Foreign Relationships

by smirker

Sakoku

Humans lived isolated from the world and were ruled by a quadrupedal, three-headed creature named Volvox, he was a being who was thousands of years old, he befriended a demon named Dommiel during his early years of ruling over the humans, the two watched the humans and they decided that it would be best to enforce laws that would prevent foreigners from entering the country and natives from leaving it so they would be influenced by outside forces. Years passed and the humans in the country developed and there were no creatures around their land and every native who exited the country was killed, the top enforcer of the country was a human named Tom, he was elected through fighting and beating the other humans, he had tan skin, black eyes, and short black hair,

"I think we've evolved the country greatly, Volvox." Dommiel said,

"I agree, and no outside influences, I think we did great." Volvox replied,

"Yes, and I have snipers and assassins standing by in case anyone tries to enter or exit the country." Tom said,

"Good, I hope it stays like this." Volvox replied, an earthquake began and everything shook around,

"What is going on?" Dommiel asked, Volvox used his magic to see what was happening,

"Earthquake, we're shifting, brace for impact." Volvox said, and their country got shifted.

---

Equestria and the other countries shook from a giant earthquake and everycreature exclaimed as the world shook, the earthquake stopped afterwards,

"What was that?" Applejack asked,

"An earthquake? What caused it?" Starlight Glimmer asked, the others murmured as they wondered what caused the earthquake,

"Well, the volcanoes in the Dragon Lands have been a bit active recently." Spike said,

"And the seaponies are doing a lot of digging in Seaquestria." Silverstream said,

"Just Seaquestria, Silverstream?" Twilight Sparkle asked,

"Actually, no, seaponies are digging the ocean floor under the other countries, too." Silverstream replied,

"Hey, what is that?" Rainbow Dash asked as she looked north from the sky, the others looked and saw a new island in the sea that was to the northwest of Griffonstone,

"*gasp* A new country!" Pinkie Pie said,

"It must've shifted during the earthquake." Twilight Sparkle replied, they all looked and saw it was a small island with a bridge that led into the country and a moat around it, a gray brick wall with watchtowers was around the country, they all looked and saw humans on top of the wall, they were all wearing an all black one-piece outfit with gray armor all over it, it covered every single body part except their necks and heads, they also wore gray mid-calf length metal boots,

"What are those guys?" Spike asked,

"I don't know, but they look just like the creatures from Sunset Shimmer's world." Twilight Sparkle replied,

"Really?" Rainbow Dash asked,

"Yes." Twilight Sparkle replied,

"Come on, let's give them a welcome party." Pinkie Pie said, the others agreed and the Mane Six and Spike headed to the new country.

---

The Mane Six and Spike headed to the country with Twilight Sparkle's hot air balloon while the other creatures watched, the humans aimed their bows and guns at the hot air balloon, it landed on the island and the seven began walking to the bridge, but stopped and yelped when an arrow was shot in front of Twilight Sparkle's front right hoof,

"This country is off limits to foreigners." a female human said, the seven exclaimed with confusion,

"What do you mean off limits?" Twilight Sparkle asked,

"It is the laws of our country, any foreigner who enters will get the death penalty." a male human replied,

"What?! We cannot step hoof into your country?" Rarity asked,

"No, you may not." the female human replied,

"But we've got a welcome party for you guys." Pinkie Pie said,

"We're not attending it." the male human replied,

"Can we at least greet you guys?" Rainbow Dash asked,

"No." the female human replied,

"I want to at least see the animals." Fluttershy said,

"We don't have any." the male human replied,

"Come on, y'all, it wouldn't hurt to open yerselves to us and make some friends." Applejack said,

"We're fine just the way we are, now turn back, or face death." the female human replied,

"Oh, come on now, the other countries are watching, too, they might want to enter, too." Twilight Sparkle said,

"None of you can, any foreigner who enters our country will be executed." the male human replied, the other creatures exclaim with shock,

"Now go, or you seven will be executed on the spot." the female human said, and the Mane Six and Spike went into their hot air balloon and left,

"Oh, the nerve, I cannot believe stepping hoof into their land will lead to execution." Rarity said,

"Yeah, what are they thinkin'? We've never had a country around Equestria with a law like that." Applejack replied,

"Maybe it's to protect themselves or something, we'll just have to show them how welcoming we are." Twilight Sparkle said,

"Does that mean no welcome party?" Pinkie Pie asked,

"Not yet, Pinkie, we just have to win their trusts and show them we offer our friendship." Twilight Sparkle replied,

"So, what do we do?" Rainbow Dash asked,

"Let's wait for now and see how things go." Twilight Sparkle replied, and they went back to Equestria.

---

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna looked at the country,

"What do you think, sister?" Princess Luna asked,

"I can't say I like their laws about foreigners, if they don't drop it, they're going to start a war with the other less friendly countries." Princess Celestia replied,

"Shall we interfere?" Princess Luna asked,

"Not now, let's watch and see what happens." Princess Celestia replied, and the two walked away.

---

The Wonderbolts practiced flying around and were at an area where they could see what was behind the fortress wall around the new country, their curiosities got the best of them and the humans shot arrows and bullets at them, they yelped and exclaimed as they flew to dodge them,

"You all are in restricted airspace, divert course, or you will be shot down." Tom said through a megaphone, the Wonderbolts looked on with shocked expressions but decided to fly away. The hippogriff navy patrolled the seas and they were near the new country, their alarms went off and the hippogriffs were startled,

"Attention ships, this area is prohibited, divert course, or we will open fire." a female human said on a loudspeaker, the hippogriffs looked on with disbelief but sailed away. The humans and Tom continued watching the area around the country, Volvox realized that the creatures will continue flying around the skies to go on with their lives, so he used his magic to create a roof on the wall around the country so they do not see what was inside. Silverstream flew to the country and flew low so the humans do not see her, she arrived above the moat and changed into a seapony to enter it. Silverstream swam into the water and looked for an opening to enter the country, but the humans soon heard screaming in the moat and aimed their bows and guns, Silverstream flew out and fell onto the ground while screaming, she had cuts and pieces of broken glass stabbed into her body. Twilight Sparkle teleported to the island with her and Silverstream's friends to get her,

"You okay, Silverstream?" Sandbar asked,

"Begone, this island is off limits to all foreigners." a male human said,

"What is in that water?!" Rarity asked, objects floated up and everybody saw broken glass and sharp and rusty objects,

"What is the meaning of this?!" Rarity asked,

"They are to keep foreigners out." a female human replied,

"What about the fish?" Fluttershy asked,

"There are no animals in there." the female human replied,

"You hurt our friend." Ocellus said,

"She did it to herself." the male human replied,

"I just wanted to see what's inside the country." Silverstream said,

"Well, the answer's no, there's no opening in our wall for you to look through." the female human replied,

"We can't even have a peek?" Sandbar asked,

"No." the male human replied,

"Now go, or we will kill you all." the female human said,

"WHAT?! I'm a princess!" Silverstream said,

"Your royal title doesn't mean anything in our country." the female human replied,

"What?! I'm a princess, too, and I still can't enter?!" Twilight Sparkle asked,

"You're still a foreigner, and have to die." the male human replied,

"What?! That's ridiculous!" Twilight Sparkle said,

"It's the law, now go." the male human replied, and Twilight Sparkle teleported herself and the others back to Equestria.

---

The rulers of the other countries looked at the country and glared since they were already disliking their no foreigners policy, the flying creatures and ships went around the country and tried to avoid them since the humans were aiming bows and guns at anycreature who came near,

"That does it, I say we pay them a visit." Princess Ember said,

"Wait, Princess Ember, you'll be killed." a male dragon replied,

"I'm ready for that, I just like to have a word with them." Princess Ember said, and she flew to them,

"Excuse me." Princess Ember said, the humans aimed their long-ranged weapons at her,

"Wait, I come in peace." Princess Ember said,

"Doesn't matter, you're still on our country borders." a male human replied, Princess Ember groaned and flew back a little,

"I just want to talk with your country's ruler." Princess Ember said, a trapdoor on the roof around the country opened and Tom came out,

"You're the ruler?" Princess Ember asked,

"I'm just the spokesperson, I'll give your message to the ruler." Tom replied,

"Your no foreigners policy is affecting my country, we have to take longer and more dangerous routes for trading gems, I ask that you all lighten it up a little bit." Princess Ember said,

"We already did." Tom replied,

"What?" Princess Ember asked,

"The range of our no foreigners policy also applied to areas where the inside of our country could be seen, that was taken away when this roof was added, the law now only applies to our borders." Tom replied,

"What about the other countries around you guys before the earthquake shifted your country?" Princess Ember asked,

"There were no other countries around us." Tom replied,

"Wait. Seriously?" Princess Ember asked,

"Yes." Tom replied,

"Anyway, can you lighten it a bit so we can fly safe passages to trade our gems?" Princess Ember asked,

"How much do you want our policy to be lessened?" Tom asked,

"Just around your country and not the island." Princess Ember replied,

"Hold on, I'll go ask our country's ruler." Tom replied, and he opened a trapdoor on the fort's roof and went down into the country.

---

Volvox and Dommiel were in the throne room and watching the outside world with a white screen in front of them, Volvox sat on the floor while Dommiel stood to his right, Tom walked in and the two looked at him,

"I got a request from a neighboring country." Tom said,

"I heard, she wants the island around us to accessible." Volvox replied,

"What do you two say?" Tom asked,

"Well, I won't like it, but we might have to do what she says." Dommiel replied,

"What? You're just going to give in to her just like that?" Tom asked,

"Tom, we're already angering the neighboring countries, it's probably for the best, we might have to fight in a war against all of the other countries if we don't." Volvox replied,

"Oh, I see what you mean now, yeah, I don't want to fight them all either, we're greatly outnumbered." Tom said,

"See, there you go, I'll watch those underwater seahorses for now, I'll see if they'll want to dig for pearls and seashells." Volvox said,

"How far will the law be enforced now?" Tom asked,

"I think the law should be enforced at where the bridge and moat start." Dommiel replied,

"That sounds good, alright, the law about foreigners and natives will be enforced at the bridge and moat, I'll let the natives know." Volvox said, Tom nodded and he left.

---

Princess Ember flew in the air and waited, the trapdoor opened and Tom came out,

"We'll lessen the area where our policy takes place, you can fly around the island, but if you come to the bridge or moat, you will be in our country." Tom said,

"Alright, hold on, let's give it a try." Princess Ember said, and she flew back to inform the dragons. The dragons tried flying around the island and avoided flying over the moat and bridge,

"Alright, that's good enough, thanks." Princess Ember said, and the dragons flew around the country. The dragons flew and did trade with Equestria and gave their gems to the ponies for them to use however they saw fit, Tom and the humans aimed their bows and guns at any dragon who came close to their borders. The creatures continued with their days and the humans saw more seapony ships sailing around, they saw the hipppogriff navy had cannons on them and the humans aimed their weapons at them when those ships came near,

"Wait, we're just passing by, we mean no trouble." General Seaspray said, the humans put their weapons down and the hippogriff ships sailed through the ocean with no problem. Tom watched and saw the creatures of the world go on with their days, he saw several creatures look at their country out of curiosity but saw nothing. The humans on the watchtowers looked around and saw the griffons flying around their home, they aimed their bows and guns at them,

"You think something like that is going to scare us?" Grampa Gruff asked, Tom fired a rifle and the bullet went past Grampa Gruff's right ear, the griffons screamed and exclaimed since the loudness hurt their ears',

"Okay, we'll be going." Grampa Gruff said, and they flew farther away from the country and went to the Crystal Empire to give their scones to them as trade.

---

Volvox and Dommiel heard complaining outside and they exited their fortress,

"Alright, settle down, what is it?" Volvox asked,

"There's no sun coming in, we can't grow our crops." a male human replied,

"It's too dark to see anything." a female human said,

"I can't see inside my home." a second male human said, the humans complained more to Volvox,

"Alright, alright, hold on." Volvox said, and he made small holes appear for the gardens to grow,

"Thank you, Emperor Volvox." a third male human said,

"Alright, you're welcome, but remember to hide if the outside people try to peak through." Volvox replied,

"I wanna see what's outside." a male human child said,

"Now, now, there's no need to, we're fine just the way we are." a female human replied,

"Do the people look just like us?" a female human child asked,

"See for yourself." Dommiel replied, and he used his shadow magic to create shapes of what the creatures outside looked like, the humans gasped with awe,

"Are they quadrupedal?" a second female human child asked,

"All but one." Dommiel replied, and he showed her the shadow of a dragon,

"Can we see them in person?" a second male human child asked,

"You can see them flying by through the holes in the roof." Volvox replied, the children looked and saw the dragons, griffons, and hippogriffs fly by, they gasped in awe,

"Is there anything else you all need?" Volvox asked,

"Well, it's still a little cold with the sun blocked out." a third male human replied, Volvox used his hellfire magic to heat up the area,

"Thank you, Emperor Volvox, you have always did your best to look after us." the third male human said,

"Just doing my job, Dommiel and I will be in our fortress if you need us." Volvox replied, and the two walked back and the day went on with nothing else happening.

---

The next day came and the rulers looked at the country, they saw holes in the roof, and whoever tried to look through them had arrows shot at them,

"They still won't let anyone near." Shining Armor said,

"I know, their refusal to let anyone into their country is weakening Equestria's defenses." Princess Cadence replied,

"I still don't know what to do, I've never seen a foreigner-be-executed law before." Shining Armor said,

"None of us have, even Princess Celestia is shocked by it." Princess Cadence replied, Flurry Heart cooed and burbled,

"Calm down, Flurry Heart, we'll try to work something out." Princess Cadence said, and they watched and they fired arrows at any Pegasus, dragon, griffon, changeling, or hippogriff who tried to look into their country, the creatures watching from their native lands looked with disbelief.

---

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna flew to the island and landed, they walked forward and the humans aimed their guns at them,

"Wait, we have important things to say." Princess Celestia said,

"What is it?" Tom asked,

"Your refusal to allow foreigners into your land is weakening our country's defenses, it is powered by friendship, you all not allowing us to be your friends is making us vulnerable to threats." Princess Celestia replied,

"You're joking." a male human said,

"We're not." Princess Luna replied,

"Can't you just make do with what you currently have?" a female human asked,

"We're trying, but we're not comfortable with our country having weaker defenses, we would appreciate it if you all offered us your friendship." Princess Celestia replied,

"The law still stands, any foreigner who enters our country will be executed." Tom said,

"But we are the supreme rulers of the country to the southwest of here." Princess Luna replied,

"That doesn't matter, you're still a foreigner." Tom said,

"You're willing to execute a ruler or a figure of authority if they enter your country?" Princess Celestia asked,

"Yes." Tom replied,

"You do realize that I am the most powerful ruler here, executing me will result in war with the other countries." Princess Celestia said,

"Just stay out of our borders, and you'll be fine." Tom said,

"That's not what I mean, what I mean is your country will be destroyed, you all don't seem to have any magic of any kind." Princess Celestia said,

"We are only the first line of defense." Tom replied,

"Well, can we at least be on good terms with you all? For our country's defense reasons?" Princess Celestia asked,

"No." Tom replied,

"Why not?" Princess Luna asked,

"The no foreigners policy also means no relationships with other countries." Tom replied,

"Seriously?" Princess Luna asked, Tom nodded,

"Can we at least be on good terms with one another?" Princess Celestia asked,

"Being neutral is good terms for us." Tom replied,

"Neutral? We need your trust in order for our defenses to go back up." Princess Luna said,

"Then you're just going to have to adapt and get used to it." Tom replied,

"What? You refuse to..." Princess Luna said,

"Luna, that's enough, we won't win them over, let's just go back." Princess Celestia said, Princess Luna calmed down and the two flew away.

---

The Mane Six, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Young Six, Starlight Glimmer, and Spike all stood together and looked at the country,

"Ooohhhhh, this is making me so mad!" Pinkie Pie said while gritting her teeth together and pulling on her own mane,

"Pinkie, relax, I don't think we're going to be able to get them to open." Twilight Sparkle replied,

"But I wanna throw their welcome party." Pinkie Pie said,

"What do you think is behind their walls?" Sweetie Belle asked,

"We ain't sure, Sweetie Belle, it's anyone's guess." Applejack replied,

"There were problems earlier with the dragons delivering things here, we were forced to take new routes until they thankfully made the range of their laws shorter." Smolder said,

"I heard about the griffons having problems, too, some of them tried to see what was inside the country and those people there shot at them." Gallus replied,

"The hippogriffs had to redirect their sailing courses since they get worried when our warships go by." Silverstream said,

"Well, you guys do have cannons on those ships, so it's understandable." Starlight Glimmer replied,

"Didn't the Pegasi have problems, too?" Scootaloo asked,

"Yeah, the Wonderbolts almost flew over them and they opened fire." Rainbow Dash replied,

"Our defenses are down, too, if they don't accept friendship, our defenses will continue to be a little weaker." Twilight Sparkle said,

"I still wanna see what's inside." Pinkie Pie said,

"So, we're just gonna leave it at that?" Apple Bloom asked,

"I don't think we have much of a choice." Spike replied,

"Say, what have the yaks and changelings been doing with them?" Sandbar asked,

"King Thorax hasn't done anything yet, he's just watching." Ocellus replied,

"Yeah, Prince Rutherford not trust newcomers, so yaks just watch." Yona said,

"Wait, I see a birdie flying over them." Fluttershy said, they all watched, the birds flew over the countries and the humans just watched it,

"I guess animals can go over them just fine." Twilight Sparkle said,

"Ooh, this is splendid, Fluttershy can get the birds and flying bugs to report to her what they see inside the country." Rarity said,

"I was thinking the same thing, Rarity." Twilight Sparkle replied,

"Still, I can't say I like their outfits, it looks very unfashionable." Rarity said,

"Well, they are guardin' the country, so Ah think wearin' fancy clothin' would be the last thing on their minds." Applejack replied,

"Can you have your animals tell you what's in the country, Professor Fluttershy?" Silverstream asked,

"I'll try." Fluttershy said,

"Well, I guess we keep waiting for now." Twilight Sparkle said, and they watched the new country together.

---

The humans watched the area around them and the birds flew by, they saw hippogriffs flying by and some tried to look into the country, the humans aimed their bows and guns at them and they flew back,

"The people to the northwest of here are acting a little strange." a female human said, they looked and saw the yaks were looking at them and standing on wooden watchtowers,

"Yak cannot see what is in country, watchtower need to be bigger." Prince Rutherford said, and the yaks began building, a male human shot an arrow past Prince Rutherford's right ear and he yelped,

"Attempting to look into our country is punishable by death." the male human said, the yaks looked on with shock. Tom and the humans continued to patrol the area and it was noon, the humans went into trapdoors and went into the country while new guards came up, they watched the areas around them and they saw the birds fly around and look into their country while they flew around, the humans watched them and they flew around the country, the birds soon finished and flew away. The humans watched the sea and saw the marine life swimming around the island,

"Those animals acting strange to you?" a female human asked,

"A little." a male human replied, the marine animals swam around a little and soon left,

"Huh. That was strange." the female human said,

"It was, let's keep an eye out." the male human replied, and they and the other humans continued patrolling.

---

The birds flew back to Fluttershy's cottage while her friends stood behind her and waited for her to finish communicating with the birds, she finished and went to her friends,

"All they can see are gardens, they can't see anything else." Fluttershy said,

"What?" Rainbow Dash asked,

"Seriously?" Applejack asked, Fluttershy nodded,

"Maybe I should try to take a look." Ocellus said,

"I had the marine animals go and take a look, too, I'll ask them what they saw later." Fluttershy said,

"Why are we doing this again?" Rainbow Dash asked,

"Safety reasons, since we don't know what's behind those walls, they might have dangerous war weapons in there." Twilight Sparkle replied,

"So, what do we do now?" Apple Bloom asked,

"We wait, let's see what they do." Twilight Sparkle replied, and they continued to watch the country. Twilight Sparkle watched the country carefully and used her telescope at home to keep an eye on them, she saw the humans take turns patrolling their country and were on alert twenty four seven, Twilight Sparkle yawned and stopped watching, she laid in her bed and went to sleep.

---

The next day came and the ponies watched the country, a hippogriff ship crashed among the rocks of the new country and wounded hippogriffs drifted ashore onto the island. The injured hippogriffs laid on the ground in pain while the humans just stood and watched. Princess Skystar flew to the country while seaponies came and changed to hippogriffs and got the injured hippogriffs,

"Hey!" Princess Skystar said, the humans looked at her,

"You have injured people on your island." Princess Skystar said,

"Your point?" a male human asked,

"Why aren't you guys tending to them?" Princess Skystar asked,

"Injured foreigners are not our concern." a female human replied,

"WHAT?!" Princess Skystar asked,

"You heard us, anything bad that happens to anyone not native to our country will not receive our help." the female human said,

"You can't be serious!" Princess Skystar replied,

"She is, it doesn't matter if you come to us injured or sick, we will not offer our aid, even if you beg." Tom said,

"How did you guys manage to still be a country to this day?!" Princess Skystar asked,

"We help one another and love each other in the country, that's it." the male human replied,

"Wait until my mom hears about this." Princess Skystar said,

"I already did, Skystar." Queen Novo said as she flew to her,

"Can you believe these people, mom?!" Princess Skystar asked,

"As a matter of fact, I can, we didn't allow foreigners in our country, either." Queen Novo replied,

"So you all executed foreigners as well?" Tom asked,

"No, we'd show them the way out of the country, not kill them." Queen Novo replied,

"I still can't believe you all won't help sick and injured foreigners." Princess Skystar said,

"It's the law." Tom replied, Princess Skystar glared at him,

"Come on, Skystar, let's go." Queen Novo said, and the hippogriffs left. The humans looked around and saw the ponies and changelings glaring at them, the humans ignored them and continued watching the outside world, more birds flew by and the humans watched them, the birds flew back and forth and the humans watched, they saw the same type of bird flying over their country,

"Are they migrating?" a female human asked,

"It looks like it." another female human replied, and the birds continued to fly and went past the mountains into the Dragon Lands. The humans watched and two black birds flew from the Dragon Lands went to Equestria.

---

The two birds flew to Ponyville and went to Fluttershy and her friends, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, Princess Ember, Gabby, Prince Rutherford, and General Seaspray were also present, the two birds changed to King Thorax and Pharynx,

"Well?" Fluttershy asked,

"We can't see much, there's only holes in the roof to allow sun in for their gardens to grow." King Thorax replied,

"You guys didn't see the people inside?" Rainbow Dash asked,

"Nope, holes are too small to see past their gardens." Pharynx replied,

"Wait, how big are the gardens?" Applejack asked,

"They're actually kind of small." Pharynx replied,

"Well, considering the size of that kingdom there, I don't think there would be that many people there." Twilight Sparkle said,

"Considering that they are closed off to the rest of the world, I guess gardening is how they grow their food." Princess Luna said,

"It would make sense, considering they won't do trade with others." Princess Celestia replied,

"The princess was furious with them earlier today." General Seaspray said,

"Yes, I saw that, I am livid as well." Princess Celestia replied,

"I can't believe they would just leave us injured there, that is not very nice of them." Fluttershy said,

"I know, griffons do that, too, I'm tired of seeing it." Gabby replied,

"So, what can we do?" Smolder asked,

"There's not much we can do, we all know they have gardens inside and need the sun for it to grow, let's wait and see what they do next." Princess Luna replied,

"People shot arrow at yak for trying to see what was behind walls." Prince Rutherford said,

"We saw that, too, we might be going to war with them soon at this rate." Princess Cadence replied,

"I hope not, our country's defenses will lower even more if that happens." Princess Celestia said,

"Well, I guess all we can do is wait." Twilight Sparkle said, and they all went their separate ways.

---

The humans continued patrolling the area and they saw seaponies around their island and had pickaxes, they looked and saw them diving deeper into the water to where they could not be seen,

"What do we do, Tom?" a male human asked,

"Let's wait and see if they come back up." Tom replied, and they continued to watch their borders while the day went on as usual, they watched to see if the seaponies would come back up, they did not,

"I wonder what they're doing here." a female human said,

"Who knows, just as long as they don't do anything to us." a second male human replied,

"Let's keep watching and see if they come back." Tom said, and they did. The humans watched the waters and saw some seaponies come up to the surface with gems from under the water,

"Are those pearls?" a second female human asked,

"Looks like it." a third female human replied, and the seaponies changed to hippogriffs and flew back to Mount Aris with the pearls,

"I guess it'll be fine." Tom said,

"Yeah, I don't think them getting pearls under our water is going to affect us." a third male human replied,

"Alright, time to switch." Tom said, and they did, they watched their country's borders for the rest of the day and nothing happened.

---

The next day came and there was a commotion in the country, Volvox and Dommiel went outside to see what was going on,

"Stop! Thief!" a male human said, the thief laughed as he ran away and the country's guards chased him. The thief climbed up onto a roof of a house and he jumped and grabbed the ledge, he made it onto the roof of the walls and laughed as he ran forward and jumped onto the bridge, he ran away and a woman patrolling the country's border shot an arrow into his back and killed him. The countries around them screamed at what they did and Twilight Sparkle teleported herself and her friends to in front of the bridge,

"Excuse me!" Twilight Sparkle said, Tom and the others looked at her,

"What was that about?!" Twilight Sparkle asked,

"Laws of our country." a male human replied,

"Yeah, yeah, I get it, no foreigner gets into your country." Twilight Sparkle said,

"No native gets out, either." a second male human replied,

"WHAT?!" Rarity asked while the others looked on with shock and horror,

"They can't leave your country, either?!" Rainbow Dash asked,

"No, that is punishable by death as well." a female human replied, the Mane Six jaws' dropped,

"Excuse me." Princess Celestia said, they all looked up and saw her and Princess Luna coming, they landed on the island and walked forward,

"I'd like to have a word with your ruler, I can understand executing foreigners for entering your country, but executing your own people for leaving the country is something I will not allow." Princess Celestia said,

"It is the law, anybody who enters or exits our country has to die." Tom replied,

"What kind of law is that?! Why is there such a law for your country?" Princess Luna asked,

"The ruler doesn't want outside influence to change our ways." Tom replied,

"You all should be let out to see the world." Princess Celestia said,

"About that, there was nothing but water around us before the earthquake." the female human replied,

"Then how did you all know about other creatures?" Princess Celestia asked,

"Ships and airships." the first male human replied,

"I would like to speak to your ruler." Princess Celestia said,

"You address what you want to say to me." Tom replied,

"No! I demand an audience with your country's ruler!" Princess Luna said while she reeled up on her hind legs and slammed her front legs on the ground and raised her voice,

"No one sees the ruler." the first female human replied,

"What do you mean no one sees the ruler?!" Princess Luna asked while her raising her voice more and was just about to use her Royal Canterlot Voice,

"I'm his messenger, so just say what you have to say to me and I'll give it to him." Tom replied,

"I would like to speak to him directly, but I'd like to know why he doesn't want outside influence in his country." Princess Celestia said,

"So we can grow and develop without inference from others." Tom replied,

"Okay, I would also like to know why he has his people executed for going outside the country." Princess Celestia said,

"Same with the outside influence, it's so the natives don't bring it into our country." Tom replied,

"This sounds more like a prison to me." Princess Luna said,

"It's not, we can do pretty much anything we want inside." the first female human replied,

"Anyway, I suggest you all think of your ways, the other countries are not happy, either, take a look." Princess Celestia said, they did and saw the other countries glaring at them,

"Let's go, let's give them time to think." Princess Celestia said, and she and Princess Luna flew away while Twilight Sparkle teleported herself and her friends back.

---

The humans watched their borders and saw a female hippogriff child wash ashore onto their island,

"Help." the female hippogriff said weakly as she crawled forward, the humans saw she was anorexic and her stomach growled, the humans aimed their bows and guns at her,

"Turn back, this country is off limits to foreigners." a male human said,

"But I have nowhere else to go." the hippogriff replied,

"You have wings, don't you? Why don't you fly elsewhere?" a female human asked,

"They're injured, I can't, I lost my necklace to change to a seapony, too." the hippogriff replied,

"Where are your parents?" Tom asked,

"They're dead." the hippogriff replied tearfully,

"What about your home?" a second male human asked,

"It got burned down a week ago." the hippogriff replied,

"What was that ship you were on?" Tom asked,

"It was taking me to an orphanage, but it crashed and I have nowhere to go." the hippogriff replied, tears fell from her eyes and she crawled forward,

"Please, I'm begging you, let me stay here." the hippogriff said as she crawled forward, a female human shot an arrow beside her right talon and the hippogriff yelped,

"It doesn't matter if you're a child, injured, hungry, homeless, and an orphan, you're still a foreigner, so if you enter our country, we will have to kill you." the female human said,

"Can I at least have something to eat?" the hippogriff asked,

"Your problems are not our concern." the first male human replied, the other people in the countries exclaimed and gasped at what they said, and the rulers went to them with the yaks being carried over by dragons,

"How dare you refuse to help an injured and homeless child, you all should be ashamed of yourselves!" Princess Luna said,

"As we said, foreign problems are not our concerns." the female human replied,

"No! This is where I draw the line, I demand a word with your ruler!" Princess Celestia said while raising her voice,

"Do you all have to complain about everything?" Tom asked,

"Not just us, look around." Princess Luna replied, the humans looked and saw the other creatures around them,

"We are all tired of this no foreigners in your country and no natives outside your country law, along with your refusals to help foreigners in need when they come to your country." Princess Celestia said,

"What problems have you all had?" Tom asked,

"We are forced to change our trade routes to avoid getting shot at." Dragon Lord Torch replied,

"You all have made the griffons scared to fly by." Grampa Gruff said,

"We have to change course of our ships and are scared of getting gems and jewels from under the water around here." Princess Skystar said,

"We are scared to go around here and my kind has been avoiding this area so we are not shot at." King Thorax said,

"My kind and I are too scared to even go near this place, but this is something we can't ignore." Rain Shine said,

"My empire and the rest of Equestria cannot fly through this area peacefully anymore, we even had to change the direction our train takes to get to Griffonstone because of you guys." Princess Cadence said,

"See, there you all go, we'd like to speak to your ruler." Princess Celestia said,

"Hold on." Tom replied, and he went into the country.

---

Tom entered the country and walked into the fortress where Volvox and Dommiel were at,

"The outsiders would like to see you two." Tom said,

"The answer's no." Volvox replied,

"Really? They're not happy." Tom said,

"We know that, and you know the laws, no foreigners see the ruler." Dommiel replied,

"Well, they're not going to be happy, but okay." Tom said, and he left.

---

Tom went back out and the others looked at him,

"The ruler said he's not coming out." Tom said, the other creatures began yelling and complaining loudly and angrily and Discord appeared in the air,

"How persistent, your ruler still refuses to see them and causes chaos with your laws, I must say, I like this." Discord said, and he disappeared and appeared on the bridge,

"Hello, my good people, my name is Discord, and I am here to enter your country." Discord said, the humans shot their arrows and bullets at him, they went through him and into the bridge, the other creatures covered their own ears' due to how loud the guns were, Discord laughed at them,

"Nice try, but that's not going to work on me." Discord said,

"Volvox, Dommiel, we've got a supernatural entity." Tom said, Dommiel used his shadow powers from inside the country and made everycreature's shadow move up and form into a giant black creature with no lower body, the creatures looked on with awe. The shadow creature smashed Discord with its hand and Discord teleported above it unharmed,

"Oh please, is that really your best defense?" Discord asked, Volvox used his powers and hellfire appeared around the country and burned Discord while the others stepped back, the flames extinguished and Discord was still unharmed,

"Pathetic, really, now to show you what I can do." Discord said, and he snapped his finger and thumb and made the country's walls and roof disappear. The humans on the watchtowers fell to the ground while the humans inside the walls grabbed their bows and guns from their homes while Dommiel and Volvox got ready to attack Discord, everycreature saw the inside of the country was full of gardens and homes were made from gray bricks, the males wore tonics and leggings while the females wore dresses,

"Wait, everyone, stand down." Volvox said in a booming and echoing voice, everycreature stared at him with bewilderment because he was quadrupedal and had three heads and a tail while everybody else in the country were bipedal and had one head and no tail,

"But Volvox." a male citizen from his country said,

"Look around you, we're outnumbered." Volvox said, the humans saw how many people there were and lowered their weapons,

"I assume you're the ruler." Princess Celestia said,

"What do you want?" Volvox asked,

"I want this no foreigners policy of yours lifted, it has given us nothing but trouble." Princess Celestia replied,

"No can do, I still don't wish for outside cultures to influence my own country's." Volvox said,

"But you might learn some new and interesting things." Princess Skystar said,

"Nope, still not opening our borders." Dommiel replied,

"But Dommiel." a female citizen from Volvox's country said,

"Relax, I'll get another wall up later." Volvox replied,

"No, keep it down, we are paranoid you have dangerous weapons with that wall up." Princess Celestia said,

"Take a look around." Volvox replied, and the creatures only saw him, Dommiel, the humans, houses made from gray rocks, and gardens to grow food,

"See, there you go, I don't have any hidden weapons or anything." Volvox said,

"I'd still like for you to keep your walls down." Princess Celestia replied as she looked up at Volvox's three heads since he was a head taller than she was,

"Wow, for the way you look, you're kind of small." Rainbow Dash said,

"This isn't my regular size, I can change at will, I am much bigger than this." Volvox replied,

"Keep your walls down, and no more executing your own people for leaving the country." Princess Cadence said,

"If we don't?" Dommiel asked,

"Yaks declare war!" Prince Rutherford replied,

"All of us will as well." King Thorax said,

"Alright, you guys win, leave now, I have to make new laws." Volvox replied, and the creatures left and Queen Novo took the hippogriff child with her.

---

Volvox gathered his citizens together and he began to go over the new laws,

"Alright, everyone, we have to help whoever comes here now if they need it since the other countries will be angry if we don't, also, due to their anger of our laws, we can no longer kill anyone who exits the country." Volvox said,

"What do you suggest?" Tom asked,

"Simple, if you leave, you'll be exiled and have to live elsewhere, but if you come back, then you will die, how does that sound, everyone?" Volvox asked, the humans nodded and murmured in agreement,

"What about outsiders?" a female human asked,

"Law still stands, any outsider who comes to our country will still die, are you all okay with that?" Dommiel asked, the humans nodded while smiling,

"No, that won't do, we'll be at war if we do that, we'll have to find a way to block them from coming in." Volvox said,

"So what do we do about them?" a second female human asked,

"I'll just set up walls for now, let's keep the moat, too." Volvox replied, the humans agreed,

"Okay, I think it's good, no more killing foreigners for entering our country, but they will be told to leave instead, no more killing natives for exiting our country, they'll be exiled, but will be killed if they come back, and our laws on crime still stand." Dommiel said, the humans nodded in agreement,

"Alright, it's decided then." Volvox said, and he used his magic to make the wall reappear and the guards continued to patrol the country.

---

The humans watched the world around them and saw everything go on normally, Twilight Sparkle teleported to their island,

"No!" Twilight Sparkle said, the humans looked at her,

"You all were supposed to change your laws!" Twilight Sparkle said,

"We did." Tom replied,

"What did you guys change?" Twilight Sparkle asked,

"We'll help whoever comes ashore, natives will be exiled if they leave the country, they'll be killed if they come back, and foreigners are still not permitted to enter." a female human replied, Twilight Sparkle's jaw dropped,

"No! You're not supposed to execute anyone!" Twilight Sparkle said,

"You won't be executed for coming into our country now, you'll likely just be put in the dungeon." Tom replied,

"Why won't you guys let us in?" Twilight Sparkle asked,

"We just don't want any outside influences and wish to remain completely neutral." Tom replied,

"You guys don't want any tourists?" Twilight Sparkle asked, Tom and the other border patrol guards shook their heads,

"You guys could at least try giving friendship a try, take a look around." Twilight Sparkle said,

"We already did." a male human replied,

"Don't those acts of kindness and friendliness want you all to open your borders?" Twilight Sparkle asked, the humans shook their heads,

"Come on, guys, there are other creatures who want to come here to learn about your culture." Twilight Sparkle said,

"The ruler is still thinking about what to do if they do come." Tom replied,

"He should allow them in, we all would appreciate it, too." Twilight Sparkle said,

"The answer's no." Tom replied,

"Come on, everybody, you all could get some valuable materials and resources if you open your borders." Twilight Sparkle said,

"Is that all?" a female human asked,

"No, you all can make friends and learn history." Twilight Sparkle replied,

"Which part of history?" Tom asked,

"All parts, each country has a different history, you can share yours, too." Twilight Sparkle replied,

"No thanks." a second female human said,

"Well, what about trying new food?" Twilight Sparkle asked,

"We're fine with what we got." Tom replied,

"Aren't you all tired of eating the same thing over and over?" Twilight Sparkle asked, the humans shook their heads,

"Uh... how about...?" Twilight Sparkle asked,

"Try to persuade us all you want, you're not coming into our country." Tom said, Twilight Sparkle growled and walked onto the bridge, Volvox sensed her and picked her up with his telekinesis and she struggled to break free while she yelped and exclaimed, he used his magic to make a wooden post appear on the island with a gibbet hanging from it, Volvox put Twilight Sparkle in the gibbet with his telekinesis and the iron rods went into her mouth to silence her and around her horn so she could not use her magic. Twilight Sparkle let out muffled yells of protest through the iron rod in her mouth,

"I guess the ruler has finally decided what to do with foreigners who enter the country." a second female human said,

"Yes, I think it's a good idea." a second male human replied, the other guards nodded while smiling, another teleportation happened and Starlight Glimmer appeared with her friends,

"Let our friend go!" Rainbow Dash said,

"She broke the laws of our country, so she must face punishment." Tom replied,

"This is punishment?! Having her bound and gagged in a cage?!" Rarity asked,

"It's a gibbet, we use it to punish criminals." the first female human replied,

"What kind of jail is that?! They can't breathe in that!" Rainbow Dash said,

"That's kind of the point." Tom replied,

"Let our friend out." Starlight Glimmer said,

"After she serves her sentence." Tom replied,

"How long will that take?" Applejack asked, Tom went back into his country and soon came back,

"Five more minutes." Tom replied, five minutes passed and Volvox made the gibbet disappear with his magic and Twilight Sparkle gasped for her while she fell to the ground and her friends went to her,

"You people are not nice." Fluttershy said,

"What kind of jail is that? I can't breathe in that thing!" Twilight Sparkle said,

"It's designed to asphyxiate you, be grateful we didn't kill you." the second female human replied, Twilight Sparkle's jaw dropped,

"Come on, Twilight, let's get you home." Starlight Glimmer said, and she teleported herself and her friends back to the Castle of Friendship.

---

Twilight Sparkle rubbed her own mouth and horn while her friends comforted her, Spike got ice to make the red spots around Twilight Sparkle's mouth go down a little,

"What do we do now?" Applejack asked,

"I don't know, I'm out of ideas." Twilight Sparkle replied with a lisp,

"I can try giving them their welcoming party." PInkie Pie said,

"Ah don't think so, Pinkie Pie, they'll likely put ya in one of them cages as well." Applejack replied,

"Consider who you're talking to, I'll get out of it in a jiffy." Pinkie Pie said,

"Well, I guess it's worth a try, I still can't think of anything else to do." Twilight Sparkle said while still lisping,

"Okay, off I go." Pinkie Pie said, and she dashed away.

---

The humans patrolled their borders and watched for anything,

"Excuse me." Pinkie Pie said, they looked down at the bridge and saw Pinkie Pie on the grass with her wagon and party cannon,

"Can I at least throw you all your 'Welcome to Equestria' party?" Pinkie Pie asked,

"Try to persuade us all you want, you're not coming in." Tom said,

"No, it's just a party, I'll throw it out here." Pinkie Pie said,

"We'll be exiled from our country if we leave." a female human replied,

"Can you make an exception this time, I got plenty of things for everybody." Pinkie Pie said, Volvox changed his size and became as tall as Dragon Lord Torch, he looked and saw Pinkie Pie's party items while she smiled,

"No." Volvox said, Pinkie Pie frowned while her mane and tail deflated a little,

"Don't take it too hard, we're just not going." Volvox said,

"What about you guys?" Pinkie Pie asked, the humans shook their heads, Pinkie Pie looked down and walked into the water while Volvox, Tom, and the guards watched her.

---

Twilight Sparkle and her friends waited for Pinkie Pie to come back and she walked into the castle with her entire body wet from going into the water,

"How'd it go?" Applejack asked,

"They said no." Pinkie Pie replied,

"That's it, I'm out of ideas." Twilight Sparkle said,

"Twilight, darling, take a break, maybe something will pop into your head." Rarity replied,

"Yeah, you should, you don't look well." Starlight Glimmer said, Twilight Sparkle looked at herself at a reflection on her castle's wall and saw she had bloodshot eyes with bags under them,

"Yeah, *yawn*, I should rest, you all should, too." Twilight Sparkle said, and she went to sleep while her friends left.

---

The next day came and the guards were going up into the watchtowers to patrol their country, a drunk male guard came up and walked and stumbled around, he moved side-to-side and fell into the moat. The humans ran to get him out but Twilight Sparkle, her friends, Spike, Starlight Glimmer, and the Young Six appeared on their island. Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer used their telekinesis to get the human out of the moat and the others began treating his wounds, they took the glass and rusty metal shards out of his body and put disinfectant on his cuts and bandaged him up. The creatures finished treating the injured human and Twilight Sparkle put him up into the watchtower he was in prior to falling with her telekinesis,

"Here you all go." Twilight Sparkle said, the humans aimed their bows and guns at them,

"Hey! What gives?!" Rainbow Dash asked,

"Our country is still off limits to foreigners." Tom replied,

"We just saved the life of one of your citizens." Ocellus said,

"That doesn't mean we're opening our borders." a female human replied, the creatures all protest and complain to them loudly and angrily,

"Complain all you want, the answer's no." Tom said,

"A thank you would be nice!" Silverstream said angrily,

"He brought that accident onto himself." a male human replied,

"How so?" Fluttershy asked,

"Just look at him, he's drunk, he's been drinking on the job." the male human replied,

"We still saved his life, you guys owe us." Twilight Sparkle said,

"Why?" the female human asked,

"That's how things first, we help one of you, and then you help us in return, it's called repaying favors." Twilight Sparkle replied,

"The answer's no." the female human said,

"Come on now, we just helped you guys." Sandbar said,

"Then leave already, before we put you all in gibbets." the female human replied, the creatures complained while Rarity growled,

"Come on, everyone, let's go, it's no use." Twilight Sparkle said, and she teleported herself and the others away.

---

Twilight Sparkle and the others arrived back in Ponyville and her friends groaned and growled angrily,

"How rude! They didn't even thank us for helping them!" Rarity said,

"I know, right, I say we declare war on them." Gallus replied,

"No, Equestria's defenses will lower even more if that happens." Twilight Sparkle said,

"But our country's defenses won't, I say we fight them." Smolder said,

"Yona agree, yaks should declare war!" Yona said,

"Everybody, calm down." Twilight Sparkle said, they looked at her,

"I know you all are mad, but we should calm down and wait to see what happens, there's really nothing we can do right now but leave them be." Twilight Sparkle said,

"Seriously? You've seen how small their country is, we can destroy them." Smolder replied,

"Maybe, but you've seen how powerful the two rulers are, just because the country is small doesn't mean it's weak." Twilight Sparkle said,

"Come on now, I think a cannon from a hippogriff navy ship will destroy that wall." Gallus replied,

"I think so, too, but I really don't want to go to war with them." Silverstream said,

"Me neither, they haven't attacked us, either." Ocellus replied,

"But their laws have affected all of us, and for the worse." Sandbar said,

"Give it time, everycreature, let's just wait and see what happens." Twilight Sparkle replied,

"Fine, but one more disagreement between them, and the dragons are going to war." Smolder said,

"So are the griffons, Griffonstone's had enough of them." Gallus replied,

"Yaks will go, too, after yak figures out way across water." Yona said,

"Go home and cool off for now, everycreature, we'll just leave them be for now." Twilight Sparkle replied, and they all left. Pinkie Pie walked around the town for sometime and made sure every foal was alright, she watched the time and was waiting for a certain time to come to go back to the country, she watched the sun and a few hours passed while she worked at Sugarcube Corner, she got her wagon and party materials and walked out of Ponyville.

---

A few hours passed and the humans switched guards, they saw the water bubbling and Pinkie Pie walked out with her wagon, she went to the country,

"I'm here to see the person who fell." Pinkie Pie said,

"Why?" a female human asked,

"I want to throw his 'Get Well Soon' party." Pinkie Pie replied,

"Take your things elsewhere." a male human said,

"But I got cards and cake." Pinkie Pie replied,

"Take those with you." the female human said,

"Oh, come on, I've got medicine for him, too." Pinkie Pie replied,

"Keep it to yourself." the male human said,

"Let me in! Please!" Pinkie Pie replied,

"No." the female human said, Pinkie Pie put her head down and her front legs over her face and began to cry,

"I wanna enter." Pinkie Pie said,

"You can if you wish to be put in a gibbet." the male human replied while Pinkie Pie continued to cry. Pinkie Pie cried her eyes out and soon finished,

"You leaving now?" the female human asked,

"I still wanna make sure he's okay." Pinkie Pie replied,

"You're just going to have to wait until his next shift comes." the female human said, Pinkie Pie frowned even more,

"Can I at least see him now to make sure he's okay?" Pinkie Pie asked,

"No." the female human replied, Pinkie Pie's jaw dropped a little,

"Can you at least let him know I send my regards?" Pinkie Pie asked,

"Empathy from foreigners is not welcome in our country." the male human replied, Pinkie Pie screamed out of shock and cried again,

"No!" Princess Celestia said as she flew to them from her castle, she landed on the island and walked to them,

"You dismiss the concerns of one of my citizens for yours! I will not stand for this!" Princess Celestia said sternly,

"It's the law." the male human replied,

"No! You are in our land! This place is powered by love and friendship, your refusal to accept a foreigner's concern is unacceptable!" Princess Celestia said very sternly,

"What are you getting at?" the female human asked,

"You all refuse to thank the others for saving one of your people, and dismissing another person's concern for them is not right! I would like a few words with your ruler!" Princess Celestia replied, Volvox grew himself bigger to see her while Dommiel made two black shadow wings appear on his back and he flew up to see her while Tom came out and went onto a watchtower,

"What is it?" Volvox asked,

"I would like for you to let my subject here in to see an injured subject of yours." Princess Celestia replied,

"Why?" Dommiel asked,

"How can you all not see her concern and desire to make sure the person is alright?" Princess Celestia asked,

"I do, but I still don't wish for outside influence in my country." Volvox replied,

"Even when it's beneficial?" Princess Celestia asked,

"Have you ever influenced countries for the better?" Volvox asked,

"Take a look, my student and her friends have changed many places for the better." Princess Celestia replied, Volvox looked and saw the ponies helping the other creatures and making them friendlier with others,

"See. Why don't you give us all a chance and show you that friendship with us can be helpful?" Princess Celestia asked,

"What do you say, Volvox?" Dommiel asked, Volvox looked and saw the dragons and griffons were ready to attack and declare war on him if he refused,

"Let's give it a try." Volvox said, the humans looked at him and exclaimed with confusion, Princess Celestia became suspicious and looked around,

"Stand down, everycreature, no violence." Princess Celestia said, the dragons and griffons did not,

"*sigh* They're not going to stand down, I wish you all good luck, Pinkie, go get your friends." Princess Celestia said, and she flew away while Pinkie Pie dashed to Ponyville.

---

Twilight Sparkle and her five friends went to the island while Volvox took the walls down and they entered,

"Alright, everyone, we'd like to see that injured person first." Twilight Sparkle said, and the humans went to go get him, the man limped to them while the six mares went to him,

"Are you alright?" Fluttershy asked, the man nodded, she looked at his cuts and saw they were not deep and were healing,

"Wow, you're healing quickly, you'll be fine in no time." Fluttershy said, and the humans carried him away. The six mares walked forward and saw the gardens,

"Y'all havin' trouble growin' food?" Applejack asked, the humans shook their heads,

"Let me see the soil, though, Ah might be able to give y'all better soil." Applejack said, and she walked to a garden, she examined the soil and saw it was dark brown,

"Yeah, Ah might be able to give y'all better soil." Applejack said, and they walked around more. Rarity looked at the humans and paid attention to their outfits, which she did not like,

"I must say, you all need more diversity in your outfits, you all can use more than just tonics and leggings, and you all should wear more diverse dresses, I shall prepare them when I have the time." Rarity said, the humans looked at her with confusion, they walked around more and Rainbow Dash looked around, she saw kids running around and playing tag, she saw more kids playing with jacks, and other kids playing hopscotch,

"Wow, I guess they don't have much things to do for fun." Rainbow Dash said, she also looked at the guards and saw they all wore the same outfit. Pinkie Pie left the group and looked around to see what sweets they made, she saw only fruits,

"*gasp* You guys don't have any pies?" Pinkie Pie asked as she looked around, she looked at the sweets and desert and saw only fruits and nuts, she left and came back with her cakes and pies,

"Here you go, everybody, enjoy." Pinkie Pie said, the humans did not pay attention to her,

"Come on, everybody, they're yummy in the tummy." Pinkie Pie said, the humans still ignored her, she looked down and walked away. Twilight Sparkle looked around for books and did not see any, she looked and soon saw cookbooks and history books,

"You guys don't have many books, I see." Twilight Sparkle said as she looked around and the humans ignored her, she went to a child she saw reading a book and he looked at her,

"What are you reading?" Twilight Sparkle asked, the boy showed her and Twilight Sparkle saw the book was a fairy tale,

"Oh, I have books like that, too, would you like one?" Twilight Sparkle asked, the boy shook his head,

"Understandable since we're new here, maybe you'll change your mind after you read one." Twilight Sparkle said, and she walked around. The six mares looked around while the humans ignored them,

"Okay, I think we can win them over, let's try helping them tomorrow, come on, let's go home, it's late." Twilight Sparkle said, and she teleported herself and the other five back to Ponyville.

---

The humans complained to Volvox, Dommiel, and Tom about the decision to let them in,

"Settle down, everybody, those other countries were going to attack us if I didn't open our borders, we're greatly outnumbered." Volvox said,

"But how powerful are they militarily?" a male human asked,

"We don't know, and even if they're weak, they can still overwhelm us in numbers." Dommiel replied,

"That horse country doesn't look too strong." a female guard said,

"Look again." Volvox replied, and the humans did, they saw the ponies had control over the weather, various magic spells, royal guards, the Wonderbolts, and Discord causing chaos,

"See? Going to war against them is unwise, it'd be better to just let them in so the other countries don't go to war with us." Volvox said,

"I don't like this new change." a second female human said,

"None of us do, but we have to, we don't have a choice." Dommiel replied,

"Let's wait for now and see if our feelings change later." Tom said, the humans became silent and decided to go on with their days while Volvox and Dommiel entered their fortress.

---

The next day came and Twilight Sparkle teleported herself and her friends to the island with their items and they went to go see them, Twilight Sparkle saw the boy from before and showed a collection of books,

"Here you go, pick the one you like the most." Twilight Sparkle said, the boy chose a purple book and opened it and he saw it was a picture book with words on it,

"Can you read it?" Twilight Sparkle asked, the boy nodded, Twilight Sparkle smiled and the boy read the book while she watched. Rainbow Dash flew around and looked for something to do for fun, she saw the kids playing tag and with jacks while the adults conversed and got on with their days, Rainbow Dash flew around and did stunts for whoever would be interested and a bunch of kids went over to watch her, they gathered around and watched in awe as Rainbow Dash did aerial stunts, a few adults watched her as well while Rainbow Dash smiled and had fun. Fluttershy tended to the babies since there were no animals in the country, she sang lullabies to crying babies and they calmed down, the female humans watched her and smiled while Fluttershy sang and her voice soothed many humans,

"Do you all have any songs you all like to sing?" Fluttershy asked, the humans looked at one another,

"Umm...?" the humans asked,

"You all don't have any music to sing?" Fluttershy asked, the humans shook their heads,

"That's okay, I have more songs to sing." Fluttershy said, and she sang more lullabies while the humans listened. Pinkie Pie hopped around and gave the humans her confectioneries and they tried them,

"What do you all think?" Pinkie Pie asked, the humans nodded while smiling,

"Goodie, I'll get your welcoming party ready soon." Pinkie Pie said, and she dashed away while the humans continued trying her confectioneries. Rarity brought dresses to the country and females looked at them with interest,

"One at a time now please, there's enough for everybody." Rarity said, and the females looked at the dresses and admired the patterns and stitching, Rarity continued to show them the dresses and eventually began showing the females shoes,

"Here you all go, I have many different colors, shapes, and sizes, take whichever one you like the best." Rarity said, and the females continued looking at her outfits. Applejack was giving the humans new soil to use to grow crops with,

"Here y'all go, fresh soil from mah farm, give it a few months and Ah think y'all will like the results." Applejack said, the humans took the soil and began putting on the ground and began plowing it to make it suitable for using to grow crops. Applejack looked and saw the humans had carrots, corn, pumpkin, squashes, and tomatoes as crops,

"Y'all need help?" Applejack asked, the humans shook their heads and Applejack walked away. Twilight Sparkle and her friends gathered together and watched the humans,

"Well, Ah think we're done here for today." Applejack said,

"It went pretty well for a first day for me, how about you guys?" Twilight Sparkle asked,

"Yup, I had an awesome time doing tricks for them." Rainbow Dash replied,

"I'm able to calm and soothe babies when they cry, it was so fun to do." Fluttershy said,

"I gave my treats to them and they loved them." Pinkie Pie said,

"My clothes are already getting attention, I think this will be very beneficial." Rarity said,

"They're already usin' my soil, Ah'll see how their crops grow after a few days." Applejack said,

"Okay, good, we're off to a good start, let's come back tomorrow." Twilight Sparkle said, and she teleported herself and her friends back to Ponyville.

---

A week passed and the Mane Six continued helping others, Twilight Sparkle gave the humans books for them to read, Rainbow Dash did stunts, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie tended to the children, Rarity gave her clothes to them, and Applejack watched the soil,

"Look." a male human said, they did and saw the crops grew faster and bigger in Applejack's soil than their own soil,

"See, Ah told y'all it would work." Applejack said, and they continued tending to their crops. The humans went to Volvox, Dommiel, and Tom and talked about the foreigners,

"Alright, everyone, settle down, what is it?" Volvox asked,

"These foreigners are actually pretty helpful to have around." a male human child replied, the humans murmured in agreement,

"Yes, we noticed, but what is it you all want?" Dommiel asked,

"We'd like the foreigners policy removed." a male human replied, the other humans agreed,

"You all sure?" Tom asked, the humans said they were,

"Alright, it's decided, it'll be removed since majority rules, those of you who don't want it removed, you may go to another country or continue living here." Volvox said, the humans who did not want the no foreigners policy removed nodded,

"Alright, I'll let the others know." Volvox said, and he grew in size, the creatures looked at him,

"It's been decided, we'll remove the policy about the foreigners, you all can come." Volvox said, the other creatures cheered,

"Hold on, I'm not done yet." Volvox said, and they got quiet,

"Those who don't want it removed may leave my country, so natives can exit, too, just keep that in mind if they decide to leave my country. That is all." Volvox said, and he shrunk back down to the size he stayed at while the world's creatures cheered,

"Alright, let's see how things go." Volvox said, and they waited to see what would happen.

---

The next day came and the other creatures were in their country already, they saw the creatures going around and a new pony they did not recognize,

"Is this the country?" Sunset Shimmer asked,

"Yeah, they would execute foreigners for entering their countries and natives for exiting it, they removed the policy yesterday." Twilight Sparkle replied,

"I learned there was a country with a similar policy or law in my world many years ago, I forgot which country it was, though." Sunset Shimmer said,

"Your world had it, too?" Twilight Sparkle asked,

"Yeah, I'm surprised to see it in this world, though." Sunset Shimmer said,

"Well, it's gone, so let's look around." Twilight Sparkle replied, and they did. Volvox watched the foreigners and he saw how excited the foreigners were to enter,

"Hi there." a female voice said, Volvox looked down at the creature,

"My name is Autumn Blaze, and your country looks kind of boring to me, I was hoping you would hire a jester like me to spice things up a bit." the creature said,

"Sorry, but I'm not hiring anyone right now." Volvox replied,

"Oh, I see, well, come see me if you change your mind." Autumn Blaze said, and she walked around,

"Hey, King Volvox." Silverstream said as she flew to him,

"It's Emperor Volvox." Volvox replied,

"I was thinking that you should add some statues and decorations to your country." Silverstream said,

"Why?" Volvox asked,

"Because it's so boring the way it is, everything is made from stone, it's all one color, and there's only grass and gardens here." Silverstream replied,

"Your point?" Volvox asked,

"I think some decorations and paint will attract some tourists." Silverstream replied,

"I have no interest in tourism." Volvox said,

"But don't you want more creatures to come and check out your country?" Silverstream asked,

"That's their choice, if they want to, they can come if they wish." Volvox replied,

"But tourists will also want to learn your culture." Silverstream said,

"You can see our culture from your homes." Volvox replied,

"No, not that, I mean as in holidays and celebrations." Silverstream said,

"We don't have any." Volvox replied,

"What? What about your own birthday?" Silverstream asked,

"That's not a holiday." Volvox replied,

"Well, you should add something, it'll make visiting this country better." Silverstream said,

"I'll think about it." Volvox replied, Silverstream smiled and flew away. Volvox watched the foreigners and streamers went off,

"Welcome to Equestria, every... um... uh... what are you creatures called?" Pinkie Pie asked,

"Humans." Tom replied,

"Welcome to Equestria, everyhuman." Pinkie Pie said, and the party began, everybody joined in while Pinkie Pie made the humans try her treats and games,

"Say, where were you guys before the earthquake happened?" Twilight Sparkle asked,

"Very far up north from here." Tom replied,

"Yeah, very far, you couldn't even see our country from the northernmost part of these lands and high up in the sky." Dommiel said,

"Wow, you guys were that far away from here?" Sunburst asked,

"Yup, we couldn't see you guys, either." Volvox replied,

"And there ain't anycreature else up there?" Applejack asked,

"Nope, just us." Volvox replied,

"Then why do you guys have a moat?" Smolder asked,

"That to prevent natives from getting out the country." Tom replied,

"Well, you all should remove all of those sharp objects and rusted materials, I think it would make a great swimming pool." Twilight Sparkle said,

"What do you two say?" Volvox asked,

"I don't think we have a choice." Dommiel replied,

"Yeah, probably not." Tom said,

"Alright, another time." Volvox said, the creatures seeing him smiled and walked away. Pinkie Pie's party continued and Trixie and Starlight Glimmer did a show and everybody enjoyed it,

"Well, Volvox?" Dommiel asked,

"Maybe some outside influence isn't so bad after all." Volvox replied, and the party continued until nighttime.

---

A month passed and the moat was now a swimming pool, the country got more decorative and diverse in terms of clothing, architecture, and games for kids to play, they also got more books to read, and learned about other cultures, the humans traveled out and went to the other lands and were welcomed in. Equestria's defenses went back up to maximum power and the humans lived peacefully with the other creatures.