The Nurse and The Medicby ponyloverChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 1(This will start in third person) CHAPTER 1 Jerry was lying on his couch, situated in his small run-down apartment in one of New York's more, sketchy, neighbourhoods. He wasn't afraid. He was a fully trained combat medic with several years of martial arts training and one tour of duty under his belt. If anything, the locals should be afraid of him. He'd seen their type before, people who had no problem kicking a man when he was down, or picking the pocket of a poor man for reasons as petty as being jealous that he had money and they didn't. He'd dealt with people like that since he was a kid, and they only understood one thing: If your target isn't afraid, then stop targeting them. Tonight was different. Tonight, some punk kids thought it would be funny to prove they were brave by breaking into his apartment and, armed with baseball bats and lead pipes, they broke in through a window in his bedroom. Jerry heard the noise and went to investigate, his footfalls deadly silent compared to the cacophony of voices arguing about what was worth taking. Opening the door, he was faced with two youths who turned to him, wide-eyed and ready to run. He never saw the third boy to his left, never even knew he was there until he felt him swing his baseball bat right into his face, breaking his nose and concussing him. He could do naught but fall to the ground as his legs failed him and fell out from under him, could do nothing to prevent the agonising onslaught of the youths as they took their bats and pipes to the rest of his body, only leaving when they were sure he was dead. By their inexperience, though, they failed to notice the steady rise and fall of his chest signalling his survival. However, he knew this wouldn't last long. He was bleeding heavily, and his vision was turning blurry. He couldn't even muster up the strength to raise a finger, let alone crawl all the way to the main hall to reach the phone and call an ambulance. He could only lie there as his life left him. As darkness claimed him, he could have sworn he saw a small purple horse with a glowing horn of the same color. As we I felt my life starting to leave me I suddenly felt a jolt of energy as my chest thrusted into the air signaling that whoever was doing this was saving my life. Then everything just went black as I went back onto the soft fabric of some sort of bed. Later I woke up chest, left arm, and head in a hellish pain. My eyes opened slowly as I looked around seeing that I was in some sort of a bed. Then I realized that it was more colorful than it should be. Even more peaceful than the street I used to live on which had gunshots and killing everywhere. I got up into a sitting position which was a little bit hard. "Where the hell am I? This is not heaven I know that...is it?" I asked aloud. "Well, it's not heaven unless you enjoy hospitals." A voice called from my left. I looked to my left and saw the monitor first. It was beeping normally along with an I.V. in my left arm which was bandaged as was my chest. Then I looked to the one that spoke and was completely shocked when I saw that whoever spoke was a goddamn horse looking thing. Now normally I would panic and try to get the fuck out of there. But since I was literally stuck on the bed I just looked wide eyes. I looked around frantically as my heart began to race and the monitor beeped faster. Now I had to stay calm so I took a few steady breaths as I somehow managed to calm down. "Well....since you can talk....where the fuck am I?" I asked looking at the talking horse looking thing. Must have been a stallion...why did I think that? "Uh, well that is, um, you really don't know?" He stammered, much to my annoyance. "Well...no I don't considering talking horses isn't a real species in my world...so where am I?" I asked with a hint of annoyance in my voice. "Well, you're in Ponyville General Hospital." The stallion replied, ignoring my tone, "In the town of Ponyville, in the great nation of Equestria." "......... so basically i'm in a world full of talking ponies that somehow know about medicine.....great." I said plopping my head on the pillow. "At least this bed is my size...and softer than the bedrolls in Iraq." "Eye-rack? What is that?" The stallion asked in confusion. I let out a sigh. "No Iraq. I-r-a-q. Well basicly it's a place where there's nothing but sand and desert. Also a bunch of taliban AKA enemy soldiers trying to kill us. I was a medic for the U.S. marines which is basicly a doctor on the battlefield. War us what it's called. Where humans fought each other to the death.” I said without a hint of emotion in my voice. "What? You mean you actually try to kill others?" The stallion asked, horrified. I nodded. "Yep had no choice where I came from....and sometimes the trying would succeed. Meaning I have killed plenty of times where I lived." I said again without a hint of emotion. "You've...killed. I see. It must have been horrible." The stallion said, trying to regain his composure. "Sometimes.......but you get used to it after about the tenth time. In war killing is just like breathing and sleeping. A regular thing in life for us vets of war." I said. "I don't think I'd ever want to be used to it. And I hope it won't be a problem for you, since we have no need of armies. There are no wars here, we live in peace and harmony with our neighbours, the griffons, and the dragons." The stallion replied with a hint of a smile. I just chuckled. "Well I'll admit I would love to live in a place like this.......say by the way who in the hell is taking care of us?" I asked. It felt like I was making a friend. "That would be me." A voice replied from the door. I turned to see a mare with a white coat and a strawberry blonde mane and tail, wearing a nurses cap with a red cross on it. "Nurse Redheart, at your service, gentlestallions." I chuckled. "Well I'm not actually a stallion. Feel free to call me Jerry nurse redheart." I said with a small smile on my face. "Well then Jerry, I trust you are feeling better? You were pretty banged up. And as for you," She turned to the stallion, "Doctor Lazybones, why am I not surprised. Pretending to be another patient to get out of work again?" She said in mock irritation. "Wait what?" I said surprised. Looking at the so called patient. "Uh, well, you see, um, the thing is....well bye!" He yelled, running out the door. Nurse Redheart chuckled, and for some reason, hearing her laugh made me want to smile. "Don't mind him, he tends to pretend to be a patient to get out of work sometimes. But he's one of the best we have. After all, he managed to keep you alive, didn't he?" She said. "Again, what?" I asked surprised. "Oh, right. Well, you had bruised ribs, several fractured bones, many, many cuts all over your body, and a severe concussion. It took several unicorns to cast a healing spell strong enough to save your life. Doctor LB, as he prefers for some reason, was the one who supplied the most magic, so he's the one who's mostly responsible for saving your life." She replied with a soft smile. "Oh...well I would say thank you only he ran off and anyways how long you think till i can get out of here...but where would I go?" I asked looking down. Reality hit me preety hard there not knowing where I would live. "That's the thing. I've actually volunteered to take care of you, at least until you're fully recovered. After all, I feel partly responsible for you being here." She replied sheepishly "You feel....responsible...why?" I asked curiously, looking up at her. "Because, Twilight cast the spell that brought you here after hearing that I didn't have a special somepony." She said, hanging her head sadly. "She cast that spell trying to summon one for me, and she said something probably went wrong which is why you're here. I'm sorry." She started to cry. "Whoa whoa now no need to be sad." I said in a comforting voice. I was used to that voice since I used it a good bit of times for injured marines. "I was attacked before I even arrived. Hell if it wasn't for that spell I would be dead." I said with a comforting smile. "W-w-what do you mean?" She asked between sobs. I placed a good arm around her neck and pulled her in close, trying to provide as much comfort as I could for her. "I'm saying if it wasn't for you and twilight I would probably be in my old home on the floor, dead from blood loss. SO I think my thanks you should be given to you nurse redheart." I said smiling as she quietly cried into my chest. For some reason it didn't bother me. "R-r-really?" She asked. I nodded silently. She slowly got her sobbing under control and smiled, nuzzling me. "Thank you. And I'm sorry for losing it like that. I was just worried you would die, and I guess my emotions finally caught up with me." I just smiled at her. "Well it happens....besides I know what it's like you know. Considering i'm basicly a doctor myself." I said looking at her. "You are?" she inquired. "Where did you work?" "Well....... I actually worked on...the battlefield of war. As a medic or on field doctor." I said. "Battlefield? You mean..." She trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence. "Yes..... I don't know if you want to know what I saw and did do you?" I asked. I was really wondering and thinking instead of just talking like before. I didn't know if what I would tell her scar her or not. "I don't know. I'm scared to ask, but I know first-hand that not talking about things that bother you only causes problems in the long run. So if you want to talk about it, at any point, I'm all ears." She said, reluctantly removing herself from the embrace. "I have to check on other patients for now. You'll be free to leave tomorrow, and then I can show you my home." She said, smiling again. "Oh....ok I guess that'll be just fine and tomorrow if it's ok...I could tell anything you wanna know." I said smiling back. "Alright. Thank you Jerry. Thank you, for listening." she said, and then she was gone, leaving me alone with my thoughts... Chapter 2I woke up to find a small lavender pony with a purple mane and tail that had a single hot pink streak through each of them, and with a small purple lizard, with a green underbelly and green spikes, on her back, watching me intently, and she had a horn, A HORN! I made my consciousness known with a small cough, causing her to jump, knocking the poor lizard off onto the floor. "Hhhh, hi. Glad you're awake." She said, "My name is Twilight Sparkle, and this," she gestured to the lizard, "Is my number one assistant, Spike. He's a dragon, in case you were wondering. Anyway, I'm sorry if I disturbed you, I was just very curious to find out more about you, so I kinda snuck in while you were asleep so I could take notes. A-heh." She let out a forced chuckle. "Oh...well nice to meet the two of you. By the way twilight your the one that brought me here aren't you?" I asked with a small smile. I was learning to like this kind of world. She smiled. "So you met Nurse Redheart then?" Her smile dropped and was replaced by a small frown. "I'm sorry about bringing you here. I was just trying to help Redheart because she was lonely." Spike spoke up "Yeah, and cause you owed her after she didn't say anything when y-" A closed zipper appeared on Spike's face, giving a whole new meaning to 'Keeping your lips zipped.' I noticed that both the zipper and Twilight's horn were glowing the exact same colour, and I decided to ask about it. "Um....ok how in the world is that even possible?" I asked, confused. "And why are you upset about bringing me here?" "To answer your first question, magic. I'm assuming it doesn't exist in your world." She said with a raised eyebrow, "And to answer your second question, it's because I took you from your home. And I don't have any way to send you back." She finished with a sad face. "Hey....you don't need to be all sad and upset twilight. In fact if it wasn't for you I would've died in my apartment from blood loss and the injuries I had." I said in a comforting smile. I was hoping this would help her. "Wait, what? You mean it wasn't my spell that caused your injuries?" She asked in surprise. "No....it was from being attacked by a group of kids. They came into my home and ended up beating me to an inch of my life. So like I said before I thank you for saving my life." She looked more horrified than relieved by my explanation "But why? Who would children do such a thing?" She asked in a shaky voice. I put my hand on her shoulder knowing she was closed to tears. "In my world it is completely different from yours I bet. In my world in the apartment I lived in it was on a pretty bad street. In fact there would be all sorts of things happen. But now I'm here and in this world I see nothing but peace and harmony. So no need to get sad Twilight." She looked up at me with a few tears leaking out of her eyes. She wiped them away with a hoof and smiled weakly. "Ok Jerry. Thank you. And by the way, Princess Celestia will be coming to make sure you're not a threat. She's the co-ruler of Equestria, along with her younger sister, Princess Luna. Just don't do anything crazy and you should be cleared to live with Redheart." She said. Unfortunately, it was that exact moment that her spell on Spike stopped working, and the zipper on his mouth disappeared. He celebrated by singing, "Jerry and Redheart, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Twilight in a baby car-AGH!" His finale was interrupted by Twilight stomping on his tail, her cheeks flushing. ".......huh he's just like my little brother. Oh and spike.....just be glad i'm in this bed right now or I would show you what I do with my brother when he acts like that." I said. "Ugh, no thanks, I get enough soap in my mouth as is." He huffed, recieving a cuff on the head from Twilight. "Sorry about him Jerry. Anyway, I'd better get going, the Princess will be here soon. But when she's done, I'd love to hear more about your world." She called as she left the room. I chuckled. "Yeah...yeah I'm sure you will and how did he know I was gonna do that?" I asked aloud to myself and who was this celestia character? "You know, you shouldn't think so loud. You never know who could be listening." A voice called from the window. I turned around to see who was there.It was another pony, but this one was different. For starters, she was as big as a full-grown horse, she had a horn, and wings, and her mane and tail were pastel-coloured and flowed in a non-existent wind, sparkling the whole time. "And you are..." "I am Princess Celestia. I am sure Twilight told you I would be coming, Mr...." "Jerry. Just call me Jerry and it's an honor to meet you." I said with a smile. "Thank you. And just call me Celestia," she leaned in close to whisper, "I hate formalities to be honest, but I have to go through them, unfortunately. Anyway, on to the matter at hand." "Ok celestia. So what kind of questions do you have for me?" I asked. "First, what did you do for a living?" She asked me. "Well......I was a medic which is basicly a doctor but....on a battlefield of war." I said. I was really hoping she wouldn't get all freaked out and think I was hostile. "I see. So your world still has war. I was hoping that would not be the case." She replied with a small frown. "Wait...you know about my world?!" I asked surprised. "Our worlds have been connected for a long time, Jerry. My sister and I saw some of the events of your world. I know about the World Wars, as well as other events. I have not glimpsed into your world for the past 20 years, so my information probably isn't up to date." "Oh....well at least I don't have to go into a lot of detail then about my world huh?" "No, you don't. Though I would like to know about your past, unless you feel uncomfortable talking about it, in which case I can use a memory spell to allow me to see your past without forcing you to relive it. It took me a long time, at least 3 centuries, to perfect this particular spell." She said with a smile. "Well....I don't know if you would want to know what I did and had to do...but since you probably have seen war....you have an idea what I had to do." I said lowering my head. "I have seen war before, Jerry. Though this world is peaceful now, it was not always so. Before the three pony races lived together in harmony, there was much fighting between them, and even before that, ponies were fighting with other creatures, Dragons, Griffons, even Minotaurs. When my sister and I came to power, Discord came not long after, and he threw our world into chaos. Though he never hurt anypony, he made their lives miserable, and the worst part was that he used to be our friend. We were forced to seal him in stone, using mystical objects known as the Elements of Harmony." I noticed the look on her face when she started talking about Discord. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. Again like I did with all the other ponies I have seen I placed my hand on her shoulder. "Hey celestia.... what happened in the past happened in the past. You can't look back at it and think what you could've done. I mean I had to do things.....that involved hurting a close friend of mine. So I know what you felt then and now." I said hoping these words would help her. "It's more than that. I...I loved him. I still love him." She said, burying her face into my shoulder. Seriously, what is it with ponies and crying into my shoulders? "Celestia," I said, wrapping an arm around her while rubbing her back with the other as soothingly as I could, "Do you believe he could change, that he could go back to being your friend? To being the same person you loved?" "I, I don't know. I want to believe it, but the last time he escaped, he went right back to doing what he did before. I want to believe he can change and be who I used to see him as, but I'm afraid that if I let him go, that he may try to cause chaos again." She said, still crying, though not as heavily as she had been. I just let out a sigh as I continued to try and comfort her. "But I think you know in your heart that he can't and won't change from what he was and still is celestia." I said hoping it would help. "Maybe he can, maybe he can't, but if he's never given a chance, what kind of friend would I be to him. What would you do, if you were told that someone you cared about more than anything was a horrible person and that you couldn't change them. Would you just accept it and abandon them? Or would you be willing to fight to prove them wrong?" She asked me. "Well.....remember that friend I told you about? Well he was like discord...only worst. One day he just lost it and while in a village and I was helping out some kids....he used his gun and fired. I don't know how many of the poor kids were hurt but I managed to save a few. Anyways I yelled for him to stop but he just kept firing. I had to make a choice. Either him or the kids......I had no choice but to fire at him. He fell without a sound, his gun hitting the dirt beside him. So, by stopping him I managed to save hundreds. Celestia...... I know what you’re going through. I asked myself the same questions." I said feeling a little bit of pain. That guy had been my best friend since I was in first grade. "So, you think I should leave him to his fate?" She asked me, a few stray tears still on her face. "As much as I believe it's all I can do, I still want to save him. I want to bring back my friend." “I know, but sometimes doing the right thing for your people means you have to turn your back on those you once thought were your friends. Sometimes, they just can’t be saved.” Seeing the tears flowing harder from her face, I quickly added, “But, that doesn’t mean they can never be saved. For all we know, I could be wrong, and he may be able to change for the better.” She looked up and wiped a tear from her eye, before burying her head in my shoulder. Again. “Thank you Jerry. And if he does come back, as the friend I once knew, maybe you could meet him someday.” I smiled at her. "I would really like that...and you are completely welcome Celestia." She removed herself from the embrace and headed for the door, but she turned back to me before she left. "Jerry, I do hope you can make her happy." She said with a wink, and then she was gone. I chuckled to myself... Chapter 3As soon as celestia left redheart came into the room. "Hello Jerry, are you ready to leave?" She asked with a soft smile. "Yeah...agh." I said trying to get up. I guess I went a little too fast since my chest and arm was in a good bit of pain right then. "Um...a little help here?" I asked wincing a little in pain. "You need to be more careful." She scolded, motioning for me to sit down for a minute, before giving me some pills. "Now these are very special painkillers. They were infused with healing magic to speed up recovery, so not only will you not feel the pain in your chest and arm, they'll actually heal faster, so you should be fully healed in about 2 weeks." She smiled again. God, she smiles like an angel. "Thanks." I said taking the pills and swallowing them dry. Didn't bother me a bit...and the pills worked fast. Suddenly I didn't feel pain in my arm or chest. I slowly got up from the bed as redheart helped. I nodded at her as if saying thank you once she moved in front of me to lead the way. I just followed and then I realized I was wearing the same clothes as before only they were clean. We went to the checkout desk and she filled it out. I had to sign my signature on it but other than that I didn't have to do anything. We made our way out of the hospital and that's when I saw Ponyville for what it really was. Everywhere I looked, there were ponies. They were in so many colours you'd think someone was on an acid trip if they started describing what I was seeing now. I mean, there were ponies on the ground, in the air, at market stalls, pretty much everywhere. That's also when I noticed they all had markings on their rears, and no two marks were the same. I decided to ask Redheart about it, and she chuckled. "Those are cutie marks. You see, when a pony finds the one thing they were meant to do, the thing that makes them happier than anything else, their cutie mark appears depicting what makes them special." She explained, smiling the entire time. I smiled. "Well that explains what I wanted to know. Anyways not trying to sound mean but where is your house anyways?" I asked. "Oh, it's actually right here." She said, pointing to a house right next to the hospital. Go figure. "Huh...I guess you like to stay near work?" I asked. "Not quite. It's more that this was the only house available when I moved here. It just happened to be convenient." She admitted, blushing a little. "Anyway, shall we go inside, or are we going to stay here until Nightmare Night comes around?" "Yeah let's go on in." I said smiling. I walked forward and quickly opened the door for her trying to be a gentleman. "Why thank you Jerry. That's very kind." She said, rising up and giving me a quick peck on the cheek, and laughing as I started blushing, before giving me the tour. It was a nice place. Moderately sized and well-furnished dining room, a small study, and two bathrooms downstairs. Upstairs, there were three bedrooms, and each had their own bathroom with fully-functional showers, much to my relief. I didn't want to have to disturb her at any point just so I could wash myself. "Wow this is way better than my apartment back on earth." I quickly changed the subject. "Anyways what do you like to do when you're free?" I asked. "Like have free time." "Um, usually, I read in my study. Sometimes I go out, though I don't actually spend much time with others. To be honest, outside of the hospital, I'm actually very shy around other ponies." She said, facing away from me, slightly embarrassed. I just crouched down to her size. Turns out she was a little bit above my waist when i'm standing up. "Well you're not the only one Redheart. I mean I was shy around other people back in my world...mostly girls." I said. "Really? You were shy around girls? So you never had a..." She trailed off, and turned away again, afraid she'd crossed a line before she even saw my face. "No I didn't. But I did have a girlfriend or two, but they broke up with me. The latest one did because I joined up. But yeah I never found that special..someone in my life back home." "I see. Do you think you'll ever find your special somepony?" She asked. "Well..... I want to....I mean I always wanted to start a family so I guess I could start one here." I said with a shrug. "Well, don't worry. I'm sure you'll find someone who loves your ugly mug." She said with a playful wink. "Yeah yeah whatever." I said with a chuckle. "But what bow? I mean I just wonder if the ponies here would even accept me." I said with a hint of worry. She just smiled. "Jerry, the ponies here learned a lot about accepting others despite their differences after an incident with a zebra named Zecora. They originally feared her, thinking she was a witch and that she would curse them if she saw them, but a young filly named Applebloom proved she was just a herbalist who specialised in healing potions. She was actually the one who made your painkillers, and she had Twilight be the one who infused them with magic. So don't worry, I'm sure you'll be accepted. Anyway, we still have a few hours until Princess Celestia lowers the sun and Princess Luna raises the moon. Is there anything you'd like to do, or anywhere you'd like to see?" She asked. "Well......do you have any ideas?" I asked. "I mean if you wanna go somewhere then we could go there if you want." I said scratching at the back of my neck. "Well, there's Sugarcube corner. Pinkie Pie will probably be there though, and I'm not sure meeting her is a good idea at the moment." She said hesitantly. "Well why not?" I asked. "Because Pinkie is, well, very, random. And she always has to throw a massive party for anypony who comes into town. I'm just worried that something could happen and that you may get hurt again." She explained. "Well if you don't want to go there where else could we go?" I asked her. "Well, there's always this small cafe near Carousel Boutique." She suggested. I had no idea what Carousel Boutique was, but I didn't ask, deeming it unimportant at that particular moment. I shrugged. "Well it's up to you redheart. Wherever you want to go we can go." I said smiling. "Ok then, the cafe it is." She said, returning my smile with her own. And with that, she dragged me out of the cafe and through the town. I ignored the looks I was being given, mostly curious glances, though there was some fear, mistrust, and suspicion mixed in. Eventually, we found ourselves at a small cafe right across the street from what I assumed was Carousel Boutique. I mean, it's hard to miss, it actually looks like a carousel. We went in and sat down in a booth as I saw the menu. Daisy Sandwiches, Hay fries, etc. Great, a nice cafe and I can't even digest half of what's on it. I thought to myself as I tried to find something, anything, on the menu that I could eat. Redheart saw my growing frustration and gave me a concerned look. "Jerry, are you ok?" She asked. "Well...I mean half of this stuff on her I can't even digest or eat.....well at least they can make spaghetti." I said with a shrug. "Oh. I'm sorry. We actually had no idea your digestive process didn't allow you to consume most of what we eat. May I ask, what can humans actually eat?" That's when I got a little nervous. Looking at the menu I knew they never had meat. "Well....um we eat...uh......fish, vegetables,........and meat...." I said the last just quiet enough so only she would hear. "I....see. So you're an omnivore?" She asked calmly, still smiling. "Don't worry about it Jerry. I've had plenty of patients who eat meat. Sure, almost the entire population of Ponyville is ponies, but we have lots of travellers pass through. Griffons, Minotaurs, even Dragons, though not often. And quite a few of them end up hurting themselves during the crazy things that seem to have become a regular for Ponyville." She started chuckling. I was, dumbstruck, to say the least, more by the fact that she wasn't horrified that I eat meat, than by the fact that creatures that are myths back home actually exist here. I just nodded. "Ok.....well I guess I will have.....spaghetti." I said with a shrug, a hint of surprise in my voice from what she told me. "Alright then." She said, calling a waiter over and placing our orders. Spaghetti for me, and a daisy sandwich with a side of hay-fries for her. The entire time, the waiter was staring at me a little nervously, as if he was afraid I would try to kill him or something. Eventually, he trotted inside to have our orders prepared, giving me a chance to talk to Redheart in semi-privacy. I leaned against the table a little bit my hands together on the bed. "Ok so can you answer this question? I mean everywhere I go I see that ponies are looking at me like I would kill them. Did this happen a lot with the other creatures?" I asked curious. "Like I said before, there was an incident with Zecora. I thought that the locals would have learned after that to NOT JUDGE OTHERS BY THEIR APPEARANCES!" She yelled the last part, causing several nearby ponies to jump and run in the opposite direction, "But I guess I was mistaken." She said with a small scowl. I looked around. "Yeah I can see that.....well I guess you want to learn a little more about me?" I asked. "Well, you asked me what I liked to do with my free time, what about you? What do you like to do when you're not busy?" She asked, her smile returning. I smiled back as I leaned back againt the seat thinking what I did. "Well.....I used to love to exercise. Like everyday for about two hours I would work out running or lifting weights. I also liked to watch T.V. and just be helpful if possible. But when I was shipped out to war I didn't always have to fight and help people. Sometimes I would just talk or just sleep the whole day. Lastly i just like to take walks in the park during the night. I just like doing anything like that really." I said with a shrug. "Oh and read." I added quickly. She shook her head with a grin on her face. "Interesting. Too bad you won't be able to exercise until you're fully recovered, but at least there's plenty of books in my house. So, how common are TVs in your world? Here, they're extremely expensive and difficult to make, so only the very wealthy can afford them." She said. I shrugged. "Well.... pretty common really. I mean I even had on and it was just small. So in my world basicly every house had one TV." I said. Her jaw, dropped. "Every-every home?" She asked incredulously. She quickly picked her jaw back up and shook her head to clear some of the shock away. "I see. That's, actually very interesting." She was about to say something else, but she was interrupted by our food arriving. The waiter left pretty quickly, not wanting to spend any longer near me than he absolutely had to. We ignored him and started to dig in. I was surprised by how good this was to me. After a few minutes I saw that I was already done with the food and drink. As was nurse Redheart to my surprise. "Surprised? It's as an old friend used to say, good food is always gone too quickly." She said, chuckling as she pointed a hoof at my face, where a single string of spaghetti still hung. I chuckled as I sipped it up into my mouth. "Well I always wanted to ask. How do you pay for things here?" I asked. "Oh, our currency is called bits. Griffons named theirs Talons, of all things." She replied. I chuckled. "Huh way different from what we use. Ours is basically called dollars paper money really." I said as she took out the necessary bits to pay for the food and tip the waiter. She only gave him one bit. "Oh.....how come you don't live there?" I asked. "I mean you seem to deserve it because all the lives you save. Hell you saved mine and that's enough for me." I said. "Honestly, too many of the ponies that live there are snobs. They're always trying to one-up each other and get more wealth than their neighbours. Not all of them are like that, but so many are that the ones who aren't are sometimes treated as outcasts." She said sadly. "Wait...you know anypony who live there or has?" I asked. "Well, Twilight used to live there, and her brother is the Captain of the Royal Guard, who are responsible for maintaining law and order in Equestria. He's married to Princess Cadance, the niece of Princesses Celestia and Luna. She told me that there were many who looked down on others in Canterlot if they weren't from around there or if they were of a lower social status." "Wow.....well I guess our worlds aren't different class wise." I said letting out a sigh. "So you have similar problems back home? I guess coming here really was a blessing in disguise. In a way, it was for me." I looked at her, blushing a little. "After all, if you hadn't arrived, I wouldn't have made a friend, would I?" She said, smiling again. I smiled back still blushing a bit. "Well...I guess the same is said for me. Wow look at that." I said looking back at the sun as it started to go down. My jaw fell a little bit. "Beautiful, isn't it? Wait until you see Princess Luna raise the moon. Now that's a beautiful sight." As soon as she said that the moon began to take the place of the sun. I just looked in awe the whole time. I didn't know it but redheart ended up scooting over to be beside me and laid her head on my shoulder. "So, what do you like best about Equestria, Jerry?" She asked, nuzzling me. I smiled as I wrapped my arm around her. "Well....everything really...especially my first friend..." I said. I just tighten my grip around her a little bit as she then laid her head on my shoulder. I let out a sigh inside myself realizing that she wasn't going for a kiss. "Jerry?" She asked. "Do you think you'll ever fall in love with anypony here? I don't mean to pry, I just want to know you believe you can find love." This caught me off-guard a little bit but I answered anyways. "Well..... yes I do redheart....it'll just take a little bit of time is all since i'm so used to the girls in my world and not here." I said. "I see." She said quietly, before smiling. "Well, I hope when you find somepony, that she makes you happy, and you, her." That's when I remembered what celestia told me earlier. "I wonder if she meant Redheart?" I thought to myself as the words were similar as the ones Celestia had said this to me. Before I could come up with an answer, the ground around us exploded as several large bipedal DOGS, of all things, burst through what I assumed were tunnels. They looked to me, then to Redheart. "Pony come with us. Pony mine gems for us!" It said, pointing a claw at Redheart, who had started shaking. I got up and went into a defence like position. I then realized I still somehow had a knife with me so I took it out and held it in my right hand. I was ready for a fight...but the wounds disagreed. The dogs smirked as they saw me clutch my arm. "Creature stay out of Diamond Dog business, or creature suffer much worse pain than creature already has." The leader growled, pushing me to the ground and grabbing Redheart before disappearing down one of the tunnels it had created, collapsing it as it escaped. While this all happened there was one other pony who was watching from a cloud. I began to crawl to the collapsed hole hopping that I could somehow get into it. That's when she landed in front of me. "Redheart..Dogs...Gotta...Save." I couldn't say anymore as what little remained of my strength left me and I collapsed. The last thing I heard before losing consciousness was "Hang on, I'll get help!" Chapter 4The first thing I noticed when I came to was that I wasn't on grass. Instead, I woke up on a comfortable, if slightly small, bed in a small room. The next thing I noticed was the sound of arguing coming from outside the room. I recognised two voices, Twilight's, and the pegasus with the rainbow hair that left to get help before I lost consciousness, but the rest were foreign to me. "...can't believe you didn't tell us about him Twilight. We're supposed to be your friends? How can you keep a secret like this. It's just so....so....uncouth!" Whoever owned that voice had to be high-class, I figured. "Ah agree with Rarity, much as I hate tah admit it. This ain't somethin' ya' keep secret from yer friends, Twi." The mare that voice belonged to was most definitely a country gal. The kind who knows what hard work is. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't tell you, even if I wanted to. Princess Celestia herself gave me strict orders not to tell anypony until she arrived to make sure he wasn't a threat! And I don't appreciate being told I can't keep secrets after the whole Photo Finish fiasco, Rarity..." Twilight replied coldly, and I could hear the gasp from the high-class pony, who I now knew was named Rarity, and I could almost imagine her face. At this point, I knew the argument wasn't going to end anytime soon, and the more time we wasted, the less chance we had of rescuing Redheart, so I did the only thing I could to end it. I got up, and I opened the door. The effect was immediate. Every single head turned to face me, and the silence gave me ample time to get a good look at every pony present. An orange mare with a stetson on her head and her blonde mane and tail tied into a ponytail of all things, a white unicorn mare with a purple mane and tail in very fancy curls. A pink earth pony with a really really cotton-candy-like pink mane and tail, and a butter yellow pegasus with a very simple pink mane and tail that curled slightly at the end. "Ok," I said, breaking the silence, "The arguing stops NOW! Fighting isn't going to change the fact that Twilight was only doing what she had to, and fighting is NOT going to rescue Redheart unless the ones we fight are the dogs. Now, go round up as many villagers as you can and tell them of the situation. MOVE!" The final word got them all moving, all except for Twilight and the pegasus, who started to back away slowly, a look of pure fear on her face. I took a deep breath, "I'm sorry ma'am, but right now, we need to rescue Redheart, and this is how I was trained to act in crisis situations. I was trained to be tough, strong, and above all, not to let others see my fear. This is the same thing. Hesitation only increases the risk of us not rescuing Redheart in time, and I can't let her get hurt. She's my friend, and I owe her and Twilight my life." She stopped shivering and started staring at me, trying to see if I was a threat or not. Eventually, she relaxed. "Alright. I'm sorry for being scared." She whispered. "It's alright ma'am. Anyway, I do believe I forgot to introduce myself. Jerry." I said, holding out a hand. She hesitantly reached out a hoof and placed it in my open palm. "I-I'm Fluttershy." she said, a little louder, but still barely more than a whisper I nodded with a smile trying to show her that I wouldn't hurt her. I let go of her hoof as it went back to the ground. She smiled back as she went and walked out the door. I then looked back at twilight. "So you have any ideas where the diamond dogs that took redheart might be?" I asked. She then seemed to be in thought and she got the idea. "They must be where they took rarity a while ago." She then went into all the detail about how rarity was taken and where she might be. She then went out the door and I guess she thought I was gonna follow but instead I ended up climbing out a window in the house on the first floor. I wanted to do this alone since I didn't want any of the ponies get hurt. I made my way to where twilight told me redheart might be. Once I got there I saw that there was a small hole just big enough for me to go through. I let out a long sigh as I then jumped into the hole. I fell through it having a few rocks hitting my arms and shoulders along with the old wounds I had. Once I hit the ground I rolled around a little bit until I ended up stopping against a small wall. That's when I heard a few of those dogs talking from the other side. I then searched for a weapon and found out that there was a perfectly good knife on the ground. I grabbed it as it felt natural to me. I then flipped it until the blade was facing backwards and I was holding the grip of the blade. It was at least three inches. "New pony has been most troublesome. She refuses to work, despite the beatings." I heard. "If she continues to refuse in the next hour, kill her and dump the carcass where the wolves will get it." I then gripped the knife hard in complete anger. Out of anger I just jumped over the small wall seeing only two of those dogs. The both looked at me with complete surprise. The one on the right looked like he was pretty tough so I killed him first. I stabbed the knife right through his skull and immediately took it out stabbing the other one right in the chest, but not enough to kill him. I looked him dead in the eye. "Where is she?!" I said in rage. "I never tell you hairless monkey!" He shouted defiantly, slamming the ground with one leg. I twisted the knife to cause more pain. "Tell me or you die slowly." I said blinded by rage. "Alright, alright!" He practically screamed. "She is in training cage. It is where we teach ponies obedience. Those that refuse are taken to a small chamber on the opposite end of the system and disposed of." "Thanks." I said as I punched him in the face knocking him out. At least he would die without much pain. I took the knife out of his chest and made my way to where he said redheart would be. In a few minutes after sneaking past dog after dog I saw the chamber. I was shocked to see at least three other ponies in the same cage as Redheart. Redheart looked the worst. She was covered in dirt, bruises and angry red marks, the kind you’d get from being whipped. *Sniff sniff* "INTRUDER!" one yelled. "Shit here we go." I said as I got out of cover. I was covered in the dogs blood from before. Covered from my chest to feet, But redheart recgonized me easily as she spoke in a bit of pain and surprise. "J-J-Jerry? Is it really you?" She asked, gasping with pain. "Yes redheart i'm getting you out of here." Just as I said this a ton of dogs came rushing into the room. I counted at least ten. "Jerry," She gasped. "Just go. You're already injured. If you get hit by one of their weapons, you could die." "I don't care!" I yelled. "I'm not losing another friend no matter what!" I declared as I got into a fighting stance. "Hairless monkey is a fool. You'll die here with the pony. KILL IT!" Three of them charged forward. Adrenaline took over as all pain was gone. I crouched down using the knife on one of them stabbing it in the throat. I then punched the other one in the side of the neck snapping it. The last one was killed from me using a weapon that belonged to the first one picking it up stabbing it through the skull. I slid both the weapons out and stood up as the three now dead dogs laid on the ground. "J-Jerry, your back." Redheart muttered, losing consciousness from blood loss. I knew I had to end this quickly. I saw that one of the other ponies in the same cage was trying their best to stop the bleeding. I looked back at the dogs. "Next?" I said wanting to end this quickly. That's when the last seven went forward. But I saw the one that would be in charge and used both the weapons stabbing through it's skull,slid the weapons out and stabbed it in the chest. Once he died the other dogs looked on in fear. At first the dogs didn't move, and I thought I would have to make good on my threat, but then the smallest one stepped forward, much to my surprise. "Please, do not harm them. I take you and pony to surface. Please do not kill them." He pleaded. Still a little surprised I nodded in agreement. "Ok I won't just lead me out of here along with the other ponies." I said starting to feel weak. The old wounds must be getting worst. He stepped aside as I made my way to the cage. I walked inside seeing redheart was barely awake. I knelt down ignoring the pain in my back and body. With the little strength I had I picked her up letting the knife stay on the ground. "Creature, you will not make it to the pony town with those wounds." The dog said. I ignored him, too determined to get Redheart out to heed his words. I stood up in complete pain walking out carrying her in my arms. Just as I reached the exit I suddenly gasped in pain and fell forward turning my body making sure she wouldn't get hurt. Everything started going black. "Creature! I tried to warn you, why did you not heed my advice!" Before I blacked out I felt movement in my arms. I looked down to see a fearful Redheart. Then I blacked out. Chapter 5I woke up floating in the middle of an endless expanse of white. I almost started to panic, but I took some deep breaths and calmed down enough to assess the situation. "Ok, let's see. Endless expanse of white, nobody, and nopony, around that I can see, and I'm floating. I'm either dead, dreaming, or I'm in a coma..." "Jerry..." a voice seemed to echo. As I looked around for the source of the voice, I felt my body being pulled towards a tunnel that appeared out of nowhere. While the tunnel got lighter and i thought i was dead i saw that i wasn't. Instead of going into heaven or wherever i would go I saw that Redheart was sitting beside my bed. She was quickly sobbing and whimpering into the bed sheets. Her wounds were bandaged and to my relif didn't look serious. While for me I was hooked up to so many IV's and a monitor. My heart beat a steady *blop...blop....blop* "What the...Redheart, you're ok!" I exclaimed, but she didn't respond. I realised that she couldn't hear me. "Dammit." I yelled. "Am I gonna be stuck like this or something until they eventually pull the plug!?" I was full of anger right now. Not only was I stuck outside my body but Redheart was breaking down and I couldn't even talk to her. But while Redheart was sobbing I saw that some of the princesses came in. "Nurse Redheart, we have come to check on the one named Jerry. Has there been any change?" the dark blue one, I assumed she was Luna, asked. "No, princess. He's still asleep. The doctor said they can't risk waking him as he may go into shock. And I agree. We have to wait until his wounds are healed before we try." Redheart replied. "I'm being kept asleep till I heal, huh? DAMMIT!" I yelled. "I'm sorry Redheart, I'm so sorry..." "Excuse me Redheart, but may I have a moment alone. There is something I wish to confirm." Celestia said. Redheart looked confused for a moment, but nodded slowly and followed Luna out of the room. "What's she gonna confirm? What we already know? I'm asleep, not much else you can confirm." I said sarcastically. "Actually Jerry, there is something else I wish to confirm, and if you can hear me, you've already confirmed it for me." Celestia replied with a small grin. "Wait, what the hell? Ok, this is funny, for a second I could've sworn Celestia actually-" "Heard you?" She said with a smirk. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. "WHAT THE FUCK!?" "Oh, calm down Jerry. My sister and I raise the sun and moon. Seeing a spirit isn't inconceivable for us. And no, just because you are a spirit does not mean you're dying. It just means the ambient magic in the environment has affected you in a more potent fashion than to natives of equestria, given the lack of magic in your world." She explained. "uh....what?" Celestia sighed in irritation. "It means that this world’s abundance of magic has allowed your spirit to temporarily leave your body while it recovers." "Oh, that makes more sense..." I said. "Sooo, why are we talking right now? One would think you'd have more important things to do than visit one hospitalised human." "For one, it's to discuss what happened before you were hospitalised." She said with an eerily calm voice. "Great...so, what exactly is my punishment?" I asked as calmly as I could, despite my worry. Celestia chuckled. "You're not being punished Jerry. Your actions were justified, given the situation. And Nurse Redheart was adamant that the Diamond Dogs would have killed you had you not defended yourself." "Ok, so I'm NOT in trouble?" I asked. Celestia nodded. "Ok then. So when will I get out of here? I kinda have to apologise for getting redheart kidnapped, y'know." "It will take about another day for your body to recover. When it does, I do hope you take a moment to think just where you stand with Redheart. She happens to care for you quite a lot, maybe as more than just a friend..." 'Ooookaaaayyyy, I have no idea what she's talking about...' I thought to myself. "Judging by the look on your face, you have no idea what I'm talking about, so I am going to forego the usual royal tradition of cryptic messages and get straight to the point. Redheart, is in love, with you, Jerry." She said the last seven words slowly, to make sure my brain had time to register the new information. "Wait....what!?" I exclaimed when my brain finally caught up. "Oh, stop being dumb Jerry. Redheart is in love with you. She dragged you back to Ponyville by herself, and she refused to leave your side the entire time you were here. When they thought you wouldn't survive the surgery, she almost broke down in tears." Celestia said with a sad look. "Jerry, she loves you. The question is, can you say you feel the same way about her?" I thought for a bit really thinking hard about it. Did I have feelings for a talking horse?! After a bit I let out a quiet sigh coming a conclusion. She may be a pony and a talking horse...but she's just like a human in a lot of other ways. I nodded my head yes. "Yes I do Celestia." I said She practically beamed. "Well then Jerry, I believe you have some time to think of how you're going to tell her." She said as she turned to leave. "And Jerry?" "Yes Celestia?" He asked. "You'll be called to Canterlot tomorrow to receive a medal for you service to Equestria. Since you've been unconscious, several missing ponies have reappeared in the towns they went missing from. It seems whatever you did convinced the Diamond Dogs to release all the ponies they had held captive, and for that, you have my thanks." She said, leaving me alone with my unconscious body. I just grinned. "Well at least something came with coming to Equestria...wait....will my body be able to make the trip?" I asked aloud. "Yes Jerry, it will. Your body will have completely recovered by tomorrow." Celestia's voice said inside my head. "And don't worry, this spell is strictly one-use only. I won't be able to use it on you again. See you tomorrow Jerry." And with that, her voice faded from my mind. Well that answers my questions...now how to get back in my body.... Unfortunately, getting back inside my body was easier said than done. I tried every method I could think of short of climbing in through my mouth or....ugh, let's not even go there, but I couldn't get back in. Then suddenly I LITERALLY was pulled back into my body when it turned morning. And the second my spirit was in, I woke up, literally jumping out of the bed. I ended up falling on the ground and, to my surprise, redheart came running in. "JERRY!" She yelled, rushing to embrace me with a tearful smile on her face. "I'm so glad you're awake!" "Ugh...yeah me too, Redheart. Still kinda sore sorry." I said hugging her back. "It's ok. I'm just happy you're alright." I just smiled as I felt some of her tears on my shoulder. Then came something in mind. "Hey redheart....you mind me telling you something?" I asked. She tilted her head in confusion, but nodded. "Sure Jerry. What did you want to tell me?" "Well first have you ever heard of an "Out of body experience?" I asked. "Yes....but they're extremely rare though. Why do you ask?" "Well I went through one and while I was I saw how you acted over me. Later while you were gone and celestia was here she talked to me. Then she told me something about you.....she said you loved me." I said. “Oh...” Redheart replied, looking crestfallen, as if she expected to be rejected. "What if I said I had the same feeling for you?" I asked looking into her eyes. She took on a shocked expression, but only for a moment, before she wrapped her hooves around me and began to nuzzle my chest. "Do you really mean that?" She asked, tearing up. Yes...it's true Redheart." I said with a smile running my hand through her mane. She lifted her head up, smiling, and shot forward, planting a kiss on my lips. I was shocked at first but realized if I did love her i would have to show it. I kissed back, wrapping my arms around her. She pulled back just long enough to whisper, "I love you Jerry." before diving back into the kiss. The kissing lasted for a couple minutes before I finally stopped the kissing. I broke the kiss looking into her eyes and said. "I'm so glad you’re ok." She chuckled and said, "Hey, I should be saying that about you. And by the way," she pulled out a small envelope, "This letter arrived from Canterlot. It's got the Royal Seal, meaning it was sent by one of the Princesses." I just chuckled taking it from her grasp and held her close as I opened it and read it. Even though I knew what it was about. "Well it basically says that I am to arrive in Canterlot later today to receive some sort of medal for what I did with the diamond dogs. Oh and it says that we are both being accepted as VIPs. Sounds great." I said to Redheart. "Canterlot...Jerry, that sounds great." She said with a forced smile. I just pulled her close into a tight embrace. "Hey...I remember what you said about what happened in Canterlot. You know we don't have to go i'm sure." I said in a soothing voice. "I know...but, as long as you don't leave me alone there, I think I'll be alright." She said, before kissing me again. I just gave her a quick kiss back before saying "I would never leave you alone there redheart...you know that..I care for you to much." I said soothingly. "I know." She said. "Thank you Jerry." I gave her another tight hug telling her it was alright. "So....the ceremony is at 7PM. tonight so I think we got a good bit of time before we have to go there." I said smiling. She smirked. "What did you have in mind?" "Well maybe you and me over on a mountain not infested by dogs I must add. We could just sit there looking around...or we could go to your house." I said smirking. "Hmmm, that's a tough choice.' She said, tapping her chin in thought. "Does the mountain sound better?" I asked. "You know, I think it does." She said with a warm smile. "Let's go, loverboy." "Heh yeah, lead the way." I said as we both got up. She led the way out not even needing to sign out. "So, when did you start to....you know?" She asked sheepishly. "Love you?..... hmmm I think maybe since I came after you when the dogs got you. I don't know really. Could've been love at first sight for all I know." I said clearly. "I see." she said thoughtfully.
Chapter 1(This will start in third person) CHAPTER 1 Jerry was lying on his couch, situated in his small run-down apartment in one of New York's more, sketchy, neighbourhoods. He wasn't afraid. He was a fully trained combat medic with several years of martial arts training and one tour of duty under his belt. If anything, the locals should be afraid of him. He'd seen their type before, people who had no problem kicking a man when he was down, or picking the pocket of a poor man for reasons as petty as being jealous that he had money and they didn't. He'd dealt with people like that since he was a kid, and they only understood one thing: If your target isn't afraid, then stop targeting them. Tonight was different. Tonight, some punk kids thought it would be funny to prove they were brave by breaking into his apartment and, armed with baseball bats and lead pipes, they broke in through a window in his bedroom. Jerry heard the noise and went to investigate, his footfalls deadly silent compared to the cacophony of voices arguing about what was worth taking. Opening the door, he was faced with two youths who turned to him, wide-eyed and ready to run. He never saw the third boy to his left, never even knew he was there until he felt him swing his baseball bat right into his face, breaking his nose and concussing him. He could do naught but fall to the ground as his legs failed him and fell out from under him, could do nothing to prevent the agonising onslaught of the youths as they took their bats and pipes to the rest of his body, only leaving when they were sure he was dead. By their inexperience, though, they failed to notice the steady rise and fall of his chest signalling his survival. However, he knew this wouldn't last long. He was bleeding heavily, and his vision was turning blurry. He couldn't even muster up the strength to raise a finger, let alone crawl all the way to the main hall to reach the phone and call an ambulance. He could only lie there as his life left him. As darkness claimed him, he could have sworn he saw a small purple horse with a glowing horn of the same color. As we I felt my life starting to leave me I suddenly felt a jolt of energy as my chest thrusted into the air signaling that whoever was doing this was saving my life. Then everything just went black as I went back onto the soft fabric of some sort of bed. Later I woke up chest, left arm, and head in a hellish pain. My eyes opened slowly as I looked around seeing that I was in some sort of a bed. Then I realized that it was more colorful than it should be. Even more peaceful than the street I used to live on which had gunshots and killing everywhere. I got up into a sitting position which was a little bit hard. "Where the hell am I? This is not heaven I know that...is it?" I asked aloud. "Well, it's not heaven unless you enjoy hospitals." A voice called from my left. I looked to my left and saw the monitor first. It was beeping normally along with an I.V. in my left arm which was bandaged as was my chest. Then I looked to the one that spoke and was completely shocked when I saw that whoever spoke was a goddamn horse looking thing. Now normally I would panic and try to get the fuck out of there. But since I was literally stuck on the bed I just looked wide eyes. I looked around frantically as my heart began to race and the monitor beeped faster. Now I had to stay calm so I took a few steady breaths as I somehow managed to calm down. "Well....since you can talk....where the fuck am I?" I asked looking at the talking horse looking thing. Must have been a stallion...why did I think that? "Uh, well that is, um, you really don't know?" He stammered, much to my annoyance. "Well...no I don't considering talking horses isn't a real species in my world...so where am I?" I asked with a hint of annoyance in my voice. "Well, you're in Ponyville General Hospital." The stallion replied, ignoring my tone, "In the town of Ponyville, in the great nation of Equestria." "......... so basically i'm in a world full of talking ponies that somehow know about medicine.....great." I said plopping my head on the pillow. "At least this bed is my size...and softer than the bedrolls in Iraq." "Eye-rack? What is that?" The stallion asked in confusion. I let out a sigh. "No Iraq. I-r-a-q. Well basicly it's a place where there's nothing but sand and desert. Also a bunch of taliban AKA enemy soldiers trying to kill us. I was a medic for the U.S. marines which is basicly a doctor on the battlefield. War us what it's called. Where humans fought each other to the death.” I said without a hint of emotion in my voice. "What? You mean you actually try to kill others?" The stallion asked, horrified. I nodded. "Yep had no choice where I came from....and sometimes the trying would succeed. Meaning I have killed plenty of times where I lived." I said again without a hint of emotion. "You've...killed. I see. It must have been horrible." The stallion said, trying to regain his composure. "Sometimes.......but you get used to it after about the tenth time. In war killing is just like breathing and sleeping. A regular thing in life for us vets of war." I said. "I don't think I'd ever want to be used to it. And I hope it won't be a problem for you, since we have no need of armies. There are no wars here, we live in peace and harmony with our neighbours, the griffons, and the dragons." The stallion replied with a hint of a smile. I just chuckled. "Well I'll admit I would love to live in a place like this.......say by the way who in the hell is taking care of us?" I asked. It felt like I was making a friend. "That would be me." A voice replied from the door. I turned to see a mare with a white coat and a strawberry blonde mane and tail, wearing a nurses cap with a red cross on it. "Nurse Redheart, at your service, gentlestallions." I chuckled. "Well I'm not actually a stallion. Feel free to call me Jerry nurse redheart." I said with a small smile on my face. "Well then Jerry, I trust you are feeling better? You were pretty banged up. And as for you," She turned to the stallion, "Doctor Lazybones, why am I not surprised. Pretending to be another patient to get out of work again?" She said in mock irritation. "Wait what?" I said surprised. Looking at the so called patient. "Uh, well, you see, um, the thing is....well bye!" He yelled, running out the door. Nurse Redheart chuckled, and for some reason, hearing her laugh made me want to smile. "Don't mind him, he tends to pretend to be a patient to get out of work sometimes. But he's one of the best we have. After all, he managed to keep you alive, didn't he?" She said. "Again, what?" I asked surprised. "Oh, right. Well, you had bruised ribs, several fractured bones, many, many cuts all over your body, and a severe concussion. It took several unicorns to cast a healing spell strong enough to save your life. Doctor LB, as he prefers for some reason, was the one who supplied the most magic, so he's the one who's mostly responsible for saving your life." She replied with a soft smile. "Oh...well I would say thank you only he ran off and anyways how long you think till i can get out of here...but where would I go?" I asked looking down. Reality hit me preety hard there not knowing where I would live. "That's the thing. I've actually volunteered to take care of you, at least until you're fully recovered. After all, I feel partly responsible for you being here." She replied sheepishly "You feel....responsible...why?" I asked curiously, looking up at her. "Because, Twilight cast the spell that brought you here after hearing that I didn't have a special somepony." She said, hanging her head sadly. "She cast that spell trying to summon one for me, and she said something probably went wrong which is why you're here. I'm sorry." She started to cry. "Whoa whoa now no need to be sad." I said in a comforting voice. I was used to that voice since I used it a good bit of times for injured marines. "I was attacked before I even arrived. Hell if it wasn't for that spell I would be dead." I said with a comforting smile. "W-w-what do you mean?" She asked between sobs. I placed a good arm around her neck and pulled her in close, trying to provide as much comfort as I could for her. "I'm saying if it wasn't for you and twilight I would probably be in my old home on the floor, dead from blood loss. SO I think my thanks you should be given to you nurse redheart." I said smiling as she quietly cried into my chest. For some reason it didn't bother me. "R-r-really?" She asked. I nodded silently. She slowly got her sobbing under control and smiled, nuzzling me. "Thank you. And I'm sorry for losing it like that. I was just worried you would die, and I guess my emotions finally caught up with me." I just smiled at her. "Well it happens....besides I know what it's like you know. Considering i'm basicly a doctor myself." I said looking at her. "You are?" she inquired. "Where did you work?" "Well....... I actually worked on...the battlefield of war. As a medic or on field doctor." I said. "Battlefield? You mean..." She trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence. "Yes..... I don't know if you want to know what I saw and did do you?" I asked. I was really wondering and thinking instead of just talking like before. I didn't know if what I would tell her scar her or not. "I don't know. I'm scared to ask, but I know first-hand that not talking about things that bother you only causes problems in the long run. So if you want to talk about it, at any point, I'm all ears." She said, reluctantly removing herself from the embrace. "I have to check on other patients for now. You'll be free to leave tomorrow, and then I can show you my home." She said, smiling again. "Oh....ok I guess that'll be just fine and tomorrow if it's ok...I could tell anything you wanna know." I said smiling back. "Alright. Thank you Jerry. Thank you, for listening." she said, and then she was gone, leaving me alone with my thoughts...
Chapter 2I woke up to find a small lavender pony with a purple mane and tail that had a single hot pink streak through each of them, and with a small purple lizard, with a green underbelly and green spikes, on her back, watching me intently, and she had a horn, A HORN! I made my consciousness known with a small cough, causing her to jump, knocking the poor lizard off onto the floor. "Hhhh, hi. Glad you're awake." She said, "My name is Twilight Sparkle, and this," she gestured to the lizard, "Is my number one assistant, Spike. He's a dragon, in case you were wondering. Anyway, I'm sorry if I disturbed you, I was just very curious to find out more about you, so I kinda snuck in while you were asleep so I could take notes. A-heh." She let out a forced chuckle. "Oh...well nice to meet the two of you. By the way twilight your the one that brought me here aren't you?" I asked with a small smile. I was learning to like this kind of world. She smiled. "So you met Nurse Redheart then?" Her smile dropped and was replaced by a small frown. "I'm sorry about bringing you here. I was just trying to help Redheart because she was lonely." Spike spoke up "Yeah, and cause you owed her after she didn't say anything when y-" A closed zipper appeared on Spike's face, giving a whole new meaning to 'Keeping your lips zipped.' I noticed that both the zipper and Twilight's horn were glowing the exact same colour, and I decided to ask about it. "Um....ok how in the world is that even possible?" I asked, confused. "And why are you upset about bringing me here?" "To answer your first question, magic. I'm assuming it doesn't exist in your world." She said with a raised eyebrow, "And to answer your second question, it's because I took you from your home. And I don't have any way to send you back." She finished with a sad face. "Hey....you don't need to be all sad and upset twilight. In fact if it wasn't for you I would've died in my apartment from blood loss and the injuries I had." I said in a comforting smile. I was hoping this would help her. "Wait, what? You mean it wasn't my spell that caused your injuries?" She asked in surprise. "No....it was from being attacked by a group of kids. They came into my home and ended up beating me to an inch of my life. So like I said before I thank you for saving my life." She looked more horrified than relieved by my explanation "But why? Who would children do such a thing?" She asked in a shaky voice. I put my hand on her shoulder knowing she was closed to tears. "In my world it is completely different from yours I bet. In my world in the apartment I lived in it was on a pretty bad street. In fact there would be all sorts of things happen. But now I'm here and in this world I see nothing but peace and harmony. So no need to get sad Twilight." She looked up at me with a few tears leaking out of her eyes. She wiped them away with a hoof and smiled weakly. "Ok Jerry. Thank you. And by the way, Princess Celestia will be coming to make sure you're not a threat. She's the co-ruler of Equestria, along with her younger sister, Princess Luna. Just don't do anything crazy and you should be cleared to live with Redheart." She said. Unfortunately, it was that exact moment that her spell on Spike stopped working, and the zipper on his mouth disappeared. He celebrated by singing, "Jerry and Redheart, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Twilight in a baby car-AGH!" His finale was interrupted by Twilight stomping on his tail, her cheeks flushing. ".......huh he's just like my little brother. Oh and spike.....just be glad i'm in this bed right now or I would show you what I do with my brother when he acts like that." I said. "Ugh, no thanks, I get enough soap in my mouth as is." He huffed, recieving a cuff on the head from Twilight. "Sorry about him Jerry. Anyway, I'd better get going, the Princess will be here soon. But when she's done, I'd love to hear more about your world." She called as she left the room. I chuckled. "Yeah...yeah I'm sure you will and how did he know I was gonna do that?" I asked aloud to myself and who was this celestia character? "You know, you shouldn't think so loud. You never know who could be listening." A voice called from the window. I turned around to see who was there.It was another pony, but this one was different. For starters, she was as big as a full-grown horse, she had a horn, and wings, and her mane and tail were pastel-coloured and flowed in a non-existent wind, sparkling the whole time. "And you are..." "I am Princess Celestia. I am sure Twilight told you I would be coming, Mr...." "Jerry. Just call me Jerry and it's an honor to meet you." I said with a smile. "Thank you. And just call me Celestia," she leaned in close to whisper, "I hate formalities to be honest, but I have to go through them, unfortunately. Anyway, on to the matter at hand." "Ok celestia. So what kind of questions do you have for me?" I asked. "First, what did you do for a living?" She asked me. "Well......I was a medic which is basicly a doctor but....on a battlefield of war." I said. I was really hoping she wouldn't get all freaked out and think I was hostile. "I see. So your world still has war. I was hoping that would not be the case." She replied with a small frown. "Wait...you know about my world?!" I asked surprised. "Our worlds have been connected for a long time, Jerry. My sister and I saw some of the events of your world. I know about the World Wars, as well as other events. I have not glimpsed into your world for the past 20 years, so my information probably isn't up to date." "Oh....well at least I don't have to go into a lot of detail then about my world huh?" "No, you don't. Though I would like to know about your past, unless you feel uncomfortable talking about it, in which case I can use a memory spell to allow me to see your past without forcing you to relive it. It took me a long time, at least 3 centuries, to perfect this particular spell." She said with a smile. "Well....I don't know if you would want to know what I did and had to do...but since you probably have seen war....you have an idea what I had to do." I said lowering my head. "I have seen war before, Jerry. Though this world is peaceful now, it was not always so. Before the three pony races lived together in harmony, there was much fighting between them, and even before that, ponies were fighting with other creatures, Dragons, Griffons, even Minotaurs. When my sister and I came to power, Discord came not long after, and he threw our world into chaos. Though he never hurt anypony, he made their lives miserable, and the worst part was that he used to be our friend. We were forced to seal him in stone, using mystical objects known as the Elements of Harmony." I noticed the look on her face when she started talking about Discord. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. Again like I did with all the other ponies I have seen I placed my hand on her shoulder. "Hey celestia.... what happened in the past happened in the past. You can't look back at it and think what you could've done. I mean I had to do things.....that involved hurting a close friend of mine. So I know what you felt then and now." I said hoping these words would help her. "It's more than that. I...I loved him. I still love him." She said, burying her face into my shoulder. Seriously, what is it with ponies and crying into my shoulders? "Celestia," I said, wrapping an arm around her while rubbing her back with the other as soothingly as I could, "Do you believe he could change, that he could go back to being your friend? To being the same person you loved?" "I, I don't know. I want to believe it, but the last time he escaped, he went right back to doing what he did before. I want to believe he can change and be who I used to see him as, but I'm afraid that if I let him go, that he may try to cause chaos again." She said, still crying, though not as heavily as she had been. I just let out a sigh as I continued to try and comfort her. "But I think you know in your heart that he can't and won't change from what he was and still is celestia." I said hoping it would help. "Maybe he can, maybe he can't, but if he's never given a chance, what kind of friend would I be to him. What would you do, if you were told that someone you cared about more than anything was a horrible person and that you couldn't change them. Would you just accept it and abandon them? Or would you be willing to fight to prove them wrong?" She asked me. "Well.....remember that friend I told you about? Well he was like discord...only worst. One day he just lost it and while in a village and I was helping out some kids....he used his gun and fired. I don't know how many of the poor kids were hurt but I managed to save a few. Anyways I yelled for him to stop but he just kept firing. I had to make a choice. Either him or the kids......I had no choice but to fire at him. He fell without a sound, his gun hitting the dirt beside him. So, by stopping him I managed to save hundreds. Celestia...... I know what you’re going through. I asked myself the same questions." I said feeling a little bit of pain. That guy had been my best friend since I was in first grade. "So, you think I should leave him to his fate?" She asked me, a few stray tears still on her face. "As much as I believe it's all I can do, I still want to save him. I want to bring back my friend." “I know, but sometimes doing the right thing for your people means you have to turn your back on those you once thought were your friends. Sometimes, they just can’t be saved.” Seeing the tears flowing harder from her face, I quickly added, “But, that doesn’t mean they can never be saved. For all we know, I could be wrong, and he may be able to change for the better.” She looked up and wiped a tear from her eye, before burying her head in my shoulder. Again. “Thank you Jerry. And if he does come back, as the friend I once knew, maybe you could meet him someday.” I smiled at her. "I would really like that...and you are completely welcome Celestia." She removed herself from the embrace and headed for the door, but she turned back to me before she left. "Jerry, I do hope you can make her happy." She said with a wink, and then she was gone. I chuckled to myself...
Chapter 3As soon as celestia left redheart came into the room. "Hello Jerry, are you ready to leave?" She asked with a soft smile. "Yeah...agh." I said trying to get up. I guess I went a little too fast since my chest and arm was in a good bit of pain right then. "Um...a little help here?" I asked wincing a little in pain. "You need to be more careful." She scolded, motioning for me to sit down for a minute, before giving me some pills. "Now these are very special painkillers. They were infused with healing magic to speed up recovery, so not only will you not feel the pain in your chest and arm, they'll actually heal faster, so you should be fully healed in about 2 weeks." She smiled again. God, she smiles like an angel. "Thanks." I said taking the pills and swallowing them dry. Didn't bother me a bit...and the pills worked fast. Suddenly I didn't feel pain in my arm or chest. I slowly got up from the bed as redheart helped. I nodded at her as if saying thank you once she moved in front of me to lead the way. I just followed and then I realized I was wearing the same clothes as before only they were clean. We went to the checkout desk and she filled it out. I had to sign my signature on it but other than that I didn't have to do anything. We made our way out of the hospital and that's when I saw Ponyville for what it really was. Everywhere I looked, there were ponies. They were in so many colours you'd think someone was on an acid trip if they started describing what I was seeing now. I mean, there were ponies on the ground, in the air, at market stalls, pretty much everywhere. That's also when I noticed they all had markings on their rears, and no two marks were the same. I decided to ask Redheart about it, and she chuckled. "Those are cutie marks. You see, when a pony finds the one thing they were meant to do, the thing that makes them happier than anything else, their cutie mark appears depicting what makes them special." She explained, smiling the entire time. I smiled. "Well that explains what I wanted to know. Anyways not trying to sound mean but where is your house anyways?" I asked. "Oh, it's actually right here." She said, pointing to a house right next to the hospital. Go figure. "Huh...I guess you like to stay near work?" I asked. "Not quite. It's more that this was the only house available when I moved here. It just happened to be convenient." She admitted, blushing a little. "Anyway, shall we go inside, or are we going to stay here until Nightmare Night comes around?" "Yeah let's go on in." I said smiling. I walked forward and quickly opened the door for her trying to be a gentleman. "Why thank you Jerry. That's very kind." She said, rising up and giving me a quick peck on the cheek, and laughing as I started blushing, before giving me the tour. It was a nice place. Moderately sized and well-furnished dining room, a small study, and two bathrooms downstairs. Upstairs, there were three bedrooms, and each had their own bathroom with fully-functional showers, much to my relief. I didn't want to have to disturb her at any point just so I could wash myself. "Wow this is way better than my apartment back on earth." I quickly changed the subject. "Anyways what do you like to do when you're free?" I asked. "Like have free time." "Um, usually, I read in my study. Sometimes I go out, though I don't actually spend much time with others. To be honest, outside of the hospital, I'm actually very shy around other ponies." She said, facing away from me, slightly embarrassed. I just crouched down to her size. Turns out she was a little bit above my waist when i'm standing up. "Well you're not the only one Redheart. I mean I was shy around other people back in my world...mostly girls." I said. "Really? You were shy around girls? So you never had a..." She trailed off, and turned away again, afraid she'd crossed a line before she even saw my face. "No I didn't. But I did have a girlfriend or two, but they broke up with me. The latest one did because I joined up. But yeah I never found that special..someone in my life back home." "I see. Do you think you'll ever find your special somepony?" She asked. "Well..... I want to....I mean I always wanted to start a family so I guess I could start one here." I said with a shrug. "Well, don't worry. I'm sure you'll find someone who loves your ugly mug." She said with a playful wink. "Yeah yeah whatever." I said with a chuckle. "But what bow? I mean I just wonder if the ponies here would even accept me." I said with a hint of worry. She just smiled. "Jerry, the ponies here learned a lot about accepting others despite their differences after an incident with a zebra named Zecora. They originally feared her, thinking she was a witch and that she would curse them if she saw them, but a young filly named Applebloom proved she was just a herbalist who specialised in healing potions. She was actually the one who made your painkillers, and she had Twilight be the one who infused them with magic. So don't worry, I'm sure you'll be accepted. Anyway, we still have a few hours until Princess Celestia lowers the sun and Princess Luna raises the moon. Is there anything you'd like to do, or anywhere you'd like to see?" She asked. "Well......do you have any ideas?" I asked. "I mean if you wanna go somewhere then we could go there if you want." I said scratching at the back of my neck. "Well, there's Sugarcube corner. Pinkie Pie will probably be there though, and I'm not sure meeting her is a good idea at the moment." She said hesitantly. "Well why not?" I asked. "Because Pinkie is, well, very, random. And she always has to throw a massive party for anypony who comes into town. I'm just worried that something could happen and that you may get hurt again." She explained. "Well if you don't want to go there where else could we go?" I asked her. "Well, there's always this small cafe near Carousel Boutique." She suggested. I had no idea what Carousel Boutique was, but I didn't ask, deeming it unimportant at that particular moment. I shrugged. "Well it's up to you redheart. Wherever you want to go we can go." I said smiling. "Ok then, the cafe it is." She said, returning my smile with her own. And with that, she dragged me out of the cafe and through the town. I ignored the looks I was being given, mostly curious glances, though there was some fear, mistrust, and suspicion mixed in. Eventually, we found ourselves at a small cafe right across the street from what I assumed was Carousel Boutique. I mean, it's hard to miss, it actually looks like a carousel. We went in and sat down in a booth as I saw the menu. Daisy Sandwiches, Hay fries, etc. Great, a nice cafe and I can't even digest half of what's on it. I thought to myself as I tried to find something, anything, on the menu that I could eat. Redheart saw my growing frustration and gave me a concerned look. "Jerry, are you ok?" She asked. "Well...I mean half of this stuff on her I can't even digest or eat.....well at least they can make spaghetti." I said with a shrug. "Oh. I'm sorry. We actually had no idea your digestive process didn't allow you to consume most of what we eat. May I ask, what can humans actually eat?" That's when I got a little nervous. Looking at the menu I knew they never had meat. "Well....um we eat...uh......fish, vegetables,........and meat...." I said the last just quiet enough so only she would hear. "I....see. So you're an omnivore?" She asked calmly, still smiling. "Don't worry about it Jerry. I've had plenty of patients who eat meat. Sure, almost the entire population of Ponyville is ponies, but we have lots of travellers pass through. Griffons, Minotaurs, even Dragons, though not often. And quite a few of them end up hurting themselves during the crazy things that seem to have become a regular for Ponyville." She started chuckling. I was, dumbstruck, to say the least, more by the fact that she wasn't horrified that I eat meat, than by the fact that creatures that are myths back home actually exist here. I just nodded. "Ok.....well I guess I will have.....spaghetti." I said with a shrug, a hint of surprise in my voice from what she told me. "Alright then." She said, calling a waiter over and placing our orders. Spaghetti for me, and a daisy sandwich with a side of hay-fries for her. The entire time, the waiter was staring at me a little nervously, as if he was afraid I would try to kill him or something. Eventually, he trotted inside to have our orders prepared, giving me a chance to talk to Redheart in semi-privacy. I leaned against the table a little bit my hands together on the bed. "Ok so can you answer this question? I mean everywhere I go I see that ponies are looking at me like I would kill them. Did this happen a lot with the other creatures?" I asked curious. "Like I said before, there was an incident with Zecora. I thought that the locals would have learned after that to NOT JUDGE OTHERS BY THEIR APPEARANCES!" She yelled the last part, causing several nearby ponies to jump and run in the opposite direction, "But I guess I was mistaken." She said with a small scowl. I looked around. "Yeah I can see that.....well I guess you want to learn a little more about me?" I asked. "Well, you asked me what I liked to do with my free time, what about you? What do you like to do when you're not busy?" She asked, her smile returning. I smiled back as I leaned back againt the seat thinking what I did. "Well.....I used to love to exercise. Like everyday for about two hours I would work out running or lifting weights. I also liked to watch T.V. and just be helpful if possible. But when I was shipped out to war I didn't always have to fight and help people. Sometimes I would just talk or just sleep the whole day. Lastly i just like to take walks in the park during the night. I just like doing anything like that really." I said with a shrug. "Oh and read." I added quickly. She shook her head with a grin on her face. "Interesting. Too bad you won't be able to exercise until you're fully recovered, but at least there's plenty of books in my house. So, how common are TVs in your world? Here, they're extremely expensive and difficult to make, so only the very wealthy can afford them." She said. I shrugged. "Well.... pretty common really. I mean I even had on and it was just small. So in my world basicly every house had one TV." I said. Her jaw, dropped. "Every-every home?" She asked incredulously. She quickly picked her jaw back up and shook her head to clear some of the shock away. "I see. That's, actually very interesting." She was about to say something else, but she was interrupted by our food arriving. The waiter left pretty quickly, not wanting to spend any longer near me than he absolutely had to. We ignored him and started to dig in. I was surprised by how good this was to me. After a few minutes I saw that I was already done with the food and drink. As was nurse Redheart to my surprise. "Surprised? It's as an old friend used to say, good food is always gone too quickly." She said, chuckling as she pointed a hoof at my face, where a single string of spaghetti still hung. I chuckled as I sipped it up into my mouth. "Well I always wanted to ask. How do you pay for things here?" I asked. "Oh, our currency is called bits. Griffons named theirs Talons, of all things." She replied. I chuckled. "Huh way different from what we use. Ours is basically called dollars paper money really." I said as she took out the necessary bits to pay for the food and tip the waiter. She only gave him one bit. "Oh.....how come you don't live there?" I asked. "I mean you seem to deserve it because all the lives you save. Hell you saved mine and that's enough for me." I said. "Honestly, too many of the ponies that live there are snobs. They're always trying to one-up each other and get more wealth than their neighbours. Not all of them are like that, but so many are that the ones who aren't are sometimes treated as outcasts." She said sadly. "Wait...you know anypony who live there or has?" I asked. "Well, Twilight used to live there, and her brother is the Captain of the Royal Guard, who are responsible for maintaining law and order in Equestria. He's married to Princess Cadance, the niece of Princesses Celestia and Luna. She told me that there were many who looked down on others in Canterlot if they weren't from around there or if they were of a lower social status." "Wow.....well I guess our worlds aren't different class wise." I said letting out a sigh. "So you have similar problems back home? I guess coming here really was a blessing in disguise. In a way, it was for me." I looked at her, blushing a little. "After all, if you hadn't arrived, I wouldn't have made a friend, would I?" She said, smiling again. I smiled back still blushing a bit. "Well...I guess the same is said for me. Wow look at that." I said looking back at the sun as it started to go down. My jaw fell a little bit. "Beautiful, isn't it? Wait until you see Princess Luna raise the moon. Now that's a beautiful sight." As soon as she said that the moon began to take the place of the sun. I just looked in awe the whole time. I didn't know it but redheart ended up scooting over to be beside me and laid her head on my shoulder. "So, what do you like best about Equestria, Jerry?" She asked, nuzzling me. I smiled as I wrapped my arm around her. "Well....everything really...especially my first friend..." I said. I just tighten my grip around her a little bit as she then laid her head on my shoulder. I let out a sigh inside myself realizing that she wasn't going for a kiss. "Jerry?" She asked. "Do you think you'll ever fall in love with anypony here? I don't mean to pry, I just want to know you believe you can find love." This caught me off-guard a little bit but I answered anyways. "Well..... yes I do redheart....it'll just take a little bit of time is all since i'm so used to the girls in my world and not here." I said. "I see." She said quietly, before smiling. "Well, I hope when you find somepony, that she makes you happy, and you, her." That's when I remembered what celestia told me earlier. "I wonder if she meant Redheart?" I thought to myself as the words were similar as the ones Celestia had said this to me. Before I could come up with an answer, the ground around us exploded as several large bipedal DOGS, of all things, burst through what I assumed were tunnels. They looked to me, then to Redheart. "Pony come with us. Pony mine gems for us!" It said, pointing a claw at Redheart, who had started shaking. I got up and went into a defence like position. I then realized I still somehow had a knife with me so I took it out and held it in my right hand. I was ready for a fight...but the wounds disagreed. The dogs smirked as they saw me clutch my arm. "Creature stay out of Diamond Dog business, or creature suffer much worse pain than creature already has." The leader growled, pushing me to the ground and grabbing Redheart before disappearing down one of the tunnels it had created, collapsing it as it escaped. While this all happened there was one other pony who was watching from a cloud. I began to crawl to the collapsed hole hopping that I could somehow get into it. That's when she landed in front of me. "Redheart..Dogs...Gotta...Save." I couldn't say anymore as what little remained of my strength left me and I collapsed. The last thing I heard before losing consciousness was "Hang on, I'll get help!"
Chapter 4The first thing I noticed when I came to was that I wasn't on grass. Instead, I woke up on a comfortable, if slightly small, bed in a small room. The next thing I noticed was the sound of arguing coming from outside the room. I recognised two voices, Twilight's, and the pegasus with the rainbow hair that left to get help before I lost consciousness, but the rest were foreign to me. "...can't believe you didn't tell us about him Twilight. We're supposed to be your friends? How can you keep a secret like this. It's just so....so....uncouth!" Whoever owned that voice had to be high-class, I figured. "Ah agree with Rarity, much as I hate tah admit it. This ain't somethin' ya' keep secret from yer friends, Twi." The mare that voice belonged to was most definitely a country gal. The kind who knows what hard work is. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't tell you, even if I wanted to. Princess Celestia herself gave me strict orders not to tell anypony until she arrived to make sure he wasn't a threat! And I don't appreciate being told I can't keep secrets after the whole Photo Finish fiasco, Rarity..." Twilight replied coldly, and I could hear the gasp from the high-class pony, who I now knew was named Rarity, and I could almost imagine her face. At this point, I knew the argument wasn't going to end anytime soon, and the more time we wasted, the less chance we had of rescuing Redheart, so I did the only thing I could to end it. I got up, and I opened the door. The effect was immediate. Every single head turned to face me, and the silence gave me ample time to get a good look at every pony present. An orange mare with a stetson on her head and her blonde mane and tail tied into a ponytail of all things, a white unicorn mare with a purple mane and tail in very fancy curls. A pink earth pony with a really really cotton-candy-like pink mane and tail, and a butter yellow pegasus with a very simple pink mane and tail that curled slightly at the end. "Ok," I said, breaking the silence, "The arguing stops NOW! Fighting isn't going to change the fact that Twilight was only doing what she had to, and fighting is NOT going to rescue Redheart unless the ones we fight are the dogs. Now, go round up as many villagers as you can and tell them of the situation. MOVE!" The final word got them all moving, all except for Twilight and the pegasus, who started to back away slowly, a look of pure fear on her face. I took a deep breath, "I'm sorry ma'am, but right now, we need to rescue Redheart, and this is how I was trained to act in crisis situations. I was trained to be tough, strong, and above all, not to let others see my fear. This is the same thing. Hesitation only increases the risk of us not rescuing Redheart in time, and I can't let her get hurt. She's my friend, and I owe her and Twilight my life." She stopped shivering and started staring at me, trying to see if I was a threat or not. Eventually, she relaxed. "Alright. I'm sorry for being scared." She whispered. "It's alright ma'am. Anyway, I do believe I forgot to introduce myself. Jerry." I said, holding out a hand. She hesitantly reached out a hoof and placed it in my open palm. "I-I'm Fluttershy." she said, a little louder, but still barely more than a whisper I nodded with a smile trying to show her that I wouldn't hurt her. I let go of her hoof as it went back to the ground. She smiled back as she went and walked out the door. I then looked back at twilight. "So you have any ideas where the diamond dogs that took redheart might be?" I asked. She then seemed to be in thought and she got the idea. "They must be where they took rarity a while ago." She then went into all the detail about how rarity was taken and where she might be. She then went out the door and I guess she thought I was gonna follow but instead I ended up climbing out a window in the house on the first floor. I wanted to do this alone since I didn't want any of the ponies get hurt. I made my way to where twilight told me redheart might be. Once I got there I saw that there was a small hole just big enough for me to go through. I let out a long sigh as I then jumped into the hole. I fell through it having a few rocks hitting my arms and shoulders along with the old wounds I had. Once I hit the ground I rolled around a little bit until I ended up stopping against a small wall. That's when I heard a few of those dogs talking from the other side. I then searched for a weapon and found out that there was a perfectly good knife on the ground. I grabbed it as it felt natural to me. I then flipped it until the blade was facing backwards and I was holding the grip of the blade. It was at least three inches. "New pony has been most troublesome. She refuses to work, despite the beatings." I heard. "If she continues to refuse in the next hour, kill her and dump the carcass where the wolves will get it." I then gripped the knife hard in complete anger. Out of anger I just jumped over the small wall seeing only two of those dogs. The both looked at me with complete surprise. The one on the right looked like he was pretty tough so I killed him first. I stabbed the knife right through his skull and immediately took it out stabbing the other one right in the chest, but not enough to kill him. I looked him dead in the eye. "Where is she?!" I said in rage. "I never tell you hairless monkey!" He shouted defiantly, slamming the ground with one leg. I twisted the knife to cause more pain. "Tell me or you die slowly." I said blinded by rage. "Alright, alright!" He practically screamed. "She is in training cage. It is where we teach ponies obedience. Those that refuse are taken to a small chamber on the opposite end of the system and disposed of." "Thanks." I said as I punched him in the face knocking him out. At least he would die without much pain. I took the knife out of his chest and made my way to where he said redheart would be. In a few minutes after sneaking past dog after dog I saw the chamber. I was shocked to see at least three other ponies in the same cage as Redheart. Redheart looked the worst. She was covered in dirt, bruises and angry red marks, the kind you’d get from being whipped. *Sniff sniff* "INTRUDER!" one yelled. "Shit here we go." I said as I got out of cover. I was covered in the dogs blood from before. Covered from my chest to feet, But redheart recgonized me easily as she spoke in a bit of pain and surprise. "J-J-Jerry? Is it really you?" She asked, gasping with pain. "Yes redheart i'm getting you out of here." Just as I said this a ton of dogs came rushing into the room. I counted at least ten. "Jerry," She gasped. "Just go. You're already injured. If you get hit by one of their weapons, you could die." "I don't care!" I yelled. "I'm not losing another friend no matter what!" I declared as I got into a fighting stance. "Hairless monkey is a fool. You'll die here with the pony. KILL IT!" Three of them charged forward. Adrenaline took over as all pain was gone. I crouched down using the knife on one of them stabbing it in the throat. I then punched the other one in the side of the neck snapping it. The last one was killed from me using a weapon that belonged to the first one picking it up stabbing it through the skull. I slid both the weapons out and stood up as the three now dead dogs laid on the ground. "J-Jerry, your back." Redheart muttered, losing consciousness from blood loss. I knew I had to end this quickly. I saw that one of the other ponies in the same cage was trying their best to stop the bleeding. I looked back at the dogs. "Next?" I said wanting to end this quickly. That's when the last seven went forward. But I saw the one that would be in charge and used both the weapons stabbing through it's skull,slid the weapons out and stabbed it in the chest. Once he died the other dogs looked on in fear. At first the dogs didn't move, and I thought I would have to make good on my threat, but then the smallest one stepped forward, much to my surprise. "Please, do not harm them. I take you and pony to surface. Please do not kill them." He pleaded. Still a little surprised I nodded in agreement. "Ok I won't just lead me out of here along with the other ponies." I said starting to feel weak. The old wounds must be getting worst. He stepped aside as I made my way to the cage. I walked inside seeing redheart was barely awake. I knelt down ignoring the pain in my back and body. With the little strength I had I picked her up letting the knife stay on the ground. "Creature, you will not make it to the pony town with those wounds." The dog said. I ignored him, too determined to get Redheart out to heed his words. I stood up in complete pain walking out carrying her in my arms. Just as I reached the exit I suddenly gasped in pain and fell forward turning my body making sure she wouldn't get hurt. Everything started going black. "Creature! I tried to warn you, why did you not heed my advice!" Before I blacked out I felt movement in my arms. I looked down to see a fearful Redheart. Then I blacked out.
Chapter 5I woke up floating in the middle of an endless expanse of white. I almost started to panic, but I took some deep breaths and calmed down enough to assess the situation. "Ok, let's see. Endless expanse of white, nobody, and nopony, around that I can see, and I'm floating. I'm either dead, dreaming, or I'm in a coma..." "Jerry..." a voice seemed to echo. As I looked around for the source of the voice, I felt my body being pulled towards a tunnel that appeared out of nowhere. While the tunnel got lighter and i thought i was dead i saw that i wasn't. Instead of going into heaven or wherever i would go I saw that Redheart was sitting beside my bed. She was quickly sobbing and whimpering into the bed sheets. Her wounds were bandaged and to my relif didn't look serious. While for me I was hooked up to so many IV's and a monitor. My heart beat a steady *blop...blop....blop* "What the...Redheart, you're ok!" I exclaimed, but she didn't respond. I realised that she couldn't hear me. "Dammit." I yelled. "Am I gonna be stuck like this or something until they eventually pull the plug!?" I was full of anger right now. Not only was I stuck outside my body but Redheart was breaking down and I couldn't even talk to her. But while Redheart was sobbing I saw that some of the princesses came in. "Nurse Redheart, we have come to check on the one named Jerry. Has there been any change?" the dark blue one, I assumed she was Luna, asked. "No, princess. He's still asleep. The doctor said they can't risk waking him as he may go into shock. And I agree. We have to wait until his wounds are healed before we try." Redheart replied. "I'm being kept asleep till I heal, huh? DAMMIT!" I yelled. "I'm sorry Redheart, I'm so sorry..." "Excuse me Redheart, but may I have a moment alone. There is something I wish to confirm." Celestia said. Redheart looked confused for a moment, but nodded slowly and followed Luna out of the room. "What's she gonna confirm? What we already know? I'm asleep, not much else you can confirm." I said sarcastically. "Actually Jerry, there is something else I wish to confirm, and if you can hear me, you've already confirmed it for me." Celestia replied with a small grin. "Wait, what the hell? Ok, this is funny, for a second I could've sworn Celestia actually-" "Heard you?" She said with a smirk. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. "WHAT THE FUCK!?" "Oh, calm down Jerry. My sister and I raise the sun and moon. Seeing a spirit isn't inconceivable for us. And no, just because you are a spirit does not mean you're dying. It just means the ambient magic in the environment has affected you in a more potent fashion than to natives of equestria, given the lack of magic in your world." She explained. "uh....what?" Celestia sighed in irritation. "It means that this world’s abundance of magic has allowed your spirit to temporarily leave your body while it recovers." "Oh, that makes more sense..." I said. "Sooo, why are we talking right now? One would think you'd have more important things to do than visit one hospitalised human." "For one, it's to discuss what happened before you were hospitalised." She said with an eerily calm voice. "Great...so, what exactly is my punishment?" I asked as calmly as I could, despite my worry. Celestia chuckled. "You're not being punished Jerry. Your actions were justified, given the situation. And Nurse Redheart was adamant that the Diamond Dogs would have killed you had you not defended yourself." "Ok, so I'm NOT in trouble?" I asked. Celestia nodded. "Ok then. So when will I get out of here? I kinda have to apologise for getting redheart kidnapped, y'know." "It will take about another day for your body to recover. When it does, I do hope you take a moment to think just where you stand with Redheart. She happens to care for you quite a lot, maybe as more than just a friend..." 'Ooookaaaayyyy, I have no idea what she's talking about...' I thought to myself. "Judging by the look on your face, you have no idea what I'm talking about, so I am going to forego the usual royal tradition of cryptic messages and get straight to the point. Redheart, is in love, with you, Jerry." She said the last seven words slowly, to make sure my brain had time to register the new information. "Wait....what!?" I exclaimed when my brain finally caught up. "Oh, stop being dumb Jerry. Redheart is in love with you. She dragged you back to Ponyville by herself, and she refused to leave your side the entire time you were here. When they thought you wouldn't survive the surgery, she almost broke down in tears." Celestia said with a sad look. "Jerry, she loves you. The question is, can you say you feel the same way about her?" I thought for a bit really thinking hard about it. Did I have feelings for a talking horse?! After a bit I let out a quiet sigh coming a conclusion. She may be a pony and a talking horse...but she's just like a human in a lot of other ways. I nodded my head yes. "Yes I do Celestia." I said She practically beamed. "Well then Jerry, I believe you have some time to think of how you're going to tell her." She said as she turned to leave. "And Jerry?" "Yes Celestia?" He asked. "You'll be called to Canterlot tomorrow to receive a medal for you service to Equestria. Since you've been unconscious, several missing ponies have reappeared in the towns they went missing from. It seems whatever you did convinced the Diamond Dogs to release all the ponies they had held captive, and for that, you have my thanks." She said, leaving me alone with my unconscious body. I just grinned. "Well at least something came with coming to Equestria...wait....will my body be able to make the trip?" I asked aloud. "Yes Jerry, it will. Your body will have completely recovered by tomorrow." Celestia's voice said inside my head. "And don't worry, this spell is strictly one-use only. I won't be able to use it on you again. See you tomorrow Jerry." And with that, her voice faded from my mind. Well that answers my questions...now how to get back in my body.... Unfortunately, getting back inside my body was easier said than done. I tried every method I could think of short of climbing in through my mouth or....ugh, let's not even go there, but I couldn't get back in. Then suddenly I LITERALLY was pulled back into my body when it turned morning. And the second my spirit was in, I woke up, literally jumping out of the bed. I ended up falling on the ground and, to my surprise, redheart came running in. "JERRY!" She yelled, rushing to embrace me with a tearful smile on her face. "I'm so glad you're awake!" "Ugh...yeah me too, Redheart. Still kinda sore sorry." I said hugging her back. "It's ok. I'm just happy you're alright." I just smiled as I felt some of her tears on my shoulder. Then came something in mind. "Hey redheart....you mind me telling you something?" I asked. She tilted her head in confusion, but nodded. "Sure Jerry. What did you want to tell me?" "Well first have you ever heard of an "Out of body experience?" I asked. "Yes....but they're extremely rare though. Why do you ask?" "Well I went through one and while I was I saw how you acted over me. Later while you were gone and celestia was here she talked to me. Then she told me something about you.....she said you loved me." I said. “Oh...” Redheart replied, looking crestfallen, as if she expected to be rejected. "What if I said I had the same feeling for you?" I asked looking into her eyes. She took on a shocked expression, but only for a moment, before she wrapped her hooves around me and began to nuzzle my chest. "Do you really mean that?" She asked, tearing up. Yes...it's true Redheart." I said with a smile running my hand through her mane. She lifted her head up, smiling, and shot forward, planting a kiss on my lips. I was shocked at first but realized if I did love her i would have to show it. I kissed back, wrapping my arms around her. She pulled back just long enough to whisper, "I love you Jerry." before diving back into the kiss. The kissing lasted for a couple minutes before I finally stopped the kissing. I broke the kiss looking into her eyes and said. "I'm so glad you’re ok." She chuckled and said, "Hey, I should be saying that about you. And by the way," she pulled out a small envelope, "This letter arrived from Canterlot. It's got the Royal Seal, meaning it was sent by one of the Princesses." I just chuckled taking it from her grasp and held her close as I opened it and read it. Even though I knew what it was about. "Well it basically says that I am to arrive in Canterlot later today to receive some sort of medal for what I did with the diamond dogs. Oh and it says that we are both being accepted as VIPs. Sounds great." I said to Redheart. "Canterlot...Jerry, that sounds great." She said with a forced smile. I just pulled her close into a tight embrace. "Hey...I remember what you said about what happened in Canterlot. You know we don't have to go i'm sure." I said in a soothing voice. "I know...but, as long as you don't leave me alone there, I think I'll be alright." She said, before kissing me again. I just gave her a quick kiss back before saying "I would never leave you alone there redheart...you know that..I care for you to much." I said soothingly. "I know." She said. "Thank you Jerry." I gave her another tight hug telling her it was alright. "So....the ceremony is at 7PM. tonight so I think we got a good bit of time before we have to go there." I said smiling. She smirked. "What did you have in mind?" "Well maybe you and me over on a mountain not infested by dogs I must add. We could just sit there looking around...or we could go to your house." I said smirking. "Hmmm, that's a tough choice.' She said, tapping her chin in thought. "Does the mountain sound better?" I asked. "You know, I think it does." She said with a warm smile. "Let's go, loverboy." "Heh yeah, lead the way." I said as we both got up. She led the way out not even needing to sign out. "So, when did you start to....you know?" She asked sheepishly. "Love you?..... hmmm I think maybe since I came after you when the dogs got you. I don't know really. Could've been love at first sight for all I know." I said clearly. "I see." she said thoughtfully.
