He awoke an unknown amount of time later in a hospital bed. When he opened his eyes he noticed that it was nighttime. He looked around and realised that he could move his head slightly. The room was quite large and he noticed that he was the only one in it. The walls looked to be made of white marble and the ceiling seemed to stretch on forever. Although it could just be a trick of the light as the only source was the moon light flooding in from the large window to his right.

“Well at least I can move my head a little.” He said out loud and his eyes widened.

“I can talk?” Relief washed over him as he realised that the paralysis might be temporary. This however did nothing to help him figure out where he was. He needed to talk to someone.

“HELLO! IS ANYONE THERE?” He heard something outside the room, but it quickly faded and soon everything was quiet again.

“HELLO!” He called out again, but was met with silence. A few moments later, no one had shown up so he decided that he ought to get some rest. Hopefully he could talk to someone the next morning and get some answers. Just as he was about to fall asleep he heard voices accompanied by sound of hoofs on stone coming from outside the room.

When the door to his room opened the light that flooded in made him squint his eyes. He opened his eyes and saw a female pony that had white fur and a bright red mane tied up in a tight pony tail. She was wearing a nurse outfit. He noticed that she had neither wings nor horn. She was flanked on either side by ponies in golden armor and each of them had a horn sticking out of the forehead. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again. Unsure what to say. He was about to try again when the nurse pony reached the bed and spoke.

“Hi there. Can you hear me?” She was mere inches away from him. She had huge green eyes and smelled like flowers. Her voice was soft and caring.

“ehh...yes?” He said a little hesitantly. He wanted to dismiss this entire event as a dream, but something in the back of his mind told him that this was simply to vivid. He could feel every part of his body and he could feel the air of every breath.

“You don’t have to be scared. I won’t hurt you.” She turned to the two guards. “Leave the room so I can examine my patient in piece.” The guards looked a bit hesitant before addressing her.

“We have orders that he is not to be left alone with anypony.” They stated firmly.

‘Anypony...seriously? What is this? A kids show?’ He thought to himself as he watched the exchange between the nurse and the guards.
“That may well be, but I have the authority to overrule such an order if I feel that it is interfering with my medical work and right now I need a few moment alone with my patient. So if you would be so kind as to wait outside for a while.” She stated in a calm manner. The guards looked at each other before excusing themselves. As soon as the door closed the nurse turned around and talked to the man in bed.

“There, now that that is over, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Red Hoof and I’m your nurse for the evening. What is your name?” His gaze lingered on the door for a few moments before returning his focus to Red Hoof.

“ehh...My name is Michael Happer.” He paused for a moment before speaking again. “Can I ask what is going on? Where am I? How did I get here? Why am I paralyzed? Why are they guarding me? Am I a prisoner? Why?” He was about to continue when Red Heart put a hoof on his lips. He froze. He could feel the hard surface of the hoof and a faint smell of dust that came of of it. This wasn’t a dream, but how? He started to panic, but was stopped when he heard the nurse speak again.

“SShh...Take a deep breath and calm down.” He did as he was told and after a few moments he managed to calm down. When she was sure that he wouldn’t panic she spoke again “You are in the Canterlot hospital and I don’t know how you got here Michael or why you are under supervision by the royal guards. All I know is that you were brought into the hospital about 13 hours ago. You were almost completely paralysed and unconscious and it still unclear why. The good news is that the paralysis seems to be temporary. The doctor estimated that you’re going to be back on you feet in 2 weeks at the most.” She took a breath before she continued. “Now I’m just gonna do some test and then I’ll leave so you can get some rest.” When she finished a few moments later Michael decided to ask her one more question.

“What’s gonna happen when I’m leaving this hospital? Is there someone that I can talk to so that I can get some answers as to how I ended up here?” Red Hoof looked at him and answered calmly.

“You should focus on your recovery at the moment, but I do know that princess Celestia has requested an audience with you as soon as you’re feeling better. If anyone can help you, it’s her”

“Is she the one with white fur and a multi colored mane? I think she also had a golden crown and a kind of...ornament, I guess, around her neck.” Michael asked. Red Hoof gave him a curious look.

“You’re really not from around here are you?” She said as she raised an eyebrow. “But yes, she is the one with “white fur and multi colored mane” as you put it.” Michael chuckled a little nervously.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to insult anyone. I’m just...I don’t know...confused?”
She gave him a sympathetic look. “It’s quite alright, but do be careful about how you speak about her. Some ponies can be a bit...over reactive let’s just say. Now, time for some rest. I'll be here the rest of the night of you need anything.” She said with a tone of finality as she turned to leave.

He lay there in the dark a while as he tried to process the events of the day. There was surprisingly little doubt in his mind that he hasn't been dreaming. All the sensations had felt so real. Everything from the soreness in his muscles from laying down for more than 13 hours, the feeling of Red hoofs touch. He also remembered the texture of Princess...what was her name again?...Skellefteå?...Celsius? Any way. The texture of her horn was to vivid for a dream. At least in Michael's experience.

The question then remained;

How the f**k did he get here?
Could he get back home somehow?

Needles to say, he didn't get much sleep that night.

The following days he recovered more and more from his paralysis and after 4 days he could move his upper body without problem. His legs still refused to respond to his commands. This made him somewhat frustrated, but he was glad that it was getting better by each day and he seemed to recover almost twice as fast as the doctors had predicted.

During these days he had learned a bit more about where he was. He had learned that there are 4 kinds of ponies in Equestria. They where pegasus ponies that had the ability to control the weather, there were earth ponies that didn't have wings or horns. Most of them worked with farming or something nature related and had great natural strength and stamina. Then there were the unicorns with the ability to wield magic. Michael had been skeptical about the Pegasus ability to control the weather and if he hadn't gotten the opportunity to witness some of the unicorn doctors and nurses use magic, he would have flat out dismissed it entirely, but the one thing he absolutely refused to believe was that princess Celestia along with her sister, Princess Luna, had the ability to control the sun and the moon respectively. They were also 2 of only 3 alicorns in existence. Alicorns had characteristics of all 3 kinds of ponies.

Another thing that confused Michael were the tattoos on all the ponies flanks. Apparently they were called cutie mark and it somehow symbolised a pony's greatest talent or something like that.

He was currently reading a book about various creatures that resides both within and outside of Equestria. If the book were to be believed, Equestria was home to a myriad of creatures that would be classified as mythological back home. The mere fact that he had gotten used to interacting with unicorns and the occasional pegasus was astounding to him.

His musings were interrupted when the door opened and he saw miss Red Hoof enter with his breakfast.
She smiled as she approached him.

“Good morning Michael. How are you today?” Michael put the book down on his nightstand.

“Quite good actually. My legs are still refusing to move though.” He said with a hint of frustration.

“Oh you shouldn't fret over it. You have recovered a lot faster than the doctor predicted. I'm sure the legs will function again soon.” She said as she put down his breakfast. It was a simple breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs, a glass of water and an apple.

Michael had been glad his mouth had been working when they had tried to serve some kind of hay based food to him. He should have realised that they wouldn't be omnivores. Strangely though they ate eggs. Which worked out nicely for him. As Red Hoof started doing her check up, Michael quickly finished his breakfast before he decided to share a thought with her.

“Do you know when I'm going to be able to see the princess? Because I had a thought.” Red Hoof looked up at him.

“Oh, and what might that be?” She said as she gave him a curious look.

“Maybe I should see her before I'm fully recovered. Let me finish.” He added when he noticed that she was about to protest. “If I were to go see her in my current state it would show her that I trust her and to be honest I'm getting restless from not leaving this room for 4 days.” He looked down at the nurse and saw very thoughtful expression on her face. “Soo...Does it sound like a good idea?” She was silent for a moment before she spoke.

“That...is actually a really good idea. It would do you good to get out of here.” She said with smile. “Of course, the princess could be very busy regardless, but I suppose it could be worth a shot. I'll make sure that she gets a request as soon as I'm done with my morning round.”

“That sounds good, but could I possibly be allowed outside of this room anyway?” She sighed a little.

“I can't guarantee anything. The guards are under order to make sure you remain in here, but maybe I can persuade the princess that you leaving the hospital is a medicinal necessity.” She added with a wink as she took the empty breakfast tray and headed for the door.

Michael decided to return to his book as soon as she left the room. It was odd, but he started to enjoy himself a little in this strange new world. He did however miss his family and friends. When, or rather, if he ever managed to get home, they would never believe him.

He sighed. ‘I really hope that the princess can help me.’

Author's Note

Disclaimer: I do not own Hasbro's My little pony
Claimer: I own my OC character Michael Happer