In the morning, Twilight decided to wake up her guests while Spike made breakfast. Remembering what Saber had said yesterday, she knocked on the door to Josephine's room. After waiting several seconds and getting no response, Twilight got worried and decided to go in.
What she saw was not what she expected. She had expected to find Josephine still asleep in the bed. What she saw was Josephine floating in the middle of the room in a meditative pose facing away from the door, self-levitating.
"Josephine?" Twilight called, trying to get her attention.
No response.
"Josephine?" Twilight called again, stepping closer.
No response.
Twilight walked over to see if Josephine was awake. Josephine's eyes were open, staring into the distance. Twilight flew up to Josephine and waved a hoof in front of her face.
No response.
Now very worried, Twilight reached her hoof out in front of Josephine's muzzle to tell if she was still breathing. Fortunately, she felt the unicorn's breath on her hoof. She was still breathing, though slower than she should be. Not as slow as if she was asleep, but slower than she should if she was awake. Still worried, Twilight decided to check Josephine's pulse. As soon as her hoof touched the unicorn's fur, Josephine finally reacted. This reaction consisted of a startled yelp, losing concentration, and falling to the floor in an uncoordinated heap.
"I guess I scared you a bit there, Twilight. Sorry about that," Josephine said, struggling to get up.
"Do you need help?" Twilight said worriedly, landing next to the unicorn.
"I'm fine. It just takes a moment for me to regain my coordination after meditating that deeply, especially if I was interrupted," Josephine replied.
"Sorry..." Twilight started.
"Don't be. You didn't know what was going on. In fact, if I was in your position, I probably have done the same thing. In any case, I'm the one who lost track of time," Josephine interrupted.
"Oh... Okay. Anyways, Spike is making breakfast, if you want to come." Twilight said.
"I think I will, though you should probably get Saber while I get ready," Josephine replied.
"Sounds good!" Twilight said, before exiting the room.
Twilight then knocked on the door to Saber's room.
"Come in," Saber answered.
Twilight entered the room, finding Saber to be facing away from the door, fiddling with something she couldn't see.
"Ah. Princess Twilight. I was wondering when you would come to speak with us. Have you sent the letter to Princess Celestia yet?" Saber said, turning to face the alicorn.
"I sent the letter last night, and I am surprised that I have not received a reply yet," Twilight answered. "Also, how did you know it was me?"
"I have my ways. And you said that you expected a reply? I have not seen anything to indicate any form of communication that quick," Saber replied.
"Yes, though dragonfire is not very common. I can only use it to send letters to Princess Celestia. I take it from your surprise that you land does not have anything that quick?" Twilight said.
"How fast is dragonfire, anyway?" Saber asked.
"I don't know exactly, but I have received replies in as short as a few minutes," Twilight answered.
Saber snorted. "Anyways, why did you come here?"
"Oh! Yes. Spike is making breakfast, if you want to come," Twilight said, embarrassed at having forgotten.
"That sounds good. We should probably get Josephine first, though," Saber said.
"Did I hear my name?" Josephine asked, peering in the doorway.
"Looks like everypony is ready. Let's go!" Twilight said.
Several minutes later, four ponies and a baby dragon were eating breakfast, with the ponies discussing Equestrian society. Twilight and Starlight were stunned by how little Saber and Josephine knew, being ignorant on topics as basic as weather control and the Royal Sisters' control over the Sun and the Moon.
"How does your land survive without weather!?" Twilight exclaimed, on the verge of a breakdown.
"There is weather, it's just that it happens naturally, without any need for intervention," Saber answered.
"So, like the Everfree Forest?" Spike asked.
"I do not know what the Everfree Forest is like," Saber replied.
"An entire nation existing without any way to control the weather? Next you'll tell me that plants grow on their own and that the seasons change on their own," Starlight scoffed.
"They do," Saber said.
"Which part? The plants, or the seasons?" Twilight asked.
"Both." was Saber's reply.
"How!?" Starlight exclaimed.
"As for the plants, plants predate civilization by a large margin, so any species of plants that didn't grow on their own would have died out hundreds of millions of years ago. As for the seasons, that is closely related to the day/night cycle, which I will let Josephine explain," Saber said.
"The short version is that the Moon orbits around Earth, while Earth orbits around the Sun," Josephine began, using her telekinesis to create a simple model out of some of the few remaining uneaten pancakes. "The rotation of the Earth means that the side facing the Sun is constantly changing, returning to the starting position every 24 hours or so. This is where day and night come from, with the side of the planet facing the sun being 'day' and the other side being 'night'.
"Now, the axis that Earth rotates around is not perfectly 'vertical' with respect to the orbital plane, so one hemisphere is pointing towards the Sun, while the other is pointing away. The hemisphere that is pointed towards the Sun is in summer, while the one that is pointed away is in winter. Of course, due to the orbit of the Earth, which one is pointed towards and which one is pointed away changes twice a year, at the spring and fall equinoxes."
"You must be lucky to have the time it takes to orbit the Sun be almost exactly one year," Twilight said.
"Not really. Ever since ancient times, the length of a year has been defined by the passing of the seasons, and therefore the orbit of the Earth around the Sun," Josephine replied.
Spike, getting bored with the science-y talk, decided to change the subject. "So... what do your cutie marks mean?"
Saber looked like he was about to ask a question, but Josephine said something to him in their language before he could. He seemed to understand, before asking a question in the same tongue. Josephine seemed to answer his question, but the three Equestrians could not understand, due to the language barrier.
"I am not entirely sure what my cutie mark means, but it is the logo of the organization that we both work for, so I am pretty sure that I am in the right career track," Saber said.
"My cutie mark represents my special talent, which is doing the impossible," Josephine added.
"The impossible? I'll believe it when I see it," Starlight scoffed, walking to leave the room.
"Twilight, you'll want to pay close attention to the magic Josephine uses here," Saber said, having a good idea of what would happen next.
Starlight opened one of the room's doors to leave, but instead discovered that the door just lead to the other side of the room. Confused, Starlight threw the door open all the way, letting all four ponies (and baby dragon) see the room repeated infinitely in both directions, complete with infinite versions of themselves.
Twilight's, Spike's, and Starlight's jaws dropped in shock. Josephine, however, had a sad look on her face, as if she had been reminded of a great tragedy, while Saber seemed to not be paying any attention.
"How did you do that!? Creating a copy of a room takes a finite amount of mana, so making infinite copies of a room should cost an infinite amount of mana! And even if you created just the rooms that we can see, that would still consume more mana than any unicorn in history has been able to use! Not just use safely, but use at all! And that's not even getting into the amount of mana it would consume to get all of the copies of us to mirror our actions!" Starlight ranted, her voice seeming to echo as her infinite doppelgangers all said the same thing.
"I didn't create any copies of the room. I just bent space so that that door," Josephine said, indicating the door that Starlight had opened, "and that door," pointing to the door on the opposite side of the room, through which the other side of the infinite line of rooms could be seen, "are the same door."
Starlight did some quick mental calculations. "Well, that seems possible. It would still take a lot of mana, but it is within the realm of possibility. Twilight, did you get a good read on the spell she used?"
Twilight finally unfroze from her stunned stupor. "She didn't use any magic."
"What? But that's not possible..." Starlight said, stunned.
"Maybe she did the spell before we were paying attention, so we didn't notice it," Spike suggested.
"Maybe, but I think that I would have still noticed such a large spell being cast so close by," Twilight thought aloud.
"Are you still paying attention to my magic?" Josephine asked.
"Yes... why?" Twilight replied.
Josephine waved a hoof, and space was unbent, causing both doors to resume leading to where the normally lead to.
"Wha... But... You didn't use any magic!" Twilight sputtered.
"Maybe the spell she used earlier had a trigger or a time delay to undo the effect?" Starlight suggested.
"Even if it did, I would have noticed! I was monitoring all the magic in this room!" Twilight replied.
"But that's impossible! Un-bending space should have taken the same amount of mana as bending space in the first place!" Starlight said.
"And what did I say my special talent is?" Josephine asked rhetorically.
"You really walked into that one," Spike laughed.
"I guess I'll just have to treat the stuff you do in the same way I treat Pinkie's actions," Twilight muttered.
"Pinkie? Pink earth pony mare? Puffy mane, cutie mark of three balloons?" Saber queried.
"Yes... how did you know?" Twilight said, surprised.
"Saber noticed her as we were walking here from the train station. She is also Type Green. Nowhere near as powerful as I am, but a Type Green nonetheless. Though she is also a Type Blue, which I am not... It seems like just about every living thing in these lands is a Type Blue," Josephine replied.
"Type Green? Type Blue? What do those mean?" Starlight asked.
Before replying, Saber and Josephine had a brief discussion in their native language.
"To put it simply, a Type Blue is a being that can use magic," Josephine answered.
"Does this mean that you do not have any magic?" Twilight wondered.
"Yes," Josephine replied simply.
"Okay... but why do you have a special term for magic users? Can't just about everypony use magic? And what is a Type Green?" Starlight persisted.
"Type Blues are not common where we come from. It is estimated that between one-thousandth of one percent and one-hundredth of one percent of the population are Type Blues. As for what a Type Green is, we aren't going to tell you, because our superiors don't want us sharing that kind of information. We only told you what a Type Blue is because they are so common here," Saber said coldly.
"Oh..." was Starlight's only response.
"So, what is the plan for today?" Saber asked, abruptly changing the subject.
"Well, Starlight and I still have some paperwork that we need to do, so we were thinking that Spike could show you around town," Twilight answered.
"Sounds good!" Josephine said.
Spike, Josephine, and Saber were just leaving the Castle of Friendship, walking into Ponyville.
"Okay, so the first stop on our tour of Ponyville is Carousel Boutique. This is the home and business and Rarity, one of Twilight's friends, one of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, and the best pony in all of Equestria! ...Except for Twilight, of course," Spike said.
"Aww, it sound like somebody has a crush," Josephine said sweetly.
"The Elements of Harmony? What are those?" Saber queried.
Spike stopped walking, a stunned and confused look on his face, before remembering the conversation they had over breakfast. "The Elements of Harmony are a set of six magical artifacts that are used to protect Equestria. Twilight is the Element of Magic, Rarity is the Element of Generosity, Applejack is the Element of Honesty, Rainbow Dash is the Element of Loyalty, Fluttershy is the Element of Kindness, and Pinkie Pie is the Element of Laughter," Spike said, counting on his fingers. "Well, technically, they are the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, but everypony just calls them the Elements of Harmony."
"But what are the Elements? What do they do? And how do they work?" Saber persisted.
"Well, the Element of Magic is a pink six-pointed star, the Element of Generosity is a purple diamond, the Element of Honesty is an orange apple, the Element of Loyalty is a red lightning bolt, the Element of Kindness is a pink butterfly, and the Element of Laughter is a light blue balloon. What they do is, when used together by the Bearers, create a friendship-rainbow-magic-beam-thing that defeats the bad guy. As for how they work, I don't know. You'll have to ask Twilight," Spike replied. "Anyways, we're here."
True to its name, the Carousel Boutique did resemble a carousel. It was largely cylindrical, narrowing between the first and second floors, with several decorative pillars and sculptures of ponies around the outside. Spike pushed the front door open, the bell above ringing as he did so.
"Just a moment!~" called a female voice from the back of the store.
A moment later, a beautiful white unicorn mare gracefully trotted into view from the back of the store. Spike's expression immediately changed, making it very obvious who this unicorn was.
"Miss Rarity, I presume?" Josephine said.
"Yes, though I don't recognize you. Are you new here?" Rarity asked.
"Yes, we come from far away to establish relations with Equestria and just got here yesterday evening. Spike is giving us a tour of the town," Josephine replied.
"Aww, that's a nice thing to do, Spiky-Wiky," Rarity said.
Josephine whispered something to Saber, who snorted in response.
"Anyway I didn't get your names," Rarity said.
"My name is Josephine, and this is Saber," Josephine replied.
"Those are certainly... unique names," Rarity said. "Anyways, you said that you are from far away, and I could definitely use some inspiration for my next fashion line."
"Sorry, but we packed light, so neither of us brought any clothes, and neither of us are knowledgeable about fashion," Josephine said, answering Rarity's implicit question.
Rarity looked disappointed at the news, but not too surprised. "I suppose that's what I should have expected. After all, it wouldn't make much sense to send a fashion person to make first contact with a new kingdom. Anyways, if you need clothes, I'll give you a discount, since you are so new here."
"I will consider it, after I have taken a look at all of the clothing stores in town," Saber replied.
"Don't bother looking elsewhere, the Carousel Boutique is the only place that sells clothes in Ponyville. Besides, Rarity also has stores in Manehattan and Canterlot," Spike said somewhat angrily.
"Interesting... It seems that this land... how should I say this?... places far less value on clothing than ours does," Josephine noted.
"'Places less value on clothing'? Whatever do you mean, darling?" Rarity asked.
Josephine thought for a moment. "Let me put it this way: Where we come from, there are some public places where it is legal to not wear clothes."
Rarity was stunned, but before she could reply, Saber spoke.
"I don't know how many stops we have on this tour, so we should probably head to the next location."
Spike looked at the clock and yelped. "Yes, we definitely should!"
As the three of them left, an unanswered question popped into Rarity's mind.
If clothes were so important where they came from, why didn't they bring any?
"The next stop on the tour is Rainbow Dash's house," Spike said.
"You mentioned that she is the Bearer of the Element of Loyalty earlier," Saber noted. "Is this tour just 'meet the other Bearers of the Elements of Harmony'?"
Spike thought for a moment. "Yeah, pretty much. With some other stuff in between."
"So, where is Rainbow's house?" Josephine asked.
"Right there," Spike said, pointing.
"That is a cloud," Saber stated flatly.
"Yes, and it is also Rainbow's home," Spike replied.
"So Rainbow lives on a cloud?" Josephine asked.
Spike paused momentarily. "Not quite. Her house is made out of clouds."
Saber started to say something, but stopped when he remembered the amount of magic available to the citizens of Equestria.
"So, what can you tell us about Rainbow?" Josephine asked.
"Well, she is loyal, (duh), competitive, and has high self-confidence. Arguably too high, but that's besides the point," Spike explained.
The three of them continued walking for several seconds before Spike realized something. "How are we going to get up there? I mean, I know that I can fly, but I don't know about either of you."
Saber snorted. "As far as I am aware, every pegasus, including myself, can fly."
Josephine's only response was to begin inexplicably hovering several inches above the ground.
"Well, I guess that answers that question," Spike said. "Let's go!"
And so, three beings flew to Rainbow Dash's house. Well, two flew, and one sort of inexplicably levitated there.
Once they had arrived, Spike knocked on the door. Saber was surprised that it made a sound, as the door was made out of clouds, but Spike didn't notice.
After about a minute of no response, Spike tried again, louder.
Another minute of no response.
"She should be awake by now," Spike grumbled.
"Maybe she already left for her job?" Josephine suggested.
"No, she doesn't leave this early," Spike retorted.
"I could wake her up, but it wouldn't be... pleasant for her," Josephine offered.
"Serves her right for not being awake for this," Spike said.
"Alright then, but if she's angry, I'll say it was approved by you," Josephine replied. "For your sake, I'll put a silence sphere around you."
After hearing that, Spike nodded. Josephine turned back towards the door and seemed to yell. Due to the silence sphere, Spike didn't hear anything.
Inside, Rainbow Dash was indeed fast asleep. When Spike knocked, she barely responded, just rolling in her sleep.
When Josephine yelled, it was different, despite being quieter (from Rainbow's perspective) than Spike's knocking.
When Josephine yelled, Rainbow felt a deep, stabbing pain in her chest, waking her up instantly, yelping in pain.
"What the hay was that!?" the blue pegasus exclaimed, still panting from the pain and sudden awakening.
Then she heard knocking at her door.
"Ugh... I'm coming! I'm coming!" she called.
When she opened the door, she found Spike and two ponies she didn't recognize.
"Spike... what are you doing here?" Rainbow asked drowsily.
"I'm giving these two a tour of the town," Spike answered.
"And who are these two? Why are they so important that they meet me so early? I mean, I am awesome, but why so early?" Rainbow asked, still grumpy from waking up.
Josephine looked at Saber and made a gesture with her hoof, indicating for him to speak.
"My name is Saber, and this is Josephine," Saber said. "We come from very far away to seek the aid of the Princesses."
"Okay... so that's who you are, but why visit me this early?" Rainbow persisted.
"It was Twilight's idea! I don't think she was considering how early we would get here," Spike blurted.
"That sounds like something Twilight would do," Rainbow grumbled.
"It seems like Rainbow is a bit... grumpy, so I think we should leave her alone and properly meet her later, when she is more awake," Josephine suggested.
"I think I have to agree with you there," Spike said. "See you later, Rainbow!"
Rainbow Dash just grumbled tiredly and closed the door.
"So, where to next, fearless guide?" Josephine asked.
"Next is Fluttershy's cottage," Spike said, reading from a scroll.
"She's the Element of Kindness, right?" Saber said. "What can you tell us about her?"
"Well, she can talk with animals, she lives on the edge of the Everfree Forest, and she takes care of wild animals," Spike said.
"The Everfree Forest? Is that the forest we just entered?" Saber asked.
"Yes. It's the most dangerous place in all of Equestria! Except for maybe Tartarus..." Spike answered.
"What makes it so dangerous?" Josephine wondered.
"There are a bunch of monsters that live in there!" Spike said, starting to shiver in fear at just the thought of the monsters. "Like timberwolves, hydras, and manticores!"
"Don't worry, Spike. We'll protect you from the scary monsters," Josephine said, comforting the young dragon.
"It can't be that bad," Saber said.
As if on cue, a pack of timberwolves burst from the surrounding underbrush.
"Aaaaahhh! Timberwolves! We're doomed! Doomed!" Spike wailed.
"They don't look that dangerous... But I know that appearances can be deceiving. I'll keep them away from us." Josephine said, creating a bubble of force to do so.
"What can you tell us about timberwolves?" Saber asked.
"Well, they are wolves made of wood, are hostile to all animals, can re-form themselves from the wood they are made of if..." Spike paused, looking for the right word, "disassembled, and are weak to sound,"
"They don't sound that dangerous," Josephine said, thinking, "they aren't any stronger than I would expect for a normal wolf of that size, the wood that they are made of doesn't seem to be any more durable or fire-resistant than normal wood, the magic animating them is easy to disrupt, and the only thing that might possibly make them dangerous is the re-forming ability that they have, and that is only if you are unprepared."
"In short, Euclid-Yellow," Saber summarized.
"Euclid-Yellow? What do you mean? And did you forget that we still have a bunch of timberwolves around us!?" Spike said, starting to panic.
"They can't get through my bubble," Josephine reminded him.
"Do you think that we could get a live specimen for research purposes?" Saber wondered.
"Probably not. It's a very long way back to Site-19," Josephine replied.
"...Agreed," Saber said.
"So... are you going to take care of the timberwolves, or not?" Spike panicked.
"Oh, right," Josephine said, as if only just remembering that they were surrounded. "How do you propose we do so?"
"I don't know! Just do something!" Spike exclaimed.
"Just teleport them deeper into the forest," Saber recommended.
Josephine thought for a moment, before waving a hoof. The timberwolves disappeared with a slight pop, as air rushed to fill the space that the beasts had previously occupied.
"Come on! We're almost to Fluttershy's!" Spike said, running along the path.
Moments later, the trio arrived at a small cottage in the woods. It had a tall, grass-covered roof in a shape somewhere between a cone and a dome, many birdhouses, and a two-part door.
Spike rapidly knocked on the door, still somewhat panicked from the encounter with the timberwolves.
There was a muffled 'eep!' from inside, and a buttery-yellow pegasus opened the door.
"Oh... hello there... did you have any trouble getting here?" she asked softly.
Spike said "Timberwolves!" at the same time Josephine said "Oh, nothing we couldn't handle."
"Timberwolves? Oh my... they usually don't come this close to town," Fluttershy said.
"Well, they did, and Josephine here managed to fend them off all by herself!" Spike exclaimed.
"It was nothing," Josephine replied humbly.
"Nothing!? There were, like, a hundred of them!" Spike almost yelled, incredulous.
"There were only seven," Saber calmly replied. "Can we get on with what we actually came here for?"
"Oh, right. Saber, Josephine, this is Fluttershy. Fluttershy, this is Saber and Josephine," Spike said, indicating each pony as he introduced them. "They have come a long way seeking the aid of the Princesses, and I am currently giving them a tour of the town."
"Oh... Okay. What do you need from the Princesses? Maybe I can help," Fluttershy said.
Josephine and Saber looked at each other for a moment, before Josephine spoke. "Sorry, but I don't think you can. The organisation that we work for deals with threats far beyond anything that lives in this forest on a daily basis."
"Hold on. How do you know that? You've only encountered timberwolves, which are far from the deadliest creatures of the Everfree," Spike argued.
"Twilight has a book about the denizens of this forest. And besides, I highly doubt that any being that lives in the forest, known or not, is powerful enough to vaporize a city in the blink of an eye," Saber replied.
"V-v-v-vaporize a-a-a c-c-c-city? Th-th-there i-i-i-is s-s-s-something th-th-that c-c-can d-d-d-do th-th-that?" Fluttershy stuttered, hiding under her mane.
"Several things, actually. Most of which are actively hostile or otherwise 'attempting' to destroy the world," Saber corrected.
"I noticed you used air quotes around 'attempting'. Why is that?" Spike asked.
"Not all of them are sentient, and therefore do not have goals and cannot be said to be 'attempting' something, but will still end the world if they are not stopped," Saber clarified.
Upon hearing this exchange, Fluttershy began whimpering in terror and hid under her table.
When he noticed this, Spike called out to her. "Oh, come on, Fluttershy! Those mean things are nowhere near here!"
Fluttershy didn't move.
"I think we should probably leave," Josephine suggested.
"Yeah, probably," Spike agreed.
"Okay, the next stop is Sweet Apple Acres, which is the farm that Applejack and her family own and run," Spike said.
"I'm guessing that it's the farm over there," Josephine said, pointing.
"Yep. Oh, and I asked this earlier, but you didn't reply. What did you mean by Euclid-Yellow?" Spike asked.
"Medium containment difficulty, low threat," Saber replied.
Spike was about to express incredulity at timberwolves being considered 'low threat', but then he remembered what Saber had said about some of the threats that their organization faces.
"So... what's something that would be considered 'high threat'?" Spike asked.
"There aren't any that we are allowed to tell you about," Saber replied, "but anything capable of ending the world as we know it would qualify."
"Can you give me an example?" Spike persisted.
"We aren't allowed to tell you about any real ones," Josephine started, "but we can imagine a fictional one."
She thought for a moment before continuing. "Sorry, I can't seem to come up with any fictional examples."
"That' okay," Spike said, disappointed. "Anyway, we're here."
Before them stood a large house, styled to look like a barn. To their left were some small fields of carrots and corn, while most of the property seemed to be a large apple orchard.
Looking back towards the farmhouse, the trio noticed a familiar orange mare approaching them.
"Howdy, sugahcubes!" Applejack called. "What're y'all doin' here?"
"Spike was just giving us a tour of the town," Josephine replied.
"Well, y'all're just 'n time for lunch," Applejack said, leading the trio to an outdoor dining area.
When they arrived, they found a wide variety of apple-based food products waiting for them, as well as the two ponies that had been waiting for Applejack at the train station the previous day.
"I don't believe we have been properly introduced before. My name is Josephine," Josephine said.
"My name is Saber," Saber added coldly.
"Ah'm Granny Smith, and this here's Big Macintosh," the elderly, light-green mare said.
"Eeyup," the large, red stallion stated.
Applejack picked up a pair of apple fritters. "Well, Ah'd like tah stay an' talk some, but Ah promised Ah'd help Pinkie with somethin' this afternoon."
"That's fine, Applejack," Josephine said. "I'm sure we can survive without you here."
"Alrighty. See y'all later," Applejack said, before walking away.
There was a moment of awkward silence.
"So... judging by the surroundings, you grow apples?" Josephine asked.
"Eeyup," Big Mac replied.
"All the food on this here table was made here usin' our very own, Sweet Apple Acres apples," Granny Smith added.
And so, the four ponies (and baby dragon) ate and talked (not at the same time, of course - that would be rude).
After they were all done, Spike looked at his scroll and the position of the sun, and decided that it was time for him and the two foreigners to head on to the next location.
"Okay, this is the last stop on the tour, Sugarcube Corner. It is a bakery owned by the Cakes, and is where Pinkie Pie lives and works," Spike said, opening the front door.
"Surprise!"