Chapter 3: Welcome to Canterlot!

Riki's Pov
Never fought in a million years, I will be shirtless in the middle of the room and have a pony drawing my blood. Asking me about my body.

Twilight ran her hoof over my abs, "One more question," Twilight said as she crossed off a few things on her list. "Are all humans like you, as in your body?"

I slap her hoof off my stomach, "No, I have more of a slim muscular body, and others can be a lot more... bulky. Or it can be the complete opposite. We have a lot of body sizes, Twilight." I put my shirt back on, "I still can't believe you woke me up so early. You are messing up my sleep schedule!

Twilight rolls her eyes, "Stop complaining, Riki. It wasn't that early."

"You shook me awake at 5, and it's 10 o'clock now." I said, poking her forehead, "But, having you waking me up and running a lot of tests on me, not the worse morning I ever had."

"Really?"

"One day, I woke up one morning to the sound of Liz puking her guts out. I walked into the kitchen, and throwup was everywhere. Turns out she accidentally ate one of my beef burgers instead of her bean burger," I said, shaking my head, "Still don't know how that happened." I take a deep breath, trying to get rid of that horrible memory, "So, you found anything interesting with all the tests you've been running on me?" I got up and did a few stretches, "And please tell me that you did."

Without looking up from her notes, Twilight said, "I did find two things about you,"

"Wait, two things!?"

"Well, do you remember when I tried to use magic on you a couple of times?"

"Yeah, it was annoying. It felt like pins and needles going through my body."

"Will, it's because you and probably all humans have a high level of magic resistance. So if somepony gets you in a magic grip, I bet you can break out of it. "Twilight explained, "But if a strong magic user like Princess Celestia and Luna uses magic on you, your magic resistance won't really help that much."

"Okay, that's good to know. The second thing?"

"The second thing that I found was... How do I put this?" Twilight said, spinning her hoof around. "When I scanned you with my magic, I found something... Weird in you."

"Weird?"

"Yes! Like something is dormant in you," She yelled in excitement. "Like a second heartbeat or something."

"Or! It's my magic resistance messing with your scans," I said, poking her head, then walked into the kitchen. "I bet you'll get something if you do it to Liz," I opened the fridge and pulled out two apples. "Oi, want one?" Twilight nods her head, and I toss her one.

"Yeah, you're probably right. What I found in you was pretty weak. It just flickers off and on."

"Twilight, can I ask you something?"

Twilight takes a few bites of her apple, "What is it?"

"What are the Elements of Harmony? Pinkie told me that you guys use the Elements to beat Nightmare Moon and Discord," I said, finishing my apple. "Pinkie didn't really go into that much detail."

"Well, The Elements of Harmony are the most powerful magic known to ponydom-"

"What does 'Ponydom' mean?"

"And use for defeating evil and to create harmony. There are six Elements, Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty, and Magic. I'm the Elements of Magic. Rainbow is-"

"Wait, let me try guessing their Elements!" Think, I have only known them for about a day. But I can use that time and process of elimination to help me. "Ummm, Pinkie Laughter, Rainbow Loyalty, Applejack... Honesty. Mmm, Fluttershy Generosity and Rarity Kindness?"

"Good job, but Fluttershy is Kindness, and Rarity is Generosity."

"Kindness... Generosity is the same thing," I said, plopping down on the couch, "Now tell me how you guys became The Elements of Harmony and kicked Nightmare Moon's ass."

Twilight sits beside me, "Okay, it all started when I was looking out of my telescope."

Liz's Pov
Oww, my head is killing me. How the hell did I get a hangover just from one drink? Spike and I are at the marketplace getting some stuff for Twilight, and the noise isn't really helping my hangover. I look over to Spike, struggling to carry two bags. I reached over and took one. I shielded my eyes from the sun, "Why the hell is the sun so damn bright!" I grumble.

"Hey, Liz, are you okay?" asked Spike,

"I have a headache, my eyes hurt, and my stomach feels like it got hit by a truck," I said.

"Wow... What's a truck?"

"Imagine a very big loud metal box with wheels," I explain to him.

"Ow,"

"But, I been through worse. One time, I accidentally ate one of Riki's beef burgers instead of one of my bean burgers and threw up everywhere." I said, rubbing my stomach.

"Liz, Spike over here!"

We both look around to see who is calling us until we see Applejack and Apple Bloom waving us over. They have a nice little apple stand with barrels of apples. We walk over to them and set the bags on the stand.

"Hey, Applejack, Apple Bloom."

"So, Liz, are you okay from last night?" Applejack asked me.

"I still have a hangover, but I'll live."

Applejack gave me an apple, "Try eatin' something. It might help."

"How much?"

"On the house, Sugercube."

I took a big bite out of it, "Mmm, I needed that. Thanks, I owe you."

"Where's Riki?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Twilight is running tests on him," Spike answered.

"I hope he'll be okay?"

I push the hair away from my eyes and finish my apple. "Psssh, Riki is fine. One time, we went to Seattle to visit some cousins. While there, he got lost in the city. A few hours late, the cops called and said they had him." I started chuckling, "The cops found him in a back alley, putting two muggers in a headlock."

They all give me a shocking look.

"What?" I said, shrugging my shoulders. "The muggers were fine... They only had a few broken bones."

"Liz, your brother is amaz-" Before Spike could finish, he was cut off by some green fire coming out of his mouth. The girls and I shielded our eyes from the green burp. And it smells bad.

"Damn, Spike! The hell did you eat!?" I said, waving my hand in front of my face. I looked at the dragon to see that he is holding a scroll. "Where did that come from?"

Spike looked at the scroll and answered, "It's from Princess Celestia!"

I pinch the bridge of my nose, "That's not what I meant."

"I'll tell you how it works on the way back," he said, picking up one of the bags.

"I hope it's not about Riki and me. But, I doubt it." I muttered. "Well, bye guys, and thanks again for the apple. I feel a lot better now." I picked up the bag and gave them a goodbye wave as Spike and I made our way back to the treehouse.

Riki's Pov
"Holy shit, you guys are amazing!" I exclaimed. "You guys are like superheroes. No, you guys are superheroes!" I can't believe that they did all that. They save Equestria from being plunged into darkness and turn an off-brand Loki into stone. You are so cool!

"It was nothing. The girls and I did what was right." Twilight blushed. "So, can you tell me more about you?"

"I think I told you everything I need to say,"

"What about your... Ummm, school life?"

I gave her a questionable look, "My school life?"

"Yeah, if you don't mind," Twilight said with a smile.

Fuck, I wish Liz was here so I could pass this on to her. "Well, I was an average student in school. Kept to myself but still had a good amount of friends. Got expelled out of high school-"

"Expelled!" She yelled, causing me to flinch, "What happened!?"

I crossed my legs, "One day in the middle of my sophomore year, this guy Luke and his three goons tried to jump me behind the school. It was pretty easy to take them down. I wasn't taking it seriously until Luke pulled out a knife." I stopped and thought for a bit. "...I kicked Luke, and he accidentally stabbed himself. Teachers came, Luke went to the hospital, and the rest of us were arrested."

"That's ridiculous. You were just defending yourself!" Twilight shouted.

"Calm down. It's in the past," I said casually.

Twilight takes a few deep breaths, "Sorry, I'm calm... So, what happened next?"

"The charges against me were dropped, but my school still didn't want me." I shrug and lean back a little.

"Did you find another school to go to?" she said worriedly.

"Yeah, Liz's mom took that opportunity to send me to the same private school as Liz," I answered.

"What type of classes did you take?"

"The basic stuff like science, math, and history. I had to take a language, so I chose to do sign language. Since Liz was taking it too,"

That caught Twilight off guard, "What's sign language?"

I held my hands and started signing every word I said, "Well, ASL or American Sign Language is used for people who are deaf, have trouble hearing, or unable to speak physically. We use our face and movements of hands." Twilight looks at my hand with awe. Then, she reaches over and runs her hooves over my fingers. "What are you doing?"

Twilight ignored me and said, "This is interesting. You can communicate with others just by using your hands!" she continued to check my hands. I now have a better look at her hooves. I can see where the fur ends and the hoof starts. I can feel the softness of her underhooves. "I need to document this. Do you mind showing me more signs?"

"You know I can teach you how to sign language," I signed. Twilight looked at me with confusion. "Oh, sorry! Once I start singing, sometimes I forget to talk. I said, 'You know I can teach you how to sign language.'"

"But, I don't have, you know..." she said, poking my fingers. "So, I can't do any of the motions."

"I can teach you how to read the hand signs," I said, wiggling my fingers.

Twilight stops, probing my hands, "Really, you would do that?"

"Yeah, absolutely! I can teach you the basics, and then we can move on to some-" I was cut off by Liz and Spike coming up the stairs.

Liz set down the bags, "Are we interrupting something?" she said, pointing to Twilight's hooves on my hands. "Because we can come back later,"

"Oi,"

She blushed and quickly dropped my hands, "N-no, Riki is just teaching me how to understand sign language, that's all!"

Spike tapped Liz's leg and asked, "What's sign language?"

Liz put the bags down, "Basically, it's talking with your hands," she replied. "But Twilight doesn't have any hands, does she?"

I walked over to Liz and put my hand on her forehead, "How's the hangover?"

"A lot better than I was this morning. I still don't know how you don't have a hangover," Liz said, slapping my hand away. "Twilight, we got everything on your list and more."

"More? What do you mean more?" Twilight said.

Spike digs in one of the bags and pulls out a scroll. Twilight flailed off the couch and ran up to Spike. She starts to read it very frantically. I see her eyes widen as she continues to read, "Oi, what's on the scroll?"

"The princesses want to see you two," Twilight said.

"Really, that's cool!" I exclaimed.

Twilight snaps her head towards me, "Riki, you are going to meet the rulers of Equestria! Do you have any experience meeting royalty!?"

I thought for a bit. I was going to bring up the Elvis impressionist I met a few years ago. But, the look on Twilight's face doesn't seem I should joke around with her. "No, Twilight, I have not."

"Same here," added Liz.

She starts to breathe rapidly like she is going to have a panic attack, "Okay, I know I have a book called 'How to mingle with royalty 101. I'll grab it. How fast can you two read?" Twilight starts to trot around frantically. "No, not fast enough! I'll just tell you two all you need to know."

I walked over to Twilight and picked her up by the stomach, "Oi, oi, Twilight, calm down!" Twilight flailed around for a while until she tired herself out. "Meeting the princesses is like meeting the principal and vice-principal, right Liz?" I said, playfully shaking Twilight.

Liz shakes her head, "Noooo, you are way off. We should listen to her on this. Spike told me that Twilight is Celestia's pupil. So, I don't want us and mean you to embarrass her."

"Understandable," I nod.

"Alright, let's go get the girls!" said Twilight.

"Twilight, me and Riki need to go get a new change of clothes."

"Spike, go with Riki and Liz to everfree and meet us at the train station." Twilight said, "And Riki."

"Yeah,"

"Can you please put me down now!" she shouted, adding a little huff.

I quickly plopped her down, "Sorry,"

Nobody's Pov
Twilight and the girls are at the train station. All of them are just chatting and joking around. Well, except for Twilight. She's tapping her hoof and looking at the clock, "What is taking them so long? They should be here?" she walks to the edge of the platform and looks down the train track to see if the train is coming. Twilight walked back to the group, sat down, and resumed her hoof tapping.

Rarity went up to her and said, "Tw, Darling, It's fine. They probably get caught with something."

"What... What if they ran into a pack of timberwolves," Fluttershy stammered, "Or manticores? It is almost breeding season." All of them look at Fluttershy, "S-sorry, not helping,"

"I should have gone with them,"

Pinkie came out of nowhere and hugged Twilight, "Don't worry, remember Riki is super strong. I bet they're coming, riiiiight... Now!"

Lo and behold, the weird pink pony is right. They can see Riki and Liz running to them. Spike is being carried like a doll by Liz. The girls can hear the two of them arguing as they get close.

"I can't believe you made me wear this!" Riki shouted.

"Shut up. I can't believe you still have it!" Liz shouted, "And fix your tie!"

"No, I like it like this!"

They continue to argue as they stop in front of the ponies. The group sees Riki and Liz's new clothes. Both of them are wearing their school uniform. Riki has a white untucked long-sleeved button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up. A loose blue tie and a navy blue sweater vest with a gold water lily stitched on the top right side. Black khaki pants and his favorite hoodie tied around his waist. Liz is wearing the same thing but, instead of the gold water lily, it's silver. A black skirt with shorts and her goggles still around her neck.

Liz places Spike down, "Hey guys, sorry we took so long."

"Have you two been arguing all the way here?" Twilight asked.

The siblings both shake their heads and say, "No,"

"Yeah, they have been arguing," Spike said, looking at Twilight, "Ever since we left their house."

"It was for a good reason! Look what Liz is making me wear!" Riki said, gesturing to his clothes, "I thought I got rid of this?"

Liz smiles, "I found it in the hallway closet in some boxes, like two years ago." She reaches over and fixes Riki's tie, "Plus, you did say it's like meeting the principal."

Riki just rolled his eyes and loosened his tie, "I hate you,"

Rarity came up to Riki and used her magic to fix his tie, "If it makes you feel better, I think you look very lovely." He just looks down at her and then loosens his tie. Rarity fixed it again, and he did the same thing. The two of them batted for the tie for a little while. Riki could tell her patience was running low, but he continued and started to laugh. "Daring, let me fix your tie!"

"No, I think it's cool!" Riki laughed.

The rest of them just started talking to each other or watched the two fight over the tie until the train came.

Ten to fifteen minutes late, Riki sits on the platform, letting his legs hang off and whistling a tune. Pinkie is behind him, playing with his hair. Riki looks down the track. "Guys, the train is coming!" Riki yells, getting up. The train pulls into the station, and a few dozen ponies walk off. As Riki and the group board the train, he hears someone calling his name.

"Riki?"

"Vinyl!? What are you doing here?" Riki gets off the train and walks over to her. He sees her hair and tail are messy, plus she smells like booze, "And it looks like you had fun." Riki said, cracking a smile.

Vinyl yawns, "Yeah, I just came from a gig in Canterlot."

"Oh yeah, you're a DJ." Riki said, crouching to her level, "Well, the girls and I are going to Canterlot too. The princesses want to meet us,"

"Really!?" Vinyl sounded shocked, "I hope it's nothing bad. We still haven't hung out yet."

"Same,"

"Riki, what's taking so long!? Get on the train before I tell the conductor to leave your butt!" Liz shouted, sticking her head out of the window. "Riki, who's the pony?"

"Liz, meet the cool DJ, Vinyl Scratch," Riki said, pointing at her. "Vinyl, this is my loud little sister, Liz."

"I'm not loud!" she yelled.

Riki ignored her, "I'll see you late, Vinyl." he said, jumping back on the train and waving goodbye. "We'll hang out when I get back!"

"Can't wait,"

Riki's Pov
I let out a long yawn as I stretched my arms and rested my head against the window. We have been on this train for about two and a half hours. I'm sitting next to Twilight and Rarity, with Fluttershy and Applejack sitting across from us. Liz is playing on her phone with Pinkie, Rainbow, and Spike watching over her. Watching the landscape go past, I think about the times on the subway. Like that one time Liz and I watched two rats fighting over an eggroll. We place bets to see who wins. Or that one time during New Year's Eve, the entire cart was full of drunk people fighting each other. I kind of miss it.

"Riki?" She said, looking up from her phone. "Do you think the princesses can help us get home?"

"Maybe,"

"How did you two even get here?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know, Twilight. I was in the living room playing games."

"I was working on my magnet gun, which overloaded and sent out a big magnetic pulse. Then purple lighting hits the power box." Liz said, looking down. "Riki, is this my fault?"

What the hell is she saying, "Liz, that's impossible! I know you're smart, but there is no way you could have done this to us. I bet some weird magic shit that brought us here."

"Yeah, you're right. I was just thinking about it ever since we got here." Liz said, hugging her legs. "How long until we get to Canterlot?"

"I think we are almost there," I said, pointing out the window. Liz got up and looked out of it with me. We see the city of Canterlot on the side of a mountain. That place looks so cool.

Liz takes a picture with her phone, "I haven't seen anything like this before!"

"Just wait until we get inside, Darling," said Rarity.

"I can see why Celestia moved here," I said.

Liz looked at me, "Wait, what?"

"Oh, yeah, you don't know. Well, Celestia fought and banished her sister. The castle got fuck, and then she moved to Canterlot."

"Riki is leaving out a lot of details," Twilight chimed in. "I'll tell you the full story later."

"Why didn't she just rebuild the castle?" Liz asked.

"Would you stay in a place where you fought and banished your sister?" I said, sitting back down. "She'll be living in a castle of bad memories."

"Well, that makes sense," She said, sitting back down. "She must have gone through a lot."

Pinkie hugged Liz, "Lizzy, it's all good! We saved Princess Celestia's sister, and they're both super duper happy now!"

"Well, I can't wait until we get there. "I exclaimed,

The train's intercom turns on, "Attention passengers, we'll be arriving in Canterlot in 10 minutes!"

I jumped out of my seat in excitement, "Oh, hell yeah!"

Nobody's Pov
The train pulls into the station. Riki immediately opened up the window and jumped out of it. He scared a few ponies by landing next to them. Running out of the station and into the city, yelled, "Hello, Canterlot!" Riki looks behind to see Liz and the others running to him. Liz and Twilight look pretty pissed.

"Riki, what the hell is wrong with you!?" Liz said, slapping his shoulder a few times.

"Riki, why did you do that?" Twilight said, jabbing her hoof into Riki's thigh.

"Calm down, you two," He said, brushing them off.

Liz grabbed his vest and pulled him to eye level, "Riki, listen to me and listen to me good. I want us to keep a low profile until we get to the castle. I don't want the ponies here to start freaking out and getting the guards!"

"Low profile, got it," He agreed, giving them a thumbs up.

"And no runnin' off like last time," Applejack said.

"We don't want you to get lost," Fluttershy said worriedly, "Canterlot is a very big place."

Liz let go of Riki and said, "Good. Now Twilight, how do we- Is that a walking dog!?"

We turn to see a dog walking on two legs. It's as tall as Riki, maybe a little taller. Not only that, we see a few griffins and minotaurs. "Wow, I can't believe I'm looking at a real griffin, minotaur, and a... Dog?"

"Can someone explain the dog," Liz asked, turning to Twilight and the others, "Because I'm really confused?"

"That's a Diamond Dog," answered Rarity.

"I thought only ponies lived in Canterlot?" Riki asked.

Twilight shakes her head, "Ponies are the vast majority here in Canterlot." She said, "I'll tell you two more about this place as we head to the castle."

"Alright, lead the way!" He said with a big smile.

As they begin to follow Twilight, none of them notice a cloaked unicorn mare watching them since they got here. The pony pulls out a piece of paper, and her horn glows hot pink. Using her magic, she turns the paper into a lifelike origami parrot and whispers something into it. The unicorn releases the paper parrot, and it flies off into Canterlot. "I'll just follow them for now until I get new orders. This is going to be fun!" The unicorn whispers to herself, sneaking after them.

The group is walking through Canterlot. Riki and Liz are looking around in awe. They stopped at Joe's donut shop for a snack. Riki almost got in a fight with two minotaurs. Because one of them bumped into Liz, and both dropped their donuts. The minotaur called Liz a freak and demanded she buy him a new one. Rainbow and Applejack have to pull Riki away. As the group gets closer to the castle, the cloaked mare hides behind a building. She carefully studies the group, especially the two humans.

"Never thought they would come to Canterlot." She said, sneaking behind a wooden cart. "And it looks like they are heading to the castle, shit. I need to get inside the castle before they do. I need a... Distraction." She looked at the cart and smiled.

Riki and the others get closer to the castle. They hear ponies screaming. They turn to the noise to see a bunch of ponies jumping and running from a runaway cart. The cart comes rushing towards them. Rainbow, Applejack, and Twilight jump out of the way. Liz grabs Spike and dives to the side with Pinkie. Riki quickly picks up Rarity and Fluttershy by their stomach, jumping over the cart. When he lands back on the ground, he swears the cart was coated in a pink aura and places Rarity and Fluttershy back down. As everyone is getting back up and checking on each other, Riki sees a zoned out mare walking into the path of the runaway cart. He immediately runs after the cart, jumping over and weaving through ponies.

"Riki, what are you doing!?" Liz yelled, and the others followed.

He just ignores them and continues running, "Fuck, I'm not going to make it." Riki said to himself, "Oiiiii, Pony Lady! Move out of the way!"

Moments before the runaway cart

A unicorn mare is walking with her head down and bags under her eyes. She has berry red fur. Her mane and tail are green with dark green highlights. Her mane is in a messy ponytail with a few strands hanging out. She is wearing a reporter hat and a camera around her neck. Her cutie mark is a camera flashing. This mare is named Razzle Snap.

"If I don't find a story by tomorrow, I'll be out of the job." Razzle sighed, "If I were in Fillydelphia, I'd have a drug or murder story by now." She stops to fix her hair and hat. Razzle continues to talk to herself, bumping into ponies and other objects.

"Oiiiii, Pony Lady! Move out of the way!"

That loud yell got her attention. She looks up to see a big cart coming directly. It was coming at her too fast. The mare was too scared to move out of the way. Razzle closes her eyes, waiting for the impact.

Crash!

Razzle felt like she is floating in the air as something wrapped around her barrel. When she opened her eyes, dust was everywhere. Looking up, Razzle sees a minotaur, but when the dust clears, it was not a minotaur. No horns. No fur. A flat face and wearing clothes.

It was Riki.

He is breathing heavily. Riki's left shoulder partially went through the cart, and his right arm is wrapped around her. Razzle's eyes were caught by a flickering orange light coming from Riki's right shoulder. It seems Riki didn't notice the light, and it soon died down. A group starts to form and whispers among themselves.

"Looks like I got here right on time," Riki chuckled. He puts Razzle back down on the ground, picks up her hat, and places it back on her head. "Are you okay, Pony Lady?" All that Razzle can do is nod and just look at the weird thing that saved her life. "That's nice. I thought I wasn't going to make it. Guess I'm a lot faster here."

Razzle just stands there with wide eyes, "W-what are you-" She was cut off by Liz and the others running upon them.

Fluttershy flies into Riki, pushing him back a little, "Are you okay? Did you break anything? Do you need to go to the hospital!?"

Riki pulled Fluttershy off and answered her questions in order, "Yes. I don't think so. No."

"Riki, why did you stop the cart?" Liz asked. You could've been hurt or killed."

Riki points behind him, "Pony Lady,"

"Pony Lady?" said all of them, looking behind him to see the frozen pony.

"Pony Lady,"

Rainbow flies up to him, "Well, what you did was buckin' awesome!"

"And reckless," Rarity added.

"And you were super duper fast!" Pinkie said, hopping up and down.

"You were like a superhero!" Spike exclaimed.

Liz looks around to see the crowd is getting bigger, "Guys, I think we should get going,"

"I agree with Liz. We should go," said Twilight.

"Alright, let's go," Riki said, beginning to walk away with the group. He quickly turns around and waves at Razzle, "See you late, Pony Lady. And make sure you pay more attention around you, bye!"

Razzle just looks at the group walking away. She finally comes back to her senses and quickly points her camera in their direction. Razzle makes sure to get Riki in the frame and whispers, "Hi Riki, my name is Razzle Snap." Then takes the picture.

Riki's Pov
Why the hell did it take so long to get into the castle? We are at the entrance of the castle, and Twilight is talking to the guards. And let me tell you, ponies holding weapons are pretty adorable. Twilight gestures to us, and we begin to follow them. Liz made small talk with the girls as we followed the guards through the castle. I'm just slightly behind, looking around and-

S.. ... Ta... will ..se... rig...

What the fuck was that!? I immediately stopped and looked around. Only to see the guards around me giving him weird looks.

"Riki, are you feelin' okay?" Applejack asked me.

"All good,"

Applejack looks closely at me, "Are you shore? Because I can tell if you are lying, and you are."

"I forgot you are the Element of Honesty," I said under my breath. "I just have a little headache, that's all, honest."

"Okay, but you better hurry up before you get left behind." She said, bumping her flank on my leg. I just rolled my eyes and waved her off.

"Okay, Apple-"

So...e... ne.. h..p... H..ry!

I look down the right hallway and then back at the others as the distance between us grows.

Liz's Pov
The two guards opened up the doors to the throne room. And what I saw first really got my attention. I see two big ponies. Both have wings and a horn. They have to be as tall as Riki. I can feel their piercing gaze drill inside of me. I'm basically standing in a room with two goddesses. I still have my eyes on them, too scared to move. The girls all bowed, and I clumsily made my best attempt at a curtsy.

"You may rise," said Celestia.

Twilight breaks from the group, "Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, we have arrived. We brought the two humans you want to meet."

The princesses look at each other and then back at the group. Celestia clears her throat, still keeping her gaze on me. "Twilight, I only see one human."

One? What do you mean on- Oh no. We all turn around to see if he's behind us.

He's not.

"Riki is not here!" yelled Twilight.

"This isn't good," said Rarity.

Applejack pulls her hat down, "Darn, I should've stayed with him when we were comin' here."

"I hope he's okay," Fluttershy whispered. "He's still hurt,"

"Maybe he had to use the bathroom," said Pinkie

"Guys, calm down. I lived with Riki for three years now, and I know him," I said, glancing at the princesses and then back at them. "He probably got lost here, and this place is very big. He's going to find his way here." Dammit, Riki, I hope you are okay.

Nobody's Pov
Riki is in the castle hallway with an unconscious earth pony maid in his arms. One unicorn guard is lying in a small pool of blood. Riki has a shallow cut across his cheek. Two more guards have their spears drawn on him. There is one thing Riki can say in this situation.

"I can explain!"