A Diplomatic Visit

by Evilhumour


Chapter Eleven

“Relax, your Grace, breathe in and breathe out,” Swift-Pad whispered to her as they stood in front of the train door. “And keep still.”

“I’m trying,” Twilight whispered back, doing her best to stand straighter while performing her breathing techniques to calm her nerves.

“Remember, steady movements and stay by my side,” he continued to whisper to her. “Smile but do not show teeth. It is too unpredictable to do anything wider.”

“I remember,” Twilight whispered back a bit harsher than she intended but tellingly Swift-Pad didn’t apologize which meant he felt he would need to remind her again. She was about to restate that she knew what to do when the train began to slow down and she stiffened.

“You will be fine, Twilight,” Swift-Pad turned to face her. “Just smile and wave, and walk. That’s all you need to do, okay?” He flashed her a smile which actually did help her calm down.

“Thank you, Swift-Pad,” Twilight smiled back before she composed herself again and stared at still-covered train windows. “I think this is it.”

“It is indeed,” Swift-Pad stood up and took a deep breath in. “You can smell them outside.”

Twilight blinked and took a sniff of the air. “I can only smell my shampoo.”

Swift-Pad snorted at this, doing his best to hold it back but failing. “You did that on purpose, did you not?”

“I did nothing of the sort,” Twilight fired back.

“She couldn’t even think of doing this sort of thing,” Rainbow Dash added from the doorway that all her friends were standing in.

“Well it ain’t her thing to do, sugarcube,” Applejack chipped in.

“More like my thing to do,” Pinkie Pie giggled.

“You do your thing the best of anypony,” Fluttershy said with smile on her face.

“And of course, it is good to see you doing this thing,” Rarity added with a slight smirk.

Twilight was exasperated by this but saw that Swift-Pad was barely able to hold himself together at that point. “Are you okay?”

The wolf placed his paw into his mouth, struggling to hold back his laughter as he screwed his eyes shut tightly. He slapped his free paw against the floor as he let out choked yelps of laughter and shook his head. “I was not expecting to see wolf humour here. Thank you for that.”

“You’re welcome,” Fluttershy said over the confusion of everyone else before turning to face them. “Part of their humour relies on quick back and forth and they enjoy building it up until somewolf fumbles up and then they all laugh.”

“Once again, you prove yourself quite knowledgeable in regard to my people’s way of life, miss Fluttershy,” Swift-Pad said. “That is exactly right.” He then shook his head and lightly smacked his face before he took a breath and calmed his features.”Okay, I am ready; are you, your Grace?”

“Yes I am, Ambassador Swift-Pad,” Twilight said. At that Swift-Pad gave the door a light tap, and in turn the blinds were pulled back and the doors were opened. Immediately there were cameras being snapped and a thousand questions were being shouted at them, and had she not been warned to just walk forward, smile and wave, Twilight would have flinched. Instead, she did as Swift-Pad had advised, while subtly looking to either side to see the guards acting as their escort to the carriage that lay ahead. She saw Swift-Pad nod his head at a few reporters but not answering any questions that were being asked of him, even the more ridiculous ones. She mentally cringed at one, and sped up just a teense so they could reach the carriage faster.

Once they had settled in and the doors were shut, Twilight lit her horn for a moment to activate a sound-scrambling spell, then turned to Swift-Pad. “I am so glad you were there, and that you gave me the advice you did,” she said. “I don’t know if I could have handled them on my own.”

“It was no problem, your Grace,” Swift-Pad said with a smile as the ponies began to pull them away. “Sometimes, the best answer you can give is no answer at all.”

“That doesn’t make much sense, though I can kinda see the benefits of it,” Twilight said as she felt them take off into the air.

“It does help prevent any misleading stories,” Swift-Pad replied. “They cannot deliberately misinterpret your words if there were no words to misinterpret.”

“That does make sense,” Twilight said. “If it weren’t for you, I’d still be there talking to everypony and saying who knows what.”

“That is the worst thing you could have done,” Swift-Pad replied. “You should always be cautious to what you say. Less is better, though nothing is as bad as a mindless chattermouth or being a mute.”

“I see…” Twilight said carefully, trying to see if there was some sort of insult in his words before she remembered that this was her friend and mentor.

“It is a delicate balance that one must learn, and it does not help that it changes from situation to situation,” he added as he turned to look out the window. “For now, it is best to stay quiet in public.”

Twilight nodded. “I’ve got a one-way soundproof barrier around us, so we can talk freely in here.”

“To which I am grateful, your Grace,” he said with a smile. “For now though, I will again remind you that with your current experience, if you are to take a public stance it would have more impact now than it would later. With your perceived naivety and people's reluctance to counter someone who has her Grace Celestia’s ear...” He trailed off and looked at her expectantly.

Twilight perked her ears at hearing him say ‘perceived naivety’ but kept her mouth shut, which seemed to be the correct decision as the wolf’s smile grew wider at her. Instead, she looked out the window and saw that they were closing in on the castle’s chariot hanger, which had been decorated for their arrival. She could also see Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Blueblood and a few other ponies whose faces she vaguely recognized, though she couldn’t place their names, waiting for them.

Her attempt to recall their names was broken off when she heard light growling all of a sudden. Turning her head, she saw that Swift-Pad had shifted his body slightly at the sight of the ponies as if he was about to attack them. He then shifted out of it so quickly she almost dismissed it out of hoof. Doing her best to keep her wings tucked in as they were brought in for the landing, Twilight’s eyes went wide and she was about to ask Swift-Pad when he said, “Ladies first; only proper manners.”

With a faint blush on her cheeks and muttered thanks, Twilight took a few short breaths before she dismissed her spell and signaled that she was ready to exit the carriage. At her signal, the guard outside opened the door, standing by to let her pass.

Reminding herself to walk slow and steadily, she headed towards Princess Celestia, the mare smiling maternally at her while Luna had a more regal look on her face. Blueblood, she could see, was quietly sneering, and Twilight could definitely hear the growl of anger from Swift-Pad now as he came up beside her.

“Princess Twilight, Ambassador Swift-Pad, welcome,” Celestia said, bowing her head slightly.

“Please be welcome to our home, young princess, young wolf,” Luna said, dipping her head as well, looking warmly at Swift-Pad.

“Thank you, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna,” Twilight said, bowing her head as well, though lower than either of them had.

“You honour me greatly, your Graces.” Swift-Pad bowed deeply and it was clear that he was directing it towards Luna over Celestia, and he gave a dismissive look at Blueblood before he turned back to the princesses. “Your student was the most excellent host, your Grace. You have taught her well.”

“Thank you, but the praise belongs to Twilight alone,” Celestia said with her eyes briefly going to Blueblood and then back to the wolf with a near impeccable disappointed look on her face.

Blueblood glared at Swift-Pad before coughing and dragging attention back to him. “Welcome to the capital, your highness,” he said stiffly, making Twilight aware that something had gone off track. “I hope your travel was pleasant?”

“Ye-yes it was, thank you,” Twilight said, looking at Swift-Pad and Blueblood, and again wondering why they seemed so hostile towards one another.

“Your Graces,” Swift-Pad said, walking towards the Princesses. “May I present gifts from my nation?”

“You may, Swift-Pad, for I cherish the bounds of friendship our two nations have,” Celestia said as Swift-Pad pulled a scroll and a cookbook from his pack.

“Along with the trade agreement, please enjoy this cookbook as well,” he said as he presented them.

“My thanks, dear friend, Celestia said, levitating the cookbook over to herself with a smile on her face. “I suppose it is no secret that I love cooking and baking for myself?” she asked as she took the scroll in her golden magic.

“And for you, your Grace,” he said, turning to face Luna as he began to pull out a very large item from his bag. “May I tell you a story of our land that is a thousand years ago of the Grand Grace of that age and her request of the wolves?”

Luna gave him an odd look, but nodded. “You may, Ambassador.”

“A thousand years ago, her Grace came to us, proclaiming the need of a weapon,” he said pulling out a massive hammer that had countless runes engraved onto it. “Oh noble and loyal wolves, those whose love for my moon knows no bound, I face a grave foe and need a weapon to win the night, the grace of old proclaimed. O wise and beloved Grace, we shall craft you the most perfect weapon but we will need time to craft such a weapon fit for thee, the wolves told her. One quarter cycle of my Moon’s path is all that I have, for then I must face the great foe, she said. But the wolves bowed their heads in sorrow. It shall take us one full cycle, they said. One quarter to craft, one quarter to perfect, one quarter to shape its runes, and one quarter to meld them into that which you desire. Her Grace bid them her thanks, and left with a promise to return at the end of that time. But it was too long, for by the time they had completed it, they learned that her Grace had fallen, and the Nightmare of the Moon had risen, only to fall to her Grace Celestia and the Powers of Harmony.”

Luna had the slightest traces of a frown on her face as he held out the hammer, but nodded at him to continue.

“This is that weapon, your Grace,” Swift-Pad said. “Imbued with her magic and our most dangerous and powerful runes, this was to be her weapon against the darkness. Sadly, due to time, the true power of this grave weapon has been lost to the fog of the age-”

Luna cut him off as she lifted it in her magic and began to examine it, the hammer glowing in a perfect match to her own magic. “Toxin, thunder, blindness, gravitational force, sheer freezing, blinding fire,” she said as she turned the handle around in her magic, examining each rune with Swift-Pad’s eyes going wide at the entire scene.

“You-that, not pos-” he began to stammer in shock only for Celestia to snap a dome of light over herself, Luna, Swift-Pad and Twilight. There was a mild yelp from outside as Blueblood leapt back a tad, but Twilight quickly turned her focus back to her friend and her fellow princesses, who were looking at Swift-Pad with concern.

“Breathe, Swift-Pad, breathe,” Celestia was saying, rubbing a hoof up and down his back and making soothing sounds, and Twilight momentarily remembered how Celestia had done the same for her, more than a few times, when she was younger. After a moment, she pulled back as Swift-Pad threw himself low.

“You really are her!” he said in awe to Luna. “I beg your forgiveness your Grand Grace for never truly believing you. I was a stupid wolf for not believing the word of your return and-”

“Enough of this foolishness,” Luna snapped, rolling her eyes as she lifted him up with her magic, returning him to a proper standing position. “Neither my sister or I are divine creatures nor did we ever make the claim that we were.”

“But your Grace,” Swift-Pad began again only for Luna to hold his mouth closed with her magic.

“I was not finished, Swift-Pad,” she said sharply, eyes narrowed. “In addition, it was a good thing you wolves failed to craft this hammer in time as if I’d had it, I would have no doubt used it to either maim or kill my sister at the time.” She looked at the hammer again before placing it down. “Furthermore, it is good that I thought you failed me when I fell to the Nightmare. Had I not, the outcome could have been far worse.”

“You’re right,” Swift-Pad said, looking around a bit dazed. “If you had called for us, we would have come over the border and into Equestria to fight by your side and…”

“Equestria would not have survived if all the wolfpacks had fought by the Nightmare’s side,” Celestia spoke up. “I expressly forbid my own guards to get involved in our fight… but had your people’s ancestors joined in, that would have changed. And the results would have been disastrous.”

Swift-Pad bowed. “I suppose then, that the story I was told by her- by Princess Twilight of what she knew was the correct one,” he said as he looked back to Luna. “That you had been transformed by external forces, and purged of them after escaping from a thousand years imprisonment, thus returning you to your true self.”

“That is exactly correct,” Luna replied. She gave Twilight a look, and Twilight knew they’d be talking about that later.

“This will cause quite the stir when it is explained to my people,” Swift-Pad said quietly. “There are many schools of thought on what happened… though in this case, the ones who believed you were the same as the Luna we knew a thousand years ago will undoubtedly be gloating over being proven right.” He grimaced at the thought.

“That is my burden to bear, Swift-Pad,” Luna said quietly, placing a hoof on his shoulder. “Your kind was always loving of me and my night, yet in my jealousy I forgot about the wolves. I owe it to them to set matters straight and restore my honour with the Packlands.”

Swift-Pad seemed to swell at this announcement, staring at Luna before he leaned forwards and gave her a light nuzzle. “You are truly her Grand Grace of old, your highness. I am honoured to be in your presence.”

“It is I who am honoured, my dear wolf,” Luna said with a chuckle, returning the nuzzle and pulling him in close with her wing. “Now, I do believe we have certain roles to return to?” she asked with a grin.

“That is quite right, your highness,” Swift-Pad said as he stood. After a moment, Celestia dismissed the dome around them, and the four looked around at those who were still watching them in confusion.

“Auntie,” Blueblood spoke as he stepped a tad closer. “Is there something the matter?”

“Just a misunderstanding being cleared up,” Celestia replied. “It has been settled now, so we may continue.” Blueblood gave a snort at that.

“That reminds me, I need to check where it is hidden this time,” Celestia said as she glanced at both the stallion and the wolf, examining the scroll and pretending to ignore the death glares they gave one another, to Twilight’s confusion. After a few moments, the eldest alicorn let out an ah-ha and flexed out the scroll. “I am sorry Swift-Pad, but this article will have to be removed; you know full well I would never let such an extradition order go through, even in a trade agreement.”

“Of course not, your Grace,” Swift-Pad said with forced smile on his face, the lie clear as day. Blueblood seemed to be enjoying this which only made the wolf growl again. At his growl, several nearby ponies backed up, clearly scared.

“Why would you want an extradition order, ambasador?” Twilight asked.

“For him,” Swift-Pad said, glaring at Blueblood. “As his great-grandfather is unfortunately dead and he is the current heir to his name, we wish to have him brought back to our nation to answer for his dishonourable ggrrs actions.” Twilight couldn’t tell what Swift-Pad had said as he had shifted into his own native tongue but was able to guess enough.

“And as you wolves know, Princess Celestia will never send any of her ponies off to-”

“Ahem, colts,” Celestia coughed, dragging both of their attentions back to her. “We can talk later, but for now I believe we still have business to attend to?” She glanced around. “Shall we go inside, everyone?”

There was a round of nods, and they began to head into the castle. Twilight could see the two elder Princesses walking side by side, exchanging hushed whispers, before they suddenly separated.

“Princess Twilight, if you will walk with me?” Celestia asked, and Twilight looked at her in surprise. She’d been thinking about going up beside the older alicorn, but had decided against it, not wanting to be seen as less mature by the others around them, nor to interrupt Celestia and Luna’s discussion. But now that she was being asked... that was a whole other matter, and she hurriedly trotted up beside Celestia, while Luna backed away to give them space and positioned herself between Swift-Pad and Blueblood, who were still shooting dirty looks at one another.

As Twilight and Celestia went into a separate hallway, Twilight looked up at the mare who had for so long been her teacher, and clearly still had a few things for her to learn. Taking a few calming breaths, she asked, “Princess?”

Celestia smiled down at her. “Yes, Twilight?”

“What do you wish to talk to me about?” Twilight asked.

“Oh nothing; I just wanted to see how you are doing, Twilight.” Celestia said with a light chuckle.

Twilight arched an eyebrow. “I’m… doing,” she finally said. “I’ve gained quite a lot to think about since I last saw you yesterday.”

“Oh, do tell,” Celestia said in the same tone she had used whenever she had given Twilight a lesson.

“I did hear about this thing with the griffons.”

As soon as Twilight said that, Celestia's face fell.

“So it is true, isn’t it?”

“Depending on if what you are asking is true, Twilight,” she said, her voice tensing up just a bit.

“That they are being charged a ludicrous amount of money due to some poorly thought out international law?” Twilight asked. At her words, Celestia noticeably relaxed.

“Unfortunately, it is,” she said with a sigh.

“What about those who say that…” Twilight trailed off, unable to bring herself to accuse her mentor. Celestia, however, gave her a weary look.

“Twilight, I promise - I Pinkie Promise - that I am speaking truthfully when I say that I personally had no desire to see the griffon nation fall like it did,” she said. After going through the motions and speaking the necessary words, she sighed. “However, I cannot promise that there were not ponies in Canterlot at the time who would have been delighted with the results of King John’s actions, or had even deliberately influenced them in some way, out of sheer spite.”

“As in those who are in charge of their accounts?”

“Several of my… our ponies, make up a significant amount of those in charge but we are not the majority of that group,” Celestia said hotly with Twilight backing up in surprise. “I have pushed for years for them to finish their work with those in charge, but it seems time away from Equestria has left them with greater backbones. They no longer see me as the leader of the herd, so to speak, and thus have no reason to actually listen to me as I do not have any legal authority over them.” She sighed again, and for a moment, her eyes reflected every year of her millennia-plus of life.

“While normally I prefer to go easier on our ponies… in those cases, I wish I could bring myself to use a much firmer hoof at the table.” Celestia gave a brief grimace. “Aside from the legalities of me and thus Equestria intervening into other sovereign nation’s personal matters, the main reason I restrain myself then and on other occasions is because if I do not, I fear it may well lead to even worse problems down the road, for myself and for all our peoples, be they pony or otherwise.”

Twilight frowned at that before looking up at her. “Speaking of other peoples, what is the deal with Swift-Pad and Blueblood, anyway? He said something about Blueblood’s great-grandfather…”

“Ah, that.” A frown appeared on her mentor’s face. “Around a hundred years ago, Nobleblood, Blueblood’s great-grandfather, was part of an international team with the wolves to help determine if natural weather was better for agricultural farming or were our weather teams more beneficial despite the, quote unquote ‘unnaturality’ of it. It was to be a twenty year study, ten their way and then ten our way, using the weather from first ten years as the limitations we could do.”

“That sounds fascinating; how did it turn out in the end?” Twilight asked.

“There were no results; it didn’t even last a single day,” Celestia said. “Nobleblood, in all of his wisdom, decided to label the project “Weather Teams compared to a bunch of backwood hicks believing in having superior farming” or something just as inflammatory.” Celestia snorted angrily. “Needles to say, the wolves were outraged at this insult and demanded his arrest. He somehow managed to cross the border before he was caught and then placed me in a very difficult situation. Due to his crimes being an honour crime, it brought on a very specific sentence which is a fight between the two parties with just their natural skills and no magic allowed. Said fights almost always ends with one party dead and I would not put much faith in a pony defeating a wolf without any magic to support them.” Celestia shook her head. “Due to their laws, even though Nobleblood is dead, his descendants are still accountable for his crimes and they are willing to try nearly anything that wouldn’t start a war to get him into their lands to have their justice.”

“What would happen if he did manage to actually to win?” Twilight asked in a horrified, morbid fashion.

“Well, more than likely the wolves would claim that it was just one pack’s champion fighting him and other packs would have the right to challenge him. And they would continue to do so until one of them had actually killed him, or he’d defeated a representative from each of the packs… and then things would undoubtedly take a turn for the uglier if there are not cool heads around.” She looked at Twilight firmly. “So you can see why I have done my best to avoid such an issue. The only way to end the matter once and for all is if the wolves were ever to forgive Nobleblood’s family, which they will never do, or if Nobleblood’s line ever ends permanently for some reason, and I am not about to endorse ending it on purpose.”

Twilight nodded, and Celestia continued. “I will confess, if something does happen to Blueblood now, it would end the line, seeing as he comes from a line of only sons and has yet to sire any offspring of his own - not for lack of desire, but simply because most mares tend to not want anything to do with him after experiencing his rather abrasive manners and attitudes.” She then sighed again. “Needless to say, that incident complicated matters for us; once Nobleblood did what he did and I refused to turn him over to them, the wolves threw all of our ambassadors out of their lands and closed their doors to us. Since then, no Equestrian governmental figure has been allowed into their lands, not even myself. There are some who have advocated closing our doors to them in return, but I have refused to do so, seeing as how I feel they were very much right to be offended by his actions.” She paused for a moment at that.

“Since I have declined to let the wolves punish him or his descendents their way, and since our laws of free speech prohibit anyone from being punished for voicing an opinion, no matter how grave an insult it is to another, Nobleblood essentially escaped legal punishment for what he did. However, I did make him aware of just how disappointed I was in his actions, and I informed the wolfpacks of this at the time. Regrettably, that was not enough for them, so they have continued to seek extradition for his son, grandson and now great-grandson.”

“So sicing Rarity on him for how he treated her and then sharing the memory with the wolfpacks wouldn’t change their mind?” Twilight asked.

“If it were that easy, I would have sent them a copy of the memory of her scolding him at the Gala myself, Twilight,” Celestia said. “Though I do think they would have been most amused by it.” She looked contemplative.

Twilight nodded. “I’ll have to at least share it with Swift-Pad…” Suddenly, her eyes widened, and she smiled. “Thank you for answering my questions, Princess Celestia. I do have one more thing to discuss, but I believe we’ve kept our guests waiting long enough.”

“So we have,” Celestia replied. Straightening herself, she turned and, with Twilight at her side, walked out into the main hallway.

Within a few minutes, they had reached one of the dining rooms, where Luna waited at one end of the table. Blueblood had taken a spot on one of the long sides, at the end closest to the wall, while a tall, blue-maned stallion with a monocle stood beside him - Fancy Pants, that was his name, she suddenly remembered. She could also see a small group of reporters standing around the outskirts of the room.

Silently and subtly looking around, she noted that Swift-Pad had in turn chosen a spot on the opposite side of the table from Blueblood, and far closer to the head, which Twilight thought was no doubt so he could be as far away from the other male as he could, though she could also tell he had purposely left a seat between he and the elder princesses, for Twilight’s use.

“So Swift-Pad, how goes the hunt for this year for the High-Leap pack?” Luna asked as Twilight and Celestia finally entered the room.

Twilight could see Swift-Pad give a slightly surprised look on his face before he squashed it. “It goes well; we have brought in a good number of bucks in for this winter and we have plans for many more before the end of the season, your Grace,” he said with pride in his voice.

“It is good to hear; I have been meaning to plan a visit to the Packlands ever since my return as your ancestors were always very welcoming in the past,” Luna said.

“Yes,” Swift-Pad said. “I have heard the stories about such visits from the elders, your Grace.” He looked up as Twilight walked over to her seat. “Princess.”

“Ambassador,” Twilight returned politely. She waited patiently for Celestia and Luna to take their seats, before she and the others in the room sat as well. A moment later, a bell chimed, and then a number of waiters entered the room, each pushing a cart with a pair of covered platters on them. As she watched, Twilight saw that almost all of the ponies at the table were choosing the left side platters, which were revealed as a standard vegetarian dish when their lids were removed, while Swift-Pad had selected one from the right side, which held mostly meat. She was about to accept a vegetarian platter for herself when she saw what Celestia was doing and decided to order a mixed salad. That caught a few stares from the ponies but Fancy Pants simply chuckled and ordered the same for himself.

“So Swift-Pad, I know you are of High-Leap pack but do you know how Swim-Well pack fairs?” he asked the wolf.

“They do well; they bring in more fish as they have just launched several new fishing boats,” Swift-Pad answered.

“That’s excellent news,” Fancy Pants said with a light chuckle as he began to eat his fish salad. He let out a pleased sound as he bit into a piece. “Oh this is marvelous; you simply cannot get good fish in Equestria.”

“I recall Rainbow Dash saying the same,” Swift-Pad said with a nod of his head. “She mentioned it wasn’t easy to get ‘the good stuff’ here, in part because it was rather expensive.” He glanced over at Twilight. “That was an hour or so before you and I met, Princess, and not that long after I first came through the forest.”

Twilight nodded. “I can understand. And my compliments to the chefs, this is quite good.”

More than half of the ponies at the table were looking regretfully at their plates now; it took her a moment to realize that they wanted to try the same dish she and the other princesses were having for some possible political reason. If they ate the same, maybe they thought it would make them appear the same and thus lead to thinking the same? It was completely ridiculous, but at the same time…

Political logic, she thought to herself with a mental sigh. Sometimes I wonder if it’ll ever make sense to me.

“I do not see the big deal, if you ask me,” Blueblood huffed, interrupting her thoughts. “I tried it in the past, but as a pony, such things do not agree with me.”

“And yet, you have relished aquatic foods in previous events,” Fancy Pants told him with a slight smirk. “I recall how you quite enjoyed the shrimp toast that we had at that last meeting with one of the griffon ambassadors.”

Blueblood’s face reddened, but he said nothing more, just turning back to his salad, and Twilight mentally smiled at the blue-maned stallion’s actions. I’ll definitely have to share this with Rarity, she thought to herself. She could see the edges of a smirk on Swift-Pad’s face as well.

Deciding to ignore Blueblood, Twilight turned back to Swift-Pad. “I was not aware that the Packlands operated in the fishing industry,” she said.

“We operate in much of the alternative food industry,”  Swift-Pad said with a slight twitch of his ear. “We cater to the nations that Equestria is incapable of meeting in terms of dietary needs.” That caused a number of frowns from around the table, but Twilight merely nodded in understanding, remembering her own past experiences and what he’d said earlier in the day. For a moment, she thought back to her trip through the mirror and how she’d found out about the human diet; she was lucky she’d managed to stick with a vegetarian menu for herself the entire time, but she knew full well where some of the other foods her friends there usually enjoyed had come from, and she could only imagine what some of the ponies here would say if they ever heard about it. Even if the animals over there were non-sapient, Equestria’s general reaction to an entire new species of meat-eaters would likely not be a pleasant one. She wondered what the wolves would think if they ever found out.

Forcing herself off that train of thought for now, she gave him a friendly smile. “I have heard some stories in how you manage your crops,” she said, causing everyone including both Celestia and Luna to look at her. “You use natural methods, no weather team right?”

“That is correct, your Grace,” Swift-Pad said slowly.

“I would love to see it one day; both your homeland and how your farming methods compare to ours,” Twilight said, doing her best to control her excitement at all the wide eyes she was getting, especially from Celestia. “If you think such a thing could be arranged, of course.”

“I,” Swift-Pad stammered, clearly lost for words at this unexpected turn of events. He looked at Celestia who seemed equally as surprised but was able to relax her face before anyone actually noticed. "I believe that it can be arranged,” he said, looking at her with interest.

“That’s wonderful,” Twilight said with a wide smile before taking a bit of her salad. “Mmm, this is just wonderful.”