Everfree Forest

2:09 PM

Isaiah POV

It's been three hours sense Luna had left me to my own devices. I used my time wisely; using it to reinstall the solar panels back onto my roof. I managed to work up a good sweat from working in the the spring sun; I desperately need to bathe. I would make a bad impression if I went there in my current state, stinking up the castle wouldn't be a very wise idea. I didn't really had a choice for a place to wash up, the only access to some water was the creek where I first met Luna.

I grabbed some shampoo, soap, and a towel. I didn't really want to bother with the dirt bike and so left it leaning against the steel walls of the shelter. The creek wasn't far away, so I hopefully wouldn't have to deal with any of the inhabitants of the forest.

I dumped the small amount of supplies into a burlap bag and slung it over my shoulders as I began my walk to the creek. The forest was thankfully peaceful at this time of day, the only time that I would have to worry about anything would be during dawn or dusk. The night could be an optional choice to move somewhat freely, but I shouldn't be taking a risk such as that.

Birds could be heard happily chirping away as they flew through the air with ease. The temperature was hot; but not enough to keep anyone inside this beautiful day. The sun's rays blazed down onto my unwashed and slightly shaggy hair. Gentle breezes blew through the peaceful and fresh air of the forest. I always admired days like these, minus the possibility of being attacked by some blood thirsty animal. The only weapon I had on me was a M1911 that hung in it's holster on my hip. It wouldn't do much to a manticore, but it could do some serious damage to a chupacabra if shot in the right place. I currently had one extra magazine in my pocket, if I did have an encounter; I would have to make my shots count.

The sounds of the creek could be heard as I limped closer. The source of water could be seen past the trees and bushes that were in front of me. So far I couldn't see any predator near by; making me calm down. I could only hope that every time I would have to wash that I wouldn't have to come here. It may be pretty and peaceful, but it's full of dangerous creatures that would love to have me as a meal.

Once I was finished with my observation of the area, I began to walk towards the water and strip down. I threw my dirty clothes into a pile next to the burlap bag that just happened to be resting against a small boulder. The creek wasn't very deep, the water came only up to my waist at some of the deeper parts. Various stones littered the bottom of the creek in a disorderly fashion. There didn't seem to be anything living inside the waters, hopefully. I would appreciate if there wasn't any copper heads or cotton mouths lounging with me in the waters.

I finally started to clean myself in the crystal clear water. My mind began to wander to what Luna said before. I of course started to laugh at the memory and advice. I didn't know why she needed to mention that to me, there was no way that the population of ponies would want to attempt to breed with me; we aren't even the same species for crying out loud. The more I thought about it, the funnier it was to me.

It's most likely some odd joke she pulled off...

I finished washing myself and got out of the water to dry off. I then wrapped the towel around my waist and quickly hurried my way to the shelter.

<><><><><><>

I stood in front of a mirror, admiring myself. I was well groomed, cleaned, and nicely dressed. I didn't pick anything too formal yet informal. I dressed myself in a red and blue plaid dress shirt, a pair of well-worn bootcut jeans, and black dusty boots. It felt nice to dress this nice for special occasions...

I shook myself out of my stupor and glanced over at the clock; 3:20 PM.

I decided that now would be an appropriate time to leave for the encampment that was outside the forest. I made my way out of the steel shelter and locked it up tight; hopefully preventing anything or anyone from entering inside my home. I reached into the pocket with the holster on it's side and pulled out the keys for the dirt bike. It probably wasn't a good idea to be driving such a thing in nice clothing, but the chances of being attacked and the time I got there would be reduced.

I slid the key into the ignition and started the motorcycle, the roar of the engine managed to scare some morning doves out of a near by tree. I used the sun as a compass and sped away to the camp to meet Luna there. Trees and bushes zipped by as I shot through the forest with precision. I avoided mud puddles with little difficulty; the rain from before still had water spots left over. The air whipped my once-combed hair around wildly, ruining it.

Time quickly passed by as I rode through the forest on the black dirt bike. The path that led to the camp began to become more and more visible as I rode on it. Hoof prints could be seen, but majority of them were smaller from some of the others; most likely they were from mares. A glint of gold could be seen ahead of me on the trail. Said glint of gold came from a squad of guard's armor. The group of ponies seemed to be exhausted, some of them had bleeding claw marks on their backs. They heard the engine and stepped to the side of the path, giving me full access to the dirt trail. I slowed down to nod to them, only to have a single nod returned to me; the squad looked like they've seen better days. I slowly sped the dirt bike up; careful to not spray them with mud, they had already had a rough day from the looks of it.

The end of the pathway ended to the camp of purple tents and ponies doing their jobs that have been given to them. The mares of the camp focused their eyes on me as I slowed down next to the oak tree from before. I dismounted my only means of transportation and strode over to Luna's tent that was in the center of the mass of tents.

I raised the flaps of the tent to see Luna reading a scroll with some unreadable gibberish on it.

"Well Luna, I'm here. Ready to leave?"

She looked up from the paper and focused on me. "I am ready. I'm surprised that you got here so early Isaiah, it's only 3:31. We won't be leaving for the train station for about another forty minutes."

"Damn, apparently there is such thing as too early." I joked.

I noticed her eyes traveling up and down my body. "Like what you see?"

My little comment kinda surprised her.

"In matter of fact, I do." Luna said.

"Thanks. I must say, I really like what I'm seeing right now." I complemented her while looking at her.

She smiled."Thank you Isaiah."

"No need to thank me when I complement your beautiful looks, I'm just stating the obvious."

Her eyes slightly widened and a small blush formed on her face as she smiled. "Oh..."

Her response made me chuckle. I sat myself down onto a pillow that they used as a cushion for seating. The table in front of me had nothing of interest to me.

"So Luna, what can you tell me to expect?"

She strode over and sat in front of me; the redness in her cheeks was still visible. "Nothing much really. The only pony there that you haven't met is Shining Armor's wife; Princess Cadance."

"Small group, I like that." I mumbled while slowly nodding my head. "Anything else?"

She was in a moment of thinking before she spoke up. "Would you like a tour of the castle? We should have some free time before dinner starts."

Do I need to answer? "Sure, I don't see why not."

Some time passed as we chatted until fifteen minutes came to.

"I think now would be a good time to leave for the train station." Princess Luna informed.

I got up onto my feet and walked over to the tent's flaps and opened them for Luna to exit. "Ladies first."

She walked out of the tent and into the sun while grinning. "Okay Isaiah, the station is this way. It's not to far."

She began to walk in the direction of the train station with me by her side. During the walk, I was able to admire the decorative buildings of Ponyville. The citizens were milling about around the town doing what ever they were doing, but stopped when they caught sight of me and Luna in their streets and bowed to her. Some of them looked kinda scared.

I glided my eyes over the varies races of ponies; many of them were mares. The numbers of mares piqued my curiosity, so I leaned over towards Luna.

"Luna, why are there so many mares? I couldn't but help notice the lack of stallions, what's up with that?"

The Princess looked up to me while walking. "I had a feeling that you were going to ask that. Well, as you can see, the mares out number the stallions by a surprising difference. The ratio of mares to stallions is 7:3 as a matter of fact. We have very little understanding why the female birth rate is higher than the males. "

"Thats... odd." I mumbled.

"It's not just ponies that have a lack of males; griffins, zebras, minotaurs, and changelings also have the same problem that we have." Luna informed.

"Whats a changeling?" I thought to myself.

Before I could ask the Princess that was next to me, the train station was in front of us. The train appeared to be some type of early version of a locomotive. The train didn't look special in anyway, I never expected it to. The station was too, average looking. There was a pair of guards in front of a passenger cart.

"Are you ready Isaiah? Our cart is ahead of us and the train leaves in a couple of minutes."

"Yeah, I'm ready. Let's go."

We boarded the locomotive and waited for sometime before the train conductor yelled out for other passengers. Once a minute or two passed, the train started to move on the steel rails. Luna and I sat alone in the fancy looking train cart, by the look of it, the cart was most likely used by the more wealthier citizens of Equestria. The seats were padded with scarlet cushions, a crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, and some decretive lights were imbedded into the beige wall of the train cart.

The scenery from out side transformed from a urban area, then into a rural country side with some houses randomly dotting the landscape. The sun could be seen slowly setting towards the western horizon, and the sky was starting to develop onto a light orange. The clouds were long, wispy strands of orange that spotted the sky in a un-orderly way. The sound of the locomotive made the land hard to tell if it was quietly peaceful; most likely not. I glanced over to Luna, who was too admiring the landscape that was currently in a orange glow.

"How long is the ride to Canterlot?" I asked Luna who was right in front of me.

"The ride from Ponyville to Canterlot is about thirty-minutes." She informed me.

A half-hour ride didn't bother me that much, but I had worked up an appetite when I was working. I skipped eating lunch because I didn't want to deal with having to hunt down a meal, clean it, and cook it. By the time I would be finished, it would have already been four. I slouched down into the cushioned seat as the 'click clack' from the train sounded every few seconds as we rode along.

Thirty-minutes later...

The train's horn woke me from my half slumber. The locomotive was slowly became to a halt right in front of a white wooden train station.

"Uh, I'm assuming we're here?" I groggily said, still half asleep.

"Yes we are. Come, let's go."

I stood up and accidentally bumped my head on the ceiling; making Luna giggle. I rubbed my head and ignored her while stretching my legs. I twisted my neck, electing a few pops due to the poor head rest on the seats. After I was finished, I followed Luna out of the cart and onto the train station platform.

The station was very nice looking and well decorated. The building had no signs of wear n' tear and no indication of vandalism too. My little admiration of the building was halted when a mare in golden armor trotted up to me and Luna.

"Ma'am, your chariot awaits for you in front of the station." the mare informed while in a bow.

The night Princess nodded to her and sent her away while she led me to the golden chariot. The chariot was moderately sized from what I could guess and was suited for alicorns; judging by the size. A pair of guards were attached to the the wagon as the source power for the movement of said chariot. It was hard to determine what it was made out of, all I could tell is that it had both gold and some odd type of wood. The seats were cushioned with some strange type of material that I couldn't recognize.

Luna climbed into the vehicle with me in tow behind her. Once we were seated the chariot lurched forward towards a massive white, purple, and golden castle that hung on the edge of a mountain side.

Who the hell builds a castle thats hanging off the side of a mountain?!

The castle reminded me of the Sleeping Beauty Castle from Disney Land, but bigger and more appealing. The turrets rose high into the sky and were topped with either lavender or gold. The structure seemed to branch off into different sections that I could only guess what they were for. The only way to explain it was to say it's something from a fairy-tail story. It strangely lacked any defensive measures such as battlements, arrowslits, or a curtain wall, which was odd for a castle.

Canterlot was too, something from a fairy-tail. The buildings seemed to match the style that the castle was, but on a more simplistic way. The buildings that filled the city were outstanding. The whole city was fancy looking, with all of the decor and detail that was put into each individual building.

While I was gazing upon the city, I could hear the population of Canterlot. The remarks that they were saying ranged from curiosity to annoyance; they weren't too pleased that a 'hairless monkey' was riding in a chariot with Princess Luna. The insulting ponies were dressed up in rather high-end clothing, I could only assume that their clothing was a way for them to express their status, either way, they all looked like ass-clowns. I never liked the first class no matter what, majority of them are assholes who enjoy degrading the second and third class. The various ponies looked like stuck-up snobs dressed in tacky clothing that not even a homeless person would wear if they were his only option.

I glanced over them, only to see scowl-full looks given to me, which I returned with a middle finger.

"Seems like the citizens of Canterlot love me." I said sarcastically to Luna.

She sighed. "Yeah, they are pretty harsh to non-ponies. Just ignore them and they should get used to you."

"Oh, so they're racist? Great."

My comment surprised her. "N-no, they aren't racists! Just... discriminating towards other species... and lower classes."

I just gave out a sigh. I thought to myself not to get worked-up by some worthless ponies who have no goal in live besides to make money and nothing else. I was thankful that I was nothing like them.

We came up to a large white gate-house with some guards standing on the walkway as a look out. Once the ponies recognized the Princess of the night, they opened up the large golden gate to the fairy-tail castle. The golden chariot came to a stop in front of two very large doors of gold.

Geez, they really love gold...

I hopped off the chariot with a thud while Luna gracefully fluttered down onto the cobblestone ground. I stepped to Luna's side so she could lead me.

"Come now. If you want, we can give you a tour before dinner. Just like I said before we left."

"Lead the way."

Luna opened up the large golden door with her magic for us to enter the huge foyer of the castle. The red rug that we were currently standing on lead up to a grand staircase that ended with two others on both the right and left. The stairs weren't like the ones I was used to, they were more at a gentle slope; most likely making it more easier for them to climb up. A four way intersection was in the middle of the room with a golden six-pointed star in the center. There were two stained glass windows, one had a sun with an orange background on it and the other had a crescent moon with a dark blue background. Large banners and tapestries hung on the gigantic pearl white marble walls of the foyer. There were two large arches of bronze that lead to other places of the castle that I didn't know of. The polished marble floors reflected the rays of light that came of the magnificent crystal chandelier that hung from the tall ceiling that was being supported my massive roman style pillars.

"Follow me Isaiah, let's go to the throne room so we can inform Celestia of our arrival."

"Yeah... sure." I mumbled while admiring the colossal room.

She caught hint of my amazement towards the foyer. "If you think this is impressive, wait till you see the throne room."

We walked up the grand stair case and took a right and then a left to enter a large hallway that matched the foyer's style. The only difference was that there was no staircase, no stained windows, and no bronze archways that led to somewhere else. The hallway consisted of the same red rug style, floor pattern, and same pillars. The additions to the room were windows that gave a breathtaking view of the city below, and flower pots that were attached to the marble pillars. At the end of the long hallway was a large blue door that was guarded by four guards in blue and grey armor who stood at attention.

We continued up to the end of the hallway and in front of the door to the guards would allow us entry into the throne room where the older Princess awaited for us.

The doors slowly opened to reveal the throne room that put the hallway and the foyer to shame. The room was about three times the size of the foyers and almost twice as long as the massive hallway that we had walked through. The walls were both filled with windows and banners of vivid coat of arms of some sort. The windows were both plain and stained; the stained windows had the most unusual pictures on it. There were two that really caught my eyes, one had a picture of some weird thing made out of different animal parts, and the other one had both Twilight and her friends implanted on the window; but there was a yellow Pegasus I didn't recognize. The rug led up to a small set of stairs that had a golden throne with red cushions to make it more comfortable.

I'm starting to wander if they are obsessed with gold. I thought.

Princess Celestia and Shining Armor with some other alicorn by his side could be seen conversing with each other at the end of the stairs. The 'clip clops' of Luna's hooves caught their attention and made them focused on us. The alicorn mare seemed rather interested when she laid eyes on me.

"We're glad that you're able to join us tonight Isaiah." Celestia said.

"No problema." I glanced over to the new pony. "Mind telling me who ya are?" I asked with a friendly smile.

The alicorn in front of me was strangely appealing to the eye to me. The young looking mare only came up to my mid chest area, with her horn coming up only to my upper chest. Her mane and tail consisted of three colors; yellow, hot pink, and violet. Her mane and tail seemed rather long and ended in gentle curls. Her slender body was covered by a coat of light pink, but her wings had a tent of purple at the end. Her eyes had vivid light purple irises and jet black pupil that made her eyes even more captivating. She had long eyelashes with black mascara that showed how feminine she was. She wore some golden golden horse shoes, a small gold crown with a amethyst gem embedded into it, and of course a gold chest plate. I flew my eyes over to her cutie mark on her flank. Her brand was a light blue crystal heart with some gold detail under it.

Her talent must be related to love. I thought.

"I'm Princess Mi Amore Cadneza, or Princess Cadance but please, simply Cadance will be fine." She introduced her self with a charismatic voice and smile while holding out her right hoof.

Mi Amore? Yup her talent is love. The thought of ponies speaking in stereotypical italian accents made me cringe a little on the insides.

I accepted her hoof. "I'm Isaiah, it's a pleasure to meet you Cadance."

I released her hoof and stepped back and waited till Luna and Celestia ended their short chat. I could only hear snippets of it. The conversation ended with Luna coming towards me and Cadance trotting up to Celestia in some other conversation.

"So Isaiah are you ready for the tour?" Luna asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be." I said while nodding me head.

The night Princess gestured with her hoof pointing at the only door.

"Uh, mind if I come?" Shining Armor asked.

I would of thought that he would stay by his wife's side.

"Why, of course you can Armor." Luna acknowledged.

The stallion trotted up to our sides as we left for the first stop of the tour of the castle. The mare of the night led us down the hallway and into the foyer.

"Okay Isaiah, which door do you want to go through first?"

"Um, how about the one on the right."

"Very well."

The three of us passed through the bronze archway and was met by a spiraling staircase. We made our way up to a room that was much like the foyer but quite smaller. There were three bronze archways that had labels above them that I couldn't understand.

"Let's go through here." Luna informed while heading towards a door on the right.

We entered the archway and only to be met another set of stairs that let to some wooden doors. The mare ahead of me opened the door to revile a huge library. I slowly entered the room that was filled with thousands upon thousands of books and scrolls. There were two levels that contained large shelves that held the books and scrolls that I couldn't read. To my left, there was a giant window that gave a view of some of the other parts of the castle. Next to said window was a large hour glass with all of it's sand at the bottom.

"This," The Princess gestured with her right hoof. "is the royal library. It is filled with the oldest and newest books and scrolls that provide a excellent source of information that can be given. Some of the books and scrolls here date back to the very beginning of pony history. Not only does it contain the oldest and newest sources of information, it's also the third largest library in the world. It is said that it would take over a thousand years to read every single book and scroll that is contained in this great archive of knowledge."

"Not only that, Twilight spent most of her childhood here." Added Shining Armor.

"Huh, that explains a lot..." I mumbled.

My little joke made them give out a small chuckle.

"It's a shame that I can't read y'alls language."

"You'll be fine, we might just teach you it." Luna tried to reassure me.

She let me look around for two minutes before telling me that it was time to continue the tour.

Our next destination was a large meeting room that reminded me of a picture of the United Nations General Assembly hall. Dozens of wooden desks filled the room, surrounding a large single desk and podium on a elevated spot. There were templates on the desks that most likely identified who was currently sitting at said desk.

"This is the Castle's General Assembly hall. Nothing really needs to be said about this, it's self explained really." The Princess informed me with a lazy answer.

I just shrugged my shoulders.

I followed both Luna and Shining Armor to the next destination. She lead me to a huge dining room with a massive rectangular table that contained silverware, plates, and decorations that filled the wooden table.

"This is the Royal Dinning hall. Just like the assembly room, there's no need to explain."

"So... this is where we are eating?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No, we'll be dining in a much small room with a much smaller table."

"Ah." Was all I could say to express my understanding.

We left the Royal Dining hall and went up a long spiraling stair case. As we went up, my legs were beginning to hurt again, but I ignored it. I tried to focus on the next destination.

The room that she led us to was a rather large observatory with a equally large telescope pointing towards the orange sky. The walls had shelves built into them that were filed with books that were most likely related to astronomy. There were also some posters that depicted unrecognizable star constellations on them.

"As you can tell, this is the observatory room. This room is mostly used by famous ponies who are given special permission by either me or Celestia. This was the second observatory room ever built in Equis, making this a different treasure all on it's own. I'm not one to brag, but I myself have made some discoveries of my very own in this very room." She exclaimed.

I limped over to a table that had some astronomical maps scattered around on it. The maps seemed like something from the early 1920's, making me think that they only had the early understandings of space. Everything else was to obscure for my understanding.

"I'm not trying to be degrading but everything here seems outdated to me." I remarked.

She looked slightly insulted. "Outdated? How would you know, you know nothing about the sky!"

I let out a light chuckle. "Luna, you're talking to a being who's species managed space exploration fifty years after the discovery of flight! I really need to talk more about space exploration to you."

After our little conversation, Luna led both Shining Armor and I outside and onto a balcony. The balcony was facing away from the city and gave a breath taking view of the mountain chain that the castle was built on. I could hear the clopping of hooves from behind us and turned around to be the first one to see Cadance behind us. I gave her a friendly smile and nod, which she returned before focusing onto Luna.

"Luna, may I please have a word with you in private?" The pink alicorn questioned.

"Oh, um sure. Shining Armor how about you show Isaiah the barracks and training grounds?" The mare of the night asked.

The white stallion nodded. "Sure, no problem." He turned his head towards me. "Follow me Isaiah."

He walked by his wife and gave her a peck on the cheek that elected a small giggle from her. I limped up to his side as he opened up the doors to the hallway. Once we were far away I made a little comment.

"Your wife seems really nice. You're a lucky ma-uh stallion to be married to her."

"Thanks, you have no idea how grateful I am to be married her. She means the world to me..." He said pridefully.

I slowly shook my head up and down. "I can tell, I hope that someday I'll be happy as you."

We walked in some silence that was ended with Armor speaking up. "Did you have a special somepony... back home?"

"Special somepony?" I questioned with a face of confusion.

"Yeah... you know, a pony that loves you and you love them."

"Oh! A special someone... no I didn't have one. But there was this one girl that I loved, who sadly didn't share the same feelings. To basically summarize my love life, it's a train wreck. It's not going anywhere anytime soon." I confessed in a monotone voice.

"...I'm sorry to hear that." Was all he could say.

"Meh, I try to be optimistic about it."

He gave me a odd look. "What?"

"Yeah, for example. She would often wear clothes that she knew that I liked and drove me crazy for her. Heck, if you want, I'll show you some of those pictures of her later.

It probably wasn't a good idea to offer such a thing. After all, he is married. But he gave me a nod and look of curiosity.

We passed under another bronze archway and into a set of oak doors he opened to reviles a courtyard with some guards and recruits milling about.

"As you can see, this is the training grounds." He then pointed to the court yard that had some obstacle courses scattered around. "To your left is the day-guards barracks, and to your right is the night-guard barracks."

I prowled my eyes around the camp and the guards in minor fascination; they weren't as refined as I thought they were. Ponies could be seen struggling with their over-encumbering armor of iron and gold. Some of the guards that I spied were either clumsy or had a lack of caring for their job.

Sloppy was what they were.

"Are they always like this?" I questioned with some disappointment in my voice.

"Yes... I know, they aren't doing good. Ever sense I've moved to the crystal kingdom, the guards performance has been lacking." Armor confessed.

"Why let them do that? You're the captain, make the Drill Instructors and Officers be more harsh when it comes to things like this. They lack everything that makes a good guard. I wouldn't be amazed if y'all were attacked and lost the battle."

Judging by the look on his face, he was insulted. "How would you know what makes a good soldier or guard? You know nothing about this sort of thing."

I shook my head, clearly annoyed. "You have no clue what I've been through..."

"And what might that be?" The stallion huffed.

"Being in the Dustin Rangers of course. The shit that I've been through is... rather gruesome. You and the guards of past, present, and future had not or will experience what I had." I folded my arms. "Consider yourself lucky."

"What do think makes a guard or soldier?"

"I'm surprised that you asked that, it's a pretty simple question with an equally simple answer. Dependability, bearing, courage, loyalty, decisiveness, endurance, enthusiasm, integrity, justification, tact, judgement, knowledge, and unselfishness. I could go on and on but it'll take up too much time." I informed the white unicorn.

He accepted my answer and motioned me over to the entryway. "Come now, it's about time for dinner. We don't want to keep them waiting."

"As always, lead the way."

I followed in behind him up some stairs and a half dozen turns down some walkways. We made a final left and came face to face with Princess Celestia, who was too close for comfort for me; making me back up a bit.

"There you are you two, I was about to send some servants to search for you. Did everything meet your expectations Isaiah?" The older Princess chatted.

I gave her a friendly smile. "I sure did ma'am. Luna and even Shining Armor did a good job showing me around."

The mare moved out of our way to allow us entry into the moderately sized dining room. I could only guess that it was used for small private occasions like the one we were currently in. A large window was on the left hand side of the room that gave a view of the city that was an orange glow from the setting sun. A large circular mahogany table was placed in the center of the room. The wall on the right hand side had a cobblestone fireplace that had small flames spouting from the embers. Banners with the sun and the moon hung from the wooden support beams that rose from the stone floor to the ceiling. Both Luna and Mi Amore could be seen chatting in a conversation but stopped when they spotted us coming their way.

Luna focused on me and was the first one to speak. "Glad to see that you and Armor didn't get lost. How about you sit next to me Isaiah."

The dark blue alicorn patted a red cushion that laid next to her. I slowly crouched my self down being mindful of my left leg. Once I finally sat myself down, I couldn't but help but notice that I was the same height was the others. I honestly felt different.

Shining, of course sat next down to his wife and Celestia laid herself down next to my right. A waiter came out from a door and went around receiving drink orders; I just ordered a glass of water, I don't plan on getting drunk tonight. Everyone else ordered things like wine and some other odd drinks that I've never heard of before. Seeing how I was the guest, the others wanted to know me better.

"What can you tell us about yourself Isaiah, somepony such as you must be interesting." Cadance asked me.

I was hesitant at first but calmed down when I realized that I was being somewhat secretive with the only ones that I was comfortable with.

"Well I see myself as a simple man, nothing much really."

"Sorry Isaiah, but that answer won't suffice. What about your life back in Dustin?" Princess Celestia questioned.

I gave my answer some thought. "Well, I was born into a family who owned a ranch of great importance to the colony. As time passed on nothing really happened until I turned seventeen."

"And what happened when you turned seventeen?" Princess Luna asked me while I was taking a sip of water.

"I joined the Dustin Rangers."

"And who were these Dustin Rangers?" The older sister asked.

"They were my colony's military force; soldiers basically. Anyway, I joined up even though I was underaged, which was both good and bad at the same time."

Shining Amour interrupted me. "Wait, so you joined your colonies military force underage and they didn't do a thing about it? What did your parents think of that?"

"I lied about my age of course, plus they needed able bodied men to fight. At the time I joined there was a large group of marauders who were hell-bent on burning Dustin down to the ground. So being a patriot of Dustin, I was ready to fight; willing to die for it even. I wasn't the only one alone who lied, there were about fifteen underage men who also joined the Rangers. And at that time, my mom even encouraged me."

Some more servers came out of the door with note pads floating in the air; ready to take our orders. The things on the menu didn't seem appetizing, but I didn't care; I was starving. Eventually, i ordered some type of vegetable soup.

"Anyway, after three years passed by, a series of very unfortunate events happened that made me want to quit for awhile. I got home and rested for a while and took care of my family. About a month passed by after I left the Rangers, there was word of several open positions for some scavenging groups that needed men. After some paperwork was filled out, I was in."

"And how was that?" Sounded Luna.

"It was a little bit better than the Rangers, but still had it's moments of danger. I couldn't really complain about it, the wasn't as intense as the military and was pretty laid back when it came to work. The pay was good to, even though I gave most of it to my family."

Princess Celestia was the next one to ask. "You speak of your family quite a bit, what can you tell us about them?"

I wasn't ready to talk about my family yet to them; but I had to suck it up and carry on. "I of course had a mom and dad and also two very loving twin little sisters that meant the world to me. My parents oddly enough picked favorites towards my sisters; not that I didn't mind. When I was twelve, by dad passed away due to a rattlesnake bite, forcing us into a spiral. I had to grow-up fast by doing hours upon hours of non-stop work; sadly making me grow-up too fast to enjoy what others my age were enjoying. It was rare when I was able to go out and enjoy myself, not having to worry about my mom and sisters well-fare. Thankfully my mom met another man who soon married her and helped my family out of it's time of need. Sadly, all good times come to an end; my new dad was killed while he was on guard duty at the front gates. To summarize it all, I didn't have a pretty childhood and teenage years."

My little monologue left them speechless and slightly depressed, I even heard a sniffle come from a unknown source at the table. I felt ashamed that I turned the once happy mood into what it is now.

"Uhh... the water is good." I awkwardly announced.

Thirty minutes later...

I scooted the now empty bowl away from me while Cadance was telling a story that happened during her teen years with Twilight. The story was in way, strange but yet interesting. The small laughter that she managed to create slowly died down, when I looked up from my empty bowl, I noticed that others were looking at me.

"Care to tell us a story Isaiah?" Armor asked.

I pondered out a few storied, but i decided to bring up a recent one. "Well this morning, Luna made a weird joke about me having to worry about the estrus cycle that the mares will be in in the next four days. How odd of a joke is that?!"

My tale made Shining Armor go into a thousand yard stare and forced Luna to cover her blushing face in embarrassment. Celestia and Cadance on the other hand were trying to contain their laughter. I have absolutely know clue if what I just said surpassed some type of cultural boundary.

"Someone care to explain?" I mumbled out.

Princess Celestia managed to calm her self down. "Follow me to the garden to I can explain it to you Isaiah."

Oh shit, am I in trouble or something?

"Sure, I'm right behind you." I croaked out.

"Hope that you don't mind if I join." Cadance declared with fluttering down next the white alicorn who looked pleased with the possibility of help coming from the other pony.

"No problem, you can make things a little easier for him to understand when the need arises."

I gave Celestia an odd look. "Are you saying I'm stupid?" I joked.

She put a single hoof to her chin. "Hmm... nope."

I just let out a simple sigh and followed.

Author's Notes:

Hey guys, sorry that I haven't uploaded in a long time. I've been busy with much more important things. I hoped that you've enjoyed this chapter even through it wasn't one of my finest works, but it's been the longest chapter so far. So awhile ago I asked y'all that what would ya prefer; one long chapter once every two weeks or multiple short chapters in a week. I've read your answers and came to a conclusion; one long chapter once every two weeks. I hopefully can fulfill my quota, but we'll have to see.

Just to let you know the 'clop chapters' will be appearing soon so don't worry (I will have warnings in the beginning of the chapters with clop in them). I hope that y'all are enjoying the story so far, even though it's not even near the climax.

Anyway, thanks for all of the support and advice that y'al have been giving me. Feel free to like, favor, or comment on this story. And also feel free to give constructive criticism, it's much appreciated!