Sharp, pointy teeth shining in the light fell through the old wood of the wagon. Blunt and fleshy claws slowly stroking the orange fur. A robe, its weathered and beaten state that came from seeing a number of conflicts. The color didn't give away the number of victims it had claimed since it's the same as the juice of life inhabiting every creature in Albion.

Next to it sat a young white mare. Slender, an almost elegant nature to her every move. A long, flowing pink mane that seemed to be perpetually trailing behind her. Her wings fluttered and twitched almost unconsciously with her every breath. And on her head a horn, curved, bent, sharp and looking positively wicked, surrounded by a green aura.

Two monsters which could hardly be more horrifying sat there together, exchanging stories. Between them lay a filly, apparently unaware of the danger, looking almost bored. The fleshy claws of the human kept following her form, always seeming as though it was ready to grab her and devour her right in front his eyes.

Mender kept watching the two, horrified but fascinated. When awakened this morning, on the second day of their journey, he had not seen the blue earth pony. What he had spotted was the massive, snoring visage of the terror known as a human. Unfortunately, his screams had not just woken his marefriend Glitter but also the human and the other monster. Until a few minutes ago she hadn't even show herself. Only when she had spoken to the human about food did she transform back into her real form right before his already wide and frightened eyes. Black chitin replaced the previous white fur and insect-like wings, although in bad condition, took the place of white feathered ones. She was a changeling.

Out of fear, Glitter had tightly held on to him for about an hour now even though the monsters had so far acted as though they didn’t give a damn, hardly sparing them a cursory glance every now and again. But that was just right for Mender. He was sane enough to not draw any unwanted attention to them. No, he would hold out in the dark corner with Glitter clinging on to him and stay this way until they reached Fillydelphia. At the first opportunity, when the train would slow down enough, they would jump out of the wagon. Perhaps it was not very heroic but Mender figured surviving an encounter with a human and a changeling at the same time had its own merits.

“Thanks Thiemo, I'm stuffed,“ the changeling said as her horn stopped glowing. The green light slowly flickered out, leaving only a few patches of sunlight that came through the cracks in the wood to illuminate the wagon. At her words, the human leaned back again and exhaled loudly, sounding both relieved and tired.

“Now, where was I?” he asked, wiping a palm over his forehead even though he wasn’t sweating all that much.

“You were talking about you and some of your friends being on a fair,” she reminded him, getting a thankful, if somewhat distracted nod of acknowledgement.

“Right. So, two buddies of mine and I spent the day watching the fair on a field and drank a little alcohol. A fine mixture of cola and vodka, mixed three to one point three parts vodka of course.” He stopped and looked at the changeling. “You know the effect of alcohol?”

She shook her head. “I don't think that this substance has the same effect here. But I know about it, it's a side product of drinks refined with salt.” The human made a clicking sound with two of his claws and pointed at his partner of conversation.

“Exactly, salt! I heard it has a similar effect on ponies. Does this also relate to changelings?” She nodded. “Anyway, one of my buddies was so woozy that he climbed on the, uh...” He hesitated and thought about it for a second. “I think carriage would be a proper comparison. Anyway, he climbed the carriage of the local policeman and took care of his business up there.” The human slapped his leg with his claw and chuckled heartily, although he did try to do it as quietly as possible. He seemed to be trying to avoid waking the foal who was still sleeping.

“Why would one desire to poison yourself in a manner that you lose control of yourself and do things like that?” Mender had the same question, although he smartly stayed silent. He tried not to imagine a herd of those walking around, salted out of their mind. He couldn’t help it however, and the images that came to mind caused him to shudder, and he had to bit his lip to keep from whimpering.

“Well for one thing, it’s a hell of a lot of fun. Also, it loosens you up, especially the women.” He grinned, ear to ear, winking at her as though she was in on a grand joke.

“Women?” By the confused tone in the changeling’s voice, it was clear she did not follow or share the human’s enthusiasm or understanding of his words, causing him to deflate a bit.

“Eh, you know, human mares,” he explained, waving a hand in her direction.

“That's horrible!” Mender turned around startled. It wasn't the changeling who had spoken up but Glitter. She had freed herself from his grip and was now walking, no, marching towards the monster. He did not have any hope for her by now. She had been pleasant company for the time they had been together. Mender promised himself that he would always remember her bravery in this moment. “You deliberately take away your mares’ wills just to get them into bed?” she spat, looking at him disgustedly.

The human reached out with his claws and while Mender’s brain screamed at to look away from the coming horror, he simply could not. Maybe he felt that he owed it to Glitter to see her take her final breath standing hoof to hoof with a monster. To his shock, a feeling that he had been intimate with all too well for very recent past, the human just held the flat inner side while shrugging that seemed to signify casual disagreement. “No, nothing like that. It just made them more…. receptive. I don't know how it is with ponies, but humans have endless mating rituals. You have to take her out on so many dates and give her gifts and so on. I'd call it a shortcut."

“All that for twenty seconds of fun?” Glitter judgingly held a hoof in his face, frowning her disapproval. Mender was mildly surprised he hadn't eaten her yet.

“Twenty seconds?” He blinked, before snorting in laughter. “My dear, I think you misunderstand some things here. I'm no stallion. With humans, the fun really starts at thirty minutes plus. Multiple times, with some short breaks and if both are up for it.” Mender couldn't see Glitters' face, but he still saw the way her jaw dropped.

She sat down next to the monsters. “And how much alcohol does a male need until he is willing?” She slowly leaned towards the human.

Suddenly Mender began to worry that he would lose his marefriend in a different, though no less unpleasant way.

“You wouldn't do that to me, would you?” It was a relief to not have to look up to Amaryllis anymore. Since Glitter had pointed out half an hour ago that they would soon reach Fillydelphia, he once more used the new spell from his changeling friend.

He was now occupying himself by trying to put his clothes away again, which was quite hard only using the mouth. “What do you mean?” he asked as he pulled his head out of the backpack. The last time he had used the spell, it had lasted for a bit more than a day. Fortunately, he didn't even plan to stay that long.

“The thing with the alcohol.” They had both spent most of yesterday talking about a variety of things. Amaryllis was interested in where he and Aura have already been but also in learning more about humans. Thiemo was more interested in learning about her kind and their magic. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough chitin left to transform more than two or three times again. On the other hand, the better understanding did help him to be able to transform while appearing to look older. Now he was not a foal anymore, but a young stallion, a teenager.

He felt faintly insulted by her question. He respected Amaryllis. After what he heard from her and saw what she could do, he knew she was both smart and intelligent. Two things that a lot of people think are the same. She was someone he could enjoy talking to, although she did lack life experience. “No, why?” he asked, trying to keep his voice neutral.

“I’d say he is not the brightest,” Glitter injected herself into their conversation again. Thiemo on the other hand just rolled his eyes and put on his backpack. “Some just don't know how to enjoy the company of a mare.”

“I assure you, Miss Glitter, that I know very well how to enjoy the company of a mare. And Amaryllis is very pleasant company. I just don't...” Thiemo stopped as the cruel reality started to creep up on him again, one he had always tried to avoid thinking about. There were very few humans on this planet; probably no more than a few hundred, but that was only a guess. To find a partner of his own race was more than unlikely. “I just don't think I have to talk to you about this,” he stated, unable to keep the hostility entirely out of his voice. Once he started to talk to her like that it was hard to stop.

“A shy one, ain't we?” Thiemo didn’t answer her and went over to Aura. She was still sleeping in the corner. Conversations bored her and this was just her way of dealing with boredom.

He shook her a little with his hoof. “Aura, wake up. We're almost there.” As soon as he said that, he heard the brakes and the train began to slow down. At least this time they weren't being thrown around in the wagon since there weren’t any logs on the rails in the train station, a fact Thiemo was grateful for.

Aura slide on floor, bumping the wall, causing her to jerk awake. “Uh? What's up?” she said in a sleepy voice and rubbed her eyes before yawning. It would take days to get her in a proper sleeping rhythm for a filly again. It was later afternoon now which meant that she would be up until late at night.

“We are entering the station. Get ready.” Amaryllis took the backpack from Thiemo and put the staff into its straps. For a pony it was more than useless. It was long to use it with the mouth and due to its affinity for magic, impossible to levitate. Thiemo was working with the theory that whoever made the staff did not intend it to be used by ponies. Experiencing the disadvantages made it even clearer for him.

“What's the deal with our mute friend here?” All eyes, at least the ones not sleepy, were now on Mender who was still huddled in his dark corner. The shaking pony whimpered as he saw that their attention was now focused on him. “Come on! We’ve been together for two days now, if I wanted to eat you, you'd have already been between two slices of bread with some lettuce and tomatoes. With some carrots. Maybe with some mustard.” His words caused the stallion to whimper again as he shook his head furiously, refusing to budge from the spot where he has been all day except for the time he had used the chamber pot.

Glitter put a hoof on his shoulder comfortingly. “Really Mender, I think our friend more than proved that not all humans are monsters. He's quite charming actually.” Thiemo laughed on the inside at her words. As if old drinking stories of drunken human behavior and etiquette was stimulating conversation.

He smiled at her. “Don't thank me, my buddies were the ones who made it possible for me to tell these tales.”

Thiemo felt the train finally coming to a halt. “What I've been meaning to ask, why do you always call them buddies? Were they not your friends?” Amaryllis asked. He had to think for a moment how to answer her.

“Humans don't just simply become friends. A lot of us just think about themselves and those should be sorted out at first. It can take years until humans really trust each other. I also think the word 'friend' is used much too often these days, mostly in the wrong context.” Glitter looked absolutely shocked by his words, or perhaps it was the calm demeanour in which he had just delivered them. Amaryllis, on the other hand, just nodded her understanding instead. “In my life, I’ve maybe had two real friends I would trust my life with, aside from my family. Today, I have one more who I can count in.” He pulled Aura to him and hugged her fiercely, which she was glad to reciprocate. “But enough of that, I want to see the first real city of Equestria.”

“You have never been to Equestria?” Glitter asked, trying to focus on the change of subject. The small group looked at each other and shook their heads. “Oh, you're just gonna love Fillydelphia then. The city is just great. Countless shops, houses bigger than most mansions and pure life in the streets! It's really a metropolis.” Glitter said, the last remnants of the shock she had felt melting away into a wistful tone. “Oh, now I'm yearning. Shall we stay for a few days, Mender? We can take another train to Los Pegasus,” she urged, trying to convince the stallion.

“No!” the stallion barked. “I won't stay in a town which has a monster walking around for even one second.” Even as the last words left his mouth, Mender seemed to realize what he said, judging from the way his already comically large eyes seemed to widen even more as he took a few steps back in nervousness.

“Buzzkill,” she pouted, folding her forehooves in disappointment.

“Well, we're leaving then.” Thiemo went over to the door and was just about to put a hoof on the handle when Glitter pushed him aside.

“Not so fast.” She put an ear at the door and listened. He had no idea what she was listening for. “If there's a conductor walking around, you might get in trouble.” Aura passed him and did as Glitter. “I think it's all clear now.”

“Me too,” the filly said and got a friendly pad on the head for that from Glitter. Without further ado, she pulled open the door and daylight flooded the wagon with all its blinding power. They all flinched as it struck their eyes since they spent the last few days in relative darkness. Soon enough though, they were able to make out forms and colors surrounding them as their sight slowly returned. They stood in front of an old, three story brick building that would need some repair work sooner rather than later, which Thiemo guessed to be the station. By his estimation, it had the area of several football fields. The platform itself, which was equipped with a wooden roof, was overflowing with ponies. Other than the Leylands, one instantly knew which race was native to this city. Due to the masses, no one noticed them climbing out of the wagon and saying their goodbyes to their fellow travelers.

“Thanks for the pleasant company, Glitter. I wish you a nice journey.” Thiemo said as she handed Aura to him. She had hardly reached the ground when her attention was diverted to somewhere entirely else, drinking in the new sights around her.

“My pleasure, a safe journey to you as well.” With that, she closed the door and they were now on their own again. Amaryllis wore the backpack, which also covered her wings. They did not miss how much attention they had garnered in Appleloosa. The staff was strapped to it so she had to be careful to avoid touching it by accident. She nudged him in the side since he had joined Aura in being amazed by the scenes around then. He had never seen so many ponies in one area; even the market on Dragmire seemed poorly visited in comparison.

His rapture was finally broken when Amaryllis nudged him again, this time a bit harder. “Never have I seen so many ponies.” Thiemo saw her making a face and she started to sway slightly. “So many emotions.”

“Hey!” He knew what to do. He had had the same problem when he started his training. “Focus on me.” She nodded and took a deep breath, concentrating on the human before her. “Better?” This time she nodded, opening her eyes to look at him.

“Thanks,” she mumbled before once again breaking eye contact with him.

“My pleasure, I told you I'm here for you.” This issue now resolved, there was still the foal left. A foal that was apparently not where it was five seconds ago. “Aura?” He looked around, starting to feel a bit panicked.

“Aura?” Amaryllis shouted as well, also noticing their small companion was missing.

“Over here!” they heard her distant voice calling to them. Hurrying to where the voice had come from and saw her bouncing up and down and waving her hoof. “Come here, you've got to see this!” she enthused, her eyes sparkling with excitement. Without further hesitation, the human in pony disguise and changeling in pony disguise went down the platform where she was waiting for them impatiently. The view was breathtaking. Tall buildings which reminded Thiemo of a European town in the late renaissance period gleamed in all their glory. Separating them were broad cobbled streets which were mainly inhabited by carriages ironically driven and drawn by ponies. To Thiemo, it was almost like seeing a pony riding another pony, the scenes making him shake his head in slight disbelief. But the most astonishing thing were the colors. In contrast to the rather dull station, the houses looked as if a 3-year-old wanted to use every last crayon he owned. Yellow walls, blue roof, red walls, green roof, purple walls white roof, it seemed as though every combination was represented. To finish the picture, there were even more inhabitants than on the station, each of them vivid and bright, making it seem as though there was a moving mass of rainbow marshmallows right in front his very eyes .

“C-Civilization,” Thiemo stammered. “I lost hope I would ever see a real city again!” His outburst garnered several confused looks from other pedestrians but he wasn’t in the mood to care. The biggest building the deer had was the university, surrounded by a few small villages. The camels didn’t even have something you could call a village and the zebras lived in their tribes in the savannahs. Dragmire, although almost a city, was more along the lines of something you would call a third-world hole and all he saw of Pretuskria was the city walls and the dungeon. This was the first city he saw since he appeared on Albion. It did not help the confusion of the surrounding ponies that mare and foal next to him had a similar facial expression.

“Culchies.” Thiemo heard a comment next to him as a stallion in a suit pushed past him, snorting derisively.

“A foal at that age? Today’s youth…” That comment got Thiemo back into reality quickly and he pushed his companions forward, trying to hide the faint blush that had appeared on his muzzle. For one, he didn’t want to let the ponies around him get even more stupid ideas about them plus attention the last thing they wanted to gain.

“What are we going to see first?” Aura asked, jumping around in front of them, either oblivious or not caring about the comments that had been thrown their way. They stepped on the sidewalk and started working their way through the crowds. The foal looked in all directions and occasionally bumped into someone. Since she was significantly smaller, none of the ponies seemed to care. With her little saddlebags and her wide eyes, she was the perfect image of a tourist.

“Since some of us need more than just love and air to survive,” He totally did not look at Amaryllis as he said that, “I suppose we should look for a restaurant.” They looked around on the tables they passed. Ponies in fancy suits and dresses were sitting there, enjoying their dinner. “Maybe one that we can afford,” he amended. The establishment was clearly not in their price-range; he could almost feel his gem pouch shrinking just by continuing to look at the place. Indeed, Thiemo doubted that they would find anything affordable in this entire section of the city.

Thus they made their way further towards the center of the city, Aura’s stomach approving the plan with a growl, not surprising since their last supplies had not survive the train ride. “Can I have a daisy sandwich?” At least she thought in their budget.

“Sure, why not. But we should look for that downtown.” They followed the signs leading them into the heart of the city. Although the variation of colors became less and less the further away the station was, the masses of ponies did not. The city had some similarities with the Paris Thiemo knew from his history books. The gleam that had seemed to hold sway over the building seemed to diminish noticeably in this section of the city. While most looked presentable, there were a few shabby and ill-maintained homes that desperately needed a few coats of paint, for starters. While the streets were mostly passable, there were more potholes here and even garbage strewn about in some places, forcing the carriages to swerve sharply around it. The streetlamps were grey poles with two lanterns on the top. It wouldn’t surprise him if there actually some ponies whose job it was to light them up every night, magically of course. At least every now and then the sidewalk was decorated with trees or flower boxes, giving the area a more natural cheer.

They hardly talked while watching the city and other pedestrians as they weaved their way through them. The suits made way for simple sweaters, made for ponies of course, not that Thiemo was particularly surprised about that. This world did not hesitate to keep popping up with similarities to his own world. So why shouldn’t a pony ward itself against the cold weather of the fall? He hardly felt anything himself, probably since he wasn’t used to the fur yet. That still didn’t count for his entire body; some other parts that weren’t as furry were a little cold sometimes. This included his knees as well as his backside. His tail somehow did what he wanted as long as he concentrated on it, but sometimes it just gave way for the wind to reach an otherwise protected area. Just how the mares managed this was beyond him. Maybe it’s because they were born this way.

As the crowds started to thicken and walking space became a momentary premium, he almost ended up losing his temper, not being used to being pushed and jostled so often. As a human, no one even had dared to. He was starting to miss his human form, especially now, when another big earth pony pushed him aside. “Watch it!” Thiemo yelled after the disappearing back of the earth pony as he vanished in the masses. “Not even two hours and I already miss the silence.” The way he changed his mind, he was starting to think he was becoming bipolar.

“What are you talking about dad? Isn’t it great here?” Aura, on the other hand, was having the time of her young life. It was as if she was looking for some sort of connection with other ponies. Thiemo thought that this might be her herd instinct. After all, they seemed to be related to the horses on Earth.

Amaryllis was euphoric as well. “This is so different to the hive. So much chaos, no order and yet everything seems to work the way it should, even without a queen actively controlling.” Both were watching everything, paying attention except for the way they were walking. Thiemo was just glad that they both didn’t seem to be focusing on the events of the past few days. Especially Aura. He was unsure about the changeling princess. He liked her, there was no question about that, but she wasn’t with them out of free will. Maybe she had some kind of Stockholm Syndrome?

Before he was able to reflect a little more about this topic, his stomach gave that universal demand for refill and conveniently he spotted a tavern. “Perfect!” he called out and tapped his companions to gain their attention. They followed his hoof to the pub on the other side of the street. They waited for a gap between the carriages before hurrying across to the entrance.

Just as the rest of the city, it was old and rustic looking but had a charming air about it. While the walls were made of stone, the rest was made of wood. There were several solid pillars supporting the ceiling that looked to be made out of marble while the squared counter in the middle of the room housed several bartenders serving the customers around them. Walking briskly around the tables where several diners were seated were several waitresses walking around, wearing aprons and had a notepad behind one ear and a pencil behind the other.

Thiemo stepped forward but was immediately stopped by a hoof. “No salt for foals.” He looked into the eyes of a brawny earth pony. His dark red fur and gray mane were somewhat intimidating. Or perhaps it was the cords of muscle that were visible to him even under that thick coat that gave him that feeling.

“Good thing there are no foals here.” He pushed the hoof aside but it immediately sprung back to his chest. The stallion pointed his head towards Aura. “If I’m old enough to have her, I’m old enough to dine here. Do you want my daughter to wait outside like a dog on a leash?” The bouncer seemed to be unsure for a second but then shuffled inside to let them in.

Satisfied, they went to an empty table and sat down on the cushioned benches. “I cannot believe that worked.” Amaryllis said as she put the backpack underneath the table. With her wings against the back, she wouldn’t draw as much attention, especially since the place was pretty busy and no one really cared to give them more than just a cursory glance.

“It’s all about being convincing. If you can’t believe your own lies, how could someone else?” Amaryllis snickered while Aura opened the menu on the table.

“You sound like my mother. She always tried to lecture me about lies. It’s essential for us should we be in a dangerous situation,” she explained, causing Thiemo to smile faintly.

“Your mother might be a lot of things but dumb isn’t one of them.” At that moment the waitress came to their table. Aura ordered her desired daisy sandwich and Thiemo ordered a salad while Amaryllis stayed with water. When she was gone, they continued their conversation. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.” He stopped, his smile vanishing as he looked down pensively. “Can you fly faster than your mother?”

Amaryllis seemed astonished at the question. “Faster than mother? I don’t think any changeling can.” Thiemo nodded his head, her words confirming his thoughts.

“Isn’t it strange then that we managed to escape while you had to carry us both?” She seemed to realize it for the first time as well, judging from the thoughtful look on her face.

“What does this mean? She wanted us to escape?” she wondered aloud.

“That’s how it looks to me,” he said quietly.

“The big evil bug wanted us to escape?” Aura asked from aside.

“For whatever reason, maybe…” He lost track of his thoughts as a tall figure entered the room. At first he thought it for a Diamond Dog. It was covered with pelts, even on the head, but then he looked a second time. On its back there was a backpack, similar to his. The face was covered with hair, but it was more of a beard than fur. A fleshy nose poked out of it, with two small brown eyes above it. Thiemo was surprised that no one seemed to notice as it sat down two tables away. The beard was red while everything else was grey. Did a human really just enter the tavern?

Author's Notes:

Thanks goes to Ultima D & JBL for editing this chapter.