The Voices (In My Head Again)

Sketch tosses and turns in his bed as he can’t sleep, he stares at the ceiling as he goes over for the hundredth time in his head how he died . Why am I here? What brought me here? He thinks to himself as if going over it again would change anything about the predicament he’s in. His first thoughts are about his friends and family, if he died that would just crush them, but he wasn't dead, he was here in a world full of sentient ponies. It wasn’t bad but he missed his own room, as small as it was, it was his room with his parents, they would now remember him by his tombstone and at his wake rather than a dreary funeral.

He rolls out of bed, the moon still high in the sky, he heads for where he thinks the throne room is, shouldn’t be hard to find, right? He thinks to himself as he opens the large ornate doors to the hallway.

“Luna? Are you there?” Sketch calls out hoping to find the princess.

“What do you require, is your room adequate?” She asks as he wanders into the throne room.

“Yeah, it’s just that I want to talk to you about what happened. Is that okay?”

“That is acceptable.” The princess of the night answers politely.

“It’s just that I died and I can’t get over it, sure I saved someone but-”

“Well, assuming death is not a normal occurrence for you, I fail to see how anyone could possibly ‘get over’ their own death in the span of a few hours. If you saved someone in your death should you not be proud that you sacrificed yourself to save another and will be remembered as a hero?” Luna answers looking back positively on what he said.

“I guess so, but I still keep replaying in my head what I could have done to avoid it. Not that you aren’t good company, it’s just that I want to go home.”

“I understand the need for kinship as much as anyone.”

“Then you see my problem, can I even go home or would my soul just be transferred to my dead body where I would still be dead?”

“That... is not for me to know, unfortunately. There is an unorthodox unsummoning ritual, but if it fails, or you are already where you’re supposed to be, you would definitely be dead.”

“Okay, but can you do me a favor?”

“Yes? What is it?”

“Can you keep me company?”

“I suppose I can do that,” Luna answers kindly. “Though the night court might be a trifle... boring for you, and I can’t leave my post until morning.”

“I’m okay with waiting and being a bit bored, I spent a lot of time in a hospital so the night court as you call it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Despite his assumption, however, the next group to enter the throne room are there to discuss politics of the current economic standing of a city Sketch had never heard of and that made it hard for him to follow along with everything. Becoming lost very quickly, soon finds himself drifting off while sitting next to the blue alicorn.

As the moon sets and the sun rises Sketch sleeps away the hours in the throne room as Celestia enters.

“Sister, who is this?” Celestia asks cautiously as she looks to Luna, then down at Sketch sleeping next to their shared throne.

“Tis our new guest, he appeared in the garden last night and couldn’t sleep so he wanted to spend some time in my company.”

Celestia blinks as if she might still be asleep. “And... how did he get here? Do you know?”

“He said he died and ended up in the garden somehow, neither I nor the guards are quite sure what brought him here but we are sure that he can stay here for a while with minimal trouble, although we don’t know what he eats…”

Celestia ponders the possibilities. He looks rather hairless but built like a Diamond Dog for the most part. “Well, it might be best if we tried offering fruit first if he’s starving. Otherwise, we could suggest options to him. Though the extremes of an herbivorous or carnivorous diet would be good to note. So you say he... died?”

“Yes, he apparently saved someone and then died, not sure how, but he did have a clear memory of his final moments,” Luna adds.

“Maybe his actions brought him here dear sister, did he say exactly what happened?”

“No, just him saving the other caused his demise and then his sudden appearance here somehow.”

“Okay, but did he really have to fall asleep in the throne room?” Celestia asks as she looks to the puddle of drool on the carpet next to the throne.

“He couldn’t sleep so he stayed with me all night.”

“Even through the night court?”

“Yes.”

“Hehe, he must be exhausted from all that then, have the guards take him to his room… it is a he, right?”

“Indeed.”

And with that, the guards take Sketch to his room and put him on his bed so that he may rest and get some much-needed sleep.