Walking into Ponyville once again I couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic. I realized that I didn't exactly make the best impression possible... no scratch that... I made the worst impression possible. Here's to hoping none of the townsfolk heard me shout in the face of one of their rulers. Hint the word hoping...
And as we walked into town my fears were confirmed. Upon seeing me most of the ponies either gave me a glare that just screamed loathing or did everything in their power to avoid me at all costs. 'Great, I'll probably be living here for a while and the fact that everyone except Twilight and Co. absolutely despises me isn't helping'
I glanced back at the only six ponies in the entire town who weren't hostile towards me and saw them exchanging nervous glances. As we walked through the town towards the library, I heard ponies muttering under their breath. I caught a 'Jerk' here and a 'Should be stuck in a dungeon' there and it took all of my will to keep pressing forward.
It was extremely similar to one of those Wild West movies where the criminal is doing the walk of death down the street towards the gallows. Thank god ponies don't host public executions... at least I think they don't. What happened next was not only unexpected but may have just saved my ass.
I suddenly found myself face to face with a young pony who couldn't be older than eight. The foal was a yellowish color with a reddish mane with a pink bow. "Why'd ya do it mister? Why'd you yell at the princesses?" I heard her say in the same southern accent that Applejack had.
'Maybe a relative? I might as well be honest with her. Nothing good ever came from lying to children.'
I looked around to see most of the town staring at me awaiting my answer. I swallowed my fears and cleared my throat to speak. "Well you see... I've been having some of the most miserable days of my life and your princesses inadvertently caused me more agony than I was already in. I regretfully became overwhelmed with anger. I don't hate your rulers they just happened to be in the wrong place when I desperately needed to let out steam. I'm incredibly sorry if I scared you or anyone else," I said in the most sincere, apologetic voice I could muster.
The filly looked up at me as if trying to determine the credibility of my explanation. When I passed her 'lie detector' she gave a firm nod and opened her mouth to speak again. "It's alright mister, I accept your apology. Everypony lets anger get the best of 'em at least once," she said with a sincere smile.
This seemed to ease the crowd and instead of sinister glares, they began to give me looks of sympathy. I could see a large portion didn't quite seem completely at ease, but at least they knew I wasn't just going around verbally abusing their leaders.
'What a smart kid. Kids back home are brainwashed by the garbage cartoons they put on channels like Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. Good to see parents raising their kids right around here.'
With a bit more of a pep in my step, I continued my way towards the library. I even gave a few awkward 'Hello's to passing ponies. Thank god folks around here are so forgiving. It's a miracle that I wasn't chased out of town by an angry mob.
"So Applejack, you wouldn't happen to be related to that filly would you?" I asked.
"Yep, she's mah little sister Applebloom," Applejack said with a hint of pride.
"Great kid. Wish kids from where I'm from were as smart as her."
"You know," Rainbow Dash started, "You never really told us where exactly your from."
"I'm from the city of Denver, Colorado in the country of The United States of America. I was born in the country of Russia though." I said.
"What's it like there?" Twilight asked with intrigue.
"You don't want to know..."
"Huh?! Why not?!" Twilight asked with a confused look on her face.
"Trust me, you don't want to know..." I said sadly.
"Well... If its your opinion that you don 't wish to tell us we won't press it further, but is it really THAT bad?"
"Some of the things my race has done are more horrible then you could ever imagine. You're better off not knowing," I stated firmly.
"Oh, OK..." Twilight said with an apologetic look.
"Although, I may be willing to describe it to your leaders should they ask. Considering they seem to know a lot more about my predicament than anyone else it's only fair I provide them with details. But that's a IF and WHEN situation."
"Speaking of the princesses, I must send them a letter at once informing your return. They'll be glad we found you," Twilight said.
"Really? 'Cause if I was them, I wouldn't want to ever see me again. Especially Luna." I said remorsefully.
"Oh please, the princess are very forgiving and I'm sure that if you provide an apology they'll both be willing to put aside the incident earlier," Twilight said confidently.
"Really? Great! I'd hate for someo... pony hold a grudge against me especially not the princesses," I said trying my hardest to adapt to their manner of speaking. Couldn't hurt as I would likely be here a long time.
I looked up to see that we had arrived at the library. I didn't even notice considering how engrossed I was into the conversation. "Spike! Send a letter to the princess informing them that we found Vlad and he's returned with us to Ponyville!" Twilight called.
"Huh, What...? Sure thing Twilight!" Spike called back.
A few moments he appeared on the small balcony at the top of the stairs with a scroll in his claw. He blew it with flames and off it went just like last time. "It's on its way!" Spike exclaimed.
"Thanks, Spike. You can go back to napping now. Sorry for disturbing your rest," Twilight said.
"No prob Twi! See ya!" Spike said walking back into the upstairs hallway and out of sight.
"While we're waiting why don't we discuss living arrangements," Twilight said.
"Sure why not," I replied.
"I'd let ya crash at my place but you can't fly yet so that's out of the question," Rainbow Dash said.
"Ah'm sure we could accommodate him on the farm as long as he does his fair share of chores," Applejack said.
"Well I'm not normally one for physical labor but I'd be happy to give it a try. Thanks Applejack," I said with a small appreciative smile.
"Think nothin' of it sugarcube, Ah'm always willing to help a friend in need," Applejack replied. "I'll take ya on over to Sweet Apple Acres when we're done meetin' with the princesses."
"Alright. Speaking of princesses, shouldn't they be here by now?" I said.
"Why we're already here," I heard a soft voice said behind me.
I whirled around to see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna standing behind me, the former with an amused smirk on her face. "Oh, hello your highnesses, I didn't hear you come in," I said.
"We often times arrive rather discretely as not to alert any of our ponies that we are present. Being treated like royalty constantly can be rather exhausting," Celestia explained.
"Oh... Anyway, I'd like to apologize for my behavior earlier. I regretfully let my emotions get the best me." I said looking up at the two rulers.
"Tis already forgiven my little pony," Celestia said warmly, "I know that you were just letting out steam."
"I forgive thee as well. Despite being verbally assaulted, we are willing to put it past us," Luna said.
"Thanks princesses. I know I'm not the most... cooperative per... uh pony at times." I said with a small grin.
"Reminds me of a little sister of mine," Celestia said with a chuckle while Luna glared at her.
I laughed nervously back until Celestia cleared her throat. "Have you discussed living arrangements yet?" she asked
"Um, yeah. I'm staying with Applejack on her farm for the time being," I explained.
"Excellent, that should do nicely for the time being. I will look into arranging some more permanent accommodations for you in the near future. Now, about those newly acquired wings of yours..." Celestia said with a smile grin.
"Yeah? What about em?" I asked.
"I'm assuming you would like to be able to use them at some point," Celestia replied.
"Yeah I guess. Might as well!" I said enthusiastically.
"Rainbow Dash? Would you mind spending a small portion of your daily routine to help Vlad here get airborne?" Celestia asked.
"Sure why not. It'll be nice to have another flyin' buddy," Rainbow Dash replied, "Meet in town square around 4:00 p.m. and well get you in the sky in ten seconds flat!"
"Uh thanks Rainbow, I'll be there." I replied.
"No prob! Can't leave my new friend hangin' can I?" Rainbow asked pridefully.
"Uh, I guess not, thanks again," I replied again.
"Then we best be off then, take care ladies, Vlad," Celestia stated.
We said our goodbyes and the princesses disappeared in another flash of white light. 'That went better than expected.' I thought to myself.
All of a sudden pain racked my body like a freight train and I fell unconscious twitching on the ground...
I opened my eyes and saw I was in a pitch black room. I looked around frantically trying to determine what was going on. I lay eyes on seemingly to only thing in this black void. A telephone lying on top of a small coffee table.
Curious, I walked through the void over to the phone. I got around five feet away when the telephone began ringing. I picked it up and muttered an uneasy 'Hello'.
"Good day Mr. Korzhakov," an ominous voice replied back.
"Who's this?" I asked.
"That, I'm afraid is something I cannot tell you. I brought you here to inform you that my associates have taken quite an interest in you," the voice replied back.
"And why would that be?" I asked.
"We know your origins and your story. We intend to put your full potential to use rather than letting you waste it as you currently are."
"That's not foreboding at all," I snarked.
"It matters not what you think. We will have what only you can give us and any attempts to stop us are futile. I must go, my associates require my presence. We will come for you Mr Korzhakov. And when we do you will be none the wiser..."
And just like that my world turned bright and I once again lost consciousness.
"...ad! Wa... up! C... on Vlad!" I heard a voice say.
I shot awake breathing heavily. I looked around to see the six mares all crowded around me with mixed expressions of worry on their faces.
"Vlad! Thank Celestia you're alright!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Ugh what happened?" I groaned.
"You just... passed out. No warning or anything!" Twilight said.
"Ugh. I remember some voice in a black void telling me something but not much else."
"Did this 'voice' say what it wanted?" Twilight asked with a confused frown.
"Something about my origins," I replied. "It was probably just my crazy imagination. As for why I passed out, the most logical explanation would be simply exhaustion"
"Well we're just glad you're alright. You gave us quite a scare," Twilight said.
"Heh. Sorry bout that." I said with a guilty expression.
"Well you should probably play it safe and rest on the couch for a bit. Don't want you passing out again," Twilight replied.
"Probably a good idea. I love passing out just as much as the next guy but I'd rather not risk it," I said insinuating a small chuckle from the mares.
I walked over to the couch and lied down. It was fairly comfy, especially compared to my couch at home. I was asleep within minutes. What a day it had been with more to follow...
Twilight and the other Elements left the library to leave Vlad in peace. Once they were all outside and the door had closed behind them Twilight spoke up. "Girls I'm a bit concerned about Vlad. Even if he was just exhausted passing out like that is not normal. And his description of that dream was so... strange. I'm afraid he may have some sort of mental trauma of some sort."
"Aww come on Twi. Don't be such a worry wart. The dude was just tired," Rainbow scoffed.
"The poor darling was out in the forest all night, he likely didn't sleep. I know I wouldn't," Rarity said with a shudder.
"Ah'm sure he's fine sugarcube. Just need his rest that's all," Applejack said reassuringly.
"I guess you're right... But if this happens again I'm definitely going to look into it," Twilight replied.
"Fair enough. Just don't let it worry ya none until then alright?"
"You're right. Thanks Applejack," Twilight stated with a small smile.
"No prob sugarcube now c'mon. Pinkie is gonna whip us up some of her cupcakes ain't that right Pinkie?"
"You betchya! Nothing cheers you up like a delicious cupcake!" Pinkie exclaimed.
The six best friends set off towards Sugarcube Corner smiling and laughing along the way. It had mostly been a good day with a few bumps in the road. Nothing these six couldn't handle though.
Little did they know what they were getting themselves into...