"Then we found Equestria," Robert continued. "This wonderful world that fitted all of our needs, except that it was occupied by ponies, or Pony Sapiens as you folks have been calling them on the news. And, as we later found out, also occupied by several other sapient species as well. We asked Doctor Fischer if we could turn volunteers into ponies, in order to meet and assess the locals, to determine the best approach to opening diplomatic ties with Equestria. We had one shot to make a good impression, and we wanted as much data as we could before we took that shot.