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What's a Gary?

by Reykan

Chapter 1: Who's Donut Steel?

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Twilight Sparkle fidgeted nervously as she waited outside of the Castle of Friendship. The letter from Princess Celestia had been vague as usual but this time she was not allowed to bring any friends. Not even Spike was allowed to accompany her, though her mentor didn't mention why. All that she knew was that she should expect Princess Celestia's Sky chariot within the hour and that she would then join the Princess of the Sun to their destination.

She started pacing, running the letter over and over again in her head while attempting to judge the older mare's tone. Was she upset? Did Twilight mess something up? She wasn't getting an escort to Magic Kindergarten, was she? What if her studies had fallen behind and the Princess was coming to give her remedial lessons? How would that work? Twilight had never been in remedial classes!

Her pacing turning into a full-blown panic, complete with a few stray hairs sticking up at random points in her mane, she didn't hear the chariot landing. What she did hear was Celestia giggling at her...as well as at the rut Twilight was wearing into the ground.

"Twilight Sparkle," Celestia called, causing her one-time student to jump. "What have I told you about panicking over silly things?"

"Panicking? Me?" Twilight said, looking around in mock confusion. "I don't panic. I just, you know...overthink things."

A dainty eyebrow rose at the overly sincere smile the purple alicorn was giving her, but Celestia chose to dismiss it.

"Come along. There's something I need to take care of and living closer to the Everfree as you are, I may need you to take care of this in the future. In fact, I will be sending a chariot for just such a thing in the near future."

"Something you need to do?" Twilight asked. "In the Everfree?"

"The Everfree Forest is much larger than many ponies believe," Celestia said as the chariot took to the skies. "Big enough to hide many things from curious eyes. Hold your questions for now though. Some will be answered but I'm sure many more will arise when we arrive."

<-(0)->

Twilight's eyes were wide in shock as the chariot was making its final approach to a hidden city inside the deepest parts of the Everfree. Not just because of the existence of said city, but the fact that strange metal machines with rotors, much more advanced than Pinkie's own gyrocopter, that were escorting them to the landing pad. Her eyes were darting from place to place, trying and failing to understand what was going on. Dragons, changelings, alicorns, ponies, griffons, even the odd hybrid of various races wandered the streets or flew in designated lanes for winged traffic while on the ground walked even more creatures. There was even-

Twilight blinked, her eyes still hurting even as she looked away from the blue zebra with neon yellow stripes. She ignored Celestia's giggle at her expense and chose instead to focus on the buildings. Metal, stone, Crystal, a few tree houses. There were even a few that reminded her of the changeling hive.

"Amazing, isn't it? They built it all from scratch. Sure they'll send a few disguised ponies to Mareland every now and again for some specific things they want but for the most part they make everything they need and then some. This city's food production blows even full earth pony towns away."

"But why is it hidden?" Twilight asked, pulling herself up to the edge of the chariot. "Why don't we have anything like this stuff? These vehicles, the buildings, I just-"

"It's because Equestria is as poorly prepared to meet them as they are prepared to meet Equestria. Do you see all the races scattered through this town? Dragons, changelings, griffons. There are even alicorns here. They are young for the most part but even the youngest griffon would turn heads in Canterlot; if not from their race than because of their mannerisms. Here they are among their own. It is not the best solution and sometimes they wander, but they take friends who can keep them out of trouble. They also have enough skilled illusionists that an entire group from this city could wander through Ponyville and you'd never know it. Not that they ever go there."

"They avoid Ponyville? Why?"

"Because it would be too easy to interfere with your growth. Tell me Twilight, do you think you could have defeated Discord if you hadn't faced Nightmare Moon? What about Tirek? Each of your triumphs has built on the lessons you learned in the previous encounter. If there were dragons and alicorns defending us, you never would have made it this far. And these beings, some believe in aggressive defense. Defending oneself by removing threats. If they'd had their way, some would have attacked Discord."

Twilight nodded but a frown crossed her features. This was still big. The things that could be gained.

"I know you're far from convinced, Twilight, but you'll learn a bit more about these individuals while we're here. There's a new group gaining citizenship today, and I while Luna and I don't have to be here for it I try to at least make an appearance."

Before the purple mare could ask what the older alicorn meant by citizenships the chariot landed, dragging her from her train of thought. Instead she was forced to focus on the various individuals who met the chariot, both the armed escort as well as a few magi-technicians. She swallowed the questions for now, instead following her old mentor while taking in as much of the surrounding information as possible.

'All of them are completely at ease with the gyrocopters. Even the Earth pony. Tartarus, that one was even being piloted by a zebra. Normally the copters are either piloted by a unicorn or Pegasus. They also seem to favor technology, which is strange with so many unicorns and alicorns about. This just doesn't make sense.'

She stopped for a moment in surprise as a large green-scaled dragon pulled the propellers off of one of the copters and proceeded to remove the huge motor with ease.

'It's like they're all regular ponies.'

An alicorn passed by on her right as she followed Celestia, reading a book even as a gauntlet of cleaning tools sanitized the floor before him. A changeling was taking apart a machine much like those from the other side of the Mirror Portal, this one dispensing metal cans filled with strange drinks. Seeing her watch, he tossed one to her with a burst of magic.

'Mountain Dew?' She read, curiously popping the top. It was only written on the can, no where near the amount of decals the mirror world had on their products, but upon tasting it she realized it was one of those carbonated beverages that were gaining popularity in Equestria.

"They spent a lot of time synthesizing their favorite drinks," her mentor supplied. "Marking the cans properly would be a bit of a waste of supplies, so they just write the flavor on it. Then they smelt the can for reuse. Perhaps some time later one of them could give you a tour of their facilities."

Twilight found a smile working its way onto her face. New information was always something that brightened her day and judging by the high levels of techno-magic in the city there was plenty to learn.

Eventually the pair of alicorns were led to what looked like a simple town hall. The secretary, a unicorn with a shattered horn that was somehow still using magic directed them into the office before returning to her work, singing something about a spoonful of sugar. The question on her mind didn't last lo though, as she found herself face to face with another changeling that was the size of both Thorax and Chrysalis.

"Recon. A pleasure to see you again," Celestia greeted, identifying the changeling.

"Pleasure's mine, Princess. So you finally brought her? I was beginning to think you wouldn't let us have her."

Even as Twilight's jaw dropped in confusion Celestia scowled at the stallion.

"She is not a Mary Sue. She is a talented mare-"

"Whose talents just so happen to be so broad that any issue that comes up, she can deal with," Recon interrupted, his fanged smile leaving Twilight a little unsettled. "Face it, Princess. She's a Sue."

"We've discussed this before and you're not changing my mind," Celestia said firmly, a hint of a smile creeping onto her face. "If she wants to visit she is allowed to but she's not one of you."

"Bah, and here I'd already gotten it ready for her," Recon replied, levitating a few papers to Twilight. Reading a few of the forms, she realized what they were.

"Honorary citizenship for...Stewtopia? But I thought we were still in Equestria."

"It's a joke for the most part," Celestia said, shaking her head. "I give them citizenship in Equestria and it allows them to enter and leave as they need. As I said before, they sometimes like to explore the cities of Equestria for a change of pace. This removes that barrier. Seeing as the country we're in right now doesn't officially exist, it's not a duel citizenship either. It's...a complicated affair but you may sign if you like. I am considered more of an ambassador than a ruler. That position belongs to the stallion who set this place up."

"Not anymore. I've cut back on that. Got tired of looking after some thousand odd grown adults. I just watch out for the newbies now. Wind Scythe's the one in charge at the moment. Don't think it will last long though; he's still got the sparkles in his eyes when he talks about being in charge."

"Yes, it's not as fun as some make it out to be. Especially when you have an emergency at three in the morning the night after a party. I think that's the main reason I stopped drinking for a long time," Celestia giggled. "I shall speak with him later in that case. For now though, I'm here for the 'newbies' as you put it."

The massive changeling nodded and stood up from his desk, giving Twilight a full view of him for the first time. As she'd guessed the stallion was about the same size as Chrysalis, but heavier. Not fat, but he also didn't seem so raggedly skinny as the changeling queen.

"The introductory class will answer most of your questions, Twilight. Follow Recon. I need to make certain the papers are all in order before they finish the first day's class."

With that Celestia turned down a secondary hallway, heading to her destination with a certainty in her steps that spoke of familiarity. Not the same Twilight would see in Canterlot, where the princess was supposedly able to go anywhere from any place in the castle with her eyes closed, but it was still a familiarity.

"So what do you think of the city so far?" Recon asked, drawing her attention back to the changeling.

"It's...different. I don't know how I feel about it."

"Confused, maybe a hint of excitement at the prospect of new technologies?" He asked.

Twilight blinked, looking to the grinning male before sighing.

'Right, changelings'.

"I guess so. The idea that so many live in the most dangerous forest in the country is a little mind boggling. Even more so is the fact that so many of you are completely at ease around one another."

"It has to do with a common background. A lot of it will be explained in the class as Tia said. The rest we'll answer on the tour."

<-(0)->

The classroom she was brought to was full of more of the same beings she witnessed outside. Neon ponies, alicorns, dragons, scarred griffons. All of them sitting patiently at desks that were enchanted to size to their user. The moment she followed the changeling into the room though, every eye was on her. Widespread recognition was an obvious reaction but the surprise on some of their faces confused her. Taking a seat, she bumped hooves with the black shelled and red striped zebra-changeling hybrid beside her and pulled out a few scrolls, her ink, and a quill.

"Afternoon. I'd like to welcome you all to Equestria 101. Yes, as most of you have figured out, we're no longer on Earth. If the new forms didn't give it away, the magic in the air would have. For those particularly stubborn cases, we'll even have globes available later on as well as a trip to the moon if you're a pain in the ass. They can be requested after the class for a few weeks before we'll charge for them, so I suggest asking for one. Yes, we'll charge for the trip to the moon. It's not a punishment if you enjoy the view."

"My name's Recon. I know that most of you have been advised against choosing a name so far and here's why; Once you say 'My name is,' that's your name as far as this planet is concerned. As cool as Doomwing Bloodhammer sounds right now, you'll probably grow out of it and that's a bit of a mouthful for an introduction. It also means that for the rest of you're life everyone's going to know how edgy you were when you first got here. In about an hour we'll go over names and local naming conventions, giving everyone a chance to choose a localized name if they want. It's also completely fine to keep your old one. Chris is one such individual, and he'll be the flight instructor for those of you with wings. Yes, he can teach you all, even the ones with changeling wings. He's studied flight since the moment he arrived and he loves every minute of it; don't be surprised if he starts talking about the science and magic behind it and don't be afraid to bop him on the head if he gets too out there.

"Magic classes will be run by Clay Potter," Recon continued, earning a few chuckles from the class. "Yes, go ahead and get the chuckles out of your system now because if you try to make those jokes in class he can and will use that same magic he'll be teaching you against you. I don't care what anyone told you on Earth, you can turn people into frogs with friendship."

Another round of chuckles, this one not as notable passed through the crowd.

"Cultivation will be available if you'd like to learn in but it's not exactly a priority right now. We have three alicorns who's dreams were to farm or learn magical botany. Until they get tired of it we've got plenty of food, and they're working all the time to increase yields. Shape shifting is a bit trickier and there are several teachers for it depending on how pure the changeling blood is in your system. If you're not a pure-blood your transformations wont be as complete, leaving you as more of a Star Wars changeling. You can change your facial features and skin or fur color, but size and shape are very difficult to alter if you can manage it at all.

"Finally we'll have diets as part of today's class. Many of you were already taught what you can and can't eat while you were relearning the basics like walking and talking, but it's always good to know what can hurt your new form. For instance, changelings don't really eat solid foods. We can, but the food is broken down into resin which we need to expel, kind of like vomiting but without the burn or the icky feeling afterwards. Diamond dogs are NOT allergic to chocolate no matter what you heard, and dragons are the closest thing to true omnivores that exist aside from slimes; they can eat plants, animals, and minerals. And yes, slimes exist. One slime actually works in the city dump, removing organic matter from the trash. She gets a kick out of the size change she goes through when absorbing all of that matter and we don't have to deal with a bunch of rotten waste in the dump."

"Before we get too far into the class I'm going to introduce our guest. Princess Twilight Sparkle is here to observe her first Citizenship Ceremony so she can preform them in the future. If we have time and she's up to it I'll let you lot give her a few questions after the class, but for now she's here to learn just as much as you are. Don't pester her, and I swear to God that if anyone propositions her I'll leave you to Luna's gentle ministrations...no, they aren't gentle. I think she has seven butts on her wall at the moment from males who tried being cute with her...and I think she has a mare's butt as well. You'd be surprised what you can live through when magic is involved."

"The first things we'll be going over is Geography of the planet. With a good portion of the individuals present being capable of flight and the possibility of a magical mishap stranding you in some God-forsaken jungle hundreds of miles away, knowing the layout of the world is much more important than it was back home. I also suggest keeping a map on you at all times, at least until you feel comfortable in your knowledge or even better, get one of these babies," the changeling said, raising a foreleg and showing a gem implanted into his foreleg. With a tap the gem flashed an orange glove-like construct over his hoof. A few more taps of several buttons that were on the glove and a topographical map of the Everfree Forest sprung to life from the gem and the stallion began moving it with his other hoof, changing the size or spinning it around even as a red blip remained in the center.

"I see I have everyone's attention now. Good, so here in the Everfree..."

<-(0)->

Twilight shivered. The room the class had been brought to in order to discuss names and choose one for themselves was completely warded from the planets magic to prevent premature conjoining of their names and bodies to the planets magical fields. On the plus side, she was learning more about names than she'd ever knew was possible. The dragons in the class were trending towards elements, many high energy like fire or lightning but a few were using a strange and forceful language to name themselves, once more to the amusement of their comrades.

It was something she'd realized soon after she'd arrived in the class. As she'd suspected, all of the creatures were friendly to one another, or at least respectful. The reasoning for that was their common history, a previous existence as another race that existed on another world. Each was adapting to a new form and new rules, meaning that each knew what the other was going through, or at least had an idea of what they were experiencing.

There were still outliers, those who sat on their own and grumbled or growled whenever somepony tried to get near them. One such outlier had chosen the name Shadowflame, an odd name for an blue and yellow Pegasus mare. She wouldn't be dissuaded.

Eventually the group was lead through the halls to a large hall. Standing on the far side of the room was her mentor, smiling brightly at the approaching group. To her side was a large griffon, an odd worn out sweater jacket with a hood over his back.

"Greetings, gentlefolk. I welcome you to Equestria, and Equis in general," Princess Celestia began. "I know the change was sudden and, for some of you, traumatizing. You are not alone though. Nearly every living being in this city has faced a similar situation and will gladly speak with you when you wish. For now, let us begin the Naming. Step forward, and claim your name. When you are finished, I will be giving you a temporary citizenship in Equestria. It will be up to you whether it becomes full fledged citizenship or is denied in the future. Follow our laws, and you will be welcome in our land. Or do not, and stay here. The Everfree is vast after all. Plenty of your kind have decided on the life of a hermit. Many find it comfortable, even. The choice is yours in the end. Will the first being step forward? Starting from my right, your left."


"An odd thing, isn't it?" Recon said as a dragon claimed his name, the echoing of his voice filling the chamber. "It's difficult to keep them from using names at first. Sometimes we can't, though we offer a way to reform the connection later if they accidentally claim a name before we find them. It's tricky though, and can be dangerous and time consuming if done incorrectly. It's why we've experimented quite heavily with anti-magic. It keeps us from harming the rest of the world if there's a mistake..."

"Anti-magic...I've never so much as seen a pony think about it. Yet you had an entire room dedicated to cutting off one's magic. Why?"

"It's safer. That and it doesn't remove magic from you, which would be lethal to many species here, but just slows or interferes with the interactions between various magic fields. In the case of that room from earlier, it means that we can discuss names without the planet's magic field latching onto one and assigning it to a person. It's not something your teachers ever tell you, but there is a bit of name magic in this world."

"Name magic was dismissed over two hundred years ago by Clover the Cle-"

"Twilight Sparkle, touch your nose."

The purple alicorn blinked, finding her hoof on her nose before she could even finish listening to his words.

"That's not the same, you used your magic to move my hoof!"

"My magic only reinforced my words, it didn't push your hoof. It's weak though, and tends to wear off in a few seconds. Not something that can be used reliably but it can be used in a pinch. Telling your opponent to lean right in a fight can throw them off, leaving them open to an attack if they don't expect it. If they do anticipate the move you're wasting your breath and your magic."

"We've come far, Twilight, but we also know just what can happen if something goes wrong. I have changelings working everywhere watching for any strain, keeping people calm or reporting a particularly stressed individual well before anything can unfold into a tragedy."

"Isn't that a little...invasive?" Twilight asked.

"A lot of these people are capable of throwing a car without much effort. I talk to a psychologist every month or so and encourage others to do the same. If nothing else it allows us to vent. The issue is some of these people don't even do that. It worries me, and its one of the things I fear at night. If someone here cracks, they could easily find a way to split the planet in half. So yes, Twilight. It is invasive. But I don't worry as much for the mortal people here. I encourage them to make a new life, certainly, but not a lot of them live long enough to be able to handle that kind of power. Those who do take well to magic or energy manipulation are given special focus though. Individuals like yourself."

"What?"

"You have quite a bit of power, Twilight. If it wasn't for the fact you were so afraid of it, I'd be a bit more worried. As it stands though, you're both out of my jurisdiction and beyond me in pure strength...though I will say, it's my opinion that if I'm in a fair fight with someone I've made a horrible mistake."

"I don't play fair, Twilight. Nobody here will if there are lives on the line. That means that I have to trust those around me to watch my back. For some of us, that's not a simple thing to do. Earth relied on Survival of the Fittest. Here its not that big of a deal; we have food, water, shelter, all of it fairly easy to acquire. Heck, in some cases one would think Equis itself was providing us with these things. Sometimes it takes time for us to adapt to these changes. Sometimes it takes longer to adapt than it should."

"And have you adapted?" Twilight asked, a bit of worry tinting her tone.

"It's a work in progress," Recon said with a chuckle. "Come on, we're going to be doing the tour of the city."

<-(0)->

The city was a vast and wondrous thing to behold. Many of the buildings had been shaped by their owners magic or with the help of others, following a plan written out by the owner. The residential area was a work of art, some more refined than others of course. It was when the changeling led them towards the walled off industrial district that things took a turn for the strange.

"I'm certain some of you will end up over here. We try to match talents and what people enjoy to their jobs but sometimes its not possible. In that case we have clubs, bars, game hubs, and all sorts of things to entertain oneself with scattered all over the residential area. You'll be living in the barracks for a bit longer though, just until you're comfortable with your form. For those of you interested in battle and getting your adrenaline in, we have the guard and the Lightning Rescue teams. For those of you more interested in pursuing technological improvements or magical development, you can submit ideas to the scientific community and will either get some help as well as a few permanent researchers helping you with your idea or you can do your research on your own. We do have rules about certain researches being done in the residential area, most of which boil down to 'Don't do it there, rent a room in the research area.' It's bad manners to work on volatile materials and energies when your neighbors are sleeping."

A claw was raised, the griffon it was attached to asking a question that Twilight couldn't make out due to her current place in the crowd.

"He asked if anyone had tried necromancy or zombie plagues. To put it bluntly, yes. We had two zombie outbreaks, mostly though it was corpses the researcher acquired through shady means. Either he went out and dug them up himself from a graveyard, or he created them from animals that live in the surrounding area. We have several contingency plans for such a thing though, so we only had a few casualties. I think we lost three people to the first one and one to the second. That one death was the researcher himself. Considering a single touch would spread the second disease, I think we did quite well."

"We had someone attempt to create The Flood, The Plague of Undeath, X parasites...you name it, we've had some idiot try it. Most of the time we don't manage to save the researcher, but if you make something like that your life is no longer a priority. Containment is. I don't speak alone when I say that a lot of us appreciate this second chance. We're not going to let an idiot bugger it up for us.

"It sounds harsh but its how we live. Even those who live out in the Everfree Forest by themselves are subject to our research laws though. That's a relatively new rule, about five years old. Anyone take a guess at the reason?"

Several limbs were raised, several nudges passing between the group and one was even looking at her with a knowing grin.

"You?"

"They were doing something they weren't supposed to be doing?"

"Safe answer, I like it," Recon said. "The individual in question was studying necromancy. This in and of itself doesn't bother me. There are several things you can learn safely about the subject, like easing pain, reversing damage, even leeching magic out of the air to replenish your own stores. This alicorn though, decided he would drain the entire planets magic field into himself. Including the magic of those living here."

The stallion raised a foreleg, tapping the embedded gem in his leg once more and bringing up a picture of the forest with a giant black spot in the center.

"The Everfree reacted violently. Animals were going berserk, Hydras were flailing about even when they were completely alone. Timberwolves tore each other to shreds, reformed, and went at it again. It took some of our most skilled mages to manufacture a void-field so that we could even get close. After we had that up though we found him and removed the threat."

"Y-you killed him?" Twilight asked.

"We had no way to safely contain him and his abilities were causing problems even in Zebrica. Animals attacking their owners, the weather acting wonky. It was called the Week of Madness. I'm sure you've heard of it. Even after he was killed his magic was still running its course. This section of the Everfree is still dead to this day.

"Magic. Is. Dangerous. It can be nice, but seeing as many of you have experience with electricity I'll say the same rules apply. Learn about it or use it in ways you're instructed to or you could get burned. In this case though it wont just be your body that's damaged. Improper magical use can and will damage your very soul. At that point no amount of healing or care will help you. I suggest you take advantage of the provided books and look up magical accidents. We keep a record of them and it could save you all a painful experience."


The mood was a bit somber after the explenations of magic and the consequences of its abuse. To Twilights surprise though, the changeling stallion himself perked up as they approached a few large lots. The first one had a crystal dome with smoke billowing from the top. The second was a large walled off field.

"You guys will like this. I said before that we like to keep people in fields they find enjoyable. That includes even weird things like this. I'm going to introduce you to someone who's a bit...off. She's still happy though, and she gets to do what she enjoys."

The tour group walked into the crystal dome and Twilight immediately was assailed by the intense heat. Many of the beings were coughing or shifting, unprepared for the sudden temperature change. The changeling led them to a large viewing window, gesturing for everyone to take a look.


"Burn! Burn it all! Ah-hahahaha!"

An alicorn mare was in the dome, with a pelt that matched the molten metal surrounding her while her mane seemed to flicker with barely contained heat. She was throwing intense flames all about and turning metal heaps into molten puddles, all while drawing immense pleasure from the activity. She kept the metals separate, but that was the end of her concern for their existence. The moment it was in place, she bathed it in flames so intense that the temperature in the viewing area was affected.

"Smile, Solar Storm!" Recon shouted into a glowing crystal that transmitted his voice into the chamber. "You have an audience!"

The mare turned around quick as a whip, looking to the viewing area and waving happily.

"Hey everyone! I hope you're enjoying the tour and look forward to seeing some of you later. I'm one of the hostesses so I'll be taking a few of the females around town later on. And don't worry, I have over twenty years of experience with controlling my powers. I only let it loose in here."

The mare stepped closer to the window, allowing a good bit of her magic to fade and causing her bright yellow and white fur to fade a bit.

"Some of you will probably need to keep the magic restricting bands for a bit longer than others but don't be discouraged. I melted my house one time during a tantrum I threw when I thought I was good enough to go without it. It's for your safety as much as it is for ours."

"Once Storm was able to sit on a wooden chair without it smoldering we started looking for a way to put her tendencies to use. A living forge was as good as any, and she gets to burn things for a living," Recon explained, earing a raspberry from the rapidly cooling alicorn. "We feed her Mountain Dew and Doritos, and she produces enough rage to keep our metal refineries supplied with a good supply of molten metal. Just like the gamers back home."

"Take care everyone!" Solar Storm said, waving as Recon started to move to the exit. "And say hi to Pinkie for me!"

"You know Pinkie Pie? Twilight asked into the crystal, unable to stop herself.

Storm turned back to her with a grin.

"Princess, everyone knows Pinkie."

<-(0)->

By the end of the tour Twilight Sparkle was merely nodding along and taking notes. So many bizarre characters, so many odd contraptions, she almost couldn't keep track of it all even with a physical set of notes that she was writing as she went. She wasn't sure how the actual ponies who were going to be living here were going to keep track of everything.

"Last stop on our grand tour is the guard's training area. The main field is for anyone's use except for the posted hours when drills are being run. It's also where we hold a few competitions. As you can see, we're not the only one's who need to blow off some steam."

Twilight looked up from her notes, her eyes bugging out as she caught sight of the individuals in the field. One was steel grey scaled dragon with emerald eyes. The other was a blue alicorn mare who currently had the dragon, that was about twice her size, in a headlock.

"Yield, and We shall consider releasing thee!"

The dragon began furiously tapping on the lunar princesses foreleg and she accepted the yield. The gathered beings began cheering and laughing, a round of applause drawing a bow from Luna.

"Anypony else? We have barely begun to sate our appetite for competition! Surely there is another who wishes to test their mettle against us?"

Twilight could only stare in shock as several limbs rose in challenge, the zebra with a whistle around his neck pointing to a single changeling and waving him forward.

"The world's gone mad."

<-(0)->

At long last the tour was over and the group was led to a small room where party decorations littered the area. Pinkie fired her confetti cannon, welcoming the newcomers to Stewtopia. It actually didn't surprise her as much as it should have. After the smoldering alicorn's words from earlier, not to mention the fact that Pinkie was generally well known around Equestria even before the Elements of Harmony thing, it was kind of obvious.

"Hiya Twilight! Did Princess Celestia finally send you here too? Recon and Wind Scythe were both talking about it, in fact I know I've heard a lot of them talking about it. Some sound like their joking but others I can't be too sure. I bet you learned a lot today, huh? I actually based my Pinkie-copter off of those neato things they use. Theirs are faster though. I still can't get the parts to build an actual engine and Princess Celestia wont let me buy one here."

"You seem tired, Twilight," Celestia's voice called to her, interrupting her thoughts.

"Hello Pr-Celestia. I...I don't know what to think. So much of it is just..."

"It takes some getting used to, certainly. On the other hoof, it leaves Luna and I with some free time every now and again. Some of the changeling queens here will take our place every now and again while we go to the beach, and we have a few alicorns here who take over for us on occasion with raising the heavenly bodies. It's not as easy for them as it is for Luna and I, but they manage it if they work together. Its nice to sleep in every now and again."

The white alicorn mare giggled daintily as Luna trotted in, her fur matted with sweat and a large grin on her face.

"It also give Luna a chance to get out and vent."

"Twilight, tis a pleasure to see you again!" Luna bellowed as she approached the table. "We were told you were given 'The Tour.' A fine civilization, is it not? So many wondrous things, we have found ourselves particularly appreciative of these sweet caffeinated beverages. They are just the thing after a long court!"

"Luna, those are terrible for you. You know that," Celestia chided.

"Fie, we find them delicious. You have your cake, do you not? Allow us our vice."

The three alicorns sat at the table quietly for a few moments even as the party continued around them, Celestia with a slice of cake, Luna quietly sipping from a metal can, and Twilight resting her head on a scroll. Celestia's eyes twinkled for a moment and she turned conspiratorially to her sister.

"You know, one of the things Wind Scythe brought up was a request to change the name of the city. Somepony brought up the topic, and another immediately gave an answer."

"And what, pray tell, did the pony request?" Luna asked, her ears perking in curiosity.

"Stew-S-A, a play on a country of their home world, the USA. Another immediately suggested Stew-K. A third offered Australia."

Luna snorted.

"Let me guess, one from the country suggested it."

"Oddly enough it was one from the United States that suggested it. A good amount of the ponies liked it though. Said that since the Everfree is the Australia of Equestria it was perfect."

"A place filled with all sorts of poisonous, venomous, and dangerous creatures reminds some of them of home?" Luna asked, laughing at the absurdity of the idea.

"Indeed. They couldn't get enough ponies to agree on a new name though, so it is staying Stewtopia. It may change in the future but for now it works. Some also just call it what it is."

"And what is it they call it, Princess?" Twilight asked.

Celestia smiled brightly, looking at the strange collection of creatures gathered together.

"They call it home."

Next Chapter: Vacations Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 21 Minutes
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