The World I've Come to Know

The next morning came along quicker than I expected. Luna walked in and woke me up to get ready for today before Celestia had raised the sun.

"I lower the moon in thirty minutes," she said. I sighed and put my glasses back on. I lurched over to the desk chair I had carelessly thrown my clothes on.

"Alright. So, why exactly do we have to get up so early?" I asked, buttoning my shirt.

"Because the celebration is going to be in thirty minutes, Raymond!" Luna yelled out. My eyes shot open and I quickly started to put on my pants.

"Shit! What day is it?!" I yelled out, buttoning my pants and starting to tie my tie.

"Raymond, have you forgotten?! It's June 21st! You know?! The Solstice?!" Luna yelled out.

"June 21st?! Bullshit! It was September 2nd, last I checked!" I yelled out, putting on my socks and shoes.

"Time hasn't changed yet, Raymond! It was the 20th yesterday and the 19th the the day before that!" Luna yelled as I tied my shoes.

"You know what? Whatever! I've gotta get ready. Is there a straight razor anywhere?" I asked Luna.

"Why would you need a straight razor?"

"To dice tomatoes-What do you think?!" I yelled out, putting on my coat.

Luna calmed down, "There is probably one in the guard's barracks, I'd suggest you check there."

"And where is that?"

"First floor, second hall to the left."

"Thanks!" I yelled back after walking out of the room and out to the barracks. I kept a brisk pace as I passed the wooden doors and golden hallways. I found a large door with the sign "Barracks" to the right of it. I sighed and pushed open the door. The moment I walked in, a bunch of colts getting ready for guard duty looked over to me with a blank expression. I smirked.

"Would anyone happen to have a straight razor?" I asked. The colts looked around until one spoke up.

"I got one!" A cream-colored pegasus yelled out. He had just put on his helmet before walking over to me. He held out a hoof and inside it was a gold-handled straight razor. "Here, you'll need this, too," he said, giving me a container of...shaving cream.

"Thanks...Uh..." I stood there, razor and cream in hand, without a name to thank.

"Folks back home in Mountgomery call me Peaches, so, you can, too!"

"Alright. Well, my name is Raymond Dietrich Frederov," I said, leaning over with a furrowed brow to get a good view of his cutie mark. A sheild. "...Your name is Peaches...?"

"Yep! Peaches n' Cream! 'Course, that's my nickname. Ah was called that because of the color of my coat. Ah didn't mind. Just a nickname, after all. Mah real name is Vigil Watch!" He said, taking pride in his name.

That sounds much more sophisticated than..."Peaches", I thought.

"Phew! Look at the time! We've only got 25 minutes!" He said. "Well, we can't just sit here shootin' the bull. We gotta get ready. Judgin' by the fact you needed a straight razor, you'll need t'get ready, too! I'll leave ya to it," He said before going back to himself.

Nice guy, I thought, clutching the razor and shaving cream. Didn't think they'd have shaving cream, though. This world surprises me every day. I decided not to waste time and go to the nearest sink and shave the stubble off my face. It didn't take me too long before I was done. Luckily, I didn't cut myself given that I don't have much experience with straight razors other than this one time when my dad taught me to shave with one. It went...accordingly. Blood was spilled, but, it was fine.

I washed off my face, cleaned off the blade, closed the shaving cream, and then used a nearby comb to brush my hair. Afterwards, I took the things back to Peaches, where he gave me a "Thanks" and went back about his business. I left immediately after.

"I think I have...about ten minutes. Well, I might as well get a quick bite to eat," I said.

"There will be food after the initial event. There will be a party afterwards, you know." I spun around to the voice behind me and found Celestia standing there in her normal gleaming stature.

"Alright, I guess I'll just eat afterwards," I sighed.

"Raymond, is there anything you need to do before we start?" Celestia asked.

"Hmmm...No, I don't think so," I said, thinking of what I might need.

"Excellent. Come with me, then. We'll take an escort there. Luna is already in the carriage," She said, exiting the castle. There was a small carriage with pegasi guards walking out of a nearby door towards it.

"Well, hey there, Mr. Frederov! Fancy meetin' you again!" I heard a familiar voice call out to me.

"Hm? Yes?" I asked out to the voice, which came from a pony waving to me. It turned out that Peaches was one of the carriage drivers. "Oh, hello, Peaches."

"Looks like Ah'm in charge of bringin' you to the festival!" He said, smiling.

"Well, at least it's someone I know is...at least somewhat reliable," I said with a smirk.

"Heck, Mr. Frederov, you can count on me to get you there! In one piece, even!" He said, laughing. "Why don't y'all get on in the carriage? We don't got much time as it is."

Celestia nodded to him and walked into the carriage, where I followed suit with a thanks. When I sat down, I came face to face with Luna.

"Hello, Raymond," she said with an agitated tone.

"Hey, Luna...Look, I'm sorry for what I said back there, I'm not really a morning person and-"

"No need to apologize to me, Raymond, I already figured that much. I'd been a bit pressuring as it was."

I blinked a few times, not expecting her to be this friendly to me after how I treated her. "Huh...It seems I'm more used to human reactions than I'd thought. I expected the worst and got...well, kindness in return." Luna smiled.

"Well...that's...good?" Luna said, confused.

We kept idle conversation going as we got to the place, which was already set up and bustling with ponies in the crowd. I'd peeked through the curtain to see the group of ponies on the outside that don't even expect me. A few minutes passed by and the celebration began.

Celestia started with a few simple opening words, "Welcome, citizens of Equestria, to the Summer Sun Celebration!" and what-have-you's. After a while, Luna flew up into the air and started lowering the moon. A few seconds later, Celestia flew up next to her and began raising the sun and this...purple one that I can only assume is "Twilight Sparkle", flew up into the air and caused a brief explosion into a six-pointed star. All the ponies in the crowd started clopping their hooves on the ground and were whooping. Celestia and Luna landed with the purple one (Twilight Sparkle?). As planned, Celestia and Luna looked to each other, nodded and backed away with the purple one. That's when the drum roll started. Everypony looked around in confusion, seeing this abnormality in the normal celebration.

I sighed out of nervousness before stepping out of the curtain and walked to a nearby pedestal. The drums stopped and the horns started sounding. As I stood at the pedestal, I looked around with a smile, waving to everypony, who silently looked around in shock and awe. I felt like the leader of a country at inauguration. A small group gathered ready for some sort of attack. They'd never seen something such as me before, so, they have every right to be. As soon as the horns stopped I began to speak up.

"Good morning, Equestriaaa!" I yelled out. "I hope everyone has enjoyed the celebration up until now, but, it's not over yet! I believe I should introduce myself. I am the new resident of Equestria, Raymond Dietrich Frederov. I know my appearance may be...unappealing and, well, scary to some. But, trust me, I mean you all no harm. I'm here to live life as all of you. I have no magic or flight, so, you all can think of my as just another pony. A strange, white-haired, biped pony. Without a coat. And two different colored eyes." I got a chuckle out of some of the younger ponies with that one.

"So, yes, you'll be seeing me around. There's a construction crew currently building myself a house that will be fit to my needs in Ponyville, probably on the edge of town, near the, uh..."Everfree Forest," I think it was called. So, if you need me, I'll be there. If not, I'm probably either in town, or here in Canterlot. If you need a set of hands in a job, I'll gladly be of service...Within reason, of course. My hands are more useful than some of you may think," I said, twiddling my thumbs. One particular minty green unicorn appeared to be in awe about my hands.

"I hope to live a quaint forty or fifty years here in this world with all of you! There'll be a party after the ceremony from what I've heard, in the ballroom of the castle, hosted by a, uh... "Pinkie Pie?""

As the words came out of my mouth, I saw a pink pony jump up and scream out, "THAT'S ME!"

"I look forward to meeting you there, then!" I said as I snapped a point at her, causing some of the ponies in the crowd to shrink back. "As do I look forward to meeting all of you. You can speak to me personally at the party if you'd like!" I paused for a moment and thought if I had anything else to say. "Well, that's all, then! Thank you and have a wonderful day!" I said, waving as I walked back behind the curtain. More horns sounded and all ponies in the crowd were clapping (clopping?). As I walked past the curtain, I met up with Celestia.

"Well, that went well from what I can hear," she said, smiling.

"Yeppers...So, about this party?"