's fine. I don't mind at all." Answered Crystal. "At this point, we're starting to get used to it."

Suddenly Ash thought of something. "Hey, since you guys are here, do you both want to meet my friends Smut and Kits?"

"Sure, I guess that's fine with us", replied Daniel.

"Thanks. I'll be a just minute." With that Ash then flew outside to get his friends.

Once he was gone, Spitfire then turned to Daniel and Crystal. "Okay, while my husband does that, do you want anything to drink?" Daniel asked what she had. "I have milk, water, juice, tea, orange soda, and cherry cola."

"Cola please", They both said in unison.

"Ok, and while I get that, you can take a seat on one of the couches if both of you want."

"Sure." With that, both Humans took their seats on one of the smaller couches.

As they waited for Spitfire to return from the kitchen, she came back with balancing their drinks on her back with Ash alongside her, and four other Pegasi. The first two to enter was a muscular stallion, though not as muscular as Ash. He was tan-coated with a sandy brown mane and tail, and had deep green eyes, with a Cutie-Mark that was a shovel with coal in it. Beside him was another Pony that was a lot younger than others; probably a teenager by the looks of it. He was a thin and sleek colt with a pearl white coat, and a muddy yellow mane and tail. He had soft green colored eyes, with a Cutie-Mark of golden angelic wings.

"Daniel, Crystal," Ash said, pointing to the strangers. "I would like to introduce you both to my best friend Smut, and his little brother Shining Wings."

"Hello there you two", Said Smut.

"Hi", Added in Shining. He offered up a hoof to them, and the Humans got out of their seats to give him a friendly hand/hoofshake.

The two Humans then turned to look at the other two stallions that had walked in. The first was a muscular Pegasus, although not as much as Smut. He was a blue coat with a dark midnight-blue mane and tail, and hazel brown eyes, along with an antique oil can for his Cutie-Mark. Next to him was a brown coated Pegasus, who was more toned and muscular than the blue Pony. He had a blonde mane and tail, along with sightly thicker fetlocks, and light blue eyes. His Cutie-Mark was a single barbell.

"And is my other best friend Kits," Ash pointed one of his forelegs over to the blue stallion, and pointed to the other with a wing. "And that's his husband, Dumbbell."

Daniel and Crystal blinked as they heard that last part, not saying anything for about a moment or so.

"Uh... is something the matter?" asked Kits.

"Oh, um... nothing. Just... never met someone who's gay before. " Replied Daniel.

The husbands blinked. Dumbbell raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"

"Because we're from a small town in the middle of nowhere", Answered Crystal.

"Huh, well anyway," Dumbell told them, "It's nice to me you Daniel, and you as well Crystal."

Crystal then tilted her head a bit. "How do you know our names?"

Kits chuckled a bit. "Just about every mare and stallion west of the Lunar Beach does. It's kinda hard not to hear what's going on in Ponyville. You're one of the biggest pieces of news in the last couple of weeks, behind the war of course. Plus, word travels fast in Equestria. Heck, I wouldn't even be shocked if other lands haven't heard the news. I'll bet you that even the students of The Academy are talking about you two right now!"

Crystal look at Kits confusingly. "The Academy? What are you talking about?"

"Oh!" Kits slapped his forehead. "I keep forgetting you're not from around here. The Academy is a school in Shadona. It's one of, if not the top school out there. It's kinda like the School for Gifted Unicorns in a way. So if they're talking about you, then you know it's most likely big."

"Oh, okay. So should we sit back down or..."

"Oh sorry." Spitfire spoke up. "Yes, you can sit back down. Oh and here," she walked over to them, handing them two bottles of cherry cola.

Both of them said thanks for the cola, and took their seats. Ash and Spitfire then sat together on the big couch, along with Blazie and Skyler climbing up to join them. Meanwhile, Kits sat with his husband on the other small couch with Smut and Shining Wings.

Even though the ponies immediately engaged in their conversations; catching up with what they've been up to, and cracking jokes, it wasn't lost on Kits on how suddenly quiet the two Humans had become. Not only that, but he and his husband noticed the series of awkward glances from them; almost as if they had something on their minds, but were afraid of asking for the sake of being polite. Eventually, Kits leaned forward. "So what do ya wanna know?"

"Huh?" both Humans responded as if they realized that they were lost in thought.

"Look, I get it that you probably don't know a lot about Ponies like... well... us." He waved a hoof towards his husband. "And don't think that we're too delicate, or overly sensitive either. Trust us, we have tougher skins than ya think. Chances are, whatever is going on inside your heads we've probably heard before at least once. So c'mon, what's on your minds?"

"How exactly does it work?" blurted out Daniel.

"You mean the whole attraction thing or...?" Dumbbell asked.

Both of them nodded. "Tell us. Are either of you driven towards acting like the opposite sex at least once?"

"Yeah", They said in unison.

"Okay, why?"

"Maybe to really oversimplify things," Kits answered, "I guess it works just like any other relationship. That there's an emotional connection and we just... click. We just live out our normal lives as any other normal couple would. And if one of us feels like being the mare that day, then the other just rolls with it."

"What about kids?" Crystal asked. "Do you have one already, or are you both waiting for that?"

"Actually, we already are raising foals." Dumbbell informed them. "Two wonderful colts, in fact. Spring Growth and Tidal Wave are their names. We adopted them about a year ago, and we've never once regretted it. They are such good sons, so the answer is yes. We already do."

"Oh, that's nice. Let's see, when did you first meet each other?"

"We met by chance in a bar one night here in Cloudsdale a few years ago." Kits told them. "At the time, I'd just gotten off work on the 4014, and Dumbbell had just gotten off work too. We became fast friends after that at first, you know? Then after a while, our relationship developed from there into what it is now."

"Okay, well that's nice." Said Daniel before he took a large gulp of his drink. "I do have one more question, but..."

Kits raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Is something wrong Daniel?"

"Nothing is wrong.........just.....there are a few things I'm curious about that's uh..." He then pointed towards Blazie and Skyler. "Not safe for foals." He said whispering that to Kits, making sure the two fillies didn't hear him.

"Oh", Kits blinked. "Well... we can go into the kitchen, and you can ask us out of earshot if you want."

After Daniel thanked them, the three got up from the couch and made their way into the kitchen.

The kitchen itself was a bit bigger than average. The cabinets and covers were a light blue color, and the countertops where dark white in color. The sink was at the moment empty, while the fridge and the dishwasher also silent. The table was wood-brown in color with a bowl of fruit on it, and the chairs were also the same wood brown color. The walls also held some photos, mostly of Ash, Spitfire, their two daughters, and their friends and family members. The blue and brown stallions then turned to the teenager.

"Okay, it's just us now." Kits told him. "We're all alone in here, and I'm sure that nopony can hear us. So what's your question?"

"Do you and Dumbbell get uh..." Daniel asked awkwardly. He hesitated for a moment in trying to figure out how to ask his question. "You know what, I can't think of any other way to not say this bluntly but... as gays, do you guys get hard when you see your own dicks?" Both stallions' eyes went wide. "Sorry! One of my classmates, Milene, told me about that, and I had no idea if that was true or not."

Both stallions dropped to the floor, almost laughing their flanks off.

"Kid!" Dumbbell said between breaths, "That is the funniest damn thing I've ever heard! Give me a minute..." After the laughter had died down, he was able to answer. "In short, not really. I don't get hard just by looking between my legs; just his." He explained as he then nuzzled his blushing husband.

"Okay..."

Kits cleared his throat. "So are there any other raunchy questions that you've got?"

"Not exactly just... It's still weird for me. I mean, if I didn't know either of you were gay, I never would have guessed it."

"What do you mean?"

"Like......well, where I come from, I thought gays were these overly feminine guys that talk annoyingly, were covered in glitter, and were obsessed with blowing anything that has a dick in sight. That they were these girly-weirdos that were obsessed with theater, and artsy stuff. But looking at you guys... in the way that you talk and act, you two seem so... normal. Kinda the opposite of what I think of what gays are."

Dumbbell shrugged. "To be fair, we have run into a few Ponies that are like that. But that's not us. Just because we happened to like stallions doesn't mean that we can't be ourselves, ya know? We're not trying to be that different from what are friends are, nor are we interested in putting up an act. Sure, we don't consider ourselves 'girly' by any means, and why should we? We know who we are and what we're into. Just because we're gay doesn't mean that we have to be over the top flamboyant all the time."

"Oh... okay. Well thanks for answering my questions guys." He said before drinking what was left of his cherry cola.

"Hey, your welcome Daniel," said Kits. "And don't be afraid to ask us about anything else."

He nodded. "Okay, so let me throw this away and I'll meet you guys in the living room."

"Okay, well let's go then," replied Kits.

While Daniel threw away his empty soda bottle, Kits and Dumbbell made there way back to the living room, with Daniel soon following behind them.

Back in the living room, they sat back in where they had originally sat. As they did, Crystal turned to Smut and Shining Wings.

"So Smut, do you have anyone special?" she questioned.

Smut shook his head. "Not really. It's just me and my little brother. It's not a problem, really."

"Oh, so do you two have any family?" She asked.

"A mom and step-dad, however....." When he said that both Crystal and Daniel could see a flash of anger in his voice, and Shining Wings wincing a bit at what he said. "Let's just say......there's a reason why I applied for guardianship at twenty-two. Our parents were anything but nice."

"Oh wow... Well, I'm glad that you both are alright." Crystal responded.

"Yeah, both of us are too. It's been about three years or so since then."

She then turned to Ash and Kits. "So what about you two, do you guys have any family?"

Ash spoke first. "Yes I do. I still got my Dad, Fire Shield, along with mom, Book Heart. I also have an older brother named June Bug, and a younger brother named Gears. Dad is a weather-Pony over in Ponyville, and my mom works as a special needs tutor in Ponyville. As for my brothers, June's a buckball teacher for the elementary school in Ponyville, while Gears works as a repair stallion in Canterlot that works on steam engines."

"Oh wow that's impressive. Is your family all Pegasi like you Ash?" asked Daniel.

He shook his head. "No, not all of them are. My Dad is, however my Mom is an Earth-Pony, along with June Bug. Gears on the other hoof is a Unicorn."

Daniel looked at Ash with a confused look. "So how come Gears is a Unicorn while your parents are a Pegasus and an Earth-Pony?"

"Its because although my Dad has only Pegasi on his side, Mom has both Earth-Pony and Unicorn on her side of the family. That's how I'm a Pegasus like my Dad, while they aren't."

"I see." Crystal pondered. "So what is work like working on 4014 for the three of you?"

"Well let's see here." Ash reclined in his seat. "We all get up at around six in the morning, and get ready for work while getting our kids (or brother in Smut's case) ready for school. Which I'll admit some days are better then others with getting them fed and clean, you know? Once we're all ready to leave, we then say goodbye to our families, and then fly off to Canterlot Roundhouse at around 7:30. Once there, we do our daily stuff; this includes filling our engine up with fresh coal, filling the tender with water, cleaning out the firebox, and lighting a fire in the cleaned firebox. Once that's all out of the way, we then roll 4014 out of the roundhouse. The cars that we take are about 150, to around 170-190 cars, with us being tasked to carry up to 200 cars on some days. After collecting our cars from the Canterlot Staging Yards, we usually get out on the mainline by 8:10 or 8:15, depending on what was going on that day. Our route is from Canterlot to Green Rose and back."

"Green Rose? Where on Earth is that Ash?" asked Daniel confusedly.

"Green Rose is the biggest staging yard within a thousand miles. Our job is to take the long trains up to Green Rose so they can be split up with other trains, and be sent elsewhere. After we give our 4014 some more coal and water, we're ready to take another long train back to the Canterlot Staging Yards, and then once we're back in Canterlot, we drop off whatever we carried over to the Staging Yard. After several back and forth trips, we make our last trip of the day back to Canterlot, and once we've dropped off the last cars, we get 4014 into her shed, and put out her fire. Then, once the engine is finally all shut down, then it's a clear flight back to Cloudsdale, and to our families."

"Wow, that's impressive Ash." Daniel commented. "So what do the three the do for the massive engine? Or rather, what are your positions?"

Smut answered that. "Well, in case you guys forgot, Ash works as the engineer, and I'm the firepony for the 4014, while Kits over here works as the brakepony."

"Yeah," added Kits with delight in his voice. "It hard work at times, but I wouldn't want any other type of job!"

Then Daniel turned to Spitfire. She was nuzzling both Blazie and Skyler's foreheads, the girls giggling a bit as their Mom nuzzled them.

"Hey Spitfire, can I ask you something?"

Spitfire raised her head when she heard her name, looking towards him. "Yes, what is it?"

"What's it like being the Captain of the Wonderbolts? Since I asked Ash about his job, it's only fair I ask you the same question. So what is it like?"

Spitfire thought about it for a few moments before answering with, "Well I wouldn't have any other job. I love the Ponies that I work with, and it does also help when I work with them, since being a Wonderbolt means that you need to have the ability to work as a team. I also love the aerial performances, tas o me at least, it gives you a sense of freedom that is like no other. However, I do need to take it easy nowadays, due to this little guy." Spitfire happily murmured the last part as she rubbed her pregnant belly.

"Okay, that's nice." He then thought of something. "Do you have any other family as well? I mean Crystal did tell me that you have a Mom, but what about a dad, or any siblings?"

Spitfire said nothing. The silences grew to the point that even Blazie and Skyler could see that the atmosphere had changed. Soon though, after what had felt like five minutes, the yellow mare sighed. "Well, I did have a Dad, Phoenix Spirit, but unfortunately Daniel..." She then paused. She looked over to Ash before wrapping her hoof together with Ash's, and then continuing about her Dad. "He was quite the Pony, and an even a greater father. I loved him so much, as did my mom, Stormy Flare. However that all changed when I was eleven."

"W-what happened?" Asked Crystal in a worrisome tone.

Spitfire tightened her grip on her husband's hoof as she continued to her story. "It started off as a simple day. I had gotten out of school and had just gotten home. That's when my mom came running up to me, just hugging me and saying 'It's okay Spitfire,' over and over again while I didn't know what she was talking about." She explained, going silent for a moment.

"What happened after that?"

"Well... after she stopped crying, she explained to me that we need to go to the hospital because my Dad was sick. Of course, as a young filly, I was worried, if not scared at the fact that my Dad was in the hospital; who wouldn't be in that situation? We then went to the Cloudsdale Medical Hospital, and once we met up with the staff, they took us up to him. When I did saw him......I won't lie in saying that I wasn't upset. Here was my father, in the hospital for something that I didn't know why. I asked my Mom what was wrong, and she hesitated for a bit before explaining as gently as possible that he had cancer.

Of course, this came as a horrifying surprise. She explained to me that my Dad had an aggressive type of cancer. Apparently, he got it just a bit after I was born, and for a while, he thought that he had beaten it by the time I was eighteen months old, though growing up, I was completely unaware of this. I thought that this was just going to be a simple treatment, and that this cancer thing would go away just like it did years ago, and after that, we would be all be happy again. Looking back, I think he kept it hidden from me just so I wouldn't have to worry. Unfortunately, things soon turned downwards very quickly.

At first, he looked to be winning the battle. He looked just like he did before the cancer resurfaced. And for a while, I was thinking that maybe, just maybe, he would be able to make out of this okay. Unfortunately for us though, this was not what happened. The cancer suddenly became even more aggressive and more destructive. My dad did put up a great fight; he really did, but it wasn't enough. Pretty soon, the cancer became terminal, and his time left to live was very short."

"Oh my goodness..." Uttered Crystal.

"Yeah......he died not too long after that. It was hard for the longest time. I'm not gonna lie in saying that there were no difficult days. But hey, he's in a much better place now, and will never be sad again." She told Crystal, trying to keep up a believable, happy expression. "And knowing Dad, I don't think that he would want me to be depressed forever. Of course, I still miss him, but at the same time, I'm aware that many Ponies are counting on me. My teammates, Ash, my daughters; they need me still, and I still need them too."

Blazie and Skyler seemed to sense their mom's sadness, and they tried to nuzzle their mom's side. Spitfire had a genuine smile as she returned with a nuzzle, and pull them into a hug. "Mommy loves you too Girls."

"Aww, that's so adorable Spitfire." Exclaimed Crystal. "You have such a great family. I wish that I could have a family like this too, if it ever happens."

Spitfire looked up at her. "I have faith that you'll find someone Crystal."

"Thanks Spitfire. Well, I did kinda have more questions that wanted to ask you and Ash before we have to go back home."

Ash noded. "Of course, what's on the mind?"

"Mmm... Let's see here....... " As time passes on, the two Humans soon asked all the Ponies in the room at least ten questions each. Eventually however, there was a knock on the front door. It was Rainbow Dash, and she was finished with whatever she had to do with the Wonderbolts, and was back to get them.

"Ah, well guess it's time to go." Daniel proclaimed, a bit disappointed that he and Crystal had to go back home. " I did have fun with you all today. I hope we can hang out again. " He said as he got up.

"Yeah, we did too, I hope you guys will have a great rest of the day." Said Spitfire as the Humans left for the hot air balloon with Rainbow Dash.

As they walked back to the hot air balloon, Rainbow decided to ask them how it went with hanging out with them all, along with how it felt getting out of Ponyville again. Both responded that it was nice getting out and getting to see their friends again after so long. They all laughed as they finally arrived back in Ponyville. The Humans started to wonder what might happen in the future, and if they were ready for whatever this world would throw at them.

War and Love

by Terry the human

Chapter 1: Two Visitors Form Far Away

Chapter 2: Attracting a Crowd

Chapter 3: So Much to See

Chapter 4: City of Clouds