Painful Reprieve

Chapters

Prologue
Unplanned Guest
Lab Rat
Horned
Somnambulant Tea Party
When In Doubt...
...Blame Discord
A New Friend
Revelations
Professor Lyra Heartstrings
Special Agent Sweetie Drops

Prologue

The room was silent except for the tick-tock of the clock on the wall, it's size cozy and neat. Bookshelves lined the wall filled with books and titles like "Grief Through the Years" and "Eating Disorders". I was sitting on a leather couch, trying to avoid making eye contact with the grey-haired man. He sat opposite of me in a grey recliner and looked at me with a neutral expression. The silence was filled with anticipation as he leaned forward, carefully considering his words.

"Do you think you're ready to go back to work?" He asked.

The clock reverberated in the room as I took in a deep breath and sighed. "I don't know. I... I just feel numb. It's hard to find a reason to even get up in the morning." I said dejectedly while rubbing the back of my neck.

The man leaned back, answering with care. "Do you have family or friends to talk to? It's important that you talk about this. What you're going through is normal." He said with practiced concern.

I put my face in my hands and let out a sob. "That's just it doc, I don't have anyone left." I stifled a sob as the grey-haired man continued.

"Are you still taking your medication?"

I looked up at him. My eyes were moist, and I sniffed. He was looking at me with sympathy, like a father would look at a son who just hurt himself. I nodded slowly. He continued. "It's important that you keep your mind busy. I think going back to work will be good for you." He smiled reassuringly. His years of practice made it difficult to discern if it was genuine.

There was a long pause as his words echoed through my mind. I thought about my work and of my old life. Thinking about going back to the office burned. My anxiety rose as I thought about being around my co-workers. What would they have to say when I returned? Who would I come home to? He must have saw something on my face because the grey haired man spoke, shaking me out of my own head.

"What are you thinking right now?" he asked as he leaned forward.

I took a tissue from the side-table and dabbed at the tears running down my face. "I'm thinking about my empty house. How I have no one to come home to."

For the first time, the grey haired man lost his composure, sadness and concern could be read on his face. "Its important that you carry on those good memories you have. This isn't your fault and there are people that care about you. Just because your house is empty now, doesn't mean you keep your heart closed off. You need to talk to people." He paused. I knew what was coming. "You know I have to ask you this question. Do you feel like harming yourself or others?" He looked at me with a serious expression.

"No,--" I said curtly while shaking my head.

"Well Charlie, I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Same time next week?" He asked, smiling weakly. I nodded slowly, staring at my feet. "And Charlie?" he said expectantly, waiting for me to make eye contact. I looked up with a blank expression.

"Please call me if you need anything." He stood up and held his hand out to shake. I shook his hand and he patted me on the shoulder. I half-smiled at him before turning to walk away.

The house was dark and silent as I closed the front door behind me. A pang of despair sunk into my stomach. There was no one to greet me at the door. Just a lingering silence that clung to the air. I almost didn't bother turning the light on, but I thought better of it not wanting to trip in the darkness. Mechanically I put my shoes away and locked the door behind me. I looked around longing for a far-off sound of laughter.

I sighed and walked into the entryway. I could feel a rush of memories clawing to break the surface, but I held them back. I had taken the picture frames off the walls, but the empty spots served just as well of a reminder that something wasn't right. The house was immaculate like I had left it, save for a fine layer of dust beginning to settle.

I made my way into the kitchen. Thinking about cooking was a far off notion. I grabbed a can of tuna out of the pantry. I popped the can open, drained the water out, and put it at the head of the table. I sat down thoughtlessly and stared at my dinner.

'Bon Appétit'

I ate alone silently. I could feel myself on the edge of a breakdown, but if I remained detached, I could cope. I took a deep breath, focusing on the taste. It was bland, fishy, and wet. I shook my head as I finished the last of it. I threw the can away and prepared myself.

Walking to the bedroom was the hardest part. The master bedroom was at the end of the main hallway. I took a deep breath and walked to the first closed door on the right. I stopped and stared at the knob. I had kept it closed to keep the memories in, but they seemed to be escaping. I swallowed hard and continued walking.

I walked through the master bedroom doorway and flicked on the light. The queen-sized bed offered me no comfort as I began to get ready for bed. I walked past an empty dresser. There was a broken picture frame lying face down on it. Each object offered me a quick memory that I had to intentionally stifle unless I wanted to tear up.

I walked into the master bath but quickly averted my gaze from the mirror as I fixed myself a shower. The water was warm and soothing as I cleared my head.

'Just another day. One more day. One step at a time' I repeated internally as I opened the foggy medicine cabinet. I looked at the pill bottles and a fleeting thought passed through my head.
'It would be so easy to just end it right here' I shook my head and reprimanded myself. That's not what they would have wanted. I quickly took my prescribed medications before I could think anything else. Eventually I was able to make my way to bed. As I slipped under the covers, I glanced at the empty side of the bed and frowned. A few moments passed as I felt the medicine kick in and my eyelids fell. Hopefully a dreamless sleep.

I was in a black endless void surrounded by a cacophony of faint whispers all trying to get my attention at once. There were so many that I couldn’t make out what any of them were saying. I looked down to see I didn’t have a body.

‘Is this some kind of nightmare?’

The strange thing was I felt surprisingly present. Most dreams you feel fuzzy and incoherent, but I was lucid. I was aware that I was dreaming. The whispers were hitting a crescendo. They enveloped me like an ocean of sound, endless and fluid flowing into each other. If I tried to focus one it would dip back into the sea.

Slowly the whispers began to die, until there was finally silence. A deep cloying silence, and then a deep comforting voice filled my ears, as if coming from every direction and nowhere at once. I looked around but saw nothing.

“Charlie, a terrible fate has befallen you.”

I had that strange feeling I was being watched as the voice continued.

“I do not envy your circumstances. I am here to make a deal.”

“Who are you? What do you mean?” I asked with a hint of fear in my voice.

“Who I am is not important. I’m here to offer you a new life, but there are...prices to be paid. Something can’t come from nothing after all.”

My eyes widened. I was dreaming so this wasn’t real. My subconscious must be playing games with me. Did I check the expiration date on that tuna? It was at that moment the voice chuckled.

“Charlie, you may be in a dream, but the choice you make here will have very real consequences. If you accept my… gift. You will be given a new life without the emotional pain and anguish you are living with now. You will keep your memories, but the heartache you feel will be gone.”

He paused for dramatic effect.

“But there has to be an equivalent exchange. You will temporarily suffer great physical pain. The world as you know it will change. Once you make this agreement, there will be no going back. Everyone you know and love will be gone forever.”

As I listened, I was unsure what to make of all this. Was this real? If I did take this seriously, at what lengths would I go to escape my living nightmare? What did the voice mean by ‘physical pain’? A scroll of parchment appeared in front of me in a burst of green flame, surprising me out of my thoughts.

“Do you agree to make a deal to escape what haunts you?” The voice boomed. A pen appeared in front of me. I didn’t have any hands, but I could move the pen with my mind. I studied the parchment. It was filled with unfamiliar symbols I could not comprehend with a line at the bottom for me to sign.

I thought about the pain and grief. I thought about the loss and the anxiety. Flashes of hopelessness and despair went through my head. I was powerless against a sea of self-loathing and doubt. This was just a dream, but it felt awfully real. Even if this was real, an escape would be welcomed.

Without hesitating I signed the contract. Upon finishing my signature, the parchment and pen erupted in flames.

“Very well.” The voice seemed pleased. “The contract has been signed. When you wake up, you will go through the trials of a second chance. There is no going back now. It’s time to wake up Charlie.”

The black void I was in began to shake and crumble as a bright light enveloped the horizon. Like a supernova, it drew closer and enveloped me with its radiant glow.

Author's Note

My first story on a site like this. Please feel free to leave constructive criticism. I'm new to writing fanfiction.

Unplanned Guest

Fluttershy was trotting outside her cottage with a basket of carrots in her mouth. She was quietly humming to herself blissfully as she looked up at the humming birds buzzing around her head. It was another beautiful day in Ponyville. She had followed the path to a small burrow of bunnies. Upon hearing Fluttershy humming, four bunnies came out sniffing the air.

Fluttershy set the basket down by their hole and smiled. "Well hello there little ones. I brought you some nice carrots for your family." She took the carrots out and placed them in front of the bunnies. "Eat up my cute little bunnies." She cooed as she nuzzled the bunnies with her muzzle. She grabbed the basket and turned to head back when she thought she saw a flash of light off in the distance. The humming birds flying around her head tensed, and looked at Fluttershy hesitantly.

"Did you see that too?" She asked. The humming birds nodded. Fluttershy looked in the direction she saw the flash. The smell of burnt grass reached her nose. "Uh Oh, that smells like fire!" Her eyes widened as she saw some smoke in the distance. She spread her wings to take flight. "If that's a fire, I should go make sure there aren't any creatures in trouble."

Fluttershy flew off in the direction of the smoke. As she drew closer, she couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. It brought her to the very edge of the Everfree. She had to squint to see what looked like a black circle in the grass. Her confusion intensified when she saw there wasn't any fire. "What is that?" she questioned to the birds that were following her. She hovered over the crater, studying what at first looked like to be a pile of burnt rags. "Oh My!" Her pupils dilated when she realized what she saw.

"I need to get Twilight!"

"Spike, what's next on the list?" Twilight stopped and looked back at her dragon assistant expectantly. Spike was following along with his face in a checklist, not noticing and bumped right into her flank, knocking him down. He fell on to the parchment with a thud. He shook his head and gave twilight an annoyed expression.

"Twilight, you have to stop doing that!" He moaned as he scratched his head. He brushed himself off as he got up, taking another glance at the list. "It looks like we need some quills and a new inkwell from the quills and sofa shop." He pointed down the street of Ponyville towards the shop.

"Spike I'm sorry, but you need to focus." She said with slight irritation. "I want this book re-shelving to go as planned this time--" She gave Spike a glance of disapproval as she thought about how terrible the last one ended up. Spike just rolled his eyes. "I have some new books to add to the library that I've been waiting to find a better spot for!" She beamed. Just thinking about how to organize her new books made her gush. "The new Digestive Habits of Gryphons is a splendid addition to our collection!"

" I know Twilight. We do this weekly." He said flatly. "Once we grab these quills we can go back home. It's the last thing on the list. Then we can..." Spike was interrupted by a soft voice.

"I'm sorry to interrupt spike, but um...Twilight. I need your help." It was Fluttershy. There was urgency in her voice and she looked nervous. She was floating above them giving Twilight a furtive look. Twilight looked up at her friend and her heart sank. She could tell something was bothering her friend.

"Hi Fluttershy. Is something wrong?" Twilight looked at her friend with concern.

"I found a strange creature by the everfree forest." Fluttershy said incredulously. "I've never seen anything like it. Twilight, you have to come quick. It looks hurt." Fluttershy looked at Twilight expectantly with deep concern.

"Alright." She nodded at Fluttershy. "Spike, get on. I may need you to send a message to Princess Celestia." She said with determination. Twilight spread her wings to let Spike get on. "Fluttershy, lead the way." Twilight said as she took off with a slight wobble.

As they neared closer to the Everfree forest, Twilight gasped at the scene below. There was a shallow crater in the ground about 10 feet in diameter. The grass within the crater was charred and blackened. The smell of fire wafted up as they descended. In the center of the crater was something Twilight had never seen before. In the center of the crater, something resembling a naked diamond dog laid un-moving. It was covered in tattered and burnt cloth. There were burn marks all over its pink white skin.

"We have to help it Twilight!" Fluttershy insisted as they landed right outside the crater.

"Hold on Fluttershy." Twilight said "We don't know what that is. I've never seen or read about something like that before. What if it's dangerous? Look at what it did to the grass" She pointed to the singed crater. Fluttershy looked taken aback.

"Twilight I have to help this poor thing! We have to do something." Fluttershy took a step towards the creature, putting her hoof on to the charred grass. She looked back to Twilight with puppy-dog eyes. "Twilight, do you trust me? Something is telling me that this creature really needs us." Fluttershy took a first aid kit out of her saddle bag.

Twilight's face softened. "I'm sorry Fluttershy. I...just...hold on." Twilight's horn lit up as she scanned the creature for any dangerous magic. "Okay Fluttershy. I trust you." Fluttershy quickly closed the distance. She put her head by the creatures nose. "It's still breathing, but these burn marks look terrible and it's out cold. Twilight we need to get it to a hospital." She said as she began to dress the burns.

Twilight shook her head. "We can't bring this to the hospital. If this really is an undocumented species, the hospital won't be much use...it's for ponies. "What about your cottage?"

Fluttershy shook her head slowly. "With all the other creatures I have in my cottage, I don't think there is enough room." She said sadly. A long pause filled the silence as she wrapped the creature up in bandages.

"I can take him to my lab under the library." Twilight said sounding unsure. This whole time Spike was just standing behind Twilight watching quietly with his jaw open.

"Oh thank you Twilight." Fluttershy said as she sighed in relief.

"Twilight, you can't take it into the lab. We don't know anything about it!" Spike interjected.

"That's true Spike, but we will be prepared and I plan on taking some extra precautions. Spike, send a letter to Celestia." Spike pulled out a parchment and quill, and began writing. " She needs to know we found an unknown creature by the everfree, and that I will be housing it in my lab for study...er...uh..." She flustered and looked at Fluttershy, who was too occupied offering first aid to the creature. Twilight continued. "I mean to nurse it back to health. Tell Celestia I will keep her updated on my findings." Spike sent the parchment up in green flames.

"Okay Fluttershy, I'm going to teleport us to my lab. Are you ready?" Fluttershy just nodded while she attempted to tend to the creatures wounds.

Lab Rat

As the blistering heat from the supernova enveloped me, an unnatural silence filled my ears. Everything was dark. I felt a vague sensation of falling, ending abruptly as if I had hit the ground. At first there was a dull throbbing in my head, but it soon spread throughout until my entire body throbbed like a slow heartbeat. A pins and needles sensation pierced my head, then made its way down to my arms and legs. Eventually the pins and needles ended, and were replaced by searing pain. Through the pain I could hear a muffled conversation between two exasperated voices.

"I did all I could Twilight. I'm a pony nurse, not a..."

I couldn't make everything out through the pain. Every throb blocked out my hearing. The pain continued to ebb and flow, making my thoughts disjointed. It felt like I had the worst migraine in the world.

"Thank you Red... anything you recommend?"

"I can't...anything, it's not a… I’ve already used my...reserve of burn healing. The magic will...delayed."

"Alright, what about..."

"I'll send a...help full time. I need to..."

"Until it wakes up, we can't....dangerous?"

"We don't..if it...understand us?"

A large groan escaped from my closed mouth. I attempted to move my arm, but something was holding it down and trying to break free was a lost cause as it erupted in pain. I winced, and a whimper escaped. I shuffled, with each movement causing my skin to prickle with a burning sensation.

"Twilight! I think he’s awake!" I heard a door open followed by...the clopping of hooves? The sound echoed through my head-brain like a fire-alarm. I fought the instinct to put my hands to my ears, knowing moving would only cause more problems.

"Oh you poor thing. You must be in so much pain! Don't move too much, you're covered in burns." A soft hushed voice that could melt even the coldest of hearts started talking. My mind swam in a dark abyss of pain so deep I could only utter a pitiful grunt in response.

"Fluttershy, we don't know if it can understand us, or if it even talks." Another voice spoke skeptically. Were they talking about me? I've never been referred to as an "It" before. I groaned again, in disapproval. I was still unable to build enough energy to talk.

"Would you stop calling him an "It"?" The soft voice reprimanded, though still sounding soothing enough to calm a dragon. "He clearly has boy parts." I would have to thank the soft voice later, at least someone was sticking up for me. I am most certainly a man.

"Alright." I could hear the eye roll.

"You've been through a lot, but we're here to help you. Can you open your eyes?" The soft voice questioned. The throbbing pain in my head made it difficult to focus, but with enough effort my eyes arduously fluttered open. At first the light burned my retinas. Everything was just a flash of white light. I groaned again as my eyes focused, two blobs of color slowly started to come in. There was a purple blob, and a yellow blob.

"If you can understand us, nod your head." The yellow blob said. I nodded my head slowly, each movement sending searing pain through my head. I winced again and groaned. I could hear what sounded like a pen to a paper coming from the purple blob. The scribbling did not seem to end.

"Don't strain yourself. We wanted to make sure you were awake before we gave you anything for the pain. Nurse Redheart says she doesn't know how your body will react to the medication so we need your permission. Nod your head if you want us to try and give you something for the pain."

Oh god please give me something for this pain! I can’t focus, my entire existence hurts! I nodded vigorously, despite the pain.

"Nurse Redheart, can you give him the pain meds before you go?" The yellow blob chirped sweetly.

A white blob pushed past the yellow and purple. "Alright, since you can consent, I'm going to administer you some pain medication. Open your mouth." This voice sounded like she had done this a thousand times before and was reciting from memory. I opened my mouth. Two pills were deposited on my tongue and I swallowed. It was then I realized I felt like I had eaten a bag of cotton balls. The white blob moved away.

"Alright, I'm going back to the hospital. I'll be sending one of our medical students to watch over him full time. Please give Celestia my regards." Again I heard hooves clopping away.

"That should help." The yellow blob was in full view again, but this time I could see pink and a splash of teal. My eyes sharpened and what I saw I couldn't really comprehend. At first I noticed the huge eyes. They were plate sized. In front of the eyes was a muzzle? I blinked several times. Nope, still there. The yellow blob slid completely into focus. There was fur, wings, and a butterfly tattoo. It was a horse. There was a talking horse floating above me. For now I decided to ignore that in favor of the screaming of my (apparently) burned body.

I inhaled deeply, and exhaled slowly. My mouth was still so dry. I opened my mouth and rasped "Water". The scribbling from the other side of the room intensified. I carefully looked over and saw a purple unicorn hard at work writing with a levitating quill. I also decided to ignore that.

"Oh yes, of course! I"ll get you some water right away." The flying horse left in a flash, creating a light breeze. It smelled like vanilla.

It was at this moment I could finally take in my surroundings. I was laying in a hospital bed. There was medical equipment all around me and I was covered in electrodes. There was a needle in my arm with an IV bag and I could hear a heart monitor beeping regularly. The flooring was wooden, and it didn't quite look like a hospital. It looked more like a laboratory than anything else.

As I continued my slow scan of the room, I could see the purple unicorn in the corner, furiously writing on a scroll of parchment. She was so focused that she didn't realize I was staring at her. She looked cartoonish and it reminded me of something, but I wasn't quite sure yet what that was. It was hard to think through all the throbbing pain.

"Alright, I have some water for you." The yellow flying horse wafted in. "I'm going to hold this for you okay." She held the glass with her hoof. I was definitely ignoring that for now. She held the glass near my mouth and tipped the glass. The water was refreshing, and It felt like the pain meds were starting to kick in because the throbbing was subsiding.

"Thank you." I croaked. A gasp came from the corner of the room and quick scribblings were made before they finally stopped. The purple unicorn walked over with those clopping hooves. She was beaming.

"You're welcome." The yellow horse said in a soothing voice. "You must be so confused. We found you by the Everfree Forest, almost burnt to a crisp! My name is Fluttershy." She brought her hoof to her chest. Then she pointed to the horned one, “and this is my friend Twilight.”

"I have so many questions to ask you! We weren't sure if you could understand us or even talk." She confessed. "But it looks like my worries were unfounded. A creature with manners is something I wasn't entirely anticipating." She stopped short of the bed, staring at the restraints. "You're not going to try and eat us, right?"

“Twilight!” Fluttershy reprimanded. “He doesn’t even have claws!” She turned to me. “I’m sorry about Twilight, but she is just being careful.” She smiled at me reassuringly.

I wonder what kind of monster they thought I was to think I would eat them!

"No, I’m not going to eat you. But I am hungry." My voice was starting to unrasp itself.

Fluttershy looked concerned. "You must be starving! I'll go get some...ummm" She trailed off. "Excuse me, but what umm... what do you eat?" She almost looked scared to ask.

"Anything, I’m not picky." I said slowly. Talking still used too much energy. Fluttershy looked perplexed for a moment, and then her face brightened with an idea.

"How about pancakes and apples? It’s never too late for brunch." She asked hesitantly. The look on her face was pure nervousness. I nodded and she smiled. “Oh good, then I’ll get you a plate fixed up real quick.” She floated out of the room with haste. Twilight moved closer with her quill and parchment. I felt like I was being looked over like a science experiment. Twilight's eyes lingered at my fingers before looking back at my face.

"Do you have a name?" She asked, quill ready. She looked at me expectantly, her eyes so full of curiosity and wonder. There was something that was...adorable about it...even though she had me in restraints...I felt strangely at ease….maybe it was the pain meds.

"Charlie." I said carefully. My voice sounded far away or like I was underwater. “Why does it sound like I’m underwater?”

"Well Charlie, It's nice to meet you.” I think she purposefully ignored my second question. “As Fluttershy has already told you, my name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm sorry you are in restraints, but we weren't sure what kind of creature you are....” She hesitated. “What are you?" She looked back at my fingers nervously.

This was not the room I fell asleep in. I was talking to a unicorn that could make quills float. There was a flying one making me breakfast. I was covered in burns and most of my body was in bandages. My arms and legs were restrained. I think now would be a good time to roll with the punches.

"I'm a human." I stated matter-of-factly. "And I'm not going to hurt you."

"Of course, but if you do try anything I have some magical wards in place." She said as she unbuckled the restraints...without her hands. I rolled my wrists. My entire arms were covered in bandages up to the palms of my hands. The pain had nearly vanished, but there was a mental fog rolling in.

"Where are you from?" She inquired nervously as she watched my every move like a hawk.

"I'm from up-state New York." I said. Twilight looked at me with a blank stare.

"United states?" No reaction.

"America?" Nothing.

I sighed.

"Earth". That one got a reaction.

"I didn't know Earth was a place" She scribbled all of this on her parchment. “How did you get here?”

“I’m not entirely sure. I went to sleep in my bed, and I woke up here.”

She stared at me for a few seconds before jotting that down. After finishing, she set the parchment down and picked up a syringe. "Can I draw some more blood?" She sounded way too chipper for this. I nodded slowly. The syringe floated slowly towards me.

“How are you doing that?” I asked, my eyes following the syringe.

“It’s a simple levitation spell.” She said as if I should have already known that. While drawing my blood, Twilight continued. "So you can’t remember anything about how you got here?”

It was as if Twilight had pulled the lever on my roulette wheel of memories. No matches. "Honestly, I have no idea. I don't really remember too much. I know I went to bed last night..." I paused. Thinking any harder made my head feel fuzzy and gave me a slight throb. "Nope, I got nothing. I fell asleep in my bed last night, and I woke up here."

"Fascinating!" Twilight had taken the syringe and placed it in a machine that began whirring. Then she grabbed her quill and started writing again. "Instantaneous inter-dimensional teleportation. Who or whatever brought you here must be a very powerful wizard!"

"There is just one problem." I mused tiredly, "Magic doesn't exist where I'm from. This isn't something that happens...ever. I'm not even entirely sure you're real; I could still be dreaming." I looked at Twilight skeptically. “Can I...touch your horn?” She just ignored me and giggled.

"So you're a non-magical creature that came here under magical means… hmmm" She paused to think before continuing "I am very real. I would prefer if you didn’t touch my horn. Unicorn horns are a… sensitive area….” She trailed off and then continued. “ And your lack of magic doesn't surprise me. Your magic aura is faint, but it's still there. You've got some accumulating in your head.”

Magic in my head?

I rubbed my head. “Ouch, my head hurts if I touch it. Doesn’t feel very magical.” My curiosity was finally beginning to surface. I think it’s about time I open this can of worms. "You know, I've got some questions of my own." I said plainly. Twilight looked at me and smiled.

“I can answer some of your questions." Twilight offered.

"Yes. What are you?" My head bobbled. The pain meds were starting to make me feel sloppy, but it was a good sloppy. Twilight giggled again.

"I'm a unicorn..." She stopped. "Actually, I'm an alicorn." She unfurled her wings and flapped. "Still getting used to these." My eyes widened. I didn't even notice she had wings. "I'm the Princess of Friendship!" I looked at her with a blank expression.

That’s it, I've completely lost it!

"And Fluttershy? Is she an alicorn princess of friendship too?" I asked without any reservation. I noticed my vision was beginning to wobble....

Everything is fine.

Twilight giggled again. "No silly, she's a Pegasus. She doesn't have a horn. She takes care of animals.” I nodded as if all this was just common sense.

"Of course..." I stated. "And where am I? Something tells me I'm not on Earth anymore." Twilight looked pensive for a moment.

"You're in the town of Ponyville in the land of Equestria." She said matter-of-factly.

"Oh...I see." I nodded slowly. "I'm ssorry, but where I'm from horsses don't talk. They don't have wingss or hornss. They can't do magic and they certainly don't come in passtel colorss." I pointed out as if trying to find a flaw in her logic. I also for whatever reason started hissing like a snake.

"We're ponies." She corrected, still smiling. Just then there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Twilight called.

The door opened and a light grey mare entered the room. She had a horn and a tattoo of a band-aid on her flank. Her mane was a powder blue with a pink highlight. She was wearing a lab coat with a stethoscope around her neck. She stopped in the doorway with her jaw open as she stared at me.

"Oh, the subject is awake." She said in a melodious sing-song to Twilight.

"Yes, his name is Charlie. He has already been given pain medications." Twilight walked over and leaned in to whisper something.

"I think the dosage was too high." Twilight looked sheepish.

"Alright then." The grey mare looked at me. "My name is Triage and I'll be looking after your healthcare needs." Triage then looked to Twilight. "Can I see your notes so far so I know what's going on. I'm not familiar with..." She trailed off, waving her hoof at me.

"Humans." Twilight finished. "And here are my notes so far." Twilight floated the notes towards Triage. She looked them over.

Fluttershy came back with a stack of pancakes with syrup and sliced apples. My stomach growled. I couldn't remember the last time I had some home-cooked food. Fluttershy set the plate down on a tray in front of me and smiled.

"I hope you like it." She looked at me nervously.I looked up at Fluttershy and smiled back.

"It's great, thank you." I must have been hungry, but I was moving at a snail’s pace. My burns were tender and I could still feel pain if I moved too fast. They were fluffier than I remembered. After I finished, Fluttershy took my plate away, smiling again.

“Are you still hungry?” She asked.

“No. Thank you” I responded. Fluttershy nodded and then left with the empty plate.

"Okay Charlie" Triage looked up at me and smiled. “It's time to do a physical assessment. Nurse Redheart tells me that you have severe burns on a majority of your body. How is your pain right now?" She asked as she walked beside me.

"What pain?" I said as I lifted my arms slowly, checking under them. "I don't ssee any." I said.

I heard a giggle from Twilight. Triage just looked at me with a neutral expression, then she smiled.

"It appears the pain medications are working. I would recommend a smaller dose. We'll have to lower the dosage until we can reduce the...side effects." She then took out an ophthalmoscope and held it to my eyes, muttering to herself "Pupil constriction appears normal considering pain medication. Eyes are small, but otherwise look healthy." Triage stepped away and pulled out an otoscope. She then looked in my ears. It tickled and had to hold in some laughter. "Again, small, but I'm not seeing anything concerning." Triage put her tools away and took out a tongue depressor. This was old hat for me and I opened my mouth. She put it on my tongue and said "Say ahhhh" I did as she asked. "Hmm, nothing I can see here that would be a concern." She turned to Twilight. "I'm going to do a body scan for internal injuries. Would you like the results for your...er... research?"

"Yes!" Twilight beamed. "I'm more than a little curious about his internal anatomy. I've already taken a blood sample for testing. It should be done in the centrifuge soon and we can take a look at the results." Triage looked at Twilight. "You're really having fun with this aren't you?" Twilight smiled sheepishly.

Fluttershy flew into the room soundlessly and perched on one of the chairs by the door. I glanced at her for a second. The way she sat made me think of a cat...and it was cute. She blushed as she hid behind her hair with a smile.

"Alright Charlie. I'm going to do a full body scan. This may tickle, but it's harmless." I nodded. Triage stepped back, and for the first time I noticed that her horn lit up and I could hear a slight jingle. I didn't have time to process that though because a tickling sensation started at my toes and worked its way up my body. So much better than the stabbing pain from before!

"Done." She said as the last tickling sensation reached the top of my head. Triage turned around and produced a plastic like parchment. She then used her horn to make an image appear on the large scroll. It looked like an x-ray. Triage and Twilight laid it across one of the tables and they looked over it.

"Fascinating!" Twilight gushed. A "hmm" escaped Triage as she looked over the x-ray.

"There is a build up of keratin seemingly inconsistent with his cranial physiology." Triage turned around, examining me. "On his forehead. Look at this Twilight." Triage pointed to the center of my forehead. "Charlie, I'm going to feel around your forehead." Triage took her hoof and started poking my forehead. With every poke, a bubble of pain burst through my head.

"Ouch. That hurtss!" I exclaimed groggily.

"Interesting. Even with the pain medication, it's sensitive to touch." She continued to poke it. "Charlie, it appears you have a lesion on your forehead of unknown origin.” Triage turned to Twilight. “It's red, swollen, and sensitive to touch." I looked at her with wide eyes.

"What doess that mean?" I asked worriedly. I brought my hand to my forehead. Indeed there was a large bump right in the center of my forehead, and it was painful to the touch. Triage looked at me for a moment.

"I'm afraid I don't know anything about humans, but I’m assuming that this is not normal.” She started thinking to herself. “It’s almost as if…” She shook her head. “We will just have to keep an eye on it." She said with a neutral expression. A buzzing sound filled the room and Twilight perked up.

"Triage, the blood is ready for examination!" Twilight exclaimed. She took the blood out of the machine, and placed it under what looked like a microscope. Silence filled the room as Twilight inspected my blood sample. "Hmm. That's interesting. Triage, would you like to take a look at this?” Triage looked through the lens.

“I'm seeing two different variations of thrombocytes." Triage exclaimed. "Interesting. I'm also seeing two different variations of erythrocytes.” Twilight, are you sure the blood sample hasn’t been contaminated?” Twilight shook her head.

“Straight from the syringe.” Twilight said as she took the slide from out of the microscope. "I’m going to transfer the sample for DNA analysis." She took a pipette and put the sample in another machine. The machine whirred and sputtered, spitting out parchment.

Twilight and Triage both looked at the parchment for a moment, and then both their jaws dropped. They looked at me, my forehead, and then back to the parchment.

"Iss everything alright?" I asked hesitantly, not knowing if I wanted an answer.

"Charlie" Triage spoke carefully, sounding like she didn't believe what she was saying. "You have human/pony chimerism." I just stared at her blankly.

"I don't know what that meanss." I said flatly.

"It means you have pony DNA." Twilight elaborated incredulously with a look of shock.

Just then my head felt like it was splitting open.

Horned

“NNNGGGGHHHH” Charlie growled through gritted teeth. “Agghh MAKE IT STOP!”

Charlie was nearly yelling at this point. He had his hands cradling his forehead.

“IIIIIT HURTS!” He stopped to catch his breath before continuing to wail in pain. “IT FEELS LIKE SOMEONE’S DRILLING A HOLE IN MY HEAD!!!!”

Fluttershy was already by Charlie’s side trying to comfort him, but it was in vain. Her cooing and soft voice were nearly drowned in Charlie’s pain induced fit. She couldn’t do anything but look at Triage expectantly. Triage and Twilight shared a terrified glance before springing to action. Triage grabbed a leather strip and turned to Twilight. Triage’s expression was grave.

“I need you to bind his arms, now!” Triage spoke with authority. Twilight was feeling a sense of panic with her hooves tapping on the ground, but Triage snapped her out of it. Without a word, Twilight nodded and used her magic to grab Charlie’s hands. Charlie fought thrashing his arms around, but was unable to overpower her magical grip.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY HEAD!” Charlie screamed as Twilight put his arms down and tightened the straps around his wrists. He was shaking his head vigorously and writhing around trying to break his arms out of the sling. His fingers dug into the bed below.

“Charlie, I need you to bite down on this!” Triage yelled to raise her voice over the painful shouts as she nearly shoved a leather strip in his mouth with her aura. Charlie didn’t protest and bit down on the leather strip.

“NNNGGGHHHHH” He continued to scream through the strip. He was biting down on the strip so hard his gums were starting to hurt. Triage turned to Twilight, looking stern.

“I need to administer a sedative.” She said above the screaming. “Hold the leather strip in his mouth.”

Twilight nodded and took over with her magic. She was scared, but Triage looked like she knew what she was doing. Twilight looked at Charlie. Just a few moments ago they were having a pleasant conversation. Looking at all this pain he was going through...it just didn’t make any sense.

Triage returned with a syringe and inserted it into the IV. She pushed the plunger down and watched Charlie carefully. Charlie’s thrashes and muffled screams died down until a few slight groans escaped. His head lolled to the side and everything went quiet. Triage didn’t waste any time before examining his forehead.

“Oh, I hope he’s going to be okay.” Fluttershy said nervously. “I don’t like seeing a creature in so much pain. Is there anything I can do?” Fluttershy whimpered while watching Triage. The whole time this was going on, Fluttershy was just watching in abject horror. Charlie didn’t even look at peace after they gave him the sedative.

“Twilight, Fluttershy, look at this. There is something pushing through his skin” There was a large red egg on Charlie’s forehead. In the center of the swollen lump was a cone shaped protrusion pushing through slowly. His skin was peeling back and there was blood dripping down his face. “I need gauze and bandages. It looks like…” It sounded like she didn’t believe what she was saying. “He’s growing a horn.”

"What!?" Twilight interjected, her eyes widening. She stepped forward to take a look for herself. She could see the horn slowly moving through his skin. "Sweet Celestia, he's growing a horn!" Her eyes looked back and forth from Triage to Flutterhsy. “What do we do, what do we do!” She began to pace. “This just doesn't make any sense. He just suddenly shows up in Equestria, and now he's growing a horn!"

“Twilight, you’re going to have to calm down…” Triage said calmly in a motherly voice. “Or I’m going to have to sedate you too.” There was no humor in her voice. This had shocked Twilight and she shook her head as she gathered her wits.

Fluttershy had returned with gauze. She looked at Charlie with the saddest expression. “You haven't even been here for 6 hours and you’re going through so much.” She bit her lip as she let out a whimper.

“Thank you Fluttershy.” Triage said as she began to treat the skin around the protruding horn. She dabbed at the blood, and used an antimicrobial cream. She started to wrap his forehead in gauze. She wrapped it around his head so only the the horn was uncovered. At this point it was one inch past the skin. She eyed the horn wearily. “I have never seen anything like this.” She muttered to no-one in particular.

“You’re right Triage. There is no need for panic.” Twilight Deliberated. "I'm going to scan for magic again.” She stopped pacing and lit her horn to scan his head for magic. A bead of sweat trickled down her brow. "I do see a collection of magic at the base of his horn...but it's a normal amount for a…” She pauses and nearly shouts ”Unicorn!" In a moment of panic, she began to prepare a spell. "Let me try a reversal spell."

Twilight's horn lit up. Triage opened her mouth with eyes furrowed in protest. Before she could say anything, a bright light filled the room followed by a loud crash; Twilight had been sent flying back into the door.

"I'm alright." She said feebly. "It looks like there is a strong...counter ward in place."

Twilight’s voice wavered as she fell to the floor in a puddle of purple.

I was walking through an airport terminal. The noises of shuffling passengers and announcements over the intercom filled the air. I had to bob and weave through rushing crowds and families getting ready to take their flights. Crying children and businessmen talking on the phone paid me no mind as I looked down at my ticket. Terminal A7, flight 309 stared back at me. It didn’t take me long to find the way to the terminal, but there was a nagging feeling in the back of my head. I shouldn’t be here. There was something wrong.

I glanced behind me quickly. I thought I saw something shimmering behind me but when I looked back it was gone. A feeling of paranoia filled my head. I quickened my pace. Never did I feel so alone and isolated in a place with so many people. I felt like I was being watched. I looked around nervously as I made my way through the throng of passengers.

As I hurried past, I began to feel a sense of urgency. I felt like I was running out of time. As if there were an internal timer in my head and it was about to go off. I glanced behind me again and I could have sworn I saw something billowing in the shop I just passed, but there was nothing there. I just saw a bored shop attendant looking at one of his own magazines.

I shook my head and hurried quickly to the terminal and stopped abruptly at the sight before me. I had found the gate with all the passengers waiting for the flight. In the chair in front of me I saw something that made my blood run cold. It was me. I was sitting on one of the chairs talking quietly with my wife. I was smiling, and she was beaming, in her arms was my daughter. My wife looked so happy. Her light reddish brown hair and dark green eyes sent a pang of longing through my body.

Alarm bells were going off in my head. This isn’t right. They can’t get on the plane. A sense of panic fills my head. I walk up to myself with tears in my eyes. “You can’t get on that plane!” I shout with my finger pointing to the gate.

A few moments passed, and nothing happened. Tears were spilling down my cheeks. They were ignoring me. I tried again. “What’s a matter with you! Can’t you hear me!” I tried to grab my wife’s arm but to my dismay it goes right through.

“Wha!?” I gasp. “What is this?” I kneel down in front of her and start crying. “Don’t go on the plane!” I pleaded. “Please! You have to listen to me!” I looked up through my tears. The smile on my wife’s face told me I wasn’t getting through to her. I slammed my fists down on the ground in desperation. As my hands hit the ground, all the sounds of the airport subsided all at once. I looked up to see my wife, my daughter, and my own visage fade away. The lights went dim as I heard a loud voice booming behind me.

“GREETINGS STRANGE CREATURE!"

The Princess Notes

Dear Princess Celestia,

Fluttershy found an undocumented creature wounded by the Everfree Forest. It is severely burned and unconscious. It created a shallow crater where we found it and there is very powerful residual magic. I’ve done a quick scan and determined the thaumic readings are not from the creature. We can’t take it to the hospital, and Fluttershy can’t keep it at her cottage. I’m taking it to my lab for now until we can determine where this creature came from and if it’s a threat.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

Please do be careful. If it is an undocumented creature we must take full precautions. As my most faithful student, I trust your judgement in bringing no undue harm to the creature or to Equestria. Please keep me updated with your research. I will request assistance from Ponyville hospital to help with the creature’s medical needs.

Progress Report

8:00 AM - Creature was found in the middle of a charred circle of grass with severe burns all over its body. Charred grass has very powerful residual magic. Unable to determine origin of magic. Unable to determine origin of creature. Burned and tattered Rags found near the creature presumably clothing.

Creature is mostly hairless. Hair atop the head is a light brown color and is matted and signed. Creatures' skin is a peach-white color. Facial features are significantly smaller and lack a muzzle. Two rear appendages consistent with bipedal locomotion. Two front appendages have hands with five fingers, most likely for grasping and tool usage. Creature has male genitalia.

9:00AM - Nurse Redheart came to set up my lab as a makeshift hospital room. First aid bandages were removed to apply burn ointment. Bandages were reapplied. Creature is hooked up to IV drip and full monitoring of life signs. Other than severe burns, the creature appears to be stable. Unable to administer pain medication without consent due to unknown effects on creatures neurological biology. Creature is fastened to bed with arm and leg restraints. Magical wards have been cast to prevent any harmful magical effects.

10:33AM - Creature is awake and appears to be in severe pain. Pain medication was given with consent (head nod). The creature has asked for “water”. Creature at least has a rudimentary language system. Upon administration of water, the creature “Thanked” Fluttershy. Creature is capable of understanding social norms.

10:45AM Pain medication is having the desired effect. Creature is becoming more lucid and is able to converse. Creature’s name is Charlie and he claims he is a “Human” from “Up-state New York.” Creature is considered a minimal threat and arm restraints have been removed. Creature is not familiar with Equestria or it’s inhabitants. Slight magical aura developing around the creature's head. Creature has indicated that he was “in his bed, and then woke up here”. Possible spontaneous inter-dimensional teleportation. Heat burns consistent with a high level of transference. Creature has indicated he is from a non-magical world and is a non-magical creature. Unable to determine origin of spell. So far the creature has indicated it is “not picky” and will eat pancakes. Unable to determine dietary needs, must address further. Pain medication is having unintended side-effects. Vocal and facial tics have been observed.

11:00AM - Triage has arrived and has performed a physical examination. Internal structure has been documented. Keratin abnormality discovered on forehead. Painful to touch, red, and swollen. Blood samples have revealed some peculiar results. Dichotomy observed with erythrocytes and thrombocytes. DNA analysis has revealed Human/Pony Chimerism.

Dear Princess Celestia,

The creature’s name is Charlie and he is a human. He’s a non-magical creature from Up-State New York. He is not a threat to Equestria and has been brought here by powerful magic.

However there is something that has come up. We found pony DNA in his blood, and there is keratin growing out of his forehead. I’m working with Triage to find out what this means for him and for us. We had to sedate him to calm him down. We believe that he is growing a unicorn horn on his forehead. He has a well of magic similar to that of a unicorn. I attempted a reversal spell, but there is a powerful counter ward in place. Whoever or whatever did this does not want us to interfere.

Somnambulant Tea Party

“GREETINGS STRANGE CREATURE!”

The booming voice startled me and nearly knocked me over. I turned around quickly to face my verbal assailant. I couldn’t quite see with my eyes still watery and red from before. I sniffed, and used my arm to wipe the tears away. What I saw nearly reset my brain. I took a few steps back only to stumble into the chair behind me ungracefully. I just watched my family (including myself) vanish in front of my eyes, and now there was a dark blue creature approaching me.

“Wh....wh...wh…” Was all I was able to stutter out as I attempted to back away in the chair. I wiped away the remaining tears from my eyes to let them focus. In front of me was a blue-violet horse. On the horses neck was what looked like regalia with a crescent moon on it. This crescent moon was also on the horse’s flank. I stared with wide eyes at the billowing mane seemingly filled with tiny cosmic sparkles. She had wings resting by her sides and a horn on her head. The teal eyes were gigantic and it felt like they were looking right through me. There was an expression of apprehensive sadness on her face. She took a slow step forward.

“Ahem” She cleared her throat. “Please do not be alarmed. It seems I have caught you at a most vulnerable time. I apologize for using my Royal Canterlot Voice. I am Princess Luna. Fear not for I am only here to help.” Her voice was soft, almost motherly. It was a stark contrast to the loud booming voice I had just heard before. I shivered in shock, still trying to process everything. Her face fell for a moment. “As a proprietor of the dreamscape and ruler of the land, I can help you with your troubles. Please tell me, what is your name?”

My brain was in the middle of a restart. I fidgeted in the chair after she took another step. There was a talking magical horse in front of me. Didn’t she just yell at me? Why was I in an airport? She looks a bit cartoony. Did she say dreamscape? I took a deep breath trying to quiet my thoughts.

“My name is Charlie.” I said slowly while my brain tried to catch up. I wiggled in my chair again. Her eyes drew me in with knowing wisdom, but I could also see pain. She took another slow step forward.

“Welcome Charlie, to my dreamscape.” She raised a hoof as if to gesture around her. “This is my realm and I want to make you feel at home here as we discuss your new life in Equestria.” She sat on her haunches as she spoke. “My sister has told me of your arrival, but I did not intend on seeing you here. My dream realm is usually reserved for…” She stopped as if to think of the right wording. “my subjects.” She paused, looked around, and then continued. “You must have so many questions, Charlie.” She looked at me expectantly with a warm smile. “Do you like tea?”

“Yes. I like tea.” My body was starting to calm down, and my brain finally caught up. I was mostly listening. So far she was asking me some pretty easy questions. What I got out of this conversation was she was here to help me.

“Very well then.” She waved a hoof in the air and the airport around us melted.

“What are you doing?” I asked nervously, fidgeting in my chair again.

“I am merely changing the scenery.” She said in a smile. Everything went black with no trace of the airport left. I looked around in awe, my mouth agape. As if we were in a watercolor painting, the world around began to splash with colors. There were a lot of purples and dark blues. I could see some magenta and some dark green in there. It was a beautiful sight to behold. The moon was splattered into the sky with a light white-yellow casting a faint light onto us, lighting up the area. Everything looked like it had been painted hastily, but at the same time it was beautiful. As the canvas came into focus, I could see we were sitting on a balcony overlooking a garden from the second floor. A round wooden table appeared in front of me, followed by a frilly tablecloth. Things began appearing on the table with a tiny audible pop like a bubble bursting. A bouquet of flowers popped in the center of the table followed by saucers, cups, spoons, a teacup, sugar, and honey. The chair underneath me must have changed because when I looked under me it was more regal looking with a red cushion and intricate woodwork. Luna was sitting in a chair opposite me on her haunches.She was waiting for me to finish gawking at her handiwork with a knowing smile. I looked at her with wide eyes and I finally closed my mouth with a smack. A thought occurred to me that I should be on my best behavior, lest she decide to wave a hoof and make me disappear too.

“So…” Luna began “What kind of tea do you prefer?” She asks nonchalantly.

“Oolong?” I asked. I was sure she could make anything appear here. I was still struggling to keep up with what was going on around me. The sky was still being filled in by stars. I looked up at the moon and was enraptured by its detail.

I was so distracted by the scenery filling itself in that I hadn’t noticed a faint jingle sound. When I turned to face Luna again, the teacup was hovering over my cup in a blue aura. It poured itself into the cup, and then did the same for her. It was then I noticed her horn was glowing in the same blue aura. I blinked a few times and then looked at the cup that had been poured. It certainly smelled like oolong. I tentatively took the cup in my hands and brought it to my mouth. I took a short sip to test the temperature. It was just right.

“No honey or sugar?” She smiled and cocked an eyebrow.

I shook my head slowly, taking a deep sip of tea. I felt the warm liquid go down and it was...relaxing. I placed it back down on the saucer.

“It’s very good, thank you.” I said with a wavering smile. I was nervous. She did say she was a princess, whitch meant I was having tea with royalty.

“I’m glad it is to your liking.” Luna watched me with anticipation before taking a couple of sugar cubes and honey and putting it into her tea. “Now that we have a proper setting, I can formerly welcome you to Equestria.” Her face went neutral as she took a sip and then placed the cup back down with her jingly aura. ”I feel your arrival has been quite…” She paused and inhaled. “Eventful to say the least.” Her eyes softened and she looked at me sympathetically. “Charlie, I’m here to answer your questions if you can answer mine.” She nodded her head to me as if giving permission for me to speak.

My mind raced. I was having tea with a magical pony princess. The sky painted itself right before my eyes. The tea literally popped itself into existence in front of me. I sighed, trying to narrow down a relevant question. I know something about equestrians was said. I know that’s someone who rides horses right?

“So this is all a dream?” I asked quizzically.

“Yes. This is all a manifestation of your subconscious. I am merely a conductor, guiding you. I curate the dream realm.” Her expression was neutral.

“Okay. If this is all a dream why don’t I just pinch myself and wake up?” I pondered.

“I’m afraid it is not that simple. Your slumber is not a natural one. Do you know of the situation in the waking world?” Her expression turned to sadness.

I put my hand to my chin and uttered an audible "hmmm". The last thing I remembered was my therapy appointment. I had gone home, had some tuna and then went to sleep. Then I had weird visions of ponies with wings and horns. There was a lot of pain, I vividly remember that. There were also pancakes. Then there was an airport, I watched my family fade away and then this happened. It was then I came to my very well-thought out logical conclusion.

“I’m sleeping.” I answered matter-of-factly.

Luna just looked at me with a deadpan stare and blinked once.

“You don’t know what’s going on do you?” She lamented.

“I’m having some very interesting dreams.” I mused while looking back up into the twinkling sky.

“Charlie, I do not wish to burden you with truth, but there are some things you need to know.” Luna spoke with hesitation. “You are no longer in your own world.”

I brought my eyes back down to meet Luna’s. I couldn't help but feel a little skeptical, but the pain in her expression was so sincere. What did she mean by “No longer in my own world?”. I took a sip of my tea to digest what was said. Was I just talking to a figment of my imagination?

“If I’m not in my own world, then where am I?” I pondered out loud.

“In the waking world” Luna began “You are being treated for severe burns in Twilight Sparkle’s laboratory, in Ponyville, in the land of Equestria.” She said looking at me to gauge my reaction.

“Okay…” I cocked my head to the side and raised an eyebrow. “And why am I in a laboratory?”

“You are a strange creature to our land, the likes we have never seen before. Our hospitals would not be equipped to care for your needs.” She looked at me apologetically. “But I’m afraid that’s not the only problem.”

“You do realize how crazy this sounds right?” I stared at Luna for a moment. “I’m clearly dreaming. How do I know this isn’t just part of the dream?” I looked at her accusingly.

“Yes, I do understand that all this does seem far fetched. Whether you choose to believe me or not is at your discretion. I am just preparing you for what is to come when you wake.” Luna took another sip of her tea.

“Let’s say I do believe you. How did I get here?” I asked calmly.

“We think you were brought here by powerful magic. That is something we are still addressing. I wish I had a better answer…” She stopped mid-sentence with a look of shock followed by masked horror as she looked at my forehead.

I could feel something trickling down my face. I reached up with my hand to dab at it and I held my hand in front of me to see it was smeared with blood. I looked back at the Princess to see that she had gone quiet, but her eyes were still wide.

“Charlie, allow me.” She broke the silence by popping a black hoofkerchief in existence and wiped my face softly. She looked nervous.

“What’s going on with my head?” I ask with alarm in my voice.

Luna took the hoofkerchief away and took in a deep breath.

“It appears you are growing a horn.” She said in resignation.

“Is this part of the dream?” I asked hopefully.

“I’m afraid not.” She shook her head. “This is what is happening to your body in the real world.”

I brought my hands up to inspect my forehead cautiously. Sure enough, there was something poking through my head. As I touched it, a strange jolt went through my horn. It startled me and the air crackled a little as it zapped my finger.

“Ouch!” I yelped.

“Yes, horns can be sensitive.” Luna bit her lip.

I shook my finger. It felt like a static discharge you get when you rub your feet across a carpet and touch something metal. I narrowed my eyes as I fought the urge to touch my new appendage.

"Do you have a mirr-" I began, but before I finished my sentence a hand mirror manifested itself in front of me with an audible pop. Looking back at me was a familiar face with an unfamiliar horn. I inspected it as I moved my head around at different angles. It was a dark maroon color. I looked closely at where the horn met my forehead. It looked like a seamless transition from flesh to keratin. I went to poke it again, but I had already learned my lesson.

“Why am I growing a horn?” I asked cautiously. The mirror disappeared with a "pomf".

“That is the other matter we must discuss. While we do not know the mechanism of the alterations, it appears your body has acquired pony DNA.” She gave me a remorseful look. “And the very fact that I am able to visit you in the dream realm is an indication that you are now one of my subjects.”

I stared at her blankly for a moment. Then took another sip of my tea. The tension could be cut with a knife as Luna waited for my response.

“Can you please clarify?” I asked in between sips.

“Charlie…” Luna took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “The horn may not be the only change.” She said with such deliberation that there was no way anyone could think that she was joking.

I looked down into my tea. I was clearly in a dream. Quite a few questions were bubbling up to the surface. Actually, there were literally phrases bubbling out from my tea cup that floated in mid-air at eye level as if they were speech bubbles from a comic strip. I looked at one and pointed to it.

“It appears my questions have arrived. That’s a good one to start with.” I pointed to the question floating to my left.

Luna raised an eyebrow as she watched my questions literally rise out of my tea. She looked at the question I was pointing at and shook her head. It read: "Can I go home?"

“I’m afraid we do not know…” She stopped abruptly as a speech bubble appeared above her head spelling out her words as she spoke them. She looked at me quizzically. I shrugged at her. She narrowed her eyes at her own bubble and scrutinized it with a pout. She poked it with a hoof gingerly and it bobbed like a balloon before bouncing back to its original position. She gave it one last glare before continuing. “As I was saying, we don’t have a way to return you to your home at this time.” As soon as she finished answering the question, the speech bubble and the question popped with a “phwomp”. Luna blinked.

I nodded and pointed to the one to my right. It read: “What if I don’t want a horn?”

“Having reservations is perfectly understandable." Luna eyed the speech bubble. "Twilight has tried casting a reversal spell but it failed. It appears we are unable to interfere with the transformation.”

“Phwomp” Luna just blinked again, but I could see she was desperately trying to hold in her own amusement.

I nodded and pointed to one that was hovering just above the sugar bowl. “Is it permanent?”

“Since your very DNA has been altered, It would be safe to assume that this is a permanent change. I know that this is a lot to take in.”

“Phwomp” Luna didn’t react this time. There was one question left floating silently above the center of the table that read “What happens now?”

“And in regards to your last inquiry…” Luna continued, ignoring the speech bubble. “ We wait until you awake. Upon your return to the waking world, Princess Twilight Sparkle will oversee your recovery and transition into Equestrian culture. My sister and I trust her judgement.” She nodded and took a sip of her tea. “We will continue to work on finding what brought you here and why, as well as work on finding a way for you to return home.” In place of the word ‘home’ in the speech bubble, a picture of a house appeared and rose into the air until it was out of sight.

“Phwomp”

“So that’s it then?” I cocked an eyebrow. The speech bubbles seem to have stopped “I’m stuck here and I have a horn?” I asked flatly. There was something very wrong with the situation, but also something comforting. A thought of home came to mind, and it just didn’t feel like I would really miss it. Perhaps I was taking this all really well, but maybe there was a part of me that just didn’t believe a word she was saying. There was a part of me that wished that this was all true. I was having mixed feelings. It’s not everyday you get transported to a realm of colorful ponies and a horn grows out of your head.

I could see the corner of Luna’s mouth quiver slightly as if to smile, but she held her stoicism.

“It appears you have summed up our conversation quite well in but a few words.” Her brows furrowed momentarily. “Now that I have answered your questions, I have a few questions of my own.” She looked at me with curious eyes.

“You were having a nightmare when I appeared, is that correct?” Luna asked.

“Yeah....” I said while rubbing the back of my neck. I didn’t really want to talk about it. It was bad enough that I was hallucinating ponies, but now my hallucinations were asking about my personal life. Luna must have sensed my reluctance because her face softened.

“I can see that it brings you great pain. Do you miss your family?” She asked with great care.

It was as if the very question was a band-aid that had been ripped off a still bleeding wound. A single tear trailed down my cheek as I met Luna’s heartfelt gaze.

“I miss them so much.” I said as my eyes glazed over. A thousand memories flashed through my eyes. A sense of longing tugged at my heartstrings, but it was as if the feelings were muted.

“Charlie…” Luna said softly “We will do everything we can to bring you back to your family.”

“It’s too late.” I said in defeat as I shook my head.

Luna frowned and looked at me with confusion. She was about to say something when she was cut off by what sounded like a drain plug being pulled. “I believe our time is coming to an end. Please do take care Charlie!” She had to yell as her voice grew softer until she herself swirled away in a dark sparkly blue mist.The colors around me began to run and the world began to melt and swirl as everything went dark.

When In Doubt...

“Ugh…” Twilight groaned. Twilight’s head was spinning, and her horn was aching. She looked up to see two ponies. Double images of Triage and Fluttershy danced over her in a circle. Triage with a disapproving look, and Fluttershy looking anxious hiding behind her.

“Twilight, that was incredibly dangerous!” Triage scolded. “Are you alright dear?”

“I think so.” Twilight mumbled. “Whatever ward is in place; it has selective permeability. I’ve never seen anything like it.” The double images slowly became one. Twilight shrank at Triage’s scowl.

“Please use restraint Twilight. We don’t need any more casualties.” She admonished. “Twilight, I need some time to dress the patient’s burns. Why don’t you go upstairs for a moment?” Triage shook her head and turned back around to tend to Charlie.

“Oh dear, let me help you up.” Fluttershy walked forward to help Twilight and assisted her to her hooves. “Triage is right Twilight. You need to be more careful.”

“Fluttershy?” Triage called melodiously. “You can stay here. I’m going to need your help.”

“Go ahead Fluttershy. I’ll be fine, it’s just…” Twilight was at a loss for words. “I don’t know what’s going on, and it bothers me.” Twilight looked down at her hooves and rubbed her aching horn. “I panicked. I’ll be more careful.” Twilight looked down at the floor. Her actions were rash and she succumbed to panic. The shame she was feeling wasn’t pleasant, and the mix of so many unknowns was an unhealthy combination for the librarian turned princess. Twilight turned around and left her lab with her head held low and her tail drooping.

Triage spent the next few minutes dressing Charlie’s growing horn. She removed the bandages around his burns to check that they were healing okay and redressed them. Fluttershy remained by Triage’s side helping her when she could. Twilight had gone upstairs to read about anything that she could about transfiguration, DNA transmutation, selective wards, and inter-dimensional teleportation. She even found a book about humans.

“Spike, this is another one of those science fiction nonsense books. “Twilight looked up from her book and sighed in frustration. “I need something backed by real science!” She moaned.

“Twilight, this is the first Human in Equestria. You’re not going to find anything like that.” Spike retorted with his arms crossed. “Have you found anything on what kind of spell could have brought him here?”

“Spike, it’s an advanced teleportation spell… possibly inter-dimensional. All we have on inter-dimensional travel is theories. Not even Starswirl was able to come up with a reliable inter-dimensional teleportation spell. Nopony in Equestria has successfully done that!” Twilight was nearly yelling.

“Alright, sheesh.” Spike brought his hands up defensively. “You don’t have to be such a cranky pants.” Spike grumbled. “What about this book about humans?” Spike pointed to the book at the top of the stack. It was a large moss green tome.

“Humans: Myth or Legend” Twilight read out loud. Twilight’s left eye twitched. “Spike this is one of those books on mythological creatures. There’s no science here.” Twilight glowered at Spike. “We don’t have time to waste on theories and heresy.” Twilight huffed.

“It sounds like theories are all we have.” Spike shrugged and turned to head back to the kitchen. “Let me know if you need anything.” He called back.

Twilight rolled her eyes and opened the book. She thought that she might as well since she didn’t have anything else to go off of. As she began reading the opening description, Twilight was starting to notice that the physical descriptions were surprisingly accurate. Twilight had to stop for a moment as she did a mental double take. There was an anatomically correct diagram of a male human. Twilight tapped her hoof to her chin. “This is unexpected.” She mumbled to herself. She read further into the book and became enamored with the writing. It was elaborate and surprisingly well written. There was a section about how Humans are omnivorous and skilled hunters, and that they have advanced technologies. It talked about Humans and their culture. How there used to be ancient humans in Equestria until some cataclysmic event banished them to another realm. Whether or not any of that actually happened, Twilight was curious. How did the author know about all this? Something didn’t add up.

Twilight’s curiosity quickly became impatience as she remembered that there was a human in her basement growing a horn. She needed answers and time wasn’t on their side. As much as she detested going off of hunches, it was the best she had.

I must be getting desperate. I don’t have time for this!

Twilight closed the book in a rush and looked at the author’s name. Her jaw dropped as she realized the author was a professor who lived in town. There were quite a few rumors going around town about this particular author. Deciding against her better judgement, she decided that a lead was a lead. She didn’t waste any time getting her saddle bags ready. Without more than a second thought, she had put them on and put the book inside.

I can’t believe I’m doing this, but I don’t have a choice!

“Spike, I found a lead!" She called out without expecting a response. She had already closed the door before Spike poked his head out the kitchen and shrugged.

Lyra and Bon-Bon were sitting at their kitchen table eating lunch. Bon-Bon had prepared a fresh salad for the both of them, but Lyra didn’t really feel that hungry. She was just moving her greens around her plate, staring off into the distance.

“Lyra, are you alright? You seem disconnected today.” Bon-Bon asked as she watched her mare-friend play with her salad. Bon-Bon had noticed that Lyra was acting strange lately- stranger than usual. She had been spending an inordinate amount of time in her study. When Lyra did come out, she looked exhausted and disappointed.

On the other hoof, Bon-Bon was in a chipper mood. She was looking at Lyra with a grin and a twinkle in her eye. She had gotten Lyra out of her study and she had a proposition for the two of them.

“I’m fine.” Lyra said curtly, as she let out a sigh and looked down at her lunch. “Just some research I’ve been doing hasn’t gone as planned.” Lyra stabbed a leaf and shoved it in her mouth aggressively.

“I’m starting to worry about you Lyra.” Bon-Bon started. “You spend all your time in your study, and it's making you miserable.” Bon-Bon cleared her throat and began her proposal. “I want to do something with you today. I miss you. Do you think you could take some time out of your busy schedule to spend some time with me?” Bon-Bon waited for Lyra to respond with bated breath.

“Huh...” Lyra was caught off guard. She looked up to see Bon-Bon was using her begging face. Lyra couldn't help but crack a small smile. “You know I can’t say no to that face.”

“Yay!” Bon-Bon clapped her hooves together in excitement and her face lit up like a tree on hearth’s warming eve. “I was thinking maybe we could go to Canterlot. I need to get you out-” Bon-Bon was cut off by rapid knocks at the front door. She gave Lyra a confused look. “Were you expecting anypony?” Lyra just shook her head.

Bon-Bon got up from the table and grumbled under her breath about something ruining the mood and made her way to the front door. She was about to open it when she heard another series of hurried knocks. “Alright, I’m coming!” She grunted out as she opened the door. Her face fell when she saw who it was. It was Twilight, but she had a look of urgency on her face.

“P-princess Twilight? What can I do for you? Is everything alright?” Bon-Bon asked with a raised eyebrow. You don’t look so good.

“There’s no time to explain-” Twilight began. “Is Lyra home?” Twilight asked pleadingly.

“Yeah, she’s in the kitch-” Before Bon-Bon could finish, Twilight pushed past Bon-Bon, leaving her stunned in the doorway. Bon-Bon scratched the back of her head in confusion. Was this one of those friendship problems, or was the town in danger again?

“Lyra! I need your help with something. It’s urgent!” Twilight called as she ran into the kitchen.

“What?” Lyra just looked at Twilight with a blank expression and blinked, then shook her head. Twilight was standing there hyperventilating.

“What do you need me for?” Lyra asked hesitantly.

“No time to explain. I need your help at the library!” She insisted.

“Alright! I’ll come.” Lyra said with a hint of annoyance.

Before Lyra could say anything else, a flash and a pop filled the room. Bon-Bon had entered the kitchen moments later to see both Twilight and Lyra had disappeared. Her face contorted with frustration as she yelled.

“Arhhggg, Twilight, we had plans!”

Spike heard a loud pop and a flash coming from the library proper. He hurried out of the kitchen to find a sheepish looking Twilight beside a wobbling Lyra. Lyra was doing her best to hold back the small amount of lunch she did end up eating.

“Urk...Twilight, please let me know when you’re going to do that.” Lyra said as she steadied herself.

“I’m sorry Lyra, but we need to talk.” Twilight took a more serious tone. “I read your book about humans.” Twilight levitated the book out of her saddle bag and hovered it in front of Lyra.

“Is that why you brought me here?” Lyra sat on her haunches and crossed her hooves. “To poke fun at the mare in town with crazy theories?” Lyra furrowed her brow, stuck her nose in the air and her tone was indignant.

“No, it’s nothing like that. I need your help with something.” Twilight shook her head and frowned. “Perhaps it will be easier if I just show you.” Twilight opened the door to her basement and nodded Lyra for her to follow. “If you could follow me to my lab?”

“Hmph, fine.” Lyra snorted. She began to follow Twilight to the basement and continued. “This better not be another prank. I’m getting awfully tired of everyone in town thinking I’m crazy...” They had reached the bottom of the stairwell and Twilight opened the door to her lab, allowing Lyra to enter first. “I publish one book about humans, ev-” She stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed Charlie in the hospital bed.

Silence filled the room as Triage and Fluttershy looked up from Charlie at Lyra. Fluttershy took a step back and hid behind her hair. Triage gave a small smile at Lyra and then looked at Twilight.

“Twilight, we have another visitor?” Triage trilled.

“This is Lyra. She is the only lead we have on humans.” Twilight stepped forward past the shocked mint green unicorn. “Isn’t that right Lyra?” Twilight looked back to address Lyra.

“Is...is...that…” Lyra stuttered

“Yes Lyra, that’s a human.” She deadpanned.

Twilight looked at Lyra. She had seen that expression before. It was the face Pinkie Pie would make before going off on one of her over-excited rants. You could just tell that there was a balloon about to burst in her head. Twilight cringed and backed away. She braced herself for the impending onslaught of crazy as Lyra’s eyes darted from Charlie to Twilight.

All at once Lyra’s face exploded into a smile and her eyes twinkled. She pounced forward and took Twilight’s face into her own with her hooves, squishing her face in the process. “Omigosh Twilight! You have a real live human!?” Lyra squealed in joy. Lyra let go of Twilight and bounced excitedly on her hooves. “I have so many questions! Where did you find him? What was he doing? How long has he been here? Is this why you brought me here?” Lyra took a deep breath. “Does this mean I won’t be the town crackpot?” Lyra stopped as a sudden realization struck her. “Is that a horn?” Lyra blinked a few times and finally took a look around the room, noticing the medical equipment and the doctor with her eyes finally stopping on Twilight's sheepish smile.

Twilight spent the next few minutes telling Lyra what happened. Lyra sat quietly listening intently on every little word Twilight had to say with growing excitement. "... And then he started growing a horn. We had to sedate him because he was in so much pain. I tried to cast a reversal spell on him, and it backfired. There is a strong ward on him preventing us from interfering. Then I found your book and came to get you." Twilight finished with a smile. "Do you think you can help?"

“Of course, I’ll help, Twilight!” Lyra said without even considering it. She rocketed forward and embraced Twilight in a spine popping hug. “You have no idea how much this means to me!”

Bon-Bon sat in her empty kitchen stewing in a brood. Lyra had been spending most of her time in her study the past couple months and it was starting to strain their relationship. Ever since Lyra started work on that book about humans she had become secluded. When she finally got it published, there were rumors going around that Lyra was obsessed. Bon-Bon had known going into the relationship that Lyra got a little overzealous in her studies, but it was that very passion that Bon-Bon loved. Lyra was a professor of mythological creatures, not just humans.

Lyra was taking the criticism rather hard and in turn she began holding herself away in her research. Bon-Bon barely even got to see the mare anymore. That’s not what bothered her though. She could tell her mare-friend was hiding something. Every time Lyra came out of her study, she looked guilty. Bon-Bon also noticed another pair of locks added to the already locked study, which confused her. Bon-Bon had always been respectful of her privacy and never went in the study unless she was invited. The recent isolation however was giving Bon-Bon something to think about.

Whenever the cream-colored mare asked Lyra what was wrong, she would just brush it off, say something vague, or change the subject. It was frustrating, but whatever Lyra was going through, she was sure that she would come to her in time. There was just something about seeing Lyra so defeated that made Bon-Bon worried.

Bon-Bon huffed and kicked at the ground.

I can’t believe she had the nerve to come in here uninvited! I finally get Lyra to come out, and she’s whisked away.

Bon-Bon Stomped her hoof and growled, before leaving out the door and heading towards Golden Oaks. There was no way she was going to let Twilight get in-between them.

Not today!

Lyra was by the hospital bed’s side, and she stared down at the sleeping human, her eyes sparkling with wonder. Fluttershy had retreated to the chair by the door. Twilight was with Triage looking at the blood samples taken earlier. They had redrawn his blood for another DNA sample. Triage wanted to know if the thaumic energy from the growing horn was having an effect on the rest of his body.

Lyra looked both ways making sure that no one else was watching. With sparkling eyes, and a mischievous grin, she brought a tentative hoof slowly to the sleeping human’s horn. Before she could touch it, a small “zap” filled the air and she yelped back in surprise.

Triage looked over and scowled. “Lyra, please leave his horn alone. It’s newly formed and is incredibly unstable.”

“Alright, I’m sorry. It’s just...fascinating.” She stepped back with a sheepish grin on her face. “It’s just so weird to see a horn on a human.”

Just then a knocking could be heard from upstairs followed by Spike calling out “I’ll get it.”

Spike could be heard talking to somepony, followed by the sound of hoof-steps down the laboratory stairs. There was a knock on their lab door with the muffled sound of Spike’s voice from behind it.

“Twilight, Bon-Bon is here to see you. She wants to know why you foal-napped Lyra.” Spike sounded like he was getting tired of all of Twilight’s antics today.

Twilight sighed. “You can send her in.”

The atmosphere in the laboratory grew tense as all the occupants shared glances of nervousness. Fluttershy had taken to hiding underneath her chair shivering. The door swung open slowly revealing an irritated Bon-Bon.

Everyone in the room froze, with all the eyes on the new guest. The only sound that could be heard was the huffing of Bon-Bon’s breath and the beeping of the medical equipment. Twilight looked at Bon-Bon with shame and guilt, while Lyra just remembered that they had made plans prior to this. Triage was looking at Bon-Bon with a raised eyebrow.
Bon-Bon scanned the room slowly until her gaze fell on Twilight. “You better have a good reason for barging into our home and stealing my Lyra away.” She huffed “I finally got her to agree to go out and do something with me today.” She growls as she slowly walks towards Twilight.

Twilight shrinks back as her ears fall flat against her head. Bon-Bon was right, and Twilight was ashamed how irrational she was acting. She had barged into Bon-Bon and Lyra’s home without asking and teleported Lyra away without having a proper discussion. If the situation wasn’t so dire, Twilight would have never done something so rude. Her face fell at the thought.

“I’m sorry Bon-Bon.” Twilight uttered in a shaky voice. “I should have asked.” Twilight looked at Lyra for help.

“Twilight! Do you have any idea how hard it is to get Lyra out of her study!?” Bon-Bon was raising her voice and walking towards Twilight.

“I just needed her help; I’m working on something time sensitive and I didn’t know what else to do. I’m sorry!” Twilight was practically begging.

“I just wanted one simple date. That’s all I wanted!” Bon-Bon was almost yelling at this point. “You think that just because you’re a princess now you can just do whatever you want?” Bon-Bon was poking Twilight’s chest with her hoof.

“Excuse me?” Twilight batted Bon-Bon’s hoof away. “Is that what this is about?” Twilight raised her voice. “My ascension isn’t going to my head! I’m trying to prevent catastrophe from befalling Equestria!” Twilight was nearly red with indignance.

“Girls Please!” Triage yelled in an irritated voice. “This is hardly the place for having an argument. I’m trying to care for an injured patient!” Triage reprimanded, causing an awkward silence between the two as they glared at each other.

Lyra shook herself out of shock and ran in front of Twilight facing Bon-Bon. “It’s okay Bon-Bon. Twilight found a human!” Lyra bubbled excitedly as she pointed her hoof in Charlie’s direction.

Bon-Bon growled. “Lyra now is not the time-” She cut herself off as she followed Lyra’s hoof, and she finally noticed the human on the hospital bed. Bon-Bon’s mouth remained open in surprise.

“What is that!?” Bon-Bon gasped incredulously.

Twilight took the opportunity to try and explain herself. She nudged Lyra to the side as she explained. “That’s a human. That’s why I brought Lyra here.”

Bon-Bon narrowed her eyes in suspicion, looked at Lyra, and then back to the human. “That’s a human?”

“Yes!” Lyra exclaimed “Isn’t this exciting!”

Bon-Bon blinked as her brain soaked in the information. After all the time she had known Lyra, she had been very lenient in her crazy fascination with mythological creatures. In fact, it was that very passion that Bon-Bon loved about her mare-friend. Lyra was always so studious in her research. Bon-Bon admired Lyra’s dedication to knowledge, but she always knew that what she studied was mythological in nature; meaning not real. Not once did Bon-Bon ever consider that Lyra’s obsession would cross into the real world. This was like a car crash of two realities meeting. The fact that one of Lyra’s mythological creatures that she studied was lying in a hospital bed not but fifteen feet from her was certainly something. Bon-Bon was speechless.

“Bon-Bon, don’t you know what this means?” Lyra put her face into Bon-Bon’s. “Humans are real!”

The next few minutes were spent explaining to Bon-Bon what had happened and why there was a human in Twilight’s laboratory. Fluttershy had finally come out of hiding and was sitting at her usual spot as the others talked about Charlie.

“So, let me get this straight.” Bon-Bon rubbed her temples. “We don’t know where this human came from and why he’s growing a horn, and that’s why you foal-napped Lyra?”

Twilight frowned. “I didn’t foal-nap her, there was consent.” Twilight sighed. “But that’s not the point. Lyra is the only pony who has research on humans, and her research is surprisingly accurate.”

Twilight took a step towards Charlie and looked at his horn. “Lyra, what do you think?” She asked.

Lyra walked up beside Twilight and looked at Charlie pensively. “Charlie just seems like a bundle of chaos. I’ve studied humans, and there is nothing that would indicate they have reached a technology that would induce inter-dimensional travel.” Lyra looked thoughtful.

“Lyra, I find it difficult to understand how much you know about humans. How do you know all-” Twilight’s eyes widened as a light-bulb went off in her head. Twilight turned around to Fluttershy, not paying attention to Lyra who was rubbing the back of her neck and looking away to hide a guilty frown.

“Fluttershy.” Twilight began in a serious tone. “We need to talk to Discord.”

...Blame Discord

“Oh dear” Fluttershy began in surprise. “You really think Discord would have something to do with this?” Fluttershy looked at Twilight in shock, her ears flattening.

“This has Discord written all over it.” Twilight answered with a furrowed brow. She stomped a forehoof in emphasis.

“But Twilight, we can’t just blame discord for everything that we don’t understand.” Fluttershy shook her head. “He’s reformed, remember?” Fluttershy said with a whimper, returning her friend a pleading look.

Twilight took a breath to calm herself down, bringing her forehoof to her chest and using the technique cadence had taught her. “I just want to ask if he knows anything about what’s going on here.” Twilight tapped a hoof to her chin. “Why don’t you invite him over to your cottage and we can have a civil conversation over tea. It shouldn’t take too long.” Twilight proposed, hoping Fluttershy would agree.

Fluttershy looked pensive for a moment, and then nodded. “I think that should be fine. He might be able to help.” Fluttershy frowned. “I know you still don’t trust him, but he’s learning about friendship just like you did...he’s just starting from further away.”

Twilight shook her head. “If he’s not the one that made this mess in the first place...” Twilight muttered under her breath. The purple alicorn turned to Triage. “Triage, are you okay if Fluttershy and I step out for a few moments? We have some things to discuss with the local lord of chaos.”

Triage nodded and then shot a glare at Lyra. “As long as Miss heartstrings can keep her hooves to herself, we will be fine.” Lyra gave Twilight a sheepish smile and pawed the ground with her hoof.

Twilight looked to the mint green mare. “Your knowledge of humans can help Triage, so stay here in case Triage has any questions.” Twilight faced Bon-Bon. “And Bon-Bon, I’m sorry. Could you stay here with Lyra and make sure she stays out of trouble?” Twilight smiled and her eyes softened. “I’m sorry you got dragged into this, but we need you two to help if you can.”

Bon-Bon looked at Twilight apologetically. “I get it Twilight. This is bigger than us.” Then Bon-Bon saluted with a smile. “I’m just happy to see Lyra in a good mood.”

The butter yellow pegasus and the lavender alicorn had appeared with a pop in front of Fluttershy’s cottage. Fluttershy opened her door slowly with a tentative hoof. She was biting her lip in nervousness. She was disappointed Twilight had already accused Discord. Fluttershy was sure her friend Discord was innocent of something like this, but there was a small part of her that wasn’t so sure. Whatever the case, they were going to talk about this like adults.

“Twilight, I know you think Discord did this, but if we start pointing hooves at him every time something goes wrong he might become resentful.” Fluttershy turned around to look Twilight in the eyes. “I want you to promise you won’t be mean.”

Twilight looked back at her friend and sighed. “I promise.”

The pair walked into the cottage and Fluttershy went straight to the kitchen to start a cup of tea and set the table. Twilight helped wordlessly. The silence between them was of mutual solidarity, not of awkwardness or tension. Twilight was thinking about what Fluttershy had said. She had spent the better part of her day today panicking. To say that she was disappointed would be an understatement. There was something about this situation that just didn’t add up, but it was her reactions to the unknown that was weighing on her soul. She was frustrated with herself more than anything else. She had lost control not once, but twice. She was supposed to be the element of magic, and she was letting the stress cloud her judgement. She was determined to hold herself together for her friend. Twilight did not enjoy being around Discord, but she would play nice for Fluttershy, if only to get to the bottom of this. She was adamant that he had something to do with this.

After completing the spread, Fluttershy clapped her hooves and said. “Okay Twilight are you ready?” The yellow one smiled nervously.

Twilight nodded, and then cocked her eyebrow. “How do we get Discord to come?”

Fluttershy walked to her counter and grabbed a cucumber with her wing. “Any fresh produce will do.” She said as she positioned the long green fruit so one end was by her ear and the other was by her mouth. Fluttershy cleared her throat and spoke into the cucumber. “Discord, would you like to come over for some tea?”

Twilight just looked on in confusion as she could clearly hear a faint voice come from the other end. Not more than a second later a long mismatch of body parts snaked out of Fluttershy’s kitchen sink drain. It had a serpentine body. One hand was a lion paw while the other an eagle claw. One leg was a hoof and the other was a dragon limb. His beady red eyes focused on Fluttershy with a grin. “Oh Fluttershy, it has been too long!” The serpent exclaimed. He was holding an asparagus in his talons. Discord tossed the asparagus into the air and it exploded into confetti. “What’s the occasion Fluttershy? Did you miss me?” One of his beady eyes landed on Twilight and he winked. “You didn’t tell me royalty would be here!” Discord chided, and then snapped his talons. Discord was now dressed in a top hat, monocle, and a black tuxedo. “But I dare say that makes me overdressed.” Discord snapped his talons again and both Twilight and Flutterhsy were wearing the same gowns they had worn to the gala.

Twilight deadpanned and took a seat at the table. She used her magic to pour herself a cup of tea. Fluttershy just uttered a feint “Hello Discord. We...umm… need to talk to you over some tea.” Fluttershy clacked her hooves together nervously. “If that’s okay with you?”

Discord fluttered his eyes and smiled at the yellow mare. “Of course, I would do anything for a dear friend.” Discord disappeared and reappeared at the table. In his talon was a giant blue “T”. He slowly took a sip out of the letter.

Fluttershy was startled momentarily by the relocation, but collected herself and took a seat at the table. She began to pour herself a cup of tea. She looked over to her librarian friend for reassurance before she began. “Um, Discord, we were wondering if you could help us understand something.”

Discord continued to sip his “T”. “Of course Fluttershy, but if you want to understand something, don’t you have the embodiment of magic herself as one of your closest confidants?” Discord smiled and gestured towards the lavender mare.

Twilight took a deep breath to compose herself and held back a glare. She brought the tea to her lips and took a sip before answering. She had promised her friend she wouldn't be mean. “Discord…” She started, meeting his eyes with a stoic expression. “...Something has come up…” Twilight was speaking slowly as if every word was painful. “...that I don’t completely understand.” Twilight took another deep breath and exhaled slowly as if she had just confessed to a heinous crime.

The god of chaos brought his paw to his chest in mock surprise. “Are you saying that Celestia’s prodigy student and Princess of Friendship needs help with something, from me? I’m shocked.” His expression betrayed himself as he was grinning. Everything pointed to the fact that he was very much enjoying this. Discord took another sip from his consonant.

This flustered twilight greatly. She felt as if discord was rubbing salt in her wound. “Something tells me you might already know what’s going on.” She said in a low growl.

A quiet “Oh dear.” escaped the butter pegasus as Discord just chuckled.

“Twilight, do you really think that something filled with so much chaos would escape my notice? Ever since the human appeared, I’ve been watching. The absolute turmoil and confusion has been nothing but delicious to watch.” Discord licked his lips and snapped his talons. A tub of popcorn appeared. He dipped his paw into the bucket and popped some in his mouth, chewing loudly with his mouth open. “It’s been quite the show!” He uttered, popcorn flying out with a few kernels spraying in Twilight’s mane.

“I knew it!” Twilight blurted out, pointing her right forehoof at Discord accusingly. Some of the popcorn crumbs fell to the table. “You do have something to do with this!” She huffed.

A light ‘eeep’ was uttered from a certain yellow mare at the outburst.

“Twilight dear, whatever do you mean?” Discord responded innocently, while flecks of popcorn flew out of his mouth. A few landed on Twilight’s snout. “I have done nothing but watch. It has been quite the spectacle.” With a snap, a pair of glasses appeared on Twilight’s muzzle.

Twilight ignored the glasses and began. “If you knew what was going on, how come you didn’t help?” She crossed her forelimbs and blew the popcorn from her muzzle petulantly.

Discord just laughed. “I wouldn’t dare interfere with your research. Don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy that.” Discord wiggled his eyebrows playfully. “You have a test subject in your library that you know nothing about. Don’t deny that there is a part of you that secretly delights in this.”

Twilight’s cheeks puffed out as they did their best impression of a tomato. “Stop it, Discord! I don’t want to play games with you right now!”

Fluttershy cleared her throat to say something. Both discord and Twilight looked over at her. “Uhm… I think what Discord is trying to say is that um… he didn’t do anything to cause this Twilight.”

“Oh, oh ho ho ho! Now I see. Something you can’t explain happens and you immediately blame the lord of chaos.” Discord leaned back in his seat and frowned. “I’m hurt Twilight. Poor Fluttershy has worked so hard to reform me. I wouldn’t do anything to ruin that friendship.” Discord pouted.

Twilight narrowed her eyes at Discord, and then sighed. "If you didn’t do this, then who did?” Twilight accused.

“Did you find out what type of magic brought the human here? I would expect the element of magic would have already determined the origin.” Discord raised an eyebrow at Twilight with a half grin.

“The only thing I was able to determine was that it was very powerful and that it was no magic I’m familiar with.” Twilight replied with frustration.

Discord Smiled a devilish smile and chuckled. “So You're telling me that the element of magic was unable to find out what kind of magic brought the human here?” Discord crossed his arms in a mock pout. “And you blame ol’ Discord because you’ve run out of options?” Discord raised a brow. “Certainly the princess of friendship would understand that this is not the way to go about finding answers, especially by blaming others.” Discord clapped his hands together and smiled once again. “I think I will pardon this particular instance. I think I may be of assistance as a friend. For somepony who is so familiar with magic, you are quick to forget that there are more than just the mundane everyday magics. I’m sure you're familiar with chaos magic, yes?” Discord snapped his paw and a flock of teacups scattered throughout the room flying everywhere with wings. Discord leaned in towards the purple alicorn and lowered his voice to a whisper. "Did you forget about the dark triad?”

Twilight’s pupils shrank as her brain considered what discord suggested. Her ears lowered flat against her head and a lock of her mane sprang out like a spring. Dark magic was frowned upon in Equestria. Was it possible that through her haste she was unwilling to consider that dark magic was responsible for the human’s existence? Perhaps it was the fact that if it was really dark magic that brought the human here, there was a very small chance she could do anything about it. The open mouth and the glazed look was enough for Discord to turn his attention to Fluttershy.

“It appears I may have broken the purple one…” Discord casually mentions as he drums his talons on the table. After a moment Discord looks to Fluttershy and smiles. “Could you pass the sugar? This tea is not nearly sweet enough.” Discord smiled and fluttered his eyes innocently at the yellow mare.

“Oh Dear.” Fluttershy muttered under her breath. Fluttershy wordlessly passed Discord the sugar and got up from the table and slowly approached her broken friend. She turned to Discord. “I hate to cut this short, but I think it’s in everypony's best interest if I get Twilight back to the library.” Fluttershy stole a furtive glance to see one of Twilight’s eyelids twitching followed by an ear twitch and another lock of her mane springing out of place. Fluttershy lightly brushed her friend’s cheek with a wing with no response.

Discord just gave an impish smile and gestured with his paw. “It’s no trouble at all Fluttershy dear. In fact, I can give you a hand.” Discord detached his paw from his arm and placed it on the table. Before Fluttershy could protest, the detached limb snapped and Fluttershy’s cottage was replaced by a wall of bookshelves and a nonplussed Spike.

The purple dragon crossed his arms and gave Fluttershy a deadpan look. “What did Discord do this time?” Spike eyed the mares up and down. “And should I even ask why you look like you’re going to the gala...and is that popcorn?”

A New Friend

“OOOoooOOOh! Did somepony say popcorn!?” A high-pitched chipper voice chirped out.

“Oh no…” The yellow mare muttered under her breath as she saw the look of utter madness on her purple friend. Fluttershy looked over to the corner of the library to see a disturbingly pink poofy maned head poking out from a flowerpot. There was soil on top of her head with the flower perched at the top and it wiggled with each twitchy movement from the bubbly mare in the pot. With one large inhale, the pink one began her onslaught of giddy excitement. It was at this moment Fluttershy braced herself. Twilight was unresponsive, staring blankly at the wall, oblivious to the verbal assault.

“Are you guys getting ready for a movie night tonight? I got a twitchy twitchen tail and a wiggly ear and that usually means there is somepony new in town but I couldn’t go anywhere ‘cause I was watching the twins but I’m free now and I started looking around town for the new pony but couldn’t find them but then when I walked past the library my knees got all wobbly and I came in and I found you guys all dressed up and it looks like you’re getting ready for something but Twilight doesn’t look too good and it looks like you need a good Pinkie party and then Spike said popcorn!” Pinkie spouted out in one breath. Pinkie had to take another long breath to continue.

It was at this time Spike sighed and turned to leave. “I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.” He said over his shoulder. His scaly claws could be heard receding into the kitchen as he returned to his kitchen duties.

Pinkie continued her assault with another utterance of words. “Ooh! Ooh Ooh! Are we going to watch the new ‘Hoof Wars’ movie?” Her head bobbed up and down and her candy cotton mane swayed with each bob. “I heard Boba Fetlock is making a return! I think it would be so great to have a ‘Welcome to Ponyville movie night’ party.”

“Pinkie” Fluttershy said gingerly.

“Is that new friend here?”

“Um...Pinkie”

"Is that why you’re having a movie night!?”

“Pinkie please-”

Pinkie took in another deep breath as her face lit up with pure glee. “You guys wanted to help me plan a movie party for the new pony in town! ” Pinkie brought her hooves to her face in mock astonishment. “But first we need to fix Twilight.”

“PINKIE!” Fluttershy shouted, nearly knocking Twilight over.

“Oh, hi Fluttershy!” Pinkie waved cheerily from her pot. In that moment Pinkie crossed her eyes and went serious as she looked over Twilight’s state of affairs..

“Oh No!” Pinkie bellowed as she leapt out of the pot and tackled Fluttershy to the ground, the flower still rooted to her noggin.

“Fluttershy, something is wrong with Twilight.” Pinkie faux whispered in the yellow one’s ear. “I’ve seen that look before. That’s how she looked during the smarty pants incident.” The pink one sucked in another deep breath of air and whirled around to face Twilight and waved a foreleg in front of the glazed purple eyes. “Twilight, are you okay? You don’t look so good.” Pinkie grabbed Twilight in a tight hug and discovered that the book horse was as pliable as a flaccid noodle. The purple body slumped against Pinkie.

The buttered one took a breath to compose herself and cleared her throat to get her friend’s attention.

“Umm… she’s not having a good day, and then we had a talk with Discord that didn’t go so well.”

“Discord!? What did he do?” Pinkie reeled back around to face Fluttershy, her brows furrowed in anger. Pinkie let go of the purple noodle, only to have it slump to the floor.

“Discord didn’t do anything. That is the problem. Twilight was blaming him for something, and he defended himself… in that Discord way. It’s not his fault.” Fluttershy turned her gaze to the purple lump on the floor and winced.

Pinkie’s mane deflated slightly again. “Whatever it is, we need to snap her out of it before we have another crisis and I know just what to do!” Before Fluttershy could protest pinkie had disappeared and reappeared in the blink of an eye. She had a book in one hoof and a pitcher of water in the other. “I hope I don’t accidentally get water on this dry book!” She spoke in faux distress. She placed the book on the ground and began to tip the pitcher of water to drip some water onto the open book.

Twilight immediately sprang into action. “Pinkie! Water damage is a five-bit fine from the library!” She seethed as she took the book away in her magic. She brought it to her and hugged it like an overprotective parent and glared at Pinkie. “I wish you would have more care with literary content. You and Rainbow Dash have no respect for the written word!”

“Umm… Twilight.” Fluttershy began. “Are you alright?”

Twilight shook her head, with the odd sound of clinking marbles filling the room.

“No!” Twilight huffed out. “I’m not. I blamed Discord for something he didn’t do, and I can’t figure out a magical problem! I’m not okay.” Twilight slumped. “Discord had a point...and it’s the worst!” Twilight punctuated her despair by cradling her head in her hooves.

The pink one reeled on Twilight and took her in another crushing hug. “I know just what you need!” Pinkie brought her face close to Twilight’s, her blue eyes seeming to look through her. “My Pinkie sense told me there is some pony new in town and you can help me throw a party!”

The purple one sighed, because she knew exactly where this was going. “Pinkie, we can’t have a party for a creature that is in a medically induced coma.” Twilight internally winced at how blunt she needed to be with her friend, but that was the only way to stop the Pinkie train from derailing, smashing through the train station, and then flying away into the sunset.

Pinkie’s mane deflated some more with the sound of air being let out of a balloon. “Twilight, that’s horrible!” Pinkie’s eyes glazed over as the implications sunk in.

“You mean to tell me you found a creature by the everfree that we’ve never seen before that was so burned that you had to bring it back to town for medical attention but the hospital couldn’t care for it so you had to turn your basement into a makeshift infirmary and then he woke up only for him to grow a horn that was so painful that you had to give him sedatives and you’ve been spending the day trying to find out why?”

Fluttershy and Twilight just stared at each other in disbelief. They knew from experience not to question Pinkie when she was being Pinkie, but it still didn’t detract from the downright spookiness of how scarily accurate and specific she was.

Pinkie continued, her mane reinflating slightly as her face filled with resolve. “Don’t worry Twilight, Pinkie is on the case.” Pinkie bobbed her head in determination, soil from her mane falling to the ground. Without ceremony Pinkie pronked towards Twilight’s basement.

Twilight and Flutterhsy did not have time to process what had just happened before Pinkie was already halfway down the basement stairs.

“Pinkie wait!” They shouted in unison before scrambling to their hooves to catch up.

Bon-Bon watched as Twilight and Fluttershy disappeared in a flash, leaving the makeshift hospital room quiet save for the beeps and boops from the medical equipment hooked up to the human.

Lyra had gotten over her initial excitement and was helping Triage with some medical charts. The harp flanked minty mare was consulting with the medical student about the human’s vitals and what they should be. At the moment they were discussing normal blood pressure and body temperature.

Bon-Bon was sitting on her haunches watching the human’s chest rise and fall with each breath. She had tuned out the conversation going on and was thinking about her troubles at home. The candymaker frowned in contemplation. Lyra’s ribs were beginning to show because she didn’t eat. Her fillyfriend was losing weight and there were bags under her eyes. Bon-Bon sighed thinking about the pure joy Lyra had for the human before her. It was that twinkle in her eyes that she loved the most, but she had not seen it in so long.

‘How come I can’t make Lyra that happy?’ She thought. She sulked inwardly. Was she not the good filly-friend she thought she was? She looked at the protruding horn on the human. Would Lyra be that happy if she were to suddenly start growing hands?

Bon-Bon shook her head at the ridiculousness of it all. It was the stupid rumors that had Lyra in her study not eating and not sleeping. Lyra loved her for who she was, hooves and all, right?

Over by the monitoring equipment Lyra was in her element. Triage was impressed at Lyra’s medical knowledge, if not dubious. From Lyra’s research Triage was able to form a baseline for the human’s vitals and start medical records for his species. They had gone over his body systems and x-rays and confirmed that there was nothing physically wrong with him other than the burns...and the horn.

When the conversation moved towards the magic, however, Lyra grew dour. “Humans don’t have magic...at all.” Lyra crossed her forehooves. “The world he comes from doesn’t have any magic. He shouldn’t be able to store magic… and now he has a horn.”

The medical mare looked at a magical x-ray she took and brought it up so they could look at it. It showed magic as glowing sparkles and leylines were highlighted in blue. From what the x-ray showed, there was a growing reservoir of magic right underneath the newly grown horn, and magical tendrils were slowly snaking throughout his body. The leylines stretched across his head and were creeping through his neck.

“Do you think this is an adverse reaction to magic exposure? If what you say about humans is true and they don’t have magic where they come from, there is no telling how his body will react to thaumaturgical exposure.” Triage, brought her hoof to her chin in thought.

Lyra looked at the x-ray, and then the DNA results. “Magical exposure would explain the leylines, but not the DNA. If this was just magical exposure, his body would just absorb the ambient magic. I’m no magical prodigy, but not even ambient magic can alter DNA.” Lyra looked at Triage with hesitation. “I noticed he still has burns on his body. Have you tried using healing magic?”

Triage frowned. “Yes, when they brought him in they tried using healing spells on him but they had no effect. Why?”

“What if your healing spells were just absorbed. If his body is building leylines this fast it’s most likely his body just absorbed the magic.” Lyra postulated.

Triage cocked an eyebrow. “Are you saying casting magic on or around him will expedite whatever metamorphosis he’s going through?”

“It’s entirely possible. If we want to slow this down we have to set up anti-magical barriers. There is no way to remove ambient magic, but at least we can prevent anypony from casting spells on or around him. We will have to wait until Twilight gets back. She’s the magical expert.

Bon-Bon, Triage, and Lyra all looked to the door as they heard the tell-tale sound of Pinkie pronking, followed by the sound of a door being thrown open. Streamers, confetti, and a few balloons flew into the room with a ‘fart’ sound.

“Hiya everypony! I heard someone needed cheering up and I want to get the room ready for when he wakes up.” Pinkie was bouncing in unimpeded and stopped by the foot of the human’s bed. “OOOooOOh, he’s so….bald!”

“Absolutely not.” Triage scolded, as she blew confetti out of her mane. You will not be getting confetti into this expensive medical equipment. This is a hospital, not a party room. Ms. Pie if you cannot control yourself I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” She said sternly.

“Awww, okay. No confetti. Can I still do balloons?”

Triage sighed and shook her head. “Yes, you can do balloons.”

Revelations

Bon-Bon, Triage, and Lyra stared in disbelief as the pink blur converted the basement turned hospital room into a colorfully decorated ‘Welcome to Ponyville and hope you get better soon’ party. There were streamers covering every inch of the ceiling with a net filled with balloons in the corner. Pinkie had also produced a tray of cupcakes from her mane and set them on the nightstand by the bed. The cupcakes were followed by several ‘get well soon’ cards and a vase full of flowers. Pinkie was extra careful around the medical equipment and surprisingly did not unplug any machines in her whirlwind party planning. By the time Fluttershy and Twilight rushed into the room, Pinkie had finished.

The Pink one sat by the foot of the bed and wiped a few beads of sweat off her forehead with a fetlock. “Wowee, it sure is hard substituting for all the confetti! Usually, it would have been faster with my confetti cannons.” Pinkie then looked up and caught sight of Bon-Bon and Lyra. “Hey guys, what are you doing here? Did you come for the party?” Pinkie then wriggled her eyebrows and stretched her forelegs to impossible lengths to bring them both into a crushing hug. “I’m so glad you guys could make it! Bon-Bon do you have any new candy we could sample for the party?!”

Bon-Bon tried to wriggle out of Pinkie’s grasp in vain. “If you would...let go...I could give you a few...to sample.” She said in between pained breaths.

Twilight took a deep breath to collect her thoughts and began. “Pinkie, as much as I appreciate you decorating my basement for a party, there are more pressing matters we need to attend to.” Just then Twilight got an idea. She smiled impishly with a 500 watt industrial halogen idea. “Pinkie, why don’t you go help Spike upstairs make the cake.”

Pinkie’s eyes lit up and she squee’d with a bright smile. She deposited the creamy and minty mares back down on the floor in a heap and bobbed her head. “Okie Dokie Lokie!” She affirmed before pronking away upstairs.

Bon-Bon blushed heavily under the weight of her filly-friend as she struggled to compose herself. Lyra responded by snuggling into Bon-Bon and inhaling deeply. “Mmm, you always smell so good Bonnie.” Lyra whispered into her ear.

“Lyra!” Bon-Bon hissed. “Not right now. There are others watching!”

“Fine.” Lyra relinquished her snuggles and whispered back. “We’ll do this later.”

“Lyra!”

Triage just shook her head and sighed. “I heard rumors that strange things happened around you Princess, but seeing it for myself, I am at a loss for words. Is this normal for you?”

Twilight smiled sheepishly. “Yup, that’s just Pinkie being Pinkie.” Twilight shook her head. She frowned and took a more subdued tone. “But now that she is distracted, we need to talk.”

At this point Lyra and Bon-Bon picked themselves up with both sporting a pink hue to their coats.

Triage nodded and looked to Lyra. “I have been consulting with Lyra and we have come to several conclusions.” Triage nodded in confirmation. “His body is going through thaumaturgical exposure sickness as Lyra has concluded that where he comes from does not have any magic. His body is building ley lines as we speak.” Triage pointed to the x-rays. “As you can see, the ambient magic is being absorbed through his horn into his main cranial mana pool and is slowly building ley lines. There is no way we can predict how his body will react to the magic coursing through his ley lines. Lyra has hypothesized that ambient magic is not strong enough to change his DNA however. That is something we must still look into.”

Triage looked at Twilight with a scowl. “Any spells cast on him or around him will be absorbed and speed up whatever process he is going through, so please refrain from any more magical outbursts please. I am trusting you can control yourself around our patient and there will not be any more magical mishaps.

Twilight gasped and put a hoof to her mouth. “Are you saying the counter spell I tried to cast on him earlier might have made things worse.”

“Yes.” Triage spoke with certainty. “If you could put an anti-magical barrier around him, I think that would be for the best. We can’t remove ambient magic, but we can prevent anypony else from casting around him. Once we have that barrier up, we can discuss anything you have discovered while you were out.”

Twilight looked around at all the medical equipment and frowned. “Will an anti-magical field interfere with the medical equipment?”

Triage shook her head. “No, it runs off ambient magic and its own power source. We will still be able to tend to Charlie’s medical needs with the barrier up. I can do rudimentary scans with the equipment I have to monitor his thaumic exposure. The only thing we won’t be able to do is conduct magical scans.”

“Hold on. There is one scan that I need to conduct before we put up the barrier. There is a chance whatever did this was using dark magic and I need to do a scan. It’s my fault I didn’t consider the dark triad.”

At the mention of the dark triad, Lyra began to sweat and put a hoof behind her head. Bon-Bon noticed and elbowed her. “Is everything alright Lyra? You look like you’re about to be sick.”

“Yes, I’m fine” Lyra answered curtly.

Triage stared at Twilight for a moment and then nodded. “Very well. We can monitor him while you cast the spell to measure the exact absorption rate he has with magnified magic.”

Twilight took a step back and her horn began to glow. At the same time Triage’s horn glowed. Anypony watching them wouldn't see anything, their horns only glowing briefly before they stopped. Twilight looked as pale as a ghost while Triage looked contemplative. “It appears his body has a nearly 100% absorption rate.” Triage then began to print out another scan from one of her machines. Upon inspection she declared the results. “The magic is being absorbed and fed directly into his ley line construction. I’m not seeing any physical distress from the thaumic exposure. It seems his body is tolerating it well.”

“It’s just like Discord said.” Twilight began having a staring contest with the floor. “There are traces of...blood magic. This might be what’s behind the DNA transmutation.” Everypony in the room was silent.

Lyra’s eyes went wide, and they began darting around the room. She began to hyperventilate, and her face went pale. “I...um…. I need to go...I think I left... the oven on at home.” Before anypony could say anything more, Lyra ran out of the basement.

“Lyra wait!” Bon-Bon called after her and gave chase.

Ignoring the antics, Triage turned to Fluttershy and smiled. “Fluttershy would you be a dear and check the bandages while we wait for our human expert to return? I need to record the horn growth and determine when it is done. After the horn is complete, we may be able to wake him up and ask him some questions.”

Fluttershy nodded and smiled. “Of course. Right away!” The buttery pegasus began to redress the human’s horn while Triage took measurements.

“If we were to go by average unicorn horn length, I would say his horn will reach full height in roughly fifteen minutes. I’m also detecting a slight increase in growth from the magic absorbed from Twilight’s magical scan. I think Lyra’s theory was correct. Magic is fueling his transformation, with the transmuted DNA being used as a schematic.”

Twilight was looking pensive as she began to piece things together in her head. “Blood magic was used to alter his DNA, but why? It’s highly frowned upon and no one has openly practiced it in centuries.”

Triage looked at Twilight and sighed. “Something tells me your green friend knows more than she lets on judging by the way she ran out of the room like that.”

“Lyra is an eccentric mare. I trust Bon-Bon to bring her back before she gets too far. While we’re waiting I will put up that anti-magic barrier.”

Bon-Bon was racing through Ponyville. She was just far enough behind Lyra to catch her tail going around corners. As Lyra had declared, she was in fact heading towards home. During the chase, there were quite a few things going through the candy-makers head. It clearly had something to do with blood magic. It wasn’t until Twilight mentioned it that Lyra had a near panic attack. She wasn’t going to let Lyra face this alone whatever it was.

When Bon-Bon made it to their shared home, the front door was left wide open. Bon-Bon stopped in the doorway and called out “Lyra honey, are you alright?” She closed the door behind her and took a few steps inside. “You can talk to me. I don’t know what you’re going through unless you use your words.” The kitchen was empty with the half-eaten lunch left still on the table. The oven was in fact not left on. The living room was just as empty. Bon-Bon looked at the stairs and let out an exasperated sigh knowing exactly where her filly friend retreated to.

As Bon-Bon approached Lyra’s study, she could hear shuffling papers and the sound of the mint mare mumbling to herself in a near panic. The door was left ajar with light filtering through the crack.

Bon-Bon nudged the door open and peeked in, only to gasp in shock. There were papers all over the floor and the bookshelf that was normally in the back of the study was moved at an odd angle. In the middle was a desk with a chair and figurines of mythical creatures lining the walls. Lyra’s lyre was resting on one of the shelves on the wall along with other stringed instruments that Lyra liked to experiment with. Lyra’s study also doubled as her music studio with recording equipment piled up neatly in the far corner.

There was light spilling from behind the bookshelf. Bon-Bon took a few tentative steps forward, feeling like she was intruding. As she approached the bookshelf it became clear that Lyra was behind it as the incoherent mumblings became clearer. There was a hidden room behind the bookshelf. Bon-Bon peaked behind the bookshelf and gasped.

Lyra was slumped in the middle of the room with papers scattered all around her. On the floor was a pentagram drawn in what looked like red ink. There was a pedestal in the center with a crystal orb placed at the top. She was sobbing, laying against the pedestal in a heap. Lyra looked up at Bonnie upon hearing Bonnie enter the room. Her eyes were red and filled with tears.

“Bonnie...this is all my fault.” she gasped out between sobs. “I did it. I brought the human here.” She wailed and slumped to the ground.

Bon-Bon ran forward and embraced her filly-friend in a tight hug. “Shhh, honey. I’m here. It’s going to be okay.” Bon-Bon began to run her hoof through Lyra’s mane in a soothing manner. Lyra continued to wail into Bon-bon’s shoulder until she had no more tears to cry.

“Oh Bonnie.” Lyra choked out. “I really messed up big this time. Everypony is going to hate me. I’m going to be put in the dungeon and you will never want to see me again! What am I going to do?”

“Shhh. Whatever you’re going through, we’re going to get through it together. I will never hate you Lyra. I love you, and nothing is going to keep me from loving you. You just need to tell me what you’re going through so I can help. You have to promise me no more secrets.” Bonnie lifted Lyra’s head, so they were looking into each other's eyes. “Can you do that?” Bon-Bon looked into Lyra's watery eyes and saw fear, pain, and remorse. The minty unicorn nodded wordlessly before snuggling into Bon-Bon’s chest fluff. Bon-Bon cradled Lyra and began to stroke her gently. Neither pony kept track of the time and finally the sobbing subsided to occasional whimpers.

Professor Lyra Heartstrings

Everything was in place for the professor of mythology. Lyra scanned her incantations and runes placed on the floor. She rechecked her sound muffling enchantment. She had fire-proofed everything in the room. Her scrying crystal was ready, and the proper markings were in place. Lyra nodded her head. It was time. She took a full vial of her blood in her magic and poured it over the pedestal. The room lit up in a crimson light and the crystal ball bathed the walls in an eerie glow. Lyra took the crystal in her hooves and concentrated her magic on the parchment she had written her contract on. Using the crystal as a focus, she found the target of her summoning spell. With a blinding flash, the scroll burned into red flames and Lyra was thrown back, knocking over the pedestal. The orb crashed to the floor and rolled outside of the pentagram. As soon as the crystal left the pentagram, Lyra felt searing pain in her horn. The crystal rose into the air and the vials of blood she had collected shattered. Lyra watched in horror as all the blood coalesced into a floating sphere around the crystal.

“Nooo!” She screamed. She attempted to use her magic to bring the orb back into the summoning circle, but it only resulted in more searing pain to her head. She scrambled to her hooves and tried to reach the mass of blood but ran into an invisible barrier. She rammed her hooves against the wall. The shield was steadfast. The summoning circle had formed a protective barrier, keeping her sealed inside. “No, stop the summoning. This is all wrong!” Lyra rammed into the barrier with all her strength, but only resulted in more pain. “Stop!” All Lyra could do was watch as the blood was absorbed into the floating orb. Once all the blood was gone the room filled with a bright flash and everything went dark for Lyra.

It had been 3 months since the publication of her book on humans. Instead of earning her renown in the study of mythology like she originally thought, it brought rumors and heresy. The book had sold well, but not for its intended purpose. Instead of being a household name for mythology, she was a laughingstock. Ponies were buying her book as a joke. Her students at Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns were not taking her classes seriously and had started making jokes about her. Even her colleagues were joining in on the ridicule. Lyra growled at the thought of everypony talking behind her back.

When she had set up her scrying orb in the back of her study it was to try and find glimpses into the past to prove some of the myths and legends she studied existed. No matter what she tried, she was unable to escape the temporal limitations of simple scrying spells. She wanted to make a breakthrough but the tomes she found at the local archives were not enough. Time travel spells were hard to find but not quite what she was looking for. She had spent some time in the Starswirl the Bearded’s wing but nothing on time scrying. She did however find a few notes on blood magic. Mostly what she found on the forbidden magic was that it was able to bypass normal magic constraints by offering blood or other such sacrifice.

With pure curiosity and a drive to discover a way to uncover time scrying, she began to follow the breadcrumbs of blood magic. Starswirl mentioned a blood mage by the name of Crimson Heart. The only thing that Lyra could find on him was that he had been consumed by his own magics. Blood magic was a forbidden magic as part of the dark triad.

Lyra’s Research into the dark triad led her to the restricted wing of the Canterlot archives. Because of her status as a professor, she was able to request special clearance from Celestia herself. Her reputation as an expert in mythology preceded her and she had no problems cracking into the taboo tomes. Lyra learned that the dark triad consisted of three magics.

The first is black magic. Black magic is frowned upon for obvious reasons. It is fueled by hatred and is used to manipulate and harm others. This school contains the mind magic as well as corruption magic. It is normal magic corrupted by insidious or nefarious intentions. Black magic slowly corrupts the user as it is fueled by negativity. Black magic was made infamous by Sombra. Despite its nature, black magic is not illegal, but highly frowned upon.

The second of the dark triad is necromancy. Bringing back those who have already passed is especially heinous. Any act of necromancy is illegal and is the only magic in Equestria that is completely banned. Even studying necromancy with the intention of casting it is barred. The only tomes available that mention the art are those who merely mention that it is against equestrian law.

The third and final school of dark magic is blood magic. Blood magic is the art of sacrifice and using blood for amplifying magic and altering life. Blood itself can also be manipulated by strong blood mages. The blood may be used to make magical contracts that can be fulfilled by the essence of magic. Blood magic can also be used to make golems and flesh constructs. Most study of blood magic was sealed away in the archives after Crimson Heart attempted a blood ritual that resulted in his disappearance.

With enough patience and digging, Lyra was able to find a book that documented Crimson Heart’s rise to power and his subsequent fall. It turned out he was trying to find the key to immortality and his final ritual went horribly wrong. Nopony knows what happened to him. The research he did leave behind along with his journals were kept locked up in the restricted section.

After learning the schedules of the guards and tactically acquiring a guard pendant with the proper clearance, Lyra was able to gain access to Crimson Heart’s old journals. The journal’s went into great detail about how to perform blood rituals to enhance magic. With the knowledge in hoof, Lyra used the rituals to enhance her scrying.

She called it blood scrying. She ended up using syringes to draw blood from her foreleg to avoid prying questions from her filly-friend. Bon-Bon was very perceptive and would notice scars on her. She used a chemistry set to store her blood in vials. All she needed was a drop of her own blood on the crystal ball to scry wherever and whenever she wanted.

It almost worked too well, and it wasn’t long before Lyra was able to pinpoint a human civilization in ancient Equestria. Lyra spent all her spare time gazing into her crystal ball taking in depth notes about everything she could on humans. Eventually she found the cause for the human’s disappearance. There was a great war between humans and ponykind and the great unicorns of that time used a powerful banishing spell. The humans were banished to an entirely different dimension.

With the help of her blood scrying, Lyra was able to follow the humans to their new dimension and watched as the human’s became the dominant species of their planet and their technological advancements. Lyra could not believe the advances the human’s made in such little time. There were carts that ran on fossil fuels, giant flying aircraft, and weapons of mass destruction. Just like from when they were banned from their reality, humans were susceptible to greed. It was no wonder they were banished. Even after all that time, war seemed inevitable for humans.

With this information, Lyra was able to publish her book. The backlash she received from the book was unexpected and she spiraled into a depression. There had to be a way to prove that she wasn’t crazy. With research in hoof Lyra began to work on a summoning circle. She was going to use blood magic to summon a human artifact from their realm to prove her legitimacy.

Her target was any piece of human technology that could not be traced back to anything ponies had invented or discovered. With Lyra’s blood scrying, she was able to find that most humans carried around small devices called smart phones. These devices were used for everything from communication to accessing a network of archives called the internet. This ‘internet’ gave human’s access to every piece of information that they could possibly imagine. With a smartphone, Lyra would surely be able to prove her theories were more than just crackpot ideas from an overactive imagination. With a human smartphone in hoof she would prove she wasn’t crazy to everypony. With her target in mind, she began the preparations for her ritual. She wrote up a contract and began her blood pact.

****

I, Lyra Heartstrings, write up this blood contract to allow the power to perform a blood summoning. The summoning target will be a specific human device known as a ‘smartphone’. I give this gift of my blood as sacrifice to bring this ritual to life. I allow the powers of blood to reach through time and space to procure this specific target with nothing more and nothing less. My summoning will be contained within a summoning circle and the powers of blood may not trespass upon our world. All constraints within this contract will be upheld without any undue harm done to the summoner and the blood within this contract shall protect the summoner from any contract backlash. If the terms and conditions of this contract are broken, the contract will become null and void and the summoner will remain protected.

Signed, Lyra Heartstrings

****

Lyra awoke with a loud groan. Her horn was in pain and her head throbbed. She blinked open her eyes slowly. It took her a moment for her to collect her most recent memories. She gasped in horror as she realized something had gone wrong. Her study was trashed. The pentagram on the floor was smudged. The pedestal had been knocked over and the crystal orb had rolled into the corner of the room. The blood contract burned up and there was no trace of it anywhere. Lyra spent the next ten minutes looking into the scrying crystal. The orb was blackened on the inside and rendered useless and inert. She began scouring her study for any smart phones that could have been summoned from her ritual. She began to panic when her search came up empty. She also noticed there was not a trace of blood anywhere in the room.

“No no no no no!” she reeled. It didn’t work! She had been planning the ritual for months and she had nothing for it. “It has to be here somewhere!” She yelled. In her blind panic, she upturned all her notes and research journals. All her work was for naught. “Argh!” she yelled in frustration.

Defeated, Lyra resigned to cleaning up her mess. She was torn. In a way she had failed, but at this point she was relieved to still be alive. She had not repeated Crimson Heart’s folly and fully protected herself from the contract itself. After cleaning up her study, she took a few minutes to collect herself. She was in one piece and nothing bad had happened. She took a deep breath and slumped in exhaustion.

Lyra’s self-reflection was interrupted by several knocks on her study door followed by the sweet melodious voice of her filly-friend. “Lyra honey? Are you awake in there?” The minty mare smiled to herself. Bonnie was always so worried about her and it was always so nice to hear her voice after a research binge. Lyra fixed her mane and tail and cleared her throat.

“Yes Bonnie. I’m awake.” Lyra looked around her study to make sure there was no incriminating evidence and closed her secret room with her magic. There was no way she would ever drag Bon-Bon into this. She loved her Bonnie too much to include her in anything to do with blood magic.

“I made lunch if you want to come out and eat.” Bonnie’s muffled voice was hopeful. Lyra’s smile only deepened at Bonnie’s kindness. Lyra opened the door to her study to find the beautiful cream-colored mare sitting on her haunches. She was met with a smile and Bonnie lunged forward with a tight embrace. “I’m glad to see you out of your study. Come eat with me. I made a salad.”

Special Agent Sweetie Drops

Lyra’s study steadily grew quiet as the minty mare cried herself dry into Bonnie’s loving embrace. Not a word was said until Lyra was finally still while Bon-Bon affectionately caressed her mane. Neither of them were expecting anything except the comfort of each other. Lyra for finally having revealed her secret and Bon-Bon for finally having Lyra confide in her. The minty mare was sure that Bon-Bon would take one look at the summoning circle and run for the town guards, but she stayed right by her side.

Lyra finally lifted her muzzle from Bonnie’s chest and looked into her eyes. She brought a fetlock to her face to wipe her muzzle and let out a few sniffles. “Did I ever tell you how much I love you, Bonnie? Through all of this you have always been there for me.” Lyra looked down to the ground in shame. “I really messed up Bonnie, I’ll probably end up in Tartarus for what I did.”

Bon-Bon continued to smile sweetly. “Lyra, I’m here for you and I will always be here.” She lifted Lyra’s face to hers and adopted a more stoic expression. “You need to tell me exactly what you did.” Bonnie looked around the study and then met Lyra’s gaze again. “I have a pretty good idea, but I want you to explain everything. I will help you in any way I can.”

Lyra explained everything to Bon-Bon. She left out no small detail. She started from the very beginning from when she started sneaking around the royal archives and then eventually to the blood ritual performed. Bon-Bon's face remained stoic during the explanation. In her head she had mixed emotions. She was crestfallen that Lyra was keeping this all to herself. Another part of her was angry Lyra broke into the archives. Bonnie wanted to choke Lyra and hug the stuffings out of her at the same time which made quite the juxtaposition. She was sad that her minty unicorn was cast off as a laughingstock. Throughout this tumultuous tale, she was starting to feel like a hypocrite for she had a secret too. There was something she needed to do, and she wasn’t going to like it.

At the end of Lyra’s story, Bonnie let out a long sigh and frowned. “Lyra, you’re not the only one keeping secrets. I have a confession to make. I am going to need to pull a lot of strings to get you out of this and in turn will reveal something I’ve never told anypony. You have to promise not to tell anypony.” Bonnie gave Lyra a hard look to convey the gravity of the situation.

Lyra met Bonnie’s gaze with confusion, and a slight hint of hope. “You’re going to try and help me? I promise, I will never tell a soul!” Lyra declared with a hoof-stomp. “I Pinkie Promise!” Lyra then began to recite the ancient ritual of the Pinkie Promise. Lyra’s gaze fell to the floor. “I don’t deserve it. Even if you have been keeping something from me, I’m not in a position to judge.” Lyra met Bon-Bon’s eyes again. “You can tell me anything Bonnie, please, if it will help me.”

Bon-Bon gave Lyra a hard glare and adopted a serious tone. “Lyra, do you trust me?”

Lyra nodded vigorously. “I trust you completely!”

Bonnie took another moment to collect herself and then began, making eye contact with Lyra throughout her explanation. “My name isn’t Bon-Bon. I’m special agent Sweetie Drops.” She punctuated this by taking out her badge of office. “I am part of the secret monster hunting agency funded by the crown. I was placed in Ponyville as an undercover agent with the alias “Bon-Bon”.” Bonnie continued despite Lyra’s ‘Deer in Headlight’s’ face. “This human may not be a monster, but I was given orders to be on the lookout for any strange creatures around Ponyville. I would say this case falls under my jurisdiction.” Bon-Bon gave Lyra a hard look. “Lyra Heartstrings, I hereby place you under arrest.”

Lyra could do nothing but stare in wide-eyed terror at what she was hearing. Her jaw was open and she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

Bon-Bon took a pair of hoof-cuffs and a magic suppressor ring out of her mane. She looked at Lyra with dropping ears and a frown. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in court. You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions. You have the right to have a lawyer with you during questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish. If you decide to answer questions now without a lawyer present, you have the right to stop answering at any time. You will be taken to Celestia for initial questioning and initial judgement.” Lyra was reeling and completely stunned. So stunned in fact that she could not move or resist as she was cuffed, and a magic suppressor was placed on her horn.

“Lyra Heartstrings, you are now under my custody. Your Cooperation will be regarded during sentencing. I must immediately take you to Celestia where judgement will be passed. If you would like to request counsel of a lawyer prior to meeting with Celestia, speak now.”

Bon-Bon looked at Lyra expectantly. Lyra was in such a state of shock that she couldn’t utter anything except a faint “W-what?”

“You are being held for the charges of trespassing in the royal archives, grand larceny, and using blood magic to summon a potentially dangerous creature to Equestria which puts this case under my authority. While blood magic may not be against the law, summoning a sentient creature without their consent is.” When Bon-Bon finished, she had tears streaming down her muzzle.

“Bon-Bon what are you doing?” Lyra choked out. “You’re...you’re turning me in?” Lyra was aghast. She felt betrayed. She had just opened up to her filly-friend, and she was being arrested. “Bon-Bon, I thought we had something special.” Tears began to flow freely down Lyra’s cheeks again. “I trusted you!” She wailed.

Bon-Bon looked away. “You will have to trust my Lyra; this is the only way we’re going to get out of this.” Bon-Bon then removed a gold medallion from her mane. It was crested with Celestia on one side and a carving of Canterlot on the other. “We have to take this to Celestia immediately. This is a slipstream medallion that will take us directly to SMILE HQ. The first time can be a doozy, so hold on.” Bon-Bon placed her hoof on the medallion and then gave it a twist. The room filled with a bright light and the two mares were gone.

-_-

Twilight grunted and wiped the sweat from her brow. She had just finished putting up an anti-magic barrier around Charlie. It encompassed the entire basement in a dull magenta aura. “There! Now nopony will be able to cast spells near him. I can’t remove the ambient magic from the room, but at least it will keep anypony from casting on him.”

Twilight turned around to face Triage and Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, can you go get Spike? I need to write a letter to Celestia. Triage, can you keep monitoring Charlie’s thaumic readings? This barrier will buy us some time to try and figure out what exactly is going on here.”

Fluttershy nodded and quietly left the room. Triage gave Twilight a skeptical look before returning to her work of dressing the growing horn. “Twilight, I have to say you turned around quick. At first, I thought you weren’t ready for those wings you have, but I can see those leadership qualities coming out. I have to say, you’re actually taking this rather well.” Triage removed the gauze from Charlie’s forehead and sighed. “I have good news and bad news. What do you want to hear first”?

Twilight sat on her haunches and took in a deep breath. “Thank you Triage...I guess...I’ll take the bad news first.” Twilight braced herself with a frown and her ears flattened against her head.

“The bad news is that at the base of his horn, there seems to be fine maroon hairs growing in.” Triage looked at Twilight with a grave expression to let the implications sink in. Then she smiled and continued. “The good news is that his horn is at full length. We will be able to wake him up without further pain from the bone growth. I am just going to take a look at his burns and then we can go from there. I will also begin reducing the narcotics from his IV so he’ll wake up at his own pace.

-_-

Charlie’s Perspective

The drain from my dream had sucked me in and I felt vertigo as I fell through an open pit filled with stars. The darkness was broken up by what appeared to be faraway galaxies and planets. It felt like I was falling through a never-ending planetarium. From below I could see a spiral growing closer. It turned out to be coiled television screens. Every screen depicted a memory from my life. It started with memories from when I was five years old. I watched as I blew out my candle during my birthday. The first time I rode a bike without training wheels, that time I got in trouble for falling into a neighbor's koi pond because I wanted to see the fish. My first snowman. A snowball fight with my parents.

Then it occurred to me that maybe I was dying, and this was my life flashing before my eyes. It felt like an eternity I was traveling down this hall of memories. I watched as I got my driver’s license. I cringed at my first kiss. My high school graduation and my first job out of high school.

It wasn’t until I got to the memory of my first date with my wife that things started to feel surreal. I was feeling regret, pity, anger, remorse, guilt, and grief all at once. “No!” I shouted. “Please stop!” It was after I shouted that all the screens flickered and then started to show still images. They were photographs I had taken during our marriage.

“No, please! I don’t want to remember!” I cried. Seemingly as if to answer my cry, the screens flickered again. This time they showed my face. I was frowning, and it felt like every screen was following me with their eyes. I was still falling, and the sensation of a million eyes on me was starting to become unnerving. “Stop staring at me! I didn’t do anything wrong!”

It was true. I lived my life like a normal person. I never did anything out of the ordinary. My life was bland but predictable. I graduated high school with honors and went to university. I got a bachelor’s in IT and worked for a startup tech company that maintained corporate servers. I was your average techy. I got married and had a normal family. I never did anything I could never talk myself out of. Everything was going according to plan. Everything was great until…

All the screen flickered into blackness and I hit the ground with a muted thud.

-_-

I woke with a start. The first sensation I felt were the restraints around my wrists and ankles. My mind was a bit fuzzy. My mouth felt dry, and I could feel pillowy cotton around most of my body. I could hear the beeping of medical equipment to my right, and I overheard someone talking to my left.

“Lyra and Bon-Bon have been gone for a couple hours now. I wonder what’s taking them so long?” It sounded like a feminine voice filled with impatience.
I heard a more childish voice respond. “Maybe Lyra is doing more research on…” the voice was cut off by a huge belch the likes I had never heard before, followed by a gagging swooshing sound.

“Ah, looks like Princess Celestia got back to us.” The feminine voice replied, followed by the same voice reciting what seemed to be a letter.

Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,

Thank you for keeping me up to date with the human. It brings me great relief to know that this is being taken care of by capable hooves. There are a few things that have come to my attention about the strange appearance of the human. It seems there is more to this than I initially thought. My sister and I will be making a visit this evening to meet with the creature. We would like to ask him a few questions in person.

To My faithful student,

Princess Celestia

This was getting weird. Princess Twilight Sparkle? Princess Celestia? What kind of names were those? Am I “The Human?”

The feminine voice continued but took on a tone of panic. “Spike, the Princesses are visiting the library! We have to get everything ready!” This was then followed by the sound of quickly receding clopping followed by the sound of a door opening and slamming shut. I inwardly cringed at the loud noise.

The childish voice spoke again, sounding resigned and tired. “I should probably go make sure she doesn’t have a hernia.” the sound of claws clacking on floorboards filled the room, with the door opening and closing more softly this time.

Things were finally quiet, and I was able to take a full inventory of my surroundings. My head still felt funny. There was a new weight surrounding my forehead and there was a strange pins and needles sensation coming from it. I was covered in what felt like bandages. I could feel electrodes suction cupped to my body. There was an IV in my arm. The scratchy feel of a wool blanket was pulled up to my neck.

I was in a hospital. I could smell antiseptic and there was clearly a heart monitor going off. With my surroundings considered, I fluttered my eyes open. What stared back at me was a very lumpy and rooty ceiling. I tried to turn my head to look to my left, but there was a strap holding my head in place too.

What did I do to need full body restraints?

“Oh, you’re awake!” A melodious voice called from my left. A white head appeared in my vision. It was an equine face with large pink eyes. There was a horn jutting from her forehead, and she was smiling.

A unicorn?

“How are you feeling?” The unicorn said. It was talking to me. I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “Oh, I’m sorry, where are my manners! You probably don’t remember anything from before. My name is triage and I’m your doctor. We can take it slow. You’ve been through a lot.” She ended her introduction with a pleasant smile that was slightly infectious.

What did she mean by ‘not remembering anything from before?

“What happened?” I croaked out. “And why am I restrained?” The fuzziness in my head kept me from recalling much of anything. I was so confused, and my head wasn’t cooperating with me.

“Oh dear, now what’s quite a question. Before I answer anything, I need to get an idea of your mental faculties as well as get you out of those restrains once we establish your pain level. Can you answer some of my questions first?” She asked in a chipper tone.

I just nodded as much as I could with my head restraint.

“Alright, we’ll start with an easy one. Do you know who you are?” She questioned in a lighthearted tone, almost sing-songy. In fact, everything she said seemed to have a harmonious quality to it as if she was ready to start singing.

“My name is Charlie.” I said without little fanfare. I mentally fist-pumped for getting that one right. Small victories.

“Very good!” She sang. “Next question. Do you know where you are? She looked at me with raised eyebrows.

I had no idea, and my mind was firing blanks. Something told me I was either having a fever dream, or I woke up in Narnia. Either way something didn’t feel quite right. I had a horsey doctor, and I was restrained in a hospital bed. I couldn’t move my head, legs or arms. I took in a deep breath and answered with a defeated “No. I have no idea where I am or how I got here.”