His list of questions seemed endless. But he knew he couldn’t just walk in and ask it. They were told specifically not to approach the thing. Just keep ponies away, and if he tried to leave, gently encourage him to turn back and stay in the cell. Even if he refused they weren’t supposed to physically touch the alien. The princess made that explicitly clear. If he became agitated they were merely to isolate and contain it, until one of the alicorns could intervene and detain it. They were only to use physical force against the creature under life or death circumstances. 