//------------------------------// // Castle tour // Story: Equestrian reformation // by Vladilen_pro //------------------------------// I got up from the floor again, rubbing my bruised face. "Okay, you got me. Happy now?" I asked with disappointment. "Yes, we're glad you've finally arrived. I am Princess Celestia." the white pony pointed at herself with her hoof. "And this is my sister, Princess Luna." Celestia said as she pointed to the dark blue pony. Princess Luna smiled broadly as she vigorously waved her hoof at me. "You will never regret agreeing to this program, human! It will be so much fun!" said Luna with the great enthusiasm. "Yeah, whatever..." I said calmly. "Is something bothering you, Mr. Vlad?" Celestia said regretfully. "Please don't be so formal... Just call me Vlad." "Come on, it'll be great!" said Luna hugging me with one of her forelegs. "If you don't mind, we'd like to give you a tour of Canterlot Castle." Celestia said happily. "Yes, of course, why not?" "I don't think I have anything better to do here," I said in a whisper. "What was that?" asked Luna. "Nothing! Just thinking out loud." I said hastily. The two princesses led me out of the portal room and we walked along a long corridor with many branches. I was silent as we walked, and the two sisters were actively talking about something. I thought about the mission given to me. "Oh yeah, I forgot to say that we made a plan for today, Vlad." said Celestia. "Is that so? And what should I do today?" I asked without enthusiasm. "Well, first of all, you should look around your room and make yourself comfortable in it." "You'll love it, I promise!" Luna said with obsessive joy. (Well, okay... So far, nothing complicated.) We finally arrived at the room reserved for me, and Luna opened the door with magic, allowing me to enter. Once I was inside, I threw my backpack on the bed and started looking around the room. The whole room was decorated in a moon theme, and in general everything was dark blue. (I don't even know who prepared this room for me... Yeah...) "Do you like it?" Luna asked impatiently. "Well... not bad" I said. Suddenly, I heard a sound behind me, reminding of the squeaking of a soft toy. "Told you, sister! He likes it!" "Okay, okay, you win." Celestia said with a light laugh. "Did you make some kind of bet about me?" I asked without turning to them. "Uh... Well... We..." Luna began uncertainly. "We just had a bet on which room you like better - the one I chose or Luna." Celestia said judiciously. "But I haven't seen the room you prepared for me, Celestia. How can I decide the winner without seeing both sides of the competition?" "Wait, Luna, he's right!" Celestia said thoughtfully. "But the human has already chosen a winner! Why should we waste time looking at another room?" Luna said nervously. "Someone is afraid to lose?" Celestia said provocatively. "No, we are not afraid of competition!" Luna said proudly. "Show him your room, sister!" We left the room Luna had prepared for me. The door to another room was directly opposite the previous one. This time, it was Celestia who opened the door to the room. And, oh, what a surprise, in the room she prepared, everything was in the sun theme. The whole room was filled with bright sunlight coming from three large windows, and there was a spacious balcony next to the bed. "Now that you've seen both sides of the competition... Who's the winner?" Luna asked impatiently "You know what... I think..." I was in no hurry to answer. "Just, give us an answer, please!" Luna pleaded. "I think I..." "I will stay here during the day, and at night I will sleep in a room provided by Luna." I said friendly. "Humans are really very unpredictable, sister..." Luna said in shock. "I've told you this many times, Luna!" Celestia said, chuckling. "So... It's a draw?" Luna asked. "Yes. You both did a good job and I appreciate it." "Looks like your reformation program started ahead of schedule!" Luna was surprised. "And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that!" Celestia assured. (It is better to start early so that you can go home as soon as possible.) "Okay, rooms are checked. What's next?" I asked. "Next... You need to come with us to the balcony and give our people a pep talk!" Celestia said. "Is that all? I thought there would be something more..." And then Celestia's words finally reached my brain. "What?! I need to perform in front of your people?!" I said with great surprise. "Yes! My little ponies need to know that the reformation program test has officially started! And you will tell them about it! Tell them something about yourself too, they will be interested in learning more about humans." Celestia said. "That pony and her friend will be especially interested!" Luna said with a sly smile. "Ah yes... But I guess her friend isn't as interested in our guest as she is..." Celestia said with hesitation. "When is my performance?! I need to get ready!" I asked hastily. "It's about to start... NOW!" Luna screamed. "What do you mean by NOW?!" As soon as I finished speaking, a bright flash blinded me, and in one second we moved from the sunny room directly to the balcony, from which, apparently, two sisters were giving important speeches to their little ponies. Below, on the ground, hundreds, if not thousands, of ponies stood and looked at us. They were all so colorful that I even got a little dazzled in my eyes. They all looked at the three of us, waiting for the speech to begin. "My little ponies, on this beautiful day, I want to announce to you that the first human has finally arrived in Equestria to test our reformation program, developed together with humanity!" Celestia said proudly. Loud sounds of applause shook the castle. "And now, we would like to give the opportunity to speak to our guest, Mr. Vlad! Let's welcome him!" Luna said pointing at me. Loud aviation again. But they quickly subsided, waiting for me to say something. I was very worried. What should be said and what should not? Finally collecting my thoughts, I walked closer to the edge of the balcony and cleared my throat. "Greetings, ponies! I'm very glad that I had the honor of being the first of all humans to visit Equestria! And more importantly, to help our peoples test the program, which I think will be a great example of cooperation between different civilizations!" "And, as far as I know, if the tests pass successfully, the program will be launched into mass use!" I said happily. In the next moment, loud applause began, louder than any that had been before. And, I swear, among all this crowd, some teal pony was cheering the loudest, trying to involve another pony standing next to her in this. But I think she just rolled her eyes. "Now then, I'm giving the attention back to Princess Celestia." I said in relief, feeling a mountain of responsibility fall from my shoulders. "Thank you for this great speech, Vlad! We really needed it!" Celestia said formally. For the rest of the two sisters' speech, I just stood a little behind while the princesses announced other important news. (I don't think it's a big deal if I leave to call while they're breaking the big news.) Leaving the field of view of the ponies standing below, and two princesses, I dug into my pocket and pulled out the phone from there. (It didn't cracked in all those falls... Good news.) Selecting my friend's number from the list of contacts, I already put the phone to my ear, but in response I heard only negative beeps. Looking at the link indicator positioning itself as three sticks, not only were they inactive, but there was also a large red cross on top of them. "Great... Exactly what I need..." I said with disappointment. "Hey, where did you go? Did something happen?" Luna suddenly asked. I flinched, almost dropping my phone. "No no, it's fine, I just wanted to call..." I said in a hurry. "Call? Wait..." Luna said thoughtfully. "You're talking about those things that...?" Luna's eyes filled with joy, and she looked at her sister. "Yes, Luna. Phone." Celestia said proudly. Luna directly lit up with joy, despite the fact that she represented the moon. "Tia, this is just wonderful!" Luna flew up to me, wrapping her front leg around me again. "Can we use your phone for a little while? Please?! We've been dreaming of this ever since humans and ponies made first contact!" Luna said with puppy dog eyes. "Well, I don't even know, maybe..." I started to say, but didn't finish. "Thank you human! You have no idea how much this means to us!" Luna said happily, taking the phone out of my hand with her magical aura and leaving in the opposite direction from me. "Hey, I haven't actually given you permission yet!" I said to the dark blue pony, but it didn't look like she heard me. I felt Celestia's hoof rest on my shoulder. "Don't worry, Vlad! I guarantee you that nothing will happen to the phone! Luna is really very interested in the technologies of your world." Celestia said judiciously. "Okay, your highness, what's next on the list?" I asked sarcastically. "Your next task is to meet my faithful student Twilight Sparkle and her friends. As well as Princess Cadance and her husband, Shinig Armor." (Will I finally meet a male creature? Otherwise, it seems that mares are in an advantage here ...) "Good. Where will the introduction take place?" "At a communal lunch of the castle kitchen." Celestia said. "Аny advice before I meet them?" I asked seriously. "Just one. Careful with Pinkie Pie." Celestia said warningly. "Who is it?" I asked puzzled. "You'll see." Celestia said mysteriously. "Okay, I'll walk you to your rooms so you can get ready for dinner, and in the meantime, I'll ask you a couple of questions. Do you agree?" Celestia asked. "Sure. Bring it on." I followed Celestia, answering her questions along the way. "Continuing the topic of technology in your world..." Celestia hesitated. "Yeah?" I asked, indifferently. “The thing is that shortly before your arrival, our portal was only capable of moving only weak objects, like letters, and, what's strange, only eart ponies could cross the portal. No pegasi, no unicorns, no alicorns could get through. We were able to improve it so that you could pass through, and could request samples of your technologies from humanity, but…” said Celestia looks away. "You're already here, aren't you? And you probably have some other human technology, right?" Celestia asked hopefully. "Well, yes. Electronic wristwatch, wireless headphones, power bank." I said proudly. "You don't mind if I take all this for examination and my scientists do some research?" "Well, I guess it won't hurt... So... Why not?" "Great! Put it all in here." Celestia said happily. In a small white flash, a wooden box lined with velvet appeared. Its lid opened with a soft creak, revealing that it was also lined in purple velvet inside. I removed the watch from my hand as well as the headphones, that were hanging around my neck, and took out the power bank from my pocket, putting it all in a box. After waiting for me to put everything inside, Celestia carefully closed the lid of the box, and smiled at me happily. "What about your phone? Can I have it after Luna?" I raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "For research, of course!" Celestia said in a hurry. "Sure, take it. If it survives Luna usage..." Celestia laughed, and even I smiled a little. "In any case, thanks for agreeing to give us your gadgets. Equestria will find this knowledge very useful." The box vanished with the same white flash it had appeared with. "Okay, next... I'd like to ask you... How do you feel about being sent to Equestria for reformation? I need an honest answer." Celestia said seriously. "Well, you know... It's not bad. I expected... I didn't really know what to expect, to be honest..." said I truthfully. "Before coming here, the question constantly tormented me ... Why do ponies come to our world, but humans do not come to the pony world?..." "I even suspected you of malicious intent, I thought you were planning something... But, now that I know the truth..." I stopped. Celestia did the same. "I'm sorry about that. Now I really see that it's not like that at all. You only wish well for our civilizations. And it really means a lot to me." I turned away from Celestia, unable to look in her eyes. In the next second, I felt Celestia's front leg wrap around me and pull me towards her. "It's all right, dear. Everyone makes mistakes." said Celestia in motherly kindness. "And I'm especially glad that you found the strength to say it! Not everyone is capable of it!" Celestia said, hugging me even tighter. (Yeah, I think she is no weaker than our earth horses...) "All right, here we are. I'll send guards to you when dinner is ready." "All right, princess. I'm waiting." Celestia walked down the corridor, and I went into the moon room to pick up the backpack left on the bed, and moved on to the sun room. Now, having already thrown my backpack on the sunny bed, I lay down next to it and... I realized that I didn’t want to get up. Ever.