The advantage as a pony was, without a doubt, that you didn’t need big suitcases filled with clothing. For adventures, it was pretty unnecessary. Light luggage was more than enough. Nopony seemed to have told Rarity this as she stood with five large suitcases at the train station and checked again and again if she had everything what she needed for the journey, almost like Twilight and one of her lists. Speaking of lists, there was one. It covered, much to my relief, not every object that was supposed to be in the suitcase, only the piece of luggage itself.

"Was this everything then, Twilight?" I asked her when she checked off another item. As an answer, she scanned the list again and hummed. I waited a few more seconds for something verbal, but all I got was the humming. She was somewhere else mentally, and I could understand what it was she was thinking about so much. We were on the way to move into the Celestia. The ship was already anchored in Canterlot and only waited for us to occupy it. The hearing for the mission was tomorrow and then we wanted to take off soon after.

"Can we finally leave now? If we wait for the egghead, we’ll still be standing here tomorrow." Dash floated impatiently above our heads, looking disgruntled. It was understandably that she was bored – after all, there was nothing going on aside from luggage and tired yawning. It was very early in the morning, and we were the only ones at the train station. We would say our goodbyes to the others before the portal would be opened over the Everfree. That was the only place whose environment emitted enough magical power to make the portal big enough so the whole ship would fit through.

"Ehm… could somepony please help me… if you don’t mind, that is?" Fluttershy was the last one to arrive and had problems with trying to carry her luggage, barely managing to float above it. Without looking up, Twilight's aura encased the piece of luggage and placed it on the heap where the rest of Twilight's and Rarity's luggage were. "...Thank you."

AJ, Rainbow, and I, on the other hoof, only carried a saddlebag on our backs that were filled with the necessities. Toothbrush and other hygiene products, since if you lived with others in cramped spaces for a while, then stench was the last thing you wanted to have. I had also packed a few magic-themed books that I wanted to study. One was about advanced shapeshifting magic, while the other was about storing magic inside crystals. I had borrowed this book from Vinyl, as a battery on board would surely be useful. She obviously could not lend me hers, but with the book, it should be possible for Twilight to build our own. Aside from the precious stones, a few of the items needed were iron and aluminium, materials that should be easy to gather on Earth.

"What’s wrong with Trixie, darling?" Rarity and the others didn’t know much details of her hearing, and it wasn't my place to tell the others what had happened. She could explain herself to them on her own.

"She’s still in Canterlot and will meet us there. She’s been there the last week and a half and already has her belongings. It would be impractical to come here in the first place. She’ll meet us with carriages at the train station." She had also declined the invitation to the farm and, despite seeming to be happy, didn't appear to want to see anypony. AJ had also prepared a little sermon and had been a little vexed that she couldn't deliver it. Instead, I had to listen to a good part of it about responsibility, discipline, and other things. If you'd change her choice of words a little, then this speech could have come from Twilight as well.

"I'm looking forward to picking a bone with her." Nope, it certainly wasn’t my job to explain her doings to them. Everyone looked over to AJ as she angrily vented her frustration. "She abused our trust, even her brother’s." With me being mentioned, all looks locked onto me. Fortunately, the train now arrived and the whistling of the hot boiler drowned everything. Like the joker I was, I simply moved my lips and pretended to answer. After the last wagon came to the standstill and the squealing of the brakes lapsed, I ended my act.

"...And that's how Equestria has been made." Pinkie Pie had to visibly refrain from laughing at my imitation while the rest merely wore a questioning expression. Maybe I should tell them that Albia had created this world many years ago, maybe because of pure boredom. She didn't give me any reason, but I wouldn't put it past her.

"All passengers to Canterlot, please come on board!" called a brown earth pony in a blue uniform who had left the train. Twilight, who was finally separated from her list, started to levitate the luggage through the door of an open wagon. This one had no windows and was probably specifically for luggage, as Rainbow and Rarity entered the next one with windows. My sole train ride, aside from the forced one where I had to jump on from the Lunar, had been the detour to Manehattan. I followed AJ into the wagon and discovered at once that this was a train for shorter trips. There were no compartments, only rows of seats that consisted of cushions fixed onto the floor. Lying on one of the red, comfortable-looking seats was a certain cyan pegasus, already on her way to recover the lost sleep she had missed.

"Rainbow can sleep anywhere, can't she?" My question provided amusement for my company.

"You have no idea, darling." Rarity giggled. "I once found her on my ponyquins, in a very particular position, and she was snoring as if she was cutting every tree on Sweet Apple Acres." That surely had to be quite the view. Suddenly a question came to mind. If there were magical saws, did they also have the sound of a motor?

"I found her once tied up in the ropes inside the barn, sugarcube." AJ probably meant the old winch that hung below the ceiling. "She had a crash landing through the roof and couldn't free herself. Since nopony was there, she spent the whole day under the roof, sleeping the entire time." Imagining this, I couldn't refrain from grinning.

"The strangest sleeping place which I ever had was on two office chairs, the ones with wheels below. Torso on one, legs on the other. I’m sure you can imagine that I, of course, fell during the night onto the floor." I left out the story with the ditch full of nettles where I had slept after a long party. My friends had held the photos in front of my face for weeks that they had taken when they passed me.

"I can't imagine how that was supposed to work," remarked Rarity, seemingly imagining a pony in such a pose.

"I was still a human, Rarity. We sit upright." I tried to sit on my cushion like a human but merely fell backwards, causing AJ to roll her eyes.

"Ah… like that nice unicorn who I see in the park every now and then… Her name had to do something with an instrument… What's her name again?" She tapped her lips with her hoof several times.

"Lyra Heartstrings," I said curtly.

"Exactly!" she called in recognition. "Thank you, darling. Ponyville may not be big, but there are still lots of ponies living there." Again she pondered for a moment. "How can you remember so many names? No offense, darling, but you’ve barely been living here three months." I merely shrugged once I had propped myself up.

"I think it has something to do with the fact that I'm one of your fans," I said calmly, whereupon Rarity had a smile on her lips.

"So you’ve finally revealed your dark secret?" I nodded to her.

"I don't like to lie to my friends. I was also afraid what you would say." I had imagined how I would be run out of town with torches and pitchforks.

"Oh darling! You have no idea!" She waved the issue aside with a hoof. "Me, angry because I have fans in another world? Celestia forbid…" In that moment, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie entered the wagon as well.

"You could have helped us, Light," Twilight said with an evil glare as she sat down one row before Rarity. "And don't say that you aren't good at levitating." But I actually wasn't. I was still missing magical sensitiveness. To cast a spell was one thing; it was another to maintain and use it. To move the object in the air was my problem, and I didn't want to start with several things at once.

"Sorry, Twi’, but I've been mentally elsewhere the last few days and thought that probably the most powerful unicorn in Equestria could deal with some old luggage without me." Honestly, I didn't even think of offering my help. "But otherwise, is everything else okay?" I immediately regretted the question as she fetched a list again.

"Spike and Dawn taking care of the library? Check. Caramel, Braeburn, and Big Macintosh looking after the farm and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders? Double check. Mr. and Mrs. Cake…" The train started rolling, and my thoughts drifted away from Twilight's endless accounting.

After an hour, we passed the walls protecting Canterlot from the rest of the world. Miss Checklist had gone over everything that had been done over the last half an hour and then one more time of course, just to make sure. Rainbow woke up in between for a moment and immediately held her hooves over her ears to block Twilight's voice, seemingly successful as she was still sleeping. Rarity had a book in front her nose – judging by the cover, it was a romance – and Fluttershy was still knitting. She did it with a combination of hooves, mouth, and wings, which she could bend unbelievably well. One could believe that they were like hands.

"Tell me, Shy, how are you doing that?" I asked her with a tap on her shoulder. I'm still talking about a shoulder, but I couldn't think of another term for the upper front leg joint. As with humans with the arms, the joints jutted out a bit so that they were really small shoulders when a pony sat like that.

"Mmmm…?" Fluttershy turned towards me. "Oh, Light, I'm sorry. I was a bit lost in thought." She created another loop and pulled it together. I had watched my mother knitting now and then, but her flexible wings made this special. If I could learn this, it would be nearly as if I had hands again. Not that levitation wasn't convenient, but I was somehow missing feeling something when I was using it. "What did you want to know?"

"How you are doing that with your wings." I pointed to the rounded ends that were holding a needle each. The yellow pegasus put away the needles and flexed her wings a bit for demonstration.

"I don't know. I think it’s a muscle that only a few pegasi discover… as they… um… stop flying with them," she said uncertainly and picked up the needles again. "I simply could do it after living on the ground for a while," she ended her explanation. It was a thing of practice and patience, my strength. If something didn't interest me or if I didn't have immediately success, I gave up easily, a reason why I never learned to draw and couldn't handle anything without my tablet.

"We will soon arrive. Please take your seats!" the conductor called from back into the wagon as he briefly stuck his head in. I did as I was told and took my seat again next to AJ, behind Fluttershy and Rainbow. As soon I had done so, a jolt went through the train, and the squealing of the brakes was heard. We hadn’t travelled that fast, maybe eighty kilometres per hour at most if I had to guess, but the braking distance was due to the weight of the train. We came to a standstill at a lively platform where many nobles were already waiting to enter. The conductor opened the doors with his key, and we slowly rose from our seats and left for the outside. Twilight had Rainbow magically in tow and started to wake her slowly through gentle shaking as we stood before the luggage wagon.

"Come on, Rainbow…" A frustrated groan came from Twilight, and she let her friend fall roughly onto the ground.

"Ow... What’s that for, Twilight?" The sleepyhead rubbed her eyes blearily, but her suitcases were thrown at her.

"We still have enough time to sleep. Now we have to load the luggage on the carriages and get to the dock." Twilight and Rarity fetched one piece of luggage after the other from the wagon and stacked them on a heap next to Rainbow.

"I don't want to shoot your plan down, Twi, but which carriages?" She pointed to the nearby street. As the passengers had entered the train and the platform was empty, one could clearly see that we were alone. No carriage and especially no Trixie was waiting for us.

"Super… Now what?" I posed the question to the group, who merely returned strange looks. "What?"

"She’s your sister. Where is she?" asked Twilight, completely unnerved.

"How I am supposed to know? In fact, Hawk and Star were supposed to be with her and help us." Both of them had been ordered to keep an eye on Trixie by nopony but Luna herself. She wanted to prevent Trixie from trying something like that again, even if she was only two days in Canterlot. "But I'll see what I can get." I didn't have the desire, and neither did the others I’m sure, to carry all our luggage to the dock. I walked a bit along the street to the livelier main street. There weren't a lot of carriages around as it was only early noon, but a few taxis were standing around at the edge, waiting for customers. I whistled loudly and winked towards one of the drivers, who winked back and came towards me with his carriage. Before he reached me, I noticed how the train accelerated and vanished towards Fillydelphia.

"Good day, what can I do for you?" asked the green stallion who stood in front of me, including the carriage.

"We have some luggage which has to be taken to the docks." I pointed to the train station, and with a nod, he was on the way. Actually, I intended to follow him directly, but a small newspaper stall caught my attention. 'Reconstruction of Fillyburg!' was the headline of the day. It seemed new settlers were willing to live in the ruins. Personally, nothing would be able to willingly carry me to that place, and the thought alone made me shiver. I slowly walked to the station, and halfway there, the carriage driver came towards me with the luggage and eventually disappeared down the main street. It made me wonder why he only had our luggage with him.

"There wasn’t enough space for us all. That's why Trixie was supposed to bring two carriages," I heard Twilight's voice behind me and turned around, startled. "Now we have to walk through the city." Canterlot was the nearest to what I understood as a medieval city with magnificent buildings. They looked as they had been erected from one piece or had been hewn directly from the stone. My last march through the city, from the castle to the docks, had been rather short, and I was looking forward seeing a bit more. Twilight and Rarity led us through one side street after the other. In one, there were herbs for concoctions available; in another, items rumoured to have magical properties, and in the last one; specially cut crystals. I was tempted to buy one, but the prices scared me off. One thousand bits was the price for the smallest one. Vinyl had to earn a lot of money to be able to afford these for her batteries, and it explained why they weren't in mass production yet. We went on through a quarter of the city, past some foals in the small gardens, in front of houses, before finally we stood in front of a particular house.

"Please wait here for a moment,” said Twilight as she walked towards one of the large houses. The tall white building with three floors reminded me of a villa. The roof consisted of two smaller pitched roofs and a big one in which a round window was embedded in the middle. The other windows of the house were more rectangle-like and stretched from a bit above the floor to nearly the ceiling so that a lot of light shone into the house. Ponies didn't place much importance on privacy unless it was the bedroom. The dining area and a part of the hallway could be seen from the street as well. At the door was emblazoned a large coat of arms that I had never seen before. This door was big enough that, as a human, I probably would not have to stoop down if I wished to enter this house. On the whole, it was a bit smaller than Cadence’s and Armor’s. I looked on as Twilight knocked at the door. It took a little while until it opened, and she vanished inside.

"Who lives here anyway?" I asked nopony in particular.

"Since that is the coat of arms of Twilight's family, I would guess her parents, darling," said Rarity. I looked back to the house where I could see Twilight walking behind one of the big windows, together with who seemed to be her parents. I had only seen them briefly in the series and observed the conversation. Her father was dark blue unicorn with an even darker mane, and her mother was a white unicorn like Rarity, along with a likewise white mane with a purple strip running through. Both children had inherited this stripe then.

What I noticed was that Twilight looked very similar to her mother. I had gotten better with judging the shape of ponies and the bone structure, so I could tell that if the coat colour wasn't different, an older version of Twilight Sparkle was standing there. Then the names of both ponies came to my mind again – Twilight Velvet and Night Light, if I recalled correctly.

We waited for a few minutes, where in the meantime Pinkie started to play hoofball after a few minutes. The strange thing was that she didn't dribble, but the ball jumped before her like she did. Rarity and Fluttershy conversed about some new makeup, the fashion designer soon taking over the talking. Rainbow flew back and forth the small street, and I counted the cobblestones that made up the road. After what seemed to be an eternity, Twilight finally left the building and the property. Somehow, she seemed depressed.

"What's the matter, Twi. You're not looking good," said AJ. She had waited patiently at the property and hadn't spoken a word before now.

"Nothing… My parents are still angry." It seemed that her family had a small quarrel. Something like that I only knew too well since it had happened between my mother and my uncles every now and then. Due to this, I only saw them a few times a year despite them only living a few villages away. However, I had always been at war with my grandfather. "I asked them to look after Dawn and Spike every now and again, but my father is as stubborn as ever."

"All grandparents love their grandchildren. From personal experience, that was a lie. My grandpa, for example, blamed me for my parents’ divorce and had made it clear to me more than once. That was also the reason why I had disliked the man. Unfortunately, he was the father of my mother and had visited us nearly every day, especially as he lived only a few houses away. "Even if they are angry with you, they’ll surely be reasonable enough not to take it out on Dawn or Spike." At least I hoped so.

"Light is right, sugarcube. Granny Smith even loved us so much that she raised us after the death of my parents." AJ, like me, had been raised mostly by her grandma. As my mother had still been very young when she had me, she had gone to work, and I had spent most of the time with my grandma until I had been old enough to go to school. That showed I wasn't the only one with problems – I just had the biggest ones. I would have the rest of my lifetime to help the others with theirs as way of thanks.

"Thank you both." She hugged AJ first and then me for a moment. "We should go now. My brother is probably waiting already." Shining Armor was the captain and thus the actual leader of this mission. I took over Glimmer’s as consultant and navigator since I knew my world better and she still wasn't fit again. After Pinkie had said goodbye to her new friends and invited them to a party in Ponyville, we had been on the way. That we didn't take the same path from the castle as before was evident when we walked through a large marketplace.

Unlike the small booths in Ponyville, real tents had been erected that could house three of the smaller stands. The wares ranged from victuals to pots and pans, and even several weapons were offered. However, these were decorated with gems and gold, so they were more intended as ornaments than for fighting. The brisk activities in downtown showed me, for the first time, how big Canterlot actually was. Aside from the outskirts where Cadance and Armor lived, I had not seen much of the population.

Here hundreds of ponies scrimmaged in the narrow alleys, flooded with offers. Vendors called their bargains into the crowd and basically pushed the fresh goods into one's nose. Fluttershy flinched every time she ended up as a victim of one these attacks. Rarity started to haggle with them while passing by, while we had trouble not losing sight of Rainbow and Pinkie. Both of them were more than susceptible to falling for some products, like a few fresh cupcakes or a signed Wonderbolt poster. In the last moment, Twilight pulled Rainbow away from the stand as she was about to hoof over several hundred bits.

As we finally left the market district and the castle was visible again behind the large buildings, the area started to slowly become familiar. It had been here where Trixie had thrown away her helmet into one of the dark alleys, which meant that the runway couldn't be that far away. All in all, I would say it took us a bit more than an hour to walk through the entire city.

"We're nearly there," said Twilight, which elicited relieved groaning from the group. "Back there is already the way to the runway." She giggled. "The way to the runway…"

"Yeah, Twi’, we get it," Rainbow deadpanned. Puns weren't one of her strengths.

We slowly followed the path that led around the mountain and quite a bit down. Finally, the ship came into our sight, and it was worthy of the word "flagship". The dark red bow with golden adornments gleamed in the midday sun. The large balloon, which was attached to the ship with ropes, was well-filled and showed the same adornments. Many small sails were on both sides of the ship, featuring the cutie mark of the princess of the sun, and fluttered lightly in the wind. Two wings had been attached parallel to the deck to hold the large ship, even in the unfavourable winds, in a steady position, and the water system had also been installed, recognizable due to the big four barrels, two hanging on each side at the end of the ship. As we neared the ship, I recognized the balloon itself was a wing as well several other wings attached to the aft. In the glassy lantern that hung in front of the fore, the wheel was visible and a fastener for the crystal which was supposed to hold the enchanted diamond. It was a magnificent ship, the Celestia.

"Wow… It’s beautiful," said Fluttershy quietly, and we could only agree with a slight nod.

"And it’s going to be our home for a while," I added. We walked further down the mountain and saw two familiar shapes at the runway waiting for us with our luggage.

"BBBFF!" called Twilight and ran towards her brother and sister in law. Armor and Cadance seemed to be in a tense conversation and didn't take notice of us newcomers.

"You can't be serious!" He didn't yell at her, but his voice was raised.

"And why not?" replied Cadance, scoffing. I really didn't want to get involved in a marital dispute, but it was simply a bad time to have one.

"Ehm… Hello you two." I nudged Armor a bit to catch their attention. "Could we do this later—?”

"Ah, Light, my love!" Cadance pulled me from Armor's side and aimed me towards him. "Would you please tell my dear husband that this ship is more than safe?" I had no idea what this was about and didn't want to get involved, but the ship was very protected after all.

"It should be safe. Twilight herself took all precautions—" Again, I couldn't finish my sentence.

"You see, dear!" She practically rubbed it in. "Or do you want to say that you don't trust your little sister's work?" He didn't quite seem to know how to answer and looked for help. Of course, his eyes had to land on me again.

"Light, do you feel easy about having AJ on board?" Slowly, I understood what this was about, as did the rest of the group.

"You want to join us, Cadance?" asked Twilight excitedly. I could imagine that it pleased her to travel with another good friend, but would she still be as thrilled if she knew that the alicorn was pregnant? I wouldn't take AJ with me if it was up to me, even if she was more than capable of taking care of herself.

"Yes, Twilight. I mean, you only have dear Fluttershy…" With that, she pointed towards the yellow pegasus, who hid behind Rarity. She didn't like to get embroiled as much I did. "...Who knows about medicine. What would you do if something, Celestia forbid, happens to her?" Cadance had a point. Fluttershy was the only one versed in medicine. Twilight could do a bit of healing magic, but it wouldn't suffice for anything serious.

"Cadance has a point…" Armor gave me the evil eye. "In addition, the ship should be safe." The golden ornaments weren't just for decorations, as I could enchant the diamonds to let them reflect sunlight. The ship was practically a fortress against nightmares. Twilight really planned this well. "And yes, I don't like that AJ is with me. Actually, I don't like to have anypony with me at all. But these six mares have proved more than once that they can take care of themselves, and I believe that Cadance is more than capable. After all, she assisted Celestia in the battle against Chrysalis."

"Thank you, Light," said Cadance cheerfully and embraced me briefly with an hoof. Armor merely sighed deeply.

"By Tartarus… But you need to stay on board, please." It was more an appeal than a request. She walked towards her husband and gave him a kiss.

"We will see…" She sported a really big grin on her face. Now only three things were left. We had to bring our luggage on board, set up everything, and…

"Where are Trixie, Hawk, and Star?" I asked Armor and was rewarded with a sigh.

It nearly took the entire afternoon to move into our quarters on the ship and to perform the last inspection. Shining Armor had looked through everything once with Shipwreck yesterday evening, at the arrival of the Celestia. Now that everything had been loaded with food, medical supplies, and all other necessities, he needed to do another inspection to see if anything had been damaged. To our fortune, everything was fine, and even the water was running so that, after our sweaty work, we could take a shower one after the other.

The sun was slowly setting, and neither Trixie nor Hawk or Star had reported in, and Armor and I were slowly starting to worry. I hadn't expected anything different from Trixie, but the disappearance of the two soldiers was alarming. Armor already had an idea where he had to look for them, however, and so we were away to check his assumption.

"Regarding the thing before, I'm not finished with you," he said to me as we walked through the lightly illuminated streets of the city. We were on the way inside a district in which I had never been before, and many buildings had been erected in a different style. Wood infused the stony works and provided a very beautiful though quaint view. They reminded me of frame houses.

"I understand both your opinions, Armor. I can understand you because I feel the same about AJ as you about Cadance. But on the other hoof, she wants to join and will be a big help." He only nodded and pointed towards a brightly illuminated building.

"There, The Golden Boar. That’s a hangout of the guards. If they aren't there, then they can only be in the barracks." We walked through the open door and were greeted by a musty pub atmosphere. The air was stuffy and warm, and everywhere sat members of the Luna Guard without their armor, playing cards, drunk, and revelling. Not far from the entrance, I immediately noticed something among the dark half-dragons. At one table, there was a white pegasus sitting, with quite a number of bits on the table next to some mugs, playing cards together with a griffin and another Lunar Guard. I could only guess that it was something similar to poker as all were keeping a straight face. I briefly nudged Armor and pointed to what I believed to be Hawk and Star. He nodded in agreement, though just as we were about to move to them, Trixie appeared between all these ponies and took the free seat next to them.

"What are they playing?" I addressed my companion, who showed a grim face.

"Poker. Appleloosa Hold'em if I’m seeing it correctly. Just you wait, they'll be in for." He stomped past many other guards, who looked at him with widened eyes and remained still behind the griffon at the table so that the others didn't see him. For this, they were far too engrossed in the game.

"All in!" With that, the griffin pushed his remaining bits into the middle of the table and leaned backwards on his hind legs, not without supporting himself on the table.

"Three of a kind!" Hawk revealed her hand and grinned at Star, who revealed his hand. "Damn it…" She slumped back in her chair.

"That's nothing against the Great and Powerful Trixie." She had a flush and appropriately had a grin stretching from ear to ear. The griffon with his full house gave up and left angrily the table while Trixie started to gather her booty. Unlike the unicorn, her co-players had noticed the angry Shining Armor, who was now visible.

"Ehm… Trixie…" Hawk tried to turn Trixie's attention to the problem in front of them, but without success.

"What is it? Trixie is busy counting her loot." The bits between her hooves suddenly rose into the air and vanished in Shining Armor’s saddlebag. Trixie followed the movement of her money and looked into a very dissatisfied face. "Oh… Hello Light… Shining Armor," she said and looked for help at her both colleagues, who preferred to look to the ceiling.

"Would somepony explain what is the meaning of this? You were expected to report in at noon!" he barked at the group, so loud that the pub went silent. Some Lunar Guards started to grin as they saw that others were being chewed out by their superior.

"Trixie told us that we still had time and asked us if we knew a place to play and—"Hawk started.

"Hey, it was you who wanted something to drink and dragged Trixie here!" she defended herself.

"We had no lunch and then we lost track playing poker," Star said curtly, which caused both mares to hit him.

"We’re going to the ship. Now." He met Trixie's gaze, which had been on her bag of money. "And I’ll keep the money as punishment for now." Angrily, she let herself fall from the chair and followed us to the outside. Together, we returned to ship. I was sure that Hawk and Star would continue their conversation with Armor later.

Author's Notes:

Earth, soon...

Thanks to Verequus for translating this chapter.
Special thanks to JBL for proofreading and editing.

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