Welcome to Equestria

by PonyPixel

A Visit to Ponyville

There is a lot of excitement occurring at the School of Friendship. The students were being told that the visitors from the official visit to Canterlot would be arriving at their academy in a moment. The students were filled with enthusiasm, looking forward to meeting them. One group that was the most excited about the visit was Silverstream and the hippogriffs, they were also being informed that Princess Skystar, Queen Novo, and Captain Celaeno and crew will be visiting too.

“I can’t believe Aunt Novo is coming here again,” Silverstream exclaimed cheerfully. “This is gonna be amazing!” The hippogriff students agreed.

“You’re telling me,” Gleaming Pearl affirmed, also filled with excitement. “Others will be here too like the Diamond Dogs, and I am SUPER curious about knowing them personally.”

“Me too,” Coral added. “And hopefully we’ll be able to see Queen Novo longer than half an hour.”

“Princess Skystar will be here too,” Kelpie said, resting his head with his heart beating, looking like his head was in the clouds. “Can’t wait!” Coral rolled her eyes at this as Sunshine gave his input.

“Do you think we’ll be able to have interviews with the visitors?” he asked. “Strawberry Scoop, Emerald, and I have been very interested in having a word with them.”

“I’m sure Skystar would love to talk about her adventures,” Silverstream commented. “So you might wanna get your pencils prepared. I also want to know more about those cat creatures and their trains. Rusty’s taken a keen interest when he heard about that.”

“How is their railroad system different from Equestria’s?” Deep Sea asked. “I thought they were that similar.”

“I don’t know exactly, but they use steam engines much more than the ponies do. I think it’s because they didn’t use magic.”

“True, that makes sense,” Sunshine commented. “Did you hear about the other two kingdoms?”

“I don’t know. I couldn’t find a good time to ask Professor Applejack about Zebrat, and I kept forgetting to ask Professor Pinkie. Guess we’ll find out about them together.” The hippogriffs agreed this would be exciting.

Meanwhile, Headmare Starlight Glimmer was checking with the students. They had decorations set up around the school, though weren’t as fancy as the ones in Canterlot. She is as excited as the students, their first impressions need to be seen as genuine. Other students were looking forward such as Ocellus and Sandbar. “What do you think the Diamond Dogs will be like?” Sandbar asked.

“I’m not sure, but I am curious to try out new forms in a moment,” Ocellus admitted. “Although since they’ll be seeing changelings for the first time, they might be shocked by my abilities, or not be believing at first.”

“Best to tell them about them before you shapeshift in front of their faces,” Sandbar chuckled. “We gotta start slow, you know.”

“Yeah, probably a good idea. Just… hope they won’t freak out about our history.” Sandbar patted her shoulder for support, making sure she remained calm.

Gallus, Smolder, and Yona meanwhile were also talking to each other about the visit. “I can understand why our professors went on those missions,” the orange dragon admitted, “I don’t understand why they invited the leaders of those said kingdoms and some random guys who joined them.”

“Zecora and cat creature not random,” Yona noted. “We know them before, and guarantee leaders trust them.”

“Yona's right,” Gallus confirmed, “They went with the other members of their team to their hometowns.”

“I… guess that makes sense,” Smolder commented.

Twin dragons, Emerald and Peridot, were talking with the griffons, Grace and Gregoria, about the visit as well. They’re also looking forward to today. “You sure we won’t ruin any first impressions when we meet them?” Peridot asked.

“Don’t worry,” Emerald replied, “I'm sure they’ll be fine with us. And I don’t think you could do worse than I did on our first week in Ponyville,” Emerald noted. “I still have no idea what came over me there, that experience was wild.”

“We’ve plenty of lessons about friendship,” Gregoria noted. “We should be alright. The princess seems like she trusts us to bring them here.”

“I wonder if they have any stories they wanna tell, or souvenirs they have brought for us,” Grace pondered. “Hearing about those kingdoms makes me feel curious about their history and culture.”

“If they do bring souvenirs, yes, like what Grace said, it could help us learn about their homes,” Emerald commented. “They’d do the same when they learn about our homes and Equestria as well.”

“Yeah, I also heard one of them has a liking for gemstones,” Peridot noted, feeling her mouth watering when she mentioned gemstones. “I hope they brought some here.”

“Oh please, you’re making my mouth water.”

“I’m not sure if I asked this before,” Grace said, “but, Perri… what do gemstones taste like? Like… how do you describe the taste of different gemstones?”

Peridot was about to answer her query until the school’s P.A. speakers went off with Sunburst making an announcement. “Good afternoon, students,” Sunburst announced. “The guests are arriving momentarily. If you wish to meet them, please head to the entrance lobby. Let’s greet them with utmost respect and proper etiquette.”

“THEY’RE HERE!” Grace squealed with thrill.

“Well, what’re we waiting for?” Gregoria declared. “Let’s go!”

Upon hearing the announcement, Emerald, Peridot, Grace, and Gregoria quickly headed towards the lobby. They saw several students already standing by. Eventually, the Mane 5 were approaching together with the guests coming in.

“There they are!” Silverstream cried.

As the visitors got closer, Princess Skystar saw her cousin and made a beeline to fly and hug her tight. “Silver, it’s been so long!” Skystar cheered.

“I know, right? I'm glad you’re here.”

The two cousins chuckled as the other visitors greeted the students and vice versa. “Wow, there seems to be a good amount of varieties,” Princess Ocypete commented.

“You’ll get to know them well,” Rainbow Dash whispered. “Trust me, you’ll like them.” She together with her best friend then noticed Princess Skystar bringing her fellow hippogriffs students to them, so they stepped forward.

“Everyone, meet Princess Ocypete and Captain Celaeno,” the princess hippogriff said. “They’re from a place called Ornithia.”

“Hello,” she greeted softly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” Ocypete said, doing a courtesy to the students.

“Wait, she’s a princess?” Kelpie questioned. “Shouldn’t we be bowing?” He tried to step forward toward the princesses, but in his haste, he ended up tripping and falling face-first in front of them.

“...Is he okay?” Princess Ocypete said with concern.

“I’m fine,” Kelpie groaned as Rusty helped him get up.

Meanwhile, Molly approached Ocellus. The little kitten was curious about the changelings ever since she met Thorax. “Um… hello,” Ocellus said. She felt awkward as Molly climbed onto her back, swiping her ear playfully. Chummer noticed her doing it and lifted his adopted daughter off the young changeling.

“Dad, let me go!” Molly groaned.

“Molly, it’s rude to just climb up creatures like that,” Chummer stated. He quickly drew his attention to Ocellus. “Sorry about that, kid. She's just that curious.”

“It’s alright, sir,” the young changeling replied. “We’ve had weirder things happen here before.” Molly was then released by her father and looked back at the changeling.

“So you shapeshift too?” Molly asked. “Thorax has told me about his kind when he met me.”

“Yes, I do. He has told me about you and the cats too, and I felt interested in knowing them. Now that you’re here, it’d be an opportunity to gain more understanding.” Ocellus smiled timidly. “Anyways, wanna see how I do it?”

“Yes, please!” So, in front of the little kitten’s eyes, she shapeshifted herself into her dragon form, which made her jaw drop.

“Not bad, kid,” Capper commented. “Can you try turning into us?”

“Hmm, let me try,” Ocellus said. With another flash surrounding her, the changeling had now morphed into a blue Abyssinian cat.

“So cool!” Molly applauded in amazement.

“I guess when you don’t have magic, it’s interesting for y’all,” Moss commented, “But it’s kind of a daily thing for us.”

“Like how you used yours as a fake ID to get that bloody book?” Tanzanite smirked. Moss’s eyes shrunk when hearing it.

“What does he mean by that?” Princess Skystar asked.

“Best to not know about it,” Kelpie warned with a shiver.

“So, you guys have your own stories?” Princess Ambrosia asked Sandbar, she was also being welcomed by the students. Amber and the other canines were as stunned as the guests with their hospitality.

“Several actually,” Sandbar explained. “What kind of stories do you have from your place?”

“They’re called Narra, which are similar to comics. They have many different series.” She then brought out a copy from her purse and showed it in front of them. “Here. This one’s the Black Rover, it’s one of my favorites. And this one is Issue #17. Not only that, there’s also Hound Jewel, another one of my favorites, and there’s even this old series I found called Fade, which was about invisible swordsmen fighting evil ghouls to protect the world.”

“They sound insane,” Terry commented.

“They are, but still fun,” the canine princess smiled.

“Sis,” Fiona whisperingly convinced, “How about something we’re more known for?”

“Oh, right! Go ahead.” Princess Fiona then opened up her purse to show off a few gemstones that were as big as her paws. The students were in awe, seeing the size of that shiny crystal rock. Even Flare couldn’t believe it in his own eyes.

“Whoa, look at the size of those!” Flare gasped. She was about to pick another up before Amber stopped him.

“Take it easy,” Amber warned. “Mother said we could only show these.”

“I know, do you think I’m just going to feed them these?” Fiona questioned.

“Wait a minute,” Gallus spoke. He, Silverstream, and the other griffons like Garry and Gus flew approaching the twins as he thought he recognized the gems they were holding. “Do those gems hold any unique powers?”

“Yes, they do. Check this out.” Amber grabbed the orange one from her purse and rubbed it, making it glow like a campfire. However, the shine was a bit brighter than what she had planned. This then ended up burning her paw with a visible luminous flame, yelping in pain. Jennino quickly ran over and quickly put it out to give her first aid.

“How about you hold onto the ice crystal for a while?” she suggested to the princess.

Amber did so, cooling her burn to relief. “How do you know about these gems, blue bird?” she asked Gallus.

“…Let’s just say… my parents had some experience with them,” the blue griffon said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Best to be spoken less,” Silverstream noted. Several griffs agreed.

“Okay, move that troubled past outta the way,” Capper suggested. “Andy, you said you had something to show them?”

“Oh, indeed,” Andrew Fluffington noted. He quickly took out some magazines of their nation's railways. Rusty, who has an interest in locomotives, was excited when he saw these.

“Ooh, what are those?” he asked.

“Advertisements of three railways from Abyssinia.”

He showed a magazine showing off its newest express engine for the Fluffington Rail Network. The cover showed two concept models of their newest engine, one was in a familiar shade of light blue the other was a familiar chartreuse. Some of the other students took a peek at the cover, and Emerald noticed something on the blue engine, a nameplate that read, “Dragon Lord Ember.”

“You named the train after our Dragon Lord?” Emerald said in shock.

“That's right,” Shadow confirmed. “We’ve also had the other one named after King Thorax,” Shadow noted. “It was… the least we could do after our first encounter…” She felt a little awkward saying this as the other Abyssinians had a similar feeling.

“If that makes you feel better, our first impressions here weren’t off to a good start,” Smolder informed.

“I still planned on the first set of rules,” Gallus noted.

“Noted,” Shadow commented.

Skystar looked down at her pearl shard necklace before looking at the other creatures. “Hey, Silver,” she said, “Is there any place where we can have a good swim?”

“There’s a lake not too far from here,” Silverstream explained. “We can test these shards on them there.”

“Excuse me,” Capper questioned after hearing this.

“What’s wrong, Cap?” Chummer asked.

“Um… I can’t be the only one nervous to know what those things would do to us,” Chummer shivered.

“…Yeah, you have a point.”

“I think I’ll stay out of the swim,” Shadow admitted.

“If you preferred, Mrs. Fluffington,” Rarity said, “You could follow me to the Boutique. I’ve been wanting to come up with new inspirational designs of different kingdoms.”

“May I come along?” Princess Ocypete asked. “My family have been dying to get a new wardrobe.” The current outfit she wore had been cleaned but it was pretty raggy compared to what was considered fancy.

“Do not worry, I can fix that for you. Anyone else wants to join?”

“I’ll be tagging along,” Captain Celaeno proclaimed.

“Us too,” Jennino and Indiana added.

“Excellent,” Rarity proclaimed.

“We will be sticking around with the young lads,” Mullet proclaimed. “Ye never reckon what will happen.”

“Thank ye, Mullet,” the captain said. “We’ll meet again later.”

“Can I come with you?” Capper whispered. “I’m not too sure about becoming a catfish.”

“Ye’ll survive.” Captain Celaeno gave him a blink and then headed out alongside Ocypete, Rarity, Shadow, Andy, Jennino, and Indiana to the Boutique.

Capper was left with Chummer, Molly, and Max. “We’ll meet up with you later!” Chummer called, waving to his childhood friend. He then turned back to him, who still looked nervous. “So, were you saying something about… catfish?”

“You have pretty good hearing,” Capper commented.

“Gotta compensate for one-eyed vision.”

“So, you want to try out the shard on you guys?” Skystar asked.

“Yeah, let’s go!” Molly proclaimed. “I’M READY!”

“Let us get our swimsuits,” Fiona proclaimed. She quickly unpacked her suitcase as Fluttershy looked left and right.

“Um, Applejack, where did Zecora and her friends go?” Fluttershy asked.

“They headed over to Zecora’s hut to see what potions they can make,” Applejack explained. “Applebloom went with them.”

“Oh, then I hope they have an amazing time.” She looked around again to make sure someone else wasn’t there.

---

Zecora and Applebloom led her pals of Zebrat the way to the hut in the Everfree Forest. The zebras and camels weren’t too sure about the forest. “Are you sure this is the safest place to live?” Crystal asked. “It looks frightening for a residence.”

“It can get creepy at times,” Zecora admitted, “Just be sure to stay away from unknown beasts, any kind of strange slime.” The friends were being careful where they stepped as Zecora could see the hut coming up.

“There it is,” Applebloom proclaimed, pointing to Zecora’s hut straight ahead. She quickly ran with Zecora and her friends right behind her.

The zebra unlocked the door and let the guests enter the hut. Inside, it did look a bit small; it was almost similar to the huts back in Zebrat. They saw the caldron in the middle of the room while Zecora began to prepare cups of hot boiling tea for them.

“Wow, Zecora,” Cactus Rose commented, “I never knew you had a nice and organized place. Looks awesome.?

“Thank you,” Zecora replied, “Back when I moved close to Ponyville, they thought I was a witch, the one that would bring a curse to them, but after seeing what real danger happens downtown, I have seen worse.”

“She’s not wrong,” Applebloom agreed. “With a magic thief, a love leach, and a young evil genius, I don’t see what a zebra, like Zecora, could do.”

“Well, we could make those boom juice potions,” Dust Devil noted.

“…Right,” Zecora noted as she filled the teapot with water and tea leaves, and placed it over the fireplace to boil.

“So what kind of… scary things… you usually find in this forest?” Cactus Rose asked.

“Usually you’ll find timberwolves, giant hounds with timber wood instead of fur, or manticores, head and body of a lion and the tail of a scorpion,” Applebloom noted. “Once in a while, you’d find a cockatrice.”

“Aren’t those the chicken lizards things that turn victims into stone?” Marini asked.

“That’s right, but they usually show up only once every season,” Zecora noted, “Not likely to happen today or tomorrow, but you can worry for a good reason.” After a few minutes, the teapot wheezed its steam indicating that it was ready for drinking. Zecora then grabbed the teapot carefully and poured it into their cups for them to drink.

“I’ve got to say, those things kind of sound like the stuff we’d find in Ogres and Oubliettes,” Dust Devil commented.

“Yeah… They kind of do…” A loud thud was heard mauling Zecora and the rest paused and jumped.

“What was that!?” Cactus Rose shrieked.

They all peeked over to the window and saw yellow eyes peeking in.

“Eek! What in the world is that!?” Crystal questioned. The visitors didn’t know what that was, but Zecora knew and was annoyed.

“Pardon me for a moment,” she said. She headed outside and the yellow eyes disappeared as some shouting could be heard outside. Applebloom and Zecora’s old friends eavesdropped and were shocked by most of the things said.

“What is that thing?” Dust Devil asked.

“That’s Discord,” Applebloom explained with a sigh. “He’s someone my sister and her friends want to stay away from you and the others.”

“Why’s that?” Crystal asked.

“He has a way of… making chaos.”

“Did somebody say chaos?” Discord asked. Without warning he phased his head through the door, scaring Applebloom and Zecora’s friends until he opened the door, which seemed to catch the draconequus slam face-first into the wall beside the doorway. “Ow.”

“You have a few minutes to leave and say bye,” Zecora warned, “Don’t make me go and call Fluttershy!”

Discord pulled his head out of the door and quickly started walking outside. “Okay, let’s not get crazy,” he said, “I can try again another time. Maybe we could talk about O&O.”

“Ogres and Oubliettes?” Medley Brook asked.

“Yes, that one…”. Discord couldn’t continue as Zecora slammed the door in his face.

“I feel like I shouldn’t have the trouble you’ll soon see,” Zecora noted.

“You know about Ogres and Oubliettes?” Dusty Devil asked.

“...And of course, you didn’t listen to me.”

“Which we should be doing,” Crystal commented. “He isn’t giving me trustworthy feelings.”

“I’m also wanting to be on the side of caution,” Cactus Rose noted. “Listen, sir, we’re excited to meet someone who has an interest in that game, but we want to talk with our good friend. We haven’t had time with her in years.”

Discord sighed in frustration. “Fine,” he groaned, “I’ll just be on my way. Let me know when you’re interested.” With a snap of his fingers, Discord disappeared and the door closed.

“...Should we be worried about this?” Medley Brook asked.

“As long as you don’t give him attention, there shouldn’t be any distraction,” Zecora noted.

“How about we take our mind off him by making one of your potions?” Crystal suggested. This lightened up Zecora’s mood as she quickly started looking through her book to see what could be a good potion for them to make together. She quickly forgot about Discord and just focused on rebuilding bridges with her old pals.

---

Elsewhere, Amber, Fiona, and Moonbeam had gotten their swimwear on and followed Skystar, Silverstream, and various other students, most of whom were hippogriffs to the lake. Capper, Chummer, Molly, and Max were with them with the former feeling a little unsure.

“Are you okay?” Max asked.

“It’s the shards,” Capper admitted. “I don’t know what they’ll do with me.”

“Relax, the shards are completely safe,” Pinkie informed. She pointed towards Princess Skystar, who was staring at the large lake. With confidence, she jumped into the air and used her pearl shard to change herself into a seapony before splashing into the water. The other hippogriffs followed suit as some other students and Pinkie Pie jumped in.

Fiona slowly tried stepping into the water before Molly jumped in and splashed them with water. “Watch it!” Fiona groaned.

“Hey, you were going to get in anyways,” Moonbeam noted, “I’d say you were going too slow.”

Amber nodded before she cannonballed into the lake. She was underwater for a few moments and could already see the seaponies swimming. She gasped, letting her air bubbles escape before quickly swimming back up to the surface. After catching her breath, Skystar swam up to Molly and the twin diamond dogs.

“You want to have a real swim?” the seapony princess asked Amber.

“What do you mean?” Molly asked.

Silverstream stuck her head out of the water as Gallus appeared beside her. He was still a griffon for now, but the moment that Silverstream used her shard on him, he was now a seapony like Silverstream.

“Woah! So that’s what griffons turn into,” Skystar commented.

“And… we’re going to turn into a fish like that?” Fiona queried.

“Technically Gallus here seems to be themed after a shark or a dolphin,” Silverstream noted. She saw the rest of her friends show up and used her shard on them. Sandbar as a seapony, Smolder as a shark, Yona as a walrus, and Ocellus as a seal.

Molly and the twins were amazed at what they saw. “AMAZING! Do us now!” Molly proclaimed.

“Hold on… Will this affect our swimsuit?” Fiona asked.

“Probably, but we'll find out anyway,” Skystar suggested. “Get ready, fellas!” With a glow of her shard, Amber, Fiona, and Molly were engulfed by the magic, changing their bodies.

The bystanders shielded their eyes real quick before they saw the three creatures in the lake were gone. Capper and Chummer kneeled to get a closer inspection until a blonde sea lion poked its head out of the water.

Both cats jumped back in shock as the pirates saw the sea lion. “I think that be yer daughter, matey,” Boyle whispered.

“W…. What?” Chummer questioned.

“Hi, Dad,” Molly said, waving her flipper.

“Is that… what happens to us when the shard is used?” Capper asked.

“So what happens to Diamond Dogs?” Moonbeam asked. They would get their answer as two dogfish emerged from the water, one of which even got some air time before splashing back down.

“There they are,” Boyle noted.

Amber stuck her head out of the water before waving to them. “How do we look?” she asked.

“Dang… Pretty good for a couple of fish,” Moonbeam commented.

“Want to join us?” Skystar asked. “There’s enough room.”

“Hmm, I didn’t bring this thing for nothing.” Moonbeam dipped herself into the lake and the pearl shard was used on her to turn her into a dogfish just like the princesses.

Capper and Chummer weren’t too sure about it as they looked to see Max stepping in. “Come on, guys,” the big cat said. “That looks fun.”

“Listen, I know we’re over the anti-magic thing,” Chummer admitted, “I think I’m siding with Cap with this. I don’t wanna know what it feels to be a fish underwater.”

“Yeah, I think we’ll just stay here,” Capper added. “We don’t really have the clothes for this…”. He paused as they thought they heard some screeching noise. Both he and Chummer hardly had enough time to turn around before Squabble rammed into them, knocking them all into the water.

The moment they resurfaced, Skystar quickly used her pearl shard to change them into sea creatures, including Squabble. Chummer and Capper then saw their flippers as they were impressed with their push. “Seriously?” the one-eyed sea lion asked. Squabble just laughed as he and Skystar sank beneath the water.

“Well, we’re in here, we might as well enjoy it,” Capper shrugged. They turned towards Molly and the princesses, who dove down. Since they were already in this position, the newly changed sea creatures dove down after them.

The underwater dive was a new experience. It was so clear and they could breathe fine, despite being fully submerged. They could see the other students swimming around with Skystar. “This certainly is surreal,” Max commented.

“Hey, don't worry, you get used to it,” Gallus proclaimed as he swam past them. Amber and Fiona did their best to get used to swimming as aquatic mammals. Amber though seemed to have a difficult time as she ended up crashing onto the bottom of the lake.

Pinkie swam over to the diamond dogfish to give her some help. “Try copying my motions,” the seapony suggested. She swam around Amber for a little bit, demonstrating how to swim in a fish-like body.

Amber got back up and mimicked the pink seapony’s movements. She seemed to improve as the others were also getting the hang of it. Molly was giggling as she swam circles around the other sea lions.

Chummer got a little dizzy watching her swim around him as he unintentionally spun in a circle. Not to mention only having one eye didn’t help. Capper helped his buddy recover as he was getting used to being a sea lion.

“So I can confirm that Molly is enjoying the magic,” Capper noted.

“You could say that,” Chummer noted. He rubbed his head as he watched everybody swim around. “Do you know how Shadow will be doing with Rarity?”

“I’m sure they’ll be great. Kind of wish they were both here to experience this.”

“Yeah, but she’s taking on more responsibilities now. So are you.”

“True. I’m still figuring out which academy she’ll go to.”

“You too?” asked a voice. Moonbeam swam up to them as she had her knowledge to add. “I’ve heard Katherine’s planning on signing the girls up for a private school. Amber’s already gotten some pawball lessons with the castle staff.”

“Oh, you got pawball from where you were?” Capper asked.

“We’ve had ancient history, remember?” Chummer reminded me.

“What kind of history?” Ocellus asked. She took the dogfish and sea lions by surprise when the seal suddenly showed up. “Sorry about that.”

“Just…. Don’t do that again,” Capper warned. “Anyways, what were you saying?”

“I’m saying that Abyssinians and Caninians have had some history from what I learned. It goes way back, over a thousand years or so,” Chummer explained.

“I’ve heard about those stories too,” Moonbeam noted. “We had a major event over those years ago that made both dogs and cats quarrel. Ever since then, the majority of both sides have hated each other’s guts ever since.”

“Sounds about right,” Ocellus commented. “Others like the changelings and griffons have had bad conflicts in the past.” She began to explain her knowledge of the conflicts other creatures have had.

Meanwhile, Gallus had swam to the surface and poked his head out of the lake to look around, only seeing Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and the pirates. “Ye lookin’ fer something, lad?” Mullet asked.

“My parents for one,” Gallus explained, “Not to mention, Geena and Garry have said that they’d be here and I haven’t…” He paused as they heard some rustling noises from one of the trees close to the lake.

Looking towards the tree, two figures jumped out from the top, one blue and one orange. They appeared to be griffons as they both opened their wings as they landed beside the lake. Both of them were surprised to see the pirates. Two more griffons and a kobold, each one with a prosthetic limb joined the confused teens, something Boyle found interesting.

“Sorry we’re late,” Glynn apologized. “I was trying to schedule a job interview and I almost forgot about this and…”

“I was also responsible for slowing them down,” Quartz embarrassingly chucked. “I was training Geena and Garry here, so…”

“What’s going on here?” Garry asked. He couldn’t stop looking at the pirates, who he found strange being anthropomorphic birds. “Are you a different breed of griffon?”

“We be avians,” Mullet explained. “A group of maties who’ve escorted Princess Ocypete and her royal family to Canterlot.”

“Where are they now?” Gadget asked.

“They’re currently in Canterlot with the other delegations,” Rainbow Dash explained. “Princess Ocypete is at Rarity’s and the other three… right there.” She pointed towards the lake.

“One of which is Princess Skystar,” Gallus noted.

“And I’m guessing you’re all using the pearl shard,” Glynn commented.

“Yep. Wanna join us?”

“Heck yeah!” Glynn and Gadget stepped into the water with Gallus swimming down real quick before coming back with Silverstream so she could use the pearl shard to change the parents into seaponies. This was the first time Gadget had become one, so she felt a little odd.

“How the heck do you swim like this?” Gadget asked.

“It’s okay, Mom, it’s easy once you get the hang of it,” Gallus said. The family dove underwater as Quartz and the griffons stayed on land with the pirates as they were curious to know more about them.

“So, what kind of pirates are you?” Geena asked.

“We not exactly like the ol’-fashioned pirates,” Mullet explained. “We’ve been doing some of that in our early days but we aren’t as bad as certain ones back at Ornithia.”

“I think we get that feeling,” Quartz said. His ears twitched as he looked towards the lake. Molly shot out of the water, where the kobold jumped up to catch her. Both of them were surprised to see each other. “Hello there.”

“Hi,” Molly said. She looked towards the kobold’s back as she was placed on the ground. “Where are your wings?”

“I don’t have any, but I’m not a dragon.”

“But you look like one.”

“He’s a kobold,” Geena explained. “They’re sort of like… how can I describe them…? Diet dragons.”

“I guess that’s one way of putting it.” He looked toward the lake, where Capper and Chummer stuck their heads out. “I believe she’s yours?”

“Yes,” Chummer confirmed. “Thank you for asking.” Molly was placed back into the water as Quartz waved to Capper before he too dove back underwater.

“Have you seen him before?” Mullet asked.

“Yes, Capper’s been in Ponyville for a while,” Quartz explained. He looked towards Boyle, who kept looking at his leg. “Is there something about my leg you want to ask about?”

“Um…. Aye,” Boyle said, “Be that mechanical?”

“Yes. I lost my leg by decapitation to a team of gang of horrible criminals. Thankfully, my friend, Gadget, was able to build me a new limb.”

“So, can she build hands?”

“Yes, she has one herself. I think I can see why you’d like to have one too.” He looked at the hook hand the pirate had. “We can get you hooked up with a new hand, once she’s back on land.”

---

At the Boutique, Rarity was taking measurements of Princess Ocypete with Indiana and Jennino giving some assistance. “You have a very nice shop, Rarity,” Jennino commented.

“Thank you, Jenny,” the mare responded. “I was hoping we’d be able to make outfits together.”

“It could work as a way of showing our kingdoms working together,” Indiana commented.

“Ah, yes, that would be lovely,” Rarity said. “Let’s get planning on what would look good. Ms. Ocypete, would you care to join us?”

“Certainly,” the princess said. She turned over to Captain Celaeno, who was sitting with the Fluffingtons, along with some of the students who were curious about the railways in Abyssinia. “Celly, are you coming with me?”

The captain was a bit startled when she heard her nickname called. “Be right there,” she called. She walked away, leaving the students and Fluffingtons to check out the pictures of Abyssinia’s locomotives.

“Those engines look a lot smaller than the ones Equestria have,” Tanzanite commented.

“We don’t have many trains that are a mile long,” Shadow noted.

“I kind of like the designs of the engines here more than the ones here,” Gregoria admitted. “They have more style and color to them.”

“Thank you for noticing,” Andy Fluffington said, “With three different companies each having their regions, not all engines are going to be the same.” He then noticed that Rusty Wrench was taking a great interest in the locomotives with all of their shapes and sizes.

“What kind of functions are these engines built for?” the young colt asked.

“Most locomotives on our fleet are built for passenger work. Though we still have a few freight and mixed traffic engines.”

“What other companies are there?”

“Working with the Fluffington Rail Network are the Golden Runner Railway and the Highland Flying Railway.” Andy brought a small map of Abyssinia to show the three sectors of the railways.

“Doesn’t look as big as Equestria,” Terry commented. “But you seem to have a lot of tracks.”

“Most major cities like Lynxa and Féli, including Pantheria, have their own tram services for commuting and delivery services,” Shadow informed.

“I wish I could visit there someday,” Rusty admitted. “Such an interesting place to visit.”

“I’m hoping to attract more tourists to our country too,” Andy admitted. “An airship service from Canterlot to Manxton would be a benefit for several businesses.” He pointed to the one station that was close to the sea.

Fluttershy was interested, but she then noticed one of the mirrors in the boutique looked… odd. It was a big yellow eye. In a panic, she quickly tackled the mirror much to the surprise of the students and the Fluffingtons.

Before they could get a good look, Fluttershy shoved the funny mirror into a closet before she looked toward everyone who was confused. “I… thought I saw a bee,” she informed them. “I’ll take care of it.”

Went into the closet and some muffled yelling could be heard. The Fluffingtons were confused by this but Gregoria gave them the information. “She can talk to animals,” the griffon student explained.

“...Ooookay?” Shadow said, confused. Sulcus, one of the changelings in the group, tried turning into a bee so he could fly through the closet’s lock. When he came out, changed back to normal, and then whispered to Gregoria. The griffoness was surprised with what she was told.

“Should we warn them about this?” she asked.

“The professors said not to tell them he exists,” Sulcus reminded. “Stay quiet, and no trouble will be made.” Gregoria nodded.

Fluttershy then saw Rarity coming back, confused about what she was doing until she whispered it to her.

“Are there any issues with bees or bugs for that matter around here?” Andy asked.

“…You could say that,” Sulcus shrugged.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Will Baast appear in this story?

[PonyPixel]

11848808
Who?

[Yoshifan30]

Gallus, Smolder, and Yona meanwhile were also talking to each other about the visit. “I can understand why our professors went on those missions,” the orange dragon admitted, “I don’t understand why they invited the leaders of those said kingdoms and some random guys who joined them.”

Hey smolder don't be too rude

[Yoshifan30]

“Don’t worry,” Emerald replied, “I'm sure they’ll be fine with us. And I don’t think you could do worse than I did on our first week in Ponyville,” Emerald noted. “I still have no idea what came over me there, that experience was wild.”

Well some of you kids were processed by the evil spirit of cozy glow

[Yoshifan30]

“Like how you used yours as a fake ID to get that bloody book?” Tanzanite smirked. Moss’s eyes shrunk when hearing it.

Yep just like the good old days when kids pretend to be older so they can watch rated R or read

[Yoshifan30]

“…Let’s just say… my parents had some experience with them,” the blue griffon said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Yeah it's a very complicated story

[Yoshifan30]

They all peeked over to the window and saw yellow eyes peeking in.

Oh boy Here Comes trouble

[Yoshifan30]

Well it looks like the young six and some of the students are showing some of the leaders and new creatures around town and even the main six helping and introducing and it looks like Discord is already causing a little discomfort I just hope he doesn't do anything too crazy while the leaders were here visiting well I guess we'll find out next time