Rebirth

Minutes go by. I spend all of them staring at the ceiling in silence. Why did I have to leave my music at home? I’m going to die of boredom before I get out of this hospital.

There’s a sudden ‘poof’ sound. I look up. A small scroll of paper is on my chest. What the hell? I pick up the paper and open it.

Dear Mark Cleveland

I wasn’t aware you were injured. Twilight didn’t tell me. I’ll send in somepony to quicken your healing process. Twilight told me you have a resistance to magic, so I’ll make sure she’s my most trusted and powerful medic. She has worked with minotaurs, so I’m absolutely certain she’ll be able to heal your hand.

I’m also glad to see you making more friends. I’ve heard some of Hammersmith Apollo. She is a very skilled blacksmith and a kind pony. You’re going to love her. On that note, remember about the friendship letters.

Your (hopefully soon-to-be) teacher
Princess Celestia

I reread the letter a few times. I look at my lighter. Okay… So my lighter can send messages. It’s like Spike’s fire breath. What was that I said to myself a few minutes ago? ‘I’ll never get used to this crazy world?’ It still applies, and it will for a long time.

But damn. Sending letters with just a lighter is going to be a lot easier and faster than sending text messages. Plus, the receiver doesn't have any excuse about not getting the letters. Now if only I could use my lighter to use the internet. I don't think Equestria has any wi-fi.

A knocking on the door derails the Train of Thought. "It's open." Hammer says. The door knob surrounds itself in a veil of purple-ish aura. The door opens, revealing Twilight. She walks up next to me and sits down.

“I came as soon as I heard, Mark. I’m so sorry about what happened.” Twilight says.

“What are you sorry about?” I ask her. “You weren’t there. There wasn’t anything you could do. I did something stupid.”

“It’s true.” Hammer says. “He wasn’t paying attention when I told him.” I give her a brief glare. “What?”

Twilight, seemingly ignoring Hammer, rests a hoof on my good hand. Hammer raises an eyebrow at the sight. “Is there anything I can do?”

I shake my head. “Nothing that I can think of. The hospitals are helping out with the hand."

"Could I... see it? The injury, I mean?"

"Are you sure? It's not exactly pretty." I say.

She nods. I undo the bandages to the best of my abilities. Twilight, noticing my troubles, uses her magic to finish the job. She looks at the injury. She's visibly disgusted. I wouldn't be surprised if she threw up in a minute or two. "How... How exactly did it happen?"

"It was an accident with the forge." Hammer explains. "There wasn't enough air flow and some fire spat out and got his hand."

Twilight rewraps my hand. "I wish I could do something to help you. I don't want to risk making it worse, though." She looks down at the floor. "I would probably just make it worse. I don't know any healing spells that would be able to fix this. I'm great at magic, but I can't heal you, Mark. I only learned early intermediate spells that can help burns, just in case Spike ever accidentally burned somepony."

I reach over to her with my good hand. She's on the other side of me, so I have to turn onto my shoulder. "Twilight, don't let it get you down, alright? There wasn't anything you could've done to keep me from doing something that stupid."

"If you say so." Her voice is soft. She doubts me. I'm doing a great job convincing her. "I'm gonna go back home. I hope you get better soon, Mark." She shares a quick look with Hammer before leaving.

Hammer looks at the door after it closes. “She totally wants to fuck you.”

“W-What?”

“She totally wants to fuck you.”

“I heard what you said. What do you mean?”

“I mean ‘she totally wa-’”

“I get it. Why do you think that?”

“The way she acts around you. Do you think I didn’t catch those puppy-dog eyes? She touched your hand, too. I’m not a psychiatrist, but I’ve been around the block enough times to know that she’s into you.”

I hesitate. “Are you jealous or something?”

She chuckles. “Heh. Of Twilight? No, not really. Are you implying something?”

“I think I am.”

“Are you implying that I’m the one that wants to fuck you?”

“I think so.”

“Too bad.” She smiles almost evilly. “I'm only into mares, anyway.” She lets that sink in. The brief silence doesn’t really do much of anything. I think she was trying to make me regret what I said or something. “I think I could see you two going out, actually.” She breaks the silence she caused.

“I’ve actually got a date with another mare coming up.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Oh, really?” I don’t think she believes me. “Who’s the lucky mare? Princess Luna?”

“No. I have met her, though.”

“Okay, that’s bullshit.”

“Want me to get her in here?”

“Go ahead, Mark. Impress me.”

I smile. “Alright, Hammer. I will. Prepare to be impressed.” I grab a napkin and my pen.

Dear Princess Luna

As I’m sure you already know, I’m in the hospital because of a burn. That doesn’t really matter right now, though. I have a friend with me that doesn’t believe I’ve met you. Could you come and prove her wrong? My friend is Hammersmith Apollo, the new blacksmith in Ponyville

Mark Cleveland

I grab my lighter and set the napkin on fire. “What’s that going to do?” Hammer asks.

“Watch and learn, Mrs. Apollo. Watch and learn.”

“It’s just Ms. I’m not married. Single, actually.” She corrects. “Happily single, mind you. Don’t get any ideas.”

“I’ve already got a date. I told you.”

“With just one mare?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Wait, you don’t know? Have you been living under a rock?” Hammer asks with bewilderment. “There’s more mares than stallions in Equestria.”

“Yeah, I noticed.”

“Is it different for where you’re from?”

I shrug as best as I can. “Yeah. The male to female ratio on Earth is about 50/50. In most countries, guys can legally and morally be with only one girl, and vice versa.”

“That must have sucked for you.”

“Eh. Not really. I’ve had more than one girl. Only one at a time, though.” I rub the back of my head with my good hand. Sure I’ve been with a lot of girls, but the relationships haven’t ever really ended well or lasted very long. The long ones faded away and the short ones burned out. It’s better to burn out that it is to fade away.

Hammer nods slightly. “Yeah… Well, in Equestria, there’s like six times more mares than stallions.”

I lean back. “Okay, then. I’ll keep that in mind, Hammer.”

There’s a knock at the door. “Come in.” I say.

A purple aura covers the door knob. I know who’s behind it. I turn to Hammer. She’s looking at the door. As it opens, her eyes widen.

“Hello, Mark Cleveland.” Princess Luna says. “Hello, Hammersmith Apollo.”

In less than a second, Hammer jumps to the floor and bows to Luna. “At ease, Hammersmith. I’ve heard you doubt the friendship between Mark and I?”

“Uh… I…” She stumbles to find the right words. “I…”

Luna chuckles at Hammer. That laugh could stop wars. “Please, don’t worry. I won’t harm you. Treat me like you would treat any other pony.” She turns back to me. “Ah, but down to business. Let me see your hand.”

“Are you sure? It looks like shit.” I tell her. “Somepony’s supposed to come in soon and help heal it.”

“I know. Let me see your hand.” She repeats. Oh. I get what she’s saying. She’s going to help my hand. I didn’t expect Luna to be the best healer in Canterlot. I’d expect a doctor or a nurse to be the best.

I show her my hand. She unravels the wrapping around it. Hammer looks away. I’m not surprised. I think she’s seen enough of it already. Luna, however, seems deeply invested in my injury. I can’t take my eyes away from it.

“This will probably hurt, Mark.” Luna’s voice is calming. Her horn lights up and her aura surrounds my hand. The injury is slowly closing. I can feel a rush of… something going through my bloodstream. It might be Luna’s magic. Whatever it is, it feels awesome. I’m seeing fireworks in my eyes.

The feeling stops, but the fireworks keep going off. I can faintly hear Luna breathing heavily. It sounds like she was just running for a few kilometers nonstop. She says something after, but I can’t hear what it is.

“Mmhmm…” I look over to Luna. Her lips move. I can’t tell what she’s saying. I know almost nothing about lip reading, so that doesn’t help.

“Mark? Are you okay?” Her voice is finally able to be understood.

“Yeah.” I sound a bit different to myself. I sound like I just smoked marijuana and drank hot coffee. “Are you?”

Luna lets out a sigh of relief. “I almost thought I caused deafness… Thank the stars. It might be a side effect of the magic. I’ve heard you’re naturally resistant.”

Hammer tries to fight back a chuckle. “He’s not immune to fire.” Luna glares at her. “What?”

The Princess clears her throat and turns back to me. “I should probably tell you, Mark, that I’m not actually the best healer in Canterlot, much less Equestria. I was just the closest that happened to be skilled at healing. That, and your letter to me.” She says with a wink. If I had a dollar for every girl winked at me, I’d have fifty cents. "I must get back to my duties before too long. Goodbye for now, Mark and Hammersmith. I hope to see the two of you again soon." She leaves the room.

I turn to Hammer. She looks like someone famous talked to her. I guess it's not too far from the truth. “Damn… I guess you have met Princess Luna. Damn.” Her mouth is wide open enough to swallow a Greyhound bus. “Holy shit, Mark. How did you meet her?”

“When a creature that was once thought of as mythical is suddenly not mythical, ponies will want to meet them. The Princesses aren’t any exception.”

“Princesses? Plural? You’ve also met Celestia?” Her mouth widens even more. If it goes any farther, she’s probably going to break her jaw. It’s a good thing we’re in the hospital.

I nod. “Yep.”

“Wow.” She replies simply. “I’m going to have to hang out with you more often.”

“Feel free. You’re one of my friends.”

“You really think we’re friends? We’ve only known each other for a few days.”

I shrug. “True. But, you’ve been here longer than anypony else has.” She doesn’t reply to me. “You seemed really excited to meet Princess Luna.”

She nods fast enough that I half expect her head to fly off. “Oh yeah. It’s not everyday you meet a literal god.”

"I could argue against that." Epona comes to my mind. It's probably time to tell somepony about her. I mean, I can't keep her a secret forever. The sooner I talk about her the better, probably.

"What do you mean? I doubt you've seen the two every day since you've been here."

"It's a long story."

Hammer groans. "Dammit. Well, save it for later. I'll have to leave you alone in about half an hour. I've got to get back to the stall."

"Once I'm out of here, I'll visit you again. I don't think I'll work for you for a while, though. I only have so many hands."