I trotted out of the doors to Ponyville Hospital and into the town proper. As I suspected with the staff and visitors, there were nothing but technicolor ponies as far as my sight would allow. A small few looked my way, and a few of them looked relieved-- they may have seen me a while back being carried by the princess. Once reminded of her, I felt the need to give my thanks, though I wasn't twenty paces from where I started when a pink mare with darker pink, cloud-like mane approached my general vicinity.
"GAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
And as though she had teleported, she shot off faster than an arrow in flight to further in town. I peeled my ears from my skull and relaxed my widened eyes. To my astonishment, the ponies around me only looked in her direction with mild interest and then went about their day. Must be a normal occurrence for them. Resuming my movement, I searched the skyline for anything that would resemble a castle. After about a minute or two of wandering, I dare say I managed to find it.
A crystalline tree is certainly a unique design choice.
I strode up to the large doors that were inset to the large "trunk" of the building and I was about to knock when they lit up in a violet glow. Swinging inward, I caught the remnants of a conversation as a unicorn matching the magic she emitted was about the walk out of the doors.
"Now don't forget we have company coming over later-- oh, hello!" Her straight purple mane had a two strips of pink and lighter purple running through it respectively off center down her mane and tail. What intrigued me was the addition of a pair of wings that were folding to her sides. I opted for inquiring about that later.
"Hello, I'm searching for the princess that had assisted me the other day," I asked, only to realize my rough voice and formal tone may set me apart from the others within the providence. Not a day to realize how out of place I feel.
The mare seemed only mildly off-put at my tone, "Ah, yes, that would be me. My name is Twilight Sparkle and I'm the Princess of Friendship! I'm glad to see you're feeling much better, and only within a night!"
A small smile played upon my features, "I thank you for the sentiment, Princess," I did my best to keep my muzzle shut with the sheer number of questions that kept jumping into my mind. "I shall be going. I don't wish to intrude upon your lands." Right as I was raising a hoof to turn, Princess Twilight interjected.
"Oh, you don't need to go, you just got here!" Stopping my movement, I faced her once again, "Where would you go? Must be quite a distance from here if you have yet to hear about me being a princess." My momentary pause appeared to be enough of an answer for her. "Why not stay in Ponyville for a while?"
"Well, for one, I don't have any belongings on me-" under my breath I muttered 'again', much to my annoyance, "-so I don't have any way to pay for a room at the local inn. Another is I don't know anyone in the country -- let alone the town -- well enough to stay the night at their place." I attempted my to be gentle in my stare. "No stranger -- sane or otherwise -- is going to allow me to stay in their home. My only option is to leave and make a living for myself."
The princess ruffled her wings, unease painted on her muzzle. "Still, that shouldn't mean you have to leave town," she stated in an off-hand-- off-hoofed way, "Why not stay here at the castle? I have plenty of room and you won't have to worry about bothering any pony." I had opened my mouth to object, however was interceded. "Really, this place is huge, I'm still getting used to it and it feels kind of empty with three of us!"
"Only three?"
"Yup."
"Guards?"
"No?"
"Attendants?"
"No."
"Assistants?"
"One, though he's kind of like a baby brother, too."
I stood rooted to the spot. Royalty usually had troubles with either local populace or outside threats. Royalty and leadership typically had guards swarming their estate and at least one by their side. I nearly blurted out my next words carelessly.
"Perhaps then I could stay here. A-after all, you did say it was feeling empty."
"That's great! That way, in case you collapse again, you won't be too far away from help."
"Though I won't be squatting here. I shall earn my keep. I always do."
"You don't have to-"
I cut her off by holding up a hoof. "I must. If I don't, that will speak poorly of me to take advantage of your kindness."
She sighed in defeat, "All right then, if you insist. SPIKE!" I was grateful she shouted over her shoulder at the mere volume of her voice. It was almost half the power of a Thu'um! "Could you come here for a bit?"
"Coming!" A young male voice chirped up and I heard small reptilian feet slap across crystalline floor, claws clicking after with every step. I couldn't help but picture a young Argonian. Well, I was right in some respect of appearance.
They were indeed bipedal and plantigrade like most beast races these days, though his scales were purple with a green crest that ran down his spine to the tip of his tail, lighter green fins on the sides of his head. His underbelly was pale and the tail ended in a triangle point. His emerald eyes were similar to that of a cat's. There was a nagging feeling that he wasn't a humanoid reptilian alone, though I couldn't feel any malevolence from them in any sense. "What'cha need, Twi'?"
"Seems we have somepony staying with us for a bit while they get on their hooves! Could you give them a tour while I run those errands?"
"Sure thing!" Twilight's wings then opened and she took off, though for the life of me, I couldn't understand why she winged over to the forest. My musings were interrupted by the young hatchling. "So, my name's Spike, although Twilight hollering it probably clued you in," he chuckled lightly, "and you are?"
"I am known as Shade. Pleasure to meet you," I almost winced internally. Maybe I should consider changing my speaking habits? However, Spike didn't seem all that phased.
"Come on, then! I'll show you around the castle!" He turned to the side and let me in.
"A question, however," I asked as I walked in then motioned for him to lead the way.
"Shoot."
"Why make it look like a tree?"
Spike stumbled for a bit almost like wanted to stop or just realized something. "Oh, well, we didn't 'build' it, per say. Rather, the castle, uh, grew?" The statement-turned-question made me wonder if he didn't know how it was built, or simply didn't know how to explain. I can't blame him, even after aiding in building a Telvanni tower myself, I still don't have a clue how they are grown.
"No need to go into specifics," I consoled, "after all, there were some wizard towers in the region where I was from that were grown from giant mushrooms."
"HAH! Mushrooms! Oh the irony!"
Spike's outburst was a little out of the blue, until I thought about it for another half second. Mush-rooms. Oh Divines, were those wizards aware of the stupid pun or just oblivious to irony or humor? Recalling a prior Arch Wizard, the latter wasn't too far off. "Anyway, I should be telling you about these rooms!" Spike then returned to his original role as the guide and explained the rooms as we encountered them, number, and types in general.
This castle was bigger inside than it looked.
I can understand why the Princess would like more folks to be in here.