The Man and The Moon

She left me alone under my tree I thought looking up at the star-filled sky of my dream space, the once sharp pain slowly turning dull, probably have the doctors to thank for that, drugs can work wonders when you need them to, odd though, how you can feel pain in your dreams, probably just a side effect of Luna entering them. My contemplating is interrupted, however, when I notice the leaves of my tree begin to fall. Then its branches, the whole tree began to wither like a flower I get up to get a better look at it and it's in an almost impossible shape, its branches, the ones that remained seemed to meld around it like the tree was trying to give itself a hug, it's once lush brown color now a sickly black and decaying. Backing away slowly I just stare at the once beautiful comfort providing tree, now becoming deathly as the ground began to shake, cracks forming on the once solid landmass as chunks began to fall into black nothingness and before I knew it, the tree I was captivated by began to disappear. I began my descent into darkness, as something spoke to me.

"My you're quite the unlucky one aren't you?" A smooth, deep but quiet voice followed me as I fell with a soft laughter.

"You don't know why you're here, do you? That's alright. You'll figure it out soon enough." The soft laugh turning into a howl of hysteria as the blackness consumes me further.

I shot up from my rest into an instant sitting position, ragged breathing, heart monitor going crazy, It takes me a second to realize that I was in a hospital and to calm down. It was five minutes before someone checked on me, though it felt longer just sitting there in the white empty room the only thing breaking the defining silence was the heart monitor, as I just sat there staring at the floor until someone came in. Her fur a bright white with a pink mane, her cutie-mark a red cross that matched her hat, her teal eyes looking at me with almost a motherly affection.

"You're up earlier than expected. Is everything alright?" Her soft voice carrying hints of nervousness and caring catching me off guard.

"Yeah, just some discomfort"

"Well, I'd imagine, you do have a few broken ribs." She trots over towards me and gently guides me to lay down. "Now, lay down and get comfortable, there are a few ponies that will want to see you but before I let them know, would you like something to eat?" I raise my hands in protest but before I can decline a loud growl is audible, prompting her to giggle. "I'll take that as a yes, I'll be right back." She exits the room with a slight smile, I turn my gaze to the clock above the door. 8:30 AM A sigh escapes my lips as I move around on the bed trying to get as comfortable as possible, then I just lay there watching the clock as it ticks the seconds away, 8:35 8:40 9:00 9:30 . I begin to wonder what's taking her so long, but I decide to be patient with them seeing as how I'm no longer on earth and they do things a lot different here. Probably. It wasn't until 9:40 when she came back.
"I'm so sorry for the wait, we had to make something special. Can't have a friend of the princess eating the regular hospital food now can we?" She hands me the plate, I eye it carefully, steak and eggs. Not what people would normally eat around this time but I can't complain, then I realize, I'm being served by ponies. Ponies are herbivores.
"Why do you carry steak? Or meat in general?" With an inquisitive tone, I raise an eyebrow.
"Well, sometimes we have griffon patients, it's rare but it happens, And twilight said that you were most likely omnivorous based on of your teeth so we cooked you steak and eggs, she also told me to tell you that before you asked, she just noticed it by talking to you." She flashes me a sheepish smile while going over to the desk and picking up her clipboard "Eat up, I'm going to let everypony know you're awake." She casually leaves without another word, I look at the food in front of me, the steam coming from the steak tickling my nose ever so slightly making my mouth water, I stab it with a fork and to my surprise, it passes through with almost no resistance, it cuts just as easily, as the first piece enters my mouth I'm hit with a burst of flavor, No hospital food has a right of being this good. And before I knew it everything was gone I don't think I even tasted it but as I mourn the loss of the best hospital food in history a rainbow streak flies through my window and crashes into the wall, cautiously I glance over to inspect the sudden disruption and what I see is Rainbow Dash who is currently recovering from her chance meeting to the wall but with a quick shake of her head she's back to standing and before I can blink she's standing at my bedside.

"Uh... You okay Rainbow?"

"Yeah! I'm fine but how are you? More importantly, what was that thing you used? It was awesome!" She flaps into the air as the others step in.

"Now Rainbow, let the pour fell'r relax a little, he just woke up ya know." Looking disappointed Rainbow slowly descended to ground level, as Twilight pipes up.

"While it is worth knowing I don't really think he's in any condition to really explain anything anyway."

"Oh, no I can" I interjected, slowly turning and removing the blanket. "Can't get into how the actual technology works or how it's built, but I can give you a general idea of how it works." Instantly I see the two light up as Twilight spawns a quill and paper, I sigh as I begin the explanation. "What it's called, is a Three-point Guillotine, how it works is that it uses three prisms that when placed on a surface they sink." Studying the two I notice Twilight furiously writing away as Rainbow just looks at me with her head cocked to the side. "If placed correctly, they send out a tether connecting the three, then It scans whoever is inside the area to get an approximate height and well, you saw what happens after the scan. It's most commonly used as a form of execution but with what I did back on my world it came in handy from time to time."

"Technology from the human world, ah so exciting! If I could recreate them then we wouldn't have to rely on magic fighting to fight monsters like that." She gasps as an idea pops into her mind, while I disagree with her proposal with inventing it here, It would be of use in a few situations.
"Welp, ya went and lost her. When Twi gets into her theory mode no pony can seem to snap her out of it. Gotta say though, that there technology is mighty impressive." Apple Jack gives a firm nod as Fluttershy floats over to me.
"Well, I think you were very brave, and kind too, with stopping Twilight from pushing herself and getting Me and Rarity back and fighting that mean Minatour all by yourself." She says playfully as she rubs a hoof through my hair. Normally I'd rebel and say something about being spoken to like this, but the yellow pone was cute, and damn if I ever got mad at cute. "Oh, how long does it take for human ribs to heal?"
"About six weeks if I don't do anything stupid, I just need pain meds, an ice pack, and a place where I can take it easy. Shame though, Luna said her sister wanted to meet me as soon as possible." And with that Twilight stabs the paper with the quill.
"What?! Luna said what?!"
"That her sister wanted to meet me as soon as possible? Why?"
"You don't just meet Celestia! You have to dress and act dignified, like a noble! And your only shirt got shredded by a Minotaur horn! Rarity, we need a dress suit for Edward as quickly as possible!" Even without knowing my measurements, Rarity making the wise decision of not pointing that out quickly nodded and galloped off to her boutique.
"Uh, sugar cube, I don't imagine that she'd care all too much." Being the voice of reason, Apple Jack puts a hoof over Twilight's shoulders. "Yes he needs new clothes, but a dress suit sounds a bit overkill don't ya think? Why we never dress all fancy like when we meet the princesses." She laughs as she shoots me a smile and Twilight looks at the ground embarrassed. "So why don't we get ya over to Rarity's to get you some new duds."

---><---

After what felt like hours Rarity finally had all the measurements she needed, as she began to make my clothing, Twilight and the others escorted me back to the castle, everyone leaving as we neared their respective houses, leaving me with Twilight.
"Uh... Hey Edward?"
"Yeah?"
"I uh.." Looking down at the floor and away from me, she inches one of her forelegs with a hoof while she tries to find the right words. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I blew up like that, I was just nervous about you meeting Celestia and well... Yeah"
"Why were you nervous? I mean yeah, I'm meeting royalty but that shouldn't make you nervous."
"I always get nervous when my friends meet Celestia." Finally looking back up at me, but still rubbing her foreleg. "I don't exactly handle being nervous well either..."
"Back up a second. I'm your friend?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, you've known me for a week, three days of which I was asleep and the other two all I did was squat at your house. No offense I just think it's a bit too soon for you to call me friend." Sitting on a couch, I lean back as far as possible while still being relaxed. "Get to know me a bit more before you make that call."
"I know enough about you to make that decision already." Sounding offended Twilight stomps a hoof as she speaks with a stern but caring tone. "You were quick to accept this world which I am sure you feel alienated, you were kind enough to stop me from using my damaged horn, you even told us how the Three-Point Guillotine works!"
"Twilight, this might just be a human thing, but being quick to accept and a couple acts of kindness doesn't make you friends. It takes time and effort to build relationships like that if you're lucky to even have them in the first place. Now you ponies are all generally nice characters, at least from what I've seen walking around town and personal experience, but where I'm from... It just doesn't work like that." Biting the inside of my cheek, I turn my head to face her, her face clearly showing confusion in attempting to understand that Human's aren't as friendly as ponies, eventually, I let out a tired sigh. "But..... If you genuinely feel like you can call me a friend based off of what I've done thus far, then you can."
"Really?! Thank you thank you thank you!" I could've sworn that simple comment made her day, I chuckle in reaction before remembering my invitation.
"Twilight?"
"Yes?"
"Could you write to the princesses for me and tell them it'll be about six weeks before I can make that visit?"
"Why, certainly."