"Ah, it's good to be back." Night Air said as he stepped off his train and into Canterlot Station. Celestia's sun was beginning to set, and Luna's moon was waiting to be raised by its alicorn princess. Now just to get home and sleep. He thought to himself, then he saw her. The mint green obsessor, Lyra Heartstrings. Night Air's once marefriend was eyeballing him. He could see curiosity crawling onto her face. NIght Air panicked. No! No! No! No! She cannot be here! I'm supposed to be dead to her! He took off without hesitating wanting to put as much distance between him and the crazy mint green unicorn. Luckily Lyra never recognized the pegasus as she started walking toward the castle for the upcoming winter ball.

*Pmph! Pmph! Pmph!* The sound of somepony knocking came from Kevin's door effectively waking him up. "Uhhhh... Who the hell's knocking?"

"Ugggggh... Alright I'm coming..." Kevin muttered back to the guard as he got out of bed and went to the door. He opened he door and walked out of his room to meet one of the solar guard ponies holding a spear.

"Goodni-aaaah!" The guard jumped when he saw Kevin. The terrified guard stepped back and pointed his spear at Kevin. "What in Celestia's name are you!?"

Kevin looked at the scared guard. He contemplated kicking the spear away from the guard to show he was obviously more powerful. Looks like I can take him... No horn... No wings. Just need to stay away from his legs. Yeah. But intend of kicking the spear away from the guard, he just simply grabbed the spear and pulled it away from the guard.

"Never point a weapon at me again. Got it?" The guard nodded. Kevin took the spear in both hands and broke it over his knee.

"Right away, sir." The guard walked up to the door across the hall. He knocked. There was no answer. The guard knocked again. There was still no answer. The guardpony stomped his hoof on the door shouting "Canterlot Royal Guard, OPEN UP!" Still, he got no answer.

"Let me give it a try," Kevin said as the guard backed away from the door. "HEY DOUG! GET YOUR LAZY ASS OUTTA BED! IT'S TIME TO GO!" They could hear Doug stumbling around inside the room. Doug screamed back, "OKAY! I HEARD YOU! There's no need to shout! Be out in five."

Kevin and the still terrified guardpony waited outside the door for about a minute. After the minute, Doug walked out of his room in his black hoodie and jeans. Kevin was still wearing jeans and Doug's green USMC sweater.

"Oh this? Mr. Guard here tried pointing it at me when I came out. So, I broke it."

"You scared the shit out of him! If you haven't noticed, we are living in their castle. Let me rephrase that. We are living in a castle full of guards!" Kevin could see Doug was ticked off, but he knew Doug wasn't the type of person who would blow up at minor things. As long as the situation could be solved peacefully, Doug would go for it. That doesn't mean he disliked mischief and pranks.

Doug turned to and looked at the terrified guard. He seemed like he was going to faint. "Its okay man. Sit down, you look whiter than usual." Doug noted. The guardpony did seem to be whiter than the other white guards Doug and Kevin had seen around the castle. "C'mon sit down. What's your name? I'd hate to keep calling you guard."

The guard sat on his haunches and leaned on the wall. "Fugientes," He said. "Fugientes Interfector. Sergeant of Princess Celestia's Solar Guard."

"Okay then sergeant, now that you have us out here, what did you want?" Doug asked calmly.

"Princess Luna requested your presence. She said wake the ambassadors in rooms AA-413 and AA-414. She didn't say why, but she did give me this for you two to sign."

Fugientes pulled a scroll and a quill out of the chest piece of his armor. He laid the scroll out on the floor and held the quill in his mouth for Doug or Kevin to take. Before Doug could take the quill though, Kevin spoke up.

Kevin looked closer at the contract for their stay in the castle apartments. It read:

From this night of January twentieth, two years after Princess Luna's restoration to my throne,
The human signers of this contract will be able to stay in the Ambassador's Apartments wing of Canterlot Castle at their leisure and will be provided food by the castle kitchens.
They are welcome to attend any balls, galas, and social parties held by the princesses as ambassadors of their people.
They may also be paid at Princess Luna's discretion. (50 bits per night)
In return for Canterlot's hospitality,
The human signers of this contract will give information about the world they come from to the best of their ability- the on;y constraints are that if a topic is taboo, Princess Luna will decide wether or not the signers may need to divulge the taboo information in question.
The human signers of this contract must also swear to not harm Equestria or transgress any of its laws.
The option to become citizens remains open to them.

X_________________________
X_________________________

By royal decree of Princess Luna,
this document has been notarized.
~signed Princess Luna

Kevin and Doug finished reading it. Fugientes stood next to them patiently. Kevin spoke first.

"I can answer that." Sergeant Fugientes said. "It's mostly for formalities, but it also binds you so that you have to obey Equestrian law. The part about divulging information I haven't seen before, but the rest is pretty standard."

One Trip We Didn't Plan

by That Pegasus Over There

A Deal With the Devil?