Painful Morning

Someone shakes me awake and the entirety of existence shakes with it, threatening to throw me overboard into a sea of nothingness.

The whole world comes to me all at once. I feel like I'm detached from my body, just lights and sounds and smells all flushing inward around my senses. Someone made waffles, smells like. Eggs. Bacon? God damn I'm hungry. My stomach turns at the thought, protesting. The lights are bright and painful, and only a glimpse of the blinding display brings a headache flowing inwards. I'm in bed, I think. The assault on my senses earns a defeated moan, followed by a wave of nausea. My mouth tastes like sour wine, but I know that's not going to last long.

Oh boy, here we go.

Bile hits the back of my throat and I sit up abruptly, trying to stop it with gravity. It works for the time being. I open my eyes and see Flash Sentry staring forward, doing his best statue impression. An eye turns over to me beneath his helmet, but no words to be spoken. What's up with him?

"I see you're awake. Somepony partied a little too hard last night, hm?"

You bitch.

Princess Celestia is sitting at a dining table set right in the middle of my room. Set before her is a plate with something on it, I can't really focus on it from here. My vision is still muddy. I moan at her and wave a hand at her in dismissal, immediately regretting the decision when my stomach does backflips in response. All of the furniture has been placed against the walls and out of the way, with two elaborate wooden chairs placed at each end of the table. One for her, and I'm assuming one for me. I rest on one of my arms and twist by body, looking for a bucket. I can't find one, and I think she sees my panic, given her amused expression.

"Perhaps a bite to eat will settle the stomach? Come join me," she says, sipping from a teacup.

"I'm going to puke, can't move," I groan, breathing deeply. Her magenta eyes widen some, but I still see she's having a grand old time over there at my expense.

"Sounds like humans can't handle their wine," she smiles behind her teacup.

I'm going to fucking vomit and she's taunting me, let's see if she likes puke all over the comforter and the-

Her horn glows and my stomach feels fuzzy, eyes narrowed slightly in concentration. Almost immediately, the crashing tidal waves of nausea break and I sigh in relief. She smirks and sets down the teacup, horn still glowing.

"You could do that the whole time?" I speak breathlessly.

She inspects her teacup and adjusts the position of a fork beside her plate, then looks back up to me.

"I can, now do be polite and have a seat so we can talk. The spell is only temporary, and requires some effort on my part to keep everything calm," she says with a hint of that royal authority. Let's see if my legs still work.

I gently pull the covers away to the side and swing my legs over. God damn this cast feels heavy. My bare feet touch the floor and it's cold. Marble does that, I guess. A shiver runs up my spine and I experimentally push myself off the bed. The rolling in my guts troubles me for a moment, but disappears, and I find my balance after a few moments of standing there with my arms outstretched. I swallow and take very slow steps towards the table, careful not to give too much trust to my wobbly stance.

By the time I reach the table, Princess Celestia is struggling to hold back laughter. I sit as slowly as I can and the headache pulses deep within my skull. The chair is nice and comfy, safety in an ocean of turbulence, and I want to sink inside of the cushions and forget I exist.

"I thought I needed to request an audience with you prior to... whatever this is," I mumble, gesturing to the table.

She lets out a soft hum and has a drink from her glass of water, levitated at her lips. She sets the glass down and places an empty bottle of wine on the table. The sight of it makes my intestines hurt and my headache flares. So that's what this is about.

"Before we speak on what happened last night, you should eat. I waited for fifteen minutes before I woke you up, and the food is cold."

"You could've woken me up, Princess. I don't know how you got all this in here quietly, but there was no need to wait."

"And spoil the surprise? No. I quite enjoyed your show of getting to the table. Now eat," she commands with a smirk.

There's a glass of orange juice, an empty tea cup beside a kettle, a pitcher of water with an empty glass, a plate of eggs and waffles. Then I see what troubles me so. Bacon. My body craves grease right now, and I know that bacon is going in.

"W-what's with bacon, aren't your ponies herbivores? The eggs?"

Princess Celestia leans on the left side of her chair. Her nose crinkles looking down at my plate.

"We have a Griffon Ambassador in for the week, so we've stockpiled some fish and meat for his stay. Ponies do eat eggs here in Equestria, so long as there's no creature within them."

"So I could have been eating meat for the past few days?"

Princess Celestia sips on her teacup in response.

"Why the fuck- you know what, forget it, this makes up for it," I reach out and grab a piece, stuffing it into my mouth quickly. The savory goodness, the grease, my mouth sings and my shoulders slump. I crunch and chew in delight, nearly collapsing down onto the counter. I let out a satisfied moan. When I look up to Celestia, her face is a mixture of mild disgust and amusement.

"Sorry," I say, mouth full and completely unrepentant.

She shakes her head and eats her waffle slowly. There's an immodest serving of syrup drizzled over her meal, including the eggs. There's syrup on the eggs. I turn away before my stomach can process that information. I take a bite of the eggs, over-easy, easy to go over my tongue and down my throat. I prefer scrambled, but I'm not sure I'd like any milk at the moment.

"Um," I begin, tongue working under a bite of my eggs. I swallow and find Princess Celestia's magenta eyes looking at me intently, a fork with a good hunk of waffle sitting on the end of it frozen before her open mouth. Syrup drips from the piece, down onto her plate. I clear my throat and set down my utensils.

"You have any coffee?"

She lets out a small snort and levitates the fork down in front of her chest. She looks over to Flash.

She says something in a different language, not the pony noises, but... French? He nods and leaves the room. I look down to the crystal around my neck. Is this thing broken? Did I break it last night? I look up and open my mouth to speak but Celestia beats me to the punch, swallowing her food.

"Pardon me. That was Prench, I have all my Guards learn two languages atop their native tongue, that way they can communicate with any foreign allies we have in the Castle," she says.

"That's fucking ridiculous."

"Excuse me?" She looks mildly surprised.

"Back home, we had a language that sounds exactly like that, it's called French."

She cocks her head to the side, her brain working behind her eyes.

"From... France?" I nod. We both sit there in amazement.

Time for a gamble.

"Omelette du fromage," I say with grave seriousness, looking Celestia dead in her eyes.

A moment passes. Then two.

Her resolve breaks and she laughs wholeheartedly. I can't help but join her in chuckling at the complete absurdity of it all, despite the pain in my brain. There's no room for coincidence anymore; this whole world is a mirror of my world, flipped on it's head, with magic and horses running around. After her laughter dies down, neither of us dare to eat anything more, both formulating questions in our heads, though mine come slower. Canterlot is Camelot. I recoil visibly at the realization and she quirks her head, her ears facing me. I need to look at a map as soon as possible.

This is some Twilight Zone level shit, and it's not doing anything for this headache.

"I'm willing to bet our two worlds have a lot in common. Well, had, a lot in common," I finish somberly.

She looks to the side and her right ear twitches almost imperceptibly. She prods her eggs with her fork and looks back to me, a carefully constructed neutrality on her muzzle, eyes serene. Diplomat mode. After a moment, the fork is set beside the plate and she opens her mouth to speak. Before she does, her right ear flicks towards the door and she closes her mouth, giving me a polite smile.

Flash Sentry opens the door, allowing a pony servant to walk into the room, a tray with a full coffee pot balanced on her back. She has a beige coat and a dull orange mane, an Earth pony with golden eyes. She walks over towards us, and upon seeing me, jolts slightly with a yelp. The coffee pot teeters but she readjusts her balance and keeps everything onboard.

"Sorry," I say gently. She blinks and looks to Princess Celestia.

"He doesn't bite, Miss Cream," she says in a motherly tone.

She swallows and approaches the table slowly, then in a rather practiced motion, slides the tray and coffee pot atop onto the table smoothly. Center of the table, far away. Too far. She expediently dashes out and says something to Flash I can't make out. He chuckles and shakes his head, then goes to close the door.

"Guard, if you would, please stand outside," Princess Celestia says with a rather serious cadence. He nods, smile disappearing and promptly dipping out into the hallway, pulling the door closed with his wing. Her horn glows again and the tray is pushed along the table surface towards me. I fill the teacup provided with some much needed bean-water and get to drinking. It goes down bitter and hot, just the way it needs to be. I cup my hands around it and siphon the heat into my bones. The headache seems to pulse less intensely now, only a faint reminder of my debacle.

I look up to find Celestia looking at me rather intensely, watching me, reading me like a book. She doesn't shirk away from our gazes meeting, only leaning back into her chair some and bringing a hoof to her chin, resting upon it like a human would prop themselves against a fist.

"My sister found you in quite a state last night, Liam," she says neutrally.

I have another sip of coffee and set the cup down on the saucer to my right. I'm not sure what to say, what I could say. I bring my hand to my face and gently squeeze the corner of my mouth with my thumb. I opt for silence as an answer and look down at my untouched waffle, a sprinkling of powdered sugar atop with a slice of butter melted in the center.

"I must apologize Liam," she says and I snap up, her eyes much softer than before, "I haven't been treating you fairly since you've arrived."

I shake my head and sigh.

"No, it wasn't the most warm welcome, but you needn't apologize."

"But I do, as Princess Celestia of Equestria, I haven't conducted myself in a fair manner towards you, nor shown you kindness when you needed it," she leans forward.

I take the cup back into my hands and have a sip, a silence descending over us. I look into the murky blackness of the coffee.

"What you've gone through is something... unfortunately unique. It is not a position I would ever wish for upon anypony, and you have to contend with a world unknown on top of that. The stress of it all," she says quietly. I heave out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding, that shiver returning. Haunting.

"When you arrived, when I saw you... I had centuries upon centuries of time to bury those memories, to come to peace with them. I assumed you were like them; an omen. I was waiting for you to slip-up, to reveal your true nature, but you already had," she utters. I look up to see her still staring, a frown upon her face. Her teacup tilts back and forth within her magic.

"You attempted to communicate with my pupil's friends without knowing they weren't a threat to you. You tried for peace, when I wouldn't have done the same for you. You said to me, that if your kind knew ours, you would like to consider us friends. I have been distrusting of you, hostile to you, and for that," she bites the corner of her lip and stops.

She sighs and looks to the window, a spot on the ground near it, her mane billowing in an ethereal wind. Does she know why I was at that window? Gnawing, clawing, scraping, burning. No. Not now.

"I am sorry, Liam, truly," she states, looking back to me. Focus.

I smile at her, a brief and pained smile, and look back into my coffee. I look back up to her.

"Water under the bridge. Friends?"

"I would like that very much, Liam," she says with a kind smile.

I glance back at my plate, surveying the damage. At least I got some food down, even if my appetite has waned. There's still a little bit of coffee left, hopefully enough to tide me over for this headache. I take the cup in my hands and sip with my eyes closed. It's a bit cooler now, not quite lava-tier, but still enjoyable.

"You were going to jump, weren't you?"

My heart plummets into my stomach and the nausea rushes back. My head pounds and sweat builds on my brow. I look at her in shock, but find she's looking at the window, expression soft and serene. Did she just ask me that? Did I imagine that? She turns to look at me, eyes soft and gaze penetrating. I swallow anxiously and set my coffee down. My eyes water. Killing, screaming, crying, shouting.

"Um-" my voice breaks and my throat constricts. I swallow again and set my palms flat on the table.

Get a fucking hold of yourself.

"Someone grab that piece of shit and let's get moving."

I turn to face a voice that isn't there. My knuckles whiten. Melting, rotting, breaking, bleeding.

"Liam?" She asks with concern in her tone, her magenta pools pouring over me.

"Water please," I force out.

A glass finds it's way to my hand and I take desperate gulps. My eyes screw shut and I feel tears going down my cheeks. The room is terribly cold now. When I get some sense of myself back, I see her still looking towards me, an answer already given. Her eyes are sad, lips downturned slightly. I wipe at my face with my hand and dip my head down in shame, burning shame.

"Liam," she begins.

"Don't say anything," I say tightly, my words echoing in my head. I snap, and I don't mean to.

Come on, Webb. Heart's beating like a cannon in my chest. Calm down.

"Sorry. Just... just give me a second, alright?"

I feel like I'm backed into a corner, everything trying to get me. I'm not safe. I don't feel safe.

Watch the fire spread.

I hiss through gritted teeth. My eyes are scrunched tight. This fucking headache.

"Liam?"

"What?!" I roar, eyes wide in terror and fury.

She jumps in her seat and Flash comes charging in through the door. I stand unsteadily in response. He looks at me, then Celestia. She shakes her head and stands from her chair, nodding towards my hand. I look down at my right hand and see that the glass has shattered in my grip, blood dripping onto the table. I don't feel it. I release my grip and try to steady my trembling hand.

It doesn't stop. I sit back down again.

"Liam, it's safe here," Celestia coos.

"I'm sorry, I didn't..." my throat closes up again. I bring my other hand to my face and pull down on the flesh, pushing into my eyes.

"Mister Webb?" I hear Flash say from the doorway.

"Liam, breathe," She whispers, close to me. Somewhere behind my hand.

The pain reaches me from my palm. It's sharp and it's raw, deep gouges in my skin. I look up from my hand and see Princess Celestia standing beside me, looming over me, head lowered down near mine. She moves forward, slowly, and nuzzles the side of my head. She breathes on my shoulder, calmly, soothingly. I instinctively reach up and cup her neck with my bloodied hand. It if bothers her, she doesn't make a show of it.

We sit there in an awkward pose for several minutes, Flash never leaving the doorway. This close, she smells like confections, sugar and sweets, alongside a distinctly sweet musky smell. I breathe deeply through my mouth and unwind myself, decompressing. She pulls away and looks down at my wounded hand.

Easy now.

"Thanks, Princess," I breathe, "I'm sorry, I'm... I bled on you."

"It's okay, I'll have the castle physician look at you immediately," she turns to Flash and he immediately darts out, rushing down the hall. The nausea returns, but it gives me something to hold onto.

My hand stops trembling but echoes of pain ricochet down my arm. I look to Celestia and find her touching her neck with a hoof, then bringing it in front of her face to look at my blood. She looks to me and smirks.

"You have a habit of getting hurt, don't you?"

I laugh half-heartedly, "yeah, I guess I do."

I take a shuddering breath and rest my head on my cast-covered arm. Celestia sits beside me and I lean back into my chair, staring at the ceiling. Wooden boards stretch across the length of the room, painted white, a network of structural support above.

"I need help, Princess," I say quietly. Guilt washes over me like a cold wave, and I struggle to keep it down.

Her hoof touches my arm gently.

"I know."

Author's Note

A bit of a smaller one this time, but hopefully enough to scratch that itch until the next! Leave comments if you want to, if you catch any errors, if you just wanna let me know how you feel! And if I don't see you in the comments... good afternoon, good evening and goodnight!