//------------------------------// // Evening in Ponyville // Story: Equestrian reformation // by Vladilen_pro //------------------------------// About ten seconds later, the door opened, and behind it I saw a small... Dragon? "Hello! We've been waiting for you! Come in." said the little dragon with joy in his voice. I entered Twilight's house thinking about what I saw. "Twilight! Vlad is here!" shouted the dragon. "Coming!" said the voice I recognized as Twilight. (Is there also dragons living in Equestria? I thought only ponies inhabited this world...) There was a clatter of hooves, and Twilight came down the stairs. When she saw me, she smiled and waved at me. I did the same. "I'm glad you finally here." Twilight said as she walked over to me. "Did you introduce yourself, Spike?" "On it!" Spike said as he turned to me. "My name is Spike. Nice to meet you." said the dragon and extended his small hand to me. I had to crouch to offer my hand to him in return. "Hey buddy! Cool scales." I said during the handshake. (I never complimented dragons in my life... I hope I choŠ¾se the right words...) "Thank you! Taking care of the scales is not an easy task!" Spike said proudly. "I'll go warm up the food, Twi." Spike said, heading for what I understood to be the kitchen. "Alright Spike, thanks for the help!" Twilight said and then looked at me. "Come on, I'll show you your bed." Twilight led me up the stairs to the second floor and showed me the bed where I would sleep. "Do you like it? It was quite difficult to get it here..." Twilight feigned fatigue. I looked at the bed that had been given to me, and a feeling of desperation came over me. "Twilight, I don't want to devalue your work, but... I don't think I can fit into this bed..." I said as I walked over to the side of the bed. "This bed is made for ponies, isn't it?" "Oh, somehow I didn't think of that..." Twilight said sadly, her ears pressed to her head. "Listen, I saw a couch on the first floor, and I think I can fit on it without any problems. What do you say?" I asked, trying to cheer up the sad pony. "I don't think there's much of a choice... Let's go." We went down to the first floor again. I took off my backpack and put it next to the couch. Sitting on it, I felt that it was very soft. "Great couch, Twilight! I'm already looking forward to sleeping here!" I said hugging the pillow. Twilight finally smiled. "Food is ready! Come!" Spike's voice came from the kitchen. I got up from the couch and Twilight walked me to the kitchen. We met Spike at the entrance. "Bon appetit! I'll go chew some gems and read a comics." Spike said and headed for the stairs to the second floor. "Huh? Chew some gems? WTF?" Twilight thanked Spike again and invited me to come into the kitchen. Going into the kitchen, I saw that it was quite spacious with a table in the middle. There were only two chairs near the table, one slightly higher than the other. (Apparently, one for Spike, and one for Twilight.) "Get on the bigger one, Vlad. I'll take Spike's chair." "Okay, thanks." I said and sat down on a bigger chair, just like Twilight said. Sitting down on a chair, I began to examine the contents of the table. (Let's see... Soup... It's red. Must be tomato soup. Okay. What's next?) (Cucumber and cabbage salad. It smells delicious. Cheese sandwiches? Cool!) There was also apple juice in the glasses, and even a cake. "Do you like it? Princess Celestia told me about the food that humans eat, and I didn't cook anything that you couldn't eat." Twilight said with a smile. "Yes, everything looks very tasty. And there's nothing I can't eat." I joked. I started with the soup. It was very tasty. "So how was your day?" Twilight asked. "I knew you'd ask." I said, biting into a cheese sandwich. "Well, yes, I met Mac. Our meeting went pretty well. But speaking of Applejack..." Twilight looked worried. "I met Applejack before Mac, and she... How do I say this? She wasn't very happy to see me. That's all I can say, I don't want to complain about her, this reaction is quite understandable. Ask her what happened if you're interested." "And about Mac... Everything was fine with us. We discussed everything peacefully over a couple of beers at a local bar. We have come to the conclusion that we need to spend time together so that we can become friends. Then Celestia will see it and I will go home... Probably..." "I'm happy for you, Vlad! And what about the rest of Ponyville? Did you communicate with someone? Have you found new friends?" Twilight asked hopefully. "Uh... Well... Some ponies waved to me when I arrived at Ponyville in the morning, and I did the same. I also talked to one pony when I ordered coffee from her..." "Oh, Coffeine Cream? I also like to buy her coffee in the morning. However, lately, she has become not very talkative... As I understand it, she has some problems in her personal life." "Well, yes, it happens." I said with a shrug. (I don't think it's worth talking about what happened between us at the market this morning...) "Oh yes, Twilight, I wanted to ask... You knew Applejack didn't treat me very well, didn't you? And this is what Luna was talking about?" "Yes, about that..." Twilight said with nervous smile. "I knew about it... Everyone knew. But the princess thought you needed to find out for yourself. It's part of your program." "Okay... What about Applejack? Did she not want to come to dinner with me at the castle, or did you not let her in?" I kept asking. "She didn't want to. She said she didn't want to see you for as long as possible." "Yeah... It looks like it's going to be a long time before she stops wanting to kill me every time we see each other." I said sarcastically. "Well, at least I was able to make peace with Mac..." "I'm sure you'll become friends. Just show that you are changing for the better." Twilight said with a smile. "So, also, about Spike... He's a dragon, right?" I asked, deciding to change the subject. "Yes, he's a dragon. Why?" "I thought only ponies lived in Equestria... And it turns out that there are also dragons?" "Besides ponies and dragons, there are also minotaurs, yaks, griffins, zebras, deers in Equestria... The list can be continued for quite a long time." Twilight said, glad that she was able to use her knowledge on me. "Wow, Equestria has gathered all the mythology from my world..." I said with genuine surprise. "Oh yeah, about your world... Do you think you could give something for research? Some kind of human technology?" Twilight asked hopefully. These words made me laugh. Twilight looked at me in surprise. "Your teacher beat you to it, Twilight. Celestia took all my "Human Technology" from me for her research." I said, still chuckling a little. "Oh... Well, yes, I expected it." When the soup and salad were finished, Twilight offered me a cake. "Pinkie baked this cake at the "Sugarcube Corner" bakery. She asked me to tell her later if you liked the cake or not." "How can a cake not be delicious? And... Wait... Does Pinkie have her own bakery?" "No, but she works and lives in that bakery. I think you should go there, she'll be glad to see you," Twilight said happily. "Good idea! I'll go there today and tell her I liked the cake. I'll take a walk at the same time... I like to walk in the evenings." "But first you have to write a letter to Princess Celestia, remember?" I completely forgot about it, and the reminder did not add to my joy. "Yes... Yes, of course I remember! I'll start writing right after this beautiful cake!" I tried to pretend responsibility, but Twilight seemed to understand everything. As I expected, the cake turned out to be very tasty, and I ate two pieces, washed down with apple juice. (This juice was made at Applejack Farm, wasn't it? Did she put poison in there for me? Lol...) A little later, Twilight walked me to the second floor and sat me down at a table, giving me paper with a quill and ink. I started examining the ink with a surprised face. "Is something wrong?" Twilight asked. "Well, I don't usually use this... Device."I said, and remembered that I had a pair of ballpoint pens in my backpack. "Just a second, I'll be right back." I went to the first floor and took out the object I was looking for from my backpack, then returning back to Twilight. "What is this?" Twilight asked with interest. "This, my dear Twilight, is a ballpoint pen. Humans use this on a daily basis. It is much more better to write with this other than this way." I said, pointing to the ink. "With this thing, you will never put a blot on paper and spoil your work." "Wow... And you said you don't have human technology anymore?! It's just perfect! Will you give me one? Please?" Twilight pleaded. "Well... Yes, of course, why not? As soon as I finish the letter, this thing is all yours." The purple pony screamed with joy and even hugged me. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I've been wanting to get at least something from the human world for research for these two years!" said Twilight, squeezing me even tighter. "No problem! But I think I'm going to turn blue now if you become even more grateful..." "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I'm just so happy!" said Twilight, releasing me. "Okay, I won't distract you anymore, write a letter." Twilight was almost gone, but then she turned back to me. "Do you mind if I read your letter after you finish it? I'm just interested in your writing style..." "Of course. I'll let you read it." I said, no longer surprised by Twilight's actions. "Wonderful! I'll be in the living room. Come to me when you're done." After saying that, Twilight went down the stairs to the first floor. (I never thought that I would make someone so happy with an ordinary pen...) "She's very impressionable, isn't she?" I shuddered, then looked at the source of the voice, and saw that there was a basket near Twilight's bed, in which Spike was lying and reading a comic book. "Dude, you scared me... I completely forgot that you're here on the second floor." "It happens... Come on, write a letter, I'll send it when you're done." Spike said without looking up from the comic. "How fast does the post office work in Equestria? Probably, the princess will have to wait for my letter for an eternity..." "Faster than you expect, buddy..." (Strange... Well, we'll see when I write this letter.) With these thoughts in mind, I finally started writing. While writing, I remembered Spongebob with his essay for the boat school, and I thought that it was better not to allow this. When I finally finished writing the letter, I picked it up and reread it. "Hey princess, how are you? Today I met Mac at his farm, and we didn't even kill each other! I think this is a great progress between us, but what do you say? Of course, not everything is as smooth as it might seem at first glance... Mac's sister, Applejack, wasn't very happy to see me, and something happened. But, I won't say what exactly, it's not that important. Her reaction is quite justified, and I will not judge her for it. Oh yeah, back to me and Mac. Well, we decided to talk it over over a couple of beers at a local bar. We talked about everything we wanted to talk about and decided we needed to spend more time together. Maybe a walk together, go to the cinema, well, something like that. In short, after sitting in a bar for a couple of hours talking, we parted. Mac went back to the farm, and I went to Twilight. She provided me with a bed, but it turned out to be too small for me, and I will sleep on the couch. Well, that's about it. Bye, princess. Vlad." After making sure that everything was fine with the letter, I went down to the first floor, where I discovered that Twilight had another guest, that rainbow pony. Two ponies noticed me as soon as I came down from the last step. "Hey, big guy! What's up?" Dash said, holding out her hoof, expecting a "Brohoof" from me. I didn't upset her expectations and did as she wanted. "If all humans are as cool as you, then I definitely have to visit your world at least once!" It turned out that Dash had come for a new book from her favorite book series. I didn't pay attention to the title name, but I believe it's some kind of a treasure hunt, because the mare on the cover of the book reminded me of Indiana Jones. "Maybe you'll like it too, Vlad?" Dash asked. "Read it, if you have time, you won't regret it." "So what's with the letter, Vlad? Have you finished it?" Twilight asked, putting some books on the shelf. I nodded, handing the letter to Twilight. A magical aura surrounded the letter, and it flew from my hand straight to Twilight. "I'm going for a walk for now." I said, heading for the door. "I'm going too, Twilight. Thanks for the book." Dash said, but Twilight didn't answer, as she was enthusiastically reading my letter. "Twilight! Are you here? Heloooo!" "Vlad, do you mind if I correct your letter a little?" Twilight finally answered. "Well... Okay... Just don't change the basic idea, okay?" I said, remembering about the pen. "Oh, yes, the pen is on the table, on the second floor." "Same old Twilight... Egghead will never come out of you." Dash said with a smile. "Come on, Vlad, let's take a walk." (I actually wanted to walk alone... But oh well...) By the time we left Twilight's house, she had already run to the second floor to correct the letter. After walking some distance from Twilight's house, I noticed that two ponies came up to it and knocked on the door. One was cyan and the other was beige. (I think I've seen them before... But where?) I was distracted from my thoughts by Dash's wing waving in front of my face. "Hey! Did Twilight also infect you with flying to other galaxies? Are you here?" "Yes, yes, I'm here. What is it?" I asked, seeing Dash drop to the ground and start walking next to me. "What kind of letter did you write? And to whom?" "Celestia asked me to write her a letter about how my day went." "And how did it went?" Dash asked. (Ah shit, here we go again...) "Oh, look, Trixie is performing! Do you want to look?" Dash suddenly said. "Trixie? Who is this?" I asked. "You'll see, let's go! I think we're just in time for the start of the show!" Dash said, taking my elbow with her hoof and leading me to the crowd of ponies gathered near the stage. (Well, at least I was saved from another story about how my day went...) "Hello Ponyville! The great and powerful Trixie is here again to give you her wonderful performance!" The crowd of ponies stomped on the ground, and I even shook a little. (What the hell? Why are they stomping? Cosplay for an earthquake?) "Today Trixie wants to give a chance to one of her loyal fans to perform on the same stage with her! Who will it be?" said Trixie, scanning the crowd of ponies, and our eyes suddenly crossed. "Look at this, Trixie's performances are so amazing that even a human came to watch! Let's welcome him!" Trixie said, and the mini earthquake started again. (I forgot how much I stand out among all these ponies, and in order not to notice me in the crowd, you probably have to be blind ...) "Well, human, I invite you to the stage! Come out and greet all these ponies in response!" "What?... But I just came to watch, I didn't..." I didn't finish, as I felt Dash pushing me to the entrance to the stage. "Come on, big guy, don't be shy." Dash said with a smirk. (It looks like I have no choice...) "What's your name, human?" asked Trixie as soon as I got on stage. "Vlad. Well, hello to everyone who gathered here today! I didn't think I would be a part of the performance today..." I said a little confused. "Every dream has the chance of coming true! And now, tell me, are you ready to help the great and powerful Trixie with the performance?" "Okay, let's do it!" I said more confidently. "That's the spirit! That's what Trixie needs!" Before I knew it, a deck of cards appeared in my hands. "Now Trixie will guess the card that our dear Vlad will choose without even looking at it!" said Trixie, addressing the audience. "Choose a card, Vlad!" I chose the ace of spades. "Done? Good. Show the card to the audience, but don't show it to Trixie!" (I don't really like her strange way of speaking about herself in the second person...) I showed the card to the audience. Everyone examined it carefully. Then Trixie said to put the card back in the deck and mix it. I did as she asked and gave the deck to her. "Now Trixie will guess Vlad's chosen card! You chose..." there was a pause, during which Trixie sorted through the cards. "This card!" I was surprised. Trixie really took my card out of the deck. "Yes... I chose this card..." "Maybe you think Trixie is lying? Let's check it out!" Trixie turned to me. "Vlad, Trixie is promoting you to her assistant! You have to help her!" Then she turned back to the audience. "Who wants to choose a card?" There were a lot of ponies who wanted to. "Vlad, choose one lucky person, please, and invite them on stage!" I peered into the crowd. I was able to spot one interesting looking gray pony with eyes that... Well... They looked unusual. I invited her on stage, which she was very happy about. "What's your name, beauty?" Trixie asked the gray mare. "My name is Derpy!! Oh, it's so exciting that your assistant chose me! Wow!" "Choose a card, Derpy!" Trixie handed the deck of cards to Derpy. "It's a little uncomfortable for me, I could use some help..." said Derpy a little awkwardly. "Vlad! Help this pony choose a card!" said Trixie, teleporting the deck into my hands. We moved a little to the side, and I helped her. Derpy chose the six of hearts. This time Trixie was also able to unmistakably pull the card chosen by Derpy from the deck. Trixie asked me to invite another pony to the stage to finally consolidate the success. This time I chose a white unicorn with stylish glasses and headphones. She was able to choose a card without my help, and I wasn't surprised at all when Trixie chose the right card again. "Are you ready for the next part of the performance? It's going to be much more impressive than the one before!" said Trixie, and an earthquake hit Ponyville once again. "Now Vlad will demonstrate to you the wonders of controlled levitation! Are you ready, my assistant?" Trixie looked at me. "Uh... what? Levita...?" but I didn't have time to finish, as Trixie pointed her horn at me, and a bright flash flew in my direction. The next second I felt that I became very light and could float through the air as if on water. (I didn't think at all this morning that I would learn to fly...) "Now Vlad will catch some items that Trixie will cast the same spell on and bring them back to her!" the next moment, the mug, Trixie's cap and that same deck of cards, thank God, folded in a box, so that the cards could not fly in different directions, began to float in the air. To move through the air, I did the same movements as if I were swimming underwater. First I caught the mug, then Trixie's cap. The cards were the most difficult to catch. The little deck kept slipping out of my hands at the last moment, but in the end I was still able to catch them. (Now I have to go down to Trixie... And I know how!) Having reached the roof of the stage, I pushed off from it with my feet and safely flew to Trixie, who held out a hoof to me so that I would not fly away again. I gave her all the items collected during levitation. "Trixie thanks you Vlad! Now Trixie will remove the spell from you, try to land on your feet, otherwise it may hurt a little!" said Trixie, and gave me a couple of seconds to get into the right position in the air. "Ready? Great!" said Trixie and sent the flash in my direction again. This time I closed my eyes in time, and it didn't blind me. Having landed safely on the ground, I realized how much I love walking on the ground, and I don't need levitation at all... "Now that Vlad has demonstrated that it's safe, does anyone want to fly like that?" This time, there were much fewer ponies willing to participate than in the trick with cards. Nevertheless, I invited a yellow mare with an orange mane, whose cutie mark was a bunch carrots, to the stage. After casting a spell on the carrot pony, Trixie asked her if she wanted to catch objects, or just fly. "Well, I think catching things in flight is more interesting. than just flying, so yeah, give me something!" said carrot pony in an excited voice. "As you wish!" said Trixie and looked at me. I raised an eyebrow in surprise, thinking that I would have to fly again. But Trixie cast a spell not on me, but on my cap, which then flew over my head, and the carrot pony chased after it. After catching it, she returned it to me. "Wow, that was fun! But I already want to go back on the ground, and I could use some help, I'm afraid it will be quite difficult to land on my hooves for me..." Pony said with an awkward smile. "No problem! Vlad, help this pony, please." The pony was flying pretty close to the ground, and I was able to grab her and lower her to the ground. Then Trixie cast off her spell and the pony went into the crowd. "And now, the grand finale of Trixie's performance! A cloning spell!" When I heard this, I was no longer surprised, and I realized what was about to happen. "Now I'm going to cast a cloning spell on Vlad!" said Trixie. I closed my eyes even before she turned to me, and for good reason. It felt like the flash from this spell was stronger. When I opened my eyes, I saw that my exact copy was standing right in front of me. (This day is getting more and more interesting...) "The clone has all the characteristics of the original, but multiplied by two! Look! Trixie said, and her horn began to glow slightly for a few seconds. After that, my clone, who had been standing motionless before, suddenly stretched out his arms, took me by the shoulders, and then lifted me over his head. It turned out that I was lying back down on the arms of my clone. "As you can see, it is not difficult for him. He never gets tired, however, there is still one minus... He disappears after about 5 or 10 minutes.... But Trixie will refine his abilities, and he will be even more powerful at the next performance!" Trixie announced. "And now, Trixie invites four stallions to the stage who want to test the clone's abilities!" In less than a minute, four stallions were already standing on the stage. "Now, the clone will lift these four stallions on his shoulders!" declared Trixie. Trixie gave the clone the command again, and only now he lowered me back onto the stage. Then, he approached the stallions, squatting down, picking them up like feathers, and placing them on his shoulders, two on each side. "He could have raised more, but unfortunately his time is running out." after these words, the clone gently lowered the stallions onto the stage, and slowly began to fade away, until he disappeared completely. (Wow, I felt like a gigachad...) The stallions left the stage, and Trixie announced that the performance was coming to an end. "The great and powerful Trixie, as well as her assistant, thanks you for your attention!" (It's finally over...) I started to leave the stage, but suddenly, the ponies watching the performance didn't let me do it, they surrounded me and started asking for autographs. "What? My autograph? Maybe you'd better ask Trixie?" I looked at the place where Trixie was standing, but she was also surrounded by her fans. Ponies began to give me notebooks, paper, books so that I would leave an autograph on them. I didn't count on it at all, but I had no choice. "Sign on my rump!" shouted the mare, who ran forward to me. "Huh??" I was surprised. "Is it too difficult for you? Scared?" the mare started provoking me. "So this is how it is? Well, come here!" I said confidently, taking one of my pens out of my pocket. It seemed to me that I had been signing autographs for at least half an hour, and sat down tired on the stage steps when everyone left. It was already pretty dark, I would even say it's already night. "Popularity found you, big guy?" Dash flew up to me and sat down next to me. "Yeah... Against my will..." I said with such fatigue, as if I had run a marathon. And then I remembered that I wanted to go to Pinkie Pie. "Dash, is the bakery where Pinkie works still open?" "Of course not! They closed probably an hour ago!" Dash said, looking at me with a laugh. "Okay... I'll come to it another time... I need to get back to Twilight." I said, getting up from the steps. "Yes, it's time for me to go home too. Take care of yourself, and don't let Twilight infect you!" Dash said, and we exchanged brohoofs. Dash flew off, hiding behind the clouds. "How are you, assistant? Trixie is immensely grateful for your help!" said Trixie, coming up to me. "A little tired... But in general, everything is fine." "Trixie never leaves the efforts of others without paying! Here you go!" said Trixie, giving me a bag of coins. "Oh, thank you... I didn't think I'd get paid." "Trixie needs to prepare for tomorrow's performance. Come again if you want." Trixie said and walked towards her trailer. (I doubt I'll be here again tomorrow) Tired, and a little upset that I couldn't go to Pinkie, I went back to Twilight's house. As I approached the house, I noticed that the lights were still on in the windows. (Great, she's not sleeping yet. Otherwise, I thought I'd have to knock on the door and wake her up...) As I got closer, I heard someone talking in the house. Approaching the window, I saw that it was Twilight, and next to her was Celestia. (What is she doing here?) I stood against the wall near the window and listened to their conversation. "Don't tell him about it yet, we'll try to resolve the situation, okay?" Said Celestia. "But Princess, are you sure? Maybe it's not worth hiding it after all? Won't it just get worse?" asked Twilight. "I'm sure, Twilight, so far it's just..." Celestia was interrupted because I accidentally touched some kind of iron thing near the wall. "Did you hear that? Is there someone here?" Celestia was wary. A chill ran down my spine. I definitely shouldn't show myself now, at least because it's not polite to eavesdrop. "I don't know, I'll check it out now..." Twilight said. I quickly moved behind the part of the tree behind which I could not be seen. The next second, I heard the sound of the window opening, and then the door. "There's no one." Twilight reported to the princess. "Okay, it doesn't matter. Just don't say a word about it, okay? It's important." "Okay, Princess, I won't tell him anything." "Great. I have to go, good night, Twilight." said Celestia, and the next second there was a sound identical to the one I heard when Celestia teleported me with her to the castle kitchen. (She's gone... Phew...) (What are the secrets again? Something about Applejack again? Something that I'll only find out again when I meet her?) In order not to arouse suspicion, I waited for about ten minutes, and then went into the house, fortunately, the door was open. Twilight was sitting on the couch. "Oh, you're finally back! How does fame taste to you?" Twilight asked with a smile. (What? How is she?...) "Do you already know everything?..." I asked in surprise. "News travels very fast in Equestria, sometimes even too fast." Twilight said, getting up from the couch. "You tired, I guess? I put a blanket and a pillow on the nightstand next to the sofa." Twilight pointed with her hoof at the sleeping accessories. "The Princess hasn't answered your letter yet... Apparently busy with something important." "Okay, thanks."I thanked Twilight. "I'm going to bed now too. The bathroom is over there, if you need it. Good night." Twilight said, and went to the second floor. I undressed, put my clothes on the nightstand and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. During this, I couldn't stop thinking about Twilight and Celestia's conversation, trying to guess what they were talking about. (I feel like a victim of a conspiracy...) Having finished with the night hygiene, I put a pillow and a blanket on the couch, and then lay down myself. (Okay, I'm too tired to think about this conversation any further... I need sleep... Lots of sleep...) Without noticing it, I fell into a blissful sleep.