Ponyville, just before dawn.

Light was slowly beginning to creep into the sky, and Princess Twilight Sparkle was sitting in front of her library, staring up at the receding stars. There was a small smile on her face, as she pondered her namesake, like countless nights before. Twilight. The in-between time, neither day nor night, when nothing is certain... She liked it, and dawn especially. There was always an atmosphere of... potential. A lack of borders, of the restrictions imposed upon the world by the sun and the moon.

“Can’t sleep either, Rosie?”

It was completely out of the blue, and the princess didn’t even look away from the stars as she said it. Obediently, the dark-feathered griffon stepped out from the shadow of the library’s entrance. Smiling a bit, she said “Your ears are getting sharper, your highness. I, ah, thought you might like some company.” Twilight simply patted the grass beside her with a hoof. Rosie walked up, and sat in the spot, turning her face to the sky as well. The brightest stars still shone, but one by one their weaker siblings were winking out, replaced by the oncoming blue of day. “-sigh-” The princess’ face gradually grew darker as they sat, in contrast to the horizon.

The smile was gone, replaced by the expression she had been wearing most of the night, the one that made her look sick to her stomach. “I can’t shake it, Rosie. I still have this feeling, this… apprehension. I think about tomorrow, and all that comes to mind…” She trailed off, and slowly lowered her head, until her purple eyes were fixed on the griffon’s auburn ones. “Am I sending our hundreds of Explorers to their deaths?”

There was silence for a long moment, and the world around them continued to grow imperceptibly brighter. Another moment closer to the day, and everything that meant. “Your highness…” The Guard finally began. “Your highness, this venture is important, and you know it. After all, it was you who argued that mass exploration was the first step towards making the world a better, friendlier place. Yes, the risk is great, but the reward… We’ll be laying the groundwork for the greatest diplomatic acts in history, and providing the first true possibility of an interconnected world...” She looked into those deep purple orbs, reflecting the faded light of the stars, and said “I’m willing to die to make that happen.”

Once again, there was silence, as they studied one another’s faces. Commander Red’s was hard-set, determined, her eyes straight and honest. There was no doubting her words. Twilight looked away, the ghost of a smile on her lips, and said “Fine, you’ve convinced me, Commander. I can only hope the rest of the League shares your enthusiasm.”

“They’d better,” was the growled response. As they made their way back towards the library, the first rays of the rising sun falling on their backs, the princess said “In any case, we’ve been over the security arrangements dozens of time, and all of us have seen them as adequate. Every team is well-equipped to handle anything they might face… It’s down to luck, and that’s something we just can’t control.” She took a deep breath as they reached the doors, looked back at the tiny sliver of sun that had just risen, and finished with “Let’s get a few hours of sleep. Today’s a big day.”

“That it is, your highness,” Rosie muttered under her breath. “That it is.”

---

Later.

The various and sundry forms of Explorers were slowly filling Ponyville Square, and Rosie was sitting on a low cloud above them, musing. The members of her Team were all down there somewhere, she thought, and went through the list in her head. The dossiers were rather basic, not much on personality, but they would have plenty of time to get to know each other along the way. No, they mostly detailed skills, possible conflicts, and the like. Clipper Team, as they would be called, was small, one of the smaller Exploration Teams, but even so had no shortage of interesting and unique members. Even a changeling, for Sister’s sake! She was pretty sure the princess had a hand in their placement, considering the Team’s specific mission. Members of several non-pony races, a saurian, a deer, a zebra, the changeling, herself, made up over half the Team, rounded out by two Earth ponies and two unicorns, giving any group they came in contact with a subtle microcosm: all of these very different beings working harmoniously towards a higher goal. It was quite clever, in Rosie’s opinion.

The high, clear notes of a trumpeter rang out over the town, signaling the arrival of the princess, and before long the entire square was respectfully quiet, Twilight had taken the stage, and all of the Guards that would be in command of each Team were standing at attention in a row behind her. She needed no microphone, and called out clearly over the hundreds of heads, instantly silencing the small murmurs that had begun to build. “Explorers! You have all applied, and been chosen, to be a part of the greatest set of expeditions in Equestria’s long history. You are courageous and skilled, be you pony, deer, or griffon. Saurian, zebra, or buffalo. You know the dangers, and are prepared to face whatever challenges may find you, out in this magnificent world of ours. Most of all, you are determined! Determined to bring the world together, to make the future of all of your races a better one! A brighter one! A friendlier one! I am only one pony. I can only do so much. But to see you all here, to see your faces, no matter the shape, no matter if they are scaled, or feathered, or furred… It makes me proud. Proud that I was the one to bring together such a group. Proud to be the one that sends them on their way.”

“I, Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria, officially declare this Explorer’s League operational! Good luck to you all, and may the Sisters, the trees, the swamps and the spirits watch over you forevermore. Now, I leave you in the more-than-capable hooves of my officers, who will guide and command you for the duration of your expeditions. They will inform you of the Teams you have been placed in, if you do not know already, and within the week your journeys will begin. Lieutenant Bud?” A muscular gray-coated unicorn came forward from the line of Guards, and began clearly listing the members of each Team, in alphabetical order by Team name. Clipper Team was third, after Amble and Bray, and the list went on for quite a while after that, as there were over three-hundred Explorers in all.

After her Team was called, Commander Red left the stage by wing, unable to hide her enthusiasm, and flew the short distance to their meeting-place (called out along with the members): the library. Smiling broadly as she approached the great tree, she passed the spot where she and the princess had been sitting early that morning, went inside, and made herself comfortable, waiting patiently for her small Team to assemble.

Flicker watched as Twilight made her speech, finishing eating the cake he had bought from sugar cube corner, one last luxury before leaping in the unknown. He remembered back when he was poor as dirt, by the sisters it felt good to have bits. Well, maybe he risked substantially more his life now than before for said bits, but hey, what's life use if not living it? A lot of ponies seemed to either steer clear of him or constantly trying not to stare at his scars. Oh well, Flicker didn't care 'Always look forward, never backward for life is too short for it' was his motto and he intended to continue to live by it.

He had had the luck to have received a briefing about the team he'd be in, something something Clipper. Now that he remembered it as he started walking toward the library he used his magic to get said briefing out and read it quickly, mainly going through the specialties of each member. Obviously he was magic analysis and maybe fire support *He couldn't help by snigger at this* on the side. Commander griffon from the dusk guard, botanist... Bah, he'd see soon enough. The papers went back to his saddle pack and he opened the library door with magic, internally hopping he wouldn't have to deal with too many 'Wannabes'. Twilight's initiative might have brought many minds and willing adventurers, but as someone who had to eat meat while being weeks of walk from any civilization, Flicker knew this lifestyle was difficult to the extreme and not made for everyone.

"Helloooooo everyone!" Flicker opened the door quickly and entered bombastically but quickly looked around, noticing there wasn't anyone in yet but himself and a griffon. "Well, so much for the entrance then, why hello there, you must be the commander, uh, what was on the briefing again..." He quickly took the papers back out again and looked at it before continuing. "Ah yes, Lieutenant Commander Rosewing Red, Royal Guard and second-in-command of Dusk Wing, many honors, etc, etc... Dawww, and me who had hopped for being paired with General Commander Rainbow Dash, hmm, that sweet sweet blue flank. Oh a stallion can dream." Flicker had a 'Bright' (Or as much it was possible to be with his hideous burns) smile and gave a wink at Rosewing. "But still, I don't mind 'Watching your back' either... Now, onto business, an honor my mare to make your acquaintance, I am 'Professor' Flickering Light, although I don't like being refereed to by my title, makes me sound like a Canterlot university A-hole so just call me Flicker or Burninator, although I hope I won't have to Burninate anything in this travel, So yeah, I'm the magical specialist although you probably already know that since you had a briefing and I am apparently a 'Distinctive individual', maybe because of the personality or the huge fracking scars that makes me look like a freak show and now I must breeeeaaaath!"

Words words words, Flicker most certainly had an exuberant personality, which had strangely enough developed after he fire ball'ed himself in the face. Couldn't let his appearance define him he thought, so he compensated with an overly open personality. He moved forward a bit to let someone coming up behind him in and smiled to the newcomer, from his good profile. "Hey, nice cutie mark." He turned to completely face the newcomer, probably removing any charm he might have had if any there even was. This was also the second thing which was good with being a reputed expert, when you're a nobody acting like Flicker did, you come of either as creepy or crazy, when you're someone, you're just 'Eccentric'.

It was still somewhat early morning when a pair of ponies arrived in Ponyville. The Unicorn and the Earth Pony had arrived early so they wouldn't miss anything, much to the latters protests. The two had ate breakfast, well, one of them had anyways. The other shoveled what was probably going to be her last taste of vanilla ice cream for a while down her throat. Which would probably help explain her excessive energy right now.

"What kind of creatures do you think we'll find?!" The unicorn excitedly said as she practically bounced down the road. She was obviously excited for whatever it was the two were going to do. They were here to be Explorers, who wouldn't be excited about that?

"Aster." The earth pony said, trying to get Asters attention. A certain orange Earth Pony who was in a bit of a bad mood. Floret loved Aster, but sometimes she could be a little on the annoying side....she was a bug after all when you got down to it. She supposed that's something all of those things had in common. Annoying ponies and eating her flowers. Upon thinking that, a rather amusing memory crossed her mind that occurred when they had first met, and she couldn't help but to smile a little at that.

"Oh oh oh! Wouldn't it be cool if we find another sentient race of friendly creatures!" The Changeling said, either ignoring or not hearing her companion. Floret sighed and rubbed a hoof on her head. She had been out of her shop for awhile now. She got grumpy when that happened and a headache was already forming. And here she was, going on some adventure because her annoying, needy, little bug that she had decided to fall in love with, couldn't last two days without her. She tried again to get the changelings attention without having to yell.

"I know right?! We'd be heroes! Me! A hero of Equestria! Haha!" Of course she didn't hear her. Instead, she was striking a heroic pose and pretending to defeat some dangerous beast with a magic spell. If she didn't pipe down, she'd have to deal with a real dangerous beast. The very angry flower shop pony who was suffering from flower withdrawals."Think about it Floret! I'd bet I could get all the vanilla ice cream I wanted! They'd practically give it too me for my autograph!" The changeling enthusiastically continued.

"ASTER!" She finally snapped, and yelled at the changeling as loud as she could. Aster was caught off guard by Florets voice and jumped in surprise, letting out a cute little yelp in the process. Floret sighed and rubbed her forehead with a hoof again. Despite her internally hating on Aster right now, she couldn't ever bring herself to stay mad at her for long. Maybe it was because the changeling was good at reading emotions?

"Um...you need something Floret?" Aster hesitantly asked, obviously knowing that she had annoyed her.

"Sorry, I'm just not in the best of moods right now." She sighed. "Could you try keeping it down a little please? I don't need you annoying me on top of this headache I already have." Aster seemed to calm down a bit after this and gave Floret an affectionate nuzzle.

"I know I'm asking a lot from you by doing this, but it'll be worth it in the end, I promise!" The changeling said enthusiastically. "Heroes Floret, Heroes!" Floret couldn't help but to let out a small smile, her companions enthusiasm being slightly infectious. Floret decided to let it go for now, she'd mess with her later.

---

The pair eventually made it to the square just as the speech was beginning. They sit quietly through the speech, both listening with rapt attention as the Princess announced their goals, what her hopes were, and what was expected of them. It was rather moot for them to come since they already knew which team they were assigned to, and they had both heard it all before. They had been talking with the princess about it for quite awhile now, ever since Aster first got word of the league. To be perfectly honest with herself, Floret wasn't that interested in this and if it wasn't for Aster, she wouldn't have even paid attention to it so much. She couldn't let Aster go by herself, and she couldn't force her to stay either. That would just make her miserable and that would be worse than anything. Really, this was a loose-loose situation for her, but as long as she was with Aster, she'd be relatively happy as long as the she didn't kill her with her own hooves. On some days, that seemed like a real possibility. The ceremony was over soon enough, and Aster seemed to have calmed down a good bit, though Floret was still in a rather sour mood she kept it to herself mostly.

"Right, so, we're in Clipper Team right?" Aster asked as she fiddled with some things in her saddle bags.

"Mhm." Floret replied. She had already been over all the information they had been given. "And we're meeting the princess and the others in the Library." Floret secretly hoped that this would be a rather tame event. As it stood, she was ready to slap the first pony that annoyed her. Ugh, she wished she was back at her flower shop right now. It didn't take the two long to reach the library since they had been there numerous times before, and despite herself Floret found her heart racing a bit. There really would be no turning back if she stepped through that door. It was...exciting, she had to admit.

Floret reached for the door handle and entered the Library, and was greeted by a stallion that was rather nice looking at first glace.

And then he turned. And Florets hoof made a beeline for Flickers face as fast as she could move it.

It was the first time the Shaman saw a princess of the Pony Breed. A stunning sight indeed. So strange to him. Size that rivaled that of any elk, wings as great as a griffons, and radiating a certain...presence. One unlike anything he had ever felt before. Closest he could approximate it to was some of the great elders of the Deer Breed, the ones of legendary wisdom and experience. While he was quite interested in getting to learn of the other races he was to travel with in this expedition, he would also be very interested in exchanging words with the leader of the Pony Breed. But alas, he had his job before him and he would do his best to be an asset to his team. The briefing he had been given, much to his personal sha-grin, had been written in pony. He was barely passing familiar with the language. Most of the deer peoples had little use of the written word of their own breed much less that of the other breeds. He, being a shaman, could read his own tongue, but only knew bits and pieces of the others. He could read enough to make out names, some rough ideas of jobs, and where to meet with them...but that was about it. So Asim Bloodriver made his way to an Equstrian library.

Normally such a large, imposing figure such as a Elk of the warrior breed would seem horrible out of place in a small town like ponyville. None but the largest of the pony clan's members could rivel him in size, but even then they did not match his length or weight. But, her was not the only deer in the crowed, and much to his surprise, there were Saurians who stood even larger than his head, but he had not often seen those larger than himself so closely. Moose and Griffons of course, but they were not so much larger, and they stood like normal creatures. most of these Saurians spent their time on their hind legs, like a bear rearing to attack but all the time. He found the sight someone nerve wracking on a instinctual level. As if two potential predators of his people, gators and bears, had became one. He had heard that certain breeds of their people grew even larger than that. A thought tat gave him shudders, while confident in most combat situations, he was far from a polished warrior anymore. He doubted he could stand much of a chance of one got it in him to go on a rampage.

Between that, the countless other ponys, donkys, deer, griffons and ROOTS knows what else made up this massive crowd of creatures, Asim didn't make too much of a spectacle so far from his forest home. Though he was learning something quite fast. That none of these other races were used to maneuvering around a creature with antlers.

It took him a good while to make his way around the mass of beings, occasionally passing other deer who he would share a look of sympathetic frustration on a level so new to them that it boarded on actual amusement rather than annoyance. As if walking with younglings who finally got tall enough to be at antler level or were getting used to their own set for the first time. He broke free of the bulk of the crowd, walking right behind a pair of ponys. If had to guess, members of his expedition given he remembered a few ponys being on the list, and they were heading to the same destination. Finally he made it to the library...and he honestly didn't know how to feel.

He could...tell the tree was alive, but..it had also been clearly hallowed. He wasn't sure if that was the best thing for the tree. Such a massive tree as well, so old and with such good roots. It seemed a pitty to have altered it so. And yet...It was a perfect...symbiotic relationship. A creature of living flesh and blood living inside a living tree of root and branch. It was the only kind of 'permanent settlement' he could ever see his breed accepting. And that idea would have been a revolution to their culture. He made a mental note to investigate further about this. He walked in on the just a few steps behind the pair of pony girls.

He saw, much to his surprise He saw one of the ponys leashing out to strike the other. His beaten in the hard way fighters instincts told him to lunge forward and try to catch the lashed out blow of the hoof in one of the cruxes of his antler. But he stopped himself. Not a particularly kind thing to do. But he was interested to see if the race so famed for its doctrine of 'friendship' would handle a situation like this. While he was very eager to aid in the expeditions mission, he had his own. Learn of the other breeds. This would be...educational.

Flicker simply didn't see it coming. This reminded him what the Earth Ponies had the magical unicorns or flying pegasi did not: Strength. The blow made him get up on his hind legs before falling backward on his back, there was a silence as Flicker pushed himself slowly away from his aggressor, a hoof on his face massaging the impact point. He had had his share of wounds and battle, but truth be told he saw himself more like a Glass Cannon, he could take main, didn't mind he liked it. "T-that hurts... Haha, you'd think after having my face burnt so bad this would be nothing... Ah yes, adrenaline, I have none right now since I didn't expect this, funny how the pony body works, haha-haaa..." This was said softly and more to himself than to anyone in particular, he looked up and tried to force a smile, although he was visibly in some pain.

"Well, I do say I enjoy being hit on by pretty girls, but not hit hit on, haha. Good reflexes by the way, maybe do that on an actual enemy next time, good thing I don't have the sames, I mean, wouldn't want to melt such a pretty face and actually make you have to go through the humiliation of people looking at you in disgust or punching you in fear. I know this guy I worked with and he had his back legs amputated, said I had it lucky since I was still mostly 100% functional, I answered that at least he got looked at with pity... kind of what i meant right here now isn't it?" He looked around a bit and thinking back on what he had just said, he realized it was pretty gloomy rather than lighting the atmosphere. He continued as he got up, slowly, still shaken by the hit.

"Bah, who am I to assume things, probably wasn't the face but the pick up line uh? 'Nice Cutie Mark', I mean I should have expected that punch now shouldn't I? Hahaha! Oh I should work on my game some more, can't expect mares to fall for that now can I?" Noticing the large Elk behind the two girls, Flicker turned his difigured gaze at him. "Oh hey, I remember reading something about an elk in this team. Welcome, you came at a little... misunderstanding but no matter... Oh and, getting hit on is a slang for... compliments aimed at establishing courtship... For mating, as in sex and babies. You do understand Equestrian, right? Oh I do hope I won't have to discombobulate all of my crappy jokes haha, the road to understanding a new language and its subtleties is a long and tedious one but you'll get there. Ever met a Camel? These guys have literally 182 words to describe specific types of sand so talk about linguistic subtleties, but erm, I'll get back to you on that."

He turned around to the griffon. "Lieutenant Commander? I hope you'll excuse what I'm about to do but I feel like it must be done, for all our sakes, I do not mean to infringe on your authority but, here it goes." He turned around and used his magic to pick up the briefing he had in his saddle and turned the pages. "Ah yes, you fit the description miss Autumn Floret was it? Autumn? Floret? Floret sounds way more natural..." He trowed the briefing on a table near and advanced quickly and very close to Floret, invading her personal space and putting his own face before her eyes. "I am aware this sight is not the most pleasing to the eye but you will take a long and hard look at this face and you will not flinch, you'll keep contact 7 seconds after I'm done talking even. Listen and listen well, because this is important." The leathery surface of Flicker's face was now an inch away from the eyes of Floret. "If this sight, as horrible as it may be, makes you flinch, makes you lose control of yourself for even a moment, you endanger us all and by all likelihood, either you or someone who cares for you-" He quickly looked at Aster before returning his yellow eyes at Floret. "-will DIE, because in a situation where your life or your death depends depends on your self control and your ability to look past the horror of crippling or even mortal injury and do what is needed to make sure the creeping shadow of decay does not extend to us all, if you flee, if you punch the wrong thing or if you even flinch in front of death itself, it may be all over, for you, for me, for her, for all of us."

Flicker stayed silent in front of Floret for 7 long seconds and stared at her before backing off. "I'm sorry but the dangers we will face are real and despite how publicized Princess Twilight Sparkle made the League, it isn't for everypony. We will achieve great things, I am certain of it, but... this life style isn't for everyone and although I would regret not having a botanist with us as I am certain we would miss spectacular discoveries, you must consider Floret, as must we all, that this may be a one way trip for many of us and even somepony with ice in his veins may not make it. I don't know you other than what few words were written on a piece of paper but judging how you'd have the reflex to punch someone in the face while we didn't even leave the homeland, I'd invite you to especially think about how you'd react in the middle of a dangerous and hostile territory full of unknown and most probably lethal dangers. There is no shame in walking through this door and going back to your home if you aren't absolutely 100% certain you are ready to face what lurks in the unknown."

In the waking world, Kali was still fast asleep. She was curled up in her seat, snoring softly and occasionally flicking her tail. She smiled through her dream, and seemed to mouth something. In her dreams, she was the intrepid explorer, off to find the most wild creatures in the furthest reaches of the world. The jungles were hot and humid, but she persevered.

"The jungle holds many dangers," she informed the pony behind her. "Especially, the snakes. And oh, do they have snakes here." She grinned. Her voice did not seem to match her, as she spoke more like a pony than a zebra and her native accent was barely there. The pony behind her nodded amd adjusted their wide-brimmed hat. Mouistere dripped from the leaves above and fell to the ground and onto the two equines below. "Infact, here's one of them. Quiet now." Kali knelt down close to the ground and the pony did the same. A huge snake was coiled up in a pit just ahead of them, and the zebra looked down at it in wonder. "You see, this is a- AAAHHHH!" She began, but she was cut short by her own screaming as the ground she was on shifted and she tumbled down into the pit. Her companion reached a hoof down to help her, and she look up at them but their face was hazy and impossible to make out. They were too late though, and Kali landed in a heap at very edge of the pit. The giant snake moved slowly and lifted up it's head and turned to face her... With the head of a pony?

"Hey, you awake?"

Kali nearly jumped out of her seat. She squeezed against the wall of the train and looked at the equally freaked out train conductor. The train had stopped and sunlight filled the empty car..

"I, uh... Sorry ma'am, it's just that... This is your stop. Manehattan to Ponyville, right?" he said.

Kali nodded. "Uh, yes. Sorry, sorry. You just gave me quite the fright, I was in the middle of a dream and.. Nevermind." She smiled and slowly got out of her seat. "Uh, thank you." She nodded and walked past him, making sure to grab her suitcase and drag it out onto the platform by her teeth. She was back in Ponyville, and by tonight she'd already be leaving again. She sighed, and continued on to her home to prepare for her new life.

---

Kali stood among the crowds of ponies in Ponyville square, happy to be cleaned and fed. She was nearly exploding with excitement, but she reined it in. Princess Twilight was standing on the stage with the expedition leaders. Soon enough, Kali would be following one of these leaders on her journeys as an Explorer! The Princess finished her speech and one of the guards stepped up to read off names. She was evidently part of the third team of explorers, "Clipper Team", and they were to meet up in the Ponyville library.

She trotted off to the libray with her saddle bags filled with her books and journals bouncing by her side. The door was slightly ajar, and she smiled. The other Explorers must be there already! She entered and heard someone talking very sternly. A unicorn was staring an earth pony in the eyes, explaining the dangers of the journey ahead. She took a step back when he stepped back from the earth pony, giving her a good look at his face. She stopped herself from making a sound, didn't want to offend the poor stallion.

Well then. That looks... Painful, she thought. She smiled weakly. "I've come in at the wrong time, haven't I?" She gave a nervous chuckle and entered. "I take it that you are the other Explorers?" She surveyed the room, studying each pony (and non-pony!) that she'd be traveling with.

After the stallion fell backwards, Floret realized her mistake. She remembered reading something about a unicorn that was a part of their team that had been badly burned. She was going to apologize and introduce herself and Aster, but it seemed like this stallion liked to talk. A bit too much. She couldn't help but having him remind her of a certain changeling at times. Considering her mood right now, that was not a good thing. As he droned on and on, her irritation only built, and she was about to smack him again just to get him to shut up, until he got uncomfortably close to her, placing his face mere inches away from hers, only caused her to flinch a little simply because she was not expecting it. The following speech he gave about death, and that she or Aster one might not be coming back from this, seemed to have a somewhat calming effect on her.

He was right. There was no way to deny that. One of them could very well not come back from this venture, as much as it pained her to admit. That scared her. She could very well die and then Aster would most likely starve to death. From what she had seen when Aster first stumbled into her shop, that wasn't going to be a pretty way to go. She couldn't deny any of this, and it scared her. But, there was one thing that scared her more. That was loosing Aster because she was too scared to go on this exploration. Aster would be absolutely miserable if she didn't go. While she was sure that Aster would be happy enough, that would hurt her just as much knowing that Aster would do something for her, and that she wouldn't because she was a little scared.

"You're right." She finally said after he had stopped his little rant."It will be dangerous. I'm not a pony who likes too much excitement. Heck, I never even usually leave my flower shop unless I have too. I'd be happier there, among the flowers I grew." Her voice had taken a serious tone, and she was looking at Flicker right in the eyes, obviously not bothered by his condition in the least. "But I have a better reason to go on this exploration than you could ever possibly come up with." By now, she had shoved her face against his so that it was so close they were almost touching. "Somepony would be miserable if I didn't let her go. And for reasons I'm not telling, she can't go without me. So, if you and your ugly mug doesn't like me being here, then tough. I'm going and that's that. If you think I won't be of use to you, then think about this: How many ponies do you think would have the nerve to march into Canterlot Castle and demand, not ask, demand something from Princess Celestia herself? Not many I'm sure. I may not be the best candidate for this mission, in fact, I know I'm not. I'm just a pony that studies botany as a hobby. But let me tell you, I will not crack under pressure, and I will do everything I can for everypony here, unlike a certain leather-face stallion who's immature enough to do something incredibly stupid as you did. If anyone is going to do something stupid in enemy territory, its not going to be me." When she was done, she didn't remove her face from Flicker's, she stood there glaring at him.

"So, if you don't think I'm up for this and can't pull my own weight, then go home and cry to your mother about it, because I'm staying and that's that."

---

Aster, for the most part was silent during Florets rant. She knew better than to get in Floret's way right now. She'd knew from experience that that was a bad idea. Instead, she approached the Zebra that had decided to show up during this time.

"Hiya!" She said to the Zebra with a friendly smile and wave, hoping that at least she might ease some of the tension that Floret and Flicker were causing. Yep, that's us, the Explorers. I'm Aster! Unicorn mage at your service! and you're a Zebra!" She excitedly stated. This was her first time meeting one, after all. "Eee, this is so exciting. This first time I've met a Zebra! She cast a nervous glance over to Flicker and Floret again. She'd back Floret up if she needed too, but she really hoped the whole thing blew over without much more incident. Umm...never mind those two. Ignore them and they'll go away. Probably." She didn't seem so sure of that fact from the glances she kept giving them. "So whats your name?"

Flicker's face slowly formed a smile and he had a good long laugh before going to Floret's side and putting his hoof around her neck. "Haha, I like you already, that's the spirit! I do hope you'll survive this, well, I hope everyone does but you get my drift! Ah yes, shifting the burden of the blame on somepony else and then insult him, calling him leather face, immature and stupid. I do that too! We have a lot in common Floret and I'm sure we'll go well together."

He got his face closer to Floret, his breath filtering through his exposed lip-less teeth. "And as for how many ponies would go around demanding things from princesses, I'd say as much ponies as the number which princess specifically go to to ask to join this little expedition. Considering you and me, it makes at least one each, no?" He let go of the earth pony and in a flash of light teleported a bit farther, closer to Clip. "And there is no such thing as a wrong time, another situation solved by friendship I dare say! Come now and let us assemble around our commander! Judging from the disapproving glare I saw her send at me I'm thinking she may have her own announcement to make to the group and uh... We're missing somepony I think?"

"...and then they made me their chief." said a red-caped Unicorn named Rising Dawn to a group of kids following behind him. He was at the big gathering where the princess had given her speech, listened for his name to be called and then headed out to the designated meeting place. The problem? Dawn had misheard, thinking he had been added to the second team, not the third one. And as such he ended up wasting time going to their meeting place only to be embarrassingly corrected. Not that he let that show, instead laughing it off and insisting that his mistake wasn't a mistake at all and that he was simply going to have a word with the Princess to clear up the confusion. Utter rubbish of course but the Unicorn would be damned to let himself look bad on the first day.

Along the way a small group of kids started hanging on to him listening to one of his many tales of adventure. This of course slowed his pace and as a result he was quite late to the meeting at the library. He was finally left alone when the Library was in view. The door was left open and a tall deer stood outside, likely being unable to fit through the door. But because the door was open Dawn could hear all manner of commotion coming from inside. An eager crew, Dawn decided, which suited him just fine. The last thing he needed was to be teamed up with a bunch of lazy sods, and thankfully this didn't sound like that sort. As he approached, he heard mention of the crew missing somepony. He knew they were talking about him, but he couldn't just walk up normally. Oh no. If he was going to be late, he was going to be so in a favorable way.

As such, his light greenish aura appeared around his horn and the hilt of one of his blades as it slid from its holster. With no word or warning, the weapon flew through the open door and into the library, striking the wall with a thunk. Swiftly it was pulled out and in a few lighting strokes carved a "D" into the wall. Perfect. It was quick, bold and dramatic. And the unicorn introduced himself just as dramatically, "You referring to me, mate?" said Dawn with a cunning smile as he spoke up from outside. As he entered he looked around at everypony, waving a front hoof in greeting before magically removing his hat and bowing before Griffon, "Apologies, miss. You see I happened upon a poor, defenseless kitten stuck in a tree on the way here and, I couldn't well leave the cute little creature to his fate." while he spoke, his magic caused the sword to return to his side and the hat upon his head, "But I'm here now, lads and-" he saw Flicker then and his introduction was briefly stopped by a well-hidden shudder, "...and ladies." he finished.

Through almost all of these exchanges, from the moment Flicker was subject to Floret's startled punch to the "dramatic" entrance of Rising Dawn, Commander Red had a talon over her face in disbelief (only removing it to glare a bit at Flicker). This was going to be a long trip. The princess, having heard the commotion between the burned unicorn and the florist, was walking down the steps to the ground floor, looking quite puzzled, and was nearly impaled by the thrown rapier for her trouble. She was forced to quickly duck to avoid the sword, as it carved a "D" into the living wall of her beloved tree, and subsequently lost her balance, landing rather ungracefully at the foot of the stairs, next to the griffon. Rosie just looked at her from behind scaly claws. "Your highness, are you absolutely sure these are the Explorers in my Team? It seems more likely that the circus is in town, and the two were switched."

"No, Commander, I'm afraid these are they. Though, I must admit, to have such exuberance and vitriol within mere moments of meeting each other... Hm. No, no I think I've chosen correctly, Rosie. You definitely have some, ah, big personalities, but I'm sure once they get to know each other things will settle down a bit. After all, they don't even know any details of their mission yet!" Turning to face the group, the Commander spoke up, saying "Well, it's time to fix that. First, I'm sorry for Mr. Flicker's rudeness, Ms. Floret, but I believe you handled him perfectly, and have nothing more to add." She gave the unicorn another slightly stern look. "I'll just say that I'd rather he wait and listen before making any more brash assumptions, hm? Now then, to business! We're still missing... who? Ah, our cook, Happy Golucky. Her highness has assured me that our friendly saurian airship captain has made port in Los Pegasus, our archivist has been in Baybylon for ages anyway... Yes, once Mr. Golucky arrives, we'll be ready to embark."

"Well, he seems to be running late, but we can fill him in when he gets here. Before we discuss anything else, there is an issue of... honesty, that we must address. After all, if we are to be successful, we must be trusting of each other. One of our members, here in this room, is not what she appears... Your highness?" Twilight had suddenly walked across the room to Floret and Aster, looking very apologetic. "Girls, I know this isn't what we discussed, and I'm sorry to spring it on you like this, but... the Commander has convinced me that it's for the best. They need to know, and since I am here to support you, if anyone... objects to it, it'll be best to show them now. Aster? Could you give us a little bit of a, um, demonstration?"

Happy made it to the square right on time. The Princess was just begining to talk. He would have been there earlier if he didn't have to wait for the cupcakes he was making to finish baking before he could leave. The red Earth Pony sat quietly with a smile on his face as the princess made her speech. Normally, Happy wasn't good at sitting still listening to speeches. but thankfully, this one was actually interesting, and not long. His hooves were still fidgeting around a little though. He was ready to start the adventure now. It wasn't everyday an aspiring baker from Ponyville got the chance to explore the lands beyond Equestria. That was why Happy had volunteered for this in the first place. Who wouldn't want to be part of a cool adventure like that?

The speech was over rather quickly, at which point, a gaurd called out all of the names of all the groups, and who was on them. "Aw, Clipper team huh? Alrighty, then!" So, while humming a cheerful tune, a took a leisurely stroll there. On his way to library, he made a pitstop to his house to get his bag of supplies, and a box containing some of the dozen chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting he had prepared earlier in the day. They should have finished cooling off by now. Everyone enjoyed baked goods, and he was sure the other members of his team would appreciate it.

When he got there, he found out he was the last to arrive. There were a few other ponies, a griffon, a Zebra, a deer, as well as Princess Twilight Sparkle herself there waiting for him. All of them appeared to be older than he was. He hoped he'd be able to get along with all these ponies. Still keeping the smile on his face, he approached the group. "Hi guys! My name is Happy Golucky!" The Earth Pony exclaimed happily. "Sorry I'm late!" He then pulled out the box of cupcakes from his pink saddlebag, opened it, and set them out in front of him. "I brought cupcakes for everyone! Anyway, I'm happy to be here! Let's get this thing started huh?"

Kali looked on at the display worryingly before the other, extremely energetic unicorn spoke up next to her. "Uh, yes. I am a zebra." Kali smiled wide. "It's good to meet you Aster. My name is Kali, 'expert' on Equestria's wildlife, especially the dangerous sort. And hopefully, expert on those beyond once we get going! You don't mind me asking what your area of expertise is, do you?"

Moments later, a sword flew through the door and Kali jumped up and shrieked as it impaled itself in the wall across the room. Magic soon enveloped the hilt and a unicorn jumped through the door as he carved a 'D' into the wall and proceeded to introduce himself. Kali sat against one of the book cases, her eyes wide. She slowly stood up and used a hoof to smooth back her mane."Well, that was... Quite the entrance," she mumbled. A nearby thud revealed that somepony else had been equally surprised by this display, and she turned to see Princess Twilight herself sprawled out on the ground in a rather un-princess like manner. She stifled a giggle, then stood to attention as she spoke. Kali cocked her head to the side when the Princess asked Aster to put on a display and turned to the unicorn. What sort of demonstration? Maybe some sort of magic trick? A spell? Not sure why that would need to be shown right now, but the Princess must have a reason...

And then came the pony with the cupcakes, and that train of thought was immediately lost. "Ooh, cupcakes? Those look delicious, don't mind if I..." She began before remembering herself. "Actually, we were just about to have a demonstration. We can have cupcakes then, yes?"

The Zebra, Kali seemed Friendly, and she was glad that at least one of the others on this venture didn't seem to be a complete crazy pony. She was thankful that Floret was able to keep a relatively level head during her...interaction with Flicker. Floret was used to dealing with jerks sometimes, running your own store meant you had to deal with them every now and again. Some ponies just couldn't be pleased no matter what you did. But that was neither here nor there. Aster was much too interested in this Zebra currently to pay too much attention to Flicker or Floret.

"Nice to meet ya Kali." She gave the Zebra a friendly smile. "Wildlife huh? Can't say I know much about animals. My area lies in magical-" Before she could finish her sentence, A sword flew through the door, causing her to have a similar reaction as Kali. She yelped and jumped backwards, almost bumping into the Deer in the process. The swords owner, a unicorn, followed shortly after. Aster quickly regained her composure, wanting to get back with her conversation with Kali.

As Aster went to continue her conversation with Kali, Floret had just finished giving Flicker a thorough verbal berating. She had chosen to ignore Flickers words for the most part, deciding that talking with the stallion would only prove to be either useless, or only make her want to beat her head against a wall. She felt better, at least. Her headache was gone, which was a small comfort. She began to look to see where Aster had gotten to as Rosie approached her, saying she did a good job of handling Flicker. "Well, when you work in business, dealing with the occasional jerk is just that, business." She said with a sigh, as she spotted Aster, and trotted over to her.

Floret approached the Zebra and gave her a friendly wave. She stayed silent though, as Aster had already was attempting to restart their conversation before they were interrupted. "So, Kali, as I was saying i'm pretty good with magic theory and it-" Aster was cut off mid sentence, this time by Twilight. Aster would have normally would have loved to have a conversation with a Zebra and Twilight. She could probably learn a lot of things from the Zebra since she didn't know much of Zebras, outside of what she read in a few books. However, what Twilight had just suggested, was not something she was too keen on doing.

"O-oh...um, well...Uh," Aster's personality suddenly did a 180 as she suddenly was at a loss for words, and took a step back from Twilight. Whatever this demonstration was supposed to be, It was definitely making her more than a little uncomfortable."A-are you sure that's r-really necessary right now Twilight?" Aster, of course, new exactly what she was talking about, and despite her hoping otherwise, she knew that it would have come out sooner or later. She had just hoped it would have been later. Much later. "I-I mean, there's plenty of time for this later, right? we should focus on getting ready, w-we're already running late, right?" She was too busy trying her best to find an excuse to postpone this, but failing miserably. It was about this time, Floret gave a heavy sigh and gave Aster a pat on the head.

"Aster, we both knew this was going to happen, might as well get it over with." Floret said, giving her a reassuring smile. "Twilight wouldn't ask this unless she thought it was important. I know you don't like being seen without an illusion up, so I'm sure you could easily just do a quick demonstration by turning into somepony else, no need to drop it completely right now." Florets words seemed to calm Aster somewhat, though she still appeared incredibly nervous. Aster took a look around the room at every other pony in there. After a few seconds she finally gave a hesitant reply.

"A-alright." She said, as she took a deep breath, as Floret backed away and gave her some room. Suddenly, her body was enveloped in a green energy starting at her hooves, and slowly making its way up. As the energy made its way up, Asters body began to change. Her coat began to take a light grey coloration, with dark grey stripes. Her mane took on a spiked look, and her tail grew out visibly.

Of course, the transformation was almost instant to any pony looking, and when she was done, standing there was a Zebra that looked exactly like Kali, with every detail correct down to the iron bands on her left foreleg.

"Haha, oh wow, what was that, 1 minute? Still doesn't beat my record of people trying to kill me 12 seconds after we met but I'm always impress when I can get 'Friendship lovers' on my back so quickly." Well, the commander and what seemed at first glance also be the most veteran fighter of the group was already picking side against him and the statistical probability of Flicker's survival got down by a decent amount. Still, it was probably higher than most here, if he didn't do something hilariously stupid like trying to be a hero, which he tended to do a lot. Still, he removed the dust and failed to notice the sword flying past him until it had hit the 'wall' and began to draw a large 'D'. Flicker had a snigger, good luck trying to look like more of a douche than Flicker had done just now new guy. When Dawn looked at Flicker, he actually forced himself to make the most insane looking and creepiest smile he could manage.

"OH VEY! Cupcakes! Don't mind if I do take one of those. *Munch munch, glup* Thanks by the way, I'm Flickering Light, call me Flicker, Fry Face, Burninator or whatever, Crispy Bacon is also good, annoyed sigh of exasperation afterward optional." As he ate, Flicker followed the conversations and raised his eyebrow (Or rather forehead) in interest as the Princess spoke. His chewing became really slow as this side of the discussion continued and he began to intensively fix Aster.

When she changed appearance Flicker's jaw seemed to gape for a moment before he swallowed and cough a bit. "Haha! I knew it! You guys always have this way to look at people, the eyes tell! Ah, it's so good that you're alive Mantis although I'm surprise too. ah... I uh, *cough*, sorry, I've mistaken you for someone I knew, like you, like, you know what I mean and, a-and I will stop talking about that now and let you deal with whatever we're talking about here in whatever ways you like best, before someone gets annoyed and punch me in the face and somepony decides to endorse her in doing so because she thinks I'm being an asshole, but hmmm..." Flicker licked his lips and teeth where lips where not to be found while taking quick looks at Commander Red, Floret, and Floret's hooves. "Yeah, it's really, really a shame you're not her but damn it's also very, very good! That means that she's, I mean, you two, well three if I count, but nevermind her actually since it's not the same, but that means that there are more of you out there and that's fantastic news! Haha, and now I want to know everything about you and your story but I keep babbling like an idiot and acting like a jackass in front of you which is totally not helping me to actually enter in your good grace and learn what I want to know except if maybe I seem like I also know of a lot of things you'd want to know and just by saying that out loud I'm making things worst and I... uh..."

Flicker stopped talking and slowly backed away from Aster (And also away from Floret), retreating next to Happy Golucky and taking another cupcake. "And I'll just shove this in my mouth to keep my mantibles from... articulating words... constantly. Yeah... Still, this travel will totally be worth it now that I-nononononoooope." And with this Flicker began to eat his second cupcake as to keep silent for a moment at least, his eyes alternating between Aster with some form of glee and to Floret with resentment and suspicion.

The deer, still peering in from the outside of the open library door, paying close attention to...Flicker's, if he had to guess given pony's oddly self-full-filling naming conventions, reaction to the violent welcome of the earth pony. He was also still judging if he could maneuver his antlers into the door way and weighing if it would be worth it or not for the trouble he'd have getting back out. The size of these doors didn't exactly accommodate antlers, much less on a larger clan of deer. As Flicker turned his attention to the Asim, the elk looked down at him with stoic regard. "I doubt your leaders would be short sided enough to put give any group a member that couldn't communicate. I speak your tongue, though I do no read it well as of yet." The deer's speech was colored with the native accent of his people , his vowel sounds coming mostly from the back of his throat, rather than the more nasally speech patterns used by the native equestrian speakers. He raised an eyebrow and added "I understand you well enough to know your humor and slang. It is simply wasted on me." A small smile quirked his mouth as he went on to talk about the Camel people, and thought to himself -most of it anyways- " I have not met a Camel, though My breed almost have as many words for trees and leaves."

Since his moments of ariving at the entrance of the library Asim couldn't decided if he had seen the best of pony kind, the worst of pony kind, or simple the most frantic. He decided to, for the time being judge it as a bit of all of the above. The interaction between the young female pony who had struck the burnt faced unicorn had played out...well to be perfectly honest, a lot better than it would have among his people. At least among the larger antlered clans. An opening encounter like that would have likely devolved into hours of locking horn, regardless if the two deer were of warrior families. If they were, it'd possible go to the death unless a deer of influence stopped it. Each pony handled their mistakes well enough, The Flicker pony being perhaps too harsh, though the Floret pony was clearly in a deeper place of wrong Flicker could have chosen better ways to address the issue.

The zebra came in the middle of the exchange, Asim careful stepping to the side to let her in, nodding his head in a greeting. He liked the Zebra, as well as the Buffalo. While he had not spent much time with either race, he learned enough of them to know that their cultures all had similar philosophies. They were a comfort that there could be shades of gray between the breeds and still an understanding.

As the confrontation wrapped up and more introductions began, A sword, wrapped in green light wizzed by stabbed into the trunk, Making Asim buck slightly in surprise and wince at the sight of damage to the living tree. The continued movement carving a D only furthered his wincing, as the Unicorn responsible walked by The elk looked down on him with a less than subtle disapproval. Especially since he nearly hit the princess of his breed. Honestly, there would have been serious repercussion for such short sighted showmanship among his people. He interesting, if strangle frustrating, that the princess just shrugged it off as she did.

He did feel slight relief to see that he wasn't the only one to bring a sense of wisdom and discipline to this rambunctious team. Though it was quite an odd thought that the other barer of those qualities was one of her breeds natural enemies a griffon. He was all the more sure he would learn much of the nature of the breeds on this trip and was more sure that he had made a wise choice.

With the princess downstairs, and began speaking to the group, he was about to carefully manuver his way inside, though a red earth pony arrived. Their chef apparently, and completed the group. Given the time to ease his way inside while the baker could simple walk in. Though the smell of his cupcakes, as the pony's called them, did make him a bit more eager to enter. His people didn't have much in the way of cooking, and despite the pony's many flaws and strengths there was one thing many other of the breeds agreed on. The little buggers could cook. He was a little eager to sample what was offered.

He had just managed to maneuver himself inside as the, what apparently was NOT a unicorn turned into what was NOT a Zebra. The Deer blinked and stared in surprise at the display. He spoke a word in his native language that didn't have so much fear as shock though it could be easily confused for such. He spoke again, this time saying the closest Equestrian word to what he had just spoken. "Shape-changer... This...was not expected."

The deer have never had a true encounter with the Changlings. Their race was to stoic and serious to really produce the kind of abundant love and emotions the race typically supped on. it was why they more naturally targeted the more 'nutritious' ponies. But they had become something of a boogie man to the Deer breed. Being that could change shape and secretly replace members of your heard was...a disquieting thought in such a close community where depending on your fellows often mint the difference between life and death. He looked to the princess and bowed his head "Forgive me if this is...disrespectful Princess Twilight, but I am going to assume you have a good reason for this ka'eela...This shape-changer, as a part of this team."

Apparently, Happy's Cupcakes were quite popular. A few of the others looked interested in them. The Griffon seemed to enjoy them the most. He gulped down the first cupcake, and immediately helped himself to a second one. "Help yourself. I got plenty, and I can always make more!" Happy said with a smile. "Just, don't eat all of em before the others get a chance to have some themselves, kay?"

According to the Zebra, they were in the middle of having some sort of demonstration. They were all paying attention to a Unicorn in the center. She took a breath, and in a flash of green light, she had transformed into a perfect replica of the zebra. Happy's eyes widened in surprise. "No way! You're a changeling?!" He had heard about the changeling invasion in Canterlot, and read about them in the past. All the books made them seem like evil parasites that want to drain love from everywhere. As far as he could see, they were only trying to find food. The Queen was the only one that was actually malicious, her followers were probably just hungry. You can't blame an entire race for the actions of one evil queen.

He ran up to the changeling. "Wow, that was awesome! I haven't seen a changeling in pony* before! Ooh, turn into me! Turn into me!" He exclaimed excitedly while bouncing up and down.

(*In person)

Aster, was usually a friendly, confident Changeling when it came to most things. She normally was enthusiastic about many things, and got into her fair share of trouble with her curiosity. Right now though, she felt everything but confident. She expected the other ponies here to either be afraid of her, or outright object to her being here and demand that she be off the team. Her head slowly drooped as the Deer vocalized obvious dislike for her being here. She knew little of the dear culture and was hoping that at least he might be a little more friendly. Flicker, she managed to ignore for the most part, since she cared little of what he thought.

She was pleasantly surprised, however, when a pony ran up to her. He was obviously excited to see that she was a Changeling. She hadn't seen this pony enter, so it must have been when Twilight asked her to change, or soon before. She was at a bit of a loss, especially since he was asking her to turn into him. Stallions weren't something she normally did, but she thought it would be a bit awkward to refuse and it might not make her that popular to appear to be a grumpy pants. "Um...well, alright." She hesitantly replied, and with a flash of green light and a few seconds later, she had copied Happy's appearance perfectly.

"So, uh..." Aster awkwardly started. "I'm Aster." She said to the red earth pony.

---

Meanwhile, Floret was eating a cupcake that Happy had brought. It was good. Considering she didn't normally like cupcakes, or other desserts or things, that was saying something. She was also keeping an eye on Aster, making sure she was alright. She wasn't one to show ponies she was a changeling. Last time she did it, it hadn't ended so well. She finished off the cupcake, and smiled as she watched Happy run over to Aster in asked her to turn into him. It was definitely not what Aster was probably expecting, but no doubt she'd be happy about it. That comment the deer had made, probably had hurt a bit though. As she watched Aster, she caught Flickers glare out of the corner of her eye, and gave him one of her own, resisting the urge to throw a cupcake at him. She didn't know what he was rambling about, and she didn't care. She just hoped they had only very few interactions with him.

Kali looked confused for a moment, then very happy, then suddenly a little worried. She'd heard about changelings from her parents, and while they were certainly very interesting from a research prospective, their particular method of... Feeding, was a more than a little disconcerting. Eating meat was one thing, that was just natural, but feeding off emotions just seemed wrong. Kali returned to her smile, but still seemed a tad freaked out. Aster definitely seemed nice, but was that just a personality she used to feed?

"I, uh, apologize if this is a little forward, but technically Changelings fall into my line of work, and while I haven't done extensive research in your kind, I do know that they feed on emotions of love. What do you feed on?" Kali shifted uncomfortably, then continued. "Your friend doesn't seem to show the signs of being fed on, but... I'm sorry, is this rude?" Kali reddened and lowered her head. "Please ignore me if I'm being rude."

"Oh, nononononoo it's fine, Kali." Aster said, almost all too happy with a huge grin on her face. Perhaps Floret had been right, and she should have been more open from the beginning about the fact she was a changeling. Maybe that one time was just...she shook her head and focused on a happier thought, changing back into her normal self."Obviously, the reason Floret doesn't have any negative effects from me, is because she actually does love me. Well, I hope. Its only more of a theory. Since I'm kinda only the non-hostile changeling, we can't really do a proper test. Well, I can't. I haven't really thought about it much though, since its never really been a problem. Funny thing though, even before she or I had feelings for each other I never had to feed around her. Odd isn't it? I dunno, maybe she's just always been enthralled by my cuteness or something." She jokingly added.

Floret rolled her eyes at Aster's remark. Obviously, she was not 'enthralled' by her cuteness. Well, at least she wasn't when they first met. She had to admit, Aster could be pretty cute sometimes now though. Not that she'd ever tell anypony that....

Right now though, Aster was a very happy changeling. And when she was happy, she talked, among other things. Floret was happy that she was happy, but this probably meant just another headache for her later. Ugh, she would love to be with her flowers right now, at least she had one of them with her. The blue orchid that was woven into her mane was freshly picked the morning they left. Grown just for this occasion, and she had guaranteed that it would last a few days. Long enough for her to get over her usual grumpiness that came with her leaving her home she hoped.

"Asim, it's no disrespect at all," the princess said, smiling. "And I hope I'll be able to... allay your fears. Now, in general, suspicion of changelings makes perfect sense. To an outsider, their entire biology seems based in deceit, or even evil! Aster is proof, however, that this is not so. Despite her upbringing, and her powers, Aster is no more evil than you or I, and not a threat to anyone. Because of the genuine love she shares with Autumn Floret, she no longer has to "feed" on illicitly gained love, as others of her race do, you see? It's all very exciting. The implications, that sometime in the future all changelings could possibly live like she does... We could stop fearing them, and welcome them into society just like any other race."

"What I recommend, Asim, is to talk to her. Get to know her, just as you would any other member of the team." Twilight glanced over at the changeling, now back in her preferred form, and lowered her voice a little. "She's very smart, and from what I've heard, is always interested in learning about magic. Tell her about the trees, and the roots, about being a shaman, and I'm sure you'll get along just fine. After a while, I bet you'll almost forget what she is, and focus your thoughts on who she is. Besides, her natural curiosity and unique magic will certainly make her useful in any number of situations along the way." At this point she lowered her voice even more, and stepped up close, whispering in the Elk's ear. "If that still isn't enough, look around you. The Commander is shrewd, and a very skilled fighter, Flickering Light has had more experience with changelings than most any pony alive, and I've heard some very impressive stories about that Rising Dawn... Trust me, if, Sisters forbid, Aster goes on some kind of rampage, the three of them will be able to contain her, and Floret will be able to calm her down..."

She stepped back, taking her place next to Rosie again, and said out loud, "Give what I've said some thought. I'm sure Aster won't be offended by a little suspicion before you've had a chance to get to know her."