A Warm Welcome
My faithful student, Twilight Sparkle,
I am glad to hear that your studies of friendship are going well. It is nice to know that my star pupil is getting along so well with her new found friends. On a more pressing matter, I have an important favor to request of you. I have been in contact with a neighboring land for the past few days now, and they wish to establish peace between our two nations. They have already sent a diplomatic representative to converse the treaty with.
However, due to an unforeseen event elsewhere in Equestria, I will not be able to provide accommodations for him. I am sorry to call upon you so abruptly, but if you could provide hospitality for this visitor to our lands, it would be both kind and noble of you, not to mention it would further strengthen the relations of our two nations. I have already spoken to him, and he is on his way to Ponyville. He should arrive around late afternoon if all goes well. I will send his belongings to you tomorrow morning. This is a great task, Twilight Sparkle, but I have complete faith in your judgment and wisdom.
Your guiding mentor,
Princess Celestia
Seth had already been roaming the streets of Canterlot for the past fifteen minutes trying to find the station, concealed by the hooded robe. It was a white velvet cloak bearing the Equestrian emblem. However, the robe was a bit tight and hot due to the fact Seth was still wearing his combat vest. He tried to keep the painting to a minimum, but he was used to the snow covered streets of home. In one of the pockets of the cloak, Seth had found a train ticket for his ride to ponyville.
Being his first view of an Equestrian town—besides the war—Seth was a bit shocked by the architectural design. Nearly every building had at least five hearts imprinted somewhere on it, be it windows, doors, paint, etc. Wasn’t there a shed of masculinity in this nation? What further baffled the canine, was the fact that a gray wolf was strolling through town with one of the worst disguises ever imaginable, and they lived their lives like nothing was ever different.The one pony who spotted him was that guard when–
“Eclipse!”called a distinct voice from behind the wolf.
‘Can't even finish my thoughts without him popping up,’ Seth thought, trying to stay nonchalant, but still trying to avoid the sight of his pursuer.
This, however, was quickly thwarted by the white stallion placing himself dead center in the wolf’s path.
Seth gazed into the eyes of his obstruction, irritation growing every second.
“Look, I don’t know why you’re here, and frankly, I couldn't care less. All I know is that you are here, and you are a wolf,” Shining Armor began, earning a legitimate growl from Seth. “I know wolves aren't known for their kindness, so if you dare harm even one fiber of a pony, I will personally hunt you down and–”
“That’s it!” Seth howled, grabbing the unsuspecting pony by the breastplate and forcing him to the ground. “I have had enough of your comments against wolves! You think all wolves love killing just for the bloodlust? NO! We kill for honor, something you as a soldier need.” Shining reached out his hoof trying to dislodge the grip of the wolf, failing to even make a change in force. “For the past five years, the only killing I’ve ever done has been forest hunting. I don't kill for bloodlust, I never have! And I don’t kill the innocent
Seth trailed off in his speech, easing his grip on the now dented plate. The wolf’s final comments confused Shining Armor to the point of curiosity, but he still had to bring up the reason of why he was here.
“Well, the reason I’m here was not to insult you. The princess requested that I escort you to the train station, seeing as it is your first time here and all,” the stallion said, not wanting to aggravate the wolf any further. Shining knew there had to be more to the canine’s story.
Without another word, the two continued down the streets of Canterlot, receiving the same little attention from the townsfolk. It took only five minutes for the pair to arrive at the station, while if Seth was alone, he probably would have missed his train. As the two waited for the train, Seth finally broke the silence that plagued the two during their walk.
“Thanks,” was all the wolf said, putting an end to the silence for a good half a second before he spoke again. “Why do you hate wolves?”
“What?” a surprised Shining Armor asked, not expecting to be part of another conversation with the wolf.
“You heard me. You obviously have some sort of discomfort with us. I’d like to know why.” Seth jabbed at the guard, seeing nothing better to do.
“If there is any hatred, it would be from me just being worried for the safety of Equestria and all that is within. Nothing more,” Shining answered, not wanting to continue further. There was a reason for his distaste for the piece of fur standing next to him, and he knew it all too well, as Seth could clearly see. However, Seth also knew that this pony could likely have him killed for pissing off a royal guard, let alone assault, so Seth dropped the subject, not wanting to be executed on the first day.
The next quarter of an hour was filled with continuous silence until the intercom sounded the arrival of the train. As the locomotive pulled into the station, Seth could only feel his pride, honor, and his dignity drop below the surface of the planet. Like the town, the train was covered in possibly even more hearts. The only pleasant point of the trip would be getting away from the guard.
As the conductor called for the the passengers, Seth boarded the train and promptly found a vacant car for the journey. Shining Armor watched as the train departed, hoping never to see the wolf again.
“Are you dropping off family?” an elder mare asked but a few feet away.
“What? Oh, no. Just helping a visitor to the station, that’s all,” Shining answered in his usual kind tone.
“Wow, a canterlot guard escorting a pony to Ponyville. That’s a first.”
“Yeah, its kind of a long– Wait, did you say Ponyville?” the stallion questioned, just becoming aware of the fact.
“Yes, my daughter lives down there with her husband. They just stopped off to visit me. Isn’t that nice? They took time out of their busy schedule just to see little old me. I wish I could do the same, but with all my work in the foreign trades, I barely have time to breathe.”
“I know the feeling. Now, if you don’t mind, I have to discuss a few issues regarding foreign affairs myself,” Shining announced, beginning his short journey to the throne room of Canterlot Castle
The ride to Ponyville was rather pleasant. The trip mostly consisted of Seth staring out of the window, both for the beauty of the land and to concentrate on his thoughts (and yes, stick his head out like a common dog, once. Just once). The land was beautiful. There was no sign of the war, none. The craters, the scorched fields, the incinerated towns, all gone. Now, now there was life.
As the train lurched to a stop, Seth returned his thoughts to his surroundings, knowing he needed to concentrate to stay unnoticed. He had been sloppy on the way in, so it was imperative for him not to mess anything else up. It was about late afternoon at best, and Seth assumed it would be best to arrive before nightfall.
The concealed wolf stepped off of the train only after the majority of the passengers had already departed from the considerably smaller platform. From there, he began his trek into the town. First impressions were that ponyville made Canterlot look like a metropolis, although to Seth’s displeasure, it still had hearts. From what Seth noticed on the train, the town was founded around agriculture, due to the fact that there were a plethora of crop fields surrounding the outskirts.
It seemed relatively simple from this point on: lay low, don't draw unwanted attention to himself, and get to the library before anyone noticed there even was a wolf in town. The passers by of this town seemed just as ignorant of his presence as the last town was. As long as there were no temperamental guardponies around, this would be a cakewalk.
Or so he thought.
Without warning, Seth was hit by what felt like a cannon causing his already sore hind leg to buckle under the pain. Thankfully, the cloak was still concealing the wolf, who was now questioning what just hit him. As he peered in the general direction of the strike, Seth’s heart dropped when his stare was met by a pink, poofy-haired mare. He had just blown his cover.
“Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you there. I was just running to get to Dashy’s place and see if she wanted to go pranking with me. She always does. Unless she's practicing for the Wonderbolts, or messing with clouds, or napping,” the mare rambled, obviously not aware of her companion. “But today, I’ve planned the best prank ever. She won't have any choice but to join me, we’re going to have so much fun. So much fun it will make making cakes look like nothing. Well, cakes are fun to make, so it might make the cakes look like something. Not a big something, but a something. OH, but not too small of a something either, cause cakes are always fun! Speaking of fun, I just had a party yesterday and it was the funnest party I ever had. Well, maybe that one part where Twilight… Yeah, that one was a lot funner than yesterday,” continued the pink pony. While she broke off into a different subject, the now highly disturbed wolf was wondering which of the two of them were more threatening. “…This one time—WOHHHHH!” the mare gasped, now hovering a good three feet in the air. The sudden outburst and lack of physics caused Seth to roll back a few feet.
And after five seconds of broken reality, the mare shot off like a cannon down a street, leaving a cloud of dust in her wake.
“What the fu…” were the only words the bewildered wolf could manage to say after what just occurred. After the shock wore off, Seth began his journey once again in the search for the library.
Ponyville library
For the better part of the last hour, Twilight Sparkle had been sorting books, cleaning used scrolls, discarding broken quills, and anything else the unicorn could think of to make the library she called home more welcoming. All this time, she was being lectured by (and lecturing) her assistant Spike, who at the moment was dusting an assortment of items and locations.
“Look, Twilight,” the dragon continued on their debate, “I don’t see the big deal about this guy staying for a few nights here. I mean, he's not a king or anything. The guy’s just another decent living being.”
“Spike, don't you get it?” The mare continued, obviously planning to win this quarrel. “Diplomats report to kings! They’re basically the eyes and ears for their entire nation. Our work here will represent all of Equestria. The fate of not only the nation, but the diplomat's nation as well, rests in our hooves!”
“And claws,” Spike added.
Without even listening to spike, Twilight continued, “We need every thing to be perfect; the slightest flaw might cause an international dispute! I couldn't bear knowing I could have started such a thing.”
“Twilight,” Spike called to his long-winded friend.
“What if the debate eventually leads to a break in natality!?”
“Twilight.”
“Or maybe start a full on war! Just think of the death!”
“Twi–”
“All the death and destruction just because of me!” Twilight moaned, now beginning to shed tears.
“TWILIGHT!” Spike demanded, getting rather tired of the one-way conversation.
“Yes, Spike?” The mare answered, snapping straight out of her previous sadness.
“Thank you,” the dragon mumbled. “Do you still want me to pick up the stuff for the casserole?”
“Oh, I nearly forgot. Yes, I still need the celery and probably another bunch of daisies. Do you mind running to the market and seeing if they still have some?” the now calm Twilight requested.
“Not at all, it would be nice to get out and about,” Spike called halfway out the door. “Away from miss crazy mare,” he finished under his breath.
With Twilight alone, she could keep her thoughts to herself as she cleaned nearly every surface of the tree-library.
‘I wonder what nation is asking us for peace? And what are they like? They could be explorers, wishing to know what lies around them. And the diplomat, a captain of his own ship. They could even be scholars like myself! And he, one of the wisest and most brilliant, to secure peace and knowledge for their kind. Or, they could be brutal tyrants! And the diplomat is a fierce, bloodthirsty general. They didn’t come to negotiate peace, they would take it by force!’
These, and similar thoughts, continued forming from Twilight's mind for some time, until they were rudely interrupted by a sudden knock of the door.
‘Ok, Twilight. You can handle this. You turned one of the worst possible ponies back into the princess’s sister, this should be easy. Plus, Celestia sent him to me herself. She can't give me anything I (or at least my friends) can't take, right?’
Another knock sounded, this one was a bit unsure.
‘Well, Twilight, it’s time to see who your guest is, shall we?’
Twilight approached the door, gave one final calming breath, and turned the knob. The breath didn’t help.
Staring down, the now the fear-stricken unicorn was face to face with a snow white, cloaked gray wolf, scar embedded over his right eye. The ice blue eyes penetrated past whatever confidence Twilight had left and extinguished her spiritual flame. The last act Twilight performed before falling into fear’s grip of unconsciousness was to feebly utter the word “Wolf.”