“How do I look?” Thomas asked as he turned around in front of the mirror.

“You look as though you enjoy frequenting the gym,” teased Silver.

“Yeah. I do, don’t I.” The reflection looking back at Thomas was a sand colored stallion with a messy brown mane. ‘Moon Lover’, as he had so been dubbed, was on the short side, especially for an earth pony, but was still a fair bit taller than Thomas’ regular height. His physique, while far more muscular than his regular form, was still on the lean side compared to the tribe’s average. The glamour had been adjusted to more closely reflect his natural form while still appeasing social expectations. He was a little below average, but not so much as to draw unwanted attention, which was the heart of what glamour was meant for.

However, the same could not be said for Luna’s glamour. Her unicorn alter ego, by the name of Blue Sapphire, was a far cry from the norm. She was almost obscenely tall, a little under eye level with most earth ponies, and that was after several minutes of pleading from her harem to shave a couple feet from her alicorn stature. Her assets, however, remained perfectly proportioned.

The contrast was made especially apparent when Thomas caught Moonlight comparing. It was especially sad at just how little of a competition there was. On earth, Moonlight’s body would be the envy of most models with her D-cups, toned middle, and perfectly rounded ass. Luna, however, looked like she needed the mother of all back braces and, had she been wearing clothes, like she needed a super bra to keep both her breasts and ass from sagging. This left Silver, drop-dead gorgeous, but her perky C-cups were practically flat in comparison.

However, Thomas was already used to looking at his mares’ naked bodies, and went back to staring at his own. His glamour was wearing a simple set of shorts, which held a proportionately sized stallion package within. The bulge was big and left the human feeling a bit emasculated. The tail was the same shade of brown as his short mane and looked like it had recently gotten in a fight with a comb.

Thomas ran his hands up and down his frame. There was a slight tingle in his fingers as he felt lean muscle under pony fur, as well as the much squishier and smoother human skin. Given where they were going, the glamour had been modified so that anyone, or rather, anypony who happened to bump into him would feel a normal stallion and not get suspicious. The tingle was only present for those who knew what he really was, or at least suspected he wasn’t what he appeared to be. Thusly the resulting conflict of perceptions would be processed by the mind as the magical tingle.

All in all, it was a suitable disguise. Thomas straightened out the folds of his imaginary suit collar, picturing the disguise as a fancy suit he rarely had an occasion to wear. There was, however, one thing that bugged him.

“Wasn’t I a unicorn last time?” He waved his hand over where the horn would have been.

“You’d be expected to hold things with your magic if you had a horn,” Moonlight explained. As if to emphasize, she levitated a comb over to do some last minute touch ups while competing with Thomas for space in the mirror. “Not using magic runs the risk of creating suspicion, so it’s simply easier to have you be an earth pony.”

“Honestly, I wouldn’t mind seeing you as a bat pony some time,” Silver appraised. “I think you’d look rather dashing with wings.”

Thomas made no comment, but smiled at the mare as she and the others finished getting dressed. Apparently this was one of the few occasions where clothing was the expected norm; which really wasn’t that surprising, given the venue. And while Thomas took solace in the idea that the mass of sexily sculpted bodies that were expected to press into him would at least be clothed, he still had to do a double take on what exactly his ladies were wearing, imagining it as a microcosm of what was to come.

Silver’s t-shirt had a large hole in the back for her wings and a picture of Luna’s younger self giving a playful wink. She even styled her mane similarly and dyed it a light blue. Her short skirt also bore the insignia of Luna’s cutie mark and made her look a lot like a Japanese school girl.

Moonlight wore a white gown that fell down to her knees. Holes were cut in the hips to show off her cutie marks, but directly above was the insignia of a pair of curved swords crossed in an X stitched into the fabric. Beside the marks were a pair of dagger sheaths sewn into the gown’s material, each emblazoned with the sigil of Equestria’s flag. Her mane had been dyed orange and a special hair gel applied to ensure that it would maintain its shape and move of its own accord to keep her face half covered. Really, it was like Jessica Rabbit in a spy costume.

While Luna could have simply made adjustments to her glamour, Honey had been vehemently insistent that to do so would tarnish the integrity of this – by the way she described it – sacred event. As such the Princess of the Night had applied red paint in tiger stripes all along her body. The added effect of the grass skirt, feather in her shortened mane, and bo staff made her look like either an authentic tribal warrior, or an offensive stereotype. She even had a pair of fake bat wings fixed to her back with a bra-like apparatus that did nothing to actually cover her cleavage.

For Thomas, the most difficult part of his costume had been thinking up something original and then describing it to Luna’s private tailors. Jack Skellington had already been done while Daring Do or anything to do with the Power Ponies had just felt all kinds of generic. In the end, he’d settled on a pair of dark blue jeans with yellow foot wraps shaped like two toed feet. Thick brown gloves came up all the way to his elbows and the brown skull cap he wore had a pair of yellow, brown striped ears sticking out. To complete the ensemble was a metallic looking backpack with a face painted on, and a cartoonishly large wrench-like axe fixed to his hip. And finally, because he was a sucker for cute mares making puppy dog eyes at him, he’d consented to letting them paint brown stripes on his sides. Thank god for magically enhanced soap. He’d be putting it through the ringer, later.

“Feels like we just geared up for battle,” Thomas commented as he pointed the wrench at the mirror, trying to look as intimidating as possible. The weight was incredibly light and the material, while not plastic because of Equestria’s lack of oil, had a similar feel while remaining perfectly solid. “Looks like it, too.”

“My cuteness shall bring my foes to their knees,” proclaimed Silver as she struck her most adorable pose while raising her pitch to be girlishly squeaky.

Moonlight flipped her mane out of her face and gave a suave smirk. “Don’t blink,” she purred throatily while running her fingers over her fake daggers. “Not even for a second.” Her façade of cool fell as she descended into subdued giggles.

Luna slammed the bottom of her bo staff against the floor, drawing all attention to herself while she donned her most serious expression. “They may take our lives,” she grunted, “but they’ll never take… our socks!”

Thomas glanced down and back up. “Looks like someone already did.”

Luna also glanced down and noticed she was lacking in hoof ware. “What is your point?”

“We should probably hurry to meet up with Honey and Surprise,” Moonlight offered, barely containing her chortles. “Let this cavalcade of silliness run its course.”

And so they did. The group made their way down the hall to the castle’s main entrance. That was where they’d agreed to meet before taking a carriage. Along the way many of the guards and staff offered polite greetings to the harem while giving suspicious looks to the unicorn in the grass skirt. They probably knew, but felt it would be impolite to say as much.

They arrived at where the carriage was to pick them all up, only to find Surprise and a very impatient Honey tapping her hoof.

“Where have you been?” the earth mare demanded. “We’re going to miss our place in line!”

“Aren’t our spots reserved?” Thomas asked.

Luna nodded. “They should be.”

“See. Told ya so!” bragged Surprise. “You really need to relax.”

“Never mind that. Let’s just get in!” Honey’s costume was a straight up magical girl complete with a ridiculously frilly skirt, leather gloves, and a top that seemed to expose way more cleavage than what should be appropriate for what Thomas understood to be a preteen character. The theme of her outfit was a pink that almost seemed to glow with a neon intensity. A royal looking wand with a heart at the end swung from her hands as she gestured impatiently for the others to get in the carriage.

Surprise just shrugged and gestured with her eyes for the others to do as the silly earth pony said. Her costume was a large blue ball that completely consumed her body from the bottom of her neck to her lower thighs. Her wings were completely enclosed within the sphere and, aside from her cutie marks painted approximately where they were relative to her body, the ball was covered in many bands of blue, white, and gray that looked dyed rather than painted. Her arms poked out through holes at the top and rested upon the girth of the sphere while a diagonal ring was held in place by metal rods about a foot away from the sphere.

“Guess what I am!” she chirped excitedly.

Recognizing the image from pictures in science books, Thomas could not help himself. “Full of gas, surrounded by debris, and frequently watched by weirdos with telescopes,” he listed as flatly as possible. It was a struggle to keep the corners of his mouth from twitching, especially with the others snorting laughs into their covering hands.

“No, silly,” Surprise laughed. “I’m Neptune, the planet named after the mythical god of the sea.”

An eerie silence descended upon the group, followed by a literal rolling tumbleweed.

Surprise eventually lost it and burst out laughing. “Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!” She wiped a few tears from her eyes. “Oh, the looks on your faces.” She giggle-snorted while trying to clench her sides through the sphere. “No. I’m actually Uranus, the planet named after the ancient god of the skies.”

Luna and her harem let out their sighs of relief all at once. Surprise had given them a real scare for a minute there.

Honey cleared her throat.

“But seriously, we should probably go,” Surprise urged and the party, now fully assembled, filed within the bus sized carriage.

Honey had calmed down significantly now that they were finally on their way, which gave way to more casual conversation as everyone described their costumes.

“Silent Knife,” bragged Moonlight, once more making her voice as deep and sensual as she could. She ran her hands sensually down her body and over her dagger sheaths. “I was really into spy novels when I was young and Scarlet Fatale was my favorite series. I just loved how suave and confident she was, especially with how she always stayed two steps ahead of her opponents.”

“To be honest, as much as I love this story,” Silver began while pulling at her shirt, “I’m still wondering how this is even a thing.”

Luna shrugged. “Sister ‘Tia convinced me that such a depiction in something the ponies view on a regular basis would help ingratiate me to the masses. Representatives from the crowns work with the company to ensure that the character, while under the control of the writers, remains tasteful.”

“That’s from that comic strip, right?” Thomas asked. To him, this seemed like straight up propaganda, but the others didn’t seem as bothered by Luna’s admission as he’d imagined. For that matter, even he strangely felt less bothered than he believed he should. Maybe this was just part of his acclimation to Equestrian society? “The one where all the historical figures are in high school together?” He’d seen Silver reading the strip in the paper many times at breakfast.

Silver nodded eagerly. “She’s called Little Moon, but she’s an obvious stand in for Luna, especially since they shamelessly lifted her image from her immediate return, which was for the best in my opinion. I just can’t help but go to pieces every time she enters a scene. Everything about her is just so sweet and cute.” She then fixed a serious look on Luna. “You will be dressing like her in our next session.”

Luna swallowed and grinned with nervous-citement. “Yes, mistress.”

“Uranus was my favorite of the old gods,” Surprise explained. “Pegasi were especially fond of him because he was said to have taught our ancestors how to tap into our latent magic for things other than just flying. I always liked him because, despite being an accomplished warrior, he was supposed to have had a great sense of humor.”

“So why the planet and not the stallion?” Moonlight asked.

“Firstly,” Surprise pointed at Thomas, “everything he said.”

There were nods of acceptance all around.

“Secondly…” she trailed off before tapping at a spot on the front of the sphere. A square door opened and revealed a sizable compartment within. “Honey said to be ready for swag, and this is how Surprise gets ready. Now we can buy as much stuff as we want and still keep our hands free,” she said while giving her costume’s shell a few good slaps.

“A mobile carrier. Nice,” commented Thomas as he peered inside the hole.

Moonlight did the same, but frowned. “How do you use the bathroom in that?”

Surprise leaned over to the side, nearly rolling over and squishing Silver. “Second door down in the back.” She tapped the shell again, although nothing opened this time. “Don’t worry. I made sure to test it out.”

“Gross,” Honey said flatly. She then grew eager at the realization that it was her turn. “Anyway, mah costume is fer Fable Mable. She’s, uh…” she trailed off, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

“She’s awesome!” Surprise declared. “It’s this really awesome story from Neighpan. It’s set in this sort of post-apocalyptic world where these big meanies called apathars are roaming the land and stealing away everypony’s good feelings. Fable Mable was just an ordinary filly until spirits from beyond the stars were moved by how much love she had to share. They tasked her with restoring harmony and love with the help of her magic wand.”

Honey beamed happily at not only Surprise’s knowledge, but the enthusiasm with which she shared it.

Sounds like every generic magical girl story ever, Thomas thought, but kept to himself. “If we happen to meet anyone dressed like the bad guys, I’m pretty sure you’re legally obligated to battle them.”

“Truly?” Luna asked. “This is an actual rule?”

Her naivety was too cute for the others to ignore.

“Oh yeah. Ah’ve seen it happen plenty o’ times,” Honey affirmed. “Ponies from the same stories always end up meetin’ ‘n’ doin’ scenes together.”

“Scenes?” Silver asked, now especially intrigued. “Does that mean Moonlight is obligated to start making out with anypony dressed as Golden Eye, Silent Knife’s old fling and rival?”

Moonlight suddenly tensed. Like Luna, she had also never been to a con before, and so was trusting in her friends to guide her straight. She then recalled who she was with and felt a sense of impending doom.

“Only if they’s cute,” Honey assured. “That’s also the rule. Otherwise they just gotta duke it out for a bit.”

Moonlight exhaled her relief.

“But it will mean you’ll have to have a big climactic battle in front of an audience, so long as there’s room,” Surprise amended. “If you’re not up for that, just stick to the booths where all the swag is sold and no pony should demand anything too extreme. It’s considered impolite to cause a ruckus where ponies are trying to do business.”

“What about you, Luna? Expecting to get into any final confrontations in that get up?” Thomas asked. “I’m still not sure who you are.”

“She’s a pre-Equestrian bat pony chief,” Silver informed. “You can tell by the number of stripes that she’s an accomplished warrior.”

“I am glad that the old histories are not entirely forgotten,” Luna said, making Silver blush. “But do you know which chief?”

Silver gave Luna a long, critical look. “I’m sorry, but I cannot place the grass skirt. It would have been easier if you included the cutie mark.”

Luna sighed, but nodded her understanding. “Evening Tide was the first First Star of the Dream Walkers.”

Silver’s eyes widened. “That Evening Tide?” she asked, once more looking up and down Luna’s costume. “She wore… that?”

Luna nodded. “Quite the eccentric, that one.”

“Dream Walker? Why does that sound so familiar?” Thomas asked.

“I am impressed that you remember,” admitted Luna. “Do you not have trouble recalling somepony after only a single meeting?”

“Hold on.” Thomas held up his hand as the memory started to come back. “That gray unicorn with the bright red mane.”

Luna nodded, pleased at his recollection. “Charming Star, First Star – the current commander – of the Dream Walkers.”

Thomas frowned. “Yeah. It’s kinda weird that I remember her. It was right after I was,” he chuckled, “formally inducted as Senior Concubine. She showed up, shook my hand, wished me luck, and that was pretty much the highlight of our interactions. After that, I remember her showing up for private meetings at your office from time to time. Sometimes we’d nod at each other, but never say anything. Mostly she’d just ask for a sound concealment spell and then ya’ll would talk about whatever while I just read in the corner. Other than that, I pretty much never saw her.”

“Hardly a surprise,” commented Silver. “Dream Walkers tend to be quite private and are rarely seen unless they wish to be.”

Thomas’ brow furrowed. “I think you told me about them once,” he said to Luna. “Care to refresh my memory?”

“It would be my pleasure,” Luna offered happily.

“Before we go on,” Surprise interrupted, “I just want you all to know how much I’m holding back with you using my name so much.”

“Your restraint is noted and appreciated,” offered Luna diplomatically. “Thank you.”

Surprise beamed happily. “That’s all I ask.”

Luna nodded and straightened out her grass skirt. “In the early days of Equestria, when my sister and I had only recently taken power, there were numerous orders and guilds under our direct command. These orders comprised of specialists who went out into the untamed wilds and dealt with all manner of unnatural and supernatural threats, while the then fragile military stayed close to the cities. Time passed and the military grew strong enough to absorb many of these ancient orders and take up their duties. Many more earned the right to be self-governing, although oaths of fealty to the crowns remain part of their formal vows.

“One order in particular remained ever loyal and dutiful in its service. With prosperity came an explosion of population that I, alas, was unable to properly attend to. Nightmares were growing rampant as monsters, after being snuffed out of even the darkest shadows, sought refuge in the dreams of our little ponies.” Luna paused to take a good, long, adoring look at her fellow passengers in the carriage. She saw in their expressions the faces of their ancestors she’d protected so long ago. “I may have been brash and prideful, especially in my youth, but it was as plain as ‘Tia’s love of sweets that I needed help.” She paused to allow the snickers to subside.

“While consisting primarily of bat ponies, the first Dream Walkers were established first and foremost to hunt down the monsters known to target dreams. However, Chief Evening Tide, who would later become known as the First Star, counseled me to delegate mine own dream walking duties to others. With the aid of special runes and potions, which I had crafted myself,” Luna said in the most humble and least boastful manner that anyone had ever used ever, “anypony from any tribe was capable of entering the dream realm. After which, I bequeathed onto them a portion of mine own power, Luna’s Blessing they call it, which enabled them to match mine own speed in sifting out the nightmares and bringing them to a swift and just end.”

After a moment of silence, Moonlight decided it was safe to speak up. “I think I met Charming Star as well. I didn’t know her name at the time, but a gray unicorn with a red mane was looking over all the recruits looking to join Luna’s House Guard. A lot of ponies were turned away on her word alone. I was quaking in my armor when she stopped in front of me and gave me this… look.” She paused, breathing deeply as she recalled the mare’s piercing gaze. “It was like she was looking into my very soul, judging me.” She shivered. “Thankfully, she passed me over before I could do anything embarrassing. Then she told the next three recruits in line to clean out their lockers before she had their contents burned. Didn’t even say why.”

Luna laughed. “Such has been the custom that the First Star must be a mare of, shall we say, an exceptional disposition.”

“Luna,” Silver spoke up. “If this next part is-”

Luna quickly cut Silver off. “Your concern is appreciated, but unnecessary,” she said with a firm gentleness befitting one of her authority. “I am no longer a foal who needs her hand held, and would greatly appreciate not being treated as such.”

Silver, ears splayed in submission, nodded and tried to pull back. But Luna did not let her, grabbing the little bat by the hand and pulling her into an aggressive cheek rub. It didn’t take long for Silver to reciprocate.

Thomas watched in silence at the show of pony body language. It was hard to argue with the strength of gestures and shows of physical affection compared to words.

In particular, Honey and Surprise were watching with reverent awe. Something about Luna’s brief outburst had caught their attention in a way neither fully understood, but it made both their hearts ache.

Luna let Silver go before continuing. “When my… resentment had begun leaving me open to corruption, the Dream Walkers did everything they could to do for my own dreams what they had done for so many others, but the power of my blessing was no match for the real thing. When I turned and demanded that they join me, the First Star of the time righteously proclaimed that her loyalty was to the Princess of the Night, not a monster in pony flesh,” she said ruefully. “The Dream Walkers declared for my sister and did what they could to minimize the damage I caused. Upon my banishment, the order had all but abandoned their hunting of monsters in the physical world to better devote themselves to keeping the machinations of Nightmare Moon at bay, that the dreams of Equestria would remain ever peaceful.” Luna paused and breathed deeply. “Just as their true Princess had taught them to.” She sounded almost proud.

The carriage was silent for a long while. What could possibly be said after all of that? Even Surprise squirmed and made little whining sounds at not being able to think of anything to lighten the mood. It was Thomas who took the lead, following Luna’s earlier example of a physical gesture, and snuggled up beside the large mare. The others followed suit and the dower seriousness upon Luna’s face soon melted to one of warm acceptance.

The Princess of the Night took notice of how Surprise and Honey were squeezing her especially tight. Their faces were buried against her fur, but she still felt their expressions. There were a lot of emotions playing out inside them. And as much as Luna wished to offer her wisdom here and now, she knew she had to wait. A moment had just transpired and the two mares would need a bit of time to sort themselves out before she could explain the rest. As such, Luna decided to finish the story on a happy note.

“And upon my return, the First Star immediately summoned forth the lieutenants of the order from every corner of Equestria to the capitol, where upon they reaffirmed their oaths of fealty to their long lost Princess.” She sighed fondly at the memory. “Afterwards, Charming Star confided in me her hopes that a lessoned workload would not accompany budget cuts,” she finished, surprising laughs out of everyone.

“Now that I think about it, with the harem reestablished, does that not make us the final two orders who pledge our loyalty expressly to you?” Silver asked. “Why have they not reached out?”

Thomas felt a knot in his stomach, fearful that he might be responsible.

Luna gave a forlorn sigh. “Times have changed. The First Star believes the orders no longer have anything in common, or any overlapping goals except devotion to my service. And with all else that has been happening of late, not even my meddlesome sister has found the time to browbeat Charming into making friends, as she often does with so many others.”

“That’s too bad,” mourned Silver.

“We should pay her a visit some time,” chirped Surprise. Right now, she really felt the need to show somepony a kindness. “I bet she’d appreciate some Surprise cupcakes!”

“Ah’ll help,” offered Honey. Baking cupcakes to make somepony feel better just sounded like a great thing to do at the moment.

“That she might,” agreed Luna. “I shall inform her of your desire.” The mare closed her eyes, but retained her perfect posture as she sat. While they had all seen this many times before, the applicants were still in awe of Luna’s periodic departures to the dream realm.

Surprise hummed thoughtfully. “Dream time must really make for some tough hours. A minute in the real world is, like, half an hour in the dream realm, right? I don’t know the conversion ratio.”

“Canvas-what?” Honey asked.

“She means the exact time difference between the worlds,” Silver explained. “A dream might feel like it’s happening over a course of hours, but that is just the brain processing without the hindrance of outside stimuli.” She hesitated at noting Honey’s lingering confusion. “Outside observations,” she corrected and the earth mare nodded. “But Surprise is right. If a group the size of a military regiment spent less than a minute poking in and checking each individual dream, it would still take at least a week’s time to sort through the entire population of Equestria.”

“And yet she makes it look so easy,” Thomas said as he looked up at Luna in admiration.

“Ah wonder what she does if she catches ponies dreamin’ ‘bout her,” wondered Honey. “Ah’ll bet she spends more than jus’ a minute watchin’. Ah know Ah would.” Her lips curled into a lascivious grin.

Honey’s meaning was obvious and Thomas turned his head to scan the carriage’s other passengers. Their expressions were varying degrees of awe, contentment, or growing impatience. No signs of any negativity at the implications of Luna engaging in trysts with her sleeping subjects. Looking inside himself, Thomas found that he didn’t especially mind either. To call Luna promiscuous would be a massive understatement, but he trusted her. He knew where her heart lay and that she gave nothing of herself to anyone else outside the harem. The tolerance of casual sex and herds still left him stubbed on an intellectual level, but emotionally speaking, Thomas felt he was finally getting it.

Either that or spending all this time in this place and being saturated by the ponies’ culture had corrupted him into a massive pervert. Whichever was the more convenient.

Soon Luna’s eyes opened and she greeted the others with a warm smile. She did not say how long she’d been gone, but she did pass on Charming Star’s demand – she was very clear about that – for whatever baked goods presented to have cinnamon. Surprise saluted, once more showing the power in wordless gestures.

“Thomas. I do believe it is time that the others learn of your character,” Luna suggested. Of course she already knew. She, Silver, and Moonlight had certainly played it enough on the console in his dreams. However, Honey and Surprise were still in need of a briefing.

“Ratchet, from Ratchet and Clank.” He held up his signature wrench as he spoke. “He was one of my favorite games when I was little. My parents and I would take it in turns to play, though I would usually annoy them with my backseat gaming.”

Thomas did indeed keep the mares entertained with stories of his character and the friendship forged in the first game. He had a lot of fun explaining the sheer ridiculousness of the myriad of weapons and he felt rather smart in cluing them in on the themes of corporatism that were really only featured in the first installment of the franchise. This analysis encouraged the others to go into further detail about their characters as well, and it was a lot of fun when they started really acting out the part.

Finally the group arrived at the stadium where the convention was being held. As they disembarked from the carriage, Thomas couldn’t help but notice that several burly looking ponies were also dismounting from carriages both behind and in front of them. They were all dressed in costumes, but still seemed rather suspicious the way they kept looking around and touching their ears.

“Undercover guards,” Moonlight whispered. “Several are already inside, you know, just to be safe.”

Thomas nodded and accepted this. It was one thing to know there were always guards around, following him and Luna wherever they went, but actually seeing them like this still threw him for a loop sometimes. He decided to shrug it off as a thing beyond his control and focus on what he could control; namely his own behavior.

The group arrived at their reserved spot in line less than a minute after the con’s evening festivities were officially declared open. Even so, it took another few minutes before they were able to make it inside. Honey didn’t say anything about how, if Luna had heeded her advice and purchased tickets earlier, they wouldn’t have had to wait even this long, but the look she gave showed that she was thinking it.

This waiting, however, gave time for Thomas to take in the sights of their fellow con goers, which was a spectacle in and of itself. The sheer variety was, as far as the human was concerned, fairly standard given the size of the venue. There were the standard book characters, the largest percentage of which seemed to be Daring Do, as well as figures from titles he had seen but never read. A lot seemed to be knock-offs of franchises from the human world, such as a ponified Iron Man squaring off with Johnny Depp’s Mad Hatter, plenty of cowboys, a couple 60’s style robots, plenty of dudes in dresses, lots of foals with parents in what Thomas assumed to be coordinated costumes, a green chocobo, and even some zombies that were all grouped together. At first Thomas tried counting off the costumes that looked like franchises from Earth, but he lost count at around 123, when the lines started moving and morphed into a sheer mass.

Their first stop upon entering Ink Con, so named for supposedly being more marketable, was to grab a brochure that included a map as well as the times for events. Silver volunteered to carry it, but not before Luna made note of all the bathrooms in the stadium. No one needed to ask why. Afterwards they made straight for the display booths where the swag was waiting to be sold.

Honey took the lead as the most knowledgeable of convention layout and etiquette. She looked quite pleased with herself as she pointed out and described the many exotic displays, as did the rest of the group whenever they saw something they recognized. It had quickly become a shouting match to see who could recognize what the fastest. Much to the shock of all, the one giving Honey a run for her money wasn’t Surprise, but Silver. Apparently the little bat also indulged in the geek-o-sphere from time to time.

Along the way the groups costumes received a lot of attention. Mostly they were compliments mixed in with a few polite critiques. However, every now and then there was that one cosplayer who seemed especially full of themselves and saw fit to bash any costume that looked too good. Any costume that someone didn’t make themselves shouldn’t be welcome, at least as far as these pricks were concerned. Thankfully they were few and far between.

However, there was that one guy…

“What’re you even supposed to be?” asked a stallion dressed as Cabelleron. He was sneering as he gestured at Thomas.

The disguised human shrugged. “I’m Ratchet, last of the lombaxes and savior of at least two galaxies.”

“You can’t do that,” Cabelleron groused. “No original characters. What? Are you trying to drum up advertising for a new book or something? Pathetic. You’re ruining everypony else’s fun with stuff like that.”

Moonlight hissed as she positioned herself between her stallion and the spoil sport. Her anger, however, shifted when she finally processed exactly what the guy had said. “Shoot! We should have done that!”

Cabelleron shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. You’re not allowed to sell merch without permission from the con ponies.”

“There doesn’t appear to be any such rule in the itinerary,” Silver pointed out. “Besides, we are not selling anything.”

“Oh yeah? Then what’s that costume for?”

“So I’m not one of fifty other guys?” Thomas offered while gesturing to another Cabelleron who happened to be a mare. “Why do you even care?”

“Because this convention is a place where ponies, like myself, who truly love and respect the beauty of the worlds printed in ink, can congregate to share in that respect,” he declared with such a high and mighty tone that even Blueblood at his worst would tell the guy to stop hamming it up. “And right now, you are proving just how little respect you have for this place and its ponies by dressing like… hey! Where are you going?” he whined as the group made their departure.

“Anywhere yer not, dumbass,” shouted Honey as she walked beside Moonlight, positioning herself between Thomas and the nuisance.

“But I’m not done!” whined Cabelleron.

Moonlight flipped her mane and gave a half-lidded glare over her shoulder at the stammering stallion. Once more she adopted her Silent Knife voice. “I find myself needing to be elsewhere. Your company has left me terribly dry.” She then turned around, walked a few steps with the others, and gave a soft squeal that only her friends could hear. “I’ve always wanted to say that.”

The others gave their congratulations to the orange mare, once they were safely out of sight of the spoil sport, and resumed their exploration of the con. Little did they know, the costume supremacist was pulled aside so that some very polite and tough looking ponies could impart the wisdom of common decency upon him.

“Silent!” shouted an angry stallion in a black tuxedo. He carried a short sword on his side and his left eye was covered with a golden eyepatch. Sheets of white paper depicting a golden eyeball were taped to both hips, just above his actual cutie mark of a wood plank with a crooked nail sticking out. “My old nemesis!”

Upon noticing the stallion and recognizing his costume, Moonlight immediately smirked and flipped her mane back, only for it to fall right back into place. “Well hello, Goldie,” she purred.

“You know this stallion?” Luna whispered.

“It’s been too long,” the stallion said, straightening out his shirt collar. “I haven’t seen you since Trottingham. Still got that present you left me.” He ran his finger along his inner thigh, over a scar drawn with black marker.

“Aww, poor baby,” Moonlight mocked in condescension. “It was only a love tap.”

“You rigged the embassy to explode,” growled the stallion.

Thomas presumed this guy to be Golden Eye. For evidence he noted the way many of the con goers had all backed away from the pair, forming a distinct ring in anticipation of the fight. Given that this guy didn’t seem all that cute, at least according to Thomas’ limited understanding of male attractiveness, it seemed as though Honey’s prediction of a fight was coming to pass.

Moonlight scoffed.

The ‘fight’ started off rather awkwardly as Moonlight had clearly never done this sort of thing before. She knew how to spar with a trained opponent, but she hadn’t done play fighting like this in years. As such, she relied on ‘Golden Eye’ to whisper directions to her. Over time the mare’s movements began to smooth out as she got into the swing of things, much to the audience’s delight. Besides having fun just being silly, the purpose of these fights was primarily for the entertainment of onlookers. In the end, ‘Golden Eye’ declared the match a draw before making his dramatic exit, all while the audience applauded and Moonlight held up one of her daggers in a show of victory.

When legs were starting to hurt, and after paying a visit to the bathroom, the group decided to partake of the overpriced concession stands and go over their loot. As Thomas enjoyed his hamburger, made from actual beef to cater to the meat eaters in the crowd, he took stock of how his friends were doing. Honey was talking a mile a minute, gushing about how this con put every other she’d ever visited to shame. Evidently her own herd had never been enthusiastic about cons, so it was nice to share the experience with new friends. Silver took a bit of sport in poking fun at the various franchises on display, using conversations she’d eavesdropped on to deliberately misinterpreting certain themes or plot lines to wind Honey up. Surprise found this trolling absolutely hysterical and, more than once, squirted juice out of her nose. Moonlight spoke up from time to time, mostly whenever the conversation moved to the subject of story structure and popular tropes. Luna, whenever she could get a word in, sought more serious discussion on some of the franchises she’d just recently learned about. Mostly, however, the Princess of the Night was too preoccupied with going through the exceptional amount of swag she’d acquired.

Thomas spoke little, mostly in pointing out what, to him, seemed like overused clichés that were actually new and fashionable here in Equestria. Truth be told, while he kept his glamour ears perked forward, he had never much cared for cons. He’d tried a few and was disappointed with his own opinion that they were little better than overpriced malls with oversized toy sections. Cons simply weren’t his thing, but he kept that knowledge to himself. After all, as much as he would rather be lounging back at the castle, the happiness on his friends’ faces was not something he cared to jeopardize.

“No. Uh uh. No way,” Honey said and folded her arms over her chest. “Ain’t possible.”

“Except that this is the world of fiction, where literally anything is possible,” Silver countered.

“Still ain’t happenin’.”

“Now you’re just being stubborn. What’s so unbelievable about the Silver Streaker being a villain?”

“Uh, I don’t know. How about nearly a hundred different books showin’ him savin’ the day and knockin’ bad guy heads in?” Honey asked sarcastically.

Silver pursed her lips and took a breath. “He was eliminating the competition.”

“Oh, here we go!” Honey threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. “Ya’ll didn’t even know the guy existed yesterday. What gives you the right ta go ruinin’ his good name by callin’ him a villain?”

“Because you and how upset you are,” Thomas said plainly, surprising both mares. “It’s a marketing trick. If the status quo goes on for too long, sales tend to drop. So the company does something really big to shake things up and draw readers back in. Characters dying, switching sides, or even getting married are all popular tricks of the trade.”

“Indeed. Besides, Silver’s logic is sound,” Luna added as she flipped through the latest Silver Streaker comic until she found the desired page. “Look here. The item he’s picking up is clearly a communication crystal.”

Honey frowned as she examined the page. “So? It’s a crime scene. He’s gettin’ evidence.”

“That he does not immediately share with his compatriots?” Luna asked accusingly. “Had he done such a thing as a member of the Dream Walkers, or even the Dawn Breakers, he would be lucky to get off with no less than fifty lashes for his transgression!”

“Ow. Harsh,” Surprise said with a wince.

“I think I heard somepony say that the Justice Society is actually modeled after the Dawn Breakers, so he’d probably face the same punishment,” Moonlight said before glancing at Thomas. “Another order from the old days. Technically they’re contracted to the military, but they still take their orders directly from the crowns.”

“So basically Equestria’s always had super heroes?” Thomas asked.

“If what I am reading is any indicator, then yes,” agreed Luna as she went back to reading the comic. “The missions and group dynamics are quite reminiscent of the guilds of yesteryear. It was even common for those who dealt with the criminal element to wear masks and lurk in the shadows while many monster hunters tended to operate as more of a spectacle.” She then snapped a firm look back at Honey. “Which is precisely why the Streaker’s actions are unacceptable.”

“Ah’m tellin’ ya, Streaker ain’t a bad guy,” Honey said resolutely. “Ah’m sure he had a good reason ta take that crystal without tellin’ his buds.”

“Blackmail, mind control, imposter,” Thomas listed off. “Could even be a double from a parallel universe. That always throws everyone for a loop.”

Honey blinked and donned a thoughtful expression. “Ah guess he has been actin’ a little funny in recent issues. Keeps makin’ some purty sloppy mistakes.”

Silver gave a disappointed half grin. “That might make sense, but I still hope he’s actually turning traitor. That would make for better drama.”

“But wouldn’t that risk angering the audience too much?” asked Moonlight. “Building tension to draw in new readers is one thing, but I heard a lot of ponies stopped reading Daring Do because they thought the stunts she pulled in the later books were too unbelievable.”

The unintended reference to the season six episode got Thomas thinking. Daring Do was a real life secret agent who fought a real life villain. And if Equestria had always had super heroes, it made sense that the sort of monsters and villains depicted in comics would be similar to things that existed in real life. Thomas looked at Luna and she returned it with a nod.

“‘Twould not surprise me if the writers of these many books were in contact with real life counterparts of these characters. I can see a mutually beneficial business of the writers buying up and publishing stories while the heroes take in much needed supplements to their funds. Patronage from the nobility and stipends from the crowns can only go so far in keeping equipment maintained and secret lairs hidden.”

Thomas blinked. He hadn’t expected such a blatant admission, especially not in such a public venue.

“Don’t everypony know that already?” Honey asked. “Books like Fable Mable might be works o’ fiction, but Daring Do’s a real mare who goes on real life adventures.”

Silver chuckled. “I heard Dr. Cabelleron just filed another lawsuit at Yearling for defamation of character,” she said with air quotes. “As if that’ll stop the mare from recounting Daring’s exploits.”

Surprise pouted her lip in thought. “So if the Justice Society’s based on the Dawn Breakers, or some other group, would that mean there’s a real life Streaker doing something like this right now, or are the book writers just making stuff up for fun?”

Moonlight gave a thoughtful shrug. “If it’s real, the problem’s probably been resolved already and we’re just waiting on the artists to paint the pages. If it’s fiction, I’d wager Streaker is a character the writers made up themselves, that way they wouldn’t be defaming a real life service pony.”

Thomas chuckled as the others continued trading theories and rumors. Apparently this was yet another difference between the show and this world. Here, Daring Do being real was more of an open secret. The alter ego was probably a ploy to throw off fans so they wouldn’t interfere with the work the stories were based on. And then there were characters like Fable Mable and Little Moon, as he had learned, who were inspired from real life figures; in much the same way as South Park took inspiration from real life.

The admission that many fictional stories were just dramatizations of real life events left Thomas all the more confused about the nature of fiction. Some stories were real, others were mostly real, but how many were just random ideas someone thought would be cool to share? For that matter, if ponies were so accepting of a world where there were real life super heroes who fought villains and monsters, did that mean they’d also accept the story of his origin?

Something to think about later. After all, Thomas had never been the sort to needlessly rock the boat.

After lunch and another pit stop, which left Silver with a slight ache in her wing, the group continued their journey through the con. There were autograph booths, panels held by many writers, and the increasing absurdity of the cosplayers just having fun with one another. As predicted, Moonlight did indeed encounter a pony dressed as Golden Eye. They play-fought a little, but the more entertaining sight was watching Silver and Honey trying to hold Luna back; she’d initially mistook the acting for real conflict at first, calming only after the characters started shouting random one-liners at each other. They stopped by one of the writers’ panels where the mares and stallions talked about their motivation and inspiration to write and draw the stories in their books. To Thomas’ surprise, no one in the audience asked if the stories were real or not. He figured they either already knew, or were too dense to care.

Then, just as things seemed to be winding down for Ink Con’s evening run, Thomas spied a comic with a suspiciously familiar looking cover. The booth displaying it was one of the smaller ones, meaning it was likely new and didn’t have as much of a fan base yet. Upon the cover were six stallions, two from each tribe, with color pallets that were slightly jarring to look at, and a dragoness who looked to be in her mid-teens.

“This is meant to be sex swapped versions of Twilight Sparkle and her friends, right?”

The mare behind the booth blinked. “Impressive. You’re the first pony to get that without me having to spell it out.”

“It is?” Moonlight asked. She leaned in for a better look. “Oh, now I see it!”

Thomas’ normally neutral expression worked well in hiding his disappointment, both in Moonlight and the supposedly literate masses. “Looks like pretty professional work for a fanfiction,” he offered as he flipped through the first few pages. The art work really was great, and it wasn’t hard to get used to these new colors for the characters.

“That’s good to hear,” said the mare behind the booth. She stood up and offered her hand, which Thomas took. “Pastel Portrait. I’ve been an assistant writer on Justice Society and my friends and I are trying to start our own book. The Elements of Harmony are pretty underrated as far as heroes go, so I figured they’d make an ideal subject for stories.”

“You have no idea,” Thomas muttered under his breath as he continued to read. “From one struggling writer to another, I think I’ll buy this one.”

Pastel beamed and accepted only half the payment. “A discount for being the only pony around to not make me worry I’m being too subtle with the reference,” she explained.

“Best of luck,” Thomas said as he and the others left.

The remainder of the con was uneventful. They’d seen everything that there was to see at least twice over and many of the staff and guests were starting to pack up. Even the mock battles of cosplayers were growing fewer with increasingly less energy. Besides, Surprise’s costume was so packed with swag that she needed Honey’s support just to keep from falling over.

When they left the huddled masses, Thomas noticed that their departure was accompanied by several other ponies who, unlike the other exhausted and laughing cosplayers, looked suspiciously serious. “Someone needs to teach these guys the importance of smiling while under cover,” he observed.

“Dibs!” declared Surprise.

“We shall see,” laughed Luna and they boarded their carriage.

The ride back to the castle consisted mainly of recapping everything they had seen and done. Mostly they did so while providing commentary with their character voices. Thomas was relieved by the lack of odor he’d been warned about regarding cosplayers. However, was assured that their costumes were merely deluxe models, meaning the rank smells were being polite and patiently waiting for the spells containing them to be undone by the removal of the costumes. While practical, it all sounded a bit gross.

Thomas also took stock of just how casual and relaxed everyone was. Of particular interest were Surprise and Honey. As he and the other spoke, enthralling one another with their stories, Thomas couldn’t help but notice Surprise and Honey. Unlike when they first met, when it seemed like a force of effort just to keep eye contact with the Princess, the pair now seemed perfectly relaxed and comfortable in how they addressed each other and the harem. Maybe Luna’s glamour had something to do with it – after all, ponies were very visual creatures – but the pair was now trading jokes and teasing one another just like the rest of the harem.

This made Thomas smile for reasons other than Surprise’s latest gas giant joke. He liked these two a lot. Surprise was just too bubbly not to make those around her smile and Honey had a rustic charm that made her feel safe and reliable. The ‘L’ word was still a little out of reach at the moment, but he could feel it getting closer. He knew its arrival was all but inevitable at this point and, based on how happy everyone else looked, they likely felt the same.

Thomas slumped back in the carriage seat and felt the fake ears scrunch behind his head. Thinking about a future in which Honey and Surprise would join the short list of folks obligated to hang out with him for vocational reasons, the human gave a contented sigh. This was a future he was looking forward to.

I had three basic goals with this chapter. First was to pad things out before the official induction. I felt things were progressing too quickly and wanted to stretch it out. Second was to introduce the Dream Walkers. I’ve been reading a lot of Weedverse stories, which I recommend you all do as well. One of the things that makes these stories cool is all the different orders and agencies working to protect and maintain the world. I wanted me some of that and the Dream Walkers seemed to meet that need, as well as fill in the plot hole of what was protecting Equestria’s dreams while Luna was evil. I also dropped a few hints on a soft retcon of how I plan on explaining Luna’s fall. And thirdly, I just wanted a con story. A lot of people like them and it just seemed fitting to do such a story. It was a bit of a labor to think up all these different characters and backstories, but it was world building, which is always a treat to read and write.