Author's Notes:

Wow! The number of comments has officially passed the number of views!
Yeah! Here's another chapter to celebrate!
(and remember, another extra chapter at the 700 likes mark)

Horrified, Castor stared at the badge on the desk in from of him. He had only thought things couldn’t get worse. There went all hope he had that he could return to his pedestrian job as Detective Inspector at the Surrey Police Department. He looked back up at Sir Patrick Jeremy Walker, Director General of M.I.5, who was leaning back in his chair behind his desk, his hands steepled in front of him.

After Sunday’s meeting had broken up, he had expected that today, Monday, would be spent in his office working on all the files he hadn’t finished Friday. Instead, there had been a message waiting for him to go to the Thames House in London, immediately. He had assumed it was for a further debriefing.

What the Detective Inspector hadn’t expected was for the head of M.I. 5 to say, “Pursuant to your activation in the S.A.S., you have been transferred to Military Intelligence Department Five. Here is your badge.” He had then dropped a leather badge-wallet on his desk, opened, with the appropriate identification card and security clearances listed for Searle.

“You are to report directly to me, or my secretary if I am unavailable. Your assignment is to watch over and safeguard the Equestrians.” He paused. “You are not James Bond. You are not spying on them. You are their Concierge. You are to expedite any requests the Equestrians may have. If they want something done, do it, as long as it does not endanger the United Kingdom or any of our allies. If someone has a problem with the Equestrians, you will handle it for them.

“You are expected to deliver, daily, a written or verbal summary of your activities with the Equestrians, as well as any issues you think we should know about. If they ask you to keep a secret, you may do so unless you feel it conflicts with the security interests of the United Kingdom. You will inform them of any such conflicts, unless you think doing so would put yourself in physical danger.

“Use your discretion!

“We want them to trust us, to want to trade with us. Anything you can do to foster that relationship? Do it — as long as it is legal. If you need to talk with a lawyer to determine that, my secretary can direct you to someone on the department’s legal team.

“I want to be clear on this. Your assignment is to be as helpful as possible to them. You are not, however, empowered to circumvent or break the law. If they have a request that you cannot fulfil, bring it to me. If I can’t do it, I will take it to the Prime Minister.”

He leaned forward to stare at Castor. “This is an extremely important assignment, as I’m sure you know. The Equestrians seem comfortable with you. While others have more training, there’s no guarantee that whomever we send over would be acceptable to them.

“Naturally, you will receive an upgrade in pay.” He sighed. “You can, of course, refuse.”

He sat back and waited.

Castor was stuck. No bloody way could he refuse. He had been re-activated. If he said, “no,” he might find himself sent into training for the next six months in some place he couldn’t pronounce the name of — just to make sure he didn’t talk about what he knew of the aliens.

On the other hand, it wasn’t as if this was some terrible imposition. His hours wouldn’t be any more irregular than they were now — police cases rarely worked on a nine-to-five schedule. And the Equestrians were rather nice people, and very adorable and cute ponies. He could think of much worse assignments. Plus, the increase in pay would be nice, too. And seeing a new world might be fun. And, after all, it couldn’t get much worse than it already was, now could it?

He smiled at the Director General and picked the badge-wallet up off the desk. “I would be a fool to say ‘no,’ sir.

“Excellent!” said Walker as he stood up and extended his hand. “Welcome to the Department.” He tapped a button on the intercom on his desk, “James Wootton, my secretary, will show you to your office and help you get settled in. He’ll also set up the paperwork for the Surrey Police to let them know you were ‘poached’ by Scotland Yard, and to give you a week to get your affairs in Surrey in order.” He paused a moment. “Oh, yes, you will officially keep your rank as Detective Inspector.”

“He’ll also brief you on what to say to the Equestrians regarding their request for an Embassy, and supply any necessary materials.”

“Princess Twilight Sparkle, Prince Blueblood, Lady Rarity, Lady Applejack, Lady Rainbow Dash, Lady Fluttershy, Lady Pinkie Pie, Detective Inspector Castor Searle is here,” Miss Arrow said as she conducted him into the sitting-room, with a chorus of “Hellos” and “Hi’s.” The Princess was standing by the fireplace, slightly swaying as she shifted her balance from foot to foot. The others were seated either in an armchair, on the couch, or peeking from behind it in the case of the woman with the bright-pink hair.

It was the day after his “promotion.” And a very taxing day it had been as Wootton had been extremely thorough in bringing Castor up-to-date on the rules and regulations he now had to follow. As well as briefing him on what the department expected from him in the way of reports. Just what he needed, more paperwork.

“Good afternoon, your Highnesses, Ladies,” he said bowing. He nodded to the solicitor standing to one side. “As I mentioned when I called yesterday, I have some good news for you, and a few questions, if you don’t mind.”

They watched him intently.

“First, the Prime Minister, on behalf of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, and Defender of the Faith, is more than pleased to grant your request for an Embassy.”

The Princess began hopping up and down excitedly. “Yes! I knew this would work! Yes! Yes!” Lady Pinkie Pie was waving a flag that said “Hurray!” and throwing confetti everywhere. The other ponies seemed similarly pleased. The Prince sighed and rolled his eyes at the other’s antics.

Castor made a mental note to bring over a fashion expert to explain a few facts about undergarments, and why women chose to wear them.

“Because you do not yet have a chancery, a building of your own,” he continued once the others had managed to quiet down the excitable Princess, “the Prime Minister is offering you the use of a three-room office suite in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office on King Charles Street in London, if you wish, until such a time as you complete the construction of one here in Little Whinging on the land you have purchased, or purchase a building elsewhere to suit your needs. Whatever your decision regarding the placement of your Embassy, the land you have purchased here in Little Whinging will be considered Equestrian soil under your diplomatic control.

“The government will supply you with a car and driver to transport you to and from your temporary office at Foreign & Commonwealth Office, should you decide to avail yourself of that offer, at your convenience, as well as any other assistance you might require.”

He nodded towards the window, through which a Landrover limousine could be seen parked in the street, the driver apparently reading a newspaper.

Searle smiled tightly, “Mr. Carroll, he’s the one who went through the portal, has volunteered to be your liaison at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office should you decide to take up that offer.”

“And, if you have no objections, I have been assigned to be your contact should you have any questions or need any services that aren’t related to diplomacy at the embassy.” He paused. “You can consider me your assistant. I can arrange meetings, transportation, tours, entertainment venues, whatever you need help with in our world, I will help you.”

He set his briefcase on the coffee table, opened it, and removed a folder. Miss Arrow pushed one of the armchairs over for him to sit in.

“First, though, the Prime Minister thought that you might want to construct your chancery right here in Little Whinging for easy access to, and to protect, the portal.” He held the thin folder out to the Princess, who eagerly took it and flipped it open. “The first page is a list of architects who are familiar with governmental buildings and have solid reputations, the second page is a list of reputable builders who are similarly familiar with government contracts.” He pulled out a thick book. “We don’t know what you require in your buildings, however we have many building codes regarding safety and health that must be factored into the design and construction of a building. This book,” he set in on the table, “lists all the building codes currently in law.” The princess snatched the book up soo fast he almost thought she had pulled it through the air without touching it. She started flipping the pages.

“We suggest that your architect work with one of those on that list to make sure the finished building meets both our building codes and your requirements.” He closed the briefcase and set it to the side. “I don’t know how you do it where you come from, but the normal procedure here is to consult with an architect on what you want built. He will help you put together a design package encompassing those requirements and suggesting a preliminary design.

“Once that is finalized, he will help you put it out for a competition to other architects to design the actual building, or compound, using the guidelines you provided. They, in turn, will each put together several proposals on what the finished building will look like and exactly what it will incorporate. You pick the one you feel is the best for your needs, and fits your budget.

“Then the winning architect will put together a complete package of drawings on the building or compound, which will then be placed to open bid by the builders. Generally, the builder with the lowest offer wins the bid. Then construction can begin.”

“There is one slight problem,” he said. “The playpark and forest properties are all classified as ‘Green Space.’” He smiled at their questioning looks. “Green Space is property that has been set aside in order to preserve the rural atmosphere of the countryside and prevent over-building.” He smiled wryly. “We’re trying to prevent turning everything around London into one giant city, you see.” He sighed as Mr. Yueshi nodded in agreement. “The Prime Minister suggests that you offer some of the property you’ve purchased in trade to preserve the total acreage allocated to the Green Space. Or purchase extra property for that purpose.” Castor pulled out another folder and handed it to the princess. “This is a list of properties around Surrey where additional Green Spaces would be appreciated, if you can’t acquire any in Little Whinging itself. Naturally, the Prime Minister will do what he can to expedite the arrangements.

“It appears that you have purchased about a hundred and forty acres, which is more than adequate for an Embassy compound. Whichever architect you select will be able to advise on the best manner in which to use the properties you own.”

He sighed. “I’ve been told that such large building projects usually take several years to complete the process, from inception of planning until the building is ready for occupancy.” He smiled. “Depending on how flexible you are in your needs, and how intricate the building is, it could take less time.”

The Equestrians were staring at him as if he were quite mad.

“You do all that?” asked Lady Rarity, somewhat breathlessly.

“Just for a measly two or three floor building?” said Lady Dash.

“Woah,” said Lady Jack.

Prince Blood looked as if he had bitten into something foul.

“They built the Palace in Canterlot in only seventy-six days and five hours! And it’s huge!” said Princess Sparkle.

Pinkie Pie recovered first, “Well, sillies,” she said cheerfully, “They do have to do everything by hoof, don’t they?”

They all got the same look of “Oh!” as if they had realized something important.

Realizing he had an opportunity, Castor asked, “Oh, you have different building techniques?”

The Equestrians exchanged guilty looks. The Princess nodded, “Yes, we do.”

“Well, we do have those pictures of that wall from the other side of the portal . . . how long did that take to build, for example? Or was it already in place when you found the portal?”

“Oh,” Princess Sparkle said, thinking, “No, it was all a dense forest before we found the portal.” She paused and thought a moment. “Well, let’s see. The portal is about half a kilometre inside the Everfree Forest.” She gave him a steady look. “The Everfree is a very dangerous forest with bears, timber-wolves, manticores, and other deadly predators in abundance. So, we had to clear the area and thin out the trees, reroute a stream or two. The walls are about . . . oh, forty of your meters high and four meters thick. They run all the way from the portal to the edge of the forest. Then we built the paths and planted the grass to make it look nice. Plus there are the buildings Mr. Carroll didn’t see, the soldiers’ barracks, a hotel for visitors, and administration buildings.” She nodded to herself. “But the walls themselves, we had them complete in about two weeks.” She smiled at him. “Work went faster once the walls were high enough to deter predators from attacking over them, so some of the soldiers could pitch in to building. And that was with constant non-stop work with a construction crew of about four hundred ponies.”

Castor tried to keep a straight face. The ponies built a wall that tall and over a kilometre long in two weeks? From the pictures it had looked like it had been there for years! And they didn’t have hands! He would have expected such an endeavour to take years of hard labour.

“Once that was done, we finished the other buildings. They took about three weeks.”

Then he realized something she had said.

“Manticores?” Bears and wolves he would sort of expect.

“Yes.” She frowned. “I don’t suppose you have them here.” She sighed “It’s a creature that has a lion’s head and body, bat-like wings, and a scorpion’s stinger tail. It’s about twice as tall as you are. They eat ponies if they can catch them.” She looked down at the floor. “Most creatures in the Everfree forest do.” She looked up and smiled again. “However, they rarely leave the forest because they know what would happen to them if they did.”

He stared at her. “Actually, if I remember correctly, we do have ancient Greek legends of beasts like that.”

“Really?” She was suddenly excited, and then she frowned. “I knew I should have read those mythology books first.” she said to herself.

Lady Jack cleared her throat. “Twilight, focus.”

“And that brings up another question I have,” he said, forcing himself back to his list of questions. “How do you want us to present this to the public? We can keep this quiet for a little while, but people are going to find out about it, especially once you officially invest your office at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and start taking bids on constructing your chancery. We can ask the architects to keep quiet on the details inside the building, but someone will talk, even if only to a girlfriend, and mention that there’s a chancery being planned. Then the newspapers will hear about it and start asking questions.”

The Equestrians looked thoughtful. “Well,” said the Princess, “Now that we have permission, we can secure the area around the portal tonight. Get a short wall of about three meters built. That should keep curiosity seekers out of mischief until we replace it with something more robust.” She grinned at him. “Nothing quite as intimidating as the Everfree Wall. Then we can prepare the portal grounds like we did on the other side. Make it more park-like and inviting.” The others were nodding.

“Don’t forget to leave tunnels and holes for the forest creatures, we don’t want to separate them from their friends,” said Lady Fluttershy.

Castor nodded. He would have to alert Field Marshal Hurd. He would want to make sure they had the area monitored to see if they could pick up the construction activity. And speed up the placement of some long-range camera crews just outside the areas purchased by the Equestrians.

“That seems reasonable,” he said aloud. “And hold off on the public announcement until word gets out? Then do a big reveal?”

They all nodded. Lady Dash was staring off into the distance, clearly not paying any attention. Prince Blood also appeared disinterested, but Castor could see he was carefully listening.

“Excellent. In the meantime, we can work on how we want to proceed with things once we decide to make the announcement.”

He paused to gather his thoughts.

“Now then, I do have a few questions for you.”

The Princess nodded and waited.

“This person who found the portal last year. Can you tell me more about him?”

The reaction he got surprised him, it wasn’t what he expected at all. The entire group stiffened up, even Prince Blood. He had touched a nerve.

Under other circumstances, Castor would have been worried about that. However, the tailored-dresses the women wore didn’t leave much room for any sort of weapons, or much for the imagination, either. Even the ‘bodyguards’ seemed unarmed.

Prince Blood might have had a weapon, but his aloof demeanour gave Castor the impression that he would never deign to carry anything so uncouth as a weapon. And Lin, of course, was a solicitor, not a guard, soldier, or thug.

And when they had transformed previously, there hadn’t been any signs of weapons, either.

Twilight took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m sorry, but . . . the person wishes to remain anonymous.” She paused a moment, thinking.

“Let’s just say that this person has had a rough time in your world and is . . . reluctant for anyone from your world finding . . . them,” she said the pronoun very carefully, Castor noticed, implying that maybe the gender being specified was incorrect. “When we first discovered that . . . they . . . knew where the portal was . . . they refused to disclose its location in the fear they would be forced to leave the home they had created in our world and return here, permanently.” Twilight sighed as several of the others shook their heads, sadly.

“It was only when Princess Celestia directly requested that . . . they assist us, and that they wouldn’t be forced to remain here, that . . . they agreed.

“Don’t get me wrong,” she added quickly. “The person was very forthcoming in what they knew about your world, and helped us come up with an effective strategy in dealing with this world, such as hiring a competent lawyer . . . solicitor, and having him help us acquire property and convert our gems to your money system.” She shook her head slightly, half-smiling. “Most of the advice on what we should do was ‘Ask the solicitor.’ The almanac they provided, though, was a tremendous help in preparing us for your world. And Rarity practically swooned when she saw that issue of Vogue magazine.” She smirked at the other woman, who merely returned her look with a raised eyebrow.

“And that person did accompany us through the portal the first few times, to guide us around the area and help us avoid the worst mistakes.”

Castor turned and looked at the solicitor.

Lin smiled and cleared his throat. “Professional privilege, Mr. Searle, professional privilege.” He paused. “I can state, however, that this person has committed no crimes while under the legal jurisdiction of the United Kingdom, either previous to accessing the portal nor upon any of his or her ventures back through it. And that his or her reasons for wishing to remain in Equestria are strictly personal.”

He shook his head slightly. “Unless you can show legitimate cause as to why my clients should divulge any farther information on this individual, my clients have nothing farther to say on this matter.”

Well, that certainly put paid to that line of inquiry. Castor nodded his understanding, “I see.” On to the next area of inquiry.

“You mentioned that Equestria is the largest country on your planet. What are some of the other countries?”

She wriggled happily in place and smiled at him. “I knew you would ask that question. I knew your scientists would be interested.” She reached into a bag lying beside her chair, pulled out a tightly rolled paper and handed it to him.

Castor took and unrolled it while he leaned back in his chair. He frowned as he examined it. If he didn’t know that they really were aliens he would have suspected them of having him on.

The paper was a map. With legends he could read. The scientists would go mad when they saw it.

“Well, I believe I already mentioned the Crystal Empire, that’s to the north of Equestria,” the Princess said while he looked at the map. “To the far east are the Dragons Lair and Griffonstone. Then there’s Saddle Arabia, Fancy, the Isles of Scaly, Abyssinia, Panthera, Hippogriffia, Yakyakistan, Mustangia, Maretonia, Monacolt, and Maretania — those last four are actually kingdoms inside Equestria — and then there’s Drungar and Zorgath. There are others, but those are the major ones.”

“Seriously?” he asked. “Half these names,” he tapped the map, “sound like creatures from earth mythology, and the others are puns or plays on names on Earth!”

Twilight frowned. “Yes,” she said. “I noticed that myself. Quite odd. I can’t help but wonder if there was another portal a few thousand years ago and there was some back and forth crossing by various creatures.” She shook herself in excitement. “But that doesn’t explain the close correlation between Equestrian city names and Earth city names, especially as many of the Earth cities did not exist five hundred years ago. Manehattan for Manhattan, Fillydelphia, for Philadelphia, it’s just too odd to be mere coincidence.”

She smiled, “But researching that is going to be so much fun! Is there a mental leakage between our two worlds? Tiny portals too small to notice, but they let thoughts through?” Her smile got bigger and slightly creepy. “Or have other ponies slipped through and talked of the Equestrian places while here?” She was rocking side-to-side in her chair. She shot a look at her friends. “Discord, perhaps?”

Castor frowned. Was that a person or something else?

“Not now,” admonished Lady Rarity, “later, Twilight.”

Pouting a bit, Twilight settled back into her chair and sighed again.

As interesting and perturbing as those thoughts were, Castor decided to let others worry about them. He carefully put the map, once again rolled, into his briefcase and leaned back.

He took a breath. “And finally, how would we establish an Embassy on your side of the portal?”

That generated another set of guilty looks.

“That,” said Princess Sparkle, “is going to be . . . complicated.”

He raised his eyebrows.

“Not that we don’t want you to set up an Embassy,” she rushed to reassure him. “It’s just that, well, your people have to adapt to our world. As one of your people has already experienced, becoming a pony makes doing even the simplest of tasks difficult. You have to learn to walk. And using utensils with hooves is not a trivial exercise. Learning how to mouth-write takes years of practice.”

She nodded her head to one side, “Of course, you could just send over people who don’t transform. However, we have no knowledge of how you will adapt to our world in the long term if you retain your original form.” She paused and thought deeply. She took a deep breath and sighed. She looked at the others. She stared at Prince Blood for the longest time. He stared back, then shrugged. “They will find out in time,” he said quietly. “And why should we hide that which makes us naturally superior to all?” He paused, then added, “Besides, hiding an important secret from someone you want to be a good friend is bad form. When they find out about it, it could set all your progress back to the beginning, only now you have a hurdle of distrust to clear.”

That statement set off alarm-bells in Castor’s mind. Naturally superior? It was never a good thing when a group decided they were ‘naturally superior’ to others. And an important secret? Perhaps why they are the lead country in their world? No matter what they said, it was going to force a re-evaluation of the Prime Minister’s plans.

She nodded. Then nodded again, more resolutely. She looked back up Castor.

“This is something that you absolutely must keep a secret for as long as possible. We have many reasons for keeping this a secret in your world, not the least is your own history regarding how your people react to it. Everyone who has come through the portal has sworn to keep this secret unless lives are in danger. You should tell your Queen and Prime Minister. Let them decide who learns this information, but we ask that your government restrict it only to those who truly, Need. To. Know.”

He slowly nodded back at her. The rabbit hole was about to get even deeper, he felt.

He watched, stunned, as his briefcase floated up. A moment later, he noticed the book he had given the Princess floating at her side. He looked over at the others to see what their reactions were, and saw tea cups floating in front of Prince Blood and Lady Rarity. The solicitor was looking at him, smirking.

“Magic is real.”