"Hey, excuse me. Big man. Long long have you been in line for?"
-Finn, from "Stuck in the Nightosphere", Adventure Time
Chapter IV
The other side of the river Styx, while appearing void blackness from the opposite shore, had light beyond its shore. As the six ponies trotted towards the light, the shape of buildings and towers began to form. Though not absolute blackness, various shades of grey dominated the scenery, dotted here and there by the odd colour, mostly hues of blue, but sometimes the occasional red. A silence fell upon the ponies as they trotted up to the silent city, broken only when they reached a building with a sign above the door stating "Welcome Centre". The building did not look very inviting...yet, not threatening, either. To Twilight, the building, with its simple square architecture and boring brick and mortar, reminded her of various governmental buildings in Canterlot. Rarity would have commented on the drab décor if she had seen the building anywhere else, but in the silent city, not even she felt like commenting on fashion. Applejack broke the silence.
"So...uh...we just...go in here?"
Twilight studied the building a moment before replying.
"I guess so...sure doesn't look like a palace for a Princess...I was expecting something more..."
"More Gothic," said Rarity. Twilight just nodded before opening the front door and stepping in, the others following behind her.
Inside surprised the group even more than the outside had...for much the same reason. Inside was a simple waiting room, though larger than even the Canterlot DMV. Rows of chairs with grey-out ponies stretched almost as far as the eye could see. However, at the every end of the rows, Twilight could just make out a service counter. Trotting up to the counter, Twilight asked the faded green earth pony with a name tag that read "Wensley",
"Um...hello...We would like to see Princess Aerecura, please," Twilight requested. Wensley, same bored look on her face, pointed to a stack of clip boards with paperwork besides her.
"Fill out these forms, and we'll get to you," Wensley said, in a country accent not unlike Applejack's. Each pony grabbed a clipboard in their mouth and walked over to some nearby chairs.
Twilight, the most studious pony among them, read through the forms first before filling in. The forms were pretty standard...asking for first and last name, middle initial, date of birth, sex, and reason for being here. So used to paperwork, Twilight quickly filled out the forms and returned the chip board to the receptionist. In return, Wensley gave Twilight a ticket with the code "C7545", and Twilight returned to her seat, lost in her own thoughts.
The next pony to return her paperwork was Rarity, having filled out many business forms. Unlike Twilight, however, Rarity added a flowery, almost calligraphic flair to her form. Wensley did not show any admiration as she handed Rarity her ticket.
The other ponies took a bit longer to fill out their forms. Unicorns, with their magic, could more easily manipulate writing instruments. Earth and Pegasi ponies had a more difficult time, holding pen in their mouths and clumsily moving their mouths and heads to produce a almost child-like printing. Although with practice Earth and Pegasi ponies could manipulate their mouths to write almost as well as unicorns, the non-unicorns in the Mane Six had problems besides physicalities in writing.
"I can spell my name real good," said Pinkie. "P-I-N-K-A-M-E-N-A...D-I-A-N-E...P-Iiiii-E...Pinkie Pie!"
"What are you, a pokémon?" asked Rainbow Dash, already frustrated her usual speed did not translate to filling out the forms. "Let's see here...sex...sure, why not. I could go for a good buck right now...where's 'yes'? All I see is 'M' and 'F'."
"Just put a 'x' by 'F'," said Twilight, not looking up.
"Okay...there...now, wonder who I get to buck," said Rainbow Dash triumphantly. Twilight just rolled her eyes.
"All done...yay!" said Fluttershy, as she returned her paperwork and got a ticket.
Applejack's face a tensed-up in concentration. "Let's see...now Ah gotta make an 'k'...boy, this sure is hard...I can read fine...but writing...why they have to make the letters so curvy when they invented these letters...?"
While Applejack struggled through writing, the other ponies tried to pass the time while they waited for their tickets to be called. Rarity looked with envy at Pinkie's Game Boy Color...until she spotted a rather thick Vogue, and with that, she became enveloped in the latest fashions. Rainbow Dash got out a Daring Do book, and Fluttershy picked up a National Geographic to look at the wildlife.
While these distractions kept her friends busy, Twilight became further lost in her own thoughts.
"Okay, Miss Sparkle...for your entrance exam...we need you to hatch this egg."
"But how...?...Okay...Whoa! Holy Shi-!"
. . .
"That was a very productive lesson...I am proud of how much you have learned during your studies...you must study quite a bit."
"Why yes...almost any chance I get...I literally live in the library now, haha,"
"Hmm...how would you like an assistant?"
"An assistant?"
"Yes...someone to help you...check your checklists...and the assistant I have in mind doubles as a fax machine between us..."
"That sounds helpful...who is this assistant? Hope it's somepony nice."
"Not a 'somepony'...you remember that dragon egg you hatched for your entrance exam?"
. . .
"Sure Spike...you can borrow my needle and thread...what are you...is that a Rarity doll?...for you to sleep with?...That isn't creepy at all...I guess as long as it doesn't have a cavity in the back, it isn't too bad...I just wouldn't bring it to any pancake breakfasts where all of our friends can see it..."
"Yeah, yeah, I know, Twilight...Twilight...Twilight!"
"Wha What!?" cried Twilight, broken out of her thoughts by Pinkie Pie right in front of her.
"Oh, hey, Twilight. I just wanted to ask...the batteries in my Game Boy Color died...do you have any extra double A batteries?" asked the pink mare.
"No, Pinkie...I do not have any double A batteries...or any batteries...for that matter," replied Twilight, an annoyed look on her face.
"Say...can you recharge batteries with your magic?" asked Pinkie.
"No...no I cannot...how long have we been waiting here?" replied Twilight.
"Not sure...I forgot my watch...but long enough for new batteries to die...good thing I wrote down the save password!" replied Pinkie. Twilight looked around. There were no clocks.
"Hey, Rarity...what time is it?" Twilight asked.
"Not sure...I don't have my cell phone...long enough for me to go through six years worth of Vogue," Rarity answered. The two turned their faces towards Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.
"Long enough for me to get through nearly six-hundred pages of Daring Do...you know, of 732 ages...and I was at page 132 when I started here...boy, I cannot wait for the next one," said Rainbow Dash.
"I usually use a sun dial...but there isn't much sun down here," said Fluttershy.
"Got dun with mah forms...now just a counting tiles..." said Applejack.
"Something must be wrong...I'll go and ask what is taking so long," said Twilight, turning and going up to the receptionist desk.
"Excuse me...but my friends and I have been waiting a rather long time...would you know how much longer it will be?" Twilight asked Wensley.
"Oh...that reminds me...must be getting brain rot...there was a problem with your forms...you all forgot your death date and cause of death...very important for entering the Underworld," answered Wensley.
"Oh...we don't have those...yet. We're still alive," said Twilight. Wensley raised an eyebrow.
"The Underworld is for dead ponies...we don't just let living ponies come running around down here...you all get your panties in a knot about ghosts and zombies and vampires...how do you think the reverse feels to us, huh? Typical living pony attitude," Wensley said in disgust.
"Um...I am Princess Twilight Sparkle...here on a diplomatic missions," said Twilight. Although introverted most of her life, since becoming a princess, Twilight had read about public speaking, and found talking on her feet easier. At least in this case, her answer seemed to work.
"Oh...yeah...heard they got a new princess up there...you wanna go to the Court in the Palace...just go two miles north of here, and take a left, can't miss it," said Wensley.
"Thank you," replied Twilight, going back and telling her friends the news.
"Well...this was kinda meaningless," said Rainbow Dash.
"I hope the castle is nicer than this place," replied Rarity.
"Maybe they have some batteries!" cried Pinkie as she bounced out the door.