//------------------------------// // Royal dinner // Story: Equestrian reformation // by Vladilen_pro //------------------------------// I slowly opened my eyes. When my vision finally came into focus, I saw my computer monitor in front of me. "What?... I swear l was in..." I said hesitantly. I looked around, recognizing my room. (I fell asleep at the table again? I need to stop sitting at the computer until late night...) And then I fully remembered my dream about the reformation program. I shivered. (Some nightmares can be too real.) I glanced at my watch. 7 am. Then to the calendar. (Sunday... I woke up at 7 am on Sunday...) After a little grumbling, I went out on the porch for the morning newspaper. But it wasn't there yet. (This one is almost always late...) As soon as I thought about it, the postman, who was a yellow mare, ran out from around the corner. She stopped by my mailbox, breathing heavily. She noticed me and waved her hoof at me. "Sorry I'm late! I didn't do it on purpose, honestly!" said the mare with an awkward smile. "Don't worry about it. I left the house a couple of seconds ago." I said walking up to her. "Is there anything besides a newspaper for me today?" "Yes! There is a letter for you." said the mare happily, pulling out a newspaper and a letter from the mail bag. "Thank you, miss. I appreciate your work." I said, picking up the items handed to me. "Oh, Mr. Vlad, you are such a gentleman!" said the mare, blushing. (Ew... Don't do this to me.) As l entered the house, I went to the kitchen, throwing the correspondence on the table. Without hesitation, I poured myself some coffee and sat down at the table, ready to start reading my newspaper. (Well, let's see what's interesting there...) My eyes suddenly fell on the letter. (Hmm... I wonder who sent it to me?) Putting the newspaper aside, I took the letter in my hands. Oddly enough, there were no markings on the letter. Neither my address nor the sender's address. (Strange shit, if you ask me...) After turning the letter a little in my hands, I finally opened it. There was a piece of paper inside, and there were only 2 words on it. ("Turn around") (What?) Deciding to follow the request in the letter, I turned back. And then l nearly dropped my jaw. I saw Princess Luna barely holding back her laughter. Finally, unable to stand it, she laughed out loud. "We got you nice, eh?" Luna barely spoke through laughter. I quickly realized that this was just a dream, and I fell asleep on a bed in Canterlot Castle. Putting my jaw back in place with my hands, I watched Luna's laughter fade away little by little. Finally calming down completely, she noticed the mug in my hand. "Wow, is that coffee? For us? You're too kind, Vlad!" Luna said without a drop of irony. A dark blue magical aura surrounded the mug, and it levitated towards Luna. Without saying a word, I got up from my chair and walked into the living room. Noticing this, Luna followed me. "Vlad? Is everything OK?" Luna asked anxiously. But I didn't answer. I took my vape from the coffee table, sat on the couch and started vaping. I was burning the wall with my eyes. After a couple of seconds, I felt that someone sat down next to me. But I didn't turn around to see who it was. I just kept blowing off steam. "We're sorry if this hurt you..." Luna said remorsefully. Blowing out another cloud of steam, I finally began to speak. "Its okay, Luna. I'm not mad at you." I said calmly. "Really?! Hurrah!" Luna said with childlike delight. I just let out a light laugh. "You see, we've been wanting to know what human dreams look like ever since Tia started making contact with them." "I see. This is fine. Healthy curiosity." I said judiciously. "Is this your house? There are so many interesting things here!" Luna asked excitedly. "Yes. Welcome to my humble abode." I said with a touch of sarcasm. Taking another puff, I extended the vape towards Luna. "Wanna try? Good shit, l swear." "What is it?" Luna said with interest as she took the vape into her magical aura. "An electronic cigarette. I think there are regular cigarettes in Equestria?" I asked. "Yes, of course we have cigarettes. But this is the first time we heard that a cigarette can be electronic..." Luna said in surprise. "Well... Human technology, LoL." I said with a smile. "We tried regular cigarettes and we didn't like it..." Luna said, feigning disgust. "Yeah, I tried them too, and I didn't like them either." I said with a small chuckle. "Then why are you smoking an electronic cigarette?" Luna asked in bewilderment. "Well... It's a completely different thing. I smoke it because of the wide variety of flavors." "Flavours?" asked Luna. "Yes. For example, the vape now tastes like coffee." I said proudly. "Coffee?! We love coffee!" Luna said happily. "Then try it. I think you'll like it." I said happily. "Okay! How does this thing work?" Luna asked with interest. "Just press that black button and smoke like a regular cigarette." Following my advice, Luna make a puff. "Wow! Really tastes like coffee!" Luna said excitedly. "We need these in Equestria! Did you take this thing with you?" Luna asked hopefully. "I'm sorry, but no... My vape was left at home." I said with some disappointment. "Well damn... We liked it so much..." Luna said sadly. "Maybe another time..." I said with an encouraging tone. "Can we keep using this thing until you wake up?" Luna asked, turning on her puppy eyes. "Ofcourse, why not?" I said understandingly. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Luna said, wrapping me in a sudden hug. I was a little surprised, but I also hugged her. "You are welcome." I said kindly. Luna released me from her hug and made a another puff. "Can you give us a tour of your home? Show us some interesting human technology?" Luna asked hopefully. "Okay. Follow me." I said getting up from the couch. (I hope that in this dream the house is fully consistent with my real one back on the Earth.) First of all, I decided to show the kitchen. "This is where my morning starts. And this is where I sip my coffee." I said proudly. "And what is it?" Luna asked, pointing to the microwave. "Microwave. It can heat up cold food." "Just like a regular oven? But what's the point? What are its advantages? Because I see you have a regular oven too." Luna said thoughtfully. "Microwaves can heat up your food in a minute or less, while regular ovens take much longer." "Wow, cool!" Luna said in surprise. "But the microwave does not replace the oven, but only complements. Yes, you can cook something there, but the usual oven is still needed." I said judiciously. "And what's that?" Luna asked with interest. "Dishwasher. Washes dishes for you." I said, putting my hand on the dishwasher. "Without your participation?!" Luna asked in surprise. "Yep. Put the dishes in it, then the washing capsule, and you can go about your business." “This technology would be useful to us. The servants of Canterlot Castle could use the time allotted for washing dishes for something else…” Luna said dreamily. "Is there anything else you're interested in?" I asked with a smile. Releasing another cloud of coffee-scented steam, Luna smiled awkwardly at me. "When we were sitting on the couch, I noticed a strange rectangular thing. What is it?" Luna asked, taking another puff. "Oh, I thought you wouldn't ask. Let's go." I said, gesturing to Luna to follow me. We went back into the living room and stood in front of Luna's object of interest. "This is a TV. It shows different programs. Movies, series, cartoons." "Can you turn it on?" Luna asked with interest. "Of course. Now, I just need to find the remote..." I said, looking around. But, unfortunately, the remote was nowhere to be seen. (Fuck! Where is it?) "Looks like it'll take a while to find it..." I said with disappointment. "Oh no!" Luna said sadly. "Hmm? What is it?" I asked with puzzled look. "You'll wake up soon..." "How soon?" I asked. "Less than a minute." "Oh... Well... Then see you at dinner?" I said with a reassuring tone. "Of course. See you, Vlad." Luna said as she took her last puff. In the next second, everything went white. I opened my eyes. Still the same sunny room. I stretched, rubbing my sleepy eyes. The next second, there was a knock on the door. "The door is open," I called out. The door opened and Celestia entered the room. "Did you sleep well?" Celestia asked with a kind smile. This turn of events surprised me. (Didn't she tell me she would send guards to pick me up?) "Uh... Well, yes." I said, still lying on the bed. "Great! An afternoon nap is always good." I climbed out of bed and walked over to Celestia. "Ready for dinner?" Celestia asked. "Sure! I'm so hungry I could eat a ho..." But l never finished my line. A drop of sweat rolled down my face. Celestia raised her eyebrow. "Is everything okay, Vlad? You look worried" "Y-yes... Just... Just remembered something. I'm fine. Really." I said with an awkward smile. "Well, if you say so..." Celestia said indifferently. "I wanted to send guards to you, but I thought I'd better go myself so we can quickly teleport to the kitchen." Celestia said happily. "Good idea! This will save us a lot of time." "Let's go then! Stand next to me so that my teleport radius will affect you." Celestia said, pointing with her hoof at the place next to her. I approached Celestia, waiting for the teleportation. "Stand closer." Celestia said with a smile. (Isn't I standing exactly where she pointed?) Not wanting to contradict the princess, I stood closer. "A little more closer, please." (Are you kidding me?) I took another step and in the next moment Celestia pulled me into hug. "Gotcha! Works with Luna every time." Celestia said through laughter. "Good one, princess. Didn't see that coming." I said, unable to hide my smile. "You are too kind, Vlad." "Okay, now we really need to hurry up. Ready?" Celestia asked, still not letting go of me. I just gave her a thumbs up. "To the kitchen!" Another flash, and we were already standing in front of large and beautiful doors that probably led to the kitchen. Celestia finally let me go. "Ladies first." I said as I opened the door and allowed Celestia to enter. The princess just laughed a little and went inside. As I entered the kitchen, I saw that a group of 8 ponies were standing next to each other, and above them, surrounded by a dark blue magical aura, my phone was levitating. "Everyone smile!" Luna said, and her words were followed by a phone camera flash. (They learn fast...) "This one turned out the best!" said the pink pony, whose mane was like cotton candy. "Wait a second, who's that?" said the pink pony, pointing at me, who happened to be in the photo. "Oh, it's just... Wait a minute..." said the purple pony, looking at the photo more closely. In the next moment, she turned and everyone else followed her. Me and Celestia stood and looked at them. “Looks like we got a little carried away…” the purple pony said with an awkward smile. "Finally! Hooray!" screamed the pink pony. Celestia took a step away from me. (What's the matter? Did I do something wrong?) As soon as thinked about it, the pink pony jumped at me, dropping me to the floor, and pressed her snout to my nose. "You're finally here! I've been waiting for this! Why is it take so long? Did something happen? Oh yeah, I also wanted to ask, do you like parties? Because I do! I'll throw you the best party for your arrival! You will like it! What do you like more? Chocolate or strawberries? I ask to make a cake and..." "Pinkie!" the purple pony said, drawing the attention of the pink one. "What were we talking about 10 minutes ago?" (So... This is Pinkie Pie. And this is why Celestia warned me about her...) The pink pony got off me and was looking guilty. "I'm sorry Twilight, I can't help it." The purple pony sighed. "It's okay Pinkie. Just do your best next time." "Okie-dokie, Twilight! I'll try." Pinkie said, instantly changing her mood. (Twilight, huh?) I got up and dusted myself off. "Nice jump, Pinkie. I'd give you 10/10 for it." I said with a smile. "See, Twilight? It's okay!" said Pinkie with a laugh. Twilight just rolled her eyes. "Vlad, your phone is just wonderful! It has so many functions, I especially liked the ability to take photos!" Luna said enthusiastically as she ran up to me. "Yeah, that's cool... But can I get my phone back?" I asked, pointing to the phone levitating in front of me. "Oh, already?" Luna asked sadly. "Well, okay... But I'm glad I was able to use it even in such a short period of time." Luna said, and the phone dropped into my hand. "Finally! I missed you, my faithful friend!" I said holding the phone. I was about to put the phone in my pocket, but I felt the weight of a hoof on my shoulder. Turning around, I saw that it was Celestia's hoof. I just sighed, understanding what she wants. I handed the phone towards Celestia. In the light of a small flash, the box in which I had previously put my other gadgets appeared again. I put the phone in there and the box disappeared again. (Bye again, phone...) "Thank you! Your cooperation is a great contribution to the future of Equestria!" Celestia said in a confident tone. "Okay, I think it's time for us to get to know each other." Twilight said. Twilight stepped closer to me. "I'm Twilight Sparkle. Nice to meet you." "Yeah, me too. I guess by now you all already know my name and there's no point in introducing myself." "This, as you probably already understood, Pinkie Pie." said Twilight, pointing at the pink pony. "Hello! It's me!" Pinkie Pie said happily, waving at me. "This is Rarity, Ponyville's best fashionista." "How are you, dear?" asked Rarity. "It's Rainbow Dash..." "Equestria's Fastest Flyer!" interrupted Rainbow Dash and flew up to me. "Brohoof!" Somehow I immediately knew that this was an alternative of brofist. And I did the brohoof. "Cool! I thought you might not understand what it is. I'm glad I was wrong." Rainbow said with a smirk. "In my world, we have an alternative - a brofist." I proudly said. "Wow! Humans are 20% cooler for me now!" "Thanks for the detailed description of yourself, Rainbow," Twilight said sarcastically. "You are welcome, Twi!" Rainbow said and flew back to her place. "And this is Fluttershy." Twilight said, pointing to a yellow pony with a pink mane who had remained quiet all this time. "H-hello..." Fluttershy said almost in a whisper. "Hey. What's up?" I asked politely. "This is my brother, Shining Armor." "Hey kid." Shining Armor said and extended his hoof to me. (Finally, a male creature.) I shook his hoof. "And this is Princess Cadance." "Nice to meet you, Vlad," Cadance said with a smile. "Cool, now I know everyone!" I said happily. "Well, not really everyone..." Luna said uncertainly. "Shall we tell him, Tia?" "No. He will find out tomorrow." Celestia said seriously. (Hmm... I don't like it... What are they talking about?) "Okay, since we're all know Vlad now, let's get to the dinner." Celestia announced. Everyone took their seats. I got my seat between Princess Cadance and Fluttershy. There were many tasty looking things on the table, but, of course, there was nothing even close to meat. (Looks like I'll have to become a vegetarian during my reformation program...) Soon everyone put what interested them on their plate, and now and then friendly conversations arose around the table. As I suspected, during lunch, I was asked a lot of questions. Mostly, not surprisingly, they were about my world. Twilight was interested in human technology, Fluttershy was interested in earth animals and so on. Toward the end of dinner, I noticed that one chair had been empty all this time. (Hmm... Someone couldn't come?) When it was time to say goodbye, Shining held out his hoof to me again. "It was very interesting to hear about the army from your world, Vlad. Is there anything else like that?" he asked with interest. "Maybe later I'll remember something else." I said while shaking Shining's hoof. Soon everyone left and I stayed in the kitchen with Celestia and Luna. "So what's next?" I asked with interest. "I will give you your first assignment for tomorrow, and you're free for the rest of the day." Celestia said. "Okay, that sounds great. What's my first assignment?" "Follow me to my room and I will give you a detailed explanation sheet." Celestia said as she started to leaving the kitchen. "I'll be in my room, Tia! Come in if you need anything." Luna said to Celestia. "Okay, sister. Thank you." Celestia said, gesturing for me to follow her. As we walked down the corridor, I was thinking about teleportation. (Why doesn't she just teleport us to the right place?) After a couple of minutes, we came to Celestia's room. I let Celestia in and then I went in myself. "I figured it would be a good idea to start right away with the main purpose of your being here, so tomorrow morning a carriage will pick you up and you will go to Ponyville." Celestia said. "Here's the address of the stallion you want to be friends with." Celestia said, and a piece of paper fell into my hands. "The address of my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, is also written on this piece of paper. You will need to visit her in the evening and write me a letter telling me how your day went. You will stay in her house for the night, and in the morning carriage will arrive again to take you back to Canterlot." Celestia concluded. "Do you understand everything?" "Yes, princess, everything is clear." I said seriously. "Great. Then, you're free for today. Can you walk to your rooms yourself, or should I sent guards with you?" "Oh, thank you princess, I'll go myself." I said confidently. "As you wish. Bye, Vlad." Celestia said. I left Celestia's room and headed to the moon room. (I feel tired. I'd better go to bed.) Having reached the Moon Room, I undressed and lay down on the bed. (The moon bed is no worse than the sun bed... It's good...) After a couple of minutes, my eyelids began to feel heavy, and without noticing, I fell asleep.