One year later…
“I hear we’re getting some new guests in town! It’s… party time!” Pinkie could be seen cartwheeling around Sweet Apple Acres with exuberance.
“Seems to be a lot of dem nowadays, sugarcube.”
“No no, these are humans! Students from all around Earth coming to see us!” This did not sit well with Fluttershy, who proceeded to hide in a nearby hay bale. “Aww, Fluttershy, don't be like that. I’m sure they’ll like to meet you too!”
“Well, I do hope they weren’t expecting to meet a princess.” Rarity arrived on the scene, and was looking around perturbed. “Where has that mare gotten off to?”
Applejack sighed. “Don’t look at me. I’m sure she’ll show up in an overblown fashion, at the last second. Like usual.”
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“Aw cmon, they loved it! Why wouldn’t you?” It was later in the day, after the young interdimensional travelers had returned to Earth. Rainbow was flapping about her villa, making aside glances at Sam. It had taken much pestering, but Rainbow Dash had finally given in to Pinkie’s requests to enchant the villa so that anypony could wander through it; a state that Sam greatly appreciated. Clouds and sphinxes did not mix very well.
“It’s still a terrible idea to have me be an ambassador. And now you’re badgering me about royalty issues. You should know by now not to give me power, hun. It’ll go to my head.”
Rainbow scoffed. “It’s already gone to my head, and you don’t see me complaining!” This was true. Sam doubted Rainbow would ever complain about such things. Indeed, she had spent the first few days after being coronated Princess of the Skies doing absolutely everything around the house with telekinesis. Strange objects orbited around her as she flew, simply for the effect, and nothing was safe from her mental grasp.
“She’s asking the most curmudgeonly person you know to be an Ambassador. That’s not a good level of qualification.”
“Cmon, you’re like, the first crossover, right?” This was true. Sam had spent some time back as a human, but decided that he preferred the oddities that came with being a sphinx. At the very least, the teeth were good at warding off reporters. Those foul beasts that stalked his every move. One day he would catch one, and take it home, and put it in a little box. Then he would spend much time teaching it the error of its ways, before releasing it into the wild to teach its friends.
“True, but you’d think you’d have an Equestrian as an Equestria Ambassador.”
“You want to work for the rabbit?”
“I’ll pass, thanks.”
“That’s what I thought. Now stop arguing about it already! Your princess has been spending all day herding little humans around, and they are crazy. Now is not the time to have to herd another one. Not when we have… class in the morning.”
Sam sighed, and gave up the argument. For now. He still had words for Celestia on the matter, but that was for another day.
And they snuggled until the sun went down.
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O’Hare grinned from behind his desk as the little kiddos came back. Their faces were aglow with wondrous thoughts, and more than one demanded that he be allowed to go visit again. True, there was a bit of a lapse when the lab had been converted to the portal facility. No longer was he in charge of research and development, instead being applied in more of a customs role. Still, the job did come with some perks.
Angel Bunny had been beside himself with indignation upon learning of the crossover spell Twilight had invented, and doubly so upon seeing O’Hare. The lapine colonel (he preferred the term Pooka) was very much at ease as a pseudo-Equestrian, and the kids got a hoot out of seeing a talking bunny with a drawl usher them into the facility. Still, this was entirely unacceptable. The bunnies of Earth were large, and possessed of thumbs and speech, when Angel lacked all of these. He had made demands, but they fell on deaf ears for now. Uplifting a spirit as devious as Angel was a Dangerous Business, and even Fluttershy knew it.
He would become a Better rabbit one day, but only if he could convince Fluttershy to get on board. From there, Twilight. One step at a time…
Looking up from the management reports, O’Hare saw a young unicorn colt frolicking with the students. A teacher proudly declared: “He’s the first Equestrian to come live with us! Cmon, guys. Say hi!”
An army major scratched his head from behind O’Hare.”That’s not how I remember it, sir.”
“Son, the amount the PR department cares about that is practically zero. Besides, little bastard’s happy, ain’t he? They get their cute mascot, and he gets all the attention in the world.”
“If you say so, sir. I think I’ll keep my fingers.”
“You and me both. When he’s done playing Prancing Pony, tell John to come on up here? He’s been slacking on the cleaning duty lately.”
“I’ll see what I can do, sir. He tends to wander off if you let him, though.”
“Then put him on a leash. Someone’s gotta mop this place.”
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Princess Celestia sat in her chambers, looking over the reports of the day’s affairs. All in all, it hadn’t gone too badly. Enamoring little children with an alien countryside was good PR, and they’d grow up to tell all their little foals about the wonders of Equestria. Some on Earth still insisted that she was to round them all up and exile them to the moon in a violent fashion, but such concerns were ridiculous and outlandish. In any case, this was a good start on Twilight’s Crossover project. It seemed like a reasonable way to show both worlds that their peoples weren’t as different as it might appear.
“Must you listen to that horrible noise, sister?” Luna was in the doorway, with a look of mild distaste. It was true, Celestia had indulged the diplomats of Earth for some of their musical devices. Such wonders! It had taken many a day of carefully adapting a lightning crystal to put out just the right amount of current to power the little toy, but it had been Worth It. The humans made such wonderful and varied sounds, far unlike any in Equestria.
That said, Luna could not comprehend why the princess was listening to the very worst of dubstep, in an entirely unironic fashion. Her sister’s taste in music was deplorable, and certainly not fit for a head of state. Alas, there was no reasoning with her on this matter, as whenever Luna managed to encourage a change of genre, Tia had come up with something worse every time. One would think Celestia was doing it to annoy Luna, but that would be silly.
“I do not mock your musical desires, yes dear sister? Pray tell, what is Abacus listening to nowadays?”
“The complete works of Wolfgang Mozart,” Luna declared without any hint of sarcasm. “It helps him to be at his best and brightest when it is time to work.”
Celestia smiled, and passed over the well-wishes of the human students for her sister to read. The argument had been won in the minds of the guards outside, and Luna didn’t even know it.
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In the Hall of the Portal, Discord wore a magnificent frown. A strange cardboard box was sitting where the portal should be, labeled KEEP YOUR PAWS OFF. This was Twilight’s trickery. She had been very firm that Earth wasn’t… ugh. “ready”, for his brand of fun. Simpletons. Their lives would be greatly enriched by an exchange with the most cultured person he knew! Himself, of course.
The chimera wiggled around the box a little, then popped away to a secret dungeon in the castle. It lacked the usual torture implements he might have been fond of in the past, but that was okay. It wasn’t good to dwell on any one phase. Indeed, he would probably get tired of these new customs soon. Regardless, it was nighttime, and the ponies started to filter in. Various late-nighters, as well as a few thestrals that hadn’t started their shift yet.
The club was banging, and Discord knew that he was the best DJ in all of Equestria. True, he was but one of two in the land, and the only one in the castle once he had won exclusive performance rights from Celestia, but that was hardly reason to disqualify the award. The lights flashed, the bass dropped, and Celestia herself could be seen enjoying a drink at a far table. Disguised, of course, for Luna would never let her live it down if she caught her sister down here, but Discord knew better. Philomena was prone to mild explosions when exposed to alcohol, and the fact that this “phoenix” was quite tame meant that the bird was sleeping upstairs. Ah well. Best not to ruin the public fiction until later in the set.
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“But you should have seen them! They were so happy! I don’t understand.”
“You don’t need to, Private. This… thing is abhorrent, and I shant be a part of it.” Edith Perkinson did not so much as give another look to the sample brochure in her hands. “Project Crossover! Be a pioneer in interdimensional travel! Emigrate to Equestria today! (Military families only at this time)”. She tore it to shreds, and threw it in a waste bin, ensuring that every scrap found its way to the proper receptacle. These ponies were coming for her, and she would be ready. They would not get her. Not now, not ever.
The private simply stared as the bureaucrat stalked off in a huff.
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The classroom was rather excited. It was time! Now! Here! Princess Celestia’s Academy for Gifted Mages was starting, with its brand new name. Twilight had insisted, for if various elite Earth students would be coming to learn, they couldn’t simply limit the process to Unicorns. Besides, she had been hoping to expand classes to Pegasus and Earth Pony students, given what she had learned from the human’s less biologically fixated approach to magic. One day, everypony would be casting spells, and she would be the cause of it all. Yes.
For now, the class was still mostly unicorn foals and fillies. Still, she saw a human in the back being accosted by one of the littler foals, and a thestral jumping to his defense. Night Wing, she thought she remembered from the roster. Son of a pegasus and a thestral, with a noted predilection towards telekinesis and darkness magic that astonished his parents. Well, he was in the right place. She would make him into the best ninja pony.
That was not Twilight’s intent, of course, but children will find ways to abuse their toys. Oh yes. She waved a hoof as Sam and Rainbow Dash wandered in. “Ready for your first lessons, you two?”
Sam rolled his eyes. “Yes. I am perfectly ready for your adventures in Magic Kindergarten.” He stopped, as Twilight seized up, with her eyes twitching something fierce. “Um… Twi?”
Rainbow calmly pushed Sam aside, and started giving “shoosh”es and pats on Twilight’s head. “Don’t say the MK words! Bad memories.”
“Ahuh.” The two snickered, and mouthed ‘egghead’ as the professor regained her composure.
“Welcome to your first day of class! I’m Professor Twilight Sparkle, and here we’ll be giving a Primer on Magic! If this is not the class you expected, now is the best time to run away screaming.”
Night Wing made to fly off, eliciting cheers from the peanut gallery. Oh goodness. It was going to be one of these classes.