//------------------------------// // Meeting a new friend. // Story: Another human in Equestria fic // by The7thElement //------------------------------// On the way back to Canterlot I had been lucky enough to fall asleep, unfortunately for me my sleep was filled with nightmares. Which caused me to scare the crap out of the mane six and Spike. “Ahhh!” I screamed out as I was flung from my sleep by a terrible nightmare. This had the affect of waking up Dash who had fallen asleep, it also caused the others’ skeletons to jump out of their skins. “Ryan are you okay?” Twilight asked me, as her horn glowed and I could fell the sudden pain in my side that had sprung up from me sitting up to quickly disappear. “Yeah I’m fine. Just a nightmare.” I said seeing the looks of worry on the pony and baby dragon’s faces. “You want to talk about it?” Twilight asked a look of compassion in her eye. “No thanks. But thanks for the offer.” I said as I saw the downtrodden look on her face. “I’ll probably talk to Luna about it.” It was then that I saw that we were getting close to Canterlot. “Well good thing you’re awake we’re nearly at Canterlot.” Twilight said before she went to go grab her things. I then looked across from me to see Dash slowly waking up. “Sorry about waking you up Dash.” “Pfft. It’s no biggie.” Dash said waving her hoof at me. “Okay. Oh I forgot to mention thanks for saving me Dash.” “No problem Ryan.” Dash said as she stretched herself out. Soon enough the train arrived in the Upper District’s train station, and after a few pain filled minutes we made our way out into the streets of Canterlot. As per usual as we made our way to the castle I could catch glimpses of nobles giving me looks of disgust. After a painfully slow walk (Thanks to me limping) we arrived at the front gates of the castle where we were greeted by Joker and Fire Wand. “Hey Ryan, how’s it going?” Joker asked once we got close. “Let me guess not well.” He said before he caught sight of Dash hovering to my side. He then held out his hoof towards her. “Good evening to you Miss Dash. Let me say it’s an honor to meet a prankster such as yourself.” “Well good to meet some-pony who has heard of my legendary pranks.” Dash said as she completed the hoof-shake. After she reeled back clutching her hoof from the small zap Joker nearly fell to the ground in laughter. After a few seconds he managed to compose himself. “Sorry about that couldn’t resist pulling out the good old joy buzzer.” He said showing her the buzzer. “Anyway it’s great to meet you. Joker’s the name pulling pranks and playing jokes is my game.” “Sorry about him.” Fire said before turning to me and Twilight. “The Princesses are waiting for you in the throne room.” Once he said that he and Joker made room for all eight of us to move through the gates. Soon enough we arrived outside the throne room doors. Once we entered I found my gaze drawn to the throne. Once I looked towards the throne to I saw that a dark blue and black throne had been placed next to Celestia’s throne. My suspicions were confirmed of that being Luna’s when my gaze drifted up from the throne to see the blue alicorn sitting atop it. A look of worry plastered itself on Luna and Celestia’s faces when they saw me limping towards the throne. Luna was the first to speak up. “Ryan what happened to you?” She asked whilst her and Celestia met me and the others halfway to the thrones. “Oh you know got in a fight with Sombra. Unfortunately, I couldn’t bring back his severed head for you.” I said letting out a slight chuckle. “So Sombra is no more?” Celestia asked as her horn began to glow. Once I noticed her horn glow I could feel myself being healed from the inside and out. “Yep he’s dead. The empire has also been saved thanks to dear old Spike here.” I said gesturing to the drake. As soon as Celestia’s horn lost it’s glow I could feel a small amount of pain come back to my side causing me to wince. This didn’t escape the keen eye of Celestia. “Sorry Ryan, but my healing spells can’t heal all of your injuries. You’ll still experience a small amount of pain unfortunately.” She said a small frown on her muzzle. She then turned her attention back to the others. “Well congratulations on your work you seven.” She said giving them a warm smile. “Thank you Princess Celestia.” They said in unison. It was then that someone had decided to enter the throne room when we turned to see who it was we were greeted with the sight of Moonlight. “Lady Noctis, Mother Sol. I hope I am not interrupting anything.” She said giving a slight bow. “No of course not captain. What is it you wished to inform us about?” Luna said causing her captain to rise from her bow. “I have come to inform you that the changeling has awoken.” She said a look of seriousness on her face. This caused me to burst into a grinning fit as I turned to look at Celestia. “Celestia can I please talk to it?” I said, hope and joy lacing my voice. Celestia then gave me a look of worry and seriousness. “Ryan, if I may ask why do you wish to talk to the changeling?” Celestia said as the other ponies in the room gave me looks of confusion. “Because the changeling probably still thinks that I’m friends with his queen, so he’ll be more open to talk to me.” I said the grin never leaving my face. Celestia gave a small nod before turning to Moonlight. “Captain take Ryan to the changeling.” At this I leapt into the air in joy as Moonlight moved towards the door motioning for me to join her. Before I left the room I turned back to Celestia. “Oh Celestia, Twilight wants to see the Thaumonomicon think you could let her borrow it?” “Of course.” She then turned her gaze back to Twilight and the others. “If you seven don’t mind you can stay here overnight unless you desperately need to head back to Ponyville.” Twilight then pulled the rest of the mane six into a huddle, she then stepped forward. “Princess Celestia we will gladly accept your invitation to stay here for the night.” I then turned back around to Moonlight after giving the others a wave. “So Moonlight how have things been?” “Good. How was going into a fight with Sombra?” She said as she led me out of the throne room. “Painful. But oh so satisfying punching him.” She let out a small chuckle at that, as we made our way deeper into the castle. Soon enough I found myself in what seemed to be the castle’s dungeon. As we passed different sized cells I found that they were empty. “What no prisoners?” I asked Moonlight, as we kept passing more empty cells. “Well since Lady Noctis’ return no-pony has been game enough to try anything against the castle.” She explained. “I’m guessing Canterlot has its own separate prison for petty criminals.” “Yes it does, but in the past whenever they were low on cells we would accept some inmates.” She then stopped in front of a certain cell. “Here we are.” She said before turning back to the cell. “Get up changeling!” The response she received was a few clicks and chirps. Moonlight then gestured me to join her as she opened the cell door. When I entered the cell with her I was greeted with the sight of changeling laying on a small pile of hay. “You have a visitor.” Moonlight then turned to me. “He shouldn’t be that much trouble.” She then leaned in close to me “Magical band on his horn keeps him from using magic, if you need help or you need to get out just give me a shout.” She whispered to me as she left the cell. I then turned back to see the changeling giving me a look of confusion. “So you wouldn’t happen to be able to speak Equestrian would you?” I asked it hoping it could speak a language I could understand. “You. You’re the human that the Queen was talking to. The one that grabbed me at the wedding.” It said thankfully in Equestrian. “Yep that’s me.” “What are you doing here. You my new cellmate?” “No I’m not. I want to get you out of here.” I whispered to him. “Then get the band off my head.” He said pointing one of his hole covered hoofs at the base of his curved horn. “Sorry can’t do that. Will blow my cover.” I said kneeling down to his level. “I just want to ask you some questions.” “What sort of questions.” “Don’t worry I’m not going to ask you where the changeling hive is. Now for my first question what’s your name?” “Drone #254.” 254 said. “Okay how about I give you a more equestrian name.” I said placing my hand on my chin in thought. “Ah. How about Stealth.” “That sounds suitable.” Stealth said giving a small nod. “Okay so second question. You stated that you were a drone, so you’re male?” “Yes I am. Also before you ask females of our race are called nymphs.” He said. “Got it also thanks for that bit of information. Third question, can changelings eat regular food or can you only consume emotions” “We can eat regular food. But our bodies require emotional food to survive. Emotional food is also what replenishes our magic.” He said gesturing to his horn. “Ah interesting. So onto my next question, now a bit of fore-warning you don’t have to answer this one but if you did it would make the process of you getting out of here a lot quicker.” He then gave me a nod. “Good. My question is why did Queen Chrysalis attack Canterlot?” He sat there quietly. “Sorry can’t help you there.” He said shaking his head at me. “Do you not know or are you not aloud to say.” I asked hoping he would at least answer that question. “I don’t know. Even if I did know I wouldn’t tell you.” “Okay then, thanks for your honesty. Now my next question what was life like in your hive, before the Canterlot invasion?” Stealth than placed a hoof to his chin in thought. “Before I answer your question what are you going to do with this information?” “Well I’m going to tell Celestia. It’s going to go towards helping me get you out of here. But you’ll only get out of here if you tell me the truth.” I said looking him in the eye. Which I just noticed was lacking an iris or a pupil but they did have a slightly purple hue to them. “Well as a I’m part of a race that is no stranger to lies and deceit, I’ll try to be honest.” He said letting out a small chuckle. “As for how we lived in the hive before the invasion, well it wasn’t nice.” “How so?” “Well before the invasion we barely had any emotional food sources to feed the hive. So most of the hive was on the verge of starvation.” He said. A look of sadness on his face. “I’m sorry.” I said a tone of sadness in my voice. “Okay time for my last question. If I could get you to join the princesses and I as well as a a few friends for dinner what would you do?” “Wait you want me to join you and your friends for dinner?!” Stealth exclaimed. “Only if I can arrange it. Look you need food right. I have a friend that could give you enough emotional energy to live maybe more.” “Okay then. Well if I would be dining with you and your friends I guess I would be very nervous.” “Would you act nice?” “Yes.” He said looking around the cell. I then turned back to the cell door. “Hey Moonlight I’m ready to leave!” I yelled out hoping that she could heard me. A few seconds later Moonlight appeared in the now open doorway. After I had gotten out of the cell I could see Moonlight give Stealth the stink eye before following me away from the cell. “So what’d you learn?” Moonlight asked as we walked towards the dungeon’s exit. “Quite a lot actually.” “So did you find out where their hive is?” “No I didn’t.” “Oh okay then. Well what else did you find out?” She asked as we walked up the stairs that led out of the dungeon. “Well for one, I found out that changelings not only consume emotions but they can eat regular food. Another thing is that Chrysalis didn’t tell Stealth why she invaded Canterlot.” “Wait you gave that thing a name?” Moonlight said as we began walking towards the throne room. “Well I’m not going to call him Drone #254.” I said as I saw that we were outside the throne room. “Good point. Well this is your stop.” She said looking towards the large double doors. “Well have a good afternoon Moonlight.” I said as I entered the throne room. As soon as I entered the room I found myself enveloped in a dark blue magical aura. Once I realized that I had been enveloped in the magical aura I found myself being levitated towards the thrones. When I looked up towards the thrones I could see Luna’s horn glowing. I then looked to her left to see Celestia with a small smile adorning her muzzle. Once I was close enough Luna pulled me into a hug. “Thank goodness you’re alright.” Luna said. “Luna…Can’t…Breath…” I wheezed out. Luckily for me that managed to get her to end the hug. After getting my breath back I looked back to the blue alicorn. I then decided to pull her into a hug. “Of course I’m alright, Sombrero was a pushover.” I said releasing her from the hug I then turned to Celestia as Luna slowly got her breath back. “So Ryan did you find anything about our changeling friend?” Celestia asked looking at me inquisitively. “Well first of all I think I’ve managed to figure out why Chrysalis invaded Canterlot.” “Really?” Luna said managing to catch her breath. “Well I don’t have a definite answer. I’ve only managed to come up with a guess thanks to what Stealth has told me.” This managed to get the princesses to share a look of confusion. “So you gave the changeling a name?” Luna said. I gave her a nod in response. “Good to hear. So what conclusion have you come to?” Celestia asked. “Well Stealth said that life in the hive before the invasion wasn’t good, saying that the changelings were on the verge of starving.” This caused a look of shock to appear on Celestia and Luna’s faces. “So the reason why I think Chrysalis invaded Canterlot was to feed her hive.” “That would make sense.” Celestia said. “I also have a question to ask you.” “What would that be?” Luna said. “Well I want to invite Stealth to dinner.” This caused Luna to gasp in shock at what I said. “Before you say anything the reason why I want him to come to dinner is because if the changelings were on the verge of starvation that would mean that he is probably starving.” I explained. “That sounds like a good idea. But would he behave himself?” Celestia asked raising an eyebrow at me. “Well when I proposed the idea to him he said he would be nice, but if he actually acts nice is still yet to be seen.” “This seems like a good idea Ryan.” Celestia said before sharing a glance with Luna. “Luna and I will have to discuss this first.” “Got it Tia.” I then turned to Luna. “Well I best leave you and your sister to talk about this. See ya Lulu.” I said leaping off the thrones and running through the doors, behind me I could hear Luna shouting in her Royal Canterlot Voice. “RYAN!!!” It was then that I realized that she probably didn’t like that nickname. After a few minutes of making sure I had enough space between me and the throne room, I thought to myself. ‘Now where am I going to go?’ My answer came when I looked out a nearby window to see the castle gardens. Outside in the gardens I could see that a few members of the mane six were sitting under a large tree. I decided to find the closest door to the gardens and join them. Once I got outside I looked up to see Dash doing a few tricks in the air, whilst Pinkie was on the ground acting as a cheerleader. I then saw that Fluttershy was standing next to a small bush talking to a chipmunk. As I approached the tree I saw that Twilight was engrossed in the Thaumonomicon, AJ had her hat over her face getting some sleep, Rarity had a small sketch book out probably recording ideas, whilst Spike had followed in AJ’s hoof step and decided to have a nap. “Hey Twi.” I said sitting next to the lavender unicorn. Noticing no response, I decided to interrupt her reading by waving my hand in front of her eyes. “Huh? Oh hey Ryan.” Twilight said looking up from the book. “Hello to you too Twi. Good to see your enjoying reading that.” I said gesturing to the book. “Well I have you to thank for this, getting Celestia to let me read it.” “No problem Twi. Least I could do for the pony that’s letting me live in her house.” I then turned to Rarity. “Hello to you to Rarity.” That managed to cause her to jump a little before noticing me. “Oh hello darling. Sorry about that got caught up in my work.” She said gesturing to her sketch book. Unfortunately, her little jump woke up AJ. “Huh what’s goin on?” She said tiredly. I then decided to try something that I had been meaning to ty since coming to Equestria, I moved up to AJ’s side and started scratching behind her ear. “How’s that feel AJ?” “That feels great sugarcube.” She admitted as her eyes slowly closed again. A few seconds later she had fallen back asleep. “Ryan how did you do that?” Twilight whispered not wanting to undo my work. “Well back on earth I would usually do that to put my cat back to sleep, so I wanted to see if it worked on ponies.” I admitted as Twilight gave a small nod. “You want me to scratch you behind your ears?” “No thank you Ryan.” She said. I then decided to go against her better judgment and moved to her left placing my hand on her head and began scratching behind her ear. She then melted into my hands letting out small purrs. “Wow never knew my hands could hold this much power.” I said as I stopped scratching her behind her ears, I then started patting her mane. ‘Wonder how Lyra would react?’ I thought to myself. “She’d probably tie you to a chair again.” Orion said. ‘Good point. Still I can’t help but test it out.’ I retorted. “Well then hope you enjoy dealing with her mad marefriend.” Orion said. ‘Another good point, I don’t want to see if a angry Bon-Bon truly is deadly.’ I was pulled from my thoughts as I heard someone snickering. I looked up to see Dash barely holding back her laughter. “You enjoying petting Twilight there.” She said. It was then I noticed that Twilight had taken rest in my lap enjoying the petting. “I think Twi’s enjoying it more.” I then flashed a mischievous grin as I looked back at Dash. “What do you want to be pet to?” “No way buddy-o.” She said taking a step back. “Why would I anyway?” I decided to give her a shrug in response as I went back to petting Twilight. Twilight then decided to let a purr escape her lips, that got Dash to fall onto the ground in a fit of laughter. I then took this as an opportunity to remove Twilight from my lap (Much to her disappointment) I then quietly approached the still laughing Dash. Dash then stopped her laughing when she noticed that I was sitting next to her. I then grabbed her holding her wings against her body as she flailed a bit in my grasp. “What are you doing?” She exclaimed as she struggled to get out of my grasp. After a few more seconds she gave up trying to struggle and calmed down. I then leaned down so that my mouth was next to her ear. “I’m going to pat you.” I whispered in her ear. Before she could respond I ran my hand through her mane occasionally scratching behind her ears as she slowly melted in my grip. “Huh weird Dash, I thought you said you didn’t want to be pet.” I said smugly. “I don’t want to be.” I then let go of Dash. “Huh what are you doing?” She said looking up at me with a confused look. “Well if you don’t want to be pet then you can go.” She then rubbed her hooves together. “So I’m guessing by you staying here you want to be pet?” “Yeah sure. But don’t tell anyone okay.” “Don’t worry I won’t tell anyone.” I said as I resumed my petting. Soon enough Pinkie and Fluttershy joined us. As soon as Pinkie saw me patting Dash she ran up to us. “Ryan can you please pat me to?” Pinkie said bouncing on the spot in front of me and Dash. I then removed Dash from my grip letting Pinkie replace her. “Okay Pinkie, how do you want to be pet?” I asked wanting her opinion. “Just like you were patting Dashie.” She said wriggling around in my grasp. “Well you’re going to have to sit still then.” She then stopped her motions. “Good.” I said bringing my hand to her poofy mane, despite the curls and poofiness of her mane my hand ran through it as easily as it did with Dash’s mane. Once I had begun running my hand through her mane, Pinkie decided to stretch herself out and started purring and nuzzling my hand like a cat would. After a while of us sitting under the tree enjoying the peace and quiet the sun had begun to set. It was then that I saw Trixie walking towards us. “Good evening Twilight and friends.” She said giving us a warm smile. “Hey Trixie, how’s it going.” I asked happy to see the mare. “Well I’ve been asleep for most of the day, so I can’t really complain.” She said with a small chuckle. By this point Pinkie had been replaced by Fluttershy who had fallen asleep thanks to the treatment my hands had given patting her. “Do you want a pat too Trixie?” I asked the mare. “No thank you Ryan.” She said giving me a forgiving smile. “Got it.” I said going back to slowly running my hand through Fluttershy’s mane. “So what’s gotten you to give us a visit Trixie?” I asked as Trixie took a seat next to Twilight who was still reading the Thaumonomicon. “Just coming to see if you and your friends are coming to dinner?” Twilight decided to speak up for me. “Yes we are Trixie.” I then looked from the duo to see that Moonlight had appeared in the gardens, and was approaching us with what looked like a cloaked unicorn walking beside her. As they got closer I noticed the purple eyes under the cloak as well as a chintinous hoof poke out from under the cloak. I then carefully removed Fluttershy from my lap as I decided to stand up and stretch. By this point Twilight and the others had taken notice of Moonlight, they all gave a curious gaze to Stealth as they hadn’t noticed who he was. “Hello Captain Moonlight.” Twilight greeted Moonlight once she got close enough. “Who’s your friend?” She asked looking at Stealth. “Mother Sol has asked me to introduce you all to our guest for dinner this evening.” She then turned to me. “I’m sure you can take care of him Ryan, also Nightblade will be keeping an eye on him. Just in case something happens.” “Got it. Thanks Moonlight.” I said as she headed back for the castle leaving Stealth with us. “Okay guys.” I said looking at the others as Fluttershy awoke from her nap. “I want you to remain perfectly calm.” I then moved to stand next to Stealth. “Well why wouldn’t we darling? It’s not like our guest is a CHANGELING!!” Rarity screamed the last part out as I removed the hood. The next thing I knew as Fluttershy hid behind Twilight, whilst Rarity pulled out her fainting couch, I saw a cyan blur out of the corner of my eye as I saw Stealth be tackled. I then turned around to see Dash with a hoof to Stealth’s throat. “Okay changeling what are you doing here!?” She spat at Stealth. Stealth then proceeded to do what any good changeling without magic would do in this situation. He brought his fore-hooves up to cover his face as he quietly whimpered. I then rushed over and pulled Dash off of him. “Dash what did I say about being calm.” I said into her ear my voice dripping with seriousness. I then placed her down next to the others as Rarity slowly recovered from her faint. I then walked over to Stealth and offered him a hand. “Need a hand?” He then placed a chintinous hoof in my hand as I pulled him back onto all four hooves. “Ryan what are you doing helping that changeling?” Twilight asked as I turned back to the others. “Wait a minute are you under a mind control spell!?” She exclaimed as her horn began to charge up. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Twilight I’m not under a mind control spell. Besides Stealth here wouldn’t be able to cast any spells, seeing as how he has an anti-magic ring on his horn.” I said gesturing to Stealth’s horn. “Wait he has a name?” AJ said as she slowly came out of her defensive stance. “Yes he does AJ. It’s better than calling him Drone#254.” “So he’s friendly?” Rarity asked. From the look on her face she was close to passing out again. “Well to a point.” I said clapping my hands together. “Well hiya Mr. Stealth.” Pinkie said as she trotted up in front of Stealth, causing him to reel back a bit at how close Pinkie had gotten to him. “Oh sorry I didn’t mean to scare you.” She said as she gave him an apologetic smile. After a few seconds Stealth slowly approached Pinkie holding a hoof out to her. He then let out a few chirps and clicks at Pinkie. Pinkie then gave him a confused look as he realized he accidentally spoke changeish instead of Equestrian. “Sorry about that.” He said as Pinkie shook his hoof. “No problamo Stealthy.” She said. She then turned back to the others. “His safe. Or else my Pinkie sense would be telling me he isn’t.” That still didn’t get the others to calm down though. “Hey Pinkie you think you could give Stealth here a hug?” I asked, getting a look of confusion from Pinkie before she gave a nod. “Make sure it’s honest.” I said as she pulled Stealth into a hug. As soon as Pinkie ended the hug she was pulled into another one by Stealth. “Thank you.” He said as he ended the hug. “You have no idea how much I needed that.” “Wait you needed a hug that badly? How come?” She asked. “Because Miss Pinkie you just saved me from starving to death.” Stealth admitted causing the ponies to wear looks of shock all accept Dash. “Wait a second you guys believe him?” Dash said looking at the others. “Dash he ain’t lyin’” AJ said looking from Dash to Stealth. “As the Element of Honesty I’d know if he was lying.” “Wait you’re telling the truth?” Dash said hovering in front of Stealth. “Yes I am. Us changelings require emotional food for our bodies to survive.” He then pointed a hoof at Pinkie. “And your friend there just saved my life.” “Well then if that’s true I guess I’m sorry for tackling you to the ground.” Dash said rubbing a hoof behind her neck. It was then that we were joined by Raven. “Good evening Ryan and friends.” She then paused when she saw Stealth. “Princess Celestia would like for you all to join her in the dining hall.” She said before making her way back to the castle. “Well then we best not keep Celestia waiting.” I said as we decided to follow Raven, Stealth remained at my side hoping to not catch the eyes of any guards. After a few minutes of walking we arrived in the dining hall. As soon as we got in the room Stealth let out a sigh of relief. “Good to see you arrived here without any problems.” Celestia said from the head of the table. “Yes it is good to hear that sister.” Luna said from her place at Celestia’s right. At the voice of the two princesses Stealth froze up in fear. I then decided to pick him up and seat him next to me. Silver Platter than appeared in a flash of silver as usual. After he took our orders he then looked at Stealth raising an eyebrow. “Would the changeling like anything to eat?” “He’ll have the garden salad.” I said. Silver than gave me a nod and was gone. After a few minutes Stealth had managed to come back to the world of the living, just as Silver returned with all of our meals. After placing down our meals and drinks he was gone again. “Um what happened?” Stealth said looking around the table, once his gaze landed on the princesses he started shaking. I then placed a hand on his shoulder. “Stealth, their not going to hurt you.” I then turned my gaze to the two sisters. “Are you?” “Of course not.” Celestia said. “Only if you give us reason to.” Luna said as she decided to take a bite from her salad. Causing Stealth to shake more. “Really Luna.” I deadpanned at her. “What I said only if he gives us good reason to hurt him.” I then decided to change tactics. “Stealth how about you have some salad.” I said holding his fork in front of him. After a few seconds of staring at the fork Stealth then grasped it with his hoof as he began eating his salad. After the first bite he then started eating the salad with more vigor. After a few seconds of Stealth loudly chomping and swallowing his salad, he left behind a clean plate a smile adorning his muzzle. This sight caused Celestia to let out a small chuckle. “Good to see somebody has enjoyed their dinner.” Celestia said, whilst Stealth froze up feeling Celestia’s gaze fall on him. Stealth then looked up from his dish to see that everyone at the table was taking glances at him. “Yes it was a wonderful meal.” He said making Celestia give him a warm smile. “Well then it seems that time has passed us by.” Celestia said looking out a nearby window. She then shared a look with Luna. Once the look was done Luna’s horn began to glow. After a few seconds I looked to my right to see that Nightblade had appeared out of thin air and was standing behind Stealth. “Lieutenant Nightblade if you would kindly escort Stealth her back to his cell.” Luna said gesturing to Stealth. “Of course Lady Noctis.” He said giving her a small bow. “Come now changeling let’s get you back to your room.” He said as Stealth got out of his seat. “Bye Stealth.” I said waving to the changeling as he was led out of the room by Nightblade. I then turned back to the princesses. “So how do you think dinner went?” I asked as Silver reappeared to take our dishes. “Well it did go smoother than I expected.” Luna said. “Yes. But I do wish he wasn’t so nervous around us.” Celestia said a small frown on her muzzle as she looked towards the door. The mane six then stood up from their seats. “Well thank you for having us for dinner Princess Celestia, unfortunately me and my friends need to get to sleep as we do need to catch the train back to Ponyville tomorrow.” Twilight said as they made their way to the door. “Of course Twilight, hope you have a good night’s rest.” Celestia said as they left. “Well then Trixie we best be off for our lesson. Ryan will you be joining us?” Luna asked. “Sorry but no I won’t be attending Luna. Also before you go can I please talk to you and Celestia for a moment.” I said, causing the two princesses to share a look before giving me a nod. “Trixie go to my chambers tell the guards that I sent you and also that they are to let you inside.” Luna said getting a nod from Trixie. As she made for the door I gave her a wave goodbye which she returned as she left the room. “So what is it you wish to tell us Ryan?” Celestia asked giving me an inquisitive look. “Well it’s about Stealth. I want to take him back with me and the others to Ponyville.” This managed to get looks of shock to plaster themselves on the sister’s faces. “How come Ryan?” Luna asked. “Because I have a plan.” I then turned my gaze to focus on Celestia. “I have a plan to find the changeling hive.” “Really and what would that plan be?” Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow. “Simple Tia, all it will involve is getting Stealth to trust me enough to take me to the hive. Once I’m there I’ll convince Chrysalis to come to Canterlot so we can form a peace treaty.” I explained. “And what makes you think she will listen to you?” Luna asked a hint of worry lacing her voice. “Well if the changeling hive was on the verge of starving before the invasion I highly doubt that she would pass up an opportunity to feed her hive.” Luna then gave a thoughtful nod at what I had said. “But it all rests on me taking Stealth back to Ponyville. But that will require him being able to have magic to disguise himself.” Celestia placed a hoof to her chin in thought. “I may have a few ideas to keeping Stealth in line.” She then fixed me with a serious expression. “Ryan, are you sure that this plan will work?” “Not 100 percent, maybe about 90 percent. But to answer your question yes I do think it will work. Also before you ask I will keep him in line.” “Alright then. Well I’ll have to put a few things together.” Celestia said as her horn began to glow momentarily. “Alright then Ryan, you’ll get your wish.” At those words I hopped out of my seat and ran up to Celestia giving her a hug. I then turned to Luna and gave her a hug as well, much to my surprise Luna’s wings wrapped around my back forcing me to hold the hug for a few more seconds. After she let me go I could see a blush adorning her muzzle. “Thanks you two. Well I better hit the hay have a good night.” I said as I left the room. “So that was your plan all along.” Orion said as I made my way towards me and Trixie’s room. ‘Yep.’ I thought back to him. ‘Hopefully everything will go to plan.’ “Yeah you’re definitely hoping they do, only so you can see Chrysalis again. Lover boy.” He whispered the last part to me. ‘Shut up!’ “I never will and you know that.” He said before falling into a cackling fit.