Today was a day just like any other. Well, any other since he showed up on our planet almost a year ago. I was currently preparing for one of our usual meetings, and I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't a bit more excited than usual for this one. During these little meetings, we usually share various bits of information about our respective worlds, and today he's gonna tell me more about Human social interaction; specifically the courting aspect of it.
I’m not sure why, but he’s awfully touchy about the subject. Whether it's because he finds the topic embarrassing, a bad experience with it, or something else entirely, I'm not sure. But he promised today he’d tell me about it, so here we are. “Now, let's see… tea, check. Cake, check. Paper, check. Quill’s, check.”
I spare a glance to the glowing fireplace, and add a few logs upon seeing the diminishing embers. With winter approaching, it’s been getting pretty cold out. “Good, everything seems to be in order. All that’s left is for Lincoln to get here.” As soon as I said that, a knock at the front door resounded through the room. Ah, that must be him now.
“It’s open!” I call out. Sure enough, after a moment Lincoln opens the door and makes his way inside, closing the door behind him. He offers a small smile before quickly making his way over to the hearth, kneeling in front of it and warming himself by it.
“Is it really that cold out?” I ask curiously.
Letting out a shaky laugh, likely from the cold, he nods. “Doesn’t help that I was out there for a while.” he says, taking off his gloves and scarf, leaving them close enough to the fireplace to warm up, but not close enough to catch fire.
“Well, maybe it would help if you had a coat; A long sleeve shirt can’t be enough. What were you doing out there for so long anyways? You’re shaking as if you’ve been out there all night.” I say, wrapping a blanket around him with my magic, and rubbing a hoof along his back comfortingly.
“Just had some stuff to do is all, nothing to worry yourself over; Living ain’t free ya know. Thanks by the way.” he says, pulling the blanket tighter around him.
"Yes, you do mention that often. I don't know why you're so adamant about supporting yourself, but I swear you complain about it more than anyone else I've met." I say with a roll of my eyes. Figuring he's still cold, I move the little setup I had closer to us, and offer him a slice of cake and a cup of tea.
He sets the cake down in front of him and starts downing the tea, despite it still being a bit hot. I watch him in mild amusement at his self inflicted pain, before clearing my throat, causing him to look up at me.
"Anyways, as much as I enjoy your company, you remember the reason for you being here, right?" I ask.
He nods and starts eating some of the cake, albeit at a slightly more reserved pace. "Yeah, yeah, human romance and the like; I remember." He takes another bite of cake. "What do you wanna know?"
I sit down a small ways away from him, and bring over the quills, ink, and paper, ready to start. "Well, everything really. How's it work over there? Do you have mating rituals, or something like that? I remember you mentioned the stallions typically ask out the mares and -" he cuts me off by clamping his hand around my muzzle.
I give him an annoyed look while he smiles and eventually let's go. "Yes, the guys typically ask out the girls; and of course there are some that swing the other way, but that's a different topic altogether. No, there's no mating rituals or anything like that, ya just go out on dates.”
“And what do these dates normally consist of?” I ask curiously.
he scratches his neck, thinking to himself. “Could be anything really. Going out to lunch or dinner, a walk in the park, an outing like a movie or a baseball game; Could even just be hanging out with the person at home.”
I raise an eyebrow, the quill coming to a stop after I finish what I was writing. “There has to be more to it than that.”
He lets out a hearty chuckle. “Of course there's more to it than that, but it’s really not a complicated subject. I don’t know why you’re so interested in it anyways when it’s nearly identical to how it works here, at least from what I’ve seen. Just take out the race specific stuff, like the thing with pegasai and their feathers.” he says, booping me on the nose, causing me to scrunch up my nose a bit, and look up at him annoyed.
“But you’re from a whole other world! You can’t tell me there aren’t any bigger differences than what you’ve already told me about.” I exclaim.
He just laughs some more. “Hate to break it to ya Twi, but it really is that similar to how you all act here.”
“Then why were you so dodgy when I asked you about it before? If there isn’t much to talk about, why were you so hesitant to say anything about it?” I ask, irked. Honestly, I was expecting more than at least a single page worth of notes.
His smile drops and he sighs, going quiet.
After a moment, my annoyance fades, remembering just how touchy this particular subject is for him. “Link, I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have said that.”
He smiles a bit, chuckling. “No, it’s alright. I never told anyone here, and I haven’t exactly been forthcoming with why.” he shuffles under the blankets a bit, seeming to hide in it a bit. “Well, I don’t know if you guys have it here, but back home we have something called marriage. You know what that is?”
“Yes, I know what marriage is.” I say, not quite getting where he’s going with this.
“Well, I know you guys don’t have fingers and such. Each finger has a name.” he puts his left hand out from under the blanket, bringing up each finger as he speaks. “There's the thumb, index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and the pinkie finger.” he takes his right hand and using his index finger and thumb, grabs his ring finger for emphasis. “When you propose to someone, asking them for marriage, you offer them a ring. Said ring is worn on the ring finger; hence it’s name.” he says. He then points to a ring that has been sitting on his ring finger since the day he showed up.
I start putting the pieces together, starting to feel a bit of sympathy for him. “Lincoln, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were married…”
He simply chuckles. “Nah, never made it that far. But I was engaged. My fiance wanted to get me an engagement ring of my own after I proposed to her, and I didn’t object; whatever made her happy.” he lets out a sigh. “I’ve only recently made my peace with the fact I’ll never see her again. Or anyone I knew for that matter. That's why I actually said yes when you asked this time. Figured it would be a good way to move on.”
I never knew he was engaged this entire time. I didn’t know that ring had any significance, I thought it was just a piece of jewelry. On top of that, it makes me feel a bit guilty for thinking of him the way I have… at least I never made a move, but still…
He gets up, startling me from my thoughts, holding his plate and fork in his hand, letting the blanket fall to the floor.
“Link, where are you going?” I ask, worried I might have pushed him a bit far.
He doesn’t say anything. Instead, he stops and stands in place. “Lincoln?” I try once more, using his full name this time.
He lets go of the plate in his hands, and it comes crashing to the floor, breaking on impact. Almost at the same time, he starts to fall down to the ground, his head hitting the ground without any attempt to stop himself.
“Lincoln!” I yell out in panic, rushing over to him. “Are you alright?” upon getting closer to him, I notice he’s shaking uncontrollably.
“Lincoln? Lincoln?! LINCOLN!” I yell, trying to get his attention, yet he remains unresponsive.
Knowing this can’t be good, I pick him up in my magic, wrap him in a blanket, and start rushing to Ponyville General. “Hold on Link, whatever’s happening, you’ll be okay.” I say, repeating those last three words to myself.
I feel a bit strange… weak as well, but that's normal. I’m laying on something soft, and instead of the biting cold I expect from the first moment of the day's consciousness, I’m actually pleasantly warm. No wind leaking through the tattered blanket I usually sleep with.
Confused, I reluctantly open my eyes and survey my surroundings. Upon seeing that I’m in a hospital room, I let out a groan of annoyance. Great, I can’t afford this. Maybe Equestria has free healthcare? I can only hope. I also notice a small stack of get well cards and even a balloon next to the bed.
Looking closer at myself, I see I’m hooked up to a couple IV drips. How did I even get here? I don’t feel like I’m in pain; just the usual stomach aches and feeling of fatigue.
I’m not given any time to think about it though, because the door to the room opens and in walks six ponies. I instantly recognize them as my closer friends, and they instantly recognize that I’m awake.
“LINK!” they all shout at once, causing me to wince.
“Not so loud, please.” I ask gently.
They all rush to my side and start bombarding me with questions, none of which I’m able to understand as they’re all talking over each other. I listen to them all for a moment, before I’ve had enough and snap. “Hey! I can’t understand any of you with you all talking like that!”
They all stop, and raise their hooves. It took me a moment to get why, but I remembered we had enough moments like this that they started to do it on their own. I sigh, and point to Pinkie Pie. They put their hooves down and Pinkie speaks up. “How are you feeling?”
“Could be better honestly. You wouldn’t know if Equestria has free healthcare, do you?”
Rainbow Dash speaks up. “Having been here a couple times myself, I can confirm it is. Now, why didn’t you tell us?!”
I look at her confused. “Tell you what?”
Applejack is up next. “That you’ve been starving yerself!” she says angrily.
“What are you talking about?” I ask, knowing she isn’t wrong but still trying to play it off like she is.
Twilight speaks now. “Don’t deny it Link, why do you think you’re in here? You had refeeding syndrome, and your body was shutting down from starvation! You’re lucky to be alive!” she says angrily. “What could you have possibly been thinking, not feeding yourself properly like that!?”
Everyone gives their own mutterance of agreement.
I let out a sigh and lay back down, looking at the ceiling. After a moment of them staying silent, clearly not letting me escape the question, I answer them. “...I couldn’t afford it.”
There's another moment of silence before Rarity speaks up. “What do you mean you couldn’t afford it? We all pitched in and gave you enough to get your life together, remember?”
I let out a sigh. “Yeah, you did… and I appreciated your efforts, all of you. I made it last as much as I could, but I couldn’t afford the room at the Inn any more, and after that I ran out of money for food.”
This time, Applejack speaks up again. “How’d you run out of money? What happened to your job?”
“Wasn’t able to get one.” I say simply.
“You know you could have came and worked for me!” she says in anger.
“That was the first job I tried, remember? Couldn’t do it, wasn’t able enough to, and I definitely wasn’t fit enough to after I stopped eating as much. Back home, my work wasn’t physically demanding. That’s why I was able to do it. Any other job I tried here I was either denied, ignored, or not able to do. I’ve got no applicable skills here, I studied to be a software engineer, you guys don’t even have those here, let alone the equipment for it. That’s why.” I explain sadly.
What I heard next, was Fluttershy’s calm voice. “Why didn’t you tell any of us?”
“I didn’t want to burden any of you. You all helped me alot already, I couldn’t have asked for more. I already felt bad accepting food from you guys on occasion, or letting you treat me to stuff… I don’t like charity. I hate not being able to support myself.”
“Where have you been staying this entire time then?” asked Dash.
“In a tree outside of town. Not that bad once you get the hang of not falling out in your sleep.” I say with a tiny chuckle.
A doctor walks in before anyone can say anything else. “Ah, thought I heard talking in here. And I see the patient is awake.” he says, trotting his way in. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you all to leave the room for a bit. You can come back after I’m done here.” he says.
They all say their goodbyes, making very much sure I know that this discussion isn’t over.
After the doctor leaves, Twilight is the only one to walk back in. And man, she looks really sad.
I let out a sigh, and simply watch her.
“Link… what else have you been hiding from us?” she asks, distrust clear in her voice.
“Well, nothing else really… though I get the feeling you don’t believe me, so why even ask?” I say evenly.
“I… I don’t know… I just… you could have died Lincoln… Do you have any idea how close you were to death? If I had gotten you to the hospital any later you wouldn’t have made it.” she asks, the beginnings of a tear forming in her eye.
“...I’m sorry… I never meant to hurt you or anyone else.” I say honestly.
She stands up on her back hooves and puts her front hooves on the bed. “Link. I know this isn’t the best time, but I’m scared I’ll never get the chance to say this again.”
“What are you talking about? Best time for what?” I ask, confused.
She mumbles to herself for a bit, before seeming to steel herself. “I… like you Lincoln… and seeing you just collapse like you did two days ago terrified me. The thought of losing you before I even got the chance to confess… it hurt. So I’m not letting that happen.”
I stare at her, a bit wide eyed. The news that I was in the hospital for two days now barely even registering compared to what she just confessed to. “Twi… w-why? How long?”
She lets out a shaky breath. “About four months after you first got here…”
“... Was that why you kept asking me about human relationships?”
She nods. “I wanted to know how to approach you about it… I was scared of doing something that might offend you, I dunno…”
After a moment of silence, I let out a sigh and pat the bed. Taking the sign, she hops up and I pull her into a hug, and she melts into it, returning it immediately. “And, when you said there were no ponies where you were from, that humans were the only sapient species, I got even more scared; I thought that you might be disgusted, or hate me and never wanna see me again…”
We stay there, holding each other in silence for a while. “Twilight, I couldn’t do that to you. Especially after all you’ve done for me. Hell, you’ve literally saved my life. Even if you hadn’t you’ve always been a really good friend to me. I’ll admit, the thought of dating a pony is a bit strange to me… but… I think I’d be willing to give it a try, for you.”
She looks up at me, uncertainty in her eyes. “But… What about your fiance?”
“What about her?” I ask, once again confused.
“You’re still engaged, aren’t you?” she says.
I look back up at the ceiling. “It's been eleven months Twi. Ten since I was told there was no way back for me. I already told you, I made my peace with that. Besides, she isn’t the type to be upset over something like this. She’d want me to move on and not be alone.”
Twilight looks me in the eyes for a bit. “And you’re sure you’re willing to give me a chance? And promise not to do this to yourself again?”
I roll my eyes. “Yes I’m sure, and I promise I won’t.”
“Prove it then.” she says suddenly.
“What? How do you want me to do that?”
“Move in with me.”
“Twi, isn’t that a bit fast?” I ask, a bit embarrassed.
“Is it? Given where you are now?” she rebuttals.
I chuckle. “Got me there. Alright, I’ll play your game and move in with you. Anything else?”
“Kiss me.”
That one caught me off guard, and I nearly choke on my own spit. “You wanna run that one by me again?”
“Kiss me.” she says again, with a determined look in her eyes.
I’m a bit hesitant. I said I’d be willing to give her a chance but… But what… what's stopping me here… If she was a human, I wouldn’t even be thinking about it.
I lean in, close my eyes, and press my lips against hers. It’s a simple kiss, but it gets across that I’m serious about giving her a chance.
The kiss is held for a moment before it breaks.
looks like my life is about to change quite a bit.
