The Best Man

by Alaborn

Chapter 7: The Return

The Best Man

By Alaborn

Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.

Chapter 7: The Return

---

Sunday, June 28, 2020
Ponyville, Principality of Equestria

Evan Sedmak stirred, feeling a pleasant warmth. The sun was up, and a sunbeam illuminated the bed, but the warmth was mostly coming from the pony next to him. He awoke cuddling with April Showers, one wing draped over the mare. He didn’t remember doing that after they had finally tired out each other; perhaps that was some pegasus instinct at work. That warm feeling, which he realized was not just a physical sensation, also felt instinctual, a closeness he didn’t feel as a human. It was like being a pony made him want to be near other ponies.

Evan leaned over and nibbled on April Shower’s ear. He had discovered the mare really liked that contact. Her ear twitched, she smiled, and then she leaned into Evan. “Morning,” she muttered sleepily.

Evan nuzzled her. “Good morning,” he said.

“Thank you for the wonderful night,” April Showers said. She stretched. “But right now, I need to get cleaned up. Ready to shower?”

“Wait. You mean together?” he asked.

“Of course,” she replied. She frowned. “Is it true that humans don’t like communal bathing?”

“Not normally. It’s almost always a solitary activity.”

“Maybe humans are different, but it’s a lot easy to wash with a friend’s help,” April Showers said.

“When a couple showers together, normally they’re not, you know, just showering,” Evan said.

April Showers smiled. “Then I’ll think you’ll find that humans and ponies aren’t that different after all.”

They headed to the tub, and Evan turned on the water. He now understood why the tub was the size it was.

April Showers was right. Evan learned that having a friend did make it easier to clean all those hard-to-reach parts of the pony body. Of course, he didn’t learn that for some time; they first spent a considerable amount of time under the hot water making each other dirty. He silently thanked the magic castle for having a limitless supply of hot water.

After the shower, they toweled off, an act that actually worked with another pony, and brushed each other. When they finished, April Showers kissed him. “If you ever visit Ponyville again, look me up,” she said with a smile.

They parted and went their own ways. By the time Evan made it to the dining room, April Showers was already there, sitting with her friends. Surveying the crowd, Evan found it much smaller than the previous day, with only the wedding party and close friends and family in attendance. He went over and joined his parents.

“Morning,” Christopher said. “Sleep well?”

“Of course,” Evan said smoothly. He glanced over at the end of the table, where Jason and Rose were seated, next to a small collection of wrapped presents. “I thought Jason said that gifts weren’t expected here?”

“He told us that because we’ll be attending the wedding in our world,” Janine said. “We talked about it a little last night. He said that ponies don’t care much about material things, valuing friendship more, but for an event like a wedding, the closest guests will bring small gifts that represent them.”

“They should be opening the gifts after we eat,” Christopher said.

A few minutes later, breakfast arrived. Spike came out of the kitchen, carrying a tray of pastries many times his size over his head, while Twilight Sparkle carried dozens of plates in her magical aura. They served Jason and Rose first, then the other guests, before finally making it over to the Sedmaks. The meal on the plates resembled eggs Benedict, but presumably was lacking Canadian bacon.

Once the plates were set down, Twilight Sparkle conjured a scroll and quill. Leaning over, Evan saw the scroll was a checklist, with pictures and check boxes.

“Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Sedmak, Evan,” Twilight Sparkle started. “Since you’re going home today, I wanted to make sure that you haven’t consumed anything that could pose a digestive issue when you change forms. Since midnight, have any of you consumed any hay?”

“No,” they all said, shaking their heads.”

“Daffodils? Marigolds?”

“No,” Evan said.

“Princess, we were in bed long before midnight, and haven’t eaten anything today,” Christopher interrupted. “As long as there isn’t anything harmful in this lovely breakfast, I think we’re good to go.”

“Yes, this breakfast is all foods humans eat,” she replied. “Evan, is the same true for you?”

“Yes,” he said.

“Good! Then enjoy your breakfast. We worked very hard--”

Spike cleared his throat.

“--well, mostly Spike worked very hard on the meal,” she finished.

They thanked the princess and the dragon, and Evan and his parents picked up their silverware. The breakfast wasn’t anything special, but it was good, hearty food, something like they might get at a casual restaurant.

After everyone finished eating, Jason and Rose turned to the presents. It appeared that ponies didn’t use weddings as a way to build up goods for a household; judging from what Evan had seen, their homes were rather less cluttered. Rather, the gifts were handmade and personal, just like his parents had mentioned. For each gift, the married couple thanked the ponies that gave them the gift; they seemed to be able to identify the giver just based on the gift.

Once they were done, Jason spoke to the crowd. “There are certain guests I specifically asked not to bring gifts. Their simple presence was the most important gift. There’s also the issue that nopony knows what might happen to a gift brought from the human world.” The crowd chuckled. “Mom, Dad, Evan, thank you for being part of my wedding, even when you learned it would involve becoming a pony. I know it’s a lot to ask of anyone, but you came, and you always had a smile on your face. And for that, I thank you.

“We have one gift we’re going to give to everypony in the wedding party, a photo album to help you remember the event. Mom, Dad, Evan, we’ll bring them for you the next time we visit the human world. But Rose and I agreed you needed something to bring home, to help commemorate the day. And so we asked Flash to rush a few of the photos.”

Jason had a big grin on his face as he walked up to his family. “These are some of the choice photographs from our big day. Please take them home with you.”

Evan took the small stack of photographs and put them where everyone could see them. The first photos were typical wedding photos: the arranged shot of the wedding party, the bride and groom standing before the princess, the married couple kissing. Then Evan saw the shots of him and April Showers. Looking at them, he was struck by how intimate they looked. It was markedly different from the photos of his parents dancing.

Jason gathered his parents in a hug. “Again, let me thank you for being here. I know this was a lot to have to accept. The love you’ve shown us, it really means a lot.”

“We would always love you, no matter what you did. We always meant that,” Janine said.

“Congratulations, son,” Christopher added. “You’ve made history, you know that?”

Jason smiled. “That’s nowhere near as important as what our marriage means to us.”

---

An hour later, the guests had departed, all except Jason’s family. They now waited in the same room where they all arrived, accompanied only by Jason, Rose, and Twilight Sparkle. The princess was concentrating, shaping magical energies in the room around her.

“I’ve never actually watched her create the portal,” Jason commented. “It’s quite fascinating, watching the casting, feeling the impact on the ambient magic.”

“It’s making my horn itch,” Christopher said.

“I feel it too,” Evan said. There was a tickling in his wings from the shifting magic, a sensation that was setting off alarm bells in his mind, or more likely the pegasus portion of his brain.

“It’s perfectly safe,” Twilight Sparkle said, with only a slight hitch in her speech giving evidence of the phenomenal power she was wielding.

The first visual indication of the spell was a pinprick of violet light that manifested in the center of the room. It grew, stretched, and finally anchored to the floor, forming a rectangular violet portal. The swirling, indistinct shapes beyond looked a lot like the first time Evan saw the portal.

Jason’s mother hugged him. “I’m going to miss you, son,” she said.

“I can’t call you, except when I’m home, but we can write,” Jason said. He pulled out a large book and floated it onto Janine’s back.

“Is that one of those magical journals?” Christopher asked.

“It is. One of the few methods of instant communication in this world, and it even works between worlds,” Jason replied. “I have one for you, too, Evan.”

Evan grabbed the floating book with his foreleg, trapping it against his body. “Thanks.”

“Goodbye, son,” Christopher said. He offered his hoof, and Jason bumped it.

Evan didn’t have a hoof to offer, with one foreleg occupied, until he spread his wings and hovered off the ground. He then put his hoof to Jason’s with a solid thunk.

“Bye. Safe journeys!” Jason said.

The parents walked into the portal first, their forms disappearing into the violet haze. Evan landed and, after giving one last look to his brother and sister-in-law, returned home.

---

Evan again found moving through the portal to be an experience that was hard to describe. Coming through from the Equestria end this time, he could feel the magic through his body, a sensation that faded as he felt the physical transformation. The pressure in his back was strongest, where his wings were no doubt being reincorporated into his body. His quadrupedal posture, which once felt so natural, now felt off as his legs changed.

Then, in an instant, it was all over. He stumbled onto the floor of his brother’s apartment, sprawled on hands and knees, joining his parents. All three of them seemed stunned by the return to their natural bodies.

“Well, that happened,” Evan said.

Evan was first to stand, leaning against the wall to maintain his balance. He then helped his parents up. Left on the floor were the photographs from the wedding; Evan leaned down and picked them up.

Together, the three humans looked over the photographs again. The images were the same, but the paper changed, looking more like pictures developed from human film. “You two look cute,” Janine said as she looked at the picture of Evan and April Showers.

“Evan, if you wanted to follow your brother, you know we’d support you,” Christopher said.

Evan shook his head. “No. Sure, flying was nice, but you know what’s nicer? Hands, and technology, and everything here on Earth. I like being human,” he said. “And I’d be perfectly happy to stay in this world for the rest of my life.”

Author's Note:

Silly Evan. By saying that, you're all but guaranteeing another trip to Equestria.

Comments

[harts fire]

Author's Note:
Silly Evan. By saying that, you're all but guaranteeing another trip to Equestria.

yep this is defiantly going to happen.
I love the hole story it is just so good.
and I will be watching to see if a sequel happens.

[Neece]

Oh Evan, you should learn with John. The more you deny, the more you wish never to come back, the more involved you become

What's next? John & Purplesmart' spawn? It would be gloriously cute and shenanigan'y

[Seeking Dusk]

You are definitely returning, Evan. Worse with that booty call promise in place.

[FanOfMostEverything]

I suppose the question will be what April thinks of Earth.

In any case, a lovely story. Thank you for the latest installment of the saga.

[GoodwinGamerJack]

This is my FAVOURITE HiE saga, and thats all I got say about that.
keep up the good work

-GoodwinGamerJack

[Eroraf86]

And I am definitely looking forward to seeing how that next trip works out. Onwards!

[Viper Pit]

8949164
the best man Evan because unless i'm mistaken he was part of the elements of disharmany

[Alaborn]

8949177
John was the unicorn who was part of the Elements of Disharmony in the first story.

[Viper Pit]

8949744
huh okay then

[HumanSVD]

11348878
What's the point though? If the species change to match their new environment, then there isn't really any conflict at all. There's no differences or culture shock to overcome for love. For example,

Brother 1: Hey man, I'm getting married to a pony.

Brother 2: WTF?!

Brother1: Don't worry, she'll be a human when she gets here.

Brother 2: Oh, so basically a human then? No problem.

Scenario 2,

Brother 1: Hey, I'm getting married to a pony.

Brother 2: WTF?! WHY?!

Brother 1: Because I love her. She has my heart. Isn't that all that matters?

Brother 2: Dude, different species! How will mom and dad react? How will you have kids? How do you expect your lives to be?!

Conflict ensues and it's up to the characters to resolve it.

You also basically stated two pages creatures are weird.

How exactly is that weird? Minotaur, Draconiquis and other ones existed in the MLP movie as well.