Applejack gargled and spit once more, as I brushed my teeth for the fourth time. She and I had stood and took our punishment. I was really surprised that the apple pony had not complained once. Even I had grumbled under my breath some. I found myself glancing over at her in the mirror above the sink we stood in front of.

“AJ, I just want to say... thank you.”

She glanced up at me and gave a nod of her head. “Ya took yer sentence like a proper stallion, Shane, ya done the Apple family proud and that ain’t nothing to sneeze at. Heck, far as ah am concerned, you are one of us now. Ya took yer lumps after we put our name behind ya, that there is a lot more than a lot of families will do for each other.”

I spit out the water I rinsed out my mouth with, glancing back down at the belly-height orange mare. “Still, I am honored, and I will try my best to live up to your faith in me.”

She chuckled. “You just watch that mouth of yers around Apple Bloom, an you mind yourself around Granny Smith. She will box your ear good if she hears ya cursin'."

I gave a nod. “Yes, ma’am. So, on that subject, where will I be staying?”

She grinned as she slid her stetson on. “You will see, partner.”

We were cut off by a knock on the outer door. I poked my head out of the bathroom to see Golden opening it up and speak to the guard on the other side, then turning back to look at me. “Shane, you have a visitor. You up for one?”

Blinking, I glanced back at Applejack, then to Golden and shrugged my shoulders. “Sure, why not.”

In walked a white unicorn with a cobalt mane. He was a taller stallion, not quite Big Macintosh sized, but around Shining Armor’s height, his mane styled around his ears with a part down the middle, and he had a little mustache matching his mane's hue. On his front half, he wore what I would call a formal suit, leaving his rear half and his cutie mark of three crowns exposed.

AJ next to me spoke up. “Sir Fancy Pants, why imagine meeting you here.”

I glanced down at her and back to the stallion as the door closed behind him. I had caught something I had missed in my first glance, he had a monocle on his left eye.

“Lady Apple, a pleasure as always,” observing him bow lightly to her.

“Ah, shoot, don’t you go starting that now, ah ain’t one for all that stuff, and neither is the Apple family.”

I watched him smile and give a nod. “I suspect once Miss Rarity Belle hears of what transpired, you will not hear the end of it, Miss Applejack.”

I glanced back down at Applejack to see her blushing and scuff the floor with her hoof. “Yeah, ah know. Anyways, let me introduce ya. Shane, this here is Sir Fancy Pants. Fancy, this here is Shane McDonald.”

I gave a light dip of my head respectfully. “Sir," I paused "you are a knight?”

He smiled genuinely. “Quite, but I am afraid my days of gallivanting about with the guard are in my past now. I serve the crown as I can. For princess and country, right?”

I again bowed my head a bit more. “Still, it is a pleasure to meet you, Sir Fancy Pants.”

He lifted his hoof up. “Please, just Fancy is just fine, Shane, and it is a pleasure to meet you, as well. I must admit, when I first saw you, I did not know what to think. Then news of your... altercation with prince Blueblood came to me, so, I wanted to see just what kind of stallion you were.”

I frowned some. Was this guy one of Blueblood’s supporters?

Almost as if he was reading my mind, his face lit up in a smile. The unicorn let off a warm, genuine, but very proper chuckle.

“That look tells me all I needed to know about you, sir. We among the Knights of Equestria have long known of the prince’s poor stance among the common pony. We discussed this very thing after your trial, and it is agreed. You took your punishment on the chin... even if it was a bit of an odd one. You will find none among the Knights or the Guard who have fault with you, sir.”

He shook his head. “Truly Blue’s actions have brought shame on the crown and the noble houses. “

I gave a nod once more at that. “Pardon my bluntness, sir, but what brings you to talk in private with me?”

He smiled a bit, shades of the very smile a particular white alicorn gives. “Observant and direct, Miss Applejack, he will fit in quite well among your clan,” looking back at me. “A warning, while most of the noble houses abhor Blue and his actions. A few support his house, and may have taken... issue, with you.”

Glancing out of the corner of my eye at AJ who had her jaw set tight now, I looked back to him and gave a slight nod. “I would have been surprised if that wasn’t the case. Thank you, Fancy, I am glad to have the information, and to know most are in my corner on this. It seems pony kind isn’t immune to politics after all.”

He laughed a warm, light laugh, but it was not a forced one. “Oh, Shane, my new friend, you have no clue. This is Canterlot, it is said the very foundation is built on politics, backroom deals, and bribes,” shaking his head as he spoke.

Great.

---

Twilight had bought me a gift of a travel bag for the new clothing I had, the rest of my things were packed in my backpack. The shotgun and my pistol both were being carried in a locked chest Celestia had provided and watched over by four of purple-armored Twilight Guard.

So there I stood on the train station platform with Applejack, Twilight, Golden, Cortland, and the four guards. A handful of looks were tossed our way, and it was hard to tell if it was due to the fact that I towered over everyone, or because a princess was there, too.

“Four o’clock for Ponyville, Crystal Empire, and all stops between is arriving on track one. Boarding will be from platform one. Please remain behind the yellow line for your safety until all doors are opened and passengers offload.”

I glanced up in the direction I heard the noise coming from, only to see… Okay, look, I get it, I am stuck in a world of technicolor ponies who are almost all happy and friendly. However, what the hell is that thing?!

What I witnessed gradually slowing looked to be a classic steam engine that looked as if someone—or somepony—let a four year old paint and only provided them colors from Candyland.

“You have got to be joking,” I muttered.

Twilight looked up. “What is wrong, Shane?”

One eyebrow lifted and I looked down at her. “Other than the train pulling in looks like someone ate rainbow sherbet and then lost it all over the cars and engine?”

She snorted. “Somepony, and what is wrong with it? It is friendly and festive.”

Pick your battles, Shane, pick your battles, and this is one you let go of. That decided, I turned and picked up my bag in preparation of the doors opening, half ignoring Twilight and the fact Applejack was chuckling quietly under her breath.

As the train came to a stop, conductors opened up the doors and set down ramps for ponies to walk across. The first one out of the car in front of us, just about bumped into me. The earth pony must have been early teens if anything. She looked up, blinked, then screamed!

I staggered back a few paces as she continued to scream at the top of her lungs, grabbing the attention of tons more at the station and disembarking the train. Cortland stepped forward between her and myself, only to find her plastered to his legs.

“Monster!” she screeched.

I remained very quiet, but both Twilight and AJ had their ears pinned back. Cortland shook his head at the filly on the cusp of adulthood.

“Little miss, that is no monster, that is Shane McDonald, a human who is a guest of Princess Twilight herself,” giving a gesture to the purple alicorn.

She blinked and, while still shivering, relaxed a tiny bit. “H-he won’t hurt anypony?”

I breathed out and figured time to speak up for myself. “Ma’am, I am not one to hurt someone, sorry somepony, unless they are trying to hurt another and need to be stopped.”

Her head cocked, just as an older stallion behind her nudged her. “You see, Red Ruby, he is a good pony,” I caught the stallion's wink at me. Must be that he had read the papers.

She relaxed more and looked back at the stallion, then back at me. “S-sorry I screamed in your face, Mr. McDonald. I just... never saw somepony like you before.”

I smiled back to her. “It’s quite all right, Red Ruby, now you and your... father? Enjoy Canterlot,” spotting a nod from him as they walked past.

Twilight nudged me ever so gently. “Good job. Come on, we are in the royal carriage,” she gestured.

Well, I can’t complain too much, we had a whole car to ourselves. The train wasn’t a bad ride, not loud, and I couldn't smell coal or diesel fumes. I glanced over at the alicorn who was reading.

“Twilight, curious, what does the train run on. Like, what heats up the water in the boiler to power the pistons?”

She lifted her head and smiled, using her soft purple magic to lift the book up and set it back down. “Magic. They use flame spells to keep heat going. No waste and no pollution, like the big factories in Stalliongrad.

I leaned back on the pad behind me. I had to sit on the floor, back against a bench, simply because they just were not designed for a human. I pondered that magic makes one wonder what leaps in technology mankind could have developed with if we possessed it. Perhaps the whole industrial revolution would have been a green movement, too.

---

The sun was just starting to set as we pulled into Ponyville. I yawned, having taken a little nap and looked out at the platform. I should have known, no, really I should have. I should have warned that pink menace, but nooo, I had to go and forget about her for a moment. Yeah, that is the moment she gets you.

There she was, face squished to the window, and from what I could see half the town behind her. Even through the glass I could hear her scream.

“WELCOME TO PONYVILLE, SHANE!”

I muttered, leaned away from the window. “May I take everything back and elect to get locked up?”

AJ snorted, and Twilight shook her head. “Shane, Pinkie means no harm. Just, try to be graceful about it, okay?”

I looked down at her as I slid my pack on. “Yeah, okay, I know she doesn’t do it to bother others, just... someone needs to feed that mare a case of ritalin.”

Applejack looked up at me. “What is that?”

I shook my head. “Never mind, bad joke. Come on, walk me to the gallows.”

I think Twilight was in danger of damaging her optical muscles she rolled her eyes so hard. I did hear Golden whisper to Cortland behind me. “Why would he think he is going to the gallows—uh, what are gallows?”

I tuned out that conversation as I stepped out with Applejack at my side. A great cheer went up from the forty or fifty ponies gathered around. Looking around, I started to catch little things. The banner had my name on it, and a shape that looked far too much like Texas to be coincidence. Looking over at the tables of food, the cake was done in the colors of Texas A&M. There were even streamers with little Texas Ranger stars printed on them. As I took it all in, my mind shattered a little bit.

“Pinkie, how…”

Pronking around me, she shrugged mid bounce and came to a stop. “Stop muttering, Shane! Don’t be a mutterer, now, enjoy the party!”

I looked back down at Applejack who just shook her head “Don’t, just... don’t, Shane.”

Exhaling, I gave a nod and walked down off the platform to begin meeting ponies. Some I recognized almost right away. The rather portly, but in all the right ways Mrs. Cake with the string-bean of a husband. They each had a little foal on their back as they tended to the tables and helped folks out.

A tan mare with stately glasses strolled up and gave me a little smile. “Welcome to Ponyville, Mr. McDonald. I am told you will be staying with the Apples. Please, allow me to introduce myself. Ivory Scroll, but most call me Mayor Mare,” as she offered up her hoof to me.

I leaned down some and gently shook it, seeing no fear at all in her eyes. “I... thank you ma’am, but, I guess... well, I expected more folks to be less... outgoing with me.”

She shook her head. “Your reputation precedes you, Mr. McDonald. Most of the town, and likely most of Equestria knows of your trial, what transpired, and just who you are now.”

I was just about to respond when a voice called out. “Lady Applejack!” Oh, oh, this will be fun. I turned to see Rarity making a beeline for AJ who was doing her best to hide behind Twilight. Said princess wore a smirk, and stepped out of the way leaving the orange mare wide open. So it looks like Twilight learned the lesson of how to troll from Celestia.

I grinned and whispered to the mayor. “The show just started,” I muttered, spotting a grin grow on her muzzle, followed by a nod. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted Pinkie sitting next to a light purple unicorn with blue-green accents in her dark purple mane. Both had a large bag of popcorn sitting between them.