Rebirth

The sheer silence of the forest is deafening. I can't hear anything other than my heartbeat. Nothing. Not even the wildlife of the Everfree. It might as well be completely empty. The silence reminds me of when I first came to Equestria. I might be the only living creature in the entire forest. I hope I am. After that cock-a-whatever tried to kill me, I'd love to be the only living thing in a hundred kilometer radius.

I look up at the sky. I think that's the first time something tried to kill me. Sure, I've been bitten by spiders and stung by wasps, but I'm pretty sure I was just in their territory. The same could be said with the chicken fucker, but it didn't have to try to turn me into fucking stone.

There was also that timberwolf in Everfree. That thing had a lot of chances to kill me, but it didn't take any. It was being territorial like the spiders and wasps, but it didn't kill me.

To accurately describe being stuck away from anything living? It fucking sucks. My fate reminds me of a book I read a long time ago. I don't remember what it was called, but a soldier in the first World War was caught in some kind of explosion. It didn't kill him, but it damaged him to the point where he lost all his limbs and practically all his face. His mind still worked perfectly. I feel kind of like that guy, but I've got it slightly better.

I hear shouting in the distance. I turn to the source. I faintly see Rainbow Dash flying and Twilight sprinting towards me as fast as they can. They get here within five minutes.

The two stop when they get to me. Twilight looks at my legs, then back to my face. "Rainbow told me exactly what happened. I'm going to bring you to my home so I can help you."

I'm being flooded with relief. "How are you even going to get me there? I'm at least twice your weight, Twilight."

She glares at me. She turns to a nearby rock. Her horn lights up. The rock does too. It floats in the air.

I look at the rock with a blank expression. "Oh. I forgot about that. Think it can pick me up?" Her only response is covering me with her aura. I float easily off the ground. Twilight's expression doesn't change. "I take that as a 'yes.'" I say to her.

Twilight carries me through Ponyville with Rainbow following us. Since it's still night, there aren't a lot of ponies out in town. The few that are just look at the strange sight without saying a word.

"When you get better, let me know." Rainbow says to me. She flies off towards her house in the clouds before I get a chance to reply.

I really don't like this lack of communication Rainbow and I are having. The only chances we've had to talk a lot were on our two dates. Sure, they were good conversations, but they shouldn't be saved for special occasions.

Twilight opens her door, seemingly ignoring what Rainbow just said to me. She carries me through the short halls and into her library. She sets me on a comfortable couch that I barely fit in. At least it's comfortable on my back. I don't have any feeling in my legs.

Twilight sighs and stares intently at my grey-colored legs. The stone is even covering my jeans. If Rarity sees these, she's going to be pissed. "Can't you do something about my legs?" I ask her.

"I'm thinking of something I can do. I'm not a doctor... I might know a spell." She replies.

"Use it. It can't make my legs any worse."

Twilight aims her horn at my legs. Both light up in her aura. It feels like my legs are getting blood in them after hours of having no circulation. The two of us watch as my legs slowly regain their color.

Twilight looks up at me. "Try to move your legs." She orders.

I do as she asks. The joints at the thighs move with some difficulty and a lot of pain. My knees and ankles aren't so lucky. They're stuck. Almost like they were just fucking stone a few hours ago. "I can't move my knees or ankles."

Twilight exhales through her nose. She looks back at my legs. "Huh..." She says under her breath. She looks back up to me. "I'm not a doctor or anything, but I think you'll need crutches and physical therapy for a while."

I lean back and fight back a groan. "Fuck... Alright."

She gives me a slight scowl. Probably because of what I said. If that's the case, I'm not going to apologize for that. "I'm going to take you to the hospital tomorrow, Mark."

I exhale. Can I go one week without being put into the hospital? "If I wasn't practically paralyzed, I'd do something to stop you." I tell her. She half smiles. The grin drops just as soon as it appeared.

"Do you think there's any damage inside my legs or anything?"

She shakes her head. "It's not very likely. I've never seen any cockatrices cause internal injuries." She shudders.

If my legs weren't stuck, I'd lean towards her and pull her into a hug. "Have you... Seen one before?" I ask. Her only response is a slight nod. That's all I need to know what happened. I don't want to know what it's like to be completely turned to stone. "Then I'm glad Rainbow killed that one." I say. That gets a smile out of Twilight.

"As much as I want to talk with you," Twilight says, "I'm going to need to sleep. I'm exhausted. Tomorrow's going to be a busy day. I've got to get enough sleep for my... For my thing." She adds in a yawn.

"Alright. Good night, Twilight." I say. That triple rhyme was unintentional. "I'll just sleep on your couch, I guess."

"Night." She rubs her eye and heads to her room.

Hours pass by slowly. I've got a great view of a window displaying the night sky. It's a shame my date was rudely interrupted. I'm going to ask Rainbow on another date. I'd like to have one here where neither I nor nopony else is injured. It's depressing that a lack of violence is my goal for the next date and not necessarily having it be romantic. It's hard to find a good story with violence and romance in it.

A soft clopping of hooves on crystal separates me from my thoughts. I turn my head from the window to the source to see Twilight.

"You're still up?" She asks while rubbing an eye.

I nod. "Yep. I can't sleep."

"Insomnia?"

I shake my head. "I don't have insomnia, no. I'm just not tired." I reply. I think the cockatrice is to blame.

Twilight grunts softly. "I can't sleep either." She admits. "The bed just isn't comfortable." She looks up at me with puppy dog eyes.

"Are you asking to sleep on the couch with me?" I ask. She turns her head away. "If that's a yes, then you can." I shift my weight so there's more room on the couch.

She turns back to me. I see part of a blush on her face. It's hard to see in this lighting, not to mention the color of her coat. Twilight wordlessly jumps up on the couch next to me.

"Mark?" Twilight asks softly.

"Yeah, Twilight?"

"Do you ever... Miss your home? Where you used to be? Before Equestria?" She asks.

I look her in the eyes. I have to thing about that. "You know, Twilight, that's the first time anypony's asked me that." I admit to her. I lean back the best I can and sigh. "I don't think I have an answer, honestly. I haven't even thought about it..." I admit. I think that's the worst possible answer for this question.

I look at Twilight. She looks like she's about to fall asleep any second. She blinks. "I'll ask again in the mornin'." She yawns and closes her eyes. Her head flops onto my chest. "Night, Mark." She says right before she passes out.

I smile at the adorable sight. "Night, Twi." I wipe a few hairs from her eyes. I lean my head back and close my eyes. I wish I could fall asleep like that tonight.

Twilight yawns herself awake. She slowly brings herself off my chest and wipes something out of her eyes. "Hi, Twilight." I say to her.

She literally jumps off the couch and into the air. She notices this at her peak and starts hovering with the aid of her wings. She looks at me with panic in her eyes. Her expression melts with a sigh of relief. "I forgot you were there." She admits with a smile. Twilight lands next to the couch. "Can you move your legs?"

I try to move them. They do, but it hurts a lot to move them. I say this to Twilight. I stretch my arms. "My legs'll get better later. How'd you sleep?"

She pulls her eyes from my legs. "That was my best night's rest I've had in months." She tells me. "I had an amazing dream, too."

I look at her and wait for her to tell me about it. "You're not going to tell me, aren't you?"

Twilight blushes deeply. Her face turns to the shade of a ripe jalapeno pepper. "You wouldn't understand it!" She says hastily. It's almost a shout. "I mean... You haven't been around Equestria enough."

"I haven't even been in Equestria for a month." I say. "There's kind of a reason why I haven't seen much of the place."

"One of these days, I'm going to show you the world."

"Got any time in mind?"

"Whenever you're ready." Twilight says.

I lean back in the couch. I'm glad I was sent to a world filled with such kind creatures. It's probably one of the best places I could have been sent to. It's not a utopia, but it's pretty close to one. I think Equestria would be better with modern Earth technology or something similar to it.

That reminds me... "Twilight?" I ask. She looks up me. "Are there any refrigerators in Equestria?"

She tilts her head slightly. "A what?"

I take that as a 'no.' "Is there something I can put foods and drinks and shit like that to cool them down? To preserve them? I've got a whole bunch of wine that'll go bad if I leave it out in the sun."

She rubs her muzzle. "Not that I know of. I can make something for you, though."

"I didn't know you were a construction worker."

"I'm not." She clarifies with a smile. That's not very reassuring.

"As long as it doesn't fuck up the atmosphere, I think it'll be okay, then."

"I don't see why it would." Twilight replies after half a second of hesitation. "I'm going to get that done now. I'll be getting materials for it. I'll be back in half an hour." She lights up her horn and some saddlebags that were outside my field of vision float onto her back.

I nod in understanding. "Thanks, Twilight. If you see the blacksmith, Hammersmith Apollo, tell her I said hi."

"I will." She says. "I think I'll be stopping by there anyway. She makes tools, right?"

"Yep. Some damn fine ones, too." I say. I don't know if that's true for certain. I still haven't used that hammer I bought from her yet. There's no harm in a little advertisement for Hammer's business, though.

Twilight grins. "Then I'll be stopping by there. I'll be back soon." She says. I bid her a temporary farewell before she leaves the room.

I sigh. And now to pass the time. This time's different from last night. I actually had something to listen to. Twilight's breathing isn't exactly Judas Priest, but it's better than nothing. Speaking of that, where the hell is my iPod? I check my pockets. Empty.

Shit. I left it at home.

The door opens. "I'm back." Twilight says to me. Her saddlebags are filled with a bunch of stuff I can't see.

I let out a deep sigh of relief. "Thank all the deities above!" I nearly shout. "And whatever deities may be below. And the ones on this planet. Holy fuck, Twilight. You had no idea how bored I was."

Twilight raises an eyebrow. "Did Spike not come out?"

I shake my head. "No. I haven't seen him in a while, honestly. Not since..." I struggle to remember the last time I saw that little dragon. "Canterlot, I think. When I first visited the other Princesses."

Twilight takes her saddlebags off. "Have you met Princess Cadence yet?"

Shit. How many Princesses are there here? "Not yet."

"I'm going to have to arrange a meeting for you two sometime soon." Twilight says softly. I can tell that was to herself and I wasn't intended to hear it.

Twilight opens her saddlebags. "So what did you get?" I ask. Twilight replies by emptying the saddlebags. Inside was a surprising amount of wood, a hammer, a bag, and several transparent bags of ice. "How did you fit all that stuff in there?"

"Eh..." Twilight responds. She's like Robert Frost when it comes to phrasing things. "I got these saddlebags from Pinkie." She suddenly looks exhausted. She stretches her rear legs. "Anyway, I'm going to start building your... What did you call it?"

"Refrigerator." I say.

Twilight snorts. "That's a strange word for what you want. I'd call it an insulator or maybe a cooler."

"There are coolers on Earth." I say. I don't think I've heard of an insulator before. I know that's what fridges and coolers do, but I've never heard of anything actually called that before. "How are you going to make the ice last? I don't want to have to get a bunch of ice every time it melts."

"Let me actually build this cooler before we get to that, okay? I have an idea." Twilight says.

"You're going to build it yourself?"

Twilight nods. "Yep. I asked the blacksmith to help me. She told me, and I quote, 'I'm a blacksmith, not a carpenter.' Of course, she was a bit more... vulgar with her phrasing."

I suppress a giggle. That sounds like what Hammer would say. "Alright, then. I'd offer to help, but..." I gesture to my legs.

Twilight builds the cooler in less than forty minutes. That might sound impressive, but it really isn't. The cooler is only about the size of Twilight. I could build one in half the time.

Twilight pours the ice inside the cooler and casts a spell on it. She turns to me.

“With this spell, the ice melts ten times slower than usual in room temperature.” Twilight leans in towards me slightly. “Actually, between the two of us, it’s only eight times slower. Saying ten just sounds better.”

“I can’t argue against that.” I say. “I wish I could pay you back. Whenever I get better, do you want to stop by my place for coffee? I can put something in it this time.”

“No thanks, I’ll pass.” Twilight says rather quickly. She must have really hated that coffee.

I shrug. "Suit yourself then."

Twilight looks down at the ground. "I wish you worded that differently. 'Whenever I get better' sounds so... negative." I raise an eyebrow. It doesn't sound very negative to me. Twilight looks back up at me. "I'm going to send you to physical therapy."

'Therapy.' Fuck that. "I'm fine." I say and cross my arms.

"Are you?" Twilight asks with skepticism and suspicion. "Then stand up."

I glare at her. "You're not my mom, nor am I your bitch."

She returns my glare. "Mark. Go to physical therapy. You need it."

"I told you I'm fine."

"You sound just like Rainbow Dash."

"I don't need physical therapy."

"Then come over here and say it to my face." Twilight bares her teeth. If they were sharp, they would be threatening.

I fake yawn. "I thought we already established that you aren't my mom and I'm not your bitch."

"Mark. You're acting like a child."

"I don't need physical therapy." I repeat.

"Thank you for proving my point." She says.

"I'm not moving."

She rubs her temple and sighs. "Alright, Mark. You win." She admits. I smile. "Do you want to go out for ice cream?"

I drop my smile. "I'm not falling for that."

She lets out a groan of frustration. "Damn you!" She shouts at me. "I'm done trying to use words!" Her horn lights up. I do to.

"You cheating little shi-" I start. She interrupts me by locking my jaw with her magic. I glare at her. Twilight starts walking towards the door. I float off the couch and towards the door. I feel like a balloon.