Ponyville buzzed with the news. Spoiled turned up her nose, not hard for her to do. "What strange creatures."
Filthy shook his head. "What a load of possibilities!" He brought his hooves together. "I wonder if they need any supplies I could be the source of? Think of where it could lead." He looked across the breakfast table to Diamond Tiara. "If you see any of them, be on your best behavior."
"Yes, father." Diamond gave her best, not entirely sincere, smile. "Do they even have any bits?"
Spoiled shook her head. "How could they? I should imagine they don't even know what they are."
Filthy waved the objections away before lifting a cup of coffee with a huge handle fit for a hoof. "We can barter to start. In fact, we may want some of their money, whatever that is. Have you seen the strange thing they arrived in?"
Spoiled look down on Diamond firmly. "Don't go looking at that... thing. That entire area is dangerous. Really, who would want to be around all that noise and those filthy construction ponies?"
Diamond restrained a mighty eyeroll with visible effort. "May I be excused?" She pushed away from her finished plate. "I should go to school."
Filthy smiled at his beloved daughter. "Of course, dear. You have a great day."
Spoiled nodded and watched her go before looking back to Filthy. "Be careful."
"You're being dramatic." Filthy drew himself tall on his chair. "I didn't make the money I have by being scared."
Elsewhere, Pinkie dropped a sign in front of a window. It was written in English. It was a little messy, but she was sure she got the two words right in it, written big and bold. "Humans welcome!" she cried with a giggle, turning back to the rest of Sugarcube Corner. "Do you think they, wait, no, that's a silly question."
She waved her own question away as she trotted for the counter. "If they're like Laud, they like baked treats, maybe in moderation."
Mrs. Cake pushed the tray back into the register, ready to start the day. "Well, if they're half as polite as Laud is, they are welcome here. Just be gentle on them, Pinkie. Laud was very jumpy when he first arrived, and they may be exactly the same, so let's keep the, uh, Pinkie-ing down until they're ready."
Pinkie pouted at that. "But that's my best part... Alright alright. I'm not sure I can catch one of their swords like Maud did. That sister of mine, she is so crazy." Pinkie pulled open an oven and peered inside before reaching in and yanking out a tray of golden brown muffins. She moved it with lightning speed to a counter before her hoofs could get burned. "I'll ice these!" she cried, already reaching for the decorations.
Mrs. Cake shook her head slowly as she pulled down chairs to be beside tables instead of on them. "Why do they have those?"
"Oh, that's easy." Pinkie glanced up from her rapid icing of the muffin, which were becoming more like cupcakes. "They have no magic." She set the decorating tool aside. "Not even earth pony or pegasus magic. Shoot, it scares them. Even after all this time, Laud gets spooked. I think that's why he likes you."
Mrs. Cake blinked at that, returning to the front counter. "He likes me?"
"Uh huh." Pinkie bobbed her head quickly. "Earth ponies are his favorite. They don't act magic. At least, least magic." She held two hooves close together. "Oo, there's one!" She thrust one hoof ahead at a human taking curious steps outside, visible through the open door.
Mrs. Cake dipped her head beneath the register and came back up wearing a translator. "Ready. Hello there!" she called to the startled human stallion. "Come in and have a treat to start the day."
Quickly recovering himself and smiling. "Good morning," he said in the strange alien way humans had, but he had a translator too, and it echoed the sentiment in the equine way. "Is this a bakery?"
"Sure is!" exclaimed Pinkie with a gesture at the baked goods she just finished decorating. Her translator was on, though none had seen when she had put it on. "Did you see the sign?" In a lower voice, she whispered to herself, "Please say you saw the sign."
His eyes wandered towards the window. "Well Humans?"
Mrs. Cake put a hoof over her mouth, covering her laugh. "She meant 'Humans Welcome'."
Welcome given, the man did step inside, his blue eyes sweeping over the store as he came and his sword swaying at his hip with each step. "Thank you for the greeting. I don't have any of the local currency, I should warn."
Pinkie shook her head quickly. "You've all just got here, of course not." She plopped one of her fresh creations on the counter. "Here, as a 'welcome to Ponyville' gift!"
Mrs. Cake nodded towards the treat in agreement. "You've come a long way, Pinkie. Yes, please, enjoy. If you want some bits, I'm sure you could do some odd jobs around town suited to you." Her eyes fell to his sheathed blade before rising quickly to his eyes. "I'm Missus Cake."
Twilight smiled stiffly at the end of the table. Her table was not normally full, and when it was, it was her dearest friends. That morning, it was filled with humans. Laud sat at her right, Paul on her left. Behind them, so many guards surrounded the table.
Across the way, Starlight was hoofing at her translator as if checking something. Twilight could see she was speaking quietly to a human there.
"Thank you," Twilight looked up to see it had been Paul that spoke. "For providing local housing and hospitality. It was not strictly required. We could have retired to our ship, but the thought was a good one, and accepted in the spirit it was given."
Laud nodded towards Twilight. "Her official title is 'Princess of Friendship.'"
Paul arched a brow at the slightly-flustered Twilight. "Are you not princess of a particular location?"
Twilight gave a choked half laugh, raising a hoof. "Ah, not so much? Celestia and Luna rule over Equestria, our nation. Cadance operates the Crystal Empire, to the north. I discovered a new kind of magic, and this is my reward, and responsibility."
"You..." Paul trailed off before setting his hands on the table in front of him. "We should not press before we've eaten. I apologize for being a rude guest."
"Oh, no no, no trouble at all." Twilight forced a wide smile. "Spike?!"
"Coming..." Spike came toddling in with a large platter. "Plenty more after this one." Suddenly he was free of the platter, one of the many soldiers taking it with a good-natured laugh and setting it on the table. "Oh, uh, thanks. Be right back!" He moved to scoot away, and a soldier trailed after him.
Laud nodded in their direction. "We Hawkwoods try to be polite. Spike won't work alone just to feed us." He looked across to Paul. "Their food is excellent, but avoid anything that looks like a flower, because it is exactly what it looks like."
Paul brought his hands together, fingers running through one another as they clasped. "Duly noted. I notice you aren't wearing a translator. I know you can understand both languages, but it does mean only one half of the room can understand you at any given time."
Accepting the criticism, Laud got his translator into place. "It baffles the mind, considering how swiftly more were made."
"I knew this was coming," replied Starlight despite being down the table. "I started making more of them a while ago. I figured, hay, what happens if the ones we have break? Or..." She waved a hoof at the soldiers on either side of her. "Guests arrive, or... There were too many reasons to want more, and no real reason not to."
Twilight nodded to her student. "Thank you for your foresight, Starlight. You've made this meeting of people far smoother than it might otherwise have been." Her horn glowed as she plucked some pancakes from the center of the table and set them neatly on a plate. "Do you like syrup?" she asked Paul, decorating the stack as he directed. Soon she set the plate just in front of him. "Eat up and enjoy."
Paul shook his head slowly. "Do you not fear the corruption that magic brings?" Twilight looked at him with growing confusion. "This much power." He pointed at her horn. "When such things come so easily, that leads to temptation."
Twilight shook her head quickly. "I mean, maybe? I've... tried to solve a few...--"
"Few, she says." Spike rolled his eyes as he pushed another platter up onto the table.
"A few," repeated Twilight more firmly, giving Spike a dirty look. "But I've learned there are many problems that magic won't solve directly. It requires friendship, cooperation, and work."
"You are not the only of your kind," reminded Paul. "There is one right there." He subtly pointed at Starlight. "I saw others on the way here. With so many magic-users, how do you avoid its innate problems?"
Twilight huffed softly. "Well, for one, most can only do what their cutie mark is related to directly."
"Cute mark?" Paul looked across to Laud.
Laud gestured to Twilight's bottom. "Do you see the star shape? All ponies appear to gain them during their formative years, as a manner of coming of age."
Twilight glanced back at hers. "They represent what we are meant to do, and are best at."
Paul stiffened a moment. "By the Pancreator... You are..." He slapped a hand down on the table. "No wonder! Whoever shaped your people was a genius, or depraved beyond measure, perhaps both. They may have been trying to make the perfect magic-wielders, shackled and disciplined from birth to avoid going astray."
Twilight's expression turned wry. "While I am glad that comforts you, it is a little impolite to talk to someone that way. We were not 'created', at least further than a mother pony and a father pony loving each other very much."
"Besides," spoke Starlight across the table. "Sometimes we do... go astray... but then other great ponies give them a chance, and... we can get better." She looked away, her cheeks warming. "Everyone makes mistakes, sometimes..."
A soldier beside Starlight nudged her with an elbow. "Fat lot that does if they scrub your head clean."
Another beside him laughed in agreement. "That would be the worst kind, reaching into your skull and leaving what they want behind."
Starlight shrank in place as they agreed on just how terrible mental magics were and those that dared to use them.
Paul turned his eyes to Twilight, though he faced forward. "Was your student involved in such a case? She doesn't hide it very well."
"Well, ah..." Twilight tapped her hooves before letting out an explosive gust of air. "Yes... She has been properly disciplined, and is working very hard to become a better pony. Her being my student is, in a way, a form of penance and reform."
Paul raised a brow at that. "You keep a reformed criminal so close to your royalty?"
"She is sincere in her wish to reform." Twilight raised a hoof to her chest. "She has performed great acts on behalf of Equestria and proven herself. She isn't perfect, but she wants to be, and is becoming so. I am proud to call Starlight my student, and my friend." She set that hoof down with a firm stance. "Judge her on what she does, not what she did. We are only having this conversation because of her."
Starlight's anxious despair broke into a timid little smile at Twilight, though she said nothing.
Spike hopped up onto a free chair. "All served! To new friends!" He raised his glass.
Other glasses raised with shouts in reply.