“A-ah, P-Princess Twilight! To what do we owe the unexpected pleasure?” Mayor Mare stammered, caught off-guard to the Elements of Harmony arriving at her office in Town Hall.
Twilight blinked, then face-hooved. “Mayor, I’m not a princess. This is just, um... A side-effect! Yeah, this is just a side-effect from the elements, that’s all. Nothing special!”
Applejack facehooved at Twilight’s smile, which was overly wide, not to mention her shifty eyes. If there was any pony that was an easier read on when they were lying than Applejack, it was Twilight Sparkle.
“Oh. Well then,” Mayor Mare said slowly, quirking an eyebrow at the town’s librarian. “I suppose that still leaves the question of what all of you need, unless it’s a request for transfer of address.”
Twilight shook her head, levitating some papers to the mayor. “No, madam mayor, it’s a transfer of ownership for the Whitecap Mansion. Everything is already signed and sorted out in Canterlot. All we need is the master key. Oh, and um... About seven o’clock?” Twilight questioned, looking to Pinkie Pie.
Pinkie glanced at the clock, before grinning widely. “Yepper peppers! Seven o’clock for sure! Maybe a little earlier if you want dinner, but I don’t know what I’m working with.”
“Ah, alright then,” Mayor Mare agreed, smiling. “But where are the ponies-”
“Hai! I’m Milky Way! Who are you? I gets to be a, a transformation student!”
“Transfer student, Milly,” Starlight corrected, pulling her sister down from a set of cabinets she was trying to climb.
“Oh, a couple? Very nice to meet you! Welcome to Ponyville,” the mayor greeted, shaking Moonstone’s hoof.
“We’re not a couple,” Starlight said flatly, setting her sister onto her back. “Milly is my sister. Moonstone is her magic tutor, that’s all.”
“Ah, my apologies. You know what they say about assuming, I suppose... Well then, umm... Yes, well, everything’s all sorted, so I shall see you all later!” Mayor Mare stammered, embarrassed from her earlier blunder.
“Okie Doki Noki! Okay girls, Plan White Wishes, go!” Pinkie shouted, snatching Milky Way from Starlight’s back before running out the door.
“Bai sissy! See you laters!” Milky Way shouted, giggling from Pinkie Pie’s back.
“Later Starligh’,” Applejack added, running after Pinkie Pie. “We got, uh, things ta get done!”
“Hey, what about me? Don’t you guys want it done in one minute flat?!” Rainbow Dash flew after them, yelling, “Come on, use those wings! Flap ‘em harder, we’ve got muscles to burn!”
“Y-yes, and I have, um, my animals to check on, so I’ll see you girls later, if that’s alright,” Fluttershy mumbled, making her way home as quickly as she could.
“Alright ponies, come on,” Twilight said briskly, ushering Rarity, Starlight, and Moonstone alone. “We have so little of Ponyville to see and so much time to do it in!”
After Rarity cleared her throat gently, Twilight amended with a blush, “Err, forget that, reverse the order, thank you very much moving right along then!”
.o.O.o.
“Wait, so the creepy mansion we use every year for our haunted house in Nightmare Night is Moonstone’s new home? That’s awesome!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, pulling eagerly on the rope attached to the manor’s door-chime.
“You mean there’s gonna be ghostses an’ skelly tons an scary bats? Woah...” Milky Way’s eyes went wide with wonder, her eyes shining with stars. “Mista Moony gets the most coolest stuffs...”
“Coming,” a voice sang from inside, opening the door. The door opened, causing the mares to gasp.
Pinkie Pie giggled, shaking her head at the changeling that appeared at the door. “Alto, you silly filly, it’s not Nightmare Night! I didn’t plan on this being a costume party, so you can take it off now!”
“What?” the black creature asked, looking at its hooves and translucent wings. “... Are you sure? Because I was told that-”
“Noper roper! Just a regular ‘Welcome to Your New Home in Ponyville!’ party, that’s all!” Pinkie grinned, awaiting a response.
“O-oh... W-well, if you’ll excuse me to go change for just a moment,” the mare said, picking at her leg, causing several small pieces of chitin to fall to the ground. “I’ll be right back.”
As they waited inside the main foyer, which was quite spacious, Milky Way bounced on Pinkie Pie’s back, inquiring, “So whai did we make Miss Pretty Changeling turn into a pony? You didn’t make Miss Sally turn into a pony! Dat’s not fair.”
The three mares blinked, before Rainbow Dash exclaimed, “That was a real changeling? There’s been one in Ponyville this whole time?!”
“Um, Dash, they aren’t evil anymore, remember?” Applejack said, raising an eyebrow as Rainbow Dash started stretching her wings.
“I know that! I’m ticked at all the training time I’ve missed because of it! I could have been racing against myself this whole time!”
Milky Way, having wandered into the next room already, called out to the changeling, “Miss Pretty Changeling Bug Pony? Is okays to come back out again, cause we know yous isn’t meanie heads anymore!”
“You thought we were mean?” the changeling asked, poking her head out from around the corner. “Since when?”
“Because there was a mega-huge wedding party at the castle, an lotsa bugs started showing up an poofed into fire, and there was lotsa yelling and running and screaming, and it was a bunch a fun, and everypony was all ‘Eek! Ish changelings an we bees scareded of dem cause they bees nevil and stuff and we needs ta be saveded!’ An den-”
“I missed the party? Aww, colt! It sucks being a servant sometimes,” the changeling sighed sadly, scuffing at the floor. “It’s always ‘do this’ and ‘do that’ and ‘polish the silver’ and... It’s not fair! If I had known being a servant was going to be so boring, I wouldn’t have taken the job! I mean, you’d think that being a servant you’d meet lotsa new ponies, right?! Well how the heck am I supposed to get enough research done for my thesis if I never get any pony interaction?”
“Threes? Whai you need three whats?” Milky Way questioned, confused.
“No, little one, a thesis. It’s a...” the changeling struggled for a way to simplify the explanation as much as possible. “It’s a really, really big paper that says something about stuff you’ve figured out by watching stuff happen. Then a bunch of bigger ch-ponies look over your work, and ask you questions, and then you answer them, and then you get to become a teacher for other ponies!”
“What you wanna teach? Oh, oh! You-you wanna teach me? I’m good at being teached! You can practicify on me!”
“Look, as great as it is that you’re bonding with Moonstone’s new servant, do you think you could help us, you know, set up the party we came here for?” Rainbow Dash asked, soaring from room to room, setting up banners and confetti with practiced ease.
Milly frowned for a moment, before bouncing up and down excitedly, a wide grin on her face. “Hey! I knows! Wanna help us wiv the party?! Do ya, do ya, do ya? Ish gonna be super awesome fantastical! There’s gonna bees cake, an-an punch, an pin a tail onna pony, an-”
“Oh come on! I just freaking asked that!” Rainbow Dash complained as the changeling nodded, following a hyper-active Milky Way.
“Oh, an I’m Milky Way, but everypony calls me Milly, except for my sissy, because she’s my sissy, and she gets to call me whateber she wants, an I’m going to grow up to be just as pretty and smart as she is, and you’re going to love her, but you can’t love her as much as me, because I’m her sissy, and you can’t lover her more than Mister Moony, or else dey won’t fall in love, an dat would be, be horrible, and what’s your name, Miss Pretty Changeling Pony? Why are your eyes all blue? Does you wings go buzz when you flap them really fast? What kinda magics can you do? Why is you hooves all holey? Is your horn sick? Is that why it isn’t straight? Is it because you never eated your spinaches? Are-”
*Squeak*
“Lexxy! You’s back to help wiv teh party!” Milky Way cheered, snuggling the black ferret now between her forelegs. “I missed you! Where have you been, young lady, you’ve had me worried to sickness!”
“You have a pet?”
Milly looked up at the changeling not much bigger than herself, answering indignantly, “No, she bees a family year! She’s Mister Moony’s magic and stuff! Lexxy, meet... Umm, what’s your name, Miss Changeling?”
“Altornia, but everyling calls me Alto!” the changeling practically chirped, excited that she finally got to talk to somepony after weeks of isolation. “Nice to meet you, Lexxy! She must be a really smart family year if she’s got emotions as strong as you do, Milly! So what do we need to set up first?”
“Well, there’s food, and drinks, and balloons, and banners, and-”
“But what do we start with?” Alto asked, tilting her head to the side.
“Umm,” Milly thought, changing her mind before exclaiming, “Oh wait, I know! Streamers! We gots ta start wiv the streamers, ‘cause they hang from the-the ceilings, and we don’t want the balloons to lose their he leaning too soon, so we should start with that! Wait, no, not like dat, silly filly! Like this!”
.o.O.o.
“Heyya Rarity! Finally found yourself a coltfriend?” Lyra called teasingly from her bench, twisting a peg ever so slightly as she tuned her instrument.
“A-ha,” Rarity laughed nervously, a light blush showing through her white fur with ease. “Sorry to say not, Lyra. This is Moonstone, the new owner of Whitecap Manor, and Starlight Sonata, who’s helping Moonstone learn more about Equestria.”
“So when’s the you-know-what?” Bonbon asked. “I’m guessing... Eight o’clock?”
“Nice guess, but Pinkie’s estimating seven, if you could help spread the word.” Twilight said hopefully, ignoring the confused Moonstone and Starlight.
“Sure, of course we-”
“Look out mommy!” a young voice called out worriedly from above, interrupting Twilight’s conversation as the ponies above crashed into Twilight, flattening her on the ground, dazing her for a moment.
The gray pegasus mare shook her head, her eye slowly returning back to its proper position. “Look out for what, Muffin? That landing was softer than normal!”
“Good evening, Derpy,” Rarity said with a smile, offering her hoof as she subtly lifted Derpy and her daughter from Twilight’s back with her magic as she did so. “You and Dinky doing alright?”
“Yeah!” Dinky chirped from her mother’s back, her eyes bright. “There was a new colt in class today, but he was really sad, so I gave him a muffin, and he got all happy again, and said I reminded him of a friend from home, and-”
Rarity giggled, doing her best to refrain from making any jokes, teasing, or encouraging the filly about something that more than likely did not exist. Starlight blinked, then facehooved with both her hooves, groaning dramatically. “Two of them... There’s two of them... Equestria is so doomed!”
“Quit ‘yer whining, young whippersnapper!” a donkey hollered from down the path, his eyes half-lidded. “Yer still young! You haven’t seen enough to be complainin’ so loudly!”
“We were just about to leave, Mr. Doodle, so sorry for bothering you!” Rarity called after the donkey batting her eyes for just a second, knowing it would appease the old donkey. “Right, Twilight?”
An exceptionally large white pegasus appeared, his eyes and muscles bulging as he pumped a hoof into the air with as much enthusiasm as Billy Hays selling a new product. ”Yeeeeeaaaahhhhhhh!”
Moonstone and Starlight blinked, looking to each other for help, only to find the same confused expression. “Are... is-”
“Yes, Moonstone,” Starlight sighed, messaging her temple with her forehooves. “So far, everypony in this town is crazy!”
“Oh... I was going to say I think I like them,” he said casually. “They’re wierd... Like me.”
Starlight blinked, then sighed as she started to follow the party, shaking her head. “If you say so. I just get the feeling that being in Ponyville is going to be anything but a vacation for me... I can’t shake the feeling that of all the crazy things that happen in Equestria, most of them happen in Ponyville.”
“I sure hope so!” Moonstone agreed happily, his spirits rising. “Life would be really boring otherwise! So what’s next?”
.o.O.o.
“Spiiiike! I’m h-”
Twilight barely managed to open the door to her library before a small green and purple object tackled Twilight at speeds rivaling Mach two, smashing her to her side as Spike hugged her for all he was worth.
While Twilight and Spike hugged, Rarity smiled and levitated a hoofkerchief to her face. Moonstone, caught off guard, tried to create a shield from habit, but winced as he gained a headache, as his ether levels were no longer large enough to support a shield the size and quality he had attempted. While he tried to conquer the new pain, he and Starlight watched the baby dragon with amazement.
He was certainly taller than Milky Way, but not quite as tall as a pony. Where were his wings, and his razor sharp teeth and claws? He looked about as dangerous as an Earth Pony with half of their limbs broken! “So... what are you? Some kind of overgrown salamander?” Moonstone asked, tilting his head to the side.
Resounding silence followed his statement. “... What? It’s a perfectly good question!”
Starlight, regaining her voice first, asked incredulously, “How the heck... You’ve travelled the world. You’ve seen and fought monsters, ponies, plus who knows what else; you’ve talked to sea ponies, lured an Ursa Minor using giant cupcakes, but you don’t know what a dragon looks like?!”
Moonstone blinked, then said in a matter-of-fact tone, “Because he’s not big. He has no claws, spiky tail, or gnashing teeth, so-”
“Hey! I might be a baby, but I’ll still kick your flank into next week if you don’t give me a bit of respect!” Spike protested, storming up to the larger stallion, poking him threateningly in the chest.
“Come on, Spike, be the bigger pony,” Twilight said, dragging Spike backwards using her magic, setting him on her back. “Besides, I thought I made sure my number one assistant knew better than to go picking fights over insults or ignorance! You either ignore them, or educate them in a calm, collected manner. Moonstone, this is Spike, my assistant. Spike, this is Moonstone, the reason I have to learn how to deal with wings,” she sighed. Not to mention that I might be immortal now, and see all of my best friends die, and... No, not thinking about that! Think about... Umm... Apples! Yes, apples. Apple seeds. Apple cores. Apple trees. Applejacks. Apple... wait a second... that sounds like some sort of cheesy cereal brand name... There! Totally forgot what I worried about before! Mission success!
“Wow, you’re my age and you already have a slave? That’s pretty impressive.” Moonstone commented neutrally. She’s already got a slave? And a baby dragon at that? She didn’t strike me as the type to have a slave... Then again, he doesn’t look like he’s been beaten much, so maybe she’s one of the few good ones? It’s not like she’s a slaver or something.
“Woah, hey, take that back!” Spike shouted, genuinely upset. “I’m nopony’s slave! I’m her assistant! Don’t you dare accuse Twilight of braking the law! The only things she ever breaks are ceramics, mysteries, and puzzles!”
“Spike, you can’t ‘break’ a mystery or puzzle. You can ‘crack’ a mystery or puzzle, but that’s different! Besides, I do not break that many plates!” Twilight huffed, levitating the dragon back to her back, glaring at him for a second to make sure he didn’t move.
“But still, why would you accuse Twilight of Spike being her slave?” Rarity asked, aghast.
“... Made sense to me,” Moonstone answered, shrugging. “So slavery is illegal in Equestria, huh? Good to know... Say, what’s the penalty for having a slave, or being a slaver?”
Starlight blinked, her face going pale. “D-don’t tell me that you’re-”
“Nope. Just figured I’d ask,” Moonstone interrupted, trying to sound casual. “Don’t know the law, remember? Just trying to find out what I can do, that’s all.”
“Well, as far as I remember,” Twilight began, entering the library, “slavery was eradicated in Equestria roughly nine-hundred years ago. Princess Celestia recognized that it was impossible for everypony to be equal if there were slaves, especially since the rich could then, in theory, just buy dozens of slaves to do all of their work, and get richer and richer every year.”
Twilight levitated a book from her shelves, looking at the index before flipping to the proper page. Lighting the fireplace absently, she continued, “The punishment started out small, just some jail time and a fine. However, sterner measures had to be taken several months later, as the wealthy were able to mostly ignore the law. It was increased to the death penalty to indicate that type of thinking... The last case of slavery was close to eight-hundred years ago, and that’s the last time the death penalty has been used since...”