//------------------------------// // Welcome to Ponyville // Story: Just Another Average Tuesday // by Flamesinger599 //------------------------------// A/N: Hello again fellow bronies! If this seems rather like a filler chapter, it's because it is. However, it is a necessary one to advance to story. Also, I will be gone all next week on vacation, so don't expect an update. However I will continue to write, and I will try to get a chapter up in the days when I get back. Enjoy! On the way off the mountain, I learned several things about Spike: He's lived among the ponies all his life, he is the number one (and only) assistant to a pony he calls Twilight Sparkle (HAH!), and when he's excited, he loves to talk. He gloated over how awesome I had been in my fight with the bullies (which I wholeheartedly agreed with), he questioned me as to who my 'unusual traveling companion' was (I responded nonchalantly 'a manticore'. I don't think he took me seriously), and he pestered me to tell him what my plan was for getting into Ponyville (apparently Spike hates the answer 'it's a secret'). Note to self: teach the kid how to shut up. Luckily, I have perfected the art of ignoring people, so I was able to tune him out for most of my walk. A fact that he didn't seem to notice, because he kept right on talking. A few of the dragons congratulated me as I walked by, saying that it was about time someone took care of 'that noisy and pompous asshole'. I would respond with something like 'he was literally on his knees begging for it' or 'I was bored', which instantly qualified me as a cool person in their book. After all, I didn't try to piss off everyone I met. I didn't see any more of the disguised ponies. That meant they were ether hiding, or had taken a hint and left. I doubted that I had seen the last of them though, as I was currently heading towards their hometown accompanied by one of their 'friends'. I guess I can understand the 'friend' thing now. When we got to the edge of the mountain, I immediately took the opportunity to interrupt Spike and point out a very obvious fact. “You don't have wings.” “So?” “How will you get down?” “Same why I got up.” “Which is?” “Climbing and sliding.” “Doesn't sound that comfortable.” “It isn't, but it'll be easier than getting up. Besides, do you have a better idea?” “Yeah, this.” I grabbed him around the waist and dropped off the side of the mountain. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!” “Oh, hush. You act like you've never dropped off the side of a mountain before.” “AND YOU HAVE!?!” “Well...no.” “THAN WHY WOULD YOU-” “Because I have these.” And with that, I opened my wings, slowing down our fall considerably. It also (finally) made Spike shut up. I drifted down towards the edge of the Everfree and tried to contact Manty. Hey Manty! Where are you? Near the edge of the Everfree. Can you see us? I can see you. Who's the little guy? This young padawan wishes to learn the ways of the dragon. From you? Yeah, from me! Who else?! You're not even technically a dragon. Well I make a much better one than the other teens back there. That, I believe. Good. I'll meet you a little ways into the Everfree. As my mental conversation ended, I made a graceful (if somewhat bumpy) landing right outside the line of trees. I let Spike go, who had a somewhat sheepish expression on his face. “Sorry. I guess I kinda forgot that you had wings.” “That's a pretty big thing to forgot. They aren't exactly hidden.” “Yeah, well, I freaked okay? End of story. Where is this mysterious friend of yours?” “He'll be meeting us deeper into the Everfree.” “Than let's go. I want to actually meet this guy.” We started off. After walking for two minutes, the forest had already closed in around us and sealed off any view of the remaining daylight. Ahhhh, Tienn. You never change, do you? Spike shivered. “Man, this place gives me the creeps.” “Why? It's just a forest. A creepy, old, dangerous, and probably haunted forest, but still just a forest.” He looked at me like I was stupid. “Haven't you heard the rumors surrounding this place? Ponies disappearing... strange monsters... that sort of thing?” I laughed. “If all it takes is rumors to make you scared of a place, than maybe meeting my friend isn't such a good idea.” “Again with this friend of yours! Really, who is he?” “I told you.” “Yeah right. Do you really expect me to believe that you befriended...a... a...” Manty had stepped out from behind a bush and was now grinning at Spike, whose face had now turned a much lighter shade of green. He took a few steps forward, and in a friendly voice said “Hi!”. I'm not sure what Spike heard, considering he can't understand manticores, but whatever it was caused his face to turn completely white and for him to faint dead away. I sighed. “Well that could've gone better.” “Actually, I think it went pretty good. At least he didn't run away.” “No. He just lost consciousness.” “That's the spirit. So, what's the next move? Or do you even have one?” “Currently my plan is to wait for Spike to wake up. But in the meantime, I have a question for you.” “Ask away.” “Could I pass for a pony, attitude-wise?” He didn't even hesitate. “Yes. Easily, in fact. All you would have to do is tone down the swearing a little bit. That, and somehow turn yourself into a pony.” “Yeah, I'm working on that.” “Just what do you have in mind?” It was my turn to grin. “The dragons were honored by a visit from me. It's only fair that the ponies get the same.” “I shudder at the implications of that.” “Whatever.” I used my magic to levitate Spike at about head height and turned to go. “C'mon, I'll tell you my plan while we walk.” 3 Days Later In the three days it took to get to Ponyville (God, that name still cracks me up) several things happened. One, I managed to introduce Spike to Manty without him fainting or trying to run away. However, I still don't think Spike believes that I can speak manticore (Meh, let him think what he wants), as he rolls his eyes whenever I talk to Manty. At least they're getting along. Two, Spike introduced me to gemstones. After some encouragement (and lots of hesitation), I managed to convince myself to try one. To my surprise, my teeth easily chewed through it (Just how sharp are these things!?!) and it actually tasted quite good. I will never look at a rock the same way again. As of now, we were in the woods near the small town, discussing what we were going to do next. “Are you sure you don't know where you got these?” Spike was examining the bag of coins in my satchel, which I had learned were called 'bits'. “There's a lot of them.” “I told you, I found them in the satchel along with the rest of the stuff. I don't know who left them there, or where they came from.” I had told Spike my story about waking up in the field, leaving out the part about me being human. I'm not quite sure how he would react to that. Probably badly. “Besides, the bag isn't that big. There can't be that much money in there.” “Think again.” Spike poured a small handful of them out onto the ground. “I've been counting them, and the grand total is about 2,000 bits.” “You're kidding me. 2,000 bits all fit in there?! Just how much money is that?!” “Well...that should be just enough to buy a house. And I'm not talking about a small one.” A fricking HOUSE!?! Having never really had much money to speak off in my life, this was a complete mind-screw. I just sat there for a few minutes, staring at Spike, before mouthing the word 'wow' and shaking my head to bring me back to reality. “Okay, was not expecting that...” “Hey Flame!” called Manty. “It's about noon! I think you can perform the spell now.” “Remind me why we waited until noon to do this?” “Because you only woke up an hour ago.” “That wasn't my fault. Your guys’s snoring kept me up half the night. Again.” “That wasn't me. That was the manticore.” Spike sounded rather indignant. I sighed. “Can you use his real name for once? 'Manty' is not that hard to say.” “Actually, you just call me Manty. That's not my real name.” “Helluva lot better than a title that means 'numbskull'.” “That's beside the point.” “GUYS!” Spike gained both our attentions with a surprisingly loud yell. He turned to Manty. “Look, I'm sorry. Its hard to think of a creature I can't understand as intelligent. No offense.” Manty glanced at me. “Tell him that if he calls me 'the manticore' again, I will grind his bones into dust.” “He says 'apology accepted' Spike.” “Thanks. Now can you do the spell already? I'm getting bored just sitting here when we could already be in Ponyville.” “Sure sure, just give me a sec. I don't wanna screw this up.” I got to me feet and walked a little ways away from Manty and Spike. What I was about to do might have unexpected results, and I while I might not be the most careful person in the universe, I'm not stupid ether. I gathered my mind, picturing what I wanted in my head. I had spent hours deciding what I would look like, and now that the time had come to actually do it, I wanted to stay as true as possible to my original plan. When I had everything just right, I started charging my magic in both my fists, much like I had done with the shockwave. It wasn't really necessary, but it made things much easier. Then I released my magic. My body was encased in a dark cocoon, everything from my hands to my wings. A strange sensation ran through my entire body. Not pain, just... weird. I could actually feel my body shifting, and while it thankfully didn't hurt it was by no means pleasant. It only lasted a couple minutes though. When the dark cloud dissipated, my body felt... different. Well, that means it should have worked, right? “Spike?” My voice still sounded the same. Good. I didn't want that to change. “Mirror please.” Spike, shaking slightly (uh-oh), fumbled around in my bag until he found the mirror. He held it up in front of me, tilting it so I could see my entire body. My coat was blue, all the way from my wings to my legs. The wings themselves were a lot smaller than my dragon ones, only about as big as my head, and yet they still seemed usable. My mane and tail were dark blue, with white stripes running through them. My eyes were light blue. The tattoo on my ass (Spike says they're called 'cutie marks', and they appear when a pony discovers his or her special talent. Go figure.) was of a fireball, made of both flame and darkness. It looked pretty cool, actually. Oh, and I was a pony. A pegasus, to be precise. Probably should've mentioned that. I choose a pegasus because A.) I wanted to keep the ability to fly, and B.) I'm not sure how many ponies have magic made out of darkness, but I'm guessing the grand total was about zip. I didn't want to draw any undo attention to myself. I grinned. “Wow. I can't believe that actually worked.” I tried to stand up and immediately tripped and fell. “Okay, first things first, I need to figure out how to use these legs...” wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Rainbow Dash was sleeping. She was supposed to be on guard duty. After all, Twilight wanted to be informed the moment Spike got back to town, so she could make sure he was okay. Also, she wanted news of the blue dragon as fast as possible. Rainbow had tried, but the cloud had been really comfortable, so... It had been three days since their 'visit' to the dragons, one day since they had arrived in Ponyville. The short trip was thanks to Twilight's teleporting. It was short-range, but she had used it whenever she had the energy, and it had saved a lot of time. As soon as they arrived home, Twilight had roped Rainbow Dash into doing guard duty for her, so she could know the minute Spike arrived home. The last they had seen of him, he had been walking off with that strange blue dragon, but Twilight was certain that he would head home as soon as possible. Thinking of that blue dragon filled Rainbow with unease. He had acted so different from the other dragons. In fact, he reminded Rainbow a lot more of Spike than of a huge, ferocious, fire-breathing dragon. Than again, he had acted pretty ferocious in that fight with the gang. And what was that thing he had used? It had looked like magic, and yet Twilight insisted that dragons weren't able to use magic. So what was it? Rainbow's peaceful slumber was interrupted by a familiar voice wafting up from below. “'Welcome to Ponyville'. God, please tell me all pony names aren't like this.” Her eyes shot open. No, it couldn't be him. He wouldn't be that stupid, would he? Another voice. “I know it sounds stupid, just don't mention it to my friends. I've made tons of jokes about it, and whenever I do nopony seems to get it.” That was Spike! She peered over the edge of her cloud. Sure enough, Spike was there, standing next to the 'Welcome to Ponyville' sign. Standing next to him though, was another pony. A pegasus made entirely out of shades of blue. But she could've sworn... The pegasus spoke again, looking towards the nearby town. “I still can't believe you convinced me to do this.” “It'll be fine! Trust me, you look exactly like an everyday pony. Just act natural. You're good at that.” “Maybe.” The pegasus sighed and muttered “I'm going to regret this...” With that, the duo started down the path that led to town. Rainbow withdrew her head. This didn't make any sense! That pegasus had sounded exactly like the blue dragon! Exactly like him! Was it a coincidence? Rainbow almost dismissed it as one, but the conversation she had overheard convinced her not to. Twilight needs to know about this. Now. With that thought, the fastest mare in Equestria made a beeline for the library. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww It took two hours- TWO. FRICKING. HOURS.- for me to learn how to walk on four legs. It wasn't all my fault though. I had been a bipedal as a human, and I had been a bipedal as a dragon. I wasn't used to having to keep track of four different legs. Two was enough trouble as it was. Luckily, I had finally managed to find a system where I didn't trip over my own feet. I was now walking down the path that lead to Ponyville, and for some reason all the doubts about this plan that should've surfaced when I was first considering it where only showing themselves now. For once, I was right. I am going to regret this... The first thing I noticed about the town (and, more accurately, it's residents), was how colorful everything was. It was like someone had taken the contrast meter and turned it all the way to 100. Everything was so bright, so colorful, that it literally hurt my eyes and I had to take a second to get used to it. Have these people never heard of gray!?! The ponies themselves were also colorful. Even the ponies that were a light color still managed to make it seem bright. It was almost unreal. And the trippiest thing you can imagine. Spike seemed to have a destination in mind, so I just followed him and took the opportunity to observe. When you got over how colorful everything was, and the fact that the residents were all ponies, this actually seemed like a normal, everyday town. Ponies went about their business, talking and making idle chatter, basically living their daily lives. Everything seemed...normal. The town was pretty big too. Spike lead me through a market, where I saw an orange mare with a cowboy hat selling apples. I was tempted to buy one, just for the hell of it, but Spike wasn't showing any signs of slowing down. In fact, he seemed in a hurry. It made me wonder where we were actually going. We passed by several other interesting places: a life-sized gingerbread house which Spike called Sugar Cube Corner (Okay, I know where I'm going next); a dress shop named Carousel Boutique (Spike seemed particularity keen on showing me this one); and a tree. No, seriously. A tree. As we approached said tree (Which I now saw had a door and windows. Win.), a smile slowly grew on Spike's face. “Hey Flamesinger. Do you like books?” “Immensely. Why?” “Than you're going to love this place.” “Again, why? I don't really see what a tree has to do with...” I sentence stopped short as I followed Spike through the door and saw, to my utter amazement, that the inside was filled with books. “Welcome,” Spike said theatrically while spreading his arms, “To the Ponyville Library!” Library was actually a perfect word for it. The place was pretty much room after room of shelves, each of them packed with books. For the second time that day, I found myself sitting there, completely lost for words. And than the balance of the universe was reunited. “Oh my fricking god... THIS IS AMAZING!!!” I flew about two feet off the ground and zoomed towards the nearest shelf, my eyes greedily sweeping across the titles. Spike laughed and turned towards the stairs. “I'm gonna go get Twilight. She should be here. You gonna be okay there by yourself?” “Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.” I waved him off, five books already under my foreleg. “You go get your friend. I'll be right here.” wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww “Are you sure Rainbow?” “I wouldn't be telling you guys if I wasn't sure!” “I know, but you must realize how ridiculous this sounds! I mean, combat magic is one thing, but full body shape-shifting? That's really, really complex magic. I can barely even do it! And dragons aren't supposed to be able to use magic at ALL!” “My dear Twilight, I think we've already established that this dragon, whoever he is, does indeed possess some kind of magic. How else can you explain what he did?” “I...I...I don't KNOW! Ponies don't know much about dragons to begin with, but the fact that they can't use magic is supposed to be BASIC KNOWLEDGE!” “Well than, basic knowledge won't help us. Rainbow, you're positive it was his voice?” “Stop asking me that! I stood within a foot of him, I think I'd be able to recognize his voice!” “I don't doubt your abilities Rainbow Dash, its just that-” “Hey Twilight! I'm home!” The three of them, Twilight, Rarity and Rainbow Dash, immediately grew quiet. Twilight looked at the others and whispered “Don't say anything.” before rushing out the door and embracing Spike. “Spike! Thank goodness you're okay!” “Uh...yeah.” Spike slowly returned the hug, looking confused. “Why wouldn't I be?” Rarity emerged from behind Twilight. “Well we were worried, darling! You've been gone for almost a week! We thought something might have happened to you!” Spike blushed. “You...were worried about me?” “But of course! I didn't want those mean old dragons hurting one scale on my little Spiky Wicky's head!” This caused Spike's blush to turn to one of embarrassment. Rainbow poked her head out form behind Rarity and snickered. “So Spike, did you learn what it means to be a dragon? That was the whole reason you went over there, right?” “Yeah...well, not exactly...” Than his face brightened. “But it wasn't a complete loss! I made a new friend, and I want you guys to meet him!” In his temporary excitement, Spike didn't notice the look of unease that flashed across the ponies faces. “C'mon! He's downstairs!” Somewhat hesitantly, and sharing a reassuring glance, the three ponies followed Spike into the lobby of the library. Wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww With a grunt, I set my stack of books on one of the reading tables, stepping back to admire my handy work. Hmmmm... maybe I should've started with a number fewer than 20... Shrugging off any doubts, I sat down and pulled the top book off the pile. Somehow, me having hoofs instead of hands didn't seem to matter. 'Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone'. Huh, Indiana Jones much? I was just about to delve into the land of fantasy when I heard Spike calling. “Hey Flame! Come into the lobby! There's somepony I want you to meet!” Well don't that suck butt. I made a silent promise to the stack of books that I would be back, than got up and trotted into the lobby. Which was basically another shelve-filled room, except that this one contained the door. Inside I saw Spike standing next to a purple mare, who was looking at me curiously. “Hey there. My name's Flamesinger, but please just call me Flame. It's my peer-imposed nick-name. Say, would you happen to know where the librarian is?” The purple mare's eyes widened when she heard my voice, but she still managed to respond. “Actually, I am the librarian. My name is Twilight Sparkle. How may I help you?” Hey, wait a sec...I know that voice... Two more mares entered the room and stood beside Twilight. A cyan one with a rainbow mane, and a white one with a purple mane. Both of them were glaring at me. White, and cyan. The same colors as the legs in the costume. Son of a bitch. -End of Chapter 6-