//------------------------------// // 29 - This is Ponyville // Story: Just a day in Equestria // by dave89898989 //------------------------------// I opened my eyes, and I was back in Ponyville again. Except, a lot of it was different. The buildings were made of different materials, and the ponies were more dressed up, with their hair put up in strange, unfashionable ways. I heard a lot more music that came from some scattered houses, which made a change from the usual atmosphere. I looked around, and noticed a little stand placed adequately next to the town hall, where I was near to when I awoke for some reason. On that stand was a newspaper showing the date of 1982, five years before I was born back on Earth. The time travel thing must have worked then, but it hadn’t taken me far enough which was expected. The main source of the music came from the town hall, so I took a peek inside. It looked like a disco, with a glitterball, colour changing dancefloor, the works. A real party was going on, and everypony seemed to be there, dancing rapidly and frantically to a synth pop number. Pinkie Pie would be proud... “Hey! What are you doing here?” A dark pink mare called out to me, even though she was right in front of me. The music was almost shaking up the ground as it was so loud and vibrant. “Uh, I’m just...visiting?” I nervously answered her. “Figures, as you don’t look local!” She pointed to my mane and how it was styled. This was the eighties, not the nineties. “Sorry, it’s so loud in here, shall we step outside for a while?” We then made our way outside of the town hall, until we were far enough to talk at a normal volume. “So uh, mysterious pony from somewhere else, what’s shakin’?” The punk-looking mare asked, with a very slight speech impediment caused by her braces. “You’re name is Cheerilee, is it not?” “It definitely is last time I checked, but how do you know that?” “So that’s what she used to look like...” “Speak up!” “Oh, yeah, I apologise. My name is Electric Blue, and I’d just want to find out what you do in this town, as it looks like a nice place to be.” I was now totally improvising, as I wasn’t prepared to do this in any way. “Well, in Ponyville, we like to dress the part, and you seriously don’t look it! Come with me, I’ll take you back to mine and give you a make-over.” “Uh...okay then, sure.” I had no choice now. I also just had my mane styled recently, but I’m certain this style won’t live for much longer. I thought about my modern-day encounter with Cheerilee, and how she said that we were good friends. This travel will probably get my memory fully working again, as this part is the only thing I can’t recall. Come to think of it, I could only remember the times I had with Destiny present, but none else. We crossed the Ponyville streets, local flags strung along houses, with confetti littering the cobble paths. What kind of celebration was this for? That explains the loud music and dancing ponies, in a way. “Cheerilee, what’s up with the party atmosphere?” I asked the retro-pony. “Haven’t you heard? We won the hoofball world cup!” She shouted, and some other ponies passing us cheered in acknowledgement. “Ponyville? Huh, that’s pretty awesome then,” I replied, happy that this place won the game. I wasn’t really for sports, but it was good to know that hoofball was one of our achievements back then. “I know, right? That’s why we’re all partying until Celestia brings back the sun!” We got to my companion’s house, and Cheerilee sat me down in front of a mirror-clad dressing table. Instantly she was messing up my mane to remove the spikes and poofy form. Most of my fringe was pushed to the right, and the rest of my hair was teased downwards until it looked mostly curly and wavy. The same was done to my tail. A bottle was sprayed over my hair in order to keep it all in place. “Here, put these on as well so you don’t look so bare.” Cheerilee adorned my ears and neck with pretty jewelry, gave me some sort of belt to wear, and a bunch of leg warmers. It really was a strange fashion, but I had to go with it. “There, you look much more fitting now!” “Brilliant! Now, what are we going to do now?” “Let’s go back to the town hall and rock out together!” “Wait a sec, Cheerilee. You don’t even know me, so why are you being this friendly to me?” I questioned her actions. “Well, I’ve just...I’ve always wanted to make ponies happy. See, that’s where my cutie mark comes from,” she explained as she showed me the three smiling flowers on her flank. “I see. But you shouldn’t just be automatically friendly to strangers, as it could end you up in a bad situation. Do you understand?” “Yes I...understand, Electric Blue.” She reeled slightly from my stern reply. “Please, call me Blue for short. I’m not a bad pony, but you never know who could be out there. Now, shall we go?” I smiled sadly at her. I told her what I could never tell myself. If Destiny hadn’t been there to stop me, I would have gone off with that tall, suit wearing stallion all those years ago. It happened twice, because I didn’t listen to what I should have done. Destiny kept me on track though, and I can’t owe her more than my greatest amount of friendship. “Sure, let’s go, Blue.” She had the look of concern for a moment, but I escorted her out of the door, shutting it behind me. “So what else do you have to teach me?” “I...what do you want to know about?” I looked at her confusedly as we trotted across the stone path. “Well, you look like you have a lot of knowledge, so you gotta tell me something that I should know!” Cheerilee looked back at me with a radiant grin. “Uh, how about this - you’ll need to be able to read your friends like a book. If you know everything about them, then you can excel in your friendship. How many friends do you have?” The pre-teacher pony paused nervously to think for a second. “About ten, twenty even! But we’re all friends here in Ponyville, right?” “Sure we are, but those you really choose to be friends are who count the most. You’re very lucky to have a large amount of friends.” We arrived at the town hall again, and the party inside was still in full swing. We entered the building, and headed straight to the dancefloor. “Whoa there Cheerilee! I don’t dance.” “Ha! You’re pulling my leg! Who doesn’t dance these days? Come on Blue, you’ve gotta get into this tune!” She pulled me in with the force of her enthusiasm, and moved my forelegs for me, as we stood upright together with the rest of the ponies here. I hadn’t danced a day in my life as far as I can remember, so I wasn’t too great with my motions. I improvised though, and tried to have fun while throwing my forelegs outward in random directions. I hadn’t been this energetic in a while, as I’ve stayed too serious for my own good. It felt great to actually enjoy myself for once though, and I could see that Cheerilee was feeling the same way. She laughed at me falling over a couple of times, and just generally being silly with my new found dance moves. The songs blasted into our ears, and I was loving every note of them. The new wave style was the night’s main choice of genre, but some pop and glam rock hits got in there too. Music was my one of favourite pastimes, and I hadn't heard a good tune in a while. There was one about young hearts being free and time being on their side, and one about somepony’s hair being beautiful on this night. “You havin’ fun yet?” Cheerilee shouted at me. “Of course I am! I haven’t had this much fun in ages! I’ve discovered a new side to myself!” I laughed heartily and carried on jiving. It was true, I hadn’t felt this alive and free for a long while now. I was sweating quite a bit, but it didn’t bother me. The time was now getting to be early in the morning, so the celebrations of winning the hoofball cup were slowly, but hesitantly ending. I staggered from the dancefloor to the improvised bar, exhausted, and asked for a fine cocktail drink. And then another. And another. I wanted the euphoria to last, and what better way to get intoxicated? “Ha! Well if it isn’t Gloomilee!” A patronising voice came from behind my view. I turned around, trying to stay in the same place, to see what was going on. Cheerilee was faced with a group of rough looking ponies wearing leather jackets. I had watched enough eighties movies back home to know that this was the stereotypical bully scene. “Oh...hi everypony...what do you want now?” The lilac filly replied. “Nothing, nothing...we just wanna know why you’re here, and what you’re smiling about.” The leading, clean-cut pre-mare talked down at her. “Uh...I just wanted to celebrate like everypony else, you know?” Cheerilee started to back up. “Did we even, like, allow you to do this?” Another annoying pony spoke out. I took another sip from my glass as I witnessed this; too drunk to move about. “I’m sorry girls, but I have the right to do this, as we all do.” She firmly replied with a forced smile. “We didn’t say you could do anything, runt!” The leader grabbed Cheerilee violently. “Whoa whoa, we can work something out here! Blue, help me!” She called out in my direction. “I-I-I’m coming...” I slumped down from the barstool, and stumbled my way to the group. “Y...You jusht le’ go of her, now!” My voice changed into a menacing tone, even if I wasn’t properly conscious. “Really? And what makes us, like, listen to you?” Yet another annoying, shallow looking filly back-talked me. “I’m...I’m her friend, and I’m not gonna let you harm her!” “Um...you’re drunk. You’re a pushover!” The leader put down Cheerilee and knocked me over. “See what I mean?” The rest of the group giggled at my stupor. I struggled to get up. “Hey...don’ do that again, you hear me?” I was pushed down again. “You really wanna fight for that sap? You can’t even handle yourself!” The back pony of the group came forward. She was quite a bulky pony; quite intimidating to me. “Girls...we don’t have to come to fighting now, do we?” Cheerilee piped up. “Oh yesh, we sh-should have a brawl, it’sh good for your reputation ishn’t it? Shtupid poniesh...” I laughed and hiccupped. I received a hoof straight to the face. I didn’t feel a thing, luckily. I got to my hooves, and ran at the attacker, forehoof raised and ready to retaliate. I felt like I could do anything, so I would surely win this fight. A brutal battering to the bulky filly’s face caused her to tumble out of the way, for just a second. The smooth leader pushed me away, and I took a smash to the back. The ponies outside of the dancefloor just stood and stared in horror. I recovered quickly from my collapsing, and bucked the strong pony as hard as I could, pushing her quite a distance from me. I thrashed the leader’s side when it was open, and managed to floor her easily. The two ponies left with the annoying voices just gave me a feeble smack each, but I put them down, full force. I had no idea where all this power came from, but I was surprised by it. The leader levelled me as she returned, throwing me against the nearby wall. She held me up, and pummelled my chest with a fierce amount of blows. I slid down to lay flat on the floor, keeping very still as I lost my ability to move. The sound of a knife being drawn was heard loud and clear. I didn’t feel it, but I saw the blade slicing my stomach multiple times, but only with small cuts. I had been in this situation before... “I’m...sorry...” I said weakly, sobering up quickly somehow. As I rapidly stopped the stabbing hoof, twisted it with such force that the pony above me slammed onto the floor, tearing up and shattering some of the floor boards. The knife was now in my hoof, but I dropped it quickly. I didn’t want to cause that much of a scene, even if it escalated into this so quickly. “Cheerilee, let’s...go...” I offered the terrified filly. She hesitantly followed me out of the town hall, leaving the injured group and the rest behind. “I apologise for that happening, Cheerilee...” “I...don’t know what to say...” She was still so shocked from the event, she wasn’t even walking right because of her trembling. “You don’t have to say anything. You needed my help, so I gave it to you. I know you probably won’t want to see my face anymore, so I’ll be going now.” I looked back at her as I trotted away, scared at even myself. “Wait a minute!” The shaky voice called to me. I turned to face Cheerilee, then walked towards her. “You fought back those bullies for me, and I should be grateful. Thank you, Blue.” I nodded to her, then walked away again. “Do you have a place to stay?” She asked me, stopping me in my tracks for another time. “No, I don’t...” I answered, facing away from her. “You can come to mine again, if you want...” she encouraged me. “Okay, but aren’t you nervous about me?” I faced Cheerilee this time. “A little, but you did what had to be done, right?” I caught up to her, and we returned to the house. A couple of ponies gave me some bitter stares, but I tried to shrug them off for now. Shutting the door to the world, I sat on the sofa, and Cheerilee brought some bandages to wrap up my cut up belly. “You can sleep here for a while, is that alright?” The jagged-haired pony told me. I winced as the bandages were tightened around me. “S-sure, that’s fine by me, miss.” “What was that?” “That’s fine, I said. Thank you.” I cleared my throat, narrowly avoiding that slip-up. “Uh...to be honest, I’ve been lying. I’m not really a good pony at all. I’m an extremely profane, violent pony who shouldn’t be existing for her terrible nature.” “Don’t be silly! You should exist, just like everypony should! Sure that nopony’s perfect, but they’ve all got a good heart, deep down inside...You’ve got a good heart, I know it.” Cheerilee put a hoof to my bruised face, avoiding the painful parts. “You’re too kind, Cheerilee, but it can’t be true. I’ve known myself to be a very self-centred, calculating filly, and I haven’t done enough to become true friends with anypony. I just can’t cut it with other ponies at all.” “Well, we’re friends, aren’t we?” She consoled me. “I...guess so...but how can you consider me as your friend?” I asked the hospitable pony. “You protected me, and taught me a couple of things. I can also read you like a book, because I know that you’re a serious filly, but you just want to have fun at heart. You also defend those you care about, which definitely means a lot to me,” she smiled at me as she identified me in that instant. “And speaking of friends, I’ve been lying too. I don’t have twenty friends at all. I just have one friend, and that’s you.” “Cheerilee...” My heart had a clenching feeling, but it was warm at the same time. “We have to get some rest now. I’ll just go get a blanket for you, okay?” “Sure, thanks Cheerilee,” I thankfully replied. I carefully put myself into the normal sleeping position, making sure the bandages wouldn’t move around. The blanket suddenly landed on me, and Cheerilee set it right, to make me comfortable. “Sleep well, Blue,” She whispered. “You too.” I closed my eyes and started to drift off. Later on in the day, I woke up to the greeting of a pounding headache. I thought I had sobered up long before sleeping... I got up to fetch a glass of water. Over the sink, I gulped down the painkiller affected water while looking out of the window at the bright daylight. Several ponies were sweeping up the remains of the celebratory evening, removing the flags pinned to the roofs, and clearing the confetti as well as whatever else litter was strewn about the ground. The door to the left of me was wide open, so I ventured outside. A huge garden welcomed me, with Cheerilee tending to her magnificent plants. “These are some nice flowers you have here!” I called out. “They aren’t just flowers, they’re vegetables too. I have a big interest in gardening, so this is what I do in my spare time,” she responded, smiling at her many different and colourful arrangements. “So that explains your cutie mark then.” “I suppose it does, with the flowers and all. What are the smiling faces for though?” “You mentioned that you like to make ponies happy, so you’re cutie mark must be special, as it’s combined out of two talents.” “Do you really think so?” She chuckled to herself. “I have two special talents. Who’d have thought!” “So you should keep this in mind,” I began to explain. “If you like having your plants grow, you should do the same with your friends. You’ll enjoy the fact that you’re helping your bonds thrive and your development with your friends build into something beautiful. Believe me, you’re going to excel in your talents, and you’re going to be teaching your friends, or students even, in order for them to grow into successful ponies.” “What are you telling me all of this for?” She questioned me. I looked down, and my body started to become transparent. It was time for me to leave to go back to the future. “I have to go now, as I need to be somewhere else, maybe if we meet for the third time, I’ll explain where I’m going and who I really am. But for now, goodbye.” “Third time? Uh, good bye then Blue! See you later, friend!” “Please, try to make more friends, it’ll do you good. It’s your purpose, so remember that. In some ways, it’s the meaning of life.” After that sentence, I was gone. I’ve just made somepony’s future pre-determined. I don’t know why I did that, but I wanted to make sure that she wouldn’t stray from the path she was meant to go on. I had also made a true friend. Apart from the exception of Destiny, I now have an actual friend to keep. Things were getting better.