You know the old saying, "The first step is always the hardest?" That's something that doesn't even come close to the feeling I have while trying to walk through the small town of Ponyville. I'm trying to not look around too much, just keeping myself almost glued to Twilight. Every step seems harder than the last. This may not have been the greatest idea. Gossip is ringing all around me. If this affects Twilight's reputation, I'll feel really guilty about it tonight. I lean over to Twilight and whisper into her ear.
"Umm... how much further do we have to go before we reach the restaurant?" My quiet voice makes her ear twitch a little.
Twilight turns her head a bit to see me in her peripheral vision, "Not too far now, Travis. Just a few minutes." her reassuring voice calms me down just a bit. I can feel the stares of the judgmental population on me. As much as I want to bail out of this plan and cower in my room, I just can't let down my one and only friend on our first outing.
Social anxiety is getting to me, my breathing is starting to get heavier. My palms are sweating, though that could just be from the heat along with my hands in my pocket.
"We're here!" Twilight's voice snaps me out of my thoughts. I look at the building in front of me. This is a pretty small establishment, decorations covering the door. Trying to send happy moods to customers I assume. There are some seats with tables outside of the windows on the left side, customers are enjoying their meals. Some of them are taking glances at me and whispering to their partners. The ones that are alone are too enveloped in their books.
"Ponyville Soups and Sandwiches?" I read the sign aloud, adjusting my posture to get a better look at the place.
Twilight gave me a smile with her eyes closed "I hope this is okay?" She asks me.
"This'll be perfect." I nod at her. Twilight uses her magic to open the door, and we both walk inside. I need to duck down to avoid hitting my head on the door.
The front worker turns around, most likely because of the sound of the ringer attached to the top of the door. The beige mare greets, "Good afternoon! How may I H-Hmmm?" The worker stops mid greeting when she notices that I'm in her store. She staring right at me and notices that I'm with Twilight. "Oh.. um, Ma'am... Is that with you... " I look away from the worker because of the rude remark, I shove my hands in my pockets as it's the sort of thing I do when I'm upset. Like, come on? I'm standing right there...
I hear Twilight speak up to the worker. "My friend here just moved into a house outside of town. I owe him a favour, so I wanted to take him out for the day."
The mare clears her throat before announcing "Very well then. Please follow me to your table!" The tone that was spoken was clearly forced. Either that or I'm just paranoid. We are guided to a seat around the back area. The window view that's next to our table let me have a good view of Ponyville. I look around the area from where I'm sitting, taking in the surroundings. I see Ponies doing everyday things such as working at stands, or out with their families.
"Wow. This place sure is peaceful." I say to Twilight, without looking away from the window.
"That reminds me, Travis. How long are you planning on staying here?" Twilight asks. I think about that question for a second. Placing my hand under my chin, and resting my elbow on the table.
"Well. Starting today, I should be staying here for a year. I've always wanted to travel when I was younger, give myself a fresh start. And so far... It's been pretty much the same as back home." I look at my fingers on the table, tracing them around in circles across the wood.
Twilight looks at me with a sad expression, "You really didn't have any friends back at home, huh... Well, to be honest. I was in the same boat"
This catches my interest, "What do you mean by that?" I readjust my position in my seat, crossing one leg over the other, and clasping my hands on the table.
"Before I came to Ponyville, I was just a shut-in. Only focusing on my studies, trying to perfect any kind of magic I could. As a result, I didn't get out too much. I would never take any opportunities I would get to go out with anypony. But that all changed when Princess Celestia sent me here. It's how I met my best friends in the whole wide world. I would do anything for them. That's why Ponyville will always hold a special place in my heart!" Twilight finishes her story and is back to being incredibly happy. "There's something special about Ponyville that just lets everypony get along with each other." Twilight smiles at me, "That's probably why we came across each other this fast."
Images of last night flash through my mind. But... why were they after the Changeling anyway? It can't be just because it was in town, there has to be more to it than that.
I lean into Twilight's ear at an almost whisper, "Speaking of last night, what was that Changeling situation about?" her ear twitches at the vibrations.
"If I'm honest, I'm not sure why that one was in town. All I can think of is that it was a spy, but we couldn't stop it from getting away."
No... I couldn't stop it from getting away.... I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I let that thing get away with its partners. I hope It didn't have any important info on it, or I'll feel TWICE as guilty for affecting Twilight's reputation.
"What are we gonna do?" I ask.
"Travis, if anything bad happens you can count on the Elements of harmony to take care of the problem. You don't need to worry about it." Twilight is trying to assure me that everything will be alright. But it's still my fault for that.
Our waitress comes around, and we place our orders. after waiting for a bit, we get our food and start to eat. It was subpar at best, but oh well. It was still out of the kindness of a ponies heart that I'm eating out, to begin with. But there's still an uneasy feeling washing over me like I'm being watched.
"Hey, Travis. I actually wanted to take some notes on you when we're finished eating. Only if that's okay with you that is?" Twilight makes this adorable face at me, how in Equestria can I say no to that.
"Yeah, sure." I reply "It's a way I can say thanks for taking me out."
Twilight giggled, "The reason why I took you out was that I wanted to say thanks for helping last night." I chuckle a bit at that remark.
"So where do you live around here?"
"Actually, I was assigned to live in the Library around the centre of town. Princess Celestia wanted me to have a place that I would enjoy living in. What better place than to be surrounded by endless books!" Twilight goes on about how much her house fits her needs of living. In fact, I'm getting a little excited to see the place myself. Maybe I'll be able to check out a novel while I'm over, just to read whenever I have nothing else to do with my days. Twilight pays the bill and we make our way out of the establishment. The journey to the Library is pleasant, we make small talk, and I begin to feel more comfortable being around this town. Not to say that I'm welcomed by any means, just that I feel better walking around.
"Well, Travis. This is it!" Twilight excitedly steps aside to reveal a massive tree in the middle of town. the tree seems to be hollowed out, having its own balcony and windows. I see a telescope set up on the balcony, with notes plastered all over the place. different charts are also stood up there. The doorway into the tree is a little small for me, so I crouch a little to enter. My eyes widen at the sight of all the books neatly organized along the multiple shelves wrapping around the room. There are different genres all labelled on each shelf, from fictional stories, to study guides.
"Wow..." is all I'm able to say while taking in all of my surroundings. "This is so cool!" I happily exclaim.
Twilight's face lights up, "You really think so? Rainbow Dash makes fun of me for reading all the time."
The mention of Rainbow Dash gets me a little agitated, "What does she know?" I say back in a half-joking way. "You get to read whatever you want here? I'm actually kind of jealous." I see Twilight's face light up a bright pink.
"It's not that impressive" Twilight giggles. I laugh along with her. Faint steps are echoing from upstairs. A voice calls down from upstairs.
"Twilight, is someone over? why didn't you give me a warning." The voice sounds a little crackly like it's from a young colt.
I look over at Twilight "I didn't know you had a little brother."
Twilight laughs in response "No! That's not my brother." I look upstairs to see something I would've never expected to find in a Library of all places. A small dragon. Its purple scales are the same shade as Twilight's fur. A green fluff of hair rests on its head. And it has bright emerald eyes.
"Holy Crap!" that's all I'm able to spit out, this is the coolest thing ever. I've always wanted to see a dragon up close, it's a little smaller than expected though...
The little dragon is shocked while staring at me. "T-Twilight, is that? That's that!" The dragon is tumbling over its own words.
Twilight answers the dragon's question, "Yes, Spike. This is Travis, he's moved into a house outside of Ponyville for the year, so I wanted to make him feel welcomed"
Spike is smiling with glee, that's strange. Why would he be happy to see something like me? Spike runs down the stairs, tripping over the last step, but quickly stands back up.
"Umm... Are you okay?" I ask with concern in my voice.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Spike shouts with glee. "I've been wanting to meet you for so long!"
"What do you mean by that? I thought that..." I scratch the back of my head.
"Twilight was telling me about what happened this morning. She made it sound like you were an amazing pony. But I didn't believe her that it was you who did all of that stuff. I always thought you were just some scary creature from the Everfree Forest. I was kind of hoping that you'd be a Dragon." Spike laughs after he's finished.
"Sadly, I'm not. I'm a... I don't really know." I look away from the Spike after my answer.
"Hmm... Twilight should be able to help you out with that. She's the smartest Pony I know!" Spike shouts in confidence. "She was able to show everypony that I'm a friendly Dragon."
"Yeah... But do ponies hate you for being different..." I say quietly.
Spike looks at me, "no they don't hate me, but some are afraid of me. Because I'm a dragon, ponies are afraid that I might eat them one day. Some ponies are scared that I'm some monster. But I don't let that get to me because I know that I'm a good dragon on the inside and that I would never do such a thing to anypony. Especially to..." I didn't quite catch the name of the pony he just said. But I feel that's none of my business.
I extend my hand down to Spike, "My name is Travis by the way. It's.. nice to meet you."
Spike, instead of shaking my hand, bumps it with his fist instead. "My name is Spike. Nice to meet you."
I can see a bit of myself in this kid. We both don't know where we come from, but he seems to be fine with that. I, on the other hand, am not. I will find out about my old life one day...