“I think he’ll be fine, Mr Lutece,” a voice in the distance mumbled, “Thank goodness he awoke before the ambulance got here. It would be a nightmare explaining to his parents what he did just there.”

I opened my eyes slowly to see a doctor sitting next to me. As both Cordelia and the Lutece twins stood looking down at me; with the twins having a more angry scowl at myself and each-other.

“Mph. Flubla” I spluttered, still a little woozy from my recent gassing. This only lead to the doctor raising his hand slightly;

“Don’t waste your breath! You just inhaled an almost lethal amount of Carbon Monoxide. You need to take deep breaths until you can stand up for yourself,” he then stood up and addressed the Luteces; “As for the other student: we are keeping him from bleeding out until we can get him to a hospital. Lucky that this guy got him out of there in time!”

This caused the Luteces to look at each other with stern looks. From this angle on the ground; I could tell that they were both not very happy with what I did to save Elliott. But I still felt great for saving his life. At least I think I did.

The doctor indicated to Robert with his head;
“Professor, do you mind?” He asked, before they both lifted me up and moved me into the other room; which we used usually for tea breaks and 'chill out times', but it looked like it was going to be a place for me to rest before I could sit up without fainting again.

The two placed me on a sofa next to the television and the Professor placed a glass of water next to the settee. But without saying anything else, they left me there on the sofa. While each of my breaths became more relaxed and drawn out.

A while passed and I tried to pick up the TV remote, only to have my arm flop onto the side. While I coughed heavily, I reached over for a glass of water and took a heavy swig of it. But it wasn’t long before I heard the sound of heavy boots running into the lab and the distorted mumbles of the firemen next door. But shortly afterwards, Cordelia stepped into the room.

At first, I smiled to see her. But I eventually saw the red markings under her eyes. She had been crying, and that didn't make me feel any better for what I had done. She sat down on an adjacent sofa and cracked a small smile to cover up the look in her eyes. I turned to her and tried to speak; but her grief of the risk I had made had rubbed off onto me, thus I couldn't speak to her. But that didn't stop herself talking to me.

"That was really loyal of you, Patrick," she started, with pain in her voice. I could tell that the risk of me actually dying was serious for her; as she addressed me using my name. "But seeing you just faint onto the ground was one of the most nerve-racking things I have ever encountered," she sniffed as I saw a single tear trail down the side of her face.

"Cordelia... I can't," I spurted out, with my words almost indistinguishable from the coughs. But as I said these words, Cordelia snapped up to me with damp red eyes-

"No! You give for your friends; you show us all great kindness! But you give TOO MUCH. If you die to save your friends; I would lose you... And you would die for something that wasn't your fault! Today was MY FAULT! You never really wanted to see that explosion, now your blood’s on MY HANDS! And-" she cut off mid-sentence as she hung her head low and started crying again.
I could tell that this had not been a good day for her, and it would probably good if I didn't try to argue with her.

We both sat there for a couple more moments in almost absolute silence. She eventually tilted her head up again and spoke in a hushed tone from heavy breaths; "And to think... I was so excited about today. How wrong was I?"

Seeing her like this made me think of Pinkie's 'smile song' from the show. I would have sung it to her to try to cheer her up; but she wouldn't know what it was, and it would lead to the inevitable finding out that I am a Brony.
So all I could do now was watch as she cried.

Eventually we calmed down as Rosalind entered the room with a stern, yet considerate look upon her face.

"Do you mind if I have a quick word with Patrick; miss Cross?"
Cordelia stood up and left the room with tears in her eyes. But I gave her a reassuring smile on the way out.
The professor sat down on the side of the other sofa, whilst still keeping that same stern glare on her face; "Now, Patrick. We need to talk about what you just did in that lab."

I rolled my eyes at this; I knew where this was going. "What you did was a danger to both yourself and the reputation of myself, professor Robert and even the school!"
I grinned nervously as I tried to sit up; she continued as I drank a bit of water. "As you know: recklessness will not be tolerated at this school. And your lack of personal safety could get you suspended to prevent the press or police going any further into it." I widened my eyes and gulped heavily as I began to highly regret what I had done. But I was relieved by the fact the Professor sighed and continued.

"But in this case; you acted for the lives of fellow students and acted for yourself. That is something I have not seen by any other student apart from miss Cross herself. And for that reason; I am personally going to give you and Cordelia a detention."

I breathed heavily at this in relief; the last thing my parents would like me to do was to get a suspension. I think I would go to a hospital if I was given that after what had just happened to me and Elliott. But I smiled and thanked her with a tone of relief.

"What would you have me do for this detention professor?" I asked, with my voice still a bit gaspey from the recent gassing. Shortly followed by a loud, heavy cough.
The professor, in turn, lowered her brow slightly as she tilted her head. She cleared her throat and continued.

"I am not the sort to give out harsh punishments in this kind of situation. But I will expect you and Cordelia to come over to my house over the weekend. Then we'll see what we can do."

"Thank you, professor" I coughed again. Causing the professor to nod to herself and leave me alone.

I lay down on the sofa again, and breathed heavily while gripping my head. Why did I make that stupid decision? The levels of what I just did was in Rainbow Dash levels of impulse, like when she made the sonic rainboom.

But I found I was able to actually walk again; stupidly I didn’t stand up for another hour. But I did grab the TV remote and switch on the TV to see some of the regular junk. At least I was feeling better; that’s what some people called it. ‘The Lutece Field’, because Rosalind had a special talent. Just being in the same room as the professor had a strange, almost healing, effect. I remember an old friend coming down with vomiting, just to have her have a quick chat with him and leaving him perfectly fine.

I coughed again as I recounted the events over and over in my head. Yet still couldn't find what had driven me to that nervous impulse. Normally I would think twice before doing something like that. And even if I did, I wouldn't have to normally be treated with the Lutece Field.

My head hurt with my train of thought driving at full speed in my head; so when I saw the time as 14:34, I decided to call it a day and head back home, much to my tired legs and throbbing head protesting with every step I took.

When I walked back home; I saw a couple of people staring at me; I assumed that I had some markings of what had just happened clearly visible on my face. However it wasn't long before I had gotten away from the crowds in the streets and back at home.

"I'm back," I announced with a hoarse voice; with a general mumble from Cordelia. She must have been exhausted. Surprisingly Joshua came up to me and put his hand on my shoulder.

"Dude, I heard what happened at the lab today! You ok? You look as pale as snow!" I rolled my eyes at this and simply sat down on the sofa.

"I just feel a bit woozy, nothing more. 'Just need a bit of time to myself right now." Josh nodded considerately and walked out of the room with a beer. It was odd; it was the most considerate I had ever seen him, and that's saying a lot.

I turned to Cordelia, who still had a miserable look on her face and tears in her eyes. I tried to smile at her, but spoke instead;
"I'm sorry I made you feel this way, Cordie... It makes me feel bad to see you like this."
She rubbed her nose as a tear went down her cheek again. She looked up to me with a face marked with guilt. So I sat down next to her and gave her a comforting hug, as she began to sob again in a gentle way.

“How... do you deal with this?” She whimpered, leading to me remaining silent for a few moments.
I had put her through a lot today, and I guess not making her feel better would add to the current state of punishments I was receiving today from that impulse. And that would only make me feel worse. So I thought to myself with a stern look on my face.

“I guess... If I told her... It could make her feel better.” I sighed, and smiled to myself... I had kept it secret for too long. And with the events today; she deserved to know the truth.

“Alright,” I said, smiling to her briefly, but still lowering my brow slightly. “I have something. After all. For my behavior back at the lab. I think I should show you a bit of ‘friendship’.” She couldn’t tell the sarcasm in my voice, and simply glared with a teary eye.

I was ready to tell her, after all these years... I was finally going to tell her about it. Whilst still choking on my own saliva from the coughing. I didn’t mind if Josh walked in on us doing it; but I still called out to him:

“Josh, could you heat up a Pizza for us?”

“Ok! Don’t expect me to make it right. I have no idea how to work the USS Enterprise of a Microwave!” He replied, yelling from the other room.

Knowing that he was busy, I turned to the painting on the wall of the sitting room, then made the correct steps to opening my secret hatch.

"X-Box, on!" I ordered, and the gentle whirring of the X-Box started, so I put a disk into the console and we started to watch it.

"A long time ago- in the magical land of Equestria," Celestia's voice began on the screen, leading to a baffled look from Cordelia and an inevitable;

"What the hell is this?"

I coughed and replied with a hoarse voice, "Trust me, just watch."

And so, with a bit of skepticism at the beginning, we watched most of the full episode. When Pinkie Pie appeared on the screen, I could tell she had cheered up slightly. As even she was smiling as Pinkie went off on her nonsensical babbling.

"That pony... Is absolutely insane," she laughed with a smile on her face. I could tell that she loved her nonsensical behavior from the moment her pink face lit up the screen. “Do you know exactly what she’s going to say?” She asked, with a smug grin on her face. Taking that as a challenge; I nodded and rewound it back to when Pinkie started her big monologue and repeated on time with her.

“Well, that's silly! What kind of welcome party would this be if it were quiet? I mean, duh, bo-ring! Y'see, I saw you when you first got here, remember? You were all "hello" and I was all *deep gasp*, remember? Y'see I've never saw you before and if I've never saw you before that means you're new, 'cause I know everypony, and I mean everypony in Ponyville!”

Cordelia laughed at my strange fanboy out. And we watched the rest of the first episode with her hugging close to me. I realised that Josh must have been having problems with the microwave since we got to the twentieth minute of the episode.

And then came the moment that had gotten me hooked to the show. The return of Nightmare Moon.
As the mist appeared on the screen; I felt myself grinning again. And Cordelia nudged me, as if to say 'favourite pony?' I nodded in response as Nightmare Moon began her section.

With every syllable from her lips, I felt intoxicated, as her awe-inspiring black figure moved majestically to her every word. But with each word, Cordelia's face started to move from her smile... To a face of both confusion and fear at the same time.

And then came the very LINE that got me hooked, when Nightmare Moon laughs triumphant. Saying;

"Enjoy this day little ponies; for it was your last. From this moment forth... The night. Will last. FOREVER!"

When she burst out into her evil laughter; I felt a shiver down my spine. While Cordelia simply widened her eyes in surprise. And even more when the 'to be continued' appeared on the screen.

"Bit of a dark twist," she pointed out, without much else of a thought. And before I could ask if she wanted to watch another, Josh interrupted from the other room.

"Guys, I've eaten my pieces of the pizza. If you don't mind; I'm heading up early. You can get your own slices now if you want!" He yelled, promptly followed by loud footsteps up the stairs.

A moment of silence followed before I picked up the courage to speak.

“Want to see another?” I asked.

“I,” she started, pausing for a second. Possibly recounting the previous scene of Nightmare Moon. I saw a face of disagreement for a moment, and worried if that last moment might have turned her off my introduction to the show. But thankfully, she cracked a smile and lowered her shoulders. “Yeah... I’d like to see where this will go.”

I felt myself smiling like Pinkie Pie at that moment. And Cordelia laughed at me for that smile as I put on the next episode. Despite her internal reluctance; we still sat through then next episode.

And then another...

And then another...

And then another...

Whilst holding each other tightly. And smiling all the way through.

Author's Note

I am deliberately making the character Cordelia get into the show a little before the actual thing gets going, just to establish her understanding of it.