> Immigrant troubles
>  by Fireheart 1945
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1; In the cold, dark night...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been another long day at the military history museum. Another long day full of people crowding to get a look at glimpses of the past. Another pay day. 

To Luke Martin, it had been an exhausting if fulfilling day. History was his forte, the very thing he was good at. It was a rewarding job, even if it required a major in the subject at college and the money he'd needed to fund those classes. Not to mention the pay wasn't awful, either. 

The one apparent downer this evening; it was raining.

Luke sighed as he fingered through his jacket for the keys to his pickup. The sky had been cloudy all day, but the rain had waited to come until just before his hours at work were over. 

He found the keys after a moment, then unlocked the door to the truck, hopped in, and shut the door before starting the engine. The truck purred to life, and he drove out of the employee parking and onto the highway. 

It was a long drive to get home. Luke may have liked to live near a city, but he wasn't keen on living in one. A suburb wasn't exactly living rural, but it was fairly close. 

As he drove, he thought about some of Earth's most recent history... well, Earth, and that of another world.

-------------------------------------------------------------------- 

It had been a few years already, yet it still seemed like yesterday. The first portal had opened up just outside Washington, D.C., a spiraling blue circle shot through with stripes of white, ten feet in diameter, with the colors fluctuating and twirling within. 

Naturally, the local military forces had surrounded the location, fearing it was some sort of threat to the United States and its leadership. 

What they couldn't have expected - and few could have - were a group of variously colored ponies sitting on the grass just outside the swirling mass, calmly waiting. There were a few guards with them, but per orders they made no effort to attack the regiment that had set itself up around them. 

Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadence, along with the Mane 6, Shining Armor, and four Royal Guards, had been waiting patiently and without fuss; Celestia had been sipping tea as the Army approached, and Luna had simply watched with an inscrutable expression on her face. The Mane 6 were almost as tall as humans, if you counted their head and necks, and Celestia and the other alicorns had been even taller. 

It took a couple of days before footage of the event got out; the event had been fully filmed by the Army.

The ponies had waited until a platoon of soldiers come within ten feet of them. It had been a tense standoff; the infantrymen held loaded weapons, and the wrong move by the ponies could have ended in disaster. 

Celestia had set down her teacup - which was empty by that point - and smiled warmly a one soldier came close. One of the Royal Guards had begun to move to stop him, but Celestia waved him away. 

The soldier had patted her on the muzzle a few times, then scratched her ears. Celestia continued smiling as he moved to her chin, relishing this particular contact. The other ponies clearly weren't sure how to react, but seeing as the Princess wasn't being threatened, they didn't interfere.

At last, she spoke, and in perfect English; "I'm grateful for the warm and kind welcome, but if you don't mind, we have important business to discuss with your President and government. Can you please bring us to them?" 

The soldier, looking around, remembered where he was and what was happening. He withdrew, looking embarrassed, but otherwise clearly not regretting what he had done.

A few hours later, the ponies and their escort had crossed the Potomac and arrived at the U.S. Capitol building, and had met with Congress and the President. It had been a pleasant meeting by all accounts; Celestia had been the warm, motherly leader that My Little Pony; Friendship is Magic had portrayed her to be, and had charmed everyone. Luna had been wary, but gradually lowered her guard, and Cadence had been kind and talkative.

As for the Mane 6, they had lived up to the selves depicted in the show. Twilight had asked innumerable questions; in fact, much of the meeting with Congress had featured her asking questions as if they were going out of style. A Congressman had shaken Applejack's hoof, to recoil when his hand met a cold metallic object; the farm pony was wearing horseshoes nailed to her hooves, proving once and for all that ponies did in fact wear and use the things for their intended purpose. She had apologized when she realized what had gone wrong, and had struck up a conversation with a Senator from Idaho. Rainbow Dash had talked almost exclusively with the soldiers, while Pinkie literally could not keep still; Fluttershy had made numerous attempts to hide in her own shadow, but had slowly come out of her metaphorical shell and had spoken with a few people. Rarity had complimented numerous Congressmen on their appearance, and had offered to make suits for them to help the diplomatic process between Equestria and America. 

The brony fandom had almost exploded in the literal sense when the footage had gotten out and it had been confirmed that it was not a gigantic practical joke. Other people were wary, and quite a few were outright hateful. 

Within a few weeks, however, the home response had stabilized, and the diplomacy and kindness of Equestria's leaders had melted much of the opposition. Far from wanting anything out of the ordinary, Celestia and Luna had asked to open embassies in the various nations on Earth, as well as contact between the two different worlds. It was something to which many of the world's nations happily agreed. 

--------------------------------------------------------------- 

Luke pulled himself out of his memories. He'd been a fan of the show, though not the most excitable, and had been overjoyed to know that the anthropomorphic ponies really existed. However, being from Maine, he didn't have much opportunity to personally meet them; so far, most of the portals only operated in embassies. There were some that were used for delivering cargoes between the worlds, but so far they were for that use only; if you wanted to visit Equestria, you would need a passport and a trip to an embassy.

He stopped at a red light and took the opportunity to rest back in the seat. He pulled out the cross that hung around his neck, silently thanking God for such a wonderful day. While the rain may not have been fun to drive through, the field trip with all those middle school kids had been fun, and he had a chance to do what he loved; answer questions and teach.

Praise be to Jesus, Amen.

He put the cross back as the light turned green again and stepped carefully on the gas. The world had changed since the ponies had came, but much had remained the same; national borders, by and large, were still the same, and the political landscape was largely identical. There were a number of independence wars, primarily in Catalonia and Kurdistan, but those conflicts were the only new major wars that were being fought. North Korea was still threatening the world, Iran was being the pain in the Middle East that it had been since 1979, and the US and Russia were generally rivals.

At least we never fought any major wars against each other, he thought. Especially in the past couple of decades.
That could have been... beyond disastrous.

He wasn't sure why the ponies had decided to make contact with Earth, but they had been generally honest in their dealings. Some had even moved temporarily to Earth countries, either gaining or trying to gain employment there. Some pegasi with good intentions had tried to get jobs as weather controllers, noticing that human countries had none. What they'd failed to realize at the time was that their hooves had no sway over Earth's clouds, and their idea for a quick and easy occupation had wound up a disappointing failure.

It was obvious to just about everyone by now that the Royal Sisters weren't naive fools. The portals, which had been made by Equestrian magic, could be shut down easily, and the only way any human was allowed inside was after being examined by Luna herself, via dreams in which she scrutinized the memories and thoughts of the people trying to enter. There were many complaints of breaches of privacy, but after four would-be terrorists had been caught and jailed by the Equestrians, most protests had cut off. Someone had apparently attempted to send in a spy. Equestria had not given away just who had tried to spy on them, but the spy had been declared persona non grata, or, in other words, permanently banned from Equestria. However, he was only released after being imprisoned for those six months. The infiltrator, an anti-brony, had had to deal with the very ponies he hated for that time; he had been more than ready to leave when Equestria finally brought him to a portal and booted him out.

At the moment, the museum was closed for the weekend, which was all to the good; a new exhibit was being added, and it would take time, time that would be well spent this Saturday by the people doing the construction. While he liked his job, he enjoyed his time off. He lived alone; he had never had much - for the lack of a better word - luck with getting a girlfriend. It didn't bother him as much as it might have, though. He was still young and there was plenty of time. For now, he was on his own, at least in regards to marital concerns.

I think I might re-watch some episodes of the original Battlestar Galactica, he decided. The 1980s show might not have had the graphics of the re-booted 2004 version, but there was a flare, a dash, that it had and the new one did not. Not to mention he had problems with the newer one. Or maybe Gettysburg. Come on, make up your mind...

He turned onto a narrow street. It wasn't an alley, but it gave that sort of feeling; the buildings were fairly close to the road, and there were only two lanes, just wide enough for two vehicles going in opposite directions to pass in relative safety. it was the shortest way back to his house, and even though it might have looked scary at night, so far no incident of any regard had happened to Luke while he was driving down it. 

As he drove down it, he saw a cluster of... something on the side of the road, something that hadn't been there before.

Hello, what's this? 

He pulled over, hit the brakes and took another look at what he was seeing. Something had been the wrong word; someone was the proper one. After a few seconds of taking in the situation, he realized he'd been wrong twice. There were multiple someones sitting there in the rain... and they definitely weren't human. 

Three miserable looking ponies were sitting there on the cold, hard sidewalk; one was trying to shield the others with a pair of wings, and unfortunately doing a poor job of it. They tried to hide from the beams of the truck's headlights as Luke came to a stop several feet away. Luke looked outside briefly; no one else was coming up or down the street, so he got out and headed over to the other side, a flashlight in hand. 

A large stallion was attempting to shield a mare from the wind and rain with his wings. Luke thought they appeared odd, until he realized there were no feathers; the wings were made entirely out of some leathery material. A much smaller pony, a foal, looked up from under his father's wings at the human intruder. 

Bat ponies, formally known as thestrals, were a rare sight in Equestria; they were even less commonly seen on Earth. They were secretive and usually kept to themselves. In fact, they usually weren't seen at all during daylight hours (not that the current time counted as daylight hours) even in their native land. The fact that three of them were sitting here felt unprecedented in itself.

The two parties simply stared at one another for a few moments, neither sure of what to make of the other.

Finally, the stallion whispered to the mare, who nodded, and he folded his wings only to bring them bursting out again, so that they made him look bigger than he was; the mare took up the cause of covering the foal with her wings.

"Please calm down. I mean you no harm."

The stallion didn't answer; he just remained in the same position. The mare hugged her foal tightly. It occurred to Luke that they appeared exhausted, as if they - or at least, the parents - had been awake for days on end.

Luke didn't know what to say. Indeed, it appeared that words weren't going to resolve the impasse. 

Then he heard a growl. At first, he thought it came from the stallion, who hadn't moved so much as an inch since he had approached. But the pony hadn't moved his lips. 

The foal squirmed in his mother's forelegs. He whimpered something. The growling came again, but this time it Luke was able to pinpoint it coming from the foal. 

Poor thing! Sounds like he's starving. 

Luke reached into a pocket in his jacket and lifted out a packet of Oreo cookies. 

"Yum!" 

Without further ado, the foal - a colt, if Luke's memory of horse/pony terminology was correct - jumped out of his mother's forelegs and ran forward. 

"No! Come back!" she called after him, but the child, too focused on his hungry stomach, didn't hear her.

Fortunately for him, Luke had no intention of inflicting harm. He opened the packet, knelt down, and held out one of the cookies. The colt instantly took it in his hoof and shoved it into his starving mouth. He eagerly chewed it to pieces, ignoring the fact that some of the crumbs fell to the ground. 

Luke gave him each cookie - there were three in total - one at a time. One at a time, the foal devoured them, not caring how he looked while doing it. Luke thought he looked adorable, but that thought was battered by the fact that the poor child was so hungry.

"Mmmm," the colt hummed, now sniffing the packet. "One more?" 

"I'm sorry, but there were only three in the bag, and I didn't think I'd run into a hungry family this night." 

Metallic hoofsteps came near. Luke looked up; the mare and stallion had closed in. He stood up, not sure what they were going to do. 

The mare scooped up the foal in her right foreleg; he squealed in surprise, but she had been gentle. She whispered something into his ear that Luke couldn't hear before setting him down. 

Having done that, she bowed her head. "Thank you," she said in gratitude. "You have no idea how badly he needed nourishment." 

"You don't look all that well off in that regard yourself," Luke replied. 

"My husband and I haven't had anything to eat in days," she admitted. Her demeanor and face spoke of mental exhaustion and the desire to have someone to talk to. "We've given what little we managed to gather to little Shadow here," she went on, motioning to her son. 

The stallion hissed something fierce into her ear. She responded in kind. He sighed, and relented, but kept his eyes squarely on Luke. 

He looks like he was from the Lunar Guard, Luke thought. The more he studied the stallion's face - the motionless, piercing eyes, his posture, and what little he'd seen of the pony's behavior - the more he was certain he was right. 

"You need to get out of the rain, fellas. It's going to be a cold night."

"We would, if we had anywhere to go!" the mare burst out. She seemed immediately embarrassed that she had given that information so freely, and her husband appeared displeased. 

Luke didn't know what to say. Clearly, this family had suffered something terrible. "You have no home to go to?"

This time, the stallion attempted to keep his wife from answering, motioning to her with his muzzle and trying to urge her silently to follow him. She ignored him; "No. We... we don't currently have one." 

"Can you go to an Equestrian embassy-"

"That would be... troublesome," she replied. 

To everyone's surprise, the colt spoke up; "Mister, they kicked my daddy out of Luna's Guard, and then they kicked us out of our house here!" 

"Bright Night!" the stallion hissed, speaking audibly for the first time. 

The colt - Bright Night - continued speaking. "We got no money, no food, and no house. If ya got something to help us, we need it." 

Luke felt something burning in his belly; a firm resolve. He knew what he had to do, and he couldn't leave them out here to starve and freeze to death. "I think I have room for you all at my house," he said,

"W-what?" the mare stammered. 

"Come on. I'm not leaving you out here."

"Thank you, but no," the stallion said firmly, in a deep voice that confirmed Luke's suspicions on his former employment. "We can manage on our own. We don't need your help."

"Shadow, we've tried going it on our own for three days now," the mare said, showing frustration. "If we don't take the help we can get, we will all die."

"Aurora-"

"No," the mare, presumably Aurora, answered. "We need a break, and here's one staring us in the face. We're going."

Shadow stared at Aurora; she stared back. For a moment, they continued the contest. Something in her eyes, however, must have been stronger, because finally, the stallion looked away, groaning.

"Alright." Luke looked back at his truck. "Sorry to say I don't have a King Cab. I'm a bit of a bachelor, and like I said, I wasn't expecting to run into a family of homeless ponies. Only have a front seat in addition to the driver's, I'm afraid."

"Then-"

"I've got a tarpaulin in the back, and some bungee cords to keep it in place. I think I can keep two of you at least partly dry while the third rides in front. The back window in the cab has an opening, so we'll be able to talk to one another. If that isn't acceptable to you, then I'm not sure what to do. You don't look like you're in any condition to fly."

"Bright Night can go up front," Aurora stated at once. "I'd rather our baby stay safe and dry." 

"Mom! I'm not a baby!' The young pony protested. "I'm a big colt now!" 

Aurora gave him a comforting smile. Luke knew she was amused, as mothers typically are when their children claim a maturity they haven't yet reached. "You'll go up front, with the man. We'll be watching you from the back." 

"I'll get the tarp set up," Luke said. "It shouldn't take more than a moment. 

"Right," Aurora said. "Bright, you go with...?"

"Luke. Luke Martin."

"You go with Luke, into the front seat. Momma and Daddy will be with you soon." 

"Yippie!"
> Chapter 2; All-American meal
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luke opened the right door of the truck and helped Bright Night in. The colt was bigger than he'd expected; most ponies were much bigger than they appeared in the show. A colt there that seemed no bigger than a cat was in reality nearly, if not quite, as big as a labrador, and a pony that was about as tall as a sheepgate in the show was almost the size of a human in their late teens (counting the neck and head, of course), and that was when they were on all fours. Shadow actually didn't need that much aid, and got in the front easily. 

"Tuck your back hooves down toward the floor," Luke instructed. When the foal obeyed, Luke strapped pulled the seat belt across his barrel and heard the satisfying click as it locked. 

"This isn't very comfy," Bright complained, pointing to the belt.

"It's the law. And if we get in an accident - may God forbid it - it should help keep you safe. Keep your front hooves inside; I'm going to shut the door."

The colt obeyed, and Luke closed the door. He went to the back of the pickup and grabbed the blue tarpaulin, unfolding it and shaking it. It was, obviously, wet, and the bed would be likewise, but at least only one side was wet. He quickly turned it so that the side that was less wet was facing downwards. 

Shadow walked up behind Luke as the latter stretched the makeshift roof across the bed. "I'll help. I still don't think this is a good idea, but my wife's made up her mind."

"That's great; I'll need help when I go to hold this thing down and attach the bungee cords."

"I'll help too," Aurora put in. 

It took about three minutes to make the improvised shelter. While the thestrals probably didn't have the energy to fly far, they were able to fly as much as the job required. With their help, Luke was able to set up a roof for the bat-like parents to take shelter under. 

"Well, it'll be wet," Aurora muttered, "but at least we'll be out of the rain."

"Are you sure-"

"Yes, Shadow," she said impatiently. "It's too late to reconsider. The only other option would be to let him ferry us one at a time to his house, and you'd hate that even worse."

"Is this... legal?"

"In Maine it is, for anyone 19 and older." 

"Then our little slugger wouldn't have been able to fit back here with us," Aurora noted. "At least he's safe in the front."

"Warning you now, mister," the stallion said, poking Luke in the chest with a shod hoof; "you hurt him or my wife at all, you won't be going home tonight, or ever again. Understand?" 

"Perfectly," Luke answered in a calm voice, though inside he felt a twinge of fear. "Rest assured, I have no intentions of hurting any of you."

"I wish I could believe that, stranger," the stallion replied. "I really wish I could." 

"Then at least let him prove it," Aurora urged. "We have nothing to lose. We're penniless. We're hungry. We're tired. We need shelter, food, and drink."

Shadow didn't try to convince her otherwise, but he grumbled as he climbed into the bed, his wife following. Luke lifted the bed and locked it in place. 

"Try and lie down; you'll probably end up sliding from side to side whenever I turn if you sit," Luke advised. "I'll try and be careful, but I can't guarantee comfort."

"It's okay," Aurora said. "Thank you so much." 

"It's my duty." With that, Luke went to the left door, got in, shut the door, locked it, and slowly pulled away. He breathed  a sigh of relief that no one had entered the street behind him during the entire encounter. 

"Whoa," Bright said in excitement. "What's making this cart go? Where are the ponies to pull it?" 

Luke tried to hide an amused smile at the young pony's innocence, at the same time remembering his own curiosity about numerous subjects in the past, and how he had asked the same kinds of questions of others. "It's got an engine, kiddo. Doesn't need ponies or steam to make it go. Just needs a full tank of gas, and it's set." He took a gander at the gas meter; it was roughly 75% full, far, far more than enough.

"Wow. How fast can it go?"

"Hmm... Probably a hundred and twenty miles an hour. But going that speed is illegal almost everywhere off a racetrack; we'll probably be sticking to between thirty to forty five." He slowed down as they approached a red light.

"Why are we stopping?"

"The light's red," Luke said, pointing. "When the light's red, you can't keep going. Other drivers need their chance to cross the street." 

"Where's the police po- human to direct traffic?"

"Unless the lights aren't working, or unless there's an accident, the light are the norm at crossroads. We let the drivers on the roads to the right and left to go while their lights are green, and then when our light turns green, we go." 

The light turned green. Luke turned to the right, making sure to take the turn slowly in order to try and keep the couple in the back from sliding too much. 

"You guys okay?" Luke asked, looking back. He groaned as he realized that he hadn't opened the back window yet, and when he stopped again, he made sure to do so, and repeated the question.

"Yes," Aurora said. "We slid a little bit, but we're fine, and we'll remain so as long as you don't go too fast." 

"I hope it's not too uncomfortable," Luke said, turning his attention back to the road and accelerating.

"It's better than freezing our hindquarters off on a wet sidewalk," Aurora replied. "Could be better, though."

"Wish I'd brought a blanket," Luke remarked. "It might have helped. Not much room in this thing for it, though." trying to alleviate the situation, he added, "Your son seems curious about my truck."

"We usually just fly to get where we're going, if it's not obvious," the mare went on. "We generally don't need to worry about roads."

"I suppose that's partly why kiddo here is asking so many questions about my truck and rules of the road." 

"It would be. We don't have motorized vehicles that are available for public use. Our hooves and wings have worked more than well enough for millennia. We have railroads, but the trains can't go everywhere, of course."

"Oh, naturally. The maintenance costs would be ridiculous. And as far as I'm aware, no one has ever built functioning rails out of clouds." 

That jerked a surprised laugh out of the mare. "That's true, even in Equestria." 

"So, if I might venture a question, what are a family of Equestrian citizens doing here in America?" Luke asked. 

"Well..." Aurora took a moment to answer. "We're not Equestrian citizens anymore. We're going through the process to become Americans."

That caught Luke by surprise, though practice had taught him to keep hi eyes on the road. 

"It's... a long story," Aurora said hesitantly. "Wait, why are you...?" she asked as Luke slowed down and pulled into a McDonald's drive in.

"You said you guys have gone the last three days with pretty much nothing to eat. I could wait until we get home, but I think it's better to get something in your bellies as soon as possible."

Before she could reply, Luke had stopped; there was a car in front of them, the driver taking their order. 

"Okay, they serve mostly burgers, nuggets, and fries here, but since Equestria made the portals-"

"We'll be fine with a couple large Big Macs and some large fries," Aurora said.

Luke looked back at her.

"We have restaurants not much different from this in Equestria, and we've been in America for three months. We're not ignorant bumblers."

"You want hay burger patties, I assume?" 

"...We're thestrals. We're omnivores." 

Luke glanced at her, again surprised.

"I hadn't heard that."

"It's not a fact that we advertise to our fellow ponies. We're already suspected of being vampires; we don't need to confirm their already negative suspicions of us."

"Alright. What what about you, little guy?" Luke asked, turning toward Bright.

"Hey! I'm not little!" 

"Okay, then what would you like?"

"A big burger, like momma and daddy ordered! And fries! Lots and lots of them!"

"And for drinks?"

"Big soda!" Bright shouted eagerly. 

"What brand?"

"The big black stuff!" 

"You mean Coca Cola?" 

"Yeah, that!" 

"Okay. What about you two?"

Aurora and her husband whispered to one another for a few seconds. Then Aurora said, "We'll each have a Coke as well."

"Okay then." Just then, the car in front moved forward. Luke drove up and made the order, then waited, moving forward one car length at a time as each vehicle in front received, and paid for, their orders.

Eventually, he was able to pull up to the first window, pay for the food he'd just purchased, and following that drove up to the second. 

A man in his twenties came up to the window. As the man handed Luke the food he'd ordered, he noticed the occupants of the vehicle. "Here you go," he said, handing over the bags, but he sounded disapproving, as did his scowl.

Luke suppressed a sigh. Some people still didn't care for ponies, despite the fact that they were no longer merely characters on a television show. While many of the show's fans had been elated to know that their beloved world of Equestria was real, those who had been opposed to it tended to remain hostile. That didn't look like changing anytime soon. "Thank you, have a great one," he replied, trying to keep the ponies calm.

"Next time, keep your animals in the barn," the man said snidely, shutting the window. 

Luke opened his mouth, but Aurora said, "Don't. It's not worth it. And he's gone now anyways." 

"I know, but... curse it, that was low."

"Don't you think we feel that even more deeply than you?" she replied. "And we're all starving."

"Oh, right. Sorry." Luke drove away from the window and found a place to park in the lot nearby. "Right, so large cokes for everyone," he began, passing out the drinks. "A whopper and fries for kiddo," he went on, passing the box to Bright, who opened it and began wolfing it down.

"Fank 'eu," Bright said belatedly, mouth full.

"And that means the rest of the bag is yours," Luke said, handing it out the back window.

"Thank you," Aurora said as Shadow began nosing through the bag. "You don't know what this means to us." She didn't say anymore at the moment; she dug into the bag, gave Shadow his share of the food, and simply dug in. 

Wow, these poor guys are really hungry! I hope I bought enough for 'em! Luke thought about it for a moment. Then again, I have more food at home if they aren't full by the time we get there.

"You want to finish eating in the parking lot, or do you folks mind if I get started on the journey home?" he asked.

"If you don't mind," Aurora said after she'd finished her first few bites, "we'd prefer not to have to worry about sliding everywhere."

"Okay, so we'll just sit here, I guess."

"Mmm-hmm," was the only answer he got; the thestral mare had proceeded to chop down on her food, leaving little time to talk. 

Luke sat quietly as the ponies ate; having kept the radio off, the only sounds were that of the family eating and of the engine lowly rumbling. 

"Is this food going to be enough?" he inquired after a few minutes. 

"I think we'll be satisfied for a while," Aurora answered. "I think we'll need more soon, though." 

"I have quite a bit stocked up at my house. You should be able to satisfy any remaining hunger pangs there."

"Oh good," she replied. "I think we'll be able to live through the rest of the night, at least." She looked up at the sky. "Pity we can't see the moon tonight. Your world feels too random, if you'll forgive me for saying so."

Luke shrugged, though he mentally clamped down on what he'd been about to say; that he felt that Equestria had too much control over its weather, and that the Everfree Forest's description in the season one premiere hadn't chilled him at all. 

He thought quietly as the ponies continued their feast, such as it was. 

This whole thing is just strange. A group of thestrals, perhaps the rarest of all ponies save alicorns, or more appropriate the least seen I guess, appears out of nowhere. I haven't heard many stories of us meeting them, and those were pretty secret. Next, despite the thestrals' vaunted loyalty to Princess Luna, this family is in America. Finally, they're dirt poor and are out on the streets in the middle of late November, homeless, just as its getting colder. It's not my place to pry,
but I really wish I had more knowledge instead of a few scattered pieces of the puzzle.

It was a complex situation, to which he had no answers as of yet.

Presently, Aurora must have had a belly that was at least mildly satisfied, because she looked up from her meal. "What do you do for a living, dear?"

"I work in a history museum. I teach people about military history. I thought about going into the army."

She nodded. "You hear that, my love?" she said, turning to Shadow.

"Yeah." Shadow didn't look impressed. "What hours does he work?"

"Daylight hours," Luke replied. 

Shadow snorted. "Typical sunlover."

"Shadow!"

"Well, if more people worked at night, we'd have less trouble, here and in Equestria. I never knew what good sunlovers see in the daytime."

"We could be out on our hindquarters on the street freezing to death," Aurora retorted. "I don't know what's so special about the sun and daytime either, but by Luna, show some respect and gratitude!"

"Just wait. This is just another plan to"- Shadow whispered the next word, and if Luke hadn't been listening intently he would never have caught it - "us over."

"Shhh! Think of our foal."

At this, Shadow went quiet, but Luke knew that this was more due to Shadow's care for his wife than to agreement, or abandonment of the argument for that matter. Whatever had happened must have been scarring. 

As the meal was nearing its end, Luke put the truck in drive. "If there's no objections, I'm going to start driving to my house."

"None," Aurora said, finishing a few fries. "And thank you."

"It's practically nothing, really" Luke shrugged. "And we'll be at my house in a couple minutes."

Carefully, Luke drove out of the parking lot and down the road. He turned right into a suburb and pulled into the driveway of his own house. The short drive had been almost entirely quiet; the only exception had been Bright Night chewing what was left of his food, which wasn't much - the poor guy must have been starving in spite of all that his parents had done. 

As Luke got out and helped Bright unbuckle himself, he was glad to note that the rain was coming down considerably less hard than it had been a while ago. The family of thestrals were able to get out of the truck without any trouble, and Luke walked over to the door to unlock it. 

"Almost forgot, security," he muttered to himself, taking out his phone and disabling the alarm system.

"You can do that with one of those devices?" Aurora asked. 

"It's called a cell phone. And yes," Luke answered, putting the phone back in his pocket and getting out the house keys. "You haven't heard of or seen 'em yet?" he asked as he opened the door and held it open. 

"Of course we've seen them," Aurora said, wiping her hooves on the mat. "Equestria's bought tons of them," she went on, as everyone came inside and Luke shut the door. "But they're so brittle that a good tap from a pony's hoof is often enough to break them. I mean," she said, turning around and turning her right front hoof upward so Luke could examine it, "do you think that this could tap a phone without putting some major stress on it?"

Luke noticed that her hoof was shod with typical horseshoes, nailed on. 

"Our scientists are doing their best to remake the phones so that they are more resistant," Aurora said. "Last I heard, they were close. Been a bit since then, so they might have done it, but as they are, earth ponies, pegasi, and thestrals can barely use them. Doesn't stop unicorns, but then it wouldn't."

"Where's the fridge?" Shadow asked bluntly, interrupting them. 

"It's alright," Luke said, heading off Aurora's protest. "Just around the stairs over yonder."

Shadow grunted, then walked away, shod hooves sounding out against the floor. Bright eagerly followed, licking his lips. 

"Don't let Shadow get to you," the bat pony mare said, watching them disappear around the corner. "He didn't used to be like this. None of us were."

"I suppose it's no good asking the wife of a former Lunar Guard what's happened?"

She sighed. "Not yet. And how did you know-?"

"I've spent my life studying soldiers. I hope to say that I can recognize one when I see him. Also, I've never read or heard of thestrals doing anything else."

"You'd be surprised... but yes, Shadow is an ex-Guard." She said that last bit with a bit of stiffness in her voice, and  Luke could see that she wasn't inclined to discuss Shadow's military career any further at the moment. "He's also a devoted father and husband, so please don't judge him too harshly."

"I hope not to judge him at all."
> Chapter 3; Settling in and a history lesson
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luke followed the thestrals into the kitchen. Shadow had reached the fridge and already had it open. He had his left hoof on the door handle, and Luke was startled to see that, although Shadow was both shod and not physically grasping the handle, he was nonetheless somehow holding it anyway.

Meanwhile, Bright Night opened the right door and wasn't even bothering to hold it, instead just shoving it aside with his right shoulder as he explored. "Oooh, cheese! Tomatoes!" He nosed his way into the meat drawer. "Beef dogs!" he exclaimed, then pulling out a pack of hot dogs from the bin where he had found them, depositing them on the counter just behind the two.

"No baloney..." Shadow muttered, apparently not paying attention. "No bacon... Mostly beef products... almost no vegetables... some apples..."

Aurora loudly face-hoofed. "Bright!" she sharply snapped to her son as she removed her hoof from her face. "How many times have I told you not to touch things without permission? Especially when it's food, and specifically when you're using your mouth?"

"Sorry, mom," Bright said, looking a little down for a second or two, before eagerly turning back to the pack of hot dogs.

"No! Turn back and face me, young colt! And Shadow... just rummaging through a host's fridge like that!"

"Hey, our host did say-"

"That's no excuse for plundering someone else's food stock!"

Shadow looked slightly abashed, as did his son. 

"I am so sorry about that," Aurora said in an apologetic tone to Luke. "I hope their minds can overcome their stomachs from now on, given that we now have plenty of food and some shelter."

"I forgive it. You're all hungry, even after a meal from MickyD's. I think those hot dogs that Bright grabbed, if his fangs haven't broken the pack, might be the thing."

Luke checked the pack. It was not broken, but it had been a near thing; there were several noticeable divots in the packaging. 

"I'll microwave a few of them at a time. Fastest way to cook them. I'll get out the plates and the hot dog buns."

"I'd like to help," Aurora said. "Where are the plates?" 

"In that cabinet," Luke said, pointing as he walked to get some glasses.

After taking out the glasses, Luke turned around. Aurora was standing on her hind legs; she used her forehooves to open the cabinet, take out a stack of paper plates, and set them down. "Are these the ones?" she asked. 

"Yes. Thank you."

In almost no time at all, the hot dogs were ready. Luke took them out and gave the first three dogs to Bright, who almost gobbled them then and there before remembering that there were condiments. He hastened to add relish, mustard, and ketchup to them while Luke prepared another three dogs, these for Shadow. Bright had already consumed one hot dog and half of a second by the time Shadow's were ready, and when Aurora's were done, the yellow thestral had almost finished them all. 

"Thank you," Aurora said again, as Luke passed her her dogs and Bright made the last of the his meal vanish. "To put it bluntly, we needed a break."

"It's alright." Luke sat down in a chair in the dining room table, around which the others were currently sitting. 

Bright was finally satisfied; he hopped off his chair and made for the couch in the living room before the others had even started eating. He curled up and yawned, revealing a mouth of teeth that were mostly flat, with a pair of fangs on either side of the mouth. As he closed his eyes contentedly, he made a faint but pleasant "Creeee," that Luke was barely able to hear. 

"He'll be alright," Aurora said, for once looking completely relaxed. "Our kids make that noise all the time when they're happy and about to fall asleep."

"Too bad he's going to be sleeping during the nighttime," Shadow muttered as he began eating, but Aurora pretended not to hear him.

"Glad to help," Luke said. "Please forgive me for being curious, but I've never seen thestrals before tonight. A couple pegasi and an earth pony, and of course all three kinds of ponies on TV, but..."

"Most don't see us. We're nocturnal, as Shadow loves to harp on, and our primary occupations consist of protecting and serving Princess Luna. You were right to note that we were involved in the Lunar Guard. Those not in the active Lunar Guard are generally blacksmiths or weavers to support them, shoeing, armoring, and clothing our people. I used to be a blacksmith myself." She paused, then added, "Oh, I might have forgotten to mention it earlier. Don't worry about the horseshoes and nails. We literally can't feel them. The hoof wall is made entirely of hard, unfeeling, unbending, nerveless keratin. We can't even feel the nails."

"Okay." Luke scratched his chin. "So, your family's horseshoes are your work?"

"Mine and Shadow's, yes. My shoe work isn't specialized enough for a growing colt like Bright, though; that was the work of a more skilled neighbor of ours. I could also make and repair good armor; it's not so good as to be a mastery of the craft, but enough for my husband and his needs." 

"Wouldn't that eventually lead to too much armor being produced for the Lunar Guard?"

"No. I said I could make good armor, but my job in that regard was mainly to repair and maintain my husband's, to be honest. I also made a set for myself, if our house were to come under attack or there was an emergency. The Lunar Guard can call up the wives of active Guardsponies to double the numbers in an extreme case. We all had to learn military skills, involving extensive training with spear and sword, and, more recently, with guns, including assault weapons."

"Ponies can use guns?"

"Not ones with the trigger guards that you humans use, but we modify the ones we make so that the trigger can be depressed properly with shod hooves. In any case, even thestral mares receive a great deal of training. That's without reckoning with the stallions, who usually train most of their lives to perfect their craft."

"What other occupations are available besides the military?"

"Unfortunately, the crops we can grow are a bit limited; our crops are rhubarb and chicory mostly. And that's again largely to feed ourselves and our families. We do some mining with stone, but nothing substantial."

Aurora stopped and chewed on a hot dog for a few minutes. Luke waited, eager to learn more.

"We do have a few stonemasons, to use the stone that we dig. Not that many, because we mostly dig out what we need to house ourselves. Our population is small, but growing."

"Do you live in houses?"

"Only a few live in houses in the main districts of Canterlot, which, being closest to our Princess, is where the vast majority of us live. As I said, we're not fond of sunlight. Most thestrals live inside Canterhorn Mountain, in carved-out underground districts."

"That sounds like a rather... rocky experience."

"I'll forgive that joke. Anyway, some of us, my husband and myself and our little Slugger, live in houses in small forests just outside the city. You probably wouldn't like it; vines everywhere and virtually no sunlight, even in the daytime. 'Bat City', as it's nicknamed by various wits, is the thestral part of Canterlot, which, as I said, was carved inside Canterhorn Mountain. Given that the entrance is hidden, and most inhabitants don't bother to look anyway, few outsiders enter."

"You must have gone there a lot, despite living outside the city yourselves."

"We're in the minority; we're part of a small community in the forest outside the town. The majority of thestral business - the thestral bureaucracy, the Guard barracks and training center, the market; basically anything that cannot be made, fixed or repaired by thestral blacksmiths or weavers, or done the Palace itself - is taken care of inside Bat City."

"I assume that most houses there are stone."

"You'd be wrong. Most are made of wood, like most pony homes, and come with the same access to luxuries and services. Though some of the stone we mine is used as construction material, it's not the primary one."

"How big is it compared with the rest of the city?"

"Not all that big. We aren't as numerous as unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasi. And, for obvious reasons, largely the nocturnal life pattern and the fact that we scare a lot of ponies, we're homogeneous."

"I thought you guys liked the moon. How can you see it from, ahem, 'Bat City?'"

"In the sole exception to only digging out what we need, we have hollowed out the northern side of the mountain, enough both for us to fly out of and to light the district with moonlight. It also allows us to build tiers of housing in the sides in a circular shape."

Luke scratched his chin. He was feeling a great desire to soak in more knowledge. "Pardon my asking but where did you all go when... Princess Luna... disappeared, a bit over a thousand years ago?"

Aurora lost a bit of her smile at that point. Shadow grunted discontentedly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize-"

"Don't apologize. It's... only natural to ask that question eventually." Aurora had her hoof make a couple of circles on the cloth in front of her as she thought. "The time after the 'Great Corruption,' as we call it, was... terrible. We had been Princess Luna's lone supporters, and even we didn't know how far she had descended... She kept her jealousy to herself and her sister and a few officials. Our ancestors didn't ask questions; their job was simply to protect their Princess, and they didn't question her. As is proper," she said, heading off Shadow, who had been about to interrupt. "Our duty is not to question, but obey. I do wish she had talked more to us about the moon issue, though; she would have found great support among us."

"You said that after she... left..."

"We were in a bad spot. The news about the Corruption got out quickly. As Princess Luna's strongest supporters, we were deemed traitors by the population at large. Princess Celestia tried to stop the hysteria, but she was struggling with both the loss of her sister and the needs of running the nation. Some Royal Guard units at the time even helped the other tribes to drive us out; from what I heard, Princess Celestia punished them severely for it, but it happened nonetheless." 

"How did you survive?"

"Princess Celestia managed to encourage us to come back and live quietly and secretly in the woods, first in the Everfree, then, later, near Canterlot. She actually helped get Bat City started by having ponies mine the mountain. She claimed that she was looking for riches, and that was true, but mainly - and secretly - it was to give us a place to live."

"And your people and their ways survived?"

"We did. We served as Guards at night, when we were least likely to be detected by the other ponies."

"You retained loyalty to Princess Luna for a thousand years?"

"Yes. Don't get me wrong, most of us love Princess Celestia, but back in our little town, or in the smaller communities outside Canterlot, we would remember our beloved Lunar Princess, of the jealousy that had... corrupted her. It was hard for us not to blame the Solar Princess for the banishment, given how she had not heeded the warning signs. Surely, after all, our beloved Princess would have told her sister how she had felt, and the Princess of the Sun had not heeded her. We maintained our society, but it was..."

"Stagnant."

"Well, we felt a deep sense of... abandonment is not the word I'm looking for, but... We lacked a... oh, how do I say this? We wondered what our purpose was. Constantly. Oh, we could shrug it off and do our duties and provide for our people and, secretly, for Equestria, and even engage in fun. But somewhere inside, in those little moments when we were alone or in private, we felt that something was amiss. Other ponies shunned the night, or so we convinced ourselves, as they had when our Princess was banished. One half of the Diarchy was missing. We were the kingdom's secret defenders, but we felt that something was missing."

"And then Luna came back."

"Princess Luna. And yes, she came back. Imagine our joy when we heard; our glorious Princess of the Night had returned!"

"We could barely believe it, even though, nocturnal as we are, we could hardly miss the long night, and the disappearance of the Mare in the Moon. But then Princess Celestia took her sister to visit our district, hidden in the mountain. We were moved by her return. We once again had a purpose. To protect our Princess, and serve her."

"It also meant our freedom. Freedom to be out and about openly in Equestria again. We've been viewed with some suspicion, true, but not with the efforts to banish us that had occurred after Princess Luna's Corruption. We could at last stand tall, and reason to do so."

Aurora allowed herself a few minutes to breathe, and to eat. Finally, she said, "Most of the past eight or so years has been good for our people. We've managed to become moderately prosperous, though at heart we remain a militarized society. And we've gained confidence."

"Alright." Luke tried to think of more questions. "Earth ponies have strength, pegasi have flight and can control the weather, and unicorns have magic. Is your ability to see at night your equivalent power?"

"Our nocturnal nature is simply... us. So yes, I'd say it is. That, and our fangs give us an extra set of weapons if we have nothing else at hoof."

"Sorry for all the questions," Luke said after a few seconds' pause. "I must seem like a poor host if I'm making you feel like I'm interrogating you."

"What? Oh, no, no, no. For one thing, we're trained to sniff out interrogations. Trust me, if I thought you were a government agent or something trying to get secrets out of Equestria, we'd be gone and you... wouldn't be so well off."

Luke managed to prevent his hand from going to his neck, but it was difficult. "Can you walk on clouds as well?"

"Actually, yes. Shadow and I used to do so on nights when we were dating."

"Please, spare me the memories," Shadow said from his side of the table. 

Aurora didn't openly acknowledge that statement, though her left ear twitched. "Anything else?"

"Not yet..." Luke brought a hand to his forehead as he remembered. "I'm so sorry, I brought out those glasses and forgot all about getting you fellows something to drink."

"It's alright. I'll have of the orange juice or whatever the orange drink in your refrigerator was."

"Sunny Delight, otherwise known as Sunny D. I'll get it right away. Shadow-"

"Just a bottle of water."

"Okay." 

Luke poured himself and Aurora a glass of Sunny D, took out a bottle of water for Shadow, and came back into the dining room. Aurora made a sound not unlike the one Bright had just a few minutes before. "Much obliged," she said. She took the glass and held it, stopping for a moment as Luke stared. "Oh, right, you're probably curious about how I'm holding this with just the frog of my hoof." 

"The thought had occurred to me, yes."

"It's fairly simple. All ponies in Equestria - and most if not all creatures with hooves - have a magical ability that allows objects to stick to our hooves. I've heard it described as a sort of bio-magnet or electro-magnet, only we're able to pick up non-metallic items as well. It's effect extends to the inner edge of the hoof wall, and doesn't extend through it or outside of it." 

"I see."

"That's the simple version, anyway, and the one I think will suffice for now." Aurora yawned, then took a sip. "Ooooh, tangy." 

"You're tired? At night?"

"Well, being on the streets and going hungry will do that." She sighed, sipping again. Meanwhile, Shadow was simply chugging the bottle of water down.

"What determine's a pony's coat and hoof colors? I notice that while both of you are dark colors, Bright is... well..."

"Our little star in the night. That's how we describe it." Aurora gulped down half of what was left in her glass. "He's an unusual color for a thestral, no doubt about it. To answer your first question... I'm not a geneticist. I don't know. You can get two ponies who are both blue or both red, and they'll get a foal that's green or white or gray or bay or orange or pink or some other color. It's true that most ponies will have similar colors to those of their parents, but not always." She yawned again.

"Not until daylight, please," Shadow said, stifling his own yawn. 

"I can't help being sleepy, Shadow. And don't act like you're above falling asleep. A few seconds on that couch and you'd be sawing logs."

"I can provide some place for you to sleep. There's the guest bedroom on this floor, and a couple of empty rooms upstairs. I don't have any furniture in the extra upstairs rooms, but the guest bedroom is fully furnished with a bed for two people, and I have an inflatable bed and some sleeping bags in the garage."

"I don't think the sleeping bags will be big enough, but the bed might be feasible. And we'll definitely need the inflatable one; I doubt it will hold all of us. I don't know if you've noticed, but we're a lot bigger than we're portrayed in My Little Pony."

"I noticed." 

"So you've seen it?"

"...I have."

Aurora didn't press him any further. Seeing that Shadow was done eating, she said, "I'll go and inspect the bedroom with you both." 

Luke led the way out of the dining room and into the guest bedroom, which was only a few steps away.

Shadow and Aurora examined it. "Not super spacey," Shadow observed. 

"Oh, hush. The bed's just big enough to be comfortable, and there's enough room for the inflatable bed, I think. We should be fine, for now at least."

"Oh, alright," Shadow said in a grumpy tone. 

Aurora sighed in exasperation, but didn't do more than cuff him on the back of the head with one of her wings as she turned her head around. "It'll do. I think our Slugger will sleep through the night and most of the day. I hope the inflatable bed will support him for that long."

"I think it might do so, if he doesn't roll too much. Speaking of that, I'll go and get it."

--------------------

As Luke left, Aurora turned to her husband. "What is your deal?" she demanded, in a whisper so low in sound that only another thestral could hear her. "I know we've been through a lot, but we've gotten a great break here."

"I'm trying to keep us on the very tips of our hooves here! We've been betrayed too much to trust anyone else ever again."

Aurora rolled her eyes. "You know perfectly well that that's not going to happen here. We both took training in order to find out who is lying and who is being honest. He hasn't."

"That we can detect. You gave up way too much information back there!"

"Still on about him being an agent for somebody?"

"He could be..."

"No proof. You're just bitter over what's happened." 

"They. Tried. To--"

"We've survived despite everything. As long as we're still alive, we have hope. I'm not giving up. And I'm not happy with how ungrateful you are."

"Ungrateful...?" Shadow growled. "I'm just being cautious!"

"And you're doing all too obviously. There was a time when you'd be almost undetectable at it. Please, for the sake of our son..."

Shadow kept her gaze for several seconds before finally looking away. "Fiiiiinnnnneeee..." he reluctantly moaned.

Aurora hummed in gratitude, but deep down knew that this matter was far from resolved. 

----------------------------------------------------------- 

Luke somehow managed to find the inflatable bed (and a pump to fill it with) in the mess of a maze that he called his garage. He brought it and the pump out to the guest bedroom. 

"I think that will suffice for our son," Aurora said. "Once its blown up. 

"About to do that. You might want to wake him up beforehand; this thing is loud and I don't want him to be surprised by it."

"I'll take care of it," the thestral mare replied. 

She walked up to the couch where Bright was sleeping. She began doing something in his ear; it looked like she was talking to him, but Luke could hear absolutely nothing coming from her lips. It must have had its desired effect, however, because Bright moaned, then raised his head. "Is it night again?" he asked sleepily. 

"No, my precious little nutkin. It is time for you to go to bed, though."

"Great, where is it?" the young pony said, looking around.

"Mr. Luke is getting it ready. The pump he's using will be loud, so you might want to cover your ears."

"Huh?"

"Cover your ears, dear."

Bright did so, though somewhat slowly; he was still half-asleep.

Luke started the pump. Bright still jerked in surprise, but he didn't run, jump, or do anything destructive. After the first few seconds, the yellow thestral simply laid his head upon the arm of the couch.

"Poor little thing," Aurora murmured. "He's put up with everything, and with hardly a complaint. He'd make a great Lunar Guard as a grown stallion."

Shadow made another growling sound, but this time, Luke could sense some measure of respect in it. 

"This could take a few minutes," Luke said, as the pump continued to loudly do its work. 

"We don't have much else to do," Aurora replied. 

Luke sat down next to the couch and began petting Bright's ear. The thestral colt moaned, though not in pain or discomfort, and then made another "Creeeee" sound in contentment. 

"Cute little guy."

"We're NOT cute," Shadow said, sounding insulted. "We're a warrior race, and will be addressed as such!"

"Oh, lighten up, honey," Aurora replied, ears slowly flattening against her head in anger. "It's not like he's treating us like barnyard animals." 

"Might as well, if he thinks thestrals are cute. Even other ponies find us menacing, and that's an image I want everyone else to have, not that of cute baby kittens to be cuddled!"

Luke couldn't help sighing in a mixture of amusement and exasperation. Shadow was making nothing easy.

"Please don't mind him," the mare went on. She raised an eyebrow briefly. "Though I'd also ask you to please refrain from calling us cute in the future."

"Of course," Luke replied. "This is my first real encounter with Equestrian ponies. I've seen some, but I haven't spent any long amount of time with them. I saw pegasus sitting in a Burger King not far away from me a few months back, but that's the closest I got to talking to one." 

"I'm not surprised. A lot of ponies like to stay in Equestria, near the communities where they were raised. Naturally, there are a lot of enterprising ponies who want to check out a new world and see what its like, but the majority prefer, well..."

"The provincial life." 

Aurora chuckled. "Yes, that's one way of putting it."

Luke stepped away briefly to check the pump's progress. It was still working, and was about a third of the way done.

"As I was saying," Aurora went on, "ponies tend to be a more homely folk than outreaching. We like our communities, and while we might go outside our towns for a vacation or for business, we love our home towns."

"How many out of ten would you say are on Earth at anyone time?"

"Which Earth?" Aurora asked, before unveiling an amused smile. She put a hoof to her chin as she considered. "Maybe one or two out over every ten. Of course, given our population size, that's still quite a few. Forget the barely inhabited towns you see in the show; Equestria has a massive population. Ponyville is small, true; maybe a few hundred living there. But Manehattan, Las Pegasus, and Canterlot have populations in the hundreds of thousands; Manehattan has maybe four to five million ponies and many thousands of other species, now including some humans, living there." She yawned yet again. 

"How much longer can you hold on?"

"Maybe an hour or so," the mare responded, yawning even as she said it. 

"Shouldn't have to be that long. The pump should be done in a few minutes." 

"Great." Aurora managed to stifle another yawn. "Another misconception is that we can hang by our tails. Utterly ridiculous. Do you know how much a grown pony weighs? And how strong a tail we'd need to make it work?"

"Alright." Luke mentally crossed off a question he'd wanted to ask. 

"Perhaps a few hundred thousand ponies on this planet, maybe a million or so. I haven't counted" - here she yawned again - "and I certainly won't be starting right now. What I know is, most of them are concentrated in the capitals of major nations."

"A few pegasi tried to become weather directors here."

"Yeah. Poor fellows; they might have been rich if your clouds weren't so..." She twirled her hoof in the air as she tried to think of a word. "Incoherent. I learned real quick that you can't nap on these fall-through things you call clouds. I was fortunate I was miles in the sky and had a lifetime of flying experience."

"Wow. Sounds like quite a fall."

"Like I said, fortunate." 

Luke checked again; the pump would probably take another few minutes. "I hope Equestria is doing well. Militarily and otherwise."

"It is. Our military has modernized and we're being extremely careful with who we let in from here. And we have good relations with several countries, this one included." Aurora yawned for the umpteenth time and clicked her tongue a few times. "I heard it gets very cold here in the winter."

"In Maine it does. I'll check up whether or not they sell winter suits for pegasi; closest you'll probably get. And they don't sell many of those, not here. Barely any ponies living up in this state. My guess is its either too cold or too distant from the portals."

"Probably both." Aurora let her head lean on the couch. 

It was obvious that the whole family was simply too tired to carry on a big conversation. Luke remained silent as the pump continued. Upon checking it a third time, he discovered that it had completed its work. He quickly set up some sheets, a blanket, and a pillow upon the inflatable. "It's done."

"Oh thank..." Aurora walked into the room yawning once more, followed by her husband and son. 

"Hee hee," Bright giggled as he climbed onto the bed. "It's like a bouncy house!"

"Don't go jumping on this," Luke cautioned. "Otherwise, it'll pop."

"Behave, my little Slugger," Aurora said as she climbed onto the guest bed, with Shadow following.

Luke went to check on Bright, but the young pony was already conked out, head on the pillow. Looking up, he saw that the same was true of the parents as well; each of them was falling asleep. 

He got up and left the room, quietly closing the door. 

Poor things. Luke made sure to be quiet as he walked up the stairs and went into his room, sitting down in the chair at his computer desk. 

"Thestrals," he murmured as he googled the word. Unfortunately, the search turned up nothing that he hadn't already known or been told. They were generally a militaristic society that served Princess Luna with enthusiasm, and they were nocturnal. Well, the sources he found said it in more detail than that, but it was essentially what they said. Even the whole eating meat bit didn't turn up, only the myth that they were vampiric, as well as the effects that this and their connection to Luna had on their relations with the other pony tribes and other species. One source did claim that they were just pegasi whose armor concealed their true identity, but given that he just had seen, talked to and cared for an entire family of ponies tonight - none of whom were wearing armor - that was just some wild theory. 

I guess I know as much about them as I'm going to, he thought to himself. At least, for now.

He was curious. There was so much information about the current situation that he was lacking, which in turn made it more difficult to face the current situation.

Whatever happens, we'll manage. 

He walked to the window, facing the north. It was still raining, but the beautiful forest around the suburb was visible and a patch of the sky was clearing up, revealing the moon and a few stars.

None of the works of man or pony can match the works of our Creator, he thought in contentment. It wasn't such a bad night, rain and all. 

He knelt for a moment. "Lord, please help to take care of this family. I ask your guidance and patience," he whispered. "Thank you for providing for our needs already, and please do so in the coming weeks. Please forgive me for the mistakes I may make, and please lead me to do better in the future. Amen."

He stood up and thought about what else he could immediately do to help his sleeping guests. Other than make sure the alarm was on, he realized there wasn't much; they were all fed, they were comfortable, they would have further access to services in the house if they needed them, and they were capable of helping themselves as necessary, as well as asking for help for anything they didn't know about. He used his phone to check that the security was on - it was - then got dressed for bed.

It was with irony that Luke noted, as he reached for a book on his nightstand, a lack of exhaustion in himself at the moment, whereas the nocturnal thestral family was currently asleep.
> Chapter 4; A new day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Doot-do-do-doot-doot-do-doot-doot-"

Luke opened his eyes, moaning as he reached over, picked up his phone, and turned off the alarm that was blaring on it. He sat up and rubbed his eyelids. It took him a moment to remember the events of the previous night, but once he did, everything came flooding back.

He got out of bed and dressed for the day. 

"10:00 AM," he remarked, looking a the phone again. 

He walked downstairs and quietly walked over to the door of the guest bedroom. When he put his head to the door, their breathing and snoring was quite apparent. Satisfied that his guests were alive and well, he quietly buttered some bread and prepared for a short, fast breakfast. 

As he ate, he pondered over the situation yet again. There were a few things he thought of that could be the reason for leaving Equestria. Economic reasons might be one; they might, like the unfortunate pegasi earlier, be trying to set up a business. That explanation seemed to fall flat, though, given what Aurora had told him about thestral society. It was possible that she had lied, of course, but the information she'd given seemed to match everything he and everyone else knew about thestrals, so that didn't seem likely. Curiosity over foreign lands might be something, but he dismissed it; their application to become American citizens made adventure an unlikely reason. Furthermore, they seemed to be desperate to keep a big secret. Many people had secrets, but the efforts by Shadow to keep his family quiet and his cynicism were intense. It had to be something important.

Espionage? Luke looked at his glass of milk as he thought. He hadn't considered a negative reason, at least, not in that sense. Had they committed a crime? Had they done something illegal, or treasonous, or...

Stop it. He mentally slapped himself. He had no proof of that, and by their nature, they seemed like a caring family that had fallen on bad times. Maybe they'd open up later. Whatever the reason, making sure they were taken care of was his highest priority right now in an earthly sense. And right now, they were asleep, and they had access to food when they woke up. 

He practically wolfed down the two slices of bread on his plate and chugged down the milk. Just then, the guest bedroom door opened. Luke turned around. 

Aurora had emerged. She looked rather uncomfortable; Luke noticed very quickly that she tried to shy away from the windows, as he had pulled back the blinds earlier. 

"Sorry about that," he said as went to put them back. 

"Nothing to be sorry about," she replied, choosing, as a recourse, to keep her left eye closed. "I didn't think I would be awake now."

"Are Shadow and Bright still sleeping well?"

"They are, and they probably won't be up for hours. I'm really staying up long, I just want some water. Maybe a snack to go along with it." The bat-like pony yawned, but not for so long as she had the previous night. "Then I'm going back to bed."

"For how long?"

"Maybe a couple of hours. Maybe the rest of the day. I don't know." The dark blue mare turned an ear briefly back toward the guest bedroom. "Don't mention this to Shadow," she said, "but I think that, if we're really going to become citizens here, we'll have to get used to staying up during the day. I haven't found any elementary schools willing to teach at night, and the only other option would be to home-school Bright, and I don't want us to be an island; I want us to live."

"I suppose you'll need sunglasses or something."

"Probably. Do you mind...?" she asked, her hoof reaching for the fridge door.

"Be my guest." 

"Thank you." Aurora took a jug of milk and poured herself a glass before chugging it down and filling it again. 

"Feel free if you want some cookies from the cupboard."

"Much obliged." The thestral took the liberty of hauling out a pack of Chips Ahoy, pouring more milk, and setting herself up at the table.

"Sorry about my husband's behavior," she said, dipping a cookie in the milk. "He's really... sensitive these days."

"I gather that's from something traumatic that's happened not long ago."

"I... I still think that's private, for now," Aurora said, biting a piece off the cookie. "We haven't known you long enough to trust you with that knowledge. I will say this; what happened... really tore a piece out of Shadow. He was like many other fathers in Equestria; joyful, determined to help his son to be the best he could be, and we went out all the time. He could be... rough, true, but he was an optimist."

"And then what happened... happened."

"Yes." Aurora stared into her glass again for a moment. "He's never been the same. I know that deep down, he still wants to be that father and husband he's always been, but he's become edgy. I'm not surprised, to be honest, but it is depressing to see that change in him."

"Is there anything we can do?"

"I doubt it. I've tried everything I know, but he's never happy for long." The thestral mare finished her snack and got off the chair. "Oh, do you need to do anything that might be loud?" she asked, turning her head to look at him.

"I don't think so. A few papers to look at, and a report, but that can all be done without anything all that noisy."

"Okay. Thanks. Mind if I take a few back to Bright?"

"No, help yourself, so long as he doesn't eat half the box."

"Thanks again." Aurora walked back to the bedroom, went through it, and shut the door. 

A delightful family, Luke thought. Now... work.

------------------------------------------------

...In conclusion, the Mexica defeat was not purely due to superior Spanish weaponry, Luke typed a few hours later. Nor can it be blamed on inferior tactics, as they adapted their methods of warfare several times during the conquest. While technology undeniably played a part, including the weapons as well as the ships Cortes brought with him to the lake, the Mexica lost in large part due to other native nations, including the Tlaxcala, allying with the Spaniards against them.

He took a short look at the document he was writing. It looked okay, but the entire thing could be polished off more. 

My grammar is suffering as of late. I keep using the same words over and over again. It gets boring.

He made the chances that he deemed necessary, saved it, then put the laptop to sleep. It was now lunch time, and his stomach growled, as if in agreement. 

Luke walked back downstairs, remembering his guests about halfway down and then making an effort to be more quiet. 

Since Aurora's snack earlier, there hadn't been a peep from the guest bedroom. The thestrals were still sound asleep; he hadn't heard any snoring, which had been odd, but then again, maybe it wasn't something that bat ponies did. In any case, he was content to leave things as they were. 

Fortunately, his microwave wasn't all that loud, but it would have been rude to awake his guests, so he went downtown to buy a couple burgers at the new local Five Guys, along with some fries, and came back. 

Smells good, he thought to himself as he entered the house, shut the door, and turned the alarm back on. 

He set the food down on the table, grabbed a paper plate, took a bottle of ketchup out of the fridge, and sat down to eat.

As he was about the take the first bite of the first burger, the guest bedroom door opened. Surprised, Luke lowered the burger and turned toward it.

Shadow had emerged, nose in the air and sniffing eagerly. Upon seeing Luke, though, he recoiled. 

Should have known they would smell the food. Both of them stared at one another for a few seconds.

Shadow looked back into the room, then back at Luke. He did this several times. 

Luke heard a grumbling sound coming from Shadow. He realized, after a few seconds, that Shadow wasn't moving his lips, and it was not a growl of aggression, but of the stomach. 

The thestral sighed after a few seconds, then slowly made his way to the pantry, his steel-shod hooves making the only discernible noise as he walked. He opened the door and began looking; he was trying to maintain a sort of dignity, but his eyes and movement betrayed how hungry he was. 

Luke continued to watch him for a moment. "Want one?"

Shadow stopped. "One of what?"

"One of these." Luke held up the second burger. 

"I'm not an invalid. I can get my own," the dark blue pony said indignantly. 

"I'm just-"

"I don't need your help."

Luke suppressed a sigh and turned back to his lunch. 

After a few minutes, he heard a rattle of a Pringles can and the sound of the door closing. A moment later, Shadow got a plate and sat down on a chair on the other side of the little kitchen table that Luke was sitting at. However, as the can was not opened, he struggled for about thirty second with the can, damaging it badly between his hooves while doing so, and indeed, even biting it (though not, thankfully, penetrating the sides) before realizing that there was a piece of the paper covering that could be pulled up, which he used his teeth to do. Finally, and with very brief look of embarrassment, he dumped about half the can onto the plate before placing the container on the table.

"Those go good with ketchup," Luke advised.

Shadow acted like he hadn't heard. "Too small," he muttered, but nonetheless began to shovel them into his mouth. It didn't take long before all this chips were gone.

"Can I get you-"

"No. I'm going back to bed."

Raising the second, -still wrapped burger, Luke started again; "You sure you don't want-"

"Are you deaf? I said no!" 

Frustration arose in Luke as the stallion put the chip can away, and he again forced it down. He contented himself by releasing a sigh as the bedroom door shut. 

What does it take to be friends with that guy?

Luke squelched that thought as well. Give it time. He might come around. 

He finally began to eat, trying not to remain vexed. 

---------------------------------------------------

...Napoleon's 1814 campaign was thus closer run than commonly accepted. If he had fortified Paris and kept a garrison there to hold of the Coalition troops, perhaps the Emperor of the French would have kept his throne. However, it must be noted that his refusal to accept the frontiers of 1789 was another factor in the Coalition victory.

Luke paused, made several corrections, and then hit the print button. As the printer began it's work, he got up off his chair and stretched, before taking a look around his room.

A cross stood just above his bed, and a bible sat on his nightstand. A Union flag and a Confederate flag (the "Stars and Bars") hung from either side of his window. On a small table, there was a miniature battle of Monmouth, plastic figures of American Continentals and British regulars frozen in their lines or on the ground. A number of models of WWI dreadnoughts stood on stands in the windows. A model of a Tiger tank - how he wished American designs in WWII had been as good - sat atop a shelf full of DVDs. On the walls, paintings of the Civil War, including one of the Battle of Franklin, 1864, and one of the Assault on Fort Sanders, 1863, hung. as did archaic weapons, most replicas, but some fully functional.

Okay, maybe I overdid it on the military theme, he thought a little sheepishly. 

There was a knock on the door. It entirely unexpected, and Luke turned toward it in momentary alarm, eyes on a loaded Civil War revolver as he turned. When the knock came again, he recognized the metallic sound of a horseshoe accompanying the noise on the wood, and he calmed down. "Come in," he called.

The door opened. Aurora walked through, with Bright Night following her. "Sorry for intruding," the mare said.

"No, no, not at all."

"Wow!" Bright said, running into the room and trying to take in everything. 

"Don't touch any of the weapons in here," Luke warned, more than a hint of firmness in his voice. "Some of those really are fully loaded and ready to fire."

Bright backed away from the long blunderbuss he had been admiring - Thank God he did so, it's one of the loaded ones - but turned toward a model of the Bismarck. "Cool!"

"You... keep loaded guns in your bedroom?" Aurora asked, eyebrow rising. "Old relic guns, for that matter?"

"In case you didn't notice, I have a bit of antiquarian bent," Luke answered, his hand gesturing toward a flintlock rifle - a Kentucky Long Rifle - that was up on the wall. Underneath it was a Civil War sword.

"It's kind of obvious."

"I like to keep them in working order," Luke continued. "A gun's no good if it just sits up on the shelf. I want them to be fully functional, in case of a break-in. And I occasionally take one or two of them with me to a shooting range outside of town." He patted the blunderbuss - actually a donderbuss, with a longer barrel than normal. "This baby is so loud, the place sometimes gets called by the police, only to find out it's that crazy kid with the loud gun again."

"Wow, sounds like you annoy them a lot."

"Not really. The sheriff's actually kinda lenient on that score, he just asks me to be careful with it. And I am, or at least I think so. I take a minute to actually aim, and when people see this thing, they skedaddle out of its firing arc pretty fast." Luke walked over to the Kentucky rifle. "I use this more often at the range, though. More to my liking. More in touch with our revolution."

"I apologize, but I don't know enough about the revolution to offer an opinion on it," Aurora replied. 

Luke checked where Bright was; the young pony was checking out the bookcase. "Maybe that will change soon," he said, turning back to the colt's mother. "If you're going to be here long-term, I can help you on that."

"I'd be very grateful for that when the time comes," Aurora answered, bowing her head briefly as a means of thanks. "I'd probably be willing to read some tonight; we'd probably be bored out of our minds otherwise. Despite what I said earlier, I doubt we'll be able to get used to sleeping at night very easily or quickly."

"Feel free to take some now. Most of them are related to military history in some way, and feature a lot of bad language that is typical of the military."

"You're talking to the wife of an ex-Lunar Guard."

"Fair point. Just saying that they're probably not appropriate for Junior."

"Okay, I'll buy that. Is there anything that he might be able to enjoy?" 

"Let me check for a moment." Luke walked over to the bookcase; Bright was currently playing with a small metal cannon that he had taken from it. 

"Boom, boom, boom!" Bright made as if to shoot the cannon at an imaginary enemy.

Luke was careful not to laugh as he looked over the selection of books. "Hmm, Fields of Fury by James M. McPherson seems to be alright for the little guy."

"I'm not little!" Bright protested, looking up defiantly.

Technically, he has a point, Luke thought; the ten year old pony was bigger than most miniature horses. "Well, you're not an adult, and some books have stuff that's bad for people your age." He went back to studying the shelf. "The Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis, Ship Models and how to build them by Harvey Weiss - an old book, to be sure - and-"

"What about this?" Bright asked, taking out War of the Worlds with one hoof.

"No, no, no, no, no," Luke said, taking the novel out of the pony's grasp, which, despite being invisible, was still formidable. "Quite a few nasty scenes in that one, and an unprepared reader can become stunned and depressed pretty quickly." Ignoring Bright's frustrated face, Luke pulled another book off the shelf. 

"What about this one?" Bright pulled a Civil war book off the shelf; it was The Killing Ground; Wilderness to Cold Harbor, with a painting of the Battle of Spotsylvania;



"Probably not," Luke retorted, "though I'll leave it up to your mother, once she's had a look through it."

"What about all these Warriors books?" Aurora asked, pointing to them with her hoof. 

Luke frowned as he thought. "Those are more early adult type reading; teenagers, maybe. They don't have bad words - or rather, they do, just cat-ified, if that makes any sense - but they doe have some measure of gore and blood."

"Ah."

"What about this one?" Bright asked again, pulling out Peter Pan.

"That one's better than your last pick," Luke replied, "but I'd say that the Disney movie is much better."

"Oh, is that what all those little boxes down by the TV are?" Aurora inquired, interested. "I thought that's what they looked like."

"Yes, but they're DVDs. Disks. Very fragile." Luke scratched his head. "I guess I could show you how the TV and the DVD player work, though I'm not sure your hooves, being hard as they are-"

"We'll be careful," Aurora promised. 

"Okay, well, I'll show you how it all works." Luke looked outside; there were still a few hours of daylight left. "Up a bit early, aren't you?"

"We got enough rest," Aurora assured him. "Shadow's still knocked out, but I don't fault him for that."

"Neither would I." Luke noticed how both ponies were trying not to look at the windows; he walked over and shut the blinds.

"Thank you," Aurora said gratefully. "We're going to have to have some sunglasses fitted for the daytime."

"Wait, haven't you been here for a while already?"

"Yes, but we've tried to stick to our... usual schedule. Shadow tried to get a job as a night guard for a corporation somewhere in Pennsylvania, but they turned him down. He tried to get a nighttime job just about everywhere between Washington and here, but nopo- no one was willing to hire him."

"Did they give a reason?"

"They mostly said things like that they had enough employees at the time, but that was a load of... baloney. Personally I think they believed he was an Equestrian spy."

"They have evidence?"

"Bat wings, fangs, the fact that thestrals are almost never seen anywhere... I don't think I have to paint you a picture, especially on that last point."

"I see. I suppose they didn't bother trying to gather anything further?"

"Not really," Aurora replied, shaking her head sadly. "One company did, and found nothing other than that he had served in the Lunar Guard; that only made them more suspicious, even though Shadow's record was entirely clean."

"Not like they could go to Princess Luna and ask for all his personal info."

"Well, no, but an experienced ex-military pony, willing to work for money, telling the truth whenever they asked him a question..." The mare shook her head. "There was no reason for their suspicions, and they didn't change their minds even when we showed them that we had a foal to take care of. Everything we threw at each potential employer failed."

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's not your fault," Aurora told him. "But other than scavenging and hunting in the forests of this place, I don't know what we would have done if..."

"Let's try not to dwell on that," Luke said quickly. "Let's go downstairs and I'll show you how the DVD player works, so you guys can use while I'm asleep or out."

"Do you have a baseball bat somewhere?" Bright asked eagerly.

"I do, but-"

"Don't let him get to you," the foal's mother interrupted, in a voice that sounded both amused and wary. "He's broken a few windows from playing baseball in the house."

"I only broke windows twice!"

"That's twice too many," Aurora said in a no-nonsense tone. "Now, let's go back downstairs and watch a movie."

--------------------------------------------------------------------

"-so this button will make the movie play, and this controls the volume," Luke finished explaining. 

"Got it," Aurora said, eyes shining intelligently. "My one concern is that I'll accidentally smash the disc; hooves aren't soft, and even less so with horseshoes."

"It's a valid fear." Luke thought for a minute. "I guess we could use an unused, unsharpened pencil to help out."

"Probably. That, or I could try holding it with my fangs, not that the disc would be much good if I got a ton of saliva on it, though I could probably avoid it if I really tried."

"It's better than nothing. If it doesn't work, we'll figure something else out. Plus, I have a few board games in the closet somewhere, so along with a few books, I think your entertainment needs are set."

"What about TV cable or satellite or whatever it is?"

Luke blinked, honestly not having thought of that yet. "I personally don't use it much, though I have it," he replied. "This remote," he said, picking up one different from the one he had been using, "is for cable. Again, you might have to use the pencil for the buttons."

"I can work with that."

"Just be careful; not every television show is... moral. Or clean."

"We'll be careful," Aurora promised. "Any good shows to recommend?"

"Well, Robot Wars and Battlebots are decent for those who are... more combat minded. They do cut out the bad language, and the violence is only against unknowing, unfeeling robots. And it generally plays during the evening, at 8 PM I think."

"I'll think about those. What about for Bright? Any of what you call cartoons?"

"Hmm. In my opinion, the quality of cartoons has gone down in the past few years. I think the Boomerang channel is the best if you're going for old, quality stuff. I'd suggest the old reruns of the Flintstones and the Jetsons, along with the Discovery Channel for GI Joe and Transformers, which are also old but fairly good. The latter two tend to play just before the dawn, though."

"Thanks. I'm sure we can manage."

Luke nodded. Just then, the guest bedroom door opened again. Shadow, rubbing his eyes, stepped out, yawning. 

"Good evening, dear," Aurora said in a happy voice.

Shadow grunted, then hoisted himself up onto the couch and laid there, belly down. 

"Wanna watch a movie, dad?" Bright asked, walking over and nuzzling his father.

"As long as it's good," Shadow answered, though in a slightly less hostile voice.

"Let's see... for old Disney movies, I've got 101 Dalmatians, Robin Hood, The Fox and the Hound, The Aristocats, and a whole bunch more... For newer ones, I've got Zootopia and Inside Out..."

Aurora began looking over the older movies that Luke had picked out. "I think this one will do," she said at last, picking out The Aristocats. "Do any of them depict... horses, in any way?"

Luke put a hand to his mouth. "Quite a few of them. I suppose..."

Aurora turned her eyes toward Shadow for an instant. Luke got the hint.

"Well, a lot of them do. The Aristocats doesn't focus on it, the one horse character they have is there for only a few minutes of screen-time, and she's on team Good Guy. Same with 101 Dalmatians."

Aurora turned her eyes toward Shadow again

"I suppose if you don't want the kind of film that will display horses as farm animals, then I guess Robin Hood or Inside Out are the best ones to go with."

"Thanks. I think Robin Hood will do."

"Okay. I'll put it in for you." He did so within a few seconds. "Right, and I think it's time for dinner."

"That would be very nice," Aurora said, settling down onto the couch as Bright sat on his haunches on the floor, eager for the movie to start. "Sorry to be a burden on you."

"No burden," Luke replied, his mind briefly trying to go into the finances of supporting three extra persons in the house before getting squelched. "It's fine. I make enough money from my job to support us for the time being."

As the disc menu came up, Luke watched to make sure that Aurora hit the right button, which she did, setting the movie to play. 

Luke couldn't help but smile as the film started. I hope they enjoy it as much as I did as a kid.
> Chapter 5; Discussion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luke sat down on the couch, next to Shadow's back hooves. The father of the thestral family looked suspiciously at him, then grunted and continued eating popcorn. Dinner had consisted of hot dogs again, but the ponies hadn't minded, and afterwards he had heated some popcorn for the others to eat as well.

While Shadow had been merely gazing at the screen without interest, his wife and child had been eagerly watching the events unfold. Bright was having a good time; he laughed at the first scene in the movie when Robin Hood and Little John had hoodwinked Prince John. had loved the fight that had broken out during the archery contest, and had been shocked and saddened when it looked like Robin had been shot in the moat after jumping from the castle wall, only to rejoice when the character resurfaced a few moments later unharmed. 

Aurora and Bright both laughed when King Richard made his "outlaw for an in-law" joke. And both of them clapped their steel-shod hooves when the ending came. 

"That was awesome!" Bright said, standing up and shoving his right front hoof in the air.

"It was very nice for a family film," Aurora agreed. "I rather liked it."

Shadow didn't respond. Luke felt like sighing. The stallion had said nothing throughout the film and continued to remain aloof at best and hostile at worst. It was frustrating that even seeing the ex-Guard's family having enjoyment had failed to shake him loose of that state of mind.

At least it's stopped raining, he thought to himself, trying to focus on something he considered a positive.

Luke got up and took the disc out of the player. "I'll be going to bed around 10," he said to the others. "Feel free to enjoy." 

He thought he heard Shadow mutter, "Sunlover." He tried to ignore it. 

Aurora affected not to have heard it either. "Thanks once again. I think we can manage."

"Glad to hear it. I'll just set the alarm before going to bed." 

"A security alarm?" Aurora asked. 

"Yes." Luke stopped before putting his finger to the screen. "Is... something wrong?"

"Well, we were hoping we might be able to go outside and fly around for a bit." The thestral mare stretched her wings out for a moment for emphasis. "We're used to being out and about about now, if you haven't realized."

Luke lowered the phone. "That could be a problem. The doors have the be shut in order for the alarm to be set, and if a door is opened while its on, it's going to be set off and I have to explain things to the police."

"I thought so," Shadow said, raising his head and turning to look at Luke. "You're trying to keep us imprisoned as slaves or to sucker us into something!"

"Shadow!" Aurora rebuked. 

Shadow ignored her. "Well, I've got news, boy; I can lick you anyway you please. Swords, guns, bare hooves. You have your grave picked out beforehoof if you think you can keep us in your little house as slaves!"

"Calm down," his wife said, this time cuffing him behind the ear with her left wing. "You didn't even give him a chance to explain."

Luke thought quickly, trying to defuse the situation. "I suppose I can hold off on the alarm, so long as you wake me up and tell me that you're done, so that I can set the alarm then," he suggested. 

"We'll take it," the mare said, before Shadow could respond. 

"Alright, just please give me word if someone tries to break into the house."

"Of course, dear. It's the least we can do." 

"I hope you enjoy yourselves," Luke said, stifling a yawn... and privately, his fear. "Heads up, it might get cold out there."

"We can manage that," the mother replied, looking overjoyed. 

Luke opened the door for them, and they flew into the night air, bat wings alive and majestic in the night.

Luke could see, by the light of the streetlamps, that they all seemed quite happy as they headed skyward; Shadow, at any rate, seemed less unhappy than before. 

Not surprising, they are flying ponies, after all.

After a minute of watching what he could, he could see Aurora looking back at him. She waved cheerfully, then made what he thought initially to be a shooing motion. A moment later, he realized that she was telling him that it was alright to go back inside. He waved back, then did so, shutting the door and making sure not to lock it. 

He wiped his forehead with a hand, and began picking up the mess that the recent movie-watching had caused. 

----------------------------------------------------

Aurora laughed as she dipped and weaved through the night sky. It was exhilarating after spending the past few days on the ground. 

It was even better that her whole family was enjoying the privilege. She felt happier than she'd been in days to see Bright Light giggling and smiling as he showed off his flight skills. 

"Are you watching, Mom?" he asked, stopping for a moment and looking at her. 

"I'm watching, honey. Just be careful with whatever you're about to do."

Bright suddenly dived, heading straight for one of the lampposts down below, spinning as he did so. At the last second, he dodged around it, kicking it with a front shoe as he did so. 

"Bright Light!" Aurora flew down to her son, front hooves on her hips. "That was dangerous!"

"Oh, come on, mom-!"

"Don't give me that. You know that if you had hit that lamppost, you could have been hurt badly! Your wings could have caught on it; we're not pegasi, our wings aren't as flexible as theirs. And what if you hadn't managed to pull up and hit the pavement?"

"Sorry," the young pony said, looking humbled. 

Shadow remained quiet, watching with forelegs crossed as his wife looked Bright over.

"No injuries, praised be Luna. I don't want you to spin-dive again, and certainly not dive at so steep an angle."

"I won't mom. I promise."

"A ten year old's promises are written on air. I'll believe you when I see you fulfill those promises." Aurora checked Bright's left wing, the one that had nearly clipped the post. "You were lucky. Don't do it again." She looked at Luke's house for a moment to confirm that there was no break-in or anything unfortunate happening before looking back to her son.

"It was a bit impressive for a kid, though," Shadow said.

"Impressive is for the Wonderbolts and Lunar Guard. He needs years more practice to be up to our own standards."

"Hmmph. We're gonna waste the night if we keep hovering here."

"I was checking our son to make sure he was okay."

"And he's okay."

Aurora suppressed the irritation she felt. "Alright, let's fly. And we fly together," she added, giving Bright a no-nonsense look.

"Yes, mom."

-------------------------------------------------

Having cleaned up the mess, Luke looked out of one of his living room windows. The three thestrals, having moved to the backyard, were flying in a circle, clearly glad to be out and about. Even Shadow looked rather content, if not outright joyful. 

A moment later, Aurora grabbed hold of her son and began to toss him lightly into the air. While Luke was unable to hear them through the window, he could well imagine the squeals of delight the young pony was making, based on his facial expression and mouth. 

It's hard to care whether they're a warrior people or not, they're cute.

His mind drifted off to their basic problems; food and shelter were solved, for now. They wanted, and needed, a job. They would need schooling for Bright Light, which would mean that they would have to reorient around daylight hours, as they had already said that no school for children his age would accept night schooling. They would have to build up enough money to buy a house, purchase furniture and groceries, pay taxes (he sighed inwardly), and for various other needs. They would have to adjust to that lifestyle, along with the fact that they were living outside of Equestria, and in a different society with different laws, different faiths, and different kinds of government. 

May the Lord help us. It would be difficult for the thestrals to adapt. Difficult... but not impossible.

In the meantime, he sat back down on the couch and yawned as he shut his eyes...

----------------------------------------------------------

Luke jerked awake as something very hard poked him in the stomach.

"Oh, sorry dear," came Aurora's voice as he sat up. "Just wanted to keep our end of the bargain. You can turn the alarm thing on now."

"Oh, yeah." Luke stretched out his arms.

"Do you... mind if we stay up?"

"It's-" Luke yawned again. "It's what you guys do. Stay up at night, I mean."

"Thank you."

"No problem." Luke quickly turned used his phone to turn the alarm on. "Please try not to use too much electricity; there is a bill for it."

"We can deal without electric lighting." Aurora assured him. "We can see better at night than you can."

"Okay then."

"We'll watch some TV; not too loudly, so you can sleep. You you have anything else we could do?"

"I do have some board games in the closet over there," Luke said, pointing. "I can get them for you-"

"Oh, no, no, no; we can get them for ourselves. Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Luke yawned again. "I'm going to bed for the night. If you need me for something, I'm just upstairs."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aurora shuffled a deck of chance cards for a game of Monopoly. "A rather interesting game," she said, putting the cards down in their place on the board. "Not every day that a car or a battleship or a wheelbarrow become landlords."

"Or puppies," Bright put in; he'd chosen the dog.

"Or puppies," his mother agreed. 

Shadow still sat across from them, looking at the wall. Aurora sighed. He was trapped in old memories again, of what their lives had been before they had been betrayed. In a way, he was trapped by that past, and by what had happened since they'd left Equestria; he wanted to go back to the way things were, and he blamed the whole world - two worlds, actually - for not being able to. 

Not that Aurora couldn't understand him; she did, very much so. She still remembered night schooling for Bright, how the young colt had gotten along with his classmates. She remembered the long flights and walks they'd have together at night, along with their cottage in the woods outside Canterlot, and how they enjoyed the beauty of the moon, of the protection of their patron Princess Luna, and of the glory of serving her. Memories of meeting fellow thestrals in the market in Bat City - and of dealing with the storekeepers - also flew through her mind.

But that was the past. Things had changed. It was wonderful to remember, but necessity dictated that they deal with what is, not with what was. And the truth was, they could still have been starving on the streets, or forced into the primitive way of life that many of their ancestors had to take up during their exile. 

The game was easy enough to understand; all three had understood the rules, although Aurora still didn't understand why the humans who had made the game had used a bunch of everyday objects to stand in for landlords. Bright already had several properties, although no monopolies, and Shadow had actually gotten both blue territories. She herself had a couple, lesser monopolies, and a couple railroads and the electric company. 

"Dear, it's your turn to move."

Shadow didn't move; either he was pretending not to hear, or he was too wrapped up in his thoughts to pay attention.

"Dear."

No response. 

"Shadow!" 

The father of the family finally jerked out of his reverie. "Wha-what is it?" 

"It's your turn, dearest."

"Oh, right." Shadow took up the dice and rolled them, moving his battleship three spaces and landing on a free railroad. "I'll buy it, I guess."

Aurora, who was serving as the banker, took the money and gave him the property. "Please at least pretend you're interesting in playing, my husband."

"I am interested!" Shadow argued. "I just... got sidetracked," he finished with a bothered growl. 

Bright moved next. "Ooooh, chance card." He picked on up. "You both gotta pay me fifty dollars!"

Aurora chucked as she hoofed over the money. She rolled and moved passing Go and collecting $200.

Shadow was more alert this time, but landed on the "Go to Jail" space.

"Given your time in the Guard, darling," Aurora said, as she and her son laughed, "I never thought you'd become a criminal," as Shadow groaned and reluctantly moved his piece to jail. 

"Ugh... it's the rules of the game. How on earth do you just end up going to jail for no reason in the first place?" 

"Well, let's see; flying while drunk, jaywalking, get caught bribing somepony... I think they want you to use your imagination on this one."

"Hmph," Shadow grunted as his son moved again.

"Sorry, son," Aurora said, as Bright landed on one of her hotels. "You have to pay up."

"Awww," Bright moaned as he hoofed over the money. 

Aurora moved, landing on a chance space. "Whoops, looks like we're keeping each other company," she said as she moved her piece to jail as well. 

"And you give me a hard time," Shadow grumbled, though without malice. He rolled, but failed to get out of jail. "Rats."

Bright rolled again, this time passing Go and landing on another chance space. "Ooooh, I get a 'get out of jail free' card!" 

"B-b-b-b-but... how?" Shadow asked, puzzled. 'I was just... then he...?" 

"Fortune, dear," Aurora said, laughing again. "Speaking of which, we're fortunate indeed."

"How so?"

"We're not only sheltered and fed, we still have one another... as well as a chance to have fun."

Shadow held her gaze for several moments before finally looking down. "...I guess. 

"Oh, can you stop being grumpy for one night? Let's enjoy the time we do have, as a family."

Her words seemed to jerk a bit of the old Shadow - the true Shadow, my husband - out of what he had become. "Alright, then. Let's make this game a good one. Starting with getting ourselves out of jail."

--------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, that could have gone better," Shadow said about an hour later, head on his hoof. Bright had managed to win the game, despite being the youngest. "How is it always the kid...?"

"Our little Slugger is special, or didn't you, his father, know?" Aurora said, laughing again.

"I won! I won!" Bright said loudly. 

"Shhh," Aurora said quickly. "Remember, our host is sleeping."

"Whoops. Sorry, mom."

"It's alright. Now, what's next?"

"Oh! Oh! Oh! I know!" Bright said, flying over to the closet and pulling out a red box labelled Apples to Apples. 

"Well, wouldn't the heroine Applejack be happy to find a game like that," Aurora chuckled. 

"Apples to Apples?" Shadow said in an inquiring voice as he took the box from his son. "Never heard of it."

"We'll find out," his wife assured him.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Luke awoke to his phone alarm going off. He stopped it, then arose out of bed, yawning and stretching his arms.

Sunday. Time for church.

He remembered his guest belatedly as he was getting dressed. The family downstairs had kept their promise; they had managed to keep things relatively quiet, and he had slept well. 

Once he was done getting ready, he walked downstairs and listened. Only some faint snoring could be heard. 

He scribbled a note - Going to church, will be gone between an hour and two hours. Feel free to make yourselves at home if you wake up and read this. Luke - and left it on the table. 

He walked outside, got in his pickup, and started the engine. 

Hope these guys remain safe. A worry crept in. If they have an emergency, they'll need some way to contact me. He went back into the house briefly, put a pencil and pen near the house phone that was on the counter, added, If necessary, use phone to contact me in case of emergency, and scribbled the number for his cell phone. That done, he left, locked the door, got back in his truck, and began the drive to church. 

---------------------------------------------------------------

Aurora opened her eyes lazily. She sat up and rubbed them for a moment, then got quietly out of bed. By the light coming from the blinds, she realized it was daytime. The clock on the wall confirmed this, with the hands currently on 11:08.

Her belly grumbled. She walked out of the bedroom, doing her best to not make noise - something difficult, with horseshoes nailed to her hooves - and went straight to the cabinet where she'd found the cookies from the day before. 

She twisted her ears, trying to hear if Luke was awake. Given that he spent so much time typing on his computer - in her limited time knowing him - she was surprised by the silence, except for the occasional snore of her family. 

Her questions were answered when she got to the table. She read the note that Luke had left, grunted in satisfaction, and began to eat. 

---------------------------------------------------------------

The church session went on as usual; the pastor made his sermon, this one focusing on the unfailing Love of Jesus Christ, and on the mercy and justice of God. Luke listened, but felt distracted by the questions floating around in his mind.

When the service concluded, Luke waited in a pew in the middle of the church as the rest of the people filtered out, with much chatting between various worshippers as they left. 

Pastor Vince Roberts - known affectionately as Pastor Bob - continued to pack up. He was robed, as usual, with a midnight-blue robe, and carrying a staff with a cross on top; he very much resembled a protestant minister from Empire Total War, a thought that had entertained Luke for years.. He looked up as Luke approached him. "Ah, Luke. Good to see you again, my child."

"Thanks... 'dad,'" Luke replied, smiling sheepishly.

The old man burst out in laughter; "Bob" was one of those ministers that one could talk to, one who didn't let their station get to them. 

"Anyway, you must have a reason for remaining. Most people who stay have a problem they need help with."

"I do, sir." Luke sat down on one of the front-most pews.

"Well, then, might I ask what has happened?"

Luke let out a breath through his nose. "i suppose you've heard about the MLP world being real."

"I have," the pastor said, still standing and nodding.

"Well, I found family of three that were in the street, homeless, and took them in with me."

"Commendable. very commendable." The pastor smiled in a pleasant way. "What then is the problem? You're rather a quiet one."

Luke took another breath. "They're thestrals. The bat ponies. And one of them, the husband and father of the bunch, seems to hate everything and everyone. He doesn't trust me, or anyone for that matter, other than his wife and child, and it feels like he's always ready to kill, or to fight, or to bite my head off. Trust me, he has the ability to do it if he wanted to."

"Hmm. Is he a former Guard?"

"Yes, and he acts like one. Always on guard, never relaxing. His wife is much kinder, and their foal is a ten year old colt that seems like a normal kid in most aspects. But he's... it's difficult. I've feed them and given them shelter, yet it always feels like something traumatic and very terrible happened to them, and the main negative effects are always coming out of the father."

"I suppose you've tried asking."

"I want to, but one part of me feels its none of my business, and the other says that it would do negative no good to ask. The mother is tight-lipped about whatever happened as well, and the kid... he's a kid."

"Whatever has happened to them, you won't be able to wrangle it out of them. And if they don't wish to tell you, it is their right. You must have faith in our God, and be patient. If or when the time comes, they may tell you. As for the father, I would try to remain friendly; a few acts of kindness, in such a situation, go much farther than force or anger."

"I'm trying that. I guess two days isn't enough to cool him off."

"Give him time," the pastor said reassuringly. "God will act in His time, not ours. I would be careful to act in a good manner in everything you do. As our Lord said to His disciples, as He was sending them out to preach the Gospel, 'I want you to be wise as serpents, but innocent as doves.' Likewise, Paul would say to the Romans, 'I want you to be wise in all that is good and innocent in what is evil.' He was talking to those whom he feared might have false teachers speaking among them at some point, but it takes me as good advice in any event."

"I'll do my best, but Paul also said that no one is good, not even one."

"Which is part of why our Lord came to deliver us, as we cannot deliver ourselves. None save our Lord is perfect, my son. I don't expect perfection out of your efforts; I expect the best you can manage. Don't give up on doing what you can."

"..."

"Sonny, let me tell you a story," the pastor said, tapping the floor with the bottom of the staff. "Some ten years ago, my father lost the grand prize for biggest pumpkin in the fair; in fact, he didn't win a prize at all. He was disappointed that his efforts had failed, but he put in his all next year. He didn't win then, nor the next year, nor the next. But finally, after four years of disappointment, fertilizer, and dirt, he won the grand prize at last. Point being, don't give up until all's said and done. It may take time - a great deal of time - for the father of this family to lose his rudeness, but that's no reason to give up in the here and now. Keep trying, and be persistent.

Luke thought about it for a minute, then nodded. "Thank you, sir."

"Anything else?"

"I also wanted to talk to you about... well..." Luke hesitated. 

"What is it, son?"

"Well, they're... They believe the Princess Luna..."

"Is a goddess. Yes, I've heard that, from the few ponies who have come in here. Not to mention that they deify Princess Celestia and often Princesses Cadence and Twilight."

"I hadn't thought about that last."

"Oh dear, yes; quite a few ponies call her 'The goddess of friendship'. I see your trouble." The pastor paused, thinking about what to say. "My son, I think you have to extend courtesy to them. As a man with a PHD in history, surely you know that forced or coercive conversion does not lead to true belief, not that I'd expect it from you. Furthermore, God gives His creatures the freedom to accept or deny Him. By all means, tell them the Truth, Way, and the Life in which we live, but don't push them if they refuse. America is a land of liberty, after all, and if they are going to live here, then they need to be welcomed. Not to the extent where crimes are ignored and injustice pushed to the side... the things..." The pastor shook his head. "Welcome them, teach them about the Lord Jesus as far as they will let you, and provide for them. Continue to help them. I believe the Lord will aid you in helping them gain their independence in this land of ours."

"I think I see." Luke arose and offered Pastor Roberts his hand. "Thank you, sir."

"Anytime, my child," the pastor said, grasping it. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I do need to buy some groceries; you're not the only one who has a family to feed."

--------------------------------------------------

Aurora sat on the couch as she pondered what had happened with her family. She longed to continue her craft as a blacksmith, which could at least make the family money. Of course, that required tools and a good anvil, as well as a furnace, among other things. Neither would be cheap, and one could not build these things out of scrap metal... not if one wanted any form of quality, at least, and Aurora, along with most thestrals, prized quality in her work. Getting these things required money, and that was something she and her family lacked totally at the moment. Well, there may have been some gold back in Equestria, but it was too dangerous for her or her husband to go back there. Much too dangerous...

She yawned. It was daytime, and thus the time when thestrals usually slept. However, she had a pet peeve of waking up in the middle of the day and getting a snack before returning to bed. Her husband knew, and would, back in the old days, tease her gently about it. 

She remembered flying late at night as she lead Bright to school. As she'd said to Luke, unfortunately, no school in America was willing to educate students at night, or none that she knew of. That would be... difficult to adjust to.

Difficult, but not impossible, she thought. A few thestrals, despite the difficulty of seeing in broad daylight, remained as a liaison between the Lunar and Royal Guards. Those on such duty were nicknamed "The Black Eyes," given how they had to wear thick sunglasses in order to see in the daytime. As such, it wasn't impossible to spot a thestral during daylight hours. 

Just very, very unlikely. 

It was a problem. At least there was a solution... but getting sunglasses that were big enough, and that would fight a pony muzzle, would be hard.

But thestrals were used to that. Besides, all she needed to do was find someone - preferably human; the fewer ponies who knew their family was here the better - who could make such sunglasses... and get the money to pay them. 

The money would be an issue. But at least it wasn't as desperate as having to storm a dragon nest, which thestrals had had to do a few times in their history when Princess Luna had required it.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Luke drove slowly into the driveway and parked, shutting down the truck after doing so. A short visit to the local Wal-Mart had seen to the food that the four inhabitants of the house would need, and he was careful to try to stay quiet as he brought the bags inside and shut the door. 

When he got to the kitchen, he noticed that the door to the guest bedroom was slightly open, as though on of the thestrals had used it not too long ago. He walked over - he could hear them snore slightly - and shut it as quietly as possible. The snoring of at least one of them was interrupted briefly, but then resumed as though nothing had happened. 

A few crumbs on the table and the moving of the note confirmed that at least one of the family had been awake. He nodded, then cleaned up the mess. 

Now it's back to essays and military analysis. The historian's job won't end until history does.
> Chapter 6; An early evening breakfast
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

World War I generals tend to be misunderstood; the massive frontal attacks of the war were not how the war was planned out by any of the participants beforehand. All nations - save perhaps tiny Serbia - planned for a war of movement. France in particular had stocked up on massive numbers of 75mm field guns; not so useful in trench warfare, but incredibly useful in an environment of shifting combat. Once the trenches were made on the western front, it must be noted that both sides attempted to outflank the other, resulting in the so-called "Race to the Sea." Once frontal attacks were the only way forward, decisions to send men into combat were hardly taken so lightly as is thought.

Luke frowned, not feeling satisfied. Again, he thought about what to write, and how to fix what he had written. He was just about to get started when a crash from downstairs startled him. 

Concerned, he closed the laptop he was working on and almost flew down the stairs. 

In the kitchen, he found the source of the noise. Aurora had attempted to take a bowl out of the cupboard, and had apparently dropped it; scattered on the floor were a bunch of now badly-dented apples and some broken eggs. Shadow was already peeking out of the bedroom, and Bright was trying to get past him in order to see.

Suppressing the thoughts of how much the bowl had cost, Luke sighed as quietly as possible and walked toward her.

"I'm so sorry," Aurora said, looking sorry. "I was trying to make breakfast, and the bowl slipped out of my hooves."

"It's okay," Luke sighed, heading for the closet to get the broom and dustpan.

"No, please, it's my fault," the bat pony mother said, somehow gripping the broom with her shod hoof.

"It's fine," he insisted, trying to pull the broom back, and finding that task surprisingly difficult.

"No; it's my mistake, so I fix it," she said, giving it a hard pull and nearly yanking it from his hands. 

"Well, okay, if you're so sure," Luke said, letting go. 

Aurora bowed her head, then stood on her hind legs and began to sweep up the mess.

"What...?"

"I was trying to make breakfast," the mother explained, still sweeping. "I wanted it to be a surprise, but when I tried to get the apple bowl, I dropped it on accident, and the bowl knocked the egg container off the counter as it fell."

Luke opened his mouth to correct her, given that it was now afternoon, but then he reminded himself of the thestrals' nocturnal preferences, and instead asked, "Anything I can do...?"

"No, thank you," the thestral mare said, continuing her efforts to clean up the mess. "I'll be fine. As a guest in your house, it's on me to pick this up."

By now, Shadow, grumbling, had gone back inside, as had Bright, though Luke thought he could hear the foal walking around for a minute before quiet came again.

"He'll come around," Aurora said, now on three legs, the fourth holding the dustpan. "Um...," she said, looking at the broom, which she had laid down, and at the dustpan. Clearly, she was worried about falling on her face. 

"I can hold one of them," Luke offered. 

"...the dustpan then, I suppose." 

Luke held the pan as Aurora pushed the more solid bits of the mess in. After a couple such sessions, all there was left to do was mop up the eggs. Again, Aurora did the work, refusing help, until the mess was cleaned up. 

"I apologize," she said as she finished. "I suppose I'll need to start over."

"If you need help with the stove and anything-"

"No, we've handled modern conveniences before," Aurora told him. "We aren't as behind in technology as the show depicted, and we're rather more advanced than we were after contact with Earth was established, so I know how to use these things. Mind if I try again?"

"Be my guest." Luke then thought of something. "Equestria's the only country with portals, right?"

"Yes," Aurora said, looking in the refrigerator.

"What happens when other countries want Earth technology? What do zebras and Yaks and griffons and hippogriffs and everyone else have to do?"

Aurora frowned. "I'm afraid I don't know everything to do with it," she said, before her face softened. As she pulled out another container of eggs - balancing it on an outstretched wing - she continued, "I'm more at home with military things, like weapons, armor, and thestrals in general. I do know that the yaks, in particular, want to gain access to explosives... mainly to destroy things better and make a big boom." She set the eggs on the counter. "The griffons want anything that make more money. Hippogriffs are interested in better fishing and naval tech, including ships and naval doctrines, and they have an interest in submarine warfare as well."

"Sounds less peaceful than the Equestrian world we thought we knew."

"Partly true, and also every faction wants to keep up in the arms race, in case something happens." She turned to look at him. "Got any bacon?"

"No, sorry; I'm not a fan of pig meat, and I didn't know I'd have three additional mouths to feed until a couple days ago, leaving me with no time before then to go to the store."

"Well... I've dealt with worse situations than no bacon. Though some thestrals would argue handsomely with that," Aurora added, a smile on her face as she turned back to the eggs and began looking in one of the cabinets for a frying pan. "One of our friends in Bat City, Star Hunter, can't get enough of the stuff. He'd be all over the place asking how you didn't have bacon. Anyway, the zebras are very tribal; they're not as interested in commercial or industrial stuff, but a lot of their chiefs want weapons; they live in a much more dangerous place than we do, and tribal warfare does occasionally break out, usually when outstanding tensions over a long-simmering issue finally snap."

"How does Equestria... process these requests? I doubt the Princesses want yaks armed with RPGs, in case they decide to come out of their mountains and attack you."

"They may seem stupid on the outside - they don't speak our language very well, they normally use their own - but they're smart enough to know that ponies outnumber them by something like a ten to one margin, probably more. A yak may be a lot bigger than a pony, but AK-47s and M-16s - modified so we can use them with hooves - don't care about the size of their targets. And most of these other nations - if you could call Griffonstone a nation - don't have an interest in attacking us, given pony magic and technology. The hippogriffs are our allies, and numerous zebra tribes are on good terms with us."

"What about Diamond dogs?"

"Well, yeah. They're a thorn in our side, though not a very big one. After Rarity's capture and rescue, Princess Celestia sent them a message, basically telling them that they could expect to be booted out of their tunnels and forced to leave Equestria altogether if they ever tried to enslave her subjects again. The Princess might be motherly, but she can be fierce in defense of her ponies when we're attacked."

"Are there any non-converted changelings left?"

Aurora's ears went back slightly, but she answered, "A few. Chrysalis loyalists to the last. King Thorax may have thought he converted all changelings, but Equestria's confirmed that a few are still renegades, looking for their Queen."

"Sorry-"

"No, don't be. It's a major priority for the Lunar Guard to send patrols to hunt them. We haven't captured more than a few that I know of, but we suspect that the renegade changelings are mostly outside Equestria by this time even so. We also bring unicorns on our patrols, ones who can use their magic to scan an area and reveal any concealed changelings, so they have a much harder time hiding from us than they might. Recently, we've discovered that goggles that use heat vision can reveal changelings, even hidden changelings, as their body temperature remains the same, whether disguised or undisguised." By now, Aurora was cracking eggs one by one on the edge of the frying pan, and carefully making sure that the eggshells didn't make it in.

"Are they the same ones who were impersonating Twilight and company?"

"Yep. Or at least some of them are. We suspect that a few less well-known drones also left the hive." Several eggs were in the pan. Aurora checked the temperature, then turned and carefully put the eggs back in the refrigerator. "Anything else you want to know?"

Luke put a hand to his chin for a moment. "Hmm. Well, since Equestria is a monarchy, that means there must be an aristocracy in place."

"Ah, yes, the nobility. What do you want to know?"

"Well, what kind of power do they have?"

"A lot less than they used to. Princess Celestia heavily centralized power during the Exile, and by the time the blessed Princess Luna returned, they're not so much of a much."

"But that sounds like they still have power of some sort. And aren't there divisions?"

"They do still have some power left, but it's mainly in the forms of leftover privileges. They can't raise private armies anymore, that's for sure. Some of them can advise the Princesses, but the Diarchs can ignore their advice entirely if they feel its necessary or if the advice would be harmful to Equestria. As for divisions, I'm not sure what you mean."

"Is there any remaining tribalism? Surely, some few pegasi, earth ponies, and unicorns, however few, would still think that their... tribe, for the lack of a better word, is better than the others?"

"Yeah, that's a thing. There's not a whole lot of it, though naturally, we all like being the specific tribe we're born into. I'd say that unicorn supremacy is the strongest, and it's stronghold is the city of Canterlot. Even there, its mostly upheld by some of the unicorn elite, and not by the majority of them. Harmony tends to be upheld by the vast majority of ponies."

"Do thestrals have, or had, a nobility?"

"Yep. All of them were warriors, though. In fact you had to be either a renowned warrior or the descendant of one to be part of the thestral aristocracy. During the Exile, that system fell into a bit of chaos. Most thestrals were too busy trying to survive to really care about social status, and the elites mixed freely with the commoners... such as either social class could exist, as we dwelt in caves and caverns and generally dark places where we hoped nopony would come after us." She paused. "You have quite an interest in this."

"Please forgive me; it's the call of the historian."

"Nothing to forgive. If that's the case, it's only natural to ask questions, and I don't mind giving answers; they're not hurting Equestria, or us personally." She looked back at the eggs in the pan, took a spatula, and gave them a stir. "It'll be a few minutes before these are ready. Feel free to keep asking questions."

"Alright." Luke thought again, then asked, "How do the nobility - the general nobility in Equestria, that is - see the... portals? The connection between worlds?"

"Many of them support it; since quite a few of them will gain profit by it, they're in favor of it."

"'Many' isn't 'all.'"

"You're right. There's a sizable and vocal minority that oppose the connection between our worlds. Some see it as a threat to their wealth, or our security, others see it as a threat to our way of life. And some just don't trust anyone who isn't a pony."

"What about the common pony?"

"Many again support it. Some, I'd say maybe a quarter, are ambivalent about it. A bit under a quarter oppose it, for some of the same reasons I gave, mainly the latter three."

"Is it modernization they're afraid of, or...?"

"Partly. Another big part is that humanity has had more wars within a century than in all recorded history of Equestria combined. Knowledge of 'The Bomb' doesn't exactly help, either. And, of course, some are afraid of pony culture being..." Aurora paused, a hoof to her mouth. "...tainted, for lack of a better word. They don't want change in their lives, for the most part. Of course, some jump at new technology, at new restaurants, at new knowledge - rumor in the Guard has it that Princess Twilight literally fainted upon being introduced to the internet." 

"Any clue why the Princesses waited until now, or didn't wait any longer, to introduce our worlds?"

"Only some guesses, and they're probably not accurate. You'd have to talk to them if you want to know for sure."

"What, you haven't?"

Aurora looked at him as though he'd just said the most stupid thing ever. "You realize that most Guards don't get to talk to the Princesses, right? They're there to protect them, and the nation. They're not there to gossip and be buddy-buddy to the divine rulers of our country."

"...I see." 

Aurora waved it away. "Please go on."

"Hmm. I suppose there was a time prior to unification. The Hearth's Warming play only gives details for earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns. Where do thestrals fit in that regard?" 

"Good question. If it's the kingdom of Equestria you're referring to, we came in later, after the alicorn monarchy was set up. Most ponies feared us, and for good reason. Being night owls, having fangs, and having a reputation for being vicious fighters was enough for most early pony rulers - a collection of pegasus warlords, earth pony burghers, and unicorn aristocrats - to refuse us entry. That changed when Princesses Celestia and Luna came and took their thrones. Princess Luna welcomed us as her personal Guards, and life got much better."

"What about before the unification?"

Aurora turned one side of her head back toward the eggs, with the other eye still on him. "That part of history is a bit more cloudy. From what our historians can make out, we existed as various tribes, hunting and sometimes warring with one another. The pegasi were warriors, too, in case you didn't get the memo. There were several pre-Unification wars between pegasi warlords and thestral tribes. These wars, as far as we can tell, didn't really accomplish a whole lot; the pegasi bragged of several major victories, but the results, from what we can tell, were actually stalemates in the biggest clashes."

"That certainly never made the show."

"You'd be shocked at what didn't make it in. While Equestria has known and wanted peace, there have been several wars that happened after the Unification, costing thousands of lives on each side. That's what happens when you shave off stuff to make a kids' show." 

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It's easy to think that ponies would be put off by the conflicts in our world."

"Many are, in fact. Most of those would be the ponies opposed to the interdimensional contact. We haven't had any conflicts anywhere near as deadly as your world wars. Of course, we haven't had the same circumstances, and that doesn't mean that there aren't those out there in our own world who would be willing to spill the blood of millions in order to achieve their goals. The show and even many ponies make Equestria out to be a near-perfect place, a paradise on earth, but it's not true. Crime and war do exist, and anypony who says otherwise either doesn't know history or is lying."
She checked on the eggs, and began to stir them with a spatula. She did this for about thirty seconds before stopping, and then turned to face Luke again. "Admittedly, we ponies have largely had peace for about a thousand years. Well, if you can rightly call thestrals living in caves out of fear of the other tribes peaceful. That has fostered a lot of... I guess complacency is the nearest word I can get. They mostly believe that Equestria is safe from most threats and that heroes will arise to save them in their hours of need. I can tell you firsthoof, or at least firsthoof from my husband, that's not true, at least the part about threats. And I'm not just talking about Tirek or King Sombra, either. There are even darker evils out there, evils that need a military handling."

"I thought you said that the other nations were friendly to Equestria?" 

"The big ones, the ones on the map, yeah, though the yaks are rather... belligerent. However, some members of those countries, and of various tribes, are more opposed to the magic of friendship, shall we say, than we normally want to think about." She turned around, stirred the eggs with the spatula again, grunted in satisfaction, then turned back to face him. "Any more questions?"

Luke rubbed his head. "I hope I'm not bothering you."

"You're not; it's actually a relief to be talking to a human who wants to know history as opposed to whether you've met Rainbow Dash or what the 'Mane Six' are like in person, or similar jazz." She looked back at the eggs again. "Almost done anyway."

"I can see that that would be a problem."

"That's the understatement of the decade. All too many 'bronies' want to know about their favorite ponies, all the time, and too many of them think that, just because I'm a pony, I know something about Lyra whatshername or Cheerijee something." 

"Might I ask what thestral military values are? The equivalent of chivalry or bushido, if you have something on that level?"

"Simple; it's called, Don't Lose."

Luke cocked his head. 

"Okay, okay, it's more complicated than that. We desire to have honor in what we do, namely in helping our brothers in battle and maintaining the highest standards within the Lunar Guard, and in serving the kingdom, and our Princess, well. However, for us, nothing is off the table in a fight. Shine some light or throw dirt or sand in the enemy's eyes, smash him on the head with a piano, if you have the strength to do it, knife him in his sleep, that's all not considered to be dishonorable."

"Though I'd guess murdering a host would be the highest act of treachery."

"Yes, we have standards. It's only in battle that there's no-holds barred. In diplomacy, and treating with our fellow thestrals, we try to live in a way that upholds the military traditions, but that keeps the peace and doesn't escalate."

"I assume because of the fear of blood feuds."

"Yep. Some feuds became legendary, and given the blood spilled, its not so hard to see why we try to keep them from ever happening again."

"Are they illegal, as dueling is in the US?"

"Not exactly, though our leaders do their utmost to stop a quarrel before it ever gets there. Occasionally, they'll allow a duel between two protagonists, the only rule being not to kill or permanently cripple the opponent. It's hooves, wings, and heads, and whoever's still standing, or who hasn't yielded, is declared the winner and the quarrel is declared settled then and there, with any further action by either side against the other leading to their being disgraced and penalized." She turned again and stirred once more. "It's done. Can you help me with the plates?" 

Luke doubled up a few paper plates and held them as Aurora put in the scrambled eggs in one plate at a time. Then, with that done and the plates on the table, Aurora called, "Breakfast is ready!" 

The door to the guest bedroom opened a few seconds later, and Bright came trotting into the room. "Yum, eggs!" he said happily, lifting himself into his seat.

Shadow emerged a moment later, clearly stifling a yawn. He walked up to the table and sat down. He grunted upon seeing his eggs, and then picked up a fork (the ability to do this with a shod hoof looked strange) and began digging in. Bright simply plunged his muzzle into his eggs and began chewing.

"Bright!" the child's mother scolded. "How many times do I have to tell you, use the forks, not your face!" 

"Sorry, Mom," Bright apologized. He immediately licked his face clean of the eggs on it and then also picked up his fork. 

"Anypony would think that you were raised in a cave with those manners," Aurora scolded, turning back to Luke. "I'm sorry."

"It's forgiven."

"No, we're guests and should be acting like it. Sorry about the mess." 

"It'll be fine. Now, I hope you all enjoy your meal. I have an essay to write."

"I hope you'll indulge me a question now," Aurora asked as Luke turned to leave. 

"Oh?" Luke turned back, surprised. 

"What kind of essays are you writing? What are they meant for?" 

"Partly for work-related purposes," Luke answered. "But mainly material that I hope to write some military history books with." 

"Ah. Interested in money?"

"Not so much as I am in getting an interesting but true account of history out there." 

"Hence your interest." 

"Yes." 

"Thanks again for housing us. I hope it doesn't cost you too much."

"It'll be fine, God willing."
> Chapter 7; Work and sleep
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Warning; large segments of Dark Ages history, which could easily be classified as lectures.

----------------------------------------------

Luke awoke again to the sound of his phone's alarm. He shut it off, got dressed, and checked his schedule.

Work today, he thought. I hope my guests had a decent night.

He went downstairs and grabbed a pack of chocolate fudge Pop-Tarts and sat down, looking at the news on his phone as he did so.

Earth-Equestria News!

Space; the final frontier, or just the beginning?

We're pleased to inform you that the United States of America and Equestria have signed a treaty on space exploration. While the details are as yet unreleased, the general plan involves cooperative work on space flight in both nations. This proposal has been in the works for over a year and was debated in Congress for the past week before finally being accepted by a majority in both the Senate and House.

"I am so pleased that we were able to sign this treaty," Princess Twilight Sparkle said to our reporters this morning. "In addition to strengthening the bonds between our peoples, we can now aid one another in reaching the stars."

"We highly approve of this treaty," Princess Luna commented. "We would love the opportunity to explore the prize of the night sky. Although once imprisoned there, it cannot be said of Us that We have visited the very body in the sky that is Our namesake. We hope very much that this only the beginning in a wonderful relationship with Our friends in the United States, and that both our nations may benefit from this arrangement."

The Equestrian Space program, though less than a year old, is off to an enthusiastic start, with the backing of the three Equestrian Princesses, as well as that of Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadence of the Crystal Empire. 

"I can't wait until our first flight," said unicorn pilot trainee Shooting Star, 22. "We're so excited to explore beyond our own planet. I couldn't have come so far without my friends in both the Equestrian and US space programs."

President Jonathan Willard had this to say;

"I am very relieved to have had this bill soar through Congress, and to have put the old John Hancock on it. My earnest hope is for a man or woman from the United States to set foot on Mars by the end of the decade, and perhaps go beyond."

Not all, however, were so pleased. 

"This was not a good decision," said Representative Richard Teller of Illinois. "We're giving away our technology to another nation, one that supposedly does not possess it. And what exactly are we getting in return? magic fireworks? It might be worth it if their end of the bargain was something like a fuel source that never runs out, but given the laws of thermodynamics, which work in both worlds, that seems unlikely."

Luke grunted, finished the second Pop-Tart, and scribbled a note;

At work; will be back by 7:00 P.M. Use house phone to contact me if in trouble. He followed this with his cell phone number. 

That done, he walked over to the guest bedroom door. The only sound from there was snoring, although he thought he heard Shadow mumble something.

He checked to make sure he had his keys, wallet, and other accessories with him as he headed for the door.

Deodorant? He sniffed. Yep, that's all set.

He walked out and locked the door.

Lord, please grant that this day is a good one for Your purposes and for this job You've given me, he prayed silently after he'd gotten into his truck. It started as it ought to, and he carefully backed out of the driveway and headed to the museum.

---------------------------------------------------- 

Shadow was dragged into a room by two Lunar Guards. They threw him further into the room. 

"What-" 

"Silence!" 

Shadow looked up; a Lunar General stood before him, staring down into his eyes. 

Despite the previous command, he couldn't help but snarl, "Foal-napping not enough for you, General?" 

The General looked down at him fiercely. "I'm afraid that you know too much, Shadow. It's a pity... You were a good Guard, but you overheard my conversations, and I can't let that spread. Speaking of knowing too much..." 

The General stomped his hoof, just inches from Shadow's face. 

From out of the darkness in the room, Two other Lunar Guards emerged, dragging Aurora and Bright, who were both in chains and badly beaten, with them. 

Shadow realized what was going on. "No... Please! I'll do ANYTHING!" 

Taking no notice of Shadow's protest, the General went on, "I'm afraid that your entire family will have to die. In an accident, the official reports will say. It's necessary to ensure my secret doesn't get out."

"NO!" 

"I would just have them shot," the General went on, "but that would be too loud. A pity, I like the new weapons. Nevertheless, this works just as well." 

One of the Guards raised a battle axe over Aurora's head; on the other side, his companion raised his over Bright's. 

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" 

The axes fell.

----------------------------------------------------

Shadow let out a gasp and shot upright in the bed, sweating and panting. 

It took him a few moments to realize that it had all been a dream. Bright and Aurora were still sleeping; the former hadn't even reacted to his outburst, and the latter had groaned in her sleep, but had remained sleeping. 

They were in America, not Equestria, and this was some state far away from DC. They were in some normal-sized town. They were about as safe as possible.

And that Lunar General was an entire world away.  

For now, at least.

He looked around the room, at Bright, then his wife, then at the windows. It was daylight outside, ordinarily the time for Thestrals to sleep. 

I don't want to sleep if I'm going to have that nightmare again. It was one of those quick thoughts that flutter across the mind, but it nevertheless had an effect. And after all the times I've looked down on sunrisers for being awake during the day...

He felt terrified, even though it had just been a dream. He decided to get up and look for something in the cabinet. Maybe some sleeping pills and some cold milk could help him sleep easier. 

He slowly and carefully got out of bed, walked quietly past his son, and opened the door. He walked into the kitchen and began looking for any sleeping pills.

Cold and cough... headaches... Here we go...

He took out the pills he was looking for, poured himself a cup full of milk, and downed the pills with the drink. Already, he was feeling a bit better. 

But try as he might, that image of a swinging axe would not abandon the far recesses of his mind as he lay back down on his side of the bed.

-----------------------------------------------

Luke, for the umpteenth time, studied the Japanese matchlock encased in the Sengoku Jidai-era Japan display. Although guns were not native to Japan, this, as did other specimens of its type, bore a distinctly Japanese appearance.



He shook himself, also for the umpteenth time, out of his brief reverie and walked over to the section of the museum on Medieval Europe, where he was to lead a tour group in a few minutes. 

The group was already forming as he arrived. He was surprised to see two ponies in the group; other than the thestrals in his house, he hadn't seen ponies in Maine a whole lot. One was a tan unicorn stallion, who was levitating a pen and a writing board. The other was an earth pony mare whose coat reminded Luke of red grape or raspberry jam. Both seem quite eager for the tour to begin, and the stallion was already writing things down with a look of excitement upon his face. The mare looked content, but bore a look in her eyes that seemed to signal a similar excitement to the unicorn. The unicorn had a book with a quill writing in it for a cutie mark, while the other had a statue of a Royal Guard holding a spear. 

Intriguing, but I'd better remember where I am. Work is no place for this kind of curiosity.

With an effort, he suppressed his inner brony and said, "Welcome to the Joshua Chamberlain Museum*. I am your host, Luke Martin, and it is my pleasure and privilege to lead you on this tour of the Early Medieval Period of European history."

Some of the group - mainly adults, and of course the two ponies - looked up from whatever they had been doing. 

"We'll be starting with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and be continuing from there. Please follow me." 

He lead them to a life-size figure of a Roman soldier, complete with helmet, shield, and gladius. "Now, the Medieval era, as all ages in history do, came out of the time before it. In this case, in European history, the preceding era was the Roman Imperial period. The Roman republic, after the Antony-Octavius civil war, became what most modern historians label the Roman Empire.

"Now, the question will be asked; why did Rome fall? There are numerous reasons. One is the Third Century crisis, a time of invasions and civil wars that brought the Empire to the brink. Generals in the military tried to become emperors by leading their armies against the current emperor, and border peoples saw opportunities to seize land for themselves, lands richer than their own. In this period, between 235-284, only 2 out of 20 emperors died naturally." 

He lead them to a display case, one showing a late Roman-period latifundia. "Another problem was the rise of latifundia, which were essential plantations. These tended to grow cash crops instead of food, and as a result, food had to imported. Additionally, there was a reliance upon slave labor, both on these plantations and elsewhere. Why innovate and invest in new technology when you had unpaid laborers to do the work for you?

"Furthermore, there were economic issues." He pointed to a Roman-era coin in the display. "Inflation. Re-coinage. Coins were made with less precious metals underneath the covering of, say, silver. People lost their trust in currency. Additionally, market prices were frozen; you couldn't sell an item for more than the government said you could."

He lead them to a figure of a Germanic warrior of the late Roman period nearby. "Perhaps the Foederati system was the biggest problem. The Roman Empire at this stage had a massive border, and naturally, this meant that it wasn't too difficult for border peoples to raid and then get off scot-free. The Empire's response was to invite some of these tribes - for lack of a better term - to settle within Roman borders; in exchange, these tribes would take up the task of defending their sections of the border." 

He took a moment to breathe. At the same time, one of the ponies - the unicorn - raised their hoof. 

"Yes?" 

"Why would they invite their enemies into their empire in order to defend it?" the unicorn asked. "It sounds foolish at best to let in other groups - armed groups - to protect you when others of their kind have been raiding you." 

"Well, I'm getting there, but the Romans weren't stupid. Their border fortifications, while probably strong enough to withstand a 'barbarian' siege, couldn't be everywhere, and by offering these tribes protection under Roman authority, they were filling, or trying to fill, these holes in their borders. Again, this was just one problem the Romans were facing out of many.

"Now, naturally, some of these so-called 'barbarian' chieftains and kings did well enough to be given Roman military rank and authority. And they wanted more stuff; a lot of what they wanted were needs, such as food. But over time, the foederati system came to mean essentially a mercenary contract. These Germanic kings wanted money and rank, and they had armies at their backs to make those demands. We're not at the boiling point yet, but keep this in mind for the moment." 

"One of the later Roman Emperors was a man named Diocletian. Having risen to power via the military, he saw the problems Rome was having and tried to fix them. He made reforms; these included price fixing, dividing the empire into new divisions to make governing them easier, and most significantly, he split the empire in two. He recognized that one emperor couldn't do it all; there had to be some delegation. He effectively split the empire into Eastern and Western halves; each would be ruled by an Augustus, or emperor, and these emperors would each appoint a Caesar under them, with these Caesars not related to the emperor. When one emperor stepped down, the other would have to as well. Their Caesars would then take up the title Augustus, and would appoint Caesars in their turn. It didn't work; when Diocletian stepped down, the other Augustus did so, grudgingly, but after that, this succession process broke down, and Augustuses would refuse to step down when the other Augustus died or retired or was overthrown or what-have-you.

"In addition, many things weren't fixed. As one of the "five good emperors," Diocletian persecuted the Christian faith, and indeed it was the worst period of persecution up to that time. Christianity, unlike Judaism, was not a legal faith, and Diocletian wanted the Roman state to return to its original values. One of these values was emperor-worship, which Christians, believing in one supreme God, refused to do, as well as refusing to worship Roman gods. Both these refusals were seen as subversive, and even treasonous, by the pagan authorities. Christianity would eventually be legalized in 313, but that was only after large numbers of people were murdered, by the state, those claiming to serve the state, and by other individuals. The people being persecuted did manage to save many, many manuscripts from being burned by the authorities, which allowed the New Testament to survive the terrible trial. Christianity would go on to become the state faith as of 395 AD."

"In addition to this, slavery was still a problem, the economy would go into a permanent spiral of devaluation, and the price freezing inspired many citizens to go into black market business. And, of course, the failure of the succession system led to more civil wars and more upheaval. Perhaps most devastating of all was that the city of Rome itself, which had maybe a million people living there, was reduced to a few tens of thousands. Plague, famines, and other causes, such as barbarian invasions, led to a decrease in population in the West."

Luke paused a moment before leading the group to a display showing Roman and barbarian arms. "This era in Roman history coincided with what has been called in modern German as 'Volkerwanderung,' or 'wandering of the peoples.' These tribes were wandering around, as the German name suggests. They were essentially nomadic, with tribal kings having tribal councils, with these councilors then having authority over the tribe. These tribes were large bands of warriors, with women and children of course. Naturally, many of them looked upon the wealth, or seeming wealth, of the Romans with jealously, given the paucity of resources within their own societies, and wanted a slice of it. Hence why so much of the Third Century Crisis was spent by Roman armies running from one trouble spot to another, trying to push back these invaders. That's where the foederati system comes into play; the idea was that some of these peoples would be allowed to settle in safety, and they in turn would fight other tribes encroaching upon that territory.

"One of these tribes, the Goths, would be given foederati status by the Eastern Roman Emperor at the time, Valens. However, Valens failed to provide them with food, and the Goths were so desperate that they actually sometimes sold their children into slavery. The situation could not be sustained and not surprisingly, the Goths rebelled. When Valens met their army at Adrianople in 378, he was defeated and killed. The Goths would lose the war, but this conflict weakened the empire.

"Many believe that this conflict, in particular Adrianople, effectively doomed the Western Empire. Barbarians would raid the Empire; Alaric the Visigoth and Attila the Hun are still names that, to this day, bring the idea of devastation, war, and looting to the mind. Foderati tribes and leaders would weaken it further, sometimes making plays for power. The final emperor in the Western half of the Empire, a child named Romulus Augustus, was dethroned by a Germanic general, Odoacer, in 476."

The mare raised her hoof.

"Yes?" 

"Was that it for the Romans? What about the Eastern half?"

"Good question. A lot of people believe that Roman culture and customs died off immediately, but this can be easily disproved. The Eastern Roman Empire would continue to refer to itself as the Roman Empire, even though it was more Greek than Latin; it would last until 1453, even longer if we consider the Empire of Trebizond as a short-lived successor state. Furthermore, the Roman language and customs ironically were carried on by the very peoples who brought down the Empire, with Germanic leaders and their people converting to Christianity, speaking Latin for official ceremonies, and wearing Roman clothing at times. In fact, though we won't be covering it for some time, there would be efforts to revive the Empire. Charlemagne's Empire and  the Holy Roman Empire were two such attempts, though as would be covered in a tour for the later Medieval Period, these would not last. The Latin language continued to be the language of law and government for centuries across Europe, and continues as the official language of the Catholic Church." 

Luke looked at a painting of Rome being sacked in 410. "Rome itself, however, would only briefly be re-conquered by the East, and then abandoned again after Emperor Justinian died, because the cost of holding onto it was considered to be too much. Rome itself would not recover for centuries. Throughout the Dark and Medieval ages, structures such as the aqueduct would be sorely missed."

He looked around. Much of the group seemed to have some interest. Some - and here he couldn't help but sigh mentally - looked bored. 

The two ponies, however, were still looking quite interested in the subject. The unicorn again raised his hoof - Luke saw that both his and the mare's hooves were shod with nailed-on horseshoes. 

"Yes?" 

"Is this the end of the tour?" 

"Oh, not yet. There's plenty more to see." 

---------------------------------------------------------

Shadow raised his M-16, modified to fit shod pony hooves, and peeked out from behind the tree. 

Three dragons, a pair of diamond dogs, and an unreformed changeling were gathered together. Even without the fire they had going, he could have seen them easily. He made sure to note their exact positions. 

This mission...

Queen Chrysalis had a dearth of drones left; less than fifty, though intelligence wasn't entirely clear. She needed allies if she was going to stand any hope of reconquering her hive, let alone inflict the damage needed to overthrow Equestria. Unfortunately, diamond dogs were always looking for ways to get more gems, and dragons - especially younger ones, like these - loved to destroy. Both species had members that disliked Equestria for stopping them from doing whatever they wanted. 

While Dragon Lord Ember could issue general commands, she did not have total, hive-like control over her people, and these three dragons - a mint-green one, a purple one, and a bigger, older, reddish-orange one - looked like they were interested in what the changeling had to say. He could only hear snippets of their conversation, but the changeling seemed to be winning them over. 

A high-pitched screech rang through the air. It was too high for the band around the fire to hear, but Shadow and his fellow thestrals, scattered around and ready to ambush the group, could hear it just fine. 

Shadow sprang out from behind the tree, gun raised and pointed at the changeling's head. Other Lunar Guards also emerged, surrounding the group. 

"Hooves up! Don't move!" 

The changeling spat. Instead of obeying, he shot a green beam at the nearest thestral, who managed to dodge it.

Shadow fired. The changeling was struck by three rounds, one after the other, and fell as if in slow motion. 

One of the dragons - the green one - let loose a burst of flame, setting the surrounding trees on fire as several thestrals scattered to avoid being barbecued. 

A loud roaring noise came from Shadow's left. A rocket streaked toward the dragon, who was hit dead center of the chest. The projectile pierced the scales of the dragon. Shadow looked away as the rocket exploded. 

The other two dragons, seeing what had happened to their comrade, tried to fly away; both were intercepted by Lunar Guards ready for just such an attempt. A net was thrown over the dragons, one made immune to dragon fire via magic. Both fell to the ground, crashing in a heap. 

The diamond dogs simply cowered on the ground. They remained that way as they were cuffed by Lunar Guards. 

"Shadow, we were supposed to capture that changeling," his commanding officer, Starry Sky, said, landing next to him. "We needed him for interrogation. He could have led us to the queen!" 

"I didn't shoot to kill," Shadow replied, miffed. "You'll find he'll live, if he's given medical attention. And was I supposed to let him fry Starfire?"

"No, but... if he doesn't make it, it's on your head."

"And if he lives..."

"If he lives, you'll get the credit," Starry Sky said, sighing. "We did what we had to do. Night Stalker, that bazooka was for last resort, not first!" 

"Sorry, sir," the recruit, maybe nineteen years old, said sheepishly. 

"'Sorry' catches no prey**."

"Have a heart, sir," an older thestral by the name of Shade protested. "The kid kept us from becoming fried chicken."

"Hearts are for civies, not Lunar Guard Lieutenants; for that matter, they aren't for the Lunar Guard, period," Starry Sky replied. "I said I wanted it used for last resort, and I meant it."

He turned to the changeling, who was in fact still breathing, and was now coming to. Sky put a hoof gently but firmly upon his neck. "You're going to tell us everything you know when we get back to Canterlot, or Princess Luna is going to make your remaining nights a living nightmare."

----------------------------------------------------------

Shadow awoke again, this time without sitting up. 

He yawned as he looked out the window. Still daylight. 

He had almost forgotten that mission, just three years back, not long after the Princesses had opened the portals to Earth and military advisors had arrived. The intention had been to capture the changeling as well as the entire gang. Obviously, as he remembered it, it hadn't gone perfectly... but a dead dragon was better than a squad's worth of dead thestrals, though the military stallion within him still struggled between following orders and saving lives. 

He thought about it as he tried to go back to sleep. The changeling, as far as he was aware, had never squealed. Even after Princess Luna herself had tried to tear the information from his mind, he had revealed nothing other than hatred for ponies. He was still locked up in the dungeons under the royal palace, if he was still alive, and that wouldn't change unless he gave in, which was probably not going to happen.

The diamond dogs hadn't needed much persuasion to get them to talk, but it turned out that they didn't know much. They were there to try and get the best conditions for their clan as possible, which had included the promise of pony slaves when the unreformed changelings came back into power. They had revealed their clan and its whereabouts under Equestria. That clan didn't reside within Equestrian borders any more. Celestia, Luna, and a couple of their Guards had gone in and revealed the whole scheme. Their leader was forced to admit his guilt. The Princesses hadn't come to arrest the entire clan, but the army camped above their hideout was persuasive. They were going to leave, and never return, Celestia had said... or else. The clan wisely agreed to leave... but they were forced to leave all of their current gems in Equestrian hooves, and to abandon all but the most necessary weapons and armor. Since then, they had been monitored by Equestrian secret agents, and so far there had been no further hostilities with that clan.

The dragons had been in massive trouble. They had at first refused to talk... a problem that was quickly fixed when Dragon Lord Ember herself came and used her scepter to force them to reveal what they knew. They had planned to usurp her by stealing the scepter, and to use it to force the dragons to go to war with Equestria; Chrysalis' agent had promised to give the dragons all the gems and gold in the Equestrian treasury, along with any other gems they found... and the southern half of the continent would be theirs to destroy or conquer or do whatever they saw fit to do.

Ember had been ruthless. She had ordered them to become servants to the Princesses for six months, and afterwards made them give up all their gems, which she had distributed among the other dragons along with a warning that any dragon who cooperated with Chrysalis would be handed over to Equestrian dungeons. Following their period of servitude, the two dragons who had survived the ambush were thrown into a separate dungeon from the changeling, in fireproof solitary confinement. They were still there, as far as Shadow knew; their jail terms weren't over yet. 

Starry Sky had come out of the thing as a hero within the Lunar Guard; it had been the first op using modified human weapons, and it had come off without a single thestral casualty. Shadow had been reprimanded, but not harshly, and was soon given a letter of commendation, personally signed by Princess Luna. Night Stalker, the kid with the bazooka, had gotten off rather lightly. His bazooka was taken away for the time being, but there was no further punishment, and after several operations where he had performed well, he'd earned it back. The rest of the platoon were given a citation for excellence, and the Lunar Guard celebrated the success.

As his mind began to wander off as he approached sleep, he couldn't help but think of Starry Sky one more time, and his ominous words;

"Hearts are for civies, not Lunar Guard Lieutenants; for that matter, they aren't for the Lunar Guard, period..."

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Luke led the group to a bust of Charlemagne. "Now, after Pippin the Short passed away, his son, Charles, took the throne of the Frankish Kingdom. His was not to be a peaceful reign; indeed, throughout it he was almost constantly on the move, at war with the Saxons, the Muslim invaders of Spain, and the Lombards of Northern Italy, among others. His wars with the Saxons in particular lasted for decades; according to one Einhard, the Saxons would surrender and pretend to humble themselves, then rebel almost every year. He eventually crushed them, though not without very punitive measures, including the 'Bloody Verdict of Verden, where four thousand, five hundred captured rebels were executed.

"His reign was not entirely one of war, though warfare was nearly constant. Charles also supported the arts and the establishment of what was in essence a palatial school in Aachen, which many take to be the closest Charlemagne had to a capital city. The Carolingian Renaissance that followed featured Latin being reborn, and notation being made for music. There were two kinds of educational programs; the Trivium and the Quadrivium. The Trivium taught grammar, rhetoric, and logic. The Quadrivium featured math-based sciences, music, astronomy, and arithmetic. There were efforts to recreate Roman architecture, and art saw an increase; the art was mainly art of Biblical events. Illuminations were images designed to display Bible passages, which was considered useful by the Catholic Church because most people - including peasants and nobles alike - remained illiterate, so the easiest way to teach people the Bible was through a combination of preaching and visualizing the events described. Charles himself learned Latin and tried to learn what he could about the Romans, though apparently he wasn't a fan of their clothing. 

"In the year 800 AD, on Christmas Day, Charles was crowned as Roman Emperor by the Pope. Historians are somewhat divided on whether or not it was a surprise for Charles. Einhard said that Charlemagne had no idea what the Pope was going to do, another source says Charles went to Rome in coronation garb. Sometimes, especially when the information is scanty, we have to make the best guess we can. In any case, there is an irony in that a Germanic king was named Roman Emperor, and that one of the peoples who invaded the Empire became it's momentary restorers."

The unicorn raised his hoof. 

"Yes?"

"Wasn't this Pope in charge of Rome? Why was Charles called a 'Roman' Emperor when he didn't even rule the city?"

Luke chuckled. "That's indeed a great irony, as is the fact that the Holy Roman Emperors in the High Medieval Period almost never directly controlled Rome." He thought for a few seconds. "In my opinion, and it could be wrong, the Pope was the spiritual leader of the Catholic, meaning 'Universal,' Church, which was supposed to unite all of Christendom, and Charles was seen as it's physical protector. Charles had saved Pope Adrian from being tortured by the actual Roman nobility, and had protected Rome from the Lombards of northern Italy, whom the Pope was afraid of, so it's not hard to see why the Pope would honor Charles this way. I think, and again I could be wrong, that the idea was that although the Pope controlled Rome, the two lands were at least symbolically connected, a spiritual part - Papal - and a secular part - the lands directly ruled by Charles - with the latter protecting the former. It's... a bit of an idealistic rather than factual unity, but if the Pope was the leader of Christendom and Charles was the sword and shield expanding and protecting it, then a connection can be seen."

The unicorn nodded, put his hoof down, and wrote. the mare raised her hoof. 

"Yes?" 

"What about the Eastern Empire? What did they think of Charles being named Emperor when they already had an Emperor of their own?" 

"They took it very poorly, as you might expect. The Eastern Empire and the Pope hadn't exactly gotten along, and Adrian had written a condemnation of the Eastern Church. The Eastern Romans were furious, but they didn't attempt to use military force to decide the matter; as far as I'm aware, the forces of Charles' empire and that of the Eastern never clashed. However, the split between the Catholic and Eastern Church certainly widened during this time, and ultimately the Eastern Church would break away from Catholic control entirely, becoming what we know today as the Orthodox Church."

A woman raised her hand. Luke nodded, and she said, "How much of an empire was Charles's empire?" 

Luke hesitated. "It... It was certainly an empire in extent, ruling or making tributaries out of all of modern France and most of Germany and northern Italy, with a large slice of northern Spain. However, inwardly, it was a 'village' empire, with the majority - I would say the vast majority - of the settlements under Charlemagne's rule being little villages with subsistence agriculture, interspersed with a few small cities, such as Aachen. Charlemagne's empire was, essentially, iron mixed with clay; it mimicked Rome to an extent, and controlled a lot of territory, but it was at best a shadow of the Roman Empire. Charles certainly didn't rebuild anything like the Roman Senate, and there were no big cities, as Rome had had prior to its decline and collapse."

"What happened to it?" a man asked. 

He hadn't raised his hand, but Luke didn't mind. "It would eventually break into three states. Louis the Pious, who took over after Charles died in 814, didn't have the resources to expand further, and fought to maintain the empire rather than expand it. He is largely overshadowed by his father; not surprising, given Charles' success. Louis took up the cause of ecclesiastical and monastic reform; he was most interested in matters of faith, hence his nickname of 'the Pious.' He was the only surviving son of Charles, which meant that he inherited the entire empire. However, his three sons, Louis the German, Charles the Fat, and Lothair were feuding and fighting even while Louis the Pious was still alive; at one point Louis Senior was captured by one of his sons during the fighting. 

"Louis had divided the empire between his sons, per gavelkind succession. Charles got what was essentially modern day France. Louis the German got most of Germany, hence his nickname. Lothair was to receive the Imperial title and got the land between his brothers as well as northern Italy. He was supposed to have authority over his brothers, i.e., he was to basically control the entire empire with his siblings as his subordinates."

He led the group to a map of Europe in 843. "Suffice it to say, it didn't turn out that way. Even before their father died in 840, Charles the Fat and Louis the German pledged that they would never accept Lothair as their ruler. In 841, they crushed Lothair at the battle of Fontenay, and in 843, the Treaty of Verdun was signed, formally splitting the empire into three states. Charles became king of the West Franks, or West Francia. Lothair became king of Middle Francia. Louis became king of East Francia. Unfortunately for Lothair, his kingdom would also split into three states upon his death in 855; Lothairingia, (named after his son, also called Lothair), Burgundy, which was part of Switzerland and southeastern France, and Italy. Charles' portion, West Francia, would develop into the kingdom of France, while Louis' East Francia would eventually develop into the kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire." 

Luke looked around, taking the time to look at everyone's faces. "We're coming to the end of our tour of the Early Medieval Period. Thank you all for choosing to come on this tour, and I hope you've enjoyed this session of history."

He watched as the group dispersed... all but the two ponies, who remained. 

"Hello," the unicorn said to Luke, walking toward him a couple steps. "My wife and I would like to ask some more questions, if that's okay." 

"I have about twenty minutes until the next tour group, so I have some time."

"Thank you," the earth pony said. "I'm Red Guard - but everypony calls me Red - and my fiancee is Quill." 

"Nice to meet both of you," Luke said, smiling. 

"Alright," the mare said, as her husband raised both his notes and quill. "First, why did gavelkind succession even exist? It seems like a bad idea in general to split up the territories you've just conquered between your children."

Luke thought about it. "I think the idea of splitting territories equally between your sons is meant to prevent fighting. It obviously didn't work all the time; aside from Lothair's troubles, there's the example of King Henry II of England a couple centuries later. He planned to split his land between his sons, with his son, Henry III, getting the Kingdom of England itself, Anjou and Normandy, Richard would get Aquitaine, Geoffrey would get Brittany and his youngest, John, would get the part of Ireland that England had conquered by this time. This didn't work; except for John, who was only eight at the time, Henry's sons all rebelled against him. Their father crushed them all, along with the King of France, who attempted to help them in order to destablize English power. I think that family ties were supposed to help stop any infighting, along with evened-out portions of territory, but... power is a corrupting thing, invading even the family unit."

"That's true," Quill said, nodding. "My father was one of those stallions who wanted everything, his children included, to do things his way, or the highway."

"What about daughters? You only mentioned sons," Red asked.  

Luke sighed. "Unfortunately, women weren't exactly considered equal to men at the time. They were entitled to zip regarding succession unless there was no legal male heir. That would remain true until the 1900's, and even then a long way into the 1900's. Nevertheless, there were notable medieval women who inherited and maintained their rule, one of the more notable being Matilda of Tuscany, who defended the Pope against Henry IV of the Holy Roman Empire."

"Okay, next question," Red Guard said, sounding excited. "Why are the Romans considered so important for today? Why are they seen as so influential when they fell about 1,500 years ago? Especially when they engaged in things like infanticide and slavery?"

"That is... a good question. For one thing, I could ask why any nation in our history is seen with any significance if we take that point of view; what we build today is been built upon what those before us have constructed. "

"Oof, he's got you there dear," Quill said, amused. 

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the mare replied, lightly and jovially cuffing his ear. 

Luke went on, "To say that every society has flaws is perhaps one of the understatements of the year; for example, the Spartans, so revered today as the heroes of Thermopylae, would leave 'weak' children on a supposedly sacred mountain to die."

Luke sighed before continuing. "What the Romans are remembered for, aside from their flaws, are their architectural and government feats. They established one of the longest-lasting republics, certainly the longest lasting of the ancient era, and in combination with democracy as established by the Athenian Greeks, inspired modern-day republics and the idea of the common person having a say, however small, in their own government. Of course, the Roman Republic was more a rule of the elite over the masses; the system for electing consuls was deliberately designed so that nearly 51% of the votes would come from the richest citizens and aristocrats. But the concept of common people having a role in their own governance remains. The Roman military is also something they are admired for; along with being the most effective military of its age, their army was known for being able to construct bridges, fortifications, and roads faster than most societies would have believed possible. We also have famous figures from the Roman era who are relatively well known to us; Cicero, the elderly statesman who feared a return to monarchy as well as the bypassing of the Senate by a strongman; Julius Caesar, a great general who would become dictator over the state (as Cicero feared); and Pompey Magnus, originally one of Caesar's triumvirates and eventually leader of the anti-Caesar faction in the civil war that Caesar started."

Quill looked up once he was done writing. "I do have a question about Charlemagne. But it involves a more personal matter."

"Hmm?" 

"Well... do you know much about the Christian teachings?" 

"I'm afraid the museum doesn't allow me to talk about faith as is," Luke said, winking at the end of the sentence. "But if you want more information about them, my shift ends at 6. However, if it's a question related to history, I believe the museum will tolerate it."

Quill nodded. "Don't worry, I think your museum will tolerate it. I just wanted someone knowledgeable about Christianity so that the answer is more informative."

"Right then. What's your question?"

"Well... you said that Charlemagne was seen as the defender of Christendom, even though him killing four thousand plus rebel prisoners and waging aggressive wars go against, say the Golden Rule, or against the idea of "love your enemies, do good to those who persecute you, and pray for those who spitefully use you." 

"Matthew 5:44. You've been studying." 

"Knowing a culture's faith better helps to understand it. And I and my wife want to know everything that we can know."

"Not saying that we'll convert," Red Guard said. "But let's just say that we find the Scriptures both interesting and difficult to decipher." 

"Trust me, both Christians and Jewish people have wrestled with Scripture for a long time." Luke remembered the museum's rules and shook his head. "But in any case, Charlemagne." 

"Yes. It seems odd that someone who claims to follow his own Scriptures would break them in, what to us, seems so obvious a way." 

Luke gave serious thought to his answer, and was completely silent for a few moments, before signing again. "I think that, over time, the original, true message of Christianity was... twisted. It went from being a prosecuted minority, to eventually, and after much suffering, to being a legalized minority, to becoming the state faith of Rome. After the Romans collapsed, there were orthodox - not to be confused with the Orthodox Church - and heterodox, i.e. mainly heretical, views. The Lombards, for example, who settled in Northern Italy, were Arian - they believed that Jesus was created by the Father and was of a lesser substance than the Father. These heretical views were backed with military might by the nascent states such as that of the Lombards, though the Lombards would eventually convert to Latin Christianity, which was, in essence, the proto-Catholic Church. 

"In addition, the pagan nations surrounding the Christian lands were often very violent; the Germanic faiths of northern Germany, as well as of Scandinavia, allowed for human sacrifice, called a blōt, which would have been seen as monstrous - is monstrous, if you want my opinion. Combined with the Islamic invasion and conquest of the vast majority of the Iberian Peninsula, I think - and I could be wrong - that the orthodox (as opposed to heterodox) believers of Christianity felt a crisis of sorts was in the making, and only the Merovingians - later the Carolingians - were strong enough to counter these threats. Under these and other circumstances, I think that Biblical verses on judgment would have been used to justify Charles' actions, along with his duty as a king to protect his subjects. The faith would have been twisted to be more militarized during such times. There is also the fact that there was no Hague or Geneva Convention regarding what to do with prisoners during this time. To Charlemagne, and many people of the time, these rebels he killed at Verden were violent criminals who had recently defeated one of his armies and killed - he would have said murdered - a number of dukes and counts in that battle. To the Saxons, those men had been fighting for their freedom.

"Of course, one should look at the original teachings to see whether one is living up to them. Someone, even a large group of people, not obeying those teachings does not invalidate those teachings; it means that people are disobedient to those teachings. Charlemagne's actions must be judged by whether he lived up to Scripture; Scripture cannot be judged by Charlemagne's actions." 

Red Guard bowed her head. "Thank you. That makes things a bit more clear, though perhaps not as clear as we were hoping for." 

"History is like that," Luke sighed. "I think people like to categorize historical figures into good and bad, or what we consider good and bad, and flatly so, without any shades of gray. Some few fit clearly into one category or the other, but many do not. There are also more modern figures that historians argue over. Harry Truman's decision to drop two atomic bombs on Japan in 1945 is one area of contention; were the couple of hundred thousand dead and permanently mutilated at Hiroshima and Nagasaki excusable by the likelihood that millions would likely have died if the Americans had had to invade Japan? Was the President's claim that he was able to sleep like a baby after the bombings a show of strength on behalf of the United States or a display of apathy for those killed and maimed? Those kinds of questions permeate the historian's life, and we will probably argue, until the end of time, about such things. Given that a hundred people can have a hundred different opinions on a subject, that's hardly surprising."

"Our historians have the same problem," Quill nodded. "Were the Windigos of Hearth's Warming legend real, or simply written as an author's manifestation of the chaos that enmity causes? Were the changelings a product of some means of magical corruption, or were they created as they were before Chrysalis' dethronement? Just when did unicorns gain the ability to control the sun and moon, and how did they come to discover it? How did the sun and moon operate prior to their discovery? Those kinds of arguments continue in our historic community to this day, and have long been raging." 

Red nodded. "Most of the time, when it comes to historical figures, many ponies tend to have a habit of believing them to be good or bad, black and white. It's not reality most of the time, of course, but it's a flaw all too common, here and back home." 

"We're going to be spending the day here," Quill said. "Might we accompany you on your next tour?" 

"Of course," Luke smiled. "Ten minutes until we start on the High Medieval Period." 

--------------------------------------------------------

Shadow bit into an apple under the light of the moon. He, Bright, and Aurora were sitting on a red and white patchwork blanket; a basket full of food was on the blanket, and the moon shone brightly overhead as they ate. 

It was a peaceful night. Crickets chirped and here and there actual bats flew about. One landed on a peace that Aurora was about to eat, and took a bite of it. Aurora, far from being offended, laughed and allowed the creature to continue eating until it suddenly flew away. 

"Dad, when do you think the school's gonna let me play on their team?" Bright asked. "Mr. Pitch has been saying no to me for three days now; he says I'm not good enough." 

"Son, remember what your granddad taught you about patience?"

"Yeah, and it stinks."

"Hey, don't be disrespecting your grandfather. Now, if you keep on playing in the field, and doing well in gym class, you'll get your chance. In the meantime, you need to practice." 

"But I'm good enough now! I always hit the ball-"

"Straight through Star Chaser's window."

"That only happened once, and you won't let me forget."

"It did not happen only once; you've hit Dusk Trail in the face, you damaged a fence post, and you broke the spoke of a wheel in the market, and that's just a few of the things I could remind you of."

Bright sat down and pouted. 

"Don't you dare give me that look! You know it's true." Shadow lightened his expression. "I know it's not what you want to hear, but you need to be able to hit a baseball somewhere that it won't hit anything, or anypony. You need to work on your aim, and to do that somewhere away from town, or our neighbors. There's plenty of places you can practice. And eventually, when you're able to swing and hit without busting something, you'll be on the team. Until then, you have to keep practicing." 

"Okay, dad." Bright looked disappointed, but a piece of pie that was in the basket took his mind off baseball, and it wasn't long before he was content again. 

"Honey, when do you think the Guard will send you out again?" Aurora asked, when Bright was no longer paying any attention.

"I think three nights from now. You know I can't tell you more than that."

"I do know. I just wish you didn't have to go out so often."

Shadow looked at the moon. "Do you know why I go out there, all those nights, to fight criminals and slavers and who knows what else?"

"For Princess Luna. For Equestria." 

"Yes, I go out for those things... but mostly for you. I can't bear to think of anything happening to you and our son." 

Aurora nuzzled him gently before kissing him. They looked up at the moon together, as Bright rolled around, chewing on a peach. 

------------------------------------------------

In the real world, Shadow unknowingly smiled in his sleep.
> Chapter 8; Equestrian history and perspective
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luke watched as the other guests began to leave the museum. It had been a tiring but enjoyable day; the two ponies in particular had had almost no end to questions, questions he was all too happy to answer. They had gone over the High and Late Medieval eras, and there would be a Renaissance era tour on Wednesday. 

It's not about the numbers of people who listen, he reminded himself as many of his guests seemed bored. It's about somebody listening at all.

As six o' clock rolled around, Luke walked toward the Museum doors, accompanied by Red and Quill. Both ponies had willingly gone through the entire day's worth of tours without missing a beat (the exception being lunchtime), and, despite the often terrible parts of history had gotten through it without their overall positive attitude being all that diminished. 

"That was a productive day," Red said, and her husband eagerly nodded in agreement. She turned to Luke. "We've done extensive work on Equestrian history, but not of that of Earth... at least, not until today. And even though it was a brief look, I think we've got a lot of material to work with."

"Might I ask what you intend to do with that knowledge?" Luke asked. 

"We're hoping to help relationships between our world and this one," Quill replied. "It's our most profound hope that, through our work, my wife and I may help our worlds grow closer together, and that both humans and ponies may live together in peace."

"I doubt the more violent or destructive things you've learned today - and there are many - will help."

"But that's just the thing," Red interjected. "Ponies aren't all saints either. Some like to think that way, but we've had wars, have quarreled, and have done terrible things too. That show of yours only shows the more acceptable things about Equestria." 

"Indeed," Quill said. "More... adult things are left out, in the interest of children, for whom the show was made. Obviously, reproduction, but also warfare. The pre-Equestria pegasi are depicted as warriors for good reason; they made war. Some had honorable ideals even when fighting, others did not. And, in the leadup to modern Equestria, things such as bosses taking advantage of workers and revolts against such oppression happened about as much in our country as in yours." 

"So how much accuracy is in the show, by your estimate?" Luke asked. 

"Only so much," Red answered. "The last two seasons largely did not happen; Princesses Celestia and Luna are still on the throne as equal diarchs, and neither has shown the slightest interest in stepping down. And, while efforts have been made to expand the ideals of friendship and harmony, a school for it hasn't even been planned for, much less put into place."

"The first two seasons were the most accurate," Quill said. "After that, there's less truth, and more things either given short thrift, exaggerated, or ignored completely. Not to mention that it's a cartoon; things like bodies being flattened only to immediately recover don't happen."

"I'd say the accuracy is between 58-68 percent," Red put in. "That's not to say that there is no accuracy; our diarchs do raise the sun and moon, for example, and friendship is heavily important to us. But as Princess Celestia wrote to Twilight when the latter was still a unicorn, you can't learn friendship from books and study. You have to experience it in order to know it."

"Not to mention that other nations are much bigger than they are made to be," Quilled added. "Do you really think that Equestria is so small as the common map of it makes it out to be? Of course not!"

"Alright, I apologize if my questions have upset you."

"Not at all," Red added, raising a shod hoof. "In fact, it's part of the reason we're here; to correct misinterpretations and conceptions that one world has of the other."

"Might I ask if this is a government project? It sounds as though it would be something that your monarchs would like done."

"Nope," Red said immediately and confidently. "We're doing it on our own, with our own money. We're hoping to get a sponsorship from the University of Canterlot, but that's not yet come through." 

"I see." Luke rubbed his chin (he realized that he would have to shave soon). "Might I also ask why your name is 'Red Guard,' when you're not in the Guard?"

"Well, for one thing, names don't always imply jobs," Red responded. "For another, my parents admired the guard and hoped that me or one of my siblings would join, hence the name itself. Finally, I got my cutie mark while helping a group excavate an ancient battleground." 

"I got mine while writing a thesis for the University of Baltimare," Quill said, nodding. "It took up so many pages that I decided to make it a book. Unfortunately, nopony other than my professors seemed interested for the time being, but I hold out hope for future sales, especially if this visit to your world is successful."

"I hope it's may one day be a success, if that means anything."

"Thank you." 

"We'll write it together," Red agreed. "And we'll be successful together." After her husband had nodded, she turned back to Luke. "Our shared love is history; besides the love we have for each other otherwise, it's really helped us to bond." 

Luke gave them a good-natured grin. "Not the worst thing to bond over; you rarely run out of things to study, especially now that there are two worlds in two different dimensions."

"Even that's debated," Red replied. "Are we in a different universe, or is it the same universe? Are the portals between two different worlds in separate dimensions, or the same dimension, thousands of light-years apart?" 

"I suppose that's a difficult question; it certainly establishes faster-than-light travel, in a sense. It also helps if the laws of physics are the same."

"Our scientific laws don't differ from yours," Quill put in. "Although our scientists are still unsure how our sun is it's current size - the answer "magic" only goes so far - we have the same understandings of the laws of thermodynamics and motion as humans, among other things; that's a major support for the "same universe" theory. It's mainly magic that is different, and many theorize that magic is local to our planet, at least in the sense of magic that we have." 

Luke tried not to show his worries about magic, but it must have shown somewhere, because Red cut in. "Don't worry about our kind of magic; it's not obtained by pacts with demons or spirits. And all magic requires energy from the unicorn casting the spell; if they don't have enough energy, they can't cast."

"And need to find the nearest restaurant," Quill put in. "Speaking of which..." 

This was followed by a loud belly rumble. 

"May I suggest the Applebees in town?" Luke said. "It's not too far." 

"Thanks," Red replied, smiling. "We're grateful. Can we agree to meet again, for the sake of our project?"

"I have no objections. I would advise meeting here next Sunday, around 2 PM, if there is no objection?"

"None in the world. Thanks again, so much!" 

As the two ponies trotted away, Luke sighed. It had been a while since anyone locally had shown so much interest in history, and this parting felt mildly sorrowful. 

Then again, I'll be meeting them again fairly soon. In the meantime, I should go home and check on my guests.

---------------------------------------------------

Aurora opened her eyes reluctantly, letting out a yawn. She took a look at the windows; from the near-lack of night from them, she guessed it was getting close to dusk. In other words, it was time for thestrals to wake up. 

She yawned again, and sat up. Her husband was quiet, and more... peaceful? than she had seen him in a long time, which said a lot. She wondered why, but decided not to wake him. 

Bright was still asleep as well. He was gently snoring on the blow-up bed, ears occasionally twitching. 

Aurora softly got out of bed, quietly opened the door, walked out, and closed it again. It was time for breakfast. Some eggs would be nice, though she wouldn't mind a little ham or bacon. Not that she blamed Luke for the lack of the ingredients; humans and ponies alike had different tastes. 

-----------------------------------------------------------

Luke opened the door of his house, a bag of groceries in his hand, and walked to the kitchen. The thestrals were already there, eating their breakfast, with Aurora serving some sliced apples to her son. 

"Evening," Aurora said cheerfully as he walked in. 

"Evening. You started a bit early; it's still light outside."

"What is dusk for you is the equivalent of dawn for us," Aurora said, shrugging. "Anyway, care for anything?" 

"Not yet," Luke replied, "though I thank you for offering." 

"Don't. It's your house."

Luke quickly put all the groceries where they belonged, then turned for the couch, resting on it and rubbing his head. 

"Rough day at work?" 

"No; it was nice actually, but tiring." 

"What did you do?" 

"I led people on tours of the museum, stretching from the early medieval to the early Renaissance. A lot of walking, a lot of talking. I just need to rest a little."

"Walking around and talking aren't work; you want to know what work is, go join the army," Shadow said contemptuously.

"Shadow!" his wife admonished. 

"What? It's not like he was working in the fields or anything. He'd never make the army." 

"Not all ponies or humans need to join the military in order to get tired from working all day! I'm sure our postmare was quite happy to go home after stamping and sorting out parcels all day!" 

"Hmph." 

"Don't mind him, dear," Aurora said sympathetically to Luke. "Being cooped up and having been on the streets too long has made him... well... Anyway, I hope it was a fulfilling day."

Luke noticed the change of direction the conversation had taken, but decided it was none of his business to pursue it. "Yeah. History is an underrated subject; through it, you discover an entire world you never suspected existed. Knowing the impact of men like Desiderius Erasmus and Martin Luther are stunning, along with many kings and lords and other exemplary men and women." He paused. "What eras are Equestrian time split into? I know there's a medieval era for you guys, but otherwise..."

Aurora bit into a buttered Sweet Hawaiian bun and let herself swallow it before answering. "Yeah, we had a sort of medieval age, with knights and feudalism. That was when a lot of the "big nobility," i.e. nobility whose families still exist today, came to be. Of course, we thestrals weren't present for the end of that era, because Princess Luna was banished and we went into exile, so I'm not so sure how much I can tell ya." 

"If it's no trouble, please tell me all you can."

"No trouble." Aurora finished off the bun. "From what I know, we had a period similar to your Renaissance, though it was less, er, troubled from what I hear." 

"Yeah, fighting a thirty year-long war would count as trouble," Luke said, to which Aurora nodded. 

"We had a lot less fighting than you guys did; tensions and relations with other nations gradually fell away to a certain degree, at least in the eyes of a common pony, which is why the existence of zebras, griffons, hippogriffs and more are big surprises to some village ponies. Some would call Equestria an isolationist society - I've heard the accusations, from here and from other species - but it was mostly our Princess and her foreign ministers, along with the nobility, who had contact with the outside world."

"Ah. A partial isolation, more based on access to the ruler than deliberate policy."

"Sort of. Princess Celestia did try to keep those she could educated about the outside world. And that was successful... in big cities. But villages, well... they're villages. Not exactly centers of learning, home to a big part of the population, and also home to a lot of superstitions." 

"Like Nightmare Night."

"Exactly what I was thinking." Aurora stared at the ceiling for a moment. "Even the records of Princess Luna's existence were largely forgotten by the time her corruption returned her here and she was purified by the Elements. It wasn't deliberate-" 

"The story the sunrisers tell all the time-"

"-but it had been a thousand years," Aurora finished, ignoring her husband's interruption. "Most ponies forgot about Princess Luna and only remembered what the corruption turned her into. No wonder she wanted to cancel the 'holiday,'" she said, wiggling her front hooves to make air-quotes, "of Nightmare Night. That she let, and still lets, the common ponies celebrate it is more due to her grace than it is to any other factor. I have no doubt Princess Celestia, though perhaps disapproving, would have supported her sister if she had banned it. Anyway, back to history," she said with a smile. "Ponies made new technologies, discovered more spells, and explored, though only limited colonization. Most ponies who were born as Equestrian subjects didn't want to move anywhere else. There are, of course, ponies in tribes and smaller nations outside of Equestria, but I don't know a whole lot about 'em, other than occasional bouts of fighting and tomb robbing." 

"As much a disgrace in your world as to the Egyptian pyramids here," Luke said ruefully. 

"Not all the time; some ancient temples, shrines, and tombs for rulers had really dangerous stuff in them. The kind of objects that modern magic can't make sense out of, the kind of things that act erratically when you try to interact with them. It was good to remove the dangerous stuff out, but those old priests and kings laid out a lot of deadly booby traps; you either had to be part of their organization, a descendant of the ruler who was 'in the know,' or a veteran tomb raider to get through 'em with fur, head and hooves still attached."

"So Daring Do is actually respected rather than disliked for taking ancient artifacts?" 

"Yep. Like I said, dangerous stuff, and sometimes dangerous cults or traps guarding them. Sometimes both. Anyway, we moved on to industry, though it didn't catch on as much as it did here until recently; most ponies preferred the hoof-made crafts or homemade food over what you could get from a factory. Most still do, really. But the reality of other civilizations with better tech has given those industrialists among us a real drive to make more."

"As I suppose is to be expected." Luke thought for a moment. "Colonization... how much did Equestria do? You said there was limited colonization, meaning some happened."

"Yep. Most were private ventures, though, not government sponsored. A hundred or so adventurous ponies crowding aboard one or two ships and sailing the eastern seas to found a settlement. Sometimes they found gold and other precious metals and gems, more often they had to farm crops. A few settlements were founded in griffon lands, several in Zebrica, and one short-lived colony was founded in the Dragon Lands... I don't think I need to tell you why it was short lived." 

"No indeed," Luke said grimly, imagining a dragon attacking a town full of wooden buildings. "Did thestrals, during the exile period, attempt to colonize in order to escape Equestria?"

"Now that you mention it, there was one expedition. It succeeded, in making a colony to the far south of Zebrica, on the coast of a jungle. It's still there, and still inhabited, but most thestrals wanted to stay in familiar lands, even if we were in exile. Most chose to try to civilize caves and abandoned mines rather than leave Equestria."

"Presumably meaning trying to build cities underground."

"Yep." She looked away. "By and large, we succeeded... kind of. Bat City is actually a result of one such effort, though largely due to Princess Celestia's intervention. Still, being away in caves and thought to be evil servants to a mad demon alicorn was... hard." 

"I can imagine." 

"I doubt it," Shadow muttered. Aurora looked at him, but the stallion appeared to have said his piece for the time being. 

"What's the thestral colony called, and is it loyal to the Princesses now, or independent?" 

"It's called Leatherwing," Aurora said, with an amused look on her face. "Not the most thoughtful of names, though I guess they wanted to distinguish themselves from other ponies, especially the pegasi. And it did pledge loyalty to Equestria after Princess Luna's return, though from what I heard there was a lot of debate; the thestrals there were willing to pledge loyalty to Princess Luna but not to her sister."

"How did they resolve the dispute?" 

"They... did and didn't. Last I heard, they agreed to pledge their fealty to Equestria... but only through Princess Luna."

"Isn't that... illegal?" 

Aurora's mouth twitched a bit. "The thestrals there aren't fond of Princess Celestia, given how she, from the viewpoints of the thestral colonists, failed to protect us. Technically... it probably is illegal. I think negotiations are still ongoing so that the colony can be legalized and be part of Equestria proper, though there's the subtle threat of law from both Princesses, including our Princess Luna, to move things along."

"So I guess they'll accept something that is legal in the end." 

"No doubt, though they'll debate giving fealty to the Sun Princess up to the point they can't do it anymore; those colonists were the most radical of those who hated their persecutors, and they taught that prejudice to their kids, and so on and so forth."

"I see... sort of. Doesn't that prejudice still stand?" 

"If you've paid any attention to Shadow, you'd know the answer to that question." 

Shadow frowned, but said nothing. 

"I thought he was more interested in not being a human slave."

"He is indeed interested in not becoming one," Aurora replied, to a vicious nod by her husband, "nor letting me or our son become one. Earth horses and ponies... it would be like you guys coming to Equestria and finding non-sapient humans, and naturally, many Equestrian ponies don't like the idea of being forced to haul carts and be forced into carrying humans on their backs." She paused. "Not that ponies are entirely against pulling carts or allowing humans or other creatures to ride on their backs; it's the idea of being forced to that's really feared. I doubt pulling carts is going to vanish anytime soon, even if cars and trucks end up being sold to Equestrians; it's just easier in many cases to just hitch yourself to a cart and pull your stuff to the market than it is to learn all the gizmos and gadgets of a car, have to gas it up, and drive it. We'd have to entirely change our traffic rules."

"Which will probably happen soon."

"No doubt. But ponies tend to be conservative about the old ways. Comfort in tradition." 

"Indeed." 

Aurora thought for a moment, hoof on her chin. "Not to sound rude, but staying in this house all the time, as much as we're grateful to you for letting us stay here, is kind of..."

"Boring?" 

"I was going to say it's giving us cabin fever, but yeah. Could we accompany you to the museum tomorrow?" 

Luke was surprised, as was Shadow. "Um... wouldn't that mess up your sleep schedule? The museum closes at 8, and my shift ends at 6. You'd have to come during the day, and isn't sunlight problematic for you?" 

"You're right," Aurora said, thumping the table with her hoof. "I'd forgotten about that. We need pony-sized sunglasses, and we don't have them. I doubt they sell them up here." 

"Not much of a problem," Luke countered. "I can buy them on eBay or Amazon, and have them shipped here." 

"Wouldn't that take time? Also, even if you ordered them, how would they know the precise size needed unless we were present?"

"I suppose that's a legitimate concern." Why didn't I think of that?

"Is there an eye doctor we could go to?" 

"There is," Luke replied. "But it would require you go during the day, and I don't know how much experience they have with ponies." Likely none, he thought to himself. 

"That's better than nothing," Aurora answered. "We need to be able to get out of this house from time to time."

"We're thestrals," Shadow interrupted. "Night stalkers. We don't go out during the day time." 

"And yet we've had to just to try to get jobs," Aurora countered. "Not to mention that none of the schools we've tried have night courses. Bright would have to wait until college to go to school after moonrise, and you know that that's too long. Besides, who would accept a pony with only the first few grades under their belt?" 

"It's not natural!" 

"On the contrary, it is. It's not like we die or burn up in sunlight, our eyes just need protection. Besides, what would you have us do?"

"Something other than this. Our heritage as Thestrals is tied up in the night itself! We're nocturnal!" 

"And yet we now live in a country that does not have night schools for children, and whose people sleep when it gets dark and hard for them to see." Aurora sighed. "I'm sorry, Shadow. I love the night as much as any thestral. But if we're really moving here, we have to accept the rules of the country. Besides, it's not like we can't resume night living anytime convenience allows it." 

"I won't have our son raised to despise the night!" 

"Like he could, with you for a father! Come on, Shadow, Bright's never going to lose that love of the night you fear us losing so much. Our heritage is something near and dear to us, and I agree with you that we should not abandon it. What I'm saying is, we need to send our child to school or else he has no future outside of menial labor. Being the proud warrior you once were, I doubt you want that."

"No, but-" 

"No buts. Our Slugger needs a school and a social life. Or would you rather we stay here and have cabin fever all the time?" 

Shadow then did something with his lips that Luke couldn't make out; it was like he was speaking, but Luke couldn't hear anything. But after several seconds of this, Aurora burst out laughing. 

"Move out and force another host - assuming we get another - to sleep during the day and rise at night? Do you even hear what you just said? No. I say we're good. And we need our son to be educated; short, sweet, to the point. As well as anything moral to get out of the house." 

Shadow did that thing with his mouth again. Luke strained to listen, but the thestral didn't seem to be making a sound, despite the eager movement of his lips. 

"Yes, I'm sure we can go out at night sometimes. But I'll say this one last time; we need our son to go to school, no school accepts anything at night that would become a formal education, so he has to go to school during the day like all the other children. It stinks, but it's the way things are here. And if we're really going to become citizens of this country, we need to accept its laws." 

Shadow growled in a furious way and crossed his forelegs, but his head drooped in a manner that bespoke of reluctant acceptance.

"W-what was Shadow doing there?" Luke asked. 

"What, dear?" 

"The... thing. With his mouth. Like he was speaking, but not speaking." 

"Oh, that. We thestrals can hear at a much, much higher pitch than humans, and we've developed... not a language, really, but a sort of code, that only we can hear. We use that for silent communication." 

"Thanks for spilling all our species' secrets." 

"You're welcome," Aurora deadpanned, which caused Shadow to look up in outrage. "But seriously, calm down. It's not like other countries' intelligence services wouldn't know that already. If you're worried this guy is a spy, stop worrying." 

Shadow sighed. 

"Sorry about that," Aurora apologized to Luke. "He loves thestral heritage, in case you didn't notice." 

"Wayon, lo," Luke replied. "Comme j'aime le mien." 

Aurora raised her eyebrows. "I got that you love your heritage, but what was that first bit? And why the P- I mean, French?" 

"My memeres were raised in a community here that spoke - speaks - French as its first language," Luke answered. "So some of it rubbed off on me." 

"So your grannies spoke French. What about their kids?" 

"Well, Mom and Dad grew up having to speak English because, well, you don't get far in a country where you don't speak the primary language. They kept parts of it. Wayon, sounding like the French 'non' with the almost silent-n at the end, means, roughly, 'aw, come on.' There's other stuff I could say, but a lot of it's bad words, soooooo..."

Aurora laughed. "Yeah, no. Anyway, do you think we - I mean, me, Shadow, and Bright - could take a walk or a flight outside tonight?" 

"Not very late in the evening, so I can still be awake to let you back in. No problem."

"Thank you. It'll feel good to throw off the cabin fever for a while." 

Luke decided to turn on the TV, and flipped to the news.

"Mind turning it to Earth-Equestria News?" Aurora asked. "I still like hearing of the old country." 

"They have a channel too? I thought they were only an online news source." 

"Well, they started that way. Now they have a channel, or so the newspapers a few days ago said. You know, before we were welcomed here." 

"Where did you get-"

"Garbage."

"Oh." 

Luke flipped through the channels, and eventually found that the channel did exist. 

"-ith the new model," a tan earth pony stallion sitting at a table was saying. "Now, before the next part of our program, we'd like to thank our generous sponsor, South Equestria Industries, who have given us the chance to start our channel last week." 

"Mainly a mining and farming conglomerate," Aurora explained.

"Now, onto our scheduled program," the pony onscreen continued; the name, "Parallel" appeared briefly under him. "Since the portals were opened a few years ago, pony and humankind have been working together peaceably. But a considerable minority of the population have been asking questions: namely, things like, 'What do the humans really want?' and 'Will they disturb the peace of our blessed land?' Here with me to answer questions like this are my friends, Anne Schmidt, from the US, and Rockstar, of the Equestrian band 'Raining Sunlight.'" 

The screen expanded to include a human woman and a bay earth pony stallion with brown hooves, mane and tail, wearing a cowboy hat on his head, each sitting in a chair next to one another. 

"So, Anne," Parallel began, "What do you say to those who fear this connection between two worlds?" 

"I think that those fears arise from legitimate concerns," Anne replied. "There's been wars, famines, genocides, and nukes. And it's not so easy to live in many countries today, even if we discuss economical issues. But denying these things would only make it worse once it got out to Equestrian society as a whole. We have to be honest and admit these issues in order to talk about them; otherwise, this fear would have a much sharper point than it does in reality." 

"Gotta say," Rockstar said, with a mild southern voice, "ah have no complaints since this exchange of tech and ideas began. I love my new axe; fun ta shred them awesome notes when our band gits together." 

"Might have been better to explain that an 'axe' is an electric guitar first, Rock," Parallel said, "as well as explaining that 'shred' means to play that same guitar really fast." 

Rockstar laughed. "Sorry, got the band on the brain." 

"No complaints about that in and of itself," Parallel said, smiling a bit at that. 

Rock slowly calmed down. "But seriously, it's all been fine. Earth ain't an easy place ta live - weather's wild, leaves fall on their own, an' dangerous wild animals here an' there. But it's not like there ain't no improvement; war ain't somethin' most humans'r keen on, an' nukes and genocides an' all them bad things that ponies point at, today's humans mostly hate those things. Things may'a been bad in tha past - ain't perfect even now - but even then they weren't all hateful and monsters, and today the wors' a pony can expect is ta get mobbed by little girls tryin' ta pet 'em and hug 'em and 'brush 'em. Not the wors' 'terrorism' ah've seen." 

Parallel burst out laughing. "No, I suppose not. The Element Bearers certainly had a mob on them when they first entered a city, but it was anything but a hostile one." 

"Careful," Anne teased. "Princess Twilight might shut us down if we expose that gaffe too much." 

Parallel laughed even harder. "I still remember the headlines," he said, wiping a tear from his eye. "'Miniature Terrorists Attack Diplomats.' They made it out to be this awful, violent assault on the Element Bearers. I loved the looks on the newsponies' faces when the Princesses revealed what really happened."

"That aside," Anne said, trying to smother a grin, "there are still people on either side of the portals that think that the other has hostile plans. It's not just ponies; some humans think there are plans by secretly dark, autocratic princesses to enslave or change the human race. So neither side is entirely faultless, given how we point at each other." 

"I suppose they aren't," Parallel agreed, nodding. "What do you guys say about the Oil Deal? The one where the US agreed to help us build oil wells in exchange for between five to ten percent of said oil?" 

"Not exactly meme-busting," Anne answered. "The US has been accused of doing a lot of stuff in recent years for oil alone. But given the low rate of just five percent - not to mention the help given - and given the aid both countries have given each other in the recent Joint Space Exploration Deal, I think that it's more than fair. Give and take." 

"Yep," Rockstar put in. "Puttin' ponies on tha moon - our moon, that is, the one over our planet - has been a dream in Equestria since dirt. So far, neither side has broken any part o' that deal, and doesn't look like they will." 

"If Princess Luna lets ponies land on the moon, that's going to be a real... I don't know, a really big change," Aurora noted. "Most thestrals would likely give at least one of their wings to visit the moon." 

For once, there was no argument from Shadow. The stallion nodded in agreement. 

"Of course, to be fair, we need to have the opposing point of view discussed," Parallel said. "To do that, we will be talking with two other ponies, ponies with the opposite view, namely that humans should either stay out of Equestria entirely or that we need much sterner safeguards. Here to do that are Rose Petal and Octagon." 

Two smaller pictures appeared near Parallel's head. One was a red earth pony mare, the other an orange unicorn stallion. 

"Rose Petal, you've heard the arguments by Anne and Rock; what are your views on the situation?" 

"Glad you asked, Parallel; these deals seem like an inside job to me. Why would another country, of aggressive creatures, offer to build things like oil well and a space industry? Surely there has to be some ulterior motive. They aren't based on friendship and harmony, like ponies are." 

Anne frowned; Rock simply affected to have a surprised face. 

"Furthermore, they're running out of their own supply of oil on their planet; why should we be surprised that they're looking for it here? How long until this US comes up with a plan for invasion to get our oil, and our gems, come to that?" 

"Given that Anne mentioned a meme about that, I guess that can be argued. Anne?" 

"I find that ludicrous," Anne replied, sounding irritated, though she managed to speak a bit more quietly and calmly after that first statement. "Sure, we don't have harmony and friendship as ideologies, but we don't need to. We have harmony just by being with family for important things, by working together in a small business, by sharing in what our children do. And humans, of any country, can make friends as readily as ponies." 

"Maybe," Rose Petal replied, "but I find history to be a good indicator of what's possible." 

"No kidding," Anne answered. "And history shows us that good change is possible, such as equal rights being given to previously oppressed groups, including the rights to vote and to fair trials, along with scientific research into that very same oil issue you've mentioned. If humans have problems, we work to find answers to solve those problems, like finding an alternate fuel source that isn't weak or intermittent. With Equestrian help and magic, and with Earth giving tech in exchange, what's wrong?" 

"Mainly that a species with a history of aggression is suddenly using peace. It just smacks of treachery to me." 

"Says the pony who is colored almost blood-red." 

"That... that has nothing to do with this! It's illogical that a species that is so violent in its history is just allowed in!" 

"You mean like griffons, yaks, and hippogriffs? You mean they don't have violent histories?" 

"Well, they do, but not on the scale of humanity." 

"Give a yak leader a nuke. See if he doesn't set it off after five minutes, just to see what happens. If he doesn't do that, then I might be able to take your argument seriously. Not to mention, I've been to Hearthswarming pageants before, and the pegasi are all depicted as a warrior people. What else does a warrior culture do but fight and conquer, killing their enemies while they're at it? And those pageants clearly state that the three tribes were going to fight each other until the windigoes and the three friends - I forget their names - came along." 

"Um, yeah, the pegasi were warriors. Key word, were. Now they're as peaceful as the rest of us. 

"Try telling that to Spitfire and the Wonderbolts."

"Hey! Every country needs somepony to defend it from outside threats!" 

"And in saying that, you admit you have a military that is ready to fight, die, and kill in defense of its homeland. Nothing new on Earth." 

"I think we may be straying a bit," Parallel said. "Octagon, what's your perspective?" 

"I think we need more safeguards," the stallion replied. "We need to stop being naïve when negotiating. Our non-alicorn leaders are all too confident and believe too much in this alliance of convenience. We know that humanity has a checkered past, to say the least. If they've really changed, or are at least becoming less violent, we need to make sure that that's the case, and not just assume that it's going to work." 

"Gotta say, guys," Parallel said, "for a ponies from a country that embraces friendship, I'm a little disappointed." 

"And that's the problem with you guys, Parallel, you and all the ponies who work at Equestria-Earth news. You're too naïve, too accepting. I won't deny that our country was founded on friendship, but do we really trust former bullies as friends all at once? Don't we have to wait to see some kind of positive change, and guard ourselves well before we commit to being friends with them? This feels like Equestria just dove in without checking the depth of the water first, and we all know what happens if we dive headfirst into too shallow a body of water." 

Parallel looked surprised at the criticism, but then recovered. "Okay, so what further safeguards can we have that would still allow for a positive relationship, in your opinion?" 

"Well, first, we need to increase security. No one with a criminal history whatsoever gets in. We also don't let armed citizens in, not even ones who fear criminal activity against them; leave your guns at home. Also, we need more Guards at the portals. We need better mental evaluation, like Princess Luna's dream spells, and more of them. Also, we shouldn't just allow individuals to go outside the portal administration without a guide to keep them out of trouble. Those are just some of the minimal safeguards that we need." 

"'Those who trade freedom for security deserve neither and will lose both,'" Anne quoted. "I also note that it seems hypocritical to judge us when you guys have faults of your own. That whole speech was basically, 'I don't trust them, and I'm not befriending them until they give up their rights and their way of thought.' No, not all humans are altruistic good guys, and I'd be lying if I said they were." 

"Not ta mention ah've been on good terms with most humans ah've met," Rockstar added. "Ain't perfect, like ah said, but nopony's perfect." 

"The worshippers of Princess Celestia want to know your location," Anne joked. 

Rockstar and Parallel laughed. "Well," the newspony said, "I hope we can all agree to disagree on the human subject, at the very least. I do have one more guest in this particular session. A guest star, if you will." 

"Oh? Who?" Rose Petal asked. 

"Me." 

An image of Princess Twilight appeared onscreen. She was without any royal garments, but it was clear that she was considered royalty; Parallel bowed his head for a second, and the other ponies followed suit. Anne did not, but there were no complaints by anyone. 

"Your highness," Parallel said with respect.

"Oh please, just call me Twilight," the princess replied. "I'm not used to all that royalty stuff." 

"I mean, we can try," the newspony said, to the amusement of Twilight and Anne. "So, how much have you heard?" 

"I've been listening to the entire discussion," she said. "I've made my position clear in numerous situations, and I'm going to restate it here; I support our alliance with the human nations. I've made human friends; I've lived in the US for a year just to see how their lives work. What I've seen is a mixture of bad acts and actors intermingled with a high goodwill among the population. Yes, they can do evil. So can we; Tempest Shadow was part of the Storm King invasion, and let me remind you, she was - is - a pony. And humans, like ponies, can do good as well as evil. Even Equestria isn't perfect; the free will of individuals allows them to make good or bad decisions in either world. I'm happy to stand by the Crown's decision in this matter." 

"Please excuse me, your highness," Rose Petal interrupted, "but that sounds like whoever is advising the Crown is giving you bad advice."

Twilight laughed. "That sounds so much like the excuses of human rebellions against royal authority between the fifteen and seventeen hundreds; 'the king has evil councilors making him do all these bad things, get rid of them.'" Twilight stopped using her false voice and grew serious. "Honestly, do you really think we'd let ourselves be manipulated so easily? Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are both happy with the alliance, and there are plenty of examples of ordinary friendships between humans and ponies already; this very media outlet is proof of it. I don't see an issue, so long as we remain careful. Besides, we have unicorns scan the memories of humans who enter our country; what more could you want for security?"

The two dissenting ponies were quiet for a moment, which allowed Twilight to continue. "We're taking all precautions, and we're aware of the risks. Trust me, more safeguards are in play than we're letting on. And by and large - there are exceptions - our trust has has been rewarded. Our nation is made safer by new weaponry. Our industry and trade have increased. Poverty is declining, though I doubt any society will succeed in eradicating it entirely. And we make new friends every day." 

"Planning to be the first pony on the moon?" Parallel asked. "Since you love science and all." 

Twilight giggled. "I do love it, but I think we'll be leaving it to our ENF friends, such as Shooting Star, who have been specifically training at NASA for this. Besides, Princess Luna has first dibs on being first to the surface of the moon, it being her responsibility. I think the ENF has got this." 

"Equestria; New Frontiers," Parallel said, nodding. "Good name for our space program. Maybe unlike the humans, we'll discover alien life." 

"Not on Equestria's moon. It's as dead as Earth's." 

"Boo! Spoilers!" Parallel said teasingly, to which the alicorn laughed. 

Rose Petal took the chance to speak up. "What about all the jobs that are obsoleted by human technology? What about all the carting businesses and railroads and flatboats and airship industries and so on? How many ponies are going to go out of business because of those?" 

To this, Twilight sighed. "I admit you have a point there. A lot of old businesses will become obsolete over the years to come. But I think Equestria would have eventually discovered these technologies on its own; we've just gotten a big boost now. These jobs would have become obsolete either way. But that's not to say that this means long-term unemployment for Equestria. If, say, your job as a wagoneer becomes out of date, there are ways to continue in the profession via using new technology; cars and trucks, though admittedly their designs will have to be altered so ponies can drive them, a process already underway. Diesels and electric engines on railroads simply replace their older steam-powered counterparts. Steam and diesel-powered ships replace flatboats. Telegraph and radio replace me having to use Spike to belch messages to Princess Celestia. It's true that there's going to be discomfort during the transitional phase; traditional arms and armor manufacturers for the Royal Guard and EUP overall have already felt it. But the outcome is a nation with better capacity for the country for everypony. So it does stink that some ponies will be out of a job for a while, and that's terrible. But where one door closes, another opens. If we can realize what these opened doors, metaphorical or otherwise, are, then we can alleviate the impact of the new technologies. And new occupations can open up; Earth-Equestria News, along with other tv stations, is one such occasion. Ponies can get their news in their living rooms, and the media isn't limited to how much ink or paper we have available."

"And what of the dangers of such new technologies?" Octagon asked. "We can't discount that. Even this space adventure isn't certain; the humans had two big shuttles explode, after all. Who's to say that won't happen here? And what about other dangers? Motorized vehicles move much faster than ponies on the ground, and can hardly stop as fast; there's a high danger of damage or death." 

"True, at least to an extent. But it's not like we aren't aware of these problems; you've made that clear by your knowledge of, and reference to, the Challenger and Columbia disasters. Yes, these new techs are, or can be, dangerous. However, that's why we have precautions. Factory workers in a cake factory don't stick their forelegs into a hot oven or into sharp objects. There are indeed safeguards. Furthermore, we have an entire new world available to us now that has made mistakes and experienced these disasters. That can tell us a lot. As if that wasn't enough, we can rely on magic as well as technology; I can tell you that magic isn't going out of business, at least not pony magic. One of our innovations for the moon expedition is to seal the bolts on the shuttles by magically flash-heating them for a few seconds, so they meld into the material, and then cooling them just as fast. We also have a jelly-like substance around the living quarters for the craft, which will give it better stability and protection. Finally, we have a very intricate system of both magical and technological warning systems in case something goes awry. We're doing similar things with other technologies we've been studying and importing. I can't deny that there will be accidents, but that's nothing new; when we first built airships, there were crashes and failures, and the number of railroad accidents spiked as locomotives became faster. Other than the weapons we've been importing, there's about as much danger from Earth tech as with any technology that we ourselves have built or improved upon so far."

"That's good to know, Princess," Parallel said. "But it looks like the time for this show is just about up. Our thanks to all those who participated in our show tonight, and we'll see you all on Parallel Hour tomorrow." He waved at the screen 

"D-blasted right our Princess is first to the moon," Shadow growled. "It belongs to her, and her alone. Any other pony who gets to walk on it is only able to do so because of her grace." 

"Nopony is arguing with you, dear." 

Shadow sighed, finished eating, and got down to all fours. Aurora sighed as well. Bright also finished eating. 

"May we go out now?" Aurora asked. 

"Yes." Luke got up and opened the door. All three thestrals headed outside. The mother and her foal looked happy; the father...

I hope he does cool down sometime. It feels so... down for him to be all grumpy and upset at everything.
> Chapter 9; House lion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"How do I keep losing?" Shadow asked, in the sort of half-whisper, half-yell that was the loudest he could politely be, given that his family's host was sleeping upstairs. 

"I wouldn't worry about it, honey," his wife said gently, as their son scooped up the money that his father had lost in Monopoly. "It's just a game." 

"Can't I win just one time? Luna? Anybody?" 

"Don't worry," Aurora repeated. "We'll be here for the foreseeable future, so you'll have your chances to win. Just be patient." 

Shadow sighed. "Well, We've played this again; what else does the monkey have in his closet?"

Aurora cuffed him on the head with the edge of her wing. "Don't call him that! If it weren't for someone's grace, we'd be starving on the streets." She walked over the game closet. "Hmm... there's a game called Battleship, though it's only two players. There's Operation, but I think manipulating that small tweezer, even with Equestrian hooves, would be difficult. What about this Clue game?" 

"Well, alright." 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the time when dawn was approaching, Shadow watched his wife and son climb into their beds. They fell asleep quite quickly. 

Despite the late hour (late for thestrals, anyway), Shadow wasn't that sleepy. His dreams had been filled with his previous military experiences, and he was nervous about sleeping again, especially without Princess Luna in this world to force the worst memories out. 

He turned the TV on and set it to it's lowest possible volume that he could still understand, and flipped through the channels. Nothing interesting...

Wait. 

A film called "The Green Berets" was about to start. 

That brought another memory back.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Shadow stood in ranks with his fellow Lunar Guards. It was dusk, and the moon was just beginning to rise.  

A human in a green beret stood before them. "I am Captain John Ashley, and I will be your instructor for the next six months. I won't lie to you; they'll be some of the hardest in your life. By the time that is over, those of you who pass will be considered the elite of the elite. But be forewarned; I won't take back-sass, and I won't let those incapable, for whatever reason, of passing do so. I intend to make your lives a living hell on Earth up to graduation day. I also intend to be fair, to a point; I will use nothing against you that wasn't used against me when I was training to be Special Forces. Make no mistake, though, this will be tough, and you'll all be pushed to your limits. I'll weed out who is Special Forces material, and who is fit to just carry tea for some general in back of the front line. Your training starts... now." 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

He hadn't been joking, Shadow mused in the present; those six months had been terrible. But they had given him and the other Lunar Guards the training they needed to turn their natural abilities and already formidable combat prowess into an art. 

He clicked on the film as it began, and began to watch.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luke awoke to the sound of his phone alarm. He switched it off, got out of bed, dressed, and walked downstairs. 

In the living room, a very messy board, with Clue cards and pieces everywhere, remained where it had last been used.  With a smile on his face, he picked up the papers on which each player had crossed off those people, places, and things that had not been involved with the murder. Apparently, it was Colonel Mustard, with the walking stick, in the living room; surprise surprise, Bright had won, though his father had been closing in on the right answers when he had. 

A few snores from the guest bedroom told him his guests were asleep, as was their wont at this hour.

He left the house, shut and locked the door, and went on to work. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Aurora awoke and carefully got out of bed. A gurgling in her belly told her it was time to get a snack. 

As before, she walked into the kitchen, pulled out a few cookies, poured herself some milk, and sat down to enjoy. 

House is quiet with everypony - and everyone - out or sleeping.

She finished bathing her first Oreo in milk and began to eat it.

Mmm, have to hand it to these Oreo people; they sure do know how to make cookies right... usually, anyway.

She gradually made it through each cookie - she just had to savor each one - and got back onto all fours, letting out a yawn as she did so.

Ugh... guess it's back to sleep... Her thoughts stopped as her gaze fell upon a door behind the stairs. How did I never ask what was behind that one?

She walked over to it and pulled it open. 

Oh, a basement.

She was about to close the door, but curiosity got the better of her. Luke had given the family full allowance to explore the house in his notes, provided they didn't break anything...

She walked carefully down the wooden stairs. They creaked as she did so. They were steeper stairs than she liked; obviously not designed for Equestrian legs. But she reached the bottom without any problems. 

It was dark, naturally. That didn't matter; thestrals could see in the dark so long as they had any light to see by, and the unclosed door provided plenty for her to see with. 

There were washing and drying machines, a bunch of shelves where a lot of old clothes and bags stood, a table presumably for laundry-based purposes, and... a table. With trains and a town on it. 

She walked over to the latter. It was a whole model railroad, one with intricate detail put into it, the kind that couldn't help an observer to think of reality and of rural locations. It was small, and the trains weren't very big; one of the smaller steam locomotives could have comfortably fit on her frog. But it looked like they would run, provided they had electricity. 

...As much as I want to, I shouldn't. I could accidentally break something, and I don't want to repay Luke by breaking his train set. And I think I'll keep this a secret from Slugger; he'd try all too hard to get down here and play with this, probably too roughly.

Not far from the train set was a television with a bunch of older video games, mostly cartridge ones. The controllers were designed for human hands; even pegasus wings would have had trouble holding them, and one could forget using them with hooves, or with thestral wings for that matter.

Well, that's a bummer. Bright Light would have loved to play some of these.

There was also a computer on a desk; near it were a lot of CDs in the older kind of square CD holders. Among these were Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds, Command and Conquer 2, Civil War Generals 2; Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Civil War; the Game by The History Channel. 

Why would someone have an older computer in their basement, especially one that they're still using? I may not be an expert, but this looks really outdated.

Then she actually took the time to read a note on the bottom of the screen; For old games that don't work on modern computers.

Oh.

Elsewhere there was another table; this one had numerous military figures and buildings on it. The buildings weren't glued or otherwise stuck to the table, so they had to be movable. The army figures were a mixture of an older time and higher technology.

A steampunk tabletop game. Bright would love this, though given how fragile that metal looks I'll probably have to keep him away from it for now.

On the walls were containers full of plastic human soldiers, armed with various types of weapons, artillery, tanks, aircraft, and more. On these boxes were the words, "Army Men." 

He'd love those. Not exactly guardspony figures, but he'd find a way to make mischief with them.

Across the room were numerous cardboard boxes. They were labelled "School stuff." She decided not to peruse through those. 

I'm only looking down here, not touching.

Near the TV with the old games was a wooden shelf filled with DVDs, most of them being history-related. 

I will not think that word, I will not think that word...

Near those were some Robotech DVDs. 

Nerd.

She gave herself a mental slap for that, and then turned around and headed back upstairs. It was time to get some more sleep. It would be a long road to adjust to being awake during the day. 

---------------------------------------------------------

Bright slowly opened his eyes, yawned, and stretched out on his side before getting out of bed. He could see it was still daylight outside, though the sun was setting. 

He opened the door and went into the kitchen. 

If I'm careful, mama won't know I had a few cookies...

He opened the door to the cabinet and began to take out the Oreos...

"Raow." 

"Ahh!" 

He looked up and to the right, even as he jerked back in surprise. On the counter nearby was a very large, fluffy brown cat. 

"Raow." 

"Uh, hi, kitty." 

He couldn't help but feel a little afraid. He was taller and bigger than the cat, but it was standing on the counter, and he was on the floor. And it was much bigger than any cat he'd seen before. 

He raised a hoof to pet the cat. 

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!" the cat hissed. 

"Ahhh! Mama!" 

Bright bolted back to the bedroom, where his mother and father were stirring themselves. 

"What?" Aurora asked urgently. 

"Mama, there's a lion in the kitchen, and it tried to eat me!" 

Aurora jumped off the bed, followed by her husband, and both galloped into the kitchen, where the cat was still standing on the counter. 

"Well, not exactly a lion," Aurora said after a moment. "But not really a cat either." 

"Raow." 

"Hey, fluffball, leave my son alone!" Shadow yelled. 

The cat hissed again. 

"That's i-" 

The door to the house opened. Luke came in, with a paper bag filled with asparagus. He stopped upon seeing the situation. 

"Um... hi?" 

"Oh, Mr. Luke. We're having a problem with your... pet lion." 

"Raow." 

"Ah, I see you've met Maxwell." 

"'Maxwell?'" 

"Yeah," Luke said, coming into the kitchen and putting the vegetables in the fridge. "Or Max, for short. He's my buddy." 

"He's enormous!" 

"Yeah, Maine Coons can get really big. Honestly I lucked out a little there." 

"Um, well, Bright here was outsi-" Aurora stopped talking as she noticed the open cabinet and book of cookies. "Were you trying to slip in a snack before dinner?" she asked in a soft but dangerous voice. 

"I, uh-" 

"Answer. Me." 

Bright looked down. "Yes, mama." 

"...We're not playing that Monopoly game tonight." 

"But mama-" 

"No! You know not to steal cookies before dinner! Be fortunate I don't confine you to the bedroom for the night!" Aurora turned back to Luke. "Sorry, I think we've caused enough trouble for today." 

"Don't worry about it." Luke went over to Maxwell and began petting him. The cat purred happily, rubbing his head willingly against his owner's hand. 

"He kind of scared our foal." 

"Yeah, sorry about that. He loves me, but is suspicious of visitors. I'm guessing he was hiding all this time from you." 

"Hide? How does that... thing hide? It's not a cat, he's a young lion!" 

"Trust me, my cat can hide almost anywhere he wants to. He hide inside my train tunnel down in the basement once; I have no idea how he fit in there, but he did. Cats somehow manage to hide wherever they want; I think the rule is, 'if their heads fit, the rest of the body will follow.'" 

"Raow." 

"Sounds like he smokes at least a 12-pack every day," Shadow said, still frowning. 

"He's sounded like that since he reached adulthood," Luke said, carefully ignoring the insult to his pet. "He's loyal to people he comes to like, though; so long as you guys give him time, he'll mellow out. He always does. Right, Maxie?" 

Max continued to purr, rubbing his head against Luke's chest. 

"Good boy." 

"We're sorry, Mr. Luke. And... I went into your basement earlier today." 

Luke let out some air. "I would have liked it if you'd waited for permission, but otherwise I'm not all that bothered. 

"I promise, I won't do it again. And thanks." 

--------------------------------------------------------------

After Luke and Aurora cooked dinner and the entire family and their host had sat down, Luke watched as Max simply jumped onto the couch and laid down; the cat had been wary of the thestrals for the rest of the day, and while he had finally emerged from wherever he had been hiding, he wasn't yet ready to trust them. Max continued to watch, turning his head to look whenever one of the ponies moved significantly. 

Luke sat down next to him and began petting him. Max shut his eyes and began purring. 

"Rather calm now, isn't he?" Aurora noted, sitting in a chair near the window. 

"Yeah. Again, I apologize. He's suspicious of strangers. A little scratch behind the ears and some pets from me, though, and he's cuddly as a kitten." 

At that moment Max began to purr. 

"See?" 

"Still a pest to our foal," Shadow said, staring at the cat. "And sounds like a chain smoker."

"What would you know about smoking?" Luke asked. 

"Trust me," Aurora answered, "Equestria isn't nearly so innocent as it's portrayed. Vices like smoking, drugs, alcohol, and illicit magic."

"'Illicit?'"

"Yes; besides dark magic - the kind you humans would call Satanic or occultic - there are spells that do things that have the same effects as drugs. The Want-it-Need-it spell, when cast by a unicorn on themselves, gives them a self-loving, narcissistic 'high' that wears off very slowly; sometimes it takes half a day or more to disappear entirely. Other spells might boost a pony's physical or mental status for a time while harming them another way, like erasing their memories or bringing permanent physical damage to their body in exchange for insane physical strength."

"How common is that stuff?" 

"Hard to quantify. Few ponies do that kind of crud openly. It's usually a back alley type of deal, or has been in my husband's experience." 

"Thugs without honor or order in their lives," Shadow broke in. "Worthless, selfish hooligans who need prison, or worse." 

"...As my husband just implied, Guards from both shifts hate these kinds of criminals; they usually start off their careers - the Guards, that is - more idealistically, and then get more cynical over time; by the time they've seen what Shadow has, their view of criminals starts on a sliding scale and only goes down from there." 

"Scum who waste the time we could be using to watch out and deal with bigger threats."

"True," Aurora said. "Offenders for most illicit magic get up to ten years in prison. For dark magic, it's usually life in prison; centuries ago, it would have meant execution."

"Which I would support," her husband again broke in. "That trash needs a death sentence." 

"I don't disagree with him," Aurora continued. "Dark magic really is letting evil into your soul, often to the very great misery, pain, and death of others and oneself. It ought indeed to have a higher penalty. And that's all just magic; opium and other drugs find their way into back alley markets, as have drugs made in your world; not many of those, as the portals are highly guarded and all baggage is inspected, but somehow a little of it gets through."

"Guards need to be checked for corruption."

"Or the criminals find ways to sneak them in through secret pouches. In any event, our world isn't as innocent as you may have been led to believe, though it's not a horrible place to live, either." 

"No nukes, for one thing." 

"True. But the monsters are a whole lot more powerful. Imagine fighting a tower of wooden wolves, or hydras."

"Mmmmph."

Luke continued to pet Maxwell. "How do you deal with the common monsters? Like timberwolves?" 

"Burn them. As in, the timberwolves, not all of the monsters. Its the only way those wooden lupines can't rise again, by burning them down to ashes; we do try to be compassionate and magically put them to sleep beforehoof, though. As for other monsters, outside of supervillains, we deal with them in a variety of ways, depending on the monster in question. Some we caged and put into habitats where they can, outside of some measure of supervision, go about their daily lives. Parasprites... given their hunger, and the fact that they will always breed after eating, we have to magically fix so they can't breed. Otherwise, they would out-eat and overpopulate any habitat we gave them."

"What about plants? Poison Joke, for one?" 

"We collect and study troublesome plants. If they're dangerous, we burn them, like with timberwolves, or, for those dangerous but which can still be useful, we deploy special teams whose job it is to capture them intact."

"What sort of use are they?" 

"Well, Poison Joke, when it's petals are mixed with the right ingredients and magic, can make a very powerful healing potion; the kind that can bring a soldier back from the brink of death, back to essentially full strength, within the hour."

"It heals that quickly? Then why-"

"-Isn't it everywhere? Because Poison Joke is relatively rare; it's not like it pops up in every meadow or valley. You can only find it within the Everfree Forest, and even then, only in limited numbers. And we can't just strip each and every flower every time it sprouts, or there won't be any more to harvest. So it's limited to the Princesses and the elite Royal Guards only."

"Is that plant really that rare? I thought Discord, being the one to sow them..."

"They really are rare plants; it was dumb misfortune that the six Element Bearers ended up in a patch of ground with those flowers. As for why, I'm guessing that the Everfree Forest's animals and insects eat them... probably with dire effects." 

"I see."

"Reow." 

"Sorry Max." Luke continued petting the cat. "Are animals in your world really more intelligent than here?" 

"In the sense that they are self aware and can, to a certain degree, sometimes communicate with us, yes. But they are content to remain animals; making dens, finding food, hoarding food, et cetera. They have no drive for higher existence, or very little. Fluttershy's examples are exceptions that prove the rule."

"Are there any kind of species that are intelligent and capable of civilization that we here don't about, like deer or camels, and the like?"

"There are some. Deer in particular like to keep to their forest villages. As for species outside Equestria, I'm not so much of an expert. Sorry, I'm not a historian or archeologist." 

"That's fine." 

"Meet any ponies in your line of work? I know there aren't many of us - speaking as a species as opposed to a tribe - who come up here, but still..."

"Actually, I met a couple the other day; a husband and wife pair called Red Guard and Quill. They were historians seeking to learn more about human history in the museum. Interesting questions and fun to talk to." 

"Hmm. Haven't heard of them. Must be new, or newer, to the field of historians. of course, history not being my field, I probably never learned about modern scholars; our education, such that it was before Princess Luna's banishment was lifted, would have focused on older ones."

"Personally I like the fact that scholars from each side of the portals are learning each others' history. I think it will prove quite helpful."

"I agree. I do hope our worlds continue peaceful contact."

"As do I."