Dead Set on Living

Alex woke up feeling like he moved a mountain. In other words, sore and battered.

‘Well, I’ve woken up feeling worse,**’ he weakly joked to himself as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, not immediately remembering what had actually happened.

Not for long, anyway.

He froze and frantically looked around him in an attempt to get any notion as of where he was.

The room he was in had a chequered floor and a green ceiling, while the walls were a dull blue. He was lying on a hospital bed next to a window that allowed light inside.

His heart jumped as he found the door, guarded by a pegasus guard on the left, and the white mare on the right. Both of them still clad in full armour.

Seeing the two definitely real ponies, he finally realised. ‘Not a dream...’

The pegasus had a stoic expression, looking at nothing in particular. The mare, however, looked at Alex with uncertainty.

“Ahem.” She cleared her throat before speaking. “How are you feeling?”

The pony’s question prompted Alex to throw off his bedsheets and look down his body.

 He checked himself to see he was cleaned up and wearing nothing but his underwear. ‘*No clothing my size, I guess,’* he noted and saw that the spots where he got hit by Shining were neatly taken care of. They felt pretty sore still, so he didn't mess around with the bandages.

He sighed in anxiety, more details of what happened coming back to him.

The pony coughed curtly to draw his attention, receiving a deadpan look, which made her shift uncomfortably.

“My name is Windy Leaves,” she introduced herself, kicking an invisible rock. “I wish I'd be able to introduce myself under...better circumstances.”

Alex sighed before sitting up, leaning his back against his bed's headboard.

“I'm Alex,” he simply responded.

“Alex...” she whispered to herself. “Nice to meet you.”

‘Right...’ The man quirked an eyebrow, though he figured that the pony was simply trying to be polite.

The mare waited for him to continue, but since nothing came, she spoke up again instead.

“I'm sorry about what happened. I really am,” she sighed. “The Royal Guard has been on edge lately. I know that's no excuse, but you'll know everything soon enough. Say the word when you're ready. Captain Shining Armor would like to talk to you.”

“And why would I want to see him again?” Alex asked, glancing at the window. It was large enough for him to fit through.

“The princesses will be there too, so there’s nothing to worry about,” she said in an attempt to reassure him.

“I have no idea who your princesses are.”

The mare’s head tilted ever so slightly. “You don’t know who Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are?”

‘What kind of name is Celestia? And Windy Leaves?’

“No.”

“Then whe— Alright... Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are diarchs. They rule over Equestria, over us.”

“Is it your captain that wants to speak to me, or is it them?”

The mare smiled meekly. “Both, I assume. And Shining Armor isn’t my captain. I’m not part of the Royal Guard.”

Alex didn’t answer her. Instead, he made it as obvious as possible when he looked her up and down.

“My armour?” the mare asked. “Anypony can wear armour. It’s supposed to protect me, obviously.”

Alex took her words as the truth and looked at the pegasus. “And that one?” he asked, causing the pegasus’ gaze to shift to him.

“He’s an auxiliary, ordered to escort me.”

Alex nodded once, understanding what kind of situation these two were in. “Where am I?” he eventually asked.

“Ponyville Hospital,” she answered, “We, ah...brought you here while you were...unconscious...” She then momentarily looked at the ground, waiting for the human's reaction.

Alex mentally rolled his eyes, though his actual expression didn't change much. “I figured, but as you may have noticed, I'm not remotely from here,” he answered. “So the question still stands.”

"As I said before, we’re in Equestria, home to ponykind," she explained, annoyance lacing her voice. “We’re ruled by Princess Luna and Princess Celestia.”

The pony continued to answer all and any questions coming from the man, explaining what an alicorn is, roughly decribing the princesses and of course telling about their sworn duties of raising the Moon and Sun.

“You'll learn more when you actually get to meet them,” she finished.

Windy suddenly stepped aside, making way for the opening door. A unicorn guard entered the room, bringing a meal, supper, and levitated the platter onto Alex's lap.

He finished his plate and his glass of water before the guard took the dishes and walked out. Sitting there for a few moments, he glanced out of 0the window. It was getting dark outside. "I'll try to get some sleep," he told the two ponies.

Windy nodded once and calmly left the room, closely followed by the pegasus.

Alex tried to get to sleep. His mind began wandering off, trying to reassess all what had happened.

He didn’t even know how to feel about his current situation.

***

Morning came. Alex opened his eyes to see his room’s dull ceiling, a dejected wave shot through him as he realised where he was.

‘No bad dream, good. Last thing I need are nightmares,’ he thought as he stretched his limbs.

Windy and the pegasus guard were standing at the same spots they stood the day before. The mare gave him a nod as a greeting. She wasn’t wearing her armour any longer, so Alex had a good view of her lush, hazel brown mane and alabaster coat. He also noticed that the pony had long fetlocks; the white locks contrasting against her grey hooves.

“Where can I wash up?” Alex asked.

“I doubt the tub would be comfortable for you. It’s, uh, a bit small.”

“Just point me to a sink, or something,” he snapped at her. “I just want to clean myself up.”

He got out of his bed and stood up, noticing that the pony looked rather interested. She looked at him from head to toe, her lips pursed into an o shape. It was Alex's deadpan expression that snapped her out of it. “Oh, right. Take a left.”

The man glanced to his left and saw a door, most definitely leading to the bathroom. As he walked towards it, the pegasus guard moved to follow him.

‘Oh no you don't.’

With the pony close to his heels, he stopped and looked over his shoulder. The pegasus avoided bumping into his behind and quickly looked up to meet the human’s eyes. The look he received was enough of a message to make the pony walk back to his spot next to the door, allowing Alex to enter the bathroom in private.

Inside was a relatively small bathtub, and a door that probably led to a separate toilet.

‘This must be a private bathroom.’

Alex blinked a few times, confused by the strange lavatory. Or the lack thereof.

There was no sink or anything similar, which kind of made sense to him since ponies would have a rather hard time using them.

‘Water,’ he thought. The only thing he needed was water.

After taking a towel and washcloth from a hook on the inside of the door, he peered down at the small excuse of a tub and saw a familiar looking tap with red and blue markings.

With an annoyed groan he lowered himself and gave the red rimmed one a few twists, followed by only one on the blue rimmed one.

He plugged the tub and whilst waiting for the water to rise he removed his bandages. The wounds weren’t as bad as he had expected, though they would definitely still leave their marks on his chest and right side. Shaking his head in frustration, he started washing himself thoroughly.

The wash-up did him good, and by the time he was done, he felt refreshed..

Entering the hospital room, he saw his clothes laying on his bed, neatly folded.

“Your clothes, they’re cleaned up for you,” Windy pointed out.

“Thanks,” Alex answered. He walked up to them and held them out to take a look.

The pony was right; his clothes were as good as new. He put them back on slowly, especially when he buttoned his shirt. With the bandages removed, the wounds were very tender and the slightest touch resulted in pain. Rubbing all over them in order to get them cleaned up certainly didn’t do much in helping that.

The mare looked interested the entire time, definitely curious and taking advantage of the opportunity to see him properly.

Alex stroked the creases out of his shirt. “Could I have something to eat?”

“Of course,” Windy answered and left the room, thus leaving Alex alone with the other pony. The pegasus didn’t move a muscle, staring blankly at nothingness. Alex couldn’t even see if he was breathing or not. He sighed and sat down on the bed, waiting for Windy to return.

A few moments later, Windy brought in a platter with what looked like toast and a glass of orange juice.

“Thanks,” Alex said as he took the platter out the mare's mouth. He was hungry, and the salad from last night had barely been adequate to sate his hunger. He quickly consumed his breakfast and put the empty platter on his nightstand.

“What happens now?”

Windy turned and made a head gesture towards the pegasus, who left the room without speaking a word. “My colleague is going to get word to the princesses that we’re on our way.”

Alex frowned slightly. “On our way where?”

The mare didn’t even blink. “Where the princesses reside. Canterlot, the capital.”

“Oh...”

Alex assumed the entire time that these princesses would come and talk to him, not the other way around.

Windy sensed his trepidation. “I know this must be overwhelming for you, but we can’t stay here,” she said. Receiving no answer, she inhaled deeply and continued. “Due to the nature of your arrival, we’re required to escort you to Canterlot as soon as possible.”

“Why?”

“It’s safe there, for one. And secondly, the princesses can’t simply leave, so we must go to them, I’m sure they’d want to take a good look at you,” she replied.

Alex nodded and asked the obvious question. “I can just leave the hospital now?”

“Well, yes. You seem healthy enough to do so,” Windy replied. “Surprisingly.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, that shock Shining gave you was definitely enough to stop a pony's heart.”

“So he tried to kill me?” Alex fumed, already looking forward to seeing the captain again.

Windy pressed her lips together. “I don’t think so, Alex, but I understand if it’s hard to believe me. The first shock you received would’ve brought any pony to his knees, but you basically shrugged it off,” she recalled. “The second, lethal one, knocked you out. The doctors did some minor tests while you were sleeping. I don't know any of the results though. You'll have to ask for that in Canterlot.”

“Tests? Tests for what?”

“They wouldn’t tell me. Sorry.”

“Okay.” Alex wasn't sure how to feel about being experimented on.

Alex followed the white mare into the hallway to see that a rather large group of ponies had gathered at the entrance. She made a gesture to the guards in the hallway, and all of them walked towards the entrance. “Everypony, stand back!” one of them yelled. “Don’t interfere with the Royal Guard's business!”

The moment he stepped outside, the murmuring died down completely and the ponies watched with expressions he couldn’t exactly place. It didn’t take long before a group of three chariots came flying into view from the distance, each of them pulled by two pegasi.

Alex took a good look at what the ponies were pulling behind them. Granted, the white pony had mentioned chariots, but he didn’t expect the things to be exactly that. And even less for them to be flying. The one flying in between the two others looked different. It looked larger, with four wheels instead of two. It actually looked like it would be able to carry him. As the golden-coloured things descended for landing, the crowd retreated, leaving a spacious area to land on.

“*Flying[i/] chariots?” he muttered. The surprise lost effect rather quickly as he pointed himself on the fact of where he was, exactly.*

“Great, hmm? Fastest way to Canterlot,” answered Windy, “It takes getting used to, however.”

‘[i]Cool.’

“The big one’s ours,” she said, pointing a hoof at the thing in question. She then started making her way towards it, closely followed by Alex.

“What’s this?” asked a guard. He was speaking to one of the hitched pegasi. “Where are the rascals?”

The white armoured pegasus shrugged. “We were given these things. What you see is what you get. Now hop on, don’t wanna cool down too much.”

Just as Alex expected, the guards placed themselves onto the other chariots before all three started off again and eventually lifted off, leaving the silent crowd behind.

***

By one of the pegasi’s request, Alex had sat down on the bottom of the larger vehicle. The larger chariot’s bottom and sides were clad in soft, purple fabric, making sitting down pretty comfortable.

“So,” he spoke, making the mare's ears perk up. “What am I getting into?”

“Relax, Alex.” Windy spoke loudly so that Alex could clearly hear what she was saying over the blowing wind. “The princesses are usually very kind. And nopony did anything wrong but the captain, so I think they just want to know your story about what happened, and perhaps more than that.”

“Like what?”

“Are you kidding? You're a completely new sapient species, Alex! Of course they will want to know all about you and where you're from!” She beamed. “There must be a thing or two to learn about you, your kind, your history and so on!”

Seeing her interest, Alex had the slightest idea as to the mare’s job.

“Well ah, I don’t know that much about the world apart from my job and such.”

The pony nodded in understanding. “That’s alright, though. We’ll see where we get.”

“Alright, so if I just mind my manners, I will be fine?” Windy nodded again at that, making Alex feel just a bit more comfortable.

A while passed before she spoke up once more. “Once we clear that mountain over there, you'll be able to see Canterlot.” She pointed at a small mountain in the distance, which made way for a beautiful sight.

There seemed to be an entire city built onto the mountainside. The gravity-defying towers’ white walls and golden domes shone brightly in the morning sunlight. Said domes reminded him of the Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow as seen on television, with white, blue, and smaller purple flags flapping in the wind.

The vehicles started descending towards a platform jutting out from one of the towers, where several guards were visible milling about. The chariot touched down and soon it was surrounded by a mob of guards.

Not again.

“Step back,” ordered an older blue unicorn guard with a deep and gravelly voice, making the confused-looking group dissipate.

What made this one stand out from the others was his beautiful white armour. A golden image depicting the sun was emblazoned on the chest piece.

“You’re earlier than expected,” he said to both Windy and Alex. “However, everything is in order and the...” the unicorn apparently couldn't find the right words for a moment as he looked Alex up and down “...human can see the princesses at once.”

Relieved, Alex stepped out of the carriage, followed by Windy.

“I’m Warden. Paragon of the Wall of Light and Royal Protector to the princesses themselves,” he introduced himself. His tired tone of voice sounded like he'd said it a thousand times before."

“I’m Alex Matthius.”

The unicorn nodded. “Alright, so if you two would follow me, I’ll lead you right to them.” After a short walk the unicorn spoke up again. “So,” he said, “you’ll be the first one besides Shining Armour himself to tell us what exactly happened.”

Alex didn't respond as he wasn't sure who the pony was talking to.

If Warden expected an answer, he didn’t wait long to get one since he spoke up almost immediately after. “Things have been bad. I hope this’ll clear something up.”

Windy responded before Alex could. “Well, I suggest that the captain should stick to summoning shields until he gets his urges in check.” The old guard didn’t answer her in any way.

Alex glanced at the mare to see her clenching her lips together. Both knowing that her words weren’t received well.

The trio walked through some well-maintained corridors before ending up in a large main hall. It was what Alex expected from a palace and more. Marble floors, marble pillars, red carpet leading to a giant pair of doors. It was beautiful. From afar, a grey unicorn drew the veteran guard's attention. Warden walked up to him and started talking about things Alex was too far away for to hear. After a few moments, he returned to Alex and Windy, who were still waiting, looking around in awe.

“The princesses are ready, we're going in,” he said.

"You two are coming as well?" Alex asked.

Warden nodded. "Yes. I belong to Princess Celestia's right side."

Windy took off where he left. “And at the moment, it's my job to stick around to get you acquainted with how our society works.”

Alex nodded. “So you're the guide?”

The pony frowned, visibly offended by the guess. "No… I mean yes, but only with other species. When making first contact, it's kind of important to know what kind of creature we're dealing with,” she explained. “Otherwise we'd have a war all over again.”

Alex couldn't believe his ears. “There are other sentient species other than you people?” he asked.

“Mmhm. The griffons, to name one, but that's a long story. You should ask me later on about that.”

“Okay,” Alex said. “And yes, I'm ready too.”

The veteran simply nodded at that, and they started following the red carpet towards the giant double door that was decorated with numerous

images of ponies, flowery plants and more. What stood out were the two larger depictions in the centre of the doors showing ponies with both horns and wings.

“This is the throne room door,” informed Warden. “Don’t touch them, there’s magic affecting them.”

Well that door is unnecessarily big, even for human standards, Alex thought. Must be some last defence line or something.

Two gruff-looking unicorn guards took a lengthy look at them before their horns started glowing.

Nothing seemed to happen for a few seconds until the doors started moving. The things must have been massive, Alex figured, if the low groaning and creaking were any indication.

Warden led the way and started moving forward, followed by Alex and an increasingly nervous pony.

End of chapter three.