//------------------------------// // Discovering Ponyville (Edited 3/5/16) // Story: The Prince of the Night // by keaton-furman-prower //------------------------------// Twilight, Lucian, and Rainbow were enjoying some cupcakes at Sugarcube Corner. After watching Rainbow Dash's impressive flying skills, the three ponies had headed off to eat. They had eaten lunch at a nearby restaurant, and then, at Rainbow's suggestion, had gone to Sugarcube corner for dessert. Lucian had been apprehensive about going there, as he was very much unwilling to see Pinkie Pie again, but Rainbow had assured him that he had nothing to fear, as Pinkie had apparently locked herself in her room to plan somepony’s party. “Who is the party for?” asked Twilight, a slight hint of apprehension notable in her voice. “I don’t know,” said Rainbow. “I do know that she’s really excited about it.” “Well, as long as she's not causing trouble, I'm fine,” said Lucian. “Although, I have to admit, her cupcakes are really good!” “They sure are!” said Rainbow. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go take care of some clouds. It was nice meeting you though, Lucian!” Before Lucian could respond, there was a flash of rainbow colors and Rainbow had disappeared. He blinked in surprise, as she looked towards his guide to Ponyville. “That's Rainbow for you,” said Twilight. “She’s always going off in a hurry.” “Oh, dear me, you look absolutely fabulous now!” Of all of Twilight's friends, Rarity was the one Lucian was least familiar with. For some reason or another, she had been absent from the Nightmare Night festival, and she hadn’t exactly been keen to speak to her as Nightmare Moon. This was not to say that Lucian was completely unfamiliar with her, however; he knew that he was a skilled fashion designer, as well as the fact that she had designed dresses for herself and her friends for both the Grand Galloping Gala and the royal wedding. Her skill and creativity were known all across Equestria, as was the fact that she had attempted to court Prince Blueblood, only to discover that he was a colossal jerk. In addition, due to her being the holder of the Element of Generosity, she was always willing to use her talents for the benefit of a friend in need. Sometimes, a little too willing. “Do I honestly look like I need anything more than my hoodie?!” Upon entering the Carousel boutique, Twilight had introduced Lucian to Rarity as she had with her other friends. Things had been going quite normally until the white unicorn noticed Lucian's outfit. She had been so utterly fascinated by it that she had forgotten almost everything else. Apparently, she had been trying to come up with some ideas for casual fall wear and had been running out of ideas when the two ponies stepped into her boutique. Lucian had been standing perfectly still for several minutes now, and he was now wearing a pair of athletic green shorts, a ridiculously long scarf with a variety of colors, a black saddlebag with a logo resembling Rarity’s cutie mark (Rarity had apparently believed the one Lucian was carrying was “too tacky”), and a fez. While Lucian didn’t mind the fez, he felt the rest was a bit excessive. “Well, a lot of you Canterlot ponies wear plenty of clothes, although I suppose that even you ponies don't wear as much as I've put onto you right now, Lucian dear. Still, I think maybe you should add a little, well, something to that little hoodie of yours.” “Seriously?” asked Lucian. “What's wrong with my hoodie?” “Well, nothing's wrong with it, per se. It merely looks a bit too plain for a pony like you.” “Well, you know what they say,” said Twilight. “Simple is the best.” “I couldn't agree more,” said Lucian as he removed the clothes Rarity had added onto him. “I appreciate your attempt to add to my wardrobe, Rarity, but I believe I am satisfied with my hoodie.” “Yes, I see,” Rarity said sadly. “I suppose I might have gotten carried away trying to come up with a new- idea!” Before either Lucian or Twilight could complain, Rarity had taken out a large roll or measuring tape and was measuring out the disguised prince's hoodie. “Hoodies!” she exclaimed. “Why did I not think about this before?! Even when I first noticed it, I completely failed to realize just how it screams 'casual!' Oh yes! This is absolutely perfect! I'll make an entire line of hoodies based on yours, Oh Lucian, how can I ever thank you for your precious inspiration?!” Lucian could only sigh. “So, we've met three of your friends - four if we count Pinkie Pie - which I think we probably shouldn't,” said Lucian as they walked out of Ponyville. “Who's next?” “Well, I think this would be a great time to meet Fluttershy,” answered Twilight. Lucian raised an eyebrow. His last meeting with the timid pegasus had not quite been everything he wished it could have been. She had freaked out upon seeing Luna, believing her to still be Nightmare Moon, despite having witnessed the 'nightmare' part being stripped away when she became the bearer of the element of kindness. In spite of her fear, however, she had remained true to her element, and had helped the lunar alicorn learn to speak with a more quiet tone, albeit somewhat reluctantly. Lucian still didn't consider it to have been long enough to really learn much about her, however, but from what he had seen, he wasn't sure that Fluttershy would want to learn much about him. “Are you sure that's a good idea?” he asked. “She doesn’t seem like the kind of pony who’d get excited about meeting new ponies.” “I know she's not exactly the most assertive pony in the world,” said Twilight, before muttering “most of the time, at least.” “What was that?” “Nothing,” Twilight said quickly, giving Lucian an awkward smile in the process. “But what I'm trying to say is that Fluttershy is very kind and friendly, and once you get her to come out of her shell, she'll be one of the most dependable ponies you'd ever know.” “I hope you're right,” said Lucian. “I still haven't forgotten what happened last time.” “Yeah, me neither.” The two ponies were now in front of the cottage, and so Twilight knocked on the door. They waited for a few minutes before the door slowly began to open, revealing an apprehensive yellow mare. “Um, hello?” she said. “Twilight? What are you doing here?” “Hello, Fluttershy! I have a friend here who would like to meet you!” Fluttershy poked her head out to take a look at Lucian. He smiled at her, hoping that she would be more approachable than she had been on Nightmare Night. “I, um, am glad to meet you,” she said finally. “Yeah, I'm glad to see you as well,” said Lucian. At least she seemed to be somewhat less nervous. “You can call me Lucian, by the way.” “Okay, that's nice,” she said, a small smile forming on her lips. She then quickly added, “Would you, uh, like to meet my animals?” Lucian looked towards Twilight. She smiled and nodded. He looked at the shy pegasus and nodded. “Okay! Angel, can you get the others to come out?” Fluttershy held the door open for the two visiting ponies to enter, while Lucian observed the interior. The many small houses within undoubtedly contained a variety of creatures, which helped to arouse his curiosity. What kinds of animals were in these houses? Squirrels, birds, chipmunks, rabbits- Lucian's eye began to twitch. Standing right in front of him was a small white rabbit. A Discord-spawned rabbit. Just like the one that had caused all his current misfortunes. “Oh, Lucian, I'd like you to meet Angel,” said Fluttershy. “He's one of my best friends, and he would like to welcome you to Ponyville.” She had named it Angel. Of all the names she could have chosen, she chose the most ironic name of all. This, of course, did not change the fact that it was glaring at him, as if to say 'I don't like you,' which was fine with him, as he did not like the little demon either. “Look, Lucian,” Twilight said quietly as Fluttershy made her way towards the door. “I know you don't like rabbits, but please be nice to Angel. Fluttershy really cares for him, and if anything happened to him, she'd be heartbroken.” “Relax,” said Lucian. “I'm more worried about what might happen to me.” From that moment on, most of the day passed without much incident. Lucian watched as Fluttershy fed the animals, cleaned up their messes, trained her songbirds, and helped them when there were disputes. Between the peace and quiet, fresh air, and friendly animals, he was greatly enjoying himself. There was one thing that bothered him about the business of animal care, however. Everywhere they went, there were dozens of rabbits waiting for them. To be fair, they were generally quite friendly, but Lucian still couldn’t help but think back to the unfortunate circumstances of his transformation. “Um, Lucian?” said Fluttershy. “Are you all right?” “Huh?” said Lucian. “Oh, yeah, I'm fine! Perfectly fine...” Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. “Are you really, really sure?” she asked. “You look kind of nervous. Is all this too stressful for you?” “What? No, of course not! There's nothing wrong around-” Before Lucian could finish, he felt something furry land on his back. In his surprise, he turned his head backwards and saw a certain white rabbit glaring at him. Twilight, who had been observing a pair of ducks on the other side of the cottage, could only groan as she watched Lucian scream and shoot random blasts of magic into the sky. After the shock of having to calm Lucian down, Twilight decided to call it a day. She had led him away from the cottage, while Fluttershy had decided to tag along, partly to apologize, but also to ensure that no rabbits would bother her new friend on his trip home. “I'm so sorry Lucian!” said Fluttershy. “If I had known that you were scared of bunnies, I would have-” “It wasn't your fault, Fluttershy,” said Lucian. “I should have told you about it before we, well...” “Oh, but if I had trained Angel to be a better bunny, maybe this wouldn’t have happened!” “Please guys,” said Twilight. “We don't need to discuss this anymore. Let's just agree that nopony was really responsible for this.” The three of them sighed as they reached the Golden Oaks library. Lucian in particular gave a long sigh then pressed his hoof against his face. The first few meetings had gone very well, and even the meeting with Rarity had not been entirely bad, as she had been so grateful for the inspiration she had received from the disguised alicorn that she had given him a jar of zap apple jam to accompany the one Lucian had received from the apple family. Visiting Fluttershy, on the other hand, had been fine until the moment the little white demon known as Angel had attacked him. He wished he hadn't freaked out at the cottage. Perhaps then his visit would not have been such a disaster. “Well, I enjoyed spending time with you, Fluttershy. “I hope we can get to know each other better someday, as long as there aren't any more rabbits.” …Only to be pushed back by an intense wall of noise. “What the hay was that?!” “Oh hey! It's the new guy I was telling you all about!” Before Lucian could respond, he was gathered up by a pair of pink hooves and pulled into the library. Twilight gasped as she got to her hooves. She hadn't even seen the hooves which had pulled Lucian inside, but she could already tell who was responsible. “Of course Rainbow meant this party.” She shrugged and trotted inside, taking a look at the interior and the changes that had taken place. There was now a large disco ball hanging from the ceiling, as well as a few tables set up with various sorts of snacks. In addition, there was a large DJ station where a white unicorn with a blue mane was playing music, and the floor was covered with dancing ponies, as well as a single alicorn who was currently masquerading as a unicorn and surrounded by a variety of other ponies who were listening intently as Pinkie talked nonstop about how he had met him. “...So then I began to sing my welcome song, but I put the confetti in the oven and the cake mix in the confetti blower again! So he got all covered with cake batter!” The other ponies laughed while Lucian growled. Twilight pressed her hoof against her face and began to push through the crowd. “Ah! Twilight! There you are! I was wondering where you might have been!” Twilight turned in surprise to see the Doctor and Derpy, the latter of which was currently dancing energetically with the music, the former more interested in observing the ponies around him. “Doctor? What are you doing here?” Twilight asked loudly, hoping the doctor would be able to hear her over the loud music. “Oh, Pinkie told us she was going to throw a party to welcome your friend to Ponyville, so we came to see how it turned out!” said the Doctor. “Seriously?! A party here?! This is a library!” “I know! I was worried Pinkie might have somepony read an encyclopedia or something, but she’s done a fantastic job here! You wouldn't believe how much fun we had when I opened that crate full of bananas! Always bring a banana or two to a party, Twilight! Bananas are good!” “That's not what I meant!” yelled Twilight. “We just want to rest after a long day, and this party has completely ruined that plan!” “Well, we all want to get to know Lucian better, so we've come here to do so!” “Couldn't you wait until tomorrow?!” “Come on, Twilight! It's awesome!” The confounded purple unicorn turned her head to see Rainbow Dash and Spike dancing next to Derpy, drawing the attention of several other partying ponies. She face-hoofed again. “Et tu, Spicus?” “I have no idea what you just said,” said Spike. “But this is fun! Come over and dance!” “Since when does Spike think of you as his mother?” asked the Doctor. “Pinkie!” “Was it like this when you came to Ponyville, Twilight?” Twilight looked out her bedroom window towards sugarcube corner. After a fierce argument with Pinkie, she had somehow managed to remove every party-related item from the library and moved it to her own home. The party was now continuing even though the guest of honor had chosen to stay behind. “Yeah, pretty much,” she said. “I didn't get along so well with the other ponies, though. You were lucky since you actually got to know them better and make friends.” “Hey, I wasn’t that lucky,” said Lucian. “You introduced me to your friends, so I could get to make friends with them. You deserve as much credit as anypony, Twilight.” Twilight blushed and smiled at the compliment. Before she could say anything else, however, Spike walked into the room with a lampshade on his head. “Twilight! You really need to go to sugarcube corner before the cake and punch run out!” “In case you haven't noticed,” said Twilight, “we're not exactly in the mood for partying. And if the library isn’t clean tomorrow, you won’t be either, buster!” Spike yelped at Twilight’s threat, and then run down the stairs to make sure the library was clean. As he ran off, Lucian looked at Twilight in mild amusement. “You know, for someone who’s basically your son, you sure like to give Spike a lot of work.” “He can do it a lot better than me,” said Twilight. “Yeah, because Celestia’s star pupil can’t do anything on her own.” “Okay, maybe not that much better than me. But Spike’s got a lot more free time than me. What else can I do?” “Maybe send him to school?” Both ponies jumped in surprise at the sudden appearance of the voice behind them, and then noticed the gray pegasus staring at them both. “Are you sure you don’t want to come? We're having a great time!” Derpy said cheerfully. “Thanks, but we’re really not in the mood for a party,” said Twilight. “You guys have a rough day?” she said. “You could say so,” said Twilight with a sigh. “It wasn't that bad,” said Lucian. “At least, until that little furball from Tartarus which calls itself angel attacked me.” “You mean the rabbit that belongs to Fluttershy?” “You know about it?” asked Lucian. “Of course!” said Derpy. “To be honest, I’ve never really understood how she puts up with that little pest. I’m certain he’d make a great snack for a timberwolf.” Despite the exhausting day he had just gone through, Lucian couldn’t help but giggle.